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Uprising: Education

From L to R: Tiara and Camron Kennedy; Ms. Tiffany Shawn; Ms. Ribbon Williams, Expect Better STL; Karissa Anderson, Advocacy Director, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis; Teresa Steinkamp, Advising Director, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis.

In less than a year, the coronavirus has changed life as we know it-- from job losses to evictions and even the loss of loved ones. As we enter the fall and back-to-school season, we wanted to know: what does education look like in the midst of a pandemic and how can we keep students, educators, and workers safe?

In this episode, we hear from two teachers: one who will share what it’s like to teach through a pandemic and another who has been organizing teachers to advocate for safer policies and practices in the St. Louis Public School system. We’ll also talk to a student advocate and financial aid advisor from a local nonprofit scholarship organization about how COVID-19 is affecting college students and what it means to put a racial equity lens on the student loan crisis.

Jia Lian Yang holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary. She is the co-founder of the St. Louis-based Who Raised You? podcast, which explores culture and family with a focus on stories from people of color. The show won the Arts & Education Council of St. Louis’ 2018 stARTup competition and was named the best local podcast of 2019 in St. Louis Magazine. Jia brings her experience with LGBTQ advocacy, mental health, workers’ rights, mutual aid, anti-racism and the arts to her coverage.
Lauren Brown holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri where she also studied Social Justice. Lauren joined St. Louis Public Radio in June 2019 as an associate producer for the We Live Here podcast. In March 2020 she became the co-host and producer for We Live Here.