10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know with Kari Kampakis
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
A group of eighth-grade girls, led by MS Science Teacher CeCe Scott ’00, met throughout the school year to read and discuss the book 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know by author Kari Kampakis. On this episode of the podcast, some of those TCA eighth-graders interview Kari and ask her questions about the book and about life. Kari shares some great advice that can be helpful not only for girls, but for parents who are raising daughters. You can learn more about Kari and her books, including 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know, her new devotional Yours, Not Hers and the upcoming Is Your...
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Biblical Education with Jeremy Gregory
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
In this episode, Upper School Bible Teacher and Community Time Coordinator Jeremy Gregory talks about Upper School Bible classes, Chapel, apologetics and spiritual formation. As part of the new academic schedule for the 2025-26 school year, TCA is adding stand-alone Bible classes for freshmen and sophomores to go along with the existing Bible classes in other grade levels. Mr. Gregory explains how the new class sequence will teach students the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, over the course of three years. For senior year, students will be prepared to engage with others in college...
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Discover Week Trips with Zoe Ellen Azzi
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
Starting in February 2026, the week before spring break will be Discover Week—a week in which TCA Upper School and Middle School students can discover new passions, learn new skills and explore the world. Besides taking on-campus classes or having a local internship, one of the things that students can choose to do during Discover Week is to travel. In this episode of Let’s Talk TCA, Zoe Ellen Azzi joins the podcast to talk about plans for Discover Week trips. Mrs. Azzi, who teaches Modern Humanities in the Upper School, has led multiple trips over the years for TCA students and serves as...
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Summer@TCA 2025 with Justin Zappia
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
It may still officially be winter, but preparations for the upcoming summer are in full swing at TCA. In this episode, Director of Auxiliary Programs Justin Zappia joins host Cynthia Yanof to talk about the many different classes and camps available at TCA this summer. Listen to learn about the Summer@TCA options for 2025. From flying drones to flying discs, from playing board games to playing sports, and from taking classes for fun to classes for credit, there is something for every child from kindergarten through senior year. You can .
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Holiday Traditions with Emily Eyre
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
TCA’s Lower School Counselor Emily Eyre joins host Cynthia Yanof to talk about how families can set their own holiday traditions. Christmas is a popular time for setting family traditions, but you can have traditions around any holiday, as well as having traditions that do not focus on any holiday at all. Emily and Cynthia talk about why we have traditions, the benefits of keeping traditions simple and the importance of emotional memories. They discuss how to think through the messages that you are communicating to your family through your traditions. Since holidays are not always happy...
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Basketball Coaches Rodney Belcher and John Price
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
TCA’s varsity basketball coaches, Rodney Belcher and John Price, both join the podcast for this episode. This is Coach Belcher’s first year at TCA after years spent coaching at both the high school and college levels. Coach Price is in his fourth year at TCA and 26th year coaching overall. The coaches talk about their families, their faith and their coaching careers. Listen to hear how they leverage the lessons of winning and losing to prepare students for future successes and failures.
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Cindi Di Iorio and Craig Wilson
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
TCA’s Head of Middle School Cindi Di Iorio and Head of Upper School Craig Wilson join the podcast to talk about where they come from and what brought them to TCA. Get to know our new heads of schools better as they share about their families, their faith and their hearts for helping educate children.
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Let's Talk Turf
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
This summer, Tom Landry Stadium had new state-of-the-art turf installed that is arguably the best playing surface at any school, anywhere. In this episode, Steve Hayes, TCA’s football head coach and newly appointed athletic director, talks about the new playing field and other recent improvements to the athletics facilities. He is joined by TCA alum and former football player Jason Delph ’07, the co-founder (along with fellow ’07 classmate Nick Pavey) of ForeverLawn Texas, as well as ForeverLawn’s Director of Marketing Derek Taylor and Installation Support Team Leader Aaron Gressel....
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Building Healthy Phone Habits with Joey Odom
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
Are you addicted to your phone? As parents, how should we be thinking about smartphone use? In this episode, host Cynthia Yanof talks with Joey Odom, co-founder of technology company Aro, about how to build a healthy relationship with your smartphone. Many of us often find ourselves distracted by our phones, focused on social media or other apps instead of interacting with the people around us. Phones can take our attention away from being present with our spouse or kids, and our kids themselves run the danger of being the first generation to die with more of other people’s memories than...
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College Prep at Any Age with Tracy Bartholomew
Let's Talk TCA Podcast
TCA is a college preparatory school, and that preparation begins long before college applications are filled out. In this episode, Tracy Bartholomew, part of TCA’s college counseling team, discusses how parents can help their children start thinking about the future and taking their first steps towards college and career decisions. Tracy and host Cynthia Yanof talk about: How parents can help their children discover God’s calling for their lives. How students can begin exploring different interests and fields of study. How TCA’s college counselors help students each year along the way....
info_outlineOn today’s podcast episode, our host Cynthia Yanof speaks with TCA Director of Campus Security David Smith. We learn about TCA’s multilayer approach to keeping students safe, but even more, we hear his Campus Safety Team’s commitment to our school.
David Smith started at TCA in April 2018 and is a retired Dallas police officer with 32 years of experience in law enforcement. School safety has changed over the last 15 to 20 years, and the emphasis on safety has increased.
Safety is extremely important to parents and our school administration. Campus safety and security begin with praying over our school, but we cannot be naïve; we must also be prepared.
Because of the types of families at TCA, David says this changes his team’s role from policing kids to protecting them.
We have an Addison police officer on campus from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Campus Safety Team has grown, and we now have five full-time and one part-time employees who are all retired Dallas police officers. The combined experience of this team is over 150 years. The team is visible on campus in carpool and throughout the day.
We have a new campus fence that will protect our campus after hours and during the day. The gate will help us provide safety and security on campus. All building doors on campus are locked as well. MS and US students have access cards or devices to access the doors. All LS students are escorted across campus. Visitors to campus must sign in
and wear a name badge on campus. All classrooms can also be secured as well.
We have a layered communications approach which includes training for all TCA employees with access to the PA system. The Campus Safety Team also monitors communication across campus, and TCA uses an emergency communications app and panic button through Titan HST. It is an invaluable communication tool for our campus.
The safety attitude of the team is that they are the spear and the shield. They will put their lives on the line and put themselves in harm’s way to neutralize any threat on campus and to keep our students safe.
Please reach out to David Smith with any safety concerns.