Anette On Education

This time around, Anette interviews Mark Nair, entrepreneur, innovator, and chair of Business Systems and Emerging Technology at Amarillo College where he teaches economics and technology. You may remember Episode #20, where Mark interviewed Anette about running in the primaries. This discussion focuses on teaching college students economics and Swift coding, the move to online learning, even befo...

Anette visits with Ann Beeson, CEO of Every Texan . While Anette currently serves on the board, she has worked with this organization for years, though it now has a new name! Learn more about the skills and passion friend and fellow native Texan Ann Beeson brings to the state in this discussion. Ann Beeson is CEO of Every Texan, formerly known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP). Ann...

Anette visits with Todd McLees about the future of work, lifelong learning, education, and more. They met when Todd presented at the Amarillo College General Assembly in January, and, boy, has the world changed since then! Yet Todd's insight and examples on disruption are even more relevant and important now, in light of COVID-19's impact on society, learning, and work, than ever before. Todd McLe...

Listen to Anette's conversation with Maria Xenidou, one of her podcast coaches, fellow podcaster, and now friend. Maria and Anette connected over their shared interest in education, lifelong learning, and on how the future of education may evolve. After twenty years of her international corporate career in product development, technology, innovation, and marketing, Maria advises enterprises on the...

When you have a podcast, and it's Mother's Day, what's more natural than asking your boys to be the guests? I'm fortunate to have three wonderful sons, and on this episode you'll hear their opinions on part of their education journey, and the importance of education not just in their life, but in the larger society, as they see it. I hope you enjoy this have as much as I did! Thanks to Walker, Dar...

Dr. John Horn, a long-time educator, talks educational leadership, values, and so much more with Anette and her co-host, David Anderson. Anette met John through his work with both the Schlechty Center and the Visioning Institute, and has always valued his expertise and wisdom. A former superintendent in both Allen and Mesquite, John brings a wealth of wisdom and perspective to the importance of ed...

In this episode, Anette visits with Kate Rogers, Vice-President of Outreach and Community Engagement for the Charles Butt Foundation. Anette first met Kate through her volunteer work with the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards initiative, and is excited to share Kate's varied experiences and knowledge about education. Be sure and take note of the #TeachersCan campaign , and get involved! Kate Ro...

A timely and informative episode with Dr. J. Taylor Carlisle, Infectious Disease specialist and Anette's husband, discussing the history of pandemics in humans through the ages. Trained at Baylor Medical School for his M.D., with his specialty training for I.D. at Tulane Medical School, Taylor has practiced his profession in Amarillo for 32 years at the Amarillo Diagnostic Clinic. Enjoy and learn...

Anette visits with Chandra Kring Villanueva on school finance in Texas, focusing on the recently released paper on HB3. As complicated as it is, Chandra knows her school finance, and helps explain it here. As Program Director of the Economic Opportunity Team, Chandra oversees the Center for Public Policy and Priorities' work on education, workforce development and job quality. She joined CPPP in 2...

Special Edition for COVID-19: Hear from Dr. Kevin Brown, executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), about how school districts and educators across Texas are stepping up to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic. How do over 1000 districts pivot to continue providing education to the 5.4 millions students in Texas public schools in just a week or two? By loving the wo...

Special Edition for COVID-19: Hear how Amarillo College is responding to the challenges that the Coronavirus pandemic has thrown at us and everyone else. A great team that continues to grow our Culture of Caring at AC, led by our president, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart. Keep on educating our students, all!  

While Jeff Webster's love of music may have brought him to Texas, we are fortunate he chose to stay and share his expertise on data analysis as Director of Research for the Trellis Company . Anette and Jeff have interacted on a number of projects over the years. and you'll get to hear about those and lots more of the work Jeff leads.   There are loads of great resources on the Trellis Foundation w...

With a degree in jazz guitar and years of experience both playing and teaching, Bret Boyer understands the importance of the arts in education. Bret is Anette's ukulele instructor, and their lessons most often happen via FaceTime, as he lives in Austin. Anette and Bret discuss his knowledge of many kinds of music, as well as his background in playing and teaching various instruments. Bret tries to...

Dyron Howell, founder and director of Snack Pak 4 Kids , talks with Anette about how they meet the nutritional needs for tens of thousands of children across the Panhandle and the country. Dyron, a registered pharmacist, in the corporate world for his work life, has spent part of that time developing this concept with the help of community, corporate, and student partners. Now retired from the pha...

Pastor Anthony Harris of St. John Baptist Church in Amarillo is a passionate education advocate and community leader working to improve the lives of young people in our community. Friends since they met, Anthony and Anette discuss the ways he is working to create more opportunities for our area youth. 

Long-time educator, Karla Weatherly, has gone from kindergarten teacher at Bivins Elementary to the head of the Texas Panhandle P-16 Council at ESC Region 16 since she met Anette as the kindergarten teacher of Anette's oldest son, Walker. Karla has worn a variety of educator hats in this time, and has never strayed far from her early childhood beginnings. Now she connects those to college completi...

Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, took the road less travelled on the way to her classroom. She worked as a disc jockey, medical assistant, and journalist before teaching, as she says, chose her. Shanna taught middle and high school English in low-income schools in Amarillo, Texas for 14 years. Because Amarillo is a resettlement area for refugees, students as diverse as the Ka...

When you have a guest host like Mark Nair, hang on! Mark and I talk about my primary runs for the Texas House, SBOE, about Panhandle Twenty/20 , and much more! While he wanted me to entitle this episode "The Burning Pants of Democracy," I stuck with a less flashy title. Thanks for guest-hosting, Mark! Mark Nair is the chair of Business Systems and Emerging Technology at Amarillo College where he t...

Learn from Laura Subrin Yeager on why educators should vote in every election. A passionate advocate for public education, Laura launched Texas Educators Vote in 2015, and has been directing the program ever since. Laura attended public schools from K-12 in Montgomery County, Maryland, earned an undergraduate degree in Government from Cornell University, and a Masters Degree in International Affai...

Texas Parent PAC Co-chair Dinah Miller talks about the importance of getting good representation into the Texas Legislature to support public education. Anette and Dinah have bonded not only over public ed advocacy, but also through their joint journeys to India, Mexico, and within the US and Texas through Leadership Women . Dinah, a seventh generation Texan, became passionate about state legislat...

Texas Parent PAC co-founder and past chair Carolyn Boyle discusses the early days of Texas Parent PAC, and how and why she helped start the organization that has helped elect good leadership, and has had a positive impact on good policy for Texas public ed. Texas owes Carolyn a debt of gratitude for her tireless volunteer efforts as an education advocate for all children. Carolyn co-founded Texas...

Texas Parent PAC Co-chair Julie Cowan discusses the importance of advocacy for public education and how this organization helps build support for good policy at the Texas Legislature. Julie was an elected trustee on the Austin ISD school board in 2014-2018, and she was secretary of the board. During her board tenure she was president of the Central Texas School Board Association and a member of th...

Pastors for Texas Children has provided a unique and powerfully influential voice advocating for public education in recent years. Good friend of Anette, PTC's founder and executive director, the Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, discusses the roles churches and religious leaders can play in supporting public school children and public schools, both through their ministries and through advocacy. A much...

Dr. Libby Cohen, Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Raise Your Hand Texas , discusses the advocacy team and approach she is building to support public education across the state. Learn about Libby, the RADs, and advocacy. Click to find out about the upcoming For the Future events. Libby joined the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation in August 2018 to lead the organization’s efforts to develop a gra...

Anette visits with Jacob Fraire, President and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) . Jacob and Anette discuss issues surrounding community colleges, including legislative, governance, and the challenges faced by students of poverty. Since 2016, Mr. Fraire has provided leadership to TACC, a nonprofit advocacy organization whose core mission is advancing state policy, instituti...