The staff dive into one of the pivotal mindsets that has shifted culture at Kinwell: embracing the spirit of adventure instead of safety. When the school has embraced keeping things the same because of normalcy and consistency, students get stuck in rhythms and their perspectives cannot be shifted to see what's possible. Edwin Friedman calls this "imaginative gridlock" in his book, A Failure of Nerve. Instead, stepping into the unknown and taking risks, sometimes deeply personal, has led to a true change of culture in our school. Hear some of the great stories from school in this process!

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The conversation of volunteering and mentoring has been a frequent one with the Kinwell staff, and this episode we discuss the challenges of mentors connecting with our students. How do you connect with someone who doesn't want to change? What is actually my motivation for wanting to be a mentor to a younger person?

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Javan Buchanan, at the time a sophomore on the Indiana Wesleyan men's basketball team, joins the podcast to discuss his coming into a pre-established culture of pursuing excellence, above all, Christ. He shares about what makes a great team and how following Christ changes how he approaches basketball.

It was a blast to speak with Javan and watch him play for his two seasons at IWU. He was a 2023-24 NAIA 1st Team All-American and led the Wildcats to the national tournament. He has since had the opportunity to transfer to Boise State and will continue his basketball career with the Broncos. We wish Javan the best of luck! You can keep up with his career by following him on Twitter or Instagram.

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Kristy Burk joins the show to discuss her time thus far volunteering at Kinwell for her undergraduate practicum. We talk about her resilience in the pursuit of relationships and how it's easy to fall into the trap of just wanting students to like you while being a person the students can trust.

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The last episode of season 2 has one of our awesome students, Tyanna joining the podcast. Last summer she found out she had a baby on the way, so we hear her process of being behind academically and how things have changed for her. Then the staff, break down how we've watched Tyanna and other teen moms struggle and/or thrive and grow through school.

This podcast was recorded while Tyanna was pregnant, and since then she has given birth to a healthy baby boy!

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The staff discuss the challenges of discipline at Kinwell and in relationships in general. It seems whenever we try to follow a clear cut line of discipline, things go poorly relationally, but when we adjust to each individual student and try to see what's going on inside of them, we see discipline as benefitting them as a whole person, not just for our convenience.

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The staff settle their differences about when to go the extra mile to help students versus when to have higher expectations for their responsibility. At its core, we realize our selfishness tends to determine either way we go.

*We mistakenly discuss 1 Thessalonians as a pastoral epistle, while it is more accurate to say the book was written to the church at Thessalonica.

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Our good friend and former co-worker, Will, joins the show to chat how good culture is built. We discuss the importance of fun, being with people, and why you always need a selection of wigs.

To connect with Will, you can go to his website or subscribe to his newsletter: https://willseverns.com/

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