What does it look like when two young men discover their calling before they even graduate college?
It looks like Michael Pallone and William Powell.
In Episode 2 of the Stay Teacher Podcast, Coach G sat down with these two University of Pittsburgh students — both studying to become teachers, both already in classrooms, and both carrying a depth of purpose that most educators spend years developing.
This conversation will stay with you.
Michael's reason for becoming a teacher is not a story he shares lightly.
When he was six years old, in kindergarten, he lost his mother to cancer.
What happened next shaped everything. His school — his teachers, his community — rallied around him. They did not just offer sympathy. They drove him forward. They made him stronger. They made sure that one of the hardest moments of his childhood did not define his ceiling.
Today Michael wants to do exactly that for his students.
He is pursuing early childhood and special education — determined to be the kind of teacher who shows up for the child having the hardest year of their life and says — I see you, and I am not going anywhere.
That is a root that runs deep.
William's path looked different.
He loved his elementary school teachers. They built community. They made him feel seen. But somewhere in middle school and high school — buried under curriculum and standardized tests — he lost that feeling. He fell out of love with education entirely.
Then he came to the University of Pittsburgh. Took education classes. Started working with kids. And something clicked.
"The more I expose myself to scenarios working with kids, the more I realize I picked the right thing."
William's story is not just his own. It is the story of thousands of students sitting in classrooms right now who have lost their connection to learning — waiting for a teacher who will bring it back.
William plans to be that teacher.
One of the most powerful moments in this entire episode came from something small.
William had a student — mathematically advanced, hyperactive, finishing work faster than anyone else in the room. Most teachers would struggle with this. William paid attention.
He found out the student loved Dragon Ball Z.
So William walked to the school library and checked out a manga book for him to read when he finished his work early.
The student's reaction said everything — "I didn't even know you were listening when I said that."
That moment is what teaching is about. Not curriculum. Not test scores. Relationships. William's mentor at Breakthrough Collaborative put it perfectly — "You don't know a student if you can't name ten things about them."
William could name them all.
Every episode of the Stay Teacher Podcast follows the ROOTS Framework — the five pillars that keep great teachers grounded through every challenge the profession throws at them.
Here is how Michael and William walked through theirs:
R — Reason
Michael: A school community that held him together after losing his mother at six years old.
William: Elementary school teachers who built community — and the burning desire to bring that back to students who lost it.
O — Obstacles
Michael: A difficult student who made him question everything — until he realized the obstacle was the lesson.
William: The fear of teaching to a test instead of teaching to a child. And a brother who said "Why do I need to know this? I can just AI it."
O — Overcome
Both Michael and William spoke about the power of support systems — calling each other on the drive home, talking to family, leaning on coworkers who understand. Neither of them tries to do this alone.
T — Transformation
Michael's word: Leader.
William's word: Evolving.
Two different words that tell the same story — two young men becoming exactly who their students will need them to be.
S — Stay
When asked what administrators need to do to keep great teachers like them, both answered with striking clarity — support us, listen to us, give us the supplies we need, be transparent, and show us that you genuinely care about the kids — not just the budget.
At the close of the episode both Michael and William left the audience with words that landed hard.
Michael's message to any teacher having doubts:
"Never give up. Don't look at the nevers — look at what's possible. You can be the reason that kid comes to school and eats lunch that day. You can be the voice for the child having a rough home life. That's what this is all about."
William's message was equally powerful — and deeply personal:
"Stop comparing yourself to others. You chose this profession because it matters. Someone else choosing medicine or business does not make them better than you. You both have skills. Yours just happen to change the lives of children."
After more than twenty years in education Coach G has interviewed students, trained teachers, and coached educators at every stage of their careers.
Michael and William stopped him in his tracks.
Not because they have all the answers. But because they already know what the best teachers know — that this work is not about the salary, the test scores, or the recognition.
It is about the child who raises their hand for the first time.
The student who thought nobody was listening — until they were.
The six-year-old who lost everything — and found a school community that refused to let him fall.
That is why teachers stay.
That is why Michael and William are already exactly where they need to be.
Teacher retention does not start with policy. It starts with purpose. It starts with a six-year-old boy whose school refused to give up on him. It starts with a young man who notices what a student loves and walks to the library to show them they were heard.
Michael and William are not just entering the teaching profession.
They are exactly what it needs.
Hear the full conversation — including Michael's story about losing his mother, William's Dragon Ball Z moment, and their powerful advice for teachers, students, and administrators — on the Stay Teacher Podcast.
If this story moved you, share it with one teacher today. And if you have a story to tell, reach out at stayteacher.com — we want to hear it.
Your roots run deep.
Stay teacher.
— Coach G