In this episode of Standing Tall: Voices in Leadership, host Randy Lindquist sits down with Rebecca Midles, Vice President of Learning Design at Getting Smart and a pioneer in competency-based and personalized education. Rebecca shares her inspiring journey from growing up in a family of educators to leading transformative work across the U.S., including starting the first competency-based high school in Alaska. Discover how Rebecca’s innovative approaches have reshaped education systems, tackled challenges of equity and inclusivity, and embraced the role of community and student voice in school transformation. She delves into key trends like artificial intelligence, co-intelligence, and the future of credentialing in education. Rebecca also offers practical advice for leaders, administrators, and educators on navigating systems change while staying grounded in instructional leadership. Plus, hear her vision for schools of the future—immersive, community-driven, and purpose-filled learning environments.
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Learn more about Getting Smart
Resources Mentioned:
• Highland Academy Charter School: Formerly Highland Tech High School, the first standards-based school in the Anchorage School District.
• Reinventing Schools Coalition (RISC): An organization dedicated to transforming education systems to personalized mastery models.
• Lindsay Unified School District: A California district recognized for its performance-based learning approach.
• Future of Learning Council: A Michigan-based organization focused on defining learning to better meet the needs of students.
I was able to help start the first competency based High School.
Are they getting an opportunity to really experience authentic learning and being out in the workplace?
If you're in a stance of a learner, then you're humble.
Welcome to standing tall. Voices in leadership, the Podcast where we explore the stories, strategies and insights of leaders making a difference in education and beyond, and today's guest is no exception. I'm your host, Randy Lindquist, and I'm glad you are listening. I am thrilled to welcome Rebecca middles, Vice President of learning design at getting smart, a recognized leader and innovator in the world of personalized and competency based education with over two decades of experience in transforming schools and districts across the country. Rebecca has dedicated her career to creating learning environments that empower students and prepare them for a rapidly changing world. Whether you're an educator, administrator or simply passionate about the power of education, this conversation is one that I think you will enjoy. Let's stand tall.
Let's stand talking. Welcome Rebecca, thanks for joining me today. Thank you for having me. Glad to have you here.
You've had an interesting and exciting career path to where you are right now today, can you share some of the pivotal moments in your career that kind of led you to specialize in competency based and personalized learning? Absolutely,
I think the first first area would have been the fact that I am a child of educators, and so in many ways, that was probably the first stage, and education was not my first major in college. I went into politics and law, yeah, because I wanted to change the world that way. Pretty idealistic, and I think I probably thought that people would listen to what I had to say about education, just because I was a child of educators, not the case. So I also recognized really quickly that I was just drawn to education, and had been kind of fighting it. I was traveling abroad, and I found myself tutoring and teaching English, and I didn't even call it that, but it was my family that kind of said, you know, you're in education, you're doing it. So stop fighting. Stop fighting. And when I came back to the States, I had, you know, I was with some folks that were on their way up to Alaska.
And so I found myself in Alaska and an opportunity to get a master's in personalized learning, because the university there was doing that in a competency based way, and it was a year long student teaching process that was really in depth. And so I got to experience it as a student, a grad student, going through that, and also I then got to experience it as a teacher right away. And so I wound up being fortunate enough to be a part of some early work around competency based learning that was funded at the time. It wasn't funded, but then became funded with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and we had started to do personalized learning, because the context really challenged us to try to meet the needs of all our learners, and sometimes really small, rural, remote systems. And oftentimes, I was in systems as a teacher that you could only fly into, so didn't have a lot of access to resources unless it was virtually or online. So in many ways, that state was far ahead in technology. And through that, a lot of us started collaborating in other villages, across the way, in other more remote locations, and trying to share resources about what our students needed, because we didn't have somebody that was willing to or had that ability to provide that. And then that led to some really strong shifts towards a paradigm shift of personalized learning.
Through that process, I was able to help start the first competency based High School in America. You probably haven't heard of it because it was in Alaska Highland tech, and there were a lot of us in that journey that started, many that are providing personalized learning support in other organizations in the country. And through that process, we got to experience what it was like starting ground zero, because up until that point, we had all been doing personalized learning, or talking about personalized learning from the seat of a teacher in a comprehensive system, super relevant, but you're also having to talk about a change to a school that is a neighborhood school that has a lot of history that people have been going to and we were successful, but it's a slow process, and we were oftentimes creating a visual that we hadn't attained yet. And so a couple of us were like, We get it. We can talk to communities, but we need to see what this looks like a couple years in to really check ourselves on.
On whether this is possible and whether it can be done. And so we started that high school in Anchorage, and it was, it was people from all over the state coming together to provide an atmosphere that had people choosing to be in a competency based system. We didn't call it competency back then. It was proficiency, and we were able to go a lot further faster. So that was a pivotal point for me in my career.
And from that, I wound up consulting with this organization called reinventing Schools Coalition, and we wound up doing work in other states. Lindsay, California was one of the ones. We went to Denver, Colorado. We did a lot of work in Maine, and we would start doing some consulting while being practitioners. And the work escalated into the point where some of us had to, like, just be kind of full time consultants at that point. Through that work, I got to meet up with the folks in Lindsay and help with the Race to the Top grant. I just helped with the small portion. But through that work, it led to actually moving down there and working alongside them.
So that took me out of Alaska. Pretty big pivotal point. Up until that point, I'd been up there for about 17 years. Oh, wow. So that was a huge, huge shift. I grew up in Washington State, but I had really spent the majority of my life at that point as an adult in Alaska. So Alaska, California, we won't even go to that. That changed our family at this point. I also had two children, you know, my husband, I, we moved to California, and this is a system that had already gotten past that shared vision stage and the why had a lot of momentum in the community. It was a 4500 student population,
and it was, it was wonderful. I got to work on the social emotional learning competencies from pre K to graduate outcomes, as well as the adult continuum, and be a part of some really strong change at a district level. Prior to this, I'd been at a school level and I and in Highland, I became an administrator too, so I had moved up the ranks, and so now I was at the district level, and it was great to learn all that process and also to be in such a strong community, really rich
support and involvement. And it was a gift. Through that I sponsored tours, and that's where I met the crew from Colorado, because I was coming across this through the consulting, through the state work in Alaska, through the work in California. I would often hear, sometimes a scarcity mindset, if you will. But like, oh, you can do that there, because there's this perception that we had all this money right, right in Alaska, or there's a must see, an urgency platform. Or you can do this where you're at now, because there's a there's second language learners, or there's some other need that they would try. It's not possible here. It's not possible, right? Oh, that's a small system. It's possible here. And although I could refute it, because I had done this model in New York during the innovation three grant. I had done this work in Maine. I done this work in Denver, in different contexts, different sizes.
The biggest system to have done this work at this point was what's now called Westminster, with 10,000 students, so big enough for you to talk about scale, but not necessarily big enough to capture the attention of some of those larger districts with multiple high schools. And so for myself, I just, I tend to run to challenges. And so I wanted to go to a place that I thought, you know, it's wonderful setting. I had met the people. He was amazing. He brought this great diverse group to see what Lindsay in action. But to go to a system that wouldn't necessarily attract money for the demographics, go to a system that had more than two high schools. They had, I think, four or five, you know, if you count their alternative choices as well,
and that you couldn't fit all the teachers of one level into a multi purpose room, so it forced you to really have great practices. They also had a wonderful team at that stage. When I was in Colorado, I would say that'd be my next big, Pivotal learning moment. I treasure that experience. I learned so much from the people I worked with.
I leaned heavily on the knowledge that was there. It was a it was a group effort to really move towards personalized learning and a large system, and I would probably still be there if I didn't need to return home for some some illnesses at my father and just in general, be closer to family. So I moved back to Washington, and I'm now working as a consultant and working with groups all over the country. And I'm been very fortunate. But I would say the Highland tech in Anchorage, starting that school, being a part of work like Lindsay, and then the work in Colorado, where I actually really learned what scaling looks like, have been treasured milestones. Yeah. So in your own journey through what you just mentioned, as well as now working as a consultant with some schools, you certainly have seen some struggles schools have with this type of transformation towards different learning models, specifically personalized learning, and in this case, so what common obstacles do schools face when they try to transition to a competency based model or personalized learning model, and what kind of guidance Do you provide to help them get past those obstacles? Well, the.
Obstacles can vary. I mean, if they're already concerning personalized learning, so they've already kind of done some work around the why, and so they're trying to potentially solve something right, that they may not actually be providing.
So where it varies from that point? Because sometimes just getting to that point is the journey in itself, right? But I think where it varies from that point is who's leading them, where
is the community and the student voice in that work? Critical, critical. Yeah. And how involved are the school board members and the community members that have a strong voice in that process?
I think we often talk about a shared vision, or community stakeholder nights, but what winds up happening is we're kind of still doing it to people, or maybe for them, but not really, you know, intrinsically with them. And the benefit of although that's more work, the benefit of that is you have more people problem solving the challenges and the bumps in the road along the way, and seeing the iterative nature of that. So those can be really important pieces that I kind of look at, and I often will do, if it's possible, I will do site visits, just kind of get to know the cultures of the schools. If it's a portfolio of schools with one similar learning model, is it a portfolio of schools with very different ways of doing things? How where's that ownership? Where's been success? What does it look like for personalized learning in those in those contexts? And then from that, I think you, I think it's really important to play off what's working. Where are the strengths? For strengths? Strengths based, right? Yeah, I look at, hey, we've got a really good workshop model happening in your middle schools. What would that look like as it rolls up to your high school? Are things like that are already there, that are already strong. I really believe in working with what people already have spent time and money and training in and finding out where those pivot or lever points are, that they've already experienced success, and it truly is something that's theirs. You know? They don't have to swap a program, yeah. And so I look at those where those strengths are. I look at the different entry points that people have in the model, where are we kind of flattening decision making? Where are we hearing from the families and the students? Where are we hearing from the principals and the teachers? Like, where is that in that process? So sometimes that's mindset work. Yeah, it's interesting that you talk about that, because I think many people think they have to start from scratch. When I make a change like this, and they really don't, there's things happening within schools you can build upon. So you're not starting from ground zero, and then that student and parent voice being a critical component of that change is really important, and that's who we're doing it for, right? Exactly. Yeah, that's our customer, right? So assuming that we know what they need is probably not a good idea. Well, I've gotten to know you a little bit through the future of learning council here in Michigan, and we're happy to have you with us and joining us on a pretty regular basis. Now. In one of our last sessions, you shared some trends in education, which I found fascinating, and I knew some of them, but still I thought it was interesting. We laid them out, and I've used that information already multiple times back in where I work at the ISD. So I'm wondering if you could speak to some of those trends and how they may shape the future of education here in Michigan. Well, the trends actually, I want to give credit to Tom Van dark, who I work with at getting smart, because I believe he led that, and he's really well known for really identifying what those trends are. There are, I think we did 10. So I don't think you want me to go through all of them. No, some of the ones, but there were 10. They were all good.
And they're all, you know, I think any opportunity, I hope when it comes up, you're looking at the challenges, but you're also looking at the opportunities within that tension, as many did during the pandemic. There were some really opportunities that people made some really innovative choices and benefited from in a terrible time, in a very challenging time. I think that, you know, obviously, we know that there's a trend with artificial intelligence and how that works with us. I'm gonna, I wanna go to those problems. Yeah, you called it co intelligence, which I thought was interesting, yes, yes, and how that can work alongside or with what we already believe to be true about people and learning, and I think that piece cannot be avoided. So what I hope like person I'll step aside from, what I think Tom was also sharing, is what I also hope within that is that we look at it as a resource that is supportive, that can also unleash some of the time, the opportunities that we don't ever have time for because sometimes we are really, even as teachers, stuck in some of that granular kind of technical stuff. And you can wind up spending so much time teaching that that you don't get to do that art of teaching that you know is true for your kids. So some of those things that can be, I think, automatized and are going to be what the student experiences in a job. The more that we can incorporate that in learning, the better, so that we can talk about what makes us human in that, and where do we navigate that? Where is that creative innovation? You know, I don't think that we ever turned our back on curiosity and joyful learning, but where do we make space for that within this new path moving forward? I think this is an opportunity to do that. I think it's also not.
Opportunity to provide a lot of personalized learning supports. I think we mentioned play lab and some other others that are out there doing that, that students can actually learn how to prompt and use that to find solutions based on a set of competencies that you've already included in your AI chat bot, and pull in their interest and come up with projects and think about ways they could walk through that. But they're still going to be doing the work. They're still going to be getting out there doing that contextual experience, hands on, that immersive that AI cannot do for you, but sometimes we don't have enough time to incorporate our systems because we are doing some of that more granular stuff. So I look forward to that. I think that was one of the major trends, kind of throughout, and I think also the ways that we can think about credentialing as we move forward. How are we capturing that before so many of our challenges and obstacles were technology, and now, with those kind of gates more or less open, how do we use that, then, to try to capture learning in a way that stays with the learner, and they can use that in their life to make different choices that are transferable in different contexts? Yeah, yeah. Technology shouldn't, shouldn't shouldn't be an obstacle anymore, that's for sure. No. And, you know, I think when people let technology or a platform direct their learning model, they it didn't work out well, right? I think it should always be a compliment. So from an outsider perspective, I'm curious as to what, what excites you about what you see and hear from the participating districts in the future of learning council. You know, you come to Michigan, you go back home. So what are you seeing? Hearing that you think is exciting for our state? Well, not that you need to hear this, but I didn't have time to take on another project. But when it comes to FLC, I will do it, because I do love what's happening in Michigan. And I think I say that whenever I can, because I truly feel that way. I'm very connected. I did kind of feel like I married into the state a little bit, so I'm invested.
But what I noticed right away about the work here in Michigan is the
how intrinsic motivation to really try to be in a learner stance, for teachers and for leaders, to really try to build a system that's really truly meeting the needs of all students, and how they can do that, so that's very enticing. And the level of humility is needed in this conversation. Doesn't always show up, but it's super needed. If you're in a stance of a learner, then you're humble. And I think that really is a shining quality about the people that we work with here. So I love that, but I also believe that any good work in the country that has been around personalized learning has happened through coalitions. I was thankful enough to be a part of one like I mentioned in Alaska. That was a coalition of assist of schools, and we would all get together and meet a couple times a year and share best practices. And what we did, we'd have teacher strands, we'd have leadership strands, and this was what quality schools, which became reinventing Schools Coalition would support. So very similar structure. Maine had something like that as well. Part of that there's definitely a collection of schools from Race to the Top that kind of built a de facto network. But the more of coalitions and networks that you have, I think it's really supportive to see kind of a groundswell. Yeah, it can provide cover, because there's a lot of people doing it, and sometimes we need that politically. But I also think that it's really just more about crowdsourcing great ideas and learning from one another and being in community. Yeah, the FLC has organically grown, and I think there's power in that learning something all the time from other districts and what they're doing. My next question is about competency based learning models, and wondering how those models can be designed to ensure equity and inclusivity for all students. You mentioned all students just a minute ago. So how do those models help ensure that equity piece? Well, there's a lot of, I think conversations I feel like competency based learning is, well, like any system, it can become inequitable if we don't hold it dear and close and as a driving factor and design principle. I mean, it was intended, the way I experienced it. It was intended to meet the needs of all of our learners in Alaska who weren't getting their needs met on a small system. We didn't. Maybe we only had two or three teachers in some of those schools. Sometimes we had, you know, less than 100 kids, K 12. And so there was a, there was a dying need to really like, we need to fix this. And oftentimes, like in Highland, we had kids, you know, that's, that's a district that speaks over 100 different languages. There's a lot, so there's really diverse community. And so it, the intent was there. But just like anything, I think, with any learning model, you just don't want to lose that. And sometimes what makes us lose that is a system that's been set up to kind of fight personalized learning, right? It's more about a factory model. We still have some of those systems in place, yeah? And also, I think, you know, we have some adult centric behavior that sometimes stops that and it and it's not intended. It wasn't intentional. But, you know, we've been in a system that is not always kind, not just in salary, but it's just not always kind in hours, and the way they're treated in that work. And so, you know, we've gone we've come through some really hard stuff lately. And so sometimes there's just a general lack of kind of like, what next? There's been so much change. So I think sometimes I want to give us some grace in that, but sometimes we can fall to more adult centric choices in.
In that execution. But true competency based learning does require a different kind of work. I don't believe it's more work. I do believe it's different work kind of work, and I don't know that we always let go of the other stuff to make it successful. So just trying to keep that in mind, really understanding where our learners are having good data, not just about what they can do on certain content specific standards, but really who they are, what matters to them, how they see themselves, their identity work, where they want, what matters to them. Post School, having those opportunities and pull that into project based learning, authentic projects, interdisciplinary learning, all these things are not new, no, right? They've always been there. We know this to be good teaching, but I think what's different about competency based personalized learnings is meant to be kind of a systems approach that gets gets at those system design pieces that kind of hold us back. Yeah, those are all good learning for students, and important that we understand that it's not new stuff like you just said, yeah. What guidance would you offer educators and administrators embarking on the journey of of moving towards personalized learning? Well, I think we just did something like that yesterday. We did a little centering activity about how, what, what is our level of commitment for the journey ahead?
I think teachers have always dabbled or gone into this work because it's just good teaching. It's
sometimes been the system or a curriculum requirement or a textbook that you need that will hold back. I don't think that this is necessarily a teacher problem as much as a systems problem with teachers. I don't see teachers as the challenge. So let me go to the roles of leaders.
I think there is an expectation that we are all instructional leaders, but our system hasn't always promoted people that are instructional leaders, but they have promoted probably really strong people, really and there are people magnets and they're and they have a lot of charisma and they have a lot of value, I think, understanding that that the role of leader is not a manager necessarily in this case, and that you need both, but leadership needs to be the one that wins out, and making those tough decisions so really checking in with yourself, like, Am I ready to be that leader? If I'm not, am I ready to let someone lead alongside me or lead before me? And how can we do that together? Because it is going to be tough. And I do believe, let me speak for myself as a teacher, where I got really involved in competency based learning, is when I had a principal say, I got you.
You guys innovate. You do this. I'll find time. I'll get you the resources. I'll help with the community meetings. I'll help with any parent conversations. I got you. That's pretty empowering, isn't? I don't know how to do it, but I got you cover. I'll cover you and just that honesty about like, I don't know how to do it, but I'm gonna let you experiment and not have to deal with the aftermath of consequence, but I am going to check in on you. You are going to have to tell me why you made those choices, like keep it real. Yeah, you know, not malpractice kind of idea, but having that kind of leader was really helpful. And then again, at the district level, same thing, if I had a superintendent like that, or if I had someone that was overseeing that, so really being able to kind of lean into the ambiguity and not being afraid because you have shared agreements and principles that will guide you in that process. It's not an easy road. If it was easy, it'd be done, right? We know this, and also, I don't think that humanity is ever going to be easy. We're, you know, if we're really trying to do personalized learning, there's always going to be nuances and new learning. And hopefully you have found that in your position that that drives you, yeah, I think being in a learner's dance drives a lot of us in this work. We like to keep learning new things about people and questioning and moving on and iterating. I think that's kind of really the new normal for not just education, but for many of us. Yeah, we have to keep learning and growing and iterating, because the world's changing constantly and faster than ever before, right? And if we don't change and think differently, we're going to be left behind, I think so that's important. So what drives your passion for all this, this transformational work you're doing in educational systems? Well before I had children, I was always drawn to young people, and I did come from the work of education in my family, so I had some incredibly strong role models that showed me what it looked like. I did see them bur the candle at both ends, and I want to keep that in mind as I say that, but they were very motivating to me. So that's a driver certainly. Now as a mother, I also have my children as my own driver. I'm proud to say that I was always, you know about a model for all kids, but I certainly now have two children that really pushed that for me. And so I have, you know, I have a son who I think school, playing the game of school is very easy for him, and if he's anything like what I was in school, and he becomes, you know, valedictorian, if they still do that ranking, hopefully they don't. But let's say he graduates in a Greek system and he gets sigma kumlady, or whatever it might be in the future for high school. I hope he truly graduates choice ready, as Corey has shared with you, I hope he really graduates in a way where what happens after high school is truly His choice, and he feels ready to make that choice. I know college my generation, you went to college. You want to be successful, you go to college. And when I got to college, I was not prepared. I was a valedictorian who did not know how to advocate for myself. I didn't.
Not know what I was interested in. I didn't even have group identity. I was too busy playing the game, so I hadn't had an opportunity to really think about what that would look like. So that's a motivating factor for me, and I see it in my son. That's a good reminder. I also have a daughter the system excludes like she's in a four person life skills class because she has a genetic syndrome and she's, you know, there may be a half the kids in her class are verbal and nonverbal, and they they all need love. She loves being there with them. But are they actually getting what they need post high school? Are they getting an opportunity to really experience authentic learning and being out in the workplace and and finding their own passion and joy within that outside of custodial and serving coffee at a coffee cart? So, I mean, I think those are still two big drivers for me, yeah. And I also think that I see a profession that's been,
you know, they stayed the course with really tough times. How can we make this the profession it deserves to be? And I'm really want to see us change the way we support education and teachers in this in this role, so that that's a passion for me too, and your passion is real, and you can see it there for sure. So I end all interviews with something we call rapid fire, fun, quick questions. First Response may or may not be dedicated to educational questions, but we're gonna find out you're on the right track with that answer. So are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. All right. Favorite food on your holiday table? Pumpkin pie. Oh, nice. You know, I think I've heard that from another guest as well. And I'm not a dessert driven person, but I like to think pumpkin and cheesecake exclude that rule, because they, you know, they've got protein and a vegetable. That's a good perspective. A couple repeats. Now, for some guests, Die Hard, one of my favorite movies of all time. Do you think it's a Christmas movie or not?
I think for some people it is. Yeah, it is for me. So all right, yeah, absolutely. Are you a Swifty?
I am I share the same birthday. You do? Yeah, we're both December 3. You're practically famous that way. Then that's right,
coffee, tea, or something else to kick start your day.
Well, I am in the northwest, so I'm going to tell you coffee, but I do believe that it's really not the best for me, and I can't have it after 10 o'clock and and I would like to get to the point where I don't need it, and water would do the trick with a little bit of lemon. But I'm still in the coffee stage. All right, that's okay. I am too. If you could have dinner with one historical figure in education, who would it be?
I would probably say Maria Montessori. My sister teaches in a Montessori school, and I like to see what they do in those systems for sure. So much of what she had at that time with that context is still true. It is absolutely, absolutely is what's one song you can't resist to sing along to happy Oh, for else, that's a very uplifting song. It is, what's your go to? Comfort food?
Anything to do with cheese, macaroni
and cheese, grilled cheese. It's a problem. That's my basic I don't think it's a problem. It's okay. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Um, Alaska, probably, oh, I do believe it's a beautiful book. We wouldn't have left if it didn't have we just needed more services for my
what actress would play you in a movie of your life story? It would have to be a comedian. I loved it. I
look forward to that movie. Lastly, what do you hope schools look like in 10 years?
I hope they look immersive and fluid.
I hope they are really, truly immersed in the community, and that it feels multi generational,
and I feel like the purpose has to be really strong and present. That's great. Well, Rebecca, thank you for being here. I am so happy that your parents influence one out and you became an educator. At heart, your passion is real, and we appreciate you being in Michigan. Thanks for the visit. Thank you so much. So let's do a debrief again with producer, Ben. Ben, I think you can see that we have a pretty amazing asset helping us at future learning council with Rebecca and the work she's done across the country with getting smart, but also in her past experiences, what'd you think? Yeah, so many huge takeaways. And also what an awesome asset to have on this podcast, and then in that group, that someone who's helped systems in Alaska and Denver and literally all over the country is helping us and coming to your earbuds, the first big takeaway I had was the idea that she was talking about how some of the cool stuff they did in Alaska actually happened because of the creative constraints they had about being so remote. So I think sometimes, as leaders, we look at these constraints and we get discouraged. We're like, oh, we can't do this because of this constraint. And sometimes the constraint can actually produce some of the best work, because you have to come up with some creative thing. And I know some of my most creative campaigns came during COVID Because I had just such clear constraints on me. And you think of like a river, a river doesn't flow without the bank. And so, you know.
You could look at a bank as being like, Oh, this sucks. Or you could be like, hey, this can be my creative strength to make something awesome. You know. Yeah, good perspective on that. Rebecca also brings that experience in those in those areas, with how she's involved her communities, how she's involved students, getting student voice and staff. But it's not been one person making decisions without that important feedback from a larger, broader community. Yep, and you're amazing at that, that you don't make four people. You listen to them and build with them. You know, other thing about you Randy is you have so many balls in the air that you juggle, but you always are grounded in instruction. So what did you think about her advice to superintendents and principals that they have to be the instructional leader of their organization? I thought it was critical, because it's hard as an administrator to sometimes focus on that you get bogged down in the day to day management stuff that comes at you, and I think it gets worse every year for especially building administrators, but even superintendents that a lot of demands come at them from different aspects, students, staff and or parents in the community, right? And you want to react that. You want to manage that, but you have to always, always, always keep that instructional piece up front and foremost. That's what we're here for. Yeah, well, you and I got to go to an AI conference last a couple weeks ago, and they talked about how leadership and teaching is like a bundle of different skills those, and how could AI replace some of those other things so that you could put more of your attention towards the instruction aspect? You know? Yeah, try to save yourself some time in the front end, to give yourself more time on the back end, or with in your classroom within your building, to connect with people more. Yeah, pretty critical, yeah.
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