Maija Reed

This interview was conducted remotely with Maija Reed on July 19, 2022 from her home in Hudson, New York. Maija is an artist, caregiver, and early childhood educator, in addition to being the Youth Commissioner for the City of Hudson. Maija started the interview talking about the ways that COVID still impacts her life and work-- recently she was off of work for a week because the families she worked with tested positive. She talked about worrying about her income for that week, and questioned why there aren't more safety nets still around like there was in the earlier phases of the pandemic. She also talked about new movements in her work as the Youth Commissioner (including a new park) and how she's starting to work with other early childhood educators. She said it has been invigorating to connect with others around that work and talked about parallels between working with children and working with adults. Maija also reflected on the experience of being part of the Education Narratives Project, describing it as a grounding way to keep track of her thoughts and feelings through an uncertain time. She said that it has been a reminder that she has been moving through this time and finding ways to keep going and reconnecting with children in new ways.