Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. On this episode of the Supercast, find out more about the open enrollment process and what parents need to know about the permit window, which is now open. First, a brief summary. Jordan School District is now accepting applications for School Choice Open Enrollment for the 2022-23 school year. Students currently attending on a school choice permit do not have to reapply for a permit if they are remaining at the same school for the 2022-23 school year. However, students who want to move schools or any student currently on the waitlist without a permit must reapply to become considered for a 2022-23 permit.

We're here to talk about permits today. Caleb, why don't you introduce yourself?

Caleb Olson:
Thanks. My name's Caleb Olson. I am currently working as the Planning and Enrollment consultant. I have several things in the district that I get to be responsible for, but one of them is the permit process.

Anthony Godfrey:
First of all, for those who may not understand exactly what a permit is, talk to us about how permits work and what they are.

Caleb Olson:
All right, let me give you a little bit of an example if I could. So I think anyone who's probably listening to the podcast has been in a big restaurant or seen a big restaurant that has a bunch of tables and lots of people and a lot of places you can go. When you go to a restaurant like that, they always find a place for you to sit. And you may say to the host at the entrance, you know, I want to sit in a booth or I want to sit by a window or here's where I'd like to be. Sometimes they can accommodate that. And sometimes they just find the spot that you are going to be able to sit in. 

Anthony Godfrey:
For me, it's close to the salad bar. That's where I want to be.

Caleb Olson:
Exactly. So that's sort of how the permit process works in Jordan School District. Everyone has a seat at a school. For most students, that's going to be at their boundary school or their neighborhood school, but there are some people who have a preference. That means they want to attend a different school. They wanna go to someplace else. They may have childcare concerns, or they may want to attend a school that they actually live closer to but they're on the other side of the boundaries. The permit process allows a student who doesn't live in the boundaries of a school to apply for a seat at that school. Now not every school in the district has seats available, but every school is taking those applications. And once those applications come in, we process them. And when seats are available, we offer those to students who live outside the boundaries to attend the school that they wanted to go to. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, State law is very supportive of the concept of parents choosing the school that they wish to attend. I know that my brother lives in Maryland and you attend the school where you live. You attend schools based on where you live and there really isn't an option for changing that. But in Utah, for many years, the law has supported a choice for parents in what school they would like their student to attend.

Caleb Olson:
Exactly. We have a lot of choice available for parents. The only exception, or the only caveat is that there has to be space at the school you want to go to. We have some schools that are really growing areas of the district. We know parents would like to go there, we know students would like to attend, but the boundary population is just so high there aren't any seats left over for anyone else. So in those cases, those schools probably are not going to be able to offer permits. Parents can still apply because there's always a chance that a seat might become available at some point that they could apply for. But they can take their choice and pick up to three schools that they want to apply for. We have some schools in the district that anyone can apply to attend. They don't need a permit. Those would be our virtual academy schools, Rocky Peak Virtual Elementary, Kelsey Peak Virtual Middle and Kings Peak High. There's no permit needed for that. Anyone who's in the Jordan School District can apply to and attend those schools. Outside the district would still need a permit. Any of our regular brick and mortar neighborhood schools are going to be accepting applications. Some of them won't have seats, but they'll all be taking those applications online.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I mentioned the law earlier, we're actually required to post how much space is available in each of our schools. Tell everyone where they can find that information.

Caleb Olson:
So what our patrons will want to do is go to planning.jordandistrict.org or they can go to the District website and search for Student Services and then Planning and Enrollment. Once they get there, there's a tab at the top that says “Enrollment” and they can click there and choose School Choice Permits. That page has a lot of information, including a link to a document that shows which schools we think are going to be over capacity or full next year and which schools may have some space available for out of area students.

Anthony Godfrey:
So provide a link to that page in the show notes so that you can find it easily. Now that allows folks to plan for which permit they might want to request. What if they think, well, I want to permit at this school, this is my first choice, but they may not have space. So in that case, I would permit to this school. If they're two different schools they'd like to try to permit to, how do they go about doing that?

Caleb Olson:
On the permit application that will be available for parents they can actually pick up to three schools and put them in their preferred order. First choice, second choice, third choice. If they're not able to get a seat at the first choice school, they may be able to get one at the second or third choice school. It really just depends on the seats that are available at each school. If parents are applying now, they'll be able to find out what seats are available just after the first of the year in January. If parents apply in the January or February timeframe, they may have to wait a little bit longer to find out, but all parents should know by about the beginning of March, where they will be able to have a seat or, or what schools will not be able to offer those.

Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk a little bit about the timeline. The window opened on December 1st for permits to be submitted. And as you indicated, December is the time during which any permit submitted at any time during December gets the same consideration. Can you explain that process to everybody?

Caleb Olson:
Yeah. In a lot of districts and in Jordan District as recently as a few years ago, on that first day of the permit window, you had to be waiting outside the building with your permit, filled out, ready to go because it was first come first served.

Anthony Godfrey:
I remember those days, we had parents that would camp out overnight at certain schools to be sure that they were first in line. Quite honestly, if I were in that situation, I would've done the same thing. I've camped out for a lot of concert tickets over the years before everything went electronic, slept on the rock salt out in front of Smiths to try to get the best seat I could. When it comes to education, you know, it was difficult that way, because sometimes you had to just really spend the night, literally, in order to get the permit you wanted.

Caleb Olson:
Exactly, and that wasn't an ideal situation for anyone. So to get around that and to avoid that when we had the boundary changes a few years ago, the Board of Education in the District moved to an online permit system. So there's an online application that parents can fill out either by finding the link that you mentioned will be in the show notes, or by searching on the district website. They can also go to permit.jordandistrict.org and that will direct them to the English application. They can go to permiso, P E R M I S O, permiso.jordandistrict.org for the Spanish application. When they get there, they'll answer some questions and their application will be submitted. Now in the month of December, the Board of Education has decided to run a lottery for all of the applicants. It doesn't matter when you apply in December, you have an equal chance at a seat they've established priorities for each school level for elementary, middle, and high school, that will determine where those seats go.

The students who are in the first priority group, or the highest priority group, have the first shot at seats as they're available. If you qualify for a lower priority group, you may not have as good a chance when those seats are available. Those priorities are different for each level, but they are based off of things like how far you live from the school, if you've been attending the school previously, if you have a sibling at the school, if you have a parent who works at the school. That happens in the month of December. When we come back from winter recess at the beginning of January, we run that lottery and we place students on waiting lists at the schools they selected based on those priority orders. Then schools start to offer seats if they have space available. From January, actually all the way through the end of the next school year, schools are still taking permit applications, but those go to the bottom of the list. And those do go in based on when you apply. So if a parent misses the December window and they decide in January or February they want to apply, they can still do it. They still have a chance. There may be some people on the waitlist ahead of them. But once December is over, you want to apply as soon as you think you know which schools you want to go to to have the best chance.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like that you have the month of December to decide to put that in. You don't have one high stakes moment where you're trying to get those permits in. The priorities were something discussed years ago when we were involved in what we like to call MOAB or the Mother Of All Boundary changes. There was a revamp of the permit process at that time and those categories that the Board created, those priorities rather, were really established to try to be respectful of the different circumstances that families might find themselves in and the reasons that they might be seeking a permit to a school other than the boundary school. So when can parents expect to hear an answer, at least initial answers, about whether the permit request has been accepted?

Caleb Olson:
If they applied for a permit in December, they should hear back from the schools by about the end of the first week of January, back from winter recess. After that point schools have until the third Friday in February to let parents know, but a lot of our schools process and handle those applications much quicker. So parents should know usually within about a two week period after January starts whether they're at on a wait list or if they'll be able to be offered a seat at the schools they selected.

Anthony Godfrey:
Roughly, just off the top of your head, what percentage of our schools were able to accept permits this year?

Caleb Olson:
Well, we're a growing district and that means that we have a lot of schools that are pretty full. There were a lot of schools that were able to offer seats, and there were a lot of schools that weren't. I can tell you that for this year, we're expecting about 2000 seats to be open across the district. Those seats though, aren't always going to be at the places people want them to be. We have a few schools with a lot of seats, and we have a lot of schools with very few seats. So it really depends on where you're at in the district and what schools you're interested in. In the West Jordan area, we have a lot of schools with more space and there are more seats available when you get further south in the district in Riverton or Herriman, we have schools that are a little more full. So those schools are probably less likely to offer seats. At the secondary level it's a little easier for schools to have seats because there's more classes, there's more opportunities, there's more offerings. So elementary is gonna be a little more challenging across the district. The secondary schools will be a little easier.

Anthony Godfrey:
More information on the permit process with Caleb Olson when we come back.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We talked about the fact that this is all based on school capacity. Depending on the time of year capacity is calculated differently. Explain that.

Caleb Olson:
So at the time that we're talking about now in December, we are projecting enrollment for next year. We don't know exactly how many kids will show up in August, but we're doing our best to make an educated guess. And that's what we base the number of permit seats off of before the school year starts. When we get into August, when the school year has actually begun, we base our capacity off of the number of teachers in the building. At an elementary level, we would look at a specific grade and if that grade was low or that there were seats available, we might be able to offer permits just in that grade. At the secondary level, it gets a little more tricky because you may have seats in a language arts class, but not seats in a math class. And at secondary, we have to be able to offer a spot in all of the classes a student would need to be able to accommodate them. So right now we're doing our best guess off of the trends and the move-ins and the information we have available. As we get closer to the school year, and when the school year starts, we switch to using teachers and the amount of students per teacher in every building.

Anthony Godfrey:
During the initial permit window, in other words, can the building fit extra students? If so, then we can accept some permits. But there's a point at which even if there are some empty classrooms, you may not accept permits because you're not staffed at a level that would allow you to accept additional students. Otherwise the staffing would be shifting throughout the year, and it just would be impossible to have teachers and students matched up appropriately in classrooms. So really the bottom line is the best time is December but you can always apply beyond December. There's a lot that can shift between December and the beginning of the school year.

Caleb Olson:
Exactly. And parents need to not be worried about applying in December, because if they're not able to get a seat in December, their name stays on a waitlist, actually all the way through the following school year. So we're accepting permit applications now for the 22-23 school year. Anyone who goes on the waitlist in December will actually stay there until the end of June of 2023. So no matter what happens, you're on the waitlist, and that spot won't go away. So if seats come open, if there are big changes at a school, they may need to call some people on the waitlist and offer seats. So you may get that chance. We keep your name on the waitlist. If you are on a waitlist for this school year, you'll want to reapply. Because again, that waitlist only goes through the end of the school year so you'll want to reapply every year if you don't get a seat. If you do get a seat, you don't have to reapply. You get to keep that permit, until you either choose to return to your boundary school or until you finish the grades offered at that building. So a permit at the elementary lasts through sixth grade, through ninth grade at the middle school, and until you graduate at the high school level. There's also not a fee associated with the permit application. It's available to anyone in the district, anyone in the state of Utah. They can make those applications. They can do it online at the websites we mentioned. They don't have to worry about waiting outside or trying to get to a school during school hours. It's available anytime night or day during the month of December. So if they don't make a decision on a school until winter recess starts, there's no worry about the school not being open. They can go straight to the permit application and fill one out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Transportation. That's a question sometimes. A student on permit does not qualify for transportation except perhaps on a space available permit, which would be rare for that to be available for someone out of boundary, because there normally wouldn't be a bus close enough. Maybe in the situation that you described, where someone lives fairly close to a school, but they're not in that school's boundary, that could possibly happen. But really that's the only way that they would have transportation to a school to which they're permitting.

Caleb Olson:
Exactly. Parents are always able to ask and to make a space available application for busing. They would need to wait until the school year started and ask for that application at the school, because it takes a little bit into the school year to really finalize those bus routes and how many students we have riding. But for the average student on permit, they are responsible for their own transportation. That's not provided by the district.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's say the school year's underway. A student is really not happy where they are and they'd like to switch to a different school after the school year has started. What's the permit process they would want to follow in that case?

Caleb Olson:
It's exactly the same as a student would be in applying for a permit right now, they would go to the permit application. They would fill one out. If it's after the start of the school year, I always encourage parents to reach the school and let them know that they've made an application because once the school year starts, a lot of schools aren't checking that as frequently, because we don't get very many. After the school year starts, they can certainly reach out to the school and ask. But the thing for parents to realize is a lot of our schools will have a waitlist. They'll have students who applied in December and January, who already have a spot on that waitlist. So those applications that come after the school year starts would go to the bottom of that waitlist. It doesn't mean it's impossible that they'll get a seat. It does mean that there are other students who would have a chance for a seat first, before it got to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
If, for whatever reason, a family feels strongly about being able to change schools, we can always find a spot for anyone to change schools. It just might not be their first choice, but they can call the principal or they can call some other schools in the area that might be on the way to work, where they could drop a student off, that sort of thing. We try to be as flexible as we can and as accommodating as we can to try to make sure that we honor parent and student choices.

Caleb Olson:
We have a lot of great schools in the district. So, like you said, there is a seat for everyone in the Jordan School District. It just may not always be at the first school you think of. We have principals who've done a great job at helping to find seats or getting families in touch with individuals who can help them to find those seats. But they just may need to be a little more flexible if they're looking for a new start or a school to begin over at. It may not be their first choice, but there will be a school that will be available to give them a seat.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. And sometimes it's just about matchups. You know, great schools can be even better for one student versus another. It's just finding that right teacher in that right school and the right fit. If anyone has a question about permits, where can they go for answers?

Caleb Olson:
The best place they can go would be to talk to the school they're interested in applying for a permit at. There are staff at each of the district schools who process permits and are familiar with the system and they can answer questions. If a family feels like they have kind of a unique situation, or maybe their circumstances are a little bit different, they're certainly welcome to call the district office and ask for Student Services. We can help them troubleshoot their permit questions in those circumstances.

Anthony Godfrey:
We haven't done this for quite a while, but at the beginning of the podcast, we used to play Two Truths and a Lie at the end of the podcast, you tell me two things about your life that are true and one thing that's a lie, and I try to detect which one is the lie. I thought about this game again, because I think you would be a worthy opponent in Two Truths and a Lie. So Caleb, I'm interested in knowing some things about your life plus a lie. Let's hear it.

Caleb Olson:

So let me give you a couple and we'll see how good you are at figuring it out. I can slam dunk a basketball.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, wait a minute. You said that present tense, right? I can slam dunk a basketball. 

Caleb Olson:
Yes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Caleb, I feel like with you, I have to define a few more things too. This is a 10 foot rim. 

Caleb:
Yes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Caleb Olson:
Regulation. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. All right. 

Caleb Olsen:
Not in dress shoes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Measured just like in Hoosiers, it's the same thing, right? 

Caleb Olson:
Exactly. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Caleb Olson:
I can speak Japanese.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Caleb Olson:
And I have a collection of Mr. Potato Heads from a variety of entertainment properties.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. I can narrow this because I have seen that Mr. Potato Head collection and it is really something.

Caleb Olson:
I gave you an easy one.

Anthony Godfrey:
Japanese or dunking. I feel like you can do both of them at the same time. I just feel you're capable of all of that. You know what I'm gonna say, that you cannot dunk a basketball.

Caleb Olson:
Unfortunately, you are correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, Caleb. I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to be wrong.

Caleb Olson:
And I've always wanted to be able to dunk basketball.

Anthony Godfrey:
So, you know, I'm not good at any sports. But if I could be good at one, it would be basketball and dunking on someone has got to be a singular feeling.

Caleb Olson:
I'm sure it feels spectacular. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you and I will keep reaching for the stars. <laugh> 

Caleb Olson:
Always have to have a dream. 

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right, Caleb. Thanks again for all your hard work. You do a great job and we really appreciate the information about permits. 

Caleb Olson:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for permitting us to share another episode of the Supercast with you. 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. Every year, the Jordan Education Foundation provides holiday gifts for teens who would otherwise go without through an event called Christmas For Kids. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out how this event helps teens in need who are struggling over the holidays. Also, find out why Christmas For Kids volunteers say shopping with the teens is an experience they will never forget. One that brings true meaning to the holiday season. 

We have two guests today to talk with us about Christmas For Kids. I'm going to let them introduce themselves.

Mike Haynes:
My name is Mike Haynes. I'm the director of the Jordan Education Foundation. 

Brian Synan:
And I'm Brian Synan. I'm the President and CEO of South Jordan Chamber of Commerce.

Anthony Godfrey:
First, let's talk with Mike. Mike, you are the newly installed director of the Foundation. For those who may not be familiar with the Foundation, just tell everyone a little bit about what we're all about.

Mike Haynes:
Oh, the Foundation is a great resource for the District. We engage the community to provide resources for those students and teachers that have needs that exist in public education. There's some gaps and we step in and help fill those gaps with the public's help.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Mike is key to creating those partnerships and connections to the community and not only bringing in the donations and the support, but also helping everyone out in the community understand better what we do as a district and what those needs are for students and for teachers.

Mike Haynes:
Well, thank you. Yes, our goal is to help spread the word and to try to provide opportunities for people that have a desire to help. We have a great community with a lot of great people and once they hear about what we do at the Foundation, it doesn't take long for them to engage and want to get involved.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you do a remarkable job of drawing those folks to Jordan School District and helping connect those who want to help with opportunities to make a difference.

Mike Haynes:
Well, thank you. I don't think there's a better place on earth. The Jordan School District is the best, and we've got the greatest kids, greatest teachers and administrators, and it's a lot of fun to get out and spread the word.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's been exciting to see how much you've expanded what's happening in Jordan District and in the Foundation, even just since July. Which by the way, Mike has actually been with the Foundation for as long as I can remember. Way back, well over a decade as part of the board. So you're not new to this, just to the position.

Mike Haynes:
That's right. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Now Brian, tell us a little bit about Christmas For Kids itself. First of all, you're the President and CEO of the South Jordan Chamber of Commerce. Why is it that you are involved in this?

Brian Synan:
Well, you know, a lot of it's about connecting business with community. Really businesses like to give back, they wanna give back, they just don't know how to give back sometimes. I'm also on the board for the Foundation, so that's another option for them to help with the projects that we do with the Foundation. But this event is unique. It helps so many kids in the district and it helps the chaperones. The people that come and actually participate and shop with those students. They have just as much fun and get just as much out of it as the students do. Actually this will be our eighth year doing it. For our first seven years, we've helped nearly 2,500 students. Amazing. Just amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Now I ask, why are you involved in this? But to anyone who's ever done it, it's absolutely obvious why you're involved in it. You talk about the impact that it has on those who help in addition to the students that receive assistance. Tell me about how it impacts the people that get involved as adults.

Brian Synan:
You know, I tell people a lot of the time, it's like a mentoring event. You're gonna give that positive vibe to that student for that hour, hour and a half that you're spending with them shopping. You're gonna get to know them. These are business leaders, educators, city officials, police, fire, the community, that all come together, roughly 500 students the last few years each, and probably again this year. So there's a lot of time to get that positive influence and for that student to go, wow, I can own my own business or I could be a police chief someday. You know, kind of something to strive for. These are deserving students that might not otherwise have an opportunity to meet with some of these people. So that's what I think makes it unique. Plus this event is for middle and high school students. You know, we say it all the time that the elementary kids get taken care of a lot, but sometimes the middle and high school students get kind of lost in the shuffle and people don't know that there's a need out there for 'em. And that they're deserving of the same things. And if they might not have a Christmas, we want to help them have a Christmas.

Anthony Godfrey:
So donations come in and then those who volunteer are able to go shopping with a student so that they have some things for Christmas that they would not otherwise be able to purchase. 

Brian Synan:
Correct. We want them to get the needs and some wants. The chaperone piece and the donation piece are great because what I always say is if you're gonna donate, you have to register because you're hooked. If you register to be a chaperone, you're gonna be there almost every year. I mean, we have people from the first year where we had 40 students and that's all we had is 40 students. We still have some of those people chaperone. Chief Carr, since he became the Police Chief in South Jordan, has done it every single year with his wife. It's just a big community piece in helping the entire Jordan School District middle and high school students out.

Anthony Godfrey:
It’s a great way to celebrate the holidays in a very personal way. It's not simply a donation when you donate and then are able to be a chaperone. Then it, like you said, it creates a connection and that hour, hour and a half of one on one time as you shop, not only are you able to mentor the student and get to know them, but you also start to understand their situation in a way that you really wouldn't be able to without spending time with them directly. Right? Mike, you've participated in this for a long time. Tell me a little bit about what that's felt like for you.

Mike Haynes:
You know, I've gotta give Brian kudos. He is Christmas for kids. 

Anthony Godfrey:
He is <laugh>. Yeah.

Mike Haynes:
I look at him and that's what I see. From day one he's been involved and he's got a passion for it. Thank you, Brian. You are a great example to the community and I know the kids and the volunteers look to you every year and appreciate the work that you do. Not only are we drawing volunteers to support this event from the Jordan School District, volunteers come far and wide. Last year I think we had several from Utah county, many from Salt Lake and even north of Salt Lake into Davis county. So it is an event that spreads. The word spreads, and people want to get involved, but it does mean a lot. 

I remember every year we ask some volunteers to share experiences, and when these volunteers are tearing up about an experience they had with a student, when a student says, is it okay to buy a pillow? I've never had my own pillow, or just a number of things. 

Brian Synan:
He wanted the lamp, a huge floor lamp, and we were wondering what was going on. We asked the chaperone afterwards and said that he wanted to read in his room, but didn't have a lamp in his room. Right. So those are, those are the stories that you hear every year., and it's just amazing. 

Mike Haynes:
It is very heartwarming, and it kind of takes you back a little bit to realize, wait a minute, I take a lot for granted in my own life and here's a student trying to do the best they can in life with their conditions and circumstances that they're in. And then the sincerity when these students ask if they can spend a portion of their money on gifts for others. ‘Is it okay to buy my mother a gift with this money? I've never been able to buy my mom a gift.’ 

Brian Synan:
Right. You know, that's funny because we never thought about that when we started this event and Marilyn here at the school district, this is a perfect example. It was the first or second year and she came up to me and, and said, “he's putting in a toaster and a doll and things like that. What do I do?” And she said, “can I go over the limit and pay for it myself?” And I'm like, wow, um sure? We had no idea. And she did that and it was just amazing. We have people that actually budget now, over that $115 students get from the donations to be able to help more. A couple of years ago, Walmart didn't have what the student wanted. So the person said, get some other stuff, and then she went online and got it from walmart.com and then delivered it to the school to get the student. I mean, it's just, it's insane. What great things happen at this event. And that's why I always say, if you come, you're hooked. It's just amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now we've had a number of corporate sponsors over the years. Most recently the shopping has happened at Walmart for the last few years. And like you said, Mike, I just picture Brian at Walmart down in the holiday section, as we kind of reconnoiter during the event, throughout it, making sure that everyone's taken care of. So tell me about those partnerships and the partnership with Walmart and with others.

Brian Synan:
Yeah, sure. So this all started when Steve, the previous director, and I got together and he said he wanted to do some type of event. So we kind of just threw some ideas out. This kind of came to fruition. We wanted to get the community and businesses involved. I was at Gordman's at the time, so we hosted it there. Then when I left Gordman's we went to Kevin, Steve and I did, and said, would you have any chance, maybe wanting to do this? He's like, are you kidding me? I was trying to figure out how to steal it from Gordman’s <laugh>. So, he's been a great partner, Walmart's been a great partner. They give a lot to the event. Not only money, but time and resources, which is phenomenal. And businesses are doing a lot of great things. One of our newest members, Alpha Warranty, is doing a donation drive right now. And they're doing fairly well right now, already. So they got about another week left on that and then we should be able to go out and get the check, Mike, and I even go out there, maybe some other people. So, a lot of businesses are getting into it and really seeing the value and giving back to the community and giving back to the students.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a very personal thing, ultimately when you're shopping directly with that student. So it doesn't just feel like they've been given an amount of money. They have someone helping them shop, connecting with them, and that's really where people get addicted to it and, and look forward to it. It's just a part of a lot of people's holiday celebrations in December.

Brian Synan:
And a lot of people say that is their holiday, that that really makes their holiday. I'm a proponent of long lines, and I actually got beat out this time. As the chair of the event you think you have a little bit of pull, but the committee decided we can't have those big lines anymore. I enjoy those because then those students and those chaperones are talking and mingling with those other students and chaperones. So yeah, you gotta wait an extra half hour in line, who cares? What you're doing is even more important in that line. So we'll have some lines, but we've changed it up a little bit this year. So it'll be less as we're going through, with people in the store at the same time, especially with COVID still an issue.

Mike Haynes:
It's not just these chaperones that enjoyed that experience. At the end of the event, we interview chaperones and students and I remember numbers of students that would say, when they were asked, what was your favorite part of the experience? And they would say the time I got to spend with so and so, the adult, and very good experiences, these students love that time. 

Anthony Godfrey:
If someone wants to volunteer, how do they go about doing that and how do they go about donating?

Brian Synan:
So, they can do them both on the website, jefchristmasforkids.org that's  jefchristmasforkids.org. And they can either hit the chaperone part and then fill that out or donate part. Or like I said, hit the chaperone, and after that hit, head over to the donation piece and every dollar helps. We're looking at nearly 500 students again this year, which is great, but it also means that there's a lot of need out there. Yeah, absolutely. 

Mike Haynes:
A lot of times for some of these kids, English is not their first language. So our volunteers come in with the ability to speak different languages, and we connect those volunteers with students who speak that language. It makes a big difference.

Anthony Godfrey:
I guarantee you're gonna have a great experience if you participate in this, there's just no way not to. Everybody does.

Mike Haynes:
Christmas, community, connection. I think those are the three C words I think we just talked about. 

Anthony Godfrey:
And kids, but that's a ‘K’. Kids. But yeah, it's a great time. So jefchristmasforkids.org. Sign up to volunteer or sign up to donate. Thanks to both of you for all the efforts that you put in to make this possible and to change the season for so many kids and so many chaperone volunteers. So thank you very much.

Brian Synan:
Thanks for having us. Yeah. Very nice. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, find out how you too can be part of Christmas for Kids and how it just might impact your own holiday happiness in ways you never imagined.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We are really excited to have one of our Foundation Board members and frequent Christmas for Kids volunteer Tina Rothe. Oh, and I forgot, former Jordan School District teacher. The list is long. Your connections to Christmas for Kids and to Jordan School District,  and just your history of taking care of kids in various ways throughout your life. Tell me about what it's like to volunteer at Christmas for Kids.

Tina Rothe:
Well, just so you know, it's addicting. You come once and you never want to miss it again. I was saying that last year, three days before Christmas for Kids, I was positive for COVID and so I couldn't go, and my Christmas was different. There was a hole missing because I didn't do Christmas for Kids. Once you go once, you never want to miss it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've heard that so many times from people who have participated. Because like you said, it changes you and it changes the season and it sets the tone for the season. Can you think of some specific experiences you've had with kids over the years?

Tina Rothe:
Well, there was one boy that we had, that I had and very first thing he says, ‘I wanna, I wanna shop for my mom.’ And I thought, you know, this young man, who's here for a reason and we don't ever know what those reasons are. But I said, “Look, this is for you. Whatever you want for your mom, I will buy, but I want you to get for you.” So first off, he went and found a cute little sweater for mom. So I thought, you know, that's sweet. We don't know the situation they come from, but that was what he wanted to do was buy for mom right off the bat. I don't think there's a chaperone that goes through that checkout line that doesn't actually take from their pocket and say, you know, we don't tell 'em that up front, but we just whatever the bill is, we'll cover the rest. It's just you in that spirit, you know.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's very different when you're right there beside the person that you're helping, as opposed to donating anonymously and not seeing the impact of your donation. Tell me about the connection that you feel even during that brief time as you're shopping with a child.

Tina Rothe:
Well, I just think they are so grateful, you know. My grandchildren, they, we all have so much. We just want them to have that confidence. As a teacher, I think I've mentioned this before to you that, as a teacher, I wanted them to do well in math and the end of the year test and all that stuff. But my goal was always to walk out the door with more confidence to take them for the rest of their lives. So when you lift these kids out of different situations and give them a chance, you know, pick 'em up a little bit. Especially now the things that are going on in the world, these kids, bless their hearts. There's so much negative and darkness. If we can lift them up for an hour of shopping and they can meet Santa Claus and it's just positive and people are happy to be there. How can we not come away without being lifted ourselves?

Anthony Godfrey:
With my own kids I've always appreciated when there was an adult outside of our family, who they could connect with and who they knew was interested in them and cared about them. So that they could see that they had some value outside of those people who are required to value them, or because relationships automatically are expected to value them. But when someone outside of that circle takes the time and spends resources and really connects with them, then that really does lift a child and make them feel important.

Tina Rothe:
Yeah. And us too, as we have that experience every year, it lifts us too for the rest of the season and for a long time, that's why we come again. So it's the shared lifting on all parts and just the joy that you feel that people are just excited to be there. It's not like, oh boy, 6:00 in the morning. Why am I here on a Saturday? You know, it is, I've got to have this for myself, be selfish. This is something I want to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's a real sense of purpose when you're there. What would you say to someone who's considering volunteering or donating?

Tina Rothe:
I'll pick you up. What can I do to get here? You have to do this. I think of two years ago when I was able to go and just the lineup of people wandering, winding in and out of the aisles, getting ready to find who they're going to shop with. Just the excitement, waiting to find that person. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for everything that you've done to support the foundation, and Christmas for Kids, and students in Jordan for decades. I remember in particular you used to have students do a marathon every year, didn't you? And they did it, bit by bit.

Tina Rothe:
Yes. The first six weeks of school and we ran 26 miles.

Anthony Godfrey:
26 miles in the first six weeks. Which is a great lesson to teach them. A little bit at a time and you make a cumulative effort, but that really adds up. The same is true of Christmas for Kids. It's one morning, it's one donation, but the cumulative effort and the impact that has going forward for a child is just immeasurable.

Tina Rothe:
It is. It's wonderful.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'll see you then, looking forward to it. Thanks Tina. 

If you or your organization would like to donate to Christmas for Kids or provide adult volunteers for the event on Saturday, December 11th, please visit jefchristmasforkids.org. Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It has been a beloved school and community Thanksgiving tradition at Golden Fields Elementary for years. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out why the Turkey Trot and Turkey Tunes play such an important role in the school's Thanksgiving celebration year after year. Then we have some fun with students who show us their homemade talking turkeys and tell us what they're thankful for this year. 

We're here in first grade at Golden Fields with Stephanie Murray and Amber Squire to talk turkey here before Thanksgiving. First off, you guys have amazing shirts on. Tell me about this.

Stephanie Murray:
Our whole program is based around the turkey and our first graders dress up in turkey costumes that they create themselves. So we couldn't just leave them hanging, we had to dress up as the turkey ourselves. So we reached out, purchased some shirts and surprised them this morning. When we walked out to pick them up, they almost lost it. They were so excited to see us sporting the turkey.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's a brown shirt with big googly turkey eyes and a beak. And of course the 

Stephanie Murray:
Snood.

Anthony Godfrey:
The snood. I knew you would know the word. That's why I could just pause, the snood. So you look very festive. Tell me how did the focus on turkeys get started?

Stephanie Murray:
Well, long ago, when we very first opened the school, we had so much fun during the month of October celebrating Halloween and all of its festivities. We had a bunch of fun during December celebrating all of the winter holidays, but November kind of got passed over. That had us a little sad because November is a very important month and a time to reflect on being thankful and showing gratitude for what we have and those around us. So we started thinking as a team, how can we make this month focused on what it truly is about being thankful to those around us? And so we started a search to find some child appropriate songs, and we wound up finding turkey. So our whole month has been spent talking about turkeys, learning everything we can about them, but also about why the turkeys are so grateful to escape being eaten on Thanksgiving day, if they're ever so lucky. We use that as a stepping stone to talk to the children about what they are thankful for and just had a lot of fun along the way, using the turkey as our guide.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a great tie into the Thanksgiving meal and to turkeys, but also to have the kids reflect on their own lives and the things that they're grateful for. What a wonderful way to make November exciting for the students. That's really what it's about, connecting with students. I'm sure this is something they'll remember for a very long time.

Stephanie Murray:
Oh, definitely. We still have kids that are here the first year that we did it that come up to us and say, I still remember Turkey Tunes and I have my costume and everything. So we hope that it is something that leaves a lasting memory with them for the rest of their lives.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me something about the costumes. What do they put together?

Amber Squire:
For the costumes, we just use brown paper bags, like grocery bags. We cut them up the back and then we actually cut arm hold inside of them and a little neck hole for the collar. Then we have large white circles for the eyeballs and then black construction paper for pupils. And then we have beaks and snoods, and that's the vest. Then we actually have the children put those on and we take Velcro and secure it so it can fit to their bodies perfectly.

Stephanie Murray:
We do a lot of dancing in this show, so we don't want to lose our turkey bodies in the process.

Amber Squire:
And then on their heads we take brown construction paper and staple it together to make a headband. We put feathers in a pattern, so we do a brown feather in the center sticking up from the back of their heads and then red feathers, orange feathers, and yellow feathers on either side. It makes a little secure turkey, feather hat.

Stephanie Murray:
We shake our turkey feathers a lot also.

Anthony Godfrey:
Shake your turkey feathers. Okay. 

Amber Squire:
Shake our turkey feathers and point our toes like it says in our last song.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. Now do you two dance along with them?

Stephanie Murray:
More than you would ever want to see.

Amber Squire:
We always joke that we get our cardio in these days. For the whole month of November, that's our cardio.

Anthony Godfrey:
So has Turkey Tunes taken over maybe even some of the other holidays throughout the year, or is it just kind of hanging with the others now?

Stephanie Murray:
You know what, it has taken over I think. In October, you know, we have the typical fun, the Halloween parade and the Halloween party. But Turkey Tunes invites the families in, it invites the friends in, it invites the community in to stop, pause, reflect on what we're grateful for and have a little fun while we're at it. So it's something that everybody around us looks forward to.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, here they come. Here come some of the students to come in and get reconnected with their costumes here. Tell me your name.

Jonah:
Jonah. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Jonah. What's your name? 

Pierce:
Pierce. 

Jocie:
Jocie.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pierce and Jocie. Tell us a little bit about what you're looking forward to today.

Jonah:
Being on the podcast. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it is exciting to be on a podcast.

Jonah:
I’ve already been on one before.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, have you really? Tell me about that?

Jonah:
I did one about Lego Mario.

Anthony Godfrey:
Lego Mario. Well, I have not yet talked about Lego Mario on my podcast, but it seems like maybe one day I should. And if I ever do, you'll be the first person I call. So tell me about today. Tell me about your performance.

Jocie:
Turkey Tunes. We do songs about turkeys.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is the word gobble in any of these? 

Jonah:
Most of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Most of them have the word gobble. That makes a lot of sense. Pierce, what's your favorite song today? 

Pierce:
Glad I'm Not a Turkey. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Glad I’m Not a Turkey. Well, I can probably guess, I'm pretty glad I'm not a turkey even without hearing the song. What's your favorite?

Jocie:
Um, Turkey Dance.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can you tell me what happens in the dance?

Jocie:
You have to say gobble and you have to wobble and you have to strut.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you, you say gobble and you wobble and you strut. That's a lot to remember. It's a good thing you guys have been practicing. Tell me about making your costumes. Was that fun? 

Jonah:
Yeah, we used glue, staplers and scissors.

Anthony Godfrey:
Glue, staplers and scissors. Is this something that you're going to take home? 

Jonah:
Yes, I mean no.

Anthony Godfrey:
No? No, you want to keep it here? 

Jonah:
Yeah. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Did they ask to hang it up? Because it was so good?

Jonah:
No, we have to use it in like 15 minutes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, in 15 minutes you have to use it. But after that, are you going to take it home? 

Jonah:
Yes. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. Okay. Are you guys going to wear this at Thanksgiving dinner?

Jocie:
Maybe.

Anthony Godfrey:
Maybe? Don't you think people would like it if you wore those feathers and you came in? Or would they feel uncomfortable eating turkey? 

Jonah;
And there’s a turkey hat.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, there's a Turkey hat. Do you know where yours is? Can I get a look at that? Yeah. Oh, see, I thought the feathers would have gone at the front, but that doesn't make any sense. The way you're wearing it makes a lot of sense. You guys look really great in these costumes. I don't know, if I were you, I think you ought to be wearing them at dinner. I'm looking forward to the performance. Tell me what you're looking forward to most and Thanksgiving.

Jonah:
The main course.

Anthony Godfrey:
The turkey. Yes, you're very right. The turkey and the gravy. Do you put the gravy on the turkey? Yes. Okay. How about you? What are you looking forward to most?

Pierce:
Eating steak with my family. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Eating steak?

Pierce:
Yeah, we usually have steak instead of turkey.

Anthony Godfrey:
So should you really be dressed up as a steak today?

Jonah:
We have a giant turkey in our fridge, by the way.

Anthony Godfrey:
You have a giant turkey in your fridge?

Jonah:
It's like the head’s gone and the organs are pulled out. 

Anthony Godfrey:
The organs are pulled out and the head is gone. So you're well on your way,

Jonah:
And there’s seasoning on it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And there’s seasoning on it? Does it just gradually get closer? Like one day the insides are gone and the next day the seasonings on and it just kind of gradually moves forward. You've been paying close attention to this haven’t you? It's because you're looking forward to the turkey. Yes. So you have steak every Thanksgiving. 

Pierce:
Yeah, usually.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you call it steaks-giving?

Pierce:
No.

Anthony Godfrey:
No, you don't. Do you have Turkey and steak or just steak? 

Pierce:
Steak.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Is it cooked on the grill or out on the barbecue or how does your dad cook it? 

Pierce:
Barbecue.

Anthony Godfrey:
Out on the barbecue. 

Pierce:
My dad makes the best steak.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow. Is it kind of pink in the center? Yeah. Well, that sounds fantastic. What time should I come by for steak? 

Pierce:
I don’t know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Just whenever I come by, there'll be steak cooking. Huh? Okay. What are you looking forward to? 

Jocie:
The turkey.

Anthony Godfrey:
The turkey. Okay. Do you put gravy on your Turkey and have you been watching the turkey like Jonah? 

Jocie:
I haven't got a turkey yet.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Not yet. 

Jonah:
In two days we have to eat Turkey and the Thanksgiving dinner. I'm counting Thanksgiving too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Two days until Thanksgiving, including Thanksgiving. Okay. Fair enough. So what do you think about the turkey? Have you named the turkey?

Jonah:
No, I want to, but I want to name him like gobbler.

Anthony Godfrey:
Gobbler. Okay. All right. All right. Tell me something you're thankful for that's not turkey and will not be on your table. 

Jonah:
My dog.

Anthony Godfrey:
Your dog. Your dog is well behaved so he's not going to be on the table, right?

Jonah:
My dog's name is Archie. Archibald Nacio Gretsch.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow. That's a long name.

Jonah:
Nacio for nacho. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay. Very good. And so that's the middle name? Kind of? I definitely need to talk to you more. Okay. Tell me what you're thankful for?

Jocie:
My friends and family.

Anthony Godfrey:
Friends and family. Great. And what are you thankful for?

Pierce:
My class.

Anthony Godfrey:
Awesome.

Pierce:
And all the teachers in the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very good. I'm thankful for your class and all the teachers in the school too. That's really cool. Okay. Well, I hope you guys have a fantastic Thanksgiving and I can't wait for the performance. See you in a minute. 

Stay with us. When we come back more about the Turkey Trot.

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:
We're here with Carolyn Dailey, 2nd grade teacher at Golden Fields. She's going to talk to us about the Turkey Trot happening today. What is that?

Carolyn Dailey:
So our Turkey trot is a fun way to get the kids enthused about Thanksgiving and we create turkey hats. They become little turkeys themselves. And then we create a little gobbler made out of a cup to bell the sound of the gobbler gobbling. We just have a little trot parade around the school and out the door to Thanksgiving.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the kids look forward to this, I have no doubt.

Carolyn Dailey:
It's become quite the tradition.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is your own mini Golden Fields Thanksgiving Day Parade, I suppose. How long has this been going on?

Carolyn Dailey:
So actually we brought the tradition to Golden Fields when we opened. So it's been here the entire time the school has been here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So do kids in 1st grade look forward to their 2nd grade where they get to graduate to the parade from the Turkey Tunes? 

Carolyn Dailey:
You bet.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so they create their own costume. Tell me again, what's involved in making the gobbler?

Carolyn Dailey:
So the gobbler’s the best part of the Turkey Trot. This is what the kids really look forward to. So you take a cup, it can be any cup that you want to do, that's disposable. You put a little hole in the bottom of the cup and invert it. So it has the bell effect of making the sound a little bit louder. And then you're going to insert a string and tie it up on the top with a paperclip. And then at the bottom of the string, you're going to tie a little piece of sponge. And then we make the little cup look like a Turkey as well. Then at the time of the parade, we dampen the sponge and then you pull. Take the sponge and wrap it around the string and jerk it down. It makes a clucking sound and the bell magnifies that sound. So they're just clucking away on their parade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Have they practiced on this?

Carolyn Dailey:
That's the best part ,the practice.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can I get a look at one? 

Carolyn Dailey:
Absolutely!

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, let's go take a look.

Carolyn Dailey:
Here's our gobbler.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Let's see. This Turkey looks particularly happy. Okay. So we've got feathers on top of the cup and then a paperclip. Okay. I see the paper beak is sticking out. So that is just wet sponge being pulled down a string and amplified by the cup. Can I try it? I have never gobbled like this before. All right. Let's see if you guys think I can do it. Okay. All right. Let me give it a shot.

All right. That is really cool. I am making gobblers at home this year. I am telling you that right now. I have to do it again, I can't resist. How many of you guys hear the sound in your sleep? Yes, I see most of you do. Wow. That is really cool. Well, congratulations. I've been through 51 Thanksgivings, and I know it's pretty remarkable. Well, I'm 52. This is going to be 52 Thanksgivings. I just haven't been through that one yet. I know it's surprising because I look so young. Right. See, thanks for the thumbs up buddy. But yeah, this is, I can't get enough of it. You guys just like want to do it all the time? I totally understand. I like your shirt. It has a Turkey that says eat pizza and he's in a disguise. Well done.
Tell me how these gobblers came to be.

Carolyn Dailey:
Years ago, it was probably 20 years ago when my kids were little, we were having Thanksgiving and their cousins had made one at school. So of course, being a teacher myself, I was like, let's check this out. And we saw how they constructed these gobblers. So of course I had to continue the tradition.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you guys are awesome. Well, have a lot of fun with your Turkey Trot and your gobblers. 

Carolyn Dailey:
Keep that one as a memento of your visit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? Are you serious? I get to keep the gobbler. Oh man, I'm going to be the most popular guy at Thanksgiving dinner. 

Carolyn Dailey:
Should we give him a ceremonial turkey hat to take too?

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Thank you very much for letting me visit. I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving. 

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are members of the Utah State Legislature and Riverton High School Silverwolves through and through. On this bonus episode of the Supercast, we take you back inside Riverton High to once again catch up with the Silverwolf caucus made up of Utah State Representatives who are also former Riverton High students. Find out what happens when Representatives Candice Pierucci, Ashlee Matthews and Jordan Teuscher run into some former teachers as they tour the halls of their alma mater sharing some laughs and lots of memories along the way.

Is there a classroom or area of the building that you want to visit? 

Candice Pierucci:
The newspaper room?

Ashlee Matthews:
I would love to go to the newspaper room!

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's go to the newspaper room.

Ashlee Matthews:
I have fond memories of that room and the newspaper kids were the most fun. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you remember where your locker was?

Jordan Reuscher:
It's just the hallway over and I remember it's right by the vending machines, which was kind of a coveted spot because it was there, you know, you had easy access by the cafeteria.

Ashlee Matthews:
Oh, we're just heading down, hoping that the newspaper staff room is where it was when I left. Right around the corner from my old locker.

Jordan Teuscher:
So it changed. So the first year it was Ms. Highmas. She got married and changed her name to Billings. She was there for the first year and a half,  and then when she got married, she left. Eventually they found someone and it was Jenicee Jacobson. Yeah, she was great. It was her first year teaching. She was Debate coach. She probably hated it because I was in there, and vowed never to do it again.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s go in here, let’s go in here. You’ve got to feel the energy of the room.

Ashlee Matthews:
Oh my gosh. The desk where we sold ad space was right there.  We made calls and did a lot of ad space. That was all computers. The Life page computer was the second one from the end. It was my computer. It was a green, a green little Mac. Yep. There's always been a captain here. Ours was not that nice. We still have the mini fridge and we had all sorts of snacks and food and stuff. 

Jordan Teuscher:
Yeah. I was in newspaper for like a few weeks.

Ashlee Matthews:
What?

Jordan Teuscher:
I had a friend who was the editor in chief and he really wanted me to do it and they brought me in. It was Mrs. Squires.

Ashlee Matthews:
Was it Joel Ackerman?

Jordan Teuscher:
No, it wasn't. But I remember Joel really well. Yeah. I ran into him like last year at Summit Splash, the new Seven Peaks.

Ashlee Matthews:
Did you buy his book to support him? You should, I’ve got a copy.

Jordan Teuscher:
Okay. But anyway, they assigned me to be like the ad space guy and as I got into it, I'm like, I do not like this. I'm not, not doing it. 

Ashlee Matthews:
I had a best friend in yearbook as well, and she was always trying to recruit me. I just couldn't quite, you either were or you weren't in yearbook and I was not. 

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's the room bringing back memories a little bit even though it’s changed?

Ashlee Matthews:
It does, yes. It’s close enough. It's got the same bones, so yep. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Look out the window, see the view.

Ashlee Matthews:
Spent a lot of time staring out that window seeing what everyone else is doing. 

Laura Taylor:
Hey! How are you doing?

Candice Pierucci:
Good! How are you? We're all legislators who were Silverwolves. I was just talking about your Women in American History class. I have a wall of women in my office in the legislature now, so thank you.

Laura Taylor:
Nice! I remember your goal, your thing was to become president. 

Candice Pierucci:
Oh, I don't even remember that. 

Laura Taylor:
You're like I want to be President of the United States, so you're well on your way. 

Candice Pierucci:
Well, thank you for that. I didn't even remember that. That's really cool. That was awesome. That was a good class. I think we had all women except for Jamin Mikesell who was the only dude in the class. He expected to get a little more mileage out of it I think.

Laura Taylor:
He didn’t get very much. The boys were usually always well outnumbered. 

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah, really great class. Cool, thanks for what you do, obviously it’s working.

Laura Taylor:
Thank you. It's great to see you and all the great things you're doing. 

Candice Pierucci:
Thanks, awesome. So we're good. We were just seeing you Mr. Briggs, and Mrs. Rush are like the three I recognize. Awesome. Well, have a good Halloween this weekend. 

Laura Taylor:
Enjoy your little tour down memory lane.

Anthony Godfrey:
Does the school look about the same? 

Ashlee Matthews:
It does, yeah. It feels really similar.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s walk back in here.

Jordan Teuscher:
This was the debate room and I don't know, someone in music has taken it over. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s walk into the debate space. Let’s absorb the energy in here.

Jordan Teuscher:

We had a great time in here. We used these little breakout rooms, you know, to do individual practice rounds and such. I spent a lot of great time in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's been a long time since you've been in this room I'm guessing.

Jordan Teuscher:
Yeah, probably 20 years.

Carolyn Gough:
This is one of our student officers, Cameron. 

Jordan Teuscher:
Cameron, nice to meet you. 

Ashlee Matthews:
Nice to meet you.

Cameron:
Nice to meet you guys.

Carolyn Gough:
Cameron is involved currently in choir.

Candice Pierucci:
Oh cool. Are you an acapella or madrigals? 

Cameron:
I’m in madrigals and acapella. 

Candice Pierucci
Very nice. Glided acapella. That's really fun to do. Who's the choir teacher now?

Cameron:
Ulmer. Was it Ulmer back then? 

Candice Pierucci:
I had Willmore. Mrs. Willmore who started like every choir program in the Southwest corner of the valley. So she went to go lead the bell choir at Tabernacle Square. Yeah. So, but that was who I had. So that's really cool though. 

Cameron:
That’s really cool. What was it like being with such an influential teacher? 

Candice Pierucci:
She man, that woman was tough as nails and as she just would flat out tell us when we sucked. She actually didn't even let us finish singing the line. She never said we sucked, let me correct the record. She said, “No, no, no, no, no.” When we would start out and she's like, you're not preparing. And even when I sing now, I think of her voice in my head to prepare for the air that you need to get through it. So she was really influential.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's cool. Let's go to the choir room led by a current student. If you guys could harmonize along the way, that'd be great.

Cameron:
That’s the school musical rehearsing. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh great. What’s the musical this year?

Cameron:
We're doing Mamma Mia.

Cameron:
These are the folders filled with crazy music. 

Candice Pierucci:
Totally remember that.

Cameron:
Right in here is the choir room.

Candice Pierucci:
Very cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is it smaller than you remember?

Candice Pierucci:
It actually does look smaller than I remember. We had a really massive choir. We had a lot of students in choir and I also did center stage. So this whole area, I felt like I spent a lot of time between acapella and theater. So this is really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
And what was Center Stage?

Candice Pierucci:
It's just with the theater program. They would have the stage in the middle of the room so you had to act to all sides, kind of like the globe? 

Anthony Godfrey:
Theater in the round kind of thing. 

Cameron:
Theater in the Round.

Candice Pierucci:
Is that what it’s called now? 

Cameron:
Student Directed Plays. 

Candice:
There you go. Yeah. Mr. Eaton was the director, the teacher then. You knew Mr. Eaton too? Did you do theater? 

Ashlee Matthews:
Nope. He was my film studies teacher. Something that does not involve any sort of talent.

Anthony Godfrey:
But it lasts a lifetime. Now Netflix is just that much more enjoyable because you know how to appreciate it .

Ashlee Matthews:
I'm critiquing it all in my head. 

Jordan Teuscher:
He was my drama teacher. I had just a half credit of drama that I had to take, but it was a lot of fun. We went and did like an ensemble at the Shakespeare Festival. That was way fun. 

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah. No, I think everyone should have to take a little bit of theater in their life. You know, it also helps, I would say in elected office, you have to give a lot of speeches and public comments. So it helps you be a little more confident. I feel like theater helps you in high school. Be a little more confident too. 

Anthony Godfrey:
It does build confidence. It puts you out there, but it gives you someone else's words to say. 

Candice Pierucci:
There you go, that’s much easier.

Carolyn Gough:
Right in the middle of a Mamma Mia practice as we're getting ready for a school musical, but we have three former students, current legislators who are in our state legislature. They actually had you as a teacher, so we just wanted to wait. 

Clin Eaton:
What were you in?

Candice Pierucci:
I had Center Stage. So it was one of the student led ones. And then I did acapella, but I had Willmore. Yep. There you go. 

Jordan Teuscher:
I wasn't in any performance, but I just had a class. It was great. It was lasting. Just a drama, like a Drama I I did the Shakespeare Ensemble. I remember that. Yeah. 

Clin Eaton:
With what show?

Jordan Teuscher:
We did Much Ado About Nothing.

Ashlee Matthews:
Film Studies and Theater I.

Candice Pierucci:
Did you get an “A”?

Ashlee Matthews:
Well, of course I did! I had the best teacher.

Clin Eaton:
Thank you so much.

Candice Pierucci:
Thanks for the work you do. Good job, it sounds amazing guys.

Jordan Teuscher:
We’ll come back and see the show. 

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah! When is it showing? 

Carolyn Gough:
November 18-22. Mamma Mia performing at Riverton High School. 

Anthony Godfrey:
When you look in a class like that doesn't seem like a longer time ago or does it seem like it was just yesterday?

Candice:
It made sense to be like just yesterday. And I was just telling Ashlee, I wish I could go back. Cause they're so carefree. There's no bills to pay like no college tuition, no children.

Anthony Godfrey:
No bills to pay no bills to pass. 

Candice:
That’s right! There you go, that's true. But I just wish I could go back and tell myself, like, this is the most carefree you're going to feel your whole life. And you can feel that right? When you hear them all dancing and waving their arms.

Jordan Teuscher:
But they seem so young. I did not look that young when I was in high school.

Candice Pierucci:
I was much older.

Ashlee Matthews:
I feel youngish until I’m around actual young people and I go holy crap I’m old. It's because the legislature makes us feel young. That's what so many people say, ‘you're my grandkids age’. You start feeling young then we realize we're not really that young.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. More fun with the Silverwolf Caucus as they reminisce about all the good times at Riverton High.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at the current teachers board with photos of all of our teachers here at Riverton High. See anyone you guys recognize?

Candice Pieruccu:
Yes. Mr. Briggs was my American Government teacher. I'm still friends with him on Facebook. Laura Taylor taught my Women in American History class. Fantastic. And then Patricia Marshall was my AP English teacher. 

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. All right. How about you guys?

Ashlee Matthews:
Mr. Hales was my shop teacher, Jordan Vance was an SBO actually, when I was here I believe. He was a student at least. If he wasn't an SBO he should have been. I remember him that way. Mr. Eaton and Mrs. Rush. She was my AP English teacher as well. 

Candice Pierucci:
We are Facebook friends as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
People are hard on social media, but it is cool to stay connected.

Candice Pierucci:
It’s a cool way to connect for sure. Mr. Briggs!

Joshua Briggs:
I used your example today to show the kids how to do a project. I said, “If you look at this one, you can see that this student put in a lot of effort.” And I always brag on you and your kid Benji. 

Candice Pierucci:
Oh my gosh! You’re so awesome. I'm glad Facebook keeps us connected. So I randomly put a goldfish in your water jug that one year.

Joshua Briggs:
I do remember that and I thought about drinking it.

Candice Pierucci:
You totally read us though. Oh good. How are things going?

Joshua Briggs:
They're going great. 

Candice Pierucci:
Well that's amazing. Oh, it was fun to see your pictures still here. I'm glad you’re still teaching. These are all, well, these three, Ashlee and Jordan are the legislature with me. We are the Silverwolf Caucus now. We make up 4% of the legislature. 

Joshua Briggs:
That’s what I'm talking about. Thanks for the handwritten note. I appreciate it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, you bet. Absolutely. My pleasure.

Joshua Briggs:
I always appreciate how you pick up the phone. You’re awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, thank you. Thanks. 

Candice Pierucci:
Can I get a picture with you? To put on social media.

Joshua Briggs:
You know it!

Anthony Godfrey:
It's pretty awesome for you to have this kind of lasting impact come back. We know the impact’s there, but it's fun for people to actually tell you.

Joshua Briggs:
Yeah. And I have your example. If you want to see it.

Candice Pierucci:
I kinda want to. I’m impressed that you have it. Here, let me get a picture with you. 

Joshua Briggs:
Right here Candice.

Candice Pierucci:
Oh my heck. I can’t believe you have this still! Oh my gosh. I remember staying up late to work on this.

Joshua Briggs:
Well, I was trying to tell the kids, you need to have the title written and then you need to throw some color behind it. Write your book and then take some time and effort in the pictures. And today the students were like, ‘that's really good.’

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah. I can't believe you kept it. 

Joshua Briggs:
Did you know that Candice Backus Pierucci is the youngest elected female legislator in the Utah House of Representatives. And they're like, ‘really?’ I said, ‘yes, if you see her signs, it'll have Pierucci on it.’

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah I know, Backus was easier.

Joshua Briggs:
And little Benji is as cute as ever.

Candice Pierucci:
Thank you. I appreciate it. He's two and a half now. I cannot believe you kept this. This means so much to me. The night I stayed up till like 3:00 AM working on this, it made it worth it just because you still use it.

Joshua Briggs:
Guess what, I have some of the other examples too. In my journal process that I have, because I have the kids write journals. I‘ve fine tuned it quite a bit over the years, and for anyone who goes above and beyond, I call it the Candice Backus role.

Candice Pierucci:
Oh my gosh. Wow. Thank you, that is so sweet.

Joshua Briggs:
Cause you, you asked me, you know, ‘how can I even get more out?’ And so you would write it and then you would figure out how to reframe it, rewrite it. And so I have kids regularly going two and three and four times above what the expectations are because they know it'll pay dividends. We reference you all the time. 

Candice Pierucci:
Oh my gosh. Well thank you. I really appreciate it.

Joshua Briggs:
You said ‘hi’ to L.T. right? She’s so excited too because you had her for Women's History.

Candice Pierucci:
I did. Yeah. I told her I have a wall of women in my office now because there are a lot of walls of men all over the legislature. But like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, all my ladies, they're up on the wall. So, because she had a wall of women.

Joshua Briggs:
Hopefully you can be up there. 

Candice Pierucci:
I’m definitely not up there with Susan B. Anthony. 

Joshua Briggs:
Well, one day you’ll be on a coin. When you were in  my class do you remember you said that one day you're going to be President. 

Candice Pierucci:
You know, apparently I said that. I’m feeling very, very embarrassed today. I was much more confident than I remembered.

Joshua Briggs:
No, you said “I’m going to do it”. Then I watched you and you went and clerked in D.C. and then also in the Honor Flight.

Candice Pierucci:
I did Honor Flight. Yeah, you’re right. 

Joshua Briggs:
That was the coolest thing I ever heard in my whole life.

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah, I was the flight leader board member for him.

Joshua Briggs:
For Mike Johnson.

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah, yeah, and he’s so cool, I can't believe I said that by the way, I feel rather embarrassed. Like I don't have time to be President. I'm just happy to be in the legislature. 

Joshua Briggs:
If you ever do, I’ll vote for you.

Candice Pierucci:
Well, thank you. I do appreciate your vote. I remember especially learning just US history in your class. It was really cool. And I remember following the election cycle because that was when President Obama was running. I remember in class you were really good about keeping the discussion civil, like you always made sure both sides were represented when we watched the debate.

Joshua Briggs:
I believe it's the student's education and not mine. And so I want them to be confident, have your own voice.

Candice Pierucci:
You felt that way in your class, which is why I felt comfortable sharing opinions. So thank you. You're awesome.

Joshua Briggs:
I’m super proud of you. I have more examples by the way.

Candice Pierucci:
I can’t believe you kept them all. It just makes me feel better. That’s so cool. Thank you. I appreciate it. What was the assignment? It was just to create like a little mini book.

Joshua Briggs:
Yeah, yeah. So what I call them is a folded book. The ones that the students are finishing up right now is on World War II. So, I want them to hit with the state core standards are and be able to show their understanding of it, write their own book, drop in vocabulary words, but also illustrate it. And so I have a couple of other ones if you ever want to see them.

Candice Pierucci:
Okay. I can't believe you keep all your students. People really appreciate it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can't thank you enough for coming to Riverton and reminiscing about the Silverwolf days and giving some advice to our current students and a boost to the teachers who still remember you and cherish that time that they had with you as students. So thank you so much for everything you're doing and for representing Silverwolves all the way up at the State Legislature. 

Candice Pierucci:
Thanks for having us. It's been really fun. 

Jordan Teuscher:
It's been great. Love reminiscing. The nostalgia is awesome. 

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're welcome anywhere here any time. Absolutely.

Thanks for joining us for 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 call themselves the Silverwolf Caucus. These three former Riverton High School students are all now Representatives in the Utah State Legislature. On this episode of the Supercast, State Representatives, Candice Pierucci, Ashlee Matthews and Jordan Teuscher returned to Riverton High for the first time, since they graduated, find out what they learned from their time as students, what advice they have for current student body officers and why Riverton High is still near and dear to them today.

We are here at Riverton High School with what we are calling the Silverwolf Caucus. We have three of our State Representatives here who are former students here at Riverton High. I'm going to let each of them introduce themselves. And we have a couple of members of our current student government here as well to ask you some questions, but let's start out with introductions

Candice Pierucci:
I’m Representative Candice Pierucci and I graduated class of 2010.

Ashlee Matthews:
I'm Representative Ashlee Matthews and I graduated in 2004.

Jordan Teuscher:
I’m Representative Jordan Teuscher. I graduated class of 2002. So 2002.

Anthony Godfrey:
Time flies, time flies. 

Jordan Teuscher:
I forgot how we say that. 

Anthony Godfrey:
You brought some swag with you. I see you have some memorabilia from when you were here. Representative Pierucci, show me what you have there.

Candice Pierucci:
Well, I lettered in academics and I was FBLA’s Vice-President.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let’s lay it down on the table here, let’s see that.

Candice Pierucci:
Well, it’s been at the bottom of the memory box so I can't promise that it doesn't have fuzzy things on it. I've taken off all my pins and then I was Sterling Scholar for Social Studies. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, Sterling Scholar for Social Studies. Vice-President, that is very cool. Very cool. Does this look familiar?

Candice Pierucci:
These things don't ever change. They’re timeless. Taxes, death and your letterman jacket. Those are all the same.

Anthony Godfrey:
Representative Teuscher. I must mention, changed flights, missed some major events and came right from the airport to be part of this. So thanks to all three of you for going to the effort of making this work in your schedule. I know you're very, very busy.

Jordan Teuscher:
I wouldn't miss it. You know, we all love Riverton High School and I wanted to be here for this. So yes, I have my letterman jacket right here. Haven't worn it in a little while, but it looks good. It's warm and nice. 

Candice Pierucci:
What did you letter in?

Jordan Teuscher:
I lettered in debate. Yep. So I was a National Debater here and then French, and Seminary. Which is kind of awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's really great. You know, yours says 2002, mine is from the 1900s. So at least it's recent in my book. That's awesome. So now we're going to have our current student officers introduce themselves. 

Dylan:
I'm Dylan. I'm the Student Body President here.

Tessa:
I’m Tessa. I’m Artist SBO.

Anthony Godfrey:
Dylan, Tessa, what is your first reaction sitting across from three State Representatives who used to be in your shoes? 

Dylan:
I think it's awesome. And I think it shows that Silverwolves can produce such highly esteemed people. It’s almost like a flexing moment for all of us. They’re Silverwolves.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a good flex for Riverton High. I don't know that there's another high school that can claim three current state representatives.

Candice Pierucci:
I was not aware of any in the legislature right now that have this many. Maybe rural Utah can pull out a couple, but not this many. 

Ashlee Matthews:
Well, if they are, they're not saying anything.

Anthony Godfrey:
You got to represent, that's right. 

Jordan Teuscher:
I’m just doing the quick math here. We’ve got 75 representatives. So 3 out of the 75, that's 4% of the entire House is a Silverwolf. I think proportionally speaking, we’re punching above our weight.

Anthony Godfrey:
4% came through this building, that's no small matter. That's a big deal.

 Jordan Teuscher:
We have some open seats coming out so we’ll just need to find some more Silverwolves.

Ashlee Matthews:
The most important question we will ask any candidate is, are you a Silverwolf?

Anthony Godfrey:
It’s about growing the Silverwolf Caucus, that’s the important thing. Tell me what questions do you have for our State Representatives? 

Dylan:
My first one is like, what's the biggest thing, or what thing do you notice the most that's like, you're still a Silverwolf? What reminds you the most? Like, you'll do something in your day and you're like, ah, that's because I'm a Silverwolf

Candice Pierucci:
For me, when I think of high school, I think of the community and I feel like it lays the foundation for a lot of students on thinking you can do anything in life. When I think back on high school, I wish I could tell young Candice not to stress so much, but maybe it was good I did. Because then I tried to achieve a lot of things. Just the sense of friendship that carries with you that obviously we immediately all feel some camaraderieship because of that. Also the awesome teachers here, who you still want to check the board and see how many of them are here, but there are a lot of life lessons and fond memories as you walk through these doors that kind of takes you back. 

Ashlee Matthews:
It's true. I'm not even going to try to top that because you said what I was thinking only way better.

Jordan Teuscher:
I'll tell you my thought. I started here in 2000, so this was the first year it opened. So I was a sophomore, it was brand new. We were trying to decide what are the traditions that we need to have. What will actually unite us as a school? Because we had people coming from all different high schools, Copper Hills High School, Bingham High School, that may have had some allegiances there, but we wanted to start off great. So I harken back to that anytime I have a new project, it just reminds me of that idea of coming fresh into a new school, wanting to have good traditions, wanting to get off on the right foot.

Candice Pierucci:
That's crazy because I was here in 2010, which was the year before it split off to go to Herriman High. It was like, everything was one last time that we were all going to be together. So Silver Rush was huge. I remember the One Last Dance theme and it was just really cool. I think high school is terrifying for a lot of people, right? You build relationships with people that you'll never forget. I still am best friends with my high school friends and we keep tabs on each other. So it's really cool, the memories you make.

Ashlee Matthews:
I have something that's not deep or philosophical, like either of them, but I grew up in the neighborhood. We are just right behind the football stadium. So listening to the band practice and every Friday night listening to the announcers, the football game. Where I live now, I live just down the street from my community's high school, and I will say that every time I hear the band practicing it takes me back.

Anthony Godfrey:
There is something about the lights, the crisp air, hearing that ratatat, and the announcer is pretty exciting.

Ashlee Matthews:
It's the last time it's socially acceptable to really paint your face. It’s awesome, I definitely painted my face.

Anthony Godfrey:
There’s license to do some things that you can't later in life.

Ashlee Matthews:
Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay tuned. When we come back, find out more about how Riverton High School helped prepare these three legislators for public service.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We have Principal Carolyn Gough here with I think a few additions to the swag that you brought.

Carolyn Gough:
We do offer a yearly pin so that you can take advantage of the pin that we have for this year. And then this, because you mentioned that Silver Rush was such an integral part of your experience, we have our jug or Silver Rush jug pins. So we wanted to present you with those just as a token of our appreciation for the service that you give.

Dylan:
And a shirt that says ‘Riverton Pride of the Pack”.

Legislators:
Thank you!

Carolyn Gough:
Thanks for representing us so well. If you could wear that in a session, that would be great.

Tessa:
What was like your thing in high school? Like we have student government, like, what was your thing and how did it prepare you for the position you have now? 

Ashlee Matthews:
I was on the newspaper staff, and that was my thing. I'm an observer, I'm a watcher, I'm a listener. I just kind of learn by watching and listening to other people, which was very helpful going into this. I had no idea what I was walking into. So I spend a lot of time just taking mental notes and watching and listening to things that are going on. On that same token, talking about relationships and such, I have a very good relationship with the former newspaper adviser, April Squires. She's amazing. We still talk to her all the time and she tells me every time like, ‘oh, you were my favorite life editor.’ I'm sure she tells that to everybody. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Life editor, was it the Riverton Life? Is that what it was called?

Ashlee Matthews:
No, Silver Scribe. No, just the life page.

Candice Pierucci:
For me, I did Peer Leadership Team, the National Honor Society. I did the FBLA, Future Business Leaders of America and I did Acapella, but really loved my experience there. Also, my senior year I did an internship at the state Capitol, which totally changed my trajectory. I also did the We the People competition. My teacher advisor was Jenicee Jacobson who I still am in touch with. That internship at the Capitol changed my life. That's where I decided I wanted to do something in government to make a difference. So it was really, really instrumental, I feel like, in me getting here.

Jordan Teuscher:
I mentioned it before, debate. I mean, I was involved in a lot of different things, but that was definitely kind of the hallmark of what I focused my time in most. Little known fact probably for most people here, but debate was the first trophy that Riverton actually won. We had a whole trophy case out here and nothing in it and it was great to be able to put something in the middle. We kept adding to it, adding to it. Over the years, we kind of had to fight with football and cheer and other people that wanted to kind of move debate to the side, said this is more for athletics, but we enjoyed it. We actually competed really well and had a great program. 

Anthony Godfrey:
What would you say to current high school students who are maybe considering whether they could or should get involved in politics down the line?

Jordan Teuscher:
I'll say, you know, a lot of my political interest started when I was in high school. It was getting involved in an AP Political Science class, learning about the system and getting challenged to show up to a caucus meeting and it was a scary type thing. So I think that's the biggest advice that I can give to any high schoolers, get involved. I mean, especially at this age there's there's clubs and classes, and even just coming up to the Capitol and spending some time with your elected official, to just learn how the process happens, that will put you in a really good situation in the future to be able to jump into public service when the opportunity presents itself.

Candice Pierucci:
I would say half of the effort you need to be involved is just showing up. So I would encourage students to start getting engaged now and actually take your government course seriously. If you can jump on a campaign, there's no minimum age to help on a campaign, and knock doors or deliver flyers. I'd say, definitely reach out to one of us about doing an internship. If you're a senior, we can always try and pull some strings to get you up there for a fellow Silverwolf. Also not letting your age stop you. As you can see we're all millennials up here, for those of you who are listening. We're all millennials and having different age groups provides different perspectives and diversity in the Legislature that I think is really helpful. So I'd say jump on in and don't hold back. 

Ashlee Matthews:
On that same token, but a different way, I agree with Candice, don't let your age hold you back. I was not involved politically at all until, until I ran for office. So, it was weird and it was scary and it was exciting starting something that I had absolutely zero experience in. So I did it and I, and I think everybody else should do it too. 

Dylan:
So what do you guys think the state of politics is today and how can we work together to be better?

Candice Pierucci:
I think we have to learn again as a culture, as a society to disagree civilly. I think it starts in AP Government when people start formulating opinions and you get to be able to share your own and realize that just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they're evil. It just means they have a different opinion. I feel like I've developed a great friendship with Ashlee who sits across the ideological aisle. But my goodness, apart from being legislators and a Republican and Democrat, we're both moms and friends and able to talk about things that we all care about. I think we have to do a better job of getting off social media, getting out of our echo chambers and learning to interact with people, and learning to meet them as people before we do their ideology. It makes the negotiating process that much better because you're able to find common ground on what you can agree on, which is the best way to create policy.

Jordan Teuscher:
Yeah. I think Candice hit the nail on the head. It's all about finding people that you disagree with and having those conversations. Too much today, people either are afraid to have the conversation or they're being told not to, right. They're saying, you know, we need to alienate ourselves from those people who are across the aisle, who may believe differently than we do. So the more that we can reach out to people who have different opinions and have the discussion and try to understand why they believe that way and not necessarily try to change their opinion, but just seek to understand, we’ll be in a much better spot.

Ashlee Matthews:
For me, the biggest struggle that I had, I guess starting, is just making sure to always keep the people separate from the work. Because, like Candice said, from a political standpoint, I feel like all three of us are in very, very different places. But as people we are, like you said, we have way more in common than not. So it's easier to not take things personally, right. If they disagree with something that I say, if they voted against the bill, I don't think that personally, because I know that it's not intended to be personal. We can leave from a discussion where we disagree with everything and we can say, ‘Oh, dang. Oh, I saw that picture of you on Facebook and Oh wow! Your kids are so cute. Oh, what are you doing for Halloween?’ 

Dylan:
That kind of reminded me of something, so I want to ask a question. We recently asked a bunch of people, why is Silver Rush your favorite thing? Or why do you think Riverton has a thing? And they said, it's because like everyone forgets who they are and they just become one. They get along with everyone. Do you think there's some part of Silver Rush that helps you to build that assessment as you go further. You've seen that for three years in the month of December, everyone's one group body and their Silverwolf is what makes them the same. Do you think that has affected in a positive way, the rest of your lives?

Candice Pierucci:
Yeah. I have a distinct memory of when we're knocking doors, it was snowing. We were flipping cold, but we were having so much fun. I remember I was with the SBO president. I was with a drama student, there was a football player and a wrestling player. When else in high school, other than at lunch, when you bump into each other, are you all thrown together for the same cause and how much fun we had. You got to know people at a different level. And especially when you're performing right, you're performing tasks or jobs or shoveling snow. At that point, all your labels just drop to the ground and you're just people. So I definitely think that's a big lesson. I think our country has had those moments, not to extrapolate this, but if you think about World War II or getting a man on the moon, we have moments where we let labels fall and we all get together. I think that's when our country's at its best. And that's when Riverton High is at it’s best. There's a difference in the air. I remember walking around just feeling lighter during Silver Rush. I feel like a lot of people feel that way. 

Ashlee Matthews:
It carries with you too. You can take that forever. None of us have been here for a very long time, but you asked us what our favorite thing was, and I think we all said Silver Rush was our favorite thing. The thing that we miss most, and when we were the happiest and most proud of being here and you won't forget, you won't forget that feeling. 

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Join us tomorrow for a bonus episode featuring the Silverwolf Caucus. And remember education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.