Early Childhood Journeys

Episode 56 features a Kindergarten Virtual Zoom Chat that was converted to an audio podcast with light editing for clarity.

Guests, Lauren Degregorio is a K-1 teacher in New Mexico, previously a Kindergarten Teacher in Arizona. Catherine Norwood is an Arizona Instructional Coach for an Arizona school district. Both Educators are connected thru AZ's The Kindergarten Experience past grant work with podcast host Marissa Calderón.

Di...

In Episode 55, Carla Rivera-Cruz is back on the podcast to talk about current events involving the oppressive policies and systems in the classroom and at the school board level. The conversation includes the reference of the video, The Four I's of Oppression and how it connects to her work in Education. Carla is a former classroom teacher and school board member as well as the co-host of #LatinasInED with host Marissa. Carla does ...

Episode 54 is with advocate and outspoken champion for BIPOC, Lark Sontag from the Will Start Small Collective.

Lark's points include a very honest and uncomfortable array of topics regarding the current injustices of COVID, how child care is rooted in oppressive policies and how much of the programming in early childhood is for the benefit of white populations that hold power. Take a deep breath in this hard-hitting episode and be ...

Episode 53 is with guest and Arizona early childhood education colleague, Tina Sykes. Tina Sykes is a social justice advocate, a poet a wife and parent to three children. Our conversations about the recent murder of #GeorgeFloyd online sparked an opportunity to have a candid conversation on the podcast about racism, white centric views in early childhood and the connection of social emotional development in social justice work. Thi...

Season 3 debuts and podcast host, Marissa Calderón updates everyone on being on hiatus and launches the new season addressing homeschool during COVID19 with past guest and K-6 Instructional Coach in Arizona, Catherine Norwood.

Catherine and Marissa discuss what the focus should be for teachers during the last weeks of virtual school, what parents can do to help their children get thru the summer and the urgent need to build childre...

Episode 51 of the podcast with host Marissa Calderón and guest, Diana Brown Certified Instructor from Conscious Discipline. Diana shares a bit of her background as a classroom teacher and how she began to train for Dr. Becky Baileys, Conscious Discipline philosophy. Conscious Discipline is a "Transformational Social-Emotional Learning and Classroom Management" system. Many tips and strategies are also sh...

Episode 50 marks a milestone of the podcast! Join host, Marissa chat with the Executive Director of the Arizona Educational Foundation, Kim Graham. Kim shares all of the resources and mentorship programs and initiatives available for incoming teachers and seasoned educators overall. AEF believes that "amazing things happen in schools every day.

Their mission is to identify, support and celebrate excellence in Pre-K-12th grade Arizon...

Episode 49 is with the newly elected Superintendent of Arizona's Department of Education, Kathy Hoffman. With her historic electoral win, Marissa and Kathy discuss some of the past campaign rhetoric and the current legislative progress for education she's helped with. We get some additional information on the current education policy focus and what we may expect in the coming year. Superintendent Hoffman's personal background is al...

Episode 48, host Marissa Calderón chats with Denisse Hernandez de Ortiz, Senior Program Manager for United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. United Way of Tucson has an array of services including an Early Childhood Component and grant initiatives for the region. Denisse is not only a parent of a Kindergartner but her background in supporting early childhood practitioners and parents provides listeners some insights on these type...

Episode 47 is the first of a series of Kindergarten Readiness Tips and Insight episodes! Joined by Sierra Vista Unified School District in Arizona, Kindergarten Teacher, Julie Decuir. Podcast host, Marissa and Julie chat about the true skills future kindergartners need vs what some parents may think their child needs to master for school. Julie has been a Kindergarten teacher for 17 years and she shares her tips and insights for pa...

Episode 46 is with a very special guest. Podcast host, Marissa chats with her own daughter, Salma, who is a High School Senior. Salma shares her confessions about her destain feelings on homework packets, math and other high school frustrations. She can't wait for graduation and shares her plans for the future. A connection with Early Childhood and a candid conversation every parent of a teenager can relate to with added insights f...

Episode 45 is with Kristen L. Orton! Kristen is a Kindergarten teacher at Vernon Elementary School in Vernon Arizona. Vernon is a very rural community in Apache County, in the White Mountains area of Northern Arizona. She was recently hired last year to teach Kindergarten and if she wasn't busy enough finishing her Masters, she had the vision that the K-8 school she was just hired at, also needed a preschool classroom. After a in-d...

Episode 44 with Arizona Educational Foundations 2019 Teacher of the Year, Kareem Neal and three of the four Ambassadors for Excellence, Jonathan Perrone, Sheri Loyd and Lee Ann Howell sit down with host, Marissa Calderón. The interview took place at the Highway 85 Creative podcast studio in Peoria Arizona and they chat about their journey in receiving the recognition and how the community can support their work in the classroom.

Thi...

Episode 43 with Tina Martin from Southwest Human Development, Services for Children with Disabilities. Tina has been with Southwest Human Development since 1997 and is now the Assistant Director for this department. She provides us with her story on how she came across the Early Intervention field as well as a tour of the Birth to Five ADAPT Shop. This shop focuses on changing lives — identifying, modifying and building customized ...

Episode 42 is with comic book artist and creator of Jetpulse Comics, Led Bradshaw. Led is also dad to his 8 year old son, Jake who is on the autism spectrum and the inspiration of his phenomenal comic book hero Jake Jetpulse. In this conversation with host, Marissa Calderón, they discuss parenting, how his son Jake created the initial character of the comics through his drawings and how dad Led created superhero flashcards and late...

Episode 41 with host Marissa Calderón reflecting on an upcoming blog post, soon to be released on the Mexican art of Alebrijes. She provides some guides on how to connect students interest authentically while incorporating 21st Century Skills in the classroom.

For the full blog post on lesson guides for Alebrijes & 21st Century Skills in the Early Childhood classroom and to learn more, visit the website at, earlychildhoodjo...

Ep. 40 with Ana Arbel from Arizona's Southwest Human Development, Birth to Five Helpline. Ana talks about the toll-free hotline for parents of children birth to five, describing it as having a professional friend... who is well-informed and trained in all things Child Development and keeps your conversation confidential!

The hotline is toll-free AND multilingual including in Spanish. Ana is the Bilingual Senior Program Manager of t...

Ep. 39 is with Marissa Flores from the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Community, Education Division's Early Childhood department. Marissa is a parent educator and Home Visiting Specialist, serving families on the FMYN. Host, Marissa Calderón chats with Marissa Flores about her role on the nation, living with her 8 siblings, being raised by her mom and starting the position of supporting parents with children birth to 3 years old.

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Episode 38 with Legislative District 30 Arizona Candidate, Raquel Terán chats with host and past colleague, Marissa. Raquel shares her foundation in early education when she first started years ago in the classroom, then to roles in the early childhood sector and now at Planned Parenthood in Arizona. As a wife, a mom of a toddler and now a local candidate for Arizona's House of Representatives, she passionately shares about her jou...