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
Dr. William Rhodes is the founding Principal of Robert & Felice Bryant Elementary School in the Katy Independent School District located outside of Houston, in Katy, Texas. Dr. Rhodes has served as a Principal in both a well-established school and a first-year school; both requiring the development and fostering of school culture. Dr. Rhodes has experience in various levels of public education ranging from Georgia to California to Texas as a Substitute, K-8 Teacher, Assistant Principal, District Human Resource Coordinator, and Principal. Through his experience working with educators he believes campus culture is a determining factor in teacher retention, parent engagement, and student success. Dr. Rhodes is a graduate of Berry College in Rome, GA with a B.S. in Middle Grades Education and the University of Houston- Clear Lake with an M.S. in Educational Management and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.
Mrs. Penny Flores has worked in education for 15 years as an elementary teacher and school counselor. She is currently the school counselor at Bryant Elementary. She is a graduate of University of Houston-Victoria with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary studies as well as a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, Reading, and School Counseline. She is an Advanced Trauma-Informed Certified Counselor. She is currently pursuing her Ed. D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on the impact of SEL. She is happily married and the mother of three wonderful daughters at very different stages of life: a twenty-year old sophmore in college, a fifteen-year old learning to drive, and an eight-year old in second grade.
We talk to Julie about her new role as an Implementation Specialist at CharacterStrong. Julie shares about the work she is doing focused on implementation, why the CharacterStrong implementation roadmap is so important for schools, and specific ways that CharacterStrong is supporting schools in her home state of Texas.
The Glenwood Team: Betty Ross - School Counselor - 25 years at Glenwood Elementary (3rd and 4th grade Teacher, Enrichment Teacher, Gifted Educator and school counselor last 11 years) Previously taught in South Carolina for 3 years and served as a school counselor for 8 years. Cassie Kelley - 5th grade teacher - 9 years teaching in North Carolina Carrie - Franklin 1st grade teacher - 19 years teaching at Glenwood Elementary Patricia LaFountain 10 years- Elementary Teaching Assistant at Glenwood
Rhonda Henderson is completing her 40th year as an educator. During that time, she has taught grades 1-8 in both public and private school settings, served as an Instructional Coordinator, Assistant Principal and Principal. Currently, she is the principal at Tom Wilson Elementary in Katy ISD in Texas. She is the mother of two adult children and has been married to her husband, Rex, for ....a long time!!!! Her hobbies include reading, working out and gardening. She believes that we need to be self aware as individuals and as educators to enjoy life fully, so a lot of her reading and learning is centered on learning about personality and self-awareness.
Having grown up amidst many challenges, his daily purpose is to inspire and motivate both students and staff by being a living testament that perseverance and determination can lead to success. But, this only happens with the right support network. Frank Arce will share with us some of his struggles and obstacles in life that made just getting through high school hard enough. He considers it miraculous that we has been able to achieve much more beyond that, but has never forgotten the many lessons learned from those struggles and challenges. Frank currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Development for the Temecula Valley Unified School District in California. In our centuries old educational system, students with stories similar to that of our next guest fall through the cracks. That's where the work of educators comes in. That's why it's important to him to speak to us today about the critical role that we all play in helping students achieve - "Against All Odds".
James Woods has his masters in counseling, and is a registered yoga teacher. As president of FEEL FREE 2 FEEL FREE a health and wellness organization that provides programs and services for youth and adults who serve them, he, trains and holds workshops on self care, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Timmy Tut is the first book from James that fulfills his passion of sharing wellness tools through a literary experience to better serve the youth. James is also the founder of Million Man Meditation a wellness resource event featuring all Black men. Website: https://www.datyogadude.com
We talk with Assistant Principal Kim Hawkins, Shawn Simpson, Lindsey Ostrom, & Jacki Friedholm from Woodgate Intermediate School in Midway ISD about the ways that they work to focus on SEL in everything that they do.
Kate grew up in Missouri and attended William Jewell College, where I earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She went on to earn her Master's degree in School Counseling at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Kate currently resides in Oregon, where her partner, their dog Atlas, and Kate spend as much time as possible hiking and walking our neighborhood. She has worked at all levels of education, including post-secondary education. Kate is currently the School Counselor at Baker Prairie Middle School in Canby, Oregon. As an educator, she is passionate about self-reflection, honesty, and progress - whether that's in practice, policy, or personal growth.
During her time at Baker Prairie, Kate has been able to bring in a new SEL curriculum (CharacterStrong) through grant funding, begin an annual Peace Month which has grown to include a Peace Summit, collaborate with teachers to have the entire school write a book together, and many other smaller program activities that were only possible because of an amazing team of teachers, administrators, office staff, and facilities staff. This year, Kate was named Peace Educator of the Year by the Wholistic Peace Institute.
We talk with CharacterStrong team member Riley Bruil about how social emotional learning at his high school impacted him as a leader & college athlete, and he shares about how standing at a door changed his senior year.
Dr. Renee Carr is originally from the west coast, from Vallejo, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area and from Silverdale, WA in the Kitsap Peninsula across from Seattle. Even though she has been in the DC area, on the Virginia side for the last 10 years, she has not left behind her west coast roots. Dr. Renee Carr, EdD has been working in education and related programmatic work since 2007. She is multilingual: she speaks French, Spanish, and Modern Greek. Dr. Carr taught English at a technical high school in France. She studied abroad in Greece and Spain. She has worked at a university, been a government contractor, worked for non-profits, associations, and two school districts in the Washington, DC area. At school she goes by Señora Carr, Madame Carr or Doctor Carr. She recently wrote a book for the publisher Rowman & Littlefield called Accountability in the Classroom: Using Social-Emotional Learning to Guide School Improvement. The book was published in February 2021. The premise of this book came from her dissertation topic, social-emotional learning and school accountability systems which she started researching while she worked at the College Board. She added her own experiences as an educator both from the perspectives of world language education and the COVID-19 crisis. Dr. Carr received her EdD from the George Washington University in 2019 and her MA in Political Science in 2009 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She obtained her BA in French and International Studies in 2007 from the University of Washington.
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