Podcasts about enterprise middle school

Hans Appel is an educator, speaker, and writer deeply committed to inspiring the whole child. He's the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community. Additionally, he's the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team, Co-host of the Award Winning Culture podcast, and the Co-Creator of Award Winning Culture. He's worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 20 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. Hans' blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, AIMS Network, and PBIS Rewards. He's written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He's been a contributor on three educational books: Define Your WHY, Teachers' Reflective Impact Journal and ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education. Hans is a part of the coveted Teach Better Speakers Network. He presents at conferences, schools, and districts all over the country. Topics include: Creating an Award Winning Culture, Amplifying Student Voice, Student-Led Podcasting, Infusing SEL into PBL, and Infusing Servant Leadership through PBIS. Hans believes that education at its highest level is about inspiring others to discover and develop their JOY.

Hans Appel is an educator, speaker, and writer deeply committed to inspiring the whole child. He's the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community. Additionally, he's the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team, Co-host of the Award Winning Culture podcast, and the Co-Creator of Award Winning Culture. He's worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. Hans' blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, AIMS Network, and PBIS Rewards. He's written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He's been a contributing writer on four educational books: “Teachers Deserve It,” “ Define Your WHY: Own Your Story So You Can Live and Learn On Purpose,” “A Teacher's Reflective Impact Journal,” and “ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.”

Educator, Speaker, Writer, fellow Teach Better Team Podcaster Hans Appel is an educator, speaker, and writer deeply committed to inspiring the whole child. He's the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community. Additionally, he's the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team, Co-host of the Award Winning Culture podcast, and the Co-Creator of Award Winning Culture. He's worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. Hans' blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, AIMS Network, and PBIS Rewards. He's written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He's been a contributor on three educational books: Define Your WHY, Teachers' Reflective Impact Journal and ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education. Hans believes that education at its highest level is about inspiring others to discover and develop their JOY. Hans' Story - Educator by Day ACES home, childhood oasis, connected to teachers and adults because of this Developed a student led podcast. Education nerds that start the day with a walk. School Culture blog (AWC), student podcast, Podcast, then the book Loves the idea of educators creating content Award Winning Culture People wanted to know how they were getting results School began winning awards - ASCD Whole Child “What is the magic happening here?” School-wide framework Character, Excellence, Community - “House Rules” Jen is writing the sequel; designed for the classroom SEL & Character Ed … “They are the Plate” Challenge: Story of an assault scenario in school. This was a veteran teacher; these kids were not enemies Hopeful: A renewed focus on the whole child. Inspire others to develop their joy. Live out your why! Pursue joy! It is deeper than happiness. “A pizza on Friday, makes me happy...maybe a beer too.” GUEST CONTACT TWITTER - Hans Appel HOST CONTACT INFORMATION TWITTER Dr. Jeff Prickett Adam DeWitt FACEBOOK Principal Leadership Lab Dr. Jeff Prickett Adam DeWitt

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Hans Appel.  Hans Appel is an educator, speaker, and writer deeply committed to inspiring the whole child.  He's the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community.  Additionally, he's the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team, Co-host of the Award Winning Culture podcast, and the Co-Creator of Award Winning Culture.  He's worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened.  He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness.  In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy.  Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category.   In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn.   Hans' blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, AIMS Network, and PBIS Rewards.  He's written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong.  Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence.  He's been a contributor on three educational books:  Define Your WHY,  Teachers' Reflective Impact Journal and ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.  Hans believes that education at its highest level is about inspiring others to discover and develop their JOY. Mentioned in this podcast:  Want to give your child or a child you know the gift of confidence and tools to tackle worry and anxiety? Order my new book Unthink Before Bed. It is a children's book on mindfulness. It's the perfect gift and bedtime book. I am so proud of it! It is a very fun read. Hans's book: Award Winning Culture: Building Intentionality and Action through Character, Excellence, and Community Hans is the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team Hans's website: awardwinningculture.com Follow Hans on: Twitter: @awculture @HansNAppel Instagram: @AwardWinningCulture Award Winning Culture Blog Award Winning Culture Podcast Sign-up for Kelly's newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you'd like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly's other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast, and subscribe to the more than 40 episodes to help you level-up your leadership and design a more dynamic life. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 182 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly's website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school's opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly's books, Along Came a Leader and Unthink Before Bed: A Children's Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram  [convertkit form=1190516] [fusebox_full_player social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_linkedin="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]    

Hans Appel is an educator, speaker and writer deeply committed to inspiring the whole child. He's the author or, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence and Community. Additionally, he's the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team, co-host of the Award Winning Culture Podcast, and the Co-Creator of Award Winning Culture. He’s worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 20 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation. Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, AIMS Network, and PBIS Rewards. He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. Snag a copy of Hans’ new book, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community at: Amazon OR Barnes & Noble Connect on with Hans Twitter/Instagram: @HansNAppel Email: awardwinningculture@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aneducatorslegacy/support

Tara Jaraysi Kenning: "Teamwork makes the dream work," John C. Maxwell. I'm Tara Jaraysi Kenning, and I'm a Tri-Cities influencer. Paul Casey: A good rule of thumb is before you speak, ask yourself, is what I'm about to say true, necessary and kind? TNK Announcer: Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington. It's the Tri-cities Influencer podcast. Welcome to the TCI podcast, where local leadership and self leadership expert Paul Casey interviews, local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit executives to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. Here's your host, Paul Casey of Growing Forward Services, coaching, and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success. Paul Casey: It's a great day to grow forward. Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Tony Howard. He is the assistant superintendent of human resources for the Richland School District. I asked him for a fun fact about him. And he said, "Well, during this Corona crisis, the family has decided to watch Survivor reruns." And I said, "You know what? We are too." So I think we're on season 23 going back. And we both said we would never do that in a normal time, but what are we going to do? It'll be our memory for the Corona season is watching survivor reruns. Paul Casey: Well, we're going to dive in with Tony after checking in with our Tri-City Influencer sponsors. Preston House: Hi, my name is Preston House, and I'm the local owner of Papa John's Pizza right here in Tri-cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First Bank and HFG trust. Preston House: When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I'd been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old, so when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate: employment retirement plans, payroll bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life, and is motivated by providing people in our community, like Preston, with all the information and support they need all under one roof. Preston House: It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call. No automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business serving another local business. Jesus Melendez: For more information on how Community First bank and HFG trust can help you get back on track. Visit www.community1st.com. That's www.community1st.com. Paul Casey: Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. Well, welcome, Tony. I was privileged to meet you years ago. Boy, how many years ago would that be? Tony Howard: I think in 2007, '08, '09? Maybe in there somewhere. Paul Casey: That sounds right, yeah. Yes. My kids were in middle school at Enterprise Middle School. And you were one of the administrators there. Since I was an administrator, I thought, I like to bond with my kids' teachers and principals, so I invited you to lunch or coffee, and you said yes. So that was great. We could talk shop together and I've watched as you continued to move up the chain since then in the district office. So thanks for all you do for our school system. Tony Howard: Well, thank you. I'm really glad to be here today. I appreciate the invitation. Paul Casey: Absolutely. So let's let our listeners get to know you a little bit. Take us through a couple of career highlights that led you to what you're doing now, and also throw in there why you love what you do. Tony Howard: Well, thanks again. I'm really proud to be a lifer in K-12 public ed. I started as a classroom teacher in the early 90s. This is my 27th year. Paul Casey: Wow. Tony Howard: Which I don't know where the time goes. The last 13 of it in Richland, this'll be the start of year 14 in Richland. Worked on both sides of the mountains in the state of Washington. I was a teacher and assistant principal, then principal. What really stands out to me is just the people that I've known along the way and the relationships I've made and people that have taken a 23 year old know-it-all under their wing and let me learn my lessons the hard way, but in a structure of support. I really did imprint on some of that and have tried to model that in my own leadership career with folks. Tony Howard: And now, here we are 27 years later in the middle of trying to redefine public ed on the fly in this brave new world. It's just been an exciting time. I've been in HR for 10 years, as a principal for eight prior to that. Just at every stop, I've had just a wonderful opportunity to work with kids and parents and teachers and staff members and community folks, and coffee with people like you, 12, 13 years ago, that paid off today. That's really been the career highlight for me, is being able to pay all that back to the people that have helped me. Paul Casey: Wow. That's fantastic. Let me ask you this. Was there a time ever in that 27 years that you just said, "Maybe I should think about doing something else?" Did you ever have those days? Tony Howard: I think that 99% of all the days are good days. Like in any career, there are days where you go, "Oh, wow." But I've heard this quote once, "A setback is an opportunity for a comeback." Something like that. Paul Casey: I love that. Tony Howard: Something like that. So, no, I am really proud of the work that I've been able to do with kids and parents and families and communities over the last 27 years, and I'm a pretty happy K-12 guy. Paul Casey: So throughout the journey, you probably hit some obstacles to success, even though you didn't consider making the jump out of there. So what's one of the biggest hurdles you overcame in your career? Tony Howard: It took me some time as a young administrator ... this is 2003, four or five ... to learn the concept of I versus we. I learned some hard, painful lessons about I versus we, and the damage that I can cause, and the power that we can cause. Learning from those experiences really helped my career as an administrator take off because I learned through some speed bumps that it's not about me at all. Leadership is, in part, checking your ego at the door and looking for ways to move the collective forward in a way that's positive for the system. Tony Howard: Has nothing to do with Tony being brilliant or not brilliant on a particular topic. And that took some time. I don't have to have all the right answers. I don't have to always have to insert my opinion everywhere. It helps build trust with the people who work with me and for me, both subordinate in my department and within the organization. But at the end of the day, my role is to facilitate the growth for kids in the public school setting. It's not about what I want, necessarily. That was hard. I was young and pretty headstrong and thought I had it all figured out and really didn't. And like I said, in the open, had some very special people take a liking to the potential that I had and worked me through growing up a little bit. Paul Casey: Wow. So if you're willing to be vulnerable, what was the lesson you learned the hard way? With the whole damage of I. By the way, love that Tri-City influencers. If you missed it, he said, "The damage of I and the power of we." That's a keeper. That's a tweetable moment right there. Tony Howard: I think my first year as an assistant principal way back when, on the other side of the mountains, we had a hearing or something going on with the principal. I was the assistant principal and got a call, "Bring over some stuff to the hearing." I brought it over and made a passing offhand comment, and kind of joking to the district secretary when I came in the door, "I'm here to save the principal." It was a total in jest kind of comment. It landed poorly. "I'm here to save," That's not going to work in terms of what leadership is. Tony Howard: While I maybe didn't appreciate it at the time, rightfully so, got my bell rung pretty good about the fact that, first of all, I don't do anything. Second of all, we don't say that to each other. And third of all, it's time for you to grow up and sit in the chair that you need to sit in. I remember, it was done at four o'clock on a Friday afternoon, which was always tactically brilliant when you're trying to deliver lessons of love, you know? Tony Howard: I got to chew on it all weekend and decided he was right and I was going to make some changes. Within 15 months, I got moved from an assistant principal to a principal, and we're off to the races. So that's that tough love, that invest in potential, that I think is important for leaders to see. While I didn't appreciate getting chewed out, it was the greater good and he was right. Paul Casey: Yeah. You mentioned that some people took you under their wing and maybe taught you some of those lessons. Were those some mentors in your life? Were those other educators? Who were those folks in your life along the way that you really respect them speaking into your life? Tony Howard: I think all was the answer to that. This particular example was a supervisor. The superintendent brought me in and let me have it pretty good. But I never once thought ... and I think this is important in leadership ... that he was attacking me the person. He was getting after a bad choice in an effort of growth. Because he could fire me if you wanted to. That's the way it goes. But he chose to invest. Tony Howard: So I've had really good experiences with superintendents and principal, administrative colleagues over the years. The strongest bonds I have are with folks that aren't afraid to question, or aren't afraid to push on me a little bit. I appreciate intelligent discourse. I work in human resources. All we do is manage conflict. Paul Casey: Whoo hoo! Tony Howard: Nobody calls us up and says, "Hey, great job." We're always working on some sort of thing. So I appreciate folks that, with the right intention, ask hard questions and we're looking for the common right answer. I wouldn't be who I am professionally without my wife, as a counterpoint. She's got insight. She's not an administrator K-12 and she doesn't run in the world I run in professionally every day, but there are times where she has insight into who I am. She knows me pretty well, and will bring me up and have me think about a couple of things, which I like. Because like I said, it's not about me being right. It's about what's right for the system. We all get stuck in our thinking once in a while and really need those people to trust, to kind of push you. Paul Casey: That's right. Receiving feedback is difficult for many people, and I think if you do approach like you do with that, let's move ego and put it to the side, because ego usually leads to defensiveness. Somebody said, "Ego is edging greatness out." That's a good little acronym for that. Tony Howard: Yeah. Paul Casey: That way, you can receive it better. So leadership is difficult. Tony, what's your biggest ongoing challenge as a leader? What's really stretching you either in a positive way stretching, but it's uncomfortable? Tony Howard: Well, we'll set COVID aside. Paul Casey: Yes. That's its own bailiwick. Tony Howard: That's a whole other podcast, I think probably, in terms of what the leadership challenges that are. For me, it has been ... and I have this discussion a lot with paying it forward to newer administrators and aspiring leaders ... is the difference between responsibility and authority. I am the assistant superintendent of HR. My job is to assist the superintendent and the school board in moving forward labor and human resources kinds of issues. I have significant responsibility in the org chart to bargain with unions and solve problems and address personnel, and all those things that happen in HR. But I don't supervise anyone. I don't have, necessarily, the authority to walk in and say, "You, principal or you, teacher have to do this." Tony Howard: I supervise my department, but I have all of this systemic responsibility and my authority while it's there. If someone's doing something illegal, I can say, "Knock it off." But much more, it's lead by influence because I don't have the supervisory direct relationship with 2000 employees in the school district. I like that. I liked being able to be a problem solver without the threat of evaluation and over the top of a conversation, or being able to coach because I'm not the one that's going to write your evaluation. Tony Howard: I find that causes different conversations sometimes with folks. But you have lots of responsibility, not a ton of authority when it comes to just, "You shall do this." The leadership art of that is being able to work with people to move an agenda forward without just telling them to do it. Paul Casey: That's right. Inspire them forward. Tony Howard: Exactly. Paul Casey: So, if you had a leadership philosophy that would be put front and center on a bulletin board in your office for all to see, what would some of those messages say? Tony Howard: I do presentations all the time for aspiring teachers. How do you get your first job? How do I interview? I think we'll get to the answer here. And I always talk about, don't throw away the easy points. Don't ... How do I say this? ... give up things that are easy, that you cannot be taught. And the examples I use is, I can't teach you to have a good work ethic. You can't do it. I can't teach you to be nice to each other in the workplace. I can't teach you to like kids, which would seem like a no brainer in our profession, but it happens. Tony Howard: I can teach you curriculum. I can teach you an assessment strategy. If there's some classroom management kinds of issues, there's a billion different strategies for that. But I can't teach you to fundamentally love the game. I think that has always transferred well in terms of a leadership philosophy for me: work hard, be honest, keep an eye on the big picture. I use a balcony example. I think I read it in a book once. Get on the balcony and look out over the organization, because your decisions sometimes impact in ways you don't even understand. Tony Howard: Be open to feedback, and don't be rigid in your thinking. There are times where you have to be. You did this and I have to fire you. Sometimes it's that simple in our discussions, but rarely. Most of our discussions are, if you've got a better way to build a mouse trap, I want you to be open to share it. Whether we can do it or not, the journey is sometimes more important than how you end up in an issue. But I always look for, those are the easy points. If I'm a principal and I'm looking to hire a teacher and the teacher is going to be combative with their team, with their parents, with me, with the office staff? Life is too short. Those are easy points. Remember that we're all in this together. Paul Casey: Yeah. It sounds like you're talking about the inside game, like the stuff within that you can work on, your personal development. Tony Howard: Right. Paul Casey: Which will then bleed over into your professional life. Tony Howard: Sure. Paul Casey: Most influencers I know have a bit of visionary inside them in order to take that next hill. So where do you take time to dream about the future? What does that look like for you? Tony Howard: There are days when that's hard because in the here and now, there's a lot going on in the here and now, even more so now. There's all sorts of things that aren't in any manual in terms of how to approach them from a leadership perspective. My dreams about the future are being able to look back with satisfaction that I was true to myself, and that at the end of the day, my 27 to 40 years of experience with K-12 helped kids. Tony Howard: My HR job is not necessarily a kid directed position. I don't work with parents very often anymore. I don't work with kids almost ever, but I was a principal and a teacher and a lifer in the system. I think that experience matters. If I'm making human resources decisions in the system that aren't front and center towards kids and staff in the school system, then what am I doing? I think that's what I look forward to in the future. I call it with my folks, the human side of human resources. We manage resources pretty well, whether it's a contractor, a stipend, or whatever it is. But there are times when just the volume of human, everyone that contacts us, almost, has got some sort of crisis. Like I said, no one rarely walks into HR and said, "I'm having a great day, everybody." Paul Casey: HR, grumble, grumble. Tony Howard: Yeah, exactly. Right. So, in that customer service, human side of things, we see people at some of their most stressed moments, and we need to make sure we never forget that. Paul Casey: Yeah. The best HR professionals I see are those that keep the human first over the resources. Tony Howard: Right. We have an employee will come in and a spouse is terminally ill, and all they need from us is the love to support them. They don't know, and they're terrified, and they don't need us closing off opportunities to help them. They need us to work with them. While those conversations are emotional, they're very important. If you don't have them, your system doesn't work. Paul Casey: It's right. Well, before we head into our next question on Tony's morning routine, a shout out to our sponsors. Preston House: Hi, my name is Preston House, and I'm the local owner of Papa John's pizza right here in tri-cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First bank and HFG trust. Preston House: When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I'd been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old, so when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate: employment retirement plans, payroll, bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life and is motivated by providing people in our community like Preston with all the information and support they need, all under one roof. Jesus Melendez: It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call. No automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business serving another local business. Preston House: For more information on how Community First Bank and HFG trust can help you get back on track. Visit www.community1st.com. That's www.community1st.com. Paul Casey: So Tony, what's your typical morning routine? Before work, once you arrive at work, any rituals to help you start your day strong? Tony Howard: It's called coffee. Let me start there, I kind of have a tongue in cheek running joke with my assistant that no one can yell at me before the first cup of coffee is drank. Paul Casey: I like that. Tony Howard: It doesn't happen sometimes, but it's been kind of a running joke for years. I get up and get going in the morning. I like to take some time in the morning to review the overnights, what comes in, in the email overnight, if there were late stuff that didn't get finished, put a bow on the day before I go onto the next one. I'm pretty meticulous with things like a phone log, because it's been useful for me over the years to log what I do and when, so I want to make sure that's current, and just kind of the nuts and bolts of administrivia, of being an office guy. Tony Howard: It's a chance for me in the morning to connect with department staff if I need to, or look to see where the hotspots are or the day or what's in the calendar or whatnot. But it all circles around coffee. I'm not much good to anybody without that first cup of coffee. Paul Casey: When you say hotspots of the day, sort of previewing that, what would be some examples of that? Tony Howard: Well, do I have a contentious personnel meeting in the day? Do we have an investigatory issue? Do we have a grievance hearing? Some of those things are multi-day planning, but do I have an employee that's fired up about a particular issue and needs a little face time? Things drop into my calendar that I don't know what the context of them are. Sometimes you're going to meet with X and, well, why? And try to get my head wrapped around that. Tony Howard: It's also a good chance for me to check in with my staff. I have eight folks report directly to me and they do a variety of technical things for me. If you've been in the district HR's office, which we're moving out of happily here in a couple of months, but it's about as big as this room. No, it's a little bigger than that. But it's not a very big space and just making sure we're fine because if the staff's not fed and we're not taking care of our people, then it's hard for them to feel like they're part of the bigger picture, and they don't get to know everything I see. So just making sure we have that connection. Paul Casey: That's good. How do you deal with the everyday grind of your work without burning out, especially in this intense people, intense conflict job that you live and work in? Tony Howard: I have, more so as an HR director than I did as a principal. As a principal, you get knocks on the door… We're talking direct kid line issues. A mom is distraught or a dad is upset about A, B, or C. And those are real time emotional issues. The kids can't sit, and so they happen a lot. In HR, less so. My meetings are sometimes more formal, and I've been able to kind of balance out the two things. And I tried really hard ... like I said, we manage a ton of conflict and there's a ton of drama that comes through, 2000 employees and all their different needs and whatnot ... to keep it separate. My kids, I've always told myself, I'd never gave my writeup to raise my own kids and be a dad and a spouse in order to work. Paul Casey: That's good. Tony Howard: It feels like that sometimes, but that's the nature of the game. But I have always made conscious and tried to leave the work at the door, and I'm not perfect at that. COVID has messed it all up. It's just messed it all up. In fact, I don't know, June-ish, I started just coming into the office during the day. Not because I can't work at home, but I'm less efficient and it's just stuff I don't- Paul Casey: You needed that break. Tony Howard: It's a mental thing for me. Some of the conflict I didn't want in the house where kids are running in and out of the room and doing their thing, or my wife's coming through. We're a house, and all the kids are home, home learning too, so we're all trying to do that. For me, it was more appropriate to have a little bit of separation between those two things. I will use the drive home as the unplugged time, whether that's an audible or a podcast or whatever I've got, or some music. I like to drive and it's a few minutes just to physically purge the day and go home. Paul Casey: Yeah, it's like emotional white space, right? Tony Howard: Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. So I can be good to my kids and good to my wife and all those things that are important to me, because they're going to be with me far longer than the career, and it's not fair to them to overbalance. It's hard, though. Paul Casey: Yeah. There's a YouTube video. I'm trying to think what the name of it is, but it's like, we all blasted off of earth on these little spaceships, and COVID hits, and we have to make ... It's called maintain the vessel, I think. So we have to maintain our vessel, which is like our body, and each section of the spaceship, one is for work, one is for sleep, one's for eat, we shouldn't cross over. But it's like when you cross the threshold, that's all you do is work in the work room. So you've had to do that, and a lot of people have had to do that, when they go into the office, is create that separation so work stays work. Tony Howard: Well, there's an exercise to getting up and getting a shower and shaving and getting dressed and putting on your work clothes and going and doing that. Besides, I'm not going to be on camera for a Zoom at eight o'clock, so I'm going to roll out of bed and plop out in the recliner. It just didn't work for me. It just didn't. While I love being home, I want to be home and attentive, not home and, "Get off the internet, because I need to get on." It just didn't work for me. Paul Casey: Well, family is a big deal to you. It's a big deal to most people. I know it's difficult now, like you said, how do you prioritize family time, yet still be a high performer at work? So you mentioned already, trying to leave work at the door, not letting that creep into the family as much as possible. Any other tips you have? Tony Howard: You asked me earlier about it. I never thought about getting out of K-12, and this is one of the reasons why I'm not: because the fit is good. In my job, I flex time as I need to. If I've got a kid with a soccer game, I can go. I've got a cell phone and a laptop, and I will keep up and we'll communicate with that. But it's important. Our kids are in Richland in the Richland school district. I work in the Richland school district. My wife works in the Richland school district. We're invested in that time for them, and they're here and it's something that we can do. Tony Howard: Public is a good fit in that regard, which is another reason why I'm a K-12 lifer. It was very important to us that our kids were involved in the system that we were trying to lead. Otherwise, what's the point of all of it? If it's not good enough for my kids, then that's a moral bar for me. That is a good checks and balance. But there's a benefit to that. I have a ninth grader to be, whose life's ambition is to play Bomber soccer and while it's being delayed a little bit as we try to navigate all of these restrictions going to Bomber soccer games is just fine. Tony Howard: My oldest played at Hanford for a couple of years and that's great. Being able to be part of the system and be involved in those because I'm leading in the system, is rewarding to me. Paul Casey: Incidentally, how much vacation do you take, just to refresh? Tony Howard: Oh, four or five weeks a year. We get five weeks as administrators. I try to choreograph that around kid breaks. I'll take a chunk of time at Christmas and spring break. We just got back from doing some summer stuff. I try to balance that. I don't take all the five weeks some years. It just kind of depends. But the basic breaks like everybody else, I figure if they're in school and my wife's working, I'd probably be working too. Paul Casey: Do you try to stay disconnected during vacation? Like, like be "done" done? I'm asking because I've asked my clients, so do you check email and not respond? Do stay disconnected? Tony Howard: I've done all the different models that I think there are. I try really hard in July. Around the 4th of July, we'd like to do some camping and whatnot, that I unplug completely. Just for that seven to 10 days, don't check a thing. It's a dead time for us anyway. Paul Casey: Sure. Tony Howard: Buildings are closed. Kids are gone. It's relatively quiet as things get in the office. This year, I really wasn't able to do that because there was just too much going on. Well, I'm trying to, from a campground, Zoom into a school board meeting so I can keep an eye on what's going on, thinking this is just surreal trying to navigate all that. But I do try to unplug a little bit at Christmas, the in between Christmas and New Years, I'll try to unplug for three or four days. Tony Howard: The rest of it, I think the world we live in and the role that I have requires some monitoring. I'll keep an eye on things. I'll respond if I need to. Some of it I'll keep and I'll just flag it for when I get back to work. But where I sit in the org chart for the district and the emergent needs, I have to be able to respond to a problem with it comes up. I think it's just a leadership thing. I think I need to do that. And if not, then who? Is kind of the question that I have. Paul Casey: Sure. Tony Howard: That's kind of how I approach that. I try to unplug a little bit. I think it's healthy for me and it's healthy for the family. This year, we weren't able to unplug as much, but there are extenuating circumstances. Paul Casey: Yes. Work and life got mushed together. Tony Howard: They sure did. Paul Casey: Well, influencers aren't know it alls. They are learners. Where do you go, Tony, for the wisest advice? That can be live people here in town or they could be authors and motivators, education professionals. Where do you go? Tony Howard: I go to ... I think we talked about it in the open a little bit ... the people that I trust. It starts there. There has to be some degree of safety in order to be vulnerable to ask that question. I'm lucky in the sense that I spent all 13 plus years in the RSD and have a network of folks that I can reach out to and say, "I am missing something here." Or, "I'm thinking this, and I'm pretty sure there's a bucket there I'm going to step in. Can you tell me what I'm not seeing?" I do some of that with people that I trust. Tony Howard: I do some of the conference. All that whole world is going to change, the onsite stuff and whatnot. I find, it may be a function of just maturing a little bit, my attention span to irrelevant is less than it used to be. If I take a class or read a book or go to a session and it's just not clicking with what I need to do, it's hard for me to keep engaged to that. I find it's 50/50. There's a lot of influencers, as you put out there, that have a lot of good content, but it's just not possible to soak all that in. Tony Howard: I like to do some personal reflection, that driving stuff like we talked about and whatnot. I'll just chew on, all right, what's the larger issue that I'm not seeing? It's a question I ask myself a lot. Where's my blind spot? So whether it's a negotiation or a labor issue or a personnel issue, is where are we not quite right? Tony Howard: Our attorney works next to us, works in the district office. He really pushed on me, when I started 10 years ago in HR and to write better. Because now I'm writing for real issues. And I wasn't used to having him edit a letter and getting back three pages of red: change this and change that, and do this and do that. He was great. He's a terrific asset and a good friend. I tease that the highest praise I've gotten from anybody in the district in the past nine plus years is a letter he sent back to me a couple of years ago that says, "Looks good." That was like, I finally made it, a little bit. But I've got a network and I tend to lean towards the network of people that I know and trust more so than industry standard kinds of things. It's just my comfort level. Paul Casey: Sure, sure. I love that question: what's the issue I'm not seeing here? What's missing? What's the blind spot? These are questions to ask that open up creativity. They're good ones. Tony Howard: Yep. Paul Casey: Well finally, what advice would you give to new leaders or anyone who wants to keep growing and gaining more influence? Tony Howard: Be a sponge, good or bad. I've had this discussion with leaders before, principals before. You learn some times as much from a bad or a negative classroom experience as a student than you do from the great ones. I've done exercises before: think through your three most powerful teachers that you've ever had. Now let's think through the three most traumatic, poor experiences you've had in a classroom. People can do that. They can remember real quick, the good and the bad. Tony Howard: Then I'll ask them to think through somebody in the middle, and they have a harder time, because good and bad ... or good and negative, I guess, is maybe a fair way to say that, are telling learning opportunities. So be a sponge. Just because someone has a different style or you don't agree with their tactics, you can still learn from them. The other part of this that I would tell young leaders is not to worry about errors of effort. While there are always exceptions and there are errors we just, can't not deal with, for young administrators, you're going to mess up. For young leaders, you're going to make mistakes. I've been doing this a long time, I still mess up. If someone's not mad at me at least once a day, I'm probably not doing my job right. Paul Casey: That's right. Tony Howard: Errors of effort are correctable and coachable. Errors of apathy aren't. If you're just making the same mistake twice because you're just too lazy to change, or unwilling to take feedback in a positive way, that's where I start to get concerned about leadership being a failure for somebody. If you botch it: eat it, fix it. It happens. I've gotten up in front of staffs and said, "Well, that didn't work. Here's what we've tried to do. And now we're going to step back and readjust." And I have found over the years that adults respond to that. Paul Casey: Yeah. They respect you more, right? Tony Howard: I screwed up. Because I've always tried to work from, I'll take the hit if the building messes up. You guys are going to celebrate. It's not the I and we stuff again. But if you're wrong, you're wrong. I've seen leaders really blow up a room just because they're not willing to accept that, whether it may or may not be their fault, it's still them. Paul Casey: Yep. Tony Howard: I didn't make that teacher yell at that kid or throw that book or whatever happened in the classroom, but that's still a teacher under my supervision, and that reflects on all of us, and I'm the leader of the building. So, errors of effort, I can live with those. Errors of apathy or errors of stubbornness, I have less patience. Paul Casey: Wow. So good. So, Tri-Cities influencers, be a sponge and don't worry as much about errors of effort. Really be concerned about errors of apathy. Well Tony, how can our listeners connect with you if they wanted to reach out? Tony Howard: I'm on the district website, and email's up there and all of that. My LinkedIn profile is active. I think that's how you saw me. Paul Casey: I did. We reconnected through that, yes. Tony Howard: We reconnected here just not too long ago. But I'm not hard to find. I'm just at the district website in the HR department. I'm open to email and contact. The art of leadership is a career interest of mine. Paul Casey: Yes, indeed. A passion we share. Tony Howard: Well, I appreciate you inviting me in. Paul Casey: Yes. Thanks for all you do to make the Tri-Cities a great place, and keep leading well. Tony Howard: Aw, thank you. Paul Casey: Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. The website is arealme.com. Arealme.com. These are really fun quizzes to take. You've probably seen some on Facebook, like what kind of animal are you? What kind of Disney princess are you? What's your super power? What chemical element are you? If you just want a fun little website of surveys, they'll even create some for you, arealme.com. Paul Casey: Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guest Tony Howard from the Richland school district for being here today on the Tri-city influencer podcast. We also want to thank our TCI sponsor and invite you to support them, appreciating that they make this possible so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. Sade said, "Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy." Until next time, KGF. Keep growing forward. Announcer: Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams, so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. Announcer: If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at growingforward@paulcasey.org, for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward. Announcer: Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done every day by offering you his free control my calendar checklist. Go to www.takebackmycalendar.com for that productivity tool, or open a text message to 72000, and type the word "growing." Paul Casey: The Tri-Cities influencer podcast was recorded at Fuse SPC by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.

Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. Hans is the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. In 2020, Hans Co-Created a 2nd Podcast: Award Winning Culture Podcast, to explore the secrets to creating life-changing learning environments rooted in JOY. Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, and PBIS Rewards. He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He’s been a contributing writer on three educational books: Define Your WHY, Reflective Impact Journal and ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education. Hans believes that education at its highest level is about helping others discover and develop their JOY. And when we take the time to intentionally craft at award winning culture, we provide our students with the OPPORTUNITY to pursue joy. http://www.awardwinningculture.com (http://www.awardwinningculture.com) Twitter: @HansNAppel Instagram: HansNAppel Resource Mentioned Infinite Game - Simon Sinek (https://simonsinek.com/product/the-infinite-game/) Parents, quick announcement: There is a FREE Executive Function Parent Summit coming THIS Friday, Aug 21 2020. https://executivefunctionsummit.com (https://educationonfire--sethperler.thrivecart.com/tefos2020/) Click the link if your child struggles with things like homework, grades, procrastination, disorganization, time management, motivation, overwhelm or being able focus on the task at hand. 24 experts are diving deep into ways you can support your child: Mike Postma, Sarah Ward, Dr. Marlo Payne Thurman, Peg Dawson, Ross Greene and more. What: TEFOS, The Executive Function Online Summit for parents When: Starts THIS Friday, Aug 21-23 2020 Where: Online. For free registration click here   (https://educationonfire--sethperler.thrivecart.com/tefos2020/) Show Sponsor The National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. This includes parents, teachers, governors and all those interested in primary education. NAPE is a non-political charity and works tirelessly to support teachers in the classroom. https://nape.org.uk/ (https://nape.org.uk/) Support this podcast

Michelle Oates: A promise tomorrow is worth a lot less than trying today. I am Michelle Oates and I'm a Tri-Cities influencer. Paul Casey: But really this is the core philosophy of what I teach in time management, and that is manage your time around your values and vision. This is your foundation for everything else in time management. Speaker 3: Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington in Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI podcast where local leadership and self-leadership expert, Paul Casey interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit executives to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. Here's your host, Paul Casey of Growing Forward Services, coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success. Paul Casey: Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Cari McGee. Cari is a realtor with Keller Williams and I asked for a fun fact about her. She has very vivid dreams that she still remembers, but Cari, you're going to have to tell the story. Cari McGee: Okay. Well, a lot of grownups forget their dreams or they think of childhood is when you really have your dreams. But here I am as an adult having pretty vivid dreams. The other day I had a dream that I was married to my accountant, and that's kind of funny, but what's really funny is that I wasn't married to my accountant. Instead of being married to my husband, I was married to my accountant in addition to being married to my husband, and he just liked being married to me. He traveled a lot, I understood in the dream. And he said that when he was home, he just liked to be married to me. Cari McGee: In the dream, I'm thinking, I'm like, "Okay, this is pretty serious. And if I get caught, how am I going to explain this?" Like, sometimes if somebody gets caught in a crime syndicate or whatever, they can say, "Oh, I was brainwashed or this..." Nothing like that happened. Like, why was I married to two people at once? I have no idea. So thankfully I woke up. Paul Casey: Thankfully I woke up. Cari McGee: And that was not my reality. Paul Casey: That's a good T-shirt message as well. Thankfully, I woke up. Cari McGee: Yes, totally love that. Paul Casey: Especially in these trying times that we're in, maybe we're all going to get to put that on our shirts. Cari McGee: Oh, right, right. That's a good message. Paul Casey: Well, we're going to dive in after checking in with our Tri-City Influencer sponsor. Preston House : Hi, my name is Preston House and I'm the local owner of Papa John's Pizza right here in Tri-Cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First Bank and HFG Trust. Preston House : When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I've been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old. So when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate, employment and retirement plans, payroll, bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life and is motivated by providing people in our community like Preston, with all the information and support they need all under one roof. Preston House : It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call, no automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business, serving another local business. Jesus Melendez: For more information, how Community First Bank and HFG Trust can help you get back on track. Visit wwwcommunity1st.com. That's www community one st.com. Paul Casey: Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. So, Cari, I think we met years ago, our children are the same age, both kids, same age, both a male and a female child, same grade, Wiley Elementary, Enterprise Middle School. Cari McGee: Yes. Hanford High. Paul Casey: Hanford High, right? Cari McGee: Yes. And our daughters are these amazing graduating kids. Paul Casey: Yes. Yes. 2020 kids, which is sad that they don't get the fanfare or some of those rituals that all the other seniors get. Cari McGee: I know. Paul Casey: Man, but we're making the best of it. Cari McGee: Absolutely. Same here. Paul Casey: So help our Tri-City influencer listeners get to know you. Tell us through a couple of your career highlights that led you to where you are today. Cari McGee: Okay. I began in real estate in 2004. And funny story, I decided to get into real estate. I had been in retail for years, but then I decided to get into real estate because there was somebody else that we knew that was in real estate. He was very successful, but I didn't understand why he was very successful. So I thought if this person is successful, I can probably be more successful. Cari McGee: So I borrowed a computer because in those days everything was not online yet, but you had to run a computer program to do your coursework. So I borrowed a PC because we only had Macs and it took me hours and I got it finished. And then I've been selling real estate full-time since 2004. Paul Casey: Wow. Why do you love what you do? Cari McGee: Oh, my gosh. It is a different job every day, number one. Number two, it's such a privilege to be a part of that particular aspect of a person's life because where you live obviously is hugely impactful to whether you move into a particular house as a kid or as a grownup, you're living there. Right? And I know if I had not been a Christian before this, I would be a Christian now because I've seen the way God works and orchestrates things like the money will come in at the last minute. Right? Or a house will be delayed closing because somebody else is supposed to move to town because they're the real owners. It's weird, and it's such a privilege to be a part of plans for people and what's going on for them. It's really, really cool. Paul Casey: That is really rewarding. So throughout that journey, you've hit obstacles to success. I'm sure. Cari McGee: Yes. Paul Casey: What is one of the biggest hurdles you've overcome in your career? Cari McGee: I would say that sometimes there have been people that either they see what I'm capable of and are scared by it or threatened by it and try to kind of rein me in or they don't see it and I haven't seen it either. And so I have not progressed or done as much as I could have/should have because of those other things happening. Does that make sense? Paul Casey: Yeah. What kind of people try to rein you in? Cari McGee: Well, there's a book called The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller, famous book, awesome book. And in 2004 or five, I think, my husband gave it to me as a Christmas present and I read it and I was so excited. I went into my broker at the time and I said, "Oh my gosh, I just read this book, and it's amazing. And I'll implement these programs and plans and I'll make a million dollars and it'll be great." My broker at the time said, "Cari, you're a wife and a mom. You really should just focus on that." Paul Casey: Ooh, wow, ouch. Cari McGee: Yeah, I was like, "Ooh." Well, I'm kind of mad at myself though, too, for... I mean, I didn't say you're right, but I didn't say you're wrong, either. Paul Casey: But it's something well up inside of you like, "I'm going to show everybody." Cari McGee: A little bit. There's all this... Yeah. Paul Casey: You have that competitive juice in you. Cari McGee: Oh, I totally do. I'm super competitive. Super competitive. Paul Casey: Well, leadership is difficult. Being an entrepreneur is difficult. What's one of your biggest ongoing challenges of being a realtor, and what really stretches you to the limit sometimes? Cari McGee: Change used to be my big thing, but now I've learned to embrace it. So, yay change! Paul Casey: Yay. Cari McGee: But I think that understanding that not everyone always looks at things the way you do, right? Everyone comes from a different perspective and a different background. So if I am like, "This is the way it gets done," and sometimes I'll be so far down the path and I'm like, "Where are you? Why are you not here with me?" And they're like, "Well, I still need to understand step four when you're at step eight." I'm like, "Oh, okay." That's hard for me is to not understand that everybody is where I am in the thought process. Paul Casey: They're at a different place in the thought process. Cari McGee: Exactly. Paul Casey: Well, you said you're better with change now. Was there a time where... Tell us about that. Cari McGee: Well, for years, any sort of change, I would just be like, "Oh, this is awful. This is ick." I want everything to stay the same as it was, and let's embrace the status quo and let's not change things. But three years ago, I needed to make a pretty significant change. And I kind of looked around when the dust settled and I was like, "Oh, this is better. This is better than where I was." So change can be good if you stop fighting against it, and instead say, "Let's see where this takes you." Paul Casey: So, that was your mental shift that you had to make, and it sounds like it stayed with you, too. Cari McGee: Oh, 100%. Paul Casey: That it can be way better even though it's going to be painful for a season. Cari McGee: Yeah. 100%. Paul Casey: Awesome. Awesome. Well, if you had a philosophy that you would put front and center on a bulletin board in your office or on the back sticker of your car for everyone to see, what would some of those messages say? Cari McGee: One of my favorite quotes ever is from Paradise Lost by John Milton. "The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." I always think about that because if somebody is... I'm a big believer in mindset. You know, you govern everything that happens to you by how you interpret it and what happens in your brain. If I encounter someone who's like, "Oh, this is bad." And they're gloomy Gus or whatever, it's really hard to not almost shake them and say, "Listen, you're creating this in your brain because literally you can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. It's just all how you perceive it." Paul Casey: So your thoughts are everything. Cari McGee: Yeah. 100%. Paul Casey: Yeah, yeah. There's a life coach, famous one out there named Brooke Castillo. She puts out this formula of CTFAR, which is circumstance happens to you, and then you have a thought. Usually that thought is somewhat automatic. If we can be careful about that thought, which is what you're saying, because it immediately is going to turn into a feeling. And the feeling could bring you down this downward spiral, which is ugly, or it could be a very empowering feeling that like you said would change. Like, what's going to be better if I just go on this journey? Paul Casey: Well, as soon as you do attach the feeling to it, now an action starts to manifest. That could be your body puts out signals that make people go, "Are you okay, Cari?" Or "It seemed like you're offended. Are you angry?" Or whatever that is. You may not like the signals that your body is putting out, or they could really inspire someone. And then the R is the result. And that's what the effect has on everyone around you. So circumstance, thought, feeling, action, and then result. Cari McGee: Makes sense. Paul Casey: So it sounds like that you definitely have that. The John Milton quote really talks about mindset. Anything else that you'd put on the sticker of your car? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. I'm really blessed because I've always been an optimist. Paul Casey: I know this about you. Cari McGee: You know? Paul Casey: Yeah. Cari McGee: I'm always positive. And so I guess that it would be that just like, "Look on the bright side." There's always a bright side. Find it. Paul Casey: Some of that is natural for you and your personality style, but you have to choose it every day. So if you're talking to these Tri-City influencers, why would you say choose optimism? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. If you're not choosing optimism, you're choosing pessimism or you're choosing a negative side of realism, and I mean, that just drags you down. It doesn't move you forward. You don't grow where it's dark. You grow where there's light and you move forward where there's light. Think of sunflowers, right? They follow the sun because that's what makes them... You know, that's doing their job. They're optimized, I guess, would be the best word for that. Paul Casey: Things grow where there's light. There's the bumper sticker. We found it. Cari McGee: There you go. Okay. Paul Casey: I love it. I love it. Well, most influencers I know have a bit of a visionary inside of them or that like, "We've got to take the next deal. I got these ideas." So for you, where do you take time to dream about the future or new ideas? Where do you play with that kind of stuff? What does that look like? Cari McGee: Oh, a couple of places. I'm in my car a lot as a real estate agent and so a lot of stuff... I'll be listening to podcasts and something will be said and it'll make me think, and I'll pause the podcast and I'll start to think and dream. One other thing, and this is funny, my husband used to be in broadcasting. So this is where this question comes from, but my whole life, I've interviewed myself. Like, "Well, Cari, tell us about this time." Right? To help me kind of walk through or figure out a problem. I was telling my husband that once, and he said, "Do you ever ask yourself a question you can't answer?" I said, "What?" He said, "Well, that's the mark of a good interview." Okay. The point is not though to be- Paul Casey: To stop. Cari McGee: Right. I'm talking to me. Right? I'm not going to ask myself something that I don't know. But anyway, I'll use that time in the car to do that, and then oftentimes too just out sitting on the patio in the evening, watching the sunset and thinking of the future. Paul Casey: Little patio time. Cari McGee: Yes. Paul Casey: Yeah. Well, that's really interesting. Interview yourself. So Matt McGee, was he sports? What was he? Cari McGee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep. Paul Casey: Yeah, he was sports. What years were that? Cari McGee: Oh gosh, '94 through '97 I think he was at KEPR. Paul Casey: Okay. Okay. But asking yourself questions. And I do, I find that, too, like... Because you're on social media a lot. Right? Which platforms do you enjoy the most by the way? Cari McGee: Facebook is my milieu. I love it. Paul Casey: Okay. Okay. So, of course, you have to be self-promoting, which is hard. Cari McGee: Correct yes. Paul Casey: Which is hard, and sometimes when you just try to come up with a message on your own, it's difficult. But if you think about the interview, like if I just have somebody ask me a question, for some reason, it makes it easier. Have you found that? Cari McGee: Oh, 100%. Yes. Yes. Paul Casey: I don't know if it just brings out our authenticity or you don't feel quite as plastic to put it out to the world, but if you can get someone else to ask you a question, I think that's just easier. Cari McGee: Well, I mean, I did something at the beginning of when the stay at home order was released. I did a thing for 30 days on Facebook. Every day I asked a new question and it really helped people because the purpose of it was to remind them that we were in this situation, and to think about times in the past when we were not, and times in the future when we won't be. Paul Casey: Oh, I like it. Cari McGee: So that was the purpose of it and it was a different question every day. It was things like, What's your favorite color? Or do you have a middle name? Do you wish it was a different middle name? What would your last name be if you could change it? I mean, so things like that. You're right. It's when you ask questions, people just are... They jump on it. They get so excited. Paul Casey: So a good strategy on social media for engagement, because you've got a lot of engagement from that, too. Right? Cari McGee: I did. I did. Paul Casey: Yeah. So asking a good question. Really the power of a good question is really essential to leadership and of course, to entrepreneurship. That curiosity really brings out the best in people it seems. Well, before we head into our next question on how Cari starts her day, let's shout out to our sponsor. Preston House : Hi, my name is Preston House and I'm the local owner of Papa John's Pizza right here in Tri-Cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First Bank and HFG Trust. Preston House : When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I'd been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old. So when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate employment, retirement plans, payroll, bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life and is motivated by providing people in our community like Preston with all the information and support they need all under one roof. Preston House : It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call, no automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business, serving another local business. Jesus Melendez: For more information, how Community First Bank and HFG Trust can help you get back on track, visit wwwcommunity1st.com. That's www community one st.com. Paul Casey: So Cari, what's your typical morning routine look like before work and once you hit the ground running at work, and if you have any rituals that help you start your day strong? Cari McGee: I actually do. I don't know if you've ever read The Miracle Morning. Paul Casey: I've heard of it. Cari McGee: Okay. It's really, really good, and it talks about having, it can be as few as 10 minutes, or it can be as much as an hour of SAVERS, S-A-V-E-R-S. Paul Casey: Oh, yes. Is it Hal Elrod? Cari McGee: Yes, yes. Paul Casey: Yes. Okay. Cari McGee: S is silence, moment of silence, meditation, prayer, whatever. And then A is affirmations. V is visualization. E is exercise. R is reading and S is scribing or journaling. I started that. It was so funny. I started it three years ago, I think. What I love about it is that it centers me because I wake up and I don't look at my phone first thing. I don't look at my emails. Cari McGee: The problem with that is you immediately, you're in reactive mode when you do that and that's so bad for you, and the hormones of your body when you're waking up and everything. So if you start the day really centering and being grateful and then also dreaming, you're affirming the visualization. Probably it ties into the dream thing. I mean, I have a really active imagination. Visualizing is not a problem for me at all. And so I love that part of it. And then I've always loved to read and then journaling, too. I love to write. And so all of that is what I generally do probably about five days a week. Paul Casey: That's great. So take us through SAVERS again, so our listeners don't have to rewind. Cari McGee: Sure. S is silence. So silence, meaning a moment of silence in prayer or meditation. A is affirmations. V is visualization. E is exercise. R is reading and S is scribing, which is the old-fashioned way of saying journaling. Paul Casey: Yeah. Yeah. I heard Brendon Burchard, he's another podcast guy I listen to. Cari McGee: Oh, I like him. Paul Casey: He said, "We need to take our MEDS every day and MEDS is meditation, exercise- Cari McGee: Yeah. Meditation, exercise, diet, and- Paul Casey: Sleep. Cari McGee: Sleep. Yeah. Paul Casey: Yeah. So SAVERS incorporates that, but even takes it to that next level with the journaling. What does journaling do for you? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. Well, I mean, Paul, I've always been a writer. I write stories. I write everything. So for me, it's helpful because I will read back over old entries and remember where I was at any given time. And if it was a bad time, then I'm like, "Oh, look at me. I got past this bad time because this is not my reality anymore." Now I'm over here, that happened. It helps me remember and realize that I've gotten through bad times before. Paul Casey: You grew. Cari McGee: Right. I've gotten through bad times and here I am on the other side of it. Maybe sometimes in there, I'll talk about how I did it, but mostly it's just recording how I feel at any given time. Then I'm like, "Oh, I remember that place. I didn't like that place. I'm glad I'm here now." Paul Casey: Yeah, I've heard journal is a place to protest. Cari McGee: Oh, sure. Paul Casey: You know, it's like when you write an email to someone you're mad at and then you don't send it, but it's just getting it done and then you're going to delete it. Cari McGee: Right, exactly. Paul Casey: A journal can also be that place where you're just talking about your feelings to the world, but to no one. And then you don't have to show it to anyone else. It's your own private place is doing this journaling. Cari McGee: I like that. Paul Casey: That's why that's a good one, too. And sleep, well, it's so important, especially during this COVID crisis. A lot of Zoom meetings where you're talking with people on the phone or, and they just... The research says you need eight hours of sleep. I don't know if you're an eight-hour person. Cari McGee: Oh, no. I totally am. I'm a huge sleep believer. It bothers me when people are all like, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Okay, well, you're going to die sooner. Paul Casey: It's going to catch up to you. Yeah. Cari McGee: So why don't you sleep now? Right? That's my thing. Paul Casey: It's going to catch up to you. So if you're getting by in five, six or seven normally, you need the eight now because boy, you just... Sleep puts your life in perspective, I think, if you have enough adequate rest. And when you're on burnout, you lose your perspective and that's a scary place. You ever been in a place of burnout before where it's just- Cari McGee: Oh, gosh yeah. Yes. Paul Casey: Now what does that feel like for you? Cari McGee: Oh, I get snappy. I get really, really snappy with everyone I love. I'll do a lot of screaming in the car. You know, "Move your 'beep.'" Do you not? My mom always used to do this thing where she would drive and we'd be at the intersection and she'd say, "Beep, beep." And then they would move. And she'd say, "See, Cari, they heard me." I was like, "What?" But I will be like, "Move." You know, and it doesn't work for me. Anyway, I snap. I get pissy. Oh, I get snotty. I have attitude. It's awful. Paul Casey: Any other tips you'd give to listeners about avoiding burnout? Because it's a grind. Running your own business is a grind, but even for those that are in a regular work job, a day job, a burnout is always a threat. Cari McGee: Yep. 100%. Sleep is important. Like we just talked about, you've got to get enough sleep. Otherwise, your last nerve gets reached really fast. But also, one thing that I'm not really good at doing, but would help if I did is take time to notice the things you have done well and where you are now, like you did land that big client or you were able to accomplish this task that you didn't think you could. And then you're like, "Okay, you know what? I really am further along than I thought I'd be." Paul Casey: Yeah. Take time to celebrate, I think is what you're saying. Cari McGee: Yeah. Paul Casey: On my whiteboard, it's my scorecard or whatever I call it, and at the end of every week... I'll do it. I'll do it tomorrow. It's my weekly review, and it's all the things I did get done this week. Of course, I'm just a party of one as a solopreneur. And I just went, "Yes, I got that done, that done, that done." Nobody else sees it, but me, but it makes me feel good like this was another good week. Cari McGee: See, and that's really good. I need to do that. I don't do them enough. Paul Casey: Yeah. When I ask my coaching clients, the very first question I usually ask of them, the icebreaker question is what wins can we celebrate? What did you get crossed off your list? What did you make progress on? Because most people at least can feel like, "Well, I moved the ball forward in these areas." It's not done-done, but it's better than it was last week. So I really love that as a burnout avoidance technique or else you just feel like, again, not anything done. This is a- Cari McGee: Same crap, different day unless you take a minute to say, "Wait, this was a very different day because I accomplished X." Paul Casey: Yes, yes. We're trying to avoid Groundhog Day. Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: That is a great way to do it. I love it. Now, family is a big deal to most people. How do you prioritize your family time whether it's with your husband, with your kids and yet still be a high performer at work, right? It's this constant tension. Cari McGee: It is, it is. Well, this is a slightly different thing for women, I think, as opposed to men, especially in my job anyway. I heard a long time ago and I have always lived by this. Say, for example, if I'm going to take my daughter to a dance class or I'm going to do something, right? If I tell a client that that's what I'm doing, then I'm a mom primarily who also happens to work in real estate. Paul Casey: Oh, okay. Cari McGee: Right? But if a dad says, "Hey, I can't show you this house, because I'm going to take my daughter." "Oh my gosh, you're the best dad in the world. Oh, my gosh, you're really taking time for your family. Oh, my gosh, absolutely." Right? So I have always said, even if I am doing something with my kids, nobody knows that. I'm like, "Okay, you know what? I have a lunch appointment." Paul Casey: I'm just unavailable right now. Yep. Cari McGee: Right. Exactly. "I have a lunch appointment. Blah, blah, blah." So I draw those really clear boundaries around stuff. They don't necessarily know what those boundaries are around, but I mean, that's why when I need to do something with kid one or kid two, I'm there when I said I'd be there because that's super important especially when they're littler. My daughter, it's funny. She hasn't been in daycare for... I don't know. She's 18 now. So like, I don't know, 10 years or more, probably 15 years. And she remembers the one time we were late. Cari McGee: Every time we passed her daycare, "Remember when we were late, when you were late to get me?" It's like, "Stop kid." Right? I mean, it's a testament to the fact that her dad and I worked so hard to get them on time that she remembers the one time we were late. Do you know what I mean? As opposed to it being a constant thing. Paul Casey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, it's our brains who remember those traumatic times- Cari McGee: Oh, my gosh right. Paul Casey: ... more than all the times you're on time and all the gifts you gave them. Cari McGee: Exactly. Paul Casey: Do you have date times with your husband? How do you carve? Do you carve that out or as a realtor, do you have to move blocks of time all over the place? Cari McGee: No. Sometimes... I mean, he'll say, "This Marvel movie is coming out on Saturday and I got tickets for us already" or whatever. And then I'm like, "Okay, that's perfect." Because if I know in advance, then I'll schedule around it, so that's fine. Paul Casey: Okay. So that's blocked out in advance probably through good communication, because there's probably times where you just got to show house and that has to be moved around. Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: And of course, Matt is the biggest U2 fan on the planet. Right? Right? Cari McGee: Well, usually. Actually, he's no longer a U2 fan. Paul Casey: No longer? Cari McGee: No. Paul Casey: Oh wow. Okay. Cari McGee: There's a new band called Gang of Youths that he loves. They're from Australia, and they're amazing. Paul Casey: Okay. All right. I was going to say, did that impact your marriage? Cari McGee: Actually, this is funny. I was really worried because I thought... Because they predate me and I thought, "Oh, if he could lose interest in them, my days are numbered." My daughter was like, "Mom, please." I was like, "Oh." Paul Casey: Funny, funny. Okay. So as an influencer, we know you're not a know-it-all. You're a learner, right? Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: So where do you go for the wisest advice? These can be live people. Well, they probably all have been live people. Cari McGee: And once live. Paul Casey: I mean, people around us in the Tri-Cities or they're authors, motivators. You've mentioned one already. You've talked a little bit about podcasts. There's probably some industry professionals because what I know about Keller Williams is it's like the best training company, because I get the magazine. I get Trainer Magazine. I know I'm sort of a nerd, but Keller Williams always wins the awards in there. So tell me about your influencers you go to. Cari McGee: Well, one of the number one real estate coaching companies in the world is Tom Ferry coaching. I've had a Tom Ferry coach for four years. Paul Casey: Nice. Cari McGee: I was a Tom Ferry coach for a period of time. I have a new coach now outside that Tom Ferry organization. She's amazing. So ever since I realized how important coaching is, that's really... I mean, holy cow, my business doubled. It was amazing. Paul Casey: Really? Wow. Bam. Cari McGee: Yes. It was really remarkable. So coaches for sure. And then part of that reading of the SAVERS is reading books like Principles by Ray Dalio. Paul Casey: I'm reading that one right now. Yes. Cari McGee: Okay. It's so good. Right? So there's so much to learn, Paul, from everybody. Oh, my gosh, I'm just always reading, and like I said, always podcasting, listening to podcasts with great interviews with people, so that I have to learn more. Paul Casey: Do you have a few favorite books or podcasts that you could recommend so that generally entrepreneurs or leaders would enjoy? Cari McGee: Sure. One is not actually about anything entrepreneurial, but it's called 99% Invisible and it is just stinking great, fascinating trivial information, really good stories. It's been going on for 10 years and I discovered it a year ago, and over successive hikes at Badger, I've made my way through 10 years of that catalog and stuff. It's so good. Paul Casey: Yes. 99% Invisible? Cari McGee: Yes. So good. And then Matt does a walk through or does a podcast called The Walkthrough and it's about real estate stuff, and so that's fantastic. And then also, gosh, I would say Tom Ferry's podcast is really good, too. Paul Casey: Okay. These are good ones. Cari McGee: Oh, sorry. And Gary Keller does one and I can't remember what it's called, but it's really, really good. Paul Casey: I have listened to Gary Keller's before. Yes, it is good. So finally, Cari, what advice would you give to new leaders or anyone who wants to keep growing or gaining more influence? Cari McGee: Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I mean, it's really scary, but you are a better person on the other side of whatever it is and your whole life will be better on the other side of whatever you're scared about. Paul Casey: Yeah. I think I've actually heard that as a quote. Cari McGee: Yeah. That's better on the side other of fear. Paul Casey: Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Yeah, yeah. That's great meme. And has that been true for your life? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Because again, as I said earlier, I used to hate change. It was really in the last three years that I've changed a lot of stuff and became less resistant to change, and that's really when the growth started to happen. I'm in a place now where I didn't know I could be where things are fantastic and only getting better. Paul Casey: So if someone would say, "But Cari, I'm just scared. I see this obstacle in front of me," what would be a baby step that would get them? Either what's their self-talk need to be or what would you say to hit the go button for them? Cari McGee: One thing I heard a long time ago, which was really, really good was that as babies, we all learn to walk and what if the first time we learned to walk and we fell down, we just said to ourselves, "All right, well, I guess I'm not a walker." Right? Paul Casey: Yeah. Cari McGee: No, none of us does that because when we're babies, we don't understand that there are points where you get scared. Babies don't have fear like that. They're just like, "Okay, this is where I have to go." And you have to tap into that primal part of you that's just like, "All right, here we go. Let's go. Let's do it. I'm a baby and I'm moving forward." Paul Casey: Love it, love it. So how can our listeners best connect with you? Cari McGee: Call me, text me, email me. Phone is (509) 430-5342. Email is cari@carimcgee.com. So first, then first and last. Paul Casey: Fantastic. Well, thanks again for all you do to make the Tri-Cities a great optimistic place and keep leading well. Cari McGee: Awesome. Thanks, Paul, so much. Paul Casey: Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. It's from The Wiseman Group. What's interesting is there's a term called an Accidental Diminisher so you can actually take a little test to see if you inadvertently are becoming an accidental diminisher of the people that you lead. Even though your heart's in the right place and you have good intentions, there are some things that we can do to actually diminish the people around us. Of course, the author is trying to get you to be a multiplier instead of a diminisher. So you can check that out at The Wiseman Group. Paul Casey: Again, this is Paul Casey, and I want to thank my guest, Cari McGee from Keller Williams for being here today on the Tri-City Influencer Podcast. We also want to thank our TCI sponsors and invite you to support them. We appreciate you making this possible, so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. It's Anthony D'Angelo. And he says, "Become addicted to constant and never ending self-improvement." So until next time, KGF, keep growing forward. Speaker 3: Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at growingforward@paulcasey.org for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward. Speaker 3: Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done everyday by offering you his free control my calendar checklist. Go to www.takebackmycalendar.com for that productivity tool or open a text message to 72000 and type the word "growing." Paul Casey: The Tri-Cities Influencer podcast was recorded at Fuse SPC by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.

In this episode, author and speaker Hans Appel shares insights from his new book, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence and Community, that lays out a school-wide framework to reshape your school culture. Now in his 19th year as a school counselor in the Richland School District in Washington, Appel points to kindness and empathy as the keys to creating more positive whole-child experiences within our schools. Appel also talks about how podcasting has been a game-changer, providing student voice at Enterprise Middle School, with a student-led podcast that is hosted by Wildcat Nation. Twitter: @HansNAppel. Websites: www.awardwinningculture.com. About Dr. Greg Goins As the Founder/Host of the Reimagine Schools Podcast, Dr. Greg Goins has emerged as one of the nation's leading voices on visionary leadership and the path to transforming our schools. He currently serves as the Director of the Educational Leadership Program at Georgetown College (KY) and previously spent 15 years as a school district superintendent in Illinois. Dr. Goins is a passionate keynote speaker and is available to speak at your next education conference or school PD day. To book Dr. Goins, please send inquiries to drgreggoins@gmail.com. Twitter: @DrGregGoins. Website: www.reimagineschools.net. Become A Supporter: You can now help keep the conversation going by supporting the Reimagine Schools Podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes. Thanks for your support! anchor.fm/greg-goins/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/greg-goins/support

This is episode #63 with Hans Appel, who has been a school counselor from Richland SD, WA for the past 19 years and is the author of the NEW book, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality Through Character, Excellence and Community[i]  that you can find RIGHT NOW on Amazon. My husband has worked closely with this District when he was a Regional VP of Sales with Scholastic and he agrees that they go above and beyond with everything they do, and it’s not surprising to hear that they emerged as International Thought Leaders over there but there’s much more to this story than meets the eye. I look forward to sharing Hans’ background and story for those who would like to replicate Award Winning Culture in their school, workplace or organization. Click here to watch the YouTube interview. Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, my name is Andrea Samadi, I’m a former educator who created this podcast to bring the most current neuroscience research, along with high performing experts who have risen to the top of their field with specific strategies or ideas that you can implement immediately, whether you are a teacher in the classroom, a parent trying to figure out homeschooling and working from home,  or someone working in the corporate world, to take your results to the next level.    Today we are speaking with Hans Appel, has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years at Enterprise Middle School since it opened.  He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness.  In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy.  Additionally, the were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category.  When I first spoke with Hans, just last week, to learn more about his background and new book, his humble nature came through. It wasn’t until last night, when I started to read his book “Award Winning Culture” that just became available last Friday, that I got to know and truly understand where Hans’ passion for building school-wide culture emerged from. I could go on with Hans’ bio, but will include more details in the show notes, and urge you to read his book yourself, and his website[ii] where you can learn more about Hans’s story, and about his wife Jen, who is an educator at Enterprise MS. Welcome Hans!Q1: Hans, when we were speaking last week, you were telling me how all of this started but we didn’t speak at all about your personal story that you share in the beginning of your book.  For anyone looking to understand how change takes place, I do highly suggest reading this book to get a deeper understanding with someone who has grown up firsthand with ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Before we get to the questions, can you share how you used your difficult upbringing to fuel your passion for change within your local school District?Q2: Can you explain how this all began at Enterprise Middle School that caused you to write your book, Award Winning Culture and create the framework around what you did to cause such an international interest?Q3: Hans, I’m familiar with how important it is to infuse SEL skills into a school, home and emotional intelligence training in our workplaces, with what we’ve been doing here, but many schools or workplaces are not sure how to begin, where to even get started with a program. Can you give some ideas of where someone can start to implement award winning culture within their school or organization to reap the benefits that will follow with a program like yours?Q4: Imagine a school or an organization that has not yet implemented a program, and they are well aware that change needs to occur. The part in your book about the reporter crying when she “felt” the energy of your school and asked “why aren’t all schools like yours?” made me think of the fact that I have walked into thousands of schools in the US/Canada over my 20 year career working with schools and that reporter was right. When you see or get that “feeling” that’s hard to explain, but it’s there…usually right when you walk in the front doors (sometimes it can be felt before you walk in) but it’s hard to forget a school like this. What’s involved in changing a school or organization from where they are now, and get them to where they want to be to experience what we know can be felt? I’m sure this change takes time, so what is the process?Q5: Most of us by now are aware of Simon Sinek’s book or TED TALK “Starts with Why” where an organization must have a clear understanding of their “why” before they can make a larger impact with their goals. Once they know WHY they are there, the HOW and WHAT they do becomes simple. What is YOUR “Why” and how do you identify, and tie in a school’s purpose (the foundation) and ensure that all stakeholders are on board with this purpose for existing?  Q6: Is there anything that’s important to mention that you think we have missed? Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and share your powerful story of creating Award Winning Culture in a school or workplace. Your story could have gone 2 ways as we are all well aware of the effects of ACES on a child’s future, but you used your experience to fuel for something that has, I think only just begun for you. I want to recognize you for doing the work to get to where you are today,  (because I know work was involved) and thank you for the impact you are having not just locally in your state, but across the country and internationally. If someone wants to reach you directly, I will put all of the links in show notes and be sure to find the book, Award Winning Culture on Amazon and contact you to learn more about your programs and services for implementing Award Winning Culture. Thank you!Hans can be contacted at hansappel094@gmail.com.  Follow Hans on twitter @HansNAppel. Follow AWC on twitter at @awculture @awcpodcasting or Instagram @awardwinningculture.Wildcat Nation on Instagram @emscounseling #WildcatNation #AwardWinningCultureHANS’ BIO:In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn.   Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, and PBIS Rewards.  He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong.  He has also been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence.   He’s been a contributing writer on three upcoming educational books: “ Define Your WHY: Own Your Story So You Can Live and Learn On Purpose,” “Reflective Impact Journal,” and “ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.”  Hans’ own book about school culture was just released on Amazon on May 22nd. Hans is the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team and a member of the coveted Teach Better Speakers Network.  He presents at conferences, schools, and districts all over the country.  Topics include: Creating an Award Winning Culture, Amplifying Student Voice, Student-Led Podcasting, and Infusing Servant Leadership through PBIS. He can be contacted at hansappel094@gmail.com.  Follow Hans on twitter @HansNAppel. Follow AWC on twitter at @awculture @awcpodcasting or Instagram @awardwinningculture.Wildcat Nation on Instagram @emscounseling #WildcatNation #AwardWinningCultureREFERENCES:[i] Award  Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence and Community by Hans Appel (May 22, 2020)  https://www.amazon.com/Award-Winning-Culture-School-Wide-Intentionality-ebook/dp/B088JCRRYR/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=[ii] http://www.awardwinningculture.com/#/ 

This is a special episode because I get to celebrate the two year anniversary of the Aspire podcast and my guest, Hans Appel, has released his new book, “Award Winning Culture”! This week, I'm joined by Jennifer and Hans Appel as we dive into the subject of social emotional learning, how SEL has set the culture of their campus and how it's positively impacted every aspect of the school. Join us as they share how every school can create an Award Winning Culture!   https://twitter.com/share?text=+-+&via=Joshua__Stamper&related=Joshua__Stamper&url=https://joshstamper.com/?p=2372 (Tweet This)In this Episode, we discuss: Social Emotional Learning Distance Learning Focus Character Strong And Award Winning Culture Follow Jennifer and Hans Appel: Website: http://www.awardwinningculture.com (www.awardwinningculture.com) Twitter: @HansNAppel @jennifermappel @awculture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awardwinningculture/ (https://www.instagram.com/awardwinningculture/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Award-Winning-Culture-102176471490533/?modal=admin_todo_tour (https://www.facebook.com/Award-Winning-Culture-102176471490533/?modal=admin_todo_tour) About Jennifer and Hans Appel:Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the https://www.rsd.edu (Richland School District) for the past 19 years and at https://enterprise.rsd.edu (Enterprise Middle School) since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the https://youtu.be/-vc7XE4J4Fs (ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington) and the Global “https://youtu.be/Res2QIRntZs (Class Act Award)” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category.   In 2018, Hans launched his own http://www.awardwinningculture.com/blog (blog about School Culture) and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Ahttp://www.awardwinningculture.com/podcast (ward Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation), which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/award-winning-culture-hosted-by-wildcat-nation/id1435716995?mt=2 (iTunes Apple Podcasts), https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hans-appel/award-winning-culture (Stitcher), https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/podcasts (Google Play), https://open.spotify.com/show/6yxqUlJfC3nYLLeHhX9NH0?si=xHDRovEdQV-mVLx6ZsjjYQ (Spotify), https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-agfnr-6e260d9?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share (PodBean), and http://awardwinningculture.libsyn.com/nathan-ogden (Libsyn).   Hans’ blogs have appeared on https://medium.com/@richard.allen/disrupted-tv-magazine-fab8134c54ae (DisruptED TV magazine), https://www.characterstrong.com (CharacterStrong), https://www.teachbetter.com (Teach Better) Team and https://www.pbisrewards.com (PBIS Rewards). He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence.   He’s been a contributing writer on three upcoming educational books: “ https://www.amazon.com/Define-Your-WHY-Story-Purpose/dp/1970133465/ (Define Your WHY: Own Your Story So You Can Live and Learn On Purpose),” “Reflective Impact Journal,” and “https://www.amazon.com/All-Taking-Education-Kristen-Nan/dp/1970133406/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YY3EJ878027G&keywords=all+in+kristen+nan&qid=1582385864&s=books&sprefix=All+In+Kriste%2Cstripbooks%2C488&sr=1-1 (ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education).” On May 22, Hans will release his own book, which is called, Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community. Hans is the Director of Culture of the...

Jennifer Appel has been teaching for 21 years and is a teacher and coach at Enterprise Middle School in West Richland, Washington. She helped launch a blog about School Culture and helped roll out a student-led leadership podcast called the Award-Winning Culture. Jennifer as part of the coveted Teach Better Speakers Network presents at conferences, ...

Jennifer Appel is a teacher and coach at Enterprise Middle School in West Richland, Washington. She comes to us with 21 years of teaching experience with a passion to help and serve others. Jennifer has written blogs for the site CharacterStong, Teach Better and Award Winning Culture. She has provided lessons for future and current teachers at Heritage University. Jennifer has done a lot, so let’s just provide her an opportunity to share all she does.

Sheldon Weddle is an amazing vice principal for Enterprise Middle School. As a graduate and former kicker from Eastern Washington University, Weddle's is now in his 9th year in education. Weddle is a passionate educational leader who models excellence everyday.  In this episode, Weddle shares his template for being a leader of character. Later, Lilly joins Brayden and Desi to breakdown Weddle’s poignant words. CONNECT WITH ​Sheldon: TWITTER Follow Award Winning Culture : Twitter Instagram Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on iTunes Apple Podcasts...

Award-Winning Culture is a student podcast led by teacher Hans Appel. Hear the story behind this exciting student podcast and get inspired to start a student podcast at your school. He shares his starting story, how he keeps it going with an annual podcast retreat, and how he surprises his students with a listener testimonial video. You'll find ideas to inspire your students however they are using their voice to help others. www.coolcatteacher.com/e616  Hans Appel - Bio As submitted Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took the top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, and PBIS Rewards. He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He’s been a contributing writer on three upcoming educational books: “ Define Your WHY” “Reflective Impact Journal” and “ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.” Currently, he’s working on his own book about school culture. Hans is a part of the coveted Teach Better Speakers Network and presents at conferences, schools, and districts all over the country. Topics include: Creating an Award-Winning Culture, Amplifying Student Voice, Student-Led Podcasting, and Infusing Servant Leadership through PBIS. Blog: http://www.awardwinningculture.com/ Twitter: @HansNAppel Instagram: @awardwinningculture

Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn. Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, and PBIS Rewards. He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong. Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence. He’s been a contributor on two upcoming educational books: “ Define Your WHY” and “ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.” Currently, he’s working on his own book about school culture.

Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation.

Jennifer Klauss is currently the lead principal at Enterprise Middle School, in the Richland School District and has been in education for 18 years.  After graduating from Kennewick High School, she played college basketball at Lewis and Clark College while completing her Bachelor of Science.  Additionally, she obtained a Master’s Degree in education from Washington State University. In this episode, Klauss explains how character and relationships are critical to Whole Child education. Later, Macey joins Desi and Hayes to break down Klauss' grit and committment to Wildcat Nation. **Award Winning Culture is Sponsored by: CharacterStrong   Use the Code AWC and get $200 off the Advisory Curriculum or $100 off the Leadership Curriculum   Follow Award Winning Culture : Twitter Instagram

Hans Appel is a counselor at Enterprise Middle School in Washington State, which just recently won the 2018 Whole Child Award for Washington State, the 2018 Global Class Act Award for Kindness, and is now a finalist for the PBIS Film Festival for a video on their award winning culture. Hans is also a blogger, supervises a student-led podcast and loves all things kindness in creating positive school culture. In this episode, we talk about going beyond the limits of the 21-century model of education to create school cultures that value the individual and celebrate kindness. You’ll learn specific strategies that can positively shift your school culture and actionable tips for encouraging excellence. You'll learn the three questions every staff should be asking themselves to align themselves to their culture. You can find Hans on awardwinningculture.com or by seeking him out on social media.

I learned the hard way that my job extended beyond providing support for students. I eventually realized that I'm part of a team. Follow: @jonHarper70bd @froehlichm @bamradionetwork Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 18 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. Recently, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and this fall rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation.

In this episode of (http://podcastingwithstudents.com) , Jeff welcomes Hans Appel on the program to discuss how his students are creating the Award-Winning Culture Podcast, a show created completely by his amazing middle school students. Learn how you can bring podcasting into your classroom today by listening to his inspiring story! If you are a new listener to TeacherCast, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our (http://teachercast.net/contact) and let us know how we can help you today! In this episode, we discuss: Award-Winning Culture Podcast-How it came to be Working with student podcasters Setting up a classroom podcast Process Equipment needsBlue Yeti Microphone Rode Microphone Finding the best applications to useSkype ECAMM Call Recorder Garageband Libsyn Getting school buy-in Assessing the success of students and the project Parent’s thoughts and reactions Student thoughts, reactions, and reflections Where do we go from here? Next steps About Hans AppelHans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 18 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy. In 2019, EMS was chosen as a finalist for the PBIS Film Festival, which showcased their award-winning school culture. Recently, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and this fall rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, and Libsyn. He can be contacted at hansappel094@gmail.com. Follow Hans on twitter @hansappel094. Follow AWC on twitter at @awculture or Instagram @awardwinningculture. Wildcat Nation at @emswildcats1 and Instagram @emscounseling #WildcatNation #AwardWinningCulture About the Award-Winning Culture PodcastEnterprise Middle School received the 2018 ASCD Whole Child Award in Washington and the 2018 Global “Class Act Award” for its award-winning culture. By creating a culture of kindness, service, and empathy we've taken student leadership to an epic level. We invite you to join in this unique student-led journey where we explore Character, Excellence, and Community with some of the best leadership minds. We'll be sharing interviews with authors, educators, experts, and even other leadership students around the country. Whether you're an educator, student, parent or just passionate about culture and leadership, we invite you into this unique platform focused on raising education to incredible heights. Links of InterestHomepage: http://www.awardwinningculture.com/podcast (http://www.awardwinningculture.com/podcast) Twitter: https://twitter.com/hansappel094 (https://twitter.com/hansappel094) Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/awculture (https://twitter.com/awculture) YouTube: https://youtu.be/-vc7XE4J4Fs (https://youtu.be/-vc7XE4J4Fs) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awardwinningculture/ (https://www.instagram.com/awardwinningculture/) Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/award-winning-culture-hosted-by-wildcat-nation/id1435716995?mt=2 (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/award-winning-culture-hosted-by-wildcat-nation/id1435716995?mt=2) Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/podcasts (https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/podcasts) Stitcher Radio: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hans-appel/award-winning-culture (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hans-appel/award-winning-culture) Follow our PodcastThe TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network | @TeacherCast (http://www.twitter.com/teachercast)...

Hans Appel has been a Counselor at Enterprise Middle School in the Richland School District in WA for the past 17+ years. Recently, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and this fall rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation. Hans is absolutely driven to helping students ...