Episode 201: Exploring Job Opportunities in Jordan School District

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. If you are in the market for a new job, you're in luck. Jordan School District is hiring.

On this episode of the Supercast, we explore the many opportunities for you to work in our schools and buildings; working and making a difference in education in careers like teaching, school counseling, and custodial, driving bus, and dishing up delicious food in our cafeterias. If you're in the market for a job, tune in and let's talk.

We're here with Brent Burge, one of the administrators from our HR department, and with Tammy Rajczyk, one of our special education administrators at the district level here, to talk about some of the job opportunities available in Jordan School District. Thanks for joining me.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Thank you.

Brent Burge:
You're welcome.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have the good news from the board that there's a 7% pay increase for our education support professionals. So I know we have a lot of interest in the positions that are out there, but we always have a lot of positions to fill. We need a lot of great people. So I thought I would talk with you about some of the things that are, some of the positions available and what we're doing to connect with potential candidates out there. I know we have a job fair coming up. Mr. Burge, talk to us a little bit about that.

Brent Burge:
Well, this is a great opportunity. Many people think that during the summer things slow down a bit, but this is the time when all schools are trying to fill those open positions for the upcoming year. And it's a great time to get your application in for those positions if you're interested.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know we have a job fair coming up in August, but we have a lot of opportunities to apply between now and then. If someone is looking for a job, tell us the mechanics of hopping online to see what's available.

Brent Burge:
The best thing for you to do is to go to our website at employment.jordandistrict.org. There's many links based on the information that we have and if you click on the APPLY HERE button, that will take you directly to our application portal where you can see all of the available jobs that we have available throughout the district at each school, at each department. And it's easy to complete an application and submit that for whichever jobs you're interested in.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you can, you know, if you're interested in working close to home or at a particular location, you can sort jobs that way or you can also look for something in a particular job family as we call it with a, you know, custodial nutrition services, information systems, those sorts of positions.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. There's a great way to just sort. A lot of people like to work at schools close to their home and that's a great way to sort through those postings.

Anthony Godfrey:
Another way to connect with a job is just to call the school and see what they have available. And some folks may only want to work very close to home or where their children are attending. And just a quick call to the school to see what openings they have is also a good way to get that taken care of.

Brent Burge:
And you can also call our HR department, 801-567-8150, and we'll be glad to help you get your application submitted.

Anthony Godfrey:
That number again.

Brent Burge:
801-567-8150.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, call now. Operators are standing by in our human resources department, ready to connect you to the job of your dreams. Now Tammy, let's talk a little bit about special education. There are lots of different positions in special education and one of your responsibilities has been to help find great people and match them up with the jobs we have open. Tell me a little bit about some of the jobs that are available in special ed that people might be interested in.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Sure, right now we have 14 teaching positions in special education. That ranges from resource positions to self-contained positions in a variety of different schools including elementary, middle, and high school. We also have itinerant positions that are also available so we're looking for teachers of the visually impaired, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, and SLPs, speech-language pathologists as well. If you're looking for a job, Jordan's the way to go. I highly recommend Jordan School District to all of our candidates. please come to the job fair. We will be there with our booth and ready to answer any questions that you have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you talked about resource and self-contained. Will you describe the difference there for those who are listening as well as itinerant positions?

Tammy Rajczyk:
Sure. So our resource positions we have full-time and part-time and it looks a little different in each school. So our elementary is usually for our mild-moderate students and it can be a pullout or a mainstream or an inclusion classroom. We also have in our secondary, our middle schools and high schools, resource as well and those are for mild-moderate students with a learning disability typically sometimes other health impairments it just depends on the students' individual needs we try to match that.
So we also have our self-contained classrooms that we're looking for teachers and our self-contained students might require a little bit more additional support and we have opportunities available for you to teach in those as well. Usually typically a little bit smaller classroom sizes and you get the more individualized support there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there are opportunities part-time full-time to help students who have greater needs for support, less need for support. You may even be helping in a regular education classroom but helping support them to make sure they're successful there. Just lots of different opportunities and when you work closely with students, then you really get addicted to having that connection with them and it's really important. Having great people is the difference between students being successful and not, so those are really important positions.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Correct, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about, what is it that's rewarding about working with special education students and supporting our teachers as an ESP for example?

Tammy Rajczyk:
Working with students with disabilities is extremely rewarding in all aspects. Whether you're a teacher, an instructional assistant in the classroom, you really get to know those students and get to build those relationships. And not only are you helping them build the skills they need to become independent, you're also establishing those relationships with them as well as the families. You get to work with a team of people you're never alone and that team you work very closely with because we want to make sure we're meeting those needs of each student.

I've worked in special education for over 20 years and I've never turned back. It's something that I hold near and dear to my heart. I love each and every student that I have worked with, each staff member, each family. I still keep in touch with some of them. It has impacted my life tremendously with my own family and my own children at home and just looking at the benefits of giving each student what they need to be successful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Anyone who's thinking, "Maybe I would be interested in that," give it a shot. There are some great kids that you get to work with and some wonderful educators. And if you have any questions regarding special ed, please feel free to call myself or Mike Trimmel at 801-567-8904. And we're happy to answer any questions.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Nathan Morgan, the head custodian here at West Jordan High School. Nathan, thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, no problem, it's great to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
You were described as best of the best and I've only been here about 90 seconds and somebody already told me that.

Nathan Morgan:
[LAUGH] Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know you do a great job and you've done a great job for us for a long time. Tell us about your career as a custodian in Jordan's school district.

Nathan Morgan:
Okay, so I started in 2004.  I was just barely married and we had two kids. I was going to school at the time and I just needed a job with insurance. So I came here and was actually placed here as an assistant custodian at West Jordan High. And then I worked here for about eight years. And then in 2012, I got a head custodian job at Fox Hollow Elementary. And I was there for about a year and then I went to Valley High in 2013.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, and I was there for about, probably another eight years and then 2021, I moved over here to West Jordan High.

Anthony Godfrey:
I say a while because I knew you at Valley as well and it doesn't seem like it's been that long since you were there.

Nathan Morgan:
Time just flies.

Anthony Godfrey:
Time does fly.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, I've been here for 19 years total, so.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. I'm glad we've had you for so long and like I said, you do such a great job. Tell us about some of the opportunities for custodians in Jordan School District.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh, there's a lot of opportunities. So you start out as an assistant custodian, and our director, Steve Peart, has made a lot of positions open. You have assistant custodian and then after that, if you take some training classes, you can move up to lane three. There's JCOS Basic and JCOS Management. And then after that, you can get a lead custodian at a middle school, and then you can also move up to a lead custodian at a high school, which is a little bit more pay. And then you have head custodian at an elementary school, and then a head custodian at a middle school, and then they have the custodian specialists that go out and, you know, they're just kind of, they help you.

Anthony Godfrey:
They rove and help and train and support when somebody needs to be there. And they are substitutes for all of those positions as well.

Nathan Morgan:
All those positions, yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
I also want to mention the sweeper positions that are available. It's one of the few jobs that you can start when you're 14 years old.

Nathan Morgan:
Exactly, yes. You have the sweeper positions.  We have at West Jordan High, we have about 12 sweeper positions. We have eight regular ones that come in every day and we have four subs that come in as well and they check in with me. The subs are kind of like the ones that are in band and they can't show up every day or football.

Anthony Godfrey:
But they can come by when you need them sometimes.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's perfect. You mentioned JCOS and that's the system that we use to organize the jobs, explain exactly what's involved and what's expected and to do the evaluations. So there's a lot of training, there's a lot of clarity about the job. You can come not knowing anything about the job and we're ready to train you and get you ready.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh yeah, the district does a great job of prepping you. I didn't know anything about custodial when I first started and they sign you up day one on those JCOS classes. Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me what would you say to those who are considering possibly getting involved and seeking a custodial position?

Nathan Morgan:
It's a great job. Jordan School District is a great place to work at, and you know every day I come to work I'm happy. And the students, the students make it even more great. That's why we're here. Without the students, we really wouldn't have a job.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know you're happy every day because you're always smiling and you always bring a high level of positivity wherever you go so I really appreciate that.

Nathan Morgan:
Thank you so much. And we're standing here in the Commons at West Jordan High School it looks fantastic I know things are underway and you're working hard but this is an old building that looks really good.

Nathan Morgan:
This is our last hall. Yeah. We have done all the waxing. This is it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you can see your reflection everywhere you look. It's probably kind of a nice time when the building is more empty. It's never empty. By the end of the summer, you're itching for the kids to be back.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh yeah, we miss them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for your time Nathan and thanks for all your great work over the years.

Nathan Morgan:
Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Take care.

Stay with us when we come back. We'll tell you about Jordan's upcoming summer job fair. A fair where you just might get hired on the spot.

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:
If you are thinking that maybe I'll be interested in a job in the fall when my kids are headed back to school. We also have the job fair coming up in August that we mentioned. Tell me about where and when that's happening and what that looks like.

Brent Burge:
Yes, we have our second job fair coming up August 16th. It will be held at Oquirrh Hills Middle School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The address for that is 12949 South 2700 West. We had a lot of great response the last time we did this and we are inviting everybody to show up and find available positions.

Anthony Godfrey:
Part-time, full-time, every job family. We have 9,000 employees total in Jordan School District. Last year there were 11,000 W2 forms created for all of the people who worked for Jordan at one time or another. There are a lot of opportunities as a result of that. And it's a great environment to work in, working with kids, working with other great people who've chosen education, they're just, whatever your skills are, we have a spot for you and we have a way to help make good use of those abilities and talents and experience that you're bringing. We have a lot of other education support professional openings, classroom aids, this is any position that doesn't require a license. And we have 13 job families that those positions are organized into. So, Brent, can you talk to us a little bit about some of the opportunities there?

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. The education support professionals keep the schools running. We have bus drivers and bus attendants who get the kids to school. The custodians are there before everybody else preparing the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
And long after everyone else.

Brent Burge:
And long after... There's a lot of cleaning that goes on in the buildings. Our nutrition employees who are preparing those nutritious meals for our students, along with those that are classroom assistants, those who work directly with students. We also have a lot of office assistant positions, whether part-time or full-time, that do a variety of jobs within the district.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's really nice is for a lot of the positions you have a schedule that may match your child's schedule. Not for all positions, but a lot of them you can only work during the day after your child has headed to school. You'll be home by the time they get home. But it's also a great retirement position. We have people who have retired from a lot of different careers that decide to come to education. If you're looking for a connection with great people, kids are a great way to do that. Being around students is energizing and can be really really rewarding.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely, the schedule works really well with a lot of our employees. It just fits to what their family needs and it works well for them. One of the additional things that we have is we're offering a sign-on bonus for certain positions within the district that we consider hard to fill. For example, our assistant custodians, some of our six-hour nutrition workers, our bus drivers, and a few within the facilities department. So there's a $500 sign-on bonus if you stay with us for a certain amount of time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell everyone about those positions. Let's start with custodial assistant.

Brent Burge:
Yes, this is a position that does not have any minimum requirements. In essence, you are working at a school either during the day or a majority of our positions are in the evening where you are cleaning hallways, restrooms, preparing the school for the next day.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's a full-time position?

Brent Burge:
It is full-time, but we also have some part-time positions at elementaries in the afternoons to supervise the student sweepers as well. We also have the six-hour nutrition position. Their job is to do the heavy baking.

Anthony Godfrey:
Heavy baking.

Brent Burge:
Heavy baking.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's not a term I use very often.

Brent Burge:
As we bake most of our own breads and things like that, they do a lot of the baking and preparing of the food. And not only that, but serving and then cleaning up afterwards. Very rewarding career as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's six hours a day, but that's a benefited position.

Brent Burge:
That is a benefited position, correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
As is the full-time custodial position. What are some of the others that you mentioned? Bus driver, let's talk about that. And you mentioned bus attendant. You don't have to drive a bus to work on a bus.

Brent Burge:
No, you do not.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just to help students manage that trip. Generally students who are on an individual education plan, there's an attendant that helps make sure that everything goes well on the bus. So bus attendants but also we always need bus drivers.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. So our bus attendants, like you said, are there to help the driver while the driver drives. They're there to watch after the students and to help them get on and off the bus. We do have full-time positions. We also have substitute bus attendants as well. If you're not looking for a full-time job you can help out when you're available. Our bus drivers, the great thing about bus driving is we provide all of the training for your CDL. It does require CDL and so the district is willing to pay you to go through that training program. Bus drivers arrive early in the morning, pick up students, drop them off, and then do the same thing in the afternoon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the other jobs that you listed?

Brent Burge:
I talked about facilities positions. We have frequently different positions with the facilities. This group takes care of all of our HVAC, our plumbing, our electrical, anything that's heavy-duty work dealing with the facilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
Not heavy baking. Heavy-duty work.

Brent Burge:
Not heavy baking, heavy duty. Yes, absolutely. And so they are there to handle all of the things that maybe the custodian isn't trained to do or might require a little more skill or expertise.

Anthony Godfrey:
And any other thoughts about some of the positions we have open or just general tips for those who are interested in a position in Jordan?

Brent Burge:
Like Tammy mentioned, we have a lot of special needs positions that are available both

hourly and contracted. We also have classroom assistants that work mostly with regular education students, helping them read, helping them on the playground to make sure they're safe, a whole host of positions.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the walk-to-read positions are really important positions. Every position is, you said it earlier, every person we hire in this district ultimately makes the education of children possible. Thanks for joining me on the podcast and we really look forward to all the great new people we're going to be able to hire this year.

Brent Burge:
Thank you.

Tammy Rjaczyk:
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.