In episode 29 of Field Notes, Kathleen Da Silva of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education sits down with women's health professional, Dr. Keisha Callins, MD, MPH to discuss her perspectives on the intersection of medicine and literacy in rural communities, her support of early literacy as a board member for the Sandra Dunagan Deal Cent…

In episode 28 of Field Notes, the Georgia Partnership officially says farewell to its inaugural host, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and welcomes new host and recently-hired Rural Engagement Manager, Kathleen Da Silva. Appropriately, Merrill and Kathleen discuss Merrill's transition from Atlanta, Georgia to Tucson, Arizona; Kathleen's journey from Fulton Coun…

In episode 27 of Field Notes, and part three of our "Kindergarten Readiness" series, Merrill Wilcox of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, catches up with Dr. Michelle Taylor, Superintendent of Calhoun City Schools, to discuss the district's efforts to kick off the "Jacket Journey" in their students' earliest years of learning.…

In episode 26 of Field Notes, and part two of our "Kindergarten Readiness" series, Merrill Wilcox of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, chats with Kim Holland, Director of Early Learning and School Readiness for Gwinnett County Public Schools about their Building Babies' Brains program, which ensures local parents have the tools t…

In episode 25 of Field Notes, and part one of our "Kindergarten Readiness" series, Merrill Wilcox of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, chats with Rachel Schory, Project Manager with the Heard County Community Partnership about their Baby Braves program. Launched in 2016, the program aims to increase access to books for children a…

In episode 24 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox, Director of Outreach & Engagement at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, chats with Melissa Dark, President and CEO of the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Chamber of Commerce about their Georgia FLEX initiative. Through a collaboration of the Fitzgerald High School College and Career Academy…

In episode 23 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox, Director of Outreach & Engagement at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, chats with with Dr. Kirk Nooks, president of Gordon State College, about the challenges he and his institution have encountered in their recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 and how they're preparing not only thei…

In episode 22 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox, Director of Outreach & Engagement at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, connects with Drs. Mary Elizabeth Davis (Superintendent of Henry County Schools), Michael Duncan (Superintendent of Pike County Schools), and Dr. Keith Simmons (Superintendent of Griffin-Spalding County Schools) to…

In episode 21 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Cindy Kicklighter and Tamika Boone of the Georgia Department of Early Care & Learning (DECAL) to discuss the Happy Helpings summer food service program. Funded by the USDA and administered by the Georgia Department of E…

In episode 20 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education catch up with Dr. Dana Rickman, President of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence, to discuss her first year as president of the Partnership, the challenge of navigating the organization through socially and politically divided ti…

In episode 19 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Veronica Womack, Executive Director of Georgia College's Rural Studies Institute, to discuss the Institute's efforts to promote and support rural communities in the areas of Health, Education, Economic Opportunity a…

In episode 18 of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Paige Pushkin, Executive Director of the Georgia Foundation for Public Education (GFPE), to discuss the overwhelming educational needs in rural Georgia and how GFPE's Rural Education Fund is addressing those needs by "p…

In installment three of the "Tackling the Teacher Pipeline" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Karla Hull, Executive Director of VSU Sullivan Scholarship Program, and Paul Goodrich, Chair of the Ruby Sullivan Educational Schol…

In installment two of the "Tackling the Teacher Pipeline" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Sharon Hixon, Dean of the School of Education at Dalton State College, to discuss how the school is addressing teacher recruitment an…

In installment one of the "Tackling the Teacher Pipeline" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Cindi Chance, Executive Director of Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and Dr. CaDeisha Cooper, Assistant Superin…

In the final installment of the "Battling Through Budget Cuts" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Vickie Reed , Superintendent of Brooks County Schools, to discuss the challenges her district is facing in light of a decrease i…

In installment three of the "Battling Through Budget Cuts" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Superintendent Barry Waller of Toombs County Schools to discuss how a double-digit state budget cut will exacerbate existing instruction…

In installment two of the "Battling Through Budget Cuts" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Jay Brinson, Superintendent of Wayne County Schools, to discuss how he and his team are planning to weather the state budget cuts and …

In installment one of the "Battling Through Budget Cuts" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Michele Taylor, Superintendent of Calhoun City Schools, to discuss how she is navigating her district through the dual challenges of l…

In part six of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Curtis Callaway, Director of Communications with Shaw Industries, to discuss how his team ramped up their efforts to communicate clearly, effectively, …

In part five of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with June Merritt, Chairman of the Early County Board of Commissioners, to discuss how she and other county leaders are adapting to the COVID-19 crisis in …

In part four of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Kermit Gilliard, Superintendent of Grady County Schools, to discuss his strategy for leading the school district and supporting the community thro…

In part three of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Zoe Myers, Executive Director of the Cook County Family Connection, to talk about how her community is leveraging partnerships to navigate the COVID-…

In part two of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Rachale LaVoie, Community Outreach Coordinator for Child Care Resource & Referral of Southeast Georgia to talk about the challenges facing the childcar…

In part one of the "Voices from the Ground" series of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with Dr. Bronwyn Ragan-Martin, Superintendent of Early County Schools, to discuss how she is leading her district through the fear and uncertainty of the CO…

In episode four of the Georgia Partnership's Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education connect with educators and leaders across Georgia to reflect on some of the good education-related work that happened in Georgia during the 2010s and discuss how we might carry that momentum forward.…

In episode three of Field Notes, Merrill Kemp-Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education dive into a discussion with education writer and rural education expert, Alan Richard, to spotlight Georgia-specific findings from Why Rural Matters, a new report from the Rural School and Community Trust.…

In episode two of Field Notes, Merrill Wilcox and Robert Gaines of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education spotlight the positive outcomes emerging from the Bartow Literacy Council's cross-sector efforts to improve literacy across the Bartow County (GA) community.

In this brief introductory episode of Field Notes, Robert Gaines and Merrill Wilcox of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education explain the "Why?" behind the organization's decision to launch a podcast, digging into the genesis of the idea, the intended audience, and long-term vision for spotlighting the good work happening in Georgia th…