The SPARC Effect
You know that warm and relaxed feeling you get when sitting around a campfire, trading stories with friends? There’s power in those stories—whether they’re funny, poignant, life-affirming, or surprising—to bring us closer together. They connect us, live within us, change us, and help us grow. We call this The SPARC Effect.
Welcome to our new podcast where we bring the power of storytelling to our own digital campfire. In The SPARC Effect, Travis Walker shares stories from our collaborative members, helping us stay connected as we learn and grow. We’re excited to launch this new venture to help support and unite our community. See you around the campfire!
Episodes
12 episodes
Planning for Next Summer Now
Next summer seems so far away when we are still delivering Summer 2024, but we can set ourselves up for success by planning for next year now. Kristi Jacobi joins Travis Walker to share how she is preparing for Summer 2025, including brai...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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34:50
Getting into the Summer Mindset
Cindy McArthur, Director of Auxiliary Operations at Greensboro Day School, shares her tips and tricks for getting into the summer mindset as we approach our summer season. How are you showing up for yourself, your staff, your campers and your p...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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34:35
Building Your After School Enrichment Program
Rebecca Stokes from University School of Nashville joined the SPARC Effect to share how she grew her After School Enrichment Program, which doubled in size in eight years. From faculty recruitment to finding space for classes, Rebecca offered v...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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36:25
The Magic Behind Marketing Auxiliary Programs
With Summer 2024 closing in, we are at the peak of marketing season. Aubrey Bursch from Easy School Marketing joined host Travis Walker to share the strategies and theories we should consider as we focus on marketing our programs. How do we rea...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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34:18
Trends and Best Practices for Auxiliary Staff Recruitment
Krystal Speed, from Your HR Strategist, joined the SPARC Effect to discuss trends in Human Resources. With experience in Auxiliary Programs, Krystal gave great practical insight into focusing on employee well-being, aligning your school's polic...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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34:18
Build Your Ideal Camp Culture With Effective Staff Training
Laura Walker and Bob Rojee join the SPARC Effect to discuss how they prioritize and leverage staff training to create their ideal camp culture. Why is camp culture so important? What are the “musts” that should happen in training? How do you tu...
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Episode 7
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47:56
Navigating Professional Development & Networking in Auxiliary
Jana Blackwell, Jim Patterson, and Tejan Walcott join the SPARC Effect to discuss how professional development and networking has impacted on their career success. From local networks, in-person and virtual events, and communities like SPARC, e...
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Episode 6
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35:43
How Off-Season Experiences Extend Summer Fun
Travis brought on Katie Peterson from the Breck School and Michael Carmody from Fort Worth Country Day to discuss how they utilize off-season camps to extend summer fun. There are a variety of approaches to off-season camps and they shared the ...
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Episode 5
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1:01:05
The Head of School's Role in Auxiliary Programs
David Sullivan, who is a senior advisor with SPARC and former Head of School, came on the show to give us some great insight to the Head of School's role in Auxiliary Programs. Heads have so much to balance, and Auxiliary is an important lever ...
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Episode 4
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56:24
Creating the Hype for Summer Registration
Laura Walker of Charlotte Latin School and Katie Peterson of Breck School came on The SPARC Effect to share how they generate excitement for the launch of summer registration. We are seeing more and more throughout the industry the directors ar...
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Episode 3
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58:58
SPARC National Conference: What To Look Forward To
Travis Walker got to speak with Karen McCann McClelland and Bob Rojee to discuss all of the things we have to look forward to with the SPARC National Conference closing in! The Conference is October 1st-4th and will be at the Hotel Valley Ho in...
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Episode 2
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41:41
The Role of Auxiliary Programs in Independent Schools
Travis Walker and Nat Saltonstall sit down to discuss Auxiliary Programs and how they are impacting independent schools throughout the country. We discussed what auxiliary programs are, how they benefit schools and how SPARC is assisting school...
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Episode 1
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1:00:47