We talk with ROE 17’s Molly Allen about how regional services support lab schools, alternative programs, and teacher pipelines while keeping student voice and literacy at the center. We map the real challenges of AI, phones, and shortages to practical steps that help schools move forward with hope.

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BONUS EPISODE

We sit down with Dr. Brian Zugelder, Dean of the College of Education at Illinois State University, to unpack a nontraditional journey that now fuels a bold vision for the university’s lab schools. We dig into the educator continuum—recruitment, preparation, induction, leadership, and retention—and why keeping great people in the profession requires real pathways and support. From clinical practice to statewide partnerships, he explains how ISU can model promising practices and help shape policy rather than wait for mandates.

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What happens when a high school runs inside a major university—and doesn’t even own many of its athletic facilities? We invited U‑High’s principal Andrea Markert, assistant principal Brian Rohman, and athletic and activities director Steve Evans to share how they lead a K–12 lab school that answers to ISU policies while serving students, families, teachers, and pre‑service educators.

If you care about how schools innovate under real constraints, this conversation will give you a front-row seat to the tradeoffs, the wins, and the big vision. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with your answer to this question: if resources were no object, what would you build first for students?

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What happens when a small K–8 school serves kids, teachers, and a university all at once? We invited Metcalf’s principal, assistant principal, and dean to pull back the curtain on lab school life: the fast pivots, the extra hats, and the reason everyone still calls it home.

We talk about the power of a zone-defense leadership model where roles overlap on purpose and coverage never breaks. That structure fuels an open-door culture: tough conversations stay collaborative, visibility stays high, and support reaches the right person fast.

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Hard to believe we are already looking ahead to next school year.

For families considering the lab schools, we have administrators from both buildings on this week's podcast to talk about the process. Andy and Ben have Andrea Markert and Dr. Carmen Bergmann to hear about the admissions processes, applications, and what our schools look for in an incoming class.

For more information about us we also have Prospective Student Open Houses:

- UHigh: January 28, 2026 at 6pm. Find out more at https://uhigh.illinoisstate.edu/.

- Metcalf: Find out more at https://metcalf.illinoisstate.edu/.

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'Tis the Season! This week we get to vent a little and talk about some of the "Positive Frustrations" about being a teacher, being a teacher in this day and age, and finally just being a teacher.

We love our work; let the airing of the grievances commence!

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This week on the show: you'll get to meet one of our former interns, Ricky King! He has gone on to do great things in his career, teaching locally in McLean County Unit District 5. Since Mr. Goveia also did the internship, it felt appropriate to check the pulse of our teacher preparation pillar of our mission.

We discuss how the internship/student teaching works at UHigh, how were Mr. King's final months (just a little bit) weird due to a thing called COVID-19, and what has he gone on to do since graduation as an ELS teacher.

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Dr. Anthony Jones joins us on this episode to talk about his role as director of the lab schools.

Here we do a deeper dive into how we operate, how our mission plays out in practice, funding, and what rules we even have to follow. Are we a district? A public school? What even are we?!

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