Charter Central Podcast

In this episode, we hear from two educators who are leading the way by connecting with students through culturally responsive schools. They bring their insights in this area directly to listeners covering everything from ideas for teachers in the classroom to how the entire school community can support students. Join us to learn more about this important topic from Shena Hill-Scott from Pembroke Academy and Dr. Von Glass from Warrendale Charter Academy.

Tune in for this episode as we welcome Dr. Chad Waldron, faculty member and director of The Literacy Center at Central Michigan University. Dr. Waldron shares insights starting from defining literacy and expanding out to student engagement, literacy across the curriculum, and current literacy research. He also discusses his upcoming professional learning opportunities that are available for educators at CMU partner schools.

As a new school year begins, we are excited to share an in-depth conversation with Dr. Paula Lancaster, the dean of Central Michigan University’s College of Education and Human Services. Dean Lancaster shares her thoughts on the many ways that teacher preparation has evolved and how CMU continuously adapts to meet the needs of future teachers. She also provides her insights on a diverse range of education topics from the use of technology in education, to special education, and inspiring students to become teachers. If you are an educator in a CMU partner school, you won’t want to miss the information on how you can receive 50 percent off a CMU graduate degree through the Charter Educator Tuition Program.

On this episode, we explore cultural competency with Dr. Luay Shalabi, a former charter school leader and current mentor with Global Educational Excellence. He shares insights from his decades in education on the importance of embracing cultural competency in classrooms, including ideas for educators and the impact on students.

On this episode, we learn more about Discover You from Sarah Weisbarth, the organization’s director. She shares insights on the important concepts that they focus on through this positive youth development program. We also learn about the state funding available to support schools that would like to implement the program.

On our first episode of season four, we explore the topic of STEM education with Megan Schrauben, the executive director at MiSTEM Network. Learn more about the state’s STEM strategy, funding opportunities and how STEM connects with our state’s economy. She also shares how a school can develop its STEM programming.

On this episode, we talk with Adam Aberman from The Learning Collective and David Hartman from Venn Education. They walk us through their findings and recommendations that are now available in their report, Examining the Impacts, Changes and Innovations Schools Have Experienced During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This report follows their research, including focus groups and surveys with CMU partner schools, to investigate this important topic. We cover a diverse range of areas from accelerated learning to supporting teachers.

Tune in for this episode as we are joined by Countryside Academy, the winner of the Center’s third annual Innovation and Vision Award contest. We discuss what makes the school unique, focusing on its curriculum and programming that offers its students a diverse range of opportunities. We also share the schools that are the finalists for the next Innovation and Vision Award.

Tune in for this episode as we welcome Dr. Meghan Block, faculty member and co-director of The Literacy Center at Central Michigan University. Dr. Block shares her insights on a range of topics, including strategies to increase student engagement, how school leadership can support literacy efforts, and how all subject areas teach literacy.

On this episode we talk with Matt Resch from Resch Strategies about why engagement with a range of stakeholders is important to the success of charter schools. He discusses how to share you story and connect with partners serving in your community while also looking at some simple first steps in forming an outreach strategy.