The CharacterStrong Podcast

Today our guest is Elli McDaniel, Principal at Maple Lawn Elementary. We talk with Elli about the importance of student leadership. Eli shares about the student servant leadership program that she started as a teacher and now implements as the principal at Maple Lawn. She emphasizes that servant leadership starts with building staff, and provides practical ways that they have intentionally impleme...

Today our guest is Dr. Lyndsey Brown a School Counselor Educator & School Counseling Program Coordinator at Wichita State University. We talk with Dr. Brown about why it is essential for school counselors and staff to connect with students. She shares practical ways that all educators can create meaningful connections with students, show authentic interest, and celebrate successes with them. Dr. B...

Today our guest is Dr. Tonya Clarke, Mathematics Coordinator in the Division of Teaching and Learning and Strategic Improvement at Clayton County Public Schools. We talk with Dr. Clarke about the crucial role of supporting teachers as they implement culturally responsive and sustaining mathematics practices. She explains how her team is providing onsite job-embedded professional development to hel...

Today our guest is Antonio McMath, the Founder, T4E: Trans4ormed Extreme Leadership. We talked to Antonio about the B.E.S.T. model that T4E has created to help build up young men in our communities. He explained that the B.E.S.T. model stands for Build, Empower, Strengthen, and Transform, and it is designed to help young men understand what it means to be the best version of themselves. Antonio em...

Today our guest is Cyndi Tercero-Sandoval the Family and Community Engagement Manager at the Phoenix Union High School District. We talk with Cyndi about Participatory Budgeting, a way to empower students and give them a voice in how the budget is spent. Cyndi explained the intentional process that Phoenix Union has undertaken to implement participatory budgeting, which has started to increase stu...

Today our guest is Ryan Marshall, School Counselor at South Salem High School and the 2023 Oregon School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Ryan about student driven suicide prevention and how they have worked to add student input and voice in supporting student mental health. He shares how this work started with one student, and how as they gathered information across the district they heard from...

Today our guest is Dr. Sandi Logan-McKibben School Counseling Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor at Sacred Heart University. We talk to Dr. Logan-McKibben about the importance of being a data-driven school counselor and how we can embrace the data to help us more effectively support students and families. She shares 3 ways that we can put a focus on data and reminds us that even tho...

Today, our guest is Morgan Larche, the Director of Unified Schools at Special Olympics Washington. We talk to Morgan about Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools and the incredible work that these schools do by focusing on three connected components: Unified sports, whole school engagement, and inclusive youth leadership. Morgan explains how these strategies are more of a mindset than a program...

Today our guest is Dwight Carter the Director of Student Support Systems at Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools. We talk to Dwight about the importance of knowing and operating within your character strengths. He shares about the need to understanding the strengths that we bring to the table and talks about a free tool that we can use to help us to aware of our own strengths. Dwight also...

Today, our guest is Dr. Clay Cook, the Chief Development Officer at CharacterStrong. In this episode, we discuss CharacterStrong's new Tier 2 Solution, launching this spring. Dr. Cook shares his insights on the resources, tools, and interventions that come with CS Tier 2. He also talks about the included professional learning support that will help educators improve continuously over time. Additio...

Today our guest is Meredith Lee, Director of Professional Learning at CharacterStrong. We talk to Meredith about how to effectively engage staff and maintain our commitment to Social and Emotional Learning in our classrooms. She reminds us of the importance of reminding staff of their purpose and not just staying there, but quickly transitioning to the "how". Meredith outlines the 3W Check-in, a t...

Today our guest is Dr. Alvia Baldwin the Director of Guidance and Counseling in Alief ISD in Texas. We talk to Dr. Baldwin about how to increase staff and Admin buy-in in our schools and districts. She talks about the different ways that they have put a focus on character education across the district at Alief, not just with the students but also with the staff. Dr. Baldwin shares how having fun h...

Today, our guest is Dr. Clay Cook, the Chief Development Officer at CharacterStrong. We speak with Clay about why Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports should run concurrently instead of waiting for Tier 1 to be fully in place before starting Tier 2. He identifies some of the necessary components for this approach and discusses the differences between Tier 1 and Tier 2. Clay also emphasizes the time required...

Today our guest is Sharon Bradley, Founder and Principal Consultant of Restorative Flow Educational Solutions. We talk to Sharon about the need to create schools where kids want to be vs have to be, and how we can leverage SEL to do this. She reminds us of the collective responsibility that we all share to help create this healthy school culture, and shares some practical ways that we can proactiv...

Today our guest is Meredith Lee, Director of Professional Learning at CharacterStrong. On this episode we discuss with Meredith the importance of community agreements, what they are, and how we can use them with staff and students. She emphasizes the need for co-creation when creating community agreements and shares a four-step process to help us be successful in setting them up. Meredith also hig...

Today, our guest is Dr. Clay Cook, the Chief Development Officer at CharacterStrong. We discuss some of the common roadblocks that make Tier 2 work more challenging. Clay shares the two most important steps a school can take to ensure successful Tier 2 implementation: having a strong leadership team and having a coordinated problem-solving process. He also explains what it takes to match students...

Today, we welcome Elizabeth Congdon-McGee, the 2021 Alaska School Counselor of the Year and a professional school counselor for the Anchorage School District. Elizabeth talks about how she and the principal of her school have collaborated, and how investing in relationships and using data has made a difference in their work. She also provides insight into how school counselors can advocate for the...

Today, our guest is Zulema Fragoso, school counselor at Nogales High School and the 2023 Arizona School Counselor of the Year. We chat with Zulema about how she began her career in school counseling and what has kept her motivated for the past 16 years while she works with students and families. She explains how she collaborates with other staff and advocates for the role of school counselors. Add...

Today, our guest is Deirdra Hawkes, the Director of Programs and Advocacy at ASCA. We discuss the significance of taking a break to recognize the efforts of school counselors both during NSCW, and also regularly during the year. Deirdra also emphasizes the importance of teachers and staff as we work together to help students, and encourages us to have conversations about what is beneficial for stu...

Today, we are joined by Kat Pastor, the Executive Director of School Supports at CharacterStrong, and Cory Notestine, the Director of Continuous Improvement at CharacterStrong, from Washington D.C. to kick off National School Counseling Week. They discuss the past, present, and future of school counseling, as well as the changes that have taken place and what keeps them passionate about school cou...

Today our guests are Katrina Hill, Caleb Amstutz, & Melanie Fox from Community School in Roanoke, Virginia We talk to Katrina, Caleb, and Melanie about the advisory program at Community School which was recently recognized as an inaugural AMLE School of Distinction in 2022. They share about multiage groupings, multiyear relationships, the value of traditions, and the impact that these have had in...

Today our guest is Lisa Koenecke. We talk to Lisa about how safety includes both physical and psychological safe spaces. Lisa reminds us that we can each make a difference in the lives of students by being intentional and planning ahead. Lisa also shares how this doesn't have to take a lot of time, and how sometimes all it takes is looking at education thru a new lens.   As an experienced and ener...

Today our guests are Amber Benson & Ruby Voss, better know as BensonVoss. We talk to BensonVoss about the role that Positive Relationships & Data-Based Decisions play in Student Growth. They share how they work to build positive relationships from day one of the school year, and the positive impact that this has in their classroom. BensonVoss also talk about how they have intentionally done more w...

Today our guest is Amber Dixon.  We talk to Amber about some different ways that school counselors can FOCUS on counseling this school year. She shares how she has helped encourage counselors to fill their buckets, own their personal and professional skills, create a safe environment, understand their campus and community, and stay connected to the system that they work in. Amber Dixon has served...

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...