Do you love the Pixar movies Inside Out and Inside Out 2? Have you found reassurance in the growing mainstream conversations about mental health? Maybe our parents didn't discuss mental health growing up, but we are changing patterns - and know that how we treat our inner selves is connected to how we shape the world around us.

Join host Omar Marquez on a special edition of 'And How Are The Children?' as he explores the world of restorative practices. Restorative practices improve emotional regulation and reduce shame's negative impacts. These approaches can lead to better mental health outcomes and improved interpersonal relationships. In this episode, Omar sits down with Dr. Nikki Chamblee and Clara Elliott, two educators from Ft. Worth, Texas, to discuss how these approaches transform how we guide young people -and- help adults heal our own inner children.

As we navigate election season, a time of change, it's crucial that we consider being more intentional about the voices shaping our self-worth and actions. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on emotional intelligence and inner health in today's society.

This episode is part of ChangeWire.org's cohort project exploring the Connectivity of the Care Economy.

"It's necessary to need each other." This month Omar Marquez continues exploring Interdependence - this time outside of the classroom setting as he sits down with Community Change's Regional Director of State Power Building Ben Hanna and Electoral Data Manager Gilbert Nuñez to discover how their interdependence practices have changed the way they lead. The ways they hold space, give and receive feedback, and ask for support are some of the ways they are replacing rugged individualism with interdependence. Hanna and Nuñez are part of Community Change's inaugural Leadership for Staff development program, and are part of the shifting leadership towards a bold collective effort to benefit the sustainability and success of our organizing work. Together we can move from fear and isolation to leadership that is daring and actionable. (And a special thank you to Community Change Leadership Development Program Manager Aida Cuadrado Bozzo and Sr. Leadership & Capacity Development Strategist Bethel Tsegaye for originally bringing the Interdependence practices to the Leadership for Staff program!)

This month, ChangeWire Fellow Omar Marquez sits down with his former 7th grade English teacher, Alexandra (Ale) Checka, winner of the 2018 Fort Worth ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year award, to reflect on how their years-long connectivity has not only guided his career, but improved outcomes for students too.

Tune in as the two educators, who became co-workers mid-pandemic at the middle school Marquez attended himself, share what has surprised them the most in their journeys as teachers and coaches. They also explore what they notice when it comes to the narratives and decisions around getting public schools and the families they serve what they need, specifically in Texas.

"It's truly shocking to me that the American public is having a debate about books," says Checka, referring to the spreading of book-banning laws that have taken effect in the past few years. "And like a big chunk of the debate is that kids just read too much."

Checka describes how she, somewhat reluctantly, got into teaching - and what happened when she was assigned to substitute a Home Economics class in the district she herself was a student in.

And through the experiences Marquez and Checka share, we are invited to answer "And How Are the Children?" - and decide how we will strengthen relationships with our peers for the success of ourselves and the children in our lives.

ON THE HORIZON: Next month Marquez will bring in the perspective of Community Change organizers as they practice interdependence for the second part of this interconnectivity exploration.