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In this episode, Neveen talks about her career transition after 6 years in the New York City public schools, what it means to pay it forward and her answers to the question: what is school for?

Neveen Mourad is an educator, mother and proud New Yorker with a lifelong passion for words. An instructional designer, Neveen creates online learning programs to support social entrepreneurs and those working in the field of social impact. She has been working in education for the past 17 years, beginning as a New York City public middle school teacher. Neveen received her bachelor's degree in English Literature from Suny Binghamton and her master's degree in Teaching English from Teachers College, Columbia University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York City, with her 7-year-old son and his never-ending collection of Pokémon cards. In this episode, she talks about her own journey as a student in the public school system in Long Island, New York with stories on how her passion for words was not only discovered but also encouraged and nurtured by her teacher, and how this experience transformed her life and influenced her career choice to become a public school teacher.

Valerie Lucchesi, mom of 3 boys from Maryland, host of Perfect Strangers podcast, and board member for the IMF family association, talks about her own public school experience in the the French part of Switzerland and the 5 educational systems in 4 languages her children have gone through so far. In this episode, we are talking about even with all the differences among school systems, parents' expectations on our children's education are roughly the same: quality learning, joy in life, the delicate dance between helping our children reach their goals and not over stressing them, and more importantly viewing our differences not as weaknesses but opportunities for us all to contribute and make our lives better together.

Anette Carlisle, mom of 3 creative boys from Amarillo Texas, passionate Advocate for public education, host of the informative "Anette on Education" podcast has a long history of involvement in education, governance, and building community. A 19- year member of the Amarillo ISD board of Trustees, Anette now serves in her second term on the board of Amarillo College, which has garnered national attention based on its poverty reduction that grew out of Panhandle Twenty/20, founded and led by Anette for 12 years. In this episode, we are talking about the importance of public schools, the changes that happened in the school system, what it means to lead as parent, and more importantly her thoughts on the big question: what is school for?

In this episode, Emily and I continue our conversation about her observation on the importance of the after-school enrichment programs, and through these programs her daughters found their love of learning and passion through college and into their careers. "Kids don't know what they like until they try it out. If schools don't offer these programs, a lot of children will never have the opportunity to find out what they really like", she said.

In this episode, we are talking about Emily’s own learning journey going through the US public schools. A first-generation immigrant, she shares her thoughts in learning English in school, meeting her own needs for support, and her realization that the academic excellence was the only way for her to build confidence in this whole new world. Emily worked in financial and tech sector including Morgan Stanley, GE capital & UBS for more than 26 years in New York. The most recent position she held was the Vice President of Sales Effectiveness at NetBrain, a network management software company. Emily loves traveling, swimming and baking, and has already visited 49 countries in the world.

In this episode, we talk about why Weili chose the current school for her children and what is important to her family. A teacher herself, Weili shares what she likes about the school her kids are attending, and her concerns about the overall learning environment including student work ethics and rigor in learning. Weili Ge is Moss Adams Endowed professor at University of Washington and has been holding the position since 2006. Her current research interests include predicting accounting misstatement/fraud, determinants and consequences of earnings quality, internal control over financial reporting.

As a first-generation immigrant, Henry shared his own experiences with public schools from a non-English speaker to a straight A student. He believes that social acceptance determines a student's learning journey in the early school years.

If you are a parent in the public schools and would like to be my guest on the show, I would love to have you. Here is how: visit my website jessicazou.com and submit your request, or follow us on Apple Podcast and Spotify.