Breaker Society

In March 2019, Columbus City Schools welcomed Dr. Talisa Dixon as the 21st Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer of Ohio's largest school district. Starting on her first day, she launched the "Mapping our Success 100 Day Entry Plan" to spotlight the first 100 days of her administration and to emphasize an extensive outreach effort to hear from stakeholders - students, staff, families, partners, and community - about the future of the District. More than six months into her term she returns to the Breaker Society podcast to share the challenges and successes of her experiences. In this episode, we delve into how to approach changing the culture and building a strategy for the future. We talk about leadership and what drives Dr. Dixon in her daily pursuit to be a model urban school district nationwide. Follow Dr. Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ColsCitySuper Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is sponsored by #SocialSchool4EDU, helping schools tell their stories through social media. Visit #SocialSchool4EDU online to learn more about their year-round professional development and membership program. https://www.socialschool4edu.com/ Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us

In episode seven, we are shifting from the world of K-12 education and moving into postsecondary, though this conversation very much impacts the work being done in K-12 schools with career development and exploration, something all schools need to focus on more. Shane has a conversation with Dwight Heckelman, the founder of GROOVE U, a two-year music career program offering a diploma in the music industry. Dwight has over 20 years of experience in nearly every facet of the music industry. While attending Belmont University, he worked as a Field Marketing Representative at Capitol Records (Everclear, Jimmy Eat World) and after graduation he worked as an engineer/songplugger, wrote the technical column for Music Row Magazine, and then as a producer and went on to become President of AudioStream — a multimillion-dollar independent record label. In 2005 he left the corporate world for academia, where he designed, implemented, and chaired the Music Management program at Hocking College. Dwight then served as the Career Development and Job Recruitment Coordinator at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. And one day in 2009, he just decided to start his own school called GROOVE U, where they boast a 93% job placement in-field among all its graduates. Dwight is all about positive disruption in education, something, in my opinion, we all should be practicing, and we talk a lot about that in this episode. We recorded this episode on the Groove U campus right in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Visit GROOVE U online at https://www.grooveu.edu Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is sponsored by #SocialSchool4EDU, helping schools tell their stories through social media. Visit #SocialSchool4EDU online to learn more about their year-round professional development and membership program. https://www.socialschool4edu.com/ Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us

Effective, meaningful communications in a school district is not something of random chance. Instead, for an organization to be effective at communications, it must be done in a comprehensive, strategic, year-round manner. For schools, this is accomplished best when aligned with the school system’s goals. However, this can be a lot harder to accomplish than it sounds. For the team at Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri, it has taken some time to accomplish, but their work and commitment to strategic communications using research, planning, implementation, and evaluation is helping them stay focused on what matters most in their organization. In this episode, Nicole Kirby, APR, (Director of Communications) shares how her team works hard to stay focused on their annual communications plan. Consider this episode a “workshop” of sorts to give you the basics of how to streamline your processes and to create systems to advance a thoughtful approach to school communications. We are also joined by members of Nicole’s team, including Samantha Fitzgerald (Communications Specialist), Matthew Kenright (Communications Specialist), and Paul Lewis (Video Technology Specialist). They provide tips and advice for how other schools can effectively build a strategic communications program to be proud of. View the Park Hill School District’s NSPRA Gold Medallion-winning communication program: https://www.nspra.org/sites/default/files/award-submissions/gold-medallion-19_mo-park-hill-school-district.pdf Visit Park Hill School District online: https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/ Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is sponsored by #SocialSchool4EDU, helping schools tell their stories through social media. Visit #SocialSchool4EDU online to learn more about their year-round professional development and membership program. https://www.socialschool4edu.com/ Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us

Marketing can sometimes be a dirty word in public schools as many leaders in school districts assume it means “sales”. However, marketing is becoming a much more prominent part of the education sector as competition from all different kinds of educational choices is forcing public schools to re-think how they enroll and retain students. Put quite frankly, your school is not the only show in town anymore, and so if you’re not marketing your district, you are getting left behind. In this episode by Cara Adney from Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Jason Wheeler from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD in Carrollton, Texas, and Lori Perlow from the Camden County ESC in Clementon, New Jersey. All three have great perspectives and advice when it comes to the topic of marketing in schools. We discuss the differences between marketing and PR, how schools should be marketing, why it matters so much, and much more. Follow Cara on Twitter: https://twitter.com/caraadney Follow Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WheelerCFB Follow Lori on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LPerlow Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us  

Episode four of season three features Beth Probst, owner of At The Core, LLC, and Alicia Mowry, the public information officer for the Delaware Area Career Center in Central Ohio. Beth is making her second appearance on the podcast (season one, episode one) and joins Alicia to discuss how they built a partnership to engage parents and the community to help overcome a long-standing stigma--in this case the stigmas that have long stuck to career-technical education--and increase enrollment and the image of the Delaware Area Career Center. This conversation showcases how schools can reach unreachable audiences and create influencers in your community and can be applied to any educational organization with a problem to solve. These two have been perfecting the social science behind combining grassroots efforts with technology to engage their community and it is paying off. They are “feeding” parents with information, resources, and a connection to something they haven’t necessarily been exposed to, and this grassroots, personalized effort is helping to solve the problem of parents who are starved for knowledge as to how best prepare their students for life after high school. Visit At The Core online at https://www.gettingatthecore.com/ Visit the Delaware Area Career Center at https://www.delawareareacc.org/ Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us  

In episode three of season three, Shane talks with Dr. R.J. Webber (Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services) of Novi Community School District in Novi, Michigan. While Dr. Webber works every day to create innovative learning experiences for the students in his district, it is the reason why he does it that stands out--to create equity in opportunities for each and every student. In this episode, we have a powerful conversation about how Dr. Webber has championed student voice, mental health awareness, and social justice in his school district. Dr. Webber is also joined by George Sipple, the district’s marketing and public relations specialist, as we also get into the importance of sharing the stories of innovation and academic equity happening in schools. Visit Novi Community School District online: https://www.novi.k12.mi.us/ Follow Dr. Webber on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoviAcademics Follow George Sipple on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeorgeSipple Check out some of the awesome things Novi is doing for students: Novi/Macy’s student entrepreneurship partnership video: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/392299943-video Mindfulness to every second grader video: https://www.wxyz.com/news/novi-community-school-district-is-teaching-mindfulness-to-second-graders-to-help-them-focus   Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker  Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us  

In episode two of season three, Shane talks with two school communication leaders who are preaching the power of podcasting for schools. Justin Dearing (Assistant Director of Communications for Carroll ISD in Southlake, Texas) and Erin McCann (Public Relations Director at Crandall ISD in Crandall, Texas) both are avid podcasters in their free time, but they are now bringing their podcasting skills into their school districts. They are also getting ready to launch a brand new podcast for school public relations pros called School PR Happy Hour. In this episode, they talk about their podcasting experiences and give tips and suggestions to listeners. We also learn about School PR Happy Hour, which will launch on September 1, 2019. Listen to School PR Happy Hour at https://wavve.link/SPRHappyHour Follow School PR Happy Hour at https://twitter.com/SPRHappyHour Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Visit Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us

In the opening episode of season three, host Shane Haggerty traveled to Mississauga, Ontario in Canada to talk with members of the Peel District School Board’s communication team. Former guest Carla Pereira (Director of Communications and Community Relations) leads a team of communicators in a district outside of Toronto that has more than 155,000 diverse students. Because of their diverse community, Peel has been a leader in equity work in education and in this episode, we talk about equity through a communications lens. We are also joined by Ryan Reyes (Manager of Communications and Community Relations), Kayla Tischoff (Senior Communications Officer), and Ryan Strang (Communications Officer). Visit Peel online at http://peelschools.org Breaker Society is sponsored by Smore, professional communication tools for professional educators. Breaker Society listeners can get a special extended free trial by visiting Smore online at http://smore.com/breaker Breaker Society is a production of Purposeland, a strategic and creative consultancy serving clients who serve students. Visit Purposeland online at http://purposeland.us  

Nearly one in three adolescents (31.9%) will meet criteria for an anxiety disorder by the age of 18. While school is in session, high school students are the single most stressed out population in the US. Youth depression and anxiety are rising at alarming rates. In 2016 an estimated 3.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode.  However, based on research, this is not simply because youth have too much to do it is also because they do not know why they are doing it. Only about 1 in 5 teenagers in the US report feeling a sense of purpose. Without this deeper sense of "why" or internal compass, our youth will continue to suffer at epidemic rates. Students who have a purpose in their lives are happier, healthier, more engaged, and less stressed out than their peers without a sense of purpose. The Wayfinder Toolkit is Project Wayfinder’s contribution towards reimagining an adolescent education that supports students to build lives of purpose.    Tim Klein is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Project Wayfinder and is an award-winning urban educator, clinical therapist and school counselor. He has spent the last decade working intensively with marginalized and underserved students to empower them to pursue meaningful and fulfilling lives. In addition to his work at Project Wayfinder, Tim is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a purpose researcher and design specialist at Boston College.   In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Tim about Purpose Learning, how students can find their purpose, the challenges of scaling this new concept of Purpose Learning and about Project Wayfinder. You will learn how your school or your teachers can get involved in this movement.   Project Wayfinder on Twitter: http://twitter.com/projectwayfindr   Project Wayfinder website: https://www.projectwayfinder.com/    

A native of South Louisiana, Chris Yandle is a recovering college athletics administrator and an award-winning public relations professional at both the K-12 and college level. After spending more than a decade with five different NCAA Division I college athletics programs, he transitioned to K-12 communications in his home state. Considered among the leading communications professionals in college athletics, Chris served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at the University of Miami (2012-2014) and Georgia Tech (2014-2016). Prior to moving to Miami, he spent four years at Baylor University (2008-2012) where he was one of the leaders behind the successful Heisman Trophy campaign of quarterback Robert Griffin III in 2011, and was one of the key contributors to Baylor’s increased presence across social media platforms. He is the author of “Lucky Enough”, a book of handwritten notes to his daughter each day that became his #DadLunchNotes.   In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Chris about the book and the idea for the book, what his family thought of it and we also get into a conversation about the work he did at a very high level in college athletics.   Chris Yandle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisyandle   Chris Yandle’s website: https://www.bychrisyandle.com/

Julie Thannum, APR, has more than 25 years in school public relations in Texas, and currently serves as Assistant Superintendent for Board & Community Relations for Carroll ISD in Southlake, Texas. Julie oversees all aspects of the district’s communications, marketing and school safety. She previously served as Public Information Officer for Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD and as a newspaper reporter and editor in Illinois and Texas. Julie is recognized and respected for her knowledge and skills in crisis management, writing, marketing, public speaking, media relations, and leadership training. A past President of the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) and the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA), Julie has been an active member of both organizations and has served on numerous committees and project teams over the years. In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Julie about their time together serving on the NSPRA Executive Board, but really focus on the book Crucial Conversations and how it impacts the work we do in schools today. Julie has trained groups of parents, teachers, and administrators on the content in the book and relays strategies, tactics and results of her work using the methodology. When Crucial Conversations was first released it had a significant impact. The first edition of Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene and revolutionized the way millions of people communicate when stakes are high. It gives people the tools to  Prepare for high-stakes situations Transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue Make it safe to talk about almost anything Be persuasive, not abrasive Julie Thannum, APR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieThannum

Sally Nellson Barrett is the director and executive producer for Nebraska Loves Public Schools. Since 2011, she has interviewed more than 500 people and directed more than 40 films to raise awareness about the high-quality public education in Nebraska. Most recently she has turned her attention to creating longer-form I Love Public Schools films, documentaries focused on the ways societal issues impact public schools and what schools are doing to protect, understand, and empower students to be successful. Prior to this role, Sally ran a successful practice providing creative direction and story development for many of the largest banks and investment managers in the country.   In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Sally about what inspired her to go from telling the stories of banks and investment managers to focusing on the stories of students, teachers, families and communities, all centered on public education. We learn more about the creative energy Sally brings to the table, what Nebraska Loves Public Schools is all about, what is in store for the future, and we talk about their incredible new film, “The Mind Inside”. “The Mind Inside” is a new multi-episode docuseries about mental health in public schools. Audiences learn about the challenges students face, the social, emotional, and behavioral resources available for students who struggle, and the short- and long-term solutions communities provide.   Nebraska Loves Public Schools: https://iloveps.org/   The Mind Inside: https://iloveps.org/films/the-mind-inside-episode-one   #NebraskaStrong Website for Flood Donations: http://www.nebraska.gov/nebraska-strong/

Diana Patton has committed her life to helping those in need, specifically young women and youth. Her unique background has helped her to assist in leading diversity efforts within two large corporations and to become the VP, General Counsel and COO of the Toledo Fair Housing Center. Diana is a speaker, an author of two books, an attorney and a social justice advocate who works hard to eliminate racism, empower women, and to promote dignity for humanity. She works with students and teachers in school districts, including her RISE program, which starts with a simple premise: In order to successfully teach students to care about themselves and for others, educators must first practice personal self-care.   In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Diana about what inspired her to go from lawyer to what she is doing now--speaking, writing, and working for social good. She also dives into how she works with schools and the key issues students and teachers are facing today.    Diana Patton’s website: www.dianarpatton.com   Diana Patton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dianap_patton

Don Wettrick is currently the Innovation Coordinator at Noblesville High School, and is the author of "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level." Wettrick has worked as a middle school and high school teacher; educational and innovation consultant; CEO, and podcast host. He is also the founder of StartEdUp, an organization dedicated to helping transform the school culture toward innovation and enable student-led entrepreneurship.   His podcast, StartEdUp, has featured some of the most successful entrepreneurs, authors, and thought leaders in the world- focusing on educational change. Most importantly Don works with educators, students, and entrepreneurs to bring innovation and collaborative skills into education.   In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Don about all of this work he does, we learn about the future of the StartEdUp Foundation, and hear a great story about the time he landed an interview with Gary Vaynerchuk...and about how it went awry, but led to some other great opportunities.    StartEdUp Foundation: https://startedupfoundation.org/   Google Plus Hangout On Air: https://youtu.be/NF13CUSHzlQ   Don Wettrick on Twitter: Twitter.com/donwettrick  

Dr. Dixon grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, and she graduated from Oxford High School, after which she attended Mississippi Valley State University. She began her professional career as an instructor at the University of Akron, before becoming an assistant principal with the Akron City Schools. She's had stints as an assistant principal and principal in several districts and in July 2014, Dr. Dixon became Superintendent of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District. On March 4, 2019, she began her new role as the school chief of Ohio's largest school district, Columbus City Schools. In this episode, recorded in her office in University Heights just weeks before she left CHUH to start at CCS, Dr. Dixon sits down with host Shane Haggerty to discuss what drives her, motivates her and definitely what made her decide to take on the heavy challenge of leading Ohio’s biggest district. 

It’s the season one finale! Breaker Society host Shane Haggerty goes on the other side of the microphone in this episode allowing himself to be the interviewed instead of the interviewer. Lee Wirick is currently the supervisor of technology at a Central Ohio career center. Why is he interviewing Shane? Well, Shane hired Lee to be the admissions coordinator at the same school back in 2014 and the two worked hard to increase applications to the district by nearly 40% during their three years working together. Shane could think of no one better to interview him for this episode because Lee challenges him, makes him better, but also pushes his buttons. Definitely makes for an interesting conversation and a fun and interesting way to end the first season. 

Michael Yoder helps people share their stories. Plain and simple. Michael started his own company to help people do it. As the owner of Truth Work Media, Michael tells stories through speaking, creating websites and creating podcasts, including this one. Michael is one of the reasons I felt confident enough to finally launch. Michael describes this process as walking alongside people and encouraging them to live a story that is worth sharing. He helps others lean into what that looks like for them and he says he has found that most people have a story they are longing to create or be a part of, but often they need help getting there.   Michael, like most entrepreneurs, quit his day job to live a better story. A graduate of Bethel College’s Youth Ministry program, he worked in some form of relational ministry for nearly a decade before starting his first podcast with a friend that changed his life from that moment forward.   In just two years, Truth Work Media is producing nearly 50 podcasts and Michael has added to his team, making the bold decision to scale up his company. We talk entrepreneurship in this episode, but we also get into some “deep” and maybe some “controversial” topics around the realm of Christianity and faith and politics. We basically went wherever the discussion led us and I think it is a pretty powerful conversation about not just settling for the status quo or conforming to fit into some standard of how life is “supposed to be.”    Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelyoder81    Visit Truth Work Media: https://www.truthworkmedia.com/

Knowing every student by name, strength, and need is the promise of Highline Public Schools. Under the leadership of Susan Enfield, the district is delivering on this promise by implementing a bold strategic plan committed to ensuring that students graduate bi-lingual, bi-literate with the problem-solving and critical thinking skills that will prepare them for the future they choose. A former high school English, journalism and ELL teacher, Susan served as Chief Academic Officer and then as Interim Superintendent for Seattle Public Schools before coming to Highline in 2012. She previously held leadership positions in Evergreen Public Schools (Vancouver, WA), Portland Public Schools and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Susan is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and earned master’s degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University. She also holds a doctoral degree in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard’s Urban Superintendents Program. This is a great conversation about education, leadership and having a bold vision for students. Twitter: @SuptEnfield Instagram: @SuptEnfield

Becky Verner is a PR pro and a 200-hour certified yoga teacher living and teaching around Cleveland, Ohio. Her practice is playful, peaceful & as powerful as people want to make it! In addition to group classes, Becky leads workshops, private sessions, and small group classes or events like fundraisers, celebrations, and more. She has also taught meditation and yoga to students in schools. She is also passionate about what she calls Yoga to Remember: gentle yoga & meditation events designed to help those who are grieving. Becky is passionate about this form of grief yoga as she lost her mother when she was just 10 years old. She has completed various yoga certifications and she lived at the Sivananda Bahamas Ashram as a karma yogi a couple years ago.  Beyond that, Becky also does public relations. In fact, she worked for me in the past and earned media placements and interviews with local and national news outlets and helped lead events for clients like at SXSW Interactive in 2013 and the Ohio Educational Technology Conference in 2013 and 2014.  Visit Becky’s website at beckyverneryoga.com National Institute of Mental Health Benefits of Mindfulness in Schools

Heidi Vega is the Director of Communications for the Arizona School Boards Association and is the Vice President for Diversity Engagement on the National School Public Relations Executive Board. She was named a Top 35 Under 35 by NSPRA in 2012 for her outstanding work and bright professional future. Prior to her work with the Arizona School Boards Association, she served as the Director of Communications and Community Engagement for the Deer Valley Unified School District, where she secured more than $100 million as the grant writer for the Arizona district.    In this episode, Heidi and I dive into the work she is doing around equity and talk about the issues of diversity and inclusion. We also talk about the state of public education, specifically in Arizona, which has been a hotbed of issues regarding teacher pay and charter schools in recent years. We also have some fun and learn more about Heidi’s military background, how she created her own career pathway, and much more. This is a fun episode!   Follow Heidi on Twitter @Heidi_HVega   Arizona School Board Association Free Equity Webinar Series

Brendan Schneider currently serves as the Director of Advancement at Sewickley Academy, a PK-12 day school located 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals. He’s an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and Hootsuite Certified Professional and is a contributing blogger for edSocialMedia, AdmissionsQuest.com, Social Media Today, and Business2Community. He also operates SchneiderB Media, a community that provides resources on topics like inbound marketing, enrollment and admissions, social media, technology, branding and much more. It features a blog, email, private Facebook group, podcast and VirCon, a virtual school marketing conference now in its sixth year that will be held online on Saturday, October 13, 2018. In this episode we talk about how a private school education inspired him to commit his career to private school marketing and admissions, what his goal is with SchneiderB, the latest in trends, and much more. 

Andrea Gribble had 13 years experience in the corporate world when she decided to start her own business. It wasn’t easy, but today, her company #SocialSchool4Edu, has a team of more than 20 and serves nearly 70 school districts throughout the country. After working with her daughter’s school district, she learned that many schools lack the time and expertise to feel comfortable with social media and #SocialSchool4EDU was born from that desire to help other schools do the same.   I met Andrea a few years back at a National School Public Relations Association National Seminar in Chicago and she is infectious. She’s outgoing, friendly, helpful and humble and in just a few short years she has built her company up by bootstrapping and pure hustle. It certainly wasn’t without risk and turmoil as she will discuss in this episode, which was recorded during the NSPRA 2018 National Seminar in Anaheim, part of my NSPRA Podcast Sessions recorded in the hotel lobby. This is a fun episode about entrepreneurship and following your passions even when things get tough.   Visit Andrea’s company online at www.socialschool4edu.com

Steve King resides in Albany, NY where he work in public relations for the Capital Region BOCES Communications Services team. He studied communications at The College of Saint Rose. He recently launched A Podcast for Creatives, an audio experience for creatives and thinkers in all fields with his co-host Michelle Hickey. Through this podcast, listeners find ideas to help up their game, and share experiences with a community of creatives who understand what it’s like to work and create in a digital world.   Steve has always passionate about storytelling, and he has established himself as an innovative and recognized transformational leader in the area of social media and digital communications among public education PR professionals across the country.   I’ve known Steve since he attended a workshop I was conducting at the National School Public Relations Association National Seminar in Baltimore in 2014 so it was fitting we recorded this conversation in the midst of the 2018 NSPRA National Seminar in Anaheim, California in the hotel lobby. We talk about his new podcast, what inspires him and have an honest conversation about topics relating to the area of education, social media and much more.   Away from the office, Steve enjoys finding new (and old) coffee shops with his wife, Rachel, and enjoying a hot brew. He’s a mildly-obsessive Yankees, Cowboys and Knicks fan and there’s a good chance he’s currently thinking about a Seinfeld episode or playing some Billy Joel.   Connect with Steve: @thesteveking // @thesteveking  

Christian Long is an educator, designer, school planner, technology expert, educational futurist, and passionate advocate for innovative learning communities. He currently operates The Wonder Project, a design thinking studio that helps schools design at the intersection of their mission and their moonshot.   I’ve known Christian now for almost a decade and I learn something every time I have the opportunity to chat with him. He’s definitely a “breaker” and I think you will learn many things from this conversation.   Visit breakersociety.com and follow us on Twitter @BreakerSociety. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Google Play!

Carla Pereira leads a staff of more than 50 at the Peel School Board, which serves an incredible 154,000+ student body in 257 school buildings in Ontario, Canada. She ascended to the role of Director of Communications & Community Relations in 2017 after working at Peel for more than a decade. She has had the opportunity to work closely with the senior leadership team and the board of trustees, and she has provided timely responses and strategic counsel on issues ranging from straightforward to sensitive and complex, with high legal implications. She’s contributed and led award-winning campaigns and projects, shined a light on major topics and issues of our time, and she is well-respected in the profession leading workshops and trainings on topics like social media, equity and digital citizenship. Prior to her work in school PR, Carla led major accounts for a PR firm in Toronto.These clients included pharmaceutical companies and major brands. She helped lead national media relations campaigns with great success, but the idea of working to help students drew her into working with Peel School Board. If you’ve seen Scandal, think of Carla as an Olivia Pope-type. She handles media and never shies away from what might be considered a “controversial” issue. We talk about some of those issues in this conversation. The role of school communications officer is a vital, yet often misunderstood role, but it is one in which Carla has thrived. She has faced down many voices of opposition and people who have just been flat-out insensitive and on the wrong side of history, in my opinion, and she’s given voice to the many diverse pockets of students that have needed an advocate to lift them up. Visit breakersociety.com and follow us on Twitter @BreakerSociety. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Google Play!  

Kim Wilson figured out that education was her career pathway when a high school business teacher took an interest in her future. While journalism piqued her interest at one time, once she figured out she wanted to be a teacher, the rest was history. She would spend a 36 year career in education as a teacher, principal and superintendent. She taught business and then took some time out of the education industry to work in the private sector as an editor for a publisher, but it was always education drawing her back. The last 14 years of her career she led two Ohio career and technical school districts (Ohio Hi-Point Career Center and Tolles Career & Technical Center), where I was fortunate enough to work with her in both districts. She was always committed and focused on doing what was in the best interest of students and this led to an increase in enrollment at both the districts in which she served as superintendent. This is important in career-technical education because students have to choose to attend and specialize in a career program, oftentimes shunning a stigma associated with vocational education. At the end of the day, though, Kim led two of these districts to enrollment increases and impacted the lives of thousands of more students than those schools were reaching before. But sometimes doing the right thing gets met with resistance and we talk a little about that in this conversation. We also talk about what she’s doing now that she is recently retired, what it was like to be a female leader in a male dominated educational leadership system and much more.   Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or visit BreakerSociety.com

Eric Leslie is the founder and president of OnScene Productions in Columbus, Ohio, a company he founded out of a series of unfortunate events that began with 2008’s Great Recession. The company, though, which today serves dozens of clients in producing video content, was not originally making money through video work. They were designing websites for clients, something Eric was not classically trained to do, but something that he felt was necessary to pay the bills at the time. This, did not make him happy.  By not being afraid of changing the direction of his young business, Eric set himself up for growth by challenging the traditional, big production agencies. The opportunity to disrupt the video production industry was primed with the rise of digital and the democratization of platforms like Vimeo and YouTube and social media. So, OnScene, like so many startups, rose as a company out of the ashes of a shift in how we consume and do business. OnScene is a boutique video content agency, with capabilities in digital and commercial productions. In this episode, Eric and I talk entrepreneurship and risk-taking and how having a purpose gives him the drive to do work and life on his terms. We talk about work he has done, how he is redefining the video content industry and much more.   Visit breakersociety.com and follow us on Twitter @BreakerSociety. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Google Play!  

Beth Probst, founder of At The Core, a company that was founded to serve students as they prepare to make the very important decisions that surround their transition from high school to their future, joins host Shane Haggerty in the very first episode of the Breaker Society Podcast. After a successful career in sales and marketing for several large technology companies, Beth is shaking up college and career preparation with her company that provides workshops, one-on-one consulting, information and resources, and guided self-assessments to help students figure out their paths before setting off not knowing what they truly want to explore. In this episode we discuss her own career pathway and how she inspires and works with parents and students to prepare for what’s ahead. We also talk about the disconnect our society has with this whole college versus career debate, how to help students discover their passions, and we have some fun in the lightning round where we find out the one thing Beth would “break” to build something better.   Visit breakersociety.com and follow us on Twitter @BreakerSociety