The CharacterStrong Podcast

Robert Hand teaches at Mount Vernon High School. His subjects are Family and Consumer Sciences and Leadership. He is currently teaching Careers in Education - Recruiting Washington Teachers, Leadership, Nutrition, and Life After High School. Robert is the 2019 Washington State Teacher of the Year. We talk with Robert about what it means to be an authentic teacher, and he shares about how important...

Youth motivational speaker Scott Backovich has dedicated his life to doing one thing: inspiring teens through speaking at their level. He's been a featured speaker at conferences and schools across North America, appeared regularly on both television and radio as a teen help advocate, and established himself as a worldwide youth speaker that students can trust. His stories connect. His lessons ins...

  Youth motivational speaker Scott Backovich has dedicated his life to doing one thing: inspiring teens through speaking at their level. He's been a featured speaker at conferences and schools across North America, appeared regularly on both television and radio as a teen help advocate, and established himself as a worldwide youth speaker that students can trust. His stories connect. His lessons i...

Marc Gallaway who is the Principal of Selah Middle School in Washington State and has been in the same district for 21 years. He was the 2018 Washington State Middle-Level Principal of the Year and is a force for change in his state and beyond. We talk with Marc about the intentional things that his school is doing to help get new 6th grade students off to a great start as they begin middle school...

Don Bartel has been a teacher and coach in Washington state for 22 years. He has coached and/or taught at the middle school, high school, and collegiate level.  He has served as a head coach at three different high schools for a combined 15 years; and has been the head football coach, leadership teacher, ASB adviser, and activities coordinator at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Washington for t...

Dr. Jennifer Macaulay has a PhD in Organizational Psychology from the University of Washington. She has over 30 years experience coaching, teaching, researching and consulting in organizational and leadership effectiveness. Her clients have ranged from school districts to governmental agencies, Fortune 500 companies, hospitals, small start-ups and not-for profits. We talk with Dr. Macaulay on the...

Bryan Slater is an experienced classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years teaching high school Social Studies in Tacoma, WA, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sumner, WA. He currently teaches IB 20th Century Topics and Theory of Knowledge to 9-12th graders at Sumner High School. We talk with Bryan about the paradigm shift that he has had surrounding the strategy of, " It's Your Character Not Mine." He sh...

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington.  Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after s...

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after sp...

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington.  Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after s...

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington.  Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after s...

Coach Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought af...

Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about the impact of  empowering students to solve problems, be creative, and take ownership, and how it has created a positive culture at his school.

Kim Karr spent 13 years as a middle school teacher prior to dedicating her talents to #ICANHELP on a full-time basis.  Since that time, #ICANHELP has spoken to more than 400,000 students in the United States and Canada. Kim has inspired thousands of people to join the #ICANHELP movement to choose a more positive life both on and offline. Her enthusiasm for life is irresistible and infectious for b...

Dr. Shepard is the Superintendent of the Orting School District. She has been an educator for over 20 years. Dr. Shepard is also a recognized leader in education, presenting at national and state conferences, serving on state boards and committees, and teaching for the Educational Leadership program at Western Washington University. We talk with Dr. Sheppard about the changes that they have made i...

Bryan Slater is an experienced classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years teaching high school Social Studies in Tacoma, WA, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sumner, WA. He currently teaches IB 20th Century Topics and Theory of Knowledge to 9-12th graders at Sumner High School. We talk with Bryan about how he uses a weekly temperature check to get a pulse on how his students are doing. Bryan shares how...

Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about how he evaluates leadership at Thomas Jefferson through the lens of the power of different moments during the school year.  

Barbara Gruener enjoyed the gift of growing alongside learners from Pre-K through High School for  34 years, first as a Spanish teacher and then as a school counselor. She is the author of The Corner on Character blog and the book What's Under Your Cape? Her newest passions include hosting her Character Speaks podcast, being a Character Strong teammate, and serving as a mentor and coach. We talk w...

Dr. Christopher M. Clayton serves as a Director of Education Services for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. He is responsible for providing support to over 180,000 educator members on issues involving assessment, teacher certification, student achievement, pedagogical best practices, and research in teaching and learning. He earned a Ph. D. in Language and Literacy Education and Ed. S....

Brandon Bakke has spent the last 23 year in education, a career that has spanned five different high schools in two different states. He taught history, government and coached basketball for the first seven years before becoming an assistant principal for 15 years in Tacoma and Sumner WA. Brandon is currently in his first year as Principal of Fife High School in Washington State. We talk with Bran...

Lauren Ambeau is the principal at Brookside Intermediate in Clear Creek ISD, former elementary school principal, strong advocate for increasing SEL in secondary schools, and passionate about servant leadership. She was the Clear Creek ISD Secondary Principal of the year in 2016-2017 and shares her journey of school transformation in her blog titled  Vulnerable Leadership .   We talk with Lauren ab...

David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world?   We talk with David about how we all need to feel hope, meaning and purpose in what we are doing.  

David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about how character is more important than compliance. So many schools are so focused on compliance, we want students to learn to do the right...

David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about why non-academic "soft skills" are so important as they support the academic skills of students. David speaks on how these human-only tra...

David is the Principal of the Bolivar HS Liberators a Nat'l Blue Ribbon School in Bolivar Missouri. He is a Nat'l Digital Principal of the Year, a Speaker and Author of #FutureDriven - Will your students thrive in an unpredictable world? We talk with David about the roles that non-academic factors play in the future success of students. Change is happening so fast in today's world and it's importa...