education by definition to bring out of a person what's already inside of us. If I reach out and like I ask these questions, I'm going to get an exact playbook of how to fix my grade. If it can click for them and it makes sense, you're going to get far better results. Yeah, discipline is not a dirty word. How do I instill selfdiscipline in my son or daughter to be successful at school? What do you hope the impact of the dad difference is 10 years from now?
From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. If you're gearing up for spring and summer events, concerts, rodeos, livestock shows, or just getting out and enjoying the season, I've got a place that you need to know about. Cowpokes work in Western. Cowbooks is your destination for the American lifestyle with everything from boots and casual shoes to denim shirts and everyday staples that actually work for real life. Whether you're headed to the arena, the fairgrounds, or a weekend show, they've got styles that feel authentic, comfortable, and built to last, not just trendy pieces you'll regret next season.
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com. Cowpokes Working Western, your destination for the American lifestyle. I've got two guests in the studio today. I'm joined by Keelan Mark Senior and brother Thomas X Williams. and they are two fathers and educators who through their own experiences work with schools and community organizations to engage fathers in their students education through the DADS program. DAD stands for dedication, athletics, academics, discipline, and sacrifice.
Their work centers on empowering fathers to play an active role in school culture and student success through discussions, workshops, and community outreach. I'm really excited to dive in to this conversation today and learn about the impact that dads that fathers out there in Indiana can make in their students lives today. Uh I think that that is a piece that has evolved over time and I'm really excited to get into this conversation and learn how any father out there listening today can you know be a little bit better and we all strive to be a little bit better every day and I'm excited to get into this conversation. Gentlemen, welcome to the show. Thank you for having us. Yes.
Oh wow. I'm excited. So I mean both of you originally you know your relationship started with education but I mean being educators talk to me about how your paths crossed and take us to where the idea for the dad difference came. Sure. So um I've been in education Nate for I'm think it might be 23 years now. I lose track and I'm a school principal uh and brother Thomas uh was one one of my former teachers uh at a school in the west side that I was a principal there and uh we just you know connected as principal as teacher working with the same students and connected even as fathers um having kids that we were raising you know at the time.
And so fast forward, he moved on uh to another position outside the district, but we stayed in touch. And as I continued on into my career, uh what prompted my work with dads was a I say a dad experience that I had. I was at work one day uh finishing up my day and then get home, my son is laying on the couch in the living room uh with ice on his nose from a recess kickball that hit him in the nose and he had a bloody nose and I said, "Hey, what happened to you?" I had recess dad, you know, playing kickball, got hit in the face, etc. And so I asked my wife, "Is he going to be okay?" She said, "Yes."
And the next question I asked was, "How come no one called me?" Um, it's my son. I'm available. I could have left work to see about him to make sure he was okay, but the school never called me. And it had me start to think, you know, is my role prominent enough in his school? Do they know that I want to be called?
do they know that I want to be like I want to know everything not just you know his grades but that he is doing fine. And so fast forward to maybe a year ago, I connected with brother Thomas. Uh we did a workshop at Indiana Black Expo Education Conference about the importance of bringing dads into the school and what the school's role is and also what the role uh fathers have in getting further involved in their kids' education. So that's what brought us together uh to this very day. Okay. So what what was that first workshop that you guys put on?
Kind of like either an hourong kind of bring some dads in or some educators like take me to what that looked like. Each workshop so we did three separate workshops in one day and each workshop was roughly 45 minutes and the title of that workshop was how fathers can change your school's culture. Right? just fathers being involved have the opportunity to not only change the classroom but change the entire school's culture. One thing that uh brother Keelin didn't mention is when we were colleagues together, I would come to work dressed like this every day. And for those for those that are in the audio only, I mean, we've got a fullon suit.
We've got monogrammed cuffs of the undershirt. Like you got a a full come on now. Like I mean, Brother Thomas is looking dapper today. Like maybe the best dressed person, best dressed guest we've ever had on the show. Like I'm willing to put that out there. So yeah, it in my mind, this is how educators should dress all the time, right?
So I would be in the building and at one particular time before actually teaching, I would just be an individual who was taking students in who would be in trouble and get kicked out of class, right? Some some places call it GLC, some places call it the detention center, but I was the teacher in there that actually would have you come in, you do your homework, but it became almost a tutoring session. Then from a tutoring session, it became a full-on classroom where students were glad to get kicked out of class because I knew I'm going to see Brother Thomas. and other educators weren't necessarily uh dressing like this, but not only dressing like this, other educators didn't have the mentality that I was striving to take on. In my mind, they didn't. So, I took it a little bit personal.
And so, when I moved to another district, I always loved the impact that Brother Keelin had on the township, not just the school, but the township that he was in. So being that we have sons that are of similar age, I had a program where I would do mentoring and his son became one of my mentees. So we genuinely became like brothers because I had a vested interest in his son becoming the best version of himself. Yeah. At the stage of life that he was in. And I still talk to his son right now.
That's amazing. Well, because you both have sons that are the same age. Yes. Right. Okay. So here's what I want to I want to dive into as we continue this journey.
You talk about being fathers and you know striving to be the best version of fathers uh possible for your sons. Talk to me about your fathers like what was the impact that your dad's had on your lives? Yeah, I grew up uh Nate and Gary Indiana. My dad was a steel worker at an inland steel uh in Gary. Uh my mom uh worked and also was a homemaker. And my dad did, I think, the traditional role growing up.
He would, "Hey, son, make sure you open the doors for women. Make sure he didn't allow us to sleep in." Uh, to this very day, I get a headache if I sleep past 8:30 a. m. Yeah. Like on a Saturday, Dad's knocking on my door saying, "Hey, let's get up."
I'm like, "Well, get up and do what? We'll figure it out." And so he had a a traditional role in my life just instilling in me work ethic uh treating people like you want to be treated. And when it came to education um somewhat similar to today he gave me his full support uh set expectations for good grades supported me in sports. But that's that's that is as far as it went where he wasn't uh he wasn't at the school, wasn't getting too involved just in the stands when I had a basketball or football game, but that was that was his role in my life. And and that has kind of been the stereotype for a long time, right?
It's like, you know, usually it's a mom helping at the kitchen table when you're doing your homework. Usually like mom runs a parent teacher conference, dad may or may not be there. It's like, you know, you're seen, but you're probably not heard. Just like the the gender kind of Yeah. like conformity of of how that dynamic works. Uh, Brother Thomas, what was your relationship with your dad?
Man, I'm I'm going to keep I'm going keep a upbeat uh approach to the show. However, I didn't have a close relationship with my father while he was alive. Right. And that was by God's permission. And you may look at and say, "By God's permission, you didn't have a relationship." But yeah, by God's permission, because who's to say if I did have the close relationship that I desired with my father, that I would have turned out to be doing what I'm doing now.
However, I was literally just having this conversation, Brother Nate yesterday at my daughter's track meet with a brother that I know. He was sitting next to me and I was telling him, I forgot how we even got on the subject, but I was telling him that every year during the month of Ramadan, right, I study my father's obituary the same way that I study scripture every day for 30 days. I study his obituary. Yeah. And I've learned more about him in death than I knew about him in life. But however, the only reason that I study his obituary because I literally have highlighted and underlined all of the positive traits that I found just in reading about his life.
And those positive traits are in my DNA. And so I found the good in him in his death, even though while he was alive, we didn't necessarily have the uh best of relationships. But however, in finding the good in him, I see how great of an individual that he had the ability to be. So my father with only a sixth grade education, was a owner of one of the most well-known taverns. You know, taverns aren't that big here in Indiana, but in Chicago, which is where I was born, he had one of the most well-known taverns for 55 years. had to be a social social guy.
Social guy. Oh yeah. Conversationalist for sure. God. And he was well known when we went to his funeral on the church, it said that this location is a location for Chicago Fire. So the only reason that he got rid of his tavern is because it was bought by NBC Universal.
So he was a he was a successful businessman with a sixth grade education. So in studying his orbituary, I found things like ambition. I found things like drive. I found things like faith. Even though he may not have been a religious individual, you have to have faith to believe that you can accomplish what he accomplished with so little formal education. Yeah.
Yeah. Holy. I uh I think about that. So, um, my mom passed away in 2017 and, um, my parents ended up splitting up when I was in high school and so like my mom and I became super close. And you talk about the process of whether studying an obituary and then on our side it was writing an obituary. Like you sit in this room and they like kind of talk to you about it and you're like like what do you think?
Like what did she enjoy? And like it was a really defining moment in my trajectory of like one day you know hopefully many years from now when I pass away like whether it is my kids and for her like uh my grandma was also in the room too. So like her mom, her son, her brother in this room and they're like like profess her life here and it's like a lot and it really hits you of like well what do I hope people say about me like when I'm in when I'm in the casket. And then so you talk about like having this experience, learning from your dad and then it sets you out on this trajectory to make an impact, not just being the best dad you can be, but helping others. And that brings you guys to, you know, changing this identity that, you know, dads are for discipline. Dads are when something goes wrong.
Dads are for just sporting events. And obviously those things are important too for sure. For sure. But but taking an active role in the education. I know that there's some some stats and some math about, you know, um wealthy individuals or educated individuals who have a father who has an active presence in their life. Talk to me about how you identified that there was a gap here and then how you built the plan to go out and solve it.
Yeah. So, as a school principal, uh I am I would like to believe heavily involved in my students everyday life and I want to meet uh the people that support them. But a lot of those meetings were and are with mom. And so for me, uh, when it talks about it takes a village to raise a child, I want the entire village there, which also includes dad. And what I've, uh, learned, Nate, is that a lot of times as schools, we don't make ourselves available or we don't open the doors for dad outside of athletics. And so, yes, dad wants uh, their kids to get, oh, let's say have a 3.
0 0 GPA average. But as schools, we don't really talk to parents about or fathers about what does it take to make that happen that when you get off work and they get home from school, here's what you need to do. Uh schools really don't talk about, you know, some of their school policy. We want kids to obey the rules. We want kids to um be good citizens within the school. But now, Dad, how does our school policy as a a school principal match what you do at home?
And let's align both. And so, I think from the school side, it's up to schools to figure out, okay, how do we pull dads in because they want what mom wants? They want their kids to get a great education. They want their kids to go to college or, you know, start a career, go into the military. But we tend to make it uh difficult by not just including them in on certain discussions. The other interesting piece that I think from an educator perspective, I feel like you uh and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but as a principal, you usually have the most facetime with kids that might be struggling or kids like I felt like my parents knew the principles, but not on a good side because Nate kept getting in trouble and like after like the second time he called to the principal's office like, "Okay, we're gonna have a meeting with your parents."
Yeah, but like the kids who might have been, you know, the standout scholars, the people that are doing really well, it's like how if you if you don't have a reason to meet with them, like are you building relationships there in that sense? So, it's interesting to hear you talk about building relationships with the parents of um of students. So, you identified this problem that, you know, dads should take an active role in the education aspect. That's all great. How do you start to put the rubber to the road and make an impact? Like what was the f you host those three workshops?
It's like great, we hosted some workshops, but it kept snowballing like what were the steps you guys had to take to bring it to life? Yeah, I'll do a quick one. So, in understanding dads needed to have an active role, the first thing that I did as a principal, okay, where are the dads? Well, they'll be at the rival basketball game on whatever particular date. And so what I would do uh in my previous school, I there was a classroom right outside the gym. I would let my athletic director know, hey, at halftime, let all the parents, all the dads know, Mr.
Mark is in this particular room, and here's the theme during halftime. So I would do themes such as, hey, academic information you need to know, upcoming events. And so at halftime, dads would come in because they're there watching their sons play basketball. They would come in, get information, I would shake hands, meet them. I needed about 10 minutes. The other 10 minutes was theirs.
They can get a hot dog, get something to drink, and get back in the stands for the game. And so, it is meeting them where they are first. And dads are part of the school. It's up to schools to determine where they are. And then that's where Brother Thomas and I start to equip fathers. Well, here's what you need to do in relation to the school.
Like if there are dads out there listening who, you know, they're like, I am a good dad. I show up to all the sporting events, like my kids not getting in trouble. I would say I'm doing pretty well. Like talk to me about the importance of going that layer deeper for for fathers that are listening right now. We were discussing before we began recording just on how education itself is not solely the school system, right? Education by definition, right?
Education means to sum it up to bring out of a person what is already in them. Did you hear me? To bring out of a person what's already inside of us. So whenever whenever an educator has a curriculum, whenever an educator is coming up with their lesson plan, all of it is designed to just really give you hints to bring out of you really. Once it clicks, you already know it. And so what we're doing in the dad's program is just striving to provide dads or fathers with tools with a playbook that brings out of you the natural care that you have for your child, the natural love that you have for your child, the natural consideration that you has for your child's uh mother, her involvement, and your child's development.
because we don't want to put everything just on one parent. So, as we were discussing with the roles, usually traditionally it was mom is helping with the homework, dad just comes up to the school and gets you corrected if you need to be corrected. Well, we're living in a space and time now, brother Nate, where we don't have the traditional dad. Everyone is not out here working on the roads. Everyone isn't working in a steel mill. No, we have fathers who are doing podcasts.
We have fathers who are doing some of everything. So, the same way we use the the A is for athletics and academics. So, the same way that we're willing to invest in our children's athletic prowess, we can make that same investment in their academic prowess. Talk to me about the outcomes like when a dad is holistically invested in their kid when they are, you know, supporting them academically, spiritually, athletically, the whole nine yards. Like, where do you see the outcomes going? You have a child that feels as if they're unstoppable.
So we would discuss and uh the billionaires in the world over 70% of the billionaires in the world over 70% have active or had active fathers in their lives. Millionaires outside of entertainment and athletics, right? We're just going to get those out the way. Whenever we're speaking of people who have become millionaires, by being innovative, by trade, whether it's the medical field, whether it's law, these individuals, over over 60% of them have had or have active fathers. So, it's just something about a father's presence and a father being interested in what you're involved in that increases the confidence and the ability for a child to feel as if anything they want to accomplish is doable. Yeah.
And I think that in a time where there are lots of broken homes, there are lots of non-traditional families. I think that one thing that I I you guys talked about earlier is that it is fathers and it's father figures. like not everyone is, you know, blessed with the the perfect stereotypical family where you you come home and everyone's eating dinner around the table and everyone still loves each other. Um, so it's even father figures, you know, whether it's, you know, grandfathers, uncles, older brothers, sometimes mentors. Um, and taking that active role. I think that it'd be incredibly hard for you know if if you are split up like I bet one parent is kind of like the liaison with the school and the other one kind of gets the knowledge roundabout and let you know playing the game of telephone with a high school kid or even a mel you're not getting a full that was a thought that was a study you bring that's something that you bring that up it was a study in uh New York Times it was and it was speaking of parents who have separated And it said that over 72% of information that needs to be sent home to parents who are separated, guess where it's at?
Mom, it sent the mom. Oh yeah. Absolutely. And it's like you then as a dad out there, if you're listening, have to realize it's like you should be pushing your kid for excellence in all facets of their life. Okay. So talk to me how how you guys develop this curriculum the the discipline athletics academics dedication dedication sacrifice how did you build the curriculum of uh of the program yeah so it it started with just determining uh we're thinking of ourselves as fathers what is it that what are the tools that we need where are we involved within the school so of course we need as fathers uh tools that will help our kids athletically academically.
Uh, and then we need to know what does that look like if I'm working second shift and I can't be at the school physically, but what does that dedication and sacrifice look like? And then uh we always say discipline is not a dirty word and it's not about, you know, how do I keep my kids from getting in trouble and that's important, but how do I instill self-discipline in my son or daughter to be successful at school? And so we start with dads and say, "Okay, let's look at your work schedule. How much time can you give to the school?" And then what does that look like? Does it look like um you're picking up and dropping off?
Or does it look like hey once a quarter? And a quarter in school is eight or nine weeks. Can I go meet with my kid's favorite teacher or meet with my students uh a class that he or she is struggling in for 30 minutes a quarter? So that's four times in a year. Two hours. Two hours.
Two hours annually. Annually? Yes. And can I have a conversation to say, you know, hey, Mr. Mark, what is it I can do to help my son get from a B to an A? Get that information, take it home and uh prepare that way.
Uh we talk to dads about who are the three or four people you need to know inside that school. So, if you have an elementary school kid, absolutely. You want to know who the principal is. You want to know who their home room teacher is, and you also want to know uh who is the counselor at the particular school because you're trying to meet all their needs. And these are the people within the school that can help you meet their needs. for high school, you absolutely want to know who their guidance counselor is to make sure, you know, my son's name is KJ, that he is taking the classes necessary to get to Purdue Engineering or what have you.
And so we through our curriculum share strategies uh to give dads those tools to where if you're a dad and you're an entrepreneur, you own your own business and maybe you have more time, you can go and do more things physically at the school. or if you're a dad and I've got 30 minutes a month, let me sit down for 10 minutes and email these teachers. Let me sit down uh and set up an appointment to meet with the vice principal to discuss some things that I'm hearing at home and just see where I can fit in. So, we give those tools to the dads through the curriculum. Well, and look how simple this could be. Uh Nate, discipline, right?
So, discipline could start at home. So, I'll use an example of myself this morning for my 9year-old son. Wake him up this morning. Make up your bed and showing him how to properly make up his bed. No, get the wrinkles out of there, son. Make sure that it's even.
That's just discipline because discipline uh is at the head of or being organized. Being organized is the head of structure. So, that's the discipline. Then, academic athletics. So, if I want my son to be my my my son plays basketball, my youngest son, my oldest son plays football. So, if I want these two individuals to get better at whatever sport that they're playing, what do you need to work on?
Is it your left hand? If you're playing basketball, is it going right for my son who plays football? Is it your speed? Is it your is it your power? Right. with the academics.
Where are you on the scale of uh your your your reading for my youngest son? Are you reading at grade level? Are you comprehending that grade level for my oldest son? Are you taking the classes that are necessary to attain the the degree you're going after? Then dedication. Every single father, we don't work 24 hours.
So there is some time that we can dedicate toward making sure that we're cultivating our children. If it's that 30 minutes, if it's an hour, we saying 2 hours annually, but what if you can dedicate just 20 minutes every day? 20 minutes isn't a lot. That's like you can accidentally scroll on your phone for 20 minutes. You know, they call it doom scrolling. I just found that time out.
Doom scrolling. Exactly. And it's like how often do you like do an evaluation of your time and realize and you'll say it you're like well I'm providing I'm working. I'm paying the bills for my family. I care about my family and it's like well do you care enough that again it's just a little bit of curiosity. It's not saying you have to be a mathlete and like you know teach them pre-calculus but just the fact that okay I'm I'm going to pull through few threads here.
Just the fact that you're curious and you're asking about it means like oh my dad must care about this. my father must care about, you know, well, how not just how my sports are going, not just how I'm developing, how was practice, but also like, oh yeah, how was that test you had today? Just by asking the questions, you don't even have to know anything about the test. We literally I I literally used that example in one of the sessions that we did. Just a father asking, "You have any homework tonight?" The father don't even know how to do the work that you're going to say you have tonight.
But just asking lets a child know or makes a child feel that. And then you talk about, you know, okay, if if at the beginning of every school year or the beginning of every quarter or semester, you send an email to a few teachers or people within the building. You're crazy to think that the teacher receiving that doesn't realize that parent that you care and they're going to have, oh, they're like, "Oh, if mom and dad are invested, obviously in a nice way, you know, you're just opening the door. Hey, if anything I just want to open communication here like blah blah blah blah blah halfway through checking in like saw we got a C plus on but you know it's amazing how what does so and so you don't have to go into the school send an email and obviously in a polite way what does KJ have to do to get that B to an Absolutely and the fact that they're seeing that you're interested that you care they're going to care more and you're getting this whole tribe together to help uh your student you know thrive academically.
And they're going to be conscious of how they communicate with your child because they know that this child has parents that are invested in their development. Yeah. Yeah. I if if I'm a teacher receiving that email, here's what it does. Number one, I know everyone cares about this particular kid. Number two, I know if you get a B minus, I know your your parents expectations.
I know your dad's expectations that, hey, I really want my son or daughter to get an A out of this class. And so, I'm going to make sure, hey KJ, I know you got a B minus. I've talked with your parents. I've talked with your dad. Let's kind of look at how can we better this for our next test or our next quiz just based on that one email that took at best maybe three minutes to write. And this is and this isn't theory.
This is lived experience. Yeah. For example, my my oldest daughter who's uh a eighth grader, she's 13. She came home with a grade that we didn't really appreciate. However, she's a child that really puts a lot of pressure on herself. She she strives to be perfect.
And however, she came home with a grade that we really didn't we didn't appreciate the grade, but yet we didn't think that this is the grade that she was deserving of. So I as dad emailed the educator. It was stern but it wasn't disrespectful if you get what I'm saying bro. It was stern but not disrespectful. Yeah. Do you know within a week things changed.
So, all I asked the educator inside the email to summarize it was just I need you to take a, you know, really consider the grade that you're giving her because uh she she's come she's come home telling me that you all had some disagreements just in her convers her her conversing with some classmates during class, but that has nothing to do with the way that she's performing in your actual class. So, please reconsider this grade that you provided. And if not, we can just have a conversation. I'm willing to meet at any time. Just give me your schedule and let's schedule a meeting. And you know, the very next week, the grade changed.
And I'm not saying it changed because it didn't come off like a threat. It really came off as a father really wanting you to reconsider the grade that you provided my child based upon not agreeing with how she's functioning. may be talking too much in class, but as far as how she's performing academically, we're not going to deny that. And so, it's a real time experience of a father communicating and showing in the result, showing that that communication was key in making sure the results change and knowing that someone cares, you know, like there are people here that are actively invested in and that care. This episode is brought to you by Barkeep Vodka, a Hooser State original made right here in Indianapolis. Now, Barkeep is made from 100% Indiana corn.
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com. Let's get back to the episode. So if there are educators out there or if there are dads that are listening and you're like okay how do I learn like what does the process of like you know learning from you all what does that look like? Yes. So for the educators out there we'll start there in the schools. Uh you can reach out to myself which includes brother Thomas.
My website is keelin mark. com kel i n m a r k. com. There's a tab on there that says dads and you just click that tab. It has provides information on how to get in touch with us to, you know, uh, bring the program to your school. Yeah.
Okay. So, talk to me about what implementing it at a school looks like. Let's say I I run Nate Spangle High School, right? So, I'm like, "Oh, yeah. Our dads need this." Like, this would be a great way to, you know, get father figures more involved.
What does that look like? So, we sit down with administrators, principles, talk about their school, talk about their school goals, and then we begin to organize. It's an hour and a half session. Uh we try to do it whether it's an evening or a Saturday morning making it convenient for dads. We have a a zoom option if you want to do something virtual where uh we then organize a session and it is a true workshop where dads are going to come in with questions but leave with answers and they're going to leave with things they need to do on Monday. Um, I I'll give a a challenge to dads and a lot of the dads don't know these things, but we dive into your kid is in the seventh grade, but are they at a seventh grade reading level?
It's not automatic. You know, your kid could be in the seventh grade and reading at a fourth grade reading level and it will continue there at a ninth grade or read at a sixth grade reading level. And those are the things you need to find out as a parent. Secondly, as a dad, what is the attendance policy at your school? Once your kid in some districts uh reach 9 days of absence, that can turn into a truency issue. And dads don't know these things.
So, we dive into what policies in the school that you need to know and we just build what I think the dad's confidence in knowing, okay, I do need to start asking some questions. I do need to get a lot more further involved. And so in an hour and a half workshop, we are giving strategies, tools, uh we're giving informations from the educator side, but also uh from the side as fathers and things that we've experienced as well. Yeah. And also there's an option to bring us in multiple times as well. So we'll do an hour and a half session or you can book us for three visits and we'll come all three.
So you you bring your dads together and you give them tools and and implementation or strategies that they can implement the following Monday. Absolutely. I if there were a couple questions that dads could ask whether it be to schools or their kids to just show that they're invested. Like I think that on the service level that sounds like such a simple thing, but like even that it's like the attendance policy, things like that, like oh, I bet the average dad is not like unless you are hyper attentive to detail, you're probably not like tuned in to all of that thing. So, are there a couple questions that dads could take from this podcast to implement today? You know, hey, ask your kid about this or ask your educator, your administrators about these things.
So, one of the questions that I would encourage dads to ask because I was just talking about this yesterday at the track meet as well. What is the school's mission? Because if a school has a mission that says that they are there to uh so I'll use a school for example, it says that our mission is to educate the whole child. So, if that is your mission, now as a father, I have to hold you to that. you become a part of the village. And so knowing that I'm a father, you have the responsibility to include me in everything that you do.
And if you don't, now we have, you know, we're at odds because this is your mission. And by law, you have to hold tight to your mission. Yeah, that's the way it goes. Okay. So, know the mission of the school. You have to know the mission.
Yeah. Educate the whole child. And then second, I would say uh for fathers, build a relationship with the principal and ask the principal, what steps would you suggest that we take to get my son or my daughter to the destination that they're striving to get to. Now, as a father, you got to know that that comes from a conversation with, you know, your child and mom as well. But ask the principal, what steps would you suggest that we take to get my son or daughter to the destination that the strategy? You know where that question comes up all the time?
You're asking your coach, "How do I how do I get my kid D1? How do I get an academics, athletics?" Yeah. It's like, "Oh, yeah." That's like a very if you put it in sports terms, that's a very common thing to ask freshman year, you're coming in, you got you got CO champion. You're like, "All right, coach.
How do I get him down to Alabama?" And it's like, that's so common that you're like, "Okay, great. You got to go to these camps. You got to do these things." But are, let's say your kid is not an athlete or they're not like a their goal is not to make it to the NFL. Are you asking those same questions?
Hey, my kid wants to get to Harvard. I don't even know how someone would even do that. Or like something like um like the servicemies. there's like a lot of steps to go to like army or navy and like it's like if your kid has that dream but you as a father you as a mother even has not asked the questions like you have to get a state representative and like it's a it's way easier to like to get this is like the the most niche example but if you want to go to army you have to have your local representative write you a letter I think there's another government official like there's a lot of hoops to jump through and it's like well if you knew that as a freshman and even if they decide not to go that route it's like oh well maybe we should have our our child volunteer at the local like a local uh state house or whatever. So, you start to build a relationship with someone that you're going to need a letter from down the road, right?
What if that child wants to be a firefighter? What if their child wants to be a policeman? Right? It's other career fields that children want to get involved in that even parents parents have no idea how to get them to that destination. So, those are the two questions that I would say. Yes.
you find out your your child wants to be a firefighter and you're like, "Okay." You go and you ask the educator, you ask the administrator, "All right, you know, I know that a lot of success rates for high schools are based on, you know, college acceptance rate." And it's like, "Okay, well, what a college or postsecary education of some type, right?" It's like, great. You know, the current path right now is uh little Johnny wants to be a firefighter. Yes.
How do we help set them on that path without closing other doors? You know, because sometimes it's like they say they want to work in a factory or whatever when they're 14 years old, all of a sudden they get too far down the road and they're like, "Oh, shoot. My only option is to do this. I don't have any other options." So asking those are great questions. Yeah.
So that what would you say? Uh I have one big one and then uh something that's I just thought of now. But the first one is ask every teacher, what are two or three things that I can do to support you and my student in your classroom? And that teacher will respond with two or three things that father can do. And now you do that times four classes. Uh you've got 12 things dad that you can do to support that teacher and support your student in the classroom.
Yeah. And you almost learn a little bit about I mean every educator is a little bit different. And so like I think about this had my parents asked growing up like specific teachers that are like I'm you know you learn they're very strict about their talking policy. They would remind me chatty and like one day you're going to end up talking grade if you just don't talk this one like cuz I feel like you go in there that example of my daughter right and it's like yeah and it's and I feel like I would get the lecture you got to stop talking in class and that's just like so broad it's like well some teachers are a little more lenient than other teachers and and that's like a big undertaking but if it was specifically if you knew Mrs. Smith does not mess around with talking. Like that was the biggest thing she said.
So the moment you walk through that door, you have to be hyper attentive to not talking during class for that one. And then hold on be before you get to your next question. If you're an educator watching, I don't know what camera I'm on, but listen, be careful on how you correct the student from talking in class, right? Because we don't want to discourage students from using their voice. Does that make sense? Yeah.
Because when you tell it, it's it's broad. When you tell a student, don't talk in class. How how does that student know how to advocate for themselves? Now, how does that student build the confidence to advocate for themselves? That comes by way of conversation. I feel like our teachers are good about it's like you got to raise your hand.
Like you can't and you can't just blurt out whatever you think all the time, Nate. Like you got some wild thoughts going on. But like don't be afraid to raise your hand and present your wild thought. Don't be afraid to answer questions and you know put yourself out there but in a you know in a respectful manner for sure cuz I think a lot of times that can stifle like I was again I'm using my personal example like I was strong willed enough that I wasn't going to stop talking regardless but some people if you tell them don't talk they shut down they'll never talk again and then it's like you don't know how long that lasts and and like just your words of what you probably meant to say was don't talk out of turn like raise your hand and I'll call on you to speak like blah blah blah blah blah there. Uh that's a really interesting way of like the minute ways that you communicate can make lasting impacts in these students.
Yes sir. Yep. Second question. And then the the last thing I would say this Nate is that this type of hands-on this type of communication will come to an end when they step foot on a college campus or when they uh enlist in our armed services. And so having this type of involvement, do it, cherish it, um be involved because I've yet to email any of KJ's professors. He's on his own.
Yeah. But everything, all those expectations that I shared from elementary, middle school through high school has stuck with him in college. That communication, those things that I've put in him as his father, now it's up to them to carry that when they go on to college and, you know, the military, etc. Now, how do you balance that aspect where you want to be invested in your kids's education, but you don't really want to be a helicopter parent? You don't want to be like like too much. I mean, by the time you get to be a senior, they got to have a little bit of independence.
How are you balancing that? And like what kind of strategies you have for that piece of it? Yeah, so we uh talk with dads about when to be hands on and when to be hands off. Uh oddly enough, it is similar when they're playing sports. You cannot get out there and your son's a linebacker, he misses a tackle, you can't get out there at halftime and show him, hey, you should have done this, break down, chop your feet. Right.
Right. And so, and and you've probably been in those rooms, too, where it's like there's a dad in the stands that's like really letting their kid know. Yes. And it's like not only So, I'm a I'm the head wrestling coach at Chitaard. Okay. I've done that for a few years now.
Um, and my at my intro parent meeting, I'm like, "Hey, if you're going to coach from the stands, we got job openings available." Like, like you can make it official 2 hours a day. Come and hang out with us, be part of the staff. If not, like you're you got to trust us, you know? And so that's a piece where it's like, oh, it's like almost too involved during the athletic portion of it, right? So, you got at some point you have to determine and usually happens in late middle school, seventh, eighth grade.
Okay. Uh, here's why I'm going to be a lot more handsoff to the extent allowing your kid to fail. So, if they get a C++ and they're a really solid student now, okay, I'm not going to send this email. Hey, KJ and this this quiz was a little bit rough. Now, you go talk to your teacher and talk about what can I do to improve on the next quiz? Because leading up to that, I've been more hands-on.
Hey, KJ got a C plus. Anything I can do as a father? And so we give strategies on when to be very hands-on and when to be hands off as they get older and determining what is it I can be hands off on, right? Uh whether it's subject areas or socially or things like that, right? Because children will let you know as well, right? Because some children mature faster than others and some children need more of a grip, right?
Not just the hands-on, but they need the grip, too. They need you to grab them clothes. Some students, some children need more of a grip because they're depending on you to be hands on to guide them. You don't want to build the habit that if I get a bad grade, my dad will just email it and it'll make it all go away. You know, it's like a healthy balance. But I think that even with that, how you asked the question to KJ where he's going to listen to this and be like, "Oh, dude, they put me put me on blast."
But it's like, okay, they get a C+ and it's like, okay, I'm not going to send the email, but you if you want to fix this, you should go ask what are three things you can do. And then if you come back, we can debrief on that and build a plan from there, right? And if you like charge your student and then you follow up that night, okay, what did Mrs. Smith say? Like, how are we going to figure it? And it's like, oh, I didn't ask her.
And you're like, "All right, well, tomorrow morning." You like remind them a little bit sternly like say, "Hey, our expectation in this family is that we get, you know, not C++es, right?" So, we we literally just had the same conversation, brother Nate, with our daughter. Mhm. She So, both of my daughters are heavily involved in dance. So, sometimes they actually have to miss school on a Friday if they're traveling out of town because these dance competitions, I don't know if you've been introduced to this yet.
No, it's above my pay grade. Oh man, these dance competitions could be long. But however, when she came back home, we were on her. Okay, you missed the test. Did you get in contact with the educator to see when you can make it up? Okay, I'm going to do it, Mom.
I'm going to do it, Dad. The following day. So, did you do it? Okay. Why didn't you do it? Yeah.
just staying on top of them as well, but giving them that lead or giving them that responsibility to reach out themselves instead of us doing I love that question you just phrased instead of like you so comes home and you're like did you do it like no I forgot and instead of just reminding them in the morning why didn't you what's the limiter there like what what was the gap today and you get to learn a little bit more and help that because I think at the end of the day whatever message you're you're giving giving to people, whatever you're communicating, if it can click for them and it makes sense, you're going to get far better results. So, when you're asking these questions and letting you know your child realize, oh, wait, if I reach out and like I ask these questions, I'm going to get an exact playbook of how to fix my grade. That's it. Yeah. Wow. And that works that works from middle school through college.
That professor, you know, hey KJ, you know, here's what your grade is. here are some things to work on, you know, for the next exam or presentation. Now, students get in the habit of developing those lines of communication. They start working at Eli Liy. You want to go talk to your supervisor to talk about, hey, production has been low. What are some things I can do?
Similar to that high school discussion, what are some things I can do to, you know, improve my production? Well, KJ, here's what you can do with your team of people that are under you. And you're just building those skills that fathers hope, you know, their kids eventually listen and carry on. Uh but you're really just instilling and planting those seeds in them. If you take anything from this, right, it's like be more present in the holistic development of your child, you know, not just acetics when it's fun, you know, cuz how quick are we to ask again, you know, oh, we threw an interception tonight. like let's go back and watch the film and see how we could have gotten better and not made that read.
And it's like, okay, well, we got a D, right? Let's go back and watch the film and learn like why we got a D. How we correct that for the future. Man, I love it. And when we know the destination that either we have, we we desire for our child to get to or we know the destination that our child desires to get to. the same way we may do in sports or athletics with getting our child a trainer right in advance knowing that we want to get you to this destination.
Let's get you a trainer that could develop your skills to get you here. We could do the same thing academically with getting a tutor. Yeah. Let me get you a tutor. Let me get you a mentor that can prepare your mind to be where it needs to be to get to this destination. What would you say to the dads out there that are either nervous or scared or like don't know like they're not necessarily academics?
You talk about your own father like a sixth grade education that wouldn't make me feel confident or empowered to send an email to someone who with a college degree that asking about a grade for school. I think that there's a delta there. How do you overcome that and and get to the point where you you feel confident and inspired to take those steps? I think it's a little bit different now. So when my father passed away, he was he was 79. So emails weren't even being sent when he was a younger father.
However, I think that even if because there there are a lot of fathers who weren't necessarily good students or comfortable being students themselves. So to now be the parent to encourage a child to be a better student than you were, it can be a little challenging. But I think sending an email to an educator just to ask as Mr. uh as brother Keelin said, "What are two or three things that I can help you with?" I don't think that's that difficult. And I think a a simple thing to do before you even go that route, Nate, is to say, "Hey, um, introduce yourself to the principal.
I am, you know, I'll use KJ again, KJ's dad. Um, if you ever need anything, just give me a call." as a starting point of getting to know people within the building. You meet the principal. You meet the school resource officer. Hey, uh, Officer Johnson.
Hey, that's my son KJ. Uh, if you ever need anything with him and make sure he's doing the right thing, just keep me informed. And getting to know the people inside the building. And then you build up some confidence uh through relationships that I'm going to now ask a couple of questions uh that I'm comfortable with. But it starts with just building a relationship with the principal, their favorite teacher, similar to what we automatically do with the coach. Y yeah.
And I feel like a lot of times teachers end up being like it's like a faceless thing. It's like only and it's built through the descriptions of your student. You know, it's like your kid comes home and it's like a Mrs. Smith is the worst. She hates me. She's the meanest person.
And then you meet Mrs. Smith. She's like the sweetest old little lady. and you're like person like wait this is who you were saying was the meanest person and it's like and I think that's a piece too of and taking a breath of like sometimes you'll come home and you're you know kids are kids you're like oh my this teacher has it out for me it's the worst thing ever like blah blah blah blah blah and it's like oh you're hopping mad and you're like how dare you then you like hear the whole story and you're like they were actually right yes you did that right you left something out oh you well I forgot about that part D guilty. That was me like it's like I I told you like 80% of the truth. It's like yeah the the 20% you left out was the most important part you left out man as you look for the future if you think a decade from now 10 years where do you see and what do you hope the impact of the dad differences 10 years from now?
It is a normal thing to see dads not just dropping their kids off but dads inside the building. Dads uh talking with uh teachers, the school principal, the superintendent. It just becomes a normal thing to see dads further involved physically inside uh that school building year by year. My desire is for fathers to just have more conversations with their children about education, where they are academically, what they're struggling with, what they want to pursue in the future, right? What goals they have, what short-term goals they have academically, right? Because athletics, most fathers are comfortable with athletics.
If we even if we haven't played, we've watched enough sports just to be comfortable with athletics is easy. Yeah. But it becomes challenging striving to develop the mind of a child to believe that they can conquer the curriculum. So just fathers having being comfortable having conversations with their children. And see, when people see us as two males, they automatically assume that we're just want fathers to be more involved in their son's education. No, but young girls desire for a father to be concerned about how her grades are as well.
So, we just want fathers to be comfortable year by year conversing about the academic progress that their children are making or the lack of. It's hard to quantify, but you know it when you see it. Like when someone is just a rockstar dad that's like totally invested in all aspects of their children, it's like it's not necessarily, oh, they went to x amount of events or they asked x amount of questions. It's just a feeling and it's like, oh, you can just tell from like the bottom of their shoes to the top of their head that they are wholly invested in the whole person. So, and that rockstar dad, Nate, every kid knows that dad. Oh, that's so and so's dad.
Or, oh, that's so and so's dad. I better straighten up. That dad just has a presence not just in their kids' life but in their buddy's life and everyone around them. Uh and that that dad is the one that you know may have just made a little investment that is paying off in a larger way. And that dad is inside of all of us. So this you know our program is our program just serves as a seed right but as we put seeds in the ground at some point the seed has to do what?
Germinate. Oh that's a $5 word. Come on. germinate. I was going to say grow. Yes.
So, our program just serves as a seed and each session is the water on that seed to potentially get it to germinate. And I mean, it's not like I I mean, I wholeheartedly believe it's not just like someone was born to be a great dad. Like, there are people, you know, who have those traits, but it's it's not like, oh, they were just born that way. They're a better dad than me. It's like this is something that's learned and developed and you practice it and no one knows what they're like. They're figuring it out along the way, but it's a lot easier.
Everybody, yeah, all of us are figuring it out regardless of whether we see that rockstar dad as a rockstar dad. He's still figuring it out because there's some area that he's slipping in that we're just unaware of. Yeah. I love it. I think the the work you guys are doing is super impactful and the conversation around it even like whoever's out there can hopefully this sparks a conversation. Go home, ask some open-ended questions to your your child, boy, girl, like ask them about their education and get invested into what they're doing.
Again, 10 minutes a day, 20 minutes a day at best. Two hours a year. Come on. Come on. All right, we've come towards the end of the show where we have some fun Indiana questions, gentlemen. So, this question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homejcart. com. We're going to start here with brother Thomas. My question for you, why do you call Indiana home? Number one, because I I've been living here for quite a long time, but I have to be honest with you, brother Nate.
I still call Chicago home. Oh, that's fair. Yeah, I still call Chicago home. That's fair. Yeah. I've learned so many lessons growing up in the city of Chicago that helped me become a better hooer.
There we go. Okay. What's the biggest lesson you learned from growing up in Chicago that's helped you become a better hooer? Adaptability. Yeah. to be able to adapt to many different situations regardless of how comfortable or uncomfortable I may be in the moment.
Yeah. But adaptability and that's a great one cuz it's like, you know, in Chicago it's like you take a few steps and you're in different neighborhoods, different people, different and here it's like you drive a couple miles and you might end up in cornfields talking to a farmer in overalls. You got to be adaptive. And it's the most segregated city in the entire country. Chicago. Chicago.
Oh, it's the most segregated city in the country by like neighborhoods being Oh, yeah. So, you know, in Chicago, you have uh you have Greek Town, you have Wrigleyfield. Yeah. Wrigleyville. All of them are separated by class and also by uh socioeconomic status. Yeah.
Right. And by race. So therefore, it makes it one of the most segregated cities in the country. I feel like my buddies from college like they we're moving to Chicago and it's like first you start off like in Wrigleyville it's cheap and people can get then it's like okay I got to get a couple promotions and then I can maybe afford somewhere like closer and then eventually you're like okay then if we continue to do well we're going to end up in Evston you know you work your way up there that's wild okay uh Keelin why do you call Indiana home when I went to college uh in Mville Tennesseeville college when I got my undergrad degree I went to college wearing being a hooer as a badge of honor because I played basketball so it meant a lot to go play basketball coming from Indiana and all that uh came with that. What high school? Uh I went to Cal High School in Gary, Indiana.
And so what Indiana why it's home for me, it has given me the ability to just uh adapt and be anywhere. So, Indianapolis, pretty big city and we'll go visit other cities, but living here has helped me um know how to move and operate and have fun in a big city. I've been to small towns in Indiana and Mville, Tennessee was a very small town. And so, Indiana has given me the best of of I think of of all worlds where, you know, I I can go and live somewhere else. So I can go and visit somewhere else and enjoy that space because Indiana just gives all those things to you as a Hooser. I love it.
Okay, now I got a I got a dad question for you. If you think about fictional dads from TV, movies, wherever it might be, books. Yeah. Yeah. Like who are your favorite fictional dads that we could strive to be more like? Cliff Huxable from from uh The Cosby Show.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I mean, hey, in the in the show in the show, it's all good. It's all good. And I have which is a modernday Cosby show, Dre from uh Blackish.
Oh, it's it's almost it's similar to a modern show that really focuses on this two professional uh parents raising five children, right? So I I that that's a those are two fictional dads and me and my wife are two parents raising five children. Hey, come on. Okay. Wait, what ages do you have? So 20, 19, 13, 11, and nine.
You got the whole You're like working on, you know, like some like early level maturity and discipline as well as like, hey, you got to get an internship and a job. You got both ends of the spectum. We've been discussing internships already. Y there we go. Yeah, I love that. Okay, those are two good ones.
Who do we got? So, I'll age myself and just stick with me here. Um, Fred Sanford of Sanford and Son. Okay, and here's why. It was just him and Lamont. And you come to realize they were father and son in business together.
Uh, yes, Fred held Lamont back from going out and exploring the world, but I think he held him back because he really loved his son and he wanted to work with him. He wanted his son to be there with him and he he may have had a a different delivery in doing it. He's a little grouchy, but I I just look at him as a a father who just really loved his kid to the extent, you know, I I want my kid to be with me as I grow old. Yeah, Fred Sanford. There you go. I love it.
We're all across the the spectrum there. So, not everyone is is, you know, uh I'll say blessed to have an active father in their life. And if there might be men, you know, listening on this podcast that know kids in their neighborhood, and it's like, well, I can't step in and totally be their dad today. You know, that's like a a formality type thing. But like, how can dads make an impact not only in their kids' lives, but the lives of of others that might not have a positive male influence in there? I'd say that to start, get to know kids.
Get to know kids. whether it's um kids in your neighborhood, uh your son or daughter's friends, and just get to know them as just young people. Uh give them a listening ear. Uh understand their interests. Um understand, you know, their who they are as people. Uh cuz often times we we look at kids and kids should be doing this, kids should be doing that.
The main thing kids should be doing is just being a kid. Uh because we know as adults things get a lot more serious, more responsibilities. But just take some time somewhere in your world uh your circle and just get to know some kids in your neighborhood or your your son or daughter's best friends. Um I think that's a good starting point cuz it just expands that village um where kids have someone else to go to within their community. Yeah. And I think Yeah, I love that.
And it's like, let's say it's your son or daughter's friend that you know, maybe from looking at like they might not have a dad present in their life. And it's like when you're going by, you ask them a question. Oh yeah, like how's like maybe a little bit deeper than how's school going? Like oh, what's your favorite class this year? They're like, oh, I'm really loving geography. Okay.
Then the next time you see him, how's geography going? And it just make gives them a feeling that someone cares. I think a lot of kids just want to know that people care about Absolutely. Yeah. Yes, sir. My answer would be just become or continue to work on being the best possible version of yourself, right?
Because being the best possible version of yourself attracts different children to you. I have uh children who I don't necessarily know that well that are my children's classmates that when I'm present they run up to me like like I do know them that well but it's just based on me striving to be the best version of a father to my own children. Yeah. That attracts other children to me. And now when those children uh become a part of our inner circle, you know, I become that mentor, father figure. Yeah.
But it all comes from not even doing something intentional, but just genuinely striving to become the best possible version of myself and a father that I can possibly be. Because they're always watching. Like they're always absorbing and they're learning. And it's like, oh, we'll be a positive role model. So that maybe in the back of their mind they're like, you know what, when I grow up one day, you know, I want to be a dad like so and so. I want to be a dad like him.
He's great. Absolutely. And Nate, because I've seen your show, I love your podcast. A whoer that we should have on our radio. Oh, you're you're I got the last three questions here and we're done. So I I love it.
I can't wait. We got to save it. So we have three questions to end every show that we ask every guest. We were you seg right into it. Let's go. I love it when people know cuz sometimes I get to the end and I'm about to ask this question and they're like, "Wait, I didn't know you were going to."
And I was like, "Come on, listen to the show." So, we have three questions. We ask every guest that comes on. The first one, what is your favorite Indiana memory? Mine uh I would say I one of my friends from college came in town to see me. I forgot what year it was, but it was the final one basketball game in what was called the Hooser Dome.
and he just couldn't believe that we supported high school basketball like this. And it was the final high school one class basketball game in the Hooser Dome at the low I'd say it was at least 35,000 people watching a basketball game in a football stadium. Wow. A high school game. And where was your friend from? Uh he was from uh Kingston Kingsport, Tennessee.
So he's from Tennessee. He's never seen the who's your hysteria of the one class basketball. Absolutely. He was it it was unreal for him. I I said, "Glenn, this has been our norm." And uh so he absolutely enjoyed it.
That was that was that was a hell of a memory for me. Bloomington North beats Delta 7554 to win the 87th annual state basketball tournament. And yeah, this was the 87th and final year of single class basketball in Indiana with top ranked Bloomington North 28-1 record that year, securing their first title in 37 years. They beat the Delta Eagles. Yep. at the Yeah.
At the RCA Dome. Yes, that's it. Wow. Yep. That would be a good one. They have ticketed uh 27,843 people.
High school game for a high school basketball. It's just different in Indiana. Yes. All right, brother Thomas. What's your favorite Indiana memory? Since we're going basketball, my first year living in Indiana, I played basketball for Arlington High School.
Anyone I mean, it's not I don't think it's a high school anymore. There was a basketball game. It was a rivalry. Aratin High School versus Brale High School. That was for me that was the most electrifying high school basketball regular season local game that I had ever witnessed. Raw Ripple High School versus Arlington High School.
It was it was a rivalry. RIP to both of them. Both of them. Yes. And if you ask anyone who was in high school around 2000 to 2002, 2003, that rivalry right there, but public school was one of the greatest basketball rivalries. That would have been around the time that was it George Hill that went through Broad High School or Grant Hill.
One of the George Hill went through Broad. He was a little I think George Hill may have been 0405 during that time. I'm not going to highlight too many visuals, but yeah, I was there. 2004 he graduated. Yeah. The the the heyday, bro.
The gym in there is huge. It is. It's a big gym. Okay, now we come. We have two questions left. This is your chance to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about.
Could be a restaurant, a park, could be but something specific that more people need to know about. What is a hidden gem in Indiana? There is a beautiful beach in northwest Indiana called Miller Beach. Beautiful sand. It is right on Lake Michigan. Uh a lot of local shops.
It is worth a day trip to go from India wherever you are up to Miller Beach uh in northwest Indiana. Uh still in Gary, but it is a beautiful, beautiful just small area. Uh hang out on the beach. Uh visit some of the local shops. I grew up in Gary, so I know Miller Beach very well. Miller Beach is a legitimate beach to hang out at.
That's a good one. And a lot of people think, "Oh, it's like it's like up in Northwest Indiana. It's in Gary. Like it's like a stereotype for sure." And it's like it's beautiful. It is beautiful.
Yeah. Miller Miller's Beach. Miller Beach. Miller Beach. Yes. Okay.
I'm going to go with that one then. All right. There we go. All right. Final question of the day. This is where we source new guests and learn about other people that are doing amazing things.
Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. It's a young lady. Um, I think she graduated from uh Christmas Addicts, uh, former basketball player, but an outstanding uh, musician, outstanding artist, uh, Taylor Hall. Uh, she recently performed uh, during the Final Four weekend. Um, I think Taylor may have another event coming up this summer here in Indie.
Uh if you want to hear good music, you want to hear positive music, uh she is an outstanding artist, and I say an artist because she's a musician. That is Taylor right there. Taylor Hall. Yes. She uh did some work at my uh school in the past and mentoring uh young ladies. Uh but Taylor, wonderful young lady.
Uh outstanding music. Uh definitely is someone you need to know. Uh will be a great guest on the show. Taylor Yeah, I just saw she had an IBJ article that she's singing at Rev. Yes. Uh at the out of the Speedway.
So, congrats, Taylor Hall. Amazing. All right. We'll have to check it out. Brother Thomas. Number one, I it it would be my wife.
I'm going to shout that out. You could pull the website up, too. Lovelightarning. org. So, my wife Telicia Williams has an amazing child care center. Oh, there we go.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you can move to a break. Come on now. Come on now. Come on now.
Yeah. Love and lightlearning. org. A whole child approach the prepar. Come on now. Okay.
Amazing. And then the other uh the other individual that I will highlight. You can go, you can also type in volume performance center. Carcia Slaughter. Oh, she has been around for I think this is 16 years. My daughters have been involved in that particular dance studio for a decade.
So they started when they were two and three. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So volume performance center. This is a dance studio here like kind of on the northeast side.
It's like Allisonville Road. Right off of 65th in between Allisonville and Benford. Wow. Volume Performance Center. I love it. Those are two great ones, gentlemen.
Thank you so much for coming on the show and one just enlightening uh the fathers and the dads that are listening here about you know how they can all strive to be better you know being the best version of you asking good questions being involved not just in the athletics but also in the academics when you talk about things like discipline the whole nine yard dedication I mean it's just it it is a message that you can't talk about enough right and we appreciate y'all if people want to learn more about the dad difference. If people want to learn more about you guys, how can they do that? Yes. Go to keelin mark. com. kel i n m a rk.
com. Instagram at assist the principal. Assist the principal. I love that. That's a good one. Assist the principal.
And also, brother Thomas X on Instagram. B O Thomas X at in on Instagram. Uh motivate to grow on Instagram. That is m o t i v a t e t o g r o w. Then also motivatetogrow. com.
motivate togrow. com. Those three ways in which you can get in contact with me as well. Gentlemen, thanks for stopping by. We'll talk soon. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater.
Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great. We'll see you next time here on Get
