A Slice with 'Dice

Creativity isn’t enrichment. It’s infrastructure. And if we misunderstand that, we misunderstand the future of our economy.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why arts education must be reframed as workforce education — not as a defense of the arts, but as a recognition of their economic power. In light of receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Education, this episode pivots from personal reflection to a broader argument: arts education builds creative capital, and creative capital drives economic growth.

Drawing from research on Arkansas’s creative economy and lessons from leading a public residential STEM-and-arts high school, Corey challenges narrow definitions of workforce preparation and argues that ambiguity tolerance, iteration, aesthetic judgment, collaboration, and narrative construction are not “soft skills” — they are survival skills in a volatile, innovation-driven economy.

If Arkansas wants to compete in the decades ahead, it must invest not only in technical training, but in the cultivation of imagination. This episode invites educators, policymakers, and business leaders to rethink how we speak about — and fund — the arts.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why does belonging matter so much for student success?

In this teaser, Corey Alderdice introduces a three-part series exploring the role of belonging in education, beginning with research from Gallup and Purdue showing its connection to college completion and long-term success.

The series will examine how those insights translate to high school environments, how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative highlights the systems that shape belonging, and why creating schools where students feel known, connected, and engaged should be a priority across all educational models.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

The word abundance surged into the spotlight in 2025, not because schools suddenly had more time, energy, or flexibility—but because educators sensed that something in our systems was no longer keeping pace with human potential. Now, abundance becomes less of a buzzword and more of a leadership challenge worth examining.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores why abundance has gained traction in education, how scarcity thinking quietly shapes school culture and leadership behavior, and what it would mean to redesign schools so opportunity is cultivated rather than rationed. The episode reflects on the difference between pressure and possibility, the role of leaders as system designers rather than gatekeepers, and the shift from identifying talent to intentionally developing it—offering a thoughtful lens on how schools can make room for more learning, more growth, and more sustainable excellence in the years ahead.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some books don’t just age well—they grow with us. What feels like a simple story in adolescence can become something far more layered when revisited with experience.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why Jonathan Livingston Seagull felt like an odd—perhaps overly ambitious—choice for an 8th grade honors entrance exam, and why he now appreciates that decision decades later. Revisiting the book after years of lived experience, Corey reflects on how the story shifts from a meditation on identity and nonconformity to something deeper: the pursuit of mastery, the loneliness of excellence, and the cost of moving to the next stage of growth.

This episode considers how certain texts scale with the reader—revealing new insights as we change. What once felt aspirational now feels honest. What once centered on standing out now centers on discipline, humility, and the quiet work of becoming better.  Ultimately, Corey asks a powerful question for students, educators, and leaders alike: What are you willing to leave behind in order to grow?

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leadership doesn’t end when the account runs dry—it continues through the returns others generate from your investment. 

In this final installment of the trilogy, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores The Leadership Dividend, the enduring impact of choices, values, and relationships that keep paying out long after a leader steps away. He reflects on how wise leaders move from spending capital to cultivating culture, from managing balance sheets to compounding trust, and how the truest measure of success lies not in control, but in continuity.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

When students walk out of class in protest, it can look simple from the outside: young people raising their voices in a democracy. Inside a school, however, those moments are layered with legal guardrails, legislative constraints, and the obligation to treat every viewpoint the same.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the recent student walkouts in Pulaski, Garland, and other Arkansas counties related to ICE actions and uses them as a lens to unpack the complexity school leaders face in responding. Grounded in the Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v. Des Moines and Arkansas’s 2025 ACCESS Act, he reflects on one of the most difficult weeks of his own leadership during the 2018 national walkouts following the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Marshall County High School, and Heath High School — events that were deeply personal to him.

This episode invites students and parents to better understand the constraints public institutions operate within, offers practical guidance for civic engagement inside school systems, and argues that while outcomes will often be misunderstood, fairness and consistent process must remain the goal.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Achievement often overshadows everything else in the lives of gifted and talented students. But what if their deepest need isn’t to achieve more, but to know they truly matter? Drawing on the work of Jennifer Breheny Wallace and the psychology of “mattering,” this episode explores how educators can reframe success for advanced learners. 

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, unpacks the research behind achievement culture, explains why gifted students are especially vulnerable to it, and challenges schools to build communities where students are valued not just for what they do, but for who they are.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A single sharp moment can hijack an entire school day—but it doesn’t have to. What if educators got just as intentional about what lifts students up as we are about what sets them off?

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the emerging concept of “glimmers”—small, everyday experiences that spark calm, joy, gratitude, and connection—and why they matter in classrooms that are often built to manage stress rather than cultivate well-being. This episode reframes the work from merely reducing negative triggers to actively designing conditions for positive emotional resilience. Along the way, Corey highlights practical, low-cost ways educators can seed glimmers through consistent micro-moments: greeting students by name, noticing effort, offering gentle encouragement, and creating routines that make belonging feel real. The result is a simple but powerful shift—helping students (and adults) train their brains to spot what’s good, even on hard days, and making school a place that doesn’t just endure, but affirms.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leaders spend their days managing visible accounts—trust, goodwill, and influence—but the balance that truly determines their longevity is often hidden from view. 

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea of a Personal Capital Reserve, or what he calls the Second Balance Sheet—the reservoir of energy, identity, and relationships that sustains leaders beyond their professional role. He discusses how wise leaders protect this reserve through intentional boundaries, steady deposits of time and presence, and the discipline to separate personal worth from institutional success. Ultimately, the second balance sheet reminds us that the work endures only if the leader remains whole.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some lessons never make it into the textbook—but they can make or break a student’s future. The most gifted learners often know the material, but not the system that surrounds it.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the “hidden curriculum” and how its unspoken rules—everything from navigating office hours to figuring out which opportunities actually matter—can be the missing link for high-ability students from low-income or rural backgrounds. This episode digs into why raw intelligence isn’t enough, how opportunity is shaped more by exposure than ability, and why “it lives in context, not content.” Through candid reflection and grounded insight, Corey challenges educators and leaders to rethink how we support gifted students who aren’t just underserved academically, but under-resourced strategically.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.