The CharacterStrong Podcast

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.

Wes Kanawyer is the Principal of Woodgate Intermediate School in Waco, TX. He has a passion for serving, developing and empowering educators to pursue their own growth as they seek to enrich and enhance the lives of their students. He believes that relationships with students, families and staff are the foundational component to every area of success. He has spent his career in service to students and staff at a Title 1 District, where he taught history and coordinated an After School Program targeting at-risk youth. He then transitioned into full-time administration at a high-performing CA Charter School before relocating with his wonderful wife and three children to Central Texas, where he works with amazing educators at Midway ISD.

Dr. William Rhodes is the founding Principal of Robert & Felice Bryant Elementary School in the Katy Independent School District located outside of Houston, in Katy, Texas. Dr. Rhodes has served as a Principal in both a well-established school and a first-year school; both requiring the development and fostering of school culture. Dr. Rhodes has experience in various levels of public education ranging from Georgia to California to Texas as a Substitute, K-8 Teacher, Assistant Principal, District Human Resource Coordinator, and Principal. Through his experience working with educators he believes campus culture is a determining factor in teacher retention, parent engagement, and student success. Dr. Rhodes is a graduate of Berry College in Rome, GA with a B.S. in Middle Grades Education and the University of Houston- Clear Lake with an M.S. in Educational Management and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. Mrs. Penny Flores has worked in education for 15 years as an elementary teacher and school counselor. She is currently the school counselor at Bryant Elementary. She is a graduate of University of Houston-Victoria with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary studies as well as a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, Reading, and School Counseline. She is an Advanced Trauma-Informed Certified Counselor. She is currently pursuing her Ed. D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on the impact of SEL. She is happily married and the mother of three wonderful daughters at very different stages of life: a twenty-year old sophmore in college, a fifteen-year old learning to drive, and an eight-year old in second grade.

We talk to Julie about her new role as an Implementation Specialist at CharacterStrong. Julie shares about the work she is doing focused on implementation, why the CharacterStrong implementation roadmap is so important for schools, and specific ways that CharacterStrong is supporting schools in her home state of Texas.

The Glenwood Team: Betty Ross - School Counselor - 25 years at Glenwood Elementary (3rd and 4th grade Teacher, Enrichment Teacher, Gifted Educator and school counselor last 11 years) Previously taught in South Carolina for 3 years and served as a school counselor for 8 years. Cassie Kelley - 5th grade teacher - 9 years teaching in North Carolina Carrie - Franklin 1st grade teacher - 19 years teaching at Glenwood Elementary Patricia LaFountain 10 years- Elementary Teaching Assistant at Glenwood

Rhonda Henderson is completing her 40th year as an educator. During that time, she has taught grades 1-8 in both public and private school settings, served as an Instructional Coordinator, Assistant Principal and Principal. Currently, she is the principal at Tom Wilson Elementary in Katy ISD in Texas. She is the mother of two adult children and has been married to her husband, Rex, for ....a long time!!!! Her hobbies include reading, working out and gardening. She believes that we need to be self aware as individuals and as educators to enjoy life fully, so a lot of her reading and learning is centered on learning about personality and self-awareness.

Having grown up amidst many challenges, his daily purpose is to inspire and motivate both students and staff by being a living testament that perseverance and determination can lead to success. But, this only happens with the right support network. Frank Arce will share with us some of his struggles and obstacles in life that made just getting through high school hard enough. He considers it miraculous that we has been able to achieve much more beyond that, but has never forgotten the many lessons learned from those struggles and challenges. Frank currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Development for the Temecula Valley Unified School District in California. In our centuries old educational system, students with stories similar to that of our next guest fall through the cracks. That's where the work of educators comes in. That's why it's important to him to speak to us today about the critical role that we all play in helping students achieve - "Against All Odds".

James Woods has his masters in counseling, and is a registered yoga teacher. As president of FEEL FREE 2 FEEL FREE a health and wellness organization that provides programs and services for youth and adults who serve them, he, trains and holds workshops on self care, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Timmy Tut is the first book from James that fulfills his passion of sharing wellness tools through a literary experience to better serve the youth. James is also the founder of Million Man Meditation a wellness resource event featuring all Black men. Website: https://www.datyogadude.com

We talk with Assistant Principal Kim Hawkins, Shawn Simpson, Lindsey Ostrom, & Jacki Friedholm from Woodgate Intermediate School in Midway ISD about the ways that they work to focus on SEL in everything that they do.