Cool Coffee w/ Kansas Principals

CC#103: School-wide "House" System w/ Principal Brian Barackman - Indian Trail Middle School

Summary
In this 103rd episode of Cool Coffee w/ Kansas Principals, Principal Brian Barackman shares the unique house system at Indian Trail Middle School in USD 233. Discussed is how this system fosters community and enhances the student experience through its building and camaraderie amongst grade-levels. Mr. Barackman connects what his school is doing with the house system and its PBIS system. Listen in to hear more from another Kansas principal doing great work for kids and staff!
Connect with Mr. Barackman:
Email
X: @BarackmanBrian
Show Reference: Ron Clark Academy
 
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
 
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT (Timestamps after the 6:00 mark are inaccurate due to mid-show interruption and need for editing)
Rick Sola (00:01.89)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee. Today I am with principal Mr. Brian Barickman from Indian Trail Middle School in USD 233, Olathec Public Schools. Welcome, Brian.
Brian Barackman (00:14.309)How we doing? Thanks so much for having me.
Rick Sola (00:17.154)Doing all right. It's been, we're recording this at the end of a Monday and I think it's been a pretty good Monday. So I'll start with a quick transparency on this episode. Mr. Berrickman and I go way back and we actually shared a meeting together today, this afternoon. We had a meeting over at the district office, but we share a district. At one point we shared a school and we do go way back. So.
I've used this term before, but this is kind of like a Prince of Pals episode. We've got a Prince of Pals here on the show here with Mr. Berrickman. But again, welcome. Thanks for coming on.
Brian Barackman (00:54.105)Ha ha ha.
Brian Barackman (00:59.142)Hey, I can't believe that I'm finally here. I've been listening to every episode and it's an honor to be here. So thanks for having me.
Rick Sola (01:07.252)And the software I use for this can detect lying on the show. And so I don't know that you've really listened to every episode, but no, it's awesome that you're here. But before we get started here, a quick show shout out, a reminder that if you click into the show and check the show notes, there's information about the show, ways to contact our guests, and a way to leave feedback or even a contact me with topics or questions or guest ideas. Would love to get all of those.
Brian Barackman (01:11.69)You
Rick Sola (01:36.706)Some of our shows have been created by the feedback from those who have listened. Also, give us a like or a follow on your favorite podcast platform. Help spread the word about the insightful stories from the amazing principals all across this great state of Kansas. Like us, follow us here at KPA's Cool Coffee. And so I feel like that's a really great lead-in to really someone I...
have come to learn is the most beloved principle in the world. And that's Brian Berrickman.
Brian Barackman (02:12.449)my goodness. I can see the lie detector now. I see it going off now. Well, that's high praise coming from you. I appreciate it. However not true, I appreciate it.
Rick Sola (02:16.069)Hahaha
Rick Sola (02:26.146)Well, so I think you'll cover this here. We will start with your road to the chair, but our road has crossed paths in a very good way. But it's fun to hear every principal I've had on this show. They talk about what it is that led to them being where they're at presently. And we're all so varied on how we got here. it's, I always find it interesting, but let's start with that, Brian.
Where did you start in education and what led to you being at Indian Trail?
Brian Barackman (03:00.269)Absolutely, well, I think that story starts with my own middle school career going to school here at Indian Trail. And I didn't know that the stars would align down the road one day, but thankfully they did. So as a middle school kid, never thought that I would be a principal. I wanted to be a biologist and then...
I went to K-State and learned that, you know, I taught swimming lessons, was one of my early life jobs, and I learned to really love teaching, and I decided to combine those two loves of science and teaching and become a science teacher. So I taught seventh grade science, mostly biology, at Santa Fe Trail Middle School in Olathe for about six years. And that whole time I knew not only did I have a passion for education, but I had dreams.
dreams of being an administrator. I saw great administrators throughout my career that I just saw the impact that they had not only on me but on so many families and so many students. And it was always interesting to me that you want to have an impact on the community and then seeing people in those positions have an even broader and wider impact and think, man, what kind of difference could I make in a position like that or what kind of help could I provide, what kind of service
leader could I be to even more people, you know, and give back to the community that gave me so much growing up. So I kind of had that dream. And then after six years of teaching, the yours truly, Mr. Rick Sola gave me an opportunity to get into my first assistant principal position at Prairie Trail Middle School. And I was assistant principal there for three years. And then there's an opening
at Indian Trail, which as I mentioned was my alma mater. So I loved my time so much at both Santa Fe Trail and Prairie Trail. But when there's a, you you have an opportunity to potentially go back to your home school, you know, it's, I knew it was going to be fun and exciting to be back, but I didn't realize just how special and how connected, how special it be and how connected I would feel to a building, you know.
Brian Barackman (05:20.555)I jumped at the opportunity to come back. I served as assistant principal here for one year and now this is my fourth year as head principal. And I can tell you, every day it's still new memories pop up for me. Like I will be in a classroom and I'll have an epiphany of, my gosh, this was the same room in seventh grade when this happened to me and there are so many. I remember reading holes in this room. It used to be a language arts room or.
I'll turn a corner and have a memory of an interesting passing period that I had one time. So it's just, it's really, really fun and special to be back here and to serve this community in this capacity.
Rick Sola (06:06.028)
So you said that you were at your you were a student at Indian Trail back in the day. And so going back there, does it feel
Brian Barackman (08:12.825)Yeah, yeah.
Rick Sola (08:31.426)totally different, like a whole different school, or when you walk those halls, is it kind of like, man, this is my old stomping grounds. Like, do you still feel that? Because I know there's been some changes there, some construction and all sorts of things.
Brian Barackman (08:42.563)Yeah, it's so funny. It's so much of both. There's so many memories that flood back immediately, especially walking back into this principal's office I've been in a couple times. But then, also, there's memories that you forget about that you...
you know, you don't think about and then all of a sudden it just hits you one day. know, you'll be like, since some of the classrooms look so different and are different subject areas and things like that, you don't immediately recognize them. But then in one moment you might have this memory flood back like, my gosh, this was Ms. So and So's room. And I remember doing this and they're meeting this friend or, you know, and one other special thing in my office, I have the class photo from my last year here and there.
There are people in that photo who are, you who I was standing up in their weddings. There's people in that photo who I've been friends with since we went to school here and they are currently working here with me, which is really special. you know, there's some, you know, you know how life is. There's some sad stories on that too. And it's just a good reminder for me every morning of, you know, the reason that we're here to make a difference in those people's lives. And, you know, we were those kids and that's why this
work is so important.
Rick Sola (10:01.486)Yeah, that's really cool. And I feel like maybe we've talked about this before, but I remember when I first started teaching and I came back to the district where I graduated high school and went all the way through, I was teaching alongside my former teachers. And I found that really bizarre at first because, I mean, who am I? Some, you know, snot nosed kid coming out of college teaching alongside these veterans.
Brian Barackman (10:18.615)Uh-huh.
Rick Sola (10:29.934)Well, and then fast forward to administration and there were still there were still some teachers that. Yeah, well, yeah, that kind of goes without saying. But but no, like so you're in these leadership roles. Were you in a position where you are with some teachers that either maybe were your teachers or you had some of those connections that as you were you were little Brian Barickman to them and now all of a sudden you're the.
Brian Barackman (10:34.317)And we're still thinking that about you.
Rick Sola (10:57.26)Yeah, I don't want to say the boss, but you're the decision maker. You're making decisions and you're in a position of leadership. did you experience that at all in your road administration?
Brian Barackman (11:07.799)Absolutely, yeah. every, you know, when you ask that question, my mind goes to, you know, like, could that be an, you know, an awkward dynamic or anything like that? And I have found it to be nothing but enriching those relationships. I think, you know, not only have I been blessed with such amazing teachers throughout my path, who are just a wonderful people and are just so excited to see you back, coming back to Olathe, you know, coming back to the profession, but
I think luckily I was a quiet kid and a good student, so there was no grudges carried against me over the times. But it really is, I think, at least from my perspective, I don't know what they would say, but from my perspective, it has just been really special, you know, to be like, man, I respected you so much as a teacher. You know, I learned so much from you. And now we're hand in hand making a difference together. And how cool is that? Who listening to this wouldn't want?
one of their students to come back one day and help them make a difference for the community we care so much about. mean, that has been my experience. And I do have one funny story from this though. My mom is wonderful and she is a collector and I was able to find one of my old grade cards from a teacher here at Indian Trail. And I had all A's and one B and it had written in there, two missing assignments.
and then my grade and so I brought that down to the teacher's classroom and I put the grade card on her desk and I said my mom would like to have a conversation with you about this grade. So things like that have been you know it has been
Rick Sola (12:48.841)Hahaha
That's awesome.
Brian Barackman (12:56.197)just a positive way to build that relationship coming in in this role and just to know that we've known each other for a long time and we're now able to do it together, which is pretty neat.
Rick Sola (13:09.88)So you taught, how many years did you teach before making that transition?
Brian Barackman (13:13.997)I taught science for six years and then it was a sister principal for four.
Rick Sola (13:19.436)you know, and maybe present company excluded here. I know that transition to administration, you know, was at Prairie Trail where I was. And truly, those were two extremely fun years. We had a really great time. But was there ever a moment...
Brian Barackman (13:23.845)You
Rick Sola (13:37.066)early on in administration where you felt like, man, this is not what I thought. Maybe really kind of put to challenge that decision of making that career change, if you will, into administration.
Brian Barackman (13:52.388)Well, I think one of the best pieces of advice I ever got from, it was an assistant principal at the time who was talking to me about when do you make the jump from teaching to administration? Is it too soon for me? It was probably like my fourth or fifth year I was dabbling with the idea. And his advice was go while you still love teaching.
because I think people can feel when an administrator has a love for the classroom and a passion for teaching and when they don't. So that's why I went when I felt like it was pretty early, six years of teaching, I understand that's pretty early. But that advice made me think, you know what, I'm gonna bring that passion that I still have for the classroom to this role. So to answer your question more specifically,
I don't think there's been a time where I said, man, I don't know if I should have done this, if I regret this, but there are absolutely times where I miss teaching. I loved my teaching career. I loved getting to know those students at a different level than we often get to. You get to know your group of students so deeply and so well.
Rick Sola (14:57.357)Yeah.
Brian Barackman (15:11.397)You know, those relationships and watching them learn throughout a unit, throughout a school year, all the things that everybody loves about teaching, I definitely often miss. But that doesn't mean that I regret making this decision. You know, I am incredibly happy as an assistant principal and a principal. I think I look back to those early administrators that were inspiring to me and think like, man, they don't just make a difference for these kids in this classroom, they make a difference.
for every student in this building, every teacher in this building, every member of this community, you know, and I don't know if I'm doing that, but I'm sure trying. So, yeah.
Rick Sola (15:51.628)Yeah, I really like that answer. There are definitely times where it's easy to miss teaching. There's a lot about teaching that is wonderful.
I have said on here before, I love what I do. I feel like I am so lucky. I've had the best job, you know, and fortunate to do it, but there are certainly times where teaching's fun. There's a whole different level of relationship that you can have with students. It still exists as principals, and that's been a topic on here before as well. But that teacher-student relationship is pretty neat, so I really, really like
that. You are doing some really cool things at Indian Trail. I saw a picture of you surface over the weekend covered in paint or dust or you were like every color of dust. What was that all about? What was going on over the weekend?
Brian Barackman (16:43.395)You
Brian Barackman (16:54.273)Yeah, we had a little bit of fun this weekend. So I'm sure you've all seen something like this before, but it was a color run fundraiser. So it's one of those where the students will run laps, kind of like a 5K, but along the way you throw different color paint on them as they go around. it was the final celebration of the school fundraiser that we've been doing.
all surrounding our house system.
Rick Sola (17:27.435)Yeah, I'm going to say it looked like people had a really good time throwing stuff at you, like especially the color. Like they really, they got their money's worth out of it is what it looked like.
Brian Barackman (17:33.541)You
Brian Barackman (17:38.102)Yeah, I would say I was coming out pretty clean and then toward the end a couple students noticed that I was dodging a lot of the paint. So they grabbed a couple bottles and surrounded me and I didn't, I'm still cleaning out paint dust out of my car. It's all over my back right now from the weekend still.
Rick Sola (17:50.092)Ha ha.
Rick Sola (17:56.238)Well, you brought up the house system and that's what I wanted to get into is you got a really cool thing going at Indian Trail that truly is unique in Olathe. I think you're the only school as far as I know that at least middle school for sure, but if not all schools, but you've employed a house system that was developed out of visiting the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta.
And you went, maybe it was your first year as principal, you went down there, I don't know if training's the right word, experience, but talk about that experience down at the academy down in Atlanta and then what it is that's going on at Indian Trail with your house system.
Brian Barackman (18:39.555)Yeah, so I'll tell you a little bit about it and then I would love to brag on my staff for how we began doing this house system at Indian Trail. if anyone's familiar with the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, our system is essentially built around there. So in summary, those of you familiar with Harry Potter, think broad strokes Harry Potter. When students come
to the school for the first time, they are sorted into one of four houses and every student gets to be in a house and they remain in that house all three years of their time here. And same with staff members. So the four houses, they're different from the Harry Potter houses. Like I said, it's kind of just broad strokes, but each house has its own colors, its own crest, its own songs, its own cheers, chants, symbolists.
traditions, and it's just a really special unique experience from each four houses. Then the goal is that you, since you stay in that same house all three years of your time here, you not only get to meet the students that are in your classes, but you deepen your middle school experience by getting to know students in other grade levels that you wouldn't otherwise have crossed paths with because they're in your house, and other teachers that you can build relationships that you don't necessarily
really have for class, but you get to interact with at all of our house activities. So the general idea is, you know, number one, to add a fun system to kind of organize everything we do. But most importantly, it's to make students feel connected to the school. And that just adds so many other layers and opportunities for them to feel connected to the school. And then it's the keynote of our PBIS system. So when students do
you know, our values of ownership, unity, respect, and safety. That spells hours and we say this house is ours. That's our system. A nod to the house system. Students get, not only will you get points that you can use in our school store as an individual, but any points that you receive also go to your house. So similar to Harry Potter at the end of the school year, there's a house cup that the winning house gets and like a ceremony where we celebrate that.
Brian Barackman (21:09.095)And we've done things like each each week the house that's in the league you get to fly your flag out on the flagpole We have a house leaderboard in the main hallway so people can track your progress and get some friendly competition going But we do have a motto. It's four houses one family one cougar family So we got to make sure that you know, we can have some friendly rivalries, but that it is a positive behavior Intervention system, right? So that we got to keep it
So we support each other. All houses are great. it's just a really, really special thing that it does come from the Ron Clark Academy. So all credit for these ideas and structures go to them. But I do think we're one of not very many schools in the area that use this system. And it just really adds a special layer of both fun and connection and community and excitement to everything we do.
Rick Sola (22:07.063)What's an example of like a cross grade level activity or something being done at the school? Yeah.
Brian Barackman (22:13.199)Sure, sure.
Yeah, so I'll give you two. One is a more fun one. So my house is the House of Amistad, which is Spanish for friendship, and our main color is red. And since we are in Chief's Kingdom, we do one of our after school events. One of our traditions is on a night where we have a Chief's game, like a Monday night football or Thursday night football, we'll do a tailgate. So we'll tell everyone in the school
wear red, we'll grill hot dogs, we'll play yard games, and the students from Amistad are all invited to attend for free and eat for free and have a little, you know, a little after school bonding activity with teachers and students of Amistad at all grade levels. So a really fun way to have a little community cookout with our House of Amistad.
Rick Sola (23:04.363)Okay.
Rick Sola (23:08.725)So that's, and that's just the Amistad students and staff.
Brian Barackman (23:12.825)Correct, yes, each house has activities that they do after school, all very different, different traditions. So other houses will have their opportunities to do something, bonding activity like that, but that one would be just for Amistad.
Rick Sola (23:29.101)So does each team or house, does each house have a kind of a leadership board? Like who's organizing that? Is that for you as administrator or how does that work?
Brian Barackman (23:42.178)Yeah, well, this is one thing I would love to brag about our staff.
We are our teachers and everyone gets into the house to assist them. Teachers, custodians, paraprofessionals, nurse, counseling office, everyone is just makes this so much fun and so special. So we are blessed to have a community that really has fun with it and believes in the power of the house system. So we have tons of people who are on board for planning these activities. And I think the reason it works so well
in our building and the biggest shout out to our staff is this structure came from our staff. It started with a one seventh grade team that won a grant to go visit the Ron Clark Academy and fell in love with everything. If you ever have an opportunity to do any professional development down there, go because it is a really special place. It'll get you excited about education and leave you with tons of ideas.
that you can concrete ideas you can bring to your school. So that group of seventh grade teachers went down there on that grant, brought the house system back to just that seventh grade team. The following year it grew to the seventh grade participated in the house system and then everyone saw how amazing it was. So then the year after that they expanded to the whole building. And now I believe we're on our...
a sixth year, I believe, doing the house system as a whole building. So that was one of the things that makes it so special and gives us so much buy-in is it was teacher discovered, teacher organized. It all comes from within and it's something special for us.
Rick Sola (25:30.066)So what's another example, a non-amistad example of activity going on?
Brian Barackman (25:34.298)Hahaha
Well, those ones don't matter as much, right? No, I'm kidding. Four houses, one family. Four houses, one family. So another maybe more academic example are half days. So our district has four or five half days throughout the school year. So instead of just doing like 15, 20 minutes of each class period on those days, our entire days are structured around our house system. one thing we did, like my first couple of years especially,
Rick Sola (25:37.557)Yeah, yeah.
Brian Barackman (26:05.831)because we wanted to have some academic social emotional time with small family style groups with sixth, seventh, and eighth grade mixed students. So we would spend the first 20 minutes or so of those half days in those groups with those students of all three grade levels but within your house to do some house bonding activities and also maybe some social emotional lessons, maybe some school spirit activities.
maybe some academic activities, and then to kick off the half day. So we tried to, you know, really find every opportunity for them to build those extra connections that they wouldn't otherwise have. And then the rest of our half days we did, you know, like house assemblies, our house cheers, the houses split up and do, you know, different activities that they, you know, each of them have different traditions, like I said, that they do for those. So that's another example of how we might use that house system.
that way.
Rick Sola (27:06.655)It seems like a really natural kind of framework for our PBIS. So we're in a district that's 100 % PBIS adopted. Every building's got a system. And this just seems to dovetail right into it. Very, almost seamlessly, it sounds like.
Brian Barackman (27:22.498)Absolutely.
Yeah, we were pretty much, you know,
executing the PBIS plan, you know, before we adopted this. You know, we were giving all the stuff that was in place before we became a PBIS school. We were, you we had the kids in houses, we were giving house points, they were getting points toward their house cup. We were trying to point out the positive behaviors to give the points for. You never take points away, like Dumbledore, you know, takes 20 points away from Slytherin.
that would probably be your house there Mr. Sola for their bad behavior. It's all about positivity. Yeah, you knew what you signed up for. Yeah, but it's all about positivity, rewarding students for their good choices, not only kindness but also working hard in the classroom, academic side of things as well.
Rick Sola (28:01.165)You know.
I invite you onto the show and this is uncalled for. No, I know.
Rick Sola (28:25.165)Do you ever come across, I'm just trying to think, you know, maybe a principal head here of like possible challenges. Like you mentioned something really cool, a tailgate for your Amistad family or your Amistad house. Do you ever get feedback from students like, I wish our house did this or, or, you know, does that ever creep up to where there's like, you know, house envy, if you will, of wanting to be on the other.
Brian Barackman (28:49.199)Sure.
Rick Sola (28:53.92)team or whatever.
Brian Barackman (28:56.239)Sure, I think, yeah, that does naturally come up sometimes. And I think that our culture of four houses, one family, you know, we kind of have established ahead of time, like, hey, we're going to treat each other with positivity. So that kind of culture helps stay some of that. However, that happens sometimes. And I notice it the most when the first house that has an activity of the school year, then somebody has to go first, right? So the other three houses sometimes at that time will say,
I wish I could go to that I want to be a part of that and you know until we say hey You know what I know it's gonna be really fun. I'm so sorry however I know that the house of rever is doing this awesome activity here in a couple weeks And I'm so jealous that you get to do that But you're gonna love that with you and your house of reverse So and then once they have their own activities people start to understand okay? You know all four houses have these really cool special things and while they might be different everybody
everybody has their fun and everybody has their opportunity. And then we do, we have done many things. Usually first semester we do our own house activities and then a lot of times second semester we'll do some joint activities. like we did a Amistad and Isabendi, did a joint glow party one year and then Altarismo and Rever did a kickball tournament. So we'll do some stuff together as well to keep it interesting.
for the students, you know, but there is a little bit of that, but once they get the taste of their own house activities, they realize, man, this is, every house has its special unique things, and I'm okay with that.
Rick Sola (30:37.921)Well, one thing that's really neat as an outsider to Indian Trail, but very close in proximity, driving by the building and seeing the flag of whatever house that's up there. I just think that is really cool to see the flag flying. then on your your sign out front, you've got the logos for each of the houses on your sign. And I just think that's a really positive reminder and kind of advertisement, if you will, to your family, your community of
Just an additional great thing going on in the building, I'm sure the kids are going home talking about their house and what it is that is going on in the building with their house.
Brian Barackman (31:17.803)Absolutely, yeah. would say a shout out to Ms. Sham and Ms. March for making those custom-made marquee signs with our house symbols on it. It was pretty cool. I was pretty excited when those worked out. They engineered those up special just for us. But yeah, and I do think too it adds to, you want your students to come home and have a really memorable first day at school. know, and every school I've ever been at did an amazing job of making that day
not only fun but special and meaningful for their students. But like I said, this just adds a whole other layer to, know, not only is it the balloons and the fog machines and the drums and the excitement to figure out what house am I in, but man to know that this is going to be where I belong for the next three years, not only in the Cougar family, but also in my house family just adds a whole other layer of, you know, special feeling for those kids.
Rick Sola (32:15.181)Well, that's awesome. will in our show notes, I'll put a link to the Academy for those who are interested. Like I said, it's unique here in Olathe. You're the only school that has it and are doing it. And you're doing a really nice job with it six years into it. That's a long time in our field. know, things things can come and go multiple times over in six years. And so that speaks volumes.
Brian Barackman (32:31.183)yeah.
Brian Barackman (32:36.163)Mm-hmm. Well, that's...
It speaks volumes of not only how fun it is, but of our teachers. They really make it special. They've bought into this, they have fun with it, it means a lot to them. The costumes that our teachers have built over the years to wear on our half days in assemblies have gotten pretty elaborate. When I reflect on that, I reflect on the type of staff that we have that care so much and are willing to be.
you know, you know, bought into our school, our community, our culture. Not to mention it's changed how we've organized a lot of things like, you know, for example, for PEP assemblies, we don't sit by grade level like normal. You always sit with your house. So you have your, you know, that mixed group. And there's a lot of little examples like that of just we, you know, we do things by house, not necessarily by grade level or by homeroom or anything like that.
Rick Sola (33:25.325)Hmm.
Rick Sola (33:37.87)Yeah, that's really interesting, kind of breaking down the barriers of grade level. Because that could be, you for sixth graders, intimidating when they start school and they see the big eighth graders walking around, but to have them all on the same team, that's really neat. Well, thanks for sharing about that. And before we get off of this here, we are on our way, you and I and our eight other counterparts, on our way to the KPA conference here very soon in Wichita.
and this is your first time going to KPA, is that correct?
Brian Barackman (34:11.841)Absolutely, and I'm very excited. I'm very excited. I got to look ahead at the list of the sessions. what's so exciting for me is, you know, I've been to, you know...
I don't want to say a lot of conferences, but several different types of conferences here and there. As an administrator, I'm always looking for, which ones of these apply to me or which ones of these. There's a lot of specialized conferences and lot of specialized sessions. What I'm really excited about KPA is it's a conference that's tailored to us. I'm looking through that thinking, oh man, I wish I could go to almost all of these sessions.
How am I gonna pick between, I'm not searching for the couple that may apply. I'm like trying to narrow it down as best I can to the ones I wanna go to and I'm excited for the opportunity.
Rick Sola (34:54.306)Right.
Rick Sola (35:05.249)Yeah, it'll be a good time and going with our group, know that divide and conquer aspect is probably a likelihood. Some of the other value to it is just sitting in those sessions with principals from other districts all over Kansas and.
Having those shoulder partners when we don't share a district, but we share the issues and we share the topics and things that come up. It's gonna be a great time. Really looking forward to it and I'm excited for the next few days here when we get down to Wichita. you know, Brian, I can't help but notice over your shoulder here on the camera, it looks like a Dundee award. And so...
Brian Barackman (35:44.486)I got I actually have a few of those My favorite one I would say I got when I was your assistant principal It was from a student and the plaque on the Dundee says assistant to the principal Which I thought was pretty clever. So I that's my favorite one I got over there That makes so much sense
Rick Sola (36:02.83)I never told you that I made him give that to you. that's yeah. No, I don't see that. I don't see that that apple you got back there. But no, I was going to ask you. I know. know. OK, this is this is totally, totally cold here. Let's see. What leadership traits can you relate to most from Michael Scott?
Brian Barackman (36:15.205)You're the Dwight in this situation. I hope you know that.
Brian Barackman (36:30.565)Man, some days it feels like the one where you always feel like you put your foot in your mouth. No, you know, man, I fortunately, I would hope don't have too many qualities like his because he probably should have been fired a thousand times over. But you know, at the end of the day, I'll say he always cared.
Rick Sola (36:49.676)You
Brian Barackman (36:53.773)You know, and he loved what he did. And maybe that's the one, that's the one. Because this job, as you all listening know, you know, any job in education can be really hard and really stressful and really, you know, you see so many sad things that these poor kids are going through. But at the end of the day, working with kids is fun, you know.
Rick Sola (36:57.505)Yeah.
Brian Barackman (37:13.433)That's what's so rewarding and the servant leadership portion of this is, know, of course we all have have bad days and hard stretches, but the the pros far outweigh the cons. The good far outweighs the bad. The happy fun days and happy fun activities we get to do with the kids far outweigh the tough ones. And so I guess me and Michael Scott at the end of the day love the people that we're with and the the the career that we get
participated.
Rick Sola (37:45.164)That's a good answer. And I was kind of hoping I would stump you a little bit, but no, that's an excellent answer and awesome to hear. Well, we're going to find out how good my editing is at the end of this, because if you've listened all the way through this and didn't notice a hiccup in the show, that's great. That means my editing was good. But if it felt a little clunky in the middle...
Brian Barackman (37:47.397)You
Rick Sola (38:08.877)the principal job just sometimes kind of creeps in and even while we're recording. So there was a little interruption that had to be paused for the show. And so I just wanted to point that out.
Brian Barackman (38:18.789)To be clear, it was on Rick's end, not on my end. I've been nothing but professional over here.
Rick Sola (38:22.029)Well, I didn't say it was unprofessional. I said it was just a principle matter that needed some attention. that's how it goes. Well, Brian, you've done a lot of really positive sharing and bragging on your people as I like to end our show. Any final words on the Indian Trail community that you want to...
just share for the people here listening to Cool Coffee.
Brian Barackman (38:53.539)Yeah, no, I just want to say, you know, number one.
Rick, thank you for the opportunity. And number two, I know I've said it a couple times, but we have a staff that I just can't say enough about. This is a title building and that can have extra challenges and can be a tough position, but we also have very low turnover. And I don't think that has anything to do with what I'm doing. I think it has everything to do with the kind of people that they are. They're the type of people that are willing to go above
and beyond for students and they're the type of people that are willing to stay after school to help. I've seen so many people give their own time and money just to help families with such, you know, and unique needs in different ways. And, you know, it's just, you know, it's inspiring to see and it's a blessing to be around those types of people that, you know, if they do that for other students and they're doing it for each other and they're going to do it for you too in your time of need, you know, so we got a wonderful group here.
I said it's everything to not anything to do with what I'm doing everything to do with the type of people that they are and I'm lucky to call myself part of the cougar family
Rick Sola (40:06.247)Yep. Well, as I show this podcast, being one that's intended to really just celebrate what a principal is, the principalship, the job and role of principal, I appreciate hearing you say it's not what you're doing, it's the people you're with. And I know that you have great, great people over there. But I would also say don't sell yourself short. You're doing amazing things over there. And people like to work for good principals. And I know you're a really good principal.
Brian Barackman (40:35.727)Well, thank you.
Rick Sola (40:36.329)You know, I'm going to go, that's the nicest thing you're, I might even have to edit this out. I don't know how comfortable I feel about saying that, but no, truly, Brian and I, we got to know each other over the two years at Prairie Trail, but you're doing really, really great things. And people like to be in buildings where they know their, you know, their principal loves their job. Like you said, that Michael Scott quality there. So.
Brian Barackman (40:42.819)What?
Brian Barackman (41:04.323)Well, thank you. appreciate that. I had some great role models along the way. We'll leave it at that right there.
Rick Sola (41:09.407)Yeah. No, please go on. No. Hey, I really appreciate your time. I know it's really busy. We're actually going to site council tonight, the district site council. So I'll see you here in a little while. But looking forward to a couple days down in Wichita and learning with you and all the other principals in Kansas.
Brian Barackman (41:30.519)Absolutely, anybody that's listening to this that goes down to the conference and you want to talk house system or the office, I'm your guy.
Rick Sola (41:40.821)Sounds good. Hey, Brian, have a good night. We'll see you soon.
Brian Barackman (41:44.122)Yeah, thanks so much Rick, I appreciate it. Have a good one.
 

CC#102: Instructional Leadership Doesn't have to be Scary! - A Principal's Perspective by Barney Pontious - Garfield Elem.

Instructional Leadership Doesn't have to be Scary! 
Barney Pontious
Principal
Garfield Elementary
USD 503
X= @mr_pontious
Garfield Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GarfieldSchoolParsonsKS
Sign up to submit your own Principal's Perspective!
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#101: Creating PD Isn't Scary - A Principal's Perspective by Megan Black - Olathe West HS

Topic: How to Make PD Relevant to Staff
Assistant Principal Megan Black
Olathe West High School
USD 233 - Olathe
X: @MaBlackOW
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.
 
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#100: Bridge Builders to Strengthen the School and Home Connection - A Principal's Perspective by Katie Revell - Simpson Elementary

Topic: Bridge Builders to strengthen the school and home connection 
Principal Katie Revell
Principal 
Simpson Elementary
Russell USD 407
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#99: Diversifying the High School Experience - A Principal's Perspective by Kerry Lane - Olathe East HS

Diversifying the High School Experience
Principal Kerry Lane
Olathe East High School - Olathe USD 233
X: @Kerry282542
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#98: Calling Others Into Leadership - A Principal's Perspective by Stefanie Lane - Lincoln Elem. School

Calling Others Into Leadership
Principal Stefanie Lane
Lincoln Elementary School
Clay Center Schools USD 379
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#97: Addressing Our Own PD Needs - A Principal's Perspective by Joel Wells - Elmont Elem.

Addressing Our Own PD Needs
Joel Wells
Principal
Elmont Elementary
Seaman Schools USD 345
X: @jwesu5
FB: @elmontusd345
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.
 
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#96: KPA Conference Preview w/ Inge Esping and Dr. Heather Calvert

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas principals, host Rick Sola engages with two accomplished principals, Inga Esping and Heather Calvert, as they share about the session they will lead at the KPA Conference on November 5th and 6th, 2025. They also discuss their educational journeys, the importance of data-driven instruction, and the role of social-emotional learning (SEL) in building a positive school culture. They also highlight the significance of community engagement and collaboration among educators, especially in the context of the upcoming KPA conference.
Register to attend the 2025 KPA Conference!
2025 KPA Conference Presenters: 
Dr. Heather Calvert
Principal, Grant Elementary School
KCKPS
heather.calvert@kckps.org
Inge Esping
Principal
McPherson Middle School
inge.esping@mcpherson.com
Chapters (timestamps do not include intro music)
00:00 Introduction to the Principals02:22 Career Paths in Education06:57 Data-Driven Instruction and Collaboration14:44 Building Belonging and SEL Initiatives20:39 The Importance of Community in Education
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
 
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT (timestamps do not reflect intro music)
Rick Sola (00:01.719)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas principals. Today I am joined by two phenomenal principals who will both be presenting at the upcoming KPA conference November 6th, November 5th and 6th, Ms. Inga Esping of McPherson Middle School, USD 418 and Dr. Heather Calvert, principal of Grant Elementary School and USD 500 in the Kansas City, Kansas School District. Welcome Inga and Heather.
Inge Esping (00:27.67)Thank you.
Heather Calvert (00:28.66)Thank you, good morning.
Rick Sola (00:30.283)Good morning. And it is a good morning. It's a bright and early morning and I am in conference week. Inga, you're in conference week and you actually have a day off and it is just after 7 a.m. So thanks for joining us. And Heather, you have a normal school day but conference is next week.
Inge Esping (00:43.918)you
Heather Calvert (00:47.803)Yes.
Rick Sola (00:49.213)It's that time of year and kind of the grind. And before we begin, I do want to call your attention to the notes of this show, which include information on the KPA conference. We'll be discussing that today and also invite you to give this show a like and a follow. Leave a comment on your podcasting platform if you are so inclined or leave us feedback and suggestions at the forum in the show notes. So it is awesome to be joined by two very accomplished principals here today and
Inga, you were recently named the KPA's middle level principal of the year through KPA.
Inge Esping (01:25.602)Yes, yeah, just what an exciting honor. I was certainly shocked and it's definitely a testament to the hard work that our staff and students are putting in here at MacPherson Middle School.
Rick Sola (01:37.845)That's awesome. Congratulations to you and a plug as well. And I don't know if you knew this, but as of recording, which is October 16th, but your principal's perspective was actually dropped today, this morning. And so, thank you for your contribution on that. and then Heather, you are published. You've had a book out and within the last year, along with, with your husband co-authored, I think with your husband, is that correct?
Inge Esping (01:50.403)you.
Heather Calvert (02:04.702)Correct, yes.
Rick Sola (02:06.487)And Topeka's top 20 under 40 named a few years ago. So awesome things going on and two very accomplished principals excited to hear more from you today. I do want to start and Heather, we'll just kick it over to you to start here, but a quick road in education and you are currently sitting at Grant Elementary in the KCK School District.
your road to get to the chair you're at right now, what did that look like?
Heather Calvert (02:38.45)Yeah, it's been a fun, fun road. So I grew up in Topeka, Kansas, started my teaching career in 2007 in the Topeka Public Schools District and just kind of worked my way up through classroom teacher, instructional coach, building intern, assistant principal, and then principal. I've been at Grant now for seven years and we have just, it's just been crazy being over in Kansas City, Kansas public schools. I love this district so much. Our building is, is just
taking off. The staff here are outstanding and we're just making waves every day with our students and our community and so excited.
Rick Sola (03:18.123)That's awesome. Was there a moment in your career where you felt like, okay, I'm going administration. Like you were just tugged or did it just kind of happen or how did you get into administration?
Heather Calvert (03:28.446)just kind of came naturally. I was blessed with a lot of opportunities that just kind of opened at the right time. When I was a classroom teacher and a couple of my fellow teachers were starting a master's program in curriculum and instruction and they said, come on, let's do it together. And I said, okay, great. You know, what else is going on? So did that and then that opened the door to instructional coaching. As I was finishing that degree, our district started a program partnership with K-State to do a program for educational leadership.
as a cohort embedded in the day and that turned into a doctorate and just that pipeline just pulled me right in and I've loved every minute of it.
Rick Sola (04:08.087)Awesome, very cool. Yeah. It's amazing how you start like unraveling things and all the next thing you know, you're, knee deep and you're moving forward and, uh, you know, opportunities start to present themselves and really cool. Awesome. Well, Inga, you are at McPherson middle school, uh, your road to that chair.
Inge Esping (04:27.532)Well it's a little bit funny I actually student taught in this building. So there's the the gal that I student taught with just retired two years ago. So that's it's been fun just to come full circle. But I student taught here I was a teacher here at MacPherson Middle School. I went to the Mays district as well. I was a teacher and principal there. I've been the assistant director of special education for MacPherson schools. And during that time I I
it was a little bit of an accident to get into that role. I started hiring and training paraeducators. I was a special educator and became really passionate about how do we make sure our paraeducators have the skills that they need to be successful in supporting our students with special needs. That kind of morphed into assistant director of special education through some changes and expansion. And then I really missed kids. I missed being around kids all day long. So became very motivated to go back and
the building. I became the assistant principal and athletic director here at MMS. I went to Mesa's principal for a short stint and then this building opened up as head principal and I just had to come back. I definitely love this district and love this building in particular.
Rick Sola (05:44.908)I love that. Actually, you just prompted an idea for another show, which is principals who were formerly at the head office and decided to come back. They miss the kids too much or, you know, they say we go to the dark side. Is that the darker side? And then like, we got to come back. I don't know. No, that's awesome. And I got to imagine that a special ed director, he said assistant director. What a, what a valuable experience to have.
Inge Esping (06:07.448)Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (06:11.741)sitting where you're at now as far as a building principle goes.
Inge Esping (06:16.418)Yes, we host all of our cooperative specialized programs for middle level students. And so that experience has been really valuable to have to help coach both our special educators, but then our general ed teachers on how to be best support students with special needs from that general ed lens too.
Rick Sola (06:38.133)Yeah. Well, so you're both on here because I was looking at the presenters for the upcoming KPA conference and you were both listed and you're both presenting. And so, you know, this is a conference that as I've gotten to become more familiar with and attend, I've just really enjoyed in part really because it's a principle focused conference and the networking is so valuable. All those things, but
I know that going to every session, it's going to be super relevant to what it is that I do and that we do. so I wanted to be able to share this out because this episode will come out with about two weeks until the conference, just under two weeks. And so to provide a little bit of a preview. so Heather, we'll start with you. The name of your session and kind of in a nutshell, I think you have, you know your time slot or has that been confirmed yet?
Heather Calvert (07:34.62)Yes, I will be Thursday at 8.30 in the morning, bright and early.
Rick Sola (07:38.519)All right, kicking off the day. So what do you?
Heather Calvert (07:40.508)Yes, so my is called data cycles and effective method for data analysis and it's just kind of grown. So this work started actually when I was in the classroom as a teacher in Topeka public schools and you know districts.
that time, early 2000s, we were really moving into the PLC model of collaboration and wanting teams to take ownership of what those collaborative team meetings looked like, but focused not on the busy work, but more on the actual data-driven work, diving deep with your teams, collaborative planning. And it just, sounds really easy when you say that, but what happens when you're in that as a teacher or I learned later when you're trying to lead that as an instructional coach or a principal is that it's easy to get drowned out
to not know what that specifically looks like every single time and really make the best use of that time to keep it focused. And so we created an Excel spreadsheet with all these formulas in it that make it super easy to stay focused, to walk through a process of what it looks like with your team, to really collaborate on what standard are we focused on in this upcoming unit, where are our students at right now, what instructional strategies do each of those students need specific to the student, not just to the whole group, and then how are we tracking
that throughout, what does it look like at the end? It graphs the data for you. So as a leader, we've really just leaned into this with our teams here and our instructional coach and myself, we have backed out of really running every collaborative team meeting and turn that back over to the teachers. But it gives us a way to follow that process for them, even when we're not sitting with them, but also for them to really see the meaningful work that they're doing and be able to attack those gaps and disparities right in the moment.
It's just been absolutely changing. I've led it in multiple buildings. I've shared it with principals across our district here in Kansas City, Kansas public schools and watching the data shift and the teachers collective efficacy really rise through that process has been absolutely outstanding.
Rick Sola (09:41.24)So you've been at Grant for seven years. So you said seven years. So would you say when you started, you mentioned the PLC model and the use of data. Did you feel were you kind of starting at ground zero or did you have kind of a foundation to build off of from from that point forward?
Heather Calvert (09:44.745)Mm-hmm.
Heather Calvert (09:58.9)We were absolutely starting at ground zero. Teachers were very hungry for it. So we were a TSI school at the time, CSI school, and our state assessment scores were under 5 % proficient in every grade level and had been consistently for a long time. And so it gave us a great leverage point to say, what do we have to lose by trying it with teachers? Even if you don't like it or it doesn't work.
Okay, you know, we're not going down from here, but watching them leverage and we, it's just become very ingrained. It's in our Indistar plan. It's been very ingrained in the work that we do. Teachers throw it around, you know, all the time. Oh, what step are we on? You know, all the things and they feel that they have the ownership and the power to pick the standards that they want to really leverage into our curriculum as a resource. We are the owners of that. We are the educators. We are empowered to do the work that we need to do with our students.
Rick Sola (10:49.377)What were the challenges that you had early on trying to kind of build a new framework and it sounded like there was a want for a buy-in and a need, but what were some of those roadblocks or stumbling blocks that you had early on?
Heather Calvert (11:02.9)Yeah, even with the want, their data's scary. And putting your data as a teacher in any sort of visible format is always scary and very intimidating for teachers because it's very vulnerable. It puts you in a vulnerable spot. It makes you question if the students didn't get it. It's just personal for educators. What did I do wrong? It's my fault they didn't get it. so,
Having to shift that into it's the team, it's all the kids at the grade level. They're not your students, they're our students and we're all in this together. So don't ever be embarrassed or feel upset about your data. It is what it is and we're a team that's going to rally behind you and our students to improve that. But it really, it's shifted our team conversations, it's shifted that collective efficacy with our teams. It's empowered our teams to seek extra resources through our intervention teacher, through our ESL teacher, through our
department they're asking very specific questions now instead of just saying well I don't know what to do you know I need you to help me do this.
Rick Sola (12:03.799)Did you find, I like that word scary with.
with data because it could kind of feel that and that that vulnerability and you know and just personalize it. Yeah I try to emphasize the data is our building data. It's not a particular department but that's a really hard sell for those that are in that department and they see their name next to it you know that sort of thing. Was there anything that you did intentionally to really kind of try to remove that feel or in hindsight you look back on like I would I would kind of frame this differently to try to
make it more comfortable.
Heather Calvert (12:39.508)I mean, it sounds really harsh, but I would openly just continue to ask in whole group sessions, you know, who has been written up for their data.
And having everybody watch, like, what negative consequence have you gotten because you put data on a spreadsheet that wasn't 100 % of kids passing or 100 % of kids meeting a standard? And as teachers start to realize that even as an administrator, I'm in this work with you and I'm not here to judge or critique or tell you that you're not good enough or your data is not good enough, we're asking you to try every day and try to get a little bit better every day and just keep having the right conversations and you will see that shift. And it empowered our teachers just to be comfortable.
to start that work and then when the data started to shift it was just all steam ahead. You know they believed in it then they saw it and they were more willing to take risks and be more vulnerable with their data.
Rick Sola (13:31.799)Are student celebrations a part of that at all? when they like, do you have data, you know, I don't want to say real time, but in a way that you can bring students into that or is there an angle on that with students?
Heather Calvert (13:46.86)So we've started, we added that in a little bit later, and so we do it a couple different ways. We're PBIS school and district, and so one of our character words is pride, and so teachers have started nominating students for pride in that work.
and just for the students recognizing their growth, not just waiting for the teacher to say it. We also added in data cards that students can collect their data on. Even at the elementary level, it works. Our kindergartners are doing it with stickers on charts and dots and colored things in. And our intermediate students are more using data points and graphing. And we don't do it a lot. It's not like an everyday task, but we do like to show them this is where you started and this is where you ended. Look at your growth, even if you're not where we need you to be or where we want you to
or what the state standard says you need to be at. Look at your growth, keep working. And it's shifted our student culture as well of I can be a learner.
Rick Sola (14:40.331)Yeah, I really love the focus on growth because sometimes we'll see students grow and they don't grow out of a level or something. But we need to be able to celebrate with them. Hey, you're making strides. sometimes things take time. It'll take time, but you're making growth. And I think that's really important. That's great. So 8.30 Thursday morning, November 6, you're kicking off the day. And is this your first time?
presenting at KPA.
Heather Calvert (15:11.826)This is my first time presenting at KPA. I'm super excited. I'm excited that it's in a great time of year, know, when I think administrators are really needing that refresh, but also looking for new ideas to start planning seeds for second semester. I'm excited just to meet and navigate with other Kansas principals.
Rick Sola (15:29.847)So it's 830 Thursday morning, Dr. Heather Calvert. And I'm sorry, it's called Data Cycles. Is that what we're going to be looking for in the program guide, which I have not yet seen and published. But all right, very good. Inga, and you are also presenting. And what is your topic titled?
Heather Calvert (15:36.456)Yes. Yes.
Inge Esping (15:51.308)Yeah, ours is building belonging, how our bullpup time has transformed our SEL here at MMS.
Rick Sola (15:59.7)Awesome. And so in a nutshell, what is bullpup time and what is that going to look like?
Inge Esping (16:07.596)Yeah, so we've we've dedicated 20 minutes a day to our SEL, our character development types of lessons. That's where we start each morning. We have seen a huge shift in our student culture. We really believe that this dedicated time has helped our teachers feel more equipped, our students have a positive start to their day. We've put a variety of other structures in place here at MMS that that I'll speak to and my counselors are joining me as
They are the ones in charge of developing the lessons with our SECD team. But we are now on year four. We've got a solid plan for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Our Mondays start with grade checks and discussions there. That's where our Zello lessons come in for some career exploration. Every Tuesday, we do Teamwork Tuesday. We do our dedicated SEL lessons on Thursdays. And then Friday, we work on community.
So we are really building towards more restorative practices throughout the school. We've finally been able to leverage our community circles from that bullpup time to now when there's been a wrong that's happened between students in the school. We can come back to the community circle and help students process what happened. What was I thinking at the time of whatever offense? How can we come together and move forward?
forward with one another. So really that shift towards a more restorative approach. We're putting the tools and the skills to build belonging, to build these types of high level conversations in the hands of both our teachers and our students. And our data, has honestly been a little bit crazy. Another piece that we added with this was going cell phone free throughout
the day. Our first year alone our suspension rate reduced by 70%. It's middle school. Of course there is still plenty, too many instances of bullying happening, but to see such a dramatic drop.
Inge Esping (18:25.422)to see our attendance rate skyrocket, to see our grades begin to become more meaningful for students. And then we're also starting to see that transfer just into our general data, our state assessment data, our fast-bridge data.
formative assessments and things like that. So we've been able to really get a good solid base for building a positive culture here. And now I'm super excited to go to Heather's session and think of how we can deepen our work in our PLCs too.
Rick Sola (18:57.783)Yeah, that's awesome. So you kind of alluded to where I'm at, we're a PBIS school and ownership is one of our pillars and you're talking, what you're describing to me sounds like building a lot of ownership and kids and letting them.
have such a big role in their learning, in their behavior in the building. And what I found too is, and I hear this resonating in how you're describing your building, it's just that common language across the building amongst staff to be able, for kids to be able to hear really the same message. And that's really what I have found to be so powerful with some of the SEL approaches and the PBIS approach and that sort of thing.
What time is your session?
Inge Esping (19:43.854)It's Wednesday at 845.
Rick Sola (19:46.633)Alright, so you're both not competing with each other.
Inge Esping (19:50.038)I was thankful to hear that because as I was listening, I was taking notes over here and I was like, thank heavens it's not at the same time I can go to Heather's session.
Heather Calvert (19:51.4)you
you
Rick Sola (19:57.848)Well, and I know Heather had a little bit of a shift in time. And so then I'm thinking in my head, because I know you weren't competing when I arranged this, but then there was a change. I'm like, oh gosh, I hope you're not like squaring off on the cool coffee podcast here. But no, that sounds really awesome and two fantastic sessions. And I'm not sure if.
you're going to present and you have got a team of people that's going with you and you're all kind of dividing and conquering. Is that something that like McPherson and KCK, are you the only ones going out there? Are there others joining you to this conference?
Heather Calvert (20:34.452)I am going solo.
Rick Sola (20:37.142)Okay.
Inge Esping (20:38.67)Same, I'm going solo and Mr. Beam, my assistant principal is going to be here making sure things continue to go smooth, especially since I'm taking our entire counseling department with me for our sessions. So please send him all the positive vibes you can for next Wednesday or I can look for now.
Rick Sola (20:56.183)No drama allowed on those two days at the middle school.
No, it's really cool. This conference, I happen to be able to be going with a team. Our middle school principals are going. And I was going to say that dividing and conquering of sessions, truly there will be, and there are, I've seen a list of competing sessions that are just really strong and having to make a decision. But having you both on here.
today really is kind of a reflection of what I think this conference is all about, what the KPA is all about as far as bringing principles together from different parts of the state, learning from each other. And truly I have learned a lot from each of you and I would love to see both of your sessions and hope to be able to do that. Before we close off here today, I want to just give you both a chance to speak to your kind of experience with
with KPA, the role that you've had and kind of the value that you've had with it. Of course, now leading into this conference, that'll be a couple of weeks away when this comes out. And then I do want to give you both a chance to just brag on your people at McPherson and KCK and for all the millions of listeners of this podcast to hear all about your awesome people that you work with. So Inga, we'll start with you and then we'll flip it over to Heather.
Inge Esping (22:26.796)I think that the most special part of being part of KPA is just being able to connect with other principals, other leaders. It can feel very isolating sometimes to be a principal. In my district, I'm the only middle school principal. You can get so very busy that it's hard to connect with others, learn from others. being a member, being part of this organization is just so very important to.
know where you can reach out to, who you can reach out to, and I'm really excited for the conference to be able to learn from others and just to be able to grow that networking system too. And then here at McPherson Middle School, I tell you, I was here as a teacher, I was here as an assistant principal, and now as principal, I just can't give this place up. I love it here so very much. We have such a dedicated staff. We have folks
who are willing to be brave to try something new. Our conferences, for example, we completely changed the structure this year based on some parent feedback last year, and they were brave enough to say, let's try it, and then let's get feedback and let's go from there. And I think that it just, it takes a lot of guts to be willing to try something new in education, to put yourself out there and be vulnerable in that way as a building. And I'm so thankful that our teachers are willing.
to be vulnerable and that our community is willing to support the ideas that our teachers and our site council have moving forward and willing to give us feedback on this was great. Let's tweak this and I feel that we're pretty special in that here in McPherson that we've got that willingness to allow that type of growth.
Rick Sola (24:16.681)Awesome, very good. Heather?
Heather Calvert (24:19.71)So I am really new in my KPA journey and experiences. I think I've been a member on and off for a couple years throughout as I've kind of bounced between a couple different districts. But super excited just to really leverage in. I think it's a great organization. We can never have enough people in our corner as administrators. Like Inga said, it can be very lonely and very isolating and it's really hard to find people to collaborate with that really understand the struggle that you're going through sometimes or to celebrate with you in really authentic ways because they know the
that it took to get to those celebrations. So really excited just to meet and network and get more actively involved in the organization. I cannot say enough positive things about KCKPS and Grant Elementary. You know, we're a very large district, very diverse district. There's a lot going on in the community all the time, a lot going on to be involved in. Our building is a small little building, very community-based elementary school, and watching the shifts that have been made with our community wrapping around us.
And then watching the City of Kansas City Kansas wrap around us, our building one, we got an award from the mayor for just being involved in the community and to be recognized in a very large urban population for those things is very, it's just telling to the work that's done every day and watching our staff grow and just bond with each other through the difficult moments, through the happy moments. There's just never enough of that. So super excited to meet everybody next or in a couple of weeks. I do it in a couple of weeks and really branch out.
and build more connections.
Rick Sola (25:51.574)Yeah, well I hope to connect with both of you as well. It'll be fun to meet so many of our principals across the state in person. You one thing I liked about both of your answers, you both mentioned your community.
and extending beyond the walls of your school. And I just don't think that can be overstated how important a community is and how important a school is to a community. And then for working in the school, the value of the community around you. And I just love that you both you both reference that and brought that up. So, you know, this episode will come out and let's see, I think it's like October 24th ish or somewhere around there. It's right before Halloween. So I'm to put you both on the spot. What's your favorite scary
movie.
Heather Calvert (26:34.205)I hate scary movies. no. Hate them all.
Rick Sola (26:36.055)Hahaha.
Inge Esping (26:38.51)Well, I don't know that I have a favorite scary movie because I'm right along with Heather, but my children love scary movies. Right now their obsession is mama, so I've actually been able to make it through the whole thing without screaming myself. I think that's just a point of pride. So not a favorite. I just was proud of myself for being brave on that one.
Rick Sola (27:00.011)Well, I'm going to tell you, I'm right along with both of you. I cannot stand scary movies. I don't watch them. I've seen one I think that actually qualifies as a scary movie and that's The Shining. And that was like when I was in high school. I was done. I'm done. I don't like scary movies. I, you know, not to be kind of like a downer on it, but I always kind of enjoy November 1st when Halloween's behind us and we can get onto Thanksgiving and Christmas. So,
Heather Calvert (27:26.004)100%.
Inge Esping (27:27.534)For sure.
Rick Sola (27:29.429)Well, hey, really appreciate both of you. know it's early on a day off and it's early on a full day of school. And so that you both were willing to jump on here means a lot. Look forward to seeing you here in a few weeks at the KPA conference and we'll sign off.
Heather Calvert (27:46.15)Thank you.
Inge Esping (27:46.168)Thank you very much. Thanks for hosting us.
 

CC#95: Leadership--Perspective Matters - A Principal's Perspective by Cort Haynes - Maize South MS

Leadership: “Perspective Matters”Cort HaynesPrincipalMaize South Middle SchoolMaize USD 266X: @CortHaynes
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.
 
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

CC#94: Encouraging Teacher Leadership - A Principal's Perspective by Kelly Whittaker - Ottawa HS

Encouraging Teacher Leadership
Principal Kelly Whittaker
Ottawa High School, USD 290
X: @kelwhitt217
 
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.
YOUR input on Cool Coffee is NEEDED! Click HERE to share thoughts and interest for you or a colleague on being on the show!
Click for ALL Cool Coffee episodes!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: X @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com