Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is the state's largest two year college serving more than 60,000 students, offering 120 areas of study on 10 campuses in Salt Lake County. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with Salt Lake Community College President Deneece Huftalin. Find out how the college is making higher education affordable in ways you may have never imagined and how Jordan School District students can benefit from a new Salt Lake Community College campus in Herriman. 

We're here at Salt Lake Community College with President Deneece Huftalin. Thank you very much for taking time to talk with us.

Deneece Huftalin:
It is a pleasure to be with you. I'm happy to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Since becoming Superintendent, I've had the chance to meet with you on a regular basis, and I've loved seeing your enthusiasm for getting the word out about Salt Lake Community College. And the opportunities that not just high school age students, but people in the community have. The opportunities here to build from wherever they are. And you've just talked about some of the misunderstandings that people have about financing and what's available here. So I just thought it would be great for us to sit down here at the start of the school year and give some information to parents and students about the opportunities that are available through Salt Lake Community College. 

Deneece Huftalin:
So I can talk all day. How long? I've got lots of ideas to share with parents and students.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, let's do it. Let's talk right now. Let's just dive into it. What are some of the financial resources available for students? I know that's a lot of people, that's their first thought when they're thinking about college. 

Deneece Huftalin:
So the number one reason students tell us that they don't come to college or they leave college or is finance, and so I have several things I wanna say. First of all, college is more affordable than most parents think. And that is because I think they get a lot of news, national news about student debt. And most of that debt is driven off of Ivy League, high end, private liberal arts colleges who have really enormous tuitions. And often students never pay that sticker price anyway. Community College is not that. We do not have outrageous tuition. Our tuition, in fact, we're the lowest in the state for tuition and fees. And if you fill out the FAFSA and you qualify for federal financial aid, what's called a Pell Grant, we actually pay the difference of whatever you don't get through the feds, we will cover through a scholarship.

So for those students that are really maybe in the low, low to mid income brackets, who might qualify for a full Pell Grant, we will cover any difference that there is. So for certain students, college could literally be free. Now, not everybody's gonna qualify for a Pell. And so there are still some other ways that you can finance. So we have lots of scholarships that are available. We have lots of ways that we can help you understand what subsidized loans mean and whether that's the right way for you and your family to go. We're also starting to try to hire more people on campus that are students. So if you have to work, that's okay, but work on campus. Because if you work on campus, you're more likely to graduate. You're more likely to finish faster and probably with a stronger GPA. So the first thing I would say is to parents and students, you can afford SLCC. Make sure you talk to your advisor in high schools to figure out how to do that or come and see us and we’ll help you map that out.

But I would also say, and a lot of people are really worried about filling out the FAFSA for a variety of reasons. Some of them, I understand if you're, if you're a student that's has undocumented status right now, that can be very scary. There are scholarships for students that are undocumented. You don't even have to go to the federal forum. You just come talk to our folks in our dream center, we can help you fill that out. A lot of folks don't want to fill out the FAFSA because they don't want to share their tax information or they can't find their tax information. The IRS is making it easier now to pull that data from your tax right into the FAFSA form. So it's getting simpler and simpler. So before you run away from the FAFSA, which could actually give you free money, really, I want to  just implore parents and students to do it. We leave as a state, almost $32 million on the table, every year of free money that people could use to come to college. So FAFSA is your friend, sit with your college advisor. Most of the high schools now have college access advisors that can help you fill out the FAFSA. And that's just a remarkable resource that is really underutilized. So that's a big thing I wanna say.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me more about the technical credit certificates.

Deneece Huftalin:
Salt Lake Community College has degrees that we offer. So Associate of Science or Associate of Arts degrees. We also have certificates in our technical college. And so within Salt Lake Community College, we have both degrees that help you transfer to another institution and get your bachelor's degree. But we also have short term certificates that are technically focused, like welding or truck driving or diesel mechanics. That tuition is subsidized at a higher rate. So it's much cheaper to do a technical college certificate than it is a degree granting degree, if that makes sense. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Just the fact that there are technical college certificates available separate from degrees is a really important point. Because I think there's this misconception that coming to Salt Lake Community College means a step away from trades or away from careers like that. But if you are interested in those careers, the training is really gonna propel you.

Deneece Huftalin:
Yes. And so we are actually, we have always had the technical college embedded at Salt Lake Community College, but I think it's gotten lost in the shuffle a bit. So we've pulled it out this year and we're branding much differently. So Salt Lake Technical College, you're gonna start seeing that. You're gonna hear that on radio. You're gonna see ads. That's us. That's Salt Lake Community College and it's short term, technical credit at a much less expensive price point. For those short term certificates that are really skills based and are gonna get you out in the work world. And what's great about those is you can come and do a six month certificate, get a job, start making money. And then if you decide you wanna come back, many of those will transfer right into like an associate of applied science degree. So you can come back in a year or two and stack some general education onto that. And maybe now you have a degree that maybe helps you get even more upwardly mobile in your career. So students don't recognize that we are that Technical College, but we are, and they can find lots of information on our website. 

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other programs offered at Salt Lake Community College that are sometimes overlooked?

Deneece Huftalin:
I think it's not necessarily programs that have been, you know, overlooked. But I want students to understand that we are in the business of helping them discover what they care about. So if you don't know your major, that's okay, come on. You at least know that you love the arts or you love science or you are thinking about business. That's okay. That's as much as you have to intend right now. And then we'll help you refine that over the first, you know, first semester that you're here through lots of different resources.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's generals with a purpose. With a focus.

Deneece Huftalin:
Yes, exactly. Because what we found out, and this is a big shift to us, Community Colleges, and even some four year institutions, for years had a whole catalog of courses you could take just to explore and figure out what you were passionate about and there's merit to that. Right? There's merit to that kind of wandering and exploring because you take a class that you had no clue you loved. But we also found that students were wandering so long that they were spending money and time and it wasn't tracking into a degree and they started to feel either lost or like they were wasting their time. And in some cases they're wasting financial aid. I would argue you're never wasting anything when you're learning, but I understand you want relevance and you wanna be, you know, you wanna be efficient. So we're trying to help students be much more intentional on the front end. You don't have to zero in on the exact program, but we want you to at least get a little intentional about one of those major areas of study.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you wander with intent a little bit. 

Deneece Huftalin:
I love that. That's a good way to say it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with President Huftalin and how your student can benefit from a brand new Salt Lake Community College campus right here in Jordan District located in Herriman.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the ways that Salt Lake Community College is expanding?

Deneece Huftalin:
Yes. Love that question. So I would say two things. One is that we are what we call an emerging Hispanic serving institution. And what that means is nationally, the federal government designates certain higher ed institutions as Hispanic serving. And they do that when your student body becomes 25% or higher Hispanic or Latinx, we are at about 23% right now. And so what, what that means for us is that we have to pay attention to that demographic. And we have to look at the services and the curriculum and the way we do our business and do it with a lens towards serving Hispanic or Latinx students in a successful way. If that makes sense. So we're emerging. We haven't earned that designation yet, but we are expanding our thinking and our programs and our services to be a more welcoming student body, a more welcoming classroom environment for Latinx students. So, we're not really expanding, but we're expanding our thinking, right? And in our service. 

The other way we're physically expanding is our Herriman campus. And this one, I could just jump up and down for joy about that.

Anthony Godfrey:
We’re excited about that. Very excited.

Deneece Huftalin:
So if you haven't been to Herriman, and many of you are right there, that's coming out of the ground right now. A building that will open in next August 2023, we’ll be ready for students. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Amazing.

Deneece Huftalin:
It's a building that's going to house both Salt Lake Community College and the University of Utah. Right in the same building. So students can come right from high school, do their associate degree with us, walk across the hall, do their bachelor's degree. Never leave that Southwest quadrant, right? Save time, save money, save gas, all of that. So we're thrilled about that. And we want you to watch for that, especially those of you that are in Herriman high schools. We're gonna be out and about this fall and early spring, we have some exciting scholarships that are gonna be available for Herriman high school students to come to that campus. We've got scholarships that are intended for students that live in that area that have some college, but they never finished their degree. And we're gonna say with some financial help come back and we're gonna help you. Whether it's the U or us, we're gonna help you finish. So that's really exciting. And we're right across from the Monarch stadium and where Monarch plays, the Real Academy. It's a beautiful building. We have 90 acres on that campus, so we're gonna grow even more over time down there. But I just think it's really exciting and we're happy to have a pipeline for all those amazing students that you have in your high schools. And we want 'em to come to us and to the U.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a thrill to have you coming to the neighborhood. And to have that partnership with the University of Utah. You can start at Salt Lake Community College and you can move to trades, to a university. There are all kinds of places you can go with this as your launching pad.

Deneece Huftalin:
Yeah. I cannot say that enough. A lot of students think of us in one way. And what I wanna say is you can have a six month certificate here. You can have a two year degree here. You can go a lot of different ways by starting at Salt Lake Community College.

I was just last night, I ran into a restaurant quick, and I ran into one of our students and she was just thrilled. She was in her second year here. She didn't know what she wanted to study. She came to Salt Lake Community College last year. She figured it out. She's on track to transfer to the U next year. And she couldn't be happier, but she just had that kind of support. We have small classes. We have faculty that are amazing. I think for many students, we are a high quality college, but we are maybe a little less intimidating than some of the four year universities. And so for some students that have a little, maybe aren't as academically confident as they should be, because they're brilliant we'll help 'em get their start.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. And being out in the Southwest quadrant is really gonna make a difference. Location means a ton because it is intimidating to think about going this far away and trying to work, and manage a family, whatever else is going on in your life. So we love that you're coming out to our neck of the woods.

Deneece Huftalin:
Yeah. We realized about, well probably five, six, maybe longer years ago, we had a consultant come in and say, how are you serving the Salt Lake county? You know, are you doing what you should be doing? And what they told us back then was that we were not representing the Northwest quadrant very well. And we weren't representing the Southwest quadrant. And that was a lot of growth. So we put our sites on Herriman years ago and to just see that coming out of the ground, and see that starting to really happen after so many years of planning, I'm so excited. 

Anthony Godfrey:

I know it's been talked about for a long time and it's pretty amazing to me that it's happening in a year that it starts. It's great. You've spoken to this a little bit, but what are some of the misconceptions out there about Salt Lake Community College that you'd like to correct?

Deneece Huftalin:
Yes. I think we've kind of alluded to some of them, but the first one I would say is that you can afford college. One of the things I didn't mention earlier, which is really important, is we've kept our tuition down. We've strengthened our scholarships. We will help you fill out the FAFSA. So tuition and fees we've really focused on, but a lot of students then have to buy textbooks when they go into their classes. And the other thing we've done is many of our general education classes, that most students have to take, we've removed textbooks from the curriculum. We do what's called Open Education Resources. So these are public domain, high quality textbooks. So a student pays $5 instead of $250 at the bookstore and has access to all the materials for the class. So in and of itself, in addition to lowering tuition, now you don't have another bill at the bookstore, right?

So there's all these other levers that we're trying to pull. We have childcare vouchers to try to keep childcare costs down. We have free transportation on UTA and the Frontrunner to try to keep transportation costs down. So we are really trying to think about all of the other costs that, you know, really start to add up for students and try to remove those barriers. So that's a misconception. I think that you can't afford it. 

And the other thing is, you already mentioned it is that we are one thing, right? You come to Salt Lake Community to get an associate degree. No, you can come and get a six month technical certificate. You can come and get a one year certificate that could then stack into a degree. You can come and get a two year degree and go on to the U or Weber or UVU or wherever you wanna go for your baccalaureate degree. So there's a lot of ways that you can go in terms of your learning and your career. 

And then the third thing I would say is that while we do have a lot of students, well, we have all of our students commute. We don't have student housing, yet. We're working on that. But there is a sense of student life here. Like if you're looking for a collegiate experience, right. And you think you can only get that by going to the U or going to Weber. You know, I would argue that our student leaders who are planning events, we have clubs that are very vibrant, very engaged. We have short term study abroad trips that students can afford and can go on. So some of those things that you think about for a typical four year environment, you can find here. It's not just a commuter school where you come and go, you can really get engaged. Our athletic programs are amazing. They always do phenomenal work. They number one in many, many ways. Our basketball team is great. Our soccer team was national champion. So if you want that kind of, you know, collegiate experience, quote unquote, we have that to offer. And a lot of students don't know that.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. Tell me about your background and your journey to becoming president of Salt Lake Community College.

Deneece Huftalin:
Well, my background is in student affairs. So when I went to the University of Utah as an undergraduate and I graduated in what was called Organizational Communication. Which really just meant that I was studying, you know, communication in businesses and industry. And it was really a degree that let me go lots of different places. And it happened that when I graduated from the U, I moved to California and I got a job at Stanford in the admissions office. And it was really just an entry level, you know, fun place to work. But what I realized there was that you could actually make a career working on college campuses. I'd never thought about that before. And I loved my college experience and I loved that time of life where you're kind of figuring out who you are and you're being exposed to new ideas and, you know, new ways of thinking.

So I ended up finding student affairs at the higher ed level as kind of a career path. I landed here at Salt Lake Community College in student affairs more than 30 years ago, actually. I'd been around in California and Illinois and I came back to Utah. So I really grew up at Salt Lake Community College. I was mostly in student affairs, loved it. And then eventually became the vice president and really was quite happy working with students. I loved students. But the presidency became open. And I was encouraged to apply by some people that I really admired and trusted. And I've loved it. I'm in my ninth year now as president. And it's just a, I guess I feel honored to be part of this environment and it's fun to represent this environment and it's just fun to see the change and the trajectory that we can play as part of someone's journey. It's cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you're passionate enthusiasm for students and college life and education just shines through every time I see you. So thank you. It's exciting to get to talk with you about it. Any last thoughts for parents and students?

Deneece Huftalin:
I would just say if you're a parent and you have questions, do not hesitate to call or come to a campus and go walk up to one of our information centers and say, I'd love to talk to someone in your admissions office, or I'd love to hear from someone in your advising office. We have really remarkable staff who can answer a lot of questions. And I feel like students and parents often don't take advantage of those resources. So don't stay at home wondering what you should do, come and talk to us and we'll help you get on the right path.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, and congratulations on being so intentional about taking those barriers down to admission and, and making a path forward for people who maybe didn't think this was for them. So thank you for everything you're doing to support our district and our students and families.

Deneece Huftalin:
Oh, it's my pleasure. We love our partnership and we're gonna do even more. So stay tuned, watch for what we can do for Herriman high school and the scholarships.

Anthony Godfrey:
Exciting things are ahead. Thanks again, President Huftalin.

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.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. A fun new campaign that focuses on kids being kind to one another is taking off at Midas Creek Elementary School. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out what “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness'' is all about and how the music themed campaign is creating lots of kindness rock stars at the school. The campaign kickoff involved a concert of course, and I was invited to DJ. You're about to find out how I did.

We are here with Principal Megan Cox at Midas Creek Elementary. “Rockin and Rollin with Kindness”, that's the program. How are you?

Megan Cox:
Yeah. Doing well, doing great this year.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about this program.

Megan Cox:
Yeah, so every year we like to focus on kindness. And so I asked my teachers what sort of thing we wanted to do, and they wanted to go with a rock and roll theme. So we pulled our PTA in and they helped us make the magic happen. So our whole school is decked out in rock and roll through the genres and the decades. And we just kind of pull it into everything that we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, your faculty and your PTA are obviously fabulous because there's some incredible decorations through there. When you guys do a theme, you really do a theme.

Megan Cox:
Yes. Yeah. We don't go small. We go big. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
You went big. There are inflated guitars and like the flying V guitar and bands that kids need to know about. I saw a poster of the Ramones. Too many people wear a Ramone shirt. They do not even know who they are. Now the children will know.

Megan Cox:
They will know. They will know the good bands of all generations.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the focus on kindness over the years.

Megan Cox:
Yeah, so we have teachers nominate two kids every month who are being kind in the classroom, or out of the classroom, and kids can nominate each other. And then they get an award. Every month I come over the Intercom and we celebrate every child in every grade for the kind things that they're doing. I announce why they were chosen and they get to come down and they get a certificate, get their picture taken. And then we post that picture all month long. Until the next group is chosen.

Anthony Godfrey:
The things that get focused on by the school, by PTA, by faculty, and by you as the principal are the things that kids understand to be important. And I love that you have emphasized kindness. By the time the student has gone through seven years at Midas Creek, the message should have sunk in and really be a part of who they are day to day. That they're kind to each other.

Megan Cox:
Yeah. And our sixth graders, we choose student leaders, the classes choose the leaders every year, and they get to come up with a mission of what they would like to do. And so our last few years they wanted to include buddy benches. So we raised money as a school and we have buddy benches at our playground so that the kids can sit there and find friends and look for people that need a friend. And they do our announcements every day and they share a quote about kindness to the whole school. So that it really is a big message here that we're trying to have these kids really take on and help other kids at our school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I love that. We really have to create an environment where everyone's looking out for each other. Everyone feels like they belong and everyone's connected, because I think it prevents all kinds of problems, but it also helps with learning. That's really the ultimate focus is that when you're kind to each other, then you create an environment where learning can happen. Now tell me about the themes over the years.

Megan Cox:
So last year we did a Harry Potter theme, which was so much fun. We had kindness keepers, so they were part of the Quidditch team. And that was their monthly thing that they had, which was great. And our school was Hogwarts last year, everyone was divided up into houses and earning points by being kind. So it really was a big fun theme last year. And then the year previous we did, “We could all use s’more kindness”, and it was a camping theme and everything was tied into camping. And we had, you know, picnics and camp outs and whatnot during the school day that the kids could earn. And all of it is just surrounding kindness.

Anthony Godfrey:
Camp kindness. I like it. There you go. Very nice. Well, I have to say those are great themes, but this is my favorite.

Megan Cox:
Yeah. I knew you would like it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So thank you for inviting me to help DJ today. The kids have been looking forward to today I'm sure.

Megan Cox:
Yeah. We announced it and they are so excited to have the music, have you here. And then we have our PTA fundraiser that we are gonna be doing in September. And all of that's gonna be rocking and rolling with a color run and it's gonna be a lot of fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, on my way back to the car, I'm going to have to walk through every hall to see all of the decorations. I saw Queen, Nirvana, the Ramones, Soul Train, lots of great stuff up there. And it's an opportunity to get the kids' attention. There's no avoiding it. There's no avoiding the theme of kindness. And that's exactly how we want it, so great job.

Megan Cox:
Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
It feels good. It feels right. You guys are doing great, but you know what? This time you need to be so loud that their microphones can't handle it. You need to blow out those speakers. Are you ready?

Students singing along with YMCA.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with the student body officers from two of our sixth grade classes here at Midas Creek Elementary, introduce yourselves.

Kiptyn:
I'm Kiptyn.

Ella:
And I'm Ella.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how long have you been at Midas Creek?

Kiptyn:
Four years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Four years.

Ella:
Since kindergarten,

Anthony Godfrey:
Since kindergarten. So this is year seven for you and you've seen the kindness themes over the years. Are you excited for this year's theme?

Ella:
Definitely.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a launch to a great theme. So “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness''. What does that mean for you?

Ella:
It just means that just everybody should just be kind.

Anthony Godfrey:
And do you remember the themes from in the past?

Ella:
I only remember last year's.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what was last year's theme?

Ella:
Kindness keepers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Kindness keepers. So when you hear this theme, does it kind of remind you to treat people well?

Ella:
Yes, definitely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, good. That's great. And how about for you? What does this thing mean to you?

Kiptyn:
Kind of the same as her, like, just to be kind to each other.

Anthony Godfrey:
You did to show kindness, especially last year with the point system.

Ella:
You can, there's this thing called a buddy bench, and if someone's sitting there you can go over and see if they're okay and ask them to play with you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. That's great. What else?

Kiptyn:
I've just been trying to like ask teachers if they need help with anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
So asking teachers for help, making sure people have a friend. That's great. And it sounds like you have amazing examples in teachers, in the PTA who are really supportive.

Kiptyn:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
What have you been looking forward to this year?

Ella:
This actually, just trying to be an officer for Midas Creek.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what's involved with being a student body officer here at Midas Creek?

Kiptyn:
One thing we get to do is we get to walk kindergartners to the bus at the end of the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh. So you get to help other students out? That's part of the “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness''. What are some of the other things that you get to do as a sixth grade student body officer?

Ella:
We also get to talk during assemblies and do the morning announcements.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ah, the morning announcements. Well, it's an awesome day to be at Midas Creek. Isn't it?

Kiptyn:
It is really awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Well, you guys have a great year and enjoy your last year of elementary before you head to middle school.

Ella:
Thank you.

Kiptyn:
We will.

3, 2, 1. Here we go.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, we'll talk to the rock star teacher behind the kindness campaign.

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

Students singing along with YMCA.

DJ:
Yes! Oh, wait. Sorry. I didn't quite get that. Could you really help Miss Cassie out please? Where am I going? Oh, is that right? Oh my goodness Ms. Anderson, these kids are teaching me a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with Kaila Anderson, teacher at Midas Creek. Fifth grade teacher.

Kaila Anderson:
Yes, sir.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about this “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness'' program.

Kaila Anderson:
We are super excited for it. We are gonna be able to have students each month who are kindness rock stars. And so we're going to be like highlighting them. I already have kids like, ‘am I gonna be one?’ I'm like, ‘you have to show me. We'll see.’ It’s a little competitive I can tell already. They're really excited.

Anthony Godfrey:
The kindness rockstar. That's a catchy name that makes me wanna be part of it. I think I'm ineligible, but I still, you know.

Kaila Anderson:
I don’t know, maybe if you're in my class. Come in a few days, I’ll decide.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'll stop in a few days. Okay. It's a high bar. You've got some great kids. We were just dancing out there. They've been looking forward to this.

Kaila Anderson:
Oh my gosh, yeah. They were like dancing on the way back to our classroom. They were just so excited. They were not ready to be done.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the rock and roll theme. Where did that come from?

Kaila Anderson:
We actually voted on it as a faculty, which was super fun. And so there was a couple different ideas, but this one like won by a lot, like a landslide. Everyone was super excited. They've done a great job decorating the school so the kids have gotten part of it too. So it's been great.

Anthony Godfrey:
They've done an amazing job decorating the school. I've never seen the school more all in on a theme. It is top to bottom and the kids are gonna learn about some great bands too.

Kaila Anderson:
Oh yeah. It'll be fun to kind of see how we incorporate it in the classroom as well. So, like I was just even thinking about summarizing or inferencing and how you could use songs to do that. Be able to like introduce some of these rock and roll songs and see how they are able to like summarize it in a sentence. Right. So it'll be fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. No, that's great. Well, music is everywhere. And what's funny is listening to kids sing along with songs from a very long time ago. From the 1900s. And yet they still connect to some of those oldies. Yeah. Well, that's fun. Tell me what you've been looking forward to this year.

Kaila Anderson:
Well, me and one of my team teachers decided to departmentalize. So, I am teaching just literacy and writing, and she's teaching math and social studies and then we have a science teacher. I'm super excited for that because it's been really fun to kind of really focus on one subject and really work with the kids. And work with more kids, because I have two classes instead of just one. And so I'm getting to know more of the kids. I'm able to try different tactics that is kind of hard to do when you have all the subjects that you're trying to focus on. And so it's been really fun to like hone in and really get good and get them excited to read and be better readers.

Anthony Godfrey:
It also adds another caring adult in their lives, which creates an environment where they can learn anything.

Kaila Anderson:
Yes. I totally agree. I think classrooms really work when there's relationships, right? And so like you kind of get those feelings and those connections with music, but then when you have that caring adults as well, like it's even more concrete. And so I think that can just bring a lot of power.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I love the creativity and enthusiasm you've brought to this. Everyone's on board. It's been such a fun day and congratulations on a wonderful start to the year.

Kaila Anderson:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks again.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a course management system that supports students and teachers in and out of the classroom, allowing educators to post grades information and assignments online. And, it helps parents be part of the process. On this episode of the Supercast, we explore the most frequently asked questions regarding Canvas. We share some tips for students and parents on how to avoid problems and find success with course content using Canvas.

We're here with Ross Rogers, one of our Digital Learning specialists to talk about Canvas. Ross, thanks for taking the time.

Ross Rogers:
Thank you for inviting me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Canvas is something that we all became very familiar with very quickly in the spring of 2020, when everyone was thrust into virtual learning. And since then it's continued to be a part of what most teachers use to track grades and submit assignments. Notice that I said submit assignments instead of turn in assignments, because now they can be submitted virtually. So I'd just like to talk with you about what parents should know to make the most of Canvas. I know that one thing that we talked about in a previous Supercast episode is the difference between Skyward and Canvas. So can you start by just addressing that? And then let's get into some of some of the tricks of the trade when working with Canvas.

Ross Rogers:
Okay. So there are two different software programs of district supports. Skyward is our official SIS, which is our Student Information System. And that's where all of our financials are, registration takes place, and our official grade book of the District. Canvas is an LMS or a Learning Management System. And that is a tool that we provide for teachers to put their lessons online. So basically, they can create a lesson in there. They can create quizzes. They can put all of their teaching documents up there. Put videos. post online videos where they're just live virtual office hours, that they can do to support the students in their learning. And part of Canvas, there is a grade program that isn't the official grade book, but we utilize it to sync the grades from Canvas to Skyward.

Anthony Godfrey:
So Canvas as the learning management system allows teachers to create really, generally, two types of assignments. An assignment that's automatically graded as the student submits it, a quiz or a test or something like that. Also, it allows students to submit other projects that the teacher would have to grade. What happens with projects that need to be graded by the teacher? How does that show up in Canvas? And when does it get transferred over to Skyward?

Ross Rogers:
So when an assignment comes in that the teacher actually has to physically grade, it comes into the grade book and it puts like a little paper in the gradebook column under that that says it's been submitted.

Anthony Godfrey:
So a little icon.

Ross Rogers:
Little icon.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as Friday approaches and parents are checking Canvas to be sure that their child gets weekend privileges because they turned everything in, that page icon is what they're looking for.

Ross Rogers:
Correct. That little icon. If it's a dash, that means nothing's been submitted. If there's an icon there it's been submitted and waiting for the teacher to grade it. If there's a score there, the teacher's graded it and returned it to the student.

Anthony Godfrey:
Long gone are the handwritten report cards that I received in eighth grade where if you had a grade you didn't like, a minus could become a plus, and an F could become an A with a little penmanship. That was what we called Photoshop in the 1900s. But Canvas is different from those handwritten report cards. Canvas shows what's been submitted, shows what's been graded, but it's not the official grade book. And tell me the difference between being a Learning Management System and the ultimate grade book.

Ross Rogers:
So where Canvas is the operations of the program. Anything that's submitted in Canvas is what the teacher has graded, but when it converts to Skyward, the official grade book, that's where teachers can actually weight a score.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the Waiting is the Hardest Part as Tom Petty has told us.

Ross Rogers:
It's really about, you know, a final exam and I want this final exam to count for a larger percentage of the grade. And that's what weighting is. And so in Skyward, the teacher can go in and change that. So that's the reason why when parents and students look at the Canvas grade book compared to Skyward, and they're like, well, why is this score different? It's because of the weighting and how the teacher wanted to set that up. And that's why we always say the Canvas grade book is not the official grade book. It is only there for you to see what hasn't been submitted, what has been submitted and what has been graded.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's one point of confusion perhaps that parents and students might have is that, ‘Hey, everything looks good in Canvas, but now I get into Skyward and my grade isn't what I thought it would be.’ And it's that weighting of grades and the emphasis on the outcomes of certain assignments or tests or quizzes, as opposed to others being a bigger part of the grade.

Ross Rogers:
Well, and lots of subjects, I mean, you look at different subjects. Math can be something that can sometimes be easily graded. But other times, when they're looking at the way that they're doing, sometimes it's like, I wanna see the procedures that you're using. And that's what's being graded. That has to be looked at by the teacher. Language arts, their writing, that has to be looked at by the teacher. So sometimes it takes longer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Exactly. Now you and other members of the team were the unsung, backstage heroes of getting us through all of that virtual learning. You really did an incredible job. Jumped in, helped lots of teachers and parents and students who had never done this before, understand how to learn virtually. And as much as it was emergency learning, I think things went as well as they could. And it's in large part because you and other members of the team worked so hard to provide great support.

Ross Rogers:
It was long hours, but it was what we needed to do to get the students and the teachers and even parents. Because believe me, our phones were ringing from morning until evening.

Anthony Godfrey:
I remember.

Ross Rogers:
And we took the calls all night long because people were struggling and you know, what do you do? You want to help solve that problem so that they're not frustrated. But it was a lot of work. It was our boss back at that time, we have a new boss now, who was forward thinking and saying, ‘we've got to start thinking about this blended learning.’ And so we actually had a jumpstart and had a whole bunch of these things ready, just waiting to get the go ahead. And then we got the go ahead really fast.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, the state of Utah invested in Canvas a long time ago, and it's made available through the state for each student.

Ross Rogers:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
And, as a District, we had put structure in place to make the most of that.

Stay with us. When we come back more with Ross Rogers, our Digital Learning Specialist.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
You've talked about the weighting of grades from Canvas to Skyward as one point of confusion. What are some of the other misunderstandings or points of confusion that you've heard about or experienced over the last couple of years?

Ross Rogers:
One that we're trying to get fixed right now is parents having their own account. Parents technically should not be logging into Canvas through their student account. It's a violation of the Student Agreement Policy. And so they sign it when they register their kids for Skyward, that they're not going to share their username or password with anyone, and that includes the parents. The parents have access to get their own account on Skyward. And when they do that, all they have to do is get the Observer Code from their student.

There are directions, step by step with pictures, on how to do that on our digitallearning.jordandistrict.org page, and they can get their own account. When a parent gets their own account, they see everything that the student sees. The only thing that's missing is they don't have the submit button on the assignments. They can't do the work for the students, but they can download every worksheet. They can read everything, they can email the teacher, they have full access to everything. They can see the grade book, they can see what's been submitted. So basically, as a parent having an observer account, they can see everything the student can. And they can stay on top and help that student navigate each week, in a weekly meeting with their students of what do we need to do to be prepared? How are we doing our homework? And so having that observer account is really a positive thing.

You can have it for every student that you have with just one account. You just have to get an access code for each of those students. And then it's a one time event. Once you do it with one student, you have it until they graduate. It just continues with them. And last year’s teachers and classes drop off and the next year, the new classes join in and you're already set up ready to go. And for our families that have separate parents, like me, a divorced father, I can have access to it and my ex-wife can have access to it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that observer code allows you all of the access, but it still gives the student full responsibility for their account. Which is really why we're so careful about password security internally as well. Employees are not supposed to share with each other.

Ross Rogers:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're not supposed to share with your Administrative Assistant or anyone else because then you have sole responsibility for that account. And I would assume that that's the reason for making sure students don't share that password. So if something does happen, we know that's their work that they submitted and that they have responsibility for everything that happens.

Ross Rogers:
We want to get back to the area where the student is responsible for what they're doing. And one of those things is not sharing passwords. Even though you're the parent, and this is my child, it's part of that digital citizenship that we're trying to teach. You know, parents, you have your access to Skyward. The student has their access to Skyward. And we need to keep those separate because we're trying to teach that digital responsibility.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a skill that will be important throughout their lives. So what are some of the other tips and tricks for parents to make the most of Canvas?

Ross Rogers:
Once you give access to Canvas, it gives you a tool to help your students by having that, you know, meeting. Whether you're at the dinner table on Sunday night, and you have previously gone through and looked at the schedules of your student’s classes, you know what’s due that week and having that conversation. So how are you doing in school? What things do you have to do? And, you know, it's a way of saying, you know, that student says, well, I don't have anything I'm good this week. I can go play. I can go do whatever I want. And if you have that access, you are now have that tool. You are prepared to talk to that student and say, well, what about this language arts assignment? I saw that it's due here. Well, how do you know that? Well, because I have access. And so what it does is it helps the student know, well, if mom and dad know behind the scene, there's no more hiding that. It just lets the student and the parent be on the same page, lets that student know, mom and dad are here to help me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Well, I love how it makes us a better resource to parents and it connects us to parents and it allows parents to connect with us. And the way that you described Skyward has always been a chance to peek into the grade book. But Canvas is a chance to peek into the class. I think they're both important components of staying connected with what's happening in school. And like you described, it's not necessarily deception. It's just forgetfulness. I'll talk to my son and say, ‘do you have any homework?’ ‘No, no. I'm all caught up.’ So then we look it up. It's like, ‘oh yeah, there was that one thing.’

Ross Rogers:
They're busy too.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's good to have backup. No, believe me. It's good to have backup.

Ross Rogers:
Yeah. And so one of the things that goes along with creating an account for a parent is they have an option to go into the settings and put a profile picture on it. So, when you're communicating with that teacher, that teacher would love to know who they're talking to. Sometimes, if you've never met that teacher, they don't know who you are, but if you communicate with them through Canvas and your picture is there, then when you do come in the building, they know who you are and they make that connection immediately. So I always encourage parents to go into the settings, and they can put a picture up. They can also go in and set up notifications. So when do announcements come? When do due dates come? Do they come immediately, or all at once at the end of the day, or all at once at the end of the week? And they set that up. And so I let parents know that because sometimes parents will go in and create an observer account and they're like, oh my gosh, I'm getting bombarded with all the stuff because they haven't gone in and set things up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is the default initially to receive all of that information and you can scale it back, or do you need to go in and select when you want the notifications?

Ross Rogers:
It’s usually all on.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have to turn it off, okay. So rather than just disconnecting from Canvas entirely, go in and customize your experience. So you're getting the information you want. I love the idea of a picture. It just creates a better connection.

Ross Rogers:
It does. So that when you do walk into the school, the teacher recognizes you because they've been having a conversation for, you know, however long it has been. So that's something that I always tell people to do also. Then also on that page, the digitallearning.jordandistrict.org which is our website for digital learning, under the Big Six category, we have a link for Canvas for education. And we have on that page guides and they're made by Canvas. So we have parent guides, and we have student guides that literally walk you through how to do everything in Canvas. You want to learn how to submit a picture in an assignment? It shows you with pictures of all the steps. So it tells from a parent perspective how to do this, and from the student perspective.

So not only is it the parent reaching out for help, but now the parent can go in and learn how the student does it to help that student submit maybe a more unique assignment because you can do things differently. You don't have to do everything like we did in the old days, paper and pencil. And Canvas allows it so that, you know, yeah, you can do the old paper, pencil styles and upload that assignment, but you can also do a video. You can also just do an audio review. You can submit something from Canva that you've designed. There's just so many different facets of an assignment that you can do now. And these guides help you learn how to do all those different types of activities.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, a lot of options and a lot of chances for parents and students to stay on top of what's happening in the class and be connected to it. Any other thoughts that you have for parents or advice for using Canvas effectively?

Ross Rogers:
Yes. So one of the other tools that we use here in Jordan District is Google. We are a Google district and Google Drive works hand in hand with Canvas. So much so that people sometimes get confused about what Canvas is because, well, the assignment was on Google Drive because they did the assignment in a Google Doc, but they still have to submit it. And that's through Canvas.

Well, the issue that we have is in Jordan, we issue every student a Chromebook to use. Sometimes the Chromebook is dead by the time they get home and they never get that power supply out and plug it in. So they go to mom's computer and they sign into Canvas. And when they do that, mom is signed into their browser to the Canvas browser. So it has her personal account there. And when they sign into Canvas, it connects the student to the mom's Google account. So now they go into that assignment and they click on that assignment and it says, make a copy of this Google assignment. And it says you don't have access, request access. And then they come back the next day in school, they're on their Chromebook and nothing is working. They can't, it's asking everything to be reconnected because they're still connected to moms Gmail account from signing in on the home computer.

The way that you fix that is in most courses, we have told teachers to please turn this on. You go to the Google Drive in the course menu. And once you click on Google Drive, on the right hand side of the screen, you'll see either the picture that they've uploaded of themselves or the initials of whoever's account is logged in on that Google Drive. And they click on it and they can see, is it their district email address or is it mom or dad? And then they can log out at that point and then log back in and it will automatically pick up their district email if they're on their Chromebook and sign them into the correct account. And that's how you fix that. That is probably the number one problem that we see with students is the Google Drive issue.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much Ross for taking the time. And as I said, thank you for your support through the last two and a half years and all the hard work you and other members of the team have done to just make this go as smoothly as possible. And now we're in a new era. Now we're in a new era where Canvas is a vital part of what we do. And so thank you for taking the time to help us make the most of it.

Ross Rogers:
You're 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 out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Bonjour and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a classroom where you will find students fully engaged, speaking another language and loving every minute of it. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Fox Hollow Elementary School where sixth grade students share their experience in a French Dual Language Immersion class. We have some fun together speaking French and the students deliver a lively performance using the language they have truly grown to love.

We're here at Fox Hollow Elementary to talk about the Dual Language Immersion program with two of the students participating in the program and one of our teachers. Introduce yourself, tell us what grade you're in and just a little bit about yourself.

Lily:
My name is Lily and I am at the dual French Immersion at Fox Hollow Elementary. And I really like it here because the teachers are so kind and yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Spencer:
I'm Spencer. And I'm in sixth grade and I do the French Immersion as well. And I like it here too, because our teacher is really nice.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk to that nice teacher.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Hi, my name is Madam Fa’asu or Lydia, and I've been at Fox Hollow for five years now in sixth grade. And it's been an amazing experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
And can you describe the Dual Language Immersion program for those who may not understand it?

Lydia Fa’asu:
Absolutely. So the students have half of the time in English and half of the time in French. So they start for example, in the English class and do ELA and math, and then they switch and go to the French class where they do science, social studies and French, everything in French.

Anthony Godfrey:
And when you say everything in French, everything is in French. There is no English spoken by the teacher or the students, because part of the way you learn language is when you need it to survive. Is that right?

Lydia Fa’asu:
That's correct. They know that the rule is when they step in the classroom, everything is in French, and I send them back if they don't.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, and I've seen as I've observed over the years, even in first grade classes where students are just starting out and they need to ask permission to go to the restroom, they need something in class. And when they have to do that in French, that really forces them to put their brains into high gear and think about how to express that in a foreign language.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yes, so in first grade when they arrive and they don't know a word of French, one of the basics is to teach them those key sentences. To ask to go to the bathroom or to ask what time it is or things like that. And so they learn little by little and usually by the end of the year, they know all the basics. Instructions or sentences that they need to be in a French class.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which grades have you taught since you've been here at Fox Hollow?

Lydia Fa’asu:
Fox Hollow I only did sixth grade, but I taught in fourth grade in Canyons School District for five years as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. And were you a teacher in France previously?

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yes. I was already an elementary school teacher in France and I taught pretty much every grade level there before I came here.

Anthony Godfrey:
And did you teach primaire or?

Lydia Fa’asu:
Primaire. So elementary and kindergarten even.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, even kindergarten. And how long did you teach in France before coming here?

Lydia Fa’asu:
About five years.

Anthony Godfrey:
What made you want to come to Utah to teach?

Lydia Fa’asu:
At first it was really the experience of trying something new. I was by myself in France . I was like, ‘you know what, if they give me the opportunity to come two years in the US and try new strategies for teaching, why not?’ And the plan was for me to go back to France after two years, but I got married.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you got married. So do we get to keep you for a while?

Lydia Fa’asu:
I'm staying.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Outstanding. That is great news. I've heard so many great things about your teaching and your connection with students and your support of other teachers.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that you really are at the center of making this program successful. Tell me what it's like for you and for the teachers that you work with to come over here to a new country, new school system. I know that a lot of support is required even in finding housing right away.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell, tell me about what that's like.

Lydia Fa’asu:
It is very difficult when we get there. I would say until December, Christmas, it's an adjustment. We have to figure out cars, driving license, finding a house, understanding the insurance process, absolutely everything. And at the same time, you have to adapt to classrooms that are completely different from what we do in France. In France, the kids are not really allowed to get up or play on the floor or things like that. It's not as positive reinforcement like we do here in the US. So we really do have to adjust and adapt to the way we teach in the US.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a cultural adjustment to the country, but also to what the classroom looks like here versus in France.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us more about the differences between school here and school in France.

Lydia Fa’asu:
There is absolutely everything that is different. So first of all, our boss is not our principal. There is usually someone in what we call the academy and that person is in charge of several schools. And that's the person who is the boss pretty much. So we don't even have an interview when we become teachers, it's a diploma and they choose where we're gonna go, but we don't have interviews to go to schools. And then the schedule is very different as well. Some of the schools don't have school on Wednesday, so they go Monday, Tuesday from maybe sometimes 8:30 to 5:00 PM.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It's a longer day.

Lydia Fa’asu:
It’s a longer day.

Anthony Godfrey:
And a longer lunch too, though.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yep. We have two hours break for lunch, usually.

Anthony Godfrey:
A two hour break for lunch because of the importance of that meal in France.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yeah. And then in the teaching as well, everything is very different. We don't use as much technology. I was very impressed when I saw all those Chromebooks or video projectors and all of these things were new to me.

Anthony Godfrey:
I was actually a student in France in sixth grade.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Wow.

Anthony Godfrey:
My dad taught French and we were able to be on a Fulbright Exchange. So we lived in another family's home and they lived in our home for a year. We just did a swap and my dad swapped jobs. And it was really interesting for me to attend school. He just dropped me off, my dad did, and then I traveled class to class and tried to make my way.

Lydia Fa’asu:
That explains why you're so good in French.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that was a long time ago, but I really loved France and I loved living there and I loved being in school. And it's interesting when I have sat in on Dual Language Immersion classes, it has had a little bit of that feel. And even though it was decades ago, I was reminded of what it felt to be in a French classroom. A lot of a lot of focus on the language in France.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Yes, absolutely. And what I like about the program as well is that those kids learn the culture as well. Because I'm teaching them those French traditions that we have, right. Like the day we eat crepes in France or things like that. And I would say when they go to France, it's not gonna be a cultural shock, because they're used to having French teachers who are really native from France.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. I think that's a great aspect of the program, that you learn about how people live differently and how culture varies from country to country. Where it's hard to imagine unless you experience it in a way that dual language immersion students get the chance to. We're very fortunate to have you here, and it sounds like, to have you here for a long time.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Hopefully.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's very exciting.
Stay with us. When we come back, a special student performance you won't want to miss.

Break:
Do you simply love learning online? We can't wait to have you join the amazing teachers in our brand new Jordan Virtual Learning Academy. In Jordan Virtual Learning Academy schools, we offer innovative, fun, and flexible online learning with daily real-time instruction from teachers. Enrollment is currently open for all K-12 students in Utah. Start on the path to personalized virtual learning success now at connect.jordandistrict.org. That's connect.jordandistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things you think that surprise students the most about French culture?

Lydia Fa’asu:
Hmm. That's a really good question. I should ask them that question.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s bring it to the kids. What has surprised you the most as you've gone through now, six years of Dual Language Immersion about the French language or the French culture?

Lily:
I have no idea.

Anthony Godfrey:
Surprise after surprise, huh?

Lily:
Yeah. It's just like, when we learn about all this, it kind of just like clicks in my brain because all around the world, things are different. Like time, how everything has gone by.

Lydia Fa’asu:
History..

Lily:
Yeah. History

Anthony Godfrey:
And French is spoken in many countries. So I'm sure you've learned about just how France and French has influenced the world over the years. Tell me, what are your favorite words that you've learned in French? One of mine is anana, is it yours too?

Spencer:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Spencer, tell me about that.

Spencer:
There's like this French show I once watched and it was like about this talking pineapple, Anana. And I liked watching it and I also liked the word anana because I like bananas and it kind of sounds like the word banana.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. It's full of surprises.

Lydia Fa’asu:
I think there is another one that they like. It's vert because vert in French means green.

Anthony Godfrey:
It means so many different things.

Lydia Fa’asu:
It means glass, it means worm and it means towards.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. So that's a favorite of yours as well. Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire?

Lily:
It means, I think it means a ripe blackberry murmurs to a wall.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. That's right. Mûre, right. Very good. Now I will just say that when you can manage puns in another language that shows a great understanding of the language. What  have you liked most or what are some of your favorite words Lily?

Lily:
I like the word canard because it means duck and I like ducks. Plus it's just a fun word.

Anthony Godfrey:
Canard. It is funny when you learn a new language that some words just kind of seem to click. Tell me what it's like to spend half of your day speaking only French.

Lily:
It's fun because I'm able to learn some of my favorite subjects, not just in English, but also in French. Because it gives me like, new ideas. And when you learn another language, it can really help you through life. If you ever wanna go somewhere new, and you don't know what to do, you can always talk to the people there when you know their language.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very good. Spencer?

Spencer:
I like that in history we've learned about the French Revolution, which I didn't know a lot about before. But now I know a lot about it, and I found it really interesting.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is your favorite subject to learn in French? What seems to fit nicely with French?

Lily:
History or science, or just the entire class?

Anthony Godfrey:
The entire class. All right. Fair enough. Spencer?

Spencer:
Our teacher's great. I love history. Like it's really fun. We, yeah, our teacher makes it really fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you love most about your teacher? Elle est bien amusant les gens?

Lily:
She is just the best. I don't know. She just, she makes everything so fun. Like when we were doing science, she would have us do like fun experiments with like food. Sometimes when we like the lunar phases, it was fun. Cuz we had to do Oreos and she just makes everything so fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. So the double stuff became the waxing and waning moon? Yes. Wow. That's really cool. Spencer, how about you?

Spencer:
Like, I don't know. I don't know how she makes history so fun. But, I agree with Lily that she makes science really fun too because we get to do a lot of experiments. And we also did like a play like a couple days ago and it was really fun. It was about like some kids that built a time machine and like went back in time to like each time period. Like prehistoric, then like Egyptian times, and then like medieval times and then like the modern times. And then we also went to the future in it and that was really fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. She has really taken you on some serious field trips it sounds like. So I've heard about this play. It really made a big impression on people who saw it and I'm just sad that I didn't realize I was missing out. I heard there was some rapping in French. Is that correct? Could either of you give us a sample of that?

Lily:
We could.

Spencer:
Okay, I’ll go first.

Le vent souffle sur les plaines de la Bretagne armoricaine
Je jette un dernier regard sur ma femme, mon fils et mon domaine
Akim, le fils du forgeron est venu me chercher
Les druides ont décidé de mener le combat dans la vallée
Là, où tous nos ancêtres, de géants guerriers Celtes
Après de grandes batailles, se sont imposés en maîtres
C'est l'heure maintenant de défendre notre terre
Contre une armée de Sumériens prête à croiser le fer
Toute la tribu s'est réunie autour de grands menhirs
Pour invoquer les dieux afin qu'ils puissent nous bénir
Après cette prière avec mes frères sans faire état de zèle
Les chefs nous ont donné à tous des gorgées d'hydromel
Pour le courage, pour pas qu'il y ait de faille
Pour rester grands et fiers quand nous serons dans la bataille
Car c'est la première fois pour moi que je pars au combat
Et j'espère être digne de la tribu de Dana.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, très bien. Formidable! Parfait.

Spencer:
Merci.

Anthony Godfrey:
Incroyable.  Et toi Lily, vas-y.

Lily:
Okay.

Anthony Godfrey:
Un, deux, trois.

Lily:
Le vent souffle sur les plaines de la Bretagne armoricaine
Je jette un dernier regard sur ma femme, mon fils et mon domaine
Akim, le fils du forgeron est venu me chercher
Les druides ont décidé de mener le combat dans la vallée
Là, où tous nos ancêtres, de géants guerriers Celtes
Après de grandes batailles, se sont imposés en maîtres
C'est l'heure maintenant de défendre notre terre
Contre une armée de Sumériens prête à croiser le fer
Toute la tribu s'est réunie autour de grands menhirs
Pour invoquer les dieux afin qu'ils puissent nous bénir
Après cette prière avec mes frères sans faire état de zèle
Les chefs nous ont donné à tous des gorgées d'hydromel
Pour le courage, pour pas qu'il y ait de faille
Pour rester grands et fiers quand nous serons dans la bataille
Car c'est la première fois pour moi que je pars au combat
Et j'espère être digne de la tribu de Dana.

Anthony Godfrey:
Bravo! C’est super. Wow. That's amazing. I could not do that in English, much less in French so you guys have done great. I know we're running out of time. What would you say to a student who's thinking about doing this? Or parents who are thinking about having their child participate in Dual Immersion?

Lily:
I’d tell them to do French Immersion, or just on any immersion because it really can help you in school. I think for me it did because when you're bored in English, you can go have fun in French.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, fair enough. You can spice it up by adding that extra layer to learning where everything is in a different language.

Lily:
The teachers in French are so good. They're like so nice.

Anthony Godfrey:
That makes me so happy to hear that. That's no surprise, but it's great to hear that from a sixth grader ready to move on to middle school. Spencer?

Spencer:
I’d tell 'em they should definitely do it. Because it's definitely a really cool experience. Just speaking French with all your friends and it's just really fun. And I think it's really cool how we even do different subjects other than French in French. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any final thoughts Madam Fa’asu?

Lydia Fa’asu:
No, I just think that it's an amazing program myself. I love to see how their results in science on the RISE test are amazing as well. And that blows my mind that those kids are learning science in French and do so well in the state tests. I'm just impressed with everything they do, how well they speak French and I'm not worried about them going to France one day.

Anthony Godfrey:
They'll do great. There's no question about that. And my hat is off to both of you for learning French so well and working so hard. And to you, Madam Fa’asu also for making this such a great experience for everyone.

Lydia Fa’asu:
Thank you.

Principal Amy Adams:
Our French grades 1-6, who are going to showcase all of the things that they have been learning this year and up through sixth grade.

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

Students singing Si j’allais en Chine in French

Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine

Avec mes copains, mes copines
Tout ‘monde en avion
Le temps de la récréation
Arrivée Pékin, me voilà dans un palanquin
Messieurs, allons vite pour voir la cité interdite
Si j’allais en Chine
Sur les collines de Gui lin
Où l’on dit “je t’aime” en se récitant des poèmes
Direction Shanghai
Et après la Grande Muraille
Soyons à midi au tombeau de Qin Shi Huangdi

Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine
Si j’allais en Chine

Dire bonjour aux Moines Shaolin

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. The safety, security, and wellbeing of all students and staff in Jordan School District is our top priority. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with the District's Emergency Operations Manager to find out more about on-going efforts to enhance safety measures in our schools and buildings. Also, find out how a strong relationship with local law enforcement agencies along with having School Resource Officers assigned to every school is helping to reinforce our safety and security measures.

We're here with Emergency Operations Manager, Lance Everill. Lance, thanks for taking the time.

Lance Everill:
My pleasure.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've worked with you for a long time and your team is on the cutting edge of making our schools as safe as possible. You're quick to respond when we do have a concern and you guys just, I can't imagine anyone doing a better job, so I really appreciate everything that you do.

Lance Everill:
That's nice. Thank you very much.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm glad that we can sit down for a few minutes and talk about some of the things we've been doing as a district over the years to make sure our schools are as safe as possible. And I think we've done a lot of things to move forward in that direction. Some things that may have been forgotten over the years, or may not be noticed anymore because they've been around for so long. One of those things is name badges. Name badges started a long time ago, and it's a small thing, but it makes a big difference. You can spot who works in Jordan School District or in a school from a very long distance, because they're wearing their name badge. Right?

Lance Everill:
Yeah. And that becomes a natural filter. What you'll hear is that it makes it an easy way to identify from a distance who is an employee and who's potentially a visitor. And so when you have some of those simple filters, it helps staff with looking at who's in the building. But it also just as importantly, helps students, parents, guardians and visitors know who do I go to for help.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right. I also like when people forget to take their badges off and they wear them in a restaurant or a store into the wild and I am able to go up and talk to some district employees after hours who maybe are still wearing the badge. There are some other things that we've done over the years. And one of those is an audit. There's a regular audit of every school to be sure that they are compliant with the plans that we have in place for each school to make sure that they are safe. There are some small tasks, some small things that need to be maintained to be sure the building is safe. What I love about that is ever since it was put in place, I think in 2013. So it's been a long time now, that we all get an email. Everyone at the cabinet level in the administration gets an email about every school. So we have a clear sense for where the patterns are. Now scores have soared over the years on those audits, it's brought attention to the things that needed to be done. And I think we have consistently had high scores in all of our buildings, right?

Lance Everill:
Yeah. We implemented it in February of 2013 and it's a pretty rigorous assessment where I wanna say there's at least 40 indicators on there. And so our school safety specialist goes around and randomly just shows up at a school and conducts this assessment. So just like you said, the nice thing is, it provides data. It shows what we're doing well, which is huge, right? We want to continue the things that we're doing well. And then it also isolates the areas where we can make improvement. And it's very specific. The idea is that a school safety team, incident command team, can sit down and look at those or the district administration can look at 'em and we can see the areas where we're seeing trends and routines where we're doing well and where we can improve. Then it becomes easy for the school or the district to make a plan that says, okay, this is how we're going to tackle this area and get better. So just like you had mentioned, what we've seen since 2013 is a gradual increase in scores and performance overall. So there's such a culture of safety and security and just more attention to it and more of knowing what those expectations are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, along with that, there's a lot of training that happens as well. There's a regular training, regular drills that are required by law, but all of those drills are done following that same protocol. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Lance Everill:
Clear back in as early as 1999.

Anthony Godfrey:
Back in the 1900s. Yeah.

Lance Everill:
Back in the 1900s, Jordan School District, in response to some of the critical events that had been happening around the nation, and specifically Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. The District hired an outside law enforcement professional team to develop an incident command manual specific to Jordan School District. And it's designed to follow the FEMA, the National Incident Management System, but it is written specific for schools. And we have used that same system ever since. We update it to grow with the times, to modernize. But the nice thing is when the police show up or the fire department shows up, city emergency management, county emergency management, state, and federal government, they're following that same basic emergency response hierarchy and protocol outlined in the incident command system. And so that becomes our foundational response plan for every school. The beauty is when you go from elementary school as a student to middle to high school and from high school to your tech center, or a family moves from West Jordan to South Jordan, a teacher transfers from one school to another school, an administrator gets reassigned next year. That foundational plan is the same.

Anthony Godfrey:
And not only is that foundational plan the same from school to school, but as you said, it mirrors what law enforcement is using in their organization. So when they come into an incident, it becomes really clear who's in charge and who's making decisions. And our decision making tree matches theirs, so we can really be efficient in dealing with a problem and not be subject to confusion in the same way that some others might be.

Lance Everill:
Right. A lot of what happens in an incident is just trying to figure out who's in charge, right? Who can we talk to to ask those key critical questions and then make those critical decisions. And sometimes in emergencies decision making, I mean, seconds, minutes matter. Seconds and minutes can really matter. And it's important for us to, as you said, expedite that response. Get to what we need to do and make good decisions as a team. And an important thing too, is that we use clear plain language, but we use age appropriate language for schools, right? It's important that we're honest and clear with kids, but also at an age appropriate level as to not cause panic in them, but for them to understand what the responses are and to empower them with safety measures and safety actions.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk a little bit about that. Avoid, Deny, Defend. Can you explain that?

Lance Everill:
So Avoid, Deny, Defend is a great program that was implemented, I don't know exactly how many years, within this last decade. And we heard back in the past, there was run, hide, fight, and it's these situations to deal with a violence. A violent intruder, or some type of violence thing going on in the environment. Avoid, Deny, Defend became a really good program for Jordan School District to look at when you talk about the nature of our business, right? Kindergarten through 12th grade, educators in schools. So you talk about that Avoid aspect of it. And it's just kind of this response continuum. And really Avoid, Deny, Defend doesn't just have to be applied to violence. It can be applied to any type of an emergency situation. Any student at any age can see a problem or feel like they're nervous or at risk, and they can avoid that problem and get away from it.

And then we can teach kids in an age appropriate way to get help, to report things when they see things. And that's huge, right? So the best way to deal with the problem is go the opposite direction and report it. The Deny response piece of that is something our schools have been doing for years. And that's when we do a lockout, which locks a potentially dangerous person or situation outside of the school. And we stay on heightened alert inside of the school. Or will we lock down inside of our classrooms and offices in immediate areas when the threat is potentially already in the building. So that locking down, by locking those doors, creating a physical barrier between us and a threat, denies them immediate access to you. And so these are logical things that we can teach kids of any age about locking doors to protect yourself and to stay on the opposite side.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. And the Defend portion?

Lance Everill:
Well, when we talk about that defense portion of it, and it's only in a last resort, right? The best thing again is to get away from the problem, if you can, or to create a physical, deny barrier by a lockout or lockdown. So avoid it or deny them access to you. Defend becomes a last resort. And it becomes a way to make sure that you're doing all you can to protect yourself and/or others. Here's the thing about warm, fuzzy educators. They are fierce advocates of students, right? And so it's pretty clear to them that they'll do most anything that they can to take care of their kids. We talk about having all these other measures and we have tons of engineered solutions and hardware and things in place to avoid having these problems and putting people in these conflict situations. But it's also something that we discuss and we partner with our law enforcement on to make sure that teachers and teenagers understand that they can do things to protect themselves.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, we also have very sophisticated first aid kits in every classroom and an even larger kit in every school to deal with injuries when they occur. Tell us about that program.

Lance Everill:
When we talk about Avoid, Deny, Defend, we naturally piggyback off of that with talking about trauma care. Just basic trauma care that we can conduct in a school. So leaning on our law enforcement and fire professionals, they advised us on what best practices would be and what the best contents would be for these trauma kits. When we presented this to our Board of Education four years ago, the Board instantly said, yes, let's do it. Let's follow our professionals, law enforcement and fire’s recommendation. And the Board said, let's order these kits. We have been able to put a classroom kit and there's almost 3,200 of them out there in every dedicated classroom inside of Jordan School District. Additionally, like you said, we have larger wall-mounted kits. One next to every wall-mounted AED in every school. Plus we also put additional larger wall-mounted kits in large mass gathering areas like gyms, cafeterias, auditoriums, commons. So the whole idea is that we have tourniquets, pressure bandages and great tools like that available on top of our regular first aid kits, to be able to help people in those critical moments until the first responders can get there and give them proper medical care.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the specific drills that are required throughout the year.

Lance Everill:
Elementary schools are required to do at least one drill per month. Every school starts with a fire drill, and then they do another emergency, like earthquake or lockout or shelter in place. And they alternate fire, other, fire, other all throughout the year. So elementary's one drill every month, fire, other, fire, other, all throughout the school year, secondary schools, fire, other, fire, other, they only have to do a drill every two months. So a secondary school, like a middle school or high school can do a minimum of six drills per year. That's a minimum, some of them do more. And they do what I like to call two-fors. And so when we do the great shakeout around the third week of April with the state practicing for those earthquakes, then the school has an opportunity to do an earthquake drill and to practice drop, covering, and holding. And then they can also do an evacuation, which would be relevant in those situations. If the building was untenable and we needed to get outside, right? So they have lots of opportunity to practice them together.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a lot of practice built in throughout the year. So we have protocols in place that are audited on a regular basis, so that we know what to celebrate and where we need to improve. We have drills so that adults and children are ready for whatever may come their way. And we have kits in place in case there is an injury so that we have all the equipment and training we need to help people in that situation immediately. But we've also made some changes to our buildings to make them safer as well. Talk about that.

Lance Everill:
So when we were talking about ID badges, that work as filters, one of a really important thing. When you talk about crime prevention through environmental design, layers become a real clear way to slow things down, to slow people down. Not only if somebody's ill-intended, we want to slow him down and then hopefully we can catch it or dissuade them before they come in and do something. But it also gives us an opportunity to vet people. So we've been working on single point entries. We've been working on a rigorous check in/checkout process verification, vetting who our visitors are. We have multiple layers of doors that our visitors are required to get into those areas, to then announce themselves and their business there at the school. And so that all becomes all those layers to vet, filter and slow down.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, what you're talking about, those layers have been created over time in almost all of our schools. Because the Board of Education has invested a lot of money in remodeling our schools, to be sure that that point of entry moves folks through the office. And I think it's an important point that part of that is to be sure that we're monitoring that and making sure that everyone gets what they need as they come into the building.

Lance Everill:
You know, safety and security isn't just about responding to disasters. And it's not just about responding to people with ill intent. Safety and security is about running an efficient campus. You know, most of the time when we have our interactions with firefighters and medical professionals, it's because people have had a personal emergency or accident. So it's really important that we know where people are. We know who's in our building. We know where they're going and we can account for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've talked about things that we've been doing internally, but you also interact a lot with law enforcement throughout the district. We have a number of municipalities that are included in the Jordan District boundary, and you're in constant contact with them on any number of issues. And that's really essential being partners with them, that's essential to our success.

Lance Everill:
You know, I know as part of this podcast you'll be having some conversation with our School Resource Officer Mike Ashley, who's from the Riverton Police Department. And he's a prime example of that relationship that you're talking about. As emergencies happen nationally, and whenever there's an emergency at a school, anywhere, every school district then looks at how they're doing business. And not only just the school district, but our law enforcement partners and our fire medical partners. And it's logical that we all say, what are we doing? Let's have that assessment. Are we doing enough? Can we do more? Can we do better? Those are logical things for us to ask of ourselves, to ask of each other. For parents, guardians and students to ask of us, and teachers to ask of us as well. So one of the most critical things that we can do is just to have an important, well cultivated relationship with those professionals in the community, our law enforcement and fire medical professionals.

I have been tasked with helping to form those relationships and make sure that we are giving them opportunities to give us their best practice input. To get inside of our schools, to become familiar with our schools. But just as importantly, our schools welcome them to come in and sit down and chat once in a while, or let's go on a tour after hours. It's so nice when a police chief walks in and calls a principal by their first name, and they know exactly who that chief is, or the sergeant or the SRO, that says a lot about the relationship. But I think is what's just as important. We can talk all day about the investments Jordan School District is making towards keeping schools safe, but they are all making huge strides. And the level of dedication, the caliber of the officers that they put in our schools and the commitment response time is just stellar. Like, I think we've always had good relationships, but I believe truly that they're the best they've ever been.

Anthony Godfrey:
Though you can't prevent every incident from happening, I really appreciate how hard we have worked as a district and how you and your staff have worked to make sure that we are as safe as possible. And we're always looking for the next thing that we need to do to be better.

Lance Everill:
Thanks, Anthony. Appreciate it

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, Officer Mike Ashley joins us to talk about the important work being done by School Resource Officers who have a passion for working with students and keeping everyone safe.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Detective Ashley, the School Resource Officer at Oquirrh Hills Middle School, but much more, you're everywhere. You've been a DARE officer over the years. And you've really advanced things for us in terms of safety with just giving us the opportunity to talk things through with you and sharing your ideas along the way. Tell me about your interactions with Jordan School District over the years when it comes to safety.

Mike Ashley:
Sure. Of course there's policies and guidelines that we're given when we start. We are assigned to this job, this assignment, but also what I really like about it is I feel like we're a team. I can sit down with my own administration, wherever I've been. I've been in several different schools in the Jordan District, and I've been able to feel like I'm a team. That I'm part of that team. And also with the District, I can go to anybody, any given time at the district office and be able to communicate my ideas or feelings and they can do the same for me. So it seems like it's just a team effort and we're all working together. We all, we're all kind of traveling down the same highway, but we're all just in different lanes. And it's nice that I feel that I have that support and connection with them and that they have that connection with me.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like to say that we have the same goals, but different roles. And I really have felt that teamwork from you and from the officers we work with throughout the district. Tell me, one of the innovations that you were responsible for here at Oquirrh Hills Middle School was color coding all of the hallways. Tell me about that.

Mike Ashley:
Yeah. So there was an incident that happened, not at our school, but that I saw that the numbers sometimes on the halls are confusing for our officers that respond. And a lot of departments do this where they hand out maps and have guidelines and training, which is awesome. A lot of 'em train in their own schools, which really helps. Helps us prevent any future problems. But one of the things for our school was that we decided to put color codes. We have like a tape running down one of the hallways, like a blue hallway. And then it'll cross over to a yellow hallway, which it has a line like you would see on a road. And one good purpose for it was our seventh graders, when they can't find a way to the class, we’re able to get them to go buy color codes instead of by the hallways.

Anthony Godfrey:
I walk into a lot of schools and some of them are very large. And a lot of them have similar layouts and sometimes the layouts flip flopped and I get confused a lot. So I really like the color coding. I think that can help a lot of people, not just law enforcement.

Mike Ashley:
Yeah. And then when I showed, of course my chief supported it too and so did the district. And then when we have officers respond from the outside, they can see what color that hallway is before they even go down that hallway. So it makes it easy for them to know where we're at if something occurs.

Anthony Godfrey:
Helps everyone be in the right place at the right time. Now, I know that you have personally been creative in thinking about ways that you can connect with the community, and help prevent problems before they happen, and create a positive relationship between the police and the community. Tell me about some of the things that you've put in place.

Mike Ashley:
Sure. I started off when our department started with business contacts. Those are the people that support us a lot of times. And so the first thing is to give them the numbers that they can contact us with. And so that was our first step, just introducing ourselves as a new department and giving that information, they would need to contact us. And then from there, since I worked in the schools, I wanted to reach out with a message. So the message was either a crime prevention message or a message of a hardship card, where it had a list of numbers that people could call. If you had somebody that had addictions, or homeless, or domestic violence. All the numbers that people who reach out that need help, that sometimes they may not wanna call 911. And then we went from there to try to educate parents that things are always changing with the youth. Just to help educate them, to understand the newest trends that are happening with their youth and all the things that are going on.

Anthony Godfrey:
You and I have talked about it before, but describe for listeners what you do with the tennis ball that you carry around.

Mike Ashley:
Oh yeah. So I do a circuit training  during the seventh period in PE here. So I can just kind of rub shoulders with the kids and have something fun other than just talking about programs. And I do it in the summer. And it was a thing I just kind of carried around and then I decided to start bouncing it to the students during recess or during class breaks. And I started trying to get more of a connection because I saw that most kids were receptive to me doing that and feeling I could see it kind of empowered them.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if someone's walking down the hall, you want to connect with you bounce the tennis ball their way. Yeah. Yep. And instinctively you catch it. Yeah. And now you've made a connection with that that person. And you've kind of opened a dialogue.

Mike Ashley:
Yeah. And it doesn't matter what, what state they are in and how they're feeling that day. Or maybe they're feeling down, it just kind of hopefully lifts their day. If I have a student that maybe doesn't wanna do it, then I'll kind of go, oh, it's kind of interesting. Why didn't they want to do that? And try to maybe mend that relationship that for some reason went wrong as far as me being a police officer. What I really feel strong about is, and I know I talked this with Lance, if you know the businesses and you know the kids and you know the parents and you know your senior citizens, you know the community. And so anytime there's an issue, I want the parents to be part of that with my administration. Me and those parents in the same meeting. So we can come to the same conclusion, the same safety plan, you know, as we call it. So that we can understand each other. And I think it feels better if we're working together than if we're all against each other and come from different perspectives. We will, but we can come to some kind of agreement if they really feel it. We really do care about their kids and we really do want to help them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Love it. Thank you for everything you do.

Mike Ashley:
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.