Zaentz Fellow Spotlight: Sosi Day

Sosi Day, MS ‘26, is one of the first graduates of the Zaentz Fellows Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. The tuition-free program offers students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of early childhood content, engage with the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, and build connections and community with professionals while earning their master’s degree. Day, who is from Los Angeles, graduated this summer with a degree in Learning, Design, and Technology and will soon begin teaching at a preschool in Brooklyn, New York. 

“I have always been drawn to young children because I believe they see the world as we all should — with hope, curiosity, and wonder,” Day said. “This world is often an oppressive place for imagination, so I resolved long ago to dedicate my life to protecting and nurturing childhood.”

In this Q&A, she reflects on creating and testing a free early education curriculum that parents can access during grocery trips. She also shares what she is looking forward to in her new role as a preschool teacher.

What was a meaningful experience to you as a Zaentz Fellow?

The most meaningful experience of the Zaentz fellowship was meeting [co-fellows] Kwasi, Charlie, Miranda, and Ellie. Their wisdom, experience, and reflection have helped me discover the work that calls me most, and their perspectives have made me a better teacher, advocate, and learner. Their projects continue to amaze me as I take my next steps away from Stanford, and I cannot wait to build a far-reaching network of colleagues and friends who care about young children and families so that we can meet the dark world with a united front. I am eternally grateful for those who see the same gentle and discerning essence within each child and live their lives to protect it. 

What is something you’ve accomplished in the fellowship that you are proud of?

I am proud of my final Learning, Design and Technology project, completed with Ciera Okere. We designed a curriculum intended to support parents who do not have access to early education by scaffolding kindergarten readiness and engaging life skills through routine grocery shopping visits. 

The curriculum, apples&oranges, uses themed booklets to deliver the curriculum at the store with no additional time, materials, or costs to parents. I am proud of our project because we navigated complex tensions between kindergarten readiness, play and wonder, and parent capacity to design a curriculum that leads to learning without adding stress for parents. We also faced our fears and tested the booklets with 16 families at grocery stores, 14 of which were strangers to us. It was challenging and exciting to learn from the real-time reactions and needs of caregivers, and the process made our project stronger.

What’s next for you after graduation? 

After graduation, I will move to Brooklyn, NY and work as a preschool teacher at Mulberry House Playschool. I am honored and excited to be teaching alongside Suzanne Cotton, the founder, director, and mentoring teacher at Mulberry House. Throughout my time at Stanford, I have had the privilege of visiting and working at a wide range of early education programs, and Mulberry House captures many of the elements I care about most – freedom of movement, expression, and time for children during play; significant scholarships, subsidies, and flexible hours to meet parents where they are; and a deep respect for the skilled labor of early educators. I can’t wait to be a part of the spectacular work that the school does to facilitate experiences of wonder, mediate children’s first interactions with others, and advocate for the protection and cultivation of play in our education systems beyond the walls of the school.