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The Purple Zone
Welcome to The Purple Zone (formerly Our Kids Our Schools).
Bridging the Gap between Public Policy, Practice & People.
The Purple Zone explores what it really means to align how we govern, how we educate, and how we show up for our communities.
Hosted by Alexis — a PhD student in public policy and administration, and longtime educator and advocate for kids, communities, and the systems that shape our lives. This podcast connects the dots between policy and practice, without the politics or platitudes.
It’s about naming what often goes unsaid — and making space for a more honest, human approach to systems that impact all of us.
How systems shape our communities, from policy on paper to action in practice. + Thinking Out Loud as a PhD Student
The Purple Zone
Latest Episodes
Rethinking Tech in the Classroom with Joey Palmer
In this episode, Alexis sits down with Joey Palmer, a school administrator in the Treasure Valley (larger Boise area in Idaho), who’s taking a different approach to technology in the classroom. This isn’t about being anti-tech—it’s about...
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1 in 5 Rural Idaho Students Rely on IDLA: And It Just Lost Half Its Funding
In this episode, Alexis sat down with Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) Superintendent Dr. Jeff Simmons to unpack what really happened with HB 940 and related legislation and why this moment is about far more than online classes.We ...
Anti-Teacher Union Bill Breakdown (HB 516) & The System Impact
This episode breaks down a new Idaho law impacting teachers unions, but more importantly, what it reveals about how policy actually works in practice. This isn’t just about unions. It’s about systems, processes, and what happens whe...
The Stories that Shaped Us and Built our Communities
Lately I’ve been asking myself a question.Have we forgotten the stories that built the communities we live in today… or were many of us never really taught them in the first place?In this reflective solo episode, Alexis explores t...
Idaho Lawmaking 101: The Budget, Medicaid, and a Rare Senate Rejection
Budgets aren’t flashy and they’re usually not the most fun thing to talk about. But when the Idaho Senate rejected the state’s largest budget bill the $5.7 billion Health and Welfare budget it revealed deeper tensions inside the Legi...