Wallace Foundation Video and Podcast Highlight Investment in Social Emotional Learning

By Melissa Rogers, Senior Video Producer and Andrea Ruggirello, Senior Associate & Writers

Throughout the pandemic, the mental and social well-being of students has been a major concern for school leaders, teachers, and parents alike. The Wallace Foundation’s new report on early lessons from their Partnerships for Social Emotional Learning Initiative (PSELI) could not have come at a more crucial time. The initiative is a multiyear Wallace-supported effort exploring whether and how children can benefit from partnerships between schools and out-of-school-time programs focused on building social and emotional skills.

To highlight these important findings, Hatcher worked closely with Wallace to develop, produce, and promote a video and five-episode podcast series about the initiative. The video introduced PSELI focusing on early findings and results of the initiative and interviews with site coordinators who were leading the initiative in six communities across the country. The podcast series dug deeper into this work, featuring conversations with practitioners and district leaders from each of the six communities discussing challenges and successes of implementation, particularly in the face of COVID.

The Hatcher project team faced its own set of challenges producing a video and podcast remotely during COVID. We shipped video and podcast kits to our interviewees, and helped them find the best spaces in their homes to record. Luckily, everyone was game to play the role of “impromptu troubleshooter” as internet and technology challenges arose. Finally, we developed promotional materials for the video and podcast that included short video clips for social media, a social media toolkit with eye-catching graphics and audio clips, web and e-blast copy, and an ad campaign for Facebook and YouTube.We’re proud of our team for their creativity, persistence, and patience in creating meaningful, polished products. All five episodes of the podcast launched on February 23, and the video is now available for streaming on Wallace’s website.