Managing Student Anxiety: a Conversation w/ Educators, Family & Students from DC COMBS Partners

Part II: Managing Student Anxiety: a Conversation w/ Educators, Family & Students from DC COMBS

This episode of the podcast is a little different. It's actually part two of a longer conversation about supporting students with anxiety. Because it was such a long conversation, we wanted to separate it. If you haven't listened to part one - go do that now [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-educator-wellness-revolution-podcast-by-empowered/id1667636459?i=1000767207832]. In it, we discuss why students are feeling so anxious right now, and how adults can either further the anxiety or help them through it.  In this part II episode we get further into the root causes and hear more from the youth themselves about the support they need to feel well right now. This conversation was organized through the DC Consortium for Mental and Behavioral Health in Schools [https://healthinschools.gwu.edu/dc-combs] (or DC COMBS), a group of more than 30 school-based behavioral health organizations working in DC. EmpowerEd has been a member of DC COMBS for more than three years now, and we have learned so much about the important, intersecting needs of educator, student and family well-being. We think it's so important to have open spaces like this to discuss these themes both broadly and intimately.  Please see our resource list for supporting students with anxiety here. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NjvrfwSdfS7W05DFpkcMvpdWmViUwg9x6BKIQnAV9EQ/edit?usp=sharing] A big thank you to our guests: DaVaughn Montgomery and Alfons Prince - both great DC educators; Tara Brown and Andrea Jones - two wonderful DC parents of students and a very big thank you to Daniel and Naomi - two DC high school students who bravely shared their experiences with us.  Also, I want to give a shoutout to Dr. Megan McCormick, cofounder of MedStar WISE [https://www.medstarwise.org] who does incredible work supporting mental health in schools and did a great job facilitating this conversation.  We appreciate you all being open to these deep, important conversations about what it means to be well and how schools can do a better job supporting students, teachers, and families. Thanks for listening and as always, let us know what you are thinking!  Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email gracy@weareempowered.org

Managing Student Anxiety: a Conversation w/ Educators, Family & Students from DC COMBS Partners

For the next two episodes of the podcast - we are doing something a little different. As you know, we typically highlight educator perspectives on themes related wellness. Although this is incredibly valuable (and truly why we exist as a podcast), there are times when we need to get even wider in our view to incorporate the ways that educator, student and family wellness intersect with each other.  For this, EmpowerEd has been working for the past three years with the DC Consortium for Mental Wellness and Behavioral Health in Schools [https://healthinschools.gwu.edu/dc-combs] (or DC COMBS) run through George Washington University. This is a group of more than 30 organizations who support the wellness needs of all stakeholders within a school community. Through DC COMBS we've had some really rich discussions about how to strengthen our wellness system overall in schools, particularly when tackling big complicated issues like managing student anxiety (which we are discussing today). Our guests include two DC educators (DaVaughn Montgomery and Alfons Prince), two DC parents (Tara Brown and Andrea Jones) and two DC high school students (Daniel and Naomi). Together, we discussed why anxiety is impacting so many students in difficult ways, and how caring adults can support kids while also addressing the root causes for anxiety.  This session is also facilitated by Dr. Megan McCormick, cofounder of MedStar WISE who does incredible work supporting mental health in schools, and has been a guest on the podcast before. I always love being in conversation with her and know you will too.  Because the conversation was long, we are dividing it into two parts. The first episode (this one) focuses on what anxiety is, why it seems to be getting worse for students, and how it impacts schools and families. In part II, we'll get further into root causes and hearing from the youth themselves on the support they need right now.   As always, thanks so much for listening and for everything you do! Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email gracy@weareempowered.org

Make a Wish: Reimagining SPED Teacher Well-Being with Emily Griswold from 11:11 Wellness

On this episode, we're diving deep into a topic that we hear about often from our community: the unique and often overwhelming wellness challenges facing SPED, or special education, teachers. Of course, we know that the work of supporting our most vulnerable students comes with immense rewards, but we are also incredibly aware of how the complex pressures on SPED teachers are leading to an alarming rate of burnout and turnover. As more and more students become identified with special educator needs, how can we truly care for and retain these incredibly important educators? To have this conversation, we were so excited for Dominique Moore, a long-time SPED teacher and current community organizer at EmpowerEd to be in conversation with Emily Griswold, also a long-time SPED teacher and the founder of 11:11 [https://www.eleven11wellness.com] Wellness [https://www.eleven11wellness.com], an DC school wellness organization focused on creating ecosystems of care and trust for teachers and students. As you'll hear, Dominique and Emily each bring an important understanding and powerful perspective about the SPED landscape in DC. Together, they explore similarities and differences between SPED and Gen Ed teachers, and what’s being missed in our current approach to supporting SPED staff and students. In particular, they discuss: Their journey to becoming SPED teachers, and how their classroom experiences have shaped their view of our education system; How schools can shift from burning out SPED educators by intentionally building cultures of care. Relational strategies that school leaders can use to make wellness an integral part of student and school success. And much more! We are inspired by both Dominique and Emily's wisdom and vision. We hope you find validation and inspiration in their conversation. As always, please reach out if you have any thoughts, or if we can support you in any way. Thank you so much for listening and enjoy the episode! Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email gracy@weareempowered.org

Supporting Our "Teacher Extraordinaire's" (Educators Who Take Care of Everyone)

Today on the podcast, we’re highlighting what we like to call the “teacher extraordinaire.” If you’ve spent much time in a school, you probably know at least one educator like this. They’re the teachers who, in addition to managing their own teaching load, somehow also find time to organize birthday cards, baby showers, and teacher appreciation treats. If your school has a sunshine or hospitality committee, chances are it’s run by a teacher extraordinaire. We also want to recognize that many teachers, because of other life responsibilities, don’t always have the capacity to go above and beyond—and that is more than okay. Still, we wanted to better understand the educators who continually support the wellness of their fellow staff members (and students and families). Because while we absolutely adore working with them, we also worry about their risk of burnout. We often ask ourselves: how can we—both as individuals and as a system—take better care of these teachers so they can keep taking care of everyone else? To explore this, we invited three of our favorite D.C. teacher extraordinaires. Chandler Dennard is a music teacher at Kimball Elementary and has done incredible research on teacher well-being through the WTU. LaQuontinesha Atchinson is a second grade teacher at Ludlow-Taylor ES who serves on multiple committees at her school. And Noudjal Gamougoun is a SPED TLI at MacFarland MS who recently earned her Master’s in Social Work. Together, we discuss: - What motivates them to show up and share so much with their colleagues and schools. - How they’ve learned to protect against burnout—and the systemic changes they’d like to see to support their efforts. - The role teachers could play in designing and implementing better SEL practices for students—if only they were consulted. - And much more. As you’ll hear, these teachers are incredibly caring, thoughtful human beings. It made my heart happy to hear more about their motivations and their vision for our education system. We hope they also inspire you to take better care of yourself (if you relate to them) and/or to better support the extraordinaires in your school. Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email gracy@weareempowered.org

Families as Assets: A Teacher Wellness Conversation with Emily Garcia from Flamboyan Foundation

For our first episode of 2026, we're discussing a topic central to both student achievement and educator well-being: effective family engagement. We know families are essential for student success, but too often the pressure for this falls on individual teachers rather than being supported by a systematic approach that creates consistent, empathy-driven interactions. We were so lucky to speak with Emily Garcia, Executive Director of the Flamboyan Foundation [https://flamboyanfoundation.org]. Flamboyan has partnered with over 70 schools in Washington, DC, to help educators improve their proactive family engagement practice and provide systems-level support to help ensure that all leaders see families as partners in a student's academic and personal growth. Emily shares the core strategies for better family engagement, including taking an assets-based perspective and challenging internal biases when interacting with families. She also outlines best practices that help educators enlist families in ways that actually make their jobs easier, rather than adding to the overwhelm. We also discuss: - The biggest misconception about effective family engagement—something we see all the time in schools. - Why making family engagement a top priority helps educators and schools achieve all their other goals. - The magic of the "home visit" and how schools can better support educators in this practice. - And much more! We loved this conversation and hope it inspires you to focus on family engagement in new ways this year. As always, we’d love your feedback. What family engagement strategies have been most effective for you? Thank you for listening! Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email gracy@weareempowered.org