The Mighty Writers Podcast... with Maureen Boland Mighty Writers

We end the second season of the award-winning Mighty Writers podcast in my personal comfort zone, as I sit down with a former student,16-year-old Brooke Fulton.Brooke talks to me about her childhood in one of the most distressed neighborhoods in Philadelphia — a section of the city where drugs are sold and used openly, a place that continues to be afflicted by all of the devastating effects of the opioid crisis, especially homelessness and violence. Brooke was born in Brooklyn, but her ...

At Mighty Writers, our days revolve around helping young people find their voices, which is why we’re especially excited when we connect with authors who speak to the issues that matter to them. In this episode, I talk to Candice Iloh, an award-winning author of young adult novels including “Every Body Looking,” “Break This House” and their newest release, “Salt the Water.” Candice is a first generation Nigerian-American who grew up in the Midwest before coming to the East Coast. They attende...

In Philadelphia, one figure who needs absolutely no introduction is the Phillie Phanatic, the team mascot who is as iconic in these parts as Dr. J, Ben Franklin, or Rocky Balboa.Beyond being a key fixture of Phillies' home games, the Phanatic shows up at playgrounds, schools, hospitals and all kinds of special events with one purpose: to bring happiness — especially to kids.In this episode, I speak with Dave Raymond, the man who first brought the Phanatic to life in 1978. Dave spent 16 years ...

Philadelphia is awash in grieving children and families. But it’s not all bad news, because where there are serious problems, there are humans at work on serious solutions. In my years as a classroom teacher, I saw many organizations try to help students with problems like grief. Rarely did I see an immediate impact — that is, until I observed the work of Uplift, formerly known as The Center for Grieving Children. Uplift’s therapists go into schools (and other places where kids gather) and co...

I’ve been obsessed with coming-of-age stories since I first read “A Catcher in the Rye” when I was in seventh grade. That obsession is probably what made me feel entirely at home when I became a ninth grade English teacher. There is very little that moves me more than hearing people grapple in language with themselves and society during that short but profound moment that occurs somewhere between the ages of 13 and 16. In the thousands of pieces of writing I had access to as a ninth grad...

I often say that my favorite thing about being a classroom writing teacher was my access to stories. It was enriching to me as a teacher and as a human being to learn about my students' lives through their stories. And I learned a lot about issues in society by hearing the same kind of stories over and over again. One issue that came through to me via my students’ stories is the challenge people face when their citizenship — or the citizenship of their loved ones — was unsettled. I becam...