The CharacterStrong Podcast

Kirsten Perry is a Social-Emotional Learning Specialist for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) serving 27 schools in the Englewood and Auburn-Gresham neighborhoods. Kirsten also served as the President for the Illinois School Counselor Association (ISCA) during school years 2019-2021. Prior to this, she served as a K-12 School Counseling Specialist for the Chicago Public Schools for 2 years and as a P-8 school counselor for 7 years. Kirsten was named the National School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) in 2018 for her work at Lawndale Community Academy.

Daniel has been in education for 18 years. He taught in both private and public schools as a middle and high school English Language Arts teacher. For the last two years he has been the Professional Learning Coordinator for the Student Services Department in the Racine Unified School District. Addtionally, he presents CharacterStrong, tutors students with dyslexia, attends grad school, teaches fitness classes, and adores his wife and son. He decided to become an eductor because he wanted students to feel encouraged and uplifted in school.

Royce Bryan has been in education ever since graduation from Bemidji State University in 2003. He's taught in multiple states in the Midwest at multiple levels: middle school, high school, and higher education. Royce believes whole heartedly that life is all about being good at relationship and a good relationship is at the heart of wholistic education.

Kaia St. John graduating high school in 2020 and spent her freshman year of college at Washington State University. Throughout high school, she was highly involved in ASB through which she gained a love of servant leadership and SEL. She also has a year of experience tutoring middle school students and leading afterschool activities through the 21st Century Grant program. As a current CharacterStrong summer intern, Kaia has loved learning the ins and outs of the company and her passion for SEL has grown. In her free time, Kaia enjoys spending time with family, listening to podcasts, and daydreaming about adopting a puppy in the near future.

We kick off SEASON 4 with CharacterStrong Co-founder Houston Kraft and talk about the importance of having a strong foundation as we face adversity, and the difference between mental health and mental illness. We also chat about AET vs TDI, and the impact that focusing on academic engaged time has in our classrooms.

Kwame Ambaah is a senior attending Sam Houston State University and majoring in International Business, where he serves as a student leader in multiple organizations and a College pastor at a ministry called Second College. He is driven by a passion to help people in any way he can. Throughout his life he has dedicated his time to leadership and service in every opportunity he can find and hopes to continue those efforts as long as he's on Earth and has breath!

Addy Esco is a native Texan but has made Alaska her home for the last 10 years. After completing her Bachelor's and Master's programs in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin she relocated to Wrangell, Alaska. Addy's life was forever changed as a teenager by a few people willing to invest in relationships, so this work is her passion. After working in clinical mental health as an LCSW for 7.5 years Addy completed a school counselor certification program and transitioned full time into the school setting to work with students. She just completed my 2nd year as Wrangell Public School's K-12 school counselor. Over the last 2 years, Addy was fortunate enough to partner with a group of passionate teens who were ready to make a difference in their school. BASE (Building A Supportive Environment) is a student leadership group started by a group of students who weren't satisfied with the adult's solutions to the needs they saw. Their goal is to create an environment where all students and staff feel more welcomed and supported.

HealthCorps President and CEO Amy Braun brings a passion for education, a background in marketing and a belief in wellness to the organization. Amy began her career as a fifth-grade teacher in New York City, where she taught math and reading, and developed the grade-wide literacy curriculum that led to significant performance gains at her school. After stints at Teach for America and Harlem Village Academies, Amy joined the global marketing team at Mattel, Inc. While at Mattel, Inc she developed global campaigns and marketing strategies to revolutionize play through speech recognition and interactive gaming in an effort to innovate the 60-year-old household brand, Barbie. Following her work at Mattel, she served as the head of U.S. marketing and communications for Pai Technology where she led the company's and communications initiatives for its augmented reality products and smart devices, including Botzees, a robotics kit that teaches PreK-6 grade students coding fundamentals. Amy is a graduate from the University of Chicago. She holds a Master's of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management with a focus in marketing, and a Master's in Education from Pace University in New York. Amy and her husband live in Los Angeles where they spend as much time as possible with their rescue dog, Sadie. To stay mentally and physically fit, Amy enjoys travel, Pilates and hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph.D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Hospital in their inpatient psychiatric unit. Additionally, Bella has been a school counselor in the Seattle Public Schools as well as a Counselor and Behavior Specialist in the Edmonds School District. Bella is also a part of Brooks Powers Group, an Educational and Psychological Assessment team in the Seattle area as well as Sound Supports, an educational consulting company focused on building systems through a 3-tired model—Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Bella has extensive knowledge working with school teams and districts in helping to create systemic change using the Multi-Tiered Systems approach capitalizing on evidenced-based interventions such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Practices, Mental Health integration into the school systems, and Function-Based Assessments and interventions.

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph.D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Hospital in their inpatient psychiatric unit. Additionally, Bella has been a school counselor in the Seattle Public Schools as well as a Counselor and Behavior Specialist in the Edmonds School District. Bella is also a part of Brooks Powers Group, an Educational and Psychological Assessment team in the Seattle area as well as Sound Supports, an educational consulting company focused on building systems through a 3-tired model—Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Bella has extensive knowledge working with school teams and districts in helping to create systemic change using the Multi-Tiered Systems approach capitalizing on evidenced-based interventions such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Practices, Mental Health integration into the school systems, and Function-Based Assessments and interventions.