Rick Rood has been on the front lines of Out-of-School-Time and elementary education for 30 years, working directly with children and front-line staff. With degrees in Education, Afterschool Care, and Applied Mathematics, Rick is a practitioner in the thought leader movement, distilling lessons from master teachers like Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, and Brendon Burchard – giving them practical application to education professionals.

In addition to running Out-of-School-Time Centers, Rick has also taught kids’ music, computer programming, youth leadership workshops, and is currently a classroom teacher. Rick is a contributor to “Youth Today!” and is the author of “Games Teachers Play Before the Bell Rings”. Rick is a Certified High Performance CoachTM and works privately and in groups with education professionals to help them achieve higher levels of performance in their work and personal lives.

Rick is the driving force behind Transforming Teachers, Transforming Education, an organization rooted in the Positive Youth Development philosophy dedicated to training and inspiring youth-serving professionals. Through Transforming Teachers, Rick has delivered workshops and keynotes to thousands of education professionals, helping teachers transform their “inner game” of teaching to better serve youth, children, and families.

Rick currently serves youth as a 4th and 5th grade teacher in Albuquerque, NM, where he lives with his wife and kids. He serves as a proud ambassador for Choose Love Movement and has a lot of fun implementing Choose Love for School in his classroom daily.