In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Carteret County Public Schools School Nurse Jessica Shearin to discuss the work of helping to keep students, teachers, and staff members safe in schools. Nurse Shearin works tirelessly in helping to keep the White Oak Elementary School family in Cape Carteret, North Carolina safe and healthy. From Wellness Checks at school entrances to reminders about wearing a mask to helping to check that the school is properly disinfected, to contact tra...
Oct 05, 2020•19 min•Ep. 30
In this episode of the special series, "Lessons from the Lightkeeper," Dr. Jackson discusses the importance of focus. Every challenge, including the present one, must be approached with a calm, unwavering focus and a determination to light the way for others. www.drrobjackson.com
Sep 30, 2020•15 min•Ep. 29
In this episode of the special series, "Lessons from the Lightkeeper," Dr. Jackson discusses the critical importance of initiative. As it has been said countless times, every journey begins with the first step.
Sep 23, 2020•15 min•Ep. 28
Passion Energizes the Light! It seems that personal energy is at a premium in this time of great challenge. Oprah Winfrey says that, "Passion is energy!" What are you passionate about? In this second Lesson from the Lightkeeper, Dr. Jackson discusses how passion is the first step to achievement, that passion increases willpower and is the foundation of excellence. Lighthouses have sent out a beacon for centuries to guide mariners to safe harbor. This light represented the difference between reac...
Sep 16, 2020•14 min•Ep. 27
Belief Lights the Light! What do you really believe about students and their learning? Beliefs lead to expectations. Expectations lead to achievement. In this first Lesson from the Lightkeeper, Dr. Jackson discusses how our beliefs in the ability and capacity of students, our teammates, our schools, and our leaders become self-fulfilling prophecies. https://drrobjackson.blogspot.com/p/lessons-from-lightkeeper.html...
Sep 09, 2020•18 min•Ep. 26
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Durham Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga to discuss transformational leadership. Since being sworn in as superintendent in 2017, the district has seen increases in student academic progress and school performance, as well as improvement in the cohort graduation rate. Most notably, as student results improved, the district's enrollment grew by 500 students in one year, for the first time in four years. Dr. Mubenga works tirele...
Sep 08, 2020•31 min•Ep. 25
Lighthouses have sent out a beacon for centuries to guide mariners to safe harbor. This light represented the difference between reaching safety or floundering on the rocky shoals. As the world contends with a pandemic and societal unrest, schools are sending out a light of hope, of strength, of safety, and of care. EdLeaders are the lightkeepers, keeping the light shining bright. There is much to learn from the men and women who cared for the lighthouses despite the storms that raged. In this s...
Sep 01, 2020•17 min•Ep. 24
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Lexington County School District One Superintendent Dr. Greg Little to discuss authentic leadership development. Dr. Little shares that leadership development cannot be a one-time event. Instead, it must be a pervasive element in the culture of the school system, the school, and the classroom. Leadership development is not just something you learn in seminars, it also grows through self-reflection and a willingness to accept and act on feed...
Aug 30, 2020•30 min•Ep. 23
In this episode, Dr. Jackson sits down with 2020-2021 Carteret County Public Schools Principal of the Year to discuss the reopening of schools during the ongoing pandemic. Opening a new school year in 2020 is anything but routine. Literally every process in the school, from how to board buses, to how to walk down the hallway, to the scheduling of instruction, has been drastically changed. For an EdLeader there is no more important responsibility than keeping students and staff members safe. Mrs....
Aug 26, 2020•34 min•Ep. 22
Dedicated to teachers everywhere, for the 21st episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Regional Teacher of the Year Julie Pittman to discuss the importance of teachers giving students a space to feel safe, a space to learn, and a shelter from the storm. This is a time of great unrest in our country as the fear and worry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing protests against racism and the excessive use of police force leave our children scared and confused as chaos swirls aroun...
Jun 07, 2020•31 min•Ep. 21
The 20th episode of EdLeader is dedicated to the Class of 2020. In this episode, Dr. Jackson sits down with Valedictorian Ethan Hughson and Salutatorian Hannah Rose to discuss what this school year has been like and how it has impacted the Class of 2020. As Ethan, Hannah, and their peers around the world prepare to leave behind their K-12 school careers to head to college, career, or the military, they do so with an experience that none before them have had. Born around the time of 9/11, having ...
May 31, 2020•26 min•Ep. 20
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with North Carolina State Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis to discuss leadership and meeting the challenges of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman Davis compares teachers, principals, and superintendents with mighty lighthouses "standing tall and sending out a beacon of hope, and safety and security and care to each one of our students." He describes that like a lighthouse, the light shines not for the sender, but for all of those ...
May 16, 2020•30 min•Ep. 19
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Dr. Michael Sasscer to discuss seven tips for parents in supporting their child’s remote learning. Developed by Larry Ferlazzo, these seven tips give concrete examples of how parents might help their children continue their academic progress even while they are away from school and away from their teachers. Just as most teachers were not trained in how to teach online, most parents have not been taught how to serve as their child’s educatio...
May 11, 2020•26 min•Ep. 18
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with Dr. Lory Morrow, to discuss overcoming an obstacle that is faced by school districts across the country and around the world: lack of access to high-quality internet. This lack of access impacts students, families, and community members. Dr. Morrow and her team have met that challenge with collaboration, seeking out and using good data, and employing innovative solutions. They have created a “Next-Level” system of exterior wi-fi. Dr. Lory M...
May 04, 2020•27 min•Ep. 17
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with two gifted Instructional Leaders, Dr. Brad Breedlove and Dr. John Jones, to discuss supporting academics during remote learning in the unprecedented challenges presented by the coronavirus, COVID-19. Chief Academic Officers in large school districts, Dr. Breedlove and Dr. Jones share their belief in grace over grades, in the need to share a message of hope, in the power of well-crafted flexible plans, in meaningful feedback, and in continui...
Apr 26, 2020•28 min•Ep. 16
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down virtually with two very experienced classroom teachers to discuss teaching with grace as the current pandemic forces teachers to radically change the way teachers deliver instruction and support students.The coronavirus pandemic finds students in all sorts of circumstances. Some are caring for younger siblings, being cared for by older siblings, home alone, dealing with the unexpected unemployment of a parent, lacking internet access, dealing wi...
Apr 20, 2020•24 min•Ep. 15
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Jackson sits down with the current North Carolina State Superintendent of the Year and one of the longest tenured superintendents in the state of North Carolina, Dr. Patrick Miller. Dr. Jackson and Dr. Miller discuss ongoing school district efforts to meet the unprecedented challenges presented by the coronavirus, COVID-19. After leading through the aftermath caused when a tornado ripped through a middle school in 2011, Dr. Miller’s experiences with leading throu...
Apr 13, 2020•26 min•Ep. 14
As the coronavirus, COVID-19, spread across the country, EdLeaders in schools everywhere found themselves in the midst of unprecedented challenges. Extended school closures necessitated the development of remote learning protocols and the need to provide meals to students who might live in food-insecure homes. In the middle of this massive change swirled the anxiety caused by a dread virus whose numbers grew alarmingly as days crept by. Charged with supporting the well-being of students and staf...
Mar 30, 2020•29 min•Ep. 13
Within the past few days, two school systems became among the first in the state of North Carolina to have lab-confirmed cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 connected to the school. Join the superintendents of those school systems, EdLeader host Dr. Rob Jackson and Dr. Ethan Lenker, as they discuss how they approached the unprecedented challenge presented when this ongoing pandemic enters the lives of students, teachers, staff, and the community. Charles Swindoll said that life is 10% what happens to ...
Mar 22, 2020•38 min•Ep. 12
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with Milken Award winner Rachel O'Kelley. Called the "Oscars of Teaching," the $25,000 Milken awards honor early to mid-career educators who are making a true difference in the lives of children. Rachel O'Kelley is a Physics, Chemistry, Physical Science, and Biology teacher at John A. Holmes High School. She uses competition and teamwork in equal measure to encourage students to achieve what they previously did not believe was possible. Mrs....
Mar 09, 2020•25 min•Ep. 11
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with George Couros, Author of "The Innovator's Mindset" and "Innovate Inside the Box." A frequent and well-known speaker and consultant, Couros defines innovation as that that is "new and better." He draws a distinct division between traditional teaching practices and "bad" teaching practices, arguing that some traditional practices are quite powerful while others may need to be replaced. "New is not always better," he says while noting that...
Mar 02, 2020•30 min•Ep. 10
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with North Carolina State Teacher of the Year Freebird McKinney to delve into the transforming potential of contagious joy in educators and the absolute power of yet. "I cannot answer this math problem... yet!" "I cannot write a paper that long...yet!" Together, they discuss the sense of community built by lighthouse educators and the need to tell the stories of successful EdLeaders far and wide. Mr. McKinney, newly minted Director of Legisl...
Feb 24, 2020•25 min•Ep. 9
In this episode, EdLeader host Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with Educational Leadership Professor Dr. Kerry Robinson to discuss the growing need for mental health services through the schools and the importance of prioritizing our own well-being. As our awareness of social-emotional learning and trauma-informed schools grows, so to does our need to really understand what that means for students and staff. An Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Dr. Robinson's prima...
Feb 17, 2020•28 min•Ep. 8
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Dr. Pam Baldwin and Scotland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Ron Hargrave. Representing three very distinctly different school districts, nevertheless these three superintendents find commonality in their thoughts on the characteristics of amazing EdLeaders. They discuss learning and respecting school and district culture and digging beyond the surface data to really get to know how s...
Feb 10, 2020•25 min•Ep. 7
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with School System Teacher of the Year Mrs. Molli Rose. Mrs. Rose is an amazing EdLeader who has been teaching Middle School and High School English/Language Arts for 26 years. Dr. Jackson and Mrs. Rose discuss finding the awesome in the awful, the power of reflection, not being the sand in the vaseline, and what teachers wish that every principal and superintendent knew about teaching in 2020. The first EdLeader, currently serving as a clas...
Feb 03, 2020•31 min•Ep. 6
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with Dr. Sam Houston, an esteemed EdLeader who has been serving public education for over 50 years. Dr. Houston has been described as one of the faces on the Mount Rushmore of EdLeaders in North Carolina. Dr. jackson and Dr. Houston discuss the importance of EdLeaders truly knowing themselves and their own true north star. Dr. Houston shares that STEM education is more than Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education. It is Strategi...
Jan 27, 2020•28 min•Ep. 5
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with the 2020 State Superintendent of the Year Dr. Tony Jackson to discuss courageous leadership and the cost to students and staff when a lack of courage keeps a leader from speaking up. Dr. Tony Jackson shares the tremendous honor and responsibility taking on the Mantle of Leadership brings. The Drs. Jackson also highlight the importance of being careful stewards of opportunity and personalizing education to meet the needs of students. Lat...
Jan 20, 2020•27 min•Ep. 4
Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships were the education buzzwords dujour until educators made cliches out of them and moved on to the next great idea. Perhaps educational leaders need to reexamine their power as a lens with which to view education today. In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with two of his sons, Joshua and Elijah, to discuss how graduating from public school prepared them (or not) for life beyond high school. One is a recent college graduate and one is soon to b...
Jan 13, 2020•23 min•Ep. 3
In this episode of EdLeader, Dr. Rob Jackson sits down with Regional Principal of the Year Sheila Evans to discuss the importance of Early Childhood Education in helping to ensure that students are ready for school and more likely to graduate from high school on-time and college, career, and citizenship ready. Mrs. Evans shares what makes the school she serves the #HappiestPlaceInChowanCounty and how the school begins discussing high school graduation with their youngest elementary students. Lat...
Jan 06, 2020•21 min•Ep. 2
Educational Leadership is an ever-evolving opportunity to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of students, parents, and the community. Join Dr. Rob Jackson for conversations and reflections on improving Educational Leadership from the Classroom to the Boardroom and beyond. What is possible when you truly believe in students, teachers, administrators, and schools? How about every single school meeting or exceeding growth expectations, cohort graduation rates growing from 78.9% to 91.6...
Jan 03, 2020•18 min•Ep. 1
