Supercast

On this episode of the Supercast, as our state holiday Pioneer Day approaches on July 24th, we sit down with two history teachers who have a passion for studying the past, bringing it back to life, and educating kids in the classroom about Utah's rich history.

We're here with two of our Utah Studies teachers here at Hidden Valley to talk with them about some Utah history given that our state holiday of July 24th is coming up. So first just introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about how you got into teaching Utah history.

Christina Jacobs:
I'm Christina Jacobs, and I'm the Utah Studies teacher at Hidden Valley Middle. And I got into Utah Studies actually kind of by accident. I was originally supposed to be teaching US History in a different district. And last minute, they moved me to Utah History. And so I had to actually learn it because I wasn't born and raised here. And so that was a fun experience of being able to learn alongside the students. And then when I moved districts to Jordan the next year, I then just taught Utah Studies and I've taught it ever since.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic.

Madison Feist:
My name is Madison Feist. I teach at Fort Harriman Middle School. I've been in the district for nine years now. I started teaching at a high school and then switched over to a middle school. Always thought I would switch over to US History at some point, but I just fell in love with Utah history and I never want to switch. It's the best.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things you love about Utah history?

Madison Feist:
I, like her, did not grow up in Utah. So I was like, what is Utah history about? This is gonna be so boring.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I'm gonna triple down on that because I was not born and raised in Utah. And then I came here, I'm like, you mean everybody studied Utah history?

Madison Feist:
I know!

Christina Jacobs:
Exactly.

Madison Feist:
In 7th grade? There’s a core?

Anthony Godfrey:
I did not study Indiana history in seventh grade.

Madison Feist:
There was no California history.

Christina Jacobs:
There was no New Jersey history.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, see? From three different states. It’s alright, here we go. And so I've always felt a little bit behind. It's like I had my own personal pandemic during Utah studies itself, and I didn't get a chance to learn that. So that's partially why I've been so excited to talk with you guys. It's like, all right, let's fill in the gaps for me as much as anything else. So anyway, you again, were not born and raised in Utah, so you were interested in learning.

Madison Feist:
Yeah, and starting off again, I thought I would move to US history or go back to a high school, but I fell in love first with middle school students and that age group and second with Utah studies and the fact that it was not boring. It proved me wrong. It’s very interesting.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's just talk about a few of the maybe misunderstandings about Utah history. Are there some things that people generally think are true of Utah history that are, in fact, inaccurate?

Christina Jacobs:
Yes. I mean, and I know that I was guilty of this, too, especially in college when I had to take a Utah history class. I always just thought it was Native Americans, mountain men, and Mormons. And that was it. And there is so much more to that, too. And even when you dive deep into those topics, there's so much more that meets the eye. And then when you kind of dive deeper and get into the early 20th century and then start learning about the different groups that come here and learning about inventions that are made here, learning about, like the progressive movement, learning about how we mobilize for war and how uranium was used with the uranium boom down in Moab and things like that, I then realized there's so much more than just those little generalizations we just throw them into.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there are there's a deeper, richer history than some might believe. How about for you Maddie?

Madison Feist:
I'd say very similarly I have a lot of parents come very concerned to back to school night, or the first parent-teacher conferences thinking that this is going to be some sort of Sunday school class and it could not be further from that. It is not only religious history. It goes through the lives and experiences of so many different groups of people and it's really interesting to sit it next to general US history because the Utah experience is a little bit different and just to see how Utah became part of the United States and how they contributed to world events is really interesting.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk a little bit about statehood. One of the things that has reminded me of that process a little bit is this discussion about the flag and the change in the state flag. Because the state flag to me seemed to represent how American we wanted to show that we were here in Utah with an American flag on our flag and lots of symbolism around the United States of America. So tell me a little bit about Utah becoming a state.

Madison Feist:
Utah wanted to be a state so bad. Just a few years after the pioneers arrived, they applied for statehood. They applied, I think it was seven times for statehood over--

Anthony Godfrey:
Seven times.

Madison Feist:
Seven times.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's like the story about the movie script that was shopped around and all the studios said no, and finally somebody said yes.

Christina Jacobs:
Yes, and they were rejected six times.

Anthony Godfrey:
Rejected six out of seven, yes.

Madison Feist:
And it was over a span of 50 years that they were applying for statehood and they came back every time and said that there was something wrong that they had to fix. And that was really disheartening for the people. And it's an interesting story because they fled, these people who are applying for statehood fled the United States for religious freedom. And two years after they get here, they switch and they're like, we love the United States and we wanna be a part of them. Obviously, they become a territory just a year after they get here. But they tried so hard to become a state, and it wasn't until eventually, polygamy was illegal in the state that they were able to become a state. There were other issues, but that ended up being the largest issue.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I've never heard it said quite that way. Of course, if you think about it, it's absolutely accurate, but they fled the United States. Because ultimately the territory became a state, it doesn't feel that way, but that's exactly what happened. Christina, other thoughts about statehood?

Christina Jacobs:
Well, I agree with Maddie 100% on all of that. And one thing that was interesting when she said that they had been fleeing the United States, which was true because their religious freedoms weren't protected, even though when you look at the First Amendment, they should have been. What's interesting is that the US Army approaches them while they're on their journey west to say, “we need your help in fighting the war against Mexico” when they were literally fleeing to what would have been Mexican territory because they were looking at getting away at that point. And so then, in turn, some of them decided to go with the US Army and go and fight for the US freedoms and everything else. And when one looks at it, it's like they– it's not that they hated the United States. And it's not that they were fleeing because they didn't  believe in it anymore. It was just that their rights weren't protected, so they were trying to go to a place where they could be. They still believed in those principles. I think that's very evident when immediately they become a territory and they immediately want to apply for statehood

Anthony Godfrey:
In other words, they were trying to go somewhere where they felt like they could follow the law that was actually in place.

Christina Jacobs:
Yeah

Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk about people. Who are some of your favorite figures in Utah history?

Christina Jacobs:
Martha Hughes Cannon is one that comes to my mind,

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s talk about Martha.

Christina Jacobs:
Mainly because, and this is just a fun fact that I know, is that she was a polygamist wife, but she also was very interested in politics. And when Utah became a state she actually ran to be a senator. More of a state senator, not at our national level because that couldn't happen yet, and she was running against her husband and she won. And there's a statue of her up at the Capitol building and I read that they're going to be putting it in the US Capitol as well. But there was no animosity between them afterwards, which some people would think that there might be with some political tension and whatnot, but instead, they seem to have a decent marriage. But then also kind of see how she was able to kind of break through that glass ceiling, which was kind of unheard of at that time.

Anthony Godfrey:
And she could not have been a Utah or a Senator representing Utah at the national level at that point. Like it was not possible.

Christina Jacobs:
Yeah, not until 1920 with the 19th Amendment.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right. That's right. That's the fascinating thing for me is it was a state senator position, but that was the highest she could achieve at that point. And I've seen that statue, I think it's a really cool story. And you're right you would assume that that would create some serious marital tension but apparently not. Tell me about some of your favorites of Maddie.

Madison Feist:
Brigham Young is so interesting. He has some interesting views and just the way that he set up Utah I think is so impressive, and is studied across the world as an incredible method of setting up a city. One of the projects I have my students do that's really fun is they are put in the shoes of Brigham Young. They have 5,000 people with them, they have a blank plot of land, and they have to create a city. And what they come up with is insane, like Donutville. They have some weird ideas, love them. But his ideas were so brilliant and so visionary for the future of what Utah could become. A lot of what we have now is thanks to Brigham Young and his forethought on a lot of these ideas.

Anthony Godfrey:
So he was an urban planner in addition to a list of many other things.

Madison Feist:
Yes, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me some of the things that we're still benefiting from that initial design and those initial ideas.

Madison Feist:
Yeah, so the grid pattern that Salt Lake City and a lot of other cities are based off of all the way down to where I teach in Herriman and here in Bluffdale.

Anthony Godfrey:
Streets that are as wide as this school.

Madison Feist:
Exactly, right? They are still - the number system still goes back to Temple Square, even down here, which is really interesting that it has stuck around for so long. And then again, the wide streets. So I don't think we have as much traffic as we could in downtown Salt Lake and historic buildings didn't have to be torn down to put in a bike lane or a turn lane or multiple lanes where previously, it was just wagons. You can see in front of the Governor's Mansion, there's still a step in front of the house, like right along the curb that was the step that they used to get out of a wagon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Madison Feist:
Which is so interesting. There's a few along, what street is that? North Temple?

Anthony Godfrey:
I've been there before, but I've never noticed that so I'll have to take a look, yeah.

(upbeat music)
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, I'll look at Utah history before the pioneers arrive.

(upbeat music)
Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things that kids learned in this class that surprised them the most, do you think, about Utah State history?

Christina Jacobs:
One thing I love to show them is historic lands of Native Americans past and present. And we have a discussion about reservations and the different treaties that the Native Americans were forced to sign or that they signed thinking it meant something, but instead that it meant something else, or the US going back on their word. But to me, it's really interesting having them see that because then we talk about, you know, different places that they've been here in Utah and how they've found arrowheads, like even in their own backyards or other things too, then recognize that Native Americans did live here and they still do, just maybe not in the same capacity as they did back in the 1700s and previous to that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I would imagine that's a pretty good portion of Utah history curriculum is pre-territory, pre-statehood, the native population and the impact that settlers had on those populations.

Christina Jacobs:
And also learning about the different conflicts that happened. There were hundreds of conflicts between the Native Americans and the settlers here. But we mainly only focus on about the big five, if you will. Like Bear River, the Goshute War, the Posey War, which was the last grandstand, if you will, and then a couple of others. We don't go into as much details on some of the smaller conflicts just because if we did, it would have to be its own class because there were so many clashes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about one of those.

Christina Jacobs:
We'll talk about Bear River just because that's probably the one- that's the one I know that I use for a document analysis. And, Maddie, I think you might do that as well. It's an incident that occurs up at Bear River, pretty much in the present-day Utah-Idaho border, between the U.S. Army and the Shoshone. And there's a lot of things that end up factoring into it, like conflicts between the Mormons and immigrants moving west, conflicts between the Mormons and the Army, conflicts between Mormons and the Shoshone, and the Shoshone and immigrants and things like that. It all comes to a head in January of 1863 where the US Army goes through and pretty much the entire Shoshone tribe is destroyed there. Historians technically debate this and the US Army still holds to its official report saying that it's a battle, but the Native Americans on the other hand, specifically the Shoshone tribe, say that it's a massacre and there's evidence to support both sides depending on which documents you look at.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tragic no matter how you look at it.

Christina Jacobs:
Exactly. And so I have my students do an analysis, like a document analysis, going through different documents and then writing their own argument of saying, "Here's what happened there." And then they determine whether it's a battle or a massacre. And I only--and I refer to it as an incident in class even though that downplays it because I want them to figure out where they lie based on the evidence that they pull out, where do they feel that it is?

Anthony Godfrey:
And what you're talking about is a document review of primary documents that students use to make up their own mind. And I love, like you said, it's downplaying a terrible tragedy to call it an incident, but it provides that opportunity for students to make up their own mind based on the direct evidence that others would use to make that determination as well. Yeah, that's what a great learning experience and I'll bet it's very sobering for them to consider that.

Christina Jacobs:
Yeah.

Madison Feist:
Yeah, there's a few days that my English teacher asks, "What are you talking about today?" They're so sad and that is definitely one of them. I think students are surprised that Utah history is not just like sunshine and rainbows. There are really, really tragic and dark parts of history that are hard to stomach. Like Bear River Massacre, like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, like different aspects and sections of polygamy and what the US thought of Utah and what Utah had to say about the US. There's just like a lot of stuff in our curriculum that is surprising to students.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you have a couple of posters here as well and we have the benefit of being at your school so I know you have some of these things in your classroom here. Tell me about these posters.

Christina Jacobs:
So my students are also asked to do an ancestor project. We tie this into two of our standards. One which asks about how our own family history is kind of connected to Utah's history, and then one that deals with people and culture and learning about different cultures. And so I kind of combine the two into doing an ancestor immigration project where our students find an ancestor who immigrated to the United States from another country in their family line. And I give them a month to do it mainly because the hardest part, honestly, is finding that ancestor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Christina Jacobs:
I know for some families it might be a little bit easier than others. And so then I just have them answer basic questions like who were they? What did they do? When did they immigrate? Did they come with people? Did they come by themselves? And kind of tell their story a little bit. And the country that they came from, tell me a little bit about that country's customs and like traditional foods and things like that. To kind of bring in that cultural piece because sometimes students realize like, "Oh, that's why we have, we participate in this tradition or that's why we make this dinner and whatnot." And then the last question I ask is how and why did your immediate family come here to Utah? Some students, their families came with the pioneers in 1847 or a little bit later, and then others, many of them came here just recently, whether it is for asylum or whether it's because families got jobs here or they wanted to be closer to other members of their family and etc.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great. Well, that personalizes learning at a very deep level. So let's do that project for ourselves. What brought us all to Utah? I'll tell you, I'll start. What brought me to Utah is my grandpa lived here, my dad grew up here, he went to Ogden High School and moved away and went to school and had jobs and then when I was in high school we moved back here so I lived here since I was in high school.

Madison Feist:
I went to school, college, in Idaho and it was far too rural to have enough student teaching in place so I student taught in the Jordan District and here I stayed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, awesome.

Christina Jacobs:
Growing up in New Jersey, obviously, that's a little ways from here, but I came out here for school. I attended BYU and then kind of like Maddie, we did student teaching, but I ended up doing a teaching internship instead down in a Nebo District and then I stayed because my teaching license was here and I got jobs in Alpine District and then later on I moved here to Jordan District and I've been here in Jordan District since 2016.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well whatever brought you here, all these things that got you to this point, I'm really grateful for. I'm glad you're here and glad you're doing such a great job teaching our students Utah Studies. And thank you very much for taking the time this morning.

Christina Jacobs:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. If you are in the market for a new job, you're in luck. Jordan School District is hiring.

On this episode of the Supercast, we explore the many opportunities for you to work in our schools and buildings; working and making a difference in education in careers like teaching, school counseling, and custodial, driving bus, and dishing up delicious food in our cafeterias. If you're in the market for a job, tune in and let's talk.

We're here with Brent Burge, one of the administrators from our HR department, and with Tammy Rajczyk, one of our special education administrators at the district level here, to talk about some of the job opportunities available in Jordan School District. Thanks for joining me.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Thank you.

Brent Burge:
You're welcome.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have the good news from the board that there's a 7% pay increase for our education support professionals. So I know we have a lot of interest in the positions that are out there, but we always have a lot of positions to fill. We need a lot of great people. So I thought I would talk with you about some of the things that are, some of the positions available and what we're doing to connect with potential candidates out there. I know we have a job fair coming up. Mr. Burge, talk to us a little bit about that.

Brent Burge:
Well, this is a great opportunity. Many people think that during the summer things slow down a bit, but this is the time when all schools are trying to fill those open positions for the upcoming year. And it's a great time to get your application in for those positions if you're interested.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know we have a job fair coming up in August, but we have a lot of opportunities to apply between now and then. If someone is looking for a job, tell us the mechanics of hopping online to see what's available.

Brent Burge:
The best thing for you to do is to go to our website at employment.jordandistrict.org. There's many links based on the information that we have and if you click on the APPLY HERE button, that will take you directly to our application portal where you can see all of the available jobs that we have available throughout the district at each school, at each department. And it's easy to complete an application and submit that for whichever jobs you're interested in.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you can, you know, if you're interested in working close to home or at a particular location, you can sort jobs that way or you can also look for something in a particular job family as we call it with a, you know, custodial nutrition services, information systems, those sorts of positions.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. There's a great way to just sort. A lot of people like to work at schools close to their home and that's a great way to sort through those postings.

Anthony Godfrey:
Another way to connect with a job is just to call the school and see what they have available. And some folks may only want to work very close to home or where their children are attending. And just a quick call to the school to see what openings they have is also a good way to get that taken care of.

Brent Burge:
And you can also call our HR department, 801-567-8150, and we'll be glad to help you get your application submitted.

Anthony Godfrey:
That number again.

Brent Burge:
801-567-8150.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, call now. Operators are standing by in our human resources department, ready to connect you to the job of your dreams. Now Tammy, let's talk a little bit about special education. There are lots of different positions in special education and one of your responsibilities has been to help find great people and match them up with the jobs we have open. Tell me a little bit about some of the jobs that are available in special ed that people might be interested in.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Sure, right now we have 14 teaching positions in special education. That ranges from resource positions to self-contained positions in a variety of different schools including elementary, middle, and high school. We also have itinerant positions that are also available so we're looking for teachers of the visually impaired, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, and SLPs, speech-language pathologists as well. If you're looking for a job, Jordan's the way to go. I highly recommend Jordan School District to all of our candidates. please come to the job fair. We will be there with our booth and ready to answer any questions that you have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you talked about resource and self-contained. Will you describe the difference there for those who are listening as well as itinerant positions?

Tammy Rajczyk:
Sure. So our resource positions we have full-time and part-time and it looks a little different in each school. So our elementary is usually for our mild-moderate students and it can be a pullout or a mainstream or an inclusion classroom. We also have in our secondary, our middle schools and high schools, resource as well and those are for mild-moderate students with a learning disability typically sometimes other health impairments it just depends on the students' individual needs we try to match that.
So we also have our self-contained classrooms that we're looking for teachers and our self-contained students might require a little bit more additional support and we have opportunities available for you to teach in those as well. Usually typically a little bit smaller classroom sizes and you get the more individualized support there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there are opportunities part-time full-time to help students who have greater needs for support, less need for support. You may even be helping in a regular education classroom but helping support them to make sure they're successful there. Just lots of different opportunities and when you work closely with students, then you really get addicted to having that connection with them and it's really important. Having great people is the difference between students being successful and not, so those are really important positions.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Correct, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about, what is it that's rewarding about working with special education students and supporting our teachers as an ESP for example?

Tammy Rajczyk:
Working with students with disabilities is extremely rewarding in all aspects. Whether you're a teacher, an instructional assistant in the classroom, you really get to know those students and get to build those relationships. And not only are you helping them build the skills they need to become independent, you're also establishing those relationships with them as well as the families. You get to work with a team of people you're never alone and that team you work very closely with because we want to make sure we're meeting those needs of each student.

I've worked in special education for over 20 years and I've never turned back. It's something that I hold near and dear to my heart. I love each and every student that I have worked with, each staff member, each family. I still keep in touch with some of them. It has impacted my life tremendously with my own family and my own children at home and just looking at the benefits of giving each student what they need to be successful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Anyone who's thinking, "Maybe I would be interested in that," give it a shot. There are some great kids that you get to work with and some wonderful educators. And if you have any questions regarding special ed, please feel free to call myself or Mike Trimmel at 801-567-8904. And we're happy to answer any questions.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Nathan Morgan, the head custodian here at West Jordan High School. Nathan, thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, no problem, it's great to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
You were described as best of the best and I've only been here about 90 seconds and somebody already told me that.

Nathan Morgan:
[LAUGH] Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know you do a great job and you've done a great job for us for a long time. Tell us about your career as a custodian in Jordan's school district.

Nathan Morgan:
Okay, so I started in 2004.  I was just barely married and we had two kids. I was going to school at the time and I just needed a job with insurance. So I came here and was actually placed here as an assistant custodian at West Jordan High. And then I worked here for about eight years. And then in 2012, I got a head custodian job at Fox Hollow Elementary. And I was there for about a year and then I went to Valley High in 2013.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, and I was there for about, probably another eight years and then 2021, I moved over here to West Jordan High.

Anthony Godfrey:
I say a while because I knew you at Valley as well and it doesn't seem like it's been that long since you were there.

Nathan Morgan:
Time just flies.

Anthony Godfrey:
Time does fly.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, I've been here for 19 years total, so.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. I'm glad we've had you for so long and like I said, you do such a great job. Tell us about some of the opportunities for custodians in Jordan School District.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh, there's a lot of opportunities. So you start out as an assistant custodian, and our director, Steve Peart, has made a lot of positions open. You have assistant custodian and then after that, if you take some training classes, you can move up to lane three. There's JCOS Basic and JCOS Management. And then after that, you can get a lead custodian at a middle school, and then you can also move up to a lead custodian at a high school, which is a little bit more pay. And then you have head custodian at an elementary school, and then a head custodian at a middle school, and then they have the custodian specialists that go out and, you know, they're just kind of, they help you.

Anthony Godfrey:
They rove and help and train and support when somebody needs to be there. And they are substitutes for all of those positions as well.

Nathan Morgan:
All those positions, yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
I also want to mention the sweeper positions that are available. It's one of the few jobs that you can start when you're 14 years old.

Nathan Morgan:
Exactly, yes. You have the sweeper positions.  We have at West Jordan High, we have about 12 sweeper positions. We have eight regular ones that come in every day and we have four subs that come in as well and they check in with me. The subs are kind of like the ones that are in band and they can't show up every day or football.

Anthony Godfrey:
But they can come by when you need them sometimes.

Nathan Morgan:
Yeah, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's perfect. You mentioned JCOS and that's the system that we use to organize the jobs, explain exactly what's involved and what's expected and to do the evaluations. So there's a lot of training, there's a lot of clarity about the job. You can come not knowing anything about the job and we're ready to train you and get you ready.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh yeah, the district does a great job of prepping you. I didn't know anything about custodial when I first started and they sign you up day one on those JCOS classes. Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me what would you say to those who are considering possibly getting involved and seeking a custodial position?

Nathan Morgan:
It's a great job. Jordan School District is a great place to work at, and you know every day I come to work I'm happy. And the students, the students make it even more great. That's why we're here. Without the students, we really wouldn't have a job.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know you're happy every day because you're always smiling and you always bring a high level of positivity wherever you go so I really appreciate that.

Nathan Morgan:
Thank you so much. And we're standing here in the Commons at West Jordan High School it looks fantastic I know things are underway and you're working hard but this is an old building that looks really good.

Nathan Morgan:
This is our last hall. Yeah. We have done all the waxing. This is it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you can see your reflection everywhere you look. It's probably kind of a nice time when the building is more empty. It's never empty. By the end of the summer, you're itching for the kids to be back.

Nathan Morgan:
Oh yeah, we miss them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for your time Nathan and thanks for all your great work over the years.

Nathan Morgan:
Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Take care.

Stay with us when we come back. We'll tell you about Jordan's upcoming summer job fair. A fair where you just might get hired on the spot.

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:
If you are thinking that maybe I'll be interested in a job in the fall when my kids are headed back to school. We also have the job fair coming up in August that we mentioned. Tell me about where and when that's happening and what that looks like.

Brent Burge:
Yes, we have our second job fair coming up August 16th. It will be held at Oquirrh Hills Middle School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The address for that is 12949 South 2700 West. We had a lot of great response the last time we did this and we are inviting everybody to show up and find available positions.

Anthony Godfrey:
Part-time, full-time, every job family. We have 9,000 employees total in Jordan School District. Last year there were 11,000 W2 forms created for all of the people who worked for Jordan at one time or another. There are a lot of opportunities as a result of that. And it's a great environment to work in, working with kids, working with other great people who've chosen education, they're just, whatever your skills are, we have a spot for you and we have a way to help make good use of those abilities and talents and experience that you're bringing. We have a lot of other education support professional openings, classroom aids, this is any position that doesn't require a license. And we have 13 job families that those positions are organized into. So, Brent, can you talk to us a little bit about some of the opportunities there?

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. The education support professionals keep the schools running. We have bus drivers and bus attendants who get the kids to school. The custodians are there before everybody else preparing the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
And long after everyone else.

Brent Burge:
And long after... There's a lot of cleaning that goes on in the buildings. Our nutrition employees who are preparing those nutritious meals for our students, along with those that are classroom assistants, those who work directly with students. We also have a lot of office assistant positions, whether part-time or full-time, that do a variety of jobs within the district.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's really nice is for a lot of the positions you have a schedule that may match your child's schedule. Not for all positions, but a lot of them you can only work during the day after your child has headed to school. You'll be home by the time they get home. But it's also a great retirement position. We have people who have retired from a lot of different careers that decide to come to education. If you're looking for a connection with great people, kids are a great way to do that. Being around students is energizing and can be really really rewarding.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely, the schedule works really well with a lot of our employees. It just fits to what their family needs and it works well for them. One of the additional things that we have is we're offering a sign-on bonus for certain positions within the district that we consider hard to fill. For example, our assistant custodians, some of our six-hour nutrition workers, our bus drivers, and a few within the facilities department. So there's a $500 sign-on bonus if you stay with us for a certain amount of time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell everyone about those positions. Let's start with custodial assistant.

Brent Burge:
Yes, this is a position that does not have any minimum requirements. In essence, you are working at a school either during the day or a majority of our positions are in the evening where you are cleaning hallways, restrooms, preparing the school for the next day.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's a full-time position?

Brent Burge:
It is full-time, but we also have some part-time positions at elementaries in the afternoons to supervise the student sweepers as well. We also have the six-hour nutrition position. Their job is to do the heavy baking.

Anthony Godfrey:
Heavy baking.

Brent Burge:
Heavy baking.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's not a term I use very often.

Brent Burge:
As we bake most of our own breads and things like that, they do a lot of the baking and preparing of the food. And not only that, but serving and then cleaning up afterwards. Very rewarding career as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's six hours a day, but that's a benefited position.

Brent Burge:
That is a benefited position, correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
As is the full-time custodial position. What are some of the others that you mentioned? Bus driver, let's talk about that. And you mentioned bus attendant. You don't have to drive a bus to work on a bus.

Brent Burge:
No, you do not.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just to help students manage that trip. Generally students who are on an individual education plan, there's an attendant that helps make sure that everything goes well on the bus. So bus attendants but also we always need bus drivers.

Brent Burge:
Absolutely. So our bus attendants, like you said, are there to help the driver while the driver drives. They're there to watch after the students and to help them get on and off the bus. We do have full-time positions. We also have substitute bus attendants as well. If you're not looking for a full-time job you can help out when you're available. Our bus drivers, the great thing about bus driving is we provide all of the training for your CDL. It does require CDL and so the district is willing to pay you to go through that training program. Bus drivers arrive early in the morning, pick up students, drop them off, and then do the same thing in the afternoon.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about some of the other jobs that you listed?

Brent Burge:
I talked about facilities positions. We have frequently different positions with the facilities. This group takes care of all of our HVAC, our plumbing, our electrical, anything that's heavy-duty work dealing with the facilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
Not heavy baking. Heavy-duty work.

Brent Burge:
Not heavy baking, heavy duty. Yes, absolutely. And so they are there to handle all of the things that maybe the custodian isn't trained to do or might require a little more skill or expertise.

Anthony Godfrey:
And any other thoughts about some of the positions we have open or just general tips for those who are interested in a position in Jordan?

Brent Burge:
Like Tammy mentioned, we have a lot of special needs positions that are available both

hourly and contracted. We also have classroom assistants that work mostly with regular education students, helping them read, helping them on the playground to make sure they're safe, a whole host of positions.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the walk-to-read positions are really important positions. Every position is, you said it earlier, every person we hire in this district ultimately makes the education of children possible. Thanks for joining me on the podcast and we really look forward to all the great new people we're going to be able to hire this year.

Brent Burge:
Thank you.

Tammy Rjaczyk:
Thank you.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was a music video made from the heart and souls of some very talented West Jordan High School students under the direction of choir teacher Keith Evans.

On this special 200th edition of the Supercast, meet members of the West Jordan High pop group Encore and find out why popular music artist Jason Mraz reached out to them with a message the students will likely remember for a lifetime.

We're here at West Jordan High School in the choir room with choir director Keith Evans and with members of the Pop Vocal Ensemble Encore. Now I've seen your work over the years as people have enthusiastically emailed me the videos that you've put together out on the salt flats if I'm not mistaken. Those are amazing videos, high production quality. At first, you're taken by the scenery, but you're very quickly mesmerized by the vocal performance, it's really incredible. I always look forward to that. People generally know that I'm a music fan, so I always get it from various sources. They always send me your video each year, which is really cool for me. And I'm really excited to finally get to talk with some of you about it. So we're gonna talk with the director here first and tell me a little bit about Encore’s history and purpose.

Keith Evans:
Yeah, so when I took the job from my predecessor, Kelly DeHaan, he's a very well-known--

Anthony Godfrey:
You took the job from your predecessor. You wrestled him to the ground and said, “It's over, I'm taking over.”

Keith Evans:
As a matter of fact, he texted me and said, “Hey, I'm moving high schools, would you like to throw your hat in the ring to be the replacement?” And I thank him forever more for that text. But Kelly is well known in the community as very classically trained. I am not. My background is pop music. I sang with a pop group at BYU as a student, and I've mostly worked in that realm. And so when I took this job, I said, “I can't be another Kelly DeHaan, and I shouldn't try to be. I’m going to be me.” And so I took one of his one of the choir ensembles which was called Junior Madrigals and I said we're gonna do what I know instead and we turned it into Encore which is a pop a cappella ensemble. It's small. There are 11-12, there have been as many as 16 members of the group.

Anthony Godfrey:
You don’t combine it into Pop-a-Pella or something?

Keith Evans:
No other groups have done that before and it's a little cringe. But we came up with the name Encore and we said what we're gonna do is what I know, and it's covers and occasionally original music of contemporary music. I feel like there's a lot of contemporary music that purists kind of turn their nose up to and ignore.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you.

Keith Evans:
For whatever reason.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, it gets overlooked.

Keith Evans:
It does. People say, well, you know, it wasn't written 400 years ago by a person in a powdery wig so why should we care?

Anthony Godfrey:
Right.

Keith Evans:
And I think that there's a lot of great music that gets missed because of that. And so Encore focuses on this newer stuff, and frankly, that's one thing that gets the kids so excited is they're able to sing stuff that, "Oh, I listened to that guy already in the car. That person's on my playlist," or whatever. Our other choirs are very traditional, like you'd expect a choir in any high school to be, but Encore is a little bit different. For the last three years, we've been focusing on that. One of the elements of Encore's mission is to engage the students in all aspects of music production including music videos which is a huge element in any musical artists, you know, oeuvre they do these days.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ever since I was in middle school it has been an important component of pop music.
Keith Evans:
Thank you MTV.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, exactly. So I'm going to butcher the quote but I agree with you that there's so much great music overlooked. The quote from Duke Ellington that I've always liked is “If it sounds good, it is good.”

Keith Evans:
Oh, I love that. I've never heard that before but that's I'm putting that in my phone when we're done today.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a lot that sounds good out there, and that is good out there, that gets overlooked like you said. I'm a huge pop music fan and so that's only part of why I'm excited to talk with you.

Keith Evans:
No, I'm so glad. I didn't know you were a pop music fan, Dr. Godfrey, that's cool. So am I. And hopefully, at the end of the year, I can look at my students and say that they are too even if they weren't as familiar with it at the beginning of the year.

Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk with some of the members of Encore about what being in Encore has meant to you. Introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about your experience.

Nate:
My name is Nate. I joined Encore this year as a junior and kind of joined this class. I had a couple of the seniors that were in it just kind of tell me, "Oh, you’d do kind of well in it, I think, and so you should audition." And I did and I got in and I was terrified because I am more of a musical theater performer and much less of a pop music and I'm not super familiar with it. But I got into the class and just the minute that we stepped into that class, it was basically just a family. We were able to connect really well with each other because it was so small. And we just like the first day just kind of huddled around the piano and started like singing together. And it was just a really cool and magical experience just to like connect and create music with each other. And it was just really awesome and magical.

Ellie:
I'm Ellie. Encore was the first choir I did. I didn't want to do choir at all, but then I went to one of the pop concerts and I was like, “Oh wait, this is actually kind of cool. I kind of want to do that.” So I saw Encore and I was like, “OK, maybe I should try it.” And I did. And it was really fantastic.

Antonella:
I'm Antonella and honestly, Encore is my favorite music class. For somebody that loves music, I love all kinds of varieties, and it's just amazing. But Encore has just been such an amazing experience. When I heard that I was finally allowed to audition for Encore, some people actually told me that they didn't think I was fit for Encore because I'm more of a classical kind of girl. Yeah, I'm more of just like a musical theater, more of like opera kind of, you know. And honestly, I was like, you know, I think Encore is actually fitting more for me 'cause I love reading music and it gives such a big opportunity to read music. So I joined and I don't regret it at all and I just wish everybody could do it, you know, it's so fun. And I'm really grateful that we have this opportunity and it just, it brings us all together and gives us a lot of friendships, so yeah.

Xander:
I'm Xander. I got thrown in like two weeks after they got together. So they were already a family by then.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they adopted you, but how did you get in without an audition?

Xander:
Oh, there was an audition.

Anthony Godfrey:
Antonella said that they were even discouraging her from the audition. So there are some layers to getting in. How did you make it in after it started? I mean, I took classes because there was an empty seat, not because my talents brought me there. So tell me about how you got into the class after the family had formed.

Xander:
Well, they needed an extra guy and Keith during Madrigals was like, "We need an extra spot for Encore." And I didn't have a class during that period, so I'm like, "Might as well." So I auditioned and so did a couple of other people and I just got it apparently.

Anthony Godfrey:
Apparently, because you are here.

Xander:
I am here.

Anthony Godfrey:
A year has lapsed and you have been a participant throughout that year.

Xander:
Yes, and it was quite the experience. I didn't expect any of it. I'm not very good at making up music on my own. I usually go by the books and try to read the music and do my best on that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm best at making it up on my own because then there are no rules at all. So I haven't broken any rules. I've just made the music that I want to make.

Keith Evans:
No one can tell you you're wrong.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's right, that's exactly it. Now, tell me about a song that you have loved this year that you did not expect to or that you didn't know before you were a part of Encore.

Nate:
There was a song that we just kinda did at the beginning of the year, and it was called Lose Somebody by One Republic. We did this song for the last like two years.

Keith Evans:
Every year that Encore has existed, I wanted to do Lose Somebody by One Republic, and finally this year, we were up to snuff to be able to do it.

Nate:
And so it was probably the second day that we were in this class and we're like, we're gonna start creating it. No sheet music, no tracks, it hasn't been done before, we're just gonna do it. And so we started talking about parts and who's gonna sing what, and we just started doing it. And I was really skeptical of how this was gonna go because we just had created it on our own. And then we performed it at the first concert and people just loved it and I ended up just falling in love with that song. It was so much fun to sing. And I think for a lot of us, it was just one of our favorite songs, because it showed us how we could create something on our own and together as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it helps that every performance is an encore performance, and people seem to clap more loudly for an encore performance.

Keith Evan:
It's a subconscious little prodding to the audience, too.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're getting an encore performance right from the start.

Keith Evans:
That's right.

Anthony Godfrey:
This feels amazing. Okay, tell me about a song that you discovered through Encore.

Ellie:
Well, it wasn't really discovered, but my favorite that we did was probably Cruella De Vil. We started working at it in like September of last year, but we're like, "This is too hard. We're not gonna do it." But we all just loved it so much and we pushed so hard to like perform it, but like he didn't trust us, I guess.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I'm sensing a lot of trust, but I'm sensing a high bar, a high standard. We are not going to massacre this song. We are going to do it justice.

Keith Evans:
Well, to clarify, so I was the faculty director of a performing ensemble at BYU for several years called Noteworthy, and this was one of their arrangements. So this was an arrangement that I had given to collegiate level, some who were literally music majors, right, and that had put together this really tricky jazz piece. And I said, "I wonder if we can do it in Encore, if we can take this collegiate piece and have the high schoolers do it." And it took a little bit of doing is all. You were able to get there and it sounded fantastic by the time we were able to get it. It just took a little bit longer. Jazz is more tonally complex and the chords and everything like that. So ultimately I was really proud of you guys for being able to take a piece that high schoolers shouldn't be able to do because it's meant for a much more advanced ensemble and you guys still did it.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's like the bumblebee flying. You can't explain how it works, but it works.

Keith Evans:
It does.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Keith Evans:
It's a mystery.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about a song that you discovered or had a deeper appreciation for it because of Encore.

Antonella:
Honestly, I love all the songs, but when I first joined Encore, I actually thought it was gonna be more of a modern pop culture kind of songs. Just like, you know, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, you know. I was like, are we about to sing "Baby" by Justin Bieber?(laughs) But--

Keith Evans:
We would never sing "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

Antonella:
That's why I like this class. No, but one of the songs that I truly enjoyed was Autumn Leaves by– sung by Nat King Cole. And I am such a '50s girl. I am such an 'oldies. And I just-- I appreciated how all of us were able to just serenade with the melody. And all of us just– I could see all of the connection that we all had, the eye connection and everything. And I just felt so connected with that song.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a great one.

Antonella:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Even Bob Dylan's version works for me. It probably doesn't work for you, but it works for me.

Keith Evans:
I actually didn't know Bob Dylan had covered that song. Now I'm interested in that.

Anthony Godfrey:
The melancholy, it's dripping with melancholy and regret. It's such a great song. You and I need to talk about more 50s songs Antonella. (laughing) Okay, tell me about your song.

Xander:
Cruella De Vil was really fun to me 'cause I got more into it 'cause I am a huge Disney fan and I grew up watching 101 Dalmatians and I loved that show so much. So it's more of like a mentality and a personal connection with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
What does it mean to have Mr. Evans as your choir director? What impact has he had on you?

Keith Evans:
Be kind. (laughing)

Nate:
I mean, in so many ways he's given me just like the love and drive to succeed in music that I hadn't really had before. He showed me as, and just being an example of somebody who was able to make music work for him as a career, and also just who just had a genuine love for it, and a desire to share it with other people, and just to make us the best that we could be as people. Not even just musicians and as singers, but as humans as well. And just, it's meant so much to have him, and just be a mentor and a guide, and just an inspiration to be just the best that I can be.

Ellie:
Yeah, he's made music fun, I guess, for me. Usually, it's so serious and competitive. And if you're not this great, then you can't do music. But it's just like, no matter what level you're at, you can still sing. You can still do whatever. And it can be fun. You don't have to make it so serious.

Antonella:
I definitely agree. I think he's put a balance in what we love most. And also just for those that want to just do it for fun as a habit or for people that actually want to do it professionally. He gives us the opportunity but still gives us fun. And honestly, I think he's definitely gave us a huge love for this, and especially for acapella, because a lot of high schools don't do acapella. So I'm just really grateful that we have a teacher that has come from a more professional background, especially BYU. And he's just brought it to us. And I think I'm so grateful for having that opportunity.

Xander:
He's pretty cool. Since he is young, he's more in tune of how we're aware of what we're going through.

Anthony Godfrey:
I mean, kind of like me. The young guys, we get it.

Keith Evans:
Yeah, absolutely. Which, again, it just means that I'll become less and less capable as a teacher, the older I get it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, because you basically built in an expiration date for his effectiveness. But, you know for now, it seems like things are going great.

Keith Evans:
Yeah, it's fun here at West Jordan. I know that most of the kids that come into the choir program aren't planning to become professional musicians, right? They plan to do other things. They're here to have fun. And the two lessons that I hope to instill in my students is that you have more fun when you're good rather than just when you're goofing around, right? But that also you have more fun when you trust each other and trust yourselves. And that's, I think, one of the things that has made our program kind of make this shift in the last couple years toward more inclusivity, more broader range of genres. You heard we've got an opera singer and a musical theater and a more traditional, conventional guy. We can all still sing together because in the end it's just music.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back Encore performs and it is something you simply don't want to miss.
(upbeat music)

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:
Tell me about how you came to choose this year's song and what resulted from that recording and that video.

Keith Evans:
Yeah, the way we chose this year's song, it was all kind of serendipitous. We go on tour every year and as part of that, we fundraise. And so in the fall, we had a fellow come to organize one of our fundraisers and just kind of by happenstance, he started talking about how his dad had had this dream of co-writing a song with Jason Mraz his whole life. Ever since he'd seen Jason Mraz as an up-and-coming artist, his dad had said, "I'm gonna write a song for that guy to sing." And that he'd spent 12 years kind of in the industry on the fringes trying to make this happen. And then finally, he was able to connect with Jason Mraz and he co-wrote "I Won't Give Up" which has gone six times platinum with Jason Moraz, like he was able to fulfill his dream.

And I said, "Oh, I won't give up, I love that." And we all started kind of like singing it and making it up on the piano as we went and it blew this guy's mind. And he said, "Oh, you've gotta put that in your show somewhere this year." And we said, "We will, and we'll let you know." And he said, "I will send it to Jason Mraz when you do."

And we followed through, we decided to make our music video this year in Encore was a mashup of "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz and "Hey Jude" by Paul McCartney. And once we'd made the music video, we sent it to Lennon Natter, who sent it to his father who had written the song, who lives now two doors down from Jason Mraz.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Keith Evans:
The royalties allowed him to retire and build a house in the neighborhood that Jason Mraz lives in, they're neighbors now. So by that sort of like friend of a friend of a friend, we sent the link to, and it got into Jason Maraz's hands and he saw it. And according to the sign photo that he sent to us, he was impressed by it and he liked it. And it's just kind of cool to know that we put this thing together and the guy that originated it saw it, right? And to let him know, I mean he knows it's being covered by a million different artists, but to let my students know, you're now part of a bigger world. It's not just in the classroom, right? The education and what you're learning and what you're experiencing exist in a bigger sphere. And that was a cool thing, I hope, for you guys to experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a lesson in the impact that music can have.

Keith Evans:
Yes, absolutely. You never know who's gonna watch that music video and be like, "Man, I needed that today." And that sounds silly, but that's the responsibility you have as an artist, as a musician, is to put your best foot forward always, because you never know who's listening.

Anthony Godfrey:
Speaking of the photo, You've got it here. It's a big nice framed photo of Jason Mraz performing. Read what he wrote on there for us.

Keith Evans:
Yeah, so he wrote on the photo to Keith Evans and West Jordan High Choir. Let's take a deep breath together. Inhale. (exhales) And exhale. Thank you for your breathtaking performance. Keep singing. And then he signed it. As Lennon, the fellow whose dad worked with Jason on this song said, he's sort of a kind of a Bohemian fellow and so this inscription is very on brand for him apparently. But it's cool again to know that he's supportive of this. I'm sure once upon a time he was a kid in a high school band or choir saying, "I hope I make it one day."

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I think it's fantastic and it's exciting. I'm envious of this interaction you've had with Jason Mraz or as I like to call him, Mr. A to Z.

Keith Evans:
Mr. A to Z, that's right. Is that his real last name?

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it is.

Keith Evans:
It is? That's cool, man. It's like that's such a marketable last name.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, it is. I'll bring a link to the video in the show notes.

Keith Evans:
Cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
Watch for that. Click on it. It's a great video. Like it is every year. Like I said, I always look forward to it. Thank you so much for providing this rich learning experience that I'm sure these students will never forget. And thank you for putting your own personal twist on this music program. And thank you for the annual videos that I'll continue to look forward to and those are just the great performances coming out of this program. So thank you.

Keith Evans:
Thank you, Dr. Godfrey.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now here's a little clip from their music video.

Encore singing:
When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
Just like them old stars
To see how you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
And I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
Still looking up

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Are you looking for a great deal on a used piano or other musical instruments? A piece of furniture, industrial kitchenware, or even workout equipment?

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside the Jordan School District Surplus Warehouse, where surplus items from our schools and buildings are stored and priced to sell fast. Find out how you can get your hands on some great deals and fabulous finds by participating in the monthly online surplus auction.

We're here with Kurt Prusse, Director of Purchasing. Thanks for taking time, Kurt.

Kurt Prusse:
Thank you. Great to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we're in the surplus warehouse. We talked with you once from the warehouse before for an earlier episode a couple of years ago. Now we're in the surplus warehouse, also at the Auxiliary Services Building at about 7800 South Redwood Road.

And this is where our surplus items go to be processed for the next stage in their journey. There are lots of chairs around, desks, tables, old equipment of various kinds. I would also add that we work hard as a district to make the very most of the resources that we have. And schools have a greater tendency to hold onto things than they do to let go of things through the surplus process. So I don't wanna give the impression that we buy things and then they're quickly consumed and put into surplus. Would you agree with that?

Kurt Prusse:
Absolutely correct. We get our well use out of those items. And if one school decides they no longer need something or want something, they are brought here. For instance, these Chromebook charging carts they'll buy them at one school and if they go to a one-to-one, they don't need computer labs anymore, then they are made available and another school can grab those at no cost at all. So we can take those schools that are not one-to-one and use them in computer labs. So that's just one example.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell everyone a little bit about the surplus process, how this works and where all this stuff is headed.

Kurt Prusse:
Great, I'd be happy to. It all starts off when you decide to purchase something, whether it's equipment and there are laws in place to identify equipment. We tagged those originally and they go into a system, into our Skyward system to keep track of. Because we know at the schools, it's for their inventory process to keep track of those things. They can tell them what room numbers are in or where they're located. And so it's easy for them to be accountable for the equipment that they've purchased.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that tags a little blue tag with a number on it. And there are administrative assistants at each school who are responsible for tracking those assets.

Kurt Prusse:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what is it that, what's the threshold? Describe that to everyone, the threshold for something being considered a consumable versus a fixed asset.

Kurt Prusse:
Right, and so originally it was a $500 to $1,000 when I first started, but they raised that, the federal government raised that limit to $5,000. Everything else is considered supply under that dollar amount.

Anthony Godfrey:
So under $5,000 it's consumable, it's a supply, it's not something that you track.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, but we do have an exceptions list that we go go by in that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the federal rules $5000. What are some of the things that we require beyond that?

Kurt Prusse:
So things like printer, computer, a laptop, those those are typical items that are $1000 to $1500 but we tag them anyways. You know other things like some of the furniture in here, a refrigerator, maybe a planer saw, you know, those types of things that we track.

Anthony Godfrey:
But the school decides we don't need to use this anymore, we want someone else to get some use out of this. The surplus process is put in place so that we get the very most out of that asset that we can, even if the department or school that purchased it initially doesn't need it anymore. So talk us through the way that works.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, it's a process that we go through that it's identified first that they don't need it. The principal or administrator at the school will sign off on that. And sometimes they even know where it's going to go. They've talked to another principal and they'll just say, "Hey, we need to transfer this." Or they'll surplus it. And those are kind of two options. Our warehouse, surplus warehouse guys can go out and pick it up and then it's either brought here or if it's of no value then sometimes we'll just take it directly to a recycling place or or to the dump if it's that's all if it's a very little value. The mantra is in surplus one man's garbage is another man's treasure. It really is that way someone might think this is trash and someone else might think this is the greatest thing ever. They will do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah right. It's remarkable the use that folks can find for some things. So at first, either a principal already knows, hey, there's someone else that can use this and we just need to transfer it to them. Or it can be brought to the warehouse and still then principals and other school district employees and school employees have the opportunity to take anything from the surplus warehouse that they want to use at work. They can take that free of charge or have that delivered free of charge. So we want to use it within the organization, if at all possible, to prevent the need for additional purchases.

Kurt Prusse:
That is correct. In that process, we use a surplus website to list all these things. And if someone even from the district that wants to use it for district purposes sees it on the site, we'll actually pull it off the public site for auction. It's kind of a mini eBay where you can find an item and bid on it. It's the highest bidder wins.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's the next phase. The next phase is that it's then out for the public to bid on. And we get everything from charter schools and private schools that want to purchase furniture and equipment to individuals who want to buy equipment and any of our surplus items that are posted on the website. Like you said, eBay style. So how frequently are those auctions posted?

Kurt Prusse:
We do one minimum once a month, sometimes a little bit more often. But it is quite the process because you have to list it for seven to ten days and then after the bidding is over the winner has a week to pick it up. So we bring stuff in all month long and then we try to get rid of it and it usually takes two to three weeks to actually get rid of it and then we start the process again of going out to the schools and bringing it in organizing it and then getting it up for sales.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how much of this is as a result of state law versus policy versus federal requirements? Mostly just kind of district procedure. There's not anything that dictates other than the hundred dollar value under a $100 that you can throw away and then the $5000. So kind of anything in between is it's up to us how we want to dispose of it. And, you know, we have a surplus warehouse lead that makes a lot of those decisions. I meet with them regularly and we go over certain things. For instance, there might be an item that doesn't sell on the auction originally that's just too low a price. We'll do it again just to make sure that we're not getting rid of something that might have a higher value.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I'll bet you have your regular customers on these auctions.

Kurt Prusse:
Yes, we do. Yes, we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
If someone is listening and thinks, you know, I could maybe use some things off a surplus, we're going to talk about some of the items that end up on the auction block. But tell them where would they go, what website would they go to to get alerts about upcoming auctions and to participate in those.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, we have a website through www.publicsurplus.com and you'll have to kind of select the state. They work in multiple states, so you select a state and then Jordan School District and you're able to see whatever we have on auction.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is pretty amazing to see not only what's available in Jordan, but what's available across the country.

Kurt Prusse:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's some pretty wild stuff that has been purchased with public funds that is now available for auction.

Stay with us when we come back, we spot some of the more unusual items waiting for sale in the Surplus Warehouse.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
I know that there are some odd items that come up over the years. Let's just wander and see what we've got right now. Let's just walk through. We've got a lot of desks and chairs.

Kurt Prusse:
That's desks and chairs. And when we talk about desks and chairs, these are typically 20 plus years old. Sometimes 30 years old that we are, you know, sometimes we'll go to a charter school and they can use them, but most of the time they're pretty old. This looks really old. This is like a step of some sort, a box and just very random.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, lots of people have stepped on that one. And these are these are babies. Well, not actual babies. Dolls.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah we deal in babies.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, they're actually surplus dolls. Let's pull them out of the cage here. This looks like the type of of a doll that's used in like a childcare class. Real Care Baby 2+.

Kurt Prusse:
Yes, that is, and you probably just found the most unique items.

Anthony Godfrey:
Apparently there's a Baby 3+ out now, and I'm sorry baby, but you are now outdated. Well, it even has a little wristband tag, like it was just tagged in the hospital.

Kurt Prusse:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Kurt Prusse:
I don't know what the plan is on this, whether we'll surplus that or what the deal is, but we've got about six or seven of them looks like that we need to surplus or dispose of you know in a proper way.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, we've got a fridge. Lots of chairs on a rack.

Kurt Prusse:
Here’s some old tripods.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah very old.

Kurt Prusse:
Very old tripods.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is like Ansel Adams taking pictures for National Geographic type tripods.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, and we have some some exercise mats that were used at different schools. A scale. One of those tall scales to to weigh yourself on.

Anthony Godfrey:
You move the weights over this direction or that and we have some. What is this red octane brand dance. It looks like a dance pad that goes with a video game.

Kurt Prusse:
It does look like that, doesn't it?

Anthony Godfrey:
Huh. All the outdated equipment that you imagine from your days in school, some e DVD players and VCRs.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, even VCR players. And even dual ones DVD and VCR. Get to the point now where no one really wants to buy these. We can put these on the site for five dollars and no one will want them. So we use a recycler that will take all our old recycling material. One of the good things about our recycler is if we take a laptop or a Chromebook or something that might have some student data on it or something more sensitive, they'll wipe it. And actually they do a triple wipe and they give us a certificate for every piece of equipment that they either surplus or they'll resell. They'll also take out some hard drives. We'll have copiers and those types of things. They'll actually take the hard drives out because most people might not know this, but a copier stores images. And they'll store images of medical records if necessary. Anything you make a copy of at school. And so we don't want that out in the open when we're getting rid of those. And so they'll actually surplus our electronic computers and things like that and they'll actually give us a percentage of that. And that's kind of the way we've done that here.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. Now we've got stools. These are, these look like the type of stools that I sat on when making pots in middle school in my pottery class.

Kurt Prusse:
I think you're spot on with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So anyone looking for a very short stool or 30 would have a heyday here.

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, just go on publicsurplus.com you can buy them in batches. Sometimes we'll sell it in a batch. They'll call that a Dutch auction. And so you can either take the whole batch or you can take whatever amount you want in there. But typically, they'll try to do the whole batch. And we have someone coming through and playing the piano.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yeah, just to see if they want to purchase that piano. So you do have some pianos on surplus on a regular basis.

Kurt Prusse:
We do every once in a while, we'll get some pianos. Exactly. Most of the time, those pianos will get transferred to another school. Yeah, however this one is an old piano. It's about almost as tall as I am,  so you know that's an old variety of piano.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you load the paper in the back? The paper roll with the little holes in it and then it will automatically play The entertainer by Scott Joplin or not quite that old.

Kurt Prusse:
Maybe not old.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, now let's see. There's some rideables here. Looks like some of the custodian Zambonis that they drive around to clean the floors are here. One of those.

Kurt Prusse:
Yep. And they may not be working or they are too much money to fix but they'll, someone will come that is a fixer professional or person that just fixes things up and they're able to use those things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, we also have an ice cream freezer. So there are, yes, a few odd items. This actually seems fairly tame compared with some of the times I've been down here. Oh, are these scuba tanks? What exactly do we have here?

Kurt Prusse:
No, these are overhead lighting for stage systems.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yes, there we are. Look at that. Old, old stage lighting. I'll bet there are some items that come through here that you think nobody's going to be interested in this and then lo and behold somebody bids for it or you might even have a couple of people bidding for something that you didn't think was going to find a home.

Kurt Prusse:
Oh yeah. In fact vice versa, something I think is of great value and no one seems to want it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Kurt Prusse:
I'm not a good judge of what's going to sell and what's not going to sell.

Anthony Godfrey:
We put it all out there and we see what happens.

Kurt Prusse:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And what is this over here?

Kurt Prusse:
Well it looks like we've got a steamer here and right next to a kiln.

Anthony Godfrey:
That steams what?

Kurt Prusse:
They'll steam all sorts of things. Potatoes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. And what is this here? What is this stackable? It looks like a... Oh, this is a kiln.

Kurt Prusse:
For all the short stools that are for sale.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yes, that's right. Then the things made on short stools go into this large kiln. Okay, well hopefully all these things can find a nice home.

Kurt Prusse:
We hope so too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any tips and tricks for people who are bidding on an item on the surplus website? They find something they really want. Are the auctions still the type that extend if you get an additional bid? Or do you just bid right up until the end of the time?

Kurt Prusse:
It bids right up to the end of the time. So those that are familiar with eBay, putting in a maximum bid and then it will auto bid anytime someone outbids you. So sometimes you put in what you're willing to pay for and if it doesn't get that value, or doesn't get that amount, then you'll be the winner. If it exceeds that, then you'll be the loser. So it's really putting your maximum, what you're willing to pay is probably what the best bet I would say.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is there any, I believe the term is sniping at the last second, where people come in at the last second with a high bid to try to surprise people with a last minute bid?

Kurt Prusse:
Yeah, I'm sure there is. I don't get to see what transpires in each of those purchases, but I can imagine, yes, sniping is, if you're good at online auctioning, then there's ways to get what you want.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any advice about timing? What time of year might they be checking back for the best selection?

Kurt Prusse:
We do surplus all year long. However, typically, schools don't want to get rid of their old stuff until they have new stuff. So typically it's at the end of the year when they're cleaning rooms out, cleaning departments out that they'll do that. So we do a lot of our work during the summertime. And so any auction starting in July, August, September are good months to get some things. But sometimes you'll get gems in the middle of the year too. You never know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. It's entertaining just to look, even if you don't have anything specific in mind. So thanks to you, Kurt, for taking the time and to your staff for everything that you do to help us make the most of the resources that we have.

Kurt Prusse:
My pleasure, appreciate your time.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

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 began reading chapter books in kindergarten, and her love of literacy just keeps growing, so much so that Audrey McDonald is making history at Foothills Elementary School.

On this episode of the Supercast, meet the first grader who is the youngest ever to participate in the school's “Battle of the Books” competition, helping her team to victory. A team made up of kids several grades older, but like Audrey, they share a love for literacy and a passion for reading.

We are here at Foothills Elementary School with first-grade teacher, Ms. Larson. How are you today?

Alisha. Larson:
I'm great, thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have heard about your student who's sitting right here with us, Audrey. Will you tell me a little bit about Audrey before we get started?

Alisha Larson:
Yes, Audrey is a very kind, bright, little first grader. She loves to learn. She comes to school excited to learn, she's great at making friends, she helps others along the way. She's just a delightful student to have and a great friend and a great person.

Anthony Godfrey:
You meet some great people as a first grade teacher, don't you?

Alisha Larson:
Very much so.

Anthony Godfrey:
The very early stages of the great people that they will ultimately become. Tell me a little bit about “Battle of the Books” and Audrey's involvement in “Battle of the Books” everyone may not know what that is. So tell us about “Battle of the Books” and how she got involved.

Alisha Larson:
Yeah, so “Battle of the Books” is for grades third through sixth grade. And it's for people just to have a little extra reading and to make sure that they are enjoying reading and have like a little competition with it. And Audrey, for how much she loves to read and how great of a reader she is, I thought it would be a great idea to challenge her a little bit being in first grade to go into this fun battle to be able to read all these wonderful books that she was already reading at home and to give it just a little bit more of an exciting challenge for her. So usually, yes, as I said, it's for third graders and up.

Anthony Godfrey:
An extraordinary, one extraordinary first grader as well.

Alisha Larson:
Yes, a very extraordinary first grader.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me about the battle part because it sounds like you just are throwing books at each other. Throwing the book at someone, literally and figuratively, is something that does happen, but I don't think that's involved.

Alisha Larson:
Right, and I will be honest I actually don't know a whole lot about “Battle of the Books.”

Anthony Godfrey:
You’re a first grade teacher. Most of the time this doesn’t happen.

Alisha Larson:
Because I’m a first grade teacher. All I know though, is you get put into teams and you have to read so many books, and together as a team you have to answer questions. You have to know the author and so that's kind of where the battle part comes out is how much do you know of the books and how much can you remember of those books and the authors.

Audrey:
I also can tell you a little bit more because if the most team, there are two teams who go against each other. So you have team names, mine is “The Book Masters" and so basically the team, at the half point, each team gets 24 questions. At the half point which is 12 questions, they tell you what's your score. How you get scores is if one team answers both the title and the author for one question correctly, they get two points. Each thing is one point. But whoever has the most points at the end of it wins. And the two teams that are left for “Battle of the Books”, then they face each other in a school assembly, except first graders don't get to see that assembly.

Anthony Godfrey:
So your friends didn't get to see you because you were propelled so far beyond?

Audrey:
Well, the principal thought that it would be fun if our class could come to see me do it to support me. And so then third and fourth graders face each other. They don't face fifth and sixth grade books. You have to read 20 books, but third and fourth graders read different books than fifth and sixth graders.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. So you read the third and fourth grader books?

Audrey:
Yes. I read 18 or 17 and I read quite a couple of the 5th and 6th grade books too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you delved into the 5th and 6th grade books. Just for a challenge.

Audrey:
I read some of them, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, well done. Audrey, you said that you have to be able to name the title and the author.

Audrey:
To get two points.

Anthony Godfrey:
To get two points.

Audrey:
But if you only, but if you, hold on a second, there's a little more time I have to explain.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, give me the nuances.

Audrey:
If you only get the title correct, then you only get one point. But the other teams, you have the chance to steal, to name the author correctly. But if you, same thing with the author, if you name the author correctly but you don't know the title, then the other team gets a chance to steal the title. Also, if you don't know any of the questions in your 30 seconds, then the other team has a chance to steal both the title and the author. By the way, you only get 30 seconds to talk over with your team and then say the answer so that way you don't take all day.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I've never seen the “Battle of the Books.” So do they read part of the book out loud to you? And what are you trying to identify?

Audrey:
So see, you read the “Battle of the Books” books on your own.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. And then in the competition-

Audrey:
And then in the competition, they don't read the books to you because they want to see how much you remember from those books.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they ask you a question? What do they ask you?

Audrey:
So they ask you questions about it. Like one of them might be in which book did a boy mail himself to freedom, then you would answer that book. Like let's say I only knew the title, Henry's Freedom Box, then the other team would have a chance to steal and what if they get the author wrong? Like, what if they say Betsy Byers and then it doesn't.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right, Betsy Byers, come on. Everyone knows that.

Audrey:
It's Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, of course.

Audrey:
So then they don't have the other team steal again because then again they didn't get the author, they didn't know the author so then they wouldn't know the author from that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright, so let me back up because I haven't seen this before and clearly I need to.

Audrey:
Yes, you can see it next year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, I look forward to it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're lined up, you're in teams and they say in what book did a bird sing happy birthday? And then you look to each other as a team, you talk it through, you have 30 seconds and you say, "It was Bye-Bye, Birdie, by Jennifer Beale." And then they say, "Wrong. It was Bye-Bye, Birdie, by someone else." Now the other team has a chance to steal and get that point that you didn't get?

Audrey:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's how it works.

Audrey:
Yeah, but if the other team steals, see, they don't have the full 30 seconds. They only have 15.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. That seems fair because they've already been thinking about it during your 30 seconds.

Audrey:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So did you win the entire competition, your team?

Audrey:
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's pretty impressive. Did you lose to any of the teams?

Audrey:
We lost to the “Reading Robots”, which then we again faced them in the finals, but we won them twice, so. I would have brought in my winner medal, but it was too loud.

Anthony Godfrey:
You had a winner medal that you got as a result? Tell me about the winner medal.

Audrey:
It's just a red, white, and blue like ribbon thingy and then at the end there's just a medal that says winner.

Anthony Godfrey:
That seems pretty cool.
Stay with us when we come back, more with Audrey and her teacher.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
What did your team think of having a first grader on their team with third and fourth graders? Were they nice to you?

Audrey:
Yeah, none of them were mean. I think they were actually surprised.

Anthony Godfrey:
And were they surprised at how well you knew all of the books that you'd read?

Audrey:
Yeah, our Captain Amelia, well, there's two Amelia's, but our Captain Amelia, she told me that she was really happy that she had me on our team.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your teacher. What's she like?

Audrey:
She's amazing. She's really nice and she's never been mean. She just sometimes uses her teacher voice when people are being bad.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me something else about your teacher. What do you think makes her so amazing?

Audrey:
Well, she's been teaching for 12 or 13 years and she's probably have a lot of practice with kids. She's probably not. She's probably been teaching younger grades so she's learning to be nice to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is one of your favorite books? I won't make you pick one favorite, but what's one of your favorites?

Audrey:
Well, I usually like informational stories.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Audrey:
And there's like a section about that, like a bin about that. And I don't know my favorite because I just love learning about animals. And usually I finish writing before she starts the music, pretty close. She starts like music when we play writing, pretty close to the beginning, pretty close to the beginning. And I sometimes finish before she even starts the music.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like most about reading books?

Audrey:
Well, I love learning their meaning and I love understanding what that book wants to teach you and I also like hearing the stories because I think that some of them are pretty fun and silly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember when you could first start reading on your own?

Audrey:
No, not really. I think I just remember that once I learned, I think of why I'm so good at reading is because once my mom taught me to read, which was pretty early, then I would just start reading books the entire day.

Anthony Godfrey:
When do you read? I know that you read when you're a fast finisher and you have time in class.

Audrey:
I also read at home, and I read before school, and I read before I go to bed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Before school, at home. Do you read in the car sometimes?

Audrey:
Yeah, I always bring books in the car whenever it's far away.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a great idea. What do you want to do when you grow up?

Audrey:
Well, I either- I maybe want to be a teacher like Ms. Larson, or since I love informational stories so much and I love to learn information about different things, or be a scientist. Because I love informational stuff and I think that I would find out a whole bunch more if I became a scientist.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think you can do whatever you decide you want to do. And if you want to be a teacher like Ms. Larson, I probably won't be the Superintendent anymore when it's time for you to do that, but shoot me an email and I'll call the person who is in that position and I'll make sure they hire you.

Audrey:
Well, or I can make you, or maybe the superintendent then could make you a principal of that school.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's true. I'll get hired to be a principal so that I can hire you as a teacher because I'd hire you in a second. Audrey, thank you for taking time after school to talk with me. Ms. Larson, thank you so much for providing this unique opportunity for Audrey, for recognizing that ability in her and providing that chance and for taking time to talk with me today.

Alisha Larson:
Yes, thank you.

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