The CharacterStrong Podcast

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporations, conferences, and clinics - including USA Football and two Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony speeches. We talk with Scott about the second part in the Attitude Games: the Confidence Game, and look at what really breeds confidence in us and in our students and in the teams that we coach.

Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporations, conferences, and clinics - including USA Football and two Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony speeches. We talk with Scott about the importance of attitude, as we focus on character in athletics, and we dive in to the first part of the Attitude Games: the Comparison Game.

Coach Scott Westering is the son of Hall of Fame Coach Frosty Westering. He had the privilege of coaching with and being mentored by his father for 23 years as an assistant at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Scott was the Head Coach at PLU for 14 seasons, taking over the position from his father who retired after 32 years. Over the last 20+ years Scott has been a highly sought after speaker, having presented to hundreds of teams, coaches, and athletes. His talks have spanned corporations, conferences, and clinics - including USA Football and two Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony speeches.

Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about the impact of empowering students to solve problems, be creative, and take ownership, and how it has created a positive culture at his school.

Kim Karr spent 13 years as a middle school teacher prior to dedicating her talents to #ICANHELP on a full-time basis. Since that time, #ICANHELP has spoken to more than 400,000 students in the United States and Canada. Kim has inspired thousands of people to join the #ICANHELP movement to choose a more positive life both on and offline. Her enthusiasm for life is irresistible and infectious for both students and adults.We talk with Kim about the social media landscape that both students and adults are facing today and Kim talks about some ways that we can be proactive with positivity online.

Dr. Shepard is the Superintendent of the Orting School District. She has been an educator for over 20 years. Dr. Shepard is also a recognized leader in education, presenting at national and state conferences, serving on state boards and committees, and teaching for the Educational Leadership program at Western Washington University. We talk with Dr. Sheppard about the changes that they have made in her district to better align what they do with their overarching goal of preparing each student in the Orting School District for College, Careers, and Life.

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 IB 20th Century Topics and Theory of Knowledge to 9-12th graders at Sumner High School. We talk with Bryan about how he uses a weekly temperature check to get a pulse on how his students are doing. Bryan shares how this low burden, high impact strategy has influenced his teaching practice and helped him connect relationally with his students while also infusing social emotional learning like empathy throughout his classes.

Coley Veitenhans who is a National Board Certified Teacher at Thomas Jefferson HS where he teaches 6 sections of leadership, coordinates a student mentorship program, and serves as the student activities advisor. We talk with Coley about how he evaluates leadership at Thomas Jefferson through the lens of the power of different moments during the school year.

Barbara Gruener enjoyed the gift of growing alongside learners from Pre-K through High School for 34 years, first as a Spanish teacher and then as a school counselor. She is the author of The Corner on Character blog and the book What's Under Your Cape? Her newest passions include hosting her Character Speaks podcast, being a Character Strong teammate, and serving as a mentor and coach. We talk with Barbara about the launch of PurposeFull People, CharacterStrong's new K-5 Character Toolkit coming in the Fall of 2019.

Dr. Christopher M. Clayton serves as a Director of Education Services for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. He is responsible for providing support to over 180,000 educator members on issues involving assessment, teacher certification, student achievement, pedagogical best practices, and research in teaching and learning. He earned a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education and Ed. S. in Education Leadership, Administration, & Policy at The University of Georgia along with a Master's Degree in Curriculum & Instruction from Regis University in Denver, CO. He is a National Board Certified Teacher (2008, 2018) who, prior to starting with PSEA, served as a high school English and I.B. Theory of Knowledge teacher and coach for over ten years in Southern California and Washington state before becoming a district administrator and Director of Curriculum & Instruction in a large metro-Atlanta school district with 138 schools and over 100,000 students. He moved to Hershey to begin his role with PSEA in 2014 and happily resides there with his wife, two daughters (20 & 25), son (12), and granddaughter (7). We talk with Dr. Chris Clayton about how social emotional learning is not separate from academics. Learn how fostering a growth mindset can be integrated into the daily fabric of all academic content areas as a foundational element for all learning to occur.