Skip to content

As we all navigate these challenging times with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to know that students and families are not alone, even though we all may be spending the majority of time at home.

On this episode of the Supercast, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey talks to Jordan School District Health and Wellness Specialist McKinley Withers about how families can find comfort and cope in this time of uncertainty.


Audio Transcription

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. And this is a little bit of a different Supercast because I'm actually super casting from the basement of my house. I'm in the room where we normally keep the wrapping paper and the irony board, and a few other things to make sure that I'm maintaining social distancing, but still not being socially isolated. I've missed being able to connect through the podcast and I'm glad to be back doing it. And I'm really happy to have McKinley weathers with us for the super cast today. He's a friend of the show, a fan favorite always feels good to talk with you, and it's good to see you there in your basement bunker McKinley.

Speaker 2:
Thanks for having me. I'm really grateful for another opportunity to be, to be on the super cast. I love this show and you do a good job.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're doing this through Google Hangouts and I see the cement walls and the pipes above you. It really is a basement bunker.

Speaker 2:
It is. Yeah. It's the only place where I can be where where kids won't be trying to, to, to have their say on the super cast. So

Anthony Godfrey:
I'd be open to having some weather's children on the city. That could be very interesting. I could ask them lots of questions about

Speaker 2:
You. Yeah, that's true. Well, you look,

Anthony Godfrey:
You look well-protected down there, so I'm glad, I'm glad you're safe. Yep. Staying safe. I just want to start off by expressing gratitude to the employees, students, parents who have jumped in to really make the best of a difficult situation. Everybody experiences this in a different way. Everyone's impacted in a different way, and I'm just grateful to be associated with all of these great employees and parents and kids who have stayed focused on education, despite the difficult circumstances. And like I said, varied circumstances, everyone experiences this at a different level and in a different way. And I've just been extremely impressed with the the way this has brought out the best in people.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And just to add to that it's, it's interesting because there are actually researchers that study, you know, disasters times of crisis, and it's actually more so normal that people reach out, they connect, they, they give so more than they did before a crisis or a disaster or something like COVID-19 like we're facing right now. So I think just knowing that our, our norm as humans is not to pillage and to, you know, fight and to be angry and to fend for ourselves. But our, our norm is actually to reach out and connect and to take care of each other. So that can reduce some of the panic that we might feel, you know, thinking the world is falling apart. We've been through as humans, so many disasters and our norm as humans is to come out more connected, better off and taking care of each other. So I think that's, that's the positive outlook of what, of what this could lead to, you know, so

Anthony Godfrey:
The, over the years you have emphasized the need for gratitude. And it seems that right now is a really important time to be focused on gratitude. Regardless of our circumstances, there are things to be grateful for, and that is important for our own health and wellness to express that as well as the health and wellness of those who would be on the receiving end of those expressions of appreciation.

Speaker 2:
Yes, absolutely. And one thing just to, just to kind of compare or to make clear what kind of gratitude we're talking about here, because it's okay to be frustrated and you know, to, to feel feelings of anxiety or a little bit of nervousness about what's going on, but what usually causes our deepest frustration or unhappiness or discontent, whatever you want to call it is that we have expectations that really in a lot of ways may not be able to be met. So rather than because right now, I mean, there are a lot of expectations that have been frustrated. I mean, some people have expected to be at school right now or expect to be at a school dance or, you know expecting certain things about their circumstance, but as often as we can, it's best for us to exchange expectations for appreciation.

Speaker 2:
So even though, you know, things are hard and we can acknowledge that it's difficult. Changing those that mind frame from, you know, frustration at the things that aren't just looking at, the things that are and, and appreciating the, a little bit of extra time you might have around your parents or, or children, or the time at home, you know there are, there are many things that we can acknowledge that have gone, right. And in order to do that, we have to first let go of some of those expectations that we're hanging on to. So tightly

Anthony Godfrey:
Exchanging expectations for appreciation. I think that's really important concept. It makes a lot of sense. It's probably easier said than done. Yes. If we really focus on that and are deliberate and intentional about shifting our thinking in that way, that's something that can really make a difference. Yeah. What are some of the things that you would recommend we do to really talk about how we're feeling about the Corona virus and particularly for parents talking with kids about Corona virus and how, how do, how do we manage that and how do we have that conversation

Speaker 2:
As with, as with any hard topic? I think that it's, it's important to be open and honest to acknowledge whatever feelings do exist, not to shut them down or minimize and and say, well, it's not that bad. You know, I, I have it worse or I had it worse when I was your age, but just to openly listen. But then that openness and honesty, it's probably going to depend on the age of a child. I, so I have a four year old who has been confused about why we can't go to the jump place or to grandpa and grandma's anymore. And, but now he has an understanding whenever, you know, something comes up and he asks, why can't we, we just talk about the germ that's going around and we're trying to stay safe and trying to keep the people that we care about safe. So but that's, that's an honest explanation that a four year old can understand. We're not saying we're not making up stories. We're saying there's a germ, people are concerned about it, and we're just trying to stay safe, you know, for for an adolescent, you can be a lot more straight forward about it, but it's, it's important not to pretend and, you know, just, just allow the actual conversation to happen. So and being direct as honest as, as, as they will understand.

Anthony Godfrey:
So genuine, honest, direct conversation, that's calibrated for the age of the child, right? Yeah. Yeah. I, I sympathize with the jump place. The jump place is going to be that much sweeter when we can all return back to the respective jump places and resume some normalcy McKinley. I understand you've been updating your website, the health and wellness website. First of all, tell us how we can access that.

Speaker 2:
It's just wellness dot Jordan, district.org. You can also get to it from the main Jordan district page, just click on the health and wellness, but

Anthony Godfrey:
You have a list of home wellness ideas during the Corona virus pandemic.

Speaker 2:
Yes. And we also have several of the counselors, social workers, psychologists, principals, teachers have already shared with students, a lot of good tips and strategies. But this is just one more resource that's out there. So there are some, some at-home lessons on wellness that you can do with your, with your, with your children or students. A lot of content on happiness and wellbeing. And then also kind of if, if you're at home and your child has been struggling with anxiety maybe depression there are specific pages that address those kinds of concerns.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us, walk us through some of the home wellness tips that you have on your website to help us manage all of this.

Speaker 2:
So I would suggest that one of the biggest considerations for families would be keeping a routine. But when I say keeping a routine, that's, this is a new routine. You know, people always say the hardest part of going to the gym is showing up. And that's true because it's a routine that you're just starting. So when we were all sent home to do online school we didn't have a routine. We didn't have a normal, you know, that helped us feel comfortable and confident and successful in that new setting. So still showering, still getting ready and dressed you know, eating at scheduled times. Those are all things that help us feel comfortable and adjust to our new setting. So if we can do our best as a family to, to take, to make scheduled time for things, you know, when you're working on school and when you aren't, because when you're kind of turned loose to work on it whenever, and you eat whenever and you sleep until whenever, then every single step of your day is a decision that you didn't have to make before. And that's exhausting. So your brain power is, is depleted. The more decisions you have to make the, the more tired your decision-making brain gets. I don't know if that made sense, but

Anthony Godfrey:
It does because I, the first time I heard the term decision fatigue, it makes so much sense to me because there's a point where at the end of the day I get home and, you know, we had plans to go out to eat or whatever. And I don't want to be a part of that decision thinking through so many things throughout the day. I don't care where we go. I just don't want to decide. And I can absolutely see that not having a routine would create this decision fatigue and that it would multiply and compound over time. And it may be difficult to put your finger on that and say, why do I feel exhausted? Why is this so taxing and the way you described it makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. So if a, if a student can already decide, you know, even setting an alarm or a timer or something, I'm going to do school for one hour, you know, at this time I'm going to wake up at this time. Those are decisions that you can make ahead of time. That won't, I mean, you're going to default to what's easiest. So if you're fighting against the urge to play video games, or just to watch something on Netflix or do schoolwork, and that's a decision you're constantly deciding between Netflix games, those are going to win every time, unless you can make it a decision that you don't make, if that makes sense. So when, when you go to school, that's a decision you don't have to make anymore because you're stuck in a classroom. And the teacher's going to tell you, this is what you're doing, but as often as you can taking away those little decisions that will make you less productive or less focused, that's a, that's a really important step.

Anthony Godfrey:
And if you don't concentrate the time that you're working or working on school, then it can feel like it's all day. And it's all you're doing because it's not focused within a particular slot of time. I have a ten-year-old, who's doing school from home, of course, like everyone else. And it is interesting to watch he's good at school. He likes school, but adjusting to a new routine was very difficult the first few days. And now he has his routine down. We have some visual markers on the, on the wall. There's a sign for every subject that he needs to be studying. And he moves that on the wall when he's done with it. And the routine has made a huge difference.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And, and that's a really good example because that helps your child feel more confident and capable to like having things on a to-do list that we actually are able to check off is much more satisfying than work on school sometimes, you know, when you feel like it. I think, and the other thing to really keep in mind about routines is we actually adjust and adapt really well. So once that routine is set, once at home learning is the normal, it's gonna feel so much more, you know, I mean, we've only been doing this for two weeks now, so it's normal to be struggling with it still, but in a couple of weeks, if you can keep to a routine, it just feels like every other day,

Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to take a quick break. But when we come back with McKinley weathers, health and wellness specialist for Jordan school district, we'll talk about how to maintain good relationships in close quarters. How we all get along during this pandemic.

Speaker 4:
Hello, my name is Steven Hall. I'm director of the Jordan education foundation. Have you ever experienced what it's like to surprise a teacher in the classroom with school supplies, books, or a classroom grant? Have you seen students all smiles because you carry enough to give them a backpack, a winter coat weekend, food packs, or a free holiday shopping spree. It's something we see all the time, because it is exactly what Jordan education foundation does. The foundation exists due to the generosity of people who care about kids, if you would like to be a part of supporting students and teachers in the classroom, contact Jordan education foundation, and start making a difference today, you can find us@jordaneducationfoundation.org,

Anthony Godfrey:
Back from the break. And I wanted to talk with McKinley about breaks. We need to take breaks from, from the routine. And maybe even from the people we love that we're very close to now that we find ourselves staying at home as much as costs.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. I think that it's still, it's good to have our, our social connection, but it's also good to take our time to continue our personal development. I think humans really need all of us need to feel like we are able to make a meaningful contribution. And, and I think that it's really good to have your alone time where you're I have this little saying, I don't remember where I got it from, but trying to create rather than consume. So if we have a chance to turn it on, you know, what, what we would like to contribute or create that part of our brains rather than our breaks, if our breaks are always, consumer-based like, we're just watching something or listening to something it's good to have some creative giving time. And that can help us take a break from just being around each other.

Speaker 2:
If we can find, you know, creating maybe a new meal, trying to create something new, trying a new instrument, or, you know, building something that creation is really important for a person to feel a sense of accomplishment. So we got to find ways to do that and have it be a little bit individual, and we can create together, you know, having a task to do with people rather than just being around each other. 24 seven can help concentrate our energy away from maybe getting a little bit flustered or angry. If, if we're just any, each other's space all the time,

Anthony Godfrey:
What other tips do you have from the website to help manage this situation? So

Speaker 2:
I have several ideas for people. One, one thing that I emphasize often I guess in some other podcasts and there will be some content on the website related to this, but it's really important also to pick your battles between what you can and can't control. Because there are a lot of elements of this situation that are outside of our control. And the more time we spend trying to fix the things that we can't means, less time making the things that we can control better. I think that it's important to make that distinction, you know, th these are things outside of my control. You can't control those things, but you can control how it will affect you personally. You can control what you will do with your time at home. And in order to make that pivot that and like we talked about earlier, the exchanging expectations for appreciation in order to make that shift, we have to first acknowledge I can't control these things.

Speaker 2:
So I'm going to stop worrying about them, and it's okay to check in every once in a while. But I would say one of the biggest distractions right now would be reading about every single update of the Corona virus, you know, checking the news constantly because that will, that's something that it won't affect whether or not you, or your loved ones will catch it, just knowing the latest news, what will affect that is, do you wash your hands? Are you keeping the social distancing recommendations? Are you you know, taking care of those, you and your neighbors, there are so many things you can do, but checking the news constantly, you know, I would even, I would limit yourself to once or twice a day as a family say, you know, news is off until this time. Maybe we, you can check it once, but if you're constantly monitoring that and reading the latest it can make, it'll just make you more anxious. Cause there's not much you can do about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, I've, I've found that to be true just about the news in general, but it's particularly true now with the Corona virus and so many fast developments I have at various times had news alerts turned on on my phone. And so from sometimes even three or four different news sources, I'm getting an alert from the app. I'm getting a text message. I'm getting all of these updates that are constantly coming right to my shirt pocket. And it's a constant interruption throughout the day. And I start to feel like I'm going to miss out. If I'm not constantly checking, I won't know what's going on. And I read an article and it was actually an article from one of the newspapers that I had alerts from. I turned, I turned off the alerts and I just checked at, at, at set times during the day. And I found that there wasn't anything that had happened that I missed out on. Now these last few weeks, it feels very different from that, that, that things are happening all the time, but I have personally experienced how much better it feels to catch up on the news at specific times of the day, rather than whatever it happens to, to come to your phone. What are, what other tips do you have for dealing with stress and anxiety?

Speaker 2:
So there are I, I've added a couple of links on the website as well for this, for what we call social and emotional learning. We've got there, a lot of emotion, regulation strategies out there, you know, meditation, mindfulness, there are apps like the calm app, which actually has some free online meditations you can use. But one of the key factors to emotional wellness still is related to our physical wellness. So if we're not sleeping, we're, you know, distracting ourselves so that we're not actually getting enough sleep, we're not going to have that emotional resilience. And then also getting outside as often as we can still maintaining all of the social distancing expectations, but getting outside, getting some sunlight, getting enough sleep. And then really one of the most important factors, again for wellness is still social connection. So I know at the, at the introduction you said, you know, I'm social distancing, but I'm not socially isolating. And I think that's a really important thing. So whatever ways we can try and connect in in this unique circumstance, through technology, writing letters to someone, if you can't FaceTime them, you know, try and write some letters of gratitude, you know, this week to a couple of people that may not be in your life as often.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you and McKinley. It's always great to talk with you. You always have great advice. You're kind of the Dr. Oz of the superhero. I just, just don't go off on your own super cast or your own mind counts.

Speaker 2:
Yeah, no, definitely not.

Anthony Godfrey:
It always, it always feels good to talk with you. I appreciate your advice. Tell us the website one more time.

Speaker 2:
So it's wellness dot Jordan, district.org, and there's plenty of tips there.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I know that counselors, I know that counselors from schools are also reaching out to students. They have disappeared. There's no need to chance for a physical, a in-person meeting, but there is certainly a lot of opportunity for interaction. So if anybody needs help, anyone needs, please reach out to the school, email, the principal, email counselors, and school psychologists. They are eager to help. Right? Exactly. Yeah. It's been great having him a kid late. It's always nice to have you on the podcast. Thanks for listening and be safe and be well out there everyone. And remember education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there. [inaudible].

Jordan School District, in conjunction with the Salt Lake County Health Department, has developed plans regarding the coronavirus, (COVID-19) to help prevent the spread of disease and keep our students, faculty and staff healthy. Teaching students in a safe and healthy environment is our top priority.

This podcast was recorded on Monday, March 2 and the information is current as of that date.


Audio Transcription

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. In this special edition of the Supercast. We want to make you aware of what Jordan School District is doing in cooperation with the Salt Lake County Health Department to plan for the Coronavirus or COVID-19 and to help prevent the spread of disease and keep students, faculty and staff healthy. This episode of the Supercast was recorded on March 2, 2020. And the information presented is current. As of that date, we'll hear from Salt Lake County Health Department, Epidemiology Manager, Eileen Risk regarding COVID 19. We'll also speak with Director of Custodial Services, Steve Peart about what's being done in schools to help prevent the spread of disease and illness. And we'll speak with Ross Menlove about the digital learning capacities that are built-in here at Jordan School District. Joining us now on the Supercast is Salt Lake County Epidemiologist, Eileen Risk. Thank you very much for taking the time. Can we just start by asking, what would you like parents to know about Coronavirus?

Eileen:
I think it's important for parents to understand that while this is a new virus and it's a novel virus, so that's scary. But the thing to keep in mind is, there are some real simple steps that parents can take to prevent spread of respiratory illnesses, including Coronavirus and including Influenza. And those are good hand-washing, frequently and thoroughly.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I know it might seem obvious to just ask how to wash your hands, but are there some specific tips on how to wash your hands thoroughly to be sure that diseases stop?

Eileen:
Definitely. It's very important when you're washing your hands. Some people sing a song in their head or out loud, depending if they can sing, but make sure that you wash your hands for 20 seconds and that you suds up. It's the friction when you're washing your hands. Make sure that you wash the tips of your fingers, your thumbs, in between your fingers, up through your watch, take off any rings, or if you're wearing them, get underneath the rings. The duration is really important.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the duration and really washing every area of your hands. How frequently should you be washing your hands or when should you be washing your hands?

Eileen:
That's a very good point. The other thing I want parents to recognize is that with hand washing is a good prevention measure, but it's also important to stay home when you are sick and it's always important to wash your hands after you've sneezed or coughed so hopefully you aren't exposing other people if you're ill. So you're in your own home, but you're making sure that you wash your hands after you sneeze or cough. It's important to wash your hands before you eat and after you use the bathroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wash your hands before you eat and after you use the restroom. Now you mentioned staying home. If you have symptoms, what are the symptoms that parents ought to be watching for to keep their child home?

Eileen:
That's very challenging because with Coronavirus. COVID-19 is the designation for this virus, the clinical disease. They need to watch for symptoms of fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Those are fairly common symptoms. So a lot of different illnesses might present with those symptoms. So it's hard to know whether or not it's influenza or another respiratory pathogen, but if the child is sick it's important to contact their healthcare provider. And it's a good idea to not just show up at the health care provider if they have those symptoms, but to call ahead and then the health care provider can instruct them as far as when they're coming in. They might want to put them in an isolated room, put on a mask. If they're coughing, it's always a good idea. It's also important to recognize that right now, with our situation, as it's probably a lot more common, if they've had some sort of known exposure, that's going to change in a hurry. We expect community transmission, but for right now, as far as if a child presented with those symptoms, some of the questions that we would ask as public health is, have you traveled to any of the areas where we know there is known sustained community transmission? Have you had contact with someone who has traveled that may be under investigation as having COVID-19? Those are good indicators that would kind of ratchet up the concern level for a parent.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if a parent finds that their child has those symptoms, they should keep them home. They should call their health care provider. And one of the additional questions will be related to whether there is some level of exposure through travel or through contact with someone who has traveled. Is that correct?

Eileen:
Yes, that's correct. And then they help the provider.  With those lists of symptoms would test for a variety of more commonly seen things they're circulating in our community right here in Salt Lake County now, including influenza and other respiratory pathogens. If all of those tests negative, then depending on the risk factors associated with the child, we might move on to testing for COVID-19. But currently the testing around this virus is very stripped. And so there has to be some sort of risk-based exposure. We're not just routinely testing people who present with those symptoms.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you have the symptoms, but there's no reason to believe that been exposed, you wouldn't necessarily be tested unless everything else was eliminated as a possibility.

Eileen:
That's correct. And that's why we do think, especially a fair number of people that have this disease don't have really severe symptoms. Some do, but a lot have very mild symptoms and so that's why it could be missed and not recognized. But that's also why we have to find that balance because of the resources we need to make sure that we have the testing capability for the people who are truly at risk.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. So it is reserving testing capability for when you really have those populations through, right?

Eileen:
For right now, because the testing is limited. We hope in the future, there will be a commercial test and it will probably be just part of it. Right now, there's a panel of tests for when somebody presents with respiratory illness, at some point that might be added to that panel.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we talked about people being at risk. I've heard that children are less at risk than some other populations. Can you speak to that please?

Eileen:
We're not quite sure. The data around this virus is still being compiled to better understand age-specific risk factors, but there have been a handful of children that recently tested positive across the globe. Clearly, most of the cases have occurred among adults and we're especially aware of the adults that have more severe illness. Those tend to be our more senior population or people that have other risk factors or other co-morbidities like diabetes or heart disease.

Anthony Godfrey:
I started the last question with "I've heard" and there's a lot of rumors going around and there is a lot of speculation. Where would you say parents ought to go for the best, most reliable, most up-to-date information about what's happening?

Eileen:
So the best place to research information, there's a couple places and one is Salt Lake County Health Department website. The reason that's a good place is we link all of our information to the Center for Disease Control, which is he premiere place to look for information. If a parent is more interested and wants to dig a little bit deeper from a global perspective, the World Health Organization has an excellent website.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and Salt Lake County Health. Those are three sources for good information.

Eileen:
Yes. Those three, as well as the Utah Department of Health.

Anthony Godfrey:
We read about other countries where school has been closed or public gatherings have been limited. If that were to happen in Utah, and obviously it has not happened yet, but if that were to happen at some point, how would that information come out? Who would be the authority that would make that decision?

Eileen:
So we would take that information very seriously and it would be based upon our epidemiological information we're collecting. We're doing that on a daily basis. We're continuing to monitor people right now. We're looking at their factors, where they'd been, we're continuing to assess any commonalities. And so we would piece that together. And as a local health department, as far as quarantining or shutting down massive events, not going to movies, not going to church, not going to school would come is a a directive from Salt Lake County Health Department. So our local health officer would have the ability, based upon good sound evidence, to make that decision. And then that would be communicated very quickly to the right people, to the right superintendents in the school districts.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. And I've always appreciated the process in working with Salt Lake County Health. You've always been very responsive to our questions and done a great job of providing a consistent and systematic means of providing information so that everyone has the right information and the same information at the same time. So I would anticipate that would be the same in case there's any problem.

Eileen:
Yes, we definitely would want to make sure, from a consistency standpoint, that we're all on the same page and we'd release that information at the same time with a heads-up to all of the people that need to know agencies, our partners, our health care providers, as well as provide that information to the public through the media. And we would continue to assess this as we go through it. This is not the first pandemic that we've been involved with. In 2009, you know, we were heavily involved with the influence of pandemic. And we continued to exercise pandemic preparedness on a regular basis.

Anthony Godfrey:
What would you say to families who are experiencing a high level of anxiety around the possibility of COVID-19 affecting their family.

Eileen:
Parents with a lot of anxiety? My best advice advice would be to rely on credible sources of information. Facebook, some of the social media, aren't always the most credible source of information. So I would take a deep breath and really think whether or not their children are at risk. And so far, we haven't had a single case where exposure has occurred in Utah.

Anthony Godfrey:
We talked about personal hygiene, but is there a level of cleaning that ought to be happening in the home to help prevent the spread of disease as well?

Eileen:
Whenever anyone's sick with respiratory illness, it's important to make sure, in addition to the good hand washing, the things we've talked about and self isolation, that any touch surfaces are cleaned. There's not really a magic answer for how often, but just thorough cleaning as you would typically do in your household and washing linens frequently, and making sure that any kind of light switches, remotes, anything where somebody might touch it and someone else might come along and touch the same piece of equipment, that those things are cleaned. I wouldn't go overboard because you can get pretty fanatic about cleaning, but it's just important to have things is germ-free as possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've been with Eileen Risk, Epidemiologist with Salt Lake County Health Department. If parents want more information, where can they go?

Eileen:
So the parents can visit http://saltlakecityhealth.org for information for Salt Lake County Health Department. And that will also link them to the Centers for Disease Control.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much. I'm sure you're very busy at Salt Lake County Health, and we really appreciate your taking the time to be with us.

Eileen:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, Jordan School District Director of Custodial Services, Steve Peart will join us.

Break:
Do you want ideas for being happier and healthier? I'm McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness Specialist for Jordan School District. Please join us every week for Wellness Wednesday. We do a feature on the Jordan School District website that offers free and simple tips for improving your health and wellness. We cover a variety of topics like reducing stress, better eating habits, and finding more time to build better relationships. Check out Wellness Wednesday every week on the Jordan School District website at http://jordandistrict.org For additional health and wellness resources, visit http://wellness.jordandistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're joined now by Steve Peart, the Director of Custodial and Energy Services for Jordan School District. Steve, can you tell us a little bit about the routine cleaning that is done in schools of all levels?

Steve:
Okay. Well, for the routine cleaning, we have job cards for all of the sweepers and full-time staff and those job cards take them through, step-by-step what should be done every day.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's very organized.

Steve:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is it the JCOS system that evaluates whether those procedures are being followed?

Steve:
Yes, it is. It's we call it the JCOS, which is Jordan Custodial Operating System.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's very structured, right down to the minute what's expected, how much time should be spent on each task. And there's routine cleaning that helps prevent the spread of illness and disease. Can you tell us about some of the routines that help prevent it?

Steve:
Yes. For example, what we call  light duty specialists, if you look down the instructions on their routines, number five says disinfected phones in assigned area, and it says spray disinfected on the cloth and then wipe down the phones. Number six is disinfect classroom sinks and drinking fountains. Number eight says disinfect all classroom doors, door knobs, switches, and places that the public would touch.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a very deliberate process to clean up those high touch areas.

Steve:
Yes. And then when we go out to inspect building, we will look at door knobs, door casings because a lot of times the kids will grab the door casing to swing around the door. So we make sure that those areas have been cleaned.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can picture that. Yeah.

Steve:
So there are a lot of areas that just get this regular routine cleaning, but when there's something more intense, sometimes when we've been concerned about a particular school, there is a fogging procedure that we've used before.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's kind of fascinating to really clean the entire school at a deeper level. Tell me more about that.

Steve:
Yeah. If the Department of Health tells us about concern, the next level of cleaning would be we'd go in and we can fog that building and go through the classrooms, go through the buses and that's the next level of cleaning. And that would be recommended from the Health Department.

Anthony Godfrey:
What particular procedures involved? Is it a special machine?

Steve:
Yeah. It's just like a handheld sprayer. We also have a backpack that we can use and it just puts out a very fine mist. As you walk into the room, you'll spray from the inner most part of the room and back out as you spray that room.

Anthony Godfrey:
And on rare occasion, when there has been an issue at a school we've been able to clean the entire school and ensure that it's safe.

Steve:
Yes. We've done that before on schools. We've also done it on buses.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's done as a precaution under the direction of Salt Lake County Health.

Steve:
If the Health Department contacts us and says there's a particular health issue at a school, we can go into what we'd call the next level of disinfecting. And that's where we use the foggers to go in and fog the classroom or the school bus or the entire building, if needed.

Anthony Godfrey:
What substance is used in the fogger.

Steve:
The fogger has a disinfectant in it. It's designed to be able to disinfect around surfaces. So for example, if I was to hold my phone here and spray it, it would also wrap around and hit the back of the phone. So it can go places that would take hundreds of hours to physically wipe down. It can cover the entire room.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you've done this, like you said, with classrooms, entire schools, buses as necessary. How do we protect custodians and sweepers from getting sick themselves, as they're cleaning up?

Steve:
Each task that a custodian or sweeper is assigned to do, we'll have a level of personal protective equipment that is required for that task. And the district provides that equipment for each one of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Depending on the task and depending on the chemical that's being used, there is equipment to help keep the employee safe from infection themselves.

Steve:
That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
All the cleaning that you've described and all of the procedures you've described from disinfecting to fogging clean up, what's already there, but really the best preventative measure is hand-washing.

Steve:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so there's going to be a lot more hand-washing hopefully because that's what's being encouraged, 20 seconds, at least. And we want more and more people to be washing their hands more frequently. That means we need more supplies. How are we for paper towels and soap and supplies in general for cleaning?

Steve:
The warehouse generally keeps stocked with several months ahead of what we need. But in addition to that, we've ordered even more for to stockpile.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we already have plenty of lead and we've ordered even more. We appreciate Steve Peart taking the time to join us up next. We'll talk about our online curriculum and ability to provide instruction to students staying at home, if necessary.

Break:
In Jordan School District, the possibilities are endless for anyone looking to grow with a team of professionals, working together to provide the very best for students in education. If you're looking for a great job with great pay and benefits in a supportive environment, head to http://workatjordan.org and find your future career in Jordan School District. People come for the job and stay for the adventure. Explore the many options apply today at http://workatjordan.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome back to the Supercast. We have with us today Ross Menlove, Administrator over Digital Learning in the Teaching and Learning Department. And he's here to talk with us about how the District has prepared to provide digital learning, if that's necessary, in case of an outbreak in Utah of the Coronavirus. But really, in lots of other circumstances, just to provide flexibility to parents and students, if for some reason students were required to stay home because of a Coronavirus outbreak, or some other issue, we're well positioned to provide deep, meaningful learning from home.

Ross Menlove:
Exactly. We're pretty much, I would say, one of the most prepared Districts in the State to be able to provide continued instruction to students and students wouldn't would not miss a beat of that core-level of knowledge that they need to progress in their learning. They would have that right there at home and teachers are trained enough to be able to do that right away.

Anthony Godfrey:
And in addition to having that Digital Specialist at each school, we also have a variety of digital experts at the District level that can provide additional support to teachers.

Ross:
Exactly. My team works really closely with every school, providing interactions with every principal and all the teachers. And we could easily push out content within a matter of minutes and hours to be able to train teachers easily on what to do and how to go about providing that content.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ross, can you just give us a little bit of an overview of kind of the training that's happened and some of the options that are available to teachers that can allow them to teach remotely online?

Ross:
Yes, that's a great question. This last year, when we had the previous snow day for 2019, we provided a blended learning course for teachers and pretty much every teacher in Jordan District participated in that course. And as we looked at that, what we decided for this year, we have transitioned our professional development to be more of a school-based professional development. So we are currently, we have a teacher at every single school in Jordan District that is a Digital Teacher Leader. They're a specialist in digital learning. They come and get trained from us each month to be able to use different digital learning and blended learning techniques and teaching tools within the classroom. And we've seen a huge jump in the number of people that are trained in digital learning. An example would be, we have hundreds of teachers every month that are currently participating in training that could be used if students were not at the school physically, but they could still continue their learning at home.

Anthony Godfrey:
So every teacher received blended learning training through a Blended Learning Course last year as a baseline. But we also have hundreds of teachers and more and more teachers receiving additional, advanced digital learning support and training so that they can expand their use of digital learning. And beyond that, we have a teacher that's assigned to every school, that's a specialist.

Ross:
Exactly. And about half of our school principals at all levels have participated in a Blended and Digital Learning Course for Administrators. So they're able to lead different activities for teachers to participate in faculty meetings or different trainings that they're providing to their staff. So pretty much every teacher in Jordan District is participating currently in some form of blended learning, either through their school, through the District trainings, whatever it might be, they've all have examples of using it. And they've all participated as a student and also as a teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's a good point. Participating as a student and as a teacher gives you a different perspective, what the student experience is like and what the teacher experiences.

Ross:
Exactly, they're able for themselves to evaluate on their end. What would good teaching look like if it was completely online and what is good teaching looks like if I use different parts of blended learning and technology within the classroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now we have a number of different platforms and programs that are available to us to help enhance online learning. Can you describe a few of those?

Ross:
Exactly. We use a couple of different learning management systems, there's Google Classroom, and then also Canvas within each of these learning management systems. There's ways for students to interact with a teacher and also for students to interact with students. The great thing about çanvas and a learning management system is we're allowing kids to be able to design and create their own content. They're not just getting on and consuming more content. They're being active creators of their own content. Being able to share their learning, being able to provide feedback in real time. A couple other tools that we really focus quite a bit on this year is Adobe. Every one of our students in Jordan District from seventh grade up has free access to Adobe.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Adobe is not just creating PDFs. Adobe as a way to provide interactive instruction. Can you describe that a little bit more?

Ross:
Yeah. So they all have access to the Adobe Creative Suite. So they get Photoshop, they get Illustrator and they can go on and create their version of the content that the teacher is asking, but do it in their own way and create that and be able to get trained in a product that they could use those skills in different areas, not just only at school, but also in their own life, in their own interest.

Anthony Godfrey:
You talked about Google Classroom and Canvas, which are two ways to create courses and classroom experiences online. I know we also have access to Nearpod as a District. Can you tell me what Nearpod is involves?

Ross:
Nearpod, what they've done is taken a traditional PowerPoint and now they've made the students an interactive piece within that PowerPoint. So instead of the student just sitting there watching the teacher go through the PowerPoint slide, the student now is an active participant in that PowerPoint. So the teacher might share some information. And then the next slide, the student participates in an activity where they either, they might draw their thinking or they might respond to a question. A great example would be like with math. So the teacher might teach them like a math concept. Then the next slide they have to draw their thinking.

Anthony Godfrey:
They have to draw. What would that look like for them or with reading?

Ross:
They have to read a passage and highlight different parts within that text. So Nearpod allows for creativity. And we just, this last month we did a Nearpod, a Palooza for Jordan District and we had over a hundred teachers come one day and all of them were trained on Nearpod, not just the basics. But also just advanced and how to use that tool to interact with students. So students are active participants in their learning.

Anthony Godfrey:
You talked about Canvas earlier and one of the aspects of Canvas that I like, and perhaps this is true of other programs as well, parents can get involved and they can be logged in right along with the student and be very involved in their child's school.

Ross:
Exactly. You know, we have Canvas and parents can see what's happening. They can see what's being what, whether students are doing the same with Nearpod, all the Nearpods. We would push out parents get access to those Nearpods and see what the learning is. And they could be active participants with their child in being able to go through the content and be able to ask them questions. And the wonderful thing is that with technology and with Canvas and as parents work with that, with their kids, the parents were able to see the type of questions and the type of learning so they can help. They can take those questions and use them in other areas of life and other times where they have conversations with their children.

Anthony Godfrey:
Allowing parents to be involved at a deeper level in a child's learning rather than simply logging on to a Skyward and looking up grades and that sort of thing. Parents can really be involved in the content and see where a student may be struggling and provide some help.

Ross:
Exactly. It allows parents to be right next to them, and also learning with them. That's a great thing with the digital content is the parents can also participate in it.

Anthony Godfrey:
We appreciate the work you've done in the last few years, Ross, moving us forward in digital learning and in our capability and helping provide that flexibility for students and teachers. And hopefully we won't need to use it a districtwide in the case of an emergency, but if we do, we're well-prepared to do so.

Ross:
Well, thank you. You know, I think the message that we communicate to teachers every time we meet with them is we want students to become active creators, using technology right. Not just passive consumers. When they use technology, when it comes to learning and teaching here in Jordan District, they're actively creating. They're showing their learning in different ways and in ways that have never been done before. But in ways that are needed as they continue through their life, especially with the increases in technology and what's expected of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great way of putting it. Active creators versus passive consumers. Thanks very much, Ross.

Ross:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks to everyone for being part of this special edition of the Supercast and thanks to parents for supporting our efforts as Jordan School District works to keep students and staff healthy in a productive learning environment. And remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.