Navigating the National Ed Tech Landscape and the IT Pipeline with Dr. Jill Brown
Dr. Jill Brown, Director of Professional Learning at CoSN, joins the hosts to discuss her transition from an independent school leader to a national association executive. The conversation highlights common challenges across public and private school sectors, including staffing pipelines, cybersecurity, and practical strategies for managing the rapid integration of AI in the classroom.
- CoSN, professional association for K-12 EdTech leaders
- ATLIS Pillar Awards, recognizing technology leaders in independent schools for their significant, long-term contributions, innovation, and dedication to the profession
- Casa Brown House Concert Venue
- “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line
Transcript
Peter Frank:
Dan, welcome to Talking technology with ATLIS,
Peter Frank:
the show that plugs you into the important topics and trends for
Peter Frank:
technology leaders all through a unique Independent School lens.
Peter Frank:
We'll hear stories from technology directors and other
Peter Frank:
special guests from the Independent School community,
Peter Frank:
and provide you with focused learning and deep dive topics.
Peter Frank:
And now please welcome your host. Christina Lewellen,
Christina Lewellen:
Hello, and welcome back to talking
Christina Lewellen:
technology with ATLIS. I'm Christina Lewellen, the
Christina Lewellen:
President and CEO of the Association of technology
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leaders in independent schools.
Bill Stites:
And I am Bill Stites, the Director of
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Technology at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair, New
Bill Stites:
Jersey, and
Hiram Cuevas:
I'm Hiram Cuevas, the Director of Information
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Systems and Academic Technology at St Christopher school in
Hiram Cuevas:
Richmond, Virginia.
Christina Lewellen:
Hello, gentlemen, good morning. How are
Christina Lewellen:
you happy New Year. Happy New Year. Did you have to like,
Christina Lewellen:
remember your titles? You've been off for a couple weeks.
Christina Lewellen:
This is our first recording of the year. How was your break? Do
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you feel good coming back? I can
Bill Stites:
tell you that it was a good break, because at one
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point I had to ask, What day is it? Oh, that's a good break. I
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always tell people in it, it is the one time of year where the
Bill Stites:
building is closed. There's no camps going on, like spring
Bill Stites:
break. You'll have people that are still working, like one week
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on one week off. It's the only time of year where everything
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shuts down and no one expects anything of you. And it's really
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the best break that you get during the year, in my opinion.
Hiram Cuevas:
Yeah, I had a similar experience. My out of
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office message was, I will see you on January 5,
Christina Lewellen:
and hopefully not
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before, and hopefully not before. I spent a
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lot of good quality time with the family. We did a little bit
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of traveling, and then had a few days to kind of prepare myself
Hiram Cuevas:
for re entry. It was fun.
Bill Stites:
So Christina, I do want to acknowledge something,
Bill Stites:
and I do want to start the year out on the right foot. I want to
Bill Stites:
acknowledge that for the 100th episode that we did, the work
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that Peter Frank put into the closing of that episode, oh,
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incredible. Was unbelievable. It was on heavy rotation as far as
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what I was listening to and sharing with others. Though I
Bill Stites:
don't like doing this often, I want to put a public thank you
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and a job well done to our good friend, our producer, Peter
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Frank, on the work there. But I also want to follow up, because
Bill Stites:
we're now into 101 I wanted to alert everyone to a new
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installment of the next zombie movie that's coming out. So
Bill Stites:
count one for zombie references for the next 100 because I got
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to figure out when I'm driving down to hirams on January 16,
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because the next 28 years later, movie is coming out, and we need
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to revisit the whole zombie genre again, the bone tower.
Bill Stites:
Yes, exactly.
Christina Lewellen:
So it's January 16. Oh, I'm gonna feel a
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disturbance in the Force.
Hiram Cuevas:
And you know, one other thing, Christina, I got a
Hiram Cuevas:
gift over the holidays from Mr. Stites. You did. I finally got
Hiram Cuevas:
MKA swag. I couldn't believe it.
Christina Lewellen:
What'd you get? I don't have any MKA swag
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at all, and I just was on the phone with some MKA leadership
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yesterday. Now I'm feeling sad.
Hiram Cuevas:
Well, you have to wait at least five to six years
Hiram Cuevas:
before you get it. Oh, okay.
Hiram Cuevas:
I mean, bill comes here and I give him a shirt right away.
Bill Stites:
We don't have a gear shop on campus. Hiram. I
Bill Stites:
got Hiram a hat. He's losing too much heat out of the top of his
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head, and I need to make sure when he's out walking the dog,
Bill Stites:
he can keep his head warm, so I got him a little beanie.
Christina Lewellen:
Okay, I'll expect my beanie in the mail.
Christina Lewellen:
I'm so glad you guys had a great break. I'll just briefly mention
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the elephant in the room that I'm sure many people are curious
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about, and that is that news has hit the street that I have
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decided to move on from Atlas later this year, and more
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information about all the details of that to come, but
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I'll just say I love living in this moment of celebration. It's
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been so lovely to look back and think back by time I leave.
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It'll be just a hair under seven years that I've been here at
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Atlas and to have gotten so many kind messages and the LinkedIn
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posts. It's incredible. It was a really difficult decision for
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me, but one of the things I knew I wanted, though I certainly
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didn't expect it to be this soon, I knew I wanted to leave
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ATLIS on top, like I wanted to leave when the organization was
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absolutely thriving, when the board is clicking along on all
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cylinders like there's just nothing better than this job.
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And some people probably think I'm absolutely crazy to go and
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maybe I am, but I will say that it is in such a prime condition
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for anyone who steps in as the next leader, and I'm obviously
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going to be right here, John. Cheering on the sidelines for
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everything to come with Atlas. Both you guys serve on the
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boards of the Atlas certification Council and Atlas,
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and you know, you've been side by side with me, not only on
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this podcast, but in leadership. And so it was one of the hardest
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things I've ever had to do, was to tell you guys that this
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happened, and it caught me off guard. It wasn't something I was
Christina Lewellen:
necessarily out looking for. And so it came into my world, and
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sometimes you just say yes, and this felt like a moment where I
Christina Lewellen:
was going to say yes. So there's going to be lots of time to do
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the dismount and all the goodbyes and thank yous and all
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that. But I just wanted to acknowledge to everyone who's
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listening that it's been the ride of a lifetime, and I'm in
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my feels about all of it for sure.
Bill Stites:
Well, you will be sorely missed, I can honestly
Bill Stites:
say, but know that you will never be too far away, because
Bill Stites:
you can leave, but you can't get rid of us. I know that's what
Bill Stites:
you just have to prepare yourself for.
Christina Lewellen:
I'm hopeful that that is the case. I really
Christina Lewellen:
love this community. You guys are absolutely the best.
Hiram Cuevas:
Yeah, it was a serious case of happy sad when I
Hiram Cuevas:
when I read the news, but it's fabulous news for you
Hiram Cuevas:
professionally.
Christina Lewellen:
Thanks, Hiram. I appreciate it. I just
Christina Lewellen:
don't even know what to say right now about it, because I
Christina Lewellen:
think it's all just a little fresh and a little new, but I at
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least wanted to bring it up, just because everyone has been
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so sweet and kind. And you know, sometimes I'll just say this
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like you hope that you're leaving a fingerprint, you know,
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not like a dent, not a Fender dent in the spaces that you
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occupy, but at least just a light, little fingerprint. And
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it's been so cool to hear people coming to me and saying they're
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either impressions of what we've been doing together as ATLIS, or
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how we've grown, or the impact that we've had in the
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Independent School community in the last couple years. And so
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that fingerprint, you know, if I was in any way responsible for
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it, it makes me feel really proud, like I love the work we
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do together. So I'm not a deeply emotional person, but this has
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been an interesting ride. It's Happy, sad, I know, happy, sad
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indeed. Well, let's go to something just plain happy. I'm
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actually really thrilled that on the day that I had to let this
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all out, we have Dr Jill Brown with us today. Jill is cosins
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Director of Professional Learning, where she's been since
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kind of early 2021 not long after the pandemic, or kind of
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in the heat of the pandemic, I guess. But before she was at
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cole send, when I first came in, back in 2019 Jill was still
Christina Lewellen:
working in independent schools, and she was one of the first,
Christina Lewellen:
what I call first gen, right, first gen tech leaders that I
Christina Lewellen:
came across. And she was just killing it out there. I knew she
Christina Lewellen:
was one of those folks out west. And also being in Albuquerque,
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wasn't surrounded by a deep technology leadership community.
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It wasn't like it was a highly populated area with a ton of
Christina Lewellen:
schools, right? So Jill just stood out to me, and of course,
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she's just such a sweetheart. So Jill, I am so glad to have you
Christina Lewellen:
here on the podcast. This is definitely a bucket list for me,
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is to have this conversation with you. So thank you for
Christina Lewellen:
joining us. Oh, I'm thrilled to be
Jill Brown:
here with amazing people that I love from a long
Jill Brown:
time of working together.
Christina Lewellen:
Thank you. And let's start with that. Let's
Christina Lewellen:
go to you know, obviously I touched on how it was that I
Christina Lewellen:
first came to know you, but I'm certain that that was pretty
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deep into your journey in life when I inserted myself as a
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chapter. So tell us a little bit about your background, and now
Christina Lewellen:
you're working at a national association with a significant
Christina Lewellen:
footprint serving CTOs at cole sin. But I would love to start
Christina Lewellen:
if I could, where did this come from? What was your journey
Christina Lewellen:
like, and where did you start your education career?
Jill Brown:
Yeah, the technology thing kind of fell into a lot of
Jill Brown:
people I talked to did as well. I started as an elementary
Jill Brown:
school teacher, and I love teaching. I really did love it.
Jill Brown:
And when I was teaching, we finally got a lab in the school,
Jill Brown:
and I took the kids to the lab. I had no idea what to do with
Jill Brown:
them. I was just like, Okay, this is a reward for behaving in
Jill Brown:
class. We're gonna go to the lab, and then we'd get there,
Jill Brown:
and I'm like, just kind of let them play. And then I was like,
Jill Brown:
Wait a second, this could be a learning tool. This could be
Jill Brown:
something tied to my curriculum, and they were so excited about
Jill Brown:
it, and it put the kids in charge of their learning, which
Jill Brown:
was always my philosophy. You know, the teacher doesn't teach
Jill Brown:
the kids anything. You create the environment, and then they
Jill Brown:
learn. And with technology, that seemed to be something that just
Jill Brown:
let them take off and really own the learning more than anything.
Jill Brown:
And so I decided to go back to school and learn more about what
Jill Brown:
to do, and I took the kids to the lab versus just play, and
Jill Brown:
ended up getting a PhD in educational technology because I
Jill Brown:
found an amazing program with a stellar professor and group of
Jill Brown:
people. And so it was by accident, I guess. But then the
Jill Brown:
PhD helped me get my job at the academy at Albuquerque Academy,
Jill Brown:
which was a great school.
Christina Lewellen:
So tell me about your time there. What were
Christina Lewellen:
some of your responsibilities when you were in that role?
Jill Brown:
Well, they first hired me. On because they wanted
Jill Brown:
to separate the technology from the Ed Tech and not have it in
Jill Brown:
two different departments. And so I was brought in to do the ed
Jill Brown:
tech side. You know, I work in the world now, where I support
Jill Brown:
the CTOs. And so I never was on that side of the boxes and
Jill Brown:
wires. And behind the scenes, I was always working with teachers
Jill Brown:
curriculum. And then, of course, you work very closely with the
Jill Brown:
IT department, but, but I was more on the academic side. And
Jill Brown:
then, of course, by the time I left, we had pulled it back
Jill Brown:
together. So that's the way the schools go. They're like, we're
Jill Brown:
gonna do this way. We're gonna do it this way.
Christina Lewellen:
Oh my gosh, the combination and separation
Christina Lewellen:
of Ed Tech from it is, like, I don't even know if it's a
Christina Lewellen:
pendulum as much as it is a hurricane, a swirling, cyclical
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nature at most schools in terms of whether they separate it or
Christina Lewellen:
put it together. So Albuquerque Academy is an independent day
Christina Lewellen:
school for upper levels. So tell me a little bit about when
Christina Lewellen:
you're serving only six through 12 and you're in ed tech space,
Christina Lewellen:
especially in those entry years, I would assume that there's a
Christina Lewellen:
little bit of an adjustment, right? Because you're getting
Christina Lewellen:
students from different feeder schools. So tell me a little
Christina Lewellen:
bit, especially when you were back in that role, what did that
Christina Lewellen:
look like for you, and how did you kind of juggle that
Jill Brown:
we had kids come from almost all of the
Jill Brown:
elementary schools in the city. So of course, from every
Jill Brown:
different walk of life, every different background, and our
Jill Brown:
six seven program was really amazing. Was a very cohesive and
Jill Brown:
they worked together incredibly well as a team. And there wasn't
Jill Brown:
a lot of people doing their own thing. It was a whole program
Jill Brown:
where everything worked together, and the kids had to
Jill Brown:
experience everything, which I thought was great. I mean, they
Jill Brown:
had to do all the different disciplines, and they had a
Jill Brown:
certain technology curriculum that they kind of went through
Jill Brown:
to get everybody at a baseline. And the faculty down there were
Jill Brown:
amazing. A lot of that was already happening before I got
Jill Brown:
there, so we just kind of continued on with a lot of the
Jill Brown:
good stuff that was happening. And then, of course, the
Jill Brown:
technology was getting better and better and easy to use and
Jill Brown:
more robust, and so it just grew
Christina Lewellen:
from there. When I did meet you, and you
Christina Lewellen:
were still in Albuquerque Academy, I know that we were
Christina Lewellen:
just trudging through the pandemic, and that was a really
Christina Lewellen:
tricky time. Tell me a little bit about that. I think that one
Christina Lewellen:
of the things Jill, that I really appreciated about you is that
Christina Lewellen:
you were at that moment, even though you were living it and
Christina Lewellen:
walking through it, there was also this authenticity about
Christina Lewellen:
your voice in the space to me, which was that you were saying,
Christina Lewellen:
this is hard, this is not easy. And not everybody was feeling
Christina Lewellen:
brave enough to just say that out loud. And I just remember
Christina Lewellen:
you being one of those people that was like, Oh yeah, we're
Christina Lewellen:
doing work that the leadership in our schools don't necessarily
Christina Lewellen:
have the capacity to understand, because we're just in it deep.
Christina Lewellen:
Are you traumatized from that era? Like many people?
Jill Brown:
Well, it's kind of weird, because in a way, I was
Jill Brown:
excited, which really sounds horrible because it was a
Jill Brown:
horrible pandemic. But, you know, you work with teachers and
Jill Brown:
you're like, try this and try that, and all of a sudden,
Jill Brown:
everybody needed to try everything. Needed to figure it
Jill Brown:
out. Wanted to get down and dirty in the online learning.
Jill Brown:
And that part I was happy about, because I was like, Oh, this is
Jill Brown:
good. They need it. They want it. It was just all at the same
Jill Brown:
time, and everybody at the same time. And so I know that summer
Jill Brown:
I worked harder than than I think when I was finishing up my
Jill Brown:
PhD, is probably the only other time that I can remember like,
Jill Brown:
okay, maybe I went a few days without a shower. It was the
Jill Brown:
only way to just keep your head above water. So it was
Jill Brown:
invigorating and fun in that way, because I really got to
Jill Brown:
work with and support the faculty in a scary time. But it
Jill Brown:
was a lot of work. We just needed more people, and
Jill Brown:
everybody just had to and the teachers too. Everybody had to
Jill Brown:
just work so hard. You saw that from all facets of leadership
Jill Brown:
and teaching and to every level at the school. It was an
Jill Brown:
interesting time. You know, everybody has their own memories
Jill Brown:
of, Wow, that was crazy.
Christina Lewellen:
And then you kind of made a career pivot. You
Christina Lewellen:
went over to koson. Can you tell us a little bit about Cole sin,
Christina Lewellen:
and then also why you decided to make that change? Yeah.
Jill Brown:
So Cole send is the Consortium for school
Jill Brown:
networking, and they were developed to support CTOs and
Jill Brown:
people running the networks at the schools, and a lot of it
Jill Brown:
pivoted on advocacy at the federal level. How do we make
Jill Brown:
sure that schools are getting the money and the support that
Jill Brown:
they need from policy, not only money, but also in the way that
Jill Brown:
they operate and what they need to be able to do, what they need
Jill Brown:
to do for kids. And so a lot of it was out of policy, and then
Jill Brown:
it also the professional development, and like ATLIS,
Jill Brown:
bringing people together, right? Finding your tribe, finding the
Jill Brown:
people that help you do your job. I found that with ISTE, I
Jill Brown:
used all the ISTE resources when I was in my graduate program.
Jill Brown:
Hiram and getting my degree, I wouldn't have been able to do my
Jill Brown:
dissertation without the resources that ISTE had. They
Jill Brown:
actually helped fund some of my research Intel did, and then I
Jill Brown:
use the ISTE stuff to do the research. And so I can't imagine
Jill Brown:
people in their careers not having that, you know, not
Jill Brown:
having their group of people at ATLIS are having their ISTE
Jill Brown:
people and coast them to help them do their job on a daily
Jill Brown:
basis, especially in technology, a lot of times we're kind of
Jill Brown:
like the island of one, you know, we're the only one doing
Jill Brown:
that specific job at that school.
Christina Lewellen:
That's what I call the Lone Ranger. Yeah,
Jill Brown:
exactly, yeah. You're like, this is this? And
Jill Brown:
they're like, Huh? And then you talk to your people, you know,
Jill Brown:
with Atlas, and they're like, Oh yeah, yeah, we get it. We
Jill Brown:
totally know. So when I saw the position with Cole son, I
Jill Brown:
thought I was just going to retire at the academy. I mean,
Jill Brown:
was a great place to work. Wonderful people love my job,
Jill Brown:
love the school. But when this came up, I was like, Huh? I can
Jill Brown:
do something else at a national level before I retire, and it
Jill Brown:
was a really good fit for the background that I had, and it's
Jill Brown:
been a great ride. I am loving it.
Christina Lewellen:
What do you do? What's your role? I mean,
Christina Lewellen:
what does professional development and professional
Christina Lewellen:
learning mean for an adult capacity?
Jill Brown:
Yeah, so I look over I organize all of our classes,
Jill Brown:
workshops, webinars, very deep into the conference. Of course,
Jill Brown:
that's a team effort. Nobody does anything by themselves. I
Jill Brown:
don't know cyber security, but I have an amazing instructor that
Jill Brown:
you know, Amy, that teaches the cyber security stuff, that knows
Jill Brown:
it inside and out, and is still working in the field and
Jill Brown:
committee work. We do have a lot of committees, and we have them
Jill Brown:
help us. What do we need to give our members today? What do they
Jill Brown:
need today? What is going on in your school, what's going on in
Jill Brown:
your district, and how can we help you? So I get to work with
Jill Brown:
people, amazing educators, from across the country, and I love
Jill Brown:
that, because I get to stay here in Albuquerque, which I love.
Jill Brown:
And then I get to work with people at a national level, and
Jill Brown:
I like working remote. I know some people don't, but I thrive
Jill Brown:
on it. I get my head down and I work all day and I'm like, wow,
Jill Brown:
that was a fun day, and it goes really fast, and I enjoy it.
Bill Stites:
What was that overall transition like? Because
Bill Stites:
I mean spending the time that you've spent in the schools
Bill Stites:
focused on the teaching and learning goals in an independent
Bill Stites:
school, and then moving to a position where you're going to
Bill Stites:
be up at that national level, where you're dealing with not
Bill Stites:
just a six through 12 school, you know, in the southwest, but
Bill Stites:
dealing with everyone, all aspects of Education, and what
Bill Stites:
that looks like. What was that transition like for you in
Bill Stites:
making that pivot,
Jill Brown:
a lot of it, I think, like anybody, right, when
Jill Brown:
you start a new job, you're like, all right, I'm here. I'm
Jill Brown:
not going to make changes. I'm just going to listen and watch,
Jill Brown:
and I'm going to see what's been happening and what's been
Jill Brown:
working for so many years. And then, you know, I came into some
Jill Brown:
very strong program pieces that were already there, and there's
Jill Brown:
no reason to change those. But then over time, you start to
Jill Brown:
look and you're like, Okay, how can we modify this? How can we
Jill Brown:
make this better? How can we serve people better? And I have
Jill Brown:
a committee. I have a professional learning committee.
Jill Brown:
They're my sounding board. You know? I go, Okay, I have this
Jill Brown:
idea, and then it's a very organic process. And I bring
Jill Brown:
ideas to them that we have, and then, more than that, I listen
Jill Brown:
to ideas that they have. They're like, Okay, we think this would
Jill Brown:
serve the members. We think this would be a good way to modify
Jill Brown:
this program. And so having that committee and having that group
Jill Brown:
of people that are in the schools doing the work is
Jill Brown:
essential, because otherwise, I don't know, I would just make it
Jill Brown:
up, and it wouldn't be right.
Christina Lewellen:
That's the thing I love about the
Christina Lewellen:
association space, is that when you bring an industry together,
Christina Lewellen:
you don't have to have the expertise on the staff. It's
Christina Lewellen:
this really powerful combination of staff that is focused and has
Christina Lewellen:
the time and capacity to get a project across the finish line,
Christina Lewellen:
combined with amplified by the experts in the field who
Christina Lewellen:
wouldn't otherwise have time to put together a white paper or a
Christina Lewellen:
thought leadership piece. It's part of what I love about this
Christina Lewellen:
field, is that you get to support the whole industry. So I
Christina Lewellen:
totally get that vibe of like bringing together the experts.
Christina Lewellen:
It really does end up being one plus one equaling 10. In some
Christina Lewellen:
cases, it's really cool and powerful work.
Hiram Cuevas:
So Jill, you'd mentioned the annual conference.
Hiram Cuevas:
I'm curious. I've used many coasts and resources in the
Hiram Cuevas:
past. Tell us about the makeup of the conference. Is it mostly
Hiram Cuevas:
public schools represented? Is it a nice combination of public
Hiram Cuevas:
and private. Where does the focus lie? As an independent
Hiram Cuevas:
school tech leader,
Jill Brown:
it is primarily tech leaders in K 12 schools, and
Jill Brown:
then it can be at district level, school level, there's a
Jill Brown:
whole group of independent people. It's more public than
Jill Brown:
independent just because there are more public schools than
Jill Brown:
independent. Well, so it's kind of a reflection of America, you
Jill Brown:
know, kind of the layout of our system there. And then we have
Jill Brown:
superintendents and cabinet level people, and then people
Jill Brown:
from industry and nonprofits organizations like ATLIS and
Jill Brown:
organizations like CETA and other organizations that support
Jill Brown:
schools that we all kind of have our niche but we have to work
Jill Brown:
together to make everybody more effective and more helpful in
Jill Brown:
the space.
Christina Lewellen:
I do think it's a great partnership. No one
Christina Lewellen:
organization can do everything for all people, and I think that
Christina Lewellen:
there's just so much, especially in recent years, when it comes
Christina Lewellen:
to technology leadership, that there's plenty of work for all
Christina Lewellen:
of those organizations to be doing. So totally appreciate the
Christina Lewellen:
opportunities that we've had to work together and just the idea
Christina Lewellen:
that we can coexist and provide amplified resources to our
Christina Lewellen:
communities. It's really great.
Jill Brown:
I'm so proud to see ATLIS doing so well. When I was
Jill Brown:
on the ISTE board, Howard Levin, this was his idea, not mine, but
Jill Brown:
him and I were on the board together, two independent school
Jill Brown:
people on the board, which I think was interesting for ISTE.
Jill Brown:
I think that's a larger percentage than you would
Jill Brown:
normally have. And they had SIGs at the time, special interest
Jill Brown:
groups. And he goes, let's start an independent school SIG. And I
Jill Brown:
was like, Okay. And then we were like, Well, is it different
Jill Brown:
enough? Are there different enough needs than the ISTE, you
Jill Brown:
know, stuff that it makes sense to have a SIG? And he's like,
Jill Brown:
let's try it. And so we try it. And they definitely, we found
Jill Brown:
that there certainly is a needs there that are very unique to
Jill Brown:
that role in technology at independent schools. It's a
Jill Brown:
unique place to be, and I didn't realize how different and unique
Jill Brown:
it was. Obviously a lot of similarities. I mean, we're all
Jill Brown:
schools, and there's kids, right? But there's uniqueness.
Jill Brown:
Is there that you have to be met by that group of people only?
Hiram Cuevas:
So Jill, you have that unique experience now, and
Hiram Cuevas:
having worked at Albuquerque Academy and now working here at
Hiram Cuevas:
Coast and of seeing both the public and the private sectors,
Hiram Cuevas:
where do you see some of the commonalities that we are
Hiram Cuevas:
struggling with in the ed tech space?
Jill Brown:
The commonalities are having to keep your network
Jill Brown:
secure threat actors, training your people. That's your weakest
Jill Brown:
link for those sorts of things, and that's a struggle because
Jill Brown:
it's hard to get people's attention with so much going on.
Jill Brown:
But if you don't do that, you can't serve your kids. But you
Jill Brown:
know, curriculum and wanting kids to do well, and wanting to
Jill Brown:
have the right tools, and wanting to train your teachers
Jill Brown:
and having your administration understand the importance of all
Jill Brown:
the pieces of technology that have to be in place and
Jill Brown:
supporting the people who have to do that and their knowledge
Jill Brown:
and their ability to do it. Well, if you don't have those
Jill Brown:
pieces, your school is going to fall apart. And I don't think it
Jill Brown:
matters whether it's public or private. You have to have all of
Jill Brown:
that.
Bill Stites:
So Jill, I want to take that and kind of flip it a
Bill Stites:
little bit in terms of thinking about, you know, from that
Bill Stites:
public, private perspective now, seeing it on both sides. Is
Bill Stites:
there one thing that you would say, Wow, an independent school
Bill Stites:
would really need to look to public schools to do this,
Bill Stites:
because they're doing it really, really well over here and vice
Bill Stites:
versa. Is there anything in your mind that sitting at really the
Bill Stites:
intersection where both of those can meet. Is there anything that
Bill Stites:
you would point to that one could really take from the other
Bill Stites:
and benefit from?
Jill Brown:
I don't know if I can think of one specific thing.
Jill Brown:
And sure, you guys run into this. You've got these champions
Jill Brown:
and all kinds of districts and schools and different things,
Jill Brown:
like we were just talking about sustainability. We've got a
Jill Brown:
committee on sustainability. And it's a thing that some schools
Jill Brown:
are doing some really great things. They don't think it's
Jill Brown:
like the greatest thing in the world, but it is. They don't
Jill Brown:
realize how much of a leader they are in certain spaces. And
Jill Brown:
I think we have that in both public and independent schools,
Jill Brown:
there's different struggles and different ways that people have
Jill Brown:
learned to solve problems and sharing those stories, those
Jill Brown:
individual stories, like real stories, not just I wrote a
Jill Brown:
paper at the university, and I say, you can do this, real
Jill Brown:
stories. I did this at my school, and this is how we made
Jill Brown:
it happen. This is who we had to get on board. This is the way we
Jill Brown:
became successful. You know, like creating networks with your
Jill Brown:
community and sharing the costs, things like that. And you see
Jill Brown:
that I think in both public and independent private, every
Jill Brown:
ecosystem is its own thing. I think independent schools are
Jill Brown:
very unique in their own right. Every single one is very unique.
Jill Brown:
And public schools try to be this. You know, across the
Jill Brown:
board, the same across the nation, and that is not the
Jill Brown:
case. There's still a reflection of their community and the area
Jill Brown:
that they live and the people that they can hire. And so I
Jill Brown:
can't think of any one big thing. I mean, independent
Jill Brown:
schools have to deal with admissions. You have to deal
Jill Brown:
with keeping parents happy in a very different way, and your
Jill Brown:
community. Education to parents is very different. The stakes
Jill Brown:
are much higher in an independent school. It's not
Jill Brown:
that public schools don't have to deal with that they do, but
Jill Brown:
they're not going to go out of business if they do things
Jill Brown:
wrong.
Christina Lewellen:
No, that's a really great point.
Bill Stites:
You know, growing up with both parents who were in
Bill Stites:
public schools with water by family working in the public
Bill Stites:
school environment. I remember my father coming to the school
Bill Stites:
and spending the day here, who was a lifetime elementary school
Bill Stites:
teacher, and he looked at me and he was like, you'd be crazy ever
Bill Stites:
to leave that place. So thinking about statements like that in
Bill Stites:
terms of, why did he say that? What are the things that you see
Bill Stites:
that really shine in one place that might not be even known in
Bill Stites:
others, always looking for those commonalities. Because I think
Bill Stites:
whenever we get together with any type of it, Ed Tech
Bill Stites:
educators, the problems and the successes are common enough that
Bill Stites:
we can learn from one another. I just didn't know whether there
Bill Stites:
was anything that when you got into that position, you were
Bill Stites:
like, oh, in all my years at Albert, I never thought about
Bill Stites:
this. And why didn't we do this? Because I saw this one doing it.
Bill Stites:
And to some degree, it's good to hear that there isn't that,
Bill Stites:
because the playing field and what we're all dealing with is
Bill Stites:
leveled. And for an organization like yourself that's serving
Bill Stites:
both communities, knowing that there's more in common than
Bill Stites:
there is different allows you, I would assume, to program, to
Bill Stites:
develop, as I was thinking about your conference, like, what does
Bill Stites:
the conference look like? What are the
Jill Brown:
tracks look like? Actually, that did spur
Jill Brown:
something. I do think independent schools have more
Jill Brown:
license to be creative, to do their own thing. I think the
Jill Brown:
public schools are tied to, yes, you have to meet these
Jill Brown:
standards. You have to do graduation requirements in this
Jill Brown:
way, and independent schools do that, they usually exceed it.
Jill Brown:
They don't even have to look at it, because they're going way up
Jill Brown:
here compared to what the state says you have to have to
Jill Brown:
graduate your students. And so that does ring a bell. I do see
Jill Brown:
independent, private schools are able to be more creative and
Jill Brown:
say, we're going to try this. That is way out there that
Jill Brown:
public school wouldn't have the license or liberty to try.
Hiram Cuevas:
So Jill, one of the things that I'd be curious to
Hiram Cuevas:
see your response to is staffing, the differences
Hiram Cuevas:
between the staffing at the public school level versus, I
Hiram Cuevas:
mean really, I say public school, but it's really more of
Hiram Cuevas:
a district level when you talk about it in many instances, and
Hiram Cuevas:
tech versus the private schools. I recall when I was reviewing
Hiram Cuevas:
grant proposals many years ago, and you had to have dedicated
Hiram Cuevas:
resources to support the grants, and many times we had to deny
Hiram Cuevas:
grants to many public schools because they just didn't have
Hiram Cuevas:
the staffing. Is that still a pain point for many districts
Hiram Cuevas:
around the country.
Jill Brown:
Staffing is a pain point for everybody right now.
Jill Brown:
It's one of our big issues. How do we help our schools increase
Jill Brown:
the pipeline? The IT pipeline. A lot of people don't see
Jill Brown:
themselves in a technology role that should even from you know,
Jill Brown:
like starting in college. It's like you're interested in
Jill Brown:
technology. Would you ever see yourself running a network at a
Jill Brown:
school? They don't think about it, but they would be amazing,
Jill Brown:
right? So getting that seed planted, that you can do this,
Jill Brown:
and you can learn this, and you can figure it out, and you can
Jill Brown:
be part of a community. I mean, we all know working at a school
Jill Brown:
is very enriching, and it's a very heartfelt place to work.
Jill Brown:
It's more than just a job. You're part of a community, and
Jill Brown:
I think a lot of jobs are like that, but definitely in
Jill Brown:
education, I mean, you are part of a community, you're not just
Jill Brown:
going to work every day. And so helping increase that pipeline
Jill Brown:
of people who don't see themselves in that role, seeing
Jill Brown:
that and I think that's things that ATLIS does, that coleson
Jill Brown:
does, and ISTE, you know, because a lot of academic
Jill Brown:
teachers go into the technology, they're like, Huh, I'm just a
Jill Brown:
history teacher. Well, you end up running the network, and you
Jill Brown:
can't do that without the support from ATLIS and and goes
Jill Brown:
in and the training that you can get to do that job. Well, and
Jill Brown:
then, of course, you have people that come from industry and kind
Jill Brown:
of want to be a part of that family, be part of a school and
Jill Brown:
an entity like that, and serving kids and feeling like you're
Jill Brown:
making a difference, and a lot of it is people that don't see
Jill Brown:
themselves in that role, having them see that, yes, this could
Jill Brown:
be you. And as far as hiring, it's hard to hire in your area
Jill Brown:
sometimes, and you get what you get if you've got a small
Jill Brown:
community, you need to build those people up. To take those
Jill Brown:
people who you could tell have a passion for it, but don't see
Jill Brown:
themselves in that role, build them up to get there. See that
Jill Brown:
role, because a lot of people stay in their communities. They
Jill Brown:
go to their communities. Stay there at independent school.
Jill Brown:
There's a lot more movement. There's definitely a lot more
Jill Brown:
hiring from other places and people moving and that sort of
Jill Brown:
thing. And in public school, there's less of that, but the
Jill Brown:
hiring is an issue everywhere.
Christina Lewellen:
So Jill, I'm going to be heading off to an ed
Christina Lewellen:
tech conference next week, and I try to pop into those regularly
Christina Lewellen:
to kind of keep abreast of what some of the trends are. What do
Christina Lewellen:
you think. I should expect to see if you were to guess where
Christina Lewellen:
some of the trends are right now, in terms of Ed Tech, what
Christina Lewellen:
is it that you're watching, or what kind of sessions would you
Christina Lewellen:
be going to
Jill Brown:
Well, obviously, we're going to say, AI, sure.
Christina Lewellen:
Of course, any particular aspects of AI
Christina Lewellen:
that you're sort of interested in,
Jill Brown:
and that's the good question, because people say,
Jill Brown:
Oh, AI, and it's like, okay, AI, what it's kind of like,
Jill Brown:
education, education? What you need to be a little bit more
Jill Brown:
specific. That's a very broad term. The things I'm seeing that
Jill Brown:
are most exciting are ways to help lessen the load for
Jill Brown:
teachers and administrators to do more of their work that
Jill Brown:
really benefits the kids and not spending their time with all
Jill Brown:
this paperwork and stuff that doesn't directly feed down into
Jill Brown:
the children and the classroom. And so any ways that we can use
Jill Brown:
and like security, how can we use AI to, I mean, the bad
Jill Brown:
actors are using it to get better and better at getting
Jill Brown:
into our systems. How do we use it to get better and better at
Jill Brown:
saying, hey, this shouldn't be happening, and we're keeping you
Jill Brown:
out of our system. And so I think the benefits of what it
Jill Brown:
can do to help people in their jobs spend time on the important
Jill Brown:
pieces rather than the stuff that just has to get done. I
Jill Brown:
mean, obviously it has to get done, but how can we make that
Jill Brown:
less painful and spend more time on the things that really
Jill Brown:
matter, I
Christina Lewellen:
think that that's where I spend a lot of my
Christina Lewellen:
time talking to schools right now too, because it seems like
Christina Lewellen:
an easier entry point, right? Like we don't have to solve all
Christina Lewellen:
of how education is going to be affected by AI all in one fell
Christina Lewellen:
swoop, but we could at least start by understanding and using
Christina Lewellen:
and learning to make our lives a little easier. So I'm with you
Christina Lewellen:
on that. I definitely think that that's an easier beast to
Christina Lewellen:
wrestle right now.
Jill Brown:
The other thing is doing that with the kids, and
Jill Brown:
that's that whole educational philosophy. You jump in and you
Jill Brown:
learn what the kids you know, teachers that want to know
Jill Brown:
everything before they teach a topic aren't very interested in
Jill Brown:
technology, because you just can't. You have to do it with
Jill Brown:
the kids. You have to it changes so fast. And with your faculty
Jill Brown:
and with your staff, you know, as you're integrating AI into
Jill Brown:
your work, you can't avoid it. And I think we've all figured
Jill Brown:
that out when it first came out. People like, stop it, stop it.
Jill Brown:
Just like internet, just like calculators, just like, you
Jill Brown:
know, we go back to all those things. No, we have to add
Jill Brown:
pencils or it's going to be bad and do it together.
Bill Stites:
Are any of the conversations that you're having
Bill Stites:
around AI, this was just a discussion I was literally
Bill Stites:
having yesterday with my head of school, focused around how
Bill Stites:
schools are using it from an operational standpoint, and what
Bill Stites:
are the pros, the cons, the things that you should be doing
Bill Stites:
that you shouldn't be doing is that coming up, because so much
Bill Stites:
of it that I've seen in and I'm even speaking specifically to
Bill Stites:
what we were doing here at MKA was focused on what's happening
Bill Stites:
in the classroom with it, that the idea, and really the
Bill Stites:
proliferation of it being used in the other areas of school,
Bill Stites:
outside of the classroom, really wasn't brought to the forefront,
Bill Stites:
and it's an area now, when I think of risk management and
Bill Stites:
risk mitigation, that is really up on the top end of the things
Bill Stites:
that I'm concerned about. I'm just curious about if it's
Bill Stites:
something that you've seen or you've been discussing there.
Jill Brown:
Yeah, definitely. Because if you don't create the
Jill Brown:
ecosystem that supports what's happening in the classroom or
Jill Brown:
what's going to happen potentially with AI, you could
Jill Brown:
be setting yourself up for some pretty scary situations. And
Jill Brown:
teachers want support right faculty want to know, how can I
Jill Brown:
harness this and use this with my kids? But what are the
Jill Brown:
guardrails? What do we need to be doing and not doing to use
Jill Brown:
this the right way? The Council of Great City Schools. And Kosen
Jill Brown:
worked on a maturity matrix for AI, and most of it, in fact, the
Jill Brown:
last piece, they were like, oh, we need to add the academic
Jill Brown:
piece. So that was the last piece. But all six domains
Jill Brown:
before that are all about, I mean, your finance, your
Jill Brown:
network, your security, and you know, you've got cameras now,
Jill Brown:
you've got all of your stuff is tied into the technology and the
Jill Brown:
safety, and so it's a rubric to say you need to be thinking
Jill Brown:
about all these things. It's not you need to do it this way,
Jill Brown:
because, as we've just said, All schools and areas and districts
Jill Brown:
are unique, but you need to be thinking about these things, and
Jill Brown:
you need to have an answer for this and this and this and this.
Jill Brown:
How does your school or your district handle those pieces
Jill Brown:
related to AI? And a lot of it ties back to, you know, you
Jill Brown:
don't need a new student handbook. You don't have an AI
Jill Brown:
Student Handbook. You look at your student handbook and you
Jill Brown:
say, okay, and this piece AI, could impact it here. So we need
Jill Brown:
to make sure that that's covered in our policy in the right way,
Jill Brown:
because it's different.
Christina Lewellen:
Jill, you spend a lot of time now
Christina Lewellen:
designing programming for adults, and I think one of the
Christina Lewellen:
things that I've heard a lot through the years is that tech
Christina Lewellen:
leaders are always trying to capture the attention of
Christina Lewellen:
faculty. To do the necessary training to get the information
Christina Lewellen:
across, and the faculty is tired and overwhelmed, and back to
Christina Lewellen:
school is always chaotic, and so it's just hard to capture the
Christina Lewellen:
attention. Do you have any thoughts or recommendations for
Christina Lewellen:
tech leaders who are trying to teach adults? I feel like that's
Christina Lewellen:
a conversation that comes up. It hasn't in a while, but we're
Christina Lewellen:
always looking for pissy emails or videos or little snippets of
Christina Lewellen:
information to get it across in little bite sized chunks.
Christina Lewellen:
Obviously, you do it in a more designed, specific way for
Christina Lewellen:
programming that's all tied up with a bow, but tech leaders
Christina Lewellen:
essentially have to do some very similar things in terms of
Christina Lewellen:
getting adults attention.
Jill Brown:
Yeah, one thing I really This made me think of is
Jill Brown:
in my career at Albuquerque Academy, when I started in ed
Jill Brown:
tech, it was like, You need to try this. Look at this. What is
Jill Brown:
this? You know, how is this? And then I felt like my job changed
Jill Brown:
and transformed to, okay, here's what you need to look at. Here's
Jill Brown:
what you need to focus on. Don't worry about this. Don't spend
Jill Brown:
time on this. Don't even look at this. It was trying to make sure
Jill Brown:
that the time that they're spending look getting anything
Jill Brown:
technology is very value added and taking the noise out of it.
Jill Brown:
So before I was kind of a cheerleader, do this. Look at
Jill Brown:
this. You know, let's try everything
Christina Lewellen:
that's really interesting. Like, it
Christina Lewellen:
changed to, like, a what not to do list exactly.
Jill Brown:
It came to, okay, don't spend your time on this.
Jill Brown:
I've tried this. It's not worth your time. You know, we've
Jill Brown:
looked at this, but your teacher down the hallway, look at what
Jill Brown:
she's doing with this. That is where your value is going to be.
Jill Brown:
And, you know, everybody's struggling with, What can
Jill Brown:
teachers use? What can't they use, and what's our process for
Jill Brown:
keeping the data safe? And so those systems have to be in
Jill Brown:
place to support teachers and your administrators. I think if
Jill Brown:
there's any ways you can show them that this is going to save
Jill Brown:
you time, this is going to make your life easier, that's when
Jill Brown:
they get on board. And it's very individual. You could do
Jill Brown:
programs, and I did programs at the school, and you always have
Jill Brown:
your early adopters that are right there trying to figure it
Jill Brown:
out with you. And then you've got your Luddites. You're going,
Jill Brown:
I'm never going to do this, and I'm going to retire before I
Jill Brown:
have to try any of this. But then you've got 6070, 80% in the
Jill Brown:
middle who are show me something successful, and I'm there, and
Jill Brown:
especially if it benefits my kids. And so you have to show
Jill Brown:
those those things, and a lot of it is just taking your
Jill Brown:
champions, letting them shine, letting them share with their
Jill Brown:
colleagues what they're doing. And yeah, they're busy. It's
Jill Brown:
hard to get attention, because they're busy doing really good
Jill Brown:
things, working with kids in the classroom and stuff. But if you
Jill Brown:
can figure out a way to save them time, benefit their kids,
Jill Brown:
and they can see that little spark of a story, and then they
Jill Brown:
try that one little thing, and then they take off another one
Jill Brown:
of your early adopters.
Christina Lewellen:
It's really interesting, Bill and Hiram, I
Christina Lewellen:
wonder if you guys had a list of stuff not to do, or a don't
Christina Lewellen:
bother list. And I was just reading this book that is a pre
Christina Lewellen:
release from a woman in our space, in the association
Christina Lewellen:
community that focuses on membership and innovation. And
Christina Lewellen:
one of the things that she does this is Sherry Jacobs. She talks
Christina Lewellen:
about how, when she was starting her business during a recession,
Christina Lewellen:
her consultancy, she had a list of 10 terrible ideas, and she
Christina Lewellen:
would try to write down 10 really awful, terrible ideas
Christina Lewellen:
every day. And then, of course, the next step is to flip it. Her
Christina Lewellen:
example is, often, let's give away all of our research for
Christina Lewellen:
free. Well, we can't do that. We won't be in business. But what
Christina Lewellen:
we could do is give this piece away, or whatever. I wonder if
Christina Lewellen:
there's a way that you could almost create a don't do this
Christina Lewellen:
list, or a don't bother wasting your time list. But then there's
Christina Lewellen:
got to be like, the little box at the bottom that says, By the
Christina Lewellen:
way, here is one that is worth your time, right?
Hiram Cuevas:
Absolutely, I think the one that comes to
Hiram Cuevas:
mind, and it touches so many areas of what I would call the
Hiram Cuevas:
ed tech space, is free. Is not free. That's perhaps the number
Hiram Cuevas:
one thing that I have been hitting on a regular basis with
Hiram Cuevas:
our faculty and staff, some other IT directors have been
Hiram Cuevas:
having conversations about extensions, and how do you deal
Hiram Cuevas:
with extensions in Chrome, and how do you deal with new
Hiram Cuevas:
software applications? It's fair to say that the amount of
Hiram Cuevas:
requests, I think, have gone down, and it's because we've put
Hiram Cuevas:
more of the onus on the faculty to start thinking about these
Hiram Cuevas:
questions. When you start looking at these free products,
Hiram Cuevas:
they now know that they are essentially the monetary
Hiram Cuevas:
exchange their data.
Jill Brown:
Yeah, free, like a puppy. It's like, are you ready
Jill Brown:
for a puppy? We're going to have to manage that puppy if you
Jill Brown:
bring them into your classroom.
Christina Lewellen:
That's hilarious. Free like a puppy.
Bill Stites:
That's a great example.
Hiram Cuevas:
I love that. I'm going to use that at my next PD,
Christina Lewellen:
forget the list of things not to do. Here's
Christina Lewellen:
the free like a puppy list. I love it. Well, Jill, before we
Christina Lewellen:
run out of time with you, I do want to shift for. Just a
Christina Lewellen:
moment, because I've come to learn that there are so many
Christina Lewellen:
musical people in the tech leader space, and even to the
Christina Lewellen:
point where my early days of coming to Atlas conferences,
Christina Lewellen:
where there was like karaoke and bands and all sorts of stuff
Christina Lewellen:
going on. So tell everyone a little bit about you're a little
Christina Lewellen:
music obsessed, not a bit help us understand that, please.
Jill Brown:
Okay, it's very faceted. I did music in high
Jill Brown:
school. I'm a vocalist in a local band here in Albuquerque.
Jill Brown:
We recorded in Nashville, which was amazing from the technology
Jill Brown:
standpoint. You walk into the studio and in a day and a half,
Jill Brown:
we had a CD, and those musicians were fabulous, and the
Jill Brown:
technology that pulled that all together, you know, I was like,
Jill Brown:
Oh my gosh, this is just incredible. I remember my
Jill Brown:
graduate studies. We read this book out of your minds. And all
Jill Brown:
of the gentlemen, I'm sure there were women, but they weren't
Jill Brown:
represented. To the book helped develop the personal computer
Jill Brown:
had an extensive music background. I think there's a
Jill Brown:
part of the brain that gets interested in technology, and
Jill Brown:
that kind of area that is also very interested in music. It's
Jill Brown:
very pattern. It's like, there's the art of it, which is
Jill Brown:
beautiful, there's also the science behind it and the data
Jill Brown:
behind it. And I just see a lot of in your right, a lot of the
Jill Brown:
technology people I deal with have some sort of passion,
Jill Brown:
extensive work and things that they have done and do in music.
Jill Brown:
Our big thing now is we support independent musicians. It's hard
Jill Brown:
to make a living because now you people want your music for free.
Jill Brown:
It's not free to create. If you have that creative mind, and you
Jill Brown:
write music like crazy. That's amazing, but to get it down on
Jill Brown:
the CD, get it published digitally, that's expensive, and
Jill Brown:
people don't want to pay for it, and to me, that's horrible. We
Jill Brown:
want the music every day. We want to listen to it every day.
Jill Brown:
We're like, I like this music. I like that music, okay, but what
Jill Brown:
do you do to support it? How do you make sure that those people
Jill Brown:
can eat. One of our big charities is the trap Rock Music
Jill Brown:
Association, artists Relief Fund. What artists do when they
Jill Brown:
need carpal tunnel surgery and they don't have insurance, they
Jill Brown:
don't have money. And so we support live musicians in our
Jill Brown:
backyard. They play, they drive around the country, and they
Jill Brown:
make more money playing in our yard than they do in a bar, and
Jill Brown:
they make more money selling a t shirt than they do selling their
Jill Brown:
music, which is just really sad, and it's the way the economy is
Jill Brown:
right now, with things being digital. And so anything we can
Jill Brown:
do to support that creative piece and them continuing to
Jill Brown:
make that music for us so that they can make a living doing
Jill Brown:
that and not have to go do something else when they've got
Jill Brown:
this brilliant music mind, that's what we try to do as much
Jill Brown:
as we can.
Christina Lewellen:
So you have a concert hall in your backyard,
Jill Brown:
yeah, we have a stage, what used to be like a
Jill Brown:
tent, you know, that you put in your backyard and try to cover
Jill Brown:
up the musicians so they're not sitting in the sun. And then we
Jill Brown:
did some renovations in the backyard, and we put in a stage
Jill Brown:
amazing, and it's wonderful for us. We love it when we host our
Jill Brown:
house concerts. And there's a whole network of people across
Jill Brown:
the country that do this. It's not just us, of course, we're
Jill Brown:
this little island in New Mexico, so if they come through
Jill Brown:
Albuquerque, that's kind of like you're the place, yeah? And so
Jill Brown:
we try to connect them with other people and in our genre,
Jill Brown:
right? And then drop rock genre. We charge a cover at the door,
Jill Brown:
which is like $25 suggested. You don't have to pay that goes
Jill Brown:
straight to the artist, amazing. We don't keeping in. We do this
Jill Brown:
to support the artists. We have them stay here. We feed them. We
Jill Brown:
do everything we can to make their trip as inexpensive as
Jill Brown:
possible so that they can put it towards their expenses that they
Jill Brown:
have to cover, just like everybody else.
Christina Lewellen:
That's really incredible. Like, do you
Christina Lewellen:
guys have, like, a site or some pictures that we can drop in the
Christina Lewellen:
show notes? Like, if people are in the area, how do they find
Christina Lewellen:
out? Like, it's a show night,
Jill Brown:
we're on Facebook. That's our primary and I know a
Jill Brown:
lot of people aren't on Facebook, but if you are on
Jill Brown:
Facebook, we have a page there where we put all of our events
Jill Brown:
that we have scheduled, we post on Instagram like this is
Jill Brown:
happening now, you know, because that's a very immediate place
Jill Brown:
that people live, and then of the artists promote it
Jill Brown:
themselves, however they have their networks and promote their
Jill Brown:
concerts through there.
Christina Lewellen:
I would imagine you meet the coolest
Christina Lewellen:
people. Do you have a cool story to tell about something that's
Christina Lewellen:
happened in the time that you've basically opened your home to
Christina Lewellen:
this experience.
Jill Brown:
The thing is, because they stay here, we get
Jill Brown:
to know the artist as people, and they're our friends. We're
Jill Brown:
connected. We go to a lot of music festivals where all those
Jill Brown:
people play, and then that's where we find new people that
Jill Brown:
kind of like, come play at our house. Can play at our house,
Jill Brown:
our audience will love you. It's a very close network, and they
Jill Brown:
are our friends. I mean, even though you know, we have our
Jill Brown:
friends in Albuquerque, obviously, but these are our
Jill Brown:
friends across the country that are musicians. For example,
Jill Brown:
Jesse Rice, who is one of the writers for cruise, which is the
Jill Brown:
number one. Music. I think it's the longest running number one
Jill Brown:
country song. I'm not sure if there's ones that have beat it,
Jill Brown:
but him and my husband kind of bonded. They're very similar in
Jill Brown:
personality, and he's one of our very closest friends. So we got
Jill Brown:
to visit with him in Nashville, and we're sitting in his room
Jill Brown:
with all of his gold records. He didn't even have room for him on
Jill Brown:
the wall. They're sitting on the floor because he had run out of
Jill Brown:
space, and so those kind of things, I'm like, Well, that was
Jill Brown:
kind of cool. And he's just an amazing person.
Christina Lewellen:
I love that that is so interesting. And I do
Christina Lewellen:
think that having a hobby or having something that you do
Christina Lewellen:
outside of work is also just a nice palette cleanser when we're
Christina Lewellen:
dealing with difficult jobs. So, you know, the guys like to hunt
Christina Lewellen:
zombies. And I also like music, you know. So, it works. It
Christina Lewellen:
works. But that's really cool. I mean, you guys, like, they have
Christina Lewellen:
a stage at Jill's house. Like, maybe we should go record a pod
Christina Lewellen:
there.
Bill Stites:
I think that's where we should do. US actually
Bill Stites:
singing, you know, bringing Hiram and I, we've got the
Bill Stites:
jackets. Oh, Lord,
Hiram Cuevas:
gotta get the red shoes 100%
Christina Lewellen:
No, as long as Jill has like, the switch so
Christina Lewellen:
she can just turn it off. Yeah, that'd be really great.
Hiram Cuevas:
You have so little faith in our talents.
Bill Stites:
I have no faith in my talent. I'm just putting that
Bill Stites:
out there. No one needs to hear me sing ever.
Hiram Cuevas:
We got a nice baritone voice there, Mr.
Hiram Cuevas:
Stites, it's not gonna work.
Christina Lewellen:
We're gonna leave that to Jill. It sounds
Christina Lewellen:
like she's got the whole music thing under control. That's
Christina Lewellen:
really cool, though. I'm so glad that you shared that story,
Christina Lewellen:
because I think some people know that about you, but that's just
Christina Lewellen:
like a whole subculture, different life outside of work
Christina Lewellen:
that you do that's really, really neat. So thanks for that.
Christina Lewellen:
I appreciate it. Yeah, thanks. As we wrap everything up, I want
Christina Lewellen:
to thank you for your time. I know that we're a little short
Christina Lewellen:
on time, so I'll just say that I wish you the absolute best. What
Christina Lewellen:
is coming up for koson? What do we need to be on the lookout
Christina Lewellen:
for?
Jill Brown:
So well, we're getting ready for our
Jill Brown:
conference. Yes, exciting. And then I know for you guys, yeah,
Jill Brown:
small staff, right? All in, everybody is getting ready for
Jill Brown:
conference. We've got some national AI trainings going on
Jill Brown:
right now, and it is exactly like Bill was saying. It's
Jill Brown:
bringing the leadership in, and it takes everybody. You know,
Jill Brown:
you can't just have the tech director doesn't own AI, just
Jill Brown:
like the tech director doesn't own cyber security or data
Jill Brown:
privacy. It has to be the whole ecosystem and the leaders
Jill Brown:
understanding and so this is a way for schools to build road
Jill Brown:
maps. How are we handling all this stuff with AI as it comes
Jill Brown:
to us, and just making friends, joining committees, volunteering
Jill Brown:
and ATLIS does the same thing. We help people enter the career,
Jill Brown:
get into the career, see themselves in that career. How
Jill Brown:
can we support you to get there? When you get there, and you know
Jill Brown:
what you're doing and you're doing a great job, you want to
Jill Brown:
share. You want to come back, you want to mentor and providing
Jill Brown:
space for that as well. Dr Jill
Christina Lewellen:
Brown, thank you so much for being with us
Christina Lewellen:
today. I really appreciate it.
Jill Brown:
Thank you. This was amazing.
Peter Frank:
This has been talking technology with Atlas
Peter Frank:
produced by the Association of technology leaders in
Peter Frank:
independent schools. For more information about Atlas and
Peter Frank:
Atlas membership, please visit the atlas.org if you enjoyed
Peter Frank:
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