The EdisonOS Podcast

Hosted by EdisonOS

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Episodes

323

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May 2026

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About the show

Insights and Strategies on Standardized tests to improve student's scores. Join us as we explore proven test prep methodologies through the eyes of top tutors, score improvement specialists, and industry leaders. Each week, we'll bring you in-depth interviews with experts from across the globe as they share their strategies for driving real score gains, navigating question quality standards, leveraging digital tools, and adapting to the evolving college admissions landscape. From mastering targeted skill development for student progress to keeping parents updated in test prep!

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May 1, 2026Episode 32354 min

Episode 323 | Eliza Kimball | Crimson Connections LLC | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Eliza Kimball, founder of Crimson Connections LLC, shares how she launched her tutoring company during her senior year of high school in 2020 and has since built it into a full-time venture connecting Ivy League students with high schoolers. Drawing from her own experience as an overachieving student at Harvard, Eliza explains why she targets seventh and eighth graders, believing that real impact comes from building character, critical thinking, and genuine passion over years, not just improving grades.She discusses her student-to-student mentorship model, her belief that AI can be a powerful homework aid and exam prep tool but should never replace human mentorship, and shares why she recruits tutors not just for academic expertise but for personality, authentic curiosity, and the ability to truly connect with kids.

April 22, 2026Episode 32242 min

Episode 322 | Dr. Emily Levy | EBL Coaching | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Emily Levy, founder of EBL Coaching, shares how growing up around her mother's school for students with learning disabilities in Florida shaped her path from Wall Street back into special education. Drawing from her doctorate and years of hands-on experience, Emily explains how a multi-sensory approach, integrating visual, auditory, and tactile methods, can be life-changing for students with dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning differences.She discusses how pandemic learning gaps are still showing up today, particularly in students who missed early foundational skills in reading and math, and shares why she now sees a diagnosis not as a label but as a gift that unlocks the right tools and resources for a child to thrive.

April 22, 2026Episode 32141 min

Episode 321 | Gabe Futrell | Principal | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Gabe Futrell, principal of Bill Metz Elementary in Monte Vista, Colorado, shares how over 15 years in one rural school community has shaped his approach to leadership. Drawing from more than two decades in education, Gabe explains how a love for small towns and the mountains first brought him to the San Luis Valley and why the people around him have kept him there.He discusses the IE Time intervention model his school adopted just before COVID, targeting every student with daily small group reading and math support, and shares how sticking with that approach through and after the pandemic drove significant academic growth. He also reflects on the challenges of high poverty, the importance of distributive leadership, and why saying no to good ideas is sometimes the only way to become great at the right ones.

April 16, 2026Episode 32051 min

Episode 320 | Patty McGee | Author-Educator-Consultant | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Patty McGee, literacy consultant, educator, and author, describes herself as a "traveling teacher" who spends time in schools helping teachers and students rather than staying distant from the classroom. Drawing from her own early struggles with poor literacy instruction, Patty explains why strong literacy teaching must center student choice, student voice, and goal-centered responsive instruction.She challenges the growing overreliance on phonics in the wake of the science of reading movement, warns against the assign and assess culture in writing instruction, and shares why she sees AI as a tool to amplify human voice rather than replace it. She also offers a simple yet powerful shift for teachers: to look at student writing with the same admiring eye we bring to student art.

April 7, 2026Episode 31941 min

Episode 319 | Don Sevcik | Math Celebrity | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Don Sevcik, creator and founder of Math Celebrity with eight million users annually and zero paid marketing, reveals how watching a team in India struggle with a 300-page pension book led him to build Excel step-by-step calculators that became the blueprint for automating his math tutoring brain on a website. Drawing from 17 years building the platform, Don explains his pattern IQ philosophy teaching students to identify problem types before solving them, a skill missing when teachers label everything but critical when problems appear unlabeled on exams.He discusses his sixth-year breakthrough in 2013 when someone typed an actual equation instead of searching for concepts, forcing him to partner with a Czechoslovakian programmer to build pattern recognition that launched version 2.0 and exploded traffic. Don shares his inversion mental model borrowed from Charlie Munger, focusing on eliminating unforced errors rather than chasing perfect presentations, emphasizing he can control stupid mistakes but not whether customers say yes. He reveals his biggest belief reversal that good products don't sell themselves, admitting if he started over he'd build a sales team first and validate demand before writing code, and stresses his 80-20 rule and first principles thinking from homeschooling his kids, explaining if you can't teach it at fifth grade level you don't understand it.

March 26, 2026Episode 31848 min

Episode 318 | Kimberly and Hassan Lauziere | The Lauziere Education Group | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Hassan and Kimberly, founders of The Lauziere Education Group with backgrounds in physics, math, English, and literature, reveal how they left corporate careers to build a holistic learning ecosystem after traveling to over 50 countries and discovering education should extend beyond classroom walls. Drawing from their diverse subject expertise, they explain how all disciplines are intertwined through critical thinking, logic in essays mirrors physics problem-solving, and math requires reading comprehension just as literature demands analytical rigor.They discuss the breakdown in modern education from curriculum abandoning classics for newer books without foundational history and philosophy, to culture prioritizing sports over developing minds, to social media destroying the focused attention needed to actively engage with past thinkers. Hassan and Kimberly share their reading restoration approach starting students with 10 minutes daily and gradually building stamina, emphasizing mastery over speed and letting students choose topics that interest them. They reveal their evolution from thinking students should pursue highest-paying jobs to realizing fulfillment comes from alignment with purpose, and share their practice of daily prayer, meditation, and learning something new while having interesting debates with each other, urging 16-year-olds feeling school is pointless to view it holistically as people, teachers, experiences, and environment rather than just classes preparing their future selves.

March 26, 2026Episode 31738 min

Episode 317 | Cynthia Millhorn | Tutor2Order | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Cynthia Millhorn, founder of Tutor2Order with 20 years of experience blending journalism, performance, and creative writing, reveals how she left tutoring companies after noticing they matched tutors based on subject knowledge alone without pedagogy or ability to assess student needs. Drawing from her background in qualitative research and therapy, Cynthia explains how pandemic students elevated with individual attention now lack communication skills and self-advocacy, unable to work in teams or comfortably address needs with teachers.She discusses her anecdotal storytelling approach teaching students that asking questions means paying more attention rather than being unintelligent, and shares her holistic assessment philosophy connecting poor class performance to underlying issues parents might not know about. Cynthia reveals her strong AI resistance, staying far away because it feeds user information into databases and lacks integrity compared to wonderful existing resources, emphasizing human tutors provide non-negotiable rapport that bots cannot establish. She evolved from believing diagnoses were fixed limitations to discovering the brain can rewrite neuropathways, proving students with dyslexia can become excellent writers and those who can't spell aloud can overcome it, urging parents to give children freedom to fail because crushing perfectionism prevents the trying that leads to surprising success.

March 26, 2026Episode 31639 min

Episode 316 | Jackie Postelnick | Conscious College Planning | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Jackie Postelnick, founder of Conscious College Planning with over a decade starting in financial aid, reveals how today's broken system puts undue pressure on students to choose majors before understanding their purpose and impact they want to have on the world. Drawing from guiding over a thousand families, Jackie explains her conscious decision-making philosophy that combines college fit with student identity and affordability rather than chasing top 50 rankings.She discusses the biggest shift she's noticed in student preparedness: pandemic-era writing skill gaps that leave students unable to express themselves authentically in essays despite getting A's in English. Jackie shares her concern about University of Illinois this year where normally admitted students were outright declined, not even waitlisted, highlighting record competition. She reveals her evolution from dismissing gut feelings about schools to embracing both research and sensation, helping students name why they feel drawn to certain colleges. Jackie explains her frustration with high school counselors being off put by independent consultants rather than partnering together, and emphasizes her fit-first philosophy choosing a decent college with 60% scholarship over a great college with student loans because affordability is part of fit.

March 19, 2026Episode 31524 min

Episode 315 | Emily Axelrod | English Tutor | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Emily Axelrod, an English tutor with over a decade teaching teens for standardized tests, reveals how the digital SAT has become more challenging despite shorter passages because students have less material to grasp and form answers. Drawing from her experience working with neurotypical students and those with attention deficit disorder and on the spectrum, Emily explains her rapport-first approach that establishes compatibility and identifies special needs including undiagnosed ones before administering diagnostic tests.She discusses her pattern-focused strategy analyzing where students make errors, whether at the beginning when not paying attention or toward the end when running out of time, and emphasizes both academic skills and test-taking skills must be learned despite College Board not wanting students to think that way. Emily shares her cautious AI perspective, revealing one useful application where a student used AI to decode why he got something wrong better than College Board's explanation, while strongly discouraging AI-generated practice questions in favor of official Blue Book materials. She explains her pricing philosophy that experienced tutors charging $50 to $100-plus per hour may require fewer sessions than cheaper alternatives, and encourages families to get creative with small group discounts and sliding scales so financial burden doesn't block access to quality tutoring.

March 19, 2026Episode 31434 min

Episode 314 | Gerene Keesler | Admissions Untangled | The EdisonOS Podcast

In this episode, Gerene Keesler, founder of Admissions Untangled with over three decades in college admissions, reveals how her Hispanic background kept her learning differences hidden until a neuropsychological exam in her 30s that she dragged her parents to. Drawing from living with epilepsy and being on the autism spectrum, Gerene explains her knots philosophy for two types of stressed students: high achievers taking maximum AP and dual enrollment who risk burnout, and students especially boys who refuse accommodations out of shame despite everything being confidential.She discusses her eight-minute application reality where admissions officers spend limited time reviewing materials, making the essay the one place students have complete control to shine and tell a cohesive story. Gerene shares her test-optional success story of a California student awarded $245,000 in merit scholarships across 19 schools without submitting any test scores. She reveals her ninth and tenth grade starting philosophy that builds extracurricular profiles from non-traditional activities like caring for ailing grandparents, teaching leadership and empathy that becomes meaningful essay material, and emphasizes families must stop pushing students toward their own alma maters because fit matters more than legacy, and stresses the one habit that would change outcomes is reading regularly instead of seeking quick answers online.