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Jordan Supercast

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  • Episode 192: Why are Madagascar Cockroaches in the Classroom?

    In some parts of the world they are kept as pets due to their peculiar appearance and interesting behavior. We’re talking about the Madagascar or hissing cockroach.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Jordan Hills Elementary School where hissing cockroaches are in one classroom helping students study science and insect behavior. Hear what students have to say about the unique project and how the ancient bugs are contributing to the learning process in a pretty big way.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. In some parts of the world, they are kept as pets due to their peculiar appearance and interesting behavior. We're talking about the Madagascar or hissing cockroach.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Jordan Hills Elementary School, where hissing cockroaches are in one classroom helping students study science and insect behavior. Hear what students have to say about the unique project and how the ancient bugs are contributing to the learning process in a pretty big way.

    We're here at Jordan Hills with third-grade teacher Melissa Reynolds and I can't take the smile off my face because this is perhaps the most unique school visit I've ever made and that is to visit your classroom cockroaches. Tell me a little bit about that.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    So last year, the FOSS program was new to Jordan Hills, and in the FOSS program, there is an activity about crayfish. And in Utah, it's illegal to transport crayfish from their natural habitat to your home or anywhere else or to another habitat without first killing them, and so we can't bring crayfish in for the FOSS part of that. We're supposed to learn about behaviors and adaptations.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So so far, I've already learned that I to be more careful with crayfish. Not that I've ever transported live crayfish like a common criminal, but I will know not to do that in the future.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Or you'll be imprisoned.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's right.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    No, but so there's an alternate activity in the book that says we can use hissing cockroaches instead. So I--

    Anthony Godfrey:

    No wait, hissing cockroaches.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, these are the Madagascar hissing cockroaches, not the yucky kind you find on your kitchen floor. Not my kitchen floor, but others.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yes, other unfortunate kitchen floors, yes.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, these are not the yucky, nasty cockroaches. So these are Madagascar hissing cockroaches. And the activity is somewhat the same. They still talk about the different adaptations that they use, the behaviors that they have. You identify different structures on the animals. And so it works well, and it's very guided through the FOSS system.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell everyone what FOSS is for those who may not know.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    FOSS is the science program that our district is providing for us. It's really an all-inclusive program. It comes with a couple of bins for each unit that you teach, and I'm doing the Life Structures Unit this year. I say that I'm doing it because, just like Boston was saying, we each decided, as three of the third-grade teachers, we'll each take one and teach it to all the classes in third grade, mostly because the other teachers did not want to do cockroaches.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you are the designated cockroach teacher.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, yes. So the kids get really excited to come to my science group because they get to see the cockroaches, they get to hold them. One of the activities we do is what happens when we touch their antenna? What happens when we leave them alone with a cardboard tube, what happens when we touch their abdomen, what happens when we hold them? And they get to see what animals do to react and then we talk about why they have those reactions as instincts to keep them alive.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What are the two little kind of antennae right down below the main big ones? Their two little dangly ones.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    These ones that are right by his mouth.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And have you named any of them?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    No. No, there was. So we had originally two cockroaches when I first started doing it last school year and none of the other teachers were that brave and we weren't rotating. So I was just teaching my class and I wanted to have more cockroaches because the program says you need about eight to do everything that you're supposed to do. Because then you introduce them to other cockroaches and see what they do when they're around other cockroaches. And so I said, “okay, I want them to have more cockroaches.” So I talked to Mr. Squire in our school. He teaches second grade and he has had cockroaches before too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, how about that? On purpose?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, on purpose.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    And my son when he was in second grade, he's now in sixth, when he was in second grade he said, "Mom, can we please take home a cockroach?" And I said, "Heavens no. We are never having a cockroach. Never will you get to take home a cockroach." And he begged and begged and I said, "No, and here I am now with 140 or more cockroaches."

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And that was my next question. So you're supposed to have eight. You now have 140. You are the Outstanding Educator of the Year for Jordan Hills and when I came to give you that award, we talked about cockroaches. I had heard about this in your classroom and when you invited me back, you emailed me that all of the over 100 babies were all ready to go and I could come anytime. Tell me, why did you go from 8 to 140 cockroaches?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Well, I only had those two and I kept trying to get them to have babies so I gave them a heater, made it really moist inside so that they would be happy because that's what Mr. Squire told me to do. And then they just had like maybe four or five last summer and I was really kind of bummed. I thought, "Oh, I just need some more," and then none of them really lived except for that one that I was just holding, the male. He lived. And then I bought two new females in November and those two females and that male, now there are over 140. And they had their first batch of babies in February, on the 10th of February. And then it seems like I keep looking in there and there's more babies every day. I mean, that's not true, but it feels like that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    There are more and more cockroaches in your classroom.

    Melissa Reynolds;

    They start out as little tiny, about the size of a potato bug. And then they molt seven or so times until they're an adult.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, when you told me that there were baby cockroaches for us to come see, I was really expecting teeny tiny cockroaches. I was a little bit shocked when I came in and I saw cockroaches the size of, oh, what would you say that is, like a band-aid?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I just thought, wow, that is an enormous cockroach.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    These ones we found a couple of days ago and they are teeny tiny.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh yeah, look at the little ones underneath the dish. After you've looked at the big ones, the little ones can actually look kind of cute.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, they are very cute when they start out.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Although they move very quickly, which is alarming. It feels like they could be anywhere you don't want them to be in an instant.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes. The baby ones are a little more quick and unpredictable.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Now these, the big ones, are shiny and formidable, and they actually look like you could be seeing them in a terrarium at a zoo or on display somewhere because they really do look quite exotic I must say.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    They actually have them at the aquarium in Draper.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, do they?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    They have a display with some of them in there.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you said that initially, you were a little bit hesitant about this.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Oh yes. I tried to pick them up for the very first time from the little container that I got at the pet store and they hissed at me and I screamed and I just couldn't pick them up. So for the first little bit, I used a paper towel roll and got them to crawl in the paper towel roll and then I kind of shook them into their enclosure and I was terrified of them. But now I'm used to them and they don't hiss at me quite as often and I've learned how to handle them and how to pick them up.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And how do your students react to them?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    They think they tickle when they hold them. One of them actually last year got scared and screamed and it fell on the floor and it was okay, they have that exoskeleton. But they do different reactions. Some of them want to hold them every day, and I wish we had time to do that every day but we don't, and some of them don't want to touch them but most of them at least want to try one time and then they tell me it tickles.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay and what do you hope that the students take away from the experience of having cockroaches in the class and from the lessons associated with those cockroaches?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Well, it's really actually quite neat that they get to see a full life cycle of these cockroaches because not only do they talk about their behaviors and their adaptations, they've actually seen them grow. They always come to the front right here when they're molting and so we get to see them push the molt off and it's really a neat process for them to see an animal life cycle full scale. They get to see it start out as a baby and they get to see it grow a little bigger and a little bigger and a little bigger and we talk about when they molt and it's neat that they can apply what they're seeing in the classroom to other animals. That they have different stages that they're growing into and just be a little more connected with science in the real world.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think that's fabulous.

    Stay with us when we come back we take a tour of the Cockroach terrarium.

    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:

    Hope, tell me what you think about having cockroaches in your classroom.

    Hope:

    I think it's pretty cool that there's cockroaches in here, and I'm really excited to like hold one when we can.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Have you held one before?

    Hope:

    Uh-huh like in fall when she brings them to the class. I hold held one.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh cool, and do you look at them everyday kind of as you walk by?

    Hope:

    Yeah, usually. Sometimes I don't because there's like everybody in front of it, but I usually do.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So it's pretty popular to see the cockroaches?

    Hope:

    Yeah

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hope, do you want to adopt one and take it home?

    Hope:

    Maybe if my dad and mom is fine with it I think my mom is fine with it, but I'm not sure with my dad.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You think your dad might be a tougher sell?

    Hope:

    Mm-hmm.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, I understand Thank you Hope. What's your name?

    Boston:

    Boston

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Boston, tell me about this one right here.

    Boston:

    So the white ones have molted and sometimes, so we always catch them in the act of molting. So it's really common because they're 140 plus.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So with 140 cockroaches you're generally going to see one molting pretty often.

    Boston:

    Pretty much every day we see one or two in the morning. Sometimes you can see their skin still on their butt.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow and what does it mean for them to molt?

    Boston:

    It means for them to lose their shell so they can get a bigger one.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you said I shouldn't touch the one that just molted. Why is that?

    Boston:

    You can touch it, but very lightly. If you press it too hard or squish it too hard, then it will get squished and die.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, because it's very soft right now and kind of vulnerable. Okay.

    Boston:

    They really like in the dark up there because, they also like a little tunnel, and it creeps me out so much when they crawl out of the tiki now.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, here in the terrarium, right?

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, we're looking in on several cockroach friends.

    Boston:

    Some of them can just sneak under that little hole in the cork rock.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, yeah.

    Boston:

    This is the one we named Big Mama. And the dad that's still alive which was original. We named him Big Daddy. I mean Tiny Daddy.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, Big Mama and Tiny Daddy. Well, how do you keep track of who the original mom is? Are there distinct markings on these kissing cockroaches?

    Boston:

    Yes, you can tell if they're male or females 'cause the bumps.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Which one has bumps?

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Where are the bumps and who has them?

    Boston:

    The bumps are always on the males. The females have tiny ones, but you just really can't see them at all.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    And where are they?

    Boston:

    They're on like the back of its head. So we're doing rotations and currently the last rotation for our class, Mrs. Alvies, is my mom's.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, okay, cool. The Tiki face looks to be screaming.

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    But it has 15 cockroaches on top of it, so I understand why it may be screaming. That may be very uncomfortable.

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Do you wanna see my impression of a cockroach?

    Boston:

    Sure.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You can tell me whether you think it's good or not. Are you ready? You guys ready to see my impression of a cockroach?

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    (Students laughing)

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What do you think?

    Students:

    Yeah. Good!

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Is that good?

    Students:

    It's true, it's true.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All right, kind of the antenna moving independently. I worked on that for a long time, so I'm glad you like it.

    Boston:

    So that blue one is, that blue dish is supposed to be the food dish, but they would probably get stuck if they were the babies.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So what's on the blue dish? Is that salt?

    Boston:

    No, that's a cotton ball.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    A cotton ball?

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Do they like--

    Boston:

    That's how they get their water.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's how they clean their ears? No, that's how they get their water.

    Boston:

    Yeah, and the dishes glow in the dark.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    The dishes glow, I'm learning a lot very quickly here. So the dishes glow in the dark, the cotton is to give them something to drink, and they really like being on top of Tiki Tower. And they're soft once they molt, so you have to be gentle with them. No problems here.

    Boston:

    And usually, it's the one that molted eats their own shell that they had just molted. But sometimes, since there's a bunch of cockroaches...

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Do they eat each other's shells?

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    That one's eating it right now.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, look at that. Let me get my glasses on so I can appreciate the fine detail of that. Yep. Can confirm. All right. Well, thank you very much for giving me a tour of the terrarium. Have any of you wanted to name the cockroaches? Have any of you named any of them?

    Boston:

    I named one Bob.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You named one Bob? Is it Bob short for Robert or is it just Bob the Cockroach?

    Boston:

    Bob.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. How about you? Did you name one? Yeah. What did you name?

    Student #1:

    I named one of them like Luke.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You named him Luke?

    Student #1:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Is that after someone?

    Student #1:

    Not really. Just seems like the right name for that cockroach.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Just seems like the right name for that cockroach.

    Student #1:

    Anthony Godfrey:
    Yeah. Now how do you know that Luke and Bob are not the same cockroach?

    Student #1:

    Because they're not, well cockroaches are not really not the same all the, both each other.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you can tell the difference between cockroaches now?

    Student #1:

    Sometimes, yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Something you did not know you were going to learn in third grade. How about you? Did you name any of them?

    Student #2:

    No, but really some people have been calling them spider roach because they were climbing up the glass.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, spider roach because they climbed up the glass. Okay. Oh no, wait. Oh, they're out in the world here. Look at those things. They are big and fat and juicy aren't they? Wow.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    To a lizard or someone who might eat it? Yes. So on their backs right here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    This one that's crawling towards you. That one is the male.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh yeah, I can see the bumps very easily now.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    And a lot of people think that those are their eyes, but their eyes are underneath them. The heads are like an ant head underneath.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    It's like busy. Anyway, so they have their heads underneath there, and many people think that those are their eyes, but those are just, they call them male bumps.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Male bumps.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    So that's how you know that that one is a male cockroach.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, now is that dog food that they're eating?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Yes, yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    They eat dog food. It's the easiest thing to keep in there that won't mold unless it gets really wet or anything. But then once or twice a week, I throw in like lettuce, they eat fruits and vegetables, fresh fruits and vegetables.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So a balanced diet, a balanced diet. Okay, very good.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    They really like the lettuce.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow. Well, here's the important question. Do they fly?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    No, they do not fly, they do not bite. They don't do anything except for they have little like, I don't know how to describe them. They're kind of like little barbs almost on their legs, but they don't hurt you. It's mostly for them to be able to grip and also for defense so that when something's trying to grab them, they can push against with their leg and get away from that creature. That's the only thing that might feel like it's poking you or anything, but they won't bite and they can't harm you. So it's really nice.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I’m building up to holding one. I'm not there yet, but hopefully, I can get there very quickly. So, what happens we're closing in on the end of the year. What happens when in a few days school is over and the cockroaches need continued care? What are you going to do with the cockroaches at that point?

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Well, I am planning to take them home. They've been home with me last summer, not all 140 yet, and over longer breaks because I want to make sure they get fed. But I have opened up to the third-grade students in our school too. I'm sending home an adoption form and they can have a parent permission slip signed saying that they can take a cockroach or two home with them over the summer as long as they'll treat them nicely. And then I also, maybe you could help with this, I don't know, if there are other third grade teachers that are doing the FOSS program and they would like to have cockroaches in their classrooms, I am more than willing to share my 140 because they can be pricey on Amazon. They're $20 to $30 for a pair of cockroaches. So I wouldn't sell them to you. They are yours for the taking and you can use them in your classrooms if that's something you're interested in.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We can definitely email third-grade teachers with the email subject line, "Free cockroaches." Just see if we attract some attention that way. And if there's somebody listening who's dying to have a hissing cockroach in their life, by all means reach out and then let's see if we can help you out.

    So Boston, your home becomes a cockroach hotel over the summer. How does that feel having them at home as well?

    Boston:

    It feels really good because sometimes the cockroaches hiss at Mom when she picks them us and sometimes they go like really really fast so it just turns into a funny thing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    If I pick one up, do you think it's going to hiss at me? Because if it hisses at your mom, your mom is very good to these cockroaches. So if they're hissing at her, I really think they're gonna hiss at me, do you think?

    Boston:

    Yeah, because I think it's just like if they know you, like I think they can like feel you and smell you with their antenna or something, or they just might not be familiar to strangers.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well you know what, I'm gonna pick one up, I'm going to. So I'll let you know whether it hisses at me or not, okay?

    Boston:

    I'll even tell you how to pick it up so it doesn't just...

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, how do you... yes, how do you pick it up?

    Boston:

    Um, so you have to pick it up on its sides with your middle finger and thumb like this. Lightly pick it up and put it onto your hand. And if it gets too far up here and might fall off, you just do the same thing with your other hand.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Just make sure there's always a hand for him to step onto.

    Boston:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Uh, I might have your mom pick it up for me. Thank you for inviting me into your cockroach corner, your cockroach classroom, and answering some of the cockroach conundrums that have been plaguing me. This is very, very interesting and thank you for stretching yourself and going all in. I see it not just in the cockroach cage, but I see other stuff growing and happening all over your classroom that makes it a very engaging environment. So thanks for all the hard work you're putting into making this a great experience for these third graders.

    Melissa Reynolds:

    Absolutely. Thanks.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    23 min
  • Episode 191: Science Teacher Brings Her Love of Cosplay into the Classroom Sparking Creativity and Curiosity

    It’s not something students typically see every day, Queen Elizabeth making a grand and dignified entrance into one of their classrooms. But when the classroom belongs to Fort Herriman Middle School science teacher Gayle Dowdle, it is simply part of the learning process.

    On this episode of Supercast, find out how one teacher’s love of cosplay resulted in something called the “Creators Club” for students, a club where creativity is sparked by making colorful costumes and transforming into beloved characters.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's not something students typically see every day, Queen Elizabeth making a grand and dignified entrance into one of their classrooms. But when the classroom belongs to Fort Herriman Middle School Science teacher, Gayle Dowdle, it is simply part of the learning process.

    On this episode of the Supercast, find out how one teacher's love of cosplay resulted in something called the “Creators Club” for students. A club where creativity is sparked by making colorful costumes and transforming into beloved characters.

    We're here with Gayle Dowdle, a science teacher at Fort Herriman Middle School to talk about cosplay. Thanks for talking with us today.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah, no problem.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    For those who may not know, if they were standing here with you right now, they would know what cosplay is because you are dressed to the nines. But describe what cosplay is just to start.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    So cosplay is a kind of mix of two words. It's a mixture of costuming and play. So the idea is that when you cosplay, you basically dress as the character and you pretend to be the character as well. So the cosplay character that I usually portray is Queen Elizabeth I, and I do the Utah Renaissance Fair and stuff, so I represent her at those. I've done a bunch of other characters too, but lots of it is involved with like FanX and comic conventions and things like that, but also people do it as like volunteer stuff too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I can hear that I've already mispronounced it, cosplay instead of cosplay. Which is a common mistake I'm guessing.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah, my dad the first time he said he's like, "Have you heard of this cosplay stuff?” I'm like, "Yeah Dad, that's what I do.”

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Now I am a big pop culture fan and I have seen cosplay a lot at FanX, at San Diego Comic-Con, and at other venues for pop culture. You talked about the service aspect too, but let's talk about the fan experiences that you're a part of and where cosplay comes into play at those venues.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah, so FanX was kind of one of the first places that I really got into some of the more major stuff of doing costuming at a higher level and that was because I got pulled into one of the cosplay competitions there. Ro is the one that runs the cosplay competition and he was like, "You should do this." So I applied and got in and won my first cosplay competition as an Elizabethan vampire. And so that was really cool. And I was like, "This is amazing. This is exciting.”

    What's really cool is when you go and interact, the community of cosplayers is really close and supportive a lot of times. And so made a lot of friends through that. So it's just kind of become this huge part of my life where I've got people. In fact, one of my friends is in the cosplay called Fame and she's actually gonna come next week as a guest to help the kids next week at our cosplay clubs. But basically, just everybody comes up with the character that they love and then they build it. Sometimes it's original characters, sometimes it's characters from pop culture like you were talking about.

    And there is competitions. I've competed, well, except for during COVID when we didn't do it. I basically competed every year for the last five or six years, and I've won six or seven awards. Last year I won first place in Masters at FanX with my Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth gown. So yeah, it was pretty exciting. I was excited about that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, let's talk about the array of costumes that you have embraced.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It really, like you said, is next-level costuming. And I've seen a wide range as I've gone to FanX and other events.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Transformer outfits that are made out of Igloo coolers and lots of different household items that are used as a part of a costume. But then there are those costumes that stand out that really are just very eye-catching, very compelling. Something that obviously took a ton of effort, not that the Igloo cooler costumes don't, but there are some that are really made to look completely realistic. So what are some of the Costumes over the years that you have created and won awards with?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    So a couple of them are different Queen Elizabeth gowns because I love that era and I love, even though I teach science, I love history. My husband's a history teacher so we love that era and kind of focus on a lot about Shakespeare. So I've done a Shakespeare costume for him that's based on the Cobbe portrait of Shakespeare. So it's a replica of that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Is that the one with or without an earring?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    It's a younger one that they're still arguing about whether they really think it's Shakespeare, so it does have an earring in it. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So he dressed as the maybe Shakespeare.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah. Yeah, he's the maybe Shakespeare. But so I did that, and that was one that won. I also have done, I did a steampunk Batgirl. Which steampunk is like Victorian stuff.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I understand the steampunk.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah, so I did that that was a lot of fun. It had wings that opened and closed. Then my most recent one that won just this last Halloween at a cosplay competition at the aquarium. The Loveland Planet aquarium was a six-foot-tall Chocobo, which is basically a giant chicken. It's a chicken costume for what most people don't know what a Chocobo is, but it's from a video game and they ride the Chocobo so it's like the size of a horse but it's a bird. But I made that for my son and you're inside the costume and a scientist actually told me when she was judging it how much it looked like the skeleton of a bird, which being a scientist I felt very like complimented by that so that was cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How do you get from Queen Elizabeth to an enormous chicken from a video game?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Because I am a lot of kinds of nerds. So yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, so a wide range of nerd-dom appeals to you.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yes, yes. So we love video games in my family, but we also love history in my family. So the Chocobo came because my son wanted to be the Chocobo. So we worked on it together and built that. He actually tried to compete with it and we didn't win anything with it, but it was, I was actually just recovering from chemo at the time. So I wasn't able to put as much effort into it as I did. So we kind of revamped it this year and then it won this year. So that was really cool. But yeah, it's just a wide range. Anything that interests me, I'm like, I want to make that. We figure out a way to make it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    As I've seen these costumes at FanX and other places, there are lots of people that get stopped to have their picture taken. And I've done that. I've stopped people. I was a Moon Knight fan before Moon Knight was cool. I started buying the comics in the 70s when I was a kid and whenever I saw a Moon Knight costume in the past, it was like somebody else remembers Moon Knight and I had to have my picture with them regardless of the quality of the costume. So let me ask you this, have you had a lot of photos over the years?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Oh yeah. One year we actually, my husband kept track on his watch and just tapped every time somebody took a picture. And by the end of the first day, he stopped counting 'cause we had hit over 400 people that had come and taken pictures. So when we go to FanX, we don't get anywhere very fast ‘cause basically it's, we look at something, somebody takes a picture, we walk a few steps, somebody stops us, takes another picture, we walk a few steps. Yeah, we don't go anywhere fast. And at the Renaissance Fair, I have my own throne room with the other queens and the other kings. So people come to us there and get quests and stuff from us and take pictures, so it's a lot of fun.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Stay with us. When we come back more with the “Creators Club” and cosplay in the classroom.

    Break:

    Hello, I'm Tracy Miller, President of the Jordan School District Board of Education. There are seven members on the Board of Education, one in each voting district. We are committed to listening and serving our constituents as we work together to provide the best possible learning environment for the students we serve. As members of the Jordan Board of Education, we believe it is our duty and responsibility to: increase student achievement; provide parents with the choices they deserve and desire; recognize and reward quality in educators; empower school leaders through policy governance and professional development; and communicate with the public, legislators, business leaders, cities, and parents. We invite you to get to know the Board member who represents you in your voting district and to please join us at our monthly board meeting held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Or listen from the comfort of your home, on our live stream. For more information and to find your Board member, visit jordandistrict.org. With parent and community input and support, we will continue our work to give students every opportunity to succeed in Jordan District schools and beyond. Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Let's talk about the craft around it and bringing it into the club. So it takes a lot of work, it takes some skills. What made you want to start a club at the school?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    So when I started getting into this, I didn't have all the skills I needed. I didn't know how to do foam work and make armor and I didn't know how to do war blood and I didn't like, there were a lot of pieces. I knew how to sew because my mom had taught me to sew, but I didn't know how to sew what I needed to know. And so many of these kids, when I walk, 'cause I'll wear costumes to school occasionally for not really any reason other than I wanna wear a costume. So when I do and the kids see me, they're like, oh my gosh, I love it, I wanna do cosplay. And I started thinking about it, I was like, I have all this knowledge and stuff that I've learned over the last 10 years, that it only makes sense that I find a way to share it with them.

    And this was something that we came up with, that we came up with this idea that we could do this club and each kid won't get their own costume, but they're gonna get skills from it and they're gonna get things that they can take. And what I'm hoping is that some of these guys will take this and continue with it because, for some people, this is their living. And for me, it's a side gig and I do commissions for people, but for some of them, they may actually be designers. And we didn't call it the cosplay club, we called it the “Creators Club”, because we didn't want to disparage those kids who were not necessarily into cosplay, but who want to sew dresses because it's the same skills and it's the same ideas.

    So yeah, I just decided, I'm like, this is dumb that I have all of this vast knowledge and skills and stuff that I've learned over the last decade that I'm not imparting to these kids who want that knowledge and who are excited about that. So we have about 40 kids that are on the “Creators Club” and some come more regularly than others, but when they do come, they just get to work and they get working on stuff and they're very dedicated to what they're doing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's dynamite. I love that you've provided this opportunity and this outlet for creativity, but also the sense of connection and sense of community.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Yeah, it's been a lot of fun to get to know some of these guys. And they're an interesting group. They have such passions about specific things that they love, so it's great.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What are some of the great costumes that have come out of this club?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    So right now we're in the process, since it's only our first year, and each year we're basically focusing on creating one costume. And so we've got some that are Five Nights at Freddy's video game costume, we've got that one coming along. A lot of them were original characters. They didn't pick a specific character from something else, they designed their own stuff. And then they're coming up with how they're gonna do that on their own.

    We've got armor that's gonna be made with scales and horns and lots of skirts, lots of petticoats, 'cause we've got lots of 'em that want the fluff. And, but yeah, we're gonna have them all put them on display at the school talent show in May. So that's our end goal, is to get those finished and then kind of have like a fashion show of all the ones. And whatever they have done, we'll put on display. If they've only got the skirt, we'll display it. If they've got the whole costume, great. That's good too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Fantastic, I love that. For those who are not lucky enough to be here, describe this costume to me, please.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Okay, so this one is, I actually entered this in the geek-bound fashion show at FanX last year. It didn't win, but it was kind of a new thing for me, where basically you take a geekdom and you create like a modern something. And I entered the evening wear category. So there's like casual and then modern wear. So this one was my version of Belle. So a modern version of what I would think that Belle's gown would be. And I actually made it, specifically my goal to make it was that I couldn't spend any money. So I had to use anything that I had around my house 'cause I have a huge stash of fabric 'cause lots of people have donated stuff to me over the years. I should say we had a whole bunch of people who donated fabric and things to the club as well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, yeah.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    And so but yeah, so this is my version of Beauty and the Beast Belle.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, it's fantastic. So you've got red roses, you've got gold roses.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    And the mirrors because of the enchanted mirror.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yes, mirrors along the bottom of the skirt is part of a pattern. A blend of gold and what would you call this red color?

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Kind of a burgundy almost, yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And it's, yeah, it's a beautiful dress.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    If you did this without making a purchase, then you really do have a significant stash at home.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    I do. These are curtains, actually. So's the stuff that the gold underneath this is curtains, and the red was curtains that were donated as well. So, yeah, my dress is basically made out of curtains, so.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's fantastic.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    It looks better than curtains, I promise.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Curtains never had it so good with the design and all of that. That's wonderful.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Thanks.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All right, tell me your name.

    Abigail:

    Abigail.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And Abigail, what grade are you in?

    Abigail:

    Seventh.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you're part of the "Creator Club". Tell me about what that's like.

    Abigail:

    It's fun. We come every Thursday after school, and we work on our projects.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me about the project that you have here. This looks akin to a wedding dress.

    Abigail:

    It is. We got it from the DI in like December.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. Yeah.

    Abigail:

    And so we are making a fairy dress and this is our base for it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    This is the what?

    Abigail:

    The base.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, this is the base.

    Abigail:

    So we're gonna take that, and then we're gonna take this and this, and put it on top. So it looks yellow.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. This is the bottom half of a white wedding dress with decoration on it. Does it have a bit of a train? It has a little bit of a train and so you're going to take this fabric and lay it over according to this design that you've put together Did you draw this?

    Abigail:

    No, me and my friends drew it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What was the inspiration for the design? Is there any movie or Anime that made you think of this particular design?

    Abigail:

    We just decided that we wanted like a foresty nature-like fairy dress and so we settled on yellow and green because they work together. We made a bag that is green and a flower crown.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, I love the crown. White daisies and a couple of pink flowers. It looks really nice. And then this, tell me about this bag. Did you sew this bag?

    Abigail:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow. And is that, it's in the shape of a leaf. It's green. You can see the veins of the leaf that have been stitched on and then two handles to it. That looks really, oh, it's soft too.

    Abigail:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh wow, that's really nice.

    Abigail:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And so this will be the accessory that goes with that.

    Abigail:

    Yes, so it will be the accessory. The rules were we had to make something with shoes, a headpiece of some kind, and an accessory like a bag or a purse.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow, this all looks so great. Holding this wedding dress, it makes me think, what's the story behind this dress?

    Abigail:

    We were at the DI. We went on a field trip to grab supplies so we went to the DI in someplace in Salt Lake City. And while we were at the DI, we were looking for a base and then everyone looked at the wedding dress and went, that's the one, that's the one we want. So we bought it for pretty cheap, I can't remember exactly how much, but it definitely wasn't full price for what it normally would have been if it were brand new.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. Looks like you hit the jackpot.

    Abigail:

    Yeah, I'm sure the person there was confused why we were buying a wedding dress. Middle schoolers.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah probably. Not a lot of seventh graders in the market for a wedding dress.

    Abigail:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay well that's awesome I can't wait to see how that product turns out.

    Abigail:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're talking now with Julie Beaird the sewing teacher here at Fort Herriman Middle School and tell me your role in this club and talk to me about the evolution of this club.

    Julie Beaird:

    Well I started doing a Stranger Things Club three years ago.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh wow.

    Julie Beaird:

    With the request of a student. So we would get together and talk about episodes and it was kind of dying down so I thought we'd fit some sewing into it. So we made Christmas stockings for our fundraiser and stuff at Christmas time and but I still wasn't getting there with sewing so last summer Ms. Dowdle came and said what do you think of this idea. Yay, we could do more sewing! So I was really excited to do this. So it kind of morphed from the Stranger Things into the “Creator Club”.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's fantastic.

    Julie Beaird:

    I was already kind of used to doing a club-type thing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, and because it's the “Creator Club”, cosplay is certainly a part of that, but it's not uniquely cosplay.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. So tell me some of the projects that students have been working on through the year as part of the club.

    Julie Beaird:

    Yeah, I think a lot of students, at least my Stranger Things kids, didn't want it called cosplay because they don't identify with cosplay as being like a cool thing. So we kind of voted on names and when we came to “Creator Club” it fit perfect because it isn't just about cosplay, it's about being a fashion designer in a lot of ways and problem-solving when it comes to like trying to make an outfit or your design come to life that's on paper. So I like the idea of a creator because then you could do anything with that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What are some of the skills that students have gained as they've been a part of this club?

    Julie Beaird:

    So a lot of them don't really know sewing. I have every seventh grader in CCA learn sewing, but some of the kids that have come here haven't been in my class yet. So they've had to pick it up pretty quick. And so they're learning to thread the machines, use the machines, unpick things when they've made a mistake so using a seam ripper, cutting things straight, that's a really big skill. I just showed a student how to cut a line and she accidentally cut too much and that's that's hard in sewing because once you cut it away it's gone. But the thing I love about sewing and this is a skill I hope they will learn, of a seam ripper because everything in sewing can be fixed just like everything in life can be fixed.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I love that.

    Julie Beaird:

    So a seam ripper kind of represents there's no mistake that can't be fixed in life or in sewing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's great.

    Julie Beaird:

    And I try and tell them you know there's not a lot of careers in sewing but it is a good life skill. Even if it's just someday you're gonna talk to someone and say I remember back in middle school when I sewed, and I still have my pillow or I still have golf shirts. Advanced though because sewing on knit it's hard.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It may not be a skill that turns into a career, but there are going to be a lot of applications for it.

    Julie Beaird:

    Yeah, that's why I'm really glad the district still does it. There is a lot of life lessons to be taught at school, not just about careers, but about living your life.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And a physical product that results from learning something you couldn't do before, that's tremendous value in that. Thanks to both of you for spending time with me today, and especially for putting all the time and effort into this. I think it's fabulous that you're making this available for students.

    Gayle Dowdle:

    Thank you. I appreciate you coming.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    22 min
  • Episode 190: Meet the Crime Solving Students in Bingham High School’s Medical Forensics Class

    It is a high school Medical Forensics class which focuses on the proper way of documenting and processing a crime scene and on this day, it does not involve work in the classroom.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we will take you on a unique field trip where forensics students are getting their hands dirty, with hands-on learning, digging deep into the science of medical forensics. Surrounded by police cars and crime scene tape they are crime solving students in action.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a high school medical forensics class which focuses on the proper way of documenting and processing a crime scene and on this day, it does not involve work in the classroom.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we take you on a unique field trip where forensics students are getting their hands dirty, with hands-on learning, digging deep into the science of medical forensics surrounded by police cars and crime scene tape. They are crime-solving students in action.

    I’m here with Cynthia Cox out in Copperton, out in the field with her medical forensics class and with the law enforcement class as well. So introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about these classes and today's experience.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Well, my name is Cynthia Cox and I teach the medical forensics class at Bingham. All year long we've been talking about crime scene investigation, crime scene analysis, identification of evidence, analysis of evidence, packaging of evidence, and so this is kind of a culminating activity where the students come out and it's led by the police department. So the students are getting a real-world view of how to solve a crime from beginning to at least evidence packaged and sent back to the lab.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, we have a gloomy snowy day that you might have ordered for dark work like this. It's the perfect setting. Tell me about the skills that students learn in class that lead up to this experience.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Well, we talk all about observation skills and turning off filters during observation, trying to make sure that students are coming in looking at evidence unbiased. We try to, we teach them about how to package all different types of evidence, not just a screwdriver, a piece of wire, but biologic evidence, drug evidence, blood evidence. And so there we teach bone analysis, we look at fingerprint analysis, we look at blood spatter analysis, and through all of those activities we're working on, you know, other workplace skills like problem-solving skills and teamwork skills.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about the bone analysis and the blood splatter analysis.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Okay, so with blood spatter it can tell a story. We can, based on are we seeing large drops? Is this somebody that was maybe walking away from after they were injured? Or is this a really fine mist that may have come from a fast-moving weapon like a gun? So the angles that spatter hits a surface can tell us whether that person was standing up, whether they were sitting down, were they lying down. We can identify how many times a person might have been hit with blood spatter analysis. So there's lots of things we can learn from that.

    With bone analysis and what they're looking at out here, a lot of animal bones that we've put out here, and we allow them to decompose before the students come out here. We can identify gender, we can identify ancestry, we can identify age from the bones, we can identify some of the injuries that might have occurred and left marks on the bones when we're trying to put all the pieces together and figure out what happened.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you indicated that you have animal remains out here that are used as evidence.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell me about that. That's how you helped create the crime scene.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yeah, so these are all legally acquired animal remains that taxidermists have given to me. And so we put them out here and allow them to decompose. And then the students collect the evidence that's already completely decomposed 'cause they don't like dealing with the flesh.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You’ve really gone all in with getting things early enough to allow them to decompose. That's really, that's lesson planning at another level.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Well, we've been putting stuff out here every year for about nine years, so.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You've got it down.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Now tell me about the involvement of the police. As I drove out here, I saw the truck and the flashing lights and I knew something was up.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It definitely gives that real feel. They're working with the police right now, walking through with police officers in uniform, walking them through the crime scene. It's pretty exciting.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yeah, so I feel like that's one of the benefits to it. We get that work-based learning feel. It's one thing for a classroom teacher to stand up there and teach all these components. But when they come out here with the police officers who do this every single day, all day long, they get a little bit more of that real-world experience, trying to really bring work-based learning into the classroom as much as we can, or outside of the classroom as we may. So I set this up through our SRO, and then he reaches-- -

    Anthony Godfrey:

    School resource officer for those listening.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yep. And then he reaches out to the forensics division at the South Jordan Police Department.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So do you draw attention? Do people wonder what's going on when the police are out here and we're scouring the landscape with police tape and everything?

    Cynthia Cox:

    Well, just like it was interesting to you when you walked up, we've already had Rio Tinto security come up and check on us to make sure everything was okay and see what was going on 'cause they saw the police tape and the flashing red and blue lights and--

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You told them no problem, we're just solving crime.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yep, that's right.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's about the most engaged learning you can imagine. I'm just looking out at a couple of dozen students with police officers and do not cross police tape and evidence and it's really exciting. So thank you for providing such a great experience for them today. Tell me, does this change their view of the crime shows and movies that they watch? Does it shift their perspective?

    Cynthia Cox:

    I hope so. We talk about that quite a bit in class, the fact that a crime is not solved in 45 minutes, that a collection of evidence alone can take 8, 9, 10, 12 hours, and then there's all the analysis and then all the legal work and the paperwork and everything. So we talk about that in depth in class.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So what is it that draws students to a class like this? Is it they want to be in law enforcement, they want to be an attorney, they want to know more about you know a medical approach to solving problems? What is it that draws them?

    Cynthia Cox:

    I think most of the time they've they've seen the shows and those are interesting to them and so then they want to learn more. We talk about it throughout the school, they see some of our mock crime scenes that we set up during the school day as well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Mock crime scenes must be really good advertisement for that class.

    Cynthia Godfrey:

    Yeah, we set those up multiple times throughout the year in the building and the students are able to then go through and practice collecting evidence. They stage them so they create those crime scenes that we do in class and they moulage each other, and they practice but then this is taking it to a whole different level.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    This is impressive. We're now in the area of the decay and with the bones out there. Kids are measuring things on the ground, working in teams, scouring the landscape, packaging evidence all under the watchful eye of South Jordan Police. It's really exciting. It's really cool to see this level of engagement. So beyond the specific skills of forensics, what are some of the other general skills that you hope students take away from this class?

    Cynthia Cox:

    Number one, I want them to have an appreciation for law enforcement, right? I want them to understand what really has to go into crimes and evaluation. You think about a TV show and it lasts 45 minutes and they've solved the whole crime.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right. Everything gets tied up pretty neatly.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Yeah. And in real life, it doesn't happen that way.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Cynthia Cox:

    So, I want them to have that appreciation and kind of that real-world view. We teach a lot of analytical skills in this class, information processing, you know, how to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, teamwork skills. It's another big thing that we work on in this class.

    Solving a crime isn't just a one-person deal, you know, you're working with a medical examiner, you're working with an investigator, you might be working with an attorney or law enforcement, everybody has to come together to try to solve that. So we work a lot with teamwork skills, some of those life skills that they can take with them into other professions as well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Outstanding. Well, it's a great class experience obviously given by an award-winning teacher and they're very lucky to have you and to have the chance to have experiences like this. So thank you for making learning so meaningful and real for these students.

    Cynthia Cox:

    Thank you. Thanks for coming out here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Stay with us. When we come back, more with our crime-solving students in Bingham High's medical forensics class.

    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 for 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:

    Hi Lexi, we're out here in the field by Copperton doing investigative work. Tell me what class you're in.

    Lexi:

    It's the Medical Forensics class at Bingham. It's one of the awesome classes we teach there. We're just learning about investigating crimes and looking for evidence and it's a blast out here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me what you're looking for out here.

    Lexi:

    Oh, we're looking for anything that could have evidence. So in the class, we've learned about all sorts of evidence, biological transfer, stuff like that. So we're looking for things that could have DNA on them, things that could have skin or hair, saliva or things that could be used as a weapon, so any tools that wouldn't grow in the middle of a field.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What's the specific crime that you're trying to solve?

    Lexi:

    Somebody went out here, we had a missing person, but one of the teams has found a head so they're no longer missing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, okay. So it has changed to a different kind of investigation at this point.

    Lexi:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All of this is fictitious for those of you who may have dropped in partway through the podcast. Now it is cold, it is kind of the perfect setting for grim work of the type that you're doing right now. Tell me about looking forward to this experience as you've been learning things in class.

    Lexi:

    It's just been awesome, it's cool because in most classrooms it's hard to find any sort of like hands-on, especially a class like this where we're dealing with like criminal things. You can't often find that, but it's cool that we have this experience.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And is this something that you think you might want to pursue long-term as a career?

    Lexi:

    Not especially, not because of the class I just already have other ambitions, but it's been really good to apply to it. I want to be a nurse and so there's things that have been like applicable throughout and even different types of nursing this can still apply well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And problem-solving and working with teams and just there's a lot of that can be applied from this to becoming a nurse.

    Lexi:

    Definitely. Along with that, we just learn lots about like the human body and different stuff because like when we are looking for evidence, we're looking for hair and drugs and stuff like that. And then in nursing, we're looking for like evidence of things that could be wrong with the body. So it's cool to learn about the different structures and then apply them differently.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you'll look at every crime show or movie in a different way for the rest of your life now.

    Lexi:

    Oh definitely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, I'll let you get back to solving crimes and making this a safer place for everyone.

    Lexi:

    Okay, thank you.

    Jody Skog:

    My name is Jody Skog. I am the crime scene and evidence supervisor.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell me about this experience with the students.

    Jody Skog:

    It is super fun to be able to come out here and have them see what we see and when they have all their markers I'm like oh this is an evidence person's worst nightmare because there's like 150 markers.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Jody Skog:

    But just to see how excited they get is really fun because it's the first step of a career for them.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell me what your day-to-day job is like when you're not helping students solve crime.

    Jody Skog:

    A lot of my job is running the evidence division and so it's booking any property that the evidence book in. It could be processing, looking for fingerprints, DNA, submitting stuff to the crime lab, processing actual crime scenes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, thank you for what you do, and thank you for taking the time to help these students learn these skills.

    Jody Skog:

    We just did an internship with or a job shadow with a 14-year-old.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh really?

    Jody Skog:

    And then she wanted to come back, so we had her come back and she actually helped us process some evidence.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And do you think she might want to pursue this?

    Jody Skog:

    I think she will.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah?

    Jody Skog:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about what sparked it for you, what made you want to pursue this as a career?

    Jody Skog:

    I was a police officer for seven years. And then this just kind of fell into my lap and now I run the whole division.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And what made you interested in being involved in law enforcement?

    Jody Skog:

    My dad was a police officer for 30 something years. And so he always told me over his dead body. And so he got sick of me talking about it. And he says, "Do you wanna do it, do it.” And so I started when he retired.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh wow.

    Jody Skog:

    So I'm on my 22nd year.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow, that's amazing.

    Jody Skog:

    Three and a half years left.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. So you're going for 25, a little over?

    Jody Skog:

    I'm gonna do probably just the 25 and I’m tired.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Jody Skog:

    And so Audrey's just started. She's been with us for four months. So what they teach you in college isn't necessarily what happens on the job. So it's kind of an eye-opener, but we were telling the kids, check with departments, get involved in like the cadets. Sandy City has the Explorer program.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Jody Skog:

    So if they want to be a police officer, if they want to do crime scenes, it's a great way to start.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Good. Tell me what do you observe as you are working with students? You see some different approaches I assume.

    Jody Skog:

    I think they have the way they look at things is really interesting but they're on the right path. Fingerprints, DNA, the females are a little bit more methodical than the boys are. It's kind of fun to watch because the girls are really slow and really think it out and the guys are just like.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Running through, huh?

    Jody Skog:

    Running through.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Let's crank it out. Do you ever get to enjoy any crime shows or any movies at all or are you just able to point out all the things that are wrong?

    Jody Skog:

    I laugh at them. Right. I'm like, we can't solve a crime in 24 hours.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Is there anybody who does it right? Is there a show where you say this show is really pretty close to authentic?

    Jody Skog:

    No.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    [LAUGHTER] So there's nothing out there.

    Jody Skog:

    No. But I get a kick out of them. I love them all.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, I can keep watching them in my ignorant state and enjoy them because I don't know better.

    Jody Skog:

    It’s fun. Right.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Jody Skog:

    So our labs are getting faster and faster, where a rape would take a couple of years to solve. And now we're getting the results back in a couple of months. So technology is increasing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What's an aspect of the new technology that might surprise people?

    Jody Skog:

    They're getting manpower, before they used to have like one expert.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Jody Skog:

    And so we're getting more and more people that are loving forensics and they're getting, getting educated. So the field is growing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, hopefully, the students here today can help create a pipeline for some other, some other great folks to come help out.

    Jody Skog:

    We need smart people.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So Kelan you're here solving crime with your friends, right?

    Kelan:

    Yes, correct.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I see your shirt says Bingham Medical Forensics with a bloody B under a magnifying glass. I like the logo.

    Kelan:

    I do too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about this class and this experience.

    Kelan:

    Well, we go through a lot of things, such as bone analysis and blood work, and we study some of the body, the body features, and anatomy, we really cover a whole lot in this class. It's really fun.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And have you been looking forward to this field experience?

    Kelan:

    I'm really interested in the medical field. I don't know what I wanna do, but yeah, this really intrigues my interest. I'm really intrigued.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So it's allowed you to learn some about the human body and sometimes it may be from a dark perspective, you know, the bad things that can happen and how you can detect how it happened and maybe who did it. So I like that you know that you wanna go in the medical field, but you're open to which direction that'll take you.

    Kelan:

    Yeah, exactly.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's great to talk with you and I'm glad you're having such a good experience in the class and good luck with whatever medical career you pursue.

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    20 min
  • Episode 189: Two JSD Employees Jump into Action to Save a Stranded Teacher in Big Act of Kindness

    They didn’t hesitate to come to the rescue when a Jordan School District teacher found herself in a serious situation while driving along Bangerter Highway on her way to work.

    On this episode of the Supercast, meet Trevor Bradley and Sean Vick, ground crew employees in Jordan’s Facility Services Department. Find out how the two men saved the stranded teacher with a small child in the car, fearing for her safety on the side of the road. And, what happens when we bring the three together for a sweet reunion.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They didn't hesitate to come to the rescue when a Jordan School District teacher found herself in a serious situation while driving along Bangerter Highway on her way to work.

    On this episode of the Supercast, meet Trevor Bradley and Sean Vick, ground crew employees in Jordan School District's Facility Services Department. Find out how the two men saved the stranded teacher with a small child in the car, fearing for her safety on the side of the road. And listen in to find out what happens when we bring the three together for a sweet reunion.

    We're headed down the hallway at Foothills Elementary to Mariah Nilson's classroom to surprise her with Trevor and Sean. Here we go.

    Hey there, how are you?

    Mariah Nilson:

    Good.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We just wanted to come talk with you this morning, interrupt your class a little bit with a couple of people I think you know.

    Mariah Nilson:

    Oh, yes, hi.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I know, you're backing away from me.

    Mariah Nilson:

    Sorry, I'm just like really caught off guard, but yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We talked to your principal, she said you could take a surprise.

    Mariah Nilson:

    Oh, yes, so that is good. Is this why, okay, I like said hi to you in the hallway, and I was like, wait, that's really weird that you're here, but that was really cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you did see them, okay. Can you tell me what happened, kind of talk me through that morning?

    Mariah Nilson:

    Sure, so it was last week and my daughter and I were on our way to Foothills. We were on Bangerter and something had happened and my tire completely blew. But like did not just die, like it really died, like multiple pieces are flying everywhere, it was really dead.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So what was the sound like? How did it feel when that happened?

    Mariah Nilson:

    It was this huge boom and then my car started swerving and I like freaked out. And then my daughter, she's one and a half and she started screaming. And I didn't really know what was going on. I was like, something is happening. Am I losing control of my car? And so it was very scary. And I started-- like, I put my hazards on, started pulling over all these things. And in my head, I'm like, I don't know how to change this. I don't know how to do anything. I wasn't even sure if it was the tire. I just knew something was wrong. I'm not a very big car person. And so I pulled over. And little did I know that these two lovely gentlemen, they pulled over right behind me. They saw it blow, the pieces flying everywhere and came over and pulled right next into an empty parking lot with me and changed it. Which was super helpful because I was able to tend to my daughter who was very scared still from the sound and then they were able to help me. And again, I didn't know how to do anything and they just immediately took it. They're like, “Oh, we got it. You help your daughter. We'll help you and make sure that you are safe.” So that was really cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's very fortunate that these two were behind you instead of me, because I would not have been much help. So did it surprise you that it was a couple of Jordan School District employees that happened to be behind you?

    Mariah Nilson:

    Yeah, that was really cool, a happy coincidence, because I didn't realize until they pulled off that they had a Jordan District vehicle, and then I had my badge on, and that was the first thing that Scott said, is he goes, "Oh, you work for the district too.” And I was like, "Yeah." So then we realized that they are the ones that mowed the lawn here at Foothills, just like a happy coincidence. Like we're like coworkers, but we didn't know it. So that was cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you're not just three of the 9,000 employees in Jordan School District who happen to run into each other, but you have this Foothills connection as well.

    Mariah Nilson:

    Yeah. So that was kind of cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So they changed the tire. How did it feel driving away?

    Mariah Nilson:

    So there's another thing my spare tire was flat and I didn't know that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh wow.

    Mariah Nilson:

    And then when they changed it, they said it was flat. So they followed me to the nearest gas station and then they filled my spare tire with air like completely by themselves. They did all of it, which was really nice because again, I don't know how to do that either. And they made sure that my daughter and I were safe. And I think that was the biggest thing. Cause I was like a nervous wreck. I was really like freaking out and my daughter was still upset. She ended up crying for like almost an hour afterwards at the babysitter. She was really scared.

    But like they made sure that my daughter and I were safe and that we could get back to Foothills safely. They even showed me like a side road so I didn't have to get back on Bangerter because I was scared of Bangerter at that point. That my car had gone crazy. But they just went out of their way to make sure that my daughter and I were safe, which was really cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's amazing. Now, let's get to know you guys. Introduce yourselves.

    Sean Vick:

    I'm Sean Vick, work on the grounds.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Trevor Bradley, yep on the grounds.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And so tell me about your experience that day. Who was driving?

    Trevor Bradley:

    I was driving. Yeah, we just kind of were heading off to go do some work at South Tech. And we saw, you know, the car in front of us, she's just, the tire was kind of shaking a little bit and we could smell it kind of burning at first. Yeah, and then we're like, “oh, I hope she pulls off.” And then it, you know, completely, we just tore right off the rim. And then the tire's rolling down the road. So she pulled off the exit and we just kind of followed her. We had no idea she was an employee. We're like, “well, let's see if they need some help.” We want to help them out if they need it, and then we just pulled over. She got out and I saw the badge and I was like, “Oh, you're a district employee.”

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, that's pretty cool. That's amazing. And that's a good reminder. It's that you pulled over for whoever was in trouble ahead of you. It wasn't because they're a Jordan District employee.

    Trevor Bradley:

    No, yeah, definitely not.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You're driving around a lot as a part of your job. Have you seen this type of thing happen before? Have you helped other people in the past or have you not encountered something like this?

    Trevor Bradley:

    This is my first time.

    Sean Vick:

    Yeah, I haven't. This is my first time also.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. So tell me about the experience from your perspective.

    Sean Vick:

    Well, like Trevor said, we were just driving down the road and I could see the tire was smoking and thought, what's going on with her tire? I didn’t know it was her, but.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Which is kind of a bad sign for those listening.

    Sean Vick:

    Right. That's not a good thing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    If your tire is smoking, unless you're a drag racer. Then you’re ok.

    Sean Vick:

    Right, yeah. And that's when, like he said, pieces started flying off of the tire and then the outer shell rolled off the side of the road and thought, uh-oh, we just thought we'd follow her and make sure that everything was okay. And Trevor's like, “Should we help her?” And I'm like, “Yeah, we better help her.” So that's what we did. We just went in there and it was kind of like a NASCAR pit crew, you know. I just went in the back of her trunk and took out the jack and gave it to Trevor and he immediately knew what to do, over there and started jacking up the car and I got the spare tire, brought it out to him, he took the old tire off, I gave him the new one, he put it on while I put the spare tire back into the trunk and closed it up. I tried to soothe her daughter a little bit because she was a little frightened and was crying but it was just really fast, five minutes and we were done and got her on her way and that was it. We were just glad that we could be there to help her.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Yeah, definitely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's pretty remarkable because I'm afraid we're moving as a society away from connecting to each other and away from helping each other and thinking, “oh, it's a stranger, I'm sure they can call AAA. I'm sure they have somebody they can call” rather than diving in to help in the moment. So I'm really impressed and proud that two Jordan District employees on the job are gonna pull over and help whoever needs them.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Yeah, definitely.

    Sean Vick:

    That's why we're here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    As you thought back on this, how have you felt about these two?

    Mariah Nilson:

    I've just been really grateful for them. When I got to school, I was like, I'm sure you're curious on how I figured out who you were. So you told me your first names, but I didn't see your badges. I just saw your first names. And I talked to my secretary and you know secretaries are really good at getting information. So I told her I was like, “hey, like this crazy thing just happened. I would love to be able to reach out and like to thank them and to like tell their boss or somebody that they did a really good thing for me today.” Because it was again like as soon as I got out, I was like I don't know how I'm gonna get to work. I don't know how to change anything. I'm on my own. I don't know how to do this. So I figured out who they were, my secretary gave me their bosses emails, so I sent this like big email to their bosses and just said like these are amazing men and I'm very grateful for them. And I still am, even like a week later. And I will forever be grateful for them 'cause they helped me when I needed it and when my daughter needed it. And that was really cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, I'm really glad you tracked them down and took the time to write that email. That's how we found out about it. And I couldn't wait to meet you and to meet them and to talk about this.

    You know, my motto for the district has been, ‘Be curious, be intentional, be united’. And this just epitomizes being united, being someone who's gonna reach out and help. And then on your end, you're gonna make sure that you find out who they are so you can thank them. That's the amazing part, it's like, you know their first names and that's it, and they just kind of disappear into the day and everyone goes about their work. But that's a lasting impact. I'm sure it's something you won't forget.

    Mariah Nelson:

    No, definitely not.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hopefully it's something your daughter will forget.

    Mariah Nelson:

    Yes, hopefully so. I would like her to not remember this.

    Anthony Godfrey

    (laughing) Well, that's remarkable. Thank you for everything you guys have done to support her, like I said, it just, this gives me fuel for a long time. It doesn't surprise me. That's the type of people we have in Jordan District, but it's really exciting to hear about and to meet all of you.

    Stay with us. When we come back more with our kind employees taking care of one another.

    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.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell me a little bit about your time in the district and the job that you do.

    Trevor Bradley:

    I've been with the district for about two and a half years now so kind of a newer employee, been on the grounds crew the whole time. You know, we kind of just take care of you know, in the summer times we take care of the lawns and all the landscaping and wintertime we’re out there keeping the parking lots cleared and salted.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So it's been a pretty smooth year this year?

    Trevor Bradley:

    Yeah, oh yeah. Not much to do.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Nobody watches the weather like you guys do.

    Sean Vick:

    Oh yeah, just tons of snow.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Yeah, nobody does.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you work some long and some early hours.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Oh yeah, yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    In fact, tell me about that.

    Trevor Bradley:

    Lots of 2:00 a.m.’s this year, 3:00 a.m. and long hours. 14, 15 hour days.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, no, I know. We've relied on you guys more this year than ever before. And people think grounds crew, and they don't realize the wide range of jobs that you have and the things we rely on you to do. Really, safety is at the center of what you're doing too. Now tell me about your time in the district.

    Sean Vick:

    Well, I've been with the district for 27 years. I left for a few years, went to Arizona, and then came back recently. And I was fortunate to get back on at the district. I was in custodial prior to this, but I thoroughly enjoy the place and I was able to get on the grounds with what a great crew, you know, with Easton as our supervisor. It's good teammates and everything. I love the job. And I love being able to go out and help and, like you said, make the schools safe for all the students and teachers and parents.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, I really appreciate it. Your jobs are essential. We just, we honestly can't function without you. And I'll bet you were missing Arizona this winter.

    Sean Vick:

    I surely am. I am.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're glad to have you back and, and we're glad to have you joined Jordan a couple of years ago. Anything about being on grounds crew that people might misunderstand about the job or not realize is part of the job?

    Sean Vick:

    Your school's not the only school.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh yeah, that’s true.

    Sean Vick:

    Because a lot of people would like to have their lawn mowed first, you know, or their parking lot plowed first and somebody's got to be last, unfortunately. So people get a little upset and, you know apprehensive, when are they gonna be here?

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah.

    Sean Vick:

    So, we try our best to get there as quick as we can.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Honestly, I think we've got the best crews in the state and I talked to a lot of superintendents. We really do. Dedicated people like you who take the job very seriously, love the job.

    Sean Vick:

    Love it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And it's and it's obvious that you love doing what you do. So, thank you for that. And tell me about your career in Jordan.

    Mariah Nilson:

    This is my seventh year teaching and my fourth year in Jordan. And I've been at Foothills the whole time under Cherie so she's been great.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And what grade do you teach?

    Mariah Nilson:

    I am currently teaching second. I've kind of bounced around a little bit. I've taught fifth and sixth and now I'm in second.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And how are you feeling about the younger kids compared with the older?

    Mariah Nilson:

    I love them. I love all kids. I've realized like finding there's like fun things in each grade but second grade is really fun.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, that's great. Well, I admire the work that each of you is responsible for in the district and the hard work that you put into it, the early mornings, the late nights, and just thank you for being a part of Jordan and for being such great people.

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    17 min
  • Episode 188: The Story of Eastlake Elementary School’s “Young Poets Society”

    It is a fun before-school program fostering curiosity and creativity in students at Eastlake Elementary School.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we hear from members of the “Young Poets Society,” and have them read some of their original works. It is a society sparking a strong passion and appreciation for reading and writing poetry.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a fun before-school program fostering curiosity and creativity in students at Eastlake Elementary School. On this episode of the Supercast, we hear from members of the “Young Poets Society” and have them read some of their original works. It is a society sparking a strong passion and appreciation for reading and writing poetry.

    We're here with the “Young Poets Society” at Eastlake Elementary School. Tell me your name and what grade you're in.

    Ellie:

    My name's Ellie and I'm in fifth grade.

    Shayla:

    My name's Shayla and I'm in sixth.

    Jennah:

    My name is Jennah and I'm in sixth.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me, what is it that you love about poetry? Why did you want to be part of this group?

    Ellie:

    I think writing poetry is just really fun. It's kind of calming. Yeah.

    Shayla:

    Yeah, I agree with Ellie and it's like a nice way to get your emotions out without getting angry or sad at something.

    Jennah:

    I also like how you can, when you read it, it kind of just flows out of your mouth, kind of soothingly.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    The best poems do. Now do you guys read and write poetry as a part of this group? Tell me a little bit about what activities you're involved in with this group.

    Shayla:

    Mainly we write poems but occasionally we read the poems to understand how we write them so we can do it better and more effective.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you're learning from other authors. How about for you? What are the activities that stand out for you from this group?

    Jennah:

    I like how sometimes even when we will write poetry but there's also a ton of different kinds of poetry. Like we'll do blackout poetry where we just color in some of the other words and you can read the words that aren't colored in and it forms a poem.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, so you start with a poem and then black out some of the words to make make your own creation. Is that how that works?

    Jennah:

    Yeah pretty much.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay how about for you? What are some of your favorite activities with this group?

    Ellie:

    We used a colored pencil on black paper and we wrote down personification.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about personification.

    Ellie:

    We used onomatopoeias. We also make things that aren't like people or animals have like people like things I guess.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Can any of you remember some examples of when you wrote something that involved personification or read something?

    Ellie:

    Like the flowers danced in the breeze.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Very nice. Flowers don't actually dance but that's a great image. I love the sound of that. We also have Piper Wise here, the media assistant, who started all of this. Tell me why did you want to start the “Young Poets Society”?

    Piper Wise:

    When I was in fifth grade, a long long time ago, kids, I had a teacher that started a poetry group. And I was very shy, which no one believes these days but it was a great way for me to express myself, and I loved words ever since. And talking with Mrs. Blockburger and Mrs. Burr about how fun that was, we just decided wouldn't it be fun if we started one here? We thought maybe we'd have a couple of kids, but we have 25 kids and they're all very different from each other. So it's cool to see all different interest types and all different groups of kids coming together and learning about the power of words and taking that power for themselves because these kids have a lot to say.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I was super impressed coming in early, early to school to read poetry and to write poetry. As a former language arts teacher my heart skips a beat when I see this. It's really exciting. So you were pretty surprised at the turnout it sounds like.

    Piper Wise:

    Yes, yes it's way bigger than we thought it would be and we love it. It's the best part of the day when we have poetry first. When we have our “Young Poets Society” at the beginning of the day because these kids are just so good and kind and smart and funny. And I don't think you guys realize how much we love it and I'm glad that you guys do too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I was impressed at how quickly students were connecting with the poetry. And I love that the discussions are structured in a way that pulls out their personal reaction to it. Have you been surprised by some of the reactions over time as you've met as young poets?

    Piper Wise:

    Yeah, and some of the stuff they write as well. I mean, working in the library, you get to know students because of what they read, but you can get even more knowledge about them and their souls and their hearts and their desires and their fears and their hopes and by what they write. So it's really interesting how we can give one cue, one assignment, and then everybody's poems are so different. And we're learning all different types of poems so they can see, if I don't like this type, I can try this type and there's no wrong poem. Nothing they write down is wrong. So that's really encouraging too. I think they're just free to write whatever they need to.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's true. It is nice to start the day knowing you're going to be right no matter what.

    Piper Wise:

    Right, yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And with poetry, as you've described, you learn more about the world around you, you learn more about other people, but you also learn more about yourself, and you test your own emotions and your own needs and interests. So, and that was evident. That was on display. It's really, really impressive to see this group.

    Piper Wise:

    They're a really good group.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How does it make you feel to know that you've inspired these students to love poetry the way they do?

    Piper Wise:

    It makes my heart three times bigger. I just, I feel so proud of these kids and I think they're wonderful and it gives me hope for the future as someone looking backwards. As an adult looking backwards, I just think the world's gonna be okay with these guys in charge because they have a lot figured out.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Did it take a little while for you to feel comfortable in the group sharing your emotional reaction to poetry?

    Students:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So over time as you get used to the group a little bit, is that a little bit easier?

    Shayla:

    Yeah, because you know these people aren't gonna judge you over it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How about expressing your emotions through poetry? Was that difficult at first or is that something that came naturally?

    Ellie:

    I think it really just depends on the person.

    Shayla:

    Yeah, because for me it came a little bit more naturally because sometimes it's harder for me to display emotions other ways so going through poetry is a fun and easy way. And when you come to like these you gain new friends.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So there's a deeper connection with others and that allows you to express yourself in ways that you might not have otherwise.

    Piper Wise:

    We work to make the library a safe place this should be the most peaceful safest place in the school in my opinion. I'm biased but that's okay and so it makes me happy to know that kids can come in here and feel safe writing things also. So I like that too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I love that. Thank you for everything that you're doing to make that possible.

    Piper Wise:

    You're welcome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're here now with Aliya and Bennett. Aliya, tell me what you love about this poetry group.

    Aliya:

    I love that everybody can just access their feelings without being shy and the teachers are wonderful. And I just love doing poetry every other Wednesday. It's just a great group and I love the things we do together.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Did it take a little bit of time to warm up to feeling comfortable sharing those feelings?

    Aliya:

    I mean it didn’t take long because I know most of these people here. I mean they're all great and the teachers, Miss Burr was my fifth-grade teacher and Miss Wise and Miss Blockburger were and are our library teachers, so it didn't really take long for me.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And have you gotten to know the other students in the group well over time as you've met as young poets?

    Aliya:

    I mean yeah, we've sat together sometimes and we've talked together we've got to know each other a little bit.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How about for you Bennett? What do you love about being here?

    Bennett:

    Because I like doing poetry and it's fun. Ms. Burr is my fifth-grade teacher and so it's pretty fun and I just like it a ton.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So it's pretty fun and I like it a ton. See you just rhyme naturally. The poetry just flows from you Bennett. Tell me what is it that you like most? Is it reading or writing poetry?

    Bennett:

    I like writing poetry.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. What were some of the poems you've written? Tell me about them.

    Bennett:

    I wrote a shamrock. I wrote a letter tree.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Sorry.

    Bennett:

    A letter tree.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    A letter tree? Tell me about a letter tree.

    Bennett:

    It's where, I'm pretty sure it's where like, so there's the first two lines rhyme, the first two words.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Bennett:

    And then the next two lines, they rhyme, and then the last rhyme rhymes with the first two lines.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, okay. Do you kind of like the structure where there are rules that you have to follow and make the imagery and make your words fit the rules?

    Bennett:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, I kind of like that too. There are forms of poetry that I've really liked over the years where you have to use the same words kind of in different order and kind of move things around. How about you Daphne, what have you loved about being in this group?

    Daphne:

    I love this group because I'm not much of a reader, but the words just naturally flow in me. So I've always just, I mean I joined late in the year so I just really enjoy this.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Do you like Shel Silverstein's “Invitation” this morning?

    Daphne:

    It really gave inviting you to a warm fire and talk about books and fantasy.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Any poems that are favorites of yours, Aliya?

    Aliya:

    I really love the whole book Where The Sidewalk Ends. I feel like that book just has a bunch of good ones.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And sometimes there's a little surprise in the poem that I really like. What other poetry do you like.

    Aliya:

    I love, I love poetry that's funny, but I also love poetry that makes, that's quite literal and like not sad but like it has like a true meaning that's what I like.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I'm so impressed that you guys have delved into this. What do your parents think of the fact that you want to come early for a poetry group?

    Aliya:

    My mom, she likes it. She thinks it's pretty cool and my dad thinks it too. They think it's like cool and I think they think that it's good for my mind and soul.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think it's a great way to start the day. How about you Bennett?

    Bennett:

    I think they like it because I used to like not be involved in anything and now I'm involved in a ton of things and I really like it. And I think my parents like it too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think it's fantastic. I'm really impressed with you and the whole group. And who knows? I may have to just stop by and start my day this way again because it's pretty awesome.
    Stay with us. When we come back our young budding poets share some of their original works.

    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:

    Do you have some poetry that you've written that you can read for me? Any of you.

    Shayla:

    That’s why we brought our folders. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All right. Sounds good, Shayla. How about let's start with you? Tell me before you read it, can you tell me a little bit about this poem and what you were hoping to accomplish with it?

    Shayla:

    I just wanted to write a funny poem about leprechauns.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, and who doesn't?

    Shayla:

    I know.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All right, so let's hear it.

    Shayla:

    They travel from town to town,
    they are green and wear a black crown.
    To be small is to be
    able to see
    all the people frown.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Very nice, I like it. They seem impish in this poem. Okay, let's hear yours.

    Ellie:

    Okay, this is an onomatopoeia poem.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Ellie:

    In a big winter city, I hear children play,
    yell, squill, giggle, laugh, cry.
    In a big winter city, I hear people walking in the snow,
    crunch, crush, slush, splish, splash.
    In a big winter city, I hear a band play music,
    ooh, mmm, blah, whistle, tap, ring.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So tell me, for those who are listening, what does onomatopoeia mean?

    Ellie:

    Just sounds that sound like, that sound like what they mean.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, exactly. So can you read, let's go back through that and tell me some of the examples of words that sound like they're meaning.

    Ellie:

    There was crunch.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Crunch. You can just hear the snow. Crunch.

    Ellie:

    Yeah. Splish splash. There was ooh and mmm.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    All packaged neatly in a poem that flows really well and makes the most of those sounds. I think that's really cool. Do you have one that you can read for us as well?

    Jennah:

    This is one of my first onomatopoeia poems.
    The bird in the forest, a little bird jumps, thud.
    In a forest, a little bird squawks, squawk.
    In a forest a little bird flies, swoosh swoosh
    In a forest a little bird lands on a tree, creak creak.
    In a forest a little branch goes crack, crack, crack.

    Anthony Godrey:

    Very cool. What are some of your favorite words in there?

    Jennah:

    I liked it when you can use swoosh and crack because it really shows how the way it's moving.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's great in the poem even when you say swoosh and crack you can just you can really hear the meaning of the word. That's awesome. Do you guys notice words in a different way now that you've been reading poetry and writing it? Are there some words that kind of leap out at you as having a particularly interesting sound or interesting meaning?

    Jennah:

    Hope.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    No?

    Jennah:

    I like hope.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hope. Tell me about the word hope.

    Jennah:

    Because it really shows like if something's sad you can really you can go read a poem with hope or something, like with the bird poem, that one. With the bird is hope, that one.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Have you been reading and writing poetry for a while now? Was it before this year or did you just start this year?

    Shayla:

    Before. I started writing them when around I was nine, because I was encouraged by one of my teachers at my old school to write a poem about basically anything. So one of my first poems was about fire, because that was when we were getting a lot of fires and smoke from the California and Oregon fires.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Shayla:

    So yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And do you remember feeling like that lit a spark for your poetry love?

    Shayla:

    Metaphorically and literally.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, very well done, thank you, yes. And how about for you, when did you first start loving poetry?

    Ellie:

    It was last year. I just thought it sounded fun, so I decided to join Poets Society.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What does it mean to you that the adults in the building here are so willing to spend their time and create this experience for you?

    Jennah:

    Honestly, I think it's really nice of them though because a lot of us are actually really annoying sometimes, so to be fair.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Does the poetry make you less annoying?

    Jennah:

    Yeah, probably.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    One more benefit of poetry.

    Shayla:

    I also think it helps to give them a break from the rest of our classes. That can sometimes be a bit of a handful.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So this is a good reward for them to get to spend some time talking about poetry.

    Shayla:

    It's also a good reward for me so I can get a break from them.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's good for everybody. It's good for me. I actually feel energized getting to hear those discussions. We were going to hold this interview and I just couldn't resist. I keep looking through the window like, "Hey, there's some other poems that I'm missing out there. How about for you? What do you think?

    Ellie:

    I just really like it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's great. That's the best endorsement you can you can give. What would you say to students who might hear this and think about starting one of their own or other adults who might want to start this up at their elementary school?

    Piper Wise:

    I would say do it. It's worth your time. It's worth every second you spend extra working on things and working on lessons because as you feel the reward is giant and it's a feeling is the reward and it's it's really good. What would you say if someone's thinking about being part of something like this.

    Shayla:

    Yeah I mean if you don't like it you don't have to come but if you do it's another thing that you get to love.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well thanks for spending time talking with me about your poetry and most of all thanks for spending time on poetry. Sitting together, writing, reading, and just having this great experience that I'm sure you'll never forget.

    Students:

    Thank you.

    Shayla:

    Thank you for coming.

    Piper Wise:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks.
    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    20 min
  • Episode 187: The Cook Center for Human Connection Providing Parents with Free Mental Health Support

    They are a valuable resource for families dealing with complicated challenges involving stress, depression, anxiety, even suicide.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with the Cook Center for Human Connection to find out how they are helping families access some of the very best programs available in fostering strong mental health. They are a force for good in the community and Jordan School District is a partner, hoping to help families in need of life-saving services.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are a valuable resource for families dealing with complicated challenges, including stress, depression, anxiety, and even suicide. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with the Cook Center for Human Connection to find out how they are helping families access some of the very best programs available in fostering strong mental health. They are a force for good in the community and Jordan School District is a partner, hoping to help families in need of life-saving and life-improving services.

    We’re here with Anne Brown, the President and CEO of the Cook Center for Human Connection. Anne, thanks for joining us.

    Anne Brown:

    Thank you, Dr. Godfrey, for having me.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I'm looking forward to talking with you about some of the resources that are offered to our parents and employees through the Cook Center. And I know that we recently had a representative come and speak with school community council chairs at our district-wide school community council meeting. And they were really enthusiastic to hear about some of the things that are being offered. We've emailed the information out before and we've shared it on our website, but I thought this would be a good chance for us to sit down and talk a little bit more about all the great things that parents have access to, to help them with their kids.

    Anne Brown:

    Yeah, absolutely. We are happy to be providing these services to you. We have two things. One thing is on your website, there's a little circle medallion that is called parentguidance.org. Parentguidance.org is a place for parents to go and be able to find information when they might be dealing with difficult parts of parenting. Things like my child struggling with anxiety or depression, or perhaps their child is cutting, or they could even be experiencing some suicide ideation.

    There's courses that are directed specifically for parents that are struggling with these needs and every course is done by a licensed therapist or a psychologist or a psychiatrist. So it's kind of like finding that friend that you could really get some great advice from when you're struggling with something that might be very difficult in your family. So that's available on your website for any family in your district to access, to be able to have. And that's done through a grant from the Cook Center, we make it available to any school district anywhere in the country.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And that is really like having a very informed professional friend that can help you with some very specific concerns.

    Anne Brown:

    Absolutely, yes. And in addition, it's not all about just the problems of parenting. There's also courses on there, there's one called Parenting with a Purpose, and that just, you know, one of the things I always talk about is that not every parent has had child development courses. So you're an educator, I'm an educator by trade. I've had child development courses, but perhaps if you were a young mother, you maybe never had an opportunity to have a child development course. But also, if you're a Harvard MBA, you may not have ever had an opportunity to have a child development course. So it really, it really stretches the gamut. Every parent can always use a little tune-up. So this is things like the tone of voice that you use, how to set boundaries, how to just be more present for your child. That's some of the parenting with the purpose things.

    We also have courses on there that are things like how to understand the emotional development of your child at certain ages because as kids go through different stages, their emotions change. What's going on with a child who's five to eleven years old may be very different than a child who's nineteen to twenty years old. And so we have courses at these different stages in their life. I think there's a whole series that's five or six courses, to help parents kind of level set and know, you know, what are emotions you should be concerned about and what are emotions that are just present because that's the age that the child is.

    So we have, you know, not everything is about negative things that are happening in your life as a parent. Some things are just about the normal every day and how can you help and understand more. And then also on parent guidance, there are courses that are kind of self-help for the parents, so how to calm your anxious mind, how to rewrite self-beliefs, how to find everyday happiness. Just some of those kind of things, just to kind of help with your mindfulness and helping you find peace in your own life. So it's a really nice collection of resources, and everything is designed specifically to be talking to you as a parent.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I really like that it's private, that it's anonymous, and it's on demand.

    Anne Brown:

    In their home.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    In their home. So you can really choose how you want to engage and I would really encourage anybody listening to take a look because there's a long list of options. Options you probably wouldn't think about even as you mentioned some of the offerings. It's just something you might not think there would be specific help for. And really, it's nice to be able to access information that is well vetted, comes from an expert, because when you're just searching randomly online for help with certain problems, you don't know whether you can trust that source. And this is a trustworthy source.

    Anne Brown:

    It is. And also, when you're looking online, it may not be directed to you as a parent.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Anne Brown:

    And so this is directed to you. What we say is that at Cook Center, we help educators, which is you, Dr.Godfrey, help parents, help their children. And we're very specific with that because we know where families are is in the schools. Parents are in the schools, kids are in the schools, and families are more likely to access resources when they're available from schools. But parents may not be quite ready, given whatever situation they're dealing with at home, they may not be quite ready to go ask for help. So having this privately on demand in their home makes a big difference, but having it available through their school website makes it accessible to everyone in your district.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And as we've talked about ways to help parents and to help employees, one of the obstacles is not wanting to ask for help, not wanting to lose the anonymity. And that's what I love is that you can engage with parentguidance.org at the level that you'd like.

    Anne Brown:

    Yes, yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Let's pull it up really quick and let's just take a look at some of the topics that are available. Okay, so I'm clicking on courses at parentguidance.org. I mean the splash page is, Are You Worried About Your Child? And we all are to some degree or another. We're just worried about making sure that we're doing the very best we can for our child. Here are a few of them.

    Connect with your child by parenting with purpose.

    Helping your child when they're bullied.

    What parents need to know about suicide prevention.

    Understanding your child's emotional development, like you said, five to ten years, eleven to fourteen years.

    Protecting our children by staying aware and involved.

    Social media, everyday happiness, stopping the yo-yo food cycle. I don't know what that is, but I'm probably on it.

    Finding yourself when you're feeling lost.

    How to let go of your deepest regrets.

    These are some great topics and it's so nice to have all this accessible right here. So I hope that anyone listening will take a look and I'm sure there's something for everybody here. You can also look at the library by topic.

    Fatigue, resentment, school, business, frustration, technology, teenager, parenting tips, grief and loss. It's a wide range of topics that you can just click and access and it's really remarkable that this has been pulled together. It's very generous of the Cook Center to make this available.

    Anne Brown:

    And you can also build your own playlists through different topics. So if you're the parent of a young child, I believe there's a preschool section that you can click on and then it will build all of the courses that might have to do with preschool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, I just tried that out. Tap on depression, tap on exhaustion, and it just pulls up a list of relevant classes. It's fantastic.

    Anne Brown:

    And every class is about an hour long, but they're separated into about five-minute segments. So a family could or a parent could sit down and listen to the whole course start to finish, but they may just have one section that they really want to focus on and be able to click right to that section so they don't have to watch the whole thing at once if they don't want to.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Stay with us. When we come back, find out how families can benefit from the parent coaching offered by the Cook Center for Human Connection.

    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:

    Jordan School District has contracted with the Cook Center to provide parent coaching and we have quite a number of families who are using that. And the families who've signed up have continued to use it once they've started. Tell us about what is involved there and what's available to families.

    Anne Brown:

    Yeah, so family coaching is available to any family in the Jordan School District. It’s made available through the school district, through the Cook Center. And how Family Coaching works is right on parentguidance.org you can go to a section called Parent Coaching. You fill out what's called a confidential questionnaire. That questionnaire goes directly to our therapy team. It is HIPAA protected. It's completely anonymous. It doesn't get reported back to the district. No one has access to your information other than the coach that you'll be working with.

    Within 24 hours, a family will be contacted by the coach, and that coach can provide up to a half an hour a week of service to any family in the Jordan District. You just identified that you're from Jordan. And we've had about 80 families access this over the past year, and they have received about 2,900 sessions to support the families in the Jordan School District.

    The coaches work with the families on whatever they're struggling with at the moment. Some families stay in for a month and some families stay in for a year, and that's fine. They get access to an app, and that app gives them communication access to their coach. So it's not a crisis line. It's definitely a preventative line, but if they need to get in contact with their coach, they have a way to do that through this app, and the coach will contact them within 24 hours. And then the coaches work on the family schedule, and just, you know, work forward from there to help them with whatever their needs are.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And like you said, this is, this is not an emergency access, the sort of program. This is a program to help provide coaching and support to families who may be going through some difficulties.

    Anne Brown:

    Yes, yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So they don't have to be severe difficulties. It's just, “Hey, I need to talk with someone about how best to approach this particular situation.”

    Anne Brown:

    Absolutely and we've had everything, you know, we've had everything from families that are going through divorce to we've had young families say, "How do I get my child to use an inside voice.” So the inside voice one might be, you know, you have one coaching session but the family who's going through a divorce, you know, the coach might be by their side for the, you know for six or nine months or even further.

    And then you know we've had some severe ones and if it's too severe we ask them to reach out to the 988 lifeline and you know get that crisis intervention when they need it. But for the most part, we're helping families just be stronger, helping parents be stronger parents and feel more confident in their parenting. It's not therapy. We're very clear about this is not therapy.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Anne Brown:

    It's coaching to be able to help the—it's just like if you were a ski racer, you're going to have a coach that's going to help you go faster, help you become a better ski racer. This is just the same thing. You have a coach that helps you know some of those tricks of parenting that can help you be a stronger parent.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I think it's important that you emphasize coach. Everybody has a coach. The best players have a coach. You're always trying to get better. You're always trying to tweak your game and increase your abilities. And parenting is not a specific science, so having someone to bounce things off of and get some coaching is a big help.

    So that's the other thing about it, is it's anonymous, but it's for a wide range of purposes. And there are the preset classes, there's the individual coaching. I'm just thrilled that we have this range of options available from the Cook Center for Parents.

    Anne Brown;

    Thank you, and we are so happy to be your partner in your mental health journey for your families. Thank you for having us.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about the evolution of the Cook Center. You've been with them from the start.

    Anne Brown:

    I have.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think it's a remarkable story, and a lot of people will be interested to know that it's based in Utah, started right here.

    Anne Brown:

    It was, just started down the road in Utah. So the Cook Center for Human Connection, we're a nonprofit, we're focused on mental health and suicide prevention, as we've been talking about. We were started by Greg and Julie Cook. Greg is one of the founders of doTERRA Essential Oils. And Greg and Julie have had the opportunity now to consider how to give back to their community.

    One of the first places that they decided to give back was many people on this call probably know, but there will be a new primary children's medical center built in Lehi, Utah, and they were approached to be the first donors to that. So they donated $10 million to bring Primary Children's Medical Center to Utah County. And when they did that, they wanted to give anonymously and the people who were doing the fundraising said, "Please don't, because when you are public about your donation, that provides a halo effect and will bring others to the table to help donate.” So their $10 million donation has now helped spur $450 million that's helping build that, will be the amount needed to build that hospital.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow.

    Anne Brown:

    And why that story plays into mental health is when Greg and Julie made that donation, they were asked to direct it into something so it could have been, you know, emergency room or cardiac or, you know, pediatric orthopedics or something like that. But they were given a chart and it had this little teeny, teeny, tiny sliver and they said, "Well, what's that one?” And they said, "That's behavioral health. That's the hardest place to get funding.” This was 2018, so this was before the pandemic. And they just, from that, they reflected back on early in their marriage when a young boy who was 11 years old in their neighborhood died by suicide. And they thought, "How can that be the hardest place to get funding when this is happening in our state?”

    At about that same time, a report came back on Utah Mental Health from the Kemp Gardner Institute and it talked about how the fact that 60% of people in this state that need mental health services can't find them, and also in most states in the country, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-year-olds to 24-year-olds, but in Utah it's the first leading cause of death. All of those things came together at once, this donation to the hospital, this reliving of this young boy dying by suicide in their neighborhood and them being involved in that moment because the father was out of town and Greg had to help the mother at that time. And then this report coming out and finding out that Behavioral Health is the hardest place to get funding, and they said, "Wow, this is the cause that we need to put our resources behind.”

    So they went beyond just that initial donation and created the Cook Center, brought me in as their first employee, my background is all in schools and education and working with superintendents as well as Ed Tech. And we just did some research and discovered that there is a real marrying point that we can provide these resources to parents, get more people on the team of mental health, provide more access to mental health through our parentguidance.org and through the coaching through schools.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right.

    Anne Brown:

    Reduce stigma, because if we're talking about it with families, we're reducing the stigma. And you know, we were just able to bring together this whole plan. And interestingly enough, our U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, he didn't come on the scene until 2020, but when you look at the things that he's laid out, it's like what needs to happen. He talks about we need more people, we need more access, we need to support schools, and we need to reduce stigma. And we're doing that. And so, you know, we know we're on the right track to be helping in this space.

    So at the Cook Center we do two things. We give and we serve. So a lot of what we've talked about right now is the things that we do to serve.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yes.

    Anne Brown:

    Parentguidance.org and My Life is Worth Living. We also have a grants program. Our first year we funded about 60 Hope Squads around the country. Last year we funded about twenty schools with a program called Choose Kindness that helps schools change to a culture of kindness. And this year we're really proud that we funded twenty-six calm rooms around the country. One of those schools was here in Jordan. I think it was Bingham High School, correct?

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think it was, yes.

    Anne Brown:

    And so, you know, super proud to be supporting. I know we did five schools in the state of Utah and then nationally with the other twenty or so grants that we funded, there were about 14 other states represented.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It makes a big difference. We've seen a huge decrease in referrals to the office, especially at the elementary level.

    Anne Brown:

    Yes, really proud of both the things that we do to serve schools and the things that we do to be able to give to schools. And it's all made possible through the generous donations of the Cook family to the foundation.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, it's great to have you as a partner and it's a great complement to the school psychologists, and counselors, and teachers, and other social workers, other professionals that we have at the schools. This is an important component to that overall plan of helping support students, families, parents, and employees. So, thank you for being an important part of that.

    Anne Brown:

    Thank you. Thanks for allowing us to be part of it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

    21 min
  • Episode 186: “The Voice” Contestant, Now a Rockstar Teacher Too in JSD

    She is living her dream, working as a special education teacher at South Jordan Middle School, making a difference in the lives of students every day.

    But Lauryn Macedone saw another dream come true not too long ago, when she was a contestant on the wildly popular show “The Voice,” selected to be a part of Alicia Keys’ team.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we meet this superstar teacher and musician who has a heart of gold and a voice that turned heads around the nation, and turned the chairs of three judges on “The Voice.”

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is living her dream, working as a special education teacher at South Jordan Middle School, making a difference in the lives of students every day. But Lauryn Macedone saw another dream come true not too long ago when she was a contestant on the wildly popular show, “The Voice”, selected to be a part of Alicia Keys' team. On this episode of the Supercast, we meet this superstar teacher and musician who has a heart of gold and a voice that turned heads around the nation and turned the chairs of judges on “The Voice”.

    We're here with Lauryn Macedone, a teacher at South Jordan Middle School, talking to her about her experience on “The Voice”. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you so much for having me. I'm grateful to be here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me a little bit about your teaching career, first of all.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Okay. Yeah. So I actually just started in January, just finished my student teaching at Copper Hills High School, and then this is my first job, so I'm really excited to be here. I'm in special education here at South Jordan Middle School. I'm in the autism classroom specifically, so an autism support classroom. I have seven students and get to help them meet their individual needs and get to help them in their education, so it's awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That’s fantastic. I love a good mid-year hire. . Tell me what made you want to be a special education teacher?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Oh, that's such a good question. I've known it since eighth grade. I took a peer tutoring class when I was in middle school, had an awesome teacher, met incredible individuals with disabilities who just inspired me. And I knew from then on that I wanted to help them and I wanted to be on their side, and I wanted to be their cheerleader to help them reach their goals and dreams that they have in life.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is a great peer tutor success story, and there are a lot of those out there. It's such a great experience for kids to get to know someone who might be a little bit different from them or from their friends. And I think it changes you permanently when you have that experience.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Totally. We're so grateful for all of our peer tutors here. Like we have such a good peer tutoring program and are so grateful for all the students that take a class period out of their day to come and help others and learn from them as well. It’s awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I love to see your enthusiasm and excitement for your new role here at South Jordan Middle.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It is kind of hard to come in the middle of the year and jump in, but it sounds like it's gone really well for you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It has. This school is so supportive, the admin so supportive. I have a ton of awesome aides in my classroom that are super helpful and it just made the transition really smooth.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Good. That makes a big difference. We've struggled to hire classroom assistants throughout the district. and it makes all the difference when you have that kind of support.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. We're very lucky here. We have amazing aides, so it's awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me about your student teaching experience. You were at Copper Hills, another great school.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. I loved my student teaching. I was with an awesome mentor teacher, Jacque Sheppick. She taught me so much, was an incredible example. I was in a life skills class over there with 14 students with differing abilities and was able to teach them everything from math to restaurant skills. And it was awesome. We taught everything in between and it was super fun.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    She does an awesome job. She and her students were on the Supercast a couple of weeks ago as well. It's a great program everywhere you look in every school. It's exciting and it's an inclusive way of providing a great education for students of all abilities.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. Yeah. That's something that I've loved the most about being in Jordan School District, is that I feel like there is so much inclusion in every school that I've been in during my education. I did a practicum placement here, did my student teaching here, and now I'm a teacher here. And every school that I went to was so inclusive and that just runs through all the schools and it's really, really amazing to see.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We work hard at that. So it's great to hear that from you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It's great.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Let's talk about your career with “The Voice” as well. So how long ago were you on “The Voice”?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    So it was about six years ago. I was 16 and 17 years old throughout the whole process. I was a junior in high school. And actually kind of coincidentally my blind audition aired six years ago today.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Really? Wow.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    So today was the day six years ago. I was so excited that my friends would be able to see my blind audition and they would finally know why I was missing so much school, and all of the things.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you couldn't really tell people that you were even trying out or involved or anything like that?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    No, no. I couldn't tell them until about a month before. And so I just told people that I had a music opportunity and missed a lot of school, but it was super great and it was a great experience.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Now let's go back a step. Tell me what got you interested in singing and your singing career up until then.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. I have been singing ever since I could talk if you ask any of my family members. I would give them shows all the time. Whenever there was a fireplace, that was my stage, I was standing on it. I was singing loud and proud for everyone to hear. I would watch like Disney movies and sing along with the princesses and all the things. And so I've been performing ever since I can remember. I went to a performing arts preschool when I was younger.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, wow.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    And I did plays there too. It's just in my blood. I knew I loved to sing and love to perform.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Is there a type of song that you like to sing in particular?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It's changed over the years. I started a lot with musical theater and then I kind of jumped. I wanted to be a country singer and now I feel like I finally found myself as an artist. And I love like singer-songwriter style music. I am really inspired by like the sixties, the seventies artists, like Carole King, Joni Mitchell, stuff like that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    There is some great singer-songwriter stuff available during that era.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Oh yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And they probably told you I'm a huge music fan. I go to a lot of concerts and live music is a big deal for me. So it's exciting to talk with you and to hear about this experience now.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    That's fun.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Was "The Voice" your particular focus or were there other shows that you considered or tried out for as well?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah, that's a great question. I always had people telling me growing up, like, oh, you should audition for “The Voice” or “American Idol”. And I always had it in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to do. But I actually did a voice competition in Provo and they sent my video to “The Voice” and “The Voice” actually reached out to me to come and participate in their audition process.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you did a voice audition in Provo?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    But it was an audition for the show specifically, or was it for something else?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was something else.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What was that for?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was just a little voice competition in Provo that my parents and I were like, let's just go do it. Sounds like fun. You can go just compete, meet other local artists. So I just went and it was more like a networking opportunity and they were awesome and sent my video to “The Voice” and the rest is history. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow. Now people tell you you should try out for “The Voice” and for me they say you should try out for the trivia shows , where you can name that song, name that tune, name the artist. It's the Shazam show.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    You should! You should. There you go.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So I can't perform it. I just listen to people like you who can perform it. So the audition, you didn't even know you were auditioning for “The Voice”?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Not really. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me what it feels like when "The Voice" contacts you and you weren't even expecting it.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was crazy. I can remember that moment like it was yesterday. I remember it was after a dance class and I was with my cousin and a friend and we were at Bahama Bucks getting some shaved ice. We were just enjoying our time. And I opened up my email and I saw an email from “The Voice”, and I think I, like, I read it at least 10 times , just to make sure that it was real, that I was reading it correctly. I called my mom crying. I was like, I don't know what's happening right now. But it was surreal. It was crazy, but it was really cool. So I had to go through a pretty lengthy audition process. There were lots of auditions before you see the blind audition on tv, but just went through that whole process, kept getting through and it was super amazing and super humbling. I didn't expect it at all.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Did they ask you to come up with what song you wanted to sing? And did you have to vary that song at each stage of the audition?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. It was different. Some auditions, they asked for four songs, some auditions, they asked for two songs. Some they picked my song, some I got to pick. But the original video that was sent to “The Voice” I sang Girls Just Want To Have Fun, kind of my own rendition of it. And that song stuck with me the whole time. I sang it at every single one of my auditions. And then that was a song that I sang for my blind audition too. So it was kind of my good luck charm.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What a great choice. What a great choice.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was great. It was awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How many songs did you end up singing for them? Not including the one that you sent in or that they sent in on your behalf? How many songs did you sing before you ended up in the blind audition? Or how many times did you sing a song?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah, I think it was four times if I'm remembering correctly.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And is this for like producers or people behind the scenes? People with clipboards leaning close as you sing?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep. In a dark room, ambient lighting, like yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Really?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, so it's kind of how like I pictured it.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep. .

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And did you think, well, I'm pretty lucky to get this far, so I'll just give it a shot? Or were you feeling the pressure?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Both, both. I saw so many talented people around me. Everyone that auditioned, I was like, whoa, they're so good. I was so intimidated. I was very intimidated. But I just, I was lucky. My parents were there with me throughout the whole experience and they just said, you're amazing, like, keep going. They were really my big cheerleaders and even when I felt like I wasn't good enough to be there, they helped me to realize that they saw something in me and so I should just keep going. And it was very humbling and I learned a lot from the experience of just to push through and to keep going and to believe in myself too.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Stay with us. When we come back, Lauren Macedone sings for us.

    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:

    Describe for those who may not watch "The Voice" what's the structure of the show and how does it work?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. So there are about four rounds that are prerecorded and that go on before they go to live shows. So there's a blind audition where you get to perform for four of the judges.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And the judges are famous musicians.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Who are then trying to pick someone who wins the competition. And the prize for the competition is a recording contract.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Cash.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Probably the home version, the board game version of "The Voice".

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep. There you go.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    But along the way, their chairs are turned away from you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So describe that part of it.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. So they're turned the opposite way so they can't see you. All they can do is hear you. There's no preconceived judgments or notions that come. They just listen to you sing. And if they like what they hear, they turn around, they push a button and turn around and then they fight to have you on their team if you get more than one to turn around. So that's, it was pretty cool. That was the blind audition.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me which musicians were there that you got to be judged by and interact with.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. Yeah. So my season, I was on Season 12 and Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, and Adam Levine were the judges.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is awesome.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was pretty cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is really cool.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was really surreal.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, that's a pretty cool lineup of musicians to be judging you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Also, like you said, it would strike fear in my heart to do anything in front of them.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Oh yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Most people would have a tough time talking in front of those four. Just meeting them or chatting with them, much less performing for them. And knowing it was gonna be televised.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Totally.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Their chairs are turned around and they get to hit the button and turn around and see you once they choose you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me who chose you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    So Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Shelton all turned around for me while I was singing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is Insane. That is cool. That is so cool to have three out of four.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah, it was, it was surreal.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Who was the first?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was Gwen and then shortly after it was Alicia and then it was Blake. So they all kind of hit it like the same moment. It was pretty quick.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is so cool. And then they talk with you afterwards a little bit?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. Yes. And I don't remember anything that was said, . I don't remember any of it. . I just was like you were saying it was hard to talk, let alone sing and I was just standing there smiling and nodding. Couldn't tell you what they said. I was just in shock. I was like, I want to phone a friend, like where's my mom? Can I go talk to her really fast? This is a big decision that I'm about to make. It was crazy.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is so exciting. And so they have all chosen you, now you get to choose which team you want to be part of.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And did you choose Team Gwen?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    I chose Team Alicia actually.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Team Alicia? Interesting.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes, I chose Alicia Keys.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Even though Gwen chose you first you went with Alicia?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    And I just had this, I just loved Alicia Keys. I thought she was very genuine and very kind and that was so true. She was like a mother to all of us on her team. She was very nurturing and just so genuine and authentic. She was amazing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's incredible. Yeah. So tell me what happened with the competition after that point.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah, so there's a lot more rounds. I made it to the second round, so the battle round where you're paired up with someone from your team and you sing the same song that your judge picks for you. So Alicia chose a song that me and a teammate sang against each other, and you battle for the winner. And my teammate, she was amazing, and so she won that battle and then I went home after that. But it was, it was incredible.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is a huge win. Yes. Getting to go, getting to compete, and having them turn around and push the button three out of four. That is a huge victory.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think that's really exciting.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was so cool. And I think a little bit inside I was so sad, but I was a little grateful cuz I had already missed a lot of school and I couldn't teach myself Trig any longer. I needed to go and be taught by my teachers.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yes. Understandably.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. So I was grateful, but it was so awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Can we take a look at some of the photos and video of your time on there?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    For sure. This is just a fun one that I took that I could post on social media that said Team Alicia.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's cool.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Once I was finally able to make the announcement, I put that out there. This is during the blind audition during my video when Alicia hit her buzzer, but it also hit over a million views on YouTube. So I screenshotted this moment as like a…

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That you had a million views logged.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's insane.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It was super cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You look like you were really in the moment. You are fully there.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Oh yeah. I had to just focus on my singing or else I was gonna freak out too much. So I had to be in it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, that's so cool.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    I was closing my eyes here and that's when they all turned around and so I opened my eyes and I saw that they had turned around . And you can, in my blind audition, I get this little smile. You can tell the moment that I noticed that they've turned around.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's so awesome.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It's pretty awesome. This was my whole team.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh yeah.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    They were awesome. So this guy actually won my season. His name's Chris Blue and he was super cool. This was one of my really good friends.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And there's Alicia right at the center.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    There’s Alicia right there. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you really got some time with her.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Uh huh, yeah. It was super neat.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's cool. Okay. Can we watch a little video here?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah. This is my blind audition video.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. Is this a live band playing with you?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Lauryn Macedone singing Girls Just Want to Have Fun:

    I come home in the morning light,

    My mother says when you gonna live your life right?

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You can see them touching the button.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Uhhuh.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I would've watched this a thousand times if I were you.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    I think I have probably.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You can see them react immediately.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you sound so good.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you.

    Singing:

    Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world.
    I want to be the one to walk in the sun...

    Alicia thought there were two singers.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    She thought that was a different person, because you just busted it out right there.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    . That's what she's asking Blake.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Uh huh.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What that shows is your range. They're singing along. They're moving to it.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Look at that.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Here's the moment right there. You can tell, that's when I saw.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you know what? They're having fun. They're totally enjoying that.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So if anyone wants to watch this, they just search Lauren Judd, L a u r y n  Judd, Draper, "The Voice", and that'll come up. I just can't believe the interaction. it's so exciting. But your performance. Wow.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You sounded so good on that.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thanks.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And to do that on that stage, much less do it in the privacy of your own home. That's talent.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you. You are so nice. Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So what are you doing now with your talent besides coming on the Supercast?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. Yes. , you know, I have to really find time to make time for this hobby. It's hard when I am so busy, I am trying to bring it into my classroom as much as I can. As a first year teacher, I'm like grasping the curriculum first and then I think I will slowly be able to bring it more into the classroom. But my goal is to integrate music into the classroom a lot because individuals with different abilities relate with music so much. It just connects with them on a different level. And so I really want to utilize that in my teaching. I do perform every once in a while. I recorded a little bit recently. But I really, I need to do music more. I have to make more time for it. It’s hard.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about recording and performing you've done recently.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yeah, I do. I've just recorded an album of original songs that I wrote.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Really? So you're composing on top of all this?

    Lauryn Macedone:

    I did, yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Wow. I think I've said wow about 15 times in this Supercast, but I'm really blown away by your talent. Tell me about the stuff that you’ve written.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. So it's got kind of like that sixties, seventies singer-songwriter vibe like we talked about earlier. And it does, it kind of has a Christian base that I've been working around and trying to get into. Just original songs with my heart and feelings.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    There's good market for that type of music.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Yes. Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, I'd love to hear some of your original stuff so send me a link. And I'd love to have a live performance right now, if you don't mind.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Oh, yes, yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    My chair does turn if it feels better for me to turn my back.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Perfect, Yes. Probably.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And then hit the table and spin around.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    That's what you should do. Definitely. Definitely. Okay, so this is Wild Flowers by Tom Petty.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Oh, I love this song. It’s a great one.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    It's so good.

    Singing:

    You belong among the wildflowers
    You belong in a boat out at sea
    Sail away, kill off the hours
    You belong somewhere you feel free

    Run away, find you a lover

    Go away somewhere all bright and new
    I have seen no other
    Who compares with you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    The crowd goes wild .

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That sounded so good. I couldn't join in on that I needed to hear you sing. That was so good.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    You’re so nice. Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Man, you've got a great voice, . That was awesome.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thank you. Thanks for sharing your talents today. I wish you the best of luck in the future. And thanks for sharing your talents in our classroom here at South Jordan.

    Lauryn Macedone:

    Thank you so much for having me, and thanks for letting me be a part of this awesome district.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's fantastic to have you. Thank you.

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.

    23 min
  • Episode 185: We Celebrate Women Making a Difference During National Women’s History Month

    March is National Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the vital role of women in American history.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we find out how schools are celebrating, and we sit down with a strong woman in our school community making history in her own right. Meet Dawn Ramsey, President of the Jordan Education Foundation and the first female mayor of South Jordan City.

    But first, we stop by West Jordan Middle School where Martha Hughes Cannon, the first female State Senator in the United States, is celebrated on morning announcements.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. March is National Women's History Month, a time to recognize the vital contribution of women in American history. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out how schools are celebrating, and we sit down with a woman in our school community making history in her own right. Meet Dawn Ramsey, President of the Jordan Education Foundation and the first female mayor of South Jordan City. But first, we stop by West Jordan Middle School, where Martha Hughes Cannon, the first female State Senator in the United States, is being celebrated on morning announcements.

    Rae Garrison:

    Good morning, West Jordan Middle School, faculty, staff, and students. Give me a heartbeat. Today is Monday, March 20th. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're here at West Jordan Middle School, talking with Principal Rae Garrison and two of our student body officers. Introduce yourselves.

    Vina:

    Hi, I'm Vina. I am ninth-grade historian.

    Allie:

    Hi, I'm Allie, and I'm eighth-grade historian.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And as part of your announcements every morning, you've been focusing on Women's History Month. Principal Garrison, tell us about this project.

    Principal Rae Garrison:

    Yeah, so we like to recognize the various national designated months throughout the year. So, you know, Black History Month, Pacific Islander, and of course Women's History Month. So we make a slide for every day to highlight various important figures throughout history. We feel like it's really important to share with the students what these women have accomplished is what the month's all about.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Have you been highlighting a different woman each day?

    Allie:

    Yes. Mm-hmm.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay. Let's go through some of the ones that you've been featuring. Any favorites along the way?

    Principal Rae Garrison:

    My favorite slides that we've done are ones that recognize the collective effort of some of our great women leaders throughout history. You know, for example, the Code Breakers of World War II. Over 10,000 women worked as code breakers, deciphering enemy messages.

    Allie:

    I would say my favorite one so far is Mary Jackson. We learned about her last year in language arts, and I think it was really cool to see like how she was the first one to like break those codes and stuff. And it was like, she was super smart and people like didn't realize that and she showed them who’s boss kind of thing and I love that.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah . That's awesome. How about for you?

    Vina:

    I think mine is Patsy Mink because she just like stood up and became one of the first like women to be in the Congress, which I think is really like, powerful and for like, her time. And so I think that she's like a really good role model.

    Allie:

    March is Woman's History Month. So Principal Garrison's Woman's History Month highlight is Martha Hughes. Martha Hughes Cannon was a Utah Woman's Rights activist and suffragist. Martha was working at the age of 14. At 16, she enrolled in the University of Deseret, which is now called the University of Utah. She received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry. She attended the University of Michigan and received her MD, Medical Doctor. Cannon worked as a doctor and fought for women's rights. She helped put women enfranchisement voting into Utah's constitution when it was granted statehood in 1896. On November 3rd, 1896, Cannon became the first female State Senator elected in the United States, defeating her own husband who was also on the ballot.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell us about who you featured today.

    Allie:

    This was Martha Hughes, and we have a wall of her. I think she's just really cool that she did all this stuff such as like advocate for women's rights and stuff, and I love how she defeated her own husband in that . I think that's really fun.

    Principal Rae Garrison:

    Martha Hughes Cannon being the first female in Congress certainly sends a message to our young ladies that you can accomplish great things.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And it's a particularly important message in middle school. Just to be reminded that you can do things that you may not think you're capable of.

    Principal Rae Garrison:

    Yeah, absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I love that you've got her up on the wall. And Principal Garrison, you've done such a nice job of creating an engaging space for students. There's a lot to see here. Anyone who hasn't been to West Jordan Middle is missing out on all the murals and it's a great way of making the most of students’ time here. Thanks very much for letting us drop in on your announcements and I think you guys are doing a great thing here, so keep it up.

    Allie:

    Thank you.

    Principal Rae Garrison:

    Thank you, superintendent.

    Vina:

    Thank you so much.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're here today with Mayor Dawn Ramsey to celebrate National Women's History Month. Mayor Ramsey, thanks for joining us.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Well, thank you very much for having me. It's an honor to be here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How many years are you into being a mayor now?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    This is my sixth year as mayor.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And not only are you mayor of South Jordan, but you've been involved with Jordan School District in many, many ways for a very long time. And we want to talk about that. Really to start off with, I think the first time that I really remember calling on you for help was when we had a group of parents talking about a boundary change, and you came in and talked with those parents. You just did such a nice job of conveying just your confidence in the District and in the school. And we've relied on you many times since then, but I've always appreciated your support for the District with everything else that you have going on.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Well, thank you. I thought about that the other day. I went to the musical, fantastic musical that they did at Elk Ridge Middle School. They just did Suessical and I was there and I thought about the first time we met. I was PTA President at Elk Ridge is what it was. And yeah, there were some boundary changes and a good opportunity to talk about some of the great things that were happening at Elk Ridge Middle School, but that was a long time ago. I was trying to do the math. It's been at least 11 years, I think.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. Yeah. It's been more than a decade. Yeah. Tell me, let's focus on your work as a mayor first of all, let's talk about that. You've been visiting classrooms with us to honor Outstanding Educators, and as a result, you get to interact with a lot of students. And there's something that a student said to you as you were leaving that I thought was particularly poignant. Well, would you talk about that a little bit?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Yes, for sure. I love going into the classroom and seeing the students and the teachers being part of presenting some of these awards. Visiting schools means a great deal to me. But the students are so fun. If you're ever having kind of a down day go in and get greeted by a bunch of first graders or fourth graders or seventh grade, they just brighten my day. I have had more than one student say to me as I've been leaving. It's something I've heard a few times. I didn't know a girl, or I didn't know a woman could be a mayor. . I've had a lot of young kids say that to me.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah. And what's your response when they say that?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    It's true. It is true. A woman can be a mayor and you could, whether they're boys or girls, young men or young women, you could be too if you decided. You can be anything you'd like to be. And they usually think that's pretty cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I definitely do not remember a mayor visiting my classroom. No question about that. I'm amazed, as we've talked over the years at the number of committees you've served on and led. The groups that you've been in charge of, you really engage in ways that make me wonder, and I'm a busy guy, how you're able to do everything that you do. So tell me, let's go through some of the things, as many as you can remember, how many of the boards and advisory groups that you have been a part of as Mayor of South Jordan.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Wow. On the spot that might be hard to come up with. I’ll rattle off a few.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I wasn't joking when I was saying the ones you can remember, because over the years, you've been involved in a lot.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    There have been a lot and it's been a privilege. But when I ran for mayor the first time, and then again the second time, my commitment to the residents was that I would make this my full-time effort and give it my all. That I would do everything I could to give South Jordan a seat at the table anywhere that I could. And I'm proud to say that I've accomplished that almost to an exhausting level sometimes as you mentioned. But it's been such a blessing. So, let's see. I had the chance to serve for the last four years as a member of the Board of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. And I just wrapped up my term as president. I've been an executive officer for the last, this is my fourth year as an officer. So I guess five years on the Board.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    The League of Cities and Towns has kind of a mystery to it. Like the Justice League or something.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Yes, . That is the coalition that represents all 250 plus cities and towns in the state of Utah. We have an organization where we come together and work together, and we work a lot at the legislative session with legislators to make sure that policy is crafted that is going to be helpful and not hurtful to local government. And to advocate for local control and things that are important and to also share best practices. So it was an honor to be chosen amongst my peers from across the state as President of our organization. I'm currently chair of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, which as I mentioned, does the transportation and land use plans for the entire Wasatch front. So we've got seven counties from Box Elder down to Salt Lake County, and it's an honor the next two years to chair the Wasatch Front Regional Council. And I'm also the first woman in their more than 50 year history to ever chair the council. So that's quite an honor. Let's see. My goodness, I, for the last three years have been the public sector vice chair of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. This is gonna get boring. This list is kind of long.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    No, no. Keep on going, keep on going.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Let’s see. I represent cities on the Utah Unified Economic Opportunity Commission that was created by the governor and legislature two years ago. And that's the governor, the speaker of the house, the president, and members of the cabinet. And I represent the seat for cities and towns on that. I serve as a trustee for the state on the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, working on the Point as we redevelop the prison site. I serve on the Olene Walker Affordable Housing Board for the state and also on the State Drinking Water Board.

    It has been a long time. I started on the Jordan Education Foundation when I was region director. I think I was still associate director for the PTA for Jordan School District. So it's been, this is my 10th year on the Jordan Education Foundation Board, and a privilege to be a part of the work, to engage the community to help provide resources to fuel success in Jordan School District, to work as a companion organization to be part of this.

    When I was elected mayor, I was not willing to let the Jordan Education Foundation role go because it's where my heart is. It's what I love to do. So it's not because I'm the mayor that I'm on the Education Foundation, it's because I've been there for a long time and now I happen to be a mayor. But it's been a privilege to serve with so many great volunteers from our community and to come together with businesses, business leaders, educators to recognize teachers and provide classroom grants. And I'm very proud that we were able to start the Principal's Pantry program, which is now in every school. Beds for kids. We do all sorts of things, clothes and eyeglasses, and there's so many things that we've been able to do and grow that it's really been an honor to be part of it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Talk about your PTA involvement as well over the years.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    I've been PTA president a lot of times, , and I thought I was gonna be able to kind of stay under the radar. I was president at our kids elementary school. My kids have gone, we've got six kids and they've gone to several, so many of the schools that we have. As boundaries change and things move around and you join different programs and things like that. So I've served in the PTA a lot. And then I was able to serve as associate director and then as region director for the Jordan PTA for four years. So as the parent representative, working closer with the administrative level and with the volunteers at all the schools at every school. And then representing our district on the state PTA board.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You've done a ton , you've been everywhere all the time. I think the movie is Everything Everywhere All at Once.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    I don't know about that, but I actually finished my last six months as Region PTA Director were my first six months as mayor. I did both.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Stay with us when we come back more with Mayor Ramsey.

    Break:

    Hello, I'm Tracy Miller, President of the Jordan School District Board of Education. There are seven members on the Board of Education, one in each voting district. We are committed to listening and serving our constituents as we work together to provide the best possible learning environment for the students we serve. As members of the Jordan Board of Education, we believe it is our duty and responsibility to: increase student achievement; provide parents with the choices they deserve and desire; recognize and reward quality in educators; empower school leaders through policy governance and professional development; and communicate with the public, legislators, business leaders, cities, and parents. We invite you to get to know the Board member who represents you in your voting district and to please join us at our monthly board meeting held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Or listen from the comfort of your home, on our live stream. For more information and to find your Board member, visit jordandistrict.org. With parent and community input and support, we will continue our work to give students every opportunity to succeed in Jordan District schools and beyond. Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Let's talk about your time as mayor. What was it that made you want to run to be Mayor of South Jordan City?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Well, I love the community we live in and I had been involved for many years as a volunteer in the community. Often it was through education, volunteering a lot of time in the classrooms, a lot of PTA. Just spent a great deal of time volunteering also in the arts, also in little league sports. And so had just done a lot of volunteering in the community and the mayor wasn't running for reelection. There was an open seat. And I just decided I'd love to take the opportunity to represent our community and to give my all, my full-time, my best efforts to advocating for the residents if they want me to. And felt confident that I could do a good job. I knew I had a lot I'd need to learn, but I thought, if I give my best to this, I think I could make a difference for this community. And if the residents want me to, I'm willing to give it my all. And was humbled and honored to be elected the first woman ever elected mayor in the city of South Jordan. And to have that chance and now to be reelected, it's an honor to get to represent our city.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I wanted to ask you about that. How does it feel to be the first female mayor of a city?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Well, humbling, honestly. It might surprise some people that South Jordan's been a community since the beginning of the settling of Utah. And so it's been a very long time. And we've got a fantastic wall that images of all of the previous mayors of the city are on. And it's gonna look a little different at one point when all of a sudden there's this blonde woman up there next to all the gentlemen who have served so well. But I'm honored to get to do it and feel like it's a chance to be a role model to young women, young men, men and women, everywhere. I never wanted to run on the vote for me because I'm a woman platform ever. Vote for me because I'm the best candidate is what I was running on. And I just appreciate the confidence that the residents have in me and the opportunity to show that decisions about who may or may not best fill a role, shouldn't come down to gender. It should come down to who's the best candidate, who's gonna do the best job there. And I feel strong about that, but it really is an honor to get to do this and to be a role model.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What are some things that people might be surprised or that surprised you about becoming mayor? Some things maybe people wouldn't expect are part of the job or are difficult parts of the job.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Well, no two days are the same. Anytime someone says, what's your day like, I could never give you just one example of what it is. I could say a lot of meetings, you know? No two days are the same. What has surprised me, probably what surprises me the most is how much I love it. Because if you look back over the last five plus years it's been a rocky time sometimes politically in our country. We've had a lot of public discourse that's been contentious. It might surprise you that I love it so much. It is not all roses, but I'm honored to do the work of the people. The thing that surprised me the most when I jumped into this, my intention was to give my very best efforts and to try to wear myself out. But I never understood what a benefit it would be to me. That I would be the lucky recipient who was blessed to get to know so many people and that my life would be enriched. I almost feel selfish saying that because it's enriched my life so much to get to be part of wonderful things with amazing people. That's what surprised me the most.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You do get a bit of a backstage pass to the city as a whole and all of the things that are going on and I'm sure get to meet a lot of people that you wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Absolutely. And you know, I really appreciate, even if I meet people because they come to talk at city council meeting. If they come to speak during public comment or something, and whether they come to say there's something they're happy about or they have a question or a suggestion or whether they're not happy, I appreciate people's willingness to engage in the process and to come. I absolutely believe if somebody's willing to come and speak they deserve the chance to be heard. And I really am grateful and will always stand up for everyone's right to have the chance to come and say what they want to say. Even if I don't agree with what they come and say, I'll always defend the right to be able to do it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Sure. What would you say to young people or others who are considering the possibility of running for elected office?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    I would say if you get that inclination, if that crosses your mind and you find yourself interested in thinking that might be something you'd like to do, absolutely do it. The trouble these days as things have become a little more contentious is that there's a lot of good people who might be interested, but they just won't run because it's not easy. It is not easy. And as long as you go into it, knowing that, that it's not meant to be easy. The nature of our system, the way things are set up is that anyone in this government of the people has the chance to run and to participate. And so, you know, when you're going to represent the people you're opening yourself up to criticism, if that's how the people feel, whatever it is.

    The opportunity to be part of this great work to be stewards over the money, the taxpayer's money, which I believe is sacred. Sacred funds and a sacred obligation and I don't mean that in a spiritual sense. I just think there is a deep significant responsibility with overseeing the taxpayer's money. And the obligation to get that right is significant. But there are so many great opportunities for people to serve that. If anyone out there is ever considering, ‘ah, someday I might wanna do that.’ Absolutely do it. Inform yourself, learn about the issues, participate. My counsel would be to be well informed. Go for it. I appreciate and tip tip my hat to anyone willing to put their name in the ring to run for public office.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So in other words, if you have that inclination, listen to it and pursue it and see where that takes you by becoming more informed and kind of envisioning that possibility for yourself. Don’t just tamp it down and move on.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Any parting thoughts on Women's History Month?

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    I'm honored to stand on the shoulders of giants. There are great men and great women who have gone before. Who have paved the way. I'm grateful for the good women and men who fought for women's suffrage, who really paved the way for me to do this work that I love. To do the work of the people and to be involved because I wouldn't have had this opportunity if I'd been born a hundred years ago. And it's an honor to be part of it and to serve with so many good people. And I think it is important that we have the voices of both good men and good women at the table. It gives balanced perspective that I think helps us come up with the best policies, leading to the best outcomes. I think that's critical. And so I'm just honored to be part of it now and paving my own little tiny trail through history and just grateful for everyone who went before who have allowed me the opportunity to be here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, thank you very much for everything you do as mayor and everything you've done for Jordan School District at school, students and employees over the years.

    Mayor Dawn Ramsey:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.

    24 min
  • Episode 184: Students Benefit Working with JSD Speech-Language Pathologists

    They are considered experts in communication; evaluating, diagnosing, treating and preventing speech and communication disorders.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we talk to several Jordan School District Speech-Language Pathologists about the important work they do helping students of all ages who may be experiencing challenges in some aspect of speech and communication. Find out how they are making a huge difference in the lives of students, in and outside the classroom.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are experts in communication, evaluating, diagnosing, and treating speech and communication disorders. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk to Jordan School District's speech language pathologists about the important work they do, helping students of all ages who may be experiencing challenges in some aspect of speech or communication. Find out how they are making a huge difference in the lives of students in and outside the classroom.

    We're here today at Joel P. Jensen talking with Ryan Sainsbury, who is a speech language pathologist at Joel P. Jensen and Kristin Norris, the speech language pathologist and audiologist coordinator for the District. Thank you very much for taking the time.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Thank you. It's exciting to be here.

    Kristin Norris:

    Yeah, it's great to talk with you today.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So Ryan, let's just talk to you first about being an SLP. That's our first acronym of the show. There might be a lot more. Talk to me about being a speech language pathologist. What does that involve? Because I think a lot of people may not understand exactly what the job entails.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yeah. definitely I think as far as like being an SLP, it's so like vast and vague, a lot of it that sometimes it's confusing and hard for people to grasp because we can and do do so much. So there's usually like a medical side that we won't really get into where we help people from strokes and different brain injuries recover and things like that. And then we have the school-based side, which we are in right now. And within this side there's lots of things we kind of treat and diagnose. Speech and language disorders and communication disorders that people have. So whether it's because of various diagnoses that they were born with or maybe different delays and things that they have we help them try to learn to communicate and we try to give everybody a voice.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And Kristin, tell me about the difference from level to level. I know that we have SLPs working with students of all ages, so what are the different areas of focus at at different ages?

    Kristin Norris:

    So it's really individualized by the student, but in general we have SLPs that are working in our early intervention program. We have SLPs that are working in our preschool program. And then we have elementary, we have secondary, we even have in our post high program. A lot of times I think people really feel like what we work on is speech sounds, and that is a big part of what we do. And you particularly see that at that elementary level. You see a lot of work on either individual speech sounds, they're what we call phonological processes, which are groups of patterns of speech that students have.

    But there's a whole other piece, and that's the language piece. The language piece covers everything from social language to vocabulary to understanding and comprehending tests. It’s tied into phonemic awareness and the skills that they're learning in 1st and 2nd. So there's this tie into literacy and reading. And it just is any way that a student communicates, we can help facilitate if they have a disability in that. As we get into the secondary level, we probably see a lot more of the language piece, really helping them access the classroom and what they need to be successful. And then transitioning as they move into that post high program, what's gonna help 'em be successful is they as they leave our program.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So Ryan, tell me what that looks like for you day to day as you're working with a student. What are some of the sorts of things you're working on and doing to help them progress?

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    At the secondary level, we see a lot of like auditory comprehension. They don't seem to have the structure of language that it takes. Kinda at the structural level and then also at the like syntax level or at the sentence level and also even at the word or semantic level. So these are different levels that we work with every day. So each day we have a caseload that varies with a lot of different things, but it's often helping them trying to figure out how they can access their education better. So maybe it's helping them follow directions because they don't quite understand sequencing. Or maybe we can even break that down further to maybe they don't understand certain clauses and sentences very well, like their brains haven't quite figured out that structure for them to be successful, to follow directions or even to impact like behaviors and different things. So once you realize that language really impacts like every aspect, it's really fun. So we work with the team of gen ed teachers our special ed teachers, even our administration to our psychologists, to everybody to try to figure out how we can help them socially and academically improve and get access to the communication and different things that they need, the skillsets they need to be successful.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So there are aspects of communication that we might take for granted if you don't struggle with these sorts of issues.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    But you really have to break things down for students who do have difficulties in these areas.

    Kristin Norris:

    Yeah, absolutely. One of the easiest ways to maybe look at it as the difference between receptive and expressive language. Receptive is our understanding of language and expressive is how we output that language. We get a lot of kids, especially at the secondary level who may struggle with understanding. What they look like are kids that are maybe off task in the classroom, kids that are maybe hesitant to speak up, kids that are maybe withdrawn. Instead it is that they're not understanding that language processing and need some strategies to do that. And then they can be more successful in accessing their curriculum from that receptive language component.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And the receptive language from what you're describing might be frustrating for the person who's expressing and it's not being received.

    Kristin Norris:

    Absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And the unkind, I don't know, ‘what part of sitting in your chair don't you understand?’ Well, they may not actually understand because they're not processing those instructions in the way that many people would. I can imagine that creates a lot of frustration for everybody. So it's really important to have SLPs in place to help overcome those challenges. Do students sometimes get to secondary not realizing that they've had this problem all along?

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yeah. especially at our school. Usually like mid-year we've had a bunch of initial evals and different things come in because teachers are are beginning to really recognize like, hey, maybe this student has something that's not quite right with their understanding or how they're expressing things. So yeah, throughout the years and throughout the year we get tons of referrals all the time for us to kind of evaluate and to see how we can help support these students. And often it really is like, because they're not understanding, they're confused or some of those behaviors start to manifest themselves.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It must be very rewarding to see students make progress and be able to overcome frustrations that allow them to not only engage with teachers in the classroom, but with classmates. To probably make friends more easily once those communicative issues are are overcome.

    Kristin Norris:

    Yeah, absolutely. Expressive languages is obviously a lot more noticeable. We notice from the very beginning when kids are having a hard time saying something, when they don't have vocabulary. And so those are the kids that we pick up often early in the beginning. Then we find out that there's a receptive language component to that as well. The other piece to that is that social pragmatic language. That is the ability to understand how you're supposed to interact with someone. Sometimes it's called the hidden curriculum. That we know instinctively that when someone says hello to us, we're supposed to say hello back and to carry on a conversation. This would be the next step, we'll ask a question. Well, our kids that struggle with that, they don't know those things instinctively and we have to teach them how to do those skills. Otherwise they get excluded. They get those are the kids that end up getting bullied. Those are the kids that teachers get frustrated with because they just seem like they're not doing what they're supposed to, but it's really a fact that they don't understand.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    And I think like a real beautiful piece is when we're able to kind of see inside the mind and these language skills that they do have and we're able to convey that to a parent. And you see their eyes light up because they're like, ‘oh that makes so much sense, like what you're telling me,’ right. Like at home or at different functions and things like that. Also when you tell their teachers and their teachers go, ‘oh that makes so much sense. Like, I'm glad you told me that because I thought I was just being impatient.’ And I was like, ‘well yeah’. So we advocate for them to be a little bit more patient but we also give them skills and strategies to use with these students in the classroom. So it's almost like, I dunno, it's like a win-win. Our job is the best because I don't think we can really lose cause we can like help so much. We get to help kids and we need to help others help kids and it helps them in return. So, I don't know. It's really cool.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I like the way you described that. You're not just giving kids skills, you're giving parents skills. And you're giving teachers skills so that we can more effectively connect with students who may struggle with these issues. So is there an occupational hazard a little bit that when you're out in the public listening to people speak, maybe even as you're listening to me interview you, that you're thinking, ‘oh wait a second. I could touch that up a little bit and I could help 'em with with this speech issue.’ I mean I assume you hear that everywhere you go.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yes. It's a blessing and a curse sometimes. We literally have to turn that side of our brain off so that we can function in our world without going crazy with all the speech and language things that we hear. Kristin Norris:
    I have definitely been places and there are times that I don't wanna overstep my bounds, but I want to be like, ‘Ooh, I hope that they've talked to their SLP at the school. I hope that that child is is is being seen.’ I've gotten better at it over the years. Trying to disassociate. But I do have a sign above my desk that says, ‘Keep talking. I'm diagnosing you.’

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Okay, well that's good. Always diagnosing, always looking for a way to help.

    Stay with us. When we come back, how do you know if your child may need the services of a speech language pathologist? We'll tell you after the break.

    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:

    Tell me about some of the expressive issues that you might experience, that parents might watch for. Some of the more obvious things that parents might notice that would signal that involving an SLP is going to be helpful.

    Kristin Norris:

    Well, primarily one of the easiest things is gonna be like a speech sound disorder. If a child is struggling with certain sounds that they should have. Particularly if there's frustration involved in that. They're not able to communicate what they want to, and because of that frustration, we're seeing behaviors. They're throwing a temper tantrum when those little kids. Hopefully our middle school kids aren't throwing temper tantrums, but sometimes still there. Yeah, sometimes they are right? They're expressing their frustration because they can't communicate. They can't get out what they wanna say. So from the very beginning, that's something that parents can recognize. If you find that you're having to have them repeat things over and over and over before they can understand things. You know, that's a good, that's a good thing and a sign to look at for for parents. If they seem to be struggling with some of those literacy concepts, that would be another thing. You know, if they're really struggling, like they've gone over phonemic awareness over and over and again and they just can't seem to get it, then maybe we need to do something a little more in depth and look at some of those components as well.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    And so a lot of my background was actually in like narrative structure or stories. And so when you have a student or a child who's developing and you have that look on your face as a parent as they're explaining something to you like uhhuh, uhhuh, uhhuh, and it never quite gets to a point. Or the sequence or the events don't quite make sense. Basically when you're learning and you're developing, we learn from stories. So if you look at grade level elementary, preschool, like we learn from stories, that's how we learn. And then we get into like informational texts and different things that are a little bit more difficult once we hit the secondary level. So that change, that shift of structure is really hard for a lot of people. But those early markers, like Kristin had said about like the who, where, why, what questions when they're telling a story or just them being able to express a story, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly whether it makes sense or they're getting in the right direction or if it's just a total jumble and you're trying to figure it out.

    Kristin Norris:

    Parents really rely on their kids coming home and being able to tell them what they do in a day. Or if something happened on the playground, them being able to come in and tell the teacher this is what happened. For our kids that have communication disorders, they don't have the skill and the structure to do that. And so they're the ones who then sometimes get left out. They don't know what's going on, they can't explain what happened at recess. Maybe they get blamed for what happened at recess because they weren't able to explain it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    They can't really advocate for themselves sometimes.

    Kristin Norris:

    Yeah. Because they lack that narrative structure to just retell a simple event and what happened in there. And to understand the components why this happened. You know, I was able to react this way and therefore somebody reacted back to me this way. That perspective taking is, is really difficult as well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So what are some of the things that parents ought to watch for that might be an indication that there are expressive concerns? You've talked about that a little bit. Are there other things that you tell parents to watch for?

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    You're always gonna have, part of it will be like some of the grammatical markers and morphines that we use. So even things like past tense verbs or their sentence structure. But it varies really through age. And so that's why it's really important to, I dunno, like know SLPs. I think it's the same for Kristen, like as soon as you find out that someone in your family or your neighbor is an SLP you just get questions all day from parents who have kids who are developing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Not quite like being a mechanic, but kind of similar to that.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Similar, yeah, exactly. Very, very similar. And so you get questions all day and so there is like grade levels or kind of like age level markers that help. And so once you kind of realize like, oh, your students should be here or expressing themselves in this way and they're kind of missing these skills, then that's when we can come in and kind of fill those gaps.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So the receptive issues, let's talk about that. Like you said, those are gonna be more difficult to detect unless you're looking at a pattern over time. So what would parents look for to so that they could identify that perhaps there there's an issue with their child?

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yeah, so I'm speaking more for like the secondary level because that's kind of my more my expertise. But in particular we look at just following simple directions and whether they're able to sequence things, put events in order or understand the order of events. Even just are they able to retain information that you've given them? Are they able to summarize things that you've given them and then say, ‘okay, can you tell that back to me? Like the key points that you need to do.’ Or even little things like if you're watching a TV show you say, ‘Hey, can you summarize like the main events or what's been going on?’ So a lot of those types of things are really critical for our brain to kind of store information. And so if you ask those types of tasks and they're unable to do it, then you can kind of tell they might not have the pattern for those things to kind of file into their correct order to be easily accessed as well. So it kind of goes both ways as far as at the secondary level. But I'd say mostly you definitely get it with the kids who are not paying attention and are often the problems. It's because are they not paying attention or they literally not quite get the language component. So that's where it gets trickier, I guess.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yeah, sure.

    Kristin Norris:

    One of the things that we sometimes have to do as we're teasing out information with kids is figure out that can't do versus won't do. You know, is this because they don't know how to do it or is this because they've chosen not to do it? And some of those kids can really look like the won't do and then we have to tease out that information and figure out the can't do.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    And in particular at a school like Joel P. Jensen, that I love cause I'm actually a bilingual speech therapist or speech language pathologist, and so I get to kind of hone in on is it a like a disorder of language or is it a language difference? And they don't quite have the language because we have many of our students who speak Spanish at home. But they have to now speak English totally different at school, right? So kind of in that, we have to find out whether it's an actual disorder or is it just a difference and they just need to be taught that again.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you're a bit of a speech dual language pathologist.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    That's exactly right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I was working on a title, so that's right.

    Kristin Norris:

    At a really young age some of those things I think you would look for in kids starts with really basic information. You know, kids develop one word to start with and then they start to put words together and then that grows into longer sentences and more complex structures. If you're asking them to point to something and we can't build the vocabulary through pointing, you know, that would be something that would be a concern. You know, if you ask them to point to the dog and they point to something else, even though you've gone over it and over and over again, that would be a red flag at the beginning. If you're asking them to go pick up their shoe and the shoe is right in front of him and they don't know what you're asking him. So this just starts kind of with that basic kind of understanding of when I give them very basic tasks to do, are they understanding what I'm saying? So that would be kind of a starting point for maybe concerns with parents.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I can think of all kinds of situations where it would be nice for a teacher or a parent or even a friend to understand that, hey, there may just be a communication issue at play here. What would you say to parents who listening to this who are maybe worried about their child and would like to get some help for them? What's the first step that they take to do that?

    Kristin Norris:

    So if they have specific reasons, they can talk and get a referral going and get some specific testing. But if they just wanna have a conversation they can reach out to the Child Development Center if their kids are five years or younger. Or they can reach out to the SLP at their school and just say, ‘Hey, these are some of the things that I'm having a concern with. I'm seeing this. What do you think? Do you think this is something I could be concerned? Are there things I can try?’ And have a conversation with their teachers as well. Their teachers spend a lot of time with them and start to open up and start to really kind of identify what they're struggling with. And then we can decide whether we wanna go down the road and do some more in-depth testing and figure out what those concerns really might be and how we can help them.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Now we have how many SLPs in the district?

    Kristin Norris:

    We have over 120 SLPs in the district in our early intervention preschool and elementary and secondary schools.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That is a lot of experts. And we also have some audiologists.

    Kristin Norris:

    We do.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about the audiologists.

    Kristin Norris:

    So we have three full-time and one part-time audiologist in Jordan School District, which we're really lucky to have. Not everybody has that much staff. We actually have an audiology booth that's housed at Kari Sue Hamilton. So they can do hearing screenings throughout the district, but they can also do more in-depth evaluations as well. So they are responsible for kind of helping track our kids and do those hearing screenings. But then they are then a resource to us when we're looking at kids who have ongoing hearing loss. They can help track them, they can help talk to and educate teachers. They can help facilitate things like hearing aids and other devices that may be needed for those students. And then we collaborate with them as SLPs on some of those students as well with what they might need because of those hearing losses.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And the way you've described it, it's almost as if you can literally see a light going on inside of their head that they are getting it. That there's a connection and suddenly they're able to do something they couldn't do before and it connects them to the broader world and it makes them a part of it.

    Kristin Norris:

    Absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And that's wonderful that you're able to do that for our students.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Yeah. and then if I may add, I think a lot of times, like for example just at this school I see kids with speech fluency disorders or what we call like a stutter. I see students on the autism spectrum who need help with social skills. I see other students who need auditory comprehension. They need to figure out how to understand directions better. I see students with severe behavior problems who we need to really help and use language to help them understand and do things better. And that's just like a little bit. I also still see students who have articulation errors and just need to overcome some of these things that have been hard for them their whole lives. And maybe now their confidence has been kind of shaken a little bit because they're older now and they talk different than everybody else.

    So to help all these different things, like it's so vague and vast that it can be intimidating at times, but there's nothing more rewarding or I guess more fun than staying current so that you can have the best evidence-based practice so that you can always be helping each student that you come across because the variety is huge, which I like crave. I can't go to work and have like the same thing every day, no way I would go. I would go nuts. So to have the variety, but also to say like the science part is really important. Cause we want our practices to be evidence-based so that we're giving these students the best of what's available.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So you get to work with students one-on-one or mostly in small groups and you get to make those connections. And like you said earlier, you get to do something for them that no one else has been able to do. So that's got to be very rewarding.

    Kristin Norris:

    Yeah, It's often, you've heard it said that the voice is a window to the soul. We have a chance to help kids to actually have that voice. To make a connection with their peers, with their parents, with their friends, with their teachers in a way that maybe they wouldn't be able to do otherwise. And we use communication for everything. Everything. Non-Verbal, verbal communication, whatever we do, written communication. It's part of everything we do.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What a great program. Thank you very much for taking the time and for everything you do to help our students.

    Ryan Sainsbury:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.

    24 min
  • Episode 183: Celebrating Inclusion with Amazing Students & Unified Sports

    It is a program that brings students of all abilities together, working as a team, building trust and a lifelong love of sports and respect for one another.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Weber State University where Jordan School District students hit the court in a Special Olympics Unified Sports statewide basketball tournament. It is a tournament where everyone involved really walks away a winner because of their hard work, big hearts and having compassion for one another. Hear what Utah Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox have to say about these amazing athletes.

    Audio Transcription

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a program that brings students of all abilities together, working as a team, building trust, and a lifelong love of sports and respect for one another. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Weber State University, where Jordan School District students hit the court in a Special Olympics Unified Sports statewide basketball tournament. It is a tournament where everyone involved walks away a winner because of their hard work, big hearts, and compassion for one another. Hear what Utah Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox have to say about these amazing athletes.

    We are here at Weber State, at the Unified Sports State Basketball Tournament, talking with the Governor and First Lady. Maybe this question answers itself because it's such a great event. You could be in a lot of different places today doing a lot of different things. Why be here right now?

    Governor Spencer Cox:

    Yeah. I'm supposed to be in a lot of different places, but this is the happiest place on earth right now. It's the happiest place in Utah. It's just incredible to see these student athletes coming together with their coaches and their families. And it's a permanent smile everywhere you go. Everyone is happy and we love it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And this has been one of your Show Up Initiatives right from the start. Why focus on Special Olympics and Unified Sports?

    First Lady Abby Cox:

    Well, as a former special education teacher, this is absolutely dear to my heart. It's also something that I experienced as a young person growing up. I had friends with disabilities that I saw in my congregation, in my school, in my community. This is an inclusion revolution and it's the most joyful, wonderful thing that we can do for our students.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    This has been rocket fuel for our inclusion efforts, your support for this program, and it's just moved us forward very quickly. What impact have you seen in your own life and in the lives of those you've encountered as you've been involved in this effort?

    First Lady Abby Cox:

    Yeah, you know, in my own life I couldn't do anything more joyful. Every time I come, my soul is filled up. Every time I'm around my friends with all different abilities they teach me what love, what belonging really looks like. And the most important thing I've seen in our schools is that not only are we friendly to people that are different or have a different story, but they're becoming friends, not just friendly. There's a difference. Full inclusion means we're friends, not just friendly.

    Governor Spencer Cox:

    Yeah. And this is, Abby says this all the time. This is the medicine that our society needs right now. And there's so much division out there, so much hate. And you don't see that here, right? It's changing who we are as people and these peer, the all ability peers, both the peers and our students with disabilities playing together. There's a bond that's formed there that is just so powerful. There's a sense of community, a sense of belonging, as Abby mentioned. And everybody's better because of it. We were talking to parents earlier, parents of students with disabilities and those without disabilities that are playing together. And I don't know who was impacted more, which students were impacted more. It was such a positive influence on both of them.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's true. Anybody who gets close to this program is lifted by it. Tell me, you're both so positive all the time and we appreciate that focus. How does this fit into the broader vision that you have for the state? This focus on positivity, connection, and inclusion.

    Governor Spencer Cox:

    Yeah. Well, we talk a lot about how community matters and we've seen a fraying of community over time, especially coming out of COVID, right? When we saw that people had to be apart for a period of time. And we are wired for connection. Utah has always been an example of that. We are what social scientists say a state with very strong social capital. We lead the nation in volunteerism. We lead the nation in charitable giving. And that's just not like a nice feature. It plays into everything else. One of the reasons we have the best economy in the country is because we have high social capital and high social trust. And those things really matter. Again, economists are starting to realize that we're not just rational individuals. That we have to have community and connection. And that's why Utah's doing so well. We want to foster that. We want to continue that. We have a legacy of that, and we wanna make sure it gets passed on to other generations and things like this make a difference.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I can't think of a better way to accomplish it than events like this.

    First Lady Abby Cox:

    Yeah, and I would just add that, you know, it has to be intentional. Yes, that's how it's always been in our state, but that's not a guarantee that that's how it will always be. So we are very intentional in making sure that this sense of community, this sense of coming together will always be a part of everything that we do and who we are as a community and as a culture here in the state.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I love that. You can't take it for granted. You have to take deliberate action to move it forward. Well, thank you very much for taking the time. I can't thank you enough for your support and for helping move us forward.

    Governor Spencer Cox:

    Thank you, Superintendent.

    First Lady Abby Cox:

    Thanks so much.

    Anthony Godfrey;

    Thank you very much.

    We're talking now with the Copper Hills High School Unified basketball team coaches just coming off of the victory against Lone Peak. Go ahead and introduce yourselves.

    Kennan Madsen:

    Kennan Madsen.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    And I'm Jacqueline Sheppick.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And tell me about your involvement. How has it been today and last week with the tournament?

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Honestly, it's been such an amazing experience. We love inclusion. Copper Hills is so involved in inclusion and we have like the biggest little student section over there today. We just love seeing our students get the opportunity to shine and for them to be athletes and to be recognized. And it's just been such an amazing two weeks.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you hosted last week?

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    The tournament between Canyons and Jordan School District sponsored by Scheels. Just a friendly competition.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Tell me about that.

    Kennan Madsen:

    Oh, that was super, super fun. I actually used to coach for Copper Hills basketball, and this honestly has been more fun than doing that. So for me, it's super fun to be a part of this.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I remember talking with someone after the event who said, ‘I can't believe I've never seen an event where people are cheering for both teams.’ So it's double the cheering,

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Honestly. It's like, it's so cool to see like inclusion and love and like unity across the state for everyone and it's really awesome to see.

    Kennan Madsen:

    Yeah, amazing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's good vibes and we all need good vibes right now.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    But like, go Copper Hills!

    Kennan Madsen:

    That’s right. That's right. Good vibes all around.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, thank you for all the time and effort you're putting in to make this opportunity possible. Anybody who gets involved is lifted by this event.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Yeah, it's super fun. We also just had a student win Prom King on Saturday night.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Hey, that's awesome!

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    He's right here, Alex. So it was really cool. We found out that our school nominated him. We had no idea he got nominated. And he ended up winning by like almost half of the votes. And the kid, you just would've thought he was royalty. He was like cheering and like the whole school was chanting his name.

    Kennan Madsen:

    The whole school went crazy for him.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's fantastic. Alex, tell us about what you won on Saturday night.

    Alex:

    Prom king.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Prom king. How does that feel?

    Alex:

    So awesome.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I hear that everyone was chanting your name.

    Alex:

    Alex.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    How was the dance?

    Alex:

    Amazing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It was amazing. You have another victory today with your basketball game.

    Alex:

    Yep.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    This a good week for you.

    Alex:

    Thanks.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Do you love being at Copper Hills?

    Alex:

    Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    What do you like about Copper Hills?

    Alex:

    I get to shoot hoops.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Yep. You gotta shoot hoops. I love it. I love that you're living your best life.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    And this is my student Corbin. He's the one who, straight up, got us here to state today. He got 14 points last game and today just drained two threes. He did awesome!

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Corbin, two threes. How does that feel?

    Corbin:

    Good.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And 14 points, is that right?

    Corbin:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    To what do you owe your success? Preparation, determination, courage. What was it?

    Corbin:

    Just my family, my friends. Miss Sheppick.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Your teacher and your fans and your family cheering you on.

    Corbin:

    Yeah. Yeah.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Corbin, you've got energy spare. You just won the game and you're still bopping around here. You've still got, you've got more left in the tank.

    Corbin:

    Yep.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    He's our most energetic student. He's always smiling and happy.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    That's awesome. Way to drain those threes. Congratulations on the “W.”

    Corbin:

    Thank you.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    You've been a great example of inclusion in our district. How have you seen this change people as they get involved?

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Like, am I gonna cry? Honestly, it's like been life-changing. Not only for myself but like, all of these fans that are here who have welcomed my students and have become their true friends. Not fake friends that they just wanna see on the weekends or just in first period. But they truly love them and they work so hard to make our students included. And I have so many of my peer tutors that come back to me saying, ‘Miss Sheppick, because of your class, I'm gonna be a special ed teacher.’ And that's like the greatest compliment to me. But also my students with disabilities, they leave Copper Hills knowing that they have lifelong friends. And to me, that is my number one goal.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, thanks for being at the center of this and having that exponential impact on students.

    Jacqueline Sheppick:

    Go grizzlies, like seriously Copper Hills inclusion's working and it's amazing.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's awesome. Thank you.

    Stay with us. When we come back, we hear from Jordan School District employees who are passionate about Unified Sports and inclusion for all students.

    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 Cherie Oliver, the Event Coordinator for Scheels. Cherie, thanks for talking with us.

    Cherie Oliver:

    Of course. I'm so happy to be here.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you're also a parent in Jordan District?

    Cherie Oliver:

    I am, yep. I've got two girls in middle school.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Awesome. Tell me about Scheels’ sponsorship of Unified Sports.

    Cherie Oliver:

    You know what, it's something that we are just starting and we are so proud to be that. We did the golf tournament last year with the Unified golf teams, and this year we wanted to be more involved. And so we sponsored Jordan and Canyon School Districts and we just wanted to make this happen so bad, but this is how we could do it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And you set up a little rivalry contest last week which was really exciting. I had a Board member who went, who just said, ‘now I need to spread the word about Unified Sports. It was such a cool event.’

    Cherie Oliver:

    Oh, it was amazing. I cried. I think everybody there cried. It was just so great to see all the kids, including everyone and everyone being excited for everyone. It was a competition, but it was a good healthy competition and something that we are so proud to be a part of. I'm glad that we could be there for.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, Scheels made a significant financial donation to make that possible, and it's not the first time. So we can't thank you enough for your support.

    Cherie Oliver:

    Yeah, of course. We're happy to do it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And I know we're gonna have a partnership for a long time into the future.

    Cherie Oliver:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    So thank you very much for your help in making this possible. I know of no other program that just lifts everybody involved the way that Unified Sports does.

    Cherie Oliver:

    Absolutely. Absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    We're here with Ulbby talking with her about her involvement in Special Olympics. You've been involved with cheer for a long time.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And just tell me about your journey getting involved in Special Olympics and in Unified Sports.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Yeah, absolutely. So my husband and I moved here about 13 years ago. My oldest has something called infantile spasms, which is a type of seizure that come in the form of a sneeze. While we were at Primary’s, we kind of saw the need of just that involvement and inclusion part, but we also understood the financial part of it. And so one of the things that my husband and I set to do was, once we actually owned a gym or had a gym to be able to offer these things, we would. So we opened up our gym about almost nine years ago. And we have since then offered Unified and just special athletes programs in our facility at no cost to the parents. And it's pretty much just based off of donations from either just my husband and I working another part-time job or even the community as well.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's amazing that you are working a part-time job just so that you can make this possible for other people.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    You know, I, I think it was just the ability to, the excitement you get off of just being able to be a part of something. And also really just the community, the camaraderie that we could do. And as cheerleaders, we have that ability as well, right? We can go to events and we had the excitement and we add the poms. We add everything.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Right. Right.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    I think overall it's just one of those situations that you can set yourself up. And part of that, you know, cheer and then leaders, is obviously setting that example for the younger generations to obviously be able to see that is possible.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    I think the first time I met you was at South Valley at the annual basketball game.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Yes.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And when I heard about what you'd done with cheerleaders, they just kind of described it as you coming out of nowhere saying, ‘I wanna help. How can I be part of things?’ Tell me about that.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    You know, it really has been a community involvement. Overall I just try to find my way to be able to bring cheer to people. And I couldn't do it without the support of my husband as well, you know. So I tend not to give him props because he's always kind of behind closed doors. But he is one of the reasons why I can do it is because, you know, he is my biggest cheerleader and he always goes, ‘Okay, well if that's what you wanna do, go have at it.’ But also being able to, with South Valley when we met, some athletes don't have vehicles to get to and from a location. So I found that it would be suitable for myself to go into South Valley once a week for an hour to be able to give back in that way. And give them the opportunity to still perform, still be able to be a part of the basketball tournament, you get to see but also just add that camaraderie and excitement and spirit to the school.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    And there was a recent event recent competition and an upcoming competition for Unified Cheer. Tell me about that.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Yeah, so one of the things that we actually are doing, Special Olympics actually does have a Special Olympics Cheer program. It runs about April until about end of June. And so aside from that, one of the things that we decided to do with other local high school cheer coaches was come together. All of us have have athletes with an intellectual disability that actually cannot compete at our region and state competitions. And so what we decided to do was give them that opportunity and bring them all together. And we had teams driving two hours, an hour and a half, you know, just different all over the valley. And we had about anywhere between 70 to 80 kids just wanting to perform with their partners. So it kind of ended up becoming a Unified performance at our state competition this year. So that was definitely one of our biggest highlights. And overall the excitement of just having that camaraderie with everybody.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It just keeps growing. Once you're a part of this, you can't stop. You just want more.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Right. Yes. And that's so true. And you know, our Special Olympics program has also been great at like, even embracing cheerleading, starting letting us start that program as well. And with our new CEO as well, Scott Weaver, he's been great at just like, yeah, let's do it. Let's see how we can add this. But it adds that excitement. I mean, even today at this event, we're watching cheerleaders from high schools that are not quite Unified, however, they are still here being a part of that. And you see the difference and you see the excitement that they bring into the game.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    It's that gravitational pull that just keeps adding more and more people to the program.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Absolutely.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Well, thanks for bringing cheer literally and figuratively to South Valley.

    Ulbby Dyson:

    Aw, thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

    Anthony Godfrey:

    Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.

    18 min

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