Tag: education

Meghann Henry’s Tool for Leading What If Puppets? Diversity is Key.

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By Sophia-Joelle Oswald
Photos by Travis Young

Meghann Henry stepped into a man’s legacy and made it her own when she joined What if Puppets just a few years ago. What started as a team of three has grown to 11 team members led by Henry who are making a large impact on the Kansas City community. 

These days the group leans heavily into knocking down barriers. No longer male-dominated, they’re creating characters who depict a range of people who face unique challenges and come from all walks of life. An effort has been made to hire women and non-binary folks—so there’s diverse representation in everything What If Puppets does.

We sat down with Henry to discuss what it’s like to be a woman in puppetry, the impact What if Puppets has on the community, and what we can look forward to in 2023.

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Teaching During the Pandemic is Rife with Struggles—for Teachers and Students Alike.

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By Erin Gabriel
Illustrations by Kelcie McKenney

CW: Trauma and abuse

“A good teacher is like a candle, that consumes itself to light the way for others.” 

– Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

This quote is often haphazardly thrown around in the teaching profession by well-intentioned people trying to highlight how essential the role of a teacher is. However, I cannot think of any other profession, other than healthcare workers—who are paid significantly better than teachers—where you are expected to “consume” yourself to be considered great or even just good at your job. 

This is my fourth year teaching, and I am just about to turn 26. As someone young and still relatively new to the profession, I’m not surprised I ended up here. I always had a firm idea that I’d be in a helping field—plus it didn’t hurt that all the personality and career tests I took listed teaching as a top profession for me. I excelled in school (besides math which literally made me puke), and enjoyed the organization of it all, the comfort of routine, and the opportunity education afforded me. Plus, I’ve always been an avid reader, so I felt that made me uniquely suited to teach English. Overall, most teachers get into teaching for one of two reasons: They love the idea of teaching the content or they love the idea of building relationships with students. I fit into the latter category. 

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New National SASH Club Program Empowers Youth to Confront Sexual Harassment and Assault

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By Nicole Mitchell

When I was in high school, I was sexually harassed. This boy, a year older than me, would follow me around school daily, which made me uncomfortable. One time I even remember him pretending to drop something so he could look up my skirt. Actually, I wasn’t the only person he did that to. There were plenty of other young high school girls going through the same thing because of this person. At the time, there was nothing I could do about it. I was confused and had nowhere to go.

This has to change, and thankfully, there are programs being put in place that will help young people understand what sexual harassment really is and take a stand against it today. Stop Sexual Assault in Schools has created and launched its new initiative SASH Club to empower youth ages 13+ to take action against sexual harassment and assault.

SASH Club provides a set of free online, ready-to-use tools on their website for teens of all genders, races, ethnicities, and orientations to start the discussion and educate themselves and others about sexual harassment and assault, support survivors, and make real change in their schools and communities.

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