She concedes the difficulty of meeting one-on-one with every resident, so she conveys her message via school board members, other administrators, teachers, parents and students who can reach the full community, May-Vollary says on ���Intricacies of Communication,” the latest episode of District 91心頭istration’s “A Good Lesson” podcast.

“Listening is just as complex as communicating,” May-Vollmar tells hosts Amy Dujon and Dr. Quintin Shepherd. ���You have to allow time for processing.���

May-Vollmar says she first learned this lesson before the COVID pandemic, when the district was among the first to build its own LTE broadband network and she was serving as chief technology officer. Desert Sands leaders had to communicate that the district’s goal was to enable all students to connect district-provided Chromebooks to the internet.

Now, the message has shifted to artificial intelligence to ease anxieties caused by the technology’s rapid advancement and its incursion into schools. Desert Sands is in year three of an AI initiative that began with training administrators and central office staff to experiment with the technology and then serve as champions for its proper use in the classroom.

“We called (the training) ‘the playground’ to demystify it, to make it fun and casual,” she points out.

The educator then recruited a group of middle and high school students to find out how they were using artificial intelligence and help shape the district’s AI policy. Desert Sands has created an .

“We need teachers to hear students��� voices, saying ‘I need AI skills���not to cheat,'” May-Vollmar says.

Listen to the full ���A Good Lesson��� podcast with Kelly May-Vollmar:

This podcast is also available on and .

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He was used to being around kids and managing the day-to-day operations of a school building, he says on��District’s 91心頭istration’s��“A Good Lesson” podcast.

���For me, it was defining my role, which is strategy,” told 91心頭’s Vice President of Education Amy Dujon during an interview at the AASA 2026 Conference in Nashville in February. “It’s setting a clear vision for the district and measuring those pieces. We’re tyring to push the envelope in Edison.”

Aldarelli became superintendent of the high-achieving, 18,000-student district���one of New Jersey’s largest���in 2023. In the interview with Dujon, he says Apple’s motto, “the best idea wins,” inspired him in seeking innovations from his team of educators.

Aldarelli notes that he is now focused on three things: the wellness of students and staff, equity in providing all students with a rich education, and innovation. ���Anything that falls into those buckets, I���m all in,” he added.

Listen to the full “A Good Lesson” podcast with Edward Aldarelli:��

Reflecting on his own experience, he warned new superintendents not to become a roadblock by being too conservative or risk-averse. He admitted that his fear of failure caused him to focus too much on his own priorities without considering his new community’s values.

“You have to practice leadership���like you practice golf or the piano���every single day,” he contends.

He concedes that educators don’t necessarily get huge salary increases when test scores improve. To keep his team motivated, he involves teachers and other staff in decision-making and ensures their voices are heard.

“I never want to be the loudest voice in the room,” he notes on a “Good Lesson.” “I walk into every meeting with the understanding that I do not have to speak.”

Listen to the full “A Good Lesson” podcast with Edward Aldarelli:��

This podcast is also available on and .

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K12 leaders who build strong relationships inside and outside their school buildings can more confidently lead their districts through inevitable periods of adversity, Superintendent Bill Runey contends.

“If you build a culture of positivity, then when negativity happens it���s like tossing a marble into the ocean,” Runey says on the latest episode of��District 91心頭istration’s “A Good Lesson” podcast. The episode is titled “A Leadership Team That’s Built Differently.”

“If you don���t have a culture of positivity, it’s like dropping a bowling ball into a bathtub.”

While students, staff and families are key stakeholders, superintendents also have to connect with community members who do not have children in the schools. They are voters who can impact spending decisions, notes Runey, who was named one of 91心頭‘s 2026 Leaders of Distinction.

A Good Lesson: The podcast spotlights field-tested leadership through one important lesson. Superintendents and other leaders discuss how the idea formed, how it was put into action and how it improved outcomes for students and staff. Every episode ends with a “Pop Quiz.”

When Runey took the helm of the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District in Massachusetts in 2022, he had a rare opportunity to reshape the system. Fourteen of the district’s 17 building administrators were new to their roles, he tells “A Good Lesson” hosts Amy Dujon and Dr. Quintin Shepherd.

���We had an opportunity to reinvent the district,” Runey says. “Some people saw that as instability. I saw it as an opportunity to seize the moment.���

He encouraged his new team to prioritize culture over all other initiatives. “The culture we build will sustain initiatives we need to put in to make the district move the needle,” he recalls telling the district’s administrators.

Runey had to contend with declining enrollment, make steep budget and staffing cuts, and repair relationships with the district’s labor unions. He wanted a leadership team that was visible, accessible and communicative���all in the name of transparency.

“We didn’t take the emotion out���I tried to make sure that people understand that I knew that when we cut program or staff members, it���s going ot hurt,” he continues.

Four years later, enrollment is up, and Dighton-Rehoboth offers a comprehensive high school with advanced placement courses and an early-college. The district’s career and technical education program is expanding.

“The narrative of the district has gone from negative to much more positive,” Runey concludes.

You can listen to the full podcast below on , or .

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