Today our guest is Ashley Wright an Elementary School Counselor at Lucille J. Bradley Elementary, in Spring Texas. We talk to Ashley about school connectedness and the transformation that it can have in our schools when we all work together. Ashley talks about the importance of relationships and shares that even though we have differences when we come to the table with families it can have a huge impact in the lives of the students we serve. Born and raised in Houston, TX, Ashley Wright went thr...
Apr 29, 2022•21 min•Season 4Ep. 44
We talk to Hillary about blended learning programs and how this hybrid classroom helps to meet the different needs of students. She talks about some of the struggles that students are facing in this season and gives a few ways that they are helping students re-engage in relationships. Hillary also shares how teachers are creatively using CharacterStrong lessons during shorter one-on-one check-ins with students. Hilary Craw has been a school counselor with Redlands eAcademy in Redlands Unified Sc...
Apr 22, 2022•16 min•Season 4Ep. 43
We talk to Allison about the different ways that she has been helping implement PurposeFull People with the students and staff at her school. She shares the practical ways that she has used the PurposeFull People posters, pictures, and character trait definitions to help create common language with students. Allison also shares how she has helped created space for students to have ongoing conversations about character. After 14 years as a classroom teacher, Allison is a proud first year school c...
Apr 15, 2022•15 min•Season 4Ep. 42
We talk to Matthew about how he got involved with his state school counselors association and the different ways that getting involved can impact us, the schools we serve, and the states where we live. He also talks about the importance of building connections, especially being in the role of school counselor. Matthew McClain has been a school counselor in rural Northeast Colorado since 2005. He spent 10 years counseling at the 5th and 6th grade level, then spent 6 years at the high school level...
Apr 08, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 41
We talk to Dr. Frasco about the importance of having all leaders understand the social and emotional needs of students. She shares about the need for leaders to have consistent conversations about a school’s core values, the need to intentionally teach them, and have them impact our small and big decisions. Dr. Frasco also reminds us that everyone has a story and as leaders, we need to take the time to listen. Dr. Rena Frasco is in her 20th year with Morgan County School District Re-3 in northea...
Apr 01, 2022•20 min•Season 4Ep. 40
Today our guest is Dr. John Hattie, the Director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Hattie is also the author of Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers, the result of 15 years of research. On this episode we talk about 10 Steps To Develop Great Learners: Visible Learning For Parents, Dr. Hattie’s newest book that he wrote with his son Kyle. Dr. Hattie also shares some of the mindframes that can help all of us that work with ...
Mar 25, 2022•21 min•Season 4Ep. 39
We talk to Phil about what Adventure Education is and how it is both novel and can involve some risk. He describes the experiential learning cycle and talks about the power of having a shared experience. Phil also gives practical ways we can use experiential learning strategies in our classrooms that can amplify learning for students. Phil Brown, originally from England, joined the High 5 team in May 2015 having previously worked in Adventure and Outdoor education for 7 years. Phil brings high e...
Mar 18, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Today our guest is Cory Notestine the Executive Director of Student Success and Wellness for Colorado Springs School District 11. We talk to Cory about a concept known as rapid innovation cycles, which contribute to educational progress while fighting a failure-to-launch mentality. Cory Notestine serves as the Executive Director of Student Success and Wellness for Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) an urban district of 25,000 students. In this role, Cory has implemented and developed a di...
Mar 11, 2022•20 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Today our guest is Christi Sturgeon a School Counselor at Broken Arrow High School and is Oklahoma School Counselor of the Year for 2021-22. We talk to Christi about how important it is to find our purpose and how we can stretch ourselves and model that for students. She shares 7 things that we can do to help students focus on looking forward, and some of the ways that this can have an impact. Christi graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology followed by a...
Mar 04, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Today our guest is Barb Micucci, Barb is a recently retired elementary school counselor and was the 2010 ASCA School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Barb about the importance of school-wide SEL programming as we support all students & the impact that can happen when all staff has a common language. She shares how setting the tone right at the beginning of the day helps shape the climate in our classrooms, and why character ed is so important right now. Barb Micucci has been an educator for...
Feb 25, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 35
We talk to Dr. Cook about ways that the pandemic has impacted students and how we can leverage the science around human behavior to help promote student success. He outlines effective methods of behavior change, and gives practical, low burden, high impact strategies that we can use right now as we serve students.
Feb 18, 2022•16 min•Season 4Ep. 34
We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! On todays episode Melvin shares about the importance of building trust and relationships with our students and colleagues. He also talks about how he got started with the WA State Counselors Association, and highlights the importance of showing up and providing opportunities for others. Melvin J. Fields Jr., certified School Counselor at Yelm Middle School in Yelm, Washington is current President of the Washington School Counselor Association (...
Feb 10, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 33
We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! We talk with Monica about the many ways that she serves the families, staff, and students at her school. She also shares about the benefits of having a comprehensive counseling program and talks about how collaboration & relationships in the community help support the work in schools. Monica Bryant has been an elementary school counselor for 7 years and is in her 12th year in education. She is passionate about cultural competency, advocacy,...
Feb 09, 2022•18 min•Season 4Ep. 32
We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! We talk with Roberto about ways that he builds great relationships at Milwaukie HS, and the role that authenticity plays in those relationships. He also shares about the impact that student affinity groups have had and how they started them. Roberto Aguilar is a proud, native eastern Oregonian, Latinx/Chicano, "Spanglish" bilingual, first-generation college graduate, and a school counselor for the past 20 years at Milwaukie HS located in southe...
Feb 08, 2022•15 min•Season 4Ep. 31
We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! We talk with Kat about the critical role that counselors play in our schools. She shares about the importance of advocating for school counseling, and overviews ways that CharacterStrong is helping to celebrate all of the counselors in our schools.
Feb 07, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 30
We talk with Dr. Clayton Cook about his new role at CharacterStrong and he shares why implementation is needed today now more than ever. Dr. Cook also talks about ways the CharacterStrong team is partnering with schools, and he gives 3 practical implementation steps that schools can do right now.
Feb 04, 2022•19 min•Season 4Ep. 29
Today our guest is Sonjanita Moore, a Secondary Specialist here at CharacterStrong. We talk with Sonjanita about the need for including student voice and student choice in our classrooms. She also shares how community agreements are one way that we can include students, and gives examples of impact that came from creating space for students to share.
Jan 28, 2022•15 min•Season 4Ep. 28
Today our guest is Julie Hinshaw, the Director of K-12 Curriculum for CharacterStrong. On this episode we talk to Julie about community agreements. She shares about what community agreements are, why they are important, and gives 5 ways that we can help keep them fresh for our students.
Jan 21, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 27
We reflect with CharacterStrong Co-Founder Houston Kraft about things that are going on in education, and how disappointment is the result of unmet expectations. Houston also shares how we can be proactive with the time that we have, and gives 3 strategies that put a focus on well-being.
Jan 14, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Today our guest is Dr. John Salovardos. Dr. Salovardos is the Director of Pupil Services in the Athol-Royalston Regional School District, in Athol-Royalston, Massachusetts. He has been working in special education in public schools for the past 23 years. We talk with Dr. Salovardos about ways that we can help all students feel connected at school, and how we can help students to thrive in our communities after high school.
Jan 07, 2022•18 min•Season 4Ep. 25
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.
Dec 31, 2021•18 min•Season 4Ep. 24
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 ...
Dec 30, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 23
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...
Dec 29, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 22
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.
Dec 28, 2021•9 min•Season 4Ep. 21
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...
Dec 27, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 20
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 my 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 stud...
Dec 24, 2021•24 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Josh Godinez is a high school counselor at Centennial High School in Corona, California. He also serves as the Board Chair for the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) and was named the 2019 California School Counselor of the Year. Josh supported the development of a data informed program for a new high school in Fontana, California, where he served as head counselor prior to his current assignment. He also has served on the California Safe, Healthy, Responsive Schools Pilot & ...
Dec 17, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 18
For the past 12 years, Michael Adams has been passionately serving youth in the K-12 setting as a School Counselor. Growing up on the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona, Michael is driven to support Native/Indigenous populations through educational experiences. His youthful energy has been invited to speak all across the southwest to share messages of inspiration. Michael’s book “A Warrior’s Mindset” helps kids retrain their personal attitude for personal/social success.
Dec 10, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Kelly has been in education for the last 16 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. When she moved back to the states, she began teaching Kindergarten and has taught pre-K through 3rd grade. Kelly spent the last two years before becoming a principal working as a Student Success Specialist, coaching teachers and students on...
Dec 03, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 16
CharacterStrong Director of Implementation Megan Gruis talks about the importance of creating a strong implementation team, and the components of successful teaming. Megan also shares about the need for having effective practices that work.
Nov 26, 2021•13 min•Season 4Ep. 13
