Episode 17 - Middle School Teacher Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor, Standford graduate and middle school teacher, speaks to how his school is coping with COVID-19 and addresses the issues this has caused his students and the community. He speaks to how the main concern he’s hearing about is not about getting sick, but rather about loosing housing, loosing jobs, not being able to buy groceries. Chris also speaks to the importance of mental health awareness and says the following during this interview: “We know the new frontier of education right now is looking at how trauma and unaddressed mental health illness is a big part of what we see in achievement gap or the opportunity gap, or education gap… and part of the reason for that is because we know from brain science that it's a part of the brain that sort of processes, emotions and sort of get stuck in trauma, which is called the limbic system. When that's engaged, the prefrontal cortex can't do what it's supposed to do, which is picking up new information and learning… And I think [mental health] needs to be seen as more of an integral part of the educational system as opposed to just sort of this separate realm.” - Chris Taylor Please share this with teachers, parents, and students. We are all in this together. Also if you can please donate to help educators and families during this time: Redwood City Educational Fund: rcef.org Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula: bgcp.org/mission #teacher #teacherlife #teachersofinstagram #teacherfollowteachers #teacherappreciation #teachershare #teacherlove #teachersofig #middleschoolteacher #educator #educators #health #covidkindness #covid #health #support #vulnerability #help #teachers #mentalhealth #mental #mentalhealthquotes #mentalhealthrecovery #mentalhealthsupport #mentalhealthadvocate #mwentalwellbeing #mentality #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthisimportant #mentalstrong