From the Classroom to the Front Lines of Democracy: In Conversation with Kristi Hirst, Co-Founder of Our Schools USA

In this episode, I sit down with Kristi Hirst — a former teacher who traded her lesson plans for grassroots organizing. As the co-founder of Our Schools USA (the other Co-Founder of Our Schools USA is Christina Gagnier), Kristi is on a mission to protect public education from extremist attacks and disinformation. Our Schools USA is dedicated to empowering parents, students, and community members to protect quality public education for all students.

We talk about what it means to defend truth in and out of the classroom, how educators and parents can use their voices to fight for democracy, and why the current culture wars in schools are anything but organic. We also discuss how Senator Cory Booker’s marathon and record-breaking speech on the Senate floor inspires us to keep up the fight to save our schools and American democracy.

We also reflect on Senator Cory Booker’s marathon, record-breaking speech on the Senate floor — and how it inspires us to keep up the fight to save our schools and American democracy.

🎧 Tune in to hear how one teacher helped spark a national movement — and why she believes our schools are the first line of defense for democracy.

🔗 You can follow Kristi and learn more about her work on the Our Schools USA Instagram and the Our Schools USA website: https://www.ourschoolsusa.org/

You can email them at info@ourschoolsusa.org

More about Kristi Hirst: Passionate about public education, Kristi taught in Chino Valley Unified School District from 2003 until 2017, transitioning to volunteer work after the birth of her third child. Kristi has served in a variety of educational capacities, teaching 6th grade, high school health, and as an elementary intervention specialist where she was responsible for student attendance, parent education and support, the anti-bullying program, running student study teams, and teacher support and training.

Kristi became active in the local school board community after listening to misinformation being spread at school board meetings. As a parent, she is active at her children’s schools and in their classrooms serving on school site council, being the guest art and writing teacher, and serving on district committees. Above all, Kristi is passionate about public education and helping all kids.

Thank you

A. Hofferkamp

,

Tom Johnson

, and many others for tuning into my live video with

Kristi Hirst

! Join me for my next live video in the app.