It’s Not a Sprint, It’s Not a Marathon, It’s a Relay Race
It’s Not a Sprint, It’s Not a Marathon, It’s a Relay Race When it comes to building a positive and productive school, we need to make sure we approach the task from the beginning with the correct mindset. In this instance, I’ll use the analogy of running a race. If we...
A Simple Way to Build Relationships Across Campus
A Simple Way to Build Relationships Across Campus As the holidays roll around once again, we’re offered a brief time to rest and recover. And wow have you earned it! I am truly amazed at the effort I’ve seen across the country this year from all of you working in...
Congratulations to You! 🎉 🤗 ❤️
Congratulations to You! 🎉 🤗 ❤️ First and foremost, congratulations! It’s easy to forget how hard we’ve all had to push over the past three years. Honestly, they have been absolutely brutal. But from what I’ve seen over the past month, it looks like many of you have...
Is your school a sanctuary?
Is your school a sanctuary? As we return to school for our new year, there’s an idea that I’d like to stress which I heard from my friend and colleague Dr. Stephanie Eberts. I was interviewing her for my upcoming book, which focuses on resolving school conflict, and...
A Message to My Educator Friends… Hold On!
All of the good that you have done this year still exists. This year has probably been crazy for many of you, and now as it comes to a close, the country has been hit with yet another school catastrophe. There is no combination of words that could possibly articulate...
Two Simple Ideas That Will Help Support Teachers
Two Simple Ideas That Will Help Support Teachers With the school year finish line in sight, teacher appreciation efforts are in full swing. I just donated some money to our room parents to help purchase gifts for our kids' teachers. I am sure you are doing the same....
Use This Activity to Create Solidarity in Your School
Create Solidarity in Your School Through a Common Goal For this blog, you will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Got it? Great. Let’s get started. First, imagine the perfect school. Take a moment to really think about it. Walk the halls, observe the people,...
Building School Culture Through Doing Less
Building School Culture Through Doing Less Thanks to TEEN TRUTH’s assembly programs, I’ve had the opportunity to personally visit 1,200+ schools. I’ve made a lot of friends, and had a lot of fun along the way. One thing I’ve noticed is that some schools just feel...
Rebuilding School Culture? We’re Going to Make It!
Rebuilding School Culture? We’re Going to Make It! Most of the time this blog contains a handy list of actions, or a tip on how to nudge school culture toward a more positive place. Most of the time, I’ll bet you try to do it. Even if you don’t always try every little...
The Ultimate Guide to School Conflict Resolution
The Ultimate Guide to School Conflict Resolution As I travel the country, I continue to hear how COVID has affected our students, staff, and parents.They are hurting, we are hurting, and our schools are hurting. What is the old saying? “Hurt people, hurt people.”...
TEEN TRUTH: Film Festival – Open for Submissions
TEEN TRUTH: Film Festival - Open for Submissions If you know me, you know that I love movies! They are a huge part of my story and the reason TEEN TRUTH has been able to grow into the school culture movement that it is today. When we started TEEN TRUTH we simply...
New start for 2022? Let’s do it again, and again, and again!
Starting Over is Easy! I love to bring in the new year. It’s a time to reflect on the past and chart the future. As we adjust to writing 2022 instead of 2021 on our time-stamped documents, I want to point out a key value that we can take from the tradition of bringing...
Time to Take Care of Yourself ❤️
Time to Take Care of Yourself As the holiday season approaches, it has become a tradition to give my most important advice to all of you folks working in education: take time to take care of yourself. All of you have experienced a seemingly endless list of challenges...
No Good Deed is Too Small When Building School Culture
No Good Deed is Too Small When Building School Culture November has arrived, and the momentum of the school year has all of us sailing along once again. Due dates are marching toward us, and the often uphill battle of working in education can put even the most...
Free SEL Films to Use in Class or at School
Free SEL Films to Use in Class or at School Every year we sponsor the TEEN TRUTH: FILM FESTIVAL. This is our chance to feature student voice and the power of filmmaking! We receive student films from all over the world and select the very best ones for you to use on...
TEEN TRUTH: FILM FEST – 2021 Winners!
BLOOM"Teen Truth" Award WinnerRAT LOVER"Open Competition" Award WinnerBENEATH THE SKIN"My Truth" Award WinnerCOMPLIMENTING COWBOYS"Founders" Award Winner
Are you truly listening to your students?
School Culture: The Value of Listening to Your Students As we cautiously step forward from summer into fall, we’re faced with a daunting task. Namely, we must find a way to rebuild our school culture. Prior to Covid, I traveled around the country helping hundreds of...
New Vaping Film from TEEN TRUTH
New Vaping Film from TEEN TRUTH for Schools & Teens Principals, counselors, and students have often asked me to produce a TEEN TRUTH film on vaping. As someone who works in schools, I know that this is a huge issue for our students as well as the adults who care...
3 Simple Ideas That Can Build School Culture!
3 Simple Strategies That Can Build School Culture! Jared Scott, Caleb Campbell, and I have been on the road helping schools kick off their school year and the #1 strategy that we love to use to build school culture and empower student voice is our leadership summit...
Childhood Anxiety: How To Help Teens Cope
As an LMFT school clients, parents, and teens are always asking me about ways to help teens come with childhood anxiety. Here is the deal... The teen years can be a difficult time for even the most well-adjusted child, and when school, dating, and pressure to get...