Scholar of Change – Benjamin Isaac

Scholar of Change – Benjamin Isaac Program Transcript

BENJAMIN ISAAC: My  name is  Benjamin Isaac  and I'm currently  a Walden University  student pursuing a doctorate degree in the field of special education. Research shows  that students  with special learning needs  who feel good about themselves  perform  better  academically  than those with low self-­concept. A   Google search for  the definition of the word special reveals  an adjective that means  better, greater, or  otherwise different from  what is  usual. But far  too often, students  deemed special are made to feel like they  are inadequate, subpar, and unintelligent. That's why  I am  attempting to effect social change with the help of a few very  special friends  of mine. I'd like to introduce you to Skeeter  Buzz, and Gigi.

SKEETER: Hi.

BUZZ: Hi.

GIGI: Hello.

BENJAMIN ISAAC: These three characters  were initially  created for  an educational children's cartoon that features  live child actors  mixed with 3D animation. As  the characters  began to develop, however, I had an epiphany. I wondered what would happen if I gave all three characters  special needs. And what if these special needs  were depicted as  merely  mental and physical conditions  and not definitive characteristics  of who these characters  were. As  a result, Skeeter  was  developed as  a character  with autism. Buzz, the rapping fly, was  further  developed as  a character  with attention deficit hyperactivity  disorder, or  ADHD. And Gigi was  modeled after  my own daughter, who has  cerebral palsy.

To add authenticity  to each character, I decided to have each character  voiced by  a child that had that same condition. As  a result, Skeeter, the DJ, was  voiced by  Ian and Connor, two children with autism. Buzz  was  voiced by  my son Truth, and Gigi was  voiced by  my daughter, Kennedy.

The purpose of the show was  not to elicit sympathy  from  the masses, but to show children with special needs  in a very  normal light. As  a result, the special needs  will more than likely  only  be mentioned in the opening credits. After  that the children will merely  be who they  are.

The education I am  receiving from  Walden University  will serve to provide research-­based teaching strategies  and information about students  with special learning needs  that will be incorporated into the show's production and shared with the viewers. Through this  show, I intend to leverage the power  of teaching in technology  and effect positive social change through education. It is  my hope that the characters  will serve to inspire, influence, and impact all children with special needs. But beyond that it is  my goal to show the world that students  with

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 1

Scholar of Change – Benjamin Isaac

special needs  are just that, special, blessed with differences  that force them  to interact with the world differently  because they  view it from  a different perspective.

Walden University  has  helped me develop this  show into an entertaining piece of media with the potential to educate the world about the true nature of children with special needs. We thank  you for  your  time and consideration.

ALL: Goodbye.

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 2

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Scholar of Change – Christine Topper

Scholar of Change – Christine Topper Program Transcript

CHRISTINE  TOPPER: My  name is  Christine Topper  and I am  doctorate student in educational psychology  at Walden University. Today  I want to show you how I grow as  a scholar  practitioner  and use what I learned in my  courses  to impact social change in my  local community.

I am  international school teacher  in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is  a compact and vertical city. As  such our  student body  does  not have much exposure outside of home and has  developed a disconnection from  the natural world. High rise buildings  are taking over  the natural green spaces  where children usually  play   and media technology  is  keeping people indoors  and changing the lifestyle of society  from  active to sedentary.

Richard Louv  coined a term, nature deficit disorder, to explain this  phenomena in his  book  Last Child in the Woods. Nature deficit disorder  is  a real social problem   in a big city  like Hong Kong. I decided to conduct an independent research study   looking to ways  to address  nature deficit disorder.

Building on the rooftop greening project an early  childhood teacher  and myself started a sustainable micro-­garden for  the kindergarten students  in the outdoor   play  space. The students  were in charge of taking care of the garden, from   planting, weeding, to harvesting and selling the produce at to the school community, and response to [INAUDIBLE] garden. We started with a herb patch and within a year  it is  grown into a vegetable and flower  garden. With help from   our  secondary  school the kindergarten students  recently  started a vertical plastic   bottle garden.

We witnessed the benefits  of the garden immediately. The pocket garden initiative will continue in my  school this  year. And we are collaborating with local organizations  to create more green spaces  in schools  around Hong Hong. Contact and exposure to nature no longer  happens  intuitively, so adults  need to create authentic  opportunities  for  children to reengage with nature every  day. We all can be an agent of change. Changing a child's life can be as  simple as   starting a garden at home or  in the classroom.

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 1

Scholar of Change – John Anner

Scholar of Change – John Anner Program Transcript

JOHN ANNER: Hi, my  name is  John Anner. I want to thank  you for  this   opportunity  to submit this  video to the Walden Scholars  of Change Contest. I'm submitting for  this  contest because I am  now enrolled in a PhD program  at Walden in Public  Policy  Administration, with a focus  on International Non-­ governmental Organizations.

INGOs, International Non-­governmental Organizations, are non-­profits  that are set up specifically  to address  problems  in the developing world, in the poorest countries  of Asia, Latin America, Africa. And I've been in this  field almost my   entire career. As  an undergraduate at Tufts  University  in Boston in the late 1970s   and early  '80s, this  is  the area that I wanted to study. I focused my  attention on agricultural problems  in Africa and the Caribbean, and then later  joined the Peace Corps, and worked as  a Peace Corps  volunteer  in agriculture in Mauritania, West Africa-­-­ one of the poorest and most isolated, most remote places  in the world.

And throughout my  entire career, my  focus  has  always been on how to provide solutions  to problems  that seem  so difficult and so large that it's almost impossible to think  of how any  small organization can solve them. But the truth is   that these international non-­governmental organizations  that I've been part of my   career  do come up with very  creative solutions. But a lot of times, it's very  much ad hoc, or  making it up as  you go along.

So my  goal in getting a PhD at Walden is  to start to bring some intellectual and academic  rigor  to this  work, or  at least the work  that I do. I know I'm following in the path of many  other  people. But I've been a practitioner  for  almost 30 years.

And now, to be able to bring that experience and connect it with the intellectual work  that's been done over  the years  in the field of international development, for   me is  very  exciting. It's already  changing the way  that I view my  work. For   example, we run a program  in Southeast Asia called Operation Healthy  Heart that figures  out how to build the capacity  and provide solutions  to children who are suffering from  congenital heart defects.

Now we've got a whole network  of young people around these countries  who are involved in this  field. What I feel like as  part of this  program  at Walden, I can now bring to them  a true understanding about how to build national policy  networks   that can address  these problems  not only  on palliative basis-­-­ meaning we help an individual child get heart surgery  and then the next, and the next, and the next-­-­ but creating national policies  and the national capacity  to address  this   permanently  in an ongoing way  so that we can take care of all the future generations  of children who need this  kind of surgery.

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 1

Scholar of Change – John Anner

So what I see this  PhD at Walden offering me, and offering my  field, is  an opportunity  to help build these organizations  in such a way  that they  can start to address  these problems  with a lot more intellectual capacity, scientific  rigor, and an approach that is  really  focused on solutions  and results. So thank  you very   much. I'm very  excited about this  opportunity.

©2016 Laureate  Education, Inc. 2

Scholar of Change – Jackie Kundert

Scholar of Change – Jackie  Kundert Program Transcript

JACKIE  KUNDERT: My  name is  Jackie Kundert. I'm a mother  and a nurse from   Monroe, Wisconsin, which is  part of Green county. Monroe's population is   roughly  10,000 people. And it's the largest city  in Green county.

During the past five to seven years  the issues  of drug overdose have become popular  throughout the nation. What once was  a big city  problem  is  now felt in small cities  across  the nation. This  issue touches  me greatly  as  I have a son who got caught up in the cycle. My  son ended up on prescription pain medication, which he became very  addicted to. And from  there it was  a short leap for  him  to start heroin.

What really  spurred me on to try  and make a difference was  looking at a Wisconsin State Council of Alco

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