Supercast

Coach McBride:
The world is about adversity and how you handle adversity and you got all this social media where all these kids are very mean to each other. You've got to get beyond that so somebody doesn't get their self-image spoiled.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, and the negativity sticks with you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He is known for his winning ways at the helm as head football coach at the University of Utah, leading the Utes to historic success over 12 exciting seasons. We're talking about Ron McBride or Coach Mac as many have come to know him over the years. On this episode of the Supercast, we have the honor of sitting down with the legend and hearing firsthand about his time coaching, recruiting, and giving young athletes opportunities they never thought possible. Find out how Coach Mac is continuing his passionate work in our schools today with the Ron McBride Foundation, making sure at-risk youth have every chance to succeed. Plus, hear how Coach Mac impacted the life of one of our very own, Valley High School Principal Jacinto Peterson.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking today with Coach Ron McBride. Mac, thank you so much for being here today.

Coach McBride:
Absolutely, Superintendent. Hey, I'm glad to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a real thrill. I've been telling my friends I get to talk to you today.

Coach McBride:
You got to tell that to my wife.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have felt your support in Jordan School District through your foundation, and I think it was high time that we just talked with you about the great things that you have going and all the support that you give to our kids in need. So we just wanted to talk with you about the foundation and where that came from.

Coach McBride:
Actually, Lavell Edwards and myself started it nine years ago. The thing was to help the underserved kids and to give them a chance to see a brighter side of life. Basically, from the time I was in high school, junior high, I was always very involved, particularly with my teammates that were underprivileged because I came from a lower middle East LA neighborhood. So I understood, and my parents were month to month trying to keep afloat.

Anthony Godfrey:
So through your own experience and your experience with players who were underprivileged, you've always had this focus on helping people.

Coach McBride:
Absolutely, yeah. So I've always been. So when I retired from Weber, then and Lavell and I were doing the radio show on Fridays. So we said, "Let's start this foundation." West Jordan Middle was one of our first schools.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've done a lot of work with them consistently over the years.

Coach McBride:
Oh ya, lots. First of all, the principals, the vice principals, the people that worked there were outstanding. The librarian was outstanding.

Anthony Godfrey:
She really is.

Coach McBride:
Oh, yeah. And she cares. I mean, I think we did a book club was the first thing we did over there, right?

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
This was many years ago. She was so appreciative and loved the kids so much. She was so excited about what we were doing, you know. Then I loved the principal, you know, and she was awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
When you're able to bring resources to a school, and you see that the school has these caring adults that are trying to do their best for kids, it's got to feel good that you know that those resources are going to the right place.

Coach McBride:
Well, West Jordan Middle always followed up with whatever, you know. I mean, you go over there and check with their .  . .  watch the after school program. The lady that ran it, Ivy Erickson, one of the best people in the world.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, she's done like it.

Coach McBride:
But first of all, she the kids, she's all into the young people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Coach McBride:
She's all into the young people that have problems and she's a good listener.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
And so she's excited about what she does.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
So it's easy to go there and watch her in action.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm thrilled that you picked West Jordan Middle and they really are amazing people there.

Coach McBride:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's been some turnover since you started.

Coach McBride:
Well, yeah, Dixie was a principal and she's at a bigger job.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right.

Coach McBride:
And I tell you what, she's, first of all, her dad, I think, was a principal at that school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. That's right.

Coach McBride:
And she has a real history in education.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes.

Coach McBride:
She's a great lady. You know what I mean? The great thing about when she was at West Jordan, it was always open anytime.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
We would go by to check out what they were doing or talk to the kids or whatever, but it was always very open to us. I think it was, that was the first school that, when Jerry Sloan was sick, we kind of dedicated that school to Jerry back then to begin with. So we called it “Jerry's Kids” to begin with over there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Coach McBride:
And then, of course, Jerry had problems and finally, his problems took his life. It was too bad.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it is. You were really instrumental in helping those after-school programs happen at West Jordan Middle School.

Coach McBride:
Oh, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
That made a huge difference for those students.

Coach McBride:
Oh, yeah. I mean, they had-- And they had a lot of things going on. Besides sports, you know, they had Pokémon and they had chess club, it's ceramics club. So they had a lot of things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It was all this pent-up need from the kids and interest from the adults in providing those opportunities. Yeah, yeah. And when you come in with those resources with caring adults and needy kids, it was just an-- it's an incredible combination.

Coach McBride:
And they--

Anthony Godfrey:
And you've allowed us to do things we couldn't do on our own.

Coach McBride:
Oh, absolutely. And you know, they have a lot of-- since they've kind of redid West Jordan Middle, they have a whole bunch of access to things they didn't have before.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
The shop classes are really good.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
Because, you know, in today's economy, it's important that young people know how to do a trade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Coach McBride:
Because that's where all the money is right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right.

Coach McBride:
Trade-- so more young people need to go into trades because they're paying a good wage, you're going to make a good living, and you're going to be working every day.

Anthony Godfrey:
AI doesn't fix things or remodel things or repair things, you know?

Coach McBride:
Yeah, but we have a huge need in that sector.

Anthony Godfrey:
This feels like an extension of what you were able to do as a football coach.

Coach McBride:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
You gave kids opportunities as a football coach. Talk to me about the relationship.

Coach McBride:
Well, I always-- you know, we always divided the locker room into three segments because of red, yellow, and green. So the red guys were about 10% of your football team and these are guys that were underappreciated, needed academic help, needed structure help, you know? Just needed to put them on a different line. So we would put our red guys with our green guys and therefore, then they would get them to thinking a different process.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see.

Coach McBride:
The idea is to take the red guys and get them to the yellow and get the yellow to the green. So you hopefully, by the time they graduate from college, that they were all into the green zone where they could take care of their own problems, take care of their own situations, handle adversity, do things that people have to do to be successful.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a lot of work off the field to help them become everything they can be.

Coach McBride:
It's a lot of brainwashing.

Coach McBride:
So, yeah, you just have to change the way people think.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Coach McBride:
And if you put them around people that think different, then they slowly buy into it. What I find now with these red people, when I go to different places in Hawaii or in the South or anything, all these kids that play for me are academic people now. That's all they want to talk about is, "Oh, my kid's in college. He's doing this. He's doing this." And all of a sudden I says, "Well, I guess you got the message a long time ago."

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it definitely worked. So, the message was, "There's more than football, and we need to prepare you for that."

Coach McBride:
Yeah, football is a vehicle. And if you don't do what I say, then I can take football away from you. So therefore, the kids, they want to play football, so if they want to play football, they have to get an education, they have to become the kind of citizens you want them to become.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's figure that out, yeah. Now, you coached one of our principals.

Coach McBride:
Oh, yeah, Jacinto.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
His story is unreal because I can still remember going to that high school, and then he was living with his grandparents in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere. I said, "Well, how do I find the trailer?" "Well, go down this dirt road, turn right at where you see this dog tied up, and then turn left, and then you'll see the trailer, right."

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Coach McBride:
They were beautiful people, you know. And Jacinto's had so much success here, and I'm so proud of him because he's always been a stand-up man.

Anthony Godfrey:
He's an incredible leader.

Coach McBride:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
He’s a great educator and he's saving a lot of kids.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, well, he understands it all because he lived through it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, absolutely. When you first met Jacinto, what were your impressions?

Coach McBride:
Oh, I loved the kid. You know, he was easy to talk to, good communicator. I loved his grandparents, his grandma, you know. They're all just great and all they were interested is in getting this kid in a better spot for his life.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
So they all wanted the same thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
You accomplished that, and he's changed a lot of lives as a result. So thank you for that. You did me a big favor by sending Jacinto our way.

Coach McBride:
I'll tell you what, he did me a big favor by coming here. So he's the best, that kid.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, tell me about the foundation now. Tell me about your operations and how people can help if they wanted to.

Coach McBride:
So we started out with nothing, basically. And then we're up to, I think we got 32 schools now we support, between Ogden, Salt Lake, Canyons District. We got schools in all those places and so we gave away a little over $400,000 last year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Amazing.

Coach McBride:
In different schools. And everybody on our foundation has a school that they're responsible for. And we got, when we have our meetings, everybody reports on their schools, what's going on. And then I visit as many as I can.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've been very visible. Very hands on with us.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, because what you want to do is you can't have a foundation and then the guy's name on it, you know, who's that guy? But I love the kids because the kids are so much fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Nobody says, “who's that guy?” I've seen you in school so many times, interacting with the kids, interacting with the adults.

Coach McBride:
Oh yeah, we have a lot of laughs when we go and then getting to know different kids and watching them go through the system.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, it's all fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Middle school kids in particular, you can't help but have a good laugh when you're around middle school kids.

Coach McBride:
Well, middle school kids are making some decisions that are important to their lives. Because that's kind of that age group where you kind of start thinking, you know, a little more than you really should know, or you think you know more, and you're starting to question things, and you call it a growth spurt. So you got to make, you got to try to get these kids to think a little different and think beyond where they think they can be.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're having a growth spurt in every aspect of their lives, really. It's a big time.

Coach McBride:
Well, it's a huge time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you're right. Stay with us when we come back. More with Coach Mac and he talks with us about the recent coaching changes at the University of Utah.

Male Voice:
Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. You can find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.

Female Voice:
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:
There have been a lot of changes in the football world lately. What do you think of all the coaching shifts?

Coach McBride:
I'm in the middle of most of it every day because every time somebody gets leaves or something they call and say, “I'm going.” Obviously, some of those guys that Kyle took with him to Michigan were guys that played for me. A lot of staff have played for me. With Lewis Powell leaving, Doug LSI leaving, Jim Harding leaving, Jason Beck leaving. Those guys all have a history with all those guys. That was tough. I talked to most of them before they left and tried to talk them into staying. Now Morgan has hired some really good people. So it looks like Jordan Gross is going to be the old line guy, which is a great take. I think they're bringing back Noki who worked for me up at Weber as one of the D-line guys. They just hired Bumpus back as a wide receiver guy, which is a good hire. Then Colton Swan, who was my defensive coordinator at Weber, he's now the defensive coordinator. Luther's back, which is good. Colton is good. Sharif is good. Jordan will do a nice job with the offense. Kevin McGivin is going to be the offensive coordinator. He worked for me at Weber and was up at Utah State. We lost some good ones, but we hired some good ones.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's good to hear your take on that and your connection to all those folks.

Coach McBride:
The interesting thing, a guy that I coached with at Wisconsin, Fred Jackson, worked for the Michigan football program for 27 years. They retained him. Today I get a picture with him and a couple of the Utah people. They sent it to me. I said, "I can't believe how old you are, Fred."

Anthony Godfrey:
When I've talked with people who worked with you in the past, they talk about kindness and loyalty. That you are just extremely loyal. When someone needs help and they ask you, you're all in. You're there to help. That's been your career and it's been your passion in retirement with this foundation. You're a dedicated loyal friend who wants to help people have a better life.

Coach McBride:
The whole key to our civilization are young people. What we have to do is create positives for them that they can go beyond what their parents have done. The key to the whole thing is, I want to have a positive voice on education.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes.

Coach McBride:
The more you invest, the more you have a voice. The voice has to be positive. It can't be negative. It has to be that if you have a problem, you've got to adjust to the problem and solve it. The world is about adversity and how you handle adversity. Are you equipped? Can you handle the problem? All these kids at that middle age are asking questions, and you've got all this social media. Kids are very mean to each other, and this social media. You've got to get beyond that so somebody doesn't get their self-image spoiled.

Anthony Godfrey:
The negativity sticks with you.

Coach McBride:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
It has an outsized impact way beyond. I know that even if you hear a negative comment from someone you don't know, it sticks with you at that age in ways that are so damaging.

Coach McBride:
Oh yeah. I mean, when I say cut out the noise, but with all these cell phones, these kids get a lot of noise.

Anthony Godfrey:
Like you were saying, you're lifting them at such an important time, providing these resources to our middle school kids.

Coach McBride:
Absolutely. Hopefully, we will continue to grow.

Anthony Godfrey:
If people want to help, they just go to RonMcBrideFoundation.org and they can make a donation right there.

Coach McBride:
Absolutely. We don't spend a lot of money paying people so we only have two people that we pay.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're also helping with Joel P. Jensen and with Majestic Elementary. Majestic, our elementary arts academy, a very unique place.

Coach McBride:
Oh my, it's so much fun over there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, yeah.

Coach McBride:
How they've incorporated the music with the teaching, with the learning and very positive people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, they are. A lot of great energy.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, extremely.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're a good match for that school.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, oh yeah. They're great. I like the process. It's an interesting way of education. It's an interesting way to keep the kids involved. And then your teachers over there are heavily involved in that formula.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, no, they're all in. They're all trained.

Coach McBride:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
They approach education in a whole different way.

Coach McBride:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
And your support really makes some incredible experiences possible. So you bought the pianos for the piano lab, is that right?

Coach McBride:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I remember when we started down the academy pathway, and we wanted to make it a music school, and that was a big obstacle, is being able to get those keyboards in there.

Coach McBride:
Oh yeah. Well, it's all, you know, if you're going to have that kind of school, you've got to have good instruments and you've got to have a way to, you know, and you've got to make it first class.

Anthony Godfrey:
I received an email from someone at the state level who had attended their program right before the winter break and they were so impressed with how important this clearly was to the families of the students who were benefiting from the program when they all came there. It's just, it's a whole community impact. You've done a lot of great work with Joel P. Jensen as well, offering those after school . . .

Coach McBride:
Karen Moore, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Karen Moore at...

Coach McBride:
Yeah, yeah. She's a good leader, very good leader.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach McBride:
And she's great. Yeah. So yeah, you've hired some really good people in your district.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you. We really do have good people everywhere.

Coach McBride:
Very extremely positive role models for the kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have these strong relationships that stay because you create strong relationships to stay with.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, absolutely. So it doesn't stop because your eligibility is up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Coach McBride:
And you're basically in these kids' lives forever. My wife, she's on social media, I guess, with around 200 players. So every morning she's answering their questions, answering what their problems are. And then she'll come in and she'll say, "Hey, so and so's got a problem. You need to get ahold of them." So he's doing well. So we have one of the kids play for me at a heart attack two days ago. So she's been on the phone taking, "How is he? How's he doing?" And then I'm on the phone with his family. And yeah, so yeah, it's just... But that's where it's supposed to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
Doesn't surprise me a bit that you're still in touch with those 200 players.

Coach McBride:
Yeah, well, it's probably more than that. It's fun to watch them have kids and then see how they handle their kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure, sure.

Coach McBride:
We've had a lot of... Kids have had a lot of success.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's amazing. What are some of the success stories you remember with your students that are most meaningful?

Coach McBride:
Well, you know, probably all starts with Joe Mosley back in high school. Overfeld High School was a minority school and Piedmont Hills was the first place that I coached. So they were busing kids from Overfeld to Piedmont, minority kids and Joe was a really good football player. So, he wasn't showing up. And he wouldn't get on a... They were busing these kids. He wouldn't get on the bus.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yah.

Coach McBride:
So then I said, "Okay, I'm going to pick you up every morning. Get you dressed. Take you to McDonald's and then we'll go to school." And he said, "You're not going to do that." I said, "Yes, I am." So I'd show up. I'd get him out of bed and make sure he got dressed. "Okay, we're on the way to McDonald's." And then I'd make sure he got home at night. I did that for maybe almost a year until I got him squared away. And then he became a leader in the school. And then he became in charge of all the gang units in San Jose. He just retired recently, so I was kind of the guest speaker at his retirement. This was 60 years ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
My goodness.

Coach McBride:
So everywhere there's a success there is a Joe Mosley story.

Anthony Godfrey:
Lots of stories like that.

Coach McBride:
And some of you failed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Coach McBride:
I mean, so some people, you try to help them, try to put them right, and then they just keep falling back into a pattern. So sometimes you fail and I know the failures and I know why.

Anthony Godfrey:
A lot more successes, sounds like.

Coach McBride:
Well, yeah. I would say, yeah. I think we're on the positive side of—

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, for sure.

Coach McBride:
But there are, you know, everybody has problems.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it's true. Well, thank you, Mac, for supporting these three schools in our district and for what you do in the broader community throughout the state and just for the positive impact you've had in Utah for so many years. Thank you.

Coach McBride:
Well, it's a good agenda and it's important. So it looks like we're in this for the long run.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love it. 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.

Transcription coming soon.

Transcription coming soon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a showcase of student talent, musical magic, and seasonal joy. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Joel P. Jensen Middle School for a holiday music program that will make your spirits bright one note at a time. Listen and enjoy. We're in Ms. Johnson's classroom just after the performance. Tell me about this group of students.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, this is our concert choir. So it's our students who are taking choir for their second or third year here at Joel P. Jensen. We have a few students who are seventh graders as well who just came to boost our numbers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the process of taking them from not knowing these songs and some of them not having experienced singing, to being at this point. They sounded great.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, we do a lot of learning up front, doing rounds where students have to really get used to singing their part independently and start learning how to read music. Then it takes us about two months to learn our concert. So usually each class is learning about four or five songs. We start with just learning the notes, and then we try to make it more musical, add dynamics, the louds and softs, and make it more interesting and emotional from there.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm always amazed at how music teachers, both instrumental and choral, are able to have each individual practice their part and then bring everyone together and blend all of that so it's a unified sound. Talk to me about that process.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, we work with just the altos or just the sopranos, and then sometimes we'll spend like 20 minutes just working on eight measures. So just a really small portion of the song, making sure everyone understands how their part fits in with the rest. Yeah, it's fun to see how everyone is able to find their note and by relying on the other people who are on their part, but then still have that independence from the other parts in the group. It just all comes together so beautifully at the end of the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
So to blend without being lost.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I always get lost. Tell me about your journey to becoming a music teacher. How long have you been here and what made you interested in music from the start?

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, this is my second year teaching at Joel P. Jensen and ever. I graduated from college in 2024. So it's been a fun journey to have my first choir. I actually decided to teach music because I had a wonderful middle school choir director and several wonderful piano teachers who made me love music and see the benefit that it could have to my life personally. I felt like I really found a place in choir. It's nice to be able to offer other students now those same opportunities to have connections socially and to understand their emotions better by working through them in music class. It's really rewarding to pass that forward.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a huge personal benefit. Tell me about one of those instructors who had such an impact on you.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, so I lived in Pennsylvania when I was in middle school and my choir teacher was named Mrs. Farrell. She had really high expectations for us as a choir class and made us better musicians and better people, teaching us to really care for each other and always seek to do our best at anything we did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you find yourself doing some things that you experienced in her class, using some of that now as a teacher?

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, for sure. I learned so much from her, from my professors at college and I've found some great mentors here in the District as well, high school and middle school choir teachers that I've been able to steal some of their best ideas from.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, it's been great.

Anthony Godfrey:
We love that. Well, whatever you're doing, it's working. They sounded wonderful and I just really appreciate everything you're doing and we're excited to have you here at Joel P.

Ms. Johnson:
Thank you. This is "Beautiful December" by Amy F. Burnin.

Now when the garden awaits, the return of spring.

Now when the silence is deep and blue.

Now when the winter has cast its spell again.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Here where the snow is as soft as the woolly land.

Here where the sky falls deep and blue.

Here where the stars are so bright you reach for them.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Child, may sleep in peace tonight.

Dream of songs that rise on silken leaves.

When you wake enchanted by snow's fun light.

Sing the songs that came to you in dreams.

Your beautiful December dreams.

When the storm awaits, the return of spring.

Now when the garden awaits, the return of spring.

When the silence is deep and blue.

Deep and blue.

Blue now.

When the winter is cast as spell again.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Beautiful December.

Blue.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with students who are in concert choir here at Joel P. Jensen Middle School. Tell me, what's it like being in concert choir? What do you love most about it?

Students:
It's good being at Joel P. Jensen in the choir because you get to do concerts and it's fun singing.

I get a lot of opportunities to socialize with other students and reunite as one class and then work on projects altogether.

I feel like I get to express my emotions through my voice while I'm singing and it's just really fun to do that.

It's really fun and Miss Johnson's like the best teacher.

I really like singing in choir with the other choir kids. It helps me feel more united with them and to become best friends with them and there's like lots of opportunities to just go and perform and sing your heart out and it's great.

This is “Like It's Christmas” by the Jonas Brothers arranged by Mac Huff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more Sounds of the Season from Joel P. Jensen Middle School.

Music]

Male Voice:
Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.

Female Voice:
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.

Ms. Johnson:
This is the Bells of Christmas Medley arranged by Greg Gilpin.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, tell me about Miss Johnson. What's it like being in her class?

Female Student:
She's an amazing teacher. She's very patient and sweet when it comes to her students. If you're ever struggling when it comes to a certain section of the song, you can tell her that, and she will help you out.

Female Student:
She is very kind and she never makes you sing something you don't want to, but she still helps you develop your singing skills and become a better singer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you sang some great songs, Jonas Brothers and Medley, all of that. What is your favorite holiday song, winter song, or Christmas song, whatever you choose?

Female Student:
I personally really like to sing the Jonas Brothers song because it's more energetic and it's easier to sing those higher notes since it's more... yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Although I'm not a good dancer, I wanted to move to that one. You guys had me going.

Male Student:
My favorite is "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel." Specifically, I like the version with For King and Country “I Need to Breathe." I feel like their voices work really well together.

Female Student:
I like "Silent Night" because it's so peaceful and it's so pretty.

Male Student:
My favorite song is "Wings the Bells It's Christmas" because it has a lot of Christmas spirit and a lot of joy.

Female Student:
I personally like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" because I think it's for adults and kids and families to just sing together, and it's really easy.

Female Student:
I personally like the J I N G O Bells because it's a fun version of Jingle Bells. I also really like "Silent Night." It just brings a lot of peace when you're having a hard time.

Ms. Johnson:
This is "Ring the Bells. It's Christmas" by Douglas E. Wagner.

♪ Ring the bells and spread the cheer of sing noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Colored lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel, it's Christmas ♪

♪ Ring the bells and spread the cheer of sing noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel, it's Christmas ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel it's Christmas ♪

♪ It's Christmas

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, noel, noel noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, ring the bells and spread the cheer ♪

♪ Sing, noel, it's Christmas time ♪

Anthony Godfrey:
Have a great break! 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 and we hope you have a wonderful winter break.

Anthony Godfrey:
I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time.

Chase Barlow:
Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot like we have a lot of activity going on in there and if you just look at it it's it's not a very clear water it's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slowly with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk in a class called gastrocato. On this episode of the Supercast we take you to an advanced placement biology class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning.

(music)

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Miss Craig here at Mountain Ridge High School about her AP environmental science class. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Ms. Craig:
Yeah of course anytime, thanks for coming out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about the project that has been going on and what's happening today with students.

Ms. Craig:
So in AP environmental science we're learning about the biogeochemical cycles. So things like carbon and nitrogen and phosphorus and water cycles and we started this project six weeks ago. So each group got a little aquatic habitat and each group got between six and eight snails depending on the group. They've just been monitoring the nutrients, keeping track of dissolved oxygen, trying to keep their snail habitats as healthy as possible for the last six weeks.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they've had to test hypotheses and figure out how exactly to do that.

Ms. Craig:
Yes. So each group after the two-week period after we collected some baseline data each group made a modification to their tank so they changed something that would impact the nutrient cycle and then we continued to collect data for four more weeks so that they could see how that change impacted the lifestyle of the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
The only cycle that I really caught was the water cycle.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So all of these different cycles — The phosphorus cycle, was that one of them as well?

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So all of these cycles are aspects of environmental science that they'll be tested on as part of the AP test.

Ms. Craig:
Exactly. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about some of those other cycles. The water cycle I'm familiar with but tell me about some of the others.

Ms. Craig:
So nitrogen and phosphorus are critical nutrients that every living thing needs in order to be able to survive. It's part of your DNA, it's used in cellular functions. So we're measuring those critical nutrients. We're measuring dissolved oxygen levels as well which can help us keep track of the rate of photosynthesis and respiration rates, and how well the quality of overall quality of the water.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about what's happening now today. They've each had their individual biome where they've been experimenting adding different factors into the environment to see how it impacts the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
What happens now? They're combining everything together and what is that going to demonstrate to the students?

Ms. Craig:
So basically we've had a few unfortunate fatalities and some of the water is getting kind of murky. There are no filters on these biomes so at this point, after the six weeks is over, we're gonna combine them into one big habitat. We're gonna put a filter on there and then I have some students that are interested in earning their Sentinel Service Hours diploma, which is 80 service hours outside of school time, and they have volunteered to monitor the snails and try to keep that bigger tank as healthy as possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the snails who were part of the experiment now get to live on in a more regulated community environment.

Ms. Craig:
Yes, they're moving on up, they'll be living in a mansion, they'll have maid service that will come and take care of their water and clean it and everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
The survivors now get the reward of having the better environment.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is this something that you've done in years past?

Ms. Craig:
So this is only my second year teaching this class and I did do this experiment for the first time last year and this is the second time.

Anthony Godfrey:
How did the mansion stage of the snail experiment go last time?

Ms. Craig:
It was pretty good. We didn't have as many snails to begin with but they some of the snails survived long enough that I had to rehome them over the summer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so they made it through the entire school year?

Ms. Craig:
Yeah, some of them made it through the entire school year.

Anthony Godfrey:
How exactly does one rehome a snail?

Ms. Craig:
Well, you make friends with middle school teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, and you help persuade them of the varied uses they might have for these snails.

Ms. Craig:
Oh, they were excited to have them. They're like, "Oh, snails clean my tank, yes I'd love to take them."

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, great, okay, so snails with a purpose.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Is there a particular variety of snail that you're dealing with here? What exactly, just so for folks who might say, "I wonder what kind of snail that is? I need to Google that.”

Ms. Craig:
Yeah, so we have two different varieties of snails. We have pond snails, which our principal lovingly refers to as swamp snails. And then we also have the mystery snails. So they're the bigger ones that you can really see them moving around. Their antenna come out and they're a lot more active and fun to watch.

Anthony Godfrey:
The mystery snails?

Ms. Craig:
Mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that the actual term for them?

Ms. Craig:
There's a scientific name for them, but if you go shopping for them, you'll want to look for mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Mystery snails? Yes. Wow, okay. Snails with something to hide?

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me just about AP Environmental Science overall. What do you hope, besides trying to do well on the task which is important, what do you hope students take away from this class?

Ms. Craig:
For me, the environment has always been something that I felt very passionate about, especially living here in Utah with our air quality and the Great Salt Lake levels diminishing. I feel like we, it's really important that we train some students to be able to work towards solving some of these problems and tackling some of these tough issues.

Anthony Godfrey:
With some know-how and with experiments that teach them that they can figure things out, perhaps that will be the result.

Ms. Craig:
I hope so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Maybe these students and these snails can solve those problems. I'd love to have those problems fixed.

Ms. Craig:
Yes, I would too. And I know these students are really, really bright and capable and they're passionate about what they're doing. So I have the ultimate confidence in their abilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you say you've taught this class for two years now. Where were you before? What were you doing before?

Ms. Craig:
Physics, full-time physics.

Anthony Godfrey:
Full-time physics?

Ms. Craig:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how do you like the switch from physics to environmental science?

Ms. Craig:
I love it. I still have four physics classes and two environmental science classes, so it's nice to branch out and do something different. I'm learning too and I've always loved to learn. I'm a lifelong learner, so this has been keeping me engaged as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as a physics teacher, you overcame the inertia that beset some of us and moved to something new.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, well that's impressive, and I know you're doing a great job. The principal, as I was walking to your class, had so many nice things to say and when I walked in it was instantly engaging for me and I didn't even know what was going on. But you can tell that great things are happening. So thanks for everything you're doing.

Ms. Craig:
Thank you. Thanks for coming by.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. More at Mountain Ridge High School.

Male Voice:
Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordan district.org.

Female Voice:
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 "Bluesbusters" 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:
Hi guys. How's it going? We're talking with three students today from Mountain Ridge High School about their snails. Tell me, introduce yourself, tell me what grade you're in and tell me about these snails a little bit.

Sophie Burdette:
I'm Sophie Burdette. I'm a senior.

Kamelalila Lilo:
I'm Kamelalila Lilo. I'm a junior.

Clark Fowler:
I'm Clark Fowler and I'm a senior.

Chase Barlow:
I'm Chase Barlow and I'm a junior.

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you know each other well before this or have the snails brought you together?

Chase Barlow:
I think definitely the snails have brought us closer together to this unit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay well that's a beautiful thing. So tell me about what this unit has involved and what you've learned.

Sophie Burdette:
So this unit was mostly about aquatic biomes and the factors that affect the biomes and to make this snail biome we started with an empty tank and we added gravel, algae, elodia which are aquatic plants, micro crustaceans, two mystery snails and then four smaller pond snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh I see the micro animals right there. They are very active. It's kind of like when my dog sees us packing and they know they're going on a trip, these guys seem to know that something is up. Something's happening today.

Sophie Burdette:
They're attracted to attention.

Kamelalila Lilo:
Yeah they want it. Then afterwards, before we change any factor about the tank, we kind of just like test it out how the water is before and how like the control system is before you change anything and then we decided to add like more micro crustaceans to see like how that would change the aquatic biome.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the changes that you've noticed as you introduced to other factors into the biome?

Sophie Burdette:
Well as you can see they're a bit dense of population.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, yes.

Sophie Burdette:
And highly active. Also the water has gone a lot murky which is not a good factor but the snails seem to be hanging on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. By hanging on you mean still alive. Surviving.

Sophie Burdette:
Yes. Surviving.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Surviving this apocalyptic biodome that you have created. So tell me more about the snails.

Kamelalila Lilo:
Our two mystery snails that we have in there are Shaquille O'Sneil and then Brinley's Snail. Brinley's Snail was brought into our tank after her beloved partner died and she was left with a clutch of babies and so she brought, she was brought into this tank to kind of have the babies have them hatch. And also —

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Chase Barlow:
You see him?

Anthony Godfrey:
Am I supposed to say that it's cute?

Chase Barlow:
I don't you know that's up for your —

Anthony Godfrey:
Here I'm gonna use my phone to get a little bit closer.

Anthony Godfrey:
We could also put them under the microscope.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Oh yeah that is very cute.

Sophie Burdette:
Paco. That's Paco. Everyone is Paco. Every baby's name is Paco.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where did that come from?

Sophie Burdette:
Two minutes ago when I made it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Sophie Burdette:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you went with what felt right?

Kamelalila Lilo:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I get Shaquille O'Sneil but why Brinley?

Kamelalila Lilo:
We weren't the ones to name her. So she kind of just came in.

Anthony Godfrey:
She was Brinley. The name chose her. You didn't choose the name. Okay fair enough.

Sophie Burdette:
We had a shell like Presley. Unfortunately he passed away pretty early on.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's unfortunate. You know big stars sometimes shine bright and then burn out. I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time. Tell me what that means.

Chase Barlow:
Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot. Like we have a lot of activity going on in there. But the ammonia levels are probably way too high to be healthy. And if you just look at it it's not a very clear water. It's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you think the snails feel about their environment this morning right now? If I could understand snail thinking.

Clark Fowler:
Well really putting myself in the snail's shoes, I'd say, “Like dude, it's way too like crowded in here, you know. Maybe we should get some more room.” And maybe give them some more algae too because they look a little, they look a little pale and a little stark.

Anthony Godfrey:
I would guess though that they appreciate your efforts to this point to make sure that their life is not only enjoyable but meaningful as well.

Clark Fowler:
I would have to concur.

Anthony Godfrey:
There is a lot of meaning to it. On that note what exactly have you learned from this? About science, about snails, about the world and about each other.

Clark Fowler:
Well first of all I think it's really cool that our teacher was willing to let us do this and kind of find out all about habitats on our own, because our tank was doing really poorly. We had a snail die and then we had super high levels of ammonia which is what happens when something dies. So we said we can fix this and so we added a bunch of other elements. We added micro crustaceans. We added the new snail. And we saw the change that came from it. So I just think it's cool that we got to see that first-hand and do it ourselves.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you apply some scientific knowledge of your own with some help and you're able to make their world at least a better place. And maybe that can apply more broadly. How about for you two? What did you learn from this?

Kamelalila Lilo:
I think it's really brought us four together. It's been very fun being co-parents in a very four way over these hundreds of little critters.

Anthony Godfrey:
Co-parents? I have not heard that term before.

Sophie Burdette:
Strangers to co-parents right away. It was beautiful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Strangers to co-parents. The environmental science story. So tell me what happens next with these creatures?

Kamelalila Lilo:
For most people in our class, we're going to put them into a communal kind of tank. But I think since our tank has been doing so well on its own and I think every part of this tank is really working together to create a really thriving biome. We're just going to keep them in this tank and see how they do.

Sophie Burdette:
We also have baby snails that are very sensitive to outside forces. So switching tanks is just a really risky move. So we think we're going to keep them in here. We're probably going to donate some micro crustations to the public tank. But other than that they're just going to stay in their little home.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well I can see that you want the best for all of these creatures, and luckily you have some scientific knowledge to help you create that. Now I see that you have something mounted on the microscope over there. Can we take a look and see what's going on over there?

Clark Fowler:
So that is a it's a pregnant micro crustation. So this is like when they reproduce like this is what they look for for a little bit. So when you look in there you're going to be able to see the micro custation and then you see all the little eggs inside of it because it's a transparent.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So the micro crustation with really micro crustations inside of it. Okay. Let's take a look. Oh wow. That is really something. It is moving, and it has five little babies. That is kind of cute. Wow. That is really something. And wow. I'm really quite stunned by that. What is all the activity? They're just sitting there moving along. We are not — the babies are not in peril right now because of the petri dish, right?

Clark Fowler:
I think we just fed him too much coffee.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me what are some of the conclusions that you have drawn from this experiment.

Kamelalila Lilo:
So our first hypothesis was asking of how micro crustations a lot of them if they're added if they affect the dissolved oxygen because after our first nail had passed away, we had a really big issue with dissolved oxygen and really low levels. So we found out that once we added all of these micro crustations, our dissolved oxygen levels went back up to a very comfortable and healthy level.

Sophie Burdette:
We were watching our tank and it was on the brink of death. And then we added some micro crustations and it came back to life which was really fun.

Kamelalila Lilo:
That's yeah we realize that as more organisms are in the environment the more it survives and thrives because without even the little critters like the micro crustations which could be overlooked an ecosystem really can't live and survive without them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are there some broader life lessons that you draw from this?

Sophie Burdette:
I guess we can really think back to the people in society or organisms in an ecosystem that really make up the functions of the ecosystem or society and really give thanks back to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Everyone has a role to play maybe.

Sophie Burdette:
Exactly.

Clark Fowler:
As we're learning this stuff, yeah it's a smaller scale and in a tank, but as we're learning these factors and learning the effects of them we can take it growing up in our world today and really understand how to make things better for our world and all parts of our world just like how this tank has parts of it. All parts of our world we can benefit from just learning this stuff at a young age. So I'm grateful for this class personally.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what this class is like. It seems very engaging to me to be in Ms. Craig's class.

Clark Fowler:
I think it's pretty cool. Ms. Craig is really really good at the hands-on stuff. Whenever we're in this class we're always doing something, learning something with our hands with experience which is really helpful for me to help me learn it, understand it better and have it stick with me which is going to be good because we have to take an AP test in May and so we're going to need to remember as much as we can.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've had the urgency of the impending AP test and the urgency of keeping all these microorganisms alive that have kept you engaged and going and energized.

Clark Fowler:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about for you two, what has this class been like for you in being in Ms. Craig's class?

Kamelalila Lilo:
I think most of all Ms. Craig has really taught me how to love learning and love science especially because before this I got her back in 9th grade as well. Before this I didn't really like science because you sit down and you learn all these mathematical equations and you just learn and learn and learn. But to be able to do something hands-on really teaches me that as long as you put effort in even at like 7.30 in the morning, you can still love these things. And I've come to like really love science because of her. So yeah, I'm just like really grateful for this class like teaching me a new passion.

Sophie Burdette:
I mean everyone else pretty much said but the hands-on experience this is like the funnest math science class I've ever taken. And applying it to the real world which is pretty much all the environmental science is about. It's taking environmental issues and aspects and applying them to the real world and seeing how we can fix them. I think that's a really cool fact about the class and Ms. Craig is amazing. She's always walking around the room, and I can never find her because she's always looks like one of the students because she's the same height. But she's always around talking, and she's right there talking to people about their snails, helping people out. But yeah she's amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well thank you very much. I like your chances on the AP test. Good luck with the rest of the year, and thanks for introducing me to Brinley and Shaquille O’Snail. I'm sorry I never got to meet Shelvis Presley. 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. Bye bye.