August 22, 2025 • 30 mins
On this episode, IHeartRadio’s Thank a Teacher Campaign powered by DonorsChoose takes center stage. Manny Munoz sat down with Alix Guerrier, CEO of DonorsChoose, to dive into the impact this partnership is having on classrooms across the country.
PLUS, Rawle Andrews, Jr., Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, joins Manny to discuss a new survey revealing that most Americans want schools to step up with mental health education and connect students to the support they need.
PLUS, Rawle Andrews, Jr., Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, joins Manny to discuss a new survey revealing that most Americans want schools to step up with mental health education and connect students to the support they need.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's many Munho's.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
And welcome to another edition of iHeartRadio's Communities.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
As you heard, I am Manny Munyo's.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And I would love a follow from you on Instagram
at iod Manny is my handle at iod m a
n n Y. iHeartRadio has been conducting a fank a
Teacher campaign. That campaign has been powered by Donors Choose.
But what does donors Choose? Well, we're lucky to be
joined right now by Alex Carriere, the CEO of Donors Choose.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Alex, I appreciate the time, Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Oh Manny. First of all, thank you for having us.
We are so thrilled to be in partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, we've we've been having a great time with it
and for a worthy cause. Obviously, we'll get into that
in a moment.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
For those who don't know though, Donors Choose, let's start
off with that. How would you just describe the organization
in its simplest terms.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Sure, we are a nonprofit that supports public school teachers.
That's the heart of it. And the way that we
do that is we have an online platform, it's a
DonorsChoose dot org, and any public school teacher across the
country can come onto donors Choose and essentially create a
request for anything that they might need to meet the
(01:27):
needs of their students. And so we have teachers coming
on and requesting basic supplies or books or creative stuff,
and we read and vet all of those requests, make
sure we understand the learning objective, and then we post
them up online and through the generosity of an incredible
(01:48):
community of donors, folks come on the site and can
contribute to those requests, and then we sort of meet
the full amount or requests. It's a little bit un
like other crowdfunding platforms. We actually don't send the cash,
but we actually send the stuff itself to the school.
It becomes part of the school district's property. Everything's transparent,
(02:10):
just to make sure that everybody knows exactly what the
impact they're having is.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
And that's our quals Is that one of the things
that makes Donors Choose different from some of the other
education focused charities out there.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I think that there are a few things that
make us different, you know, I think we're in a
community that's all aimed at serving the needs of kids.
So in that aspect, I think we're similar to other organizations.
But some of the unique things about us are that
we're basically in every community in the country. You know,
when we last did our account, ninety percent of American
(02:45):
schools and I'm talking across the entire country have used
Donors Choose and we're trying to tick that up, you know,
getting closer to one hundred percent. So we're in every community,
and all of the teacher requests are actually viewable on
our site. And so even without donating anybody, you know,
you'ven need an account, right you can go on to
donors Choose and find the school, find one in your neighborhood,
(03:08):
and actually see what teachers are requesting online.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
It never ceases to amaze me, as someone who has
two elementary school age kids, how often teachers are requesting things,
and how one of the hot things, and you know,
the WhatsApp chats every year is the teachers the wish
list on Amazon. So it's amazing what you guys do
there Donors Choose. I didn't realize donors Shoo has been
(03:33):
around for a long time. How has the mission evolved
since it was initially created.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, so I joined donors Choose as CEO just about
three years ago, a little over that. But donor Shoes
was founded way back in two thousand. That's like ancient
history when we're talking about technology, right, stuff online, you know,
that's like several eras ago. It was one of the
first crowdfunding sites. In fact, I don't even think that
(04:04):
that word crowdfunding existed back at that point. And the
founder of donors Choose was a teacher. Actually I was
also a teacher. We were teaching at the same time,
but in different parts of the country. Charles Best, he
was teaching history high school in the Bronx. That started
in the Bronx, and it really just started as when
(04:24):
he saw that need. It's the same need that you're
seeing with your kids teachers. It's true today, it was
true back then, and he started up this little effort
to get materials and books for his fellow teachers at
that Bronx High school and then it just started to
(04:44):
grow from there. Now something that's say the same is
our core model, but what's changed is we now serve
way more schools, you know, We serve every ship code,
every district in the country, and we've also expanded and
kinds of requests that we can fulfill for teachers. And
so it started off, you know, sort of focused on books,
(05:07):
and we still do that, but we also do arts equipment,
we do sports equipment, we do all kinds of stuff
for teachers.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Maybe a rhetorical question.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
It strikes me that what I believe is the greatest
nation on Earth, the richest country on Earth, and we
have to crowdsource supplies for school kids and for teachers.
How do you decide what kind of projects qualify to
be posted at DonorsChoose dot organ and who gets whose
(05:38):
requests is granted.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, well, so we have we do vet every request,
but really our filter is just making sure that well,
one that we know it's a public school teacher and
we know where they teach, and so we can validate
you know, that it's an eligible teacher. The second thing
is we just read it and make sure that this
is a project that is focused on the needs of students.
(06:06):
And then the third is we make sure that the
stuff that's being requested and again it's all transparent on
our site, so anybody can can go on and look
at any project because you can actually see the list
of items, you know, and where they come from, like
what vendors, what stores, and we make sure that that
list of resources matches with you know, the project's description.
(06:29):
So we do all of that, but then, you know,
beyond that, we really have a lot of trust, frankly,
in what teachers are telling us their kids need. And
so we've had expansion into lots of different you know,
I kind of started to mention, you know, we serve
every subject area, you know, athletics, extracurriculars. We've had teachers
(06:52):
use donors choose to get bikes to teach kids how
to ride bikes. Actually, I had an amazing chance to
visit a school that had an incredible program to ensure
that low income kids had access to actually learn how
to ride bikes. It was really heartwarming. We have teachers
who use donors choose to supply some of the basic
needs of their kids, you know, And one of the
(07:14):
privileges of my job is that I get a chance
to actually go around the country and visit schools and
teachers that are using donors choose. And I've seen schools
create you know, coke closets where they stock up on
coats and backpacks for kids who have that need in
order to be successful in school. It really runs the gamut,
(07:36):
and we try to be pretty open to teachers telling
us actually what they need in order to meet their
kids' needs.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Have a few more minutes with Alex Carrier, CEO of
donors Choose. The website and you can check it out
yourself is DonorsChoose dot org. You mentioned the bicycle project
that had such an effect on you. What can you
mention two or three other inspiring classroom projects that you've
come across at Donors Choose?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I mean, can can we do another couple of sents? Like?
Let me there are so many like I there's an
amazing classroom that I've I've lived here in d C.
There's an amazing pre K classroom that I've visited, the
cutest kids at a school here where the incredible teacher
(08:27):
outfitted her classroom with the most amazing sort of inspirational
things like I'll describe it, but you got to imagine
she got a bunch of of remember we're talking about
preschool kids, right, sort of costumes, doctor costumes and or
organized the day. Actually, I got a chance to be
(08:48):
a sort of sample patient and brought in adults to
be patients as their kids. As her kids were learning
about you know, going to the doctor and the medical practice.
And then they later went and took the feeld trips
to a animal shelter to learn about being a veterinarian.
It was the cutest thing. Those kids just lit up.
I saw that. I've seen teachers who have used owners
(09:13):
shoes to help their kids start businesses, like a teachers
who got a bunch of actually pretty fancy sort of
espresso machines that at first we were like, wait, what's
going on here? But actually what they did was they
created a school run and student run cafe right in
the school. I had a chance to visit that, and
it's you know, had a chance for the kids to
(09:35):
learn to apply their academic skills to running the business,
get a little entrepreneurship, and also create an amazing community
center where the staff and parents and families could actually
stop by and have that moment, you know, get it,
getting their latte at the school cafe. So it really
(09:56):
runs the gamut. I mean, there's no end to the
creativity that teachers bring.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Do you see patterns in what teachers need, what school needs,
for example, rural versus urban schools, or high poverty areas
as opposed to wealthier areas. Things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
We do, and so we see trends that happened both
geographically as you're describing, and by student demographic and also
over time because we've been in operation for twenty five
years now, so we have this twenty five year history
where we can see certain kinds of resources, certain kinds
(10:37):
of technology, and other sorts of things sort of you know,
grow and diminish in popularity. So you know, this may
be no surprise, but we see it so clearly in
the data. Teachers more and more are really being focused
on the mental health of their kids. And over the
last two years in particular, like for example, in our
(10:57):
teacher surveys, that's the number one concerned that teachers have
and so that's been a big trend. We have seen
a difference in you know, I spoke a little bit
about this idea of basic needs. We have a category
internally we call it warmth, care and hunger, and so
that includes food, pantries, you know, clothes, et cetera. We've
(11:20):
seen that grow, and we can see that targeted to
cities where the neatest greatest.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So all of those trends, you know, not surprisingly, but
basically it's a testament to the work that teachers do
to try to understand what's going on with their own students.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
What about changes over the last few years pre and
post pandemic in terms of classrooms.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yes, yeah, so the number one is those the focus
on mental health. Like, one way of thinking about it
is the teaching profession has always been hard, right, I
mean it it's from but it's really hard to be
a teacher in public schools. It was hard in twenty nineteen,
(12:06):
and then it got about ten or twenty times harder
because all the additional responsibilities that teachers had suddenly they
had to do with you know, all kinds of stuff
with new technology, you know, in addition to the same
kind of lesson planning that they had to do, but
do it remotely, do it hybrids. So teachers have had
add that to their place. And this new you know,
(12:31):
concern and awareness which we thankfully have on students whole
child wellbeing and mental health. Teachers are taking that on too,
and so so for example, Not only do we see
this focus on mental health in our surveys, but we
see teachers creating requests on Donors Choose for resources that
(12:53):
help them to create spaces in their classrooms. They're really
you know, when you become a public school teacher, it's
sort of you often are kind of of put into
a blank box as your classroom, and it's up to
you to outfit it. And so teachers are really trying
to create nooks and reading corners, and I mean I
was just looking at one today, you know, a cozy
(13:14):
reading retreat right in the classroom where kids could go
to read books, you know, so it's academic, but also
take brain breaks, you know, regulate emotions, and that's become
a part of what teachers, teachers work on, and that's
really accelerated over the last few years, you know, coming
out of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, and a lot of things that they try to
do with those classrooms is make the learning fun and
an environment where kids can be engaged. The website is
donors Choose dot org. Donors Choose dot org. Alex Carrier
is the CEO of the group. Thank you so much
for your time, the explanation and all the good you
(13:53):
guys are doing their Donors Choose appreciate.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It absolutely and thank you to your listeners. Listeners have
contributed so many nations. I'll say definitely come to donors
Choose dot org, but also visit donors Choose dot org slash.
iHeartRadio because this incredible partnership that we have and it's
really you know, your listeners that are that are driving it.
(14:15):
Let us celebrate and champion a bunch of teachers across
the country.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Just a reminder, if you have any questions or comments,
you can follow me on Instagram at iod MANNY as
my handle at iod m A and n Y. As
kids begin a new school year, a new survey from
the American Psychiatric Association shows that while most Americans want
schools to provide mental health education and connect students to support,
(14:42):
fewer belief teachers and staff are actually trained to spot
the warning sign. Let's talk about all of that in
a bigger picture of you of it all as we're
joined by Rall Andrews Juniors, Executive director of the American
Psychiatric Association Foundation. We're all I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Thank you so much much for having us.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
This new poll shows a strong support for mental health education.
Why do you think parents and kids feel so strongly
about that?
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Right now, we are continuing to hear and parents are
continuing to learn more and more every day about this
youth mental health crisis. But what they aren't seeing is
action that is either stemming the crisis or combating the
youth mental health crisis. And here we are yet another
school year and they want to see a different outcome.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Teachers aren't trained, school administrators aren't trained mental health professionals.
Do any of them have any required training?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
So we know that school administrators and school teachers are
getting some training, the rest of the school staff often
is not. And we're not trying to advocate that they
become experts in mental health. We just want them to
have tools, tips and resources that can help. And that's
why we've developed a platform called the Notice, Talk Acted
(16:01):
School program that we believe is like the stop, drop
and roll. Not gonna make you a first responder, but
you are gonna understand what's happening, and you're gonna understand
how to deal with the situation in front of you.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Sounds like see something, say something.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And do something. Yes, you got it exactly right.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So explain how the Notice Talk Act program at schools
is supposed to work in practice.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So let's walk through the program for your audience. Notice
Talk Acted School is about a two hour training for
all school staff, not just teachers and administrators. You can
be done on or offline, and you're gonna get three
key components. One, you're gonna notice signs and symptoms of
distress in students, what is the behavior that is out
(16:48):
of the ordinary or a typical. Two you're gonna learn
how to talk better and listen better through our teaching
model where you turn a difficult conversation about a tough
see object mental health into a courageous or a comfortable conversation.
And then finally act what are the appropriate and we
stress underlined three times what are the appropriate tools, tips
(17:12):
and resources to help this student in this situation at
this time.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You can find out more information by the way at
APAF dot org and it is one of the programs
their Notice Talk Act at school.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Where did this idea originate and why so?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Almost a decade ago, almost ten years ago, we were
trying through our doctors to come up with a way
to better reach out to the school community because we
weren't seeing the kind of educational academic outcomes we wanted
to have, and people were stuck. And so the program
was developed pre pandemic, but obviously some things changed or
(17:53):
shifted during the pandemic, and so we went out and
got grant funding and private donations to offer OTIS Talk
Act at school training free at no cost to any
k T well school in the United States or territories.
Doesn't cost the school any money, doesn't cost the features
in staff any money, and it doesn't cost the parents
(18:13):
or caregivers any money. We know everybody's pocketbooks are stacked,
So here's one resource that could come to you that
your tax dollars have already paid for. Why not make
it available as soon as possible.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Why do you think that we've seen this?
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Look, being a kid has always been difficult, right, being
a teenager especially you've got wild hormones and everything else
going crazy. Why do you think we've seen a dramatic
decline in the mental health of kids in our country
that was developing even before the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
So it has always been tough to be a kid.
But there's so many more things that our children have
access to now that we didn't have access to decades ago.
So with technology, the advances which we support, humans today
have more access to data, information than anybody who's ever
walked the planet. But can they digest that data as
(19:11):
it comes in? Are they getting a break from all
that information, misinformation and disinformation so that it could be
properly interpreted? And then how do we make sure that
somebody who nobody's meeting outside at three o'clock anymore to
settle disputes. They're in the dms, online and social media.
You can tell anybody anything anywhere in the world. And
(19:34):
so now you've got to grapple with all these things.
And we just want to make sure that the school
bus driver, the cafeteria worker, the coaches have the same
kind of training that is available to some administrators and teachers,
so that as a community we can get better outcomes
for all of our student scholars.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, you and I have to be for the same generation,
because we used to go out by the flagpole.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
At three o'clock after school. Our differences.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
You made me, that's right, you made me smile. We
had a lot less things to worry about back then.
Now you've got to worry about social media, guns, and
knives at school. What are some of the red flags
that school staff should be trained to recognize in students
in terms of potentially heading down a bad road in
(20:24):
a mental health crisis.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
So I'm going to talk about the three a's, but
these are not limited, and these are based on conversations
that I routinely have with our physician psychiatrists at the APA.
The first one is agitation. You know, are there is
the child easily or more easily agitated now than they
seem to have been in the past. Because we all
(20:46):
have bad days. So this isn't about notice talk act.
One time I'm seeing something that seems to be a
recurring situation, Now I've noticed something different. They're easily agitated
or irritated. Two. Loss of appetite sometimes is a sign
or a tell. Maybe they're on a diet that's approved.
We don't know, but a voracious eater all of a
(21:09):
sudden is never hungry, or they're just eating all the
wrong things at all the wrong times that they seem
to be. Just to be looking into it to see
if there's anything going on there. And then finally we
call it the apathy or walking away from situations. So
star athletes or entertainers in school. The student council president
(21:30):
abruptly resigns, you know, the captain of football team quits
the team. The cross country runner doesn't want to run anymore.
That can be perfectly natural, but I've noticed that there's
something different. Because they were going to be ranked in
the state. Now they don't want to have anything to
do with something they love. They're pulling away, they're isolating themselves.
Let's get into noticing and then talking about it with
(21:53):
the student after I have appropriate training and then what
are the appropriate tools, tips and resources that we can
bring to bear to this situation to help them. They
may not join the football team again, but if there
is something going on, we want to know about it
till we can help them.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
These sound like things that not only could a teacher
an administrator be watching out for, it sounds like something
parents need to be watching out for before the kids
even in school.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Absolutely, and more and more parents have reached out to
us to develop a platform for them, and we are
working on that as we speak. But the challenge is
they're not going to be there between seven forty five
and three thirty with their children when they're at school.
And what the poll tells us is that eighty five
percent of those parents and caregivers are worried what happens
(22:41):
when they leave my house or my apartment to go
to school. Is the school going to be ready for
them so they can get ready to.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Learn a few more minutes here with Rall Andrews Junior.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He's executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. You
could go to their website ap AF dot org and
go under programs there and look at the notice talk
act at schools program. What kind of results have you
seen in schools that have used this training?
Speaker 4 (23:14):
So here's what I want parents to know. Go to
APAF dot org. Slash schools is going to take you
right to the page where you can get the information.
We have seen a significant decrease in disciplinary referrals in
the ninetieth percentile for schools that have employed the training. Similarly,
we have seen a drop in truancy, which really is
(23:36):
important because we don't know why there's truancy, but we
want to get schools in the club. We think we're
sending them in school, they don't end up there. And then, finally,
the confidence that the teachers and staff have that the
coaches have, that the bus drivers have, that the cafeteria
workers and custodians have after they've taken the training, they're
grateful to have additional resources because now the entire academic community,
(24:02):
faculty and staff, is all calling the same plays at
the same time, and they know what to look out for.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
You mentioned the program has been out for about a
decade or so.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
How many schools, how many teachers, how many administrators have
taken the training?
Speaker 4 (24:17):
So I can tell you that over eighty two thousand
students have been impacted. Every school district's different, every school
is different, so it really is about the impact on
those eighty two thousand students, and I can tell you
this year. You know, we've already trained over a couple
of hundred schools in twenty twenty five, that includes last
(24:40):
academic year. But we still have a long way to go,
and we still have more work to do. So the
best thing to do APAF dot org slash schools and
either get that information and come to us if there
are questions, or get that link and take it to
the school or the school district and then they can
come to us and we'll do everything we can to.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Help We started off the conversation talking about the polling
and the fact that parents don't feel schools, teachers, administrators
are prepared to deal with these kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
What advice do you have for a parent who might.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Be listening, who's concerned that their school doesn't have the
resources or ability to spot these things. How can they
encourage them to take the program?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Well, if they won't go to APAF dot org slash schools,
we invite them to reach out to us and will
come to your school or your school district at no charge.
We'll also make ourselves available on Zoom or what other
digital platform that's out there. We're happy to talk to
parents about what's going on, what we see, what they're learning,
(25:47):
and how we can work together for better outcomes for
our students.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Is there any effort by your group to make this
part of a curriculum for somebody in university working to
get their teachings if it gets like that.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
So, we have worked with some schools I can tell
you most recently we were down at Mississippi State University
in Startsville. But yes, you're a spot on. If there
are colleges and universities, we think particularly at the graduate
school level, masters, and doctoral degrees. That just embedding this
training is important. But the other thing that we've done
(26:24):
we host the largest pipeline program for psychiatric trainees and
med students in the world, and we're introducing our training
to these MAD students and trainees. Some of these MAD
students may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better pediatricians.
They may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better heart surgeons.
(26:45):
They may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better gynecologists
because we're promoting whole health, not just mental health.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
What is a training like?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
So all of the above, but no doctors in the room.
We do have a doctor of medical education who needs
our program and she has conducted trainings, but these are
all non clinicians talking everyday issue mental health and well being.
So the reality of it is in two hours. Yes,
there is a part of the training where you look
at videos and case studies, but then there's some table
(27:16):
work where you actually get to work through model examples
of what might happen. And then there's pre and post
surveys as part of the curriculum. So we do a baseline,
preliminary assessment of where you are in the learning journey,
and then we come back to you after the training
is done a couple three times to see is the
(27:38):
training sticking and are you using the training and what
other supplementary material we can bring to bear. And then
the last piece of that is we have started doing
a train the trainer program because what we have found
when a trusted member of a community, a school community,
actually does the training with our resources, it really does
(27:58):
stick because you're not somebody from the outside invading trying
to dictate to me how I do something. This is
somebody in the community who knows what the community needs
and how the community best receives. This kind of information.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Strikes me that this would not only be beneficial in schools,
like we're discussing with this program in the workplace. Do
you have a notice talk act at work program.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
We have a Notice stock Active work program. We have
it translated into the ten most frequently used languages around
the world. I can tell you that Liberty Mutual, who
you see their commercials on TV all the time, they're
one of our clients. We have had Wendy's International work
with US and Baker Hughes Oil and Gas Company, among
(28:43):
others all who have rolled this train and out internationally.
We had one technology company that launched this thing originally
noticetock Active Work in Singapore and Taiwan, and then they
worked it around back to the United States. Tomorrow I'll
be talking about Notice Talk Act for elite athletes as
(29:03):
part of Fanweek with the US Open in New York City.
Noticeable it's back on, but it's just not caught on
all the.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Way understandable Notice Talk Act at school in the workplace.
You could go to the website APAF dot org slash
schools if you want to get more information. He's Roll Andrews,
Junior Executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. So
appreciate it for your time what you're trying to do
(29:30):
with this program.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Best of luck, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Man As always, I'd love a follow on Instagram and
I follow back at iod Manny is my handle at
iod M A.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
N N Y.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And that'll do it for another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I'm Manny Muno's Until next time.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's many Munho's.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
And welcome to another edition of iHeartRadio's Communities.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
As you heard, I am Manny Munyo's.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And I would love a follow from you on Instagram
at iod Manny is my handle at iod m a
n n Y. iHeartRadio has been conducting a fank a
Teacher campaign. That campaign has been powered by Donors Choose.
But what does donors Choose? Well, we're lucky to be
joined right now by Alex Carriere, the CEO of Donors Choose.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Alex, I appreciate the time, Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Oh Manny. First of all, thank you for having us.
We are so thrilled to be in partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, we've we've been having a great time with it
and for a worthy cause. Obviously, we'll get into that
in a moment.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
For those who don't know though, Donors Choose, let's start
off with that. How would you just describe the organization
in its simplest terms.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Sure, we are a nonprofit that supports public school teachers.
That's the heart of it. And the way that we
do that is we have an online platform, it's a
DonorsChoose dot org, and any public school teacher across the
country can come onto donors Choose and essentially create a
request for anything that they might need to meet the
(01:27):
needs of their students. And so we have teachers coming
on and requesting basic supplies or books or creative stuff,
and we read and vet all of those requests, make
sure we understand the learning objective, and then we post
them up online and through the generosity of an incredible
(01:48):
community of donors, folks come on the site and can
contribute to those requests, and then we sort of meet
the full amount or requests. It's a little bit un
like other crowdfunding platforms. We actually don't send the cash,
but we actually send the stuff itself to the school.
It becomes part of the school district's property. Everything's transparent,
(02:10):
just to make sure that everybody knows exactly what the
impact they're having is.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
And that's our quals Is that one of the things
that makes Donors Choose different from some of the other
education focused charities out there.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I think that there are a few things that
make us different, you know, I think we're in a
community that's all aimed at serving the needs of kids.
So in that aspect, I think we're similar to other organizations.
But some of the unique things about us are that
we're basically in every community in the country. You know,
when we last did our account, ninety percent of American
(02:45):
schools and I'm talking across the entire country have used
Donors Choose and we're trying to tick that up, you know,
getting closer to one hundred percent. So we're in every community,
and all of the teacher requests are actually viewable on
our site. And so even without donating anybody, you know,
you'ven need an account, right you can go on to
donors Choose and find the school, find one in your neighborhood,
(03:08):
and actually see what teachers are requesting online.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
It never ceases to amaze me, as someone who has
two elementary school age kids, how often teachers are requesting things,
and how one of the hot things, and you know,
the WhatsApp chats every year is the teachers the wish
list on Amazon. So it's amazing what you guys do
there Donors Choose. I didn't realize donors Shoo has been
(03:33):
around for a long time. How has the mission evolved
since it was initially created.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, so I joined donors Choose as CEO just about
three years ago, a little over that. But donor Shoes
was founded way back in two thousand. That's like ancient
history when we're talking about technology, right, stuff online, you know,
that's like several eras ago. It was one of the
first crowdfunding sites. In fact, I don't even think that
(04:04):
that word crowdfunding existed back at that point. And the
founder of donors Choose was a teacher. Actually I was
also a teacher. We were teaching at the same time,
but in different parts of the country. Charles Best, he
was teaching history high school in the Bronx. That started
in the Bronx, and it really just started as when
(04:24):
he saw that need. It's the same need that you're
seeing with your kids teachers. It's true today, it was
true back then, and he started up this little effort
to get materials and books for his fellow teachers at
that Bronx High school and then it just started to
(04:44):
grow from there. Now something that's say the same is
our core model, but what's changed is we now serve
way more schools, you know, We serve every ship code,
every district in the country, and we've also expanded and
kinds of requests that we can fulfill for teachers. And
so it started off, you know, sort of focused on books,
(05:07):
and we still do that, but we also do arts equipment,
we do sports equipment, we do all kinds of stuff
for teachers.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Maybe a rhetorical question.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
It strikes me that what I believe is the greatest
nation on Earth, the richest country on Earth, and we
have to crowdsource supplies for school kids and for teachers.
How do you decide what kind of projects qualify to
be posted at DonorsChoose dot organ and who gets whose
(05:38):
requests is granted.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, well, so we have we do vet every request,
but really our filter is just making sure that well,
one that we know it's a public school teacher and
we know where they teach, and so we can validate
you know, that it's an eligible teacher. The second thing
is we just read it and make sure that this
is a project that is focused on the needs of students.
(06:06):
And then the third is we make sure that the
stuff that's being requested and again it's all transparent on
our site, so anybody can can go on and look
at any project because you can actually see the list
of items, you know, and where they come from, like
what vendors, what stores, and we make sure that that
list of resources matches with you know, the project's description.
(06:29):
So we do all of that, but then, you know,
beyond that, we really have a lot of trust, frankly,
in what teachers are telling us their kids need. And
so we've had expansion into lots of different you know,
I kind of started to mention, you know, we serve
every subject area, you know, athletics, extracurriculars. We've had teachers
(06:52):
use donors choose to get bikes to teach kids how
to ride bikes. Actually, I had an amazing chance to
visit a school that had an incredible program to ensure
that low income kids had access to actually learn how
to ride bikes. It was really heartwarming. We have teachers
who use donors choose to supply some of the basic
needs of their kids, you know, And one of the
(07:14):
privileges of my job is that I get a chance
to actually go around the country and visit schools and
teachers that are using donors choose. And I've seen schools
create you know, coke closets where they stock up on
coats and backpacks for kids who have that need in
order to be successful in school. It really runs the gamut,
(07:36):
and we try to be pretty open to teachers telling
us actually what they need in order to meet their
kids' needs.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Have a few more minutes with Alex Carrier, CEO of
donors Choose. The website and you can check it out
yourself is DonorsChoose dot org. You mentioned the bicycle project
that had such an effect on you. What can you
mention two or three other inspiring classroom projects that you've
come across at Donors Choose?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I mean, can can we do another couple of sents? Like?
Let me there are so many like I there's an
amazing classroom that I've I've lived here in d C.
There's an amazing pre K classroom that I've visited, the
cutest kids at a school here where the incredible teacher
(08:27):
outfitted her classroom with the most amazing sort of inspirational
things like I'll describe it, but you got to imagine
she got a bunch of of remember we're talking about
preschool kids, right, sort of costumes, doctor costumes and or
organized the day. Actually, I got a chance to be
(08:48):
a sort of sample patient and brought in adults to
be patients as their kids. As her kids were learning
about you know, going to the doctor and the medical practice.
And then they later went and took the feeld trips
to a animal shelter to learn about being a veterinarian.
It was the cutest thing. Those kids just lit up.
I saw that. I've seen teachers who have used owners
(09:13):
shoes to help their kids start businesses, like a teachers
who got a bunch of actually pretty fancy sort of
espresso machines that at first we were like, wait, what's
going on here? But actually what they did was they
created a school run and student run cafe right in
the school. I had a chance to visit that, and
it's you know, had a chance for the kids to
(09:35):
learn to apply their academic skills to running the business,
get a little entrepreneurship, and also create an amazing community
center where the staff and parents and families could actually
stop by and have that moment, you know, get it,
getting their latte at the school cafe. So it really
(09:56):
runs the gamut. I mean, there's no end to the
creativity that teachers bring.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Do you see patterns in what teachers need, what school needs,
for example, rural versus urban schools, or high poverty areas
as opposed to wealthier areas. Things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
We do, and so we see trends that happened both
geographically as you're describing, and by student demographic and also
over time because we've been in operation for twenty five
years now, so we have this twenty five year history
where we can see certain kinds of resources, certain kinds
(10:37):
of technology, and other sorts of things sort of you know,
grow and diminish in popularity. So you know, this may
be no surprise, but we see it so clearly in
the data. Teachers more and more are really being focused
on the mental health of their kids. And over the
last two years in particular, like for example, in our
(10:57):
teacher surveys, that's the number one concerned that teachers have
and so that's been a big trend. We have seen
a difference in you know, I spoke a little bit
about this idea of basic needs. We have a category
internally we call it warmth, care and hunger, and so
that includes food, pantries, you know, clothes, et cetera. We've
(11:20):
seen that grow, and we can see that targeted to
cities where the neatest greatest.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So all of those trends, you know, not surprisingly, but
basically it's a testament to the work that teachers do
to try to understand what's going on with their own students.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
What about changes over the last few years pre and
post pandemic in terms of classrooms.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yes, yeah, so the number one is those the focus
on mental health. Like, one way of thinking about it
is the teaching profession has always been hard, right, I
mean it it's from but it's really hard to be
a teacher in public schools. It was hard in twenty nineteen,
(12:06):
and then it got about ten or twenty times harder
because all the additional responsibilities that teachers had suddenly they
had to do with you know, all kinds of stuff
with new technology, you know, in addition to the same
kind of lesson planning that they had to do, but
do it remotely, do it hybrids. So teachers have had
add that to their place. And this new you know,
(12:31):
concern and awareness which we thankfully have on students whole
child wellbeing and mental health. Teachers are taking that on too,
and so so for example, Not only do we see
this focus on mental health in our surveys, but we
see teachers creating requests on Donors Choose for resources that
(12:53):
help them to create spaces in their classrooms. They're really
you know, when you become a public school teacher, it's
sort of you often are kind of of put into
a blank box as your classroom, and it's up to
you to outfit it. And so teachers are really trying
to create nooks and reading corners, and I mean I
was just looking at one today, you know, a cozy
(13:14):
reading retreat right in the classroom where kids could go
to read books, you know, so it's academic, but also
take brain breaks, you know, regulate emotions, and that's become
a part of what teachers, teachers work on, and that's
really accelerated over the last few years, you know, coming
out of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, and a lot of things that they try to
do with those classrooms is make the learning fun and
an environment where kids can be engaged. The website is
donors Choose dot org. Donors Choose dot org. Alex Carrier
is the CEO of the group. Thank you so much
for your time, the explanation and all the good you
(13:53):
guys are doing their Donors Choose appreciate.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It absolutely and thank you to your listeners. Listeners have
contributed so many nations. I'll say definitely come to donors
Choose dot org, but also visit donors Choose dot org slash.
iHeartRadio because this incredible partnership that we have and it's
really you know, your listeners that are that are driving it.
(14:15):
Let us celebrate and champion a bunch of teachers across
the country.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Just a reminder, if you have any questions or comments,
you can follow me on Instagram at iod MANNY as
my handle at iod m A and n Y. As
kids begin a new school year, a new survey from
the American Psychiatric Association shows that while most Americans want
schools to provide mental health education and connect students to support,
(14:42):
fewer belief teachers and staff are actually trained to spot
the warning sign. Let's talk about all of that in
a bigger picture of you of it all as we're
joined by Rall Andrews Juniors, Executive director of the American
Psychiatric Association Foundation. We're all I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Thank you so much much for having us.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
This new poll shows a strong support for mental health education.
Why do you think parents and kids feel so strongly
about that?
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Right now, we are continuing to hear and parents are
continuing to learn more and more every day about this
youth mental health crisis. But what they aren't seeing is
action that is either stemming the crisis or combating the
youth mental health crisis. And here we are yet another
school year and they want to see a different outcome.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Teachers aren't trained, school administrators aren't trained mental health professionals.
Do any of them have any required training?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
So we know that school administrators and school teachers are
getting some training, the rest of the school staff often
is not. And we're not trying to advocate that they
become experts in mental health. We just want them to
have tools, tips and resources that can help. And that's
why we've developed a platform called the Notice, Talk Acted
(16:01):
School program that we believe is like the stop, drop
and roll. Not gonna make you a first responder, but
you are gonna understand what's happening, and you're gonna understand
how to deal with the situation in front of you.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Sounds like see something, say something.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And do something. Yes, you got it exactly right.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So explain how the Notice Talk Act program at schools
is supposed to work in practice.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So let's walk through the program for your audience. Notice
Talk Acted School is about a two hour training for
all school staff, not just teachers and administrators. You can
be done on or offline, and you're gonna get three
key components. One, you're gonna notice signs and symptoms of
distress in students, what is the behavior that is out
(16:48):
of the ordinary or a typical. Two you're gonna learn
how to talk better and listen better through our teaching
model where you turn a difficult conversation about a tough
see object mental health into a courageous or a comfortable conversation.
And then finally act what are the appropriate and we
stress underlined three times what are the appropriate tools, tips
(17:12):
and resources to help this student in this situation at
this time.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You can find out more information by the way at
APAF dot org and it is one of the programs
their Notice Talk Act at school.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Where did this idea originate and why so?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Almost a decade ago, almost ten years ago, we were
trying through our doctors to come up with a way
to better reach out to the school community because we
weren't seeing the kind of educational academic outcomes we wanted
to have, and people were stuck. And so the program
was developed pre pandemic, but obviously some things changed or
(17:53):
shifted during the pandemic, and so we went out and
got grant funding and private donations to offer OTIS Talk
Act at school training free at no cost to any
k T well school in the United States or territories.
Doesn't cost the school any money, doesn't cost the features
in staff any money, and it doesn't cost the parents
(18:13):
or caregivers any money. We know everybody's pocketbooks are stacked,
So here's one resource that could come to you that
your tax dollars have already paid for. Why not make
it available as soon as possible.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Why do you think that we've seen this?
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Look, being a kid has always been difficult, right, being
a teenager especially you've got wild hormones and everything else
going crazy. Why do you think we've seen a dramatic
decline in the mental health of kids in our country
that was developing even before the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
So it has always been tough to be a kid.
But there's so many more things that our children have
access to now that we didn't have access to decades ago.
So with technology, the advances which we support, humans today
have more access to data, information than anybody who's ever
walked the planet. But can they digest that data as
(19:11):
it comes in? Are they getting a break from all
that information, misinformation and disinformation so that it could be
properly interpreted? And then how do we make sure that
somebody who nobody's meeting outside at three o'clock anymore to
settle disputes. They're in the dms, online and social media.
You can tell anybody anything anywhere in the world. And
(19:34):
so now you've got to grapple with all these things.
And we just want to make sure that the school
bus driver, the cafeteria worker, the coaches have the same
kind of training that is available to some administrators and teachers,
so that as a community we can get better outcomes
for all of our student scholars.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, you and I have to be for the same generation,
because we used to go out by the flagpole.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
At three o'clock after school. Our differences.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
You made me, that's right, you made me smile. We
had a lot less things to worry about back then.
Now you've got to worry about social media, guns, and
knives at school. What are some of the red flags
that school staff should be trained to recognize in students
in terms of potentially heading down a bad road in
(20:24):
a mental health crisis.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
So I'm going to talk about the three a's, but
these are not limited, and these are based on conversations
that I routinely have with our physician psychiatrists at the APA.
The first one is agitation. You know, are there is
the child easily or more easily agitated now than they
seem to have been in the past. Because we all
(20:46):
have bad days. So this isn't about notice talk act.
One time I'm seeing something that seems to be a
recurring situation, Now I've noticed something different. They're easily agitated
or irritated. Two. Loss of appetite sometimes is a sign
or a tell. Maybe they're on a diet that's approved.
We don't know, but a voracious eater all of a
(21:09):
sudden is never hungry, or they're just eating all the
wrong things at all the wrong times that they seem
to be. Just to be looking into it to see
if there's anything going on there. And then finally we
call it the apathy or walking away from situations. So
star athletes or entertainers in school. The student council president
(21:30):
abruptly resigns, you know, the captain of football team quits
the team. The cross country runner doesn't want to run anymore.
That can be perfectly natural, but I've noticed that there's
something different. Because they were going to be ranked in
the state. Now they don't want to have anything to
do with something they love. They're pulling away, they're isolating themselves.
Let's get into noticing and then talking about it with
(21:53):
the student after I have appropriate training and then what
are the appropriate tools, tips and resources that we can
bring to bear to this situation to help them. They
may not join the football team again, but if there
is something going on, we want to know about it
till we can help them.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
These sound like things that not only could a teacher
an administrator be watching out for, it sounds like something
parents need to be watching out for before the kids
even in school.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Absolutely, and more and more parents have reached out to
us to develop a platform for them, and we are
working on that as we speak. But the challenge is
they're not going to be there between seven forty five
and three thirty with their children when they're at school.
And what the poll tells us is that eighty five
percent of those parents and caregivers are worried what happens
(22:41):
when they leave my house or my apartment to go
to school. Is the school going to be ready for
them so they can get ready to.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Learn a few more minutes here with Rall Andrews Junior.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He's executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. You
could go to their website ap AF dot org and
go under programs there and look at the notice talk
act at schools program. What kind of results have you
seen in schools that have used this training?
Speaker 4 (23:14):
So here's what I want parents to know. Go to
APAF dot org. Slash schools is going to take you
right to the page where you can get the information.
We have seen a significant decrease in disciplinary referrals in
the ninetieth percentile for schools that have employed the training. Similarly,
we have seen a drop in truancy, which really is
(23:36):
important because we don't know why there's truancy, but we
want to get schools in the club. We think we're
sending them in school, they don't end up there. And then, finally,
the confidence that the teachers and staff have that the
coaches have, that the bus drivers have, that the cafeteria
workers and custodians have after they've taken the training, they're
grateful to have additional resources because now the entire academic community,
(24:02):
faculty and staff, is all calling the same plays at
the same time, and they know what to look out for.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
You mentioned the program has been out for about a
decade or so.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
How many schools, how many teachers, how many administrators have
taken the training?
Speaker 4 (24:17):
So I can tell you that over eighty two thousand
students have been impacted. Every school district's different, every school
is different, so it really is about the impact on
those eighty two thousand students, and I can tell you
this year. You know, we've already trained over a couple
of hundred schools in twenty twenty five, that includes last
(24:40):
academic year. But we still have a long way to go,
and we still have more work to do. So the
best thing to do APAF dot org slash schools and
either get that information and come to us if there
are questions, or get that link and take it to
the school or the school district and then they can
come to us and we'll do everything we can to.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Help We started off the conversation talking about the polling
and the fact that parents don't feel schools, teachers, administrators
are prepared to deal with these kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
What advice do you have for a parent who might.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Be listening, who's concerned that their school doesn't have the
resources or ability to spot these things. How can they
encourage them to take the program?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Well, if they won't go to APAF dot org slash schools,
we invite them to reach out to us and will
come to your school or your school district at no charge.
We'll also make ourselves available on Zoom or what other
digital platform that's out there. We're happy to talk to
parents about what's going on, what we see, what they're learning,
(25:47):
and how we can work together for better outcomes for
our students.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Is there any effort by your group to make this
part of a curriculum for somebody in university working to
get their teachings if it gets like that.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
So, we have worked with some schools I can tell
you most recently we were down at Mississippi State University
in Startsville. But yes, you're a spot on. If there
are colleges and universities, we think particularly at the graduate
school level, masters, and doctoral degrees. That just embedding this
training is important. But the other thing that we've done
(26:24):
we host the largest pipeline program for psychiatric trainees and
med students in the world, and we're introducing our training
to these MAD students and trainees. Some of these MAD
students may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better pediatricians.
They may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better heart surgeons.
(26:45):
They may never be psychiatrists, but they'll be better gynecologists
because we're promoting whole health, not just mental health.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
What is a training like?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
So all of the above, but no doctors in the room.
We do have a doctor of medical education who needs
our program and she has conducted trainings, but these are
all non clinicians talking everyday issue mental health and well being.
So the reality of it is in two hours. Yes,
there is a part of the training where you look
at videos and case studies, but then there's some table
(27:16):
work where you actually get to work through model examples
of what might happen. And then there's pre and post
surveys as part of the curriculum. So we do a baseline,
preliminary assessment of where you are in the learning journey,
and then we come back to you after the training
is done a couple three times to see is the
(27:38):
training sticking and are you using the training and what
other supplementary material we can bring to bear. And then
the last piece of that is we have started doing
a train the trainer program because what we have found
when a trusted member of a community, a school community,
actually does the training with our resources, it really does
(27:58):
stick because you're not somebody from the outside invading trying
to dictate to me how I do something. This is
somebody in the community who knows what the community needs
and how the community best receives. This kind of information.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Strikes me that this would not only be beneficial in schools,
like we're discussing with this program in the workplace. Do
you have a notice talk act at work program.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
We have a Notice stock Active work program. We have
it translated into the ten most frequently used languages around
the world. I can tell you that Liberty Mutual, who
you see their commercials on TV all the time, they're
one of our clients. We have had Wendy's International work
with US and Baker Hughes Oil and Gas Company, among
(28:43):
others all who have rolled this train and out internationally.
We had one technology company that launched this thing originally
noticetock Active Work in Singapore and Taiwan, and then they
worked it around back to the United States. Tomorrow I'll
be talking about Notice Talk Act for elite athletes as
(29:03):
part of Fanweek with the US Open in New York City.
Noticeable it's back on, but it's just not caught on
all the.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Way understandable Notice Talk Act at school in the workplace.
You could go to the website APAF dot org slash
schools if you want to get more information. He's Roll Andrews,
Junior Executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. So
appreciate it for your time what you're trying to do
(29:30):
with this program.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Best of luck, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Man As always, I'd love a follow on Instagram and
I follow back at iod Manny is my handle at
iod M A.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
N N Y.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And that'll do it for another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I'm Manny Muno's Until next time.
Host
Manny Munoz
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.