Rick starts things off today by sharing the newest addition to the Albright family. Murray is a four-month old Newfoundland pup that his family adopted a week ago. He has designs on training Murray to be a therapy-dog. Both guys caution folks about the increasing number of online scammers, some using sophisticated systems and even A.I.. Nick talks a bit about the start of testing week at his middle school and it sounds like the computerized testing is off to a great start.

Dr. Nick reads through the blog from this week entitled “The Good Shepherd.” In the wake of the Easter holiday, Nick considers Jesus’ sacrifice as a metaphor for the sacrificial work of the helping professions – teaching, administration, and counseling. Rick resonates strongly with this as a man of faith and shares some research supporting the importance of considering one’s profession as a “calling”, spiritual or otherwise. The guys reflect on the challenges of handling of the burdens and the differences between complaining and advocating for change.

In the “Building the Brochure” segment, Dr. Nick and Dr. Rick continue to work their way through the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets. This week, they investigate #27 – Equality and Social Justice: Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger; and #28 – Young person acts on convictions an stands up for their beliefs. The guys discuss the controversies swirling over social justice and character education, the importance of keeping efforts local and encouraging kids to do perspective-taking well as a preface for advocating for themselves and others.

The Every Rose has Its Thorn segment this week is all about…..”butter” – yep, that’s right…Butter! Both guys pick “Apple Butter” as a thorn, though Nick raves about and exception – Carla Plumchuck’s home-made Apple Butter. Both guys revisit their love for movie theater butter. Nick recommends the garlic butter cheese curds at “Say Cheese” in West Reading, PA and Rick recommends Culver’s Butter Cheeseburger. Rick is also a fan of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter Spread.

The guys tackle some interesting questions in the email-bag Q & A today. They respond to questions about spanking and discipline and finish up the episode by responding to where and when they would go if they had the Delorean to travel through time.

Enjoy Episode XXIII of Rick and Nick’s Excellent Edventure!