SEEd & Growth: The Harvest Is Plenteous but the Laborers Are Few

Dr. Jacqui Virgil examines rising school safety failures, bullying, and widespread school closures, questioning whether homeschooling is a viable option for protecting children. Using recent cases — a fatal bus stop fight, an assault on a special-needs child, and closure statistics — she urges parents to rethink the public school system and consider concrete steps to keep kids safe and learning.

Dr. Jacqui Virgil breaks down the real requirements for student-athletes aiming to compete at the collegiate level. It’s not just about talent on the field—it’s about transcripts, time management, and tenacity. Dr. Virgil walks us through what college recruiters are actually looking for—from NCAA eligibility standards and academic GPA minimums to SAT/ACT benchmarks and course loads. She also dispe...

As backpacks are traded for suitcases and acceptance letters turn into move-in dates, parents are left navigating a quiet yet powerful transition. In this episode of SEEd & Growth, Dr. Jacqui Virgil opens the conversation that too often goes unspoken: How are parents really doing when their children head off to college?   Through the lens of lived experience and educational insight, Dr. Virgil...

In this deeply moving finale of The Cost of Illiteracy series, Dr. Jacqui Virgil closes with raw honesty in Help Me, See Me. For the first time on the podcast, she shares her personal story as a student—one marked by pain, isolation, and the struggle to be seen within a system not designed to recognize her brilliance. This episode was difficult to record, as it resurfaced many traumatic memories f...

In Part II, we unpack the emotional and spiritual implications of teaching to the whole child, highlighting how identity, language, and environment intersect to shape learning. We address the structural barriers that often exclude neurodivergent learners and examine the role of educators, families, and communities in dismantling them.

In this thought-provoking episode of SEEd & Growth, we delve into the powerful intersection of neurological differences and literacy with our featured discussion, “In My Right Mind.” This episode challenges the dominant narrative around what it means to be “right-minded” by exploring how cognitive variation—often mislabeled as disorder—can be a source of innovation, resilience, and brilliance...

In Part Two of Sufficient Deception, we continue to conversation and dive deeper into the implications of Alabama’s shifting language around reading proficiency.   This episode unpacks how “sufficient progress" is strategically used to blur lines between growth and grade-level mastery. We reveal how these euphemisms, while politically convenient, have real-world consequences: they contribute to gr...

In this thought-provoking episode of SEEd & Growth, we uncover the quietly dangerous shift happening in Alabama’s education system—one that’s reshaping how we talk about student reading achievement, and ultimately, how we understand learning itself.   Titled Sufficient Deception, this episode exposes how language is being weaponized to mask the persistent literacy crisis among young learners....

In this powerful episode of SEEd & Growth, Dr. Jacqui Virgil is joined once again by The Queen Bathsheba to explore the real and often overlooked consequences of illiteracy. Together, they unpack how the inability to read proficiently affects far more than academic performance—it impacts everything from employment opportunities and health outcomes to incarceration rates and generational cycles...

In this continued segment, host Dr. Jacqui Virgil and special guest The Queen Bathsheba pick up right where they left off—diving deeper into the systemic challenges, cultural implications, and untapped potential behind Georgia’s alarming early literacy gap. This continuation isn’t just a follow-up—it’s a call to keep listening, keep questioning, and keep building. If you felt the fire in the first...

In the premiere episode of Seed & Growth, Dr. Jacqui Virgil—educator, innovator, and Executive Partner at Cage Free Voices—hosts a powerful conversation with The Queen Bathsheba, a nationally recognized EdTech strategist and neurodiversity advocate. Dr. Virgil, known for her leadership in equity-driven learning and adolescent development, brings a neuro-inclusive lens to the staggering data po...

SEEd & Growth is your go-to podcast for insightful conversations and expert perspectives on the pressing issues shaping education today. Designed for parents, educators, and community members, each episode explores the challenges and opportunities that influence student academic success — from curriculum changes and equity in education to mental health, technology, and community engagement. Ou...