BV Unmuted

"I get to see my fifth graders every single day... and that means they retain what we do really well. I had a fifth grader tell me 'I just want you to know that I look forward to this class all day!' and I replied 'Well, that's really cool, because we get to do it again tomorrow!'" - Michael Arbucci, strings teacher

Blue Valley’s performing arts program is one place where students can find a home. It has multiple arms including band, orchestra (strings), choir, theater, debate and competitive speaking. During this episode of BV unmuted, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Kelly Ott hosts a discussion with District Coordinator of Performing Arts Janelle Brower, strings teacher Michael Arbucci, and band teacher Lindsay Gamble. They describe the opportunities available to students and how performing arts can benefit kids while they are in school and for the rest of their lives as well.

For a transcript of this episode, click here. 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"We need to be careful to be consumers of technology, but not let technology consume us."
- Heather Jones, Blue Valley parent

The internet is a wonderful place for learning and entertainment, but like the world around us, it can pose dangers if precautions are not taken. Through digital citizenship, Blue Valley students learn how to responsibly use technology to learn anytime, anywhere, and how to stay safe while doing so. In this episode of BV unmuted, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Kelly Ott and Director of Blended Learning Brad Moser join Blue Valley parents Heather and Michael Jones to discuss ways to help keep your kids safe while online, as well as their hopes for the future of digital citizenship.

For more information, visit https://www.bluevalleyk12.org/digitalcitizenship 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

The Learning Connection will be a resource for all families, from those with children entering early learning to those with graduating seniors. The resource allows Blue Valley to engage with the community on a regular basis and serve as an additional platform to expand families’ knowledge about the district’s learning and teaching initiatives and operations. 

In this episode of BV unmuted, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Kelly Ott visits with Director of Career-Ready Programs Adam Wessel and BVN junior Cameron King. They focus on the opportunities available to students in the area of Career-Ready Programs, including Cameron's experience in studying Welding and Metal Fabrication.

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"I think with all of the arts, it's learning to perform and to handle performance anxiety, which is a natural anxiety to have... that's normal. So normalizing that anxiety and having a professional who knows how to help you with that and coach you through that. That's an amazing skill to have because we all face that in life." - Janelle Brower, Performing Arts Coordinator

In this episode of BV unmuted, Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan talks all things "arts" with Speech and Drama teacher Reed Uthe, Debate teacher and coach Ryan McFarland, as well as Performing Arts Coordinator Janelle Brower. They chat about the amazing performing arts opportunities that Blue Valley offers, as well as how the arts benefit students and staff alike.

For a transcript of this episode, click here. 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"This is a year, if you will, of recovery. There may be times that our curriculum calls for certain skills to be taught. But we may realize... that our students aren't quite ready for that content. We're trying to communicate the need to slow down and back up." - Dr. Katie Collier, Deputy Superintendent.

Sometimes, it's important to slow down before you speed up. This is especially important in addressing the needs of Blue Valley students as they recover from the effects of the pandemic. In this episode of BV unmuted, Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan visits with Deputy Superintendent Dr. Katie Collier and Director of Academic Achievement and Accountability Adam Wade. They discuss the efforts of our teachers and administrators as they connect with students to grow their minds and their hearts during this year of recovery.

For a transcript of this episode, click here. 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"Quite frankly, I've worked in this community for 30 years and I've never seen anything like it - people coming together, for a common cause, led by students." - Tim DeWeese, Director of Johnson County Mental Health Center.

Our 2021-22 season of BV unmuted starts off with one of the most important topics out there - student mental health. Blue Valley seniors and #ZeroReasonsWhy members Anna Hamilton and Esha Parikh join Director of Johnson County Mental Health Center Tim DeWeese and Blue Valley Schools Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan. They discuss the importance of storytelling and community mobilization campaigns to remove the stigma of mental health and prevent teen suicide.

For more information on #ZeroReasonsWhy, visit www.zeroreasonswhy.org

If you or a loved one need or want help, someone is always here for you. Call 913-268-0156 to speak with professionals who care about you - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For a transcript of this episode, click here

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"I'm excited to get everybody back for sporting events and all that stuff. I'm really excited to get back to the normalcy of school. I feel like everyone deserves to have that high school experience." - Gage Roach, junior at Blue Valley West.

We close out our third season of the Blue Valley Schools podcast with a look back at a school year unlike any other. Three BV high school students - BVNW senior Emma Johnson, BVW junior Gage Roach, and BVSW senior Karthik Sathish - join Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan in an honest conversation about their experiences with virtual and hybrid learning, life as a student amid a pandemic, and their hopes for the future.

For a transcript of this episode, click here

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"With COVID-19, you get exposed and may not have symptoms for up to 14 days. You can spend 14 days potentially exposing everyone wherever you go. With the flu, often times it's only 2 days from when you get exposed to when you show symptoms and get sick." - Jenna Miller, MD, FAAP 

We've had a lot of questions from our listeners about the differences between COVID-19 and the seasonal flu. In this episode, we answer a lot of those questions. Blue Valley's Dr. Chris Jenson is joined by Jenna Miller, MD, FAAP, from Children's Mercy to discuss how these viruses can affect us, the amount of time they can continue to affect us, and how the vaccines are produced to stop them. 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"We've had a lot of great questions from our parents, students and staff regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and these questions are important... We wanted to hit them head-on and share the results with you." - Dr. Chris Jenson, Blue Valley Medical Consultant

When circumstances are changing fast, sometimes you've got to change gears. That's why we've teamed up with Blue Valley's very own Dr. Chris Jenson in a podcast series we're calling "On Call with Doc. J." Dr. Jenson is a former ER doctor, a Blue Valley teacher, and is currently serving the district as our Blue Valley Medical Consultant. Over the next few weeks, Dr. Jenson will invite local and regional health experts to answer questions about the coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to work through these topics with you, keep you informed, and let you know what Blue Valley is doing to help keep our students, staff and community safe.

For more information, visit the BV COVID Dashboard. 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose. 

"We need to ensure staffing needs are met, we need to look at master schedules, and we're going to go hand-by-hand through all of our student's schedules to make sure things are right. In order to get all of that done and still give our staff a winter break, we need time to get that accomplished." - Kelly Ott, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation

The deadline is quickly approaching for families and students to change their learning mode selection for second semester. In this episode of BV unmuted, Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan joins Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Kelly Ott to inform families about the learning mode choices available, changes being made for the second semester, and why the deadline for selection is important.

The deadline to make changes to a student's learning mode is November 16, 2020. If no changes are made, the student will continue to learn in the same mode they selected for first semester.

For more information and to make changes to your learning mode selection, visit www.bluevalleyk12.org and click "Back To School".

For a transcript of this episode, click here 

Cultivating lifelong learners prepared to navigate their future with purpose.