Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome to the PBL Simplified podcast for administrators brought to you by Magnify Learning your customized PBL partner. From over a decade of experience with you in the trenches, we are bringing you this top rated educational podcast designed for visionary school administrators seeking to transform their schools with project-based learning. Launch your vision, live your why, and lead inspired. Here's your host, Ryan Sawyer.
Speaker 1 00:00:29 Do you know how when you go to a conference, you know you go to great sessions, I mean a lot of great people, you walk away and somebody says, you know, how was the conference? And you end up talking more about the people and the relationships that you created more than the information that you received during a session, right? And it's not a knock on the conference, not a knock on presenters, right? We go to a lot of conferences, I've presented a lot of different places, but it's the relationship that really helped move the needle. And that's a real thing. So that's why we've started pbl networks.com. You go to pbl networks.com and you can join a network of leaders just like you trying to make this work doable, working through the change process together, right? So each network is gonna have an emphasis. Right now we're focusing on CTE and PBL.
Speaker 1 00:01:15 Eventually we'll bring in stem, we'll bring in SEL and then we're gonna ask you what other networks you might want. What other leaders do you want to connect to? Coaches, principals, assistant superintendents, superintendents, talking about the big picture work, uh, happening right now in education. Welcome to the PBL L Simplified podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Toyer, CEO of Magnify Learning. And I'm fired up about these PBL networks. Uh, we just had a CTE round table, uh, yesterday. So we brought in some CTE leaders to share what's going on in their world, right? What's going on in your world? So we're finding people that are out there doing the work at a really high level and then starting to share their experiences. So you get to hear from Jeremy Quals who is leading an entrepreneurial center through his CTE program. He's been doing it for eight years.
Speaker 1 00:02:04 So if you're looking to start one, wouldn't you really like to hear from Jeremy, right? Like he's been doing it for eight years at a very high level. They're launching their innovation center come August. So if you wanna launch, uh, a really cool innovation center, entrepreneurial center in your CTE program and not just cool, like effective, like he's working with the Titans, he's working with his community partners, his learners are leaving this center with jobs that are paying 88,000, right? Like they're consistently winning, uh, the small business, uh, shark tanks that are out there now, some of the businesses that are coming out are just next level. It's like, how did I not think of that? Like these teenagers are crushing it because they've got the support. And again, Jeremy and his team have been doing this for over eight years. And this is really the power of a network is, you know that things need to change.
Speaker 1 00:02:55 You're an innovative leader pushing the boundaries, but how do you know your next move is, right? Right? How do you know for sure that it's gonna work? And we never know for sure. We need 70, 80% of the information and then we move, right? We're movers, we're leaders. It's what we do. But what if you had somebody that was just a little farther down the path to give you some tips, some tricks, some landmines to avoid, right? That's what networks do because you get really maybe one chance to do this in your current district and you might move to another position. It happens every three to five years. We're moving to, to try something different. You can relaunch a vision, but you don't get infinite chances to launch where you're currently at. So the power of a network, the power of working with an outside company frankly is that like for magnify learning, we've done this hundreds, thousands of times.
Speaker 1 00:03:43 So we've seen what works in rural, suburban, urban areas, in small schools, big schools. So now we're bringing in our partners that are super successful, that have been doing this for a long time. So they can start to, as they sit around the table, you ask the question, you know, who were the first community partners you reached out to before you even launched your entrepreneurial center? Ooh, that's a good question, right? How many funders did you have? Did you go to the board first? Did you get teachers on board? Did you go to parents that were influential? Like those beginning questions are really important. 'cause the last thing you wanna do is build a really neat state-of-the-art center that's empty for the first four years, right? Like you know that in five years I guarantee that you'll fill it. But when Jeremy opens the innovation center in August, and it's currently April, it's already full, that pause was for effect.
Speaker 1 00:04:36 It's already full, right? Like the seats are full and there's a waiting list. Why? Because it's not his first day. He has done this before. He is got a great team working with him. Wouldn't it be great to be able to sit down with Jeremy and ask him some of these questions? That's what the networks are about. That's what the round table yesterday was about. He, you get to hear Jeremy talk about those CTE problems, but also the solutions that he's found. And when you join the network, you automatically get this bank of resources, right? So that round table's gonna be archived. We've got uh, tip sheets for Perkins grants. So again, in this case it's gonna be CTE and PBL is the first network we're really launching. And let us know what you'd like us to launch next. We think it's gonna be STEM or SEL, but we're gonna ask you before we launch it, 'cause we wanna make sure it's what you really want.
Speaker 1 00:05:27 You would've also got to hear from Carrie from Calvert County in Maryland yesterday on the round table. And if you join the networks today, you can still get the archived version. You're gonna hear from Carrie who has like a 96% pass rate on certifications and all of our kids are taking certifications. And if you're a CTE director, you're like, well how are all the kids taking it? 'cause is that even a good idea? What if they don't pass it and they lose their money? Like she found funding for that. Wouldn't you like to ask Carrie about that? Again, that's the power of the network. When you go visit Kerry CTE program in Maryland, you are blown away by the things that are happening there. It is just phenomenal. So jump into the networks, pbl networks.com, PBL networks.com. I can't see a downside. The upside is immense.
Speaker 1 00:06:18 You are connecting with leaders just like you that are doing the work. And I'm assuming if you're listening to this, you are an innovative leader that's on the front end pushing this work. You know how hard it is to connect with other high flyers just like yourself, right? You want, you don't just have an open calendar where you're waiting for people to jump in. So that's what the networks do. We're intentionally bringing people together to do this work. So that's what the PBL networks are gonna be. Ashley Curtin is our director of networks. She's actually gonna start her own podcast. So I want you to go to pbl networks.com, get on that mailing list so that when the podcast comes out, you're one of the first ones to hear about it. You can go to Apple Podcast right now. Search PBL Networks, magnify Learning, and you can find it and subscribe no matter when you're listening to this podcast.
Speaker 1 00:07:07 But pbl networks.com takes you directly to a page that's gonna give you resources, explanations, and a way to sign on so that you can stay up to date with the round tables that are coming out, the resources and the podcasts that are specifically for our network partners. Are you excited about this? I'm super excited about this. We've been waiting a long time for this because we know the power that's in our network at Magnify Learning, and we also know that we can't do it on our own. So we're not expecting, you know, our team to innovate everywhere in order to change education. Have 51% of schools using PBL by 2051, that 51 by 51 that we're so passionate about. We know that it's gonna be you. You're the innovator. So if we can get you in the same zoom room space with other innovators, that's when we really start to have massive change in education.
Speaker 1 00:07:57 And that's what we need. We need the innovators to go first to pave the way for the early majority to feel safe to jump into project-based learning, right? Right now it's not safe for all the early majority. Some of you innovators have maybe moved on. We would encourage you to step back and hey, maybe this project based learning that we're offering is a little bit different. Maybe the authenticity is a big deal. Maybe changing school culture from the top down, from central office to principals to teachers to your learners is a big deal. It is. Maybe having a three year plan with a leadership team that's fully bought in is a big deal. It is. You can call it PBL 2.2 0.0 if you want. You can call it next generation PBL. This is project-based learning that transforms schools in a sustainable way. Our partners are with us for three years intensely, and then they are now a self-sustaining model.
Speaker 1 00:08:53 You can come to one of our model school visits, join pbl networks.com to see when those are right. Come to a model school visit and see what's happening there. They have PBL certified teachers, they've got a leadership team that has internal innovation. They know how to reflect. They know what high quality work looks like and they know how to move their school in that direction. We can do the exact same thing with your school. We know that we can't be training all the 51% of schools in 2051. We have to have a movement that started where it's well beyond us as magnify learning. But there are schools just like yours out there that are fully sustainable. You're the flagship that other schools are coming to learning from and going out to do the work. That's the power of a network. Wow. Am I excited about this? I hope you're excited about this. Have you gone to pbl networks.com yet? Um, you know what, we're gonna end the episode right now. So you can go to pbl networks.com so that you can lead inspired.
Speaker 0 00:09:51 That's just what I needed to bring PBL to my school. If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing the show. It only takes two minutes to scroll to the bottom, tap a rate with five stars and select write a review. Then be sure to let us know what was most helpful about that episode. Your review helps the next inspired leader just like you find their why and lead inspired.
