Beth Houf is the proud principal of Capital City High School in Jefferson City, Missouri. She is the Co-Author of Lead Like a PIRATE: Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff.
Beth serves as a facilitator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Leadership Academy, providing monthly training to state educational leaders.
She is active in her local, state and national principal associations. Beth has served as an adjunct professor at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Missouri. Beth co-facilitates the NASSP Women in School Leadership Network and is a member of the NASSP Board of Directors.
Beth was named a Missouri Exemplary New Principal in 2011, the Missouri National Distinguished Principal for 2016, the 2019 National Association of Secondary School Principals Digital Principal of the Year, the EducationDive 2019 Principal of the Year, the 2021-2022 Missouri Secondary School Principal of the Year and the 2022 NASSP Principal of the Year. Beth also serves as a principal advisor for Future Ready Schools and is a Solution Tree PLC at Work Associate.
Beth’s proudest accomplishments are her two sons, Paul and Dawson. She has been honored to help lead schools that both have attended.
Like a PIRATE™ Speaking Series
Lead Like a PIRATE:
Learn dynamic strategies to dramatically transform culture and build schools where students and staff run to get in, not out. This motivational workshop demonstrates how to take the revolutionary ideas from Teach Like a PIRATE and supercharge them for educational leaders. You will walk away from this program with the courage and practical ideas to become the kind of leader you’ve always hoped you could be.
Through a highly interactive and fun session, participants will learn to:
- Harness PASSION and encourage risk-taking in their schools.
- IMMERSE themselves in the work that makes the biggest impact on student and staff learning.
- Build RAPPORT and relationships grounded in trust.
- ANALYZE lessons and ASK great questions in order to provide rich feedback that helps move learning forward.
- Dramatically TRANSFORM school culture.
- Lead with ENTHUSIASM that is contagious.
Leaders will walk away from this workshop with the tools they need to build a PIRATE culture, strategies and a coaching model they can implement tomorrow, and the confidence they need to make school AMAZING.
Through our intense commitment to staying connected, participants can also expect ongoing collaboration and support as they are encouraged to participate in weekly leadership challenges uniquely designed to support them in taking steps to becoming PIRATE leaders.
LeadLAP Individual Sessions:
Time frames of these sessions might be adjusted to fit your needs.
Immersion: Make Time to Lead
Rapport with Students and Staff
Coach Like a PIRATE: ANCHOR Conversations
PD Like a PIRATE: Transform Your Professional Development
Transforming the Hiring Process: Attaining and Retaining the Best Crew!
FaceTweetInstaSnap What?!?!
Rethinking Social Media to BOOST School Culture
Join Beth in an enthusiastic and engaging session on unleashing the power of social media to share the story of your school! Learn tools to improve communication, bust through roadblocks of implementation and empower students and staff to join you on your journey!
Session participants will learn how to:
- Utilize different social media platforms to share the story of what happens in their schools each day
- Share the stories of their school each day through the social media platforms
- Engage staff and students to help tell the story of the school
- Work through roadblocks that may arise with social media and schools
The Power of the PLN
Imagine being in the room with the most innovative, creative and intelligent minds? Sound impossible? No way! Join Beth as she helps you develop your very own Professional (and Personal) Learning Network! In this session, you will build or add to your existing PLN and learn how to tap into these resources to access 24/7 FREE, professional development as well as develop a life-changing support system.
Beth will also help you learn how to uncover an unbelievably rich set of resources for all subjects and stay current on emerging educational trends through the power of social media. You can have 365-day unlimited access to the most innovative minds in education, collaborate with like-minded educators with no geographic limitations, and personalize your professional development experience.
Hard to Reach, Hard to Teach? Strategies to Engage and Empower all Learners
Join Beth as she shares tips, tricks, and strategies to utilize with students and staff.
Session participants will learn how to:
- Develop and strengthen relationships with students and colleagues through tried and true strategies
- Implement classroom management strategies that move past compliance
- Utilize and implement tools that will engage students in content
- End with empowering strategies that will take learning to the next level
The Power of Appreciation
In our current times, appreciation is needed more than ever. In this session, Beth will share multiple strategies and resources that she has used in her school to build rapport with students, staff and parents. Participants will leave with a buffet of ideas and resources ready-made to use the next day!
Let's Get Digital!
Join Beth as we explore digital tools to enhance both the instructional leadership and management responsibilities of the principal. We will dive into PLN's, social media, Web 2.0 applications, blogging and much, much MORE Bring your devices and be ready to CONNECT!
From Surviving to Thriving as a School Leader
In a field of serving others, how often do we take time to take care of ourselves? Join Beth as she shares productivity and wellness practices to help us not only survive, but to thrive as school leaders.
Transforming Leadership: More BAM and Less Blah!
Join Beth to bring out the T in PIRATE: Transformation! How might we analyze our current practices to become makers of moments for our students and staff? From staff meetings to back to school to professional development to Monday mornings, let's bring the BAM to replace the blah!