K.M. DiColandrea on Humans of New York and Teacher Impact, Season 2, Episode 28

Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education

In a single moment, an educator can dramatically change a person’s life, even if they didn’t know it. It’s a lesson K.M. DiColandrea, aka DiCo, a 2021 Robert M. Sherman Young Pioneers Award recipient and director and founder of the Brooklyn Debate League, learned in the most unexpected way. DiCo shares his journey, and struggles, to follow his life’s calling – empowering under-privileged students through skillful debate, to amplify their voices and replace self-doubt with self-confidence. DiCo’s life, and mission, was catapulted into the stratosphere after a grateful student got him featured on the Humans of New York Facebook account, raising over $1.3 million to help close the wide gap in Speech and Debate programs across New York City. Hear about his incredible journey, and which biblical story best reflects his own.

This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein. The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.

To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.