CharacterStrong Co-Founder John Norlin shares some thoughts about the current conversations on toxic positivity, he digs into 3 parts of neutral thinking, and reminds us that we all can be mindful of the negative things that we say.

Mackenzie is a 3rd year kindergarten teacher who has a passion for early childhood education. She has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education. Teaching has always felt natural and her love for the classroom stems from her big family of teachers. When Mackenzie is not teaching, she enjoys reading and spending time with family in Lake Stevens, Washington.

Erin Jones has been involved in and around schools for the past 26 years. She has taught in a variety of environments, from predominantly Black to predominantly White to some of the most diverse communities in the nation. Erin received an award as the Most Innovative Foreign Language Teacher in 2007, in 2008 was the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year. She also received recognition at the White House in March of 2013 as a "Champion of Change” and was Washington State PTA’s “Outstanding Educator” in 2015. After serving as a classroom teacher and instructional coach, Erin worked as an executive for two State Superintendents. Erin ran as a candidate for State Superintendent and was the first Black woman to run for any state office in Washington state, a race she lost by a mere 1%. She and her husband of 25 years have a daughter who recently graduated from Central Washington University, a son who is a senior at Harvey Mudd College and one who coaches high school football with husband, James, who is a high school teacher in North Thurston School District.

Kelisa Wing has been in education for 14 years. Her journey into the teaching profession began after she was honorably discharged from the United States Army. She served as a Youth Consultant for the Self-Expression Teen Theater (SETT) under the United Way in Tolekdo, Ohio. After moving to Germany with her family, she began substitute teaching, then transitioned to a Special Education paraprofessional, was a school secretary, and eventually, an Administrative Officer. She then taught 8th-grade Language Arts and Reading to military-connected students at Faith Middle School in Fort Benning, Georgia, has been an Elementary School Assistant Principal in West Point, New York, and is now a Professional Development Specialist in Virginia. Kelisa honorably served in the U.S. Army for six years and attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. She is the author of 'Conversations' (2006), 'Weeds & Seeds: How To Stay Positive in the Midst of Life’s Storms' (2017), 'Promises and Possibilities: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline' (2018), 'If I Could: Lessons for Navigating an Unjust World', and a contributing author of 'Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher' (ASCD, 2019). She is a 2017 State Teacher of the Year, a 2016 Association of Supervision, Curriculum, and Development (ASCD) Emerging Leader, and the 2017 University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Edward Parnell Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. She is the only educator on the Education Civil Rights Alliance (ECRA) Steering Committee, and a member of the Leading Educator Ambassadors for Equity (LEAE) with the ECRA. As a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY), she has led efforts for mentoring teacher leaders through a partnership with 100Kin10, and she is also a member of ASCD. She is also on the Advisory Board for the Learner Variability Project (LVP) & Digital Promise, ASCD’s Global Advisory Council, and the ASCD College Football Playoff Foundation (CFP) Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline Working Group. She speaks both nationally and internationally about discipline reform, equity, student engagement, and many other topics Kelisa holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UMUC, a Master of Arts in Secondary Education, and an Educational Specialist degree with a concentration in Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. Kelisa credits her faith in God, and His grace, favor, and mercy as the key to her success. Kelisa lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and children.

Dr. Bikowsky is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Therapist and an Educational Staff Associate Certified School Counselor with a Ph.D. in Educational Counseling/Psychology. Bella has diverse experience in the education and mental health fields spanning 20 years. Over her career, Bella has gained clinical experience working in long-term residential treatment centers as well as at Seattle Children's Hospital in their inpatient psychiatric unit. Additionally, Bella has been a school counselor in the Seattle Public Schools as well as a Counselor and Behavior Specialist in the Edmonds School District. Bella is also a part of Brooks Powers Group, an Educational and Psychological Assessment team in the Seattle area as well as Sound Supports, an educational consulting company focused on building systems through a 3-tired model—Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Bella has extensive knowledge working with school teams and districts in helping to create systemic change using the Multi-Tiered Systems approach capitalizing on evidenced-based interventions such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Practices, Mental Health integration into the school systems, and Function-Based Assessments and interventions.

"Coach" Victor Hicks is a computer science instructor at The Kindezi School at Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, GA. Coach Hicks has over 20 years experience in education with the last 6 years devoted to his passion ,combining computer science and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to provide a culturally relevant 21st century learning experience for his scholars. Coach Hicks' work is featured on the Google Applied Digital Skills website and he was blessed with the opportunity to present on behalf of the Tynker Corporation at the ISTE convention in Chicago. He is a Computer Science Fundamentals facilitator with Code.org as well. In his spare time, Coach Hicks is the proud Coach of the Psi Phi Beta "HBCU Ready" Step Team! Follow Victor on Twitter here: @CoachHicks1914

As seen on Schoology Exchange, District Administration, EdSurge, iNACOL, and TechEdge magazine, Will Deyamport, III, Ed.D. is an entrepreneurial educator who specializes in assisting educators in going digital. Dr. Will, as he is better known as, is a podcaster, writer, documentary filmmaker, and District Instructional Technologist for Hattiesburg Public School District. Dr. Will is the creator and host of The Dr. Will Show where he interviews educators and entrepreneurs on leveling up. In March of 2019, EduMatch Publishing released Dr. Will's first documentary, The Edupreneur. The video explores the lives and careers of eight educators who have become educational consultants. You can find the documentary on Vimeo OnDemand as well as Amazon Prime.

Derek Francis is the Manager of Counseling Services for Minneapolis Public Schools. Antiracist school counseling and building multicultural counseling skills are his passion. In his 8 years as a school counselor some of his favorite moments include playing basketball, dressing up on Halloween as frozen, and having after school cooking club with students.

We talk with Houston about his brand new book Deep Kindness, which comes out Tuesday, September 29th! He shares about why we need a different way to talk about kindness, and how going deep takes proactive work. To learn more and to order visit: https://deepkindness.com

Emily Rose is a school Counselor at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls, Wisconsin. Greenwood Elementary is a State and National School of Character. This is Emily's 6th year as a school counselor and she has been at her current position for 5 years. You can follow Emily on Instagram at: @coffeefueledcounselor