Supercast

Jane:
The big ones that we have open that we're really still seeking are the special education support professionals that are working in the special education classrooms, our classroom assistants, our nutrition services, and our sub bus drivers and sub bus assistants.

Mike:
Our substitute pool is really somewhere where you can get your foot in the door. We're really looking to hire licensed substitutes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. In Jordan School District, we like to say come for the job and stay for the adventure. On this episode of the Supercast, we take a look at career opportunities available in Jordan School District in the classroom and beyond. They are jobs that support students and education every single day. Listen and find out who we are looking to hire right now and how to apply if you are interested in joining the Jordan School District team.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are talking today with two of our administrators in the Human Resources Department about job opportunities here in Jordan School District. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background.

Jane:
I am Jane Olson. I am the Talent Acquisition Administrator here in Jordan School District.

Mike:
Dr. Mike Trimmel and I am the Assistant Director in HR over Talent Development. I've been a principal and assistant principal for the past 15 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about some of the job opportunities in Jordan School District right now. Jane?

Jane:
So right now we have very few of our licensed positions still open. As of today, there is only eight licensed teaching positions and then an additional 10 athletic coaching positions that, you know, have an hourly period where they can teach. But the big ones that we have open that we're really still seeking are the special education support professionals that are working in the special education classrooms, our classroom assistants, our Nutrition Services and our sub bus drivers and sub bus assistants. Those are our big opportunities at the moment.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the positions that are always open? Where we, there are certain positions where we're always looking for somebody.

Mike:
Yeah, I would say definitely our special education, educational support professionals. The educational support professionals in our special education classrooms typically we have openings year-round in that setting.

Anthony Godfrey:
And they're sometimes referred to as a classroom aide; that might be the more common nomenclature that we would use for that position. So it's part-time, many times, but sometimes it's full-time with benefits, helping support the teacher in providing instruction for and supporting students. And that can be working with students with a wide variety of needs.

Mike:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me about bus drivers also.

Jane:
Yes, with our bus drivers, we're typically looking to build that substitute bus driver pool as large as we can and then that's where our primary recruitment pool for our full-time positions come out of, that sub bus pool. So it's essential for us to have a really good set of sub bus drivers. We're looking for the best people with the best personalities and making sure that we get them the credentials that they need because we pay them to get their CDL.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's part of it is you get paid to get your CDL and this is a unique position as is a classroom aide position, where you get a lot of opportunity to work with students directly and build those relationships. For some students, the bus driver or the classroom aide looms very large in their lives, and those relationships are very important.

Mike:
Absolutely. I would say the the classroom assistants in special ed classrooms, they really build a wonderful relationship with each of the students and same thing with the bus drivers, right? It's the usually the first person and the last person that a student sees in the day is the bus driver.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you get to know people, you're in their neighborhood, it's it's it's a great position and you get that CDL training which is a nice bonus. Let's talk about the licensed position, that there's a particular reason that we have as many licensed openings as we do at the elementary level.

Jane:
Yeah, I think it's important to remember that what you're seeing right now is not because people are leaving. We recently, the Board approved us to start a process where we're going to be selecting and recruiting gifted and talented specialists part-time at every elementary school in Jordan School District. So that is potentially 24 up to 48 positions that we would be looking for to fill, and we did we started with 14 of those schools this year. So some of those openings are because we created them, not because people left.

Anthony Godfrey:
The licensed positions are harder to come by for candidates and we've had a large number of applicants this year probably larger than we've had in my memory at least. Talk to us about the numbers and how they've evolved over the years.

Jane:
Yeah, so back when I started as the HR specialist about four years ago, we were averaging about 50 to 60 qualified candidates for elementary pools. Now our average over the course of a school year, so even when we've got a position that's only open for a couple of days, we're averaging 96 applicants per position, with our high this year of 195 for a second grade position at Riverton Elementary School. So when we're talking about qualified candidates, we're talking about candidates who have a professional elementary educator license. It's allowed us to really focus in on the high-quality instruction that you know the strategic plan really indicates is something that is a strong Board priority.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now let's talk about something you mentioned, and that is even when jobs are only posted for a couple of days, jobs go through different phases where they're posted for a longer period of time during a certain part of the year, and then they aren't posted as long, starting I believe in August. So speak to that timeline and what that looks like.

Jane:
So that timeline is, starting March 1st is when we post all of our positions that are generally filled. Our hard to fill positions actually start as far back as January 1st and then once we hit the March 1st, they are open for five business days. Once we hit June 1st, that narrows the timeline significantly because it's kind of our crunch time. We want to make sure that we get all the qualified educators that we possibly can prior to the first day of contract, so it could be as few as one day but as many as five. So really, those timelines start to ratchet down about June 1^st. So we're in that crunch time where we're typically seeing two to three days on an elementary or even middle school or high school license position.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you are applying in the spring when most options are available, you may have to wait a little bit before interviews even start, but at this time of year over the summer, you really can expect interviews to happen pretty quickly and that's by policy. That's negotiated policy with our employee groups that those interviews happen on a different timeline. Now one thing that I've seen over the years is that you know if you're one of nearly 200 candidates and you're really trying for a position, don't lose hope because there are things that happen as the year approaches were even into the start of the year that we don't expect. People have to move things happen in their lives, and we do still hire at times that you wouldn't expect so I would say keep looking and keep applying. Talk to me about that.

Mike:
Absolutely. What I would say is I would tell people not to lose hope, right. Apply, keep checking, and get your foot in the door somewhere. Our substitute pool is really somewhere where you can get your foot in the door. We're really looking to hire licensed substitutes. We have a lot of substitutes in our District, and so we're really looking for high-quality licensed substitutes right now. So if you can get your foot in the door, you have a good opportunity when positions open to have your application looked at.

Anthony Godfrey:
And teachers and administrators really appreciate someone who's done a good job as a substitute, and then when they have an opening and they have a need, it's like, “Hey, wait a minute, maybe there's someone we could pick up.”

Mike:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is not just about the numbers. When you have a large number of applicants, then you end up with highly qualified, as you mentioned, highly motivated applicants who are really ready to be very effective in the classroom. Talk to me about how this has impacted student instruction to have such a good candidate pool.

Mike:
Yeah absolutely. What we've seen is having such a large candidate pool allows administrators to really dig deep into those applications and find the qualities and characteristics that align with Jordan School District, and interviewing top candidates and being able to select top candidates. Once we've selected those top candidates, we already know that they align with the . . .  they have the characteristics that we're looking for, they align with our values, and they're motivated to be high-quality teachers that our students deserve.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more from the Human Resources Department about opportunities in Jordan School District.

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

Sandy:
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 @ Jordan District. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where do people go if they want to apply?

Jane:
So we always accept digital applications on our website hr.jordandistrict.org, and then you would hit the “apply here” button. It's really big so it's kind of hard to miss. But if you ever have questions you can always reach out to us. We have our contact information on our website which is recently updated so you'll be able to reach out to the right team and the right group of individuals to help you find that perfect job.

Anthony Godfrey:
And there has been an expansion in the Human Resources Department. We've added personnel, we've shifted personnel's responsibilities so that we can provide the best support possible. We've added benefits for employees, so we really are doing a lot to try to attract the very best for our students.

Jane:
Absolutely, I would add that you know we are really focused on becoming a world-class HR department and that's not world-class in terms of education. We're talking world-class, competing with some of the biggest organizations, Fortune 500. That is our goal and where all of our aims are headed. We want to be known as some of the best, so we want to provide not only the best quality candidates for our students and for our schools, but the best quality experience for our employees that always results in great results for students.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have an onboarding process to welcome employees and make them feel part of things and give them the information they need. We also have a new educator induction that we've done for a few years, and although there are fewer positions this year with dropping enrollment, we have hundreds of new educators coming that we’ll be welcoming with a full day of activities and events.

Jane:
Yeah, I think it's important to note that when we hire educators, we don't just hire educators; we celebrate them before we ever take attendance. We want them to know that we're ready for them, that they have names and connections, and they know who their resources are- not only those names and connections but they're building relationships with the people around them. We know that another part of the the pillars of the Portrait of a Graduate is that culture of belonging and that extends not just to students; it extends to all of us. So because when you have a culture of belonging, you not only join an organization you stay.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love speaking to that group each year; it's a mix of brand new teachers who are just starting out their career, others who are restarting their career or shifting their career over to Jordan School District, and it's fun to see that energy and excitement around teaching and around the classroom. Now over the years, the Board has supported adding various personnel, various positions, and resources to help make sure that we are supporting all of our employees in every way possible. Talk about some of those changes over the years.

Mike:
So Jordan School District and the Board of Education have been so supportive with providing positions in the District that at the end of the day, provide support for students. Every elementary school has a school counselor, every elementary school has a school psychologist. Now the District is adding a gifted and talented specialist to every elementary school so that students have access to the highest quality education possible. So when we are saying that we have these openings, it's not just because people have left or are leaving; it's because the Board is authorizing additional personnel to benefit students.

Jane:
I think to add to that it's deepening our commitment to the Portrait of a Graduate. When you see openings at Jordan don't read them as people leaving. Read them as the Board investing in your students. We created these positions on purpose because Portrait of Graduate isn't just a poster on a wall. It's a staffing plan and a recruitment strategy.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're very intentional about who we're looking for and what we need them to be able to provide to students, and it's very rewarding. It's a rewarding job regardless of what you're doing, you're helping support students in Jordan School District. Talk about coaching positions. There are some athletic coaching positions out there that include one class period as part of the teaching, so they're listed as a teaching position, and that's not uncommon for athletic coaching. So talk about what those coaching positions look like.

Jane:
We are looking for people who are passionate about that particular sport. You'll see anything from basketball to soccer to track and field, volleyball, off-the-ball.

Anthony Godfrey:
We offer them all.

Jane:
We offer them all, yes. But what's really important is that one period is you're going to be teaching and coaching those skills and those traits that you want to see in a superstar athlete and making sure that you're supporting that community at that school. It's essential for us to have the right coaches because it's not just about what they do here in Jordan School District, but it's about setting them up for a trajectory that's success across their lifetime.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it is possible to teach one class period even if you aren't a full-time teacher and coach at the same time.

Jane:
Absolutely we love that.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's that's been a great arrangement over the years. We love to have our full-time teachers coach. Sometimes that's not possible and this allows us to get our part-time or get our coaches into the classroom at least for one period. So to recap we have a number of athletic coaching positions open, and that often comes with teaching one of the classes in the schedule. We have, we always have bus driver positions available, and we have a lot of part-time positions where you can get the kids off to school, work a part-time position during the day, and still be home when they return. You can work directly with students in special ed. We tend to have openings for classroom aides there, but we do in lots of different positions, and you would be surprised at the wide range of positions that are available within Jordan School District. And we have licensed positions right now because of some new positions the Board approved, and it's surprising how those can still pop up as we get into the beginning of the school year. So, keep your eyes peeled, hop on that website, and we're here to help when you're applying in Jordan School District.

Mike:
Absolutely.

Jane:
We appreciate it and you know you always talk about in recruiting that it takes a community to run a school district so you name a position in a community, you will find it in Jordan School District.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much. Thanks for your time and thanks for everything you're doing to bring great educators and great employees to Jordan.

Mike:
Thanks.

Jane:
We appreciate being here it's always an honor to be part of the podcast.

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

School Psychologist:
I think helping your child actively engage in opportunities to make friendships is important. School is a great setting to do that. There are also plenty of other things, right? Neighborhoods are a great thing. I did not grow up with a neighborhood of kids and so that is something I so desperately wanted.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. As we head into a new school year, many students are thinking about more than just homework and new teachers. They're wondering whether they'll make new friends and fit in. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with a school psychologist about how to make friends, keep friends, and how parents can access the tools and information they need to help their child in the process.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking today with Josie about how to make friends. Josie, introduce yourself and talk to us a little bit about your background in this area.

School Psychologist:
Okay, I work at Eastlake Elementary. I'm the school's psych. I've been there. This will be my sixth year, which is actually kind of crazy. Time flies, really, for sure. And so I teach the “Making and Keeping” class at Jordan Family Ed. So usually it's on Wednesday nights.

Anthony Godfrey:
Making and Keeping Friends class.

School Psychologist:
Yes, yes, that is the title actually. And we focus mostly on exactly that, making and keeping friends. So we start with really basic skills, like physically, like what your body should look like when you're trying to have a conversation or engage another person, right? So we call them body basics in that class. We talk about things like teasing and recognizing and expressing emotions. All of those kinds of things and how those play into making and keeping friends and why they matter.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I want to talk about all of those. First of all, for those who aren't aware, let's talk about the Jordan Family Ed Center and what those classes are like and how people can access them.

School Psychologist:
Yes, so the Jordan Family Ed Center is a free resource for anyone in our community, whether you attend Jordan District or not, which we actually get quite a few students who do not, which is wonderful. And students, there are classes for students, but there's also counseling for students. So you can come in. There's usually like an intake process if you are interested in counseling for your student or child. And then they kind of just like do an interview and figure out what the concerns are with that kind of thing. And then they set you up with someone who can match like your need. The counseling classes or the counseling sessions, I should say, are just in the evenings. So after school during the week. So that's the counseling side of it. And then the classes side of it, there are different topics for different grade levels. And then again, kind of like mix based on needs and targeted kind of topics that have been identified in our District. So there's things from like drugs, there's things about making and keeping friends, there's things about emotional regulation, there are parent seminars. So parents can come in and attend things if they have concerns or want to figure out how to help their child or like parenting classes almost. So we also have those. Again, evening times, they are in fall, winter, and spring. They run for six weeks in a session. And they are taught by our school psychs and our counselors in the District. So it kind of just depends on what the kind of need is for your student or your child. And then it's just a great free resource. And so it's one of those things that is really great for us as people in our buildings in our school to say we recognize that your child might need extra support. And so here's something we can do outside of school to also provide support in addition to what we do during school hours.

Anthony Godfrey:
And help them be more successful.

School Psychologist:
For sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are problems, the type that you describe, the the areas in which you provide support, where the problems may seem intractable. There's nothing I can really do to make this better. And making friends might be one of those. But there really are some things you can do to improve your ability to make and keep friends. For example, or solve other problems that might seem beyond reach. So let's talk about making and keeping as you called it. So how do students starting out a new school year approach making and keeping friends? Let's talk about some of the things that you mentioned earlier.

School Psychologist:
Okay. I think, I mean, there's an age consideration here, right? Younger kids and their friendships look considerably different from older kids and their relationships, right? When we're younger, I think we're focusing or what we're looking for from other kids are things like will you share with me and will you keep your hands to yourself? Do I feel safe, right? And then as we get older, I think there's more, there's a ton more nuance with it and what that really looks like is again the safety element, but also am I emotionally safe with you? Can I share those things with you? And then the playing obviously changes and morphs as we're older into more like that imaginative play and especially like I'm in elementary, the sixth graders, the play is conversational, right? A lot of that kind of thing. And so I think for making and keeping friends, it really just depends on the age of the kid and what they need to feel safe in that relationship and to build friendships.

Anthony Godfrey:
So then that's a clue toward what you need to do to be a friend, to be someone that everyone wants to be friends with and that is if you're younger, keeping sharing and keeping your hands and feet to yourself and later it's emotionally and through the conversations that you have, making sure the other person still feels safe.

School Psychologist:
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think definitely. I think there's, there's a lot, kids sometimes feel a lot of pressure, right? Finding friends, especially when you're young, is very, can be very difficult because you might not know how or have the skills to relate to other people. You might feel uncomfortable, you might feel different, you might not feel like you fit in, and so I think helping students find themselves is really important and learning that I can be me and I can still have friends while being me, if that makes sense.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you get to be yourself and have friends, you don't have to try to say, "Okay, what do I have to mold myself into so that people will like me?"

School Psychologist:
Yes, yeah. I think there can sometimes be a little molding, right? If we're doing things the wrong way or inappropriately, right? A little learning curve there, maybe for some things, but generally people want people to be themselves and that's what they like about people.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you talked earlier about how body language can help you show that you want to be a friend. How does a student do that?

School Psychologist:
Yes, so our body basics, we call it FEVER.

Anthony Godfrey:
Body basics, FEVER.

School Psychologist:
Yes, it's an acronym for FEVER. Okay. So F stands for face the other person, right? We face our bodies specifically, usually like our shoulder and our hips towards the people that we're talking to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

School Psychologist:
That shows interest in that I am noticing that you are there, right? So F, face the other person. E stands for eye contact in our culture, right? Eye contact is a sign of respect when we're listening and talking to someone and so in our class at Jordan Family Ed, we do a little trick too for students who feel uncomfortable making eye contact because we recognize that happens, right? So our little trick for eye contact is looking at the center of their forehead that you're talking to. So face the other person, eye contact. V is appropriate voice, right? So recognizing that there is an appropriate way of using my words in different settings. So that could be...

Anthony Godfrey:
So shouting, "You are now my friend. It might not work."

School Psychologist:
Probably not. Might freak someone out a little bit. Yes, so that goes tone of voice and volume of voice. Those are some things to think about as well. The second E is facial expressions. So recognizing that in reading other people's, but also using my own facial expressions to communicate effectively, right? Because it doesn't make sense if I am sad about something and telling a sad story but my face is like happy and smiling, right? So a little bit of cohesion between those two things. And then the last one is R relax. We do talk about this one and it being sometimes kind of tricky, right? Because inside I might not feel relaxed but giving the illusion that I am relaxed through my body language, right? Relax shoulders, relax stance, all those things make people feel more comfortable. And so that's kind of how we... that's what we call our body basics is FEVER.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. It's very concrete, something to practice. It is hard to think about the FEVE and then do the R and be relaxed while you're thinking about all the other things. But it does make sense that you that you pull... if you can pull all of that together then it's inviting for people to talk with you and and to be your friend.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. More tips and tricks for making and keeping friends at school.

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

Female Voice:
They're out on the job in the rain, sleet, snow, ice and in the sunshine. As Jordan School District students navigate their way to and from school every day, we are truly grateful for our city crossing guards. Always vigilant and looking out for students to ensure everyone's safety. Because they work so hard protecting our kids, let's give those crossing guards a hand. If you're driving near or around schools, slow down, pay attention, watch for students and staff and follow instructions from the school crossing guards. And know our cities are always looking to hire crossing guards. If you like kids and need some flexible hours, contact your local city and apply to be a crossing guard today. Together let's make this a safe and successful school year.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other things that you've talked about? Tell me about the teasing that you focus on.

School Psychologist:
With teasing, right, I think this one kind of ties into some of that recognizing and expressing emotions, right? Especially as students are older, the teasing element can sometimes change from like, "I'm teasing you to be mean to you," from "to I'm teasing you because it's funny," right? That I'm trying to like play with you.” And so I think there's a little bit of understanding and helping students understand and problem-solve through conversation with them, right? If they are feeling like they don't understand the teasing or "why is this happening to me?" or "why is somebody being mean to me?" Well, talk to me about that, right? Tell me what that really looks like. How are they teasing you? And then let's break that down. Are they really teasing you to be mean, right? Or are they teasing you to be mean? I mean, nice, right? There's this book, Julia Cook is a, I'm from Nebraska, so Boys Town is a big medical hospital in Nebraska. Julia Cook is an author and she writes and publishes under them and she has a book called Mean Tease versus Nice Tease or something like that. And that book kind of breaks down the difference between the two and helps students recognize the difference between the two to identify it and the appropriate way to react to it. So that kind of, I think, I think teasing is a lot of conversational breakdown. Just understanding what's behind it, why it's going on, and understanding the other person's perspective of it. Because if they're teasing to be mean, what are they really trying to communicate with me? And so that's where the recognizing and expressing feelings I think comes in.

Anthony Godfrey:
So teasing could mean more than just something mean. Suddenly I understand every time I've gone golfing with people my age, the teasing makes sense now. They wanted to be my friend. It's safe enough for us to make these jokes about each other because we know that we're friends.

School Psychologist:
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's part of it is that that student has to understand that this is a safe relationship for me to do that to you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

School Psychologist:
You know what I mean?

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. And so that, yeah. That's it. I can understand as students get older and they're transitioning into that phase where teasing might have a positive tone to it or an undertone to it, that it's difficult for kids to make that transition and understand what's happening.

School Psychologist:
Definitely. And even when there is something that if it was a mean tease, right, understanding that mean tease and then responding in a way that's appropriate. Because I have to take that situation and understand it was meant to hurt my feelings. How do I respond to that in a way that is not going to make this situation worse or make, yeah, make anything worse, right?

Anthony Godfrey:
Reward their efforts to make me feel bad.

School Psychologist:
Right. So there is some of that too of learning how to appropriately provide feedback to someone when they've made you feel a certain way. And we call those like I statements or I feel statements are really good for things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
As an elementary school psychologist, you must deal with a lot of the ups and downs of friendships that can turn from hour to hour.

School Psychologist:
Definitely. Definitely. I see that a lot. And I, yeah, honestly for the younger students who have some of those difficulties with making and keeping friends for me and my, and this looks different for all of our school psychs, right? Because the cool part about our job is that we can kind of do what we want to do and what we feel comfortable in how we want to deliver lessons, right? Or teach things. So like I really love using books for like our younger students because I can read them a book. They're engaged with the characters and it some in some ways doesn't feel like learning, right? It feels like I'm just reading a book with someone, but we're learning about things like teasing or we're learning about things like sharing or things like that. And the older ones, when they have more self-awareness or more able to express themselves, then we're shifting more into and in my experiences, more shifting into those, the conversational stuff, right? Tell me what's going on. Let's work through this together. How are we going to fix this together kind of thing?

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me more about recognizing and expressing emotions. How do you use that as a tool to help kids make friends?

School Psychologist:
Yeah. So recognizing expressing emotions, how we use that is more, is that's kind of like the facial expressions in the body language, right? How do I read that to understand what someone might be feeling without them telling me? Because if someone is, has their arms crossed and is looking down, they're probably not receptive to having a conversation with me maybe right now, right? If they're giving off that they're upset, right? But if they are more open with their body language and they're facing me and they're making eye contact with me, that's telling me that they're more open to a conversation with me right now. So those things play into the kind of I feel or the I messages that we talked about. Are you familiar with I messages though?

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about I messages.

School Psychologist:
Okay. An I message we say has three parts. So the first one is I feel. So you say I feel and you use a feeling words, right? So I feel angry when you push me. And the last part is and I want. So I feel angry when you push me and I want you to keep your hands to yourself. So an I message or an I statement that kind of have different names really clearly communicates to someone what you're feeling, why you feel that way and what you need to change, right? Or what needs to change in the situation. Nowhere in there is it saying you're mean, you're wrong, how dare you, all these things, right? It's about me. It's my internal feeling about what happened and what I am asking for to be different. And so I think giving kids tools like that, very simple, very straightforward, right? Three parts, but it gives them a way to clearly and effectively communicate those feelings when they need to in a situation because it's very easy when things get heated or when I'm sad or when I'm dysregulated, really in any way. It's really hard for anyone, even adults to communicate their feelings effectively, but giving that tool, the structure, helps them to kind of do so in a very laid out way.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it helps you process how you feel and it helps you express that in a meaningful, effective and non-accusatory way so that you can repair a relationship or avoid being mistreated.

School Psychologist:
Yes, yeah, I really like that. I think the non-accusatory is a big part of it because it's very easy when we feel those big emotions to blame, right? And to sometimes, right, for our little ones who are still learning to yell a name back or to hit even, right? And so learning to replace those things with things that are a reflection about me stating how I feel makes it easier.

Anthony Godfrey:
And if the friendly teasing turns into hurtful teasing, this would be a way to clarify and say, "I feel sad when you make fun of whatever."

School Psychologist:
Yes. "

Anthony Godfrey:
And I want you to stop making fun of me for wearing my suit everywhere I go."

School Psychologist:
Yes, perfect example of when to use that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great.

School Psychologist:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good, because the first example I had was, "I feel happy when I eat a hot fudge sundae and I want another one." But I think that was missing the point.

School Psychologist:
No, I don't think it is though because I think, and that's one of the things we talk about that night of that class is that it doesn't always have to be the negative emotions that we clearly communicate with. It can also be the things that I like that you're doing or the things that make me happy or the things that I'm really enjoying or make me feel silly, whatever. Those are okay things and good things to communicate too. It shouldn't just be the hard stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a good way for you to process how you're feeling even if you're not sharing that with someone else. I think, "Okay, what's happening here with me?" Good. What advice do you have for parents who are helping their children navigate friendships or make friendships, maintain them? You know, they may be moving up to middle school or to a new school or to high school. What advice do you have for parents to help their children through that?

School Psychologist:
Yeah, I think, well, there's a lot of ways, right? I think helping your child actively engage in opportunities to make friendships is important. School is a great setting to do that. There are also plenty of other things, right? Neighborhoods are a great thing. I did not grow up with a neighborhood of kids, and so that is something I so desperately wanted when I got older. And so I think that neighborhood kids are a really cool thing that our communities, most of our communities have. And then even like clubs, anything that you can sign up for, there's all kinds of clubs or activities. Great way to meet people, not only the ones that are in your immediate community, but also the ones who are a little bit further away. Those are great ways. Other things, other tips, I think giving your student or your child the freedom to make the mistakes while making friendships because we're all going to make those mistakes and there's going to be things that happen along the way that are hard for us to see our child or our student go through, right? And so it's very easy in those moments to say, "Well, this happened to me and you should do this." And so giving them some of that more time to explore how they think they can get through this and helping them along the way. Almost like and not necessarily as like a do this, but like a what do you think? Let's do it together kind of thing. I think yeah, some of that freedom to make those mistakes and figure out really again who they are and what matters to them because also part of your friendships as you get older is what does matter to you and a friend. And we all individually I think have to figure that out. So.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I feel like at the end of this interview we're friends. Am I right?

School Psychologist:
I would say so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely. Well, thank you very much for helping us talk about how to make friends and keep them and hopefully everyone listening has lots of friends and is making even more in the coming year.

School Psychologist:
Awesome. Thank you so much.

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.

Darin Nielsen:
Got what's called a statewide multi-campus model. Utah has had a strong interest in supporting some of our students who have these communication or sensory losses since before we became a state.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's remarkable.

Darin Nielsen:
I'm really proud to be in a state where that's true.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Students who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, blind, or low vision are supported in Utah in a unique way. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with the new Superintendent of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. Find out about the incredible things happening every day at the school and on their campuses throughout the state, and how their services benefit students everywhere in Utah. Follow along as we get a personal tour of the school's Millcreek campus.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking today with the Superintendent of Schools for the Deaf and Blind here in the state of Utah. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your journey here.

Darin Nielsen:
Oh, yeah. Great. My name's Darin Nielsen. I'm in my 31st year of education. I started out as a school counselor at Teton High School in Driggs, Idaho, way back in '94, '95. I came back to Utah, which is-- I'm from Utah originally, my wife and I. And I'm working in Box Elder School District for 21 years in a variety of positions. Maybe one of my favorite was elementary principal, most enjoyable. But I started with the State Board of Education in 2017 as the Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning. And then this past year with some changes here at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, was asked to come over here around October in kind of a temporary or interim role. Then they opened the position formally after the legislative session and was appointed here in the May board meeting for the Utah State Board of Education.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. And tell us about Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. I think it's a unique model. And I think it's one that a lot of people probably don't understand.

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah. Yeah. So maybe one of the most interesting things about the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind is it actually was founded. The Schools for the Deaf was founded in 1884. Then the Schools for the Blind was founded the same year that we were put in statehood, which was 1896. So, Utah has had a strong interest in supporting some of our students who have these communication or sensory losses since before we became a state.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's remarkable.

Darin Nielsen:
I'm really proud to be in a state where that's true.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely. Tell us about the service model here in Utah for those who may not be familiar with it.

Darin Nielsen:
OK. We've got what's called a statewide multi-campus model. Some states will have a single campus. And students who are in need of those services will be transported there. And there will be residential students on that campus. You can imagine how challenging that would be for children and also for families to have that kind of separation. So Utah, the culture of Utah has really been family first. It's my experience growing up here and then also being a parent of five children in the state. So to have a multi-campus model that puts the services closer to where students live is really a reflection, again, of a value of the citizens of the state of Utah. So we have a campus in Ogden, a campus here in Salt Lake or Millcreek, a campus in Springville within the Nebo School District boundaries. And then we have one down in Washington County. We have a portable classroom at Bloomington Hills Elementary School, Washington County School District. It's been a great partner with us. And so we have a portable there on their campus. And then we have students in this past year at Snow Canyon High School. We had a classroom there where we were serving some students who were deaf, hard of hearing in that environment. We also have a temporary classroom in Carbon County in Price to help provide services to those students. And then -- those are for our campus services. But we also serve-- in fact, the majority of students we serve, we serve in their neighborhood schools through what we call outreach. So we provide outreach educators across the state of Utah. And they'll come in and they'll provide support to the students so they can be successful in what we would call special, the least restrictive environment, which is always a goal of that type of education. And then it might be interesting to some people. We actually begin providing services when children are born if they're identified as having sensory loss. We have great relationships with hospitals and other private service providers. And we're put in contact with parents. We provide what's called a Parent Infant Program. We begin training parents and supporting parents at the time of birth. So the PIP program or Parent Infant Program serves birth through three. And then we go into preschool services and then eventually K-12.

Anthony Godfrey:
Amazing. Do we have any residential schools where students come and live?

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah, we do. We have on our Ogden campus, we have cottages, residential living for both students who are deaf, hard of hearing, and students who are blind, low vision. It's a small number of students that fall into that category of services. Might be also interesting for the community to know that students get placed within our programs through their neighborhood schools. So we, unlike charter schools or other entities that go out and recruit students, we don't do that. We are part of the Individual Education Programming services for children. And they get access to our programs through their local school districts. So those teams, which include the parents, make decisions about what services students need and where is the best place for them to get those. So we do have some students that live in our cottages, our residential life up in our Ogden campus. They'll typically come in to us on a Saturday, a Sunday night. Our transportation looks a little different, too. We don't have big yellow school buses. We have vans, because our transportation often is point to point and it's often one or two students per route because—

Anthony Godfrey:
Point to point, meaning you pick them up right at their home and bring them right to school.

Darin Nielsen:
Right to the door so they're not out at a bus stop typically. And they'll come from all over. We've got a student this past year that their home is down in Southwest Utah, I think south of Blanding. For that student, their family and education team made a decision that would be best for that student to come up and receive services during the week. But that's rare. We also have some neighboring states that --  we have two students from Wyoming this past year that Wyoming wasn't able to meet their educational needs. So they contract was Utah, pay the full cost of services. And we have a couple students that come to our campus in Ogden from Jackson Hole area, Star Valley area, and spend the week and then go home.

Anthony Godfrey:
How many students do you serve total?

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah, that's a great question.

Anthony Godfrey:
To varying degrees, because obviously there are different service plans for various students, depending on their needs and their location.

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah. Yeah, our total students statewide, this would include our Parent Infant Program, preschool, our campus students outreach this past year. Well, the past year being from our annual report from '24, '25 was 2,218. And across the course of the year, we served 415 students on our various campuses.

Anthony Godfrey:
So 415 on campus and about 1,600 not on—

Darin Nielsen:
Through outreach services.

Anthony Godfrey:
--campuses throughout, yeah.

Darin Nielsen:
So this past year, there were 71 students from Jordan School District that we provide outreach services to in their schools within your boundaries. And in that case, traveling, a lot of times, they'll have more than one student in a school, in a particular school. And it's pretty close geographically. All the traffic can be challenging in these urban areas. But it could look a lot like you're and out back in a day, and you're in multiple sites in a day, and less burdensome. And then in southeastern and southwestern Utah, we can have an educator that might have to drive half a day for one, to provide services for one student.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, the bottom line is that wherever you are, whatever your needs are, we're going to find a way to come to you or to make sure that as a student, you're able to come to those services, if that's what you prefer. I love that it's been happening since before we became a state, that we've been trying to meet the needs of students who are deaf, blind, or limited vision, or hard of hearing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. We'll tour the Millcreek Salt Lake campus of the Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

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

Sandy Riesgraf:
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 @Jordan District. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
As you come into the position, what impact have you seen these educators have on students and families?

Darin Nielsen:
Yes, I'll share a couple of examples. One of our Parent Infant Program nights that I attended back in, I think, January. I had the privilege of sitting at a table with two sets of parents. One was a very young parent. Reminded me of my youngest son. They were probably in their early 20s. It's their first child who's dealing with blind, low vision issues. On my right side and then on my left side, I've got parents that are closer to my demographic. This is not their first child. It's not even their first child that's been dealing with vision loss. So, they've been connected with the Schools for the Deaf and Blind through a prior child. So they're kind of like the experts on this. Both sets of those parents, sitting between them, listening to them talk about their experiences and what the services the Schools for the Deaf and Blind are providing. That's through the PIP, that Parent Infant Program. They got emotional about that. And watching their children who were sitting there with them, if you would have been watching from a distance and just kind of observing, you might not even have known that they had that sensory loss. Then at graduation this last year, we had 17 graduates, all from our Schools for the Deaf, hard of hearing. Did it here in our gymnasium. And one of the unique things about our graduation is every graduate gets to speak. You can't do that in—

Anthony Godfrey:
That would take a while for most of our schools.

Darin Nielsen:
So they all get to speak and in this case, usually through ASL. And then an interpreter for those of us who aren't fluent in that language ASL. But listening to them talk about the experiences they've had over the course of their full educational continuum to this point, and talk about individual teachers and services. Some of them talked about their enrichment programs that we've mentioned that we discussed earlier. Some of them had taken them some years ago to Japan on an international trip, which they brought up. And the relationships that they were able to establish with their peers. Because here on our campus programs, especially deaf, hard of hearing, have the opportunity to have more natural relationships with peers because they can communicate directly with them without the use of an interpreter.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. We talk a lot about a Portrait of a Graduate in this state. When someone graduates from Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, what do you hope they take away from their experience?

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah. Well, we also have a Portrait of a Graduate for our Schools for the Deaf and Schools for the Blind. Interestingly enough, they both developed-- both of those schools developed those before I came here. But I know that we hope that just like every parent, we hope as we work with the parents, we hope that they leave our educational system ready for the next step in their lives. Whatever they've chosen that to be, that they're able to be productive, happy individuals that contribute to the community in response to what our taxpayers who pay for these services hope that we are aligned with that as well. In our case, we hope they have accessibility, increased accessibility to the world, and also to relationships and people through the things they've been able to learn here and the programs we've been able to provide for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Let's take a walk through the facility and get to know the school a little bit.

Darin Nielsen:
This is space we have here. Obviously, the gym and the area down there. And then on this—

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's kind of a home base for educators who travel and are helping at various locations.

Darin Nielsen:
Our outreach educators are in northern Utah. This is kind of a home base where you'll see on a work day, you'll see them at different stations, sometimes doing ASL.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a beautiful open space here. It's nice.

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah, and one of the things that I noticed, especially at the Ogden campus, being somebody who's not as sensitive to accessibility as I should be or could be, I walk into the building. I've started to become much more conscientious about colors and changes on corners and for blind low vision as students. Something like when we put up our Christmas tree in the front entry of the Ogden campus, you have to think about that's now in a space that people are comfortable walking through that are blind. And so to acknowledge that, we put pine scent on the tree so you'd be able to smell that there's something—

Anthony Godfrey:
I see.

Darin Nielsen:
--in front of you. They have their canes as well that help them avoid—

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm sure you look at public spaces in a very different way.

Darin Nielsen:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Let's go down these stairs. Used to be a charter school and was acquired by the state. It's our largest campus program for our students who are deaf, hard of hearing. Not surprising because we're in the urban areas. We have a lot of student population.

Anthony Godfrey:
So now we're in the older portion?

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah, our AMS building. This space is dedicated for our students who are deaf, hard of hearing. We provide services K through 12 over here.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do services look like over the summer? You have the camps?

Darin Nielsen:
Yeah, you see here that just like your buildings, your custodial, your facilities team is doing all their deep work in the summer. So the space inside the building is less available. But we do-- we have camps that we provide. Because our students are located across the state, a lot of our camps are spread out. We will put them in different locations to try to become more accessible or available to students that live outside or off of the Wasatch Front. A lot of times we'll partner with those camps, with other entities that provide services to students as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for hosting us here. And it's really nice to-- I've never been to this building. And so it's really nice to be here and learn more about the program and the people and the services that you provide. This is probably not where you expected to be when you started off. But I'm very glad you're here serving our students.

Darin Nielsen:
I feel very fortunate to be able to spend some time with these great people and students and families here.

Anthony Godfrey:
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.

Ian:
So upgraded technology for the classrooms. We will be improving the natural lighting here at the school.

Scott:
Right now we would estimate that building a new school like this would be somewhere between 250 and $300 million and we think this is about an $80 to $85 million renovation overall, so there's a huge difference in savings to the taxpayers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are building for the future at West Jordan High School in more ways than one right now, as extensive renovations begin inside the 45-year-old building. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside West Jordan High School where an extreme makeover will transform many parts of the school, bringing it up to date and into more modern times. It's a makeover that is expected to save District taxpayers more than $100 million compared to the cost of a full rebuild. Let's check it out.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are at West Jordan High School talking with several of the people involved in the extensive remodel that has begun this summer. Introduce yourselves.

Mike:
I'm Mike Hutchings, the principal here at West Jordan High School.

Scott:
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services.

Ian:
And Ian Roberts, the Director of Facility Services.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ian, tell us a little bit about the overall timeline and the need for remodeling West Jordan High School.

Ian:
So overall timeline of this project: we're looking at doing it in three phases. Beginning currently so we are under construction as we speak, and we will complete the construction in fall of 2029. We're going to be doing a handful of updates to the finishes in the building which include floor ceiling walls. I'm going to do some updates to some lighting, some plumbing, mechanical systems, life safety, ADA compliance, and then a couple little additions to accommodate some of the needs of the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
2029 sounds like a long ways away unless you're responsible for completing the entire renovation of West Jordan High School by that time. Then it feels pretty close. What are some of the enhancements that West Jordan will enjoy? What are some things that will be available that aren't currently available?

Ian:
So upgraded technology for the classrooms, so we will kind of be on par with a lot of our other high schools and the equipment that they've got in their spaces. We will be improving the natural lighting here at the school. So, the Commons area is actually going to raise, and then we're going to cut in some additional windows throughout to kind of help with the staff and students' well-being here at the school. And then obviously the additions and classrooms are going to fulfill the needs that the schools have got there as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to walk through the building in a few minutes, but Scott, tell us about how this fits in with other renovation projects we've done. This is the second high school renovation.

Scott:
Correct. We did Bingham High several years ago, and this fits in well with that. I mean, we're going to end up saving a lot of money by doing this renovation versus building a new school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk about the difference in price between a renovation and building a new school.

Scott:
Well, right now we would estimate that building a new school like this would be somewhere between $250 and $300 million. And we think this is about an $85 million renovation overall. So there's a huge difference in savings to the taxpayers. We feel good about that. We know that every area of this building will be touched to some degree. And we're just excited for the outcome and for the improvements that everybody will enjoy.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Bingham was our first high school renovation in West Jordan. West Jordan is the oldest high school that has not been renovated.

Scott:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Bingham was the older building. And talk to me about what the staging process has been. All those portables out front. And what's the plan for allowing this to go a little faster than it might if we were restricted to those summers that seem shorter and shorter every year?

Scott:
Yeah. Well, we learned some things in the Bingham renovation. We have nine -- basically we have nine good weeks in the summer to try and get an awful lot of work done. So we learned from the Bingham renovation, we were a little more strategic on this project in that we decided we'd work on it year-round. We'd take larger bites during the summer months and smaller bites during the school year. And to accommodate that, we moved in 12 portables out in the parking lot. We created some additional parking that when this project is over, the school will enjoy some enhanced and greater parking. But we moved some portable classrooms out there so that we can take those smaller bites during the school year and still accommodate the teaching and learning needs of our students.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is the expected life span of this school once it's been renovated? This takes care of some seismic issues, technology issues, makes spaces available in the school that weren't thought of when this school was built. So with all those enhancements, how long do we expect the building to last?

Scott:
We would expect this building, after everything's done, to last at least another 40 years. It really extends the life of this building.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me from the principal's perspective, what are some of the things you're looking forward to most? And how are people feeling about having their innovation? It gets worse before it gets better, but it gets a lot better.

Mike:
Yes, I think overall people are pretty excited about it and are willing to go through some difficult times here in the next couple years to get to that end result. But as we went through and planned this, we walked through several high schools, some brand-new, some remodels. One thing that I felt was pretty interesting was in some of the remodels, there were just bits and pieces of areas that were touched. Here, the plan is every classroom, every part of the building is going to be remodeled. So we're excited about the additions, we're excited about just the overall better learning spaces that we'll have. And there's just a lot to be excited about.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's something to keep in mind. There's a lot of intentionality about deciding how those learning spaces are structured and making sure that this is an environment where it's enjoyable to be for eight hours a day. There are some very specific things we can do to enhance learning in terms of making sure the learning environment is everything it ought to be. It also helps with school spirit to have this new exciting building and to have the opportunity to update. It's kind of the best of both worlds. It's an update, but it's also the traditional building that everyone is fond of and connected to.

Mike:
Yeah, absolutely. In fact, even though we aren't at the point of enjoying the new parts yet, just the fact that we're starting to see some changes in the buildings brought a lot of excitement and school spirit.  

Anthony Godfrey:
We've seen a lot of interest from the community as well, people who went to West Jordan, who are excited to see things updated. Now you were able to sit down and be part of the discussions about what was needed. What were some of the things you talked about?

Mike:
Yeah, like I said, we felt like it was important that first of all the classrooms were addressed. So we have new technology. We have plans of having ceiling-to-floor whiteboards. Just a lot of things built in that we feel like could facilitate better learning. Some smaller areas outside of the classroom where students can meet in small group situations, discuss things, come up with projects, those things. But yeah, it was a pretty extensive project as we looked back at just the planning stages of it. I looked back at my email just to get some information about some things I needed to discuss with somebody and some of those discussions started well over a year ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Mike:
And so –

Anthony Godfrey:
A lot of work, a lot of thought, and a lot of planning went into it. And the Board wrestled a lot with exactly what to do. And I think everyone's excited about the path that we chose, where we save a lot of money, but we get a lot of advantages for students once this renovation is done. But it's also exciting to be part of it, to be here and to see the transformation, which is what we're going to do now. Let's walk out and take a look at some of the changes that are happening now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. More inside the renovation at West Jordan High School.

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

Female Voice:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of Career and Technical Education, CTE, in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or for a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the kids' marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District, visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long have you been principal here?

Mike:
This is going into my fourth year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Into your fourth year and you've done some rebranding in addition to the remodeling. You changed the logos and there's some Easter eggs in those logos.

Mike:
Yeah, we did. We, in fact, on one of the logos we have the number of spots on the jaguar, the number of people in the first graduating class.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.

Mike:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which is?

Mike:
Which is, I can't remember the exact number, but it was around in the 120s if I remember correctly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's so cool. That is great. Now we're in the jackhammer zone. Things are happening. We're going past the sign that says "Danger Construction. Keep out." And we're into the Commons area here. Wow, that looks really big when there are no tables here. So, Ian, talk to us about what's happening here in the Commons.

Ian:
So here in the Commons, we're actually going to bring the floor up. It is recessed currently. We're actually going to bring everything up to the same level. It will help us with some ADA accessibility. In addition to the floor, we are going to raise the ceiling and add some lights and some windows to bring in more of that natural light and make it look a little more—

Anthony Godfrey:
The larger the room, the higher the ceiling needs to be so you don't feel like you're trapped in this little very claustrophobic space.

Ian:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
So raising the floor and raising the ceiling, some additional lighting, and those are some things that have happened in other schools, not just the Bingham remodel as well.

Ian:
That is correct. So we-- I don't want to say that we've modeled this after Alta, but we've definitely got some ideas from the construction that's taken place there.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have multiple buildings in the District, and Alta, of course, was previously part of Jordan School District. So, at various times and various stages, we would adopt a model and then build multiple high schools or elementaries with that same floor plan, and then kind of modify as the years go on. So, we've learned from the remodel of Alta is what you're saying.

Ian:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about how this space is used by students and how this is going to help once we have a more inviting space here.

Mike:
So this-- yeah, this is definitely one of the gathering spaces in the school. One thing that I'm excited about is we have a few spaces that are multi-use spaces that can be used for some classroom instruction, some meetings, banquets, a whole host of things. And so this is one-- the Tech Atrium is probably the room that I'm most excited about in the building. It will have some big-screen TVs up in the front, retractable seating, so it can be used for some large meetings as well as some banquets and being able to move tables in and have some small group things as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
I understand that as part of the demolition you uncovered a board signed by some student body officers with a statement about a rival school. Is that accurate?

Mike:
That is accurate.

Anthony Godfrey:
We will not name that school, but I'm wondering whether you are going to hide anything in this remodel, maybe sign a board or bury a time capsule or something. Is there-- are there any plans for memorializing yourself or your student body officers here?

Mike:
We don't have any specific plans yet, but I can guarantee that we will build that in somehow.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, what I just heard is that you aren't going to tell me what your plans are, but you have it all cooked up and ready to go.

Mike:
You might be right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right. Perfect. That's fair enough. All right, let's take a look at the gymnasium. One of the features of schools built this way is that you have one large gym to divide off rather than separate gyms.

Mike:
Correct. So we have, yeah, three gyms in one currently.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what are the changes that are going to happen here?

Mike:
So as far as the gym itself goes, we will still have the gym that's on the far west side. We'll have the main gym in the middle, but then on the east side, on that third gym, we will be building a hallway between the two gyms and we'll have an additional auxiliary gym that we'll be able to use.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's going to be nice to be able to be in a completely separate room because right now a curtain just doesn't do the trick.

Mike:
Correct. And so you imagine cheer and drill trying to practice at the same time with their different music, those type of things. It'll be possible to have them practice at the same time in the two different gyms.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think it would be easy to underestimate just how many activities are going on at a high school and just how much space you need to be sure students have all those opportunities.

Mike:
Yeah, our gyms are currently used nonstop.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. We just opened the door going outside from the gym and we walk into lots of dirt that will be the new weight room. Talk to us about this, Scott.

Scott:
I'll let Ian take this one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ian, tell us about how this dirt is going to turn into a weight room and the need for that.

Ian:
So, yeah, they've gone ahead and excavated the asphalt and concrete in this area. Going to add some footings and foundation walls. This particular space is going to house the dance room, the weight room, and the aerobics.

Anthony Godfrey:
These are amenities that have not been available previously. The weight room was here, but it was very small.

Ian:
Pretty similar with each of these programs, I believe.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm a guy who needs a large weight room. I need a lot of variety, work all those muscle groups, and I'm glad these kids will be able to do that. Hutch, you know what I'm talking about, right?

Mike:
I do, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. So, how about parking spaces ultimately? Again, this is a situation where it's going to get worse before it gets better. This is part of the driver ed lot and the parking lot. What's the net result on parking space?

Ian:
I believe we're almost a -- we will equal out when this project is complete. So, once those portable classrooms move out of the front of the school, I believe we're going to maintain the same amount of parking that we've had. In this back area, where we have taken some parking, we are going to expand to the west to create some additional parking, which the new building footprint has overtaken.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's -- West Jordan has always enjoyed a larger footprint, I think, than a lot of our schools. So, there's space to expand and still have lots of practice fields out there.

Mike:
Correct. Yeah, we'll have to coordinate a little bit better on some of the spaces that we do currently have. But the great thing about West Jordan High School is there is a lot of grass space that we will be able to maintain.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're having some nice upgrades out back with concession stand in the not too distant past and good field space and a great stadium out there. Tell me about the Black Box Theater that we're adding.

Mike:
So, right now we have some small theater presentations that we put some seating up on stage and just have an intimate performance there. We'll be able to use that Black Box Theater for those types of performances. In addition to that, we'll just be able to use it for a lot of our arts needs to be able to perform and practice and those type of things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Lots of performances can be held there and meetings and that sort of thing. And again, that's something that other schools have had access to that, because of the age of the building, just wasn't included in the original plans for West Jordan High School.

Mike:
Yeah, and in addition to that, we'll be able to use it as a classroom by our theater teacher, so it'll be used on a daily basis.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, the auditorium here actually has a feature that no other auditorium has, and that's closing off those rooms at the back corners of the auditorium. I've always thought that was interesting. These tracks and these walls that you can close in to get a couple of enclosed classrooms at the back of the auditorium during the school day.

Mike:
Yeah, it's pretty interesting, those accordion doors.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you're going to have to give up those accordion doors probably. Can you spare those?

Mike:
So the Black Box Theater space will be right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Mike:
So in addition to that Black Box space, it's going to be nice because we're going to have some large entry doors, and these doors will be larger as well. So it's going to be easier to get props in and out to be able to use with the auditorium.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. Well, this is really exciting. Can't wait to see it, and I'm glad you're here to set that vision and really create a legacy here at West Jordan for decades to come.

Mike:
We're all very excited about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ian, Scott, thanks for all your hard work making this possible, putting our taxpayer dollars to great use and saving money and creating an incredible space for students.

Scott:
Thank you.

Ian:
Thank you.

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

Alan Barnett:
We get all kinds of requests from people who are writing books, people who are doing genealogy, and then sometimes it's just people who are even writing their own personal history and they need to go back at verified date. Sometimes there are people who need evidence of having lived a certain place at a certain time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It could offer a window into the past for you or a loved one when it comes to your good old school days, dating back to 1890 and even before. It houses historical gems dating back to the formation of Jordan School District and beyond. On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we take a walk down memory lane at the Utah State Archive and Records Service. Find out what we uncover about Jordan School District's rich history as a school district and what you might be able to discover about your own time in one of our schools many, many years ago.

We are here at the Utah State Archives with Alan Barnett talking a little bit about the history of Jordan School District and education in Utah. Alan, thanks for taking time today.

Alan Barnett:
Glad to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and about the Utah State Archive.

Alan Barnett:
So I've worked here at the State Archives for about 23 years. Before that, I worked at the State Historical Society. So I'm really interested in Utah history and interested in records and preserving that history and the records that have been created over time about the state. The State Archives is a government agency, state government agency, that has the task of preserving historic records of government in the state of Utah. And so that includes everybody from the governor, the legislature, UDOT, Department of Health, all the state agencies, plus the State Board of Education. So on the state level but then also local agencies, local state agencies or government agencies, which would include cities, towns, counties, school districts and other special service districts.

Anthony Godfrey:
Today we're going to go over some of the physical files that you have, documents. As I recall at a certain point we can send documents to you to store. Is that right?

Alan Barnett:
Yes, in fact state law states that records that have historic value and not all do and so some records get destroyed after a certain period of time. Your, you know, accounts payable, that kind of stuff have a retention that where they're destroyed after a certain period of time. But the records that have permanent historical value, the law states that they can stay in the agency that created them, but once the agency no longer needs those records, then they are to go to the State Archives. That we are the place that they that they are supposed to go. So those are the only two places that those records should be. Sometimes they leak out and get other places, but that's what the law stipulates. So yeah, when the school districts gets to a point, this often happens when a school closes or when a school is being torn down and replaced. That's a time when they'll go through their records and contact us and say, “We have all these old records. Can you take them?” And we are obligated by law to take on those records and take on the preservation and access to those records.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the types of documents that have to be preserved forever? There are, I know there are lots that have nine years or a certain number of years where you can destroy them after about a decade, but my recollection is that grades and attendance have to be kept permanently. Is that correct?

Alan Barnett:
Yes, so school board minutes, which you know sort of tell that that overall view of what's happening in the school district, those are kept permanently but student records are another important record that need to be kept permanently so that there's a record of a person's education, their experience, their experience going through school and then. So we'll often keep roll books which track students where they went to school when.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, when a teacher says, “This is part of your permanent record,” that means something in the state of Utah?

Alan Barnett:
Yes yes yeah because it will end up it will end up here and you know and you can come look at it. While those records are restricted for a period of time because of privacy concerns, at some point your grandchildren can come we'll be able to come look at them.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're gonna know what your seventh grade physical education grade was second quarter. They can check that out? Okay, think twice. So talk to me about the physical facility before we get into some specific documents. If all these entities can send you their documents, where do they get stored and how?

Alan Barnett:
So we have a pretty large storage facility here.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is kind of like Raiders of the Lost Ark where you go in and there all those these boxes and you'll never find . . .

Alan Barnett:
Well, our goal is that you can actually find it, but it is a big room full of boxes except that the boxes have all been bar coded and they're in the computer. So if I'm looking, and that's what I did this morning as I went in and I did a little bit of searching, and said “what do we have from Jordan School District?” and then I can say, “well I want these box, this boxes with these barcodes. We actually have a robot system that will pull those from the shelving and so I asked someone to pull a couple boxes that we could look at it so yeah so they are . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
You said we asked someone. You mean your robot co-workers?

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, the person who runs the robot. Okay, I want these I want these boxes and they'll punch that in. The robot will go on lift the shelf units off. I can show you . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
It is kind of exciting that the robot got these documents for us. Are we gonna visit with the robot? Will we get a picture with the robot?

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s go get a picture with the robot.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, I think when we get down here we can go and I'll show you the robot because it is interesting to see.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's her name?

Alan Barnett:
There have been discussions about names, but no names have stuck.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh okay, all right. We're gonna change that. We're naming the robots today. It's gonna happen, naming the robots.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah so it is interesting, it's kind of a high-tech way of storing but it's a it allows us to do very compact storage and get a lot of records stored in a small space.

Anthony Godfrey:
And still be able to retrieve them

Alan Barnett:
And still be able to retrieve them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, I have one more question before we get into the specific documents. Talk to me about some of the more out of the ordinary requests that you've had for records.

Alan Barnett:
You know we get all kinds of requests from people who are writing books, people who are doing genealogy, we get a lot of genealogy requests, and then sometimes it's just people who were maybe even writing their own personal history, and they need to go back and verify dates. It's funny, a couple of weeks ago, we had somebody contact us who was looking for exactly when she went to middle school and she had a bet with her parents . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Alan Barnett:
Yes, she insisted that she was in middle school in sixth grade, and they did not think so. I was a little bit surprised that the parents would think that they would remember better than she did because who doesn't remember what school they were in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Alan Barnett:
And so she wanted her sixth grade school record. Sure enough, she was right; she was in middle school.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're settling bets, you're bringing families together.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah,

Anthony Godfrey:
Connecting people with their progenitors. That's perfect. Okay, so let's take a look at some of the documents that you pulled. Oh, excuse me, the robots pulled today.

Alan Barnett:
Yes

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's see what you have here.

Alan Barnett:
So the oldest thing that I could see right off was some roll books from the 1890s, and these are from Herriman School.

Anthony Godfrey:
From Herriman School in the 1890’s. Now that this predates Jordan School District.

Alan Barnett:
It actually predates Jordan School District but then Herriman School becomes part of the school district once the school district is formed. So the school district inherited these records

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So this is from 1892 to 1893 and 1893 to 94 attendance records.

Alan Barnett:
You can see it's a standardized book published by the state and so all the schools and I've seen these same these same books used schools throughout the state.

Anthony Godfrey:
J. S. Borman was apparently the Commissioner of Schools in Ogden, Utah and then. . . .

Alan Barnett:
It'll have the school, the teacher's name.

Anthony Godfrey:
Edward Orgall O- R-G-A-L-L, and there's. . .

Alan Barnett:
And there's all the students, a little bit doodling, yeah that’s always fun to see.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is some fancy handwriting.

Alan Barnett:
Yes really lovely.

Anthony Godfrey:
It took some time on that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow names of pupils, pupils they were pupils, huh? Branches pursued. That's fascinating, and the age of the students 10, 13, 7, 6, got them all mixed together here at Herriman School.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, I don't know Herriman, Herriman would have been a pretty small school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Alan Barnett:
November . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
They write that the date in a whole sentence, November the 10^th, 1893. Wow, huh.

Alan Barnett:
Then you can see their attendance.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now what's interesting here is you look at the information and it says the name of pupil and then it says color: W, B or I are the color options for each student. And of non-Mormon parents or of Mormon parents.

Alan Barnett:
It's really interesting at this time and I'm not sure exactly why but they're tracking who comes from Mormon families and who doesn't I'm not sure why they why they're collecting that information but during the 1890s they are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well it's printed right in the book, like when the book was produced, these are categories that were printed as a part of the template.

Alan Barnett:
It's because the state or rather the territory at this point in time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, territory of Utah not a territory of Utah.

Alan Barnett:
Yes, they they want to gather that information.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, and they also ask “can read and write, yes or no.” There's a column for can read or write, and write oh lots of yeses here. Good job yeah, Jordan School District that isn’t Jordan School District yet. Wow okay that's really something. Let's see, let's pull out an individual student, Clara Farmer, 12 years old, really good attendance. Good job Clara. Huh. Well everybody's gone who is in this book, that's for sure. Huh. Wow, okay very interesting. This book may not be requested for some time to come but I'm really glad . . .  oh Richard Farmer, maybe that's his, that's her older brother. Lots and lots with the last name Farmer. This is amazing.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah but if if I were interested in writing a history of Herriman or the schools in Herriman, this would be a really helpful source if I were doing genealogy and wanted to know if my great grandparents had been attending school this would give me some information about them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow and what's interesting here is that I don't see a page where they have marked whether they are of Mormon parents or not. Oh wait, there is one; there is one where they've marked that, interesting. Okay, stay with us when we come back; we'll meet the robot that helps the workers at the Utah archive access old records.

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

Sandy Riesgraf:
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, and 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:
What else do we have here?

Alan Barnett:
Well, so we have a collection of these going up, actually I didn't bring all of them out, but we have them going up quite a ways. I mean this gets into 1910-1911. I don't remember when Jordan School District was formed but . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that was in 1905, so this was Jordan School District at this point.

Alan Barnett:
Yes at this point then Herriman School had become part of . . . Prior to that time it would have operated its own school with its own school board, just locally in Herriman.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay now . . .

Alan Barnett:
and then they consolidate all the schools into a larger school district.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's called a Utah School Register and now we have jumped forward in time to 1910 the 1910-11 school year and it looks like Miss Davis is the teacher, and there are scores, The Scholarship Record it's called, for all of these different subjects. Here are the subjects reading, writing, spelling, language, geography, arithmetic, history, science, drawing, music, and hygiene. So hygiene scores were pretty high. Oh wait no, there are no hygiene scores. Okay, maybe she skipped that. Then there's a category promoted, demoted, retained, or graduated so not only could you retain someone, you could send them back, like “look third grade didn't go well we're sending it back to second,”

Alan Barnett:
It's interesting to see in that time period how many children were retained, means kept in the same grade, or occasionally demoted and it all depended on reaching a certain standard to move on and that's not done very much any these days. But it was it was really common at the time and sometimes . .

Anthony Godfrey:
It’s been brought back. The law has changed and in a few years for reading scores a student can be retained by law.

Alan Barnett:
This was, it was a way to make sure that students were achieving a certain level before they moved on. I think sometimes, especially in rural communities you would have you might have some of the kids who would miss enough school that they just wouldn't progress enough, you know, they might be at home working on the farm or that sort of thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I hope it isn't a breach of FERPA and privacy laws to say that Golda Butterfield in 1911 was retained for the third grade by Estella Davis, her teacher.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it looks like the low score is in language; she did pretty well otherwise, so you know hopefully Golda . . .

Alan Barnett:
Yeah. So they were evaluating the students every year to determine whether they were ready to move on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Priscilla Tempest repeated fourth grade it looks like, but Emma Crump and or Ogerita Eastman also got promoted from fourth to fifth grade.

Alan Barnett:
We have some more recent ones and here again, it's these are roll books published by the state, so they're all uniform and I've seen these from schools all over the state in this same format, but this is Mount Jordan Junior High which is now,  which is now part of the Canyon School District, but at this point in time in the 1950s it was part of Jordan School District.

Anthony Godfrey:
1954-1955. The year of James Dean. James Dean died in 1955, and we've got personal and general information for advisory period.

Alan Barnett:
So in this case you can see they've got all the students listed, they've got where they live, they’ve got who their parent or guardian is, what grade they're in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Date of birth yeah so there is a lot of good information here. More than, more so than when you go back to the 1800s. Ninth grade English Donna May Allsop is the teacher.

Alan Barnett:
It also is a good way to track down someone who was a teacher, so if you have an ancestor, if you're researching somebody who was a teacher, then you know you'll be able to find their names in in these and what grades they were teaching, or if it's in high school, what subjects they were teaching.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's pretty amazing to go back and look at the level of detail. I mean obviously it was the grade book, yeah but I mean all the names are typed in here so they and it's a little three-ring binder. The other books were quite large with hardbacks and kind of bound, kind of a hard binding but a very thin book. This is a let's see three-six-nine ring binder with kind of graph paper and all the names are typed on here.

Alan Barnett:
I think they're really dependent on the teacher. You see some teachers who are very particular about their record-keeping and some that are less.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, the UEA convention October 7th and 8^th-50s, there's the UEA convention October 7^th and 8th. Yeah,

Alan Barnett:
I remember I remember having school off for UEA convention when I was . .

Anthony Godfrey:
September 21st was Fair Day apparently, so you can also . . .  Boy, look at this attendance, grades. Looks like they had book reports and spelling and daily prep, and punctuation, capitals, and the library unit. This is when my dad would have been in high school actually, and this is middle school here.

Alan Barnett:
We have a bunch of records from Ogden School District as well and they're gonna . . . what we have depends on sort of what the school district or the school that decides they need to clear out and hopefully they know about us and that we can take those records on and they'll pass them on to us and so that's what's happened with these records. Well, let me just say so if people are interested what we have here is a is generally available to the public. There are some restrictions as you know FERPA puts restrictions on what you can see when but eventually things get old enough that none of that applies and they're just open to the public. But if you are interested in looking to some into some of this stuff, you just need to contact our research staff at our archives research at Utah.gov and then you set an appointment and come in, and you can request if you want records from a particular school, you can request those records and take a look at them. Sometimes if you're just looking for your own information, you have a right to see that, and so you we can get your copies of that. You can't, you may not if they're not old enough, you may not be able to get information about other students that would be redacted, but you could get your own record because you have a right to see that. Sometimes there are people who need evidence of having lived a certain place at a certain time. I see especially recently under RECA, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. We have had a big influx of people who are looking for their school records because they need to prove that they were living in Utah during these years when there was these nuclear tests going on.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is fascinating. Thank you very much for sharing.

Alan Barnett:
It’s fun to be able to share with you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's walk out and let's take a look out in the warehouse, the storage facility. Okay, okay so we're walking into the oh it has a smell of us of an old documents.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, you may smell some old documents. There are a lot of them here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it's cool, and it's cool.

Alan Barnett:
Yeah, so we keep it at 60 degrees because that keeping it a cooler temperature helps preserve the records longer. So the robot right now is shuffling. The shelving units are three deep, so to get to the one third back, you have to shuffle; you have to pull out the two in front of it and the robot knows all that and so it will pull out the two in front of it and then pull out the one that you want, bring it down and then will shuffle those in front back, back in in front of the bay that you asked for. We have over 50,000 boxes I think approaching 60,000 currently, and we regularly get more virtually every day. More and more things come in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Based on the work that we just saw, first of all, I would be very grateful for those robots. They do that; that's it that's amazing they take good care of the records. Here comes another set of boxes. Wow, high level of precision, but based on the work we're seeing right now, I'm gonna name this robot Penelope. I think Penelope is a nod to historical records. You know, it's an older name but still full of whimsy, so I'm gonna say Penelope. Thank you, Penelope. Thanks for your help. Well, this has been very enlightening. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk with you today, and thank you for taking care of our records all the way back.

Alan Barnett:
You are welcome.

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