This episode of College and Career Readiness Radio features Kim Gameroz, founder of Teaching Inside Out and SELbrate Good Times.

Kim defines SEL as intentionally teaching students how the social world works so they can function successfully in life and work, rather than assuming they already possess these skills. She emphasizes cognitive flexibility (shifting when things do not go a student’s way), emotional intelligence (accurately identifying emotions and using strategies like mood meters and zones of regulation), perspective taking (jumping into the mind of another person, character, or historical figure), and executive functioning (goal setting, planning, and adapting plans) as core elements educators must actively teach.​

For classroom practice, Kim urges educators to embed SEL into daily systems and routines instead of treating it as an add-on program. She describes an intentional feelings check-in that always pairs “How are you feeling?” with “What tool will you use to support yourself right now?” so students build a toolbox of self-regulation strategies and then reflect later on whether those tools actually helped.​

Kim stresses that the real “solution” begins with the adult: SEL is not about fixing kids, but about educators making a mindset shift toward teaching lagging skills rather than punishing behavior. She challenges teachers, counselors, and leaders to be intentional in their responses, avoid explosive reactions, and recognize that they are not meant to do this work alone; instead, they should “find their herd” of like-minded colleagues who believe SEL must be taught, not assumed.​

Drawing from her upcoming book, Becoming the BISON, Kim uses the bison metaphor to describe educators who “run into the storm” together rather than avoiding hard situations like challenging behaviors, difficult parent emails, and classroom chaos. Bison represent being intentional so others notice—choosing actions that create a sense of calm, unity, and growth mindset for students, and modeling cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation during inevitable storms.​

Kim offers concrete modeling moves for elementary classrooms, such as “mental dress rehearsals” of transitions where students act out expectations with their hands before moving their bodies. She frontloads potential problems (e.g., what to do if someone takes your spot) and explicitly teaches flexible responses, then uses calm prompts like “Was that part of your path?” to coach outliers toward expectations rather than relying on punishment.​

For secondary students, Kim adapts the same rehearsal idea to executive functioning and future planning. She suggests guiding students through visualizations of going home, managing after-school schedules, and deciding when and how they will study or complete assignments, helping them mentally sequence steps and adjust plans when life “storms” disrupt the day.​

Kim explicitly connects these SEL competencies—emotional intelligence, planning, organization, cognitive flexibility, and co-regulation—to college and career readiness as durable, transferable skills. She notes that adult life requires constantly shifting plans, regulating emotions under stress (from broken pipes to workplace conflicts), and working productively with people who may be difficult, all of which mirror the SEL work students must practice in school.​

Her closing message to educators is clear: “Teach social and emotional skills, don’t expect them.” When a student’s behavior is frustrating, she encourages adults to ask, “What skill is lagging?” and remember that “kids do well if they can,” shifting from blame to instruction and from expectation to intentional teaching.

Our guest for this episode of College & Career Readiness Radio is Brian Johnson.

Brian explains why simply “placing kids” isn’t enough and why districts must define clear quality criteria so work-based learning experiences are aligned, mentored, and meaningful.

He shares the six basic characteristics he uses to vet opportunities: minimum hours, alignment to a student’s pathway of study, a professional mentor/supervisor, a real-world environment, student interest, and space for students to discover what they don’t want.

Brian describes his student intake process, where he learns about each student’s pathway, interests, dislikes, and dream organizations and uses that to co‑design potential placements.

He has students spend two weeks actively using their own networks—family, neighbors, community—to try to find a placement, teaching them that finding a job is a skill and giving them “skin in the game.”

Brian notes that 50–60% of students typically find their own placements, and then he steps in to formalize details with partners and ensure the experience meets district criteria.

He talks about preparing and coaching industry partners, including helping them understand the developmental realities of working with teenagers and why their feedback is so powerful.

Brian outlines a clear termination process: partners coach first, but if performance doesn’t improve, they are encouraged to end the placement just as they would in real life.

He emphasizes that termination should be a learning experience, not the end of the road, and he builds in a redemption process so students can reflect, get coaching, and try again.

In the redemption phase, students must fully own the search for their next experience, while Brian commits to supporting them (including making calls alongside them if they struggle to find something).

He explains how he creates “competitive opportunities” where students must apply and interview, even if there are enough slots, so they feel pressure, practice competing, and learn to handle rejection.

Brian shares how he uses “rejection therapy” and real examples (like a student losing an opportunity after signaling wrestling was a higher priority) to help students understand professional expectations.

He contrasts asking for unpaid favors from industry with offering a “menu” of ways to partner—career fairs, speaking in classes, mentoring, hosting interns, hybrid options—to make participation realistic.

Brian cautions that relying on philanthropy alone is not sustainable and urges coordinators to approach this work more like relationship‑based sales that respect a business’s needs and constraints.

He calls for advisory boards and partners who truly bring value and ideas to the table instead of just “checking the box” of attendance.

Brian explains why work-based learning must be part of a district’s DNA, not a last‑minute add‑on in 11th or 12th grade, and why culture and expectations have to be built over time.

He describes “curiosity fairs” for pre‑K–4, where students dress as what they want to be and meet real professionals from those fields, alongside more traditional career fairs in grades 5 and 7.

He emphasizes using parents and families as the first and strongest partner network in elementary schools, inviting them in as speakers and role models from all kinds of jobs.

He encourages schools to think less about hitting home runs and more about consistent exposure so students don’t reach senior year with no idea what they want to do.

Brian’s closing message is that educators should stop trying to control everything: they should own the systems and supports, but students must own their journeys, their effort, and their outcomes.

Our guest for this episode of College & Career Readiness Radio is Jan Jardine.

Jan Jardine explains how work-based learning helps students connect classroom learning with real-world careers through internships, apprenticeships, and CAPS-style industry projects, often revealing both what students love and what is not a good fit before they invest in postsecondary education.

She describes how CAPS programs “bring industry to students” by embedding them in professional environments where they work in teams on authentic client projects, practicing skills like communication, project management, and handling iterative feedback instead of just observing adults at work.

She emphasizes the importance of starting career-connected learning earlier, moving beyond a 9–12 or “just CTE” model by integrating projects and industry connections into middle school courses like College and Career Awareness and even elementary-level career exploration, so students do not “meander” through pathways without direction.

Jan also pushes for breaking down silos between core academics and CTE, sharing examples of engineering students who independently applied calculus to design a moving staircase prototype, illustrating how interdisciplinary, project-based work makes academic content meaningful.​

For rural and under-resourced communities, Jan urges educators to treat the school system itself as an industry partner—leveraging child nutrition, IT, transportation, HR, and other internal departments, as well as nearby community colleges, to create rich work-based learning experiences even where external employers are scarce.

She reflects on the 2025 ACTE CareerTech Vision conference (in New Orleans this year), noting growing national momentum: more conference sessions on rural innovation, younger grades, and postsecondary collaboration.

Jan highlights the upcoming National Work-Based Learning Conference in Rhode Island (April 29–May 1), where sessions will range from foundations for new coordinators to advanced topics for experienced leaders looking to “level up” their programs, with special attention to business partner engagement and rural models.

She also shares details about the ACTE-sponsored Leadership Alliance for Work-Based Learning, a new cohort for 10 practitioners that includes in-person learning at the conference, five virtual sessions, and a capstone project to be presented at the 2027 conference, designed to help leaders tackle real challenges in their own contexts.​

Her call to action for educators is simple but powerful: share your story—do not assume your work is “no big deal,” because when you consistently tell students’ success stories, communities, industry partners, and policymakers better understand the impact and begin to advocate for and invest in this work.