Latest / Inside the OSD / S1 E17 - Urban Challenge Ft. Kelly Manzeck

Transcript

S1 E17 - Urban Challenge Ft. Kelly Manzeck · Inside the OSD

• 0:01
  SPEAKER1: Each year, seventh grade students at Oregon Middle School participate in hands on team learning experiences that take
• 0:11
  them outside the classroom.
• 0:13
  One of those experiences is called the Urban Challenge.
• 0:16
  I am fortunate to have been a chaperon on this trip for many years and it is an amazing event.
• 0:23
  Today we're going to learn all about this experience from one of our challenge organizers, Kelly Manzeck, and some students from the 7-O team who recently
• 0:31
  completed the challenge.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids.
• 0:40
  Here is your host.
• 0:41
  Lifelong educator, and our superintendent, Dr.
• 0:44
  Leslie Bergstrom.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER1: We'll start with seventh grade Oregon middle school educator Kelly Manzeck.
• 0:54
  Could you start by introducing yourself to our listeners and your role at OMS?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER3: So I'm Kelly Manzeck and I am a special education teacher on the 7-O team.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER1: Wonderful. So knowing you're one of the coordinators of the Urban Challenge and this is the activity for the 7-O team students, because our students on 7-M
• 1:14
  spend a day up at Upham Woods earlier in the school year.
• 1:19
  Can you explain the urban challenge to our listeners?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER3: Yes. So think of it like The Amazing Race, the TV show from, I don't know, the 90s.
• 1:29
  Our students groups of 6 to 8 head downtown to the city of Madison and complete various challenges at various sites.
• 1:39
  Anything from the Wisconsin State Capitol, Henry Vilas Zoo, Camp Randall, The Veterans Museum.
• 1:47
  We have a food pantry.
• 1:49
  There is pre-planning that goes into it.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER1: A lot of pre-planning.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER3: So we don't just send them loose downtown.
• 1:58
  But yeah, they've worked in their teams.
• 2:00
  We have a pre-planning coming together worksheet that they complete.
• 2:05
  They can choose sites, but they have no idea what the challenges will be like at those sites.
• 2:09
  That's revealed when they arrive at the site.
• 2:12
  Not even the morning of. So when they arrive at a place, they're then presented with a challenge that they have to solve based on where they're at.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER1: That was a very fun experience for me as a chaperone.
• 2:24
  I was there and that was really a lot of fun and I loved how much the students were in charge.
• 2:30
  I was basically there to make sure everybody stayed safe.
• 2:33
  Otherwise, the students really did run the day, even from everything.
• 2:37
  From what time do we get on the bus to which bus we're taking, to which stop we get off at.
• 2:44
  So they were really into the details, as they should have been, with all the practice that you gave them, because we know this is a lot of work.
• 2:52
  So why is this important to our educators that we offer this experience to our students?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER3: So one of our district's values is making sure that our students are community ready.
• 3:05
  And this does just that beyond the walls of our classrooms.
• 3:10
  So in their teams, we ask them to cooperate, compromise, problem, solve, navigate a city bus,
• 3:21
  communicate with individuals that aren't just themselves.
• 3:24
  So it brings all those aspects that we can't do in our classrooms to life.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER1: It surely does, because everything you just described, that's what I was able to observe on our students.
• 3:36
  I mean, my group, I don't know if any of them were friends with one another outside of this experience, and yet they were all communicating well,
• 3:46
  using great strategies.
• 3:47
  They were kind to one another.
• 3:49
  They compromised for one another.
• 3:51
  They problem solved together, even though they weren't necessarily used to working with one another.
• 3:57
  So that's the part that just makes me feel so thrilled to be a part of it because I get to watch them practice these skills that they will need in
• 4:07
  every portion of their life.
• 4:09
  Personal, work, it all is a part of it, right?
• 4:16
  So what growth and skill development do you see over the course of this experience when they first start until they've completed their challenges?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER3: Teamwork and being able to, as you said, work with a group of peers who might not be in their not only their class, but in
• 4:38
  their immediate social circle.
• 4:41
  Navigation and time management when your plans don't come to fruition.
• 4:46
  Maybe you missed the bus or you planned for the wrong bus and having to take a moment to get yourself together and back on the same
• 4:55
  page. And then the piece about communication, not only being able to interact with adults they see in the community, but interacting with their
• 5:05
  peers. I think that's probably -- those are some of the biggest areas that we see growth in our students pre and post the urban challenge.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER1: My group told me that before the actual urban challenge in the practice time that they did not get along at all.
• 5:23
  And they said that they had to have a pep talk with their teachers and that that is actually what turned them around.
• 5:30
  After that pep talk, they said they were able to figure out how to work together because by the time they spent the day with me, they knocked my socks off as far
• 5:40
  as their ability to to work well together and be kind to one another and to solve problems.
• 5:45
  So, so many thanks to whomever gave them the pep talk, because I think that's exactly what they needed at that time.
• 5:55
  And every one of us has a point in our life where we need a pep talk on how to work well with other people.
• 6:02
  This is a great example of that.
• 6:04
  So thank you for sharing this.
• 6:05
  And now we're going to talk to a few of the students about what the experience was like for them.
• 6:11
  So I'm really excited to hear from your perspective what this whole thing was like.
• 6:16
  So I'm going to start with -- because this is so fresh on your minds, I want to hear about it from you.
• 6:22
  So can you start by introducing yourself, each of you introducing yourself to our listeners?
• 6:27
  And then I'll ask the first question.
• 6:29
  And whomever wants to start can start.
• 6:31
  Okay. All right.
• 6:32
  So let's start with introductions.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER4: Hi, I'm Emma Zych, and I'm a seventh grader at OMS.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER5: Hi, I'm Jace Derota.
• 6:40
  And I'm a seventh grader at OMS.
• 6:43
  Hi. I'm Silas Weiss, and I'm a seventh grader at OMS.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER1: Thank you. So what was it like to prepare for the urban challenge?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER5: It was challenging because some people in our groups -- like some people, got along, some people didn't, and some people it was tough
• 7:02
  listening and...
• 7:05
  In a few of the groups, I noticed that like there were a lot of people there, like just like these two or 1 or 2 kids that just like tried to do all of it.
• 7:14
  And then like a lot of others, just got off task.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER1: That's a good observation.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER4: Yeah. I also think it was pretty difficult to know that everybody had to have a little bit of like each thing you did, like everyone had to be a
• 7:28
  part of it and everyone had to like participate in what you were doing.
• 7:35
  So I think that part was a little difficult, knowing that kind of what Silas said, that some people tried to take off and like do their own thing or do it
• 7:42
  all by themselves. But at the end of it, like when we started getting to the end, I think everyone then did a really good job at
• 7:52
  working together and giving everyone their own part and their own chance to do something.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER1: I love what the three of you shared, because what you described, I think that our challenges that a lot of adults still have in working in groups, I think
• 8:08
  everything you said. Adults still do that too, sometimes.
• 8:11
  So the fact that you're already practicing it in seventh grade in such a real way gives me a lot of hope for the future.
• 8:19
  So what was the highlight for each of you?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER5: Uh, definitely.
• 8:24
  We got -- there was some college students trying to raise charity.
• 8:29
  You had to pay like $3 too, and you got to pie them in the face.
• 8:32
  So that was my highlight.
• 8:33
  I got to pie a college student in the face.
• 8:36
  After
• 8:36
  SPEAKER1: giving to their charity?
• 8:38
  Yep. Wow! Okay.
• 8:39
  I didn't hear that story yet.
• 8:40
  That's fun.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER4: Yeah, that was one of my highlights too.
• 8:43
  But another good
• 8:45
  SPEAKER5: highlight is my first, uh, my first time going to Monona.
• 8:51
  Really? Yeah. And I, like, took my shoes and socks off and stepped in the water, and it was really, really cool.
• 8:59
  I bet
• 8:59
  SPEAKER1: it was.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER5: Yeah, I liked it.
• 9:01
  It was really fun down there by the college and that was my highlight.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER4: Yeah, one of my highlights was probably just being with so many fun people.
• 9:10
  Like I loved my group.
• 9:11
  My group was really amazing.
• 9:13
  We all worked together really well and we all just had so much fun.
• 9:17
  So I guess the entire trip itself, whenever our group was working together, it was a really big highlight for me.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER1: Oh, that's so nice to hear.
• 9:24
  Were you friends? All of you good friends before?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER4: Some of us were pretty good friends.
• 9:29
  Some of us, I mean, we've known throughout like elementary school and stuff.
• 9:33
  But yeah, we all worked pretty well together and we all knew each other.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER1: That's wonderful.
• 9:38
  All right. So here's here's a question for you.
• 9:40
  Would you do anything differently if you were to do it again?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER5: Definitely, like your priority of like when you make your plan, you knew what you had to do, at least make sure that you had that on time because I think we
• 9:53
  had to like donate some, like, canned foods and goods to the church and stuff, and we almost missed the timeline.
• 10:01
  So yeah, I would say like for food, we were short on one of the food because some people said they were going to bring things and they didn't.
• 10:11
  And I think you should just double or triple check to make sure what your responsibilities were to just make sure you bring the stuff that
• 10:20
  you were meant to bring.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER4: Yeah, definitely being on time with things and knowing you have things prepared so that you are not like either stressing out about it or making sure
• 10:32
  that you have everything on task for your challenge.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER1: Now, the next question.
• 10:38
  I wonder if you'll almost say the same thing.
• 10:40
  What's the most important thing you learned?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER6: Um, I learned that, like
• 10:45
  SPEAKER5: even if you have a plan, it can all change in a quick second.
• 10:48
  Like you miss one bus, and now your whole plan has changed because now you might have to go to this place first and this place second instead of doing it
• 10:56
  all the way you planned.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER4: Got it. Yeah. Going along with that.
• 10:59
  Definitely patience to know, like you were waiting at the bus stop and you really need to get somewhere.
• 11:05
  But you just need to, like, trust that the bus is going to come and get you.
• 11:10
  Or if you are maybe a little lost and your your teammate that usually does the navigation system like isn't.
• 11:20
  Doesn't know where they're going or something like that.
• 11:22
  You might need to have a little patience with them or help them out a little bit to get them through it.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER1: Very fair. Very fair.
• 11:30
  How do you think you'll use these things in the future?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER6: Um, maybe
• 11:34
  SPEAKER5: like, we'll be we'll probably be college students when we grow up, and we'll probably have to know how to get around because we're in, like a busy city.
• 11:43
  We're not going to probably not going to have cars.
• 11:45
  Yeah.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER4: That's a great way to think of it.
• 11:48
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 11:49
  And I think another thing is...uh...I forgot.
• 11:55
  You go.
• 11:57
  Probably learning like social ethics and stuff.
• 12:01
  Learning how to like either go up to people that you might not know and talk to them or going into restaurants or something like that.
• 12:08
  So I think that was a big part of it.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER1: Got it. Do you think of yours?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER5: Uh, I'm thinking.
• 12:14
  You keep thinking.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER1: Okay, so what would you say to a student who might be going on this trip next year or in future years?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER6: Um, definitely
• 12:23
  SPEAKER5: have a plan, but be prepared for it to change quickly.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER1: Okay. Yeah.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER4: Like, have fun.
• 12:30
  Don't always -- don't think that you always have to go off of your plan or your schedule the entire time.
• 12:36
  Like you can go out and do challenges.
• 12:39
  But then don't forget, like you're downtown Madison with a bunch of your friends and a group of people.
• 12:43
  So don't forget to have fun and just go out and do things.
• 12:48
  That's great. Yeah, I would
• 12:49
  SPEAKER5: definitely recommend to do it because it was super fun to do and our plans changed a lot and it was still super fun.
• 12:58
  Like we got to do more things, but because we missed our bus and it threw off a couple challenges, but then we got all those challenges back
• 13:08
  pretty much and more like it was just super fun.
• 13:12
  Yeah, I think a big part is just don't forget to like have fun.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER6: Yeah.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER1: And that is the kind of advice that we can end the interview on.
• 13:20
  That is pretty fantastic.
• 13:22
  Thank you. Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at
• 13:32
  OregonSD.Org/Podcast. You can find this podcast anywhere you can find podcasts.
• 13:39
  Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on one of these apps to get notifications on the most recent episodes.
• 13:45
  We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.