Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Mario Acosta speak about culture and leadership. One of the things that struck me most was the way he framed the different types of people that exist inside organizations and communities. Guardians. Sentinels. Scouts. Sprouts. And honestly? The more I sat with it, the more I realized how much conflict we see inside booster organizations, fine arts programs, and leadership teams has less to do with “bad or incompetent people” and more to do with...

While sitting in a conference today, there was a moment where I had to stop internally and just acknowledge something: I am not crazy. For years inside the booster, fine arts, and student leadership space, I have been trying to articulate something that I could feel deeply but often struggled to fully frame in words. I have talked constantly about culture, systems, emotional safety, leadership consistency, volunteer engagement, student belonging, governance structure, and sustainable...

Every summer, thousands of young percussion instructors flood the activity with fresh energy, big ideas, new chops, and pages full of exercises pulled from DCI lot videos. And honestly, I love that. I really do. Because somewhere inside those young instructors is the same fire many of us experienced when we first saw a truly elite percussion section and realized that the activity could become something far beyond what we had previously imagined. It was that exact moment that changed my life....