The CharacterStrong Podcast

Today our guests are 5th Grade Teacher Julie Hannan, & Administrator Brett McDaniel from the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District. We talk to Julie & Brett about the ways that they have worked to develop servant leaders in the 5th grade classes at their elementary school. Julie shares how from the beginning of the leadership program they have invited all of the 5th grade students to participate, and...

Today our guest is Jamie Brown, Assistant Principal at Bluffton High School in South Carolina. We talk to Jamie about the importance of blending SEL w/ Character Ed to build the Whole Teacher, so you can develop the Whole Child, and then in turn, partner with the Whole Community. He also shares ways that we can continue to remix the soundtrack of education by putting a focus on relationships. A ch...

Today our guest is Justin Bradford, Superintendent, of Prescott School District in WA state. We talk to Justin about how he has used school wide assemblies to shape the culture and climate with students from Pk-12th grade. His motto of "We get what we honor" has created some big positive changes with students and staff. Justin also gives some helpful tips on how to communicate and lead staff throu...

In this episode, CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares 3 powerful stories from the work. Through these stories he reminds us of the importance of understanding the Law of the Lid, that there is always a reason for every behavior, and that even though this work is hard it is worth it. 

We talk to Dr. McMillan about the importance of staying student centered and how based on student voice, they have modified a period each day to create space for student choice. He shares about the impact that asking for input from students and staff can have on in building culture, and gives practical ways that they intentionally invest in staff culture at Chapman. Growing up in a home with paren...

Today our guest is Ryan Marshall, Lead Counselor, at South Salem High School, and the 2021 Oregon School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Ryan about the power of finding joy inside our work and he gives 3 steps to help us intentionally do this: 1. Knowing Thyself, 2. Building opportunities into our work schedule, and 3. Go and Do it. Ryan Marshall just wrapped his 9th year as a school counselor,...

Today our guest is Dr. Julie Hartline, Associate Director of Professional Learning for Hatching Results and 2009 ASCA School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Dr. Hartline about the impact that school counselors can have and the need for admin and staff to understand how school counselors can support staff and students. She also shares resources that can help bring more awareness and education whe...

Today our guest is Dan Wolfe an Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. We talk to Dan about the importance of purpose and how being connected to our purpose is so needed today. He shares how finding our purpose isn't a destination, it's a journey and gives ways that we can help others put a focus on purpose in their own lives. Dan Wolfe has served as an educator in Pasco County, Florida for mor...

Today our guest is Becky Arway a School Counselor, STUCO Advisor, at Polo R-VII Schools We talk to Becky about the intentional partnership that she has together with her principal, and how this has led to some really creative outcomes that support students. She shares about the Book in a Bag resource library and the impact that this has had in their school and community. Becky Arway has been a sch...

CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares an experience from a past training, and talks about why we can't wait to infuse social & emotional learning and character development into the daily fabric of our schools.

Today our guests are Angela Shanahan & Karen Devine, School Counselors in Chicago Public Schools. We talk about the impact that comprehensive, data-informed school counseling programs have with students at their schools and across the district. They also share what they have learned leading schools thru the Recognized ASCA Model Program process, and the impact and benefits of becoming RAMP recogni...

Today our guest is Petra Davis, Activities Director for Tesoro High school in Las Flores, CA. We talk to Petra about the lessons that she has learned going from being an advisor at a middle school to being at a high school, while also at the same time walking alongside students during COVID. Petra also shares some of the realities of where students are at today and the intentionality that is neede...

Today our guest is Ashley Wright an Elementary School Counselor at Lucille J. Bradley Elementary, in Spring Texas. We talk to Ashley about school connectedness and the transformation that it can have in our schools when we all work together. Ashley talks about the importance of relationships and shares that even though we have differences when we come to the table with families it can have a huge...

We talk to Hillary about blended learning programs and how this hybrid classroom helps to meet the different needs of students. She talks about some of the struggles that students are facing in this season and gives a few ways that they are helping students re-engage in relationships. Hillary also shares how teachers are creatively using CharacterStrong lessons during shorter one-on-one check-ins...

We talk to Allison about the different ways that she has been helping implement PurposeFull People with the students and staff at her school. She shares the practical ways that she has used the PurposeFull People posters, pictures, and character trait definitions to help create common language with students. Allison also shares how she has helped created space for students to have ongoing conversa...

We talk to Matthew about how he got involved with his state school counselors association and the different ways that getting involved can impact us, the schools we serve, and the states where we live. He also talks about the importance of building connections, especially being in the role of school counselor.   Matthew McClain has been a school counselor in rural Northeast Colorado since 2005. He...

We talk to Dr. Frasco about the importance of having all leaders understand the social and emotional needs of students. She shares about the need for leaders to have consistent conversations about a school's core values, the need to intentionally teach them, and have them impact our small and big decisions. Dr. Frasco also reminds us that everyone has a story and as leaders, we need to take the ti...

Today our guest is Dr. John Hattie, the Director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Hattie is also the author of Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers, the result of 15 years of research. On this episode we talk about 10 Steps To Develop Great Learners: Visible Learning For Parents, Dr. Hattie's newest book that he wrote with...

We talk to Phil about what Adventure Education is and how it is both novel and can involve some risk. He describes the experiential learning cycle and talks about the power of having a shared experience. Phil also gives practical ways we can use experiential learning strategies in our classrooms that can amplify learning for students. Phil Brown, originally from England, joined the High 5 team in...

Today our guest is Cory Notestine the Executive Director of Student Success and Wellness for Colorado Springs School District 11. We talk to Cory about a concept known as rapid innovation cycles, which contribute to educational progress while fighting a failure-to-launch mentality.   Cory Notestine serves as the Executive Director of Student Success and Wellness for Colorado Springs School Distric...

Today our guest is Christi Sturgeon a School Counselor at Broken Arrow High School and is Oklahoma School Counselor of the Year for 2021-22. We talk to Christi about how important it is to find our purpose and how we can stretch ourselves and model that for students. She shares 7 things that we can do to help students focus on looking forward, and some of the ways that this can have an impact.   C...

Today our guest is Barb Micucci, Barb is a recently retired elementary school counselor and was the 2010 ASCA School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Barb about the importance of school-wide SEL programming as we support all students & the impact that can happen when all staff has a common language. She shares how setting the tone right at the beginning of the day helps shape the climate in our c...

We talk to Dr. Cook about ways that the pandemic has impacted students and how we can leverage the science around human behavior to help promote student success. He outlines effective methods of behavior change, and gives practical, low burden, high impact strategies that we can use right now as we serve students.

We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! On todays episode Melvin shares about the importance of building trust and relationships with our students and colleagues. He also talks about how he got started with the WA State Counselors Association, and highlights the importance of showing up and providing opportunities for others. Melvin J. Fields Jr., certified School Counselor at Yelm Mid...

We are celebrating National School Counseling Week! We talk with Monica about the many ways that she serves the families, staff, and students at her school. She also shares about the benefits of having a comprehensive counseling program and talks about how collaboration & relationships in the community help support the work in schools.   Monica Bryant has been an elementary school counselor for 7...