NewTech High--It is Personal!

NewTech High Podcast April 28, 2026 Brittany Griffin , LCC Director of Collective Learning, joined the NewTech High podcast series this week. Thank you to NTH Board Member Lucy Payne who joined us and participated in the podcast. Brittany is an education innovator with a lifelong passion for learner-centered models, rooted in her experiences as a Montessori student. Her journey in education began as a HS French teacher where she earned her MEd in Instructional Technology. Brittany’s impact grew as she went viral with her students on Twitter and later co-authored the AP French textbook, APprenons. In 2013, her career expanded into educational technology, where she spent several years at Amplify managing the implementation of classroom hardware and software tools. She consulted with districts at Education Elements, focusing on personalized learning, competency-based education, change management, and organizational design. In 2018, Brittany joined the Learner-Centered Collaborative, where...

NewTech High Podcast April 22, 2026 Today, we were joined by Justin Dahlheimer, Superintendent and Brad Hoffarth, HS Principal at Osakis. Ironically, this is my alma mater. Neither Justin or Brad were around during that time. Ha.Osakis has a great little District nestled between bigger districts. They have been a big open enrollment winner. In the podcast, you will hear about their "Power of One" initiative, as well as some of those conditions that have helped them be a consistent open enrollment winner over the last twenty years.  Hoffarth has had a long-tenure in the District (34 years) doing multiple jobs (teacher, coach, Athletic Director and coach. Dahlheimer is an OHS Graduate and has connections to the District that are similar to a generational family farm. His Grandfather and Great Grandmother were actually long-term school board members in the District. This is a unique example of a District that we really haven't seen before. How do you innovate when your relat...

Rick Melmer Podcast  (click on the title) April 8, 2026 I deeply enjoy listening to Rick Melmer talking about leadership. Some people are able to project such confidence when they speak. Rick is one of those people. You don't question whether he was great at what he did. You can hear it authentically.  Rick was a teacher, the Superintendent of schools in 3 different states, the Dean of Education for the University of South Dakota, and the Secretary of Education for the State of South Dakota. He is also the founder of Leadership South Dakota. Rick recently did a training with all the Southwest Superintendents in Minnesota and I was an attendee.  Rick has an incredible ability to make complex elements of leadership and simplify them into easy, actionable concepts. Similar to this, I ended up reading a book from that training, "The 8 Paradoxes of Great Leadership" by Tim Elmore. Today's podcast was about these paradoxes.  This speaks to so much of what we are trying to ...

NewTech High Podcast,  April 1, 2026 Good afternoon, everyone. This afternoon, we welcome Janelle Field, currently working as a Continuous Improvement Coach at Resource Training and solutions out of St. Cloud. Today's Podcast with Janelle Janelle has had a more than 30 year career in education, including working as an elementary teacher at both Rockford and BBE schools, being a lead 1:1 Tech Integrationist at BB Schools. Later, she took on the role as the Engagement coach in the district. Eventually, her expertise led her on to a Lead Instructional Coach at SWWC positions in the co-ops working with regional schools on teacher center work on optimal school environment, overall school improvement and instructional change. If I had only one person to start any educational institution, innovation or idea, Janelle would be among the people at the top of the list without question. Above anything else, Janelle has incredible passion for her work, no matter what she is doing. She possesses...