Author: communications

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They put in hundreds of hours of work and practice before hitting the stage, and it pays off every single year at Southland Elementary School. On this episode of the Supercast, meet the woman behind the 14 years of school musicals at Southland. Find out why this is her final curtain call and how students and volunteers make every production the experience of a lifetime for everyone involved.

We're with Sharon Kartchner, the director of the Adventures of Lewis and Clark put on by Southland Elementary and it's just about showtime, so thanks for taking time to talk with us.

Sharon Kartchner:
You bet. I'm excited. The kids are excited too, as you can hear from the roar coming in the auditorium.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, and the crowd is excited. They showed up really early for this. Tell me, you've been doing this a little while. This is not your first rodeo.

Sharon Kartchner:
This is my 14th year involved with the musicals, and it started way back in 2008. Our first performance was in 2009 and our first Lewis and Clark performance was in 2010. So I've been doing it the whole time that we've had musicals at Southland.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's three US presidents ago that you started doing this. I think it's really amazing the time that goes into this. I saw it several years ago and I was blown away. It is not the type of you expect. It's really immersive, the kids know it stone cold. They work really hard. And they've been working since October. Tell me what it's like with the kids over that period of time.

Sharon Kartchner:
You know, they're super excited in the beginning. We usually start with about 120. We kind of dwindled down to about 104, which is a little bit more manageable for us. So that works out, but there's definitely times when you can see them glazing over. So, then we try to add some fun things. Sometimes we sing like opera singers or something like that to just change things up and lighten it up. But they work really hard. We have tryouts kind of towards the beginning so that people learning their lines can pick up their lines and be able to learn them. This year we had understudies for the first time because of COVID. And so some of the kids not only had to learn their lines, they also had to learn a main character's lines in addition to their own. And then we were able to kind of let them perform for their peers at one of the rehearsals so that they at least got a chance to perform that.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's obvious to me that there are many layers to the learning that happens here. There's great value in memorization. There's great value in learning to be part of a team and the content of the musical. By the time they're done performing and practicing, starting in October, they have learned the facts about this particular part of American history stone cold. American history is the theme, is that correct? All the way through?

Sharon Kartchner:
Yeah. So the three musicals that we rotate through, one is Lewis and Clark, that is the fourth grade curriculum. Then we wrote our own America show, Quest for the Stars and Stripes, which is fifth grade. And then we also do Dig It, which is an ancient civilization show. So that covers the sixth grade curriculum. So they all get to be in at least two of them, if they would like. And I kind of give 'em a quiz towards the end. Not really, but I just say, “So who is the President that sent Lewis and Clark?” You know, “Thomas Jefferson”. “What years should they go?” “1804 to 1806”, you know, making sure that they, that it all sunk in and they know stuff now that they wouldn't have known otherwise. And it's awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
And like you said, it sunk in and it's gonna stay in those brains because just going over it and really inhabiting that adventure as a character, playing it on the stage is the deepest kind of learning we can possibly imagine.

Sharon Kartchner:
For sure. And that's why we picked the ones that we did pick so that they would actually be learning something. And when we didn't find one about America that we liked, we just decided to write our own so that they could learn even more.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's the one I saw and it was incredible, it was fantastic. So you've been doing this since the start, and this is your final year. How does that feel?

Sharon Kartchner:
You know, it's a mixed bag of feelings. I'm relieved on one hand, but I'm also sad because it's been awesome. I might talk him into letting me do the videography from now on, but then I don't have the four months stint ahead of time. But it's been really fun. I was actually privileged to direct two of the shows in the middle there when my girls had already graduated from elementary, but my little caboose, Jason, hadn't gotten old enough to perform yet. And so I loved it that much that I'm like, ‘I'm gonna keep this going until he can and have a chance to participate as well.’ I feel really confident in the ladies that are working with me, that they're gonna carry the torch and keep it going. And I have no problem handing it over because they're amazing. All of 'em.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm super impressed with the legacy that you leave behind having done it for so long and dedicated so much time to it. What do you hope is the outcome for the students that you've worked with over the years?

Sharon Kartchner:
You know, I've already seen some of the outcomes. I've seen some of them go on to be actors in the middle school and high school plays. I've had one girl that said, you know, ‘because I had a solo in your musical, I was able to go and try out for a city musical and have total confidence that I could do it’ because she had built the confidence here. I've had other ones that have graduated with computer science degrees from college and other ones that are married and have kids. And so it's just fun to see that they just go off in life and are all successful.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's incredible what happens in the life of a child in 14 years. You talked about the confidence that it builds, and I think that's one of the great values in the arts. It builds your confidence. It shows you, ‘I didn't know this. I didn't know how to do it. And now I'm doing it in front of people.’

Sharon Kartchner:
Yeah. I've seen some kids that have started out just really quiet and then they get up there and we practice and we laugh like, ‘okay, do it like this’. And of course I do it extra big, so that they'll do it maybe a little bit bigger. But then they do it, and then they get in front of these guys, you know, the crowd and they just beam. And it's just fun. Even some of the kids that don't look enthusiastic at all when they're in practice and we're like, “please just smile”, they're here and just beaming. And they just are so excited to perform for people. It's just fun to see that transformation.

Anthony Godfrey:
What a great experience for everybody involved. You can hear the enthusiasm of the families. I hope I can find a seat in there because there are a lot of people in there. And you know, you mentioned earlier, there are over a hundred students involved. That's another thing I just love, is how many people can find a role. Can find some way that they're helping and contributing, and that makes them feel a part of something.

Sharon Kartchner:
Definitely. And Lewis and Clark has the fewest speaking parts in that particular musical. There's only about 16 speaking parts, but there's still like ribbon dancers and water wavers and fork in the road dancers and all these other parts that we let them be a part of. The other musicals have even more speaking parts, which is really fun, lots of scene changes. It gives the kids an opportunity to try to learn something and be something, but all the musicals, they are a part of it and they feel a part of it. And it's really fun to see.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you for doing this. Thank you for making it such a rich learning experience. And thank you for inviting me and I get to watch a great musical tonight. I'm looking forward to it.

Sharon Kartchner:
Enjoy the show.

Student Actor:
Thank you everyone for a warm and enthusiastic reception. The name of my report is ‘Every Single Day in the Three Year Long Expedition of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark’. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating as well as lengthy. I mean…thorough.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, we hear from two students in the musical. Find out how much they learn from their experience on stage and what the cast walks away with once the final curtain comes down.

Break:
Do you simply love learning online? We can't wait to have you join the amazing teachers in our brand new Jordan Virtual Learning Academy. In Jordan Virtual Learning Academy schools, we offer innovative, fun, and flexible online learning with daily real-time instruction from teachers. Enrollment is currently open for all K-12 students in Utah. Start on the path to personalized virtual learning success now at connect.jordandistrict.org. That's connect.jordandistrict.org.

Student(s) singing:
O, my name’s Napoleon Bonaparte and have I got a deal for you.
I’m in danger of being blown apart so I make this appeal to you.
All eyes are fixed on you! All hopes are fixed on you!
It’s yours, you’re really in some luck, for fifteen million bucks!

O his name’s Napoleon Bonaparte and has he got a deal for you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with Megan and Jason, who are in tonight's performance of the Adventures of Lewis and Clark. Megan, tell me about being in this production.

Megan:
It's really interesting. We get to talk and dance and it's really fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're all decked out. You guys look great. What does this mean to you? What's most exciting about this for you?

Megan:
Making my family be able to watch this.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. There's a lot of enthusiasm. Are your parents excited to see this?

Megan:
Very.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, Jason, I know your mom is excited to see this. As the director she's a little bit invested in this. Tell me, what do you think about being in these productions?

Jason:
It's really fun how we learn and do fun actions and be able to do different things that you wouldn't think you would be able to do. And then you just are able to do them.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're wearing an animal hat of some kind and for those listeners, there's lots of fringe. So tell me about your outfit and your character.

Jason:
Well, my character is Clark and so I'm wearing some leather stuff and a raccoon hat.

Anthony Godfrey:
You look fantastic. You look exactly like I picture Clark on his way through the wilderness, so well done. Megan, tell me about your character.

Megan:
I'm a soldier, one of three. And I'm wearing this vest and hat and a sword.

Anthony Godfrey:
You look great, you really look great. Tell me what is something that you learned from this production about history that you didn't know before?

Megan:
I actually didn't know that soldiers actually went on an adventure. And so to be one of the soldiers is actually quite interesting.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you learned about it and now you get to act it out. I really feel like there's a deeper learning that goes with acting out something that you just learned.

Megan:
Yeah, that's very true, because you're not just learning it, but you're having fun learning it and I think it helps you learn it more.

Anthony Godfrey:
Jason, tell me what you learned most. What stands out to you about American history that you didn't know before?

Jason:
Well, I haven't learned about the entire trip, so learning it like early, before I actually learned it in school was very fun. And it was interesting to just be able to know something and help your friends learn it with you.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's the exciting part. You're helping other people learn it, not just your friends, but there'll be a lot of people in the audience, including me, who I know will learn some things about Lewis and Clark that we didn't know before. Now, you guys have been practicing since the middle of October last year. That's a lot of work and that's a lot of dedication, especially at your age. Tell me about the friendships you've developed and the fun you've had over that period of time.

Megan:
A lot of the people that I didn't know before are in this play and I've grown a really good friendship with a lot of them. It's really interesting to see how many people actually wanted to do the play.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how about you, Jason?

Jason:
Well, since I'm in a Chinese Immersion, I'm usually just friends with the people who are in the immersion with me, because I've been with them, only them, for my entire like grade thing. So being able to get people, not just other people in this grade, but people in different grades, like I never would've been friends with Cassie, but now we're great friends because we are able to do this amazing performance together.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. That's a really important part of it. Making those connections. Is this giving you the acting bug? Is this something you want to keep doing?

Megan:
Very much so. I'm really hoping I can in middle school and maybe high school too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. I look forward to that. How about you, Jason?

Jason:
Definitely. Like it was really fun being able to do it three times and have these unique things each time and like no one, you know, no one will know what you're going to do next.

Anthony Godfrey:
I was in high school theater all the way through and I highly recommend it. I'm glad to hear you guys have enjoyed it so much. It's exciting to be at Oquirrh Hills. Does that feel like the big stage?

Megan:
Definitely. It's way bigger than I would've expected.

Jason:
Well, I can't say it was bigger than I expected cause I've done it since first grade, but it's still giant compared to where we practice at the beginning. So it's like, feels like you finally got there.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're a three timer. So you've been doing this for quite a while.

Jason:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
You were a skeleton in first grade, right?

Jason:
Yeah. We had these glow in the dark costumes where they turned off all the lights and we started glowing. We got to do this really fun, cool dance.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well that's an admirable range as an actor to go from skeleton to Clark. So break a leg. That's a good thing, to tell you to break a leg, and I can't wait for the performance looking forward to it tonight.

Jason:
I'm super excited too.

Megan:
Me too. I'm really excited for my family to see it.

Students Singing

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 mobile exhibit which features educational, inspiring and informative traveling displays, highlighting local and national Black History. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Valley High School where students participated in Black History Month activities involving music, art, fashion and food along with a special stop from Utah's Black History Museum Bus.

Liz Lambson:
Hello, my name is Liz Lampson and I'm the director of the Utah Black History Museum, which is a mobile popup museum, as you can see. So how I got involved in this, I was asked to paint a school bus. So I painted this side of the school bus and another artist, Gretel Tam, painted the other side. And on it, we put some Utah Black Historical figures. We’ve got Jane Manning James, Wallace Henry Thurman. Ruby Bridges is a national figure. Have any of you heard of Ruby Bridges? Who can tell me who Ruby Bridges was?

Student:
Wasn't she like a kindergartener that was going to a white school?

Liz Lambson:
Yeah, she was. During the time, schools were desegregated and she was brought to a white school and there was a huge uproar. She was just a great example of courage in that time. Take some time to look at our artifacts and display, and I hope you learn a lot. If you have any questions, let me know. And I hope you enjoy the museum experience.

Drummer:
We always begin a drum circle by acknowledging the four directions and all drumming begins with a heartbeat. So what I would like you to do is pick up your drum and we will begin with a heartbeat. We may overwhelm your mic. So the first sound any child hears is the beat of their mother's heart. So the heartbeat is always the center of who we are as human beings. So we begin with a heartbeat. I will do it once. Then you do it. This is called sound and respond.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at Valley High School with Tiffany Rasmussen who has organized all of today's activities. Tiffany, thanks for taking some time to talk with us on a busy day. Now, first of all, this is one of the activities that is done on a Friday at Valley High School. Valley meets Monday through Thursday, and there are all day activities on Fridays. So students can earn credit doing that. Tell us a little bit about how that works and how that's been set up for today.

Tiffany Rasmussen:
So we put together some packets and then the packets tend to go with the activities that we're doing. So if we're going on a field trip, in this case the field trip came to us. Since it is February, and it is Black History, I decided to do it on Black History. There is this new bus that is the Utah Black History Museum. And so I wanted to focus more on Black joy, because oftentimes we talk about, we use history or Black History Month to talk about slavery and to talk about like civil rights. And I wanted to focus more on the joy. So while they are getting the history aspect and especially Utah Black History aspect with the museum, I invited some friends from the community that I know to come in and talk to them about what they do.

So I have some musicians here, so they're talking about Black culture's influence on music. And then I have some people here with fashion, and they're talking about Black culture's influence on fashion. I have a friend of mine who has a PhD in therapy and counseling. He's talking about Black wellness because that's actually the theme for this year for Black History. They have themes every year, and it's Black wellness, and so he's here talking about that. Then I have some friends here that do hair, and so they're talking about hairstyles and everything. And then bakers, like just a lot of different people from the community that came in to talk about the Black community here in Utah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is it all students from Valley that are here today?

Tiffany Rasmussen:
Yes. All students from Valley currently and I actually invited a couple friends that actually graduated. Who were really excited. One is doing the videography for us. She's now at the U. My student that I had before who's now at SLCC and I just I'm like ‘you have to be here, you gotta come see it.’

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things that you hope students come away with after going through this experience?

Tiffany Rasmussen:
That they have options, they have choices. This is just one stepping stone and they have lots of options in life and that Utah is growing and it's becoming more diverse and I want them to be able to see themselves within the community.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's why you've invited some of your friends here with various businesses and various contributions in Utah. To talk with students so that students can kind of catch a vision for things that they could accomplish.

Tiffany Rasmussen:
Yes, exactly. So Chance’s already spoken with the students. He owns a bakery and he was talking about how he was adopted, and he was raised in Provo. He was like one of five Black kids at the school and he felt alone. He went on an mission and then he came out with being gay and just didn't know where he was gonna go in life. And things tend to work out. He had some people open up arms, he said, especially in the Polynesian community. He found his partner and now he owns a bakery and they're very popular and successful. So I know that there are students that we have now that can relate to that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. Tell me about the Black History Bus, it's the Black History Museum Bus. So tell me about the Utah Black History Museum Bus.

Tiffany Rasmussen:
So what I know about them is that they just started and wanted to, because we don't have anything that really shows the Utah history, right? The Black pioneers that came. So they wanted a way that they could commute, and go to schools, and go to fairs, and just get around the community. They have a lot of insightful books, have a lot of insightful information. They have artifacts. It's just, it's really cool. It's something that I wish that I had when I was younger. So I'm really excited that I can share it with my students.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, more from Valley High and Black History Month activities.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me your name

Kailila:
Kailila

Anthony Godfrey:
Kailila. And tell me what you've learned participating in today's activity.

Kailila:
Well, something that I've learned personally is that like a lot of people think that Black History Month is just looking about what happened in the past, like slavery and lynching and stuff. But today we're really celebrating about how far African Americans have come and we're really celebrating them and their successes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so what are some of the successes that you learned about and have talked about today?

Kailila:
Well, like Chance was saying he is not only is he Black, but he's also LGBTQ and he's been able to overcome like all the challenges that come with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you describe some of the activities and the events that are set up for students today?

Kailila:
So upstairs we have a fashion station where they're gonna be talking about like Black owned fashion businesses and some of their apparel that they have. We also have a music station set up where you can play some African drums. We have our bakery station over here, that Chance is running. And then over here is our station for the Black History Bus Museum. So you can kind of just look around and you can see like books and pictures that African Americans have produced. We also have a hair station where they're gonna be talking about how to deal with like locks and curly hair and Afros and stuff like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. So what does Black History Month mean for you?

Kailila:
So I feel like Black History Month is where we can celebrate how far people have come. And it's not only about like African-Americans specifically, but also about like America. And we were really built off of the backs of slaves. So for us to be able to, as colored people, for us to be able to come this far and have our own independence is, it's an amazing thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Thank you very much. It's nice meeting you. We're here with Liz Lampson talking about the Utah Black History Museum Bus. Tell us about your involvement and how the bus came to be.

Liz Lampson:
The Utah Black History Museum is unique in that we are a mobile popup experience. I got involved when I was asked by Lex Scott, who was the former leader of Utah's chapter of Black Lives Matter, if I would be interested in painting a school bus and transforming it into a mobile museum to highlight Utah's Black History. And I agreed to this, so I painted a mural on one side of this giant school bus.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we're looking at it right now. It looks absolutely beautiful. Tell me about everyone that's featured on there. There are a few names I did not know.

Liz Lampson:
Yeah. We have a Buffalo Soldier, a Black cowboy, Jane Manning James. She was one of the first Black women, if not the first Black woman to move to the state of Utah. She served the family of Joseph Smith who founded the Latter Day Saint church that was very influential in the development of the state's culture and community. And then we have Wallace Henry Thurman also from Utah. He became a Harlem Renaissance writer moving to New York. He wrote a book called the Black of the Berry and several other literature that is notable and definitely worth checking out. Next to him, there's a national figure, Ruby Bridges who many will learn about in school. She was a young Black girl who was integrated into what was an all white school. So during the time of desegregation, she was escorted into a white school with crowds of people yelling and screaming and in opposition to the idea of schools being integrated and races intermingling in the school environment.

So our school bus is sort of representative of that concept of carrying Black people and in our case, Black History and Black educational experiences to areas where there may not be much of a Black presence. And in the state of Utah, I think less than 2% of the population is African American. And so there are communities in areas in Utah, especially rural areas when you get further away from the urban center, where there are no Black people. Or there are people who have never met a Black person.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the other people that get featured on the bus.

Liz Lampson:
Yes. So my great uncle, I flipped him on there. His name is Alex Boudreaux and he was a Tuskegee Airman. There were very few African Americans in World War I or World war II who had the privilege, I suppose, of being a pilot, of receiving the training to actually fly planes. And so he was, if I'm remembering correctly, the first Black air traffic controller.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Liz Lampson:
And so he associated with this group of Black pilots who were just totally unique in that time of war.

Anthony Godfrey:
He may be your relative, but he's obviously very worthy of being included on the side of the bus.

Liz Lampson:
Yeah. He is definitely an important figure in my family. And you could say he’s a hero in my ancestry.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you have a musician next to him.

Liz Lampson:
Yes. So something that we really wanted to highlight with our museum and with the bus is examples of Black excellence. As your teacher Tiffany mentioned, there are a lot of sad and difficult things to process when you learn about Black History. But we also want to emphasize Black joy and Black accomplishments and Black excellence. So Joe McQueen is a great example of Black excellence. He was an incredible jazz musician and saxophone player from Utah. And he passed away just a few years ago, but he left a great impact on the jazz scene here. Utahns love jazz music.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, they do.

Liz Lampson:
And like swing music. And it's a, you know, it's a form of music culturally that has roots with African Americans and also going into Europe, there's, you know, there's a long history with jazz.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I'm a big music fan and you're right, there are some great jazz groups that come through here. And I'm always surprised that they make it this far.

Liz Lampson:
Yeah. I mean, jazz as a musical genre is awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have a ballet dancer as well.

Liz Lampson:
She's actually a personal friend of mine, Katlyn Addison. She actually helped me paint a little bit on the bus. She is the very first principal ballerina with Ballet West who is Black. To be a principal ballerina or principal dancer with a ballet company, that's essentially, that is the highest level in the world of ballet. So you have like soloists, and first soloists, and Demi soloists, and then you have the principal. So she's just a great example of Black excellence in our community. And I actually know her personally because I work for Ballet West as well. I play the string base in the Ballet West Orchestra, and that's how we became friends.

You find that things like classical music lessons, ballet lessons or any kind of education in the fine arts has not been as accessible historically to the Black community or to people of color. So there's still an ongoing effort today to provide these opportunities and make them accessible to people of color. I'm the only African American, I'm actually Korean African American. My mother's from Korea and my dad is from Louisiana kind of French Creole, Black background. And I'm the only African American, Korean African American in the Ballet West Orchestra. There are people of color in the ballet company, the dance company, as they recruit dancers from all over the world. But as the orchestra is drawn from the local community, the local Utah community, you'll find that less than 2% of the population here is Black and even smaller percent will be involved in the fine arts, just because of the history and trends with the fine arts being kind of reserved for the elite classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
What would you hope that someone who is experiencing the Utah Black History Museum would come away with?

Liz Lampson:
That is a great question. I love seeing people interact with this museum and I see them learning things that they didn't know. And I think that's our goal here, is to share what is actually old information that suddenly becomes like new information because you didn't know it before. So I just, you know, love to see people, people's eyes opening and perspectives widening as they learn about things that they've never heard or seen before. I hope also that people can walk away from this with a greater appreciation for some of the struggles that Black people have gone through, not just in the world or in our nation, but in our state specifically. We have stories here of Black people who have fought against the odds and struggled to make a place for themselves and their families in the state. As students experience this museum and they see pictures and faces of actual Black Utahns, I hope that they can feel a real connection with those people. What we hope is that through this museum experience, we can just create meaningful connections between people who are different from each other.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure meeting you, and this is awesome.

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. From testing the strength of cardboard to the science of discovering the best baseball bat, students hit it out of the park with their experiments at the East Lake science fair. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside the science fair to have some fun with fifth graders who take their problem solving projects very seriously.

Okay. We're here with JP in his Yankees uniform telling us about aluminum versus wood bats in his science project. Tell me, let's jump right into it.

JP:
So this is aluminum versus wood baseball bat. And the reason why I did this project is because I'm on a very competitive baseball team, so I'd like to know which bat hits the furthest. So then I can have the most chances of hitting a home run every time I get up to bat. Right? So my research was that the metal bat isn't allowed to be used in the MLB because they think that they'll hit it over too much. This is the metal bat, I mean the maple bat. And they think that it's a perfect bat for the MLB, like not too good that they'll hit over every time, but not too bad that they won't.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so they actually want the maple bat so that they can't hit it quite as far?

JP:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
They want it to be good enough, but not too good.

JP:
Yes, exactly. And this is the Ash bat. It takes a lot of strength to hit it over with the Ash bat.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the Ash bat?

JP:
Yes. And they found that this is the one that the MLB used to use. Like Babe Ruth used to use an Ash bat and stuff. So, I found, so my hypothesis was that the metal bat went the furthest, the maple bat the second furthest, and the Ash was the third furthest. You can tell from my graph that my hypothesis was correct. That the metal bat hit the furthest, the maple bat the second furthest and the Ash bat, the third furthest.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you obviously know your baseball history. Why do you think Babe Ruth used an Ashwood bat?

JP:
Well, because they didn't know about the maple bat back then. So I think that they used the maple bat, I mean the Ash bat, because they didn't know about the maple bat. So they're like, well, let's just get any wood that we see and let's just turn it into a bat. So then they can hit with.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. Now, are you allowed to use Ash if you wanted to?

JP:
Yes. In the MLB, you are allowed to use Ash, but you're not allowed to use the metal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are you allowed to use metal in your league?

JP:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so you do use the metal?

JP:
I do use the metal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Okay. All right. Very good.

JP:
So in conclusion, I found that the metal bat is the most dense and that it hits the furthest. And because it's the furthest, the bat speed is very good. And it will hit the ball further.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I'm looking at the graphic here, the map of where each ball landed on the baseball field. Did you hit all of these balls that you recorded?

JP:
Yes, I did. And we graphed them out and we had a radar gun to measure how fast the ball went.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, a radar gun?Where did you get a radar gun? Do you just have that regularly to measure the pitches and that sort of thing?

JP:
Yeah. So what we do sometimes when we have a baseball practice, we like to see how fast we can go. So me and my friends, we were just like being dumb, and we're just like measuring before practice starts, we're measuring how fast we can throw the ball to each other.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. I love that America's national pastime is alive and well in the youth of today. It looks like you had more fun than anyone else doing your experiment.

JP:
Oh I had so much fun! It was a blast!

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, this is an exciting project and I think it's gonna serve you well. Obviously you have great things ahead of you when it comes to baseball, but you're an outstanding scientist as well.

We're here with Maximus, looking at his science fair project. How strong is cardboard? Maximus, tell me how strong is cardboard?

Maximus:
Well it depends what kind of cardboard you're talking about. All right. So there’s chipboard and corrugated. Corrugated, it could hold 29 pounds per square inch.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how does it do that?

Maximus:
How does it do it? Well, it’s generally three pieces of paper. And then the middle piece of paper is flutes.

Anthony Godfrey:
The flutes. I had no idea that they were called flutes.

Maximus:
Yeah. And there are five different types of flutes: A flute, B flute, C flute, E flute, and F flute.

Anthony Godfrey:
Why is there no D flute?

Maximus:
I don't know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Maybe D flute used to exist, but there was a scandal. Do you think that could have happened?

Maximus:
I think there is a D flute, but they don't use it as much anymore.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. So there was a scandal. All right. So tell me, what was it that got you interested in cardboard? Does your mom order a lot from Amazon Prime? And so you thought ‘I need to understand these boxes better?’

Maximus:
No, I wanted to start, well, I needed a strong material that could also be quite bendable.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Maximus:
So I chose cardboard and I've actually made a bridge out of it at home.

Anthony Godfrey:
You made a bridge at home?

Maximus:
Yeah. A mini bridge out of small pieces of cardboard.

Anthony Godfrey:
And where does this bridge lead to?

Maximus:
It's just sitting all around.

Anthony Godfrey:
You open up the wardrobe and there's a cardboard bridge to another world?

Maximus:
No.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. So is your cardboard bridge still intact? Is it still looking good?

Maximus:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about, you've got a piece of a cereal box here and then you've got the flutes. Oh, okay, I see. You're showing what makes the corrugated cardboard strong. Okay. Now look, the strength certificates you have these strength certificates mounted. I always see writing on the cardboard box, but I haven't been curious enough to check it out and see what it's all about. Tell me about those strength certificates.

Maximus:
So the strength certificate is this, and it's telling you how much size limit it could get to. It tells you how long it is, big it is, and it tells you how much weight it could hold - 65 pounds.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is the conclusion then?

Maximus:
The conclusion is that I'm glad that I did it because it was really fun, but also that I know I can definitely build with cardboard. And the conclusion, well, more of the conclusion is that strength of cardboard is really cool and really strong.

Anthony Godfrey:
So do you like to work with cardboard? You made a bridge.

Maximus:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's your next project?

Maximus:
My next project, it's probably gonna be like a Lego sized house.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow. So where do you get your cardboard?

Maximus:
Amazon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you buy it?

Maximus:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Wow. So you're serious about your cardboard. As if I didn't know before, now I really know. So do you think that your study of cardboard has made you think about a job maybe in engineering? I mean, you're already building bridges.

Maximus:
Yeah. Whenever I was like five years old, I wanted to be an engineer.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Well, I think you are well on your way, Maximus. It's great talking to you.

Maximus:
It's great talking to you too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good job.

Stay with us. When we come back, we'll talk with some of the teachers who made the science fair possible.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at East Lake Elementary at the fifth grade science fair. And I'm with Jess, taking a look at her ‘What is the best type of fabric for artists to wear?’ science project. So tell me about this.

Jess:
So I chose this because I love painting and drawing. And usually when I draw my clothes get dirty. So I wanted to see what's the best fabric for artists to wear. So, when I did my research, I learned about four types of fabrics; cotton, polyester, polyurethane, and wool. Cotton and polyester are similar. They’re both breathable, durable, and can be stain resistant. Polyurethane is stain resistant, durable and waterproof, but not that breathable. So it's usually mixed with materials like cotton or polyester. The fourth one I learned about was wool. Wool is usually hard to find, expensive and it usually needs to be dry cleaned, and artists need something that's easy to find and easy to wash. So I didn't put that there.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is a very practical approach for an artist. Do you think you're more artist or more scientist?

Jess:
Kind of a mix of both.

Anthony Godfrey:
A mix of both. Okay. Well, that's a really good mix because you don't always find that combination. How many hours do you think you spent on this project?

Jess:
A month.

Anthony Godfrey:
A month? Wow.

Jess:
Yeah. When we first started it, we went to Walmart, but I actually had some struggle finding it. So my mom went to another store and she found these fabrics, so then we actually started doing it. My research was pretty easy, typing it up and writing it down. So I think the part that I moved the fastest on was doing the project itself and the typing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Well, this is really impressive. And so do you have an outfit picked out now that you can wear when you're doing art?

Jess:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And what color is it?

Jess:
It would probably be white because according to my research, it is best for us to wear white fabric because bleach is white. So if they had to like use bleach on it, it wouldn't really show anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have really thought things through. I wish I had more time. I have some other problems for you to solve. Oh yeah. But I better keep going. It's been a delight talking with you.

Jess:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have big things in your future that's for sure.

Jess:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks Jess.

Jess:
You're welcome.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, Carter, it looks like you studied the greenhouse effect for your science project. Tell me about it.

Carter:
So for the greenhouse effect, first I needed to learn what the greenhouse effect is. And the greenhouse effect is the transfer of heat between the sun and the earth. So the sun beams down heat and the earth absorbs it. And then at night it releases some of the heat into the atmosphere, which gets caught by the carbon dioxide, which creates heat. And without this greenhouse effect, we wouldn't survive.

Anthony Godfrey:
So is there something that you learned in studying the greenhouse effect that surprised you?

Carter:
So I was trying different surface materials to see if that affected it. And it seemed like sand got very affected because this line right here is the cover box, which represents the greenhouse effect. This one right here represents the uncovered box, which is the normal air. And it got hotter than the greenhouse one. So I was surprised by that because I thought it would just always stay under.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about the box. What did you set up and what was involved in your experiment?

Carter:
So three materials, rock, soil, and sand.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And I can see pictures of the box here. So what did you do with it there?

Carter:
So we filled it up with about one inch of sand or soil or rocks. And then we put a thermometer in each box and then we covered one box with plastic wrap and faced them towards the sun. So once we did that, every 15 minutes for an hour we went out to check if there was a temperature difference between the boxes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what did you find?

Carter:
That the covered box was almost always hotter than the uncovered box, which represented the normal air.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so trapping things in and allowing the heat in, but not allowing it to escape. You were able to replicate that. Wow. Well, this is very impressive. This is a complex topic that everyone's heard of, but not a lot of us understand. So you understand it at a deep level. That's very impressive.

Carter:
Thanks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Looks great.

We're here with Campbell. Campbell, describe to me what is your science project today?

Campbell:
My science project was ‘Do store bought UV lights kill bacteria?’, which is this one right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. I've seen those products. So those are the ones that are designed to kill bacteria, right?

Campbell:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're gonna tell me if they work or not.

Campbell:
Yeah. So how I did it is I got a bunch of these, like dish things.

Anthony Godfrey:
And wait, okay. Toilet handle, computer keyboard, light switch, belt and iPhone. Wow. You picked the germ centers of my world. All right. Let's find out.

Campbell:
So I did two of each of their surfaces, A and B. A is with UV, I mean without UV light and B is with UV light. So how I would do it is I would first make the agar mix with the water and then I would put it in the dish all five times. And then I would grab the swab, like a COVID swab. Because they are completely sterilized. Don't have any bacteria on it. So you can know if that, make sure that's the bacteria. So I would do it, something like this or any of those surfaces. And then I'd put it on that, on that one. And then I would use the UV light for a minute and then I would do it and see if it worked. And one is bacteria and zero is no bacteria, which means that I saw bacteria on all of them, which means that it didn't work.

Anthony Godfrey:
Looking at the graphic. I can see that everything is exactly the same. Whether you used the UV light or not.

Campbell:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
It looks like it had zero impact. Well, you know, I guess the only impact it would have is to make you feel better, even though you shouldn't feel better because not one bit of bacteria was killed.

Campbell:
So my hypothesis was it wouldn't work because hospitals buy them for like, 60 to 130 grand. So I was like, why would these ones work if hospitals have to buy them for that much?

Anthony Godfrey:
Boy, I'm super impressed at the way you had this set up, it looks straight. And I actually thought about buying one of those before. So now you just saved me some money. Thanks a lot Campbell.

We're here with the fifth grade team at East Lake Elementary. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the science fair.

Michelle Vernieuw:
I am Michelle Vernieuw and the best part about the science fair for me is being able to see the kids not only use the scientific method, but use their creativity and being able to explore ideas that they have and explore things that are interesting to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
When I talked with those students, there were some that were really personal to them. I'm an artist. I want to study what material I ought to wear. I'm a baseball player. So they're all connected to their projects in one way or another.
Michelle Vernieuw:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And they get to really explore those interests in an academic way that they may not have been able to think through before, but through the scientific method, they now have steps to go. This is how I can do this. This is how I can create, this is how I can find solutions.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're better thinkers.

Sammy Sutherland:
I'm Sammy Sutherland, 5th grade DLI. I second what Michelle said, I really liked that they picked things that they were interested in. Like, I really liked the one where she really liked dance and she picked how she could be a better dancer by seeing what things help her. I know that they all had a really good time doing it. I was just really proud of them for all the hard work that they put in it because they didn't have to do it. And they did. So they did really well.

Thomas Boulay:
I'm Thomas Boulay, the DLI Chinese teacher. I thought it was really great to see all of the fun projects that the kids did. Even though we made it optional in our class because we have less time with the DLI schedule, the kids who did it still had great projects and it seems like they really enjoyed making them.

Jennifer Burr:
My name's Jennifer Burr and I loved this whole process. For the past month students have been coming to me telling me about their project and sharing their enthusiasm. And it was fun to also have students who their hypothesis and then their hypothesis didn't turn out the way they thought. And then they had to think through why that didn't work or if they were going to retest it, what they would do different. But the great part is their enthusiasm and their ownership for the project. And really like Mrs. Vernieuw said, understanding the scientific process, because I think this is really the first time that they've walked through it themselves or with the support of their parents. And then also I love the science projects where they included their whole family, that the family were test subjects and really helped support them. It’s so awesome that so many people came today to cheer their great efforts. Thank you Superintendent for coming. It's pretty awesome. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
My pleasure to come. And it's interesting that it's like you said, family was obviously involved in all of this. It's the type of project and the type of learning that connects parents and kids and siblings and perhaps even pets as test subjects.

Jennifer Burr:
Yeah. I wanted to add that one of the fascinating parts about this whole process is seeing kids get excited about science. And you know, in today's world science sometimes gets, you know, discouraging because it's hard. Math is hard. Science is hard, the STEM. And to see these kids get excited about science and say, ‘I can have a part in science’ and then also to see you know, ‘I'm gonna represent the female’. You know, also just being able to say that these girls can say, ‘I can have a place in science.’ It's very exciting to me as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh absolutely. And let me ask you this, when you started the science fair projects and started to talk about topics, did you see a light bulb go on or a firelight in some kids that maybe otherwise had kind of not felt that level of enthusiasm for school lately?

Sammy Sutherland
Oh, definitely because it's their own project. It's what is interesting to them and they could really take ownership in what they wanted to pursue.

Anthony Godfrey:
That you took this on, I'm proud of the work you and the kids have done here and I'm excited to see it in the future. Keep inviting me, please.

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.

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She was a star athlete at Herriman High School with 16 state titles in track and field. Kaysha Love was also named the Gatorade athlete of the year her senior year at Herriman High. Now her drive, tenacity, work ethic and natural ability have Kaysha going for a gold medal in bobsled at the 2022 Winter Olympics. On this episode of the Supercast, Kaysha Love joins us virtually from the Olympic Village in Beijing, China. She talks to us about how her experiences at Herriman High School, along with a fierce competitive nature, prepared her for competing on the world stage. It is an inspiring conversation with Kaysha that you don't want to miss.

We are excited to have Kaysha Love on the Supercast today, an Olympic athlete and a graduate of Herriman High School. Kaysha, thanks for joining us.

Kaysha Love:
Absolutely. Thank you. It's an honor to be even on your guys' podcast. I'm so excited to take you guys along on my journey here in Beijing.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you are in Beijing, that's pretty incredible. And you are hours away from being part of Opening Ceremonies. How does that feel?

Kaysha Love:
It's so surreal. I will say I've been out here for about a week now and like, up to this point, everything kind of just felt unreal. Like, it didn't really hit me that we were at the Olympics and yesterday I actually got my first experience to have an unofficial training. I got my first training runs on the Olympic track and that's when it finally hit me. And then this morning when I woke up, I just realized like, today's the day, it's Opening Ceremony day. This is a day I've been waiting for for so long. And it's just like one of the many steps, and one of the things that has just been in my goals and in my prayers and to actually finally have the day be here is just, it's such an exciting feeling. And then on top of it, in LA we had team processing where we were able to try on our gear and it kind of gave us a little taste of what the Opening ceremonies was. So trying on the gear there was just so exciting. So I'm very excited to be in Opening Ceremonies and wear that beautiful fit.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's exciting. And you get to keep it?

Kaysha Love:
Yeah, we get to keep it. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
One of your many souvenirs. That's pretty awesome. So tell me, what have they talked to you about leading up to Opening Ceremonies? What kind of instructions have you received about that?

Kaysha Love:
So, I mean, there's definitely lots of different things that I think that other Olympic games didn't have to necessarily deal with, with the exception of the 2020 games. There's lots of COVID protocols that we have to follow. We're constantly getting PCR tested. That's an everyday daily COVID test that we're all required to do. And then with Opening Ceremonies, we’re required to take an additional COVID test before and after leaving all of our separate Olympic Villages. And then getting there, they've also kind of broke down little sections of like, ‘Hey, we have like snack things here. It's gonna be a long day.’ But they're just really emphasizing like the mask protocols and making sure that you're remaining positive on all the COVID regulations.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about some of the technical aspects of a run. How far do you run when you're just starting out, how fast you get going?

Kaysha Love:
So it honestly just depends on the track. So each track, like we mentioned earlier, is a little bit different than the next. There's not one track in the world that's identical to the following one. So like sprinting behind the sled and pushing the sled on Park City's ramp is probably close to only like a low five seconds versus like Lake Placid where you're looking at like six seconds. So it just kind of just depends on the actual force. Sprinting is like my background. I tend to do a little bit better on courses like Park City, where that curve appears a lot faster. Like that curve starts at like five meters versus like Lake Placid that curve, that crust comes around like 18 meters. And so just kind of differs on that.

As far as our roles, I'm the brake woman. So for women, we only compete in Monobob and Two Man. So Monobob is just one person and that's just the pilot. And then the other discipline is Two Man and my pilot's in front and then I'm in the back as the brake woman. Basically my job and my duties as a brake woman are to accelerate the sled as fast as possible to get us the fastest velocities. The track doesn't get necessarily like faster or slower at the end of the track. Like all the speed that you've generated comes from the very top of the track. Like you can't jump out in the middle of the track, start trying to push again or try to magically find some extra speed somewhere. All the speed and all the times that you're getting is genuinely coming from that push time. So my job is to give my pilot the best opportunity with the best speeds to potentially put down some really good numbers at the end of track.

Once I load into the sled, like then my job is basically like a relay. Like I pass it on to my pilot and she drives down our tracks. And like we mentioned earlier, each track's different. So it's her job to study all the lines of all the different tracks and to make sure that she's fully aware of what lines will be the fastest, what runners to use, how to like efficiently go about the track. And then once you pass the finish line, it's kind of my job as well, to be aware of where we're at in the track. I like to count the curves, it helps me know where we're at, so I can kind of move one with the sled and one with my pilot. At end of the course as the brake women, it's our job to pull the brakes. So there's no brakes in the front of the sled. So if I don't pull the brakes, the sled doesn't stop. So, yep, my job is to accelerate it, get as fast velocities and pull the brakes at the end.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I never realized that you would really just be passing it off to the pilot. That you do your part of the start, and then it's up to her to guide you from there.

Kaysha Love:
Basically. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you use the brakes at all during the race?

Kaysha Love:
Absolutely not. No, no, no.

Anthony Godfrey:
I bet you know what I would do, I would have my hand on the brake the entire time. I’d probably be like those poor kids at the water slide who get caught in between the hills  and have to be rescued down in the middle. You know, they have the sled team coming down to get me to the bottom of the hill.

Kaysha Love:
For sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's a lot of pressure. You've got to make all of that happen within just a few seconds at the start. And like you said, that's fascinating. There's no making it up if there's not a good start. You're in tough shape.

Kaysha Love:
Yeah, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with former Herriman High track star and Olympic athlete, Kaysha Love.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you were a sprinter and a gymnast before becoming an Olympic athlete in the Bobsled and you ran at Herriman, so tell me about Herriman's role in your getting here and just your journey through those three sports.

Kaysha Love:
First, I'll say go Mustangs. Once a Mustang always a Mustang. Yeah, I'll start with gymnastics. So I did gymnastics for 12 years, it was my passion. That was just some thing that I was just, I don't wanna say, like born into, but basically like born into. When you do gymnastics that long, like that's kind of all you know. So I ended up quitting gymnastics at the end of my, well, beginning of my freshman year of high school. I kind of just was continuing to get injured a lot. And I was just going through a lot of injuries that like a lot of athletes shouldn't have to endure. I was missing a lot of seasons. Like I would go my whole gymnastics of just looking strong, getting new skills, getting recruited by colleges. And then as soon as it came time to compete and showcase all the hard work I had been doing in the fall, I would have some crazy random injury or like an injury that would keep me out for like several months. And that became frustrating having to restart that cycle of being injured, doing really well in the pre-season and then season coming and not being able to actually showcase that stuff. So that was kind of taking a toll on me and I was training like 30 hours a week in this sport. I just didn't have time for friends or a social life.

And then starting high school, I had just kind of told my mom like, ‘Hey, I'm scared to start high school. Like, I don't have friends.’ Like all of my gym friends lived in the Bountiful area or Draper or just like Salt Lake City. I didn't have any friends who were gonna be in my high school and I was kind of nervous about it. And so she kind of just mentioned like, ‘you know, this might be like a good chance, an opportunity for you to take on a new opportunity, a new sport. So how about we just try track? I'm not asking you to give up gymnastics, but how about we just try both?’ And so I went out and tried track at Herriman and I loved it. I loved the social aspect of it. I actually liked the workouts and the competition and just running and feeling like free in that sense. And so that's when I started taking on track. Then it was my first season at Herriman when I broke the 100M state record. From that point forward, like the entire four years being there, Herriman just had a stacked track team. Like we were state champions in basically every event. We were state champions in the sprint events. We were state champions in the distance and throws events and even had some top three medalists in all the jumping events too. So our track team was just incredible, like as a whole.

Looking back at those years, I really owe a lot of my success and a lot of like who I am as a person to my high school coach. Coach Fletcher was somebody who at that moment in time was like my father figure. He was like a coach who believed in me and was kind of being like a pillar of showing me what it was to be a successful athlete. How it was to kind of like excel in life period and also to be like a very faithful and spiritual person and to kind of just be who it is that you wanna be. Then just the support at Herriman was just unreal. Like when I look back at the high school experience, just the things that they did for not only like myself, but for like our track team and for like the athletes at Herriman was just unreal.

Like I remember there was a time where our head coach, Coach Garlick, he created a photo shoot. And that was just so like kind of unheard of for the high schools at that time. Nobody was doing photo shoots for the track and field athletes. Like for football, of course, like basketball, sure. Those are like our big revenue sports. But for a photo shoot for track athletes, it's kind of just like a different thing. So we did this photo shoot and we show up at Herriman like a week later and draped from the football stadium is this huge, like 50 feet by 50 feet, track and field banner that just had our whole track team showcased on this huge banner on the back of the football stadium. They just made it so memorable and then for us to be like a fairly new high school when I was there, it was like, the experience was incredible and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Anthony Godfrey:
Exciting to hear what a great influence those coaches were on you. It's no surprise, but you know, they don't know in the moment, just the impact they have. The lasting impact in the life of a student and in the life of an athlete. So that's exciting to hear.

Kaysha Love:
Yeah. Like I'm still in very close contact with all the coaches that I like worked with in high school. I still communicate with them to this day. Like I get weekly text messages from nearly all of them that coached me. And it genuinely just means like the world to me, because they were like huge, impactful people to me. And just to know that they continue to support me no matter what journey and endeavor I take them on, whether it was gymnastics or track or now bobsled. They've just been like very supportful people and villages and pillars in my life. It takes a village to accomplish some of the things that I'm trying to accomplish and going back from family to high school coaches to the school and Herriman as a community to my colleges, like people have just been like incredible support systems for me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the support you felt as you found out that you were going to be competing in the Olympics and just leading up to that. From Herriman, from coaches, from friends, from family. Tell me about what that support's been like.

Kaysha Love:
Well the whole journey, like people were just very excited and very hopeful and wishful from like the second I was starting my rookie camp. They were just like, ‘oh my gosh, we're trying this Olympic sport. Like you get a chance to be around like the Olympic USA bobsled team. Like you could have a chance of being in the Olympics one day.’ And like back in October, I was just kind of like, ‘yeah, I've never been a bobsled’, but yeah, it's exciting. It's an honor to be around all these athletes, but we're just gonna kind of take it day by day. And then as the World Cup started to progress this season, I just started seeing so many like family and friends just kind of come out of the woodwork, and family and friends who have been there through all just kind of telling me like how proud they were and how excited they were. And just kind of like enlightening me on the type of growth that I've had as like a person and an athlete and like the experiences that I was sharing with them and how like I was handling things and the things that like God was paving for me. It was just a very emotional and very exciting experience.

Especially for like my mom who's been there from everything. My mom never missed one gymnastics meet. She really didn't even miss any gymnastics practices. Like she was juggling her full-time job, my 30 hour practices and somehow magically able to go to work and watch my practices and go to the competitions and just never, never missed a single thing. And then for us to go into high school track, she was at every track meet. Rain, shine, snow, whatever it was. She was out there with a little heater buddy and her blanket, her and my grandma, just everything. They didn't miss a single thing.

And they were also there for all the downs that we've had too. And there've been so many things in just my life as a whole that I had to like learn to get through and conquer. There were a lot of journeys and stuff that I had to figure out what it is I wanted for myself. And there were a lot of down moments and my mom and my grandma were always there for all of it. So for them to see like all of our hard work, like it wasn't even just my hard work, it was theirs too. Like my whole family made sacrifices and like this dream became our dream. So for me to call them just in tears, when I figured out I was going to the Olympics is probably very, so emotional for all of us. We just cried and cried and realized that we were like one step closer to like achieving the things that we all felt and worked so hard for.

Then coming back to Bobsled, like people are surprised like,’ ‘oh, like a year and a half of being in the sport. That's such a short time to now magically become like an Olympian.’ And the way I see it is like, I've been training for this for the last eight years, for sure. Because I feel like track really transitions really well into bobsled. And I just didn't realize I was training for bobsled in these eight years. I just thought I was running track and trying to be the most successful track athlete I could be. Little did I know that all of those experiences and journeys and lessons were not for that moment, but they were for the moment I'm doing and living in now.

Especially like being in the moment today, I look back and yeah, all those things that I wondered why this happened or how did it happen like this? Or like I wanted it to plan out like this and it didn't, I couldn't figure out why. And now looking back, like I'm like it had to work out like that. Like God had to plan because things had to fall in motion and had to be prepared for the moment I'm living in today. And those family and friends, especially like my mom and my grandma, but my whole family, honestly, they were there for every step of it. So they, for anybody, genuinely knows how hard and all the sacrifice and emotions and things that it took for us to get here.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that you found your Olympic path in your third sport. I've always thought, you know, those three sport athletes, can you just throw me one of them? You've got one to spare, give me one. How proud are you to be walking in the Opening Ceremonies representing the United States of America?

Kaysha Love:
So proud. Honestly, our country is incredible and the amount of just hard work that not only the athletes, but just like the people who keep our country afloat and running and just all those things are just incredible stuff. That I can even put myself in that category of representing our country. And I'm not just representing our country as a whole, but I'm representing myself and my family and my friends and the cities that supported me. And like all these, all these people, like it's a village that got us here and it's just gonna be like a very overwhelming feeling. And I'm just incredibly proud that our selection committee has selected me to be that person that represents our country and the sport of Bobsled. Like it's honestly just an honor. And to just be like a part of this incredible experience is just something that I can't even like fathom to put into words.

I will say that coming into Opening Ceremonies is like, I'm not even like allowing myself to kind of put up like, ‘oh, it's gonna feel like this, or it's going to be like this.’ Like I genuinely just wanna take it in for what it is. Whether that emotion is like excitement or like tears of joy or just like straight proudness. I don't know what I'm gonna feel in that moment, but whatever it is, I'm going to feel like I just wanna have that genuine feeling of, ‘okay, I'm not putting any expectations on it. This is how this is meant to feel. And this is, this is where I'm meant to be.’ So I'm very excited to feel whatever emotion it is that I feel when I walk into that stadium tonight. But I'm excited for whatever is to come.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is a moment that's just gonna take over. It's gonna be what it'll be, cuz it's gonna be powerful.

Kaysha Love:
For sure. It is. It's gonna be so powerful.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a lot that's led up to this. You've got a lot of people cheering you on. I will be screaming at the top of my lungs, that's for sure. So we're all really excited for you and I'm thrilled that you took the time to talk with me today. It's just so exciting to talk with you as Opening Ceremonies are just a few hours away and big moments for you are coming in just days. So congratulations on everything you've done to arrive at this moment and for who you are and all the support you have. Is there anyone you wanna shout out to before we finish?

Kaysha Love:
Honestly, just my whole family and I have to shout out my puppy. My puppy Angel she's she's been holding me down the whole eight years I've had her. She's incredible. She's my like emotional support puppy. I actually took her to like school with me and she came to some track meets. She always came to practice and yeah, she's doing great. My mom’s watching her right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Could you outrun her? Can you outrun her?

Kaysha Love:
Actually, my puppy is fairly fast. There's times where I'm a little surprised, like, ‘okay, I'm kind of, I'm moving at a good pace and your little legs are keeping up’. Like she's impressive. And plus she's like 14 years old. So for her to be like, as old as she is and just killing these track workouts I take us on. She's  incredible.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's cool.

Kaysha Love:
My puppy, my mom, my grandparents, my dad, my sisters, my sisters have been great role models and they've been amazing and yeah, just and all the other people that have supported me. Like I can't do it without any of them. Like all my friends, family.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I wish you the very best. Have a great time and we'll be watching, that's for sure.

Kaysha Love:
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Anthony Godfrey:
You can cheer Kaysha on as she goes for gold in Women's Bobsled this Friday and Saturday, February 18th and 19th in Beijing. 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:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent, Anthony Godfrey. Each and every day students count on school counselors for support. This week, we celebrate the important work carried out by school counselors because this is National School Counseling week. On this episode of the Supercast, we highlight the tremendous positive impact school counselors have on helping students achieve success and plan for future careers. And, find out how parents and students can connect with their counselors in meaningful ways, especially during challenging times like a pandemic.

We're here with Stacee Worthen, our Secondary Counselor Consultant. Happy National School Counseling week Stacee.

Stacee Worthen:
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stacee does an incredible job. If you've listened in to Board meeting at all, she's talked recently with the Board about our plan for moving forward with providing great counseling for all of our students and just great support in our schools. Tell me, during this National School Counseling week, what are some of the things that we're focused on in Jordan School District counseling?

Stacee Worthen:
So some of the things that we are focused on is our theme, which is ‘Better Together’. So with school counseling week the entire national theme is Better Together and we really want to make sure that everybody knows that better together means better together. Working with students, working with parents, working with teachers and administrators, to do everything that we can to help our students be successful. How we can actually advocate for our diverse students, our students who just really need that little extra push to get into concurrent, to get into AP classes, but also just to help them find the classes that they need to be successful. As well as deal with some of those mental health issues that we're seeing; stresses, anxieties. Just working together with everyone involved to help their children be successful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Our counselors do a great job of providing a wide range of supports like you just described, which include social, emotional wellness. You know, the old term is Guidance Counselors, that's a term we don't use anymore, because that defines so narrowly what the role of the counselor used to be. It has expanded a great deal to the great benefit of students.

Stacee Worthen:
That's right. Right now we are just known as School Counselors. What many people don't understand is that our background really is about 95% social, emotional, and mental health training. And then we just get a small portion of that academic training when we become school counselors and go back to get our masters.

Anthony Godfrey:
So connecting students with opportunities and helping with class schedules and helping manage schooling is absolutely a part of the counselor role, but it is so much more than that. And it's a great support to students through social, emotional wellness, through issues they may be struggling with. Just with feeling a connection and having an advocate there at school. So I guess what I would say is when people think about school counselors, I hope they're thinking very broadly because there are so many supports available through our school counselors.

Stacee Worthen:
That's right. And really what we're doing in Jordan School District is we're trying to focus on the whole child. So really what we try and do first is look at, okay, are there any barriers to helping that be successful? And if it is anxiety, if there are some social, emotional things, obviously that child's not going to be successful in their classes. And so we really need to take a look at what we can do to help. Maybe it's a better sleeping routine. Maybe it's talking to parents about some supports with anxiety or MHAP referral, where we look at some outside mental health assistance to try and get that student, so as a whole child, they're successful mentally, physically, then they can actually move that into their academics.

Anthony Godfrey:
When I have friends and family members contact me and say, “Hey, my child's going through this. What should I do?” Almost every time my advice is to call their counselor. Connect with the school counselor, see what they can do. They know the resources and they can talk with your student and they can really help.

Stacee Worthen:
That's right. We start there first and they really are the experts in all of the supports that we can use to get that child to be successful. And, you know, if it's a referral to a social worker, if it's a referral to the school psych you know, if it's just us working, you know, one on one with that student, they really are your best place to start.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's in partnership with parents. There's a lot of communication with parents just as really a support.

Stacee Worthen:
Yep. That's right.

Anthony Godfrey:
I do just wanna say I'll stack our counselors up against anybody, anybody in the country, because there's this focus on supporting students and that's been happening particularly in the last few years where we really track the time that we're spending with students. To be sure that we maintain that focus on that one on one interaction, the group interaction with students, connecting to students to be a direct support to them.

Stacee Worthen:
Yep. That's right. And I would actually put my counselors up against anybody in the nation. They really are working smarter, not harder. They're using data to really drive all the decisions that they're making in their buildings. They really are working to try and get all of their students on track for graduation, trying to give those supports. They're doing BRISC training. So if they have that additional mental health training, they really are amazing. And not only that, but they have swept the state in awards for the last little bit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Listeners, we did a podcast on that and we did sweep all the awards. We have incredible counselors in this district.

Stacee Worthen:
We do.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I would say they work smart, but they work really, really hard. And they are so dedicated and just looking for every way they can to support their school, students, families, provide great opportunities and help, like you said, remove those barriers to success.

Stacee Worthen:
Yeah. They just love kids and they will work so hard to help them be successful. They're amazing, amazing people.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you're listening and you have students in school in Jordan School District, and you haven't talked with your child's counselor, give 'em a call. Shoot 'em an email. It's a great connect.

Stacee Worthen:
Yep. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
When we come back, how to have healthy conversations with students on the safe use of social media.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Alyson Law, a counselor at Fort Herriman Middle School to talk about what middle school students are experiencing right now. We're all experiencing things we haven't before, the world has changed, the world has shifted. How has the world shifted for middle school students lately?

Alyson Law:
Well, I think in a few different ways, it's mostly social, right? This is such a time for adolescents to explore who they are, but we're seeing students who are behind a few years in social norms and appropriate behavior. Sometimes our seventh graders are acting more like fifth graders because they didn't get that training of how to behave appropriately because we were masked and we were quieted and we were seated. And so a lot of the typical fifth grade kind of rowdy behaviors that would typically be addressed in fifth grade are now coming out in seventh grade because we had this little bit of delay. So I think one of the biggest socially is them learning how to interact with each other in an appropriate level at the right time, in the right place.

Anthony Godfrey:
You make a really good point. And I think fifth grade to seventh grade is a great example of how large an expanse of two years is for a young person, as opposed to an adult. For me this last two years seem like a really long time because of everything that we've gone through, everything we've had to deal with, but for someone who goes from the age of 10 to 12, that is a huge leap. There are all kinds of changes that happen. And the interaction with, with students and going from having one teacher with a few rotations to having seven teachers is a really big change to go through, given that there's a pandemic happening all at the same time.

Alyson Law:
Right? And if you think of like the percentage of their life that that two years has taken up, right, that's a large percentage compared to the percentage of my life or your life. And there are so many skills that we as adults have mastered. And sometimes we just assume that the kids also have. We forget how much our teachers teach our children about behavior in social settings, because they have them for those eight hours.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're right. They've been attending school and interacting with each other in a very different way. And I want to go back to the percentage of their life. I mean, I'm more than four times as old as a seventh grader. I don't like to point that out frequently, but I'm quadruple their age. So the impact of those two years for them is a lot larger and it feels like a much longer time to them than it does to me, even though, as I said, it feels like a long time.

Alyson Law:
Yeah, I agree. And I think like something to keep in mind as adults, as I've been talking to a few of our youth, is that we talk about like, ‘oh, I know this has been really hard.’ There were a lot of parents who were upset about things being canceled and their kids weren't able to experience certain things that they had experienced when they were in school. And one of the kids I was talking to said, ‘this is normal for us.’ They didn't know any different, right? And so I think as parents and as adults, sometimes we're making a bigger deal of, ‘oh my gosh, you're missing out on all of this. And there's so much that you're not doing’ and to the kids, they don't know any different, and then we point out that there's something lacking and then they feel like, oh, well, something's lacking.

Anthony Godfrey:
What you just said is a really good reminder of just how influential we are as parents on how our kids react to certain things that are happening around them and happening in society. Probably more than we even realize. I have a seventh grader and sometimes it feels like I can never set the tone for how he feels about anything. But I think it's something that I probably need to think more about is making sure that I'm doing my best to frame things in a way that's productive.

Alyson Law:
Right. And mimicking, right? Mimicking is such a big part of learning. Our teens are in this second, this resurgence of brain development, similar to their toddler years. And when they were toddlers, we were teaching them, hold my hand, you know, and we were constantly teaching them. We have that responsibility to do that now for their development, but it does look different, right? We don't want to helicopter, but we need to be involved. Trying to find that mix, I think, is tricky. But when they see, and we can have those conversations with them, and they see how we've handled hard situations or things in life, that aren't always the best situation. And we mimic that for them, or we teach them and they can mimic, or we give them opportunities to do that. That's the most helpful teaching that we can do, that interactive teaching.

Anthony Godfrey:
I don't do it nearly enough, but every once in a while, I do actually talk through some things that I've had to deal with at work or with other things in personal life or whatever else, rather than hiding what I have to go through to problem solve. I've tried to talk through some of my own problem solving, not in response to anything that he's going through, but just so that he's a part of what I'm doing as well. And like I said, it's rare, but it's been rewarding for us to talk about it, because he asked some questions and he's interested. I'm also amazed at how much he hears, you know, that I didn't think he heard, but that's another story.

Alyson Law:
Well, one of the things, my mother was a brilliant school counselor as well, my mother-in-law. One of the things she always said was the best way for a teenage brain to grow, any brain to grow, is to spend time with an older, more mature brain. That exchange of perception is how our brains grow and mature. In adolescent years, they wanna be with their friends. They wanna tell their friends all their problems and rely on a 13 year old brain to solve a 13 year old brain problem. And that doesn't always help. So having those chances at the dinner table or in a car ride, it seems to be a car ride with my kids where they bring that stuff up, but having a chance to have those exchanges of perceptions and realities is the best way to help our kids move through and develop and mature a little bit faster.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that concept of bringing some experience to bear on an issue, because if it's only discussed among a group, that's the same age and with the same level of experience, then they may be missing out on some solutions. As important as those interactions with peers are, it's nice to have that additional experience brought to bear. Social media is something that is constantly talked about. And it's of particular concern in the last few months where there have been TikTok challenges and it's always a source of potential bullying or difficulties for middle school students. First of all, it's difficult for everyone, social media's creating issues for everyone regardless of age. What are some of the impacts that you're seeing and what are some things that you've seen work to mitigate those impacts, the negative impacts on youth?

Alyson Law:
I think the biggest thing that I'm seeing, and this might just be because I had a group on this earlier today, is body image issues, not just for girls, but for boys as well. There's so much comparison. And there's so much, now there's the filters and such an altered view of reality that as adults, our brains can understand, that's a filter. That's not real. But teenage brains, even my 10, 11 year old daughter, we were looking at something and she's like, ‘oh, she's beautiful.’ And he’s like, ‘that's fake. That's not really who she is.’ And that concept was hard for her to grasp onto that that wasn't reality. So I think body image and comparison issues on one end, obviously there's some, some deviance that comes with it. But I think the bigger thing is that they're now exposed to more content that is more suitable for adults, not like triple X rating, adult content, but just things that adult behaviors that kids don't understand, that they can't quite grasp concepts and make sense of it. And so in their eyes, that's just what you do. And, and so they're doing it not fully grasping consequences or things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, they may not have the context to properly process what they're seeing.

Alyson Law:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
And will view adult postings through a 13 year old lens and the two don’t match up and some misperceptions of the world and how it works result.

Alyson Law:
Yes, and I think like if you go back to when we were teenagers and there was a sports player you idolized or an actor or something, right. You could, you could see yourself wanting to be like them, but also realizing they're a basketball player, but ‘Hey, maybe I could be a famous basketball player too.’ Right. And you kind of go through that stage of, this is what I wanna do.

Anthony Godfrey:
I always knew that was not going to work out for me, but there were other famous people I was looking for, but yes.

Alyson Law:
Right. Actor, whatever it is, someone famous, but you know, and we think when we’re that age, like I'm going to be this famous person. And then as we go through those developmental years, we're like, okay, that's probably not realistic. I don't know that that's happening because the kids are constantly, that's not going away. Right. Like the exposure to the perfectness of social media, there's always someone new to step into that and to compare themselves to and it's so broad versus those small niches.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. You used to know a lot less about people, and you used to know a lot fewer people, even celebrities. We probably know more celebrities than ever before.

Alyson Law:
Right, and different types of celebrities. There's now YouTubers and influencers, right? There are different types of celebrities that gather these amazing, huge followings.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you approach a middle school age child about social media as a parent?

Alyson Law:
When we are asking our kids to form an opinion and express their opinion to us as adults, whether it's our own personal kids or our students, I think that gets intimidating for them because they don't want to be wrong. Right. Even though we create a safe environment in our classrooms, in my office, even at our homes, there’s still that fear of rejection because that's the developmental stage they're in. And so having that opinion versus what they've experienced is a little trickier

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, that does make sense because sometimes when I ask my son something, and I really am trying to find out the experience or perspective, he's looking at me to see what's the right answer here, what am I supposed to be saying? As opposed to let me think about how I can accurately convey what I'm going through.

Alyson Law:
One of the rules in my office actually comes from my husband and what he's set up with our kids, is I'll have a lot of kids say, ‘oh, I don't know.’ And I'll say, “you know the I don't know rule. I don't know is not an answer. It shuts down your brain. You can say, ‘let me think about it. Or I need more time. Or I haven't thought about that yet’. But quickly we accept ‘I don't know’ as they don't wanna talk to me or they really don't know, where it's just, they might need more processing time to really think about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. That language is really important. ‘I don't know’ is a dead end. Like, oh, dead end, end of the road. But that's a really good point. It’s been awesome having a chance to talk with you. I have new ways to talk with my seventh grader now. And it's always a process just to continue to connect with our students, our kids, people that we know, especially through these difficult times, but thank you very much for your insight and advice and for everything you're doing to help the students at Fort Herriman.

Alyson Law:
Well, thank you. I appreciate 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 out there.