45 episodes listed below
Urban schools, equity, and the self-talk behind the work.
Miss Education with Jennifer Maestas frames its conversations around a child's belief in what's possible and what would make educators' lives better. From there the talk turns personal, taking in mantras, faith and grace, and in one exchange insisting the system is not broken at all but working as designed.
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Miss Education with Jennifer Maestas is a conversation show about working in education, and it gives as much time to the people doing that work as to the schools around them. The same opening passage leads into each of the recent episodes. It is a run of questions and flat statements: what can be done to raise a child's belief in what's possible, what would make educators' lives better, how change becomes visible in a classroom. It observes that social mobility is segregated, points out that teachers do not get summers off, and names urban public schools and the life of a child as the things worth affecting. What follows is more personal than that framing suggests. With Rafa Diaz, a question about self-talk comes with an admission of talking oneself down, then up, then checking with a trusted friend. The answer is a mantra, 'alignment of purpose,' held up as the litmus test everything falls back on. The conversation with Jae Ricks stays with the anxious urge to act on a thought the moment it arrives, and with the grace of letting work spill over until tomorrow. Its remedy is plain: take a breath, it is not that deep. Faith comes up directly in S5 / 06 - I am NOT Defeated with Doug Robins. There, the unwritten rule that public school stays apart from spirituality runs into the feeling that leaving faith at the door means altering who a person is. The episode ends with prayers for educators' emotional health. The Anthony Gordon conversation turns to systems. One passage rejects the familiar line that the system is broken and calls it a system working perfectly fine. It points to Dr. King's letter and the I Have a Dream speech as texts people quote selectively, with the context on equity left out of the spotlight by design. With David Nungaray the story is smaller: a bad morning, a card from a teacher, and a Jane Goodall quote circled during a pre-pandemic faculty exercise, about deciding what kind of difference to make. Near that episode's close comes the word cuidate, glossed as take care of yourself, take care of each other. The episode with The Salty Bs sounds more like a get-together: a Friday afternoon at a table, a round of cheers, and returning guests who, Jen Maestas says, need no introduction. One gives her name as Jennifer Rosas, assistant principal at Twain Dual Language Academy in San Antonio and a parent of two, and says she has lost track of how many times she has been on the show. Most episodes end with Jen Maestas naming herself and the show, followed by a note that it is part of the C-Suite Radio Network. The appeal is in the balance: school reform and equity sit right beside mantras, prayers and hard mornings.
Made for: Suits a listener who works in or around public schools and wants the emotional side of the job taken seriously, from purpose and grace to faith and bad mornings, alongside frank talk about equity. It also fits someone who prefers personal conversation to policy briefing.
What sets it apart: Miss Education treats an educator's inner life, from personal mantras to religious faith to a rough morning, as part of the school-reform conversation, and puts it next to blunt talk about a system described as working as designed. Each episode is framed by a shared opening about urban public schools and the fact that teachers work through the summer.
Exploring Education
A school hallway prayer sits beside a blunt conversation about equity; your neat categories may need a minute.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded, reflective conversation about educator exhaustion, honest vulnerability, and the care behind school leadership.
Jen Maestas' conversation with David Nungaray stays close to the human cost of school leadership, turning one strained morning into a broader reflection on care, honesty, and the choice to show up truthfully.
A candid education conversation about supporting children while giving adults room to breathe.
Education leadership and everyday anxiety sit side by side in this candid single-episode review. Jen Maestas and Jay stay close to a practical, serious question: how adults can help a child believe in what is possible while also making educators' lives more livable.
A candid conversation about the faith Doug carries into school hallways.
Jen Maestas speaks with Doug about the uneasy overlap between public-school work and personal spirituality. With more than 20 years in education, Doug recalls quietly opening his school on a Sunday, walking the halls, and praying over every classroom.
A candid conversation about school equity, selective history, and the burden of making injustice comfortable.
Education comes through as a matter of power: who is allowed to believe in a child's future, whose discomfort gets managed, and how school decisions shape opportunity long before adulthood.
A grounded conversation about education, service, family, and work as parts of a purpose tested in practice.
The episode frames purpose as something education leaders have to test in practice: whether choices around a child's learning expand what people believe is possible while also making the work more livable for educators.
Jennifer Maestas sits down with David Nungaray, principal at Bonham Academy, and traces how he moved from California, Teach For America, Trinity’s Tomorrow’s Leaders program, and an earlier teaching job at Bonham back into school leadership.
Jen Maestas and Jae Ricks center this Miss Education episode on "grace," "intentionality," and the pressure of leading as a mother, wife, and school administrator.
Jennifer Maestas interviews Doug Robins about his book "I am NOT Defeated" and the counseling moment that gave the title its name.
Jennifer Maestas and Anthony Gordon center this episode on Angela Davis’s line, "I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change," and connect it to education, race, and leadership in San Antonio.
Rafael Diaz, known as Rafa, says he serves on the Judson ISD school board, works in ed tech for adult learners, and is expecting a third child with Marisa Perez Diaz in mid-June.
Lizzie Perez, a Brené Brown trainer, explains "name it to tame it" using Marc Brackett's RULER approach and Dan Siegel's "flipping the lid".
Jen Maestas and four educator friends launch season five of Miss Education with the mantra "You are not alone." They cite an Ed Choice survey of 1,000 teachers showing 44% called COVID "very disruptive" to their personal routine and 63% of teachers over 55 considered retiring.
Stephanie Mendeloff, founder of the education nonprofit CREA, tells host Jennifer Maestas that her mantras "what is this trying to teach me?" and "a constant state of becoming" work as an antidote to perfectionism.
The host discusses supporting children's growth and development in education, featuring interviews with educators about their roles in urban public schools.
A podcast exploring education, focusing on supporting child development, improving urban schools, and elevating opportunities in education.
Host Jennifer Maestas interviews Mark Larson about supporting urban public schools and elevating educational opportunities in San Antonio.
The episode discusses the importance of education in shaping children's futures and the need for changes in urban schools to support teachers and students.