Episode 383

full
Published on:

13th Mar 2025

Engaging Young Minds for Limitless Futures

Summary: Join CT and guest Dr. Jennifer Root, Superintendent of Menifee Union School District, as they explore how her district is living up to its vision of "engaging young minds for limitless futures." This insightful conversation delves into building job-specific pathways for TK-8 students and developing soft skills (or core skills) to prepare them for high school, college, and beyond.

Key Takeaways:

  • "Engaging Young Minds": The district focuses on engaging students and preparing them for an uncertain future.
  • Core Skills (Not Soft!): Menifee USD emphasizes six core attributes (e.g., responsibility, integrity) to help students adapt and succeed.
  • Attribute Integration: Core skills are woven into the curriculum through modeling, literature, SEL programs, and praise.
  • Job Pathways in TK-8: Dr. Root is implementing job-specific pathways by backward-mapping from high school/college to align with industry needs.
  • Community Support: These job skills taught in school are augmented through parent support.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction: Engaging Young Minds

1:04 About Dr. Jennifer Root

2:13 About Menifee Union School District

4:24 Vision: Engaging Young Minds for Limitless Futures

9:09 Student Success Attributes (Core Skills)

14:58 Integrating Attributes & Addressing Concerns

20:43 Challenges in Deployment

23:37 Job-Specific Pathways in TK-8


Connect with CT: linkedin.com/in/cheetung

Connect with Dr. Jennifer Root: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-root-ed-d-63b2aa46

Music Credit: Shake it Up - Fesliyanstudios.com - David Renda



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About the Podcast

Principal Office Hours
Real principals. Real talk. No hall passes required.
Finally—a podcast that proves school principals have personalities (and killer insights, too). Every week, join us for candid conversations with K-12 principals who are navigating the beautiful chaos of educational leadership without losing their minds or sense of humor.

Each 40-minute episode features real principals sharing what actually works in school leadership—from handling helicopter parents and budget nightmares to building school culture that doesn't make everyone roll their eyes. Consider this your professional development that doesn't feel like professional development.

Our guests aren't afraid to share their epic fails alongside their victories. They'll tell you about the initiative that spectacularly bombed during assembly, right before revealing how they turned their school's reading scores around. It's educational leadership with the BS filter turned off.

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About your hosts

CheeTung Leong

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Jim Kanichirayil

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Your friendly neighborhood talent strategy nerd is the producer and co-host for The HR Impact Show. He's spent his career in sales and has been typically in startup b2b HRTech and TA-Tech organizations.

He's built high-performance sales teams throughout his career and is passionate about all things employee life cycle and especially employee retention and turnover.