Supercast

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was a project that was made for Black History Month at Herriman High School, and it had a musical twist.

On this episode of the Supercast, we introduce you to some members of the Black Student Union who organized an amazing display celebrating the accomplishments of iconic Black musicians dating back to the 1960s. Join us as we travel back in time, getting to know the talented artists and music that made history, as well as some recent recommendations.

I'm here with five of the students that are part of the Black Student Union here at Herriman High School. Why don't you introduce yourselves and tell a little bit about yourself.

Efrain:
Hello, my name is Efrain Villa Matos. I normally go by Effie. I have been a member of this club since its inception, and I am a musician and a student at Herriman High School.

Trace:
My name is Trace Pounds. I'm the president of the BSU. A little bit about myself is I'm an athlete. I do track and basketball and also like doing art and stuff.

Nigel:
My name is Nigel Feese. I do track with the president, and I'm also part of the social media team for the BSU.

Elsie:
Hi, I'm Elsie Rhys. I'm the secretary of BSU, and I play the cello.

Ariel:
Hi, my name is Ariel. I am a musician and an athlete. I'm part of BSU.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, you're all obviously very involved in a number of things at school. Tell me about BSU, what it means to you, how it started, all of that.

Student:
Sure, I feel like all of us have been friends ever since we kind of came to this school. So when Miss Codella kind of approached us to start a Black Student Union, it was something pretty inspiring to us because obviously being just not white in Herriman High School, we are kind of different. So having that safe space for us to just be able to hang out with our friends was incredible. I mean, us just being able to be ourselves together was really important to our tenure at this school, and so to me, this is something very important and something I love being a part of.

Student:
Yeah, that's the same thing for me. We're just having that safe space is just really useful, and like you can meet new friends, you can talk to people, and you can feel safe rather than you kind of just go out and you don't know what people are going to say or how they're going to treat you. Just having a safe space for people to meet and talk to each other.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Student:
Yeah, I like it just as a sense of community with people who are like me, and I just get to relate to.

Student:
Adding on to what they said, me and Ariel were from Brooklyn, so the difference in culture here was very shocking. Just having a community for us to be able to express ourselves and have similarities with other students, it's very comforting.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about this display. Who was most responsible for the display here?

Student:
We all had our parts, and obviously I kind of just went over and assigned people, because we want to give them leadership opportunities and opportunities to have creative control. So we had all the decades listed that we wanted to feature, and then we were like, "Hey, I need to have like two to three people sign up for each of them." So I know that we had many different people, but my main one that I focused on that I kind of was a part of is the 2010s.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, let's go look at the 2010s. Is that Kendrick Lamar there?

Student:
Yep, Kendrick Lamar, yes. And we also wanted to talk about black artists and musicians, but also other things that they do. Because not only do they create music, but they also create a sense of community. I talked a little bit like Tyler, the Creator, how not only did he influence music, is he also streetwear and just kind of how people dressed in general. Where it's like music doesn't, it's not just music, it changes culture. So yeah, not only talking about things that they've done in music, but things that they other.

Anthony Godfrey:
What's your favorite album by Tyler, the Creator? Because I spoke with a student just the other day who was telling me about one I need to listen to.

Student:
Yeah, he has a lot of good ones. Some of my favorites, I'll probably say Igor.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's the same one they mentioned is Igor.

Student:
Okay, I'm a bit of a traditionalist and my favorite by him is Cherry Bomb, which is the least favorite by everyone else, but, I love it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So I start with Igor, and I go to Cherry Bomb. So I get the full range.

Student:
I would probably go to Flower Boy before I went to Cherry Bomb.

Student:
It's a more, it eases you into it, because his music is very out there. So Flower Boy is very avant-garde or whatever.

Anthony Godfrey:
So maybe I need to listen to all of his stuff. That's what you're telling me.

Student:
Yes, and definitely even watching like a video. When I was doing research for it, like watching video essays, I'm like, “Wow". There's like, it's a lot more depth to not only is he's telling a story, like even in his first three albums, last two mixtapes, he told a story about someone where it wasn't, it's not just individual albums standing on their own. It's like a whole story that comes together.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Student:
And I was mostly responsible for the 2000s, but I kind of like to talk about why we chose to do music as a whole. I mean, obviously, for Black History Month, a lot of people focus on like, a lot of the civil rights activists and a lot of the people who acted during slavery to help free the slaves. And that is an important thing, but we want to kind of stray away from that and show kind of the modern Black people. Some of the most influential people in our country have been these Black artists. And obviously, in the modern day, as a whole, like artists, musicians and directors, and influencers as a whole are some of the most important people responsible for like what we consume as a whole, and what we see every day. So we thought it was pretty important for us to shine upon some of the most influential artists of well, the past like seven decades or so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sure.

Student:
I covered the 2000s. You know, I'll be completely honest, I'm not necessarily like the biggest fan of all of these musicians. But you know, we got Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Mariah Carey, there's Kanye West, Beyonce, I mean, you can't not know their names.

Anthony Godfrey:
There are some greats that came out of that era for sure. Tell me about these other areas. What is your favorite era? 2000s is not, tell me what's your preference?

Student:
Probably like 1000%, like either the 90s or the 2010s. I grew up in the 2010s and all my favorite artists are from the 2010s. You know, people like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, incredible musicians. And you know, I grew up listening to them and I was there for the release of some of the projects. So that was really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it means something different when you were there when they first came out. It's different to listen to it when it's new. Speaking of which, I was listening to things that were new in the 80s. Any 80s music that you particularly like?

Student:
Well, yeah, like the start of hip hop, people with Nas at the end of the 80s, who are like pretty much set the wave for like that. Also, like a lot of R&B artists, and like, just a lot of influential things. And although I can't like name all of them once I hear it, like, it's just, comes back to me

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, sure. Is there something that surprised you about music or that you discovered by putting these displays together?

Student:
Definitely just like looking at like, even though I really kind of focused on one even just reading through a couple of them, like, wow, there's just a lot of people that like I knew the names of, but I didn't know necessarily what they did and learning more about them. I was like, oh, that's that putting a name to the face in like a career as well.

Student:
Yeah, it's kind of insane how almost like the grand majority of the most influential artists across all these decades, were all black musicians, they really paved the way and led the culture and it's just, it's really cool.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you hope people take away from seeing this display?

Student:
Kind of just like acknowledgement to where it's like, what kind of how he said is like a lot of prolific artists throughout the years are black and just like realizing black culture and stuff and their influence on the community as well.

Student:
Yeah, I would just say like acknowledgement and appreciation for like artists throughout the decades and just like what they've done and the impact they've had.

Student:
Because you know, this is a little more than the music, right? To just like kind of see past just the music and really see the people who made it.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with the advisor for the Black Student Union. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about how this got started.

Vickey Codella:
My name is Vickey Codella and we started the Black Student Union last year. We got started a little bit late in the year, but we have really taken off this year. We've done a trunk or treat in October. We did a fundraiser for our school-wide Hearts of Gold thing. And then we did our setup for the Black History Month walkthrough museum for the students. We're just trying to be a big presence in the school and be of service and also have a strong voice.

Anthony Godfrey:
What impact do you want the club to have in Herriman High School?

Vickey Codella:
The kids who are a part of it, I just love watching them blossom into having a voice and feeling confident in who they are. So that's been really pleasant. And also like showing up for the Principal's Roundtable and just having a strong presence in the school, which is nice. And I just hope that the kids that are not part of the club can see that and appreciate their efforts and who they are.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you so much for everything you do. I know you're very active in supporting students in the BSU, and thanks for taking time with us today.

Vickey Codella:
Of course, thank you for coming.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. We'll talk more about the talented musicians and familiar tunes that made history, as well as some current recommendations from high school students in the know.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me your name.

Student:
I'm Brenden Schmidt.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the '60s display here.

Student:
So this one is Ray Charles. That's the one I did personally. He's like one of the most influential singers. And another song, this is kind of from the '70s, one of my favorite songwriters and singers, Donny Hathaway. I sang one of his songs at our cultural assembly at our school.

Anthony Godfrey:
Which one did you sing by Donny Hathaway?

Student:
It's called "Love, Love, Love."

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Student:
It's a little bit older. It meant a lot to me because he's one of my favorite artists and he puts a lot of feeling into his music. And even if he doesn't write it, he makes it his own music.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love Donny Hathaway. Actually, I love his Christmas music too. What's the song? "This Christmas." That's a good one.

Student:
Yeah, that's great.

Anthony Godfrey:
Since you chose to feature music for Black History Month, tell me what are, who is your favorite? I know you were each assigned a decade. Tell me about your favorite recording artist. I'm a huge music fan, so you got to tell me the artist and you've got to tell me the album that I need to listen to from that artist so you can expand my horizon a little bit.

Student:
Especially recently, Smino, he's one of my favorite guys to listen to. I've just kind of, I've especially started listening to music more and more in the past couple of years. And just like, he's been one of the artists that I've discovered recently that I just like.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is he new? Is he part of a group previously?

Student:
He's been in the industry for about like 10 years. He is a new artist. That's when he like kind of started becoming popular. He is part of like the alternative R&B movement that like people like Frank Ocean led, but he kind of spearheaded and put towards more of a bubbly kind of fun wave. Smino, incredible artist. I absolutely love him.

Student:
And I just love so many of his songs where it's not, it doesn't necessarily all sound the same. Like he does a lot of different things and it all sounds great.

Student:
I would say my favorite artist is SZA because I used to listen to her a lot when I was a kid. And growing up in Brooklyn, we used to listen to her all the time. And now being in Utah, it's like so different. So listening to her reminds me of who I am and where I came from.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Now I saw SZA on the Grammys and she's really taken off. Were you listening to her in the early days?

Student:
Yeah, I listened to her before anybody else knew her. I'm an original fan.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what should I listen to first?

Student:
I would say Love Galore because my mom used to play it all the time.

Student:
My favorite artist is Quadeca, but I think a more relevant artist to talk about is one of my most influential musicians. His name is Slauson Malone. Interesting person, but he makes masterpieces. I think his albums are really experimental. I like how they take elements of like old soul records, but as well as mixing it with live instrumentation. He was previously in a jazz band called Standing on That Corner. And I like how he mixes bits and pieces from so many different eras to tell a story in the modern world. It's kind of scary music, definitely very experimental and not for the average listener. But if you're into weird stuff, you might like it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great. Experimental for sure. What else?

Student:
My favorite artist right now, I've been listening to more music as well recently, but my favorite artist right now is Lucki. My personal favorite album by him is probably his first one. I generally forgot about it. But my favorite song is probably Count on Me 2. And I just like them because it's different from what a lot of people like now. And either that or Frank Ocean too. And Frank Ocean–

Student:
Even though he hasn't dropped recently, his music is still good.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, he is kind of an enigma.

Student:
My current favorite artist is uh, it's a Sleepy Hallow and Sheff G. There are two people that grew up around the New York area.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sleepy Hollow and Sleep G?

Student:
Sheff G.

Anthony Godfrey:
Sheff G. Okay, tell me about them.

Student:
Um, they’re just two people that grew up around New York. They just grew up together. I listen to their music a lot. I like it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And are they taking off?

Student:
Uh, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Can I find their stuff to stream?

Student:
Oh, 100%.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is there a particular album or um, mixtape?

Student:
The newest one that I found is From the Can by Sheff G. And the other one from Sleepy is, I don't remember the album name, but he just recently dropped some new music.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm gonna have to do a follow-up with you guys after I've listened to all this stuff. Well, it's been a real pleasure talking to all of you. Uh, good luck with all of the remaining BSU activities this year. And uh, great job on the display. It's awesome talking music with you. And like I said, I'm gonna go back and download all these on title and get listening.

Student:
Thank you for your time. Thank you for putting us in the spotlight. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He is a long-time physical education teacher who has been making fitness fun and inspiring students for many years.

On this episode of the Supercast, we head to the gym at Copper Mountain Middle School. There we find out why PE teacher Patrick Keating and specialist Tricia Rojas are passionate about finding interesting ways to keep kids active and why it is so important, especially in middle school.

We're here at Copper Mountain Middle School to talk about physical education with Pat Keating and Tricia Rojas. I'll give you just a moment to introduce yourselves.

Pat Keating:
I'm Pat Keating and I've been at Copper Mountain Middle for, this is my 11th year. Total years of teaching this is the 33rd year for me.

Tricia Rojas:
Hi, I'm Tricia Rojas. I'm the Health and PE specialist for Jordan School District. I support all of our Health and PE teachers as they support our students. I've been in this district for five years now, started out my teaching career in Texas, and really happy to be here. Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
You spent time in the military as well.

Tricia Rojas:
That's true.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about all the things you've done that have led you to this point.

Tricia Rojas:
Well, so I did. I went right in the military when I graduated high school and worked on weapon systems. In the military, you get a side duty or a collateral duty in addition to your normal job. Mine was to facilitate the fitness test that all military personnel are supposed to do every six months. I would hold that and then anyone who didn't pass, I would train them for the next six months and get them into shape, get them ready. I ended up loving that job more than my main job that I was there to do. That's where I started, I got my interest in fitness and health.

After the military, I went into the fitness industry where I became a personal trainer, got my kinesiology degree. As time went on, my husband was a teacher, he was a coach, and inspired me. So I went into education and ended up loving it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that. That's a great range of experience that you bring to help support teachers. Now Mr. Keating, I'm going to have to call you Mr. Keating. I'm a Big Dead Poet Society fan. Mr. Keating.

Pat Keating:
Seize the day.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, that's right. Tell us about where you first got interested in fitness and the journey that brought you here. I know you've worked at a lot of different schools with a lot of people that you and I have in common over the years.

Pat Keating:
Yeah, for sure. First of all, I played sports my whole life. I couldn't get enough of sports. I pretty much dabbled in just about every sport known to man. In college, I played football up at Idaho State and stuff. I didn't go into the military. I had all four brothers who went into the military, I was the only one that didn't. They said, "If you can go play football in college, you go play football." So I did.

And then I just, for whatever reason, sports just became such a part of my life and fitness and stuff. I just thought, "You know what? This would be a great thing for me to pursue." So I went into education and I got a double major in special education and physical education. So I have bounced back and forth with the two. I think I've spent 14 years in special ed and this is my 19th year in physical education.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that shows your range as an educator to be able to be such an effective special educator and switch to physical education. And like I said, you're iconic. Lots of people know you and really admire the work you do as an educator. Talk to me about the impact that a physical education class can have on a student.

Tricia Rojas:
Well, the PE teacher has a unique place in the school and an opportunity to reach kids in a way that the classroom teacher doesn't have the opportunity for. So being able to take the kid, get them moving and give them this free space and judgment-free zone to just try, rather than being a competitive thing or for a grade. Just try. See what you can do. Set your own goals. Try to reach them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me, Pat, tell me about the impact that you've seen over the years of physical education on individual students.

Pat Keating:
Well, I've seen kids totally blossom. I've had kids come in that, like you said, they had no sports background. They had no confidence in doing things. They wanted to kind of stand in the shadows because they'd see other kids that played football or basketball or all these sports.

So my big thing is, which we were just playing, is floor hockey. It's a sport that– hockey in general is a sport that's not huge in Utah. So I usually like to start a semester or a quarter out with floor hockey. And I tell the kids, “Look, who plays hockey in here? Sometimes I get one hand go up. Sometimes I don't have any with 40 or 50 kids. And I tell all the kids, “Look around, see how many great hockey players we have in here.” And I said “You're all starting at the same level. It doesn't matter if these other kids play sports. This is a totally different sport. They have no background in it.” And for whatever reason, it kind of lights a fire underneath them to like, ‘hey, you know what? I mean, they don't have any experience in this either.’ And they get out there and they start trying.

And man, I see some kids that are so kind of withdrawn and skittish. It just lights a fire in them. And so it kind of triggers them to try in these other sports, even though, like when we do soccer, we'll have a lot of kids that have soccer experience. Or when we do basketball. But starting out with floor hockey kind of sets a good tone to get these kids feeling like, “Hey, I can do this”, you know.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love how intentional you are about creating that experience early on so that students feel very comfortable trying something different and really putting all of themselves into it.

Pat Keating:
Yeah. And I always tell them, I said, “Look, this is the one class that even if you're not great in here if you're giving me a great effort, you're participating, you show good sportsmanship, you can get as good a grade as the kid that is the elite athlete in here. What other class can you do that? In math, if you do terrible on a math test, you're not going to get an A.” This is a class that you know what, you come in, you participate, you know what, you have fun, you get active, you're moving.

My big thing is just to get these kids moving. That's always been my goal and stuff. I mean, because, you know, people say, “Oh, hey, obesity is an epidemic.” Nope. Inactivity is an epidemic. Obesity is the result of that. And if we can just get these kids moving, it doesn't matter. I don't care if they're good. I don't care if they can throw a ball 30 yards as long as they're trying and they're moving and they're participating. I feel like I've won if I can get them to do that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that approach. There are so many benefits to students, like you said, from just getting out there and moving. And I think they benefit the rest of the day or if they're taking this class early in the day, the rest of their classes, their mind is operating better when they get to get out there and move.

Pat Keating:
Yeah, yeah.

Pack it in the middle. Edges, edges, go up the edges.

Anthony Godfrey:
So we're down in the gym now and we've got some bright orange pucks and some brightly colored sticks here. Am I supposed to bang it against the floor to kind of get it?

Pat Keating:
Yeah, sometimes they do that. So we teach the kids the ready position. The top hand is always at the top of the stick, bottom hand is about halfway down. So if you were to lean forward, you kind of can support yourself a little bit with it.  When we teach them how to shoot, the first thing the kid wants to do is wind up–

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah, they want to come way up.

Pat Keating:
–and then they want to come through. So we eliminate all that. In hockey, that's a slap shot. We won't let them do slap shots. So in here we teach them just a little wrist shot or a little snapshot. So there's no backswing, they just trap the puck. They come forward and they get out to that front foot. See how my body will square up as I turn it. So as I pull forward, then I snap the puck.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow, you're good at that. Okay, so you lean forward.

Pat Keating:
Yeah, and then you get it out. Once you get it out, up past your front foot, then you push and snap.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh hey, that went farther than I expected it to. It did not go up in the air though, like I wanted it to.

Pat Keating:
So it's just a push. I tell the kids, it's a push and then snap. So it's pushed and then snap.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, got some air that time.

Pat Keating:
There you go.

Anthony Godfrey:
I've got to twist a little bit more though, right? Then the one knee.

Pat Keating:
Yep, you're just going to put a little pressure on that stick. See that one you slapped and come up through.

Anthony Godfrey:
I slapped.

Pat Keating:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
Dang it. Oh, I didn't think about that. There's a lot to think about. There's a lot to think about.

Pat Keating:
There's definitely a lot.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is really fun but you know what? As soon as the puck leaves, I want another puck right there to try it again.

Pat Keating:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're right. Ijust want to keep trying and make it better and play through the mistakes just like you said.

Pat Keating:
It is definitely addicting. Once we get these kids going, you'll see how much fun they have with this.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s awesome.

Stay with us. When we come back more with Patrick Keating and Tricia Rojas.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
So guys, tell me about playing hockey in this class.

Student #1:
It’s pretty fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like about it?

Student #1:
Shooting the puck.

Anthony Godfrey:
Shooting the puck. Have you had some goals?

Student #1:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah? How about for you? What do you like about it?

Student #2:
Yeah, I love the competition. We have a competitive class, so it's fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
How long have you been able to stay on the winner's court? How many teams have you blown through?

Student #2:
We've gone a day without losing a game.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow, that's awesome. That's great. Tell me about Coach Keating. What's he like?

Student #2:
He's great.

Student #1:
He's so fun.

Student #2:
He's a great teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
What do you love about his class?

Student #2:
I like all the activities that we get to do and he gets to teach us some basic skills for those other teams.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. What do you like about Coach Keating?

Student #3:
What I like about Coach Keating is that he's fun. He's very muscular.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah?

Student #3:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Something to aspire to?

Student #3:
Yeah, it inspires me to get muscles.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do you think you can grow as tall as Mr. Keating?

Student #3:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, I believe in you. I think you can do it.

Student #3:
Thank you.

Patrick Keating:
Hey, glasses on! Glasses on! Here we go, get ready. Spread out, spread out!

Anthony Godfrey:
We're up in the room where you do circuit training with students. Just tell us a little bit about this. You've got machines throughout the room. I'm sure this is a very popular spot.

Pat Keating:
Yeah, so our fitness room, we set it up for circuit training and we've got 25 stations. So the kids will partner up. Two kids do a station. Every station has either a machine and then a secondary exercise. So when one of the kids is on the machine, their partner is out front, either doing push-ups, jumping jacks, jump rope, or whatever the secondary exercise is.

We do intervals of about 35 to 40 seconds. The clock will beep, the kids will then switch, the kid on the machine will do the secondary exercise, the kid doing the secondary exercise will go to the machine. The next time it beeps, they move to the next station. We have built-in water breaks about every 12 stations, so the kids know exactly when they can be in the hall and get a water break and when they can't.

Anthony Godfrey:
So it's very structured, it's cooperative where they're working together, and there's always something for someone to do, so you're making the most of that time.

Pat Keating:
Yes, there's never any downtime unless they're on a water break.

Anthony Godfrey:
You know, everyone has been in a PE class over the course of their life at some point or another. Tell me, what are some of the myths about physical education class? What are maybe the misunderstandings? Sometimes because we've all been in school, we think things haven't evolved and things haven't changed. How are physical education classes different now from what they used to be?

Pat Keating:
Well, I think the big myth is we just roll a cart of balls out and say go. And it can't be farther from the truth. At least not in the middle school setting that I've always taught in. We teach. We teach skills, we teach drills, we teach the rules, we simplify it and stuff.

We take out hard rules to learn and stuff so the kids can enjoy the game. We take out offsides in soccer because it would take us a whole month to teach these kids that don't have soccer experience. So we simplify the games and stuff so they can all play it and have a good time and not always be thinking, ‘Oh, is this correct?’ And we'll let them know if it is or isn't.

I don't know if you know this, but we have an open gym two days a week after school, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, every Tuesday and Thursday. And we get about 50+ kids every Tuesday and Thursday that come after school and play for an hour. We set up volleyball, we have basketball, badminton, we'll put balance boards out. We'll have all these different activities for these kids to play and they come religiously every single day. And they have a little barcode, they scan in and sign in and stuff. And if they want to make up runs that they've missed or anything for PE, they can come make that up.

But they come in and it is such a good program. If we did it five days a week, we would have the gym packed five days a week after school. I mean, it's just I love it because I'm thinking myself, the kids who are showing up are kids that don't have anything like that available to them once they leave this school.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love hearing that. I love that you make that available to them.

Pat Keating:
Yeah, so it's been really awesome.

Tricia Rojas:
Yeah, I think that's a really, really good point. And I'm seeing these opportunities popping up at different schools throughout the district because I think the teachers are seeing a need for it. I don't think it's that the kids don't want to be active and they don't want to go play outside. But the screen is so enticing. Whenever a kid's given a choice, an option, go outside or play on your screen, it's almost automatic screen time. But when you remove that access, I think they find that they find their joy and their love of being active again. It's being a kid. That's great.

Anthony Godfrey:
While you're out and about supporting physical education teachers throughout the district, what are some of the great things that you see happening out there? What are the characteristics of a really successful physical education teacher?

Tricia Rojas:
Number one is engagement with the kids. The relationships that they build, the high fives are out at lunch duty. It's really happening a lot outside their class as well. You see the kids just light up. It is definitely the relationship with the kids that these coaches are making. And they'll work for them. You know, they'll work in the gym and in their classrooms because they just build that rapport.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Pat, I love the way you described it. You provide an environment where students who are athletic are able to excel and really be at their best. And students who aren't sure they belong here can really find things within them that they didn't think were there. And so that's a pathway to creating a relationship with every student that walks in your door.

Pat Keating:
Yeah. It's fun to see their eyes light up when they make their first goal in hockey. Or finally make a basket at the end of the basketball unit. Because I tell all the kids, “Look, it doesn't matter. If you miss, you keep trying.”

That's the beauty of sports. You don't have to back up like you do in math and correct a mistake and you race it and go back to where you made the mistake. In sports, you keep playing through mistakes. You just keep playing hard and good things will happen and stuff. So I'm always encouraging you to keep going, keep going, you know.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's great advice. Play through your mistakes. Just keep moving forward.

Tricia Rojas:
Yeah and for me, the mental resiliency that comes. I believe that you know, your mental toughness is directly tied to your physical abilities. So whenever you do something difficult physically, it naturally builds up your mental toughness and resiliency.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you both for taking the time. I'm thrilled with all the opportunities you're giving students. I wish I could go back in time and take your class.

Pat Keating:
Oh, you'd be good.

Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds so great. And just thank you for what you do to support teachers throughout the district. This has really been a thrill to talk with you both.

Pat Keating:
Well, thank you.

Tricia Rojas:
Thank you, Dr. Godfrey.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It will help keep everyone safe and informed in the event of an emergency in one of our schools. It's called Standard Response Protocol, or SRP, and it provides consistent and clear language and actions for all students, staff, first responders and parents. It is language that can be applied in any emergency situation.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out why SRP is now being used statewide and why knowing the language is essential to everyone to help keep our schools safe.

Today we are at the South Jordan City Public Safety Building to talk with School Safety Coordinator from Jordan School District, Matt Alvernaz, and Sergeant Eric Anderson, who oversees the school resource officers in our schools for South Jordan City. Gentlemen, thank you very much for taking time to talk with us about the new terminology and the new actions that are in place for schools to take in case of emergency.

One of the things that's exciting about this is that everyone in the state is on board now, and this is terminology that's going to mean the same action and means that we take the same action throughout the state, which is really going to help. But before we dive in, just give me a little introduction about yourself.

Matt Alvernaz:
So I'm Matt Alvernaz. I'm the School Safety Coordinator. Prior law enforcement of 14 years. Before that I did four years with the Army as a ranger in special operations, and now work with the Jordan School District. I was a school resource officer myself, so I do have experience in the schools as well, and it's been an enjoyable transition. And I'm now the trainer of trainers for the standard response protocols for Jordan School District.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, great.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
As Anthony said, Sergeant Eric Anderson, I am with the South Jordan City Police Department. I've been with South Jordan for over 22 years. I actually joined in 2001 with every intention of leaving, and I never did.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're glad you didn’t.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
Yes, no, it's been great here. I've worked in investigations- eight years in there, SWAT team 12 years. Like Anthony said, I now manage our SROs, and I'm a myriad of other things, but that's my primary responsibility.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the unique assignment, both of you, of being an SRO in a school as compared with being an officer in other roles.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
There's a different mindset when you step into a school, mainly because you're working with the school staff, as opposed to just working as a law enforcement officer. What that typically means is when something happens in the school that requires police intervention, you really have to kind of put on the brakes before any decisions move forward.

And so an example I would give you is vapes. An officer walks into a bathroom, sees some kids using a vape, and they confiscate the vape, take the kids to the school administration, the principal, the VP, and they just discuss what to do with that. You know, does the kid have prior incidents involving the same crime, things of that nature, and then they make a determination on where to go from there.

That's different from the patrol aspect. On patrol, you would just most likely issue a citation for a tobacco violation or THC violation of that. So that's really the main difference is you're taking that partnership with the district, with the administration, to decide on what's best for that kid.

Matt Alvernaz:
Police in the schools has become the earliest form of proactive policing. Really getting ahead of decision-making before crimes occur years in the future. To help these kids have a better relationship with law enforcement and to help make better decisions in education and having that exposure there.

So the degree of discretion while you're in the schools kind of broadens. It's not so much black and white. Patrol guys have discretion as well, but it's more, there's the enforcement mindset to it. This is more of a development and correction mindset. Like he said, you know, pump the brakes and take a different approach because these are kids, and we want them to be successful. So we're going to proactively partner schools with law enforcement to help these kids make good decisions and become better people.

Anthony Godfrey:
I agree with all that, and to me a key component is the relationship. The relationship that you develop with students means actually you get information about what kids need and what's happening in the school so you can prevent issues and solve problems in advance. And that's where I've seen it be really effective is I'm impressed with the level of relationship officers are able to develop with students and how helpful that is in creating a safe and productive and positive environment for everyone.

To me an essential component of keeping schools safe is a close working relationship with our municipalities and police departments in particular. Tell us about the relationship between Jordan District and South Jordan Police from your perspective.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
So yeah, no, I agree 100% with that. You know, going back to working with Lance Everill, who you replaced, Matt. So yeah, even from that, just that communication is huge. The training aspects are huge. Being able to be on the same page as far as all this goes when it comes down to terminology and how each school is going to react to an incident, whether it be minor or an urgent emergency. So it's really important that we're all on the same page.

Matt Alvernaz:
Yeah, all this training and everything we're doing is very much a collaborative effort. When I'm trying to conduct trainings or put things together for safety concerns, I talk to the law enforcement agencies, our agencies we're here with, especially South Jordan. For example, we have a meeting later today. They're going to help me vet some ideas that we have on different safety options. So that working relationship is huge to keep the communication going with the public as well. Help to build trust with the students in the community, with us as education and in law enforcement.

It's been an ongoing effort, but for me, moving into it, I tell you, it's been pretty seamless. This relationship has been here and it's been strong.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you've done a tremendous job, and South Jordan has always been a wonderful partner. So it's really great to have your officers in our schools, and I think they're a much better place for it. Much safer and a very positive, productive environment as a result.

Before we go through the five protocols, I just want to mention at the top of the poster, and you'll see this on the website if you follow the link in the show notes, it says, "In an emergency, take action." That's the main thing. People get kind of paralyzed when an emergency comes or when there's an announcement or a drill. So we are going to be continuing to drill these in our schools to be sure that people are ready to take action in case of an emergency.

Matt Alvernaz:
Absolutely. I was going to say that we are drilling. We've increased the amount of drilling we're doing. We're doing monthly trainings for the schools on each of these drills, and then the schools are then turning around and implementing those into it. So we can expect that communication home for parents to hear about these things. Kids coming home saying, "Hey, we did this new drill. We've never heard of it." And so an idea of each month as we do this, it becomes standard, as it's called, and we know what to do, and new parents know what to expect, and the kids know what to expect, and it continues to progress from there.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
I'm going to double down on what you said, Anthony, of freezing. I mean, if you think of the three Fs, fight, flight, or freeze, freeze is absolutely the worst thing you can do. When you do nothing, that's when things can exponentially get worse. So I'm just going to double down on what you said there.

Anthony Godfrey:
So the fact that these are actions and protocols and you do something under each of these is important to remember.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
Take action. Take action is a great explanative at the top of the sign.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back more about SRP, our standard response protocol.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Now let's talk about the standard response protocol. This is a statewide list of actions we take in case of emergency and new terminology associated with those actions. There are five protocols, hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter. Let's start with hold. Tell me what hold means and when we would use that.

Matt Alvernaz:
Hold is a new one that's been added. It's something that's going to be unfamiliar to a lot of students and parents at home. It's basically just calling a time-out. Any time that the school needs to say, "Hey, we don't care what the bell's about to ring or what's about to happen, we're just going to tell everybody to stay in your class, stay in your area, just hold."

Maybe there's debris or something in the hallway, you know, a pipe breaks, and we need to keep students away from that. Maybe there's a medical emergency, we need to keep the hallways clear for responders. Or any other reason that the school decides, "Hey, you know what? Let's just call a time-out and keep everybody in class." It could last five minutes, it could be a little bit longer, but typically it's not something that's going to be prolonged, but it's just a good tool that can be used in conjunction with any of these other response options as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
So under Hold, and each protocol has a list of actions for students and for adults. Students clear the hallways, and remain in their room until the all-clear is announced. They continue with business as usual, and adults are responsible to close and lock the door, account for students and adults, and also continue with business as usual.

Matt Alvernaz:
Correct, and the big difference on this is it's not like an emergency where there's an attacker or a threat that's actively coming after people. So students can be let in and out of these locked doors. They can be, you know, it's low-key. It's more just like, "Hey, we're just dealing with something." Everybody just kind of pause for a second.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's talk about secure.

Matt Alvernaz:
Yeah, so secure has been around, but we've known it as lockout. We've changed that terminology because lockout gets confused with lockdown. Lockdown's a little bit more intense of a protocol and response so we've seen inadvertent panic, we've seen confusion. What exactly is lockout? Or people, you know, slip of the tongue, meaning to say lockout but saying lockdown.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.

Matt Alvernaz:
So we've changed that to secure. Secure means that there's a threat or a hazard of some nature outside the building. We're securing the inside. We're just going to lock the exterior doors and windows. We're going to keep everything out. We're going to modify the access. So depending on what the reason is, maybe there's a wild animal outside. We want to bring the students in. We want to lock the outside doors. We don't want this animal to get in. We don't want the students to get hurt. As maybe a parent doesn't know, they come to the door. We can modify that access and allow them in.

Maybe we do have information of police activity nearby that's unrelated to the school, but something that could pose a hazard or a threat to the school potentially. We're just going to, again, we're going to lock it down. We're going to secure it, and we're not going to let anybody in because we don't know what that threat is until we have better communication with law enforcement. Which, again, goes back to our partnership because we typically know exactly what's going on as we need to know it.

Anthony Godfrey:
And secure is often going to be put in place just as a precaution. If there's police activity anywhere near a school, “Hey, just in case, let's keep kids inside.” It doesn't necessarily mean that there's a serious incident where you're worried about harm to students, it's just a precaution.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
That's correct. The best example I gave you was actually not too long ago. We had a person flee from us in a vehicle near Bingham High School, and so the SRO at that school overheard this on the radio. At the time, we were still using the old lockdown/lockout terminology. He asked them to go into lockout mode. They actually went into lockdown mode, exactly what Matt said. There was some confusion there, which scared kids, which ended up resulting in a lot of texts going out to parents. But it was really just to make sure if that vehicle that was fleeing from law enforcement had stopped, crashed, or anything near the school, that individual or individuals wouldn't have access to the school.

Anthony Godfrey:
And that's a good example of why secure is a good term in place of previous lockout. So, secure, get inside, lock outside doors for students. The instructions are return to inside of the building, continue with business as usual, and for adults, bring everyone indoors, lock the outside doors, increase situational awareness, and account for students and adults. So, that's hold and secure now. Now we move to lockdown.

Matt Alvernaz:
Lockdown is definitely, we've progressed now. There's a threat inside the building, or at least we believe there to be a threat inside the building. In this case, we don't need to worry about securing the outside, because we already believe the threat is inside. So, we're going to lock all the doors inside. We're going to lock and secure there. We're going to do as it says here, "locks lights out of sight." And that's huge. We need to make sure that students know to be aware that they need to darken and silence their cell phones.

Now, we're not trying to prevent communication at home, because we do actually encourage that. We want that. But we want it to be in a way that's safe, and that we can keep cell towers clear enough for those who need to use it, emergency responders and whatnot. And then wherever it might be, whatever room you might be in or near, you need to go in there and lockdown, stay quiet. And this will be followed by an evacuation, which will be police-led in a real situation, room by room.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
So, and to add to that, I think understanding that this is going to be a lengthy period of time.

If we go into a lockdown with an actual incident occurring, the time it's going to take for law enforcement to go through that school, whether it's an elementary school or high school, it's going to take quite a while. They're going to be meticulous. The only time that that changes and goes to a dynamic type of response is when there's something actively occurring, and the officers that have responded can hear stuff that's occurring. And they're going to run and rush to that situation. When there's nothing going on it's going to be methodical, and it's going to take a lot of time. So just understand that it's not going to be quick.

Anthony Godfrey:
And it's also going to be rare. It's only going to be in extreme circumstances that we go into a lockdown. Whereas, because of what you referenced earlier, I think that happened a lot more frequently because of the confusion about a lockdown or a lockout.

So lockdown is “locks, lights, out of sight.” For students, they move away from sight, maintain silence, do not open the door. Adults recover students from the hallway if possible, lock the classroom door, turn out the lights, move away from sight, maintain silence, don't open the door. And prepare to evade or defend if we're in a serious situation.

Matt Alvernaz:
Correct. Yeah, we teach the avoid, deny, defend. And that was something that was developed out of Texas with the alert. And yeah, so you have those options to add to it. So as something's unfolding in front of you, you have the options to avoid if you can. Deny access is what we're looking for. And in a worst-case scenario, like you said, defend. We have the right to survive. Everybody has the right to life and survive. And there's no need to not take action. And if that means defend, you defend.

Anthony Godfrey:
It does take a while, but when that lockdown is over, what is that going to look like? What does the end of a lockdown look like?

Matt Alvernaz:
Yeah, so like I said, it's going to be like a police-led evacuation. Now, we don't release lockdowns through a PA and that's through safety precautions. We don't want false releases given by someone else. We want to make sure that everybody is who they are and where they are supposed to be.

So as we go through the building, police will lead it, and they will unlock every classroom one by one. They will give commands. And most of the time, those commands are going to be stern of making sure your hands are visible, making sure you're following directions. They're going to guide you out of the classroom and out into the evacuation area. So that one by one, the evacuation will begin. And like I said, it'll be slow, methodical, and patience is definitely going to be needed for this.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. The next protocol is evacuate. Talk about evacuate.

Matt Alvarnez:
Evacuate is something that's been around for a long time. We've been doing this for fire drills. We've been doing it with everything we have, you know, earthquake drills or what it might be.

Evacuate is just that. We're going in a calm manner. We're not like a kindergarten cop all rushing out and always carrying several students in his arms and screaming. But, you know, they do the calm manner depending on why we're evacuating. Whether it's a lockdown, it'll be a police-led evacuation. It'll be slow and methodical. But the typical evacuation is going to be, you know, a fire alarm going off. We're going to gather our safety equipment. Every classroom has a tactical emergency care kit and other things that would be needed. And we're going to get to a safe area. Whether that's the primary or secondary, these things are predetermined or predesignated. Maybe the primary area is blocked off by something. So we need to go to the secondary. And so this is something that's been around a long time. We're pretty good at evacuating.

Anthony Godfrey:
We've done a lot of evacuation drills over the years. So for students, leave your things behind if you're required to. If possible, bring your phone. Follow instructions. And for adults, lead students to the evacuation location. Account for students and adults and notify authorities if anyone is missing, injured, or if you have extra students that you grabbed who happen to be close by in the hall or whatever else so we can account for everybody quickly. And as indicated here, sometimes there may be an alternate location depending on the reason for the evacuation. Our last one is shelter. Talk about what shelter means under these new protocols.

Matt Alvarnez:
So shelter is a response to a hazard or some sort of natural disaster. Whether it be weather or a chemical spill, or something of that nature. And this is where we're going to need to stay inside. We're not worried about maintaining access from people or threats of that kind. It's more of like if noxious gases, fumes, we want to keep the kids inside, keep them safe, come away from the windows or blizards, weather situations. We want to be able to seal the windows, turn off the ventilation system, and get to a safe area.

We might be there for a while because it is shelter. And this is where the kids will be housed, where everybody in there will be housed, and kept safe until we have a new plan to get everybody reunited at home and safe where they need to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
And at any rate, we have some very specific plans in each school if we do need to shelter for a longer period of time. So just to sum up, there's hold where you stay in your room, secure where you lock the outside doors, lockdown where you lock all of the internal doors and you're out of sight and the lights are out, evacuate which is the traditional fire drill where you're outside of the building, and shelter where you kind of hunker down based on some natural disasters or some unnatural disasters with maybe a hazmat situation.

So that's the list of protocols, and it's not just that we have this poster in every classroom, but we are training staff in every building. We're drilling on this and we're going to continue to train on this, and our municipalities are trained on these same protocols as well.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
Yes, we disseminated this information after going to Matt's training not too long ago to our entire patrol staff, our investigations unit, every sworn officer in the department was South Jordan City Police Department. We've all been educated on this. It's been part of our morning briefings, afternoon briefings, graveyard briefings. So this information's really been mixed around the entire department.

Anthony Godfrey:
Matt, anything else to add?

Matt Alvernaz:
Yeah, one thing that I can't stress enough is the level of communication. The school district is going to do everything we can to get information out as quickly as possible as accurately as possible. Students don't have that responsibility. They have text messages. They have social media. They have all this ability to put out any rumor they hear. And for us to move at the speed of rumor is irresponsible and dangerous.

We do not try to withhold any information by any means. We want to get that as quickly as possible because our parents are another huge partner to this community. The partnership that we have with the police department, us, and you guys are very much involved. But I can't stress enough to please understand that information you might be hearing from students, which you most likely will hear first, is more than likely inaccurate. So we will get that information out as quickly as possible when it's safe and responsible to do so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you both for taking the time today to talk with me about these new protocols. I really feel great about the level of clarity. I'm excited to continue the training and really get us all on the same page. We'll keep preparing for the worst and expecting the best. And just thank you both for the roles you play in keeping our students and our schools safe.

Matt Alvernaz:
Thank you.

Sergeant Eric Anderson:
Yeah, thank you for having me.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are twins attending West Jordan High School in their sophomore year, and they are only having their fourth birthday. At Antelope Canyon Elementary School, a longtime second-grade teacher is finally celebrating her 16th birthday.

On this episode of the Supercast, we find out what it's like to have a leap year birthday. A birthday that comes around just once every four years on February 29th, when the year is actually 366 days long instead of the regular 365. Are leap year birthday folks forever young? Let's find out as we talk to them today on their actual leap year birthday.

Come right in here. Let's do the birthday interview today. And we actually have from the Nutrition Services staff here at West Jordan High School a little birthday cake for each of you with some balloons. So happy birthday to the three of you. Alright grab some cake and let's talk about this birthday of yours. We're here at West Jordan High School with two students and a teacher who share February 29th as their birthday. And because the podcast comes out on Thursdays, we thought we'd talk with them today on the day of their birthday and celebrate with them and talk a little bit about what it's like to have kind of a non-day as your birthday. So let's have the twins introduce themselves first.

Luke Pearson:
I'm Luke Pearson.

Melanie Pearson:
And I'm Melanie Pearson.

Lucinda Preece:
And Lucinda Preece.

Anthony Godfrey:
And Lucinda you teach at Antelope Canyon. How long have you been teaching in Jordan District?

Lucinda Preece:
39 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
39 years, wow. Nearly four decades of teaching. Yeah, we love that you've been here.

Lucinda Preece:
Lots of birthdays here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, that's right. But a lot fewer than I've had, right? How many birthdays have you had?

Lucinda Preece:
I've had 16 official birthdays.

Anthony Godfrey:
16 official birthdays.

Lucinda Preece:
Sweet 16.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've had 16 birthdays and the two of you are turning 16 today, is that correct?

Melanie Pearson:
Yes, but officially it's our fourth birthday, like big day birthday.

Anthony Godfrey:
For your fourth birthday, you're turning 16. She's had 16 birthdays. Worlds are colliding right now. Now here's the first thing. I don't know exactly what to call you. Do you have names for yourselves because you share this birthday? Are you leapers? Are you leaplings? What exactly is the proper term? Does anybody know?

Lucinda Preece:
I don't. I've heard on the radio, leapers is kind of a big thing right now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Leapers? It sounds a little close to leper though.

Lucinda Preece:
I know.

Anthony Godfrey:
I don't know if that's really what you want. I'm going to go with leapling. So tell me how does it feel to be a leapling? Tell me what that's like.

Melanie Pearson:
I don't know. For me it just kind of feels the same. I don't know. I've never known anything different. But it's cool because people can remember your birthday easier. I don't know. They're like, “Oh yeah, you're born on leap days.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah. So people do remember your birthday more frequently. And you've got your twin brother here so you at least have someone to share it with. How about for you? What is it like for you?

Luke Pearson:
It is kind of nice because people always remember my birthday.

Anthony Godfrey:
Not anything that impactful in your life. So how about for you? Have you met before today? Have you met other leaplings?

Lucinda Preece:
You know, one year I actually had a student in my class who was a leap-year baby. And it was a leap year so we celebrated together with the class. I felt really lucky that that happened.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you met them in a leap year. That's awesome. So let's talk about other years. Today we get to celebrate with you. But what do you do in other years when you don't have a birthday? Do you celebrate it all? Or do you just save it up so that every four years it feels particularly special?

Luke Pearson:
Well usually on the 28th we just have a party and stuff.

Melanie Pearson:
We kind of just treat the 28th like it's our birthday. I don't think my parents would want to deprive us of it. “No, we need to save some extra money so…” I'm just kidding.

Lucinda Preece:
I actually grew up celebrating mine on March 1st. Just figuring it was whatever day would have been the day after the 28th. So that's why we just have always had March 1st. It's been kind of fun because I feel like on the non-leap years people aren't really sure what day so I kind of get two days. Do you notice that too? Yeah, and then I always did March 1st but then since Facebook came about it just sticks me on the 28th so I started getting all of these birthday wishes on the 28th so woohoo, kind of stretch it out there. Do you find that too?

Anthony Godfrey:
You said the same thing happens for you.

Melanie Pearson:
Like last year lots of people knew my birthday was the 29th but on the 28th they told me happy birthday but then some people were like on March 1st they told me. So it was like a two-day celebration. It's pretty fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, you deserve that since you don't get any day some years so hopefully that starts to help make up for it. I did a little research. In 1712 in Sweden when they were switching from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar it was actually a February 30th. So I felt really bad for those people.

So if you were in Sweden born in 1712 on February 30th you really only had one birthday and that was the day that you were actually born so that would have been too bad. So see it could be worse, it could be worse. How about capitalizing leap year? Nobody capitalizes leap year. Does that feel like something that should be happening?

Melanie Pearson:
I don't know.

Lucinda Preece:
I do have a leap year shirt on.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh let's see.

Lucinda Preece:
Yeah, and I actually bought three because I couldn't decide on one. I think it says February 29th birthday something about being so awesome that the world could only handle it once every four years.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like it. I like it. That’s awesome.

Lucinda Preece:
So somebody made money on capitalizing

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s awesome. Well, it is very rare. We have nearly 58,000 students in Jordan School District and there are only 43 students who have a birthday today, and you're two of them. So there just aren't very many. And we have 9,000 employees and we only have 11 employees out of those 9,000 who have a birthday today.

Lucinda Preece:
Amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is pretty rare.

Lucinda Preece:
I'll thank my mom.

Anthony Godfrey:
So what plans do you guys have for today? Do you have big birthday plans today or this weekend?

Luke Pearson:
We're probably going to have our family come over later today. And then probably, I don't know, we'd probably hang out with our friends but I might go to–

Melanie Pearson:
St. George.

Luke Pearson:
Yeah, St. George with my dad because he wants to go to a four-wheeling thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about for you?

Melanie Pearson:
I don't know. Just hanging out with my family and maybe my friends this weekend. I don't know. Nothing too special.

Lucinda Preece:
We're kinda the same. Dinner with family tonight and then lunch with some friends on Saturday.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well that sounds fantastic. Now are there leap day sales? Leap into savings? Is this like a big day for– I mean, I think companies find any excuse that they can to try to email us about a sale coming up.

There's a leap year movie with Amy Adams about the Irish tradition where supposedly women ask men. Women propose to men on leap day as an Irish tradition. So that's a movie based on that, and there's also 30 Rock. Anyone who watches 30 Rock, there's the one where they have a mascot for leap day. Kind of like the Easter Bunny but for leap day. It's a very odd kind of wacky episode.

So it's hard for me to remember all of my 54 birthdays but because you've only had four, is there one that stands out for you?

Melanie Pearson:
No, not really. I don't know. It's kind of just always a party. I don't know.

Lucinda Preece:
I've had a lot but I just kind of enjoy every one of them. I think one year– I usually don't take it off for school because it's a fun time to celebrate with the kids. So we've done like leapfrog things before you know for leaping and then that one that I had with my student was pretty special.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, I imagine elementary students have a really good time with February 29th. I kind of get to really be a kid again so that's fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
I wondered about this when you're filling out a form. Is it in the drop down menu that asks for your birthday? Does it say February 29th ever? My birthday's in June so I have no idea. Or do you just have to put the 28th or March 1st? Do you just have to choose a different birthday?

Luke Pearson:
You usually have to put the year and then it'll show up as the 29th option. So like if you just try to pick 29th sometimes it's just not there until you put the year into the...

Melanie Pearson:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh okay. So 16 years ago, what year were you born then?

Luke Pearson:
2008.

Anthony Godfrey:
So in 2008 it was a leap year.

Lucinda Preece:
And I find the same thing when I try to put a date in. I have to go forward to the year and then I was like “Oh yeah, you're right. Okay you were born on the 29th.”

Anthony Godfrey:
So it gives you the option based on the year. Okay that's great. Tell us a little bit more about yourselves here at West Jordan High School. You’re sophomores at West Jordan? How soon is the driving going to start now that you've turned 16?

Melanie Pearson:
Whenever they reach out for roads they're a little behind here. So whenever we can do our road tests and stuff we'll get it. I'm very excited to drive but they're a little behind.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now do you have–

Lucinda Preece:
I've been driving a long time.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you've been driving a long time so you're all set. So they turned 16. This is your 16th birthday. Do you have any wisdom to share after all of these February 29th?

Lucinda Preece:
I would just say suck it in on those years that it's for real, but even the non years take those in because you know you have two or three days people just kind of celebrate you. And the uniqueness for conversation. That's pretty fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I don't think I've ever met anyone with a birthday on February 29th so I really appreciate your spending your birthday and leap day with me here this morning and I wish you a very happy birthday and a handful more birthdays to come.

Lucinda Preece:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you to Colbie Summarell and Allison Morgan from Nutrition Services here at West Jordan High School for baking these cakes for these students and this teacher on leap day on their birthday. We really appreciate your support.

Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today even if today only comes around every four years. We'll see you out there.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was an evening of fun traveling back in time to 1984 when Joel P. Jensen Middle School first opened its doors. Joel P. Jensen recently threw a big birthday bash to commemorate four decades of being at the heart of their community.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside the 80s style party where everyone was having fun celebrating 40 years of history, making memories, building friendships, and educating students.

We are here at Joel P. Jensen celebrating 40 years of Joel P. Jensen. It's an exciting time. Introduce yourselves and tell me about your relationship with Joel P. Jensen, the middle school, not the man, and how long you have been here.

Aaron Hunter:
Aaron Hunter, principal, off and on at Joel P. for a decade, 10 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the offs and the ons.

Aaron Hunter:
So I started my admin career in Jordan District at Joel P. I was an assistant principal here for six and a half years and then two years ago came back as principal.

Anthony Godfrey:
A triumphant return to everyone's delight that they got to have Aaron Hunter back in their lives.

Aaron Hunter:
It's a great place to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have done a great job of promoting Joel P. Jensen and the great things that are happening here, which we'll get back to in just a moment. But let's take a trip through memory lane and talk with a couple of employees who've been here for a while.

Deb Atkinson:
I'm Deb Atkinson. I'm the head secretary. I've been here for a really, really long time. This is 26 and a half years so far.

Anthony Godfrey:
26 and a half years.

Deb Atkinson:
I had one little break in between where I got bumped to the district office and I was in Info Systems for 13 months and then I interviewed and came back to my school.

Anthony Godfrey:
You knew where you needed to be. Okay, we'll get back to some stories from you. Tell me about your time here at Joel P. Jensen.

Suzie:
My name is Suzie. I started 25 years ago. I started in the ISS room. Steve Crowther hired me. I was there for a while then they asked me to be a hall monitor. I was that until we went under numbers. So then they said that I had to not do a hall monitor, but I didn't want to leave because I liked Joel P. so much, so I stayed as a tracker. And then when numbers went back up, I came back to the hall monitor and then they went to the part-time stuff. I hung out with that and then I kind of retired until this lovely gentleman over here called me and said would you come back? For some reason, I said yes, probably because I love Joel P. So I came back and so I've been back for the last year and a half.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is really a pattern for all three of you. You leave, you come back. And for you you leave and you come back and you leave and you come back.

Suzie:
Yeah, it was like I can't describe it. There's– Joel P. is just different. The kids are different. I love it. I missed it. I tried somewhere else a long time ago and it's just not the same.

Anthony Godfrey:
As Al Pacino says ‘They keep pulling you back in.’

Suzie:
He pulled me back in and she's amazing so to work with. The two of them have just been– it's just really cool. It's a good relationship. I really like it and the kids. I mean there are no other kids like Joel P. kids. They just climb into your heart and they hang out there. And then they come back and see you, and then they bring their kids to register which makes him feel older. I'm fine.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you've had multiple generations of kids here at Joel P. Jensen that you've worked with.

Deb Atkinson:
Some this year that we have the parents that were like “Hey, I remember you. You were here.”

Suzie:
And then they go “These are our kids” and then they go “and you're still here.”

Anthony Godfrey:
But see if they can remember you after 25 years that's a really high compliment to you that you've been able to be recognizable after that many years. Tell me what is it about Joel P. Jensen kids that you love, and I'm going to have each of you answer that. What is it that makes this place special when it comes to the students?

Suzie:
There are so many different– just diversity in these kids but they all get along together. They're just– to me, it's just, I don't know. You walk into Joel P. and it's so different but they're so much the same. They're like no other kids. I don't know. I can't explain it. They need you. Joel P. kids need you and Joel P. kids let you know that they truly need you. You come in here and I see all these mini-me's because I struggled. I mean I went to Kearns High and I was not the best student. I’ll own it. That's why I'm really good at what I do. But the kids that are here– I mean, you walk in and you know they care and you know they need you. These kids just crawl into your heart and they stay there.

We've gone through a lot of admin together me and Deb. We've had a lot of teachers we've gone through. And some of the admin crawl into your heart and they stay, but Joel P. you're just– I don't know I can't describe it but we keep coming back. It's like you can feel truly that they need you and it just– I get a little emotional about it so it's Deb’s turn.

Deb Atkinson:
Well, I just love the fact that they're so unpredictable. So when you feel that you've seen whatever one student is going to do, you’re like “Okay I've seen it all now” and then they come up with another fun thing that you're going like “Okay, this is why I come back every day because they make it great.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it's true, if anywhere in the district is full of surprises it's middle schools. You never know what your day is going to bring. I miss middle– I started out as a middle school teacher at Bingham Middle School and then at West Hills. I love the middle school age and like you said Joel P. Jensen is unique even within the middle school group because of the the kids that you have here and the real sense of belonging that you create here. I've known that for a long time. Tell me about the students here Aaron.

Aaron Hunter:
Yeah, it's been said, but it really is a special place. People laugh when I say it's the best school in the state, but I really, truly do believe that. I think a lot of our kids outside of West Jordan are misunderstood. I think people– there's a certain stigma outside of our area of Joel P. and it's all wrong. I can tell you that 100 percent. Most of them need caring adults and that's why relationships are number one in our hearts. That's what drives our work here is those good relationships. There's nothing better than in June when they come back with a graduation announcement or “Hey, I'm working at Jiffy Lube”. You know, just great news of “Hey, you spent time, you took time out of your day to care about me and it means a lot.”

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, what I found, and this is very true of Joel P. Jensen, is that schools like this draw those caring adults because you don't survive if you don't care about kids. And so over time, over 40 years, the faculty just continues to attract caring adults that care at a deep level and make a personal connection with students like all of you have described. It's really rewarding to see as a Superintendent a school that functions like that.

Stay with us. When we come back more fun memories celebrating four decades of Joel P. Jensen Middle School.

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

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the faculty and the people who've worked here over the years. You've been here off and on over the last decade. We'll come back to Deb and Suzie. I'm sure they have a lot of stories about the people who've passed through here. Tell me about about those caring adults that you've worked with.

Aaron Hunter:
Well, you hit the nail on the head. I've been here a decade-ish, the teachers that stay are the teachers that– I don't want to say are the teachers that care because I think every teacher cares. I think everybody that goes into education, they care about kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
But there's an intense need for that different level of relationship here. If that's something that you're ready for then this is the type of place where you want to be.

Aaron Hunter:
Yep, and we and we foster that because this is a– I don't even want to say difficult. It's just our kids have different needs here. And so because of that fostering that sense of family is very important. I can't speak for everybody that works here, but I know me as a principal, my number one priority is to make sure that our teachers feel that they're supported to be their best selves. Because like you said middle school is hard. Joel P is sometimes hard and so we have that family aspect here where we can rely on each other. We can cry on each other's shoulders. We can get mad at each other. But at the end of the day, it's all because we love and care about kids. Our kids are never going to do the best on the state test scores and I fully know that as principal. But I can tell you one thing, they leave here knowing that they're fully taken care of and cared for.

Anthony Godfrey:
I like what you said about taking care of each other. It’s adults looking out for each other as well and supporting each other as you support the students. How about for you Deb?

Deb Atkinson:
Well, I think the faculty and staff they kind of have more of a family atmosphere where it's like we're all one group and we're all working together for the same goal. So that's what draws me to it. That's why I wanted to come back so bad because I just love the whole atmosphere, the people I work with. It was just great here, so that's why I wanted to come back. And I still love it. Anthony Godfrey:
There must be hundreds of faculty members you've worked with over 25 years.

Deb Atkinson:
Oh yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that's really exciting. How about for you? What do you think Suzie?

Suzie:
Faculty-wise, if you stop and think about it, we had Connie Bailey here she was a PE teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.

Suzie:
Who's now an admin. Cynthia VanderMeiden.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Suzie:
She was a teacher here and then Todd was here for a while. We had Joanne Ackerman. She was a teacher and then an admin. Oh my gosh. Tim Heumann. I mean and the stories. Oh my goodness. He was a science teacher. Yep, yep. We'll just go on to the next one. Tim was a blast. Love, love Tim.

So yeah, I mean we've gone through a lot. We were talking about that. We figured 25 maybe admin, teachers are just tons, and then you figure kids average a thousand a year. That was 26,000 kids. It's just– I don't know it's always just been that unique school.

It's like I said when I came back. I wanted to be in a place where I wished I had– I wanted to be what I wished I had when I was at school. And that was my goal to make sure. Then you see teachers struggle here, so we do things like sneak down and put stuff on their desks and don't tell them where it came from. Just something that you know they like.

You know when I was a hall monitor, I would go help them out with their lovely students, my mini-me’s, that would be in there because you just support each other. There's no place like it. It's just really weird. I get to look back at Connie Bailey you know and Cynthia, remember those days with them, and boy the stories that you could go on for those. Me and Deb were thinking we could probably write a book one day when we retire officially and we don't come back.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well you never know that it will be permanent it sounds like. You could never count on that. Luckily, luckily you keep coming back.

Suzie:
I don't think so. I don't think it'll be permanent. As long as he's here and she's here for right now. They keep my sanity. I had a rough couple of years and they brought me back so you know it is what it is. You know, these kids that pop back in and see you and some of the teachers I run into, and then they say “Do you remember?” and I'm like “I do not recall that”.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, you can only store so many stories up there. That's right. So when you're in this area of the district just driving around stopping for gas, shopping, whatever, I'm sure you run into some of those 25,000 people everywhere you go.

Aaron Hunter:
All the time. Yeah, all the time. Jordan Landing, O'Reilly Auto Parts down the street. And what's the most rewarding part of the job for me is, like I said, the goal is for our kids to at least reach it to high school and graduate. That's the goal. Unfortunately, for some of our kids, that doesn't happen. But it doesn't make it any less rewarding to see the kid working at O'Reilly that didn't graduate but is still a productive member of society and is doing his part. And “Hey Mr. Hunter do you remember me?” I mean, of course, I remember. You were in my office 70,000 times. So yeah, that's why we do what we do. I was told the other day that we think about these kids often but the kids that we impact think about us 10 times more than we think about them. That's pretty powerful.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you know, you're looking at how you can support them academically, of course, that's a very important goal. But you're supporting them in all kinds of other ways. How to manage the difficulties in their lives and how to find a pathway forward. Hopefully, that pathway includes graduation from high school, but credits are not the only thing that you take away from school when you have caring adults looking out for you. I think it's a great compliment when people say “Hey, remember me?” It's because they want to go back to those times and remember those times when they see you. That's because you've created memories and you've made the most of those moments with them.

Aaron Hunter:
Yep, yep, sure. Yeah, I mean like you said, as principal academics are obviously important. That's the number one reason you come to school is to learn. We tell kids that all the time. But the number two reason you come is to hang out with your friends and establish relationships. A lot of times with our kids that means more to them than the academic piece and that's why we love working here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, the sense of community makes the academics possible.

Suzie:
I live in West Jordan, closer than you think. So I live real close to West Jordan in a sense and I'm very very protective of Joel P. and I get really outspoken when people say things about Joel P.. I'm like “No, you need to be there to understand. Joel P. is a different type of school. What I enjoy is when the kids come back and say, let me see if I can word this right. “I'm sorry I was not nice to you. I'm sorry I said those things to you. But I want to tell you how much of an impact you made on us.”  I had some parents who would come by and “Why do you work at that school?” Why not? If I could’ve had a Joel P. when I was growing up I wouldn't have gone the path I went in a certain amount of years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about today's celebration. 40 years is a big deal. I mean, I did the math. I could have been a seventh grader here the first year that Joel P. opened. That's how old it is now. So that's a long tradition of taking great care of everybody. Tell me about today's celebration.

Aaron Hunter:
Yeah, so 83-84 was the school year that Joel P. opened. This year with parent-teacher conferences our theme has kind of been to think outside of the box and to have a different spin on it. So we thought, what better time to celebrate 40 years? So tonight it's a big party. Everybody should come. Magicians, food, activities, booths, prizes, music, everything. It's going to be a big party.

Anthony Godfrey:
And because Joel P. Jensen opened up in the early 80s, it's an 80s theme tonight I understand.

Aaron Hunter:
Yes, 80s theme. I'm about ready to get my Miami Vice on right now as soon as we're done with this podcast.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it sounds like I need to stick around just a little bit longer then so I can make sure that I get to see that. I'm sorry I'm not wearing two Izod shirts with my collar popped.

Aaron Hunter:
You always can Superintendent.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes. I could. I could.

Aaron Hunter:
It’s always a possibility. Slick back the hair-

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, that’s right. Peg the pants a little bit, yes.

Aaron Hunter:
–get some gold chains, no socks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, boat shoes. The list goes on.

Aaron Hunter:
Yes, pleated pants. I mean, it’s all in my closet.

Anthony Godfrey:
You are clearly a man of style. How about for you guys? Is your 80s wardrobe in the closet ready to go?

Suzie:
I could be his mom, so no. I could be probably everyone’s mom.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, in a way you are, it sounds like. In a way, you are.

Suzie:
I am. You made it really clear. Yes, most of the assistant principals, my children are older than them. So I could be a grandma. You never know.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's awesome. In addition to all these great things about Joel P. Jensen, you are the only school with a middle initial. JPJMS it just kind of rolls off the tongue.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's right, JPJMS.

Suzie:
Today’s a good day, JPJ.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah.

Suzie:
See we've got all kinds of them.

Anthony Godfrey:
It rolls right off the tongue, it rolls right off the tongue. You're also the closest school to Dunford Bakery.

Suzie:
I know, straight up, seriously.

Anthony Godfrey:
How do you not stop for a cherry turnover every single morning?

Aaron Hunter:
I was going to say, we actually kind of do. There's no how do we not, we go to Dunford often. Anthony Godfrey:
Well, with the middle initial, and the donuts, and the caring people, and the great tradition of creating a community like this, permits are available for next year. If anyone's listening and thinking I need some Joel P. Jensen Middle in my life because it is a tremendous school with obviously, as you hear tonight, tremendous people. So thank you for taking such great good care of kids and taking such great care of each other.

Aaron Hunter:
Thanks, Superintendent.

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