Author: communications

Zaidi Aleman:
Learning English is really a bridge that you can cross over and you can realize your dreams, your biggest dreams, you can do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love how you describe that. Learning English is a bridge to your dreams.

Zaidi Aleman:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And really at that point then knowing two languages at that deep level becomes a huge asset.

Zaidi Aleman:
Absolutely it is a huge asset.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They have worked hard learning the English language trying to be the best they can be, making changes in their own lives and the lives of generations to come. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to a very emotional WIDA graduation. WIDA stands for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment. Listen as we talk with graduates about the great pride they take in their achievement, becoming proficient in the English language, listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Find out what this milestone means to the multilingual students and their families now and well into the future.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are here at West Jordan Middle School to talk with Michelle Love-Day, the Director of Language and Culture Services, about the event that's scheduled for tonight. Michelle, introduce yourself and talk to us about what's happening.

Michelle Love-Day:
I'm Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language and Culture Services, and tonight we're hosting our second annual Multilingual Family Night. However, this is more than just a family night. It's a celebration of our students who have passed the WIDA, which is showing linguistic aptitude and a celebration of their English learning skills.

Anthony Godfrey:
What level do students need to achieve to graduate? Because a lot of people might see language skills in different ways. This is a deep level of language acquisition.

Michelle Love-Day:
Exactly. So language skills are not by grade level that we would think they are. So in the WIDA it is scored levels one through five. And so in order to reach aptitude and language acquisition you have to have a 4.2 composite score and a 3.5 on their written and speaking. So some of these students can pass the scores and be qualified and linguistically proficient by sixth grade. However, some students, if they've arrived and come to our country new in seventh grade, they may not be proficient till 10th and 11th grade. So everyone is different.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's not about the grade level. It's about the WIDA level, one through five.

Michelle Love-Day:|
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what does a one represent and what does a five represent?

Michelle Love-Day:
A one means that students can communicate with simple vocabulary words and words that will help them go to the bathroom or go to the lunchroom and play with friends on the playground. A level five means they're proficient and they have the content area vocabulary that will allow them to be successful in science, math, social studies classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So someone who's able to carry on conversations, who to the casual observer might seem like they have a good grasp of the English language, would be but may not have the academic knowledge yet. What number would they be?

Michelle Love-Day:
They could be at a level one, two, or three. And it depends because they're tested in their listening, reading, speaking, and writing. So they might be able to understand you and have a great conversation but then when it comes to writing an email or a letter they would probably struggle a little bit depending on their practice and their skill level.

Anthony Godfrey:
There may be those listening in who speak a second language who are saying to themselves, "I wonder where I fall? I wonder where I used to fall when I spoke that language more frequently and I wonder where I fall along the scale now?" Now you're going to introduce us to a teacher who has been instrumental in helping move students along, but you've known this teacher for some time now, is that right?

Michelle Love-Day:
That is correct. I think every educator has a pivotal time in their life when their former students become their colleague and so I didn't realize I was at that age of life but I am and so Zaidi Aleman was a former student when I was a literacy coach in Jordan School District and now she's teaching here in our school district again as an educator.

Anthony Godfrey:
So Zaidi, introduce yourself and tell me about what it's like to be a teacher now in front of your literacy coach.

Zaidi Aleman:
Well, I'm Zaidi Aleman. I am a third-grade teacher at Oakcrest Elementary School and it's amazing actually. I never thought that I would come and be colleagues with the people who helped me the most become who I am today. So, it's really inspirational and I really am wanting to be a inspiration to others as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about teaching third grade and helping students with their language acquisition and getting that academic vocabulary.

Zaidi Aleman:
Well, so in third grade we also focus on WIDA Prep and we focus on, like Michelle had said, contextual and tier one instruction. So I was there as a language learner. I came to this country when I was three. I had zero language skills. I had zero English skills and it was hard and I can see that in them. I can see that it is really tough to learn a different language. I was lost and I can see that they were lost as well and so having that contextual like background and being where they are right now gives me so much empathy for them because I was there in their shoes, because I was lost, because I didn't feel enough, because I didn't feel smart enough. But like something I want us to like say to them is that you can do it. It may feel like a wall right now but learning English is really a bridge that you can cross over and you can realize your dreams, your biggest dreams, you can do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love how you describe that learning English is a bridge to your dreams.

Zaidi Aleman:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And really at that point then knowing two languages at that deep level becomes a huge asset.

Zaidi Aleman:
Absolutely, it is a huge asset. You can connect with so many more people, have so much empathy for other people and you can be that person who inspires other people to also become who they want to be. So you can be that person to become or you can help that person become who they want to be later in life.

Anthony Godfrey:
I would imagine that this creates also just a personal connection with students when they know that you have experienced the same things that they're going through and they can see that they have someone on their side right away.

Zaidi Aleman:
Yes, absolutely. I just want them to feel like it's not impossible. Like when they look at me or they look at other people like me, they know that it is possible to reach your dreams no matter where you start. Even if you start at zero, that's starting somewhere. You know you can reach your goals, just celebrate the small wins like the first joke that you understand, the first word you pronounce right, the first paragraph that you write, all of that is they're wins and that you're gonna, it's progress. It's progress over perfection.

Anthony Godfrey:
Having a sense of humor in another language is really a big step forward. Dreaming in another language is another big step.

Zaidi Aleman:
Absolutely, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I said dreaming not nightmare. Nightmare in another language is a whole other thing altogether. Thank you for everything that you're doing and we are very very fortunate to have you in Jordan School District.

Zaidi Aleman:
Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more about the WIDA graduation.

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

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome back. In a few moments, we'll talk with some students who are graduating from the WIDA program today. But before we do, let's talk with one of our language teacher specialists. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the work you do.

Letitia Vigil:
Hi, I'm Letitia Vigil, and I'm one of the language teacher specialists for Language and Culture Services. I work with all of the high schools in our district, supporting the multilingual learners and the ELD teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Letitia, what are some of the things that you do when you work with students to help support their learning?

Letitia Vigil:
We provide professional development for our teachers. We work with administrators on looking at data for their multilingual learners and how we can set goals with them to help their students reach the next level of proficiency each year.

Anthony Godfrey:
So really, you're meeting lots of students where they are and helping them just take those next steps to progress.

Letitia Vigil:
Yes, absolutely. So we provide the teachers with tools to see what the students can do at each level where they're at, and how we can support them to get them through their language journey.

Anthony Godfrey:
Part of language acquisition is not just everyday language, but it's academic language. That's really sometimes the barrier to success, and what we're really trying to help students be more proficient in. Is that correct?

Letitia Vigil:
Absolutely. I think one of the things that teachers don't realize when they see students that seem to be fluent as they're talking with their friends or on the playground, etcetera, is they're fluent in their social language, but not the academic language, like you mentioned. And WIDA really tests the academic language, so we have to be teaching that in the content areas at school.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the trends you see out there as you're supporting students? It's really hard for, I think, anyone to put themselves in that situation if you haven't experienced it before. Just coming into a school, not knowing the language socially or academically in some cases, and just needing to make some rapid progress. Tell me about the trends right now and how that's going.

Letitia Vigil:
As far as trends, I'm just thinking like students that, I guess, feel more supported at school and feel more welcome by their teachers and by the school in general, tend to thrive more quickly because they can feel safe and feel like it's a place that they can learn and a place that they want to be. And so also teachers that are getting their students speaking more in activities in class tend to excel quicker.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's not just about supporting students, it's also about supporting teachers and educators to help them feel prepared to help students who are learning another language really be at their best.

Letitia Vigil:
Yes, so teachers, if they haven't had a multilingual learner in their class or they haven't had to experience that, it can be a real challenge if they get a set of newcomers that don't speak any English. So we have been teaching teachers in our ESL endorsement for years and that's something that we do for free now and so it really is a great asset for teachers to have that endorsement so that they can be prepared for when they get those students. But it is still a challenge and we're there to support them. We can go out to PLCs and we can again host PDs at their school or do whatever the school needs us to do to help the teachers feel supported.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for all the hard work you're doing and for helping our teachers help our students be at their very best and I know even better things are ahead that progress is just going to continue so thanks for everything you're doing. Thank you for your support and thank you for being here. Let's talk with a couple of students now about their experiences. We're talking now with two WIDA graduates who will be among those who are honored tonight. Introduce yourselves and tell us the grade that you're in and where you go to school.

Student:
Hello, my name is Alina Gunas and I come to West Jordan Middle School and I am a ninth grader.

Student 2:
Hi, my name is Danie Pumaccajia and I'm in 11th grade and I'm at Herriman High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your journey to becoming a WIDA graduate. When did you come to Jordan School District and what schools have you attended? What's the journey been like to get here?

Student:
So I've been, I've, I came here since kindergarten and it was for WIDA. It took a long time and it was very stressful at first because I didn't know because I have a lot of, I have Hispanic parents at home so I grew up speaking Spanish most of the time and when I got to the elementary and I started doing WIDA, it took me, it took me a very hard time. I would like to think about how hard it was like how if I would pass it or not and I almost did pass it a couple of times but it, it took a while for me to realize that it's actually, it's doing me good and last year it made me realize that even if I didn't pass it, if I don't pass it, it's still helping me with my English even though I've been here forever, you know, I was born here but it's helping me, helped me like socialize with people and that's why I just love doing it. Like I just love doing the WIDA, and I'm like never, I'm not embarrassed of saying that I, it took me like since last year to pass it.

Anthony Godfrey:
But it's very admirable that you just kept trying, that you didn't say, “This is not for me. I can't do this.” Were there people that encouraged you along the way?

Student:
Yeah, a lot of my teachers they encouraged me they're like, “Just pass it, just pass it”  and a lot of my family as well like and that's what encouraged me a lot to pass it this year, last year so yeah they really helped me a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
How does it feel now after all of that effort and all of that time that you have achieved your goal?

Student:
It feels great. I feel really accomplished that I accomplished something and that I just feel really great and I hope that a lot of people, a lot of other students like pass it too because it's honestly a really great program and it's just...

Anthony Godfrey:
Today was a good day.

Student:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well I'm just you know referencing your shirt. Tell us about your journey to get here.

Student 2:
I arrived at the USA like one year and a half ago so first I started my journey learning English in middle school. I was at the end of the year and it was difficult to make me understand with teachers of the friends that I had. I passed with a last year in my high school and I think that most of my teachers and my family were there to help me.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you think was the biggest factor in your success?

Student 2:
I was really motivated to pass it with that to go and keep my grades high, to participate, to ask questions, and I think that that motivation that I had, that progress helped me a lot, but also all the teachers and all my classes helped me a lot. They were so kind, and they take care of me so well that I could understand the classes. I could do my homework and then practice and understand all the English.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand you're a violinist, and that was maybe an early connection that you were able to make in school?

Student 2:
Yeah, in my class of violin I had met a lot of people that were in the same situation as me. They were Spanish speakers, some of them and I created a connection with them to be together and study for their WIDA tests, and also some of them were graduated with that WIDA exam so they helped me a lot with tips and facts about that so it gave me a lot of experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful. Now that you are WIDA graduates, does it give you some additional confidence in your schoolwork?

Student:
It honestly does. It gives me a lot of confidence because I know that I could help a lot of other people who need help passing WIDA. Right now, during the assembly, if they know who I am and for my school so if they ever need help with anything I will always help them. I will always be open to help them because sometimes it's pretty hard. A lot of people have different levels and it's best. I love helping so I would not mind to help with WIDA.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's awesome that you're focused on helping other people and making sure that that you're paving the way for them as well so that's fantastic. How about you? What does that do for your confidence now that you know that you're a WIDA graduate?

Student 2:
I think that now I had more confidence to take harder classes like AP classes. Now I'm trying to do my best on that and also to help other people, other students that want to graduate in WIDA that want to be better in a class like math or science so it helped me a lot to help other people and also to be better, help me to be better.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. So what's next for both of you? What do you want to do eventually?

Student:
Eventually I want to go to college and probably right now I want to go further on with Latinos in Action because I am also in, I am the president of Latinos in Action and right now I want to probably when I get into high school I want to make up like a club or something to help people who haven't passed WIDA to like make a program so we can help them pass it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful.

Student 2:
So I'm thinking to take more opportunities in high school, like the clubs, the organizations that have in the school, and also later go to college and maybe study something good science or computer science.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've both built a great bridge to a wonderful future with all the hard work that you've done. Congratulations on everything you've achieved and I wish you the best going forward.

Student:
Thank you. Thank you.

Student 2:
Thank you so much.

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

Bryan Leggatt:
“The Maestro's Garden” represents the influence educators have, like a sun shining on a garden of thought of flowers, each one better because of that influence. I don't see oftentimes the results of what I'm doing with a student per se, but I can come here and I can paint something, I can stand back and say, "Oh wow, that's what I did today." So it is quite different.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He is a middle school principal who loves working with students, bringing out the best in them every single day. But there's a secret talent that helps keep Bryan Leggatt going long after the last bell of the day at Elkridge Middle School. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out about Mr. Leggatt's longtime passion for painting and creating beautiful works of art. Hear how he finds inspiration as an artist, sometimes thanks to his meaningful and impactful work as a school principal and the relationships he has built along the way.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking today with Bryan Leggett, who is principal at Elkridge Middle School, and an artist on top of that, and we are here at his home in his home studio. it's really exciting to be here, Bryan.

Bryan Leggatt:
Thank you. Welcome to my studio.

Anthony Godfrey:
First of all, tell us about the structure here. This is just right next to your home and a place for you to work and display your work.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about how long it's been here and the decision to do this.

Bryan Leggatt:
Well, I'll be honest, the studio used to be in my basement.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Bryan Leggatt:
Used to be in a room in my basement until my daughter decided she wanted to move down into that room. And so we thought, okay, that might be a good time to find another location, maybe outside of the house. So this is just an outbuilding here outside of my home and a place that I could just kind of concentrate on my work, listen to good music, paint away, and have a good time. So that's what it was for. We started building this about a year and a half ago, and it took me about that amount of time. I just finished it recently within the past few months that I could start moving into it and kind of displaying my art and finding a bigger space in which I could work. It's come together, I think, pretty nice so far and we'll see where it goes from here.

Anthony Godfrey:
As a sanctuary, how does it compare to the basement?

Bryan Leggatt:
Oh, it's much nicer. I mean, it's much bigger.

Anthony Godfrey:
You really are separated from things. So you can really escape.

Bryan Leggatt:
I can really blast the music.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is this where people can find you when you're nowhere else to be found?

Bryan Leggatt:
Probably. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
“Oh, yeah, he's out. He's out in the studio.” Well, it's gorgeous. I love the attic here that you've got, a little shelf to store your work. And before we get to your work, you have quite a few of the pop bobbleheads here.

Bryan Leggatt:
I tell you, you would be impressed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is there a theme to this collection? Because I see a lot of recognizable figures.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if there's a theme. My biggest theme is my Star Wars theme over here. So I have lots of funko pops that are Star Wars.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.

Bryan Leggatt:
I know you love Star Wars as well and I just picked them up over the years. Maybe this is why I do art. Is that I can sell my artwork and buy more funko pops. Who knows?

Anthony Godfrey:
What inspires you in art? Funko pops. That's really what gets me there.

Bryan Leggatt:
Everyone has their inspiration.

Anthony Godfrey:
Before we talk about the work itself, talk to me about the various materials that you like to use. I see acrylics there.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah, I usually just paint in acrylics. They're just a lot faster for me. They're safer. I don't have to deal with, you know, the types of things that might impact my sense of smell. I don't work with oils and so forth. Oh, so I just deal with water, you know, water and acrylic. It allows me to get my paintings done pretty quickly. That's always my goal when I start a painting is to get a lot of it done in one sitting or within a couple of days. Then I let it sit on a wall somewhere and I look at it for a while. And then I make I touch things up. I come back to it. Sometimes I'll even paint over it. I think one of the things I've learned is mistakes are what we do. That's how creative creativity takes place is you make mistakes, you take the risk. And yeah, and so some of these that you see in here, I've they've actually been painted over. And so it's just something that I do. I look at it for a while. And if I don't like it, I'll just paint over the top of it and find something else. But acrylics allow me to do that. And so I enjoy working with acrylics.

Anthony Godfrey:
When you said the acrylics are safer, what I thought you meant initially was not safer than oils that might be toxic, but safer than watercolor, meaning that you can cover over your mistakes where watercolor doesn't allow you to do that.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah, both, with some of the toxicity that goes in that's involved in oils.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Bryan Leggatt:
So I'm just going to stay away from that and stick with something that's a little safer. And I can paint over the top, you know, with as you mentioned with watercolors, sometimes that's just once you put it down on paper, it's hard to adjust it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do I see some watercolors up here, though?

Bryan Leggatt:
No, these are actually still acrylic here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That landscape there . . .

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah. I do a lot of glazing, so some like coats of colors. So sometimes it appears to be a watercolor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Yeah. I really like that series there. I'd like to talk about the recent show at Riverton City. Tell me about that.

Bryan Leggatt:
Well, yeah, that's the second time I was involved in that show. I submitted a few. So for those that don't know, Riverton, well, the school district puts on a show for educators that are typically artists, art teachers in the District, but can really be open to anyone that anyone that does art. And then they have found a really nice venue. It's the Old Dome in Riverton. So this was the second year that I had one of my pieces. I had a couple last year. I gave them one of my pieces to display this year. It's a piece that really meant a lot to me because it does... It's one that I have been making for a very important teacher in my life and my daughter's life. And that's Kelly Dahan. Many of you know Kelly Dahan.

Anthony Godfrey:
Kelly is an amazing teacher.

Bryan Leggatt:
He's one of the best. One of the best. A couple of years ago, well, for a few years, he helped my daughter get through some tough times at Mountain Ridge. And so I'm really happy for him. I'm just so grateful for what he did. I told him after she graduated, that I would create a piece for him. I even went over to his home. We looked at a spot. I don't know if that spot is still available because it's been a couple years. But he collects art also. I just wanted to add to his collection, so I put a piece together that actually... I'm gonna read you what I wrote. And it's called “The Maestro's Garden.” It's the one right over here.

Anthony Godfrey:
And this is from the plaque that was by the painting.

Bryan Leggatt:
By the painting. So those of you that saw the painting, you've probably read this. But it goes out to really all educators. This is called “The Maestro's Garden.” “The Maestro's Garden represents the influence educators have, like a sun shining on a garden of flowers, each one better because of that influence. The lessons, the examples, the love. The teacher's shining light can be felt for years and this piece represents the many lives each unique in their own ways that could not thrive without caring educators. We are also fortunate to have opportunities each day to influence the lives of our young people. Maestro's in our own beautiful gardens.” So that's what this is. It's a garden of a lot of different flowers. Each one is unique. Not one of them is the same as others. There's about a hundred of them. It just represents the sun shining down on them and their growth. One of the things that happens with educators is we often don't get to see, you know, the future of what happens with our students. Sometimes we'll run into them in the neighborhood or someplace, and then we get to learn about them. If they graduated or what they're doing for their job, what career they've decided to go into. So that's one thing I really enjoy about art is, you know, all day long I can be a principal and work with kids and I don't see oftentimes the results of what I'm doing with a student per se. But I can come here, and I can paint something. I can stand back and say, "Oh wow, that's what I did today."

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Bryan Leggatt:
So it is quite different.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which helps me understand also why you want to make sure that you're able to complete the art, at least the initial version of it, quickly. Because you don't always get that reward. I do tell people that, you know, friends who are general contractors and that we drive by and they can say, "I built that building." And I drive by and say, "Well, I wrote an email in that building. I held a meeting in that building. I made a phone call in that building." But you don't always feel the results of what you do. So this is a really nice tribute to the results of Kelly Dahan's impact in your life and your daughter's life.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah. Well, thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love it. I've seen it. I think it's a beautiful work. And there's a little bit of an, I don't know that it's an abstract aspect to it, but all of the flowers are not necessarily representational. Describe this for those who haven't seen it or who can't see it.

Bryan Leggatt:
Well, I started doing this by painting, actually behind this. This is one of those that's painted over. So I started creating, my idea was this garden and the sun, you know, represent, you know, or help helping out each flower to grow and blossom to bloom. And I just didn't like it. It didn't really, I didn't connect with it. So I started, I just painted over it and I said, you know, I'm going to just stay away from a more realism look to it and go abstract. I think that, you know, you have a round sun, which is kind of like kind of that roundness of, you know, maybe what happens as you develop you, you know, from a square to a circle, not that squares are bad, but, you know, something to, to obtain in life. And all of these are squares or rectangles wanting to become something better, you know, whatever it might be. So there is a square inside that sun representing that teacher, but kind of that idea that even the teachers continuing to grow and develop. And so yeah, each of these, some of these flowers, actually what I did is I started creating just the squares for each flower. And I thought, you know, this has taken me a while so I started something, a new technique, and that is, I just got some unstretched canvas. I threw a lot of paint down on that unstretched canvas, and then I started finding areas that I really liked, and I cut those areas out, and those became other squares that I added to this. So I put canvas on canvas, which I've never done before and so it kind of created. Then I also went in and I masked areas off and I, and I use some, I use some light molding paste to kind of bring it up. So if you look at it from the side, you can kind of see that some are raised a little bit more than others and that's because I've used that light molding paste. I really enjoy using that stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. I can see that.

Bryan Leggatt:
Then I used, and also what you'll notice is there is a fleck of gold in each one of these flowers. Every single one of the flowers has a fleck of that gold or a little bit of that, you know, that influence from the teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Stay with us when we come back, more with Bryan Leggatt, the principal of Elkridge Middle School.

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

Female Voice:
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Anthony Godfrey:
For those who don't know, you tell us, tell us, talk us through your career as an educator.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah, so I started back, I got off an LDS mission back in the early 90s. I went to Salt Lake Community College, started, I studied architecture, and I went into architecture because as a kid I loved drawing, I loved being artistic, I played with Legos. That idea of creating something unique was pretty special to me and important. So I started the architecture program there, and at the same time I was teaching English as a Second Language for the District. I was one of those tutors that would go around and help kids during the day. I also, some of you know Moncone Tugmala and Paul Pitts that used to work in the District, special people to me. I taught English as a Second Language at night time, so for the adults, mostly over at West, the old West Jordan Middle School building. So I would go and I would learn all day about architecture and had a fun time doing that, but then I went, but I loved going to work at night and helping these great people. I learned that I didn't really know a lot about construction, so I kind of moved away from architecture and that inspired me to go into teaching. So I got my first job, I opened up South Hills Middle School with Bob Sproul, and that was fun. We had half of our day was spent over, and you know the kids showed up at 12:30 in the afternoon to start school, and they ended at 6:30. We were over at Oquirrh Hills Middle School because South Hills hadn't been finished yet.

Anthony Godfrey:
You were part of the double session.

Bryan Leggatt:
I was a double-session person.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is the stuff of legends many years ago.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah, well, I'm a legend, but the legends were the teachers that shared their classroom with us. So started there after a year, went up to Brighton High School, taught there. Bob moved up there, and so I taught there for a few more years. Got a full-time one-year internship at Copper Hills High School. That was a blessing. And then went up to Butler Middle School, was there for a few years. That was the district switch at that point in time, or the split. I requested to come out west because that's where I live, and went back to Copper Hills for another few years, and then was called on August the 2nd by you to be the principal of Joel P. Jensen Middle School. I was there for 10 years, loved it. It was such a great school. Good people there. Ended up hiring most of the people that work there today. And then was moved to Elkridge Middle School, and that's where I am. This is my fourth year at Elkridge.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I can imagine that most of the people there, you hired. I mean, over a 10-year period, you're going to have that kind of turnover.

Bryan Leggatt:
I have hired quite a few people. I will say, I'm not gifted in a lot of things. I am gifted in hiring really good people. And I have helped my assistant principals learn what types of people to hire, and they're the people that care about kids. That's what I come to town to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's obvious that you care a lot about kids.

Bryan Leggatt:
I do, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've dedicated a lot of long hours to making sure that kids get the best experience possible.

Bryan Leggatt:
I try. I try. I've been blessed to have some really good people around me. That's for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you've done a great job for a very long time, and I'm glad to see that you have this outlet. This means that you can work indefinitely because you have this release, right?

Bryan Leggatt:
There's no end in sight.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's no end in sight. All right, just wanted to lock that down on the recording there. So let's talk about some of your other works. I love this one right here with the ship.

Bryan Leggatt:
Oh, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
With the waves around it.

Bryan Leggatt:
"Call Me the Storm" is what it's called. And so, yeah, you have this is kind of a little bit more Christian-based with kind of like Christ there on the boat, "Calming the Waters." That was from several years ago, quite a few years ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
The boat is pretty far in the distance and is at the center, but the waves are very, very interesting. Colorful in spots. A lot of brown in the waves.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just really a lot of texture to that. That drew my eye right from the start.

Bryan Leggatt:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk about some of your other favorites here.

Bryan Leggatt:
Let's see. What are some of my other favorites? I don't know if I have favorites. I just kind of paint them and then they become my favorite for a little while then I move on to something else. As a language arts teacher, I looked for symbolism and a lot of different pieces of literature. So that has continued with my paintings and having a symbolic nature for most of the things that I paint. And so this is another one of my works. It's basically, it looks like a big iceberg basically, and it's called “Exposed.”  So this also deals with different things that have happened in my life and phases and stuff that I've gone through. So anyway, so this is something that we've had up just in our kitchen and it just kind of shows, as we've all seen kind of that picture of an iceberg with there's a little bit at the top that you can see, but there's a big massive piece underneath that you don't necessarily see. So that's . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the combination of colors here.

Bryan Leggatt:
I appreciate that. There's one more that I want to show over here that I really enjoy. And this is, so I have daughters and we have daughters. That's what I'm good at also is making daughters. I have four of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well done.

Bryan Leggatt:
So yeah, thank you. And so this right here is called “Her Journey of Courage.” So it's, it kind of has the appearance. So it's a big wing basically and it looks like it's made out of wood in a way. I went in and I actually used a lot of that light molding paste to put over the top of it. This is actually a repaint actually. There's a painting underneath and I went in over the top of it. And in fact, there might be a couple paintings under this. And I have finished with this, which is like a wing, but it's, it's a tattered wing. It's been through a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Bryan Leggatt:
And it's, so it just kind of represents like the struggle that, you know, females have in the world. And so anyway, that's her, her journey of courage, which means a lot to me and my, my kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a, I love how you use your art to express your love and concern for others.

Bryan Leggatt:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
I actually was in the home of an administrator in the District, visiting her after a serious accident and she had a long recovery. She's still recovering and she was very moved by the painting you made for her. There was a Phoenix reference.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it was really, really inspiring for me to hear her describe the impact that that painting had on her. Describe that one for me.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah. Well, I mean, she's just a dear friend of mine. She was one of my assistant principals and had this horrendous accident. And so it's just her battle. I mean, she went through so many surgeries. So I just thought of a Phoenix and how a Phoenix is able to come out of the, you know, through the fire, you know, come out from, from being dead, basically out and, and rise above all of those things that they have had to deal with. And so, yeah, I painted that Phoenix for her to look at and think about because I think it represents her and, and her journey.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a beautiful tribute to, to what she's been through and how she has risen above it.

Bryan Leggatt:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a great connection with the people around you, the people you care about, but also a connection with yourself and a reflection on the experiences you've had. And yeah, it's, it's really inspiring to see this. And I love that we, we had the chance to, to, to experience this. You have a legacy through your artwork.

Bryan Leggatt:
But people also say legacy, but you can go ahead with.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, let's say legacy. All right. You have a great legacy through your artwork. And I am very personally aware of your legacy as a school leader, as an educator. So thank you for everything you've done there to, to touch lives and to make an impact.

Bryan Leggatt😐I'm inspired every, every day to go to work. I love working with kids and with the teachers and staff members I have around me. I feel blessed every day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a showcase of student talent, musical magic, and seasonal joy. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Joel P. Jensen Middle School for a holiday music program that will make your spirits bright one note at a time. Listen and enjoy. We're in Ms. Johnson's classroom just after the performance. Tell me about this group of students.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, this is our concert choir. So it's our students who are taking choir for their second or third year here at Joel P. Jensen. We have a few students who are seventh graders as well who just came to boost our numbers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the process of taking them from not knowing these songs and some of them not having experienced singing, to being at this point. They sounded great.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, we do a lot of learning up front, doing rounds where students have to really get used to singing their part independently and start learning how to read music. Then it takes us about two months to learn our concert. So usually each class is learning about four or five songs. We start with just learning the notes, and then we try to make it more musical, add dynamics, the louds and softs, and make it more interesting and emotional from there.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm always amazed at how music teachers, both instrumental and choral, are able to have each individual practice their part and then bring everyone together and blend all of that so it's a unified sound. Talk to me about that process.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, we work with just the altos or just the sopranos, and then sometimes we'll spend like 20 minutes just working on eight measures. So just a really small portion of the song, making sure everyone understands how their part fits in with the rest. Yeah, it's fun to see how everyone is able to find their note and by relying on the other people who are on their part, but then still have that independence from the other parts in the group. It just all comes together so beautifully at the end of the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
So to blend without being lost.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I always get lost. Tell me about your journey to becoming a music teacher. How long have you been here and what made you interested in music from the start?

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, this is my second year teaching at Joel P. Jensen and ever. I graduated from college in 2024. So it's been a fun journey to have my first choir. I actually decided to teach music because I had a wonderful middle school choir director and several wonderful piano teachers who made me love music and see the benefit that it could have to my life personally. I felt like I really found a place in choir. It's nice to be able to offer other students now those same opportunities to have connections socially and to understand their emotions better by working through them in music class. It's really rewarding to pass that forward.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a huge personal benefit. Tell me about one of those instructors who had such an impact on you.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, so I lived in Pennsylvania when I was in middle school and my choir teacher was named Mrs. Farrell. She had really high expectations for us as a choir class and made us better musicians and better people, teaching us to really care for each other and always seek to do our best at anything we did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you find yourself doing some things that you experienced in her class, using some of that now as a teacher?

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, for sure. I learned so much from her, from my professors at college and I've found some great mentors here in the District as well, high school and middle school choir teachers that I've been able to steal some of their best ideas from.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good.

Ms. Johnson:
Yeah, it's been great.

Anthony Godfrey:
We love that. Well, whatever you're doing, it's working. They sounded wonderful and I just really appreciate everything you're doing and we're excited to have you here at Joel P.

Ms. Johnson:
Thank you. This is "Beautiful December" by Amy F. Burnin.

Now when the garden awaits, the return of spring.

Now when the silence is deep and blue.

Now when the winter has cast its spell again.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Here where the snow is as soft as the woolly land.

Here where the sky falls deep and blue.

Here where the stars are so bright you reach for them.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Child, may sleep in peace tonight.

Dream of songs that rise on silken leaves.

When you wake enchanted by snow's fun light.

Sing the songs that came to you in dreams.

Your beautiful December dreams.

When the storm awaits, the return of spring.

Now when the garden awaits, the return of spring.

When the silence is deep and blue.

Deep and blue.

Blue now.

When the winter is cast as spell again.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Beautiful December, beautiful December.

Beautiful December.

Blue.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with students who are in concert choir here at Joel P. Jensen Middle School. Tell me, what's it like being in concert choir? What do you love most about it?

Students:
It's good being at Joel P. Jensen in the choir because you get to do concerts and it's fun singing.

I get a lot of opportunities to socialize with other students and reunite as one class and then work on projects altogether.

I feel like I get to express my emotions through my voice while I'm singing and it's just really fun to do that.

It's really fun and Miss Johnson's like the best teacher.

I really like singing in choir with the other choir kids. It helps me feel more united with them and to become best friends with them and there's like lots of opportunities to just go and perform and sing your heart out and it's great.

This is “Like It's Christmas” by the Jonas Brothers arranged by Mac Huff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more Sounds of the Season from Joel P. Jensen Middle School.

Music]

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

Female Voice:
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.

Ms. Johnson:
This is the Bells of Christmas Medley arranged by Greg Gilpin.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, tell me about Miss Johnson. What's it like being in her class?

Female Student:
She's an amazing teacher. She's very patient and sweet when it comes to her students. If you're ever struggling when it comes to a certain section of the song, you can tell her that, and she will help you out.

Female Student:
She is very kind and she never makes you sing something you don't want to, but she still helps you develop your singing skills and become a better singer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you sang some great songs, Jonas Brothers and Medley, all of that. What is your favorite holiday song, winter song, or Christmas song, whatever you choose?

Female Student:
I personally really like to sing the Jonas Brothers song because it's more energetic and it's easier to sing those higher notes since it's more... yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Although I'm not a good dancer, I wanted to move to that one. You guys had me going.

Male Student:
My favorite is "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel." Specifically, I like the version with For King and Country “I Need to Breathe." I feel like their voices work really well together.

Female Student:
I like "Silent Night" because it's so peaceful and it's so pretty.

Male Student:
My favorite song is "Wings the Bells It's Christmas" because it has a lot of Christmas spirit and a lot of joy.

Female Student:
I personally like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" because I think it's for adults and kids and families to just sing together, and it's really easy.

Female Student:
I personally like the J I N G O Bells because it's a fun version of Jingle Bells. I also really like "Silent Night." It just brings a lot of peace when you're having a hard time.

Ms. Johnson:
This is "Ring the Bells. It's Christmas" by Douglas E. Wagner.

♪ Ring the bells and spread the cheer of sing noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Colored lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel, it's Christmas ♪

♪ Ring the bells and spread the cheer of sing noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel, it's Christmas ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Sing, noel, noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, noel, noel it's Christmas ♪

♪ It's Christmas

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, noel, noel noel ♪

♪ Christmas time returns and all around us we can tell ♪

♪ Golden lights upon the tree, gifts for you and me ♪

♪ Herald song in harmony, ring the bells and spread the cheer ♪

♪ Sing, noel, it's Christmas time ♪

Anthony Godfrey:
Have a great break! 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 and we hope you have a wonderful winter break.

Anthony Godfrey:
I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time.

Chase Barlow:
Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot like we have a lot of activity going on in there and if you just look at it it's it's not a very clear water it's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slowly with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk in a class called gastrocato. On this episode of the Supercast we take you to an advanced placement biology class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning.

(music)

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Miss Craig here at Mountain Ridge High School about her AP environmental science class. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Ms. Craig:
Yeah of course anytime, thanks for coming out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about the project that has been going on and what's happening today with students.

Ms. Craig:
So in AP environmental science we're learning about the biogeochemical cycles. So things like carbon and nitrogen and phosphorus and water cycles and we started this project six weeks ago. So each group got a little aquatic habitat and each group got between six and eight snails depending on the group. They've just been monitoring the nutrients, keeping track of dissolved oxygen, trying to keep their snail habitats as healthy as possible for the last six weeks.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they've had to test hypotheses and figure out how exactly to do that.

Ms. Craig:
Yes. So each group after the two-week period after we collected some baseline data each group made a modification to their tank so they changed something that would impact the nutrient cycle and then we continued to collect data for four more weeks so that they could see how that change impacted the lifestyle of the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
The only cycle that I really caught was the water cycle.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So all of these different cycles — The phosphorus cycle, was that one of them as well?

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So all of these cycles are aspects of environmental science that they'll be tested on as part of the AP test.

Ms. Craig:
Exactly. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about some of those other cycles. The water cycle I'm familiar with but tell me about some of the others.

Ms. Craig:
So nitrogen and phosphorus are critical nutrients that every living thing needs in order to be able to survive. It's part of your DNA, it's used in cellular functions. So we're measuring those critical nutrients. We're measuring dissolved oxygen levels as well which can help us keep track of the rate of photosynthesis and respiration rates, and how well the quality of overall quality of the water.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about what's happening now today. They've each had their individual biome where they've been experimenting adding different factors into the environment to see how it impacts the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
What happens now? They're combining everything together and what is that going to demonstrate to the students?

Ms. Craig:
So basically we've had a few unfortunate fatalities and some of the water is getting kind of murky. There are no filters on these biomes so at this point, after the six weeks is over, we're gonna combine them into one big habitat. We're gonna put a filter on there and then I have some students that are interested in earning their Sentinel Service Hours diploma, which is 80 service hours outside of school time, and they have volunteered to monitor the snails and try to keep that bigger tank as healthy as possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the snails who were part of the experiment now get to live on in a more regulated community environment.

Ms. Craig:
Yes, they're moving on up, they'll be living in a mansion, they'll have maid service that will come and take care of their water and clean it and everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
The survivors now get the reward of having the better environment.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is this something that you've done in years past?

Ms. Craig:
So this is only my second year teaching this class and I did do this experiment for the first time last year and this is the second time.

Anthony Godfrey:
How did the mansion stage of the snail experiment go last time?

Ms. Craig:
It was pretty good. We didn't have as many snails to begin with but they some of the snails survived long enough that I had to rehome them over the summer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so they made it through the entire school year?

Ms. Craig:
Yeah, some of them made it through the entire school year.

Anthony Godfrey:
How exactly does one rehome a snail?

Ms. Craig:
Well, you make friends with middle school teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, and you help persuade them of the varied uses they might have for these snails.

Ms. Craig:
Oh, they were excited to have them. They're like, "Oh, snails clean my tank, yes I'd love to take them."

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, great, okay, so snails with a purpose.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Is there a particular variety of snail that you're dealing with here? What exactly, just so for folks who might say, "I wonder what kind of snail that is? I need to Google that.”

Ms. Craig:
Yeah, so we have two different varieties of snails. We have pond snails, which our principal lovingly refers to as swamp snails. And then we also have the mystery snails. So they're the bigger ones that you can really see them moving around. Their antenna come out and they're a lot more active and fun to watch.

Anthony Godfrey:
The mystery snails?

Ms. Craig:
Mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that the actual term for them?

Ms. Craig:
There's a scientific name for them, but if you go shopping for them, you'll want to look for mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Mystery snails? Yes. Wow, okay. Snails with something to hide?

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me just about AP Environmental Science overall. What do you hope, besides trying to do well on the task which is important, what do you hope students take away from this class?

Ms. Craig:
For me, the environment has always been something that I felt very passionate about, especially living here in Utah with our air quality and the Great Salt Lake levels diminishing. I feel like we, it's really important that we train some students to be able to work towards solving some of these problems and tackling some of these tough issues.

Anthony Godfrey:
With some know-how and with experiments that teach them that they can figure things out, perhaps that will be the result.

Ms. Craig:
I hope so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Maybe these students and these snails can solve those problems. I'd love to have those problems fixed.

Ms. Craig:
Yes, I would too. And I know these students are really, really bright and capable and they're passionate about what they're doing. So I have the ultimate confidence in their abilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you say you've taught this class for two years now. Where were you before? What were you doing before?

Ms. Craig:
Physics, full-time physics.

Anthony Godfrey:
Full-time physics?

Ms. Craig:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how do you like the switch from physics to environmental science?

Ms. Craig:
I love it. I still have four physics classes and two environmental science classes, so it's nice to branch out and do something different. I'm learning too and I've always loved to learn. I'm a lifelong learner, so this has been keeping me engaged as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as a physics teacher, you overcame the inertia that beset some of us and moved to something new.

Ms. Craig:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, well that's impressive, and I know you're doing a great job. The principal, as I was walking to your class, had so many nice things to say and when I walked in it was instantly engaging for me and I didn't even know what was going on. But you can tell that great things are happening. So thanks for everything you're doing.

Ms. Craig:
Thank you. Thanks for coming by.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. More at Mountain Ridge High School.

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

Female Voice:
In Jordan School District we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families free of charge. You can take a class called "Bluesbusters" for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends. There are also support groups and free counseling all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists and counselors. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi guys. How's it going? We're talking with three students today from Mountain Ridge High School about their snails. Tell me, introduce yourself, tell me what grade you're in and tell me about these snails a little bit.

Sophie Burdette:
I'm Sophie Burdette. I'm a senior.

Kamelalila Lilo:
I'm Kamelalila Lilo. I'm a junior.

Clark Fowler:
I'm Clark Fowler and I'm a senior.

Chase Barlow:
I'm Chase Barlow and I'm a junior.

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you know each other well before this or have the snails brought you together?

Chase Barlow:
I think definitely the snails have brought us closer together to this unit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay well that's a beautiful thing. So tell me about what this unit has involved and what you've learned.

Sophie Burdette:
So this unit was mostly about aquatic biomes and the factors that affect the biomes and to make this snail biome we started with an empty tank and we added gravel, algae, elodia which are aquatic plants, micro crustaceans, two mystery snails and then four smaller pond snails.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh I see the micro animals right there. They are very active. It's kind of like when my dog sees us packing and they know they're going on a trip, these guys seem to know that something is up. Something's happening today.

Sophie Burdette:
They're attracted to attention.

Kamelalila Lilo:
Yeah they want it. Then afterwards, before we change any factor about the tank, we kind of just like test it out how the water is before and how like the control system is before you change anything and then we decided to add like more micro crustaceans to see like how that would change the aquatic biome.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the changes that you've noticed as you introduced to other factors into the biome?

Sophie Burdette:
Well as you can see they're a bit dense of population.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, yes.

Sophie Burdette:
And highly active. Also the water has gone a lot murky which is not a good factor but the snails seem to be hanging on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. By hanging on you mean still alive. Surviving.

Sophie Burdette:
Yes. Surviving.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Surviving this apocalyptic biodome that you have created. So tell me more about the snails.

Kamelalila Lilo:
Our two mystery snails that we have in there are Shaquille O'Sneil and then Brinley's Snail. Brinley's Snail was brought into our tank after her beloved partner died and she was left with a clutch of babies and so she brought, she was brought into this tank to kind of have the babies have them hatch. And also —

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Chase Barlow:
You see him?

Anthony Godfrey:
Am I supposed to say that it's cute?

Chase Barlow:
I don't you know that's up for your —

Anthony Godfrey:
Here I'm gonna use my phone to get a little bit closer.

Anthony Godfrey:
We could also put them under the microscope.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Oh yeah that is very cute.

Sophie Burdette:
Paco. That's Paco. Everyone is Paco. Every baby's name is Paco.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where did that come from?

Sophie Burdette:
Two minutes ago when I made it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Sophie Burdette:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you went with what felt right?

Kamelalila Lilo:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I get Shaquille O'Sneil but why Brinley?

Kamelalila Lilo:
We weren't the ones to name her. So she kind of just came in.

Anthony Godfrey:
She was Brinley. The name chose her. You didn't choose the name. Okay fair enough.

Sophie Burdette:
We had a shell like Presley. Unfortunately he passed away pretty early on.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's unfortunate. You know big stars sometimes shine bright and then burn out. I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time. Tell me what that means.

Chase Barlow:
Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot. Like we have a lot of activity going on in there. But the ammonia levels are probably way too high to be healthy. And if you just look at it it's not a very clear water. It's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you think the snails feel about their environment this morning right now? If I could understand snail thinking.

Clark Fowler:
Well really putting myself in the snail's shoes, I'd say, “Like dude, it's way too like crowded in here, you know. Maybe we should get some more room.” And maybe give them some more algae too because they look a little, they look a little pale and a little stark.

Anthony Godfrey:
I would guess though that they appreciate your efforts to this point to make sure that their life is not only enjoyable but meaningful as well.

Clark Fowler:
I would have to concur.

Anthony Godfrey:
There is a lot of meaning to it. On that note what exactly have you learned from this? About science, about snails, about the world and about each other.

Clark Fowler:
Well first of all I think it's really cool that our teacher was willing to let us do this and kind of find out all about habitats on our own, because our tank was doing really poorly. We had a snail die and then we had super high levels of ammonia which is what happens when something dies. So we said we can fix this and so we added a bunch of other elements. We added micro crustaceans. We added the new snail. And we saw the change that came from it. So I just think it's cool that we got to see that first-hand and do it ourselves.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you apply some scientific knowledge of your own with some help and you're able to make their world at least a better place. And maybe that can apply more broadly. How about for you two? What did you learn from this?

Kamelalila Lilo:
I think it's really brought us four together. It's been very fun being co-parents in a very four way over these hundreds of little critters.

Anthony Godfrey:
Co-parents? I have not heard that term before.

Sophie Burdette:
Strangers to co-parents right away. It was beautiful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Strangers to co-parents. The environmental science story. So tell me what happens next with these creatures?

Kamelalila Lilo:
For most people in our class, we're going to put them into a communal kind of tank. But I think since our tank has been doing so well on its own and I think every part of this tank is really working together to create a really thriving biome. We're just going to keep them in this tank and see how they do.

Sophie Burdette:
We also have baby snails that are very sensitive to outside forces. So switching tanks is just a really risky move. So we think we're going to keep them in here. We're probably going to donate some micro crustations to the public tank. But other than that they're just going to stay in their little home.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well I can see that you want the best for all of these creatures, and luckily you have some scientific knowledge to help you create that. Now I see that you have something mounted on the microscope over there. Can we take a look and see what's going on over there?

Clark Fowler:
So that is a it's a pregnant micro crustation. So this is like when they reproduce like this is what they look for for a little bit. So when you look in there you're going to be able to see the micro custation and then you see all the little eggs inside of it because it's a transparent.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So the micro crustation with really micro crustations inside of it. Okay. Let's take a look. Oh wow. That is really something. It is moving, and it has five little babies. That is kind of cute. Wow. That is really something. And wow. I'm really quite stunned by that. What is all the activity? They're just sitting there moving along. We are not — the babies are not in peril right now because of the petri dish, right?

Clark Fowler:
I think we just fed him too much coffee.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me what are some of the conclusions that you have drawn from this experiment.

Kamelalila Lilo:
So our first hypothesis was asking of how micro crustations a lot of them if they're added if they affect the dissolved oxygen because after our first nail had passed away, we had a really big issue with dissolved oxygen and really low levels. So we found out that once we added all of these micro crustations, our dissolved oxygen levels went back up to a very comfortable and healthy level.

Sophie Burdette:
We were watching our tank and it was on the brink of death. And then we added some micro crustations and it came back to life which was really fun.

Kamelalila Lilo:
That's yeah we realize that as more organisms are in the environment the more it survives and thrives because without even the little critters like the micro crustations which could be overlooked an ecosystem really can't live and survive without them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are there some broader life lessons that you draw from this?

Sophie Burdette:
I guess we can really think back to the people in society or organisms in an ecosystem that really make up the functions of the ecosystem or society and really give thanks back to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Everyone has a role to play maybe.

Sophie Burdette:
Exactly.

Clark Fowler:
As we're learning this stuff, yeah it's a smaller scale and in a tank, but as we're learning these factors and learning the effects of them we can take it growing up in our world today and really understand how to make things better for our world and all parts of our world just like how this tank has parts of it. All parts of our world we can benefit from just learning this stuff at a young age. So I'm grateful for this class personally.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what this class is like. It seems very engaging to me to be in Ms. Craig's class.

Clark Fowler:
I think it's pretty cool. Ms. Craig is really really good at the hands-on stuff. Whenever we're in this class we're always doing something, learning something with our hands with experience which is really helpful for me to help me learn it, understand it better and have it stick with me which is going to be good because we have to take an AP test in May and so we're going to need to remember as much as we can.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've had the urgency of the impending AP test and the urgency of keeping all these microorganisms alive that have kept you engaged and going and energized.

Clark Fowler:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about for you two, what has this class been like for you in being in Ms. Craig's class?

Kamelalila Lilo:
I think most of all Ms. Craig has really taught me how to love learning and love science especially because before this I got her back in 9th grade as well. Before this I didn't really like science because you sit down and you learn all these mathematical equations and you just learn and learn and learn. But to be able to do something hands-on really teaches me that as long as you put effort in even at like 7.30 in the morning, you can still love these things. And I've come to like really love science because of her. So yeah, I'm just like really grateful for this class like teaching me a new passion.

Sophie Burdette:
I mean everyone else pretty much said but the hands-on experience this is like the funnest math science class I've ever taken. And applying it to the real world which is pretty much all the environmental science is about. It's taking environmental issues and aspects and applying them to the real world and seeing how we can fix them. I think that's a really cool fact about the class and Ms. Craig is amazing. She's always walking around the room, and I can never find her because she's always looks like one of the students because she's the same height. But she's always around talking, and she's right there talking to people about their snails, helping people out. But yeah she's amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well thank you very much. I like your chances on the AP test. Good luck with the rest of the year, and thanks for introducing me to Brinley and Shaquille O’Snail. I'm sorry I never got to meet Shelvis Presley. 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. Bye bye.

Michelle Lovell:
Planet Kindergarten is a movement that we've started in Jordan School District where teachers are working to have their kindergartners know all of their letters and sounds by the 1st of November. I love the sense of community that has come from this school and just getting everyone involved in the success of these youngest learners.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to The Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a unique program that is helping students achieve huge success in reaching their reading goals, and students and teachers alike are having a blast in the process. On this episode of The Supercast, we take you to Riverton Elementary School, where kindergarten students and teachers are dressed as astronauts to celebrate their incredible accomplishments in a districtwide initiative called Planet Kindergarten. The space-themed program is helping students reach for the stars in achieving their literacy goals, and we're about to hear from some of the amazing educators behind it all.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with two of our literacy gurus in the District. Introduce yourselves and tell us why we're here today.

Michelle Lovell:
I'm Michelle Lovell. I'm the literacy consultant for Jordan School District for grades K through 6.

Lori McCarty:
And I'm Lori McCarty, a literacy specialist, specifically for kindergarten.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we are here for Planet Kindergarten. Tell us about what Planet Kindergarten means.

Michelle Lovell:
Planet Kindergarten is a movement that we've started in Jordan School District, where teachers are working to have their kindergartners know all of their letters and sounds by the 1st of November.

Anthony Godfrey:
And this has made a huge impact. We've seen big increases in literacy among kindergarten students, specifically for years running. We have had our best scores ever, year over year and this is a big part of that. Tell us about some of the success we've seen lately.

Michelle Lovell:
Well, so last year, we had three kindergarten teachers who made that goal, and we were so proud of them. But this year, we're happy to report we have 13 teachers who have made the 100% goal.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's every student in their class, regardless of where they started out--

Michelle Lovell:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
--and every letter and sound by the 1st of November.

Michelle Lovell:
And we have over 25 teachers who are in the 90% range. So huge amount of growth from last year to this year. It's been really exciting to watch the data come in.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's out of how many kindergarten teachers total?

Lori McCarty:
140-ish.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's a whole lot of kindergarten students that are reading better than ever.

Michelle Lovell:
Exactly. Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, there are some students who may come to kindergarten already knowing letters and sounds. Talk to us about what we do to help make sure that we're meeting their needs as well.

Lori McCarty:
So in Jordan School District, we don't have ceilings. So if kids are already reading, if they already know their letter names and sounds, we want to make sure that they're challenged as well. And one of the pieces that we have in place in our structure with Walk to Read is all of the students who need extensions should be getting extensions.

Anthony Godfrey:
And extensions are for those who are advanced beyond--

Lori McCarty:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
--the expectations for that grade and age.

Lori McCarty:
Accelerated reading, accelerated experiences with both reading and writing and so we want to make sure that that differentiation is still happening. I really believe that a good, solid phonics program, having kids know-- have that experience of having a structured phonics program as they go through, even if students are reading, is really beneficial for them. Because they may be able to read, but they may not know how the language works. And so I think that knowing how all the language structures put together, how all of the syllable types work together, will strengthen their reading and their writing abilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, beyond this, there's an additional goal for whole words read by the end of kindergarten. And I think these benchmarks have made a big difference in making sure that our pacing on kindergarten instruction is exactly what it ought to be.

Michelle Lovell:
Exactly. And this isn't the end goal. This is just step one. This is the beginning. Because the goal is that we want to have all of our kids being able to blend words automatically by the end of kindergarten. We want them to really be reading sentences. We want them to be writing fluently and knowing their letter names and sounds early in the school year gives them time and opportunity to practice throughout the school year and to gain that automaticity that they need in actually putting it all together and reading words and writing words. We're hopeful that by the end of the year, if we have all of our kindergartners reading closed syllable words, those consonant, vowel consonant words to automaticity, by the time they hit first grade, they'll be ready to take off running in first grade. So this is a trajectory getting us to that spot.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us the number of words that a kindergartner should be able to read, ideally, by the end of the year.

Michelle Lovell:Michelle Lovell:
Well, as we've been looking through data and we've been analyzing this, not just our district but other districts, what we're finding is if a student can read at least 10 whole words read, that they're more solid in those blending skills, which are the precursors to being able to read fluently. If they have at least 20 whole words read, we find that they don't lose any of those skills over the summer. So somewhere between 12 and 20 words is where we're aiming for. If we could get to 20 whole words read for every student, that would be amazing. It would set them up for success in first and second grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Then when first grade teachers start with those students, they're able to hit the ground running. Instead of doing so much review, they're able to take off and really start at a place where they normally wouldn't be for a few weeks into the year.

Michelle Lovell:
Exactly. They don't need to go back and review kindergarten skills. They'll have kids that are ready to just jump in to those first grade skills. They'll be able to teach long vowels, vowel teams. They'll be able to jump into more complex sentence structures and hopefully just have the kids in books. That's the most important thing. Any time we learn a new skill, whether it's dance, learning to play an instrument, learning to read, practice is key. So we want the kids reading. We want the kids in books. We want them to practice these skills that they're learning.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, practice didn't help me with dance, but I do take your point. Whatever it is you're learning--

Michelle Lovell:
It didn't help me either.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it does make a big difference when kids are able to learn these skills and then practice them. And this celebration is really exciting because even kindergartners have a very clear understanding of what their goal is and the celebration when they've met it. And really, it gives them a sense of their own learning and their own progress, even as a five or six-year-old.

Michelle Lovell:
Absolutely. I think what's been really fun is when I've talked with schools, the whole school is involved. It's the fifth graders, the sixth graders, the fourth graders who are all aware of this goal for kindergarten. And they're all helping the kindergartners. I've talked to schools and they say, during morning announcements, that they've got the sixth graders who are at the end of morning announcements holding up letter cards saying, all right, kindergartners, here we go. We're going to practice. We've got kindergartners who are walking around the fifth grade classrooms with all the fifth graders holding sticky notes on their hands with a letter. And the kindergartners are giving them a high five and saying the letter name and sound. They're all just working together. So I love the sense of community that has come from this goal and just getting everyone involved in the success of these youngest learners.

Anthony Godfrey:
What can parents do to help support these goals?

Michelle Lovell:
Again, I think practice is key. And so if your students are learning letter names and sounds, practice with them at home. It doesn't have to be hours. It can just be a few minutes here and there and practicing in different ways. It could be a chart that you go over that's on the wall. It could be flashcards that you're working with. It could be games that you're playing that have letter names and sounds. Reading to your child is really an important piece. If it's 10 minutes a day, if you can spare that, I think that's fantastic.

Anthony Godfrey:
We all live on Planet Kindergarten.

Michelle Lovell:
We do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. All right. Well, thank you for everything you're doing. I appreciate the research you've done to just know where those benchmarks are that are going to give our students rocket fuel for everything that they need to learn going forward.

Michelle Lovell:
Thanks. I love it. I'm excited for what's coming these next few months to these next few years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. We'll hear from the students at Riverton Elementary School.

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

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 here at Riverton Elementary talking with two of the kindergarten teachers who have taken that journey to Planet Kindergarten. Introduce yourselves and tell us about that journey.

Janae Barron:
My name is Janae Barron. I am so fortunate to work here at Riverton Elementary with Julie George and Tiffany Rappleye. This is my third year here in kindergarten. I came from fifth grade.

Tiffany Rappleye:
So I am Tiffany Rappleye and it's my first year here at Riverton Elementary. I was at Bastian last year and doing other things before that and I'm so excited to be here and get our kiddos to Planet Kindergarten. We've worked really hard and included parents in engagement and worked in small groups. Every chance we get, we're just throwing those letters at them to make sure that they are getting them down.

Anthony Godfrey:
This has been the theme as you've talked with students along the way. We're working to get you to Planet Kindergarten and the way you arrive is by knowing your letters and sounds by the beginning of November. So what are some of the activities that you have done in order to make that possible?

Tiffany Rappleye:
Well, our walk to read has been awesome. We are doing the Planet Kindergarten steps, where we put them in different groups based off of the letters that they know and work on. So we're spending small group time focusing on a certain set of letters and then once they pass those letters off, they can move up to the next ones. We're also including the parents, sending flashcards home, letting them know exactly what letters and sounds their kiddos are working on.

Janae Barron:
Dr. Godfrey, you have the most amazing literacy staff. They made this happen. Lori McCarty and her group--Lori McCarty is the kindergarten specialist for those of you who might not know throughout the District. She cut out thousands of paper bags with her team to make Planet Kindergarten happen all over the District, not just here at Riverton, but all over the District. She did a literacy launch during the summer and then at the very beginning of the year-- I was so fortunate to go at the beginning of the year and jump in. But I know that Tiffany and Julie George, they went during their summer. These dedicated teachers took time off their summer to go and receive more training about how to get our kids to Planet Kindergarten. There were games. There were activities that was data driven and that information allowed and directed our instruction. So we were very effective in being able to do this. As a school, I think we decided we were 92% successful on getting all our kids on Planet Kindergarten.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's amazing and it's a great launch to all the other things that they need to learn throughout their lives, really. The time in kindergarten is so important. I really appreciate all the efforts you're making and the reference you made to paper bags, that's cutting out paper bags so they can be helmets that the students decorate for their trip to Planet Kindergarten once they've learned their letters and sounds.

Tiffany Rappleye:
And they looked so cute.

Anthony Godfrey:
They looked fantastic.

Janae Barron:
And our reading buddies, who were paired with upper grade reading buddies, they were the ones who have been working with us throughout the year. Every Friday, they come in and they help us as well. So having a peer mentoring that takes place, they helped us decorate our helmets, our paper bags that we were looking so sharp when we landed on Planet Kindergarten.

Tiffany Rappleye:
We've also had buddies come other times, not just during that time, to work with our kids that were struggling to get to Planet Kindergarten and just work with them playing different games. Like we played “Memory” and we played different things with their peers and small groups to help them get to Planet Kindergarten, too. So it was a whole school effort.

Janae Barron:
Very much so.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know they have a whole solar system of learning that awaits beyond Planet Kindergarten. So thank you for getting them there and doing such an incredible job and doing it with such a joy and excitement. I love the blend of just the research, the fun, and just the intentionality around making sure they reach that goal. So thank you for your hard work.

Tiffany Rappleye:
Of course. Thanks for coming and visiting.

Janae Barron:
Yes, thank you.

Tiffany Rappleye:
It was fun to have you at our party.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, I'll come to Planet Kindergarten any day.

Tiffany Rappleye:
Awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, tell me your name.

Charlotte:
Charlotte.

Anthony Godfrey:
Charlotte, what is your favorite letter?

Charlotte:
C.

Anthony Godfrey:
C. And why is C your favorite letter?

Charlotte:
Because C starts with my name.

Anthony Godfrey:
What other letters do you like besides C?

Charlotte:
D.

Anthony Godfrey:
D? What do you like about the letter D?

Charlotte:
Because it's fun to write.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's fun to write the letter D.

Charlotte:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Upper case or lower case?

Charlotte:
Both.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, both? Oh, so D is really fun to write no matter which one you're writing. OK, well, thank you, Charlotte. Good job. Congratulations on learning all your letters and sounds. Tell me your name.

Addie:
Addie.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Addie. What is your favorite letter?

Addie:
W.

Anthony Godfrey:
Why is W your favorite letter? Do you like the shape of it?

Addie:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey::
What other letters do you like?

Addie:
K.

Anthony Godfrey:
K. What do you like about the letter K?

Addie:
Because it's pointy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Because it's pointy. Can you tell me all the letters in your name?

Addie:
A, D, D, I, E.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, very nice. And what's your name?

Gracie:
Gracie.

Anthony Godfrey:
Gracie. What's your favorite letter, Gracie?

Gracie:
My favorite letter is G.

Anthony Godfrey:
G? And why is G your favorite letter?

Gracie:
Because it starts with my name.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK. That's a good reason to like the letter G. And what other letters do you like?

Gracie:
I like A.

Anthony Godfrey:
You like A? You also have an A in your name. Why do you like the letter A?

Gracie:
Because it's the first letter in the alphabet.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, it's number one, just like you. Right?

Gracie:
Right.

Anthony Godfrey:
I brought Grayson. Hey, Grayson, how are you?

Grayson:
Good.

Anthony Godfrey:
What letter do you like the most?

Grayson:
G and Z.

Anthony Godfrey:
G and Z?

Grayson:
A and Z.

Anthony Godfrey:
A and Z. Why A and Z? Why do you like those two letters?

Grayson:
Because I like how there's a game called Legend ZA.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, OK. Legend ZA. So those letters remind you of that game, huh? That's awesome. What are your favorite activities? What are the favorite things you've done in class to learn your letters, Gracie?

Gracie:
I have a lot of things, but the most favorite one is singing the alphabet on the alphabet chart.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, really? An alphabet chart. Alphabet chime? Oh, singing the alphabet on the alphabet chart? Can you do that for me?

Gracie:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, I, F, G, O, V, W, X, Y, and Z. Now I know my ABC. Next time won't you sing with me?

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That was perfect. That sounded so good. You're a good singer and a good reader. That's wonderful. Thank you so much. We're out on the playground now talking with Julie George, also a member of the kindergarten team, but there's no rest. We celebrated Planet Kindergarten and now you're out watching students out on the playground.

Julie George:
That is correct. There's no rest in kindergarten, but it's super fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about this journey throughout the year to get to Planet Kindergarten.

Julie George:
Each year as we approach the new year in the fall, we want the kids to learn their letters and sounds by November 1st because it's really important that we can build on that and they can get fluency and they can start blending and reading. We have such an amazing leader, Lori McCarty, that gets us inspired and pumped up to do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's really exciting to see the results today and the kids are obviously excited and proud of their progress. I think that in kindergarten it seems like you get the benefit of seeing this progress more than in any other grade level. As a middle school teacher, I saw progress, but not like you get to see in kindergarten. Talk to me about the beginning of the year as opposed to the end of the year and the progress you see.

Julie George:
Absolutely. That is the amazing perk or benefit, the reward of teaching kindergarten. It is super busy, but it is also super rewarding. You do see them coming in not knowing very many letters and at the end of the year they're walking out the door knowing all their letters and sounds and reading. That's been my goal the last three years in all day kindergarten. 100% of my kids will know their letters and sounds because on my watch, I want them to do a good job.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I love that goal and it's so important for everything that comes after, not just the rest of their schooling but for the rest of their lives. Getting this strong start, getting that confidence early on just means a ton. And it gives them that sense of connection with school when they know they can do things they couldn't do before.

Julie George:
Absolutely. We want them off to a great start because life is hard if you don't know how to read and write.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's absolutely right. Well, thank you so much for all your hard work and congratulations on your success.

Julie George:
Thank you so much for coming today. We really enjoyed it.

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