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

Engaging Leadership
Uncovering stories and strategies behind successful educational leadership
Each week we sit down with inspiring leaders who are transforming education and creating positive outcomes for students across the country.

In their own words, these leaders share their daily challenges, breakthrough moments, and the practical approaches they use to build and support student achievement.

Whether you're a principal, superintendent, or aspiring educational leader, you'll find actionable insights you can use right away.

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About your hosts

CheeTung Leong

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I'm committed to helping people live their best lives through work.

I'm one of the co-founders of EngageRocket, an HRTech SaaS startup and we are focused on helping organizations build empowered managers, engaged employees, and elite teams.

I'm a big nerd when it comes to economics and psychology and regularly use data and tech to help folks live their best lives.

I've been recognized by Prestige Magazine as one of the top 40 under 40 business leaders and have been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Tech in Asia.

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.