The CharacterStrong Podcast

Nationally-recognized speaker, counselor, and author Barbara Gruener thrives on positively influencing character change, passionately helping people create caring connections, and intentionally improving school climate and culture. Her innovative, inspirational ideas are sparked by her 37 years in education growing alongside learners from every age and stage and helping them to find their purpose...

Nikolete Nikravan went to UHCL, graduated with her BA in Math and her 7-12 Math Certification in May of 2019. She won New Teacher of The Year for Santa Fe High School last school year, and was featured on the news for delivering gift bags to all 97 of her students during covid/distance learning. Currently, Nikolete is a math teacher at Santa Fe HS, coaches girls basketball, and is in school to get...

Felisha Fields is a Mississippi native & she graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is in her 11th year in education and her 2nd year in Crowley ISD. Felisha has spent 9 years as an ELAR teacher and was featured on NBC 5's Carter in the Classroom. She is an advocate for Positivity inside and outside the classroom, Optimism in learning, Student and Colleague Mentorship, and prom...

CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin reminds us that sometimes when things get difficult the first thing we can forget is our purpose, he talks about the difference between happiness and purpose, and he shares about the 4 different levels of happiness.

Today we kick off a new series highlighting EduHeroes! We know that there are education heroes in every building in every district, and we want to help put a spotlight on who they are & the amazing things that they do. Today we talk with Melissa Purswell, a middle school teacher at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston, Oregon.

Tracy Kelly has ten years teaching Special Education in California. He has taught all grades K-12, as well as being a Lecturer, both Adjunct and Full Time, at University level. He taught those that were inspired to be General Education and Special Education Teachers. He earned an BA in Economics, MA in Special Education, and his Ed. D. in candidacy status in Educational Leadership. He has edited s...

We talk with Principal Marcia Stephens, Instructional Coach Kacy Russell, & 4th Grade Teacher Sydni Edwards from Airport Road Intermediate School about their participation in Rock Your School, the culture of outside the box thinking that this event helped create, and the positive impact that it has had with students.

Amy Campbell was the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year. After earning her Master in Teaching, Amy realized her deep passion for supporting students with unique learning needs and returned to school for an endorsement in special education. She has been teaching at Helen Baller Elementary School for 12 years. In her position as a teacher of students with significant learning challenges, she...

Dr. Byron McClure is a National Certified School Psychologist currently redesigning a high school in Southeast, D.C. His work centers around influencing systemic change and ensuring students from high-poverty communities has access to a quality education. Dr. McClure has extensive knowledge and expertise in mental health, social emotional learning, and behavior. Dr. McClure has done considerable w...

Mona Elleithee is the Founder and School Equity Strategist of Renewed Harmony, an organization committed to reigniting professional passion and retaining educators who serve students with challenging needs. The mission of Renewed Harmony is to build more just and equitable schools by cultivating authentic leaders, strengthening adult social and emotional learning, and nurturing culturally responsi...

Angelica Rodriguez | Spanish Language Arts Middle School Teacher | Highland Middle School in Bellevue, WA | Educator for Justice | Mental Health Advocate | Resource & Content Creator of Peromiss Educational Resources | Believer in Mindful & Intentional "Self-care" (not just on Sundays)

Sarah Casper is a Consent Educator and the founder of Comprehensive Consent. Her mission is to help parents and teachers develop consent skills in their kids and teens in the present, so they're prepared for their relationships in the future. With her background in psychology, mindfulness, and nine years of experience teaching social and coping skills to kids, Sarah pulls on evidence-based methods...

Dr. Randy Russell currently serves as the Freeman, WA School District Superintendent. During his nine years in Freeman, the Freeman School District has achieved a high school graduation rate exceeding 98%; developed a collaborative professional development system grades P-12; successfully completed a $35 million construction project including the renovation of Freeman High School and Elementary sc...

CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares some thoughts about the current conversations on toxic positivity, he digs into 3 parts of neutral thinking, and reminds us that we all can be mindful of the negative things that we say.

Mackenzie is a 3rd year kindergarten teacher who has a passion for early childhood education. She has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education. Teaching has always felt natural and her love for the classroom stems from her big family of teachers. When Mackenzie is not teaching, she enjoys reading and spending time with family in Lake Stevens,...

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...

"Coach" Victor Hicks is a computer science instructor at The Kindezi School at Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, GA. Coach Hicks has over 20 years experience in education with the last 6 years devoted to his passion ,combining computer science and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to provide a culturally relevant 21st century learning experience for his scholars. Coach Hicks' work is featured...

As seen on Schoology Exchange, District Administration, EdSurge, iNACOL, and TechEdge magazine, Will Deyamport, III, Ed. D. is an entrepreneurial educator who specializes in assisting educators in going digital. Dr. Will, as he is better known as, is a podcaster, writer, documentary filmmaker, and District Instructional Technologist for Hattiesburg Public School District. Dr. Will is the creator a...

We talk with Houston about his brand new book Deep Kindness, which comes out Tuesday, September 29th! He shares about why we need a different way to talk about kindness, and how going deep takes proactive work. To learn more and to order visit: https://deepkindness.com

Emily Rose is a school Counselor at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls, Wisconsin. Greenwood Elementary is a State and National School of Character. This is Emily's 6th year as a school counselor and she has been at her current position for 5 years. You can follow Emily on Instagram at: @coffeefueledcounselor

Mike Flynn is the director of Mathematics Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College. He runs the Master of Arts in Teaching Mathematics program and creates a wide variety of professional learning for educators looking to become leaders in mathematics education. Mike was one of the first educators to use Zoom back in 2013 to design interactive online learning experiences and has been perfecting...

As a former disengaged student himself, Jeromie grew up in low income and diverse communities where he has felt under-served in his own education. After years of hating school, and failing to see the relevance in education, he is now dedicated to keep any student from having a similar negative educational experience. Now a National Board Certified Teacher with 16 years of experience, Jeromie is an...

Fredricka Hunter has worked as an Elementary School Counselor for the last 6 years in Racine, WI. She is a woman with a heart of servanthood that stems from her love of Christ. She is the wife of her high school sweetheart of nearly 20 years; a mother to four daughters: two of whom she birthed and two whom were given to her as added blessings. She's a Nana to five beautiful little people who she l...

Welcome to SEASON 3! John & Houston reflect on what has been going on with CharacterStrong this past year, a few of the things that they are excited about, and they preview some of the things to look forward to in Season 3 of the podcast. 

Matthew Moyer is an elementary school principal with over 17 years of experience in administration, and over 23 years of experience in education. In addition to his job as principal, he is a Nationally Distinguished Principal, Pennsylvania Principal of the Year, Author, National Speaker, Adjunct Professor, and staff developer with Thom Stecher and Associates. Matt started his career as a 5th-grade...