Extracurricular with Stephanie Vanos and Eddie Geller

This week, Steph and Eddie begin by recapping Steph’s experience at the EDUVOTER conference and then diving into a recently released study: “Bullied, Threatened, and Exhausted: Florida School Board Members’ Struggle to Defend Public Education.” Afterwards, they welcome the head of EDUVOTER, Crystal Etienne. Crystal opens up and shares her background in teaching and why protecting public education is so impor...

We’re back! After a couple of weeks of the summer cold, the Countdown Improv Festival, and Steph’s oldest daughter heading to the Swamp, Eddie and Steph are back at it. In this episode, they welcome Orlando Sentinel Columnist Scott Maxwell (10:13). Scott talks about his journalism journey and how he strives for accuracy, thoroughness, and fair warning in the issues he tackles and people he holds accountable (16:25). Sco...

Eddie and Steph start the show by going through some of the hottest topics at OCPS: the banning of e-bikes and e-scooters, the new AI Policy, and the retirement of Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez. Afterward, they welcome Joe McGehee, the Director of Advocacy & Legislative Services at the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) (20:10). We begin by outlining how Joe came to this work, what FSBA does, and how important it is for...

SEE Alliance Founder, Zander Moricz, and Orange County Organizing Coordinator, Koulson Fry, join Eddie and Steph to inspire us all and talk about the work of the SEE Alliance (Social Equity Through Education Alliance) (9:54). Zander opens the episode by talking about how the SEE Alliance originated and grew during COVID by mobilizing quickly and providing local civics education and information about school board organizing to stude...

Eddie and Steph welcome Orange County School Board Member and current Candidate for School Board Chair, Angie Gallo, to the pod (18:32). Angie talks about how she first became engaged in public education advocacy and how she had to advocate against a bill she had spent two years pushing for (politics is complex!). The group then discusses how public education has evolved since Covid and theorizes the origin of those changes (30:04)...

Eddie and Steph welcome Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet to the pod! Felipe talks about his work as the Executive Director at Hope Community Center and what drew him to helping immigrants navigate life in Central Florida (12:43). He then unpacks two Supreme Court decisions from this week relating to immigration issues (Mullin v. Al Otro Lado and Mullin v. Doe)(17:04). He shares his very personal reaction to attacks on immigrants (28:00) and...

Eddie and Steph recognize and reflect upon ten years since the Pulse tragedy here in Orlando. They then discuss Equal Ground’s excellent tour stop in Orlando and the overwhelming number of audience questions relating to public schools and public education.  

The guest this week is Dr. Hector Maestre, a wonderful human and OCPS graduate who also happens to be the principal at Boone High School. Like Steph, he was on ...

It’s June, graduations are (nearly!) done, and Steph and Eddie are back to the work of podding. They begin the show talking about fundraisers, bittersweet improv shows, and the AT&T corporation.

This week, they welcome Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents back to the podcast. Jason starts out by giving an overview of the opaque budget process in Tallahassee and then a primer on how devastating the new property tax ballot initiat...

Should this podcast become a food podcast? Eddie and Steph debate as they recount their visit to Francesco’s. They decide against it and Steph provides some clarity on the one mil referendum vote and shares some of her graduation remarks before welcoming special guest, Elizabeth Vanos (16:48). Elizabeth talks about how it feels to be a nearly 18-year-old in this world (18:00) and how she often finds that a basic knowledge bas...

This week, Steph and Eddie power through their intro because Steph is busy! They do get a little time to talk about weddings, work retreats, daughters, and movie clubs, but it’s all business after that.

Today’s guest is Genesis Robison, the Executive Director of Equal Ground Education Fund and Action Fund, Florida’s preeminent Black-led voting rights organization. Genesis began by explaining the work that Equal Gr...

Wow, we totally missed this, but the Extracurricular Podcast (neé TBD) is over a year old! We celebrated by dedicating nearly two minutes to commemorate the occasion. (No but really we’re quite proud.)

Today we spent our time digging into the blockbuster of a lawsuit: Spar vs Kamoutsas. Eddie begins by asking Stephanie what this lawsuit is all about, why she joined, and what it means to be a plaintiff (13:52). We then followe...

After a two-week hiatus, Steph and Eddie return with Florida Representative from District 44, Rita Harris. We start by going into a bit of Rep. Harris’s background, how she made the decision to go from activism to electoral politics, and how reality differed from expectations of what it would be like to be a member of the Florida House of Representatives (14:20). We then talked over two of the bills that Harris sponsored that...

Steph and Eddie begin this week’s episode with a recap of some OCPS business: Denim Day, a debate about the dress code, and SAFE coordinator cuts. Then they welcome Lee Perry to the podcast (14:20). Lee is a climate activist, campaigner, and podcast host here in Orange County. Lee begins by discussing her background in climate activism and how she works to bring together folks with differing views. Next, the crew discusses in...

Florida House Representative and U.S. Senate Candidate Angie Nixon is on the pod! But first, Eddie and Steph discuss Attorney General Uthmeier’s recent statement indicating that he will not enforce the Constitution or Florida’s laws and that he will permit public funds to be used for religious charter schools (5:42). They then welcome Rep. Nixon (14:07) who talks about her background and how that led to her advocacy for...

Steph and Eddie are back from Los Angeles and are at least 10% cooler. After catching up on their trip, their time at No Kings, a discussion on the salaries of legislators, they unpack the ins and outs of making a policy at OCPS. Steph starts by walking through what a policy is (22:49). Then, after a quick diversion into the intricacies of public comment at OCPS (27:15), Steph explains how citizens can have an impact on policy (33:...

Eddie and Steph welcome Dr. Mara Schiff to the podcast. Dr. Schiff is an Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University and a former member of the School Board of the School District of Indian River County. She has many qualifications! But we brought on Dr. Schiff to discuss restorative justice and how it applies to our schools. We begin with Dr. Schiff’s background and talk through her time on the school board during the...

Happy (belated) International Women’s Day! Steph and Eddie celebrate by welcoming a dear friend, and absolute mensch, Susan Windmiller. As the title suggests, Susan makes s**t happen here in the Orange County Democratic Party. We started by getting Susan’s background in government work, how she got started organizing and raising money, and whether we’re too quick to dismiss folks in our party who have more wisdom ...

This week, Eddie and Steph welcome Parker Molloy, a writer covering media, politics, and the world around us on her Substack, The Present Age (10:20). Parker begins by explaining her journey to becoming an independent journalist and how watching hours upon hours of Fox News helped shape her thinking.  Next, she explains why it feels like there’s too much news, the tactic of “Flooding the Zone,” and how the ho...

Steph and Eddie are back after a week off feeling refreshed and ready to go (eventually). They start off the show with a bit of table setting for our interview—including a definition of EdTech (it’s a portmanteau!). They then dip into Steph’s latest trip to Tallahassee with some legislative updates, a short recap of the latest State Board of Education meeting, and Eddie rants about the importance of Student protes...