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Remembering disability rights activist April Dunn; Kendall McManus-Thomas’ journey from Katrina evacuee to Warren Easton principal

Disability rights activist April Dunn alongside former Gov. John Bel Edwards and his wife Donna Edwards
Disability rights activist April Dunn alongside former Gov. John Bel Edwards and his wife Donna Edwards

July is Disability Rights Month, so we are taking the time to recognize passionate Louisiana activist April Dunn. Born with both fetal alcohol syndrome and cerebral palsy, Dunn was passionate about increasing educational opportunities for people with disabilities, even advocating for the passage of the April Dunn Act in 2014. She passed away in early March of 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19.

Pamela White is the Regional Director of Special Education for GEO Academies. She joins us to discuss how Dunn increased educational pathways for people with disabilities.

Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans has a new leader, but he's certainly not a new face on campus. Dr. Kendall "Dr. Mac" McManus-Thomas is a Warren Easton graduate, former teacher, coach and administrator who now returns to his alma mater as principal.

He joins us now to talk about his long journey with the school, his experience evacuating during Hurricane Katrina and his vision for the future of the institution.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Sara Henegan. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber, and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Sara Henegan is the host of <i>All Things Considered</i> and the Tuesday host <i>of Louisiana Considered</i>. As a life-long listener and fan of NPR, Sara loves any opportunity she gets to speak with other public radio nerds about their shared love of news, arts &amp; culture, and public media in general.
Alana Schreiber is the managing producer for the live daily news program, Louisiana Considered. She comes to WWNO from KUNC in Northern Colorado, where she worked as a radio producer for the daily news magazine, Colorado Edition. She has previously interned for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul.