The CharacterStrong Podcast

Kelly has been in education for the last 15 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 and when she moved back to the states, she began teaching Kindergarten. 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 first year as an administrator, serving as the Principal at Lincoln Elementary in the Grants Pass School District where she has had the opportunity to lead an incredible staff through these challenging times.

Bryan Slater is an experienced classroom teacher and has spent the last 15 years teaching high school Social Studies in Tacoma, WA, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sumner, WA. He currently teaches at Sumner High School.

Michele Borba, Ed.D. is an internationally-recognized educator who has spoken to over one million parents and educators. She is recognized for her solution-based strategies on raising resilient kids, and has appeared over 150 times on the TODAY show and featured in New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Dateline. Her 24 books are translated in 20 languages and her latest (March 2021) is Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine. Web: micheleborba.com. Twitter @micheleborba. Instagram @drmicheleborba.

Houston talks to Isaac Hurtado & Mark Hugo from the Teenager Therapy Podcast about the role that the podcast plays in their lives, things that can prevent students from thinking about mental health at school, and they also share about the practical things that some of Isaac and Mark's teachers have done to put a focus on mental health.

Andrew Jordan Nance has been an educator since 1990. He is the author of four published books; The Barefoot King, The Lion in Me, Mindful Arts in the Classroom, and the bestseller, Puppy Mind. He also adapted Puppy Mind, into a series of five episodes that will show on KTVU and distributed to school districts around the country. He is the founder of Mindful Arts San Francisco; a program of the San Francisco Education Fund that provides volunteer mindfulness educators to teach in SF public schools. For almost thirty years he taught performing arts to students from diverse backgrounds, and for eighteen years he was the Conservatory Director at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center. Nance is also an award-winning actor and director. He is on the board of directors of several educational nonprofit organizations including Mindful Life Project in Richmond, California and San Francisco's New Conservatory Theater Center. He is the recipient of the Points of Light Award, a national honor recognizing his volunteer efforts to bring mindfulness to youth.

Founding President of YV Educational Resources Inc., Yaritza Villalba has eleven years of experience in education. She started her career teaching Social Studies to high school students in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. Throughout the years she has developed numerous curriculum materials and conducted a variety of professional developments. She is currently a lead teacher of an alternative high school in Bedford Stuyvesant, teaching over -aged and under- credited students history through a critical lens. Her overall mission, in education, is to provide teachers and students with an array of strategies and materials to assist them in the educational process through her non-profit 501(c)3.

Tyler Bastian is an educator, filmmaker, father and the founder of Roots Charter High School. Tyler loves to teach and has a passion for discovering and developing potential in everything around him. For four years Tyler taught Character Education at a local High School and believes positive character is the greatest indicator of success. In 2012 Tyler began to develop the concepts that have become Roots Charter High School. Roots Charter High School is Utah's first farm-based charter high school. Roots works with students that come from risky environments, helping them find and reach their potential. Learn more at www.rootshigh.org.

John talks with CharacterStrong Co-Founder Houston Kraft & Team Member Don Bartel about the recent CharacterStrong leadership conference, and the role and impact that student leadership has in school culture & climate.

John shares a powerful reminder of a teachers impact thru perseverance, a short reading from Jacob Riis, and he gives some encouragement as we live, teach & work during this season.

We celebrate our 200th episode! John and Houston look back at some good things in the midst of the hard over last 12 months, they look forward to what is needed in 2021 & share some hope.