StartEdUp Podcast

Morgan Spade is on a mission to get girls off their cell phone & "connect" with a grandma!

Her business idea that she started off with her grandma has made some pivots. And now she wants to create the experience to more girls that could use some grandma wisdom.

Nancy Conrad is the Founder and Chairman of the Conrad Foundation, based on the rich legacy of her late husband Pete Conrad, the Apollo I2 astronaut. Her mission is to promote collaborative, student-centered, real-world learning that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship and unleashes students' potential to create future-defining solutions and a sustainable society for generations to come.

Ankesh Madan is an accomplished Conrad Challenge alumnus, whose entrepreneurial focus was sparked by his participation in the Challenge. He competed in the challenge in 2010 while attending a high school that specializes in math and science in North Carolina. He and his team were finalists in the Renewable Energy category, and he is currently a member of the Conrad Alumni Leadership Council.

As an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, he and some fellow students co-founded Undercover Colors, a company that is addressing drug-facilitated sexual assault by developing products that detect date rape drugs. This invention sparked a flurry of media interest that spanned the globe.

In 2008, Nancy Conrad established the Conrad Challenge, a multi-phase innovation and entrepreneurship program, which includes mentorship and support from worldwide experts. This annual global competition challenges students to combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship to create commercially viable, technology-based solutions to local and global real-world challenges. By enabling young minds to connect education, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Foundation helps provide a bold platform for enriching the innovative workforce of the future.

Teams of students from around the world can enter the Conrad Challenge in one of several categories including the following:

Aerospace & Aviation

Cybertechnology & Security

Energy & Environment

Health & Nutrition

Smoke-Free World

Transforming Education through Technology

Through the challenge, students learn to apply the Conrad Design Method (CDM), a structured five phase collaboration framework for teachers and student teams to understand and accomplish innovative and entrepreneurial solutions. Finalists congregate for an Innovation Summit at the Kennedy Space Center in April.

As an educator and entrepreneur I'm a little tired of the political polarization. So, what do I love LinkedIn so much? And why do I recommend it to my students?

Take a listen:

Tiana Mudzimurema: Wants to help more middle school students to learn, understand leadership. She is also a member of the InnovateWithIN cohort, and this podcast is an update on her amazing journey. Tiana has won several awards for her leadership and academics, but now her focus is on giving back.

You can follow Tiana on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiana-mudzimurema-8b2486160/

Glenn Robbins is the Superintendent of Tabernacle Schools, an award winning Principal, and opinionated on where education needs to head.

In this episode Glenn speaks candidly about innovation, student branding, education platitudes, and "edu-celebrities."

If you liked this, there is plenty more of Glenn on Twitter at: @Glennr1809

The #1 thing I hear back from parents, teachers... my student doesn't know what they want to do. They don't know where their passions lie.

Ava Wettrick is the founder of Mentorz Media and the host of Mentorz Podcast. In this Friday spotlight of the InnovateWithIN cohort, we discuss the "why" of Mentorz, how she got here, and the power of LinkedIn. Lastly, Ava goes into why "playing the long game" of providing value is better than asking for people to do her favors.

You can find her podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/ava-wettrick

On LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ava-wettrick-973863153/

Kevin Simpson wants YOU to take an Edu-venture and consider teaching internationally! This episode is full of great insights and tips if you have ever wanted to set sail and teach over seas!

Kevin is a native from Flint, Michigan who has served 500+ schools and thousands of educators worldwide in 20 countries. KDSL Global is an education consulting company he launched in 2016 in the USA and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The majority of Simpson's work in education has centered on American curriculum schools. Since 2008, he has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner with investors on school start-up projects. Simpson is co-founder of the UAE Learning Network (one of the largest online network of educators in the UAE) and leads the GCC ASCD Connected Community. In addition, he has co-authored papers on American curriculum in the MENA region with a focus on Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, social studies, and the history of American Education in the UAE. He also owns KDSL USA which was set up in 2007. Simpson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University (USA). Currently, he is a member of the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE) and studying in their Institute for International School Leadership.

There is tired, and then there is first week of school exhaustion. However, to combat that, we have a suggestion.

Paradigm Esports by Don Wettrick