From PE Teacher To School Health Leader: How Brave and Healthy Spaces Help Kids Learn, Grow, and Thrive.

What if schools stopped rewarding quiet compliance and started designing for how kids actually learn? We sat down with Shannon Milliken—founder of Play Education and former P.E teacher turned systems leader—to unpack how movement, health, and belonging can shift classrooms from survival mode to true learning. Shannon’s story traces the arc from overachieving student to educator to advocate, and it reveals the cost of “one size fits all” schooling on kids who think, move, and thrive differently.

We dig into the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework and why it’s a practical bridge between education and public health. Instead of adding another program, Shannon shows how WISC gives schools a vetted roadmap: build a School Health Advisory Council, align partners, read the data, and create an infrastructure that outlives staff turnover. Her team’s pilot school demonstrates a best-practice model—then reverse-engineers it for districts with fewer resources, ensuring sustainability and equity rather than quick fixes.

Shannon also names what COVID made clear: inequities hit rural districts, students with chronic conditions, youth in foster care, and unsheltered families hardest. Centering underrepresented voices means precision—who is excluded here, and how do we co-design supports that work in real life? From modeling vulnerability and accountability to replacing “safe space” with “brave space,” we explore leadership behaviors that open honest conversation and drive change. Finally, we tackle policy: why stable funding for physical and health education is essential if we’re serious about academic achievement, mental well-being, and long-term outcomes.

If you’re ready to rethink learning through movement, and to build brave spaces where every child is seen—this conversation will give you the tools and courage to start. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more educators find us. What’s one change you’ll make this week?

**In this episode, we reference [CDC, ASCD and the Colorado Legislature] as part of our discussion. This mention is for informational purposes only and does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, partnership and does not represent official positions of the Colorado General Assembly.” The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts and guests.

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Thanks for listening! 🙏🏼 If you picked up a new idea or felt inspired by today’s episode. Please take a moment to follow the show and share it with another educator who’s passionate and let’s keep the conversation going!” I’d love to hear from you and if your interested in being a potential guest on the show; email mahperdpodcast@gmail.com 

Transcript

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Speaker 1 Jake 0:29

Hello and welcome to Voices from the Field, a MAHPERD podcast where we talk with educators in the field to hear about their perspectives and experiences. My name is Jake Bersin, Advocacy Chair for MAHPERD, and today I have the pleasure of speaking

Meet Shannon Milliken

Speaker 1 Jake 0:42

with Shannon Milliken. Just a little bit of background about Shannon.

Speaker 1 Jake 0:46

Shannon is the founder and current executive director of the Play Education Corporation, also known as Play Education or Play. Shannon started her career as a physical education teacher. She taught for more than five years in a variety of districts within Colorado that range from charter to public schools, low socioeconomic status communities to families that had a lot of wealth and opportunities. In 2017, Shannon was the first woman of color to be president of Shape Colorado and has served on many local, state, district, national committees regarding physical education, standards leadership, student and staff wellness, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Her passion for advocacy was ignited, and she was instrumental in the beginning conversations and stages of House Bill 19-1161, comprehensive physical education instruction, pilot in the Colorado legislature. From 2018 to 2022, Shannon worked at the Colorado Department of Education in the Health and Wellness Unit, where she was the principal investigator and project manager for the 1801 Center for Disease Control Prevention. That's the CDC's Healthy Schools Grant, improving student health and academic achievement through nutrition, physical activity, and the management of chronic conditions in schools.

Speaker 1 Jake 2:10

She additionally supported state grantees in student and staff wellness, facilitated the statewide school health coalition, the Colorado Healthy Schools Collaborative, which is a group of over a hundred stakeholders that consisted of schools and districts, government agencies, local public health nonprofits, community partners, all interested and connected in learning together to support the Whole Child School Health Initiatives programming. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shannon supported schools by initiating a cross-collaboration with various and multiple units and departments within CDE in the public health and educational sectors to provide professional development and technical assistance around best practices in nutrition, physical activity, management of chronic conditions, and social emotional climate in and out of school time.

Speaker 1 Jake 3:03

Finally, Shannon supported the entire department with creating space for hard conversations around daring leadership, equity, diversity, and inclusion. She is a transracial adoptee and a mother to her beautiful seven-year-old biological daughter, Kaylee, who is her inspiration to be a catalyst for change in the educational and societal systems. She has a Bachelor of Science in Sport and Exercise Science with a K through 12 teaching licensure in physical education and a minor in coaching. She also has a Masters of Arts in Physical Education, both degrees from the University of Northern Colorado. Go Bears. Before we get started, what's making you smile these days, Shannon?

Speaker 2 Shannon 3:46

Hey Jake, thanks so much. I appreciate that. Great question to start off with. What is making you smile these days? And

A Childhood Shaped By Overachievement

Speaker 2 Shannon 3:54

I think in the world right now that is challenging and hard, um, we have to remember the little things that make us smile. And so for me, of course, that is my little girl, Kaylee. Um, she is just the light of my life and um is so witty and so creative. Uh, and and she challenges me. But I think like when you know that the intentions are pure, and um, you know, when kids are asking good questions to know that it is helping with their emotional intelligence to be, you know, productive citizens of this world, like that's what makes me smile because I think nowadays we don't do that enough with kids. And so being having the opportunity to do that with my little girl on a daily basis definitely makes me smile.

Speaker 1 Jake 4:45

That's awesome. That's a great story. So, Shannon, before we get started, can you can you share with our listeners how you started your education journey?

Speaker 2 Shannon 4:54

Sure. So I was pondering on this question and I was like, where do I insert this? Like, do I start with like the education journey of when I became a teacher or when I started with, you know, this nonprofit? And I think I started thinking about I need to go back to like kind of my own education experience of like what started my education journey is how I was treated in the education system. And it was you achieve, you get A pluses, you're on the honor roll, you excel. And if you do these things, you will be successful.

Speaker 2 Shannon 5:30

If you do these things, you will be happy. If you do these things, you will be seen, you will be valued, you will be worthy. And that is the narrative that I was told my entire life growing up in schools. And so I worked hard. Um, you know, and when and if I couldn't do it uh like through like regurgitation of like facts, I would make up for it in like creativity or professionalism. So I was the kid who was seen as the quote unquote overachiever, right? Or even was given the the sayings like the brown noser, right? Of, you know, Shannon does these elaborate projects to make up for where I couldn't do it in the knowledge or the book smarts, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 Shannon 6:18

Because for me, it wasn't okay to just be okay with a C, right? Or with a B or whatever. Like I had to be overachieving in order to be seen. And so that's where my education journey started. And because I'm realizing now being out of that system and seeing the fallout of wait, I followed all the rules and you told me that I was going to be XYZ and that didn't happen. You know, you start to question everything that you were told as a child, right? And so now that I'm kind of questioning that, I now think about oh, well, are there other kids out there who are just like me who either learn differently or maybe ask too many questions, right? Because you are more of a systematic thinker. Do you value things versus like reading and math? Like I value movement. Um, you know, and so I think it's just started these questions of like, is our education system meeting the needs of all children? Or have we kind of generalized this approach and said just systematically, like, this is how you're gonna be successful?

Speaker 1 Jake 7:35

Right, without taking a second look. You're taking your own experience you had and reflecting on that, and you're saying, oh, maybe so there's some other kids who are going through the same process or the same experience, and what can we do to help these individuals?

Speaker 2 Shannon 7:48

You got it.

Speaker 1 Jake 7:50

Interesting. So, Shannon, as a former physical education teacher and a mom, what made you realize the need for systemic change in how we educate children? You kind of talked, touched a little bit about this in the last response, but if you could elaborate

Why Movement Belongs In Learning

Speaker 1 Jake 8:04

further.

Speaker 2 Shannon 8:05

Sure. I mean, as physical educators, we have the best job in the world, right? And the misconception, right, is like we have the best jobs in the world because we get to wear sweats every day, and because you get to move around and play games and your recess and wiggles and jiggles out, and your common plan periods for teachers who really are, you know, the core subjects. And I think for me, physical education has always been education through movement. It is the way that we can, I mean, and research supports this. When you're moving, right, you can retain information better, you can learn better. When we have healthy environments, kids can learn better. And so I think as a physical education teacher, my belief has always been this is the best way that we can help kids retain the information that we expect them to learn and know.

Speaker 2 Shannon 9:02

And when I, me personally as a physical education teacher, when I was in schools, physical education was not valued as an essential subject, right? It was all of those things that I kind of mentioned earlier as a misconception. And so when I think about, again, myself being a kinesthetic learner, how many times are there opportunities for us to change the environments in which children are learning so that they can achieve or produce, right? And I'm doing air quotes right now of what we expect for kids.

Speaker 2 Shannon 9:40

You know, why are we not creating these environments that are statistically showing that kids can learn better if they are in these types of environments? And so as a teacher, I'm like, we're not doing that. And now as a mom being an advocate for my daughter and saying, no, she needs spaces where she can learn the best. And it may not be sitting in a chair, regurgitating information, right? That's where I'm starting to be like, okay, the systems are not are the systems are designed for a one size fits all. And if you are not in that one size fits all, what do we do for you? And I think that's where we're in this limbo right now of like, we know that the current system may not be working for all kids, but what do we do differently? And because we don't know, we continue to do what we've always done.

Speaker 2 Shannon 10:31

But we're seeing the impact, right, of what's happening when children are not being seen, when they're not being valued, when they're not being heard, when they're not part of the ecosystem of our education system, we're seeing the negative impacts because we're losing our children too soon. And I'm just gonna be very blunt and honest about that. Our children are dying too soon, and so what do we need to do to change that? And I believe that it's within our education system.

Speaker 1 Jake 11:01

Well, thank you for that response. I'm gonna switch the order around my questions because I think it'll it'll flow better. So given your work in various school districts, what are you mentioned some of the inequities, but what are some other inequities you saw in maybe some different communities, and how does

COVID Exposed Hidden Inequities

Speaker 1 Jake 11:17

that inform the work that Play does today?

Speaker 2 Shannon 11:20

Yeah, so I think some of the inequities that I saw was really during COVID, um, when I was at the Department of Education and we were trying to give technical assistance to, you know, here in Colorado, we have 176 school school districts, and so we were trying to meet the needs of everybody. And we saw the disparities in access, in resources, in funding, in the way that we were distributing, you know, support, right? Like all of those inequities we were starting to see during COVID. And the narrative was, well, COVID created these discrepancies or these disparities.

Speaker 2 Shannon 12:00

And it's like, well, no, they just shed light on it because now we don't have a way to mask, right, these inequities. Um, so when you talk about, you know, I think mostly when we talk about vulnerable populations, a lot of times the conversation goes right to, okay, well, you're talking about kids of color, which don't get me wrong, kids of color are a vulnerable population, but let's also talk about rural districts. Let's also talk about kids who have chronic conditions, which has nothing to do with skin color, right? Let's talk about kids who are unsheltered, right? Or kids who are in foster care, um, kids with disabilities, right?

Speaker 2 Shannon 12:38

All of these are inequities or vulnerable populations that we were seeing the school system was not necessarily serving, or they weren't prepared to serve when COVID hit. And so that for me was like this aha of, oh, we do need to be doing something because what we currently are doing is leaving this huge gap. And I think for us, how it's informing the work that Play is doing right now is it really is identifying the priorities and the communities that we're wanting to serve.

Speaker 2 Shannon 13:07

Not to say like we're not serving all children, but we're mindful and we're aware of those vulnerable populations so that when we are providing technical assistance or we are supporting schools or communities, we can have those conversations or bring in the experts that serve those communities and those populations to say, what are we missing? Um, and I think just being aware of those disparities and being aware of the inequities is how you start those conversations to ensure that representation is included in the conversations and in the assistance you're providing to schools.

Speaker 1 Jake 13:45

Well, great answer. Yeah, I agree with you. COVID shed a lot on a lot of things that should be happening but weren't happening, and it affected obviously everybody and all the educators and uh just everybody in general. So um, as founder and executive director of play education corporation, what values or leadership principles guide you every day?

Speaker 2 Shannon 14:07

Leading With Vulnerability And Accountability

Speaker 2 Shannon 15:37

And so we model from the top down what are some of these best practices around equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, not necessarily from an academia point, but from a lived experience perspective. And saying, if this is what we are preaching, if this is what we're talking about, we need to be able to live it too.

Speaker 2 Shannon 15:58

And so I think those that those leadership principles of modeling from the top down, but also basing it from lived experience and not necessarily academia are those two things that I really, really I think. Sorry, you're gonna have to edit some of this out. We're just kind of like rambling at this point. Um, so yeah, we can edit that point out. Um, the other thing that I wanted to talk about was accountability, right?

Speaker 2 Shannon 16:23

So much in the world right now is we want to be doing good, but if we make a mistake, right? Or if we tried something and we failed, my lived experience has been, oh, I don't want to take accountability for that. So I'm going to blame it on somebody else, or I am going to scapegoat, you know, and not take accountability. Where for us, that leadership principle is we are going to take accountability. But in order to do that, we need to be educated first so that, right, we're not being put kind of in those really tricky situations.

Speaker 2 Shannon 16:55

And so sometimes it means we're not speaking out. Sometimes it means that we're waiting. Sometimes it means we're not on the front lines fighting, right? And so that accountability and that restraint is another leadership principle that really helps guide our work because we want to be, we want to be educated in our decisions and we want to give information so that others can make their own educated decisions instead of us saying this is what you should believe.

Speaker 1 Jake 17:23

Wow, there's a lot of information there. Um, so I have a follow-up question uh in regards to the honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. Do you find that when you're working with different districts or different people that they have one more over the other? Or how do you get somebody to be uh how can you encourage them to be more honest, or how can you encourage them to be vulnerable, to kind of put themselves in a situation where they need to they need to talk more, they need to explain more, they need to just be honest more. Do you know what I'm saying? Like how do we that's something that potentially people don't aren't comfortable with right away. So what are some strategies or what are some things that suggestions you have for getting people to be more honest and really take that leap? Does that make sense?

Speaker 2 Shannon 18:10

Yeah, that's a that's a great question. And I wish I had I wish I had the answer, right? I always tell people this in my in my presentations because people will be like, we want we want the the tangible strategies, right? And I always say, I wish my presentation was three,

Modeling Brave Spaces In Schools

Speaker 2 Shannon 18:25

was three slides. Here's the problem, here's how you fix it, now go do it, right? And so to answer your question, what I have learned in my own journey and when I am working with other districts and just different communities is you can't make you can't make people do it, right? You can't. You can't tell people show up vulnerably, you can't tell people be honest, right? I mean, you can tell them that, but for them to actually do it, you have to be able to model it yourself. And you have to be able to look inwardly at what are you doing, right?

Speaker 2 Shannon 18:58

To are you either modeling this yourself or do you have some work to do? And I think that's a really hard thing to do, right? Because we as a society, once again, have created this narrative of like, you are worthy, you are valuable if you are perfect, right? And so anything that contradicts perfection, whether that's intentional or not, we have learned how to armor up. We have learned how to, you know, not to cover it up so that people don't see us weak, right?

Speaker 2 Shannon 19:35

They don't see us as failures. And so we mask it through our armor, through sarcasm, through being funny, through being quiet, through scapegoating, through all of these other behaviors. And really what it comes down to is we need to be willing to look inward and say, how am I contributing to the problem? And that's a really hard thing to acknowledge to yourself is I am part of the problem. And what do I have to change in order to be part of the solution? And so that awareness of that I am part of the problem, and then doing our own education and our own leaning in into how do I become better? That's how we get honesty, transparency, and vulnerability and brave spaces. But it means that you need to show up and it means That you have to do the hard work, and that's a really hard thing to ask people to do right now.

Speaker 1 Jake 20:31

Right. A lot of a lot of self-reflection and self-awareness that has to be developed for sure.

Speaker 2 Shannon 20:35

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 Jake 20:37

So one of Play's guiding principles is please learn as you. So how did you land on that phrase?

Speaker 2 Shannon 20:44

Yeah, so I can that's a great question, and I cannot take credit for it. , when I was teaching, I guess it's almost like 15 years ago, you know, brain-based learning was kind of like a huge thing, right? Of like we want kids to be moving before they're like toughest subject because it activates the brain. Um, and so I was taking a professional development on brain-based learning. And one of the trainers um was talking about, um they were talking about recess, and they were talking that kids need

“Please Learn As You” Origin

Speaker 2 Shannon 21:14

to be able to play and they need to be able to please learn as you. And that when she said that, I was like, that resonates with me so much because I'm not liking it everybody else. And what I didn't know at the time was, oh, because I look different, I'm being treated differently, therefore I'm feeling something internally like there's something wrong with me, right?

Speaker 2 Shannon 21:38

Like I didn't have that language when you're, you know, 16, 18 years old, whatever age you are, right? But now I do have that language. And so now I'm sitting here going, like, oh, having the ability to learn how I learn best, how empowering is that, right? For a child to be able to advocate for themselves of this is what I need in order to learn. And so, you know, and then it just seemed fitting for being a physical educator, right? And wanting to play and move. It just seemed like it was very fitting. Um, but it is the fundamental um, you know, we obviously have a vision and a mission, but it is the fundamental phrase of why our organization exists, is just so kids can please learn as you.

Speaker 1 Jake 22:28

Wow. I I love it. I mean, that's great. it's it's it's a great um phrase. Play uses CDC's whole school, whole community, whole child. Uh it's called the WISC model, right? Correct, yes. Can you tell us a little about the WISC model and why you chose to use this particular framework uh in relation to play? What's what are the benefits of this model?

Speaker 2 Shannon 22:52

Yeah, so um I mean, high level, right? for those of you

Inside The Whole Child WISC Framework

Speaker 2 Shannon 22:57

who are not familiar with uh the whole school, whole community, whole child model, also known as WISC, like a WISC. Um, you know, it bridges the academia and the education sector with the public health sector, which supports that research that says when students are healthy, they learn better. And so before the WISC model existed, there was coordinated school health, which was kind of like the public health model, and then there was the whole child model, which was really around education. Well, when that research is coming out saying, oh, when when kids are learning better when they're healthy, CDC and ASCD, uh so CDC is public health, ASCD is education, they came together and was like, oh, we should have a coordinated model, right? Something that works together. And so that's how whole school, whole community, whole child model was um created.

Speaker 2 Shannon 23:48

Now, why play uses that is because once again, when when I was at the Department of Education during COVID, everybody wanted to support schools, which I thought was awesome, right? But everybody was coming out with their own model, everybody was coming out with their own resources, everybody was coming out with their own curriculums, right? And schools were overwhelmed. It was one more thing. And because schools are already tapped out, let alone you add in a pandemic on top of that, right? They don't have the capacity to be reaching out to these organizations saying, tell me about your curriculum, tell me about your resource, tell me about how you can help our students. They don't have that capacity. And so what happens is nothing happens. And who does that impact?

Speaker 2 Shannon 24:30

It impacts our students. And so when play, so something that makes play very unique is we don't have our own resources, we don't have our own curriculum, we use systems that have already been vetted and proven because we don't want to be one more thing. And so CDC being, you know, the national center for public health, you know, we're like, yes, we want to use this model because it has already been validated, it's already realistic, it's already proven that it works. So why would we try to reinvent the wheel? Let's already use something that's proven, that has resources attached to it, that has um, you know, with healthy kids. Well, here in Colorado, it's called the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which for all the other states, it's the YRBS, so the youth risk behavioral survey, I think is what it's called.

Speaker 1 Jake 25:22

That's it, yep.

Speaker 2 Shannon 25:23

Um, you know, so like there's already tools attached to this framework and this approach. So why would we try to create something outside of that? Um, because it really does allow us to then I guess be more efficient and effective, um, and gives us credibility in the sense of, oh, we're already using a model that already exists versus here, I'm gonna prove it to you. Um, it really does help streamline our work.

Speaker 1 Jake 25:52

So getting all these people that you work with around the same table, how does that work? If you were there you work, there's so in the WSCC model, there's family engagement, there's health education, physical education, there's health services, employee wellness. How do you go about getting kind of everybody on the same page? Are there are there meetings, are there agendas?

Building Sustainable School Health Councils

Speaker 1 Jake 26:13

How does that work?

Speaker 2 Shannon 26:14

You can Yeah, so it's it's interesting because there's there's definitely different ways that you can approach this, right? A lot of times you can approach it by just kind of like inserting yourself in and saying, we just want to focus on X, Y, Z. So a lot of times, um, you know, it's like we want to focus on staff wellness or we want to focus on social emotional learning. So we're going to fund those components, right?

Speaker 2 26:37

Got it.

Speaker 2 Shannon 26:37

And then what happens is is like, then it's like, okay, well, then these organizations have programs that support that. So we're gonna implement the program. But you touch on a really cool point of the infrastructure, right? Of you want a system that is supporting healthy environments. You don't want healthy school environment programs, you want a healthy school environment infrastructure.

Speaker 2 Shannon 27:00

And that is what's created by bringing the various stakeholders together who are almost content experts in those components that you're talking about. I think a lot of times people are like, oh, we have to have, you know, everybody at the table in the school at the school health advisory council meetings. And so school health advisory council is the infrastructure council in the school level where diverse stakeholders come together, they identify needs, they action plan, they figure out how they're going to address so needs, and then they evaluate the impact.

Speaker 2 Shannon 27:32

But what's cool about that is that when you engage stakeholders throughout the community that specialize in these topics, you're now looking at sustainability. So now if a teacher, right, heaven forbid your physical education teacher leaves, right, well, now you've got a gap in the physical education, physical activity sector. But if you've engaged community members like the Rec Center, right, or youth programs and out of school time, your PE teacher might leave, but now you still have stakeholders in the community that are invested and can still support the school in the infrastructure piece.

Speaker 2 Shannon 28:08

And so it's developing those communities and relying upon the community to hold the sustainability within the school. And that's part of that WSCC model. Because if you were to look at the WSCC model, right, community wraps around the whole model, right? And so, and I know it might be a little hard for people to visualize it, but when you think about it, it's like community is wrapping the child in a big hug, right? So when you think about creating sustainability or infrastructure, it's all around the community. It's engaging your community, it's having your community be invested in the school and in the students that it serves.

Speaker 1 Jake 28:46

Yeah, I'm looking at the graphic right now, and you're right. The community is at the outer side, uh the outermost of the of the circle here.

Speaker 2 Shannon 28:52

Yeah.

Speaker 1 Jake 28:53

Cool. So are there any transformation stories or any stories that have stood out for you in your work with diff districts? Are there any uh what can you elaborate on?

Speaker 2 Shannon 29:04

Yeah, so you

A Pilot School As A Scalable Model

Speaker 2 Shannon 29:05

know, we we are a newer nonprofit. We just celebrated our first year. Yay! Um, but what's been really cool about this is we actually have identified a pilot school this year. And what's been awesome is like healthy schools work, it's it's not new work, right? It's been around for years. Um, and specifically here in Colorado, you know, we've had philanthropists and funders supporting this work, um, and great stuff has happened from it. But what we haven't seen is the sustainability piece. And so something that's been transformational about our pilot school is we have been able to scale this to kind of like a best practice .

Speaker 1 Jake 30:02

Okay.

Speaker 2 Shannon 30:03

Part of the work that Play does is we really specialize in knowing the school community that we serve because every school community is different. So from our pilot school, there's an elementary school that's five miles down the road, they're gonna need, they're gonna have completely different needs, right? They're because their school demographics are different, their community is different. And so, what's really cool about the scalable model that we're doing is when we take this model of best practice into the school that's five miles down the road, there might be some community barriers or some school barriers that we didn't necessarily have at our pilot school.

Speaker 2 Shannon 30:37

And so we're able to then shift and mold and say, like, oh, okay, here's here's what the best practice is, but you're not quite there yet. So here's how we can kind of tear it down to meet you where you're at. Because the generalized approach that we see in some larger organizations, it doesn't fit the needs of that school and/or the student demographic. And where that's an issue is, is that if our most vulnerable youth and marginalized communities are not considered in that implementation, they're the ones who continue to be left behind. And so you create that gap that's even bigger. So it's so important to make sure that you're meeting the needs of that particular school. And so that transformation that we're talking about is so cool because we've been able to create it at a best practice level and then scale it, and then we'll be able to scale it down as we go into different schools.

Speaker 1 Jake 31:31

So you have this this can model, right? Can I say model?

Speaker 2 Shannon 31:35

Yeah, so we use the CDC's framework and approach, but then utilizing the best practices of identifying needs, implementation, you know, collecting data. We're doing it a lot of times, you'll be like, well, we can't do this because this is a barrier, we can't do this because this is a barrier. We're really lucky in our pilot school where we're just kind of like, do whatever you want. And so we're able to really say, if we were able to do this perfectly, this is what it would take, so that we can help schools get there. We know what it takes to have this at the high level. And so it's like, okay, you're gonna need $20,000. Here, let's help you find that money, right? Or, oh, you're gonna need volunteers from the community. Let's start creating that council now and start reaching out into the community now because we know what it takes

Centering Underrepresented Voices

Speaker 2 Shannon 32:28

to have this be uh perfect, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 Jake 32:32

No, it does. So, in other words, because you know what it takes and you have the best practices, you can tailor what each district and what the individual needs based on the best practices. And like you said, we can't leave the voices out of the people who need it the most, the vulnerable. So we gotta bring many voices in to the table and hear what people have to say.

Speaker 2 Shannon 32:51

Yes, you got it.

Speaker 1 Jake 32:53

So that kind of leads me to my next question, which is how does PLAY ensure that underrepresented voices, it could be racial, social economic, disability, are at the center of its programs in decision making?

Speaker 2 Shannon 33:07

Yeah, that's a great, that's a great question. So I think it it goes all the way back to kind of what we were originally talking about earlier, is just having the awareness, right? Being aware that what you currently are doing, good intentioned, right, as well intentioned as it is, there might be some gaps, right? And so just that awareness is number one, right? Because then that allows you to be open to what are we missing, right? And then when you're able to look at what are we missing, that's when you're able to start looking at your school community and your demographics, right? And you're able to say, okay, let's look at some data, right? Where are these gaps? Where are we seeing, you know, in influxes or I don't know, what's the opposite of an influx? I don't know.

Speaker 1 Jake 33:53

A reduction, reduction, reduction.

Speaker 2 Shannon 33:55

Thank you. Yes, that's a great, you know, like where are we starting to see this in the data, right? Because then that helps us understand who do we need to be serving. And again, it's really important for us to understand that underrepresented voices, a lot of times, right, it's just assumed that it's kids of color.

Speaker 2 Shannon 34:14

So some of the feedback that I've gotten is, well, we don't have kids of color, so we don't need to be talking about this. And it's like, well, no, let's let's have some more in-depth conversations, right? Like, yeah, students, uh, you know, I think the biggest thing for us in physical education is our kids with chronic conditions, right? Kids who have asthma, kids who um have anaphylaxis shock with food allergies, oral health is a big one. We see all the kids in the school, right? It's our responsibility to know how these chronic conditions are impacting our students. Um so it's really important for us to understand who are the underrepresented voices in our school community, but also recognizing that underrepresented voices doesn't necessarily just mean kids of color.

Speaker 2 Shannon 35:04

And so being aware of what are some underrepresented voices in our community specifically, because not every underrepresented voice is going to be the same. And I'll just use an example of one of our board members last year, um, he was in Arizona and high um uh Hispanic, Spanish speaking um population, so they were actually the majority when you look at like the numbers. And so when you were to go to underrepresented voice, you look at the numbers and you're like, yeah, the Mexican community, and I'm sorry if I am politically incorrect in identifying that, but you would say, oh, that's the majority, right? But then when you look at the policies and who are in positions of power, it was actually individuals who were Caucasian and they were making policies that were not um supporting two working, like uh two, what do you call it, um, families who work two jobs, right? Dual income families. they weren't taking that into consideration because that wasn't their lived experience. But because you see the data that says, oh, well, this is the majority, therefore you shouldn't be thinking about this. Do you see where the discrepancy lies of like really needing to understand who is considered underrepresented in your specific school community?

Speaker 1 Jake 36:31

Right. And the people making the decisions need to really be aware of that as because if they're not, you're gonna keep having the challenges that we've been having. So um again, you you you keep coming back to this this word of self-awareness and reflection and being um really open to changing. So speaking of change, what are what are some policy changes you'd most like to see in education to support truly whole child learning environments?

Speaker 2 Shannon 37:00

Yeah, so that's what's really cool about play education. Even though we are a very small nonprofit right now, we have a 10-year strategic plan because we

Policy Shifts For Whole Child Funding

Speaker 2 Shannon 37:10

know where we want to go.

Speaker 2 Shannon 39:42

we have to be starting to support the environments where children are producing what we want. Does that make sense? And I know producing sounds so weird, but that's honestly sometimes what it feels. We're just producing children to go through the system, but we're not reflecting, we're not thinking about kids who are getting pushed through the system. How is this impacting them? Are we really setting them up for success? And I'm gonna be that person that's gonna push back and say, we're not. Champion. And I think my personal belief of, you know, and selfishly, I know that my daughter has privilege because I have privilege. And so I'm able to be a champion for her.

Speaker 2 Shannon 40:38

I think about children who don't have a champion, right? And it's not their fault, but what barriers are existing, right? That are contributing to them not having a champion. And I believe that it is my sole purpose here in life right now is to identify what those barriers are and to be that champion for that one kid. Um, because I wish that I would have had that adult who saw me as that one individual who was like, she needs some help, she needs some support. What does she need? I want to be that adult for those kids.

Speaker 1 Jake 41:13

That's awesome, Shannon. You are definitely a champion for a lot of people.

Speaker 2 Shannon 41:18

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 Jake 41:20

Yeah, no, for no, for sure. Um, if you could leave a piece of wisdom or advice for our listeners, what would it be?

Speaker 2 Shannon 41:27

I'm just gonna go with my gut and it's continue to show up. Be brave enough to show up. It's uncomfortable, it's hard. What we're navigating right now, no matter what we believe, no matter how we were raised, whatever divide, right, that

Show Up, Be Brave, Keep Learning

Speaker 2 Shannon 41:49

is happening between you and somebody else, right? Like continue to lean in, continue to show up because when you do, the learn, like we are most when we are most uncomfortable, that is when the most growth happens.

Speaker 2 Shannon 42:08

So if we push ourselves to be uncomfortable, to step into those brave spaces, to have hard conversations, we will start to learn our awarenesses, we will start to learn our biases, we will start to identify the kids that we haven't been able to reach because of those barriers. And that one kid, right, is not expendable. When we're aware, we might see that one kid who has been invisible to us this entire time. And so continue to show up and continue to lean into these brave and uncomfortable spaces because it makes a difference for that one kid.

Speaker 1 Jake 42:48

I love it. That's great advice. Be get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That's really how you grow. And like you mentioned, it's um, you know, sometimes it's it's it's easy to be, you know, have everything you know kind of handed to you or have everything in front of you, but you like you said, you really grow when you're in that uncomfortable position, right? So awesome advice. So are you on social media, Shannon? How can our listeners find out more about play and help support your mission?

Speaker 2 Shannon 43:17

Our biggest place to follow the work that we're doing is on our Instagram,

Connect With PLAY And Next Steps

Speaker 2 Shannon 43:24

okay, uh, which is the playedcorp.com or it's just the played corp. Um best way for you to see the work that we're doing, to support the work that we're doing. Um, especially right now as a small nonprofit, it doesn't even have to be about money, right? But sharing, liking, um, commenting, right? Like, I mean, I don't even know the algorithms of social media, but I've heard that it helps. So it could help. But I think if anything, let it inspire you, right? Because again, we don't have a descriptive of like a one size fits all. So if you see something that we're doing and you're like, yep, we couldn't do it, that's okay. It's supposed to inspire you. So then reach out to us and be like, hey, we really liked what we saw. Do you have any ideas of how we could do this at our school or in our community? This is what our situation is. That's what we're priding ourselves on is these conversations to say, this is what your situation is. These are the students you are serving.

Speaker 2 Shannon 44:20

How do we get XYZ into your community to support these children? And so, kind of like what you were just saying now, what's one piece of advice? Connect with us, right? Send me a message, ask, just be like, I saw this and I want to learn more. It's okay that you don't know. Lean into that uncomfortableness and learn more. Um, and so yeah, Instagram is probably the best way to follow us, but so is our website. Um, we have a pushing boundaries webinar series that will be relaunching next spring, which we are so excited about because we highlight speakers that are pushing boundaries, that are challenging the status quo, and that are really encouraging us to think outside of the box. So if you're like, hey, I don't know where to start, you know, stepping into these spaces of uncomfortable conversations, show up to these webinars. Maybe it'll like, you know, enlighten something for you. Um, or maybe you're like, oh, I really want to learn more from this speaker. Um, so yeah, if you're kind of like, ooh, where do I even start these things? Show up to our webinars, which is on our website.

Speaker 1 Jake 45:27

I was just gonna ask, everything is gonna be on your website, right? Contact webinars, all the information. Awesome. Well, Shannon, thank you so much for sharing your experience and expertise with us. Or learned so much. I'm sure our listeners have learned a lot too. So really appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 Shannon 45:43

You are so welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 Jake 45:47

Definitely, thank you. Listeners, if you have any questions, you can always email us. We'll have this episode uploaded soon. Also, we're asking our listeners to rate and share the podcast if it has helped you in any way. Thank you all for listening. Have a great week, and we will be back soon.