Learn Fresh Podcast
23 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsJoin Nick Monzi and Calvin Sibert of Learn Fresh as they explore fundamental issues impacting education today. Sibert (aka "The Game Changer of Education") and Monzi discuss topics including racial and gender equity, innovative learning models, cross-sector collaboration in education, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education landscape. Along the way, they will be joined by guests from across education who will share their perspectives!
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Episodes
Reflecting on the 2017 NBA Math Hoops National Championship
July 20, 2023 16:50 - 1 hour - 55 MBIn this week’s episode, Nick and Calvin sit down with Mariana Rivera, an educator from San Francisco, California. Mariana is a longtime NBA Math Hoops program educator at Bay Area Community Resources, and in 2017, her students Angela and Patricia Rodas attended and won the inaugural NBA Math Hoops National Championship. Throughout the conversation, the group recaps the memorable 2017 season and the experience of the first National Championship event.
Pro Basketball Player Kayla Alexander on Education, Sports, and Creative Pursuits
May 05, 2023 15:19 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBJoin Nick and Calvin in this week's episode as they sit down with Kayla Alexander, professional basketball player, author, and Learn Fresh board member. Kayla shares her passion for education and her inspiring journey as a division 1 athlete, and also speaks about her children's book, The Magic of Basketball. Tune in to gain insights into Kayla's multifaceted career and her dedication to achieving equity in education. To learn more about Learn Fresh, visit learnfresh.org. Email u...
Digital Game Development and STEM Education with Clevyr
April 10, 2023 18:25 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBIn this week’s episode, Nick and Calvin sit down with a group from Clevyr, an application and development firm from Oklahoma City, OK. Clevyr is the developer of the NBA Math Hoops apps and the NBA Math Hoops digital game, and we have worked closely with them to build out Learn Fresh digital tools for students and educators. Nick and Calvin are joined by Kelli Matthews, Strategic Account Manager, Tim Giddens, Senior Software Developer, and Nick Duttwyler, Senior Software Developer. ...
STEM Education and Sports Careers With Jesse Smith Thomas
March 08, 2023 15:35 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBIn this week’s episode, Nick and Calvin sit down with Jesse Smith Thomas, Partnership Marketing Manager at the Los Angeles Rams and formerly at the New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints. Jess shares her transition from a career in STEM to a career in professional sports in her late 20s, and how her STEM education benefited her in this career shift. The three discuss the role of partnership marketing within professional sports teams and how cross industry partnerships have the ...
Colleen Serafini, Learn Fresh Chief Program Officer
February 12, 2023 16:57 - 40 minutes - 46.4 MBMeet Learn Fresh’s Chief Program Officer, Colleen Serafini! In this episode, Colleen sits down with Nick and Calvin to share discuss her career in education, her journey to joining Learn Fresh, and reflections on Learn Fresh's work and mission. Colleen was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended University of California Berkeley. Her first position after graduation was with AmeriCorps VISTA at a middle school in Berkeley, CA supporting youth as an Academic Coordin...
Sports Journalism and Community in Detroit with Eric Woodyard
July 11, 2022 18:39 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBIn Episode 16, Nick and Calvin chop it up with Eric Woodyard, an award-winning journalist and author from Flint, Michigan. Eric is currently the NFL Nation reporter for the Detroit Lions at ESPN, where he also covers basketball and boxing. Eric has appeared on ESPN’s “The Jump,” “E:60”, and “Outside the Lines”, and was awarded first place for Best Sports Story and Best Sports Feature categories in 2012 and 2015 by the Michigan Associated Press. Throughout the conversation, Eric shar...
Expanding Access to STEM learning with Gemma Lenowitz and Uchenna Ezibe
July 05, 2022 19:44 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBIn Episode 15, Nick and Calvin welcome Gemma Lenowitz, Program Officer, and Uchenna Ezibe, Program Analysts with the Overdeck Family Foundation’s Inspired Minds portfolio. The Inspired Minds portfolio supports direct impact and ecosystem organizations that expand access to high-quality out-of-school STEM learning experiences that deepen family engagement, build STEM mindsets, and inspire students with joyful and rigorous learning. Learn Fresh has been a grantee of the Inspired Min...
NBA Math Hoops Alum Daivion Smith
June 06, 2022 19:26 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBNick and Calvin speak with Calvin’s former student and NBA Math Hoops alumnus Daivion Smith. Daivion shares his experience participating in the first NBA Math Hoops National Championship, and how his journey through the program helped shape the student and person he is today. Daivion’s experience in the first annual NBA Math Hoops National Championship was featured in ‘An NBA Math Hoops Story’, a mini-doc available to view on the Learn Fresh Youtube Channel. To learn more about Le...
Meet the Game Changer of Education: Calvin Sibert
May 25, 2022 22:34 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBIn this episode, Calvin shares his journey as an educator, from a young man with aspirations for the NBA to the ‘Game Changer of Education’. Calvin and Nick discuss the importance of identity representation in education, and how Calvin leveraged culture and fashion to position himself as a positive role model for his students. The discussion then turns to a critical look at the education system: how educators' enthusiasm and creativity are often stifled to the detriment of students,...
Basketball, Education, and Equity in Philadelphia
August 10, 2021 17:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBIn this episode, Calvin and Nick are joined by David Gould, Chief Diversity and Impact Officer at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the ownership group of the Philadelphia 76ers. Throughout the conversation, recorded in January of 2021, the group explores how the Sixers and HBSE think about engaging the community, and the specific programs that they’re using to achieve impact. David shares his background growing up in a poor part of Philadelphia, having the opportunity to attend...
Gender Equity in K-12 Education
July 21, 2021 17:45 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBGender Equity in K-12 Education In this episode, Calvin and Nick are joined by Delphi Cleaveland, Special Assistant in the Office of Global Women's Issues at U.S. Department of State, for a conversation about gender equity within American education. Throughout the conversation, recorded in December of 2020, the group explores the international and domestic context for gender equity within K-12 education, including issues like gendering of academic topics and activities, representat...
Meet the Learn Fresh Fellows: Melanie Young
July 15, 2021 00:51 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBIn the final episode of our “Meet the Learn Fresh Fellows” series, we hear from Learn Fresh Fellow Melanie Young. Melanie is the founder of Infinite Mind Tutors, a Black-owned tutoring agency with the mission to use the collective power of Black minds to transform America's educational landscape. Melanie's passion is to make high-quality education accessible to all children. Before launching Infinite Mind Tutors, Melanie was a teacher and tutor working in Philadelphia's public sch...
Meet the Learn Fresh Fellows: Francene Garrett
July 15, 2021 00:45 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBIn Part III of this series, we hear from Learn Fresh Fellow Dr. Francene Garrett. Francene holds a Bachelors of Arts degree with a specialization in Vocal Performance, a Masters of Science degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology, and an Educational Doctoral degree in Administrative Leadership for Teaching and Learning. Currently, Francene serves as an Instruction and Personalized Learning Lead in the metropolitan area of Atlanta. She is a mother of one, an avid reader, a...
Meet the Learn Fresh Fellows: Chris Robinson
June 28, 2021 15:40 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBIn Part II of this series, you will hear from Learn Fresh Fellow, Chris Robinson. Chris is a special education teacher and the athletic director at his neighborhood middle school, McAuliffe International School in Denver, Colorado. Growing up, his family put a high standard on education, but it’s something that he took for granted until he transferred to a private school in 8th grade. Immediately, he understood that education was not the same for everyone and as one of the only Bl...
Meet the Learn Fresh Fellows: Ashley Barnett
June 25, 2021 17:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBMeet the inaugural class of Learn Fresh Fellows! Launched in Fall 2020, the Learn Fresh Fellowship for Culturally Inclusive Education invites educators and curriculum writers of color to create and broadly share standards-aligned curricula that authentically represent the cultural, ethnic, and racial identities of their communities. After a rigorous review process, four fellows from across the country were selected as a part of the inaugural class. Over the next four episodes, you ...
Education and the Racial Justice Movement, Part 2
May 20, 2021 05:14 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBCalvin and Nick share reflections on the role and importance of education in the racial justice movement in a two-part episode recorded in December 2020. Throughout the conversation, they talk about how they’ve seen these themes play out in our own lives, in the classroom, and through our work with Learn Fresh. In Part 2, the pair talk about representation in the classroom, culture, and curricula, and what it means for building racial acceptance and the pursuit of social justice. ...
Education and the Racial Justice Movement, Part 1
May 20, 2021 05:10 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBCalvin and Nick share reflections on the role and importance of education in the racial justice movement in a two-part episode recorded in December 2020. Throughout the conversation, they talk about how they’ve seen these themes play out in our own lives, in the classroom, and through our work with Learn Fresh. In Part 1, Calvin and Nick explore how the American education system approaches Black history and U.S. history more generally, and how teaching, technology, and pedagogy can...
A Conversation with NBA Math Hoops Educators
May 12, 2021 18:05 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBToday we’re talking again with three long standing educators from the Learn Fresh community about their experiences with the NBA Math Hoops program. In Episode 2, we spoke with Denzel Smith, Robin Seelye, and Sean Patterson about teaching during the pandemic. In this episode, we’re sharing more from that conversation, with a focus on what NBA Math Hoops has meant to them, their students, and their teaching. To learn more about Learn Fresh, visit learnfresh.org, or email us at podc...
Sport for Good in the Australian Football League
April 20, 2021 20:38 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBContinuing themes from last week around sport and community, this week’s episode explores the case study of The Huddle, an organization leveraging the power of sport to create positive outcomes for youth in Australia. Nick and Calvin are joined by Emma Kearney, captain and star player of the North Melbourne Football Club and Head of Education and Careers at The Huddle. Cam McLeod serves as CEO of The Huddle and also joins the conversation to discuss his vision for the organization’s...
Connecting Sport and Community: A Conversation with Harrison Barnes and Kirk Walters
April 06, 2021 17:02 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBCan professional sports inspire student learning and social impact? How can sports organizations leverage data to evaluate community outcomes? Do professional athletes and leagues have a responsibility to the community? In today’s episode, Nick and Calvin welcome Sacramento Kings star Harrison Barnes, a leading activist in the NBA community, and Kirk Walters, Director of Math Research at WestEd. The group discusses the links between sports and education, and explores the powerful pl...
Challenges and Silver Linings: Teaching During the Pandemic
March 23, 2021 14:42 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBK-12 education and the importance of schools have been at the forefront of the national discourse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, Nick and Calvin are joined by three educators from across the United States to discuss their experience teaching through this unprecedented time. Their discussion highlights the challenges of remote learning, the importance of adaptability, and the resilience of students. Thank you to our guests: Denzel Smith from Camden, NJ; ...
Game Changers in Education
March 09, 2021 16:57 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBLearn Fresh is a nonprofit organization, dedicated to providing innovative STEM learning experiences that empower educators and inspire students. By bringing students’ genuine interests into the classroom, Learn Fresh programs foster a lifelong enthusiasm for learning. Nick is the CEO and Co-Founder of the organization and Calvin serves as the Chief Academic Officer. Throughout the episode, Nick and Calvin discuss Learn Fresh and the organization’s founding program, NBA Math Hoops. ...
Learn Fresh Podcast Trailer
February 16, 2021 18:41 - 1 minute - 1.6 MBMeet Nick Monzi and Calvin Sibert: nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, and hosts of the new Learn Fresh Podcast from the SYHDE Audio Network. Monzi and Sibert discuss topics impacting education and society today, including racial and gender equity, innovative learning models, cross-sector collaboration in education, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along the way, they will be joined by industry leaders and educators from across the United States.