Born and raised in Spokane, WA, Chelsea Gallagher has known since the third grade that education was her calling, except for that short stint where she wanted to be a professional ghostbuster. She graduated from Eastern Washington University with her bachelor’s degree, is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in English Language Arts, and holds two Master’s degrees from Grand Canyon University. Over the course of her career, she has worn many hats including mom (to Brooklynn and Nolan), Wife, Eng...
Apr 16, 2021•19 min•Season 3Ep. 58
Molly A. Gosline, EdM, MA is the Coordinator of Social Emotional Learning at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Illinois where she works with academic divisions and teacher teams to develop instructional practices that integrate social emotional learning into their classrooms to support students' SEL growth. Ms. Gosline collaborates with SEL and school climate colleagues throughout the country, has presented at dozens of school climate & learning conferences and workshops and is the executive...
Apr 09, 2021•19 min•Season 3Ep. 57
Alex Clark is a young, passionate and committed leader who has served most of his adult life making a strong impact on student-athletes across the northeast region. Alex has worked with students of all ages from K-12, to D1 athletes, to pros. Alex has expertise coaching many sports since he was a teenager that he wanted to work and inspire young people to be their best, and his philosophy teaches you how to. How to always be PRIME. Graduating from East Hartford High School in Connecticut, Alex w...
Apr 02, 2021•20 min•Season 3Ep. 56
Houston & John celebrate #SELday! They talk about how our current times have shown us why SEL is crucial, the importance of student voice in SEL, and how research, reality, & relevance come together in teaching and supporting SEL.
Mar 26, 2021•19 min•Season 3Ep. 55
We talk with Lindsay about the 2021 Whole Child Virtual Summit happening March 22-26th, and she shares a few powerful highlights from some of this years speakers.
Mar 19, 2021•23 min•Season 3Ep. 54
Kelly has been in education for the last 15 years. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Portland, majoring in Political Science and got her Masters in Teaching through Concordia University. Kelly began her career teaching pre-school in Ireland and when she moved back to the states, she began teaching Kindergarten. Kelly spent the last two years before becoming a principal working as a Student Success Specialist, coaching teachers and students on creating systems of support for stu...
Mar 12, 2021•24 min•Season 3Ep. 53
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 at Sumner High School.
Mar 05, 2021•21 min•Season 3Ep. 52
Michele Borba, Ed.D. is an internationally-recognized educator who has spoken to over one million parents and educators. She is recognized for her solution-based strategies on raising resilient kids, and has appeared over 150 times on the TODAY show and featured in New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Dateline. Her 24 books are translated in 20 languages and her latest (March 2021) is Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine. Web: micheleborba.com . Twitter ...
Feb 26, 2021•16 min•Season 3Ep. 51
Houston talks to Isaac Hurtado & Mark Hugo from the Teenager Therapy Podcast about the role that the podcast plays in their lives, things that can prevent students from thinking about mental health at school, and they also share about the practical things that some of Isaac and Mark's teachers have done to put a focus on mental health.
Feb 19, 2021•12 min•Season 3Ep. 50
Andrew Jordan Nance has been an educator since 1990. He is the author of four published books; The Barefoot King, The Lion in Me, Mindful Arts in the Classroom, and the bestseller, Puppy Mind. He also adapted Puppy Mind, into a series of five episodes that will show on KTVU and distributed to school districts around the country. He is the founder of Mindful Arts San Francisco; a program of the San Francisco Education Fund that provides volunteer mindfulness educators to teach in SF public school...
Feb 12, 2021•15 min•Season 3Ep. 49
Founding President of YV Educational Resources Inc., Yaritza Villalba has eleven years of experience in education. She started her career teaching Social Studies to high school students in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. Throughout the years she has developed numerous curriculum materials and conducted a variety of professional developments. She is currently a lead teacher of an alternative high school in Bedford Stuyvesant, teaching over -aged and under- credited students history throug...
Feb 05, 2021•16 min•Season 3Ep. 48
Tyler Bastian is an educator, filmmaker, father and the founder of Roots Charter High School. Tyler loves to teach and has a passion for discovering and developing potential in everything around him. For four years Tyler taught Character Education at a local High School and believes positive character is the greatest indicator of success. In 2012 Tyler began to develop the concepts that have become Roots Charter High School. Roots Charter High School is Utah’s first farm-based charter high schoo...
Jan 29, 2021•15 min•Season 3Ep. 47
John talks with CharacterStrong Co-Founder Houston Kraft & Team Member Don Bartel about the recent CharacterStrong leadership conference, and the role and impact that student leadership has in school culture & climate.
Jan 22, 2021•17 min•Season 3Ep. 46
John shares a powerful reminder of a teachers impact thru perseverance, a short reading from Jacob Riis, and he gives some encouragement as we live, teach & work during this season.
Jan 15, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 45
We celebrate our 200th episode! John and Houston look back at some good things in the midst of the hard over last 12 months, they look forward to what is needed in 2021 & share some hope.
Jan 08, 2021•15 min•Season 3Ep. 44
Monte Syrie is a high school ELA teacher at Cheney High School in Cheney, Washington. A 25 year veteran in the classroom, Monte is committed to finding the better in education and contributing to the humanization of students’ experiences in classrooms around the globe. You can join his journey on his daily blog at www.letschangeeducation.com and on Twitter: @montesyrie
Dec 31, 2020•15 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Susy is an Oregon gal, born and bred. After her schooling at the University of Oregon and Linfield University, she was hired at McMinnville High School (her alma mater) in 2012 and began advising the ASB Leadership program in 2014; her position at MHS is now split between ASB and 9th/10th grade AVID. Susy was recognized as McMinnville's Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2017. Outside of school, Susy is also one of the Administration & Programming Directors for the Oregon Association of Stud...
Dec 30, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Alicia has been a secondary administrator for 13 years at both the middle and high school levels. She has had the privilege of holding nearly every administrative position at a secondary site including, Vice Principal of Activities, Vice Principal of Student Support, Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction and finally a Principal. To say Alicia loves what she does would be an understatement. Working with teenagers is her calling and she wouldn't change it for the world. She believes in...
Dec 29, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 39
Ms. Barton was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX and graduated from Texas Wesleyan University. Her 21 years of teaching have all been with Crowley ISD where she was named "Teacher of the Year" in 2008 and was chosen as the Crowley ISD Heartbeat Award winner (district employee of the month) in 2015. Over the course of 21 years, she taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades before accepting a new position this year as the campus music teacher. Ms. Barton also dedicates her time to the Dallas Stars Foun...
Dec 28, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 38
Daphne uses books as though they are EpiPens and every student who walks into her room has a mouth full of shrimp. The more books she can get inside of a student the more apt they are to fight the apathetic trap that snares so many of their peers. Daphne spent seventeen years teaching with class sets of Hatchet and Esperanza Rising until 2007 when a friend told her to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 584 pages later she began teaching as though books save lives and has never wavered from her...
Dec 27, 2020•15 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Ebone Kimber is a licensed Master's level social worker who has been working in child welfare for over 13 years. She received her Bachelor's degree in Social Work at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and her Masters at The University of Alabama. She spent her early years in the field on the front lines offering case management and basic living skills to children in foster care and their foster families. She also provided similar services, including individual counseling to families working...
Dec 26, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Each day this week we are counting down the Top 5 episodes of 2020! #1: Season 2 Ep. 56 - CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares a recent experience from a training, and talks about why we can't wait to infuse social emotional learning and character development into the daily fabric of our schools.
Dec 25, 2020•10 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Each day this week we are counting down the Top 5 episodes of 2020! #3: Season 3 Ep. 11 - We talk with Dr. Bikowsky about her work with educators helping students reframe thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and some practical strategies that staff can use while teaching virtually.
Dec 23, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Each day this week we are counting down the Top 5 episodes of 2020! #4: Season 3 Ep. 18 - We talk to Angelica Rodriguez about how we can put a focus on taking care of ourselves as teachers, the importance of self care & mental health especially in this season, and she shares some simple strategies that can positively impact our classrooms.
Dec 22, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Each day this week we are counting down the Top 5 episodes of 2020! #5: Season 2 Ep. 108 - We talk with Maddie Bogart about virtual student engagement, how she used one of her weekly meetings to focus on relationships, and she shares some of the creative ideas that she did with students.
Dec 21, 2020•17 min•Season 3Ep. 31
John talks with new CharacterStrong team member and veteran educator Don Bartel about the topic "The Way Out Is Through", they discuss the new CharacterStrong student leadership conference, and they share why the topics of purpose, influence, and obstacles are so important.
Dec 17, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Nationally-recognized speaker, counselor, and author Barbara Gruener thrives on positively influencing character change, passionately helping people create caring connections, and intentionally improving school climate and culture. Her innovative, inspirational ideas are sparked by her 37 years in education growing alongside learners from every age and stage and helping them to find their purpose and pursue their passion. Her 2014 Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner, What’s Under Your Cape?, is fille...
Dec 14, 2020•17 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Nikolete Nikravan went to UHCL, graduated with her BA in Math and her 7-12 Math Certification in May of 2019. She won New Teacher of The Year for Santa Fe High School last school year, and was featured on the news for delivering gift bags to all 97 of her students during covid/distance learning. Currently, Nikolete is a math teacher at Santa Fe HS, coaches girls basketball, and is in school to get her masters in Educational Leadership.
Dec 10, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Felisha Fields is a Mississippi native & she graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is in her 11th year in education and her 2nd year in Crowley ISD. Felisha has spent 9 years as an ELAR teacher and was featured on NBC 5's Carter in the Classroom. She is an advocate for Positivity inside and outside the classroom, Optimism in learning, Student and Colleague Mentorship, and promotes a positive growth mindset.
Dec 07, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 27
CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin reminds us that sometimes when things get difficult the first thing we can forget is our purpose, he talks about the difference between happiness and purpose, and he shares about the 4 different levels of happiness.
Nov 30, 2020•11 min•Season 3Ep. 25
