Welcome back from Spring Break!

In this episode, we sit down with our HILIA leaders to explain how a regional team supports students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have low vision across multiple of school districts, including within the lab schools.

What does itinerant teaching look like across a 4,000 square mile region? Tune in to hear more!

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We the Metcalf Team’s FETC takeaways , focusing on tools that serve pedagogy, not hype. From Apps to Hardware, to walks in the woods - there’s a tech tool for anything and everything. But knowing which to use is the question. In this episode:

• why a cross‑disciplinary team attended FETC
• balancing early childhood play with responsible technology
• concrete upgrades for multi‑display teaching
• turning on built‑in accessibility for inclusion
• student‑led showcases for authentic family engagement
• art, STEAM, and keeping process at the center
• teaching AI concepts without more screen time
• choosing iPads when creation and capture matter
• visual note‑taking to boost retention
• building tool selection processes and pilot teams
• cataloging current tools and revisiting evolved platforms
• team learning as accountability and momentum

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We talk with ROE 17’s Molly Allen about how regional services support lab schools, alternative programs, and teacher pipelines while keeping student voice and literacy at the center. We map the real challenges of AI, phones, and shortages to practical steps that help schools move forward with hope.

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BONUS EPISODE

We sit down with Dr. Brian Zugelder, Dean of the College of Education at Illinois State University, to unpack a nontraditional journey that now fuels a bold vision for the university’s lab schools. We dig into the educator continuum—recruitment, preparation, induction, leadership, and retention—and why keeping great people in the profession requires real pathways and support. From clinical practice to statewide partnerships, he explains how ISU can model promising practices and help shape policy rather than wait for mandates.

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What happens when a high school runs inside a major university—and doesn’t even own many of its athletic facilities? We invited U‑High’s principal Andrea Markert, assistant principal Brian Rohman, and athletic and activities director Steve Evans to share how they lead a K–12 lab school that answers to ISU policies while serving students, families, teachers, and pre‑service educators.

If you care about how schools innovate under real constraints, this conversation will give you a front-row seat to the tradeoffs, the wins, and the big vision. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with your answer to this question: if resources were no object, what would you build first for students?

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What happens when a small K–8 school serves kids, teachers, and a university all at once? We invited Metcalf’s principal, assistant principal, and dean to pull back the curtain on lab school life: the fast pivots, the extra hats, and the reason everyone still calls it home.

We talk about the power of a zone-defense leadership model where roles overlap on purpose and coverage never breaks. That structure fuels an open-door culture: tough conversations stay collaborative, visibility stays high, and support reaches the right person fast.

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Hard to believe we are already looking ahead to next school year.

For families considering the lab schools, we have administrators from both buildings on this week's podcast to talk about the process. Andy and Ben have Andrea Markert and Dr. Carmen Bergmann to hear about the admissions processes, applications, and what our schools look for in an incoming class.

For more information about us we also have Prospective Student Open Houses:

- UHigh: January 28, 2026 at 6pm. Find out more at https://uhigh.illinoisstate.edu/.

- Metcalf: Find out more at https://metcalf.illinoisstate.edu/.

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'Tis the Season! This week we get to vent a little and talk about some of the "Positive Frustrations" about being a teacher, being a teacher in this day and age, and finally just being a teacher.

We love our work; let the airing of the grievances commence!

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