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
On this episode we learn from some of the team at Clear Brook High School. Dr. Michele Staley has been the principal at Clear Brook High School for the past 11 years. She has been in public education for 26 years, 21 of which have been as an administrator. Bridget Christmas is an Assistant Principal at Brook who currently oversees the BrookBound Program. She spent her career in education as a special education teacher where she taught SEL to students with disabilities and served as a district behavior specialist for 2 years before coming to Clear Brook. And Lauren Jehli is an award-winning educator and mental health professional with seven years of elementary and secondary experience. She currently serves as a Student Support Counselor at Clear Brook High School where she believes in changing the world through education.
Barbara Gruener thrives on positively influencing change, passionately helping people create caring connections, and intentionally improving a school's climate and culture. Her innovative and inspirational ideas are sparked by 34 years as a Spanish teacher and school counselor growing alongside students from every age and stage, Pre-K through 12th grade. A connected educator, Barbara loves leading supercharged character-development growth sessions with students, parents, teachers and administrators. Her book, What's Under Your Cape? SUPERHEROES of the Character Kind, earned a Mom's Choice Gold Award for supporting caregivers with stories and strategies to use as they help develop character strengths in young people in school and at home. Though she grew up on a dairy farm in WI, Barbara and her family now call Friendswood, TX, home.
Molly Winters Diallo has spent the last 23 years in education, a career that has spanned three different schools. She currently teaches at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High in Miami, Florida. Molly serves as department chair for social sciences and her subjects include AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, and Honors U.S. History. She is also part of the school's Social Emotional Learning leadership team. In 2019, Molly was named Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools and a top-five finalist for Florida Teacher of the Year. Molly and two of her seniors were recently awarded a $1,000 grant from CharacterStrong to implement a program that will bring students from different backgrounds together for monthly luncheons.
Beth Houf is the proud principal of Fulton Middle School in central Missouri. She is the Co-Author of Lead Like a PIRATE: Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff. Beth also serves as a facilitator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Leadership Academy, providing monthly training to state educational leaders. She has spoken at many venues, including the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, the Association for Middle Level Education National Conference, The National Principal Conference and many state and local educational venues. She is also active in heTLIBTr local, state and national elementary principal associations. Fulton Middle School was recognized as a Missouri Exemplary Professional Learning Community and Solution Tree Model Professional Learning Community in 2019. Beth was named a Missouri Exemplary New Principal in 2011, the Missouri National Distinguished Principal for 2016 and 2019 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year. Beth's proudest accomplishments are her two sons, Paul and Dawson. She has been honored to help lead schools that she is proud to have both attend.
Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a Professor in the Child Study Center of Yale University. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by nearly 2,000 pre-K through high schools across the United States and in other countries. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). As a researcher for over 20 years, Brackett has focused on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. He has published 125 scholarly articles and received numerous awards and accolades for his work in this area. Learn more at: marcbrackett.com
We talk with Meena about how we all need relationships to thrive, she shares some strategies that support relationships in the classrooms, and how important it is that we view the the adult work that we do through an empathetic lens.
Meena Srinivasan is the Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL). Prior to this role, she spent five and a half years working in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) to implement SEL in the Oakland Unified School District. With expertise in both mindfulness and SEL she is the author of Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom and SEL Every Day: Integrating Social and Emotional Learning with Instruction for Secondary Classrooms. To learn more visit: meenasrinivasan.com
Ashanti Branch works to change how students, especially young men of color, interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly â San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realized his passion for teaching. In 2004, during Ashanti's first year teaching high school math, he started The Ever Forward Club to provide support for African American and Latino males who were not achieving to their potential. Since then, Ever Forward has helped all of its more than 150 members graduate from high school, and 93% of them have gone on to attend two- or four-year colleges, military or trade school.
Rick Hess is a resident scholar and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he works on Kâ12 and higher education issues. He is the author of Education Week's blog "Rick Hess Straight Up" and is a regular contributor to Forbes and The Hill. Since 2001, he has also served as an executive editor of Education Next. His books include Letters to a Young Education Reformer, Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned, and Cage-Busting Leadership. Rick has been published in scholarly outlets such as American Politics Quarterly and Social Science Quarterly, as well as popular outlets including National Affairs, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He teaches or has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Rice, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard University. Rick began his career as a high school social studies teacher. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government, as well as an Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum, from Harvard University.
Zoie Breland is a Senior at Fife High School, in Fife, Washington, where she serves as the ASB president. She started a Special Olympics Unified Sports Program during her sophomore year at Fife High School, a program that has sparked the inclusion revolution within the Fife community. Fife is now being recognized by ESPN and Special Olympics as one of their top 5 National Banner Unified Schools. Zoie has committed her school life to helping create an inclusive school culture. She was an intern with Special Olympics Washington, and will be representing Washington State in China at the Special Olympics East Asia Leadership Summit. Zoie has a 4.0 GPA, plays 3 sports at Fife, and has plans to pursue a career in the medical field.
We talk with Zoie about how she started Unified sports at FIfe, the impact that Unified sports has had, and how this amazing journey started when she was in preschool.
Samuel Karns is in his 12th year of education, and this school year marks his second year as an assistant principal of Landrum Middle School in Spring Branch ISD. Prior to this position, he served as the assistant director of student wellness in central office in Spring Branch ISD as well as serving as a Health and Physical Educator at the elementary level for several years. He continues to be a champion and pioneer for the whole school whole community whole child framework through ASCD and CDC. Karns has implemented this framework from a district level, and at the local level through the Greater Houston Leadership group through Harris County. He has also presented this framework at the local, state and national level through ASCD, SHAPE America, TAHPERD, and It's Time Texas. He resides with his wife and two children in Houston, TX.
We talk with Samuel about the school advisory council at Landrum Middle School and how it comes together to support the whole child, and practical ways that they serve kids & engage more families in their community.
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