Plugged In: ACPE Amplified

Send us Fan Mail (recorded May 18, 2026) Episode Sponsor: PowerGistics Join Marc, Rachel, and our guests: Josh Kesecker, ACPE Board Member and Technology Director at Wallowa County ESD and Chris Rowbotham, Director Of Technology at Siuslaw School District 97J _________________________________ We chat this episode about BelieveIT—the ACPE 2026 conference, recapping the fun, the quiet moments and he...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded April 7, 2026) Episode Sponsor: IncidentIQ Join Marc, Rachel, and our guests: Steve Langford, ACPE Board President Cory Horton, ACPE Event Coordinator and Matthew Emerzian, CEO of Every Monday Matters and ACPE 2026 _________________________________ We chat this episode about BelieveIT—the ACPE 2026 conference and the theme. Matthew Emerzian joins us to preview the keynot...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded December 17, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Securly Join Marc, Rachel, and our guests: Ellen Dorr, Chief of Technology and Strategic Initiatives for the Renton School District and ACPE Board Member and Melissa Lim, Learning Technologies Program Administrator at Portland Public Schools _________________________________ We chat this episode about leading change through generations...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded December 11, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Insight Financial Services Join Marc, Rachel, and our guests: Kevin Johnson, Director of Technology at Fife School District and ACPE Board Member and Leigh Anne Scherer, Director of Technology & Information Services in the North Clackamas School District _________________________________ We chat this episode about technology purcha...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded December 4, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Magic School AI Join Marc, Rachel, and our guest Kris Hagel, CIO at Peninsula School District. _________________________________ We chat this episode about AI. We focus first on the people change that Kris has led in PSD the past four years. And then we settle into a broad-ranging tech and human-focused conversation about AI and its imp...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded October 14, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Advanced Classroom Technologies Join Marc and Rachel for this Season Two opener, with guests:  Owen Craig, Director of Technology at Nooksack Valley School District  and  Matthew Ross, Director of Technology at Napavine School District _________________________________ We chat this episode about Esports. Owen and Marc both end up tearin...

Send us Fan Mail In this B-Sides track from Plugged In S2 E1, Marc and Rachel chat with Matthew and Owen about the dystopian and utopian themes that showed up in several season one episodes. Marc has special powers. Matthew schools us. And, Owen did the wrong homework assignment, but still gets an A+. 

Send us Fan Mail (recorded October 4, 2025) Episode Sponsor: ClassLink Join Marc and Rachel for our twelfth episode, with guests: The ACPE Board _________________________________ We chat this episode about ACPE, specifically the planning for BelieveIT, our 2026 annual conference. Steve Langford is this year's president and shares the meaning and his vision for the conference. We also check-in...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded September 29, 2025) Episode Sponsor: BumpArmor Join Marc and Rachel for our eleventh episode, with guests: Emilie Nangle, Systems Analyst at Northshore SD and  Jeff Gibbs, Executive Director of Technology Services at Gresham-Barlow SD _________________________________ We chat this episode about ACPE Mentoring. Emilie and Jeff catch us up on the genesis of this collaborat...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded September 24, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Motorola Solutions Join Marc and Rachel for our tenth episode, with guests: Josh Kesecker, Technology Coordinator at Wallowa County ESD and  Dr. Joe Morelock, Superintendent at Willamette ESD _________________________________ We chat this episode about amateur (ham) radio with our two favorite ham radio aficionados and fellow ACPE boa...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded September 11, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Comcast Business,  Join Marc and Rachel for our ninth episode, with guests: Chris Bailey, Director Of Technology at Edmonds School District and  Kevin Meckler, Partner, Cipriani & Werner Attorneys at Law _________________________________ We chat this episode about navigating cyber incidents. Chris provides a first-person K-12 pers...

Send us Fan Mail (recorded July 7, 2025) Episode Sponsor: Gaggle Join Marc and Rachel for our eighth episode, with guests: Dr. Susan Enfield, Executive Director at the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) at the University of Washington and  Dr. Patrick Murphy, Superintendent of the Olympia School District _________________________________ We chat this episode about the serious domains of stude...

Send us Fan Mail Alt title: Keep The Blast Radius Small (recorded June 26, 2025) Join Marc and Rachel for our seventh episode, with guest April Mardock, our security role model and an ACPE cyber whisperer. We chat about video games, sci-fi, what Marc is watching, what April is reading, and Rachel's love for Parker Posey (enough to overcome White Lotus). And then we get serious about K-12 cybe...

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for our sixth episode, the halfway point of our pilot season. We are navel-gazing in this week's short episode, reflecting on our first couple months of learning how to podcast. The people, conversations, the tech, the spirit of Plugged In, cold opens, how to choose a title, and a clumsy sign-off that may or may not stick. We also do a high-level review o...

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for our fifth episode and a very special guest, recently retired ACPE Board Member, Allen Miedema. We chat about music, Allen's long tenure and the meaningful changes in edtech during it, leadership, what snuck up on us in tech, what's coming next, differentiated learning, streaming media, server shower stalls, and Tacoma's renaissance.  *Oh, an...

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for our fourth episode that recaps this year's IncludeIT conference and also chatter about music tech and edtech. We chat with guests (ACPE DJ) Joe Yamada and (ACPE Board Member) Steve Langford about music, Wordle, love shoves (h/t Amy Poehler on Smartless podcast), mobile computing in K-12, device refresh cycles, and women in tech via Sylvia Acevedo&apos...

Send us Fan Mail In this first B-Sides track from Plugged In S1 E1, Marc and Rachel chat with Shelby and Derek about student cell phone policies and approaches in their school districts, and the larger national debate.

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for our third episode that focuses on the lodge, schedule, and activities of this year's IncludeIT conference. Guest Cory Horton, ACPE Conference Coordinator, joins to chat about movies, music, Marc's jackets, and all the things to know about ACPE's Annual Conference. *Oh, and several weird, plus lovely, intersections with Newberg, Oregon.

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for our second episode that focuses on IncludeIT, this year's conference theme. Guest Jennifer Clouser, current ACPE Board President, joins to chat about inclusion in the work we do as technicians and leaders, and the development of the theme for this year's conference. *Oh, and several hungry dogs.

Send us Fan Mail Join Marc and Rachel for this inaugural episode that focuses on the people and love for ACPE, our professional community that is now 50+ years in the making. Guests Shelby Reynolds and Derek Stewart join to chat about the excellent 2025 CoSN conference, School Library Month <3, continued classroom cell phone debate and conversations, the ACPE conference—past, future, fun, food,...