Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Students are earning their wings and reaching new heights in a unique high school program that focuses on hands-on learning and future careers. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside the Aviation Sciences program at JATC North in West Jordan, where students are able to get inside the cockpit of a flight simulator. That's where they are able to explore what it's really like to be a pilot and maintain control of an aircraft when rough weather or other challenges come their way.

We're here with Aaron Organ, the aviation teacher at JATC North. Thanks for taking time with us.

Aaron Organ:
Absolutely. It's an honor. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Will you describe this program to us first of all?

Aaron Organ:
Absolutely. Yeah. This is a program that offers four different classes, each covering different things related to aviation. They can come in and explore the world of aviation and earn industry certifications to prepare them as well as earning college credit. All four classes are concurrent enrollment classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what got you interested in this? What's your background with aviation?

Aaron Organ:
So I was introduced into aviation when I was about 13 years old and was able to start working in aviation at a very young age. I earned my pilot's license when I was in high school. So I've always loved everything about aviation. Long story short, it wasn't a good time to go be an airline pilot when I was going to school. So I did a degree in aviation management from Utah Valley University. I went and worked a job in DC servicing airports, different services to different airports, made my way back to Utah and eventually kind of fell into teaching here at JATC.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, we're very glad that you fell our way. That's exciting to have you here. And I'm just excited that this is something that we offer as a district. Tell me about the students who are drawn to this class.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah, we get a variety of students, you know, some have known since they were very young that they wanted to be in aviation. Some of them have, you know, parents or aunts or uncles, or it's kind of in the family. And then we have others that are completely new to it that have never really thought about it, but want to come explore what it would be like to work as a pilot or in the aviation industry. So we get kind of a wide range of students that come into this program.

Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me about the four different classes that you offer.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah, so most of my students come in wanting to be pilots. So we offer a Private Pilot Ground School course which prepares them to go take the FAA written exam to become a private pilot. And we also, like I mentioned earlier, added a Drone class this year. So that's to prepare them for the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, written exam to earn their commercial drone license. We also have an Aviation History class. So we talk about the Wright brothers all the way to present day. You know to present day space travel and things of that nature. In that class we also do a lot of career exploration type of things. And then the other class that we also just added this year is Air Transportation Management. So that's a look at the aviation industry from the management perspective, so not from the pilot perspective. It's fairly airline heavy, so we look at the operations of airlines, the business side of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I understand that as a part of teaching these classes, you've developed a lot of partnerships and connections to the industry to give kids a real taste of what opportunities there are out there and what the issues are, and to really learn from those who are in the field. Tell me about some of the connections that you have.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah, absolutely. That was one of my biggest goals coming here to JATC is truly engaged learning. Where we can connect the students to the industry and they can see it and feel it and hear from the people actually living what they dream to do someday. So yeah, networking is everything I think in life, but especially in the aviation industry. It's a big industry, but everyone really does seem to know everyone. And so just networking, I have a lot of different connections to airline pilots, the airport management at the Salt Lake Airport, down at Provo, the three different collegiate programs here in Utah, their aviation programs. So just, yeah, different people that I've met along the way have been really gracious to host us for field trips or come be guest speakers.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the field trips you've taken?

Aaron Organ:
So, we went to Utah State in Logan and down to Utah Valley University to check out their college programs. Southern Utah University brought a helicopter to us. They came and landed a helicopter here at JATC. So we covered those. We went to the Salt Lake International Airport to get an airside operations tour, which was really cool. On the drone side, we went to Fordham Technologies in Pleasant Grove. They're a cutting edge drone startup here in Utah that started about five years ago. They have a lot of defense contracts and do a lot of cool things. So those are a few of the many field trips.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's an awesome chance for kids to really get to know the industry. Well, let's head out and let's fly a little.

Stay with us. When we come back, students take to the skies, showing us their skills in flying a drone.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Brayden and Caden, both students in the aviation classes here at JATC North. Introduce yourselves and tell me a little bit about what interested you in the class.

Caden:
So I'm Caden. I've always loved aviation. I've always wanted to be a pilot. So I saw an open house for this my sophomore year and I thought it looked pretty cool. So I decided I'd tried out my senior year and man, it was an amazing class, best class I've ever taken. Aaron's an amazing teacher. And man, I just had a ton of fun taking this class. I learned a ton of stuff. I know so much more about aviation than I previously did obviously.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me something that stood out for you in the class that really surprised you, or was a favorite part of the class?

Caden:
Probably just getting out and going and doing stuff. We fly drones a ton. We did tons of field trips. How many field trips do you think we went on?

Brayden:
Like 10.

Caden:
10. We went on 10 field trips and I was not expecting that. It was tons of fun. Aaron sets up a lot of stuff for us to go do. So we're not just sitting in class just on our phones and stuff, but yeah. Tons of fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
It was a deeper experience than you expected.

Caden:
Oh yeah, for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. And are you even more committed to aviation now?

Caden:
Yeah, 100%. I'm actually going on an LDS mission, then I'm gonna come back and go to flight school at Utah State. And I just feel so much more prepared and ready to do that now.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what is that path forward for you? You go to Utah State. Is it a four year degree? Where do things go from there?

Caden:
Yeah, so I'll get my bachelor's at Utah State and then I will hopefully end up as like a flight instructor. And then my plan was to fly a little bit of cargo after that to gain some hours then probably hop on with SkyWest or some other regional airline and then move on to hopefully Southwest Airline. So that's my goal.

Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds like a very realistic plan. I have a friend who's a pilot and that's really kind of the course that he followed. So you've really thought that through. That's impressive. Tell me about your experience.

Brayden:
My name is Brayden. I never really considered flying until this year. I always thought planes were cool and I actually wanted to do engineering first. So I took an engineering class here but I really found out that it really wasn't my thing, but I still had an interest in planes. So I took this class and found that, you know, flying is something that I could see myself doing as a career. And I just have really enjoyed this class. I've learned a ton. It's just crazy. The friendships made here and Aaron is a great teacher, very knowledgeable and everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have you watched Top Gun?

Brayden:
Oh yeah. I saw it last Friday. It's really good.

Anthony Godfrey:
It’s good.

Caden:
We're actually going as a class tonight.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, are you? That's awesome.

Caden:
All set up and ready to go.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. It's a great show. As long as it's happening on the screen I can picture myself as a pilot, I'm really excited about it. But if it really came down to it, I know my limits. So, I'm impressed that you guys are in this program. Well, let's head out. Let's fly drones.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're outside now with the drone in the drone zone, ready to take flight. So we've gotta connect through the app and we'll get going. Wow.

Aaron Organ:
So you got two sticks here. This, if you go straight up, we'll go up in altitude. You can gain a little bit of altitude before I show you the other stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That really, that really responds and it just sticks in the air.

Aaron Organ:
So your left stick up and down, up, down, left to right. We'll just turn it in while it's hovering there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So it's rotating with the joystick, correct? So far so good. It's looking around, casing it out.

Aaron Organ:
What you see on the screen is the video feed.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. Wow. That's a really high quality video there.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah. Good 4K filming. Your right stick is basically turning it in flight.

Anthony Godfrey:
To take this class, you can come out with a license and an ability to earn some money.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah, absolutely. It is illegal to earn money unless you have your FAA, so Federal Aviation Administration, part 107 license. That's what enables you to make money legally with a drone. So by earning that commercial drone pilot's license that'll enable you to go get a job flying drones, getting different photography or filming or surveying and using the data of different things.

Anthony Godfrey:
You can see that this would get very addictive very fast. And even though it may not be a career for some, getting that drone license means that you can earn some money while you're going to school or whatever else.

Caden:
Totally. It doesn't have to be an end career. It could be something that you could do for a little bit until you find something that you like.

Anthony Godfrey:
What stood out for you in these classes that you discovered maybe about yourself.

Brayden:
Just how like really anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. And just how Aaron just takes the time to really help you through it. And just like how personal the class is.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've both pointed out the importance of a great teacher to help you latch onto a subject. Tell me more about Aaron.

Brayden:
I mean, he makes everything really personal in the classroom. He doesn't, you know, require us to call him Mr. Organ. He just, you know, we go by Aaron, you know? Yeah. So it makes, you know, us feel connected to him.

Caden:
Yeah, he's just really, he's more of a friend.

Brayden:
Yeah, a friend than a teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
A friend who's helping you along a career path and discover abilities in yourself.

Caden:
But he just, he makes the class a lot more. He just goes above and beyond. Like he makes connections for us just so we can go on field trips. He'll make connections just so we can have a guest speaker come in and he'll just go above and beyond trying to get us the knowledge we need to succeed.

Anthony Godfrey:
So your connection with aviation beyond the classroom happens a lot.

Caden:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as a flight instructor, you might say he puts the air in Aaron.

Caden:
<Laugh> yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's take a look at the simulator. Show me how those work. There's a screen in front of you and then a screen on each side and lots of buttons.

Caden:
Yeah. So we're at the Salt Lake Airport.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you simulate various airports on this flight simulator?

Caden:
You can go anywhere in the world.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Yeah. Okay.

Caden:
But we like to fly out of Salt Lake City just because it's our airport here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, sure. You've got the controls here. What does each pedal do?

Caden:
So these are the rudders.

Anthony Godfrey:
One is the clutch, right?

Caden:
No, not exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've got a little bit to learn here. So these are the rudders. Okay.

Caden:
These are the rudders, and this is the yoke, and here's your throttle and your mixture. And these are the flaps for landing. This is your trim wheel.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what does the trim wheel do?

Caden:
So what your trim wheel does is when you're in flight, you're not always having to pull back on your yoke. You can trim it out so that you can not strain yourself so much, trying to always fight up and down on the yoke. So we start it up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just started it up.

Caden:
Then we get ready. And the simulator is a lot more sensitive than a real airplane. I've done both.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me, you have flown in a real airplane?

Caden:
Yeah, I did that for, sorry. I'm just trying to focus on taking off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I'll let you take off.

Caden:
It's a little program that Utah State does. It's like a camp for, I think it's a little less than a week. You just, you get to fly a helicopter. You get to fly in an airplane and you get to manipulate the controls. It's really cool. That's also what made me really love aviation more too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sorry. This is why they have a door on the cockpit. So people don’t ask you questions while you're trying to take off.

Caden:
Oh no, it's fine. We're in flight now, so it'll be a lot easier to just gain altitude. So we actually got to go on a field trip to Utah State this year. That was probably one of my more favorite ones. They go around, talk about their program and they show you all the airplanes and it's especially cool for me because I get to fly in all those airplanes there in two years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Huh. That's a good head start there to be able to be up there. Well, you made that look really easy. That was very smooth. Tell me, have you had to crash? Have you crashed?

Caden:
We have simulated a crash.

Anthony Godfrey:
On purpose. You simulated one.

Caden:
Yeah. Just when we were practicing our stalls throughout the year, it's just, it's a little bit more hard to do I'd say in the simulator. I've never done a stall in a real airplane.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what you do is you practice if it stalls what you would do.

Caden:
Yeah, exactly. But it's pretty hard to do it on a simulator. I don't think it's nearly the same.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's okay, don't stall. This feels good.

Caden:
And this is what the trim wheel does. So I have it pretty trimmed out right now, but let's say it wasn't trimmed perfectly. So it would go like that. So now I can do nose up.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you just make an adjustment to make sure that it's,

Caden:
Yeah. So then you can adjust it. So I gotta bring the nose down a little more, little up and then it'll be. You can never get it perfect as a pilot, but you can get pretty close.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Brayden do you wanna land the plane here?

Brayden:
Yeah. I actually have a set up right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Where are we landing? What tropical area are we? Oh, Salt Lake City.

Brayden:
This is just Provo.

Anthony Godfrey:
Provo. All right. Let's land in Provo. Why not?

Brayden:
So these lights down here will show you if you're on the glide path or not. If there is more red, that means you're lower. And if there's more white, that means you're high. But if you have two red and two white, that means you're on the glide. So we'll be there shortly.

Anthony Godfrey:
It gets your attention. The simulator really does pull you in. You have actual airline pilots come in and work with the kids?

Aaron Organ:
Correct, yeah. Two current airline pilots, they're both at SkyWest Airlines. They're both moving on to major airlines right now, but they come in on their days off and basically run the sims. One of them actually is an alumni of the JATC program about seven years ago. So it's really cool to see, you know, high school to a regional airline, to now he's headed to Delta. So it's great having him come in so the students can see what the path looks like from here.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's high demand for the program isn't there?

Aaron Organ:
There is, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pilots are difficult to come by these days.

Aaron Organ:
Yeah. It's a fantastic  time to get into the industry. The demand for pilots is higher than ever before.

Anthony Godfrey:
You guys are awesome. Congratulations on going through the program and look forward to hearing about your future.

Brayden and Caden:
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 out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He is on a fast track to achieving his dream of one day competing in the Winter Olympics. On this episode of the Supercast, we head to the Olympics Speed Skating Oval in Kearns, where Ray Shim, who just completed ninth grade at Mountain Creek Middle School hits the ice for another grueling practice. Ray has already set a national record in short track speed skating, and soon he will be competing in higher level races like the America's Cup and World Cup trials, as he strives to make his Olympic dreams come true.

We're here at Mountain Creek Middle School with Ray Shim. Ray, thanks for taking time.

Ray Shim:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ray is a speed skater preparing for his next race, but for even bigger things beyond that. Tell me about that preparation and how long you've been skating.

Ray Shim:
Well, I started skating when I was four in South Korea and my mom got interested in it. So I've been preparing for going to like bigger races for 11 years now.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what's your ultimate goal?

Ray Shim:
To go to Olympics.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how long before you would be trying out for the Olympics?

Ray Shim:
Well this next quarter would be my first year that I could ever try it out.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the age of eligibility?

Ray Shim:
I think you have to be at least 16.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And you're gonna turn 16 just in time for that?

Ray Shim:
Yeah, the next Olympics is gonna be in three years, so I'll be able to make it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember when you started skating?

Ray Shim:
I don't. I started when I was four, so I barely remember anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the only thing you remember is skating for your whole life.

Ray Shim:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
And did you have a talent for it early on? What have you been told about your early abilities?

Ray Shim:
Apparently my coaches said that I have a good talent for it. But yeah, I guess it's still improving right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's always improving I'm sure. Have you always enjoyed skating? Are there times when it has been more exciting for you than other times?

Ray Shim:
The race season is always exciting and yeah, I've always liked skating,

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's easier to be practicing when you're leading up to a specific race, as opposed to just in the off season.

Ray Shim:
Yeah. Off season you kind of get discouraged a little bit, I guess.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about what the training looks like. There's a lot of time on the ice. Is there training off of the ice first of all?

Ray Shim:
Yes, we do off ice training. We run and stuff, but we have our own technical exercises we do for our off ice training.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so what do some of those technical exercises look like?

Ray Shim:
They're just practically skating, but on the ground.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're practicing skating on the ground. Is that practicing in place or are you in motion? How does that look?

Ray Shim:
Mostly in place, but we can also wear inline skates, which is roller blades, but yeah, we could also do that to train.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you show me what that looks like?

Ray Shim:
Sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Or do you need special equipment to do that in place?

Ray Shim:
I don't need special equipment.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Show me what that looks like. I'm having a hard time picturing that.

Ray Shim:
Okay. First get into a 90 degree position.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Ray Shim:
When your knee's here, and then move this way.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you get into the starting position. You're crouched down really where your torso is horizontal with the ground.

Ray Shim:
That's the best position that you should be able to get.

Anthony Godfrey:
And then you're moving your feet from side to side. All right, I'll step aside. Can you show me what that looks like? Okay. So you're holding the position. So you move from side to side and hold the position for as long as you would be gliding. And is that a means of conditioning your legs so that you get accustomed to that movement and have the stamina to hold in position?

Ray Shim:
Yes, it's also easier to hold it off ice because balance is a lot easier. So yeah, we've practiced our technical moments here off ice.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you get the technical aspect of it down. And then once you go to the ice, you're better off because you've tried it on an easier surface. And then when you get to the ice, you're better prepared.

Ray Shim:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your core must be just totally ripped.

Ray Shim:
<Laugh> I wish, but not that much.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think you're being modest. There's no way you can do what you just did that low to the ground without being in incredibly good shape. And there's a real grace to the motion from side to side. Is that something that, I guess since if you've been doing it since four, it comes pretty naturally. But do you have to think about that or is that just muscle memory now?

Ray Shim:
Well, I used to have to think about it, but I've done it for a lot of years. So it's like more natural now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what length of races you compete in.

Ray Shim:
I race 500 meter races, 1000 meter races, 1500 meter races and 5,000 meter races.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the 5,000 meter race, I assume is a relay.

Ray Shim:
Yes, a relay. Only four person per team, and there's gonna be four teams. I would take a starter position since I have a pretty good start.

Anthony Godfrey:
So different people have different skills. You're good off of the blocks. Are there blocks that you race off of? Or do you just have to start? You just turn your skate and that's your starting block, right?

Ray Shim:
Right. But everyone has to do one and a half laps every time and I'm a good sprinter type.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you get everyone off to a quick start?

Ray Shim:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like best, solo races or relays?

Ray Shim:
Solo races. They're a lot more exciting than the relays.

Anthony Godfrey:
Because it's just one person against everybody else.

Ray Shim:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me, I have no sense for scale here. Tell me how long a 1500 meter race takes roughly.

Ray Shim:
Average race would be a two minute 32 second race. A fast one would be like a two minute six second.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I would think that two minutes or two and a half minutes of skating at that speed would just, for most people feel like an eternity. Does it feel like a long time for you? Because there's so many things going through your head?

Ray Shim:
It's painful, but the time actually passes by pretty quickly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Will you do multiple races in one day? Or how does that work? There must be a lot of recovery time in between races because you're giving it your all.

Ray Shim:
Normally there's only gonna be like 20, 30 minutes between races. Yeah, we normally do prelims first. So all the 500, 1000 meter, 1500 races on the first day, and then the semifinals on the second day, and finals on the third day.

Anthony Godfrey:
How much time, since you were four years old, do you think you've spent? How much do you spend in an average week?

Ray Shim:
In an average week? Well, every day I spend around six, seven hours training. So times seven, that would be like 30-38, maybe in between, on average I guess.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm not gonna make you do the math. I'm gonna call it over 10,000 hours right now. That's pretty amazing. Six or seven hours a day. So tell me what a typical day looks like.

Ray Shim:
So you wake up at five and you eat a light breakfast, be there at 5:45 AM train until around 10 30. Come to school. After school is done, I go back to the oval train for another three hours, get back home and sleep.

Anthony Godfrey:
So do you have much time for much else? It sounds like that's pretty much your free time.

Ray Shim:
Yeah. Not really, but I manage.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it sounds like that is a stress reliever and kind of energizing for you to be able to be part of the racing and part of the training.

Ray Shim:
Yes. It's also a little bit stressing too, but it's also my stress reliever.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do your friends know that you do speed skating?

Ray Shim:
Well, most of my friends are speed skaters, but in this school, I don't think a lot of people know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, well they will after this podcast because we're gonna spread it everywhere. You're ready for that, right?

Ray Shim:
Maybe

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. We're now talking with Ray's counselor, David Parker here at Mountain Creek Middle. Tell me about Ray.

David Parker:
Ray is a very polite, quiet kid who is very humble. And one of one of the nicest kids you’ll meet. You would never know, like he had said, what he has done. In fact, I've learned he's been speed skating for these three years, but to the level he's been doing, I found out after last April.

Anthony Godfrey:
You wouldn't know what an animal he is on the ice and how competitive he is.

David Parker:
Right? For example, I knew he was going to be gone, cause we were trying to work some things out for future planning and I knew he was gone. He came back from his trip and he talked to his AP teacher and she asked how it went and he said fine. And then as we reached out to do all this thing, and I think it was interesting as we sent this stuff out and his accomplishments at that race, she approached me saying, he just said it was fine. And he's breaking these records and getting first place and you know, up there on the podium, that went ‘fine.’

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about what accommodations to the schedule and everything you've made to make all of that training possible.

David Parker:
So as Ray said, he's done ed release. This is his third year. He's one of the original Moose in fact right. This is our third year as a school at Mountain Creek. So he and his brother are considered some of the original Moose because Becky Hunsaker, our head counselor was the first hire in the department. And the very first meeting she ever had was with them to help kind of accommodate that. So Ray has always done ed release for the first three periods of the day and then at the afternoon period. And he supplements that with the virtual learning that's been available through the district. So he is here four or five periods a day and is taking AP classes in the midst of all that. And so like he said, he manages and I don't know how.

Anthony Godfrey:
But what he's been able to accomplish.
Stay with us when we come back, we'll head down on the ice with Ray Shim, an aspiring Olympic athlete and successful student.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
How much time do you think you've spent in this building?

Ray Shim:
Too much to count. I have no idea.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. So is there always two sets of ice here? Two rinks?

Ray Shim:
Yes. One's for hockey skating, so they have hard boards. And one's for figure skating and skating and stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And this is the skating one over here?

Ray Shim;
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I remember hearing about this building, that it is one of the largest buildings without any posts in it at all, so that you could get line of sight for the cameras when the Olympics were here.

Ray Shim:
Oh, I had no idea, but yeah, there are no posts now that you say that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about your skates. I shouldn't be surprised, but those blades look really long.

Ray Shim:
Yeah. They're 17 and a half inch blades.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. And you keep this cover on 'em to keep 'em sharp and keep from injuring yourself on those blades, I assume?

Ray Shim:
For protecting the blades mostly though.

Anthony Godfrey:
You compete on the short track, so is this pretty much the same as the ice that you would compete on?

Ray Shim:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long does it take you to get all suited up? Oh, okay. Now you've just uncovered that blade. Can I take a look at that? That is a serious blade that could protect you in the parking lot on your way to the car. Wow. That is a serious business. And in proportion to the size of your foot, that's a pretty long blade.

Ray Shim:
Yeah. It's, I don't know. It's supposedly supposed to be longer than your foot. So like, you don't have to worry as much about the front and back shifting.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. Gives you stability.

Ray Shim:
Well, this would last around maybe like half a year to a whole year because you would sharpen them like every two or three times you skate on them. It lasts a pretty long time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ray, it looks like you're double laced and Velcro strap. It's a bit of a process. So it takes you 10 minutes, but it’d take me 20.

Ray Shim:
Yeah. Double laces are for the tightness of your ankle so that it doesn't become loose. And then Velcro’s more like to keep the laces so that it doesn't.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are no brakes on these things. Once you get going, you just have to kind of turn and put your skates at a 90 degree angle to your trajectory.

Ray Shim:
Well, I guess you would just kind of glide until you start losing speed or kind of like start stepping like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can't wait to see you in action here, because this is a lot of build up. All right. Now you're all geared up. You've got your helmet on. You always skate with a helmet, I assume?

Ray Shim:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very good. And you've got, is this all one piece from shoulders to ankles?

Ray Shim:
Yes. All one piece.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And your US Speed Skating jacket. That's pretty cool.

Ray Shim:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. So tell me, how does it feel to be all suited up? Does that feel?

Ray Shim:
It's pretty uncomfortable. It's skin tight. So it wouldn't be something that I would want to wear the whole time. But it's best for your aerodynamic activities.

Anthony Godfrey:
How much skating do you do before a race to warm up

Ray Shim:
Before? They only give you 10 minutes on ice and then you would have to wait until it's your racesnd then just skate then. So you would have to do like a lot of off ice warmups, like running, stretching.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. So a lot of off ice warming up and then 10 minutes on the ice and then you're ready to go.

Ray Shim:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've got these, these gloves. It looks like you dipped just the fingertips of the gloves in latex. Is that part of your start? Tell me about that. And it's only on the left glove.

Ray Shim:
This is for pivoting. So when you go, when you start going fast and you start to lean more on ice, since you can't just kind of do it without the support of your hand on your ice, this is for like gliding it on.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Let's see you out on the ice.

Man, he looks great out there. He's going so fast.

Ray, that was awesome.

Ray Shim:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
That was really, I don't know. I was very overwhelmed seeing you skate. I thought that was incredible. It was so graceful, so fast. And when you finished, you glided all the way around with no effort, you had so much energy you'd built up, you went around once doing nothing.

Ray Shim:
Yeah, these skates glide really easily. So once you get speed, it's kind of hard to slow down.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. When you turned and leaned in and just put your hand down, I just thought, well, that's something I'll never do. That was incredible. I am so impressed. I'm so glad we got to come here to the ice and see you skate. It was just honestly, just astonishing to see how fast you go, how graceful it is, how effortless you make it look.

Ray Shim:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
When we walked up to the ice, there was a kid who is obviously a speed skater who wanted to show you his skates. Do you have that happen sometimes when you're all geared up? You have a very gold medal look right now.

Ray Shim:
Oh, thank you. Yeah, from time to time. He just started learning how to skate so he's probably really interested in like other people who would be skating like him.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. That's really cool that you are already getting the chance to encourage younger skaters. When is your next competition?

Ray Shim:
It's gonna be in August, mid August, right before our school's gonna start again.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you compete here at any point where I could come and see?

Ray Shim:
In August.

Anthony Godfrey:
In August it's here?

Ray Shim:
Yeah, it’s here this year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. Well, we'll be here. We'll be here. Thank you. Thanks for spending the time Ray, we'll be cheering you on from these stands.

Ray Shim:
Thank you for taking time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you 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. There were classic cars, souped up lawn mowers and some pretty fancy farm equipment. Students in the Bingham High School auto body class worked their magic, turning four wheels into something special. On this episode of the Supercast, we fire up the engines and head to the annual classic car show at Bingham High School. It is an event that gives students a chance to show off their talents and creativity when it comes to cars in a wide variety of other vehicles.

We're here at Bingham High School with Travis Lucero, or Lucy as the kids call him. We are at the car show and this is the official beginning of summer in my book.

Travis Lucero:
It's the end of the school year for me. I'm exhausted.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're all exhausted. It's been quite a year.

Travis Lucero:
It sure has.

Anthony Godfrey:
But I always look forward to this event and it's just got a great vibe, great feel and it gets to highlight some of the kids' work and what's important to them.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. We love it. It's our 26th year of doing this. Barry Wooten actually started it in 1995.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Travis Lucero:
I've been doing it for 16 years and every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year we have over 80 cars out, three tractors, even a lawnmower.

Anthony Godfrey:
I saw a tractor walking up and I've seen lawn mowers over the years. Tell me about the class that you teach, and why the car show?

Travis Lucero:
Well, I teach two classes. I teach a Collision Repair class, which is the outer skin of the car, like the painting and the body work. And then I also teach Welding. The car show is just, it's just like in my blood. We love hot rods. We love cars. And so it's just, for me, it's kind of like just a fun end of the year. Let the kids show off. We have four cars that have been painted that are here at the car show. And so we just, people can see what we're doing. And a lot of students are still really into cars out here. It gives them a chance to show off their pride and joy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now there are some really memorable cars over the years that I've seen. One of them was a DeLorean that I really like. That's a picture of me. That's going back to the past though.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. That's like five, six years ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's five or six years ago. Well, wow. Now that Chevy Nova over there. That brings back some memories. We had two Chevy Novas when I was growing up. One white, one blue. And tell me, I look out and I see this wide variety of cars. Tell me, what are the rules? Just that you're interested in showing off your car?

Travis Lucero:
So basically I try to keep 'em street legal, unless, you know, like you got a tractor or something under construction. I have a couple of really cool dirt bikes that aren’t street legal, but for the most part, if the kids can drive it in themselves, and it's street legal, they can bring it out to the car show. Whatever they're proud of, whatever they're into, we'll take. We've got some people that have some really nice classics. We've got some people that have really great tuner imports. Really big truck crowd. If they love it and they wanna show it, they can bring it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you have teachers show their cars sometimes?

Travis Lucero:
We do. Graber, the band teacher’s Austin Healy is over there. That was actually built here at Bingham. It's a 56 Austin Healy. We have Mr. Metcalf, who has his Mustang out there. We have Arbogast, who has his Ford truck out there. Dave Peck until he retired, showed a Ford car that had been built out here. So we've had quite a few teachers show their cars.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the collision repair class and the students that are drawn to that.

Travis Lucero:
So we get a lot of students that maybe struggle in academic classes, but it's kind of like their saving grace. They really love the hands-on, tactile type learning. A lot of kids that are excited by the idea of something that is custom, that they've built or that they can work on. And we just give 'em a chance to learn how to remove dents, do rust repair, all the way up to doing custom paint and flames on panels. Just kind of give 'em the full gamut. So if they wanna go get a job in a body shop, they have the skills to do that. If they wanna do fun, custom stuff on their own cars, or they have the ability to do a little bit of that as well. And it's just great, cuz they get a chance to get a break from that really, you know, hard academic learning in their day. It’s just 90 minutes, they can do something new and give their brain a rest.

Anthony Godfrey:
And hands on learning that can lead to a hobby or career.

Travis Lucero:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
And feels great in the moment too, just getting a chance to do that.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah, I actually have about a half dozen students that are working right now in collision and repair shops. And I have about a dozen students that are working as welders right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Travis Lucero:
So there's a high demand in both areas. And most of my kids that are welding are making about $20-$25 an hour as high school students. So you can make a lot more money. There's a lot of demand for it. And it's just fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, doing something you love.

Travis Lucero:
Doing something you love, getting your hands on something, and feeling like you accomplish something every day. You can stand back and see something that you accomplished every day in class. I always tell my students like when you're welding, it's instant gratification. If you're having a bad day go in and do some welds, you will automatically feel better about yourself by the end of the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Light that torch, things feel better.

Travis Lucero:
Right. You burn some metal, makes you feel better.

Anthony Godfrey:
So well, I'm really grateful that we have those programs, and I'm really grateful we have you.

Travis Lucero:
Well, thank you so much. I'm glad that we can be here and be a part of Jordan District and represent Bingham High School. We love Bingham. It's a great day to be a Miner.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is always a great day to be a Miner. Let's walk around, let's check 'em out. And of course you can hear the music in the background. And we heard some pretty serious bass out there because cars stereos and cars are inextricably linked. Of course  we've got cars as far as the eye can see. Is this your car?

Travis Lucero:
This is.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right,  how do you describe this to people who are listening?

Travis Lucero:
This is a 1950 Chevy pickup truck that's been converted to a Roadster. And a Roadster by definition is a vehicle that has no roll up side windows. It's what they call a one weather car. So it has no top to it at all. It doesn't have any side glass. It basically just has a windshield in it. So like a 32 Ford is an open top Roadster. We've been working on it at Bingham High with my classes for over a decade. In that time we've done significant metal work to it. It's been painted, all of the suspension work's been done to it. The auto mechanics class rebuilt all the rear end and helped install the engine and the transmission and do all of that this year as well. So we just try and use it as like something fun that the kids can learn on. But yeah, every year a couple inches further to a finished vehicle.

Anthony Godfrey:
It looks fantastic. What, what do you call this color of green?

Travis Lucero:
I don't know what we should call it. My friend, Ronnie actually is a custom painter and he came up with it. It's a custom mixed color. So it's a candy pearl green. A very heavy metallic pearl green.

Anthony Godfrey:
It just shines in the sun.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. It's got some pop to it for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Like it’s from space, I would think. And it's more like a beetle green, like it's this almost insect green.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. My one friend called it antifreeze. I thought that was kind of fitting.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's pretty close.

Travis Lucero:
It's pretty close to the color of antifreeze.

Anthony Godfrey:
So is this a street legal vehicle?

Travis Lucero:
Absolutely. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh my gosh.

Travis Lucero:
So when it's all done, it's not finished yet, but when it's all done, it'll have headlights. It'll have a bed on it, have blinkers, turn signals, the whole thing. It's completely street legal.

Anthony Godfrey:
We need to get our picture by this one because this a stand out. Tell me about some of the other cars. Let's just walk around and then we'll talk to a couple of students.

Travis Lucero:
So, this is a vehicle that was done here at Bingham this year. This is just a little Scion that was actually bought as a salvage title. And we brought this in as like a fun student project and they did some body work and stuff on it. And then my friend, who's a good custom painter came in and showed the kids how to do some actual custom airbrushing and paint on it. It's got a matte finish on the top. This is actual lace. Like you go buy at a fabric store.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh really?

Travis Lucero:
And you paint, it's really old school techniques.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, the lace was laid over the top of the car?

Travis Lucero:
And they spray over the top of it. Okay. Yeah. That's what they do.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that’s a lace pattern on the hood of the car.

Travis Lucero:
Then there's water droplets on here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Those water droplets are actually painted on there. That's part of the design.

Travis Lucero:
They actually spray water down, distilled water, and then paint over the distilled water, wait for it to evaporate and then clear over the top of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is so cool.

Travis Lucero:
It’s a really cool old school technique.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. That's a 1950 Chevy Bel Air. So this was brought in by a grandparent of one of our students. So it's pretty much what you would call a restoration. It's all original. This might be a 57 actually. But it's a beautiful teal in the off white top. It's just a really neat, all original vehicle.

Anthony Godfrey:
Look at that. Now, talk about a time machine. That does take you back in time.

Travis Lucero:
Well, especially cuz they haven't really changed anything at all. These are like factory color options. It's got all the factory trim on it. It's got the factory bench seats in it still. So, even like the baby moons and stuff are all options you could have got in the 50s.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Travis Lucero:
So it's a pretty period, correct car, except for some added in stereo equipment. It's all there. It's a beautiful piece.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, I'll allow the stereo equipment. I’m a music fan. I think that's the only fair that they have some banging tunes in there.

Travis Lucero:
I have like 12 speakers in my truck so I don't blame you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Travis Lucero:
This Ford Bronco's pretty cool. A student and his dad's been working on this one.

Anthony Godfrey:
So a student and his dad have been working on it.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. He told me they have a couple of 'em and actually, they did all the paint and the body work and stuff on it. It's got all the bed liner done down on the bottom. It's just a really cool, this would be mid 70s Bronco. Full size Bronco.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a really, really cool looking truck.

Travis Lucero:
I always really like Broncos. You can take the tops off like Jeeps in the summer. But they're like twice the size of a Jeep, so you can get a little more bang for your buck out of 'em, which is kind of fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
This and the fact that it's brown. Yeah. It just really, wow.

Travis Lucero:
You don't see a lot of browns.

Anthony Godfrey:
It takes me back as well. That's really something.

Travis Lucero:
It's pretty cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is great. The kids are having a great time.

Travis Lucero:
Oh yeah, we just love it. Come out, it's  beautiful weather today. You know, we cook up J Dawgs every year. We feed all the faculty and staff for free. We sell the J Dawgs to the kids with a chip and drink for $3. Yeah. So we can pretty much come out and just relax and see a bunch of really cool cars.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a great lunch and it's a great time.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. And the FACTS department actually does it. At the school store the teacher, they in her class, all put it together and cook all of it and do all of the stuff for it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I know you saved me a shirt. You're wearing the shirt from the 26th Annual Car Show.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. And this was actually designed by our photo teacher this year.

Anthony Godfrey:
With the flames coming behind, what would you call that? Like a hot rod?

Travis Lucero:
Like a ‘34 Ford Roadster. Like a Tin Woody style Roadster. Kind of fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love it. It's fantastic.

Travis Lucero:
This is a 1970ish, we don't know the year for sure, Sears & Roebuck lawn mower that belonged to my grandmother.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh my gosh.

Travis Lucero:
And in the 90s she couldn't get it to run. She pushed it out on the curb. My dad actually got it started in five minutes and took it home. About a decade ago he wanted to customize it. So I brought it down to the school and the kids helped me and we put flames on it, did a custom paint job on it. He threw away the lawn mower deck. He said, it's never gonna mow lawn ever again. And basically, we drive the little grandkids around in it. It's just for fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's so, it looks so cool.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah. I louvered this in college, that's how long ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? Oh man.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah, did that a long, long time ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love the flames. There's a ton of, is this a decal?

Travis Lucero:
No, it's all painted.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's all paint?

Travis Lucero:
That's pin stripe. That's actually put on with a brush and it's called pin striping. You just trace around the graphics with a paint brush.

Anthony Godfrey:
The flames look incredible. It's glitter flames. And what do you call this right here?

Travis Lucero:
That's a big shifter knob.

Anthony Godfrey:
The big shifter knob is packed with glitter. Like a bouncy ball from the 70s.

Travis Lucero:
That actually came off of a Peterbilt semi truck.

Anthony Godfrey:
Did it really?

Travis Lucero:
It did, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Travis, this is fantastic. Thanks for baking these types of opportunities available to students.

Travis Lucero:
Yeah, for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think it's so incredible that they get to do this and what a great way to feature it.

Travis Lucero:
So it's a lot of fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I never miss it. I'm never going to miss it. It's a great event. And thanks again.

Travis Lucero:
Thanks for coming. I appreciate it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back more with Travis Lucero and his students at Bingham High School's car show.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. We're here with Cooper and Vincent at the car show, talking about Skills USA and just the chance to show off their work. So thanks for being here guys, and talking with me. Introduce yourselves.

Cooper:
My name is Cooper. I'm a senior here at Bingham High School. I am helping run the car show. I have my own car here. It's gonna be a great, I'm having a great time.

Vincent:
I'm Vincent and I am the Skills USA President. And this is my senior year at Bingham High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Skills USA for those who don't know.

Vincent:
So Skills USA is mostly involved in the CTE programs of our school. So anything from welding, to woodworking, and auto mechanics. And our main goal is basically to develop a good teamwork environment for all, everybody from seniors to sophomores. And to really just create those bonds that'll go down and get that experience that will help us in the future to do our own things.

Anthony Godfrey:
And which of those areas is your specialty?

Vincent:
So I came into Skills USA last year involved in the woodworking and the welding. This year I came in through the welding program.

Anthony Godfrey:
And have you been working as a welder, or do you plan to work as a welder?

Vincent:
I do work as a welder at a fabrication shop and I do a lot of custom stuff over there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that something you want to continue with?

Vincent:
I honestly really love it. I enjoy doing it and I feel like this is something I could go down doing until, really, I die honestly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good. That's awesome when you find that. Cooper, tell me about what you've been doing.

Cooper:
Well, I'm also in Skills USA. I helped build the drift trike by just like putting it all together. I'm going to be an auto mechanic. That's what I just found out I love doing, cuz it's just so fun. But when I first came in here, my sophomore year, I had Auto I and I just hated cars for like when I first started.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Cooper:
Yeah. It's just because I just didn't learn anything and it was just, I just felt like I didn't belong there. But then my mom put me in for Auto II in the second year. Then I got my current teacher, Mr. Metcalf, Aaron Metcalf, and he taught me a whole bunch of stuff that I just thought like, ‘Hey, this is not so bad because it's not as hard as I thought it would be.’

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, moms are good at pushing you into things that you didn't think you were gonna like, but turn out, being life changing.

Cooper:
Yeah, that's so true. I really gotta thank my mom for like, just forcing me into that class cuz I don't know what I'd be doing other than this right now if I didn't do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I admire that you have these skills and that you've pursued them the way that you have. And I love what you said about Skills USA bringing people together and providing that support. It's really important at this stage in high school to feel like you connect with others and that you get to explore your skills. So I'm really excited that you've been a part of that.

Let's take a look at your car Cooper.

Cooper:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's go check it out. Tell us about it as we walk up there.

Cooper:
So, I have this car from my grandpa who passed away in February, just this year. It's a 2005 Ford F-150. There's nothing really that special about it, but I like it. I'm gonna keep it like for a long time cuz it's my my grandpa's car.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what you plan for the car.

Cooper:
Well, I hope to like repaint it, make it like a bright blue or like a nice blue color. I plan to raise it up a little bit. Just make bigger tires, make it sort of an off rotor sort of car. Cuz right now I think this is just a like working or just carrying stuff, car you know, just for work.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And how long did your grandfather own this car?

Anthony Godfrey:
As long as you can remember?

Cooper:
No, I don't know how long he owned this car, but I know he had it for a long time cuz it has like over 200,000 miles on it. And his death was just well, his passing, I should say it was just a little bit of a sudden thing for us. And so like I just got his car and I don't know. I don't know if I wanna change it too much just because like, you know, it reminds me of my grandpa and all that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. That's very special that you have that and that'll be a great way to help remember him. Tell me, two of you are graduating seniors now. What advice do you have for those who are just starting high school?

Cooper:
Well, my advice is that I would just figure out, like find out something that you don't love, even though you may. Because for me, like I, when I joined Auto, I hated it. Like my first year I did not ever want to do it again. But like my mom just pushed me into there and this is what I want to do now. I love doing it. So I would say listen to your mom and do your very best.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good advice.

Vincent:
The advice I would give to the younger generations out there, if you know what you want to do, you should go for it regardless of what anybody says you can or can't do. If you believe that you can set your mind to it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Awesome. Well, thanks a lot guys. I'm proud of the work that you've done and that you've been able to find some skills and find a passion through these classes. So great work and keep it up. All right, good luck in the future.

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. They followed in the footsteps of their father, dedicating their lives to careers in education. On this episode of the Supercast, we meet four sisters who recently retired after spending a combined 100 years in the classroom. It is a century of work among siblings who made a big difference in the lives of students throughout Jordan School District.

We are here at Westvale Elementary to interview four sisters. One of whom has retired, three are retiring this year, and all have worked for Jordan School District for a long time. So I'm gonna ask them each to introduce themselves.

Margaret Chandler:
I'm Margaret Chandler and I am teaching at West Hills Middle School, and I'll have 24 years in with the district.

Evelyn Marse:
I'm Evelyn Marse and I'm the one that is already retired. But I have 40 years in and I finished up at Riverton High School.

Pennie Lovato:
Pennie Lovato. I am retiring with 40 years and I am at Herriman High School.

Cathy Sullivan:
Cathy Sullivan. And I'm at Westvale Elementary right here. I've only put in 15 years with the Jordan District.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, Marilyn Richards turned me on to this story and she calls you the Quilter sisters. Why is that?

Evelyn Marse:
That's our maiden name.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, the Quilters. Oh, very nice. Yes. And how does she know all the Quilter sisters?

Pennie Lovato:
She taught me in junior high at West Jordan Middle School. 7th grade PE classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
She told me about a remarkable seventh grade PE student that she taught. That must have been you Pennie.

Pennie:
I'm sure it was.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt. How did the rest of you know Marilyn?

Cathy Sullivan:
I went to school with one of her sisters. And that's kind of how I knew her.

Evelyn Marse:
I actually had Marilyn as my ninth grade PE teacher at West Jordan Middle. And I've worked with Marilyn when she was a vice principal and when she was a principal.

Margaret Chandler:
Well, and then when I got out of college, my first teaching position was at West Jordan Middle and she was a teacher there. And so we taught together for seven years while I was there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So, you guys know her in lots of different ways. And she has been my boss in various ways. She was principal when I was an assistant principal at Jordan High School. And now of course she's on the Board of Education and decides whether I get my next contract every time, along with the other six Board members. So, we all have a close connect with her. That's awesome. Tell me each of you a little bit about where you've taught and what your education journey has been in Jordan District, and in other districts

Margaret Chandler:
I've always been in the Jordan School District. Started at West Jordan Middle School and taught there for seven years. And then I was having a family and I stopped and tried to see if I could run a preschool business to stay home with my little ones. I did that for about five years and that just didn't pan out. So then I got back into the district and taught at Indian Hills Middle School when they were still part of our district for five years. And then I jumped out again and ran a preschool business very successfully for 15 years. And then I jumped back in again and went to West Hills Middle School. Kim Baker was the principal at that time and hired me on. And so I've just been there ever since.

Evelyn Marse:
Okay. So boy, I think about it, I started back in 1980. I always tell people, when I talk about all the schools I've been at, I would get like the seven year itch. I would just go, I just need to look at something different, different windows, different students, different walls, something. So I taught seven years at Midvale Middle, and I had the opportunity to teach with my dad. That was, that was one of the best opportunities ever at Midvale Middle.

Anthony Godfrey:
I was principal at Midvale Middle years after that.

Evelyn Marse:
Years after that, I was gonna say, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what did you teach? And what did your dad teach?

Evelyn Marse:
Dad taught math and I was special ed. I've always been special ed. So yeah, I mean, it was fun and challenging. My dad was old school. He didn't believe such things as learning disabilities. He thought that they were just play classes. I finally convinced him, you know, when he was struggling with a student. Why don't you just refer the student? Let's test him, let's work. And he started going through that process. And I would tell him about the testing and where the student was at and he'd go, ‘oh, that would make sense why he is not getting it.’ I mean, he started to understand special ed. So that was, it was such a growing experience for us. So that was, that was fun.
After that I went to Mount Jordan Middle, I think I spent eight years there. And then Marilyn hired me at South Jordan Middle. I loved it there, but an opportunity came up to go to Genesis that was by the prison for the Youth Correctional Program. And I jumped at that because I wanted something so different and that was exciting. That was way exciting. So I just spent five years there and then I went to Riverton, finished out. That's where I stopped. I went, I don't think I wanna move one more time. So I finished out my last 12 years at Riverton.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you retired, how many years ago?

Evelyn Marse:
I retired in 2019 and then I took a year off. And then they called me back and said, ‘we don't have enough online special ed teachers. So would you be willing to teach outta your basement for a year?’ So I did. It was challenging. And I have to say, I would do that one again.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really?

Evelyn Marse:
That was such a learning experience.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Well, I'll keep a note of that.

Evelyn Marse:
There you go.

Pennie Lovato:
Keep her in mind. Okay, so I started out teaching elementary and also it's always been special ed. And I decided that after six years of elementary, that I felt like I needed something more. So then I tried a self-contained classroom at Jordan High, the old Jordan High. Did that for a couple of years and decided that wasn't my gig. So then I transferred to Hillcrest High and did a Resource setting and felt like that was my niche. And so I stayed there for, I don't know, 19, 20 years at Hillcrest High, then transferred to Riverton High and then Herriman High.

Anthony Godfrey:
Were you ever at Riverton at the same time together?

Evelyn Marse:
We were there together. And darn that finally came down that said we couldn't teach together any longer.

Anthony Godfrey:
That nepotism rascal got in the way.

Evelyn Marse:
Because I mean, come on, we had different last names.

Pennie Lovato:
Although we did teach right next door to each other.

Evelyn Marse:
We don't look alike.

Pennie Lovato:
No, uh huh. No.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what was it like teaching next to each other? Were you able to kind of share a little bit?

Evelyn Marse:
Oh my gosh, it was wonderful. It was like teaching with dad. It was like, this is such a great experience.

Pennie Lovato:
It was wonderful to have some of the same students and go and brainstorm, you know, what will work? How can we reach the student? So it was fun to collaborate.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're not only all educators, but you've also been able to be educators together. That's exciting. And you're retiring from Herriman High School, okay.

Cathy Sullivan:
I taught 43 years ago at Santaquin Elementary. I was determined, I wanted my kindergarten and that was it. They were the ones that offered me a kindergarten. They were kind of booming then. And so I had a large number, 60 plus kids come through my two kindergartens and I was the only kindergarten teacher. Loved it, just literally loved it. Then I married and we moved up here to this valley. I taught half a year at East Midvale Elementary and then had some health issues and had to quit as the family started coming on. I didn't get back to teaching until my oldest daughter said, ‘Mom, you're wasting your education.’ And I went, oh my gosh, you sound just like your grandpa. And so I did what I needed to and I came back. I interviewed all over this district and I had just, you know, you go by that gut feeling. And I thought, oh my gosh, this is Westvale. This is where, you know, I started in West Jordan right here. So I said, okay, I'll interview with Kathe Riding. And Kathe Riding said I walked in and I said, you know, ‘I was the first sixth grade class here.’ And she says, ‘Really? Well, how does this school feel?’ And I said, ‘It feels great. It feels like I'm coming home.’ And over the last 15 years, I would not have gone anywhere else. I loved it. Taught kindergarten, and then Brenda Anderson asked me to go to first grade. And then she asked me before she left, come back to kindergarten and I was like, ‘Oh yes. Oh yes. Of course.’

Anthony Godfrey:
So you got to end at Westvale in kindergarten.

Cathy Sullivan:
Yes. And I'm finally going to graduate kindergarten.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. Wow. It's been a long journey. Now you said 43 years?

Cathy Sullivan:
No, just it was 43.

Anthony Godfrey:
No, I right. just since Santaquin. Yeah.

Cathy Sullivan:
Yeah, since Santaquin.

Anthony Godfrey:
So 43 years. That's the 70s, right? Wow. Just checking. Just had to put a number to that. Now we're here.

Cathy Sullivan:
I'm a little bit old.

Anthony Godfrey:
Because we're here at Westvale, I actually have this binder that has a picture of you in your class. What year was that? What year was that?

Cathy Sullivan:
I don't recall.

Anthony Godfrey:
1967- 1968. Does that sound familiar?

Cathy Sullivan:
I remember my teacher, Ms. Olsen.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Cathy Sullivan:
She was actually in our ward together.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, let's take a look there.

Cathy Sullivan:
Okay. I am right there on the top row.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you look familiar there? Look at that. How about that?

Cathy Sullivan:
I know, short hair still.

Anthony Godfrey:
Short hair, yeah. Do you remember any of these people?

Cathy Sullivan:
Actually I did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about them. This one right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, what about him?

Cathy Sullivan:
He was Mr. Peterson's son.

Anthony Godfrey:
Big man on campus?

Cathy Sullivan:
He was, he was. He loved basketball and everything. And then there was a group of us that when Mr. Peterson was giving us our math times tables and we were trying to beat each other's time. Oh my gosh. So competitive. And I had no idea I was that competitive. It was crazy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So did you beat him out?

Cathy Sullivan:
Only once or twice. He had, I mean, it was his father.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Fair enough. He had a bit of advantage.

Cathy Sullivan:
He had inside help. Yeah. And then Evelyn is in there someplace. I did see Evelyn.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now wait, what grade would you have been in Evelyn? Let’s take a look.

Evelyn Marse:
I would've been, third grade? Fourth grade?

Anthony Godfrey:
Third grade. Alright, let's turn back.

Evelyn Marse:
Okay. Wait, wait, wait. These people look really familiar.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're just leafing through those class pictures for those who are listening.

Evelyn Marse:
There I am.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, there she is. Look at that.

Evelyn Marse:
Oh my word.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is that a sweater vest?

Evelyn Marse:
No that, no, it was a dress.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, it's a dress.

Evelyn Marse:
You know that made it look like there was a little shirt under it. Yes, I have the groovy glasses going too. And look, my hair does kind of look the same. We all got pixie cuts.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Looks good. Is Pennie in here?

Evelyn Marse:
Pennie, you should be in here. You were just a couple.

Cathy Sullivan:
And Margaret should too.

Evelyn Marse:
So you would, if I was fourth, you would've been first.

Pennie:
Second.

Evelyn Marse:
No, second.

Pennie:
Second. There I am, up at the top.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, there she is.

Pennie:
I got my little sailor dress on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your sailor dress.

Evelyn Marse:
I was gonna say she didn't have the same haircut.  She had a little pony tail.

Pennie:
I had a pony tail.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember the sailor dress?

Pennie:
Oh yes, I do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it is funny how we remember the outfit.
When we come back more from the sisters and their combined century in education.

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:
What made you all retire at the same time? The three of you? What was the impetus for that happening? Who's responsible? Because we're losing you all at once.

Margaret Chandler:
Well, I'm finally old enough, 65. I felt that I can start getting insurance, another place. So, I was carrying the insurance for my husband. So just hanging in there and just getting enough years in.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Pennie, is it just coincidence that you decided to retire at the same time?

Pennie Lovato:
I just felt like I had reached 40 and that was my max. Magical number.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fair enough, yeah. I'd say four decades, you've earned it.

Cathy Sullivan:
I didn't know if I ever wanted to retire to be very honest with you. And then my husband said ‘Now, Cathy, we're going to retire together and we'll have lots of fun gardening and whatever.’ And I'm like, 'oh boy.' And so he retired this year in March, the end of March. And so I'm following suit like he asked. I'm like, 'you know what? This is a good year to go out on. It really is.'

Evelyn Marse:
I thought it was because I'd made retirement look so wonderful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, yeah. That's right. Now  you've forged the path, so what is your advice?

Evelyn Marse:
Oh my gosh.

Anthony Godfrey:
Retire for a year and then go back to work?

Evelyn Marse:
Yeah, you might need a break. You might need a break from retirement. I think I need a break from retirement.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Fair enough. Yeah.

Evelyn Marse:
Might have another year in me. But you know, we were looking at this. We kept adding up years, and adding up years and we finally came up with, between dad and all of us. We have 148 years in Jordan School District. And then between the other years that we're taught, it's just over 155 years in education.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's amazing. Well, we're all grateful. So many of them were in Jordan School District. Tell me about your dad.

Evelyn Marse:
Oh my gosh. He was one of those teachers, I watched him do this a few times. He loved, he loved his team. I mean, he had a great math team, but they were such pranksters. I mean, I'd walk down the hall with him and all of a sudden he'd just lean over and flip off lights in somebody's classroom and I'd hear ‘Mr. Quilter, turn those lights back on!’ you know, because they all knew what he would be doing.

When you didn't win in the drills on math, I'm shocked. Oh yes. Because I mean, dad drilled us. We were lined up. We know our times tables. We don't need a calculator or flash cards. And you know, he was the man that would just say, ‘just read me the scores.’ The end of the quarter would come and he'd go, ‘just read me the scores.’ And we'd read him the scores out of the book for a name. And he never used a calculator. Of course we had one over there because we wanted to prove him wrong and he'd say, okay, this is the amount.

Anthony Godfrey:
And he'd add it in his head.

Evelyn Marse:
And he'd add it in his head. And it was like, what the heck? You really can do this, can't you?

Margaret Chandler:
Well, he was a mentor to us because we would come home from college and we would sneak in and sit in the back of his classroom. And we would observe him and how he went about teaching, and how his fairness with the students, how he talked to them, how he was stern. But they were able to joke and learn in that environment. He was a mentor to all of us.

Pennie Lovato:
I don't think he ever thought all of us would stay in teaching as long as we did. Because I remember him telling me, I mean, he was born in 1931, so it's the old, you get married, you have kids. And so when we were all starting to go to college, he's like, and we're going eventually we'll go into education and he's going well, that's okay. That's a good one to fall back on. So, you know, if you graduate, you graduate, if you don't, you don't. But if you graduate and something happens to your husband and you can't work or whatever, then you can fall back on teaching. It wasn't that he thought it was going to be our life profession.

Anthony Godfrey:
148 years later.

Pennie Lovato:
I know. I know. And, but for me, I felt like I found the gift I was given. I loved teaching. And I would do it again if I could go with the wisdom that I have now and all the tools. I don't wanna start out as a brand new teacher with nothing in my tool belt. Because I'm sorry, those first year teachers, they might have tricks, but wisdom comes from a lot of experience, trial and error and pain and anguish. If you don't think you're gonna get back, then you're in the wrong profession.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what you've liked most about teaching.

Cathy Sullivan:
The lights coming on in their eyes. When you see a student that finally you've worked and worked and suddenly they get it. I had one student. I have to tell this, I had one student. He could not get zero plus anything is gonna be that number. He couldn't get the zero secret. And I worked and worked and worked. And finally I was like, ‘Okay, Scott, what is 10 plus zero?’ ‘10.’ Oh my gosh. I think you've got it. And I said, ‘you've got a three day weekend coming. I'm gonna check you Monday morning. I'm gonna check you and see if you've got it.’ And sure enough, Monday came and I said, ‘Scott, what's one plus zero?’ ‘One.’ ‘What's 10 plus zero?’ ‘10.’ ‘What's 100 plus zero?’ ‘100.’ And I said, ‘Scott, I'm gonna pick something really hard. What is 1 million plus zero?’ ‘1 million.’ Oh my gosh. You've got it. And the whole class is cheering.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's awesome

Cathy Sullivan:
Yeah, it's really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
I thought 10 plus zero was a hundred. So I've learned something. I've learned something. Pennie, what did you love most about teaching?

Pennie:
I think I have loved it because in special ed with some of the students, we start with them in 10th grade and then I might have them in 11th grade and 12th grade. I have enjoyed seeing that progression through 10th, 11th, and 12th. The development, the growth, to see where they were and to have conversations with the students about, do you remember 10th grade and where we were and look at you now in 12th grade. I have enjoyed watching that development.

Anthony Godfrey:
And having students three years in a row. You're able to see that, yeah.

Pennie Lovato:
And the relationship, the relationship that's developed in those three years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure, Evelyn?

Evelyn Marse:
Well, I agree with Pennie. I think that, you know, especially in high school, relationships are just a little more adult, a little bit, but a little more adult. But I think with all of that, I mean through my teaching, I'm one of those, let me give you a bit of wisdom. Let me give you a little bit of wisdom today. A little bit more. Let's talk about how your life could pan out and what you need besides school. So, I would give students bits of wisdom and I love the fact that I have run into so many students since then that have graduated and they'll go, 'Mrs. Marse, you were right. You were right. I listened to you. This happened to me. And I thought, this is what Mrs. Marse told us would happen. And this is what we should do. I listened to you.' And they thanked me and I'm like, okay, everything was worth it, all the pain, the anguish, the tears, the prayers that beat my head against the wall. It's all worth it.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's very rewarding to hear that. Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Margaret.

Margaret Chandler:
Well, I teach Family and Consumer Science. And I think the thing that I found so enjoyable is that I'm teaching the students life skills. Skills that they're gonna use the rest of their life. And they’re lab classes. And maybe classes that some students excel at, math or English or, you know, science, maybe they're not so sharp with the hands on. And then I have other students that are more hands on and they excel and they progress. And it starts their time to shine. And it's, it's just wonderful to see that the skills developed with the foods, and child development, with clothing, and sewing. And that's been very rewarding to see that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what are your plans now? What happens now that you've retired from such great careers and I mean, you have a few days left, but what's ahead for you?

Pennie Lovato:
I think we're gonna connect with each other more. Even though we're in the same valley, we're so busy, we've been so busy that we haven't spent as much time as we want to with each other. And I think connecting with our families, grandkids and setting our own time schedule when we get up in the morning, you know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you need a recording of the bell from school to kind of set your day? Because I think we could arrange for that if you'd like. Kinda wean you off of it gradually.

Margaret Chandler:
I don't think so. I think we're gonna be okay.

Evelyn Marse:
Gonna go cold turkey, aren't you?

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, you talk cold turkey. You're ready to just shut it down. Okay. Fair enough. When I first went to the district office and there were no more bells to guide my day, I'd stand up every once in a while and just kind of walk out to the door of my office and my administrative assistant would say, ‘The bell just rang didn’t it?’ and I'm like, ‘Yeah. Yep. It did.’ So if you do that, you're not alone. Now when we walked in, we are in Cathy's classroom. How long has it been since you've been in Cathy's classroom?

Pennie:
Never.

Anthony Godfrey:
Never in Cathy’s classroom?

Pennie:
Never. We've never been in Cathy's, she's never been in ours. No.

Margaret Chandler:
Oh, I think Cathy, I've been here in one of your classrooms, but I don't know if it was this exact room.

Cathy Sullivan:
It was probably the one across the hall. It was the bigger one. When I came back from first grade to kindergarten. This is the room they put me in and I love it. I mean, it's big enough. Westvale’s got such a weird layout. It's kind of like a spider with legs.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is a different kind of school that's for sure.

Evelyn Marse:
No, we don't really get to each other's classrooms. Like I said, when Pennie and I were with each other teaching at Riverton, we were in each other's rooms all of the time. And I've been over to Herriman a few times, but, but otherwise, no, that's why we are not as connected as we'd like to be. And I think we all kind of like each other now. Maybe not so much growing up but, but I think we kind of like each other and we like each other's company. So that will be kind of nice to do more things together.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s awesome. I’m very grateful for the 150 years that your family has given to Jordan School District. And I know many, many students and families are as well. So thank you.

Evelyn Marse:
You're welcome. 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. She has an undying love for teaching and the students in her care at Riverside Elementary School.

On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with third-grade teacher Olena Bradford, who was born and raised in Ukraine and now calls Utah home. Find out how her school community has surrounded Olena with love and support during a very emotional time, and how Ms. Bradford remains passionately committed to her students and classroom while finding ways to help family and friends impacted by war in her homeland.

We're here with Olena Bradford at Riverside Elementary. Just to talk about your experience as a teacher and you have had quite a year, haven't you?

Olena Bradford:
Well, it was an interesting year and we had many great things going here in school in Riverside. And also there are many different things that are happening in the world right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're from Ukraine. Tell me about coming here to the United States and growing up in Ukraine.

Olena Bradford:
I came to the United States about 15 years ago and when I came here, I did not speak any English. I've learned English here. In Ukraine, I was attending the Ukrainian school, so everything was in Ukrainian, all the subjects. After graduating from the high school, I attended the Pedagogy University in Izmail, Ukraine in the south. It's one of the most south points in Ukraine, on the border with Romania.

I was working in school since 1993. I was working on my doctorate degree at Odessa University at the same time. Later on, I became an assistant principal of the school in Ukraine. So I was combining administrative and coaching responsibilities for elementary school in Ukraine.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, today marks 100 days of war in Ukraine. Tell me about the impact on your family and your friends.

Olena Bradford:
I think this war affected everyone in this world, not only people in Ukraine, but people in so many other countries. Everyone who is standing up right now in Ukraine is being extremely brave and being an example to me. The president of the country is like a model for me how to be a grateful leader and stay with the people, every person, support, stand up, and protect everyone who you're responsible for.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have seen a lot of examples of bravery, courage, and leadership coming from Ukraine. And I do think the world has been impacted as a whole by those positive examples. It's just a tragic situation and devastating damage and death. But I was first made aware of you because people were so amazed at your ability to stay focused on teaching and students in such a terrible circumstance. How are you able to do that?

Olena Bradford:
I think that thinking about every student in my class helped me to be focused and help each of them because my kids are here and they need me. They need my support and they need my help.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have Olenna's principal, Mike Trimmel, here. Mike, tell me about Olenna's dedication to her students during this difficult time.

Mike Trimmell:
Absolutely. Olena, if I didn't know her personally and know what her and her family were going through, you would never know that this was affecting her. She is so dedicated to her students.

She comes in early when I get in. And the first thing, instead of talking about what's going on in the world, she's asking about students. How can we support this student? She's asking about strategies. “How does Think-Write-Pair-Share work?” She's so focused and dedicated on the students that you wouldn't know that there was something else going on in her life. It's absolutely amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
I also know that the entire school is getting a boost from your energy and your focus. We've all had a very difficult few years, but it puts it in perspective when I think about what you must be going through, having, I understand, a brother in Ukraine and family and friends in Poland that are struggling to survive and to get by. People have been inspired by you and your dedication and as a result have found paths through you to help other people, to rally around you and to rally around others. Can you tell me about the support you've had from the school?

Olena Bradford:
I'm really grateful for kindness and support of every student in our school, every teacher, every staff member. Because from the very beginning, from the very first day of war, I had people coming to my classroom, giving me hugs, leaving the small, very short notes, lifting me up. And reading those notes really helped me to go from one day to another.

Also, in our school, I think our school leaders, Mr. Trimmel and Mr. Price, have done so much for me. They organized the whole entire event for us in the faculty room with the whole room decorated in Ukrainian style, with cakes made by kids, made by students, by using Ukrainian recipes. One of our teachers, Ms. Medina, was playing violin and she learned, especially for this day, the Ukrainian melodies that she played. That was absolutely touching. On that day, I received many notes from every member of our school, with just full of kindness and full of love.

That meant a lot for me because at that point I was really struggling with my feelings. It was really, really hard. But having this support helped me to go through this difficult time and accomplish everything that I needed this year and be helpful to my students. That meant a lot for me because at that point I was really feeling, I was really struggling with my feelings. It was really, really hard. But having this support helped me to go through this difficult time and accomplish everything that I needed this year and be helpful to my students.

Also, as a whole entire school, we helped some specific families in Ukraine. We were able to buy the minivan to deliver food to families in the south of Ukraine who are struggling and have no food, especially during this hard, difficult time. Also, not only people in our school, but people from the district reached out to me and they donated money to make this project happen. So I appreciate everyone's willingness to help people who are far away.

It is really important for me when I talk to family and friends in Ukraine to pass this passion, to pass this positivity and vision of life, because many people in Ukraine really feel like no one cares. It's their fight and they're alone for many different reasons because there are many difficult circumstances being bombed and being shot. But for me, even showing small videos about what happened in my classroom, what happened in our school, what are we doing now, the steps of buying this minivan and collecting the addresses and delivering this food to different people really helps to lift them up over there and show them that everyone matters.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's really inspiring that people have come together like that and supporting you personally has also had an impact on friends and family you've been able to share that with. And for people to buy a minivan and to continue to buy food and supplies to help those who are impacted by the war is just incredible. Not surprising because that's the type of people that we have. Mike, tell me about the event that was held.

Mike Trimmell:
Yeah, so we came together as a staff and just decided that we needed to wrap our arms around Olena and make sure, I think we were giving her notes and passing by the classroom, but we wanted to come together collectively and just show her how much we care for her and for the people of Ukraine. And so we had teachers, support staff, parents, PTA members all come together and make Ukrainian flags out of construction paper. One parent went and bought, I don't know how many dozen sunflowers, which is a flower that is known in Ukraine as a ray of sunshine, and decorated the whole room in sunflowers. Another staff member looked up recipes and with students created Ukrainian desserts. Mrs. Medina-Ferrone learned Ukrainian music on her violin.

We just decided that we were going to have an emergency meeting. Everyone knew except for Olena. So we had this emergency meeting in the staff lounge, which we never do. And so we all crowded in the staff lounge and as soon as Olena started walking down the hallway, we queued Mrs. Medina-Ferrone to start playing the music and I could see the look on Olena's face like, "Wait, what's going on?" And then when she came in, we all just embraced her and gave her hugs and words of support, enjoyed some Ukrainian desserts and just enjoyed each other's company. We just really wanted to wrap our arms around her and make sure she knew in a real tangible way that she is loved and that we care for her and support her and her family abroad.

Anthony Godfrey:
What an incredible outpouring of love and support. That's incredible. Fantastic.

Stay with us. When we come back, more with our incredible teacher, Olena Bradford.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
I understand you have a brother still in Ukraine. Tell me how he’s doing.

Olena Bradford:
Currently, we have people who are helping him since my brother is blind, so he always needed some people around him to help him with different things. Running errands and doing other things. Just for now, it costs more than it cost before because prices for everything gone way high over there. At the moment, I'm capable of doing it. It's difficult. It's not easy, but they are doing everything that we can for him.

Anthony Godfrey:
I wish your family and friends safety and peace as soon as possible.

Olena Bradford:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk more about teaching. Utah and Ukraine and the United States. Tell me the differences between school and Ukraine and the U.S.

Olena Bradford:
There are some differences and some similarities. The students are the same. Everything is the same. Math is still math. It doesn't matter where. In Ukraine or here in the United States. One of the differences would be in Ukraine, we have elementary, middle and high school in the same building. When I was assistant principal, I was all over the elementary.

Another difference is that the day broke up a little bit differently. One thing that I like about the schools here in the United States is that we have a specially dedicated time for interventions. RTI. Over there, at least when I taught 15 years ago, we didn't have that specific amount of time dedicated to the interventions, specific targeted interventions to lift up each student, to support each student. We did it in a different way, but it was during the tier one instructional time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Mike, I understand that there was a professional development experience around English language learners that Olena was involved with. Tell me about that.

Mike Trimmell:
We have a high population of English language learners at Riverside Elementary School. We also have dual immersion Spanish. Olena is a very empathetic teacher and she loves her students so much. We wanted the rest of the staff to understand what English language learners are hearing and dealing with on a daily basis. We thought if we use Spanish, that might not work because half of the staff speaks Spanish. We have a Ukrainian teacher who speaks Ukrainian. I asked Olena to develop a lesson so that in a staff meeting, she would teach math, which is a universal language, kind of.

She taught a math lesson in Ukrainian and asked them questions that no one could answer at first. Then she added visuals and manipulatives. The types of things that we know work for English language learners to help support their language development. She, by the end of the lesson, was able to have teachers answering math questions in Ukrainian with all of the visual supports that she provided. It was a great opportunity to use her strength as a teacher, the language that she brings, the culture that she brings to our staff, and also to help us as a staff become more empathetic to what our English language learners are dealing with on a daily basis in the classroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
What a great experience and deep learning because when you experience that, it's very different from thinking about how to connect with students. When you put yourself in the situation, now you're thinking shifts and you're really able to see it from someone else's perspective.

Mike Trimmell:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's exciting. No other Ukrainian speakers on the staff, huh?

Olena Bradford:
No.

Mike Trimmell:
We had one trying to speak a little bit of Russian, but it just didn't–

Olena Bradford:
She used Translator.

Mike Trimmell:
One pulled out their phone and was using Google Translator. Cheating a little bit. It was a great– I would say it was probably the single best professional development we did this year, and she was a large part of that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. What a great activity.

Olena Bradford:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what you love most about teaching.

Olena Bradford:
I love my students. I like each of them every single year. Each personality, they're all different. They're all unique. They are all special to me. And my goal as a teacher is to help them to become lifelong learners, just like me. I'm a lifelong learner.

Mike Trimmell:
Absolutely you are.

Olena Bradford:
I'm learning. And I want them to know how to find answers to the questions that they will have in their own life. Not only academic questions, but how to manage their own life, how to make a decision based on information, be able to find the reliable source of information. Dig deeper and then make the ethical decision in their life, because our life is full of making decisions, points, when we are thinking, "What should I do at this situation? How do I know that this is the right choice?" So I would say my main goal is to prepare each of my students for a real life, this way, and become critical thinkers. Always think. Always do your own research. Find the reliable source of information to verify your research and your choice.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're obviously doing a great job of preparing them for real life. Thank you. We're very fortunate to have you here in Jordan District and here at Riverside Elementary. So thank you for sharing your experience and skills with our students.

Olena Bradford:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
And for lifting the community and lifting the school.

Olena Bradford:
Thank you.

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.