By Joe Cavanaugh
One evening at home, I was surfing through Netflix for something to watch with my nine year-old daughter, Tess, and I found what I thought was the perfect thing – the original “Star Trek.” It was one of my favorite shows as a kid and I was excited to share it with my daughter.READ MORE
By Erica Cantoni, Youth Frontiers’ Manager of Corporate and Major Gift Engagement
As near as this newbie mom can tell, parenthood is a Ph.D. course in understanding your children. Learning how to crack their codes and best nurture and teach them, and enjoying all their sweet, weird little idiosyncrasies. In the beginning, I took fierce pride in at least knowing my children better than anyone else does (save for my amazing husband). I grew these babies inside me, learned what time of day they would kick and worried when they stopped. Every single day of their lives, I have held them and studied their faces and learned which cry means hunger and which means I’m tired of being read to, lady, let’s do something else.
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Youth Frontiers’ podcast, The Teachers’ Lounge, features conversations about how we can build school communities where our kids can thrive – not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. In our tenth episode, we had the privilege of talking with Brenda Cassellius – Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. As a former paraprofessional, teacher, principal and superintendent, Brenda has worked at all levels in education. Brenda brings a lot of insight into student success and what we can do to make our systems better.
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By Joe Cavanaugh, Founder & CEO
When my daughter Tess was five years old, we moved into a new neighborhood. There are many kids in the area that Tess got to know. One day at the park, I watched Tess with two older girls who were walking ahead of her, excluding her in a not so kind way.
When Tess and I came back to our house, I said to her, I saw what was going on out there. How do you feel?
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By Joe Cavanuagh
One recent and particularly busy spring day, I came home late from work. I jumped out of my car – in my sport coat and dress pants – and rushed up the driveway. My daughter, Tess (pictured above), was waiting in the front yard. When she saw me, she called out, “Dad, come here and lie on the grass with me.” I haven’t done that in years. I looked at my ironed pants, put down my briefcase and walked over to lie on the grass with Tess.READ MORE
By Joe Cavanaugh
A parent wrote me:
My 11th-grade son’s friend is drinking. I don’t know whether I should tell the parents because they’re just as likely to tell me to mind my own business as they are to thank me. (I also don’t want to be responsible for the kid catching hell.) I’m not sure what to do about this problem. I don’t feel like I can sit back and do nothing. But I’m also not sure what the consequences will be if I act. Help!READ MORE