The Sonshine Project

Acting isn't all Hollywood glamour. It can be really tough dealing with the auditions, the long hours, the demands. There's a lot to learn from being in the world of acting. Diya joins us to talk about what she's learned from acting and the opportunities for growth it has given her. Diya most recently filmed Finding Bapu which is in post-production.

We're getting somewhere, but there's a lot of work to be done to alleviate the stigma of mental health struggles. We talk to Aanya who has a lot to say about the subject.

Our youngest guest ever, Mehuli, talks to us about life as an 8th grader. She loves photography, is in the gifted program and...doesn't have social media. What's her take on social media and how's she doing without it? And, bonus, she has some fantastic advice for parents at the end. Tune in to find out more.

Sports aren't just about the sports itself, or the trophies, or the competition. Teens get so much out of doing sports: connection, resilience, taking on a challenge. Evan Kurtz is a Junior in high school and talks about how sports are important to him and his friends. He also shares with us the devastating impact of sports being cancelled during the pandemic.

Brooklyn Boykins is a junior in high school who takes us through some of the ins and outs of social media. We talk about the power of screen shots, spam accounts, and the importance of talking to your teens about social media. You can list to Brooklyn's podcast Sit Back & Chat Podcast: https://sitbackandchatpodcast.buzzsprout.com or follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sitbackandchat.podcast/

Our guest, Kelen Tamurian, discusses her book with us called Simply Not Enough. It's the story about a girl that is struggling with the feeling that she is not enough. Although this story is fiction, it is based on the common issue that girls often feel inadequate. You can find her book on Amazon starting in March 2021.

COVID hasn't been able to stop dating in the teen world. With Snapchat as their matchmaker, teens are connecting with new people and potentially new romantic partners. The relationships are real and they can get intense and intimate pretty quickly.  Tune in to find out more. For moms who need support, Teen Wise has created a program just for you. http://tinyurl.com/momwise2020

On this episode, we have 4 teens join us to talk about a spectacular business they started during COVID. In just a few short months, they have managed to teach over 1000 students. The Youth Passion Project (YPP) is an organization that provides free online courses taught by high-school students to elementary school and middle school students. Created during the pandemic in March 2020, the purpose of YPP is to help children discover new passions, develop new skills, and build connections with their peers and older student teachers. Our project was founded in Scarsdale, New York; however we have established new chapters in six U.S. locations, and have reached students from 5 different countries. We offer over 40 unique courses, with instructors teaching over 200 individualized class sections. Currently, the Youth Passion Project is seeking new chapter presidents, instructors, and students who would like to enroll in our courses! For more information, please visit our website at https://www.youthpassionproject.org/.

Margie is a Mom to four delightful young kiddos. She has decided to takes a positive stand to make an impact on the world and she has included her kids in this journey. She shows her own children what it means to stand for change while keeping things positive. Her older two sons participate in an entrepreneurial journey to create change through positivity. She's a role model for us all. To find out more and to purchase a bracelet or other items, visit http://mysonshineproject.com

Brooke and Andrea gives us their take on the dress code and share with us various times their friends were dress coded. Here is a great article that dives into the dress code: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/09/05/do-school-dress-codes-discrimate-against-girls.html Here's an example of a positive dress code: https://www.eths.k12.il.us/Page/1381