The CharacterStrong Podcast

Ryan Healy who has taught for 13 years at Ridgeline Middle School in Yelm, WA. Ryan is the 2019 Capital Region ESD 113 Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for the 2019 Washington State Teacher of the Year. He was also honored with the Association of Washington Student Leaders Middle-Level Adviser of the Year Award in 2014. We talk with Ryan about the importance of being available for our students and he shares some intentional ways that we can make time for the students and staff at our schools.

Paul has spent the last 23 years as a classroom teacher. The last 21 of those years have been spent at Monrovia High School in beautiful Southern California, mostly as a social science teacher. In 2008 he became the Renaissance Coordinator. In 2018 Paul became the school's first Climate & Culture Coordinator, with responsibilities of Renaissance Coordinator, Activities Director and Link Crew Coordinator. In 2012 he was chosen as the Monrovia Unified Teacher of the Year. In 2013 Jostens Renaissance recognized Paul as a National Coordinator of the Year and last summer he was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame. Paul and his wife Lisa and I have 2 fantastic kids, Steven who just finished is junior year at Point Loma Nazarene University and Kaitlyn, who will be starting her freshman year at UC San Diego in September. We talk with Paul about one unique and intentional way that they recognize seniors at Monrovia High School and he shares about Monrovia's school-wide night of recognition and the impact that it has had in the lives of both students and teachers.

As the professional development leader in Wyoming's largest high school, Amy Rose serves as an assistant principal willing to make changes and challenge the high school norm. Focused on literacy intervention, accountability, and graduation data, Amy has challenged Kelly Walsh High School to "do hard things." Recently, Amy has paired with Gear Up Wyoming to challenge leaders to think differently about the impact of leadership and literacy in a secondary setting. In her 20th year in education, Amy holds a certificate of School Principalship from the University of Wyoming, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Grand Canyon University, and a BS in Education, 7-12 English Language Arts and Physical Education from Chadron State College in Chadron, NE. We talk with Amy about the 4 pillars at Kelly Walsh HS: excellence in academics, athletics, activities, & acceptance, and she shares ways Kelly Walsh makes time to be intentional about acceptance.

Marc Gallaway who is the Principal of Selah Middle School in Washington State and has been in the same district for 21 years. He was the 2018 Washington State Middle-Level Principal of the Year and is a force for change in his state and beyond. We talk with Marc about the intentional things that his school is doing to help get new 6th grade students started academically and he talks about different strategies that have helped set 6th graders on a great path at the beginning of the school year.

John & Houston have some fun and talk about the first thing that comes to mind on different School Culture & Climate topics. Topic: Social Media

During her almost 40 years of working with student activities, Terry has coached a cheer team, advised NHS and student council, and served as an Activities Coordinator. She has been a co-director of a National Leadership Camp, a leadership consultant and curriculum coordinator for the Texas Association of Activities, and been presented with the Earl Reum award. She is currently vice-president of the National Association of Student Council Executive Directors and the Director of the Texas Association of Student Councils. We talk with Terry about why it is important to invest time, energy, and resources into student councils/leadership & what schools can do successfully to create a great student council program.

CharacterStrong co-founders John & Houston have some fun and talk about the first thing that comes to mind on different School Culture & Climate topics. Topics: Inclusion, favorite ideas to recognize people in unique ways,

We sit down with student leaders Jenna, Gibby, and Cheney, at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals State Conference. They chat about student perspective on what should be focused on in education today, and also share what they are grateful for.

Coach Don Bartel has been a teacher and coach in Washington state for 22 years. He has coached and/or taught at the middle school, high school, and collegiate level. He has served as a head coach at three different high schools for a combined 15 years; and has been the head football coach, leadership teacher, ASB advisor, and activities coordinator at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Washington for the past six years. We talk with Coach Bartel about how their school branding campaign, "Wolf Strong, Pack Strong" has patiently come about and gives some practical tips on how they have kept the campaign fresh for the students and staff at Eastlake.

Roman is a HS ELA Teacher in Rockland, Ontario, Canada. An educator for 15 years, Roman is passionate about student success, school transformation and building HOPE in schools through authentic learning experiences. Husband, father to two beautiful daughters, educational leader Roman collaborates with educators from across the world to spread kindness, to build impact globally and to tear down the four traditional walls of a school. We talk with Roman about how we can give more voice, choice, and ownership of the learning to our students. He shares about the independent research project he designed where the goal only was to make a difference.