South Phoenix Oral History Project

Jon Newman-Gonchar is the head volleyball coach at University of New Mexico. In April 2020, he called in to talk with Summer and Cody about the new challenges facing higher education and athletics. Jon's watershed moment was on March 17th when a recruiting trip was cancelled and UNM's Spring Break was extended. "The next thing we knew, it was all moving online." He's missi...

Brittney Matta in the head softball coach at South Mountain Community College . In her first year as a head coach, Brittney's program was cut in the middle of the season. The setbacks seemed enormous, and Brittney tries to continue coaching despite the new challenges of COVID19. She tries to keep a team motto, "Greatness is a way of life" front and center in her mind. For Brittney,...

Donna Philippot is a Middle School Drama, Language, and Literature teacher at Hopkins West Junior High near Minneapolis, MN. She joined us today to talk about overhauling her classes into an online system in only a matter of weeks. For Donna, it seemed the watershed moments kept coming, as COVID19 affected her both personally and professionally. When she worries about her students, she emails, cal...

Today's episode is a conversation with the team behind Black in Engineering . Drs. Carlotta Berry (Rose-Hulman University ); Brooke Coley (Arizona State University) ; Leroy Long III (Embry-Riddle, FL) ; Tahira Reid (Purdue) ; and Monica F. Cox (Ohio State) called in to talk about their moving video, "Black Engineering Faculty Speak."  Their collaboration is a true testament to brave...

Denise El Habach (BryantDee@gmail.com) is a High School Counselor in Phoenix, Arizona. When we talked in April, she was just about to send off the graduating class of 2020 from Moon Valley High School . Denise was surprised to discover in the quarantine just how much she was able to reach out and help students and parents. As for lows, she was sad for the high school seniors who missed out on the...

Dawne Anderson is an adjunct instructor teaching English Composition at South Mountain Community College. She's used to living on her own, knitting and painting in her home, so the quarantine wasn't a difficult adjustment for Dawne. However, she does feel lonely at times, and misses getting sufficient exercise during the sweltering Arizona summer. For Dawne, the watershed moment was arou...

Miranda Rivers   from the US Institute of Peace joins us to talk about nonviolent action, protest, and social change in the #COVID19era. She's the first people we've interviewed outside of the field of education to get some perspective on the role of schools, teachers, and students in the move toward a better future. Miranda's watershed moment was the national reaction to the murder...

Today we talk with Paul ( @berlin_and_company ) who is a student and future history teacher at South Mountain Community College ( @SouthMountaincc ). Paul shares how COVID19 has affected his home and work life. He loves studying history, and reflects on how 2020 has been a historic year for him. Hear Paul's interview wherever you get your podcasts . Show notes:  Check out Paul's custom-m...

Summer and Andrea are back at it with a look at all that happened in the week of July 13th, 2020.  Weekly Recap Highlights: New episodes!  "Sit in the Discomfort" with Guy Goodman of South Mountain Community College "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times" with Jessamyn Neuhaus of SUNY Plattsburgh . (@GeekyPedagogy) Student essays: Lashonna's faith keeps her centered during...

Meet Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus ( @GeekyPedagogy ), Professor of Popular Culture and History at State University of New York, Plattsburgh. Dr. Neuhaus is the recently named Interim Director of her campus' Center for Teaching Excellence . She's greeting the challenge head-on, learning for the first time how to teach online while also navigating the new realities of #TeachingintheCOVID19era. Lik...

Today's interview is with Guy Goodman, Dean of Enrollment Services at South Mountain Community College . Our conversation with Guy included discussions of historical and modern-day lynchings, the urgent need for change now, and the hopes he has for the future. Guy reflects on the responsibilities we as educators hold to embody social change. He complicates our understanding of conduct and dis...

Back in the studio, talking all things #COVID19, #BlackLivesMatter, and #CulturallyRelevantTeaching. We remind ourselves  of the Your Divided Classroom concept. We ask age old questions, like "Are we the sum total of 5 with whom we spend the most time?" " Where did the term social distancing come from? " "What can I do?" and, "How many pumpkins does one person ne...

Today we talk with Megan, an inspirational college student. When Megan had to move home from college, she found herself missing her routine and friends at Texas A&M, while trying to figure out how to succeed in online classes. Megan is majoring in molecular and cell biology, and hoping to go to medical school in the future. In the middle of the semester, her lab classes were switched to online...

Today's interview with Dr. Timothy K. Eatman invites us to expand instead of shrink, create instead of cower, and stretch beyond our reach. Dr. Eatman is the Inaugural Dean of the Honors Living-Learning Community at Rutgers University , where he is also Association Professor of Urban Education. Professor Eatman studies, writes, and teaches about the power of imagination. His interview is pass...

Oh wow! So much has changed since March.  We kept finding that our conversations centered around topics of race, privilege, and equity. As a result, we decided to bring on a new co-host.  Meet Andrea Rivers - English Faculty at South Mountain Community College and Social Justice Warrior! Andrea is an expert and facilitator on race & privilege. She is currently working on a PhD, focusing on equ...

Today we talk with Dr. Kevin Kelly, consultant, lecturer, and higher education scholar. Kevin, who teaches a class called "How to Learn from Your Mobile Device" at San Francisco State University, gives us lots to think about when it comes to developing meaningful online classes in the context of a global pandemic. He suggests a variety of creative solutions to questions like, "What...

Join us today for a conversation with Andrea Rivers, English Faculty at South Mountain Community College. Andrea's pursuing a PhD that focuses on race, cultural relevance, and teaching at Arizona State University. In her discussion with Summer, Andrea conveys the shifting realities of the COVID19 era, as our perspectives change to include conversations about black struggles, violence against...

Today's episode, "What is Juneteenth? (in 8 minutes and 46 seconds)" will be released at 8:46 am. Our choice to highlight 8:46 is in commemoration of the death of George Floyd . Written by English Professor Andrea Rivers, this brief history of Juneteenth explains the origins of the holiday and its contemporary significance in the year 2020. It features information about the national...

Today's episode is a conversation with Chandra, a recent graduate from South Mountain Community College. After a lot of hard work, Chandra was gearing up for a well-deserved commencement celebration. But when the graduation ceremony was cancelled in Spring 2020, Chandra was disappointed. During the quarantine, however, Chandra is maintaining high spirits by focusing on her faith. She's a...

Today's episode is an early interview with Summer and Liz Warren. Liz and Summer collaborate regularly at South Mountain Community College. Listen to them talk through the initial shock of the rapid move to online teaching and telecommuting.  Liz Warren is the founding director of the Storytelling Institute , the first program in the country to offer an academic certificate in Storytelling. S...

Dr. Jean Beaman called in to talk about the realities of living through history and societal change. She discusses the racial and social realities of COVID19, and dispels the notion that the pandemic is the "great equalizer." She also considers the spring 2020 protests regarding the death of George Floyd, and how they are connected to the coronavirus. Dr. Beaman is Assistant Professor of...

Today's episode combines six student stories. Each narrator  was asked, "How has COVID19 affected your life as a student?" They responded in a variety of ways.  I'm worried about my wife, who is in the armed forces.  Am I risking the health of my family by keeping my essential job?  How can I learn public speaking in an online class? Sometimes I forget I'm a student becaus...

Clarissa was supposed to walk in the commencement ceremony for her AA from South Mountain Community College in the Spring of 2020. But she's not letting the cancelled ceremony get her down. She says, "I have another graduation" to look forward to, when she transfers to a university for her Bachelor's degree. In the last few weeks of the semester, she was spending a ton of time...

In this week's roundup, Cody and Summer discuss themes and patterns in episodes, interviews, and posts from the first week of May.  Highlights from the Weekly Roundup V: Cody and Summer are elated with their new dual microphone setup!  National Teacher Appreciation Week - we dropped a new episode every day featuring a classroom teacher.  Reviews of each episodes: Phillip Martinez , Stephanie...

It's National Teacher Appreciation Week! To celebrate, we are dropping an episode every day during the week of May 4-8th. Each episode will feature an interview with a classroom (K-12) teacher. Lalo Quezada is a special education teacher for the Long Beach Unified School District. He is an expert in teaching mobility and orientation to students with visual impairments. He dropped in to talk a...