by Ernesto Mejía | Aug 24, 2026 | Career, Classroom, ELL, Family Engagement, Professional Development, Social Emotional Learning, Student Engagement, Students
Back-to-school season comes with a lot of preparation. Teachers are setting up classrooms, reviewing rosters, building lesson plans, looking at data, and trying to figure out everything they need to know about the students who are about to walk through their doors....
by Carlos Ojeda Jr. | Jun 24, 2026 | Career, Classroom, Professional Development, Programming, Student Engagement
Schools across the country are investing in speakers, programs, initiatives, technology, incentives, assemblies, and countless other strategies designed to increase student engagement. Yet many educators continue to ask the same question: Why aren’t students...
by Carlos Ojeda Jr. | Jun 22, 2026 | Career, Classroom, Professional Development, Programming, Student Engagement
For years, educators, administrators, and conference attendees have watched Carlos Ojeda Jr. connect with students and create moments that seem almost impossible to explain. Many have called it magic. In his upcoming book, Being Cool & Making It HIP, Chu...
by Sam Brown | May 20, 2026 | Career, Programming, Student Engagement, Student Leadership, Students, Summer
At CoolSpeak, we believe the most impactful speakers are the ones who do more than inspire; they help people better understand themselves and what they’re capable of becoming. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our newest CoolSpeakers through a special Q&A...
by Ernesto Mejía | Apr 17, 2026 | Career, Professional Development
Introduction: What Students Really Mean When They Say “Be Real” “Yo… I appreciate you for being real.” That’s one of the best compliments I can get after speaking. Not because it’s flashy, but because it tells me the message actually connected. I’ve spoken in a lot of...
by MJ Bridges | Apr 15, 2026 | Career, Classroom, Programming, Students
For Financial Literacy Month, we sat down with MJ Bridges, founder of Young & Debt Free, following a recent community event in Racine that brought his work to life in a powerful way. In collaboration with a weekly karaoke night at Kings Kitchen & Cocktail, MJ...
