Episode 47: Talking Education With Ron Walker

February 25, 2015

Ron has been an educator for over39 years. He has been a teacher, administrator, and consultant. He is the president of Walker Educational Consulting and is also the director/operator of the SAGE Academy in Gainesville, GA (A school that targets the needs of at risk children).

I’ll never forget the first time I met Ron…I was the new principal of a high poverty, high risk high school. He had been hired as an educational consultant. He told the faculty what they needed to hear not what they wanted to hear. He is always like that, but not just with teachers and administrators. With the political arena he pulls no punches, as well.

He has a heart for working with the most challenging kids and schools. He is a master of connecting the dots and helping teachers be successful. He pushes all to do their best and to do what is right.

Listen to him talk about what he sees as the real power of change that educators can make.

He is a wealth of information and he will make you think about why you do what you do.

His small private school, The SAGE Academy, is funded completely through his ventures.

Contact Ron on Facebook at SAGE-Academy

or

contact him through his email address

ronwalker62@aol.com

Enjoy!

Length: 48:31

Episode 40: Forestry with Mike Harrell

December 10, 2014

Forestry is an age old profession that should be attractive to people who have a knack for business (managing resources, purchasing, marketing, selling, accounting, and running a money making operation) and like to be surrounded by nature.

You may get dirty, be surrounded by some amazing machinery and even have a few run-ins with the wildlife that calls the trees and the brush their home.

Mike is the VP of Stuckey Timberland. His world is the forest. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Forestry program. Forestry is a life career that is in his family lineage.

You will hear Mike reflect on his career and his desire to be in the outdoors. He talks about the business and the misconceptions that those looking in often have about the business of growing trees for wood products.

I think that you will find this interview interesting as well as it might make you a little envious about Mike’s ability to be outside many of his work days.

If you know a young person who is thinking about future careers, ask them to take a look into forestry. It has a definite place in our future world, trained foresters are needed, and the profession offers opportunities to be engaged outside of a typical corporate office!

Here are some links that can provide you further information:

Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Stuckey Timberland

Logger Education

University of Georgia: Forestry

ABAC Forestry (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College-Forestry)

Georgia Forests

Georgia Forestry Association

Enjoy!

Length: 50:21

Episode 39: Financial Wisdom with Danny Kofke

November 24, 2014

Danny Kofke is a self-made millionaire. He started out as a kindergarten teacher, became a special education teacher and is married to a 2^nd grade teacher. He and his wife took international teaching positions originally and actually taught in Poland, for a while.

He now teaches teachers how to manage money.

He is an author of three books: How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary, A Simple Book of Financial Wisdom: Teach Yourself (and your kids) How to Live Wealthy with Little Money, and A Bright Financial Future: Teaching Kids about Money Pre-K through College for Lifelong Success! (Click here to go to his page on Amazon.com)

He has a 10 year old daughter who also is a published author!

She wrote…The Financial Angel: What all Kids Should Know About Money (ages 4-11)

This is a podcast for everyone…especially those with kids!

Great advice!

Information that we all needed when we were kids…now you can share with your children and with the kids of others.

I hope you will share this interview with your children, grandchildren, neighbors, and colleagues!

Catch up with Danny at http://dannykofke.blogspot.com/

Also, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SimpleFinancialWisdom

Contact Danny at kofketd@windstream.net

Enjoy!

Length: 40:04

Episode 37: Experience Education

November 6, 2014

Taking the classroom to another level is what experience education is all about. In this age of standardization and efficiency what has suffered most is the field trip. In the minds of many, these are waste of time...no way!

Most travels associated with studies create the desire within kids to know more! Talk about ramping up learning! There is nothing better than exploring, touching the past, smelling the wilderness, and getting just a little bit muddy. As a principal and former Boy Scout Scout Master, I experienced some exciting adventures...and was able to find the right teachers who took Scout trips and made them part of experiential learning!

Too often these types of trips suffer from financial cutbacks and political garbage...Kids need to have adventures and you can make them happen!

You make kids want to learn more science, history and other academics if you just take the time and resources to make these trips part of your school culture!

Check out these links to know more!

Raccoon Mountain

Swim with Manatees

Jekyll Island Adventures

USS Yorktown

Don't give in...make these trips a part of the kids educational pursuit and watch the interest in learning skyrocket!!!!

Enjoy!

Length: 34:20

Episode 36: Growing Up in Poverty and Lessons Learned with Dr. Hayward Cordy

October 14, 2014

Dr. Hayward Cordy is the Executive Director of the Oconee RESA.

Hayward grew up in Wrightsville, Ga-Johnson County…the son of sharecroppers. As you listen to Hayward talk, think about the ultimate lessons that his family taught him. He could have complained and wanted someone to save him. He could have bemoaned his station in life. Instead, he focused on succeeding. He didn't let others derail his focus, he stayed the course and earned college degrees and eventually became the superintendent of the same school system where he had once attended class.

Listen for Hayward to explain … Damaged Goods, Choices and Consequences, The Greatest Lesson Taught to him by His Family, and An Improbable Dream Became Reality.

There are many lessons to be gleaned from Hayward’s memories.

I hope that you will come back and listen, again and again and share with others.

In a world where it is easy to be negative about all of life experiences…Hayward’s recollections make you realize that hard work and determination do pay off!