How can schools and youth development organizations better align to increase their communities' understanding of the importance of focusing on the whole learner? Broaden access to high-quality learning opportunities that support comprehensive development?   Strengthen adult social and emotional learning practice?

Being disconnected, out of school and unemployed as a young person is potentially traumatic. These experiences can have lasting impacts on income, employability, health and well-being. The effects grow the longer a young person is disconnected. And the effects linger over time.

Much of the research on the fading "American Dream"-the expectation that children will grow up to earn more than their parents-has focused on the country's urban areas. However, as the nation's cultural, economic, and political divides have deepened, there has been accelerating interest in understanding how the 60 million people who live in rural America are confronting the challenges that come with climbing the income ladder.

On a recent episode of Mudboots, the Whole Child Challenge Podcast, Paul Reynolds talks with Karen Pittman, exploring the role of the community in the whole child ecosystem.

Jonathan Raymond, President of the Stuart Foundation, has spent his career working to transform the way we perceive learners and the learning environment. By taking on challenges while providing a reliable safety net of support, Jonathan's educational philosophy allows kids to develop resilience, respect, and a drive for self-improvement.