Love Fort Wayne Podcast
The Love Fort Wayne podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination, root inspiration, and ignite transformation.
Love Fort Wayne Podcast
Equipping Students for the Future with Dr. Mark Daniel
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Introduction to Love Fort Wayne Podcast
Speaker 1Welcome to Season 5 of the Love Fort Wayne Podcast . The Love Fort Wayne Podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination , root inspiration and ignite transformation in our community and beyond . At Love Fort Wayne , we believe the pillars of a flourishing city are its leaders , pastors , schools , families and prayer community . And in season five , we're excited to learn from and be encouraged by people who not only lead but love our city in these areas each day . Before we dive in , we want to say thank you for tuning in and we also want to extend a thank you to our partners at Remedy Live for making today's podcast possible . Everybody , thank you for tuning in to this month's the April Love Fort Wayne podcast .
Speaker 1We're so excited that you're tuned in , glad that you're either watching or listening and again , as we've said this year and these past couple of podcasts , we know that there's some folks that are always new to the podcast . So , thank you for listening or watching us . And for those who have supported us over these five seasons now , again , thank you for always listening each month . We're excited about this podcast supported us over these five seasons . Now , again , thank you for always listening each month . We're excited about this podcast .
Speaker 1We always try to have folks from this community living in this community , serving in this community , because , for Love Fort Wayne , not only do we want to bring the church and community together to love leaders , pastors , schools and families , with prayer as the foundation , we want to amplify the stories of leaders that are doing those very things , in the work that they do and with the people that they work with , and so we're excited to have Dr Mark Daniel with us just to talk about his story of leadership and his heart for schools and heart for students and so much . And so thank you for joining us . Oh , you're welcome , yeah .
Speaker 2Dr Daniel .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're welcome , and so it's been a handful of years since you've been on the podcast . So , uh , we're excited Mitch and I were talking about before uh recording because so many great things have happened , not only in our community but within the district among our uh , your staff and your leadership team and your students , and you and I talk about this as a father of FWCS students . Man , I am just so grateful for you and your team and for what I get a chance to experience as a father of FWCS students at Southside . I'm going to give my shout out at Southside and at Weiser Park .
Speaker 1Elementary as well and being connected to some other schools . So again , thank you for joining us . So yeah , can you just start with just some background , some history of basically your story and what led you to become the superintendent at FWCS Fort Wayne Community Schools ?
Dr. Daniel's Leadership Journey
Speaker 3You know it's a story of beginning in Fort Wayne Community Schools as a student , then a teacher coach . Leaving I think I had the shortest administrative career in Fort Wayne Community .
Speaker 1Schools .
Speaker 3I was told by a superintendent at that time that you'll be a teacher for a very long time . I love telling that bit of a story because it took an experience , because I went to East Allen and Leo and then as principal , assistant principal with Margaret Katter , who was a unbelievable mentor , but she's also Fort Wayne Community Schools , and a lesson taught by Margaret was you do things for each and every student , it's not just a select group of students . So she ingrained that and you know I would say those were some love those years with her and then following through as principal and we had some successes . It's not too often you become a national blue ribbon high school but followed it up with a national model school , part of the Daggett organization , and I'll lead that too , because he always says culture trumps everything . Culture is so very important in what you do . And again , what does that mean ? To me that means respect for all . Do what you say you're going to do . Also , keep students always in the forefront of your thinking and your decision making . You're there for kids , you're not there for the adults . So again , I'm a little non-traditional . So at Leo we became a career majors academy , one of eight in the height in the state , and I think that led us to the belief that , hey , we need to think a little bit differently about the high school experience , experience providing opportunities for students to truly be mentored by adults in areas of their passion and interest . So how do you find that ? And then also leading students to the point where they truly have a two to three year plan after high school . But again , just don't do that for a few , do that for all . So , knock on wood , you know last year a hundred percent graduation rate because kids knew what they wanted to do , yeah , and once they have a plan , it's sort of adults . You're now facilitating that plan , assisting when students do struggle . How do you intervene and assist ? And again , it's about all students . So that was a wonderful experience . And then I did receive my PhD , and so it was well .
Speaker 3Where do you go next ? There are only so many superintendent positions in an area and I wasn't fortunate to get East Allen's job job . So I went to a small rural district , small community in Southwest Michigan , which second largest migrant population in the state of Michigan , very different from my urban days at Northside , to my more of a , I'll just say , suburban type community that we had at Leo . Now you're in true poverty and it's more of a rural setting . But how do you influence that ? The best way you can , and sometimes you can and sometimes you can't .
Speaker 3I think there are opportunities that present themselves . You have to have leadership in your community that's accepting of providing these opportunities for students , but when an economy is so down it is very , very difficult to raise different expectations . But that was one unbelievable experience . I never experienced migrant population before , understanding what those families go through and yet their dedication to education was amazing . To see Left there , though , after four years I went down to Central Illinois , bloomington Normal , and that was more like , I would say , a Homestead Carroll type district , but with two high schools , 13,500 students . And again another wonderful experience , because that's also where State Farm is , and so you're in a community of high professionals wanting to and some of the things I think you learn . You bring things with you as you go from place to place .
Speaker 3Part of what we're doing with Bridge of Grace and Love , fort Wayne , similar to something we were doing there , but again sponsored by State Farm , but a network of individuals who adopted schools and said tell us the needs of your kids or your teachers . Let us help you meet those needs . So , in other words , folks , you truly cannot do this by yourself any longer . So that rings very true to where we are . And again , if you take that boomerang throw it , you know , came back to Fort Wayne Community Schools and I'll say couldn't have probably been a better time to come back to Fort Wayne Community Schools . I think , again , divine intervention . There are things that are happening for a reason , my background being , yeah , my father was a minister here in Fort Wayne , so there are roots there , but also the understanding of Fort Wayne Community Schools .
Speaker 3Having been a student , having been a teacher and then having these other experiences , how are we going to provide experiences for each and every one of our kids , which are now , you're talking , 29,000 . Big difference than , say , a Leo who has a graduating class of 220 . But that's a challenge , mm-hmm . And I think what excites me of where we are today in Fort Wayne Community Schools is that we are moving down this , if you will , this road , this journey of providing those experiences that are going to prepare our students , both in character . So we talk about success , skills , probably a little bit of my background coming from that . What are expectations ? How do we lift all students ? And when you talk about core principles such as effective communication , how to be creative and innovative , how to be critical thinkers , how to have self-direction , how to have cultural agility , you know , when you start laying these things out , those are things that we really wish students had , but did not intentionally teach . Well , we're doing that now .
Speaker 3And we're doing that pre-K through 12th grade , so that makes a difference for kids . And then we have intentional experiences , starting even in pre-K all the way through their senior year , where we're wrapping these competencies around those . But the people that are teaching our kids are not quote educators from Fort Wayne Community Schools , but community
Transforming Fort Wayne Community Schools
Speaker 3partners . So they're getting the real world back to Career Majors Academy . They're getting the real world influence , but it's coming from the real world . Yeah , and it is a bit of a different message . But , man , I have to again thank people like Junior Achievement 3DE , because of my past history with JA and Leonard Yerian specifically . You had a network and all of a sudden , where I struggled in other communities to find business partnerships , it was like someone handed that to us and the results have been phenomenal .
Speaker 3I think we're changing the perception of our community in regards to our students . In regards to our students our assets , not liabilities . And given these experiences and these expectations , kids will rise to those expectations , something Margaret's always said they will rise to the expectation . Give them that expectation and then hold them accountable . That sounds like a life lesson there . So what we're finding is our kids are performing at a level where , as we compete across the country . We competed against 80,000 other students and Northside's freshman team won the national competition .
Speaker 3So , again Fort Wayne . But Fort Wayne and I know that you two are involved in this heavily and I'm so appreciative of that Fort Wayne is a loving , giving , highly supportive community that says lift all and all benefit . It raises a boat over it . So this has been quite the journey . You know , we didn't think we were going to be here the first year because COVID was first year , so didn't really know where what was going to happen . But second year , and now we're into full implementation , pre-k through 12th grade , with something called Ford Next Generation Learning , which gives us a framework of the principles I just talked to you about . But also , how do you connect with businesses ? How do you create pathways for students ? How do you create more and more students with dual credit opportunities , which again another thing that the state of Indiana is saying we need more college graduates . Well , once our kids realize they can actually receive a dual credit , watch out .
Speaker 3Watch out folks because they'll understand it and they will move towards it in that direction . Now we'll start to see the tipping point and you'll start to see masses . The experiences are now happening . You know I look at Parkview and what they've been partnering with us in regards to all of our freshmen , and this is across all five high schools . We'll go out to the mural center and they'll be . They'll have experiences in all the various facets of Parkview Hospital .
Speaker 3Again , they're seeing firsthand when , if I go to some other communities in other states , they relish in the fact that they may have 20 kids involved in a simulation type experience . But we literally have 2000,000 students involved . See the numbers there . I mean we're looking for a system which is Ford NGL to really impact the masses . And then we brought along Junior Achievement 3DE , which is all about this case challenges that they have , real world problems that students are solving that come from the Parkviews , the steel dynamics , the Fort Wayne metals , the , and I just go . I mean we have now over 35 plus partners that are presenting case challenges to our kids while they're mentoring them on those principles .
Speaker 2I talked about earlier six principles .
Speaker 3That's going to balloon up to over 75 by the time . You know that would be the ideal number , but Fort Wayne now is leading this throughout the country
Community Partnerships and Real-World Learning
Speaker 3because no one started pre-K through 12 . It was primarily a high school phenomenon . We said nope . Margaret told me do not focus on just a group and you have to think of all kids . So and knock on wood , this is . We have a couple years of training and preparing our teachers . What I'm hearing from our students is very gratifying because I think they are also very appreciative of the fact that they're having these experiences . It is above and beyond and they're feeling more and more confident .
Speaker 3They're maturing , at a rate that I look at our freshmen today compared to freshmen four years ago and freshmen really have only been immersed for this year across the district , but people like Pat Morello would tell me they are different students , wow . And the teachers are saying I now truly believe I'm making a difference and that's why I want to stay in education . Before you know , we struggle . Teaching's a very , very difficult job . At the same time , it's a very rewarding job and you need people who love kids and really want to do what's best help kids . So I've had some . I had one particular teacher tell me I now can talk to students about opportunities and there's hope versus before I was talking to them about survival . What a difference when you can talk hope versus hey , you don't want to do that , that's going to be detrimental to your life , you don't want to do that , that's going to be detrimental to your life . But when teachers start to internalize that sort of thing , I'm telling you it's tipping point type stuff . So , yeah , this has been a very interesting four and a half years and I'm so pleased that we've also brought people like Love Fort Wayne that we're sitting at the table with them . And I think what we've decided is this we are no longer a closed system , we're no longer silos . We have to open up our high schools , open up our middle schools , elementary , open up our doors and our classrooms . We have to let partners . We have to let partners join us , because we cannot do this by ourselves . Thus , people like Love Fort Wayne love your schools and we're seeing .
Speaker 3If I go to Adams Elementary School last year , they improved their third grade reading score by 25% in one year and that's life-changing . When that happens , that's life-changing . So we know you have to be literate In today's world . If you can't read , if you can't process AI , if you can't do that , how are you going to be successful ? So we are really and again I thank my board for this because they've allowed us to be very , and again I thank my board for this because they've allowed us to be very , very intentional .
Speaker 3Literacy is number one , literacy is number one . So what are we doing to ramp that up ? And , of course , the state's very much supportive of literacy as well . So that's been a wonderful partnership and we're looking at some significant grant dollars with Boys Club , girls Club , this summer to help with literacy focus , in particular second and third graders that aren't reading where they need to be . Well , what are we going to do to move them , because our goal is 95% of our kids are reading at third grade level .
Speaker 3At third grade , that is such a critical time , and the reason is because no longer are they taught reading . Now they use reading to learn as they move into fourth , fifth and so forth . Yeah , so you look at statistics like that and overall , as a district , we're seeing metrics that are pointing in the positive direction . Yes , there are going to be challenges . Yes , there are going to be some setbacks . Yes , but now it's one of those things where , hey , who are you going to ask for help , instead of go back into your silo , isolate yourself and let the same old , same old continue to happen ? That's right . So this has been a thrill .
Speaker 2That's awesome . This has been a thrill , yeah . But again , you don't do it by yourselves .
Speaker 3This has been a thrill . That's awesome . This has been a thrill , yeah . But again , you don't do it by yourselves , it truly is people such as yourselves . Our volunteers are starting to come back , starting to see an increase in volunteers Again , very intentional , very , very intentional , yeah . And man , it makes a difference in a kid's life if one adult connects to that one kid . Yep , yeah , big time .
Speaker 2What are the pathways in a career majors academy and when do you see a bent ?
Speaker 3at what age in a student ? Yeah , it's a great question . So you know , the state of Indiana has created pathways to help with graduation . They've given , they provided a new diploma with again the three E's , which , how are you going to focus on ? Hey , what if you want to enlist in the military ? There's now a graduation path for military and enlistment with , again all the core subjects that are necessary . But also , hey , what are you doing as far as service leadership ? What are you doing as far as community service ? That's part of that vein . I want to say 75 hours in that area . They also have work-based learning attached to that . So a third , a secondary , would be . Well , what if you wanted to enroll in post-secondary education ? So , what are those ? You know , we used to call it the academic honors diploma .
Speaker 3How do you get that ? And there are now seals that will be attached to those diplomas . So we definitely have that college connection . We're trying to truly ramp up our dual credit and we just had a meeting with our universities . Nine universities and colleges attended , so now we're up to 10 . And we're trying to form a coalition that says and I have right now five who have said we're on the coalition we're going to support Fort Wayne community students by providing free tuition . Now we need to do that while they're in college , while they're in high school , because my experience in central Illinois was this when we partnered with our community college and truly created these pathways with them , our students then would go to that community college and then go to the four-year college thereafter , and the retention was so much greater they retained the students . So in reality , you had some deferred revenue . You had to first of all invest , but your return on that investment was sevenfold .
Speaker 2Wow .
Speaker 3And that's you know . We know we need more and more college graduates to continue to have Fort Wayne prosper and grow economically . That's right , yeah . And the third area would be then what about if you wanted to go into employment ? So the three E's In employment , well , what does that mean ? That could be the trades that could be . You know I'm wanting to go into , and I'll use , tom Kelly automotive .
Speaker 3So we've really tried to connect with our business partners , with our students and the fact that we probably have 10 to 15 students , some from other school districts besides Fort Wayne Community Schools , but they go through the career center , through Tom Kelly's automotive center , and they're very successful because they've had on the job training , they're developing their automotive technical certifications and so on and so forth . So they're technicians . But how do you do that across the board ? So I used to think well , you know , we have a regional vocational center . We call it the Anthus Career Center . That's not , that's only part of what we have . We have satellites now , like at Tom Kelly . We have satellites now , like at Tom Kelly . We have satellites like at Union 166 , steam fitters , pipe fitters , where that's where our students go . Half of our students go for welding and we've doubled our welding capacity because we're using satellites , and now both Southwest and Northwest Allen County schools are involved with Union 166 too .
Speaker 3So where do we go next ? Where do we go with advanced manufacturing ? Where do we go with the health services ? Where do we go with ? Oh , let's talk about teachers . How are we growing our own teachers ? How are we , if we're going to talk the talk , how are we going to walk the walk ? How do we also bring students ? So how do we get them ready to go ?
Speaker 3My dream would be we start graduating high school seniors with two years associate's degree and they could go to any university they want but finish that other two years or finish it in education or go or do something else . But you can always come back , because now we're able to also do transitions , teaching in four-way community schools , and we're able to take a person with a bachelor's degree , bring them in as a first-year teacher and give them apprenticeship , basically on-job training . So we're the only public school in the state of Indiana that's able to do that . We had to go through higher ed to get that approval , but I'm telling you it is right , it's able to do that . We had to go through higher ed to get that approval . But I'm telling you it is right now . It's focusing on special ed certification . Next year we hope to move into all the other disciplines , both elementary as well as your other subjects you might have at the high school level . But those are incredible things that are happening and it's because people are starting to think outside the box .
Speaker 3Yeah that's right . They're no longer confined to well , this is the way high school always was . Yeah , it's always been that way for about 150 years , folks . It is no longer . That's no longer the market and you're in a market-driven system in Indiana , with charters , with vouchers and so forth . So you better show that you're creating a return on investment for parents as well as your community , otherwise I think you may become a dinosaur .
Speaker 2Yeah , dr Daniel , you are an architect of what's outside the box . Yeah , yeah , absolutely . I mean , it's incredible what you're sharing . It's absolutely incredible you can see why you're leading the nation .
Speaker 3I can tell you it is . It's exhilarating , it's exciting . And then when you see people who start to own it and that's another thing I want to say we are working hard on our culture , so you may remember this past summer we had Stephen Covey here , and I think we may have had 600 people that were part of that day with Stephen Covey .
Speaker 3We followed through with this and we now have been in our own internal training , and that is how do you build trust ? How do you build trust and how do you inspire ? Well , it starts with your leadership teams . So we're working hard on that , and it's not easy because it takes a lot of self-reflection when am I in regards to integrity ? Where am I in regards
Building Pathways for Student Success
Speaker 3to my intent ? Where am I in regards to my competencies ? And then , how am I attaining results ?
Speaker 3Those are tough questions , especially when you've been in a system that has been very I'll just say very vertical in its hierarchy , and you need to be more and more horizontal in today's market . That's the part , and you have to empower people to be leaders . You have to work on creating leaders . So we're in that phase right now too . Again , culture trumps everything . You've got to have the culture where two people and I look at Adams Elementary and I say to myself that faculty and staff now believe they can make a difference . Oh , they are making a difference , and that wasn't so for four years ago . They really didn't believe . Now look at the energy there . I mean we have people that are parents that are now coming to back to school nights and lining up to get into the building Before you would see . It's almost if where's our there's no one here .
Speaker 3Now they're want because they see the return on the investment , they see the beautiful thing that's happening with their kids , they see the love that the teachers and the principals and the staff exhibit . And when you empower people to do that , think outside the box and Allie Holland did ?
Speaker 2She thought outside the box . You know her .
Speaker 3She was part of leadership for Wayne and it was like wow , allie , do it . And you know what . You may fail , but at least fail falling forward . Do something . You just can't stay where we are today , otherwise you're going to get the same doggone result . So do something different . And now they're starting to see that growth can elevate you in regards to your workplace , in regards to livable wage , in regards to how do you get out of poverty . That is the way . So we are working really , really hard right now with how do you create pathways that produce technical certificates , that produce also dual credits , so our kids can truly experience these things . They have hope . Yeah , yep , and man , you know that is central . Yeah , I'll just say it's central to life . That's right , it's central to life .
Speaker 1That's right . So , Dr Daniel , you talked about 29,000 students .
Speaker 2you know largest district in the state and there's you know there's um , there's some , you went 29,000 students .
Speaker 1There's a . There's a vast variety of families and then a vast variety I'm not going to call it need , I'm going to say opportunities for individuals , organizations , even nonprofits , to get involved . So I want to ask , like a two-part question A , how has your team worked so diligently to care for the vast needs of all these different types of families when you have 29,000 different students in our community ? And then the second part is how can the community get involved in supporting these 29,000 kiddos ?
Speaker 3So , I think one of our basic principles , competencies , that is , again , do we really embrace our diversity and see that as a strength ? Again , cultural diversity we talked about as one of our main principles and competencies . That came from the portrait of the graduate work which , when you are actually hiring people and we're thinking of this process too you ask them these questions , you ask them the questions do you believe in this ? Do you have this thought , Will you embrace this ? We want Fort Wayne Community School staff that embrace this culture . Now you start to see things move . But again , it doesn't happen overnight and we have to be patient . We have to be , I'll just say , resilient , just as our students are . And our students , oh my goodness , I always like , I like this phrase . My dad used to always use this phrase .
Speaker 3You catch the sheep through the lamb when you have volunteers come into your buildings and they see the progress and growth of kids . It wasn't the adults that brought those volunteers back . Again and again , the kids brought them back and I think that's the key . It's the love of that . And to become a volunteer , we do have specific people . You go online . You can see our community volunteer program . I think we have a wonderful uh website , now working hard on that because , guess what ? We're in a marketplace , yeah . So we train now our volunteers . Before we weren't , we were giving them some input , but now when I go to levon scott because I'm also a mentor on Thursday afternoons my wife and I we go there and we have specific things . We're working literature pieces , ie phonic phonemic awareness , specifically addressing the needs of the kid that we're working with .
Speaker 3Before we didn't do that , it was sort of a feel good thing , but then we also read and we also hear him read and we work . Literacy is most important . So let's and I can tell you it's only been gosh , maybe 10 weeks of this . I can tell you a noticeable difference in his reading Wonderful , it's amazing . My wife said that the other day she goes . Hey , I was because we switch off . She goes . Hey , have you seen him read ? Have you heard him read lately ? I said it's been since the holidays . You know it's like december 19th , the first time . Last time I was with I mean , he goes . Oh my gosh , he's unbelievable . Kids want to meet the expectations of the adults there is a reward there .
Speaker 3They benefit from that expectation . If we just go in there and just socialize , that's not really benefiting the kid . At the same time I can do both . I can benefit the kid by having the expectation as well as meeting the kid where he is . And I like what you said . Our students have challenges . Well , don't we all ? If we can teach them to . And I am amazed how our kids the challenges they have I'm talking basic needs and yet they come to school every day . I think most adults would crumble but , kids , don't ?
Speaker 3They come in every day again wanting what's the expectation ? And again , what are we doing to intervene ? And that's another thing we've really worked hard on and we're still we're going to continue to work hard on . Where are the interventions for kids ? You got to have them and they need to be scaffold . There's just not one intervention works . You're going to have to have multitude of interventions and , by the way , the bottom line is you want that kid to graduate with a plan . Are they able to make a livable wage and be successful ? Wow , that's pretty elementary , really in the goal , but it is so difficult because of all the factors at play , and you know again , love Fort Wayne what we're doing with you know , alive , I think about Alive .
Speaker 3Yeah , I mean , there's so many different groups that are coming to bear , all for the common purpose . Though , how do we help kids succeed ? And , yes , overcoming our own biases , the whole humanity phenomenon , and that's you know . I will say . There's another area for us that we're working on , because I need more teachers and building level administrators that look like our kids . So that's Hispanic , latino , burmese , white , black , that's our power man , yeah that's right .
Speaker 3So again , we need to have that in our classrooms . So those kids ,
Creating Culture Change and Intentional Focus
Speaker 3it's not fair to say , well , we have one or two . Come on , I mean , we're a minority majority district now . So that's reality . And again , don't see that , see that as a strength , folks , and watch what happens . And I can tell you national champions , our jazz group , northside state champions in jazz Now tell me how that happens . And these kids are not receiving professional lessons . Yeah , you know what I mean . Yeah , and yet the talent's there . It's dormant . Figure it out , that's right .
Speaker 3And I in every aspect of the child . So you know , I'm a huge believer of co-curriculars . So I don't care whether it's band , choir , drama , athletics , it doesn't matter . Kids need to be involved , get them involved , find where their talents lie and then let them pursue those passions . Watch what happens . I mean , again , we could just go down Just so many things . So , even as we look at what's happening in AMP Lab , that's an expression of entrepreneurship which is empowering a student to be creative , innovative and very intentional . Wow , now we're partnering with Indiana Tech in advanced manufacturing . We're partnering with Pearl Arts in regards to music and instruction and you know , I mean we are so very fortunate in Fort Wayne to have community members that have reinvested in Fort .
Speaker 2Wayne , yes , yes , yeah , that's right , it's Including you .
Speaker 3They're just so loving . Yeah , I mean , I can't use a better word . It is love , that's right .
Speaker 2Dr Daniel , few people ever lead a group of 30,000 plus . What specific leadership principles have you learned , maybe even through being a coach , that you apply today , that you say , yeah , that really works ?
Speaker 3well . So going back to when and this is probably when I was playing you always believe you can . You always believe you can , so I always believe you can . So I was quarterback and I was struggling on something and I said I can't do this . The coach took me aside and said I do not want to ever hear you say that . Ooh , that stuck with me . So , as I work with my cabinet and leaders , I like to say it's how are we going to get this done ? What do we need to do to overcome this barrier ? If it's good for kids and that's your North Star If it's good for kids or our North Star also is what we're doing with Ford NGL we call it Schools of Success . Each student's important . Each student should have experiences and guess what ? Help them figure out how they can .
Speaker 1So good .
Speaker 3And I think that's probably the thing that drives me the most , because I've had doubts , we all have doubts . And when you see , though , a little one , all of a sudden , boom , they're reading . Or you see someone presenting in front of Scott Glaze and his executive team at Fort Wayne Metals and you see the freshman break down at the very beginning of the performance , but at the end of the presentation she's regathered herself , she's gathered herself and she delivers a knockout , knockout conclusion of which they win that case challenge . And then you see her a year later and you just can see the maturity and the growth she's had because she now believes she can . So important , yeah , so important .
Speaker 3But that if you don't have people in your upper cabinet level and even my board , I think my board , I'm very grateful for my board , because they've allowed this , allowed us to take some risks , and we've said we can , we can do this , we can make this happen . What 30,000 students ? How are you going to do this ? Roughly 30,000 students , how are you going to create an internship or experiences ? We'll figure it out , we'll figure it out . We have partners like JA3DE , we have partners like Ford NGL , we have partners like Love Fort Wayne , and so on and so on . We have partners that will figure we will do this together , and it's like whoa and just again , I cannot be more thankful , more grateful , and I think there's some divine intervention here . I really do .
Speaker 2You know , Henry Ford was asked what some of the secrets to his success were , and he said I surround myself with a group of people who have a high propensity to not know what cannot be done . I think that's what you're doing . I love that . That's right .
Speaker 3Come on , let's get to this . Don't let your fear stop you . Yeah , let's get to this . Don't let your fear stop you . Yeah . And again I mean , if I look at Allie Holland at Adams , wow , yeah .
Speaker 3That's a person who said I will do something different , we can , and these kids will succeed . And you also have to be very intentional , I think . So you know hearing , you know great leaders as well . You can't do everything . You have to be very intentional and you have to have focus . And again , I've talked about literacy , I've talked about schools of success and , quite frankly , we need to increase our improve our culture to increase our enrollment . Culture is a huge piece about schools of success and , quite frankly , we need to improve our culture to increase our enrollment . Culture is a huge piece , it's part of well-being .
Speaker 3But how are you going to end what we've done differently in Fort Wayne Community Schools since the first place ? I've seen this happen . We have gone to strategic planning , to where we're using management models to specifically say we call them action initiative plans , and I have to thank Jason Baker to help to bringing this to us . But it's like , jason , we're kicking this up to another level . So every Monday , I get my own . Well , let's see where's your implementation . Are you at risk in that implementation ? Are you green ? Are you yellow ? Are you red ? If you're red , superintendent , time to move , yeah , time to get it going . Oh , by the way . We have people who are going to assist you . Talk to you . Do you need additional resources ? But let's get to this .
Speaker 3So we've created action initiative plans based on . Let's look at what the outcome we want it to be . Let's reverse engineer that , creating action steps but also accountability . Are you on time ? Are you following timelines ? Do you have the right people or do you have the right resources ? But by golly , that has been a huge difference . Because when you're in a human organization and we have over 4,000 employees , 30,000 students if I include adult ed and pre-K , I'm over 30,000 .
Speaker 3When you think about that , if you don't have some way to manage implementation , you won't get there . And I've never been any place . And now I have people coming to me and saying , hey , I would like to take that model , but I'd also like to do root cause analysis and build that in . I'm thinking I'll sell it because I'm telling you it works , because now you're doing things with intentionality , but with strategic planning , but you have a management tool that helps you do it . And yes , we're fortunate because we're a large district and I have staff . I can do this , but I also have some unbelievable . His name's Jack Bird , who is a coder , a programmer . Now he's my systems , he's my assistant superintendent of systems beautiful .
Speaker 2You have to have systems because there's that mindset .
Speaker 3Yeah it's like create it , let's do it , let's make it and then make sure it happens right , because we're all of best intentions , but sometimes we need a little bit of accountability , you know , and it's not to be . That's part of this Covey thing , it's not to be . I'm not trying to instill fear , I'm trying to instill . This is an opportunity for growth . These are growth opportunities . So let's get to this work , yeah . And if you do it , yes , now let's celebrate . If you struggle with it , let's help you . And if you just can't do it , well , maybe we didn't have you on the right seat on the bus . You know calling stuff , you know right bus , but not right seat .
Systems-Based Leadership Approach
Speaker 3So let's be honest about that Again , that's when you work with 4,000 employees . I think the great businesses figure out how to do that well .
Speaker 2Yeah , a long time ago , bill Marriott told me that most people in businesses and organizations fix a problem one at a time and then return to that same problem later in time . He said systems are the solution , systems are the solution . You that same problem . Later in time , he said systems are the solution Systems are the solution You've got to have systems in place .
Speaker 3It's too complicated not to have systems . Yes , yes , and especially when you're in a people business , people have so many variations , so many factors , that you're not going to be able to account for them , right . So you have to have a system that's going to work them through that . Yes Again , what is the goal ? Literacy . What's the goal ? Schools of success I want kids to have truly , I want them to be knowing what they're going to do the day after the Monday , after graduation , and I want them to be successful . So follow up with them , will you Not ? Rocket science , right , but we don't do it . And we need to get to that , because if Fort Wayne's going to continue to grow , both economically I'll just say spiritually too you have to have intentionality .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 3That's right .
Speaker 1Yeah , wow , it's been , it's been a good one .
Speaker 2I feel like we've been in the presence of greatness , I mean yeah , and I'm deeply encouraged too , dr Daniel .
Speaker 1I mean this . These aren't just words , these are you've talked about , these are actionable things that and you've you're you so humbly and , I think , rightfully not not just you , you've spoken to your team and your leadership team and your principals and the daily staff , the folks that have taken the time over a handful of years to say there's something that we're going to have to do about this If our community is going to continue to grow in so many different ways educationally , governmentally , you know , economically and definitely spiritually . There's a role that we as a school district have to play in this for our students' lives , both now and into the future , and we're grateful to have you in leadership and we're grateful to your team for all the work that you all are doing .
Speaker 1I'm excited about what we're seeing already among our students and in our schools and what we're going
Final Thoughts and Closing
Speaker 1to see . So thank you again , thank you , thank you , thank both of you . Yeah , you're welcome , man . I hope that folks again we say we've been saying this in 2025 with our podcast episodes .
Speaker 1Dr Daniel , go back and rewind this podcast . If there's something that stirred your heart and you didn't pause it in the moment . Go back and look for that minute marker and just write down the key things that stirred in your heart from a leadership perspective , but from a community perspective , and maybe there was something that you heard that you're like man . I'm interested in learning more about that and go to the website , our FWCS website , google it , look it up and get some information again about how you can be a part of it , how you can help , how your organization can be a part of it and ask questions . I know this team will want to answer the questions about how you can be involved and how you can support . So thank you again for joining us and thank you all for tuning into this podcast and we we hope to see you back or have you tuning in on the very next podcast here with Love Fort White ?
