Rachael Maves: Hello everyone, you are listening to the Rachael Maves podcast and I'm Rachael Maves, your host. Today we are talking to Coach Joe Marino. Coach Joe has spent almost a decade and a half in the classroom on the field and Matt in consulting for schools.

Coach takes his real world in class experiences and translates them into time saving resources by using simple readily available ed tech tools for all aspects of education. He is the Italian guy from Jersey who lives in Texas and works all over the USA bringing you real world solutions to give you back time with your family and friends.

He will surely make you laugh at every turn. I know he does for our team at Parsec, which is one of the reasons why we all love him. Coach, thank you for joining me today.

Coach Joe Marino: Thank you so much for having me. And the fact that you said all over America, I love the fact that I'm dressed up fully America because I got, I got red, white and blue. I got the high socks on from 1980s. I'm showing my age, we're the matching shorts are here too, but my legs are the size of my wrist. So we're not going to show my legs, but thank you for having me.

Rachael Maves: you

Rachael Maves: you

Yet to those of you who are listening, Coach Joe showed up in true coach form with a headband on and wristbands and he is killing it this morning.

Coach Joe Marino: Ha ha ha ha!

Coach Joe Marino: Follow me on LinkedIn, it's my headshot. Follow me on LinkedIn, it's chaos.

Rachael Maves: So, Coach, I'd love just to start like we always do with every podcast, just hearing a little bit about why did you choose this career in education and tell us about that trajectory.

Coach Joe Marino: So my trajectory is really, really weird. I didn't go to college until I was in my 30s. I was coaching baseball, coaching baseball in my 20s. And I was a mailman right out of high school. It's a whole crazy thing. I had a full boat ride to Johnson and Wales for business out of high school, fully paid. And I come from a...

Hey, you know, lower middle class, lower class at times, lower middle class family from Jersey and the whole family. I mean, the whole family was union mailman. And when I graduated high school in the 90s, you know, my dad's like, hey, nobody's getting a job at a college. Nobody, you know, you take the exam, you go right in. I became a mailman at 18 years old. and that's so I gave up the scholarship, everything because, know, like many nationalities, I'm a

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Mm.

Coach Joe Marino: Italian Irish, right? But we were raised Italian in Jersey, go figure. And you do what your parents say, you you do what you're supposed to. And everyone has that. In the Italian and Irish world, it was always the dad, right? Well, let me rephrase that. It was always the mom and dad.

Rachael Maves: you

Coach Joe Marino: but it was always dad made the final decision. Like I know a lot in the Latino world and I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, but it's the grandma, right? She's always, she runs the show, you know? My wife's, my wife's family is Polish and it was the grandfather who ran the show. So it comes to, you do what you're told when you're raised and it's a different time now. It's not really like this unless the kids my age,

Rachael Maves: hahahaha

Coach Joe Marino: keep them roots going the same way. anyway, became a mailman, did that whole thing. And when I was in my 30s, was a 33 years old, I was in the post office 15 years at 15 years in the post office, unless you go into management, you're making the most money you can. I was still the youngest guy, still the youngest guy where I was, but I got called to

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: Coach, high school ball. And in Jersey and many states, you just need 60 college credits and you could coach. But I never went to college. And a lot of people who knew me didn't know I didn't go to college because everybody thought I was going to college, blah, blah. So I said, you know what? I'm going to become a teacher. And I posed the question because I was able to leave the city and go into the suburbs.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: Now, not because of my hard work, because my parents got divorced and married rich, alcohol as I see it, right, and went into the suburbs. But I was raised right outside of Jersey City. you know, that environment and then small towns, the town was called Kearney. Back then, all the different nationalities, all the different things, you grow up on the street, you play in the street, you just do everything, you're true 80s. So anyway, I go and I'm going to coach, I'm going to become a teacher. And there was a teacher named

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: Mr. Pito. And this was my sophomore year in high school down in Tom's River, New Jersey, Jersey Shore for all those people. Whole nother story for another day, Rachael. We could go on that, that tale. Podcast, I could tell stories for days. Your parsec team will tell you. So, he just taught history.

Rachael Maves: Hmm.

Rachael Maves: That will be podcast two. I can already tell.

Coach Joe Marino: and related it today. History was a story, right? History is one of the few things that is never going to change. Like a formula can kind of change, not always, but kind of can, right? A formula could be a different way. But in history, this is what happens, and this is when it happened. And people are like, why do I got to learn that? But when you tell the story, it's you tell history stories so that you don't make the same mistakes again, or

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm. Yes.

Rachael Maves: Mm.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: or you follow the pattern of good because life is a lot about statistics. So I started teaching and coaching and my claim to fame is I taught at the legendary East Side High from the movie Lean On Me with Morgan Freeman. That was my first job.

Rachael Maves: Mm.

Rachael Maves: how fun is that?

Coach Joe Marino: I grew up pretty much right outside of there. So it was a, it was a pretty fun place. it was everything you see in the movie was pretty much true, except the fact now it was, you know, it's 20 years later, 25 years later from the movie. It's one of the safest places in the entire cities and kids wanted to be there. But when kids left there, they had to go home to one of the toughest places in the country, not just in Jersey. And then I taught down in Dallas and, my goal.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: is I wanted to give back and people don't remember this. Now Rachael, you're very young. You're a lot younger than me so you're not going to understand what I'm trying to say here. Teachers today and even back then, many teachers think they're better than the child. Okay? We're all people. We're all people. Okay? And yes, we may have the final say but we're all people. And when a kid doesn't get heard,

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: You lose them right there, right? And we were kids once too, and we know what we did, and we know how we acted. So one of my things was to connect the kids. If I just gave consistency, accountability, and structure, I'm going to have a great relationship with them. the way everything's going in education today, when we were kids, Rachael,

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: If we acted up at school, forget about it. The shoe comes flying across the room. Everything goes crazy, right? Our parents are taking everything from us. Now, now the parents go, why didn't you help my kid? well, he didn't show up for three weeks. Like, well, you know what I mean? Like, it's just, it's a whole different world, but we're finding out.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: Why? And when you have a good relationship with a kid, and especially the schools that I taught in that were very inner city, right? And I might be the only adult they see that day, the only adult who talks to them. That's something that I want to give back to, right? I don't want to be the best guy in the world. I just want to help one kid.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: learned something they didn't know 45 minutes ago when they walked into my room. And I don't mean this in a bad way, but when I say the kid, only adults, when you live in the inner city, parents are working two, three jobs. It's not because the parents outdo it. No, the parents try to provide you a better life. And you hear that story all the time. It takes a village to raise kids, whether it's your neighbor, your grandparents, your aunt, your uncle, your teacher, the guy down at the grocery store. It's a village. And when you grow up in the city, it's a lot easier because you're

Rachael Maves: Sure.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: confined to a 10 block radius, everyone knows everybody and everybody looks out. Now you're in the suburbs and nobody goes outside anymore and they live in this cyber world. You don't really know what's going on. So what I want to do, I raised five kids of my own. I wanted to give back and I want to help kids.

achieve something and know that there's people there that, I might not always agree with you. I'm going to listen to you. I'm going to lay it out and you have the ultimate choice. But I got into education to help kids make a choice of where they want to be, where they want to go. And no one's saying you have to make the right choice off the bat because sometimes making the wrong choice is fun. that's the whole, you know, but that's all it's part of.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Rachael Maves: It's part of the journey. It's part of the experience.

Coach Joe Marino: I'll never forget what my kid said to me, let me mess up. Just let me mess up and deal with it. But sometimes messing up could have extreme consequences, right? But sometimes the mess up is just, hey, you learned. You learned, right? So, and just to know they have someone to talk to. Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I love that Joe. And I love the, I love the what you're highlighting too, especially right now, that piece of how do we ensure that we see and hear and build those relationships with students because then I think it's out of that, that we get to those other things that you're talking about, that consistency and accountability, because they rise to the occasion when they know that you're on their side, that you're their champion for sure.

Coach Joe Marino: And that's the other thing, just because a kid or a person or an adult, and I tell this story all the time, like I go to supermarket with my wife and she buys coffee and she asks me if I want a coffee. I say no, because I don't want to carry the coffee. So if she then goes and goes, Oh, hold my coffee. No, I'm not holding your coffee because I didn't want to carry it. Just because someone asks doesn't mean it has to be done. And in the school,

Rachael Maves: You

Rachael Maves: you

Coach Joe Marino: It's the same thing with the kids. You stay consistent. like, hey, doesn't hurt to ask because the worst thing anybody could ever tell you is no. And if the kids learn that at a young age, they're not going to flip out like my wife does because I won't hold a coffee. So.

Rachael Maves: Hahaha

Well, Joe, I'm really excited for this next question, especially just knowing that you're traveling across the country. You're embedded within K-12 through that EdTech lens and building relationships with leaders across that spectrum in your position in sales. When you through that lens and all of the different organizations and districts and charters that you see and interact with, what keeps you up at night when you think about the current state of education?

Coach Joe Marino: Okay.

Coach Joe Marino: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: Okay, two things. So I have serious health issues. That's why I don't teach anymore. I'm on the road 36 weeks a year and my health issues are related to stress. Your listeners can hear the energy in my voice right now. I have had three stress related incidents and I'm only 50. But it's what I try to tell people, don't worry, I'm Italian from Jersey. I'm supposed to have like 15 every other day, you know?

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: you

Coach Joe Marino: What keeps me, what really keeps me up right now, so I'm dressed as those of you who can or can't see, I'm in full Americana outfit right now. And one of the reasons I am in full Americana outfit is because I'm Coach Joe, right? USA mom, Coach Joe, apple pie, baseball, you know, but Americana. And in America, right, we get the privilege, the privilege to learn for free

Rachael Maves: you

Coach Joe Marino: every day. If a family chooses to go a different route, great. One of the things that's keeping me up at night is that a lot of education is set for one mindset. One.

not everybody learns the same. Okay? I learned by people telling me a great story. That's how I learned. And then I read it and I grabbed it. Other kids need to use their hands to learn. All right? Other kids need to just hear, not see. Some kids need to work. Some kids need a math. It's 25 different ways. Some kids can learn in 30 kid classroom. So the big thing that's bothering me now is because everybody's shutting down and getting to a box.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: There's nothing wrong with learning different ways. And there's a lot of places, and this is what's keeping me up at night, is in many states, the charter world and the flex-based learning is under attack. Okay? Now, whether it's money, politics, I don't care. I don't care. My whole point is not everybody learns the same. And if a school, and I'm not a test score guy, and even when I was teaching, I'm not.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: I mean, I know you have to have that, but not every kid's. Yeah.

Rachael Maves: It has its place. Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: You have to have it right. Can the kid read it right? You gotta know if he can read it right. Does he know the basics to move on, right? But not everybody's going to go to college because I taught kids that were full blown ASC certified mechanics by 18 years old, who these kids knew more about an engine that I could ever, me and you combined could ever imagine. It's just what are you learning and what is helping you be successful, right? So that's my

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah, yeah, well.

Coach Joe Marino: Fighting.

Rachael Maves: And even as, yeah, even as you say that, I think about, you know, how we are as adults and the dynamics that we have with adults. I'm like, if I just talk about our chief team as an example, and sorry, Babatunde, Eugene, Jamin and Rob, I'm outing you. But when I think about all of us and as we're processing information or brainstorming and trying to figure out what to do, we all show up and do that very differently. Like for me, I'm a verbal processor. I need to be able to talk it out loud and process my thoughts out loud.

somebody doesn't even have to say anything. I just need to be able to process it. And there are others on our team where they can go and they just work it out in their head and then they can come back and be like, here it is and done. So I think how do we provide what I hear you say is how do we provide that same space for students in all of those different modalities? What does that mean and look like? And the layer you're bringing into that that I hear you saying is one way is through offering different school avenues, whether it's their local public

school, it's flex-based charters, it's regular charters, it's completely online and embracing that. So when you think about like that context that you're talking about, what are one or two ways that you feel like would be practical application of how we can move forward in that direction?

Coach Joe Marino: Exactly.

Coach Joe Marino: Schools aren't a business. Schools are education. Schools are the next generation learning. And unfortunately, they're ran as a business. And they should be, right? Because you have to make sure you have money for this and that. But it's all about to a lot of people. And again, this is all my opinion. This ain't the opinion of who I work for. This ain't the opinion of a family. This is me being in education, raising five kids, and visiting 39 states in the...

Rachael Maves: Mm.

Coach Joe Marino: on the road 36 weeks a year this is about hey we're gonna cancel funding because these guys don't like this we're gonna gain funding because these guys like this no

Kids need to be able to learn in, like you said, there are so many different ways to learn. So just move the money around. Now, I know it's easier said than done, and I get all that. But the thing for me is that, and the other thing is I'll always be a teacher at heart. And Rachael, if I'm not mistaken, I did a little research on you. You were a teacher back in the day as well, right? So you and...

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: That's right. Yeah, yeah, it never goes away. It's always there. It's just that part of you.

Coach Joe Marino: So every kid that ever walked to your classroom is always going to be your kid. That's my kid. That's my kid, right? And to this day, I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if Johnny, who is now 27 years old, ate today, right? Because he, you know, what happened to him? When I was teaching, I couldn't sleep.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: One of the biggest stories that I have and that kept me up at night is I collapsed in the classroom. And this was the last time that I ever taught. I collapsed in the classroom. My wife comes in like a Jersey Shore Italian hair out to here. When the hair's out to here, they pump up the hairspray. That means they're hyped up. Hair's out to here, kicks the doctor out of the room and says, you're done. I'm laying in the emergency room. She says, you're done. You got kids to worry about.

And I said, you're right. have 500 kids to worry about. And she stopped. And that's the first time my wife's ever been speechless in her world, ever. And I'm like, Stace, these kids, I'm all they got.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: Not that they don't have parents, but when I'm in that classroom, I'm the only human that may say their name or may see them that day is those teachers. And I worry about what's happening to them all hours of the day. And those are the two things that keeps me up at night is that a lot of kids still might not be eating, still might not have a safe home, still might have all this drama that they don't have somebody to talk to. And then the other thing is this school

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: Let's just say, they have them on homeschool. No, that kid needs to be around people. Let's put them in public school. this kid, he needs a little extra help. Okay, let's put them in a private alternate school, right? There's just so many different ways, but I feel everybody puts a label on the kid. And that just worries me because when being a coach and a teacher, you have to remember just because somebody started it, I'm holding my hand for those of listening down low.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Yeah.

Coach Joe Marino: just because they started at low doesn't mean they can't get over your head, meaning they're gonna grow. That doesn't mean they can't, and too many times we just look and go, I'm done with this kid and push to the side. Those are the things that keep me up at night.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I appreciate your thoughts even on what you brought up moving forward, you know, of this.

Education really is just such an interesting field where you do have these tensions. have this, like you said, there is the reality of a business side and there are outcomes that we should be looking at. And there's such a piece of heart and emotions and relationship and connectedness in a way that I don't think belongs in any other field. I mean, even in the health fields, when you look at doctors and nurses, there's a human connection there, but it's

very different than when you're shepherding and molding and helping students through those very tender developmental years. And sometimes that you have them for years on end. So I just, I think that you're right. There's a tension there that we have to be able to recognize and how do we hold both of those together. And as we kind of wrap up that last question, Joe, that we're going to come into, I'd love just to hear from you then with your lenses of what you're bringing, needing to offer additional charter space

for kids and opportunity and then this piece about that tension of business and relationship. What other question in education are we not asking that maybe we should be?

Coach Joe Marino: I don't know if this is a question, but the theory we should be asking, these are kids. These are not adults. They don't know the way yet because they haven't been taught. how? Look.

We went to school six, seven, eight generations, right? You sit and get, you took notes, you did this, and you were held accountable. And if you didn't do it, right now it's like, well, give them another chance, chance, chance, chance. Structure and accountability helps things move forward. So how?

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Coach Joe Marino: this whole no child left behind, it worked really, really well for six, seven generations of not having that, holding the kids accountable. Nowadays, I mean, I have five of my own children. And when I asked them a question that you would think is basic sometimes, my kids will tell you they're athletes, they're not scholars. Don't be like,

You know, I think the question we need to be asking is, is this about you as an adult showing your power and showing, look what I did? Or is this about making sure that the kids have the structure, accountability, and...

I just, I lost for a second, but the structure and accountability to go through every day, okay, to go through every day and not question what they did wrong rather than just being able to learn.

Learn from their mistakes and I think that's what what we have to do is kids is hey, they're not a commodity They're human beings and they're gonna grow up pretty great and hopefully they're gonna choose the right way instead of the wrong way But they're right way wrong way may be different So, I mean there there's a lot I could say on it that'll go in a circle but we just have the question the question we need to be asking is Why are we treating kids like a business and not treating kids as a human?

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm.

Rachael Maves: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Rachael Maves: Hahaha

Coach Joe Marino: that are our future.

Rachael Maves: Well on that Joe, I just want to thank you for spending time with me today and for the opportunity to get to know you. Like I said, I've heard about you from the team over and over and over again and it's just been a pleasure. Yeah, it is. See how fast that goes?

Coach Joe Marino: Is 20 minutes up already? my god! Well, well...

Well, Rachael, just people want to connect with me. I'm Coach Joe Marino. Type it in on LinkedIn. It's the only social I do. Type it in, hit enter. I pop right up. And those of you who can see me, I'm wearing this ridiculous headband in the picture. And I'd love to chat with people. Me and Miss Rachael here have to have another session one day because I feel Rachael wants to tell her story. So maybe I should bring her on the Burnt Out Educator podcast with Coach Joe. I think we're going

Rachael Maves: Please.

Coach Joe Marino: to have to set that up and get her on there and let her let the hair down and just call it as she sees it.

Rachael Maves: So thanks for the invitation and I'll hold you to that.

Coach Joe Marino: You will, you will. And I'm sure Miss Kimberly and Miss Shay and Miss Summer will be worried about, and Professor Ryan. I can't forget Professor Ryan.

Rachael Maves: Yep.

That's right, of course. Well, thank you, Joa and everyone as the New Year dawns, we at PARSEC are here to support you and your teams. We have a variety of free resources on our website built to support your mid-year LCAPS for those in California and your strategic plans, climate and culture surveys, and your budget planning for 26-27 school year. Check out what we have at parseceducation.com slash resources.

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This transcript was created from the episode's captions and lightly edited for readability. It may contain small errors; please refer to the audio for exact wording.