Stories to Live By with Alex Panos
In this special series of Classroom Caffeine in collaboration with the Stories-To-Live-By Collective, we talk with a group of K–12 teachers from across the state of Florida and former teachers now in higher education who are working together to explore how literacy teaching can respond to the climate crisis.
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Alexandra Panos. Dr. Panos is an Associate Professor of Literacy Studies and Affiliate Faculty in Measurement and Research at the University of South Florida. Alex is the principal investigator in the Stories-To-Live-By Collective, leading and coordinating the work of the group by organizing meetings, obtaining funding
Alex grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and taught middle school in Chicago before doing her PhD in rural Indiana. Her parents and sisters moved to Florida 25 years ago so this has been a second home for quite awhile, although she only just moved her in 2019. It was her experience of learning to be an engaged Floridian, socially, politically, and environmentally, that led her to convene work related to the intersections of her passions: literacy, teacher power, and education for the climate crisis. She lives in St. Petersburg with her partner, two rescue dogs, and Drusilla, the cat, who demanded to live with them in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
If you have an interest in joining this group, please reach out to Dr. Alexandra Panos, Associate Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of South Florida, at ampanos@usf.edu.
To cite this episode:
Persohn, L. (Host). (2025, Sept 9). Stories-To-Live-By with Alex Panos. (Season 6, No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests.