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This interview with Anna Padgett was recorded on October 12, 2021 via Zoom. Anna is an early childhood and kindergarten educator based in New York City. Anna started a new job as a kindergarten teacher at a new school this fall, after nine years at her previous school. She also moved into an apartment she purchased which is where she was located for this interview. In the interview, Anna talked about the particular challenges teaching in the classroom this fall with an excess of furniture to keep students distanced, but without the use of partitions. She also talked about her dislike of teaching online though recalled some successful uses of Zoom and the advantages of students being able to incorporate more personal elements of their home life into lessons. She talked about the anticipation of younger children, including her 5-year-old students, being eligible for the vaccine. At the end of the interview, she talked about her daughter's transition to high school and returning to the classroom after learning remotely for almost all of last year. Anna also mentioned that her father died at the start of the school year.
Maddy Russell-Shapiro is a podcast producer based in the Bay Area and New York City. Previously, she worked with several California nonprofits focused on expanding access to higher education, including Mission Graduates in San Francisco and Mount Tamalpais College at San Quentin State Prison. She attended Oral History Winter School in 2017 and hosts a narrative nonfiction podcast about tenacity titled Relentless.
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