Beyond the Margins: The Podcast

What happens when students discover that their educational opportunities extend far beyond the communities and circumstances they know? In this episode of Beyond The Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts welcomes Mr. Franklyn Paris of Bridge Across Education for an engaging conversation about international education, cultural exposure, and expanding postsecondary opportunities for Black students. A Morehouse College graduate who has lived and worked in China since 2014, Franklyn shares how teaching English abroad led to earning a master's degree, learning Mandarin, and discovering opportunities that transformed his understanding of identity, purpose, and possibility. Through Bridge Across Education, Franklyn now works to connect African American students with educational pathways in China, including undergraduate and graduate programs, language immersion experiences, and potential scholarship opportunities. Together, they examine the affordability of international education, the importance of credible programs, the challenges and rewards of living abroad, and how global experiences can develop independence, resilience, and a stronger sense of self. The conversation also raises a larger question for educators, families, and communities: Are we doing enough to expose students to the possibilities we want them to pursue? This episode reminds us that student engagement and educational opportunity are shaped not only by what students experience in classrooms, but also by the worlds we help them discover beyond them.

Senator Cory McCray on Second Chances, Apprenticeship, and the Power of Exposure What happens when the opportunity that could change your life has been right around the corner all along, but nobody ever showed you where to look? Before becoming a Maryland State Senator, Cory McCray was a young man navigating school removals, juvenile detention, incarceration, and an uncertain future. At 17, he told his mother he was too far gone. Her response would help change the trajectory of his life: "I'm gonna keep believing in you until you believe in yourself." That belief, coupled with an apprenticeship opportunity he never knew existed, helped transform a young man struggling to find his way into a skilled electrician, entrepreneur, author, and public servant. On this episode of Beyond The Margins: The Podcast, I sit down with Senator Cory McCray for a powerful conversation about second chances, mentorship, workforce development, financial literacy, and the transformative power of exposure. We explore why apprenticeships deserve a place alongside college pathways, how career readiness begins long before graduation, and why access to opportunity means little if young people cannot see themselves belonging in those spaces. Senator McCray also shares how listening to students helped turn a request for driver's education into legislative action, why ownership and financial literacy matter, and what it means to use personal success to create opportunities for the next generation. But perhaps the most important question emerging from our conversation is this: How many young people have we asked what they want to become before we've done enough to show them what's possible? This episode reminds us that talent can exist without exposure, intelligence can exist without opportunity, and potential can remain unrealized when pathways remain invisible. Sometimes the most powerful intervention isn't another conversation about working harder. It's opening a door.

What happens when one of the most difficult moments of your career becomes the beginning of your transformation? Dr. De’Shawn Washington's first year of teaching was so challenging that school leaders eventually took over his classroom. He was left watching from the sidelines. But that wasn't the end of his story. It became the beginning. Years later, Dr. Washington would become the 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year and turn those early lessons into a philosophy centered on authenticity, student voice, purpose, community, achievement, and cultivating changemakers. On this episode of Beyond The Margins, we talk about what it takes to find your authentic voice as an educator, why students need to know their presence and gifts matter, and how classrooms change when we move from independence toward interdependence: "I am because we are." Then we take the conversation somewhere schools don't go nearly enough: MONEY. Dr. Washington makes the case that financial literacy is about far more than budgeting. It's about access. Agency. History. Opportunity. Wealth. And ultimately, freedom. From reading a paycheck and understanding credit to investing, budgeting, money identity, and generational wealth, this conversation challenges us to ask: Are we preparing students simply to graduate, or are we preparing them to build?

What does it mean to lead close to the margin? Dr. Sohn A. Butts sits down with veteran educational leader and The Middle School Master author Dr. Mark E. King for a powerful conversation about middle school education, student engagement, innovation, leadership, and creating conditions where students can thrive. Dr. King traces his journey back to age 12, when encountering Black male teachers and an all-Black male administrative team changed what he could imagine for his own future. That experience would eventually shape a career dedicated to creating opportunities for young people and developing the educators who serve them. Together, Dr. Butts and Dr. King explore what adults misunderstand about adolescent development, the difference between engagement and compliance, the power of arts integration, teacher voice and professional learning, Black male representation, vocational pathways, family relationships, and why context matters when interpreting student behavior and achievement. Dr. King also challenges educational leaders to move beyond rigid compliance and have the courage to innovate for the students in front of them. As he puts it: “If you want to do what nobody else has ever done, you have to be willing to do what nobody else has ever done.” This is a conversation about seeing possibility, questioning systems, developing people, and having the courage to get as close to the margin as possible for students. This is Beyond The Margins.

What does it really mean for a student to belong? In this episode of Beyond The Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts sits down with educator, author, speaker, and Leading Equity founder Dr. Sheldon Eakins for a powerful conversation about belonging, identity, equity, and the conditions that shape student engagement. Dr. Eakins challenges educators to look beyond compliance and reconsider how our expectations, biases, classroom practices, and definitions of the "ideal student" influence the experiences of young people, particularly Black boys and students who have historically been pushed to the margins. Together, they explore the difference between managing students and engaging them, why relevance and cultural context matter in instruction, how student voice creates ownership, and why relationships must be built intentionally rather than left to chance. The conversation also examines subtle exclusionary practices, the importance of understanding the story behind student behavior, balancing individual and collaborative approaches to learning, and what happens when educators are willing to learn from their students. Dr. Eakins introduces the idea of the "mood tax," challenging educators to consider whether the same student behavior receives a different adult response depending on the educator's own stress, fatigue, or emotional state. He also offers a powerful reminder about affirmation: Black boys too often receive correction after correction when what they also need are consistent, specific deposits reminding them that they are capable, valued, and seen. This conversation asks educators to move beyond simply asking, "How do I manage this behavior?" and toward a more important question: What might this student be communicating, and what conditions can I create that make belonging and engagement more likely? Because students should not have to become someone else to belong in our classrooms. They should experience learning environments intentionally designed to recognize who they already are. This is Beyond The Margins.