Perspectives with Condace Pressley

Early learning experiences shape a child’s health, growth, character and happiness. 90% of a child’s brain develops in the first five years. That is why it is so crucial for parents to partner with a trusted early education and care provider to maximize this critical time. High-quality preschool not only provides children with an educational foundation; it also offers important life skills such as cooperation, conflict resolution, sharing and socialization which they will need throughout their school years and beyond. For parents, finding a school that will support a child's cognitive, physical, emotional and developmental needs is an important decision. Dr. Amy Jackson joins us on Perspectives to discuss how introducing the right learning experiences at the right time helps meet the specific needs of children; shares the questions parents need to ask potential preschools and explains the differences in a child's milestone development.

March 2025 marks 5 years since the onset of the COVID19 Pandemic. It was a defining global crisis, reshaping every aspect of life—from healthcare and education to work and human connection. Emerging in late 2019, the virus rapidly spread across continents, claiming more than 7 million lives worldwide including 1.2 million cumulative deaths in the U.S. The crisis exposed deep vulnerabilities in public health systems and social safety nets. Lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine rollouts became the norm. Communities grappled with grief, isolation, and economic uncertainty. Yet amid the hardship, the pandemic also revealed extraordinary resilience, innovation, and solidarity, as people adapted, supported one another, and reimagined what it means to care for the collective good. Amy Comeau is the author of the award-winning book "Every Storm Runs Out of Rain." During COVID, Comeau led a team at Emory Healthcare as Vice President. She wrote to the team weekly. Those emails are the source for this book and a look back at that experience.

The community is invited to stand up in the fight against breast cancer at Bubbles and Bling on Saturday, March 21, 2025 at the Foundry at Puritan Mill. The theme is Hope Rides with Us. Leave your dress up clothes at home and turn out in your favorite western wear. My guest is Cathy Scott, Vice President for Social Impact at UPS. She is an eight year breast cancer survivor and is working to become a patient navigator with Komen Georgia.

Joining me for this episode of Perspectives is culinary expert Annette Anthony. In Always Enough: A Global Food Memoir written by Annette Anthony takes readers on a global culinary adventure. She uses her Black girl culinary experience to show that what is similar across cultures stands out just as much as their uniqueness, and that there is always enough at the table, however little or much. From Philadelphia to travels across several continents, Anthony offers a generous and eclectic collection of more than 160 recipes she developed across her lifetime. Unlike cookbooks that concentrate on food preparation and ingredients alone, Always Enough maps a life enriched by many cultures and cuisines, reflecting the author’s worlds and discovery of the crossroads of cultures and cuisines through poetry, prose and recipes. Anthony’s memoir launches from her grandparents West Philadelphia home, where their southern roots influenced meals. Then she takes us to Paris, the Ivory Coast and back to Europe where she now lives in London.

On Saturday, March 8th from11am-2pm the community is invited to come out to the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center, for a Women’s History Month Celebration. This fun and engaging program will include: Empowerment speeches, music, poetry, an awards presentation and a delectable brunch as well as line dancing and wellness activities including a fireside chat with DeKalb County history makers: CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson and Sheriff, Melody Maddox. Next we are joined by author, spoken word artist and hip-hop educator Tony Keith Jr. to talk about his book Knuckleheads, a label often assigned to challenging students. Keith flips that notion on its head.