Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals

Episode Summary
In this engaging interview, 2026 Louisiana Principal of the Year, Justin Wax of Denham Springs Junior High School, shares insights on leadership, school culture, community engagement, and effective communication strategies that foster a thriving educational environment.
 
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Connect with Principal Wax:
Email: Justin Wax
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Leadership and Community Engagement02:55 The Importance of School Culture05:42 Building a Strong School Community08:38 Empowering Staff and Students11:05 Effective Communication Strategies13:51 Hiring for Cultural Fit16:46 Balancing Leadership and Family Life19:22 Celebrating Team Successes22:16 Final Thoughts and Community Acknowledgments
 
Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
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In this episode, Ariel Jankord shares her insights on building strong PLCs, establishing effective routines at the start of the school year, and creating a positive school culture. She discusses practical strategies for principals to foster collaboration, set expectations, and support staff development.
Connect with Principal Jankord:
Email: Ariel Jankord
More Cool Coffee Episodes Featuring Ariel Jankord:
CC#58: "Leading from the Extremes" - A Principal's Perspective 
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Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
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Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and guest background02:03 What is a strong PLC and its practical application03:52 Establishing expectations and routines for PLCs06:06 Using data and assessments effectively in PLCs08:57 Guiding teams and fostering collaboration11:01 Norms, autonomy, and team ownership12:46 Role of principal in leading PLCs15:02 Meeting schedules and team support16:56 Common assessment practices and grading19:05 Classroom observations and visible practices21:01 Start-of-year routines and community building22:51 Fun activities and staff engagement25:08 Welcoming new students and families27:03 Common mistakes and advice for new principals29:06 First days of school and building relationships31:59 Rapid fire questions and personal insights

In this episode, Kelly Whitaker, president of the Kansas Principals Association, shares insights on leadership, advocacy, and building community within the educational sector. She discusses upcoming conferences, the importance of networking, and how principals can serve their profession effectively. In addition, Kelly answer fun, quick-hitter questions from host Rick Sola.
Connect with Principal Whittaker:
Email: Kelly Whitaker
LinkedInKansas Principals Association
More Cool Coffee Episodes Featuring Kelly Whittaker:
CC#20: IPS Success at Ottawa HS: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-syet8-171299b
CC#30: “The Interview Episode”: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ddt7a-1789436
CC#40: A Principal’s Perspective—AI: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-4djpe-186d671
CC#70: Debriefing USA Kansas 2025: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-93xb9-18ca90c
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes
 
Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
 
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and guest suggestions.
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Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

In this episode, Kansas Principal and Cool Coffee Host, Rick Sola, wraps up season two of "Cool Coffee," sharing insights on current trends in education technology and AI, while also inviting principals nationwide to engage with the podcast for its upcoming season 3rd season. Connect with our host using the links below!
Cool Coffee Episodes Featuring Discussion on AI:Cool Coffee #31: Artificial Intelligence with Trevor Goertzen
Cool Coffee #116: AI as a competitive advantage with Dr. Michael Martin
Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
 
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
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Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

In this episode of Cool Coffee, 2026 Pennsylvania Assistant Principal of the Year, Dr. Danielle Ambrosia, shares her insights on implementing and evolving PBIS in a high school setting. Discover how her team has successfully fostered a positive school culture through innovative strategies like mental health summits, recognition coins, and transparent leadership. Yes, PBIS works in the high schools too!
Connect with the Dr. Ambrosia
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Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to PBIS and Dr. Danielle Ambrosia01:09 The Evolution of PBIS at State College Area High School02:09 Initial Challenges and Lessons Learned05:00 Student Engagement and Feedback in PBIS07:40 Mental Health Summits: A New Approach10:08 Building a Positive Framework for PBIS13:22 Creating a Culture of Transparency and Support14:08 Understanding Student Needs and Preferences18:28 Inclusive Reward Systems in PBIS20:51 The Importance of Validation in Education23:00 Overcoming Resistance to PBIS26:02 Consistency in Discipline Practices28:42 Reinvesting in PBIS Each Year31:20 Celebrating Successes and Innovations36:11 Recognizing the Unsung Heroes

SHOW SUMMARY:
In this heartfelt conversation, two seasoned educators, Mike Wiley, Principal of California Trail Middle School of Olathe Public Schools (USD 233) and Dr. Mark Schmidt, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education in the Blue Valley School District (USD 229), both retiring at the end of the 2025-26 school year, share insights on their careers, leadership, and the evolving landscape of education. They reflect on impactful moments, mentorship, and the importance of resilience, listening, and purpose in shaping future educators.
Connect with the guests:
Mike Wiley
Dr. Mark Schmidt
Other Cool Coffee Episodes Featuring Principal Mike Wiley
CC#9: “See you at the Crosswalk” https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-gx8ec-16eadbd
CC#25: “Father’s Club” https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-572p4-1728fd6
CC#30: “The Interview Episode” https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-ddt7a-1789436
CC#86: “Responding to Parents” https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-xpfxa-198a4fe
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Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Retirement Reflections02:52 Navigating the Transition to Retirement05:28 Mentorship and Leadership Development08:00 Reflections on Career Experiences10:36 Changes in Education and Student Dynamics13:14 Post-COVID Educational Landscape15:52 The Importance of Listening in Leadership24:20 The Evolving Role of Principals25:22 Impacting Students' Lives26:57 Transitioning to Retirement34:48 Advice for Aspiring Principals39:00 The Power of Mentorship

In this insightful interview, Dr. Michael Martin, a high school principal and AI enthusiast, shares his journey with AI, its impact on education, and practical strategies for integrating AI responsibly in schools. Discover how AI can be a powerful tool for teachers and students alike, and learn about the innovative approaches at Buckeye Central High School. Principal Martin is also the 2024 Principal of the Year from Ohio and published author on the subject.
Connect with the guest: martin.mike74@gmail.com
Books by Michael Martin:
Blending Instruction with Technology
AI Powered Leadership: 50 Prompts to Transform Your School Today
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Contact Cool Coffee host, Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
 
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Rick Sola (00:02.824)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals. My guest today is Dr. Michael Martin, a sitting high school principal at Buckeye Central High School in Ohio, also the 2024 OASSA principal of the year. He's an author and what he calls an operational realist. While tech futurists talk about what AI might do in 10 years, Dr. Martin helps overwhelmed leaders figure out how to use it safely by next Tuesday.
As the creator of the ART leadership model, he shows organizations how to escape administrative drudgery and win back time for intentional human connection. He is the author of Blending Instruction with Technology, and he's here to help us turn AI anxiety into a competitive advantage. Michael, welcome to Cool Coffee.
Mike (00:53.035)Hey, welcome Rick. Thanks for the invite. I appreciate it.
Rick Sola (00:56.702)Yeah, I am super excited to have you on. And as we connected about this podcast and this topic, AI, I literally this morning was in a district meeting where AI was a topic. And there are so many different, I guess, thoughts about AI. And you, I think, it very well, kind of talking about the good, the bad, the ugly, or maybe the helpful as well.
So I'm really excited to get into AI here with you. So I would love to just start with AI, you, where did this connection, I mean, this is a new technology, when did you get connected with AI?
Mike (01:44.076)Yeah, that's a fair question. I've I've always been really interested in technology, the integration of technology, how to utilize it in schools, how to use it in classrooms to better what we do. When blended learning was a big deal back 10, 15 years ago, I did a lot of research on that. That's actually where I wrote my first book, Blended Instruction with Technology.
And it's really when I started, know, to kind of do some speaking and touring and speaking and just kind of laying out how to utilize technology in the classroom. And ever since then, I've always been kind of trying to my best to, you know, to perfect, I shouldn't say perfect, but to use the science of teaching and the art of teaching and integrating that with the technology that we have at our disposal. And so obviously AI is a big deal now, but.
I was on the AI bandwagon pre-COVID. I was reading about AI, I was thinking about AI. I'm like, this is coming down the road, right? I was reading about it then. I didn't know what I know now, obviously. But I was thinking about it, I was looking in the future regarding that. And when we came out of COVID, I took an MIT class and I built my own AI just to get a fundamental understanding of how it all works. So I've always had this appreciation for technology. I've always had this...
Rick Sola (02:45.478)Okay.
Mike (03:11.912)I don't know this need to be on the edge on the cutting edge of what we're doing. I just, it's just a lot of fun for me. So I've always been, you know, trying to look to the future to see how things are being used. And of course, you know, we're smack dab in the middle of AI right now. And I'm hoping that the Buckeye Center, what we're doing here is just a little bit, you know, ahead of the curve compared to other schools, just because of, you know, my interest in the
and the topic of technology. And I'm gonna add this real quick, Rick. I don't think it's just me that has this interest in technology and how it's being utilized, not only in schools but in the workforce. I mean, we can go back to the 1930s, right? And I can show you articles, I can pull up speeches by presidents that advocate for the use of technology and how it's gonna change the American life, right? How it's gonna change our work week. mean, the next...
There were presidents who promised that with the advent of technology by the 1960s, we will cut our work week in half. Well, that hasn't happened. Actually, I think it's doubled. I think it's doubled, right? But so I think there's always been this fascination. There's always this urge, this want to utilize technology to help us live better lives, to help us do what we do better, right? And so it's just been a lot of fun for me.
Rick Sola (04:15.252)No, that's not.
Rick Sola (04:32.915)Yeah.
Well, it's interesting. I'm familiar with AI. I use it every now and again. I am very much surface level as far as I use it to research vehicles or things like that. know, very surface level. But you mentioned pre-COVID AI and that you were involved in. this is my ignorance. didn't even...
really, as I think of AI, I think of a technology, at least that's been widely available to the public over the last two to three years really coming onto the scene. What did AI look like pre-COVID and then this many years, six, seven years later, that's almost, I mean, that's almost a lifetime for technology ramp up. So.
Mike (05:19.15)It is a lifetime, yeah. The terminology back then was machine learning. Remember the machine learning, which is in essence the birth of AI.
Rick Sola (05:23.994)Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Rick Sola (05:30.546)Yeah, okay. Well, you know, and I remember it all started with, you know, predictive, your Netflix queue and what, you know, some of that sort of thing or Amazon. So,
Mike (05:36.802)Yes, it was, yes. Amazon also knows what you want to purchase, right? Netflix knows what you want to watch. Predictive analysis.
Rick Sola (05:44.648)Well, you said you took a course at MIT about how it all works. And for those who might be listening who are maybe very primitive with their knowledge of AI, or they've maybe purposefully stayed away from it, how would you, in a nutshell, just describe, OK, how does it all work for those who are new to the game?
Mike (06:05.664)It is an imperfect but getting a lot more accurate predictive machine, as you mentioned. That's what it is. It runs numbers and it predicts based on the algorithms. What's really fascinating is everything is a number. For example, when I was building the first AI that I built through this course with MIT,
I was using Google, of course, and Google's tools. Well, one of the ones that we built was, I should say, I built was we, I took pictures, I don't know, using the software through Google, a thousand pictures of a basketball. I took a thousand or so pictures of a football and took a thousand or so pictures of a soccer ball, right? And then I would categorize those pictures by
what ball they were, what sport they were. And what would happen then is the machine would take every little single pixel, right? Every single pixel of that picture is a number, right? And it formed patterns out of all those numbers of all those pictures. And it knew that this pattern of numbers represented a basketball. This pattern of numbers represented a soccer ball. This pattern of numbers, right?
represented a football. I knew that, right? Because it was just a pattern of numbers. And then based on the new pattern numbers I would give it, it would try to predict what that was. So for example, like I, again, I threw a thousand pictures of a basketball on there. After I set it all up, I would take a picture of a basketball.
I had an AI take a picture of the basketball and it would tell me what it was. It would accurately say this is the basketball, this is a football, this is a soccer ball. And I know that's very simplistic, but that really is the basis of what AI is, right? It's just using numbers and patterns, right? To recognize, it's just using numbers to recognize patterns, right? It's using numbers to recognize patterns and it's using patterns to predict other patterns.
Rick Sola (08:25.524)Okay, so it's predictive because it recognizes a pattern of numbers and you throw out another picture of a basketball, it figures out, this is a close match to what we've, you what's been programmed. So that's kind of what's been programmed. Of course, we can go down a total rabbit hole because I'm totally intrigued at the learning machine and how it starts to, I don't know if making decisions is the right word, but you know,
Mike (08:36.127)Yeah. Yeah.
Rick Sola (08:51.922)The good, the bad, the ugly, I would maybe even add the scary. There's some things in there that start to get brought up. OK, no, so that's a really good kind of baseline for how it works. And you've done a lot of talk talks on how it works and how it looks in your school. And we haven't talked really about this before, but it sounds like you have you have embraced it. And so at your school, it's it's very intentional about.
Mike (08:56.074)Good.
Rick Sola (09:21.012)teaching kids how to use it, your staff, yourself as a principal. What does that look like?
Mike (09:27.007)You know, first of all, the reason I'm really intentional about using AI in our school is without government oversight, the genie's on the bottle and we're not putting it back in, right? The good, as you said, the good, the bad, and the ugly, right? Without some sort of government overreach, AI is not going away. people are using it more and more every single day.
When I step back and I look at the students that walk our hallways and I start thinking about how I'm preparing them for the workforce right now, but how am I also gonna prepare them for the workforce in 10 years? I'll go hang out in our preschool. And I started thinking that 13 years, those kids are gonna be seniors. And in 17 years, they're gonna be graduating college. What's the world gonna look like when they've been working for 10 years, which is 27 years down the road?
So I think about that a lot. And again, AI is not gonna go away. So I've come to the realization that there is an equity gap when it comes to artificial intelligence. And it's not necessarily who has access to AI, because every single kid has a phone these days. So every single kid has access to AI. What I think the equity gap is, which kids are taught to utilize the AI?
right, as a thinking tool. Like I hear the phrase thinking partner a lot. I use the phrase thinking tool, right? A partner sounds more human to me, right? I mean, I love my wife, she's my life partner. You know, she's not a tool, right? And so I call it a thinking tool. So who teaches their kids to utilize AI as a thinking tool, right? Not to think for them, not to replace their thinking, not to take away the struggle of the thinking.
but as a tool to enhance their thinking, as an add-on to their thinking, as a way to think more and learn more and critically evaluate on another level, right? If you can do those things.
Mike (11:36.426)in the world four to seven to 10 years from now, I think you're gonna be a better spot than those students where schools are not talking about it, schools are not using it. And those kids are just using it all willy nilly. They're not utilizing it with any forethought, without any reasoning, right? They're not using it to the extent that our kids are using it, right? And that's a competitive advantage for us, right? That's the equity gap.
Rick Sola (11:59.422)First.
I really, you the perspective you brought up about talking about your preschoolers and when they graduate and then when they're in the workforce, 10 years and that's 27 years down the road. That's a real perspective kind of, you know, we tend to think of graduation and what does that upon exiting college job look like, which for some of our students in the system are maybe within five years. And we just mentioned, you know, technology changes so, so quickly.
What you were just describing really segues very nicely into it. I've read that you've talked about this before and perhaps probably in your book, the 80-20-2080 rule. And I mentioned before we went recording here is just reading just the brief little bit I did. That really kind of, it just kind of clicked, it resonated, but explain that 80-20-2080, the rule.
Mike (12:38.227)Yeah.
Mike (12:53.801)Yeah, so the 80-20-20-80 rule really is the fundamental part of it is the first part, the 80-20. So I get the opportunity to travel and talk and speak about artificial intelligence and its uses in not just the classroom, but as a principle in the building, whatever it may be. And the presentation that I use, it took me six months to build, right? It took me six months.
I would read, I would read, I would read and I would write. I would read and I would write. I would read and I would write. And so I wrote this outline. It took me six months to write this outline. And then I would, when I got to the point where I was feeling pretty good about where it was and how it felt, I felt really good that it was pretty comprehensive. I uploaded it to AI and I asked it, so listen, if this is the outline that I...
I gave it the appropriate prompt, had all five parts to it or seven parts, whatever it is you believe makes up a good prompt. So I wrote the appropriate prompt, but ultimately asking it to critically evaluate this outline that I have of this presentation. I asked it to then provide me with a list of errors. I asked it then to provide me with a list of best practices I might be missing.
This is the critical part, right? I tell it, don't just write it for me. Don't just put it in the outline. Give me links. Give me live links and resources so I can go read about those best practices I'm unaware of, right? So then that's what I did. It gave me a list of stuff. I spent, I don't know how much time going out and reading all that, thinking about all that. Some of it made sense to me and I utilized it.
Some of it did make sense to me and I didn't utilize it. And so when I got done with that outline, 80 % of that outline was my original beginning draft, my original beginning thoughts, which I struggled with, which I did the reading, the heavy lifting and the messiness of the struggle of learning. I did all that. The additional 20 % was artificial intelligence being a a thinking tool for me.
Mike (15:18.983)which expanded my world, expanded my knowledge base, I went out, learned more, added more, and then put that into my outline. So 80 % of the outline was my original, 20 % was the enhancement because of AI. That 20 % I never would have had, had it not been for the tool. Never would have had it. The 2080 then comes in, the 2080 then comes in, I turned that then into the presentation, right? So I uploaded that into, and you can choose whatever.
AI presentation software you want to choose, but I uploaded it in there, right? And it spent, I don't know, about three minutes creating an amazing presentation for me, right? And I went through that presentation, I looked at it, it created the product for me. I went through that product, I evaluated it, I critiqued it, but then I went and added some parts I thought was missing, the human parts to it as well, right? Some things in there that I thought was,
innately, naturally me that I would want to see or hear myself give in a speech, in a presentation. I added that to it. So the product was 80 % generated by that artificial intelligence based on my outline, and then the additional 20 % of me going in and being the human in the loop. So that's the 80-20-20-80 rule. Does that make sense?
Rick Sola (16:39.654)It makes total sense. what I love about that is it, you know, if you had, you know, where you're at, I don't know how many assistant principals you have there, but zero. Okay. Okay. Or you have your, you have your office staff and you have some others, but if you pulled them in and you ask them to do basically what you typed in as a prompt, but like, Hey, I need some feedback. This is specifically, that's what collaboration is. And so you're kind of simulating collaboration with
Maybe not a thought partner, as you say, but it's a tool. You're using a tool there. And so taking 80 % and just enhancing that to create what it is you're ultimately trying to achieve. There's people all over the country that spend hours in rooms full of people brainstorming different things. You're just brainstorming with the platform that you're on.
Mike (17:31.927)That's what I'm doing, right? I really do get an opportunity to brainstorm with maybe some of the smartest minds in the industry, right? I do, right? Which I would never have the chance to do had it not been for the technology. But I think it's critical that we also address that the first 80 % of that thing was me, right? Because that's the true learning. When we start thinking about our kids,
Rick Sola (17:42.685)Right, yeah.
Rick Sola (17:48.372)So how do you, go ahead, go ahead.
Mike (18:01.275)And this whole idea of cognitive offloading or what I call a cognitive atrophy, you know, that struggle, that messy struggle of learning, right, where the synapses in your neurons are firing and they're connecting, you know, that beautiful messiness, that beautiful struggle, right, that's the heart of learning. And I hate when schools allow or organizations allow or families allow AI to replace that.
Rick Sola (18:29.62)How do you create a, I guess, a culture and understanding, expectations even, building that into your school, into the classrooms amongst your teachers? Because 80, 20, how tempting for students is it to, let's go 70, 30, blah, blah, blah, you know, and they start sliding that over. Can we slide that over?
Mike (18:47.069)I know, I know. And that's a great question. It's not hard to sell it to my staff, because I think every teacher in America is scared of this thing cheating for them. Cheating for the students, I think all teachers are scared of that. So it's not a hard sell to the staff. But I'm one of those leaders where I literally meet and I talk with our kids, right? It's just me and them.
and I address them at the beginning of every school year. What I think is a rather inspirational talk, whether they think that or not, I don't know, but I leave rather inspired. And we do these last two years, we've talked about AI and I talk about them and where I want them to be in 10 years, where I want them to be in 15 years. And I show them, you know, the impacts of cognitive atrophy or cognitive awful and whatever you want to call it.
Right? And then I show them, you know, again, what I call the messiness of the struggle, the beautiful struggle, right? And the benefits of that. And then we equate it to lifting in sports. I equate it to exercising in sports. I equate it to all of that. Right? So I get them to, I'm trying to get them to understand that the brain is a muscle. you don't want it to atrophy. It truly is, I think, the great differentiator as we move forward in future. Because if you look at AI,
products or AI outputs, you do find a lot of similar words, a lot of similar phrases. You find a lot of similarities, right? You really do. And I do. I get afraid of our voices becoming too similar. And the way to keep yourself more authentic, the way to keep yourself not being similar to everybody else is to use your own.
brain, is to use your own thoughts, is to develop your own voice. And I do, I talked to our kids about the importance of developing their own voice and their own thoughts. you know, does that solve all the problems? No, but it certainly helps to mitigate that, right? And that's just how we start. And then after that, we start talking about in our classrooms, when we're using AI, for example, we're adopting magic school for next year. And why are we magic school for next year? Because you can see the conversation between
Mike (21:05.844)the teacher, I mean, I'm sorry, between the student and the AI. You can see that process. You can see the thought process, the communication, the collaboration, as you will call it, right? You can see all of that. So then that becomes my next conversation with our staff members is, if we wanna make sure that we're sticking to this 80-20 rule, and that's not a hard, fast number, it's just the number I use. If we wanna stick though to the majority of the thinking being our kids, then we have to...
to see the process of the conversation. We have to see that the prompt, the response to the prompt, and then our response to that output, right? We have to see how kids are interacting with the AI, and we have to be able to see all of that. And that's really for us the best judgment of whether or not kids are maintaining that 80-20, 70-30 balance we talked about. Does that make sense?
Rick Sola (21:58.132)Yeah, it does and you mentioned that the prompt and you said earlier, you know the five or seven points of a good prompt and I'm thinking I don't I don't know I don't know those prompts and so that's something that you know, I've kind of learned by failing or you know, I go you kind of tweak it but How does a person know? mean, I guess in a school you can be intentional but about teaching it you've had a lot of real kind of you know Personal experience, I guess with with that you've also had a class
Mike (22:07.156)Yeah.
Rick Sola (22:26.516)Is that potentially something we're missing in our schools right now is we're not teaching how to use AI? You know, I know there's some resistance to it like hey, you're right and I brought this up on on here before it reminds me so much I remember when Google really started to explode back in like 07 08 or whatever and there was there were like two camps of teachers of hey, we need to teach them how to use Google it's not going away and then there was the other side of
No, they are not allowed to use Google and this is, it's like Google's not going anywhere. Now here we are. It's like, yeah, it's still around. We better teach them how to use it and how to use it responsibly. I see that with AI, but there are the resistors. Are we missing something in schools, do you think?
Mike (23:10.942)You're talking to a tech enthusiast, right? So I'm gonna say yes. I'm also gonna tell you that I can show you some articles, some op-eds in the newspapers back in the 1840s, where they were upset and fired up over the damnation of the future of America, the number two pencil, right? I can show you that, right? We've always been afraid of technology. You know what mean? The Luddites existed for a reason, right? We've always been afraid of technology. We always have.
Rick Sola (23:14.472)Hahaha
Rick Sola (23:28.819)Ha
Mike (23:39.645)But we've always managed to harness the power of technology. And I'm not gonna say that we've always managed to harness it to the benefit us the way that we thought it could, because I don't think we've ever done that. But we've managed to harness the power of technology to at least avoid the pitfalls that everybody was afraid of. You know what saying? We've always done that. But I will say this, AI is a different beast. It's not a number two pencil. It really is a different beast.
But I again as I said earlier, I don't think it's going away. It's not you know, it's not going away I think you are missing something you are missing the boat if you're not teaching your kids how to use it because I am Right and when my kids leave here and they're competing against your kids in this world I think my kids are gonna have the upper hand right they're gonna have a competitive advantage. I think they are
Rick Sola (24:26.718)Yeah, I really feel like I remember very vividly a pre internet world. That's how old I am. I can remember the world before the internet. But I remember it coming onto the scene and I remember the changes. And of course, here we are. think AI is this generation's kind of internet. They're going to remember the world before AI.
Mike (24:33.348)Yep.
Rick Sola (24:47.686)And then it's going to be like, how do we ever have it, not have it, you know, it's that big and it's just evolving so quickly. What have you seen and what do you acknowledge is truly a real challenge of working with AI in schools with students? What do you see as the biggest?
Mike (25:06.735)This is not just students, It's human beings. Human beings always, it's how we're wired. It's not your fault, right? But we're like water, right? We wanna find the path of least resistance. It's natural. Your brain needs to manage the energy that's being expended, right? It just, does. So you try to find the path of least resistance. So kids will, and adults,
Right? We'll try to utilize AI to cut corners. They just will. And so I think the biggest struggle, or at least one of the struggles, I shouldn't say the biggest, but one of the struggles we have is really convincing all of us how to use it right. Right? Don't let it replace your thinking because it's so easy to do. Right? Like, how do you still want to make sure that you're, again, as I say this all the time,
get into the messiness of the beautiful struggle of learning, Still making sure that we're doing it. So I think that's a problem, not just for kids, but for adults in general. And then here's the other thing too, right? And this is an old number, and you're gonna laugh when I say it, because it came out in October, but it's old. It's six months old, it's a bit outdated. But...
When chat GPT released some data back in mid late October a million a million users per week, right? We're we're utilizing a conversation with chat GPT regarding suicide, right? That's a problem. All right that that is you know, and one of the things that if you follow me if you read by right
Rick Sola (26:49.054)Right.
Mike (26:54.922)One of the things I talk an awful lot about is what I call the, it's called AI squared, right? I think in every organization, in every school, there's two forms of AI. You have artificial intelligence, and then you have the adult inhabitants of that organization, right? You have two of them. Here's my question for people. Why are kids turning to AI, right, for the social-emotional issues, instead of the adult inhabitants in the building? What's going on there?
Why is that happening? Why is there a million users per week having conversations with AI regarding suicide? Why is that happening? That's a concern. It really is.
Rick Sola (27:40.114)Are there any statistics, you know, and I wonder if it has to do with the anonymity they feel like they have with with AI, but is there any statistics of? Yeah, I have heard and read so many of the just the awful tragedies that have occurred out of it, and I think that's what you know that those are our headlines that people who aren't as familiar with AI, they see, and I think that's where some of the fear of AI comes in. But statistics where AI has.
has helped or has it been kind of a one-sided deal just based on your your research?
Mike (28:12.78)You know, I can't tell you the number you're asking for right now, because I don't know that, but I can tell you this.
In Ohio, we have help lines that the kids are allowed to call and contact when they're struggling. That's anonymous. Yeah, we're not getting a million hits per week in Ohio. We're not getting 10,000 hits per week in Ohio. We're not getting a thousand hits per week. I don't know if it's a thousand, but we're not getting those numbers, right? And that's anonymous, right? So why are they turning to AI? Because it's in your back pocket? Because it's your back pocket? Or is it because it's on your phone and you just dealt with a social media issue on your phone?
Rick Sola (28:40.03)Right, right.
Rick Sola (28:44.136)Yeah. Yeah.
Mike (28:51.666)you know, and you don't know how to deal with it. So you're just taking your phone and going to the next app, which is your, you know, your Gemini app, whatever it may be. And that's where you're I don't know. But I will tell you, I don't think creating a an SEL AI bots the answer, you know, I don't think creating another AI bots the answer to that, which I know some people are doing. And here's the other thing too, that that I think we need to keep in mind, when we train AI,
We're training AI with every available data that we can pull off the internet, That's where it's coming from. Well, all of our social media is on the internet, right? All of our social media is on the internet. Social media is being fed into AI to help train it, right? That's a big source of the training, at least it used to be, for AI. And I don't know if you've noticed, but people aren't always kind on social media, right?
They're not always nice on social media. They're not. And if that's what we're feeding into AI, doesn't surprise you sometimes that AI is not always nice back? Doesn't surprise you sometimes that AI suggests that maybe you should probably commit suicide?
Rick Sola (29:59.262)Right. No, that's.
Rick Sola (30:04.404)Yeah, it's very interesting. There's so many layers. I feel like truly I scratched the surface, but it's so intriguing because you can kind of see where it's going. Technology, it's an exponential graph on its growth. with AI, just like you mentioned, October, I joked about pre-COVID, that's ancient history. But October kind of is when it comes to AI.
But I know you are using this at your school. And as a principal, it's being very helpful for you, like you mentioned, as a tool. I'd love for you to share a little bit about what does AI do to help you on your day to day? What does it look like?
Mike (30:52.478)Yeah, and give me one second. I'll jump into that, but I do want to give a shout out. I'd be remiss if I didn't. I have a STEAM teacher here who's amazing. She's also our athletic trainer and she's also finishing her degree in admin. And so she had to do a project this year for her admin and she chose to do AI. And she's worked really hand in hand with our staff this year with surveying kids, surveying staff, trying to find out, you know,
where our students are when it comes to AI use, where our staff is when it comes to AI use. She set up some PD for our staff as well. So what we're doing at Buckeye Central simply is solely is not me. I am really, really blessed to have Amy Betts. That's the other individual who's been doing a lot with us too. So let me give a shout out to her. I'd be remiss if I did not. She's been amazing. But to answer your question, there's a lot of ways that you can use AI as a principle.
So again, I don't want AI to replace me. I don't want AI to replace my thinking. But I do want to find ways that AI could save me time, help me be a little bit more strategic with my time use, help me be a little bit more consistent. So if there's something that I use a lot, like if there's a task that I do a lot, I try to use AI. I don't like to go to Gemini and
or chat and write a prompt, because if I do it a lot, I'm always writing the prompt. So I like to build bots or gems or GPTs, whatever you want to call them, for tasks that I do a lot. So, and then I also, I like to look for pain points. Like what's a pain point that impacts my world that maybe I could use AI to solve? For example, you may have this problem in your school, and I'll bet you to guess that most of our listeners have this problem.
It's hard to find substitutes, is it not? It's hard to find substitutes. It's even harder to find really good substitutes. I mean, there's days we just get people who have heartbeats that are in the building, right? Just so we're covered for liability reasons. And so one of the things that I wanted to make sure I did for our staff was I wanted to find, create a better way for them to make quality lesson plans
Mike (33:14.355)for substitutes, right? And so I sat down and I did the 80-20 thing. I wrote what I think would be the ideal lesson plan for a substitute, not for a teacher, but for a substitute. I'm thinking about my building. I'm thinking about the instruction that happens in my building. I'm thinking about the instruction that happens in each classroom and the expectations that I have. And if I'm gonna have a substitute in there, I still have expectations, right? And so I wanna create a lesson plan that meets that level of
expectations. So I developed that lesson plan. And then I connected that lesson plan to every single standard that exists for every single class that we have. I built this bot. And I also have a number of teachers, you know, who have young children and young children get sick at six o'clock in the morning and are vomiting. And now the teacher can't come to school, but the teacher didn't have a lesson plan. So what are you going to do that day? Right. So now all my teachers need to do is they need to log on, type in the standard or the topic.
that they're teaching in the grade level, and it creates a lesson plan for them, right? Devised specifically for substitutes, right? And it generates it within seconds. And then they simply just share it with me and my secretary, and we print it out and we're ready to roll. We're ready to roll, right?
Rick Sola (34:34.014)So you're talking about building a bot. I think I know what you're talking about, just in case, just in case there's people listening that don't, explain that. What do mean you're building a bot?
Mike (34:40.223)Okay.
Mike (34:47.73)So, and maybe I'm oversimplifying the term for our listeners, we're a Google school. I'm guessing most of your listeners are probably Google schools as well. So we use Gemini. And inside of Gemini, you can create gems, right? So I created a gem that's specifically designed to develop high quality instructional lesson plans for substitutes, right?
And I mean, when I say high quality, mean, it gives, creates, you know, I can statements, measurable I can statements, I want those, right? Measurable I can statements. It's a high, thinking back to when you were in college, the lesson plan wasn't that intense because sometimes they're over the top, but it really is the most important parts of what you need. And then I even, when it was being used, I still noticed that when I do some walkthroughs that,
Some of the substitutes were struggling still, to deliver the content the way I wanted to. And some of them were just heartbeats and didn't know how to deliver the content. So then I added to this gem. Now it creates the lesson plan, but it also creates a script too. So all the teacher has, all the substitute has to do is get up and just start reading the script, right? And then it stops and tells, now the kids will do this and the kids go do this. But that was a pain point for me.
It was a pain point for me because I have high quality teachers, great teachers, and there is no substitute for good teaching, but I also want my teachers to be really, really good parents. I want them to be really involved with their families. And so when they have a sick child, I don't want them to have to worry about the lesson plan or coming to school because I want them to be a parent, take care of their kids. So how can we create, how can I use that as a pain point to use AI to alleviate that pain point? So that's what we did. We built these gems. So that's one way.
I use gems to do data analysis for me.
Rick Sola (36:54.516)How does that look? And I know there's a lot of talk about being careful. can't put personally identifiable information. You've got data. You've got students attached to that data. How do you dump it into a Gemini and let it do its thing safely?
Mike (37:07.058)It's anonymity, right? Like you literally just replace the names with the code, right? So I have spreadsheet, has all the names and the data on it. I make a copy of that spreadsheet, right? And then I just give the names a number. That's all I do, right? And so spreadsheet A, Mike Martin, spreadsheet B, number one. Mike Martin is number one, right? I upload spreadsheet B and we're off and running.
Rick Sola (37:30.228)Sure. You've got your spreadsheet of student data. Give an example of a prompt you would use that would be effective, you think would be effective to, let's say it's discipline data, and you're trying to use it to determine either infraction or time of day or whatever, just from an effective prompt standpoint.
Mike (37:55.558)Yeah, so I'd start off probably telling the the prompt that you know it is a it is a high school principal in state of Ohio. Who is an expert at data analysis.
who has uploaded some of your discipline data and that you are working with your PBIS team and you want to analyze the data that we have for discipline. We also want to analyze the data that I've uploaded for attendance. I also want to maybe analyze the data that I've uploaded for some of our grades, whatever data I have, right, for PBIS I uploaded, right? And then I also say for us, you know, there are certain goals we have for our
our PBIS and I'll let them know here's the goals that our PBIS is focused on, our PBIS is focused on this year. know, highlight for me, or based on the data, provide for me some high level data analysis of what we can pull from the data, know, high level data analysis that we can use to interpret and to...
move forward and meet these goals. Something like that, right? I'm sorry, you kind of caught me wicking in on my feet, but something like that. in essence, I'm giving it a name. It knows what its role is, right? I'm giving it some information. has information with the data that's being uploaded to it. It knows that it's Ohio and Ohio is PBS and here's my goals. And it knows that, you know, we want to look at the data as opposed to those goals. What are some areas of strength? What are some areas of weaknesses? I may ask for it to do a
Rick Sola (39:12.05)Yeah. Yeah.
Mike (39:38.295)a
Mike (39:41.835)Shoot. A SWOT analysis too, right? What are some strengths, weaknesses? What are some areas of threats that we have as well? mean, somebody asked me to do a quick SWOT analysis if I wanted to. I can do a lot of things with it, and within seconds it generates it for us.
Rick Sola (39:59.392)Yeah, that's really cool. And like I said, I mentioned, yeah, I say on the surface, I'm more more familiar with it, but super intrigued. actually had, I don't know if you know the name, Trevor Gertson, but out here, I know he tours around a little bit, but he did some PD with staff. And this was about a year and a half ago. And it was really about how you can help yourself and some tool building and being.
having this tool work for you and be an assistant essentially. so, no, super, super intriguing. And I feel like I could just keep asking all sorts of questions. And it is, you mentioned the, it is not a number two pencil. You know, it is not. There's definitely the hesitation with technology, but this is unique. But there's certainly, there's a lot of...
Mike (40:43.852)It was not.
Rick Sola (40:55.444)Just a lot of things to kind of think of. And I really enjoyed hearing about just all the positive ways. Let's say there's someone listening right now and they're just, Mike, I hear you, but we gotta keep this away as long as we can. What would you say to that? Because certainly there's not just value in the short term, but kind of like you mentioned, 27 years from now, what
Mike (41:22.99)My first question is why? You know, why? What are the fears you have? What are the concerns you have? Right? Let's get those down. Because to be fair,
Rick Sola (41:24.126)what the workforce might look like. But what would you say to someone who's really just digging in heels with AI? And as you see it, as you understand it, and as you kind of forecast it, what would you say to that person?
Mike (41:51.821)there are some legitimate concerns, right? I mean, let's face that head on. Let's face it head on. I'm going to ask why. And then we're going to get a list of all those concerns and all those fears have, right? And then we're going to have discussions about those. And we're going to talk about how we can create systems, how we can utilize this tool to still reach the means that we want and still mitigate those fears and those concerns. Because don't.
You're going to get the cheating thing, right? That's going be the number one concern you're to get from teachers. Well, they're going to cheat with this. Well, it's going to do this. Well, you're right. Kids have been cheating though, ever since they've been asked to learn on their own, right? Ever since they've been asked to take a test. Human beings have found ways to cheat, right? That's always going to be there. And we've always tried to find ways to stop them from cheating, right? This is just the next iteration of that, right? So how are you going to stop them from cheating? Let's discuss how we're going to do that, right? What do we need to do on our end to do that?
And so that's the first thing I'm do. The second thing I'm gonna do is I really am gonna try to show them the benefits that it has, not only for them, but for the kids too, right? And let's find out where they are, where's their comfort level when it comes to utilizing AI. one of the things that I've done is I've built a survey that can tell me where you fall on what I call the ART spectrum, the ART, right? And so where do you fall in that spectrum?
And if your person's been fighting and resisting it, you probably fall into A, right, on the lower end of the spectrum. And if you do, that's fantastic. Let me show you some AI tools. Let me show you some AI prompts. Let me show you some ways you can use AI at your comfort level where you're at that's not gonna, that's gonna mitigate some of those risks and concerns that you talked to me about. And you can see the product and how that not only helps your students, but it can also help you too.
All right, that's my two-pronged approach. Does it always work? No, it doesn't. But I do find that it works more often than not. And then I'm gonna come back to this. It's not going away. It's just not. Let's not send our kids out into the wild west without having a gun at least, right? Let them put some bullets in the gun for them for love of me. Let them know how to go out there and survive.
Rick Sola (43:52.126)Yeah, that's great.
Rick Sola (43:58.292)Yep, 100%. No, is not.
Rick Sola (44:11.122)Yeah, it's not going away. It's more and more relevant. And even just in this school year, have seen just more of the understanding of just that sentiment. It's not going away. We need to really be more proactive, whether it be at an individual school, a district or even states, as you mentioned, you know, government involvement potentially and all that sort of thing. No, I love this and really enjoyed your insight on all of this and could.
certainly spend more time on that. want to make you reference your book. What is the name of your book again for AI?
Mike (44:46.764)Well, yeah, the first one I wrote was learning instruction with technology, which is actually still relevant. But the other one I wrote was AI-powered leadership.
Rick Sola (44:57.492)All right, I will link those in the show notes as well. No, all really good stuff. Mike, we have a tradition on this show. We always finish with an opportunity to brag on your people. You already mentioned Amy Betts. You already bragged on her. But you know, as well as I, we cannot do the job and we cannot do the job well without amazing people around us. So this is your opportunity to brag on the people of Buckeye Central High School out in Ohio.
Mike (45:13.002)He's amazing.
Mike (45:28.117)Listen, the high school staff at Buckeye Central is barring on the best there is. They're amazing in every way. I know all principals probably say that about their staff, but I'm here to tell you, that's true for ours, right? Listen, they understand that this is the direction we need to go. They may not all think it's the best direction to go. They all have some fears and some concerns with it, but they are pro kids so much that they're willing to put their fears aside.
They're willing to put their concerns to the side, right? And try their best to make sure that we teach our kids how to use this right. And so listen, a huge shout out to the staff just in general. They really are really, really good. As I said, Amy Betts has been an absolute rock star this year. Zach Capel is, I think, maybe one of the best teachers in the state of Ohio, if not the best math teacher in state of Ohio. And he is such a tech guru himself.
He's been using AI, he's been embracing gems. He did some PD for our staff using gems again, Google's gemini's version of bots, right? So he's been a rock star. I can go on and on and on and I will if you want me to. But certainly I am blessed, I know that. I am blessed to be around some pretty amazing people who've made what I do.
a whole lot easier. Sometimes I'm just the madman behind the desk with crazy ideas and they make it actually happen, right? That's why I'm certainly blessed.
Rick Sola (47:01.054)Well, it's awesome and some really, really nice words about your people out there and really enjoyed hearing about all the great things that you're doing at your school, specifically with AI, a topic that is not going away and only more more important that our kids have an understanding so that they can be responsible with it. Like I said, this is kind of the Google of this generation potentially. It's not going to go away and.
Mike (47:27.57)Nope.
Rick Sola (47:28.414)they're going to use it too, that's the thing. They're going to use it so we need to show them how and how that can be appropriately used and beneficial.
Mike (47:38.44)That is accurate. I think the stat IREV is like 86 % are using it. All so we're already behind. We're already behind, so.
Rick Sola (47:47.07)Yeah.
Well, Dr. Martin, thank you so much for your time here at the end of a Friday. I really appreciate it. And we'll keep an eye out on the developing trends two weeks from now. It's a whole new AI ball game, because that's how quick it changes.
Mike (47:53.05)Thank you!
Mike (48:03.752)It does, doesn't it? And that's the hard part, right? Is how do you keep up with a tool that changes as fast as it does?
Rick Sola (48:10.29)Yeah. Well, hey, have a nice weekend. Thank you for your time and all the best to the rest of the school year for you.
Mike (48:16.463)Hey, thanks. You too, Rick. I appreciate it.
 

Principal Derek Cantrell is the 2026 Virginia Principal of the Year from Alleghany High School in the Alleghany Highlands Public School District located in Covington, Virginia. He is also author to the book Better Together: Building One School, One Culture, and One Community from Two Rivals. In this episode of Cool Coffee, Principal Cantrell shares insights on school consolidation, community engagement, and leadership strategies. He discusses the journey of merging two high schools, maintaining traditions, and fostering a positive culture to ensure success. 
Connect with the guest: derek.cantrell@ahps.k12.va.us
Connect on X: @derekcatch19
References from the show:Better Together: Building One School, One Culture, and One Community from Two Rivals
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Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
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Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Derek Cantrell00:52 Derek's Educational Journey02:55 The Consolidation Process04:17 Catalysts for Change06:04 Building a New Culture07:40 Merging Traditions and Identity09:49 Staff Integration and Challenges13:08 Creating New Traditions16:01 The Book: Better Together16:37 Advice for School Leaders17:43 Communication is Key20:29 Finishing Strong in the School Year21:53 Celebrating the Team25:05 Looking Ahead to DC
 
FULL EPISODE Transcript
Rick Sola (00:01.561)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas principals. Today I'm visiting with principal Derek Cantrell, principal of Allegheny High School in Covington, Virginia. That's correct, right Covington? Okay. And also Virginia's 2026 principal of the year as part of the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, which is KPA sister organization. Derek, welcome to Cool Coffee and congratulations to you.
Derek Cantrell (00:12.846)That's correct.
Derek Cantrell (00:27.854)appreciate it and thank you for the opportunity to be on the podcast and look forward to the conversation.
Rick Sola (00:33.997)Yeah, I'm really excited to have you on. We were able to connect through our, I guess, mutual connection to the NASSP and saw that you, well, you've written a book which we'll get into, but specifically talking about the consolidation of schools, which is a very unique topic, but also one of great interest and like even personally some.
relevance where I'm at even over the next few years. But so looking forward to really getting into that. But I want to start as I start with with most of the shows and hear about your road to the chair that you are currently sitting in and kind of filling in, you know, the background here of of your educational journey. And I do want to state, first of all, I'm really excited. So, you know, cool coffee with Kansas principals. You're the first non-Kansas principal, Virginia principal here.
To Beyonce, welcome to this platform.
Derek Cantrell (01:34.09)Awesome, appreciate the opportunity. Education wise, my mother, my uncle.
were educators. Mother taught pre-K and did a little bit of special ed. My uncle, who helped raise me as well, was a shop teacher and eventually became a technical center CTE principal. So they really helped influence that kind of idea as I went through school. I graduated, went to Liberty, finished at Farum University and got my master's degree at James Madison in Virginia. Started off...
in Allegheny County Schools as a student, came back and was a teacher and a coach in the county system and then became the last principal at Covington High School, which is the city school that's surrounded by the county that did go into that consolidation piece. So was there for seven years and this is just completing my third year as the consolidated high school principal at Allegheny High School. So kind of a
about 10 years in the classroom before I got into administration and first job was a high school principal. kind of unique in that and jumping into that part of it and finishing the 10th year of that journey. So it's been an awesome ride and definitely, definitely it's fun. A lot of things happening on a daily basis.
Rick Sola (02:58.221)Yes, you reference being the consolidated high school principal from a vernacular standpoint where you're at. that how it's referred, the consolidated high school? Or how do you reference your school where you're at?
Derek Cantrell (03:13.358)At this point it is Allegheny High School. We're the Cougars and as we went through that process of consolidation, you know that was something that took several years in the making. had. It's actually been a conversation that was talked about for about 40 years while I was a student in school and then it would come up. It would go away and then right out of COVID the first the first day of school actually coming to high school. Our school board voted.
to consolidate schools, which then also took the other the County School Division to do that. And then both local governments. Once all that happened, then plans went into place to kind of prep the divisions merging the first year 2223 our school division merged and then 2324 actually 20. Yeah, 2324 was the first year of the consolidated high school with Allegheny and Covington High School, so.
long time in the making and you know as you went through that process of just building that plane and working with leadership groups along the way the first year here was 23.
Rick Sola (04:26.287)So you said it was kind of a post-COVID prompt. What would you say was the, I mean, for 40 years, having this off again, on again conversation, but then, you know, pull the trigger and we're doing it. What was it that was the catalyst, would you say, to like, let's do this? What was the big need?
Derek Cantrell (04:43.062)I think the part had been talked about for years was just the declining enrollment, resources, the ability to just sustain challenges and just be able to offer our kids more opportunities with advanced courses and just more support and staffing issues and become a thing as well throughout our community and pretty much around the country. It was a very emotional decision because
You had longstanding pride coming to high school was built in 1939. So pride traditions and values there. Allegheny High School was built in 1963. So we had to be very intentional about bringing those groups together and people don't necessarily fear loss. They just they fear losing those traditions and that change and how you can value those things as you come together.
and honor those with that and we were intentional with that process of it and just being able to listen and be creative with that really I think helped a lot.
Rick Sola (05:47.085)The traditions, the communities and everything is so personal. You use the word intentional and that's really what I'm so intrigued about with the consolidation. What you described, where I'm at and it's not totally unique to Kansas, but we're in a position right now where we do have declining enrollment and.
there's a need for basically less kids in too many schools. And so we have some school consolidations. We just passed a bond that will close four schools and into two schools, that sort of thing. And so it's very relevant. So that word intentional in bringing two communities together.
I imagine there's just so many things you've got to consider. I guess, where do you start? You you said it was post-COVID decisions made and boom, here we go. Where's the starting point?
Derek Cantrell (06:44.312)So the uniqueness would be I was hired in October a year or, you know, eight, nine months out before the start of the school year the next year. Then in January, I got assistant principals, marches, staff. So there was some time between the different hiring process of it. One thing that really felt with the consolidation piece that was utmost important, so if we didn't do people right in culture,
it was going be hard to be successful academically and those things on the back end. So we started with people. We created a culture and communication roadmap that made sure that we checked the box of each stakeholder that we needed to make sure that we communicated with throughout the process. And that would go from student advisory, parent advisory, surveys.
Asking staff what classes they would be interested in teaching so that they had input and scheduling to all the different parts along the way to simple things like When we hire a coach what time frame would that be how we announced those things? Even little things about when lockers were painted We made sure that we highlighted that in that symbolic change and posting the logo on the front door little wins
and little things like that help build momentum for the excitement as kids came in the door day one, because we really wanted it to feel brand new. Even though Covington High School kids were coming to the Allegheny High School's current building, we wanted it to be new for everybody as they walked in. wasn't a new school, but the hope was you come in, we're the Allegheny Cougars, and it's going to look different, feel different with that piece. So we focused on communication.
Rick Sola (08:22.447)Okay.
Derek Cantrell (08:33.836)visibility and consistent systems to just uplift our people and recognize the things that they're doing.
Rick Sola (08:41.007)Allegheny Cougars was was did you change the mascot and the colors or?
Derek Cantrell (08:46.862)So that's one of those things as you go down that road. We merged some of the things actually. have, like I said, we're at the Allegheny High School building. So we kept the mascot of Covington High School, the Cougars, and we merged the colors. Allegheny was red in Carolina, Covington was navy and gold. So we're at Carolina and navy, as you can see with the shirt, with that part of it. So we merged those things together to kind of keep some of those.
values, traditions, and that piece with it. And I think that's been a really good move for that community volume.
Rick Sola (09:25.209)How about like attrition? You you mentioned hiring coaches, hiring teachers, but I imagine you've got two schools worth of staff and coming together as one. Was there a blending of staff or was there attrition? Was there layoffs? Was there, you know?
Derek Cantrell (09:42.062)It actually there were no layoffs. The hope was through years down the road as retirements and things happen that that would be a cost savings to the community with that part. But it actually helped because I think both schools were a little understaffed in certain areas. So bringing those resources together, we could have a full science department at the high school. We could have special education teachers. We were.
I think one or two short at Covington at the time and Allegheny might have been one short, but bringing it together, we were able to make some of those things work better and have full departments. But three years in, as we've had some people retire, those spots just aren't filled. And that's how that cost savings to the locality works within that.
Rick Sola (10:31.789)Yeah, so you mentioned already a little bit of some of the challenges and I don't know, even something like colors of a school, you said you blended the colors together. I imagine there were some pretty strong feelings about either wanting to keep a certain color blend or not adopting even the cougars. Was there a hard sell even with something like the mascot for those coming in who weren't the cougars before?
Derek Cantrell (10:57.902)You know, a lot of that stuff, think that fear of losing identity drives a lot of the surrounding talk and the things, even a simple thing of where a trophy is going to be, how a recognition plays such a big role. We have both schools banners. We have a banner in the corner of our gym that has all the state, region and district championships from both schools. It's still honored. One's in Navy, one's in Carolina.
We have a Hall of Fame display out in the foyer that you can touch and click Hall of Fame's and records so we could bring that in. That was one I think of the big areas that we had to have an answer for early is how we were going to honor traditions, but also be able to do new things as we move forward for our kids. We tried to make sure we got away from the us versus them mindset as we came in and really focused on, you know, what are we doing as Allianni Cougars? How can we take?
some of the things that we're doing to make them better, working together as staff and groups and really try to over communicate so that rumors didn't take off flying and make those things happen on the forefront. we even had schedule day early in June, like mid-June in the summer. Typically we gave out schedules the week that kids came back for open house. We did it two months earlier, the first year.
And we've kind of kept that rolling just so we made sure day one kids had the schedule they wanted. We fixed all the problems. We could come in and worry about school and be ready for that. And I think some of the things that we did there really focusing on relationships over the summer, answering those questions of what people were concerned about, paid dividends. A lot of our meetings with kids and students were pretty simple. We talked about what we're doing.
But the end was kind of just a discussion on what are you excited about? What are some things you're concerned about? And if we couldn't answer them, put things in place to be able to alleviate that along the way. And that really paid dividends.
Rick Sola (13:51.151)Yeah, you mentioned the trophies and you know, one thing that I was really intrigued about as I was reading up on Allegheny a little bit was, know, this consolidation, it blended two rivalries together. And again, going back to that word intentional. But, you talk about the value of the culture and the
the traditions and things, you're also blending two together to then develop new traditions and culture. Is there something that transpired in year one that you would say now is part of a brand new tradition and culture of Allegheny that did not exist prior?
Derek Cantrell (14:35.266)We started off and we still do some things that each historical school had with some ceremonies and some different things. We really worked intentionally to just find ways that we can continue to recognize, acknowledge, and extend good things that our kids are doing, our staff is doing. After, towards our first year, we implemented a program called our Cougar Scholars Club. And basically what it is is a way to
get our kids where we need them to be to start their senior year. So in Virginia, we have SOL testing, which is our state standardized test. So at the end of, we noticed we were looking, struggling getting kids at their senior year to have everything done. They should be done by the time they start their senior year and not have to worry about getting those completed. So we created a program and once they get through the first year, if they've passed all their SOLs, that means if they take one or two,
They would be a Cougar Scholars Club member. They would get a T-shirt the first year. The second year after their sophomore year, if they've continued to meet at 100%. And if it's a special education student, if they earned a verified credit in Virginia, if they scored 375, taking it twice or more, we would count that as well because they've earned that for graduation. After their sophomore year, they'd get an athletic pass to all home games. So invest in them and our school for their success.
and their senior year they would get an athletic pass and a parking pass. And from year one to year two, after our second year, we went up 11 % with that program and really, I think it's kind of kickstarted that getting our students on board to be successful in taking things serious because they're invested in their self and our school to be successful. And that has been something cool that I think we've started that'll continue to go and escalate and build.
over the years and that's a new one that we didn't have at either place.
Rick Sola (16:39.117)How coveted is that parking pass?
Derek Cantrell (16:42.062)That one, I would say the main part with all that is make sure your bookkeepers are okay with your crazy ideas because that's a lot of money that we had to sacrifice. She wasn't happy, but she understood in the long run that investing in kids is a win for us and that gets more kids to games, gets more kids, know, there's a little parking pass, 25 bucks to park and the athletic pass I think is $100, so.
Rick Sola (16:49.923)Ha
Derek Cantrell (17:08.654)actually for the kids it's 50, so that's $75 worth of benefits for knocking it out to park and doing what you're supposed to do. So it's really helping us, I think, get ourselves in the right spot as kids get along towards their senior year.
Rick Sola (17:24.815)So Derek, as I kind of did some background reading on your school and you and the accomplishment that you have with the 2026 Principal of Year, but you're also an author and I didn't mention that in the startup, but you've written a book about this. What's the name of the book?
Derek Cantrell (17:43.042)The book is better together. that's kind of the one community, one rival, just working into that in the hopes to kind of make it a practical playbook that you can read and get the story, but also be able to get some of the different programs that we've put in place and the things that we did on the forefront to really value people and relationships to help us be successful.
Rick Sola (18:07.743)If a person, if a principal is listening to this right now and they're going to be in charge of blending a school or even multiple schools together or communities together, what would be that first bit of advice you would give them based on the experience you went through?
Derek Cantrell (18:23.256)think the main thing is relationships and really focus on people. When you value people and relationships and building culture first, good things follow. The academics and the other success will come with that. A lot of research and things. I've read a book, Humane Leadership, and it really talks about how people that put relationships first in businesses and schools.
have bigger impact than people that worry about just the bottom line and money. Your people stay, they feel valued, you get more out of them. So it's definitely important to put people first and communicate on the forefront. And I think that really sets the momentum in the stage for great things to come.
Rick Sola (19:11.267)I really liked that advice and I can imagine, I mean, it's just like the principal job in general. There's times where, I mean, things are burning, things are moving, but there's so much care that has to go along with it. Is there a part of this process that you'd be willing to share out here that maybe you stubbed your toe and it was like, through this, like, maybe it's part of your book, like this was something like, hey, don't do this. Is there anything that you would share?
Derek Cantrell (19:38.018)You know, I think the main thing that you learn is the communication. Overcommunication is okay. That if you don't get something out, it'll create its own narrative. There'll be something going, hey, they're gonna take this trophy or this thing and they're moving it down out of the building or here or there or the other place. And it's very important as you get those things you can answer them to overcommunicate the plan.
to the best that you can, that we're gonna value, take things seriously and really involve as many people as we can within that part of it. And I think that's important as you go through basically any kind of change process and definitely little things that you might not think are big, are big to somebody. you know, especially when you're talking tradition and pride, that that makes those feelings even stronger and
You definitely have to listen and I think that's so important throughout that process and the more you do in front and even can take that time to step back and answer those things, it's going to help you in the end.
Rick Sola (20:47.373)Yeah, that's a good advice. Yeah, a narrative will be created. Either you created or somebody else will. That's really, I really like that. Well, Derek, I appreciate your insight on that. Before we sign off here, it is April as we record this. And I'm not as confident in knowing the Virginia school calendar out there. Are you year round? Are you just nine months? What's it look like out there?
Derek Cantrell (21:16.642)We start mid-August, teachers come back first August, school ends late May, typically first of June. We have a summer, we're pretty much off June and July, 12 month folks work. Summer school is typically in June, we have a month of that at the high school level. So not year long, we do have the summer break that kids and teachers get. You you're kind of getting to that, we just start.
Easter break this week. So we're off Friday, Monday, Tuesday for just a quick refresh before the final kick. And, you know, I think April is that time that you're kind of, you need a break. You got that last kind of momentum kick and refocus on those expectations, relationship and purpose and, you know, keep things positive and visible because it kind of sets the tone for that finish about this time of year because it kind of, it's 82 degrees outside today. It looks great and beautiful.
Everybody wants outside and that part gets interesting sometimes. It's part of the year.
Rick Sola (22:21.025)I'm jealous to hear that you're headed to a little mini spring break there. We have a very similar calendar. We had a bigger spring break in March, now we're kind of in the home stretch, but it's about a month and a half or so or more as we record this on April 2nd here. What advice do you give? We have some principals who listen to this who are new to the chair. Maybe this is their first April as a principal. What advice would you give them?
Derek Cantrell (22:51.47)You know, I think finish strong, continue to recognize students and staff and the good things they're doing. Be visible, be out in your buildings, talk to people. It's always, it gets a little crazy as we get to the testing time. Make sure that you've got your observations and all those things done because here in the next month it's over really quick. As Yogi Bear always would say, it gets late early. And it always feels like it gets late really quickly in a school at the end of the year. So those...
Rick Sola (23:16.185)You
Derek Cantrell (23:21.036)those things that you got to knock off your plate before the end of the year. Make sure that you're doing those now. Stay visible and continue to uplift your people.
Rick Sola (23:30.703)Gosh, I'm a huge fan of Yogi Berra and all his quotes, and I don't think I've ever heard that one. It gets laid early.
Derek Cantrell (23:36.65)And that's in relationship of Yankee Stadium and left field. The shadows would get him out there early in the game, so he would say it gets late early out in left field in Yankee Stadium. So it's a good one.
Rick Sola (23:47.695)That is a really good one. I wrote it down. think I'm going to throw it into a newsletter or something here. That's perfect. Well, speaking of baseball, I know you're on your way out to a baseball game here in Allegheny. A tradition of this show is I like to give principals an opportunity to brag on their people. So much of what we do does not happen with all the amazing people behind us. So this is a chance to share with all the listeners. Allegheny and all its people, what would you say about them?
Derek Cantrell (24:18.414)You know, would say that we have a bunch of wonderful people and to be able to get a state honor or anything like that, that definitely echoes that. Our leadership team's excellent. Charity Hale has been an assistant principal here with me. She actually was a teacher at Covington High School and then came to Allegheny before the consolidation. So she's seen both sides as well with that and she's been an outstanding leader within this process and really helped with the...
athletic piece of it through consolidation beforehand and been an outstanding AP. We have Jennifer Rather, Ty Dobbs, and Timothy Cochran was a part of our team and passed away in February of 25. So we had to, he actually went through a school consolidation before and brought some things to our team that were really cool and beneficial. And Ty Dobbs is our athletic director. Athletics played a huge part of that. And Jennifer has been super awesome with.
with everything she's done. Our staff is top notch, outstanding people. They love being here and being a part of it. And I like to say when I do a podcast with just our kids and when I ask our kids who their favorite staff members are and why, I continually hear that we have people that are kind, they go out of their way to listen and talk to kids. And like I tell them, when kids say that, that's huge. We want people that they feel that...
they can talk to and that they really have their best interests there. Our community, I think, gave us a chance. It's something that was definitely difficult to go through with that consolidation piece, so we appreciate that. Our leadership team at the school board office, they were building this plane while they didn't know what job they were going to have, and it's tough to do.
you know, hats off to the things that they do to put us in a chance to be successful. And I'd like to also hat tip Melinda Snead Johnson. She's retiring from education. I think she's putting 50 years. She was my superintendent at Covington and gave me my opportunity to do this and has still been with me as 10 years as a high school principal. I appreciate all that she's done to help grow me and value our kids and our staff and just really.
Rick Sola (26:25.593)Wow.
Derek Cantrell (26:39.906)you know, the heart that she has, that she does on a daily basis. And she's been our assistant superintendent currently and Kim Halterman's our superintendent at this time. And she has been outstanding at letting us continue to grow, go out and share the message and the things that we're doing. And those folks definitely help us. But such a team effort, you don't have opportunities to...
like I said, principal of the year type stuff without great people and staff and students. And our students came in and gave us a chance to be successful. They adapted and they were courageous with coming into a school that they didn't ask for at the time. And really, you wouldn't have known a week or two into school that anything was different. They showed up, they wore the colors, they wore the gear.
It's been an awesome experience and super humbled and proud to have the opportunity to lead that part of it at our school with our team.
Rick Sola (27:42.563)Well, a lot of really good words about the people out there you work with and with the principal of year. Are you going to DC in a couple of weeks?
Derek Cantrell (27:52.002)Yeah, April 15th, heading up that way and kind of excited for sure. I've talked to Tony Katani a little bit. I did his podcast the other year and he kind of kickstarted me into doing some of these things and getting out and our message at different conferences and all. And he said, it's an outstanding event and you learn a lot and you make a lot of wonderful connections. And so super excited for that and to get to go up there in a couple of weeks.
and be involved with the leadership and advocacy training that they offer.
Rick Sola (28:25.667)Yeah, and I've listened to Tony's podcast before. I've not talked with him myself, but I hope to meet you in person. I'll be there as well in a couple of weeks. So I'll have to look you up. it's great having you on. I really appreciate your time. I know you're on your way to a break and on your way to a game. But having someone on from another state, in this case, Virginia, it's just a reminder that what we do in our schools is it's shared the challenges, the successes, and
It's really great to have you on and just to share about the consolidation and the success you had. And I'll put that your book in the show notes. So anybody who's looking at it up can click on that and look it up. I know, like I said, it's super relevant where I'm at. I'm in a suburb south of Kansas city and you know, it's not totally unique. So it happens, but it's definitely unique as a principal to go through it for sure. So, but yeah, I want to thank you for being here and I want to wish you all the best on your break and we'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Derek Cantrell (29:24.864)All right, appreciate it Rick. Thank you and thanks for all you do and continue to do the outstanding things you're doing.
Rick Sola (29:30.457)All right, thanks Derek. All right.
 

In this episode of Cool Coffee, Kansas principal Stacey Green shares her journey to retirement, insights on leadership, decision-making, and the importance of self-care in educational leadership.
Connect with the guest: sgreen@usd271.com 
Connect on X: @usd271sgs
References from the show:Emily P. Freeman - The Next Right ThingEmily P. Freeman - How to Walk into a Room
Cool Coffee Episodes Featuring Stacey Green: #4, #22, #65, & #89
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Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
Provide Cool Coffee feedback! Click HERE to share thoughts and suggestions--including guests to have on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Stacey Green01:03 Reflecting on Retirement Decisions04:22 The Journey to Retirement10:30 Legacy of Leadership at Stockton13:18 Advice for New Principals18:07 Future Plans and Next Steps20:45 Looking Forward to Spring Events
Full Episode Transcript
Rick Sola (00:01.946)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals. Today's episode brings back Mrs. Stacey Green, principal at Stockton Grade School, pre-K through eight, a USA Kansas rep, KPA board of directors, and a frequent contributor to this podcast. You can see episodes four, 22, 65, and 89, and I'll put all those in the show notes. A principal legend here in Kansas and just an all around favorite of so many people.
I've heard that in person, conversational reference, and on this very podcast, and a person who has been so kind to me in this show. So, so glad to have you. Stacy, welcome back to Cool Coffee.
Stacey Green (00:42.958)Good morning, Rick. It's good to see you.
Rick Sola (00:45.166)Yeah, it's great to see you too. So for a little bit of context here, we are recording this. It's St. Patrick's Day, which also means it is spring break. So Stacy, thank you for coming in and or jumping on here to record this. But I'm really excited to visit with you, to catch up with you. But this is a big quarter coming up for you.
Stacey Green (01:08.534)Yes it is. Thank you again for coming in on your spring break. I appreciate that as well working around my schedule. Yes it's my final quarter which seems so very strange to say and some I think every day I get asked are you counting the days and this is true I am NOT counting the days. I think the minute I cross over the threshold of the building I enter each day I get busy and before I know it I'm walking out the door so there's not any counting. I think this is something I've instilled in my staff even like when we
head to Christmas break or head to spring break or head to the end of the year, make the days count. Don't count the days. So I'm glad in my own brain I've instilled that enough that I'm making the most of every day we have until I complete this work.
Rick Sola (01:50.212)Yeah, that's really, really good advice. And it's so tempting, I'm sure, to even take moments. And we'll get into it here in a little bit about kind of we've talked about your road to the chair that you're in, but really I'm interested in the road to your retirement. it was about it was over just over a year and half ago that you were on this podcast. It was the fourth episode. So brand new in this show's journey. But you had posted something
about how you were beginning, I believe it was your 35th year at the time, and you still have so many things to be excited about, which is really remarkable. And we spent some time talking about that. So if we were to spend some time now talking about your road to retirement, what did that road look like up to the point of you made the decision like, OK, it's time?
Stacey Green (02:44.396)I wish I would have marked that more carefully, but I would say it was about this time a year ago. A good friend of mine during our Christmas time had shared an author with me. Her name is Emily P. Freeman. Spiritual director, she's also just an avid writer. She has a podcast that I listen to faithfully. Also for those that like collections on apps, she has some daily apps. she talks a lot about the next right thing. And she talks about how, whether we're a lot about decision fatigue, she talks about
small decisions you might be in or maybe make life changing. So I started reading her book, The Next Right Thing. Another one called How to Walk into a New Room. Something similar that I don't have that exact title in front of me, but just really it was the right...
text for me, the right voice for me at that time. And I really started looking at like, what are my next right steps? I feel like, and I said this in my letter to the board when I resigned in December, I'm not leaving with any regrets. I'm not leaving because of anyone. It's just the next right thing for me. And that's really where I've done most of my discernment is just.
What does that look like to put me first? I'm typically, I'm such a service-oriented person. I really had to have some coaching and some training along the way to make this 13-year principalship run work for me and my family because I give a lot. But learning during that time from coaching from others how to...
allow others to serve and how to delegate better and so those kind of things. But yeah, getting back to that, I think that that March and starting to follow Emily, started making some notes. I also decided I wouldn't make that decision coming out of the end of the school year. I felt like I was weary. We're tired at that time. That's not my best decision making time. I wanted to have the summer last summer to really finish the work.
Stacey Green (04:29.518)through some journaling and some writing there. So that's what I did. And then came back and started this fall semester and knew by October it was the right thing. And so I've really had not any regret. I'm gonna miss a lot of people. I'm gonna miss the students. I'm gonna miss the routines, but yeah, it's the right thing. So I'm excited about that.
Rick Sola (04:46.778)I really like the, I guess the insight or the foresight or I guess awareness maybe of, you know, not making that decision at Memorial Day. You know, we are coming off of a school year and you mentioned that decision fatigue. I mean, that's, you're at the very end of the year and it's very, very busy and you're worn down. And so to have that wherewithal of like, okay, this is how I'm feeling. I feel really strongly about this, but I'm not making that final decision.
And you said it was October that you just kind of came to that. Was there anything significant about that time frame or that specific time of the school year?
Stacey Green (05:27.426)I don't think so. think I was just more self-aware and just like...
hallway walks in and out of classrooms and just being aware of the great things that are happening and the sustainability we have with teacher leadership and with our current superintendent and the board. just felt like we were finally at that place where okay this work can continue. It won't take me to be the one to lead that. There's enough people in these places and spaces. That took staff a long time to grasp and I shared with them my plans. It was like my goodness no hang on here. We had the tears. We had the moments but you've got all the right things in place and so
of my teacher leadership that's come from something that's been a passion of mine when I came into this role is that this wasn't about me, it was about we and what can you do as leaders in the classroom that know those students day in and day out. You know the curriculum resources, you know the standards. Stand up for yourselves and advocate for yourselves and continue to be strong and you're putting students first.
Rick Sola (06:23.396)You mentioned the tears and the sharing the news and all that outside of your family. Who was the first to know?
Stacey Green (06:32.994)wow. Probably my secretary. Yeah. She has been with me five years now. Incredible. Came at the right time. right after COVID. My other secretary left. She'd been there several years and when the pandemic came, she decided that was her time to step away. So Ms. Rhonda came in right after that. So I think she was the next person to know. Just again, faithful woman who discerned with me, talked with me, still encourages me. So that's been super helpful.
Rick Sola (07:01.39)So I know every year we have principals that retire and there's no one way to go through this process. But how did that go as far as announcing to your staff? Was it a staff meeting? Was it an email? Was it they found out in the newspaper? What way did you go about letting your staff know?
Stacey Green (07:19.438)you
Stacey Green (07:26.158)So we have what are called Wednesday accountability meetings and this came out of our work through the redesign and we've kept that. So every Wednesday we meet from 345 to fourish, about 15 minutes and it's just a quick, sometimes it's a standup meeting sometimes, but we're always hitting those things we're working on quickly instead of long staff meetings. So I had scheduled one of, had that on schedule already and so before I turned my letter into the board, my superintendent knew that, but before I turned that letter into her, I sat down with my staff and actually read the letter to them.
was easiest way for me to work through that. So we just had that time together. And some of, by that point in time, some of the people I have more often conversations with were figuring it out by that time.
Rick Sola (08:08.878)Yeah, I was going to ask, know, I've been around a while, whether it's retirement or a promotion of some sort, and people start to kind of dig a little bit and make reference. Well, if you're here next year or what are your thoughts? Did you get any kind of like you could you could tell that they're starting to really question or kind of wonder?
Stacey Green (08:27.886)Yes, they were. Yeah, and I was weary a couple times early in the fall, and I think they picked up on that. There were some things happening that weren't within my control and some things that we had to make some daily decisions on, and I was getting, it was a weary time. So I think they were picking up on some of that as well.
Rick Sola (08:46.618)So I know you have a kind of maybe it's a conscious effort not to do the, you know, this is the last time for the last spring break or the last this or that, but have you caught yourself at any point kind of in that moment of, wow, like, you know, this is kind of the home stretch type deal.
Stacey Green (09:05.246)Yes, so I hope I can do this without some tears if I hadn't thought about this. just finished my last round of teacher evaluations. And my last one I wrote was for a young man who came in as a sponsored student teacher for us because we couldn't find a PE teacher. So he did a student teaching with us, which was basically on his own. I had a high school PE teacher checking on him. had myself checking on him, but he was really on his own. And then stayed on with us last year. We'll continue. This is this.
one and a half year with us as on license and then we'll come back again next year. So it was, I didn't mean to intentionally save his for last, but it worked out that way. again, that teacher leadership part and growing him, it was pretty cool to have him be one of my final ones. And then the other one was my 44 year veteran who came, he had been a long time counselor for us. He,
had gone over to the high school as a counselor, then retired and went to a private school for a year and then we had an opening and came back to finish two years with us. So that was also a cool moment. He's done, because we know in teacher education he ended up back on that cycle of two-year evaluations, bless his heart, after 44 years. So he and I finished that together last week right before break to it. So that was pretty awesome to
bring that first circle from an early educator to a veteran 44 year educator and be able to give them some feedback but also some just affirmation of their work and how much they're appreciated in education.
Rick Sola (10:28.804)Well, the time and care that you put in, it's always been evident and we haven't known each other for very long in terms of either of our careers. But certainly I have seen that and appreciated that. And it's being conveyed so strongly even right now, just talking with you and to hear that, the teacher evaluations is the thing that stuck out. Because I think a lot of us, we see those dates come up like, gosh, I'm behind, I need to catch up.
But that speaks volumes about you and it's really neat. You referenced the setting up to continue. Your school is set up to continue based on your leadership but also the empowering of leaders in your building. What has you most proud as you step away and you would envision like this is kind of something that will.
either last or continue on, but what has you most proud at Stockton as you do move into your retirement?
Stacey Green (11:33.135)It definitely is that, If I look back to like that spring of 2012 when I was stepping into assistant principal that first year with our then superintendent, I had written down some things and something for our news article and a lot of was around that topic of...
We have had so many superintendents. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you how many, but it's about every two years. And so when you've had 17 superintendents in your 36 years and you being one of them for an interim, we've had a lot of turnover, but we've got great staff and great students and a great community. It's just that I can't name it. I never have been able to figure out what it is. A couple of friends in education say we need to tackle this as a research project and look at that. that was one of my things going into that fall of 13 was I want to
leave a legacy where teachers will lead. Where there won't be that here comes the boat again we're sailing off we can maybe hang on for a year but then things change and all that. So that was really my focus. Good or bad there's a lot of miss I don't know how you would describe it but there's a lot of
The word redesign like there's like we found that as a district to be very good towards the end It wasn't as well received by our community with some things we had changed They weren't ready for that change yet, even though and we felt like we were as a district So I still go back to that time and probably the thing that we reaped the most from during that time was the teacher leadership the way we constructed our research and the way who is the small groups of teachers who were leading that and the piloting of the work that they were doing that was the one of the first times I really
saw as tiring as the work was, I saw an energy I've never seen before in educators. And if I look back at those, we called them our pilot, people who were leading, one of them now is just...
Stacey Green (13:20.298)She's my sixth through eighth grade math teacher, profound educator who has had a turn of events in the way she leads in her classroom, but also leads across the state in committee work and work at KSDE and just very proud of her. to watch her growth was phenomenal. Another one is a couple of them I've already left our district, but again, I love to watch them lead in other places now and to cheer them on and to know that they took those skills and that confidence they had in leading into another district and have done so well there as well.
That's my exciting part. And I keep telling them now, they keep talking about the days and getting close. Just keep leaving, keep those things in front of you. Know your course, know your why. And I don't want to use that loosely either, but they've done the research and they know what it takes to be able to do the work day in and day out because they're researchers, they know that now.
Rick Sola (14:11.45)I'm sure you have reflected on this certainly more than I have, maybe even more than most. when you think about your time in Stockton and the many years you put in, really the final couple months, two to three months, that goes a long way in setting up for that future and all the things that you mentioned for the continuing on of all the great things.
I know you're very intentional about that. It's awesome to hear that and kind of leads me to correct me if I'm wrong. This is year 36 in education. What is some advice that you've received that stuck with you all these years? Perhaps it's the best advice you received as an educator.
Stacey Green (14:46.478)Yes.
Stacey Green (15:00.47)I did some work, my most intentional work with the inspired leadership and Rachel Thulman was my coach at that time and she taught me how to shut my office door. That was something I was always open door, come see me when you need to see me. I was out in classrooms, very visible, but then it was the nights and weekends that I was doing all the work because I just was available all the time. So she taught me and matter of
She strategically scheduled a couple of my sessions with her during the school day. had to, I mean, I got permission from my superintendent, but I would shut the door during the school day and work with her for 45 minutes to an hour.
knowing there might be a lot going on outside, but I think that was another step too and letting my staff know I'm not available for this hour. Who do you have you can lean on? Who, where can you work that so you're supporting each other and to give me this time to grow too and that was tough. But I learned it and I can do that better today. I can shut that door for an hour and work on an evaluation. I can shut the door and work on the deep work that we need to have happen and not that during the times of the evenings and weekends when I'm tired or
I'm ready to spend time with my family. Another thing that stuck with me was the shoulding. We should ourselves. I should be at this event. I should be doing this. I should be doing that. And again, that's something that continues to creep back up even here in this final quarter that I put a lot of weight into is that I don't have to do all of that. I just need to learn that some of those shoulds are things I've put on myself that no one else has given to me. I've just assumed that and I need to correct that.
Rick Sola (16:34.528)It's interesting, you both of those things you mentioned, they're kind of in the category of principal guilt that I think we all feel. I'm totally it's what you're saying resonates with me so much, almost like I need to shut my door so I can catch up on something. that guilt factor, almost like you're like you're doing something wrong and you kind of answer the question. But you just addressed it. You mentioned you told your staff that I'm unavailable during these times.
Shutting your door, do you put that on your calendar or do you just kind of as you need it, you're willing to shut your door? How do you go about that?
Stacey Green (17:09.438)I so wish I could say I put it on my calendar. I've tried that for a couple of years and I don't. Things come up, but I look at my week and know where there might be a day where it's better to slot that, but I don't say that I've ever actually put it on my calendar as much as I have the best intention to do that.
Rick Sola (17:11.384)Hahaha
Rick Sola (17:28.768)And in shoulding, as you say, there's so many events in a school year. There's so many events that every school has. And we are we need to be at so many of those. But you're right. There are some things that I think are probably OK for a building principal not to attend or not to be able to attend. What would you say to a year one, year two principal who's really riding that that principal guilt?
roller coaster and they are putting in the time aside from you know first year principal you're going to put in some extra time anyway but what would you say to them to kind of help them build some perspective around that.
Stacey Green (18:12.088)I think a lot of it is just the wisdom I'm sharing here has taken a lot of time and I've had a lot of great people pour into me that have allowed me to grow and share. so it depends on probably what the specific instance might be. But right now I have two amazing first year principals that I'm mentoring through the Kelly. And then I've got a couple of just that live nearby that have other mentors that they'll seek out the suggestions or just want to talk through something. And a of times that's what it is. But the advice I give all of them is always that remembering to take care of yourself and especially
these spring breaks or Christmas breaks. Yes, we know there's some things that are going to need to be done, but to not forget to take care of yourself and to put those people closest to you to remind them how important they are to you. And so I think that's the biggest thing. But then there's lots of things that come up that just on individual conversations that not so much more of a coaching role, but more of a mentoring just to continue to do this work long time. Because right now their energy is high. You and I remember that first year you just go in and you're ready to tackle everything.
and do all things, so I think that. So for me it's even a text message I sent on Friday to all three of those individuals that I have a lot of contact with just to remind them, you what are you doing this week for you or what are you doing this week with family to remind them to set that priority.
Rick Sola (19:28.41)And what a great example from you to them to be able to demonstrate how you do that yourself, but that it is important and it really helps assist the longevity of being able to be in the position that is as demanding as a building principle. So, you know, I love that. Your plans for next year.
Have you gotten that far yet or plans maybe for I don't know when your when contract is off in Stockton but when when when that final building walkout occurs what's next.
Stacey Green (20:02.552)So contract ends June 30th. We have an amazing trip planned to Alaska for it ended up being this August. We tried and tried for July and for some reason it wouldn't work, but it happens to be the first week of school. So I think that was supposed to be. So with a couple of couples, we'll do that. But then I'm in the middle of a couple of conversations with some next steps. And hopefully by the end of March here, I'm one of those will I'll be able to share a little bit more about what I'm going to do. It'll be part time. That's what I've been seeking. We have three grandchildren and one of them will start school.
school this fall and I want to be able to go to her events and be the Gigi I want to be. We have some aging parents who need some hospital visits, some ongoing care that I can be more free to do that work. So part-time position is perfect. I still have a lot of passion. As some people would say, I'm still pretty young, so I'm not ready to hang up completely. The work that I feel so passionate about, so I'm excited about some next steps. Both of those opportunities look pretty exciting. So just to discern through that next right thing and for what the next
some room will look like for me.
Rick Sola (21:04.634)Well, you mentioned you mentioned just a bit ago about a research project that you all need to tackle here. Yeah. So there you go. You know, last last year I had a couple principals on they were retiring and one of them he actually intentionally scheduled a trip for August to be away. He had opened an elementary school. He was principal there for 25 years and he scheduled a trip to be away during
Stacey Green (21:10.362)That too, I don't know.
Rick Sola (21:33.988)know, pre-service, you know, when teachers return as kind of a distraction in a way because he felt just like you, comfortable with the decision. It's the right decision. It's the right time. But also, you know, it's a love. It's a passion. And so maybe being in Alaska in August will just be the perfect remedy for distraction for you. Not to mention a beautiful place to be.
Stacey Green (21:58.425)We kept laughing. We tried so hard to make it be in July and it just kept falling back. I was like, okay, we'll quit fighting this and go, that's where I'm supposed to be in August. And I agree. I think that, and I live in a very small community, so the grocery store stops, the church, all those things are, everything's right under your nose. So that'll take a little bit of getting used to. But I tell students all the time, I'm going to still be cheering you on. I'm going to be at your events. I'm going to be able to still have that contact with you. Do summer story hour.
So those things that I still got to keep those kids in front of me and continue to push them to the best that they can be and staff the same way. But also carefully remembering that the next principal coming in to be able to make sure that I'm doing that in a way that they can have the leadership that they need and to lead in a different way that I've led. And I think that's the most important part is that I'm able to do what I can do but stay out of the way as well.
Rick Sola (22:54.97)What has you most excited here in the next couple months as you push through May?
Stacey Green (23:03.17)I think spring is just, fun. mean, the weather is nicer. We'll have track meets. We have some amazing music programs coming up that I'm excited to attend. So just making the most of all of it. And the evaluations are done. So I can get back into more of those informal walkthroughs and encouraging and being there and giving some feedback to staff. So I think that's the biggest part about the spring.
Rick Sola (23:16.388)Yeah.
Rick Sola (23:26.338)And then of course, I imagine there will be some sort of recognition here at the end for you and as if you could picture kind of a spectrum. And I don't know if you're fan of The Office, the TV show, but where you're at on.
Michael Scott departure where you actually leave a day before you're supposed to so that you avoid everything and you avoid all that or you're the one in charge of your your own Farewell or anything. What do you expect the last week or so to look like for you?
Stacey Green (24:04.302)I would sneak out the back door. I would just assume not have that fanfare and all that, but yet I know there'll be something and I'll enjoy every moment of that. My daughter actually is the one who's, I think she's still doubting I'm going to pull this off because she said a year ago, there's no way you can do this. But in spite of her, I'm going to show her that there's strong women we can make change and move on to those next right things. So I think she's talking about some fun things planned as well. that will, it'll be good. And I've got a lot, I love the people. I, again, just this last week, I have
about five or six principles that we have a text chat and just being able to network with them. And so all those people that have fed into me and that I've been able to feed, I hope that I get a way to acknowledge them in this process as well.
Rick Sola (24:46.468)Well, truly, as I mentioned, know, the passion and the care, the love you have for the profession, it's totally, totally conveyed here on this show. just in the few years that are.
our careers have crossed path. It's something I've picked up on. It's something I've appreciated and has been an influence to me. And I'm really excited for you. And I know that those next steps will be really, really fun and exciting and that you'll still be, like you said, you'll still be around. You're still gonna be engaged and you're still gonna be involved. But I really appreciate you taking the time today to share.
some reflection on where you're at in this process in March with a quarter left to go and because there are other principals that are sitting in the same position as you right now and so thank you for sharing all that today and thank you for all the support you've given to not just this show but to me you've reached out to me just throughout the few years here that we've been on the kpa board together and i just so appreciate you and want to wish you all the best moving forward
Stacey Green (25:55.481)Thank you, Rick. I appreciate your kind words and thank you for leading so well. And that's what it's gonna take is me feeding into those of you that are at the cusp of that really kind of that beginning. know how many years for you remind me.
Rick Sola (26:06.074)This is my 15th year as an administrator. Yeah.
Stacey Green (26:08.236)year. So you're well into this. So yeah, but just continue all of you that are doing the great things for our profession across the state, but also across the country, because we have to keep advocating for ourselves and the role that we have and ultimately our students. So thank you for your work and for having me on here and allowing me to be real.
Rick Sola (26:26.252)Absolutely. And have a wonderful rest of your spring break. hopefully now you can get back to spring break now that we're wrapping this up.
Stacey Green (26:35.618)Thank you. I'm not sure it looks so fun. It looks like a lot of lists to get things accomplished at home, probably like most of you.
Rick Sola (26:42.442)Absolutely. Stacey, take care and we'll see you around.
Stacey Green (26:46.265)Thank you.
 

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals, host Rick Sola engages with a panel of aspiring administrators from Kansas. They share their motivations for pursuing leadership roles in education, the challenges and excitement they anticipate, and the importance of mentorship and networking in their journeys. The conversation highlights the transformative power of education and the vital role of school leaders in shaping positive school cultures. The panelists reflect on their experiences, the traits they admire in current administrators, and the significance of being authentic and real in leadership roles.
Connect with the panel (email):Shelby MuhaLiz Stover-GebhardtJacob BurkholderTiffany HampeDr. Todd Dain
 
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service. Read more about the KPA HERE.
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Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
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Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact host Principal Rick Sola: rfsola@olatheschools.org or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Future Kansas Principals04:20 Motivations for Pursuing Administration10:21 Excitement and Nervousness in Leadership16:40 Balancing Work and Life as an Administrator22:04 Challenges and Growth in Administrative Roles24:43 Navigating the Fear of Mistakes in Leadership25:57 Understanding the Complexity of School Administration26:58 Valuing Administrative Mentorship and Leadership Traits28:37 The Importance of Supportive Leadership in Education30:10 Creating a Positive and Inclusive School Culture32:06 The Role of Collaboration and Trust in Administration35:31 Aspiring Administrators: What Makes You Stand Out?40:34 The Value of Networking and Advocacy in Education
 
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Rick Sola (00:01.602)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas Principles, or more appropriately today, Future Kansas Principles. I'm joined by four aspiring administrators here in Kansas who have either completed or are currently working toward their administration license. Today we'll visit with them to learn about the administrator influences in their lives, the traits that they admire in administrators.
and why on earth they are interested in joining the so-called dark side of education. Looking forward to hearing all about that. And it sounds like we may have a dog in the audience as well, which is awesome. Big dog lover here. So anyway, but first let's meet our panel of future administrators. First of all, we have Shelby Mouha, 20 years teaching family and consumer science in Kansas. She taught in nine years, smaller districts outside of Manhattan, Kansas before moving back to Kansas City.
for the last 11 years and the last 10 years in Olathe Public Schools. She got her bachelor's and master's from Kansas State University and admin license from Baker University. Welcome, Shelby.
Shelby Muha (01:13.236)Thanks so much. Happy to be here.
Rick Sola (01:16.076)All right. And then we have Elizabeth Stover at Gebhart. It goes by Liz. And she earned her MSSL and BA from Baker University, her ninth year of teaching social studies at the high school level at Shawnee Mission South High School, where you're also the head football or softball coach and assistant volleyball coach. Is that correct? Well, welcome, Liz. Glad to have you on here.
Liz Stover (01:24.115)Yep.
Liz Stover (01:41.597)That is correct, yeah.
Liz Stover (01:45.651)Thank you so much for having me.
Rick Sola (01:47.672)and Jacob Burkholder in his seventh year as an educator and currently teaching Project Lea the Way engineering courses at Piper High School in Kansas City, Kansas. Jacob is certified in social studies and technology and engineering education, holds a bachelor's of science degree from Kansas State University, and is pursuing a master's in educational leadership at Baker University. Welcome, Jacob.
Jacob Burkholder (02:10.963)Thank you, Rick. I appreciate you having me on.
Rick Sola (02:13.666)And then finally, Tiffany Hampy, I'm sorry, we just even, I even got that clarified right before we went on. And she has been a teacher for 21 years, eight of those years being spent teaching middle school math, and the other 13 have been high school math with geometry, Algebra II and Algebra III, and attended University of New Mexico for her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and eventually her master's degree in secondary education.
Tiffany Hampe (02:18.661)I clarify right now.
Rick Sola (02:42.112)and recently finished certification through Baker University for building level leadership. Welcome Tiffany.
Tiffany Hampe (02:48.377)Thank you. Also, was my dog. Leave it to them to bark at the most inopportune moment.
Rick Sola (02:50.904)Oh, was a that's perfect. Totally good. And then I do want to welcome back to the show and longtime supporter Dr. Todd Dane, principal of Shawnee-Mitchell South High School, in a SSP board of directors, USA, Kansas, KPA board of directors, 2023, Kansas principal of year, and so many other things, dad to three awesome kids husband to an even better Dr. Dane. Right.
Todd Dain (03:19.246)It's true. Yes.
Rick Sola (03:21.292)And he'll be support here today on the admin side of things. And was also instrumental in the assembly of this panel, in this panel. So welcome, Todd.
Todd Dain (03:31.49)Thank you so much for doing this and putting this together, Rick. I'm looking forward to this discussion.
Rick Sola (03:37.91)Yeah, it's gonna be great. And this is our first time for Cool Coffee to have so many people in the virtual studio here. So really excited for this, but also really excited to have a group of educators who are in the chair of aspiring to be administrators. And I think there's so much value in remembering if you're listening to this and you're an active administrator, remembering how hungry you felt at that point where you were
aspiring and pursuing these administrative jobs. But I really can't wait to hear what it is about your current administrators or administrators in your path that you really admired. And so we'll get right to it here. And as we go through this and as points come up, certainly all of you feel welcome to interject. This is not a job interview. It's a conversation. so and then Dr. Dayne, of course, anything that you have certainly feel free. But we'll start
with where we were at the initial top of the show here is, what is it that is driving you toward administration? Shelby, we'll start with you. What is it that is just tugging you to get into administration?
Shelby Muha (04:51.219)Wow, great question. Happy to start us off. You know, thankfully you did send us these questions ahead of time, so we had some time to really think about this. because I think if you were to ask other educators today, are you crazy? Why are you? Why do you want to be an administrator? And I think one of the things that's really focused on my mind is
Tiffany Hampe (05:13.495)that's really focused on MIME is I really believe that education has the ability to change the trajectory.
Shelby Muha (05:17.573)I really believe that education has the ability to change the trajectory for students. And I believe that, you know, just like year 20 and year one. And so I've seen as a classroom teacher the ability to make a meaningful impact in students. And I think the thing that's most appealing to me at the administrative level is that you get to have a greater sphere of influence with kids, with adults.
And sometimes teachers need to be reminded that education has the power to change lives. And I think as an administrator, you have an opportunity to do that.
Rick Sola (05:59.107)That's awesome. Liz, we'll go to you, but Todd, to that, is she crazy? I mean, that was the rhetorical question that she led off with, but is there a crazy element to administration?
Tiffany Hampe (06:07.941)Bye.
Todd Dain (06:12.812)Yeah, you have to be a little bit crazy to do this gig. And it's got to be about the kids, you know. And I think that's what keeps me in this chair. I've had some opportunities to kind of move away from the building at a district level. And it's the everyday interaction you have with young people that still keeps me doing this gig.
Rick Sola (06:14.712)Ha
Rick Sola (06:35.852)Liz, what about you? What's driving you toward administration?
Liz Stover (06:39.271)Yeah, I do want to echo what Shelby said. So even just this last week, I've been really fortunate that Dr. Dane has allowed me to be an administrative intern. And just even this past week, the number of questions of, you sure you want to do this? I know Dr. Dane, you were there last week and it got a little chaotic towards the end, just with the long weekend. So, but I am sure I really love this idea of being able to have a.
bigger impact on kids and being able to advocate for them. My background, especially with my younger siblings, spending a lot of time with special education and being able to teach for this, all the different levels that I have in social studies is really just what can I do to have that bigger stage to advocate and make sure that kids get what they need and are supported in every way.
Rick Sola (07:29.88)So you're an admin intern right now, so you're getting a little bit of real world experience. Have you had a moment of kind of an aha, like, this is administration? Like, you you can sit in the classroom all day long, you can get thrown scenarios like crazy, but you actually experience it you're like, did you ever have one of those moments?
Liz Stover (07:51.304)Yeah, I think even just this school year, it's happened a few times just to sit back and be able to realize that just the number, because we have a few assistant principals and they're always getting pulled all these different directions. It's putting out one fire here. They have a meeting over here. There's an IEP. So just being able to see that kind of in real time. So, yeah, I think just a few times this year.
Shelby Muha (08:10.771)you
Rick Sola (08:17.346)Jacob, what do you think? What's driving you toward administration?
Jacob Burkholder (08:18.643)Yes. So I think if you'd asked me six years ago if I wouldn't be an administrator, I would have maybe laughed. And then I came from a building where I did not feel super supported, and I came into this incredible district.
And I've just seen incredible leadership. And as I was looking at how I want to advance my career, I was willing to get master's. I was looking at it, and the doors that I thought this would open was something I was much more interested in. And as I look at education, so much of the frustrations, think, in education are outside the classroom. And so how can we build systems that empower people? And I think that's a big aspect of it is just sometimes we can forget that our people are most valuable.
So our teachers, our staff, our students. And as long as we're like student-centered moving forward and with our choices, we're gonna make good choices.
Rick Sola (09:12.408)That's awesome. I'm going to ask you the same question there that I asked Liz, but have you had any moments yet through any real world experiences that were kind of eye opening and maybe shed some light on something that you wouldn't have seen if you weren't a little deeper into the office?
Shelby Muha (09:14.419)Thank
Tiffany Hampe (09:19.301)you
Shelby Muha (09:27.74)you
Jacob Burkholder (09:29.575)There so I've.
I'm doing my field experience this semester as well. And there have been two events. One of them was the admin on duty for a basketball tournament for freshmen. And I was the only Piper teacher in the building. And one of the other coaches came up and asked me a question. like, wow, this is real. I have to have the answer for this coach to support them. And was like, let me figure that out real quick and get you what you need. And then another one, I was involved, unfortunately, in an event where we had to suspend a student.
Shelby Muha (09:38.675)Thank
Jacob Burkholder (10:00.671)just the very real conversation that student had with us. I was really surprised when the student broke down crying. We had a very real, tender conversation. And just to see how there were consequences, but it ultimately, I think, helped that student and their process through that conversation.
Rick Sola (10:26.552)Yeah, that's really good. When you become an administrator, you automatically have all the answers, isn't that right, Dr. Dane? Like, you just automatically know the answer.
Todd Dain (10:38.348)Yeah, absolutely.
I've been in this long enough where I kind of know those answers when they come to me, but I do remember all those times when people would come to me with questions and I wouldn't have the answers, but you you work your tail off to try to find out and and that's what it's about and the follow through that comes with it. So yeah, it's sometimes we've as I've been in it. You forget how many of those quick responses, quick decisions that you make in just one day.
Rick Sola (11:10.658)Yeah, sometimes owning that you don't yet know and like Dr. Dane said, the follow-up is key. You follow up, you don't have to know every answer, but the follow-up is critical. All right, so Tiffany, what's driving you toward administration?
Tiffany Hampe (11:24.837)Yeah, similar to Jacob. I think if you would have asked me five or six years ago, I, in fact, my dad has always pushed me to do this. And I was like, no, I'm good being a teacher. I have no desire to be an administrator. And then similar, I went into a school where I feel like my admin is exceptional and really has elicited kind of that, oh, this is the type of change that you can make not only with kids, but also with the adults in your building. And that really got me.
And I have older kids now. I have two boys, one is 20, one is 17. And so I'm not being pulled at home so much. And it just felt like the right time. I don't know. I feel like I'm ready for a change, ready for some challenge. Want to make a difference in a different capacity, adults and kids. And just having admin that are really inspiring has really pushed me to do this.
Rick Sola (12:18.456)That's awesome. And we'll come back to some of our favorite administrator traits with people, but Tiffany, sticking with you here, what has you really excited about the idea of sitting in an admin chair? And then what has you also really nervous about it?
Tiffany Hampe (12:35.685)Well, I'm really excited to transfer into a role where, you know, I feel like as a teacher, especially in Mays, Kansas, for the most part, I'm dealing with very well-behaved kids. Our population is pretty low in behavior issues. And so I want to extend this into kids that are struggling behaviorally, which is what I saw a lot in my field experience, just dealing with kids. I was very surprised at how many of them have drug.
and alcohol issues that they deal with. like Liz was saying, how many different directions they're being pulled at all times of the day. I think every teacher would admit to sitting in their classroom and saying, what do they do all day? I mean, seriously, what are they up there doing? Because it doesn't seem like much until you're actually up there and witness it firsthand. And then you're like, I understand. So I think typically I deal with kids that are compliant. And so I think
making a difference. have a really good rapport with all my kiddos and I just feel like that's a strength of mine. So I'm excited to see how that transfers into kids that maybe struggle a little bit more, need a little bit more support. And then most nervous. I work, my son is going to be a senior next year. So I have no interest in leaving the building that I'm at currently. So, and I love that building so much. It's like a family to me that if I were to accept an admin position right now,
it would only be in this building. And that's just because of what's happening in my current life situation. And so I think the switch to working with people that have been my colleagues and having to change from them being more like peers to now I'm in a more leadership position has me pretty nervous. And that's probably my biggest concern right now is just how to make that switch as authentic as possible and as the least awkward as possible, I guess.
Rick Sola (14:33.752)I see a lot of head nodding there when you mentioned going from classroom teacher to more in the leadership role and working with peers and Todd, have any thoughts on that going from classroom teacher to then in an administrative role in that same building?
Shelby Muha (14:35.059)Yes.
Todd Dain (14:52.718)Yeah, so you know, I was fortunate enough to be a classroom teacher for a lot of years. I was a teacher for 20 years and I was a head football coach for 14 years and had an incredible mentor and Dr. Gwen Posse that kind of pulled me aside when I was 40 and said, hey, what do you want to be when you grow up? And so, you know, she, she was incredible for me to go through that process and learn, but she created a
position for me that allowed me to kind of transition in administrative role. And one of the things that I learned full disclosure here is that whether or not you really feel like you change your relationships, the perception automatically changes with it. And I remember walking down the hallway one morning with two colleagues that I knew had a really
Shelby Muha (15:39.859)Mm-hmm.
Todd Dain (15:48.258)positive and strong relationship with. I'd worked with them for a number of years side by side and walked down the hall and said, good morning girls, I'm so excited to see you. And the word girls was.
received by them in a way that was condescending and that was not my intention at all. It was 100 % out of affection for those people and those professionals and who they were. But because I was in a different role, they saw it as condescending. And so I had to backtrack and apologize and say, you know, I think you are smart and strong and are wonderful, strong women. And I never wanted them to feel like that I was ever
condescending to them. But it was just it was an eye-opener for me because in some ways I didn't feel like my relationship with them had changed.
But in their eyes, it did. And I think that's an important piece to understand when you kind of step into this role, whether you like it or not, people are going to perceive you in that role. I still kind of think of myself as a kid at heart. And sometimes in my mind, I'm still 17 and try to relate to young people and have fun in what we do. But at the same time, you have to understand that
Shelby Muha (16:46.739)and
Todd Dain (17:13.742)that's a shift. And so that was a big transition for me and a wonderful learning experience with friends that I got to learn in a safe place.
Rick Sola (17:25.718)Yeah, that's a really great example. I was a little different. I started out a building, an administration that I really had very little connections with. But that same sentiment took me back a little bit because that title, whether you think about it that way or not, the title can change the way you're viewed by staff, by students, parents. And it's something to kind of look
grapple with and learn how to manage. like Todd said, in some ways be careful, but also like it's just something you've got to be aware of to some degree. So let's see, Jacob, let's go to you. What has you excited and nervous?
Shelby Muha (18:04.571)and
Jacob Burkholder (18:10.267)So as I've worked through these courses, something that I've really enjoyed is thinking about the big picture and just systems, which...
is I guess I'm little nerdy about now. But this summer I actually had the opportunity to serve as a program leader at Scout Camp. And in that role I was serving as the instructional leader for our staff to make sure our staff was delivering a good camping experience to our kids. And that was honestly not something I had been super excited about.
just academically, but now having been that role to see that that was one of the bigger impacts and that just felt like I was empowering powering my staff to go and lift up the kids and like have that amazing experience and In a lot of ways, I think that's some of the most important part of leadership I think one of the things I'm more nervous about is I I know all the field experience I've done
I see everything I've been doing. I'm like, this is really interesting stuff. This is stuff I want to be a part of. But I look at the hours that they work. I'm like, ooh, that's a lot. And I'm at a point where I want to start a family. So that's something I've been thinking about, like how do you have a successful work-life balance?
Rick Sola (19:26.38)Yeah, I think that's a really something to think about for sure. And I'm at the middle school, Todd's at the high school. I think our hours are probably a little different. Anything that you would want to speak to that on Dr. Dane?
Todd Dain (19:44.194)Yeah, you know, somebody has asked me in a previous podcast about that. And one of the things that I come back to is, you know, my role is a little bit different than that. I was my last year as a teacher, I was teaching five sections of college prep English. I was the head football coach at a six day high school. I was the head track coach at a six day high school. And the principal called me in and asked me to be the department chair for the English department.
And I just said, can't do all of this and do it well and do it right, do it the way it needs to be done. And so when I think back to the amount of time that I was dedicating to all those things, it's a lot less time now as an administrator that I put in compared to the years when I was a head football coach and a head track coach, just dedicating those hours. The one thing that I would tell you, Jacob,
Jacob Burkholder (20:39.624)Yes.
Todd Dain (20:39.758)and all of you aspiring administrators is that the one thing as an administrator, you have a little more control over your clock, right? So your school day is 740 to 240 or eight to three or whatever it is. you've got a little bit of autonomy on your day. Your day isn't run by the bell.
Shelby Muha (21:01.139)you
Todd Dain (21:01.452)hour by hour. The other thing that you have a little more control over is all the extra duties and the supervision night duties that you have. it's a considerable amount of hours that we spend at basketball games. After this Zoom call, I'm headed to a Lathie's for a basketball game tonight.
And so you have a lot of those night duties, but you have some input and control over those nights, right? So I know ahead of time that homecoming week, I'm gonna be out four nights. But there may be other weeks when I can be more in control of those hours. So my youngest daughter just finished her collegiate soccer career playing soccer at Northwest Missouri State, and she was.
all conference and team captain and all those things. So one of the things for me over the past four years was that I wanted to make sure that I was attending all of her soccer games. So I could adjust those night duties and we can work together as a team to make sure that I could be at all of her games. And so that meant that I worked soccer on Thursday night and soccer on Tuesday night and
Wrestling on Wednesday or whatever it was so that I could have the open time on Friday and Saturday to go watch her play soccer so So I would say that I there is a lot of time commitment number one. It's less than you spend as a teacher and a coach and As a teacher and a coach you don't have control over your clock But as an administrator you have a lot of time commitment, but you have a little more control over your clock
You have a little more control over what nights you work, what weekends you work, your day, you know, eight to three during your day. If you have other things, family issues, you don't have to get a sub if you got to take your son to the doctor. Right? You don't have a substitute administrator, whereas, you know, as a teacher, you probably have to find a substitute if you have to take your son to the doctor in the afternoon. Right? So it's a little bit different perspective, a little bit different.
Shelby Muha (22:44.647)and
Todd Dain (23:14.668)and that you have a little more autonomy as administrator in that role. So I talk too much.
Rick Sola (23:19.768)And I bet lot of the things that you're all doing are already prepping you for that kind of schedule. On a smaller scale, I was a high school coach. I was a middle school coach at the same time. A lot going on, finishing my masters for administration, all those things were going on. I found that it just prepped me for when that time came and being the role, you start budgeting your time a little differently. And I love that the way you described that.
Shelby Muha (23:26.845)it.
Rick Sola (23:49.113)Todd of just managing your own clock, a little bit more control of your clock, but that's where those shadow experiences can be really valuable. I was able to shadow the AD at a high school here in town and it was eye opening for a lot of really good things. really helped me think through different decisions that were potentially on the horizon for me. So Liz, we'll jump to you. What has you super excited and super nervous about being an administrator?
Shelby Muha (24:00.82)you
Liz Stover (24:16.903)Yeah, I was really looking forward to this question. One of the things that I talk to my players about is, because I coach softball and volleyball, this feeling of being nervous and excited is really the same. So being able to take a step back and really process why exactly you're feeling that way. So for me, the answer is the same is that I'm.
I'm really excited for a challenge of being an administrator. I'm really excited for those unknowns every day. So right now I can make my lesson plans and I have a really strong feeling of what my day is going to look like with a couple of things here and there, just being ready to pivot. But this idea of being able to challenge myself for something new. When I was doing my master's degree, I was doing my master's, I was planning my wedding, I was my first season as a head coach and now
Everything just kind of feels like it's moving slow. So I feel like I'm really ready for that challenge and just to kind of take another step up.
Rick Sola (25:15.48)It's awesome, ready for the challenge. saw again, a lot of nodding heads there, which is awesome to see. Shelby to you, excited and nervous.
Shelby Muha (25:19.345)Thanks.
Shelby Muha (25:23.877)Yeah, well, Liz, I like to combine scared and excited and call it skited because I think that I am skited as well. I am, you know, of course curious about how am going to handle those intense moments, right? Like Jacob alluded to that moment of like, I'm the guy now, right? Like I need to have the answers to this. And
I think it'll be so good for me after 20 years in the classroom to be forced to learn something new. And I think that's been one of the most exciting things about being, you know, going through the Baker Building Licensure Program is that I was kind of hit this accelerated growth curve. And I was like, man, this is really awesome. Like, this is really cool. And I really like this. And I want to continue learning. And I want to continue growing. that.
I'm excited to continue learning. I am nervous I'm going to mess up. The consequences are a little different on a more public stage. I feel like everything really matters, right? All those important conversations that you have with students and with parents and with staff. I want to be really intentional in those
those offshoot moments that Dr. Dane mentioned of like those little side comments of like, shoot, I need to backpedal and fix that. I feel like as an administrator, things just carry more weight. The words that you say and every conversation from with a classified staff member to a kid to a certified staff member, like your words matter all the time.
That's just a new way of operating. So yeah, there's so many things, so many skited things that I keep thinking about.
Rick Sola (27:28.088)That is a new word for me, but I like it. I remember very distinctly the fear of messing up and like in my head, I just kept thinking, I don't want the building to come to a grinding halt because of some bonehead decision I made or didn't do or something. the reality is the school is going to go on. It always does. But how you
correct the mistakes, you backtrack, you own it, you apologize, show humility, all those things can help with the overall buy-in of working with the people that you're with all the time. I appreciate the honesty of, yeah, I just don't want to mess up, because I think that's a very real feeling for being in the chair. I don't want to mess up now, and I've been doing it for a while. But especially early on, it can feel like things move really quick.
Shelby Muha (28:16.723)you
Rick Sola (28:26.916)One thing I appreciated earlier when Tiffany was talking again, there's a lot of nodding heads. wish in some ways I wish this was a video podcast so you can see that. But when she was talking about the surprise when you get into the office and some of the conversations you're having and perhaps even that feeling sometimes like, what is really going on in the office? But you all seem to really kind of like nod like almost emphatically. And I guess I'll just ask for another nod. But
Am I accurate that you all have had that experience where you're like, like, wow, like this was bigger than I thought, or there's a lot more going on behind the curtain than I ever could have imagined.
Tiffany Hampe (29:08.632)Yeah, 100%.
Jacob Burkholder (29:09.543)Very much so.
Rick Sola (29:11.266)Yeah. That was...
Shelby Muha (29:11.473)Yes, yeah, things are very real behind that curtain.
Liz Stover (29:12.85)Yeah.
Rick Sola (29:17.452)For an audio podcast, that was a really poorly worded question because all we're seeing is everyone nodding and you know, but no, I enjoyed that. So question here, and I'm really interested in this and this would be a time to really name drop part of this podcast is we always brag on our people, but you all have administrators that have been in your path. We just heard about Dr. Posse who was in Dr. Dane's path way back in probably safe to say was trajectory changing for Dr. Dane back then.
Tiffany Hampe (29:22.348)You
Tiffany Hampe (29:31.012)you
Rick Sola (29:47.129)Who are those administrators? But more specifically, what is it you appreciate about them? What's a trait that they have demonstrated? Maybe you're with them now or maybe it's somebody in the past. But what are some of those traits, administrative traits that you really have grown to appreciate? let's start, we'll go, Jacob, we'll start with you on this one.
Jacob Burkholder (30:09.043)I've been really lucky since I've been at Piper with the leadership we've had here. And that's something I really appreciate is just the vision that leadership has and the desire to get us somewhere better.
And if there's a problem, it's like, OK, how do we fix this? And so there's a discussion around that. Specifically, my building, I really appreciated working with all the administrators, but especially Kelsey and Selmy and Bobby Cave. And when they found out I was starting this program, they both would start to show me some other things and have discussions about, hey, what do you think of this situation? And so was like informal coaching before I even started the field experience. And that was just really beneficial.
opening and just having someone to go talk to and like spitball ideas off of I'll know something like how would how would you expect to handle this situation and just having that soundboard to learn from.
Rick Sola (31:08.322)So you just mentioned two people I have a connection with and I bring it up not just to show that, I've got a connection with, but I have found over and over and over again that education for as big as we are, there are so many six degrees of separation. So Kelsey and Salmi, I worked with her mom at a previous school, Prairie Trail. Her mom was the nurse there. then Bobby Cave, I currently work with his sister here at the school.
Jacob Burkholder (31:12.531)Okay.
Rick Sola (31:38.275)Chisholm Trail where I'm principal. And I think it's really important to realize there's connections all around. And you just mentioned two incredible administrators, incredible people. Unfortunately, sometimes when names get brought up, like in an interview or a reference, and you're hearing someone say something that's not as positive, you just never know who you're sitting across from. You never would have known these connections and...
Jacob Burkholder (31:40.957)Awesome.
Rick Sola (32:05.976)I think that's a big caution, especially for people interviewing for any job. Be careful how you talk about people, you know. We all have connections out there, but yeah, two people that I know are very highly regarded where you're out there. Let's go to Tiffany.
Tiffany Hampe (32:25.407)Yes, so I don't know how well you guys know the area, but I work for Dr. Chris Botts right now. He's amazing. He's got an amazing leadership team that he's kind of created. He is the first principal that I've ever worked for that really inspired growth, reflection, but also at the end of the day makes every single staff member feel like their family comes first. And that was really, really important to me.
I don't know, I just feel like I've grown a lot and I don't feel like people take that for granted. Like I don't think that they or use that to their advantage that he says your family should always come first so they're taking off all the time. It almost does the opposite where it created this culture of we all support each other and I'm gonna push you to be your best and do your best but also if there are things going on outside of school, please handle those because that's most important to everyone in the building.
And then, you know, he's awesome and he's also had really strong women leadership that I look up to. Morgan Marsh, Amy Zuido, and even Sonia Tice, they have all been admin there while I've been there. And I think it's hard to be a woman in administration. think, you know, we're still kind of trying to forge our path there. And, you know, a lot of times when women come across very...
stern and strict, they're given that capital B word. And so I think the women in this building show a good balance of loving kids, but also holding them to a high standard. And that's been really nice to see. So yeah, it's just a very positive culture, very welcoming culture, very community-based. I think everybody feels supported and that's been really important to me.
Shelby Muha (34:09.779)Thank
Rick Sola (34:17.752)It's awesome. Yeah, love that kind of firm but respectful approach there. Let's see. Liz, have we heard? Liz, we'll go to you on this one.
Liz Stover (34:27.425)Yeah. Yeah. So I actually feel really fortunate that every school, every district that I've been in, even growing up. So Dr. Dane, you mentioned Dr. Paz here a little bit ago. Dr. Yurkovich, those were really strong female leaders to look up to, just even going through middle school, high school, and then beyond. So when I first started teaching at Washburn Rural in Topeka, I was really impressed by the team that
Ed Rains and Kyle Reed had for us out there. Everything when I initially got into teaching was very much like a coaching, a mentorship. And that
I think really formed who I am just as a teacher and some of my kind of long-term beliefs about what we can do as administrators and how we can work together. And then to jump right into Shiny Mission South with Dr. Dane and everyone that we have there. So for me, I feel like I kind of gravitate towards principals who are visible, people who are consistent in administrating. So whether that's the students, the teachers, that sort of thing, which is what I feel like.
Dr. Dane, we've been really strong with it, South, but just even the culture there. For me to immediately come in, feel welcomed, and then to feel trusted with the administrators to take on some of these leadership roles and be able to go in and ask questions, ask just for clarification. I might not be directly involved in some scenario, but I can go in and say, I noticed that we did this, how-
Like how do we navigate that? How do we make those decisions and being able to be trusted with that information, even to go as far as to making decisions on my own and to be able to talk through that I think is really formative right now.
Rick Sola (36:20.344)That's awesome. And you know, when it comes down to making big decisions, there's always people to call, you know, and I know Dr. Dane, you've got a team out there. You guys are a strong team. There's always somebody either in your building or outside your building. I know that Dr. Dane's a person I could call if I needed to, but there's that network there. Shelby, finish us off on this question. What do you appreciate most about your favorite administrators?
Shelby Muha (36:47.228)Yeah, I think the best example I can think about this is when it was 2017 and Olathe West was getting ready to open and it is the last high school that Olathe has built and it's amazing and I still work here and there was a moment where as a family consumer science teacher, the two other teachers in our department, we had to like get all of our stuff, right? So we had to like
unpack tons and tons of tools and mean curriculum equipment. mean just like moving into a giant brand new 6A house, right? And so the principal who opened this building, Jay Novacek, walking through the Commons and I had a quick question about something small and I was like, yeah, we had a question about something and he was like, yeah.
He knew exactly what I was talking about. He could tell me that it was like when it was ordered, when it was going to arrive and like all of these things. And I remember thinking like, wow, like he is really, really on it. And as a teacher, it made me feel like what I was bringing to this team as a brand new building was really valuable.
and that I wasn't going to be kind of like forgotten in the shuffle, right? And if you're, you're putting the time in, because this was July, right? So we were like giving up the end of our summer to go unpack our giant new house. And I felt so taken care of by him. And I have, you know, since since that moment. And I think that Jay specifically is someone who will go to bat for you.
and he will defend you as long as you're defendable and he will always come when you call. I think that's one of the things our entire administrative team here that I've always, always so appreciated. Megan Black, Pat Butler, Josh Humphrey, Dr. Aniline Morris, they come when I call and I feel like they trust me, they trust my decision-making and if I need help, they're gonna show up.
Shelby Muha (39:04.624)I have to, you know, the thing that I, when I was choosing a mentor in my Baker cohort, I wanted to pick somebody who I knew didn't think like I did. And I wanted to learn and I have learned a ton from Dr. Annalyn Morris. And she is the most innovative and creative and inspirational people that I have had the opportunity to work with. And I have learned so much.
to the point where I'm like, man, like what new thing are we going to have to learn? Because learning is hard, right? It's uncomfortable in some way. But she's constantly like encouraging and pushing the envelope and challenging me as a leader and challenging what, you know, I always say that I feel like she creates an image of a more perfect school system.
Like what we could all aspire to be as leaders and how the system could continuously get better.
Rick Sola (40:10.998)I really like your acknowledgement that you chose a mentor who did not think like you.
like you do. And I think how important that is when you're putting together, if you have the opportunity to put together a team, an administrative team, and how important it is to have different perspectives and different thoughts. And, you know, so you can, you can bounce ideas that balance is so critical and it'll help you really think through situations where you've just got blind spots. We all have them, you know, there's different things that you need that other perspective. So I really liked that, that you said that we're going to wrap up with one more question.
And then I'll kick it to doc. Dr. Dane here at the end, but we'll do like a 45 second spiel here This is this is your chance, but you know all of you are aspiring administrators I know Tiffany you got your eyes on one building and one building only next year, but then after that you know all bets are off But why does a building principal who's listening right now? Why would they want to hire you as their assistant principal or principal? and let's start with
Tiffany Hampe (41:03.275)You
Rick Sola (41:15.938)Who would like to start on this one? No pressure here.
Rick Sola (41:22.648)Alright Shelby.
Shelby Muha (41:23.944)Okay. Yeah, this is definitely one I chose to write down because I was like, man, this is an on air interview question. So thanks for the softball, Rick. Just kidding. So I think a building principal who's listening right now would want to hire me because I feel like I'm doing it for the right reasons. I understand the workload and the grunt work or as Jane Novacek calls it, the administrators are the pooper scoopers of the school.
Tiffany Hampe (41:24.695)Hahaha!
Rick Sola (41:35.788)Yeah.
Rick Sola (41:53.218)Ha ha ha.
Shelby Muha (41:54.453)He said this on a day that they all went outside and were like cleaning off the staff cars and student cars when we got an unexpected like four inches of snow. I understand the service required and I respect the privilege and the responsibility that lies within being a building leader. I believe that I can keep the first things first and have a clear idea of what's best for kids.
I also really like people and I know how to communicate and pitch and sell and influence ideas. I love being on a team and I love to collaborate with others. And I know that I don't know everything, but I'm also very much willing to learn, want to grow and want to be great at this.
Rick Sola (42:36.21)Awesome. Very good. Thank you, Shelby, for leading us off. Jacob, let's go to you.
Jacob Burkholder (42:41.779)I love what she said, that was amazing. I think for me, I believe that our greatest resource is our people. so creating a culture where people feel valued is just really important. And I feel like that's something I do really well. And then just having a growth mindset. So I know going into any admin position, I have a lot to learn. And just having that mindset of always saying like,
Tiffany Hampe (42:45.204)Yeah
Jacob Burkholder (43:08.485)What do I need to learn here? How can I learn from this experience so the next time it's better? And just that reflectiveness is really good. And then the ability to collaborate. And I'm not afraid to ask for help when I need it. And I also know that there's times where I just need to make a decision and go with it. And having that mindset, I think, is really important.
Rick Sola (43:32.044)Great. Thank you, Jacob. Tiffany, we'll go over to you.
Tiffany Hampe (43:36.172)Yeah, I'll echo a lot of what's already been said. Obviously, I'm a very reflexional, growth-centered person. Otherwise, I don't feel like I would have gotten here in the first place. And I think just for those reasons, if I were an administrator, that's what I would be looking for. I also just know that I have a really good rapport with kids and can work really well with most kids. So I think that's a huge strength of mine. And most importantly, my son is dating my principal's daughter.
So for that reason alone, he should just hire me, right?
Rick Sola (44:09.496)100 % yeah. Excellent Liz.
Liz Stover (44:16.839)Alright, those are some answers to follow up. Way to go, guys. Yeah, I really believe that it doesn't matter if it's a team, a business, a school, everyone...
is most successful when we're all unified and working towards the same vision, that same culture. And I really believe that I'm kind of that ultimate teammate. So I'm someone that's there to amplify staff. I'm there to amplify students and help them kind of get to those goals and just show off how great our education system is. So that could be investing in teachers and helping them learn and become an instructional leader that could be
helping kids in accessing resources that they really truly need. And really just kind of being that calm during a storm. I'm a pretty level-headed person. I'm not an up and down person at all. So just to be able to be there and be a consistent voice to support everybody in whatever way I can, whether that's a student, a teacher or the principal.
Shelby Muha (45:14.932)Thanks.
Rick Sola (45:21.686)Well, awesome. Well, thank you to the four of you for those answers. I know you had I gave you these questions at a time, but that's a tough one to answer because you're having to talk about yourself. And that's one of the most uncomfortable things is, you know, kind of tooting our own horns, if you will. But no, I appreciate that. And again, your willingness to be on here. There is a big piece of administration that truly was not on my radar early, early as an administrator and really honestly only.
recently, you know, this is a KPA podcast and my involvement in that has really broadened my my vision statewide and going beyond just where I work. And I thought there's there's no one else better to speak to the value of the network, to the value of connections than Dr. Todd Dane, who's sitting with us right here. And so I want to, Todd, kick it to you a little bit to share a little bit about the value of
of the network that we all have. We've just built a new network here, a six perhaps. You all have my contact information and it's there for the taking, but Dr. Dane, you're deep into it and there's so much that goes beyond that. I think a lot of us new in the position don't realize is there. So I'll turn it over to you.
Shelby Muha (46:32.372)Thank
Todd Dain (46:43.564)Yeah. Thanks, Rick. I do appreciate the opportunity. And I would say that like you, you just kind of get into the role and you start grinding and then, you one day kind of lean up, take a breath and you're voluntold to do all these things. Right. And so honestly, that's, that's kind of how I got into it. I I'm not a political person by nature. I'm not,
someone that that kind of thinks outside my my own. Office here, my own school and my own community sometimes, but the one thing that I've learned in getting involved at the state level in Kansas Principal Association USA, Kansas and then the national level is that there's so much to learn from one another and whether it's being a principal in a large high school in Kansas or being from a small rural community.
or someone that you connect with or I've connected with in New Jersey or New Mexico or across the country, the one thing that I've realized is that we still have so much to learn and so much that we can learn from one another. And so I would tap into that personal network. I think all of us, when we are sharing, everyone that was sharing names of individuals and leaders that we all know.
list and that group grows smaller and smaller because it's a really small circle in education like Rick talked about. So let me first just say that that personal learning network and that professional learning network is something that you continue to tap into, continue to learn from others and rely on each other and still ideas. Some of the best ideas that we've done
during my tenure as an administrator are the ideas that I've stolen from others. so, lean heavily on that, but I also think that it's important to understand the impact of your role. And so, from the Kansas Principles Association perspective, I think it's important that we continue to elevate principal voices at the state level and at the national level. Like I mentioned before,
Todd Dain (49:06.638)I kind of got involved. Someone volunteered to get involved at the state level. And a year ago, I was testifying to the state legislature on what we need to do to advocate for young people. And I've been to Washington, D.C. and had an opportunity to advocate at that level as well. And there's so much that we can do as building leaders and as administrators. There are people at the state level, people at the administration,
federal level that are making decisions about our young people every day. And so many of them have never stepped foot in a school. And so it's really our job, I think, to elevate our voices to make sure that our lawmakers understand that those decisions they make are impacting young people every day. And so that's an overall broad view. But I think that's one of things that I've learned over the years is that
You know, I've had such a rich opportunity to learn as a teacher and a coach and as administrator. And it's really our obligation, our responsibility to give back and to really advocate for young people moving forward. So that's a whole lot in a short time period. And I hope that's what you're targeting there, Rick. But I wanted to plug a little bit of that advocacy piece.
Rick Sola (50:28.6)It's perfect.
No, that's perfect. And I know you're very involved in that and just getting involved with the KPA like I have over the last few years has just really broadened that vision to be able to sit next to somebody in a district that might be a two-way district. And we're sharing the same concerns, the same problems, and we can learn so much from each other. It's just been awesome. You one thing I'll wrap it up with this, there's so many things with administration that
Oftentimes we could joke about I joked at the start of this of joining the dark side or the the really challenging situations the the things that make you laugh the things that make you cry the things that make you you know go crazy whatever At the end of it. There's no better job in education, and I've said it on this podcast before It's a challenging job Todd you said you got to be a little bit crazy to be in here. There might be an element of that
Tiffany Hampe (51:05.453)you
Rick Sola (51:30.764)But it's amazing the connections and the impact that you have potentially put the potential you have to make on kids. It is unbelievable. And yeah, there's challenging times. Yeah, there's there's learning lessons for us, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So but I will say all the best to the four of you and all of your information will be in the show notes. So check it out. If you've got a job opening for an administrator, you've got their connections here.
Tiffany Hampe (51:58.467)Yeah
Shelby Muha (51:59.541)Yeah.
Rick Sola (52:00.481)If you're listening to this, I mean, there's there's like thousands and thousands and thousands of people that listen to this podcast. So maybe maybe not. But but for those who are listening for really great individuals here and truly thank you for your time, because this is not the most comfortable thing to do is to come on a podcast and kind of more or less be vulnerable with an audience out there. So thank you so much for being here today.
Tiffany Hampe (52:09.475)Hahaha!
Todd Dain (52:09.74)Yeah.
Tiffany Hampe (52:28.093)Thank you for having us.
Todd Dain (52:29.038)Rick, I want to add this because we have four aspiring administrators here and all of them talked about being kind of nervous and not wanting to make mistakes and some of those things. And I have to believe that there are listeners out there who are also aspiring administrators. And so here's my one piece of advice. And I think Rick touched on it a little bit also, because I remember stepping into the role and not wanting to make a mistake and all the things.
Jacob Burkholder (52:29.479)Yeah, really appreciate it.
Liz Stover (52:29.897)Thank you so much.
Shelby Muha (52:31.612)It was awesome.
Todd Dain (52:56.98)But in 11 years, I can tell you I make mistakes every day. And the one thing that I've learned is this. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be real. And when you make a mistake, you own it, and don't make it again. And I think that's the reality of what we try to do every day. don't, I learned that.
Shelby Muha (53:13.364)Mm-hmm.
Todd Dain (53:19.628)That was a huge epiphany for me one or two years into my administrative role is that I didn't have to be perfect every day. I just had to be myself and be honest and authentic. And I think if you do that in this role, people see through all of the fluff that's out there and realize if you truly care about young people, if you truly care about teachers, you truly care about families, then all of that will shine through.
Shelby Muha (53:29.15)me.
Rick Sola (53:48.62)Yeah, that is awesome advice and a perfect tagline, I think, for this episode. But truly awesome. Thank you, Dr. Dane, for taking time. I know you're on your way to a basketball game after this. And to the four of you, all the best. And thanks again for your time today.
Todd Dain (54:00.526)You're served.
Tiffany Hampe (54:05.389)Thank you.
Jacob Burkholder (54:06.227)Thank you.
Liz Stover (54:07.539)Thank you.
Shelby Muha (54:07.583)Thank you so much.