Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Entrepreneurs tell us their inspiring stories, learn about products that
could make both you and your child's life easier and
more fun, and of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh
about what's happening in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey.
Thanks for joining me on mine. Welcome to Passport Mommy.
I'm Michelle Jerson. So at the end of the summer,
(00:33):
we did this fabulous road trip and we did episodes
so far on Charleston and Saint Augustine, and this first
segment is on Savannah on a bike tour that we
did in Savannah, which was amazing, and so this was
recorded a few weeks ago to such a quaint, beautiful
city with great history and great restaurants, and what better
way to see it than on a bike. We are
(00:55):
going to bike around Savannah to get a little taste
of the downtown area. And I'm here with Kathy Bissett.
She is with Hostess City Corporation. They do Savannah Bike
tours and Adventure Tours in motion, which is a segue tour.
What a great way to get around Savannah. So I'm
excited because this is my first time in Savannah, so
(01:15):
this is I thought a great way to get some exercise.
I prefer getting around this way to see a new
place rather than maybe sitting on a bus or a trolley.
But everybody has their own preference. I thought this would
be great for the family. Kathy, thank you so much
for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're very welcome, glad to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Thank you. So tell me a little bit about this
tour company and what you offer.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
We offer. Savannah Bike Tours offers a pedal bike tour
as well as an electric bike tour. Pedal bike tour
is a two hour tour and we've got some great
guys and they vary a great deal. We're not a
scripted tour, so they get to go wherever they'd like
to go, and if there's something that the guests would
like to see or like to learn, to include it.
(02:01):
The electric bike tours are actually an hour and a
half tour and they kind of follow the same thing.
They go wherever they'd like to go. Some people like
the exercise some people would rather not or we have
the Segway tours and they are basically the same. We
do an hour tour on the Segways as well as
ninety minutes. Now the peddle bike tours actually also include
(02:22):
a Tybee Island tour which is down on the beach,
and the Segway tours include a Bonaventure Cemetery tour, so
a little bit of variety. And we do ghost tours
on the bikes as well, because of course we are
a very haunted city.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yes, I've read that there are a lot of places
around here that are haunted. Give me your highlights.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
There's not too many places you can go that aren't haunted.
To be honest with you, we're built on top of
about one hundred and fifty thousand dead people. We're a
colonial city, and colonial cities did that. Unfortunately, that is
what happened.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
In those days.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
People didn't, you know, they couldn't afford to bury in
a cemetery, or they were in a you know, a
burial ground if they could get there. Otherwise, people buried
in the yard, you know, kept their family close as
so kind of wherever you go, you pretty much are
walking on dead people, and it's it's some frightening for
some and for others it's okay. You know, we just
(03:24):
get kind of used to it, and we are kind
of used to having the hauntings because this building's haunted.
So we have a ghost in here, and they're all playful.
They're not mean, they're not they're not they're not harsh.
They're all very very playful.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So, yes, so you mentioned that this building is haunted.
I'm just curious, are what are the ghosts? I know
you said they're very friendly. What are they? How do
they appear and what do they tell you? Or how
do you know if place is haunted?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Well, knowing this building is haunted as very easy. You'll say,
I can sit at my desk in there and a
seguay will turn on. They're playful, like I say, or
something will be moved when you come back. They don't
cause any harm necessarily, but they can be interesting. They
can be very interesting. The city itself, like I say,
(04:13):
very haunted. And once you have an experience with haunting,
it seems like it never stops. After that first one
I had was many many many years ago, and I
was one of those people that went Okay, uh huh. Sure,
but yet I'm a believer. Now, I'm a total believer.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I've been here about fifty years, and that was in
my first five or six years, so I have not
gotten away from it since.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Wow, So tell me, I mean, having been here for
so long, tell me a little bit about the things
that we should do as a first time visitor, and
maybe those who have been here a few times had
to dig deeper.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, you will learn a lot of that when you're
on tour. It's kind of with the whole idea with
these tours. If you do that and when you first
get here, it's always the best because that way then
you're going to know where you want to go back to.
I always make sure people don't tell them that they
want to go down on the river. You want to
see River Street, you want to see what that is.
Go to the far west end. We've got a place
(05:15):
down there called JW.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Marriott.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's beautiful inside, a lot to see, a lot to see.
You've got city Market that's shops, galleries, restaurants, a lot
of fun there, a lot of in and out, but
a lot of fun. And BroadOn Street where we are
right here, it used to be downtown. This was all
the shopping. When I moved to Savannah, there was no
shopping here. We were pretty much a ghost town. Literally,
(05:41):
there was no whole lot of anything. Everything was pretty
run down and pretty awful. And then we had the
Savannah College of Art and Design come in and they
sort of helped us to renovate the city and put
it together, so it worked out quite nice, quite nice.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So, how many people are typically in your tours?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The bike tours can vary. Sometimes there's just two people
and sometimes there's sixteen, seventeen, eighteen people. And some of
the tour GUIDs like those bigger tours, and others would
rather they be a little bit smaller so they're a
little more personal. That would be the pedal bike tours.
Now that e bike tours, they go up to about ten,
(06:18):
but they are kind of the same way segway tours.
The city kind of limits us with segways, so we're
supposed to only do groups of eight, and sometimes we cheat,
not often, but it does happen, but eight people, you know,
it's kind of nice. Now the segways, we wear headset
radios so that when you're with a tour guide and
you're moving, you don't have to stop and start a bunch,
(06:41):
so you get to see a whole lot more of
the city that way, and it kind of works out
nice for us. They can't really do that on the bikes, unfortunately,
because you can't turn around on a bike without the
bike turning around, and you can on a segway, so
that works out kind of nice. But the big tours,
being they are as long as they are, you see
(07:03):
the whole city other than the river. Because it is
cobblestones and ballistones, They figured people don't really want to
get bumped around that much.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So how many days would you say somebody should allow
for a really good visit to Savannah if it's their
first time.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Well, most people that come here don't know what they
have when they get here, so they come with no
anticipation of anything, and they only a lot for a
day or so and then they realize they don't have
enough time. So personally, if it were me, I would
at least give it a week, because you've got a
lot to see here this city. Other than the historic district,
(07:39):
which is a mile wide and a mile deep. It's
the biggest historic district in the country. You have a
cosmopolitan city that's here, and you have a lot of
Victorian things that are outside of the historic district, which
is colonial.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And now let's talk about food. What are your favorite places?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, food, yeah, that's we have turned into a big
foody place. We always ask people what they want to
eat before we send them in any direction. My favorite
place downtown is the seventeen ninety. I never have a
bad meal there. It is a locally owned place, which
is what we always steer for. We like to support
(08:20):
our locals. And we have some really cool, little quirky
places called Trailer Park and the Trailer Park people own
something called the Double Wide and also own another restaurant
called the Hitch, which are very unique, very Savannah but
very cool. Now, if somebody wants Southern cooking, which is
(08:42):
kind of sort of what people usually come here for,
and then they get not disappointed, but there's not a
lot of Southern cooking downtown Missus. Wilkes Boarding House is
one of the most famous of places. It is excellent.
It's only open Monday through Friday and it's only open
eleven to two, so if you don't get there at
(09:03):
those times, you don't get.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Oh, that's great. I love meeting locals. I love meeting
people who have owned their own business, who have opened
businesses here. That place sounds wonderful. So what brought you
down to Savannah fifty years ago?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I actually got transferred here with my job, and so
when I came here anticipation of what it would be,
and it was not anything like I thought it was
going to be. Savannah was very run down fifty years ago,
and I know you wouldn't think so right now looking
at it the way it is, but it was very
very rundown. It was not the best place to live,
(09:42):
a lot of crime, and when the college started here,
they couldn't send their kids here, so they started cleaning
it up. It was great. It was great.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Well now it really is a great family friendly destination.
I'm excited to take this toy today with my family.
And I love that you cater to ages because I
know originally I had asked. I said, my son is six,
I have a daughter who's eight. Are there bikes appropriate
for them?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
And you said absolutely, Oh, yes, definitely, as long as
we're doing pedals, we're okay. Because e bikes are a
little bit bigger and they're a little bit more difficult
to handle because they're heavier and segues. You've got to
be at least sixteen to operate one of those in
this city. That's the city rule. So and you know,
and you kind of have to live with those.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
So how far in advance should we make our reservation?
Can people do same day.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
If it's not a busy time of year, same day
as very easy, It just depends. I always recommend people
to make their reservations as quickly as they can make them.
If they don't have the opportunity to make it that
far ahead, at least call, you know, If you call,
we might be able to work it in somewhere and
make it work for you.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Terrific.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
And where can we go for more information and how
to book the tour?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You can go on Savannah Bike tours dot com or
Adventure Toursandmotion dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Perfect. Thank you so much, Kathy, thank you for having
us today, and thank you for all of that wonderful
information on Savannah. I'm Michelle Jerson. The Passport Mommy more
coming up in a few you're listening to Passport Mommy,
I'm Michelle Jerson. You know American tennis is enjoying a
surge in popularity. Twenty five point seven million players took
(11:26):
to the court in twenty twenty four, which is an
eight percent increase over the previous year. And this is
great news for kids who will just enjoy a lifetime
of benefits from participating in youth sports, but only if
they can find someone to coach them. So I'm really
happy to have on the show with me today. Megan Rose.
She leads business development and operations for us TA Coaching.
(11:50):
She is a former collegiate and professional tennis player. She
has held leadership roles at the USTA, including Managing Director
of Major Events and team leader for the US Olympic
Tennis team, and also served as head coach of the
women's tennis at Princeton. Thank you so much for joining
me today, Megan.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Thank you so much, Michelle for having me. I'm excited
to jump into the conversation my pleasure. So tell me
first of all about the importance of tennis and why
it is such a great sport for kids. So we
know that tennis is the world's healthiest sport. So we
know that getting out there and participation, getting out on
the court is great for mental, physical well being. It's
(12:32):
also a multi generational sport, which is amazing because that
means that you, as a parent can get out with
your kid, your grandparent can get out with the kid,
and kids and parents and grandparents alike can play together
at your local park and your driveway or at a
tennis facility. So it really is a sport for a
lifetime and really important for us that we continue to
support the growth of tennis across the United States.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Absolutely, And so if somebody is looking for a coach
for their children, I have a six an eight year old,
and I you know, I did not learn how to
play tennis when I was younger, and I really really
wish that I did, and I'm trying to make up
for lost time. But tell me about the new coaching
initiative the USTA has announced.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So we're super excited about the launch of USTA Coaching.
It's a new national platform that's really designed to empower
and educate and support coaches of all level. And so
I think what's relevant to this conversation is that we've
kind of seen another U sports where parents really feel
confident and inspired to get out and be their their
child's first coach. And with tennis that necessary that hasn't
(13:38):
necessarily been the case. You know, parents have felt like,
you know, I didn't grow up playing or I wasn't
good enough player to coach my kid. And so with
USTA Coaching, we have a one stop platform, one stop
shop platform and digital hub that will give parents the
resources and tools to be able to get out on
the court with their kid or get into the driveway
(13:58):
with their kid, and so really kind of making it
as easy as possible for parents to have the resources
in order to feel confident to do that. And so
there's also a find a Coach feature on Usta coaching
dot Com. So that's where you can go in. You
can put your address in your zip code and it'll
pull up coaches that are nearby to where you live
(14:19):
that maybe you know, deliver tennis to kids in your area.
And so that's another great tool for parents. But we
really want to inspire parents to be their child's first coach.
You know, we're not expecting every parent to be Richard
Williams to get their kid to win US Open, but
just to make parents feel confident that they can really
get out on the court and even learn together. So
(14:41):
that's the great part about tennis.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, that would be great. And so what do you
think makes a good youth sports coach?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
It's really about connection, right, I think as youth sports
has continue to progress, unfortunately, there's kind of been this
idea that all coaches need to get these kids to
the most elite levels of competition. But what we we
really want to emphasize is connection and fun. So our
entire coaching philosophy in the development of USTA coaching has
been around creating playful environments so that kids really enjoy
(15:10):
the time that they have on court. We know that
if kids don't have a great experience with a coach,
that the likelihood that they'll want to go back and
play is low. And so how can we really empower
coaches to deliver really fun experiences and connect with kids
of all different types, all different backgrounds, all different ability levels,
which is really important to us also so that we
see continued participation growth of tennis across all the generations
(15:34):
in the United States.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, and I believe that this program will definitely help
tennis in the long run. What is your thoughts? What
are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, we hope So, look, the usca's strategy is really
to get thirty five million tennis players in the United
States by twenty thirty five. And we know that there's
three real levers that we have to pull. So one
is participation. We need to make sure that there's opportunities
for people of all levels and abilities to get out
on the court. We need to make sure that we
have enough tennis courts for people to do that. And
(16:03):
then we need to make sure that we have enough
coaches again to support the retention and to create these
incredible experiences for players alike. So we know that just
getting more coaches in the pipeline, retaining coaches, and more
coaches of diverse backgrounds, more you know, more female coaches,
more moms getting out there, it can only kind of
help the overall ecosystem of tennis in the United States.
(16:25):
And so we're really thrilled to get this launch, but
we know that this is only the beginning and really
excited about what's to come.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Absolutely, and I think above all, tennis gives kids and
adults a sense of confidence when they're out there, you know,
more than just their ability, it's the confidence that it instills.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Absolutely, I mean confidence fun, understanding kind of how to
use your body. Tennis obviously is a full body sport.
You know, the movement, you know, the hand eye coordination,
and also just you know, it's really fun. You know,
it's an opportunity to get out there no matter what. Right,
So you can learn to play as a kid, then
you can go when you go to college, you can
play with your buddies, you know, on the local college courts,
(17:03):
and then when you're home for the holidays, you can
go out and hit the courts with mom, mom or dad.
And so we really want to, you know, continue to
have parents also again you know, feel like they can
get out there with their kid and really spark this
love of the game that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Where can we go for more information if we want
to get a coach, either for ourselves or for our children.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So visit usdacaching dot com. You'll find a one stop
shop that'll have direct to inbox resources. We'll be launching
a learning management system later this fall where you'll have
a bunch of modules that'll help support your coaching journey
and also benefits and services that can support coaches and
parents alike, both on and off the court.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I hope to see you on there and hope.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
To get a racket in your hand also so that
you can get out there with your kid.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Thank you so much, Megan Rose. I appreciate you joining
me today. I'm Passport Mommy. You're listening to Passport Mommy.
I'm Michelle Jerson. And this next topic hits home because
every year I think, you know, what am I going
to do with my kids after school? And I don't
understand how parents can be expected to work a full
(18:05):
time job, pick their kids up after school at two
forty five, three o'clock and then either run them around
to activities so then basically their work day stops or
they sit home. And so I'm really happy to have
with me on the show today Jodi Grant, she is
the executive director for the After School Alliance, and Heather Nesli,
the president for the New York Life Foundation. Thank you
(18:27):
both so much for joining me today.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Oh thanks for having us my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So you conducted a new study. Tell me what it showed.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
We interviewed over thirty thousand parents across America, and what
we found was that in the bright side, parents love
their after school programs. They think they're terrific for their kids.
It helps them keep their jobs, it boosts their productivity
at work, it reduces stress. But far too many of
our kids are being left behind. So three and four
(18:58):
of our children whose parents want them in after school
programs do not have access to these programs.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I will tell you personally, where we live, our after
school program is so expensive. It's not run through the school.
It's an outside company that comes in this after school
but it's basically prohibitive for many working class parents. And
I know when I've gone to other districts outside of
where I live, it's so affordable.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Programs can range, but you hit on the key factor
for parents, which is affordability. And the reality is that
costs have gone up and for many of our middle
income families as well as our lower income families, that
is the biggest barrier. So we need to be doing
better to figure out ways to get support to families
(19:47):
that need it so that their children can attend these
programs and also to make them as affordable as possible.
And what we also know, and clearly you know there's
demand for the program in your community, is that wealthier
parents are happily paying for these programs, and they are
nine times they're spending nine times as much money on
their children's after school and extracurricular activities as our lower
(20:10):
income families.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Absolutely, so is there progress being made on creating more
programs that are affordable?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
You know, Sadly, I think we're seeing fewer kids have access.
The investments at the federal, state, and local level aren't
keeping up with the need and the demand. So while
we're seeing satisfaction numbers that are through the roof, and
we're seeing you know, voters ninety percent of voters say
these programs are an absolute necessity in their communities, we
(20:39):
need to be doing more.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Interestingly, you know, nine to ten parents, nearly nine to
ten parents actually favor public funding for after school. It's
probably one of the only places you're going to get
that kind of agreement.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Right exactly, And so what needs to happen to fill
this gap? We need more and.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
More of our voters and our public to let their
policymakers at every level, school boards, mayors, county commissioners, state officials,
federal officials, let them know how important these programs are
to them. Because the good news is they have strong
bipartisan support. We just need to make sure that policymakers
(21:17):
make this a priority.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So why does the New York Life Foundation support after
school programs and why does it focus on programs for
middle school students.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
The mission of New York Life is to provide financial
security and peace of mind, and after school really does
just that. In addition to children just learning more, having
higher rates of attendance, building social skills, it also really
helps parents, right, I mean, the survey tells us that
eighty two percent of parents say that having their kids
in high quality after school helps them to keep their
(21:48):
job or to work more hours, and they say that
their childcare arrangements boost their productivity at work. So there's
an economic factor here in allowing, as you said at
the beginning, Michelle, parents to not have to lead work
at three o'clock, which is unrealistic, but knowing that their
kids are in a safe place that's actually helping them
become smarter and become healthier, so that financial security and
(22:09):
peace of mind exists there and specifically around middle school.
There is research that shows that ninth grade is a
pivotal year for students. If they can get through ninth
grade on time and on grade level, they are four
times more likely to graduate from high school on time
and go on to post secondary success. And so we
focus really on that middle school to high school bridge,
(22:29):
making sure that these kids are able to sustain their learning,
get the help that they need so that they can
succeed and go on to post secondary success.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Thank you both so much for what you're doing on this.
I as a parent, really appreciate it, and I know
many others do as well. I see it on the
message boards. It's the topic of conversation before the school
year starts every year, and it's the same thing. We
can't afford it, how do people pay for this? And
then other people saying I'm thrilled to send my kids.
So thank you for trying to fill that gap and
(22:58):
for all the work that you're doing on that. Where
can we go for more information.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Afterschool Alliance dot org. They can get national information, sign
up for alerts so when their voices can make a difference,
and also get state level information.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Perfect. Jody Grant, Heather and Neslie, thank you both so
much for joining me today on Passport Mommy. Thank you,
thank you, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jurson, thank you so
much for joining Me this Week on Passport Mommy
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Entrepreneurs tell us their inspiring stories, learn about products that
could make both you and your child's life easier and
more fun, and of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh
about what's happening in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey.
Thanks for joining me on mine. Welcome to Passport Mommy.
I'm Michelle Jerson. So at the end of the summer,
(00:33):
we did this fabulous road trip and we did episodes
so far on Charleston and Saint Augustine, and this first
segment is on Savannah on a bike tour that we
did in Savannah, which was amazing, and so this was
recorded a few weeks ago to such a quaint, beautiful
city with great history and great restaurants, and what better
way to see it than on a bike. We are
(00:55):
going to bike around Savannah to get a little taste
of the downtown area. And I'm here with Kathy Bissett.
She is with Hostess City Corporation. They do Savannah Bike
tours and Adventure Tours in motion, which is a segue tour.
What a great way to get around Savannah. So I'm
excited because this is my first time in Savannah, so
(01:15):
this is I thought a great way to get some exercise.
I prefer getting around this way to see a new
place rather than maybe sitting on a bus or a trolley.
But everybody has their own preference. I thought this would
be great for the family. Kathy, thank you so much
for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're very welcome, glad to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Thank you. So tell me a little bit about this
tour company and what you offer.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
We offer. Savannah Bike Tours offers a pedal bike tour
as well as an electric bike tour. Pedal bike tour
is a two hour tour and we've got some great
guys and they vary a great deal. We're not a
scripted tour, so they get to go wherever they'd like
to go, and if there's something that the guests would
like to see or like to learn, to include it.
(02:01):
The electric bike tours are actually an hour and a
half tour and they kind of follow the same thing.
They go wherever they'd like to go. Some people like
the exercise some people would rather not or we have
the Segway tours and they are basically the same. We
do an hour tour on the Segways as well as
ninety minutes. Now the peddle bike tours actually also include
(02:22):
a Tybee Island tour which is down on the beach,
and the Segway tours include a Bonaventure Cemetery tour, so
a little bit of variety. And we do ghost tours
on the bikes as well, because of course we are
a very haunted city.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yes, I've read that there are a lot of places
around here that are haunted. Give me your highlights.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
There's not too many places you can go that aren't haunted.
To be honest with you, we're built on top of
about one hundred and fifty thousand dead people. We're a
colonial city, and colonial cities did that. Unfortunately, that is
what happened.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
In those days.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
People didn't, you know, they couldn't afford to bury in
a cemetery, or they were in a you know, a
burial ground if they could get there. Otherwise, people buried
in the yard, you know, kept their family close as
so kind of wherever you go, you pretty much are
walking on dead people, and it's it's some frightening for
some and for others it's okay. You know, we just
(03:24):
get kind of used to it, and we are kind
of used to having the hauntings because this building's haunted.
So we have a ghost in here, and they're all playful.
They're not mean, they're not they're not they're not harsh.
They're all very very playful.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So, yes, so you mentioned that this building is haunted.
I'm just curious, are what are the ghosts? I know
you said they're very friendly. What are they? How do
they appear and what do they tell you? Or how
do you know if place is haunted?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Well, knowing this building is haunted as very easy. You'll say,
I can sit at my desk in there and a
seguay will turn on. They're playful, like I say, or
something will be moved when you come back. They don't
cause any harm necessarily, but they can be interesting. They
can be very interesting. The city itself, like I say,
(04:13):
very haunted. And once you have an experience with haunting,
it seems like it never stops. After that first one
I had was many many many years ago, and I
was one of those people that went Okay, uh huh. Sure,
but yet I'm a believer. Now, I'm a total believer.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I've been here about fifty years, and that was in
my first five or six years, so I have not
gotten away from it since.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Wow, So tell me, I mean, having been here for
so long, tell me a little bit about the things
that we should do as a first time visitor, and
maybe those who have been here a few times had
to dig deeper.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, you will learn a lot of that when you're
on tour. It's kind of with the whole idea with
these tours. If you do that and when you first
get here, it's always the best because that way then
you're going to know where you want to go back to.
I always make sure people don't tell them that they
want to go down on the river. You want to
see River Street, you want to see what that is.
Go to the far west end. We've got a place
(05:15):
down there called JW.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Marriott.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's beautiful inside, a lot to see, a lot to see.
You've got city Market that's shops, galleries, restaurants, a lot
of fun there, a lot of in and out, but
a lot of fun. And BroadOn Street where we are
right here, it used to be downtown. This was all
the shopping. When I moved to Savannah, there was no
shopping here. We were pretty much a ghost town. Literally,
(05:41):
there was no whole lot of anything. Everything was pretty
run down and pretty awful. And then we had the
Savannah College of Art and Design come in and they
sort of helped us to renovate the city and put
it together, so it worked out quite nice, quite nice.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So, how many people are typically in your tours?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The bike tours can vary. Sometimes there's just two people
and sometimes there's sixteen, seventeen, eighteen people. And some of
the tour GUIDs like those bigger tours, and others would
rather they be a little bit smaller so they're a
little more personal. That would be the pedal bike tours.
Now that e bike tours, they go up to about ten,
(06:18):
but they are kind of the same way segway tours.
The city kind of limits us with segways, so we're
supposed to only do groups of eight, and sometimes we cheat,
not often, but it does happen, but eight people, you know,
it's kind of nice. Now the segways, we wear headset
radios so that when you're with a tour guide and
you're moving, you don't have to stop and start a bunch,
(06:41):
so you get to see a whole lot more of
the city that way, and it kind of works out
nice for us. They can't really do that on the bikes, unfortunately,
because you can't turn around on a bike without the
bike turning around, and you can on a segway, so
that works out kind of nice. But the big tours,
being they are as long as they are, you see
(07:03):
the whole city other than the river. Because it is
cobblestones and ballistones, They figured people don't really want to
get bumped around that much.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So how many days would you say somebody should allow
for a really good visit to Savannah if it's their
first time.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Well, most people that come here don't know what they
have when they get here, so they come with no
anticipation of anything, and they only a lot for a
day or so and then they realize they don't have
enough time. So personally, if it were me, I would
at least give it a week, because you've got a
lot to see here this city. Other than the historic district,
(07:39):
which is a mile wide and a mile deep. It's
the biggest historic district in the country. You have a
cosmopolitan city that's here, and you have a lot of
Victorian things that are outside of the historic district, which
is colonial.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And now let's talk about food. What are your favorite places?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, food, yeah, that's we have turned into a big
foody place. We always ask people what they want to
eat before we send them in any direction. My favorite
place downtown is the seventeen ninety. I never have a
bad meal there. It is a locally owned place, which
is what we always steer for. We like to support
(08:20):
our locals. And we have some really cool, little quirky
places called Trailer Park and the Trailer Park people own
something called the Double Wide and also own another restaurant
called the Hitch, which are very unique, very Savannah but
very cool. Now, if somebody wants Southern cooking, which is
(08:42):
kind of sort of what people usually come here for,
and then they get not disappointed, but there's not a
lot of Southern cooking downtown Missus. Wilkes Boarding House is
one of the most famous of places. It is excellent.
It's only open Monday through Friday and it's only open
eleven to two, so if you don't get there at
(09:03):
those times, you don't get.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Oh, that's great. I love meeting locals. I love meeting
people who have owned their own business, who have opened
businesses here. That place sounds wonderful. So what brought you
down to Savannah fifty years ago?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I actually got transferred here with my job, and so
when I came here anticipation of what it would be,
and it was not anything like I thought it was
going to be. Savannah was very run down fifty years ago,
and I know you wouldn't think so right now looking
at it the way it is, but it was very
very rundown. It was not the best place to live,
(09:42):
a lot of crime, and when the college started here,
they couldn't send their kids here, so they started cleaning
it up. It was great. It was great.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Well now it really is a great family friendly destination.
I'm excited to take this toy today with my family.
And I love that you cater to ages because I
know originally I had asked. I said, my son is six,
I have a daughter who's eight. Are there bikes appropriate
for them?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
And you said absolutely, Oh, yes, definitely, as long as
we're doing pedals, we're okay. Because e bikes are a
little bit bigger and they're a little bit more difficult
to handle because they're heavier and segues. You've got to
be at least sixteen to operate one of those in
this city. That's the city rule. So and you know,
and you kind of have to live with those.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
So how far in advance should we make our reservation?
Can people do same day.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
If it's not a busy time of year, same day
as very easy, It just depends. I always recommend people
to make their reservations as quickly as they can make them.
If they don't have the opportunity to make it that
far ahead, at least call, you know, If you call,
we might be able to work it in somewhere and
make it work for you.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Terrific.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
And where can we go for more information and how
to book the tour?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You can go on Savannah Bike tours dot com or
Adventure Toursandmotion dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Perfect. Thank you so much, Kathy, thank you for having
us today, and thank you for all of that wonderful
information on Savannah. I'm Michelle Jerson. The Passport Mommy more
coming up in a few you're listening to Passport Mommy,
I'm Michelle Jerson. You know American tennis is enjoying a
surge in popularity. Twenty five point seven million players took
(11:26):
to the court in twenty twenty four, which is an
eight percent increase over the previous year. And this is
great news for kids who will just enjoy a lifetime
of benefits from participating in youth sports, but only if
they can find someone to coach them. So I'm really
happy to have on the show with me today. Megan Rose.
She leads business development and operations for us TA Coaching.
(11:50):
She is a former collegiate and professional tennis player. She
has held leadership roles at the USTA, including Managing Director
of Major Events and team leader for the US Olympic
Tennis team, and also served as head coach of the
women's tennis at Princeton. Thank you so much for joining
me today, Megan.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Thank you so much, Michelle for having me. I'm excited
to jump into the conversation my pleasure. So tell me
first of all about the importance of tennis and why
it is such a great sport for kids. So we
know that tennis is the world's healthiest sport. So we
know that getting out there and participation, getting out on
the court is great for mental, physical well being. It's
(12:32):
also a multi generational sport, which is amazing because that
means that you, as a parent can get out with
your kid, your grandparent can get out with the kid,
and kids and parents and grandparents alike can play together
at your local park and your driveway or at a
tennis facility. So it really is a sport for a
lifetime and really important for us that we continue to
support the growth of tennis across the United States.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Absolutely, And so if somebody is looking for a coach
for their children, I have a six an eight year old,
and I you know, I did not learn how to
play tennis when I was younger, and I really really
wish that I did, and I'm trying to make up
for lost time. But tell me about the new coaching
initiative the USTA has announced.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So we're super excited about the launch of USTA Coaching.
It's a new national platform that's really designed to empower
and educate and support coaches of all level. And so
I think what's relevant to this conversation is that we've
kind of seen another U sports where parents really feel
confident and inspired to get out and be their their
child's first coach. And with tennis that necessary that hasn't
(13:38):
necessarily been the case. You know, parents have felt like,
you know, I didn't grow up playing or I wasn't
good enough player to coach my kid. And so with
USTA Coaching, we have a one stop platform, one stop
shop platform and digital hub that will give parents the
resources and tools to be able to get out on
the court with their kid or get into the driveway
(13:58):
with their kid, and so really kind of making it
as easy as possible for parents to have the resources
in order to feel confident to do that. And so
there's also a find a Coach feature on Usta coaching
dot Com. So that's where you can go in. You
can put your address in your zip code and it'll
pull up coaches that are nearby to where you live
(14:19):
that maybe you know, deliver tennis to kids in your area.
And so that's another great tool for parents. But we
really want to inspire parents to be their child's first coach.
You know, we're not expecting every parent to be Richard
Williams to get their kid to win US Open, but
just to make parents feel confident that they can really
get out on the court and even learn together. So
(14:41):
that's the great part about tennis.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, that would be great. And so what do you
think makes a good youth sports coach?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
It's really about connection, right, I think as youth sports
has continue to progress, unfortunately, there's kind of been this
idea that all coaches need to get these kids to
the most elite levels of competition. But what we we
really want to emphasize is connection and fun. So our
entire coaching philosophy in the development of USTA coaching has
been around creating playful environments so that kids really enjoy
(15:10):
the time that they have on court. We know that
if kids don't have a great experience with a coach,
that the likelihood that they'll want to go back and
play is low. And so how can we really empower
coaches to deliver really fun experiences and connect with kids
of all different types, all different backgrounds, all different ability levels,
which is really important to us also so that we
see continued participation growth of tennis across all the generations
(15:34):
in the United States.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, and I believe that this program will definitely help
tennis in the long run. What is your thoughts? What
are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, we hope So, look, the usca's strategy is really
to get thirty five million tennis players in the United
States by twenty thirty five. And we know that there's
three real levers that we have to pull. So one
is participation. We need to make sure that there's opportunities
for people of all levels and abilities to get out
on the court. We need to make sure that we
have enough tennis courts for people to do that. And
(16:03):
then we need to make sure that we have enough
coaches again to support the retention and to create these
incredible experiences for players alike. So we know that just
getting more coaches in the pipeline, retaining coaches, and more
coaches of diverse backgrounds, more you know, more female coaches,
more moms getting out there, it can only kind of
help the overall ecosystem of tennis in the United States.
(16:25):
And so we're really thrilled to get this launch, but
we know that this is only the beginning and really
excited about what's to come.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Absolutely, and I think above all, tennis gives kids and
adults a sense of confidence when they're out there, you know,
more than just their ability, it's the confidence that it instills.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Absolutely, I mean confidence fun, understanding kind of how to
use your body. Tennis obviously is a full body sport.
You know, the movement, you know, the hand eye coordination,
and also just you know, it's really fun. You know,
it's an opportunity to get out there no matter what. Right,
So you can learn to play as a kid, then
you can go when you go to college, you can
play with your buddies, you know, on the local college courts,
(17:03):
and then when you're home for the holidays, you can
go out and hit the courts with mom, mom or dad.
And so we really want to, you know, continue to
have parents also again you know, feel like they can
get out there with their kid and really spark this
love of the game that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Where can we go for more information if we want
to get a coach, either for ourselves or for our children.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So visit usdacaching dot com. You'll find a one stop
shop that'll have direct to inbox resources. We'll be launching
a learning management system later this fall where you'll have
a bunch of modules that'll help support your coaching journey
and also benefits and services that can support coaches and
parents alike, both on and off the court.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I hope to see you on there and hope.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
To get a racket in your hand also so that
you can get out there with your kid.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Thank you so much, Megan Rose. I appreciate you joining
me today. I'm Passport Mommy. You're listening to Passport Mommy.
I'm Michelle Jerson. And this next topic hits home because
every year I think, you know, what am I going
to do with my kids after school? And I don't
understand how parents can be expected to work a full
(18:05):
time job, pick their kids up after school at two
forty five, three o'clock and then either run them around
to activities so then basically their work day stops or
they sit home. And so I'm really happy to have
with me on the show today Jodi Grant, she is
the executive director for the After School Alliance, and Heather Nesli,
the president for the New York Life Foundation. Thank you
(18:27):
both so much for joining me today.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Oh thanks for having us my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So you conducted a new study. Tell me what it showed.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
We interviewed over thirty thousand parents across America, and what
we found was that in the bright side, parents love
their after school programs. They think they're terrific for their kids.
It helps them keep their jobs, it boosts their productivity
at work, it reduces stress. But far too many of
our kids are being left behind. So three and four
(18:58):
of our children whose parents want them in after school
programs do not have access to these programs.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I will tell you personally, where we live, our after
school program is so expensive. It's not run through the school.
It's an outside company that comes in this after school
but it's basically prohibitive for many working class parents. And
I know when I've gone to other districts outside of
where I live, it's so affordable.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Programs can range, but you hit on the key factor
for parents, which is affordability. And the reality is that
costs have gone up and for many of our middle
income families as well as our lower income families, that
is the biggest barrier. So we need to be doing
better to figure out ways to get support to families
(19:47):
that need it so that their children can attend these
programs and also to make them as affordable as possible.
And what we also know, and clearly you know there's
demand for the program in your community, is that wealthier
parents are happily paying for these programs, and they are
nine times they're spending nine times as much money on
their children's after school and extracurricular activities as our lower
(20:10):
income families.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Absolutely, so is there progress being made on creating more
programs that are affordable?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
You know, Sadly, I think we're seeing fewer kids have access.
The investments at the federal, state, and local level aren't
keeping up with the need and the demand. So while
we're seeing satisfaction numbers that are through the roof, and
we're seeing you know, voters ninety percent of voters say
these programs are an absolute necessity in their communities, we
(20:39):
need to be doing more.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Interestingly, you know, nine to ten parents, nearly nine to
ten parents actually favor public funding for after school. It's
probably one of the only places you're going to get
that kind of agreement.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Right exactly, And so what needs to happen to fill
this gap? We need more and.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
More of our voters and our public to let their
policymakers at every level, school boards, mayors, county commissioners, state officials,
federal officials, let them know how important these programs are
to them. Because the good news is they have strong
bipartisan support. We just need to make sure that policymakers
(21:17):
make this a priority.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So why does the New York Life Foundation support after
school programs and why does it focus on programs for
middle school students.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
The mission of New York Life is to provide financial
security and peace of mind, and after school really does
just that. In addition to children just learning more, having
higher rates of attendance, building social skills, it also really
helps parents, right, I mean, the survey tells us that
eighty two percent of parents say that having their kids
in high quality after school helps them to keep their
(21:48):
job or to work more hours, and they say that
their childcare arrangements boost their productivity at work. So there's
an economic factor here in allowing, as you said at
the beginning, Michelle, parents to not have to lead work
at three o'clock, which is unrealistic, but knowing that their
kids are in a safe place that's actually helping them
become smarter and become healthier, so that financial security and
(22:09):
peace of mind exists there and specifically around middle school.
There is research that shows that ninth grade is a
pivotal year for students. If they can get through ninth
grade on time and on grade level, they are four
times more likely to graduate from high school on time
and go on to post secondary success. And so we
focus really on that middle school to high school bridge,
(22:29):
making sure that these kids are able to sustain their learning,
get the help that they need so that they can
succeed and go on to post secondary success.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Thank you both so much for what you're doing on this.
I as a parent, really appreciate it, and I know
many others do as well. I see it on the
message boards. It's the topic of conversation before the school
year starts every year, and it's the same thing. We
can't afford it, how do people pay for this? And
then other people saying I'm thrilled to send my kids.
So thank you for trying to fill that gap and
(22:58):
for all the work that you're doing on that. Where
can we go for more information.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Afterschool Alliance dot org. They can get national information, sign
up for alerts so when their voices can make a difference,
and also get state level information.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Perfect. Jody Grant, Heather and Neslie, thank you both so
much for joining me today on Passport Mommy. Thank you,
thank you, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jurson, thank you so
much for joining Me this Week on Passport Mommy
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