Small School, Big Opportunities: Beloit’s Approach to Student Driven Innovation

Mariah Presley (00:02.016)

Welcome to This Educational Life, a podcast by Trane, where we share stories of public school heroes who are driving big innovation through everyday resourcefulness.

Casey Seyfert (00:12.006)

We don't want to be a small school with like only small school opportunities. And so when we started talking about what can we add, what can we give our kids, the number one driving force was we want to be a small school with every opportunity that large schools have.

Mariah Presley (00:27.574)

And that is Casey Seyfert, an innovative principal at Beloit Senior High School whose leadership has inspired a dynamic culture that empowers students to take ownership of their school's future. Today's story introduces us to a school that is reimagining what it means to prepare students for the real world, not just through simulations, but through ownership. For example, these students aren't just learning about their school's energy use, they're helping manage it using real data industry support and a whole lot of curiosity. And the coolest part? They're doing it with a level of pride and purpose that's gaining national recognition. So let's take a look at what happens when students are trusted to take the reins.

Mariah Presley (01:13.75)

Welcome to the show Casey. And before we jump into the energy program that has gotten some national recognition, let's just start at the beginning. What was that moment that made you realize that a different approach to student engagement was going to be necessary for your school?

Casey Seyfert (01:30.318)

When I look back to it, I think one of the challenges of living in our community and our school specifically is getting our resources back. Our greatest resource by far is our students. We're looking for a way to make their educational experience the best they could possibly have so they want to come back with their families and go from there. At the same time, we were looking at making some fundamental changes in the way we educated our kids. It was almost like the perfect storm where we're looking to bring kids back to the community. We're looking at changing the way we educate and we're looking at having our kids truly become part of our culture and to make them love our school.

Mariah Presley (02:08.428)

Yeah, I often hear this narrative about rural schools that like centers around things that we assume they don't have. So things like resources, population, proximity to these big cities, but your team, and I think a lot of rural schools in general have flipped that narrative pretty substantially. In fact, in one of the interviews you gave recently, you talk about how Beloit is a small school with big school capability. And I just love that statement. What inspired that kind of mentality?

Casey Seyfert (02:38.388)

We don't want to be a small school with like only small school opportunities. And so when we started talking about what can we add, what can we give our kids, the number one driving force was we want to be a small school with every opportunity that large schools have. And when we interview people who moved away and they said, well, my kid can do this when they're in Kansas City or Wichita and our discussion as a staff and as a district was, okay, well, they can do that here too. We just have to make that fit. So sometimes we had to make it a little smaller in scale but other times because we know our kids so well and they care so much it actually grew and now they'll call us and ask us like what are you guys doing and how are you getting it to work so I think the driving force of all of that was no just because you're a large school doesn't mean you have more than we have we have the same thing and we have it right here we don't have to go somewhere else

Mariah Presley (03:30.464)

You just said something I don't think I've realized before. And it's that part of your process as a district is to go to families and the greater business community and kind of ask that question of what keeps you here? What makes you want to bring the students back to this school and raise your family here? Is that maybe what fueled some of this shift as well?

Casey Seyfert (03:50.466)

I would say that's one of the fundamental shifts. We have three people who brought their families back here that work in Kansas City. The internet has made the world small. And so we said, why are you here? And their number one answer was, we want our kids to grow up in this school because we liked it. And while we have a couple that come back, we want them all.

Mariah Presley (04:09.218)

Loyalty is built when people feel ownership of the journey. And that's exactly what Casey has tapped into with his community. When families are invited into the conversation early, they don't just participate, they propel the vision forward. It's a powerful reminder that real change isn't mandated, it's co-created.

Casey Seyfert (04:30.476)

Because our greatest resource, they are our students and we know this is the culture you get, these are the values, this is what you get in this community and we're hoping you love it as much as we do. There's a reason we live, I always say, in the middle of nowhere. We're right on the edge of heaven.

Mariah Presley (04:45.676)

That is so true. I think the community engagement and the student experience that you've brought into the school district really speaks to that. The district culture and the student experience makes the needle move. And Trane was welcomed into that experience through this data analytics and energy program. So let's talk a little about that part. How did this collaboration first come to be and how did the students specifically become central to leading the program's development?

Casey Seyfert (05:13.08)

When we first started, we took a trip. We went to Trane and we saw their facility and they showed us this giant room with TVs and how they analyze different businesses' data. This is the energy usage and this is a very small group of kids that went, but the wheels start turning. And Trane said, we can do this with your class. so junior high was junior high typing at the time. And while that doesn't sound exciting to very many people, like junior high STEM sounds really exciting and kids get excited about new things, new opportunities.

And so we talk about a foundational person is Dan Whistler with Trane. He comes back, he was a teacher, and he understands how kids work. And so he comes and he talks to our kids. And then they start saying, we want to look at our own data.

Mariah Presley (05:57.314)

This is such a clear example of what happens when industry shows up not as a vendor, but as a partner willing to invest time, context, and real-world relevance. When companies roll up their sleeves and engage directly with students, they become a catalyst for possibility, not just providing data, but opening doors and investing in people who have experience in education and a privilege of focus for supporting their success.

Casey Seyfert (06:26.038)

We talked to the city and we get a breakdown of the whole year in 15 minute chunks. I mean, it was in depth. Our city administrator was kind of like, what do you need this for? And we're like, we got a plan and we're going to analyze it. We just want what our building and district is using. And so they give it to us and our kids start looking through it. And then all of a sudden they kept saying like, I think we can do this. I think we can do that. And that's really what sparked it. And then it just took off and the next class and the next class. And we're not quite a decade in, but every class looks forward to, hey, when are we using energy, why are we using it this way, and how can we save it?

Mariah Presley (07:02.508)

I think it's worth mentioning since we're talking about innovative mindsets and how what you're doing really exemplifies that, that Beloit was the beachhead for Trane as well. It was the very first to deliver on this program that's now being modeled across the United States in schools of all sizes. And it wouldn't have been possible if there weren't such an innovative culture and a what's possible mindset from the district out of the gate. You mentioned the data you got from the city administrator. That was the energy data we mentioned earlier, right?

So what happened next and how did your students respond?

Casey Seyfert (07:36.16)

I think the biggest one, the aha moment, and for our kids, they still talk about it. We're a few students down the line and they still bring it up is they went through all of the data usage and they said, okay, this is great. Over Christmas break, there's a huge dip because there's very few people here. And we had kids look at the elementary school and they said, why are we using so much energy on New Year's Eve? We shouldn't have anything going on. And they start asking questions. like, well, I don't know. So we're looking. And we had a youth basketball tournament and the energy spike was humongous. And so in my mind I'm thinking like, well this makes sense, and you know we had a youth tournament, not a big deal. And their first question was, how much are you charging people to rent our gym? Well we don't charge anything to rent our gym, you know, it's like we're a school. 

But those were the questions that started and then instantly it went to, why do we leave the lights on in the bathrooms all night long?  And I said, well, they're just this kind of safety lights and just to make sure someone can find the bathroom if they're up here. And it was, why don't we put them on a sensor? Why don't we do this? And so now we've made changes where we see the difference of we now have motion-censored lights in a lot of different areas, the bathrooms for sure, because that was their first, but then in other areas where we kept on security lights just to lower the usage. And their comments were, there's no reason for it to be on all day on Sunday when no one's here. They understand resources are limited and resources being funding. And they said, if we can save money here, we can spend it somewhere else on us. And so the big picture thinking of our kids has been tremendous.

Mariah Presley (09:09.154)

Yeah, that's pretty incredible. Those are real outcomes, real savings, all being driven by the student voice and curiosity. I get questions all the time in this work around innovation and change leadership and really like what makes it all possible? And the simple answer is people, our ability to bring people along. And in your case, it just so happens to be our young people, our students. And that really creates something transformational about how they see themselves and their experience in the district.

We talked about real changes in the school, but what differences do you see in the students when they see that their work is actually being taken seriously and is sometimes even being adopted by the district?

Casey Seyfert (09:51.544)

I think that's one thing that is often overlooked is student voice. And it doesn't matter if you're a seventh grader or a senior or a 712 building, we listen to them all. And I really feel that when they said, why don't we do this? And then we did it. Like it was this empowerment, this, hey, they're going to listen to us. It's going to benefit everyone, not only the district in cost savings, but also the students in, hey, if we're saving money here, it's going to be spent for other programs, other additional resources or opportunities for kids. Now, the kids come with ideas all the time. Some of their ideas are fantastic and some of them we've used and we've taken and run. And I think from an administrative point of view but also from a teacher point of view, listening to kids has made our students powerful and it has allowed them to think outside the box because students are different than adults. Adults have been taught this is what you're gonna do and this is how you're gonna do it. Kids are learning all of that and they're not afraid to fail and sometimes it's you know what let's take this chance.  If it doesn't work out, it's okay. Sometimes adults are afraid to take that step.

Mariah Presley (10:56.47)

Yeah, and something that I've observed personally with your students is the ability to not just make the analysis and have the idea, but to take it and communicate it in a way that transfers to different audiences. And this is just one of many reasons your students are recognized so broadly and consistently across the country. Can you share a little bit about what it's like having both your students and your rock star teachers recognized nationally for this work?

Casey Seyfert (11:24.032)

It's been outstanding and our kids have become so accustomed to presenting that's helped them along the way. You talk about people's number one fear, that's public speaking and our kids, we had a community night where they just went over all the energy analytics of our building. They speak at our school board meetings regularly. So that to me, I go to those and I'm a little nervous and they go like, we got this. It's not a big deal, but they've presented the national kid win competition. They've gone and they've done very well there. But part of is presenting and part of that is going through and basically having to rationalize or prove the reason for what they did. The NEED project they've gone to nationals there and done well and have been recognized multiple times for their accomplishments with energy and energy savings but also understanding how it works.

Mariah Presley (12:15.094)

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. And based on our previous conversations, there are lots of things happening that even go beyond the Energy and Data Analytics program. What Beloit has built is a student culture of ownership. And it's not just one program or one group of students, it's kind of a collective behavior of the entire district. So where else have you seen this culture start to resonate?

Casey Seyfert (12:38.062)

As our kids started with, why don't we do this and this? And now those same kids as they were seventh and eighth graders, as they went through high school, we've started a coffee shop business. And so we have a coffee shop. We had to knock out some closets, but the kids had these ideas. And I said, where do you want to put it? Cause it's not like a school's built for this. The kids built the bar. They created the menu. They put it out on a survey. Like they had three different architectural designs, which they produced. Like they made them all. And one of the best parts about the whole thing,

We had a group of students that traveled to other high schools to look at what they did and took their best part and then they wrote a grant. So the kids wrote the grant to be able to have the startup money for it because they said this is a great idea, we love everything about it, but it's not free. And so they wrote the grant, they got the grant, and we moved on from that. So the coffee shop was probably the first big project.

Mariah Presley (13:30.252)

When students become stewards of their school's resources, they start to see themselves as contributors of a tangible outcome. The pride deepens their connection to the community and fuels a loyalty that lasts long after graduation. It's ownership in its purest form, and it shows up in how they lead, create, and give back in the future.

Casey Seyfert (13:52.064)

We do a plant sale at the greenhouse. We wrote a grant for the greenhouse and then the kids are like, how do we put money back into it? And so they do a plant sale every year. It's not financial, but our kids have taken such ownership in the building. They said, we want to paint the outside of the building. So we had it painted because it was not attractive. We'll say that. And so now it looks nice. It looks inviting. I think we have 10 different murals up throughout the walls where they said, we want to paint these. And so they paint murals like our kids look forward to. Hey, our class, gonna do this mural and we want this wall. So they'll go from there. 

You can see them just spinning like, I like the coffee shop, but what if we made a clothing company? And I think, okay, this is not minor. But luckily through grant funding and through basically taking the resources that they've made and putting it right back into the program, we now have Trojan threads. And so if you want a shirt or a hat or anything else, they print them there. So they've financed it through Trojan Grounds, our coffee shop, and they've saved that money and then they've created a clothing shop. And I would say in the last two months have started Trojan Treats. And so they said everyone around Thanksgiving, everyone around Christmas wants cookies or cakes or cinnamon rolls or something. And so they have a baking club, I guess I would call it, and they come up and they meet on the weekends and they will take orders, they sell them, and then they put that money back in to get other items. And so I don't know how many different businesses we can have, but we've gone from 0 to 4 very quickly.

Mariah Presley (15:23.36)

So tell us a little more about the student who engages with programs like these. For example, is it just one type of student or one specific class?

Casey Seyfert (15:31.278)

It's funny how each group of students will say like, want this or I like this. so our ag kids for lack of a better term, so like, how can we do this and what can we do? Because if we want new welders or we want different supplies and so they started changing oil for the community and they said, bring your mowers in, we'll change your oil, we'll sharpen your blades. And they basically came up with a flyer and a brochure. This is our set price. Here's the time we'll get your lawnmower ready to go in the spring. Kids in art and photo club really said, let us take off. so.

As you walk down our halls, they've taken each hall and made it the theme of the classes. And knowing that if it's not the way they want it, they can paint over it. There's a niche for every single group of kids and they love the fact that I'm going to take this idea and I'm going to make it mine and I'm going to put it where my interests are.

Mariah Presley (16:20.622)

There's so much crosswalking with these skill sets too, especially when it can be applied to their own interests. Take your traditional ag student interested in agriculture, they're also going to need to know how to do the communication side. Make the flyers, rally people around whatever changes or ideas that they have. And we see that all the time with your students coming out of these different programs. It's like this relentless ownership leading to a real entrepreneurial mindset. And coming from industry, I can say that is one of the most important parts of being able to adapt and to grow in a technology company like Trane. So it's just this incredible thing to see what's happening so early in your school district.

Casey Seyfert (17:01.59)

And I always say you're thinking outside of the box. Everybody knows your traditional school, but they always push it and say, what if we did this? And sometimes that's awesome, and sometimes it's, maybe not. But they ask the questions that a lot of adults don't ask, because they do take ownership in it. And they're proud of our school. And they say, we want this to be the best and have the best opportunities that we can.

Mariah Presley (17:22.616)

I know a huge part of the student experience is your teachers. You've got some rock star teachers at Beloit. What kind of impact has this had on how your teachers are approaching their work?

Casey Seyfert (17:32.864)

I would say that it is, you always want to say the teacher wants to inspire students, but I think our students inspire our teachers to also be creative and say like, I'm going to try this. It's not traditional. We have a junior high math teacher that teaches math with a black light. He turns out all the lights in his room flips on the black light and it's all in highlighters. And while it's still teaching math, it's still the same thing. It's a different way of thinking and kids love that.

Mariah Presley (17:55.522)

What's powerful here is how one innovative spark ignites another. Students push boundaries, which inspires teachers, which then creates even more opportunities for students. The cycle becomes cultural, shaping a school where creativity is the norm and experimentation is the expectation.

Casey Seyfert (18:14.562)

But others are always looking for the next opportunity for their kids. We've added 35 classes in the last three years. Our teachers are saying we want to do this. Our kids are looking to do that. We have a graphic design class, but we also do promo videos now and we produce our own games, which we've never done before. So we have kids that go work it. They do the score clock. They haven't announced it yet, but they've practiced announcing. So I feel like that's coming soon. Our local radio guys not ready for us to take over that part, but it's just interesting to see teachers willing to step outside the traditional box and say, okay, what do we want to do? Our kids want this, how do we make that work and what are they going to learn from it?

Mariah Presley (18:55.916)

So let's take this outside of the school now. What do you think that the innovation that your students inspired could mean for your community or for the future workforce and economy in the greater Beloit area?

Casey Seyfert (19:07.232)

I think that it's two-fold. One, I think our community trusts our school that we're producing kids who think for themselves, that can think outside the box and not just take the first line. And as we know, 10 years from now, most of the jobs that they're going to be doing aren't created right now. And so why not have kids that are thinkers, that can maneuver and come up with their thoughts on their own? For our community, we produce kids that can go work in our advance.

Mariah Presley (19:32.28)

Rural communities thrive when families see opportunity, not just for themselves, but for their children. And schools play a defining role in that choice. When students gain skills that translate directly into the local economy, it strengthens both the workforce and the community identity. This is how rural schools become magnets for families rather than pipelines out of town.

Casey Seyfert (19:57.28)

But the other thing that we're really doing is bringing people back to our community because they see the opportunities no longer. Well, I have to stay here because I want my kid to be involved in this, this and this. We have all that here and you can do your job here, even though it might take place. Your home shop might be in another community. So I think that that's helping just help our community as a whole. think it's helping bringing people back, but also it's allowing the business and all of the different. So we got a lot of ag business here, but they say like, We have a spray company. You know how to use these. You understand GPS. You understand all of this. Absolutely. It's one less thing that we have to teach you.

Mariah Presley (20:36.026)

We talked earlier about how we're nearly 10 years into this program with you and maybe even more than that. But for others out there that are sitting in your seat and just getting started at the very beginning, what one or two ideas would you share with them?

Casey Seyfert (20:50.55)

I think the first thing is give kids opportunities that maybe aren't just cookie cutter. Give them other opportunities where then they can expand and let them go. For so many years, education was, we're going to teach you what you need to know, period. We can't do that now because what they need to know is not what they're going to need to know 10 years from now. We love listening to kids and getting their feedback. And I meet with them regularly. I try to get their input and say like, what are we doing well? What do you need? If you ask kids, questions they'll tell you answer sometimes it might not be what you want to hear and sometimes it might be hey this is a big problem with the school okay well that's a me fix but other times they will say like I would really like to try this I heard another school is doing something with that how can we do that giving kids voice and then responding to it because it's one thing to say okay you told me what you wanted and then never do anything I believe we do a great job of listening to what the kids want and then acting on it

Mariah Presley (21:48.334)

And that's powerful. I so appreciate that because I agree, they go hand in hand and it really creates the confidence and the empowerment you talked about earlier when they see action happening.

Casey Seyfert (22:00.14)

I think that's the goal and they know, our kids don't get told no very often and when we do say no it's like hey why can't we do it well? Sometimes we can't but what can we do that's close? How can we get it close?

Mariah Presley (22:12.322)

So we have used the phrase student ownership before. I think I checked on the relentless student ownership piece because when I think of Beloit, the first thing that comes to my mind is this like relentless commitment to student ownership that Beloit possesses. How do you think that this approach leads to innovation?

Casey Seyfert (22:30.988)

Giving our kids ownership of their school, they treat this place better than they treat their bedrooms. I can promise you that. If you go into the locker rooms, they paint their own murals. Our building's over 50 years old. The first thing that happens when people come to our building is, one, they say how clean it is, but two, they always say, like, what is this, about 20 years old? That's the perfect compliment, by the way, but it's because our kids care and our kids continually try to make it better. And so their buy-in and the fact that we have that, they say, like, we want this to be better.

It's always great to hear like when my kids come to school here, I want them to have this. I was like, this is what we want because that means you care.

Mariah Presley (23:08.086)

It's cultivating loyalty that, like you said earlier, brings families back to the district, to the community, because the district and the experience that it lends to the kids is just so awesome.

Casey Seyfert (23:20.054)

I just think that it's important to understand how valuable the first step was with Trane coming in and giving us resources and some of the resources that were most powerful were the education that they taught our kids. So having Dan come for a day and giving our teachers confidence to go from there. But then it just grew because all of a sudden we have, Hey, we now have ideas flowing. I'll steal his term because he uses a lot, but he says science is a verb. It's not static. said, it's always moving. our kids took that and they said, absolutely. So how do we move it?  So, we're so appreciative for that. And I know when you start a new program, when you start something new, it's always, OK, I hope this works. But what we've learned over the years is if it doesn't work, we already know where we were at. So if we're going to move forward, we have to try to move forward one way or another.

Mariah Presley (24:09.782)

What a great example for what happens when a district refuses to let size define possibility. Beloit School District prioritizes ownership and community as its engines for innovation. It shows us that when students are trusted as think tanks and partners, they don't just change their schools, they change their communities and their futures. And that's the reminder I want to leave you with. Extraordinary things happen when we choose to build with people, not for them. For more stories of innovation in education, check out This Educational Life, a Trane podcast at www.Trane.com backslash this educational life or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, keep leading, but with purpose and imagination.