Interesting Humans

What makes a good teacher? More important, what makes a teacher good? Just as with any professional endeavor there are character habits that lead to mastery. Teaching is no exception. And while there are fantastic teachers everywhere, some rise a bit higher. 

The role of teachers today has never been more important yet also has not been as under assault as it is today. Tax cuts riddle school budgets, technology drives adults and kids to distraction, and expectations for how kids achieve has seemingly never been higher. Not to mention the more prevalent occurrence of shootings in schools. So is it a wonder that teachers feel hamstrung to teach with so much going on outside the classroom? 

Today's guest, Tracy Anderson, is a teacher I would have loved. Tracy's students thrive in today's educational landscape and she possesses a unique blend of individual talent and commitment that makes her exceptional.

Her career spans 23 years, the past 20 at Ann Arbor's Community High School. Tracy has taught literature, creative writing and journalism for two decades to students who've gone on to excel as adults in life and any number of careers. She is highly regarded by her students, their parents and by the administration. In addition, she is the director of The Communicator, the award-winning, glossy 80-100 page magazine entirely produced by students five times a year. Last year the Communicator won a Pacemaker award for excellence from the National Scholastic Press Association and was up for another award this year. 

Tracy is exceptional for two important reasons. First, she is clear on her teaching philosophy. Her clarity of purpose is obvious as we discuss different experiences from her classroom. She is inspired by the premise fundamental to Montessori education that respects the individuality of each student and their learning style and that students' needs change as they grow. 

Second, that respect for every student who comes to her classroom has led Tracy to commit to her career as a student of teaching, always challenging herself to understand the educational process more fully and whatever subject matter through which she is guiding her students. 

One of the parts of the conversation I love the most is when she mentions that whatever exercise she has her students do she also does. Moreover, there is an absence of ego in Tracy's classroom. She talks about several instances where she admits to her students mistakes she made in approach or a question she asks of students. This humility serves as a great example for her students and inspires them. 

"I treat them like individuals and like adults. I trust them," Tracy says,

Armed with a clear sense of fundamentals--she possesses bachelor and masters degrees in teaching as well as a substantial amount of education credits toward her Phd--and with a joie de vivre for young minds, Tracy is a fascinating conversation as well as a lovely person.

Links:
You can find Tracy Anderson here: https://tracyanderson.org/
Detroit Poet Jamaal May's poem There Are Birds Here
Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way
VOICE, Community High School's Literary Magazine

I hope you enjoy today's conversation with Tracy on Interesting Humans. 

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/

Let's be honest. Few people get really excited about minute details of home building projects and how to make them more energy efficient. It can get pretty esoteric. Today's guest, Scott Hedges, can dive into the details as well as any builder. But what makes Scott unique is his ability to see things from a larger perspective as well.

Scott is the co-founder of a company called WarmForm, which is using a particular  building technique borrowed from energy-conscious Sweden to build homes here. 

Why? Scott started his working life as an ecologist, guarding the habitats of birds and other animals in parks in Florida. Yet he became frustrated trying to preserve habitats when what he saw as the bigger issue was the further deterioration of the bigger environmental equation--massively inefficient building practices that lead to further incursions into the natural environment. 

The dots connected during a stint in Sweden where he took a job building homes with a builder that was a game-changer for him. Scott realized the Swedes were doing things way different—and in his view more efficiently—than typical construction in the U.S. He began investigating further and discovered a treasure trove of information about an approach to building homes in the 1950s and 1960s the way cars are built. Yes, homes could be built on an assembly line and in fact were. 

Scott says, "I have a modest proposal: skip the conferences and go spend time with people who actually are quietly doing what others are loudly proclaiming you should do. Said simply: Go to Sweden, spend time learning from a real Swedish builder."

My conversation with Scott is a both a history lesson in companies like Lustron and others that went against the conventional building industry and failed and a hopeful plea to change the paradigm in how we build homes to help save the planet. Scott is erudite and eloquent in expressing his knowledge of and his passion for the kinds of energy efficient building practices commonly used in Sweden. Scott believes the building industry in the US is fundamentally flawed and sees a disruption of commonly accepted building practices as a potential solution to making all homes significantly more energy stingy and in the long run reducing the impact on climate. 

You can recognize his passion in how deep Scott can go on the details. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Scott Hedges.
 
Links:
 LUSTRON HOMES: https://www.curbed.com/2016/10/10/13227810/prefab-lustron-house-prefabricated-home-building
Warmform: https://warmform.com/
Elementhus article: https://medium.com/@scotthedges/elementhus-swedens-ultra-modern-totally-forgotten-awesome-factory-built-house-899d0c96687d
Bygghouse: https://bygghouse.com/
Film of Construction of a house in Sweden: https://youtu.be/W-5vn9gx1QA
Construction of Swedish houses by Scott Hedges: https://bygghouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Summary-of-Swedish-Wall-Element-Construction.pdf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.hedges.754

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthedges2/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bygghouse

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/

Michelle Plucinsky is the epitome of a human passionate about evolving. Together with her husband Chris Nordin, Michelle runs Furnace Design Studio, a place where glassblowers create their incredible art and where individuals learn the art of glassblowing.

Michelle became fascinated with art early on, stemming  road trips as a kid when her mom dropped craft kits into hers and her siblings' laps to keep them busy. Her love of manipulating these little craft projects turned into a fascination with glass.

One of Michelle's first jobs was at the Henry Ford Museum in the glass shop that turned into a role demonstrating glass blowing for tourists at age 20. There Michelle combined both her burgeoning love of art and history. She attended a seminar at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and studied under Italian master artist  Lino Tagliapietra who, along with other teacher artists, opened Michelle up to a new world of techniques and where she discovered the "art" in glassblowing. Then she followed one of the teachers from Haystack to Alfred University where she found her advanced abilities helped her push her art even further.

Our conversation traces the lines in her evolution as both an artist and as a business person bent on ensuring she and her husband were able to sustain their art and raise their family. Some misfortune in the economy created a need for the couple to understand the business they were in and make some smart decisions.  Michelle developed into a marketer, an accountant and a salesperson seemingly all at once in order to help the Studio grow.

Today, both the Glass Academy and Chris Nordin Studios are on solid ground. And Michelle is discovering some other parts of herself that had been hidden.

The conversation with Michelle is a testament to how a person can pivot in their career but not lose their essence along the way.

You can find Michelle at MichellePlucinsky.com and on social media @michelleplucinsky. 

Hope you enjoy my conversation with Michelle. 

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/

Jeffrey Post has a little swagger. He a mix of Johnny Depp's Capt. Jack Black and the debonnaire Carry Grant. I suspect it comes from the natural actor in him. Though he's not boastful, Jeffrey has some reason for confidence. 

During the course of our conversation we trace Jeffrey's careers in real estate, acting and in the auto industry. Through all of his professional life, Jeffrey has maintained a kind of presence you might expect from someone familiar with the stage. I call it "theatricality." He has an awareness of his audience. 

Jeffrey's love of the stage began early: As a youngster, he and his siblings were regulars at performances at historic Detroit landmarks like the Fisher Theatre and to the Stratford Festival to see famous actors Angela Lansbury, Jessica Tandy, Chita Rivera, and Carol Channing. 

Jeffrey majored in theatre and communications in college, where he did an internship for a local television news station. It was there that he discovered that he loved being in front of the camera AND knowing what goes on behind the scenes. After college, he signed with a talent agency in Los Angeles  and pursued acting work in television and film.  Highlights include feature films, including a role with Dennis Quaid and Christopher Plummer, where is played Quaid's stunt double in Dreamscape. Check out the movie at the 48:31 mark for the scene. He did whatever he could to be a working actor; plays,  daytime television series, and even music video work with Weird Al Yankovic. Remember "Eat it"?

After LA, Jeffrey decided he needed more formal training. He got into training at both the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. After London he wound up in Chicago where he acted in local theatre and found commercial work. 

Jeffrey moved into real estate when his father became ill and in addition to caring for his ailing father, he learned real estate to help keep the family's real estate business afloat. It was a good move because during his more than 20-year real estate career, Jeffrey has consistently ranked among the top producing agents nationwide. He has experience at all levels but if you meet him, you'd swear he could be the guy showing luxury properties to Kim Kardashian-types on the TV series Million Dollar Listing. 

Through all, Jeffrey has developed a very clear sense of the role our core values play in our lives. These values were reinforced by a significant health episode Jeffrey faced (it could have been curtains for him). Now more than a year out, he is celebrating great health. 

Today Jeffrey enjoys a busy life as a successful Realtor®  as part of a unique consortium known as StudioFour8, with colleagues Sara Maddock and Todd Waller. 

And, if you happen to be in Ann Arbor in February, Jeffrey is playing Robertson, the Banks' family's butler in the Burns Park Players' upcoming production of Mary Poppins. His daughter, Olivia, is also an actor and has a role in the musical.

Also mentioned: Chase Jarvis and his book, Creative Calling.

Actor, Realtor® and consummate gentleman, Jeffrey Post is a great conversation. I hope you enjoy!

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/

If there is one thing I know about Lori Brauer, it's her enormous heart. You can feel it the moment you meet. For the past 15 years Lori has been engaged in work with non-profits, raising funds and attention for less than fortunate people and worthy causes. 

The other thing about Lori is that she is self-effacing. Her sense of humility comes out during our conversation as you'll hear, always giving credit to others and drawing it away from her. We also talk about Lori's entrepreneurial ethic of figuring things out even when she doesn't know a thing and is not afraid to dive in to make things happen for others. One of the tools in her quiver is story-telling, and we talk about how this essential entrepreneurial skill comes to play. 

Currently committed to a non-profit startup, the OMPT Foundation, whose goal is to provide the basis for even the most disadvantaged kids "to have a success story." OMPT Foundation is currently working with schools in the Ferndale, MI school system with basics: food, hats, gloves, socks, underwear. Lori's bent as an entrepreneur has helped the Foundation grow from just one to four schools in less than a year. 

We spend the beginning of the episode talking about this current work helping these kids and her history in non-profits, which include stints with the Michigan Council of Women in Technology and The Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan. Lori expresses her passion that even the smallest contribution helps. 

Lori's entre into the non-profit world was a natural extension of her running. A tragic family event while training for the Detroit Free Press Marathon  led her to raising money for Multiple Sclerosis Society and running the marathon with the name of her sister-in-law written on the insoles of her shoes while calling on her spirit to help Lori through the long 26.2 miles. Ten years later, in prepping for a celebration for her 50th birthday, Lori decided she wanted to skydive. There was another family loss, this time her Dad was stricken with cancer. In true fashion, Lori decided again that "it can't just be without me." While mourning the loss of "my biggest fan", Lori raised money for both the American Cancer Society and the MS Foundation. And she did the jump: https://youtu.be/wxxwyJWaOkc. if you watch the video, you might even see Lori's husband Rick, whom I'm told wasn't as excited as Lori about jumping out of an airplane. 

Lori's passion for running comes back around when we turn to her work designing and making jewelry. As far as artists go, Lori is  very kinesthetic. That's why, she says she was attracted to designing and making jewelry. I met Lori on the marathon expo circuit when she was selling running and other sport-themed jewelry she made at her workshop at home. 

We then turn to her sense of what motivates creatives and how to overcome blocks and her sense of what creatives do. 

Running comes up as a theme again when she met her husband Rick through a local running store and their mutual passion for running. In fact, Rick and Lori started the US arm of Parkrun, which started in the UK as a free, weekly timed 5k run. Since the very first Parkrun in Livonia's Bicentennial Park in 2012, it has grown to 41 different Parkruns in the US. 

Website: https://christianrward.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianrward/