100% Ask-Back Rate: Why Every School That Tries Portrait Pals Wants It Again
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
03/27/26
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Part 2 of my @schoolutionspodcast conversation with Tonya Quinn from The Kindness Art Education details how her Portrait Pals program uses art to address critical attendance management issues. The initiative fosters a powerful kindness movement, helping to alleviate stress relief among students by connecting them through shared experiences. This approach significantly contributes to improving kids mental health and overall school engagement.
💫Make sure to check out Part 1 before this episode
In this episode, you'll discover:
→ The full Portrait Pals process: from professional photographer to curated gallery exhibition
→ How this program directly addresses chronic absenteeism and low engagement
→ Why inspiring students works better than enforcing behavior
→ The questionnaire questions that reveal what kids are really carrying
→ How active learning through portraiture weaves in math, science, anatomy, & narrative
→ What classroom belonging looks like when a child feels truly seen
→ How police officers, senior citizens, and kids in France are all Portrait Pals
→ What to say to a skeptical administrator who thinks there's no time or funding
→ The blank canvas moment and why it's the most important teaching tool in the room
Portrait Pals has a 100% ask-back rate from every school and community it touches. The only thing standing between this program and thousands more thriving students is resources. Share this episode with a teacher, principal, school counselor, or donor who believes every child deserves to thrive not just survive. Donate here.
Whether you're a teacher searching for instructional strategies that spark student motivation, an instructional coach looking for coaching strategies that produce real school change, a school leader committed to school culture and equity in education, or a parent who believes in the whole child this episode is essential listening.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 — Introduction: 31% chronic absenteeism & Portrait Pals
1:45 — The professional photographer & authentic self-presentation
3:30 — Anthony: "My pal looks like they could do something major one day"
5:45 — How Tonya matches pals across communities and countries
7:30 — The questionnaire: shared anxiety between rural America and France
9:00 — Supplies, structure & meeting community needs
10:45 — Police officers, Portrait Pals & "this is exactly what we needed"
13:30 — How many sessions & keeping it during the school day
15:00 — Portraits, math, science, anatomy & human skills
17:30 — Shape, light & shadow, and spirit the three elements of portraiture
18:45 — The gallery exhibition experience
20:00 — The girl with her head on her desk and what happened next
21:45 — 100% ask-back rate & how to get involved
23:00 — Closing reflections & how to support Portrait Pals
Next Week: We are heading to San Diego, where history is being made. San Diego Unified School District has nearly 3,000 affordable housing units in the pipeline for educators. Superintendent Fabi Bagula, Ph.D., is leading a charge to make sure the people who show up every day to serve students can actually afford to live in the communities they serve. That conversation is coming your way next week. Don't miss it.
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Previous Episode
In this short, we discuss creating and painting portraits by focusing on three key areas: shape, light and shadow, and spirit. Tonya Quinn outlines how to paint a face by observing and interpreting human features, emphasizing that even simple shapes like parentheses can represent them. This approach provides valuable painting tips and painting techniques for artists of all levels.
By teaching students to read a face, not just draw it, children develop the skills to notice how a classmate is truly feeling, even when words aren't spoken. This is inclusive teaching and culturally responsive teaching in action. Students practice active learning by observing, interpreting, and responding to each other's emotional states, building empathy, classroom belonging, and student engagement naturally through the creative process.
When a child says, "He's smiling, but I think he's angry. I hope he takes a minute to calm down."
That's whole child development. That's inspiring students to care for one another. That's the kind of school culture that transforms classrooms.
Whether you're a teacher looking for innovative teaching and instructional strategies, an instructional coach seeking coaching strategies for professional development, a school administrator focused on school improvement and instructional leadership, or a parent exploring education at home and family partnerships, this clip will shift how you think about student motivation, student participation, and what effective teaching truly looks like.
🎨 Art becomes the doorway. Empathy becomes the lesson. Connection becomes the outcome.
👇 Save this. This is what education transformation looks like. Watch, reflect, and share Part 1 & Part 2 of our @schoolutionspodcast S5E30 interview with your team.
🗂️ CHAPTERS
0:00 — The Secret to Painting Portraits
0:05 — The 3-Part Framework: Shape, Light & Spirit
0:12 — Reading the Human Face
0:22 — What's Behind the Smile?
0:35 — Kids Teaching Kids Emotional Awareness
0:50 — How I Calm Myself When I'm Angry
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
#Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #ForeverGettingBetter #CuriosityDriven #EvidenceBased #PortraitPals #TheKindnessArtEducation #ClassroomBelonging #StudentEngagement #EffectiveTeaching #InspiredTeaching #WholeChild #InclusiveTeaching #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #EmpoweredEducators #TeacherCoaching #InstructionalCoaching #SchoolCulture #ActiveLearning #ProKidMindset #EquityInEducation #StudentSuccess #ThrivingStudents #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #SchoolLeadership #NewTeachers #ProfessionalDevelopment #ArtEducation #SELinSchools #EmpathyInEducation #PortraitDrawing #TeachingTips #InnovativeTeaching #SchoolImprovement #FamilyPartnerships #ParentInvolvement
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Next Episode
In part one of my S5E31 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Dr. Fabi Bagula, Superintendent of San Diego Unified School District, discusses her authentic approach to leadership and its impact on education. She shares insights into critical teacher retention issues and the innovative, affordable housing solutions her team is implementing in San Diego, California. Fabi's commitment to equity and school improvement strategies is evident as she addresses the challenges and triumphs of leading with an open heart.
Fabi also speaks to why she refuses to call it an "achievement gap" (it's a support gap) and how she's avoided hardening in response to public criticism. This episode is essential listening for school administrators, instructional leaders, new teachers, teacher mentors, instructional coaches, families, and anyone invested in school improvement and education transformation.
Some Episode Mentions:
➡️Otto Scharmer, author of Presencing
➡️Marshall Elementary School
➡️Yale Broad Leadership Fellowship
➡️Monday 02/26 & Tuesday 02/27 board meetings, when they chose the final proposals for more information
📌 Part 2 drops Friday, where Fabi illuminates what emancipatory leadership looks and feels like in practice
📑 CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction — Dr. Fabi Bagula, First Latina Superintendent of San Diego Unified
1:45 The researcher Fabi is leaning on: Otto Scharmer's Presencing
3:00 How they met 26 years ago at Marshall Elementary
4:30 Schools belong to the communities they serve
5:50 Stepping into unsteady terrain: building trust as a new superintendent
7:00 Why honest, hard conversations move schools AND people
8:00 The weight of carrying everyone's 10-year-old problems
9:30 Laying off 69 while creating 86, and why no one heard the good news
10:40 "Don't armor up" - the hardest part of leading with an open heart
12:30 The affordable housing crisis for San Diego educators
13:45 How the district turned 5 vacant properties into 30 developer bids
16:00 $4 billion in long-term revenue with zero taxpayer dollars
17:45 Why educators living in the communities they teach matters
19:00 Whole child AND whole adult education
20:30 Lightning Round: school culture, the support gap, and what teachers need to know
22:00 Teaser for Part 2
🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
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