CheckBox Pro Series

In this episode, I sit down with Roger Campbell, award-winning speaker, AI strategist, and founder of Gemstack. Roger shares insights into how AI is transforming education, from streamlining administrative tasks to enhancing classroom learning. We discuss practical ways school leaders can integrate AI tools, debunk common misconceptions, and explore ethical considerations around data privacy.

Key Takeaways:

• AI can reduce administrative burdens, freeing up educators to focus on students.
• Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can assist with tutoring, curriculum planning, and data analysis.
• Understanding privacy concerns and risk tolerance is essential before implementing AI in schools.
• The key to successful AI adoption is starting small, experimenting, and prioritizing education for staff.
• Schools should leverage existing AI capabilities within tools they already use, like Google Workspace.

LINKS:

Take our 5-minute survey letting us know where you are in your AI journey! https://forms.gle/FRDrUAtQ7bSSvHsz7

Connect with Roger:

Website: gemstack.ai (https://gemstack.ai)

LinkedIn: Roger Campbell II (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrrogercampbell/)

CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

** Trigger warning: This episode includes brief mentions of addiction, alcoholism, and suicide. If these topics are difficult for you, please take care while listening or skip this episode if needed (skip to 11:17 to avoid mentions). Your well-being is important to us.**

Athea Davis is the SEL Director / After School Mindfulness Educator at Etoile Academy Charter School. With testing season around the corner, anxiety and stress is heightened for students and staff. She shared strategies that educators and parents can walk students through who are struggling with test anxiety:

• Name it to tame it
• Hands on heart breathing
• Counting 3-5 breaths. In for 3. Out for 5.
• Take 5 Breathing (or Starfish Breathing for littles)
• Add movement: torso twist from your desk
• Shake Out!

She wrapped up our time together with a guided body scan. Teachers can easily incorporate this portion of audio into their classroom whenever they notice the need for some anxiety management.

LINKS:

• Athea Davis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/athea-davis-m-ed-eryt-rcyt-09990a81/)
• Website/Book: Today's Gonna Be Awesomesauce: www.atheadavis.com
• Podcast: Mind Declutter w/ Athea Davis: www.atheadavis.com/podcast
• Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully, Mindfulness-Based SEL Virtual Resource Showcase on Friday, February 21st: https://www.educatingmindfully.org/application
• Social Handles: @atheadavis
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Missy Couch introduces each member of the CheckBox Pro team! With their combined efforts, this team provided 10,392 hours of support to school leaders across the country in 2024. Each team member shares:

1. the city and state they live in,
2. their total years in education,
3. when they joined CBP,
4. why they like doing this work,
5. and what is one thing, big or small, personal or professional that they hope to check off in 2025?

Listen in to learn more about the folks taking steps to make the lives of a school leader even more sustainable!

LINKS:

• Stephanie Hellested (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-hellested-a2ab8448/)
• Sarita Lakey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarita-lakey/)
• Jessi Lopez Duong (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessi-lopez-duong/)
• Daniela Rubio (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielagrubio/)
• Nicole Morrissey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-morrissey-aba303137/)
• Learn more about our team here.
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/)- learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Missy Couch shares highlights from 2024!

LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Episode 1: The Power of a Great Coach w/ Kela Small (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4u1uSeTXFIpIAJga2ggwi4?si=b6f6c6ef9ed64c41)
• Episode 4: ESSER Funds are Over, What's Next w/ Sam Brobeck (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Oil3C0p21CcqJfMJlhfuU?si=5f9813845e3f4673)
• Episode 9: Founding Schools: Pre & Post Kids w/ Elizabeth Simpson (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0a592JOSLM6GdRzkgJvww2?si=0869b77e203c4a28)
• Episode 12: Students & Social Media w/ Laura Tierney (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ytflDFCn5ad91wiiNAWKL?si=1039b5fcffec427b)
• Episode 13: Securing a Facility: Funding 101 w/ Drew Masterson (https://open.spotify.com/episode/78UWaxfRuxp3vhk2sgeQIW?si=e83ee92276db462f)
• Tomas Segura Photography (https://www.instagram.com/tomasdoespictures/)
• CheckBox Pro Resources (https://www.checkboxpro.com/resources)
• Everydesk (https://www.everydesk.org/)
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/)- learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Paul Morrissey is a school leader who understands the woes and joys of securing a facility. With seven campuses, he can attest that no two facility projects are the same. Which is why his advice to any leader looking to secure a facility is:

1. Build a mission aligned team, trust the team to do their work, and be a critical partner to that team along the way.
2. A school is not your building. Find the right space for right now, when you're in an early stage school and be comfortable that that will open up the opportunities in the future.
3. Do your homework. In order to do that successfully you have to be humble, you have to recognize and be able to come to grips with what you don't know, and you have to do the work to learn that as best you can.

Tune in to hear Paul's journey to becoming the Founder & CEO of Compass Rose Public Schools. Glean some insights on what it takes to undergo a facility project with optimism and joy because at the end of the day it is what happens inside the walls of your building that matters most!

LINKS:

• Compass Rose Public Schools (https://compassrosepublicschools.org/)
• Paul Morrissey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmorrisseycra/)
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Andrew Stanton is a Principal and Project Manager at Project Management Services, Inc. or more commonly known as PMSI. He talks through the key responsibilities of a project manager for a facility project. But the thing I honed in on was the importance of having one person on the team who has the big, start to end picture that the leader can lean on. Rather than coordinating with a dozen contractors, developers, architects, etc., the leader is able to communicate and rely on their project manager to keep things moving. Talk about a time and sanity saver!

Tune in to learn more about Andrew and why being a project manager for charter schools has been a meaningful career.

LINKS:

• Andrew Stanton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/astantonpmsi/)
• Project Management Services, Inc. (PMSI) (https://www.pmsitx.com/)
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Eric Cohen has been in the business of designing and building charter schools for the last decade! Whether you need a designer, general contractor, or construction manager, Butler-Cohen Design+Build does it all and they are another important member of the facility team. They bring functionality and beauty to the process, so that kids have a place they are excited to learn and grow.

Regardless of the company you use to bring the school's vision to life, it is important that they have strong references, can use a dollar efficiently, and can finish on time… because the children come to school in August no matter what!

AND, what is the difference between a developer and general contractor? Listen in to hear how well Eric schools me on just that!

LINKS:

• Butler-Cohen Design+Build (https://butlercohen.com/)

• Eric Cohen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-cohen-5420629/)

• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Tom Sage is a passionate and mission aligned lawyer who any school leader would be lucky to have on their team! After talking to him, I can't believe I ever thought a lawyer wasn't essential to a facility deal for schools.

Tom discusses how he got into this business, the role the lawyer plays on the facilities team, and why after all these years he still does this work.

Lawyers are in positions of trust, so Tom's advice:

1. Meet your lawyer, in person if able
2. Check their references with other school leaders
3. Lean on your state advocacy group for recommendations

Listen in to be re-energized for any role you may play in education because it all has an impact on improving opportunities for all students!

LINKS:

• Tom Sage (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-sage-51a14b32/)
• Hunton Andrews Kurth (https://www.huntonak.com/)
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Licensed music ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Amy Martorano is a real estate broker and has closed numerous deals for charter schools! She has helped leaders find a building that will allow students to learn and grow.

She gives listeners a broad overview of the facility search process and emphasizes that it is never too early for leaders to start searching. Procuring a space can take 12-18 months alone, and then the project managers and architects can take over to ensure the space is up to code and day-one ready!

Listen in to have a better understanding of the process and hurdles that school leaders have to go through in order to find and create an environment as unique as their school's mission!

LINKS:

• Insite EFS (https://www.insiteefs.com/)- the real estate brokerage and advisory firm for education and non-profit facilities nationwide.

• Demographic Services (https://www.insiteefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pdf-Demographic-Services.pdf) - outline of services that Amy walks us through

• Amy Martorano (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-martorano-24504b5/) - Partner & Broker at Insite EFS

• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ

Drew Masterson founded Masterson Advisors LLC to provide financial advice to founding and growing organizations who need someone they can trust. With 40 years of experience in general public finance and 23 years focused on advising charter school leaders, he was able to share a wealth of knowledge about the development and execution of a plan to secure a facility.

The facility search is a pain point for almost every leader. With so many financing options available and a school leaders main priority of educating students, it is essential they surround themselves with a team who is providing objective and honest advice. Masterson Advisors are data-driven and they let numbers guide their recommendations.

"We never say no. The numbers say no." Drew Masterson

Drew and his team are eager to help charters and other organizations find the right financing fit for their specific needs!

LINKS:

• Masterson Advisors LLC (https://mastersonadvisors.com/) - empowering communities to grow through uniquely crafted financial solutions
• Drew Materson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-masterson-55b94715b/)
• CheckBox Pro (https://www.checkboxpro.com/) - learn more about the services CheckBox Pro offers to make the work of school leaders more sustainable

Music: Energizer by Chris Phaze licensed through Premium Beat by Shutterstock ID: ILRNI9DIEHE4JTVQ