Latest / Aired Out / Dr. Katie Ralston - Superintendent, Silver Creek Central School District

Transcript

Dr. Katie Ralston - Superintendent, Silver Creek Central School District · Aired Out

• 1:38
  Speaker 1: This is your day. This is your time. Time to connect,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the time to inspire others to be better, make a
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: difference in your community. Get dialed in to whatever it
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: is that you need to be dialed into, whether it's
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: being a parent, being a school teacher, being a principal,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: being in law enforcement, whatever it is that you do
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: that maybe you feel that there's a possibility, even a
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: remote possibility, that you could be better. You could sharpen
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: your edge a little bit more. Wednesdays are your day,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: and as you know, on Wednesdays, it's just a whole
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: bunch of feel good. When I bring anyone on from
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: sweethearts and heroes, it is with great honor, first of all,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: and secondly, it is something that always is a big
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: takeaway from me. It's something that when I walk away
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: from this studio on a Wednesday morning, I got stuff
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: that is sticking to my bones. Doctor Katie Ralston is
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: with us this morning, the superintendent of Silver Preek Central
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: School District. Now where is that, Katie? That's that's over
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: in New York.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Sure, yep, Western New York. Yeah, south of Buffalo, New York.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Man, it's so cool that you're here. Thank you so much.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Happy to be here, thanks for having me.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: So south of south of buff that's over there, that's
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: over there. Some It is all right, you guys get
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the real snow. We sure do you get all that
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Lake effect stuff.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: We're in it right now.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you are. We got you know, I you know,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I've seen one to three, but three to five I
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: think for the most part. Today some slick roads. Schools.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: There's plenty that are closed, but there's also plenty that
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: are open. So it depends on where you are. Just regardless,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: drive carefully. And you know, as a as a superintendent,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I think you would say kudos to the school bus drivers,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: especially on days like this.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I say it all the time. They Yeah,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: they are responsible for carrying our most precious cargo. Right.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: We wouldn't have school, yeah without them doing their jobs.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Our students wouldn't be able to get to extra correct
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: activities or their sporting events or anything without our bus drivers.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: It's yeah, our transportation department deserves all the shout outs,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: that's for sure.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Big time. And here's the thing. Even if I was
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the school first of all, I'd never be a school
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: bus driver because I couldn't reach the pedals. But if
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I were and it was somewhere where it was warm
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and never snowing, I would still be nervous about the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: level of responsibility of driving a thirty foot plus bus
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: loaded up with kids and then throw some snow in
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: the mix.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, wow, wow, yeah, certainly a job.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: We have a lot to talk about this morning. First
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: of all, Tom Murphy, our superhero along with the rest
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: of his team at Sweethearts and Heroes. Man, this guy
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: is like he just speaks so highly of you.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Thank you. That's sweet.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, for the last two weeks he's been sending
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: me emails. Way do you have doctor Katie or Alston
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: on you? That's the real deal right there, that's the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: big time player.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: How did you? How did you meet? First of all,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: how many schools are you? Are you the superintendent of.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Sure So Silver Creek School District. We have an elementary,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: middle and a high school all connected on one campus,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: so it's a large building. All three of our buildings connect,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: although they each have their own designated area, which is
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the superintendent. I love because I can go out of
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: my office and turn left and go to the elementary school.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I can turn right and go to the high school.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: I can turn right and then left and go to
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: the middle school. And so I love that we're all
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: connected because you can be with anyone any part of
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the day, all the time. So yeah, we're lucky for that.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: How many how many kids are we talking about about?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Roughly just under a thousand?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, wow, that's a lot.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: It's wonderful.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: You have been referred to as a staunch supporter of
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Sweethearts and Heroes. Tell me, tell me how you met
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Tom and how you said, as a superintendent, got to
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: have these guys here.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Sure. So I guess first, when you say staunch supporter,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I would say, I feel like that doesn't even do
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: it justice, right, I believe in all that Sweethearts and
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Heroes is. So it's not even it's not even just
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: that I support them. It's like I feel like I
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: live their mission and their message and connected with that.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: The first time I ever saw them present, so actually
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: it was two that nine. I was my first year
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: as a teacher. I went to the New York State
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Middle School Conference and it was very early in the
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: Sweethearts and Heroes career, right, I saw them present and
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: thought like, there is a certain it factor that they
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: have that I think you need to have when you're
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: sending a certain message, especially to middle and high school students.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: But the it factor existed because a of who they
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: are as people, but b how like deeply rooted their
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: message and their belief is and who they are as people.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: So they're not selling a product, They're living a life
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: and sharing that and that makes all the difference. So
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: as a teacher, I was wowed when I became a
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: middle school principal. I was like, I just feel very
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: strongly that middle school especially is the point where students
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: truly connect to school or they don't. So I feel
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: like in middle school you have to do a lot
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: of extra work to make sure you're connecting with students
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: and making school the place that they want to be
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: and they feel safe to be. And so that was
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: one of my very first initiatives as a principal twenty
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: fifteen was Sweethearts and Heroes, And I saw the work
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: that they did. I was at Cuba Rushford at that
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: time and saw their impact not only with our students
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: but with our staff and honestly on my own leadership,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Like it changed the way I interacted with students who
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: you know, had to have certain consequences interact. It changed
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: the way I interacted with people who were having conflict.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: It changed the way I interacted with families, which just
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: only deepened my belief in everything that they do and
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: everything that they are. And so I think it was
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: very early in my principalship that I said, sweethearts and
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: heroes is a non negotiable for me in my leadership.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: And so anywhere that I go, so will they hope
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Tom heard that. He doesn't really have an option. It's
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: coming with me wherever I go.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Tom did hear? Tom? Did hear that? Number one? Number two?
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: He is most certainly listening right now. And and we
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: did get a SoundBite out of that because you said,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: not selling a product, living a life. That's what a lot,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: what a line that is? I mean, that is it
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: right there? You hit the nail on the head.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Well, and it's the truth, right It's I became a superintendent,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: said this is this is something I'm bringing here to
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: help build a culture, and it's it's it's an organization
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: I will put my name to. And I think it's
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: in any leadership role, you have to be careful where
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: you're putting your name or who you're endorsing, or you know,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: because it's your own reputation as well, and it's it's
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: your own credibility. And that was one I see Sweetheart's
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Heroes is coming with me to Silver Creek, and they came,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: and I preached it before they got here. I've never
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: worked with anyone better. I've never seen a stronger impact.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: And and we brought them here two years ago and
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: they continue to be in our school. And you know,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: just a couple of weeks ago, we had a student death,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: a very traumatic district tragedy. And aside from the phone
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: calls I had to make, which are never phone calls
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: you want to make, I made the phone call I
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: wanted to make, and that was to Tom and I
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: said we need your help. And there was just no
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: question asked. And here he was. He and Rick showed up.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: And that's how you know they're living the life. It
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: wasn't like, let me check my calendar, let me see
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: what we can do, let's talk price. It was like,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: of course, here we come. We're we're on our way.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: And I know that's not because it was me that called.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: It's because of what we needed them for and that's
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: how they live.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: These guys literally are superheroes. Oh they embody it. Yeah,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: they know what needs to be done. I think they
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: also so no, Katie, that they're not going to fix everything.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: They're not going to come in to any school and
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: wave a magic wand they can come in and do
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: their best with what they have and give that school
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: and give the administration the tools to try to sustain
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: their message. But man, they they're relying on your administration,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: They're relying on the adults, but they're also relying on
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the kids to listen, to pay attention, and to really
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: take into heart what it is that they're saying and
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: to carry that through the day and to be better students,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: be be kinder, recognize the difference between pupkin around having fun,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: being immature and bullying. And there's there's such a fine line, man,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: between the two. And we talk about that all the
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: time on Wednesdays.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Right. You know you said something interesting there, you said, like,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: they realize they're not going to fix something when they
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: come into as school and I you know, I personally
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: have a little bit of a theory on that. There
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: are people I am one of these people. Who are fixers? Right,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: you see something and you're like, Okay, that's a problem.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I have to fix it. That's an issue. I have
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: to pay attention to it. But I also don't love that.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I love when people recognize like, I'm not here to
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: fix it, I'm here to help it because to me,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: when you fix something, there's then a finality to it, like, Okay,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: it's fixed, I'm moving on. What's my next project that's fixed?
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Where am I going next? And there are there's always
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: going to be something to work on and improve. But
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the way you make a difference is by recognizing we
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: have to build and we have to grow, and we
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: have to improve, and that never ends. You should always
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: be building, you should always be growing, you should always
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: be improving. And when you have that focus, there isn't
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: a checklist to complete, right, It's not like, hey, fix
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: that fixed, you moving on? It's recognizing like the lesson
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: and the opportunity in every single challenge and then every
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: single thing that presents itself. And that becomes part of
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: the conversation when you're talking with people about you know,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: what's the difference between like innocent banter and bullying? And
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: when do you cross that line, and how do you
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: let people know you're approaching that line before it's like,
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: all right, I've had enough and I'm going to snap right.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: And that's one of the things that I really love
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: also about sweethearts and heroes. That really stuck with me
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: from the very beginning was not Okay, we're here to
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: address the buld and stop bullying. We're here to build
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: a culture of sweethearts and heroes. We're here to build
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: a place where we all talk openly and honestly even
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: when it's difficult, even when it hurts, because that makes
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: it better the next day, That makes it easier the
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: next week. That makes our place the place people want
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: to be sure. And I think that's you know that
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: there's just such a focus to that that it's not
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: it's not fixing the problem. It's building a culture. It's
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: building a family and a team.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, once you get sweethearts and heroes into
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: your school, you can't get them out. I mean, the
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: it's I don't know what it is. I don't know
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: what it is. I mean, I have I can't tell
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: you countless interviews that I've had with other administrators and
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: sitting superintendents as well, and they all say the same thing.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: They're like, man, once you get bitten by the sweethearts
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: and heroes bug, it is it's something that's permanent within
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: the school, and it's it's something that's permanent in the
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: minds of these kids, not just while they're at school,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: but they're carrying this stuff into their lives. I mean,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: are kids that are graduating from high school want to
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: continue to take these tools and and stay active in
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: their community and utilize what they've learned. That's awesome.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what That is awesome. And that's the thing,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: right if when you say like, once you get them in,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: you can't get them out, and if you're if you
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: get bitten by the bug and you don't stick with it,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: you're missing something right, because there is a like a
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: certain reflection that comes with every single conversation that happens
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: in this And it's not just like, oh, we're you know,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: we're devoting this time and this money and these finances
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: and schedules. It's not just that we're devoting that to
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: addressing bullying. It's like we are building better humans, and
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: not only how people interact with each other, but how
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: you're talking to yourself, how you're like self reflecting and
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: growing on your own as well. And again the factor
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: that comes with that, right Tom, Pat Josiah Rick, like
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: they know how to do that. They come in and
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: connect with kids on a level that kids walk out thinking, yeah,
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be a little bit better today.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, far far beyond try that exactly, far beyond the
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: walls of your school and far far beyond the confines
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of inside that classroom. And and that's that's the big thing, man,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: That's the probably one of the biggest takeaways I think
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: anyway for sweethearts and heroes. You know, Tom is commenting
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: here saying she has taught me more than any other
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: educator I have ever met. Tom just dropped that message
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in the comments, and he molted too. I mean, he
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: was drilling that into my head all last week. I'm like, Tom,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: you've already said that to me fifteen times pop. I mean,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: he really, He's got you on a pretty high pedestal,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: and I know that the feeling is mutual.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, I would say, right, Tom has also let
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: me teach him a lot and that's a tough spot
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: sometimes to allow yourself to get to is like, WHOA,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: there's going to be something I'm about to hear that
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: might be a little difficult to hear, or you know,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: something that's going to push me to where no one
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: else has pushed me before. And you have to be
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: like ready to hear that and ready to learn from
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: that to grow. And I've been fortunate to be friends
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: with Tom for so long professionally and personally because the
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: message and the work behind it all is so personal.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: And you know, people always say like you have to
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: be able to separate your personal life and your professional life,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: and to an extent, that's true, but you you need
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: to be who you are in the same situation with anyone,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: regardless of your position personally or professionally. And that's how
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you grow as a person. That's how you learn from
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: everybody in your life. And I really, yeah, I really
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: admitted that about Tom. He he knows that there are
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: people he can learn from and he's willing to do it.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's it's also and let's be honest here, it's
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: very difficult getting a word in edge y sometime with
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Tom Murphy. Oh yeah, understatement.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Sometimes I do this, Tom, Yeah, just the second or
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I say okay, Tom, when you're ready, I'll respond.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and then and then when he's and then when
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: he's listening, the wheels are turning. You can see, you
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: know how those eyeballs. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he's listening.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: The guy listens, Yes he does.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Uh, he's There's so many comments here, Uh that you're
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: one of the biggest self reflectors. Uh, that you're you're
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: actually too hard on yourself. Also also that you can
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: see it in your staff, Your staff loves you. We
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: have a comment here saying I've seen it her entire life,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: a little girl holding a classroom in her home. It
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: has been amazing to watch her grow from that little
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: five year old girl teacher to the best superintendent ever.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: You know, you knew who wrote that, right would have
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: to be Andrea.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Come on, Oh my gosh, Andrea. Wow. Yeah, I mean
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: I would spent my life in my basement teaching in
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: a classroom. I always make the joke my brothers were
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: my first students, and they prepared me well. They not
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: easy students.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: The thing about Tom is uh, and and and and
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Rick too. They actually love going into in school suspension
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: oh yeah, they like that. Yep, that's where some of
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: the most interesting kids are. And you know Tom Tom
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: always says, and I know you've heard this, that everybody's
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: got a story. And it's not not not to sound
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: too cliche here, but because I've had this discussion with
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: my eleven year old little girl, but it's like everybody's
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: story is literally like a snowflake. We were laying out
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: in the yard during the last storm there last Tuesday,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: and the snowflakes were coming down and they were falling
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: on our jackets, which are block and you know, we
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: were just just fascinated by looking at these snows. And
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: I had this conversation with with Louden the other day.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: I think it was loud, and there's so many sweethearts
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and heroes people have been on the air, but we
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: were talking about every snowflake is different and unique, and
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: that's like our story. Man. It's like every single one
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: of us has unique experience, unique, unique circumstances that we
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: can we can bring uh to teach others to give
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: insight and not just walk around with a label on
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: us of I'm the troublemaker or I'm the one that
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: gets in trouble all the time at school. I'm the
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: one that's in uh suspension all the time. There's we
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: all have different reasons for how we act, what we
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: bring through those doors, what we carry with us when
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: we step onto that school bus in the morning. We're
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: all different, man. And that's and it's a.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Gift, right absolutely, Like how boring would this place be
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: if we didn't have everybody's stories, right, It's yeah, in
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: school suspension, I mean they love going to it too,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: because that's also an opportunity I always felt, especially as
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: a principle, that's where you have the chance to truly
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: grow someone or to truly learn about someone as well. Right,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: And that's like, of course, you know, consequences have to
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: come with behavior and actions, but it's it's you mentioned it, like,
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: you learn their story, and the opportunity that you have
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: in that moment is to help the student recognize this
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: instance today is not your story, This is not who
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: you are. This is a part of your story, right
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: and someday might be a really funny part of your story. Yeah,
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Like it's a really impactful part of your story, you know,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: And it's always just taking the time to learn that.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Like one of the questions I always used to to
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: ask students, and it's it's kind of catches them off
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: guard when they would do something, you know, as a principal,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: talk through it with them, and then I would say, okay,
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: so could you have done something worse? And they're like what,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: like could you have done something worse? And they say like, yeah,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: I could have done something worse. Okay, well why didn't you?
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: And they are able to say all the reasons they
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: wouldn't have done something worse? And then it's like, okay,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: so next time, what if this was the worst thing?
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: What's the step before that? Like how do you? You know?
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: And you help them grow through that. Instead of like
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: what were you thinking? Why did you do that? It's oh,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: why didn't you do it worse? Well, because I wouldn't
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: do that, right, So you have that discretion next time,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: we're taking that a different you know, one step earlier.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah. New York State Sprint Principle of the Year. Tom
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: did say you were a little humble. That's pretty amazing, Katie.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, Yeah, I was. That was an
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: honor for sure.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Tell me about your life though, like you get your doctorate,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: what's the deal yeah, I mean you're you're just like
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: grabbing life by the horns here.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love to live life, right, I call it
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: live out loud. I guess first, Yeah, I've always said
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: I'm really really fortunate. But that from literally before I
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: even went to school, I knew I wanted to be
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: a teacher, and that I never swayed from that. Now,
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: I never you know, I wasn't seven years old saying
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: I want to be a principal. I wasn't twelve year
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: old saying I hope I'm principal of the year, or
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I want to be a superintendent, or but I knew
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: I wanted to be a teacher. And part of that
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: is also because I love learning. And as far as
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: my doctorate, I feel like I continued for my doctorate.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: There's a personal reason to that too, which I'll share.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: But I've always felt like I do my best work
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: when i'm learning, and so I'm always pushing myself to
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: learn more. So I love learning, and I feel like
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: I do better work when I am learning, And so
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: if I want to be the best leader a place has,
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: then I'm going to keep learning while I'm doing it right.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: And you know, I say like I don't who knows.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying I'll ever be like the best superintendent
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: there was or the best principle there was, But I
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: know that I did my best in that position. And
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: I do that as I continue learning and applying things
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: and failing and realizing what doesn't work, you know, And
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: I'm not afraid to say, like, Okay, that didn't work.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Maybe that kind of comes with it being really hard
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: on myself sometimes, but it's the it's the you know,
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: willingness to adjust and change along the way. And I
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: feel like that's something I learned, I would say from
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: my mother, who kind of reminded me as often as
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: she could, like, Katie doesn't always get to pick the
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: way the life goes like, but Katie can respond. Katie
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: can choose how she responds to it. Katie can choose
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: how she grows through it. And so I've always I've
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: always stuck with that my doctorate. Yeah, I just always
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: I felt like, I I don't know. Once I got
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: my master's and I kept going to school, it wasn't
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: like I'm getting my doctorate because I'm aiming for a
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: certain position, or I'm getting my doctorate because I want
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: a certain status or expectation. I just wanted to keep learning,
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: and that was the degree that came with it. H
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: Vanderbilt was really special to me. That's where I got
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: my doctorate because when I was a teacher. My mom
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: at the time, I was an office manager at a
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: local community college, a business college, and she had seen
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: a pamphlet for like a summer teacher program in Vanderbilt
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: and she said to me, like, Katie, wouldn't it be
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: amazing for you to be able to say you studied
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: at Vanderbilt? And I said why, She said, They've been
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: number one in the country for education for years. It
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: would be amazing. And at the time, I couldn't do
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: the program because New York State goes to school almost
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: the entire summer, and Tennessee their summer program starts when
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: we're still in school, So I could never do that,
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: and so I just kind of let that go. And
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: then when my mom died, I became principal that same
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: I mean within a month. And when I first became principal,
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: I knew I couldn't handle a doctorate like I couldn't.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: That was my learning every single day was figuring out
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: that position and how to do it well. And so
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: when I decided I was ready, I googled hybrid like
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: online and in person doctoral programs. It was like, the
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: first headline that came up was Vanderbilt announces first year
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: of hybrid education Doctor of Education program. And I had
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: this moment of like, WHOA, that's a little too serendipitous, right,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: So I changed the Google search, like that can't be it.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: So I typed in something completely different and that was
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: the first one that came up again. And I typed
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: a third one and it came up again, and so
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: I was like, well, apply. I mean, they're taping the nation.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: I don't know that I would get in for that,
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: but I'll apply and see. And then I got into
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Vanderbilt and I felt like that was a message, the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: seed that was planted in my head a lot of
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: years before, without knowing where that would go. And definitely
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: the most challenging program I've ever completed again my doctor
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Very proud
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: of it. Can't say that I would ever do it again,
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: but I don't regret doing it.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: I am going to be asking you about COVID and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: how you got through that But first though, did you
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: ever get in trouble in school? Wow?
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: I like, did I ever get in trouble? Well? I
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: mean when I was in pre school, I tried to
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: kiss a boy and he fell off his chair. I
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: got in trouble for that. I think I was four. Yeah,
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: I also tried to like this was also in preschool.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: I got my trouble out of the way early. I
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: guess my my nana used to cut apple slices and
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: slide the apple off her knife to eat it, and
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: so we had we were at a table as preschoolers.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: We had plastic knives, a little cup of peanut butter
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: and apple slices, and we were supposed to put the
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: peanut butter on the apple slice with the plastic knife.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: But I tried to be like my nana, so I
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: picked up the apple slice with the knife, but put
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: the whole thing in my mouth and I got removed
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: from the table because you can't put a knife in
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: your mouth. And also in preschool, I told my teacher
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: her clothes don't match. So that was kind of it.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: Though in fifth grade I thought I was going to
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: get in trouble. It was recess. We came back from lunch,
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: we went into recess. Our teacher wasn't in the classroom.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: We didn't have anyone in there to supervise. So I
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: was like, I have to do something about this. So
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: I stood on a desk to tell everyone what stations
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: they were going to for recess.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: You're just trying to help, I was, well.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Exactly, and someone on the other side of the room
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: like pointed at the door, and I turned around and
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: mister Baker, who was our principal, was leaning against the door,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: and so I went to step back down, and he said, no, please,
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: mister Ralston. Continue. You'll be a principal someday. And right,
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: I call that an emotional punctuation mark. That was a
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: moment that I didn't know was a moment, but I
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: never forgot it, and it was probably a, you know,
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: a pretty transformational moment for me without knowing it. But
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: his response, how awesome is that? Yeah, now that I'm
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: a superintendent, I make the joke that I realized the
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: substitute shortage. So when he walked in a room, he
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: was just like, good, this is taken care of. How
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: to move on to the next room.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Right exactly, Let's not waste any time right, but in
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: high school, the middle school, high school, you never get
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: busted for something.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I uh, you know you did. No, I'm really
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: trying to think about it. Like, honestly, I just I'm
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: a pretty honest person. So even when I was like, man,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: I think I might get in trouble for this, I
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: would I would tell my parents. Sometimes my brother would
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: say like Katie, why are you asking permission for that?
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: Or why are you you know? But yeah, I I was.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: I guess still am. Like I just didn't want to
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: upset people. Didn't want to be the reason someone had
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: stress or whatever.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: So I remember being a senior, everyone was talking about
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: senior skip day and I was like, Mom, it's just
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: going to be easier if we talk about this. I
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: think I'm going to go to senior skip day. And
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: she was like, no, you're not, and I was like, oh,
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not, and that I didn't go. God really see
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: That's how my brother responded.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I did all kinds of things, But yeah, I guess.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: Also though, I would say my mom was really good
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: at like if she knew you were thinking about something
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: or knew you did something, she would just have this
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: way of mentioning it, so then you would tell her like,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: for example, I wanted to drive before I had a license,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: and so it was actually my brother's girlfriend at the
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: time let me drive her car, and my mom knew it.
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: And so the way my mom told me, she said, like,
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: do you know what my secretary told me today? She
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: thought she saw you driving in the kmart parking lot
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: like a little blue car. And I told her that
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: wouldn't be Katie. She doesn't have her license. And I
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: said I wasn't driving in the Kmart parking lot. I
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: was in North Onlean and she was like, oh really,
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: and there it was soft. Yeah, so I kind of
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: told on myself, I guess. But but no, like in school,
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: I never got detention. I never to stay after school.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: I used to ask to stay after school because I
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: wanted to play school on the chalkboard.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah wow, Yeah, speaking, I would.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Talk a lot. I sometimes would talk too much in class.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: What about this this kid that wrote on the bathroom wall?
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Tom is saying, I should ask you about this.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Tom loves that story. Yeah. So when I was principal,
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: I had these I would think they were called undercover sweethearts,
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: and so I would select students no one knew who
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: they were, right, and I told them, you're undercover, because
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: sometimes when we make a difference, it's not about that
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: being loud and on display, it's about you being the
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: person behind the scenes that changes something a little bit
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: for someone. And so they were the they were the
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: students who kind of helped them, Like what do you
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: notice in the hallway? How do you step in? What
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: do you notice you know, when someone's struggling, how do
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: you advocate for them? And so there was something written
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: on the bathroom wall, you know, something bad about another student.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: We'll just go with like, you know, Tom is a
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: loser and to Tom's really offended right now? I bet,
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: but of course he is, so said that right. And
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: then I when someone said, like, you know, mister Ralson,
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: you have to see what's on the bathroom wall. So
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: I went in the bathroom wall and Tom is a
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: loser was crossed out, and it was like Tom is
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: not a loser. He's really cool with a lot of friends, Evan,
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: and like Evan signed his name on the bottom, and
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: so I like brought Evan in and I was like,
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: do you know why I have you in here? He's
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: like the bathroom wall and I was like yeah, and
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: he's like, that's what I should do, right, And it
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: was awesome because I and I said, like, I didn't
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: really picture you doing that on the bathroom wall.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: But he put his name to it.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, crossed it out. What you wrote is not true.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: This is actually the truth. And I'm the one that's saying, wow, yeah,
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: pretty amazing.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: I love stuff like that.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was awesome because also right then everyone was like, whoa,
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: what's Evan saying? Okay, like we're leaving Tom alone.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: You know, heads up, I'm going to ask you about
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: cell phones. But first, how did what was it like
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: during COVID? What was that like for you? What was
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: that like for your staff? How did you keep a
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: thousand kids connected?
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: Sure, so I was not a superintendent during that time.
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: I came to Silver Creek after COVID twenty twenty three.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: I came to Silver Creek, but I was a principal
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: and I actually was our district COVID coordinator. So I
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: did come up with the plans for that. And really
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: it's we were able to get through COVID because of
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: the relationships and connections we built before. So we'll start
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: with the students. It was probably two years prior to
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: COVID I put in place the Trusted Adult program, and
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: that was, you know, like seven to ten weeks into school.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: Seven to nine weeks into school, I would say, you
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: ask every single student to name their top three trusted adults,
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: and then I spent two weeks six through twelve at
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: the time, sorting through every single student and assigning a
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: student to one of the three adults that they selected.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: So then the adults, no adult had a list more
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: than ten, and they were called their allies. And so
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: the adults got that list, they connected with the students regularly.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: It was a way to make sure every single student
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: in our school had a person they could name, and
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: we would make sure that every single student had a
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: connection somehow, and that really worked to our favor when
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: COVID happened, because the lists were already divvied right so
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: on a regular basis, the trusted adult was calling their
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: ten students or checking in with their ten students to
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: ensure that everything was okay or see what they needed.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: And then we just came together, as many schools did,
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: like what do we need to do for meals? How
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: do we need to get work to these students, how
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: do we make sure that they're having some sort of interaction.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: And then as a principal, I felt like an important
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: part was also keeping the staff connected. So we did
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: like virtual happy hours. We did virtual in happy hour,
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: not in the sense of like let's let's have a drink,
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: but a happy hour as in what you know, an
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: hour of what has made you happy this week? And
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: that was a that was really important because the longer
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: COVID went on, it became harder and harder for people
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: to identify what made them happy that week. But this
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: was something that made them think about it during that time.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: My co principle and I started this practice with each
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: other that was like the end of every week, we
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: had to say three highlights to each other, like to
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: each other and about each other, like these were three
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: things that stood out as a highlight this week for me,
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: and three things I watched you do that I think
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: are a highlight for you. And so the important part
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: there is just recognizing the good regardless of what's happening
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: in the world around you.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: You're making me think of thirteen pillows. What a book? Yeah, yeah, incredible?
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: What about how is this this whole thing going with
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: cell phones in your school district.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Are they allowed in, They're allowed in, they are not
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: allowed to be used. So students come in, their cell phones,
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: go to their locker by first period, and they come
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: out at the end of the day and we don't
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: have an issue. We've actually had students say how much
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: they like it, how much they feel more like themselves,
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: how much they're interacting more, they're more attentive. And I
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: have a theory that the cell phone, the cell phone
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: fan is connected to our increased attendance too. We've we
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: had a very strong initiative this year to focus on
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: attendance and get our kids to school, and so we
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: spent the summer creating an entire plan for that, and
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: the cell phones were not something that I accounted for
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: in that. But I do think it contributes because what
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: used to be a social life here didn't matter if
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: you were in school or not. Because if I wasn't
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: in school, you're still snapchatting me throughout the day or
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: texting me or telling me what happened or sending me
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: a video. But if I'm not in school now, I'm
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: missing out on that, and you're not telling me in
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: the moment because you don't have your phone in the moment,
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: so I better be in the moment with you.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: And it's pretty special. It's not been the it's not
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: been the trouble that people I think were worried it
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: would be the war.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it surprisingly, it's refreshing to hear about so
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: many parents who have seen the light. And maybe at
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: first listen, we all know that really, not of us
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: love change. It's the unknown, and sometimes sometimes our knee
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: jerk reaction is to to push back because we don't know,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: and we can quickly come up with reasons of defense,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: but until until you test the waters and see what
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: the results are, you're not going to know, right, And
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: it seems it seems like things are going well, Oh
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: my gosh.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: Things are going very well.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and you get you get the question. Uh,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: and I know you do, and so is Tom because
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: he's told me and we just got the question here
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: in the comments. What if there's an incident at the
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: at the school? How you know? What do you say
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: to parents who say, yeah, but I want my kid
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: to be connected with me if there's an urgency at
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: the school.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: Mm hmmm. So, first on a day to day emergency,
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: they still they are going to be able to connect
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: with you the same way I connected with my mom
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: when I was at IJN. Right, you go to the
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: main office, you make a phone call, there's always there's
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: We're always going to help you connect with your kids.
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: And then in the you know, in the instance of
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: what if something happens at school, that's like, we are
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: here to keep your kids safe, and we will make
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: sure they are safe and them Actually, you know, there
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: is all the research to that too that says like
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: when all the cell phones come out during during you know,
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: an incident, that causes delays in communication with law enforcement,
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: that causes delays in communication throughout the district as well.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: So it's it's actually safer to allow us to handle
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: the situation as it's unfolding.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: You have taken your whole school district has taken a
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: pretty hard hit lately with uh the recent passing of
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: a student who committed suicide the day before Thanksgiving? Am
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: I right with that?
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: The day before the Sunday before Thanksgiving?
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: A senior? Yes, I mean I would love to ask
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: you how you and your your staff and how sweethearts
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: and heroes have responded to that.
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a tough question because I honestly like, well,
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: of course we responded. I don't even know how to
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: put it into words because the first response when I
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: get that phone call is just like this and this
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: different level of pain as a as a leader, because
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: you feel that for our students who shouldn't have to
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: feel this. You feel it for the friends who will
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: never be the same after this. They will be okay,
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: but they will never be the same, right, And they're
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: learning that really early in their life, because you are
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: never the same after you lose someone you love. But
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: I will say I am words cannot describe how proud
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: I am of this district and the community that we
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: are in because it's it's without question, what do we
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: need to do to support our students, what do we
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: need to do to support our families? And how can
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: the entire community step in and do that? So as
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: a leader, right, it's first like in that moment with
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: that phone first phone call is who needs needs to
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: know now? With a personal phone call? And I believe
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: strongly like any any teacher who sees that student in
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: their classroom every single day on a regular basis, deserves
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: a personal phone call and then it's you know, no
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: messaging goes out without clear communication and permission with the
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: family and recognizing that they're in the deepest morning that
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: they will ever face, uh, and we're just there to
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: support them and to help in any way that we can.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: And it's just finding the balance of like that feeling
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: of the world is supposed to stop when something like
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: this happens, but it doesn't, and so you have to
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: find the find the way, the right way and the
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: right time to continue moving forward while also making sure
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: that everybody feels all of the support and the love
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: that they deserve to feel when you're going through something
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: like this, and everybody grieves differently so that you don't
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: know what to say to everyone. But part of that
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: is knowing that everybody in the situation is just trying
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: to do our absolute best to support everybody else through it.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: So many of us travel through life with expectations and
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: what we feel is just normal day to day stuff.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: We take so much for granted. Oh yeah, we take time,
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: which is the greatest gift, probably more than anything for granted.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: We assume that this person or that person is going
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: to be around forever, especially if they're young, we don't
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily know, and I know I'm appreaching to the choir.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: Here's what's crawling around inside the heads of all of us,
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: especially especially young adults and teenagers. And as if, as
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: if they didn't have to carry enough weight with just
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: what's going on in our society, what's going on with
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: our world, what's going on with our culture, And then
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: they throw in their personal stuff, their stuff at home
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: or their stuff at school. There's a lot of people
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: walking around with smiles on their faces who are feeling
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: some real pain inside. And I think with sweethearts and heroes,
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: and I know I'm not even scratching the surface here
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: with them, but when they come into a school, and
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: I think your staff. From what I hear from Tom Echoes,
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: this is that the message that you put out to
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: so many kids is that no matter what you're dealing with,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: no matter how unique your circumstances are, no matter how
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: heavy the weight is that you're carrying, no matter what
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: it is, there is hope that things will turn around,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: will improve, will get better. And it may not happen overnight,
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: but by God, you're worth it. We need you here
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: in our school. We need you alive, we need you
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: on this planet.
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Our theme last year, the opening day kickoff, our
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: theme was hope and the quote that hung on the
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: posters throughout the entire building on every person's door, Hope
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: a good thing never dies. Right. It's the quote from
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: Shawshank Redemption, and in that was the conversation that when
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: you are all in, you are giving hope to the
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: people that you are all in for. And so we
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: had these everybody got they looked like poker chips and
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: on one side had our school logo and the other
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: side set all in. And first everybody got there all
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: in chip for themselves, like you know, be all in
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: when you come into something, be all in. And then
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: they got a little bag with three of them, three
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: other chips. And throughout the year it was to give
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: to people. If you recognize that they were struggling, you
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: gave them that chip to say like I'm all in
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: for you, or if you noticed that they went above
• 49:58
  Speaker 2: and beyond, you gave them a chip thank them for
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: being all in. And it was a pretty powerful connection
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: that happened amongst people in the district or when the
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: chips would show up for people. What you would see
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: that do to someone like, Hey, I'm recognized, right like
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: people see what I'm going through. And so then that
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: kind of fed into this year's theme, which is power
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: and unity, Power and moments, and it's knowing the importance
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: of every single moment you're in and the strength and
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: the unity in our group. And with that, everyone got
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: a bundle of sticks. We said that if you take
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: out one stick and you bend it, it can break.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: But when you put your whole entire bundle together and
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: you try to break that, you can't break that. So remember, wow,
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: that in any situation that you have, you have your
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: entire bundle with you and we're here for you, you know,
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: and don't pull yourself away from your bundle of sticks,
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: because that's where your strength is.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Powerful. I would be remiss if I didn't mention this
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: and ask you about it. And there's there there. There's
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: a big story that's going on right now nationally, and
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: it's garnering a massive amount of attention to Mia Woods
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: testified in front of Congress yesterday about the desperate need
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: to protect our children at all costs and the dangers
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: of social media and it's it's it's one of the
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: new for lack of a better term, buzzwords, that's that's
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: going on right now, and it's social media sextortion. A
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: seventeen year old young man by the name of James
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: Wood just took his life and his mom is doing
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: everything in her power to try to rattle some cages
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: and say we need to do more. Just putting a restriction,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: an age restriction on social media accounts, and I know
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: this all talk, all kinds of talk this morning about
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: what they're doing in Australia, but just simply putting an
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: age restriction on social media is not enough. We need
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: to do better job at parenting, paying attention to our kids.
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: We need to do a better job as school teachers
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: paying attention and promote the message of please don't get
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: wrapped up tangled up in this mess. Please don't take
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: photos that are inappropriate, no matter who you're sending them to,
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: where they're going, who you trust. The Internet is never
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: to be trusted, and you need we as your parents,
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: we as your teachers, we as adults are not going
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: to be able to protect you as much as we
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: would like to. You need to protect yourself you need
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: to have the knowledge. You need to know, even if
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: you're young, how dangerous this stuff is and you need
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: to watch out for yourself and make sure this doesn't
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: happen to you. And man or man, is this an
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable conversation And at some point I'm going to have
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: to have this with my left your old little girl.
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: But I'm guessing that your staff is aware of this
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: dark side of the world man, that's going on right now.
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know. And I try to be very
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: mindful and careful of the messaging around that because, like
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: I said earlier, I wholeheartedly believe everybody's doing the best
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: they can, parents and teachers and staff, right, So it's
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: very hard when we say, like, but we need you
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: to do a little bit better, or we need you
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: to do a little bit more, because you get that
• 54:42
  Speaker 2: feeling of like, man, I'm just not doing enough, like
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: how much more can I do? Right? And so in
• 54:48
  Speaker 2: that too, though, is this importance I think, because like, right,
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: it's true, like you can say all day long, don't
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: send those pictures, don't engage in those messages, don't do this,
• 55:04
  Speaker 2: don't do that. Someone's going to that's going to happen. Right.
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: The more important part of that message is that when
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: you do, it's okay. I can help you. I'm not
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: going to get on you about the fact that I
• 55:17
  Speaker 2: told you not to do it. I'm going to help
• 55:20
  Speaker 2: you get through the fact that you did do it.
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: And that's what we need to emphasize more is like, right,
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: kids are this is happening. Kids are taking their own
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: lives because they're like, I'm terrified to tell someone that
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: I did what I shouldn't have done. Lost what's that
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: they've lost?
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: Hope?
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, or I'm terrified of what might happen if if
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: this gets out right. What they need is that trusted adult,
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: that ally, that person that they can go to and say,
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: I'm mortified, I'm embarrassed, I don't ever want to step
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: outside of this room because of what I chose to do.
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: And they need that person to say, like, I'll walk
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: out of the room with you. It's a that you
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: did that, right, Like, yeah, now let's figure out how
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: to get through it. Like you as a human being
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: and as a person matters so much more than that
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: decision or that mistake that you made, and like I
• 56:14
  Speaker 2: can't take away the embarrassment and shame that you feel
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: from that, But you'll grow from that and I'll help
• 56:18
  Speaker 2: you do that, Like you'll do better next time, absolutely,
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: and I'll be the person to help you do that.
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to be the person that shames you
• 56:28
  Speaker 2: for doing what you did. You know. That's what I
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: feel like people need more of is like this, non judgmental,
• 56:36
  Speaker 2: Like truly, I am showing up for you as you are,
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: as I am to help you, and I would.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: Hope you'd do the same for me without judgment.
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: Without judgment, yes, Like who am I to say the
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: decision you made was was poor? Right? And the same
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: with right, people call it the Monday Morning killer quarterback, right, Like, well,
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: if I were a parent, I wouldn't let them have that. Well,
• 57:00
  Speaker 2: if I were a teacher, that wouldn't happen in my classroom,
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: got it, But it's happening right. And the thing with
• 57:06
  Speaker 2: social media too, I mean, if you follow our school
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: district on Facebook or follow doctor Ralston on Facebook, I
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: am very big in like, you tell your story and
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: if you're not telling your story, someone else is. And
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: so social media is a thing. And so you know
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: what we're using Instagram and Facebook for is to tell
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: our story. And the Black Night story is a really,
• 57:29
  Speaker 2: really awesome story.
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: Where do we get that?
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: So you can go to Silver Creek Central School District
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: on Facebook or doctor Ralston on Facebook, and we tell
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: stories on it every day hashtag BkP, hashtag sc CARES,
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: hashtag every day because we want our students here every day.
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: That's our attendance initiative. And you choose to share the good.
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: And it's not because negative isn't happening. It's not because
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: we're not facing challenges every day. But you have to
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: like but George Currow says this quote, let the positives
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: be so loud that the negatives become almost impossible to hear.
• 58:06
  Speaker 2: And we have to help our students build their own
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: story so that when one negative thing comes, it's like,
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: holy cow, that's loud, but this is louder. Holy cow,
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: that's hard, but this is better. But we have to
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: set up those structures. We can't just focus on don't
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: do it, don't be there, don't use it. You know
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: right now it's there, and how are we helping them
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: use it in a positive manner? And so actually that's
• 58:34
  Speaker 2: today one of the things that I was doing it
• 58:36
  Speaker 2: right before I came on here. It's the most awesome thing.
• 58:38
  Speaker 2: You'll see pictures of it later. You'll see the real
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: when it's done. Right now. In our hallways, we have
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: a tripod set up with a camera. We have a
• 58:46
  Speaker 2: microphone set up. The prompt on it says, tell us
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: something good that recently happened to you, and the stories
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: coming through it are amazing. We'll make a video to
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: share out all the good that's happening to the people
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: in our school. And it's cool because it allows to
• 59:00
  Speaker 2: to pause for twenty seconds and share what's good. And
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: also when I watch the video, I'm gonna have twenty
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: five things to go ask someone about about you know,
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: what they're going through, and it's using it in a
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: positive and you know powerful way.
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be watching for that. You've given me some homework.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be watching. I want to see those reels.
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: I want to see this stuff that is absolutely fantastic. Listen,
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: your time is so valuable. It is such a gift
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: to us this morning. Your conversation with us has been
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: absolutely amazing.
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you. It was a huge honor to be here,
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: so thanks for inviting me. I hope to come back sometimes.
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: I would be so blessed to have you. You've given
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: us some huge takeaways. One of them for me is
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: you hearing you say no matter what you've done, no
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: matter what your mistake is, your your life is worth
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: so much more. I know I'm pair raising a little bit,
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: but man, that is something that we've got to carry
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: forward as adults, as teachers, as parents, as friends of
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: other kids our same age. That's it right there, amazing stuff.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 2: Your other homework is to share. Get in the habit
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: of sharing something good that happened to you recently. Too
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: often people are like, oh, I lost my car keys,
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 2: I locked myself out of my car, I spilled my coffee.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: I but what's something good that happened to you recently?
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: Make it common to share that.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's a great time of year to do that,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: but it's always always a great time a year to
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: do that. Thank you doctor so much.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, thanks for having me.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: I hope, yes, I hope to meet you someday.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I would love to. I'll hug you if I see.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: You, hugging you right back. Thanks so much, doctor, Appreciate
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: you all right. What a conversation this morning. You know,
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: and I can't think Tom enough. Tom Murphy over at
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: Sweethearts and Heroes for saying to me like he does. Dude,
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: you need to get this person on the air. I'm
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: telling you right now. He knows, he really does. This
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: is the kind of good that I just love bringing
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: onto my platform. Thanks for catching the aired out podcast. Listen,
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: share this one, give it a like, give it a share,
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: post a comment. I don't care whether you're watching this
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: tonight later to during your lunch break, or whether you
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: are with us live right now. You still have time.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: Give a thumbs up, give a heart, give a comment,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: and click share right now and get this into the years,
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: into the eyes of anyone that you think could use it.
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: God bless doctor Katie Ralston. God bless Sweethearts and Heroes
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: for the amazing yeoman's work that they're doing. They're kicking ass,
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: flat out, and I can't wait to see one of
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: these presentations they're doing. Don't forget now this coming Monday
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: the fifteenth, three o'clock in the afternoon, rick Yarish from
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: Sweethearts and Heroes is going to be where now Cody's
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: Chevrolet on the Berry Montellier Road with his book abridged
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: a bridge named Amos. He'll be there signing it. Grab
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: some pictures. It's gonna be a good time. I'll be
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: there as well. Can't wait Monday. This coming Monday the fifteenth,
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: three pm, Cody Chevrolet with rick Yarish from Sweethearts and Heroes.
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: You've seen him on the air, you've heard him on
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: the air here on aired out, big big dog, possibly
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: bigger than Tom. Just saying love, thanks, over and out
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: for now. Be careful driving today if you're out. Okay,
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: we're watching it three to five. Maybe some rain coming
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: into the mixed temperature is going to be on the
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: rise here over the next twenty four to forty eight.
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: We'll watch it carefully, but just be careful on the roads,
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: all right, catch you tomorrow. G we're gonna be set
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: this place on fire tomorrow morning, nine o'clock right here
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: for you are down, eared out, Y