Supercast

Jackie Webster:
The girl handed me my drink. She said, "Wait, aren't you the thriller teacher of Foothills?" I mean, that was like forever ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Before we get into the history, can you just tell me what this is and what we can look forward to?

Jackie Webster:
When the parents come, it's not just a minute and a half. It's a five-and-a-half-minute dance. So they dance for the whole thing and they dress up like zombies. It's something that they look forward to every year.

[Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. For some former students, she will be forever known as the "Thriller Teacher" at Eastlake Elementary School.

On this episode of the Supercast, meet Jackie Webster, a visual arts specialist who began a long and lasting Halloween tradition of sixth-grade students performing "Thriller" to the delight of parents, other students, and staff at Eastlake. It's a tradition now being carried on by a new teacher, but Ms. Webster continues to show up for the spooky and spectacular performance.

[Music]

We are here at Eastlake Elementary School to talk about what happens at Halloween. Introduce yourselves and then let's get into it.

Jackie Webster:
I'm Jacqueline Webster 

Ciara Brady:
And I'm Ciara Brady.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me your roles.

Jackie Webster:
Right now I'm the BTS Art Instructional Coach for Jordan District, so I go to all the elementary schools. So I get to coach all the elementary arts teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're the new dance instructor here.

Ciara Brady:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Before we get into the history, can you just tell me what this is and what we can look forward to?

Jackie Webster:
Okay, so the Thriller Dance is with the sixth-grade students here at Eastlake. It gives them an opportunity to have something different to participate in and a different experience. And it's something that they've looked forward to every year. The original dance is only actually like a minute and a half in the actual video. So over the years, I've added choreography. I've changed it so that when the parents come it's not just a minute and a half. It's a five-and-a-half-minute dance. So they dance for the whole thing and they dress up like zombies. And then we we’re Michael.

Anthony Godfrey:
So each of you play the role of Michael?

Jackie Webster:
Yeah, I've always been Michael.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hence the red leather jacket with the MJ on it.

Jackie Webster:
This is official from the MJ store.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is it really?

Jackie Webster:
It really is.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long have you had this jacket?

Jackie Webster:
Oh, well, a long time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Because it looks vintage. It looks real.

Jackie Webster:
It is vintage.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is awesome. I look forward to learning some moves with you guys.

Jackie Webster:
Oh, I love that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Before I have a trivia question now. What is it that no known mortal can resist?

Jackie Webster:
The evil of thriller.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, the evil of the thriller. Oh, it just gives me goosebumps to hear that. You've got the Michael Jackson t-shirt.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you accumulated a lot of Michael Jackson stuff over the years?

Jackie Webster:
Oh, you have no idea. You have no idea. A lot, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how many times have you watched the video?

Jackie Webster:
I can't even count. I don't even know. I started when I was little.

Anthony Godfrey:
You wore out the VHS tape.

Jackie Webster:
Yes, actually, I did watch the original VHS and we have the original thriller album.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jackie Webster:
My sisters have it from the 80s. I have three older sisters. So just, you know, we grew up listening to Michael and my cousin was actually friends with him. So he was just kind of a big thing in our family.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, wait a second. Back that up.

Jackie Webster:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have older sisters.

Jackie Webster:
I have three older sisters and my cousin was friends with Michael.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Jackie Webster:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me more about that.

Jackie Webster:
She has pictures with him, with her and her kids. She was a huge fan. She lived in Encino, California, and she sent him an Arabian colt because, you know, he loved animals.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Jackie Webster:
And so he wrote her and because she wrote a letter to go with it and he was like, “Well, what do you want in return?” She's like “nothing.” And he's like, “well, someone always wants something in return.” So he invited her and her kids, sent a car, went to his house, and took them on a tour and they just became friends after that.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's amazing.

Jackie Webster:
She has a whole chest of things from Michael.

Anthony Godfrey:
And was that what started your interest in Thriller?

Jackie Webster:
Yeah. That and my family listening, obviously, to his music. But yeah, just hearing her stories and then her kids, you know, had stories about hanging out with them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very cool. So as a kid, you loved Thriller. Did it ever scare you?

Jackie Webster:
No. I just thought it was really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jackie Webster:
But when I've taught Thriller, I've always told the students to ask their parents permission to watch it at home, you know, because it can be scary. I never showed it because, you know, without permission, obviously. So they would have to go home and watch it with their parents.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you are new to the Thriller.

Ciara Brady:
Yes. I just did this for my first time last year.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how was that?

Ciara Brady:
It was good. I mean, I got hired for this job and then I found out that this was going on nine years tradition at the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you feel like they should have said it in the interview? Like, “Are you familiar with Thriller? Can you recite the lyrics and are you ready to be part of this?”

Ciara Brady:
That would have been pretty funny. “What is happening? What is this job?”

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Was everything red and black in the room?

Ciara Brady:
And you know, I actually had no idea till I'd already been hired.

So then I found out that the kids look forward since kinder her into the day that they get to be in sixth grade and thriller. And I was like, “Well, I'm not going to be the teacher that kills this tradition.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. That's right.

Ciara Brady:
I kept it going.

Anthony Godfrey:
See, you've shown good judgment already in year one. That's awesome.

Ciara Brady:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, both of you, what is it that students get out of participating as a sixth grader? First of all, it's really fun to look forward to it for five years. Look up to those sixth graders and that cool thing that they get to do. But tell me, what do they get out of the experience of preparing for and performing in the Thriller dance?

Ciara Brady:
I think the first thing they get is it's a really good confidence booster for them. It’s especially really nice to see the kids that are a little more quiet or shy. All of a sudden, they're the most dramatic and zombie of everyone in the group. And they're twitching and doing these big moves. And it's like, “oh, wow, I didn't know that you were very capable of doing that.” But it's really awesome. And then I feel like for the rest of the year, they feel more confident in just regular dance class that I teach. It was like that early on boost to their self-esteem.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's super engaging. You can't drift and not pay attention when you're trying to learn a dance and you're part of an ensemble and everybody is counting on you.

Ciara Brady:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that about the arts in particular. I never knew how to play this instrument. I never knew I could dance. I never knew this song or routine or that I could create this work of art. And then you stretch someone and they say, “Hey, wait a minute. I can do things I didn't know I could do. And I'm pretty good at it.”

Jackie Webster:
And I feel like it's a bonding experience, too, for them. They learn teamwork and having sequencing and placement and where they're supposed to be. I've had many stories over the years of kids who've remembered. I was actually telling him some of the stories beforehand.

One story is there was a kid who got married recently and he found me on Facebook. And he's married. I had him in third grade at Foothills. And he said, “I just heard something that I need to clarify with you. Were you really Michael Jackson's backup dancer?” I was like, “What? No!” And he's like, “Well, that was a rumor going around, like ever since I was in third grade.” And so even to this day, he thought I was.

Anthony Godfrey:
He thought you were Michael Jackson's backup dancer.

Jackie Webster:
But I was like, no, that was a rumor. But thanks for thinking of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So you really do teach the dance very well, obviously. When you describe the twitching and the moving around, I can't help but visualize the video. How much do you emulate the video and how much did you add? Because you told us that you expand it.

Jackie Webster:
I did. I expanded it.

Anthony Godfrey:
But for that minute and a half, do you recreate the original also?

Jackie Webster:
Yes. I took pieces from the original. There was like one or two moves that I knew would be hard for third graders because back in the day. And so I tweaked it and I ended up typing up all my dance steps. Like six pages. But I added my own choreography and then tweaked it a little bit so that it would last the whole length of the song. Five and a half minutes. I do need to put a plug in. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jackie Webster:
For the Beverly Taylor-Sorensen Arts Learning Program.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's fantastic. It is fantastic. Let's talk about that.

Jackie Webster:
Because Ciara is a BTS dance teacher and I was a visual art BTS teacher and I'm the BTS coach. And I love that our district particularly has a BTS teacher in every elementary school. That's not common in every district. And I just want to thank you for supporting the arts because it makes a big difference.

Anthony Godfrey:
It does make a big difference in the lives of students. And we have tremendous art teachers. Whether it's visual arts or dance or music. Whatever it is. Drama. It enriches the day for students. Like you said it builds confidence. That creativity is really important. And our teachers have brought such value to it. We just couldn't imagine doing without a teacher in every school. Well, thank you for supporting teachers. Thank you for choosing to be a teacher. And thank you for creating this incredible experience for students.

Don't go away. When we come back hear students performing to perfection in this year's Halloween production of Thriller.

[music]

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.

Break:
In Jordan School District we never want a student to go hungry, without food, warm clothing, or school supplies.

Hi, I'm Mike Haynes, director of the Jordan Education Foundation. If you're looking for opportunities to help students and teachers in our schools, we invite you to join us. The Jordan Education Foundation works with generous community partners, volunteer groups, and amazing people to provide classroom grants for teachers, food and clothing to fill Principal's Pantries for students. And together we recognize outstanding educators in every single school every year. If you want to connect with an amazing community helping to fuel success in Jordan School District, get involved or donate by visiting our website at jordaneducationfoundation.org. That's jordaneducationfoundation.org. We hope to hear from you soon!

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with two of the students who participate in the Thriller dance. Tell me your name and what you love most about being part of this.

Maxx:
Okay, my name is Maxx and I just, I love dancing. This is really fun and a good opportunity for me to show my dance moves.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you enjoyed dancing for a long time?

Maxx:
Yes, I have. I liked dancing when I was a little kid.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah? And have you been taking any dance lessons or classes or is this your first opportunity to really show what you're made of?

Maxx:
This is my first opportunity to show what I'm made of.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me your name.

Marriem:
My name is Marriem and I like to just be part of a group project.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you like being part of the group? You're making friends connected with each other?

Marriem:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So have you danced for a long time or is this your first dancing opportunity?

Marriem:
I used to be in ballet class but I didn't really like it that much, but I'm starting to like it again, so kind of.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you show me any moves from the dance? Oh wow. So where you get down kind of knees bent and you're rotating and using different pivot foots. That really did make me think about the video. I am going to be listening to Thriller in the car.

Oh, wait a minute. I just heard clapping behind the curtain. Is it haunted or is everyone rehearsing back there?

Maxx:
They're rehearsing their formation claps.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you guys for talking to me and I'm really excited about this year's performance. I have a feeling it's not going to feel like Halloween unless I get to see the Thriller dance. So thank you very much.

Oh wow. No one's doing the dance halfway that's for sure. Oh, the marching. It is all coming back to me now.

It looks like you have some photos from over the years here. Let's take a look. And you said you started doing it with third graders at Foothills when you taught third grade.

Jackie Webster:
Yeah, so I actually found one of my pictures.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Jackie Webster:
That was just me and my class. It’s just so cute.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's adorable. They look very excited to be so scary.

Jackie Webster:
I know so that was back in the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Cutest zombies ever.

Jackie Webster:
And I have– so this is the last picture I took. This was in 2000. 

Anthony Godfrey:
You have thriller earrings that say “Thriller”.

Jackie Webster:
I know and I even painted my nose to match.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Jackie Webster:
I do have to pay tribute to Barbara Yost because when I first did Thriller it was just me and my sister and her friend. We performed it. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jackie Webster:
Just for my class. And she said, “Next year why don't you teach some of it to the kids?” And I'm like “Yeah, I would like to.” And she was like “I'm OK with that.” I'm like “Well, if you're OK with that I'm OK with it.” So she helped encourage me to do that. So shout out to her.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s really exciting. That's really cool that she'd embrace it and just jump in.

Jackie Webster:
So this is them dressed up. These are my third graders. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Look at them. That is so cool. Oh yeah. With the face being eaten through.

Jackie Webster:
And I always told parents and the kids they never had to buy a costume. It wasn't like you had to go buy, it was just be creative. Do your own makeup. Ratty hair. Find an old t-shirt and rip it up. So they all just created their own costumes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh cool. 

Jackie Webster:
They never went and bought their own. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Jackie Webster:
And then I ended up combining it with – because we had tracks at the time we were year-round.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're right. 

Jackie Webster:
So it was my class and the other track teacher. So we didn't leave any of those out of course. So the last year I was here. This was in 2022. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Those are some great costumes. 

Jackie Webster:
Yeah, they're makeup 

Anthony Godfrey:
Or makeup rather. 

Jackie Webster:
Yeah, and their costumes. They made them up. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Jackie Webster:
Then we have some that pretend to be zombies and not alive.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. Zombies that come alive while they’re dancing.

Jackie Webster:
Yes, they have to. It's a must.

Ciara Brady:
They all want to be those kids. 

Jackie Webster:
This is one of my students. Look how good!

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. Yeah. That is such a great work. 

Jackie Webster:
The parents are amazing. The parents helped. I mean they helped a ton with the makeup obviously. I went to Swig last summer and a girl handed me my drink. She said, “Wait, aren't you the thriller teacher from Foothills?” I mean that was like forever ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. 

Jackie Webster:
She’s in high school. And I was like “Yeah” I mean it's just cute. I'm glad I'm well known. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It's a part of your identity. You'll never shake it. 

Jackie Webster:
I know. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you show me some of the moves? Now you showed me a little bit. So there's a little bit. I remember that they kind of go like this and then they walk in the direction. So it's elbow- so you walk and then you do the left right left with the claw. 

All:
One, two, three. Left, right, left. One, two. Left, right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, clearly I haven't been practicing one day a week since August. Yeah.

Jackie Webster:
That's the classic one. 

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Congratulations on a great project over the years and on taking up the torch even though you didn't know you were going to have to do that. Embracing it fully and creating this great experience. 

Jackie Webster:
She's done an awesome job and I'm grateful that she's taken on the job so that could continue for the community.

Ciara Brady:
Thank you.

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

(upbeat music)

Beckham:
With the Juniper tree, we want it to grow and become strong. So with the students and adults here, we want them to grow their minds and become strong too.

Victoria:
I think that Juniper Elementary should be a place that we can feel safe at and not be judged.

Caitlin:
The students are the roots and love is the water in the watering can. We can come together to make a beautiful tree.

Shem:
The teachers are the branches of Juniper.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Juniper Elementary students are hoping new traditions of kindness and caring take root at their brand new school. They recently planted a new tree outside to represent their hopes and dreams.

On this episode of the Supercast, we join Juniper students, staff and parents for a tree planting ceremony. It was the planting of not just any tree but a juniper, a type of tree best known for its strength and ability to grow almost anywhere in any conditions.

We're out in front of Juniper Elementary as students head to their buses, their rides home and it's an exciting time. The school year has just started and we're here with Principal Kaleb Yates. How are things going so far with one month down?

Kaleb Yates:
It's going great really. We have great students, good teachers, and today's our PTA carnival so we've got a lot of great parents that want to help out.

Anthony Godfrey:
I did see the huge inflatable saber-toothed tiger and thought something is afoot, something's happening. Tell us for those who are not familiar what the unique design is here at Juniper Elementary.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, the thing that is unique about our school is we're 4th, 5th, and 6th grade and we share the same boundary with Ridge View Elementary. It's unique that we have the older students here and it's unique that we share families and are still trying to keep our community together and provide what we can for our families. Give them a good experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's unique for us not only to have a school that has grades 4, 5, and 6 only but also to have a growing population at one of our elementaries and simply decide we're going to keep that same boundary just to add another school into the mix so that we can manage the numbers. You know you talk about keeping the community together, yes that means that now students are at elementary 1, elementary 2, middle school, and then high school but it also means the boundary is the same so you're not saying goodbye to friends in the same way that you might have to if there were a boundary change.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, we have a shuttle service that goes back and forth between the two schools which has been great. It's been a good experience for kids to be able to meet up in one spot. Parents don't have to shuffle over to find their kids. So that's been good.

Then the other nice thing is that we've been able to, we've had a lot of concerns that happened prior to the school being finished and parents have been happy. We've had a lot of positive comments about how things are running and we're only dealing with about 540 kids here instead of 1300 kids is what it used to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right, 1300 at one elementary school. I think we decided that was maybe a 4A high school, maybe a 5A. I know things are just barely underway but what are some of the things that you think you're going to be able to do to offer to students to accomplish that might have been more difficult with all seven grades in the same school?

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, a lot. So this year we're trying out one-to-one iPads with all of our students which is, the young kids are definitely capable. They can use cell phones better than most of us can but with the upper grades, the responsibility of taking care of an iPad, we can set expectations and they can try new things with STEM, with art. We've been using them for a lot of the Wit and Wisdom curriculum to be able to access art. We're still putting a lot of pieces together but one example is the iPads. We can have the kids use their iPads and they take them from different classes with them and so far it's been working out really well.

Anthony Godfrey:
How does the school feel different having fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students only?

Kaleb Yates:
Transitions are a lot faster for sure because we're dealing with a bigger body so they get from outside to inside and from class to class a lot faster. We don't have kids getting lost like kindergarteners and that kind of stuff in the building.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're not teaching kids how to be in school. They've all been in school. They all have a sense for what's expected.

Kaleb Yates:
And this is a great age group. They love their teachers and want to do the best they can for their teachers and so they're working really hard and getting used to the new building and the floor plan but things are working out really well.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's not a full middle school but it does have very much of a middle school feel to it. There are a few things that if it were ever to be converted in the future, and that was the Board's idea. Rather than build less than a mile away, less than half a mile away, build a second elementary, let's build a school that might have some versatility in the future and could be adapted in the distant future, I'll clarify. So some things need to be added but essentially it's a middle school.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, a middle school floor plan.

Anthony Godfrey:
Big halls, more offices and very generous sized classrooms, a big stage. Tell us about how that feels in comparison.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, if you ever get a chance to come by and see the building, we have a lot of big windows and big hallways so that the kids can transition quickly. Our classrooms have the TVs in them instead of projectors which have been a great asset for instruction for our teachers. And then the cafeteria, the gym, it's traditional as far as elementary school, we still have half of it as the gym and half of it is the cafeteria, but if they were ever to expand it there's room on the property to add full-size gym and full-size auditorium and plenty of parking. There's no shortage of parking.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it is nice to have lots of parking, especially on a PTA night like this one. When I was here the first day of school I had toured it over the summer, it's really a beautiful building on top of all that.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, they've done a phenomenal job. We have the different colored hallways that match each of the grades and the architecture in there you can see for visibility and from a principal's perspective you can see into all the classrooms and all the big spaces and for supervision and also I get a lot of waves through the windows and stuff so it's been fun for me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do the kids feel a little bit of a bigger deal now that they're separated from the younger kids?

Kaleb Yates:
They for sure do because it's just a bigger building and so coming from Ridge View with that traditional elementary school for a plan of coming here it definitely feels more like a middle school and they’re feeling fancy for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's good, that's what we want, that's what we want. And the third graders now at Ridge View get to be top of the heap where it was sixth graders. Now there's one more opportunity to feel like you're in charge of the school.

Kaleb Yates:
And they can really focus on the early literacy piece where over here, we can focus on reading to learn and not learning to read. We're excited about the new curriculum and getting the kids going on it so it's been good.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell us about the ceremony today, we're here with a big hole in the ground, and dare I say that this might just be a Juniper tree that's going to be planted.

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, we have a couple of Juniper trees here. I asked the construction company if we could since we were named Juniper Elementary I figured we should have some Juniper trees on the property. To make it involve the students more we had them write essays about what they want the culture of our building to be. We had about 80 students- it was an optional thing. We didn't want to require it over the summer but it was an optional thing. We had about 80 students submit essays. We read through them and they had some phenomenal things to say. A lot of things about kindness, and supporting one another, and getting rid of bullying. They did some great metaphors with what the Juniper tree represents and how that parallels to us here at the school. We'll be able to hear them read some of their parts here in a moment but it was inspiring to read what the kids want. It's a lot of the same things that we as the adults want in the building.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the approach of starting off with asking the students, what do you want it to feel like to be at Juniper Elementary?

Kaleb Yates:
Yeah, they want the same things we want. Kindness,a welcoming environment, and a place where they can thrive and learn new things. That's what we want as well so we're on the same page.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's wonderful, that is wonderful. We look forward to hearing those speeches and look forward to a great year and many years to come here at Juniper.

Kaleb Yates:
Agreed. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with the students of Juniper Elementary School.

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.

Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram@jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.

Kaleb Yates:
So thank you for coming out and these are our essay winners so if you guys can give them a hand real quick. [applause]

I think all of you are aware of what the contest was, but these four winners– we had a lot of great essays that were submitted. These four seemed to capture what we want as a school and so they're going to take a minute and just read just a brief part of each of their essays. So, if you guys can listen closely this is what we want for our school and then we'll go ahead and plant the trees.

Victoria:
My name is Victoria and in my opinion, I think that Juniper Elementary should be a place that we can feel safe at and not be judged for how we look and act. We should not pull the tree's branches but we should also not pull hair. We should not poke the tree but we should also not poke each other's feelings. We should also not touch the tree, we should just admire it and with the students, we should not touch people and or make them feel ashamed of how they look or act. And finally, in my opinion, Juniper should and shall be the perfect place for people to share their feelings. People should not be treated harmfully in any way.

Beckham:
My name is Beckham Peña and this is the kind of school I would like for Juniper Elementary. We should show kindness instead of being rude or mean. “Why?” some might say. Well, being rude puts others down and hurts them, but when we show kindness and respect to others we uplift them and they will feel more confident in themselves. With the Juniper tree, we want it to grow and become strong. So with the students and adults here, we want them to grow their minds and become strong too. This is the school I’d like Juniper to be.

Shem:
My name is Shem and the students are like the leaves of Juniper. The teachers are the branches of Juniper. The vice principal is the trunk of Juniper. The principal is the roots of Juniper.

Caitlin:
I'm Caitlin and I think that Principal Yates and the staff members are the dirt. The students are the roots and love is the water in the watering can. We come together to make a beautiful tree.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now we're talking with the four students who are part of the program who won the essay contest and got to plant the Juniper trees out front. Hopefully, you'll be able to drive by for many years to come and say I planted that tree over there as it gets bigger and bigger. Tell me your name, your grade and what you love about being at Juniper Elementary.

Caitlin:
I'm Caitlin Rawlings and I'm in fifth grade. I like being at Juniper Elementary because there's a lot of windows.

Anthony Godfrey:
A lot of windows, yes. They designed it with a lot of natural light. There are even windows out into the hallway from your classrooms. Does that feel better to learn when you can see some sunshine?

Caitlin:
Yes.

Shem:
My name is Shem Leavitt and I am nine years old, I mean ten years old.

Anthony Godfrey:
Time goes quickly, doesn't it?

Shem:
What I like about this school is that it has tons of cool teachers and a cool principal that lets us get to do really fun stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
We really worked hard to get you a cool principal that would then get you really cool teachers. I met with them a couple of times and I know that's true. You have some great teachers here.

Victoria:
My name is Victoria and I'm in sixth grade and I like Juniper because it makes me feel welcome and appreciated.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's wonderful. Where did you come from? Were you at Ridge View before?

Victoria:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And did you feel like things feel welcoming and people are glad you're here?

Victoria:
Yes.

Beckham:
I'm Beckham Peña, I'm in sixth grade and I'm eleven years old. My favorite thing about Juniper here is that everyone is super nice and I just love it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Lots of great people here. Tell me how does this feel different from being at a school that's kindergarten through sixth grade?

Shem:
Like there's more older people and like there's like no portables and like it feels different because like it's just like one school. There's no portables like outside in there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's space for everybody. There are a lot of portables where there were over at Ridge View more than we've had in a long time in one of the schools. Your essays are a big part of setting the tone for the school and making sure that this is a really welcoming place. So thank you for being awesome students and great writers and great planters. You didn't even know that you could do that either.

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.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
I compare that to maybe one of the largest terrorist attacks that we've seen in our country and it was basically able to be carried out through our own fear.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's say a parent sees this on social media, a student sees this on social media. What is the appropriate action if they see either a very specific threat or a vague threat that feels like it could be targeted at their school?

[Music]

Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes of the Utah Department of Public Safety. He'll talk with us about threats that turn out to be a hoax, the impact they have on schools, and what we can do to properly report them and make sure that they don't create unnecessary panic. He'll also talk about why it's important to take every threat seriously.

[Music]

We're pleased to have Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes with us today to talk about school safety, introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about your current position.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Okay, so thank you for the introduction. I'm Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes with the Utah Department of Public Safety with the newly created Division of State Security. In my current role, I oversee, I work directly for the State Security Chief who was created under House Bill 61 in 2023. I work directly for him and we oversee a regional team of eight individuals.
The state has been broken up into eight regions with multiple districts throughout each one of those regions to help facilitate the big lift of House Bill 84 from this legislative session which includes the safety assessments and the guardian program and things like that. 

Anthony Godfrey:
We definitely want to get into the details of that. Let's start with talking a little bit about the hoaxes that we've heard about over the, probably the last year is really where they've accelerated. Talk to us a little bit about how that information comes to you and what you want parents to know about hoaxes when they're announced, when they come out.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
So if I could think back, so as part of my role, I have been the school safety liaison with the Utah State Board of Education School Safety Center since 2020. That is a multidisciplinary team composed of individuals from the Utah State Board of Education, Division of Substance Use and Mental Health, or Office of Substance Use and Mental Health now, and the SAFE-UT as well as the Department of Public Safety. So we work collaboratively on all things school safety. The reason I give that background, in 20, I believe it was December of 2021, the first big hoax came in and if you recall there was a TikTok, there were TikTok trends going on in the fall. It started with the devious licks and then the smack your teacher and the various things that came out was monthly challenges. In December of that year, we received information right before school was getting out for the holiday break that there was a school shooting trend. If my recollection serves, the whole point was to give a hoax of a school shooting and shut your school down. 

Throughout the nation, we were tracking it through SAFE-UT and the Statewide Information and Analysis Center which is our state's intelligence and fusion center through the Utah Department of Public Safety. We had been tracking it and trying to get the messaging out to local education agencies but during that time there was so much panic throughout the nation that was caused. Nobody felt safe sending their kids to school that day. They were concerned that there was going to be a targeted attack and so nobody felt safe sending their kids to school and they decided to hold them back from school that day. 

As I have had talks with different individuals, I compare that to maybe one of the largest terrorist attacks that we've seen in our country and it was silent. It was basically able to be carried out through our own fear because it was our fear that messaging that got out, that panic and anxiety that was created because of this situation that we knew was false. We knew it was a hoax. The panic and anxiety created such a huge traumatic experience, traumatic reaction for some that it shut down the education system throughout the nation.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like the way you describe that. It really is silent but powerful in the impact that it has on families as they make decisions about sending their students to school. But the word hoax, when we put out a message that says this is a hoax, is there cause for alarm once it's been determined to be a hoax by the public safety organizations that we work with? 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Well each, you know, it's a very delicate topic when we're talking about that. And the reason I say that is yes, we may determine that it's a hoax. We may be tracking these hoaxes that are occurring throughout the nation, whether it be bomb threats, whether it be phone calls, whether it be email hoaxes. We may be tracking them and getting the information out to local education agencies. But until it happens, it hasn't happened. And so again we have the information that it's a hoax, however when it does happen we advise local education agencies, school districts, and schools themselves to remain vigilant. Adhere to your local policies and procedures. What are the practices that go into play? Still be vigilant, still be on guard, respond appropriately. But you have the ability to determine whether or not this is an actual or if it's a hoax.

When, for example, we got hit with the hoax in December of 2021 and then fast forward to March of 2023, just after the legislative session that it occurred for House Bill 61, throughout the state we received phone calls from the same individual. And it was the individual indicated that they were hiding in a bathroom and that there was an active shooter taking place. And as soon as there were 10 schools, I believe it was if I recall correctly it was 10 schools that were hit throughout the state, one school was hit twice. 

Anthony Godfrey:
With a threat.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
With an indicated an active shooting is happening right now. Some schools responded, I shouldn't say more appropriately than others because each of them responded within their available resources and how their policy is allowed. But there were some schools that were able to track, directly tie into the camera system into dispatch. And so they were able to track throughout the school to see, yeah nothing's happening here. They were able to tie in directly with their school resource officers and the school resource officers going through saying there's nothing here. And by the time that the information got to SIAC, we were about 45 minutes behind, 45 minutes to an hour behind on getting that information. So we really relied upon those local areas to adhere to their policies and procedures to figure out the legitimacy of what was going on. 

Once we determined that it was in fact a hoax, we were able to get that information of, okay, challenge the caller, where are they? They say they're in the bathroom, what bathroom, what floor? For example, if they say the third-floor bathroom and there's not a third floor to the school, we know it's a hoax. Have dispatchers ask certain questions that would indicate whether or not this individual was being truthful. What we found in that situation is when the dispatch was having that information or when the individual on the call with the call caller was asking these follow-up questions, the individual wasn't able to respond and they hung up. So that's some of the things to look for with these hoaxes. 

In December of 2023, we also got hit with email hoaxes throughout the state. And these email hoaxes for whatever reason, they were really targeting charter schools on this one. The other one that happened in March was kind of more of a public and then the one in December with the email hoaxes were kind of more targeted to the charter schools. There were a lot of charter schools. We were following it at SIAC for a couple of days prior to the event. 

Anthony Godfrey:
SIAC?

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
The Statewide Information and Analysis Center, which is the state's intelligence division through the Utah Department of Public Safety. So we were tracking it in local and surrounding states, getting it out to local law enforcement saying, "Hey, heads up, this might be coming." And then it happened, and it happened fast. But the things about the emails were, we determined it was a hoax, but the things about the emails were it was very nondescript. It was bomb hoaxes. Where were the bombs being placed? It was very nondescript of where in a garbage can in a bathroom, something like that. Looking at the email address, it obviously didn't look to be appropriate. 

All of the hoaxes can be, there's certain indicators that it could be a hoax. Like I say, unknown with the area, if it's just a very vague general knowledge area, a bathroom or a trash can or left it in a nearby park. Very nondescript, could be easily copied and pasted and sent to anywhere. Another thing that we have seen is information that is shared over social media. Very vague. For example, we'll use BHS. In any state, in any locale, there's a BHS. No matter where you go, there is a BHS. 

Anthony Godfrey:
It's easy for your imagination to assume that it's your BHS that they're talking about. I want to talk a little bit about how parents and students ought to react when they do see something like that posted. We recently did have a BHS that was posted and assumed to be about local schools, various districts picked it up. In fact, it was from the Pacific Northwest, as I recall. 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
So it was a genuine threat, but for a different area that had made its way. So let's say a parent sees this on social media, a student sees this on social media. What is the appropriate action if they see either a very specific threat or a vague threat that feels like it could be targeted at their school or a school in the area? 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
You know, and that's, again, we talk about delicate situations and we want to reduce the fear and anxiety and the panic. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
When an individual, we'll use a hypothetical, student comes home from school and sees that something has been shared over Snapchat. We'll use BHS. That individual shows it to their parents. The knee-jerk reaction, and I think a large portion of society today, would be to screenshot that and share it with friends or share it on social media to see if anybody else has seen it. Does anybody else recognize this? Is anybody else receiving the same information? That is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. We should not be sharing that. 

If we screenshot it, screenshot it, and keep it and take it to local law enforcement or take it to school administrators, school safety and security specialists, school safety and security directors, the individuals who have the knowledge to be able to determine the legitimacy of this and help work through the investigation of a potential threat. We don't want to downplay it and say that it's probably somewhere else in the nation. We don't want to downplay it. We want to ensure that we can properly look into it, properly investigate it, and determine the legitimacy of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Take it seriously, but the way to take it seriously is not to repost. It's to take a screenshot and share it with the authorities.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Exactly, because once it's shared, then it goes into that viral potential. Once it's shared, it can go out to parents, it can go out to the community, it can go out to district leadership that wasn't even in the know that it was occurring and now the Board members are being upset and they're responding to constituents. The wildfire, if you want to use that analogy, can spread so quickly when this information is shared over social media. The important thing is to take the post or take some sort of documentation of it, take it to law enforcement, take it to school officials so they can be looking into it and look for the legitimacy of it.

The other thing that's really important is that our statewide information and analysis center is consistently receiving threats or information that could be potential threats throughout the nation. We follow things. The FBI gives information to SIAC. Social media gives information to SIAC. So there is a really good possibility that if there is a legitimate threat, SIAC may know about it. And so, SIAC can be contacted through a phone number on their website, but also through email at SIAC, SIAC@utah.gov, and they consistently monitor that inbox 24 hours a day, 7 days a week looking for threats. And they're able to take those threats once they receive it and they disseminate it to local law enforcement.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you take a screenshot of a threat or a perceived threat, SIAC@utah.gov, you send an email of that screenshot, you have reported that threat.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yes, and SIAC will begin looking into it and share that with local law enforcement.

Anthony Godfrey:
Perfect. 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Part of House Bill 84 is the reporting of substantial threats. And it really is, I will say that for the majority, the state has been doing what the bill asks of them, but putting it into code really builds the relationship. And so the reporting of substantial threats comes into effect where there's really a triangulation of efforts. If a threat comes into SIAC, that threat can come in from the FBI, it can come in from Safe UT, it can come in from social media. SIAC receives the threat. They immediately report it to local law enforcement and the school of which the threat is concerning. That completes that triangulation. 

The other requirement of the bill is that if the school receives the threat, they immediately have to report it to local law enforcement, who at some point is going to share it with SIAC as well. And then if local law enforcement receives it, they immediately have to notify the school of which the threat is associated. And then at some point it gets back to SIAC. That triangulation is completed to really foster better communication. So if things are happening throughout the state, trends, things like that, we can follow that and track that, but foster that better effective communication, that trickle down information effect, so that we can really respond to these threats more appropriately.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a really clear established channel for communication that was already there, but putting it into code, like you said, really solidified that. So when someone reports, they can feel confident that the school and state authorities are all going to be coordinating efforts right away to assess the credibility of the threat and what needs to happen as a result.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yes, and the system is not perfect. I will say the system is not perfect. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
There are hiccups that we have, and there are things that we are consistently working on from a state level to a local level to a district level of really trying to improve those channels of communication. But yes, there is, when operating at its best capabilities, there is that clear channel for the proper investigation and notification of these threats.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, the serious consequences for anyone who perpetuates a hoax threat.

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.

Break:
It's something all parents need to know in the event of emergency in one of our schools. Hi, I'm Matt Alvernaz, a former law enforcement officer and Army Ranger, now school safety coordinator for Jordan School District. We're talking about the Standard Response Protocol, or SRP. Knowing SRP will help to keep everyone safe and informed if there is an emergency in one of our schools or buildings. Standard Response Protocol provides consistent, clear, share language and actions for all students, staff, first responders, and parents. It is language that can be applied to any emergency situation. The SRP actions now used in all schools statewide are hold, secure, lock down, evacuate, and shelter. To educate yourself and your children on these actions, visit schoolsafety.jordansistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are the penalties for someone who makes a threat? Say a student posts something, posts a threat about their school, or perpetuates a threat from someone else? What are the consequences of perpetuating something like that? 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
There are significant consequences, especially with the hoax threats. There were, based upon the hoaxes that came about in 2023, Representative Wilcox ran additional language for a bill, and HB14 was enhanced penalties for hoaxes and threats against schools. Those are intentional and knowingly, and if they're intentional and knowingly, it's a second-degree felony.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you know that that's what you're doing, and you have the intent of creating fear or threatening a school, then those are severe consequences that somebody just posting on social media may not be thinking about in the moment. 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, are there any other tips that you have for parents when they see a threat, or if they have concerns about something that they're hearing through the media about possible danger in a school? 

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yes. I think one of the biggest things is to really ensure that the school has a proper relationship and a good relationship with SafeUT. SafeUT is one of our best resources that we have for reporting threats, and also for a crisis line. Anybody that's in crisis and just needs somebody to talk to. SafeUT is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they're immediately in touch with a clinical-level individual that can help through those moments of crises. But it's also our safe reporting application for the state. So ensuring that there is a good relationship with SafeUT between the district, the schools, and SafeUT is one of the best ways in ensuring that the parents have the notification of how to report things through SafeUT. 

Another is to have the parents be able to report things to local law enforcement, be able to have that open communication with the schools, understand that every school in the state, public and charter, is going to have a school safety and security specialist. Each LEA is going to have a school safety and security director. A lot of schools are going to have school resource officers. And knowing who those individuals are to help have the conversation about these areas of concern or these items of concern. 

Anthony Godfrey:
SafeUT, for those who may not have it, is an app that allows you to report anonymously. You can also share your name if you choose. It can be concerns about threats, about things that are happening at school, people who are in crisis can use SafeUT to get help as you described. We have a very clear protocol for following through on SafeUT as a district. We also have someone on call 24/7 to respond to what we hear from SafeUT. So they'll sometimes contact us to help address an issue as you know. So we do have a strong relationship there. We promote SafeUT and it's been a great tool to help make sure that we're hearing about the concerns out there and getting information from folks who may be aware of things that are happening at school that we need to address.

Is there a threshold that you can describe where parents or students need to make sure they're reporting something? Do you ever get too many reports about concerns? Or do they just if there's a concern, make sure you report it no matter what?

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Yeah, it goes back to the adage of, you know, I've always heard it from the Department of Homeland Security, ‘if you see something, say something.’ When I was on patrol, this was many years ago as a patrol officer, there would always be the individual that would call the police and say, I know I'm wasting your time. That was one statement that in my mind was, was kind of like, you don't need to say that. Because if it's a problem to you, it's a problem to me. If it is concerning to you as a citizen for the city that I work for, then it's a problem for me. And we're going to work through this and we're going to come up with a solution. 

So I think if going back to the adage of if you see, say something, say something, there is absolutely nothing wrong with reporting something that causes you concern. Like there's obviously something about the situation that stood out that made it outside the ordinary for you. So report it. And then let the professionals and let the individuals that have been trained to go through it and determine whether the legitimacy of it and determine the severity of it be the ones to figure it out. But there was something that caused alarm or something that caused, your antennae to stand up. Just to report it. There is, there's absolutely nothing that is going to come back on you negatively if it was something that you reported that ended up being nothing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about your background that led you to this position as lieutenant with the state.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
I, so law enforcement is kind of a unique profession and it used to be that law enforcement officers would stick with one agency, they'd remain with that agency. So I like to say that I was agency hopping before it was cool. I started my career in 2005 with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office as a correctional officer. And over time I worked for the Ogden City Police Department, Montana State University Police Department, found a home in Draper City where I was able to be a patrol officer, a DARE officer. I was the first school resource officer for the city and opened Corner Canyon High School. And then I reached a point in time in my career where I wanted to try something different. I went to the Department of Public Safety and investigated police misconduct at the Peace Officer Standards and Training Division, which we refer to as POST. And then in 2020, I took the position of school safety liaison.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a wide range of experience coming to this new position and we're grateful that you're there and helping support us in making our schools the safest place for kids to be.

Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Well, thank you.

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

[music]

Anthony Godfrey:
How has Latinos in Action impacted you over the years?

Darianna Faria:
Just how to be better leaders outside of high school and how to kind of really teach me what I want to be outside of high school as well.

Emilio Villena:
I got the opportunity to know what being Latino means here.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Latinos in Action helped me to find those tools that can I use to have a good future.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are students on a mission to empower Latino youth to be college and career ready through culture, service, leadership, and excellence in education.

On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Herriman High School to find out what Latinos in Action is doing to recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hear how they make a positive impact in the school and the broader community throughout the school year.

We are at Harriman High School today talking about Latinos in Action. Introduce yourself. You're the advisor and tell us a little bit about what's going on.

Emma Wilkinson:
Yeah, my name is Emma Wilkinson. I'm the advisor of Latinos in Action at Herriman High School. We have a lot going on this year. We probably have the strongest program that we've had up until this point this year. We have students who are focusing on tutoring. We have students who are focusing on leadership. We have a strong emphasis on college preparedness.

And so we have colleges who are coming to visit us and talk about different applications and scholarship information. So it's an exciting program. We're doing a lot of exciting things and it really empowers our Latino youth.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is an opportunity that isn't just available at Herriman High School. This is a statewide effort, even a national effort. So tell me how Herriman High School's club fits in with state and national organizations.

Emma Wilkinson:
Yeah, so yeah, Latinos in Action is a nationwide program. The number, the schools that have the most are in Utah and then Florida are the two high states. Latinos in Action started here in Utah. And so almost every high school has a program of Latinos in Action. Some are clubs, but like Herriman, where they're a little bit more established, we do have a class that kind of works as a class and a club at the same time. It's been a program that's been in development for over 20 years and we've seen it grow and it's exciting.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the class. What subjects are covered and what does that portion involve as opposed to the club portion of Latinos in Action?

Emma Wilkinson:
So the class is split into a really interesting format where the content that I go over with them is called Preparedness. How to fill out FAFSA, how to apply for scholarships. We spend a long time talking about professionalism, how to appear professional in different environments, how to interview well, and how to have a resume. So a lot of life skills.

We also talk a lot about leadership. How can you become the best leader you can be and then put it into practice? And then the other half of this class is we get into committees where in those committees we have different leadership positions and they plan events. They plan service activities. They have the opportunity to put leadership in action.

And then the other half of the class is we tutor. So we go to an elementary school once a week, starting in October, where we help different students learn how to read, how to do math, how to learn their alphabet, and different things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a lot of action in Latinos in Action, it sounds like.

Emma Wilkinson:
Very much so, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have three students here with you. Introduce yourselves and the office that you hold in Latinos in Action.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Okay, so my name is Eloisa Muñoz and I'm a Vice President in Citizen Action and I'm in charge of the service committee. Now we're selling crepes during the lunch and we're planning to help a lot with the fair that we're going to have in November.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the crepes are tomorrow, right?

Eloisa Muñoz:
The crepes are tomorrow, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And savory, sweet? I mean, I'm always thinking about lunch.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Yeah, they're very good. We have Franco's Churros that is helping us and they're very, very good.

Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds fantastic.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Yeah.

Darianna Faria:
My name is Darianna Faria. I'm the President for Latinos in Action. Kind of what I do is I kind of monitor a lot of the committees as well, professional, service and social. I kind of make sure that I'm communicating with any aspects of our class as well as other clubs and as well as other organizations outside of just L.A. I kind of make sure that we have different bonds as well. And I just kind of am like the mediator as well. I just kind of I don't know how else to put it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Internally you're making sure everything works and the people working together well. But you're also the president and ambassador to other clubs and the school at large. Making sure that you're connecting with all those other groups effectively. I love that you express it that way because sometimes it's easy to be focused on your own work and not how it connects to the work that others are doing. So I think that's great. Sure.

Emilio Villena:
So my name is Emilio Villena. I'm the Vice President too. I'm in charge of the Professional committee. Pretty much what we have been doing lately is just help the Service committee with the crepe selling. We are planning probably in two weeks having a taco truck here at Herriman. Bringing that taco truck here and just having the students like have a good time basically.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. I'm going to have to get the exact date and time of that event. Tell me– you're all seniors I assume. Is that right?

Emilio Villena:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So how has Latinos in Action impacted you over the years?

Eloisa Muñoz:
So Latinos in Action opened my mind completely because when I got here I thought they didn't have enough opportunities to have a future, like a good future, because I want to be a business lawyer. So when I got here I just didn't know many things and with Latinos in Action helped me to find those tools that can I use to have a good future.

So we go to the lot, for example, there's a company of taxes. That's really fun because we can do like networking and like have conversations with really good professionals. And Latinos in Action opened my mind completely to like to see that I have a future here.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the things you were hoping to do that you were worried you might not be able to do now feel within reach.

Eloisa Munoz:
Yeah. Now feel there I have like an opportunity to go for it. Just do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. I love hearing that. How about for you?

Darianna Faria:
So Latinos in Action– I grew up knowing about Latinos in Action. My older siblings and cousins were in Latinos in Action at Copper Hills actually. I kind of grew up being inspired of like how their leadership and the amount of activities that they did as well. And for me, it honestly created a safe space. Sometimes you feel like you don't belong with people who don't understand your same struggles. As well with people who like you know ‘I've been there, I've done that’, even like those little things where like we relate to like those Hispanic moms. Like references and stuff like that.

So we have those small connections as well as those safe spaces for everyone. For me that really created a safe space in leadership. There's things that like I have never like known before until I got to Latinos in Action. It really opened those doors for me as well. I didn't even have a resume until I joined Latinos in Action. I created a resume in Latinos in Action. I learned how to do interviews and stuff like that. I still use the same resume for jobs that I apply now as well.

It really helped me as well as like different leaders that would come and speak with us as well that would teach us how to be better leaders outside of high school and how to kind of really teach me what I want to be outside of high school as well because I was wanting to do sales and marketing outside of high school. So I feel like that really opened new possibilities and as well as like kind of venturing outside of the world and just in our little bubble here in high school.

Emilio Villena:
So for me since I joined Latinos in Action last year, it's been showing me how what does being Latino in this country mean honestly. Before I joined Latinos in Action actually, I didn't feel like we had enough representation here in school, in the country in general, since we're a minority. So when I joined Latinos in Action I could get to know all these different background cultures and just stories for everyone from everyone. So I really got the opportunity to know what being Latino means here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with the members of the Latinos in Action Club at Herriman High School.

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.

Break:
In Jordan School District we never want a student to go hungry, without food, warm clothing, or school supplies.

Hi, I'm Mike Haynes, director of the Jordan Education Foundation. If you're looking for opportunities to help students and teachers in our schools, we invite you to join us. The Jordan Education Foundation works with generous community partners, volunteer groups, and amazing people to provide classroom grants for teachers, food and clothing to fill Principal's Pantries for students. And together we recognize outstanding educators in every single school every year. If you want to connect with an amazing community helping to fuel success in Jordan School District, get involved or donate by visiting our website at jordaneducationfoundation.org. That's jordaneducationfoundation.org. We hope to hear from you soon!

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's drop in on the crepes activity sponsored by the Latinos in Action group at Herriman High School.

Eloisa Muñoz:
So we're selling crepes and we have Dulce de Leche, condiments, Nutella, and chocolate.

Darianna Faria:
They can all choose what they want on the crepes.

Eloisa Muñoz:
We also sell them Sprite, Coke, and water. Alright, here you go.

Student:
Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
You said that part of what Latinos in Action has done for you is to help you understand what it means to be Latino in this country. So tell me, what does it mean to you to be Latino in this country?

Emilio Villena:
That's a really good question. So I think it's showing that we are as strong as they are. It's going to sound a little weird, but showing them that we have the same capacity that they have. Although we are a minority here in this country, that doesn't mean that we are weak. That we have the capacity to create, to be more. If that makes sense, yeah.

Darianna Faria:
For me being Latina, it's more than just a skin color, a box to check off in a form as well. For me, it's coming from years of ancestry and as well as having not only just the same language in common as someone but being able to communicate just cultural similarities. And having to kind of be like, "We're Latino and we all come together in unity in the class as well, even though we all come from different countries."

Even though we speak the same language as well, we're a lot more unified as well. We can share those experiences and share those cultures. And being able to know our struggles as well, having parents who were either first generation or immigrated here, it's kind of more than just a box to check off. But it's kind of like who you are as a person, who you identify as. And it's kind of like something that it can change how you are, your personality as well, just from being part of a country that you're proud of.

I feel like being Latino can really show you your pride. I feel like some of us when we come here, we're a little scared to show our pride. I don't want to put my flag out there. I don't want to tell people that I am Latino or Latina, kind of scared of discrimination or anything like that. And I think it really helps us to get out of the show. I am proud to come from this country. I'm proud to show who I am and where I'm from as well.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Yeah, so to me, it's a bit of a voice for those who don't have one. I think it is being that example that sometimes many people want to see and like see in success. I feel like sometimes we don't have that many examples of it and I would love to be one. Like, I think we need more. I think we need more people to have like that voice, to say, you know, the American dream is possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Eloisa Muñoz;
It's going to be really hard. And maybe sometimes you're going to you're just going to like to come back and just saying, you know what, I'm done with this. But I think it's really important to understand that it's going to be hard, but you're going to have a lot of success.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. It's hard work, but the opportunities are there. And I think it's remarkable that you all understand the power of example at this age. I know that I did not understand the power of example at your age. But it is important people look to you and they look to each other for courage and for an example. I love that you are that for so many people.

I'm so impressed with what you're doing and really with your approach to making the best of your experience here at Herriman High School and making sure that you lift others in every way that you possibly can. I have no doubt you have a tremendous impact as we were talking with the principal walking in before the interview. He just was listing off all the things that Latinos in Action does to have a positive impact here at the school. So congratulations on all of that.

What other activities are coming up?

Darianna Faria:
On November 2nd, we're going to have a festival, a multicultural festival. So we're not just going to be like Latinos. We have POP presenting.

Anthony Godfrey:
People of the Pacific.

Darianna Faria:
People of the Pacific. We have BSU.

Anthony Godfrey:
Black Student Union.

Darianna Faria:
Black Student Union, and all those clubs to present things, to have a booth on the festival. We're going to have the Mayor coming. We're trying to reach out to the CEO of LIA to come.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah?

Darianna Faria:
On November 2nd, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful.

Darianna Faria:
We're very excited.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand that there's a display in the media center for us to go check out. Tell me about that.

Darianna Faria:
Like in the windows we have various like posters and as well as kind of like telling from different countries and just kind of like what it means to be Hispanic, what it means to be a Latino, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're outside of the media center now and if you've ever been in our high schools in the Commons area, many of them have these large windows and so it's filled with posters about various countries. So tell me about the idea here and just describe this to the folks listening.

Darianna Faria:
Yeah, so basically what we have, we have various countries almost all over Latin America and including Spain as well. But we kind of wanted to showcase kind of what these different countries have. Their culture, their food, their dances, knowing that we all come from different countries, different backgrounds, and kind of just showing like the unity that we have here in Herriman High School as well as all the different people from all these different countries as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, so are your countries all represented here with the poster?

Students:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, let's go check those out. You are from Chile you said.

Eloisa Muñoz:
I'm from Chile. So let's go check that one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's go take a look.

Eloisa Muñoz:
I think it's really accurate. We have Pedro Pascal, he's a famous actor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pedro, I'm a Pedro Pascal fan.

Eloisa Muñoz:
He's so good.

Anthony Godfrey:
He's awesome. He's good. You're a Mandalorian fan?

Eloisa Muñoz:
I'm not.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're a Pedro Pascal fan. There are lots of other ways to like Pedro Pascal. What do the flowers represent?

Eloisa Muñoz:
Those are the typical flowers of Chile.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Eloisa Muñoz:
It's like a national thing so you cannot cut them or anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I see food. Oh, you can't cut them?

Eloisa Muñoz:
No.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're protected flowers.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Protected flowers, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what are they called?

Eloisa Muñoz:
Copihues.

Anthony Godfrey:
Copihues.

Eloisa Muñoz:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you give this poster an A?

Eloisa Muñoz:
An A. 100%. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Eloisa Muñoz:
They like Pedro Pascal. So that's a...

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. No, I agree. And how about you? Where… Oh, here we are. Ecuador.

Emilio Villena:
Yes. Right next to Chile.  I think they're missing a couple important things, honestly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So it's accurate, but there are a few other things that they might have wanted to add.

Emilio Villena:
Yeah, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Emilio Villena:
For example, I will add information about Julio Jaramillo. He was a singer from Guayaquil, Ecuador. So he makes the...it's right here, the Pasilla Musica. It's just some...there's no way to describe the Pasillo, honestly. It's just like some really calm music, kind of like tango.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Emilio Villena:
It's really good.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm pulling up Spotify right now, and I'm going to have you pop it in there because I do love music and food.

Emilio Villena:
It's just...it's music that goes into it solely.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how old or new is this music?

Emilio Villena:
It's pretty old. I wouldn't be able to say, but I'm going to guess like 80 years old probably.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Emilio Villena:
He's been there for a while. Julio Jaramillo.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Okay. Well, thank you very much. I'll for sure give it a listen.

Darianna Faria:
So Venezuela will be right here, but there is a ton, and there's like different Venezuelan posters in different teachers' classrooms, as well as on the other side of the glass in the media center. There is more, but I mean, we do have a few right here that students created, and it's kind of just saying like, "Did you know natives speak more than 370 languages in South America?" So I myself am a native from Venezuela as well, so we're called guarijos and guarijas, and basically we're just kind of like the indigenous of Venezuela and stuff like that.

There is, other than just like Spanish, we have like a ton of different people speaking different native languages as well in South America, and as well as these posters right here. So this one won second place, right, in our state competition in the Latinos in Action Conference, and this one won an honorable mention. So these one as well as awards in the conferences for these artworks.

Anthony Godfrey:
This one has some nice vibrant colors in it. I love that. And kind of some motion to it. “Talent Runs Through Our Veins.” That has a great style to it, kind of a washed-out, sort of a pastel look. Yeah, wonderful stuff. So thank you very much for the time today and for walking me through these projects and lots of good things ahead. Thanks for everything you're doing, and I look forward to seeing those performances coming up.

Students:
Thank you. Thank you for giving us this date.

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

Kim Cowart:
So I just finished the sixth marathon of the six major marathons.

Anthony Godfrey:
You say you're going to run one marathon to say that you did. And then you can't stop and you have to keep running them because it feels so great.

Kim Cowart:
I've done 60 marathons. It took me 15 years but I just finished that sixth marathon in Tokyo. And I got my medal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. When she's not in the classroom teaching English at Copper Hills High School, you will likely find Kim Cowart doing something else she has grown to love.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out how running has taken this amazing teacher to competitions all over the world and in the process transformed her life. Listen as Kim Cowart shares her incredible story.

We're here on the bridge at Daybreak to talk with Kim Cowart, Language Arts teacher at Copper Hills High School and runner extraordinaire. I know you won't like that title but I know you're a big runner. And this is your natural habitat. This is where you love to run.

Kim Cowart:
This is my home. I actually wrote an article about this place for Runner's World Magazine. How much I love it. I love it that much. I wrote a story about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? So since we're here, this is gorgeous.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah, it is.

Anthony Godfrey:
The houses are beautiful. I mean this is planned to look gorgeous and they did a great job of it. Tell me about the Runner's World article and what you love so much about this place.

Kim Cowart:
So I've written a couple articles for them. My first one was about my race shirts and how they tell a story. The second one was about all of the international races I've done. I've traveled all over the world and run pretty much everywhere.

But this is the place I like to come home to. Like I know the path. I know every nook and cranny. Every curve. Every dip. Every hill. They've even laid some more paths. It's safe so I can run 20 miles. And there are bathrooms. There's water fountains. There's people. It's just beautiful. It's safe. It's… I don't know. I never get tired of it. I run here almost every single day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk a little bit about your accomplishments. What are your most recent big events?

Kim Cowart:
So I just finished the sixth marathon of the six major marathons. Runners know what this is but non-runners probably don't. There are six major marathons around the world and that's where the elites go to compete. That's where the prize money is. It’s New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London and Tokyo. Recreational runners, if you finish those six you get a special six-star medal. It's a huge deal because they're really hard to get into. Boston you have to qualify. London, I think only like 2% of runners get accepted in. So anyway, it took me 15 years but I just finished that sixth marathon in Tokyo.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s amazing.

Kim Cowart:
And I got my medal and I was... I'm done.

Anthony Godfrey:
When was that?

Kim Cowart:
That was in March.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about how those six majors compare. I mean London, are you running on the wrong side of the road?

Kim Cowart:
Probably but not on purpose. I mean every one is different and unique. Berlin was awesome. I went with two friends. One of them was from Germany and her husband met her there while he was stationed during the Cold War. So I got to take a little tour of Berlin through their perspective and get their historical stories.

But then you're running, literally crossing over from East and West Germany. Whereas years ago people would have been killed to do that. I'm just running back and forth and I got chills. The day before the marathon–

Anthony Godfrey:
The symbolism of that is pretty amazing.

Kim Cowart:
It was not lost on any of us. And then we finished through the Brandenburg Gate. I mean people were crying. The day before there's like a 5k shake-out run, but it finished at the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens won. He was running track and field in front of Hitler. I mean that stuff–

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s unforgettable

Kim Cowart:
It is unforgettable. And then Boston, I was there in 2013 when the bombs went off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Kim Cowart:
Yeah, my hotel was on that street. I think that terrorist attacks happen out there somewhere to other people. It happened right in front of me. So I was in my hotel on Boylston Street. I had finished but I had friends that didn't. I had friends that were watching finishers at that time. The first bomb exploded where my kids had stood just a couple years earlier watching me finish. So it was all too close. So that was a horrible, horrible year. It was supposed to be my last. So I went back in 2014 because nobody wants to finish–

Anthony Godfrey:
So you ran Boston again to make sure that was not your last experience in Boston.

Kim Cowart:
I ran Boston again. And as awful as 2013 was, 2014 was the best running day of my entire life. Hands down.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's such a great idea to go back so that you don't have that as your last memory.

Kim Cowart:
It was really hard. I didn't expect it to be that hard.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Tokyo, tell me about Tokyo.

Kim Cowart:
Tokyo, I mean I love Japan. It's my second trip there. I won't pretend that I enjoyed it because it's the first race I've ever done while working a full-time job, teaching full-time. I've never trained for a marathon and taught full-time. So it was really hard to just get up, run, teach, home.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you had to take time off like during the year.

Kim Cowart:
I had to take a few days off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have it fit in with everything else.

Kim Cowart:
That was really hard to leave my students. My principal, Ray Garrison, was so supportive. I came to her at the beginning of there and said, "Look, I got into this race. I have to do it. I can't put this off."

And she's like, "Go, have a great time."

Anthony Godfrey:
Good. That's awesome.

Kim Cowart:
“You don't need my permission. Just have a great time.”

Anthony Godfrey:
How does it feel having conquered all six now? You're done.

Kim Cowart:
So good. It's the best feeling in the world. I'm done. I didn't quit. I mean, it took me 15 years, but I did it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, the cliche is that you say you're going to run one marathon to say that you did.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And then you can't stop and you have to keep running them because it feels so great. Was that your experience?

Kim Cowart:
I've done 60 marathons.

Anthony Godfrey:
60?

Kim Cowart:
Yeah. I feel like that's a good number.

Anthony Godfrey:
I guess you can call yourself a marathoner.

Kim Cowart:
I know people who've done a lot more.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's always someone who’s done more.

Kim Cowart:
There’s always people who have done more. I feel like 60 is nice.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a nice round number.

Kim Cowart:
Someone's like, "Why not go for a hundred?" I'm like, "That's 40 more marathons."

Anthony Godfrey:
Why not go for a hundred?

Kim Cowart:
I'll be a hundred if we do that. No. I feel like that's a good accomplishment. Yeah. My first race was a marathon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your first race?

Kim Cowart:
My first race. I was looking... I'd done a 10 miler. I'd started running because I had kids and I wasn't… I was a teacher in Las Vegas for six years. I quit when I started having my kids. I have two daughters. But I never felt whole. I've always wanted to be a teacher. So, I was kind of just trying to find my thing. When postpartum hit, I started running just to get outside and be alone. And one thing led to another. Next thing you know, I'm doing 10-mile runs around my neighborhood. So, I went online to sign up for the half marathon and I looked at the price. It was only like $10 cheaper than the marathon. I always like a good deal.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's how they get you.

Kim Cowart:
I know.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, the medium-sized popcorn is $9 but the large is only $10.

Kim Cowart:
You can run 26 miles if you just pay 10 more dollars. Like that is a deal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Exactly.

Kim Cowart:
And so I signed up for it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, you supersized your marathon.

Kim Cowart:
I supersized. I don't recommend it. It was dumb. But I did it. I did it. And I qualified for Boston that first race.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Now wait a minute. Your very first race, you were going to do a half. You did a full. And you qualified for Boston?

Kim Cowart:
I did. By like 45 seconds. Yeah, I did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh my heavens. I looked up those times.

Kim Cowart:
I know. I was just as shocked.

Anthony Godfrey:
I ran the Leprechaun Lope three times and thought I was an international athlete because I completed it. I would pick off people with a stroller and try to beat them.

Kim Cowart:
That's how you do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
But they would beat me. It didn't work. I ran faster because I was trying to beat them but I couldn't make it.

Kim Cowart:
That's funny.

Anthony Godfrey:
But you qualified for Boston your first race.

Kim Cowart:
Well, I didn't even really know what that was.

Anthony Godfrey:
That must have told you though that I've got some natural proclivity for running some natural talent.

Kim Cowart:
See, I never knew that because growing up I was told that I was not athletic because I wasn't coordinated. I can't catch a ball. I can't hit a ball. I can't kick a ball. So I always just thought I'm not athletic. So I never tried.

Anthony Godfrey:
60 marathons later, do you feel athletic?

Kim Cowart:
I feel like I want to go back to my high school gym teacher and say, I told you I could. You just need to give me my time to do it on my terms.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as a teacher then, what does that make you think about when you have this opportunity to teach students about themselves?

Kim Cowart:
That you can be what you want to be. You don't have to listen to what other people think you are. You can do what you want to do. I was in my mid-30s. I think I was 33 when I finished my first marathon. So you have your whole life. You think that you have to decide by the time you graduate from high school what you're going to do and the exact path you're going to walk. And that's just not true. My life is nothing like I expected it to be. And marathons were the biggest surprise. But you have to try it. You don't know if you're good at it unless you try it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with Kim Cowart and the chance to hear some of her advice for students.

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.

Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love how this has shaped the way that you view yourself in every way.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah. Well, I will tell you, so I took 20 years off of teaching. Last year was my first year back after 20 years. All of that running that I did before made me believe that I could actually do this. There are different types of challenges, but I'd say coming back to teaching is as challenging, if not more so than running marathons.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how does it feel now that you're looking at year two? You've got year one behind you?

Kim Cowart:
I mean, I feel like I'm brand new. I feel like I'm starting all over again this year. I am so lucky to be where I am with the other teachers that I work with and the students that I get to talk to every day. I'm so happy where I am as hard as it is. And there are days I come home crying. But it's as fulfilling, if not more so than running those marathons.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's hard when you pour yourself into a job. There are tough days when you pour yourself into a job like you do.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah. And there are tough training runs and there are races that don't work out the way you expect them to. But you just sign up for the next one.

Anthony Godfrey:
How many miles do you run in the morning out here?

Kim Cowart:
It depends. Most of the time before school, I'm getting a little slower, so between 10 and 12 miles most days, sometimes it's seven or eight, but usually about 10-ish.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is there any other place that you train or run? Or is it always here?

Kim Cowart:
Not anymore. When I was training for more marathons, I used to do like eight or nine marathons a year, I would run with groups. I would travel and we'd go to Immigration Canyon and up Legacy Parkway and Jordan River Parkway.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is where you come back to?

Kim Cowart:
This is where I come back to. I'd rather run here. I know exactly how many miles and how to add miles, how to take shortcuts.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you know how long every segment is?

Kim Cowart:
I do.

Anthony Godfrey:
And do you run through the neighborhoods like this?

Kim Cowart:
Sometimes. Like this island here, the whole circumference of the inner island is 1.2 miles. So if I need to add a little extra...

Anthony Godfrey:
As I looked at it, it felt like about 1.2.

Kim Cowart:
I know it. It's 1.2 and then the big loop around is 3.2. But then you can go up to the other side of Daybreak, on the other side of Mountain View and they've got new trails up there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Once again, I feel like I've driven from school to school, from event to event, and haven't really paused to take a look. And that's one of the beautiful things about running.

Kim Cowart:
That's why I like running.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that you're right there, you're ground level and you have a chance to really absorb your surroundings.

Kim Cowart:
When I travel, I always try to get outside that first day and run to reset my time clock but also to get to know the layout. Because you can't do that when you're driving. But when you're running, it's embedded. The route is embedded in your mind. You really get to know your surroundings better. And you see things you can't get to by car too.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the walking community that they set out to create has become the running community for you.

Kim Cowart:
There's tons of running. You can come out here at 4 in the morning, which I do on school days. And I will see at least 4 or 5 people out here running.

Anthony Godfrey:
If I'm up at 4 in the morning, I bust open my email to see if I can get a jump on the day.

Kim Cowart:
No, no, no, no.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are out here. You are making it happen.

Kim Cowart:
If I want to get my runs in, I have to do it before school.

Anthony Godfrey:
So bathrooms, drinking fountains. But what else is it about this area that you love so much when you come out to run?

Kim Cowart:
I mean, it's peaceful. You can look at the water.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It’s beautiful.

Kim Cowart:
I mean, you've got geese and I don't know, just the sound of the water before school starts calms me down. So by the time I get to my classroom, I just feel okay. I feel mentally prepared for the day because I've been out here, I've been out in nature. And it's only a mile away from my house.

Anthony Godfrey:
So do you run here?

Kim Cowart:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
And then, I mean, if you look up, the view of those mountains...

Kim Cowart:
Isn't it gorgeous?

Anthony Godfrey:
...is gorgeous. And the way it changes throughout the day, I don't think we can look at the mountains enough.

I can't help but notice your tattoo on your forearm here and knowing U2, I see that's a Bono autograph. Is that correct?

Kim Cowart:
It is. It is his autograph.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Bono signing your arm and it subsequently becoming a tattoo.

Kim Cowart:
So my husband and I have been following U2 since we've been married for almost 25 years. We have... In fact, we met because we love U2. He told me he quit his job in high school to go see them on tour. I'm like, we are bound to be together.

Anthony Godfrey:
It wasn't confusing when you said, "I love U2." And he said, "I love you too."

Kim Cowart:
Yeah, yeah. We went back and forth like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Alright.

Kim Cowart:
So yeah, we've been following them around the world. We've been trying to meet Bono. We've met all the other band members. But Bono just never was able to come out. And then last summer... Well, it was actually last spring. We flew out to New York to see Bono in his one-man Broadway show. He had just had a book come out. And...

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a great book, by the way. I love it.

Kim Cowart:
It's a fabulous book. And the audio version is incredible.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's what I did. I listened to the audio version while walking, not running.

Kim Cowart:
He is an artist. Yeah. He is a poet, a writer. He's incredible. So, we went to a show and as always, we went outside that afternoon to try to meet him outside the venue. And finally, it happened. He came out and he signed autographs. He signed my book. He signed one of our album covers. He talked to us a little bit. I think I was a little too starstruck. I might have just said, "Thank you." And so, he signed my book and then I had him tattooed on my arm.

But that was the same morning that I interviewed via Zoom for my job at Copper Hills with Rich and Heather, the two that hired me. So, it was a really good day. I got hired and I got Bono's tattoo. Or Bono's autograph.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s fantastic. Wow. That's amazing.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah. It was a wonderful day.

Anthony Godfrey:
I understand that later today you're going to be talking with the Copper Hills cross-country teams.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
What message do you plan to share today?

Kim Cowart:
Trust yourself. Believe the positive things people say about you. Your successes are not always the success you have planned. Like, success comes in different forms and it rarely comes in the form that you think it's going to come in. So, I'm going to tell them a few stories from my own running past.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you love most about teaching now that you've been away from it and now that you're back? What do you love the most about it?

Kim Cowart:
I love being around the students. I love this age group. I teach mostly juniors, but I've taught sophomores too. I like that age. They're the same age as my own daughters right now. My youngest daughter is a senior at Herriman High School. I just like being around them. I like feeling like maybe there are a few students that come out of my classroom, better writers. Maybe. I hope.

I love interacting with my colleagues. It's nice to be back with my teacher friends again and having that in common. I feel like I'm part of a community again, which running, you're in a community, but you're also doing that solo. And I've missed that piece of my teacher self too. So, it's nice to be back.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, we're really glad to have you back.

Kim Cowart:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I'm glad for all these lessons that you're able to share with students to help them believe in themselves.

Kim Cowart:
Thanks.

Anthony Godfrey:
And, you know, you've inspired me to at least get outside in the morning a little bit.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah, go for a walk.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can't promise 60 marathons, but I'm going to move a little bit more than I have. And the morning routine is really inspiring.

Kim Cowart:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
The way that you've come through so many difficulties and just keep moving, it's really thrilling to talk with you about it.

Kim Cowart:
And walk around Daybreak. There's a million people out here in the morning.

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