Its Happening Now: Innovations in Education with Evan Margiotta

Bonus Debate Episode: Yao Yao Chen and Marilyn Myrick on prefs, judging, and the debate community

Fair warning, this bonus episode is mainly for listeners in the debate community. The episode is split up into two parts. The first part is a continuation of my conversation with Yao Yao Chen focused on his opinions of prefs and how his teams fill out a pref sheet. The second is an impromptu recording of a discussion between Yao Yao and my debate coach Marilyn Myrick on a wide range of debate related topics. Part 2 Starts at 23:36

Yao Yao Chen on building a nationally competitive high school debate program

Yao Yao Chen is the debate coach at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, one of the best policy debate teams in the nation. Unlike many coaches, Yao Yao isn't a paid teacher, instead he volunteers his spare time to coach the activity that he loves. No matter if you are a debater or not you should definitely give this episode a listen. Yao Yao has incredible insight into how to build a successful program and also on how to stay grounded and goal oriented even at the highest levels of competition.

Lamar Schrader and Tyler Anson on organizing a student TEDx conference

In the second episode of It's Happening Now, I interview Lamar Schrader and Tyler Anson, organizers of TEDxLakeTravisHigh, an official TEDx conference produced entirely by students. In our interview, we discussed the logistics of running a TEDx event, the power of student organizers, and what to expect from their 4th annual conference. TEDxLakeTravisHigh website: https://www.tedxlaketravishigh.com/ Tyler's Favorite TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/apollo_robbins_the_art_of_misdirection Lamar's Favorite TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts/up-next

Archie McHarg on how Disney can save education

Archie McHarg has been an english and primarily physics teacher for almost two decades. He recently made the transition to a school technology administrator, mentoring students in an independent study class. In our conversation we discuss his experience as a teacher, the importance of flexible curriculum, and... Disney.