🎙️ What if the career you never planned for became the purpose you couldn’t live without?

Alyssa Beer never set out to become an educator. From studying broadcast and film to dreaming of working in television, her path seemed to be headed anywhere but the classroom. Yet more than 25 years later, education has become her life’s calling—and empowerment has become her “why.”

In this episode, Alyssa shares why technology should be more than another device in a student’s hands. She introduces the idea of “PED Tech”—using technology with purpose, intention, and pedagogy to empower students and teachers rather than simply adding more tools.

From her unexpected journey into education to her perspective on technology, AI, student autonomy, and overcoming burnout, this conversation will make you rethink one simple question:

“Why are we using this?”

🎧 Tune in to The Educator’s Why Podcast and discover why sometimes the most unexpected path leads you exactly where you're supposed to be.

What happens when two passionate educators realize that the traditional definition of “success” in education doesn’t necessarily match their own?

In this episode of The Educator’s Why Podcast, Meghan Thompson and Molly Means share the personal journeys that shaped their careers—from the classroom to administration and back again. They talk about the moments that reminded them why education is about more than test scores and spreadsheets, why kindergarten may be the most important year of a child’s education, and how technology can enhance learning without replacing the teacher.

They also get real about leadership, burnout, finding joy in your work, financial literacy, AI, and what it truly means to prepare students for life beyond graduation.

But the conversation ultimately comes back to one powerful question:

When the burnout creeps in, what brings you back to your “why”?

This is a conversation about education—but more importantly, it's about purpose, relationships, growth, and the people who make education matter.

🎧 Listen to Meghan and Molly’s story on The Educator’s Why Podcast.

What would make you come back to education after you retired?

For Floyd Jolley, the answer is simple: the kids.

After 36 years in education, Floyd has taught at every level, served as a district leader, retired—and then came back. But two moments reminded him exactly why he never really left.

A former student told him, “You’re the reason I love science”—10 years after Floyd taught him in sixth grade.

Then, on what Floyd thought might be his final first day of school, he received a picture of himself holding the hand of a kindergarten student.

That picture now sits framed on his desk.

In this episode of The Educator’s Why Podcast, Floyd shares why relationships matter, what keeps him going after 36 years, and why the smallest moments in education can create the biggest impact.

🎧 Sometimes your “why” isn’t a job. It’s the people you meet along the way.