Their mission and vision is simple: We must break the glass ceiling to eliminate the status quo to ensure equity for ALL students. R&R have faced adversity in their careers and are willing to do whatever it takes to call out ALL the “elephants” in the educational room so that educators, political leaders, and industry innovators can leverage talent and work together to best serve kids.

Rick Jetter, Ph.D. (a.k.a. “Dr. J”) is currently a national educational consultant, author, speaker, and trainer.  He previously worked as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent of schools before authoring multiple books in various genres, including the highly acclaimed Escaping the School Leader’s Dunk Tank with co-author Rebecca Coda.  His additional work focuses on the power of mindfulness, hiring the best staff for your school, and the power of narrative theory for providing students and educators with a voice. Rick’s training and keynotes are bold, reflective, and will leave you laughing and entertained through his doses of REAL scenarios that you can relate to within the schools of yesterday and today.

Rebecca Coda, NBCT is the K-6 Director of Curriculum for the Cabot Public Schools in Arkansas, author, speaker, and professional development facilitator.  She is the founder of Digital Native Network. She has extensive experience serving as a curriculum specialist, a data & assessment support specialist, and district technology integration program developer. Her most recent projects involve the progressive forward movement of technology integration and the impact of Industry 4.o on education. Her passion lies in embracing diversity and ensuring equity for ALL students. She is a guru in facilitating collaborative conversations through data learning teams that analyze the whole child, and mining for qualitative data not just a quantitative score. Her sessions are authentic, down to earth, and realistic yet laced with compassion, understanding, and replicable systematic approaches to finding solutions. She believes that ALL students deserve access to high quality rigorous instruction that will prepare them for a successful future.

Between Rick and Rebecca (R&R), they have over 35 years of service as teachers and leaders in the K-12 environment and in higher education with expertise ranging in practically all categories and levels of education and innovation. Their synergy and banter is contagious and you will experience a range of emotions in any session you attend, ultimately leaving you inspired, entertained, and empowered.

In addition to speaking, they are also featured weekly columnists for School Leaders Now: schoolleadersnow.com

Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. can also work with R&R on customizing a session that’s just right for you!

Let Them Speak!

Invite Rick and Rebecca to your school or organization to celebrate how student voice can bring about real changes to the educational system.  Are you having a student assembly or professional development day for staff?  Do you need Rick and Rebecca to do a keynote about the power of student voice?  This session will highlight stories about how student voice can be mined, how to use it for changing the status quo of schools, and the many victories that exist for kids and educators everywhere as part of triggering the Let Them Speak! movement.  Start off your school year on the right foot by activating student voice or regroup at any time during the school year to refocus your staff on what matters most. Rick and Rebecca believe that student voice is the BEST kind of data to use for anything related to serving students as they show you why the power of student voice needs to be activated now!

Student Voice, Activated & How Leaders PREVAIL!

In this session you will hear the raw and real stories from Rick & Rebecca as Dunk Tank Survivors. They focus on the current reality of politics in education and the human factors that influence why people do what they do. By interjecting humor surrounding education, they lighten the mood and have you laughing at the REAL circumstances that are stranger than fiction. In the latter part of the presentation they shift gears and focus on what we CAN do to tackle adversarial situations that exist on all levels in education. The conversation shifts to emotional intelligence, effective leadership practices, and restorative resilience.

Industry 4.0 and The Internet of Things

“Mind-blowing, futuristic, and revolutionary” all describe this one-of-a-kind presentation. During this presentation they will share video clips, research, and the most current cutting-edge innovations going on in the world today along with the projected technological advances currently in the making.  After experiencing mind boggling advancements, they shift into the current reality of schools and the layers of effectiveness that are present within our school system today. Historically they walk through all the Industrial Revolutions leading up to Industry 4.o and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this unprecedented time, they offer practical solution for all educators, political leaders, and industry disruptors. This truly is a presentation like no other.

I’m More than A Number

With Professional Learning Communities in full swing and data chats continuously occurring, educators are overwhelmed with data. Using data to effectively impact instruction is the ultimate goal, but are educators truly looking at the whole child? Rick and Rebecca offer a step by step approach to managing EVERY child in a school through the lens of various contributing factors that point to best practice leadership leverage. They walk through Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, the process of increasing rigor, and ultimately creating actionable steps to meet each student’s individual needs.

How to Market a New Mindset -Your School Culture

Everyone wants to step onto a school campus that is filled with happy children high fiving, being considerate, and skipping around as if they are in a Kodak commercial. Rick & Rebecca face the harsh reality that many of our schools face like lack of funding, serving a community of poverty and helping children of trauma. So how do you alter the mindset of students and teachers who are taxed by extreme circumstances, but don’t want to give up? During this emotionally charged presentation or training session, they offer challenges that need to be addressed, take-aways for immediate implementation, and new strategies to consider. This requires an open mind and a willingness to leave with a new mindset and belief that the impossible CAN be achieved.

Stepping Back to Surge Forward

This session is targeted for teacher leaders and administrators no longer in the classroom. Together, Rick & Rebecca take you down memory lane and what it was like teaching that first year. They layer on the obstacles and challenges of a teacher today and the burdens they carry beyond school. This simulation draws the audience into the reality of teaching today. They remind the audience of the key factors and practices that we must never compromise as educators if we want to remain in education. Classroom connection, relationships, and trust must be a mindset that we intentionally plan for and embrace. They will motivate you to take a step back to examine traditions in your school or career in education in order to surge further ahead.

Mining for Talent to Leverage Your Organization

Effective leaders are perpetually mining for all types of talent needed to carry out the work in education. Talent, passion, knowledge and skill are all key ingredients to any successful organization. Naturally leveraging these talents requires a leader who is willing to not only be a learner but also be willing to cross any barrier necessary to do what is best for students. If we are in the business of educating the whole child, shouldn’t we be in the business of leading the whole educator and looking for talent that is based on powerful attitudes and dispositions about children, schooling, and education at large? This session is for site leaders and district administrators who participate in hiring and leading their staff.  Other categories of presenting and training your team include (but are not limited to the following categories):

Leadership

• The Dunk Tank: Facing Adversarial Conditions
• Leadership Best (and Worst) Practices
• Hiring, Firing, Recruitment, and Retaining
• Team Building that Lasts
• School Boards Can be Nice (if we train them the right way)

Teaching & Instruction

• 25th Century Teaching and Learning
• Curriculum Mapping as a system
• Social-Emotional Learning & Anti-Bullying Campaigns
• Data & the Whole Child: I’m more than a number

Technology

• Industry 4.0 & the “Internet of Things”
• Future Impact on the role of Education
• Systems planning for district-wide implementation

School-Wide Innovation & Reform

• Mindfulness in the School and Classroom
• Using Stories and Narratives to Transform Your School Culture

Writing and Publishing

• Write Like a Pirate!: Professionals Who Write Professionally with an EDGE