1. thinc Career Chat
with Tanya Van Court
Friday, January 18
1 p.m. ET
Bring your students to our thinc Career Chat with
Tanya Van Court, Senior Vice President of Marketing
at Discovery Education. Tanya has worked at some
really awesome places like ESPN and Nickelodeon.
Your students will learn a lot from Tanya so have them
come prepared to ask questions.
What do I need to do to have my students participate?
1
Let us know youʼre planning to attend.
Register at: http://tinyurl.com/thincCCtanya
2
Have your students submit their questions for our guest to our Edmodo group.
Just go to Edmodo.com and register for a free account.
Then join our thinc Career Chat group using the code: fjsgij
3
Double check to make sure Google Hangouts are not blocked at your school. On
the day of the event you will go to http://tinyurl.com/thincHangout to participate.
About thinc Career Chats
Our thinc Career Chats are an opportunity for students to connect with some really amazing people who have equally
amazing careers. The chats are intended for students in grades five through twelve.
The first part of the chat is a live video broadcast through Google Hangouts. For approximately 20 minutes a student
interviews our special guest. All students are encouraged to submit questions in advance via Edmodo.
After the video broadcast, our special guest will answer additional questions live in Edmodo for approximately 20 minutes.
Questions? Contact Lance@PurpleFeetFoundation.org

2. Tanya Van Court
Senior Vice President, Discovery Education
www.discoveryeducation.com
To help your students get to know Tanya before the thinc Career Chat, we asked her
some general questions in advance.
Where do you live?
Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY Tanyaʼs Favorites
Where did you go to school? Book
Toler Heights Elementary, Oakland (CA) The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Adams Jr. High, El Cerrito High School (CA)
Food
Stanford University (CA) Peach Cobbler
Tell us about your family. Place
I am the youngest of 6 children. My mom is African- Barcelona, Spain
American, my dad is Caucasian, and my 5 siblings are
all African-American. I lost my mom to a brain Technology
aneurysm when I was 6 years old, and all 6 of us were iPhone
raised by my mom's sister, my Aunt Fern. I was born
and raised in Oakland, CA, and then El Cerrito, CA Sports team
after my mom's death. Oakland RAIDERS!
Give us your bio in your own words. Movie
The Notebook (sappy, I know)
Life always felt uncertain to me because I lost my mom
at such a young age, so I strove to control as much of Season
my destiny as possible by getting good grades. I Summer, summer, and more
majored in Industrial Engineering at Stanford because I summer!
had no idea what I wanted to do with my life - I just
knew that Engineering was a degree that would enable Quote
me to get a good job, and I got a Master's degree in "Excellence is not a singular act but
Industrial Engineering because I really liked school and a habit. You are what you do
wasn't ready to get a job yet. repeatedly." - Shaquille O'Neal
I lived in 5 different states in the 5 years after
graduating from college, and have had at least 3 different careers in the past 20 years. Each
career move for me has been about getting me closer and closer to the subject matter that I
am most passionate about - kids. Speaking of kids, I had 3 beautiful kids (Gabrielle, Seneca,
and Hendrix), but lost Seneca when he was 3 months old. Gabrielle is now 7, Hendrix is now
3, and they are the greatest blessings in my life.