Supercast

Superintendent:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. We are again recording this podcast, using Google Meet in order to maintain social distancing as a District. We're very proud of the digital learning that is happening during the school dismissal, proud of teachers, students, and parents who are taking on this new challenge. We know it's been very difficult and it's a big shift, but we also know that great things are happening on today's episode of the Supercast. We check in with one of our Digital Learning Administrators, Ross Menlove, to get some tips for parents on how to help their students learn online while at home. But first, let's check in with Jordan Ridge Elementary School Principal, Melissa Beck, and teacher Bryan Youtz to hear about some creative things teachers and students are doing with digital learning. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having us, Melissa. You've been there three years.

Melissa:
I feel like the luckiest person in the world to be at Jordan Ridge. This is a school of very high expectations, both from the teachers and from the community, very supportive community. Our teachers are very motivated to learn new content. We have many teachers who have multiple endorsements. We have teachers who search out their own professional development. Most teachers, thanks to Bryan, who is our Digital Teacher Leader have been exposed to a lot of these online tools already. So Bryan's been doing Tech Tuesdays and training teachers to lots of these, so teachers are doing a lot to stay connected. We're also doing some fun things. We did a a parade where we went out and wave to families and help them know that we are still thinking about them and still care about them.

Superintendent:
Tell me a little bit more about that parade. What was that like? You drove through the neighborhoods and did you go through all of the streets within your boundary and what was that experience like?

Melissa:
Yeah, so we almost hit every single street. There was a few that we didn't hit, otherwise the parade would have been two hours long and it was super fun. We have lots of families come out and had posters and signs, almost every single one of our teachers came. There were a few, you know, because of family situations that couldn't, but almost every teacher showed up and had decorated their cars. It was a really, really great experience. I received many emails from parents afterwards saying that's exactly what they needed. They needed that to feel connected and to feel supported. So it was super fun. And at first we thought we were doing that for the families, but we found soon after that, it really was for us.

Superintendent:
That connection with kids is why we become educators. I'm sure it was a great chance to reconnect. Bryan, how did it feel as a teacher to be part of that parade?

Byan:
It was a lot of fun being able to go around the different streets and see the different students that come out in support of us and in support of what they're doing at home. I got to see several students of mine, and also students that I knew throughout the schools, simply because of the relationship that I try to give to all the students that are around. There's a lot of students out there that know me, but I have no idea who they are. But I really enjoyed being able to go and be a part of something really special where we can say hello to the students and let them know that we are thinking about them. We care about them, and we are still here for them, even though we have to do this all digitally,

Superintendent:
I'm sure that's going to be an experience that kids and teachers will not soon forget. Have you seen that team spirit kind of enhanced by everyone being in the same boat all of a sudden?

Bryan:
Absolutely. We see a lot of teachers that have been coming together, asking for help on using certain programs that they might not be familiar with, but maybe someone else is familiar with. And my job here was to make sure that I hit every single grade to give them some suggestions of some programs that they can use. And I would show them how to use those programs for their classrooms. And being able to go around afterwards, after I had hit every single grade, making sure that no one else needs any other help from me, or they did need some further assistance. But being able to see teachers come together and really collaborate in this time has been very encouraging. The grade that really sticks out the most to me right now is our second grade team. Especially in the very beginning, they would all meet together in a classroom. Some were actually in the classroom and then some were actually doing video conferencing, just really collaborating on what kind of lessons they wanted to teach, how they wanted to teach lessons. They wanted it to be very cohesive in this. They wanted to be a very unified in what they're teaching, so that if someone had a question, the other teammates could help them out afterwards. And so it's been an absolute blast watching everyone take these digital tools and just running with it.

Superintendent:
I've been super impressed with exactly that. I've just seen so many teachers that have just jumped right in and stretch themselves and try some things that may have been uncomfortable previously. And they've done it together. They've kind of linked arms and joined together and worked on it in a very unified way, like you described. And I know it's a lot of work and I know it's hard and I appreciate it all the more because of that. Now, can you describe a little bit for those who may not be familiar, we have digital learning specialists at the district level, but every school has a teacher who's assigned as the digital teacher leader. And of course, that's you at Jordan Ridge. Tell us a little bit about that role and how that's been helpful in this circumstance.

Bryan:
Well, the role of the digital teacher leader I feel is to be an extension of what the Digital Learning Specialist has been across the District. Whereas the Digital Learning Specialist is in charge of several different schools, now they have a Digital Teacher Leader that they can communicate with to push out these different programs, different learning tools, to all the other teachers. That way one Specialist doesn't have to just hit one school and then hit the next school, then hit the next school. They can be a little bit more efficient in introducing these new tools. So my job here at Jordan Ridge has been once a month to be introducing a new tool, or re-introducing a tool I've previously introduced to the other teachers. Something that they can use in the classroom, whether it's been Near Pod, video conferencing, etc.?

It's been great to learn all these different new tools as well. And it's been wonderful to have these teachers come in, not ever knowing these tools before and showing them how it works and how they can use some really practical application in their own classroom, but just to the point where they're not feeling overwhelmed. That's the one thing I've been really trying to make sure not overstate. I don't want to overstimulate everyone with everything else that they have on their plate. I wanted to make sure that they have enough, that they feel they can be empowered to empower their students as well.

Superintendent:
Melissa, what's it like to have Bryan there to help teachers move forward as well with digital learning?

Melissa:
Bryan has been invaluable. Our teachers have gone to him and felt very supported by him. And they feel like when they go to him for questions, they will get answers, they'll get great ideas, they'll get the suggestions that they need. He'll actually sit down with them and go through and help them create content using appropriate digital tools. So we love, love, love the District's vision of having the Digital Teacher Leaders in every school and training them often to make sure we are up to date in all digital tools and digital learning. And then again, we're so grateful for Bryan for going above the call of duty and bringing those tools back to our teachers and supporting them that way.

Superintendent:
That's amazing. Thank you, Bryan, for everything that you're doing. That's awesome. I'm sure the teachers really appreciate it as you've worked with them. Are there some stories about just how they've kind of discovered what's available and moved forward in their journey toward doing more digital learning?

Bryan:
They seem to be seeing a theme among the teachers here where they're being introduced to these new tools and a bit of a light bulb goes off in their heads. Oh, I can do this. I wonder what I can do with this tool. How can I apply that same tool into this content area? It's not necessarily a specific story, but just a common theme of what the teachers are doing. I actually emailed our staff last night, just asking them what was their favorite tool. And I was actually amazed by the responses that I'm getting, we're getting a wide variety of tools here. Like why is your.me thinks central, Near Pod is noon for video conferencing, Khan Academy, Google Classroom. And one thing that's been great that I made sure to email the teachers a few days ago just to give them some encouragement that this is brand new for many of them, it's almost like we're becoming first-year teachers again. And we've got even a few teachers at our school that are first-year teachers. So they're feeling this doubly, and it can absolutely be overwhelming. One thing I really wanted to make sure is that it's okay to not be perfect at this. It's okay to not have everything down right at the get go. We gotta take things one step at a time.

Superintendent:
So what have you seen happen with teachers as they've expanded their digital teaching capacity?

Melissa:
This actually just happened yesterday. A teacher on Bryan's team came and was sharing. I just asked her how things were going and how she's feeling about things and if things are getting better. It was really cool to see a sense of mastery as she has taken on these digital tools. And she said, it's been really cool. I've been able to refine my process every single weekend and feel like it's improving to the point where it's very efficient. And then she read me an email that a parent sent her about how wonderful she has been in creating and designing her content. The parent thanked her because it it was very organized. It was very structured. It was very easy to find out what was assigned, where to find things. And she was thanking this teacher for her work. So it was really cool to see her. I think all teachers start out with a little sense of frustration and how are we going to do this? And then to see her have a sense of mastery yesterday in referring to this parent email, it was really cool to see.

Superintendent:
That's exciting. And I love to see that type of progress. And I know that parents have been really patient as well. They've understood that we're trying something new. That we're going into new territory and it's really strengthened that partnership between teachers and parents as well. Bryan, do you have any advice for parents as they help support their students through digital learning during the school dismissal?

Bryan:
Oh, I think it's important that parents are not afraid to ask questions. If there's a tool that they're struggling with, or if there's an assignment that they may have a question with. I know that just for me, I've had students message me or email me saying that this tool isn't working properly, reminding me that I forgot to put it in the submit button for them to turn in their assignments. So it's been great for me to go back in and just do that quick fix. We're all still learning how to use these tools in the way that we want them to be used. And so it's absolutely okay for parents and for students to email the teacher with any questions that they have on the tool. If they don't know how to use it, or if the teacher needs to make a tweak here or there, just so that the students can turn it in. We are all in this together as a community. The teachers, the students, the parents, the administrators, we're all in uncharted territory and in an event that's completely unprecedented. And it's just been very encouraging to see everyone come together as a community, working and helping each other out, wherever it is needed.

Superintendent:
Well, I know you're both very busy. Thank you very much for taking the time to be on the Supercast and thank you very much for everything you're doing to help the Jordan Ridge community have the best experience possible with digital learning.

Melissa:
Thanks for having us.

Superintendent:
Thank you. We'll take a quick break. And when we come back, we'll talk with digital teaching and learning administrator. Ross men love to talk about what's happening out there and how teachers and students and parents are adapting to the school dismissal and online learning.

Break:
I'm Steven Hall, Director of Jordan Education Foundation. In today's challenging and uncertain times is more important than ever to support one another. Here at Jordan Education Foundation, we invite you to join us in providing food for children so they are not hungry. Each $10 donation to the Foundation will help us feed one student for a weekend. With food and hygiene in Principal's Pantries at Jordan District Schools depleting and in high demand, every financial contribution made will help us to keep these pantries filled for students who would otherwise go without. Jordan Education Foundation exist due to the generosity of people who care about kids and teachers. If you would like to donate to help kids from going hungry, visit jordaneducationfoundation@jordandistrict.org, or contact the Foundation at (801) 567-8125. Thank you. Together, we can make a difference.

Superintendent:
We're back with Ross Menlove, Digital Teaching and Learning Administrator to talk about what's happening out there and how we're adapting. Ross, thanks for joining us.

Ross:
Hey, it's great to be here with you today. Thanks for inviting me.

Superintendent:
We talked with Ross back in our first Supercast episode about the Corona virus back at the beginning of March, before there was any school dismissal. A lot has been put in place to help provide support to teachers. I know that teachers have worked very, very hard to put this in place, and you have a lot of Digital Teaching and Learning Specialists who have just dived in and really made things work. Tell us a little bit about what's happening out there.

Ross:
So  what we're doing with our Digital Learning Specialists, they're kind of the phone tree help for anybody who needs some help with how to use the programs and how to access the programs. One of the great things we've done is we've created that hotline here at Jordan District and get those phone calls because as part of this team, I myself have taken on a few schools. And so the parents that are part of those schools call me, and it's been fun just talking to the parents and getting their insights, but they're just a lot of questions about making sure they're supporting their kids. But the conversations I've had with parents and students has all been positive and the same from the Digital Learning Specialists. They'll get phone calls from parents, from grandparents, from students. And a lot of them just have questions about what they're doing and they're all positive and they help them out and support them and answer their questions and move on. It's been really fun to be part of.

Superintendent:
I really loved the way that hotline was set up because it automatically forwards, based on the menu choices that the caller makes to the cell phones or the home phones of the Specialists who are working from home and through reprogramming the phones, Mike Heaps, our Director of Information Systems was able to set that phone tree up so people can reach your Specialists and get one-on-one help with their needs at home.

Ross:
Yeah, it's been great. The other thing we're doing is our website, our http://digitallearning.jordandistrict.org. That website we updated every day. There are new tutorials for teachers, for parents, for students, new ideas, all of our contact information is on there. And it's just a way we can keep updated everyday to the new things that are coming out and new possibilities. That's really fun. Teachers will email me and say, Hey, have you ever tried this or principals email and say, Hey, can you get this out there for people? And would you update that website every day? Probably five or six different people can go and look at it and learn more about this online learning process.

Superintendent:
Tell us the web address again.

Ross:
So that is http://digitallearning.jordandistrict.org. The hotline number is (801) 567-8999.

Superintendent:
And that's available Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Is that correct?

Ross:
That's correct. And that'll be closed the Thursday and Friday of spring break, but every other weekday that hotline is available.

Speaker 7:
That's true. And also on the, on the website, you can find our email addresses and probably the digital learning specialists by the different schools. So people have questions. They can email us anytime. Yeah,

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm really excited about how my keeps our information systems director was able to reprogram the calling system. So that based on the menu choices made by the caller, they can be connected directly to someone who can help with their specific question. And it connects to the cell phones of digital learning specialists who are working from home, and that all happens automatically. So parents can be quickly connected to someone who helps. And I think that's, that's really exciting. So Ross, tell us about some of the innovative and exciting things that you have seen happen. Are there teachers who are maybe nervous about doing this at first that are now really enthusiastic about being able to teach online?

Speaker 7:
So let me tell you about an experience I had working with some teachers, their kindergarten teachers. I won't tell you exactly what school are at to kind of help them out, but they called me that second day after the school closure. And one of them would just in tears, just like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know what I'm doing. And I kind of just coached her through a little bit of what we set up, kind of we've created a template to help teachers be able to put content online. And she, her and her team took on that challenge. And they at a kindergarten level is pretty fun. The other day, I contacted the teacher to see how things were going, and she invited me to be part of her Google meet session with her class. And so she sent me that link and I was able to watch her teach kindergarten kids online. And then with their canvas course, the kids get on there. And she has daily videos for the kids to watch. They have a Nearpod session for a couple of those sessions that go through each day. It was really fun actually to watch these kindergarteners get online, interact with their teacher, interact with the other classmates. And it was in a very structured format. I mean, she kind of set up the expectations at the beginning of the meeting with the students and they behaved really well. And it was actually really, really fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Remember in cabinet meeting, we had you there right before we felt like there might be the possibility of a school dismissal that had happened in some other States. And we asked you to show us a canvas course with some of the preloaded lessons for kindergartners. And I was amazed at how engaging it was and how it was just spot on to the curriculum. And it must've, I've, I'm, I'm envious that you got to sit in on that kindergarten class and I'm really impressed. That's a good, that's a good example of how, you know, for some teachers, this is something that's very new. And they, they just said, you know, I'm going to embrace it and get some help and let's, let's see what we can do. And I've just been very impressed because I know how difficult and stressful it can be.

Speaker 7:
Yeah. But that's kind of what the great things about the digital learning specialist for teachers. They just provide just a different mental perspective, just add, add a little insight, you know, cause the teachers are the specialist, they know what they're doing. We can provide just a different perspective and they can take that and they run with it and they have so much fun. And it's fun just to be part of those classes. I've, I've joined in probably five or six classes each week and just kind of watch the teachers do their thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
What advice would you give for parents who have difficulty maybe getting their kids to be involved with online learning, or maybe not knowing how they as parents can be, can, can help,

Speaker 7:
You know, it's interesting. You mentioned that because I have a kindergartener and it's been fun, like watching him. I mean, yes, I know digital learning. And so I've kind of taken a couple steps back in. My wife has kind of done and she's not as well versed in this. And she's, you know, came to me with those types of questions and what I've encouraged her to do is just reach out to the teacher. And so she reached out to the teacher, they had like a Google meet session with a parent and the teacher, just to talk about what's going on, talk about different expectations. You know, that's the thing is our teachers want to communicate with the parents as much as they want to communicate with the students. They want everyone to find success and everyone to be happy, you know, and just reaching out to the people who are there is the one thing that I tell parents just to read it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know there are some times that are scheduled with teachers and students, but there's a lot of flexibility. Also, should parents be structuring time? Is that the most effective or is a level of flexibility important? What's the, what's the best approach?

Speaker 7:
Well, what we've found with students is that students learn best in small chunks of time. And so the advice I would provide to parents is set aside a time that is consistent each day. So every day there's a time set aside when they're, they're going to do their schoolwork and they do that. And then, you know, in small chunks and that might be depending on how old they are or their attention span, 15 to 30 minutes, then let them go run around and let them go play for five or 10 minutes and then bring him back. You know if we try to sit them down and have them bust out the schoolwork for extended period of time, multiple hours, the parents are going to get frustrated and students will get frustrated. But if we kind of break that down into small learning chunks, you know, and that some that teachers do in the classroom every day is they break down their learning and chunks. And then they do an activity without learning. They bring it back, provide some instruction and then they go do another learning activity and provide kind of like those different environment and breaks. But the structure is important to have that going each day. So a kid knows what to expect

Anthony Godfrey:
Ross, thanks for being with us. And thank you for the support that you're providing to parents, students and teachers. You've done an amazing job. And the way you've been preparing things in this district, it's as if you knew this was going to happen, because you've really built in the structure to provide support. And I'm really pleased with the way things have gone. I'm, I'm really excited about all of the positive feedback I've been hearing and hats off to all your digital learning specialists. They've worked so hard and they've been so dedicated and, and you and your team and everyone associated with digital learning and in the teaching and learning department has just done a bang up job of, of moving this forward and helping support teachers in their great work. So thank you very much, Ross. I appreciate it. We know there are many challenges associated with such an abrupt switch to digital learning, but I deeply appreciate the efforts of parents, students, teachers, and digital learning specialists. It moving us so quickly down this path. We're grateful for. Everyone's willingness to dive in and make the best of a difficult situation and learn some new things along the way. Thanks again for joining us. And remember education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there eventually.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony "got to maintain social distancing." Once again, we're conducting this Supercast using Google meet. There are a lot of difficult situations folks are dealing with, and everyone is impacted in an individual and different way by the Corona virus and the shutdowns that have happened as a result. But there has been a lot of innovation, creativity, and kindness that has exhibited itself out in our schools. And I wanted to highlight some of the wonderful things that I know are happening in response to this terrible circumstance. And today I get to Google meet principal ABR SP at Columbia elementary school. And I also get to talk with Natalie ticks a lunch clerk at foothills elementary. Start by checking in with ABR, speak to see what's been happening at Columbia during the school dismissal. So Abe, tell us a little bit about yourself. You've been at Columbia for two years now.

Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's right. This was my second year.

Anthony Godfrey:
And did you teach elementary previous to that?

Speaker 3:
Yeah, I taught first grade for 12 years. It was awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are somebody who has a great time at work. You love being at the elementary. Tell me what you love about elementary school.

Speaker 3:
Oh, elementary kids are the best they love being at school. And when you're the principal of an elementary school, you're like a superstar. You walk down the halls and everyone loves and greets you and as excited to see you still. So that's what I love most about being at the elementary.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, that is a wonderful thing about it. And I certainly miss being at a school for that very reason. I know how much you love being there and, and, and how engaged you are. What are some of the things that have been happening at your school to kind of make the most of, of the situation and continue to maintain those connections with kids and, and with the faculty?

Speaker 3:
Yeah. So nine teachers that have been awesome and that's actually our motto as a faculty is it'd be awesome for kids and they have been awesome. They've been doing an incredible job rolling out the online curriculum as well as just connecting with kids in different ways that they normally are used to. We had the big parade with the help of West Jordan police department. We went through the neighborhoods and we sure we kept their social distance and honked. And the kids all came out with their parents on their porches and on their balconies and waved. And it was, it was just an awesome experience. That's one, there's one example of ways that we've been trying to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know you had at least one teacher who went out and visited homes and put some signs in front yards. Tell me about,

Speaker 3:
Yeah, we have two second grade teachers that visited each of their students' homes and we have a lot of apartments. And so they would, they put signs like great job on your online curriculum this week. You did awesome. And also thanks to their parents, like awesome job, getting your kids online. Cause sometimes that's a battle is to get the kids to get online and parents are a huge help in that. So they visited every single home. They didn't knock on the door or anything. They just left the sign on the, on the grass or on the front porch thing. Thank you for all you do.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Did you hear some response from parents about that?

Speaker 3:
Oh yeah. It's been nothing. Parents actually were quite touched. They, there were parents that commented on our social media sites or sent me a direct email to saying, thank you, thank you for your teachers that just care so much about our kids that they're willing to do that. So,

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I think that's amazing. You're also one of the sites that has been offering breakfast and lunch. And tell us about that. I know we've worked hard at social distancing as we offer that breakfast and lunch and that that's now a curbside service where we don't have anyone coming in the building. Is it kind of fun to just even get to see the kids from a distance for a short time?

Speaker 3:
Yeah, so we do, we're lucky enough to have a, both at our school. And then we have a trailer park that is a little, a little far away for the kids to actually walk here to our school. And so the district's been nice enough to provide a way for us to take meals to the trailer park. And there's a little park right in the middle of the trailer park. And we hand out the meals to the kids in the trailer park and we have about a hundred, maybe 120 kids that come that live in that trailer park that all come and get their food and they're thrilled to see us. They're always just, I think it just makes their day, obviously, as we all know, sitting around your house all day in a small space can be a little boring. And so when they have the chance to just come outside, at least wave to someone they know and smile and get their lunch it makes a huge difference in their day. So well also here at the school, we have about a hundred to 150 people that show up to get one here at school. And they're, they're thrilled to see us as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
And because of the federal government changing their guidelines, those lunches are free for any child 18 or under who shows up. And that's part of the nice thing is you can just give them a lunch. We don't have to enter in numbers. We don't have to track anything. Just every child gets a lunch and, and I've really liked that what I was impressed with when I came over to see lunch operations a week or so ago is how well you knew your community. You just said, you know, we have a neighborhood that you know, the park that would be, they're going to have difficulty coming over to the school. Is there any way we could get a bus over there? And I was just really impressed that you knew your community so well. And boy getting the bus over there was a great idea because it's, it's obviously helping a lot of kids in a lot of families. So thanks for being so in touch with everything.

Speaker 3:
Well, thank you. I, I just was worried about those kids. I, I, they were on my mind constantly.

Anthony Godfrey:
The other things that you've that you're aware of, that teachers are doing to manage teaching online to stay connected with kids. I know this is a, a huge, a huge burden on, on teachers to suddenly shift everything online and engage in a different way. And I know they just plain old miss the kids too on top of everything else, but

Speaker 3:
Right, right. Yeah. So it's been a huge cooperative effort, not just with our teachers, but with our support staff as well to get this up and running. And I'm sure this is the case that many schools across the district and state is, it was a huge undertaking to go all online. And it took a lot of effort and a lot of cooperation from our staff, but there's a lot of cool and interesting things. Our teachers are doing one of our, well, our fourth grade, they are Skyping with scientists throughout the community and throughout the nation. And so they're getting online with scientists and getting their kids online with scientists and having discussions with these, these experts in their field about not only the virus, but the curriculum that they're working on at the time. And so that's been really fun for the kids is to be able to talk and relate to scientists across the nation.

Anthony Godfrey:
So they're not just saying, well, how do we replicate what we've done in the classroom? They're saying, let's take it to the next level and how we can leverage this new circumstance to do some things we might not have done otherwise.

Speaker 3:
Right. Right. Yeah. And a lot of our lower grade teachers, something that they'd been doing is they've been reading stories to their kids online, through their Facebook pages or they're just sending them a video of them reading. So they still get that connection with their peers, with their teacher, and they still are able to hear their teacher read. And that's something that kids love. It that's the best moment of the day having taught first grade is just reading to your kids, reading to your students. And there's such a connection that happens when you're reading to them that it's it's something you don't want to lose. And I truly love doing that. So they've been trying to keep trying to continue that as they do it online. Now,

Anthony Godfrey:
It's exciting that they've found a way to keep that going. And you mentioned the assistance at a title one school in particular, there are more assistance than there may be in another school. And I've just been very impressed at how assistance dive in, find new ways to connect to kids and support teachers. And they just keep working and they're so dedicated, and this has been a big shift for them too. It's a lot of work for them as well. And yet they stay engaged and are big part of, of making this work,

Speaker 3:
Right? Yeah. We have our assistants doing a variety of things. We're trying to get them to do more from home, but some of the things they do or we have our PE assistant providing online PE curriculum and different activities they can do at home. And for their PE we have some of our assistants doing a lot of translating to Spanish for our teachers and even providing direct instruction over the internet to students that need additional help in English. And we have art are some of our assistants helping teach art and providing curriculum and art and just, there's just a ton that they do. And we couldn't have done this without our assistance.

Anthony Godfrey:
We have been, I've been super impressed with just how every employee in Jordan district has jumped in custodians, bus drivers, lunch workers have all sometimes had to do different jobs that they've never done before. We have a lot of bus workers that are helping with the distribution of lunches with custodial services. And everyone has just kind of pitched in to, to see what needed to be done. And it's impacted every employee. And everyone's really risen to the occasion.

Speaker 3:
Yeah, I've seen people are more than willing to do anything that, that our paraprofessionals are cleaning doorknobs and out, picking up garbage and just helping in any way. And then the bus drivers, I am impressed with that. They are best drivers. Not only hand out lunches here at the school, but they also go up to the trailer park and help there and they love it.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's been great talking with you. You're an amazing principal. You always make it fun. And I really appreciate your taking the time to talk with us and share some of the awesome things that are happening.

Speaker 3:
Oh, not a problem. Always going to share. Thanks Dr. Godfrey. Appreciate the time.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. It's been great. Talking with principal AP Osby from Columbia elementary school. Now we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk with lunch clerk from foothills elementary school, Natalie Texan, about the lunch and breakfast service that's been going on at Fu

Speaker 4:
I'm Steven Hall director of Jordan education foundation. And today's challenging and uncertain times is more important than ever to support one another here at Jordan education foundation, we invite you to join us in providing foods to children. So they are not hungry. Each $10 donation to the foundation will have to feed one student for a weekend with food and hygiene, entrenched books pantries at Jordan district schools depleting and in high demand. Every financial contribution made will help us to keep these pantries filled for students who would otherwise go without Jordan education foundation exists due to the generosity of people who care about kids and teachers. If you would like to donate to help kids from going hungry, visit Jordan education, foundation.org, or contact the foundation at (801) 567-8125. Thank you together. We can make a difference.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. We're back on the super cast with Natalie Texan, the lunch clerk at foothills elementary school, they have been doing a bang up job of continuing services. Even during the school dismissal, they're serving a lot of lunches and breakfasts. Natalie, give us an idea of just what's going on over there. Foothills.

Speaker 3:
Yeah, we, we are serving anywhere from two to 300 breakfasts and up to our highest has been 915 lunches. So about 1200 meals a day, 1200 meals sit down. It's been awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are so appreciative our new of our nutrition services workers who are continuing this service know that families are really relying on it. And it's something for them to look forward to in the day, you know, a long days at home and, and they get to come by and drive by and say, hi.

Speaker 5:
Yeah, I had a family today at breakfast, bring cards for everyone, for everyone that's working and just said how much they appreciate it and it's the highlight of their day. And so it was really nice.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love hearing that. How many people do you have working there on any given day?

Speaker 5:
So we probably have about 13. We have a group of four bus drivers that helped me outside do the counting and serving and going back and forth and getting the milk. And then we have probably eight lunch ladies or some from other schools and they helped put together all the meals. And then we have other elementeries that contribute because there that we don't have, we cook the main meal, but the, all the like goodies brownies and cookies and stuff like that, other elementary that are baking and bringing them to us. So it's a big team project. It's really cool to see.

Anthony Godfrey:
So even with everything that's going on, we're still baking, right?

Speaker 5:
Oh yeah. Yeah. That's what I love about Jordan school district is, you know, everything is from scratch and so they still get the the baked goods and the kids look forward to that. And it's wonderful.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the other things that are being served right now?

Speaker 5:
So breakfast, we alternate one day it's cereal and they have juice in a fruit and extreme cheese. And then the next day will be like a muffin and similar things and then cereal. And then like a cocoa cherry bar, like a protein bar kind of. And then this week we've served hamburgers. That was a big day. That was our 917 sort of hot dogs today is burritos and tater tots, but they always have a cruder vegetable and they have a treat. And it's just a lot of fun. It's really fun when the cars pull up and you see just the appreciation on the parent's face. I have one mom that she gets tears in her eyes. Every time she pulls up and then the kids, you hear them open their sex or their styrofoam container, and they just start clapping and giggling. And it just is, it's a wonderful feeling to be part of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I may or may not have a few tears myself. It's a lot of hard work to put 900 hamburgers in the hands of kids, all, all within an hour's timeframe. Yeah.

Speaker 5:
Yes. Yeah. So it definitely takes a team and we could not do it without everyone that's here helping the principals even come out. The principal either the principal or vice principal are always out there. Our dare officer is out there whenever he's here one day. I don't remember his name that he's a supervisor for all the best drivers he was here and he helped us. He was carrying milk back and forth supplying us with milk during the lunch rush. And it's just been such a incredible experience to see everyone just pulled together so that these families can be fed.

Anthony Godfrey:
It really is awesome. And like I said, I know families rely on it and it is wonderful to see nutrition workers from different schools working together and the bus drivers being a part of things as well. I've talked with several who have just loved being a part of what you're doing and it's very rewarding for them.

Speaker 5:
Yeah, I think so too. And it's been so fun getting to know other people, you know, and getting to know one of the lunch that you said came, I also do crossing garden and I'm one of her crossing guards. So that was kind of fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's great. Well, I think it just shows the important connection that there is between nutrition services workers and our bus drivers and the kids. I'm sure the kids are excited, not just for the lunch, but to see you guys and to have a little bit of normalcy where they get to see some friendly, familiar faces.

Speaker 5:
Absolutely. You know, the principal has been out there the last two days and the kids get so excited and they just, and also our other munch worker that comes for two hours and she, you know, is helping the lunch workers. They get so excited. And it's just a little bit of normalcy in this craziness. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
What other things have you had to do to adapt to the school dismissal? I, I, I'm so impressed that it's a hot meal and there's baking going on. And, you know, when you think grab and go, you don't think hamburgers, hot dogs and freshly baked cookies and brownies, but that's, that's just, that's quite a menu.

Speaker 5:
It is. I mean, they have salads in there and ranch dressing, you know, all those things, but we had you know, we, when we first started this a week ago, we were before that we had to serve maybe 30 lunches in 54, no 54 lunches and maybe 15 breakfast. So we weren't sure what to expect. And so our first day was a little bit chaotic and we had to make some shifts and adjustments because we needed to make sure everyone was safe, social distancing wise. And so we made up some signs and put up some hula-hoops if anyone walks into that, you know, that they're safe and how to pull in some more people. So that it's just been a learning curve. But after the first week we would increase increments of a hundred each day. So we started like 450 and then five, six, seven, eight, nine, but it just is working really well. Everyone just working together and we're finding what works and we're getting everyone through so

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that's, that's word of mouth right there about how awesome you guys are and how great the meals are that you're serving. That's great. And I love your description of the setup, those hula hoops. I've seen that in a few different locations, the hula hoops where you stand in a Hulu that is spaced apart, and that you're doing all the service outside, is that correct?

Speaker 5:
Yes. So most of the people drive up, but like yesterday was a warm day, so we had more walk-ups. So we just, we have different people in charge of each area so that they can be quickly given their food and they're able to go. And

Anthony Godfrey:
I, I just really appreciate the hard work our nutrition services workers are doing and, and our bus drivers are doing to help support that. It's, it's really incredible.

Speaker 5:
I just appreciate the team, you know, I'm outside and they just bring these amazing meals out and I get to give them, and I get a, I get to have kind of the people perspective of interacting and they're in here just putting together meals quick as they can. And they come out hot. And it's just amazing how everyone works together.

Anthony Godfrey:
I don't know. I don't know how they do it. I really don't know how to do it. It's amazing. Yeah,

Speaker 5:
It is. It's absolutely amazing. And they just go with it and they just keep coming back and working together. So it's a great thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand that on top of feeding, 900 kids every day for lunch and 300 for breakfast, you have eight kids of your own. How are things going at home for you?

Speaker 5:
It's good. I have four college students and they're back home and, and it's working out good. My elementary school son, it's harder. We have to do like 30 minute increments or even 10 minute increments and then take a break. So it's a lot of the day

Anthony Godfrey:
We have to do that with my fifth grader too. That's a breaks. Lots of points would really help.

Speaker 5:
It's just, I, I, I have gotten, just gained so much more respect. I had respect for the teachers anyway, and I get to see him every day, but just everything they do, they are amazing. And now to take on doing online schooling for everyone, I think just everyone has stepped up and it's just showed. There's just so much good in our community. And it's just wonderful to see.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, well said, there's a lot of good in our community. A lot of great people coming together. This brought out the best in some amazing people. And you're certainly one of those. So thanks for all your efforts, Natalie, it's such a thrill to talk with you. Thanks for everything you're doing. And please give my best to the rest of the crew.

Speaker 5:
I sure will. Thanks so much.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks again to AB Osby and Natalie Texan for talking with us on the super cast today, they are just a couple of examples of how employees have come together and pitched it to get through this circumstance everywhere you turn, people are taking on extra burdens, doing extra work and coming together to create the best experience possible for students. During this school dismissal, I'm immensely proud of the work that each employee in Jordan district is doing. And I'm deeply appreciative to parents and students for adapting so quickly to a new way of learning, stay safe. And remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see out there eventually.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. And this is a little bit of a different Supercast because I'm actually super casting from the basement of my house. I'm in the room where we normally keep the wrapping paper and the irony board, and a few other things to make sure that I'm maintaining social distancing, but still not being socially isolated. I've missed being able to connect through the podcast and I'm glad to be back doing it. And I'm really happy to have McKinley weathers with us for the super cast today. He's a friend of the show, a fan favorite always feels good to talk with you, and it's good to see you there in your basement bunker McKinley.

Speaker 2:
Thanks for having me. I'm really grateful for another opportunity to be, to be on the super cast. I love this show and you do a good job.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're doing this through Google Hangouts and I see the cement walls and the pipes above you. It really is a basement bunker.

Speaker 2:
It is. Yeah. It's the only place where I can be where where kids won't be trying to, to, to have their say on the super cast. So

Anthony Godfrey:
I'd be open to having some weather's children on the city. That could be very interesting. I could ask them lots of questions about

Speaker 2:
You. Yeah, that's true. Well, you look,

Anthony Godfrey:
You look well-protected down there, so I'm glad, I'm glad you're safe. Yep. Staying safe. I just want to start off by expressing gratitude to the employees, students, parents who have jumped in to really make the best of a difficult situation. Everybody experiences this in a different way. Everyone's impacted in a different way, and I'm just grateful to be associated with all of these great employees and parents and kids who have stayed focused on education, despite the difficult circumstances. And like I said, varied circumstances, everyone experiences this at a different level and in a different way. And I've just been extremely impressed with the the way this has brought out the best in people.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And just to add to that it's, it's interesting because there are actually researchers that study, you know, disasters times of crisis, and it's actually more so normal that people reach out, they connect, they, they give so more than they did before a crisis or a disaster or something like COVID-19 like we're facing right now. So I think just knowing that our, our norm as humans is not to pillage and to, you know, fight and to be angry and to fend for ourselves. But our, our norm is actually to reach out and connect and to take care of each other. So that can reduce some of the panic that we might feel, you know, thinking the world is falling apart. We've been through as humans, so many disasters and our norm as humans is to come out more connected, better off and taking care of each other. So I think that's, that's the positive outlook of what, of what this could lead to, you know, so

Anthony Godfrey:
The, over the years you have emphasized the need for gratitude. And it seems that right now is a really important time to be focused on gratitude. Regardless of our circumstances, there are things to be grateful for, and that is important for our own health and wellness to express that as well as the health and wellness of those who would be on the receiving end of those expressions of appreciation.

Speaker 2:
Yes, absolutely. And one thing just to, just to kind of compare or to make clear what kind of gratitude we're talking about here, because it's okay to be frustrated and you know, to, to feel feelings of anxiety or a little bit of nervousness about what's going on, but what usually causes our deepest frustration or unhappiness or discontent, whatever you want to call it is that we have expectations that really in a lot of ways may not be able to be met. So rather than because right now, I mean, there are a lot of expectations that have been frustrated. I mean, some people have expected to be at school right now or expect to be at a school dance or, you know expecting certain things about their circumstance, but as often as we can, it's best for us to exchange expectations for appreciation.

Speaker 2:
So even though, you know, things are hard and we can acknowledge that it's difficult. Changing those that mind frame from, you know, frustration at the things that aren't just looking at, the things that are and, and appreciating the, a little bit of extra time you might have around your parents or, or children, or the time at home, you know there are, there are many things that we can acknowledge that have gone, right. And in order to do that, we have to first let go of some of those expectations that we're hanging on to. So tightly

Anthony Godfrey:
Exchanging expectations for appreciation. I think that's really important concept. It makes a lot of sense. It's probably easier said than done. Yes. If we really focus on that and are deliberate and intentional about shifting our thinking in that way, that's something that can really make a difference. Yeah. What are some of the things that you would recommend we do to really talk about how we're feeling about the Corona virus and particularly for parents talking with kids about Corona virus and how, how do, how do we manage that and how do we have that conversation

Speaker 2:
As with, as with any hard topic? I think that it's, it's important to be open and honest to acknowledge whatever feelings do exist, not to shut them down or minimize and and say, well, it's not that bad. You know, I, I have it worse or I had it worse when I was your age, but just to openly listen. But then that openness and honesty, it's probably going to depend on the age of a child. I, so I have a four year old who has been confused about why we can't go to the jump place or to grandpa and grandma's anymore. And, but now he has an understanding whenever, you know, something comes up and he asks, why can't we, we just talk about the germ that's going around and we're trying to stay safe and trying to keep the people that we care about safe. So but that's, that's an honest explanation that a four year old can understand. We're not saying we're not making up stories. We're saying there's a germ, people are concerned about it, and we're just trying to stay safe, you know, for for an adolescent, you can be a lot more straight forward about it, but it's, it's important not to pretend and, you know, just, just allow the actual conversation to happen. So and being direct as honest as, as, as they will understand.

Anthony Godfrey:
So genuine, honest, direct conversation, that's calibrated for the age of the child, right? Yeah. Yeah. I, I sympathize with the jump place. The jump place is going to be that much sweeter when we can all return back to the respective jump places and resume some normalcy McKinley. I understand you've been updating your website, the health and wellness website. First of all, tell us how we can access that.

Speaker 2:
It's just wellness dot Jordan, district.org. You can also get to it from the main Jordan district page, just click on the health and wellness, but

Anthony Godfrey:
You have a list of home wellness ideas during the Corona virus pandemic.

Speaker 2:
Yes. And we also have several of the counselors, social workers, psychologists, principals, teachers have already shared with students, a lot of good tips and strategies. But this is just one more resource that's out there. So there are some, some at-home lessons on wellness that you can do with your, with your, with your children or students. A lot of content on happiness and wellbeing. And then also kind of if, if you're at home and your child has been struggling with anxiety maybe depression there are specific pages that address those kinds of concerns.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us, walk us through some of the home wellness tips that you have on your website to help us manage all of this.

Speaker 2:
So I would suggest that one of the biggest considerations for families would be keeping a routine. But when I say keeping a routine, that's, this is a new routine. You know, people always say the hardest part of going to the gym is showing up. And that's true because it's a routine that you're just starting. So when we were all sent home to do online school we didn't have a routine. We didn't have a normal, you know, that helped us feel comfortable and confident and successful in that new setting. So still showering, still getting ready and dressed you know, eating at scheduled times. Those are all things that help us feel comfortable and adjust to our new setting. So if we can do our best as a family to, to take, to make scheduled time for things, you know, when you're working on school and when you aren't, because when you're kind of turned loose to work on it whenever, and you eat whenever and you sleep until whenever, then every single step of your day is a decision that you didn't have to make before. And that's exhausting. So your brain power is, is depleted. The more decisions you have to make the, the more tired your decision-making brain gets. I don't know if that made sense, but

Anthony Godfrey:
It does because I, the first time I heard the term decision fatigue, it makes so much sense to me because there's a point where at the end of the day I get home and, you know, we had plans to go out to eat or whatever. And I don't want to be a part of that decision thinking through so many things throughout the day. I don't care where we go. I just don't want to decide. And I can absolutely see that not having a routine would create this decision fatigue and that it would multiply and compound over time. And it may be difficult to put your finger on that and say, why do I feel exhausted? Why is this so taxing and the way you described it makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. So if a, if a student can already decide, you know, even setting an alarm or a timer or something, I'm going to do school for one hour, you know, at this time I'm going to wake up at this time. Those are decisions that you can make ahead of time. That won't, I mean, you're going to default to what's easiest. So if you're fighting against the urge to play video games, or just to watch something on Netflix or do schoolwork, and that's a decision you're constantly deciding between Netflix games, those are going to win every time, unless you can make it a decision that you don't make, if that makes sense. So when, when you go to school, that's a decision you don't have to make anymore because you're stuck in a classroom. And the teacher's going to tell you, this is what you're doing, but as often as you can taking away those little decisions that will make you less productive or less focused, that's a, that's a really important step.

Anthony Godfrey:
And if you don't concentrate the time that you're working or working on school, then it can feel like it's all day. And it's all you're doing because it's not focused within a particular slot of time. I have a ten-year-old, who's doing school from home, of course, like everyone else. And it is interesting to watch he's good at school. He likes school, but adjusting to a new routine was very difficult the first few days. And now he has his routine down. We have some visual markers on the, on the wall. There's a sign for every subject that he needs to be studying. And he moves that on the wall when he's done with it. And the routine has made a huge difference.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And, and that's a really good example because that helps your child feel more confident and capable to like having things on a to-do list that we actually are able to check off is much more satisfying than work on school sometimes, you know, when you feel like it. I think, and the other thing to really keep in mind about routines is we actually adjust and adapt really well. So once that routine is set, once at home learning is the normal, it's gonna feel so much more, you know, I mean, we've only been doing this for two weeks now, so it's normal to be struggling with it still, but in a couple of weeks, if you can keep to a routine, it just feels like every other day,

Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to take a quick break. But when we come back with McKinley weathers, health and wellness specialist for Jordan school district, we'll talk about how to maintain good relationships in close quarters. How we all get along during this pandemic.

Speaker 4:
Hello, my name is Steven Hall. I'm director of the Jordan education foundation. Have you ever experienced what it's like to surprise a teacher in the classroom with school supplies, books, or a classroom grant? Have you seen students all smiles because you carry enough to give them a backpack, a winter coat weekend, food packs, or a free holiday shopping spree. It's something we see all the time, because it is exactly what Jordan education foundation does. The foundation exists due to the generosity of people who care about kids, if you would like to be a part of supporting students and teachers in the classroom, contact Jordan education foundation, and start making a difference today, you can find us@jordaneducationfoundation.org,

Anthony Godfrey:
Back from the break. And I wanted to talk with McKinley about breaks. We need to take breaks from, from the routine. And maybe even from the people we love that we're very close to now that we find ourselves staying at home as much as costs.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. I think that it's still, it's good to have our, our social connection, but it's also good to take our time to continue our personal development. I think humans really need all of us need to feel like we are able to make a meaningful contribution. And, and I think that it's really good to have your alone time where you're I have this little saying, I don't remember where I got it from, but trying to create rather than consume. So if we have a chance to turn it on, you know, what, what we would like to contribute or create that part of our brains rather than our breaks, if our breaks are always, consumer-based like, we're just watching something or listening to something it's good to have some creative giving time. And that can help us take a break from just being around each other.

Speaker 2:
If we can find, you know, creating maybe a new meal, trying to create something new, trying a new instrument, or, you know, building something that creation is really important for a person to feel a sense of accomplishment. So we got to find ways to do that and have it be a little bit individual, and we can create together, you know, having a task to do with people rather than just being around each other. 24 seven can help concentrate our energy away from maybe getting a little bit flustered or angry. If, if we're just any, each other's space all the time,

Anthony Godfrey:
What other tips do you have from the website to help manage this situation? So

Speaker 2:
I have several ideas for people. One, one thing that I emphasize often I guess in some other podcasts and there will be some content on the website related to this, but it's really important also to pick your battles between what you can and can't control. Because there are a lot of elements of this situation that are outside of our control. And the more time we spend trying to fix the things that we can't means, less time making the things that we can control better. I think that it's important to make that distinction, you know, th these are things outside of my control. You can't control those things, but you can control how it will affect you personally. You can control what you will do with your time at home. And in order to make that pivot that and like we talked about earlier, the exchanging expectations for appreciation in order to make that shift, we have to first acknowledge I can't control these things.

Speaker 2:
So I'm going to stop worrying about them, and it's okay to check in every once in a while. But I would say one of the biggest distractions right now would be reading about every single update of the Corona virus, you know, checking the news constantly because that will, that's something that it won't affect whether or not you, or your loved ones will catch it, just knowing the latest news, what will affect that is, do you wash your hands? Are you keeping the social distancing recommendations? Are you you know, taking care of those, you and your neighbors, there are so many things you can do, but checking the news constantly, you know, I would even, I would limit yourself to once or twice a day as a family say, you know, news is off until this time. Maybe we, you can check it once, but if you're constantly monitoring that and reading the latest it can make, it'll just make you more anxious. Cause there's not much you can do about it.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, I've, I've found that to be true just about the news in general, but it's particularly true now with the Corona virus and so many fast developments I have at various times had news alerts turned on on my phone. And so from sometimes even three or four different news sources, I'm getting an alert from the app. I'm getting a text message. I'm getting all of these updates that are constantly coming right to my shirt pocket. And it's a constant interruption throughout the day. And I start to feel like I'm going to miss out. If I'm not constantly checking, I won't know what's going on. And I read an article and it was actually an article from one of the newspapers that I had alerts from. I turned, I turned off the alerts and I just checked at, at, at set times during the day. And I found that there wasn't anything that had happened that I missed out on. Now these last few weeks, it feels very different from that, that, that things are happening all the time, but I have personally experienced how much better it feels to catch up on the news at specific times of the day, rather than whatever it happens to, to come to your phone. What are, what other tips do you have for dealing with stress and anxiety?

Speaker 2:
So there are I, I've added a couple of links on the website as well for this, for what we call social and emotional learning. We've got there, a lot of emotion, regulation strategies out there, you know, meditation, mindfulness, there are apps like the calm app, which actually has some free online meditations you can use. But one of the key factors to emotional wellness still is related to our physical wellness. So if we're not sleeping, we're, you know, distracting ourselves so that we're not actually getting enough sleep, we're not going to have that emotional resilience. And then also getting outside as often as we can still maintaining all of the social distancing expectations, but getting outside, getting some sunlight, getting enough sleep. And then really one of the most important factors, again for wellness is still social connection. So I know at the, at the introduction you said, you know, I'm social distancing, but I'm not socially isolating. And I think that's a really important thing. So whatever ways we can try and connect in in this unique circumstance, through technology, writing letters to someone, if you can't FaceTime them, you know, try and write some letters of gratitude, you know, this week to a couple of people that may not be in your life as often.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you and McKinley. It's always great to talk with you. You always have great advice. You're kind of the Dr. Oz of the superhero. I just, just don't go off on your own super cast or your own mind counts.

Speaker 2:
Yeah, no, definitely not.

Anthony Godfrey:
It always, it always feels good to talk with you. I appreciate your advice. Tell us the website one more time.

Speaker 2:
So it's wellness dot Jordan, district.org, and there's plenty of tips there.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I know that counselors, I know that counselors from schools are also reaching out to students. They have disappeared. There's no need to chance for a physical, a in-person meeting, but there is certainly a lot of opportunity for interaction. So if anybody needs help, anyone needs, please reach out to the school, email, the principal, email counselors, and school psychologists. They are eager to help. Right? Exactly. Yeah. It's been great having him a kid late. It's always nice to have you on the podcast. Thanks for listening and be safe and be well out there everyone. And remember education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there. [inaudible].

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. In this special edition of the Supercast. We want to make you aware of what Jordan School District is doing in cooperation with the Salt Lake County Health Department to plan for the Coronavirus or COVID-19 and to help prevent the spread of disease and keep students, faculty and staff healthy. This episode of the Supercast was recorded on March 2, 2020. And the information presented is current. As of that date, we'll hear from Salt Lake County Health Department, Epidemiology Manager, Eileen Risk regarding COVID 19. We'll also speak with Director of Custodial Services, Steve Peart about what's being done in schools to help prevent the spread of disease and illness. And we'll speak with Ross Menlove about the digital learning capacities that are built-in here at Jordan School District. Joining us now on the Supercast is Salt Lake County Epidemiologist, Eileen Risk. Thank you very much for taking the time. Can we just start by asking, what would you like parents to know about Coronavirus?

Eileen:
I think it's important for parents to understand that while this is a new virus and it's a novel virus, so that's scary. But the thing to keep in mind is, there are some real simple steps that parents can take to prevent spread of respiratory illnesses, including Coronavirus and including Influenza. And those are good hand-washing, frequently and thoroughly.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I know it might seem obvious to just ask how to wash your hands, but are there some specific tips on how to wash your hands thoroughly to be sure that diseases stop?

Eileen:
Definitely. It's very important when you're washing your hands. Some people sing a song in their head or out loud, depending if they can sing, but make sure that you wash your hands for 20 seconds and that you suds up. It's the friction when you're washing your hands. Make sure that you wash the tips of your fingers, your thumbs, in between your fingers, up through your watch, take off any rings, or if you're wearing them, get underneath the rings. The duration is really important.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the duration and really washing every area of your hands. How frequently should you be washing your hands or when should you be washing your hands?

Eileen:
That's a very good point. The other thing I want parents to recognize is that with hand washing is a good prevention measure, but it's also important to stay home when you are sick and it's always important to wash your hands after you've sneezed or coughed so hopefully you aren't exposing other people if you're ill. So you're in your own home, but you're making sure that you wash your hands after you sneeze or cough. It's important to wash your hands before you eat and after you use the bathroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wash your hands before you eat and after you use the restroom. Now you mentioned staying home. If you have symptoms, what are the symptoms that parents ought to be watching for to keep their child home?

Eileen:
That's very challenging because with Coronavirus. COVID-19 is the designation for this virus, the clinical disease. They need to watch for symptoms of fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Those are fairly common symptoms. So a lot of different illnesses might present with those symptoms. So it's hard to know whether or not it's influenza or another respiratory pathogen, but if the child is sick it's important to contact their healthcare provider. And it's a good idea to not just show up at the health care provider if they have those symptoms, but to call ahead and then the health care provider can instruct them as far as when they're coming in. They might want to put them in an isolated room, put on a mask. If they're coughing, it's always a good idea. It's also important to recognize that right now, with our situation, as it's probably a lot more common, if they've had some sort of known exposure, that's going to change in a hurry. We expect community transmission, but for right now, as far as if a child presented with those symptoms, some of the questions that we would ask as public health is, have you traveled to any of the areas where we know there is known sustained community transmission? Have you had contact with someone who has traveled that may be under investigation as having COVID-19? Those are good indicators that would kind of ratchet up the concern level for a parent.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if a parent finds that their child has those symptoms, they should keep them home. They should call their health care provider. And one of the additional questions will be related to whether there is some level of exposure through travel or through contact with someone who has traveled. Is that correct?

Eileen:
Yes, that's correct. And then they help the provider.  With those lists of symptoms would test for a variety of more commonly seen things they're circulating in our community right here in Salt Lake County now, including influenza and other respiratory pathogens. If all of those tests negative, then depending on the risk factors associated with the child, we might move on to testing for COVID-19. But currently the testing around this virus is very stripped. And so there has to be some sort of risk-based exposure. We're not just routinely testing people who present with those symptoms.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if you have the symptoms, but there's no reason to believe that been exposed, you wouldn't necessarily be tested unless everything else was eliminated as a possibility.

Eileen:
That's correct. And that's why we do think, especially a fair number of people that have this disease don't have really severe symptoms. Some do, but a lot have very mild symptoms and so that's why it could be missed and not recognized. But that's also why we have to find that balance because of the resources we need to make sure that we have the testing capability for the people who are truly at risk.

Anthony Godfrey:
I see. So it is reserving testing capability for when you really have those populations through, right?

Eileen:
For right now, because the testing is limited. We hope in the future, there will be a commercial test and it will probably be just part of it. Right now, there's a panel of tests for when somebody presents with respiratory illness, at some point that might be added to that panel.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we talked about people being at risk. I've heard that children are less at risk than some other populations. Can you speak to that please?

Eileen:
We're not quite sure. The data around this virus is still being compiled to better understand age-specific risk factors, but there have been a handful of children that recently tested positive across the globe. Clearly, most of the cases have occurred among adults and we're especially aware of the adults that have more severe illness. Those tend to be our more senior population or people that have other risk factors or other co-morbidities like diabetes or heart disease.

Anthony Godfrey:
I started the last question with "I've heard" and there's a lot of rumors going around and there is a lot of speculation. Where would you say parents ought to go for the best, most reliable, most up-to-date information about what's happening?

Eileen:
So the best place to research information, there's a couple places and one is Salt Lake County Health Department website. The reason that's a good place is we link all of our information to the Center for Disease Control, which is he premiere place to look for information. If a parent is more interested and wants to dig a little bit deeper from a global perspective, the World Health Organization has an excellent website.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and Salt Lake County Health. Those are three sources for good information.

Eileen:
Yes. Those three, as well as the Utah Department of Health.

Anthony Godfrey:
We read about other countries where school has been closed or public gatherings have been limited. If that were to happen in Utah, and obviously it has not happened yet, but if that were to happen at some point, how would that information come out? Who would be the authority that would make that decision?

Eileen:
So we would take that information very seriously and it would be based upon our epidemiological information we're collecting. We're doing that on a daily basis. We're continuing to monitor people right now. We're looking at their factors, where they'd been, we're continuing to assess any commonalities. And so we would piece that together. And as a local health department, as far as quarantining or shutting down massive events, not going to movies, not going to church, not going to school would come is a a directive from Salt Lake County Health Department. So our local health officer would have the ability, based upon good sound evidence, to make that decision. And then that would be communicated very quickly to the right people, to the right superintendents in the school districts.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. And I've always appreciated the process in working with Salt Lake County Health. You've always been very responsive to our questions and done a great job of providing a consistent and systematic means of providing information so that everyone has the right information and the same information at the same time. So I would anticipate that would be the same in case there's any problem.

Eileen:
Yes, we definitely would want to make sure, from a consistency standpoint, that we're all on the same page and we'd release that information at the same time with a heads-up to all of the people that need to know agencies, our partners, our health care providers, as well as provide that information to the public through the media. And we would continue to assess this as we go through it. This is not the first pandemic that we've been involved with. In 2009, you know, we were heavily involved with the influence of pandemic. And we continued to exercise pandemic preparedness on a regular basis.

Anthony Godfrey:
What would you say to families who are experiencing a high level of anxiety around the possibility of COVID-19 affecting their family.

Eileen:
Parents with a lot of anxiety? My best advice advice would be to rely on credible sources of information. Facebook, some of the social media, aren't always the most credible source of information. So I would take a deep breath and really think whether or not their children are at risk. And so far, we haven't had a single case where exposure has occurred in Utah.

Anthony Godfrey:
We talked about personal hygiene, but is there a level of cleaning that ought to be happening in the home to help prevent the spread of disease as well?

Eileen:
Whenever anyone's sick with respiratory illness, it's important to make sure, in addition to the good hand washing, the things we've talked about and self isolation, that any touch surfaces are cleaned. There's not really a magic answer for how often, but just thorough cleaning as you would typically do in your household and washing linens frequently, and making sure that any kind of light switches, remotes, anything where somebody might touch it and someone else might come along and touch the same piece of equipment, that those things are cleaned. I wouldn't go overboard because you can get pretty fanatic about cleaning, but it's just important to have things is germ-free as possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've been with Eileen Risk, Epidemiologist with Salt Lake County Health Department. If parents want more information, where can they go?

Eileen:
So the parents can visit http://saltlakecityhealth.org for information for Salt Lake County Health Department. And that will also link them to the Centers for Disease Control.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much. I'm sure you're very busy at Salt Lake County Health, and we really appreciate your taking the time to be with us.

Eileen:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, Jordan School District Director of Custodial Services, Steve Peart will join us.

Break:
Do you want ideas for being happier and healthier? I'm McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness Specialist for Jordan School District. Please join us every week for Wellness Wednesday. We do a feature on the Jordan School District website that offers free and simple tips for improving your health and wellness. We cover a variety of topics like reducing stress, better eating habits, and finding more time to build better relationships. Check out Wellness Wednesday every week on the Jordan School District website at http://jordandistrict.org For additional health and wellness resources, visit http://wellness.jordandistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're joined now by Steve Peart, the Director of Custodial and Energy Services for Jordan School District. Steve, can you tell us a little bit about the routine cleaning that is done in schools of all levels?

Steve:
Okay. Well, for the routine cleaning, we have job cards for all of the sweepers and full-time staff and those job cards take them through, step-by-step what should be done every day.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's very organized.

Steve:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is it the JCOS system that evaluates whether those procedures are being followed?

Steve:
Yes, it is. It's we call it the JCOS, which is Jordan Custodial Operating System.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's very structured, right down to the minute what's expected, how much time should be spent on each task. And there's routine cleaning that helps prevent the spread of illness and disease. Can you tell us about some of the routines that help prevent it?

Steve:
Yes. For example, what we call  light duty specialists, if you look down the instructions on their routines, number five says disinfected phones in assigned area, and it says spray disinfected on the cloth and then wipe down the phones. Number six is disinfect classroom sinks and drinking fountains. Number eight says disinfect all classroom doors, door knobs, switches, and places that the public would touch.

Anthony Godfrey:
So there's a very deliberate process to clean up those high touch areas.

Steve:
Yes. And then when we go out to inspect building, we will look at door knobs, door casings because a lot of times the kids will grab the door casing to swing around the door. So we make sure that those areas have been cleaned.

Anthony Godfrey:
I can picture that. Yeah.

Steve:
So there are a lot of areas that just get this regular routine cleaning, but when there's something more intense, sometimes when we've been concerned about a particular school, there is a fogging procedure that we've used before.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's kind of fascinating to really clean the entire school at a deeper level. Tell me more about that.

Steve:
Yeah. If the Department of Health tells us about concern, the next level of cleaning would be we'd go in and we can fog that building and go through the classrooms, go through the buses and that's the next level of cleaning. And that would be recommended from the Health Department.

Anthony Godfrey:
What particular procedures involved? Is it a special machine?

Steve:
Yeah. It's just like a handheld sprayer. We also have a backpack that we can use and it just puts out a very fine mist. As you walk into the room, you'll spray from the inner most part of the room and back out as you spray that room.

Anthony Godfrey:
And on rare occasion, when there has been an issue at a school we've been able to clean the entire school and ensure that it's safe.

Steve:
Yes. We've done that before on schools. We've also done it on buses.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's done as a precaution under the direction of Salt Lake County Health.

Steve:
If the Health Department contacts us and says there's a particular health issue at a school, we can go into what we'd call the next level of disinfecting. And that's where we use the foggers to go in and fog the classroom or the school bus or the entire building, if needed.

Anthony Godfrey:
What substance is used in the fogger.

Steve:
The fogger has a disinfectant in it. It's designed to be able to disinfect around surfaces. So for example, if I was to hold my phone here and spray it, it would also wrap around and hit the back of the phone. So it can go places that would take hundreds of hours to physically wipe down. It can cover the entire room.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you've done this, like you said, with classrooms, entire schools, buses as necessary. How do we protect custodians and sweepers from getting sick themselves, as they're cleaning up?

Steve:
Each task that a custodian or sweeper is assigned to do, we'll have a level of personal protective equipment that is required for that task. And the district provides that equipment for each one of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Depending on the task and depending on the chemical that's being used, there is equipment to help keep the employee safe from infection themselves.

Steve:
That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
All the cleaning that you've described and all of the procedures you've described from disinfecting to fogging clean up, what's already there, but really the best preventative measure is hand-washing.

Steve:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so there's going to be a lot more hand-washing hopefully because that's what's being encouraged, 20 seconds, at least. And we want more and more people to be washing their hands more frequently. That means we need more supplies. How are we for paper towels and soap and supplies in general for cleaning?

Steve:
The warehouse generally keeps stocked with several months ahead of what we need. But in addition to that, we've ordered even more for to stockpile.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we already have plenty of lead and we've ordered even more. We appreciate Steve Peart taking the time to join us up next. We'll talk about our online curriculum and ability to provide instruction to students staying at home, if necessary.

Break:
In Jordan School District, the possibilities are endless for anyone looking to grow with a team of professionals, working together to provide the very best for students in education. If you're looking for a great job with great pay and benefits in a supportive environment, head to http://workatjordan.org and find your future career in Jordan School District. People come for the job and stay for the adventure. Explore the many options apply today at http://workatjordan.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
Welcome back to the Supercast. We have with us today Ross Menlove, Administrator over Digital Learning in the Teaching and Learning Department. And he's here to talk with us about how the District has prepared to provide digital learning, if that's necessary, in case of an outbreak in Utah of the Coronavirus. But really, in lots of other circumstances, just to provide flexibility to parents and students, if for some reason students were required to stay home because of a Coronavirus outbreak, or some other issue, we're well positioned to provide deep, meaningful learning from home.

Ross Menlove:
Exactly. We're pretty much, I would say, one of the most prepared Districts in the State to be able to provide continued instruction to students and students wouldn't would not miss a beat of that core-level of knowledge that they need to progress in their learning. They would have that right there at home and teachers are trained enough to be able to do that right away.

Anthony Godfrey:
And in addition to having that Digital Specialist at each school, we also have a variety of digital experts at the District level that can provide additional support to teachers.

Ross:
Exactly. My team works really closely with every school, providing interactions with every principal and all the teachers. And we could easily push out content within a matter of minutes and hours to be able to train teachers easily on what to do and how to go about providing that content.

Anthony Godfrey:
Ross, can you just give us a little bit of an overview of kind of the training that's happened and some of the options that are available to teachers that can allow them to teach remotely online?

Ross:
Yes, that's a great question. This last year, when we had the previous snow day for 2019, we provided a blended learning course for teachers and pretty much every teacher in Jordan District participated in that course. And as we looked at that, what we decided for this year, we have transitioned our professional development to be more of a school-based professional development. So we are currently, we have a teacher at every single school in Jordan District that is a Digital Teacher Leader. They're a specialist in digital learning. They come and get trained from us each month to be able to use different digital learning and blended learning techniques and teaching tools within the classroom. And we've seen a huge jump in the number of people that are trained in digital learning. An example would be, we have hundreds of teachers every month that are currently participating in training that could be used if students were not at the school physically, but they could still continue their learning at home.

Anthony Godfrey:
So every teacher received blended learning training through a Blended Learning Course last year as a baseline. But we also have hundreds of teachers and more and more teachers receiving additional, advanced digital learning support and training so that they can expand their use of digital learning. And beyond that, we have a teacher that's assigned to every school, that's a specialist.

Ross:
Exactly. And about half of our school principals at all levels have participated in a Blended and Digital Learning Course for Administrators. So they're able to lead different activities for teachers to participate in faculty meetings or different trainings that they're providing to their staff. So pretty much every teacher in Jordan District is participating currently in some form of blended learning, either through their school, through the District trainings, whatever it might be, they've all have examples of using it. And they've all participated as a student and also as a teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's a good point. Participating as a student and as a teacher gives you a different perspective, what the student experience is like and what the teacher experiences.

Ross:
Exactly, they're able for themselves to evaluate on their end. What would good teaching look like if it was completely online and what is good teaching looks like if I use different parts of blended learning and technology within the classroom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now we have a number of different platforms and programs that are available to us to help enhance online learning. Can you describe a few of those?

Ross:
Exactly. We use a couple of different learning management systems, there's Google Classroom, and then also Canvas within each of these learning management systems. There's ways for students to interact with a teacher and also for students to interact with students. The great thing about çanvas and a learning management system is we're allowing kids to be able to design and create their own content. They're not just getting on and consuming more content. They're being active creators of their own content. Being able to share their learning, being able to provide feedback in real time. A couple other tools that we really focus quite a bit on this year is Adobe. Every one of our students in Jordan District from seventh grade up has free access to Adobe.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Adobe is not just creating PDFs. Adobe as a way to provide interactive instruction. Can you describe that a little bit more?

Ross:
Yeah. So they all have access to the Adobe Creative Suite. So they get Photoshop, they get Illustrator and they can go on and create their version of the content that the teacher is asking, but do it in their own way and create that and be able to get trained in a product that they could use those skills in different areas, not just only at school, but also in their own life, in their own interest.

Anthony Godfrey:
You talked about Google Classroom and Canvas, which are two ways to create courses and classroom experiences online. I know we also have access to Nearpod as a District. Can you tell me what Nearpod is involves?

Ross:
Nearpod, what they've done is taken a traditional PowerPoint and now they've made the students an interactive piece within that PowerPoint. So instead of the student just sitting there watching the teacher go through the PowerPoint slide, the student now is an active participant in that PowerPoint. So the teacher might share some information. And then the next slide, the student participates in an activity where they either, they might draw their thinking or they might respond to a question. A great example would be like with math. So the teacher might teach them like a math concept. Then the next slide they have to draw their thinking.

Anthony Godfrey:
They have to draw. What would that look like for them or with reading?

Ross:
They have to read a passage and highlight different parts within that text. So Nearpod allows for creativity. And we just, this last month we did a Nearpod, a Palooza for Jordan District and we had over a hundred teachers come one day and all of them were trained on Nearpod, not just the basics. But also just advanced and how to use that tool to interact with students. So students are active participants in their learning.

Anthony Godfrey:
You talked about Canvas earlier and one of the aspects of Canvas that I like, and perhaps this is true of other programs as well, parents can get involved and they can be logged in right along with the student and be very involved in their child's school.

Ross:
Exactly. You know, we have Canvas and parents can see what's happening. They can see what's being what, whether students are doing the same with Nearpod, all the Nearpods. We would push out parents get access to those Nearpods and see what the learning is. And they could be active participants with their child in being able to go through the content and be able to ask them questions. And the wonderful thing is that with technology and with Canvas and as parents work with that, with their kids, the parents were able to see the type of questions and the type of learning so they can help. They can take those questions and use them in other areas of life and other times where they have conversations with their children.

Anthony Godfrey:
Allowing parents to be involved at a deeper level in a child's learning rather than simply logging on to a Skyward and looking up grades and that sort of thing. Parents can really be involved in the content and see where a student may be struggling and provide some help.

Ross:
Exactly. It allows parents to be right next to them, and also learning with them. That's a great thing with the digital content is the parents can also participate in it.

Anthony Godfrey:
We appreciate the work you've done in the last few years, Ross, moving us forward in digital learning and in our capability and helping provide that flexibility for students and teachers. And hopefully we won't need to use it a districtwide in the case of an emergency, but if we do, we're well-prepared to do so.

Ross:
Well, thank you. You know, I think the message that we communicate to teachers every time we meet with them is we want students to become active creators, using technology right. Not just passive consumers. When they use technology, when it comes to learning and teaching here in Jordan District, they're actively creating. They're showing their learning in different ways and in ways that have never been done before. But in ways that are needed as they continue through their life, especially with the increases in technology and what's expected of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Great way of putting it. Active creators versus passive consumers. Thanks very much, Ross.

Ross:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks to everyone for being part of this special edition of the Supercast and thanks to parents for supporting our efforts as Jordan School District works to keep students and staff healthy in a productive learning environment. And 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. Today, I get my hands dirty as part of a race car pit crew. When we stopped by the pathways to professions, career expo, thousands of students in Jordan school district and other districts attend this event over the course of two days, it's similar to a job fair where they get to meet local business and industry leaders looking to hire students sometimes on the spot. So who's hiring, let's find out We're at the mountain America expo center with our CTE director. Jason Skidmore. Tell us about this event today. We have all kinds of people here.

Jason Skidmore:
Yeah. This is our annual pathways to professions where students and industry get together from all over that region. We've got just over about 80 some different industry partners represented here to kind of a career fair on steroids and a lot of energy going on, kids looking at all different kinds of career options and job options and places they can get started.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's really amazing. Just how many opportunities there are here. How, how many representatives you have from a really wide range of industry?

Jason Skidmore:
Oh, it's just incredible. The industry's been so supportive and this is one of the things they've, this is now our fifth year and they look forward to getting in front of students and showing them what opportunities are available to them. We'll have over the course of these two days about 7,000 students will come through and get the opportunity to, to get a little taste of what's going on out there in the workforce.

Anthony Godfrey:
These are high paying careers that don't always require a college degree and many times pay for the training. And so it's a no cost. You just have to be interested in willing isn't that right?

Jason Skidmore:
Exactly. It's almost like you say a scholarship. A lot of our industry refer to that. They, you hire on in an entry level position, or even above entry level with some of these companies based on the classes you're taking at your local high school. And so, and then these guys will pay for you to go back and finish your degree and any training that you might need along the way. So great opportunities for kids and even, even they might find something, you know, might not do it for the rest of their life, but it'll give them a skill set that they can always fall back on to as they pursue whatever they do throughout the future. So,

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure. It's great to have options. There are amazing opportunities here. Let's walk over. I see this huge looks like a cement mixer, but I don't know. I don't know my big trucks. Well, you know,

Jason Skidmore:
You're, you're right. You've, you've hit it just right on. This is Clyde Companies. They are one of our biggest sponsors over the years. They do a lot with the heavy equipment operators, as well as the construction industry. And certainly it's a need in our growing state and they have phenomenal opportunities for kids. So let's talk to them.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent for Jordan School District.

Clyde:
Nice to meet you at your new restaurants. I work for Geneva Rock Products as an Assistant Supervisor for the shop.

Anthony Godfrey:
Describe what some of the opportunities are for students in high school.

Clyde:
When it comes to diesel tech, one of the biggest opportunities is, and I really drive this in, we participate in it as a job shadow. So several things that the opportunity offers. One of them is concurrent enrollment, that's where they can pick up college credits at a high school level that gets paid for by the District. Huge savings to a parent or a student that is something that they should take advantage of. One of the things that all of us are doing, and I'm actually one that does it for Geneva Rock, is we invite the kids out for four hours on a day with us. They come out to our facility, we take them and show them Margaret Kanipes. We show them what we do. We let them visit with our mechanics and it just exposes them to what a mechanics does. So it gives them the first line on here's a mechanic. He's actually working on stuff,  so talk to him about whatever his tooling is, whatever his jobs are, whatever his experience is that works out well.

Anthony Godfrey:
Student interests aligned with a Diesel Tech Program, what would draw a student to a Diesel Tech Program? What sorts of skills, what they want to have?

Clyde:
Engineering is a big skill. Working with their hands. Hand coordination is obviously a big deal in equipment. One thing we try to do, when we bring our students out to our facility, we show them obviously the mixers and the concrete, the construction world, the graders. I work at the point of the mountain in the sand and gravel pit. So we get to deal with the bulldozers and the great big, heavy equipment. Every kid loves that. That's why I did it. Kids of all ages. Absolutely. I've been doing this for 31 years now for Geneva Rock. I did the same thing when I was a senior in high school, I was in the Diesel Program. I hired on at Geneva Rock at 18. Been with them ever since, but my attraction was the big equipment. I loved equipment. Still do. I mean, that's one of my fascinations.

Anthony Godfrey:
You love big equipment, love working with your hands, interested in engineering? This is maybe something that students ought to investigate. Come talk to me. And it sounds like there are great opportunities for them too, like you said, to work below, alongside the mechanic, look at how that goes and kind of see what it's going to be like if they decide to pursue it as a career.

Jason Skidmore:
Absolutely. If you love mechanics, something that you might want to do.

Clyde:
I mean, I love building things. I love repairing things. I love the feeling of having something brought down. You take the pride in getting that fixed and fixed right. That the doors that opened up after that for 31 years of working with Geneva Rock. I'm now a State Highway Safety Inspector for them. Geneva Rock does all their own safety inspections. I'm one of the inspectors for them. That's an awesome job to have.

Anthony Godfrey:
So describe to us a little bit about what that entails.

Clyde:
So just like your own personal Safety Johnny, Utah doesn't do it anymore. But what we used to doin our state for your car, you do inspections. UDOT requires the companies to still do State Inspections. Geneva Rock does their own. I'm one of the inspectors. So we'll pull the example. We'll pull that truck in and we go through it from bumper to bumper. We check the steering, the tie rod, and if the ball joints, the brakes, the air systems, the lights, everything that falls underneath the realm of safety, we do that. And then, obviously, our shop mechanics find a problem or something that fails in inspection, we fix it onsite.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if someone is interested in this, what's the chance of getting a job? There are lots of job opportunities aren't there?

Clyde:
Absolutely.

Clyde:
In fact, all of that's what everyone here, we're all here trying to get these kids interested in working for us.

Jason Skidmore:
Five companies help us. We've got Sun Rock, WW, Clyde, Geneva Rock. We're all trying to get these students to come work for us. So that's what RAF.

Clyde:
So whether it be me, specifically, we're trying to get all the kids here to come talk to us. Whether it be in construction, crushers, driving the truck. I try to single out the mechanic side of them. And then I put the angle on and hey, we need to get you into Salt Lake Community College or UVU, or one of these Mountain Land, one of the tech schools as a mechanic. And let's get you set up going. Then when you graduate from there, come see us. We'll get you in as an intern, we'll get you work.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good for us. And all these huge trucks do grab your attention. You have a really good show and tell game here.

Clyde:
Well, I appreciate it. You know, it works out well. We've actually brought a driver of this truck. The interesting thing about this truck is the day we set up here, not yesterday day. Before we brought this truck right off of the job site, delivering concrete, sprayed it off and drove it in here.

Anthony Godfrey:
And so this is the real deal. These are not props.

Clyde:
That's the truck that actually makes the money for us. So yeah, it's pretty cool. And we actually brought a driver with that truck that the students want to go check out. They want to get in it. They want to sit in the seat. They know what it's like to sit in the mixer truck. We can do that for them. So it's pretty cool hands-on kind of thing.

Jason Skidmore:
When I was part of that inaugural Diesel Tech Program or the launch of the program, I got to talk with some folks from industry and hear about some of the opportunities. And I just started to think about members of my family, even that I wish had known about this earlier on, because they're good with their hands but they haven't pursued a career like this.

Anthony Godfrey:
If someone's interested in this, what do they need to do now?

Jason Skidmore:
So the very best way now, with the day and age we're in, now is go to our website. We have got a pamphlet, there's information on the website. It has got all of our companies. They post all of the job openings and coming into the spring time, right now we're going to be slamming the postings because of all the construction sites that are going to start ramping up. And when they start ramping up the sand and gravel, the crushers, all of that, the asphalt paving starts coming up. Postings are going to start flying. So we've already got a ton of driver openings right now. We can't get enough drivers. So wherever you start, there are lots of places to go from that, lots to learn, get your foot in the door. And yeah, there's a job for you. There's the website, clydecareers.com. You can go to that, you can look it up and that'll pull up all of our companies and all of our job postings will be there.

Clyde:
So yeah, clydecareers.com and it tells you how you need to be to apply. We can start them out at 18 at an entry level position. Some of the positions, I believe like being a mixer driver and stuff, they gotta be 21, but that's a rule there, right? But at 18 you can get your foot in the door and get things underway. Get you on a crusher. We can get you in the shop. We can get you on a construction job site. I started there at 18. I've been there ever since. So now I'll be 50 this year. And the man has a smile on his face. These three decades have gone well. It's been good for me. Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, Geneva Rocks. Thank you very much. It's so nice meeting you. Thanks for your time. Good luck.

We're going to take a break. And when we come back, I find out if I would make the cut as part of a race car pit crew. And we discover, to no one's surprise, that everything's better with bacon.

Break:
We stopped by to hear about the opportunities for students in culinary arts and sample a bacon wrap date. Wasn't my very first date. Find out after in Jordan School District, the possibilities are endless for anyone looking to grow with a team of professionals, working together to provide the very best for students in education. If you're looking for a great job with great pay and benefits in a supportive environment, head to http://workatjordan.org and find your future career in Jordan School District People come for the job and stay for the adventure. Explore the many options apply today at http://workatjordan.org.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now let's head back to the Pathways to Professions Careers Expo, where we find out what's cooking here from students who are trying to get the upper hand in landing a good job that could become a pathway to a successful career. Hello, I'm Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent for Jordan School District.

Jeffrey:
Pleasure to see meet you. I'm Jeffrey Coker, Associate Dean for the Culinary Institute at Salt Lake Community College.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what have you been demonstrating?

Jeffrey:
Well today we have a couple of different things that we've been working on with the students in attendance. We're teaching students to just have fun with some classic knife cuts. So one of the cuts that we're making is a tornado potato. So a tornado potato is a classic French knife guide that you would use to garnish different dishes. And then the other thing that we're going to get going here in a little bit, we have some delicious wraps which Vanessa is going to make.

Vanessa:
We have some delicious bacon wrap dates. So once the bacon starts cooking, your nose will lead you to the pan and you will be happy, happy. A crowd will gather here. So our job today is just to kind of expose people to what we do. I'm fortunate enough where I get be on the FAC as Advisory Board for Granite and Canyon School Districts. So I love getting out and meeting with the faculty members and the students at the schools. I also work with the ProStart organizations through the Utah Restaurant Association. I serve as a mentor and a judge, so I try to get out to as many schools that participate as possible to help them become better at what they do, and try to expose people to good food, great technique, and develop a passion for this field.

Anthony Godfrey:
So if a student is interested in something like this, they can enroll in classes at Salt Lake Community College and pursue what sorts of careers.

Vanessa:
Absolutely. So at Salt Lake Community College, we're open enrollment. We have a an Associate of Applied Science and Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management with our Culinary Arts degree. Our students can either earn a degree in baking and pastry or culinary arts, savory food. And for us, when our students leave, we have students in all different aspects of the industry. So everything from prep, cook and line cook at resorts, hotels, small restaurants, food truck, on the hospitality management side, front desk, food servers, all kinds of stuff. And the great thing about it, if you want to learn more about our programs, slcc.edu/culinary arts or hospitality management. And we'll be happy to help you out if you're interested. There are lots of jobs out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Are there plenty of jobs? The unemployment rate in Utah, Salt Lake County is so low.

Vanessa:
We have students that are not hurting for finding jobs and great jobs at that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now I see these dates wrapped in bacon as a professional. Can you tell me, is there anything that does not get better when it's wrapped in bacon?

Vanessa:
No, that is the biggest myth. It has to be wrapped in bacon. That's an industry standard.

Anthony Godfrey:
You can't see this on the podcast right now, but this is not called fat. This is called experience. And for those who can't smell this through the microphone, the bacon is now cooking and the happiness is flowing through the air as you predicted.

Vanessa:
Yeah. You should get the microphone closer to the sizzle of the pan.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's get a little sizzle. That's good. So this has started cooking over there. I haven't thought about putting dates wrapped in bacon, so you can pretend it's healthy.

Vanessa:
You have the salty and the sweet mix together. So it's a great combination. So these were wrapped and then they were baked or roasted in the oven, just until they were about halfway, done cooking. Most of the fat is rendered off and then you bring them out here and you finish them off in a little saute pan like this, over a medium heat. And that finishes them, not to mention when you start smelling it, your mouth starts watering pleasure meeting. Right?

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Let's try this date. Hmm. That's a great first date when it's wrapped in bacon.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where are you from young man?

Student:
Hunter High.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, tell us about your experience here today. Your answer has been so far really good.

Student:
I really liked this culinary Salt Lake City Community college right here, because that's what I'm trying to go into. Right now I'm going into Culinary for Hunter High. And this is just another step up for me, trying to go into teaching French cuisine.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it attracts you to the idea of preparing French cuisine?

Student:
Most likely I look at it as kind of a beauty of art because the more beautiful it is, the more tasty. So it's about the presentation and putting together something beautiful and as a result tastes great.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now let's head to one of the automotive booths sponsored by Salt Lake Community College here at the Expo. So tell us what setup you have here.

Exhibitor:
Basically ,it's a cutaway fiberglass car. And it's kind of like a set up of a NASCAR-type event. So it's just for fun to try to get the young people excited about what we do. Give me automotive and automotive might be automatic transmission, teach students how to do automatic or manual transmission reader. First thing we need to do is evaluate where we're going to have your target. So let's take a look at the leaderboard and see you. Obviously you can see kind of evaluate where your target is. We've got a loop pay from Horizonte School, had a 12.3, seven seconds to do all four and full attire off. And so that's your target if you want

Anthony Godfrey:
To get number one is the fastest. I'd like you to kind of size me up, just by the looks of me. How do you think I'm going to do?

Exhibitor:
You're going to be, I'm going to say probably about 35, maybe 38 seconds. That's what I'm thinking.

Anthony Godfrey
I've just said to be an honest evaluation.

Exhibitor:
I'm an evaluator. This is what I do is assess.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm not going to be any time soon. What I feel bad about is that's a low enough bar that if I don't even meet that, I'm really going to be embarrassed.

Exhibitor:
You're going to do good. So we've got the walk here. So we're going to push this button. That's going to be removed. I'll have that set for you, but we're going to go in.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is this device?

Exhibitor:
This is an impact branch electrically. Yes. Electric batteries, 20 volt.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's one. Name one impact wrench. I mean, is this like we could call the steady or is this the beetle?

Exhibitor:
That's correct. We're going to go on there. We need to align it first. So you got it aligned with the lug and you're going to go ahead and release that. And it's got to spin far enough out that all five lugs are going to spin out and we hold it straight and you spin them all the way out. Now the tire will come out. It'll go back and we made our tire chains. We pushed the button to change direction and we need to go back.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I'm fine to loosen them all up, take the tire off, put it back on and pat me down?

Exhibitor:
Correct. I know there's definitely a lot of pressure. It's NASCAR. I mean, the team is counting on you. Our sponsors and NASCAR can do it in about six to seven seconds. F1 does it in three seconds, but they don't just change one tire. They change all four. So you can change four tires in six to seven seconds, or you can change four tires in three seconds. So there's no real big pressure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, my, my, my pit crew is on the line.

Exhibitor:
That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Well, I don't want to let the sponsors down. Here we go.

Exhibitor:
Alright, here we go. Spit them all the way. Here we go off back. Push them out and push. There you go. There we go. It's going to be a new world. Awesome. That's awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, thank you very much. I was so excited. I just kept holding on to the impact wrench.

Exhibitor:
Yeah. We're trying to get them excited about what they're doing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Yeah. That's the point. That's more adrenaline than I normally experience. It's an afternoon of work. So that's 40 Noon. Nice to meet you. Who do you represent?

Exhibitor:
I represent UMC, which is Utah Mechanical Contractors.

Anthony Godfrey:
And why are you here talking with students?

UMC rep:
We're here to talk, working with students to let them know that there are more options for them besides these high technical careers, and to let them know that trades people are very important people in our community. It's a great way to earn a living and become great at what they do. That's what we love to do, which are the trades that we represent. We represent both HVAC and Plumbing, which is heating and air conditioning and plumbing.

Anthony Godfrey:
So have you had some interest here today, some kids stopping by?

UMC rep:
We really have. We had quite a few stop by and ask us about what it takes to get into the trade. There's so many programs with us, paying for apprenticeships and everything like that.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's a debt-free scholarship for them to get into the working class. So if parents know that their child likes hands-on work, like plumbing, or might be interested in HVAC, what should they do to help get their child connected with these programs and these opportunities to get training at no cost?

UMC rep:
Oh, there's a lot of outreach programs that try to get youth into the trades and you see it all across television. You see it all across everything, trying to get good young people back into the trades. I think the best thing to do would be to just contact a local plumbing or mechanical contractor. They would help them get in place with these things because most of all of them, I believe, have apprenticeship programs. So if you're interested in doing some hands-on work, lots of companies are going to help pay for the training that's required for you to be properly licensed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Absolutely. Let's try something out here.

UMC Rep:
Yeah. Well, this is a pipe threading machine. This is what we use to run gas lines. This is what we use to run stainless steel pipe, some plastic tubing and stuff like that. So what it does is actually create the threads onto the pipe so that you can join it together.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, to someone with my level of mechanical training, it just looks like something out of a horror movie.

UMC Rep:
So this is called a bias to select that centrifical bias. So I'm going to cut this off real quick so we can start from scratch here. All right. So I'm going to put threads on the end of this pipe. I'm gonna explain this to you. This is the foot pedal. It's got a protective guard on it, so you cannot accidentally step on it while you're using the machine.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's a good idea.

UMC Rep:
This is the thread set. It comes right down. This lever actually engages the threads. This is the push lever right here. So what you want to do is go ahead and close this down right here and engage the threads once you to step on the pedal to rotate the bias. It doesn't matter if I put the left or right. It's not there. Now. What I want you to do is gently force this into the pipe.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Do I just push it on there until it starts to thread?

UMC Rep:
No, it's going to do it by itself because it's actually threading.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah.

UMC Rep:
So you just want to wait for the pipe to get to the end of their teeth, then release your foot off the pedal.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. I think I can do that.

UMC Rep:
Perfect. Wait for it to come to a complete stop, release the threads. All right. Grab the lever and pull it towards you. The black, the long line. There you go. Then grab this and flip it up out of the way, the whole thing. There you go. Now we can just grab this right here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. And then we can release it and that's all there is to it. All right. Nice threads, man. Nice threads. Hey, that's great. It does give you a sense of accomplishment. It really does not get that always in my day today, sending an email doesn't give the same sense of satisfaction.

UMC Rep:
That's right. And the best thing, you know, being a tradesman is you get done. You step off your ladder, you look back, you appreciate what you've done and what you give to the community, because this is how we built this, how would we live without tradesmen.

Anthony Godfrey:
We take tradesmen for granted. That's for sure.

UMC Rep:
Yes, exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you. It's really a pleasure meeting with you. That's awesome.

Students:
So tell us your names. Sam Springer, Cole Jenkins, Jacqueline Marsh, Daisy Miller, Chloe Fixit.

Anthony Godfrey:
Been here all day today, traveling around, checking out the booths. What have you seen that you like?

Student:
I saw that there was this game where you drive dump trucks. It was pretty dark.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you had a simulator where you were having driving a dump truck. Does this make you want to drive a dump truck?

Student:
Probably not, as those things are pretty big. It was a little intimidating.

Student:
Well, there were lots of cars and trucks and those are pretty cool. I changed a tire on one. Did in less than a minute.

Student:
I spent a minute.

Anthony Godfrey:
I did it in less than a minute as well.

Student:
The medical stuff is something really cool. And like this kind of exam stuff, preschools, I was going to let me teach you how to set a new CPR on a baby.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks you guys.

Students:
Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Anthony Godfrey:
As you heard, the kids got a lot out of this experience and so did I. It's impressive just how many careers are available and how eager employers are to hire students. Thanks again for joining us on the Supercast. And remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.