What happens when you trade screens for streams and let kids rediscover what’s just outside the door? We sit down with Steve Leckman, director and lead instructor at Coyote Programs, to explore how immersive outdoor education builds focus, resilience, and real connection—especially for students growing up in urban environments.
Steve shares how a reluctant first canoe trip sparked a lifelong commitment to nature-based learning, and unpacks a practical, school-friendly approach that blends wilderness skills, ecology, leadership, and play. We talk fort-building instincts, sit spots, weekly outdoor routines, and how simple schoolyard experiences can reduce anxiety and deepen learning. From one-off workshops to ongoing programs, this conversation makes the case for outdoor learning not as an “extra,” but as essential groundwork for stewardship, wellbeing, and curiosity.
Your schoolyard is a living lab—what will you try first?

What if the fastest way to help kids learn is to stop rushing their growth? In this episode, we sit down with Catherine Korah from the Centre of Excellence for Behaviour Management to unpack a deceptively simple idea: when children feel secure with adults and have space for real play, learning and maturity emerge naturally.

We explore what true play actually looks like, why well-intentioned praise and goals can shut down creativity, and how protecting unstructured play primes the brain for later academic success. The conversation turns candid on screens, post-pandemic stress, and phone bans—why removing devices without replacing connection leaves a void, and what humane alternatives really work.

Grounded, hopeful, and practical, this episode offers language, confidence, and next steps for educators and parents navigating behaviour with care, patience, and trust.

Québec’s universities are at a tipping point. Funding changes, policy signals, AI, and global competition are reshaping what higher education can be. In this episode, Graham Carr of Concordia University unpacks the realities behind the headlines—and the bold choices that could define what comes next.

What does a basketball court have to do with leading a school district? In this episode, Chris Kennedy, West Vancouver Superintendent, shares how coaching shaped a leadership style rooted in trust, wellbeing, and human-centered change—plus how curriculum, technology, and AI can support schools without losing what matters most.

The early years fly by, and they shape more than we often realize. In this episode, we talk about what actually makes a difference in the first five years of life—reading together every day, leaving room for real play, and creating simple, safe spaces for kids to grow. Anne-Marie from CHSSN joins us to connect the research on brain development and language to what families and schools are seeing on the ground in Québec. We also look at the barriers English-speaking families face when accessing services, and how CHSSN’s Bright Beginnings program helps connect the dots so support reaches children early—before anyone falls through the cracks.

What if a 110-year-old textbook company decided it wasn’t in the textbook business anymore?

We sit down with Steve Brown, CEO of Nelson Education, to talk about how a legacy brand chose to blow itself up—on purpose. From a “great bowl of vanilla” to a bold new flavour, Steve walks us through Nelson’s reinvention and the birth of Edwin, a curriculum-aligned platform built to put everything teachers and students need in one trusted space.

We dig into the skills that matter most in an uncertain world—literacy and numeracy as bedrock, but also equity, empathy, and the courage to debate. For Steve, when students learn to question well and lead with understanding, societies thrive. His north star isn’t just better classrooms—it’s a measurable lift in national GDP powered by engaged, creative graduates.

On AI, he draws a firm line: tool, not product. Instead of leaning on public models that hallucinate, Nelson built its own large language model trained on rigorously vetted content. The payoff? Faster development, smarter assessment, and genuinely personalized learning—without trading away trust.

Along the way, we talk naysayers, the five whys, and the “humble arrogance” it takes to make big bets and hold steady when things get rough.

If you care about modern learning, teacher time, and scaling what works without losing soul, this one’s worth your hour. Subscribe, share it with a colleague who needs a spark, and tell us—what would you disrupt first?

Imagine a classroom where students don’t just use AI—they question it, improve it, and build with it. That’s the world we explore with Indra Kubicek, CEO of Digital Moment, a national charity bringing digital literacy, coding education, and social innovation labs to young people across Canada. We talk frankly about what it takes to raise confident learners in a world where AI is everywhere: not more hype or bans, but durable skills like persistence, resilience, and critical thinking that make kids active creators instead of passive consumers.

Indra shares how a nontraditional path—from accounting to entrepreneurship to scaling Code Club with Raspberry Pi—shaped her view of modern literacy. We unpack what “using AI well” actually looks like: crafting clearer prompts, verifying claims against credible sources, and noticing when a confident answer is thin or wrong. Rather than treating AI as a cheat machine, we outline classroom strategies that turn it into a lab for judgment and curiosity. On the home front, we explore simple steps families can take to talk about privacy, bias, and algorithmic feeds without needing any specific app in hand.

We also zoom out to the policy level. With education governed provincially, access to AI education risks becoming uneven. Indra makes a compelling case for a national AI framework that supports teacher training, safe tools, and baseline equity from rural communities to big cities. The goal isn’t disruption for its own sake; it’s positive, people-first change—like the volunteer-driven coding clubs that kicked off a movement. Give teens real problems, room to experiment, and mentors who listen, and they’ll surprise us with ideas that are both bold and responsible.

If you care about raising thoughtful, capable kids who can navigate technology with confidence, this conversation offers a practical roadmap. Subscribe, share with an educator or parent, and leave a review with the one skill you think every student should master next.

What if a school was more than a school—what if it was the beating heart of its community? We sit down with longtime CLC leader Debbie Horrocks to trace how Quebec’s Community Learning Centers grew from a bold idea into a 90-school network that strengthens English education while weaving families, services, and culture into daily learning. From the early vision to today’s realities, we explore why this approach succeeds where top-down models often stall: local ownership, patient relationship-building, and a laser focus on student well-being.

Debbie walks us through the origin story, the flexible framework that let each region adapt the model, and the unsung role of Community Development Agents who keep one foot in school life and one in the wider community. We dig into the hard parts too—single-stream funding, uneven job classifications, and what happens when conferences and convening go dark. Then we spotlight the partnerships that changed the game. With CHSSN, CLCs create direct pathways to mental health and family wellness services in English. With ELAN, artists help students explore identity and belonging through creative work. These are reciprocal relationships—schools offer access and trust; partners bring expertise, data, and resources—and they add up to collective impact.

Rural and remote contexts bring their own stakes: in some towns, the CLC school is the last English institution. The hub model keeps those schools visible and valued, and it nurtures resilience through political swings and pandemics alike. Along the way, leaders emerge—principals and CDAs who carry the culture to new regions, proving that the community school mindset travels with people. We close with Debbie’s hopes for the future: every school as a community school, stronger cross-sector ties, and a renewed commitment to convening so the network stays alive and human.

If you believe schools should be places where families connect, services reach those who need them, and students feel they belong, this conversation will energize you. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review telling us what partnership your local school should build next.