In this first episode, I sit down with my longtime friend and colleague Aaron Sadoff — educator, university president, and author of Mindcraft: The Art of Positive Thinking Right Now — to trace the arc of a life spent in education. Aaron shares how he chose teaching, how his path evolved from the classroom to superintendent, into the private sector, and eventually to college president, and the pivotal moments (and people, like his own 'Mr. McCartney') that reshaped how he saw leadership and himself. We talk about becoming a mentor for others, what he wishes more people understood about the work of educators, the person he never properly thanked, and why — after all of it — he still wants to be a teacher.

Every educator has a story. Not the one on the résumé but the other one. The teacher who saw something in you before you saw it in yourself. The hard year that showed you who you were. The person who changed your direction and probably never even knew it.

Those stories are the most interesting thing about our profession, and the least often told. So I'm going to start asking educators and leaders to tell us those stories.

I'm Jim Sebert, and for thirty years I've worked in Wisconsin public schools. Going to School is a new podcast where teachers, principals, and leaders tell me about the people and moments that shaped them. Every conversation ends with the same two questions and the last one tends to catch people off guard: Who shaped you that you never properly thanked?

New conversations will come your way on a monthly basis to start. The first episode is coming soon.

Subscribe now so you don't miss it; and if there's an educator whose story deserves telling, I'd love to hear about them!