They were hungry for donations and had a big desire to help those in need.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Terra Linda Elementary School where students and staff recently held a huge community food drive. A food drive that was so successful, it taught students if you have a huge appetite to help others and to be kind, you can make it happen.
Audio Transcription
Kinley:
I feel good about how I collected so much food for like families that need it, because I might end world hunger.
Anthony Godfrey:
You might end world hunger. You're on your way to doing that. I'm so proud of you guys. How do you feel about having collected so much food?
Grayson:
I feel amazing because now people don't starve.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They were hungry for donations and had a big desire to help those in need.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Terra Linda Elementary School, where students and staff recently held a huge community food drive. A food drive that was so successful, it taught students if you have a huge appetite to help others and be kind, you can make anything happen.
[Music]We're here at Terra Linda Elementary talking about the canned food drive. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what's been happening.
Natalie Newbold:
So my name is Natalie Newbold. I'm a fifth-grade teacher, and I'm also in charge of the student council. Every year, we do a canned food drive, and we focus on points which are the most needed food items from the food bank rather than just simple food items.
Anthony Godfrey:
So if I brought a bunch of ramen, my points might be a little bit lower.
Natalie Newbold:
Actually, no, those are double.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, ramen is double. Oh, I guessed wrong. What are some of the foods that get the most points?
Natalie Newbold:
So the most points are peanut butter, mac and cheese, chili, SpaghettiOs, canned meats such as tuna, chicken, or beef, and anything boxed or packaged.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. Very good. So, you turn it into a competition, I understand.
Natalie Newbold:
Yes, we do a competition where our first-place winner gets to be Mrs. Martinez for the day. Our second-place winner gets to be Mr. Davis for the day, and our third-place winner gets to be Mrs. Fuell for the day. Everyone goes crazy to try to get to be them for the day because they get to miss out on their school day, and they get to take over with her or them.
Anthony Godfrey:
I just saw some fist pumps from the students who have won that prize. Let's talk with each of them. First, let's talk with our third-place winner. Tell me your name and what grade you're in.
Grayson:
I'm Grayson, and I'm in fourth.
Anthony Godfrey:
And how does it feel to be in third place?
Grayson:
Very good.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you get to be the administrative assistant in the office where really everything is coming through the office. There's a lot of organization going. What are your plans as the administrative assistant in there?
Grayson:
Just to make people be their happiest, and if they're sick, get them home immediately or try to make them not sick.
Anthony Godfrey:
You have a really good sense of the job. That's awesome. So tell me your name in grade.
Kinley:
My name is Kinley. I'm in fourth grade.
Anthony Godfrey:
How about you as assistant principal? What are you looking forward to the most?
Kinley:
Maybe I can make it an early out day.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, an early out day. Get those buses over here. Get people home.
Kinley:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Well, let's see how that goes because you've still got to go through her. She's the principal. Principal, what do you think about an early out day?
Vivienne Bartlett:
That could be a possibility depending on the teachers and well.
Anthony Godfrey:
Listen to this political speech. Well, it could be a possibility. It depends on the teachers. Let's take a look at things. I love it. You're going to be a great principal, not just for one day. Maybe I can hire you as a principal later, do you think?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Yeah.
Natalie Newbold:
She was actually our mayor at BizTown.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you were the mayor for BizTown?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you have leadership in your blood. Okay. Do you want to be a leader growing up? You already are here at school as a student leader.
Vivienne Bartlett:
Yeah. And actually my whole life I've wanted to be a teacher or a principal or some sort of school employee.
Anthony Godfrey:
You have a great future, and I am going to stay in touch with you. That's for sure. Tell me your name and grade.
Vivienne Bartlett:
I am Vivienne Bartlett, and I am in fifth grade.
Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me how you gathered so much food to be number one in the school.
Vivienne Bartlett:
Well, it's a magical place called Macy's, and my mom doesn't mind how much money we spend on food because it's going to a good cause.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so you were able to persuade your mom that this was the way to go.
Vivienne Bartlett:
Well, yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Excellent. And how does it feel to have provided so much food for those who need it?
Vivienne Bartlett:
I feel really good about that.
Anthony Godfrey:
How do you guys feel about having collected so much food for the needy?
Kinley:
I feel good about how I collected so much food for like homeless and families that need it, because I might end world hunger.
Anthony Godfrey:
You might end world hunger. You're on your way to doing that. I'm so proud of you guys. How do you feel about having collected so much food?
Grayson:
I feel amazing because now people will starve and will have a bunch of people living on earth.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, taking good care of people around you. It's wonderful. Now tell me, are you a competitive person having won number one? Did you have your eye on the prize the whole time?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Um, actually, no. I have never been competitive, but last night I was laying down like, I really, I just really hope I win this, and I've never actually felt competitive, but until last night.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think being competitive about helping people in your community not go hungry is a great thing to be competitive about. So, you're going to be principal for the day. Do you have an agenda? Do you have any ideas of what you want to do?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Um, I actually have no idea.
Anthony Godfrey:
You're pretty happy with how things are going at Terra Linda, so there aren't big changes you're looking for. Is that right?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Um, there are a few things I would change, but otherwise, you know, like I would have people pick up their, make sure they pick up their trash and stuff. Just, you know, help our janitor out.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sounds like you have a really good idea of how people can do a little bit better. That's exactly what a principal ought to be doing. I'm looking forward to your day as principal. I think that's awesome. You know, I'm here to help if you need. Are you going to be calling me on the day that you're principal for a consultation, maybe?
Vivienne Bartlett:
Yeah, probably.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I'm counting on it. Give me a call. We'll talk through the issues. Okay. I have confidence in you. You're going to do a great job.
So Natalie, tell us a little bit about where this came from. How did this get started?
Natalie Newbold:
So when I took over for a student council four years ago, I really wanted them to do a service learning project that had never been done before. And I wanted to do a canned food drive because it's easy and everyone can bring at least one can. We were hesitant because we have so many of our population that takes food home, but we decided to try it. And our first year, we got 1500 cans, and then it's just gone up every single year. They have just raised the bar, and the whole community gets involved. The parents get involved. And as you can tell, the kids absolutely love it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's had an impact on the students, even though we talked about the prizes that they're winning and the things they get to do. They're very focused on helping others and really being empathetic and thinking about the needs of other people and how they can help meet those needs.
Natalie Newbold:
Absolutely. Yeah. And that's the biggest thing that came out of it is you are seeing that they absolutely love helping people. And like Vivienne said, her mom's okay with spending a lot of money on it because it's for a good cause. And we hear that all the time. We just have parents in the morning just drop off big loads of food. So we love it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, so now you've involved the community, you've involved parents, and it extends beyond the school. So that's really exciting. And I think this is the perfect time of year for the food bank. Aren't they really depleted at this time of year and needing to catch up from having used up the food that they received over the holidays?
Natalie Newbold:
Absolutely. And that's why we try to do it during March. So it is a good time for everyone to donate.
Anthony Godfrey:
And these bins, we were here earlier for another event, and there are these huge cardboard bins out in the main hallway with a ton of food. When you see it all put together, it's really impressive. So it's a very tangible sign of the importance of this initiative and some incredible results.
Natalie Newbold:
Yeah, absolutely. We started off with one gigantic box and then several little barrels. And every year, we just keep adding more and more boxes. So we are we're absolutely loving the progress and the results we're seeing.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now I see that there's also a pizza party for the grade that has the most. Who is the top grade?
Natalie Newbold:
So our fourth grade will be winning that. And so they will get that pizza party, and they worked really hard. Fifth grade is in second place. And you can tell we just have amazing results with the rest of our grades.
Anthony Godfrey:
How many cans of food, how many food items this year?
Natalie Newbold:
So we have three thousand four hundred and five points, and we'd have to decide all that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Three thousand four. That's well beyond the first year. That's exciting.
Natalie Newbold:
Yeah, that is like double our first year.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love that you emphasize getting the right food because sometimes people are just bringing whatever they happen to have on hand. And this makes sure that the food that's provided is the food that can be used most easily and be most effective in combating hunger. So bravo. Thank you so much, guys. I'm really impressed with what you've done. This is so important, the service learning you've done and more than anything, the help that you're giving to people in your community. So thanks for being a great example to me and to everybody in your school.
Natalie Newbold:
Thank you.
Students:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks, guys.
Stay with us. When we come back, we talk with the principal of Terra Linda Elementary School.
Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.
Break:
In Jordan School District, we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in, offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families, free of charge. You can take a class called Blues Busters for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends. There are also support groups and free counseling, all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists, counselors, and school psychology interns. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org.
Anthony Godfrey:
Let's go take a look at what you've collected out here. This is a mound of food. This is so much. How does it feel when you look at all of this? You have to kind of peek up, go on your tippy toes to peek over the box. It's so huge. Are these yours that you brought in? Oh yeah, I've got some mac and cheese. What's that? These two are chock-full.
Grayson:
I did the purple boxes. That was my 90 points to get me in third place.
Kinley:
I brought a lot of the ramen.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I love ramen. It's good stuff.
Natalie Newbold:
They're going to be making the announcement any second now.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
We're talking now with the principal of Terra Linda Elementary. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Terra Linda.
Yajaira Martinez:
I am Yajaira Martinez, principal at Terra Linda Elementary, where we house preschool through sixth grade and three autism support classrooms. We're a very diverse population with a ton of amazing kids.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what this food drive has meant to the culture of the school overall, how it's impacted students and the community.
Yajaira Martinez:
I think it teaches our students, this is our third year doing it, it teaches our students to come together, work together, but also encourage each other. We have other students encouraging other students to become principal of the day, but it also provides that sense of community and how to support each other in the neighborhood.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's really exciting to see how impactful it was for the three students who are the winners, and they didn't want to talk as much about the prize as about the impact that gathering the food has had. I feel like this has helped them really see things from the perspective of other students.
Yajaira Martinez:
I agree.
Anthony Godfrey:
You've seen that as well.
Yajaira Martinez:
I agree.
Anthony Godfrey:
So how are you feeling about a student being in your place for the day? She seems very capable, having been mayor of Biztown, and she seems well prepared for the role.
Yajaira Martinez:
Yeah, they love it. I actually see it as I have another person to help me out throughout the day, so it's fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
Perfect. I offered to let her call me if she needs a consult, but she's in good hands. I think it's going to go really well. It's exciting. Tell me, this is just one component of the positive culture that's here at Terra Linda. We were here to see students coming through and doing a little shopping based on some good behavior, some good things they've done in school. Tell us about that program.
Yajaira Martinez:
Yeah, so it's a program that I started, this is my fourth year, so we call it our PAWS. So it's our school-wide behavior program, where every time we catch them doing something that defines our PAWS, they get a little ticket that they drop into their grade-level basket. And every Friday, we just pull some out, and they get called down to come get something from the principal's office, whether that's a snack, a toy, or something. It really encourages them to just show that positive behavior throughout the school.
Anthony Godfrey:
There's a really nice array of colorful options here on the table, toys and prizes, like you said. But they're also timed. They get 10 seconds to choose what it is that they want. That gives an added level of excitement.
Yajaira Martinez:
Yes, because I learned quickly that if you don't give them a time limit, they will shop forever.
Anthony Godfrey:
I also saw that you have a really robust student council. You had a large group in here doing announcements at the end of the day and announcing the winners for the contest. Tell me about the student council.
Yajaira Martinez:
So it's very procedural routine with them. We want them to represent leadership. We hold them accountable for a lot of things, and being role models for those little kids. So they have a procedure that they learn, whether that's getting kids inside the assembly. They know which grade level they are to walk to their seats, play silent Simon Says with them, opening assemblies, closing assemblies, or announcements. So I like to give a lot of the leadership back to the kids so they can start getting comfortable with communicating in front of people and making announcements and just out of their, you know, just comfort.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's obvious that it's having a really positive impact on the students. We were here for an assembly earlier, and I don't know, you did the, give me three, two, one. There was a count, and the entire gym is instantly quiet. It was really fun to see. And today, earlier, there was an assembly with a magician, and I know some other things have happened throughout the year when the behavior has been what it needs to be in the school. I think almost every student qualified to be in that assembly today. Tell us about that program throughout the year.
Yajaira Martinez:
So it's part of the PAWS program I started, again, four years ago, where every quarter I have what we call Behavior Fiesta. Students that haven't had any extreme incidents, office referrals, get to participate every quarter, whether that's a 15-minute extra recess, an assembly like today, a popcorn party, whatever it is, to encourage them to continue to follow the rules at school and keep everyone safe.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's outstanding. Well, I've only been here a little bit today, and I've seen so much evidence of a very positive culture, kids that are leaders and really focused on the right things. So great job. Bravo to you and your staff for creating a wonderful environment for these students.
Yajaira Martinez:
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.