Stay ConnectedThe CharacterStrong Podcast: Weekly conversations for anyone in education.
CharacterStrong provides an evidence-based, multi-tiered solution to support whole child success. Curricula and trainings that improve behavior, increase safety, and support mental health.
For more information visit our website: characterstrong.com
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 specialist on their campus and how the district sees the program as an important investment into the future.
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For the past 3 years, Tyler Wolfe has served as the Director of Student Wellness in Dublin City Schools where he oversees programming and personnel for all mental health, counseling and substance use disorder services. Tyler has worked with building leadership teams to bring Hope Squad to every high school and middle school in the district, co-implement PBIS programming with fidelity at 24 schools, and onboard CharacterStrong as a Tier I and Tier II resource for all 14 elementary schools. In collaboration with The Ohio State University, Tyler has brought LiFEsports to Dublin City Schools, which is a positive youth development program for underserved and marginalized youth. In addition, Tyler is currently engaged in a collaborative partnership with The Ohio State University to provide 25 internal staff credentialing to become school social workers in Dublin City Schools through a "Grow Your Own" initiative that began in 2023.
Tyler has spent over 30 years in education as a special education teacher, elementary principal and district level director. Tyler lives with his wife Laura in Columbus Ohio, both of which are Crossfit addicts. They have 2 grown daughters and 2 Australian Shepherds named Carlos and Cinch.
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.
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Orlando Dobbin, Jr. is a passionate educator with six years of experience dedicated to creating nurturing learning environments that empower youth to become their best selves. Currently in his role as a school counselor he focuses on enhancing both students and adults' social and emotional growth through a strengths based lens. Beyond his school roles, Orlando has contributed to the broader educational landscape as a North Carolina School Counselor Delegate, North Carolina School Counselor Association Emerging Leader, and as a leader of the American School Counselor Association Rural School Counselor Affinity Group. He holds a Master's in Professional School Counseling and a Bachelor's in Middle Grades Education. In his free time, Orlando loves to be outdoors, participate in local storytelling events, and travel.
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.
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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 roadblocks. She shares how this has impacted student confidence, and the culture across the district. Kelly also talks about how the program has increased advance class sign ups overall and advanced science class participation by 1800%.
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Kelly Mountjoy is a school counselor at Parkhill Junior High in Richardson ISD. She has 20 years of experience in education, 10 of which have been spent as a school counselor. Inspired by her high school math teacher, Kelly attended Texas A&M University where she received her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Mathematics. Kelly began her teaching career at Parkhill Junior High as a mathematics teacher/coach and then taught mathematics at Berkner High School where she was also a softball coach and Bell Guard sponsor. In 2011, Kelly was awarded the Innovations in STEM Teaching Award from Texas Instruments Foundation. Passionate about helping students academically, socially and emotionally, Kelly attended Lamar University and received her master's degree in School Counseling. Kelly returned to Parkhill Junior High where she has been a school counselor to 7th and 8th grade students for the past 10 years. She was named the Secondary School Counselor of the Year for Richardson ISD in 2022 and Texas School Counselor of the Year in 2023. Kelly attended Kindergarten through high school in Richardson ISD schools. She has been married to her husband, Bart, for 11 years and they have four children together, Sloane (7), Reese (5), Bear (3), and Sawyer (1).
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 also shares that as leaders it's hard to truly support people or hold them accountable without empathy.
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Greg Moffitt is a dad, husband, school leader, and all-around education geek. A former school principal, assistant principal, student activities director, classroom teacher, and educational aide, Greg believes that schools can help change the world and make it a better place. Greg is currently the Director of Principal Development for the District of Columbia Public Schools where he works with school leaders to foster equity-centered leadership and practices. A graduate of Brown University with degrees in Education, History and Policy and a Master of Arts in Teaching, Greg lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, their teenage daughter, and the family dog. When not outside exploring National Parks, Greg enjoys good food and movie marathons.
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 that support our teams and help them become confident as they work to provide Tier 3 supports.
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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 intentionally built in community circle time to support the whole child and check in with students.
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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 student voice and break up pieces of the support to include multiple members of the students' community. He explains how working collaboratively to support with whole school systemic change supports students with generalizing the behaviors they are learning. Scott also discusses the importance of maintaining joy in the midst of the work and the importance of connection.
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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 will make a lifelong impact.
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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 our students. They describe the way Gen Z accesses information as social learners. Dr. Nava and Dr. Mann break down the need to push the school counseling program outside of the counseling walls and acknowledge the strength that lies within the ASCA National Model as well as within school counselors.
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