Author: communications

Tyler Johnson:
The benefit and really the purpose is to provide all kids with a positive character-building experience through sports.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're here at various times to help train coaches and student athletes.

Tyler Johnson:
The foundation of those is building trust. How do you build trust with the young people that we're coaching?

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the sense of efficacy that I think coaches and student athletes will get out of this.

Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is designed to help coaches and student athletes recognize and embrace the true power of being positive.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside athletic trainings where the emphasis is on teamwork, good sportsmanship, and being your best self on and off the playing field. Hear from Jordan School District coaches and student athletes who are truly embracing the concept and spreading the word in a winning way.

We're at Riverton High School today just before a training talking with Bryan Veazie, our District Athletic and Activities Director. Thanks for joining us.

Bryan Veazie:
Thank you. Excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Tyler Johnson from the Positive Coaching Alliance. You're here to train students today on sportsmanship and you're part of a broader initiative that Mr. Veazie has promoted and initiated to really help elevate the level of coaching and the player experience. So that it's a positive experience and that we get the most out of the time that we're investing in athletics here in Jordan School District.

Tyler Johnson:
Yeah, we're extremely excited to partner with Jordan School District and today work with the student athletes. I've had the honor to work with some of the administrators and some coaches as well. We're excited to continue that work with our partnership and find ways that we can strengthen the athletic culture and find some alignment. And like you said, the benefit and really the purpose is to provide all kids with a positive character-building experience through sports.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the Positive Coaching Alliance generally. What sort of work do you do? You're here at various times to help train coaches and student athletes. How did all this come to be and what's your purpose?

Tyler Johnson:
Sure. Yeah, Positive Coaching Alliance is a national nonprofit organization that started about 25 years ago by Jim Thompson out of Stanford's athletic department, they kind of joked back in a broom closet. It really expanded about 10, 12 years later to being a national organization with people, trainers, and staff all across the country. So my role, I handle partnership development here in the Rocky Mountains as well as one of our educators and trainers that gets to go work with it with kids, coaches, and athletes. And really that's what we try to do is partner with them and find education and the pieces that they're needing to support and supplement the things that they're doing already to strengthen their culture.

So I got to it as being a former athlete. My mom was a teacher and coach and was a college athlete. Personally, as a youngster didn't experience I think a lot of positive coaching. So I was curious about the organization in that aspect and found a lot of fulfillment over the last decade plus being able to work with schools and school districts with our partnerships.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the key elements of positive coaching that you emphasize in your trainings?

Tyler Johnson:
Yeah, we focus on really three core elements and they show up a little bit differently. Part of that is trying to find and provide some alignment in language and ideas and concepts for coaches and kids. But really the three biggest things that we focus on and the foundation of those is building trust. How do you build trust with the young people that we're coaching? And we do that with three core principles.

One, the idea of mastery that we talked about. How are we becoming the best version of ourselves, the best athlete? And then we also talk about really our second core principle. We use the analogy of an emotional tank. All of our kids are gassed up and someone pointed out to me that sometimes maybe we've got some hybrid kids, right? We've got to recharge. Sometimes we do have to like we can't just fill up and keep going. Sometimes we've got to step back and recharge. And so we've all got this emotional tank and when those emotional tanks are full, behavior is better, performance is better. So how do we create that not as a coach but within peer-to-peer environments? We know how strong peer-to-peer influence is. So how do we as a coach in our athletic culture foster that encouragement that kids are showing up with e-tanks that are fuller so we can achieve more, do more, and face more challenges when we have a full e-tank.

The last third part is like you said kind of what we hone in on sportsmanship. We call it honoring the game. How do you have respect for what we call the roots which is really I think those key pieces that we see at our competitions. How do you demonstrate and have dignity and integrity for the respect for the rules, the officials, your opponents, the teammates you have and then most importantly yourself.

I think when we model that as an athlete and a coach and have that self-respect, a lot of the other things can take care of themselves. Those are really the three core things that we know that when those things are focused on they drive experience, they drive performance.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it sounds as if you're not only emphasizing the positive relationship between a coach and a player, a student athlete but also the relationship among student athletes, among members of the team. And how the coach can maximize those interactions to really strengthen every member of the team.

Tyler Johnson:
No doubt. I think asking athletes to reflect back, it is that relationship piece that is so important in scholastic sports. I think in education-based athletics, at the younger years before you get to high school, kids get into sports because they want to make friends. There's a social element and that's still very alive and drives performance and keeps kids showing up and consistent. And so that I think is as a coach we know, yeah we need maybe some more positivity, but you can't do it yourself. We're outnumbered. We have to foster it and get our kids to understand how powerful it is to recognize each other when we're doing things right. If we create a culture of that, it's a little easier to help and support each other when we need a little bit of accountability or responsibility that's not showing up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Mr. Veazie, when you partnered with Positive Coaching Alliance tell me what are some of the outcomes you were hoping for in Jordan School District?

Bryan Veazie:
I think ultimately, you know, having been involved in athletics my whole life, both as an athlete all the way through college, and a coach for 17 years, and then seeing it from an administrative perspective, I think what I realized is that there's been this evolution of athletics. It's becoming more high stakes, it's becoming more competitive, it's becoming more cutthroat. Everybody feels like the wins are the most important thing and everybody feels like if they don't get a scholarship to play at another level that they've failed themselves and their parents. And their parents don't have the opportunity to brag about their student going to school on a scholarship.

So one thing that I've been doing a lot of research on and one thing that I've come to understand in the Jordan School District and throughout the nation is that we really need to take the opportunity to go back to the focus of why athletics exist at the high school level in the first place. Understanding that it is an opportunity that kids have a high level of interest in that not only gives them those skills and teaches them from those life's experiences, but motivates them to come to school and holds them accountable for being in attendance, for demonstrating good behavior, for maximizing their academic capacity and for achieving high levels of success in academics.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the way that you connect academics and athletics and really that's at the core of what we do as a school district. Those athletic outcomes are going to be the result of focusing on sportsmanship, focusing on the team, focusing on positive coaching. When you do all of that I would anticipate that you see better athletic outcomes in those state championships start to flow.

Tyler Johnson:
For sure. We've said relationships I think a couple of times already, and I think one of the things we always tell kids is when you ask a team about championships they talk about relationships and if you want to get to a championship you're going to need relationships. I think that's why we kind of look at that as that foundation of trust that you're creating.

Anthony Godfrey:
Part of my motto is to be intentional and I love how intentional this is that we step back and we say why are we doing this in the first place. Once we're more centered on our purpose then we're able to accomplish that purpose more effectively. I love the sense of efficacy that I think coaches and student athletes will get out of this. That I put an effort toward really focusing on why I'm doing this and making sure I'm connected with the team. That the coaching is structured in a way to emphasize sportsmanship and a positive relationship, respecting, honoring the sport. That the results come after that and that sense of efficacy is really important. I talk about that a lot and it's important in the classroom and it will be important in athletics as well.

What does the training schedule look like? What does the involvement of coaches and students look like? Just for those who are wondering about an overview of the program in Jordan.

Bryan Veazie:
Yeah, so Jordan District has entered into a partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance. They have a long history. They have a high level of success. They have a great advisory board that consists of some of the legends in coaching and playing at all levels. They support everything from the little league programs all the way up to the major leagues and professional programs throughout the country.

We are really excited about making sure that we provide opportunities for all stakeholders involved in athletics to better understand their role, to learn more what that looks like and to become more effective and efficient in executing that role. Today we're offering the Student Leadership Captains Academy workshop. We're going to help some of the leaders of each program at every school for the fall sports to be more intentional, to improve themselves, to help improve others, to honor the game, to do things right. And then we're going to ask them to go and share that with their teammates and with their coaches and try to find ways to implement that within their programs.

We're going to be doing this for seasons. So coming up in the winter season, we'll be doing a winter season session for winter athletes, student athletes, and for winter coaches. And then we'll be doing another one in the spring. Our hope is that moving forward, we can take advantage of some of the parent workshops the Positive Coaching Alliance provides and really help our parents better understand how to most effectively support their children.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that emphasis on connecting with parents. That's how we're most effective as educators, as coaches, is when we're well connected with families and parents and we have good communication there. So well, thank you both for everything you're doing to enhance the experience of parents, student athletes, coaches, and spectators in Jordan District. It's an important component of what we do and I'm excited to see what happens.

Tyler Johnson:
Thank you for having me.

Bryan Veazie:
Yeah, thank you. We're excited for this opportunity and we really appreciate the Superintendent's support.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back we'll talk with student athletes who are part of the Positive Coaching Program.

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

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It's giving busy parents a little more peace of mind when it comes to their students getting to and from school. We're talking about Zonar MyView. It's a mobile app meant to enhance the school bus transportation experience for students and their families. The app allows parents to check on their child's school bus location and the estimated time of arrival at the bus stop each day for pickup and drop off.

If you want to join the thousands of parents already using the app, it's easy. All it takes is a few simple steps. First download the Zonar MyView app from the App Store or Google Play. Then visit auxiliaryservices.jordandistrict.org/zonar. That's where you'll find the school access code and directions on how to enter your student's unique ID and learn how to create an alert zone around your child's drop-off and pickup locations.

Let the Zonar MyView app help you stay on top of things knowing when a bus might be running a little late and when to get your kids going or head out to meet them at the bus stop. It's one more way for us to better connect with you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with two of the students who participated in today's event. Tell me your name, your sport, and your school.

Alli Sorensen:
I'm Alli Sorensen. I'm a senior at Riverton High School and I play on the varsity girls soccer team.

Tayshaun Ogomo:
I'm Tayshaun Ogomo. I'm a senior at Herriman High School and I do cross country and track.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the experience today. What are some of the things that you learned that you'll take back to your team?

Alli Sorensen:
Yeah, so we talked a lot about being an energy raiser, and how to eliminate negativity from the team, and how to start off games or whatever in the right headspace.

Tayshaun Ogomo:
Yeah, just really motivating everybody and leading by example. Just trying to bring everybody up instead of taking people down.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you really focused on the leadership role that you play as a student athlete. Are you part of the team leadership?

Alli Sorensen:
Yeah, so we have six seniors on our team and our coach invited all of us to come to this meeting which I thought was cool because upperclassmen kind of set the tone for the rest of the team. So I thought it was really good for us all to kind of be reminded that we're the leaders on the team, the younger or younger classmen. I know that's the word. The younger girls look up to us and yeah.

Tayshaun Ogomo:
Exactly like she said, it's just like being a senior here, all the younger kids look up to us and they follow what we do so it's really important to lead by example.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you think about the coming season now, now that you've been through this training and you've focused on working together as a team and focusing on sportsmanship?

Tayshaun Ogomo:
Yeah, it's really exciting being able to look into this next season because there's a lot of powerful things we learned today that I'm able to bring into the season. And just show all the rest of the kids on the team how to do, just lead by example, bring the energy up, be a good person. It's going to make everything better this season.

Alli Sorensen:
Yeah, I actually, while we were sitting there, I texted the girls who couldn't be there and I was like, hey guys, we should try –we talked about doing a shout-out circle in the training which is basically you all just stand around for a game, arms on your shoulders and just say like, hey, you're doing this really well, I noticed that. So I think we're actually going to try that at our game today, which is kind of cool and with the season just starting. We have so much room to improve right now, we've had a rocky first start but hey, maybe we'll go up from here.

Anthon Godfrey:
But you feel like this creates a little bit of a path forward and you're optimistic after today.

Alli Sorensen:
Yeah, for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, great. Well, I love the positivity and I love the emphasis on the impact that you have as student athletes and as leaders on your team because really the coach, the administration, all of us can only do so much. It really comes from students supporting each other. That's what creates the best experience. Thank you both for taking the time. Good luck tonight and good luck this year with your season. Good things are ahead.

Alli Sorensen:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now with Brady Bartholomew, the assistant principal over athletics at Riverton High. Thanks for joining us.

Brady Bartholomew:
Absolutely, happy to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
You hosted the training today and you attended as an administrator over athletics. You attended one of the trainings earlier this summer. Tell me a little bit about that and how it maybe shifted your focus.

Brady Bartholomew:
Yeah, so it's interesting. When we attended this training, administrative training over the summer of the Positive Coaching Alliance, it changed the mindset of really emphasizing positivity, not only in athletics but even in my workforce. I found ways that I could actually implement it myself just in the working environment here at Riverton High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just the teamwork aspects translate to your work as an administrator?

Brady Bartholomew:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
As a former baseball coach, can you see the application and the importance of this when you're working with a team?

Brady Bartholomew:
Absolutely. As a coach, it's very difficult because as you can imagine, you're going through these seasons and they can be very difficult working with these student athletes as far as one aspect, their mental health. We are actually offering this Positive Coaching Alliance which emphasizes a lot with their mental health and how to be more positive, not only on their selves but as a team collectively.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's an important emphasis and I think we underestimate just how much we need to be focused on student mental health and being supportive in every aspect. We do that during the school day but we really need to focus on that during athletics as well. So I'm grateful for the time that you've spent with this and for the work you do supporting the athletic programs at Riverton High.

Brady Bartholomew:
Absolutely. I love doing it. Love working with the students.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much.

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.

Paul Bergera:
So Zonar is a way for us to, it's a GPS tracking system and so Zonar allows us to monitor our buses.

Anthony Godfrey:
We decide where you want the notice. So okay it's going to take this much time for my child to walk to the bus stop. So I'm going to set it so that I know exactly when the bus is close enough that we need to head to the bus stop.

Paul Bergera:
That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. You can follow the progress of your child's Jordan District School bus for pickup and drop off with an optional app that is easy to use and brings parents peace of mind.

On this episode of the Supercast, we hear all about Zonar MyView. It's an app that allows parents to check on their own child's school bus location and the estimated time of arrival at the bus stop each day. Thousands are already using the app. Could it be useful for you as well? Listen and find out.

We're here at the Transportation Department with three of our transportation experts to talk about Zonar. Introduce yourselves and then let's talk a little bit about this great app for parents.

Paul Bergera:
Thank you, Superintendent. I'm Paul Bergera, the Director of Transportation.

Debbie McKinlay:
I'm Debbie McKinlay. I work with the Zonar app.

Mary Anne Balfour:
And I'm Mary Anne Balfour. I work in dispatch.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about what Zonar is. So for parents listening who may not be familiar, what does the Zonar app do for families?

Paul Bergera:
So Zonar is a way for us to– it's a GPS tracking system. And so Zonar allows us to monitor our buses. It tells us when a door is open, how fast it's going, how long it stopped at a stop. The MyView parent app is a component of Zonar and that's really a tool for parents and schools to be able to use to simply be able to track their bus. Know when it's going to be coming into a certain zone that the parents will set up. Just a really good tool for parents and schools to have in order to track school buses.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's an easy tool to find out where your child's bus is in real time.

Paul Bergera:
Correct. Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell us how do they get the app. Their favorite app store, they look for Zonar.

Paul Bergera:
Yes. They look for the Zonar MyView app. And if they would like step-by-step instructions, there's only four steps. From downloading the app to the completion of getting signed up for the MyView app.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about what they need to do.

Paul Bergera:
So the first thing they would want to do is download the Zonar MyView app from the Apple app store or Google Play. They would enter the school access code, which they can find online or on a handout that their bus driver can give them. They enter their child's unique student ID, which is their student ID they use in Skyward. And then they create alert zones around drop-off and pickup points. It's really that simple.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you decide where you want the notice. So, okay, it's going to take this much time for my child to walk to the bus stop. So I'm going to set it so that I know exactly when the bus is close enough that we need to head to the bus stop.

Paul Bergera:
That's correct. Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of people set it up with, you know, an alert that's maybe seven minutes. Brush your teeth. An alert that's three minute, grab your backpack.

So people can have fun with it and play around to determine where those zones are. They establish their own zones and what kind of an alert kind of comes at them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, this comes in handy on a regular day, but it particularly comes in handy on a day where we might have a little bit of weather, not enough weather to delay or to close school, but really enough weather that maybe the buses are running a little bit behind.

Paul Bergera:
Absolutely. A day kind of like maybe today, a little rain, a little wet. It also, as the days become darker, it just gives parents that sense of comfort that their students aren't necessarily waiting at a bus stop longer than they need to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. So if it's dark or it's rainy, then if it's a dark and stormy day, then you can make sure that your child isn't at the bus stop earlier than they need to be.

Paul Bergera:
That's correct. That's correct. And really, like I mentioned earlier, there is all of our drivers have access to a to a handout that can talk to parents about the instructions on downloading the app and making it work. Then on our district website, we also have that available.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where do they go on the website to find that unique number that they need to enter in?

Paul Bergera:
They can just go on the website in the search engine, just type in Zonar MyView parent app, and it will pop right up and give them instructions on what they need to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, who do they call if they need help? Debbie, is that you? The person that they contact if they need assistance?

Debbie McKinlay:
Yes. Actually, the easiest way to do it is when they're using the parent app, they go into the support tab where they set up the app. It has a support tab and that all those emails come directly to me. So I get all of the background information. If they say I'm not able to find my student or I can't track the bus, I search in the background by their email. So I would be asked if they called me, I'd need their email anyway. It's really better to send me the email. Click on the support tab, tell me what's wrong. I will search for it and I'll correspond that way. And it works out really good. Otherwise, they can call me for sure and dispatch would forward the call to me.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the phone number that they call if they have a question?

Debbie McKinlay:
It's 801-567-8841.

Anthony Godfrey:
And they just have a question, ask for Debbie. I have a question on the Zonar family app.

Debbie McKinlay:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, that's awesome. So you've also, Mary Anne, worked with parents over the years. How has having Zonar impacted those interactions?

Mary Anne Balfour;
So the interactions with parents, it helps those calls. “Where's my bus? Is it running late?” Those don't have to come into dispatch. So then we have the ability to focus on, do we need other routes covered? Other things that might be important as well that needs our one-on-one attention rather than looking up bus numbers continually on where's my bus?

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, which we understand that parents want to have that information. This is the easiest way to get it quickly because it may be tough to reach someone on a difficult morning. Things are difficult for everyone. How many buses are we running at any given time, Paul?

Paul Bergera:
For our route buses, about 185 buses.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's 185 buses serving three different schools each in all likelihood.

Paul Bergera:
Correct. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a lot going on and having the Zonar parent app means that you can get that information a lot more quickly.

Mary Ann Balfour:
You can. We've actually seen teachers who go out and meet buses, maybe with our special education, utilizing the Zonar app so that they know when the buses are coming to the school. So that they can go out and meet those buses when they get there and get the children in quickly and eliminate the wait time on that application as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a great application for schools as well to be able to use this and just be aware of when buses are coming and especially Kauri Sue Hamilton School. I know when I first walked in we talked about that with 34 buses. This comes in very handy I'm sure for them as they're trying to manage helping students into the building and knowing exactly when those buses are arriving because there are a lot of factors that can impact that schedule.

Paul Bergera:
Absolutely. It's a terrific tool for that application and Mary Ann I'm going to give her a lot of credit. She took the time to create zones around Kauri Sue Hamilton so she may have a north, south, and east and a west zone that alerts those teachers and the front office staff when buses are coming in. It really helps cut down the wait time and helps teachers just focus on their kids when they're at the school and then the ability to just jump outside and grab other students and head back in. So there's not a lot of wait time out on the curb.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, more about the Zonar MyView Family app and the security measures that are in the Zonar MyView Family app.

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

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Most of the time buses are very predictable in when they arrive, when they get to school, when they leave. There are things that get in the way sometimes and it's nice to have the peace of mind that you can go in and check and say, "Hey wait a minute, the bus isn't here yet. What's going on?"

Debbie McKinlay:
Exactly. And you know we are, especially this time of year in orange cone season, that then moves into the snow season and traffic and those things delay buses so that they can see that the bus has left the yard, the bus has left the school, the bus is on its way and that really helps them have a sense of knowledge of where their students are and where they need to be and everything is going well.

Mary Ann Balfour:
And some of the background information that we really focus on in the mornings and throughout the day is you know obviously we have a lot of buses and they're not always running smoothly. If a bus breaks down, switches to a spare bus, that's where I try to focus and concentrate and the communication between driver and myself to be able to enter that spare so that it's kind of seamless for the parents. They don't need to enter a spare bus number in order to track the bus number. It automatically, if I'm alerted, I'm able to put it in and they won't even know the difference.

Paul Bergera;
And it's really neat because the coordination between the drivers and Deb, I hear it on the radio all the time and they're getting very good at telling her “Hey, I’m in a spare bus”, she does her magic and parents have no idea. The kids can realize there's a different bus coming but the parents would have no idea that there's a change in their service delivery.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're able to switch things so that they're not tracking the wrong bus. They're tracking the bus that's actually coming to serve their students. That's tremendous that you're able to do that.

Debbie McKinlay:
It's really nice. You know, occasionally there's a hiccup, there might be something that breaks down and that lack of communication. That's not the number one priority on the driver's mind, it's safety and get the kids to school on time. So we kind of keep our ears open between dispatch and myself and service. We try to communicate and say, “okay, this was the spare bus we took out.” So, you know, it's taken a little bit but I think we're starting to work in mesh as a team here and it really is starting to benefit. I mean, everything has a hiccup but for the general people I think it works pretty smooth. And it's very convenient in that wintertime when it's so cold.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, absolutely. Great support to parents and great support to schools. What are some of the issues that you run into when you're troubleshooting with parents? What are some of the common concerns or questions?

Debbie McKinlay:
Honestly, just getting the students set up in the MyView app, sometimes they've registered late so when I get the list and import it into the MyView app, maybe their student's not on that list. So I’ll get “I can't find my students” and I just ask them to give me all their information and I hand put them in and that way occasionally we have a – “I'm not seeing my bus.”

Anthony Godfrey;
Yeah.

Debbie McKinlay:
And, you know, we have to troubleshoot that GPS system and say, okay, why is it not tracking?

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Debbie McKinlay:
We have a couple of buses that have come in and we have to troubleshoot and work it out. That's the two things mostly.

Anthony Godfrey:
But most of the time it's just getting set up and making sure that they're in. Once they're in then it works pretty smoothly.

Debbie McKinlay:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, the reason that parents have to enter in two numbers, the number for the zone and the number for the student is so that only the parents of a student on that bus can track that bus's location. Tell me a little bit more about that.

Debbie McKinlay:
So those two layers of security, if the parent needs someone else to track the bus, a nanny, a babysitter, they can give that information to the nanny and help them set up that connection.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the parent can share that number but we don't share it with anyone but the parent.

Debbie McKinlay:
That's correct. In fact, I don't even provide the numbers. They need to go to the school and get the number if they don't know where to get it. I don't know if they're a parent or not. And so I tell them to go to the source to get that number.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you don't give them numbers?

Debbie McKinlay:
Nope.

Anthony Godfrey:
You don't know who's on the other end of the line or who's emailing you.

Debbie McKinlay:
That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
But you give them instructions on how to find it themselves.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a great level of security and peace of mind.

Debbie McKinlay:
That's correct.

Paul Bergera:
And that truly was part of the objective when this was first decided. It was very important to Cabinet that there was that layer of security. We piloted it in spring of 2022 at three schools, kind of an elementary, a middle, and a high school that feed into each other. That seemed to work out really well. Then when it came time to launch in fall of 2022, we did make sure that it did go through legal counsel and other added measures to ensure confidentiality and safety, and security.

Anthony Godfrey:
And with two years under our belts, it's worked well and it's benefiting a lot of families. Hopefully, those listening can download it and benefit as well.

Paul Bergera:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me about the three of you. How long have you each been in transportation? And what are some of the things that you've done here? Mary Anne, you're kind of laughing. Are you the elder statesman here?

Mary Anne Balfour:
No, I'm the nanosecond.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? How long have you been in transportation?

Mary Anne Balfour:
This is my second year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Second year. Okay. Great. And how about for you?

Debbie McKinlay;
I've actually been here for almost 14.

Anthony Godfrey:
Almost 14.

Debbie McKinlay:
And I take care of all of the external systems that don't come with the buses. I help with the camera systems and I am over the GPS system. We help with the dispatch technology and, of course, anything that comes with MyView. So we're kind of a catch-all department. If they need something, we try to figure it out for everyone.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And Paul?

Paul Bergera:
I've been here for five years. So I've been a teacher and a principal in the district and have made my way to transportation and have not looked back. I really enjoy being out here. We've done some very innovative things. I believe in the past several years, Zonar MyView Parent App is one thing. We would also encourage parents to make sure that they're on Parent Square because the Zonar MyView Parent App is one way to communicate with parents where their bus is. Parent Square is another way that allows us to give information to parents the morning of or the week of just to make sure that they have as much information as they can that may impact their student's busing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, Parent Square is new this year, so we keep adding measures to try to communicate more and more effectively with parents. Thanks for everything the three of you are doing to help make sure that goes smoothly and good luck out there.

Paul Bergera:
Thank you.

Mary Anne Balfour:
Oh, you're welcome. Thanks.

Debbie McKinlay:
Thanks for having us.

Paul Bergera:
Thank you.

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

Lisa Eskesen:
It's a great way to kind of get a pulse on the school of what's happening there and then also to work together with other parents in representing the community, the student community at that school, and what their needs might be.

Anthony Godfrey:
If you want to join a School Community Council you get to play a part in allocating a portion of that eight million dollars to make sure that it is meeting the highest academic need in a school.

Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They play a vital role in our schools, leading the way, making decisions regarding School LAND Trust money and so much more.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out why parents participate on School Community Councils and how their involvement can elevate the quality of education for students by addressing needs and rallying support.

We're talking today with Lisa Eskesen about School Community Councils. She's been a parent on several and Mike Anderson, our Associate Superintendent, who oversees the work of School Community Councils and submitting information to the state, completing the trainings, all of that. So thank you both for being here.

Lisa Eskesen:
Thank you.

Mike Anderson:
My pleasure.

Anthony Godfrey
Lisa, tell us about your involvement with School Community Councils.

Lisa Eskesen:
I have been involved on School Community Councils–my oldest just graduated from high school this year and so since she was probably in first or second grade I started being on the School Community Council at her elementary school.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you have well over a decade of School Community Council experience.

Lisa Eskesen:
Around there, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the things that you've been involved in, the schools where you've served, and really for those who may not be familiar what it's been all about from a parent perspective.

Lisa Eskesen:
Okay. So like I said, my oldest just graduated. She went to elementary school at Fox Hollow Elementary and my kids go to Sunset Ridge Middle School. So once we graduated into the middle school, I went there and then at Copper Hills High School I also have served on the community council at that level. My youngest just finished at the elementary so I have consecutively been on that council for a handful of years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So you've seen some projects come and go.

Lisa Eskesen:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Part of what you do is you approve funding. Are there some projects that stand out that you've been able to help fund as a School Community Council that you're particularly proud of or were particularly interesting for you?

Lisa Eskesen:
Well pre-COVID when I was on the council at the middle school, one of the things that the principal and the council there really felt strongly about was technology and getting students one-to-one. So we were able to get one-to-one Chromebook use right as COVID hit. So the timing of that, it worked out perfectly. We were able to get the students who needed it their Chromebooks that they definitely used during COVID and online school.

Anthony Godfrey:
They had great timing on that.

Lisa Eskesen:
I know. A lot of thanks goes to Ms. Searle on that one, our principal. She was really pushing for that and saw that need and not even related to COVID, but she just saw the benefit that that would be to the students to have one to one technology.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the School Community Council is able to fund that through the LAND Trust money that is received from the state. Mike, tell us a little bit about how that works because that funding component is a main responsibility of the School Community Council.

Mike Anderson:
It is. It's one of the principal responsibilities they have. The history behind the LAND Trust program is quite fascinating. If you may, just a little bit of history there. When our founding leaders began expansion of the United States they saw to it that for every section of land that was marked and surveyed, that they would set aside a couple of sections of land for public school use. As they went further west, more land, less livable land in terms of irrigation and so forth, they actually gave more land to the Western States for public use than they did to the Eastern States.

Well, Utah is a beneficiary of that because we have enough land in the public trust to constitute a state the size of New Jersey inside of the state of Utah. That's how much public LAND Trust there are out there. So what happens is those lands get leased for mineral rights, for recreation purposes, for businesses that want to build on them, and the lease monies and all of the returns and the profits from that go into a general fund. That fund is then distributed on an annual basis to schools.

Years ago in the 1980s, a well-informed PTA mom at the time, found out about the laws that governed LAND Trust in the state of Utah and realized that they weren't really being safeguarded as they should be. The legislature was using LAND Trust money outside of the intended scope. She helped the legislature pass laws that really safeguarded and built fences around the LAND Trust initiative that protected those monies. And it grew from a very small amount at the time in 1985-ish to over, I think we have well over $3.2 billion dollars. That’s billion with a “B” in the LAND Trust program today. And so we get a distribution at the school level each year. This year, Jordan School District is going to receive $8.3 million. That accounts to about $145 per student.

Anthony Godfrey:
What that means is that if you're on a School Community Council, you're part of the group that by law helps allocate the money from LAND Trust. You have to approve that LAND Trust plan. And that means that if you want to join a School Community Council, you get to play a part in allocating a portion of that $8 million to make sure that it is meeting the highest academic need in a school, which obviously the Chromebooks that you were involved in allocating money for qualify for that for sure.

Lisa Eskesen:
That's one great example and there's some other great projects and it really is specific to the school's needs.

Anthony Godfrey:
It involves school staff, but the membership always has to include more parents than school staff members. That just shows the importance of parent voices and how we use that money and also how we guide the work of our schools.

Lisa Eskesen:
Yeah, the requirements for the School Community Council, we need to have a two parent majority on each of them. So it includes some staff members from the school. It includes the principal, but the majority of it always does need to be parents of students, parents or guardians of students who are enrolled at the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
What does it mean for you as a parent to be able to be involved in this way at your child's school over the years?

Lisa Eskesen:
I've been involved at my kids' schools in various ways over the last several years. I've done some PTA. I volunteered in classrooms and I enjoy all of it. I really think it's all important. This is just another way that I felt like I could be involved. It works for me. It's something I'm interested in. I like the conversations that we have on the School Community Council, the issues kind of just overseeing some of the things going on at the school. It's a great way to kind of get a pulse on the school of what's happening there, get to know some of the administration and the staff there, and then also to work together with other parents in representing the community, the student community at that school and what their needs might be.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back find out how you can be a voice and play a vital role at your school as part of a School Community Council.

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

Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sometimes busy parents with kids in school may be concerned about the level of time involvement that's required to be a part of a School Community Council. What has your experience been over the years in terms of how much time it takes and what  does that look like just in terms of the meetings and the amount of time that you've had to spend?

Lisa Eskesen:
Each council is required to meet at least four times a year, so that's actually not too bad. Four times during the school year. I've only seen maybe twice where we've had to meet one extra time maybe for budget needs or you know some special project or something like that needs to be met to discuss. But otherwise it's just four meetings a year. Those meetings can last you know one to two hours. As we get close to the end of the school year and we're talking about the LAND Trust funds and that budget, some of those conversations can be a little bit longer as we dig into some of the details of that. But otherwise it's four meetings a year generally.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I know there are a number of times when we go to a School Community Council because we have a question that we want parent input on. So we take it to the School Community Council. For example, the dress code policy, when the Board was considering a change in dress code policy, we took months going to each School Community Council at the secondary level to go over those changes. We really got some great input from those groups. Were you a part of any of those discussions?

Lisa Eskesen:
Yes, I was there for some of those. The other thing that I can think of is related to boundary changes. And it's not that the Community Council has any more sway with the district or anything like that but we're there to represent the community of the students. So if we have that information we can help answer questions with other parents of students at the school and maybe get some feedback that we can then take back to the council and discuss for things that might be helpful as the Board is making some of those decisions.

Mike Anderson:
In fact I remember going out to Lisa's School Community Council to talk about a pending boundary change. We got great feedback from the Community Council. Lisa specifically asked some really great questions that we were able to bring back and help inform the process and consider alternatives.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other responsibilities of the School Community Council?

Mike Anderson:
I think one good example of an area where the School Community Council has to be involved by law is with the Teacher and Student Success Act commonly known as the TSSA. That was created by the legislature in 2019 and it's funded in large part similar to how School LAND Trust is allocated on a per student basis. It ends up being a fairly sizable amount and it grows each year. It's an ongoing source of funding that the legislature has allocated. Now the School Community Council helps create the plan. They don't approve the TSSA plan, that's set forth by the Board and ultimately the School Board does approve that and they create the framework on which that's supposed to be based, but the TSSA requires School Community Council input on the plan.

Anthony Godfrey:
The TSSA is just another way that the state is putting money directly to schools and one of the reasons they're willing to do that is because they know that parents will be involved in helping allocate those funds. TSSA money and LAND Trust money is increasing every year.

Mike Anderson:
It is. In fact, it's pretty remarkable. I mentioned earlier the per student amount for LAND Trust is about $145. It's similar with TSSA but you get a large high school and they're dealing with around $700,000 worth of pretty flexible money when you combine the TSSA and the LAND Trust plans. The Community Council has a pretty direct say and a lot of input as to how that's spent.

School Community Councils also review the digital citizenship requirements for the school. Principals will often bring the school student handbook with them and make sure they are familiar with the rules and get input from both the teachers and the parents on the council. I think that's an important component that the School Community Council really gives key stakeholder groups a voice.

You've got the principal who's automatically seated on the council, does vote but is not elected of course. You've got faculty members, teachers from the school that also serve on the council and as Lisa mentioned there has to be at least a two parent majority on the council. The baseline for that at the elementary and middle schools are four parents and two faculty members or two employees and at the high school that jumps up to six parents and four staff members. If they feel like those numbers need to be adjusted because of interest or because of a lot of input from the school they can be adjusted through what we call the rules of order and procedure and the School Community Council votes on those. Those are actually posted and kind of the rules that govern the council and the state law is pretty specific on how those are to be carried out and executed. It's a great way to allow the flexibility to tailor the needs of the school through the School Community Council.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about how those meetings are run because the principal is a part of that meeting automatically as are a few staff members but it's chaired by a parent. Tell me about how that works.

Lisa Eskesen:
Correct. So while it is a principal who is automatically placed the chair is a parent, it is led by a parent so that just I think underscores the need for that parent involvement. The principal, the school staff they don't run the meetings. The principal can suggest items maybe to put on the agenda but it is ultimately up to the chair and the member of the council for what items actually get discussed and placed on that agenda.

Anthony Godfrey:
From a school perspective, I know that having a strong School Community Council chair who makes the most of those meetings and having involved parents as members of the School Community Council is a huge support to the principal. It really helps things go well so it's an important dynamic there that's established between the chair and the principal.

Lisa Eskesen:
Definitely. It absolutely is.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, Lisa, thank you very much for all the time you've spent over the years being part of that School Community Council. A lot of great things have happened as a result of that. I don't know all the School Community Council presidents of course but I've definitely heard your name associated with great things happening out there.

Mike, thank you. You've overseen this for many years in the training that's offered to new School Community Council members so thank you for all the support you give those parents and staff members making decisions at the school level to help support our students and our staff.

Mike Anderson:
Thanks for having me.

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.

(upbeat music)

Anthony Godfrey:
When you are not counseling, you are pickleballing.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a verb? Pickleballing?

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, pickleballing. Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any of these events set up in advance?

Lorraine Rupper:
Nope. I just show up randomly.

Anthony Godfrey:
You showed up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's a sport that's taking off across the country, but I'm not sure anyone else has taken off across the country themselves to play pickleball in every state.

On the show today, we have some fun with West Hills Middle School counselor Lorraine Rupper. Find out how she managed to travel to all 50 states, playing a pickup game of pickleball with strangers at every stop, and making memories to last a lifetime.

We're talking now with Lorraine Rupper here at West Hills Middle School. You're a counselor here at West Hills, but when you are not counseling, you are pickleballing.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, I'll be on the pickleball court.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a verb? Pickleballing?

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes, pickleballing.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have done so across the country this last summer. Tell me the stats up front and then let's talk about the experience.

Lorraine Rupper:
Okay, so I traveled to 36 states in 19 days, and I played in 33 of those 36 states that I traveled through this summer. In 19 days.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you played in 33 states. What made you say to yourself, "You know what? I need to play this across the country."

Lorraine Rupper:
I just wanted to spread the love of pickleball, and I feel like I am a good player. So normally, lower-level players, they always want to play with the upper-level players. So I'm like, I'm an upper-level player, and I want to meet people that have the same passion I do of playing pickleball. And I'm like, “I've never been to the south and I haven't been to the east. So here's a great way to do it.”

Anthony Godfrey:
So you were helping people elevate their game by having them play with someone who has some skills beyond the casual pickleballer.

Lorraine Rupper:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
How many states had you traveled to before embarking on this journey?

Lorraine Rupper:
I had played in 17 states.

Anthony Godfrey:
You played in 17.

Lorraine Rupper:
17.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if my math is right, you've now played in all 50 states? Is that right?

Lorraine Rupper:
All 50 states, yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so 33 states in 19 days. Tell me, what does playing pickleball in a state count as? Because obviously, you had to cram in multiple states into one day.

Lorraine Rupper:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me about how that happened.

Lorraine Rupper:
Okay, so there was a general plan that somebody has done to play pickleball in every state. I could skip some of those because I had done most of the western states already. And then they would say where to go next. So sometimes I would go by that plan, and sometimes I had to deviate from that plan.

Like West Virginia, it says to play at a certain spot. So I went to West Virginia and I went to that spot, and I found a pickleball court, but there's nobody to play with. It's in the middle of summer, it's noon, and nobody wants to play on a court at noon when it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity. So I'm like, what should I do now? I can sit around and wait, which I did some.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you listened to John Denver for a second.

Lorraine Rupper:
Of course.

Anthony Godfrey:
“Mountain Mama, West Virginia”, then no one came.

Lorraine Rupper:
Nobody came. I even sang and I'm a terrible singer. Maybe that's why they escaped and ran away. So I just was like, well, let's see where else we can play in Virginia. So I drove for three hours, found another place to play, and I sat there waiting for people. I found a court, which by the way, all the courts aren't accurate for their addresses because I ended up at some lady's house and she's all like, I said, “is there a pickleball court here?”

Anthony Godfrey:
Did she play pickleball with you and make lemonade for you?

Lorraine Rupper:
No. So I ended up going to a park and waiting and waiting and waiting, probably like an hour. And then a couple came back from a little trip and then there was two couples. One went to the truck and then I bravely went over to the other one and said, “Would you please play pickleball with me?” And they're like, “What's pickleball?” And I told them what it was. And the wife who was in flip flops and she's like, “No”. And the husband's like, “I can give it a shot if you will run my errands for me, honey.” And she's like, “Yeah, I can do that.”

Anthony Godfrey:
So she ran errands while he played pickleball with a woman he'd never met. Wow. Okay.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah. So we went over there and we played skinny singles on the court and it was super fun. And he was really good. He said, “I played tennis in high school” and I was like “Tennis players, make good pickleball players.” And he played really great. Of course, he didn't beat me, but he was good. But I was so excited to mark West Virginia off the list. I'm like, “Hey, let me give you a paddle.” And I gave him and his wife a paddle. I gave her some pickleball earrings, gave him some balls and say, come back and play again.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Now I'm noticing your pickleball earrings. That's next level stuff as well. Any of these events set up in advance?

Lorraine Rupper:
Nope. I would just show up randomly.

Anthony Godfrey:
You showed up. Did you, as you talked with these folks, did you make friends that you stayed in contact with?

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes. There's a couple like in Alabama was my favorite place to play. They're like, “Hey, Lorraine, we're having a luncheon afterwards. A little picnic. Do you want to come?” And I'm like, “Sure.”

Anthony Godfrey:
You didn't say I've got 25 states left to go. I got to get out of here.

Lorraine Rupper:
No, Heck no, not when they're friendly to me. They said, “Oh, we're having salads and ice cream.” And I'm like, “Two things you don't have on a road trip, salads and ice cream. I am there.” There's one day a month that they do this luncheon and I just happened to be on the day that they had their lunch and not planned or anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
So even though West Virginia left you high and dry for a few hours, you also hit the jackpot a few times along the way.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, I did, yes. It was up and down, up and down. I just had to roll with the flow.

Anthony Godfrey:
What was the most difficult state to get a match in besides West Virginia? Were there other people who were reluctant to play with you or other locations that were difficult?

Lorraine Rupper:
So I would usually get the same reaction, because a lot of times people have their own group of four that are pretty good players. And so they would look at me skeptically and like, I would say Rhode Island, for example. And so I'd say, “I'll just sit here and watch you play a couple of games.” So I would sit with my head in my little umbrella. And I was watching him play. And then one of them felt bad, of course. And so he's like, “Why don't you take my spot one game?” And the one guy was still like, “Oh, I'm really skeptical.” So I played a game. And the guy's like, “Will you be my partner next, Lorraine?”

Anthony Godfrey:
You seem like a very nice person, very personable. Why would they be suspect of someone who just wants to play pickleball?

Lorraine Rupper:
Because I'm an old lady and they think I'm not going to be very good. They want to play, get some good games in while they're playing. But once they find out how good I am, then they're like, “Oh, yeah, we want her to play some more because she's good competition.”

Anthony Godfrey:
So were the southern states as friendly as they are reputed to be?

Lorraine Rupper:
Yes. It's the Northeastern that I had an issue with.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK.

Lorraine Rupper:
Like, can I tell you a story about Maine?

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure, please.

Lorraine Rupper:
OK. So we went to Maine. And in York, Maine, I was there and I went to a private club. Because it was one of the places--

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you hop the fence or cut a hole in and crawl through?

Lorraine Rupper:
To me, it looked like a public place.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you just walked in like you knew what you were doing.

Lorraine Rupper:
And I was in my little skirt and with my paddle--

Anthony Godfrey:
You're a pickle baller, you walk in like you own the place.

Lorraine Rupper:
And they're like, “This is a private club.” And I said, “Well, I'm willing to pay a fee if you'll let me play here.” He just told me to go on to the high school. And then he said, “Oh, you have to be a member or a guest of a member. That's the only people that play here.” So there's like five guys standing across in the same room. And I looked at all of them. And I said, “Hey, can I be somebody's guest?” And they're busy looking at the ceiling, looking at the floor, anywhere but making eye contact with me. So he said, “Well, I can just give you directions to the high school” where it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity. So I'm like, OK. So he gave me directions to the high school. I went to the high school. Kind of hard to find, but I finally found the courts. And went and there was a lady and her son. So I went and asked them if they would play with me. And they said, yes, I was really happy. So I played me against those two. And I think I had to play left-handed just to– I would never beat anybody 11-0. So I'd make sure I'd go left-handed if I was too good. And I always had the whole court.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you always wanted to give them a point.

Lorraine Rupper:
Always. I would never beat anybody 11-0. And I asked them if I could take a picture with them. And they're like, no. So you'll notice on my map, the empty court right there goes to Maine.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK. So yeah, let's take a look. You did take a picture with everyone. How wonderful.

Lorraine Rupper:
I did.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you wrote down their names. Oh, yeah. You can see just how friendly they all are. What a wonderful map. So you've laid this out. Great memories. OK. I'm noticing that there are-- yeah, look at that.

Lorraine Rupper:
So the month of June, 19 days on the road. And then the month of July, putting the map together. Because that was not an easy task either. Making sure the pictures are the right sizes. Make sure they fit on the area that's indicated. Make sure they're not covering up any states.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wisconsin looks like they were having a great time.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, we had a great time in Wisconsin.

Anthony Godfrey:
Emily, Ben, Gary, and Annie. They seem like nice people.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah, they're a family. And this one right there, sometimes in South Dakota, I could only play with the one guy because other people were already gone. Or they had their own little courts or their own little thing going on. So he played me skinny singles. And he won, I think, the first game. We played again. And I won. He's like, “Oh, it's a rubber match. Now we have to play again.” And so I beat him. And he walks off the court. And he says, “This is the first time I've ever lost in singles.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Lorraine Rupper:
So I was like, whoa, that's good to know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you ever thought about what story he's telling other people about losing for the first time at Pickleball?

Lorraine Rupper:
He probably wouldn't tell them.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have great stories. But you've given all these people some great stories. That's for sure.

Lorraine Rupper:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you tell them when you introduce yourself that you are traveling the country and you're checking off states? Or do you just say, “would you like to play Pickleball?”

Lorraine Rupper:
Most of the time, if it's just three people, I'll just say, “Hey, can I play?” And then I play. If it's four, then you're the odd man out, right? And then I just want to get one game in. I want-- I'm trying to play Pickleball in every state. That was Missouri, that they had their own group of four. And I told them I was trying to play Pickleball in every state. And they're like, “Let's get you on the court then.”

Anthony Godfrey:
You don't pick out the one who's doing the worst and say, “Look, that guy over there in the purple shorts, I want to take his place. And you know you need someone to take his place.”

Lorraine Rupper:
No, because most groups will have everybody that's similar in their ability. Like they're all 4.0s or all 3.5.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK. So they're all pretty well matched.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah. And one in Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania, they did say, “What's your ranking?” So they wanted to tell my ranking before I told them.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is your ranking?

Lorraine Rupper:
Right now it's 4.6 something. But I've been as high as 5.0.

Anthony Godfrey:
When you say 4.6, does that get their attention and make them want to play?

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, well, at the time I was at 4.8. And they're like, “You could be my partner.” And then they pulled me over. Because they're mostly 4.0s.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that helps.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's good.

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's good. And did you ever get sick of Pickleball?

Lorraine Rupper:
No, no. But I did want to leave in Vermont. Vermont was a challenge. I was like, if home--

Anthony Godfrey:
We don't have a lot of listeners in Vermont so go ahead. Lay it down.

Lorraine Rupper:
Well, I was in Vermont. I was just like, if home was an hour away, I would go home.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Lorraine Rupper:
I was not in it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Was it because of Vermont or because at that stage of the trip, it just felt like a lot?

Lorraine Rupper:
No, I was just going to so many places and trying to find people to play. I went to all the five places that were in that town. And they're like, “Oh, you might have to go to this other town two and a half hours away.” And I was like, “Oh.” And I was just so tired of traveling. I'd gone all the way up. And I was just like, “I don't want to be here anymore. I just want to be home.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more tales of travel from our counselor with a passion for pickleball.

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

Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, I'm told that you have a pickleball drawer in your office. You have lots of drawers in your office. Can you tell me which one and what's going on in there?

Lorraine Rupper:

You want to open that one?
Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. Let's open her up. Oh, my heavens. Well, that's a...That is a heavy box. Wow. That is heavier than a tennis racket. Look at that. September Showdown, Salt Lake County. Good grief.

Lorraine Rupper:
Notice it's a gold medal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah.

Lorraine Rupper:
That one's bronze.

Anthony Godfrey:
The Big Dill Pickleball Tournament. That may be my favorite right there. Oh wow. How long have you been playing pickleball to earn all of these awards?

Lorraine Rupper:
About 10 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Portneuf Medical Center. These are not participant awards. These are the awards of a victor. Utah Pickleball first place, PTSD awareness. I like that one.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's a ton. Bravo. Congratulations.

Lorraine Rupper:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are not a casual player. That was established right out of the chute. Look at that. Now, I understand that you did have an afterschool program at West Jordan Middle School.

Lorraine Rupper:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that.

Lorraine Rupper:
Well, they just needed someone to do different activities. If you have a hobby or something you like to do, sign up. So I'm like, okay, Miss Garrison, I will sign up to do pickleball afterschool. And so they had lines painted in the gym and we would just set up the nets. Once a week, we'd get the kids out, teach them to play, and we'd play. And it was so fun. Super fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's fantastic. And the kids take to it quickly?

Lorraine Rupper:
Yeah. It's easy to pick up and hit a ball with a paddle, right?

Anthony Godfrey:
Easy to play. Difficult to master.

Lorraine Rupper:
The hardest part is learning how to keep score.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Switching up that first time and yeah.

Lorraine Rupper:
Three numbers. I'm like, the third number is always a one or a two. I'm a numbers person because I graduated in math education. I taught math for 20 years. That's what I did at West Jordan Middle School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Lorraine Rupper:
So I taught math there. But then I was able to get a counseling job. And so...

Anthony Godfrey:
I can never keep track. I stop and I say, no, wait, what was it? 75-1? 751? I don't know. What is the next adventure for you? This is tremendous that you took this trip. I love a good road trip. And I'm quite envious actually that you have managed to see so many states in such a short period of time. I've seen all 50 states, but it took me 50 years to do it. Not 19 days and one other trip. So tell me, what's the next adventure? Meeting you and seeing the energy that you have, I can't imagine that you're done.

Lorraine Rupper:
I'm not done, but I don't know what that next adventure could be yet.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Yeah.

Lorraine Rupper:
Maybe it's teaching more middle schoolers how to play and get the passion of playing.

Anthony Godfrey;
I like the sound of that. I like the sound of that. I know you have your equipment, so let's step out and knock the ball around a little bit.

Lorraine Rupper:
Okay.

Anthony Godfrey:
So show me some basics that will, you know, make it so that I can take the heat and stay in the kitchen.

Lorraine Rupper:
Okay. You want to hold it with one hand?

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Lorraine Rupper:
Are you left-handed?

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm left-handed. I apologize.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, no, I love left-handed players.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. Great.

Lorraine Rupper:
All right. So you just want to hit it soft and into the kitchen. There you go. Take one step in and one step out. There you go.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it feels good.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, that's good. If you want to, go ahead and whack it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have a feeling you're going to whack it back if I do though.

Lorraine Rupper:
Oh, that's true. That might happen. You never know.

Anthony Godfrey:
So show me something that you do in the kitchen to throw people off.

Lorraine Rupper:
Well, not necessarily in the kitchen, but outside the kitchen.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right, around the kitchen.

Lorraine Rupper:
So say you're dinking like this, dinking like this.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oops. No, that's not. It's a good thing people can't hear it not going over the net on the other side. Well, my instinct was to reach out and grab it because it was going by me for sure. Wow. It even kind of stings. You really put some mustard on that one.

Lorraine Rupper:
Sorry, hopefully I didn't sting you too much.

Anthony Godfrey:
No, no, it's great. Lay it on me. Lorraine, it's been a pleasure talking with you, playing with you, and I'm really excited for whatever next adventure you have. I think there are a lot of lucky people out there that got to play pickleball with you across the country.

Lorraine Rupper:
I was lucky to play with them really. Some of them some great people out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for the time and thanks for everything you do here at West Hills.

Lorraine Rupper:
Okay.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
How many hours in a row, if you didn't have anywhere else you had to be, do you think you could skate non-stop before you got tired of it? Do you ever get tired of skating?

JaShawn:
I've skated for 10 hours before.

Anthony Godfrey:
10 hours straight? That is so awesome and it's so much better than sitting for 10 hours straight with a screen in front of you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Today we're heading out to a local skate park to meet South Hills Middle School student, JaShawn Hill. JaShawn has some serious skills on wheels and he wants to become a professional skateboarder. Find out about the grit it will take to get him there and the lessons he's learning along the way. Lessons that are helping JaShawn in competitions across the country and in the classroom.

And now we meet up with JaShawn on the heels at a national skateboarding competition.

We're talking with JaShawn Hill here at the Bluffdale Skate Park. Thanks for talking with me today. Tell me about some of your accomplishments as a skater right now.

JaShawn:
Just practicing every day and stuff. Trying to become pro.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you been in competitions lately?

JaShawn:
Yeah. I was like in one like a month ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that.

JaShawn:
I got third place. Tried my best.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what kind of competition is that? What's the competition called?

JaShawn:
Street competition.

Anthony Godfrey:
Street competition.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what does street competition involve? Lots of ollies I'm sure.

JaShawn:
Well, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's the only term I know. You're going to teach me some slang. Some skateboarding slang. Tell me what's involved in that street competition.

JaShawn:
Like ledges, rails, like eight stairs.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's set up as if you were just doing some street skating as opposed to on a course or in a park like this.

JaShawn:
Pretty much, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So do you have a specialty going downstairs? Going along a rail?

JaShawn:
Going on rails and downstairs.

Anthony Godfrey:
And downstairs? So tell me what goes through your mind the first time you skateboard down some stairs.

JaShawn:
Don't fall.

Anthony Godfrey:
Don't fall. But skateboarding involves a lot of falling. When I've watched skate videos over the years, there's a lot of falling and picking yourself back up and figuring out how to make the trick stick that time, right?

JaShawn:
Yeah. I just fell. Just barely.

Anthony Godfrey:
You just barely fell? What were you trying to do?

JaShawn:
Just back tail slide.

Anthony Godfrey:
A back tail slide?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what does a back tail slide involve?

JaShawn:
You do like an ollie, but you 180 halfway on the ledge and you put your tail on the ledge and slide it and you pop right out.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you try to slide. So the back of the skateboard would be along the ledge. Can we go to a ledge and you can show me what that would look like?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is a pretty cool setup. Is this your preferred park?

JaShawn:
Yeah. I like this park.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is a cement ramp with some cement sides to it and it's reinforced with metal edges so those edges don't wear down. Show me what the skateboard would do if you were doing that trick. The back– tell me what it's called again?

JaShawn:
Back tail slide.

Anthony Godfrey:

Back tail slide. So show me a back tail slide.

JaShawn:
So I go like this and then I go like that and then you go down.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Actually I'm going to have to see you do that. Okay. Let's see you try it again.

JaShawn:
Actually actually.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you done this a lot?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

JaShawn:
I'll do it right there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright. Let's see you do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I could not. If I tried that, we would be calling 911 shortly and I would be healing for many weeks. Tell me about your board here.

JaShawn:
I got a Directive board.

Sister:
I got stickers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, and your sister is here. Did you get the stickers? You got stickers from the board when it came.

Sister:
From him.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, nice. So tell me, so Directive is a brand?

JaShawn:
Yeah, it's my board sponsor and independent wheels. I mean no trucks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so independent. So the truck is what attaches to the board and holds the wheel right?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So because you're sponsored, do you get some free stuff?

JaShawn:
Yeah, I get free shirts and boards.

Sister;
And stickers.

Anthony Godfrey:
And stickers for your sister. Perfect.

JaShawn:
They promote me so like bigger companies can see me like Nike, SB or like New Balance and stuff. That's my dream sponsors.

Anthony Godfrey:
Those are the dream sponsors huh?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, what is your most difficult trick that you've been able to stick?

JaShawn:
Kickflip front board.

Anthony Godfrey:
Kickflip front board.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How frequently have you done that one?

JaShawn:
I'm getting better at them so like I can almost do like every other try.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what does that involve?

JaShawn:
A kickflip and like a front board on the rail.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so where you slide along the rail on the front of the board.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is sliding along on the front of the board harder than the back of the board?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Why don't you try it? I think that's better.

So he went back up on the quarter pipe just to get a little momentum and gives it a couple of kicks, comes down the ramp, up on the rail. Oh, and it flips around and but luckily he did not flip around. The board did. Wow. What do you call that?

JaShawn:
Kickflip.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a great kickflip. How many times does it go around? 360 or 720?

JaShawn:
Yeah. All the way around once. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Will you do that again? That was pretty amazing. You did that like you were tying your shoe. Wow. That is fantastic. So the idea is to do a kickflip and end it with having the front of the board riding along the rail there.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long have you been skating?

JaShawn:
Three years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Three years and you are how old?

JaShawn:
14.

Anthony Godfrey:
14. So you started at age 11. See, I'm pretty good at math. Tell me what made you want to start skateboarding?

JaShawn:
I had like a penny board and I went down the hill.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, the plastic ones right?

JaShawn:
Yeah. I asked my dad if I can get a skateboard. I got one of the bad ones and I rode that and then I fell in love with it and got like an actual board.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the deck and these are the trucks and the wheels. And what kind of wheels do you have on there?

JaShawn:
Bones wheels.

Anthony Godfrey:
Bones wheels. Yeah. Very nice. Well, I had a skateboard back when I was a teacher and I lived three houses away from the school where I was teaching so I had a cat in the hat skateboard and I would skate to and from school. But that was in the 1900s and I have not been on a skateboard for a very long time and I've never done any of the kind of tricks that you have.

So when you started on the penny, a penny is not going to lend itself to tricks. So you're a casual rider. What was the first trick that you really made work?

JaShawn:
An ollie.

Anthony Godfrey:
An ollie?

JaShawn:
It’s the trick that you need to learn anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now the ollie is kind of, it's just where you're standing still and you just go up in the air. You're able to kick on the back and then on the front which gives you some lift and puts you both up in the air and then you come straight down. Is that right?

JaShawn:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how long do you think it took you to get your first ollie down?

JaShawn:
Like a week or two.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Have you learned some perseverance like just sticking to it until you learn something from skateboarding? Because it seems like skateboarding teaches you that you just have to keep trying and trying. And even once you get it right, you're still going to mess up and you have to keep trying again.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Does that apply to school and other parts of your life that you realize you just have to keep trying and you're going to get it eventually?

JaShawn:
Yeah. Like, you want to give up and you're going to have some like falls.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're going to get some scrapes along the way. Like you did today.

We're here with Jessica Burkhart, JaShawn's mom. Tell me about what skating has meant to JaShawn.

Jessica Burkhart:
Oh, everything. That's all he thinks about. So that's all he thinks about. Like every day he's skating. No matter if it's here, West Valley, in Midvale, anywhere. He goes everywhere. He goes to Ogden sometimes. He goes to Bountiful.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we're under the pavilion here at Bluffdale Skate Park. How many hours have you logged at these tables while he is skating?

Jessica Burkhart:
Oh, I go to the park while he skates. He skates way too long for me. Like he'll be here all day if he can be. If he finds a lot of stairs, he'll do that. We went to California and he found like a, I think a 16 stair out there that he wanted to skateboard that a lot of like pro skateboarders do. So he just came back from Vegas and was skating at skate parks out there as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's awesome. So across the state, really across the country, he finds places to skate.

Jessica Burkhart:
Yeah. He likes to go everywhere. Um, he was supposed to go to Sweden, that got canceled, but that was because of work. Hopefully, next year they can make that out there by one of his sponsors. They’re supposed to take him, which is really awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. So it sounds like he's had some great sponsors that are very supportive of helping him develop.

Jessica Burkhart:
Yes, definitely. Helps me too. Cause I don't have to buy him skateboards.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. He told us about the nationals competition. Tell us about his going to California to compete.

Jessica Burkhart:
Yeah. Um, we had a lot of fun out there. They have an indoor skate park that they held it at. So he practiced there every day for an hour, two hours. They had time frame so we couldn't be there forever. Then he did really good.

He's friends with a kid that did like made first place out there. They're actually on the same team on the same sponsorship now and he does really well. We can't wait till nationals this year. He's already qualified cause he won first to his first competition.

Anthony Godfrey:
Once he started skating, did you see a change in him? He seems very determined and willing to just try things until he figures it out and is able to do things he couldn't do before.

Jessica Burkhart:
Yeah. He does a lot. His attitude changes a lot. He don't play video games. So I'm glad he doesn't play video games. He's not on his phone all the time. He's outside and that's what kids need to do is be outside.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good luck to you and good luck to him and he's got a bright future. That's for sure.

Jessica Burkhart:
Yes. Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back JaShawn will show us some sick tricks.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
So your friends at school know you're a skater, I assume. What do they think of that?

JaShawn:
They think they support and keep trying and stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so have you inspired some others to try skating?

JaShawn:
Yeah. My little brothers.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good. That's awesome. Oh yeah, your little brother's trying it out. What is the trick that you hit almost every time?

JaShawn:
A front blunt.

Anthony Godfrey:
A front blunt. And what does a front blunt look like?

JaShawn:
Like this, on the rail or at the ledge.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just riding that. Oh, coming up on the ledge, kind of sticking that and then you come back down. Okay, can we see that? Oh, there he goes along the rail. That is awesome.

How many hours in a row, if you didn't have anywhere else you had to be, do you think you could skate nonstop before you got tired of it? Do you ever get tired of skating?

JaShawn:
I've skated for 10 hours before.

Anthony Godfrey:
10 hours straight? That is so awesome. And it's so much better than sitting for 10 hours straight with a screen in front of you.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are there some skaters that you look up to? Some professionals that you really admire?

JaShawn:
Yeah. Nyjah Huston

Anthony Godfrey:
How old is he?

JaShawn:
I think like 27, 26.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, so he's an older guy.

JaShawn:
He was just in the Olympics.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, this year there is Olympic skateboarding. And I saw that there are some unique styles from the Japanese that they think might make them successful. Has that competition happened yet?

JaShawn:
Yeah, a guy named Yuto Horigomi, he's Japanese and he won.

Anthony Godfrey:
He did win. That's cool. That's cool. Did any Americans win at all?

JaShawn:
No, not in skateboarding. Well, yeah in skateboarding, but like the vert one. I don't really look at that stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's where they're doing the tricks when they get to the top of the half pipe.

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's the vert. I did see Tony Hawk skate once and that's really his style, isn't it? It's that half pipe and then you do the tricks at the top of the half pipe. But that's not your style. It's the street skate. And the street skating is an Olympic event that's separate from the half-pipe? Is that right? Are you particularly focused on street skating?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. Have you had any injuries so far? Any serious injuries?

JaShawn:
No, not really. I've cracked my rib, my knee too.

Anthony Godfrey:
You cracked your rib and your knee?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that's pretty serious. Does that impact your skating at all or you still feel pretty good?

JaShawn:
I still feel pretty good. My knees are getting old pretty fast.

Anthony Godfrey;
Your knees are getting old pretty fast?

JaShawn:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I think you've got some good years ahead of you. Thanks very much for talking with me. I admire what you do. I always wanted to be a good skateboarder when I was your age. And I think it's really cool that you've put in the effort and you've got the talent and are seeing success. So congratulations on being sponsored and good luck with the future.

JaShawn:
Thank you.

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