The Decision Hour

Ep: 228 - SchoolQuest - Judy Glennon, Military Child Education Coalition

If you are a military family with kids you don’t want to miss this show.  In this episode I sit down with my friend Judy Glennon.  Judy is the Parent Initiatives Program Manager at Military Child Education Coalition (www.militarychild.org).  We discuss the release of their newest online resource ‘SchoolQuest’an interactive tool specially designed to support highly mobile military families and students with school transitions and the 6ththrough 12thgrade academic journey.
 
SchoolQuest Tools & Features include:
 
StudentQuest Academic Tracker.  Monitor and plan students' academic career progress from 6th to 12th grade.  
Student Profile.  Customized student profiles automatically compile important details and deadlines for quick views and access.  
Online Community.  Connect with other military parents to build relationships and benefit from sharing experiences and information in a safe and private online space.  
Reminders & Notifications.  Set reminders for important deadlines and get notified about them automatically in time to act.  
Personalized Checklists.  Time-bound, student-specific information compiled into accessible lists.  
School Search Capabilities.  The GreatSchools, Niche and DoDEA search function researches and aggregates schools in the next community where you PCS.  
"This project would NOT have been possible without the generous support of USAA Foundation.  They have walked beside us all along the way and underwrote this entire project.  They have a true heart for military-connected children and families and SchoolQuest is only possible because of their vision and commitment to providing the very best support for our military families." ~Judy Glennon~
 
Here is a short clip of Judy explaining School Quest“We're really, really excited to introduce our relaunch and redesign of our school quest. Parent transition tool, okay. years ago, we had school quest, and it was a website and a repository of information. People could go into it and find information, but it was just it was a website, and you get to the website, you have to dig. And it linked to a lot of other things. But there was a lot of digging involved and our new platform, there's not a lot of digging involved. It's all we're trying to serve it up for you, so what we have on school quest, and it's just we have an academic tracker that will allow parents to monitor and plan their student's academic career. And it's designed for middle school and high school families, especially the academic tracker. We address exceptional needs children, we address kids who may be on a math pathway. We address topics for career and technical education, and so you pick the things that your student is interested in, or the things that you're interested in for your students, you put them in the grade that you want your students to take those things and it follows along the way.
And every one of these different categories in the academic tracker has three things… It has things to know, so that's where we put out general information and then sometimes very specific information about that topic. Questions to Ask, so if your student isn't interested in career and technical education, you just don't know what that is. There's a bunch of questions that you can ask and either of the school or some other parent that maybe have a child in that environment, ask a teacher, ask a friend, whatever. And then, Resources. So there are links to page after page of websites of MCEC resources, you'll find webinars that we've done on the topic there, links to podcasts that may be on that topic, just a ton of information in and that's just in the academic track. And then, when you first get to school quest, you know, every parent, we want them to set up their family dashboard, their profile, and you can have, you have then create a persona for each one of your students.”
For more information or questions about SchoolQuestTM,please email schoolquest@militarychild.org.

Ep: 227 - Staying Positive in a Negative Atmosphere

Are you a Positive or Negative person?
 
Do you ever feel like there is just a dark cloud that follows you around, if so have you ever asked yourself why? Perhaps it’s time to really take a look at your thoughts, and what it is you are putting out in to the world.  A lot of people say “it’s hard to be positive when so many bad (or negative) things are happening… The thing is, it’s just as easy to be positive as it is to be negative, it’s a choice. Staying positive in a negative atmosphere is what we are talking about in this episode.  Here’s a clip from the episode,
 
Listen here's the thing, folks. You got to choose to be positive. You're  going to get what you put out. So if you're putting out a bunch of negative stuff, don't be surprised if that's what you get back. It's that simple. It’s be so easy because there's so much negative going on. That's fine. You know what, if you want to make that excuse, that's fine. here's the here's the thing though. It's just as easy to pick out all the positive things as well. You just have to choose.

Ep: 226 - Sparks of Hope

How do you recognize or handle Fear? If you're unsure, don't worry because this weeks episode will give you some Sparks of Hope. 
Shã Sparks is the CEO/Founder of Sparks of Hope and the Host of 'The Power of Inve$ting in People" podcast. Shã is also a author, business consultant and a Fearless Living Coach! We dive right in have some fun and peel back some layers. Don't be afraid, there is nothing to fear. Listen for yourself.

Ep: 225 - Shenanigans, COVID-19, Current Events and more

The title says it all, this is the first show in Months where Adam and Patti are both on so they catch you up on what’s been going on.  They talk about current events and what’s happening with Covid-19.  Adam doesn’t hold back on his displeasure for mainstream media and what he thinks is happening which leads into them talking about Conspiracy Theories!  Yup, a whole lot of Shenanigans. Make YOUR Decision Hour to not live in fear.

Ep: 224 - Swords and Saints with Robert Adams, MD

On this episode of The Decision Hour Host Adam Bird sits down with Robert Adams, MD.  Bob spent 36 years severing in the United States Military. Graduated from the Navel Academy, became a Navy Seal and then later in his career decided he wanted to get into medicine, After 18 years in the Navy, Bob changed branches of service and became an Army officer, went to medical school and spent another 18 years in the Army as a Doctor before retiring as DELTA Force Command Surgeon. After Retiring from the Military, Dr. Adams opened up his own successful private practice in North Carolina where he won numerous awards for clinical excellence and practiced for 13 years before retiring in 2020.  Dr. Robert Adams is the definition of a Community Hero.
Bob is also a very successful author, writing his first book ‘Six Days of Impossible’ Navy Seal Hell Week A Doctor Looks Back. It’s about the 11 men in his class who graduated,, you get an inside look of what made them successful when so many fail.
In 2020, Dr. Bob Adams put out his second book, ‘Swords and Saints, A doctor’s Journey’. This book is about the life and medical career of a Navy Seal turned Doctor.  Inspiring, Motivating and very Educational.
 
You can check out Dr. Bobs author page and order both his books here:https://amzn.to/2zanJsA

Ep: 223 - Stephanie Narita, CEO of GFI Apparel

On this week’s episode of The Decision Hour I am joined by the CEO of GFI Apparel, StephanieNarita.
 Stephanie Narita is a former military spouse with more than a decade of experience in Human Resources, Office Management and Business Acquisitions. She returned to school in 2018, after deciding she wanted to shift her focus towards Health and Education. Her overall aspiration is to become a doctor for high risk children and she is set to graduate from Arizona State University in the Fall of 2020. From there she will apply for medical school and is setting her eyes towards UCSD or UC Irvine. 
 
https://gfiapparel.com
 
Take a listen as she shares her story on how she manages to keep it all together while being a full-time mother, a full-time student and running a business.  
 

Ep: 222 – Fall In 360 with Mario Aguirre

BONUS show this week. Mario has been a friend for more than a dozen years, dating back to our time in the National Guard and then working in the veteran community.  He is a fellow podcast host and has a funny show called Fall In 360. Take a listen as we sit down and catch up on what’s going on and mark your calendars for May 5th2020, as a NEW SEASON of Fall In 360 will be live!   Follow him on Facebook
A little about Mario…Mario A. Aguirre is an Army Veteran of 11 years, having done two tours of Operation Iraqi Freedom he is well aware of the issues and barriers our returning veterans face today. He has extensive experience with veterans employment and helping them find resources. Mario also runs the Fall In 360 podcast which encompasses inspiring and humorous interviews and stories. While much of the program is based towards a Military, Veteran, Law Enforcement and all First Responder type audience, it really is an adult community show that anyone can understand and enjoy. The show includes both serious and fun conversations.Take a listen and enjoy!

Ep: 221 – Host of ‘On The Blue Line Podcast’ Mr. Wayne Mulder

I got to sit down with my friend and #CommunityHero Mr. Wayne Mulder. Wayne works in Law Enforcement and has a podcast called ‘On The Blue Line’ (Listen Here) it’s a podcast about doing life well. Designed and hosted by those who actively serve in law enforcement, this podcast is geared to help you find success in what really matters, your life outside the badge. Take a listen as Wayne Mulder shares some stories with us and when asked why he got into Law Enforcement, Wayne says: 
“Well, it’s really in line with exactly what we were just talking about. So there were two things I saw it being that I came into law enforcement a little bit later in life. I feel like I have a little bit different perspective than some, not all, but some in the way that I See the job and in the way that I work through that each and every day, when I came into this job, you have people in law enforcement that have seen things that most people shouldn’t have to see. I mean, anytime somebody passes away in our county, unless they die under hospice care in a hospital, law enforcement has to go out there. So the number of deaths that you’re going to see in your law enforcement career far surpass any other civilian, hopefully, and thankfully, we’ll see within their lifetime unless of course, they’re in the medical field or obviously in the military or something like that. But unless they are in one of the groups that deal with these type things, you’re seeing things that most people don’t see. So when I came into law enforcement, coming from running my own business, I had a different perspective. And in some ways, I want to say that I was pretty positive. I was very optimistic, like a lot officers are and to what I could do in using this as a Mission, I kind of saw law enforcement as a mission in a way that I could help other people.”

Ep: 220 - Kate Kimbley, Mother, Teacher, Coach and Community Hero

We have a special guest for you in this episode. Kate Kimbley is a single mother of four, a High School Art Teacher and a Fitness/Strength Coach. Kate is #CommunityHero and an inspiration to many. She shares her story about how she became a teacher and how she got started in helping women achieve their fitness goals. If you think you need a gym and a bunch of machines, or you think you need to make fitness the Number #1 priority in order to be “fit”… You’re wrong! Follow Kate on Instagram and see what she is doing to stay fit. She also is doing a class on ZOOM Every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. (AZ time, during this coronavirus) for more information on contact Undisputed South (https://undisputedsouth.com)
 “I mean, that's always been a part of my life lifting weights, fitness, all those things. As I became older, it just became, you know, honestly, mental health wise, the necessity just to have that in my life, especially just there was a lot of stress and things like that with the lifestyle that we had and raising four kids and all these things. So it was a necessity it was definitely a necessity for mental health wise as well. And then, as I, got more into it, I just started talking to more women, it just seems it occurred to me that not everybody understands how beneficial it can be. And a lot of people operate under the misconception that if you're going to be in shape, if you're going to be into fitness, it has to be your life. And I remember I was listening to this one trainer say something to the effect of, um, you know, if you if you don't make it, your number one priority, fitness is not your number one priority and your number one thing, then you're not going to ever reach your goals. And I thought to myself, that's not true. That's Bs!” ~Kate Kimbley

Ep: 219 - Emotional Sobriety with Special Guest, Dr. Andrea Vitz

My guest for this week’s show is aEmotional Sobriety Educator, a Doctor of Chiropractic, Life & Relationship Coach and Strength & Rehabilitation Expert and is the CEO of Levelheaded Doc LLC, Dr. Andrea Vitz.
What Andrea has created is something really special, she has a created an Emotional Sobriety workshop and has a new book out called “The You You’ve Never Met” How to stop experiencing pain and chaos in all of your relationships by Sobering up, Emotionally Speaking.  (https://levelheadeddoc.com/)
When asked what is “Emotional Sobriety” she said…
 “when we think of sobriety we usually think about somebody who's not addicted to drugs or alcohol. And sobriety actually has a lot of different meanings that have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol like level being level headed and clear and mindful and well respectable and all these things that we really don't even consider as a part of sobriety. So, emotional sobriety is essentially a training that I've developed to help people overcome their emotional addiction which makes them clear which makes them dysfunctional, which makes them not level headed in their life. So I call that emotional in sobriety or emotional belligerence. It's the same as being drunk on alcohol, or drugs. You also can become drunk on your emotions and I'm sure you've experienced this as a human being, and I'm sure everybody listening has experience feeling a lack of self-control, when under the influence of emotion. That is my, my duty, really is to help people individually and as a community rid themselves of the things that have control over them because if something can control how you feel it can control you.”