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Jackie Groat – Student Leadership Advisor, Teacher & Basketball Coach

Jackie Groat – Student Leadership Advisor, Teacher & Basketball Coach
About Jackie Groat

Jackie (@JackieGroat) is a Teacher, Coach, Sports Fan, and Outdoor Enthusiast who loves inspiring Leadership through action.  Jackie is also involved in the Alberta Association of Students’ Councils and Advisors as the Social Media Director. 

Connect with Jackie: Email | Instagram | Twitter

Listen Now

Listen to the episode now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favourite podcast platform.

Resources Mentioned

Henry Wise Wood High School

Calgary Board of Education

Alberta Association of Student Councils and Advisors (AASCA)

Alberta Student Leadership Summit (ASLS)

Canadian Student Leadership Association (CSLA)

Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC)

The Transcript

**Please note that all of our transcriptions come from rev.com and are 80% accurate. We’re grateful for the robots that make this possible and realize that it’s not a perfect process.

Sam Demma (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the High Performing Educator podcast. This is your host and youth speaker Sam Demma. I am super excited about today’s guest. We have on the special Jackie Groat. She’s a good friend of mine. I met her over a year ago now. Back when COVID initially started, I spoke to one of her classrooms and we became friends.


Sam Demma (00:58):
We stayed in touch. Now I have the pleasure of interviewing on the podcast. Jackie is a teacher, a coach, a sports fan. She loves basketball and she’s an outdoor enthusiast. More formally, he works at Henry Wisewood high school with the Calgary Board of Education. She’s a basketball coach when we’re not in C technology teacher and student leadership advisor. Fun fact. She is also the social media director of the Alberta association of student councils and advisors. And she is one of the reasons why myself and two other young powerhouses are a part of their student leadership conference this year. It is my honor and pleasure to interview Jackie today. We touch on so many awesome ideas and topics, and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. And I will see you on the other side. Jackie, thank you so much for coming on the High Performing Educator podcast. Huge pleasure to have you on the show. Why don’t you start by introducing yourself and sharing the reason behind why you got into education?


Jackie Groat (02:00):
Hi Sam, thanks for inviting me. This is a great opportunity to come join you. So yeah, my name’s Jackie Groat. I’m a teacher in Calgary, Alberta, and I have been teaching for, let me think here, I guess it’s been eight years now. I, I started out in Kelowna, BC, and then I was in a private system there for a couple years and had a lot of opportunities to explore different things. I didn’t have to teach any one subject and so I, I built quite the, quite the laundry list of experience and was invited to come to Calgary. And so when I came here, I started out as a math teacher and that’s kind of where I am by trade. My degree is in mathematics and biology. And from there, kind of some, some knowledge that kind of hit the ground saying, oh, you did robotics.


Jackie Groat (02:54):
Oh, you did this. Oh, you did that. And so I’ve kind of bounced around a little bit; whether it’s been mathematics, science, like I said, robotics and engineering to teaching architecture and 3D design and computer science. So all over the map. But my heart and soul lands with leadership. It really, really is my heart and soul. It’s it’s the thing that I’m the most passionate about and that kind of stems from even being a teenager. And I was on student council in high school. And at that time I was aware of the Canadian student leadership conferences. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to, to make it in my grade 12 year, but I, since then had an opportunity when I started my education career to get involved with the Canadian Student Leadership Conference that was held in Kelowna so that was my first experience. And yeah, and I just, those experiences have really shaped where I am and who I am and so my passion is about teaching others. Not just a content subject area, but just to be better humans; to be empowered and driven. That’s kind of where I’m at.


Sam Demma (04:06):
Where does the, where does the passion come from, did when you were growing up and when you were in student council, did you have a teacher that pushed you in this direction? Your, your passion for mathematics and science could have led you down so many different, why education? Like, did you just want to be a teacher? Did you, did you know it from a young age or like what led you down that path?


Jackie Groat (04:30):
I’m gonna say life led me down that path being resilient. So when I was starting grade 10, I was in a car accident that put me in a coma for a short, a period of time. Oh, wow. Coming into my grade tenure, it was a huge challenge. It was if it wasn’t for my teachers that I had in, in my grade 10 year I don’t know where I, you know, how I would’ve gone through my education, but yeah, I, I had to learn how to study. I had like a five minute memory for a short period of time. I was going to school half days alternating days for the first few months. And it was just teachers that really, really took a care and an interest that I, people I had made connections with in high school that, that checked in on me that made sure I had what I needed.


Jackie Groat (05:20):
And so of course through my grade 11 and 12 years there were friends of course, but you know, just that, that passion to like, keep, keep going. And of course some of that comes intrinsically, right? Yeah. but I was a basketball player and that was a hard thing for me because in that year I couldn’t play basketball. Hmm. And my coach was really, really great when I was alone out to physically get back on the court. He, he basically said to me, he’s like, look, you’ve lost a whole year of skills. He’s like, you’re gonna come. You’re gonna manage all my team. You’re gonna get back into the swing of things. He’s like, you’re not even gonna worry about tryouts. He’s like, you just, you have a spot on the team. And so from there getting to build those leadership skills there, having them mimicked working with coaches in grade 12 and getting connected, like I said, on, on student council and being able to help others kind of just started that journey.


Jackie Groat (06:16):
And ironically, when I went to university was not an intention to be an educator. Mm. I went in thinking I’m gonna go into engineering. That was my plan engineering. And clearly that’s not where I am. Just kind of didn’t play out in, in my cards for what I wanted, but I learned a lot. And you know, just thinking about the people that how were most impactful for me and the, the experiences that I had. And then of course, the people that were telling me, man, you’re really good at like sharing information. You’re really good at teaching this skill. You’d be great at this. And I started helping coach little kids, and again, same thing was said to me. So I started on the education path later in my life and here I am and loving it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.


Sam Demma (07:06):
Ah, that’s amazing. And when you think back to those teachers you had, when you were in grade 10 that really supported you and helped you along the way, like, what was it exactly that they did if you had to pinpoint some things that had a huge impact on you that you think other teachers or educators listening could learn from? Is there anything that kind of comes to mind when you think about that year?


Jackie Groat (07:31):
Probably just conversation, just the willingness and the openness to just say, Hey, how are you doing today? You know, where, you know, what is it that you need today? What is gonna make your day just a little bit brighter? And it didn’t necessarily have to be about that partic particular subject. But just, just genuinely seeing me for, for where I was at and wanting to connect and, and how, of course I’m sure that these are not teachers for me in high school, started in grade nine in Saskatchewan. So I did know these teachers a little bit beforehand. Wasn’t like I was a brand new face to the school. Yeah. And so that, that was good, right. Because I, you know, they knew me as a student in classes or on the basketball or on the track and, you know, on the track and field team. So knowing that I had what potential I did in interests, they met me, you know, where I was at. Nice. So conversation just opened the conversation.


Sam Demma (08:35):
Ah, I like that. It’s a good, it’s a good piece of feedback. And fast forward, you know, it’s a to right now as you’re a teacher, I’m sure those are things that you strive to do. How do you think during this crazy time that we can still make students feel, you know, heard and appreciated? Is it about conversation? Is it about maybe if it’s not face to face, like sending them an email, like how do you ensure that your kids still feel seen, heard and appreciated during a tough time? Like, like COVID,


Jackie Groat (09:03):
Yeah, that’s a big one right now, Sam, for sure. And we know that mental health is a challenge. I think it’s about recognizing that there are a lot of pressures and we’re used to do dealing with the academic pressure that, you know, I have so many assignments to get done. I have these due dates. I’m expected to meet certain grades and while the pressure is coming at them from their teacher, they’re also getting those pressures at home different home dynamics, different expectations. And then those students also have their own personal pressures that they put on themselves. And then we blanket all of this right now with the pandemic that we’re in and you know, that adds anxiety and, and all so much unknown. And so I think it’s about again, same thing checking in and having that conversation and you see that kid walking down the hall or they walk into your classroom and just genuinely saying, hi, you know, tell me, tell me a story.


Jackie Groat (10:01):
What, what happened in your day yesterday? What was your win yesterday? You know, what are you looking forward to in this week? And sometimes you might get that response back. That’s like, I have nothing to look forward to or, you know, it’s kind of, it’s kind of jury. And, and so then you open that conversation to, okay. Why do you feel that way, you know, is, is there something that we could pick out that maybe do you have a goal that you wanna work on? Or, you know, how, how can I help, help you turn that around knowing that, you know, we can’t take on our students all of their problems for those educators that are out out there. We, you know, that’s a, that’s a fine line. We have to be careful that we’re not taking that to too much to heart and home with us because it can, can happen. But what can you do when you’re in those walls together and how can you give them that motivating message to go? Okay, all we have to do is find one thing that you can look forward to one thing that you’re gonna work on, or it’s celebrating those, those wins and going, you know what, we’re, we’re just gonna take one day at a time.


Sam Demma (11:08):
Hmm. No, I love that. And at what point in your journey did you decide to get involved in the Canadian student leadership association with and with the student leadership association association?


Jackie Groat (11:21):
Yeah, you’re right on both of them. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little ambitious and people who know me will laugh. They feel like, oh, yeah. But when I, when I started on my journey into the education world, when I was at university and doing my practical I had an, an opportunity to connect with norm Bradley, who many people across Canada will recognize that name in leadership. And I got the opportunity to sit on the committee and, and help out where I could. And so I started out with the social media side of things when we were putting together that conference and going, okay, how are we gonna connect? And of course it, it, I just remember leadership being such a huge part of my life in school. And like I said, on the student council helping bring spirit week to our school motivating my graduating class to put together not just a, a regular yearbook, but to put, put together a video yearbook on a compact disc.


Sam Demma (12:27):
Oh my goodness. What is that?


Jackie Groat (12:28):
Yeah, that’s okay. I’m giving away my age. Am I no seriously though, but just those things. And I thought, you know, this is an opportunity where I can get involved and do those things for our future generations. And so I, I got on there with the social media side instead of compact discs and helped out there. And so that was that, that opportunity. And I’ve continued with social media in the high schools that I’m at or have been at both past and present. And I guess I’m gonna say how long ago, maybe a couple years ago it was, I was approached by a member of the Alberta student leadership association or council said, yeah, Hey, you know, we need to have a director for our social media side for our province. And I heard you’d be great at it. And so I said, sure, pick me, pick me and hopped on board there and, and I’m enjoying it. So we’re getting that up and running and it’s, it’s going okay. It’s going. Alright.


Sam Demma (13:31):
That’s awesome. If you were forced to convince another teacher, why leadership is so important, what would you tell them like for maybe there’s someone listening, who knows that leadership is great and impactful, but hasn’t fully bought into the idea that it’s very important for students growth and their learning. Like, what would you say to convince them?


Jackie Groat (13:52):
Oh, wow. You know, the irony of this conversation is I, I actually just had a conversation with a dear friend and colleague on the weekend saying to me exactly that Hey, I’m considering, you know, taking on the leadership program at my school, tell me more. And of course, I’m, I like lit up and I was super excited because I’m like, yes, more people in leadership, more people to run this program. Yeah, it’s important because it’s what drives the culture at your school. It’s what makes your students want to be there. So you can have those students and maybe they’re not the strongest academically or maybe they’re your top straight a students, but they’re, they’re those kids that you wanna, you, you wanna grab and pull into the school and say, Hey, you know, we can make this, this place, our own, we can make this place somewhere where we almost don’t wanna go home from, because we love our school that much. And so leadership is wanting that they’re the home of the warriors or they’re the home of the Trojans or whatever, whatever their, their home motto is. Awesome. And so to be a part of that is huge.


Sam Demma (15:05):
Sorry. I’m so sorry. I think my wifi cut out right after you said the leadership is, is,


Jackie Groat (15:11):
Oh,


Sam Demma (15:11):
It’s okay. I’m gonna edit this part. But if you wanna, just about today, continue.


Jackie Groat (15:16):
Yeah. Oh, just being a part of leadership is huge. Like just that connection and helping, helping those students to learn those skills where they can motivate others and take those skills off into you life in, whether it be their, their job their family life, their friendships and just, yeah. Growing as citizens. It’s awesome.


Sam Demma (15:43):
I love that. That’s so good. And when you think about the years that you’ve been teaching teaching, I’m sure there’s been student transfer, whether you’ve seen it first, like firsthand firsthand, or you’ve seen it 20 years later, maybe you haven’t yet, but students maybe come back and share notes and tell their teachers how big of an impact they’ve had in those stories of those stories, which ones of them stick out to you. And if there’s any personal ones you can change the name just to keep the kids private.


Jackie Groat (16:19):
Yeah. I had one student who she was really, really a strong leader and you know, being in leadership in school really empowered her to learn, to stretch outside. And she got involved. She was always involved in different clubs or different activities throughout her, throughout the city, but she you know, she decided that she could take on more. And so in those groups and, and committees, she kind of took on a lead, were role in a community practice and they, they put together a thing, a proposal on food securities, and she’s managed to go from, you know, just kind of being the participant to helping lead other students her age, maybe slightly older, maybe slightly younger, but develop a charter, a food at securities charter within the city. She worked together with a number of students to, to write a book promoting, you know, what it is to, to, to do with food security.


Jackie Groat (17:26):
And it was really cool because then I got a email and then invite to her book launch. So that was kind of a really warm, inviting experience. And it’s, you know, it’s not something that we get a lot of as educators, those, those thank yous. And sometimes we’ll get that student that comes back to us years later and says, Hey, you know, I, you know, I really learned a lot in your class and I really appreciate, you know, what you did for me. And when those happen, we have to cherish those moments. And I had another student this year reach out to me who graduated, Hmm. About three years ago, I guess it would be. And they’re pursuing their, they’re finally choosing to pursue their post-secondary education and kind of reached out and said, Hey, you know my time in your class meant a lot.


Jackie Groat (18:18):
I got a lot of experiences out of it. I actually took this particular student on a field trip and it was a small group. There’s only four students that were able to go on this field trip. And that student reached out and said, can you write a letter of reference for me, I’m applying for this scholarship. And it had to do with humanitarian work and what they had done. And so, yeah, it’s kind of an honor for, for when that happens, students reach out and they remember who you are and, you know, especially it’s two and three years later. Right.


Sam Demma (18:52):
So true. And if you could, could speak to first year educator, Jackie, and give your younger self advice, what would you, what would you tell yourself?


Jackie Groat (19:04):
Oh, what would I tell myself? There’s lots of time. You don’t have to do everything the first year. You don’t have to take on everything in the first year. Yeah. it comes one step at a time and the idea is sometimes you can be overflowing with ideas and you see so much of what you wanna do, and it feels daunting and overwhelming. But I’ve learned to make lists and write them down. And, and not, I guess I shouldn’t even say it as so much as to do lists, but goal lists. And like, as those ideas come or there’s things that you wanna work on it can feel overwhelming to try and tackle everything at once, but it’s, it’s, it’s gratifying to look back at that list that you’ve made and go, Hey, look at all the things I have done over this time. And just go, you know what? I’m gonna work on it. You know, one thing at a time


Sam Demma (20:01):
You made it


Jackie Groat (20:02):
I’ll get to the end.


Sam Demma (20:03):
No, it makes sense. You made it sound like there’s a distinction between a goal list and a to-do list. I’m curious to know in your mind, what is that? What is the difference?


Jackie Groat (20:14):
I think with the goal list, it’s more about, it’s something that’s, you know, going to, it takes some layers of work.


Sam Demma (20:21):
Got it


Jackie Groat (20:21):
Got, right. There’s some revisions that are gonna go in there. A to-do list is, I think of more as like, you know, your


Sam Demma (20:28):
Quick laundry. Oh


Jackie Groat (20:30):
Yeah. The laundry list, like, oh, got, do laundry tomorrow or yeah. Better get those Simon’s marked by tomorrow or whatever. Right. Whereas like, you know, that goal is things it’s like for example, right now I’m working on wanting to put together a social media calendar so that I have this calendar each year that I can take a look at and I know, okay, in October, these are the things that I wanna hit. This is, these are the major events. These are the, the things that we celebrate in October what happens in November. So putting those things together, because not only is that helpful from me, right. But it’s something that I can leave as a a legacy or a pass on and share to other educators, which is a huge thing in our world. We do a lot of sharing of resources don’t ever reinvent the wheel.


Sam Demma (21:21):
It’s already there. Just ask it’s


Jackie Groat (21:23):
Already there. Just make it better, just make it better and share.


Sam Demma (21:26):
Okay. And if someone does wanna share with you or take from you, what would be the best way for them to reach out?


Jackie Groat (21:32):
Best way would be through email, you can find me through the Calgary board of education at jrgroat@cbe.ab.ca. You can also find me through the Alberta association of Student Councils and Advisors or AASCA, and we’re on the web as well at www.aasca.org and you can find me there as well.


Sam Demma (21:59):
Awesome. Awesome. Jackie, thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate it. And I look forward to looking at all the different things you complete on your goal list.


Jackie Groat (22:08):
Thanks Sam. Oh, my goal is it’s. It’s constantly, constantly going right. You tick one off and you add two more. Yeah.


Sam Demma (22:15):
Sounds good. Sounds good. All right. See you, Jackie.


Jackie Groat (22:18):
Take care Sam.


Sam Demma (22:19):
And there you have it. Another amazing guest, an amazing interview on the High Performing Educator podcast. As always, if you enjoy these episodes, please consider leaving a rating and review so other educators like yourself can find this content and benefit from it. And here’s an exclusive opportunity that I mentioned at the start of the show. If you wanna meet the guest on today’s episode, if you wanna meet any of the guests that we have interviewed, consider going to www.highperformingeducator.com and signing up to join the exclusive network. You’ll have access to networking events throughout 2021 and other special opportunities. And I promise, I will not fill your inbox. Talk to you soon. I’ll see you on the next episode.

Join the Educator Network & Connect with Jackie Groat

The High Performing Educator Podcast was brought to life during the outbreak of COVID-19 to provide you with inspirational stories and practical advice from your colleagues in education.  By tuning in, you will hear the stories and ideas of the world’s brightest and most ambitious educators.  You can expect interviews with Principals, Teachers, Guidance Counsellors, National Student Association, Directors and anybody that works with youth. You can find and listen to all the episodes for free here.

February 19, 2022 by Student Leadership Student Success Teachers Teaching Tips 0

Ryan Keliher BA, BEd, MBA, – Teacher, Author, Coach and Teenage Motivator

Ryan Keliher BA, BEd, MBA, - Teacher, Author, Coach and Teenage Motivator
About Ryan Keliher

Ryan Keliher (@superstarcurric) BA, BEd, MBA, is a high school educator who has spent the past eleven years teaching, coaching and motivating teenagers. He is a former valedictorian, university basketball captain, and Academic All-Canadian who is passionate about student leadership and personal development.

Keliher resides in Prince Edward Island, Canada with his wife Siobhan and their baby boy, Rafael.

Connect with Ryan: Email | Instagram | Linkedin | Twitter

Listen Now

Listen to the episode now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favourite podcast platform.

Resources Mentioned

Charlottetown Rural High School

Ryan’s Personal Website

The Superstar Curriculum

The Hate you Give

The Transcript

**Please note that all of our transcriptions come from rev.com and are 80% accurate. We’re grateful for the robots that make this possible and realize that it’s not a perfect process.

Sam Demma (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the High Performing Educator podcast. This is your host and youth speaker Sam Demma. Today’s guest was actually someone who was introduced to me by a former guest, Melanie Hedley, a teacher from Bluefield High School introduced me over email to this gentleman named Ryan. And I’m so glad she did because the conversation we had was phenomenal and I can’t wait to share it with you.


Sam Demma (00:59):
Ryan Keliher has his BA his BEd , his MBA, and is a high school educator who has spent the past 11 years teaching coaching and motivating teenagers. He is a former valedictorian university basketball captain and an academic, all Canadian, who is passionate about student leadership and personal development. Ryan resides in Prince Edward Island, Canada with his wife Siobhan and their baby Raphael. He is also an author, an author of a book called the superstar curriculum. It’s a phenomenal book. He’s sold over 2000 copies and today we talk about so many different topics, things that come directly out of his book, but also his own philosophies on student leadership and how to navigate these difficult times. I hope you enjoy this conversation. I will see you on the other side. Ryan, thank you so much for coming on the High Performing Educator podcast. Huge pleasure to have you on the show this morning. Can you start by sharing a little bit about yourself and why you got into the work that you do in education today?


Ryan Keliher (02:01):
Sure. First of all, I just wanna thanks. Thank you a lot for having me on today. I’m really looking forward to being on the pod and just a little bit about me. So my name is Ryan Keliher and I am a high school teacher and I’m 14 years into my career and I teach out of Charlton Rural High School in tiny Prince Edward Island. Nice. Why I kind of got into education? I was really fortunate to have had some awesome teachers when I was going through school and they made me really like being in school and they had a really positive impact on me. And as I grew up, I kind of just felt like I’d like to that kind of do what they do. I really, I really admired them. I really thought what they did was meaningful and from a fairly early age, like in high school, kind of, it was my, it was my goal to become a high school teacher. So I really didn’t even pursue a ton of other options after I kind of got hooked in by these engaging teachers. I kind of said, yeah, you know what? I think I wanna do that too.


Sam Demma (03:07):
Ah, that’s awesome. What did they do? Like what did those teachers do for you that left such an impression on you and pushed you to pursue this path?


Ryan Keliher (03:17):
I think what, when I think of kind of the two or three teachers that stand out the most you know, they, they were really knowledgeable in their subjects, but more almost Mo I would say more importantly, they really made me and my fellow classmates feel valued and welcome in class. And when you added that combination in where students felt like they were valued in the classroom, plus they were gonna get material that, you know, from teachers who were knowledgeable in, in their content areas, it really drew me into the classroom. And, and it was a place that I liked to be at a place I liked. I liked to come every day to learn.


Sam Demma (04:00):
Wow. That makes sense. And, and I think right now that’s a challenge that all educators are, are faced with. It’s tough to do it virtually. Now, maybe in PEI, you guys might be still working in the classrooms, but what are some of the current two things, challenges and opportunities during this time, because I think both are present and I would love to some insight on, on both sides of the coin.


Ryan Keliher (04:22):
Yeah. Well, PEI has, we’ve been very fortunate to kind of, of to keep COVID 19 the spread of it at bay here on the island. So we’ve been quite fortunate. But that, that being said the last two weeks actually my high school has moved to online learning leading up to leading up to the career break. So, you know, it has presented its challenges, but like you said, with, with those challenges come opportunities. I think with education, the biggest challenge, whether it’s virtual learning or in person learning is developing that connection and maintaining that connection with students. And then kind of like what I alluded to the, you know, the teachers that I admired most growing up, they made that connection first and then that made learning a lot easier. It made engagement a lot easier. It made buy a lot easier.


Ryan Keliher (05:10):
So I think that gets more difficult when you, when you move to the remote learning model. So it’s about keeping that at the front of mind as an educator, but how can I still maintain these connections with my students when I’m not seeing them day to day? So for me, it was, you know, little checking emails here and there creating some engaging videos to kind of start class you know, whether they were funny or fun or, or just a little different. And then, and then, you know, using that as kind of the springboard to the content of each lesson, but showing that you care and showing that, that, that you value their time you know, whether it’s in person or online, I think is the most challenging, but it, it kind of, I important opportunity in education and when it comes to opportunity, I’m a big believer that, you know, I think it’s Napoleon hill who says, you know, your biggest opportunity is where you are right now.


Ryan Keliher (06:07):
So, you know, as, as educators or as students, right, it’s important that we think about what we can do in the moment to kind of have actions that create positive reactions for our students. So whether, like I said, it’s a welcome video that puts a smile on somebody’s face, or whether it’s a really well laid out plan that is going to be challenging for students, but you’ve thought about what supports you can put in place. And at the end of it, they’re looking back and saying, you know, that was really tough, but I felt I was able to do it with, with supports in place. I feel like I’ve grown from it, you know, it’s, it’s how, how can those actions create those positive reactions?


Sam Demma (06:49):
And right now, maybe not yet in PI, but sports have been canceled as well postponed, or, you know, they practiced virtually through zoom all in their basements. You, I know you growing up were a big athlete. I played soccer, you played basketball, saw the Steve Nash picture on your page. I loved it. You dedicated the first part of your book to building character, and I would assume that sports helped you build your charact to a huge degree. Mm-Hmm how did sports have an impact on you and how are we, how can we continue to build young people’s character through this time?


Ryan Keliher (07:27):
Okay. Yeah. So with, with sports, I mean, sports played a huge part in my life. And as far as character development, like it, it played a really important role. And with, with my book, you’re right, the first quarter of the book is dedicated towards character development and then it progresses into have in my development and some opportunities for leadership. But as far as character development goes, I, I often share kind of my leadership story with, with my students. So I was a kid I grew up and I was playing hockey and, you know, I was pretty good hockey player, but I definitely wasn’t the best player on the ice. And, but it seemed every year I would get the opportunity to be the captain or the assistant captain on my hockey team. And I, and it just kind of became the norm. And I never really understood why I just kind of was that per, who would become the captain or the assistant captain.


Ryan Keliher (08:21):
And then I went to junior high and I started to play basketball and the same thing would happen. I’d be thrown in the captain role of the team. And then I went to high school and the same thing would continue. And then in high school, I was named the valedictorian of my high school class. And again, I would always kind of wonder in the back of my mind, I’m like, why am I always thrown in this role? Because, you know, I don’t feel like I do anything exceptionally special as a, as a leader, but people always seem to put me in this role for some reason. And it, and it never really, even, it never really clicked until I went to university and I played university basketball. And so I was 17 leaving high school, going to my first year university. And by Christmas time I was named the captain of my university basketball team.


Ryan Keliher (09:14):
And we had players who were 25, 24, 23 years old on it. And I’m thinking, how, how come I am the captain of my team? And it finally, that’s kind of when the light bulb went off and all it was was that my personal bar, as far as character went over time, whether it was through instilling values fr from my parents was high. And I, I cared a lot about being a good teammate. I’m a big believer that, you know, the only thing better you can have than good teammates is being a good teammate. Hmm. Think better. You can have than good friends is being a good friend. I think that really helped me pursue a opportunities in life. It opened up a ton of doors and it allowed me to lead by example a lot. And like I said, there was nothing ever special about it, but I was always willing to do my best. I was always willing to set the bar high and is always willing to cheer and help others along and over time. I guess people notice. So, you know, when you’re thrown into these opportunities through sports, it there’s the skill development, but there’s the character development that occurs that is equally important. And as you grow older and you may divert away from sports that character develop, it becomes even more important than maybe the skill development, you know, ever, ever was.


Sam Demma (10:41):
And without sports present at certain times, especially right now, how can we ensure that we’re still helping young people build their character? Is it by giving them unique opportunities or pushing their boundaries? Yeah. I’m curious. What, what do you think?


Ryan Keliher (10:56):
Yeah, I, I think it’s about giving them opportunities for growth. Like for me, school, you know, is always about growth, more than grades. And sometimes students don’t see it that way. And, and, and sometimes educators don’t see it that way. Cuz we do have that responsibility to kind of assess curricular content. But when I think of my 14 years and the most important conversations I’ve ever had with students, very few of them were curricular content related. And the most important ones that stick out were always character related or, or opportunity related or, you know, goal related and the more teachers, you know, and, and, and educators think of their students in front of them. As, as people who are gonna go and do great things in a variety of fields I think you, you can be a little bit more per perceptive about developing that character education in the classroom while still, you know, making sure the content of your course is, is, is covered and, and covered to a high degree. You know, I’m not trying to discount the importance of curricular content, but it’s, it’s everyday success principles, you know, are not explicitly taught in class, but the opportunities develop to develop the, those principles are abundance. So teachers have to be aware of that and you know, are able to kind of pull those threads when the opportunities present themselves for students.


Sam Demma (12:20):
I love that. And I’m curious now, too, as well, you mentioned Napoleon hill, you have your own book, the superstar curriculum. What prompted you to write that? Was there a moment in education where you thought this is needed for, for young people? It was in a personal challenge. You set for yourself, where did that come from?


Ryan Keliher (12:38):
It, it happened when I was finishing my masters of business. My so when I finished my MBA, I was kind of in writing mode cause I just finished my thesis and I was doing a lot of journaling at the time. And I noticed a lot of my journaling had to do with these important convers that I’ve had with students over the pro the over the last decade. And a theme kind of started to emerge on how a lot of these conversations had to do with character. And they had to do with leaders, personal leadership, and they had to do with seizing opportunities and they had to do with developing strong habits of mind and thought, you know what? I’m a big non-fiction reader. And in my opinion, there, there weren’t a ton of non-fiction self-awareness books out there for, for young adults.


Ryan Keliher (13:27):
So I thought, well, maybe I’ll go and create one. And so I, so I did create the superstar curriculum and the idea behind superstar is that what, what I’ve come to learn over the years is that, you know, the biggest superstars in our lives, although, you know, we often think of the major celebrities or sports stars or movie stars. But when we think about the biggest superstars in our own lives, they’re the people who are much closer are to us, they’re our parents or our coaches or our teachers or our friends. And the, the reality is, is, is if, if that’s the case, then if you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you might be the superstar in somebody else’s life. Hmm. So it’s just about the profound power we have to, I packed others on a daily basis and it happens at, at the ground level. And it does expand out to, to, you know, the stars that we’re talking about from Hollywood to sports. They’re tremendous inspirations, but the reality is the, the day to day inspirations that we have are all around us, including all right, ourselves.


Sam Demma (14:36):
 Oh, love that. And where can people find that resource if they want to check it out? I think you offer an online version for free and then like a paperback version and a discount right now, where can they find all that information?


Ryan Keliher (14:47):
Yeah. If they wanna check out ryankeliher.com it has kind of all the information there, the book’s available on Amazon, but if, you know, if a school or, or an educator was looking to a bulk order, I would recommend contacting me cuz I can probably get you a better rate than what, what Amazon could provide. So yeah, so ryankeliher.com and you could check me out there or on Instagram @superstarcurriculum.


Sam Demma (15:13):
Cool. And if you could go back in time and speak to younger Ryan, when he just started teaching, what pieces of advice, knowing what you know now would you have given yourself?


Ryan Keliher (15:26):
I think for me, I, what I always try and keep in mind is, so my grandma, there was a teacher and I remember vividly that a conversation we had. So she was 87 at the time. And she said, you know, Ryan, now that you’re a teacher and your job is to teach. It’s really important that you also remember that your prime married job is to learn. Hmm. And that always stuck with me. And I think moving forward for, for anybody who’s going into education is to keep that kind of front of mind because COVID changed everything, new practices are going to change everything technology’s going to change everything. So the, the way kids interact is constantly changing. So educators have to be willing to learn and adapt year over year, whether they’re, you know, you’re just adding little tweaks to your practice or there’s something fundamental that has to, you know, involve you making a major shift in your practice, the importance of teachers having that willingness to learn is paramount.


Sam Demma (16:37):
I love that. And one bonus question, just for fun. What, what books are you reading right now? Is there anything that’s been interesting you or you’ve been cracking open?


Ryan Keliher (16:48):
Yeah, actually I just I’m into the hate you give right now. And I I’ve, I’ve just kind of started it, but it’s been tremendous thus far and I’m looking forward to reading it. I don’t read a ton of fiction. So it’s, it’s a good opportunity over the holidays to kind of break into that. And I’m, I’m more of a non-fiction reader for sure.


Sam Demma (17:08):
Awesome. Ryan, thank you so much for taking some time to come out on the show. I really appreciate it and, and have an amazing holiday season with family and friends. And I look forward to keep continuing to follow your journey.


Ryan Keliher (17:20):
Great. It was great talking to you. It was nice to meet you and I’ll be following your journey as well. Happy holidays.


Sam Demma (17:26):
And there you have it. Another amazing guest, an amazing interview on the high performing educator podcast. As always, if you enjoy these episodes, please consider leaving a rating and review so other educators like yourself can find this content and benefit from it. And here’s an exclusive opportunity that I mentioned at the start of the show. If you wanna meet the guest on today’s episode, if you wanna meet any of the guests that we have interviewed, consider going to www.highperformingeducator.com and signing up to join the exclusive network. You’ll have access to networking events throughout 2021 and other special opportunities. And I promise I will not fill your inbox. Talk to you soon. I’ll see you on the next episode.

Join the Educator Network & Connect with Ryan Keliher

The High Performing Educator Podcast was brought to life during the outbreak of COVID-19 to provide you with inspirational stories and practical advice from your colleagues in education.  By tuning in, you will hear the stories and ideas of the world’s brightest and most ambitious educators.  You can expect interviews with Principals, Teachers, Guidance Counsellors, National Student Association, Directors and anybody that works with youth. You can find and listen to all the episodes for free here.

January 3, 2022 by Athletic Director Experiential Learning Student Leadership Student Success Teachers Teaching Tips Uncategorized 0

Greg Firth – Coach and Department Head of the Career Path Regional Program

Greg Firth - Coach and Department Head of the Career Path Regional Program
About Greg Firth

Greg Firth(@coachfirth) is an experienced educator with a demonstrated history of working in special education and with at-risk youth. He is also the Coach and Department Head of the Career Path Regional Program.

Skilled in educational leadership, coaching, Secondary and Elementary education, assessment, and team building, he is a strong education professional with a Bachelor’s Degree focused in Elementary Education and Teaching from the University of Canberra.

Connect with Greg: Email | Linkedin | Twitter

Listen Now

Listen to the episode now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favourite podcast platform.

Resources Mentioned

Bachelors of Primary Education – Canberra University

St. Edmund Campion Secondary School

Brumbies Rugby Team

DGN-Kilters (Spirit Wear Company)

The Transcript

**Please note that all of our transcriptions come from rev.com and are 80% accurate. We’re grateful for the robots that make this possible and realize that it’s not a perfect process.

Sam Demma (00:00):
Do you want access to all the past guests on this show? Do you want to network with like-minded individuals and meet other high-performing educators from around the world? If so, go to www.highperformingeducator.com. Sign up to join the exclusive network and you’ll get access to live virtual networking events and other special opportunities that will come out throughout 2021. I promise you I will not fill your inbox. You might get one email a month. If that sounds interesting. Go to www.highperformingeducator.com. Welcome back to another episode of the high performing educator podcast. Huge pleasure to have today’s guest on the show. Funny enough, I actually met him on Twitter. Now. I don’t use social media very much. Twitter is the only platform that I’m really utilizing right now to stay in touch with people in education. And I came across Greg Firth’s page and I was intrigued instantly by the thumbnail picture that appears on his profile header in big bold letters.


Sam Demma (01:04):
It says, don’t let your dreams be dreams. And that immediately caught my attention. And as I explored his profile a little more, I realized that he is the department head of career path regional program at Ed campions school. And he helps students transition and find their passions on and off the court. So aside from his role in helping students find their passion, he’s also a coach and being someone who grew up as an athlete myself, and that someone who was very interested in helping students, you know, answer the questions, who am I, what are my opportunities and how am I going to accomplish them? You know, I thought that me and Greg would have a phenomenal conversation and my thought turned out to be correct because we have an amazing discussion on today’s episode, a little more about Greg Greg is an experienced educator with a demonstrated history of working in special education.


Sam Demma (01:59):
And with at-risk youth. He is skilled in educational leadership, coaching secondary and elementary education, assessment, and team building. He’s a strong education professional with a bachelor’s degree, focused in elementary education and teaching from the university of Canberra. All of that aside, Greg is an awesome human being. He is someone who thinks outside of the box. A little inside joke, he was wearing a shirt that says, think outside of the box during today’s interview. And it’s evident that he does that in his day to day work in his role. So without further ado, here’s the interview with my good friend, Greg. Greg, thank you so much for coming on the high-performing educator podcast. Huge pleasure to have you on the show. I think the thing that caught my eye from you was seeing your Twitter header that was talking all about dreams and as someone who was chasing my dreams since I was a young kid and who’s still chasing my dream, and seeing that you support other students chase theirs was really cool. And I’d love for you to introduce yourself, share a little bit about who you are with the educator listening and how you got into education and the work you’re doing today.


Greg Firth (03:10):
Awesome. Thanks again, Sam, for having me I’m really excited to be here. My name is Greg Firth. I’m a teacher in Brampton at St. Edmund Champion Secondary School in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic district school board. I’m currently the department head of a regional program that we call the career path program. The career path program is a grade 9-12 program for special education students who are looking into exploring the world of work. So we have such an amazing team around us who are supportive of not only teachers, but educational resource workers, child/youth workers, social workers, psychologists, and an amazing administrative team, and some amazing teachers again in our, in our greater building. So my journey to becoming a teacher was not as kind of clear. I went to Brock university and did sport management. I played rugby a Brock. My whole goal was to get into the sports field.


Greg Firth (04:11):
I had dreams of being an event planner or working for a professional team traveling. But in the background I was always working at summer camps and I was always either running a camp or working for an organization with kids. I did teacher’s college in Australia and I worked for what is equivalent to, I guess, the Toronto maple Leafs, which was the the, the camp or ACT Brumbies which is a professional rugby team there. And again, I was running rugby camps there and it just seemed, I got accepted to go to Kenesha, to do my master’s in sports sport management. But I took it. I had to take a little bit of break and I sat and I really thought about, okay, well, is this really what I want to do? Went back and got a job in Dufferin-Peel as an educational resource worker for a year.


Greg Firth (05:01):
And during that year I had some you know, I loved it. I just loved that. Helping kids, working with staff, working with parents, working in the greater community. All the other things that come with teaching and being in a school just just kinda excited me. So that’s how I ended up in Australia doing teacher’s college, came back, connected with a few past principals and vice-principals and was able to walk in. I got hired on labor day, Monday for a grade three job on Tuesday. And and that’s kinda, that was my entry into, into Dufferin-Peel and to, to teaching.


Sam Demma (05:41):
At what point, though, in your personal career journey, when you were still going through school, figuring this all out, did you make the decision it’s going to be education, I’m going to work in education, whether it’s a teacher, a principal, whatever it, you know, it turns out to be when did that decision happen and what spurred you to make that decision?


Greg Firth (05:59):
You know what, I don’t know if there was a specific time because I’m going to be honest. I came back from Australia after doing teacher’s college. I ended up coming back in June. So I had a summer, I needed to make some money and pay off some bills that I incurred in Australia. And I worked at a, at a law firm in Toronto in the mail room. So I was, you know, shirt tie getting on the go train from Mississauga, going downtown in Toronto. And I was like, well, maybe this is kind of the lifestyle I want. So the one thing that I, that I, that I’ve followed the one thing that I preach and teach to kids is that there is no clear path. Sometimes things change. Sometimes it’s a moment, but you have to kind of recognize those opportunities, go for it, see what lies ahead and, and take those opportunities as, as they’re brought to you.


Greg Firth (06:52):
And sometimes you find things behind the door that you never expected. And, and sometimes there’s a challenge and sometimes, you know, the grass isn’t always greener, but that will you know, you’ll grow from it. And it isn’t a 20 year journey. I do believe as a lifelong learner, whether it’s an occupation or whether it’s just personal growth. I do believe that that learning happens over an eternity. And so I don’t know if there was a clear part and, you know, I’m continuing to, to reflect and to see, and to challenge myself even as a, as an educator and how I can move forward professionally in this career.


Sam Demma (07:39):
I’m assuming there’s a reason why your Twitter handle is also coach Firth. Where does coaching and athletics come into the story? You know, you mentioned you were a rugby player growing up, did you end up coaching sports in schools? And what did that teach you about also being a better educator? Did you learn some lessons from being a coach or, or w you know, you have a diverse perspective being both a coach and an educator, and I’m curious to know how it’s impacted your teaching style and, and where sports kind of come into the picture for you.


Greg Firth (08:11):
So, yeah, you know what, sports has always played a huge role. I have four brothers if we weren’t, you know, battling playing hockey outside or playing baseball outside or, or competing, even playing Nintendo NHL 93 or whatever it was, sports was always has always been a part of me. My dad coached me growing up. I umpired baseball. That was kinda my first leadership opportunity was umpiring baseball as a 14 year old and having a courageous conversation with with a father that he was not allowed to use that inappropriate language around these kids. So I grew from that and, and being in those, those opportunities coaching was kind of like the next step by a good friend and former teacher. Paul Newfeld, you know, allowed me to come back as a, as a, as a university student and help out with the rugby team.


Greg Firth (09:10):
And we ended up taking that rugby team to to also, we ended up taking that rugby team to England and to, and it just created so many friendships and memories and opportunities, opportunities because of rugby. I was able to go to Australia and meet some people, have a conversation that about a sport, it was in, it was an initial draw to, to have a conversation with people. So coaching has always been and still is a huge part. I think we can teach the lessons. I think you know, the roles that I’m in, sometimes I’m not with the with students in a day-to-day basis in a classroom, but it gives me an opportunity to teach to, to learn from them to compete and to bring life lessons. I, I’m a, I’m a strong believer. You know, we talk about sports being great, but it has to be purposeful as a coach, a sport. I believe that a sport does not bring life lessons in itself. You know, anyone can go play baseball, anyone go play basketball. It’s, it’s, it’s the adults, it’s the organizers, it’s your teammates that bring those life lessons. And I do believe that it has to be purposeful. You as an adult and as a coach need to have values and you need to, you need to teach lessons and there’s, and sports is a great opportunity for those.


Sam Demma (10:39):
Did you have a coach growing up that had a huge impact on you and maybe one jumps to mind? And I’m just curious to know what you think that coach did. That’s strongest string with you, if you have, if you have one in mind.


Greg Firth (10:52):
Yeah. You know what? I I’ve been lucky. I’ve been some, had some amazing coaches, but the one I met just mentioned before Paul Neufeld from John Fraser secondary school he was a, a phys ed teacher. He started a rugby program when I was in grade nine, I had no one had any clue what rugby was like, no idea. So we went out there learn the game. He taught it to us. There was a cup of some other grapes, but he was kind of the one funny enough. He was a relatively young teacher at the time. And, you know, we kept in contact and I graduated and he brought me in to help coach with him with a couple other buddies who went on to the school. And to this day, I’m still friends with them. We did the ride to conquer cancer last year, and we rode bikes for 65 kilometers.


Greg Firth (11:35):
And he’s, you know, he’s always been a, and it’s funny because you see the impact that these, these coaches and the teachers have on students. And I got an amazing message from a student three days ago who just signed a scholarship for basketball. And and her note to me was, was immense a lot. And you know, to see that other side that, you know, in the moment, sometimes it’s pretty thankless. And you know, it’s not always easy, you know, having a player, you know, there’s not enough time for everyone to play. And right now I’m spending a lot of time coaching basketball. And and it’s, it’s not always easy, but those moments, you know, maybe it’s not an in the moment directly, but five years, 10 years, 15, 20 years down the road, you know, they remember that offs a trip to London where they remember that fun bus ride, where the coach got up and danced and made a fool of themselves. Those little moments sometimes, or the, I had a, had a good friend who plays professional lacrosse telling me that he does remember too many of his championships as a kid, but he does remember all the hotels and the, and the team parties. This is a professional athlete that told me that once. So I thought that was a, that was kind of trouble.


Sam Demma (12:51):
Oh, that’s awesome. I love that story. And it’s a personal one for me because I played sports growing up as well. And I could name the coaches that have also had a huge impact on my life. That’s so cool. I know these days, things have changed for you in your teaching role, and you’re now doing more of the career focused stuff, but you mentioned that note that the student sent you, you know, and it felt like a really touching moment. And sometimes educators don’t actually ever hear about the impact they’ve made, although it’s still as real as it ever would be. But you know, those moments where you get a note or someone reaches out, whether it’s five years later or 20 years later is like, it’s like icing on the cake, you know? I could bet it makes you feel like a million bucks.


Sam Demma (13:37):
And I’m curious to know if you have any stories of transformation, whether in your new role now, or in any of your previous roles that stick out to you. And if it’s a serious story, you could change a student’s name or just not use a name to share it. The reason I’m asking is because there could be an educator right now, listening, who is thinking about getting out of this vocation, this calling, because of what challenges they’re faced with this year and a transformative story, you might be what they need to inspire them to keep going. Danny stories come to mind that you can think of.


Greg Firth (14:10):
So, because of my experience teaching, I taught grade three, I’ve taught, I’ve taught nine to 12. I’ve had a, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to, to work with a wide variety of subjects, a wide variety of students from a wide variety of settings. There’s a couple situations that I can think of my head, but I think, you know, what, what has recently, what is re what I’ve really focused on is the role that I’m in, in, in the high school setting is I used to go and I still do go to a lot of meetings of, of transitioning from grade eight to grade nine. So you hear these stories you know, you, you know, students struggling and literacy students, struggling, math students, not motivated. And, you know, we, we try to plan appropriately for that student. It is amazing going back and talking to elementary teachers and sharing the success stories.


Greg Firth (15:16):
Whether it’s been the student has found a passion, whether the student has found a teacher, a construction teacher, or an auto teacher that they’ve, that they’ve linked to, and they’ve taken a great liking to, to the trades. And now they’re going to continue and continue on with that trade. Those are the things that, that stick with me is that it is a path. It is a, it’s a, it’s a journey. And you know, every day’s a new day and, you know, I’ve had a teacher once told me the best teachers are, you know, we’re, we’re all drama teachers. We all have to, you know, start fresh the next day. It’s another play. It’s another day. You know, you don’t carry grudges. Kids have bad days. Kids will say terrible things. And, you know, you have to know where that get to know who the student is, develop those relationships and understand where that struggle comes from and, and, and continue to move forward and continue to guide them and continue to be on that journey with them.


Greg Firth (16:18):
And I think that’s, that’s no kind of the, the takeaways from it. All. I had a parent, an aunt actually call me at the beginning of September, just to give me a head you know, just wanted to touch base, let you know what, what my son’s doing now, or sorry, my nephew. And I shared with everyone who taught this, this child, and it was it was amazing. Everyone had huge smiles on their faces and, and his journey was different than a someone else’s. And, but that’s success. It comes in a variety of ways and and fighting those little moments to make a difference is is key. And it’s not always easy. It’s not always easy.


Sam Demma (16:58):
It’s definitely not easy now as well. I find teaching virtually presents its own different, unique challenges. I’m curious to know in today’s learning environment, how do you make a student feel seen, heard, appreciated, valued? You know, do you have any ideas around that?


Greg Firth (17:18):
Yeah. You know what, so when we started in March with the, the online learning, I don’t have a classroom, so I can approach things a little bit differently. But I set that my role is to be there if a child needs to talk or it needs to be in the air, you know, I need to be there and listen. And it may be every single day for 10 minutes. In some cases it was, and that’s okay. I, I feel that it’s so important to be, to make a connection in the school and that’s no different than online, you know, I think it’s, it all starts. I’m not, I’m a huge relationship person. I think you get so much by building positive relationships and it’s that whole concept, right? Like a co like, just going back to the coaching, like, you know, you have to develop that relationship with those players, if you want to get the most out of them, because there are times when you’re going to have to challenge them.


Greg Firth (18:16):
There are times when you’re going to have to, you know, address the elephant in the room and whether that’s playing time or whether that’s look, I don’t know if you’re ready for that next level. If you don’t have that relationship, you can never have that conversation and move things forward. So who I am is it’s, I’m a relationship builder. I, I try my best and I try to be present and I try to address everyone’s needs and a need to have a student who just can’t figure out how to log into Google classroom for the 15th time. That’s okay. We got it, we’ll work through it. And that’s what I’m here for. You know, we got to understand the stress that they’re going through in their homes and, and this new learning environment. And some of them it’s very, very challenging and, you know, the mental health behind it is it’s huge. And also recognizing who the other professionals are that I can tap into who I can call up and say, child, youth worker, Hey, you know what, I think something’s off right here. Like, can you connect or finding a club, an online club that, that, or community organization that they could tap into is, is all extremely important.


Sam Demma (19:24):
I saw on your Twitter profile for bell let’s talk day, everyone was holding up white boards there in your, in your, in your virtual class. I’m curious to know what was going on in the school board there, what were all the students doing? So that,


Greg Firth (19:37):
That was our I believe that was our student council and our student council. Again, just, we’re trying to find ways to connect with the students. And that it’s so important. You know, we just talked about our highlights in our high school, right. You know, we were involved in teens, we were going to pep rallies. We were going maybe to, you know other social events in the school. We’ll all of those kinds of just got taken away. Great twelves are missing their grad tens and elevens might be, or it might be a semiformal at the school. Great aids never had their grad. So coming into a, to this school, it’s just tough. And I think we, and I think the teachers are doing amazing, amazing work. And I think we’re being creative. I think we’re trying new thinking outside the box. And we’re trying to find ways to get students connected with the school, because we know if a student is connected to the school, great things will happen. That sense of pride, that that is, you know, school becomes easier. It’s a better place to come to. The more comfortable the confidence is built up. So I think finding those little things of of getting our students involved and letting their peers know, Hey, you know, we’re all in this together. And and, and we’re here for you.


Sam Demma (20:52):
I love that. No, that’s awesome. And in the role you’re in now with the career work that you’re doing, what’s kind of motivated you to take on that role. Like I know you’re someone who believes in following your dreams. As I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, why is this role a crucial one for you personally?


Greg Firth (21:14):
So I used to be a department head at another school another school in the department of special ed there. And the posting came up, the lady before me retired and this posting came up and I just, I saw it as a great opportunity to not only work with students in one community, but a wider community. We have students coming anywhere from, we have a student in grand valley. We have students in Shelburne in the past. We’ve had students in Bolton. We’ve had students in kaledin all over Brampton. So students are getting bused into our school. And it’s just an amazing opportunity to work with a great staff and a great school with great administration to to take something work with it, create it. And my whole goal has been to try to provide opportunities or provide experiences or you know, we created a few little in-house businesses and we worked with amazing partners and we created our spirit where we brought in a company called DJ and killers who they came in and they worked with our students and they, they created spiritwear for the entire school.


Greg Firth (22:24):
So it was kind of like we had a program, but there was a bit of a blank canvas to move it forward to, to, and those are the things that really inspired me to work with a different different students. And again, if I’m preaching, get students and out of their comfort zone or players out of their comfort zone, you know, I have to live by those words too. And, and I was, I had a great school. I was at Cardinal LeShae and, and amazing staff and loved it, had some great friends friends to this day, but from my myself, I needed to grow and and take on a new challenge. And and yeah, it’s, it’s been an amazing five years.


Sam Demma (23:06):
And if you could go back to younger Gregg and speak to yourself when you’re just starting your journey in education, what advice would you give yourself?


Greg Firth (23:20):
So I think I would, I would you know, tell my, I think when I was younger and I think this happens with a lot of us, no matter what profession there’s, there’s doubt, right? There’s doubt we’re not as experienced and we’re not as, you know, seasoned, and we’re not just like a rookie jump jumping on a team. Right. There’s always going to be that doubt. And, and that’s okay. I think you have to question what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. But I would also encourage, like, continue to talk to those teachers who have been there, but not just, not just your teaching partner, talk to that teacher, make that connection, continue to network, find out what’s going on in other buildings, find out what’s going on in other school boards, you know, there’s so many amazing, and that’s why I’m a huge fan of Twitter.


Greg Firth (24:08):
Like I’m a big fan and it may not even be posting material. It may just be sitting there going. That’s a really cool idea. That’s a really great belief or, Hey, I don’t know if I agree with that. And, and, and that’s, I think there’s some positive in, in the other side of it too, where you see people’s opinions and you were like, okay, well, why, why are they, why is it that, and you got to start, you know, getting deeper into these conversations. And but I would say, yeah, continue to network. Don’t take, don’t throw anything to the side, take it in and then decipher all that information and continue to move forward.


Sam Demma (24:45):
That’s awesome. And if someone is listening to this thinking right now that they’re inspired and they would love to connect with you and have a conversation about anything we talked about, what would be the best way for them to reach out to you?


Greg Firth (24:57):
You know what, we can go to Twitter @coachfirth, F I R T H. You know, that’s how you and I connected and happy to communicate that way. Email is a great way too. It’s greg.firth@dpcdsb.org . Anything teacher related happy to, to create that that learning network and and share and learn from you as well.


Sam Demma (25:29):
Awesome. Cool, Greg, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate you coming on and chat about your whole journey and what you’re up to these days. It’s really inspiring and keep up the awesome work kids. Kids need it now more than ever.


Greg Firth (25:41):
And Sam, same to you, man. You know, you’re doing a great job and guts. I know you had, you had Jason, the that’s, how we got got connected, and he’s a, he’s an amazing teacher and a great guy. And so, you know, thank you for what you’re doing outside of the school system as well. Appreciate it.


Sam Demma (25:57):
And there you have it, another amazing guest and amazing interview on the high-performing educator podcast. As always, if you enjoy these episodes, please consider leaving a rating and review. So other educators like yourself can find this content and benefit from it. And here’s an exclusive opportunity that I mentioned at the start of the show. If you want to meet the guest on today’s episode, if you want to meet any of the guests that we have interviewed, consider going to www.highperformingeducator.com and signing up to join the exclusive network. You’ll have access to networking events throughout 2021 and other special opportunities and I promise I will not feel your inbox. Talk to you soon. I’ll see you on the next episode.

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The High Performing Educator Podcast was brought to life during the outbreak of COVID-19 to provide you with inspirational stories and practical advice from your colleagues in education.  By tuning in, you will hear the stories and ideas of the world’s brightest and most ambitious educators.  You can expect interviews with Principals, Teachers, Guidance Counsellors, National Student Association, Directors and anybody that works with youth. You can find and listen to all the episodes for free here.

November 29, 2021 by Experiential Learning Student Leadership Student Success Teachers 0

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