Latest / Elevated Insights: A TCSD Podcast / EPISODE 1: Back to School and "How many lives have been changed!"

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EPISODE 1: Back to School and "How many lives have been changed!" · Elevated Insights: A TCSD Podcast

0:12
Welcome everyone to our
0:13
inaugural podcast,
0:15
Elevated Insights at TCSD
0:18
Podcast. We're going to have
0:20
a lot of fun throughout these
0:22
podcasts and bring in a lot
0:23
of guests for you to
0:26
listen to and for us to learn
0:28
from. I'm Doctor Mark Ernst.
0:30
Of the Superintendent of
0:31
Tooele County School
0:32
District. And today I'm
0:34
joined by two of our
0:35
teachers, Jenn Kinville and
0:37
Chris Wilcox and I will give
0:39
them an opportunity to
0:40
introduce yourself, tell us
0:42
who you are, what school
0:44
you're teaching at, what
0:45
subject, if it's subject
0:46
specific and then we'll go
0:49
from there. So Jen, why don't
0:50
we start with you? Awesome.
0:51
Well, I am a first year
0:53
kindergarten teacher at
0:54
Willow Elementary School in
0:56
Grantsville. Very good.
0:59
Yes, Chris. This is my
1:02
26 year teaching. I teach at
1:04
Tooele high school. I teach
1:06
pottery and I also coach
1:07
soccer. Boys and girls, Boys
1:09
and girls. That's wonderful.
1:10
So we've purposely selected a
1:12
new teacher and a veteran
1:13
teacher to listen and learn
1:16
about some of the ways that
1:18
you prepare for and get ready
1:20
for school. We've been in
1:21
school, what about three or
1:22
four weeks now, I believe,
1:24
and each teacher prepares a
1:26
little bit differently for
1:28
school. So why don't we start?
1:31
With Chris, since you've been
1:32
around a little bit, walk us
1:35
through preparing for a
1:37
school year and some of the
1:38
things that go through your
1:39
mind, some of the things that
1:40
are maybe concerning to you,
1:42
but also what gets you
1:44
excited and what keeps you
1:45
coming back year after year.
1:47
OK, well, you've been doing
1:49
it quite a while and to be
1:51
honest with you, my situation
1:52
is a little bit unique. Where
1:54
I live so close to Tooele
1:55
high school, I've got two
1:56
kids are attending to all
1:57
high school and with both of
1:59
them being involved with
2:00
activities at Tooele. I am
2:03
there almost 24/7, I mean
2:05
really. So for me
2:09
the preparation never ends,
2:10
to be honest with you. I was
2:13
there almost every day this
2:15
summer either. Mostly was the
2:17
coaching aspect of it at this
2:19
point. But as far as the
2:20
teaching stuff goes, you
2:22
know, there's I I would think
2:24
with most veteran teachers
2:25
have been there for a while.
2:26
You know, a lot of this stuff
2:26
is established. You know, you
2:28
you tweak things here and
2:29
there. But for the most part
2:31
since I've been in my
2:32
classroom that long, the
2:33
classroom itself is pretty
2:35
pretty easy to to reset up
2:37
and have all that done and
2:38
then just making sure I have
2:39
all the supplies again. I
2:41
teach pottery, which is
2:43
different. And you know some
2:44
of the core subjects. So I do
2:46
have to make sure that I have
2:47
everything ordered and
2:48
everything in line and have
2:50
stuff for the school year,
2:51
but you know some of that.
2:53
Again, for me might be
2:55
different other teachers, but
2:56
the end of the school year
2:57
just for me just carries on
2:59
through the summer and I'm
3:00
constantly just doing
3:01
whatever needs to be done.
3:03
And then likewise with
3:04
coaching, you know all the
3:05
all the time you spin up
3:06
there on the field and
3:08
ordering stuff for that as
3:09
well, so. That's kind of my
3:12
preparation and just it never
3:13
ends. Yeah. And Jim, for you,
3:15
a first year teacher, so walk
3:17
us through maybe your summer.
3:19
What? What? Where were you
3:20
hired? I was hired at the end
3:22
of July. Ohh. Wow. So not too
3:24
long ago. So that's about
3:25
what, two or three weeks
3:26
before school starts? Yes. So
3:29
walk us through that. How did
3:30
that all work for you?
3:32
Well, I think it was kind of
3:35
a unique situation where I
3:37
was hired to teach AM at one
3:39
school, PM at another, but.
3:41
As enrollment increased, um,
3:44
they decided we needed more
3:46
full day kinders, so I
3:48
actually had my classroom set
3:50
up ready to go at 20 wells
3:53
three days before
3:54
kindergarten started. I got
3:56
moved full time to Willow, so
3:59
I had to take down my
4:00
classroom completely. And
4:03
move it all over. And so for
4:06
me, it was spending that
4:07
weekend getting that
4:08
classroom ready because I
4:09
wanted those kids to come in
4:11
and have their first
4:13
introduction to education. I
4:14
wanted them to feel
4:15
comfortable. I wanted them to
4:16
feel settled. So there was a
4:19
lot of preparation for
4:21
me with putting it up and I
4:24
was excited and then taking
4:25
it down, but then getting to
4:27
do another space. It was fun,
4:29
but it was it was a lot. It's
4:31
a lot of work. Yeah,interesting. We had an
4:33
interesting situation with
4:35
kindergarten. So this is the
4:36
first year the state has kind
4:39
of promoted full day
4:40
kindergarten. We've always
4:40
had a few full day, but now
4:42
it's district wide. We're a
4:43
full day district and in
4:46
June we were 100% staffedfor
4:48
kindergarten. As we got
4:50
closer to August, we started
4:52
to hire more teachers. We
4:53
were the day before school
4:55
started for all students. We
4:57
hired 6 new kinder teachers
4:59
because our enrollment
5:00
numbers had grown so much
5:02
over about a month and 1/2.
5:03
Period of time. It's amazing.
5:05
So yeah, and we start
5:06
planning for Kinder really
5:07
early. We started planning in
5:08
January but man, kids just
5:11
kept coming, which is a good
5:12
problem to have. I'd rather
5:13
we have a lot of kids than
5:15
not enough kids. So. So
5:17
that's great and and Jim,
5:20
what got you why education
5:23
For me, I have a desire
5:26
to change the world, but I
5:28
don't have the financial
5:29
means. I don't have a social
5:30
status. And so this is
5:33
the way I want to do that. I
5:36
feel like I can teach our
5:38
future, which our kids. And
5:40
then hopefully, I mean, I
5:42
have 21 . studentsHopefully
5:43
one of them can make some
5:44
kind of difference. Yeah. You
5:46
know, And then I get a new
5:46
batch next year. I just feel
5:48
like this is my way to kind
5:50
of change the world, make the
5:51
world a better place. Yeah.
5:53
So, Jenn, 21 students. Chris,
5:55
how many students at Tula
5:57
High this year do you have in
5:59
all of your classes combined?
6:00
Just an estimate. Well, I
6:03
teach her one of my preps. I
6:04
have nine classes times
6:07
30. So about, I don't know,I'd say 200
6:09
I
6:09
and 62170. Yeah. Kids throughout the two days
6:10
and multiply that by how many years you've been teaching, you've. You've had a lot of impact on a lot of
6:10
kids. Yeah. Impact one way or another, hopefully positive. Yeah. So, you know, so today is funny. On my way down, I was telling my class that I was coming to do this
6:12
and
6:17
had e girl sona
6:18
y.
6:30
So do you know this person
6:31
and that person And you know,
6:33
sometimes you recognize names
6:34
and stuff. And she informed
6:36
me that I had taught both her
6:38
parents. So I I keep waiting
6:40
for the day that I taught
6:42
somebody's grandparents and
6:44
hopefully that day doesn't
6:45
come. But it might, but it
6:46
might. Yeah, it's very odd. I
6:48
there's a couple, well, more
6:50
than a couple. There's
6:51
several teachers in our
6:53
district who I taught and
6:55
it's kind of strange because
6:56
I I mean, I can still
6:58
remember them as students in
6:59
the classroom and. In my
7:01
mind, I remember them as a
7:02
7th or 8th grader, but here
7:04
they are, an adult teaching
7:06
their own kids, and it's fun
7:08
to see. It's fun to see. One
7:10
question I would like to ask
7:11
each of you is why education?
7:13
There's a lot of different
7:14
professions out there and
7:15
probably a lot that interests
7:16
you. But why did you decide
7:19
to become a school teacher,
7:22
Chris?I went to college.
7:25
Actually, the only reason I
7:26
went to college was to play
7:27
soccer. I had no other
7:28
intentions to do anything but
7:30
play soccer. Well, why was
7:31
there? I had the opportunity
7:34
to go back to my old high
7:35
school and help coach my
7:37
siblings over there, my
7:38
brothers and sisters. Well,
7:40
after my first year going
7:41
through some electives and I
7:42
had to kind of decide, you
7:43
know, what it is I wanted to
7:44
do. And I thought, well, you
7:45
know what that be that be
7:46
really fun to be a coach and
7:47
be a teacher. I was doing art
7:50
always loved hands on stuff.
7:51
And you know, I I got into
7:53
that into college as well. So
7:55
I started going to the
7:56
education classes. Still
7:57
going back teaching at it was
8:00
Granite High School in Salt
8:01
Lake City at the time. Well,
8:03
meanwhile, playing college
8:05
soccer, Granite played against
8:08
Tooele High school and we
8:09
were in the same region, so I
8:10
was coaching against Tooele
8:12
High with my my brothers and
8:13
sisters. We didn't do so well
8:16
to we'll actually have some
8:17
pretty good seasons. But I
8:18
knew the coaches at the time
8:20
well. The coaches that were
8:22
there at Twila at the time,
8:23
they were they were bringing
8:24
their kids in to watch
8:26
Westminster play. It wasn't
8:28
until my senior year very
8:30
last game they had a program.
8:32
They were talking about the
8:32
four of us that were seniors.
8:34
I wanted to be a teacher and
8:35
a coach and and one of the
8:37
coaches from the high school.
8:39
He came up and I and I knew
8:40
who he was and he said, hey,
8:42
there was an accident out
8:43
here in in Tooele where. One
8:45
of the coaches sons died in a
8:47
car accident and they were
8:48
looking to have somebody come
8:50
in and fill that coaching
8:51
position. So of course, you
8:53
know, I was jumping at that,
8:54
you know the opportunity. So
8:57
1997 came out here, started
8:58
student teaching, worked at
9:00
Tooele high school, helpedcoach soccer.
9:04
And that was kind of just how
9:07
I got into it. You know,
9:08
it's, it's, I say it's a
9:09
unique situation because
9:10
looking back, it's crazy to
9:12
think that the only reason
9:13
I'm out here and everything
9:15
that I've done and been
9:16
involved with was because of
9:18
a young man passing away.
9:20
Wow. Yeah. So for me, it was,
9:22
it was, it was a very unique
9:24
situation. You know, it's
9:27
something I think about all
9:28
the time. And you know,
9:29
there's there's a lot of
9:30
other kids that you see come
9:32
and go, but. Yeah, yeah. I I
9:35
think about all the time. And
9:36
again, now that I'm towards
9:37
the end of it, it's. It's
9:39
it's a crazy, crazy thing to
9:40
think about. Yeah, it's
9:41
interesting how?How many
9:44
lives have been changed
9:46
because of that one incident?
9:48
Because of you, Jen? How
9:50
about you? Why? Why
9:51
education? Why did you become
9:52
a teacher?Well,
9:55
I it was never my intention.
9:57
I actually have a masters
9:59
degree in sports management,
10:00
athletic administration. And
10:03
in 2018 when we moved out to
10:05
Tooele, my daughter was in
10:06
first grade and she came home
10:09
and she's like mom, we don't
10:10
have a PE teacher and it is
10:12
the worst. And I thought, I
10:13
think I could do that. So I
10:15
called the principal and
10:16
they're like, yeah, we're
10:17
going to post it. I applied,
10:19
got that job and that changed
10:22
my life, those kids. Did
10:25
more for me than any
10:26
antidepressant, any anti
10:28
anxiety medication they.
10:31
Just give me love and
10:33
life and they help me to seek
10:35
the good. And I had a
10:37
principal there. I went
10:38
through a pretty rough life
10:40
change about three years ago
10:41
and found myself as a single
10:43
mom. And needing to have a
10:45
career adjustment. And my
10:47
principal at Settlement
10:48
Canyon Elementary School here
10:49
in the district said you need
10:52
to be in a classroom. You
10:53
could do this and you could
10:54
do this well. And so she
10:57
started me on the alternate
10:58
route to get my teaching
11:00
license and she's changed my
11:03
life. And it is
11:06
amazing. And I couldn't have
11:08
imagined this. This was never
11:11
the plan. This is plan like
11:13
like triple Z. Because I've
11:15
gone through all the other
11:16
plans, I didn't know what I
11:17
was going to do. I actually
11:18
had to leave the district for
11:19
a year. And that's my mental
11:22
health suffered and my kids
11:24
were like, we've got to get
11:25
back. Mom and I did
11:27
everything in my power to
11:28
come back. I was able to go
11:30
back to PE and that's when my
11:32
principal just was like,
11:33
let's do this, let's get you.
11:35
These kids need you more than
11:37
just PPE. And I'm so grateful
11:40
for that. That's a great
11:41
story, both of you.
11:42
Interesting stories. How we.
11:44
Wind up in education. As you
11:47
think about parents.
11:50
And I know that. The
11:53
role of parents has
11:56
changed a little bit over the
11:57
course of the last 1520 years
12:00
and how they interact with
12:01
educators. If you could, if
12:03
you could, talk to the
12:04
parents of your students,
12:05
what is one or two things you
12:07
would like them to know,
12:08
maybe about about their
12:10
children?And
12:11
#2 about how can
12:14
parents help you as a
12:16
classroom teacher, Jim?
12:19
For me, I would want parents
12:21
to know they are doing a good
12:23
job. These are good kids.
12:25
They are. They are
12:28
amazing. They are
12:31
special. They have so much
12:33
kindness and love in them.
12:34
And I want their parents to
12:35
know because as a parent
12:37
personally, I worry about
12:39
that. Am I doing enough for
12:40
my kids and my teaching them
12:41
to be kind? Am I there for
12:44
them? Do they know that I'm a
12:45
safe place? And I want these
12:47
parents to know they are
12:48
doing enough because these
12:50
kids are amazing, I
12:52
think, for parents. In
12:55
kindergarten, anyway, the
12:57
biggest thing I think parents
12:59
can do to help a teacher is
13:01
to read to their kids at
13:02
night. And I know that might
13:04
sound silly. I grew up with a
13:05
mom who read to me every
13:06
night, so I was probably in
13:08
high school and she does it
13:09
for my kids now, and I do it
13:10
with my kids. But that makes
13:12
a huge difference. These kids
13:14
are at the age where they
13:16
really picking up on things,
13:18
and if we want to see success
13:20
in the classroom, reading to
13:22
your kids at night goes a
13:24
long ways. And it will
13:26
benefit them greatly. That's
13:27
great. That's great. Chris,
13:28
what about you? Hmm. Alright,
13:31
here we go. Well, you know
13:33
it's it's different you know
13:35
perspectives that everybody
13:36
has and you know from an
13:37
elementary teacher to a high
13:39
school teacher to even you
13:41
know the locations of the
13:42
school because you know
13:43
that's that's been an
13:45
ongoing. Concern it? Well,
13:48
high school, be honest with
13:49
you. Is parental involvement,
13:51
or lack thereof. You know we
13:53
have parent teacher
13:53
conferences. And very few
13:56
people come. You know, I
13:58
understand my class again
13:59
that, you know, it's not a
14:01
major issue, so I'm not going
14:02
to see a lot of parents. But
14:04
even the, you know, the core
14:05
subjects that the teachers
14:07
will talk about, the lack of
14:08
parents to come. And, you
14:10
know, you get the ones that
14:11
come all the time because
14:12
they know they're supposed
14:13
to. Their kids are straight A
14:14
students and you have, you
14:15
know, a couple that are on a
14:17
clear different end of that.
14:19
You know, I think that I
14:21
remember a couple of years
14:22
ago, the theme for the year
14:24
to Allah high School was it.
14:25
And be the change and it's
14:28
amazing how much we can
14:30
affect the students in our
14:32
classroom and and I agree
14:34
with you parent teacher
14:35
conferences. I would love to
14:36
have a whole lot more parents
14:38
there and maybe we'll maybe
14:40
we'll start to see that shift
14:41
to where parents do start
14:44
especially the secondary
14:45
level start to show up a
14:46
little bit more often and and
14:49
become more of a partner in
14:51
that part of the education of
14:53
their child. Well, we're
14:56
at the end of our time. Chris
14:58
and Jen, thank you for taking
15:00
time out of your day away
15:02
from your students and
15:03
spending a little bit of time
15:04
here with us to talk about
15:05
education. I'm very thankful
15:08
both of you are teachers here
15:10
in Tooele County School
15:11
District have a very unique
15:13
job to where I impact the
15:15
lives of students every day.
15:17
But they don't know who I am.
15:18
And I put a lot of trust in
15:20
you as teachers that you are
15:23
the ones every day doing what
15:25
the kids need and making
15:27
those connections with
15:28
students. And I just want to
15:29
very sincerely say thank you
15:31
for showing up to work every
15:32
day and making a difference
15:34
in the lives of our students
15:35
here in Tooele County School
15:36
District. Well, thank you and
15:38
thanks for having us.
15:41
Thank you for joining us on
15:43
this first episode of
15:44
Elevated Insights. Join us
15:45
again next week as we welcome
15:47
Roe Harrison and Kenneth
15:48
Aagard as we talk about
15:50
school traditions and why
15:51
they are so important.