Justin's Posts -

WTF, MTG?

Justin Talmadge — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 18:13:38 +0000

For those of you who may think I am just a walking liberal talking point, l will admit, most of the time you’re probably correct. Lately, though, I have found myself agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Green. How that is the case befuddles me to no end, but as she has been interviewed on various sources that I listen to lately, she actually does make some great points. Listen to this interview with Dana Bash on CNN https://youtu.be/snlexNCwVkY?si=nM4L-dn3KJZhoKlP. I appreciate her focus on kitchen table issues like affordability and health care and her admirable humility about agreeing with Bash's criticism of her past rhetoric.That said, her refusal to be truly critical of Trump and not completely disavowing Nick Fuentes is unconscionable.

Lenny Wilkins

Justin Talmadge — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 19:18:23 +0000

I once ran into coach at the doctor’s office at Virginia Mason in downtown Seattle. Must have been about 10 years ago (check that, it was about 15 years ago). I asked for his autograph—as you might imagine, he graciously obliged. He was a class act and a true ambassador for basketball and the city of Seattle. As a kid, one of the books that drew me into my elementary school library was a picture yearbook reliving the ‘78-’79 Sonics championship season. I came back to it at least once every year to see my heroes “The Wizard” Gus Williams, “DJ” Dennis Johnson, “Downtown” Freddy Brown and the rest. But it was Lenny Wilkins and his consistent, staid presence that conveyed a calm, cool and collected leadership style that also rang true for me. He never, ever seemed phased and didn't seems to ever let emotions get the best of him. In my time as a youth basketball coach, I always tried to emulate that sort of sideline presence. RIP coach….

Parent Orientation/Thomas First X-Country Meet/Big Bear

Justin Talmadge — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 19:47:27 +0000

Here are a few pics from our Labor Day Weekend trip to Redlands. It was hot in the valley but a short drive into the San Bernardino National Forest to Big Bear Lake and the temps were perfect. Thomas struggled in his first race as he is still dealing with issues that keep him from realizing cardiovascular gains from training.

Just Strolling Along Lake Washington...

Justin Talmadge — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 23:32:06 +0000

Sometimes in everyday life I encounter famous people. Today while walking with Stefanie down by the Lake, we happened by this older gentleman strolling with a female partner. He was clearly trying to stay incognito. We passed by him once and I did a double take to confirm my suspicion. We kept on walking in hopes he would turn around and we would cross paths again. That is exactly what happened. I asked for a photo and he said, “How’d you know it was me?” I replied, “The way you walk gave it away.” He retorted, "Well, nothing I can do about that.” We took the picture, wished him a Happy Father's Day and went our separate ways.

Little League West Regional

Justin Talmadge — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 15:43:12 +0000

During a recent visit to University of Redlands, Thomas and I took a side trip to San Bernardino to check out the site of the Little League West regionals. It's weirdly right in the middle of a housing development though I presume the houses have grown up around the site over the years. The stadium itself is unaccessible by car. We were able to pull into a middle school parking lot and get a good view of the stands and field through the chain link fence.

Maria Ressa Interview

Justin Talmadge — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 15:07:54 +0000

This is a must watch interview with John Stewart and Nobel Peace Prize winner, author and CEO Maria Ressa, especially if you care about our Democracy…

https://youtu.be/jsHoX9ZpA_M?si=AsssyBgn_nRwSzwi

The Border

Justin Talmadge — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:42:04 +0000

Yesterday we drove as close as we could get to the border with Mexico. We were hoping to hike a trail to the beach, but unfortunately it was closed. We did see glimpses of the border wall and there were helicopters continuously circling the area from a nearby base. We ended up going north a few miles to Imperial Beach/Tijuana Wildlife Refuge and walking south until we couldn't stand the stench from the raw sewage that apparently flows into the ocean from Mexico. It was seriously an awful smell.

Visiting University of Redlands

Justin Talmadge — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:03:25 +0000

Yesterday we took a side trip and drove 2 hours east so Thomas could visit a college. We sat through a short presentation and took a tour of the campus. The thing that stood out to me was how much the admissions staff really seemed to know about him. They were quite impressed with his high school grades.

Torrey Pines

Justin Talmadge — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:28:01 +0000

When we go to San Diego, one of our favorite places to go for a day hike is the Torrey Pines State Nature Reserve. It's a beach cliff area just below the famous golf course and UC San Diego. This day we went there was a sinkhole due to recent rains, so we had to park at the bottom and walk up the hill, but typically you can drive up and hike out to various points with views of the ocean and down towards the beach.

Morning Walk on Mission Bay

Justin Talmadge — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:56:55 +0000

Our family enjoys traveling to Southern California during the cold, wet winter months in the PNW. One of our favorite spots is the Mission Bay area of San Diego. I typically enjoy a good long walk in the mornings.

Building a High Functioning Team

Justin Talmadge — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 19:21:29 +0000

Each month, I have the honor of facilitating our Tech Team meetings at Snoqualmie Valley School District. We come together to connect with each other, discuss tech issues, problem solve, make plans, etc. I also make it a point to focus on various aspects of team dynamics such as communication, trust and productive conflict. This month’s focus was accountability. How can we hold each other to account for our agreed upon standards of behavior? How should we respond when someone falls short? There was some great conversation in small groups and some good ideas generated. Ultimately, one meeting alone is not a panacea that will solve longstanding cultural patterns that a team may have fallen into. But by continually focusing on productive ways of being and leaning into a focus on how we interact with each other, over time a positive dynamic will flourish.

The Reality for Civil Servants

Justin Talmadge — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 06:09:08 +0000

I texted a friend of mine this evening who works for a federal agency. “How's everything going at work?” I asked him. He replied, “It's a guessing game everyday I show up. Every email I worry it will tell me I’m fired.” This friend has literally worked as a loyal civil servant for two decades.

34 Years Coaching Youth Sports

Justin Talmadge — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 01:09:38 +0000

In a few weeks I will hang up my coaches whistle for good. I was thinking the other day that I have been coaching one sport or another basically non-stop since 1991. That's when I went to work for the City of Oak Harbor Recreation Dept as a 16 year old. There were a few years when Jonah and Thomas were little where I didn't coach anything (2010 & 2011). Hard to believe it's been that long. It will be weird for sure as the seasons come and go next year to not be making a practice or playing time plan, collaborating with partner coaches, sending reminder messages to parents/players, etc.

AI Summit

Justin Talmadge — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 05:46:34 +0000

I spent the last two days at the SeaTac Doubletree for a conference focused on AI in education. A couple of takeaways for me:

AI Literacy Curriculum: the non-profit aiEDU (https://www.aiedu.org) has created curricula and frameworks for students and teachers that address AI Literacy and Readiness.
Custom GPT/Agents: I need to experiment with creating custom bots that are fed with relevant district data.

In addition to the technical learning that comes from attending a conference, I always try to connect with people as well. I was able to spend time and have meaningful conversations with folks from my district. I also reconnected with former colleagues from Mercer Island and Kent School Districts. And I was able to meet with a rep from Khan Academy to discuss piloting their Khanmigo AI tool as well as a rep from aiEDU about piloting their elementary AI literacy curriculum.

All in all a productive couple of days!

We The People...

Justin Talmadge — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 04:49:08 +0000

Reagan famously said that government is the problem. We often hear from conservative media channels about the ills of big government. But if you actually stop and think about it, government is your neighbor who works at UW Medicine doing cancer research, government is your cousin who works for the FBI, government is your sister who works as a National Park Ranger in the summer. All of us who pay taxes are the government. We the people are the government… .

Seattle Snow

Justin Talmadge — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 21:16:43 +0000

A few flakes fell from the sky this morning. Here's a photo taken from the kitchen window looking into our back yard with our new Accessory Dwelling Unit in the background.

Facilitating Tech Advisory

Justin Talmadge — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 16:16:11 +0000

One of the things I am most proud of in my work as Director of Technology for Snoqualmie Valley School District is the committed group of staff, students and community members who meet regularly to discuss our technology programs and services.

Despicable Pardons

Justin Talmadge — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 05:29:55 +0000

POTUS choosing to pardon those who tried to stop the electoral vote count on January 6 2021 was a gut punch to the families of the Captiol Police who died and/or were beaten that day. It’s shameful and not one congressional Republican has the hutzpah to say so. Not even John Thune who knows better. Shame.

One more tonight

Justin Talmadge — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 06:21:28 +0000

Figuring out how to POSSE

And again

Justin Talmadge — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 05:56:43 +0000

Testing POSSE