Ep 146 – Be Ok With Not Being Ok
Ep 146 - Be Ok With Not Being Ok
Today’s episode discusses mental health and may be triggering for some listeners. If you need support, help is available. Contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Today’s guest, Samantha Pratt is the CEO and Founder of KlickEngage, an organization that uses SEL to limit the impact of complex trauma on student achievement. Drawing on her own mental health experiences, Samantha sits down with us to discuss the impact of growing up between Cleveland and Tennessee, why schools don’t have the tools and language in place to support childhood trauma and the path to change it all.
Samantha Pratt:
When we say ‘highschool never ends’ we’re usually lamenting over somebody’s childish demeanor, but we rarely stop to reflect on the space that perpetuates this kind of behaviour in the first place. If highschool never ends, at what point do we begin challenging the unhealthy behaviors that stem from it?
Today’s guest knows the feelings that sit within these sentences all too well. When Samantha received a highschool scholarship, she was quickly transported from her diverse public school classroom to a predominantly white private school. Between questions of identity and belonging, Samantha found her mental health took a turn, but rather than be asked by her teachers what was troubling her, she was written-off as a disengaged student.
This sense of displacement propelled Samantha to become a teacher, a role that saw her advocate for those who felt silenced by a system that doesn’t have the tools, language or awareness to ask the hard questions. But more needed to be done, so she went on to start KlickEngage, an organisation that uses SEL to limit the impact of complex trauma on student achievement. In today’s episode, Samantha reflects on her path from teacher to entrepreneur, why teachers aren’t always aware and how KlickEngage is challenging the questions we ask others.
Street Cred:
As an expert on the impact of mental health on classroom achievement, Samantha Pratt works to provide equitable education for all students. Currently, Samantha serves as CEO and Founder of KlickEngage, an organization that uses SEL to limit the impact of complex trauma on student achievement. She has a Master’s in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and hopes to create lasting civic change around mental health in schools.
