Sesame Street in Communities

Dr. Kelley Nichols, VP of Teacher Excellence at Porter-Leath, presenting on Sesame Street in Communities during June conference.

Porter-Leath team.

For over 160 years, Porter-Leath has been the primary resource for Memphis’ at-risk children and families.  Porter-Leath’s well documented history focusing on the essential building blocks of healthy development not only gives the community access to tools they need, like SSIC, but it also gives a sense of hope for stronger children, stronger families and a stronger Memphis.

As part of the SSIC partnership, Porter-Leath and Sesame Workshop are conducting focus groups to evaluate the impact of the resources.  Porter-Leath knows quite well the “ask” teachers and providers in Memphis continue to make for more support through additional high-quality educational materials.  This important, research-based work allows  both organizations to hear from teachers and parents on a regular basis to assess how well that “ask” is being fulfilled as well as gain valuable insight into how better to serve the staff, children and families within the community.

Porter-Leath is also using many of the SSIC resources for its parent meetings and teacher training sessions.  For example, during a large “District Learning Day,” the SSIC Little Children, Big Challenges and Comfy-Cozy Nest resources were paired with a full day of trainings focused on trauma informed classrooms.  Coupled with lectures from leading practitioners in the field, the SSIC materials served as a strong compliment to the trainings, and the teachers and practitioners learned new and tested ways they can support Memphis children and families.