Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are a talented group of students making magic happen in musical dance theater.

On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Riverton High School, where teacher Clin Eaton has been producing amazing performances with students singing and dancing their hearts out for more than three decades. This time, students are taking the stage in a production called "One of These Nights, a Broadway Review," and we have a front row seat to see how rehearsals are going.

We're talking now with Clin Eaton, theater teacher of many years at Riverton High School. Thank you for taking the time to make these students available and to let me see this rehearsal.

Clin Eaton:
You bet. It's good practice for them to perform in front of other people than me.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about your career. How long have you been at Riverton? Have you been here since it opened?

Clin Eaton:
I've been here since it opened. My very first day of student teaching, I was assigned at BYU to be here, and my first day was the very first day the doors opened of this building. I was new just like every single other person here was. I was assigned to be with the fantastic Shawnda Moss, and Dave Stoddard was our principal, and he was my middle school science teacher. He remembered me, so he was thrilled to have a Joel P. Jensen alumni, because I am a West Jordan alumni. I had a great high school theater experience, and so I student taught here and was basically thrown in the deep end with the musical and Shakespeare competition and all of that. I was hired to teach with Shawnda right after my student teaching experience. I feel like I've been here from the beginning.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are the Riverton Theater common thread right from the start.

Clin Eaton:
Yes, and we've always had two teachers here, and they've all been fantastic colleagues.

Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like a great start to a career. You come into a school where you know the principal from years ago, you have great support, and everybody's new.

Clin Eaton:
I was offered American Fork the same day, but it was no question to choose Riverton.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm very glad that you made that choice. A lot of Jordan District students have benefited from that. I've known you for a long time, and this is a long time coming to get to talk with you for the podcast. Tell me about this Broadway review that the kids have been preparing. It was really exciting to see that rehearsal. How are the songs chosen, and what does this mean to you and the kids?

Clin Eaton:
I started the class in 2005 when I realized that we just had in our community, we had a lot of kids that what are considered in the industry triple threats. They were singer, dancers, and actors, and I wanted to do a class that focused on that and have it be an audition class.

The first year, I think I took everyone that auditioned, because it was just a new class, and we had some very green performers and we had some really seasoned performers. But the one thing that I decided that we needed to start with was solo singing. To get them comfortable standing up by themselves, because in the history of musical theater, you always have to be able to stand up and sing by yourself to get a role.

With these students that we started, we did all these solos, and I'm like, "Okay, I think this kind of lends itself to a review, and that will be our end-of-semester goal." So first semester, we will work on a whole bunch of different styles, because if you look at Broadway today, you have jukebox musicals with a Michael Jackson musical where you need to be able to basically be a pop rock singer. You have a musical like Six, where you need to be able to sing like Beyonce or Mariah Carey. There's just an expectation that you do eight shows a week in that style. That's a very different style than old-fashioned Broadway like in Oklahoma, but you still need to be able to sing in that style. So the review is meant to highlight all of the things that we could consider a Broadway musical.

I sit down and I look at a variety of group numbers, and then some numbers for just the girls, some numbers for just the guys, and then the solos and the duets are pulled from the class. And then I've always had the fantastic Kelly DeHaan as my accompanist, because he can play anything. So I always want to make sure that he gets a number in the review as well. So I assign him a song, and he has graciously been our accompanist for the past 20 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
And he chooses and arranges that song.

Clin Eaton:
Sometimes. This year he did. This year he arranged the song that he's going to perform. Other times I just say this is the song and he doesn't even know it and he has to learn it. Other times he's like, "Oh, this will be great." But I want – Kelly is not just a fantastic accompanist and piano player and musician, but he has a killer voice, and not everyone knows that. So I want to be sure that he gets a moment to sing while our students just dance, because I want to make sure that he always wants to do my review.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm looking forward to seeing that. Now, one standout song as I saw this rehearsal was “One of These Nights” and you said that's from a song sequence?

Clin Eaton:
Yeah, song cycle.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that. I wasn't aware of that. Are these songs that are – maybe you started to write it for a musical and a musical doesn't take off, but it's a song that you really want to have an audience.

Clin Eaton:
A lot of times in New York City when composers graduate from college, usually a lot of composition majors, they have to put together a variety of songs that could be used in a show. Then they go to New York City to try to get an agent or to try to get a book writer or someone to put those songs to a story. So they just call them song cycles because it's a collection of music that they've worked on. There's a lot of famous Broadway composers that are now writing full-length shows, but what got them their start were writing a bunch of individual songs that then are tied together through a theme. And our title, “One of These Nights”, is from a song cycle called Fugitive Songs. That is a collection of songs kind of going through people's relationships and ‘One of These Nights” has people looking back on what their relationships are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now you bring in a lot of experts to help choreograph and as you said, Kelly DeHaan plays for this. Tell me about another outside source that you use to support these students.

Clin Eaton:
One of my favorite outside sources is one of my Riverton alumni by the name of Michael Milkanin, who is currently on Broadway in “Shucked”. He was in this class 17 years ago, went to BYU to get his MDT major and has worked professionally ever since he graduated from that program.

When we were in shutdown for COVID, when the high school opened back up, Broadway was not open, so all of those performers returned home. So Michael was back in Riverton and I got the permission to put on the musical “Spongebob Squarepants”. They asked me to be able to do that. So I asked Michael, “I know that you're bored, you're not doing a show right now, do you want to come and choreograph?”

So the students got to work with a professional Broadway performer, but he graduated from Riverton and I had him as a sophomore, junior and senior. And it was so fun being able to watch his incredible talent and his capabilities, working with students that are going on to do that. He has high expectations and I said, “Don't dumb down your choreography, do exactly what would be expected in a professional show.” And the students rose to the occasion.

That same year, we also had Thane Jasperson, who's the only original cast member left in “Hamilton”. I did a show with him at Hale Center Theater and we are friends. So he was in lockdown here and he came and did a number with MDT. That is an amazing experience that students got to work with a “Hamilton” performer and he came for three days and did a number with them for our review.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's unforgettable. What incredible experiences. Well, thank you for everything you do for these students and providing such a high level, unique experience. It's obvious it means a great deal to all these students and they'll never forget this time with you.

Clin Eaton:
Thank you so much for coming out and we hope a lot of people come to our review. It's going to be a really fun time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back hear from some of the talented cast members as students prepare to take the stage.

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

Clin Eaton:
Alright, MDT! This is Dr. Anthony Godfrey. He is the Superintendent of Jordan School District. And he'll be talking to a few of you, but we just want to show him some stuff we've been working on for the review.

Students:
Okay.

Student singing “Live in Living Color” from “Catch Me if You Can”:
Live in living color
Let me take you for a ride.
Yes, I'm live in living color
So sit back and let me be your T.V. Guide!

I gotta story I'd like to tell
But I'm gonna need help to tell it well.
I gotta story about fame and money...

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking now at Riverton High in the auditorium where it happens with three of the students in the MDT class. Tell me a little bit about yourself and the class.

Morgan Walker:
My name is Morgan Walker. I've been in the class for two years, I auditioned my junior year. And it's been a really fun class. It's been fun to experiment in all the different types of theater and be able to put them together and perform amazing shows with people I love.

Elizabeth Birkner:
Hi, my name is Elizabeth Birkner. I am a senior at Riverton. I'm in the MDT program for three years. My favorite part of MDT is the friends I've made and the opportunity to learn so many different songs and dances from so many different Broadway shows. And really master some of my skills so I can hopefully pursue musical theater in college.

Zaden Gates:
Hi, my name is Zaden Gates. I am in my third year in MDT and I love capybaras. I love this class because the environment around here is so amazing and everyone is so supportive. You can learn so much and just pursue whatever you want and Clin will always help you with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like from all three of you that what's important in this class is not just the skills you learn and the material that you get to know, but it's the people that you get to know and the connections that you make. Tell me more about the experiences you've had with these friends over the years.

Elizabeth Birkner:
Well, I actually didn't come from a school that feeds into Riverton. So when I came here for my sophomore year, I was really worried about not having any friends. But I auditioned for MDT in March in my freshman year and then you go in during the summer for the summer retreat and so I didn't really know anyone, but everyone welcomed me in with open arms, even the seniors who didn't know me. And they welcomed me and I had so much fun. In these last three years, I've made so many new friends and I've learned a lot about myself.

Morgan Walker:
It's definitely very welcoming and I think part of it is that everyone's willing to come and be vulnerable and experiment with themselves and be able to find what they love. Everybody's so accepting of that and it's just really a big community of people just building up each other. It's really supportive and it's a really good group of people. So I think it draws people in and they see that in us.

Zaden Gates:
We have a lot of bonding activities as well that we do. Like just today we did our Christmas social and we were able to do a white elephant gift exchange. It was just so much fun to be able to cherish the time and spend it with each other and just love each other for who we are.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think that's fantastic. Now tell me what it's like to be in Mr. Eaton's class. You must really like it because you keep doing it over and over again.

Clin Eaton:
You can also talk about the first assignment that you have to do in the class which is get up and sing a solo.

Anthony Godfrey:
A solo? That's the first assignment?

Clin Eaton:
They have to do their first assignments are three solos.

Elizabeth Birkin:
Yeah, he throws you right in.

Clin Eaton:
And so they can talk about that.

Elizabeth Birkin:
Ohhh. No, yeah. The first day of class, Clin goes, "Alright guys, your first assignment is you have to pick a solo from one of these books of songs." And me, little sophomore me was like, "What? I'm sorry, what are we doing?" And so you do three solos in front of, in my case, strangers, which is even harder, but you have to see them the very next day. It's very scary, but Clin is very supportive and he pushes you, which is what you need in his industry. And it can be hard sometimes, but he's very kind and forgiving and also very sassy, which is very funny.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I even got to see a little bit of the feedback that he gave you here as I watched this rehearsal. And it's moving you forward, but it's very kind and constructive and it's just right on point on what you need next. So encouraging and moving you forward all at the same time.

Morgan Walker:
He's very supportive of us. He pushes us very far. Definitely for me, like I never thought I could even come this far in high school and he's been able to just take the best parts of us and use that for our better. It's a really constructive environment.

Clin Eaton:
These are also three seniors that are interested in pursuing this at the college level, which is one reason I pulled them. So they've all been doing their college auditions this past month as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so tell me about what's next. You've been auditioning at the college level. What's that like?

Morgan Walker:
It's very stressful, especially not knowing exactly what could happen with your audition process because there's so many options and amazing programs all around the state and the East Coast. So it's very stressful not knowing, but it's very, it's very, I don't know.

Clin Eaton:
Tell them what you have to prepare. What they make, what they require of you.

Morgan Walker:
So I just did my BYU audition and they require two two-minute monologues and two about 90 second songs as well and a dance video as well. So you have to learn all of those and be able to record yourself and submit them.

Elizabeth Birkin:
And that's only for the opportunity to audition for them in person. So it's not if you pass it doesn't mean, oh, you got it. It means, oh, you're good enough to come audition.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're good enough to try.

Elizabeth Birkin:
You're good enough to try in person.

Zaden Gates:
I would say it's it's been a very long and exhausting process, but Clin has been right there beside us in every single step. Whenever we need like him to play piano, if you need advice on anything, he's always willing to be there and just give you flat-out the answer. And then he also like helps you organize all your thoughts because there are so many things going on with schoolwork and college auditions and then rehearsals. It's just so much, but he's so helpful throughout it.

Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds like he's a big part of helping you be at your best for those tryouts.

Zaden Gates:
For sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of your favorite memories? I mean, this is if we look at this K-12 experience is about this long, you're right here at this little bit at the end. So tell me what are the memories that you'll look back on from this class and this experience at Riverton High School that are most important to you?

Elizabeth Birkin:
I would have to say the girls dressing room has been a very wonderful place for me to make a lot of my closest friends. Like we get ready in there before the shows and we often have deep discussions or we talk about our favorite artists. But mostly it's just the support that I've gotten from those girls and everyone in these classes. But I think the girls dressing room is somewhere I'm going to remember and miss a lot.

Zaden Gates:
Yeah. Just like being backstage with your friends, going for like a quick change or just waiting for your cue. It's so amazing. Like sometimes across the stage somebody will be dancing and so you dance back at them and it's just an amazing stage.

Anthony Godfrey:
From backstage?

Zaden Gates:
Yeah, from backstage. So somebody's on stage singing and then we are dancing. It's usually a very sad song and we're dancing our heart out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. When I see you then I'm going to know that's happening backstage.

Zaden Gates:
Oh, it will be happening.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, the insider intel.

Zaden Gates:
It will be happening. But just those moments like backstage, being able to cherish each other and honestly sharing a connection on stage too is very beautiful. Just being able to like show it to an audience. Even despite its size, it's always amazing to see us just come together and just do something none of us thought we could.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Morgan Walker:
I'll definitely miss our local In-N-Out because after most of the shows we go to are In-N-Out and we just sit down and have some food together. But that's the spot where it really like kind of clicks that either the show is over or that show that one run is over. It's a lot of bittersweet memories there because you'll be able to remember all your friends and the hard work that you put in. But it's a way to celebrate as well. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Tell me what would you say to students who are thinking or parents who are thinking maybe my child would be interested in this, might want to be part of this. I know sometimes coming into a high school, all of our high schools are big and it can maybe be intimidating. What's your advice for someone who's considering being part of a theater program at their high school?

Morgan Walker:
I would say absolutely go for it. In my middle school when I auditioned for my first show, I was very nervous and it was very scary because I'm the youngest in my family. And all my brother did like track and sports and stuff. And so I told my parents, "I want to do theater! " And they're like, "What? " But I auditioned anyway and they went and saw the show and they're like, "You should pursue this." And so I think taking the first audition or the first step is always going to be harder than the things that lead up after that.

Clin Eaton:
And my advice as the teacher is there's a place for you even if it's not in the MDT class. Theater is a big umbrella. So at least at Riverton High School, and I know all of the high schools in the district, there's a place somewhere in the theater program for you. Even if you're not a singer or a dancer, if you're willing to get up on stage and do something, you can be in the theater classes. We have theater one, two, three, and four. Not everyone has to sing and dance. It's a unique skill set, but you can still do really good stuff. And behind the scenes and technical theater is just as important as the people on the stage. And there's always spots in high schools for technical theater. So don't be intimidated if you're not a singer or a dancer. Take the theater class because you'll be surprised at the friends you make and the skills that you can learn, even if you don't consider yourself a singer or a dancer.

Elizabeth Birkin:
And a lot of the skills that you learn in these various classes or shows, you can take with you throughout your life, even if you aren't going to do theater. It helps you be a better public speaker. It gives you confidence in yourself. And it just opens you up to a whole different world.

Zaden Gates:
You should just be yourself because everybody is so welcoming and they will love you for who you are. And there's no need to be anyone else.

Anthony Godfrey:
And being in theater, you can be yourself by being someone else.

Elizabeth Birkin:
Exactly. It's taught me a lot about myself by being someone else for a day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much. I'm thrilled to get to see behind the scenes before the actual performance. And I look forward to seeing you next year.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They make fun and flavorful sodas for students every single day.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to South Valley School’s Sippin' 7 Soda Shop. Find out how it is helping students learn how to work in a small business, exchanging money, and making customers happy by creating a customized soda to order, big or small. Follow us now as we head into South Valley School and meet with Principal Tammy Rajczyk.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Hello, welcome to South Valley. Glad you could be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Tammy.

Tammy Rajczyk:
You're in for a really big surprise.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK.

Tammy Rajczyk:
I hope you're excited.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm looking forward to it.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Should we go over to our pop shop, which is with class 7?

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Looks like there's a lot going on today.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Yes, there is. We are highlighting you today. We have our drink of the month, Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp. I actually have it right here and along with that drink comes a fantastic necklace.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Tammy Rajczyk:
So we have a lot of big promotions going on.

Anthony Godfrey:
A necklace comes with the drink.

Tammy Rajczyk:
You are featured this month.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've never had a featured beverage. This is a moment for me. Let's grab a Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp. My first question as I see people lined up is, is the Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp popular today?

Tammy Rajczyk:
Yes, it is very popular today. Everybody is drinking it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I would hate for my first soda pop brand launch to not be a popular drink.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Right? I have been promoting it. It is delicious. Ok, so--

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, does this mean that the Gulp is Grinchy or that I'm Grinchy?

Tammy Rajczyk:
I'm going to go with the Gulp is Grinchy.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ok.

Tammy Rajczyk:
You're never Grinchy.

Anthony Godfrey:
So far. So far.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Yes. Ok, I'd like to introduce you to Codee Flores our pop shop teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Codee. Good to see you again.

Codee Flores:
Yes. You too.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the pop shop here at South Valley.

Codee Flores:
So here we are at Sippin' 7 Soda. We're class 7, so we had to play on words.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sippin' 7 Soda. OK, I like it.

Codee Flores:
And this is run by the students, as you see here. They are taking all the orders, doing the money, all that kind of fun stuff.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, we were here with a Jordan Education Foundation meeting a month or two ago. And everybody benefited from getting to place their own customized drink order. And it's really cool. They've done a great job here.

Codee Flores:
So Kayla here came up with the name for the drink of the month. So why don't you show him his--

Kayla:
This is in honor of Dr. Godfrey. It's our drink of the month. It's called Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp. It comes with Mountain Dew and Blue Raspberry and Pineapple.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.

Kayla:
The Blue Raspberry is what makes the Mountain Dew kind of turn green. And it's $2 for the drink. And it comes with a fun little Grinchy necklace. Or if you want to attach it to a purse, a bag, a backpack.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a bargain. That is awesome.

Kayla:
Yep, we're super excited. We haven't really done a drink of the month in a while. But it's actually turned out to be a massive hit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I'm very honored to have this drink named after me. And I'm very grateful that it's a hit. Let's order a drink. Talk me through the process.

Student:
OK, you have to put your name. And then if you want to get the drink of the month, you write drink of the month at the top.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK, Godfrey, can I just put D-O-T-M?

Student:
Yeah.

Kayla:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, I'll put a big circle around that.

Student:
And that's $2.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right and this is the 7th period class:

Kayla:
But for you, it's on us.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, OK.

Kayla:
Yeah, for you.

Anthony Godfrey:
As the drink's namesake, I get it.

Kayla:
As the namesake, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right.

Kayla:
And then, like I said, this comes with the drink. It's a fun little Grinchy–

Anthony Godfrey:
This is very cool. I do not have a Grinch necklace, I'll tell you that.

Kayla:
You can hang it or put it around your neck or put it on purses anywhere you want.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK, that's awesome. I think I can put it on my briefcase.

Kayla:
Or hang it up on your-- or hang it up on your tree as a fun little Christmas ornament.

Anthony Godfrey:
It'll start on my briefcase. It'll end up on my tree. Thank you very much. This is really cool.

Kayla:
Then we would hand it off to one of our classmates, one of our runners in the class. And Miranda, who is our runner--

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Miranda.

Miranda:
I'm actually a runner, but I actually make drinks.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK.

Miranda:
I have no idea what to say.

Anthony Godfrey:
OK.

Miranda:
But yeah, I definitely make drinks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can I run with you and let's go see the drink made?

Miranda:
Yeah, yeah, yeah let’s go do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, let's go. Let's head down there.

Miranda:
That's where we make drinks.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the drink laboratory. So I'll follow you in. Oh, wow, you have a whole rack.

Miranda:
Yeah we do. We have sodas and lemonade and anything like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, you have-- I see you’re recycling?

Miranda:
Yeah, because if they're empty, we recycle them with this box.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have-- where did you find your display?

Miranda:
All these syrups.

Anthony Godfrey:
It looks like it's made just for the syrup.

Miranda:
We just fill them up in a cup.

Codee Flores:
Well, you know when we surplus things or have that room that nobody wants the bookshelves anymore? That is a bookshelf.

Anthony Godfrey:
It looks like an old magazine rack from the library.

Codee Flores:
It is.

Anthony Godfrey:
But it fits these syrups perfectly. Wow. That's impressive.

Codee Flores:
That’s what that is. And we want to, while we're in here, thank the JEF, too. See our cooler back there?

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yeah.

Codee Flores:
That was funded by Donor’s Choose. Just shout out to them for helping our soda shop. Big Yeti cooler.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeti cooler.

Codee Flores:
So the cooler, same colors of school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks to the Jordan Education Foundation and Donor’s Choose.

Codee Flores:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's dynamite. Oh, you even have the long stirring stick. This is next-level stuff. All right.

Miranda:
Sorry, I have your green juice.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see the Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp they're blowing out of here.

Miranda:
It is a hit.

Codee Flores:
I’ve never seen as many drinks of the month ordered at one time like this. It’s crazy.

Chelsea Lopez:
Here, you can have this. OK, what is this one? Oh, drink of the month? Oh, this one's yours.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is mine.

Chelsea Lopez:
OK, well, now I'm feeling the pressure.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right, talk us through the steps as you make this gulp.

Chelsea Lopez:
All right, for Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp. So step one, grab the cup. Step two, fill it with ice. We actually have a student going to grab the ice right now. So they do kind of all the tasks that we need as we go so they actually are learning the job skills that they would need with coworkers at a soda shop. You know, hey, we need ice. We need to go get the ice. You know, and they're on standby for syrup refills, different kinds of things like that. So they're learning the interaction with coworkers, which is a really good skill to have.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you do this every Friday from 11 to 12 or 11 to 11:30? What's the schedule?

Chelsea Lopez:
We have it open every day until 11. So students in the school, teachers, whoever, visitors can come and put in tickets. And then when the students are in the classroom around 10:30, we check our orders. And then we make the drinks. The students go deliver all the drinks. The students in the school have the drinks to have during lunch.

Codee Flores:
Did you see the t-shirts?

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow. I did not see the t-shirts. That is awesome. And in various colors.

Codee Flores:
All the students and teachers pick their own colors. We went shopping. So this is helping. This is not just for-- you know, this is so fun. This is a soda shop. It's to help the students learn skills. So they're learning money skills, customer service. We got to go shopping. We're always shopping for sodas. We got to find bargains because sodas literally-- It's through the roof.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. The shirts, the syrup display, the drink of the month, it is-- this is a great operation.

For those unfamiliar with South Valley School, tell us a little bit about what this is all about.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Great. South Valley School is a post-secondary school that's for transition services for students with disabilities, 18 to 22-year-olds. We focus on transitional skills, life skills, daily living skills, and especially job skills out in our communities.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's really a unique program, just the wide variety of opportunities that you give students to get to have real-world learning and just to enhance their skills before they're no longer part of Jordan School District.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Right. It's an amazing experience. We have parents and students here from all over the Valley in the Jordan School District that they want to come back. They come back for our dances. We have alumni invited. It's an amazing experience. And a lot of our students leave here with paid jobs, which is our ultimate goal.

Anthony Godfrey:
You do an incredible job of providing those experiences for people, and they do feel a deep connection. Students and employees here.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Yes, they do. Our employees don't want to leave. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, every day is a gift. We get to watch our students blossom and grow and learn. And it really is-- I have tears in my eyes in many of days for just watching them. It's incredible.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a place where incredible things happen. That's absolutely true. Thank you so much for inviting me over today, for the great experience you give these students, and for my wonderful Grinchy Gulp. I will be back. I'm a repeat customer. If there's a punch card, I'll be filling it out.

Tammy Rajczyk:
Thank you so much for coming. We really appreciate you taking the time to come and see South Valley and participate and be a part of this and it's our pleasure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, we try Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp.

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

Chelsea Lopez:
We have our cup, we've got ice in there. Obviously, the clean-up is a bit of a job afterwards.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, is there a sticker on there as well?

Chelsea Lopez:
Yeah, so the students put stickers on these. And then usually, we put the name and class number of the student who it goes to on these.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very cool.

Chelsea Lopez:
And recently, this year, we've just been bringing their tickets with. But the students really love to see the random sticker that they get. It's just kind of a little one of those things.

Anthony Godfrey:
And a decorated cup. That's-- yeah. Wow. All the details add up to a very cool experience.

Chelsea Lopez:
Right. So then, yeah, we add our syrup. So we do a pump of each. So we do a blue raspberry pump, a pump of pineapple. And then after that, we check the ticket to see if it's a regular or diet Mountain Dew.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, let's do a diet drink of the month. I should have written DDOTM.

Chelsea Lopez:
Oh, yeah. We'll do our diet on here. And then--

Anthony Godfrey:
I do love that sound of cracking open a new can, you know?

Chelsea Lopez:
Right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow. OK, that's really cool.

Chelsea Lopez:
And kind of the purpose of the long spoon is the sugar all seems to the bottom. So we kind of pull it to the top, give it a twirl. And then--

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you go through various potential recipes before you landed on this particular Godfrey's Grinchy Gulp recipe?

Chelsea Lopez:
Yeah, so our students-- I mean, when we do anything like this, we kind of get our students together. And then we get all of their ideas. They put them up on the board. Like, sometimes we do it through an assignment. And then the rest of the class will-- they'll present their ideas. And the rest of the class will vote on their favorite combos. And so-- and a lot of the time, we will do samples. So we'll take the little cups.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Chelsea Lopez:
We'll make little mini versions. And the students can try the different ones. And they kind of decide which one's their favorite.

Anthony Godfrey;
Very cool. What are some of the other drinks of the month over the time that you've had the shop open?

Chelsea Lopez:
We've done the-- there was a peep one. That one was crazy.

Codee Flores:
Oh, the peep. People like the peeps. So we have had the drink of the month that was a peep theme. It was Hanging with my Peeps. And so the students-- yeah. They came up with that. Like she was saying we kind of vote on different ideas. We did do drinks during one of our dances. And that was really cool. We got to go get some different syrups that we've never tried before. And they got to come up with combinations and things like that. So we always try to do some fun little things to go with it so people can enjoy their drinks and little trinkets and little Grinch necklaces. Things like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, wow. Well, this is quite an operation with all of these different flavors. You’ve got classic caramel, lavender. Is lavender popular?

Codee Flores:
Lavender lemonade is my favorite.

Anthony Godfrey:
Lavender lemonade. Seeing all of these syrup flavors I definitely need to expand my horizons and try some different flavors.

Codee Flores:
I’ll give you a hint. Adding peppermint to anything is excellent.

Anthony Godfrey:
Really? Kind of a staple. Ok.

Codee Flores:
Yeah, it’s kind of my little secret thing over down there. I kinda–

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, I see that it is tucked in the corner. All right, let’s see. Do you have brand preferences? This is DaVinci classic peppermint. It looks really refined.

Codee Flores:
You know, it looks really nice, right? I kind of like those ones because they’re plastic so we don’t drop them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, right. This is the moment of truth. Let’s try the Gulp.

Chelsea Lopez:
All right.

Anthony Godfrey;
All right, straw in.

Chelsea Lopez:
I’ve got to get a picture.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that’s right. Oh yeah, I need to put the necklace on. That tastes fantastic. I’m serious, that blue raspberry pineapple combination is really good. It’s good. You guys like it right?

Codee Flores:
Yeah, we sampled it. We had to come up with the –it was kinda like a science project. How do we make the drink green while tasting good at the same time? So we kinda- they were in here looking “Well, if we add this color and this color” and then we came up with the pineapple and the blue raspberry.

Anthony Godfrey:
I suspect there are lots of green drinks that do not taste good.

Codee Flores:
Some are a little sketchy. It’s kinda- some you think are going to be a good combination and you’re like this is just not going to happen.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you’ve hit on it because that really does taste great. It’s kind of got notes of melted popsicle with that blue raspberry in there.

Codee Flores:
I like that. I like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ok, after this is no longer drink of the month does it kind of become like secret menu?

Codee Flores:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if I came in January, can I still order one of these?

Codee Flores:
Yes. This is the basic menu, right? Now that you’re a friend of the classroom, you know what’s back there. You can choose whatever you want.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk me through the history of the pop shop a little bit, and why it got started, and how long it’s been going. It’s a great operation and I can see how much the kids love being part of it.

Codee Flores:
So my first year here at South Valley I saw other classrooms were doing – you know some were doing buttons that they make, some people do popcorn and it was a great way to have the students learning a business, learning how businesses work. And I was just thinking what can we do that people are going to enjoy? What can we do that’s going to involve every student doing what they need to do?

This was three years ago. I let the students come up with some ideas. We had some ideas like making dog treats or making bracelets, things like that. But then we were thinking, you know what? What could really benefit everybody? What’s something everybody likes? Everyone likes a treat. Everybody likes to customize their own things. And it’s nice to have stuff where you can involve everybody. So everyone got involved and everyone gets involved when we’re making new drinks or doing new flavors. The shopping for everything, counting the money, turning in the money at the end of the week, all of it. So everyone in this classroom has a job to do and they do it well and they’re doing great.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can tell how much it means to them and how engaged they are. This is a deep level of learning. Lots of skills involved and lots of fun involved.

Codee Flores:
Yeah, it’s a great time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you to South Valley School for hosting us today and for creating such a wonderful, immersive experience for their students.

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 is music that will warm your heart, make you smile, and maybe even make you want to sing along.

On this episode of the Supercast, we share some sweet sounds of the season performed by Jordan School District students. First, hear from Julie Barnson and Dorrelyn Smith, who produced the Terra Linda Tones performance. Enjoy “African Noel” and then “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” with a Bruce Springsteen twist.

We're here with Dorrelyn and Julie at Terra Linda Elementary School preparing for tonight's holiday concert. I'm very excited to be here. I've been trying to get here for two years. My schedule finally lined up and I've heard great things about this program. How hard you work and how much extra effort you guys put into making this a really special night.

Dorrelyn Smith:
It's a great program. Terra Linda's Tones have been around, well I've been doing this for about 14 years now here. It's an incredible group and I couldn't do it without Julie here, Mrs. Barnson. I'm so grateful to have her as my sidekick or I'm hers, I'm not sure which.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what this event means to you both.

Julie Barnson:
Well, we work in the mornings, two days a week, and these kids, they never actually look at a piece of music. They are learning the songs by ear and by memorization and we've got parts, they're good.

Dorrelyn Smith:
They dance, they sing, they speak parts. It's just an incredible program. It's something that a lot of these kids would never have the opportunity to do if it wasn't for us and music is so important.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I can't wait to see it because they- just getting to meet the kids a few minutes ago, they are so excited they're about to burst.

Dorrelyn Smith:
Yes, they are.

Julie Barnson:
They're very nervous too because they're like, I know all the kids at school, that wasn't hard.

It's all the parents, I don't know them.

Dorrelyn Smith:
Yes, we've heard that a time or two.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, when I walked in, I was afraid that I was late because I had trouble finding a parking spot 25 minutes in advance. I walked in and the place is full. I've been to a lot of programs, I've never seen a place full half an hour beforehand. So that's pretty exciting.

Dorrelyn Smith;
We had parents arrive at 5:30 to get a seat.

Anthony Godfrey:
You've got to get those good spots.

Julie Barnson:
Heck yeah, you don't mess around.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I have a good spot in there I know. I'm going to head in, I'm really excited to see this performance and I can't wait to see the smiles on the faces of the kids when they perform tonight.

Dorrelyn Smith:
We're excited.

Julie Barnson:
We are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you for the invitation. I'll let you get back to your prep.

Assistant Principal Joshua Brothers:
Ladies and gentlemen, fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers, perhaps even a great-grandmother and great-grandfather. We are so excited to welcome you to Terra Linda Elementary School for our Christmas concert with the Terra Linda Tones.

We'd like to offer a very special thank you to our teachers who have helped lead this effort. Mrs. Julie Barnson, Mrs. Dorrelyn Smith, and Mrs. Laurie Hutchings.

Choir Student:
Now for a unique sound of Christmas, here's “African Noel”.

Terra Linda Tones singing “African Noel”:
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.

Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)

Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.

Long ago, one winter night,
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
The baby was born, it was quite a sight.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
People sang with a glorious sound.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
The baby was born in a very small town
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.

Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)

Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.

Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.
Sing Noel, Sing Noel, Noel, Noel.

Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)
Sing we all Noel (now sing Noel)

Terra Linda Tones singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”:

You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

He's making a list
And checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out
Who's naughty and nice.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

He sees you when you're sleepin',
He knows when you're awake,
he knows if you've been bad or good,
So you’d better be good for goodness sake.
You’d better be good for goodness sake.

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

He sees you when you're sleepin',
He knows when you're awake,
he knows if you've been bad or good,
So you’d better be good for goodness sake.
You’d better be good for goodness sake.

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.
Santa Claus is comin' to town.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, more magical sounds of the season from the Bingham High School Madrigals singing "Caroling, Caroling”.

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

Bingham High School Madrigals singing “Caroling, Caroling”:

Caroling, caroling now we go
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling through the snow
Christmas bells are ringing
Joyous voices sweet and clear
Sing the sad of heart to cheer
Ding, dong, ding, dong
Christmas bells are ringing

Caroling, caroling through the town
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling up and down
Christmas bells are ringing
Mark ye well the song we sing
Gladsome tidings now we bring
Ding, dong, ding, dong
Christmas bells are ringing

Caroling, caroling, near and far
Christmas bells are ringing
Following, following yonder star
Christmas bells are ringing
Sing we all this happy morn
"Lo, the King of heav'n is born!"
Ding dong, ding dong
Christmas bells are ringing

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you Bingham High School Madrigals. Finally, the Hidden Valley Middle School Choir sings "Bidi Bom" followed by Welby Elementary School's Orchestra performing "Winter Wonderland" and "Carol of the Bells”.

Hidden Valley Middle School Choir singing “Bibi Bom”:
Bom bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi Bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bom bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi Bom, bidi bidi bidi bom

Holiday is here, it’s a happy time of year
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom;
Once more the time sung in melody and rhyme
Bidi bom bidi bidi bidi bom.
Candles alight, and their flame is so bright
Reflected in little children’s eyes
Come and dance to the tune ‘neath a holidaying moon

Bidi bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bi di bidi bidi bidi bom

Holiday is here, it’s a happy time of year
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom;
Once more the time sung in melody and rhyme
Bidi bom bidi bidi bidi bom.
Candles alight, and their flame is so bright
Reflected in little children’s eyes
Come and dance to the tune ‘neath a holidaying moon

Bidi bom bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom bidi bidi bidi bom
Bom—
Bom—
Bom—
Bidi bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom
Bidi bom, bidi bidi bidi bom

Welby Elementary School Orchestra playing “Winter Wonderland” and “Carol of the Bells”

Anthony Godfrey:
We finish this holiday season edition of the Supercast with the Mountain Ridge Madrigals singing "Must Be Santa" and a unique Star Wars rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

Mountain Ridge Madrigals singing "Must Be Santa":

Who's got a beard that's long and white?
Santa's got a beard that's long and white
Who comes around on a special night?
Santa comes around on a special night

Special night – beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus

Who wears boots and a suit of red?
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Who wears a long cap on his head?
Santa wears a long cap on his head

Cap on head – suit that's red
Special night – beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus

Who's got a big red cherry nose?
Santa's got a big red cherry nose
Who laughs this way: "Ho-ho-ho"?
Santa laughs this way "Ho-ho-ho"

Ho-ho-ho – cherry nose
Cap on head – suit that's red
Special night – beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus

Who very soon will come our way?
Santa very soon will come our way
Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh
Santa's little reindeer pull his sleigh

Reindeer sleigh – come our way
Ho-ho-ho – cherry nose
Cap on head – suit that's red
Special night – beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen
Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen
Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen

Reindeer sleigh – come our way
Ho-ho-ho – cherry nose
Cap on head – suit that's red
Special night – beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus

Kelly Dehaan:
Thank you. We have one last tiny little song to leave you with and it combines two of our favorite things about Christmas. Well, two of our favorite things, I should say. Rudolph and Star Wars. And we would like to, with it, wish you the merriest Christmas ever.

Mountain Ridge Madrigals singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer":

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose (like a lightsaber)
And if you ever saw it (saw it)
You would even say it glows (lightsaber sound)
All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names (“You’re nothing but a stuck-up half-witted scruffy-looking nerf herder.” “Who’s scruffy looking?”)
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
Join in any reindeer games (lightsaber sound)
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say ("Rudolph, I am your father”)
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" (“No! That’s impossible!")
Then how the reindeer loved him (“I love you.” “I know.”)
As they shouted out with glee (Chewbacca cheering sound)
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (reindeer)
You'll go down in history (Like Han Solo)
You'll go down in history"

Merry Christmas!

Anthony Godfrey:
From all of us at the Supercast, we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons and a safe, prosperous new year. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Each year, all of our high schools rally for some really great causes and have a lot of fun in the process.

On this episode of the Supercast, we bring you to Bingham High School, where students are taking the stage as part of the Mr. True Blue talent show. Find out what the tradition of Bingham's True Blue charity drive is all about and who they are helping this year.

We are here with Brenna Miller at Bingham High School in the last moments before the beginning of Mr. True Blue. Will you introduce yourself, talk about your role with this, and help everyone understand what Mr. True Blue is all about?

Brenna Miller:
Yeah, of course. My name is Brenna Miller. I'm the senior class president this year at Bingham. Mr. True Blue is the biggest event of our entire True Blue season. It's where a bunch of senior boys come together, they prepare, and then they perform in a beauty pageant. It's one of the most favorite events of True Blue. It's really widely attended. It's really fun for everyone to get together and kind of just laugh. Everyone gets to dress up when they come, which is a fan favorite. Everyone wears their prom dresses and nice suit and ties. We all come and watch the senior boys perform.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, there are a number of categories I assume in which they will be performing. Can you tell me about those categories and how all the scoring works?

Brenna Miller:
Yes, of course. We bring back judges, whether that be administration, teachers, and student government from previous years. It's no one that's still in high school. They come back and they'll watch the boys perform in an interview portion, which is based on questions that they've answered in a packet earlier on. They had to apply, they had to raise money in order to get into the package.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's already been a cut made?

Brenna Miller:
Yes, there has been.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is the elite tonight?

Brenna Miller:
Of course, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Brenna Miller:
So they'll interview. The judges will ask them a couple questions. They'll get to answer, talk about maybe their platform issue that they've discussed in their interview packet. And then after that, they're going to do a runway portion where they're going to show off their best evening wear, whether that be suit and tie or whatever they have in mind. But Mr. Dave, our student government advisor, and also he's over theater, built us a really nice runway this year with lights and everything. So we're really excited to show that off.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's awesome.

Brenna Miller:
And then after that, they do a Christmas wear portion. So they'll do the runway one more time, but in their best Christmas outfit, 'tis the season. And then they'll end with a talent portion. So talents can range from whatever you want. We've had in past years, we had a boy deliver a pizza. He worked at Domino's and he felt like that was his big talent. We've had boys sing songs they wrote, original songs. And we've had boys make guacamole. Whatever they feel like they're talented at, they can perform.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. I'm glad that you welcome all talents.

Brenna Miller:
Yes, anything they want to do, the funnier, the better.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Now, this is a fundraiser as part of the overall charitable efforts that are the True Blue efforts of this month.

Brenna Miller:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us about how this fits into all of that.

Brenna Miller:
Of course. So this year Bingham is happy to be supporting a really local organization. It's called Nixon Strong and it's a family that lives just here in South Jordan. They had a son that was really involved in athletics, Bingham athletics, especially growing up with basketball, baseball, football. He ended up being diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. So his family decided that they wanted to start a program, start an organization that could help give money to other families who are in similar situations, their children were suffering from cancer or other diseases.

They really wanted to be able to like help families go on trips, sort of like Make-A-Wish. But they also pay for a lot of other things like funeral expenses or sometimes medical things that like insurance wouldn't cover. Like they bought a hot tub for a family and they bought a service dog for a girl who ended up going blind and like kind of things like that. So we're really excited to be partnering with them this year.

We've been doing events all month to try and raise money and every dollar that we get goes straight to them. So Mr. True Blue is a good night. We get a lot of people coming in. So they pay five dollars.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you're charging admission five dollars to come in. Okay.

Brenna Miller:
And there's VIP seats where people pay seven dollars. You get to sit right up in the front. You get a little snack bag. You get to be up close with the judges, up close with the candidates. So people go pretty feral for those.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very nice. I like the pricing structure that gets the most charitable donations that you can possibly muster.

Brenna Miller:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are a lot of people involved. We were out in the hall just a minute ago and there's a lot of scurrying around doing some last minute preparation. Tell me about the efforts leading up to this. I talked with you about this several weeks ago. Things were well underway already.

Brenna Miller:
Yes. I mean we start planning all of True Blue starting at Gov Camp which is in June.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Usually by around August we've already picked an organization and we're already penciling in dates for. We have our Christmas dance. All the money from that goes to Make-A-Wish every year. So we've already communicated with the organizations we'll be partnering with. So we start planning really early.

Mr. True Blue, we had already had the date scheduled and everything in June. And I mean we had to write all the information packets, all the application packets and get everyone involved. So it's been a pretty long time coming but we're super excited for it to all come together tonight hopefully.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well it's a big night. I'm sure it's going to go great and I can't wait to see it. I've never seen it. I've heard a lot about it. So I'm really looking forward to being part of it tonight. And thank you for everything that you're doing to make this charitable effort so successful.

Brenna Miller:
Yes of course. We're so glad you guys are here.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a great time on top of that.

Brenna Miller:
Yes. It's a great day to be a Miner always.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Fantastic. Thanks Brenna.

Brenna Miller:
Yes of course. I'll let you get back to everything.

Brenna Miller:
Thanks.

Anthony Godfrey:
And now Annie Millerberg is going to tell us a little bit about being senior class VP and what all this means to you.

Annie Millerberg:
You know it's a lot of like work and time that people don't realize you put in. But I mean it's completely worth it. I was recently writing some scholarship essays and I wrote that it's like it's worth the hard work because it's worth seeing the work. And I think that's so essential when it comes to student government and all of the people that put in work behind the scenes. It really- like all the money that we're contributing to True Blue and to the Nixon Strong Foundation, it's really just going to such a great cause. I think that the hard work is completely worth it even though it is a lot and it is stressful it's completely worth it when it all comes and boils down to it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what you're looking forward to most this evening.

Annie Millerberg:
You know I'm just really excited to see these boys' talents. We got a unicycler. We have some balloon animals. We have someone who's writing, who's singing a song that they wrote.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Annie Millerberg:
It's a wide variety of talents and I'm really excited and I think our audience will be very entertained.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Do people generally know who has made the cut and who will be competing tonight?

Annie Millerberg:
Um, generally.

Anthony Godfrey:
Or is that kind of a surprise tonight when they see everybody up on the stage?

Annie Millerberg:
It honestly depends on who you're asking and who you know. For the most part, it's just kind of a surprise. People who are friends with our contestants most of the time know what's going on. They've heard what's happening behind the scenes. But mostly it's a surprise when they come and show up and they're like, "Wow, I didn't know that my friend was in this." And it just is a great surprise for everybody.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I hope there's a great turnout tonight. I have no doubt it's going to be a blast. The stage already looks really cool. I can kind of feel the pressure on behalf of these boys.

Annie Millerberg:
Oh, I know. Look at how many chairs we have.

Anthony Godfrey:
We see the Christmas trees on either side. We got a lot of chairs up there. So the competition is going to be stiff.

Annie Millerberg:
This is actually our, I think, highest amount of boys participating that we've ever had. We have doubled our amount from last year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's great.

Annie Millerberg:
So last year we, well, almost doubled. Last year we had eight and this year we have fifteen, which is crazy. But it should be very entertaining to watch.

Anthony Godfrey:
The stakes are high.

Annie Millerberg:
Stakes are very high, higher than ever.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're looking forward to it. Thank you very much for all your hard work.

Annie Millerberg:
Thank you so much. We appreciate you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back hear from some of our Mr. True Blue talent show contestants.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're now talking with two of the contestants for Mr. True Blue. Introduce yourself and tell us how you're feeling just a few minutes before the competition.

Tyler Atkinson:
Hi, my name is Tyler Atkinson. I'm feeling nervous but excited for sure.

Dillan Orr:
I'm Dillan Orr:
I'm feeling very excited. I've been looking forward to this since last year.

Anthony Godfrey:
So apparently you came last year, you saw other boys compete. And did you think that's going to be me? I'm going to be up there.

Tyler Atkinson:
Absolutely. One of my best friends won last year and ever since I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Dillan Orr:
Same here, same friend.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Right. So if the same friend inspired you, are you feeling competitive against each other? Are you just supporting each other to be at your best and let's see what happens?

Tyler Atkinson:
I am fine with anyone winning. It's a bunch of my closest friends competing up there. And honestly, any one of them could win and I'd be happy. As long as we raise money and did what the goal of this was to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Dillan Orr:
I agree. I feel like if there were fewer contestants, it might be more competitive. But with 15 of us, it really is just kind of a dice roll. We don't know what everyone's going to bring to the table. And it's exciting to see what will turn out.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I can't wait to see what happens. It sounds like there's going to be a wide variety of talents on display. Is there anything last year that particularly inspired you to participate? Is there one moment where you thought, wow, that's really fun? I know what I can do now.

Tyler Atkinson:
The winner of last year, his best friend came in second place and he sang a really like - everyone else's talent was really exciting, very energetic. And his was, he just played the ukulele and sang a love song. And it just like hit that I was like, you can make people feel something even in like a beauty pageant. So I was like, I kind of want to try something like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Excellent.

Dillan Orr:
I'm going more after the winner's way of getting the win in going with the more exciting type song.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're going for energy.

Dillan Orr:
Energy, yeah. And a bit of love and romance in there too.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm looking forward to it. There'll be a lot of swooning out there in the audience.

Tyler Atkinson:
That's the hope.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me what does it mean to be part of True Blue overall and raising money for an important cause?

Tyler Atkinson:
Overall, it's just incredible. Just being able to help with your entire school and knowing that with everyone else you can make that big of a difference for that many kids is just so amazing.

Dillan Orr:
And like Brenna said earlier, Nixon Strong is a local foundation. And so it's cool to know that there was somebody around here because sometimes foundations feel very broad. Like it's like support children, but it's like, okay, there's children everywhere. But like it was a family here in South Jordan went to Bingham. And so it's really cool being able to continue to build that legacy and be able to support people in our community instead of just out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you feel a deeper connection with the with the charity because it's it's local.

Dillan Orr:
Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your preparation. What are some of the things you've done to be your best tonight?

Dillan Orr:
I have been. This song came out in a movie like during the summer. And ever since then, I was like, I think this is the song I want to do. So I sing it probably at least once a week to make sure I have it down. I had it memorized and everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so it really has been on your brain since last year.

Dillan Orr:
Absolutely. Oh, absolutely. I've been thinking about what I'm going to do for the entire year. I've had a lot of different options. But as soon as the song came out, I was like, this is go time. This is what I'm doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. How about for you? What does your preparation look like?

Tyler Atkinson:
I knew what song I wanted to do. It's also from a movie that I love. And so I've just I've known it forever pretty much. And then clothing changes. I've got a bunch of costumes for the runway. I've prepped them all. Made sure they all match. Tested them with my sisters and been like, “Is it good? Does it match?” So that was really fun to just be able to try on a bunch of different outfits and see what would work best.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm guessing sisters have come in pretty handy in these circumstances.

Tyler Atkinson:
Oh, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Any words of advice for those who might hear about this or see it tonight and think, hey, that can be me next year?

Tyler Atkinson:
Think less about yourself and think more about the cause and what it can do and how people in the audience will feel about it. And just don't just do it to be like, “oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna sing and I'm gonna win” or I'm gonna do whatever my talent is. Do it for the charity and do it for the people to watch.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I can't wait. I think it's gonna be a blast. And I like your chances, both of you. I think you're gonna have a great night, whatever the result is, because you've prepared and you're gonna have a great time.

Dillan Orr:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with the senior class advisor. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what's going on here.

Dave Martin:
So my name is Dave Martin. I'm a second-year teacher here at Bingham High School and I am the theater teacher, but I also have the opportunity to work with the student government as a senior class advisor. True Blue is a school-wide fundraiser that we do each year to benefit those in need at the Christmas season. And we institute, enlist the help of all of the students and faculty and the community to make a positive change in somebody's life who could really use it this time of year.

Anthony Godfrey:
And we hear a lot of activity around here. Treats being thrown, seats being reserved for the VIP section. Mr. True Blue is a big event. Now you're fairly new to Bingham.

Dave Martin:
Correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about how this feels coming into an old tradition.

Dave Martin:
I got my MPA from BYU with the emphasis in nonprofit work. So this is right up my alley.

When I found out working here at Bingham that this is something that they did, I just jumped all over it. It was such a great opportunity to see these kids really come alive, to go out every night to do what they call squad jobs, to ask members of the community if they can do the odds and end jobs to raise money. So far we've really brought in quite a lot of money and so I'm so proud of the kids, proud of the school. Bingham has a rich heritage and I think this is a great way to keep us in a really great tradition.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think we need to talk with you more in a future episode about some of your own projects. I know you do a lot of things on your own just outside of school to help raise money and support those in need. Tell me about the students at Bingham.

Dave Martin:
The students at Bingham are really just amazing kids and we are fortunate to work with student government kids who put in just so many hours putting all of this together but then also reaching out to their fellow students to get them involved as well. We've got a lot of club support which has been awesome.

We decorated all the hallways here at Bingham for our Deck the Halls tradition. And it's just really great to just see these kids who you already know they're amazing students anyways. Whether they're in the classes that we have or the activities or the shows or any of the different things that we've got going on but then to see them pivot to really selfless service it just really shows us just another level, a deeper level of how amazing these kids are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks again for all of your support of these efforts and the expertise that you bring to it. And it's going to be an exciting night, I can't wait.

Dave Martin:
You too, thank you.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They raced to the finish line making history as the only Utah team ever to take home the first-place title at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

On this episode of the Supercast, we sit down with members of the Herriman High boys cross country team to find out what fuels them across the finish line and how it feels to be among the best of the best. Hear what their coach has to say about the talented team.

We're here at Herriman High School to talk with the coach and a couple of the runners who were involved in a big victory for Herriman High School in Oregon over the weekend. Coach Soles, thanks for taking a moment to talk with us.

Coach Soles:
Thank you so much for having us.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about this competition. I know the state cross country season is over with, but this is a separate thing and it's a big deal.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, in 2004, Nike decided they wanted a national championship in cross country and so they created the Nike Cross Nationals. Pretty much brings together the fastest individuals and fastest teams in the country. So every year you get a chance to work your way through the process. You got to go to the Nike Cross Regionals, basically finish in the top two or three there and then you get an invite up to Portland to compete at the Nike Cross Nationals.

So out of the 18,000 plus teams that run cross country in high school, 22 of them end up in Portland. And if you can just make it there, it's pretty much an honor. But these guys had bigger goals and wanted to go after actually trying to win it this year after taking third last year. So pretty exciting to see it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the qualifying event. That was only a few weeks ago, right?

Coach Soles:
Yes, so two weeks ago we took I think almost 60 kids down to Arizona and had a big competition for the Nike Cross Regionals. And these guys took second to American Fork there. We got out a little bit slow and it wasn't the race we wanted. So we had two weeks to make some adjustments and really get in their heads about where they needed to be at Nationals. And they listened to everything we told them to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now tell me a little bit about those adjustments. What are some of the things that make a fast runner faster when it comes to cross country? Don't divulge any secrets or anything. But in general, what are some of the things that you look for runners to do?

Coach Soles:
When you get to that level, almost everybody up there is a pretty fantastic runner. So you really have to understand the strategy that you need to use for that course that day with the group of kids that you have. So last year we went out really conservatively. I think we started like 14th or 15th in the race and then moved up and took third by the end of the race. This year we knew it was going to be extremely muddy and wet. There were big giant oceans of water on the course, so big puddles. So we told the boys it's really hard to move up when it gets muddy like that. So you're going to need to get out much faster than we're used to and much faster than we're comfortable to be able to do it.

That was one of the things that Jack was saying at the race is “I know for me to be successful, I have to go out much faster than I'm comfortable with doing.” And so as a coach, that's getting them to understand the positioning. We got out just a little bit better than American Fork did and I think that was the difference.

Anthony Godfrey:
So really it's the condition of the course to a great extent that determines your strategy.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, we couldn't set a strategy until we got up there and really did the course run-through on Friday. Coach Pugel runs with the boys and takes them through the course and they really look at where are the biggest obstacles, where do they need to make the moves in the final cut and then we evaluate what strategy we want to use. So it's really a team effort.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Utah conditions you've coached for a very long time in California, you've competed in many states. How do the Utah conditions lend themselves or not lend themselves to good conditioning? Does the altitude make the difference that you might think it would or?

Coach Soles:
Yeah, actually we're almost exactly at 5,000 feet here at Herriman High School. And the nice thing is that it's of good benefit in terms of training for elevation but it's not so high up that you can't really do great workouts. So we've kind of got the best of both worlds here. We can push ourselves really hard and get those benefits and we can also make sure that we get the benefits of when we do our aerobic stuff that just that elevation is helping us. So when we go down the sea level in Portland, Oregon, all of a sudden that last mile we feel fantastic and everybody else is gasping for breath. So it definitely helps.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's interesting, it sounds like too much altitude would be counterproductive. Like if you're too high you can't really get a rich workout.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, I think a lot of the professional runners found that out. A lot of them were racing up to high altitudes and what they started to find out was they couldn't run fast enough at those altitudes to get some of the work that they needed. So they started driving down to lower elevations to do their speed work and then driving back up for the aerobic stuff. So there's always a balance but I think at 5,000 feet here we have kind of that perfect mix of just being able to get out and crank in most workouts and feel pretty good about what we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, what are some of the skills that you focus on with newest runners? Kids who are new to running, they're excited about being part of the team, but they don't really have much of a head start. What are some basic skills that you really focus on helping them attain early on?

Coach Soles:
Yeah, I mean one of the first things is making friends. It's really easy to put in the work out there when you've got a friend group. So we try to get them friends so that they're comfortable being out there. We try to work on just that core strength, making sure that they can handle the work that they're trying to do. And so there's running components, but there's also a lot of strength components, consistency components that they've got to learn. As they learn those, they slowly but surely work up through the program. So we've had a lot of guys that have come in and they just start literally as the slowest guy on the team. After they get working their way through it, they'll work their way up into the top varsity group. So you never know what a 4’10” freshman boy is going to be as a senior, sometimes they're 6’3”.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Coach Soles:
So we never write them off.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's true.

Coach Soles:
Come in and work hard and you never know what you can be.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, tons of potential. And I love the focus on friendship because there's this connection with others. And at the same time, you get to see what type of personal progress you're making and how you're improving your own times.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, and I think that's the best email you get as a coach. It's fun winning national championships, but you get these emails from parents saying, “hey, we didn't think this was going to be for our kid and now it's all he thinks about. He made connections here and he's got a great friend group. He's always struggled to make friends and now he's got tons, so we appreciate it.” That's the rewarding side of it as a coach for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love hearing that. And when you hear academic all-state for cross country, those are some high GPAs. You have some very focused students on your team.

Coach Soles:
Honestly, I've coached a lot of good teams. This is the smartest group I've had, some really, really smart kids. And Jack's here, he's a really highly intelligent kid. He was one of my student aides last year in class and I noticed, no matter what I asked him, he was spot on. And kind of had that wisdom a little bit ahead of where most people do. I think he was able to really look at what we were doing and what was going on and really understand it better than most kids do. And so I've relied on him a lot in terms of just maybe translating some of my stuff to the other kids and getting others to believe. I think he's done a great job with that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've always been impressed when I watch cross country competitions, cross country meets, that students are so supportive of each other. Teams will cheer each other on along the trail. Speak to me a little bit about the culture of cross country.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, cross country is a weird sport because you tend to share workouts with other coaches, you tend to be friends with other coaches. And the athletes, a lot of the time they go and they're excited when they make new friends from other teams. So I think it's encouraged by the majority of programs.

We were facing an American Fork who had beaten us at State and beaten us at Nike Cross Regionals. And just we were the top two teams in the country this year and they'd gotten the better of us. I'm really close with the coach over there. Timo Mostert is one of the best coaches in the country and probably one of the best coaches of all time. So just having the opportunity to compete against people like that is just really high character and great people.

I think it was hard for our kids and our program while we're celebrating, we have to look over and see guys that we really care about hurting. Because they were right there and they were that good to win it as well. Their performance was good enough to win most NXN. So I know it was tough for them.

I've been on both sides of that equation and stood there and watched other teams celebrate while we were brokenhearted. So I thought it was really awesome. They came over and congratulated us and our boys went over and gave them hugs. And we understand that someone's got to win and someone's got to lose. But it is hard when it's people you're close with.

Last year, neither team really was quite able to think they were going to win it. So I think we were a little more relaxed and our boys and their boys ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together and hung out. And so they're really good friends and I think that's one of the coolest things.

But we always tell our kids in cross country, you go out there and make friends. Be nice to other parents and other people. You're going to get asked questions from other programs about our program. Be polite, be nice and the Herriman kids are amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, well, it's exciting to hear about the collaboration, and the friendship, and the competition that helps you bring out the best in each other. So congratulations on an amazing run, if I may say. And a great season and going from third last year to first this year. A lot of great things are ahead.

Coach Soles:
Yeah, actually we returned some of the best guys in the country and we're going to really be favorites to win next year as well. So hopefully this is the beginning of a dynasty for Herriman High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're thrilled to have you here and I really appreciate your taking the time.

Coach Soles:
Thank you so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back team members talk about their big win and what's next in their incredible high school cross country careers.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at Herriman High School talking with two of the student athletes who competed over the weekend in the national cross country competition and took first. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Introduce yourself when you started running and tell me what got you started in running.

Jack:
I'm Jack Beckstrom, I'm a senior. I started running when I was in ninth grade. And honestly, the thing that started me running was my mom said I could stop playing the violin if I did.

Anthony Godfrey:
[LAUGH] So she said you could stop playing the violin if you started running. Is that something you came up with or did she come up with that bargain?

Jack:
I think she came up with it, but I took it as fast as I could.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long had you been playing the violin?

Jack:
For ten years at that point.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you were a decade into your career as a violinist and you gave it up for running.

Jack:
Yeah, I have three brothers, one older and two younger. And of everyone that's reached ninth grade so far, everyone's taken the deal.

Anthony Godfrey:
So everyone became a runner?

Jack:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, can you outrun your brothers?

Jack:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
[LAUGH] That's a very interesting way for you to enter running. Tell me how it felt to start out as a runner.

Jack:
It was pretty hard to start out. I was like five foot two or something when I was a freshman.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jack:
My legs were tiny little nubs, could barely get moving. It was just really hard to do anything. So I just had to put in a lot of work. Then as soon as I started growing, it got easier.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, and you could feel the progress as you worked hard.

Jack:
Yeah, it feels really good to look back and see like, “Oh, I've been improving pretty steadily for years and years.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I want to give your mom some credit. I would think that the discipline of practicing the violin for ten years benefited you when it came to being a disciplined runner.

Jack:
Yeah, for sure. We had to practice it 30 minutes a day, five days a week. So going into practicing six times a week for however long. It's just, if you're doing something and competing in something, you need to have the discipline to practice it over and over again. And that really helped me develop that.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a pretty important lesson that consistent hard work will bring you some results that make it worth it.

Jack;
Yeah, it is a good lesson to learn.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your career, introduce yourself.

Tayshaun:
I'm Tayshaun Ogomo. I'm a junior this year. I started running when I was in elementary school in sixth grade. My mom signed me up for, we have a program around here called Race Cats. And it starts you through the elementary school and you just go to smaller competitions or race against other elementary schools. She signed me up for that because I was currently playing baseball and soccer before that. And she told me if I ran, I would get faster to continue playing baseball and soccer. So I decided she was right and I started running. Back then it wasn't really running, it was go play sharks and minnows for 30 minutes and get a piece of candy after.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sharks and minnows and candy, that was your entrance into cross country.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, no, it definitely was. And then as we progressed through running in elementary school, we went to our races and I noticed that I was one of the fastest kids in those races, taking the first or second throughout them. And I was like, “Hey, I'm really good at this, I should keep doing it.”

Anthony Godfrey:
So at what point did you decide I'm not running for baseball, I'm running for running?

Tayshaun:
So that didn't happen until after my freshman cross country season. I continued playing baseball and soccer and even started basketball up until ninth grade. We finished the cross country season and I ran pretty good. It was right before Coach Soles got here before the track season.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Tayshaun:
And right then it was the first day of track. I had tried baseball, but I didn't make the team and Soles came in and told us all these ideas that he wanted to take us as a team. And a lot of the guys had just started buying into a lot of my good friends on the team at that point. So I was like, “hey, maybe I should dedicate all my time to this running.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk to me about the competition this last weekend. What did that feel like?

Jack:
It was just a really cool experience. Nike really takes care of all the athletes that make it. They fly us out there on Thursday. They take us around their campus. On Friday, we run through the course. They give us a bunch of gear for our race. Saturday, we run the race. And Saturday, we come home. But they just take really good care of everyone. We're at a really nice hotel. They give us lots of food and-

Anthony Godfrey:
And they pay for all of this.

Jack:
Yeah, they pay for everything. They really want to, I guess, reward everyone for all the hard work they've put in.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about Nike swag.

Tayshaun:
The Nike swag is honestly really awesome. They give us all, they fully set us out in new uniforms. They give us backpacks, water bottles. They give us new sweats and jackets and everything. They just really make us feel as if we're one of the best runners in the nation. And they show us how it would be to almost be a Nike-sponsored athlete.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a really good way of putting it. Tell me about the other runners on your team.

Jack:
We have a lot of really good runners on our team. So I guess for the team that went to Nationals we have Jonah and Micah Tang, who are both juniors, they're twins. Then we have Max Hofheins, Will Steadman, and Hyrum Wood, who are all seniors. And it's just a - and we have Noah Manwaring, who's also a junior. He went to a different national championship meet in Alabama and he did really well there too.

Tayshaun:
All the guys on the team were really close. It's almost become like a family. We spend 90% of our time together practicing Monday through Saturday. For what, two hours a day? We spend a ton of time together. Even when we're not practicing, we try to hang out as much as possible. So it becomes like a family, especially through the seven guys. They're all super fun to hang out with. Even our eighth man, we're all super close and it pushes us harder, as Jack says.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you do when you're running? Do you listen to music or do you not so that you can concentrate? How does that work?

Jack:
We usually run together. There will be a big group of like 15 guys at least that are all together. So usually we'll just be talking about our days and having conversations instead of listening to music.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, we're definitely more of a social team. We don't just like tune out and listen to music. While we're on our own, some of us do listen to music. But for the most part, we run together and just socialize.

Anthony Godfrey:
So most of you running is with others. You're mostly not running alone.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, definitely. We only run very rarely alone. And even when we do, we try to meet up if it's supposed to be a long run.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the friendships you make and the relationships you have are a big component of why you love cross country.

Jack:
Yeah, it's great to be surrounded by friends you love for so much of your day. And it really puts in perspective why you're doing it. Like if you're running a race and you look around and you see all your teammates. You remember that you're doing this for them and it really makes you work your very hardest.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do the friendships and the connections you have with other people on the team give you a competitive edge?

Jack:
I think they absolutely do. Running it hurts, obviously, and when you're kind of in a painful spot in the middle of a race, you think of the people that you've been training with all year and all the work they've put in probably how hard they're hurting. And sure it may hurt physically in the moment, but knowing after the fact that you didn't put your heart and soul into a race hurts more.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, definitely. From my personal experience, we were at Nationals and I was running along one of our seniors, Maxwell Hofheins. And I started to fall behind him as he kept going. In my head, I was just thinking, he's hurting a ton and I want to win this championship for this guy and for Jack farther ahead of me. It just gave me the motivation and the strength to push through that pain all the way to the finish line just because of how close we are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the celebrations and the way that you've been greeted here at Herriman High School having come back with that victory.

Jack:
It's been like a hero's welcome. We're having people from all over the school, parents from all over the community. We got a police escort back to the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Jack:
When we were getting back from the airport. It's just really great to see all the support we have in the community around us and that they care about us.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, it's almost as if we just become famous or something. Everybody cares. We went through the school yesterday and they had us go down the halls and we had the news recording us, we had every student at the school was just standing out in the hall chain for us and they really showed how we were welcome and how much we’re appreciated.

Anthony Godfrey:
A long time ago, I ran a few 5Ks here and there and I would always kind of pick out the person that I was going to overtake. It was mostly like somebody running with a stroller and a child. And I'm trying to like okay, you have a dog or you have a stroller. So maybe I can beat you. So I'm going to run as hard as I can to try to take you, overtake you. Do you do that in a race? Do you like pick okay, that's the next person. I'm just going to watch their pace and I'm going to outdo them. And then I'm going to pick off the next person and the next person. Are you motivated by the person right in front of you?

Jack:
Yeah, so we run our races. We go out a little more controlled at the beginning and we'll kind of speed up and pass a lot of people towards the end. It's not only good from like a physiological perspective where you're more likely to run better if you ease yourself into it. But it's also really good mentally because it just feels good to pass people.

Anthony Godfrey:
[LAUGH]

Tayshaun:
Yeah, no, we definitely also, we know what the other team's jerseys are like and we know who we're competing against. So just being able to see them up there and being like, I'm going to go hunt him down and go pass him. It's definitely a really good feeling.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the three of us have some running experiences in common.

Tayshaun:
Yeah, definitely we do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, that feels really good. That feels really good. Congratulations on a great outcome this weekend and on working so hard to get to where you are. We're really proud of your efforts and your accomplishments. So well done.

Tayshaun:
Thank you.

Jack:
Yeah, thank you for having us.

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