The CharacterStrong Podcast

On the day before Thanksgiving 2019, CharacterStrong Co-Founders Houston Kraft & John Norlin reflect on this past year and share a little bit about what they are grateful for, and also give a challenge that reminds us what this holiday is all about. To read the transcription of this episode please visit: https://buff.ly/2KO8zfF

Chuck Moss is in his 23rd year as a professional educator, all but 6 of those years have been at the middle school level. He currently serves as the principal at Dinwiddie Middle School in Dinwiddie County, Virginia and is the Middle School Representative on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Association or Elementary School Principals. Chuck started his career as an 8th grade civics and Engli...

Esteban Gast is Colombian, grew up in Puerto Rico and Illinois, and currently lives in LA. He toured as a comedian at the age of 23, taught creativity and design thinking at the college level, co-authored a book on creativity, and was President of a sustainability-focused institute in Panama. He is co-founder of Scriptd, a script database and story platform that elevates underrepresented creators....

We talk with Carla about how her district has put a focus on belonging, the importance if having these tough conversations, and some of the strategies and resources that have helped the staff in the Columbia district. Carla London is originally from Columbia, MO, but moved often as a child and got to experience the excitement of such diverse places as New Orleans, LA; Dallas and El Paso, TX; and S...

Happy World Kindness Day! John Norlin is a Co-Founder of CharacterStrong, a Servant Leadership trainer, and motivational speaker. He was Washington Advisor of the Year, taught 5 leadership classes per semester for 10 years at Sumner High School, and was a Program Administrator for the Whole Child for five years. Houston Kraft is a Co-Founder of CharacterStrong, a professional speaker, leadership c...

Nick Mann is a Veteran of The United States Marine Corps where he served 8 years as an Infantry Officer. Since moving on from the Marines, Nick has been working with individuals and groups to change their lives through health, fitness, and nutrition. Nick is the owner of Occoquan Bay Fitness in Woodbridge, VA, runs an after school fitness program at Fred Lynn Middle School, and is the founder of T...

Jeff Gerber is a Leadership teacher and Student Council Advisor at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, 5 minutes from his home in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. At Waterloo-Oxford he leads one of the largest and most impactful student leadership programs in the province of Ontario. He is passionate about servant leadership and character development and travels across North America speaking a...

Dr. Bill Ziegler is the principal at Pottsgrove High School in Pennsylvania. He has served as a school leader for twenty years at the middle and high school levels and is the co-author of a Corwin book, Future-Focused Leaders: Relate, Innovate, and Invigorate for Real Educational Change. Dr. Ziegler serves on the NASSP Board of Directors and the Apple Distinguished Schools Advisory Board. Dr. Zieg...

Dalton Lemert is a graduate of Purdue University and formerly worked as the Director of a nonprofit organization that aimed to make the world a better place, one act of random kindness at a time. Together, he and his team traveled more than 35,000 miles around the U.S. in their RV performing acts of kindness, ranging anywhere from buying coffee for a stranger, to throwing a senior citizen prom, to...

Todd Blake Finley, PhD, is a tenured Professor of English Education at East Carolina University and an assistant editor and blogger at Edutopia: George Lucas Education Foundation. He has taught elementary and 7-12th grade English and co-developed the Tar River Writing Project. Also, he was selected as one of the Top 12 Global Teacher Bloggers of 2014 and again in 2016 by Cathy Rubin for the Huffin...

Zachariah is the Next Generation Director at One Church in Columbus, Ohio. He is also a speaker, and writer for his company Heartbeat Strength which is inspired by his story of overcoming a life threatening heart condition. Heartbeat Strength helps students and professionals step into their potential by becoming "heart centered" so they can lead with more passion, purpose, and love. Prior to this,...

Todd Nesloney is the Director of Culture and Strategic Leadership for the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). He has also served as an award winning principal of a PreK-5th Grade campus of over 775 students in a rural town in Texas. He has been recognized by the White House, John C Maxwell, the Center for Digital Education, National School Board Association, the BAMMYS...

On this episode we learn from some of the team at Clear Brook High School. Dr. Michele Staley has been the principal at Clear Brook High School for the past 11 years. She has been in public education for 26 years, 21 of which have been as an administrator. Bridget Christmas is an Assistant Principal at Brook who currently oversees the BrookBound Program. She spent her career in education as a spec...

Barbara Gruener thrives on positively influencing change, passionately helping people create caring connections, and intentionally improving a school's climate and culture. Her innovative and inspirational ideas are sparked by 34 years as a Spanish teacher and school counselor growing alongside students from every age and stage, Pre-K through 12th grade. A connected educator, Barbara loves leading...

Molly Winters Diallo has spent the last 23 years in education, a career that has spanned three different schools. She currently teaches at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High in Miami, Florida. Molly serves as department chair for social sciences and her subjects include AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, and Honors U.S. History. She is also part of the school's Social Emotional Learning leaders...

Beth Houf is the proud principal of Fulton Middle School in central Missouri. She is the Co-Author of Lead Like a PIRATE: Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff. Beth also serves as a facilitator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Leadership Academy, providing monthly training to state educational leaders. She has spoken at many venues, including the Interna...

Marc Brackett, Ph. D., is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a Professor in the Child Study Center of Yale University. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by nearly 2,000 pre-K through high schools across the United States and in other countries. He also serves on the Board of D...

We talk with Meena about how we all need relationships to thrive, she shares some strategies that support relationships in the classrooms, and how important it is that we view the the adult work that we do through an empathetic lens. Meena Srinivasan is the Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL). Prior to this role, she spent five and a half years working in partnership...

Ashanti Branch works to change how students, especially young men of color, interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realize...

Rick Hess is a resident scholar and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he works on K–12 and higher education issues. He is the author of Education Week's blog "Rick Hess Straight Up" and is a regular contributor to Forbes and The Hill. Since 2001, he has also served as an executive editor of Education Next. His books include Letters to a Young Educ...

Zoie Breland is a Senior at Fife High School, in Fife, Washington, where she serves as the ASB president. She started a Special Olympics Unified Sports Program during her sophomore year at Fife High School, a program that has sparked the inclusion revolution within the Fife community. Fife is now being recognized by ESPN and Special Olympics as one of their top 5 National Banner Unified Schools. Z...

Samuel Karns is in his 12th year of education, and this school year marks his second year as an assistant principal of Landrum Middle School in Spring Branch ISD. Prior to this position, he served as the assistant director of student wellness in central office in Spring Branch ISD as well as serving as a Health and Physical Educator at the elementary level for several years. He continues to be a c...

For Ethan Zohn, winning CBS's SURVIVOR: Africa was the springboard to an exceptional young life of entrepreneurship, social purpose and advocacy. It was also the prelude to an incredible story, one of perseverance, accomplishment, and enduring spirit in the face of once unthinkable challenges. By sharing that story, Ethan inspires countless others around the globe. His message for young people, ac...

Allyson Apsey has been an educator for over twenty years; a school leader for fifteen of those years. She is so proud of her school district and the Zeeland, MI community, and she loves being the principal of Quincy Elementary. She is the author of a blog called Serendipity in Education, and of the book The Path to Serendipity and the picture book The Princes of Serendip. Her third book was releas...

Dr. Andy Jacks has a passion for the success of every single child ensuing that school is a place filled with meaningful relationships and support for even the most at-risk students. Andy is the principal of the award-winning Ashland Elementary School in Northern Virginia where they have skyrocketed student achievement and created a unique school culture that even brought the U.S. Secretary of Edu...