Today we kick off a new series highlighting EduHeroes! We know that there are education heroes in every building in every district, and we want to help put a spotlight on who they are & the amazing things that they do. Today we talk with Melissa Purswell, a middle school teacher at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston, Oregon.
Tracy Kelly has ten years teaching Special Education in California. He has taught all grades K-12, as well as being a Lecturer, both Adjunct and Full Time, at University level. He taught those that were inspired to be General Education and Special Education Teachers. He earned an BA in Economics, MA in Special Education, and his Ed.D. in candidacy status in Educational Leadership. He has edited six books as he continues to write his dissertation on the self-efficacy of Special Education teachers...
We talk with Principal Marcia Stephens, Instructional Coach Kacy Russell, & 4th Grade Teacher Sydni Edwards from Airport Road Intermediate School about their participation in Rock Your School, the culture of outside the box thinking that this event helped create, and the positive impact that it has had with students.
Amy Campbell was the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year. After earning her Master in Teaching, Amy realized her deep passion for supporting students with unique learning needs and returned to school for an endorsement in special education. She has been teaching at Helen Baller Elementary School for 12 years. In her position as a teacher of students with significant learning challenges, she collaborates with staff, parents, and community to develop individualized plans that focus on each s...
Dr. Byron McClure is a National Certified School Psychologist currently redesigning a high school in Southeast, D.C. His work centers around influencing systemic change and ensuring students from high-poverty communities has access to a quality education. Dr. McClure has extensive knowledge and expertise in mental health, social emotional learning, and behavior. Dr. McClure has done considerable work advocating for fair and equitable discipline practices for all students, particularly, for Afric...
Mona Elleithee is the Founder and School Equity Strategist of Renewed Harmony, an organization committed to reigniting professional passion and retaining educators who serve students with challenging needs. The mission of Renewed Harmony is to build more just and equitable schools by cultivating authentic leaders, strengthening adult social and emotional learning, and nurturing culturally responsive practices. An award-winning National Board Certified Teacher leader and diversity trainer, Mona i...
Angelica Rodriguez | Spanish Language Arts Middle School Teacher | Highland Middle School in Bellevue, WA | Educator for Justice | Mental Health Advocate | Resource & Content Creator of Peromiss Educational Resources | Believer in Mindful & Intentional "Self-care" (not just on Sundays)
Sarah Casper is a Consent Educator and the founder of Comprehensive Consent. Her mission is to help parents and teachers develop consent skills in their kids and teens in the present, so they’re prepared for their relationships in the future.With her background in psychology, mindfulness, and nine years of experience teaching social and coping skills to kids, Sarah pulls on evidence-based methods to teach kids, parents, and teachers the necessary skills for navigating body-boundaries and consent...
Dr. Randy Russell currently serves as the Freeman, WA School District Superintendent. During his nine years in Freeman, the Freeman School District has achieved a high school graduation rate exceeding 98%; developed a collaborative professional development system grades P-12; successfully completed a $35 million construction project including the renovation of Freeman High School and Elementary schools, a new K-8 multi-purpose room, a new Palouse Regional Transportation Cooperative, a remodeled ...
CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares some thoughts about the current conversations on toxic positivity, he digs into 3 parts of neutral thinking, and reminds us that we all can be mindful of the negative things that we say.
Mackenzie is a 3rd year kindergarten teacher who has a passion for early childhood education. She has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education. Teaching has always felt natural and her love for the classroom stems from her big family of teachers. When Mackenzie is not teaching, she enjoys reading and spending time with family in Lake Stevens, Washington.
Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph.D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children’s Hospital in their inpatient psychiatric unit. Additionally, Bella has been a school counselor in th...
"Coach" Victor Hicks is a computer science instructor at The Kindezi School at Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, GA. Coach Hicks has over 20 years experience in education with the last 6 years devoted to his passion ,combining computer science and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to provide a culturally relevant 21st century learning experience for his scholars. Coach Hicks' work is featured on the Google Applied Digital Skills website and he was blessed with the opportunity to present on ...
As seen on Schoology Exchange, District Administration, EdSurge, iNACOL, and TechEdge magazine, Will Deyamport, III, Ed.D. is an entrepreneurial educator who specializes in assisting educators in going digital. Dr. Will, as he is better known as, is a podcaster, writer, documentary filmmaker, and District Instructional Technologist for Hattiesburg Public School District. Dr. Will is the creator and host of The Dr. Will Show where he interviews educators and entrepreneurs on leveling up. In March...
We talk with Houston about his brand new book Deep Kindness, which comes out Tuesday, September 29th! He shares about why we need a different way to talk about kindness, and how going deep takes proactive work. To learn more and to order visit: https://deepkindness.com
Emily Rose is a school Counselor at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls, Wisconsin. Greenwood Elementary is a State and National School of Character. This is Emily's 6th year as a school counselor and she has been at her current position for 5 years. You can follow Emily on Instagram at: @coffeefueledcounselor
Mike Flynn is the director of Mathematics Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College. He runs the Master of Arts in Teaching Mathematics program and creates a wide variety of professional learning for educators looking to become leaders in mathematics education. Mike was one of the first educators to use Zoom back in 2013 to design interactive online learning experiences and has been perfecting the format ever since. Presently, Mike is supporting teachers and school districts around the world ...
As a former disengaged student himself, Jeromie grew up in low income and diverse communities where he has felt under-served in his own education. After years of hating school, and failing to see the relevance in education, he is now dedicated to keep any student from having a similar negative educational experience. Now a National Board Certified Teacher with 16 years of experience, Jeromie is an expert on instilling and igniting the love of learning. He's committed to creating a positive class...
Fredricka Hunter has worked as an Elementary School Counselor for the last 6 years in Racine, WI. She is a woman with a heart of servanthood that stems from her love of Christ. She is the wife of her high school sweetheart of nearly 20 years; a mother to four daughters: two of whom she birthed and two whom were given to her as added blessings. She’s a Nana to five beautiful little people who she loves more than life itself. Although, she’s an educator by profession; it’s not just a career choice...
Welcome to SEASON 3! John & Houston reflect on what has been going on with CharacterStrong this past year, a few of the things that they are excited about, and they preview some of the things to look forward to in Season 3 of the podcast.
Matthew Moyer is an elementary school principal with over 17 years of experience in administration, and over 23 years of experience in education. In addition to his job as principal, he is a Nationally Distinguished Principal, Pennsylvania Principal of the Year, Author, National Speaker, Adjunct Professor, and staff developer with Thom Stecher and Associates. Matt started his career as a 5th-grade teacher in the Spring-Ford Area School District. He earned a Masters degree and Principal's certifi...
George is an educator, non-profit leader, and public policy advocate who is committed to the academic, social, emotional, and physical development of our youth and their families. He started his service career as a teacher's aide and worked his way up to becoming a certified teacher in the state of Texas and the state of Mississippi. As an urban educator, seeing parents not armed with basic education policy information, recognizing needed system changes in education, and his son’s autism diagnos...
Maddie Bogart just finished her first year teaching third grade in Everett, Washington. Maddie has degrees in Elementary Education and Teaching English as a Second Language from Central Washington University. In 2017 she was selected as one of Good Housekeeping Magazine’s “Everyday Heroes”. She is currently working on her M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction and is an intern this summer at CharacterStrong.
Dan Wolfe is going into his 23rd year as an educator in Pasco County, Florida. He is currently the Assistant Principal at Cotee River Elementary. Over his career Dan has held multiple roles as a K-5 teacher, Math Instructional Coach, District Curriculum Specialist K-12 and administrator. He is currently on our District’s SEL committee which has written K-12 SEL standards for the county. Dan was selected as the 2011-2012 Teacher of the Year for Pasco County and currently writes a blog called Our ...
Jessica Zeller is an Associate Professor of Dance in the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University. She holds a Ph.D. in Dance Studies and an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, and she is the author of Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training before Balanchine (Oxford University Press, 2016), which unearths the work of several European and Russian ballet pedagogues during the early twentieth century. Her current research brings ballet and dance...
CharacterStrong Co-Founders John Norlin & Houston Kraft make a special announcement about Houston's new book, Deep Kindness, and Houston shares a little of the heart behind it. Pre-order your copy here: https://deepkindness.com
Jasmyn Wright is the founder of the Push Through Organization and a former elementary school teacher. She began her teaching career at a Title 1 school in Memphis, Tennessee, as a member of Teach for America. More recently, she taught at a charter school in Wilmington, Delaware, and was chosen to be a Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellow. Visit the Push Through Organization at WePushThrough.org.
Tanner is a senior at the University of Iowa. Tanner is the Vice President of the nationally ranked Club Baseball Team on campus and is also the founder and co-owner of Iowa City Apparel, an apparel company based out of Iowa City. In 2019, Tanner interned for the World Series Champion Washington Nationals in Washington D.C and currently is working virtually for the 2020 New York Mets. Tanner's life has always been about taking opportunities that present themselves and striving - to use those to ...
Jamie Brown is currently the Vice Principal at Holmdel High School, NJ. A proud NJ educator since 2001, Jamie’s passion and dedication to both Character Education & Social-Emotional Learning helped develop the 1st District-Wide PEER Leadership Program in NJ Public Schools. Embracing a “Compassion over Curriculum” growth mindset, Jamie’s approach to Whole Child Development & Future Readiness focuses on Positive School Culture Revitalization. His K-12 SEL Program, ACCEPT U, has earned a Na...
Clementine Chamberlain is a graduate from Carmel High School in Carmel, CA and in her first year of college. She is a past president of Carmel High School’s This Club Saves Lives and the creator of Tampon Tuesday. Clementine was a 2019 #ICANHELP Digital4Good award winner for her creation of Tampon Tuesday // While Tampon Tuesday collected thousands of menstrual products for people in need, it brought education and awareness of Period Poverty to Carmel High School while normalize talking about pe...
