Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.98 | Feat. Michael Gilbert

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

Good News York: Promoting Mental Health and Community Events with Michael Gilbert In this episode of Good News York, host Mike Brindisi is joined by Michael Gilbert to discuss the upcoming Inner Harbor 5K event and the importance of mental health awareness. Michael, who has extensive experience in human services and psychology, shares his journey and insights into non-profit work, particularly through his organization, It's About Childhood and Family Incorporated. The conversation also explores various mental health approaches, the evolution of trauma-informed care, and misconceptions about ADHD. The episode concludes with a focus on the Inner Harbor 5K event, detailing the activities and the significance of the 2K Peace Run for Bre, dedicated to commemorating victims of gun violence. 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message 00:24 Meet Michael Gilbert: Advocate for Mental Health 01:41 Michael's Journey into Mental Health 05:38 Founding 'It's About Childhood and Family' 09:17 Holistic Approaches to Mental Health 14:14 Challenges and Changes in Mental Health 24:38 Creating New Neural Pathways 25:13 The Reality of Therapy and Mindfulness 26:07 Understanding ADHD and Misconceptions 27:17 Challenges in the Education System 31:52 The Importance of Recess and Movement 36:27 The Inner Harbor 5K Event 41:04 Honoring Brexxit with the 2K Peace Run 43:06 Event Details and Community Impact 44:41 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Instagram teen accounts have automatic protections for what teens see and who can contact them. Plus, time management tools. And Instagram will continue adding built-in safety features to help create age-appropriate experiences. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley, Newman and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Iq Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been setting there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection

with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Unirond's 50th anniversary summer specials. Welcome to Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the Go, get ads on the go.com. Mike Brindisi flying solo today. Matt is out collecting goose droppings. He's got some weird study going on. I'm not going to question it.

But I'm here with a very special guest, Mr. Mike or Michael Gilbert. Michael Gilbert, you are here on Good News, York. For a couple of reasons. Obviously, the main reason is the Inner Harbor 5K, which we're promoting. You're looking for volunteers. And runners. And runners. So we're going to get into that.

but also you have a very, very interesting background that tickles my fancy because I'm a very big advocate for mental health. I've had my own personal struggles and have known family and friends that have, so I love your background. You worked in human services for 30 years, including foster care, group home, hospital settings. In addition, you've worked as a school psychologist in the Syracuse City School District, as well as an adjunct professor at local colleges. and in 2000 you founded the It's About Childhood and Family Incorporated which is a non-for-profit to me

that is more impressive than any title there could be because I don't know if I believe in a God or what but anyone who is out there helping people in the mental health realm is just like doing God's work you know it's so important so I admire that so much

welcome to the show yeah so let's talk about a little bit about that the background, how did you start getting involved in mental health and kind of going that direction? Well, yeah. An undergrad, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Sure. Because most kids don't. I was there for the college experience.

Then once you graduate, you realize to figure out a job, like, how am I going to make a living? Right. So one of my first jobs was working down in the Binghamton area. I was working in a group home with kids. kids who had been, you know, abused or neglected. And, you know, I was, you know, spending, you know, an eight-hour shift, sometimes the evening shift, sometimes the morning shift, it didn't matter. So I really got kind of thrown into that world that I really had no, you know, understanding of until that point. Like, you know, you read stuff in your class work, but my

undergraduate degree didn't really prepare me for that. The real work, the real work is always doing it. Right. Yeah. And certainly, you know, just coming out of college, you know, I was working a couple jobs. So I was working there and then I was working in an alcohol drug crisis center, which was another eye-opening experience. But so that kind of got me into the, you know, the field, especially working with the younger kids, you know, and, you know, trying to understand their story, you know, how do they get to the point? You know, because here they were. They were even put in a group home. you know, and often had very challenging behaviors,

but, you know, trying to understand what led to that. Like, you know, it's not that there's something wrong with them. It's not what happened. And I know you've probably heard that in a lot of the trauma work that people talk about. But, you know, at that point in my life, I didn't have that understanding. I just knew that, you know, there must have been something going on that led these kids in a situation where they were, you know, now leaving group home away from family. And so that really kind of, you know, got me really interested in learning more and understanding and seeing, you know, what I could bring to their situation that might bring, you know, some hope.

And so from there, you know, I, you know, I worked at the Hillside Children's Center in their foster care program. I worked at the old Benjamin Rush Center, which was a psychiatric center when they opened up their new children's unit. And so, you know, I was doing quite a lot of different things. That's when I moved back to Syracuse. But then realizing I really had to get more education, you know, in terms of, you know, wanting to do more. So that's when I went back to school. Finally, this was back in the 90s, went back and got my master's and ended up staying to get my doctorate, which I necessarily planned on doing. But then, you know, coming back to Syracuse, you know, having that also that experience and learning more.

and then being able to apply that to what I had already experienced. So when I went back to college, not to ramble on, like, no. Because I had five, six years of experience under my belt, you know, graduate studies wasn't really that difficult for me because I'd already experienced it. And I'm in classes with kids who were just coming from undergraduate. Right, right. I've never really experienced, you know, what the real world has, you know,

100% to deal with. And so it really gave. you know, me a better perspective to apply now what I'm learning in classes to what I've already experienced. And so when I, you know, finished that and came back to Syracuse, I felt, you know, I was just in a much better place to really make difference, I felt. And so, you know, that's when I started working in the Syracuse City School District. You know, I've been over there, I've been there almost 30 years now. So I got a couple more before I think about retirement from that job, although I'll probably stay connected in some way.

And then in 2000, that's when I founded the small nonprofit. It's about childhood and family. And that was really a way for me to try to fill some gaps in what was going. Back then, there was really, especially in some of the rural counties, there was such a lack of services, of providers, of any kind of programming, you know, especially for kids. So, you know, it's been a wonderful experience. I mean, the people that I've met and worked with

and have come to known and become friends with has just been a privilege. That's amazing. You know, you said a couple things on a talk. First of all, I love that you said, one of the first things that caught your attention, you know, within working in that field with the children is where did it start?

You know, there's nothing wrong with them because there is such this, there is such, especially back then, such a stigma with anxiety, depression, ADHD, whatever, whatever mental illness, you're affected by that, oh, there's something wrong with me.

It's very easy to feel that way. And especially back then, like you said, with the lack of resources. But it's, you know, I had a pretty severe childhood, traumatic experience as a child. And when I first started,

going to therapy, I didn't want to go because my parents would say, I think you need to go and talk about it. And I would say, but I'm over that. You know, that's not what's wrong. I want to know why I feel like I'm, I'm sick all the time. Fast forward, come to find out, of course it all stems from that. So I just, I think it's very important that you said that. And I really, really appreciate that. And also, I love that you went back to school because I, I too went back to school later in life. And I was able to apply things that I had already learned in the field. with these same with kids that were undergrad that I was learning from them as well

but you bring so much to the table you don't realize it till you're there that like wow you know the real school is out in the real world and so it goes hand in hand so I just I really really respect that so it's all about child and family let's talk about that what exactly does

do you do with what does the organization stand for what does it do yeah well it certainly has gone to a number of reincarnations, especially after COVID. So a lot of things that we do include, like, educational kind of components. So we do workshops. We used to do one or two conferences a year,

which we haven't done in a few years after COVID, but we're looking at doing something in 2026 and maybe partnering with some local groups to do that. So we used to bring in experts, all over the country to talk about, you know, trauma and mental health and wellness and social emotional learning, that kind of stuff. And so really trying to, you know, provide that aspect of understanding, as you're talking about in terms of, you know, it's not something that I did. I'm not, you know, responsible for this. It's just something that is part of my story

in my life. And we all have a story. We all have gone. We all have gone. you know, through our difficult times. And so you're not alone. So trying to bring that educational component to not only to professionals, but we would also, you know, bring, you know, parents to those conferences as well to provide them with some education. We do, we're really, you know, my philosophy is really about the holistic approach.

So, you know, not everybody's going to respond well to just a talk therapy type, you know, format. So, you know, allowing them a variety of modality. So part of it might be talk therapy, but part of it might be, you know, maybe try yoga or some expressive arts. You know, one of the things that we know about trauma is that, you know, sometimes it kind of lives within us. We've even seen that within our DNA that sometimes it gets encoded there and then is expressed, you know, when the situations are right. And so sometimes just talking about it is not a sometimes you have to like you know get it out physically as well that's right so it could be you know

be more physically after going for walks it could be like I said yoga doing mindfulness um we encourage a lot of expressive arts like through music oh yeah dance poetry um painting you know whatever me you know might be um you know our thought is that we want people to explore those things because they may have a passion for something they never knew. Right. A lot of the kids and families that I talk to, especially that are dealing with extreme poverty or have a history of trauma.

They don't really think about dreams and goals. I mean, they're just trying to get through that. Just trying to survive. 100%. So, you know, trying to open them up to the idea that, you know, there are things out there that they might have a passion for that they don't even know. They might have a talent that they don't even recognize

and try to at least expose them to a variety of things. and give them some, you know, some control over what they want to do. Absolutely. Instead of telling them, you have to do this, you know, X, Y, or Z, here are some things you might try. What, you know, what feels right for you? Yeah. And maybe you try a half dozen things before you find out what really works for you.

I know, like, save space. Yep. They do some great work. And I love their model because it's like peer to peer. It's like, it's not necessarily professionals telling you what you need to do. It's people who have lived it and can speak from their own experience and have those conversations. You know, it's just person to person. I love those kind of opportunities for people.

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to hear about river cruising and UniWorld's 50th anniversary summer specials. At Arizona State University, we made online education better, smarter, and more personalized so you can go further in your aspiring field. I decided to pursue medicine once I realized that ASU did have the online program for biological sciences. You're still required to learn the same curriculum.

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that's the only choice you have. Right. Where you have people who have more means who can, I don't want to say shop around, but they can try out a few different places to make sure it's a good fit. That's right. Because one of the most important things we know about therapy

is you've got to have a good fit with the therapist. You're nailing it, man. And as you should, you're obviously a professional in the business. But I have preached that for so long. You know, I, it's like going to the gym. You know, back in the 18. and 90s, first of all, there was more of a stigma and there weren't as many resources. So going to a therapist was kind of embarrassing for some people. You fast forward, the stigma

starts kind of going away, but now there's insurances involved. And I've had personal experiences and friends and family who now are are afraid to go, but they're willing to go, but they have to jump through the hoops of insurance companies and this and that. And so the next level of that is, okay, now you get into a therapist, you're about half a session in. Maybe you're a full session in and you're going, I'm not, I'm not vibing here. But people aren't going to go back and go through that whole process again. And the reason I'm laying all that out is because you're right. Not every therapist is for everybody.

You know, there's different styles. And if you're not getting out of, if you're not getting what you need out of the therapy, it's a waste of time for you and your therapist. but people had a hard enough time getting into it. Now it's like, how do I change? But it's so important. You have to kind of go with who you're comfortable with. And I also love that you talked about the talk therapy thing, which, you know, talk therapy

is great. But I've always agreed with you in that it's good in addition with, whatever that with is. Maybe it's medication for some people. Maybe it's physical activity, finding a passion. I just think that talk therapy is great in its own right, in its own right, but adding another layer to that is so important. And the physical part is true. You know, I've tried craniosacral therapy.

I've had some success with that. You hear about EMDR now. There's all sorts of different things out there. Right. What is the biggest shift that you've seen as a mental health professional in the mental health field. Well, I think part of it is that, you know, that trauma-informed piece, which in some instances now has become like a buzzword and, you know, people talk about trauma-informed, but they're

not really, you know, they're not really, I mean, they're trauma-aware, but they're really not trauma-informed. I mean, that's something that I, you know, challenge our school district a lot with, like, you know, we're trauma-aware, but we haven't gotten to the place where we're changing policies and stuff that really would make us trauma-informed. That's right. It's a really different level. But I think, you know, certainly we've seen growth in that area.

We've seen, I think, growth in those other modalities, you know, as adjuncts, you know, to counseling like talk therapy, which I think has been great. And I think just people more willing to talk about it. Sure. You know, just being, you know, vulnerable with each other. and even with the talk therapy, I mean, I, you know, even talking to, you know, like some people who have their faith, when I talk to a clergy member or somebody, you may have, you know, somebody in your life, you know, that, you know, you can confide in. So even the talking part doesn't always have to be with, you know, a trained professional.

That's right. You know, it's a matter of, you know, learning to be a. able to kind of communicate your feelings and your needs and being comfortable doing that and and being open to feedback and stuff like that so just you know I think those those are those are big shifts then also I think like along with the whole awareness is just I think understanding that we all like I said we all have a story we're all you know there's a great quote I don't know if I remember exactly but you know you can you know everybody Everybody's going through something that you may not know anything about.

So, you know, just be kind, be compassionate, be a... 100%. You know. Everyone's struggling with something. Right. And they may be having a bad day for whatever reason, but, you know, unless you really know their full story, there's a little bit of graces sometimes. Well, you're 100% right.

You know, you see these videos now on social media of people freaking out in traffic and smashing windshields. And, you know, when you've been in therapy or if you're a trained professional like yourself, you instantly know. This has nothing to do with the person that cut them off. There's something very much, there's something else going on in their lives that are pushing them to that thing. Like one of the greatest things I learned in therapy is like,

imagine you're a barrel, right? And, you know, if you wake up with rainwater up to here, up to the brim, which is rainwater being your stress, your trauma, your emotions, it's going to take just a little bit of rain for it to spill over. So the idea is to keep that barrel near empty, right? We all wish it was empty, but that's kind of impossible, right? So keep it near empty.

And you do that through mindfulness, meditation, talk therapy, medication, whatever it is. So I love what you do. I also, I'm, I, I've dabbled in this holistic approach that you talked about. Because you have, it says you've advocated for non-medication and non-labeling approaches. and, you know, I remember when I first started going to therapy, the therapist I went to at the time did not have the ability to prescribe. So I went to my primary, and this is not a, I'm not disparaging primary doctors. I love my primary doctor and everybody should have one.

But I also think that there's a certain portion that should not be doling out mental health medication because I remember the primary doctor I had at the time, I was explaining what I was going through. and without even making eye contact, just looking on his computer was like, do you want, I don't know, do you want Lexa Pro? Do you want Proz?

And I remember sitting there thinking, I don't know what I want. And there's nothing, you know, and medication does work, but I think there needs to be a mental health professional that's catering it because I recently started working

with Dr. Shiavi, who I've had on the show, and she is a specialist like yourself. And she takes a holistic approach. And so there are tests now. I did a DNA test that, was able to tell me what, by name, what medications will work for me,

what medications I might feel some effects from and wants to stay away from, by name. And there was also a test I took that showed my gene mutations and how I have a gene mutation with serotonin. And I mean, it is, medicine is coming, and science is coming, it's come so far. Do you want to talk about that a little bit

about the medication and some of the holistic approaches that you believe in in practice. Yeah, so especially when I got started, I mean, part of my, it was probably a lot more aggressive in terms of, you know, not asserting, you know, we shouldn't be drugging, like, really young kids. Yes.

So that was a big focus of mine, and my wife would always have to remind me about, I'd get more with honey than vinegar, you know. Nice. You might have to take a little, but it took me some years to really, kind of, you know, incorporate that. But you're right.

I mean, the thing with medication is, especially without knowing that stuff that you know, you don't necessarily know what's going to work or what's not going to work. It's like, you know, it's like an experiment of one. Like, you know, let's try this and see what. And so, you know, for me early on, especially working with parents, is like, you know,

often it was like they'd send something they necessarily wanted to do. They weren't get medication for the, kids. So our approach was let's try everything we can, you know, and if we, and if we, and if you decide at some point, like this is not like, this is a parent's choice. Sure. You know, with their doctor about whether or not they're going to try medication.

It's like, I'm just providing, you know, some, some thoughts, you know, around that. And, you know, one of it was like, if you get to a point where you think that's something you want to try, then, you know, don't feel, you know, guilty, don't feel. you know, guilty, don't feel. Right. Defeated. It's not a, it's not a loss. Right. And just know that, you know, your goal can still be eventually maybe not to have to use the medication. That's right. Or you use the lowest dose possible, you know, or they, sometimes they do drug holidays for their kids. Yeah. So it was more about, you know, empowering them to, you know, really be in charge of that decision,

but also know that once your decision is not final. Like you could. Yeah, it's not like once you're on it, you're on it forever. It doesn't have to be that way. And it did feel that way for me. You know, I think, I guess I used to treat medication kind of like back surgery back in the day, which was like if you go to a doctor and the first thing they want to do is back, you know, you're having back problem.

They want to do back surgery. That's a red flag. Like there's a, let's try a million other approaches first. And let's use the medication. or let's use the back surgery last. Do you kind of feel it's that way in mental health? Like, let's try, because there's, especially now with all these different forms of therapy, you know, maybe let's try those first and worry about medication last.

Well, especially with the young kids, because, again, the brain's still developing. Yeah. It's like, what, mid-20s or so until your brain is mostly fully developed. Like, so we're introducing things into young kids that can, you know, can be problematic. Sure. if we're not careful. So that's why I always, you know, I'm cautious with that. And also it can, you know, it can, it doesn't really address necessarily what the root of it is.

So, again, my, a lot of my background is dealing with kids who are dealing with a lot of significant trauma and stuff. So, you know, they may be acting in a way that, you know, if they had some medication might, like, help settle them out. but the reason, part of the reason that they're there is because of their, their history. So it's not addressing some of the root causes. It's just numbing it, yeah. Just kind of masking it. So making sure that we still, you know, still explore some of those potential reasons why they are, you know, where they are, where they are, and try to, you know, promote things that are healing.

You mentioned mindfulness can be very healing. I mean, one of the things we know, and that's come a long way, too. I mean. I mean, some of the things that get researched is what makes money, right? Of course. You're not going to necessarily make a lot of money by selling a mindfulness program. The universities may not be spending, you know, millions of dollars during the research, but there has been some research done that.

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Where? LiquidDeath.com. It shows that it can, you know, alleviate things for some people. But one of the things that I like about, because I work with young kids, and we teach them about mindfulness and, you know, breath work. and that kind of stuff in the schools, and we've even been having them do some yoga

with the person that we've been bringing in, and the kids love it. I mean, they enjoy that, but getting them to, like, take a breath, just to pause, just to... 100% before they, like, react to something. Like, it's something you have to, like, do consistently, you know,

for it to become something that becomes then something you can rely on. So, you know, a lot of the kids that I work with, they just react to things, right? So I often talk about, like, you know, if you grew up in this area and you know what it's like when go to the first sledding opportunity when it snowed, you know,

sometimes you're going down that hill and it's kind of slow because you haven't created those grooves in the snow yet. I love that. Once you've gone down a number of times, then that pathway is like, you know, it's really fast. Absolutely. And so a lot of our kids,

that's their, like, neural pathways, like when they respond to things, like it's just an automatic, you know, fight, flight, or, this kind of thing. And so to create those new neural pathways takes a lot of time like that. It's a lot of work. So, you know, practicing the mindfulness,

practicing, you know, calming strategies, you know, to develop new neural pathways so that then when they're in front of it something, instead of just automatically going down that path, I'm going to fight you, you're going to take that pathway of I'm just going to take a breath. I'm going to take a moment to kind of think about what's going on and I'm going to choose a different way to respond.

You're so right. You're so right. It's it's been, you know, people think that sometimes you go to therapy and then like, you know, there's some magic bullet they're going to hit you with and they don't realize that, you know, a lot of the work is outside of the office and kind of retraining your brain. And, you know, so it's, it's, it's, like when I first started with my struggles, if I had heard someone say,

well, you should try yoga, you should try going for a walk. In my mind, I would laugh it off because I would think, listen, no walk and yoga is not going to help the hell that I'm feeling, not realizing that it's piece by piece, you know, those things work.

In addition to everything else we talked about, but you got to slowly chip away at it and create those new neuropathways. And all of that is so important. I do want to talk. about the 5K, but one question I wanted to ask you as a professional, there's a lot of, there's a lot of crossover with like, you know, anxiety, depression, ADHD, borderline personality disorder. I mean, if you go online, it's very overwhelming because a lot of the symptoms are the

same symptoms. And it can be hell trying to figure out what's going on. But one thing we were hearing a lot about is ADHD. When I was growing up, I clearly had it. But it was, there was a again, this is the 80s and 90s, and back then it was very much of, you're disrupting the class leave, or you need to put him on riddling. And, you know, the stigma is, oh, squirrel, he can't pay attention.

But what people don't realize is there's so much more struggle and so much more to ADHD than just lack of focus. Lack of focus is as a part of it, for sure. Do you want to talk about that a little bit on some of the misconceptions and what you know about that? But, yeah, I certainly agree with, you know, growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was a much different thing. Yeah.

And, you know, we've seen a lot. It's an interesting thing. I mean, we could probably do a whole show just on that. Oh, God, I could go forever. Yeah. But I think, I think you're right. So from my vantage point, a lot of it is, like, you know, we just expect kids to fit our, you know, expectations.

Like, so in terms of a classroom setting, like, we just expect kids they're all going to. They're all just going to sit and there's chairs for seven hours and pay attention and they're seven years old. But that's not how it works. And we know that some kids, it's just very difficult for them to do that. So we should be making adjustments for them, not expecting them to adjust to some unrealistic expectations. So part of it for me is like, you know, the label is the label. Part of the reason, you know, when I talk to the parents, especially in kids, about the labels, is I don't want them just to identify themselves as that. Right.

I want them to identify themselves with all the amazing qualities that they have and not say, well, I can't help them in ADHD. Or use that as a way to define themselves. So, yeah, we have those behaviors that are associated with ADHD, but, you know, what else is, what else makes you? you are, like what are those qualities that make you. And so some of the things that may, you know, be problematic at school may be, you know, in other parts of their life may be, you know, a strength. I love that. So, you know, again, helping them to develop some strategies so that, you know, there are

situations where we do need them to maybe adhere a little bit to what the expectations are. I'm not saying the kitchen is running around. around the building. No, no, no. But, you know, they can certainly be walking around the classroom. Yep. They're not disrupting. They could certainly have some fidgets there.

They can have some breaks. You know, a lot of schools and classrooms now are using calm corners, which is something where, you know, but again, it's something you have to really teach the kids how to use appropriately. It's not just going back there and play. It's like if you really need a break, it's a place you can go back and maybe color or do something that's going to be kind of. you know, calming for you.

But what was your question again? Talking about ADHD, you forgot his question. No, so the question is just like, you're right on it. Just like some of the misconceptions about ADHD and how it's more than just, just, you know, lack of focus. Yeah, and also, I mean, you know, probably 10 years ago they started talking more about it with girls too. Yes.

Girls who maybe had difficulty with the focus, they would just kind of get overlooked because, you know, know the boys tend to be more you know yeah outwardly yes um displaying some of those things um so you know i think there's been a um you know it's definitely it's definitely evolved um you know i think it's definitely better awareness and also i think you know again giving kids you know opportunities to have breaks in school 100% have um because it's it's a struggle like it's not like you know people have those difficulties. It's not like they

you know, want to No. It's not like they're you know, not wanting to Right and I think I think that's what it was It was like you said in the beginning Oh, this is the rules of the classroom If you can't follow it then then you can't be part of it Or there's you know there's something wrong with you

When the fact is Our brains are not allowing us to do the Like we need to move we need to fidget We need to take a break You know, it would be like, you know, different quarterbacks have different, different, what's the word I'm looking for? Processes in between games, right? So like one quarterback might like to watch film and then go out in the field and practice these drills or no one quarterback has the same process. You can't tell them, well, that's not how we do.

You got to do. Everyone processes information different. Everyone has different processes. And it's like that with ADHD, you know, there's more. to it than just focus. It's feeling overwhelmed. Like you can't start a project or getting hyper-focused on something too much.

Or the big one is being very reactionary, being very rejection sensitivity. There's just a lot to it. So I'm so glad that you're able to shed the light on that. And certainly one of the things that, especially young kids need is they need, you know, they need a recess. Right, right. Some of our schools have completely taken that out of the school day because it's just, you know, and I think that's part of the thing too. Like, I think we're seeing probably more of some of the behaviors than we might have seen years ago because I think we're seeing more of them because now we're putting kids in situations where they're really not able to do what we want them to do. Like we're putting so much of focus on test scores, on things.

that really don't have a lot of meaning. You know, school, seven hours for young kids can be, like, it can be difficult. Yeah. And we've made it even more challenging because it's just so scripted and there's, they're just, you know, they're trying to fit so much in because it's all about, you know, how well they do on some of these tests. And not that tests don't have a place, but we over-emphasize them and we start way too early with them.

And if we looked at other countries that don't do what and have better outcomes, you would think we make some adjustments. Listen, you are speaking my language. I took a sociology class where we studied the workforce. I've talked about this many times on the show. We studied the workforce in overseas countries where they're given four to six week vacations, four-day work weeks, complete health benefits. And these workers are getting interviewed and they're being asked, like,

well, don't you find that you're not making as much money? And I mean, you're allowing all this vacation time. And the bottom line is if you take care of your workers, if they have enough money to afford to live, if they have enough vacation and weekend time to spend with their families, it all comes back full circle into society where everybody is more rested, healthy, happy,

and more willing to work harder. And it's kind of that same mentality in school with what you're saying. and having a recess, you know. Oh, even, I mean, you know, kids, kids are born with a natural, you know, love of learning, curiosity, you know, wonder. And it seems like our goal in education now is just to squash that. Right. Why aren't we celebrating it?

Yeah. Like, you know, giving kids more opportunities to explore things that they might have a passion for instead of just making them not like school because it's just not. Yeah. So we really have to think, you know, what, what is education for? Like, what's the purpose? Right. I mean, that's a question I think really we have to be asking ourselves, especially after COVID. And what, you know, what is the ultimate purpose? Because it's certainly not for kids just to memorize facts. Exactly.

You know, for some of it may be to, you know, learn a skill, you know, through even bringing back some of the Vosius program in high school and learning, you know, a career through that. Not every kid certainly has to go to college, but, you know, really giving kids more of an opportunity to explore what it's like, you know, collaborate with each other and just, I think it'd be more creative and allow teachers to be more creative. You know, again, teachers, you know, sometimes get a bad rap, but, boy, I have so much respect for what they say today. Same. But giving them some more autonomy and creativity to work with their peers and the resources, giving them. giving them the resources. Resources to do it. Right.

Instead of just telling them, okay, X, Y, and Z, you know, was scripted out for them. Yeah. You know, they, they deserve them. I always, I always loved and respected teachers. But like you, I, I only worked in the school. Before I took this job, I worked in the Ithaca City School District for about a year and a half. And anything I thought I knew, I didn't.

I didn't realize what they're up again. the resources they don't have sometimes, the support, the lack of support in some areas. I mean, there are also, some of the things you were talking about are celebrated. There are, they do have leeway to be more creative and teach the way they want to teach. So there were some good things too,

but I really got to see what teachers go through and how important they are. And we need to take care of our teachers for sure. But listen, you would have been out of here 10 or 15 minutes ago. Unfortunately, I found out you were involved the mental health and it's something I'm passionate about so I apologize. Let's talk about the Inner Harbor 5K. That's why

you're really here. Michael Gilbert, you are the, would I say you're the executive director of the Inner Harbor 5K? So the Inter Harbor 5K is something that it's about child and family has put on

for 17 years. It's part of the nonprofit that was one of our fundraisers but also one of our community events. So So I've certainly been the race director of that with all my other hats. But I'm excited this year because we're actually making a transition where we're partnering with the Syracuse Run Club. We'll have to get you to get them on at some point. But they're about a year old now.

And it was funny because last year, you know, putting on a race, I learned is not as easy as maybe I thought it was when I've first started because ran on races, but I'd never certainly organized one. So, I mean, luckily I had some people who had done it and helped me, but it's a lot of work, especially a couple weeks leading up to it. So last summer I was down at the Inner Harbor kind of checking out the course and making sure there was no holes that people might fit in, you know, fall into as they're running around. And this group of runners came, you know, through the harbor. It was like probably 150 runners.

I was like, what is going on? I've never seen anything like this in the city. And so as they're running by, I'm asking people like, what's going on? And somebody, you know, finally yelled out that it was part of the Syracuse Barglob and get a hold of Eli. So it's like, okay. Get a whole of Eli. Right. So I checked them out and saw what they were doing.

And so, you know, I started to collaborate a little bit with them. You know, we often have a lot of shirts left over and, so, you know, and I assume if they, you know, want some of those and to help promote the race, but also kind of clean out my garage of stuff I don't need. So, you know, they thought they wanted to start their own race. And so I let them kind of explore that. And I think they learned what I learned early on that takes a lot of work. And it's also going to be expensive depending on where in the city you want to roll.

run. So, you know, so I just approached them and I said, you know, if you, if you really want your own race, I go, what do you think about the Inter Harbor 5K? Because, you know, I'm going to be probably looking to transition. I want it to keep going, but I don't want to be the one who's doing it. And so they were interested in that. So we've been, you know, meeting frequently in the last few months to help them, you know, learn about all the different components to the race and with the idea that eventually they'll kind of take it over fully. I mean, I'll still be involved. I'm still going to help them.

Sure. You know, our non-private is still going to do a lot with the Brexie run because that's, you know, very important to us. But they're going to bring a lot new energy to it, new life. It's a younger crew, so they're much more savvy with the social media stuff. And, you know, they're flyers and graphics than I would ever hope to be. It's a good partnership. So they're bringing a lot to the event, and we're already seeing that.

We're already, you know, our registration is already beyond what we've had this year. So it's a good partnership. Yeah, and this is exciting because it's so it's the Syracuse Inter Harbor 5K. It's on October 5th, Sunday, October 5th, 2025. But there's a lot going on. You've got the 2K race run. for Brexie, which starts at 9 a.m. The 5K races at 930,

10.30 are awards. You've got a kids activity zone with games, giveaways, auto is going to be there, ice cream. And then post race, I love this, talking about, you know, mental health awareness, and that is you got post race yoga, massage, a DJ food truck,

raffles. This is awesome. Let's talk a little bit about the 2K piece run for Brexie. What is that about? That kind of kicks the whole event off. Yeah, so we've always had a kid's run with our race. Yeah. So sometimes it's been a mile.

Sometimes it's, you know, number of years ago we went to a 2K just to be a little different and also to fit the course because it's, you know, it's hard to get an exact route down there. Yeah. And then three years ago, there was a student, Brexley in Syracuse City who was, I think it was in January. She was walking to the corner store to get milk for the family, and there was a drive-by shooting. had nothing to do with her and she was killed. I got to know

mom a little bit from some work I was doing the community over on the west side and she was working there and you know I talked to her a few months after and I said you know I'd like to you know I have an idea about the 2K run

because I knew she wanted I mean Brexsea had such a spark to her like she was like just lit up the room I think wherever she She went, you know, talking to people that knew her well. You know, I've always said that about her. And so, you know, I approached Mom and I said, you know, I'd like to name the race after her and, you know,

kind of promote it and, you know, we'll give some stuff back to the community. We donate a lot of, like, books and stuff to various places and do some scholarships for kids to go to different camps. And so we try to do those in Brexie's honor. So mom was very appreciative and she wanted to do it. So this will be the third year that's been the 2K piecefront for Brexit. So the idea is, you know, to come out and have some fun to, you know, to remember her in a positive way to, you know, it's also about, you know,

just a senseless gun violence that they'll deal with. Yeah. We don't, you know, we're not going to spend time at that event. Like, no. Really going negative on it, we really want it to be a positive event, but we also want that awareness that, you know, not only for Brexit, but for all the other, we've lost a lot of kids in the city to. It's awful.

I mean, that's why this show exists to counter that. You know, you turn on the news locally, nationally, and it's just doom and gloom, and it feels more than ever with the 24-hour news cycle. So an event like this is amazing. Also, the proceeds from your event's going to support the local nonprofit you were talking about, as well as athletic departments at five Syracuse City School District High School. So, man, you are, you're doing it all. That was the Syracuse Run Club.

That was one of the things that they wanted to focus on giving back to those athletic clubs. So, yeah, we're going to, it's going to be fun. We may have some special guests that I can't. Oh, okay. I mean, Otto is pretty special. It's pretty special. During the years, we've had Crunch Man and Scooch. I mean, it's all depending on.

I love it. I don't want to say that the same person, but we have had races where all three of them have been there. That's amazing. It's been amazing because I was beginning to wonder if it was just we had one person. You dispelled the conspiracy theory that it was one person. They were all in the same place. They're all the same. All right.

Well, before we hit the plugs, you guys are still looking for volunteers for the Inner Harbor 5K, correct? And also racers as well? Yes, definitely. runners, walkers, if you want to volunteer, we'll definitely put you to work. We can never have too many volunteers. And the nice thing, again, with the Syracuse Run Club is they really want to do more, like, the after-race kind of vibe. Yeah. That's with the DJs and the food trucks.

And so it's probably going to get even bigger and used to come. But even if you want to come down and just... I was going to say, even if you don't want a race, come down for the after party. Yeah, come down and check it out. And, you know, you still get a massage if you're going to... want. You know, I might just show up for that. Is that okay? Michael Gilbert, you are an amazing man. Michael Gilbert, it's all about childhood and family. Incorporated is his business. Also, one of the organizers for the Inner Harbor 5K, which is Sunday, October 5th, 2025.

Give us the plugs. Where can people go to check out info, sign up to volunteer, to register to race? Give us all the plugs. Right. So we'll run sign up is the site that you can register. either to volunteer or to race. But those links are also on our Facebook page and our Harbor 5K Facebook page. Also the Syracuse Run Club Facebook page. And we also have Instagram pages for the Inner Harbor. And it's about child and family and the Syracuse Front.

My social media. It's okay. Listen, you do so much. You're allowed to, not be great at one thing. Yeah, you're only one man. If you go to those platforms and you look for Inter Harbor 5K or Syracuse

Run Club or it's about child and family. You're definitely going to find some. Right. Okay. Let's go with it. Don't bother trying to get a hold of him on social media. He doesn't know how. But he knows how to take care of people and he knows how to throw one heck of a race. And we're so happy you came on. Michael Gilbert

you're the man. The Syracuse Inner Harbor 5K Sunday, October 5th. 2025 Syracuse, New York, Facebook.com, Interhabor 5K. And thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. It's been great. This is awesome.

Please come back. I will. All right. And with that, it is Mike Brindisi saying goodbye to you on this Tuesday on good news, York sponsored by Ads on the Go, get ads on the go.com. We will be back tomorrow and we'll see you that. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting.

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