The murder of Sally Weiner
The June 1988 kidnap/murder of Sally Weiner in Corry, PA.
Written by Jessica Ann, audio production by Bill Bert.
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#pennsylvania
Explore "#pennsylvania" with insightful episodes like "The murder of Sally Weiner", "Stories Unveil a Storied Career with Joe Batory", "Portraits of a Graduate, Project Based Learning and Pathways Beyond High School - Dr. Brian Troop" and "Season Four - The Interlude" from podcasts like ""Already Gone Podcast", "An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast", "An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast" and "True Crime XS"" and more!
Episodes (4)
Stories Unveil a Storied Career with Joe Batory
NEW EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
"What do we want to create together?"
So proud to have co-written the foreword with Zach Taylor to this essential book on Human-Centered School Transformation. If you're a school leader looking to make sense of what you know to be true about schools, check it out. If you're a corporate leader, you will find a pathway to better results in every page.
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INTRO:
From 1998-2004, I worked as a teacher and administrator in the Oakland Public Schools. I loved my time in Oakland. In fact, it was in Oakland where I arrived at my moral focus (like Simon Sinek’s WHY – why I get up every single morning). I even dedicated my recent book, An Imperfect Leader: Human-Centered Leadership in (After) Action, to the children of Trailer C. Trailer C was my home away from home. It was a magical place with some of the smartest, most creative, and curious children I have ever met. Their families were among the hardest working and loving humans, all of them working tirelessly to provide their child a promising future.
In cities across the country, the resources found in public schools have EVERYTHING to do with the socioeconomics of the neighborhood. If you have visited a city school, like the one I taught at in Oakland, you are not likely to find a music program or an art program or library/media program (or even a full-time nurse!). If art or music or library/media existed, it was because the teachers brought them to their classrooms or to the school.
In my third year in Oakland, I was a roving teacher. This meant I had my own class of children, but because of overcrowding, I didn’t have my own classroom. Our school had 750 kids, but only room for 550, so every 3 weeks, one quarter of the school went “off cycle” and like the volleyball games of my youth, the teachers without classrooms would rotate to a new space. That was me! My kids and I would pack everything up, every three weeks, and move to a different classroom. Whenever I see a line of ants on a sidewalk, it makes me think of my class following me as I pushed two massive rolling cabinets to our next temporary home. And it was in that year, my third year, that I had a chance meeting with a guy named David Fattig from the US Coast Guard.
He was assigned to me for a Junior Achievement ‘Done in a Day’ event. After a full day of teaching lessons on civics and economics (which by the way, my favorite part of the day was walking the kids to lunch and Dave’s astonishment that we’d need to eat, use the bathroom, and prep for the afternoon lessons in only 25 min – with his eyes wide, he asked, “You do this every day??”). After a full day, seated on an old wooden chair, he watched as fourth and fifth graders arrived in my classroom for instrumental music lessons. You see, my public school on Long Island, NY, started teaching instrumental music in 4th grade. I played woodwinds throughout high school and college. Even now, I play alto sax in a pep band for the Seattle’s OL Reign. Dave Fattig played trumpet in the Coast Guard Band and together (with 5 of his bandmates), we started teaching instrumental music. The Allendale Band was even highlighted on the CBS Sunday morning with Charles Osgood. [Note: I still stay in touch with Alma who played clarinet for the nation all those years ago and then continued to excel in school, putting herself through college at SFSU].
Such a heartwarming story, right? I’ve always been so proud of the music program we brought to Allendale. And then after recording a conversation for this podcast with Joe Batory, I felt conflicted. He told me about the successful lawsuit Pennsylvania school districts brought against the state’s legislature because of how the Pennsylvania Legislature broke its promise of equitable funding. It raised my hopes that other states might choose to follow a similar path. And I was frustrated that for all these years, I looked at our little band and thought about how wonderful it was (and it was!), but it didn’t have to be this way (looking at you, CA Prop13).
We all know we are lucky to whom we are born. But public education shouldn’t rely on luck. Every child is entitled to attend a well-funded, well-resourced public school. I’ve always said that you can’t aspire unless you’ve been inspired. When you systematically cut funding to the most vulnerable, you get EXACTLY what the system was designed to create: systems of inequity, hopelessness, a reliance on charity and grants. I will ALWAYS look back on my time in Oakland with fondness. I loved being part of the creation of an elementary school band with the US Coast Guard. And, you know what? We owe it to our children and their children to do better.
My guest today, Joe Batory, is a celebration of an incredible career. It’s an episode of great stories and reflections. Thanks for tuning in.
BIO: Joe Batory is an unusual superintendent. To begin, he had a 15-year run as the superintendent of Upper Darby School District, located just west of Philadelphia, which is somewhat unusual. Secondly, although Joe has written many academic pieces and given many such speeches, he much prefers “telling stories” about his real world superintendent adventures. Rising up from the inner-city streets of Philadelphia, Joe had a remarkable career as one of Pennsylvania’s largest school systems. When he retired, one newspaper called him “a legend” and another termed him “a champion for children and education.”
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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.
Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.
Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.
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AN IMPERFECT LEADER IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.
Portraits of a Graduate, Project Based Learning and Pathways Beyond High School - Dr. Brian Troop
Book Update!
Imperfect Leaders! You can now order my book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.
My Guest: This week, Brian Troop is my guest.
One of the more powerful back to school administrator meetings I ever led was when I took all the administrators to see Bad Kids, a documentary about an alternative school in Yucca, California.
That documentary and another one, Bully, shaped for me some of my thinking about schools, the cultural field we create for children, and the different pathways we need to create for them as well.
In fact, following the showing of Bad Kids, I invited a panel of kids enrolled in our district’s small boutique high school (sometimes called an alternative high school) to talk about how their building was different from the comprehensive high schools in the district. Specifically, I wanted them to talk about their connection to the principal and her staff saved their lives. It was such a moving moment.
My guest this week was similarly inspired. For Brian Troop, it was the documentary, Most Likely To Succeed. The film pushes schools to consider how the world is ever-changing and how schools need to adapt to tomorrow’s needs. We talk about something called the Portrait of a Graduate, the skills and traits children must have to be successful after they leave the school district.
What’s cool about Brian’s district is how they engaged their local community, their business community, and others to help them define life readiness. And one of their goals is to create the environment so that their graduates will consider moving back to the community when they’ve finished their next level of learning – whether that be a trade school a 2 year or 4 year program, the military or internship.
Thanks for listening.
BIO: Dr. Brian Troop became Superintendent of the Ephrata Area School District in Ephrata, Pennsylvania in July 2013. Before that, he served the district as Assistant Superintendent. Brian is a creative leader and a collaborative leader. He and his team have worked to provide opportunities for children. For example, The Cornerstone Projects, year-long projects for each grade level that connect students with a community partner to help build engagement and strengthen relationships between the school and community is so innovative. It’s no wonder Dr. Troop was recognized as the 2023 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year.
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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.
Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.
Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.
www.peterstiepleman.com
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn’t get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That’s where EdConnective fits in.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn’t get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That’s where EdConnective fits in.
Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com
An imperfect leader, TLI, peter stiepleman, Dr. peter stiepleman, imperfect leaders, school culture, education, culture, school, positive school culture, principal, superintendent, aspiring superintendent, new superintendent, experienced superintendent, leadership, district leadership, school leadership, school leadership thoughts, inspiration, strategic planning, leadership development, human-centered leadership, collective aspiration, nested patterns, leaders’ learning work, educators, superintendent pipeline, Model for Human Centered School
Season Four - The Interlude
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Music in this episode was licensed for True Crime XS. Our theme song today is Indestructible by Noah Smith.
You can reach us at our website truecrimexs.com and you can leave us a voice message at 252-365-5593. Find us most anywhere with @truecrimexs
Thanks for listening. Please like and subscribe if you want to hear more and you can come over to patreon.com/truecrimexs and check out what we’ve got going on there if you’d like to donate to fund future True Crime XS road trip investigations and FOIA requests. We also have some merchandise up at Teepublic http://tee.pub/lic/mZUXW1MOYxM
Sources:
Various News Sources Mentioned by Name