Blazing the Trail

Blazing the Trail


Latest Episodes

Season 2, Episode 5: Stacy Interviews André Watkins from Waco High School
February 28, 2018

Stacy Bender interviews André Watkins, restorative justice coordinator at Waco High School, about his interesting career path.  Their conversation includes fun nuggets about how students should be well-rounded. When he was in high school, André played foo

Season 2, Episode 4: Stacy Interviews Chris Rood from the Impact Foundation
February 08, 2018

Stacy interviews someone from her past. Chris Rood was a chemical dependency counselor at Red River High School when Stacy was in high school. Chris currently is the Program Director for the Impact Foundation in Fargo, ND. For more information about that

Season 2, Episode 3: Stacy Interviews All Over the Mothership (Southwest Airlines)
January 24, 2018

Stacy happened to be in the Dallas area on January 19, 2018.  Jennifer Burner (learning coach at Crosslake Community School – Online Program) and Stacy joined Jennifer’s son and husband, who both work at Southwest Airlines, for a tour which turned into a

Season 2, Episode 2: Interview with Trudy Bender from Waco ISD
January 10, 2018

Stacy interviews Trudy Bender, coordinator of the district behavior intervention program at Waco ISD. This episode is sponsored by the LAKE Foundation and by Shirts Plus of Aitkin.

Season 2, Episode 1: Mish-Mash Dash and Out of the Mouths of Babes
January 02, 2018

As the introduction to Season Two, this episode features clips from people who love their jobs, from family members who aren't sure what someone does, and advice to young people about how to approach the world of work. This episode is sponsored by the LAK

Season 1, Episode 5: Interview with Allan Hetteen
December 26, 2017

Major Allan Hetteen shares his career path and the impact that a work of service to the United States of America has had on his life.

Season 1, Episode 4: Interview with Michelle Brislin
December 19, 2017

Stacy interviews a classmate with whom she attended kindergarten through 12th grade in Grand Forks, ND.  Michelle Brislin currently works at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, but lives in Shakopee, MN. At the end of the podcast, Michelle shared an import

Season 1, Episode 3: Interview with Beatrice D’Ambra aka Nana
December 12, 2017

Stacy interviews her 92 year old grandmother (known as Nana to all of her grandchildren (14) and great-grandchildren (we lost count).  Nana left high school after the 10th grade in order to help support her family.  She returned to earn her GED (general e

Season 1, Episode 2: Interview with Jason Paris – owner of Paris Painting in Minneapolis, MN
December 06, 2017

Stacy and Jason discuss the trail that Jason has blazed in his life. Some highlights include nuggets such as creating objectives and goals for our lives, the importance of the trades to our economy, and finding others in our fields to encourage us. 

Season 1, Episode 1: Interview with Dr. Karen Melton – professor in Child and Family Studies at Baylor University
November 29, 2017

Stacy and Karen discuss the trail that Karen has blazed in her life. Some highlights include the importance of champions/mentors, the value of trial and error, and how the Bernstein Bears can teach us all something about our present and our future.