E41-Brandon Wait, Director/Principal, Paladin Career and Technical High School

NewTech High Podcast
June 16, 2026

Brandon Wait Podcast (Paladin PCTHS)

I had the good fortune of hosting Brandon Wait, Executive Director of Paladin Career and Technical High School. Brandon has been at Paladin for 18 years under several iterations. You can't get a full flavor of his work until you hear this podcast, as well as a site visit. Even a visit to his office was instructive, which is briefly talked about in this podcast. I really enjoyed the session. He is uniquely thoughtful about his counseling approach to students. His skills in that area have certainly parlayed toward his leadership of this really unique high school. 


Brandon really does a great job of explaining his belief and practice around the idea of learner-centered. In fact, he corrects me when I mention student-centered. This is like Brittany Griffin from LCC, Bill Sommers and Jay Haugen. When you think of learner-centered, you are embracing the idea that everyone in the building is a learner, including the adults and you! 

I did this podcast while attending the AI Minnesota conference in St. Cloud, which was mind-blowing. I am not sure how we can conjure up a future that is AI-free. Our NewTech High beliefs generally center around the idea that AI will be a disruptive force. Second, we have a human future. However, this future will develop on the idea of increasing the human-ness of all that we do. Perhaps we will be better because of the disruption? Certainly, there are many aspects of the traditional schooling that have fallen short. Let's use this opportunity to redesign around a future where our students, staff and system will benefit! 

Thanks again, Brandon! 

Learning Omnivores Conference

We are now planning for our connection to a major conference at Hutchinson HS on July 14 at 9am. We have a star-studded cast of speakers lined up towards what will be a great first conference. 

Learning Omnivores is a brainchild of Bill Sommers, our frequent commentator and colleague. NewTech is providing some of the locality and elbow grease, but it is the broad insight of people like Bill and Bob Wedl that make this even something to pursue. 

Any school that is currently active with NewTech will be given a 50% discount to the normal price, so use the code NEWTECH when you register. If you are not currently active, do not use the code, but certainly are welcome to attend the conference. I will correct it if a code is misused as I can see the names on the Eventbrite invitation. We feel this conference is going to be something significant for us in terms of spreading messages of educational and societal change. AI may be a catalyst for this, but it is certainly not the reason for us to change. Our history and experience with the industrial factory model has been written about for over 100 years. The high school model was designed over 130 years ago and was meant to be efficient and to produce well-rounded college students. We have so much more to design into the system, and so much experience with it to know that there has to be a better way -- one that is more human-centered, relevant and useful for both the student and our society. 

Have a great week! 

Next Podcast -- Dr. Joe Hill, June 24, Executive Coach / Director, Higher Performance Group

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