Episode 27: Holistic Education with Guest LaManda Chestnut-Pryor

Episode 27: Holistic Education with Guest LaManda Chestnut-Pryor

This week we welcome LaManda Chestnut-Pryor to the show to talk about her work as a principal and transformational educator, especially in schools with predominantly Black and Brown students. She tells us about her 22 years in education, which includes a holistic approach to teaching that involves tending to the mind, body, and soul of not just her students, but the entire family. She describes the importance of addressing violence and trauma in our communities, how that affects kids in school, and creates the need to include social and emotional learning in everyday instruction. BJ and LaManda discuss the Makiah Bryant situation and how that again emphasizes how crucial it is for schools to focus on mental health and teach kids how to cope with their feelings and how to react - it starts at a young age and should be taught in schools since some kids don’t learn it at home. LaManda also explains how some schools are so focused on testing that they lose the essence of the kids - her school measures their success in other ways. It is also one of a handful, and the only minority school, participating in Peaceful Schools in North Carolina - a program that works to create a healthy school climate.

 

More about LaManda Chestnut-Pryor:

LaManda Chestnut-Pryor thrives as a transformational educator, leader, and children’s advocate serving the North Carolina and New York communities for over 20 years. Her current role as the principal at a charter school in Durham, NC has expanded her expertise as a passionate and innovative leader. Combining her educational background, years of being an administrator and teacher inside of inner city schools with her practical community, family and parental experiences, LaManda has created real life steps to address the disparity in school discipline. She is relentless in her pursuit of establishing a safe, caring and nurturing learning environment that promotes acceptance of the individual and puts the kid’s needs first. By focusing on continuous improvements to the processes of conflict resolutions and developing the child’s self-esteem, LaManda feels that as far as our children’s learning potential is concerned; the best is yet to come.

 

More about Peaceful Schools NC:

Peaceful Schools works to support a healthy school climate in which all students can thrive socially and academically; the effects of which will positively impact families, local communities, society, and the world.

Peaceful Schools NC