Episode 70: Interview with Darrin Peppard

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations.

I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office.

Let’s get started.

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In this episode, I chat with Darrin Peppard an author, publisher, speaker, and consultant focused on what matters most in leadership and education. Darrin is an expert in school culture and climate as well as coaching and growing emerging leaders. He is the author of the best selling book Road to Awesome: Empower, Lead, Change the Game.

Darrin was named the 2015 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year, as was the 2016 Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year. Darrin was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame in 2019.

As a ‘recovering’ high school principal, Darrin shares lessons learned and effective strategies from over 25 years in public education to help leaders (both adults and students) to become more effective and positively impact the world around them.

During our conversation, we talked about … well … everything. We discussed the teacher shortage that seems to have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the realization of a different generation that maybe we do not need to push ourselves to utter exhaustion in order to be effective at our jobs, something our current system has not yet caught up with and is becoming less and less attractive to younger educators. We explored the need to shift our focus from catching and punishing the wrong to recognizing and celebrating the achievements. Darrin urges leaders to ask themselves to determine if they are investing their time in energy in actions aligned with their mission and vision or simply putting out fires.

Ready to hear two administrators have a candid conversation about education? Let’s go.

Connect with Darrin

Socials - @DarrinMPeppard

Website - https://roadtoawesome.net/

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