Skip to content

During the school day he is determined to provide students with the best educational experience possible at Monte Vista Elementary School. But when the final bell rings, Assistant Principal Andrew Lovell trades the classroom for a pickleball court.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Mr. Lovell is sharing his love and passion for the game of pickleball with colleagues. They are colleagues of all ages and abilities who suddenly can’t get enough of what has become one of the most popular, fastest growing sports in the nation right now.


Audio Transcription [Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. During the school day, he is determined to provide students with the best educational experience possible at Monte Vista Elementary School. But when the final bell rings, Assistant Principal Andrew Lovell trades the classroom for a pickleball court.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Mr. Lovell is sharing his love and passion for the game of pickleball with colleagues. They are colleagues of all ages and abilities who suddenly can't get enough of what has become one of the most popular, fastest-growing sports in the nation right now.

We're with Andrew Lovell, the assistant principal at Monte Vista Elementary School today. Andrew, thanks for taking some time this afternoon.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the pickleball robot is shooting balls at us now. And now do you use this to kind of hone your skills on certain shots?

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Andrew Lovell:
For sure. Yeah, it's a great way to practice, especially if you don't have anyone to play with. You know, I think nothing beats playing with a friend or people just at a pickup game, but this is a great way to work on this very specific skill and to drill it 100 plus times in a row.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are here at Pickleball Courts in South Jordan City and a little known fact is that if you come in 100° weather in the middle of the day, you get every court to yourself. People claim Pickleball Courts are full, but they're not full if you come at one.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, that's true, yeah. Typically, in the evening you can go to a place that has 20 courts and they'll be booked, yeah, middle of the day, 100°, it's a great time to come out and play.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you could take the heat, come into the kitchen, so to speak. Now, Andrew, we were going to talk a little bit about pickleball in Jordan School District and how it's been part of our health and wellness to start off with. I'd like to learn a little bit more about your connection to pickleball. Tell us about your pickleball past and how you're connected to the sport currently.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so like a lot of people, I think, in Utah and around the nation, pickleball really picked up during COVID for whatever reason, I picked it up and I just got addicted right away. So I've been playing for about two and a half years and I do tournaments, I play with friends in the Jordan School District, I've helped with Wellness Day and created some leagues. And so it's been a really awesome opportunity to connect with other people. It's a great way to get exercise. It's a great way to stay in shape and also just keep mentally sharp, emotionally and socially healthy as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us why you think Pickleball is such a great health and wellness sort of activity. Because on our Health and Wellness Day, which we've now done for multiple years, we had a lot of employees come out for that and it was a really good chance for them to connect with each other. And I think that's a big part of it.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, one of the coolest things that I saw at the Health and Wellness Day was just people from all over the district connecting with one another. We had, you know, our custodial staff, we had substitute teachers, we had full-time teachers, we had people from the district, we had vice principals. We had just, everyone was there connecting and no one knew each other, so everyone's, you know, kind of on equal playing field, and you just gotta get out there and play. And it's a great way to just to connect with people. And so that was one of the coolest things I saw, just people making connections through something that they genuinely love to do, which was get some exercise and play pickleball.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know it may be surprising, but I haven't been involved in a lot of sports over the years. And pickleball, it's remarkable how quickly you can have fun with it even if you're not a particularly skilled athlete. Speaking to the connection part of it, my son and I were down in St. George, we’re playing, and another couple of players came up to us and said “Hey, do you guys want to play against us?” and suddenly this competitive fire built within me even though I don't have these pickleball skills to back it up. It was really fun to play with them and it was memorable. So, I'm really excited that we've had that opportunity within Jordan District because of the activities you've put together for employees to connect with each other. So,  you had about 60 or 70 people come to the health and wellness activity. We were fully booked for the day.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we were fully booked. We actually went for almost 10 hours straight, playing drop-in, and that was just, anyone could come and play. And then we also had two tournaments, a beginner tournament and an advanced tournament, and those were full. And then we created a league after that 'cause the feedback was so great. We had too many people actually to be able to fit everyone in. So then we created a league and we had people come out to that every other Wednesday, twice a month and the response has been tremendous. And I think you can really see that people just genuinely love being outside. They love getting some extra exercise.

We know that our educators, if we can be happy, if we can be healthy mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually, that we're gonna be better teachers in classroom. And so that's I think that's just one of the side effects that we don't always get to see but we know it exists. We know that happier teachers, healthier teachers make for higher success and learning in our classrooms. So it's just it's a benefit to everyone when we do things like pickleball, not just pickleball, but pickleball has to be one of the best for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
You get outside there's a little bit of a sense of competition. You connect with other people and I think you get a sense of efficacy like hey, I can learn something I didn't know how to do before. Because it takes a long time to master it but it doesn't take very long to be able to just dive in and have some fun with it.

Andrew Lovell:
For sure. That is one of the reasons, I think, why pickleball is exploding so much. Because the playing field is really level. You have male, female, it doesn't matter the age. You know, I always tell people if you haven't lost to someone who's over 60 years old or if you haven't lost to a 13-year old it's because you haven't played enough. Because there are just so many good people. And you don't have to be- unlike tennis where you really need, you need a flexible, a younger body to be honest, to be able to run those sprints and be able to compete at the highest level, in pickleball you don't. Even at the pro level you'll see people - you'll see older gentlemen, older women, who are competing at the highest levels. And you also see on the opposite end. You see kids who are as young as 13 playing at the pro level.

So it just it's a sport that everyone can do and it's really easy to learn. If you want to be more advanced there's a few techniques you got to pick up, but really anyone like you and your son, you go out there and play. And you can be just as good after a few times of practice so it's awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
A very successful Health and Wellness Day. Lots of participation in pickleball so much so that you started the league. Now I understand we're starting that back up this fall as well.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so one thing that we want everyone to look forward to is on Wellness Day we plan on having another set of tournaments and drop in. But then we for sure plan on having another league coming up either in the fall or spring. We haven't fully decided on the dates and well it's gonna work for everyone but that's something we want to continue and we will strive to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's difficult to really feel that connection sometimes when we're such a large district and this is a great way for us to try to accomplish that.

Andrew Lovell:
That's right, yeah it can be really difficult and it's like I mentioned earlier. It was really cool to see people from our district offices playing. Their doubles partner is the head custodian from another school and that's just something, you know, an opportunity that you just wouldn't see maybe anywhere else and pickleball really facilitates that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well count on me for some of those league nights because I know you're gonna get me prepped so I can really show my stuff out there on the court.

Andrew Lovell:
And we can do that. You know, I think for anyone getting the sport there's just a few simple things that we can all work on, including myself, and it's just practice and repeat of a few simple skills and then you can pretty much get to that level. So I hope this can get you the invite to the cool kids party with your wife.

Anthony Godfrey:
I really want to be at the cool kids table, but it's gonna take your help Andrew. Let's get out on the court and let's see what we can we can do.

Stay with us. When we come back.

Andrew Lovell:
And that was a perfect return.

Anthony Godfrey:
Listen as we serve up some fun on a local pickleball court.

[Music]

Break:
Hello, I'm Tracy Miller, President of the Jordan School District Board of Education. There are seven members on the Board of Education, one in each voting district. We are committed to listening and serving our constituents as we work together to provide the best possible learning environment for the students we serve. As members of the Jordan Board of Education, we believe it is our duty and responsibility to: increase student achievement; provide parents with the choices they deserve and desire; recognize and reward quality in educators; empower school leaders through policy governance and professional development; and communicate with the public, legislators, business leaders, cities, and parents. We invite you to get to know the Board member who represents you in your voting district and to please join us at our monthly board meeting held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Or listen from the comfort of your home, on our live stream. For more information and to find your Board member, visit jordandistrict.org. With parent and community input and support, we will continue our work to give students every opportunity to succeed in Jordan District schools and beyond. Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're out here on the court now and I'll just tell you up front I'm left-handed. I assume that's a tremendous advantage.

Andrew Lovell:
You know it actually really is. Playing left-handed I think throws off the majority of players because we're just so not used to it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I'm starting ahead of the game right now.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah. This is gonna be an easy win for you probably.

Anthony Godfrey:
Perfect. So let's start off with some basic skills?

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so I'd say the most basic when teaching new people how to play, I just start with the three most basic things which is the first three shots. So the very first shot that we're looking at in a game is your serve. At the beginning you just want to get your serve in. That's the main goal, but as you become more intermediate and advanced you're looking to get your serve deep to the baseline. So that's the back line. The reason behind that is you want to push your opponent back. You're always trying to prevent your opponent from getting to the kitchen line or the no volley zone area.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that is right up by the front by the net.

Andrew Lovell:
That's correct. So you always are wanting to push people away from that. So you want your serve to be deep to the baseline. And again, if you even want to add a little more to that, if you're playing singles it can change a little bit. I like to serve to people's offhand. So if my opponent's right handed, I like to serve their left hand. Another strategy is to serve right between the two, if you're playing doubles, to create a little bit of confusion. But the number one thing is on that serve, you want to have a good deep return.

The second skill and shot to work on is the return. So you serve it to them and they're returning it back. And that return, you also want to do kind of the same thing. You want it to be a deep return, preferably to their off hand or to the middle. And that's again, to keep the other team back and to prevent them from getting to the no volley zone.

And then the third shot is probably the most important. So this is the key. If there was one thing you're gonna go out in there and do besides, you know, dink the ball around, the number one skill that you probably wanna work on as a beginner or someone who's new to the sport is that third shot. There's different strategies and different theories on what to do, but a safe strategy is called the third shot drop. The third shot drop is essentially, when someone's returning it to you, you want to use light hands and drop the ball right into the kitchen. And what this allows you to do is it allows you to run up while that ball is softly and gently falling into that kitchen and allows you to jump up to that kitchen line or no volley zone line. And it allows you and your partner to get settled up at the front. And that shot is extremely important and it's also something that really does take time. That's something that tennis players aren't used to. A lot of tennis players who come to the sport, they really want to slam the ball a lot and that can be an effective strategy, but in pickleball, you really want to work on that third shot drop.

Anthony Godfrey:
The third shot drop. So now the rules about the kitchen are that you can't hit from the kitchen unless it has bounced in the kitchen, is that right?

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, yeah, essentially you cannot hit the ball out of the air while standing in the kitchen. So you could stand in the kitchen all day and you could just stand there, however, you're not allowed to hit the ball. So the general rule is you stand back at that no-volley zone line, that line that's close to the net, and you wait for the ball to come at you and then you decide what you're going to do. If the ball falls in the kitchen, then you can step into the kitchen and hit it, but if it's coming in the air, you need to be behind that line.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, let's see a serve. Now you serve it right out of your hand and you just hit it out of your hand. Can you bounce it? Is it legal to bounce it?

Andrew Lovell:
It is legal to bounce it, so you can bounce it. Most people don't. Most people are hitting it right out of their hand and you kind of have to come through from a downward to upwards motion.

Anthony Godfrey:
You can't hit down on it. You can't do an overhand serve.

Andrew Lovell:
Exactly. So as opposed to tennis you can't do an overhand serve. It's an underhand serve.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright let's see an underhand serve that takes them far back. Okay. That sound is satisfying, isn't it?

Andrew Lovell:
It's kind of like a baseball in a ballpark. It has the same feeling.

Anthony Godfrey:
So how would you describe it? This is kind of like wiffle ball and ping pong and tennis all combined.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, yeah, I think that's a that's a great description. It's ping pong, it's badminton, it's tennis all combined.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are you putting some spin on as you hit these? Or are you just making sure that you get the placement where it needs to be?

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so a little bit of both. There's a little bit of topspin coming on there right now. Some people will... they've actually made some serves illegal. So there's not too much… There's not too much you can do. Some people used to put a lot of a lot of different types of spin on it but for the most part there's just a little bit of topspin. Anthony Godfrey:
What's the illegal about some of the serves?

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so about a year ago the governing body of pickleball decided to kind of outlaw some of the ways that you could serve. One of those ways was you would take the ball - so if I'm right-handed I have my paddle in my right hand and I have the ball in my left hand and instead of just releasing the ball and hitting the ball over the net they would release the ball, but spin it with their left hand and so when the ball is coming off the paddle it had an additional spin to it. I can't do it. I never was able to do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you can't spin it out of your hand and then spin it.

Andrew Lovell:
That's correct it you couldn't spin it like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. I'm gonna go over and try to return some of these serves. Now you told me that the trick is to try to return deep to keep you back. So I'm gonna try that. Now remember, people listening to the podcast can't hear whether I hit it great or not so it's up to you right how you choose to describe it. Okay here I go, I’m going to the other side.

Andrew Lovell:
I'm gonna serve straight to Dr. Godfrey's - he's a left-hand player actually, so I'm actually gonna go to his right hand here and see what he does.

And that was a perfect return! I wish the people actually could see this because that was that was amazing. He's already learned, he's already mastered it. His wife needs to invite him to the next party. Here we go.

We'll do another one and this time I'm going to serve it to his left hand. So this is the hand that he would prefer to hit it with. And again, perfect. He served it deep and it was right to the center. In doubles that would have been an ideal return right there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So is there spin on this again? Are you trying to spin in a particular way?

Andrew Lovell:
I'm just trying to give it over.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, right in the corner. That would have been a tough one to return for anybody. Okay.

Andrew Lovell:
Pickleball was, I think invented somewhere, I think 1965 out in Seattle. So it's been around for a long time, but it really got popular during COVID. And I think we're somewhere around 35 million players right now in the US.

Anthony Godfrey:
The people who invested in it in 1965 are finally saying, my ship's come in. Now Andrew, you're new to Jordan School District. Tell us about your career to this point and what brought you here.

Andrew Lovell:
Yeah, so I was teaching prior to this in a neighboring school district down south. I taught for seven, eight years in elementary school. And I just had the opportunity to come up here, Jordan School District, after graduating from BYU. And the opportunity was there, took it, and it's been the best decision that I ever have made, hands down. And that is not just because you're here, I'm on this podcast, but literally, it's been life-changing. I’ve met amazing people and done amazing things already.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, we are thrilled to have you here and I can't thank you enough for choosing Jordan and for helping us out today.

Andrew Lovell:
Absolutely, anytime.

(gentle music)

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

(upbeat music)

 

She is traveling the world on a quest to collaborate and connect with educators and students in countries thousands of miles away.

On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with Ft. Herriman Middle School Assistant Principal Lisa Jackson to learn about Global Education Allies. It is a group of educators participating in international education travel hoping to develop global awareness and foster innovative learning in the classroom. They even develop life-long friendships in their travels with teachers and students from all over the world.


Audio Transcription [Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is traveling the world on a quest to collaborate and connect with educators and students in countries thousands of miles away.

On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with Fort Herriman Middle School Assistant Principal Lisa Jackson to learn about Global Education Allies. It is a group of educators participating in international education travel, hoping to develop global awareness and foster innovative learning in classrooms. They even develop lifelong friendships in their travels with teachers and students from all over the world.

We're talking today with Lisa Jackson, an assistant principal in Jordan School District, about her experiences traveling around the world learning about schools in other countries. Lisa, thanks for taking the time.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about how you got involved in this. What's the organization? How does all of this work?

Lisa Jackson:
So in 2016, my daughter was graduating from high school. She wanted to do something different for her senior trip. Another educator told me they had been to Africa with this group. So I checked into Global Education Allies, interviewed with them, and she and I went on a three-week adventure to Africa where we visited lots of schools, we did a lot of service, we raised money, and that just kind of started my love for seeing what school is like in other countries and around the world.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, so what is the stated purpose for this organization to exist? What is their mission?

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, so they're bringing together educators from around the world to collaborate, to discuss cultural issues, to just have shared experiences so we can collaborate with each other and learn about each other's education system.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is fascinating to me because we always hear about, well, in this country or that country they do something that really solves everything and makes everything work. Just any of the countries that you visited, tell me some of the things that have really stood out to you. Like, “Hey I wonder what would happen if we tried this?” or “There's no way we could ever do this, but it works here.” What are some of the things that have just been the most memorable as you've as you visited these countries?

Lisa Jackson:
I would say there's something really memorable about every single country. So one thing I want to just state though is my experiences in these different countries is probably not indicative of the entire country. It's the areas that I went to, the schools that I was taken to, for example in Africa, I was taken to the poorest villages. Only one school in that area did I go to that was anywhere near what we have here.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it is that's a really good distinction. It's important to say that the schools that you visited in these countries, not what are schools like throughout the country. I visited schools in China, visited schools in other in other states, visited schools in France, in various countries as well, not in the in-depth as you have, but every time I visit a school, I do have to remind myself of exactly that. One school is not emblematic of what's happening in education throughout an entire country or even an entire district or state or wherever else. So tell me some of the take-aways, some of the things that you've learned. Let's start with Africa. What countries were you in in Africa and tell me about the village and what you learned there.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, so the country I spent the most time in was Uganda. We also went over to Kumbala. In Uganda, I was shocked at the conditions. Many of the schools we went to, dirt floors, doors didn't go all the way to the ground, so they're sharing the classroom with bugs, with animals. Everything is handmade. There's no books in the classroom. We actually brought suitcases full of books. We helped to build a library over there.

But the one thing that really stood out to me was the kids are the happiest kids I've ever seen. We would go out onto the playground with them and there's nothing, there's maybe an old metal swing set, but you've never seen such big smiles. And they're doing cartwheels and they're pushing a old tire with a stick. And it made me realize we don't need all the things we think we need to make kids happy. We just need to love them. That's really all they need.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's pretty amazing. So you were there in the summer?

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, so all these trips have been summer. However, I just got back from the South Pacific and it was their winter. So in both, in Africa, China, and the South Pacific school was in. In Finland, school was out. So we met with lots of educators, didn't actually see many students. In all the other countries, we were watching class. In some of those countries, we were teaching class with them, teaching English, just working with kids. And I absolutely, it kind of combines both my passions, traveling and education together. So it's the best of both worlds for me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's fantastic. So tell me about, let's talk about Finland.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
What did you learn in Finland? Where did you go? What did you find out about education there?

Lisa Jackson:
So you know, Finland is known for having one of the best education systems in the world.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right, teachers are valued, people are happy, scores are high.

Lisa Jackson:
Lots of teacher trust, no like extended recesses, shorter school days, no homework. So many things that in theory sound phenomenal. What I did learn is they're really not that different than us, they really aren't. Their pay is very comparable to ours when you consider cost of living in both countries. Teachers have their issues there as well, we all do.

The one thing I took away from there that has kind of stuck with me is we do special education in the United States really well. When looking at their special education system, I really think that we take the individual student into account. And I was kind of proud of us for that, even though they have some great things and they're scoring phenomenally.

One thing I absolutely loved about their country is in high school, students are able to pick a path so they have a no-dead-ends policy. So if students, maybe traditional college is not going to work for them, they go to a vocational high school. So one of the vocational high schools we visited was a farming school. So the kids spend a good part of their day learning how to farm, how to work the land had to take care of the animals and when they graduate they have a career path. We do something similar. We have our JATC South, we have extended and college into a high school, but this was a career path as soon as they exit school and I was really impressed with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's interesting to hear that a lot of what they do is very similar to what we do and that you know the no dead end. I love the idea of that that there's a path for everyone. We just need to find the right match up. Now you've also visited China. Tell me about what you learned there.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, China was a different experience. China was with many educators. There was lots of Jordan School District administrators as well. In that situation we went to their finest schools. We went to their top schools, saw their top performing students. I felt like their education system is very different that ours. They're very proud of it. There was a lot of good, like I remember distinctly one student walking us around saying, "Don't you think our school is beautiful?" And it was, and I would love for our students to feel that kind of pride in our schools.

But I also noticed the teaching is very teacher-centered. Teachers are on a raised platform. Students have a specific way that they sit, a specific way that they answer questions. There's a lot of sit and get. So, while they have some great things going, I also took away that we have some great things going from that experience.

But I loved being immersed in their cultural experiences. The one thing I learned is even though our countries might be a bit divided, that doesn't mean the people have to be. We had some great relationships with some of the Chinese educators and the people that took us on our tours and they're wonderful people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about other countries that you visited as well.

Lisa Jackson:
So I just got back Sunday from the South Pacific. So I went to Australia and to New Zealand. I spent a lot of time in New Zealand schools.

Anthony Godfrey:
Bali High School?

Lisa Jackson:
No, no, I'm sorry, I did not go there. (laughs)

Anthony Godfrey:
South Pacific Musical Reference, yes.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the schools there.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, you know what? Gorgeous country, gorgeous country. Lots of collaboration, and like I said earlier, not to categorize every single school into one idea, because the different schools we went to were all so different. The very first school we went to was a primary school. It was a two-room school. There was two teachers and one principal. The one teacher taught K through three all together. Four through six was the other teacher, and the principal did all the pullouts.

Then we went to another school that was brand new, just opened in 2022. Gorgeous facility. But that one had, so when they're finished, they'll have about 900 students. What I loved about them was they're very collaborative. It was built with all glass doors and you can slide all the doors open so all the classrooms combine. So a very collaborative approach. Yeah, which I loved. Loved that.

I will say the one thing I took away from this trip that I just came back on, I kept marveling at the scenery and how beautiful New Zealand is. We were sitting at one school and I was sitting in their faculty room looking out the window thinking I would love this view. And then I started thinking, hold on. I am at Fort Herriman Middle School. If I sit in our library and look out, I have a very similar view of the Oquirrh Mountains. But I'm so used to it that I've never given it the same consideration and had the same admiration for mountains that I live by. So I walked away thinking, oh, I need to value, I live in a beautiful state. And I don't think about that. I travel all over looking for beauty and it's right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a great thought. And I do this to my kids and probably others listening do the same thing. I stop and say, look at the mountains, look. And they look up from their screen and go “Oh yeah, Dad”, they know what to say. “Yeah, that's beautiful, that's amazing.” And then they go back to their screen. But you're right, we need to pause, we need to stop. I even had an art teacher in high school who was also the wrestling coach and I can remember exactly where I was in class 'cause this seemed like, it was a surprising quote from him. He just said, "You know, you guys need to stop and look at the sky. It's gorgeous and too frequently we don't stop and look up." And I've always remembered that. You have to look around yourself and be really intentional about noticing the beauty around here because people come and they marvel at how close we are to the mountains.

Lisa Jackson:
Right, right.

Anthony Godfrey:
There were some other things that when you came back from these trips you really valued about the United States and Utah and Jordan School District education. Because you go and you learn new things from them, but you also come to appreciate some things that are in place here.

Lisa Jackson:
Absolutely. Yeah, I mean we have a lot of good things going and I'm always excited to share with them. I'm proud to be part of Jordan School District. I'm proud to live in Utah. I'm proud to be American. So I love to share all of those things with people in other countries to learn from theirs. I think we do a lot of things right. I think we're really good at building relationships with kids. I think that we are really good at looking at a student as an individual rather than a whole group or a cohort of kids. I think we are really good at professional development. I think that's something I didn't see in other countries is quite as much bringing our teachers and our administrators together and learning from each other and learning from other people in our field. So there's a lot we're doing right. There's a lot we have to be proud of.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more from Lisa Jackson on her love for world education travel.

(upbeat music)

Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org.

(upbeat music)

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you went to Finland, did you go to other countries in Europe as well?

Lisa Jackson:
I did, I went to Sweden and I went to Estonia.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about Sweden and Estonia. I've never been to any of those countries.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, so Estonia is by far my favorite. Gorgeous, gorgeous country, all cobblestone, old, old architecture, lots of castle-looking type buildings. The people were incredibly friendly. The cost of living there is really low. I just really enjoyed Estonia.

We went to several schools in Estonia and I enjoyed talking to their educators. In several of these countries, we've been able to meet with their Ministry of Education and see what they're doing and what they're bringing into their schools. I just really enjoyed those conversations and those collaborations.

Anthony Godfrey:
What sense did you get for education in Estonia? The general focus or what would it be like to be an educator in Estonia from what you can tell?

Lisa Jackson:
They're very focused on digital literacy. In fact, we went to E-Estonia and talked all about how they're bringing technology into just changing their whole education system. So they're focused on technology there. They're much like Finland in their education system but they have a very technology-centered focus. And both countries, both Estonia and Finland, you know they were under Soviet rule for so long and they've brought themselves out of poverty and really they've done a lot of that through their education system so they have a lot to be proud of.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's fantastic. How about Sweden? What was Sweden like?

Lisa Jackson:
So in Sweden I didn't get into schools, but we did have educators with us on all of our cultural experiences so those were a lot more of just casual, real conversations with teachers and one principal that was with us. Just conversations about what education is like.

Anthony Godfrey:
You brought books with pictures from your travels, and on the front of these books, there's a picture of the group that you traveled with. Have you made some great connections with the people you've traveled with, in addition to the people that you visited?

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, that's been one of my favorite parts of this. I have made lasting friendships with people from all over the country, and I would say that we're genuinely good friends now. When I first went to Africa, my very first trip doing this, I had my daughter with me. And on this last trip, so that was in 2016, we're now 2023, and I went on this trip, and I took a picture with a lady who my daughter had kind of bonded with. They both played college softball. I sent that to my daughter and she immediately sent a picture of her and that lady on top of a safari van in Africa. And it's just sweet how people I met in 2016, I'm still talking to. I've met some great friends from Philadelphia, from New York, from Florida. I've actually tried to recruit a couple of them to come to our district.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good, good. Recruit worldwide for Jordan School District.

Lisa Jackson:
I've tried, I've tried.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome, it's amazing as I look through this, the remote areas that you were able to see, and monkeys out in the wild, and rapids in Africa that you're traveling through, and that's remarkable.

Something that's exciting about what I see of your travels as I look through the book here is that you're really embedding yourself. You're really getting to know the locals and the local area because of the nature of the trip, but also just because of your spirit of adventure here as you go through. I love that. So this is not a tourist trip. This is a trip where you get to know people, where you help people and you learn from people.

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, absolutely. Which is what has drawn me to Global Education Allies, that they do get you in with local people. We get into people's homes, we get into schools, colleges, libraries, museums, places I may not go if I was just traveling there for vacation.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, if someone wanted to be involved in Global Education Allies, how would they go about doing that?

Lisa Jackson:
Yeah, they have a great website that tells you all the information, and there's other companies as well that do these kinds of trips. This is just one I've connected with early and I've stuck with. But you can look them up on the web. I'm happy to tell anyone about my experiences with them. I think they're a great organization. I've loved every minute of my trips with them. So I encourage people to just get out.

And my thing is how much I've changed, how much my view of the world has changed by seeing more than just my little world here. And so it's one thing I highly encourage my own kids to do is just get out and travel and see what the world is really like.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a good message overall. Learn from the people around you as much as you can, like you said about appreciating the scenery that we have here and what we have here.

Well, you're a great example of putting yourself out there, making sure you maintain a sense of adventure, and more than anything, curiosity about how things work elsewhere and what we can learn from the people around us. So thank you for spending time talking with us. This is really exciting, and I can't wait to hear about your future trips.

Lisa Jackson:
Thank you so much for having me. It was great.

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

(upbeat music)

It was a huge celebration with cheerleaders, a drumline, mascots, administrators, and more gathered to welcome 450 new teachers to Jordan School District.

On this episode of the Supercast, we hear from some of those teachers about their journey to Jordan and what they are most excited about as they head into classrooms for the upcoming school year.


Audio Transcription [Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was a huge celebration with cheerleaders, a drum line, mascots, administrators, and more gathered to welcome 450 new teachers to Jordan School District.

On this episode of the Supercast, we hear from some of those teachers about their journey to Jordan and what they are most excited about as they head into classrooms for the upcoming school year. We start by listening in as the crowd goes wild when the new teachers arrive for their first day in Jordan School District.

Announcer:
Hello guys, welcome to Jordan District! We're so excited you are here. Come on through!

[cheering]

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at West Jordan Middle School this morning. We have four different media outlets covering our new teacher induction. This is a return to in-person new teacher inductions after a long desert of COVID years where we were online and doing virtual inductions. So we're going to talk to the human resources department now to talk a little bit about today's event. Introduce yourself and tell us about what's going on today.

Jane Olsen:
Hi, I'm Jane Olsen. I'm the HR specialist over hiring, recruiting, and licensing for elementary schools and today we're gonna be welcoming about 450 educators.

Anthony Godfrey:
450! When I tell people that they are amazed at the number of new teachers we have every year. It's really exciting though.

Jane Olsen:
Yes, it is. Very very exciting. Ten percent of those are gonna be new graduates so we've got young ones coming in.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Now these are teachers who are teaching everything from preschool all the way to post high school.

Jane Olsen:
Yeah, and we also have our school psychologists, our SLPs, all of those education support staff are welcome to be joining us today.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we have teachers and licensed educators from all over. Tell me about that.

Jane Olsen:
Yeah, so we ran the numbers a few days ago and it looks like we're covering about 20 states and eight different countries that are going to be represented today.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic and we've cast a wide net over the past few years to bring in as many great teachers as we can and this year we've had some really great candidates. As I've talked with elementary principals they've reported that they've had 40 or even 50 qualified candidates for every position.

Jane Olsen:
Yeah, the depth of the pools even up through last week was wonderful. We were hiring special education teachers with professional licenses even up through last week.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's exciting to see that we're hiring at greater numbers than ever before, but we're filling those positions faster than ever before, and we're drawing from a deeper, deeper pool, as you said. So we've got some fantastic teachers here. Tell me a little bit about what we're doing for teachers today.

Jane Olsen:
So today we are welcoming them with a big clap in. There's quite a scene out here with cheerleaders and mascots and even some of our principals are dressed up today. And we're going to be providing them with a backpack from the community that is full of supplies and gifts and certificates for all different things. We could not do today without the community support that we've had and the amount of donations and generosity of their time and resources.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've had a bunch of donations from local businesses that have been eager to help and I was there when they were putting together the backpacks. It was a whole assembly line getting all of these great prizes put together for our teachers.

Jane Olsen:
It was a whirlwind of a day, five hours stuffing 450 backpacks.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is some of the information that will be shared with teachers throughout the day to help them get a great start to the year?

Jane Olsen:
Well, the first thing we'll start off with is kind of a classroom management with what we call our JBAT team, Melanie Dawson and Brian King, who are going to really help them with the classroom management aspect. Which is one of the pieces of feedback that we received last year that they really felt like they needed going into the school year. And based off of the feedback and some research that was done in-house, we targeted in on a few things that they felt were really important, which is understanding how to utilize technology in their classroom, and what student services supports that they have, APPEL, and JPAS. You can hear it getting loud out here. So licensing, anything related to licensing and evaluations, and as well as teacher resiliency. We felt like that was a really important thing to kind of end on a high note.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I love that. I think all of those topics will prepare teachers well. And you talked about the fact that this was based on survey responses.

Jane Olsen:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you really have done your research, I know, in preparing for this. You've asked new teachers that have been new to Jordan in the past, what do you wish we'd covered. What do you wish we had provided at the beginning of the year? So this is really calibrated to the needs that were expressed by new teachers in the past.

Jane Olsen:
Yeah, in addition, Amanda Bollinger did some research for her dissertation, and so we integrated that knowledge of knowing that they want to come and feel belonging and supported. And we knew that this in-person session, as you can see, was an essential piece to that. That we couldn't miss that opportunity to give them that sense of community and belonging.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's fantastic. Well, it's really fun to hear the enthusiasm and the background, all the excitement for our new teachers here. It felt pretty awesome for me walking up, and I've been here for a while. Thank you for all your hard work. It's going to be a great day. Jane Olsen:
Yes, it will.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with one of our principals and her newest hire. Introduce yourself and the newest teacher at Aspen Elementary School.

Suzie Williams:
Okay, I'm Suzie Williams the principal at Aspen Elementary and we are fortunate to have Jared Kosareff with us at our school. He'll be teaching fifth grade this year. He comes to us from being a substitute teacher for a while. Prior to that he was in the business world and we are blessed to have him. He'll be a great example to our kids. He's very knowledgeable. His mom was a teacher so he knows a lot about teaching and we're just grateful to have him.

Anthony Godfrey:
What made Jared stand out in the interviews?

Suzie Williams:
He has a pretty dynamic personality.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Suzie Williams:
He's a lot of fun and he'll be a great role model.

Anthony Godfrey:
That'll come in very handy in fifth grade.

Suzie Williams:
Yes, it will.

Anthony Godfrey:
Jared tell me a little bit about your journey to Jordan. We're excited to have you.

Jared Kosareff:
Thank you, I'm excited to be here. I was in the construction industry prior to this. My daughter goes to Aspen Elementary. Talking a lot about leading into this, you know, who inspired you to be a teacher. As soon as I said my mom's a teacher, my dad was a teacher. A huge inspiration for me. And then the one that really got me was my daughter's first-grade teacher, Haley McCall. When we went back to school and I walked into her classroom, I was like, this is the coolest classroom ever. I want to be in this class.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome.

Jared Kosareff:
And you know, interacting with her and then just the way kind of life works out. I needed to make a change and I immediately thought about becoming a teacher. I started talking with Suzie about it. Picking my daughter up became little interviews with Suzie almost every day. And Suzie told me about the job fair that they had last year, or earlier this year I should say, and I went in and met with Suzie and she introduced me to Jane who got me introduced into the APPEL program and the rest is history. Here I am.

Anthony Godfrey:
How are you feeling on the cusp of your first school year as a teacher?

Jared Kosareff:
Beyond excited. You know, meeting the team at Aspen, working with the team that I did last year at Ridgeview, and then now you know getting sent into the school that's gonna be my new home. The support from every individual, from every aspect of being an educator has just been overwhelmingly awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're gonna be surrounded by some great people and some wonderful kids. So we've tried to put on a big welcome for you here today. How does that feel?

Jared Kosareff:
It feels awesome. You feel like walking the red carpet, I guess, as close as I could feel that it would be like. Just seeing the support from the community, from the other teachers, you know, they always say teachers are the ones that are going to help you the most. They have everything in their brains and their hearts that they want to give. So when you're surrounded by people like that, it's exciting to be part of that. And I get to be one of these people cheering other people on one day too, which I look forward to.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Any plans for the first day of school yet?

Jared Kosareff:
You know what, I'm still running that through my head. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate Star Wars into everything because I'm a huge Star Wars nerd.

Anthony Godfrey:
The force will be with you on your first day. There's no doubt. I'm a big Star Wars nerd myself. So it's a good go-to.

Jared Kosareff:
Yes, sir.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. We're so happy to have you.

Jared Kosareff:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Whatever paths led you here, your parents and that experience with your daughter's teacher. I'm just grateful that you're here and that you've decided to teach in Jordan. Jared Kosareff:
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have a great day and a great year.

Jared Kosareff:
We will. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with another one of our new teachers. Introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about you.

Chance Clouse:
My name is Chance Clouse. I just finished my M.A.T. at Westminster. I'll be teaching at Herriman High.

Anthony Godfrey:
What will you be teaching?

Chance Clouse:
Art.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic.

Chance Clouse:
Painting and drawing.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what is it that made you want to be a teacher?

Chance Clouse:
I love art and I love being able to spread that love with my students and help them find that and I'm excited to just be out there with them.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is your favorite medium?

Chance Clouse:
I like oil painting is my favorite, but I do a little bit of everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oil painting is forgiving. You can kind of cover over right?

Chance Clouse:
You can go back over.

Anthony Godfrey:
Watercolor is a little less so.

Chance Clouse:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. That's about all I know about painting. So there we have it.

Chance Clouse:
You got it. That's it.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it that you hope that your students take away from your art classes?

Chance Clouse:
I hope that they just learn how to be able to learn new things and be okay with making mistakes in that process of learning.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's sometimes a very difficult thing to help students understand. The creative process involves mistakes. It involves kind of letting go and allowing yourself to experiment.

Chance Clouse:
To learn something new you have to be willing to fail and get up again.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's got to be one of the fun things about being an art teacher is that you're having students try things and do things that maybe they never have done before, never thought they could do.

Chance Clouse:
Yes, sir, and then they also get the benefit of like quick feedback and responses.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's true. As a student, I took art classes of course and I remember some of the very specific projects that I was involved in. I remember pots that I made and a painting that I did because it's meaningful when you put yourself into that project.

Chance Clouse:
Yes sir.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you think of all this hoopla?

Chance Clouse:
It's pretty amazing. I was a little shocked walking in.

Anthony Godfrey:
And have you been teaching elsewhere? Did you just finish?

Chance Clouse:
This will be my first teaching in public schools. I've done a lot of community stuff for various outreach programs in Youth City and things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've been involved in teaching but this is your first all day I’m a teacher.

Chance Clouse:
All day, I'm in a school, teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are your thoughts about the first day and your first week of school?

Chance Clouse:
I'm really excited I've got a lot planned already. I’m happy to get in there and get to know my students and build those relationships.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's gonna be a great year we're excited to have you thank you very much.

Chance Clouse:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more with some of our amazing new teachers.

[Music]

Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org

(upbeat music)

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with the new JROTC teacher from Herriman High School. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sergeant Wilson:
I'm Sergeant Wilson. I've been teaching Junior ROTC for 10 years. I'm transferring over to Herriman to get this program going.

Anthony Godfrey;
We're really excited to have the JROTC program here in Herriman. We've been hoping to have that for a long time. Tell me about the value of that JROTC program for any student who signs up.

Sergeant Wilson:
Well, from the parents' point of view, it's a life lessons class. It's a bunch of life skills as the parents see it. For the students, it's a new beginning for them. It's a chance for some to fit in. It's a chance for some to excel. It's a chance where– it's an opportunity for students to actually be a part of what happens because the students run the program.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it that made you want to be a teacher?

Sergeant Wilson:
I think it goes back to the 20 years I served in the military I always taught. From the very beginning of my career, I was teaching other soldiers and leaders and it just became natural. I loved the ability to see that light come on when they grabbed that concept and it's just something that I've always wanted to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, we're really excited to have you here and have you bring your experience in the program to the new program in Herriman High and this is available for any student in Jordan School District.

Sergeant Wilson:
Any student from 8th grade to 12th grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're excited to see what happens and thank you very much for being part of Jordan School District.

Sergeant Wilson:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Kathryn Berry:
So my name is Kathryn Berry and I will be working at West Hills Middle School and I come from residential treatment. I taught eighth grade through twelfth grade in the residential treatment and I'm looking forward to working in the Jordan School District because the people are awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the work that you did previously.

Kathryn Berry:
So I was teaching eighth grade through twelfth grade all subjects except English and Social Studies. I was also doing the administration duties and some of the registrar duties as well. So it was a heavier load and I'm happy to be–

Anthony Godfrey:
You get to focus a little bit more. You have a long list of a wide range of different responsibilities. Tell me what you're looking forward to most about this school year.

Kathryn Berry:
I think I'm looking forward most to being able to focus on helping the kids know something about science. I think for me science is a, I've been doing science stuff for 25 years. So to me getting the kids able to focus on and maybe decide a kind of science that they would like to be more interested in so that when they do make that transition to ninth grade and through high school they can actually focus on their you know the things that they like rather than the things that are maybe required.

Anthony Godfrey:
Give them a chance to try out lots of different aspects of science study and see what interests them the most.

Kathryn Berry:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you love about teaching?

Kathryn Berry:
I think the opportunity to spread the love, spread knowledge, and the power that knowledge can give to students. Knowing that they have that knowledge and that they can then share it as well or increase their knowledge or expand their knowledge to other aspects and how they can grow and learn.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're going to be starting out at West Hills, you said, that they've told you that it's the best hills.

Kathryn Berry:
Yes, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
I taught there the first year it was open myself. So congratulations on coming to Jordan School District and we're thrilled to have you.

Kathryn Berry:
Yes, I'm so excited. Thank you so much.

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

[MUSIC]

It is a way to enhance student learning and support teachers in the classroom. We are talking about using artificial intelligence in the classroom.

On this episode of the Supercast, learn about a pilot program which has Jordan School District partnering with a local company to support the responsible use of AI in our schools. And, hear from teachers who say AI will help them become better at their craft and more connected with students in the classroom.


Audio Transcription [Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a way to enhance the student learning experience and to help support teachers in their work. We're talking about using artificial intelligence in the classroom.

On this episode of the Supercast, learn about a pilot program which has Jordan School District partnering with a local company to support the responsible use of artificial intelligence in our schools. And hear from teachers who say AI will help them become better at their craft and more connected with students in the classroom.

[MUSIC]

We're here with Jared Covili from our Teaching and Learning department. He's an administrator that works with digital learning. Jared, thanks for joining us.

Jared Covili:
It's great to be here, thanks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us a little bit about School AI. I've been really excited about this.

Jared Covili:
School AI is a program that we piloted over the summer to help our students and teachers use artificial intelligence in a way that works for us, kind of in a guarded system so that they don't get out on the internet with everything. It helps the kids and the teachers prepare lessons, it helps them prepare, potentially, assignments for kids to work on with a peer tutor that's kind of a chatbot.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the chatbot is an interactive way to help coach students through learning activities and actually offer learning activities that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Jared Covili:
Right, the way I like to describe it is for a teacher, it's like having a teaching assistant. So it'll give you ideas about things you can do with lesson plans or activities. For a student, it's kind of like a peer tutor. So it can give you ideas of how to write something or how to think about maybe something that's going on in class. It can give you some, just some guidance as you move through that process.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what school AI has been able to do is first of all, kind of create a fenced-in area, a safe playground within which we're able to work and learn and experiment and be creative without worrying about being out on the broader web and using maybe versions of AI that aren't exactly tailored to teachers. And the other thing is these prompts that teachers can use to really get the most out of artificial intelligence, getting accurate information, and getting helpful information.

Jared Covili:
That's been a big deal with our pilot this summer because a lot of times our pilot group was really instrumental in helping School AI to think about what prompts, what things do teachers need to do most often, most regularly, so they don't have to hunt and peck or learn how to prompt engineer those things. They provide a lot of those on their website now - like the, "If I only have three minutes and I need to do something, what's one of those prompts?"Our group provided a lot of that information to the company and it kind of customized the interface to help us get more out of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So in a lot of ways, school AI is customized to Jordan School District because the hundred teachers that were so eager to be part of things over the summer have really helped shape the way that it operates.

Jared Covili:
There's no question about that and I would say, you know, whenever you're an engineer you think you know the way a teacher wants to use it or you poll the parents or teachers that you know and ask them. But when you get a group of practicing teachers who are in the trenches, they'll give you the real information about what would be most beneficial to them and to their classrooms.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell us a little bit more about the pilot this summer. We had 100 teachers that were involved, very eager teachers that I think surprised School AI with their level of enthusiasm.

Jared Covili:
Well, you can imagine that when we pitched the idea of this pilot we were telling people this is going to be during your summer we don't have stipends for you. We're looking for people who are interested in really developing this kind of technology and using it as a classroom teacher. So the group that came were pretty invested, right? And not only invested for– they like the technology but invested in what it could do for their classrooms. And so they just took it and ran with it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we have a couple of those teachers here with us. Introduce yourselves and then let's talk a little bit about what this experience has been for you.

Jill Firkins:
I'm Jill Firkins. I teach at Jordan Hills Elementary in sixth grade.

Andrew Holmes:
I'm Andrew Holmes. I'm a ninth-grade science teacher at West Jordan Middle School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what has this done for you and what have you been surprised that it's able to do, maybe better than you thought it would be able to.

Jill Firkins:
I've really liked the lesson plan aspect of it, just in the amount of time that it saves me. I was pretty new to AI when this started and excited to kind of see, so it's really exceeded my expectations.

Andrew Holmes:
I've been able to enhance a lot of my pre-existing lessons. I had it the other day- I teach a lot of different organisms for one of my high school science classes, like about 80 of them, and they're all based on different categories, and I have trouble eliminating my own bias on which organisms I prefer to teach versus the ones that I probably should teach, but forget about. And I had it help me completely balance out all of the different topics that I have to teach and create a timetable for me to be able to teach those topics.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I love that it's saving you time and that it's also maybe expanding the options that you're considering for students to learn, because I remember as a teacher I kind of went to my favorites as well, and maybe it helps you break out a little bit of the things that you're used to presenting to students. What would you say to teachers who are considering trying this out but maybe aren't sure about whether this is a direction they want to go?

Jill Firkins:
I really like that it's a good rough draft of things and so to recognize that you can pick and choose what you want to take from it. That it's just giving you ideas and that it's not, well I have to do it like it says or you know. You can work with it instead of just having it replace what you were doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Having a starting point I would think is very helpful whenever I'm writing an email or writing a letter many times I like to read what someone else has started and worked from there instead of stare at a blank screen for a long time.

Jill Firkins:
Exactly. Yeah, that's what I've done with it a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about for you?

Andrew Holmes:
I started treating it like I'm talking to a person. I have my conversations, I write my sentences to it as if I'm talking and having a conversation, and I found that I can bounce ideas off of it. I'll tell it I don't like this idea and this is why maybe we can try something else and so I'm able to have instant feedback with myself about topics that I can use to enhance in my classroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is this something that you're eager to use with your students as well? Not just for preparing for class but also giving them an opportunity to be part of it?

Jill Firkins:
Yeah, we didn't get a lot of chance to do it with students since it was all in the summer. But the stuff that they have is like that the students can talk to AI and it can give the teachers an idea of where a student sits with a particular subject. You know, these are students that understand. These are students that are still struggling and kind of do some of that groundwork as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it gives you the chance or it will give you the chance to really do a quick assessment of where students are with their learning, how they're feeling about their learning, and I think that's the exciting part of it.  It really multiplies what a teacher is able to do and I can't wait to come to your classrooms and see how this is working. Tell us, Andrew, about how you plan to use it with students.

Andrew Holmes:
One of the big things I'm looking forward to is using it with student feedback. I mean, I've got, my class sizes are average. Some are larger than others, it's just what happens. But giving meaningful feedback to those students in a timely manner, that can be really challenging. Especially as I'm trying to find ways to make sure the students have met a standard. And what do they truly know? Sometimes the best and highest quality assessments make more time for the teachers. It takes more time to gauge the true quality. And using AI is starting to, I've been able to kind of test around with it over the summer and give it prompts and say, "Hey, if I've got these students responding to this prompt or doing this type of skill that they're testing, can you help me grade that?" And so students are able in my class, theoretically with this new program, to be able to drop in their work and get real-time feedback based off of the parameters I've set. So that when I go and do my true grading, they've already had feedback before I get to them. And so I'm really looking forward to how this can expand the students' skill sets and their knowledge because by the time I've graded, I'm not the first set of eyes that have laid eyes on their work.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's really exciting and I love how you've both described that I think what students will be able to do is have a better sense for their own learning, have some interactive experiences that prepare them to get the most out of their interactions with you. You know, we've talked about what School AI can do and I'm really excited at the idea that it can be a coach for students, not a replacement for learning because there's this worry, well, they just say, "Hey, write an essay for me," and now they aren't writing the essay anymore. But it can be a coach alongside a student who's trying to get past their own writer's block or not knowing where to start or not knowing what to do next. So I just commend both of you for diving in over your summer no less to make the most of this opportunity for your students and I know they're going to benefit and your colleagues will benefit from your examples. So thank you very much for being willing to do this.

Jill Firkins:
Thank you for letting us be a part of it.

Andrew Holmes:
Of course, we'll love to continue the pilot.

Anthony Godfrey:
So Jared, where do we go from here? Tell everyone what's going to be happening next.

Jared Covili:
So the next process is we're going to start the RFP process where we're going to let School AI and other companies who do similar things bid on being an artificial intelligence solution for our district. During that time, more teachers who want to get involved with School AI will have that opportunity. We're going to extend the pilot so teachers can apply to be part of that extension. And then hopefully within the next few weeks, we'll have a solution that will be more of a permanent solution for us throughout the year.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're really excited to continue that trial because I know teachers are eager to make the most of this. No one's required to do it, and we'll be sending home parent permission slips for students to be involved. But we want to do this in a way that provides a safe environment within which to experiment and with a lot of support. School AI is going to be providing that support to teachers along the way and I just appreciate your leadership in moving us forward in this area.

Jared Covili:
We're excited to give as many teachers as would like the opportunity to use this in their classroom. I think, like we heard from our teachers today, once you get using it, it really sparks ideas of how else you can use it and how else it can benefit you. The biggest thing teachers need is time and we hope this will give them back some time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks again for all your hard work. Thanks to both of you for your example and I can't wait to see where this takes us.

Stay with us. When we come back we'll hear more from the local company partnering with Jordan School District, School AI.

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:
We're talking with Kevin from School AI. Kevin, tell us a little bit about how School AI got started. This is a local company in Utah and about the passion that drives your interest in AI.

Kevin:
Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me on. School AI, we're based here in American Fork and the majority of our team is made up of all former educators, either teachers, principals, or student success or school leaders. With the exception of a few areas, for example, our CTO was the founder of DevMountain here in Utah. And the CEO of our company worked at Apple on the Everyone Can Code project and worked in a lot of the education in areas of Apple. And my background has been largely in supporting the student experience and student success for adult learners in boot camps.

And so where we got started was, you know, as education and technology nerds, when the latest advancements in AI came out last year, we saw this huge opportunity to adapt that technology into some of the most challenging areas of education to truly free up teachers and administrators to be able to do more in their capacities.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're excited to be part of it and to be partners with you in all of this. Talk us through some of the capabilities that have been added to school AI based on the pilot project that you've done with Jordan School District this last summer. Kind of describe that for folks who aren't familiar with it, and then talk about some of the features that have been added as a result of the input you've received from teachers.

Kevin:
You bet. So early on working with Jordan, it ended up being one of the best opportunities that we could have ever had as a newer company, because the teachers and the administrators that we've been paired up with to work on this pilot with, they don't pull any punches. They give great feedback. They've been engaged. I mean, just over the summer for teachers to tune in and be present and involved.

So, in that process, as we would highlight, here's how you do X, Y, and Z inside of our platform. For example, using generative AI chat, you know, Chat GPT Alternative, we would have a lot of inputs on, “Hey, can it do this? Can it do that?” So we ended up adapting a lot of the pre-built prompts based on specific inputs that the teachers on those calls gave.

And then one of the areas of our product is this formative assessment check that teachers can quickly use to get a pulse on where students are at. And it was, I forget the name of the pilot user, but they planted a big seed in our head. They asked a question around, “Hey, this is such a fun experience to use for a formative assessment check. What would this look like, you know, for maybe a bell ringer or an exit ticket or something like that?” Or that it's this conversational interaction between the student and this chatbot. And then that eventually evolved into what we now call Spaces, which is this kind of adaptable environment that a student can go into to explore a subject or to do, you know, answer a few questions about how they're feeling. I won't get into all the details for the sake of time, but just a lot of the specific UI, the usability, where to go, where to click, where to do things. We had just so much input and feedback from the pilot users that it made the entire product more usable.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are some really exciting things that I know are happening. The bell ringer and the exit ticket are particularly exciting to me because this is not just answering a question, it's an interactive conversation that you have with the bot to really kind of process your own learning at the end of class or to prepare to learn at the start of class. What it essentially does is it multiplies the teacher, but it also gives the teacher input that they can use to inform their instruction and inform their engagement with students. And what I like about the way that you've described artificial intelligence of using school AI is that it really kind of clears the deck for teachers to have more meaningful interactions with students. There's no way this comes even close to replacing a teacher. It enhances what the teacher is able to do.

Kevin:
Exactly. I mean, one of the things that I'm always inspired by in working with teachers is when I see examples of a teacher meeting a student where they are. When they find out where that student's at and then they do whatever they can to support that scenario, that individual. And one of the huge upsides of using AI is that it helps you meet a student where they are. And it may be that a student in a bell ringer is just having a friendly conversational interaction, whereas the alternative is typically a multiple-choice question, or a slip. And when you have a student that is, you know, engaged and enjoying the process of something like a bell ringer, and there's the novelty of, you know, AI being involved in that, you end up getting really rich information out of that individual on how they are actually feeling and they're going to type things and do things that they wouldn't do if it was just a multiple-choice question in that scenario. So yeah, it's really exciting on how that actually can help a teacher get more teed up to know where a student's at and be able to support that scenario.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, what would you say to a teacher who is maybe hesitant to delve into AI and to to start using School AI. We're gonna be expanding the trial to teachers. We've had a ton of teachers who've been really excited about it. And then teachers who know those teachers are now asking, how do I get involved? So if someone's maybe a little bit hesitant, saying, “I'm not sure how this can help me” or exactly whether this is gonna be worth investing the time and trying this out, what would you say to a teacher who's thinking about it, but not sure?

Kevin:
Great question. I think it's just absolutely fair that a teacher in, you know, it's such an involved capacity being a teacher, and you know that. And so a teacher when it comes to taking on a new technology and having some apprehension or concern, or maybe just, you know, having the time to do it, I think that's just fair. I mean, it makes sense that that happens. So one, I hear you. I hear you that that's a thing and I empathize with that.

Two, I would urge you to keep an open mind because teachers are often one of the biggest examples for students and a teacher that has an open mind towards new technology, especially a profound technology that's gonna be a big part of everyday life, an open-mindedness and a willingness to use and explore and adapt, I think sets an incredible example for students.

And third, I would say, pick one thing. I often tell teachers this, but pick one thing in your day-to-day life. You know, a question I ask is, if you could, you know, wave a magic wand right now and change one aspect of your job, what would that thing be? Is it administrative? Is it outreach to family, you know, guardians? Is it dummy questions on a quiz? Whatever it might be, pick that one thing and then see how AI can help alleviate certain aspects or that complete thing and then go from there. But just start with one thing and see where you can get with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I could talk with you about this for hours, but I want to thank you for your time and thank you for getting things kick-started for us in the world of AI. School AI has been a great partner and we're excited to be working together to help move each other forward.

Kevin:
Yeah, and I just wanna commend you all for being incredible folks to work with and for being proactive in this area of utilizing AI. That's an excellent opportunity for us to partner with folks like you.

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

(upbeat music)

They are parents who wanted to make a difference by getting involved, supporting their students in the classroom.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out why some passionate parents at Oakcrest Elementary School fell in love with the classroom, so much so that they decided to pursue a career in education to become teachers themselves.


Audio Transcription [Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are parents who wanted to make a difference by getting involved, supporting their students in the classroom. On this episode of the Supercast, find out why some passionate parents at Oakcrest Elementary School fell in love with the classroom, so much so that they decided to pursue a career in education to become teachers themselves.

We're here at Oakcrest Elementary with Veronica Holyoke, one of the administrators here. You're the assistant principal at Oakcrest. Introduce yourself a little bit and tell us why we're here for the podcast.

Veronica Holyoke:
Well, I joke that I'm Veronica Holyoke at Oakcrest Elementary on Hilltop Oak Drive. So, a lot of oaks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Veronica Holyoke:
Yes, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's right. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Veronica Holyoke:
Right, that's right. Yes, exactly. Exactly. We're here because I was noticing my instructional coach and I, her name's Marla Daniels, shout out to Marla. She and I spend a lot of time looking for the good that's going on in our school. And we have this draft of all the good things that our teachers and our aides and our support staff are doing all the time. And then we make a weekly shout-out video that we share with everybody to highlight all the good things we're doing.

And in doing that this past year, we noticed that we had so many aides that were pursuing education. The more we got to know them, the more that we created a community of teachers. And so I felt like that was so powerful that I wanted to share that with you, because now we're up to seven aides that are pursuing or have graduated with a career in education, and two, we've hired to teach at our school for this next year.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you emailed me, I think it was back in February to tell me about this story.

Veronica Holyoke:
It was on a snow day, one of our virtual snow days.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, hey, there's another silver lining to that snow day. There was time for you to pause and send me that email.

Veronica Holyoke:
I had time that’s right. Yes, correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we've been thinking about this story ever since and I know it has evolved even since you emailed me in February.

Veronica Holyoke:
Yes, 'cause I think it was only maybe five or something like that and now we're up to seven.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we are now in the media center here and there's nothing quieter than an elementary school media center in the middle of July.

Veronica Holyoke:
Yes, it's a little eery.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so we're here to talk with three of the employees here at Oakcrest and we want to talk with you about your path forward and your connections to Oakcrest. So just introduce yourself.

Natalie Slack:
My name's Natalie Slack. I'm connected to Oakcrest by my children go here. And then I started here last year as a math aide. I'm currently going to school to be a teacher. I've got about a year and a half left of school. Before this, I had been interested in education, but had never pursued past where I am now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. And tell us about your connection.

Natalie Osborne:
My name's Natalie Osborne. My kids go to Oakcrest, and I would volunteer in their classes. I had a different career, and I had a couple days off. So I would come in, and I just absolutely fell in love with elementary schools. So I decided to go back to school. I graduated in December and then was hired by Oakcrest to be a critical needs aid in December as well. And I did that throughout the year, and then I was hired to teach fifth grade at Oakcrest next year.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK, tell me about your path.

Megan Grossaint:
Hey, I'm Megan Grossaint. And when the boundaries realigned in 2020, my kids started coming here. My youngest was in first grade that year, and there was an opportunity to apply to be a literacy aid. And so I did that and I worked as a literacy aid. And within probably two months, I knew that it was time to go back to school and finish my degree and pursue elementary ed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me about those two months, because I'd love for lots of people to have that exact same idea dawn on them, that yes, I need to go back to school and I need to be a teacher. Tell me what happened there. What made you want to do that after two months as a literacy aid? Tell people a little bit about what the job is like as a literacy aid and then why that led you to wanting to be a teacher.

Megan Grossaint:
So the first, we hadn't started the Walk to Read program that year, so that year I would just work with three classes and work with individual students that needed some extra help with literacy and I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with being with the kids, with helping them to grow. And I was always constantly trying to think of new ways to help. And I wanted I just didn't want to leave. I wanted to be with them all day. So it led me to jump right in and get my degree. And now I get to be with them all day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your brain and your heart, it sounds like, just started firing and you couldn't turn it off. That's really what happens is you get with the kids and you can't turn it off.

Megan Grossaint:
You can't.

Anthony Godfrey:
The teachers that you worked with had an impact on that as well.

Megan Grossaint:
Oh yeah, the teachers here are awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me, you have now been hired as a teacher for the coming fall. What is on your mind? It's July, they're coming next month. So I remember the feeling. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it.

Megan Grossaint:
Yeah, I'll be teaching sixth grade in the fall. And so right now there's a lot in my brain from what my classroom's going to look like to what I'm going to be teaching. So I'm just trying to get it all on paper and organized and look at the curriculum and really kind of try and break that down and figure out what I'm going to be teaching this year.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I'm sure you're thinking back on your student teaching as you prepare for next year. Tell me about the student teaching experience.

Megan Grossaint:
Well, I student taught in second grade. So the curriculum is much easier for me to grasp than the sixth grade is. So I did my student teaching in second grade and it was awesome. It was just being with them all day and getting to really dive into different subjects and figure out different ways that I can teach and introduce them to a curriculum. And we did a lot of fun things together and it was a good time.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've always admired elementary teachers' ability to keep kids going for the whole day. I was a secondary teacher and I had to make it work for 50 minutes. And I just, you know, the last 15 minutes, if it's tough, we struggle through and I get a fresh batch the next hour. But that whole day with students, and I know there are rotations and there are some other things happening, but it really takes a special person and a unique approach to make sure that you're connected throughout the day and effective throughout the day. But you also have deep relationships that you don't get when they leave every hour. You really get to know them in a different way throughout the day. You've experienced that as an aide and as a student teacher, I'm sure.

Megan Groissant:
And those relationships, it actually, your day goes really fast because you have the kids that finish faster and the kids that don't finish as fast and you find time to fill in those last 15 minutes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yes.

Megan Grossaint:
You're working with different students on different things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm excited for you and I'm really excited that you've pursued a career in education. And you did your student teaching here, right? You were an aide here, your children are here, and you're teaching here.

Megan Groissaint:
I'm here for life.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are here for life. All right, I'm going to hold you to that.

Stay with us. When we come back, we'll talk with Natalie Osborne and Natalie Slack.

[MUSIC]

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:
Now let's talk with Natalie, this Natalie, not that Natalie, this Natalie for right now. Tell me about your path. You said you had a previous career as you started volunteering. You had some time available. Tell me about that career.

Natalie Osborne:
I went to college for one semester, and I was working at a title company. And I fell in love with title, doing closings on homes. I'm licensed to still do that. I worked for the best title company in Utah. But I just kind of got bored with it. I felt like I needed a different challenge for myself. And I felt like I needed to make a difference. I was watching all these choices. I was watching all these teachers and the difference they were making in my kids' own lives when they would come home, and watching the growth in my children. And when I would volunteer, I wanted to be part of that. Just to see the light come on in a student is the most amazing thing. It's like parenting, teaching so hard, just like parenting. But those little glimpses is what makes everything worth it to me. So I worked full-time and went to school full time and finished up. I did my student teaching at Fox Hollow, so just around the corner. Shout out to Fox Hollow. I still love you guys. And then I got hired here. I was on the School Community Council, so I kind of already had some connections here. And my kids have always attended here. So it was just a great opportunity for me.

Being a critical needs aid, I felt like I learned so much about behaviors and behavior plans. And I fell in love with my student that I worked with. And he was difficult sometimes. But you just learn so much. And you learn to create those relationships. And I could see the difference in him when I created that bond. So it's something that I plan to do with my own students. It's really important to cultivate that relationship so that they'll learn from me.

Anthony Godfrey:
You described what it feels like to be a teacher very well. That's exactly how it feels. And I love the idea that you saw the impact on your own kids. Tell me about that.

Natalie Osborne:
Yeah, my kids, I have two– well, they just graduated from sixth grade. I have twin girls and then a son in first grade going to second grade. And my girls struggled in kindergarten and first grade and it was really hard because as a parent I felt like, "Man, I don't even know how to help them. We read at home or we do this at home." I didn't know. Their teachers, when I would go to parent-teacher conference, the care that they had for my kids, they really wanted to help them. It wasn't just a job, right? I don't know any teacher out there, that it's just a job to them. If you're going to do this, you're going to care.

And just seeing all the growth that I would work with the teachers and be like, hey, what can I do at home to help these guys be more successful in school? And they were always there to be like, try this, this, and this. And we would work on it. And it was just a team effort. And the growth in my girls from not being on grade level to now being on grade level and being set up for success in middle school has been amazing.

And I mean, my son, literally the snow days that we talked about earlier would cry because he couldn't go to school. He had the most amazing teachers so far.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's a great endorsement.

Natalie Osborne:
Yes, like he-- his first grade teacher was amazing. So he absolutely loved it. And just to see them grow, not only academically, but socially too. His first grade teacher taught them so many social emotional skills that I did not think I would deal with in first grade. All the drama.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Natalie Osborne:
But it's just amazing to see your kids grow and to have a community that cares about them, right? It's not just their parents that care about them, but everybody here at Oakcrest, all the aides, the administration, their teachers, it's amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is an exceptional school, that's for sure. Tell me about being a critical needs aide. Some might not understand exactly what that involves.

Natalie Osborne:
I was assigned to help a student that needed an aide with him at all times for behavior reasons. So we kind of set up our own curriculum. Marla Daniels had some work that we could do together. We worked a lot on his reading and math skills. One thing I noticed for him is because he wasn't on grade level, we have a Hot Reads Challenge here, and so I just let him choose whatever book. And he was able to earn pins for that and the difference it made for him to feel like he had achieved something was huge right? It didn't matter that it wasn't on his grade level but it made such an impact on him and I think to the aids that worked with him. We all just cared about him and we rallied around him and it just made such a huge difference in his life. I hope. I hope it made a huge difference in his life.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt that it made a permanent impact on his life in a positive way. Thank you for that. That's awesome. Tell me, what are you teaching next year?

Natalie Osborne:
I'll teach fifth grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fifth grade? Okay. And how are you feeling right now? Mid-July, looking forward to next month?

Natalie Osborne:
I'm like excited because I'm ready to just get in there. Right? Like I'm like Megan, where I've thought about things a billion times over and over and over and now I'm like, I just need to do it. Like I just need to do it.

Megan Grossaint:
We've been hired since February. It’s time to teach.

Natalie Osborne:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's a long time.

Natalie Osborne:
So we're just like ready to get in the classroom and meet our students.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a lot of anticipation. Yeah. Now, it'll be great to have a week under your belt. And you know, I got week one, we're set and here comes the month. Next thing you know it'll be Halloween, then it's Christmas, and then it's February again, you know? But that's awesome. Okay, Natalie too. Now, not Natalie T-W-O, Natalie T-O-O, you're also Natalie.

Natalie Slack:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your path forward.

Natalie Slack:
So my path is kind of one of those where I started college right out of high school, and I knew I wanted to be a teacher then. I used to, in high school, I went to the elementary school for one of my classes. And I actually went to Welby Elementary and her name was Miss Loeffler. She made me want to be a teacher. That lady was awesome. I helped her all year for first grade. She was my host teacher, loved it. And I was like, this is what I'm supposed to do. I got out, started college and I got married, bought a house and life kind of got in the way.

And then I was like, I was done. I didn't like the job I was in. And so I was like, I'm gonna try something new. And I talked to Mr. Westwood and I got hired on here last year. And as soon as I did it, I was like Megan, you do it for two months and you're like, “I'm not leaving, I am staying here. I love it here.” And so I started going back to school. And working here while you're going to school, I think, is a really huge advantage. Because when I have questions, what better group to ask than the teachers here?

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. You're surrounded by experts at all times.

Natalie Slack:
Yes. So it's been amazing to have all the support. They egg you on when you're like, “Oh, I don't know if I can do this anymore.” And having my children here, being able to work and see my kids more, and be, like Natalie said, be able to participate in my kid's schooling. Where before when I worked I didn't get to do that all the time you know. Some jobs you just it's that nine-to-five thing and you're stuck there. I don't feel like that here and I love what I do. Being a math aide. I was a little hesitant to do that because I'm like, I don't know if I'm an expert at that, but I have definitely learned a lot over the last year. I feel like I have an advantage where I get to work with all the kids first, second, third, the whole shebang, so I get to meet all these kids and experience all the curriculum and it's just been, it's very eye-opening.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're a celebrity walking down the hall then. Lots of thumbs waving.

Natalie Slack:
Yeah, yep, or in the grocery store.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's right, in the grocery store.

Natalie Slack:
Everywhere, the gas station.

Anthony Godfrey:
Everywhere you go, yeah. When I was a high school teacher, I was always envious of the driver ed teacher for the same reason, because he had every student for one quarter. And as a result, he knew everybody in the school. And I was always envious of that, walking down the hall with him. He knew everybody. He was a central part of the school, and that's you getting to be a math aide as well.

Natalie Slack:
When these guys got their list for next year, it was like, "Look! Who are these kids? Can you tell me about them? Who's this?"

Anthony Godfrey:
'Cause you knew all of them.

Natalie Slack:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.

Natalie Slack;
It's nice to, like I said, it's a good place to learn while you're in school.

Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me about your school. Where are you going?

Natalie Slack:
So right now I am going to– I just graduated with my associates. So now I'm going to Western Governors University, which I had a lot of the teachers, including these two, suggest because it's online. So I'm able to work here. It works with my schedule. And I've had a lot of teachers here say that's the path that they went down. I've only been there a few weeks, and it's been great. So I'm looking forward to progressing through.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have some friends here that are paving the path a little bit ahead of you. So now you get to talk with them and learn from them as they start teaching this fall.

Natalie Slack:
Yes, Natalie is actually my next-door neighbor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. The web of connection is deepening here.

Natalie Slack:
It's deep, it's deep. It's nice and Megan doesn't live very far away. And so it's nice, like I said, to have all these resources at your fingertips. And they're really great about, you know, look, you should try this while you're in school or this. And it's just nice to have a path.

Anthony Godfrey:
And by the time you graduate and you're hired as a teacher, you're just gonna be exactly like they are right now. Get me in that classroom, I'm ready to teach, let's go.

Natalie Slack:
Yeah, there's not a doubt in my mind.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's awesome. So tell me, if someone listening is thinking, you know what, I wanted to be a teacher and I've thought about that. I’ve volunteered or I've been an aide and maybe I should do that. What advice would you give them? What would you say to them?

Megan Grossaint:
Just do it, just go for it. I went through Western Governors University too and it's awesome because you can go at an accelerated pace because I'm not getting any younger and I wanted to get it done. I was able to push through it really fast. I mean if you're at the school, if you're volunteering, if you love it, if you love it, I just say go for it.

Natalie Osborne:
I also went to Western Governors and I can't say enough good about it. It was amazing. I was able to work full-time and then in the cracks of my life, go to school full-time. And like Megan said, you can really accelerate it, which helped get through school faster for us. I feel like it prepared me as much as you can be prepared for your first year. But yeah, go for it because I was so worried. I used to think that I couldn't make it through college like I was too busy or I was not smart enough or all these things and it's not true at all. Go for it and it's amazing. It pays off in the end and you get to teach amazing little humans.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely.

Megan Grossaint:
What kind of stopped me for a while is I kind of felt like I was too old. I'd missed the boat starting a new chapter.

Natalie Osborne:
It's never too late.

Natalie Slack:
Yeah, if you're willing to apply yourself to the group, the atmosphere for this, for teaching, it's totally worth it. And if you have that, I don't know, the feeling inside that this is where you're supposed to be, then you need to do it, 100%.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that, I love that. So dive in, cast the fears aside. And if you're excited about it, then do it. And obviously, it's energizing to do something you didn't expect to do and something new that maybe you'd written off and thought was no longer available to you. Thank you for taking the time today. This has been, it's been awesome talking with you and getting to know you and I'm definitely going to drop in a few months into the school year and say hi.

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