Dr. Tim Elmore is the President of Growing Leaders, a nonprofit leadership training and development organization that equips students to be leaders in their classrooms, communities, and ultimately their careers.…
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Past Guests

Dr. Tim Elmore is the President of Growing Leaders, a nonprofit leadership training and development organization that equips students to be leaders in their classrooms, communities, and ultimately their careers.…
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Kris Murray is a business coach and marketing consultant exclusively for the early childhood industry. As President and Founder of Child Care Marketing Solutions, her mission is to make a…
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Chris Trieste has over 20 years of experience in K-12 education as a teacher, school administrator, athletic director, and coordinator of physical education. Over the past 10 years, Chris has…
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Matt Bardin taught high school and middle school in the New York City public schools in the early 1990s and was a founding director of Teach For America. He founded…
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Connie Hamilton has served as an elementary teacher, middle school ELA teacher, instructional coach, and principal at both the elementary and middle school levels. She now serves as the K-12…
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Naphtali Hoff has served in education as a teacher, associate principal, head of school, and is currently the president and executive coach of Impactful Coaching and Consulting, a company. Naphtali…
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Dr. Jeffrey Zoul is a lifelong teacher, learner, and leader, currently serving as Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning with Deerfield Public Schools District 109 in Deerfield, Illinois. Prior to…
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Toni Cameron has worked as a mathematics educator and writer for the past twenty years and is currently the Director of Professional Development at Metamorphosis Teaching Learning Communities. In this…
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Tom Hierck has been an educator since 1983 in a career that has spanned all grade levels and roles in public education. His experiences as a teacher, administrator, district leader,…
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Dr. Megan Slocum has worked as a teacher, principal, Superintendent, and is currently the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Springdale School District in Northwest Arkansas. She also…
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Chanie Wilschanski is an early childhood strategist and leadership coach. She works with Early Childhood directors to help them build schools that make a bigger impact through a collaborative culture,…
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Back for a second interview (check out episode 97 to hear his first interview), John Stevens is an Educational Technology Coach in Southern California, author of recently published book Table…
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Dr. Beth Russell has been in education for 28 years. Prior to entering the field of education, Beth was a social worker working with children on emotional and behavioral challenges…
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Ben Bruni is an Assistant Principal at Adairville Elementary and Middle School, a rural Preschool through 8th grade school located in Logan Co. Kentucky. This is his 14th year in…
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Lucy West has been a mover and shaker in the world of education for over 30 years. Since the mid-nineties Ms. West has been at the forefront of the movement…
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Daniel Bauer is the author of This is Momo: A Story About A Little Idea and he currently serves as Principal of a middle school in Houston, TX. Daniel is…
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Jim Sturtevant is in his 32nd year teaching public high school students. Currently, Jim is a Social Studies teacher for Big Walnut Local Schools in Sunbury, Ohio and a College…
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Dr. Jane Kise is a consultant, coach, and author of over 20 books. She founded Differentiated Coaching Associates to increase leadership effectiveness and currently works with leaders and their teams…
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Jennifer Abrams spent over 20 years in the Palo Alto School District as a lead coach and is currently an author and international education and communications consultant for public and…
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Oskar Cymerman teaches high school Chemistry and Principles of Engineering and is author of Crush School: Every Student's Guide To Killing It In The Classroom a book that promotes brain…
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Nina Sethi is a 5th grade Homeroom teacher at Sheridan School in Washington, D.C.. Nina graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in psychology and her certificate in Elementary Teacher…
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Penny Sturtevant is in her 30th year as an educator and her 9th year as an administrator. She has worn many different hats along the way, including 1 year as…
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Doug Robertson, known as the Weird Teacher on Twitter, is a 5th grade teacher and the mind behind the books He's the Weird Teacher and THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome),…
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An experienced educator who has led a number of private institutions for nearly 30 years, Jim Power is the 13th Head of Schools of Culver Academies. Culver Academies is a…
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Jon Harper is currently the assistant principal at Sandy Hill Elementary School in Cambridge, Maryland. This is his sixth year serving as an assistant principal at the elementary level.
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Jon Laffoon is the Superintendent of Star City School District, in Southeast Arkansas. He has served many roles in Private, Public, and Charter schools. This experience gives him a broad…
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LaVonna Roth began her journey in education teaching 2nd through 8th grade, then served as a Team Leader and Mentor Teacher and is currently the creator & Founder of Ignite…
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Amber Teamann is the principal at Whitt Elementary in Wylie, Texas. Prior to her role as principal, she served as an Assistant Principal, Title 1 Technology Facilitator, and 4th grade…
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Dr. Simon Breakspear is a researcher and expert in educational innovation and change based in Sydney, Australia. He is known internationally for helping educational leaders navigate disruptive change, develop innovation…
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Jim Knight is the President of the Instructional Coaching Group and a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and the Director of the Kansas…
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Joanne Oien is a seasoned educator with nearly 30 years of experience working in the same school district. Joanne began her career as a teacher at New Hope Elementary School…
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Eric Ewald is going into his fifth year as an elementary school principal and this will be his first year as building principal at James Van Allen Elementary, a PK-6th…
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Bill Powers is entering his 8th year as Lead Learner at Cherokee Middle School in Springfield, Missouri, his 16th year in education, and he is currently pursuing his Doctorate (EdD)…
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Jenn David-Lang has worked in the field of education for over 25 years. She has had a wide range of experiences, from teaching math and English, starting a number of…
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Elizabeth Carr is a Licensed Professional and Nationally Certified Counselor whose passion encompasses helping new teachers feel competent in managing their own mental health needs, and helping them grow personally…
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Jeremy Adams is a high school teacher, college professor, author, and frequent educational speaker from Bakersfield, California. In April of this year, Rowman & Littlefield published his second book, The…
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Dr. Ryan B. Jackson recently accepted a position as the Executive Principal of Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, TN and was previously an assistant principal in an inner-city…
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Travis Phelps is the 8th grade teacher and Assistant Principal at St. Justin School. He is a Google for Education Certified Trainer, Classcraft Ambassador, Remind Connected Educator, Participate Learning Expert,…
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Dr. Bryan Harris serves as the Director of Professional Development and Public Relations for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Arizona. Having served in many roles in education –…
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John Stevens is an instructional technology coach in Southern California and the co-author of The Classroom Chef. He moderates #caeedchat on Sunday evenings from 8-9pm on Twitter, tinkers with 3D…
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Dr. Reshan Richards is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Chief Learning Officer at Explain Everything, which he co-founded. Reshan also teaches Startup 101, an entrepreneurship…
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Marie Criste is currently the Coordinator of Instructional Technology for the Roseville Joint Union High School District with over 10,000 students and 550 teachers outside of Sacramento, California. Marie has…
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George Philhower has been an administrator at Western Wayne Schools in East Central Indiana for 7 years. Prior to that he was a special education teacher. George is passionate about…
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Jeff Bradbury is currently the Coordinator for Technology Integration for the Westwood Regional School District in New Jersey. Jeff is also the author of Kidblog: An Introduction to Blogging With…
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Brad Currie is the Dean of Students and Supervisor of Instruction for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is also the Founding Partner of Evolving Educators LLC.
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Paul Erickson is a an elementary school principal in Buhler Schools in Hutchinson, KS. Paul is in his eighth year as a principal and in his 13th year in education.…
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Kim Corbidge has spent the past 23 years as an educator where she spent the first 13 years teaching in Pennsylvania and the past 10 years teaching in Deleware. Kim…
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Randy Delling is a retired high school principal after serving the students of the Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 29 years as a teacher, assistant principal and…
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Kermit Ward is entering his 21st year in education and is currently the principal of Connally High School. Kermit is going into his seventh year in Pflugerville ISD in Austin,…
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Dr. Greg Franklin is the superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District in Southern California. Dr. Franklin is passionate about preparing all students to succeed in the global workforce through…
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Jennifer Kloczko is an elementary school principal at Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, California who has spent the last 21 years teaching and learning with amazing students and teachers! She…
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Brent Coley has been an educator in Southern California for 20 years. He taught 4th and 5th grade for 15 years before being called into administration, and is currently serving…
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Dwight Carter is a widely respected administrator who is highly experienced as a leader in curriculum innovation at the secondary level. In fact, he was invited to speak on this…
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Dr. Devin Padavil is an educator with nine years of experience as a Principal at three different schools. His focus is on building a strong school culture and using teacher…
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Daisy Dyer Duerr is an innovator, a passionate rural educator, a consultant and a keynote speaker. She was named the NASSP Digital Principal in 2014, and a “Turnaround Principal” of…
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School Superintendent Jay Eitner is a proud product of the New Jersey public schools. A graduate from Union High School in 1997, Jay attended The American University in Washington DC…
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Sebastian Cognetta holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California and was instrumental in launching Aveson Charter Schools, a nationally recognized model for Personalized Mastery Learning,…
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Dr. Sharroky Hollie is the Executive Director of the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, a not for profit organization dedicated to building culturally responsive communities across the country.…
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Dr. Beverly J. Hutton is the Deputy Executive Director of NASSP’s Programs and Services. She has more than 30 years of school experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and…
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George Couros is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Innovator’s Mindset, and the Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division in Stony Plain, Alberta…
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George Couros is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Innovator’s Mindset, and the Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division in Stony Plain, Alberta…
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John Fleischman is the Assistant Superintendent of Technology Services at the Sacramento County Office of Education and is responsible for all of the information and educational technology operations for the…
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Dave Burgess is a former teacher and the co-author of P is for PIRATE and the New York Times Best Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE which has been…
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Joseph Clark is a 3rd year administrator at a core-model middle school in Sacramento, CA. He spent 8 years in the classroom teaching Media Arts in varied settings. Joe has…
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JoAnn Chmielowicz (SHA-MELL-O-ITZ) is an elementary school principal in East Brunswick, NJ. She comes to school leadership through a non-traditional route via school libraries. She has a background in research…
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Susan Brooks-Young has been involved in the field of education for many years. She began as a Head Start preschool teacher and eventually taught every grade up through 8th grade,…
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John Eick has been a part of the educational landscape in Sacramento, California for nearly 20 years. He is proud to be the Executive Director of Westlake Charter School; prior…
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A Google Certified Innovator and EdTech Coach from Southern California, Matt Vaudrey is a recovering math teacher who dresses in costumes, plays loud music, and stands on desks: anything to…
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Dr. Anthony Muhammad is one of the most sought after educational consultants in North America. He currently serves as the CEO of New Frontier 21 Consulting, a company dedicated to…
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Dr. Todd Schmidt is the lead learner at Harbor View Elementary in Corona del Mar, CA. He is a proud husband, and proud father of two beautiful daughters. He received…
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Petra Luhrsen is a first year elementary assistant principal in Sacramento, California. Prior to becoming an assistant principal, she was an elementary teacher for grades K-6. In addition to serving…
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Jamie Sussel Turner served as a school principal for 12 years in Fair Haven, New Jersey. Since 2009 she has maximized her leadership skills and transitioned to a new role…
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Michael Watkins was born and raised in Oakland, California. He attended Cal State Hayward where he was awarded a B.A. in Psychology and teaching credentials in both History and Special…
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Annette Sweeney is the Principal at Parkrose Middle School, a National AVID Demonstration Site. She started her educational career teaching at a private school in Corvallis, Oregon before moving to…
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Kali Baird has been in education for 23 years and is in her 2nd year of administration. She is currently the Director of Education Technology for San Domenico School, California’s…
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Maya Woods-Cadiz is a Superintendent at American Indian Model Schools in Oakland, California. Maya has nearly twenty years of experience in education, as an Elementary Teacher, Principal and now Superintendent.…
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Catina Haugen is in her 19th year in education. Fourteen years teaching 5th & 6th grades and now in her 5th year as an administrator. Catina lives in Petaluma, California…
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Frank Buck is a veteran school administrator, public speaker, productivity coach, and writer. He is the author Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders. Dr. Buck helps people achieve their…
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Kim Marshall was a sixth-grade teacher in a Boston middle school for nine years and thought he would do it forever. But then in 1978, he read a report on…
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TEDx speaker Dr. Jenny Grant Rankin teaches the Post-doctorate Masterclass at University of Cambridge in England, but she lives most of the year in California writing books for other educators.…
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Anne Schaefer-Salinas is a 3rd year administrator and 20+ year educator who currently works at an all-girls high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anne currently serves as the…
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Daryl Pearson and Nancy Madsen are the principal and vice-principal team of Jubilee Community School in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan in Canada. Jubilee is a Pre-k through 4th grade school with…
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Dr. Judy D. White is the Superintendent for California’s Moreno Valley Unified School District, with 3,400 employees and more than 34,000 students. She has more than 35 years of experience…
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Marlena Hebern is a Google Certified Innovator, CUE Rock Star Faculty, CUE LEAD Learner, and the Edcamp Yosemite Founder. Marlena is a Coordinator for the Fresno County Office of Education…
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Dr. Spike C. Cook is currently the principal at Lakeside Middle School and the former principal of RM Bacon Elementary School, both in Millville, NJ. He is a life-long learner…
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Mark White is in his 34th year in education. He started off as a teacher, then moved into the role of principal of Hintgen Elementary School in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where…
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Dr. Jason Glass is the Superintendent and Chief Learner of Eagle County Schools, a district of 7,000 students and 18 schools located in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Jason…
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Dr. Dan Maas has worked in education for over 20 years as a Math and Science teacher, Directory of Technology Services, Chief Information Officer, and currently as the Chief Operations…
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Jenny Nauman is the principal of Shields Elementary School in Lewes, Delaware, a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School. Jenny is currently president of theDelaware Association of School Administrators, the local…
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Andrea Everett is a second year Principal at Meadow Lakes Elementary in Wasilla, Alaska and was recently selected to open Dena'ina Elementary this coming fall. She previously served as a…
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Eric is a Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). Prior to this he was the award-winning Principal at New…
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ustin Baeder spent the first 10 years of his career as a teacher and principal in the Seattle Public Schools and in 2012, transitioned into a new role to become…
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A twenty-plus-year educator, Nathan Barber has served in a number of roles including teacher, coach and administrator. He currently serves as a high school principal at an independent school in…
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Kirk Linton is a Vice Principal with the Calgary Catholic School District and is the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Vice Principal of the Year award from the Canadian Association…
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Theresa Stager is a Co-Host of PrincipalPLN podcast which can be found at principalpln.com and on iTunes. She is currently in her third year as Building Principal and Lead Learner…
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Dan McMinimee joined Jeffco Public Schools (serving the greater Denver area) on July 1, 2014 as superintendent. He has spent his professional life of 28 years devoted to public education.…
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Jon Corippo is the Director of Academic Innovation for CUE, leading professional learning and his creation, the CUE Rock Star Camp series. These small, hands on camps will be lead…
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Melinda Miller is a 21 year veteran teacher and administrator for Willard Schools in Willard, Missouri. She is passionate about connecting and sharing with other educators and believes in the…
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Dr. Adam Drummond is a veteran educator who has served as an elementary and middle school teacher, K-12 technology specialist, elementary and secondary professional development coordinator, assistant principal, and most…
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Dr. Susan Bunting has been superintendent of the Indian River School District since July 2006. Prior to assuming the head leadership position she spent 28 years in the district as…
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Jim Burgett is a presenter and author who is nationally recognized for his ability to lead, motivate, inspire, and teach. Jim has received dozens of awards for his teaching, for…
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Jim Burgett is a presenter and author who is nationally recognized for his ability to lead, motivate, inspire, and teach. Jim has received dozens of awards for his teaching, for…
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While Mitchell has been the instructional leader of Scott Johnson Middle School, the school has been recognized by the Texas Business and Education Coalition as an Honor Roll School in…
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Michael Berry is currently the principal of Richmond Elementary School in Richmond, Vermont. He grew up in Gouverneur, New York and both of his parents were also educators. He received…
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Brian Sztabnik has been teaching English for over a decade in New York. By day he shares his love of literature with his students and by night he is a…
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Mervin Jenkins, an Edutainer also known as The Rapping Principal, has worked as a middle school teacher, high school assistant principal, middle school principal, and central office administrator. He is…
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Dr. Deena Paramo has been an Alaskan educator since 1991, working as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent. In 2011, the Mat-Su Borough School Board unanimously selected Dr.…
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Ashley Drill and Jamie Tewksbury are elementary teachers with more than 20 years of teaching experience. They teach 3rd grade in Plymouth, Minnesota, at Greenwood Elementary School alongside their principal,…
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Jayne Ellspermann is the principal of West Port High School in Ocala, Florida. She has spent the past 35 years as an educator with 24 of those years as a…
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Dr. Mary Canole is in her 40th year in public education. She has taught at both the middle and high school levels in Rhode Island and served as the Director…
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Kevin Shelton is in his tenth year as principal of Johnsburg High School in Johnsburg, IL. He earned his bachelors degree in English and Secondary Education from Loras College and…
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Dr. Robert McBride currently serves as the principal of Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, IL. His school serves approximately 3,900 students on a campus of two buildings, the Gold…
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Dr. Tony Sinanis is currently the Lead Learner at Cantiague (CAN-T-AG) Elementary School in Jericho, New York. Cantiague was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and Tony received the…
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Brad Weston has served as teacher, coach, counselor, athletic director, assistant principal, and principal over his career in education. He was hired in the summer of 2011 as a “turnaround”…
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Jessica Cabeen is the principal of Woodson Kindergarten Center in Austin, Minnesota. Jessica has an interesting career path that I will let her share with you in the interview, but…
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Shane is the Principal of Abingdon-Avon High School in west central Illinois. The district is in the third year of a consolidation and the second year of a 1:1 initiative.…
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Jeff Gasaway has been an administrator for 14 years serving as assistant principal, director of Human Resources, and has now been the principal at Midway High School for the past…
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Dr. Todd Pettit holds a B.S. in Music Education, as well as an M.S. and Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Dr. Pettit is the principal of Kreitner Elementary School in Collinsville,…
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Curt Rees is the principal of Northern Hills Elementary in the Onalaska School District in southwest Wisconsin. Curt has been an administrator for 15 years and before that he was…
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Douglas Timm is in his second year as Principal of Carrie Downie Elementary School in the Colonial School District located in New Castle, Delaware. He has been a school administrator…
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Dr. Michael Shapiro is serving in his second year as the principal of Highland Tech Charter School in Anchorage, Alaska. He previously served as principal of Shepard Middle School in…
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Ben is the principal at Warner Elementary in the Western School District in Spring Arbor, Michigan. He is a student-centered educator that is focused on collaboration, teamwork, student engagement and…
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Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, WI. Joe holds a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from St. Norbert College,…
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Dr. Kyle Palmer is currently serving his 9th year as Principal of Lewis and Clark Elementary in Liberty, MO. Kyle began his career as a 4th grade teacher in Ankeny,…
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Dr. Peter DeWitt (Ed.D.) is a former school principal in Upstate, NY, and he is now a Visible Learning trainer and instructional coaching trainer and runs workshops on school leadership.…
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Amy Fadeji (FA-DAY-G) is in her fourth year as principal at Penngrove Elementary in Petaluma, California. Amy thrives on reaching out to educators across the country to build a growing…
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Don Wettrick is the Innovation Coordinator at Noblesville High School, just outside of Indianapolis, IN. He is the author of "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20%…
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Dr. Brad Gustafson is an elementary principal in Minnesota. He has pioneered efforts to transform pedagogy to reflect best practices in a digital age. He is committed to leveraging technology…
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Dr. Robert (Bob) Dillon is currently the Director of the Research Institute at BrightBytes, a national education think tank dedicated to promoting innovation and best practice in all classrooms. Prior…
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Jay is the principal of the Intermediate School in Merton, WI. Merton Intermediate is a 1-1 school using Google Apps for Education with 435 students from 5th through 8th grade.…
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This is a special episode to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas from Jay Willis and Educators Lead. Today Jay presents a story called The Principal's…
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Jerry is originally from Park Falls, Wisconsin. This is his second year as the Middle School Principal in Poynette, Wisconsin. Prior to becoming principal, he was the Poynette High School…
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Jethro Jones is the Principal of Kodiak Middle School and host of the Transformative Principal Podcast, where he interviews principals, leaders, and influencers who help improve K-12 education throughout the…
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Todd Nesloney is the Principal/Lead Learner of Webb Elementary in Navasota, TX. He is the 2015 Bammy Award Recipient for Elementary Principal and the 2014 Award Winner for Classroom Teacher…
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Lori has dedicated her life to developing the potential of others so they can make a positive and lasting impact on the world. Prior to starting her company The Leadership…
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Missy is the Director of Innovation at CESA 3, a regional service agency in Southwest Wisconsin. She is also the host of the podcast "On The Vendor Floor" where she…
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Hello educators! I'm Jay Willis, host of Educators Lead, where we help launch educators into the next level of leadership. This episode is an introduction to the vision, direction, and…
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