The CharacterStrong Podcast

Today, host John Norlin shares a Leadership Toolbox episode built around one of the most important questions in education: if leadership is influence, how do you actually earn it? The answer, he argues, is through service and sacrifice, and he makes the case with a story about a high school math teacher who changed the trajectory of how he saw himself as a learner.

He also explains how the everyday acts of serving and sacrificing, being present in the hallway, remembering personal details about students, showing up outside of school hours, are not extras layered on top of leadership. They are how influence is built, one small act at a time.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Influence is rarely held by the person with the biggest title. It belongs to the person who has most consistently served and sacrificed for the people around them.
• The small, daily acts of presence and genuine interest are not soft add-ons to leadership. They are the mechanism through which trust and influence are earned.
• Students show up for the people who have shown up for them. Engagement, effort, and even a changed mindset follow from relationship, not the other way around.
• To lead is to serve. That is not a tagline. It is the practical path to influence in any school, classroom, or organization.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

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Today our guest is Alex Alvarado, co-founder and CEO of Daybreak Health, a school-based mental health company partnering with hundreds of K-12 districts to connect students with the care they need. Alex shares a three-part framework for how schools can build a team-based approach to turning a concern about a student into a real connection to care.

He also explains why the answer to serving struggling students is not caring more, it is building better systems, and why closing the loop between internal school staff and external providers is the piece most schools are still missing.

In this conversation, Alex offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Schools are full of adults who care deeply about students. What breaks down is not the caring. It is the handoff system between the people who identify a need and the people who can meet it.
• Before implementing a screener, schools need a plan for what happens after. A screener without a follow-up system creates overwhelm, not outcomes.
• Making a referral to an outside provider is not a failure. It is the system working. The goal is building a network of partners who function as an extension of the school, not a disconnected add-on.
• Good intentions don't work. Mechanisms do. A system that removes the guesswork from getting a student into the right level of support is what makes consistent care possible.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website
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About Alex Alvarado:

Alex Alvarado is the co-founder and CEO of Daybreak Health, a school-based mental health company that partners with 200+ K-12 districts to get students the care they need to change their lives. He started Daybreak after watching his own brother go years without mental health support as a teenager. The company is built on a simple idea: the right help at the right time can change the entire trajectory of a kid's life. Prior to Daybreak he spent his career in healthcare, with a conviction that everyone deserves access to high-quality, affordable care. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, son and two huskies.

Today our guest is Chris Moore, Director of Behavioral Health at Salem-Keizer Public Schools. Chris shares a poem he wrote and delivered as a commencement address to a cohort of leaders, a piece that started as a love letter to leadership and became a ritual reminder of why educators show up, stay in it, and choose to keep going even when the work is hard.

He also reflects on the importance of building space for reflection into the daily and long-term rhythms of leadership, and why giving ourselves and others permission to slow down, sit with what is hard, and surface what is true is not a luxury. It is part of the work itself.

In this conversation, Chris offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Staying with people twice as long as anyone ever expects, and loving them anyway, is the anchor that cuts through the noise when the work feels overwhelming.
• Sacred space for reflection, even just 90 seconds, is a daily leadership habit worth protecting. Without it, the heart-centered part of the work gets crowded out.
• The work of education is heavy and sacred at the same time. Holding both of those truths together is what sustains leaders for the long haul.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website
• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly

Today our guest is Dr. Stefan Bean, Orange County's 12th Superintendent of Schools and author of Lifted to Lead. Dr. Bean shares the LIFTED framework, a practical leadership model built around the idea that a leader's job is not to be first up the ladder but to hold it steady so others can climb.

He also explains why listening is the foundation everything else in the framework depends on, and how leaders at every level can build real systems for gathering input from the people most affected by the decisions being made.

In this conversation, Dr. Bean offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Every person in an organization has a strength worth cultivating. A leader's job is to find it, name it, and put people in a position to use it.
• Listening is a skill, not a given. Building purposeful structures for it, cadenced meetings, skilled facilitation, shared norms, and dyad conversations, is what makes it real rather than aspirational.
• Leadership is not about self-fulfillment. When leaders orient themselves toward lifting others, the entire organization rises with them.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website
• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly

About Dr. Stefan Bean

Dr. Stefan Bean serves as Orange County superintendent of schools, guiding regional efforts to ensure every learner has the knowledge, skills and opportunities to thrive. With nearly 30 years in education, he is known for building genuine connections and leading with heart.

As county superintendent, Dr. Bean leads the Orange County Department of Education, which provides direct instruction to the county's most vulnerable students and critical support to 28 local school districts and more than 40 charter schools serving hundreds of thousands of learners. Under his leadership, OCDE's work is anchored in the 5-3-1 Strategic Plan, emphasizing student success, service excellence and shared leadership.

Dr. Bean was unanimously appointed as Orange County's 12th Superintendent of Schools in June 2024 and was elected by Orange County voters in June 2026 to a full four-year term. Before joining OCDE, Dr. Bean served as superintendent for Aspire Public Schools in Los Angeles, where he oversaw 11 TK-12 campuses after advancing from principal to superintendent during nearly 12 years with the organization. He subsequently served as executive director of the Irvine International Academy.

Today our guest is Sonia Ruiz, Principal at Jane Addams Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois and 2026 National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Sonia shares how her school built a system for gathering student voice that goes beyond surveys, turning what students share into concrete action, staff training, and a more inclusive school community.

She also explains why collecting student voice only matters if it leads somewhere, and how her team uses what they hear to change systems, equip staff with practical tools, and ensure that every student, including those in multi-needs programs, has a named adult connection in the building.

In this conversation, Sonia offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Asking students what makes them feel like they belong, and whether they can name a person they connect with, gives schools far more useful information than a standard survey scale ever will.
• Gathering student voice without acting on it is a missed opportunity. The real work begins after you hear what students are carrying and what they wish adults knew.
• Belonging is not a feel-good add-on. It is the foundation that makes academic risk-taking, vulnerability, and growth possible in the first place.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website
• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly

About Sonia Ruiz: Sonia E. Ruiz is the Principal of Jane Addams Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois, where her leadership has guided the school to Exemplary Status for three years in a row. A proud Latina leader, Sonia has dedicated her career to ensuring that every student learns at high levels in safe, supportive, and inclusive school communities.

Her leadership journey spans more than two decades, beginning with her early years as a school social worker and progressing through roles as assistant principal, associate principal, and now principal. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for transforming school culture, strengthening teacher collective efficacy, and advancing equitable practices. In recognition of her impact, Sonia was honored as the 2021 Lake County IPA Assistant Principal of the Year, the 2025 Three Rivers Middle School Principal of the Year, the 2025 Illinois Middle School Principal of the Year, the 2025 Illinois NAESP National Distinguished Principal of the Year, the 2026 NASSP Illinois Middle Level Principal of the Year, and, most recently, the 2026 National Middle Level Principal of the Year.

Today, John Norlin and Houston Kraft mark the launch of Season 9 of the CharacterStrong Podcast by digging into a framework that was unpacked this summer around what it actually takes to cultivate the conditions where students and adults can thrive.

They also reflect on what nine seasons of conversations with educators have made clear, that the leaders who create lasting change share three consistent traits: they are passionate about the work, they build systems rather than chase goals, and they stay with it long after the initial energy fades.

In this conversation, John and Houston offer important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Before adding anything new, leaders have to ask what needs to be removed first. Invasive ideas and programs crowd out the things that are actually meant to thrive.
• Preparation precedes growth. Watering the soil before planting, building belonging and culture before instruction begins, changes what is possible once the work starts.
• The initiatives worth investing in are the ones that give back as much as they take. If something only costs the people doing it, it will not last.
• Passion, systems, and persistence are the through line across nine seasons of educators doing work that matters. Goals without systems and staying power rarely move the needle.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website
• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly

Today our guest is Torrin Johnson, Executive Director of MTSS at Merced Union High School District in California. Torrin shares how his district built a Tier 2 support system from the ground up, what they got wrong at first, and how pairing trained intervention coordinators with explicit skill-based curriculum helped bring their suspension rate to below 1% across 11,000 students.

He also explains why matching the right intervention to the right student need is the most important and most commonly skipped step in Tier 2 implementation, and why the difference between a skill gap and a motivation gap changes everything about how a school should respond.

In this conversation, Torrin offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• A strong Tier 2 system does not replace Tier 1. It runs alongside it, and students receiving Tier 2 supports still need a solid Tier 1 foundation underneath them.
• Applying the same intervention to every student regardless of need is not neutral. Matching the right intervention to the right gap is what makes Tier 2 actually work.
• Students who have never been explicitly taught self-regulation and interpersonal skills will tell you so. When schools teach those skills directly, students notice and respond.
• Principals are central to Tier 2 success. Investing in their understanding of the why behind the system is just as important as implementing the interventions themselves.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly
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• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

About Torrin Johnson: Torrin Johnson is an educational leader who serves as the Executive Director of MTSS for the Merced Union High School District. Driven by a strong commitment to educational equity and student advocacy, he oversees district-wide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), alternative education sites, and key academic interventions such as the Read 180 program. Prior to his current district role, he served as Principal of Atwater High School from 2015 to 2019, where he significantly reduced truancies and suspensions. He also served as Principal of Yosemite Continuation High School from 2010 to 2015. Johnson holds a Master's degree in English and Bachelor's degrees in English and Interdisciplinary Studies from National University, an Associate of Arts from Merced College, and clear California administrative and teaching credentials.

Today our guest is Angela Walle, a teacher at Geiger Montessori in Tacoma Public Schools and recipient of the Tacoma Public Schools Whole Child Champion Award. Angela shares how replacing classroom rules with explicitly taught character traits transformed her classroom from one of the most difficult she had ever managed to one where students described it as their safest place in school.

She also explains how spending 30 minutes a day on character trait instruction gave her more instructional time, not less, by shifting her role from behavior manager to guide, and how holding students accountable to shared values rather than rules builds the kind of community that students carry with them beyond the classroom.

In this conversation, Angela offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Replacing rules with explicitly taught character traits shifts the dynamic from compliance to community. Students learn to hold themselves accountable rather than waiting to be corrected.
• When educators share their own struggles openly with students, it lowers anxiety, builds trust, and creates the psychological safety students need to take risks and learn.
• The time invested in teaching character traits is not time taken away from instruction. It is the foundation that makes instruction possible in the first place.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly
• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

About Angela Walle:

Angela Walle is in her 19th year as an educator. She was awarded Tacoma Public School's Whole Child Champion award in the spring of 2026. Majority of her career has been spent working with students in grades k-3. In 2018 Angela stepped out of the classroom to work directly with teachers as a mentor and co-teacher. From Sept 2020 to June of 2023 Angela took on a special project for Tacoma Public Schools called TV Classroom. She worked closely with a team to produce videos that allowed families, students and teachers access to learning during the Covid Years. These videos included virtual field trips and instruction for SEL, Math, and Literacy. The 2026 school will be her 4th year at Geiger Montessori and she currently teaches a 1st-3rd grade multi-age class.

Today, host John Norlin shares a strategy called Staff Chips, a simple physical system that helps building administrators be more intentional about connecting with every member of their staff, not just the ones they naturally gravitate toward.

He also explains why systems matter more than goals when it comes to relational work. Having the intention to connect more with staff is not enough. A concrete, repeatable process is what actually makes it happen consistently over time.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Every leader has staff they naturally connect with and staff they do not. Staff Chips makes the intentional ones just as likely to happen as the natural ones.
• Systems outlast goals. A physical reminder that you carry through the day is more reliable than a general intention to connect more with your people.
• You do not have to connect with everyone every day. Working through the jar over time is enough to ensure every staff member receives intentional attention from their leader.
• This strategy works beyond administration. Teachers, family members, and friends can apply the same thinking to the relationships that matter most to them.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly
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• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

Today, host John Norlin shares a strategy called Deck of Destiny, a simple way to weave relationship-building into the daily fabric of the classroom without adding time to an already full schedule. Using a deck of cards connected to get-to-know questions, educators can create two-minute connection moments that are random, engaging, and easy to sustain.

He also explains why the real barrier to relational work is rarely time and more often priority, and how reframing "I didn't have time" as "that wasn't a priority for me" changes the way educators think about what gets woven into the school day.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Saying "I didn't have the time" and saying "that wasn't a priority for me" mean the same thing. Sitting with that distinction changes how we make decisions about what gets into the school day.
• Two minutes of intentional connection at the start, end, or transition of class is enough to build the relational foundation that makes everything else work better.
• Giving students a random, choice-based entry point into connection increases engagement and makes the routine feel fresh rather than formulaic.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Sign up for the CharacterStrong Weekly
• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website