Episodes

Have you ever had a student or a teacher tell you that they are not creative? This week’s guest, Dr. Jacie Maslyk, shares how she instills creativity in her district and how her STEAM programs inspire the students to read and...

In this 13th Aspire Mailbag episode, Jeff Gargas, special guest Rae Hughart and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners. Please join us for this episode as we answer questions and discuss p...

When you lead, are you giving positivity or negativity to those around you? I’m excited to have Taylor Armstrong on the podcast to share his story on how being a negative person affected his job and the people surrounding him...

How important is it to be connected to other educators outside of your building? This week’s guest, Kristen Nan, shares how she almost walked away from teaching and how she took a gamble on education, which led her to an amaz...

If I asked you, tell me a time you sat down with a leader and felt immediate inspiration and growth? What and who would you describe? Well, for me, this occurred during this interview on multiple occasions as I had the great ...

In this 12th Aspire Mailbag episode, Jeff Gargas and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners. Please join us for this episode as Jeff and I answer questions on preparing for changes in plan...

On your campus or in your district, how do you allow students to lead? After reflecting on this question myself, I realized that I needed to learn more about this topic so I found a great resource to gain more student leaders...

Have you ever started a career and quickly realized it wasn’t what you anticipated? This week’s guest, Dr. Danny Brassell, shares how his career as a political journalist was short lived and the reason it propelled him to tu...

Often, as a leader, we are met with difficult barriers and problems that create stress and fear. This week’s guest, Justin Belt, shares his message on how leaders can slay our doubts, take the necessary actions and find crea...

As a leader, how do you impact and grow new teachers and leaders in our organization? This week’s guest, Dr. Samantha Fecich, shares how she uses innovative programs and resources to prepare new teachers to overcome the initi...

In this 10th Aspire Mailbag episode, Jeff Gargas and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners during the Teach Better 12 Hour Live event. Please join us for this episode as Jeff and I answer...

When you hear that a student is playing in school, what are your first thoughts as an educator? My guest, a former kindergarten teacher, shares how he used play to transform the classroom, increase learning and engage student...

As we continue through this journey of distant learning, I wanted to bring you some content specific to our current struggle. Instead of asking one person, I asked many of my friends to share their insight and wisdom using on...

As we have spent several months implementing a distant learning model, I asked my guest, what was the greatest take away from her online experience? This week’s guest, Rachelle Dene Poth, shares the role of advanced technolog...

Important Message I wanted to address the injustices that are occurring in this country, even though this episode does not consist of questions regarding racism, equity or privilege. As a white male, I do not truly understand...

With a heavy heart, I bring you this episode, in a time where our country is fighting against inequality and racism. During the duration of distant learning, the subject of equity has come to the forefront of many discussions...

As we continue through this journey of distant learning, I wanted to bring you some content specific to our current struggle. Instead of asking one person, I asked many of my friends to share their insight and wisdom using on...

This is a special episode because I get to celebrate the two year anniversary of the Aspire podcast and my guest, Hans Appel, has released his new book, “Award Winning Culture”! This week, I'm joined by Jennifer and Hans Appe...

As I have shared on this podcast before, when I was younger, I didn’t enjoy reading. Of course, once I got older, I found great pleasure in reading books and I love to share the joy of reading. In this special milestone 100th...

As we continue through this journey of distant learning, I wanted to bring you some content specific to our current struggle. Instead of asking one person, I asked many of my friends to share their insight and wisdom using on...

How is your school or classroom encouraging and enhancing student curiosity and self directed learning? This week’s guest, Trevor MacKenzie, shares how embracing student questions through an inquiry based model gradually incr...