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 Justin Bradford, Superintendent, of Prescott School District in WA state. We talk to Justin about how he has used school wide assemblies to shape the culture and climate with students from Pk-12th grade. His motto of "We get what we honor" has created some big positive changes with students and staff. Justin also gives some helpful tips on how to communicate and lead staff through effective implementation of a school wide initiative.
Justin Bradford just finished his 32nd year in education. He started as an elementary teaching assistant in the Los Angeles Unified School District, then became a special education teacher, working primarily with students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and mental health challenges. Justin has taught general education classes and university classes, as well. He has worked in small, private schools and large, public schools in California and Washington and has also been a bus driver, a paraprofessional, a teacher, a dean, a behavior specialist, a special education director, a principal and a superintendent. Justin is currently the superintendent in Prescott, WA – a small, rural P-12 school in southeastern Washington, with about 250 students. He has a BA in Political Science, a specialist teaching certificate, a principal certificate and a Masters in Educational Leadership.
In this episode, CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares 3 powerful stories from the work. Through these stories he reminds us of the importance of understanding the Law of the Lid, that there is always a reason for every behavior, and that even though this work is hard it is worth it.
We talk to Dr. McMillan about the importance of staying student centered and how based on student voice, they have modified a period each day to create space for student choice. He shares about the impact that asking for input from students and staff can have on in building culture, and gives practical ways that they intentionally invest in staff culture at Chapman. Growing up in a home with parents who were educators, Dr. Andrew McMillan knew education was in his blood. Identifying education as his career path in third grade, Dr. McMillan is now an accomplished educator with seventeen years of experience including ten years of administrative experience in grades K-12. Known as a well-respected and collaborative team member, Dr. McMillan has a reputation for promoting fairness, integrity, and honesty, while maintaining a strong work ethic to motivate faculty, staff, and students to achieve their maximum potential within an ever-changing education environment.
Dr. McMillan's core values are simple: love kids, be professional, and lead a school the community is proud of. Within those core values, Dr. McMillan fosters an environment at Chapman High School that supports the Profile of the SC Graduate, preparing students for life after high school in what he calls the 4 E's: serving their community as an Entrepreneur, Enrolled in a two or four year college or technical program, Enlisted in military service, or graduating as an Employable adult in a competitive, 21st century global economy. Named an Emerging Leader by the SCASCD, Dr. McMillan was also selected as the 2019 Outstanding Principal of the Year by the South Carolina Art Education Association. A firm believer in the importance of academics, arts, and athletics, Dr. McMillan currently serves as the South Carolina High School League Class AAA President. Additionally, under his leadership, Chapman High School was named a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School, recognized as an Exemplary High Performing School. Dr. McMillan and his wife, Dr. Shelly McMillan, have one son, Ellis, who is 3.
Today our guest is Ryan Marshall, Lead Counselor, at South Salem High School, and the 2021 Oregon School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Ryan about the power of finding joy inside our work and he gives 3 steps to help us intentionally do this: 1. Knowing Thyself, 2. Building opportunities into our work schedule, and 3. Go and Do it.
Ryan Marshall just wrapped his 9th year as a school counselor, 7th at South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon where he's served as the department lead. South is a three-time ASCA Ramp school and a home Ryan considers the kindest school in America. His focus areas are grief and loss counseling, crisis management, and suicide prevention and intervention. When he's done finding joy on the job for the day, Ryan's an avid sports fan - Go Ducks! - and loves hanging out with his wife and two daughters. He's the 2021 Oregon School Counselor of the Year and is currently headed into a yearlong Sabbatical aimed at identifying ways to serve students and their families more effectively.
Today our guest is Dr. Julie Hartline, Associate Director of Professional Learning for Hatching Results and 2009 ASCA School Counselor of the Year.
We talk to Dr. Hartline about the impact that school counselors can have and the need for admin and staff to understand how school counselors can support staff and students. She also shares resources that can help bring more awareness and education when it comes to the important role that school counselors have in our schools.
Dr. Hartline became a teacher and then school counselor after discovering as a parole officer that over 85% of her caseload had not completed high school. Julie served as the Campbell High School counseling department chair for 14 years where her department became the first high school in Georgia to be designated as a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) for having a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) in 2008. She served as the Cobb School Counselor Association President in 2009-2010 and was named the 2009 ASCA School Counselor of the Year. She earned her doctorate in Professional Counseling and Supervision in 2011.
In 2012, Julie transitioned to the Cobb County School District where she helped supervise K-12 school counselors for five years, serving as the 2014-2015 Georgia School Counselor Association President during that time. She became a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida in 2017 before joining Hatching Results in a more dedicated role as the Associate Director of Professional Learning. She is the co-author of The Use of Data in School Counseling, second edition.
Today our guest is Dan Wolfe an Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. We talk to Dan about the importance of purpose and how being connected to our purpose is so needed today. He shares how finding our purpose isn't a destination, it's a journey and gives ways that we can help others put a focus on purpose in their own lives.
Dan Wolfe has served as an educator in Pasco County, Florida for more than 20 years. During this time, he has held roles as a teacher, instructional/district coach and administrator. He is currently an Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. He was selected as Pasco County's District Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012 school year. He is a part of the district's Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee that recently established Pre-K through Grade 12 SEL standards. For the past two years Dan has written a blog and recorded a podcast called Becoming The Change (formerly Our Moral Compass) which focuses on a different quote each day and how we can best apply it towards becoming the change through our own moral compass and the five areas in SEL.
Today our guest is Becky Arway a School Counselor, STUCO Advisor, at Polo R-VII Schools We talk to Becky about the intentional partnership that she has together with her principal, and how this has led to some really creative outcomes that support students. She shares about the Book in a Bag resource library and the impact that this has had in their school and community.
Becky Arway has been a school counselor at Polo R-VII Schools in Polo, Missouri for the past twelve years. Through her work as a school counselor, Becky strives to be an advocate for all of her students, their families and support systems. Working in a rural school district has granted Becky many opportunities to connect with community resources in order to help meet the increasing needs within her school building. One of her most important relationships is the working relationship she has built with her elementary principal. Their brainstorming sessions have resulted in some amazing outcomes, one of their most favorite being the Book in a Bag resources. Becky has served on her regional school counseling association (Northwest Missouri School Counselor Association), her state level association (Missouri School Counselor Association) and is also a member of the American School Counseling Association. She serves on various local committees working to serve the student's and families of her school district. Becky and her husband have two children, who keep them on their toes, and two dogs!
CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares an experience from a past training, and talks about why we can't wait to infuse social & emotional learning and character development into the daily fabric of our schools.
Today our guests are Angela Shanahan & Karen Devine, School Counselors in Chicago Public Schools. We talk about the impact that comprehensive, data-informed school counseling programs have with students at their schools and across the district. They also share what they have learned leading schools thru the Recognized ASCA Model Program process, and the impact and benefits of becoming RAMP recognized.
Angela Shanahan is a school counselor in a neighborhood high school in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) with experience at the middle school, high school and district level. It was during her CPS internship in 2011 that she was first introduced to the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) application process, with the high school receiving the award. Then after transitioning to a middle school and getting a few years under her belt, she decided to RAMP again. Through these experiences, Angela was able to network with counselors from other schools and better understand the impact we can make at a district level.
Angela has been an ASCA RAMP reviewer for over four years and works as a Co-RAMP Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools with Karen Devine. In their second year as coordinators, they streamlined the supports for schools in their RAMP pipeline. Angela is also an adjunct professor at her alma-mata, Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches Foundations of School Counseling to first year graduate students. During her spare time, she enjoys being active and spending time with her husband and three young children.
Today our guests are Angela Shanahan & Karen Devine, School Counselors in Chicago Public Schools. We talk about the impact that comprehensive, data-informed school counseling programs have with students at their schools and across the district. They also share what they have learned leading schools thru the Recognized ASCA Model Program process, and the impact and benefits of becoming RAMP recognized.
Karen Devine has been a passionate teacher, counselor, coach, and district leader in the Chicago Public Schools for 30 years. She leads with the mantra, "be gentle with your children, for they will teach their children", which she has written on a cloth embroidered by her Grandmother. While working as a high school counselor in the second most-populated school in the district, Karen has been able to transform the school counseling program to provide equitable access for students with long-term, successful results.
In addition to being a practicing high school counselor, and leading her school through its fourth RAMP application, Karen also serves as the District's Co-RAMP Coordinator with Angela Shanahan. Through innovative Tier 1, 2, and 3 practices, along with a cultivated resource guide, Karen has helped the District revitalize counseling programs at both the elementary and high school levels. Karen and Angela have presented about their work at the district, state, and national levels.
As a running coach and yoga instructor, Karen emphasizes the mind/body connection within her counseling philosophy. Through creative drills, movement, walk-and-talk, and art therapy, students learn to be a proactive partner in realizing their potential.
Today our guest is Petra Davis, Activities Director for Tesoro High school in Las Flores, CA. We talk to Petra about the lessons that she has learned going from being an advisor at a middle school to being at a high school, while also at the same time walking alongside students during COVID. Petra also shares some of the realities of where students are at today and the intentionality that is needed in project based learning to best serve
Petra Davis-Johnson, has been an educator for 31 years. She taught middle school science for 29 years before moving into her current administrative position, serving as the Activities Director for Tesoro High school in Las Flores, CA for the past two years. At the middle school level, Petra spent 23 years as the activities director for Las Flores Middle School. Her middle school students fed into the same high school where she is now, providing both Petra and the students some familiarity as they embarked on their new high school adventure in the time of COVID. During her transition from middle to high school, she was named the 2021 Warren E. Shull Middle Level Advisor of the year for her work in fostering student leadership development.
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