Today our guest is Dr. Andre Stout, Principal at Truman Middle School in Tacoma, WA. We talk with Dr. Stout about building capacity rather than seeking buy-in to implement social & emotional learning with fidelity. He explains the distinction between capacity and buy-in, emphasizing the importance of staff truly possessing the capacity to effectively implement. Dr. Stout also shares how the use of student community circles has significantly improved the environment at Truman Middle School. T...
May 31, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 47
Today our guest is Chris Young, Principal at North Country Union High School in Newport, Vermont. We talk with Chris about the innovative Community Development Days at North Country. These events provide students with a dedicated space to discuss and learn about crucial topics such as mental health, wellness, and bullying. Chris shares the journey of implementing these development days, explaining their significance and the positive impact they've had on the community. He also offers valuable ti...
May 24, 2024•22 min•Season 6Ep. 45
Today our guest is Marcy Carter the Middle School Dean of Students at Parchment Public Schools in Kalamazoo MI. We talk with Marcy the integration of PBIS and social emotional learning in a building. She emphasizes the necessity of combining both these elements and the significance of a PBIS matrix as a foundation. Marcy also highlights the importance of clarity in our roles and responsibilities as educators, as we help students understand expectations and responsibilities. Marcy also gives some...
May 17, 2024•23 min•Season 6Ep. 44
Today our guest is Felisha Santiago, Director of School Supports at CharacterStrong. We talk to Felisha about the impact of Restorative Practices can have in our schools, with both students & staff. She discusses how restorative practices assist students who have committed an offense to reflect and rectify the situation. Felisha talks about how restorative practices can be implemented at various levels of school relationships: individual, classroom, and school-wide. She also shares that, whe...
May 10, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 43
Today our guest is Dr. Lori Lynass, Director of Tier 2 and Tier 3 at CharacterStrong. We talk with Dr. Lynass the impact of student behavior on educator burnout and possible solutions. She gives a current statistic that shows that teachers have the highest burnout rate among professionals right now. Dr. Lynass explains that student misbehavior often indicates they are deregulated, and emphasizes that connection is a crucial tool to meet students' needs. She also suggests some strategies educator...
May 03, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 42
Today our guest is Dr. Clay Cook, the Chief development Officer at CharacterStrong. We talk to Clay about the importance of connectedness when it comes to Chronic Absenteeism. He first asks the question “What happens when people don’t feel connected?” and shares about the SERVE model that helps educators intentionally connect at school. Dr. Cook also shares 3 ways that we can help students build value and purpose at school and ultimately be more connected: Promote positive educator-student relat...
Apr 26, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 41
Today our guest is Dr. Clay Cook, Chief development Officer at CharacterStrong. We talk to Clay about ways that we can begin to solve for Chronic Absenteeism. Dr. Cook emphasizes the need for a process to identify the root causes of chronic absenteeism. He shares that merely defining the problem isn't sufficient. Instead, we should look to understand why students are consistently absent from school. He identifies six root causes of chronic absenteeism and outlines a process to create an evidence...
Apr 19, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 40
Today our guests our Jennifer Klauss, Executive Director of Secondary Teaching & Learning and Derek O'Konek, Executive Director of Elementary Teaching & Learning both in the Richland School District. We talk to Jen & Derek about the CharacterStrong partnership that the Richland School District has as they support students. They highlight the successful implementation strategies observed, the deliberate construction of the program adoption process, and the lessons learned. Jen & D...
Apr 12, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 39
Today our guests are Caroline Oleson the Tier 2 SEL and Intensive Support Team for the Madison Metropolitan SD and Kelly Nelson the SEL Tier 2 Elementary Teacher Leader for the Madison Metropolitan School District We talk to Caroline & Kelly about their experience implementing CharacterStrong in their district. They share some implementation successes they have had, ways that CharacterStrong has helped to support the district, and lessons they have learned along the way. Caroline & Kelly...
Apr 05, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 38
Today our guest is Alexis Goddard, School Counselor at Centennial High School in Corona, CA and the 2024 California School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Alexis about the importance of creating support for others everyday, both with students and staff. She talks about how impactful it is to check in with others and shares some systems that she has created to help do this. Alexis shares some of the ways that she helps students to handle stress, and also gives examples of how she intentionally ...
Mar 29, 2024•18 min•Season 6Ep. 37
Today our guest is Tyler Wolfe, the Director of Student Wellness at Dublin City Schools. We talk to Tyler about the increase in the mental health needs of students and how, to help meet these needs, they created a 2 year program that supports teachers in the district to go back to school to get their Masters degree. This is possible thru a partnership they have built with The Ohio State University. Tyler explains how the program will provide each school in the district with a mental health speci...
Mar 22, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 36
Today our guest is Orlando Dobbin, School Counselor at Aversboro Elementary School. We talk to Orlando about how to center joy and happiness in the experiences of students. He shares about how he works to build his programs around the students and allows them to help shape the spaces to allow students to grow, rest and play. Learn More About CharacterStrong: Access FREE Curriculum Samples Attend our next live product preview Visit the CharacterStrong Website Orlando Dobbin, Jr. is a passionate e...
Mar 15, 2024•14 min•Season 6Ep. 35
As we celebrate #SELday 2024 we wanted to share an episode from Season 2 the Adult SEL Podcast where Dr. Clayton Cook lays out the Outside-In and an Inside-Out approach when it comes to adult social & emotional learning. He highlights the importance of leaders cultivating healthy work environments while also supporting all staff in order to help promote well-being, resilience, and engagement in their work. Dr. Cook also shares ways that systems often miss the mark when it comes to Adult SEL....
Mar 08, 2024•6 min•Season 6Ep. 34
Today our guest is Kelly Mountjoy, Professional School Counselor at Parkhill Junior High in Richardson ISD in TX. And Kelly is also the 2023 Lone Star School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Kelly about a collaborative system they have implemented to identify and support underrepresented student populations to take advanced level classes. Kelly explains the heart behind the program, some of the roadblocks that students were experiencing, and how they help to support students to overcome these r...
Mar 01, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 33
Today our guest is Greg Moffitt, the Director of Principal Development for the District of Columbia Public Schools. We talk to Greg about leading with empathy and how empathy connects to the greater work of education. He talks about why empathy matters, and how we need to be curious about people, who they are, and the place that they are coming from. Greg shares that empathy is a skill that can be practiced and developed daily, and that we need to build on this skill before problems arise. He al...
Feb 23, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 32
Today we talk with CharacterStrong's Chief Development Officer Dr. Clay Cook about what’s needed for a full Tier 3 Solution. He lays out 4 critical parts when it comes to tier 3: a process, personalized interventions, good data tools, and professional development. Dr. Cook explains that Tier 3 isn’t just interventions but it’s a system of personalized, data-driven supports that are activated based on the student needs. He also emphasizes the need for strong, effective, professional development t...
Feb 16, 2024•17 min•Season 6Ep. 27
Today our guest is Jason Thompson, a school counselor and school counseling coordinator. He also serves as an adjunct professor for several local universities and won the “Adjunct of the Year” award in 2019. We talk with Jason about how schools can collaborate with their communities to better serve students while also recognizing the work school counselors do as they connect students and families to different community resources. He also shares specific ways his school has utilized data and inte...
Feb 08, 2024•16 min•Season 6Ep. 31
Today our guest is Scott Miyagi who currently serves as a Student Services Coordinator in Hawaii after serving as a school counselor for several years. We talk with Scott about the value of having different minds and perspectives at the table and how he works collaboratively with school counselors and teachers to ensure the learning environment is conducive to supporting all students. He shares how he communicates with teachers and parents to create an effective teaming process to bring in stude...
Feb 07, 2024•14 min•Season 6Ep. 30
We are joined by John Burnett who explains whole child advocacy and creative steps he has taken to support the whole child. He shares how he created a social media poll to gather data and how he used the data to create a school-wide mental health fair that involved teachers, families, and other community partners. He walks through the steps he took to put the fair together and encourages school counselors to find simple, creative solutions to support students as you continue to plant seeds that ...
Feb 06, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 29
Dr. Yuri Nava and Dr. Dawn Mann kick off National School Counseling Week by diving into a discussion about the powerful and important work of school counselors. They explain some of the shifts that have surfaced in the school counseling profession as a result of the changes that have happened within our students these past few years. They also share the need to measure the effectiveness of our newer interventions and highlight the importance of acknowledging the generational characteristics of o...
Feb 05, 2024•33 min•Season 6Ep. 28
Today we talk with CharacterStrong's Chief Development Officer Dr. Clay Cook about why Schools Struggle with Tier 3 Supports. He outlines 3 basic reasons that schools and districts encounter roadblocks as they implement Tier 3. Dr. Cook dives into solutions to help overcome them such as increasing educator confidence, shifting the internal locus of control, and quality professional development. He also shares about the importance of teams coming together to consistently providing proactive, prev...
Feb 02, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 26
Today we talk with CharacterStrong's Chief Development Officer, Dr. Clay Cook about what needs to happen when Tier 1 and 2 Supports aren’t enough. He explains that when Tier 1 & 2 supports are lacking, a lot of students can look like they are in need of Tier 3 supports. As schools begin to work towards implementing Tier 3 supports, Dr. Cook emphasizes the need for clear responsibilities and streamlined decision making. He also stresses the importance of providing staff with low burden, high ...
Jan 26, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 25
Today our guest is Liz Ritz the Director of Teaching and Learning, at Oak Harbor Public Schools. We talk to Liz about her experience infusing CharacterStrong throughout the Oak Harbor district, and she shares difference between implementing with fidelity and integrity. Liz highlights the importance of building relationships in meetings, professional development, and one-on-one sessions with staff.. She also explains how having a Tier 1 program has laid a strong foundation as they proactively sup...
Jan 19, 2024•28 min•Season 6Ep. 24
Today our guest is Kiley Luckett the District Mental Health Coordinator with Lawrence Public Schools in Lawrence Kansas. We talk to Kiley about how they have planned, selected, and implemented the CharacterStrong curriculum over this last year. She shares about what they did as a district to make initial & ongoing implementation successful with both staff and students. Kiley also talks about the importance that clarity, competency, and consistency has been in helping the schools across the d...
Jan 12, 2024•17 min•Season 6Ep. 23
Today our guest is Sharon Bradley, School District Administrator who supports Character, Attendance, and Restorative Practices & Founder and Principal Consultant at RestorativeFlo Educational Solutions. We talk with Sharon about how about 80% Restorative Practices are dedicated to building a strong community and relationships, not just resolving conflicts. She shares that it's not only about addressing issues but creating a supportive atmosphere for everyone. Sharon also emphasizes the cruci...
Jan 05, 2024•17 min•Season 6Ep. 22
We're counting down the top 6 podcasts of 2023! Today our guests are Amber Benson & Ruby Voss, better know as BensonVoss. We talk to BensonVoss about the role that Positive Relationships & Data-Based Decisions play in Student Growth. They share how they work to build positive relationships from day one of the school year, and the positive impact that this has in their classroom. BensonVoss also talk about how they have intentionally done more with less and how they work for total partici...
Dec 29, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 21
We're counting down the top 6 podcasts of 2023! Today our guests are Katrina Hill, Caleb Amstutz, & Melanie Fox. We talk to Katrina, Caleb, and Melanie about the advisory program at Community School. which was recently recognized as an inaugural AMLE School of Distinction in 2022. They share about multiage groupings, multiyear relationships, & the value of traditions and the impact that these have had in the lives of the students at Community School. Learn More: Visit the CharacterStrong...
Dec 29, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 20
We're counting down the top 6 podcasts of 2023! Today our guest is Josh Nelson a School Counselor at Richard Lewis Brown Gifted and Talented Academy. We talk with Josh about creating systems for changing how discipline referrals are handled in schools. Josh suggests that we view behavior as unmet needs rather than just bad behavior, and emphasizes the importance of shifting our thinking about discipline from punishment to correction. Josh also shares how they analyzed behavior referral data and ...
Dec 29, 2023•14 min•Season 6Ep. 19
We're counting down the top 6 podcasts of 2023! Today our guest is Ryan Marshall, School Counselor at South Salem High School and the 2023 Oregon School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Ryan about student driven suicide prevention and how they have worked to add student input and voice in supporting student mental health. He shares how this work started with one student, and how as they gathered information across the district they heard from students that they wanted to help. Ryan discusses ho...
Dec 22, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 18
We're counting down the top 6 podcasts of 2023! Today our guest is Dr. Alvia Baldwin the Director of Guidance and Counseling in Alief ISD in Texas. We talk to Dr. Baldwin about how to increase staff and Admin buy-in in our schools and districts. She talks about the different ways that they have put a focus on character education across the district at Alief, not just with the students but also with the staff. Dr. Baldwin shares how having fun has be an important piece of creating a culture of ch...
Dec 22, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 17
