Rebecca Mieliwocki is the 2012 National Teacher of the Year and a 23 year veteran middle school English teacher. She is the author of Adventures in Teacher Leadership: Pathways, Strategies, and Inspiration for Every Teacher from ASCD and the founder of Girlfriends for Good. She is currently on special assignment with Burbank Unified School District coordinating new teacher induction and secondary educator development. She is happily married, the mom to a terrific college freshman and an adorable...
Dec 19, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Andy DiDomenico is a nineteen year educational veteran who currently teaches history and leadership at Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, NY and coaches sprint football at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His mission is to help foster inclusive school culture by building caring relationships and establishing trusting communities in and out of the classroom. He, his wife Anne and their daughter Mary are proud to be a part of the CharacterStrong family!
Dec 16, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Justin has been a teacher, coach and assistant principal for the last 12 years in SW Washington. He is blessed to have married his best friend who challenges and supports him, has birthed their 3 boys, and is his partner in life. Justin believes teachers are the ones that make the magic happen in school buildings and that relationships are the key to their influence in the lives of our children. Justin’s mission is to create a Non-Anxious environment where his family, friends, and colleagues fee...
Dec 12, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Maurice Dudley is a graduate of Palm Beach Gardens High School 1976. He joined the US Army in Feb 8, 1977 and served 20 years in the Army. Retired June 1997 as a First Sergeant. Maurice did a combat tour in Gulf War (Desert Storm) and was awarded the Army Bronze Star after the war. He started working at Sumner High School Aug 1997 – Presently serves a Campus Safety Officer and Track Coach. Maurice was awarded Coach Of The Year 2018. Maurice's primary role at Sumner High School is to provide a sa...
Dec 09, 2019•17 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Bernette Lindamood is a 22 year classroom veteran teacher that has worked with high school level students and middle school students in Texas and Alaska. Bernette works in the Lewisville Independent School District at DeLay Middle School teaching Teen Leadership and Social Studies. She is a firm believer in teaching students first and content second! Cultivating relationships and modeling kindness, compassion and love are her primary goals in her profession. All kids can learn and all kids need ...
Dec 05, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize i...
Dec 02, 2019•20 min•Season 2Ep. 30
On the day before Thanksgiving 2019, CharacterStrong Co-Founders Houston Kraft & John Norlin reflect on this past year and share a little bit about what they are grateful for, and also give a challenge that reminds us what this holiday is all about. To read the transcription of this episode please visit: https://buff.ly/2KO8zfF
Nov 27, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Chuck Moss is in his 23rd year as a professional educator, all but 6 of those years have been at the middle school level. He currently serves as the principal at Dinwiddie Middle School in Dinwiddie County, Virginia and is the Middle School Representative on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Association or Elementary School Principals. Chuck started his career as an 8th grade civics and English teacher, has coached football, wrestling, and soccer and is the PA announcer for the Dinwiddie Ge...
Nov 25, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Esteban Gast is Colombian, grew up in Puerto Rico and Illinois, and currently lives in LA. He toured as a comedian at the age of 23, taught creativity and design thinking at the college level, co-authored a book on creativity, and was President of a sustainability-focused institute in Panama. He is co-founder of Scriptd, a script database and story platform that elevates underrepresented creators. Most recently, he was the star of the tv show Jungletown, airing on VICELAND. He’s been profiled in...
Nov 21, 2019•17 min•Season 2Ep. 27
We talk with Carla about how her district has put a focus on belonging, the importance if having these tough conversations, and some of the strategies and resources that have helped the staff in the Columbia district. Carla London is originally from Columbia, MO, but moved often as a child and got to experience the excitement of such diverse places as New Orleans, LA; Dallas and El Paso, TX; and Stamford, CT. After beginning her career in education in north Georgia, she returned to Columbia wher...
Nov 18, 2019•18 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Happy World Kindness Day! John Norlin is a Co-Founder of CharacterStrong, a Servant Leadership trainer, and motivational speaker. He was Washington Advisor of the Year, taught 5 leadership classes per semester for 10 years at Sumner High School, and was a Program Administrator for the Whole Child for five years. Houston Kraft is a Co-Founder of CharacterStrong, a professional speaker, leadership consultant, and kindness advocate who speaks to middle schools, high schools, colleges, and businesse...
Nov 13, 2019•18 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Nick Mann is a Veteran of The United States Marine Corps where he served 8 years as an Infantry Officer. Since moving on from the Marines, Nick has been working with individuals and groups to change their lives through health, fitness, and nutrition. Nick is the owner of Occoquan Bay Fitness in Woodbridge, VA, runs an after school fitness program at Fred Lynn Middle School, and is the founder of TeacherFit, an online health and wellness program for educators.
Nov 11, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Jeff Gerber is a Leadership teacher and Student Council Advisor at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, 5 minutes from his home in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. At Waterloo-Oxford he leads one of the largest and most impactful student leadership programs in the province of Ontario. He is passionate about servant leadership and character development and travels across North America speaking about Leadership, Love and Belonging. He was recognized as Advisor of the Year for the province of On...
Nov 07, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Dr. Bill Ziegler is the principal at Pottsgrove High School in Pennsylvania. He has served as a school leader for twenty years at the middle and high school levels and is the co-author of a Corwin book, Future-Focused Leaders: Relate, Innovate, and Invigorate for Real Educational Change. Dr. Ziegler serves on the NASSP Board of Directors and the Apple Distinguished Schools Advisory Board. Dr. Ziegler was honored to be selected as the 2016 Pennsylvania Principal of the Year, the 2015 NASSP Digita...
Nov 04, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Dalton Lemert is a graduate of Purdue University and formerly worked as the Director of a nonprofit organization that aimed to make the world a better place, one act of random kindness at a time. Together, he and his team traveled more than 35,000 miles around the U.S. in their RV performing acts of kindness, ranging anywhere from buying coffee for a stranger, to throwing a senior citizen prom, to taking a Boys and Girls Club to Disney World. His work has been featured on the Today Show, Steve H...
Oct 31, 2019•12 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Todd Blake Finley, PhD, is a tenured Professor of English Education at East Carolina University and an assistant editor and blogger at Edutopia: George Lucas Education Foundation. He has taught elementary and 7-12th grade English and co-developed the Tar River Writing Project. Also, he was selected as one of the Top 12 Global Teacher Bloggers of 2014 and again in 2016 by Cathy Rubin for the Huffington Post. He has written Dinkytown Braves, a teaching memoir available on Amazon and Rethinking Cla...
Oct 28, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Zachariah is the Next Generation Director at One Church in Columbus, Ohio. He is also a speaker, and writer for his company Heartbeat Strength which is inspired by his story of overcoming a life threatening heart condition. Heartbeat Strength helps students and professionals step into their potential by becoming “heart centered” so they can lead with more passion, purpose, and love. Prior to this, he worked at a private K-12 school as a Sports Performance Coach and Assistant Athletic Director. Z...
Oct 24, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Todd Nesloney is the Director of Culture and Strategic Leadership for the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). He has also served as an award winning principal of a PreK-5th Grade campus of over 775 students in a rural town in Texas. He has been recognized by the White House, John C Maxwell, the Center for Digital Education, National School Board Association, the BAMMYS, and more for his work in education and with children. He is a best selling author and host of the ...
Oct 21, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 18
On this episode we learn from some of the team at Clear Brook High School. Dr. Michele Staley has been the principal at Clear Brook High School for the past 11 years. She has been in public education for 26 years, 21 of which have been as an administrator. Bridget Christmas is an Assistant Principal at Brook who currently oversees the BrookBound Program. She spent her career in education as a special education teacher where she taught SEL to students with disabilities and served as a district be...
Oct 17, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Barbara Gruener thrives on positively influencing change, passionately helping people create caring connections, and intentionally improving a school's climate and culture. Her innovative and inspirational ideas are sparked by 34 years as a Spanish teacher and school counselor growing alongside students from every age and stage, Pre-K through 12th grade. A connected educator, Barbara loves leading supercharged character-development growth sessions with students, parents, teachers and administrat...
Oct 14, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Molly Winters Diallo has spent the last 23 years in education, a career that has spanned three different schools. She currently teaches at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High in Miami, Florida. Molly serves as department chair for social sciences and her subjects include AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, and Honors U.S. History. She is also part of the school's Social Emotional Learning leadership team. In 2019, Molly was named Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools and a to...
Oct 10, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Beth Houf is the proud principal of Fulton Middle School in central Missouri. She is the Co-Author of Lead Like a PIRATE: Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff. Beth also serves as a facilitator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Leadership Academy, providing monthly training to state educational leaders. She has spoken at many venues, including the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, the Association for Middle Level Educa...
Oct 07, 2019•17 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a Professor in the Child Study Center of Yale University. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by nearly 2,000 pre-K through high schools across the United States and in other countries. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). As a researcher ...
Oct 03, 2019•13 min•Season 2Ep. 13
We talk with Meena about how we all need relationships to thrive, she shares some strategies that support relationships in the classrooms, and how important it is that we view the the adult work that we do through an empathetic lens. Meena Srinivasan is the Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL). Prior to this role, she spent five and a half years working in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) to implement SEL in the O...
Oct 02, 2019•16 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Ashanti Branch works to change how students, especially young men of color, interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realized his passion for teaching. In 2004, during Ashanti’s first year teaching high school math, he start...
Oct 02, 2019•18 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Rick Hess is a resident scholar and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he works on K–12 and higher education issues. He is the author of Education Week’s blog “Rick Hess Straight Up” and is a regular contributor to Forbes and The Hill. Since 2001, he has also served as an executive editor of Education Next. His books include Letters to a Young Education Reformer, Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned, and Cage-Busting Leadership. Rick has bee...
Oct 01, 2019•14 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Zoie Breland is a Senior at Fife High School, in Fife, Washington, where she serves as the ASB president. She started a Special Olympics Unified Sports Program during her sophomore year at Fife High School, a program that has sparked the inclusion revolution within the Fife community. Fife is now being recognized by ESPN and Special Olympics as one of their top 5 National Banner Unified Schools. Zoie has committed her school life to helping create an inclusive school culture. She was an intern w...
Sep 30, 2019•18 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Samuel Karns is in his 12th year of education, and this school year marks his second year as an assistant principal of Landrum Middle School in Spring Branch ISD. Prior to this position, he served as the assistant director of student wellness in central office in Spring Branch ISD as well as serving as a Health and Physical Educator at the elementary level for several years. He continues to be a champion and pioneer for the whole school whole community whole child framework through ASCD and CDC....
Sep 26, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 8
For Ethan Zohn, winning CBS’s SURVIVOR: Africa was the springboard to an exceptional young life of entrepreneurship, social purpose and advocacy. It was also the prelude to an incredible story, one of perseverance, accomplishment, and enduring spirit in the face of once unthinkable challenges. By sharing that story, Ethan inspires countless others around the globe. His message for young people, academia and the corporate community alike emphasizes character, resiliency, service, kindness and tur...
Sep 23, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Allyson Apsey has been an educator for over twenty years; a school leader for fifteen of those years. She is so proud of her school district and the Zeeland, MI community, and she loves being the principal of Quincy Elementary. She is the author of a blog called Serendipity in Education, and of the book The Path to Serendipity and the picture book The Princes of Serendip. Her third book was released in May of 2019 and is called Through the Lens of Serendipity: Helping Others Discover the Best in...
Sep 19, 2019•15 min•Season 2Ep. 6
