Rob Heller: Teaching Teens Life Skills, Social Skills and Resilience in a Phone-Based World
Rob Heller is a successful entrepreneur, youth development innovator, and founder of the Boost Program, a comprehensive personal development curriculum designed to equip teens and young adults with the essential life, social, and mental health skills that traditional education overlooks. After selling his insurance firm for eight figures to a publicly held company, Rob witnessed firsthand the critical skill gaps plaguing today’s youth in the corporate workplace. This observation, combined with his desire to give his own children the tools they needed to thrive, inspired him to create a solution that didn’t exist.
Drawing from a century of personal development wisdom—distilling the teachings of Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and other thought leaders into accessible, actionable lessons—Rob developed Boost as the “missing course” for today’s youth.
Takeaways:
- The BOOST program to teach life skills that traditional schools often ignore.
- We deliver the curriculum in groups so students practice conversations, role play, and real interactions.
- Phone use has damaged most social and character skills and reduces face to face time.
- We teach resilience, mindset, and practical habits so young people learn to handle failure and grow.
- High engagement when lessons were made relevant to students and connected to their daily lives.
- We created the Boost Soft Skills Alliance to help educators share methods and scale the program globally.
- Simple steps like reducing phone time, videotaping practice, and creating schedules for focused social skill practice.
Chapters:
- 00:04 – Introducing Rob Heller — Founder of the BOOST Program
- 02:04 – From Concerned Father to Founder — How BOOST Began
- 12:28 – Launching the Boost Soft Skills Alliance
- 23:10 – Implementing the Program in Schools
- 30:45 – FIRE: Feedback, Inspiration, Resilience and Empowerment
https://boostprogram.com/
https://www.skool.com/boostsoftskillalliance
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English Program for Kids – Night Zookeeper
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How Filmmaking Builds Confidence and Resilience in Young People with James Walker (Young Film Academy)
James Walker is the co-founder of Young Film Academy (YFA), one of the UK’s leading filmmaking organisations for young people. For over 20 years, James and the YFA team have helped thousands of teenagers develop storytelling, communication, leadership, teamwork, creative confidence and practical filmmaking experience through hands-on outreach projects, workshops and their flagship residential summer programme.
YFA’s philosophy is simple: the best way to learn is by making films. James has a wealth of knowledge and passion to share about helping young people discover their creative potential, pathways into the creative industries and how filmmaking can build the most essential skills for the modern world.
Key takeaways
- Storytelling is the way in. Film is just another medium for telling stories, and that skill matters in every career.
- Passion starts early. We expect athletes and musicians to start young, so take young people’s creative interests just as seriously.
- Ownership beats instruction. No student is handed a script. They write their own and care far more about the result.
- Real humans, real spaces. Doing a hard creative task in person builds the “four Cs and an R”: confidence, communication, collaboration, creativity and resilience.
- Learn from the edit. Students cut their own films, so they see their own mistakes and learn from them.
- Resilience isn’t a poster word. Every film goes through excitement, a dark patch, then “we actually did it”. Getting through it is what resilience means.
Chapters:
- 00:25 – Learning by Making: The Young Film Academy’s Philosophy
- 01:26 – Origins of the Young Film Academy
- 10:54 – How to Get Involved with Young Film Academy
- 18:37 – Summer School: Structure, Roles, and Hands-On Learning
- 25:35 – A Student’s Journey: From Ballet to Film (Project Paradiso)
- 27:30 – The Young Film Academy Podcast — Opening Eyes to Film Careers
- 34:21 – FIRE — Feedback, Inspiration, Resilience & Empowerment
- 40:45 – Conclusion — Impact, Learning, and How to Find Young Film Academy
https://www.youngfilmacademy.co.uk/
https://www.youngfilmacademy.co.uk/podcast/
@youngfilmacademy
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English Program for Kids – Night Zookeeper
- Award-winning reading & writing program for ages 6-12
- Improves vocabulary, spelling, grammar & more
- Personalised feedback on your child’s work
Teaching Kids About Money: Real-Life Lessons from a Real Estate Investor | Jonathan Greene
Real estate investor Jonathan Greene grew up learning about money not through lectures, but through exposure — walking rental properties with his dad, watching cash change hands, and having open conversations about deals from the age of 10. In this episode, Jonathan and Mark explore why today’s frictionless, cashless world makes financial understanding harder for kids, and share practical ways parents can bring money into everyday conversation — from allowances and borrowing to the empowering value of letting kids make (and learn from) their own financial mistakes.
Jonathan is the founder of Streamline and host of the Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing podcast, he challenges hype-driven strategies in favour of discipline, integrity, and long-term thinking.
Key Takeaways
- Exposure beats lectures. Jonathan learned about money by tagging along with his real-estate-investor father — collecting rent, seeing cash change hands — rather than through formal money talks.
- Make money tangible again. Digital payments have made spending “frictionless” for kids; cash, bank books, or visible transactions help them grasp value and consequence.
- Allowance can teach real financial concepts. Splitting weekly allowance into spend/save/invest portions introduces investing and compound growth early — and fronting money with a bit of “interest” teaches how borrowing really works.
- Mistakes are part of financial education. Letting kids make (and lose money on) small purchasing decisions builds resilience, judgement, and — crucially — empowerment.
- Everyday moments are teaching moments. Car repairs, laundry costs, grocery runs, even real estate spotted on a drive — ordinary life is full of low-stakes chances to talk about money.
Chapters:
- 00:02 – Interview with Jonathan Green: Start Money Conversations Early — A Different Approach
- 00:52 – Welcome to Education on Fire
- 16:05 – Real Estate as a Vehicle for Teaching Kids About Money
- 23:22 – Everyday Money Lessons: Laundry, University and Car Costs
- 28:49 – Valuing Time: A Laundry Lesson
- 35:02 – Raising Financially Empowered Children
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-greene-re/
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Show Sponsors –
National Association for Primary Education (NAPE)
Their Primary First Journal: https://www.educationonfire.com/nape
English Program for Kids – Night Zookeeper
- Award-winning reading & writing program for ages 6-12
- Improves vocabulary, spelling, grammar & more
- Personalised feedback on your child’s work
Pupil Voice Surveys That Actually Change a School — Jamie Moseley-Sarsfield, Fairfield Prep
Jamie Moseley-Sarsfield is the Deputy Head Academic at Fairfield Prep School, part of the Loughborough Schools Foundation. He focuses on enhancing pupil experience and academic engagement, recently leading initiatives such as adapting IAPS pupil voice surveys for younger years and implementing STEAM-based enterprise education.
Key Takeaways
- High engagement changes what a survey means — a 90%+ response rate across 31 schools and 4,500+ children gave Fairfield genuine confidence in the results, not just a token gesture.
- Reading came out lower than expected nationally — prompting Fairfield to design their own follow-up survey, tailored by age, to understand why.
- Children who saw fewer adults reading at home still valued and enjoyed reading just as much, challenging an assumption the school expected to confirm.
- AI and screen-time debate is polarising schools — Fairfield’s approach is deliberately cautious: gather evidence, avoid rash decisions, keep tradition and innovation both on the table.
- STEAM grew from a single enrichment week into a whole-school strategy — including a standalone DTE (Design, Technology & Engineering) subject and a staff-led STEAM committee.
- Parent-led Engineering Days work because they’re personal, not prescriptive — asking parents “how did your passion begin?” builds far deeper buy-in than a generic “come and help” request.
- Careers work shifted from academic to practical — pupil feedback drove a redesigned careers fair connecting children with real workplace journeys, not just university pathways.
Chapters:
- 00:02 – Interview: Jamie Mosley Sarsfield — Deputy Head Academic, Fairfield Prep
- 00:35 – Podcast Welcome & Show Overview
- 07:09 – Unexpectedly Low Reading Scores in the Survey
- 13:25 – Building a Reading Culture: Library, Librarian and Survey-led Initiatives
- 23:50 – Broadening the Curriculum: Integrating STEAM and the Arts
- 30:39 – Engaging Parents and Community in STEAM and Careers
- 37:12 – Introducing FIRE: Feedback, Inspiration, Resilience & Empowerment
- 42:27 – Getting Involved: How to Find Out More About Fairfield Prep
🔥 Discover more about Education on Fire, get a FREE pdf of 10 guest resources.
https://www.educationonfire.com
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Show Sponsors –
National Association for Primary Education (NAPE)
Their Primary First Journal: https://www.educationonfire.com/nape
English Program for Kids – Night Zookeeper
Award-winning reading & writing program for ages 6-12Improves vocabulary, spelling, grammar & morePersonalised feedback on your child’s work
The 5 “Kevlar Threads” That Make Learning Stick — Dr. Annalies Corbin (PAST Foundation)
Dr. Annalies Corbin is the Founder and CEO of the PAST Foundation, an organization dedicated to connecting scientific research with education. Over the past 25 years, she has grown PAST into a nationally recognized leader in transforming teaching and learning, impacting millions of students and thousands of educators across the U.S. She also launched the Learning Unboxed podcast to explore innovative approaches to education and the future of workforce development.
Key Takeaways
- The 5 Kevlar Threads: student agency, cultural relevancy, mastery, transdisciplinary learning, and problem-based learning
- STEM “affinity” research: kids light up around math and science when learning feels tangible — mastery-based learning, real problem-solving, and social-emotional connection are the three levers that spark that engagement.
- Silos have their place — a focused mini-lesson works beautifully when it’s triggered by an immediate, meaningful need within a bigger project, giving students exactly what they need, right when they need it.
- Graduation is just the beginning — the real opportunity is helping students discover who they’re becoming, not just getting them across the finish line.
- Relationships are what last — ask any adult about a profound learning moment and they’ll light up describing a person who believed in them, not a lesson plan. That’s the impact educators get to have every day.
- “It takes a village” is coming back into focus — as more people recognize how much parents, grandparents, mentors and coaches contribute to a child’s growth, there’s real momentum to give that learning the credit it deserves.
Chapters:
- 00:02 – Introducing Dr. Annalies Corbin — Founder & CEO of the PAST Foundation
- 01:53 – About the Foundation: Origins & Mission
- 19:13 – Translating Research into Support: In‑Person, Online and Mobile Lab Services
- 27:04 – Rethinking Schooling: From Buildings to Community Learning
- 36:30 – Memorable Learning: People and Experiences Over Curriculum
https://www.pastfoundation.org
https://www.facebook.com/annalies.corbin/
https://www.instagram.com/annaliescorbin/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annalies-corbin-4016121
🔥 Discover more about Education on Fire, get a FREE pdf of 10 guest resources.
https://www.educationonfire.com
🔥 Support the show – Buy me a coffee, Merch and Sponsorship Opportunities
https://www.educationonfire.com/support
#EducationOnFire
Show Sponsors –
National Association for Primary Education (NAPE)
Their Primary First Journal: https://www.educationonfire.com/nape
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