Don Bartel has been a teacher and coach in Washington state for 22 years. He has coached and/or taught at the middle school, high school, and collegiate level. He has served as a head coach at three different high schools for a combined 15 years; and has been the head football coach, leadership teacher, ASB adviser, and activities coordinator at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Washington for the past six years. We talk with Coach Bartel about the branding campaign they have created at Eastlak...
Jun 03, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Dr. Jennifer Macaulay has a PhD in Organizational Psychology from the University of Washington. She has over 30 years experience coaching, teaching, researching and consulting in organizational and leadership effectiveness. Her clients have ranged from school districts to governmental agencies, Fortune 500 companies, hospitals, small start-ups and not-for profits. We talk with Dr. Macaulay on the importance of leaders helping others around them, and she gives some tips on how to understand and d...
May 30, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Bryan Slater is an experienced classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years teaching high school Social Studies in Tacoma, WA, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sumner, WA. He currently teaches IB 20th Century Topics and Theory of Knowledge to 9-12th graders at Sumner High School. We talk with Bryan about the paradigm shift that he has had surrounding the strategy of, “ It's Your Character Not Mine.” He shares how it can change the way that we see fault, take responsibility, and respond better in differe...
May 27, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporat...
May 24, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporat...
May 23, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporat...
May 22, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporat...
May 21, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Coach Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned co...
May 20, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about the impact of empowering students to solve problems, be creative, and take ownership, and how it has created a positive culture at his school.
May 16, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Kim Karr spent 13 years as a middle school teacher prior to dedicating her talents to #ICANHELP on a full-time basis. Since that time, #ICANHELP has spoken to more than 400,000 students in the United States and Canada. Kim has inspired thousands of people to join the #ICANHELP movement to choose a more positive life both on and offline. Her enthusiasm for life is irresistible and infectious for both students and adults. We talk with Kim about the social media landscape that both students and adu...
May 13, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Dr. Shepard is the Superintendent of the Orting School District. She has been an educator for over 20 years. Dr. Shepard is also a recognized leader in education, presenting at national and state conferences, serving on state boards and committees, and teaching for the Educational Leadership program at Western Washington University. We talk with Dr. Sheppard about the changes that they have made in her district to better align what they do with their overarching goal of preparing each student in...
May 09, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Bryan Slater is an experienced classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years teaching high school Social Studies in Tacoma, WA, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sumner, WA. He currently teaches IB 20th Century Topics and Theory of Knowledge to 9-12th graders at Sumner High School. We talk with Bryan about how he uses a weekly temperature check to get a pulse on how his students are doing. Bryan shares how this low burden, high impact strategy has influenced his teaching practice and helped him connect re...
May 06, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about how he evaluates leadership at Thomas Jefferson through the lens of the power of different moments during the school year.
May 02, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Barbara Gruener enjoyed the gift of growing alongside learners from Pre-K through High School for 34 years, first as a Spanish teacher and then as a school counselor. She is the author of The Corner on Character blog and the book What’s Under Your Cape? Her newest passions include hosting her Character Speaks podcast, being a Character Strong teammate, and serving as a mentor and coach. We talk with Barbara about the launch of PurposeFull People, CharacterStrong’s new K-5 Character Toolkit comin...
May 01, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Dr. Christopher M. Clayton serves as a Director of Education Services for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. He is responsible for providing support to over 180,000 educator members on issues involving assessment, teacher certification, student achievement, pedagogical best practices, and research in teaching and learning. He earned a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education and Ed. S. in Education Leadership, Administration, & Policy at The University of Georgia along with a Mast...
Apr 29, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Brandon Bakke has spent the last 23 year in education, a career that has spanned five different high schools in two different states. He taught history, government and coached basketball for the first seven years before becoming an assistant principal for 15 years in Tacoma and Sumner WA. Brandon is currently in his first year as Principal of Fife High School in Washington State. We talk with Brandon about starting out as a new principal and the unique way that he began his time at Fife High Sch...
Apr 18, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Lauren Ambeau is the principal at Brookside Intermediate in Clear Creek ISD, former elementary school principal, strong advocate for increasing SEL in secondary schools, and passionate about servant leadership. She was the Clear Creek ISD Secondary Principal of the year in 2016-2017 and shares her journey of school transformation in her blog titled Vulnerable Leadership . We talk with Lauren about some intentional strategies that she uses to lay a strong foundation for the staff & students a...
Apr 15, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 12
David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about how we all need to feel hope, meaning and purpose in what we are doing.
Apr 12, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 11
David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about how character is more important than compliance. So many schools are so focused on compliance, we want students to learn to do the right things, for the right reasons, not just because someone else told them to.
Apr 11, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 10
David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about why non-academic “soft skills” are so important as they support the academic skills of students. David speaks on how these human-only traits are becoming even more valuable as technology becomes more integrated in our lives....
Apr 10, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 9
David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about the roles that non-academic factors play in the future success of students. Change is happening so fast in today’s world and it’s important to help students to be able to develop “human only factors”.
Apr 09, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 8
David is the Principal of Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about how relationships are the foundation of everything educators do, and gives some tips on how to be intentional about building better relationships.
Apr 08, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Danny Steele is in his 26th year of education, and this school year marks his fifth year as the principal of Thompson Sixth Grade Center in the Alabaster City School System, just south of Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to this position, he served as a high school principal, as an assistant principal, and as a teacher and coach. He has written two books with Todd Whitaker which were released last month. (Essential Truths for Teachers and Essential Truths for Principals) In the fall, Steele will begin...
Mar 29, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Danny Steele is in his 26th year of education, and this school year marks his fifth year as the principal of Thompson Sixth Grade Center in the Alabaster City School System, just south of Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to this position, he served as a high school principal, as an assistant principal, and as a teacher and coach. He has written two books with Todd Whitaker which were released last month. (Essential Truths for Teachers and Essential Truths for Principals) In the fall, Steele will begin...
Mar 29, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 5
John & Houston have some fun and talk about the first thing that comes to mind on different School Culture & Climate topics. Topics: Hallways, Cafeteria, Custodian, Spirit Swag, Funniest speech moment.
Mar 06, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Houston sits down with CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin and they talk about the Top 3 things students identified every year as most important to their learning in his 10 years as a leadership teacher.
Mar 05, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 3
John sits down with CharacterStrong Co-Founder Houston Kraft and they talk about what Houston has learned about school culture presenting to over 600 schools.
Mar 04, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 2
We sit down with CharacterStrong co-founders John Norlin & Houston Kraft as they talk about what the CharacterStrong podcast is all about and how CharacterStrong got its start.
Mar 01, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 1
