Greater Au Gres Community Podcast

The beginning of this Podcast celebrates the "Points of Pride" and collective awards and achievements earned by the Au Gres-Sims School District throughout the 2017-18 school year. The second half of the Podcast is a focused conversation discussing Frequently Asked Questions regarding the upcoming August 7th no change to the current tax rate Au Gres-Sims community bond proposal.

Huron Forward hosts Amy Nordin, the North Bay region's local coordinator of the Council for Educational Travel, USA (CETUSA). This podcast discussion highlights the positive benefits of both international student travel and ambassador host family opportunities. While celebrating multiculturalism and diversity, Au Gres-Sims continues to build a globally focused environment to engage higher-order, interdisciplinary experiences for students aligned within their established "Culture of Learning."

This podcast discussion highlights the Au Gres-Sims bond proposal. On Tuesday, August 7, residents living in the Au Gres-Sims School District will vote on a school bond proposal that will not raise the current tax rate. The bond proposal will affect every student, and highly focuses upon student safety and instructional quality upgrades.

With an announced shift of leadership responsibilities, Jeff and John discuss the relevancy of the Huron Forward Podcast as a continuing dialogue that provides an environmental scan for listeners on a local, regional, state-wide, and global stage. The Podcast's audience is connected with an eclectic guest list to provide opportunities that challenge existing perceptions or reveal new ideas for reflection or application. Huron Forward establishes a communication platform to promote, legitimize, and celebrate our locally successful programs, projects, and designs for sustainable, positive community achievement.

Au Gres-Sims High School Valedictorian, Lance Schwiderson, and Salutatorian, Brian Shmina, discuss their academic accomplishments and experiences as academic leaders at Au Gres-Sims School District, along with their future plans and goals.

Dr. Stephen Bigelow, (@stephencbigelow) Superintendent of Bay City Public Schools, joins the Huron Forward discussion in Podcast #72. With John on vacation, Jeff takes the opportunity to hijack the entire episode to talk about educational issues with Dr. Bigelow from the perspectives of two superintendents within the same regional Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District. As the guys converse about educational paradigms within the context of a continual quest to seek excellence in action, topics include; discerning the right leadership "fit" within organizational cultures, embracing social media, the concept of "co-opertition," equitable school funding, and disrupting the existing status quo perception of schools.

Michigan State Senator Jim Stamas, from Michigan's 36th State Senate District, makes his third appearance (Season 1, Podcast #20, and Season 2, Podcast #44) on the Huron Forward Podcast. Senator Stamas references a series of positive indicators of success and progress to express Michigan's new vitality. Discussion topics include a celebration of Michigan's Lake Huron "sunrise side" region, entrepreneurism, Governor Snyder's newly unveiled Marshall Plan, and equitable school funding. http://www.senatorjimstamas.com

Chris Woods (@dailystem), master teacher and host of the STEM Everyday Podcast on remarkablechatter.com, joins this podcast as a featured guest to discuss the relevancy of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in everyday life. Discussion ensues about the celebratory importance of the acronym as a central and purposeful theme of teaching reasoning, comprehension, and higher-order thinking skills attained through STEM conceptual frameworks and educational practices. Because STEM is literally everywhere, everyday, it must be infused into comprehensive daily instruction and understanding, rather than treated as stand alone "one-hit wonder" moments.

Jeff and John reflect on relevant leadership concepts shared by guests on previous podcast recordings. Dialogue identifies the purpose of the Huron Forward Podcast as a media platform that layers the celebratory story of the greater Au Gres region within a buffet of constituent communication choices, while increasing the capacity to build lasting relationships and partnerships. Linking the podcast concept as a growth model of change for new-age leaders, discussion focuses upon an article by Lou Glazer, titled, "Google finds STEM skills aren't the most important skills," which highlights the need for encompassing the 4Cs: Collaboration, Communication, Critical-thinking and Creativity, into rich blends of STEM and liberal arts experiential education opportunities.

Judith Wilson, a thought-leading certified BrandED trainer with Trish Rubin, Ltd. and education consultant at the Executive Leadership Institute Council of Supervisors and Administrators in New York City, is a featured guest on this podcast to discuss new-age leadership and the power of professional connectivity and communication on social media. Drawing on her diverse experiences as an educational leader, and influenced connections with Eric Sheninger and Trish Rubin, co-authors of the book, BrandED, Judith shares her thoughts about branding, story-telling, and growth-mindset leadership. Engaging dialogue introduces the idea of "Edupreneurs," a concept that challenges new-age leaders to be thoughtful, action-oriented, and creative cultural architects who are able to recognize opportunity, and willing to embrace change.

Jeff and John put an exclamation point on the end of a dynamic third season of Podcasts by highlighting recent successes, awards, and accomplishments throughout the greater Au Gres region, and unveiling their new name and format for next year's Season 4.

Special guests Dr. Adam Hartley, superintendent of Fenton Area Public Schools, and Rodney Hetherton, assistant superintendent of Swartz Creek Community Schools, join Jeff and John to discuss the concept of creating a culture of learning one day at a time. Representing two of the three acting co-moderators of a unique bi-weekly professional learning project on Twitter called #COLchat, Adam and Rodney share their thoughts about the transcendent impact that mindsets, collaboration, relationships, purpose, and relevancy can have on focused individuals and organizations seeking to become positive deviants.

Jeff and John discuss the diligent, forward-thinking work being done by the Au Gres Area Chamber of Commerce's new volunteer advisory communication sub-committee. Central to the conversation is the focus to build capacity within the Au Gres Area Chamber of Commerce to better ensure sustainability and vitality. Highlighted areas of progress already realized by the sub-committee include; the creation of new mission and vision statements, core value determinations, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (S.W.O.T.) analyses, prioritized goal assessments, brand marketing redevelopment, and a new website and social media campaign.

Abigail Ertel, the Community Program Lead for Huron Pines, joins Jeff and John to discuss the role Huron Pines plays in promoting sustainable environmental stewardship initiatives while promoting collaborative regionalism throughout Northeast Michigan. A follow-up discussion from the Conservation Fund's Balancing Nature and Commerce in Rural Communities and Landscapes Conference also centers on building capacity and identifying commonalities within communities who make up a diverse "North Bay Region" to effectively amplify a promotional voice and advocacy for regional prosperity.

Dr. Kaleb Patrick, faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership at Central Michigan University, visits the Au Gres-Sims School District campus for a discussion centered on successful practices for K-12 student preparation and transitional readiness to higher education environments. While focusing on the need for students to be self-directed learners who are grounded "academically, emotionally, and situationally," Au Gres-Sims is featured as a "Destination District" that provides quality academic programming, robust extended learning opportunities, and experiential digital proficiency for long-term learner success at colleges or universities. The greater Au Gres area is vibrantly poised to support and attract a professional workforce of life-long learners throughout the North Bay Region.

Jamie Kraatz, the new Instructional Services Director for Au Gres-Sims School District, is featured in this podcast. Discussion focuses on the role and duties of an Instructional Services Director within a public school setting, transitioning to Au Gres, goals and vision for a destination school district, and the continuing positive dialogue of "Why not Au Gres."

Lisa Barna, the Business Solutions Professional from Michigan Works! Association Region 7B and Director of the Arenac County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), joins the "J and J in Au Gres" Podcast as a guest to discuss the flourishing business connections being created throughout the greater Au Gres area, Arenac County, and beyond. This Podcast focuses on the facilitated resources available in the community for economic advancement and human capital growth through workforce development of talent recruitment along with employee training and hiring supports.

Michael Kelly, Director of the Great Lakes Office of the Conservation Fund's Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) joins Jeff and John, via Google Hangouts, to share reflections about the Conservation Fund's annual "Balancing Nature and Commerce in Rural Communities and Landscapes" national conference which was hosted at the Conservation Fund's training facility in Shepherdstown, West Virginia from January 31 - February 2, 2017. The trio discuss the shared intentions behind creating an identity and voice for the North Bay Region of the Saginaw Bay, while enhancing local cities to enrich the greater Au Gres area.

Allison Wiltse, owner of Ali's UpNorth restaurant and recently elected president of the Au Gres Area Chamber of Commerce, joins Jeff and John to discuss area celebrations and a long-term, sustainable vision of success for the greater Au Gres area.

This Podcast's topic primarily focuses on the recent invitation extended from regional partner Huron Pines for both Jeff and John to join a representative leadership team at the national Conservation Fund conference highlighting rural community-building. The guys candidly express gratitude about their inclusion on the team and forecast thoughts about the positive potential benefits to be realized by the greater Au Gres area because of the designed collaborative efforts exhibited by shared stakeholders.