EP 136 Early Childhood Development Starts in the Womb with Karen Vassell

"There's power in perseverance; there's power in patience; there's power in being still within the storm. Stick in there. You're stronger than you actually know." - Karen Vassell Karen Vassell is the Director of Early Childhood Programs for Sumter School District in Sumter, SC. Her early career included being a guidance counselor, where she discovered how strong she was. She was inspired to improve the education system for the students, faculty, and community, and has been focusing on early childhood development. We discuss the positive effects on early childhood SEL on entire communities, implications of generational gaps between educators and students, and how success starts before the child is even born. You can find Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter - and in all the schools in Sumter School District. 01:10 - Success starts in the womb 03:30 - How text messages are helping parents expand their children's learning 06:28 - Shifting from an administration position at the school level vs the district level 08:30 - Finding inner strength by being a school counselor and helping children 10:33 - Understanding generation gaps in education 13:00 - SEL in early childhood development 17:30 - How are we improving education? 20:00 - Karen's goal of implementing a universal Pre-K