This week, we are honored to welcome Sydney Chaffee, humanities teacher at the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Massachusetts and the 2017 National Teacher of the Year, as our guest on this week’s show. In this podcast, Ms. Chafee talks about the role that social justice should play in instruction. She also identifies practical strategies to reinforce and incorporate effective discussion on social justice in classrooms.

You can find out more about her work by www.sydneychaffee.com.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Rachel Crouch, the K-8 principal of the Perry Street Prep Public Charter School in Washington DC. In this podcast, Rachel talks to Ryan about how Perry Street went from the brink of closure to a Tier 1 school in just a few short years. Rachel provides actionable strategies for school success, including fostering parent engagement the effective use of data. You can find out more about our guest’s work by visiting www.pspdc.org.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Dr. Cara Candal, Senior Fellow at the Pioneer Institute and Director of Educational Opportunity for the Foundation for Excellence in Education. In this podcast, Dr. Candal talks about the successes of the Massachusetts charter sector and the policy environment that helped make those successes happen. Dr. Candal also identifies common policy issues that inhibit growth and innovation in public charters.

Dr. Candal’s book “The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation” is available for purchase on Amazon. You can find out more about her work by visiting www.excelined.org

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Cheryl Rose, Principal at the Edison School of Innovation, in Glendale, Arizona. In this podcast, Cheryl talks to us about the school’s educational philosophy of educating students to solve the unknown problems of the future. Her school places a strong emphasis on STEM, project-based learning, and apprenticeship-style teacher preparation.

You can find out more about her work by visiting www.edisonschoolaz.org.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Clifton Alexander. Clifton is the owner of Reactor Design Studio, a Kansas City based creative design company. In this podcast, Clifton talks to us about Reactor and the services it provides for charter schools. Clifton also stresses the importance of why a charter school needs to build a brand and how effective branding can enrich a school’s external and internal stakeholders. Great brand building advice this week. Tune in!

You can find out more about his work by visiting www.reactorkc.com

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Kelsey Nicole Nelson, the Manager of Campaigns and Publications for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. When our guest is not empowering charter advocates, she is an award-winning sports journalist and broadcaster for FOX sports, the Arena Football League, and other outlets. Kelsey talks to us about her dual background in sports and education alongside the work she does for the National Alliance. Kelsey also provides advice and valuable resources on helping schools get their message out. Tune in to this amazing podcast!

You can find out more about her work by visiting www.publiccharters.org

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Ryan interviews Dr. Andrew Jarboe, AP US History Teacher at Match Charter Public School in Boston, Massachusetts. Andrew talks to us about the British Parliamentary debate program that he built at his school (which has now become an inter-school competition) and why he wanted to expose his students to BP debate. Andrew also provides valuable advice on how you can build similar programs at your school. You can find out more about his work by visiting www.matchschool.org

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Charter School Superstars is on the Charter Talks stage at the 2019 National Charter Schools Conference in Las Vegas. Our guest is Douglas Rodriguez, president of Doral College in South Florida. Doral College is unique among higher education institutions in that it is the first and only college to be founded by charter schools to provide college education opportunities to charter school students. Ryan talks to Doug about how the College was created and what lies ahead for this innovative institution. You can find out more about Doral College by visiting www.doral.edu.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Charter School Superstars continues its interview series from the National Charter School Conference in Las Vegas. Ryan’s guest is Jim Houliston, Partnership Evangelist for Helios. Helios provides paperless HR services for K-12 institutions that are designed to be comprehensive for the complete employee lifecycle. In this interview, Jim talks to us about the unique HR challenges that K-12 schools encounter as well as the ways that Helios tries to address these challenges.. You can find out more about his work by visiting https://heliosed.com.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

This week, Charter School Superstars is at the at the National Charter School Conference in Las Vegas. Ryan interviews Danielle Riha, 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year from the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School. In this interview, Danielle talks to us about her inspirational story in education, including her unusual journey into the teaching profession and how she overcame her difficult first year teaching in rural Alaska. You can find out more about her school’s work by visiting https://www.asdk12.org/anccs.

Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse