S2 EP 027 | Beautiful Stuff Project: a conversation with former teacher & founding executive director, Marina

On the 27th episode of Making the Grade Podcast, Georgia and Christine connect with Marina, a former teacher & executive director of the Beautiful Stuff Project. The Beautiful Stuff Project increases access to play and the arts through the creative reuse of materials. Marina is passionate about allowing children the space to explore & create, and this is possible through the organic roots of this project.

Marina’s story highlights the viewpoints of a lifelong educator: her curiosity, advocacy & belief in access for children & families began when she first started teaching in Cambridge Public Schools in 1986. She has some great wisdom from her teacher years, being a mom, and growing Beautiful Stuff in her community. She highlights some of the reasons why she left the classroom in 2002 with reasoning around the lack of play in early childhood settings, and you don’t want to miss how she got her nickname!

This episode covers a lot: how early childhood teaching has changed over the years, parenting children who thrive outside traditional classroom settings & the importance of unstructured play in classrooms. Marina’s idea of making the world a bit better by everyone doing their part to move the needle is so inspiring & hearing the story of how her idea to help people has snowballed. Tune in if you want to hear the grassroots approach of a community project turned success story!

Find out more about Marina here!

Marina’s links:

Website: https://thebeautifulstuffproject.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeautifulstuffproject/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautifulstuffproject/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCELBPD2Ex18FQLN_PqAYCYQ?app=desktop&fbclid=IwAR2kgB-Qo7KQ_onZun0eifrPyZbwD3Y_3J-n23QV9j50vj9U-mvMeqCNgXI

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