Better Learning Podcast

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our fourteenth episode in the Season features Brandon McLaughlin, the principal architect for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip, the Clark County School District is the 5th-largest school district in the U.S. at a staggering 305,000 students. Brandon came to the district on the heels of approval for a $3.7 billion dollar Capital Improvement Plan extension and oversees the architectural design for new and replacement schools along with modernization efforts.

A district often criticized for prototypical, "prison-like" facilities historically, he looks to slowly align an ever-changing educational delivery model with buildings that support and ease delivery of content that increaeses student outcomes and enhances student and staff daily experience.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our thirteenth episode in the Season features Kerri Brady, the Vice President of Educational Practice for Huckabee.

Kerri focuses on educational planning, educational research, school safety + security, and change management. She helps clients shape the learning expereience by facilitating in-depth conversations and explorations on vision, curriculum, experience, and space.

Kerri also serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas School Safety Center as the architect member and plays an important leadership role in the LEx Collaborative, a partnership between Huckabee, ESC Region 12 and Baylor University that focuses on educational research and the built environment's impact on student success.

Most recently, Kerri led the charge to rewrite the School Facility Standards for the State of Texas and co-authored an international book about the role of Career and Technical Education in 21st century learning.

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our twelth episode in the Season features Ellen Perconti, the Superintendent of the Goldendale School District 404.

Ellen is a learner, with a commitment to serve others in their learning journeys so that we can grow connections and seek wonder. Currently, she serves as Superintendent in Goldendale, WA and is the Board President of the Education Leaders' Organization. Ellen has a background in professional learning, curriculum, assessment, and leadership.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

Our eleventh episode in the Season features Wes Watts, the 2022 Louisiana Superintendent of the Year for West Baton Rouge Parish Schools.

Wes just finished his 30th year in education. He spent 22 years on a high school campus as a teacher, coach, and principal. The last 8 years he has been the Superintendent in West Baton Rouge Parish, but has recently stepped down from his role within the district to take on other career goals.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com

Our tenth episode in the Season features Christian Long, an unapologetic advocate for wonder and curiosity as the root of all learning worth doing and all learning environments worth designing.

He currently serves as the Chief Growth Officer for the THINK Learning Studio consultancy and PD center, a new initiative of THINK Global School, the world’s first and only all-traveling international high school.

Christian’s team created TLS to help every educator, school and learning network foster the mindset and conditions to help every student take the next step on their unique, real-world learning journey. By collaborating with school leaders and educators around the world, they design dynamic real-world learning models which seek to empower today's learners to make purposeful impact in the future. To do this, they’ve adapted the TGS’ renowned Changemakers® place-based, Project Based learning curriculum into a set of tools and methodologies that empower all types of educators to bring project-based learning to their students—regardless of location, age, economic status, or learning ability.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com

Our ninth episode in the Season features Randy Fielding, an Architect and Founding Partner of Fielding International, an interdisciplinary architecture and education firm that designs schools where learners thrive. 

Randy has authored more than 50 publications and received numerous design awards, including the top two International awards in school planning and design: Planner of the Year and the MacConnell Award from the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). Randy’s work is grounded in research, which he has shared globally as the co-author of The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Learning. 

He is also the Creative Director for SchoolPatterns.com, which Fielding International launched in 2021 to create a shared language and library that is accessible to all. More than 70 Design Patterns illustrate key ideas in school design, with problem and solution statements, an image gallery, and links to learn more. The power of these Patterns are brought to life in 15 recent articles at Getting Smart, including 6 Elements of Thriving Learners, Personal Space for Safety, Wellness and Autonomy, and How to Design a Learning Commons, all at gettingsmart.com/author/randy-fielding.

In this podcast, Randy will discuss the importance of aligning a Learning Ecosystem: the dynamic cross-section between a school’s vision (what it is aiming to achieve for its students and community), its educational program (how a school functions to achieve that vision), and its social and physical environment (culture and places where the program is delivered).

Rethinking the approach to visioning and design has never been more important. He will share how school communities around the globe are, more than ever, recognizing misalignments between their aspirational vision for thriving learners and their learning environments; and, how a new tool Fielding International developed has reshaped the visioning and design process to be more effective and efficient in creating vision-aligned learning environments.

Our podcast, Better Learning, is now partnered with the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). The partnership comes with Kay-Twelve's mission alignment with A4LE to help lead innovation at the intersection of learning and place in schools around the world!

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our eighth episode in the Season features Kelly Smith, the founder and CEO of Prenda (prenda.com), an education company that helps people run their own microschools.

Kelly Smith has been obsessed with learning and building things since childhood. After a master’s degree in nuclear fusion (MIT), Kelly had a career in engineering and marketing at various technology companies and sold a small software business in the clean energy space. He started volunteering with an afterschool code club at the local public library, helping kids learn computer programming, and he was so excited about the power of self-learning that he started a microschool around his kitchen table in January 2018. Kelly lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife and four children.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our seventh episode in the Season features two guests - Brad Sever & Brian Schoch.

Brad Sever is an Assistant Principal at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, which has about 5.,400 students. He has been an international educational consultant on project-based learning since 2010 and has worked with over 100 schools. He recently published a book with Solution Tree Publishing titled "Sustainable Project-Based Learning," which effectively integrates PBL, SEL, and PLCs.

Brian Schoch is a skilled educator, with over 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher, and 13 years of experience leading professional development workshops in Project-Based Learning with teachers across the country. He earned his bachelor's degree in Business from Miami University (Oxford, OH) and his master's degree in Education from The Ohio State University, while working at Ohio State's Center on Education and Training. Brian's work has been featured in

• Project-Based Teaching: How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences by Suzie Boss and John Larmer
• Setting the Standard for Project-Based Learning by Boss, Larmer, and John Mergendoller
• Sustainable Project-Based Learning by Brad Sever.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

Welcome to Season 6 of the Better Learning Podcast! Our sixth episode in the Season features Prakash Nair, a world-renowned architect, futurist and the Founding President & CEO of Education Design International.

This episode is a special one - starting this week, our podcast Better Learning is now partnered with the Association for Learning Environments or also known as A4LE (have you seen our new logo!?). The partnership comes with Kay-Twelve's mission alignment with A4LE to help lead innovation at the intersection of learning and place in schools around the world!

Over the past 22 years, Prakash has helped build EDI into a global leader for school architecture with innovative work in 54 countries on six continents. Prakash has won many international awards including the 2022 Outstanding Educational Leadership Award and the A4LE MacConnell Award, the highest honor worldwide for school design. He has done a TEDx talk and is the author of several books including Blueprint for Tomorrow published by Harvard Education Press.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

The Better Learning Podcast will partner with the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) to help facilitate more conversations with educational leaders and change-makers across the country to help support their mission of improving the places where children learn. The conversations that are held on the podcast are meant to bring educational leaders at all levels real-world issues and solutions that listeners can take with them to the district, school, and even community level.

The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) was first established in 1921 as the National Council on Schoolhouse Construction (NCSC) then becoming Council of Education Facility Planners International (CEFPI) in 1971. It took its current name in 2015 and has since been leading innovation at the intersection of learning and place. With the Better Learning podcast seeking to highlight innovative programs and initiatives, A4LE aspires to connect the Better Learning audience with like minded leaders that are helping lead the change.

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.