Episode 174: Freshmen mentors, budget battles, and AI

Rebroadcast: Remembering Ed Niehl

In honor of the passing of Bethel Legend Ed Niehl, we wanted to reshare our interview with Ed and his son, Bob. At the time of the recording, Ed had just turned 100 and Bethel was celebrating our 75th anniversary as a school district. --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey, everybody, I’m Doug. That’s Conor and this is a very special episode of the Bethel School District Presents Podcast. We are celebrating 75 years of the Bethel School District with Bethel legend Ed Niehl. You might recognize Mr. Niehl’s name from the Bethel High School gymnasium, and we are so proud to have him join us on the show, along with his son, Bob Niehl. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. Ed Niehl: Glad to have you. Conor: So Mr. Niehl, you've lived in our area since 1951 and worked at Bethel High School when it opened its doors. Talk to us a little bit about the changes you've seen in the school and around the district since then. Ed Niehl: I just had the opportunity the other day with Bob to travel out to Graham, which I haven't seen for many, many years, and up the Graham Hill, and I couldn't believe the growth in the Bethel District. When I was here started, we had six elementary schools. We had uh teams formed from the six schools for intramural and recreational basketball and baseball. And now I understand there's 18 elementary schools and maybe six or eight uh junior high schools. And I was fortunate to see the fourth high school groundbreaking since I've lived in the Bethel District, and that's amazing to see four high schools in a lifetime. Doug: It absolutely is. Your lifetime spans a lot of history across this district, across this country. You came to Bethel by way of Pittsburgh, the United States Army, and Washington State University. It's a lot of ground to cover in your early years that I'm sure folks are going to want to know about. So let's start in the Steel City where I am also from Pittsburgh. I lived there till I was 12. You lived there a little bit less time than that. I heard you left when you were about 6 months old. Ed Niehl: We left there when I was 6 months old. My dad and mother and Aunt Mary and my older brother Ted headed west. I don't remember much about the trip, but I do have some stories that I was often told later. The main one was Aunt Mary, who was coming out with us to help with my older brother Ted and me. She always got scared coming over high road passes and and different roads that we took, and Dad and Mom used to tell me how Mary always wanted the inside of the car to sit on when we came over some of those uh rugged passes in those days. I don't know if there was guardrails or not, but it kind of scared all of us when she started screaming about "Look down there! Way down there." Yeah. Conor: And and Ed, I understand you're 100 years old, correct? Ed Niehl: Yes. Conor: So you've seen a lot in your life. Your your formative years stretched from the Great Depression to World War II. That's an unparalleled experience. How did that shape you as a young man, and what lessons did you learn that stayed with you all these years? Ed Niehl: I think the big biggest thing that I learned after graduating—I quit high school in my senior year after the football season, and I joined the Army because I was afraid they would draft me into the Navy. Ed Niehl: And I didn't like water at that time, and I'm still not a favor of water. Uh but I did join the Army, and uh I think the two and a half years that I was in did a lot for my life. It uh I was kind of a character in high school, I understand. Ed Niehl: I didn't like school too well, but I liked sports. And the Army took that out of me and gave me a lot of of foresight to continue my life. Doug: And I found an article about you online. It said you actually played football for the Army. Is that true? Ed Niehl: I did. I I was going to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and uh we brought a artillery team from Camp Swift to Fort Sill to play football. And I think there was uh six or eight different teams that came there. Uh real remarkable uh place to go and I don't know what I learned militarily, Ed Niehl: but I I did have a a good time playing football for the artillery at Fort Sill. Doug: I bet. I was actually also in the Army. I was a broadcast journalist and served with AFN in Belgium. I don't know what I learned militarily either, but it brought me here. Ed Niehl: Yeah, yeah. Doug: So you also played football at WSU, if I'm not mistaken. Any memories from that time? Ed Niehl: Yes, I remember when a guy knocked on a coach knocked on my door one day when I was living in Seattle and asked me if I wanted to go to school at Washington State. Kind of surprised me because I had no intentions of going to school. I was ready to go to work. Uh and I said yes, and Mom and Dad a few weeks later packed me in a car and took me over to Pullman and dumped me off. Ed Niehl: And there from then on, it was uh Washington State Cougar football from from that day on. I never was a real Husky fan, Ed Niehl: but I I do appreciate the program that they have had so far. I'm a Cougar, my two sons are Cougars, my grandson is a Cougar. So we we have respect for Washington, but not not as a Cougar. Conor: But not too much. Doug: Not too much respect. Conor: Uh and sports, you were you were also very involved with sports at Bethel High School. But before we get into that, let's talk a little bit about your time as a teacher there. If my sources are correct, you taught shop. What was that like and what kind of projects did students work on back in the '50s? Ed Niehl: I have to say that your sources were wrong. Doug: Oh no! Ed Niehl: I taught shop for one year. Uh when I got the job at Bethel, uh I was assigned to World History, shop, metal shop, wood shop. Uh I graduated from Washington State in Physical Education and health. So the first year I was at Kapowsin High School, which had a uh earthquake destruction in 1949, uh destroyed their swimming pool and part of their gymnasium. So I got these other different teaching positions than I would have normally. And when Bethel opened, I did get my position that I wanted was in the gymnasium, taught Physical Education for 15 15 and a half years. Doug: That tracks with the coaching thing. I'm we'll have to fire the intern that did our research on that. Doug: So I have a follow-up question. That date, 1949, when you taught at Kapowsin High School, that is the year that Bethel School District was founded, 75 years ago. Do you remember anything about that consolidation of the 30-some school districts that were brought together to form this one big gigantic megalith that we now Conor and I now proudly serve? Ed Niehl: No, I I don't remember much about it. I do know that there was a lady, uh Pierce County uh educator, Ruth Bethel. And uh what I know is they named the name after her. But uh I do understand there were just many, many consolidations in the Bethel School District. Uh the last one being high school being Roy and Kapowsin, which were I don't know how far apart, but they're quite a ways apart. Conor: Yeah, and and you were a football and baseball coach at Bethel. And as a new district with a new high school, it was your job to get the athletes from Kapowsin High School and Roy High School, like you just mentioned, to come together as one team, being so far away. I've read that you actually drove the bus that took the athletes from Kapowsin to Roy for practice. What was that time like for you? Ed Niehl: Actually, the two schools, now I remember, were 16 miles apart. And when they consolidated, they played 1950 season was played as Roy and as Kapowsin. Then in 1951, uh we brought the two teams together. When I got the job, my wife and I came early, a spring break, to look at the two schools we were going to be involved in. And uh things didn't look good at that time, Ed Niehl: but I knew they were building the new Bethel High School, so I was really excited about that. But our facilities at Roy uh is where we chose to turn out for football. Uh we rented a field in Bresemann Park, which is now Spanaway Golf Course, and that's where we turned out for baseball. But uh I had to take the kids from Kapowsin, load them on a bus, take them over to Roy and turn out. And then after turn out, I would take some of the Roy kids home, and then backtrack over to Kapowsin and take the Kapowsin kids home. And fortunately, the school district let me take the bus home when I lived in Parkland. But it was it was it was a long day, but it was a fun day. Doug: Is it true you played games at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma? Ed Niehl: Yes, we played our football games at Cheney Stadium, which was up on 11th Avenue there somewhere. Yes, we played there a couple years until we got our Bethel uh facilities going. Bob Niehl: Dad, why don't you tell them the story about you and Art Crate, how the football field got in its location? Ed Niehl: You'd have to know Art Crate first. Ed Niehl: Art Crate was a member of the Bethel District. He was a power and light manager for Elmhurst Light and Power. The district went from Parkland way out to Harts Lake. And Art became very concerned about our high school and our athletic program, because he had two boys coming up. Knowing Art Crate, he used to come and ask me what I needed. Well, we needed a lot of things, and field was the main things. And I can remember one day he came when I was out with my uh high school uh PE class, and Art came over and he said, "Where do you want the football field?" And I said, "Art, I I've got a a class here. I can't leave you. I can't leave them." Well, knowing Art, it was then or now or not at all. Ed Niehl: So I I told the my student leader to take over while I went over and helped Mr. Crate out. And I had looked at the areas where a field might be, but I had no idea it would be. But we walked over there, I was kind of upset. And I walked over there and and uh I put my foot down and I says, "Art, I want the corner right here." And I said, "I want I'd like to have it parallel with 38th Avenue." And uh that was it. He Ed Niehl: he pounded a stake! Ed Niehl: And that's where the Bethel football field is nowadays, at the same place. Conor: Well, that that is amazing though, that a kind of snap decision like that so many decades later and here we are, still playing there. Ed Niehl: Still playing. Bob Niehl: And to look at the timeline of how long it went from, "Okay, where are we going to put it?" to it being there, was amazing. How how quickly did the machinery show up after that meeting that you had with Art? Ed Niehl: Probably the next weekend. Ed Niehl: Because Art Art was a he was a go-getter, and he had lots of help in the Bethel District. He got the centers and the whole thing put the ribbon around for the track and and put up goalposts. He did he did a lot. I can't say enough for Art Crate. I appreciate everything he did. Conor: Things move a little slower these days. Doug: Things do move a little slower these days. Bob Niehl: We we just attended the groundbreaking for the new Bethel High School, and they talked how that started 17 years ago. Doug: It did. Bob Niehl: A little bit different than what they were able to do the football field and the grandstand, both. Doug: They should have just had Ed come over and put a stake down and we would have been good to go. Bob Niehl: Get Get Art and Ed out there with a stake and put the school in. Conor: Yeah, something tells me the permitting process wasn't as rigorous back then. Ed Niehl: It was, yeah. Doug: So at Bethel High, Ed, you spent 15 years as a football coach, 5 years as a baseball coach, and 7 years as a basketball assistant. When it came to athletics, what did Bethel do right, and what were some of the things that you had to work on? Ed Niehl: I think we worked on things as they came. There were problems that came up daily turnout wise, fields, transportation, getting the kids home and and back. We had to work on everything as it came along. There's no no planning ahead. We had no money. I did go to Washington Hardware in Tacoma and Scott's Athletic Supply, and uh ran up a credit bill there. Ed Niehl: They gave us uniforms. At first, we had uniforms from both Kapowsin and Roy, uh not enough for a full team at a consolidated school. So we did have to go in debt a little bit, and we borrowed and begged from different people that we knew that that had something. And the district, Bethel District was super. They were like the old time and days when somebody needed help, there was people there to help them. Uh so it was a great district, and just went from grassroots up to where they are now. Conor: I I've heard that once once you're a coach, you're always a coach. Let's put that coaching hat back on for a minute. If you could step into the locker room and give a pep talk, what would you say to today's student-athletes? Ed Niehl: I don't know what I would say today. I I hear too much restriction of what Ed Niehl: what a coach can do and can't do. Ed Niehl: But I would impress on the kids that were playing this game as a team. And as a team, we we don't want anyone to embarrass our team or yourself. Uh we want don't want to embarrass the Bethel School District, so adhere to the laws and the rules of the game, carry out your assignments, and do the best you can, and above all, have some fun doing it. Doug: I love that. Conor gave me that same pep talk before we came in here. "Don't embarrass me and don't embarrass the district." Conor: I say that before every interview. Doug: It's very wise advice. Uh Ed, today you serve as a key member of the Bethel School District Athletic Hall of Fame. Tell us a little bit about that organization and why it's so important for our community. Ed Niehl: It gives us a chance in the Bethel School District to bring kids back together as a group receiving awards. I think Bob could answer this better than I do. Bob is the president of the Bethel Hall of Fame, and he does a good job of better than I. I know that it's been just a great thing because a lot of my former athletes have come by and congratulated us on the job that the this group has done. Bob Niehl: I think one of our main goals is to preserve history. Uh to learn from what past athletes have done, to learn who those people were, just the abilities of people that have come out of Bethel High School. All of us have kind of a timeframe that we know the school, and my timeframe was probably from birth until I graduated from high school. You know, and the day after I graduated from high school, I was a Cougar. But I look back now on the and get to see people that I sat in the stands and saw as heroes be recognized for what they had done. Back in those days, the high school games were so important because you did couldn't see every pro team play every night on TV like you can today. So that was a lot more of the community focus. And the thing that I have learned about 1970 on is we have produced a huge number of great athletes, people that have been on the pro golf tour, uh people that have have played some pro football, people that have been have done all sorts of things and gone on and be successful. Doug: Absolutely. We even had a former Mariner come out of Bethel High School. Bob Niehl: Yes, we did. Mike Blowers, and he was uh I think it was the first ceremony we had. He was our guest speaker. Or or was he maybe he was inducted the first one and spoke at the second one, I think is what he probably did. Ed Niehl: That was it, yeah. Bob Niehl: Dad, why don't you tell us a little bit about your 1955 and '56 football teams? Ed Niehl: The 1955 team, I wish I could list some of the players, but I would miss some so I better not. But it was went undefeated and we won the state championship. This was a mythical championship at that time, was voted in by sports writers and people throughout the state. And then in '56, most of the same kids came back and we went undefeated that year. And if I recall right, we we were unscored on for 16 ball games. Conor: Which is truly incredible. I I would love to get back in the record books and see if that's ever happened again. That I I can't imagine it has. Doug: Quite a defense. Ed Niehl: Yeah. Doug: Ed, you were born in 1924. I'm going to go through a little list I made here of some of the things that were invented after you were born, and that includes bubblegum, penicillin, Scotch tape, jet engines, so many different things that Conor and I take for granted were invented after you entered the world. For you, is there a single greatest invention that America's produced? Ed Niehl: I think probably the television. I know I at at my age now, I enjoy television as it's a good pastime and I do enjoy it. I know that uh when I was going to high school, there was no Sea-Tac Airport. Doug: Wow. Ed Niehl: There was no Interstate 5. There was no Spanaway Golf Course. Pacific Avenue was very bare of businesses like it is today. Mainly construction has taken over, I think, which is good. Doug: A lot of new infrastructure around. That's that's a good answer, I think television is a strong answer. Conor and I have chosen podcasting because we have faces for radio, we're told. Doug & Conor: [laughter] Doug: So we're happy to sit behind the microphones here. Bob, with your father turning 100, I'm sure over the years he's probably told you a couple solid pieces of advice. Is there any that you could share with the listeners that really stuck with you, made a big impact in your life? You've been a pretty successful man yourself. Bob Niehl: Well, I don't know if they were direct things that he said, "Here's the advice," but to follow his lead. He spent his life in coaching, and so many times I've seen articles about him and it has the quote, "Do it for the kids." And he was his whole career, he was about the betterment of student-athletes, both in the classroom and on the the football field or basketball court or baseball field. But it was always about what's best for the students and and what's good for their life. And what can they learn and take with them as they go on. And and I followed his footsteps, as I say, physical education degree at at uh WSU. Played basketball, I was never a football player, but I did play basketball and and sports were really important in our household as just kind of a centerpiece. We still watch the Mariners almost every night, we watch all the Seahawk games, we just love watching the Cougars this last year in basketball. And I think just the guidance that he gave me towards how he lived his life. I look back and and so many times now you see parents that are the helicopter parents that are always there and right involved with the kids and everything they do. He never once said, "Let's go out and do this. Let's go do that, play a sport," but if I said, "Hey Dad, I'd like to go play catch," he had the ball and a couple gloves. "Hey, will you rebound for me?" "Yep," he was out there. Doug: Love that. Bob Niehl: And and was always there but never pushed. But I I think like any young person, you're going to look at what the important people in your life are doing, and you emulate that. And I I think that I did that and I'm glad that I did. Doug: I think that's fantastic. Great great answer, and great advice: do it for the kids. I love that quote. Conor: Absolutely. And and one last question for you, Ed, and we all aspire to live a long meaningful life like yours. Do you have any good advice for the people listening on how to stay active and engaged in their retirement years? Ed Niehl: I've been asked that many times Ed Niehl: since I got a 100 anyway. I never had any problems as far as eating, sleeping, keeping active. And that's all I can say is that keep going, just keep active, eat the right things, stay away from drugs, Ed Niehl: and do the best you can with what you got. Conor: It's just that simple. Doug: Just love it. Fan- fantastic advice. Bethel institution Ed Niehl and Bob Niehl, thank you so much for joining us today. We're really excited to have you here to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our great district. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Ed Niehl: Thank you. Bob Niehl: Thank you. Enjoyed it.

Episode 179: From roller derby to rugby

On this week's podcast we sit down with three members of the Class of 2026 to hear all about their future plans, what unique sports they play, and what they loved most about their school communities. This is the last episode of Season 4. Season 5 will return in August. Have a great summer!    --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey, everybody, I'm Doug. Conor: That's Conor, and you're listening to the final episode this season of the Bethel School District Presents podcast. Doug: Wipe the tears from your eyes, open up your ears, and get ready for a whole bunch of useless trivia and more seniors on the show. Graduation for all of our schools is actually over. We had three ceremonies last week, three earlier this week. You have got to be exhausted. You are a photographer extraordinaire out there at the graduation ceremonies. Conor: I am, indeed, and I love those ceremonies. And one thing I've gotten to know really well over these many, many years of covering graduation is "Pomp and Circumstance," the song they play as graduates walk out every time. And it got me thinking, Doug, why? Why that song? Doug: I don't know. Conor: And, and you know, the inquisitive brain that I have, it got me down a rabbit hole, and that's going to be my useless trivia this week. So, Douglas, did you know the tradition didn't actually start at a high school graduation at all, but rather a college one? The song was originally written in 1901 by Sir Edward Elgar, who composed the piece for the coronation of King Edward VII of England. Then, in 1905, Elgar visited Yale University to receive an honorary degree, and Yale, being the good sports that they are, played the tune as a show of respect. Other schools heard it, loved the stately vibe, and it quickly spread to high schools across the country. So, that's how it started. My source on that is the Yale Alumni Magazine, which I subscribe to even though I didn't go to Yale, just because I want to feel cool. Doug: Well, it's working for you. I love that. More importantly, "Pomp and Circumstance," the entrance music for one Macho Man Randy Savage. Source: my childhood in the '80s. Oh, yeah, brother. Well, it's funny, you had a little bit of England in your useless trivia. I have some in mine, too, but first, listeners—Conor—have a little science experiment for us to do. If you have an iPhone, and I apologize Android users, go ahead and put your phone down, but if you have an iPhone, go to your calculator, and in the upper right-hand corner, there's a smaller calculator. I've never even noticed this before. Little calculator icon. Click that, and click the word "Convert" at the bottom. And now you have a currency calculator. Have you ever seen that before? Conor: I have not. Doug: Yeah, mine opened in Euros, but you can go in and select everything from the Guatemalan quetzal to the Iraqi dinar and everything in between on the list of A to Z. And that got me thinking about the world's oldest currency, which is the British pound—£1 sterling, as it's officially called. It dates back over 1,200 years, believe it or not, Conor, back to 775. I'm going to give you a real brief timeline, and don't worry, I'm going to skip like 1,000 years here in a second. But in 775, silver pennies were introduced, and 240 of them weighed exactly one physical pound of sterling silver. Skip 1,000 years, in 1717, your boy Sir Isaac Newton, who was the Master of the Royal Mint, accidentally changed Britain from a silver to a gold standard. It must have been some accident because it lasted until 1931 when Britain abandoned gold and converted the pound to a modern currency. And the last notch on the timeline is 1971 when Britain throws out the ancient system of shillings and pence, decimalizing the pound so it equals exactly 100 pence. Conor: Wow. Doug: And my— it was a lot. And my sources on that are the Royal Mint and the BBC. Conor: Excellent trivia, Doug. I love that. Doug: And speaking of pounds, you sure were pounding the pavement over at our high schools. That was terrible. I'm glad this is the last episode. I am going to take a sabbatical with my embarrassment for the summer and, uh, hopefully come back with some better jokes in the fall. But you were over at Bethel High School, and the first senior you talked to this week is Riley. Conor: Well, let's jump right in. Riley, what's been your favorite class here at Bethel High? Riley: I've really enjoyed our international history class with Mr. Matthews. We cover a lot of topics like around like the Cold War era, and I've gotten to like explore like a lot of like new like perspectives and things that I never thought I'd be able to see, which is really great. And we have a lot of opportunities through the Cambridge program to get a more like global view. Conor: That sounds super interesting. Uh, any special activities or awards during your time here at Bethel? Riley: Um, so I do play roller derby outside of school, so I've gotten um a couple MVPs from that. Uh, I am in our marching band and concert and jazz band, so um I did receive a drum major award, and we placed second in the Wenatchee parade. Um, I also received the outstanding uh Cambridge Learner Award because I got uh high marks on all of my exams. Um, and then I'm also our ASB vice president, so like I've gotten to help a lot with the community around here, and I got an award for our SSLC Superintendent Student Leadership Council as well. Conor: That's a diverse set of interests. I like that. Uh, what are your plans after graduation? Riley: I'm planning to study neuroscience at Wazzu, and I hope to find a career in psychiatry and maybe work for a Seattle sports team. Conor: What have you enjoyed most about your time here at Bethel? Riley: I really like the community. Um, I like doing a lot of things that are performance arts-based and kind of pushing like my limits. Um, so in like drama club and band, I've been able to be in that center spotlight where I used to be like really scared, but that's like helped me grow as a person, and I feel like I can take on a lot more challenges now than I used to be able to. And I'm like, because of Cambridge, I feel like really like prepared to go into college and like accomplish new things. Conor: Yeah, that's great. Uh, what makes this school so special to you? Riley: I'd say like the teachers. Our teachers here, they care so much about their student body, and like I feel like they have been really important for my growth as like a learner and as a student. And I'm really grateful for the experiences I've been able to have and for their effect on me long-term. Conor: Yeah, shout out to all the amazing teachers here. All right, here's the hard part, the lightning round. What's your least favorite food? Riley: I'm not a huge fan of seafood. I kind of like shrimp, but I had this really gross um Krabby Patty with imitation crab, and I threw up after that. Not a fan. Conor: That'll ruin it for you. Uh, any pets? Riley: I have two cats. Um, one is named Willow and one named Scout. It's uh, they have a calico and a gray tabby. Conor: Very cool. Any books you're reading right now or books you'd like to recommend to people? Riley: So we actually covered a lot of really cool like uh literary works in my literature class, and I actually really like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. Um, and then I actually enjoyed Pride and Prejudice a lot. I actually played Mr. Darcy in our play here. And if anybody's interested in that kind of work, uh I really like Jane Austen, as well as Sylvia Plath as well, the poet. Conor: Classics, all of them. What is your dream spring break travel destination? Riley: I really want to go to Japan, um and like just experience something that's like new and a lot different. Um, I also really want to go like to Europe and be able to travel between like the different countries over there. Conor: What TV show, YouTube show, podcast series are you listening to or watching right now? Riley: I have been watching a lot of House, and um I really like all the Gordon Ramsay shows. So like Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen and everything. So when I'm stressed out, I get to watch other people being stressed out about things and it makes me feel better. Um Conor: Comfort shows there. Uh, what's one thing on your bucket list? Riley: I really want to go bungee jumping or do something, I really like thrill like adventures and stuff. So if I could like travel to like a coast or anything or like go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, that would be really awesome. Conor: That would be cool. Uh, okay, if you had to sing karaoke in front of the entire school, what song you picking? Riley: I would pick "Hella Good" by No Doubt. Conor: Excellent choice, and thank you very much. Good luck in the future. Riley: Thank you. Doug: Well, great interview, Conor. First time I've heard a student say that they played roller derby. That was really, really cool to learn about Riley. And did you know—bonus piece of useless trivia for you, Conor—that before one plays an official roller derby game, you have to pass a written exam? Conor: That can't be true. Doug: It is true. According to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, they have a rulebook that covers everything from legal blocking zones to complex penalty scenarios, and all participants must study the rulebook and pass a test on the regulations to ensure safety on the track before they can play. Conor: Wow, that's really interesting, Doug. Um, also interesting, I got to talk to a few other seniors. Next one was from Challenger. Conor: I am here at Challenger High School with senior extraordinaire, Kevaughn. So Kevaughn, what is your favorite class here at Challenger, either this year or any year? Kevaughn: Uh, my favorite class is art class with Mr. Foote. Conor: Any special activities or awards you've earned during your time here at Challenger? Kevaughn: I've earned uh Honor Roll and uh Student of the Month award. Conor: Very good. Uh, and what are you planning on doing after you graduate? Kevaughn: I plan on doing uh professional rugby overseas. So, yeah, that's about it. Conor: Oh, you're going to have to tell me more about that. I'm not letting you off the hook that easy. Tell me about the professional rugby you're going to pursue. How long you been playing rugby? Kevaughn: Man, I've been playing rugby my whole life, and I'm just, that's always been my career ever since I was a kid. So I'm just, that's like my passion right there. Conor: That's an amazing passion. Uh, what have you enjoyed most about being a student here at Challenger? Kevaughn: I'd say it's, you know, getting to meet uh new faces around the school like every year, and like from time to time, especially the staff. Like, the staff's been a huge like amount of support for me, especially the teachers, and I'd say that's like my favorite thing. Conor: Absolutely. And, and this is a unique school, it's not like every other school. What do you think makes Challenger so special? Kevaughn: I'd say the staff and teachers, they're very more like um social and like more active like to getting to know you and like having you be like, you know, active in school activities and stuff like that. So I'd say that's one, that's one of the main things that separates it from like different schools. Conor: All right, so this is the fun part, we're going to do a little lightning round here. What's your least favorite food? Kevaughn: I'd say fish. Conor: Just cross the board, fish. Kevaughn: Fish. Conor: Fair enough. Uh, do you have any pets? Kevaughn: Uh, nah. Conor: No pets. Uh, you got a book you're reading, or the last good book you want to recommend? Kevaughn: It was about the All Blacks, I'm pretty confidential. Uh, professional rugby team, but it was like about motivation and stuff like that. Conor: What is your dream spring break travel destination? Kevaughn: I'd say it's uh Japan. Conor: Any TV shows, YouTube shows, podcast series you're watching or listening to right now? Kevaughn: Uh, right now I'm currently watching Black Clover, it's an anime, and uh I usually be listening to like uh sports podcast uh podcast about the Northampton Saints and the Premiership Cup in England. Conor: Very specific, I like that. Uh, what's one thing on your bucket list? Kevaughn: Skydiving. Conor: Okay, here, here's the tough one. If you had to sing karaoke in front of the entire school, what song you picking? Kevaughn: Oh, I'll probably pick "Thankful" by Stone Too. Conor: All right, I like it. Uh, well, good luck in the future, and thanks for joining us. Kevaughn: Thank you. Doug: Always great to hear from our seniors. I love that his dream is to play professional rugby. Two sports, that and roller derby earlier, that we don't really talk about much on the podcast. Another piece of useless trivia for you, Conor, I've been sitting here while you were actually doing work over at the high schools. But did you know that originally, rugby balls were made from pigs' bladders? Conor: Oh, that's disgusting. Doug: It's horrible. Of course, they're naturally plum-shaped. Conor: Of course. Doug: And because they are organic, they varied widely in size and shape. And in the late 19th century, Richard Lindon switched to using rubber inner tubes, but the distinct oval shape was intentionally kept because it made the ball easier to hold, cradle, and pass. And that is all from the World Rugby Museum. Conor: Very fascinating stuff. I did not know that about the pig bladders, and frankly, I wish I still didn't know it. Anyway, our last interview today is over at GK. I headed over and chatted with one of their superstar seniors. Conor: I'm at Graham-Kapowsin High School with Danielle, an amazing senior here. And Danielle, what has been your favorite class here at GK? Danielle: Definitely our Renaissance class. It's my favorite. Had all four years. Conor: Very cool. Uh, any special activities you've been involved in or awards you've won? Danielle: I've actually hosted our school haunted house this year called Fright Night, and we basically just transformed our whole school. Conor: That sounds super fun and scary. Uh, what are your plans after graduation? Danielle: I plan to attend Seattle Pacific University and get my nursing degree. Conor: What have you enjoyed most about your time here at GK? Danielle: I really love building a community and just being able to hang out with all my friends and make these unique clubs and meet all these new people. Conor: Very cool. And what makes this school so special to you? Danielle: Definitely the community we have. I feel like we're very tight-knit within our school, and we're very diverse, so there's so many different kinds of people and I feel like we all mesh together even with our differences. Conor: All right, let's move on to lightning round here. What's your least favorite food? Danielle: Watermelon. Conor: All right, we'll accept it. Uh, do you have any pets? Danielle: Um, we have a class fish, our goldfish, Mango. Conor: Very cool. What books are you reading right now or anything you'd like to recommend to people? Danielle: I'm reading a light novel called The Apothecary Diaries. It's part of a set, and I 100% recommend that. Conor: What's your dream spring break travel destination? Danielle: Japan. Most mostly like the country in Japan. I really want to visit out there and explore. Conor: What TV show, YouTube series, podcast series are you listening to or watching right now? Danielle: I'm currently watching When Life Gives You Tangerines. I really love that show. Conor: What's one thing on your bucket list? Danielle: It's kind of weird, but I have a life goal of trying to be able to do a backflip. Conor: If you had to sing karaoke in front of the entire school, what song you choosing? Danielle: I would sing "Sosefina" by JOSH TATOFFI. Conor: Well, congratulations on an awesome career here, and good luck in the future. Danielle: Thank you. Doug: Well, thank you again to all the seniors we chatted with today, and congratulations and best wishes to all of our seniors that graduated this year. Over 1,000 graduates now heading off either into the workforce, off to college, into trade schools, the military. The future is bright, Conor, you got to find some shades. Summer's here, and the pod is over. Season 5 will return this fall, and while you're at the beach this summer, great beach listen catching up on all the podcasts you missed during the school year. Conor: Have a great summer, everyone. We'll be back in August.

Episode 178: Lessons from the Class of 2026

On this week's podcast, we explore what makes our schools special through the eyes of our graduating seniors! We’ll hear how Spanaway Lake High School thrives on diversity, offering a vibrant ethnic club scene where every student finds a place to belong. We’ll also talk with a multi-talented Student School Board Representative who thrived in Challenger High School’s close-knit, encouraging environment. Plus we’ve got useless trivia about summer barbecues and even a lawsuit involving a former president. New episodes drop on Wednesdays. Check us out wherever you listen to podcasts and be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey everybody, I'm Doug, that's Conor, and you're listening to the Bethel School District presents podcast. You're also listening to the penultimate episode of this season. And today we're talking with two of our amazing seniors who are crossing the graduation stage, one of them, as we speak, as this episode drops. We'll get to them in just a minute, but first, of course, you know how we do it, Conor, useless trivia. What do you got for us this week? Conor: Well, considering we are officially getting into summertime, and the weather's getting amazing, my favorite thing to do out there is barbecue. So, it got me thinking a little bit about useless barbecue trivia. And did you know, Douglas, that you can thank the pioneer of the assembly line for those uniform charcoal briquettes that you buy at the store? So, the story is, in 1920s, Henry Ford's car manufacturing plants were generating tons of leftover wood and scraps and sawdust. He didn't want that to go to waste, and he wanted to make a little money on it, so he teamed up with a man named E. G. Kingsford to turn that waste into charcoal lumps. So, Ford originally sold the charcoal through his car dealerships. Eventually, the company was sold and renamed Kingsford Charcoal, which is still the biggest charcoal brand in the US today. Doug: Well, that is a fantastic piece of summertime trivia, Conor, I love that. I know you're a big barbecue guy in the backyard. My favorite kind of charcoal is propane. Now, what is your source this week, sir? Conor: Well, I went straight to the horse's mouth on that one. I got it from kingsford.com. Douglas, regale us with your useless trivia this week. Doug: Yeah, one of my favorite things to do on this podcast is to bore the pants off of you with random historical oddities that I happen across. And I happened to be in the city of Davenport, Iowa recently, looking across the water at what they call the Government Bridge. It's been there since 1896 and is still standing. It has room for two trains to go across the top and a place on the bottom for people to drive across to the Rock Island Arsenal. But this is not my useless trivia, Conor, we're going back multiple, and you can see I have pictures here from the museum where I saw this. So, that's the fourth bridge. The third bridge was also made out of metal but only had one railroad across it. The second bridge was made out of wood, a tornado hit that one. So, let's go back to the first bridge, and this is where my useless trivia is. From 1856 to 1866, 10-year span, the first bridge was put up to get folks over to Rock Island Arsenal, and within two weeks, a steamboat hit it and messed the whole thing up. There was a huge lawsuit. My useless trivia is, one of the lawyers in that lawsuit was Abraham Lincoln. Conor: No kidding, Honest Abe, that's something. Well, the real question is, what was so special that they needed a train to go over to Rock Armor Island? Doug: Rock Island Arsenal, you're really close. So, currently, Rock Island Arsenal's the only place in the United States where the Army owns and operates its own active foundry. And that goes back to even World War I where they made tanks, they made howitzers. They're still making howitzers. In fact, it's the main manufacturing place for that in the continental United States. And they're also making gun mounts for M1 Abrams tanks and other armored vehicles. But the history of the Army on this island goes way back, and I'm not going to get into all the details about that, but it was used as a prisoner of war camp. I think I'll save that to bore you with on another day, Conor. Conor: Yeah, if those walls could talk, though. A lot of history over there. Rock Armory Islandville, whatever. Doug: So close. Well, Conor, speaking of history, you stopped by Spanaway Lake High School where students are making history. We have some outstanding seniors there getting ready to cross the graduation stage next week, and you got to talk to a senior named Otshumba. Conor: Let's get started. What is your favorite class or what has been your favorite class here? Otshumba: My top favorite class has to be AP US History. That class was so fun. I know it's an AP class and sometimes AP class can like be dreading, but that class was really fun. I learned like a lot of content and like knowledge that like I use till this day. So, that class was like really fun. Conor: That sounds awesome. That sounds like a fun class. Um, any special activities or awards you've won as a student here? Otshumba: I have to say one of my top special activities has to be the club I made, my freshman year when I first came to Spanaway Lake High School. I made the club called ASA, African Student Association. And it's just a club that holds very dear in my heart. I feel like we've made a lot of like progress, especially for like a new club. It made a lot of progress and I feel like it opened to like a lot of new things that like we didn't do before I made ASA. We volunteer, um, to middle schools, elementary schools, and I think that also like touched my heart as well. It's just seeing like kids like engage in African, um, cultures. I am a Running Start student and I have been like on the dean's list at least three times and even more. So, I think that's very special to me, especially like for a college that's like not connected to Spanaway Lake High School, so I feel like that's an achievement that I'm really proud of as well. Conor: Absolutely, those are both amazing achievements. Uh, leaving your mark here, I love that. Uh, what have you enjoyed most about your time here at Spanaway Lake High School? Otshumba: Um, this might seem a little cheesy or a little bit scripted, but I really did, um, I enjoy my like the my knowledge I'm able to get. I feel like, um, going to school is such a privilege, and I think I really like the knowledge, as I said. I took AP US History and other AP classes that really set me up for success in my Running Start classes that like really opened my eyes to a lot of real-world and current news and stuff, so... Conor: Very cool. Uh, and what makes this school special? Otshumba: I don't mean to be biased since I'm a club leader myself, but really just the clubs. I don't know if I've seen any other high school have so many different ethnic clubs. I really, um, think Spanaway Lake High School is really special because of those. You have a representation for each different race and ethnicity, and I feel like if you're a freshman coming into high school, I think that's the main things you could look for is a club that represents you so you don't feel alone. Conor: Very cool. All right, now, now we're getting to the tough ones. Here's a lightning round here. So, what's your least favorite food? Otshumba: Probably tomato soup. Conor: All right. Do you have any pets? Otshumba: I have one, or actually, I have two. I have one leopard gecko, his name is Cornelius, and I have a dog named Magic. Conor: Love that. Are you reading any books right now or anything you can recommend? Otshumba: No, I'm usually an online reader, sorry. Conor: What's your dream spring break travel destination? Otshumba: I really want to go to France. On my dad's side, they speak French. Also, shout out to Miss Toulson, my French teacher. She's a really good teacher, so everyone needs to take French. And I really want to go to France. I think they have so many like different African infusion foods and stuff. I already went to New York, which was also my, um, one of my top places I want to go, and now it's just France. Conor: Nice, you're knocking them off the bucket list already even as a youngster. So, okay. Any TV show, YouTube series, podcast series you're watching or listening to right now? Otshumba: I'm really enjoying Smiling Friends. That TV show is so cool. I think it's only because it has like a lot of awkward scenes. Conor: Besides getting over to France, anything on your bucket list you want to do? Otshumba: Okay, this also might sound a little cheesy as well, but I feel like it's so important to live in now, like in like in your moment, because I feel like when I was a freshman, the biggest mistake I made was not being a kid or not or not just being a teen, because I immediately went into AP World History as my freshman year. I immediately did so many things that I actually didn't really have to, I mean, it helped me now, but I kind of wish that I just been a kid and just did a lot of kid stuff. So, I feel like now that like I'm going to graduate soon, I want to do like a lot of kid stuff, I want to go to concerts, I want to go to that coffee shop alone, I want to go experience so many different things that maybe I have to do alone or maybe with friends. Conor: Okay, here's the last one. If you had to sing karaoke in front of the entire school, what song are you picking? Otshumba: I think I'm going to have to choose "When Can I See You Again?" by Owl City. I've been singing that every single day. Like, I've been obsessed with that song. So, yeah, I'll probably sing that. Conor: Love that. Well, Otshumba, thank you so much and good luck in the future. Otshumba: Thank you. Doug: Great interview, Conor. I love hearing from our seniors and what the future holds for them. She mentioned going to France, and it made me think of a time that I was actually in France, and I was there at an odd time when a lot of the bakeries were actually closed. And as a extra piece of useless trivia, did you know until 2015 there was a centuries-old law stating that all bakers in Paris had to report to the authorities when they wanted to go on vacation? Conor: I didn't know that. Why is that? Makes no sense. Doug: Well, the city needs fresh bread, Conor. I need fresh bread. I can't have all my bakers out of town at the same time. So, the bakers were split into two groups, half could vacation in July, the other half could go in August. It sounds like it's made up, but it's not. It actually goes all the way back to the French Revolution. Conor: That's bizarre, and now I really want a baguette. Doug: I don't blame you. Let me stop distracting you from the show so we can get to the end and we'll go find that baguette and maybe a cup of coffee too. Our next senior that we're going to meet is no stranger to the podcast. See if you recognize this familiar voice from Challenger High School. In fact, they are crossing the graduation stage today. Let's hear from him. Conor: I am here at Challenger High School with senior extraordinaire, Jacques. If that name sounds familiar to our good listeners, it's because he was actually a guest on the show earlier this year, so two times in one season. Not bad, Jacques. Uh, I'm going to start out with what's your favorite class? Jacques: Uh, my favorite class right now I'd have to say is PE with Mr. Jackson. Conor: All right. Shout out Mr. Jackson. And here's a any special activities or awards you've earned, and since I sort of know your background, just take a deep breath, try to get them all out at once, because it's going to be about five minutes, I think. Jacques's got a pretty hefty resume, but I'm going to let you tell them. Jacques: Yeah, um, I've gotten an honor's roll or principal's list every year since freshman year, attendance award every quarter. I'm also part of the school board representatives in SSLC. Um, also part of the multi-culture club at my school, Student Voice, um, team at my school, and Skill Center for pre-physical therapy. And that's all I can think of right now. Conor: Probably got like five more, but when you're doing that much, it's easy to forget some of them. All right, what are your plans after graduation? Jacques: Uh, my plans after high school, I want to go to college, um, or barber school. I recently got the opportunity to speak to some people from a barber school and it sounds like a really good opportunity for me. Conor: Nice. Uh, what have you enjoyed most about being a student here at Challenger? Jacques: Um, I've enjoyed like the freedom we have. I think it's very like relaxed, and it's not too strict um to the point where you don't want to be here. I think I always want to be here. Conor: And you you touched on it right there, but what makes this school so special? Jacques: I think just the environment. Um, seeing everybody like in hallways laughing, having a good time. The teachers always friendly, and it's just a good community all around. Conor: Agreed, and we're going to jump right into the lightning round here. What's your least favorite food? Jacques: Least favorite food, it had to be Brussels sprouts. Anything green, can't do it. Conor: Oh, you're missing out. Someone's someday is going to prepare Brussels sprouts the perfect way for you, and you're going to see the error of your ways. Uh, any pets? Jacques: Uh, nah, no pets. Conor: Any books you're reading right now or any recent books you have recommendations for? Jacques: Um, no, not any books right now. I don't remember the last time I actually like wanted to pick up a book. Conor: Somebody get Jacques a good book so he can develop a love for reading. Uh, what's your dream spring break travel destination? Jacques: Anywhere on the water. I just want to be like in the Bahamas, somewhere far far away from everybody else. Conor: What's a TV show, YouTube show, podcast series you're watching or listening to right now? Jacques: I'm watching on rewatching Forever. It's a show on Netflix. Waiting for that season two to come out. Conor: One thing on your bucket list that you just know you got to do. Jacques: I really want to go parasailing over the water. Conor: Okay, if you had to sing karaoke in front of the entire school, what song are you picking? Jacques: If I absolutely had to, I would have to do "From Time" by Drake and Jhené Aiko. Conor: That'd be a winner, uh crowd-pleaser there. Uh, well, Jacques, thank you so much and good luck in the future. Jacques: All right, thank you. Doug: Well, thank you again to Jacques and Otshumba for joining the show today, and we have three more seniors for you to meet next week. That will be our last episode of the season. If you like what you heard today, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, share it with a friend, and we'll be back next week.

Episode 177: Strategies that help all students

On this week's podcast, we’ve got everything from lactose-intolerant cats to game-changing first-grade teaching strategies! We sit down with a first grade co-teaching team to explore how pairing physical motions with vocabulary words creates a cognitive superpower in young learners, boosting both social and academic language success. --Transcript-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey everybody. I'm Doug, that's Conor, and you're listening to the Bethel School District Presents podcast, the only podcast that promises you amazing educators, interesting interviews, and more in 15 minutes or less or the next one is free. Conor, we are once again in tiny chairs, this time in a first grade classroom with Dena Mariano and Brianna Kangas, two educators I wanted you to meet because we have been working on a video showcasing the work that's going on in this very classroom. But before we get into that, you know how we do it, we have to have useless trivia, Conor. Why don't you kick us off? Conor: Okay, I will, and my useless trivia is—I'm gonna admit it's sub-par this week, but they can't all be winners. Doug: This is a strong start. Conor: So Douglas, esteemed podcast guest, did you know that neutron stars pack more mass than the sun into a sphere only about 12 miles wide, making them extraordinarily dense. So, NASA says, quote, "A sugar cube-sized amount of neutron star would weigh about a million tons on Earth." Dena: Wow. Doug: What? Brianna: Oh, my. Conor: Wrap your head around that, Douglas. Doug: That's, man. Conor: And my, my source is baked in because I said NASA says, and we trust NASA, don't we? Doug: I noticed that, well done. Well, Brianna, let's go over to you. Do you have a sugar cube-sized piece of useless trivia for us? Brianna: Sure, I don't know about sugar cube-sized but uh it was interesting and I didn't know it. Uh my source comes from the Charlottesville Cat Care Clinic. Conor: Love that source, by the way. Brianna: There's a tongue twister for you. Yep, all that alliteration. Did you know that most cats are actually lactose intolerant? Doug: What? Conor: I had no clue. How is that possible? Brianna: I know. I feel like I grew up watching The Aristocats movie. That was one of my favorite films growing up. And there was always these scenes where they drink the milk and the cream and I feel like that was always a thing with cats, but no. Doug: I had no idea. I grew up with Bugs Bunny and and Sylvester was always drinking milk before he went after Tweety and— Conor: Those are great documentaries, too. Doug: Yeah, that's also a good source. Well, Dena, over to you. Your useless trivia for us. Dena: Ooh, okay. Mine, mine is in honor of something I love. Did you know the unicorn is the national animal of Scotland and April 9th is National Unicorn Day? Conor: Well, Doug, round us out. What do you got this week? What's your useless trivia? Doug: Well, I was watching Castle Rock, which is a series based on the Stephen King universe last night. In one of the episodes, one of the main characters is selling a house to two new characters who are only in it for just a second. They come in, and the guy happens to mention that there's dandelions in the yard, and dandelions came over on the Mayflower. Brianna: Interesting. Conor: What? So, your source is a fictional TV show? Did you, did you care to like, at least Google to see if that's true? Dena: Fact check it. Doug: Okay, so I did fact check it and I went to the Smithsonian, I went to National Geographic, and the New York Times even had an article, and this is true-ish. Dandelions are not native to the United States. They did come over from England because they are very easy to grow. They were a source of greens, they were used for medicine, and they were also—and this is a side piece of useless trivia—because they bloom so early, good for honeybees, which are also not native to the United States. And that is two pieces of useless trivia. Dena: We might be able to add that, Brianna, to our— Brianna: —to our instruction— Dena: —as we're talking right now, teaching our kiddos about the American uh independence. And so we were talking about friends coming over on the Mayflower, so— Doug: Fantastic. Dena: There you go. Conor: What? Doug: Let's talk about that and I'm curious just to set the stage what hand sign you're going to use for honeybees because it's specifically honeybees that came over. There were other types of bees here, but honeybees were not here. Brianna: So, we need to be very specific that it's a honeybee. Well, I would make like a little bee with my hand, buzzzz. Dena: But then honey, I'm like— Brianna: But honey, I'm like, I don't know, a little twirl of honey. Doug: There's hands swirling around. Yeah, it's— Dena & Brianna: Honey bee. Dena: There we go. Doug: So, this, Conor, is why I wanted to bring you here and introduce our audience to these amazing educators here. Dena, you've been here for 27 years in the district. Dena: Yep. Doug: And Brianna, you have been here for 3 years, and you both work together. Brianna, you are an MLE, Multi-Lingual Education teacher that works all over the school. And Dena, you teach first grade here. So, Brianna, when you're in Dena's classroom, just to connect the dots, you both co-teach. Tell our audience what does that look like and, more importantly, what kind of student growth are you seeing because of it? Brianna: Yeah. So, co-teaching can look a couple of different ways depending on what the lesson is. But, primarily, it means that there are two teachers in the classroom. They're equally sharing that instruction. So, sometimes that looks like that we are both up in front of the class, both leading instruction, both jumping back and forth between each other. Sometimes it might mean she will take a group of students and I will take a group of students. She might be re-teaching and I might be pre-teaching something. But, it can look a couple different ways in the classroom when we're teaching together. Dena: Yeah, and sometimes you're leading the class, but I may be crouched down supporting some particular students. So— Brianna: —or she'll be reading the read aloud and I'm up in front leading the class with our motions that we've created for our vocabulary words. Conor: Which is really interesting and we've already got a little sneak peek of this, but could you explain a little bit more about these hand signals because this is not sign language you're teaching them, it's something different, right? So, can you tell us what is that about and what are they getting out of it? Brianna: Exactly. So, we typically come up with motions or gestures that go with our vocabulary words that we're learning. So, we're explicitly teaching vocabulary words that the students are going to encounter in the read aloud and that we want them to be able to utilize when they're speaking to each other about the content. And there is an official term for these gestures that we do with vocabulary and it's called TPR or Total Physical Response. It's actually a GLAD strategy, which is a language acquisition strategy. GLAD stands for Guided Language Acquisition Design. But, when you pair a motion with a vocabulary word, when you're saying something at the same time your body is doing something, there's something that happens in your brain that's going to help you remember and connect that word. So, it gives another access point to that word and another way for students then to communicate and recall that word later on when we're reading it or utilizing it when we're speaking. Dena: And it helps not only our multi-lingual learners, but all first graders because all of our students are learning language. We're all here at school learning new academic language. So, whether you're learning English for the first time or you are a monolingual English speaker, you're still learning that new academic language. So, Brianna and I co-plan in order to facilitate that co-teaching, and we are able then to embed those language support strategies throughout the instruction. Doug: And that's amazing for learning vocabulary, but the next step, of course, is then putting those words into thought and answering questions and things like that, and learning writing. What you all told me last time was that you will see students at their desk making the hand signs as they're remembering the vocabulary word as they're writing. Tell us a little bit about that, and then also tell us about your multi-lingual students who aren't ready to write yet but are able to give oral presentations. Dena: Well, one of the things I've really learned from working with Brianna is the importance of the oral language practice, or rehearsing orally. Um you can't write what you cannot say. And so uh in the past, in my teaching practice, I would have kids a little mini-lesson and then go to write. And now, I've definitely switched because I've seen the real impact that oral language practice has on our kiddos. So, every day we're practicing how we're going to, let's say, for example, structure our opinion, and it's all oral practice. So, by the time they get to that point to write it, they don't have to worry about the structure of the opinion writing, we've practiced that. They don't have to worry about the vocabulary, we've practiced that. They don't have to worry about the temporal or transition words, we've practiced that. They can really just focus in on the mechanics of writing. And then I have kiddos who aren't yet able to write, but they are still able, through that oral practice, to practice first grade writing standards and communicate their learning. Brianna: And then they're also, at the same time, building that academic oral language structure through that practice. And then when they are at that point where they are able to independently write, they've already practiced those grade level expectations for writing, and that skill will just transfer. So, they're practicing that skill orally and then once they're at that time when they're able to produce it in writing, that skill will transfer to the writing piece. Doug: Yeah, one thing I'm loving about listening to you both speak about this, we're talking about teaching first graders and you're using words like "temporal" and all these different strategies. All the work that goes behind the scenes, I just want our audience to appreciate that teachers put in each and every day, no matter the grade level, to make sure our kids are really achieving their absolute best. Conor: Well, the one thing that's really obvious talking to you even for this short period of time is you both have amazing energy and a huge passion for teaching. Can you tell us a little bit where both of you got your love of teaching and your desire to be teachers? Dena, we'll start with you. Dena: Well, my both my parents uh were educators. Uh my dad started out in uh high school teaching math and then coaching and worked his way up to eventually uh superintendent of the Yakima School District. Conor: Wow. Dena: And then my mom worked with uh adults with developmental disabilities. And so, I've just always kind of grown up around helping people. And I knew that I wanted to go into a career to help people and seeing that role model of my parents doing that in such a way, I was inspired. I knew that I really wanted to work with um kiddos that maybe needed a little something different, a little something more, and so I went to school and got uh certified as a special education teacher. So, that's actually where I started. Now, this is another area in which I can grow that love and passion and my my skills for meeting, again, unique needs of students. Conor: That's awesome, and it's so great that you're able to kind of tailor your specific skill set to the job you're doing, and it sounds like you're having a pretty good time doing it. Um Brianna, what about you? You you're in a a a little earlier stage in your career, but you're, obviously, in love with this job, I would assume. Dena, your parents were educators, and I know at least one of your parents was an educator, as well. Can you tell us about that? Brianna: Yes. So, actually, both of my parents were also educators. So, my mom was a teacher for a long time. She taught French and then music, and then she became an administrator, and was an assistant principal and is now a principal. Um and my dad has taught high school and AP Chem for the last 30 years at the same school. Conor: Wow. Brianna: Yep, I think he's planning on retiring next year, so we're getting close. But, I grew up with a lot of educators in my family, as well. But, I kind of had the opposite experience of Dena where I had a lot of people in my family in education and I said, "Nope, I'm not gonna do that." Uh so, when I went to college, I loved French in high school and my mom spoke French, and so I wanted to be able to learn and speak with her. And so, then I ended up majoring in French and international relations in college. And I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do after I left, but I always knew that I wanted to study abroad and live abroad. And so, my French professor recommended a program where I could live in France, but I would be teaching English in a school over there. And so, I moved to France after I graduated from college and I lived there for a year, and I was a an English teaching assistant in a French middle school. And as much as I tried to not love it, I loved it. I absolutely I absolutely loved it. Basically, this was an equivalent of if a student here was taking, you know, a a French class or a Spanish class or Japanese at school, and so they were acquiring language, and I loved seeing the connections that students made between French and English and how much growth they were able to make in that time that I was working with them. And so, when I came back home, I knew that I wanted to teach in some capacity and I knew I wanted to teach and work with students who were bilingual or multilingual. So, then I got my master's in education with an emphasis in teaching multilingual learners, and I've been at Shining Mountain now for the last 3 years and— Dena: —She is fabulous. We're glad she's here. Brianna: —it's been it's been the best. But, this is not this is definitely not the path that I thought I would take, but I'm happy that I'm here and I love it. Doug: Well, we are happy that you're both here and your students are, too. Let's talk about student success. Do you have a student success story that stands out to you from your years teaching? Dena: So, we have this one student, uh a newcomer to the United States. And Brianna did a wonderful job working with uh the student helping this friend learn a lot of vocabulary needed just to function as a student uh here in class. But, as the year went on, the growth that we were able to see with this kiddo is amazing. Went from maybe just pointing to a picture to answer a question, a yes or no question, to now speaking and using those vocabulary words and motions on their own. Brianna: And we've seen growth in both social language and academic language, so language kind of falls into those two buckets, social language is like the language that we use for kids like recess talk, like what you would use on the playground. And then there's academic language, and the growth that we've seen with this student not only in that social language, which is typically what students will develop first, but in that academic language, those complex sentences with rich vocabulary related to our content, has been has been huge. Conor: That's so cool, and that must be such a satisfying feeling when you've worked with a student for so long and then just see him kind of blossoming into this success story. And, Brianna, as a multilingual person and as someone who teaches this, what are some of the benefits that a student like that can look forward to as, you know, they're building this amazing base of bilingualism, how is that going to help them in the future? Brianna: Being multilingual is such a superpower, I mean, for a couple of different reasons. One, there's a lot of brain research around being multilingual and how it strengthens your brain. There's different neural pathways that are strengthened and created when you are acquiring and learning another language. And so, it just makes your brain super strong, and it helps you be able to learn and critically think as you're developing those second languages or those other languages. And then just being able to communicate with more people and build relationships, and different opportunities are open for you when you're multilingual. Doug: I love that. Thank you both for everything you're doing for our students here at Shining Mountain Elementary School. Your students are lucky to have you both, and thanks for joining us on the show today. Dena: Thank you for having us. Brianna: Yeah, thank you. Doug: Absolutely, thank you again, Dena and Brianna, and we will be back next week with a brand new episode.

Episode 176: State-of-the-art welding and athletic excellence

On this week's podcast, we explore how Bethel is preparing students for life after graduation, including a new state-of-the-art welding class! We also highlight the success of our Unified Sports teams and the positive impact athletics has on a student's GPA. As always, we'll include a bit of wit and trivia at no additional charge, exploring the surprising midwest origins of a global icon and the Guinness World Record secrets that Seattle holds. --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Conor: Hi everybody. I'm Conor, that's Doug, and this is the Bethel School District presents podcast, The Only Educational Podcast That Matters, and we have a fantastic show. Doug, I want to knock your socks off here, but we only have three shows left this season. Can you believe that? Doug: I can't. After this week, only three left to go. And then it's summertime and you and I will be kicked back on the shores of Spanaway Lake with root beers in our hands and smiles on our faces. But there's a lot of ground to cover before that happens. Today we're going to be talking about impact fees, our Superintendent’s Student Leadership Council, athletics, and a brand new welding program that's coming to the new Bethel High—that is worth hanging on for. But first, of course, we're going to start with useless trivia and Conor, I'll kick it to you. Conor: Well, thank you there Doug, and what a show we've got lined up for you. But first, let's get into some useless trivia. Mine's especially useless today. Doug, did you know that Barbie—the doll Barbie—isn't just Barbie? Her full name is actually Barbara Millicent Roberts, and she's from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Doug: No way. Conor: Turns out Mattel, which created the doll, wanted to give Barbie a bit of a backstory, make her feel like a real person. So they teamed up with Random House in the 1960s to create a series of novels that flesh out that backstory. In 1961's Here’s Barbie, we learn she's the daughter of George and Margaret Roberts, and she lived in the fictional town of Willows. Her first name, Barbara, isn't random—that's the name of Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler's daughter, and kind of creepily, Ken was her son. Doug: Oh, that's real bizarre. Conor: Yeah. Doug: Well, I didn't know she was a Midwest girl. I would have guessed she was from New York or something like that. Conor: No, she's straight out of cheese country. Doug: I love it. Conor: And and my source on that one is Smithsonian Magazine. Doug: Wow, they're really doing hard-hitting journalism over at Smithsonian. Well, my useless trivia this week is about bridges and Conor, did you know that the world's longest floating bridge is in Seattle? Conor: I did not know that. Doug: Really? Did you know that the world's first and second longest floating bridges are actually in Seattle? Conor: I did not know. Doug: Well, I was going to go farther because it goes to four. The world's four longest floating bridges are all in Seattle and this—well, one through three is due to Lake Washington being 200 feet deep with a further 200 feet of soft silt below it, which would make a suspension bridge very complicated, very costly. And so this all goes back to Homer Hadley. I love people named Homer. This is 1921, and his idea to have a floating bridge was laughed out of civic meetings. It wasn't until two decades later with the support of Lacy V. Murrow—yes, brother of Edward R. Murrow, Lacy was a director of highways—that they finally secured the funding through the New Deal. So the longest floating bridge in the world is the 520 floating bridge—it's over 7,000 feet long. Number two is the Lacy V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, that's I-90 eastbound. And the Homer Hadley Memorial Bridge is I-90 westbound—that's number three. Conor: Wow, very cool. I did not know that. But the question is: where’s number four? Doug: Ah, thanks for bringing it back. The fourth is the Hood Canal Bridge, actually over 6,000 feet. Now technically it's the third longest, but Washington State DOT lists it as number four. I'm not really sure the politics behind that, but I'm sure there are some. And for the train fans out there—hi Dad—the East Link light rail was just completed this year and this is the first time—another first in history—that a light rail system was built to cross a floating bridge. They had to design these special track bridges that can flex in six different directions to keep the train on the tracks, and it was built on the existing westbound I-90. My sources this week are Sound Transit, Washington State DOT, Atlas Obscura, and your favorite, Guinness World Records. Conor: Wow, lots of sources for a jam-packed little bit of trivia there Doug, but we do have a very jam-packed show as well. So let's get right into it. Let's talk some budget. Doug: Yeah, we reported from issues from the state that are impacting our budget here in Bethel, that includes transitional kindergarten funding, local effort assistance, and of course our levies, which passed this February. Thank you, voters! Conor: Today we're going to be talking impact fees. This is a fee that's imposed on new construction sites and simply put, it's just not enough. Here's Superintendent Brian Lowney. Brian Lowney: President Young and I penned a letter, sent it off this week to Pierce County Executive Dammeier, encouraging the Council to consider charging higher impact fees, which are the fees for new construction in Pierce County. Those offset the costs of the new students that come along with new construction. Currently, the the money that we receive in impact fees doesn't even come close—for each new residence—doesn't even come close to putting in a portable to house the students that we receive, let alone classroom spaces in buildings that are conducive to learning. So um, wanted to let you know that we were working on that, on advocating on our behalf—our school community's behalf—on impact fees. Doug: And like all budget items here in Bethel, money from impact fees are critical because each dollar impacts our kids. Conor: And speaking of which, here's senior Leslie Covarrubias on what the vibe is at our high schools right now. Leslie Covarrubias: As we get closer to the end of the year, you know, seniors are buzzing, they're ready to graduate. They're everyone's wrapping up final projects, and as well as this is like the last week of AP testing, students are also finishing up their AP exams. Thankfully, I did mine last week and I'm done. There's definitely a busy atmosphere right now as everyone's so excited to just get into summer and many are just super excited to just move on. Doug: Along with being an amazing senior, Leslie has been part of our Superintendent's Student Leadership Council for years, and they recently held their annual dinner. In fact, Conor, I can tell you I went to this dinner—the food was fantastic. The Pierce County Skills Center's culinary program made all that. And at that event, the SSLC presented their concerns and even had some ideas for the school board. They had round table discussions and really got into it. Here's Leslie again. Leslie Covarrubias: The SSLC dinner was absolutely fantastic. Students talking with you guys, we felt very closely connected and it was actually very, very organized this year. I was completely impressed. Dinner was also amazing, by the way. And it was just really brought us an opportunity to get closer with you guys, as well as to share our concerns and actually feel heard. So I also want to commemorate you guys for showing up and being there and listening. Conor: Well, Leslie's heading off to Seattle University this fall and she and the rest of her SSLC team members are leaving behind an amazing legacy. Here's school board director John Manning. John Manning: This is my first time attending one of these and it was truly impressive to see how they could articulate concerns and the passion that they had behind that. Doug: The students did not shy away from heavy topics at this. They led discussions on things like staff diversity, multicultural programs, the need for interpreters for students, and like I said, they brought practical solutions to the table, requesting updates to advisory that included real-life skills like financial literacy, resume building, and interviewing. Conor: Absolutely. And director Terrance Mayers said student voice is incredibly valuable for the board as every decision they make does impact students. Terrance Mayers: If you want to go fast you go alone, if you want to go far you go together. You know, our our students, they speak the truth, and I just love every moment of it. Conor: Every one of those amazing students had an interest in leaving the district better than they found it, making it better for the next class. Doug: Well Conor, let's switch hit here and change up the infield and maybe get ready for some hoop time. Conor: Nice transition Doug, you are obviously not a jock. But let's talk some sports and as we mentioned before, they are levy funded, so we never miss a chance to say thank you voters. But Doug, what's what's on the sporting agenda right now? Doug: Well, let's kind of recap the school year. It's always fun to see how our teams are doing throughout the year, but there's a lot more to athletics than that. Here's Bryan Streleski, he's our director of athletics and security. Bryan Streleski: It's really important to remember that two-thirds of our athletes are not on the varsity teams that play in any of our sports, whether that's in our middle schools or high schools. Two-thirds of our kids are playing on sub-varsity, which means they're developmental. We're trying to make them better, trying to help them improve, to get better every single day. Conor: Sports help students prioritize growth and academics. Not only do their graduation and attendance increase when involved in one or more activities, but the GPA jumps as well. Here's Bryan again. Bryan Streleski: The GPAs for our student-athletes is significantly higher, almost a half of a point higher for our kids that are involved in athletics every single day. Those kids are performing in a classroom at a higher rate than every other kid in the general population. So it's super important for our kids to maintain those grades. They gotta be eligible so they've got to do it that way to stay eligible to participate, but they're not just staying eligible to participate, they're excelling in the classroom. Doug: Sports can also help students foster friendships, there's community pride there, and there's tons of opportunities for our kids to participate. Conor: We recently added girls flag football, so we are always moving forward. Bryan Streleski: This year we added a girls wrestling tournament, so they wrestled in a girls wrestling tournament at the middle school level. The high school's been doing it for years, the middle school were able to do that this year. So they had a place they got to compete with their same gendered students and be able to compete. Our biggest thing was get those girls on a podium so their friends want to come out and wrestle with them. Doug: And another aspect of athletics we love to highlight is our unified sports teams. That's where our special education students and general education students team up—they're on the same teams playing all kinds of different sports. Conor: Yeah, it's such an amazing program. They get to play basketball, cornhole, e-sports, track and field—it's awesome. Bryan Streleski: Last week we ran our Mike McDonald Invitational, which is our district championship kind of what we call it for our track meet. We had seven heats of the 100 of unified. We are lining up unified kids they are a part of our general population, our varsity track meet, we're timing them. They're moving on to the district tournament next week and elite tournament just like we are. I was with one of our Bethel coaches today and she was talking to me—we have the most unified athletes moving on out of our regular season into the league tournament for track and field. It's phenomenal. It's great for kids, it's good for our students with special needs, it's also great for our partner kids to learn and grow and understand how to work within a community. Doug: And before we move on to our final topic of the day, we'd be remiss if we didn't hit a few athletic highlights and since I've proved my jock-ular expertise earlier, I'm going to kick that to you Conor. Conor: Well thank you Doug, and it was a heck of a year for Bethel athletics. Not only in team sports, but in individuals and some of our former superstars are really shining out there in the world. Vea Iaone, who was the pride of Graham-Kapowsin High School, helped that team win the state championship a few years ago, was the number 14 draft pick in the first round of the NFL draft. It's amazing. Congratulations Vea. And can you believe it Doug, little old Bethel School District could potentially have three NFL starters at the beginning of the year. Doug: I couldn't believe the draft was on broadcast TV this year. Conor: It's big, big business. Doug: I'm missing out. Conor: So, some other highlights: GK had the number two ranked softball team in the state this year. Bethel High School's unified basketball team won the state championship. Doug: Let's go! Conor: And Cedarcrest Middle School was really shining—they came through with four league championships this year, so well done everybody. Doug: That is amazing and everybody includes 4,817 students at our middle and high school levels. They participated in athletics this year. It is a huge opportunity for those kids—increases GPA, increases attendance, increases graduation rates. We love it and again that's all thanks to our voters for supporting that levy back in February. Our educational programs and operations levy is the backbone of our athletics program. Thank you, voters. Conor: Hear, hear. Thank you again voters. And let's dip into our final topic of the day. We're hitting welding, Doug. Tell us about it. Doug: Well, if there's one thing I know more about than welding, it's athletics. But Bethel is launching a welding technology class. It's going to be at the new Bethel High School, and it's going to expand access to high-demand skilled trades pathways for our students. Again, at the new Bethel High, and that's another chance for us to say thank you voters. Conor: So Doug, we toured the dedicated welding classroom, we've both used the VR welding equipment, and actually watched you somewhat succeeding in actually welding something. I don't think you caught anything on fire, if you did it was well after we left. Doug: [laughter] Conor: But it looked—the mask looked hilarious on you. Doug: I appreciate that. And with impressive welding equipment, you need a great curriculum. And so our school board has recently approved a new curriculum that'll make sure students are learning everything they need to know—that includes welding safety, blueprint reading, measurement content, all kinds of big stuff. In fact, this one curriculum is going to tick the boxes on multiple of our strategic plan goals. It's going to expand career-connected learning opportunities, increase access to high-demand career pathways, and strengthen college, career, and life readiness for our students. Conor: That is very, very cool. Doug: Yeah, it's going to be huge and board director Roseanna Camacho agreed. Roseanna Camacho: We went and did the Bethel High School uh tour and saw the welding room and oh my lord, that is going to be amazing. It was pretty amazing. What's going to happen at Bethel High School with any student that comes through this program starting next year is just state-of-the-art. Conor: So just to clarify Doug, is this only at the new Bethel High School? What about the other high schools? They getting a program? Doug: It's a great question and they are not at this point because the cost is incredibly high. The only reason it's at the new Bethel High School is because it was part of the bond. Thank you voters! This dedicated welding classroom is all thanks to you. Let's hear from the expert Jeff Johnson, our Director of Career and College Readiness. Jeff Johnson: The equipment that was purchased was included in the the construction costs and I have to give a big shout-out to our construction team. They found a way to help us really outfit the shop with industry-quality equipment. When I was there yesterday, some of the the workers were in there saying that this shop is nicer than the ones that they learned in at their community colleges or technical schools. So um, it really is industry quality. Conor: Yes, huge, huge shout-out to our voters. You are watching the 2019 school construction bond in action right now. Doug: Absolutely. This is going to be a huge opportunity for our students. They will cross the graduation stage not only with their high school graduation but with enough certifications and certificates to get them the job that they want right out of high school. Conor: Well, great show Douglas. We'll be back next week with a brand new one. We are talking with two teachers, one a 27-year veteran, another in her third year of teaching. See you next week.