Leading the Way - October 16, 2026 | | Leading Moments From Across the District | |
IHEC: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
From Data to Action: Empowering Students to Lead Meaningful Change!
What happens when students are empowered to use their voice, analyze real-world challenges, and become catalysts for positive change in their own school? Last week, I had the opportunity to work alongside an incredible group of Indian Hill High School seniors in Mr. Abrams' math class as they continued their journey through the Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt process. Rather than simply learning statistical concepts and problem-solving strategies in isolation, these students are applying them to something that matters to them: identifying opportunities to improve the student experience
at Indian Hill High School!
During our time together, students explored how to analyze data using Pareto Charts, a powerful Lean Six Sigma tool that helps identify the most significant factors contributing to a problem and determine where improvement efforts can have the greatest impact. But identifying what needs attention is only the beginning! We then challenged students to dig deeper, ask better questions, and begin exploring the why behind the data. Their next step will be developing and distributing a more targeted survey to the student body, gathering additional insights to uncover root causes, and ultimately presenting their findings and recommendations to our high school administration in hopes of creating meaningful, student-driven improvements.
THIS is what meaningful, relevant, and engaging learning looks like! When we connect academic content to authentic challenges, empower students with voice and choice, and provide opportunities for them to influence the world around them, learning takes on an entirely different level of purpose. These seniors aren't simply learning about data analysis or earning an industry-recognized credential; they are developing critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and leadership skills while discovering that they have both the ability and the responsibility to make a positive difference. That's the power of experiential learning, and exactly the kind of future-ready experiences we strive to create for every student, every day!
| |
|
IHExp: "IH Capital Gains" Cohort Begins!
Last week marked an incredible milestone as we officially kicked off our inaugural IHEXP Capital Gains cohort! We were thrilled to welcome IH Parent & Global Account Manager at Samsara, Shane Spears, who shared invaluable real-world wisdom with 11 of our seniors planning to major in business or finance. Rather than focusing solely on textbook theory, Shane delivered a masterclass on career navigation, sales mastery, and personal prioritization. He emphasized that trust sits at the very heart of sales, reminding students that every customer conversation should be driven by a genuine effort to understand their unique challenges and opportunities. Beyond sales tactics, Shane challenged our seniors to zoom out and reflect on what they want their overall future lives to look like, rather than stressing over declaring the "perfect" college major right now.
Balancing his roles running a restaurant, thriving in a sales career, and being a father, Shane also shared his daily framework for setting priorities: constantly asking himself, "What needle do I need to move today?" - knowing that what needs focus will naturally shift from day to day. He highlighted that one of the greatest rewards of a sales career is having true autonomy over your time while actively solving meaningful problems for people. To cap off an inspiring session, he encouraged students to examine C-suite leaders across Fortune 50, 100, and 500 organizations to notice just how many started their path with a strong foundation in sales.
A huge thank you to Shane Spears for sharing his energy and insight to launch our Capital Gains program with such momentum!
| | | | |
StartUp Cincy: Connecting Today's Learning to Tomorrow's Opportunties
There is tremendous value in intentionally putting yourself in spaces where ideas, people, and possibilities collide. Now in its 10th year, StartUp Cincy brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders, innovators, and community partners to explore what is happening across our region and, more importantly, what’s coming next. Conversations around AI, emerging industries, talent development, entrepreneurship, personal branding, and Cincinnati’s economic future reinforced just how quickly the world our students will enter continues to evolve.
For me, experiences like this are directly connected to my role in K–12 Leadership & Career Development at Indian Hill. Every session and conversation creates an opportunity to ask: What does this mean for our students? What skills, mindsets, relationships, and experiences will they need to thrive? One message came through clearly: future readiness requires more than preparing students for existing opportunities, we must help them develop the adaptability, leadership, networks, and entrepreneurial mindset to navigate opportunities that may not even exist yet.
That is why being in rooms like this matters. The learning and relationships come back with me, helping strengthen our IHExperienceships, career pathways, IH Entrepreneurs’ Center programming, leadership development, and network of community and business partners. If we want to create relevant and meaningful experiences for students, we have to remain connected to the people and organizations actively building the future. Learn today. Connect it to our students tomorrow. Keep building better opportunities for what comes next.
| | |
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The BIG PITCH: "ASSISTLY"
As we continue our “Big Pitch: Where Are They Now?” series, this week we are highlighting Assistly, one of last year’s winning ventures created by co-founders Charlotte Picton and Lauren Zaring. What began as an idea on the Big Pitch stage is quickly becoming a real-world solution. Last week, Charlotte and Lauren unveiled the Assistly app to our Student Leadership Team and invited students to become part of the platform’s first cohort, an exciting milestone in taking their concept from pitch to launch.
Assistly is a community-based platform designed to connect local families who need help with everyday services, such as babysitting, lawn care, pet care, and other household needs, with students looking for meaningful work opportunities. Since winning the Big Pitch last spring, Charlotte and Lauren have worked tirelessly alongside professional developers to transform their vision into an engaging, user-friendly app. With support from the Indian Hill PTO, Assistly is preparing to begin connecting students and families in the coming months, creating opportunities for students to earn, gain experience, build responsibility, and strengthen connections within our community.
This is exactly what The Big Pitch was designed to inspire: students identifying authentic needs, developing innovative solutions, taking risks, and doing the hard work required to turn an idea into action. Assistly’s journey demonstrates that the pitch itself is only the beginning. Charlotte and Lauren continue to move their venture forward with the entrepreneurial mindset, leadership, persistence, and problem-solving skills that will serve them well far beyond Indian Hill, and we cannot wait to see where they take Assistly next.
| | |
"IHExp FireSide Chat"
Dream Big, Stay Flexible, Build Your Network and Bet On Yourself!
Last week we hosted another engaging and energetic moment of learning as we welcomed Mike Munafo and Tony Munafo from ProLink for an inspiring Indian Hill Experienceships Career Connections event!
The fireside chat was masterfully orchestrated and moderated by IHEXP Advisory Board leader Brady Mitchell, driving a powerful conversation on entrepreneurship, career ownership, and the relentless drive required to build a successful path forward.
A central message of their talk was taking ultimate responsibility for your own journey: success is a choice, you have to want it bad for yourself, and no one around you should ever care more about your goals than you do, because ultimately, it’s all about what you put in. They urged students to define early on what success means to them, determine what they are willing to invest to get there, maintain their high school and college networks, and intentionally surround themselves with great people who shape the professional they aspire to become.
Mike and Tony also spoke candidly about how instrumental an outside mentor was to their growth, stressing that to maximize those relationships, you must always show up with a clear agenda of what you want to achieve. Reflecting on their own high school days when they realized sports wouldn't be their path in college, they shared the game-changing mindset shift that propelled them forward: "My academics and career were now my sport. Every day was game day."
They challenged our future leaders to refuse to give up at all costs, noting that what truly separates one entrepreneur from another is the grit to figure it out when their back is up against the wall, and the discipline to constantly anchor their work in one fundamental question: "What problem are we trying to solve?"
| | | | |
