Seyyed Sharifi: Meeting the Needs of Nonverbal Students in Post High School Education
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Release Date: 04/05/2025
Changing the "Operating System" in Education
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Some people effect change and improvement from within the educational system, and many of the guests on this podcast have been implementing reform in their own ways, through their individual efforts. Others seek change and reform from outside the system. This is the kind of reform David K. Richards effects, through . With over 25 years of experience in education reform—as a teacher, principal, executive leader, coach, special education consultant, and school founder—David is passionate about changing the narrative of education by putting mind, body, and soul (MBS) at the heart of learning....
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Seyyed Sharifi: Meeting the Needs of Nonverbal Students in Post High School Education
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Seyyed Sharifi is an educator at Hartvigsen School in Taylorsville, Utah, where he works in the Post High School program for 18-22 year olds with severe disabilities. Last year Seyyed was chosen from more than 2200 nominations for the Granite Education Foundation’s Excel Awards and he received the Granite School District Teacher of the Year in 2024. He continues to be recognized for his work: Seyyed was named a Finalist for the Utah Teacher of the Year in 2025, and recently was recognized as a University of Utah Outstanding Public Educator of the Year for 2025. Seyyed grew up in Utah, went...
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Ann Herrera Ward: Navigating Political Discussions in Polarized Environments
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
One of the most challenging aspects of engaging in political discussions in a country with a bipartisan government has been the polarization of views, not only nationwide but in communiies, workplaces, neighborhoods, families, classrooms. Wisconsin is considered a “purple state,” where Democrat and Republican parties have similar levels of support among voters. This is the environment in which Ann Herrera Ward taught government in high school for twenty years. Ann earned her bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before working in the U.S. House of...
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Angie Johnson: What Is Possible with a Public Montessori Program
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Angie Johnson is one of the founding members and now the principal of the in South Jordan, Utah, which has served Kindergarten through 9th grade students as a tuition-free public charter school since 2013. The school’s mission is founded on Montessori philosophy and is to facilitate student-centered learning and intellectual curiosity through an individualized and interdisciplinary curriculum, hands-on experience, and community involvement. In this episode Angie shares what drew her to the Montessori philosophy and to offering a more equitable public Montessori program. She discusses...
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Mary Chris Finnigan: Director of Academics for Student-Athletes at the University of Utah
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
In the last episode we heard about the mental health needs of college athletes and how they are met at a Division I university. In this episode we hear about how their academic needs are met. An outstanding former high school and college student-athlete herself, Mary Chris Finnigan combines a love of the energy of sports with an extensive background in academic counseling. She played college basketball at the University of California Santa Barbara. She served as the head girls’ basketball coach for her former high school for eight years, where she also worked as a guidance counselor and...
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Nic Collins: Counseling College Athletes and Advocating for Mental Health Awareness
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
After 18 years working in corporate sales, Nic Collins decided to go back to school to pursue a graduate degree in counseling. He is now working in an internship for the athletics department at the University of South Carolina, where he is one of many resources on the Mental Health and Performance Team for student-athletes. Nic also advocates for mental health, writes, and is a talented musician, coach, and guest speaker. He is one of the two dynamic hosts of , which explores topics around personal growth and inspiration and how different people find them. In this episode, Nic shares about why...
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Sydney Parks: The Transformative Effects of the Flipped Classroom Model
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Sydney Parks completed a Masters program in Ecological Economics with a Flipped Classroom model at the University of Edinburgh last year. Before completing this program in Scotland, Sydney had earned a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, and worked as a Synthetic Biology researcher in the biotechnology sector. In that work she encountered scientists who had an in-depth understanding of their subject area, confidence from that deep understanding, and fluidity in the way they could speak about it. She realized that the way she learned in...
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Dr. Bryan Hale: What's possible when looking at school culture through a wellness lens
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
In addition to hearing from people who are currently inside the classroom, I enjoy meeting, and hearing the stories of, people who are using their experiences and skills to try to make the educational system better in some way. Dr. Bryan Hale's career in the educational system spans over 25 years. He has been a high school math teacher in Ohio, an assistant principal in North Carolina, and a Principal of a K-8 school and then a charter high school in the Chicagoland area, where he considered becoming a superintendent. His doctoral research on Holistic Wellness in Education and the six domains...
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Amanda Wolff: UHSAA Girls' Cross-Country Coach of the Year 2024
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
We’re ending Season 2 with insights from a statewide-recognized coach of the year. Amanda Wolff is an English teacher and the Head Coach of both the Girls’ and Boys’ Cross-Country and Track programs at Cyprus High School, a Title I school in the Granite School District in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under her leadership over the past five years, the team has grown from 55 participating athletes to 130. The Girls’ Cross-Country team took Regionals last year, and the team placed 6th overall in the State. The Girls’ Track and Field team took Regionals for the first time since 1978! Amanda was...
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Rachel Bartholomew: Impacting Student Learning through Instructional Coaching for Educators
Beyond the Roles: Voices in Education
Rachel Bartholomew is currently an instructional coach for both an elementary school and a Title I junior high school in the Granite School District in Salt Lake City, Utah. Before that Rachel taught reading for 20 years in all three levels of school: elementary, middle school/junior high, and high school, and in three different states: North Carolina, Washington state, and Utah. Rachel also coached volleyball, basketball, and track and field at the junior high level for 10 years. In this episode, Rachel shares about what has kept her going through 20+ years as an educator. She discusses...
info_outlineSeyyed Sharifi is an educator at Hartvigsen School in Taylorsville, Utah, where he works in the Post High School program for 18-22 year olds with severe disabilities. Last year Seyyed was chosen from more than 2200 nominations for the Granite Education Foundation’s Excel Awards and he received the Granite School District Teacher of the Year in 2024. He continues to be recognized for his work: Seyyed was named a Finalist for the Utah Teacher of the Year in 2025, and recently was recognized as a University of Utah Outstanding Public Educator of the Year for 2025. Seyyed grew up in Utah, went to Kearns High School, and recently completed his Master’s degree of Education in Special Education with an emphasis on mild to moderate disabilities.
In this episode, Seyyed describes his philosophy of teaching, Connection over Everything, the importance of really seeing his students, and the unique approach he’s taking in his classroom to help his nonverbal students experience activities they might not otherwise and to communicate their needs. He shares the family history and the need for healing that led him to teaching. As he describes the challenges and rewards of teaching in the field of special education it becomes apparent how invaluable the work is for students and their families, how desperately the field needs more teachers, and how difficult it is to retain them.
For more about Seyyed and his award as Granite School District Teacher of the Year:
https://www.taylorsvillecityjournal.com/2024/05/06/490799/hartvigsen-school-instructor-named-granite-school-district-teacher-of-the-year
For more on Seyyed’s father’s book:
A Square Sky: A True Story of a Prisoner in Afghanistan, by Ahmad Sharifi