Season 1
Don Smith
Jenn Gennerman
Amy Snifka
Aaron Sadoff
In this conversation, veteran educator and consultant Don Smith traces his path from the classroom to school leadership to his work today with First Educational Resources. Don unpacks why relationships and collective efficacy sit at the heart of school improvement, what makes PLCs and collaborative time actually move student outcomes, and what stays the same when supporting schools across the country. He shares the teacher who most changed his life as a student, how schools can create more of those life-changing relationships for every kid, and what he wishes more people understood about educators who look resistant. He closes with a heartfelt reflection on gratitude and the people who shaped his journey.
Deputy Superintendent Jenn Gennerman joins us to talk about the leadership philosophy behind one of Waukesha's most ambitious eras of district-wide improvement. Jenn traces her path from special education into system-level leadership, and explains how that background shapes the way she thinks about curricular alignment, data access, and the connective tissue between special and general education. We dig into the mindset of continuous improvement; where it came from, how she's built it into the district's operating rhythm, and why communication is the single most underrated lever in moving a school system forward. Along the way, Jenn shares the mentors and pivotal moments that shaped her, what actually makes large-scale change stick, and what she wishes more people understood about the daily work of educators.
In this episode, Amy Snifka, a middle school teacher in Oak Creek-Franklin, shares the family roots that drew her into education and traces her path into the classroom. She reflects on the advice that shaped her early teaching career, the mentors and moments that changed how she sees the work, and what strong school culture and teacher leadership actually look like in practice. Amy also opens up about what she wishes more people understood about being an educator, and offers a heartfelt thank-you to those who shaped her along the way.
In this first episode, I sit down with my longtime friend and colleague Aaron Sadoff — educator, university president, and author of Mindcraft: The Art of Positive Thinking Right Now — to trace the arc of a life spent in education. Aaron shares how he chose teaching, how his path evolved from the classroom to superintendent, into the private sector, and eventually to college president, and the pivotal moments (and people, like his own 'Mr. McCartney') that reshaped how he saw leadership and himself. We talk about becoming a mentor for others, what he wishes more people understood about the work of educators, the person he never properly thanked, and why — after all of it — he still wants to be a teacher.
Every educator has a story. Not the one on the résumé but the other one. The teacher who saw something in you before you saw it in yourself. The hard year that showed you who you were. The person who changed your direction and probably never even knew it. Those stories are the most interesting thing about our profession, and the least often told. So I'm going to start asking educators and leaders to tell us those stories. I'm Jim Sebert, and for thirty years I've worked in Wisconsin public schools. Going to School is a new podcast where teachers, principals, and leaders tell me about the people and moments that shaped them. Every conversation ends with the same two questions and the last one tends to catch people off guard: Who shaped you that you never properly thanked? New conversations will come your way on a monthly basis to start. The first episode is coming soon. Subscribe now so you don't miss it; and if there's an educator whose story deserves telling, I'd love to hear about them!