Author: communications

Teacher:
Becoming Miss Amazing Teen has given her the opportunity to have more confidence with advocating.

Linda:
My advice is that it doesn't matter what challenges you have. We are all different, but everyone deserves to be happy and go after their dreams.

Anthony Godfrey:
On this episode of the Supercast, meet Mountain Ridge High School sophomore Linda Boequi, who was recently crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026. Hear how finding success in the competition is helping Linda and others explore their passions in and outside of school with pride, purpose, and power.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at Mountain Ridge High School to talk about the Miss Amazing Teen Pageant. Go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us about, tell us a little bit about why we're here.

Teacher:
Hello, I'm Alexis Sway. I'm one of the special education teachers at Mountain Ridge High School, and I get to work with Linda, who won the Miss Amazing Teen Utah Pageant this year, back in March.

Anthony Godfrey:
Linda, thank you for talking with us today. Tell us, what is the Miss Amazing Teen Pageant and how did you get involved?

Linda:
Miss Amazing is a wonderful program that helps girls build confidence. When I first got involved, I was so nervous, but at the same time, I was very excited to be part of it.

Teacher
Do you remember how you heard about the pageant?

Linda:
No, I never hear before. When my mom, she was with me doing a dub during a cheer, inclusive cheer. I hear about it is very, like, my first time to hear, so I'm dancing to do my passion and to link those ideas, to pass through my, my in progress to know my future, what is it?

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us more about what your role was in helping support Linda in applying for this and being part of this competition.

Teacher:
Yeah, so we actually had a former student here at Mountain Ridge. Their family started Adaptive Arena in Bluffdale. It's an awesome facility where they provide sports, dance, and gymnastics opportunities for students and cheer with disabilities. That way they can be included in those opportunities, and it was through Adaptive Arena that Linda found out about the Miss Teen Pageant. And so we really just appreciate that parents reach out and share that information for us as teachers to share with our students and their families so they can know about these resources in the community. This year, when Linda came to school one day, and was telling us that she's going to be in this pageant, and she tells the dates when the competitions were coming up and what she was doing to prepare for it. We just got to cheer her on, and we're so stoked when she came back to school with her sash and tiara, saying that she won Miss Teen. Miss Amazing, right?

Anthony Godfrey:
You have the sash and tiara on now. Do you ever take it off?

Linda:
It depends on the place where I can take to use my crown and sometimes I tell some teacher if I can use my crown or some other place to have like a band or cultural evemt. I pull my crown and my sash to know everyone, to know about me, to follow me, and to know about more some people and to have fun.

Teacher:
Did you wear it at the lacrosse game this week?

Linda:
Yes, I put because from the last week it was my birthday on April 3rd, and the same time was on Lacrosse Day and then I saw a friend, she was doing lacrosse and I was hoping to. So she was like doing great, and her whole team did great, and then this time did like the girls gym, did it so well. I'm so proud of her.

Anthony Godfrey:
What was going through your mind when you were crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026?

Linda:
I couldn't believe it. I still think about the crown in my head all the time. It's made me so excited to use my title to do great things in my future.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I've heard that you did a dance for the talent portion. Can you tell us about the dance that you performed for the talent competition?

Linda:
Yes, dancing is my passion. So it's a feel great. I perform a fun mix of ballet and hip hop all put together to music from the movie Tangle. Speaking of which, I have a hip hop performance today May 5th at my school auditorium. I would love to invite you and all your listeners to come and see it.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. So you can do ballet and combine it with hip hop?

Linda:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can't do either one of those things, much less do them together. So that's awesome. The Miss Amazing program, from what I understand, focuses on confidence, like you said, and self-advocacy. How has participating in the program helped you see yourself now and see yourself in the future.

Linda:
The program gives me a lot of confidence because of it. I believe in my future. I want to keep taking dance classes and focus on my passion for dancing one day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful. If there's one piece of advice you could give other students who are looking for the confidence to pursue their dreams, what would that be?

Linda:
My advice is that it doesn't matter what challenges you have. We are all different, but everyone deserves to be happy and go after their dreams.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Linda in class.

Teacher:
Linda is very sweet and very motivated to be independent and work hard. She strives to be the best student that she can be. She puts her head down and gets right to work. She asks for help when she needs it. Becoming Miss Amazing Teen has given her the opportunity to have more confidence with advocating, too. That's something we've worked on a lot with Linda, is asking for help, not being afraid to ask teachers to use translation tools or for more clarification if she's not getting something. I've really seen that bloom this year with her advocating for herself. She works really hard, and she's very friendly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about what you teach here. Tell us about your job.

Teacher:
I'm one of our three self-contained support classroom teachers here at Mountain Ridge.

Anthony Godfrey:
For those who don't know what that is, describe that, please.

Teacher:
It's a special education class. It's students who have moderate to severe disabilities who need more time in a special education class. I have a unique position where I get to work with the students who can handle being fully mainstreamed into their classes, but they still need a home base and to have an aide or a peer tutor with them. I get to manage the peer tutors and the aides that work with the students and support them as their home base, helping them with emotional regulation and executive functioning skills.

Anthony Godfrey:
Describe how that peer tutor program works.

Teacher:
We have students. It's just open for any student. They can select it as an elective during arena scheduling. We do a training at the beginning of the year, and we definitely rely on spreading awareness and having peer tutors try and recruit friends that they think would be good peer tutors too. So they get to be paired up one-on-one with a student with disabilities and help them in their classes by staying on task and getting the academics done.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's an important program for everyone involved. Thank you for running that and teaching that. It's a great support to our students.

Teacher:
Thank you. I enjoy it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. Linda teaches me some Samba dance moves and I do my best to learn them.

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:
What do you love most about dancing?

Linda:
Dancing is like …. for like you like it something like want to go your future for your graduation. So when I was a kid I was dancing from ballet club and then this is could be one day dance teacher. And then I moved to here in United States like four years ago. And then this is could change my life. And then now with me the Miss Amazing pageant changed all my life. So I can like help the kids teach them how to dance work, how it's easy or hard for them. And then could be fun is like I'm like my dance teacher. I love dance. I love like everything like music and dance, type of dance. I love my passion.

Teacher:
When I got to teach our class some of the Brazilian dances that she used to do back in her home country.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. Super fun. Yeah. Do you think you can teach me a Brazilian dance?

Linda:
Yeah for sure. Some steps is like easy and like I have…..

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're saying it has to be easy for me to be able to do it. Is that what you mean?

Linda:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. Show me what we got.

Linda:
It's kind of like a Samba one. Do you know like Samba?

Anthony Godfrey:
That means nothing to me. I don't Samba.

Linda:
Salsa? Samba.

Anthony Godfrey:
Samba.

Linda:
So like one.

Anthony Godfrey:
One. And I do this so I take one step forward with the right and I do this with my arms.

Anthony Godfrey:
So like one back first.

Anthony Godfrey:
Kind of like I'm punching.

Linda:
Right.

Anthony Godfrey:
One kind of punch alternate.

Linda:
Back first and then to the left.

Anthony Godfrey:
And then left. Same thing. Okay.

Linda:
And then go back third. He's like, one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh turn my heel out on the right. Okay.

Linda:
And then its like one two three. Okay.

Anthony Godfrey:
That one two three was not as easy as one two three.

Teacher:
That was your ankle.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me the one two three again.

Linda:
So one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Step out. Step back. Two.

Linda:
Two. Three.

Anthony Godfrey:
Step forward again. Okay.

Linda:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that was easier when it's slow.

Anthony Godfrey and Linda:
One. Two. Three.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Linda:
And then we're going to twist like your left. Anthony Godfrey:
Twist out.

Linda:
And then you do like.

Anthony Godfrey:
Twist back.

Linda:
Like shaking.

Anthony Godfrey:
Shaking. All right. I'm shaking. I'm shaking.

Linda:
Twist your left again.

Anthony Godfrey:
Twist the left out.

Linda:
Together.

Anthony Godfrey:
Together. Oh all right.

Linda:
And then you do back.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. It's a lot of twisting and shaking.

Linda:
Shaking.

Teacher”
I'm just wondering what the harder dances are like.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. If this is the easy one. I'm glad I'm not trying the hard one.

Linda:
So first, let's stay on this one. I like to do like one two three. One two three.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm trying to do it with her for those listening. I'm a half step behind at least. Okay. Why don't you do it full speed the way you would do it. And I'll stand beside you and do a terrible job of trying to keep up. How's that? Okay. I'll give it my best. Here we go. Go ahead. Do what you would do.

Linda:
One. Two. One. Two.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. It's the moving and the twisting at the same time.

Linda:
One, two, three.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So like...  Outstanding.

Linda:
One, two... Wait. I like it so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. That's okay. That's good. Thank you very much. That's more dancing than I've learned in a long time. Congratulations on being crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026. I hope you enjoy your reign. And I'm impressed with how much progress you've made in the four years you've been here and the dancing that you've learned your whole life. And just... I'm very impressed and very pleased to get to meet you and to see your skills and actions. So good luck tonight and good luck with everything in the future.

Linda:
Thank you. If you want to follow me on Instagram or Facebook, too, to follow me to see about more, to go in some of the life I'm doing and to do like something I wrong, sometimes my back, what is the back of the crown I'm doing? Or is like right now in school? My mom, she's helped me for doing this Miss Amazing. I'm so happy she helped me for this Miss Amazing to go on July for nationals. And then I can't wait to do, and everyone cheer on for me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good luck at the next level. Good luck with the dance tonight and with everything you're doing, I'm sure you're going to be successful. And it's a real pleasure to meet you and to see your talents. 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.

Isaac Broadbent:
Through this program, Teach Kind, we were able to go through each grade and teach a variety of lessons centered on kindness and how that looks like, how that sounds like, and how that feels, and the impact it can have.

Student:
I think kindness is important because it makes people feel noticed and wanted, and it just makes people feel like they're proud.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are spreading kindness and enhancing a positive culture at Daybreak Elementary School. The school even celebrates student kindness with a big parade through the happy halls of Daybreak once a month. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Isaac Broadbent, school counselor at Daybreak and a former Daybreak student himself, has stepped in revamping schoolwide expectations and, together with the support of teachers, is making kindness rule number one. The work has earned Daybreak a national Kind School designation.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are at Daybreak talking with the school counselor, Isaac Broadbent, about a kindness initiative that's been happening here at the school. But first, talk to us a little bit about yourself.

Isaac Broadbent:
My name is Isaac. I am a school counselor here and I've been a school counselor for about three or four years. I started here, and then I stayed because it's so amazing. And, fun fact, I actually used to attend the school when it was first built.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what grade did you... How old were you when you came?

Isaac Broadbent:
Fifth and sixth grade. So, when it first opened up, they pulled us from Rose Creek to help populate it a little bit because Daybreak wasn't as built out as it was back then.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. Yeah.

Isaac Broadbent:
And so, I was a student here and there were some familiar faces that were around as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Some of the teachers are still here that were there when you were in fifth grade.

Isaac Broadbent:
Correct. Yep, correct. There's actually, I think, four. Yeah. Four of them. So, it was kind of cool to have a full circle where I was a student. And then, lo and behold, I'm working here with some familiar faces from back then.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how has the school changed? First of all, it seems a lot smaller now, right?

Isaac Broadbent:
It's a lot smaller. I remember this was a gigantic place when I was a student.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right. That's right.

Isaac Broadbent:
But no, it's really great because obviously I'm biased. I really like this school because I used to go here. And it's great to be able to help it become a better place because the whole reason why we kind of want to focus on kindness is that in our MTSS meetings and leadership meetings, we were realizing that there's just a lot of meanness going on. Every school has their bullying instances, but there's just a lot of overall just meanness, just one-off jabs and things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Isaac Broadbent:
And so, through a process, we revamped our entire school system with our big three rules and number one is being kind. And we really tried to push that as much as we could. And so, with this year particularly, we doubled down on kindness and through this program, Teach Kind, we were able to go through each grade and teach a multiple, I guess I should say, a variety of lessons centered on kindness and how that looks like, how that sounds like, and how that feels, and the impact it can have. And then we were able to wrap it all up with a huge school-wide initiative that included snowflakes, actually.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the snowflakes.

Isaac Broadbent:
Yeah. So, as part of this program and this designation, we had to, after we focused everything on kindness throughout the school year, we had to wrap it up with a school-wide project. And that project was, each student was able to get cutouts of a snowflake, and they would write down what they did as an act of kindness for someone else. And then I would periodically go by week after week and collect those and then hang them in a main hallway that we have.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, these how large are the snowflakes? About the size of the palm of your hand?

Isaac Broadbent:
Yeah, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Isaac Broadbent:And we had hundreds of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Larger than actual size.

Isaac Broadbent:
Large, exactly. Yep. And we wanted to kind of have that visual effect so everyone in the school could see how kindness was falling over.

Anthony Godfrey:
Some things were snowballing.

Isaac Broadbent:
Exactly. And that's a good way to put it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Nice.

Isaac Broadbent:
And so, we had hundreds of those, right, get submitted throughout that time window, and they were all out there on display for a while. And then we were able to submit for the Kindness designation and luckily, we were able to get that award.

Anthony Godfrey:
What organization gave the award?

Isaac Broadbent:
Oh, yes. It's the Teach Kind program. And so, it's a national program and we were able to get nominated as a Teach Kind school, one out of 32 in the nation.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Isaac Broadbent:
And so, it was really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic to have that designation. That's wonderful. So, what are some of the other things that you did with students to help motivate them and not just motivate, but to highlight the great things that they were doing to focus on kindness?

Isaac Broadbent:
Yeah, absolutely. So, what I would do is I would go in and push into every class, every grade level, and have different presentations and lessons based on kindness.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, it's not just, "Hey, everybody, be kind," but it's, "This is what kindness looks like. These are some specific things you can do to be kind and some things you can avoid in order to be kind."

Isaac Broadbent:
Yes, exactly. We did a deep dive. I even, with one of those lessons, shared the science behind kindness and the psychology that goes into that because it's the only thing in this world that doubles when you share it. And there's nothing else that does that in the economy, in the world, nothing like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Isaac Broadbent:
We just really focused in on that. And since it was such a high priority, we had a lot of momentum going. And so, we had a lot of those students being kind and then filling out those snowflakes. And since we had so much momentum, we decided to keep it going even though the submission deadline had passed and we were waiting to see if we got the award or not. We moved forward with this kindness initiative with the challenge of looking for kindness or writing it down and sending that to those individuals who are being exceptional.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, I've heard about a kindness parade. Is that right?

Isaac Broadbent:
Yes. Yeah, so we have, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Explain that to the folks.

Isaac Broadbent:
Absolutely. Yes. So, that's actually one of the things that we revamped at our school with our leadership team is we have something called an MVP parade. And so, a teacher gets to nominate an MVP for the month who has shown exceptional kindness and looking out for others. Since then, we've actually modified it to match up with different elements of A Portrait of a Graduate to be aligned with the District.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I love to hear that.

Isaac Broadbent:
And so, yeah, we've kind of modified it since then but initially, we were just focusing on kindness. And so, for a couple of the parades, it was just only kindness, who has been a leader and outstanding in kindness. And then, on the first Friday of the month, we would call all the families together of the MVP kids and they would re-line the halls of the school as well as the rest of the school and the students. And then, we would get them all together, we'd line them up in the office and then we would make a lap around the entire school while everyone's just cheering them on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Isaac Broadbent:
For a good like 10, 15 solid minutes just like a huge spotlight on them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. So, the MVPs walk through all the halls, one from each class, with the entire school cheering them on.

Isaac Broadbent:
Yes. Lots of clapping, lots of cheering. Everyone's chanting, "MVP, MVP." So, it's really wonderful to have that spotlight on the students.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I don't remember being cheered by 600 people in elementary school. That's got to be quite a good feeling and I love that this reaches students from five years old to 12 years old. This is a wide range, so you really have to adapt your kindness lesson to the classroom you're visiting.

Isaac Broadbent:
Yep. Exactly. Yeah. And modify that so that way each student can grasp it. And then, more importantly, implement it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what changes have you seen at the school as a result of these efforts?

Isaac Broadbent:
Well, we've actually got like hardcore data showing that our overall sense of belongingness is increasing with the Panorama data that we administer. We've also had an up...well, actually, I should say that we've had an uptick in all five areas of social-emotional learning. And it's been cool to see that actual data being transferred over from the interventions that we're doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wonderful. Well, before this interview, I knew how important the counselor role has become in our elementaries. I walk in and people say, "Don't take our counselor ever." We love having that role. We love having that position. And it just...this is further evidence of the huge, positive, school-wide impact that our counselors have and that you in particular are having here at Daybreak. So thank you for all those efforts.

Isaac Broadbent:
Well, thank you because, you know, like I said, I am biased, but I really love this school. And we have some amazing students and phenomenal staff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, I understand that you are a Jordie Award winner. Tell the listeners about what that means.

Isaac Broadbent:
Absolutely, yeah. The Jordie is a super awesome award. I was actually very surprised to have received it. Really, really cool because what happens is the Counseling department and all the counselors will get together and they'll nominate certain counselors throughout the District that they feel deserve to have the Counselor of the Year Award. And then it's the counselors that will vote on who they want to designate it to. And so that's why I say it was kind of a big surprise and really humbling because the Counseling department, as you know, we have phenomenal counselors.

Anthony Godfrey:
We do.

Isaac Broadbent:
And it's like I've learned so much from them and it's, I don't know, it was just a really cool experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. This is momentum that's going to continue for a long time. So thank you for everything that you're doing. And this is really exciting. Stay with us. When we come back, we'll talk with students who are members of the Student Council who have been working to make kindness the main goal at Daybreak 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.

Sandy Riesgraf:
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 @Jordan District. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at Daybreak Elementary School now talking with two students who are part of the Kindness Initiative. Please introduce yourselves, tell us what grade you're in, and then let's talk about your involvement.

Cooper:
I'm Cooper, I'm in sixth grade.

Mara:
And I'm Mara, and I'm also in sixth grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about the Kindness Initiative and some of the things that you did as students to help move that along.

Student:
Well, first of all, we had to help promote it, basically. Otherwise, people wouldn't know about it or anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
And are you on Student Council or student government? Is that part of why you were involved?

Student:
Yeah, we were involved through Student Council. We were both in it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what is your role on student government? Are you attorney general or what?

Student:
We don't really have roles, but we manage the huddles, the fundraisers. Through the Tyler Robinson Foundation Coin Wars, we manage that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Nice. Who won the Coin Wars, by the way?

Student:
I think it's still going.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, it's still going. Oh, okay. Yet to be determined.

Student:
Yeah, like two left.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what are the huddles?

Student:
So the huddles, we have a monthly theme for MVPs, and we kind of go over that and then all of the new announcements around our school. And in those huddles, we also talk about our fundraisers, like the Coin Wars, and where all that money is going to.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me your involvement in making sure people knew about the kindness initiative and promoting kindness in the school. What are some of the things you did as members of the Student Council to help promote that?

Student:
We all helped in, like we have a slideshow for the huddles. We would have the main theme of the huddle, and then we'd put away like a slide or two to promote the kindness challenge, like the kindness cards. And another way we were involved is we have meetings every Wednesday before school, and we've been sorting the cards, figuring out like where this card came from, who it goes to, and then we deliver the kindness cards.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me more about the cards.

Student:
I thought it was really cool seeing all like the nice cards to each other, and it's kind of just explaining something that someone did kind to you, and then it gets delivered. And then at the end of the kindness challenge, we sorted them all out, and the reward was a prize for the class who put in the most kindness cards.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you received kindness from someone or were treated kindly, then you reported that by using the card that was delivered to the person who was kind, and that sounds like it had kind of a snowball effect, and more and more people were kind because you were pointing it out, you were noticing it. Tell me, it sounds like you have a pretty busy schedule on Student Council. How did the school change as you focused on kindness? How did students' attitudes change?

Student:
Well, I used to be like bullied like a bunch, but I feel like ever since that's been a little less, and I don't know if that's just me being less dumb or something. But I can tell like a difference ever since we've done the cards and stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I think people notice things differently sometimes when you're focusing on it. Like if you need to buy a car, all you see is car commercials, and if you're looking for kind acts, I think you reflect on what you're doing, and you notice the good things other people are doing that you might have overlooked before. Tell me more about what impact you have seen in the school after focusing on kindness.

Student:
In the past two assemblies, we've talked about doing 20% more kindness, and I think as a whole student council and as the teacher staff, we've seen a lot of change and just basic more kind around the school during recess and all those fun activities.

Anthony Godfrey:
How many kindness cards have you seen? Just give me an idea of the number given. How many students do we have here at Daybreak?

Isaac Broadbent:
We've got over 600.

Anthony Godfrey:
Over 600. So how many kindness cards have you seen coming through? Do you know that number?

Student:
Over 1,100.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's a whole lot of kindness, and I think that's really exciting. Tell me some of the specific acts of kindness that you've been aware of, either observing it or seeing it on some of the cards.

Student:
So sometimes they will be specific. It's like he helped me pick up my pencil case after it spilled, but sometimes they feel kind of shy knowing we're like sorting out and I think it's going to be like, oh, this is embarrassing. So there's like, blank did a nice thing for me today.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's nice though that you allow them. It can be a little generic if they don't want to get too personal about things. That's good. What do you remember?

Student:
I remember, like I said, a lot of like recess comments because we also have a Buddy Bench here at our school, and I feel like that's honestly helped a little bit. Just noticing people feeling left out and just inviting more people to play with each other at recess.

Anthony Godfrey:
For those who don't know what a Buddy Bench is, can you describe it? In the 70s it was called a Nobody Bench, but the Buddy Bench is much better.

Student:
So the Buddy Bench is basically, it's a bench outside and it's by our playground, and if you're ever feeling left out or just like lonely, you can go sit on there. And then I know a lot of the times I look over at the Buddy Bench and see if anybody's sitting over there, and you kind of just like go over there and treat yourself and like try to become friends and just invite them to more things to try to make them feel more included.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you find that people use the Buddy Bench? You'll look over there and see somebody sitting there?

Student:
Yes, I know one of my friends that I've made from the Buddy Bench, we hang out at recess, and we play tag sometimes, and I feel like it just creates more friendships.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's really exciting. I love hearing that it's not just a chance to solve something in the moment, but you remain friends. You've made a friend because of the Buddy Bench. Tell me, why do you think kindness is important?

Student:
Kindness is really important because if someone is just feeling really bad, sometimes really bad things can happen, and even that it is just not good to feel sad and bad. So with kindness, it's basically like, I want to say weapon, but it's something that gets rid of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
You get to fight loneliness and sadness.

Student:
I think kindness is important because it makes people feel noticed and wanted, and it just makes people feel like they belong.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I like that, noticed. And if you feel noticed, I think you can accomplish great things. So the two of you are an important part of a school-wide effort, and it really comes from students. Adults try to help make that happen, but students are key to all of that, being successful. So thanks for serving on the Council and for talking with me today. I think that's awesome because you're doing great things. It's fantastic.

Student:
Yeah, thanks for having us.

Student:
Yep, I enjoyed this interview.

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.

Teacher:
They're working in an area that they're interested in pursuing once they graduate from high school.

Student:
I've always been passionate on working things, but you know mostly cars and smaller pickup trucks, so working on a bus, it's a whole other story.

Student:
I love the relationships that we have with everyone here. It feels like you actually work here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are getting top-notch on-the-job training from industry professionals while still in high school. On this episode of the Supercast, hear from some high school students themselves about the many benefits of internships offered in Career and Technical Education, or CTE. Find out how internships allow juniors and seniors to have fun doing what they love while exploring career paths, building professional networks, gaining industry-recognized skills, and earning high school credit.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are here at the Transportation Department talking with Melissa about the internship that students are participating in here as mechanics in the Transportation Department. Melissa, introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about this program and how it works.

Teacher:
Sure. So my name is Melissa Goble. I'm the CTE internship teacher for Jordan School District. This program is …. the students apply for it. They interview. We place interns in all CTE pathways. This just happens to be one of them. Once they're in the program, they have to get a minimum of 40 hours of internship time, and then they also complete a LinkedIn profile. We work on some employability skills, things like that. We just help mentor them through the semester.

Anthony Godfrey:
A lot of the internships are created with outside companies and other groups, but we get to benefit from these students and what they're learning right here in the Transportation Department. That's what's unique about this one.

Teacher:
Yes. It's great. We are very excited that our own district took on students. We're hoping that it will spread the excitement because it is beneficial. The kids get to be invested in their district. They're getting to learn new things, and they're with our own people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, you started recently in your role in the last year or two, and I have seen a real uptick in just presence on LinkedIn, and internships have really been propelled since you started, and we've added this emphasis on internships. Just talk generally about what would attract a student to an internship and the kinds of internships that we have available in the District.

Teacher:
What attracts them, generally what I find, attracts them to the internship is the opportunity to work with industry. They're working in an area that they're interested in pursuing once they graduate from high school. They're meeting people who could give them recommendations, mentor them, help point them in the right direction. Sometimes they know what they want to do, but they don't know how to get there. I also have students who come to my program because they think they know, and then they find out that they want to go a little bit different direction, which is also a great way to get through my program.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's the perfect time to find out that this is not the career for you. A lot of times people love what they try, but if you don't, this is the time to find out, and that's long been something I knew was a benefit of CTE programs.

Teacher:
Absolutely. And they also, when they're working in industry, they find out that there's pathways they didn't even know about that are related to what they're interested in. It's just this might be a little bit more interesting, or it might be a little bit more accessible for them. And so that is awesome as well. And then we have, we do have a lot of internships. In fact, I have joked that I'm getting to the point where we have more internships than I have students right now. I need to switch my focus a little and really start targeting them because we've had so many great industry partners step up and offer us multiple opportunities. And from anything from our diesel students, we've got students who are doing aviation internships, engineering, business, all over. We're all over the place.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if someone with a business is listening and they think, "I'd love to have a couple of interns and I think I'm aligned with the CTE pathway," do they just reach out to you? We can put your email address in the show notes, and then you can get them set up with some great students.

Teacher:
Yeah, yeah, that would be great. I also can help them get into the schools a little bit before they take interns. If they want to do some job shadows or maybe a tour or something like that, I'm absolutely the person that can help them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. Is a job shadow kind of a precursor to an internship sometimes?

Teacher:
Yeah, so we do have some programs that, well, in fact, Diesel, they go in their first semester, they spend time doing job shadows, so they'll spend just a few hours at different locations and they get to see different types of industry that's within their field. And then we go for the internships second semester.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful. Well, thank you very much for everything you're doing to provide these opportunities for students and for businesses to benefit from these great students We talked about what businesses can do. If a parent or student's listening and they would like to be part of an internship next year, how do they go about doing that?

Teacher:
Well, there's a couple of ways that they can do that. First, the JordanTech.org is our website and our applications open every year in February, March timeframe. They can apply that way or my application actually stays open all year and they can go out to JordanTech.org again, but go to the CTE internship webpage and I have information there that they can apply. So it involves doing a resume and letting me know what they're interested in. And then I also should mention that one of the requirements for applying to my program is that they do have to have some coursework in their background.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Wonderful. Richard, let's talk about Diesel Mechanics specifically and these students. Introduce yourself and tell us the history of internships in the Diesel Mechanics program in Transportation.

Richard Burrell:
My name is Richard Burrell. I'm the shop coordinator, shop foreman for Jordan School District here. I have 15 employees out here in the shop with me. We keep tabs on about 500, 600 vehicles.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Wow.

Richard Burrell:
So we're a full-time job.

Anthony Godfrey:
Millions of miles.

Richard Burrell:
Every day. So, and the internship, when I first started back in 1989, internship, we'd take on the interns from the schools like we did here, the colleges. And we would bring a couple of kids in and they'd work with us and the object of the game is to give them every chance what we do out here every day. I mean, oil changes, we do that a lot, but we do brake jobs, we do engine work, we do everything out here. So these kids, three kids right here, get in the middle of it all. I put them with each mechanic out there. It takes on a kid. It's a supervisor position. So they watch him and they teach him everything that goes on out here and what we have to do. Some days it's repeatedly learning how to do services, but they get into other things too, brake jobs and everything else and go with it. It takes a lot to keep these things on the road every day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, it does. And we're glad to have their help. Tell me about these three students.

Richard Burrell:
These are great kids. They came in during their spring break time to work with us because we worked here. So they wanted to come in and keep playing. So we let them come in and work with us.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome.

Richard Burrell:
And they enjoy what they're doing out here. And they're seven o'clock in the morning, they're here and they're here till ten o'clock every or twice a week. And they love what they do.

Anthony Godfrey:
I didn't know I was showing up so late into their shift here.

Richard Burrell:
I told them they had to stay somewhat clean today.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Well, all bets are off after we're done. You can get nice and dirty. Well, thank you for everything that you're teaching these students and the opportunities you're providing for them.

Richard Burrell:
We love these kids. They're good. Hopefully it can work out. When some of us retire, we can move other kids into this place.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you started just after Reagan was no longer president. So I mean, hopefully we have you for a few more years.

Richard Burrell:
Not too many more. But there's a few.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. We'll get you for as long as we can have you, Richard. Stay with us when we come back. Hear from student interns in our own Transportation Department and find out what they are up to as diesel mechanics working on our school buses.

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:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pilot, programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant. These are just some of the programs offered as part of career and technical education. CTE in Jordan School District. CTE provides the technical skills needed to prepare students for future employment or for a successful transition to post-secondary education. Career and Technical Education provides work-based learning opportunities. We partner with industry experts to offer apprenticeships and internships with students working in the real world at real jobs while going to school. The CTE experience starts in our elementary schools with the Kids' Marketplace and grows through middle and high school. To explore all CTE has to offer in Jordan School District, visit cte.jordandistrict.org today and let's get your child started on the pathway to a profession.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, Richard. We're walking through the facility here and this is just a few years old. Talk to me about this facility.

Richard Burrell:
This is a four-year-old shop. We had it, the District, finally had it built four years ago. It's the best one in the state. Everybody's dreaming on it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good. I like hearing that.

Richard Burrell:
Fourteen days. I have enough for everybody to do their work on here. These morning guys right here, these are the guys that do all the heavy stuff for me. These are the ones the kids work with. I split them up with each mechanic out here. Carl right here is doing suspension work on this thing. He's been noisy for the last two days out here. We're doing engine work. We do all sorts of stuff here. These guys stay busy and these kids like to learn. I split them up differently every day. So if he does suspension one day, he'll do something else the next day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, so they get the variety.

Richard Burrell:
They’ve got to get in there and learn. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yep, great.

Male Voice:
Chase that wire. And he started from the battery. It's right here at the battery that he's...

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with three students here who are part of the Diesel Mechanics internship program in Transportation. Tell me your name, your grade, what school you're from, and then we'll talk a little bit about this program.

Student:
My name is Fred Bond. I'm a senior at Bingham High School.

Student:
Maverick Brown, also a senior at Bingham.

Student:
I'm Garrett Lewis and I go to Mountain Ridge. I'm a senior.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what drew you to this program. What got you interested in Diesel Mechanics?

Student:
I've just been working on cars in my driveway for years. My dad works with FedEx and so I've just always been around semi-trucks and heavy-duty diesel. And so when I eventually got to the point where I was kind of looking for a career to go into, I decided that just being a mechanic was where I wanted to go, and I kind of went towards diesel because, like I said, I've been around them a long time. And so I got the opportunity to come here, and I just love doing it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your experience here has made you more interested in becoming a diesel mechanic.

Student:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it about the experience that you've liked the most?

Student:
Just the way they work. It's kind of they give you time to do everything the right way. You're not rushed. You're able to do everything 100 percent, get it back on the road the way it came from the factory.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. What do you love most about this program?

Student:
I like the real-world experience, like actually working in a workplace environment. It's more professional, and it looked at on resume, and we get to actually work on things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is the work harder or easier than you thought?

Student:
It's heavier.

Anthony Godfrey:
Describe that.

Student:
Well, everything's heavy. Just like him, I've always been passionate on working things, but mostly cars and smaller pickup trucks. So working on a bus, it's a whole other story. Everything's tripled the weight and size.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you been able to convert a school bus into a transformer yet?

Student:
Not yet, no. Still working on it.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's toward the end of the semester. What drew you to diesel mechanics initially?

Student:
Just the passion for working on things and then of course the workplace experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. Tell me about your experience here.

Student:
My experience has been great. I initially wanted to go into the program. I liked the CTE stuff and the hands-on stuff. I like learning with my hands and doing things more. I began employment just like changing oil. So I had a little bit of experience working on cars. Then this opportunity presented itself, and I decided to take it. Then I had the internship, and this has been really great for getting real-world experience compared to just like in the classroom where it's not quite the same, but working on these school buses has been really great.

Anthony Godfrey:
Does this make you more interested in a career in diesel mechanics? Or is this just something you do with your hands that's going to help you along another path?

Student:
It's made me more interested. It's definitely taught me a lot of things. Some good things, some bad things about the industry. What direction in the industry I want to go. It's been really great to learn the ins and outs of what it's like working.

Anthony Godfrey:
Has it opened up some other directions that you might choose by being here?

Student:
Somewhat. Personally, I'd like to go into diesel, but then maybe go into a little bit more management, business-related stuff. That's just me personally, but I really enjoy working on these trucks and machines and stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Having the hands-on experience can really set you on that path and give you some experience that allows you to be effective as a manager.

Student:
Oh yeah, for sure. I've seen my employment translate over to my good classroom and this internship.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. I'm glad that you've seen a relationship between the two. How about you? What are you thinking career-wise?

Student:
Well, at first I want to work on heavy duty machinery, and then later on I want to start my own performance shop.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, nice. That's great. Tell me about something that you've learned in your experience here. Either mechanical, technical, or just about being at the workplace generally.

Student:
When school buses come into you, sometimes it's diagnosing issues. It isn't as easy as it always seems. Sometimes it's a way longer process than you initially think it will be. It's just the range of different things that you see here. It's not just five different failures that happen all the time. You get so many different things on these buses that you have to go through.

Anthony Godfrey:
But the problem-solving aspect of it must be pretty satisfying when you do figure out what's wrong.

Student:
Oh, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's awesome. How about for you?

Student:
All the tools. There are so many tools. There's a tool for every job. Having the right tool will make everything easier. For the tires, getting those tires off by themselves would be crazy hard. But they've got that tool for it so it makes it way easier.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the right tool for the right job and you’re way ahead.

Student:
Yeah, for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a life lesson in that. And for you?

Student:
For me, it's just doing the job right and making sure you have a high-quality of work. One of these guys out here really takes pride in doing it correct the first time. All the guys take pride in doing it correct the first time. They don't want to have buses coming back with problems that they quote “fixed.” They cut corners. So it's been really great to learn how to do the job right and learn to always do the job right so that you don't have problems.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pride in your work. Again, something that will translate to whatever you end up doing.

Student:
Oh yeah, definitely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Richard and the group. What's it like working with the crew?

Student:
It's super chill. I show up and we kind of sit down for a second. Richard gets us all situated and then he's like, "All right. I'll put you with this guy today. I'll put you with that guy today." No. And then we just kind of follow the guys around and they're like, "All right. Here's what we're doing. Here, pass me this. Take this bolt off. Take this thing off." And then some guys teach more than others, but it's always a good learning experience.

Student:
Oh, it's great. Everybody's positive for the most part and it's always a good time to joke around with people in the real world experience and actually get to work on things and practice taking stuff apart and put it back together in the correct way.

Anthony Godfrey:
Excellent.

Student:
I love the environment here with the people. I love the relationships that we have with everyone here. It feels like you actually work here. It's not scary to go up to them. We've been getting to know all the people here. It's not intimidating or anything like that. You just get to talk to them like they're your buddies.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. I love that. So, well, we're very lucky to have you here and thanks for taking time to talk with me today. I know you’ve got work to do.

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.

Specialist:
We kind of hatched a plan. We called it the Pony Races and we would track how our students were doing in Jordan District.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is on the science standardized task the RISE.

Specialist:
Yes, yes. And teachers responded really well probably more excited about it than we even thought.

Specialist:
Teachers in tears of joy and teams who came together, principals came out of their offices.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Elementary schools in Jordan School District are giving each other a run for their money in the second annual Pony Races. On this episode of the Supercast, hear how two incredible science specialists came up with the idea of Pony Races to track RISE standardized testing progress and make science exciting and fun for students and staff. It's turning out to be a win-win for everyone.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at the Auxiliary Services Building talking with two of our District science specialists. Introduce yourselves and talk a little bit about the work that you do.

Rachel Coleman:
My name is Rachel Coleman.

Lynn Gutswiller:
And I'm Lynn Gutswiller. And our goal is to support elementary teachers in teaching great science.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a task that you are very, very excited about, very enthusiastic, and very creative about. And that's why we're here today. Tell us about your day-to-day. What is it like a day in the life or a year in the life of a District Science Specialist? What type of work do you do during the day?

Specialist:
So every day looks really different for us. But speaking about averages, we probably spend about a third of our time in classrooms supporting teachers, model lessons, and a third of our time building resources for teachers that teachers have asked for or creating new resources, and then a third of our time either managing some grants or coming up with our next scathingly brilliant ideas.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, and we're here to experience that brilliant idea, which I've heard about now for a year and I'm very excited that we have finally come together and I get to experience this. But before we talk more about that, elementary teachers have to be an expert in everything. And so you are a great support to make sure that the science instruction, that they have great resources to help them with that. What was your path to taking this position? What did you do previously?

Specialist:
So both of us really, or I should say, each of us really had a different kind of path to get here. I have some ELA background and so that really helps in terms of putting together curriculum, along with some technology background and training, and then moved kind of into the STEM world, which has been a fantastic part of my educational journey. I love being able to build resources that help support teachers and allow students to be better at learning science.

Specialist:
I was in the classroom for about 20 years teaching science, and then the last few years before taking this position, I was actually at Rose Creek in sixth grade teaching all the subjects.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you just decided we need to be a part of making science instruction even better districtwide.

Specialist:
Oh, absolutely. And feeling like we had a lot to offer, not just students in the classroom, but also teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how long have the two of you been in this position?

Specialist:
I've been in this position since 2019.

Specialist:
And for me just a year less, 2020. We have had the luxury of working together in multiple different settings over our careers, so it makes us a great team.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now are you the two that drove cross-country through the night to pick up science kits for elementary teachers? That is a tale that must be told. So please talk about what happened there. Any liability is long gone now. So let's just, you know.

Specialist:
Yeah, so there were a number of FOSS supplies that were sitting in a California auxiliary building.

Anthony Godfrey:
So talk about what FOSS supplies are.

Specialist:
Okay, so FOSS is our District science curriculum and it's great, but it requires a lot of supplies and teachers were having to share one set of supplies among an entire team of teachers, which we knew was a lift for them. And so we were trying to see what we could do to get more science supplies in their hands to make that an easier lift.

Specialist:
We happened to be at a conference in California and our rep for the curriculum FOSS took us to her warehouse there where they had a parking lot full of supplies on pallets that were just sitting unused and they were going to put them in the dumpster.

Anthony Godfrey:
That would not stand.

Specialist:
That would not stand. That was a tragedy that we could not see happen. So we just decided and navigated and kind of worked with Jane Harward at the time who was our boss and said, “Hey, we've got to get those to Jordan.” So two semi trucks later, we spent a couple of months, the better part of a few months, organizing, going through them all. We had multiple volunteer groups come in, but it made for a great opportunity for teachers to have more supplies in their hands.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now two semi trucks. Did you get your CDL? How exactly did those trucks get filled with those kits, and how did they get here?

Specialist:
Okay, so we did actually pitch out renting Uhauls, but liability declined that offer. So we end up paying . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
I remember that discussion.

Specialist:
You probably saw that come through in your desk. And so we end up paying a semi, contracting with a semi-truck company and having them hauled here to reduce our liability.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's best.

Specialist:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
The laws of physics would have prevented you from getting it here any other way. Right.

Specialist:
Right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. So, in other words, you will stop at nothing to make sure that teachers have the best support for science instruction in all the land.

Specialist:
Absolutely. We know teachers are working hard, and so we want to work equally as hard for teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I love that. And like I said, legendary stories have been told about you two for a long time. So I'm glad to finally meet you and get to see this creative project. Now this project that we're going to talk about is about supporting teachers, but it's also about motivating students. So tell, just tell us about this project. Describe what we're looking at here. We're upstairs in the ASB kind of tucked away and these are the Pony Races. The RISE Pony Race tracks or talk with, talk with us about what we're looking at and what it's all about.

Specialist:
So this came out of some things that we heard from teachers was one, of the one of the things we got feedback from with teachers was they had some concerns just about general overall student motivation when taking the RISE. And so we kind of hatched a plan, and for years at here at the ASB, we called it the Pony Races, and we would track how our students were doing in Jordan District versus the State and we would …...

Anthony Godfrey:
This is on the science standardized test, the RISE.

Specialist:
Yes. Yes, on the on the RISE science test. And so we would track it and we called it the Pony Races and we would have stuff up in our cubes and we would change the numbers every day. And so, at some point two years ago we were like we got to take this to the teachers, and as maybe an easy way for students to be able to get involved and to provide a little more motivation if they chose to participate.

Specialist:
It was it was Rachel's great idea honestly and we put it into action and teachers responded really well, probably more excited about it than we even thought. So it has been great.

Specialist:
And last year when we brought the trophies around to the people who, the classes and the teams who had won it was turned out to be a roaring success. We had teachers in tears of joy, and teams who came together, principals came out of their offices, and we had, sometimes we had the coaches coming with us into the classroom, the students cheered for themselves they cheered for the teachers. It was great. And now when we go to schools we often see the trophies sitting in their in their rooms or in the in the window of their workroom. It's awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
And here and let's take a look at the trophies over here. How did you find trophies with horse trophies and what is this? This is a goat leap. How do you find goat trophies? Did you have to get semis from, sent to California to pick these up?

Specialist:
Well, you know go Amazon. You can get almost anything, including a goat trophy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Goat trophy.

Specialist:
Yeah. And what you're holding there is the Greatest Of All Times on the goat trophy. So it goes to a particular winner.

Anthony Godfrey:
The Greatest Of All Time and Better Than The Rest Science RISE. And that is for any class who for the first time beats the State average.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so very nice and Best In Class, Best Top Performance. You've got all kinds of great awards. I'm going to hold one of these in the picture that we take to go along with this because it feels good even just picking these up. I don't think I've ever held a horse trophy before, having not won the Kentucky Derby. So let's see Gaining Ground Herd Award. Tell me about that one.

Specialist:
Yeah, that's the one we're introducing today when we're making our quick video. It is for the largest median growth percentile per feeder system. So they'll be going to six different schools, and we have class awards and a team award, which we call a Herd Award.

Anthony Godfrey:
The Herd Award. Yeah, that is really, really cool.

Specialist:
So while not only do we want to celebrate students who you know, students and teams and teachers and so forth who perform well, but we really want to encourage growth. Right? So that is something that is really what we want to celebrate significantly is how did you grow from one year to the next and that that is worth the Growth Award or the . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
And yeah exactly, wherever kids start, we want them to have a year's growth. Yeah, we want we want them to be making progress.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Stay with us when we come back. We'll hit the track with our two science specialists.

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:
We'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 gear.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you have all of these ponies with labels, laminated horses stuck to the wall, and the RISE Pony racetrack. So is this where you track how the scores are going during the year and are schools represented by a pony? I'm guessing. Let's walk up and take a look and talk me through this.

Specialist:
Each team has their own pony, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. And so as those teams finish up their RISE testing will put those ponies on the track and kind of track their progress over the course of the year or the course of the spring, and then we will be able to put out another video that sort of shows how they're moving along.

Anthony Godfrey:
And this is, how many years have you done this now?

Specialist:
This is only a second year. So it's our Second Annual Pony Races.

Specialist:
And teachers also get their own pony, which is being shipped out after spring break. So they get to put their pony up in their class and  hopefully they can track their progress.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they so they're tracking their class with the pony in their classroom, and then for grades fourth, fifth, and sixth, for every school you're tracking their progress here throughout the spring.

Specialist:
Yeah and we try to do lots of videos and send them off as we start the  RISE testing. We'll start them all at the start line, and then we go from there making a video a week, sometimes two video weeks and giving a little shout out to  classes and schools who are doing great.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've heard about these videos, and I know the kids and the teachers love them and look forward to hearing them, and I just it's thrilling for me to hear how much you have not only supported teachers but made science exciting and something competitive where they really want to be at their best. I think there are long-term benefits from kids just being this engaged with science instruction.

Specialist:
Well, thank you so much. Our mandate is “go make science great in Jordan.”

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. I love it. So let's, so if I am here for a meeting, which I am on regular on a regular basis, I can wander up and just see how schools and grades are going are doing.

Specialist:
Yeah, and even last year we had a couple teachers who came up who wanted to see specifically how their pony was doing in the race.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, that’s good. For those of us who haven't been in fourth, fifth, or sixth grade for a long time, rattle off some of the science subjects that kids are learning in those grades.

Specialist:
Oh, one of the great things they get to learn about in almost every grade in some way is ecology and environments, ecosystems. It's a great part of their standards.

Specialist:
They're also going to learn about physical science. So energy collisions electricity, and then they also learn about Earth and space. So often times about the stars, the celestial movements, moon phases.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very cool stuff. Now these videos I have heard about, a lot about these videos. Describe what the videos are like. They're pretty fun and motivating and just reminding the kids of how important science instruction is.

Specialist:
We've embraced our corny side for sure and we would love for you to participate in the next one.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm in count me in let's do it.

Specialist:
Sounds great. We always try to incorporate a little dad joke in there about horse races in some way.

Anthony Godfrey:
So okay. All right, let's do it.

Specialist:
All right, are we ready?

Specialist:
Yeah.

Specialist:
Hello, Jordan School District. We're here at the racetrack. So tighten those cinches and adjust those reins. We're entering into the most prestigious academic event on the calendar, the Pony Races.

Specialist:
That's right, Rachel. The track is groomed and we're ready for the Second Annual Pony Races. The horses are finishing up their training, and we're ready to start a streak that will begin us well for assessment this season.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I am very excited to be here at the track. My name is Superintendent Godfrey and I can't wait to see what happens this year. I know that the stakes and the scores this year are higher than ever even though we saw great results last year. This year is going to be even better.

Specialist:
You're right and we've got the stable stacked with Jordan Ridge Eagles and Copper Canyon Coyotes, anxious to get out of the stables, and Black Ridge Bears and the Riverton Raccoons ready for the race.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know it. The Ochre Mountain Men and the Westville Wildcats are charging up the inside lane, and the Mountain Shadows Mountain Lions and the Bastion Broncos are pacing around ready to go.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love it. Well, thank you very much for taking time and more than anything, thank you for being so hopelessly devoted to science and making sure that our teachers have support and our kids are having a blast learning science in fourth, fifth and sixth grade.

Specialist:
Oh, thank you. It's a wonderful to be part of Jordan and be part of Teaching and Learning for sure.

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

Counselor:
We know what we do as a program is awesome, but how do we show that it's awesome? And so in order to get a RAM designation you have to show that through data.

Counselor:
41% of those kids that failed in semester one or quarter three, almost half of those kids made up that credit, so they weren't going into the high school as much credit efficiency.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They work tirelessly to give students every opportunity to find success in and outside of the classroom. On this episode of the Supercast, meet the amazing counseling team at Mountain Creek Middle School, recently recognized as an American School Counselor Model Program. It is a prestigious national recognition that is not easy to come by and only given to the best of the best in comprehensive school counseling programs across the country.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are at Mountain Creek Middle School today to talk about a really cool award, or a couple of really cool awards, that this dynamite team has achieved. But first let's just get to know each of them. Please introduce yourselves and talk to me about your career a little bit.

Josh Flores:
So hi, I'm Josh Flores. I'm the Lead Counselor here at Mountain Creek Middle School. This is my seventh year here. Me and David Parker over there started here when it opened, which was a thrill. But this is my thirteenth year as a school counselor.

Melissa Huffner:
Hi, I'm Melissa Huffner. This is my second year on the team. I was at a different middle school in the District for about eight years and have loved working at both schools and just really loved working with this team here at Mountain Creek.

Wendy Checketts:
I'm Wendy Checketts, and this is my first year as a counselor. I've been at Mountain Creek. I think this is my fourth year now. I was working with some students that were struggling academically and with this team and decided, "I want to be a counselor with these guys." So I went back to school and joined them.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think that's a pretty big deal that the team has a magnetic draw that even pulled you, like, "I've got to be part of this team." That's pretty exciting.

Amy Morris:
I'm Amy Morris. This is my third year on the team and third year as a school counselor. I actually used to run the New Student Orientation at Utah State University, and loved working with the students, and wanted to help them on the other side and help get them better prepared for college. I did my internship with this team and wanted to stay and be a part of the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
They pulled you into their orbit, and now, who knows, I may be a counselor by the time this is done. I may switch jobs.

David Parker:
I'm David Parker. I've been here since 2019 as well. And before that, I was just an intern in Canyons District for one year. So my first year was opening a brand new school in a pandemic.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that will put everything afterward into perspective for you. That changes the way you view the world. So, well, we're very glad that you traveled across the valley to be here at Mountain Creek. Now, tell us about this award, the ASCA RAMP Award. How did that come to be and what does it represent? This is the first school in Jordan School District to achieve that award. And I know that it's been a process that's taken a few years for us to get there, and I'm really excited to hear more about that.

Counselor:
I will shout out David Parker from the start. So, yeah, kind of something that was just going around in our minds. As we were, like our first year, we had to do a full review, which every school counseling department has to do. And really, we were just pulling from the national model the best we could. It was just three of us. And as David said earlier, it was his first year. It was my first year as a working in a public school and our lead counselor at the time, it was her first year as lead counselor. So we were just kind of doing what we could, trying to figure it out. As David said, the pandemic also happened, but we had like a bit of a framework. And so through the next few years, it had came up. David, if you don't know him well enough, when he gets into something, he gets very into something in pretty much only a good way.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've actually known that for a very long time about David. Yes. But go on.

Counselor:
Yes. And so when it got in his mind of like, “let's do it,” then he stuck with it. There was actually a time, I want to say last year, where we talked some more. I had said, “Hey, David, if this is like too much, if we're really not feeling it, like we're okay not to do it.” And he was like, “Well, you know me, I get into something, I got to finish it.” So he kept going. And like we all as a team have accomplished it. But I always want to give a shout out to David for really like the application part of it and the getting all the work together. He was about 90 percent of that. Then also a shout out to Melisa Christiansen, who's our District specialist. She walked David through a lot of it because she used to be a reviewer through, for RAMP. So yeah, a team effort in so many ways.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell us about ASCA, tell us about RAMP, and what all of that means.

Counselor:
Okay. So yeah, good question. So RAMP stands for Recognized ASCA Model Program. So within that is another acronym, which is ASCA, and that's the American School Counselors Association. So essentially what that means is that we follow the national model of how to have a school counseling program. And we follow that as best as possible, which is why we got that recognition. A lot of that has to do with data. We know what we do as a program is awesome, but how do we show that it's awesome? And so in order to get a RAMP designation, you have to show that through data. So that's where a lot of that work that David was putting in, gathering all of that, that's where it shows that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me some of the things that you do as a team that qualified you for this award and also aligned your work with the national standards.

Counselor:
They want it to be a very specific smart goal. And so you do come up with like, even though you're going to do it in other ways, there is like one guiding project, right? And so we came up with that goal and collected data on the specific cohort and kind of tracked them for a year and made sure that they were adhering to that. So one of that goal was we wanted to, we used a lot of data, SOAR reports, Panorama, things like that, and found that our ML, our multilingual students, more specifically the Latino students, were failing at a higher rate than any other student. So for ninth grade, they want three points of data. So that's why it's so specific for them. But our goal is to decrease their, that population's F's by 10% between semester one and semester two. And then we had some, we hired a Spanish-speaking tracker who is awesome, and then got stolen by the District.

Anthony Godfrey:
We do that sometimes. Sorry about that.

Counselor:
We're happy that we can share her, but we will miss her. Yeah, and just like different interventions that we did all year for that.

Counselor:
I'll just shout out David. He went ahead and got his ML endorsement and sits on our ML committee as well. So just really supportive of our ML kids.

Counselor:
I am riding their coattails because as I said, it was my first year with them. But they hired me to work with the students, the ninth graders that were struggling academically. So they also created a position where someone is working with these students specifically to help them get their grades up.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's been a focus as a District. In fact, it's one of the metrics that I've been asked to report to the Board on every December. Because when students, statistically, when students in ninth grade have a good start credit-wise and have that confidence academically, then when they go on to the high school, their chances of being successful and graduating are much higher. So I'm really excited to hear that there is a very specific position and you in particular working with those students to be sure they have a great launch before they head to the high school. As I understand it, there's a focus on data around student interactions. And like you said, it's not just a quick check-in; it's those deeper connections. Talk to me about the role of just tracking student interactions as part of this.

Counselor:
One thing I have loved about our team, for one, I mean, we connect really well. But I think a big focus, which is a focus for all school counselors, like shout out to Stacee Worthen, whenever she meets with us, she says, “Hey, if you're meeting with kids, you're doing your job.” And so a big focus for us is seeing our kids, them seeing our face. So, you know, from the start of the year with our seventh grade PCCRs, we're really just meeting with every seventh grader within the first couple of weeks to then like our Belonging Assembly, where we are hoping to just build better school culture. But we as student services, really, student services, including our school psychologist, our school therapist, our registrar, and our assistant there. And so we've got a whole team. We just do a whole bunch of things. We're in the cafeteria as often as we can doing activities. Right now it's College Week, so we've been in the cafeteria doing little college things. Getting our faces printed on posters and putting them in the hallways, we're really big on student connection. And so kind of just tracking that and seeing, you know, what those connections can do and how they can help and build from there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it makes a huge impact. And as a District, we have really focused on bolstering our counselor ranks, adding counselors at middle and high school, adding a counselor to every elementary. And it pays huge dividends for us to have that support and connection for students. Now, ASCA RAMP, as you said, focuses on data. Let's talk about some of the numbers. Let's talk about some of the things you focused on in order to qualify for this award.

Counselor:
Part of the ASCA model is that we're with students at least 80 percent of our time. I think as a team, we do a really great job of meeting with students individually, either if they're asking to meet with us academically or if they're having a hard day, but also even something as simple as celebrating their birthdays or celebrating a big celebration they have at school. We have small groups where we meet with students. We're in the classrooms teaching a lot, and then our assemblies. So we're trying to meet the needs of being in front of our students on all sorts of levels. By getting RAMP, it gives us credibility with even the community showing, hey, we're our focus is to be with your students.

Counselor:
Another unique thing about our school is that we have a couple groups. One is called “Say Something” and we call these students our mental health minions. They get training on how to be mental health supporters in our school. We also have another group called “Choose Kind.” They are our kindness ambassadors, and they help with new students that come to our school. I think our students, our school also does a really good job with a program called “You Science.” Wendy has been really integral in getting that program going.

Counselor:
We're lucky that our teachers are on board with that. And so we get high numbers of participation. And it's interesting to have the students sit down and especially the parents during PCCRs to bring that out that shows areas that they might excel in, areas they have interest in and then bring them together and look at possible careers for the future.

Counselor:
So with RAMP, it's all about alignment, which you had mentioned earlier. Our goal had aligned with our school improvement plan as well, which is again tied into some of the District’s. So what RAMP does is it really shows through data and documentation that we have alignment with the school, with our district, with our state and nationwide. And so it kind of it goes from the bottom up in that. And so I know that so many schools in the state and in the District do RAMP, could have RAMP, but it's a very detail-oriented application and program. And so I know so many people out there are doing the work. It's just putting it in that form that they want is kind of the trick. But for us, we are really happy you can apply with, and the goal doesn't have to be met as long as you're showing the data because, you know, we're all in an experiment. We try different things, but we actually were lucky enough. Our cohort had about 13 students in that group, and we were trying to decrease F's from semester one to semester two so that they would get better. And we succeeded. They got 29.7% less F's. But what made us really, really excited is that they failed at a less rate. But additionally, through some of the interventions we offered and some of the things Wendy was working on is 41% of those kids that failed in semester one or quarter three, almost half of those kids made up that credit, so they weren't going into the high school as much credit efficiency. So we're really excited about that. Of our population, our students were about, our ML students, Latino specifically, was our highest percentage of a minority student. And they accounted for about 41% of the F's in our grade. So we're really excited that they made that up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Like you were saying, it's not just like a quick check-in. This is very intentional, purposeful interaction with students, support with a real, with very clear goals and a clear plan that is having a huge impact. Stay with us when we come back more with the team at Mountain Creek 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:
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:
I also want to talk about David's award in the state. Now every time you guys have said his name, he has been visibly uncomfortable at even your recognition. So I can only imagine how a state-level recognition felt for you, David. But congratulations on this award and it couldn't have gone to a nicer guy or a more accomplished counselor. So thank you for everything that you're doing. It's really impressive. Tell me a little bit about this award. Why don't you tell me about the award? David's not going to talk about the award.

Counselor:
Yes. Yes. David, super humble guy. I mean, if you, as far as like working through our department, like if you need information, David's got it. If you need things organized in a certain way, David's got it. If you need to pull some data from somewhere, David's got it. Like he's such a go-to guy. So as far as the Counselor of the Year award for the whole state, like if you talk to anyone that's worked with him, it makes sense. It totally makes sense. But I think one reason David's loved so much is he comes through so humble. If you haven't seen him, you probably have if you don't think you have, but you probably have. He's got long hair. He's got a big beard. He's got some tattoos. But he's like he's so much more than that. And so getting to know him, you learn so much more in how much he cares about his kids, how much he cares about his coworkers, and counseling as a process, as a program. So like he's so deserving of it. He loves the recognition, but not the spotlight, if that's a good explanation for it.

Counselor:
This is just a small example of the power that David brings to this team. We're doing some presentations for our seventh graders today. Earlier in the week, I showed up and he had redone our entire PowerPoint presentation. He had also made a video or an audio version of that presentation for students that are going to be absent today so that they can listen at home. He's also a counselor that reaches out to his graduating seniors and sends them postcards and just recognizes their huge accomplishment. So he follows his students even into high school.

Counselor:
I was lucky enough to have David as my mentor my first year as a counselor on this team. So it just showed how much he cares about each of us individually, that as we can support each other, we can be that much stronger helping students. Just going in as far as daily check-ins or just randomly being like, "You're doing a great job." So there was a lot of encouragement, but then always being patiently willing to go through a scenario with me, so I made sure I was helping a new student or a student with the best possible solution.

Counselor:
He's my mentor this year, and he's part of the reason I went back to school and got my master's. He encouraged me when I said, "I really think I want to do this job." It was David that said, "Do it. You can do this." He wrote a letter of recommendation for me to go back to graduate school. He checks in often, makes sure that I'm doing okay, makes sure, you know, if there's a difficult situation with a student, he's there with me, walking me through it, helping me through these first-time situations. He's an excellent mentor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, David, this is a huge impact, not just directly on students, but on the people who you work with that then work with students. So your impact is just, it's huge. I can't thank you enough for the work that you do. Tell me about this team. What's it like to be on this team?

Counselor:
Well, they all say it's a skill. It kind of sounds controlling and creepy. But we, I think our team is very, like connection is what drives us a lot in our jobs and our team. And being kind of unified and aligned has been, we've gotten really lucky with that from day one. And so we seem to find good people that want to be here and help people. They're giving all the flowers, which I don't know who you guys are talking about. That other guy sucks. That hairy guy's a jerk. But no, like we, you know, Amy is the Middle School Counselor of the Year for our District. Josh had the Middle School Counselor of the Year before that. And so we've, it's a team effort that leads to some of the individual successes and what struggles with, yeah, I appreciate the recognition, but maybe not the big parade type thing like Josh had said. But if it brings an opportunity to kind of advocate for our program and the good people and, you know, public education and aligning, then that's, I don't like it, but I'll do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm going to emphasize achievement over recognition. Great achievements from this team, from each of you individually and from the group. It's just really rewarding for me, and talk about progress from middle school. I was the assistant principal at David's high school. Yes, it's been a while. He actually has emailed me kind words as well, not surprisingly. So, thank you for your dedication for everything that you do and you guys are an incredible team. I feel better just talking with you guys this morning. I think I'm going to have a much better day because this is the way I started it.

Counselors:
Thank you. Thank you for the time and your time.

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.