SchoolStory by ROE #30

The Power of Story: Shaping Public Perception of Public Education

Over the past several episodes, we’ve sat down with educational leaders from across Southern Illinois to explore the challenges, the wins, the complexities, and the importance of a strong public education landscape across our region. Today’s conversation brings us to the close of this series—and fittingly, it centers on the thread that runs beneath every episode we’ve shared together: the power of story. Over the course of these conversations, we’ve talked about mental health, special education, recruiting and retaining educators, rural schools, leadership under pressure, and the fragile, essential work of trust. And underneath all of it—whether we named it or not—was story. The stories schools tell. The stories communities believe. And the stories that go untold when no one takes responsibility for sharing them. Every community holds a narrative about its schools. Some of it is shaped by lived experience. Some by rumor. Some by a single moment that grows legs and runs. And some by the quiet, extraordinary work happening every day behind classroom doors that most people never see. When schools don’t tell their stories, something else fills that space—and it’s rarely generous, complete, or fair. But when schools tell their stories thoughtfully, consistently, and with integrity, something powerful happens. Communities begin to see themselves reflected back. Trust grows. Misinformation loses oxygen. And the human side of public education comes back into focus. In this final episode, I’m joined by Matthew Hickam, Regional Superintendent of ROE 30; Kris Mason, Superintendent of Giant City School District; and Landon Summers, Superintendent of Century Unit District—leaders who understand that storytelling isn’t a public relations tactic. It’s stewardship. It’s how schools help communities understand what’s really happening, why it matters, and who it’s for. We talk about filling the vacuum before negativity does. About reaching the eighty percent of taxpayers who don’t have children in the schools but still care deeply about them. About why lived experience often carries more weight than data alone. And about how telling the right stories, at the right time, can strengthen morale, retention, and public trust. So, as we bring this series to a close, let’s take a look at why story matters—how it shapes perception—and what happens when schools reclaim their own narrative.

Mental Health Matters — Supporting Students and Staff Alike

Today’s conversation centers on something that is both deeply personal and profoundly universal: mental health. Every day, students walk into our schools carrying far more than backpacks. They carry family stress, social pressures, private fears, grief, anxiety, and questions they may not yet have language for. And alongside them are the adults who serve them—teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, office staff—each carrying their own quiet burdens while holding space for someone else. Mental health is no longer a side conversation in education. It never really should have been. It is essential to learning, just as literacy is essential to learning, and just as vital to teaching as curriculum. My guest today brings lived wisdom, hard-earned perspective, and a steady, compassionate voice to this work. Bethany Cottle is a school social worker with Elverado Unit 196, and her work reminds us that caring for our people—students and staff alike—is not an extra. It is the work. So let’s step into this conversation with honesty, empathy, and a shared belief that being seen, being named, and being supported can change a life.

Special Education — Meeting Every Learner Where They Are

Special education is often misunderstood as a program, a placement, or a compliance requirement. But at its core, it’s something far more profound. It’s a promise—a promise that no learner will be left without a path forward. That no challenge, no diagnosis, no limitation will disqualify a child from belonging, growth, or dignity. This is work where creativity meets regulation, where patience meets persistence, and where every student’s journey is as individual as a fingerprint. Joining me today are four remarkable leaders who live this promise every day: Kim Clayton from JAMP Special Education Cooperative; Dr. Victoria Grove Scott, Dean of the College of Education at Southern Illinois University; Jordan Suits, Superintendent of Lick Creek School District; and voices from across the region who carry the weight of this work with humility and resolve. In this conversation, we unpack the misconceptions that still surround special education, the quiet heroics of assistive technology and collaboration, the emotional toll on educators, and the extraordinary resilience of students and families navigating systems that were never designed to be easy. This is a conversation about inclusion becoming belonging. About accommodations becoming access. And about why fairness doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing—it means everyone gets what they need.

Meeting Students Where They Are Through Equity, Access, and Dignity

Today’s conversation is one that reaches far beyond policy or buzzwords—and into the lived reality of what school feels like for children and families navigating difference, belonging, and opportunity. We’re talking about equity and access—but not as an abstract framework. We’re talking about it as something you can see in a lunchroom. Feel in a hallway. Witness in the quiet courage of a child being fully themselves for the first time in a place that says, you belong here. In this episode, I’m joined by two extraordinary leaders: Dr. Andrea Evers, Superintendent of Murphysboro Unit District 186, and Dr. Yaa Appiah McNulty, Superintendent of Unity Point School District. Together, they lead in communities where diversity isn’t a talking point—it’s the daily fabric of school life. You’ll hear us explore how schools become safe harbors in shifting cultural tides, how access is created through partnerships with universities and unions, how leadership sometimes means standing firmly in uncomfortable moments, and why the strength of a school community might best be understood through an unlikely metaphor: a sheet of OSB—ordinary-looking, imperfect, but remarkably strong when every strand is pressed together with intention. This is a conversation about pressure, possibility, and the quiet work of building schools that don’t just educate—but protect, expand, and dignify the lives entrusted to them.

Teaching in 2026 — Is it a Revolution? Is it the New Normal? (Or is it Both?)

Today’s conversation lives right at the intersection of urgency and hope. Across Illinois — and really across the country — we’re facing a reality that can’t be ignored: fewer young people are choosing to become educators, veteran teachers are feeling the weight of the work more heavily than ever, and the narrative surrounding the profession has grown louder, harsher, and often unfairly narrow. And yet… something remarkable is still happening inside classrooms, inside colleges of education, and inside communities that refuse to let the story end there. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Victoria Grove Scott, Dean of the College of Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Diana Rea, Superintendent of Du Quoin Unit District 300. Together, they offer a candid, grounded look at what teaching looks like in 2026 — not just through the lens of recruitment and retention, but through dignity, relationships, structure, and belief in the work itself. We talk about why fewer people are being encouraged to teach… Why those who do choose the profession often do so despite the noise… And how instructional coaching, “grow-your-own” programs, and deeply human leadership are quietly rebuilding momentum from the inside out. This isn’t a conversation about slogans or silver bullets. It’s about what actually sustains educators — and what might just re-ignite a calling in a generation that’s being told, far too often, to look elsewhere.