The CharacterStrong Podcast

Kirsten Perry is a Social-Emotional Learning Specialist for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) serving 27 schools in the Englewood and Auburn-Gresham neighborhoods. Kirsten also served as the President for the Illinois School Counselor Association (ISCA) during school years 2019-2021. Prior to this, she served as a K-12 School Counseling Specialist for the Chicago Public Schools for 2 years and as a...

Daniel has been in education for 18 years. He taught in both private and public schools as a middle and high school English Language Arts teacher. For the last two years he has been the Professional Learning Coordinator for the Student Services Department in the Racine Unified School District. Addtionally, he presents CharacterStrong, tutors students with dyslexia, attends grad school, teaches fit...

Royce Bryan has been in education ever since graduation from Bemidji State University in 2003. He's taught in multiple states in the Midwest at multiple levels: middle school, high school, and higher education. Royce believes whole heartedly that life is all about being good at relationship and a good relationship is at the heart of wholistic education.

Kaia St. John graduating high school in 2020 and spent her freshman year of college at Washington State University. Throughout high school, she was highly involved in ASB through which she gained a love of servant leadership and SEL. She also has a year of experience tutoring middle school students and leading afterschool activities through the 21st Century Grant program. As a current CharacterStr...

We kick off SEASON 4 with CharacterStrong Co-founder Houston Kraft and talk about the importance of having a strong foundation as we face adversity, and the difference between mental health and mental illness. We also chat about AET vs TDI, and the impact that focusing on academic engaged time has in our classrooms.

Kwame Ambaah is a senior attending Sam Houston State University and majoring in International Business, where he serves as a student leader in multiple organizations and a College pastor at a ministry called Second College. He is driven by a passion to help people in any way he can. Throughout his life he has dedicated his time to leadership and service in every opportunity he can find and hopes t...

Addy Esco is a native Texan but has made Alaska her home for the last 10 years. After completing her Bachelor's and Master's programs in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin she relocated to Wrangell, Alaska. Addy's life was forever changed as a teenager by a few people willing to invest in relationships, so this work is her passion. After working in clinical mental health as an LCSW f...

HealthCorps President and CEO Amy Braun brings a passion for education, a background in marketing and a belief in wellness to the organization. Amy began her career as a fifth-grade teacher in New York City, where she taught math and reading, and developed the grade-wide literacy curriculum that led to significant performance gains at her school. After stints at Teach for America and Harlem Villag...

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph. D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Ho...

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph. D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Ho...

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph. D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Ho...

Wes Kanawyer is the Principal of Woodgate Intermediate School in Waco, TX. He has a passion for serving, developing and empowering educators to pursue their own growth as they seek to enrich and enhance the lives of their students. He believes that relationships with students, families and staff are the foundational component to every area of success. He has spent his career in service to students...

Dr. William Rhodes is the founding Principal of Robert & Felice Bryant Elementary School in the Katy Independent School District located outside of Houston, in Katy, Texas. Dr. Rhodes has served as a Principal in both a well-established school and a first-year school; both requiring the development and fostering of school culture. Dr. Rhodes has experience in various levels of public education ran...

We talk to Julie about her new role as an Implementation Specialist at CharacterStrong. Julie shares about the work she is doing focused on implementation, why the CharacterStrong implementation roadmap is so important for schools, and specific ways that CharacterStrong is supporting schools in her home state of Texas.

The Glenwood Team: Betty Ross - School Counselor - 25 years at Glenwood Elementary (3rd and 4th grade Teacher, Enrichment Teacher, Gifted Educator and school counselor last 11 years) Previously taught in South Carolina for 3 years and served as a school counselor for 8 years. Cassie Kelley - 5th grade teacher - 9 years teaching in North Carolina Carrie - Franklin 1st grade teacher - 19 years teach...

Rhonda Henderson is completing her 40th year as an educator. During that time, she has taught grades 1-8 in both public and private school settings, served as an Instructional Coordinator, Assistant Principal and Principal. Currently, she is the principal at Tom Wilson Elementary in Katy ISD in Texas. She is the mother of two adult children and has been married to her husband, Rex, for ....a long...

Having grown up amidst many challenges, his daily purpose is to inspire and motivate both students and staff by being a living testament that perseverance and determination can lead to success. But, this only happens with the right support network. Frank Arce will share with us some of his struggles and obstacles in life that made just getting through high school hard enough. He considers it mirac...

James Woods has his masters in counseling, and is a registered yoga teacher. As president of FEEL FREE 2 FEEL FREE a health and wellness organization that provides programs and services for youth and adults who serve them, he, trains and holds workshops on self care, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Timmy Tut is the first book from James that fulfills his passion of sharing wellness tools throug...

We talk with Assistant Principal Kim Hawkins, Shawn Simpson, Lindsey Ostrom, & Jacki Friedholm from Woodgate Intermediate School in Midway ISD about the ways that they work to focus on SEL in everything that they do.

Kate grew up in Missouri and attended William Jewell College, where I earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She went on to earn her Master's degree in School Counseling at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Kate currently resides in Oregon, where her partner, their dog Atlas, and Kate spend as much time as possible hiking and walking our neighborhood. She has worked at all levels of educatio...

We talk with CharacterStrong team member Riley Bruil about how social emotional learning at his high school impacted him as a leader & college athlete, and he shares about how standing at a door changed his senior year.

Dr. Renee Carr is originally from the west coast, from Vallejo, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area and from Silverdale, WA in the Kitsap Peninsula across from Seattle. Even though she has been in the DC area, on the Virginia side for the last 10 years, she has not left behind her west coast roots. Dr. Renee Carr, EdD has been working in education and related programmatic work since 2007. She is mult...

Dr. Smith is the Director of Research at CharacterStrong. He has extensive experience providing mental health services to children and youth and has worked in schools as a school counselor, school social worker, and substance abuse counselor. Since receiving his PhD from the University of Washington he has spent over a decade translating research into effective Social Emotional Learning programs....

Kris has been teaching for 39 years, all in Early Childhood. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with a dual major in Elementary and Early Childhood Education (a pilot program at the time) and a minor in music education. Kris has taught in the states of Nebraska, California, Missouri, and most recently, Kansas. Kris received her MaEd from Baker University. Kris currently teaches...

Born and raised in Spokane, WA, Chelsea Gallagher has known since the third grade that education was her calling, except for that short stint where she wanted to be a professional ghostbuster. She graduated from Eastern Washington University with her bachelor's degree, is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in English Language Arts, and holds two Master's degrees from Grand Canyon University. Ove...