Year 5

S.P.A.R.K. 2020

We started 2020 like any other year. We had already reached out to our summer program partner, and as expected, they were eager to continue. In fact, we were ahead of schedule. Most years, it takes until mid-summer to reset and prepare all the SPARK activities, but I had hired someone to take the lead. By the end of April, everything was ready. We were proud and excited.

At that point, COVID still felt temporary—just a lockdown and some changing headlines. But as the reality of the pandemic set in, I made the difficult decision: for the first time since founding Noggin, we would not have our SPARK program.

Then I got a call from our partner asking if we could deliver SPARK online. My knee-jerk reaction in my head was, “Absolutely not.” SPARK was designed to be tactile and hands-on with fun games and activities. I said I’d look into it,  hung up the phone, cried a little, and prayed a lot.  To my surprise, within a few days, I had figured out how to take Noggin online.

We found ourselves in the same place as many schools at the time—figuring it out!  With a month to go before Summer we created a curriculum including digital activities, videos and games using online platforms without ChatGPT.  With the help of flexible and dedicated teachers we were able to make the virtual experience a success. Despite all my fears, we pulled it off and gave the kids a great summer.

Behind the scenes, however, we were facing a financial crisis. Donations dropped dramatically. With so much uncertainty, many people stopped giving. We reached a point where our cash reserves were so low that I had to tell the board we would have to close if we didn’t receive more donations within the next month. Like many nonprofits, we were hanging on by a thread and I didn’t know how we would recover.

Then George Floyd was tragically killed, and our world changed. The protests and conversations around racial justice sparked a movement that also changed Noggin. Friends began reaching out, asking what they could do in light of the injustices that were being revealed.  They wanted to know how they could make black lives matter. I told them that the majority of the students we served were black and brown.  It had been our mission to honor their lives by ensuring they have access to academic opportunities that lead to lasting success.

I challenged them, and those who had supported us before, to support our students and help us level the playing field. And our work had a broad impact, reaching beyond our students to also positively influence their families and peers.  Our mission resonated. Donations started coming in again, and many people gave for the first time. By the end of the year, we were out of financial danger.

Though it came through a deeply painful moment in our history, that surge of support helped save Noggin—and allowed us to continue impacting hundreds of students and their families.

2020 Timeline

June- First Virtual S.P.A.R.K

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, S.P.A.R.K. went virtual. 67 students from two organizations were served in Downtown and South Dallas.

Year 4

School Dazed Podcast

At the end of 2018, David and I were invited to be guests on a podcast. It was our first time doing anything like that. While this kind of thing is right up David’s alley, I’ve never been a fan of speaking off the cuff. Still, they wanted to talk about Noggin, and as the primary promoter of our work—I agreed.

As expected, David was a natural, and I managed to get through it well enough. On our way out, the station manager stopped us in the hallway and said, “You guys should do a podcast.” I laughed and quickly responded that podcasts were more my husband’s thing—and politely declined.

God laughs at our plans. Sure enough, I felt God nudging me to reconsider. David and I began talking about how much we’d learned—and still had to learn—as parents navigating the education system. Even though David was a seasoned teacher and I worked in education, we lacked the support and knowledge we desired to help our kids. I’d long thought there needed to be a space for parents to access this kind of insight—originally imagining it would take the form of a blog.

After the God-nudge, I realized a podcast was the perfect platform to support parents. At some point, the name School Dazed: Help for Moms and Dads of School-Aged Kids came to me. The title reflected exactly how we felt much of the time—dazed and overwhelmed trying to keep up. We decided we didn’t want the show to be just about us; we wanted to bring in experts—people who could speak directly to the issues.

In January 2019, I decided to move forward—with lots of research and a healthy dose of fear. We went back to the same podcast studio where we’d first been guests. Their setup included equipment and an engineer, which made us sound and look professional from the start.

David and I were amazed at how many people were eager to join us—from local school district officials to a Mount Everest–climbing memory champion, to guests from as far away as Australia. It became clear that people were actively looking for a platform to share their stories, experiences, and expertise. And to our shock, listeners from all over the world wanted to hear what they had to say! To this day, School Dazed has been downloaded in 30+ countries.

Producing and co-hosting the show was a lot of fun and a lot of work. I took the lead on research and often came up with way too many questions. I wanted to be fully prepared—not just for myself, but to represent the curiosity and concerns of other parents like us. David was the perfect co-host yin to my yang. He brought the comic relief and years of classroom experience, while I was the well-researched and eager-to-learn-more mom. It was truly a labor of love that required a significant investment of time and energy. Eventually, that time commitment is what led us to sunset the show after 96 episodes.

We hope that someday the time and resources will align for School Dazed to return. Even now, I’ll catch myself in a moment and think, “That would make a great episode!” Our little show continues to get thousands of downloads, and we are grateful it still has an audience. David and I truly treasure the show, the time we shared exploring something new, and pray that it continues to inspire and encourage parents today.

Click below to explore Seasons 1-4!

https://schooldazedshow.com/show-archive

2019 Timeline

January- School Dazed: Help For Moms and Dads of School-Aged Kids podcast launched

Summer 2025 Preview

Hey Brainiacs! We are looking forward to seeing many of you at our mixer this Thursday, May 1st at Times Ten Cellars at 6 pm. You can find the Evite here! STEM Strong Sisters 2025 is off to a great start and looking forward to several summer field trips. S.P.A.R.K. and Robotics Camp are returning again this summer, we are excited to continue these programs and engage with more kids!