But today we've got a bigger subject to cover than the big screen or the tiny screen. And that's what's been happening over the last ten years. Screens are getting smaller, and maybe some of our brains. And that's a good corny segue to talk about. Right Brain Books Brain Books is a K to twelve children's education company that Meredith founded in 2014. It's the first ever curriculum in the art of children's book authoring that is both literacy and social emotional skills building
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 4:32
I didn't break 500 on the reading portion, the reading and writing portion of the Sat. So I was not a brilliant and test taker. But lucky for me, my creativity was valued. There was room for it. The education system in the public schools of New York. I grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, and then I moved to Manhattan when I was a teenager to go to the High School of Performing Arts
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:29
I'm so with you in the description you just gave us because I know the frustration of being good in one swell or being good in general and having a capacity to understand the world and being emotionally intelligent, perhaps. And just being an allaround, amazing person. Then you you sit down at a test and you totally just don't show up because it's not the world that you excel in
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 4:38
I show up for the exact same test as the student who has a ton of support at home, got a great night's rest and isn't fueled by processed crappy food. So we could do an entire swell cast. We could have a conversation that could go on for hours, just about how nutrition plays a part in how a student's brain, a child's brain shows up for academia. Right
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:13
Nerds, I feel your core passion about this. And I've got to, just, like, drop into this big question of what do you think the education system values in a student
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 3:45
So it's the underserved. It's the poor. It's the Brown. It's the poor white kids. It's the poor Brown kids. It's the kids who need a place to be for 3 hours because their parents can't pick them up till 06:00. Right. And my company, actually, we were the first literacy program that you would see at a conference and purchase. We were the first project based writing program in after school education
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:29
So you guys came in. You're the first of its kind doing the work you're doing. I think it's a great time right now to story time. Like, tell us a story about a child or a teacher or a school system that you have worked with. That you can say wow. Yes. And this happened. And this is an example of a good result, because creativity and SEL was incorporated into these kids lives
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 3:32
You know, there's no one story. There are so many. We get testimonials emails, calls all the time from teachers of all walks of life. The teacher in the school day, they're teaching in after school hours, and they'll send an email here's what's so great about it. We designed all of our programs and our beautiful, colorful resources. It's all designed to be as inspiring for the educator as it is the student
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 4:43
Because after you write a story, you can go on our book builder. You type in your story and you get a hard cover published copy of the book you wrote K through twelve. Right? Their high school is doing it. This kid was 13. He wrote a book. And I said, who wants to read their book today at the event? And this kid's hand Scott up and all these teachers ran over to me, you don't want that. You don't want this
Voices of Swell
@voices · 1:56
That is incredible. And I'm thinking out loud here because when you hear a story like that, the what ifs I mean, it's impossible to know anything. But the role all of us play lay in people's lives. We never know how we impact people until something is said at a moment when you're like, wow, I didn't know this person really cared or had such a relationship to what I did. And clearly, this young, beautiful spirit was meant to be a storyteller
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 5:00
These were not venture capitalists. You don't sleep until they get their money back. And if I'm totally honest, I was a first time CEO. I did a million things right, and I did 2 million things wrong. So we're a very successful company in the way that, like Ralph Waldo Emerson defines success
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 2:30
That's the number one qualifying factor for a new hire. And that was a rough lesson for me. It's back to that. The way we do one thing is the way we do everything. So if someone is not a deeply caring person, don't hire them, don't hire them no matter what they are good at. And if they're better than everyone else at that one particular thing. But somebody else who's not as good at that thing cares more
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:02
It's no doubt that you care so much and hearing this swell conversation is so inspiring. And I just really want to thank you for taking the time to share such detail, such passion and such understanding of what the system is right now and what you're doing is so important. And I hope you feel lifted by the students and the teachers that just look at you all the time and say thank you because sometimes in life that's what we get and it's real and it's meaningful
Hey, Meredith, I'm a big fan of the work you're putting out here right now. I took a look around your website and the question I have for you is, do you have any ideas or vision for how educational curriculum should change in order to better nurture experiences and development and skills in student life. When they graduate high school, they're prepared and ready to take on the world. If you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them. Thanks. Bye
Meredith Scott
@MeredithScott · 4:47
I think that curriculum needs to stop being one size fits all in places like California, New York, where the class size is so massive, it's just impossible for curriculum to meet the needs of every type of learner. And there are many different learning styles, more than just the eight that are so well known and established. There are more than eight learning styles. So I think also the curricula is often designed to the test. Right? So we're seeing little shifts there
I have a few examples myself. I think basic medical knowledge should be included in education. This is something that not only I think, but I've heard it from many kids themselves, but they want better access to financial information. Like, what do I do when I graduate high school? And how do I find a job? How do I find an apartment? How do I budget for expenses?