Educator on Fire- Mandy Froehlich’s P3

Mandy Froehlich passionately encourages educators to create innovative change in their classrooms. Her interest lies in reinvigorating and re-engaging teachers back into their profession, as well as what’s needed to support teachers in their pursuit of innovative and divergent thinking and teaching. She consults internationally with school districts and post-secondary institutions in the effective use of technology to support great teaching, mental health support for educators, and how to create organizational change. Her first book, The Fire Within: Lessons from defeat that have ignited a passion for learning, discusses mental health awareness for teachers. Her second book, Divergent EDU, is based on an organizational structure she developed to support teachers in innovative and divergent thinking.

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Mandy is the Director of Author Success for EduMatch Publishing. Mandy alluded to the idea that she and Sarah are the yin to each other’s yangs. Sarah, the founder and visionary behind Edumatch and Edumatch Publishing, is a big ideas person while Mandy enjoys logistics and putting ideas into play. She loves working with Sarah, who she says is the “real deal” and added that, “..being able to help authors through their process of writing a book and sharing their message is...icing on the cake.” When evolving this offering, they gathered and listened to feedback from other authors and realized that the key need for change was about authors feeling apprised of all aspects of the process. “We wanted to make sure that people were really feeling supported.” Edumatch Publishing is helping teachers find, write, and share their stories.

Mandy also co-hosts the Bam! Radio Network’s Teacher’s Aid podcast with Jon Harper, also a former P3 guest and author. Their podcast focuses on supporting teachers with social-emotional related issues that they may face, promoting teacher well-being. Mandy referred to the amazing work that teachers do, but she added that we are often viewed with unrealistic standards. “We are not superheroes in the way that we’re invincible. Even Superman has kryptonite.” Teachers need the same, if not more, support for their work, and all the care that they put into supporting their students can really take a toll.

Mandy found the process of preparing her P3 interesting. She spoke about how she loves music and appreciates its power. She also noted how it can evoke emotion and memory, and even heal you in some ways. “It was a fantastic thing for me to really sit down and do but, overall, it was pretty easy for me.” Mandy also felt that identifying why the song choices are impactful is a great way to get to know someone, and she is happy with her choices.

Mandy’s nostalgic song was a hot single from the 90’s. Her friend group in middle school were all good dancers, and she was a late joiner to this established crew. They had decided to prepare a dance to this song for a talent show, and the girls spent a lot of time rehearsing and practicing for their performance. “It was so much fun, but it took things to a new level, being at that age.” She felt that it unified her friendship group. It was also the first time that this shy young girl took centre stage spotlight. It was also meaningful to her because school is so much more than what we do in the classroom. “It’s one of those times in my educational career that I look back on with a joyful feeling.” This song helps her recall what Mandy referred to as one of her peak moments. Here is Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice:

Mandy’s identity song shares her name. While it seems obvious, one of the reasons she chose it is because of the many people who sing this song to her when they meet her. When she was in high school and working as a cashier at Walmart, there was a multitude of older men who would sing to her in line, seemingly sure that they were the only ones to have ever done so. Mandy never deterred anyone from thinking they were originals. “When you allow people to have that moment,” as opposed to crushing their spirit, “..who cares if the last 15 people also sang it to you... Let them have their moment and move on.” Mandy reiterated that it doesn’t cost you anything to give them that feeling. This was sage advice, and it helped me realize that it takes so little to play along, and it can give so much to others. This singer-songwriter made pivotal contributions to many through his music and jingles since the 70’s, and he changed the original name of this song making it our guest’s song forever. Here is Mandy by Barry Manilow.

Mandy’s pick-me up song relates a lot to her work. She uses images of fire on her books because they symbolize passion, which is something that we strive for in education. “As far as the song goes, it’s just that idea of having a fire lit under me so I can do the best I can for students and teachers, educators, administrators, paraprofessionals, custodians, it doesn’t matter who, but making sure that people are loving their jobs as much as I do and all the support that goes along with that. If I forget my fire..there it is.” The song and album title was actually inspired by an article from writer Jeanine Amber describing her as a “girl on fire”. It could easily be used to describe our guest. Here is Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys:

You can learn more about Mandy through her website or reach out to her @froehlichm. Checkout her books and locate her podcast on the Bam!Radio Network.