Hans Appel has worked as a counselor in the Richland School District for the past 19 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened.  He’s passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness.  In 2018, EMS was awarded the ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington and the Global “Class Act Award” for creating a culture of excellence through kindness, service, and empathy.  Additionally, they were selected as a finalist in the 2019 PBIS Film Festival and took top prize in the Community, Parents, and Staff category.  

Hans is the author of, Award Winning Culture: Building School-wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community.

Hans is the Director of Culture for the Teach Better Team and a member of the coveted Teach Better Speakers Network.  He presents at conferences, schools, and districts all over the country.  Topics include: Creating an Award Winning Culture, Amplifying Student Voice, Student-Led Podcasting, and Infusing SEL into Project-Based Learning, Infusing Servant Leadership through PBIS. 

In 2018, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation, which can be subscribed, listened or reviewed on iTunes Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, PodBean, and Libsyn.  In 2020, Hans Co-Created a 2nd Podcast: Award Winning Culture Podcast, to explore the secrets to creating life-changing learning environments rooted in JOY. 

Hans’ blogs have appeared on DisruptED TV magazine, CharacterStrong, Teach Better, and PBIS Rewards.  He’s written social-emotional lessons for CharacterStrong.  Furthermore, he has been featured on numerous educational podcasts speaking his brand of school culture into existence.  

He’s been a contributing writer on three educational books:  Define Your WHY,  Reflective Impact Journal and ALL IN: Taking a Gamble in Education.