Educator Forever

Hillary Summerbell is the founder and CEO of Summerbell, a literacy technology company redefining how visual dyslexics engage with text. A fourth-generation Washingtonian and lifelong creative, Hillary brings a designer’s eye and an inventor’s persistence to the world of EdTech. After a career in interior design and entrepreneurship, Hillary built on the academic research of positional arc reading...

Pia Dandiya is a first-generation American educator running for Congress in the district where she was born and raised to fight for kids and expand opportunity for every Floridian. She began her career as a teacher in low-income schools and went on to become one of the youngest high school principals in the country, founding a school where every graduate earned college admission despite most stude...

Today I’m doing a solo episode! I haven't done a solo podcast episode in a while, but I thought I'd come in and talk to you all about what I'm seeing in the world of curriculum development. I've been working in this field for almost 20 years, which is wild. But I've really seen some shifts and some things that have stayed the same. And so as you think about maybe considering curriculum development...

Mickey Fitch-Collins is a leadership development facilitator, coach and podcast host who turns research into real world impact. With a doctorate in leadership in higher education and a background spanning academia, Ed Tech and corporate learning, she helps organizations unlock the potential of their people, especially their middle managers. In this episode, Mickey told me about how she went from p...

Leah Ruesink is an early literacy coach and adjunct professor based in Michigan. She supports K–3 teachers in implementing research-aligned reading instruction and provides science-backed literacy guidance to educators, coaches, and families. Through her work in schools, writing, and online, Leah helps bridge the gap between literacy research and everyday classroom practice. In this episode, Leah...

Dr Erin Sponaugle has been teaching for 23 years. She’s a national board certified teacher and a former West Virginia Teacher of the Year. She’s also the author of two children's books and recently published Teachaholic, a book about overcoming teacher burnout based on her own experience. Erin is also the host of the Next Chapter for Teachers podcast. In this episode, we talk to Erin about her edu...

Kendell Hunter is a former special education teacher and reading specialist with a master’s degree in education and more than a decade of experience across K–12 schools and edtech. She is the Director of Marketing at Otus, where she has spent nearly seven years helping districts turn assessment and student data into meaningful, actionable insights. Kendell and I discuss how and she moved from teac...

Dr. Coral P.S. Hoh is a clinical linguist and the founder of Dysolve AI, a technology platform designed to support students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences. With a PhD in linguistics, her work focuses on applying research and artificial intelligence to improve how dyslexia is identified and supported at scale. In this episode, Coral and I discuss how she began studying...

Emily Read Daniels is a former school counselor, a proud soccer mom, and the author and creator of The Regulated Classroom©. Through her work as a trauma specialist, she’s become internationally recognized in her field and as a trainer in the trauma-informed schools movement. Emily and I spend the episode talking about the the overemphasis on data in education. We discuss the need for schools to f...

Lisa Riegel is the creator of the NeuroWell Framework and the 8C Commitment Framework, which are brain-based approaches to engagement and change. She holds a PhD from Ohio State in policy and leadership and is a former educator and school reform specialist turned leadership strategist. She is known for turning neuroscience into practical tools that help people gain happiness, health, and more succ...

A lifelong educator with extensive experience in challenging students inside and outside the classroom, Nicholas Bradford started his restorative justice education in 2009 working in therapeutic settings. Having worked with hundreds of schools and districts, he has built a robust program that delivers a comprehensive Restorative Justice framework Nicholas and I talk about how he began teaching res...

Patty McGee, the author of “Not Your Granny’s Grammar,” is a nationally recognized literacy consultant, speaker and educator with a passion for transforming classrooms into spaces where language and literacy come alive. With years of teaching experience under her belt, she’s become a strong advocate for delightful literacy practices. In this episode, Patty describes how she went from teaching to s...

Jessica Werner, Ph. D. is the founder and CEO of Northshore Learning. She has worked with schools worldwide as an instructor, a professor of education and classroom management, and a consultant. She is passionate about helping to equip educators to work with students with varying academic and behavioral needs. In this episode Jessica details how her education journey started with a trip to Chile....

Karen Meyer Cunningham is a  nationally recognized special education advocate, speaker, and mediator with over two decades of experience guiding families, educators, and professionals through the complexities of special education systems. Known as The Special Education Boss®, she brings deep expertise in IDEA, Section 504, and disability advocacy, with a clear commitment to ensuring equitable...

Jim Hollis is the founder and executive director of the Calculus Roundtable, a nationally recognized nonprofit that improves math and science achievement for underserved students. Under his leadership, the organization has worked with over 65 schools across California, Washington, and New York, earning accolades such as the New Profit Foundation’s recognition of Hollis as one of America’s top 24 s...

Emily Cadiz is a teacher, musician, mom of three, and founder of Prelude Early Learning, home of Finnegan the Dragon. After a traumatic brain injury left her needing to relearn how to talk and walk, she rebuilt her skills through music and singing—an experience that inspired Prelude’s music-based approach to teaching language and pre-reading. With 20+ years in education and master’s degrees in edu...

Leah Ellis is a mom of four, writer, wedding officiant, Girl Scout leader, and founder of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs. Through SoCE, Nerdy Nuptials ICT, and Girl Scouts, she creates spaces where kids, couples, and communities are empowered to lead with authenticity. Leah believes in making room for both the mess and the magic of becoming. Leah, a “serial entrepreneur,” shares with me how he...

Stephen Hughie Lasseter is the author of Kingston To The Rescue. He is also a special education teacher in Philadelphia, where he teaches reading and math to elementary school students. He designed an educational program called Educate to Skate. Educate to Skate combines the metrics of learning, physical exercise and independence with skateboarding to teach math, geometry and science to elementary...

Dr. Marcus Deveso is the co-founder and Chief Program Officer at C3 Community. He is a lifelong educator with nearly 30 years of experience in fostering inclusive, equitable educational environments. Throughout his career, Marcus has held a variety of roles, from classroom teacher to Chief Program Officer in the nonprofit sector. Marcus and I discuss his teacher journey, which he sees as “accident...

Jean Lee is a neuroscientist and homeschooling parent of three who founded the Academy of Chaos, which provides classes for homeschoolers. She’s also the director of the Midwest Homeschool Expo, one of the largest secular homeschool conferences in the United States. Jean’s career is defined by scaling operations, leading diverse teams, and building high-impact partnerships. Today, she brings that...

National Novel Writing Month might be gone, but its founder Chris Baty and a collection of former employees and volunteers are making sure the writing tradition continues. Next month their new organization, NaNo 2.0, will be encouraging writers all over to start and complete a novel, while also providing support through resources and camaraderie. In this episode, Lily talks to Tavia Stewart and La...

Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn is the executive director of Pilot Light, a nonprofit that helps educators incorporate food education into their lessons. She joined the organization in 2014, hired personally by its founders as its first staff member, and since then, she has proudly worked in partnership with many educators, chefs and community members to grow the reach of their food education programs fro...

Dr. Scott Pickle is superintendent of the Sequoia Union Elementary School District in Woodlake, California. He is also a public speaker and best-selling author who uses his platform to champion the belief that all students can achieve at high levels. Scott used his 30 years of experience to write two published books, Upright and Impact Mentoring: 200 Ways to Make an Impact, and his third book, Imp...

Holly Britton is a handwriting instruction specialist with teaching experience in grades K through eight. She educated her own four now-adult children, has taught in private and public school classrooms, served as a curriculum director and founded Squiggle Squad, a unique approach to handwriting instruction for children, pre K to second grade. In this episode we go in depth into strategies for tea...

For this episode, I speak to Maya Smart, an early literacy advocate, parent educator and author of Reading for Our Lives: The Urgency of Early Literacy and the Action Plan to Help Your Child. She's affiliated faculty at Marquette University and holds degrees from Harvard and Northwestern. Her website MayaSmart.com features weekly book picks some playful learning ideas and free tools to help parent...