Season 1
March 17, 2024
Sarah and Joyce: I am who I am because of you!
Sarah and Joyce were the first Spencer County match for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Indiana back in 2000! Join the 3 of us as we discuss how life was like when their match began, their favorite memories and how …
Feb. 19, 2024
Matthew Templeton: Mentoring builds YOUR sense of purpose!
Matthew is a current Big with us at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Indiana. As a retired military man, his brings a strong sense of purpose for improving the community in which he lives with his wife and children. …
Feb. 12, 2024
DJ Quinn, author of Stick Figures: A Big Brother Remembers
DJ Quinn is a two-time Big Brother / Big Sisters volunteer, having been matched from 1980-1984 with a Little Brother in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He currently assists with mentor programs in the Pierce County Juvenile Court sy…
Jan. 22, 2024
Hal Bowman: The Boy Crisis
What if I told you there is a crisis right with our boys? What if I told you that our boys aren't doing well?? Join Hal and I as we discuss an issue that noone is talking about: the boy crisis! After spending over 2 decades …
Jan. 14, 2024
Chip Baker: Mentors made me who I am!
Chip Baker is a fourth generation educator. He has been a teacher/coach for over twenty four years. He is a multiple time best-selling Author, Youtuber/Podcaster, Transformational Speaker and Life Coach. He is the Greater Ho…
Jan. 8, 2024
Ginger Healy: Connection saves lives!
Ginger Healy MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker with experience as a non-profit case manager, child abuse investigator, hospital social worker, and school social worker. She spent 15 years as the social service supervisor…
Jan. 3, 2024
Ruby Payne, Ph.D: Poverty IS affecting our kids!
In her two decades as a consultant on education and economic class, Ruby has published more than a dozen books and spoken extensively around the globe. Ruby empowers educators and community leaders to address issues of pover…
Jan. 1, 2024
Joe Brummer: Mentoring involves being trauma-informed!
Joe Brummer is a trauma survivor. Having lived through early exposure to violence, child abuse and neglect, and two violent anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, he turned his healing journey into a career in peacebuilding, restorative ju…
Jan. 1, 2024
CJ Reynolds: Your ordinary could be some kid's EXTRAORDINARY!
CJ Reynolds has been a classroom educator for almost 20 years, teaching high school Literature and The History of Hip-Hop in West Philadelphia and Camden, NJ. He is also the author of Teach Your Class Off: The Real Rap Guide…
Jan. 1, 2024
Lindsey Jensen: Mentoring New Teachers Is Critical!
Dr. Lindsey Jensen was the 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year, the 2020 NEA Foundation for Teaching Excellence Illinois Awardee, and Vice-President of the Illinois State Teachers of the Year. Her work has been featured in IL-…
July 9, 2022
Episode 2.19 with Jamie Brown: Embrace the whole teacher to develop the whole student!
Jamie is a champion of Social-Emotional care and Character Education. His passion for promoting student-driven leadership led to the development of the 1st District-Wide PEER Leadership program in NJ Public School education.…
Dec. 18, 2021
Episode 57 with Kevin Curtis: Relationship-Centered Learning
Kevin W. Curtis is the Founder and Lead Consultant for National Educators for Restorative Practices and co-author of the book Restorative Discipline Practices: A Journey in Implementation from a Community of Educators . Kevi…
Dec. 10, 2021
Episode 56 with Aviva Levin: Put a bit of improv into your lessons!
Aviva grew up in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada as an only child, though she had plenty of imaginary friends. She was incredibly shy until she discovered a love of theater in the fourth grade, which allowed her to fake b…
Dec. 3, 2021
Episode 55 with Kristi Hape: ALL teachers are special education teachers!
Kristi Hape is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years experience in the schools and 17 years experience at home, raising 3 girls with her loving husband. She survived 22 years as the wife of a college and high school f…
Nov. 27, 2021
Episode 54 with Andrea Samadi: SEL + Neuroscience= Level UP!
Andrea Samadi, a former middle-school teacher from Toronto, now in Arizona, has spent the past 20+ years working with social/emotional learning. Andrea knows first-hand about stress in the classroom as her first job at The U…
Nov. 20, 2021
Episode 53 with Mark Horner: Using the 4W's to develop a growth mindset with our students!
Mark Horner is a proud husband and father. He has been married to his college sweetheart, Jennifer for over 20 years. They have two children: Kelsie, who just graduated from Tallmadge High School, and a son, Noah, who is ent…
Nov. 13, 2021
Episode 52 with Matthew J Bowerman: At the end of the day, it's ALL about LOVE!!
Matthew J Bowerman has spent 24 years in education as a Heartleader, working to support and engage students and communities. He is an Assistamt Principal in an elementary school in Montgomery County, MD,.as well as a writer,…
Nov. 6, 2021
Episode 51 with Dr. Basil Marin:Teacher and leadership prep programs should have a required equity and social justice class
Dr. Basil Marin hails from the Central Virginia area. He is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He later earned a Master of Teaching in Special Educati…
Oct. 30, 2021
Episode 50 with Hamish Brewer: Great things happen through great connections!
Hamish is an award-winning educator & leader - inspiring, advocating & amplifying voices of educators, students & communities everywhere! Author, Speaker, Kiwi, Tattoos, Skateboards, VWs Mr. Brewer is an award-winning princ…
Oct. 23, 2021
Episode 49 with Pav Wander: Our teachers' voices need to be AMPLIFIED!
Pavan (Pav) Wander is an elementary school teacher with 15 years of experience, born, raised, and teaching in the north end of Toronto, Canada, where she teaches grade 7/8. Along with her former teaching partner Chey Cheney,…
Oct. 16, 2021
Episode 48 with Charles Williams: ALL our students can succeed if we believe it!
Charles Williams has been an educator for more than 15 years serving as a teacher, a mentor/lead teacher, an assistant principal, and a principal for urban students in grades K-12. He also serves as an equity advocate thro…
Oct. 7, 2021
Episode 47 with Georgina Dean. Leaders must support their people if we want to increase creativity!
Georgina’s goal is to offer creative digital transformation support to education communities around the world. She is a visionary education leader, an inspiring writer, podcaster, and keynote speaker, and is keen to impact c…
Oct. 2, 2021
Episode 46 with Trevor Timmerberg. The words we speak create reality for our students!
A man of faith, committed to education for all students, service-oriented, and someone that doesn't have it all figured out but wants to help as many people along the way as he is able to. Trevor is currently a commissioned …
Sept. 25, 2021
Episode 45 with Pam Alba. Let student's voices lead the way!
Pam is a STEAM teacher from the Dominican Republic. She has a certification in STEM and a Master's in Educational Technology. She teaches Computational Thinking and Project Based Learning to students in English and Spanish. …