A Look Back with Mr. Meta

I wanted to post a podcast of my blog entry about EmmeClaire's stay in the hospital.   I thought that I did ok with the blog and it's reflection of my stay. So I read it here for the podcast.  I also had EmmeClaire in my office for this recording so that was fun too!

So if you want to listen up and if you want to read it, it's at JimMetasWorld, my blog about my life.

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Ok, so again, I am trying something new....I am going to try to find purposeful moments in my life to share and not just things that I love. 

So no more steelers opinions, unless it's huge and more AHA moments.

This week, I share a "Movie of the Week" and a blog moment.  I also was moved by a student in my class singing, so I asked her to sing on the show for me!  She's good.

Then I will also have one or two interviews, this week, one, Mr. Aaron Nicolosi, whom has been my roommate for our DC trip for 5-7 years.  We share a famous story of us going shirtless at the Rocky Statue in Philly!

Enjoy the Show!

I am back for another episode of the new podcast.  This week, my parents came to visit, so with the top ten topics in my world, I also interviewed my mom, Susie in the kitchen!

Some things I covered:

As always, go to Apple Podcast and give me a good rating and let me know how to get better!

See yinz next week!

I am back and trying something different.  Although I want to continue to have sit down interviews with my former colleagues and students, I am trying something new which is go over the my top ten thoughts that have something to do with the world around me.

It could be anything...today:

and.....

I am hoping to clean it up a bit, but I know I will get better!

Randy Wright

This is a special one!  About a month ago, I put out a notice for anyone who wanted to be a guest on the show and Mr. Wright, the Assistant Superintendent of Olentangy Local Schools said he would do it.  My initial thought was, "should I take him up on his offer?"  He's never been my boss, but I felt like I knew him enough to come up with a good interview..."

Boy, I am glad that I did.  It was such a good conversation!  We came into the district at the same time, 1999, and I found out that we have a lot in common and share a lot of the same feelings in education.  I am honored that he leads in the district where I work!

We spent an hour in his office as EmmeClaire played on her tablet.  We talked about meeting each other, singing in Lip Dubs, what an assistant superintendent does and a lot more!  Mr. Wright, thank you for your time and I am thrilled to share our conversation on my show!

If you work in Olentangy, listen to this, because in my opinion, we have a solid leadership team leading our schools!

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Madi H., Madeline R. and Lily A.

Today's Look Back podcast is with some brand new Eagle News alumni!  Madeline, Madi and Lily just wrapped up their time at Hyatts in 8th grade and their time in Eagle News.  All of our memories are very fresh and new as they have only been gone from 8th grade for one month.

This was such a fun conversation and brought back so many nice, new, fresh moments for my 21 year in education!  All three ladies were a gigantic part of my school year!  From getting to know Lily on the bus as we went to DC in October to getting to know Madeline and Madi during all the lunches and study halls!

This podcast is long, it's about 90 minutes, but it has sparked a way for me to take additional "Look Backs" by myself.  Because of this conversation, I started to make a list on my phone to talk about and share with the audience that follows this or at least for me to have when I retire!

To Lily, Madeline and Madi, thank you, thank you, thank you!  I appreciate your time!  This was a lot of fun!

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Kristen Koehrsen

Kristen and I met at Panera Bread on a Thursday morning!  This was a perfect conversation to continue the podcast this summer!  Kristen was a student at Hyatts and a big part of the Eagle News program when she was here.  She is starting her 2nd year at Ohio University in fall and using her summer to relax, work and make money and be with her family!  

I love to hear what our students remember about Hyatts.  I am sure that most kids think the same way, but it is amazing what my students remember about their middle school!  Hyatts is a special place where Kristen reflects that she loves how she comes back and not only do I, but so many of the teachers here remember her and her time in their class.  That says alot!

We, of course, talked about her time in Eagle News, her work in the lip dub and her little gaffe during a part of the recording, the Film Festival and she remembers me crying over the only year that I didn't go to Washington D.C.

Enjoy this podcast!

Jim

Jonathan Cottrill

So I was so very excited to get a hold of Jonathan before he headed back to California to work over the summer and make some cash in preparation for his sophomore year at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

I was so excited to hear about all the hard work that Jonathan had been working on as well as all of the ups and downs he experienced as a first year college student all the way across the country.  Enjoy our conversation!

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Thomas Garverick

Thomas, back in 2012, singing in the Hyatts Lip Dub.  

A couple of weeks ago, Thomas and I connected back as he moved back from his sophomore year at Ohio University.  He moved back and started right away with an internship down at NBC 4 in Columbus.  He is an ambitious kid who has a lot going for him.  He is as hard working a kid as I've ever seen.  

I was Thomas' third grade teacher at Scioto Ridge and then his middle school technology teacher at Hyatts where Thomas spent most of his Unified Arts time in Eagle News.  

Please spend some time listening to our conversation.  It was a fun one, with my kids sitting there and with Bob Evans happening around us!  

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Allissa Thornton

Allissa at the Hyatts Film Festival in 2014.

Welcome back to the "Look Back" Podcast and today's show is a special one!  Allissa Thornton came by school today to spend an hour with me looking back at our time at Hyatts in Eagle News!  She also tells me about her career in cheerleading and how it's leading her to Ohio State.   She talks a lot about doing her thing, making the most of family time and a lot about her friends!

My favorite part of the show is when she talks about Hyatts.  She talks about how all the teachers made her feel happy to be at school, her time in Eagle News and her work in the lipdub and a little bit about the Hyatts Film Festival.  We also talk about being on the news production and take a quick look back at her DC trip in 8th grade.

Enjoy this conversation, I sure did and I thank Allissa for stopping by and contributing to the show!  I will now always have this as a part of my "Mr. Holland's Opus."

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