Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is an unsolved mystery for students at Foothills Elementary School. How did goats get into the basement of the building where Principal Abe Yospe says they now live?

On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Foothills for the school's annual Halloween parade to talk with a student about his custom costume. We also track down Principal Yospe to ask the probing question, "Are goats really living in the basement or is it a tall tale?" Join us as we solve the mystery and celebrate Halloween with Foothills Elementary.

I’m here with Amee Kovacs in her sixth-grade classroom at Foothills Elementary on Halloween. How are you today? It's a great day at Foothills Elementary.

Amee Kovacs:
It is such a great day. We had so many kids dress up in so many fun unique costumes. We're having a blast here.

Anthony Godfrey:
I always love being in schools on Halloween. It reminds me of just the joy of being at an elementary school. Tell me what are some of your favorite costumes this year?

Amee Kovacs:
Oh man, well we've seen lots of Barbies. That's been a very popular costume.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. But not a lot of Kenergy out there.

Amee Kovacs:
Not a lot of Kenergy. I wish we saw a little bit more of that, but you know maybe next year. I really like there's lots of fun Five Night at Freddy's costumes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes.

Amee Kovacs:
Lots of blow-ups are popular.

Anthony Godfrey:
I saw three blow-up dinosaurs together. Those guys coordinated in advance.

Amee Kovacs:
Right, right. Hopefully, kids are dressing up warm. That's my one thing - I'm glad everyone was wearing long sleeves and dressing warm today.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I also love to see the theme that various grade levels do. And you are a Sesame Street theme.

Amee Kovacs:
We are Sesame Street theme.

Anthony Godfrey:
I saw a few grouches and then a few people were actually dressed as Oscar the Grouch.

Amee Kovacs:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
I’m just kidding. So you are one of the newer characters.

Amee Kovacs:
I am. I am Abby Cadabby, a newer fairy character on Sesame Street.

Anthony Godfrey:
Abby Cadabby. Well, you leaned all the way into it. Is that a homemade wig?

Amee Kovacs:
I wish I could say I made this, no this was purchased, but I've got the wings, I've got the wand. It's Halloween, you have to go all out, right?

Anthony Godfrey:
That's very, very legit. Very legit. Bravo, bravo.

Amee Kovacs:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me, there's a party today as well. What does that entail?

Amee Kovacs:
Lots of treats, lots of activities. It looks like we've got some crafting going on and awesome parents coming in to help out. Like that is the key to a successful Halloween is getting the community here to help out. And as you can see, we've got lots of parents here to help with the kiddos today.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a big parent responsibility being in charge of Halloween.

Amee Kovacs:
It is, in fact, I usually kind of step back and they just take over and it's fabulous.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome.

Amee Kovacs:
So we had a great day today.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful, well thank you very much.

Amee Kovacs:
Yes, you're very welcome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me your name and tell me about your costume.

Samuel:
So my name is Samuel. I just made this character, he usually, so I just, so I imagined a character a long time ago. Then my brother Bruce, he drew it. My brother Spencer, the person who actually makes these costumes, built the head for me, we found the shirt, wrapped it up, shafted this bow tie from a teddy bear. My brother now has the bear. And he wrapped that up too.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a teddy bear without a bow tie somewhere in the world now.

Samuel:
Yes, yes there is.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me what is the character name?

Samuel:
It's not exactly a name. I don't really know.

Anthony Godfrey:
So your brother drew it, your other brother created it. Tell me what was the inspiration for this character.

Samuel:
No idea, I just came to me one day.

Anthony Godfrey:
And now describe the costume to those who are listening to the podcast.

Samuel:
I don't really know how to describe it, but I've always thought of him as a wire puppet.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Samuel:
That is demonic, I don't really know. But that's all I can say.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I see that there are teeth in a very misshapen mouth.

Samuel:
Yes, his eyes-

Anthony Godfrey:
Scars that make up your face.

Samuel:
With stitches.

Anthony Godfrey:

There are teeth where the eye used to be.

Samuel:
Oh yes. This is like a giant rip.

Anthony Godfrey:
Rip in your face.

Samuel:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the light up gem eyeball is something that really stood out to me.

Samuel:
So my brother just found a little light, put it in and that's it. He made this in like one day. It's not that hard for him. He’s made bigger and crazier.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I can tell that this is not your first time around 'cause it looks so great. And I can't wait to see what you do next year. That's pretty awesome. Why did you choose yellow particularly for the face?

Samuel:
My brother, so the picture was taken in black and white. And my brother asked, "Okay, what color scheme do you want?" And he's either, it's this kind of thing, or yellow. And I thought, "I'll just take yellow this time." and that's exactly what he did. The green light was his own thing, and I really liked that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, the green light up eye really stood out in this parade, and bravo.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's not a character, I guess, in any movie or video game, but it should be, it's that cool. It's good to have big brothers like that, isn't it? Well, congratulations on a great costume, and happy Halloween.

Samuel:
Thank you.

(upbeat music)

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back, we will talk with Principal Abe Yospe about the goats in the basement at Foothills Elementary.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at Foothills Elementary talking with Principal Abe Yospe. Abe, this is your first year at Foothills. How was your first Halloween at Foothills Elementary today?

Abe Yospe:
Oh, it was fun. It was twice as many kids as I'm used to, but it was a blast.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I see that you have the goat costume going today. Tell me about that. It's the Greatest Of All Time costume, first of all.

Abe Yospe:
Yes, yeah, I guess that's part of it. I didn't think of that, but I really love goats and I have got the kids to believe that we have goats here in our basement. We don't have a basement and we certainly don't have goats. But I've been able to convince the kids that there are goats in our basement. So I wanted to dress up as one of the goats from our basement.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me how the whole goat tradition started.

Abe Yospe:
Well at Columbia when I was there, I did the same. I thought “Wouldn't it be funny to convince the kids that there'd be goats in the basement?” And sure enough I was able to. I was even able to find some little baby goats and bring them one day and walk them through the halls and show the kids, yes, we really do have some goats in the basement. And when I say find, I didn't find them on the street and bring them in. (laughing) Somebody I knew had goats.

Anthony Godfrey:
“Hey, there's a goat, let's grab it.”

Abe Yospe:
(laughing) So tomorrow we're doing the same. Principal Richins from Fort Herriman owns goats. So he said, “I'd be happy to bring my goats over”, but his are huge goats.

Anthony Godfrey:
So he's gonna bring the goats over.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, his wife's going to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which will continue to make the kids believe that there are goats in the basement.

Abe Yospe:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
That does not exist.

Abe Yospe:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey;
So how do you convince them of this? Is it just a sign on a door? What do you do to give them this idea?

Abe Yospe:
Well, we do have a sign on one of our doors, that I tell the kids goes to the basement, that says, "Beware of goats." So that's one, there's many steps to this process. Secondly, some of the faculty, they've got all, it's been really a bonding, fun thing. They've got into it and they'll put out like, hay by their door (laughing) or they've even put out like milk duds, so it looks like the goats kinda went to the bathroom around the door. And every morning in the announcements, the students announce who's got goat duty of the faculty.

Anthony Godfrey:
(laughing) - So you've gone all in on this clearly. And so the costume is an obvious one for the first year to be a goat, but you've been many things over the years. Tell me about some of your costumes. I know you're someone who leans into Halloween. Well, I know you're someone who loves Halloween. So tell me about some of the costumes from previous years.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, I do love Halloween. I never thought really that I loved it as much as I do until I became a principal. It’s very fun as a principal Halloween is.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely.

Abe Yospe:
But let's see, what things have I been over the years? So many different things. I've been Buzz Lightyear with the big blow-up buzz. My favorite thing to do is during Halloween day is I'll wear my initial costume. And then I've got just shelves full of costumes that I'll go change throughout the day. And so I'll keep going back to the classrooms as a different thing. And the kids will be like, “How many costumes do you have?”

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other costumes you'll be using today?

Abe Yospe:
Let's see. So today I'll be Willy Wonka. I'll be Frankenstein today. I've got big giant boots that raise me up about a foot. I'll be, like I said, I'll be Buzz Lightyear. I'll be the Jedi Knight. So my whole day is pretty much spent going back and forth and changing into outfits and going and surprising the kids with a different one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm very envious because just watching the parade today, it's really fun to see how excited the kids are about their costumes and about everyone else's costumes. And I was surprised at some of the costumes that I saw. There was a Garfield blow-up costume. I mean, that's a throwback. I assume the kid likes lasagna as well as Garfield. And I saw one where a student was dressed in a green turtleneck and was holding a pineapple. It was a Psych costume, which was pretty impressive for a kid to be that into Psych at this age.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, I didn't even know that was still a thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I mean the TV show that ended what, 10 years ago or something. And then I talked with one student who had made his own character and his own costume. It was very impressive. There were a couple of "It" clowns also that were very small, like a second-grade "It" clown. I thought that is advanced horror appreciation for someone to be willing to wear a clown costume that scary at that age. Any favorites that you've seen in the parade today?

Abe Yospe:
Well, there was a young lady that dressed up like a goat because she knew about this goat thing. So she and I took a picture together and she had a great, she had a goatee and she looked great. In fact, I even texted her mom a picture.

Anthony Godfrey:
A goatee? (both laughing) That's awesome. You texted her mom a picture?

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, so she could see, this was my favorite costume.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's cool.

Abe Yospe:
Seems like there were a lot of light-up things too. Things with lights this year were like-- -

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, lots of lights and lots of Five Nights at Freddy's. Costumes have come a long way from my day when there was just the rubber band at the back that was stapled to the sides of the mask. Now, in addition to the kid costumes, I always love in elementary schools to see how various teams, grade levels dress in a theme. What are some of the themes that you saw today?

Abe Yospe:
Well, there were two grades that dressed up as Sesame Street themes, and they didn't know they were gonna do that. So we've got lots of Sesame Street characters roaming around here. And then my favorite was our special ed team that dressed up as Mario Kart and threw coins in the air and the discs at each other.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, they had the turtle shells, red and green, which was an impressive added detail. I saw lots of Pink Ladies today. I think the recess and copy aids were all Pink Ladies. And in addition to loving the costumes having a great time with the kids and the staff. You also have a favorite Halloween candy and I've known this for some time. Tell us about that.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, so I love Milky Way. I don't love them as much as I used to because I've gotten so many over the years. So I always go around the day of, if you want to bring me one Milky Way from your Halloween candy, I'd love it. You could bring me more if you want. And you don't have to if you love Milky Way, you don't have to bring me a Milky Way. But over the years, I've gotten more and more Milky Way. So when I was at Columbia, I broke the record. I think the record that I got was 1,250 some odd Milky Ways.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Abe Yospe:
I've already got four huge jars full here and this hasn't been Halloween yet. So I just convinced the kids to try to bring me Milky Ways and it's a great thing. In fact, when I was at Columbia, that spread through the neighborhood. So the parents would actually give out Milky Ways knowing that they'd say, “here's one for you and here's one for Mr. Yosbe.” And so it was a great way to reach the community members as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
The Milky Ways have maybe been a little much at this point.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, I'm a little Milky Wayed out. Last year I ate about 50 and then I put the rest in the teacher's lounge for them to eat. And 50 was a lot of Milky Ways. (laughing) Everyone says, why don't you make it something else? Like, what else do you like, Peanut m&ms or something? But now it's so entrenched.

Anthony Godfrey:
You gotta stay consistent.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, they know Milky Way is his thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
You would lose authenticity if you switched from Milky Way, quite frankly. And, you know, Milky Way, before I knew that they were a favorite of yours, always seemed to be missing something. No peanuts, you know, nothing crunchy. But I learned a new appreciation for them when I realized that you had, you know, leaned in so hard on the Milky Way theme.

Abe Yospe:
Yeah, well I'm a huge caramel guy, so the mix of the caramel and the chocolate in there, so good. In fact they have these caramel Milky Ways, have you seen those? They're in gold packaging, and it's more caramel than a normal Milky Way, so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, wow, you just blew my mind. Well, happy Halloween, thanks for letting us visit, and have a great rest of your Halloween day. Good luck with all those costume changes.

Abe Yospe:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
More costume changes than a Katy Perry concert. [LAUGHTER] [ Music ] 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 was a night of music and memories at Bingham High School as former choir directors traveled from far and wide to reunite, take a step back in time, and reflect on the legacy they helped create.

On this episode of the Supercast, we hear from Jolene Dalton Gailey, LeAnna Willmore, Kerrin Gates, Ryan North, and Logan Bingham about what makes the music program and students so special at Bingham and what moved them most about the magical reunion.

We're here with current and past choir directors here at Bingham High School, way back into the 1900s. And we are really excited to have you all here. Just introduce yourselves, each of you, and then I have just a couple of questions for you. But it's really exciting to see you all here together at the same time.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
I'm Jolene Dalton Gailey and I was here from 1984 to 1991.

LeAnna Willmore:
LeAnna Willmore 1991 to 1999.

Kerrin Gates:
I'm Kerrin Gates and I taught here from 2008 to 2014.

Ryan North:
I'm Ryan North and I taught here from 2014 to 2023.

Logan Bingham:
I'm Logan Bingham and I am the current choir director, my first year here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me how it feels to be here tonight.

Kerrin Gates:
It's exciting. It's different coming back as a visitor and this is actually the first time I'm seeing the new performing arts area, the renovations that have happened. So it's really exciting to see to see that and meet up with former students and their parents.

LeAnna Willmore:
This is the site of where I met my husband and married him.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
And so this place has more importance to me than just about any place I've taught.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is it bringing back memories?

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic.

LeAnna Willmore:
Okay I love I have Bingham High.I couldn't get over when I was here the traditions, how they honor the traditions and where they started and where they were going. It's just the mos traditional high school that I've ever been in. I've taught now in one, two, three, four different high schools.

Ryan North:
It's only been a few months since I was here last, but it's good to be back. It's good to see some of the students that I know and it's just, it's good to feel that energy, energy that you get on the night of a concert. You can feel that. It's just in the air and I just love that feeling. That was one of my favorite parts of the job.

Logan Bingham:
Well, I'll just add one of the things that we talk about at Bingham is they talked about being a legacy high school and so one of my things that I wanted to do is figure out how to involve and engage with the alumni and since I knew some or a lot of the past directors, I thought well maybe we could do something. Anyway, this is like you you know, planning coming true. And I mean, I'm just thrilled that they're all here. So it's really exciting to see everyone.

Anthony Godfrey:
These are all names that I've heard before and people I've met before, but now to see you all together tonight is really exciting. Tell me what made you want to be a choir director?

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
The woman standing next to me was my junior high school and high school choir director.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
And so I knew from about 12 years old that I wanted to do what she did because it was so impactful. And then as I studied, then the music became so important.

Anthony Godfrey:
LeAnna, I know that's not news to you, but how does it feel to hear that?

LeAnna Willmore:
It means a lot to me. You can imagine what kind of a student she was. I still remember the day when she was in the seventh grade, and I had this piece of music that I needed a pianist for and it was really hard. And I just said, who wants to play this? And she said, I do. And she took it home and practiced all night and came home, came the next day and she could play it. It was way beyond her.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
I can still play it.

Anthony Godfrey:
(laughing) - It's burned into your memory. Wow.

LeAnna Willmore:
Those are the very things that make you want to be a choir director. You just, you have those students that will just gobble it up. They all do.

Anthony Godfrey;
Sure.

LeAnna Willmore:
And you can change lives through the music, through the text, through the feelings in the music, you can change lives for the better. You can take someone and help mold them into a better person.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thousands of lives have been changed by this chain of directors here.

Ryan North:
One of the things I loved most about being a choir teacher, and this is something that we would get as choir teachers, let's say a math teacher might not get, is we oftentimes have the same students for two, three years, and you get to build a relationship with those students over three years, and you really get to know them, and they really get to know you. And you do, you get to see you get to see them grow you get to see them change. You keep in contact with them long after they graduate. You know, you get the wedding invitations and all the announcements about what's going on and it's just that's one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

Logan Bingham:
Well, and not not to you know throw the others under the bus but we don't have reunions like this for math classes or for English classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
My English students didn’t say, "Let's all get together.”

Logan Bingham:
Right, so I mean that is the beauty of music and not just music but then the culture and the experience that the high schoolers get.I mean they're amazing. The things that they do are incredible and so for me it was that I had a great music teacher that inspired me and I think that's probably how a lot of us got into this thing of we had someone that inspired us and then we decided, "Hey, I'll give it a shot too.”

Kerrin Gates:
Yeah, I had an interesting experience as a teenager in choir myself. I started out - my mother was very musical and she taught us all as kids and so we had kind of musical education throughout our early years of education. But when I went to high school I joined choir and a lot of the experiences I had there, just in an interesting moment of clarity as a teenager, I thought it's important that kids this age have a safe place where they can practice being themselves, you know what I mean. And practice that changing voice and understand things that are okay and not have to be scared. So to me, that was one of the things that inspired me to become a teacher in general, was this idea that kids need a safe place to be and to grow and to find out, you know, who they are and what they want to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of your favorite memories as choir director?

LeAnna Willmore:
The rehearsal was really more fun than the performance usually. That's where the magic happened. The most beautiful moments happened in the rehearsal and you always hoped that they would carry over into the performance and the audience would feel it but it was it was the rehearsal.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've had many favorite memories in those rehearsals over the years. Anyone else?

Kerrin Gates:
Well and like Ryan said those those times when you just see them get it too, the light will go on and when they make the connection between rehearsal and what happens in performance you know it's the performance then seems like a little bit of a flash in the pan after all you've gone through to get to that you know snapshot of all your work.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah that's the magic of learning it's something they didn't think they could do.

Kerrin Gates:
And they can make that connection and go ah that's what it's about.

Ryan North:
And some of the best memories too, are not musical memories. It's just maybe a connection you have with a student over something non-musical related. You know, you just make a connection and there's some sort of special understanding that happens there and you just feel like, ‘okay, we've got something here between us now’ and you feel like you can be influential in their life and you feel like you've made a little bit of a difference. That happens frequently too and you don't always realize it at the time and they'll come back to you later, you'll get a note at the end of the year or a parent will say something or it'll be years later they'll say, "hey do you remember when this happened? That really meant a lot to me.” And that's like, ‘Oh, wow.’

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
I agree with everything they've said. But to add to that, the ability to be able to take students on tours away from this area, to take them to Vancouver, British Columbia, to take them to Arizona, to take them to California, to take them and watch them go, wow. And then to have their music influence and affect people that aren't their moms and dads in the audience and to find out that they have the power to affect other lives with their music. You don't get that very many places.

Ryan North:
I always loved it because I think we did three trips to New York while I was here at Bingham and I just loved watching them when we get to New York. Their eyes would just open really wide like we are not in South Jordan, Utah anymore There's a whole other world out there outside of this little valley here. I love that.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
Yeah, that’s a gift.

Ryan North:
Yeah, and that's an important educational moment as well. It may not be music-related, but it's life-related.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's your favorite time signature? ⅞?

Kerrin Gates:
Oh, something asymmetrical.

Jolene Dalton Gailey:
Thank you. ⅝ now and then.

Logan Bingham:
I love a good 6/8.  A little one, two, three, four, five, six.

Anthony Godfrey:
No ¾ huh?

Kerrin Gates:
Only if you're doing quarter note triplets in it.

LeAnna Willmore:
Only if you’re doing one beat per minute.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, all right. Fair enough. Fair enough. Any other thoughts or memories about Bingham?

LeAnna Willmore:
I have an overall thought about teaching music. And I don't know if this happens every place, but it happens for us at the end of a class period, you will have students say, "Thank you. It was a good class today. Thanks for what you do for us." That just - you get notes. You get so many notes. I had boxes, boxes of notes that I finally went through and read during COVID.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

LeAnna Willmore:
Just boxes, but it's the personal thank yous that they say as they're leaving the class. They don't just walk out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sounds like you've had a similar experience.

Kerrin Gates:
I actually had a file in my cabinet in my office that I just labeled ‘happy file’ and I would take it out sometimes and just read those kind little notes that they would sometimes leave and it does it. It fills you back up a little bit, you know after you give so much.

Ryan North:
My time here at Bingham, I'm just filled with gratitude. There is a rich tradition of choral music here at Bingham going way, way back. And these three ladies here to my right here, they were part of that tradition and I just got to come in and kind of stand on their shoulders and continue to build upon what they had built. I'm just grateful to all three of you and the others who are not here for establishing that tradition and maintaining that tradition here at Bingham because it really is an important part of the school culture here. The Madrigals still sing at every assembly and you know that doesn't just happen overnight, I mean, that has to be embedded in the school culture so thank you for upholding that and I hope that just continues forever.

Logan Bingham:
Well, and I'll just add that's why I titled this whole event "We'll Always Remember" which is the first words of our school hymn that is sung all the time. "We Will Always Remember" this place and the legacy of this wonderful choir program and this event, which I hope is another kickoff to another almost maybe era of great onward and upward emotion for the Bingham High choirs. And, I mean, how lucky am I to be standing on the shoulders of you four and many more that aren’t here and I'm just so grateful for all that you've done too.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've long known about the music tradition at Bingham and it's really wonderful to meet the people who are responsible for it. Thank you very much for everything you've done for students over the years and for Bingham and for just being a part of this very important tradition here for these folks.

Ryan North:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, hear a performance from the Bingham High School Choir.

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

Choir singing Bingham High School Hymn:
We’ll always remember the blue and the white
And faces so tender and dear –
We’ll always remember the stars in the night
That shine on our campus so clear.
We’ll always remember the laughs and the smiles
And the struggles, the sorrows and tears.
But though we may travel o’er many strange miles,
We’ll always remember in May and September –
Bingham High as our happiest years.

Logan Bingham:
Welcome. I'm so happy and excited to see all of you here. Thank you for coming to tonight's concert/alumni reunion event. This is really an exciting night because I've been thinking about and planning this night for a few months and to see it happening is just making my heart so happy. So thank you for being here, whether you are a parent of one of the prior members or maybe you might be an alumni of Bingham High Choirs. Welcome.

My name is Mr. Bingham and I am the new choir director here at Bingham High. We’re using this event as kind of a kickoff to a new era maybe, that seems like a big word to say, but a new season maybe, that's what this is, like a television show, to a new season of Bingham High choirs. Let's have Bravado come out and sing to you.

(audience cheers)

Yippie-yi-yay
Yippie-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky

Their brands were still on fire
And their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny
And their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him
As they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders coming hard
As he heard their mournful cry

Yippie-yi-yay
Yippie-yi-o

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.

Choir singing:
Yippie-yi-yay
Yippie-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to the backyard of a beekeeper. Find out why Bastion Elementary School Assistant Principal Amber Allen and her daughter, Kauri Sue Hamilton's school teacher Alexa Allen, have a deep passion for honey bees, overseeing the health of the hive and honey production.

We're here with Amber Allen in her home with her family to talk about beekeeping. Amber, you're an assistant principal at Bastion Elementary.

Amber Allen:
I am.

Anthony Godfrey:
How much of your time is spent with beekeeping on the side? That's a busy job already.

Amber Allen:
Well, fun fact, my husband helps me. My daughter, Alexis, she works at Kauri Sue. She's a teacher there. And the rest of our family, we all get together and we will harvest the honey together as a family. Bart and I kind of do the daily, go out and check on them. I talk to my bees. We can talk about that later.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes.

Amber Allen:
We have to make sure that other pests don't get inside, so we have to protect them. We also have to check on the babies, which is called a brood. That's probably a weekly endeavor that we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm excited to get into it. Introduce yourselves to the folks listening.

Alexa Allen:
All right, I'm Alexa Allen. I am a teacher at the Kauri Sue Hamilton school, and I teach our secondary and post-high kids.

Bart Allen:
I'm Bart Allen, I just help these two. I'm Amber's husband and Alexa's father.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so tell me what got you started with beekeeping in the first place?

Amber Allen:
I was getting my master's degree at UVU and I read a book about leadership and how a beehive represents leadership. I came home and I said, “Bart, we've got to have bees.”

Anthony Godfrey:
(laughing) - You wanted the analogy to go further than this.

Amber Allen:
I wanted to be a part of it, like entrenched in it. He works at the Salt Palace and at the Salt Palace, they have beehives there by the Japanese Botanical Gardens.

Anthony Godfrey:
I did not realize that.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, we keep them in our Japanese Botanical Garden on the third west and first south.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.

Amber Allen:
So he's familiar. He knew the right connections. He knew how to get us started. So that's really where this all came from.

Anthony Godfrey:
How many bees do you have? Do you know is this quantifiable?

Amber Allen:
In the beginning yes, and I will show you a picture in a few minutes. When a hive comes- there's about 30,000 bees in the hive and it comes in the mail.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Amber Allen:
About 30,000, but within a few days-

Anthony Godfrey:
Airmail I assume.

Amber Allen:
No, the mail.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay.

Amber Allen:
Like the mail person.

Bart Allen:
The mailman delivers it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Gotcha.

Amber Allen:
Okay once the queen gets started, the worker bees start having their babies- I can't tell you anymore how many bees are in there. They average about 60,000 is what I've read.

Anthony Godfrey:
But you started with 30,000.

Amber Alen:
30,000.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Tell me what we have here. We have the pollen chart and it looks like we have several different kinds of honey in front of us. So these are the fruits of their labor and yours, right?

Amber Allen:
Yes. So this pollen chart, thought since you know I'm a teacher, I needed the visual.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, lay it out for me.

Amber Allen:
When we go out to the bees, hopefully you'll be able to see the pollen on their back little hind legs. Right now these are the colors that you're gonna see most prevalent is hogweed and dandelion.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the color of the pollen reflects what plant they got the pollen from?

Amber Allen:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is hogweed? I don't know that I've had hogweed in my life very much, but maybe I didn't realize it.

Alexa Allen:
That’s what I said! It's like sage, like sagebrush.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, which we got a lot of here.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Amber Allen:
So our different honeys right here. This is from Salt Lake.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay and that's a darker-

Amber Allen:
That’s a darker color.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, all right.

Amber Allen:
So you've got Temple Square down there, the Japanese Botanical Gardens, different rooftop gardens than we do here in South Jordan.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we might see hogweed you said which is more of a kind of a yellow.

Amber Allen:
I would say yeah like a mustard color.

Anthony Godfrey:
A mustard, that's a good description of it. And what was the other one that you said?  A dandelion.

Amber Allen:
Dandelion.

Anthony Godfrey:
Dandelion.

Amber Allen:
To me, that's a carnival red.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's kind of almost a peach color, I guess.

Alexa Allen:
You wouldn't expect that from a dandelion.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Alexa Allen:
That orange, 'cause most dandelions are just yellow.

Bart Allen:
It's really cool, the bees have so much of it on them that the color just pops off their back legs.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Bart Allen:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I feel like I've never seen that in real life, maybe on TV.

Amber Allen:
I hope you can today.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I'm looking forward to that. So tell me, this is, so there are some really- like this is a teal, Rosebay Willowherb. So if they got ahold of that, there would be some pollen that was teal colored or gray.

Amber Allen:
What I've learned from Peter, our bee expert that we call for advice, he said a lot of this green and blues up here is more like plants from back East. We don't have a lot of these in Utah. So we might not see these. We could, absolutely. But he said that down here is more the colors.

Alexa Allen:
So more the oranges and the yellows.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wild bluebell or plantain. I wouldn't think those were, you know, plantains, wild bluebells, same color pollen. That's fascinating. Okay, great. So now, so this, so there are these four different honeys that you have here.

Amber Allen:
Actually three, this one's just for Doug.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay, oh wow.

Bart Allen;
Doug gets his own.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, Doug.

Amber Allen:
And this one will be yours.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's dynamite. I don't normally get swag from a podcast episode. So this darker one in the middle is more from Salt Lake where you have some other sources of pollen that are going to influence the color and I assume the taste of the honey as well.

Amber Allen:
Yes, so we'll do some taste testing here at the end or we can do it now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Excellent.

Amber Allen:
Actually, I'm not gonna tell you. I'm not gonna tell you the difference.

Anthony Godfrey:
Don't tell me the difference. Let's see if I can detect the different notes in that honey.

Amber Allen:
I'm gonna let you. So this is from the Allen bees. This came last season. This is this season and just a little bit of difference, even though it's the same neighborhood, same.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this season's a little darker than last season. What does that tell you about the honey?

Amber Allen:
That they use different flowers to pollinate.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just different flowers that they pollinated with.

Amber Allen:
Maybe like some neighbors planted something new.

Antony Godfrey:
So if these had been set out, would you be able to spot, oh yeah, that's ours from this year. Oh yeah, that's ours from last year.

Amber Allen:
I think I could.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just by color.

Amber Allen:
I think I could.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you probably get used to kind of the difference in pollen and the way the bees are behaving and you notice things that other people who haven't been involved wouldn't notice.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, and the flavor is a little bit different. You gotta like really, you know, try to taste the flavor.

Anthony Godfrey:
You gotta really pay attention.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, you can get it. You'll figure it out.

Alexa Allen:
You have to be a honey connoisseur.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, you know how people are like wine connoisseurs you gotta be that honey connoisseur.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay all right.

Bart Allen:
This came from a hogweed field.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm detecting notes of hogweed. So actually, honey does last forever essentially, right? Doesn't it? I mean--

Amber Allen:
You might need to warm it up, because it will start to--

Bart Allen:
Crystallize.

Alexa Allen:
It gets harder, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think I read that in the Egyptian tombs, they found honey that was perfectly preserved. Does everyone get honey from you for Christmas?

Bart Allen:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's the neighborhood gift, huh?

Bart Allen:
Yep!

Anthony Godfrey:
But I'm sure they look forward to it.

Bart Allen:
They eat it up.

Anthony Godfrey:
They count on it. They count on it.

Alexa Allen:
We have cute little tiny jars that we can hand out to people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, very nice.

Amber Allen:
All right, so this one is from Salt Lake.

Bart Allen:
See if you can taste what kind of weed in Salt Lake it’s from.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the Salt Lake. Okay, well, I'm gonna look at the color chart here and kind of compare. Broccoli? Oh, I hope I don't get notes. (laughing) I hope I don't get notes of broccoli in that. I'd rather have dandelion. Okay, let's see. Oh wow, that does have a distinct flavor.

Bart Allen:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can't tell what it is.

Amber Allen:
Can I give you an adjective?

Anthony Godfrey:
That tastes fantastic. Is it kind of citrusy almost?

Amber Allen:
I would say floral.

Anthony Godfrey:
Floral, okay.

Amber Allen:
What do you think?

Anthony Godfrey:
Which flower are we talking here? Wild honeysuckle perhaps?

Bart Allen:
That could be it, yeah.

Alexa Allen:
What do you have in the botanical gardens?

Bart Allen:
They're all Japanese. Actually, we don't have a lot of flowers, we have a lot of greenery and shrubs.

Amber Allen:
It's definitely not asparagus.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is not asparagus, it is not broccoli. Thank goodness. That tastes so good. Wow.

Bart Allen:
It certainly tastes different from regular honey you buy in the store.

Anthony Godfrey:
It does. It has a great little zing to it, little zip.

Bart Allen:
Yep, that's exactly a good adjective.

Amber Allen:
So this is from the Allen bees from Miss Kitty's hive.

Bart Allen:
Miss Kitty.

Amber Allen:
That's my queen, Miss Kitty.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's give it a shot. Oh wow. That does have a distinct flavor. Of course, I'm going to be terrible at picking out what it is. Oh, Knapweed. Oh no, Hairy Willow Herb. That's it. No, do you know what it is?

Amber Allen:
No, because it would be a-

Anthony Godfrey:
A variety, a mixture.

Amber Allen:
Yeah, a mixture of the neighbor's plants.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's almost like a little tart.

Bart Allen:
At the end, there's certainly a flavor on wild honeys that is a little bit different than a pasteurized honey. It kind of has an after-flavor to it that is in there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you never pasteurize your honey?

Bart Allen:
No, no.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that process probably kills the flavor and kind of - wow.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, it makes it more watery.  The harvested honey like this is usually thicker than pasteurized.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it has a great consistency to it. It tastes fantastic. No wonder you work so hard for this. This is really, really good stuff.

Amber Allen:
So Alexa was gonna show you how- basically once we've taken the honeycomb out- how to harvest it. Do you want her to show you that?

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, let's go check it out.

Alexa Allen:
Okay, so it’s just going to be right over here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. So what we have is a big bucket here.

Alexa Allen:
A big honey bucket with like a little spout.

Anthony Godfrey:
A little spout at the bottom.

Alexa Allen:
A honey spout, cause it's not a regular spout.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well then you open the spout and then you just sit and you wait forever for the honey to come out of the spout, right?

Alexa Allen:
It's like watching paint dry. Okay. So this is a cheesecloth.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. So very tight mesh.

Alexa Allen:
Yes. So last year- -

Anthony Godfrey:
Is it a bag? Is it a bag?

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, it's just a little bag. So we'll put the comb into there and you let the wax will come in here and it just slowly drains.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you just let the wax slowly drain out?

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, and you have to do it in a warm room.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Alexa Allen:
Because you have to make the consistency of the honey to be faster moving, basically.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, sure.

Alexa Allen:
You gotta warm it up ‘cause otherwise you're just gonna sit there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now how do you pull the honeycomb, how do you harvest the honeycomb out?

Alexa Allen:
We're gonna show you that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, we're gonna go do that.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, we're gonna do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great.

Alexa Allen:
But last year we used a strainer that just went over the bucket, which is way easier, 'cause then you don't have to sit there and hold it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hold the bag.

Alexa Allen:
And let your arm get tired.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're not left holding the bag at that point.

Bart Allen:
And I ripped it at the end of last season, so I had to order a new one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, and then yeah, you can also use like tea towels, but we use the cheesecloth or the strainer. And then this--

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is like a Lowe's or a Home Depot size bucket.

Bart Allen:
It has to be food grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, food grade, oh yes. And how do you fill this up?

Alexa Allen:
So yeah, we'll fill it up and it holds about 24 jars.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Alexa Allen:
So we have two of these. So we get about 50 jars of honey from our hive.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Alexa Allen:
And here's a fun fact. That's only about 20% of the honey that they produce.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? So you leave a lot for them?

Alexa Allen:
We leave a lot for them because in the winter, they still have to survive. They gotta live.

Anthony Godfrey:
Honey for everyone.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, and then the honey will come out of this big spout. And obviously, for those who are listening, they can't see the spout. And it's a big, it's probably like two half dollar sizes. That the honey will come out of and then you can fill it up.

Anthony Godfrey:
You harvest the honeycomb, put it in the cheesecloth, wait there for it to ooze out in warm room, and then you can distribute it into the jars.

Alexa Allen:
Yep, and then--

Anthony Godfrey:
Nothing else in between.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Alexa Allen:
What's left in the cheesecloth is either like comb or wax that we can utilize in other areas. 'Cause you can harvest- it's like with the bison, like the Native Americans used to do, we use every part of the honey.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what do you do with the honeycomb and with the wax?

Alexa Allen:
The honeycomb you can eat and it's delicious.

Bart Allen:
Yep, you can.

Alexa Allen:
Wax, I've wanted to start doing this. You can make candles from it. I know that you guys at the Salt Palace do stuff with the wax.

Bart Allen:
Lip balm.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, lip balm, lotion. You can use it for a lot of things.

Anthony Godfrey:
The Honeycomb I've had has 13 minerals and vitamins and you put it in milk. It goes into a bowl and you pour milk over it and it's big, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not small, no, no, no. (laughing)

Stay with us. Up next, we suit up and get our hands in the hive. You don't want to miss it.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
So onto the bees.

Bart Allen:
Okay, let's put on your suit though.

Amber Allen:
Do you have on long pants? I just gave you a topper.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, you'll be right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Bart Allen:
So bees will attack mammals in the face and in the head.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Bart Allen:
So when you're out there, it's probably likely that they'll be bashing into your head and face.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm used to a level of conflict in my workplace. Probably not direct attacks to the head.

Bart Allen:
Yeah. But they'll come right for your eyes and they'll come for your head.

Amber Allen:
Just don't swat at them.

Bart Allen:
Do not swat.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do not swat and don’t take it personally.

Bart Allen:
Do not swat.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm suiting up here. You said my long pants are good enough. I've got a top.

Amber Allen:
Oh, I got gloves for you too.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's gathered at the wrists and the mesh I was hoping for and the wide brim to the hat.

Bart Allen:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
And wow, I feel like the real deal.

Bart Allen:
You are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me about this. This looks like a picture.

Amber Allen:
So the smoker, it reminds me a little bit of Wizard of Oz when the Tin Man, the oil can.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yeah.

Amber Allen:
Reminds me a little bit of that.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right.

Amber Allen:
We put the smoker pellets inside. We also add newspaper just to--

Bart Allen:
Help it burn.

Amber Allen:
Help it burn faster and longer.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it looks like those pellets are specifically for-- Yeah.

Amber Allen:
Yeah, they look like rabbit food.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It calms the bees, or what exactly happens?

Bart Allen:
Yeah, they communicate through pheromones, like we were talking earlier. And it actually confuses them a little bit, which is good. So they'll retract back into the hive and not-- because the guard bees will see those. There's guards. They're going to come out after us in the beginning.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, they're just doing their job.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, they're doing their job. They're guarding the hive.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Bart Allen:
And they'll send out pheromones if they feel like they're getting attacked. So we just want to kind of disrupt that communication a little bit.

Anthony Godfrey:
This looks like a large wooden crate with a little slot at the bottom that some of the bees were coming out of.

Amber Allen:
Yeah, and there’s two levels.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh my heavens, look at all those bees.

Amber Allen:
And they're not upset at all, they are very calm right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
They're very calm. So am I.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, this is a docile hive. I've had aggressive hives in the past.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the hive will have a personality, kind of like an eighth-grade class in the middle school.

Bart Allen:
Exactly. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How often during the year do you harvest?

Bart Allen:
We will do a small one in the fall. But like Amber said, we like to leave a lot of the honey for the bees. In the spring we'll take a little bit more.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Amber Allen:
So in these two houses, the babies are down here, the brood is down here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Amber Allen:
We can try to separate and show you. It's just that there's so much honey. I don't know if we'll be able to separate them right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Amber Allen:

But the brood's down here, the queen lives down here. So when we check for her we do have to separate them and then up here is where all of the worker bees are at making the honey.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have taken- so there are these slats in there, these sheets of honeycomb and you're taking a hook to kind of pull it out and gently pull it out of the box. Then you use the clamp to pull it straight up.

Amber Allen:
Yes. Bart, do you want the tray?

Anthony Godfrey:
You can already see that it's a little bit gooey.

Bart Allen:
Yeah, we're gonna make these guys a little bit angry because we're gonna kick them out.

Anthony Godfrey:
So how do you kick out the bees? You’re just scraping them off?

Bart Allen:
You just touch them, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you’re just scraping them off.

Bart Allen:
You want to do it?

Anthony Godfrey:
Can I scrape some bees off?

Amber Allen:
Absolutely. You just say “sorry, we're sorry guys.”

Bart Allen:
Just be gentle. Say “Sorry, we're taking all your food.”

Anthony Godfrey:
If they stick on me then do I just brush them off of me?

Bart Allen:
Yeah, they’ll go away too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Bart Allen:
You can actually let them off and go on your hand if you want.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, a few of them are flying around a little bit.

Bart Allen:
And if the guards come, like I said, they'll start banging against your head.

Amber Allen:
Do you want to do that out here?

Bart Allen:
Well, we can take that in the house. I just wanted to take the suits off so we can check for any bees.

Alexa Allen:
Before we had the beehive I was the stereotypical person of see a bee and run away, but now I look at them and I'm like, ‘oh my goodness. Look at that little guy, he's just working hard.’

Amber Allen:
You move all of this layer and then that's where your honey’s at. That’s the process Alexa was explaining to you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so the honeycomb is the top layer and then underneath is where you can harvest the honey. Amber Allen:
In the middle and that's the part that we're separating when we put it in the hot space.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. Oh wow. Yeah, that's perfectly formed. That's amazing. I've not seen it like this.

Alexa Allen:
Okay, dare? I double dog dare you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, sure.

Bart Allen:
Oh, yeah, it’s fresh. Let’s do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So do I just put my finger right in there? All right.

Amber Allen:
Okay, we're tasting the honey right off the comb.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right off the comb. Oh, that is so sweet.

Bart Allen:
Right?

Amber Alen:
Isn’t that delicious?

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Bart Allen:
That's crazy it never goes bad. Right? How does that happen? So that means there's bacteria that can't handle it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I mean, I've had a lot of honey in my life, but it's never tasted this good.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, this is the real deal.

Bart Allen:
No pasteurization.

Amber Allen:
And because of Miss Kitty. Don’t forget about her.

Anthony Godfrey:
Miss Kitty, I thank her for her hard work. Alright well, thank you so much for taking the time and for giving me a little window into what it's like to have bees. I think it's fascinating and they're in good hands. You're taking great care of your bees, so thank you for letting us be part of that.

Amber Allen:
Thank you.

Bart Allen:
You're welcome anytime.

Alexa Allen:
Yeah, thank you. It's been really fun.

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:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Governor Spencer Cox has launched a statewide campaign to address the impact of social media on students. On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with one of the Governor's senior advisors, Aimee Winder Newton, who also serves as the Director of the Governor's new Office of Families. She tells us how the Public Awareness Campaign hopes to empower parents and provide them with the tools they need to educate their kids about the potential harms from using social media.

We're honored today to have Aimee Winder Newton in the studio. Aimee is a member of the Salt Lake County Council, as well as a senior advisor and director of the new Office of Families in the Governor's Office. So thank you very much for joining us today.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about your work in the Office of Families. That's a new position that we're all excited about.

Aimee Winder Newton:
It is. Well, about a year and a half ago, the governor, when he did his State of the State address, talked about how we need to be looking proactively at how to better strengthen families. We want the best outcomes for kids and we know that that happens through strong families. So he developed this position and I was hired a year ago. We've got some initiatives that we've set out to accomplish and some policy objectives and it's been a great ride.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, we're really grateful to have you in that position. I know part of that has been helping the Governor and pushing this campaign to help raise awareness with families regarding the dangers of social media. And when you look through the materials, which I've done,  I appreciated the chance to be there when the campaign was announced. What's staggering really is the statistics that you see. It's difficult to see the numbers. We know the impact that it has, but when you see the hard numbers that show just how frequently students are involved, how deeply they're involved with social media, and the obvious negative impacts, it's really harrowing to see that.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, and you as school administrators and our school teachers and others in the classroom, they see the impact, right? You see how it's impacting kids. So just a few data points. In Utah, only 37% of our Utah youth got at least eight hours of sleep on an average school night. You know how important it is for kids to be to school well rested and ready to learn. And these kids are not getting enough sleep. Now, this is all according to the SHARP survey, which has been a great help for us as we look at data for our Utah youth.

Some other data points- 32% of Utah youth felt sad or hopeless for two weeks or more in a row during the past year. And 18%, that's one in six, of our Utah youth seriously considered suicide in the past year. So it's very concerning. We do have some other interesting data points too, because social media seems to affect young women at a higher rate than it does young men. So 53% of female high school students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, which is a 61% increase since 2009 when social media was invented. So some of these numbers are startling. We see this correlation and causation between social media and how it's impacting our kids, and we need our parents to get engaged on this.

Anthony Godfrey:
The correlation, it was 2009, right? When social media really took off and where the statistics got really bad for teens. It's really difficult to ignore that timing.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, and I mean, if you look at the graphs that show like emergency room visits for self-harm from 2009-2010 till now. I mean, it's like a hockey stick. It's so extreme. And so, you know, we're very concerned. In fact, we did a survey of Utah parents before we started this campaign to just kind of gauge where everyone was. And we at least know 88% of our parents believe there's some sort of detrimental effect on the mental health of their children using social media. So we know that parents believe that there's a detrimental effect and what we need to do now is give them some help.

Part of what the state's trying to do, besides this campaign and educating parents of the harmful effects of social media, we're doing things like legislation to help rein in social media companies. We also have lawsuits that we're looking at for harm that's been caused to our Utah youth. So there's things there, but the Governor's incredibly concerned about the mental health of our youth. We're just grateful that Jordan School District understands this and your great leadership to help us figure out how we can get this message out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, the Governor's been a strong voice, a strong advocate for mental health issues for students for a long time. He's told his own story about how he struggled as a teen.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I think that's powerful. I really appreciate your focus and his focus on this issue. Tell us, first it's that you want to make sure that parents are aware of the harm that can be done of the dangers of social media, so that we're not dismissive of that. But then you're also giving tips for parents on how they can engage and help manage that with their teen.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of those suggestions for parents.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, so let me share five tips that we've been talking about. The first one is creating a family media plan. So this is everything from having open discussions and setting expectations to deciding ahead of time what the rules will be. So for instance, when I had kids, my kids are all now young adults, but when they were at home and they were teens, we had a rule that they had to check their cell phones in our bedrooms at night. And so they'd plug in their phone - I did have one kid one time try to be sneaky and put just the phone case with the little plug going into it, but we caught on and that was the end of that.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, that's a good trick for me to be aware of.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, yeah. Be aware.

Anthony Godfrey:
Kids listening, don't try this at home.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Don't try this at home.

Anthony Godfrey:
'Cause it won't work.

Aimee Winder Newton:
That's right. Parents are smarter than that. But we liked having it in our bedroom 'cause we said, you know what, at nine o'clock, phones checked in so that it wasn't distracting them. It wasn't keeping them up late at night. And so-- -

Anthony Godfrey:
My 14-year-old plugs his phone in the kitchen in a particular spot and we even don't have to ask much anymore because it just kind of happens. It's become a habit that the phone doesn't go downstairs at night.

Aimee Winder Newton:
That's awesome. Well, and I feel like if you set the standard with the first child, the rest know, Oh, it's not worth the battle 'cause mom and dad aren't in a cave, so.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I do like that you said you set the standard in advance because if in the midst of an important interaction, suddenly there's a rule, then that doesn't work.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Right, right. And as part of that family media plan, I mean, that can go to TV, to gaming, to anything else. But having those expectations ahead of time, and you know, we even have some parents who have a little contract with their kids that you can only use it for this amount of time and during these hours and everything, And then they agree as parents that if you come to us and tell us about something inappropriate you've seen, we agree to not overreact and get angry, that we will always be supportive of your endeavors. And anyway, they kind of have this mutual contract. So there's a few ways you can create the family media plan. But talking about it in advance and setting those expectations and having your kids even be involved in that is a really good way to do it. So that's the first one.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Second one, create tech-free zones and encourage children to foster in-person relationships. So one of the biggest issues that we see right now is a lack of human connection and how it's affecting kids and adults. Going through COVID and all of that, there was an impact there with that human connection piece. So right now we've got kids walking through the halls at school glued to their phones. They're not saying hi, they're not connecting, and they're missing that in-person connection. They're missing that. They can't just be friends over a device. You have to have that in-person connection for you to really feel that and have it positively impact your mental health.

Anthony Godfrey:
And a device is a really easy way to extricate yourself from an awkward social situation. Even adults do that. While I'm standing around for a second, okay, I'm gonna look at my phone and now I feel comfortable because I don't feel like I'm obviously standing here alone not talking to someone.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Right.

Anthony Godfrey:
And as a result, the disengagement just kind of perpetuates itself.

Aimee Winder Newton:
That's right. Well, and as parents, when we set those tech-free zones, I mean, it's easy to say, okay, everybody, we're checking our phones in during dinnertime, or when we have family activities, or whether we're reading or watching a movie together, bedtime, setting that bedtime time that we talked about is really important as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you're right. I need to be better at dinnertime. I don't know how you knew that, but I do need to be better at dinnertime.

Aimee Winder Newton:
That's why I'm here, Dr. Godfrey.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know. You're here to help. You're here to help.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more tips on what parents can do to prevent some of the potential negative impacts from student use of social media.

Break:
Hello, I'm Stacee Worthen, Secondary Counseling Specialist for Jordan School District. Do you know all the ways Jordan School District counselors can help you and your student? School counselors play such an important role in our schools. They provide parents with resources to help guide their children in academics. They provide support with the mental and social well-being of students in our schools. And if you are in the process of preparing a student for college, or just beginning the conversation of higher education, now is the perfect time to reach out to your child's counselor. We can assist with college applications and college readiness. I encourage parents and guardians to schedule an appointment and get to know your student's counselor. Together, counselors and parents can help develop plans and strategies for students to succeed long after they leave Jordan School District. Reach out! We're always here to help. You can find us and learn more at counseling.jordandistrict.org.

Aimee Winder Newton:
So the third one is, and this one goes along with what we were just saying, model responsible social media behavior.

Anthony Godfrey;
Yes.

Aimee Winder Newton:
You know, there's a study that came out of the Wheatley Institute that showed that what affects a kid's mental health even more than them being on social media was how much their parents are on social media. So when a kid has to compete with Instagram or TikTok for their parents' attention, it's sending a pretty strong message to that child. We need parents to model good behavior with their devices.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a really important point. And I'm getting emails day and night, and it's really easy for me to just remain engaged with that unless I'm very intentional about, as you described, thinking about the idea that I'm setting an example and I need to have these zones that are tech-free.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah. Well, and I think-- I mean, what message is it sending to our spouses and others in our life when we're choosing our phones over that human interaction? The fourth one is work with other parents to establish shared norms and practices. So this is working with your kid’s friend’s parents to say, “Okay, our kids are all friends. Let's agree on which apps or which means of communication we're going to allow our kids to have.” And if you have this coalition with other parents to say, we're not gonna do Snapchat or we're not gonna do, we're not gonna have these apps. We want our kids to be texting each other instead or whatever it is. So much easier to convince your kids that they're not the only ones that have to do this.

Now, I will add a caveat. Sometimes the other parents aren't willing to do it or they don't stick to it. And you know what? You just have to be brave and you have to be courageous as parents and say, this is my kid, I'm going to do what I think is right for them no matter what their friends' parents do. But that does help. If you can get a group and rally together, it helps our kids.

Then the fifth one is to reconsider allowing your child to use social media, period. Our governor has a 16-year-old daughter. They do not allow her to use social media yet. I had a neighbor who they didn't allow their daughter to use social media. And it's interesting, she's 20 now. And I remember there were battles, it was hard. She's 20 now and she will tell you she's so grateful. She saw what that did to the other girls that she was in school with. And she was so grateful her parents stuck to their guns and that she didn't have it. Now they found creative ways to do it. So for instance, she had an Instagram account but she could only use it on her mom's iPad. So she'd get permission from her mom to upload her dance pictures or things like that so that she wasn't totally out. But it was limited. It wasn't on her phone. It was on her mom's iPad and she'd get a few minutes to do that and then it stops the continual scrolling or checking back to see what kind of feedback they're getting from likes and comments and that type of thing. So there's a way that you can do it.

I think parents are gonna find it's going to become more popular to just say, we're not gonna let you have social media yet. And even our surgeon general came out and said, 13 is too young. Consider 16, 17, or 18, and figure out when your child is mature enough. But he, the US Surgeon General has said 13 is too young.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, one of the statistics that I found on your website is in a national survey of girls 11 to 15, one-third or more say they feel addicted to a social media platform. So a third of girls who are not even at the age where we would recommend that they even start with social media, they're already addicted.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Yeah, it's very addicting. I mean, they're creating algorithms to try to keep people on. That's part of it. So this is an issue, and it's an issue for adults too, but our kids' brains aren't fully developed and so that's why we're seeing such major impacts to their mental health.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think it's also impactful when, as part of the campaign, I've heard discussions about how social media is created to be addictive. And I think especially as a teen and even as an adult, once you understand that they are deliberately trying to addict you to your interactions on social media, you're much more cautious about how you approach it.

Aimee Winder Newton:
That's right, that's right. Well, and even in our TV ads that we're doing with this, you know, we show a child with a mask on and it looks like they're smiling and they're scrolling on their phones and everything's A-OK. Then you start seeing the negative messages they're getting about their body or that they have no friends or whatever and then the mask comes off, and you see them crying, and a parent's there to put their arm around and take the phone away.

That's kind of what we're trying to help parents understand is your kids are hurting inside. If you ask high schoolers, if everybody had to get rid of social media, is that better? Or if some can have it and some don't? And they'll say, if everybody got rid of it, that would be better for us. It would be better for our mental health. But they're worried about the social piece and the level playing field because it is such an integrated part.

One of the things that we've even said for our schools is, “Hey, figure out a different platform to advertise your activities.” I mean, there's some apps out there that are not social media based that can still advertise and show fun games and sports events and the things that are happening at the school, but it's not now kids having to go to Twitter or Facebook or Instagram to find out what's going on at the school. It's in an app format. So, I mean, there's ways our schools can even be involved to help.

Anthony Godfrey:
No, I think those are great suggestions. ‘Unmask the Dangers of Social Media’ that's the name of the campaign. I do think those ads are very impactful. And, you know, when you, again, I go back to the statistics. Teens who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. According to a survey of 8th and 10th graders, the average time spent on social media is 3.5 hours per day. So when you couple those together, social media is difficult to manage, especially for younger kids.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Well, and get this, this statistic is startling to me. Almost 60% of teen girls say they've been contacted on social media by a stranger in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. So we're dealing with lots of issues with social media. You've got the potential predator issues. We hear of the sextortion cases and even other issues there. Exposure to inappropriate material that is not appropriate for their age. But then there's other things that are getting feedback on body image. I mean, the body image issue is huge for girls especially. Depending on your worth being based on likes and comments and all of that. Like there's the filters now where nobody knows what's real anymore and how that's distorting their body image. I mean, there's just so many issues that we're concerned about.

Anthony Godfrey:
And some of the issues, as you described, are just obviously problematic, obviously harmful, that many are insidious. They're not obviously on their face- they don't appear to be as damaging as they really are.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Right, exactly. Thus the mask analogy, right? Parents may think that everything's just fine with their kids as they're sitting there scrolling and inside they're hurting. We want to engage, educate, and empower those parents. We need their help. We need them to be brave. We need them to be courageous and to stand up and figure out what is right for their children and we highly recommend that you think twice about your child using social media.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the reaction you've received to the campaign.

Aimee Winder Newton:
You know, we've had so many positive comments about the campaign even from people who have kind of been naysayers in the past on some of this, they've loved it because what we want to do is help give parents a reality check really on what's happening with their children. And so we've had great comments from parents, even from other teens and those who are on social media.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it is a complex issue for families because there are different levels of involvement that parents are accustomed to and children are accustomed to. But the bottom line is that really an intentional approach that's informed with an understanding of how these social media sites work, the statistics on the potential harm, and really keeping in mind the ideas for managing it in a way that makes sense for your family. It's all very important information and I'm really grateful for the campaign and for the work you and the Governor are doing to get the word out.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Well, thank you and we appreciate the leadership with Jordan School District. The Governor is so grateful for all the hard work that you guys do to educate our kids and to be involved. You know, it's interesting how our schools now are expected not just to help with learning and education, but so many other facets of a child's life. And so we know that you see the impacts as well. So thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for all your efforts. Thanks for taking time with us today. And it's great to be working together with you on this important issue.

Aimee Winder Newton:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for everything.

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. She is known as an extraordinary teacher who goes above and beyond for her students every single day. In fact, this amazing educator never forgets a face, keeping a picture and list of every student who has come into her classroom since 2019.

On this episode of the Supercast, meet Riverton High School CTE teacher Buffy Blunck. Ms. Blunck was recently honored as a 2023 “Superstar in Education” by the Utah Education Association. Listen and find out why.

We are here with Buffy Blunck, winner of the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2023 for Jordan School District. Buffy, congratulations.

Buffy Blunck:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's great to be here in your classroom at Riverton High School. Tell me a little bit about the award.

Buffy Blunck:
Well, it was a surprise and I'm very privileged to get it. It was given to me by one of my colleagues and it was one of the ten in the state of Utah that I was able to win. I was one of the ten people and it was a great honor to get this award. They did give me a cash prize for it, which was amazing. So that was nice from Ivory Homes. So that's a neat thing. I was able to do a banquet where I was given the award and I also had the ability to do a speech. I met the other 10 people and was given a poster. It was just a wonderful honor and my principal was there. And then also Melissa Brown and Rochelle Waite, my principal, were there representing UEA and JEA and my involvement with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations.

Buffy Blunck:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's an honor well deserved. I've long known about Buffy Blunck and the great things that you do in this district, and we've talked about having you on for a long time.

Buffy Blunck:
Yes, we have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right from the start.

Buffy Blunck:
Being a health teacher, that's why.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a long time coming, so I'm glad that we're here. I want to talk a little bit about your classroom first of all. The fact that you're a fantastic teacher just is immediately apparent as you walk into your classroom. Tell me about your mug wall. Let's walk over there. Let's walk over and check it out.

Buffy Blunck:
When I came to Jordan School District from Canyon School District and I ended up teaching Health in the classroom, I decided that my theme for the year is, or every year, kind of my philosophy is I'm here for you. And so I really like to get to know all my students, their names, even though I have, right now I have 252 students.

Anthony Godfrey;
Oh wow.

Buffy Blunck:
But I get to know their names and then at the end of the semester, when they leave, they have the opportunity to do a little Polaroid picture. So on my wall, I have all my students starting from 2019 when I kind of came up with this idea. And they're all up on my wall. For the past, I would say, missing COVID, of course, I wasn't able to do that, but you can see even a group of students back there with masks on.

But it just shows my students how much they mean to me. And when they come in and they see their brothers or sisters or their friends, they love to see all of their names and their pictures on the wall. So it's just my little mug wall. And I think they love to see that and see the connection that I have. And I have seniors that come back 'cause I mostly teach sophomores, and they'll come back and wanna get a picture of their senior, or look at them when they were a sophomore. And I don't force them, so it's just something that, if they want to do that, they can, but most of them end up loving to do it. So it's really, and it just makes me happy. It just makes me feel good about seeing all my students and know that they were in my class, and they love to come back and visit and take a picture of themselves or just visit.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the theme, I am here for you. Then you have a sign laid up at the front of your classroom that says that. So they don't forget it. Every day they know that.

Buffy Blunck:
They know I'm here for them. No matter what, any way, in any capacity, especially teaching health and the way things are going, that is something that I'm always there. I always have lifesavers or treats or if they need anything, it's a safe haven for them to come. We are very open in this classroom and they just know that I love them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Would you say that I am here for you is your philosophy of teaching?

Buffy Blunck:
Yes, it is, it is. That's how I believe the safety and the feeling of my room should be - that I'm always gonna be there for them, no matter what. If they're having a bad day, just having a place to come where they can be themselves or if they are sad, if they need a break, that I'm here for them. So if they come after school or before school, that I'm always there. If they need to reach out through email, that I'm gonna take the time just to show them I care for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that.

Buffy Blunck:
And mostly it's just a smile, knowing their name, saying “hi” to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, the treats and the sign certainly help but it's the way you treat them that makes the difference.

Buffy Blunck:
Yes, I have my tables are in groups. I have fun things all around the room so they're easily entertained so they can keep their focus or lack of focus. Either way, I'm going to care for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now even even before coming here I did hear that you had some really exciting visual aids in your class. I do. Tell me about some of the things that you have to help them stay focused.

Buffy Blunck:
I just teach Health and so of course my subject deals with all the anatomy of the body. I also teach Health Sciences for CTE. I'm very heavily involved with ACTE and all the CTE teachers for the state of Utah. So that is a big priority to me is to know the body and to feel safe so I have a lot of stuffed animals of the anatomy parts of the body. I have a lot of visual aids of just the body. I'm in charge of HOSA clubs so a lot of the things are tied into CTSO. I really believe in trying to help kids get into the medical field and obviously learn about that aspect of their lives or that direction they can take at the tech centers. And so that's a big huge priority. I’m also a big advocate for teachers on the CTE level. I’ve gone to Washington a couple times to advocate for teachers at the national level.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you’ve held some leadership positions at the state level?

Buffy Blunck:
Yes, and I still do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that.

Buffy Blunck:
I work with ACTE. I've been the president. ACTE is Association of Career and Technical Education and I've been the president of that, and now I'm not the president anymore but I'm on the executive board and plan all the conferences. So we do a mid-winter conference for about a thousand teachers from all over the state. That's in February. I get to plan that and have a lot of fun with that and continue that education for teachers on that and the networking and the camaraderie.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. So you do a ton to support students and a lot to support fellow teachers not just in this school but well beyond.

Buffy Blunck:
Yes, but I am blessed. I have an amazing village here at Riverton High School. My teachers here, my colleagues, they know how much I care about them too and how much they've been there for me throughout the years. I do feel their support and their love. I take pictures, we do the faculty slideshow at the end of the year, but it's just something that I love - the camaraderie that I have amongst my teachers. They're my village, they're my people, and so I'm lucky that I have that network. And then I'm able to share that same love and passion to my students. But it starts, you know, with the administration and the teachers and the people that I have surrounding me, including you at the district level.

I am very blessed that way too. To know people that are supporting me. That have moved to the district level that I still know, and to know that I have people backing me. Even at the UEA level and the JEA level. I feel like there’s still - there's hope. There's still people that are supporting us and fighting for us teachers to help us be better educators and better people all around.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely. Absolutely true. Now you sure seem to love what you do.

Buffy Blunck:
I do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Every aspect.

Buffy Blunck:
I've been doing this for 26 years and I would never change any of it. I don't regret any of it. I've worked in so many capacities and have a problem with saying no. I do have my no button over here that I push, but I definitely don't know how to say it.

Anthony Godfrey:
It looks like it's stuck. It doesn't work.

Buffy Blunck:
It is. I just really believe in being involved. I think that's my biggest thing, I like to be at the games. I like to help out. I'm on committees. I think the more involved you are the better, you know what I mean?

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. Thank you for everything that you're doing.

Stay with us when we come back more with Buffy Blunck.

Break:
Does your student want to become a veterinarian? Commercial pilot? Programmer? Maybe they want to make a difference as a dental assistant, work in digital media, robotics, welding, or web design. 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 and/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. Our two Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers (JATC) campuses offer unique programs to fit your child’s dreams for the future. 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:
Now this mug wall is difficult to describe if you're not here. It's the smaller Polaroid photos, but this wall is plastered with photos of individual students, mostly with their name written underneath. And it's just - it's really fun to see all these smiling faces all together that kind of tracks the history of life with Buffy.

Buffy Blunk:
Yep. There's, I would probably say, I guess there's probably around a thousand pictures above my wall of all of my students, like I said, since 2019, minus the COVID year. And just at the end of the semesters, I take all my students and ask them to take a picture. And like I said, 99% of them do put their name on it and they're up on my wall.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's the first thing you notice when you walk in.

Buffy Blunk:
I did it as you walk in.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's an eye-catcher just as you go in. It looks like kind of a mosaic from a distance.

Buffy Blunk:
It does. It does.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you come up and hey, it's real human beings that have had a great time in your class, obviously.

Buffy Blunk:
And they're all the same and just the mini photos they do. So it is a little bit of expense too, but it's worth it. They're worth it to me.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's fantastic.

Buffy Blunk:
When students come in that I don't ever expect to come in just to take a picture or a brother or sister says, "Oh my gosh, that's my brother up there. That's my sister up there. And they loved your class.” It just makes a connection and it makes them feel safe in here, that they knew someone here. It could be a neighbor or somebody there that they recognize. And yes, when I come in and this is what I see, it's the reason why I'm a teacher. My students on my wall, my mug wall. And so it does help me sometimes when I'm tired or exhausted or even just trying to teach a subject that's sensitive. This wall is a representation of why I do what I do.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is a big group of very, very lucky kids to have had your class. And you've got a lot of wall space, Buffy.

Buffy Blunk:
I know, okay.

Anthony Godfrey:
Many years ahead. Plenty of wall space.

Buffy Blunk:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I mean, we'll knock down a load-bearing wall and get you some extra space if you need it.

Buffy Blunk:
Thank you. A bigger room, I’ll take it.

Anthony Godfrey:
We can start on the ceiling. Let's not let space stop you.

Buffy Blunk:
It won't. It won't stop me. And it won't stop me being there for my students no matter what. I have a fun time teaching. I love teaching health. I think the subject is something that I lucked out, that I get to teach it because it's something that's every one of us. And I love teaching the fun parts of it. I mean, all the students know that they take my class, they're gonna get it. They're gonna get the real stuff, we're gonna have the real talks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, you teach Health and Intro to Health Sciences. Just off the top of your head, what are some of the most important things that students learn in your health class?

Buffy Blunk:
Mental health is a big thing that they love to talk about. And my biggest focus when I talk about mental health is that everybody's different and we gotta break down the stigmas that we have out there. That it's okay if you take medicine, it's okay if you need counseling, and that we all need to be there for each other. The most important thing is to be aware and to listen and to ask hard questions with our friends. And I think that's the biggest thing, but I love talking about it. I love opening up the can of worms and making sure that it's a safe environment to talk about things. And I do. I have students that come and talk to me after and plant seeds and when we break down those walls. That's my favorite part is to break down those walls with mental health.

And then of course, sex ed is always a big huge draw to the class. I love that the curriculum changed, so I have the ability to educate my students on what's important, what's going on out there. Not to focus on any of the taboo things that people are so scared to talk about. I talk about the basics. I talk about what makes us unique, but just the basics of our human anatomy, and then everyone else can fill that in, and we all have our prerogative to do that. So those are the big two topics.

I also love smart goals. I've a big focus on smart goals and mini-goals and atomic habits. We focus on as many things as we can because it's something really hard to learn about as goals, it's always this thing. You're gonna be dealing with goals with your whole entire life. So I try to make sure that they see that they do it every single day and they don't even know they're doing it. So I bring that in in our habits and things that hopefully will change their life.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a 360 approach to health. I love that you're talking about their mental health, but also that they need to ask hard questions of their friends so they're looking out for the people around them. Now tell me about your Intro to Health Sciences classes.

Buffy Blunk:
Oh, I love it. So that class is a little more intense. I call it honors health if you want to call that. We go into more of the different aspects of the body, but more importantly, we learn about all the different careers. It's an Intro to Health Sciences, so it's an intro into the medical field. So anybody that's interested in going into the medical field or any of those pathways at the tech center or the higher-level classes, my medical anatomy and physiology, EMR, medical forensics, any of those, this would be a class to kind of make sure that this is an area that you want to go into and give them the basics. So when they go into those classes, they'll be successful. We really do focus on careers, diseases, and disorders.

But again, back to the careers. I love learning about and teaching these kids what classes, what careers they can go into, the right pathways to get them excited about that. And that's the same with our CTSO HOSA Club, which is future health professionals, which is an international organization. I work with another teacher, and we really inspire these kids to do blood drives and do all of these amazing things. Speakers come in and talk about their different careers. We have activities that we do. We're doing a service project right now for Maui and collecting toothpaste and toothbrushes and anything medical, band-aids, anything to mail that over with Bluffdale City. So it's a great opportunity that we're starting this week and this next month. So that's kind of what our HOSA club does. And more importantly, I just try to get them passionate about the medical field.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if someone is thinking about being part of HOSA, what do they need to do and what does that involve? Do they need to be in one of your health occupations classes to participate in HOSA? How does that work?

Buffy Blunk:
They do not. We actually just had a club rush week and so we just kind of promoted it with all the other different CTSOs and clubs here at Riverton. Then we go into health classes, we make morning announcements, anyone can join. I do have a lot of students that are in other classes or they heard about it from sophomore orientation, we do that right before school, and obviously during the assembly. We just try to get the word out through posters and banners around the school. So anybody can join, I have an application in my room or in the main office and they can sign up. They do pay $20, it is a national fee and a state fee, and we give them a t-shirt. The expectation is try to get involved once a month at an activity or some things that we end up doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Friendship and service included no extra charge.

Buffy Blunk:
No extra charge. And food.

Anthony Godfrey:
And food.

Buffy Blunk:
'Cause of course you have to have food.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right.

Buffy Blunk:
So we're having a little luau with our Maui fundraiser.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic.

Buffy Blunk:
It is a great way for kids that have the same interests are in the same club.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the careers that you cover in the class. And maybe if you can think of some students who have ended up in those careers as a result of exploring them here at Riverton High.

Buffy Blunk:
I do. I actually, my HOSA president that took my class and then a whole bunch of other classes here at Riverton. He is actually now a Surgery Tech student at Riverton Hospital.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great.

Buffy Blunk:
So he is being very successful. I have a lot of students that want to go into be a vet or a pediatrician or an OB/GYN or even have some that want to go into psychology or social work or physical therapy or PA. We cover everything, even recreational therapy is something that some students do. If they're interested in athletics we teach them about athletic training and they can take a class and a pathway. Dentistry. I mean you name it we cover it. Anything from the basic doctor all the way to something a little bit on the way of physical therapy aid or recreational therapy as I said. We cover it all and we make sure that they understand where they are. I've had students who wanted to be a vet their whole life. They kind of take the class, they learn about it and some of them realize it's not all about rainbows and puppies that there is some issues with it, or they're not very good at blood, or they don't want to see animals die. Hopefully, I can even teach them that there might be something else they're interested in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Buffy Blunk:
Or number two, that maybe they'll go to plan B because that's not something they want to do and so I save them a lot of time and energy going into the wrong pathway. Anthony Godfrey:
Figuring out early on whether plan A or plan B is going to be the best path is really important. Well, you've taken great care of hundreds of kids over the decades and you've connected them with great careers and helped them explore their interests and understand their own health better. I can't thank you enough for the incredible impact you've had on students.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you and thanks for even highlighting me. I'm just lucky to be where I'm at and lucky to be a teacher. I love what I do and I appreciate you talking to me and asking me questions.

Anthony Godfrey;
Well, we're very very lucky to have you in Jordan District, and thanks for everything you're doing.

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.