If You Give a Principal a Podcast...

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode is an audio retelling of a story written and performed by my grandfather, George Nelsen.  My grandfather became an avid storyteller to entertain his grandkids. Some of my fondest memories are of my sister, cousins, and I listening to one of grandpa's stories.  My grandpa pursued storytelling and wrote and told many stories in classrooms of children across the United States as well as performing in hospitals, nursing homes, and festivals, touching the lives of thousands as “Grandpa from Dakota”.  He founded the Northern Prairie Storytelling Festival held at the University of Sioux Falls and received several national awards for his exemplary leadership and significant contributions to his community through storytelling.  My grandfather loved a good story and he would have been honored to hear our students performing one of his stories.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast. Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Little Peace At Christmas” by Squire Tuck and is licensed under a Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License and can be found at freemusicarchive.org.  

Our guest today is Maddie Louder.  In July of 2021, she was crowned Miss Washington. She is a graduate of Oklahoma City University and prior to being crowned Miss Washington, she wore the crown of Miss Emerald City. Maddie will use her Miss Washington platform to support radical self-acceptance and eating disorder awareness. She will spend the next year touring the state and will compete in the 2021 Miss America pageant in December, marking its 100th anniversary. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

The teachers and students have all gone home for the summer. When the students return in the Fall, we will begin putting together some new material for you. We anticipate new episodes to be released in December and plan to have a more regular release schedule.  While you wait, I thought I'd share some messages that were originally shared to our staff as video messages or newsletters sometime in the last three years.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  Please take a minute to rate, and leave a review or simply tell a friend about our show. We look forward to the feedback as it will help us improve. It's very much appreciated.   Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Early Sun” by Crowander and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Licence. Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.

The teachers and students have all gone home for the summer. When the students return in the Fall, we will begin putting together some new material for you. We anticipate new episodes to be released in December and plan to have a more regular release schedule.  While you wait, I thought I'd share some messages that were originally shared to our staff as video messages or newsletters sometime in the last three years.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  Please take a minute to rate, and leave a review or simply tell a friend about our show. We look forward to the feedback as it will help us improve. It's very much appreciated.   Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Early Sun” by Crowander and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Licence. Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.

The teachers and students have all gone home for the summer. When the students return in the Fall, we will begin putting together some new material for you. We anticipate new episodes to be released in December and plan to have a more regular release schedule.  While you wait, I thought I'd share some messages that were originally shared to our staff as video messages or newsletters sometime in the last three years.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  Please take a minute to rate, and leave a review or simply tell a friend about our show. We look forward to the feedback as it will help us improve. It's very much appreciated.   Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Early Sun” by Crowander and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Licence. Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.  

The teachers and students have all gone home for the summer. When the students return in the Fall, we will begin putting together some new material for you. We anticipate new episodes to be released in December and plan to have a more regular release schedule.  While you wait, I thought I'd share some messages that were originally shared to our staff as video messages or newsletters sometime in the last three years.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  Please take a minute to rate, and leave a review or simply tell a friend about our show. We look forward to the feedback as it will help us improve. It's very much appreciated.   Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Trapper John” by Lobo Loco and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Licence. Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.  

Today's episode is an audio retelling of the classic Cinderella tale, in which her feet are a size 87, and she can't go to the royal ball because she is a safety hazard.  This script was originally designed to be performed by students from our Summer School program. However, due to the heat wave in our area, students were kept home.  As they say in show business, the show must go on. Staff members from our Summer School program stepped up to flex their acting muscles.  Fun fact: There are thousands of different versions of this story throughout the world. The earliest known version of this story about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt was written around 7 BC and AD 23.  Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Sound effects were found at freesound.org  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Adventure” by Alexander Nakarada and is used by a Creative Commons License.  This script and others like it can be found at thebestclass.org. This script was taken from the 1997 childrens book, Cinderella Bigfoot (Happily Ever Laughter) written by Mike Thaler and published by Cartwheel Books. This book and, and others like it, can be found at mikethaler.com. We want to thank Mr. Thaler for generously permitting us to use his material.  A big shout out goes to Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Johann, Ms. Perea, Imani Larez, Mrs. Trainor, Ms. Jenks, and Mr. Sanchez for lending their theatrical talents to this episode.  Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.

The teachers and students have all gone home for the summer. When the students return in the Fall, we will begin putting together some new material for you. We anticipate new episodes to be released in December and plan to have a more regular release schedule.  While you wait, I thought I'd share some messages that were originally shared to our staff as video messages or newsletters sometime in the last three years.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  Please take a minute to rate, and leave a review or simply tell a friend about our show. We look forward to the feedback as it will help us improve. It's very much appreciated.   Visit masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Early Sun” by Crowander and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons Licence. Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.  

In today's episode, I sit down with Mrs. Trainor's 5th grade classroom for a quick Q and A. Today's question is, “What is something that makes a person smile?”  Although this seems like a simple questions, the students in Mrs. Trainor's class reminded me of the power of a good joke, a hug, a compliment, a sense of belonging, a helping hand, and a gift.  Visit www.masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  A big shout out goes to Mrs. Trainor and her 5th grade class for taking time out of their day to talk with me.  Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then: Be responsible. Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.

Today's episode is an audio retelling of a classic English fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk.  Trouble ensues when Jack, a poor country boy, trades the family cow for a handful of magic beans, which grow into an enormous beanstalk. Jack climbs the beanstalk and finds himself in the castle of an unfriendly giant. Fun fact: Researchers suggest this story can trace its origins back to a story called The Boy Steals Ogre's Treasure written nearly 5000 years ago!  Visit www.masd209.org for news, announcements, upcoming events and resources related to the Mount Adams School District and links to our show. If you have suggestions for future episodes, drop me a line at rmccracken@masd209.org.  Sound effects were found at freesound.org  Our intro and outro music is “Helix Nebula” by Anamanaguchi and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States Creative Commons License.  The background music used during the performance was “Over the Water, Humans Gather” by Doctor Turtle and is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons License.  This royalty-free play by Ruth Landowne-Giordano is part of a fantastic collection of plays for kids and teens published by Drama Notebook. This script, and others like it, can be found at www.dramanotebook.com. A big shout out goes to Ms. Johann, Mrs. Redlin, and Mrs. Ritchie and their amazing third graders at Harrah Elementary for lending their theatrical talents to this episode.  Join us next time for another episode of If You Give a Principal a Podcast.  Until then, Be responsible, Be safe and, most of all, Be kind.

              Today's episode is a short presentation by members of the Mt. Adams School District Dream Makers and the third installment of the Samantha Skunk series.  The Dream Makers is a youth coalition that started in 2007 when a group of students, under the guidance of school counselors, saw an opportunity to make a difference in their community within the Yakama Reservation.  Dream Makers provides a place for students in the Mt. Adams School District to discuss their problems concerning family, school, poverty, substance abuse, and suicide.  In this episode, titled “The Story of Samantha Skunk and How She Loved Her Os”, we meet Samantha Skunk - a magenta skunk - and her friends Solomon the Parrot, Penny Penguin, and Pat Panda.  In this story, Samantha has tried smoking and she can no longer run as fast or keep up with her friends. With the help of her friends, she learns how smoking anything can hurt her lungs and her ability to get Oxygen to her muscles.  Core learning points of this presentation are:  Os are tiny Oxygen molecules – which are in the air; You need oxygen to exercise and play. Smoking anything makes it hard to get your oxygen. Smoking makes you slower because the oxygen can't get to the muscles as well; Smoking hurts your body and prevents you from running and playing as well. Smoking may make it hard to keep up with your friends. The Samantha Skunk Program uses Samantha Skunk and her friends to present a positive message on health. The stories are designed to be taught primarily at the Pre-k through 2nd grade level and address issues related to prescription and medicine safety, smoking, lung health, and exercise.  Each story is normally taught by members of our Harrah Elementary Dream Makers in brightly colored, full-body costumes. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have adapted this presentation as an audio performance.   If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

  Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode is a short presentation by members of the Mt. Adams School District Dream Makers. The Dream Makers is a youth coalition that started in 2007 when a group of students, under the guidance of school counselors, saw an opportunity to make a difference in their community within the Yakama Reservation.  Dream Makers provides a place for students in the Mt. Adams School District to discuss their problems concerning family, school, poverty, substance abuse, and suicide.  In this episode, titled “Medicine Safety”, we meet Samantha Skunk - a magenta skunk - and her friend Solomon the Parrot.  In this story, Samantha has tried medicine that wasn't hers and it has caused her to turn from her beautiful unique magenta color to a sickly green. Solomon leads Samantha to return to her original color by following his advice and agreeing to help others learn to be safe around medicine. Core learning points of this presentation are:  Someone else's medicine might be bad for you, Never give yourself medicine; and, If you find medicine – tell an adult. The Samantha Skunk Program uses Samantha Skunk and her friends to present a positive message on health. The stories are designed to be taught primarily at the Pre-k through 2nd grade level and address issues related to prescription and medicine safety, smoking, and lung health and exercise.  Each story is normally taught by members of our Harrah Elementary Dream Makers in brightly colored, full-body costumes. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have adapted this presentation as an audio presentation.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  In today's episode, with the help of Ms. Jenks' second grade class, we thought we'd try something new. In the first half of this episode, Ms. Jenks' students and I explore the question “What sounds or noises do you love?” and in the second half of the episode, the students and I explore the question, “What sounds or noises do you not love?”  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode is a short presentation by members of the Mt. Adams School District Dream Makers. The Dream Makers is a youth coalition that started in 2007 when a group of students, under the guidance of school counselors, saw an opportunity to make a difference in their community within the Yakama Reservation.  Dream Makers provides a place for students in the Mt. Adams School District to discuss their problems concerning family, school, poverty, substance abuse, and suicide.  In this episode, titled “Smoking Stinks”, we will meet Samantha Skunk - a magenta skunk - and her friend Solomon the Parrot, as Samantha deals with the unfortunate side effects of smoking. The Samantha Skunk Program uses Samantha Skunk and her friends to present a positive message on health. The stories are designed to be taught primarily at the Pre-k through 2nd grade level and address issues related to prescription and medicine safety, smoking, and lung health and exercise.  Each story is normally taught by members of our Harrah Elementary Dream Makers in brightly colored, full-body costumes. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have adapted this presentation as an audio presentation.  Each episode is recorded and produced by yours truly.  Our intro and outro music is Helix Nebula by Anamanaguchi The music used during the performance was Testing by Ketsa All audio content is used under the Creative Commons license  The content of today's performance was used with permission from Dover Youth to Youth - a youth empowerment program based out of Dover, New Hampshire taking on the threat of alcohol and drug abuse.  A big shout out goes to Danielle Watkins and her Harrah Elementary Dream Makers crew for lending their theatrical talents to this episode. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode is the second part of a two part series originally created with the purpose of being shared with our staff as part of a recent professional development session regarding Social and Emotional Learning and equity in education.  The resulting conversations were too good not to share and reflected the type of content we hoped to capture when we set out to create this podcast.  Our guest today is Francisco Xavier Tzintzun. He is a 2020 White Swan High School graduate. During his time at White Swan, he created the district's first Gender Sexuality Alliance. The goals of the alliance is to:  ...provide an opportunity for participants to increase their breadth and depth of LGBTQ+ vocabulary.  ...increase participant exposure and knowledge of a variety of terminology.  ...to emphasize how powerful language is.  ...clear up any misconceptions or questions about terminology or common phrases. Francisco is on track to graduate from the University of Washington in 2024 with a degree in Business with a focus on Entrepreneurship. Francisco is a talented photographer and filmmaker and is unapologetic about his inability to turn down a good tamale.  This episode was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing guidelines were maintained as all participants joined from the safe confines of their homes, offices, classrooms, or cars via Zoom. We apologize ahead of time for any audio irregularities caused by bandwidth limitations.  A big shout out goes to Cesar Hernandez, DeeDee Gasseling, and Hayley storm for making this interview a reality. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.  

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode was originally created with the purpose of being shared with our staff as part of a recent professional development session regarding Social and Emotional Learning and equity in education.  The resulting conversation was too good not to share and reflected the type of content we hoped to capture when we set out to create this podcast.  Our guest today is Alex Craig. Alex is a self-described movie buff and a 2011 White Swan High School graduate.  He graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2016 with a Bachelors Degree in Visual Communication Design with an emphasis on print design and web design.  He is currently the program director for the First Nations MESA Program at Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington.  Up First Nations MESA engages high school, middle school and elementary schools in the Yakima Valley in math and science-based activities to prepare underrepresented students for STEM based careers.  This episode was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing guidelines were maintained as all participants joined from the safe confines of their homes, offices, classrooms, or cars via Zoom. We apologize ahead of time for any audio irregularities caused by bandwidth limitations.  A big shout out goes to Cesar Hernandez, DeeDee Gasseling, and Hayley storm for making this interview happen.  We do want to let you know this episode does contain a singular reference of a word used as a term of abuse and disparagement towards members of the LGBTQ+ community that may be disturbing or triggering to some. Although we do not condone the use of these terms, we felt it was appropriate in the context of this discussion.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.       

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode takes a look at our current effort to improve teaching and learning at Harrah Elementary.  Through a series of state and federal accountability measures, schools in Washington State are identified for three tiers of support.   Foundational (Tier 1) Targeted (Tier 2)  Comprehensive (Tier 3)  Harrah Elementary has been identified as a Tier 3 or Comprehensive school. Schools at this level are in need of the most intensive supports, including coaching, priority access to professional development opportunities, and additional funding, among others. Our guests today are the members of our Instructional Leadership Team. The ILT is composed of  teacher representatives from each grade level, Special Education teachers, support staff, specialists, and administrators.  What you will hear is a candid and unguarded conversation between this team of professionals as they discuss their experiences - good and bad -  navigating the school improvement process.  This episode was recorded at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing guidelines were maintained as all participants joined from the safe confines of their homes, offices, classrooms, or cars via Zoom. We apologize ahead of time for any audio irregularities caused by bandwidth limitations.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Today, we have the opportunity to meet another member of the Microsoft team, Ayuna Vogel.  Ayuna is currently the technical product manager for Microsoft in Redmond, WA.  She has worked as an IOS Engineer for LinkedIn, an IOS developer for Vimeo, been a translator for the United Nations, founded an independent educational project that welcomes volunteers from all over the world to teach at the rural schools in Russian Siberia, taught intensive Russian language course to college students in Malaysia, wrote for Look-At Media, and has traveled to Germany, Russia, Mongolia, China, Viet Nam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Laos She is a co-founder and a developer of Neverlate, a self-improvement iOS app for people who are often late.  She was selected one of 30, out of 620, applicants to become an iOS Fellow at the Access Code, an intensive, project based iOS Mobile App Development program in New York City. During her time at Access Code, she worked with leading iOS engineers from Google, Yahoo, Artsy, and Betaworks. Ayuna is a co-organizer of the iOSoho meetup, the largest iOS meetup in NYC. She also founded the Women in iOS meetup. the only NYC meetup focused on highlighting the work female iOS developers do in the industry. In her free time, she volunteers with Coder Dojo and helps kids learn the basics of HTML & CSS, and with Women Who Code where she helps beginner programmers and provides mentorship to women looking to enter the tech field. Today's episode was made possible by a partnership with the Mt. Adams High School STEM/CTE program and and the Microsoft TEALS program. The TEALS program is designed to help high schools build and grow sustainable computer science (CS) programs. They pair volunteer CS professionals across the US with classroom teachers looking to make a lasting impact in their students' lives. TEALS volunteers help shape students' futures and career opportunities by providing them with computational knowledge and skills they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

In this episode, we meet RJ Ray, a member of Microsoft's Indigenous team. The Indigenous team seeks to honour, share and celebrate Indigenous cultures within Microsoft and across Mother Earth while shaping inclusive technology to empower future generations.  RJ was born on Whidbey Island, Washington. From an early age, RJ was interested in electronics, from home and car stereos to video game consoles. RJ attended Portland State University and received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering & B.S. in Physics. RJ interned at Hewlett-Packard's Imaging and Printing Division in Vancouver, WA. This internship led to a 10-year job designing hardware and traveling the world supporting the transitions of designs from prototype to production manufacturing.  RJ left HP to join Microsoft where he worked on the original Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X and the yet to be released Xbox Series X|S  Today's episode was made possible by a partnership with the Mt. Adams High School STEM/CTE program and and the Microsoft TEALS program. The TEALS program is designed to help high schools build and grow sustainable computer science (CS) programs. They pair volunteer CS professionals across the US with classroom teachers looking to make a lasting impact in their students' lives. TEALS volunteers help shape students' futures and career opportunities by providing them with computational knowledge and skills they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

  Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Today's episode takes a little different approach. Your host today is Dallas Wilson, the Computer Science teacher at Harrah Elementary. Her guest today is Gracie Ermi, a Software engineer from Seattle.  In addition to being a knitting and outdoors enthusiast, Gracie is a software engineer that develops and builds machine learning technology that saves endangered wildlife and preserves ocean biodiversity. She works for Vulcan Inc. in Seattle, where they've developed artificial intelligence models that help scientists count and study elephants in their natural habitats. They have also developed a machine learning model for the Global FinPrint Project that helps identify oceanic species. Her work saves researchers' time in interpreting and collecting data, so that they can work more efficiently! Gracie hopes that her work can inspire others, especially women and girls, to pursue computer science as a way to create change in their communities and in the world. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken. Our guests today are three members of the Harrah Elementary teaching staff: Veteran and current 4th grade teacher, Mr. Guy Galland First year Special Education Teacher, Mr. Emery Lohrasbi Retiring teacher and current librarian, Mrs. Sonya Merz On this episode, my guests and I talk about their journey to becoming an educator, changes in education, and the Cougar/Husky rivalry. Along the way we'll hear from some of Mrs. Merz's friends and colleagues as they celebrate her nearly 30 years in education! If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener, thanks for coming back. So, put up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Our guests today are three members of the Harrah Elementary teaching staff:  Gloria Widener, Vice Principal, DeeDee Gasseling, Social-Emotional Learning teacher, and Cesar Hernandez, Counselor.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken.  Our guest today is the current superintendent of our very own Mt. Adams School District. He is entering his 4th year as the district superintendent.   In June of 2016, he received a unanimous vote from the Mt. Adams school board to become the next Superintendent and is now entering his 4th year.   Prior to becoming the Mt. Adams School District Superintendent, Mr. Guaglianone ...started as a high school teacher in California in 1981. ..was Cal State Bakersfield's College of Education dean.  ...served as superintendent at Linns Valley-Poso Flat School District in California  ...was an interim superintendent at Elk Hills School District in California in 2009 ...was vice president for strategic planning, provost and chief academic at Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington.  Please welcome Dr. Curt Guaglianone.  If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listener thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend Nayeli. We talk about what pets would really tell, the importance of doing your own work and more. *Due to technical issues, this episode ends abruptly.   I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend Nadia. We talk about knowing your heritage, screaming contests, pickles and more. I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend Kiki. We talk about bed times, cheating on tests and more. I think you'll agree that Kiki is a man of few words. I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend Kathy. We talk about geography, dogs in the house, doing the right thing and more. I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend, Leslie. We talk about the importance of family, never giving up, wrestling with siblings and more. I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my buddy Diego. We talk about new-school-year nerves, helping others and the importance to school.  I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. On today's episode, we sit down with my friend Sydney. We talk about kittens and rocket launchers.  I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did.

Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body  and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken. Before we get started, I want to thank the students, our guests and our listeners. This was a huge project. To be honest, it was a bigger project than I had anticipated. With that being said, we're already preparing to make this podcast even better next year. We will be back and we will have a line-up of amazing guests! The staff and students have gone home for the summer. Until our return in August, we will have a series of weekly episodes featuring short, but intriguing interviews with some of our very own students. I hope you find some of these students' answers as interesting as I did. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listening, thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast …        

On this episode, we have the unique opportunity to interview the 2018-2019 Washington State Teacher of the Year, Robert Hand (Mt. Vernon, WA) and the 2018-2019 Regional Teacher of the Year, Michael Clinton (White Swan, WA). 

  Welcome to If You Give a Principal a Podcast, a podcast production of the Harrah Elementary School Associated Student Body and the Mt. Adams School District. I'm your host, and Principal, at Harrah Elementary, Rob McCracken. This is episode #2.  On today's episode, our team has the honor of speaking with ESD 105 Superintendent Kevin Chase. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome to the show and if you're a returning listening, thanks for coming back. So, pull up a chair and see what happens when you give a principal a podcast.     

The kids and I give it a go on our very first podcast episode. For this episode, we put our ASB advisor, Dee Dee Gassling, and myself, on the hot seat.  Let's find out what happens when you give a principal a podcast!