GAEL UnscriptED
Georgia Association of Educational Leaders
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About This Podcast
GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today.
From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.
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Recent Episodes
S2E19 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E19 | Your Master Schedule Is The Strongest Literacy Lever You Control
Your literacy plan can be strong and still feel impossibly hard if the system around it is misaligned. We sit down with Georgia Department of Education leaders Dr. April Aldridge and Amy Denty,…
S2E18 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E18 | From Standards To Student Impact
Your ELA standards aren’t “new” anymore, but the way they show up in classrooms still depends on leadership choices made every week. We sit down with Georgia DOE leaders Amy Denty and April Aldridge…
GAEL Micro-Credentialing Course: Leadership Coaching
Most leadership problems don’t need a faster answer. They need a better conversation. We sit down with Cindy Flesher, Kerensa Wing, and Wanda Law from GAEL to get practical about leadership coaching…
S2E17 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E17 | Teacher Retention Starts With Leaders
Teacher retention is often treated like a staffing puzzle, but we keep coming back to a tougher truth: educators stay or leave based on the daily experience of working in a school. That experience is…
2026 Georgia Education Legislative Recap
The laws that hit Georgia classrooms rarely start as clean, simple ideas. They start as priorities, get reshaped by amendments and late-night negotiations, and land in districts with real staffing,…
S2E16 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E16 | How GLISI Builds Trust Based Leadership
The fastest way to stall school improvement is to treat leadership like a set of tips you can download. Real change asks something harder: adults have to be willing to learn, unlearn, and look in the…
GAEL UnscriptED S2:E15 | Level Up Fulton: with Lisa Steele & Brian Keefer
Turnover doesn’t just drain a district’s budget, it drains trust, momentum, and student support. We talk with Lisa Steele and Dr. Brian Keefer from Fulton County Schools about a different way to…
GAEL UnscriptED S2:E 14 | Lose The Title And Go Walk The Halls
The first year as a superintendent can feel like drinking from a firehose, and the pressure to prove yourself fast is real. We sit down with Dr. Robbie Hooker (Retired from Clarke County Schools) and…
GAEL UnscriptED S2:E13 | GLISI Part #1
You can feel it in every school building right now: the pace is relentless, the stakes are high, and even great people can slide into survival mode. We bring in Leslie Hazle Bussey and Jennie Welch…
S2E12 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E12 | Why GAEL Matters
Leadership in public education can feel lonely until you find the right people in your corner. We’re joined by former GAEL executive director, Dr. Jimmy Stokes and GAEL COO, Dusty Smith for a…
S2E11 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E11 | Schools Can Use AI Without Letting Cheating Win with Trek Ai
Students are already using AI for school, whether we approve it or not and that reality is forcing district leaders to make choices fast. We sit down with Erin Burchik of Trek AI and Brent Coleman of…
S2E10 GAEL Unscripted S2:E10 | Cancel School? The Forecast says "You're Facebook Famous"! Part #2 with Mitch Young
Ever wonder what really drives a snow day decision? We pull back the curtain with Superintendent Dr. Mitch Young to map the real playbook behind closures and delays—from scanning multiple forecast…
S2E9 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E9 | Leading Schools Starts With Trust with Mitch Young
What does it take to lead 43 schools without losing the soul of each community? We brought in Superintendent Mitch Young of Forsyth County Schools to pull back the curtain on a playbook that trades…
S2E8 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E8 | How Georgia 4-H Helps Kids Become Beyond Ready For Work And Life
What happens when a trusted school partner meets a statewide youth movement with real pathways to growth? We sit down with Georgia 4-H leaders Melanie Biersmith and Mandy Marable, plus alumna Alyssa…
GAEL UnscriptED S2:E7 | Teach in the Peach
Georgia wants teaching to be a first‑choice career, not a fallback—and we brought in the right guide to show how. We sit down with Selena Blakenship, veteran teacher, beloved principal, district HR…
S2E6 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E6 | How Executive Coaching Transforms Georgia’s School Leaders
Leadership feels different when someone is asking the right questions instead of handing you quick fixes. We sit down with co-directors Kerensa Wing and Rickey Edmond to unpack how executive coaching…
S2E5 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E5 | How Ag Education Changes Lives with Rachel Kinsual, Georgia TOTY
What happens when a teacher treats a classroom like a launchpad? We sit down with Georgia’s Teacher of the Year to explore how agriculture education, FFA, and work-based learning give students real…
S2E4 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E4 | From Safety To Instruction: How Kloud-12 Transforms K-12 Teaching
What if the same video that protects teachers also helps them teach better? We sit down with Kloud-12’s Brent Coleman and Kelly Martinez to unpack how classroom cameras and a modern intercom can turn…
S2E3 GAEL UnscriptED: S2:E3 | TRS Part #2: Retirement Math That Actually Matters
Ready to turn career choices into retirement confidence? We sat down with Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System leadership to decode the rules that matter most: how promotions interact with…
S2E2 GAEL UnscriptED S2:E2 | TRS Part #1: How Georgia's TRS Powers Educator Retirement Security
A bus route to the boardroom isn’t a cliché here—it’s the real path two former superintendents took before stepping into leadership at Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System. We open with their…
Frequently Asked Questions
GAEL UnscriptED has published 41 episodes since August 2025, covering topics in Education.
GAEL UnscriptED is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 30m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for GAEL UnscriptED, including email and social media links.
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