Jordan Supercast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 262: The Vital Role of a School Community Council & Amazing Parents Who Participate Sep 12, 2024

Show notes

They play a vital role in our schools, leading the way when it comes to decisions regarding School LAND Trust money and so much more. On this episode of the Supercast, find out why parents participate in School Community Councils and how their involvement can elevate the quality of education for students, by addressing needs and rallying support. Audio Transcription Lisa Eskesen:It's a great way to kind of get a pulse on the school of what's happening there and then also to work together with other parents in representing the community, the student community at that school, and what their needs might be. Anthony Godfrey:If you want to join a School Community Council you get to play a part in allocating a portion of that eight million dollars to make sure that it is meeting the highest academic need in a school. [Music] Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They play a vital role in our schools, leading the way, making decisions regarding School LAND Trust money and so much more. On this episode of the Supercast, find out why parents participate on School Community Councils and how their involvement can elevate the quality of education for students by addressing needs and rallying support. [Music] We're talking today with Lisa Eskesen about School Community Councils. She's been a parent on several and Mike Anderson, our Associate Superintendent, who oversees the work of School Community Councils and submitting information to the state, completing the trainings, all of that. So thank you both for being here. Lisa Eskesen:Thank you. Mike Anderson:My pleasure. Anthony GodfreyLisa, tell us about your involvement with School Community Councils. Lisa Eskesen:I have been involved on School Community Councils–my oldest just graduated from high school this year and so since she was probably in first or second grade I started being on the School Community Council at her elementary school. Anthony Godfrey:So you have well over a decade of School Community Council experience. Lisa Eskesen:Around there, yes. Anthony Godfrey:Tell me about some of the things that you've been involved in, the schools where you've served, and really for those who may not be familiar what it's been all about from a parent perspective. Lisa Eskesen:Okay. So like I said, my oldest just graduated. She went to elementary school at Fox Hollow Elementary and my kids go to Sunset Ridge Middle School. So once we graduated into the middle school, I went there and then at Copper Hills High School I also have served on the community council at that level. My youngest just finished at the elementary so I have consecutively been on that council for a handful of years. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. So you've seen some projects come and go. Lisa Eskesen:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:Part of what you do is you approve funding. Are there some projects that stand out that you've been able to help fund as a School Community Council that you're particularly proud of or were particularly interesting for you? Lisa Eskesen:Well pre-COVID when I was on the council at the middle school, one of the things that the principal and the council there really felt strongly about was technology and getting students one-to-one. So we were able to get one-to-one Chromebook use right as COVID hit. So the timing of that, it worked out perfectly. We were able to get the students who needed it their Chromebooks that they definitely used during COVID and online school. Anthony Godfrey:They had great timing on that. Lisa Eskesen:I know. A lot of thanks goes to Ms. Searle on that one, our principal. She was really pushing for that and saw that need and not even related to COVID, but she just saw the benefit that that would be to the students to have one to one technology. Anthony Godfrey:And the School Community Council is able to fund that through the LAND Trust money that is received from the state. Mike, tell us a little bit about how that works because that funding component is a main responsibility of the School Community Council. Mike Anderson:It is. It's one of the principal responsibilities they have. The history behind the LAND Trust program is quite fascinating. If you may, just a little bit of history there. When our founding leaders began expansion of the United States they saw to it that for every section of land that was marked and surveyed, that they would set aside a couple of sections of land for public school use. As they went further west, more land, less livable land in terms of irrigation and so forth, they actually gave more land to the Western States for public use than they did to the Eastern States. Well, Utah is a beneficiary of that because we have enough land in the public trust to constitute a state the size of New Jersey inside of the state of Utah. That's how much public LAND Trust there are out there. So what happens is those lands get leased for mineral rights, for recreation purposes, for businesses that want to build on them, and the lease monies and all of the returns and the profits from that go into a general fund. That fund is then distributed on an annual basis to schools. Years ago in the 1980s, a well-informed PTA mom at the time, found out about the laws that governed LAND Trust in the state of Utah and realized that they weren't really being safeguarded as they should be. The legislature was using LAND Trust money outside of the intended scope. She helped the legislature pass laws that really safeguarded and built fences around the LAND Trust initiative that protected those monies. And it grew from a very small amount at the time in 1985-ish to over, I think we have well over $3.2 billion dollars. That’s billion with a “B” in the LAND Trust program today. And so we get a distribution at the school level each year. This year, Jordan School District is going to receive $8.3 million. That accounts to about $145 per student. Anthony Godfrey:What that means is that if you're on a School Community Council, you're part of the group that by law helps allocate the money from LAND Trust. You have to approve that LAND Trust plan. And that means that if you want to join a School Community Council, you get to play a part in allocating a portion of that $8 million to make sure that it is meeting the highest academic need in a school, which obviously the Chromebooks that you were involved in allocating money for qualify for that for sure. Lisa Eskesen:That's one great example and there's some other great projects and it really is specific to the school's needs. Anthony Godfrey:It involves school staff, but the membership always has to include more parents than school staff members. That just shows the importance of parent voices and how we use that money and also how we guide the work of our schools. Lisa Eskesen:Yeah, the requirements for the School Community Council, we need to have a two parent majority on each of them. So it includes some staff members from the school. It includes the principal, but the majority of it always does need to be parents of students, parents or guardians of students who are enrolled at the school. Anthony Godfrey:What does it mean for you as a parent to be able to be involved in this way at your child's school over the years? Lisa Eskesen:I've been involved at my kids' schools in various ways over the last several years. I've done some PTA. I volunteered in classrooms and I enjoy all of it. I really think it's all important. This is just another way that I felt like I could be involved. It works for me. It's something I'm interested in. I like the conversations that we have on the School Community Council, the issues kind of just overseeing some of the things going on at the school. It's a great way to kind of get a pulse on the school of what's happening there, get to know some of the administration and the staff there, and then also to work together with other parents in representing the community, the student community at that school and what their needs might be. Anthony Godfrey:Stay with us. When we come back find out how you can be a voice and play a vital role at your school as part of a School Community Council. Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect. Anthony Godfrey:Sometimes busy parents with kids in school may be concerned about the level of time involvement that's required to be a part of a School Community Council. What has your experience been over the years in terms of how much time it takes and what does that look like just in terms of the meetings and the amount of time that you've had to spend? Lisa Eskesen:Each council is required to meet at least four times a year, so that's actually not too bad. Four times during the school year. I've only seen maybe twice where we've had to meet one extra time maybe for budget needs or you know some special project or something like that needs to be met to discuss. But otherwise it's just four meetings a year. Those meetings can last you know one to two hours. As we get close to the end of the school year and we're talking about the LAND Trust funds and that budget, some of those conversations can be a little bit longer as we dig into some of the details of that. But otherwise it's four meetings a year generally. Anthony Godfrey:And I know there are a number of times when we go to a School Community Council because we have a question that we want parent input on. So we take it to the School Community Council. For example, the dress code policy, when the Board was considering a change in dress code policy, we took months going to each School Community Council at the secondary level to go over those changes. We really got some great input from those groups. Were you a part of any of those discussions? Lisa Eskesen:Yes, I was there for some of those. The other thing that I can think of is related to boundary changes. And it's not that the Community Council has any more sway with the district or anything like that but we're there to represent the community of the students. So if we have that information we can help answer questions with other parents of students at the school and maybe get some feedback that we can then take back to the council and discuss for things that might be helpful as the Board is making some of those decisions. Mike Anderson:In fact I remember going out to Lisa's School Community Council to talk about a pending boundary change. We got great feedback from the Community Council. Lisa specifically asked some really great questions that we were able to bring back and help inform the process and consider alternatives. Anthony Godfrey:What are some of the other responsibilities of the School Community Council? Mike Anderson:I think one good example of an area where the School Community Council has to be involved by law is with the Teacher and Student Success Act commonly known as the TSSA. That was created by the legislature in 2019 and it's funded in large part similar to how School LAND Trust is allocated on a per student basis. It ends up being a fairly sizable amount and it grows each year. It's an ongoing source of funding that the legislature has allocated. Now the School Community Council helps create the plan. They don't approve the TSSA plan, that's set forth by the Board and ultimately the School Board does approve that and they create the framework on which that's supposed to be based, but the TSSA requires School Community Council input on the plan. Anthony Godfrey:The TSSA is just another way that the state is putting money directly to schools and one of the reasons they're willing to do that is because they know that parents will be involved in helping allocate those funds. TSSA money and LAND Trust money is increasing every year. Mike Anderson:It is. In fact, it's pretty remarkable. I mentioned earlier the per student amount for LAND Trust is about $145. It's similar with TSSA but you get a large high school and they're dealing with around $700,000 worth of pretty flexible money when you combine the TSSA and the LAND Trust plans. The Community Council has a pretty direct say and a lot of input as to how that's spent. School Community Councils also review the digital citizenship requirements for the school. Principals will often bring the school student handbook with them and make sure they are familiar with the rules and get input from both the teachers and the parents on the council. I think that's an important component that the School Community Council really gives key stakeholder groups a voice. You've got the principal who's automatically seated on the council, does vote but is not elected of course. You've got faculty members, teachers from the school that also serve on the council and as Lisa mentioned there has to be at least a two parent majority on the council. The baseline for that at the elementary and middle schools are four parents and two faculty members or two employees and at the high school that jumps up to six parents and four staff members. If they feel like those numbers need to be adjusted because of interest or because of a lot of input from the school they can be adjusted through what we call the rules of order and procedure and the School Community Council votes on those. Those are actually posted and kind of the rules that govern the council and the state law is pretty specific on how those are to be carried out and executed. It's a great way to allow the flexibility to tailor the needs of the school through the School Community Council. Anthony Godfrey:Let's talk about how those meetings are run because the principal is a part of that meeting automatically as are a few staff members but it's chaired by a parent. Tell me about how that works. Lisa Eskesen:Correct. So while it is a principal who is automatically placed the chair is a parent, it is led by a parent so that just I think underscores the need for that parent involvement. The principal, the school staff they don't run the meetings. The principal can suggest items maybe to put on the agenda but it is ultimately up to the chair and the member of the council for what items actually get discussed and placed on that agenda. Anthony Godfrey:From a school perspective, I know that having a strong School Community Council chair who makes the most of those meetings and having involved parents as members of the School Community Council is a huge support to the principal. It really helps things go well so it's an important dynamic there that's established between the chair and the principal. Lisa Eskesen:Definitely. It absolutely is. Anthony Godfrey:Well, Lisa, thank you very much for all the time you've spent over the years being part of that School Community Council. A lot of great things have happened as a result of that. I don't know all the School Community Council presidents of course but I've definitely heard your name associated with great things happening out there. Mike, thank you. You've overseen this for many years in the training that's offered to…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 261: West Hills Middle School Counselor Travels to 50 States Playing Pickleball with Strangers at Every Single Stop Sep 05, 2024

Show notes

She has a passion for pickleball and this summer a West Hills Middle School counselor hit the road to pursue her passion. On this episode of the Supercast, meet Lorraine Rupper. She traveled to every state in the nation hoping to play pickleball with strangers at every stop from coast to coast. Find out how she achieved her goal and won a game in every state, making memories to last a lifetime. Audio Transcription Anthony Godfrey:When you are not counseling, you are pickleballing. Lorraine Rupper:Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court. Anthony Godfrey:Is that a verb? Pickleballing? Lorraine Rupper:Yes, pickleballing. Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled to. Anthony Godfrey:Any of these events set up in advance? Lorraine Rupper:Nope. I just show up randomly. Anthony Godfrey:You showed up. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's a sport that's taking off across the country, but I'm not sure anyone else has taken off across the country themselves to play pickleball in every state. On the show today, we have some fun with West Hills Middle School counselor Lorraine Rupper. Find out how she managed to travel to all 50 states, playing a pickup game of pickleball with strangers at every stop, and making memories to last a lifetime. [MUSIC] We're talking now with Lorraine Rupper here at West Hills Middle School. You're a counselor here at West Hills, but when you are not counseling, you are pickleballing. Lorraine Rupper:Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court. Anthony Godfrey:Is that a verb? Pickleballing? Lorraine Rupper:Yes, pickleballing. Anthony Godfrey:You have done so across the country this last summer. Tell me the stats up front and then let's talk about the experience. Lorraine Rupper:Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled through this summer. In 19 days. Anthony Godfrey:So you played in 33 states. What made you say to yourself, "You know what? I need to play this across the country." Lorraine Rupper:I just wanted to spread the love of pickleball, and I feel like I am a good player. So normally, lower-level players, they always want to play with the upper-level players. So I'm like, I'm an upper-level player, and I want to meet people that have the same passion I do of playing pickleball. And I'm like, “I've never been to the south and I haven't been to the east. So here's a great way to do it.” Anthony Godfrey:So you were helping people elevate their game by having them play with someone who has some skills beyond the casual pickleballer. Lorraine Rupper:Mm-hmm. Anthony Godfrey:How many states had you traveled to before embarking on this journey? Lorraine Rupper:I had played in 17 states. Anthony Godfrey:You played in 17. Lorraine Rupper:17. Anthony Godfrey:So if my math is right, you've now played in all 50 states? Is that right? Lorraine Rupper:All 50 states, yep. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, so 33 states in 19 days. Tell me, what does playing pickleball in a state count as? Because obviously, you had to cram in multiple states into one day. Lorraine Rupper:Mm-hmm. Anthony Godfrey:Talk to me about how that happened. Lorraine Rupper:Okay, so there was a general plan that somebody has done to play pickleball in every state. I could skip some of those because I had done most of the western states already. And then they would say where to go next. So sometimes I would go by that plan, and sometimes I had to deviate from that plan. Like West Virginia, it says to play at a certain spot. So I went to West Virginia and I went to that spot, and I found a pickleball court, but there's nobody to play with. It's in the middle of summer, it's noon, and nobody wants to play on a court at noon when it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity. So I'm like, what should I do now? I can sit around and wait, which I did some. Anthony Godfrey:So you listened to John Denver for a second. Lorraine Rupper:Of course. Anthony Godfrey:“Mountain Mama, West Virginia”, then no one came. Lorraine Rupper:Nobody came. I even sang and I'm a terrible singer. Maybe that's why they escaped and ran away. So I just was like, well, let's see where else we can play in Virginia. So I drove for three hours, found another place to play, and I sat there waiting for people. I found a court, which by the way, all the courts aren't accurate for their addresses because I ended up at some lady's house and she's all like, I said, “is there a pickleball court here?” Anthony Godfrey:Did she play pickleball with you and make lemonade for you? Lorraine Rupper:No. So I ended up going to a park and waiting and waiting and waiting, probably like an hour. And then a couple came back from a little trip and then there was two couples. One went to the truck and then I bravely went over to the other one and said, “Would you please play pickleball with me?” And they're like, “What's pickleball?” And I told them what it was. And the wife who was in flip flops and she's like, “No”. And the husband's like, “I can give it a shot if you will run my errands for me, honey.” And she's like, “Yeah, I can do that.” Anthony Godfrey:So she ran errands while he played pickleball with a woman he'd never met. Wow. Okay. Lorraine Rupper:Yeah. So we went over there and we played skinny singles on the court and it was super fun. And he was really good. He said, “I played tennis in high school” and I was like “Tennis players, make good pickleball players.” And he played really great. Of course, he didn't beat me, but he was good. But I was so excited to mark West Virginia off the list. I'm like, “Hey, let me give you a paddle.” And I gave him and his wife a paddle. I gave her some pickleball earrings, gave him some balls and say, come back and play again. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Now I'm noticing your pickleball earrings. That's next level stuff as well. Any of these events set up in advance? Lorraine Rupper:Nope. I would just show up randomly. Anthony Godfrey:You showed up. Did you, as you talked with these folks, did you make friends that you stayed in contact with? Lorraine Rupper:Yes. There's a couple like in Alabama was my favorite place to play. They're like, “Hey, Lorraine, we're having a luncheon afterwards. A little picnic. Do you want to come?” And I'm like, “Sure.” Anthony Godfrey:You didn't say I've got 25 states left to go. I got to get out of here. Lorraine Rupper:No, Heck no, not when they're friendly to me. They said, “Oh, we're having salads and ice cream.” And I'm like, “Two things you don't have on a road trip, salads and ice cream. I am there.” There's one day a month that they do this luncheon and I just happened to be on the day that they had their lunch and not planned or anything. Anthony Godfrey:So even though West Virginia left you high and dry for a few hours, you also hit the jackpot a few times along the way. Lorraine Rupper:Oh, I did, yes. It was up and down, up and down. I just had to roll with the flow. Anthony Godfrey:What was the most difficult state to get a match in besides West Virginia? Were there other people who were reluctant to play with you or other locations that were difficult? Lorraine Rupper:So I would usually get the same reaction, because a lot of times people have their own group of four that are pretty good players. And so they would look at me skeptically and like, I would say Rhode Island, for example. And so I'd say, “I'll just sit here and watch you play a couple of games.” So I would sit with my head in my little umbrella. And I was watching him play. And then one of them felt bad, of course. And so he's like, “Why don't you take my spot one game?” And the one guy was still like, “Oh, I'm really skeptical.” So I played a game. And the guy's like, “Will you be my partner next, Lorraine?” Anthony Godfrey:You seem like a very nice person, very personable. Why would they be suspect of someone who just wants to play pickleball? Lorraine Rupper:Because I'm an old lady and they think I'm not going to be very good. They want to play, get some good games in while they're playing. But once they find out how good I am, then they're like, “Oh, yeah, we want her to play some more because she's good competition.” Anthony Godfrey:So were the southern states as friendly as they are reputed to be? Lorraine Rupper:Yes. It's the Northeastern that I had an issue with. Anthony Godfrey:OK. Lorraine Rupper:Like, can I tell you a story about Maine? Anthony Godfrey:Sure, please. Lorraine Rupper:OK. So we went to Maine. And in York, Maine, I was there and I went to a private club. Because it was one of the places-- Anthony Godfrey:Did you hop the fence or cut a hole in and crawl through? Lorraine Rupper:To me, it looked like a public place. Anthony Godfrey:So you just walked in like you knew what you were doing. Lorraine Rupper:And I was in my little skirt and with my paddle-- Anthony Godfrey:You're a pickle baller, you walk in like you own the place. Lorraine Rupper:And they're like, “This is a private club.” And I said, “Well, I'm willing to pay a fee if you'll let me play here.” He just told me to go on to the high school. And then he said, “Oh, you have to be a member or a guest of a member. That's the only people that play here.” So there's like five guys standing across in the same room. And I looked at all of them. And I said, “Hey, can I be somebody's guest?” And they're busy looking at the ceiling, looking at the floor, anywhere but making eye contact with me. So he said, “Well, I can just give you directions to the high school” where it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity. So I'm like, OK. So he gave me directions to the high school. I went to the high school. Kind of hard to find, but I finally found the courts. And went and there was a lady and her son. So I went and asked them if they would play with me. And they said, yes, I was really happy. So I played me against those two. And I think I had to play left-handed just to– I would never beat anybody 11-0. So I'd make sure I'd go left-handed if I was too good. And I always had the whole court. Anthony Godfrey:So you always wanted to give them a point. Lorraine Rupper:Always. I would never beat anybody 11-0. And I asked them if I could take a picture with them. And they're like, no. So you'll notice on my map, the empty court right there goes to Maine. Anthony Godfrey:OK. So yeah, let's take a look. You did take a picture with everyone. How wonderful. Lorraine Rupper:I did. Anthony Godfrey:And you wrote down their names. Oh, yeah. You can see just how friendly they all are. What a wonderful map. So you've laid this out. Great memories. OK. I'm noticing that there are-- yeah, look at that. Lorraine Rupper:So the month of June, 19 days on the road. And then the month of July, putting the map together. Because that was not an easy task either. Making sure the pictures are the right sizes. Make sure they fit on the area that's indicated. Make sure they're not covering up any states. Anthony Godfrey:Wisconsin looks like they were having a great time. Lorraine Rupper:Oh, we had a great time in Wisconsin. Anthony Godfrey:Emily, Ben, Gary, and Annie. They seem like nice people. Lorraine Rupper:Yeah, they're a family. And this one right there, sometimes in South Dakota, I could only play with the one guy because other people were already gone. Or they had their own little courts or their own little thing going on. So he played me skinny singles. And he won, I think, the first game. We played again. And I won. He's like, “Oh, it's a rubber match. Now we have to play again.” And so I beat him. And he walks off the court. And he says, “This is the first time I've ever lost in singles.” Anthony Godfrey:Really? Lorraine Rupper:So I was like, whoa, that's good to know. Anthony Godfrey:Have you ever thought about what story he's telling other people about losing for the first time at Pickleball? Lorraine Rupper:He probably wouldn't tell them. Anthony Godfrey:You have great stories. But you've given all these people some great stories. That's for sure. Lorraine Rupper:Thank you. Anthony Godfrey:Do you tell them when you introduce yourself that you are traveling the country and you're checking off states? Or do you just say, “would you like to play Pickleball?” Lorraine Rupper:Most of the time, if it's just three people, I'll just say, “Hey, can I play?” And then I play. If it's four, then you're the odd man out, right? And then I just want to get one game in. I want-- I'm trying to play Pickleball in every state. That was Missouri, that they had their own group of four. And I told them I was trying to play Pickleball in every state. And they're like, “Let's get you on the court then.” Anthony Godfrey:You don't pick out the one who's doing the worst and say, “Look, that guy over there in the purple shorts, I want to take his place. And you know you need someone to take his place.” Lorraine Rupper:No, because most groups will have everybody that's similar in their ability. Like they're all 4.0s or all 3.5. Anthony Godfrey:OK. So they're all pretty well matched. Lorraine Rupper:Yeah. And one in Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania, they did say, “What's your ranking?” So they wanted to tell my ranking before I told them. Anthony Godfrey:What is your ranking? Lorraine Rupper:Right now it's 4.6 something. But I've been as high as 5.0. Anthony Godfrey:When you say 4.6, does that get their attention and make them want to play? Lorraine Rupper:Oh, well, at the time I was at 4.8. And they're like, “You could be my partner.” And then they pulled me over. Because they're mostly 4.0s. Anthony Godfrey:So that helps. Lorraine Rupper:Yeah, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That's good. Lorraine Rupper:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That's good. And did you ever get sick of Pickleball? Lorraine Rupper:No, no. But I did want to leave in Vermont. Vermont was a challenge. I was like, if home-- Anthony Godfrey:We don't have a lot of listeners in Vermont so go ahead. Lay it down. Lorraine Rupper:Well, I was in Vermont. I was just like, if home was an hour away, I would go home. Anthony Godfrey:Really? Lorraine Rupper:I was not in it. Anthony Godfrey:Was it because of Vermont or because at that stage of the trip, it just felt like a lot? Lorraine Rupper:No, I was just going to so many places and trying to find people to play. I went to all the five places that were in that town. And they're like, “Oh, you might have to go to this other town two and a half hours away.” And I was like, “Oh.” And I was just so tired of traveling. I'd gone all the way up. And I was just like, “I don't want to be here anymore. I just want to be home.” Anthony Godfrey:Stay with us. When we come back more tales of travel from our counselor with a passion for pickleball. Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 260: Lessons from a South Hills Middle School Student and Competitive Skateboarder About True Grit and Setting Goals Aug 29, 2024

Show notes

He jumps at the opportunity to hit the skate park trying new tricks on his board every chance he gets. On this episode of the Supercast, a South Hills Middle School student talks about his goal to become a professional skateboarder, the grit it will take to get there, and the lessons he’s learning along the way. Lessons that are helping him in the classroom as well. Audio Transcription Anthony Godfrey:How many hours in a row, if you didn't have anywhere else you had to be, do you think you could skate non-stop before you got tired of it? Do you ever get tired of skating? JaShawn:I've skated for 10 hours before. Anthony Godfrey:10 hours straight? That is so awesome and it's so much better than sitting for 10 hours straight with a screen in front of you. [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Today we're heading out to a local skate park to meet South Hills Middle School student, JaShawn Hill. JaShawn has some serious skills on wheels and he wants to become a professional skateboarder. Find out about the grit it will take to get him there and the lessons he's learning along the way. Lessons that are helping JaShawn in competitions across the country and in the classroom. [Music] And now we meet up with JaShawn on the heels at a national skateboarding competition. [Music] We're talking with JaShawn Hill here at the Bluffdale Skate Park. Thanks for talking with me today. Tell me about some of your accomplishments as a skater right now. JaShawn:Just practicing every day and stuff. Trying to become pro. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Have you been in competitions lately? JaShawn:Yeah. I was like in one like a month ago. Anthony Godfrey:Tell me about that. JaShawn:I got third place. Tried my best. Anthony Godfrey:And what kind of competition is that? What's the competition called? JaShawn:Street competition. Anthony Godfrey:Street competition. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So what does street competition involve? Lots of ollies I'm sure. JaShawn:Well, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That's the only term I know. You're going to teach me some slang. Some skateboarding slang. Tell me what's involved in that street competition. JaShawn:Like ledges, rails, like eight stairs. Anthony Godfrey:So it's set up as if you were just doing some street skating as opposed to on a course or in a park like this. JaShawn:Pretty much, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So do you have a specialty going downstairs? Going along a rail? JaShawn:Going on rails and downstairs. Anthony Godfrey:And downstairs? So tell me what goes through your mind the first time you skateboard down some stairs. JaShawn:Don't fall. Anthony Godfrey:Don't fall. But skateboarding involves a lot of falling. When I've watched skate videos over the years, there's a lot of falling and picking yourself back up and figuring out how to make the trick stick that time, right? JaShawn:Yeah. I just fell. Just barely. Anthony Godfrey:You just barely fell? What were you trying to do? JaShawn:Just back tail slide. Anthony Godfrey:A back tail slide? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So what does a back tail slide involve? JaShawn:You do like an ollie, but you 180 halfway on the ledge and you put your tail on the ledge and slide it and you pop right out. Anthony Godfrey:So you try to slide. So the back of the skateboard would be along the ledge. Can we go to a ledge and you can show me what that would look like? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:This is a pretty cool setup. Is this your preferred park? JaShawn:Yeah. I like this park. Anthony Godfrey:This is a cement ramp with some cement sides to it and it's reinforced with metal edges so those edges don't wear down. Show me what the skateboard would do if you were doing that trick. The back– tell me what it's called again? JaShawn:Back tail slide. Anthony Godfrey: Back tail slide. So show me a back tail slide. JaShawn:So I go like this and then I go like that and then you go down. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Actually I'm going to have to see you do that. Okay. Let's see you try it again. JaShawn:Actually actually. Anthony Godfrey:Have you done this a lot? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. JaShawn:I'll do it right there. Anthony Godfrey:Alright. Let's see you do it. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. I could not. If I tried that, we would be calling 911 shortly and I would be healing for many weeks. Tell me about your board here. JaShawn:I got a Directive board. Sister:I got stickers. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, and your sister is here. Did you get the stickers? You got stickers from the board when it came. Sister:From him. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, nice. So tell me, so Directive is a brand? JaShawn:Yeah, it's my board sponsor and independent wheels. I mean no trucks. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, so independent. So the truck is what attaches to the board and holds the wheel right? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So because you're sponsored, do you get some free stuff? JaShawn:Yeah, I get free shirts and boards. Sister;And stickers. Anthony Godfrey:And stickers for your sister. Perfect. JaShawn:They promote me so like bigger companies can see me like Nike, SB or like New Balance and stuff. That's my dream sponsors. Anthony Godfrey:Those are the dream sponsors huh? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Alright, what is your most difficult trick that you've been able to stick? JaShawn:Kickflip front board. Anthony Godfrey:Kickflip front board. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:How frequently have you done that one? JaShawn:I'm getting better at them so like I can almost do like every other try. Anthony Godfrey:So what does that involve? JaShawn:A kickflip and like a front board on the rail. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, so where you slide along the rail on the front of the board. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:And is sliding along on the front of the board harder than the back of the board? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Why don't you try it? I think that's better. So he went back up on the quarter pipe just to get a little momentum and gives it a couple of kicks, comes down the ramp, up on the rail. Oh, and it flips around and but luckily he did not flip around. The board did. Wow. What do you call that? JaShawn:Kickflip. Anthony Godfrey:That is a great kickflip. How many times does it go around? 360 or 720? JaShawn:Yeah. All the way around once. Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Will you do that again? That was pretty amazing. You did that like you were tying your shoe. Wow. That is fantastic. So the idea is to do a kickflip and end it with having the front of the board riding along the rail there. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:How long have you been skating? JaShawn:Three years. Anthony Godfrey:Three years and you are how old? JaShawn:14. Anthony Godfrey:14. So you started at age 11. See, I'm pretty good at math. Tell me what made you want to start skateboarding? JaShawn:I had like a penny board and I went down the hill. Anthony Godfrey:Oh yeah, the plastic ones right? JaShawn:Yeah. I asked my dad if I can get a skateboard. I got one of the bad ones and I rode that and then I fell in love with it and got like an actual board. Anthony Godfrey:This is the deck and these are the trucks and the wheels. And what kind of wheels do you have on there? JaShawn:Bones wheels. Anthony Godfrey:Bones wheels. Yeah. Very nice. Well, I had a skateboard back when I was a teacher and I lived three houses away from the school where I was teaching so I had a cat in the hat skateboard and I would skate to and from school. But that was in the 1900s and I have not been on a skateboard for a very long time and I've never done any of the kind of tricks that you have. So when you started on the penny, a penny is not going to lend itself to tricks. So you're a casual rider. What was the first trick that you really made work? JaShawn:An ollie. Anthony Godfrey:An ollie? JaShawn:It’s the trick that you need to learn anything. Anthony Godfrey:Now the ollie is kind of, it's just where you're standing still and you just go up in the air. You're able to kick on the back and then on the front which gives you some lift and puts you both up in the air and then you come straight down. Is that right? JaShawn:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:And how long do you think it took you to get your first ollie down? JaShawn:Like a week or two. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Have you learned some perseverance like just sticking to it until you learn something from skateboarding? Because it seems like skateboarding teaches you that you just have to keep trying and trying. And even once you get it right, you're still going to mess up and you have to keep trying again. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Does that apply to school and other parts of your life that you realize you just have to keep trying and you're going to get it eventually? JaShawn:Yeah. Like, you want to give up and you're going to have some like falls. Anthony Godfrey:You're going to get some scrapes along the way. Like you did today. [Music] We're here with Jessica Burkhart, JaShawn's mom. Tell me about what skating has meant to JaShawn. Jessica Burkhart:Oh, everything. That's all he thinks about. So that's all he thinks about. Like every day he's skating. No matter if it's here, West Valley, in Midvale, anywhere. He goes everywhere. He goes to Ogden sometimes. He goes to Bountiful. Anthony Godfrey:So we're under the pavilion here at Bluffdale Skate Park. How many hours have you logged at these tables while he is skating? Jessica Burkhart:Oh, I go to the park while he skates. He skates way too long for me. Like he'll be here all day if he can be. If he finds a lot of stairs, he'll do that. We went to California and he found like a, I think a 16 stair out there that he wanted to skateboard that a lot of like pro skateboarders do. So he just came back from Vegas and was skating at skate parks out there as well. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. That's awesome. So across the state, really across the country, he finds places to skate. Jessica Burkhart:Yeah. He likes to go everywhere. Um, he was supposed to go to Sweden, that got canceled, but that was because of work. Hopefully, next year they can make that out there by one of his sponsors. They’re supposed to take him, which is really awesome. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. So it sounds like he's had some great sponsors that are very supportive of helping him develop. Jessica Burkhart:Yes, definitely. Helps me too. Cause I don't have to buy him skateboards. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. He told us about the nationals competition. Tell us about his going to California to compete. Jessica Burkhart:Yeah. Um, we had a lot of fun out there. They have an indoor skate park that they held it at. So he practiced there every day for an hour, two hours. They had time frame so we couldn't be there forever. Then he did really good. He's friends with a kid that did like made first place out there. They're actually on the same team on the same sponsorship now and he does really well. We can't wait till nationals this year. He's already qualified cause he won first to his first competition. Anthony Godfrey:Once he started skating, did you see a change in him? He seems very determined and willing to just try things until he figures it out and is able to do things he couldn't do before. Jessica Burkhart:Yeah. He does a lot. His attitude changes a lot. He don't play video games. So I'm glad he doesn't play video games. He's not on his phone all the time. He's outside and that's what kids need to do is be outside. Anthony Godfrey:Good luck to you and good luck to him and he's got a bright future. That's for sure. Jessica Burkhart:Yes. Thank you so much. Anthony Godfrey:Stay with us. When we come back JaShawn will show us some sick tricks. Break:Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of Career and Technical Education, CTE in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the Kids' Marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession. Anthony Godfrey:So your friends at school know you're a skater, I assume. What do they think of that? JaShawn:They think they support and keep trying and stuff. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, so have you inspired some others to try skating? JaShawn:Yeah. My little brothers. Anthony Godfrey:Good. That's awesome. Oh yeah, your little brother's trying it out. What is the trick that you hit almost every time? JaShawn:A front blunt. Anthony Godfrey:A front blunt. And what does a front blunt look like? JaShawn:Like this, on the rail or at the ledge. Anthony Godfrey:Just riding that. Oh, coming up on the ledge, kind of sticking that and then you come back down. Okay, can we see that? Oh, there he goes along the rail. That is awesome. How many hours in a row, if you didn't have anywhere else you had to be, do you think you could skate nonstop before you got tired of it? Do you ever get tired of skating? JaShawn:I've skated for 10 hours before. Anthony Godfrey:10 hours straight? That is so awesome. And it's so much better than sitting for 10 hours straight with a screen in front of you. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Are there some skaters that you look up to? Some professionals that you really admire? JaShawn:Yeah. Nyjah Huston Anthony Godfrey:How old is he? JaShawn:I think like 27, 26. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, so he's an older guy. JaShawn:He was just in the Olympics. Anthony Godfrey:Oh yeah, this year there is Olympic skateboarding. And I saw that there are some unique styles from the Japanese that they think might make them successful. Has that competition happened yet? JaShawn:Yeah, a guy named Yuto Horigomi, he's Japanese and he won. Anthony Godfrey:He did win. That's cool. That's cool. Did any Americans win at all? JaShawn:No, not in skateboarding. Well, yeah in skateboarding, but like the vert one. I don't really look at that stuff. Anthony Godfrey:So that's where they're doing the tricks when they get to the top of the half pipe. JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That's the vert. I did see Tony Hawk skate once and that's really his style, isn't it? It's that half pipe and then you do the tricks at the top of the half pipe. But that's not your style. It's the street skate. And the street skating is an Olympic event that's separate from the half-pipe? Is that right? Are you particularly focused on street skating? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, great. Have you had any injuries so far? Any serious injuries? JaShawn:No, not really. I've cracked my rib, my knee too. Anthony Godfrey:You cracked your rib and your knee? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Well, that's pretty serious. Does that impact your skating at all or you still feel pretty good? JaShawn:I still feel pretty good. My knees are getting old pretty fast. Anthony Godfrey;Your knees are getting old pretty fast? JaShawn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Well, I think you've got some good years ahead of you. Thanks very much for talking with me…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 259: A Copper Hills High School Teacher and His Journey from the Classroom to the Cannes Film Festival Aug 22, 2024

Show notes

He went from teaching students in the classroom at Copper Hills High School to the Cannes Film Festival in France. On this episode of Supercast, hear the incredible story of Film and TV Broadcasting teacher Kamiko Adcock. Find out how he managed to produce a short film that was so good, it got into Cannes and hear how Mr. Adcock uses his experience and incredible talents to teach students at Copper Hills High. Audio Transcription Kamiko Adcock:I have such a passion for filmmaking and I love being able to share that with my students. Anthony Godfrey:Of the students in your class, are there a few who've really sparked with this and have said "Wow, I really need to pursue this"? Kamiko Adcock:There's just dozens of students that are dying to get on sets that just graduated, starting production companies, working on short films. It's like the passion in them has really, really grown and it’s really cool. [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to The Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. I had a blast spending time with the teacher you were about to meet. He went from teaching students in the classroom at Copper Hills High, to capturing a coveted invite to the Cannes Film Festival in France. On this episode of The Supercast, hear the incredible story of the film and TV broadcasting teacher, who managed to produce a short film that was so good it was accepted at Cannes, and how he uses his experience and incredible talents to teach students at Copper Hills High. [Music] We're here with Kamiko Adcock to talk about his experience at the Cannes Film Festival. Thanks for taking some time with us. Kamiko Adcock:Absolutely. Anthony Godfrey:We want to talk about a lot of things, but I'm a huge film fan and pop culture fan, so the fact that you went to the film festival is really exciting to me. Tell me about that experience and then we'll talk a little bit about the film that got you there. Kamiko Adcock:Yes, I mean, you know, as like a film lover myself, it's always been… Cannes always felt like this pipe dream, like, you have to get invited to go. There's a lot of misconceptions I had about it. But it was essentially ten days of living my dream, dream life. Of rubbing shoulders with industry professionals networking with really cool people, watching films months, maybe even a year before the public actually gets to see them. All on the French Riviera with the most beautiful views. It was just like the most unbelievable thing I've ever experienced. Anthony Godfrey:Well, we're going to get into the details there. Tell me about your role here at Copper Hills High School, first of all, and then we'll talk about the film and your experience in Cannes. Kamiko Adcock:Cool. My role here at Copper Hills is I am the video production and TV broadcasting teacher. I started a couple years ago straight out from industry, so I'm an APPL candidate, alternate pathway to licensure. And, yeah, I kind of got here, and the first thing I thought with my big students was, "Let's make a feature film." So we've made two features up to this point, which is really exciting. Anthony Godfrey:That's awesome. Kamiko Adcock:They write, direct produce, edit all of it. And I just love... I have such a passion for filmmaking, and I love being able to share that with my students. Anthony Godfrey:Tell me about those two films. What are the titles? What are they about? What was that experience like for you working with students, making those films? Coming from industry. Kamiko Adcock:Yeah, so the first one last year was “Right Club”. It's around 52 minutes, and it's on YouTube. And then this year's is called “Five More Minutes”. 78 minutes long. It's a sci-fi coming of age. Think “Inception” meets “Ready Player One”. “Right Club” was very much kind of a, "Can we do this?" And then this year was a, "Okay, we can do it. Let's go bigger and better." It's much more ambitious. And it's, you know, as you get older, you meet people that are like, "I've got this script. I've got this killer script, and I'm really excited to make it." But they never do because it's harder to get things done as you age. Like you have jobs. You're frightened to have jobs. Anthony Godfrey:Sure. Kamiko Adcock:Warner Brothers won't come beating down your door to give you millions of dollars to make something that they've never seen you make before. Anthony Godfrey:Right. Kamiko Adcock:So with the students, they have a great controlled environment, where I've worked on a couple features before. So I know, generally speaking, how the process works. I've got set deadlines to make sure that they're coming along. And with that, yeah, in nine months, they've proven that they can make stuff. It's limited, you know, filmed a lot of it's filmed at school, and some of it's filmed outside. Anthony Godfrey:So “Five More Minutes”, talk me through about what the timeline is. How soon was the script written? Talk us through all the stages of that and about how long it took. Kamiko Adcock:Brainstorming starts the first day of school, and they have until end of September to get a rough draft written. So they have at least something written. And like when it comes to screenwriting, just write. Anthony Godfrey:Write something, yeah. Kamiko Adcock:Just write. You can go and fix it. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Kamiko Adcock:So starting around October 15th, before we have a fall break, we do auditions. They've essentially gotten little bits of the characters. So they go through, they have auditions with the students at the school, and then they've cast the film before fall break. Anthony Godfrey:And that goes beyond the class. They cast outside of the class. This is the production class. Kamiko Adcock:Yes. We did it after school from around three o'clock to four. So nothing like super, super intense. We do the auditions in my room. They do sides in the back. So they film the auditions. They can go back and revisit them. And then by the time, like beginning of November comes, our script has been locked and finalized. Anthony Godfrey:And then those auditions can be included on the special edition of the DVD. The Blu-ray, second disc that, you know, includes all the actors that didn't get chosen. Kamiko Adcock:So we have a BTS department, and that is part of their job, is compiling all the, you know, as historians for the film. So we have around seven episodes on CH Studios, which is our YouTube page, just documenting the process. And my friends who are filmmakers, it's like their favorite part of my program is watching the BTS and scene students. Anthony Godfrey:That's really cool. So when Criterion Collection re-releases it, now all that footage is available to pull in. Kamiko Adcock:That is the absolute dream. And then have them bring me into the Criterion closet. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, there you go. Kamiko Adcock:And pick some DVDs. Anthony Godfrey:There you go. Kamiko Adcock:That would be very cool. Anthony Godfrey:Perfect. We’ll aim toward that. What is it that you hope students gain from that experience over the course of the year, seeing a film go from ideas to being posted on YouTube? Kamiko Adcock:Man, that's a great question. My goal with the feature has always been to give them confidence and help them know if this is what they want to do. You know, if they go to college and they make some shorts, and then at 25 they make their first feature and they realize, "Oh, I hated that." Then they've kind of spent seven years of their lives, you know, running maybe towards nothing then they're going to pivot, which I pivoted, you know. We all pivot. But to help them know right now of, "Oh, I love being on set." Granted, it's five hours after school. It's not a full 12-hour day. But it gives them little bits and pieces of what does set look like? What does problem-solving look like? And problem solving is probably the next big thing, is allow them to know and to work under pressure and be able to function and solve things as the problems come on. Anthony Godfrey:Those who have listened to the podcast will know that I frequently mention specifically about CTE programs, how important it is for kids to have the opportunity to see what they are interested in, but also what they are not interested in for exactly the reason you stated. You don't want to spend seven years building up to something that you ultimately realize isn't for you. And so, of the students in your class, are there a few who've really sparked with this and have said, "Wow, I really need to pursue this. This needs to be what I do." Kamiko Adcock:Yeah, so last year, one of my students, I like to bring in friends from industry to kind of network with the students and give them contacts. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Kamiko Adcock:And a couple of my friends really like, they met one of my students and the student like really impressed them. So, once school got out, they invited them and said, "Hey, do you want to come PA?" which is a production assistant. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Kamiko Adcock:Run errands on set, get people lunch, get people food. Do you want to come PA for this 48-hour film festival we're going to do? And that's the film that got us to Cannes. And so, I had a student that graduated last year that came to Cannes with us. And last year, there was, you know, a handful like Isaac. And this year, it feels like it's quadruple quintuple. There's just dozens of students that are dying to get on sets. They've just graduated, starting production companies, working on short films. It's like the passion in them has really, really grown and it's really cool. Anthony Godfrey:I absolutely love that. That is so fun to hear that it's sparked and launched some kids in that direction. Stay with us. When we come back we'll hear about Kamiko Adcock’s experience at the Cannes Film Festival and which celebrities he got to see. Stay with us. [MUSIC] Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. [MUSIC] Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey:So tell me about this film and how the 48-hour contest ended you up at Cannes. Kamiko Adcock:Yeah, so we've done it, I guess, so I did it the year before with my friend Jack. And it's a fun thing. 48 hours to write, outline, produce, and edit a seven-minute long max short film. You get a genre, you get a character, you get a line of dialogue, and a prop you have to use. Anthony Godfrey:And with all those restrictions, that way you can't just make a film in advance and then submit it and pretend you did it in 48 hours. Kamiko Adcock:Totally, yeah. So there's a lot of restrictions to what you can and can't do. Basically what you can do beforehand is get your actors, get your crew, and get your location. So we got this cool antique shop and we made this fun short about, I don't know if I would say it's fun actually. It's fun. It's a dark comedy fantasy about a man who's dating a ghost. The ghost is like, "All right, I want to be with you, but I'm a ghost. And so you've got to become a ghost too”, basically. And the whole short is the dialogue between them and him contemplating, "Do I want to be with this person who I love, who I've never seen, or do I kind of go my own way and continue my life?" Anthony Godfrey:And what's it called? Can we watch it? Kamiko Adcock:It's called “Sheet Talk”. We need to get it listed because with the 48-hour film festival, they basically told us, "Hey, keep it unlisted for now. We have the rights to it." So now that we just got done with Cannes, we can actually get it published. But I'll send you the link so that you can watch it and it'll be published by the time this is out. Anthony Godfrey:Great. “Sheet Talk”. Kamiko Adcock:Yep. “Sheet Talk”. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. So ‘Sheet Talk” got you to Cannes. Tell me about that experience. You said it was 10 days of just living your dream. Talk to me about that because I've gone to, I think it's now 21 years that I've gone in a row to Sundance. I love going to that film festival but Cannes is the granddaddy of them all. So tell me about that. Kamiko Adcock:It is like, so Cannes is headquartered kind of like right by the beach. There's what they call the Croisette, and it's got this massive 2,500-seat auditorium called the Grand Lumiére, which is ginormous. So that's where I watched Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis," his new-- Anthony Godfrey:You've seen it. Kamiko Adcock:I've seen it. We could chat about it. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Kamiko Adcock:It is. Yeah. It's quite the experience. And then they have the Lumiére and the Agnés Varda Theater with two massive convention halls behind it, and that's where the film marketplace is. So sellers, film sellers, film buyers can go back there and just making deals. I have a friend who works at Angel Studios, and he was there for about a week, and that's all he was doing was meeting with distributors where I got to do a little bit of both, and I got to watch a lot of films, and it's elegant. After 6 o'clock p.m. at the Grand Lumiére Theater, you have to wear a tuxedo to all the films showing. So we got into the “Horizon” premiere, had to wear a tuxedo for that. We wore a tuxedo for our own, and we tried to get into another theater, but like if you're not in gala attire, they won't let you in. So that was cool. We all bought tuxedos because it was cheaper to buy them than to just rent for 14 days. Anthony Godfrey:My gala attire is lacking, so I really could not have joined you. So tell me about the experience of showing your--did you show your film there? Kamiko Adcock:We did. So there's the main two, three big theaters. There's the Riviera, which is one of the convention floors, and the Palais, which is a big convention floor that also has screenings. So we got a little screening room that they gave to the 48-hour film project to display our shorts. It was the Wednesday after we got there, so we'd already kind of been there for a week. And it was great. Like it was probably a 70-seat screening room, and to be able to watch our short with the best of the best festivals, you know, I think a lot of--I tell my students, it's like it's very easy to look in your neighborhood to see who's the best at filmmaking. And I know this sounds cliché, but the best is internationally. Like you're not just looking at your neighbor. You got to look at people in Hong Kong. You got to look at people in South Africa, in Africa, you know. And it was really gratifying to see that we were some of the best. Anthony Godfrey:And even though there's global competition, that unique idiosyncratic personal project can really shine if it hits just the right mark. So you were there for two weeks. How many movies would you say you saw? I think we saw 13 of the screenings. Antho…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 258: What Parents Need to Know About JSD’s New Communications Platform “ParentSquare” Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

It is designed to enhance communications throughout Jordan School District benefiting students, teachers, staff, and parents. On this episode of the Supercast, listen as we give you easy to use tips and tricks to make the most of JSD’s new communications platform called ParentSquare. Find out what it has to offer when it comes to emergency communications, two-way communications between parents and teachers, and so much more. Audio Transcription (upbeat music) Anthony Godfrey:I'm really excited about the fact that parents can optimize and customize how we communicate with them. Steffany Ellsworth:ParentSquare is gonna allow parents to choose how they want to engage with their students. (upbeat music) Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. This week we'll be talking about our new parent communication tool, ParentSquare. I'm really excited about this new option for schools, parents, and teachers. ParentSquare is customizable, it has a ton of great features, and I can't wait for you to learn more about how we'll be communicating with Jordan School District families this year. (upbeat music) We're talking with Steffany Ellsworth, the Support Services Manager in Information Systems for Jordan School District, Steffany, thanks for taking a few minutes. Steffany Ellsworth:You're welcome, it's great to be here. Anthony Godfrey:We are launching, you are launching ParentSquare as our latest communication tool. Tell us, what is ParentSquare? Let's dive right in. Steffany Ellsworth:Okay, ParentSquare, it's an awesome communication platform created to streamline home-to-school communication. Parents in ParentSquare have the ability to choose the modality they prefer to receive messages, whether it's email, text, or app notifications. It also allows parents to select the frequency in which they receive messages, whether it's an instant message they get as soon as the school has sent it, or they can receive them digested daily at the end of the day. There's three types of messages. There's posts, which come across as a news feed similar to Facebook or other social media platforms. Anthony Godfrey:And do they access that through the app or on the website, or how do they access that? Steffany Ellsworth:Yeah, that's correct. Anthony Godfrey:The posts? Steffany Ellsworth:Yeah, they can see the posts on the ParentSquare website or through the app. They also get those posts as an email or a text. So if they never log into ParentSquare, they'll still get those messages through email or in a text message. They'll receive a link to see the post. The second type of message is direct messages. These are meant for one-to-one communication between parent and teachers. Anthony Godfrey:And how does that come through? Does that come through the app? Or is that also through text message and email? Is that what you're referring to? Steffany Ellsworth:Yes, it's really all about parent preference. So if they've stated that they prefer to receive a text, they'll receive those through a text. If they prefer the app, they'll receive a notification through the app. If they've done nothing at all, they will receive a text and an email stating that they have a message and it'll show the message. Parents can respond directly to that text message to communicate with the teacher. Anthony Godfrey:So a post, much like on social media that you can view through the website or the app, and then text, email, or direct message through the app depending on what the parent chooses. And what's the third type? Steffany Ellsworth:The third type are alerts. These are our traditional messages that we've sent about snow day closures or emergency situations at the school. Anthony Godfrey:Don't say snow day closure, you can't jinx us. Steffany Ellsworth:Okay. (both laughing) Alerts will override any of the parent's preferences. They'll get those instantaneously and they will be a phone call, an email, and a text message. Anthony Godfrey:For the direct messages and for the school-wide or district-wide messages, parents can decide, I want to receive all the messages at once, or I'll receive them as they're sent throughout the day. So they have that choice. Steffany Ellsworth:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:But an alert is going to override any of that. So if there's a snow day, an emergency, something that we need to let parents know about right away, it'll come by phone, text, and email, and that overrides the preferences. Steffany Ellsworth:That's correct. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. You can safely say, you know, I want everything one time a day, but you'll know that you're also going to get emergency communication in a timely way. Steffany Ellsworth:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:So what do parents need to do? When they're registering their student for school, the contact information that they enter goes into ParentSquare and allows us to communicate with them that way. What else do they need to do to make the most of ParentSquare? Steffany Ellsworth:So parents can sign into ParentSquare, set their notification preferences, their language preferences. All of their contact data is synced from Skyward, which is really nice because they complete registration for school every year and update their contact information. They don't have to do that multiple times and go into ParentSquare and enter their contact information again. It's going to sync over from Skyward nightly. So complete registration from school. Then to get signed into ParentSquare, they can either download the app– there's an iOS or an Android app available through your app store. They can download the app, or if they choose not to sign into ParentSquare, they'll still receive emails and texts. However, if they do choose to sign in to ParentSquare, they'll get to select, do I want to receive an email or a text or both, and how often do I want to receive those? Anthony Godfrey:So you don't need to sign in in order to receive messages, but you do need to sign in in order to manage how you receive those messages. Steffany Ellsworth:Yep, yep. And to sign in, they'll just visit parentsquare.com or download the app and sign in using either their phone number or email address that they've provided to the school. Anthony Godfrey:So the same email, same phone number will get you in there. That's great. Steffany Ellsworth:Yep. Anthony Godfrey:And now if they want to update their information through the year, they move during the year or want to receive information in a different email or phone number, sometimes once you start getting those messages, you think, okay, I don't want it coming to my cell anymore. I want it coming to this other phone number. How do they go about changing that? Steffany Ellsworth:The nice thing about ParentSquare is again, that all of our contact information is synced from Skyward, so it doesn't need to be managed in two different places. You can either update your contact information in Skyward's Family Access or contact your school and let them know that you've had a change in phone number or email. Anthony Godfrey:Can they choose not to receive messages at all? Steffany Ellsworth:They can, yes. They can unsubscribe from messages. However, they're never going to be able to unsubscribe from those emergency alert notifications. So anytime there's an emergency alert sent, it's going to send. If they do choose to unsubscribe, they need to know that they're also unsubscribing from direct messages from their teachers too. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, so unsubscribing is an option. Can they manage the information that they receive and only get one-to-one messages but not receive the broader messages from the school or district? Steffany Ellsworth:Yes, they can. So really the better option rather than unsubscribing is to set the frequency versus posts versus direct messages and how you choose to receive those. Anthony Godfrey:So really, families ought to take a few minutes just to kind of customize what type of communication they want. For a while, every communication I got from the school, I would forward to my wife and then she'd let me know, "I'm getting those too, don't worry." You don't have to be forwarding them. So just kind of taking a moment to think about what's the best way for us to communicate as a district and for the school to communicate with families. That's a good thing to do at the start of the year, especially with this new ParentSquare program. Steffany Ellsworth:Absolutely. ParentSquare is going to allow parents to choose how they want to engage with their student's school to make it more customizable for them and make it easier for them to communicate. Anthony Godfrey:We've been talking about the next step in parent communication for a long time. One of the things for me that was really attractive about ParentSquare is the idea that this does go to text messaging. It doesn't require a separate app. Although there is one, you don't have to go to one more app to get this, the communication from teachers, the school, or the district. But the important component there is that you can manage whether you get texts and how frequently. Steffany Ellsworth:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:Because we all check our text messages, we all check our email, but probably text messages with greater frequency. So we don't ever want to be a pest, but we also want to make sure that parents are getting good information in a timely way. I'm really excited about the fact that parents can optimize and customize how we communicate with them. Steffany Ellsworth:It’s really convenient too. You know, if a teacher sends a direct message to a parent, the parent can simply reply via text. They don't have to ever log in. They can reply via text. They can save that number for future reference to send the teacher a text. You know, they'll want to pay attention to the teacher's office hours 'cause we know teachers have other lives outside of school. Anthony Godfrey:Right. (upbeat music) Stay with us. When we come back, we're going to go over some more user-friendly tips to make the most of ParentSquare. And we'll let you know how to get ahold of the help desk if you need assistance. (upbeat music) Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. (upbeat music) Break:In Jordan School District, we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in, offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families, free of charge. You can take a class called Blues Busters for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends? There are also support groups and free counseling, all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists, and counselors. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org. (upbeat music) Anthony Godfrey:Now I know that a lot of other districts are starting to use ParentSquare as well. And previously teachers used Remind 101 and then it was called Remind. There was a free version of that that a lot of teachers in Jordan used. We used Skyward and Skylerts that came out of our student information system. Talk about how we got to where we are now using ParentSquare and the relationship between the old Remind and Remind 101, ParentSquare, and Skyward. Steffany Ellsworth:You know, really one of the biggest requests that we get from schools in regards to communication is the ability to text parents. So we started looking at different options to be able to text parents without requiring parents to download an app. ParentSquare stood out as soon as we started researching this option. And then we learned that ParentSquare also acquired Remind. So with that, they took on a lot of new functionality, a lot of capabilities as far as texting and sending group messages. ParentSquare can be used not only to directly communicate teacher to home but it can also be used to communicate for extracurricular activities. You know, say a wrestling coach or a band instructor can contact their entire group of students similar to Remind through ParentSquare. Anthony Godfrey:It connects to Skyward, which is great for families and the contact information as you describe, but it also helps teachers because they're able to say, I wanna text a reminder to everyone in this class of what's due tomorrow. And they can send it to the student's phone with that going through a school system. So it's appropriate communication, it's an appropriate method of communication, but it's also direct instant communication so that the student gets a reminder or information about a meet, event, or assignment. And I'm really excited about that. Steffany Ellsworth:Students will use what's called StudentSquare. So they'll download a different app, it's called StudentSquare. It's only available for grades 7-12, but students can communicate with their club advisors, their coaches, their teachers using StudentSquare. Anthony Godfrey:Now we have a wonderful help desk and information systems for employees and for parents. Talk about how they access that and how they can get help with ParentSquare if parents have any questions. Steffany Ellsworth:Yes, we do. If any of their contact data is looking incorrect or it appears that data is not syncing properly from Skyward, they can give us a call at 801-567-8737. We can take a look at it there. Anthony Godfrey:Operators are standing by. Steffany Ellsworth:Yes, absolutely. Sometimes we will refer them back to the school just because the school needs to be the ones to update contact information or verify that they're actually speaking to a parent. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, so you can sometimes start with the school, but you can also call the help desk anytime and you're great to jump in and sort through things and help people out. Steffany Ellsworth:That's right. Anthony Godfrey:And if they're in ParentSquare, where can they get help from ParentSquare directly? Steffany Ellsworth:Logged into ParentSquare, the app, or the website, there's a question mark in the upper right-hand corner. Click on that. They have awesome help articles and videos. Anthony Godfrey:We'll put that in the show notes to be sure they're easy to access for anyone listening. And the trainings took place this summer. Like I said, we dove right in once ParentSquare was selected. I've heard a lot of enthusiasm from schools, just the functionality of being able to more effectively communicate with parents more directly in a more timely way. So this is really exciting for us. We want to strengthen that connection with parents always and I think this is a great tool to help us accomplish that. Steffany Ellsworth:Definitely. Anthony Godfrey:Well, thanks for all your work to get us this far. Tell us a little bit about your journey to be in the position you're in right now in Information Systems. Where did you start out? Steffany Ellsworth:You know, I started with the school district as a part-time attendance administrative assistant at Joel P. Jensen. I loved it there. They have awesome students. I then became a registrar at Copper Hills High. Loved…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 257: Powerful Internship Program Bringing Best of the Best to JSD Aug 08, 2024

Show notes

They are the best of the best coming right out of college and many of them heading right into Jordan School District classrooms. On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we have some fun talking to interns who are well on their way to full-time jobs in teaching thanks to a partnership between Jordan School District and local universities. Audio Transcription [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are the best of the best coming right out of college, many of them heading right into Jordan School District classrooms. Who are they? Well, you're about to find out. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with some very talented interns who are well on their way to full-time jobs as teachers, thanks to a partnership between Jordan School District and local universities. It's a pretty cool program with some pretty cool people. [Music] We're here talking with Jane Olsen today about our intern program in Jordan School District. Introduce yourself and talk to us a little bit about the future intern programs we have going. Jane Olsen:So I'm Jane Olsen. I'm in Human Resources and I'm a Talent Acquisition and Licensing Specialist. So our intern– Anthony Godfrey:Talent Acquisition and Licensing Specialist. I'm trying to see if that makes a good acronym. TALP? No, it doesn't really work. Jane Olsen:No, it doesn’t really work. Anthony Godfrey:Alright. And tell us about acquiring talent in Jordan District. Jane Olsen:So one of the ways that we acquire talent is through our intern program. So we have three partnership universities, BYU, UVU, and U of U and we house anywhere between 22 to 13 interns per year. We have a really high retention rate on those because it's a really wonderful opportunity to have a great realistic job preview from start to finish as a teacher instead of a really short preview when you're doing a student teaching experience of about 12 weeks. Anthony Godfrey:Most people are used to student teaching as the concept for how you learn to be a teacher. Many people may have when they were in school had a student teacher. So can you describe what the traditional student-teacher program looks like? Which we still have a lot of student teachers in our district. And then what the intern program looks like and how that's different. Jane Olsen:So for an intern, it is actually full year teaching. The biggest difference for them is they actually have a dedicated intern facilitator that they work with all year long. So from start to finish, from classroom setup, even when the summer they'll be preparing their curriculum. But student teaching, on the other hand, it's more concentrated. You have a gradual release of about 12 weeks and you're only in charge of the classroom for about two weeks. So in terms of ownership and accountability for that classroom, it's much higher at an intern level. Anthony Godfrey:The intern with a lot of support is the teacher for the year. Jane Olsen:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:And the student teacher starts out with observations, does a few lessons, and as you said, for about two weeks takes over the class. Jane Olsen:Yeah. So as it determines a realistic job preview, you're not really getting the full experience of setting up your classroom, setting up the rules, setting up an entire year worth of curriculum, and making sure that you're following through on the planning. Student teachers, they have an opportunity, just a small window of opportunity to see what that looks like. The parent interaction is obviously going to be lower as well because in two weeks you're not going to have as many interactions with parents than you would over the course of a school year. Anthony Godfrey:You get the full experience, you're part of a team, you interact with your peers, and so it's really exciting that we have this many opportunities in the district, and it's been growing lately. Jane Olsen:Yes, it has. So this year we actually hired 13 of our 18 interns at our teacher transfer fair. So that's a huge retention rate for us. 72% of our interns turned into full-time teachers for us the following year. So we're really excited about having them come in. This year we have 18 interns as well, but one will be at a secondary school, which is the first time I've seen that since I've been here. Anthony Godfrey:You and I have worked together for a long time, and you've seen the patterns over time. Tell me this year, how many teachers did we hire for, like last summer, last spring? Jane Olsen:We hired about 450 teachers last year. Anthony Godfrey:That just gives everybody a little bit of perspective. And you heard from Jane on a previous podcast when we talked about our new teacher induction and celebrated the first of many to come where we welcome our new teachers and this is another way of welcoming new teachers. By the time they've been an intern for a year, they know what it means to be a teacher, and they know what it means to work for Jordan's School District and the level of support we try to provide. Jane Olsen:Yeah, and I love the idea in terms of an internship. It's a growth-related opportunity. Instead of just seeing this small fraction of time, you're actually seeing the growth of your students. You're seeing the growth in yourself participating in PLCs. You're seeing the growth opportunities within the district and how the district operates and what we offer in terms of professional development. The interns that I've talked to highlight that Jordan's School District is all about support and growth, and this is a really great way for them to continue to grow in their professional opportunities with a lot of support. I can't imagine going into Human Resources and actually having someone dedicated to me for the first year. That would have made me such a better professional quicker than what I've been able to get to at this point. Anthony Godfrey:I love what you say about getting the rewards of seeing student outcomes over the year. That's something I hadn't thought of. If you're student teaching, you still get the reward, you still get that relationship with students, but not nearly as much as you would by spending the whole year as their teacher. It provides consistency for the students in their class throughout the year so they don't have a student teacher come and go, but they have someone all year long. Jane Olsen:All year long, yes. Anthony Godfrey:The student teaching experience is still a very positive one. This is another way of approaching that. It provides some different experiences and a different level of support. Jane Olsen:Just in comparison, last year we had about 240 student teachers that are coming in and out of our classrooms from a variety of universities. There are more partnerships related to student teaching than there are to interns, so there's a different level of support that comes in for the interns. We're going to see a student teacher for a snapshot, but we really cultivate the relationships with our interns. Anthony Godfrey:For those of you who are wondering how we pay for this or how all of this works, if you're thinking about doing it, what you would be paid, talk to us about the compensation. There's been a change from the legislature as well as student teachers are compensated. Jane Olsen:What I understand in terms of the legislation at this point is that we will be able to pay student teachers about $6,000 for their experience. In the past, it's been an unpaid, which has made it a real burden on a lot of those that are entering the field of education to be able to engage in that, because 12 weeks going unpaid in this kind of economy can be really difficult. But on the flip side with the interns, the interns actually receive what we call half of their base salary, and then we pay them the full teacher salary supplement. So it averages out to be about $33,000 as of this year. We don't know what that'll look like exactly next year, but we're hopeful. And then some of the universities receive travel stipends due to the distance from their home location. So it can become quite the great compensation package that you're actually getting paid to come and travel to Jordan School District and have the great experience. And then you're already on a step two next year, so you're already kind of a lane ahead of what you would be if you would have just graduated as a student teacher. Anthony Godfrey:So the half pay that allows us to then pay for the support with the rest of that salary? Jane Olsen:Yep, it pays for the intern facilitator. Anthony Godfrey:Exactly. And then, you know, the state has doubled in the last year the pay that they paid directly to teachers. Jane Olsen:Correct. Anthony Godfrey:And an intern qualifies for that, and that's what bumps it up to the $33,000. Jane Olsen:Yep, so that's $8,400 that they get paid from the legislature. Anthony Godfrey:Right. That's great. Tell me about the schools that we partner with and how that looks for each school. I've talked with interns from all of these programs in the past, but describe the differences and how someone would get involved if this is something that they think they might want to do. Jane Olsen:Yeah, so if you're considering a career in education, the three partnership universities that we have with interns is BYU, UVU, so Utah Valley University, and then University of Utah. Each program has its own little unique nuances. For example, the University of Utah is the Urban Institute for Teacher Education. So their experience is going to be more tailored to our Title I schools, which is the school that we're partnering with is Oquirrh Elementary. BYU has five partnership schools. We have Black Ridge, Columbia, Daybreak, Midas Creek, and Mountain Point. One of those schools is a DLI school. So if you're looking for that experience with Spanish, we do have Mountain Point. And then with UVU, we have our two schools, Butterfield Canyon and Eastlake. Eastlake is also a DLI school, but it's a Chinese DLI school. So depending on what your area of expertise is, you could potentially be selected for any one of those school locations. The max that we would have at any one location when it comes to interns is three. So that would be the max ratio for you to the intern facilitator. So you have somebody that's really only working with two to three of you at a time, really dedicated time, and they have no other responsibilities, which is unique to Jordan. So they don't have anything that's going to pull them away or out of the classroom, or they're not teaching another class next door. They're dedicated to your growth and development. Anthony Godfrey:And in some districts, they have administrative responsibilities, almost like an assistant principal. But here, they really are simply focused on helping those two or three candidates become great teachers. Jane Olsen:Yeah, and they do become great teachers. I can tell you that after the teacher transfer fair, one of the pieces of feedback for any of the administrators who interviewed our interns is they were so impressed with the quality of those interns from any one of the programs. They were excited to work with them, and one school even hired three of them. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Jane Olsen:So we definitely have great interns that are coming out of these programs. Anthony Godfrey:I love that we have that pipeline. And training teachers, giving them great support means that thousands of student lives are better because they have a great teacher that really has a head start on instruction and classroom management and everything else it takes to be a great teacher. Jane Olsen:Exactly. All of us can remember a teacher that impacted us in such a significant way. My math teacher actually teaches at Elk Ridge that I had in ninth grade, and I can tell you that that was the first time that I felt like I was really good at math. So we have some amazing teachers in Jordan. Anthony Godfrey:Stay with us. When we come back, we'll hear more about these interns and hear from them directly about how excited they are to be teaching students in the coming year. [Music] Break:Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org. Anthony Godfrey:We're here with three of our BYU interns to talk with them a little bit about what made them want to be teachers, and what they're looking forward to in the coming year. So tell me your name and where you're from and a little bit about what made you want to be a teacher. Brandon Jensen:My name is Brandon Jensen. I'm from San Diego, California. First off, I just hated my desk job that I first had. But also, when I turned 16 and first could work, I started working with kids. I'd go to school all day and I worked with kids for three hours and I'd get home and I wasn't tired. I was excited because I knew I'd made a difference. I knew I was a positive impact on these people. Then when I got into the program at BYU and was able to come into the schools, I could see that I was making a difference, that I was connecting with these kids, and that they were excited to learn and excited to learn from me because they could tell that I cared. That was immediately, I was like, "I'm all in. This is it. This is what I want to do." Anthony Godfrey:Your desk job did not offer that to you? Brandon Jensen:No. Anthony Godfrey:What was your desk job? Brandon Jensen:I started as a computer science major. I worked with data entry, which is just like I look at a PDF and I look at an Excel sheet and I make sure they say the same thing and it's just draining all day. I'm still doing that until I start teaching, but it's like I can do teaching all day and still have the energy to go do that because that drains my energy at the end of the night. Anthony Godfrey:It's a little more predictable than teaching will be, I think. Brandon Jensen:Probably. Anthony Godfrey:But also less engaging by a long shot. Tell me where you're from and about your interest in teaching. Kara Cooper:Yeah, of course. My name is Kara Cooper. I'm from Draper, Utah. I've grown up in Utah my whole life. I love to be outside. I love to do things with my family. I have a pretty big family. Yeah, my interest in teaching started honestly in high school. I have lots of family members who are teachers and I am someone who's genuinely curious about the world. I love learning. I love helping kids see how the world works around them and be curious and imaginative. I had really awesome teachers all throughout my education and they just inspired me to be a teacher. So that was really important for me. Just seeing how much they loved me and cared about me really helped me even though I had loving and caring parents. I was with my teachers most of the day, so it was amazing to see that. Anthony Godfrey:Sounds like you have a lot to choose from, but tell me, are there a couple of teachers that really stand out that made an impact on you? Kara…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 256: Exploring A Class Where Students Can Change the World Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

It is a class that combines biology and technology giving students the tools to change the world for the better and improve people’s lives. On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we take our own microscopic look into the Bio Tech program inside JATC North. It is a program where young student scientists study things like genetics, DNA isolation, protein methodologies, and much more. Some students are even engaged in finding cures for life-threatening illnesses like cancer. Audio Transcription [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a class that combines biology and technology, giving students the tools to change the world for the better and improve people's lives. On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we take our own microscopic look into the biotech program inside JATC North. It is a program where young student scientists study things like genetics, DNA isolation, protein methodologies, and much more. Some students are even engaged in finding cures for life-threatening illnesses like cancer. [MUSIC] We're here at JATC North to learn more about the biotechnology class. And here to talk with us about it is the teacher, Dr. Carlson. Thank you very much for talking with us. Dr. Carlson:It's my pleasure. I really love to talk about this. Anthony Godfrey:I'm most focused on your role as a teacher, but you have a storied resume leading up to your time here at JATC North. So tell us about your background. Dr. Carlson:I would love to. I first started in a lab years ago in a human genetics lab, and we were some of the first individuals to develop markers that were placed on chromosome maps. From there- Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Dr. Carlson:-From there I participated in a group that cloned a gene that causes 1% of colon cancer. It's a hereditary form of the gene. It's called adenomatous polyposis coli, APC. And because of that work, if families have that mutation, they can be better screened so that their risk of cancer goes down. Anthony Godfrey:And you said it's APC? Dr. Carlson:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:I believe I know a family that has that gene because in their family, they get tested in their 20s. Dr. Carlson:Yes. Anthony Godfrey:Even as a teen, they get tested early on because of that gene that's been identified. Dr. Carlson:Absolutely, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So before we talk about more of your resume, you right from the start saw the positive impact this has on humanity all over the world. Dr. Carlson:Absolutely. I was always interested in cancer biology. I got my PhD in cancer biology and felt like I was able to contribute to that field. I'm very proud of that contribution. Later on, I decided that I wanted to share my research background with students and try to encourage young women to pursue careers in science. And so that's really why I'm here now. Anthony Godfrey:And you worked at the Huntsman Cancer Center as well? Anthony Godfrey:I got my PhD at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, yes. Anthony Godfrey:And after getting your PhD, how long have you been here? Dr. Carlson:This is my 10th year teaching biotechnology. Anthony Godfrey:Wonderful. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:And have some of your students gone on to pursue this as a career? Dr. Carlson:They have. I've had some students go on to obtain graduate studies in biochemistry, or chemistry rather. I've had others that have gone into biomedical engineering. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Dr. Carlson:So they've graduated in biomedical engineering. I've had others go on into the medical laboratory sciences. And I have another couple of students who are pursuing graduate studies in, one is I believe medicinal chemistry, and another is in molecular biology. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Dr. Carlson:So I'm really proud that there are those former students who have decided to pursue that path. Anthony Godfrey:That's a big deal, and it's a big lasting impact. It must be very rewarding to hear that students have pursued this line of study and as a result are making a huge impact in the world. Dr. Carlson:Definitely. Anthony Godfrey:What are some of the things you cover that might surprise students? Dr. Carlson:We do, I have students bring in a food that we test to see if it's genetically modified. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, wow. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So what are some of the– are corn dogs genetically modified? Because I eat a lot of corn dogs. Dr. Carlson:It might be. We'd have to test. Anthony Godfrey:We'd have to test. Dr. Carlson:I can’t say for sure. Anthony Godfrey:All right. They probably don't. They probably just give up and say, look, it's a corn dog. We're not going to worry about it. What are some of the foods that we know are genetically modified? Dr. Carlson:A lot of your corn-based products are genetically modified soy. One thing students learn about is the successful genetic engineering of the papaya. You can clone a gene from the ring spot virus into a papaya and it protects it from a disease that kind of ravages the crop. And so that's been done in Hawaii. Anthony Godfrey:So it sounds like a genetically modified food would be something to avoid, but actually, it makes it possible to produce the food more safely and more consistently. Dr. CarlsonYes. So this class isn't about telling students what they should think about genetically modified foods. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Dr. Carlson:It's about informing them of the pros and cons and letting them choose for themselves. Anthony Godfrey:What percentage of the time in class is spent hands-on in the lab? Dr. Carlson:Well, it varies. If it's a very theoretical unit, we spend a little more time in the classroom than we would in the lab. But our fourth quarter, we have an independent project where students do their own experimentation. They think of a topic that's interesting to them. They devise their own experiments. They carry them out. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Dr. Carlson:They create a scientific poster and then they bring that poster to what we call a poster symposium. We bring in judges from industry or academic labs to judge and then they compete for hopefully scholarships and prizes. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Well, let's take a look around the lab and see what you've got here. Show me some of the great contraptions and gadgets you have. Okay, let's start here. No food in microwave. [LAUGH] Tell me what this microwave is used for besides frozen corn dogs since it's not used for that. Dr. Carlson:No, no food in there. So students, when they have their microbiology lab, we have to prepare auger plates and we autoclave it because it's a media. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Dr. Carlson:We also make gels so that we can allow for DNA to separate by size in a gel. It's a lot like Jello. We put it in a mold and then we have little places we can put a sample. And then we apply electricity to it. And so in that way, we can run out DNA. We can separate it by size. Anthony Godfrey:You put DNA in a gel, add electricity, and separate it out? Dr. Carlson:Yeah, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That sounds pretty awesome. Dr. Carlson:We use that machine over there that has the camera. Anthony Godfrey:All right, let's go walk over there. Dr. Carlson:Okay. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, I see. Dr. Carlson:And then we always add a chemical to the DNA that makes it fluoresce so we can take pictures. So these are all DNA bands. Anthony Godfrey:DNA bands, yeah. How about that? Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:That's exactly how you imagine it. That's incredible. Dr. Carlson:Yeah, so it's a lot of fun for students. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, yeah, I'll bet. Dr. Carlson:Yeah, so they also do their own 23andMe. So for instance, we try to determine what kind of bitter taste receptor gene they have. So they isolate their own cheek cell DNA. We amplify it with a technique called PCR and then we have them run out the gel so that they can determine whether they have two copies of a bitter taste receptor gene or one copy or they're not a taster. Anthony Godfrey:And what does the bitter taste receptor gene say about a person? Dr. Carlson:Only that they might have a tendency, if they have a bitter taste gene, they might not like broccoli and they might not like other foods that have sort of a bitterness to them. Anthony Godfrey:So they don't like broccoli. It sounds like it's a pretty universal gene then. Dr. Carlson:I like broccoli. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, you like broccoli. Dr. Carlson:And I'm a taster, but there might be certain foods that they just shy away from because of that. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. So that's a particular component of DNA, a particular gene? Dr. Carlson:Yes, it is. And it involves taste perception. Anthony Godfrey:So that's a particular gene. Dr. Carlson:Yeah, so we learn about that. We also look for a deletion in students' DNA that might protect them from a certain virus and so we look for that. It's a 32-base pair deletion. So we learn about the history and then students usually get excited about whether or not they have that. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. So it really is a 23andMe project that you do yourself. Dr. Carlson:It is, it really is. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Okay, talk about seeing the world in a different way. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Well, thank you for providing such a unique, and engaging, and important experience for students here. Dr. Carlson:Yeah, you're welcome. It's my pleasure. It's something I'm very passionate about. And again, I just hope I can recruit more students to really appreciate the great resource that's here. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, it's a fantastic opportunity. Thanks very much for taking the time with us. Dr. Carlson:My pleasure. Thank you. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey:Stay with us. When we come back biotech students talk about their poster projects and competition, a complex competition judged by industry professionals. [MUSIC] Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey:We’re now in the atrium of JATC North for the poster symposium. Tell us about this event and what we're about to see. Dr. Carlson:This is an annual event. It's our 16th year doing this. It's an opportunity for students their last quarter of their high school experience to pick an independent project, experiment in an area of their choosing and then they represent the results of their experiments in a scientific poster. We bring in judges from industry and academic labs to come and judge them and then we are able to offer small amounts of scholarship and prizes to the top six placers. Anthony Godfrey:Outstanding. Dr. Carlson:As well as a student's choice award. Anthony Godfrey:That's great. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:A student's choice award. Dr. Carlson:Yes, that too. Anthony Godfrey:Nice, that's awesome. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:So how many classes are represented here? Dr. Carlson:My two classes, I teach both biotechnology and medical forensics. So it's students in both of those classes that are participating. Anthony Godfrey:Fantastic, and who are some of the industry partners that end up coming to judge? Dr. Carlson:Nelson Labs has been a huge supporter of us. We also have some individuals from the University of Utah Labs. Some of my former students are here, which always makes me so proud that they stayed in the field and progressed. And so we couldn't do it without them, and we also have two teachers from Itineris to help us out. Anthony Godfrey:Really? Wonderful. Dr. Carlson:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Let's walk around and see some of the posters and talk with some students. Hi, Zach, tell me about your poster. Zach:Basically, it's the functional properties behind my project was to essentially capture some microplastics so that it'll be much more easy for bacteria to –bacteria that eat plastic– to basically eat it since it's basically caught in the mesh. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Zach:And using that process to essentially expedite the process of, the eating process. Anthony Godfrey:So, is this the long-term solution to microplastics in your opinion? Zach:I would say that it is one part, but not the only part. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Zach:I think biodegradables is the most effective way to do it. But this is definitely one step forward. Anthony Godfrey:Even for bacteria, it seems pretty sad to live on a diet of microplastics. Zach:Well, not if their food is microplastics. I mean, it's just- Anthony Godfrey:Fair enough. It's all a matter of perspective. Zach:Yes. Their perspective is if it's plastic, I can break it down into a lot of energy. Since the long chains of plastic itself are just bunches of energy chopped up into little portions for the bacteria to essentially eat, grow, and produce off of. Zach:I love that you can describe it in a way that makes plastic actually sound appetizing. Like, hey, I can do a lot by eating microplastics. Zach:I mean, it's, it's all just a matter of taking big chains and transferring them to small chains and energy. Anthony Godfrey:It's such a pleasure meeting you. Zach:Thanks for having me. Anthony Godfrey:We have a lot of great things ahead of you. This is, this is great work. Zach:Thank you. Anthony Godfrey:Hi, Maddie. How are you? Maddie:I'm great. How are you? Anthony Godfrey:Good. Can you talk to me about your poster? It looks great. Maddie:Yes, thank you. So my poster was about humectants and moisturizers and how well they're able to retain waters in different gels. So basically, a humectant is an ingredient in most moisturizers that binds the water to the skin, which is really important since skin doesn't really absorb much. So you want to keep water on the skin for as long as possible to avoid, you know, getting dry skin or getting dehydrated skin. So what I did is I created four identical moisturizer recipes just changing out the humectant each time. So I tested honey, hyaluronic acid, which occurs naturally in our bodies. I tested propylene glycol, which is the only synthetic humectant. And I tested glycerin, which also occurs naturally. I tested these on two different types of gels, an agarose gel and a Ly agar gel, which are basically gels that have a lot of water content in it, which is perfect because they'll generally dry out when left for a while. So I tested the same amount on each gel. So for the agarose gel, I tested it for 72 hours and these were the results after. So the glycerin absorbed into the gel, like basically all the way. The propylene glycol and the hyaluronic acid absorbed in the gel, but they still had a little bit of product left. And the honey absorbed, but it left kind of a lot of liquid on the top. It had ended up leaking out. Anthony Godfrey:So that would not work. Maddie:Yes, basically. And then for the agar gel, due to time restraints, I was only able to test it for 24 hours, but I was still able to get some really good results. So the honey halfway absorbed in the propylene glycol and the hyaluronic acid didn't start absorbing at all. And then the glycerin began the absorption process. I wanted to test it with a moisture meter to quantify the data and how well it was able to retain the water. but the moisture meter…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 255: Elementary School Bookworms Aspire to Become Authors Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

You could say they are young bookworms aspiring to become authors. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside Barbara Steven’s 5th grade classroom at South Jordan Elementary School where the Wit and Wisdom language arts curriculum is helping students develop a love for reading and for being exceptional writers. In fact, Mrs. Stevens got them so excited about reading and writing, they decided to become young authors. Listen and find out how. Audio Transcription [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. You could say they are young bookworms aspiring to become authors. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside Barbara Stevens' 5th-grade classroom at South Jordan Elementary School, where the Wit and Wisdom language arts curriculum is helping students develop a love for language. In fact, Mrs. Stevens got them so excited about reading and writing, they decided to use their talents to become young authors. Listen and find out how. [Music] We are at South Jordan Elementary School talking with Mrs. Stevens and some of her students about their Wit and Wisdom project. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Wit and Wisdom and what's been going on. Barbara Stevens:Okay, so we were eager to get going on the Wit and Wisdom curriculum. The first book that we tried was in Module 2 called The Phantom Tollbooth, a book which I had actually not read before. It was fun because it started with the Abbott and Costello and talked about wordplay and how to play on words. You know, “Who's on First”, and they did that whole skit and analyzed it. Then we jumped into the book, which does a lot of wordplay as well. And in there they had, you would name the characters crazy things like, they went to the abandoned elementary school and the principal was Mrs. McQuitter, or she was the mayor. So we took an exploded moment and modeled and wrote in that style. At first, I was really nervous when I told the kids. I don't usually let kids write in dialogue a lot. I let them write one-time dialogue, but this was like dialogue back and forth, back and forth. We had to teach them their separate paragraphs for each person who talks and all the commas, and the periods, and the quotation marks. I was hesitant to teach that, but we went ahead and they ended up actually loving it. Loving it so much that they were like, let's do more and I had to put extra credit. Okay, extra credit. You can do another one. Okay, extra credit. And so, yeah, I'll let them share their experience because they did really love the creative work that was behind it. Anthony Godfrey:So there were opportunities for them to learn exactly how to write dialogue with all the tools, all the punctuation that goes with that. Barbara Stevens:Yes, it was embedded into the curriculum. And, you know, I've been teaching for a bazillion years, but I had never done that before, so I really had a little bit of cold feet about it. Anthony Godfrey:Let's talk about your bazillion years of teaching. I know that you've taught in other states, other schools. Barbara Stevens:I actually am a retired teacher from Denver Public Schools. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Barbara Stevens:And then decided to come back and Mr. Eardley was kind enough to give me an opportunity to come back with some people I already knew here. And, yeah, I'm back in the classroom. Anthony Godfrey:And you are an early adopter of Wit and Wisdom. So as a retired teacher who worked in another district, I really admire that you're diving in on a new program. Tell me, just for those listening who may not understand what Wit and Wisdom is, tell us a little bit about what that involves and why that brought you to the Phantom Tollbooth as a result. Barbara Stevens:Yeah. Well, I kind of enjoy the curriculum because it takes you into places that you haven't been before, you know. I mean, even myself doing something I had never done before, I grew and the kids grew from it, and we benefited together, learning together. Wit and Wisdom has four modules. It was just brought in, just adopted this year, right? Anthony Godfrey:Right. Barbara Stevens:And then we went ahead and jumped into module three with the wordplay unit. We've actually moved on now into the Civil War unit, so we're doing expository once again, which is kind of a grim reality after doing wordplay. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, right. Right. Barbara Stevens:But we really enjoyed just the opportunity that this curriculum has taken us into learning new things. Anthony Godfrey:It's part of the literacy curriculum, but it covers a lot of other topics, connects it to a lot of other subjects, and provides all the books that go along with those lessons. Barbara Stevens:Yes, and it has language arts embedded into it as well. There's a little language arts lesson attached to each lesson as well. We have writing and reading, yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, writing and reading and... Barbara Stevens:And language arts. Anthony Godfrey:All bundled together. Barbara Stevens:And, did I forget, social studies. Anthony Godfrey:Right. Barbara Stevens:Because right now we're in Civil War, and we'll do Chief Joseph for the first module next year. Anthony Godfrey:And when you can layer all of those things and connect them to each other– Barbara Stevens:Oh, it's amazing. I love the way it has content that you can sink your teeth into, you know, that you really are learning content at the same time you're learning skills. Anthony Godfrey:Whereas in the past sometimes it was just disparate paragraphs and isolated sentences that didn't really connect to broader meaning, but now you described well just how layered that learning can be. Barbara Stevens:Exactly. We were doing noticings and wonderings that we were doing in social studies, and they were looking at this book on the Civil War, and I said, "What kind of noticings do you have?" And Lily raised her hand, she's not here, but she said, "Yeah, I'm noticing that history is a dark place." I said, "Yeah, it can be." Anthony Godfrey:Yes, it can be. Barbara Stevens:It's a good noticing. Anthony Godfrey:Yes, it can be. Tell me again about the exploded moments. What exactly does that involve? Barbara Stevens:Yeah, so back to Phantom Tollbooth, they had to have a character that was out of Abandon Elementary School, so they had to pick a name of the character that would go to a school that was like an abandoned elementary school. So it was a play on words with that, and they had to have dialogue back and forth with someone at the school, and they had to have a little problem that they would overcome and a little situation that they were in. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Barbara Stevens:Yeah, using wordplay. Anthony Godfrey:What can you tell me, what's the overview of the Phantom Tollbooth? What's it about? Barbara Stevens:It's about a boy who is lackadaisical, he's not passionate about anything. Then he goes into an adventure, into a made-up land, I guess, and he meets all the Lethagarians. Anthony Godfrey:The Lethagarians? Barbara Stevens:Yeah, he goes into the Doldrums and he meets the Lethagarians, and he learns to start thinking for himself, which gets the wheels moving on his car so he can move. He goes to Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, and he rescues Rhyme and Reason at the end. And so it's all play on words, very whimsical. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Sounds fun. Stay with us. When we come back, students from Mrs. Stevens' classroom read some of their writing. [music] Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect. Anthony Godfrey:Let's talk to the students about their experiences with the book. So tell me your name and tell me your favorite part of the book. Noah:My name's Noah, and my favorite part was all the adventure. It had a lot of adventure and the quests from it. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, awesome. Lizzie:My name's Lizzie, and my favorite part is when Milo meets Tock, the watchdog. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Milo meets Tock, the watchdog. Okay. Tick tock, as in tick tock, yeah? Okay. Halle:I'm Halle, and my favorite part is when he goes into the Doldrums because he's just so adventurous. Benson:My name is Benson, and my favorite part is probably all the things you have to do to get out of Trouble. Anthony Godfrey:So it sounds like there's wordplay throughout the book, and is it kind of a puzzle to be solved a little bit, it sounds like? Okay. Tell me, can you think of some of the wordplay, some of the puns or the jokes in the book that you thought were particularly funny? Noah:Yeah, in all the characters, they would have a name, and like on Tock, he was a watchdog, and he had a watch inside his body, and he'd keep track of all the time, and he'd get mad when somebody would kill time or waste time. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, okay. Wow. Kill time, waste time, and a watchdog. I've never thought of all those things together. That's awesome. How about you? Lizzie:When Milo jumped to conclusions, he actually jumped to the island Conclusions. Anthony Godfrey:I need to read this book. This sounds so cool. Okay, tell me your favorite. Halle:Their names was probably my favorite because they were just so like, you would never really think of them that much. Barbara Stevens:I remember you really liked the demons when they showed up. They had a Tenacious Tedium where they got stuck doing tedious tasks and couldn't get out. He was one of the demons. Anthony Godfrey:Wow. Very cool. Benson:My probably was the demons that would like, they would have different names for their reasons why. Like, you have to do that. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Okay, cool. Wow. This sounds like quite a book. So, we're going to start right over here with Noah, and I'd like you to talk about what writing project you chose and then read like a favorite paragraph of yours, a favorite part of what you wrote. Noah:It was fun. You had to make up your own teacher, student, principal, whatever, and my mine was a teacher and it's Mr. Disorder and I'll read a little bit of mine. Anthony Godfrey:Mr. Disorder? Yeah. Okay. Noah:It was always out of order. Anthony Godfrey:Okay. Noah:My name is Milo and this is Tock answering Milo. ‘So far he did not like the classroom. There were also a lot of ungraded papers on the teacher's desk. “Hi” grumbled Tock. “Why is there nobody in the classroom, Mr. Disorder?” “Why? I just let them go early. School is just a waste of time. Learning is useless. It's a piece of cake, not learning everything.” answered Mr. Disorder as he was walking across the room.”’ Anthony Godfrey:Awesome. I love that. Noah, do you hear idioms and wordplay differently having read this book and gone through these lessons with Mrs. Stevens? Noah:Yeah. Learning, well, all of it means more. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. Do you notice them more than you used to? Noah:A lot. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, Lizzie, tell us about what paragraph you wrote. Lizzie:My paragraph was about Mr. Deserted who's a teacher and Milo joined his class. “Mr. Deserted, can I speak with you?” Milo questioned. “What do you need, kid?” He grunted in reply. “Why did you give everyone an F-? I worked hard. I at least got one right. It's like you didn't even try. Did you?” Milo whispered in his sad voice. “I didn't. It's way easier, kid. You'll learn that someday.” Mr. Deserted replied in a deep, booming voice. “But then they have nothing to look forward to after all that hard work!” Milo shouted in anger as he clenched his fists. Anthony Godfrey:What was your idiom? Lizzie:It's later on. Anthony Godfrey:Okay, it's later on. Lizzie:It's Mr. Deserted. “Mr. Deserted looked around clearly not wanting to spill the beans.” Anthony Godfrey:That's really good dialogue and you read it very well also. I could see that you had really thought through those characters. That's great. Okay, Halle, tell us about your passage here that you wrote. Halle:So mine is about where I named this kid Quitter and it's about where the demon meets Quitter and Milo. My favorite paragraph is, "Milo, if we die, tell my mom and dad that I love them and that I don't know why I have bad grades. I like to finish every assigned paper halfway through," said Quitter faintly. “Okay, I will. And if I die, tell my mom and dad I love them too”, said Milo. Anthony Godfrey:Very nice. Lots of drama in just those few lines. There's a lot going on. And I've said paragraph, but there's a new paragraph for every line, as Mrs. Stevens so clearly pointed out. So did you find that making new paragraphs and putting all that punctuation in was difficult at first but got easier along the way? Okay, Benson, read your passage to us and tell us what you wrote about. Benson:So I wrote about my character as a teacher, Mr. Left, and he did not like to finish things all the way. ‘Milo and Tock and Mr. Left were in a dark and gloomy school with bad food. While Milo turned to Mr. Left and asked, "Why do you like reading books?" “Because you can learn a lot from them,” said Mr. Left, as he closed the door and came back to his chair.’ Anthony Godfrey:Very cool. Mr. Left, I like that because there's always things left undone. This seems like really fun schoolwork. Tell me what it's like to be in Mrs. Stevens' class. I'll bet a lot of fun things happen in there. Tell me about what it's like to be in her class. Noah:It's a lot of fun because you get to read the book and you have the lesson for every chapter, and you can review all of it and understand it more. Lizzie:Mrs. Stevens explains the lessons clearly so we know exactly what to do. Halle:We have a lot of fun doing projects in school, and sometimes we can work with partners, and it makes me want to look forward to school. Benson:She's helped me become a better writer and typing. Anthony Godfrey:Well, you're all very lucky to be in her class, I can tell you that. Talking about exploding moments, is there a favorite moment in class that you can think of? She's teaching you a lot, that's for sure. Any moments you want to explode? Noah:All of the writing projects, and we have to make up our own characters and their personalities. Barbara Stevens:I really like the way they just sparked up once the book got to the demons. They were like, "Oh, forget this Abandon Elementary, we want to write about the demons." That was interesting because I said, "Yeah, go ahead, you can do it in your extra credit, get those demons in there." Then later in the curriculum, we saw that they were going to do another exploding moment with the demons. I think the curriculum knew where they would be, peaking their interest. Anthony Godfrey:Good. Barbara Stevens:You guys like the demons. Anthony Godfrey:Well, you all did a great job writing. Aside from the writing and the reading, what are some other things that you've loved in Mrs. Stevens' class? Noah:Science. We get to do a lot of projects in science. The other years we don't really do a lot of stuff, but now we actually get to do it in real life. Anthony Godfrey:Hands-on, real experiments. Barbara Stevens:Most of that is FOSS. It's the district…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 254: Collectable Cards Make Classroom Learning Come Alive Jul 18, 2024

Show notes

They may not be learning about baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, or Reggie Jackson, but some fourth-grade students at Jordan Ridge Elementary School had their own fun with collectable Utah history trading cards in the classroom. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside Jennifer Romriell’s classroom where students made their own trading cards based on someone or something in Utah history. It was a lesson that made learning about people and the past really come alive. Audio Transcription [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They may not be learning about baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, or Reggie Jackson, but some fourth-grade students at Jordan Ridge Elementary School have their own fun with collectible Utah history trading cards in the classroom. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside Jennifer Romriell's classroom, where students make their own trading cards based on someone or something in Utah history. It was a lesson that made learning about people and the past really come alive. [Music] We're here with Jennifer Romriell talking with her about her fourth-grade class and their project on Utah history trading cards. I have loved being in your class. I've only been in there a few minutes, but it's really been fun. You have them very well organized and trained, by the way. Jennifer Romriell:Yeah. Thanks. Anthony Godfrey:It was it was obvious that you create a space very intentionally for them to prepare to be successful in an assignment, ask their questions, share their ideas, and then you throw it out to the whole class. What do you think? Is that an idea that's going to match up? I really admire the way you have your classroom organized and your class procedures and you're obviously making the most of your time with the students. Jennifer Romriell:Thank you. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, yeah, it's and every student I talk to loves being in your class and that's no surprise. Tell us about this particular assignment and what you've been learning about Utah history. Jennifer Romriell:So I'm not a native Utahan and so I actually am learning just as much as the kids are as I'm learning about Utah history and all the connections. Anthony Godfrey:I'm not a Utah native either so I've always felt behind. Jennifer Romriell:Yes, yes, and then I came to fourth grade. I was in the district for a while and then moved overseas and then came back and I was thrown into fourth grade being like I've never– I don't know Utah history. I have to teach it now. Then one way to throw yourself into it is I volunteered to be part of the state social studies curriculum that are writing the lessons. So that forced me to learn more about those historical events. I think history is an amazing fun part of learning and to make it more fun is to connect it first. To use primary sources and then to see if they can create something out of it. So essays are one thing we use for creating, but we've done comics, we've done poster boards, we've done movie trailers, we've done plays. We've created our own plays. So today, because we're summarizing all of the strands, I wanted to just kind of do a good summary before we move on to the now and do trading cards. I don't know about the rest of the state, but fourth grade they're kind of dabbling into Dungeon and Dragons is like this big thing. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, right. Jennifer Romriell:I'm trying to connect to the kids. I have some sporty kids that do hockey, baseball, and soccer and they have trading cards for sports. So one way to connect with them is to do a trading card for history. Anthony Godfrey:Pokemon cards are a little bit of a trading card also. Jennifer Romriell:Yes, that’s huge. That’s a good point. Yeah, same connection. Anthony Godfrey:No, I love that. I love that. I think it's a really cool activity and what I like is that they got to choose some favorites. They got to choose a favorite figure so they're thinking through all of the things that they've learned. Some of them wanted to do more of an event like the atomic bomb or downwinders or something. Jennifer Romriell:I didn’t even think about that. I might want to trade or change the trading cards to be like oh it could be even events. When I opened up the class I was like yeah, that's not a person that's a whole event and that's really cool that they are teaching me. So next year I'm going to change those cards. Anthony Godfrey:Well, it was fun to see that creativity. What are some of the things that you've taught this year that have really stood out for them that really captured their imagination? Jennifer Romriell:I think especially when students lead the instruction they're so curious about things. I love diving into the eight sovereign nations. They really loved researching and kind of following the path throughout the whole history strands. Anthony Godfrey:The eight Native American sovereign nations within Utah. Jennifer Romriell:Yeah, because normally like we would learn about it before colonists or Spain came or whatever and then you kind of are done. But we've been tracking how it's been influential and infecting the Native tribes throughout the whole strands and that's been really cool for them to reconnect over and over again. Having that foundation of oh, the Paiutes in the southern or the Skoll Valley tribe or this and that and that makes sense why they moved here and all that reservation treaty and it was really cool that they're making those connections that I've seen stronger this year than previous years I've taught. I'm a big advocate for International Women's Month. You probably saw them, they're like can we do these women? Anthony Godfrey:Well, I saw the Helen Keller essays. They were so good. I love that you pointed those out to me. They're posted there on the wall. I learned some things about Helen Keller that I did not know. Jennifer Romriell:Right? They did really well with those essays. We call it our word graffiti and they have to post it up there. I think they were the highest-scoring and the longest they've done. So there are five-paragraph essays. Anthony Godfrey:Some of them were two pages. Yeah.:I know. Anthony Godfrey:That was really cool. Jennifer Romriell:And we used Utah Compose so I didn't have to grade at all. I was able just to enjoy it. Anthony Godfrey:Yes. I'm glad I noticed. I noticed that it was pointing things out. I was wishing for that back in the 1900s when I was teaching writing. You know that's a nice touch. Jennifer Romriell:Yeah. So I love learning about I think women's suffrage in Utah is huge. We were pioneering literally and figuratively at that point and so that was a huge thing we did. The whole month was attributed just to that. Better Days 2020 is a website that has happened with Utah. I went in to talk about all those women and so they really have this huge connection with that. We do a lot of hands-on with the fur trappers and the mountaineer men because they carved out Utah, named it with the rendezvous. And then also modern day. We did one lesson on the downwinders and it was just interesting how connected they were because some of their grandparents were around. I always do messages to parents so that they can connect and know that we're learning about this topic so this is the time to talk to your kids about it. There's a connection. I was surprised how connected my class was to that part. So that was something I didn't think was going to have a huge connection but because grandparents lived in southern Utah there were a lot of connections with that. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah. I have a connection as well. It's interesting. I read an article once about the difference between history and memory. It turns into history when no one's alive who was around for it. Jennifer Romriell:I like that. Anthony Godfrey:But it's still memory. So you're still covering some things that fall in that category and that they have a connection with. Like you said you're really helping them make connections with the even older history of Utah where it's all kind of piecing together for them. It was fun to see their enthusiasm for this project as a culminating project. I saw a little silent hand clapping at the desk and some fist pumps when you said “Yes, what you want to make your trading card about, that qualifies.” The double fist pump that their favorite subject in Utah history. Jennifer Romriell:That’s the goal, right? Anthony Godfrey:That's so great. It's so great. As you were working on the statewide curriculum, and I admire that you dove in. “I don't know as much about this as I want to so I'm going to help at the state level.” I think that's fantastic. What are some of the things that stood out to you as a non-native Utahan as elements of Utah history that are particularly important to have in the curriculum? Jennifer Romriell:I think Utah, because it was a state so late in our nation, it does have a really cool history of pre-statehood. I find that fascinating because there was so much going on in Utah even before it became a state. Which is very unique to a lot of the states we have in America because normally, it's like we colonize, we're here and then we're a state. But we had a delay on that and it was really cool to teach that connection and to dive deep into the sources. I think Utah is also unique, having grown up in Michigan and Oregon those are my other states I've lived in, where there is this love of history. So when I dive deep into the state curriculum I'm able to find primary sources really easily and I think that ignites student curiosity. When you show them, for example, we did a lesson on the railroad and we showed them Ogden before the railroad and then we showed them Ogden post railroad. They're able to look at city plans and be like “Whoa, look at the growth. Look at the difference. Look what the railroad did to Ogden”. And then Corinne was a railroad city and then the railroad went away from that city. And they're able to compare before and afters and say “Oh, the railroad when it left that city, what a huge difference”. Because Utah is so unique in how it loves history, it's amazing how many primary sources that you can have and give to the kids. There's a site, I Love Utah, that the kids who need extension work, my talent and gifted kids– whenever I do a topic I can send them safely to that site and be like these are what we're learning about. Here's what we're doing. Create a slide or an essay or something and you're going to present it to the class. So they're able to do a passion project on that as I'm scaffolding with the rest of the class. Anthony Godfrey:I did talk with a student who talked about making a slideshow and doing it with a team member and she loved working with another student and putting together those slides. That's really fun. Jennifer Romriell:And they can think critically that way and ask those questions, right? Something we say in my class is ‘there's no shame or blame when we learn history. When you know better you do better.’ So it's been really cool to train them to learn about our history and be like “Okay I know I wouldn't make those choices, but I can't shame or blame what they did because that's their time period”. It's been cool to have them be like you know when we talk about Native Americans in boarding schools for example or we learned about the Japanese internment camps in Topaz. You can see this conflict they have, but then we always say “okay no shame or blame this is what history tells us. You can have opinions on it, but we need to analyze it like historians. What are some things you're seeing?” They're 10 and 11 but they're able to do it. It's really cool. Hopefully it trains them for the future to have good civil dialogue and debate. Anthony Godfrey:Certainly. Now you also told them that you want everything to be creative, careful and colorful. Jennifer Romriell:Careful, colorful and creative. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, careful, colorful and creative. I got it in the wrong order. Jennifer Romriell:When I taught kindergarten that's the thing I kept with me. Anthony Godfrey:Hey, kindergarten has a lot of lessons that apply throughout life. Jennifer Romriell:It does. It does. Anthony Godfrey:Careful, colorful and creative. Starting with careful. I love it. That’s great. Jennifer Romriell:Yes and they know it. I check it I'm like “oh, try again”. Anthony Godfrey:Well, students being in your class every minute is time well spent. Jennifer Romriell:It needs to be, right? Anthony Godfrey:You are making the most of it and it's really fun to see your energy and the enthusiasm the students have for learning in your class. Jennifer Romriell:The kids were super excited to show off what they learned and what they know. To brag about it. Anthony Godfrey:Oh, it's my pleasure. Stay with us. When we come back we'll talk with some of Jennifer Romriell’s students and talk about their trading cards. Break:Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect. Anthony Godfrey:Introduce yourself and tell us what you're doing on your trading card. Evelyn:So I'm Evelyn and on my first one I did Peter Skene Ogden. He was a fur trader or fur trapper and mountain man. I did him because Ogden is his last name and he has a town name after him and so I think that was really cool. So I did that for him. Then for my second trading card I'm kind of doing the event of women's suffrage in Utah because we learned all about it in March so we know a lot about it. So I'm gonna draw like them speaking about how they should be able to vote and stuff like that. Anthony Godfrey:Tell me a little bit about women getting the vote in Utah. What did you learn about that last month? Evelyn:So we learned about Susan B. Anthony and her connection to Utah and how she helped us become one of the voting states. And we learned about Emmeline B. Wells and how she was Utah's leading suffragist. And Eurithe K. LaBarthe the first woman to vote, Martha Hughes Cannon the first— Anthony Godfrey:She was the doctor, is that right? Evelyn:I think that was the first legislator of Utah. The first woman one. Anthony Godfrey:Great. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, you're learning a lot. Is history your favorite subject? Evelyn:Yeah. Anthony Godfrey:What other things have you learned about Utah here in your class with Mrs. Romriell? Evelyn:We did Native Americans at the beginning of the year. Then for traders and mountain men and then we kind of worked on like the pioneers and pre-expansion. Then we did women's month and now we're kind of— and then we did statehood and yeah. Anthony Godfrey:Very good. Impressive. What do you like most about being in Mrs. Romriell’s class? Evelyn:I think it's because it's fun. I love her history lessons because they're so fun and I think it's so I've learned the most in her class. Anthony Godfrey:Awesome. Well, thank you very much. Good luck. This looks…

Full show notes at the publisher

Episode 253: Jordan School District Receives Top International Award for Use of Cutting-Edge Technology, Meet Members of the Digital Learning Team Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

It is one of the highest and most prestigious honors given each year recognizing school districts who are transforming education through the use of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence in the classroom. Competing against school districts from all corners of the world, Jordan School District was a top 2024 winner in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Awards. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk to members of the Digital Learning team helping Jordan be a changemaker, shaping the future of education with the proactive and innovative use of technology. Audio Transcription [Music] Anthony Godfrey:Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is one of the highest and most prestigious honors given each year, recognizing school districts who are transforming education through the use of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence in the classroom. Competing against school districts from all corners of the world, Jordan School District was a top 2024 winner in the International Society for Technology in Education or ISTE Awards. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk to members of the Digital Learning team helping Jordan be a changemaker, shaping the future of education with the proactive and innovative use of technology. [Music] We're here at the Salt Palace today on the last day of the UCET Conference to talk with a couple of the participants from Jordan School District, and when I say participants, they were a serious part of what's happening here and will be going into the future. So introduce yourselves and talk a little bit about your role here at UCET. Kiera Beddes:Hi everybody, my name is Kiera Beddes. I'm on the Digital Teaching and Learning team, and I'm also on the UCET Board, and what Dr. Godfrey was hinting at, going forward, I'm going to be the UCET President. So next year's conference I'll be heavily involved in, and this year's conference I obviously worked with the board to help organize everything and to see this fine event as you have now experienced. Anthony Godfrey:Yes, I've experienced it for a couple of years in a row now, and it really is fabulous, and I love the number of Jordan School District teachers and coaches and district personnel that I run into in the hallway. We have really good representation. Kiera Beddes:Yeah, it's almost like a family reunion, because like every corner you turn you're like, “it's someone else from my district”, and it's amazing. And speaking of people in our district, our other guest today. Anthony Godfrey:Yes, Krista. Krista Gibbons:I'm Krista Gibbons. I'm a teacher and a coach, and this is my first year I came and actually presented. So I always love coming to UCET and all the wonderful things you learn here, but I braved out this time and I decided to do a presentation on coaching. Anthony Godfrey:Tell everyone what your role looks like in Jordan School District before we talk more about what you did here at the conference. Krista Gibbons:Yeah, for sure. So I am a virtual middle school teacher at the new JVLA Academy. So I work with a lot of students in the online virtual environment, which is tons of fun. And then I'm also a coach at my school and digital specialist at my school. Anthony Godfrey:And I heard you packed them in today at your presentation. Tell me about that. Krista Gibbons:I did. It was actually very surprising for me. I thought I was going to be in a small room with a couple of people. And then all of a sudden it was a huge room. I had around 100-plus people that were in there, which is amazing to realize how important coaching is and how it is a field you can rely on others. So that was fun. But yeah, it was a packed house. It made me a little nervous to start out the day. I can take an auditorium filled with teenage middle schoolers, but adults kind of creep me out. It makes me a little nervous. Anthony Godfrey:Well, there are lots of adults who would be terrified of speaking in front of middle school students. So that's true. You have a great range of skills to be able to present to both. Tell me about some of the points about coaching that you made today, because some people may not fully understand the importance of coaches and the role of coaches. Krista Gibbons:So coaches, just like being on a team where you watch and you help and you observe and help them find their strengths and then build on those strengths. So being a coach is just being that extra support for teachers. My presentation was on coaching smarter, not harder, and using all the tools you have at your disposal in Google Suites and other tools that our district provides us. Just really using those to your advantage to make it a great experience for you as a coach and also for teachers. And helping the teachers realize they can succeed and that when things get difficult, they can fall back on a toolkit that they already have and just rebuild from there. And so that was kind of my main focus points. Anthony Godfrey:Fantastic. I'm really glad to have you in that role. And I'm really glad that we have Kelsey Peak in place. I've been so thrilled to see how the virtual schools have thrived. Of course, enrollment goes up and down as people have needs throughout the year even, but we've started to see what the pattern is. It's just such an important option for students to have the ability to learn online when they need to. For some, it works best for them all the time and some find themselves in particular circumstances that allow them to learn best virtually. Krista Gibbons:Yep. It's really an exciting thing to be a part of. Anthony Godfrey:Now, Kiera, tell us a little bit more about UCET. You've been on the board. How long have you been on the board? And I'll just tell people, we are here talking with you on the cusp of your presidency because your rule and your reign will begin shortly. This conference is just about over, which means that your role as president will kick in. Tell us about UCET for those who don't know what it is, what's it focused on, how long has it been going, and what do you hope for the future as president. Kiera Beddes:Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, long story short, UCET has been around forever it feels like. Probably not forever, but way before I became a part of it. I started getting involved with UCET, I want to say 2017, 2018 is when I started attending the conference. And I was like, "Where has this been all my life?" And because I love the conference so much, I, like, Krista, started putting in some sessions. And then I was like, "How can I get more involved?" And then I ran for the board. And then I ran for the board again. I always make the joke that I was like, "Third time’s the charm." And it was because it was the third time that I ran that I got on the board. The board is an amazing support group- it's not all me. I keep saying that because people have been reminding me all throughout the conference these past two days, they're like, "It's your turn next." And I was like, "Yes, it is." But it's not just me, it's the board of, we have about 20, 22 people on the board. And together with everybody else, we make magic happen. Anthony Godfrey:It's fantastic and I know you're going to do a great job. Tell everyone what UCET stands for and what is it really focused on? Kiera Beddes:Yeah, thank you for reminding me. So UCET stands for the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology. And we're an educational nonprofit, so we're not like a business or anything. We're just a volunteer group of educators who come together to help celebrate and focus on the effective use of educational technology in the state of Utah. So not only what's the latest and greatest, but how can we use these tools in the best ways possible for our students. So on our board, we have representatives from across the whole state. So we have rural schools represented, we have a virtual school representative, we have people from the state board, as well as different districts across the state, all together for that common purpose of how can we help technology be a better part of the learning process. Anthony Godfrey:It's really exciting to see those who are more on the instructional side, some who are more on the technology end of things coming together. And like you said, from the state, from small districts, from large districts, and I'm really proud of the level of representation from Jordan. Talk to me a little bit about that. Kiera Beddes:Yeah, we sometimes joke that it's kind of the Jordan show on the UCET board, just because we have so many people, and I say so many, there's like three or four of us on the board currently. Every year, there's elections and four new people get voted on. But having, I think, Jordan being a part of those conversations of like, how can we share best practices? How can we highlight what's going on across the state? I think is really important. And it also is a moment to kind of toot our horn as Jordan District, we're saying like, "look at what we're doing. This is awesome." We also want to like share the spotlight with other people, but every chance I get I'm looking at, “Hey, look at what Jordan's doing, look at our teachers.” And we're all doing it for the kids, which is the real focus. Anthony Godfrey:We do have an incredible group of educators who really are focused on providing the best access to technology and the best instruction that is enhanced through technology for our students. With that purpose of having better learning outcomes, and more exciting experiences for our students. Kiera Beddes:Well, and Krista, like with your situation being in all virtual school, I think you in your school, more than anybody, can speak to this, right? It's not about the tool. It's about how you use it in instruction. Krista Gibbons:Oh, no, that really is because you can have a Nearpod or you can have like a Canvas site set up. But it's all about helping the students not become consumers, but creators. That's like the big shift you have to make with technology because it's easy to consume. Kids sit on TikTok and you know, Vines all day and can consume hours of material, but they never create. And so that's what I love about UCET as well, especially in our district. That creative, inventive initiative we have as a district that we're encouraged to be brave and try new things and to do things that help the kids learn better. So that's also fantastic. Anthony Godfrey:We do work hard to create that environment. And folks like the two of you are the ones who really make that possible for the teachers that you work with because you provide the pathway forward. They're interested, they're curious, and you give them the tools they need to make that possible. Stay with us. When we come back more with the Jordan School District Digital Learning team. Break:Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org Anthony Godfrey:I think it's important what you said about the tool. It's a tool for connecting more effectively with a teacher. That's really what it means. Some people might think that for example at our virtual academy, the schools that make that up, maybe there's less contact with a teacher. I would suggest there's way more. There's a lot of individualization and there's a really deep connection just because a lot of the things that are associated with a brick and mortar classroom are kind of pared back. You can really focus on that connection with a student. Really focus on those learning outcomes and it's really exciting to see. Krista Gibbons:It really is. And like you said, the tool that allows you to do that. I've done things I would have never dreamed about doing in a brick and mortar, especially with giving voice to students. They've created their own podcasts on like lesson reviews and things that they can read and share with each other and it would never–it just is such a fun environment. Anthony Godfrey:It's very different from what people might picture virtual learning to look like because it's not our pandemic side of the road, let's see what's in the trunk sort of learning. It's very focused on an intentional approach to creating a very unique learning environment that's centered on the individual needs of students in a way that really isn't possible through other methods. Krista Gibbons:Yep, and I love how it gives our students a voice. I just answered an email earlier today where I have a student who's in a little bit more of a difficult situation going in and out of the hospital. So she created her plan and said "Okay this is what I was able to accomplish this is what I would like to accomplish." She created the path and then I'm just going to support her along it to get the education which is very different than what you could do in a brick and mortar. I think it makes it more independent and stronger advocates for themselves in a learning environment. Anthony Godfrey:Yeah, you can think about the role of technology and education and instruction. You can talk about virtual learning and how UCET helps expand our creativity and think about learning in different ways. But really, it comes down to those individual student stories about how they were able to learn in ways that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise and I'm just really excited. I just saw Jared Covelli walk by. I heard someone call him the mayor of UCET, speaking of the Jordan School District participation. So we have the president, new presenter and the mayor all represented within a few feet of us. We're here right now at a booth at UCET that is set up for us to just walk up put in the memory card and record the old podcast. It's pretty exciting to be able to just walk up and do that. So I just love being here. It's a great atmosphere and I'm so thrilled to have the two of you involved the way that you have been. Any other thoughts about technology in education in Jordan School District? Kiera Beddes:Mostly I'm just excited about all the creative ways teachers are using technology. I'm excited for all the potential that they have to focus on student learning, personalizing it. I think back to one of our conversations, I think during the summer, when you said you want Jordan District to be like the Cheesecake Factory menu instead of In ‘n Out. That has stuck in my brain. Kind of the same approach for UCET right? We want to have as many different offerings and pathways and strands and anything for our attendees, our teachers so that they can get what they need out of this conference. So that they can put into practice all those awesome things right away in their classroom. It's exciting to see Krista present this year and I hope next year and from here on out. And before you know it, Krista, you can be UCET president too. Anthony Godfrey:Krista, we were here when it was first mentioned. Kri…

Full show notes at the publisher

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected