Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is an opportunity like no other for students to grow their talents and perfect their skills, creating beautiful flower arrangements for actual weddings and other special events around town. On this episode of the Supercast, find out what the Floriculture program at Mountain Ridge High School is all about, and see how a career focused bridal bouquet and flower arranging business class is helping students see a clear path to a promising profession.

We're here with Mrs. Neil in her Floriculture class, preparing for a wedding, actually a wedding of a former student of hers.

Alisha Neil:
Former student. We're in full swing,

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. That's what we were hoping for.

Alisha Neil:
Good.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Alisha Neil:
So each group, I'll give you a copy of their form, but each group has been assigned a different aspect of the wedding to work on. So last time in class we talked about the bride's colors for a general theme, the flowers we're using in particular, and today's demo day. So what that means is each kid is making a sample of one thing that we'll make for the final wedding next time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, I see.

Alisha Neil:
And so they're going through, and like, if they're in charge of the groomsmen's boutonnieres, I'll get five copies of those today, and then we'll decide as a group which one we like best to make for next time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so after today, then will you work with the bride to see what she likes?

Alisha Neil:
Yes. So this bride, well actually the groom, is an older brother of a student I had last year. And this bride is pretty chill. We've made a couple things for her  in the past, and she's given me full reign and said, ‘I trust you. We'll just be there to pick it up on Wednesday.’

Anthony Godfrey:
So the demo is just to see what you're going to create? But it doesn't necessarily have to make it through her anymore?

Alisha Neil:
No, nope.

Anthony Godfrey:
She's just turned over to you.

Alisha Neil:
Yep. She's given us our creative liberty.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a lot of trust.

Alisha Neil:
It is. But the demo is because I know what I would create, but the kids are more creative than I am. And so they will take the colors and the flowers and the other things that are going on, what the grooms or groomsmen or bridesmaids are wearing, and they'll add accents that I wouldn't think of or do the flowers a little differently than I would. And then we select which one we think fits the theme best, and then make that for next time.

Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me everything that you're doing for the wedding right now. You're doing boutonnieres for the groomsmen.

Alisha Neil:
Yep. The bride's bouquet is done. We did that out of artificial flowers a week ago.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what does that look like? Oh, is this the one in the photo there?

Alisha Neil:
Yeah, it's the picture up there, up front.

Anthony Godfrey:
So describe that for those who are listening.

Alisha Neil:
Yes. So, her colors are burgundy, white, offwhite, forest green, and kind of a sage. So she used roses. We used some ranunculus. We use chrysanthemums, eucalyptus, and some dried pampas grass, which is a new thing. I'm not saying we actually stole from a church parking lot, but we did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Dried pampas grass? From a church parking lot.

Alisha Neil:
From a church parking lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
At a location not to be disclosed.

Alisha Neil:
Not to be disclosed. But my bishop knows where things happen, and he was like, ‘Oh, Alicia's at it again.’ So we're using a combination of silk flowers and artificial flowers for the actual wedding with more of the real flowers because of the scent. So this bride chose a lot of things. She's got some rosemary in there. She's got eucalyptus. So things that smell really nice.

Anthony Godfrey:
It’s very fragrant. I didn't realize that you would ever combine the two. I didn't think of that. So you use the artificial flowers to help it pop and last, maybe? And you use the natural flowers and what's the term for the greenery?

Alisha Neil:
Live greenery. Yeah, live greenery.

Anthony Godfrey:
Live greenery.

Alisha Neil:
So the artificial flowers have gotten so good lately that a lot of times you can't tell the artificial from the live. And so we mix them a lot of times if things are out of season. So for example, like some of the pampas grass is starting to fade right now. So if I needed to use that in the spring when it's not available, I can use artificial as the filler in between.

Anthony Godfrey:
Artificial pampas grass. Was that like a Kickstarter campaign?

Alisha Neil:
I’m sure it had to have been somebody's.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've got this big idea. What is it? I'm going to make artificial dried pampas grass.

Alisha Neil:
Oh yeah. And pampas grass is very popular at the moment.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Listeners, ideas are out there for the taking. If you can only wrap your mind around it. So, what are some of the concepts behind good flower arranging?

Alisha Neil:
So, the students in this class, we have already learned all the floral tools because you need to use specific tools on specific things. So you're not gonna use your wire cutters to cut fresh floral stems, because you'll crush them and destroy them. They've learned taping, they've learned principles and elements of design. So they've learned about balance, color use, unity, texture, all those kinds of things.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about taping.

Alisha Neil:
So floral tape, these kids will tell you that they hate it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is this over here? Is this the green stuff over here?

Alisha Neil:
This is the green stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's check it out.

Alisha Neil:
So, floral tape.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, I just got into the fragrance zone. Like, I couldn't smell the flowers there, and now I can. Wow, that smells great.

Alisha Neil:
Yeah, there's some good stuff. And she, this bride, also chose to use Holland roses. So her roses are from Holland. They are a more natural rose, and they have the natural rose scent. So if we get our roses from South America or California, we don't get as much of that scent to them because they're hybridized for long shelf life, or a specific color. But these Holland roses have that rose scent.

Anthony Godfrey:
I am learning a lot. Now she's chill, but she wants roses from Holland. So she does know what she wants.

Alisha Neil:
She does know what she wants. We talked through it and she agreed that's what she wanted.

Anthony Godfrey:
Holland roses. Wow. That's fantastic.

Alisha Neil:
The floral tape is actually made of a paper mache like material, and then coated in paraffin wax. It comes in different colors, different shades of green.

Anthony Godfrey:
Does it stick to itself?

Alisha Neil:
It will only stick. So, Sabrina, do you wanna show him the magic of the floral tape? This is Sabrina. So stretch it, now, stick it to something.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, only when you stretch it. May I? All right. Let's see how I do now.

Alisha Neil:
So only when it's stretched, will it be activated and then it will stick to itself or to other materials.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Huh? Oh, I broke it.

Alisha Neil:
That's fine.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Oh, I broke it again. All right. Clearly I need to sit in your class before I do this.

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. So, the floral tape is a hard skill to learn because often when you're trying to get that stretch, you tear it the first time. But these guys made floral crowns about two weeks ago and did a great job with them. But we did that to teach that taping skill along with where are we placing this and how am I going to make it look natural without showing the wire or the tape.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Yeah. So you've gotta have all the backstage stuff that stays backstage. And how do you use the wire?

Alisha Neil:
So, floral wire, these guys are gonna use it in a couple different ways. If we were making a big spray bouquet.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the floral wire right here?

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. This is the floral wire. This is 22 gauge floral wire. So it's a medium light thickness.

Anthony Godfrey:
So when you talk about 22 gauge, you're talking about something different than many other people might be. So 22 gauge floral wire. And tell me again how this is used.

Alisha Neil:
So they are gonna use this as the base in our corsages and boutonnieres. If they were doing a large spray, like a standing spray, we'd use it to wire the roses and hold them in a specific position. But where we're doing small hand tied bouquets, we're not gonna use 'em for that. But when they put the wire in the flowers, so in this case in our roses or our carnations or chrysanthemums, they're going to create an artificial bendability to those flowers so that we can adjust them slightly. So they lay on the lapel or on the wrist at just a slight angle. So we're creating kind of an artificial stem. We put the wire in tape down the stem, and like I said, kind of create an artificial angle or stem so that we can bend them and make them look the way we want.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. And this looks really pretty. Even what they're working on at the table looks great. What's the white stuff there that looks like an ice queen touched it?

Alisha Neil:
That's bleached ruscus. So Italian ruscus is the dark green that's next to it. You can see her on the table, and that's the bleached version. So bleached or blanched flowers are really popular right now, and they actually put the stems in bleach and suck all the color out of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. I'm quite overwhelmed at all of this. It's a big deal. Okay. Let me ask you this, kind of off topic, but what advice do you have for people who are buying flowers for a significant other?

Alisha Neil:
Well, there was a poster in my classroom at USU, at Utah State University that said, ‘How mad is she?’ And it had flowers, it was the same arrangement, but in different sizes. So you gotta take that into account when you're buying flowers.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's solid advice.

Alisha Neil:
There's been a big movement in the floral industry about sustainability and using local flowers. So if that's important to you there's some flower shops here in the valley that are using locally sourced items and only seasonal items. So they're not getting flowers from Holland or from South America.

Anthony Godfrey:
For a wedding you go all out. I understand that.

Alisha Neil:
For a wedding, you do what the bride wants. And we don't ask questions. Yep. We just fit her budget to what we can do and give her the best we can. But yeah, if that's important to you, you can think about that. I always like to shop local. There's some really good local florist and florist shops around, and most of them are really willing to work within your budget. If you say, ‘Hey, she's this mad and my budget is this much’, and they'll make it as best they can to that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is this just ribbon? That's part of the arrangement?

Alisha Neil:
Yep. Last time in class we were practicing the floral bows, which are actually quite challenging. So this is Ivy's floral bow from last time.

Anthony Godfrey:
You don't have to convince me that they're challenging. I believe you. I believe you.

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. They are challenging. And I give them this fabric ribbon to start with, because it is very forgiving, but it's also hard to do unless you get the technique just right.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. So show me. Loop, you loop, and then you twist?

Alisha Neil:
Start with the tail, however long you want the tail to be. You loop it around your thumb and pinch between two fingers, and then you twist it. And that is to give it that crease, but also on some ribbon we have a shiny side and a dull side. This one we don't. But to keep the shiny side up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, more fun with students in the Floriculture program at Mountain Ridge High.

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:
So tell me about employment. Are there some of your students who go out and look for employment in floral shops?

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. So one of my students from two years ago is doing flowers on her own. It's her second job. But she does flowers for all the high school dances and she's come and helped me on a couple weddings during the summer. And then I have a student currently who is on the Floriculture team. So we have a team in FFA that competes with floral design.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a floriculture competition?

Alisha Neil:
There's a floriculture competition, there’s a floriculture team. So she's on the team and she's working at Harmon's right now and is a floral assistant. So she's not the head designer, but she goes through and helps when they have dances and proms and big things. Big funeral arrangements or things to do, or for holidays, Mother's Day, stuff like that. She's there helping the florist there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you have floriculture emergencies from time to time?

Alisha Neil:
Occasionally. Now, when we prep a wedding like this, I will send an extra pair of wires, extra pins, extra tape, a little bit of ribbon, and some extra flowers with the family.

Anthony Godfrey:
Because they, well, I forgot Uncle Ned. Uncle Ned needs a flower.

Alisha Neil:
Yes, yes. We always do that. So we always send a couple extras. And the nice thing is most of the weddings we've done has been for family members or former students. And so they know a little bit and they can fill those gaps or patch things. I had a crash. We had this big spray over this chevron wood board and the line snapped and it crashed in the middle. Not in the ceremony, thank heavens, but during the reception. So I sprinted over there with some more fishing line and got it hooked back up and it was fine. But that's been the only major crash so far.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I ask about the emergencies because these are high stakes events that you're making these flowers for.

Alisha Neil:
They are.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's not a margin for error.

Alisha Neil:
Well, I've been really lucky. None of the brides I've worked with have been bridezillas for a long time. And so most of them have been very happy. And they understand there's a little bit of a risk in having students do your wedding, and having students do your wedding work. But the cost is lower because we do it at cost for them because I have free labor here, and the kids are learning. So there's that little bit of a trade off. They're gonna get a little cheaper than they would if they did it at a florist shop, but there is that risk involved.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think a couple of students in the background just realized that they're free labor.

Alisha Neil:
Oh yes, they did. They were like, ‘What?’

Anthony Godfrey:
Sorry. Are we in the way of you making progress?

Student:
No, you’re totally fine.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about these scissors, like huge handled, tiny blades. What do you use these scissors for?

Student:
Those are like floral cutters.. So you use them to cut like plants off of their stem or like cut off leaves just so that you're not like twisting them off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I tend to twist them off.

Student:
It’s just much easier and faster.

Anthony Godfrey:
I use regular scissors that probably crush the stem. Is that what you're trying to avoid?

Student:
Yeah, this keeps it all nice and clean.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. All right. Very nice. Is it gonna be harder for someone to buy flowers for any of you? Because you're gonna be very discriminating and you're going to look at the bouquet and say, ‘Well, that was a very nice effort, but I really don't like the fill flowers that they chose.’

Students:
Oh, 100%.

For sure, no.

Definitely.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're tougher to please now I understand that.

Students:
Oh, yeah.

We’re the experts.

Alisha Neil:
My husband knows not to buy me flowers. That’s just a no.

Anthony Godfrey:
He just knows that's not gonna fly.

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. He's like, ‘Nope, I'm not gonna do that.’

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. So these are pixie carnations?

Alisha Neil:
Pixie carnations.

Anthony Godfrey:
And have these just opened up more than these?

Alisha Neil:
Right. So this one is a little bit more open than this. Carnations are lovely because we can cheat. So see how tight this one is?

Anthony Godfrey:
See how tight this one is?

Alisha Neil:
Yeah. This one's all still buddy. You can just take your thumb.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so you can open it up. You don't have to wait for it.

Alisha Neil:

Yeah, you can cheat carnations.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, I wanna ask each of you, after being in this class, what is your favorite flower?

Student #1:

Oh, purple daisies.

Anthony Godfrey:

Purple daisies. Now are daisies dyed purple or are they?

Student #1:
No, just like natural.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, there are natural purple daisies?

Student #1:
Yeah. Natural purple daisies.

Anthony Gedfrey:
And was that your favorite before you took this class? Or has it always been your favorite?

Student #1:
It's always been my favorite.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. All right.

Student #2:
I like Siberian Irises.

Anthony Godfrey:
Siberian Irises. And what do Siberian Irises look like?

Student #2:
A mess. No, they're, I don't know how to describe them. They've got, I don't know how to describe them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, listeners will Google the Siberian Iris.

Student #2:
They're like a purpley color most of the time. Darker colors is usually what they are..

Anthony Godfrey:
And they're a mess. What do you mean? Does it kinda look like they're falling apart or?

Student #2:
A little bit, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And did you know about Siberian Irises before this class? So you were a, what do you call a flower junkie? A flower-y? Before this?

Student #2:
A little bit.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. How about you?

Student #3:
I like baby's breath. I think it's just really pretty.

Anthony Godfrey:
Baby's breath. Okay.

Student #3:
It’s that one right there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. This one? Yeah. Okay. Very nice. Very delicate lacy looking. Yeah. Okay. How about you?

Student #4:
I like the zebra plant.

Anthony Godfrey:
The zebra plant?
Student #4:
It's like a big plant and the leaves have like stripes on them. Like white stripes, so it looks like a zebra.

Anthony Godfrey:
And do you ever use that in an arrangement sometimes?

Student #4:
Not yet, but we've learned about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
But you can, they are used for that?

Student #4:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Very good. I did not know about any of these except baby's breath, so I'm learning. All right. What made you want to take a floriculture class?

Student #5:
I've always loved flowers and it's my senior year, so I had some room in my schedule. I go to a whole lot of dances and so I wanted to learn how to make my own boutonnieres.

Anthony Godfrey:
And do you do that now?

Student #5:
I can. We learned last time how to make boutonnieres.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, great. So you're ready to go.

Student #5:
I guess so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, would you ever do your own flowers for your wedding? Or is that kind of like being an attorney representing yourself? You never want to do that.

Student #6:
You could, right? I would love to. I've also thought about doing my own cake for my wedding, because I went through like a baking phase. It would depend how stressed I am though. I feel like I wouldn't have very much time if I was getting married.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you might need to back up.

Student #6:
I might need a back up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Like, if the stress overwhelms me, then I'm gonna have to get somebody to bake and to flower for me.

Student #6:
Yeah. I might have to pay somebody, but I would love to if I had time.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like most about Floriculture?

Student #6:
Working with the flowers. When we do arrangements like this,

Anthony Godfrey:
Are there some flowers you learned about that you didn't know about before?

Student #6:
Oh yeah. So we're learning a hundred or so, 140 flowers throughout this class. She gave us a list of flowers to look at and when I first looked at it, I didn't know any of them. I recognized a couple names.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think I need to develop a favorite flower. I think I need to look at the 140 and decide for myself. What's your favorite?

Student #7:
I like daisies and chrysanthemums a lot. My favorite since this class, Mrs. Neil's gonna hate me. Baby's breath, just because I see it all the time and I didn't know what it was called. I never really recognized it until I took this class. And so now I see it like all the time.

Anthony Godfrey:
But that's the beauty of a good class is where you learn about something that you've always seen, but never known quite what it was. And what are you doing right now? What is this called?

Student #7:
Stripping.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stripping.

Student #7:
Stripping. So this is gonna be a part of the handle of the bouquet. You can't really hold this part because it has like leaves on it. So I'm just making it so there's just a stem.

Anthony Godfrey:
Perfect.

We talked about all the work that these kids have been doing. It sounds like there's art, there's math, there's all kinds of stuff layered into floriculture.

Alisha Neil:
There is a lot. We first start with plant science. So they need to understand the science of plants. So if we're gonna care for live flowers, they need to understand a little bit about them. We get into different types and families of plants, genus and species because they need to know the genus and species for scientific names. So we talk about things like mosses, ferns, liverworts, things of that nature. Pines, gymnosperms, and then into the flowering plants, which are called angiosperms, which is most of the plant life that we see. Then we get into elements of design, which is the same thing they're teaching in the art classes. We're talking about color theory, we're talking about balance and unity and harmony and those kinds of elements. Scale, proportion, that kind of stuff. So they get a little science, they get a little art. And then the technical hands on skills is a big deal too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, this is awesome. Thank you very much for spending time with us and letting us drop in on a high stakes job.

Alisha Neil:
You're welcome. Thanks for coming out.

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. They are hair and nail designs custom-made for a horrifying Halloween competition. On this episode of the Supercast we take you inside the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers in Riverton, where hair design and nail tech students get creative in a costume contest like no other. Find out how they put their talents to the test in a timed competition that resulted in some scary hairdos and outrageous nail designs.

We're here with Shannon Mechling at JATC South to learn more about the Hair and Nails Halloween Competition. Tell me about how the competition works and about the theme for this year.

Shannon Mechling:
So the students are all assigned a theme we choose as a group, and the theme this year was legends and fables before 1900.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh ok.

Shannon Mechling:
So they had to pick a fable or a legend and plan their theme, and then the team had to execute the hair, the nails, the makeup, the costume as a team. They had to do a little bit of preparation work with diagrams and research, and then go ahead and put the design. And it gives them a chance to be really creative.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now the student who has chosen to be decorated and to be in the costume, is that a place of honor or would people rather be applying rather than be applied to?

Shannon Mechling:
That probably is a team question. You know, it's probably a 50/50. It is as much fun doing the application of the hair, the nails or the skin as it is being chosen to be the model, but they kind of work that out as a team. It's kind of fun when we get to put two classes together, well actually three, hair, barbering, and nails, and let them work together as a team. It introduces team working skills and then the soft skills communicating what they're trying to execute as far as their design and theme, and then just watching the follow through is just a riot. I think it's great. And I am so proud of all these kids and their talent and abilities.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's obviously a lot of talent and a ton of hard work that's gone into this. Tell me what are some of the prizes or titles available?

Shannon Mechling:
So we do a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for the AM class and the PM class. And then we have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize for hair and nails. And it's usually stuff that pertains to the class, nail products, hair products, different things. They get a little bit of bragging rights for being able to be in the top three. I would hate to have to pick because every team, every student is working really hard to perform and do what the competition requires. So we're just grateful and thankful that they all step up to the plate and do their thing. And it is really fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
They've done a fabulous job. It's really overwhelming to see the finished product here. So there are no, like most terrifying prize or?

Shannon Mechling:
Well, we do different things. We try to keep it a little g-rated because sometimes we have preschoolers and different kids, so they can't bring weapons or anything like that along. So it pretty much is their creative idea of whatever goes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. That's true.

Shannon Mechling:
We don't put too many limits, just a few of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
And by combining people from various classes. Yep. I mean, these teams could go on to open their own salon together and be a full service salon.

Shannon Mechling:
A lot of them do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do they?

Shannon Mechling:
Yeah. I have a couple students right now that are looking to team up in a salon to work. So yes, it is great to watch where they go and what they do when they finish up school and get their licensing. And we have a pretty high percentage of students that do that, so we're proud of that fact too.

Anthony Godfrey:
That does not surprise me. Now tell me who judges the competition today?

Shannon Mechling:
So we usually have manufacturer reps come in to judge the competitions. People in the industry that kind of have a little bit more detail as far as what's involved with hair, skin, and nails. And then sometimes we include the staff to come in and help us be impartial in their judging. So it works a little both ways. So it's just great for the school and great for the other students and faculty and we just try to make it pretty inclusive with all of them. We've had like greenhouse in with us that have done the competition before. We're gonna do welding in the spring because we're doing a flower fairy contest and we're gonna invite them with the hair and nails. So you gotta come back, look at that one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Get welding guys out there. Yeah. I like it. I like it. And I'm with you. I don't wanna be any part of any judging. That would be too hard walking through here. They've all done an amazing job.

Shannon Mechling:
I could judge, but I like to watch what everybody else sees and what the students are doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you describe this aroma? Is it lacker and aerosol altogether? What's that combination? What's that fragrance?

Shannon Mechling:
I think you're smelling nail product. And you're smelling a lot of aerosols from hairspray.

Anthony Godfrey:
I guess I'll call it manmade.

Shannon Mechling:
It is all manmade. It is that. But look what they do with it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know it's miraculous.

Shannon Mechling:
Hey, thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you.
Time's winding down. Tell me what you guys are working on right now.

Student #1:
I'm doing the top buns on the hair. I don't know what.

Student #2:
I'm adding curls into the hairline cuz I'm almost done with the makeup.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're just sitting still.

Student #3:
And I'm just sitting here looking pretty.

Student #2:
She puts her head up and down when I tell her to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. You move your head the way you're supposed to.

Student #3:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And nothing else?

Student #3:
Nope.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Designed it.

Student #4:
Well, I picked it out. It's the candy witch from Hansel and Gretel. The one that tries to eat them and lures them to her candy house. But I guess this is the case where it goes wrong.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what drew you to wanting to be a witch that eats children?

Student #4:
Well, it's more so the candy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. Very good.

Student #4:
I love candy, more than children sometimes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fair enough.

Student #4:
I just thought the candy would be a cute look.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now for those who can't see, you're in a pink dress. What is this material around the outside of that?

Student #4:
This is like tulle.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tulle. Okay. And you've got Starlight mints and taffy and suckers taped to you.

Student #4:
We've got it all.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. It's everywhere.

Student #4:
Sprinkles. blood even.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Then there is blood involved.

Student #4:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is this the blood of the children you've consumed?

Student #4:
Yes. This is.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Fair enough. And you have sprinkles on your face?

Student #4:
Yes I do.

Anthony Godfrey:
It actually frames your face very nicely.

Student #4:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
How did you get the pink on your face? Because it almost looks like kind of highlighting and giving contour to your face.

Student #5:
Airbrushing and lots of pink eyeshadow and pink blush.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pink eyeshadow. Pink blush.

Student #4:
Mostly airbrushing it.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is the exact tone? Do you know the name of the tone? Is it like salmon or you know, is it named Paradise Dreams or?

Student #4
Peony

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, Peony. Well, that's not very poetic.

Student #5:
Yeah. And Like and Rad.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it?

Student #5:
Like and Rad.

Anthony Godfrey:
Like and Rad. Okay. The color is in fact rad.

Student #4:
Yes it is.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, pink hair is being added to your actual hair and those are maybe the tightest curls I've seen in a long time. Those are ramen like curls right there.

Student #4:
We wanted, you know, the Shirley Temple look to go with it. And that's what we did.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good inspiration. So do you have to prioritize what you're going to do?

Student #4:
Pretty much. Do the basics first, then out all the fun stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us for more on the spectacular Halloween Hair and Nail Design Competition.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
Are you guys close? Can I ask you what you're working on here? So tell me about the concept here.

Student #6:
So our character that we picked was Persephone and we're basically doing like a half goddess type of look because like, she's like the goddess of nature and whatever, and spring. So the other side is like if humans stay too long, like where Hades is at, then slowly turn to death. So then we just executed that and made her like half turning because like she's down there for so long.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're cutting it close in other words, in this costume?

Student #6:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Student #6:
Then for the nails we did like the nature, then like dark while she's still in the underworld.

Anthony Godfrey:
Those are long sharp nails, each with its own design. So can you describe the design on each nail for me?

Student #6:
So this first one has like gold foils and glitter underneath. And on top of it I have like 3D leaves that I sculpted myself. But basically that's just because she's like the goddess of nature again. And because it's like, I don't know, it just represents her a lot. Then this one is just like nature again, how it's like a thunderstorm while it's like on earth, how she controls it. Then this would be like her love for Hades. Like, it's like she was forced to love him. It's not actual, she just has to do it cuz she's forced to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. You're very torn I see.

Student #6:

But this one is just like representing her while she's staying underneath, the underlayer basically.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, that's it. So this is kind of from earth to Hades all the way down?

Student #6
Yes. Mm-Hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And what about the thumb then?

Student #6:
The thumb is just like, adds a little darkness, like you can't really

Anthony Godfrey:
Seems very ominous.

Student #6:
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's clear at the tip. Very mysterious. And are you okay with being only half goddess?

Student #7:
Yeah. Because I'm kind of forced into it. So it's like there's good in it but also bad because it's like a forced thing I guess.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. And did all of you design this together or which one of you was responsible for the design?

Student #6:
For the nails?

Anthony Godfrey:
Just the overall.

Student #6:
Oh, we all decided to do Persephone.

Anthony Godfrey:
And why Persephone?

Student #6:
Cause? It just seems like her story isn't really told. Like yeah, we talk about Hades and whatever, but there's no real representation with her story.

Anthony Godfrey:
Looks fabulous. Great job.

Student #6:
Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
You guys only have five minutes left, but can you tell me about your design?

Student #8:
So we did the tooth fairy, but pink edition.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, the pink edition. I've never run into her.

Student #8:
It's our own twist.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like it. Tell me about that. Why the tooth fairy? Did any of you have a particularly good or particularly bad tooth fairy experience?

Student #8:
No, only good.

Anthony Godfrey:
Only good. Okay. That's very on brand for the tooth fairy. So the pink tooth fairy. Tell me about this design.

Student #8:
I don't know, I feel like it's just more of a fancier look and we just wanted to do a tooth fairy, I guess.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the nails. This is 3D all the way.

Student #8:
Bailey's the one that did that. This one's a mouse cuz it all started off with a mouse. This is a wand. This is wings. This is money. And this is a shoe.

Student #9:
Don't ask me how that's a shoe.

Anthony Godfrey:
No, I can see the shoe. I see it.

Student #8:
There's money in this one. Like a piece of money.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's actually a piece of money in that. Wow. Oh yeah, I can see it. That's something. And is it both hands or just one?

Student #8:
Just one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just one. Okay. That's part of the competition. And tell me about the hair design here. What are the elements of the design?

Student #9:
We have some braids back here. We added tinsel to the hair., just make it more sparkly and stand out. And then we added a bunch of pearls and glitter spray.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, and you have pearls lining the edge of your hair. Very nice. And how do you apply pearls to the forehead, cheek and ear? Asking for a friend.

Student #8:
So we just use that eyelash glue.

Anthony Godfrey:
Eyelash glue. Oh, well. Well done. Everything looks great. Good luck in the competition.

All right, we're talking to one of the judges. Introduce yourself to everybody.

Randi Beagley:
I am Randi Beagley. I'm the registrar here at JATC South.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now Randi, when you applied to be registrar, did they tell you that you were going to have to be judging really good hair and nail projects in this competition?

Randi Beagley:
I had no idea what I was up against. So it's been fun because we get to do an array of all kinds of different things here. So this has been fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm sure throughout the building, various programs have different things that they want you to judge.

Randi Beagley:
All the time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm not envious of you because that is going to be tough.

Randi Beagley:
It is.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you approach this because you know these kids, you know how hard they've worked. How do you choose a winner?

Randi Beagley:
You know, I just kind of look at the overall time and effort they've put into this and the detail that they do. You can tell, some kids maybe just kind of threw it together at the last minute. Others have practiced this over and over and have really taken the time to put into it. So that's what I judge on specifically.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Well good luck out there.

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 Supecast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are in our schools and classrooms making a big difference every single day. On this episode of the Supercast, what it means to participate in PTA and why our schools simply wouldn't be the same without these incredible parent volunteers.

We're here at the Utah PTA offices talking with two members of the Executive Committee. I'm gonna let them introduce themselves, and then we're gonna talk about PTA.

Stacey Mollinet:
Hi, I'm Stacey Mollinet. I'm the President of Utah PTA, and I live in Layton.

LeAnn Wood:
I'm LeAnn Wood, I'm the Advocacy Vice President, and I live in Kaysville.

Anthony Godfrey:
I am also on the Executive Committee. I've served as the Administrator Representative, and I love being a part of it. And I have to say I'm blown away at the time that you put in the dedication and the knowledge. You guys know so much about what's going on in the state, and it's been really exciting for me to be part of it. Stacey, start off just talking about what got you involved in PTA, kind of your PTA journey.

Stacey Mollinet:
I just wanted to be involved with my kids at their school. I just wanted to volunteer in the classroom, help out, help enhance their education, and along the way I got to know their teachers. I found out that I was helping more than just my own child, and I got to know the administration, and I just really liked being in the schools.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about you, LeAnn?

LeAnn Wood:
Well, I'm a little bit more selfish than that. I had a son on the autism spectrum and didn't know it at the time. He started school and we had a lot of issues, and I found that through PTA I could get some parent training if I was to volunteer, and I needed all the help I could get. And so I volunteered in order to get some parent training. And along the way, I just found a community of people who really wanted to reach out and help others and cared about children. And so it helped my child, and then it turned into hoping to help thousands of children over the last 25 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're right, you really do get to know a ton of great people when you become involved with PTA at the school level, at the region level, and at the state level. And the state level is why I'm here talking with you. First of all, most people don't even realize that there is a state office, like there's an actual building. I didn't realize that until I was on the committee and came by. Tell us a little bit about the office, where it is and, and how long it's been here.

Stacey Mollinet:
Yeah. We're at 53rd South exit just off of I-15. We used to have a building on South Temple that was previously owned by David O. McKay, and that building got too small. The parking wasn't very good, it was a little bit leaky and whatever, so we traded it in about 20 years ago. So we've been here at 53rd South for about 20 years and, and we own the building outright, so we don't have the expenses of rent or anything like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
One of the things that has stood out to me as I've attended conventions over the years is this idea that when PTA works together, PTA can accomplish things that families may not be able to accomplish on their own, or schools may not be able to accomplish on their own. So there's a synergy when everyone works together. What are some of the positive outcomes you've seen from the work that PTA does in the schools?

LeAnn Wood:
I think that really leads to the Mission of PTA, which is to empower and engage families and communities to advocate for every child. And so when our parents understand the needs of the school, and I think it first starts with what are the needs of our children, and then it expands from there. When they work with a principal and say, ‘What are the true needs of our children here in this school?’ and then they can add on to it. So do they need to increase reading scores? Okay, how can we do that? Do we do it through a book night? Do we get books in the hands of every child? Do we have a reading night? Do we teach parents how to better connect with their children when reading to them to get them skills? And so I think it's looking at what the needs are and then how can PTA fill in those gaps through our volunteerism, through our community efforts.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. I think part of what happens is that there's a sense of community that's built through PTA and without a sense of community education doesn't really work. So I really can't imagine doing it without PTA and without the support of parents. Tell me about the organization at the state level. I think a lot of people may not understand exactly how that works.

Stacey Mollinet:
Okay. Well, we have an Executive Committee with a President, President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, and Director of Membership, Director of Leadership, Director of Communications, Admin Rep, Teacher Rep. And all of these people work together. Advocacy Vice President,Region Vice President, all these people work together. We have Region Directors that represent every school district in the state. And we have commissioners. And the commissioners do tons of advocacy and bring resources to the parents. And we meet and train a lot. We do a lot of advocacy, and LeAnn can talk more about that. We bring these resources and this training to the local parents at each of the local schools.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think that one of the huge advantages of having PTA involved is that there's so much support. There's so much training. I've called you a couple of times, Stacey, on some issues, and every time the PTA President that we were working with had great training and knew exactly what to do. So it's a comfort to me as a Superintendent to know that there are these trainings and resources available for parents and for those who are officers in PTA. And I think that one of the great things is that there's just so much help out there for you. Now, you mentioned advocacy. We received in Utah an advocacy award on a national level. Tell me about that. LeAnn.

LeAnn Wood:
Well, one of our commissioners sent in an application and wanted people to nominate us and let them know what we were doing at the state level. And some of the things that he recognized as he shared our story was that we had helped, through a campaign, keep the nicotine levels and e-cigarettes at a very low percentage to help prevent substance abuse through our youth. And we were a big part of that in the state. Another thing he wanted to recognize through us, we actually got a resolution through the legislature last year to celebrate 125 years of PTA. This organization started in 1897, and we actually had two or three women from Salt Lake at that meeting in Washington DC that were there to start. Through the advocacy efforts at the national level, we have our juvenile justice laws, we have our hot lunch program, we have kindergarten. So for 125 years, this organization has sustained looking at what are the needs of our children. And so we just continue that work. So it was exciting to be recognized.

We put in a lot of hours. We have seven commissioners who are up at the capital throughout the entire session, and they're following bills that we advocate in terms of the whole child; safety, health, individual development, education. We have a legislative advocacy committee. We had over 40 parents sitting in a weekly meeting throughout the session last year, in the last spring session. Every week for two hours, over 40 parents listening to what bills were going to impact children and determining our positions on those bills. And so it was really this across the state effort of looking at what's happening and what are the decisions being made by our legislators or our school board members, and how can we make sure that the best things are happening for children. And so it was exciting that we got recognized for the work that we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, congratulations. It's well deserved. I've watched you, as Advocacy Vice President, do a ton of great work at the state level. There's a lot of behind the scenes work that happens, and that's partially why I wanted to do this is so that people could see just some of the work that goes into providing that support. And I love the combination that PTA provides. There's great support at the state and national level for the work that you do. For running the finances to making sure that you're having an impact at your school. And then at the same time, the real impact is at the local school level as well. So there are all these different levels of which you can make an impact.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more on the positive impact of PTA and information about a big statewide PTA event that is expected to attract hundreds.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
PTA's very positive. How does PTA help parents address concerns they may have at the school level?

LeAnn Wood:
PTA really promotes positive parent engagement. It's going through the right processes and having parents understand when I have an issue, who do I go to? You know, finding that solution closest to the problem. So we don't need a law if there's a problem in a classroom, we need a conversation with a teacher or principal.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I want to talk a little bit about the local level. Sometimes people are afraid that if they get involved in PTA, they're gonna suddenly be the president. What advice do you have for people who may be a little bit too hesitant to get involved at the local level?

Stacey Mollinet:
We need people with all time abilities, whether they can just join and not even help, or whether they can join and help just a little bit, or whether they can eventually become the president. And just because you join PTA doesn't mean you're gonna be the president of PTA. There's just a need for parents to get involved to know what's going on in their classrooms and with their students. Joining doesn't mean that you have to even volunteer, but we'd love to have volunteers. We need parents to be involved in their students' lives and in their classrooms.

Anthony Godfrey:
If you join, you don't have to volunteer. And if you volunteer, you don't have to be president. Even though the two of you started out small, as you described, nobody dragged you kicking and screaming to be the Utah State PTA President. That happens only by your own free will. So nobody's gonna force you into anything, but like you demonstrated, it does get pretty addictive when you see the impact that you can have.

Stacey Mollinet:
Yeah. It is so cool to be in there and see the aha moments of the kids as you're helping them with their times tables or you're helping them read a book. That's what's addictive, is coming back and helping again.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have had the chance throughout my life to see the impact of PTA. It's incredible. I went to a jog-a-thon just a couple of weeks ago, and it brought parents together. It brought students together. I got to have an Otter pop after the jog-a-thon. But more than anything, it raised money. It pulled people together. The way it was formatted, you were supposed to think of a hero that you're running for. I mean, it was great. There were so many great layers to the activity. And I still have the PTA award that I got when I was, I think six years old for a story that I wrote. It was printed out with a ditto machine. Many listeners won't know what that is. I'm not going to explain it to you. But it's been a positive impact for a long time. And I love the idea that you can just sign up. Anything you can do at any level is going to help. And if you do volunteer, it can just be one time or a little bit here and there. Just whatever you can do at the local level.

LeAnn Wood:
I think also just the membership gives you access to information. I remember talking to a teacher. I was at an event on a Saturday and I had been putting out some weekly updates of the session of education bills that were coming out. And this teacher commented, ‘Thank you so much for that information. You know, when I'm in the classroom, I really can't keep track of what's going on up at the capitol. So your weekly updates have just helped me understand what bills are going to impact students, what bills are going to impact teachers.’ And there's another teacher at this event, and she said, ‘Well, I haven't gotten that update. How do I get that update?’ And I said, ‘Well, what school are you at?’ It happened to be a non PTA school. And I said, ‘Oh, you know, I'm sorry. I don't have access to your teachers. I don’t have access. So I'm sending it to those people who are PTA members.’ And so I think it gives information that they are kind of being left out of just by being a member. You have access to great things that are happening across the state through our community partners. We have commissioners that I think, I counted up, were on over 35 committees statewide in areas of substance abuse, mental health protections. You know, all those things that you think, ‘oh, our kids are struggling with right now.’ We have someone that's got a seat at the table to talk about how we can help kids in that manner.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. There is a lot of great information if you're a member. So if, if someone isn't a member, what do they need to do to sign up?

Stacey Mollinet:
They can just go to utahpta.org/join, and there's a link there, and they can join their local PTA. They can contact their school, their office and ask how they can join or how they can get involved. And joining PTA is not just for moms. Some people think it's just for moms. But dads and grandparents also can join PTA and can get involved. Getting dads to come in the school, even just one day during the year, really makes a big impact on kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
Statistically, there is research that if dads show up at school, it makes a big impact for their child. I think that sometimes people maybe think too narrowly about what's happening with PTA. You mentioned it earlier, LeAnn, and you talked about it as well, Stacey. Just the breadth of things that are happening even at the school level, reading nights and books. It's not just about a fundraiser. There are so many things that are available to students because of PTA. Any number of times as a principal, I thought, ‘Okay, PTA, that's the way I can get help with this.’

LeAnn Wood:
I think another myth is sometimes I get told with my advocacy efforts, you know, stay in your lane. Meaning, you know, you're in your school only on education and our lane is children. And so whatever that means. So whether it's arts programs, whether it's, you know, substance abuse prevention, that is our lane, right? If it's going to help children, that's our lane.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, and that's what I have learned, especially since I've been involved at the state level, just how much work is done more broadly to help support children and support families. So congratulations on the award and on the great work that you've been doing behind the scenes because I know people are not thanking you enough for that. Speaking of advocacy, we have an event coming up that PTA members can be involved in that can really jumpstart advocacy efforts. So tell us about that, LeAnn.

LeAnn Wood:
All right. So on November 9th from 9:00-2:00, and it's actually being held here in Jordan School District, so we're excited. Thank you for offering your building up. They'll be at Mountain Ridge High School. We have our Annual Advocacy Conference. It's held every fall. And the thing I love about this conference is our commissioners have been attending all these meetings throughout the year, with our community partners, interim at the legislature, and they see what are the most critical needs of Utah's children right now. And then we bring in speakers and presenters to help parents understand what those needs are and maybe offer some solutions.

So our theme for this year is Strong Families Build Strong Students. And we know with research, when you have an engaged family, we have children who are in school, they're more likely to graduate, they have fewer absences, they have higher grades. Everything is better when our parents and our educators are working together. So if we can focus on Strong Families Build Strong Students, we're super excited.

We have two keynote speakers. I don't know if you're familiar with BYU TV's Relative Race. We have J.D. Barnes who was a contestant on that reality TV show. They take DNA and then they connect them to family they didn't know they had. And so here he never knew his biological family, and it was a way to connect to family members. And so he's going to talk about overcoming challenges through family connections, past and present. So talking about the family he grew up in and the new family he's met and how that has helped him in his life.

And then we have Dr. Ali Crandall from BYU coming. She's going to talk about what are ACEs, which are Adverse Childhood Experiences, and then what are Counter ACEs? So those things that we can kind of combat. We all have trauma in our life, you know, maybe it's little, maybe it's huge, but our children deal with things on a day to day basis. And so those are kind of those traumatic experiences. But what can we do? What preventions can we put in place in our families to help combat when bad things happen? And, you know, we've had the last two years, bad things happen, but how can we make them more resilient? How can we set them up for success? So I'm really excited about those two speakers.

And then we have six breakout sessions that people can choose from; Building Strong Families Through Family Engagement, Digital Wellness, Different Community Resources, Mental Health Strategies, Utah Education Standards. You know, when you're down at the kitchen table, do you know what your children are supposed to be learning? And can you talk to them about that? And then through Positive Civic Engagement. I know where we're in an election, how do we get our kids understanding the importance of voting when they become adults to becoming an educated voter. So I'm super excited and everyone's invited, it's not just for PTA members. It's $15, lunch is included, and I think it'll be a great day and you'll learn a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
$15 with lunch included is a bargain to say the least. How do people sign up?

LeAnn Wood:
Just through utahpta.org. They go on there, It's right on our front page, and they can click the register button.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the deadline for registration?

LeAnn Wood:
November 3rd.

Anthony Godfrey:
So almost right up to the event you can still sign up. So get signed up. It's gonna be a great event. PTA never does anything halfway, so it's gonna be awesome.

LeAnn Wood:
And there will be a virtual option. We're working on that. But if you can't come down to Herriman, it's a little far away for some of our outskirts, for $5 you can have access to the classes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. Well, thank you very much for taking the time today and for all the hard work you do to elevate families, elevate children, and to help schools be at their best.

Stacey Mollinet:
Thanks.

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. They are the driving force behind keeping a fleet of 276 Jordan School District school buses running safely and smoothly. It's National School Bus Safety Week, so we are going to take you to meet the mechanics. They are men and women who work behind the scenes under the hood, examining engines, testing brakes, inspecting tires, even repairing upholstery on some of the largest vehicles on the roadway. Find out how our amazing mechanics work day and night in some of the worst weather conditions to keep kids safe on the school bus.

We're here with Richard Birrell, the shop foreman here at Transportation, where maintenance is done on all of our school buses. Richard, thanks for taking some time.

Richard Birrell:
You're welcome. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is one of the jobs where people say, ‘Hey, what do you guys do all summer?’ There's a ton of work to be done in the summer to prepare for the school year and close out the previous one. Tell me what your summers look like.

Richard Birrell:
Our summers are just playing catch up, and finishing up with their services. Right now we're in the middle of doing three engines, so we're doing complete overhauls on three of the buses right now. Spring jobs, break jobs, we're going through everything. We went through every bus this year to make sure everything's ready to go again.

Anthony Godfrey:
And there are a lot of safety requirements and expectations, timing of inspections and maintenance work.

Richard Birrell:
Yeah. We make sure all the safety is up on every vehicle here, if it's due for safety emissions or whatever. We've done our emissions this summer. We don't stop. We're busy all year long,

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's a lot of work. How many buses do we have in our fleet, would you say?

Richard Birrell:
274 as of right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we have a few of those that are natural gas vehicles, right?

Richard Birrell:
114 of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the maintenance of a natural gas vehicle versus a traditional engine.

Richard Birrell:
The only real difference is, they're basically the same engine, other than a natural gas has a set of spark plugs, so we have to do service on spark plugs. But other than that, turbochargers diesel is controlled by intake heat pressure and natural gas is controlled by gasoline, which would be a spark plug fire type situation. So the service on those is a little bit more, every 30,000 miles, but not bad.

Anthony Godfrey:
And how many people are there on your staff to maintain all those buses?

Richard Birrell:
We're nine right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Nine of you?

Richard Birrell:
Nine of us.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a large bus to employee ratio?

Richard Birrell:
Yes, we are one short of what we're supposed to have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now is most of the work that you do maintenance, I assume, but there are some emergencies that happen as well?

Richard Birrell:
We do everything in this shop short of transmission work. We do body work, we do engines, we rebuild our own engines. We do frame up, we do springs, We do everything in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Nine people.

Richard Birrell:
Nine people. I have certain people like this guy that works on this bay right here. He does suspension work. He loves doing it. It's heavy work, but he loves it, so we just let him do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Okay. Well, it's good to have some people who can specialize. Now, you've got a variety of types of buses also. Some buses that are designed to service those with special needs. And you have different different brands of buses as well, don't you?

Richard Birrell:
Correct. We have Blue Birds, Internationals, and Thomas's. We have special needs buses, which is one, like one behind you right here. Like I said, we have 114 natural gas buses. The rest are field trip diesels or pushers, which we call pushers, which is that size right there. We have three different brands. I have 18 years worth of seven different engines, 18 years worth of models on 'em. So we have a lot. We have to learn every year. Just like cars, they come out every year with new stuff on 'em. So yeah, we're constantly learning them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that sounds extremely complicated.

Richard Birrell:
We have to be able to know what we're doing so we can teach the drivers what they're doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. Yeah, exactly. What is the toughest job in the shop here?

Richard Birrell:
Right now? Just maintaining the fleet.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Richard Birrell:
Just constantly keeping up on with what drivers are going on and constantly making sure things that need to come in here are getting in here and getting back out on the road.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are the hours during the school year? The hours of operation?

Richard Birrell:
We work from 5:30 in the morning till 5:30 at night. I have two crews, an early shift crew and a late shift crew. Early shift comes at 5:30 and they go home at 2:00, and my late shift comes in at 8:30 and they go home at 5:00. Then I have two lead mechanics that hang out till 5:30.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. You really cover the day.

Richard Birrell:
And I fill in all the blanks that are missing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. And I know those blanks do come up. Wow. It's just really incredible the work that you have ahead of you for a small group. I am not mechanically inclined. So just looking at this engine right here seems very, very complex. And this is a unique kind of lift. This has gotta be a lift that's made specifically for school buses.

Richard Birrell:
Well, they make it for trucks and everything else. They're 18,000 pounds a piece. That's what their weight lift ability is. But because we have flat floors in here, this is the way we go with it. The new building put the inground lifts in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, I see.

Richard Birrell:
They're all tied in together. So you just push one button and then they all raise at the same time and they all lower at the same time.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's basically one tower by each of the four wheels and you push a button.

Richard Birrell:
I can take it right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Richard Birrell:
The power's on so I can raise it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, it leans in and lifts that bus.

Richard Birrell:
Leans in and picks the whole thing up at the same time.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's really something to see, huh?

Richard Birrell:
Well, it saves us. It saves a lot of time and effort on us.

Anthony Godfrey:
How much does a bus weigh?

Richard Birrell:
36,000 gvw’s on them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Richard Birrell:
Empty is about 24,000 a piece for 'em.

Anthony Godfrey:
Huh, interesting. How old are our oldest buses, would you say? You said that the grants are over about 17 years?

Richard Birrell:
Over 18 years. Because of the grants that we've gotten to buy natural gasses, we are at about 2008, 2009 is the oldest bus I have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, those grants, when they come through, my understanding is you have to prove that the diesel bus is out of commission. You drill a hole through the engine.

Richard Birrell:
Yeah. We have to drill a three by three hole and we have to film it. So there's a three by three hole engine block, so it can't be resold, reused. We have to cut the frames in half, in the middle of the buses so the buses can no longer be used for frame worthy. So we have to film all that while we're doing, or after we do it, we film the whole thing and send it in. So, the bus can no longer be on the road. It has to be destroyed.

Anthony Godfrey:
So how long have you worked for Jordan School District?

Richard Birrell:
23 years now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. And is this where you got started or did you work elsewhere as a mechanic?

Richard Birrell:
I worked through Thomas Lewis Transportation, selling Thomas school buses long before I came here. So I've been doing this about 33, 34 years now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Well, we're very glad to have you in Jordan District. It's a huge operation. Tell me, we're standing in the new transportation facility. It's been a couple of years now, but I've heard nothing but good things about the space that you now have to work in.

Richard Birrell:
We love this place here. We have 14 bays now total. So every mechanic has their own bay so they can get in and out by themselves. We're not in each other's way. We have plenty of room. We have a brand new welding shop in here so we can maintain and do our old welding, whatever we need to be done. We have a new paint booth, we have a body shop, we have a part-time body guy that takes care of that. And that’s a full-time job just taking care of that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Right? So the body shop and everything in between. Our previous facility was a lot smaller.

Richard Birrell:
We had a previous facility that was what they called the dome, or what we called the dome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it was the inflatable building.

Richard Birrell:
That’s correct. It was a lot smaller. Yes. When we worked in that, we had to coordinate moving all the buses in that we needed to work on, then moving everything out at the same time so we could concentrate back and forth. Because we only had one access door to get in and out of.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Now with one door and not enough bays for everybody, I'm sure a lot of time was just taken up moving buses around.

Richard Birrell:
It was. That's why I said we coordinated. When we’re ready to move, we need to move everything, including what's in the middle, to get it out. So they can get in and out of there. And then they bring another bus in, then we can slide back in again. It took a lot of coordination to do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Well that seems like a good set up. I see with the hood of the school bus up, I see those horns.

Richard Birrell:
Those are air horns.

Anthony Godfrey:
Those are serious air horns there.

Richard Birrell:
Yes, they are. They make a good noise out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, buckle up while we take you through a really big bus wash.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Can we walk by one of the bays and just see what that looks like?

Richard Birrell:
Some of the bus bays? Sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
How much oil do you go through in this place?

Richard Birrell:
Quite a bit. We order every 500 gallons, probably twice a month.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Richard Birrell:
This bay here is done for my driver's ed vehicles, Suburbans, everything else. I have one mechanic dedicated strictly to this stuff. So he takes care of all driver’s ed vehicles and all the Suburbans we have.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now talk about hard miles. Those driver’s ed vehicles get some hard miles.

Richard Birrell:
They get a lot of damage to them.

Richard Birrell:
This is Kelly, one of my techs here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey Kelly, how are you doing?

Richard Birrell:
He's got a material list about a mile long on this one here. It started out with service, but he’s got a bunch of stuff going on with it too. So when they come into the shop here, when they're ready to go out the door, they're a hundred percent ready to go. Our philosophy here is, we have one more day to fix it if it takes that long because of what we haul everyday.

Anthony Godfrey:
You don't send it out until it’s totally ready.

Richard Birrell:
Nothing's rushed. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the most common problem that you see coming through on a bus?

Richard Birrell:
We haven't lost as many alternators as we used to. Alternators used to be an issue. Because of the EPA stuff that's on these buses, the DPFs and DEF systems, regen systems on them, we deal with a lot nowadays. For an over the road vehicle that does Highway 60-65, it works really well, but for everybody that does stop and go all day long, us, UPS, you name it, it's hard on the system. So we spend a lot of time working on them. Other than that it's services for most of it. Parts, radio, we go through radios and stuff like that. Like I said, he's building an engine right now. Just about ready on that one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's walk over there.

Richard Birrell:
Exhaust system. This building was built because of the natural gas. The one we're working on natural gas. If you ever develop a leak, natural gas is lighter than air. Our vent system goes on top and these, all these doors open up to vent everything out.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if natural gas is leaking, then the building vents itself and reacts to that.

Richard Birrell:
Yeah. Right. Natural gas is lighter than air, so it always dissipates above the buses. So if you see a natural gas bus, and I don't have one in here to show you, there's always a vent tube on the top. It'll go up in the air. So our exhaust fans are going up there and every one of these doors will open up to take care of that. So the building was built that way to handle that.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's important to note that we have enough buses that we can take our time on a bus and make sure that it's tiptop before it heads out of the garage. What would you say to parents and students?

Richard Birrell:
Our whole sole philosophy in this place is to make these buses as safe as possible to handle the kids that we handle every day. We know there's a lot of kids out there that we deal with. So our importance is safety on these buses.
Everybody asks us, do we take the summers off? No, we don't take the summers off.

Anthony Godfrey:
No. Summer's gotta be one of your busiest times.

Richard Birrell:
It is. Trying to get things back up.
I have my own upholster in here. She makes all our seat covers and stuff now. We just buy it in bulk and she makes everything in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I see those huge rolls of material. And then you've got boxes of various covers for different sized seats.

Richard Birrell:
Whatever fits your seat in here.

Anthony Godfrey:

What color is that? Like a slate gray? Is every seat the same color?

Richard Birrell:
They're all blue. Yeah, they're all blue. That's just inside of one. They all look like this on the inside.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Then blue on the outside, huh?

Richard Birrell:
We try to keep everything as conformed as possible because we have a lot of stuff to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
So as much as you can reduce the variation it increases your ability to do the job.

Richard Birrell:
We keep her pretty busy in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I'm sure that you do.

Richard Birrell:
This is Scott. This is my parts guy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi Scott.

Richard Birrell:
He spends half his life taking care of my problems.

Anthony Godfrey:
So how many different parts do we have coming through here, Scott?

Scott:
Thousands. I have thousands of parts every day. I do a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the toughest part to get these days?

Scott:
Tires.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's what Richard was saying.

Scott:
Tires are one of the most expensive items to get.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have they shot up in price?

Scott:
They have, yeah. They have. Steer tires run anywhere from $485 up to $500 each. That's why I recap 'em all of my front ones.

Anthony Godfrey:
So in addition to everything else we talked about, we have a shop that allows us to get everything we can out of every tire and every bus for as long as possible.

Richard Birrell:
We run a tire right now, we get an average of 60,000 miles on a tire, before they go bad on us. Then we'll send 'em out and get 'em recapped one time. Because usually by that time, the date on the tire's so old we can't recap 'em twice. If we recap a tire twice after that life cycle's done, the caps are sold to trucking industries or whoever would like to buy 'em. We don't run anything more than twice on these buses here.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you really make the most of everything we've got.

Scott:
Every mile. I license all the buses, I make sure they're all inspected. I do the fuel for the entire district. I see the fuel bill for the entire district, and I pay that.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's huge.

Richard Birrell:
That's extraordinary.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes.

Scott:
That is extraordinary sometimes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Wow. Well, thank you for everything you do and for staying on top of this very complex job.
All right. So we're walking into the paint, collision and wash area.

Richard Birrell:
So I have room in here that I can put two buses in at a time for the body side. We just brought one back this afternoon that got wrecked today. We were really hoping to make it through one day, but it is what it is.

Anthony Godfrey:
Day one.

Richard Birrell:
Day one. We have a complete paint booth that we do our own paint work in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
So just to clarify, it's just a little body work. Nobody's hurt.

Richard Birrell:
Nobody was hurt.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's the name of school bus yellow? Is it school bus yellow?

Richard Birrell:
There's actually 11 kinds of school bus yellow.

Anthony Godfrey:
11 kinds of school bus yellow?

Richard Birrell:
So we have to do some matching. Well they call it all school bus yellow, but there's different shades of it. So I can't tell you every one of the 11 shades, he probably could, but I can't tell. But there are 11 different shades of school bus yellow.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. All right. How about, I mean, isn't there like a fluorescent green you could order just to kind of mix things up a little bit?

Richard Birrell:
No, the federal government won't let me do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
So all right. They tell you. 11 yellows is the range. That's it. That's all we got. All right. Fair enough. Richard Birrell:
This is the bus watch facility, but be careful, that'll shut off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you start it up?

Richard Birrell:
I did, yeah. Walked past the eye. So the buses, they can come in here and pre-clean, wash the windshield, do everything they need to do. We don't let 'em clean the inside of their buses in here because we don't want to tie up. We have a lot of buses to get through here. They can come in pre-wash their windshields, backs and then go through the bus wash here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That is serious business. None of that would even touch my car as it drove through, except for the water. The brushes would be too far away.

Richard Birrell:
We've tried the cars and they don't work very well.

Anthony Godfrey:
It doesn't work in here.

Richard Birrell:
But it works great for the buses. And I got a guy in here that comes in the morning, opens this place up, makes sure everything's set up for the drivers, whatever they need. That door's unlocked during the daytime so they can come in here and get any kind of cleaning supplies they need in here to clean their buses every day. And then he'll come back in the afternoon to close it down.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have to compliment you on this, and I've walked through this place several times. It's always very clean and organized and orderly.

Richard Birrell:
Randy's a detailer. She's good at this.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Well, the whole shop looks great. Thanks very much for the tour. Thanks for taking the time. I know you're very busy. Thanks for keeping our kids safe and our buses on the road.

Richard Birrell:
Thank you. We do our best.

Anthony Godfrey:
You do great. Thank you very much.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Claire Burnham has a pretty amazing story to tell, one Claire and her family won't soon forget. On this episode of the Supercast, meet the Bingham High School sophomore, who is one of only 10 students in the nation selected to be a national youth storyteller at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. To make her story even more incredible, Claire was the opening act for professional storytellers at the festival, including the King of Storytelling, Master storyteller Donald Davis. Find out how Claire's love of storytelling began and how her talent blossomed thanks to one teacher in elementary school.

We're talking today with Claire Burnham, a sophomore at Bingham High School, and a champion storyteller. Thanks for talking with me today.

Claire Burnham:
Thank you for having me. This is very exciting.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, for me too. So tell me, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, that's where you most recently performed, is that right?

Claire Burnham:
Yes, it is.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I think a lot of people may not understand that storytelling is actually a competitive event. Is that right?

Claire Burnham:
Very.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a bit about how that works, first of all, and then let's talk about how you got into it.

Claire Burnham:
Well, the competitiveness for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, I don't know the total number of youth in the country who did submit their audition tapes, but only 10 in the country were selected. So it was the best youth story tellers that they could possibly find. Which was very stressful when recording, knowing that this is me going up against some of the best of the best. But while we were there just before the festival and at the festival, there was no competitiveness between the 10 of us because we were just so excited to be there with people sharing similar passions and similar personalities. We had so much fun with each other and we just couldn't believe that we were with so many other talented people.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me about some of those other talented people. There were 10 chosen from across the country. Where were some of them from?

Claire Burnham:
There were three from Texas. There was one from Florida and there was one from Arizona.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ah, interesting. So are there storytelling hotbeds in the country, like where there's a greater emphasis on it and you find more competition, or is it pretty much spread throughout the country?

Claire Burnham:
There is definitely a lot of concentration in the south. There are a lot of deep storytelling roots there. I believe the Appalachian, the Appalachian area. It's definitely where a sort of storytelling renaissance happened.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so I would imagine that hanging out with nine other storytellers, there can be some really good conversations.

Claire Burnham:
Very long, in depth conversations, there were.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Without interrupting each other, because once you get on a story, you gotta let them get right to the end.

Claire Burnham:
Exactly. One of the starkest contrasts that I saw from before and after the storytelling festival was my conversations with my friends who are not storytellers. Because at the festival we would talk and we'd have a conversation. One of us would go on a tangent and tell a story, and then, so we would all listen and then we'd, one would be like, ‘Oh, that reminds me of this.’ And then she would tell a story and we would just tell stories and have long conversations. But when I got back I was like, ‘Why do all my friends give such short responses? I'm sure there was more to your experience in that. Tell me.’ They're like, ‘What are you doing, Claire?’

Anthony Godfrey:
So you get used to a deep level of detail that not all of your friends can provide.

Claire Burnham:
Definitely.

Anthony Godfrey:
And a narrative arc to the story as well.

Claire Burnham:
Most of the time. Other times we just, because we were from different states, a lot of the things we talked about were how different things were in different states. Part of it was the climate, the girl from Florida, she went hiking and she was like, ‘Why is the air so thin here?’ We're like, ‘You good?’

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Because we don't have humidity like she does.

Claire Burnham:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we're higher than she is.

Claire Burnham:
Yes. The people from Texas, they were definitely like, ‘It is extremely dry here. This is the seventh time I have put on Chapstick today.’

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fun. So tell me more about the festival itself. What did you perform at the festival?

Claire Burnham:
I performed my original story called the Joys of Apples. So all of the storytellers, we each had one story. The youth tellers each had one story. And on Friday and Saturday mornings, we would go and there were about five or so tents. And so about half of the storytellers, they would go and perform their stories in the tents, and they would open for the professional storytellers. There were about 12 of the professionals. So we got to interact with them a little bit. So we would tell our stories and then the professionals would tell their stories. And then we would basically just have the rest of the day to go around the rest of the festival and listen to more of the stories. Because the professionals, they each had many, many stories because they were performing many times. And so sometimes you had to pick and choose like, ‘Oh, I really want to go see Donald Davis. But man, Tim Lowry is so good.’ And you there was equal opportunity to still see all the storytellers you wanted to. With the Youth Tellers, it was a little harder to schedule seeing them cuz some of us were performing at the same time, but we still got the chance to hear everyone's amazing stories.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand that you got to open for someone who's very well known in the storytelling world. Tell me about him.

Claire Burnham:
Yes, Donald Davis. Donald Davis is considered to be a sort of king of storytelling. I mentioned the renaissance of storytelling of sorts, in the Appalachians. And he was one of the main people, if not the main person who helped initiate that renaissance. So he is a masterful storyteller. He has an amazing southern accent and he's quite old. So he will tell stories from his childhood when things were just so different. And the way he tells it, it's exciting, it's funny, it's relatable. It most of the time has much deeper messages. So Donald Davis is quite the amazing storyteller, but I also have personal ties to him. When I was in third grade, he came to my school and he told us stories and he told us about storytelling. We got to ask all these questions. And I looked up at him and I was like, ‘Wow, I wanna do something like that.’ And so he was the person who initially helped start me on this journey of storytelling. To the point where I'm performing right alongside him in a national storytelling festival, which was, it was amazing! I need a better word than that. It was exhilarating!

Anthony Godfrey:
Amazing and exhilarating. That's pretty awesome and amazing that you came full circle to get to introduce the person who introduced you to storytelling.

Clarie Burnham:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, speaking of your early beginnings as a storyteller, we have Frankie Walton here who was your teacher at the time.

Claire Burnham:
Sixth grade teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
So she kept the ball rolling for you after you got this initial interest in storytelling. Is that right?

Claire Burnham:
Yes, and it is due to my teachers that I was given so many opportunities to start storytelling. I was in third grade when Donald Davis came to my school, and it was the fourth graders who will often write stories and then as they perform them, the teachers will choose the best ones. And then they went to kind of like a district competition so that they could showcase those stories. But me, as a third grader my teacher saw that I might be good at this, so she let me write a story and work with the fourth graders to give it. And then in fourth grade, obviously I was able to tell more stories. And my fifth grade teacher thought that that was great, so I could show the little fourth graders how it was done. And then my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Walton was able to give me the opportunity to do it again. So that was the last year that I was able to perform that particular district wide storytelling showcase. But the company that does it, Story Crossroads, I have worked with ever since.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's quite an origin story. Stay with us when we come back. Meet the teacher who inspired Claire's passion and success in storytelling.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Mrs. Walton, tell me a little bit about what you remember about Claire as a storyteller. Way back when.

Frankie Walton:
I think the thing that I remember most about Claire is her passion and her beautiful way that she expresses language. She was a fantastic writer, and so I knew right off the bat that she would be able to deliver her story in a way that would be meaningful to all of us. And I hadn't originally planned on doing the program of storytelling in my classroom, but when Claire came to me and said, ‘I really want to do this’, she ignited a fire in me to give an opportunity to my entire class to do it. And so I was grateful to Claire because she brought her passion to our entire class and to me as well. I'll never forget her standing up in the room, and on audio I can't give it justice, but she put her hands up in the air, kind of like jazz hands, and she just said, ‘Mind blown’. And in that moment, my mind was blown because I saw her talent and her passion and was so excited to see what she was going to do in the future with this talent.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that's what great teaching is all about. It's seeing that spark, seeing something in a student and providing those opportunities for them. So thank you for, for being that person for Claire. Tell me what was it like in the classroom? What benefits did you see for your students once you opened this up to your entire class?

Frankie Walton:
For me, it was really easy to attach storytelling to our curriculum and to the core and the standards. Because storytelling is a way in which you can communicate an idea that opens up doors and windows to other people. And so I was able to see them go full circle with the written word into verbal communication. It was just an easy way to get students engaged and interested in something that they weren't necessarily engaged and interested in to start with.

Anthony Godfrey:
And storytelling is very natural for humans. We like to click into that mode of storytelling a lot and stories are compelling and can be persuasive and change our minds about things, but also make us test our own thinking as we're telling the story to someone else. So I think that's a great skill for sixth graders.

Frankie Walton:
Absolutely. Oftentimes they're shy, and nervous about their social standing and I saw many, many students blossom and just take it in a direction that all of a sudden, they became little humans with so much talent that I hadn't seen before. So it was a wonderful opportunity and I'm very blessed to be able to continue working through the Gifted and Talented department in providing this opportunity for all students in our district.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me what that looks like.

Frankie Walton:
So we, in the Gifted and Talented department, sponsor the festival, or not festival, sponsor the Story Weavers competition each year in the spring. And any teacher in elementary grades 3-6 can participate. They just have their students write a story. Most often it's a tall tale or a fable or a fractured fairy tale, something along those lines. They put their little spin on a traditional story. And then the teacher provides the opportunity for the student to then perform that story and to practice that story. And we encourage them to perform it to each other, to other classes in the school, to parents, to anybody they can get their hands on to tell their story to. They have a class competition or a schoolwide competition, and then, the best speakers and storytellers are then invited to participate in a district showcase.

It's not really a competition. Everyone who participates is featured and celebrated, but we don't really compete for first, second, third. One of the things that's really helpful for our students is that we have adult judges there at our showcase, and those judges are always providing feedback to the students so that they can improve in their storytelling. And we are just so thrilled often to have our students showcase their talents and be able to do it in such a way that's beneficial to each of us, because we get to hear their stories and we laugh and we cry, and we just enjoy being with them and seeing how wonderful these young people truly are.

Claire Burnham:
I’ve got mine hanging on my walls. I look at them when I'm writing for school. I look at the feedback that I got when writing in school and I'm like, ‘Yeah, these judges thought that I was good so I can write this paper.’

Anthony Godfrey:
So the feedback continues to give you a boost and give you some confidence as you go into each new performance.

Claire Burnham:
Precisely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sounds as if Claire has created a lot of opportunities for many students years after she first got interested in storytelling.

Frankie Walton:
Absolutely. So many of our programs are designed in such a way that the students that are coming up behind them can look to them and see the good things that they do. And Claire has absolutely inspired many, many people.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's next for you and what do you see into the future as a storyteller?

Claire Burnham:
Well, being in the storytelling festival was absolutely a wonderful, incredible experience and I really hope that I can get to do it again. I'm actually already starting to brainstorm a little bit about what story I will use to audition with next time, because it is definitely something I wish to do again. But as for what is next, I plan on using the skills that I learned in my everyday life. Storytelling definitely makes even average life better. It's helped me to have better conversations with my friends. I'm pretty sure it will definitely help me to have the confidence and eloquence that I need in job interviews that I may have upcoming.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt of that. I think you'll do great.

Claire Burnham:
Thank you. Storytelling also can help with acting and acting helps with storytelling. Sure. I definitely love being an actress. That's one of the reasons why I use a lot of expression and movements in my storytelling.

Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt you're going to be very successful in whatever you choose and that this will help you because as you said, it's helpful in a lot of aspects of life and day to day life. Which brings me to talking with your mom, who's also here. We have Jet Burnham here to tell us what it's like having a child who can tell stories as well as Claire can.

Jet Burnham:
It's very entertaining. When I ask her about school, it's not a,’ it was fine.’ I get a, I don't know, 40 minute explanation of what she said and what he did and what it smelled like and what it sounded like. Yeah. Her descriptions are long and detailed.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think there are a lot of parents who would really like to hear that kind of report on the school day instead of one word and a nod.

Jet Burnham:
That's true. I have other kids who only give me that, but I only have so many hours in the day, so sometimes I ask her for the five minute version instead of the 50 minute version.

Claire Burnham:
And that is when I learned to talk very fast.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yes. So she limits your time. You still try to get all the information in. If you can.

Claire Burnham:
You can't just cut down the intricate day to day life of what exactly happened in Secondary Math Honors III.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, just a heads up, we are going to have to edit some of this interview either that or make it a three parter.

Claire Burnham:
I'm good with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which I appreciate because it's very nice to talk with someone who can speak to a topic so easily. Any advice for those who are considering looking at storytelling as a hobby?

Claire Burnham:
Many people look at storytelling and think, ‘Oh, I could never do that’. At the festival, there were people who came up to me, they were like, ‘Wow, that was so amazing. I could never do that.’ And I just think you are telling a sort of story right now. Storytelling. It's looking at life and yes, embellishing a little, just being able to talk about it. Whether that's your own life or the life of some fictional character or the life of some tortoise and some hare. One of my favorite quotes that I heard at the Storytelling Festival, and it has stuck with me ever since I heard it, was that we need more storytelling because stories turn people into human beings. And if you just want to tell a story, do it, tell a story. It doesn't matter if you trip up on your words a little, that makes it even better. It adds more human layers to the story.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for spending the time and congratulations on the medal that you're wearing from the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. And I know you have lots of great stories in your future.

Claire Burnham:
Thank you so much.

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.