The CharacterStrong Podcast

Kelly has been in education for the last 16 years. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Portland, majoring in Political Science and got her Masters in Teaching through Concordia University. Kelly began her career teaching pre-school in Ireland. When she moved back to the states, she began teaching Kindergarten and has taught pre-K through 3rd grade. Kelly spent the last two years before becoming a principal working as a Student Success Specialist, coaching teachers and students on creating systems of support for students with challenging behaviors in the general education environment. Kelly is currently in her second year as an administrator, serving as the Principal at Lincoln Elementary in the Grants Pass School District.

On this episode Megan dives into using an implementation framework, and how implementation is a process. She talks about 2 steps of implementation: pre-implementation & active implementation, and shares important elements of each step.

In part 3 of this series on implementation, Megan shares why we need to focus on continuous improvement in our implementation process. She also gives some practical ways that we can get feedback as we move forward on the path of implementation.

CharacterStrong Director of Implementation Megan Gruis talks about the importance of creating a strong implementation team, and the components of successful teaming. Megan also shares about the need for having effective practices that work.

Darrell Marks is a single parent of two sons and a daughter, and is an indigenous Dine'/Navajo. Darrell is am White Corn Zuni Edgewater born for those going home, and his maternal grandparents are Red House and paternal grandparents are Salt. He is originally from the community of Tonalea which is northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. Darrell serves as the academic advisor for Native American students here at Flagstaff High School. He is an advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples and people of the global majority. Darrell works to meet the unmet needs of the Navajo and Hopi tribal communities, and also works to advocate for the environment and protection of sacred sites.

Today our guest is Kat Pastor, Kat was the 2016 ASCA National School Counselor of the Year, and is now the Director of School Supports at CharacterStrong. We talk with Kat about the Educator Listening Sessions that CharacterStrong is hosting, she shares some of the insights that came out of these sessions, and she talks about ways that we can best support the students, staff and families that we serve.

Danielle Yepa Gunderson is a Citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma and from Jemez and Laguna pueblo in New Mexico. A proud wife of twenty-one years and a mother of two beautiful & intelligent teenage daughters. She is the Associate Director of College Counseling and Director of Native American Studies at Sandia Preparatory School (Sandia Prep) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and Master of Arts in Counseling at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She is working on her Doctoral degree at The University of New Mexico in the Native American Education in Leadership (NALE) Cohort. She serves as the Primary Contact Coordinator/Local Chair on the Rocky Mountain Association of College Admissions (RMACAC) New Mexico College Fair at Albuquerque Committee, served as the Secretary on the RMACAC Executive Board and on a College Advisory Board for a highly selective university, along with volunteering for College Horizons Summer Program as a faculty member for the past ten years. She oversees the Native American Studies program, is a faculty sponsor of the Native American Sandia Prep Alliance (NASPA) at Sandia Prep. She also serves as one of the co-leaders for the Native Indigenous Peoples Special Interest Group through NACAC and is the RMACAC Tribal Institution Relations Chair. Danielle holds a strong commitment to working and bridging tribal communities and students with post-secondary opportunities through college counseling and volunteer opportunities. Supporting efforts to serve Native American and Indigenous peoples in secondary and postsecondary institutions is her focus. She speaks from personal experience on identifying and taking ownership of her Native American heritage has become a significant component of who she is as an individual and professional. She led pre-conference and conference sessions with a panel of Native American and Non-Native professionals on how best to support Native American students, led a session about Indigenous land acknowledgement at a national conference, and participated in other sessions as a panelist. Her passion lies in guiding students and parents through the college admission process and educating others on effectively supporting diverse, Native American, and Indigenous students. Resources that Danielle shared: Decolonizing Methodologies Research and Indigenous Peoples - Linda Tuhiwai Smith Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education - Heather J. Shotton, Shelly C. Lowe, and Stephanie J. Waterman Standing Together: American Indian Education as Culturally Responsive Pedagogy - B.J. Klug Reclaiming Indigenous Research in Higher Education - Robin Starr Minthorn & Heather J. Shotton Beyond Access: Indigenizing Programs for Native American Student Services - Stephanie J. Waterman, Shelly C. Lowe, and Heather J. Shotton

Dr. Lynn Kepp is the Vice President of Executive Communications and Project Management Office at AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), a nonprofit training 85,000 educators annually to close the opportunity gap and prepare students for college, careers and life. She has a Doctorate in Education from UC Riverside with a research focus on Teacher Development and has a Master's in Science Education from Cal State Fullerton. Lynn began her career with a decade of teaching and has since dedicated her work to supporting educators and students through education-driven nonprofits. Learn more about AVID: Avid.org

Today we have a special episode for you. It is the first episode of a new podcast called the Adult SEL Podcast by CharacterStrong where we focus on improving our personal well-being through research and practical strategies in order to better serve the people we care about. Instead of weekly episodes, each season will be a series that we drop all at once, bringing together experts in the field. We know that it is not just students who need social emotional learning, but also adults and we hope that this podcast will help anyone looking to grow as professionals and in their own personal relationships. We would love it if you would follow on Apple Podcast or subscribe on Spotify to be notified each time we drop a new episode. For quick access go to characterstrong.com/theadultselpodcast

Dr. Larberg has served over 30 years in public education, serving as a school counselor at every grade level and an adjunct instructor at college. Before public education, she started her career in psychiatric and community mental health. She has been serving in Sumner-Bonney Lake School District as a Whole Child administrator for the past few years. Larberg earned her doctorate from Grand Canyon University in Psychology with an emphasis in Cognition and Instruction. Currently she serves on School-Based Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention legislative subcommittee; Kids Mental Health PC Action Committee, and Pierce County Behavioral Health Advisory Board. Fun Fact: Larberg has been an avid skier at Crystal Mountain and only missed one ski season in the past 30 years.