In this episode, Ken Futernick sits down with Mike Walsh—widely known across California education circles as a master human connector—to explore how schools can build trust, strengthen relationships, and create communities where both adults and students truly belong.

Drawing on decades of experience as a school board leader, facilitator, and student advocate, Walsh shares how meaningful change doesn’t begin with answers, but with better questions—and with the courage to step aside so others can connect with one another.

The conversation focuses on three powerful themes:

• Strengthening relationships among adults in the schoolhouse (starting at 1:40), including how curiosity, shared purpose, and intentional facilitation can help educators and staff reconnect during times of crisis and burnout.
• How school boards can better connect with their constituents (starting at 12:25), moving beyond performative public comment toward authentic engagement that invites parents and community members to help solve real problems together.
• Breaking down walls among students, as Walsh explains how Breaking Down the Walls workshops help young people overcome loneliness, fear of judgment, and disconnection by sharing stories, playing together, and discovering their shared humanity.

The emotional high point of the episode comes at 33:29, when Walsh recounts a deeply moving story about an angry student whose hidden trauma reshapes how the entire room understands resilience, compassion, and the urgent need for hope in schools.

This episode is a powerful reminder that connection—not compliance, not lectures, not politics—is what allows schools and communities to heal, grow, and move forward together.

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In Part 1, we heard how Reading, Pennsylvania, began to turn outward—listening to families, students, and educators to rethink what their school system could be. In Part 2, we see what happened when a new mindset and civic culture shifted from data gathering and healthy conversation to concrete action.

Host Ken Futernick and Rich Harwood, founder of the Harwood Institute, return to trace three major initiatives that are reshaping life for students in the Reading School District—and changing how the community relates to its schools.

You’ll hear how:

• After-school programs came back into school buildings after years of being kept out, transforming schools into safe, vibrant hubs where students can learn, eat a hot meal, and connect with caring adults.
• Youth and families themselves shaped these programs—from asking for more experiences and field trips to naming something as basic as food as a barrier to participation—leading partners like Centro Hispano and Communities In Schools to step in with thousands of daily meals.
• A new English as a second language network grew from simple church dinners into a citywide web of support, helping parents gain the confidence to talk with teachers, support their children’s learning, and fully participate in school and community life.
• Faith communities adopted schools, not by deciding what they would offer, but by asking principals, “What do your students and teachers need?”—and responding with practical support, from tutors to winter coats.
• Early childhood leaders, backed by a major grant, made a courageous public “U-turn,” shifting from adding more childcare slots to building demand and awareness so that more families see high-quality early learning as essential to their children’s success in school.

Throughout the episode, educators and community partners describe how these efforts are changing the district’s relationship with the city it serves. Schools are no longer expected to shoulder every problem alone; instead, they’ve become the center of a shared project, with nonprofits, churches, funders, and residents working alongside them.

Rich and Ken also step back to ask: What does this mean for other communities that want to strengthen their own school systems—whether they’re in deep crisis or simply trying to move from good to great? Drawing on Reading’s experience, Rich offers four practical mantras for getting started: turn outward, get in motion, start small to go big, and build a “trajectory of hope.”

This is the story of a school system being rebuilt not just from the inside out, but from the outside in—one partnership, one program, and one act of listening at a time.

Download a free study guide and find related resources for this series at schoolconversations.org/reading and theharwoodinstitute.org/reading.

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When the pandemic struck Reading, Pennsylvania, its school system was already under enormous strain. The Reading School District—the poorest in the state—served 16,000 students, many of whom faced daunting barriers long before COVID arrived. Hundreds were homeless. Thousands stopped showing up to class. Teachers and principals were stretched thin. Community trust was low. And after years of missed opportunities and stalled reforms, many inside and outside the district believed real improvement was impossible.

Part 1 of this two-episode series is a story about how that belief began to change.

Host Ken Futernick speaks with Rich Harwood, founder of the Harwood Institute, and a wide range of local leaders who were determined to help Reading’s schools move from crisis to renewal. What unfolded wasn’t driven by a new curriculum, a flashy turnaround model, or a mandate from the outside. It started with something much simpler—and much harder: listening to the people who rely on the school system every day.

Through dozens of conversations with parents, students, educators, and community partners in both English and Spanish, Harwood’s team discovered that residents weren’t focused on culture-war debates. They cared about whether children felt safe, supported, seen, and prepared for the future. Those conversations revealed key community priorities for improving the city’s schools.

This episode highlights:

• How Reading’s school board struggles, high poverty levels, and pandemic disruptions left educators feeling isolated and overwhelmed
• Why attempts at school reform had failed to take root—and how turning outward toward the community created space for new solutions
• The pivotal moment when Superintendent Jennifer Murray confronted stark feedback from the community, first with defensiveness, then with humility and resolve
• How her leadership helped shift the district’s mindset from “these are our buildings” to “these are the community’s schools”
• How educators, nonprofits, and civic leaders began dismantling silos that had long kept them from working together effectively

Rather than focusing solely on classroom instruction or policy changes, Reading’s transformation would come from a new civic culture emerging—one in which schools are not expected to fix everything alone, and in which community partners see themselves as co-owners of students’ success.

This is a story of a school system rediscovering its purpose by reconnecting with the people it serves. It’s a reminder that meaningful and sustainable school improvement requires trust, collaboration, and a willingness to hear the hard truths.

In Part 2, we follow the concrete initiatives that emerged from this shift, including expanded after-school programs, a reimagined approach to English-language support, and a renewed commitment to early childhood education—each led by educators and community groups working in sync instead of in isolation.

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