Fixing Chicago

Latest Episodes:

Loyola University Chicago Soccer Coaches on Character and Leadership Feb 12, 2023

1 - Intro: Join the host and his guests in a discussion on college athletics and principally their utility in developing the character skills of young athletes such as grit, resilience, discipline, teamwork, selflessness, precision, and determination, and the importance of it with respect to their overall growth and maturation both as individuals and as citizens of the world.

2 – Guest bio: Loyola University of Chicago Head Coach Steve Bode & Associate Head Coach Graham Brennan lead this Division 1 Mens Soccer team from Rogers Park, Chicago. In their first season as coaches in the Atlantic-10 conference, the Ramblers reached the conference championship final. Loyola as a Jesuit institution and as an Athletic Department stresses not just education and athletics, but the development of the whole person. The two guests share their thoughts and ideas on the character development that occurs in athletes through their commitment to and participation in the college athletic program.

3 – Timestamps:

[00:01] Intro: Steve Bode and Graham Brennan, Mens Soccer Coaches for Loyola University of Chicago. How did you get into coaching?
[06:00] Coaching Mindset; Schedules; Recruiting
[10:35] What’s the coaching community like?
[12:15] Why should a kid play college sports?
[14:30] Soft Skills & Character Development
[19:22] Leadership
[28:00] Character Maturation & Growth
[30:05] What can young men and women athletes do to develop their leadership abilities?
[33:15] What’s the value of Athletics within a University?
[35:30] How is character development at your program different from anywhere else?
[38:15] Closing & Thank You

4 – Key Takeaways:

Soft Skills are Life Skills which are developed through --for example-- athletics, and are valuable in multiple other aspects of adult life
Leadership opportunities and development occur within college athletics and are honed to a high degree
The Life Skills and Leadership Skills take years of hard work to develop, but needed and highly valued within broader society

5 – Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills

https://loyolaramblers.com/sports/mens-soccer?path=msoc

https://thegeorgiaway.com/project/the-power-of-transferable-skills-how-to-sell-your-experience-as-a-student-athlete/

6 – Please “like” us and follow the show on your favorite podcast platform, visit paulbryanroach.com for more content, and follow on Twitter @PaulBryanRoach

7 – Wrap-up and next episode Trauma Surgeon and Educator Faran Bokhari, MD.

Peter Wagner: Photographer, Chicago area Tour Guide, Volunteer at Children's Hospital Oct 10, 2022

Welcome to Fixing Chicago: the podcast focused on “what right looks like,” and, how to achieve peace, educate the kids, restore vitality, and reinvent Chicago for success moving into and through the 21st century

I. Today’s guest is Peter Wagner, from Oak Park, Illinois, and the topic is “Connecting with the City on a personal level.”

A. Growing up & Education

B. Work Experience

II. Work as a tour guide throughout Chicago: Getting the job? What did it entail? Who would you take around? What were their impressions of Chicago, and their favorite places?

III. Photography

A. Personal interest and commitment to Photography

B. Photographing Chicago, Chicagoans, Aviation, Car show, tell us about the Chicago Photography scene…

IV. Volunteering at Children’s Memorial Hospital: What has been your involvement with the hospital? What was it like? What do you feel you brought to it? What did it give to you? Tell us about the kids…

V. Closing: Thanks again for listening and if you have a topic you would like to have us discuss, or comments or feedback please either log on to www.paulbryanroach.com and click on the “about & contact” page, or send them directly to “letters@paulbryanroach.com”

VI. Contact: Peterwagnercreative@gmail.com

https://m.facebook.com/peter.wagner.9822/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-wagner-86a9924/

https://www.instagram.com/peterwagnercreative/?hl=en.

Medical Volunteer in Ukranian defense, Rom Stevens, MD Aug 05, 2022

1 - [00:05] Intro

2 - [00:25] Guest CAPT (ret) Rom A. Stevens, MD

3 - [08:10] Background on the Ukraine Conflict

4 - [17:45] Dr. Steven's decision to go to Ukraine

[19:00] Getting there and getting started

[24:45] Ukrainian medical system & fitting Into it during wartime

[33:20]Joys & Sorrows of Volunteering

[41:24] Who is helping them?

[46:05] What kind of help is best?

[50:00] Closing and Slava Ukraini

5 - Key Takeaways:

Ukrainian defense an existential situation for the country of Ukraine, and for democracy in Europe

Medical system there improving from Soviet times, but still challenged even before Covid, and the stress (and the intentional targeting of it by Russian bombs) of the war

Volunteering as a Medical staff is rewarding and needed but to be effective, some command of the language is essential; and, issues such as medical supply and medical logistics may be as or more important than physicians lending a hand.

6 - Signout: Please "like" us on social media and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Comments and feedback, as well as suggestions for topics and guests: https://paulbryanroach.com/contact/.

"Do your Research!" John Turek History Teacher Jun 24, 2022

1 - Intro: Interview with History Teacher John Turek on the importance of teaching and learning History to children, the practical value of knowing your local history, the joys of teaching junior high students, and how we can understand and improve our city by knowing the history of other cities.

2 – Guest bio: John Turek is a recently retired History teacher (30+ years) within Chicago and Oak Park areas.

3 – Timestamps:

[00:30] Intro to John Turek, History Teacher, and his background

[03:30] What draw into Education

[07:30] Why study History?

[10:30] 4 key ideas on History

[14:30] Teaching Junior High Students

[17:15] What historical examples apply to Chicago today? For example, the Chicago Machine.

[24:00] Is this the first time this has ever happened?

[30:00] Sit, Think, Read, Analyze

[32:00] What does one city have to learn from the history of another city?

[36:35] You should have seen that coming. Do your research.

4 – Key Takeaways:

—Need to study History to understand context of your life, generate meaning, and understand the others around you. Also, Biological perspective: H. sapiens the only species so minimally instinctual, and History learned from elders, others, imparts survival value.

—4 key ideas on History: customs (learned ideas), values (what a certain culture considers to be important), Institutions (families, schools, hospitals), and Beliefs (what a certain culture believes to be true). Most of what we now think we know comes from a “cultural” perspective. These help us understand “why I do the things I do.”

—The reward taken from student growth, and from your own growth and adaptation as a teacher

—Chicago’s 77 different cultural enclaves & have their own sense of place : if you know the history of your enclave you can see things that you didn’t understand about your present.

—Know your history, but be careful of the history you do read. Understand where your history is coming from. Do your Research.

5 – Links: https://madiganrule.bettergov.org

https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/al-capones-beer-wars

https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com

6 – Please “like” us and follow the show on your favorite podcast platform, visit paulbryanroach.com for more content, and follow on Twitter @PaulBryanRoach

School Superintendent Dr. Robert McBride May 28, 2022

Join us for an hour with the fascinating and brilliant Dr. Robert McBride, superintendent of Lockport Schools, for a discussion on education, leadership, and how to teach kids despite a Covid pandemic.

2 - Guest bio

3 - Timestamps:

*[00:40] Intro

*[01:40] Interest in Education; Oak Park & River Forest High School, Northwestern undergraduate English/Writing, Harvard graduate Masters in Curriculum & Teaching.

*[05:14] Fulbright Scholar St. Andrews, Scotland, School of English; differences between U.S. & U.K. educational systems

*[11:17] What motivates students?

*[14:27] Life lessons on being a Departmental Chair, executing the role, it's many hats, pro tips, leadership at the mid-levels.

*[23:00] Being a Principle: the joys, the sorrows, the travails. Empowerment of department chairs and other staff. Personal evolution within the role. The Blue Ribbon and the Bell Awards, and what they did to earn them. Specifically how doggedly focusing on four cardinal elements across multiple academic years was transformative and lifted ALL boats.

*[36:10] The Superintendent role, its best expression, and lessons learned.

*[39:30] COVID 19 and getting the community ready; how they did it [with great success]; lessons on preparedness, network building; their amazing data on the impact of mitigation strategies; what "right" looks like in disaster preparedness.

*[53:29] School Boards' bizarre phase and the threat to Democracy.

*[58:10] Current & Future projects: Educational Research & Development Institute (concentrating on Equity & Diversity); Council of Superintendents (exploring what kinds of Superintendents & Principals will be necessary in the future?).

4 - Key Takeaways:

*Differences b/w US & UK: Scheduling is fluid in UK (every two week changes to fit student progress) and static in US; Team (5-6 teachers/single course) approach to teaching classes in UK versus solo in US; US obsessed with grading but in UK teachers more of a coaching role/feedback, with grades only end of semester or year [real focus on A- & O-levels]. UK has no extracurricular life whereas prominent in US.

*What motivates students: (1) Coaching relationships / positive relationship (not just a judge; (2) Must be more than a critic/must give tools to make progress.

*What makes a real leader at the Department level? 1,000 conversations! Be whatever you need to be for your staff at that time.

*Key drivers of progress / core focus for student improvement: Argument construction; Inference skill; drawing Conclusions; Academic Vocabulary.

*COVID mitigations actually work, extremely well & far better than one might think, and Lockport Schools has the data to prove it.

5 - Links:

https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/the-terrell-h-bell-award-for-outstanding-leadership/#:~:text=Bell%20Award%20recognizes%20outstanding%20school,excellence%2C%20frequently%20under%20challenging%20circumstances.

6 - Please "like" us and follow the show on your favorite podcast platform, visit paulbryanroach.com for more content, and follow on Twitter @PaulBryanRoach

7 - Completing the initial focus on youth Education, next episode will be with a much beloved local Junior High History Teacher, Mr. John Turek, with thoughts and reflections across his 30+ year career.

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