Meet Briana Nurse | Education: Social Emotional Development

We had the good fortune of connecting with Briana Nurse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Briana, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
EH Exchange considers the focus of food being an entry point to have children learn, unlearn, and affirm beliefs about ourselves, eachother, and the Earth.

We offer enrichment programs servicing agees 8-14 with materials {themed books and culinary kits} to support social -emotional learings and strong sense of belonging in local and global communities.

What should our readers know about your business?
Briana Nurse has extensive knowledge of coaching and training individuals and teams. Her dedication to providing a consistent space for collaboration supports educators and offers them the chance to embrace the interconnections between curricula development, human relationships, and their overall mission. As she continues to impact individuals and teams, she’s created EH Exchange to bring learning experiences beyond the invasive bell-to-bell traditional approach to a more integrated, joyous, and community-centric space geared towards development.

Briana is most proud of creating after-school and enrichment materials, which are books and food action kits that center an integrated approach to character and social-emotional development through food stories. She considers the focus of food to be an entry point to have children learn, unlearn, and affirm beliefs about themselves, each other, and the Earth. Here is a way to inspire young people to practice global citizenship values at school and in their communities.

What prompted her to create these materials is noticing that some traditional practices of our current schools can cause limitations in developing a deeper passion for learning and emotional understanding. She also noticed the relentless teasing and unkind behaviors children were displaying among each other really impacted their self esteem and the school culture. Hearing from children as young as nine saying that they want to “unlife” was devastating. Also she noticed, when certain cultural materials were introduced to children, their comments were negative. For instance, when introduced to materials from the West African region, she overheard a second graders commenting that her dad told her Africans are poor. Briana knew she could not ignore these comments. She needed to find a way to have safe, nonjudgemental conversations where children are learning about themselves and each other. Food can be a conduit for these authentic conversations. It is also considered an integral part of our cultural and social identity. From ingredients, recipes, cooking techniques, and even consumption, there is a story behind every bite. Therefore the materials Briana created integrates food-related activties for young people ages 8-14 that are deeply rooted in global citizenship values. These materials are available for schools and organizations to purpose for their enrichment programs.

A challenge she endured was convincing schools that students can use authentic cooking tools. However, before each cooking session, students are given a tutorial on the appropriate way to use all kitchen tools followed by a conversation on expectations and community agreements. EH Exchange has also rated each recipe by skill level. This rating helps adults be aware of the culinary skills children will be practicing during the cooking experience.

What makes EH Exchange unique is that we are aware of how learning experiences are significantly influenced by emotions and connections that impact the many ways individuals retain knowledge. Keeping this at the forefront of our mission, we passionately provide many opportunities where creating a positive and meaningful learning experience is possible. Through community-friendly activities of our food action kits, we strive to be a catalyst in elevating the human-to-human connection, which supports social-emotional development and self-worth in children.

Our brand is all about transforming social and learning spaces by enhancing the traditions that support communities and uprooting those that do not. We recognize learning is usually introduced from the head space- explain what you know. However, children crave a different experience. For all ages, we are passionate about grounding learning in a full-body approach. Through community-friendly activities (food is usually an invited guest), we strive to be a catalyst for elevating the human-to-human connection.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Dr. Sidjae Price from Priceless Publishing

Website: https://ediblehistoryexchange.org

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briana-nurse-ehexchange/