Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #23-Brandon Hoggans, Behavior Intervention Specialist

Transcript

Episode #23-Brandon Hoggans, Behavior Intervention Specialist · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Alan Spicati, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: The Recess is a place that we tell stories of the people and the programs in this great school district, and it's a chance for me to share some of the folks that I get to meet along the way and really take people behind the scenes.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of things happen in schools that didn't happen when uh folks in my generation were there, or even really 10 or 15 years ago, some of the supports we have in place, and that's one of the things that you're gonna learn about today with a fairly new position in the Auburn School District that's making a big difference, the behavior intervention specialist role.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I think you're gonna enjoy this conversation and let's just get right to it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh today I'm joined by Brandon Hoggins, and Brandon again is a behavior intervention specialist.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: We call it a BIS for short.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's a role that we have in our elementary schools.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon, thanks for joining the podcast.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for inviting me.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad to be here.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so we're gonna hear all about the that BIS role in a minute and just get to to know it.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: But let's get to know Brandon a little bit and his his uh kind of background and uh background in education.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start with the question that I ask all of my guests.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Who is your favorite teacher and why?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'd have to say my favorite teacher was my grandmother, uh, Miss Rita Benjamin.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: She I grew up I went to Catholic school in um kindergarten in pre-K.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: And she was my teacher there.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um and she's also my teacher when I went to public school.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: She was my teacher um in first and second grade.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh her role um in in public school was um like a support specialist, kind of like not a parent, but uh she was a support specialist.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um what made her my favorite was I was with somebody every day that I knew loved me and cared for me, and that gave me the comfort that I needed.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um and additionally, she was popular in the school, so everybody liked her and she lit everybody up, and I got to experience that because she was my grandmother, you know, and I got treated, I felt like I got treated special by the teachers because of my grandmother, you know, and uh that made um a portion of my educational experiences very warm and inviting.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: I felt heard, seen, and valued, and that's it was a great experience.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: What a cool story.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um gosh, I I think all of us can relate to that person in your life, but to have that person also be your teacher uh at you know such a a young and and wonderful age.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great story.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was uh it was good, and it kept me in line too, held me accountable because I can remember a time where uh and I still remember it, and it was a time when I was in kindergarten, and back then we had to take naps.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't want to take a nap.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And she made me take a nap.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that that's a great memory.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, it's funny when I think about it.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't funny then, but it when I it's funny now.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: I I I love it.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's that's just a perfect answer, and uh, you know, I haven't heard an answer that's not great, but I love that one.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and teachers make a big difference and grammars make a big difference, and you've got it all rolled into one.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really special story.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Brandon.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna get into your current position and uh and we're gonna take some time to help our audience understand about the behavior intervention specialist role.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great support in our elementary schools.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but let's get to know you a little bit before we do that.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So what was your pathway to get to the BIS position at Lee Hill Elementary?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, in order for me to give an accurate portrayal of it, I have to go a little bit further back and give a backstory that's very similar to a lot of the population that we serve.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: My upbringing consisted of navigating systems of poverty, um, growing up in a single parent household, um, with you know, inherent inherited challenges and intergenerational trauma.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's my foundation of the how and why I support, because I know that's an uh shared experience of many of our uh families that we support and students.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: With that experience, you know, I think it's very important that I highlight, you know, I'm African-American male, and here in America, one in three of us will experience incarceration.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's an unfortunate reality that um a population of us live in, and it was my experience.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was incarcerated for a long portion of my developmental years, you know, uh ten years to be in fact.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and through that I had to grow up in a subculture environment, navigate um a myriad of hardships and experiences, but through that I learned a lot about myself, and I learned that there was more to life than I had the opportunity to experience.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I knew that that instance that led me there wasn't who I am.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was just a byproduct of, you know, growing up um with limited resources, you know, navigating through poverty.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um there are things that we will naturally experience.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um, fortunately for me, growing up in Portland, Oregon in the 80s and early 90s, you know, um, in a single parent household, the models, um, the male models that I had supported, you know, the trajectory that I went to, which was um in prison.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so with that, you know, my father, he also spent a large portion of his life in jail.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I uh though he wasn't consistently in my life, the moments that he was in my life, it was warming.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I re I have nothing but great memories of my dad when I was young, but there's only a few of them, you know, because he similar to myself, he was navigating, you know, poverty and um and addiction.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and when I was going into prison, he was coming out, you know, and his experience through addiction and going through treatment programs, you know, he identified that the treatment models that were there to support him didn't support him as a person of color.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So after he um got out of prison, you know, the last time, um he went and got his master's degree and he opened his own culturally responsive or culturally um specific drug and alcohol treatment facility.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So through that he changed his life and um subsequently gave me the blueprint on how to be successful or choose a life that you want following incarceration.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Though I did go to prison rightfully for things that I should not have done, um just like our students, we are not the product of our worst decisions, a poor decision, you know, and everybody has um I would hope everybody gets the opportunity to redeem themselves and and and live those redeeming qualities out and to be the best versions ourselves.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Can you put a little context on your background?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: When when did you uh get out of prison?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: So uh how old are you?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well I went in at 18, uh being transparent, armed robbery is what I did.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I got out at twenty-six, so I spent ninety months um in prison uh that time.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: I went back I went back another time.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so ninety months in prison, and that's a part of it was my first offense, and in Oregon they had just passed a law called Measure 11.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: And ballot measure 11 was um a um certain statutes, certain laws or certain offenses, if you um offended under those guidelines, you had a mandatory sentence.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And based off my uh charges, I had a mandatory sentence of 90 months with just flat time, no time for no opportunity to get out early.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so um and I then I when I got out in 2000, so from 98 to 2006, I was in prison.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that's 18 to 26.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Those are some very formative years of experiences and learning um that I had to that I endured.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I got out in 2000, well when I got out in 2006, I immediately, you know, uh got in college and you know, I was a uh captain of the college basketball team.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: I lived a normal, you know, what the experiences was, what I, you know, I thought people should experience, you know, and you know, well a big part of that was every year when I was incarcerated, I would watch the Portland State Um University graduation.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it would make it would it would hurt because I I was supposed to be there, you know, graduating from high school at academic scholarship to go to University of Oregon.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I didn't take it.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't act on that opportunity.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I would watch that graduation every year and it would hurt my heart.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: I would see my peers that I went to school with graduating, it was just but it gave me the fire, you know.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: To jump in far ahead, you know, through all that work and effort and service.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Last year I had I got my a governor's pardon.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So my record was pardoned by the government, the uh Oregon governor.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it it's like I never it never happened.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that was through hard work and dedication and service, you know.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know that's a little bit jumping all over the place, but no, I I really appreciate your candor, and we're gonna get to your current job in a moment because I think that life experience directly informs what you bring to work every day, what you bring to st school and to our students.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to just complete this picture.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: So um do you recall what age you were uh when you finished that journey and started the journey you're on?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I started graduate school at UW.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: First I got my master's I mean bachelor's degree from in psychology from Mirahurst University in Oregon, a small liver arch college.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then I would end up what I ended up moving up here was because, you know, sadly in 2013 my dad passed away from pancreatic cancer and I ran his business for about a year, but I didn't have the credentials to maintain funding, hence me pursuing my uh master's degree at uh University of Washington, which is strange because I'm a diehard Ducks fan, so how did I end up going to UW?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's college gear day today, so I'm literally wearing a Husky's shirt.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um how did I end up in um this role as so I it was during my intern during my practicum at UW that I um worked in the community mental health as a I got a job at uh my internship was at um Greater Lakes Mental Health Care and Spanaway or in Tacoma.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And with that, um I worked in a forensic mental health program which was designed to support individuals with mental health challenges that impact that led them to um habitual incarceration, right?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the goal of the program was to reduce recidivism, and with that I was a case manager, then I transitioned to a therapist.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Once I graduated from there, um, well, during that role, I gained the understanding that I think it would have been more supportive to support individuals on the front front end versus where I was supporting them then, because oftentimes I found that they were kind of locked in their thinking and they were just kind of navigating the system, right?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: So once I graduated from the University of Washington, I then took a different position at the same agency, but it was then the inpatient facility.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Through that experience, it just further enhanced my idea that I needed to uh support on the front end.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: And also my wife, who's uh ML teacher, my amazing wife, let me put that in there, uh, who's an ML teacher at Willowcrest, Miss Smith, she was always trying to encourage me to get into schools.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I love the work that I did.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, I transitioned to schools in 2020, year of COVID.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: At the amazing Lee Heel.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: I can't speak enough about that school.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um The reason why I transitioned to education was I wanted to support individuals and um, you know, be more supportive in showing them how to be themselves, you know, allow kids to be kids, but also show them I got a per I can sum it up this.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I got to be the person that I needed in schools.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: I get to be that every day.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: I I was going to ask that, to be honest.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you had a a Brennan Huggins when you were a young man.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, I didn't at all.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Everything would things have been different?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: I would say so because I looked up to some other people.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, if I would have had somebody like myself, I'm pretty sure it would have made a difference.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I get to be that every day, and that's a big joy of my job.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love my job.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a job, it's it's who I am, and I get to be that every day.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about your job.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and again, I appreciate you opening up and you know before we we start recording.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I talked about how as a school district we're trying to be better about having people bring their full selves to the job and not, you know, put on a face or act in a certain way that they think that they have to to survive in our organization.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: We want people to be comfortable uh in their own skin.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody has a story, everybody has a culture, everybody has a personality and expression.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we think we get people's best when that comes out.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I came from, and then gosh, Brandon, that was amazing.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just it's really cool.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna leave it there.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I I don't know at this point if that if that's hard for you to do, or if this is something that's just a a part of your story that you want to share.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it it was, I think.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's taking some time for me to get comfortable, yeah.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: But in speaking about why I do this, I can't not bring that up because it's a big part of why I do it, you know, because again, that statistic is still the same.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: One in three young black boys or people of color will end up incarceration, end up incarcerated, you know, and that's just a byproduct of our society.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um and my job, my hope every day is to help all students um circumvent the challenges that poverty presents naturally.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's talk about your role.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so you are a behavior intervention specialist.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this is a role that we have developed and and funded in the district in the last probably six or eight years.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't have it in front of me.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: What is a behavior intervention specialist, or we'll call it a BIS?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: The title of BIS is you know, behavior intervention specialists, but uh it's so much more than that.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna give you the technical uh things that we do, um such as develop and foster effective relationships with parents and staff members and students, um provide you know intermediate, excuse me, immediate and long-term supports for students with you know challenging behaviors, uh also assist with uh assist the admin team with student discipline and participate in building intervention team meetings, uh provide instructional leadership and behavior management and to support effective tiered interventions in a classroom, um, assists in improving um instruction through observation, teachers, observation of students and um and teachers as well, you know, to um be more supportive to them.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: One of the best parts of my job is I get to assist at recess with supervision, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen you out on the field.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, it's oh that's yeah, it's I get to be a kid every day.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that that must be a joy.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh also I get to support uh with other factors that contribute to student behavior, um, such as attendance, um, you know, and social um economic dynamics that um greatly impact their um ability to function in school, you know.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's very I got I think I should note that I got my master's degree in social work.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: So at my core, I'm a social worker and I'm a therapist.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I have my own private practice outside of this role.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I get to support students with my clinical experiences all as well as my shared life experience every day.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say a learning curve I had is learning how to speak kid because I'm coming in there talking with clinical terms, so it's took me a couple of years to get it down, but I do every day.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a gift, and I love it.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the written job description that you shared with us, basically.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um kind of in plain language, what what do you do every day?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: At my core, I get I make sure that each student is seen, heard, and valued.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Every student that comes through the door, uh greet them by name.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: We some of them, most of them we have certain handshakes we do.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I want them to walk into that door with a smile, the door I'm at.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're uh if I see something on their face that let me know that something's on their mind, I let them know that I will see you when I get in and we'll talk about it.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I want every student to know that somebody in there cares about them.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's completely away from academics, you know, just the human side.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: I want them to know that they have somebody here that they can connect with.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Another big part of my role is I get to be a bridge between parents and the community and the school, because you know, there is a historical mistrust in some communities, right?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And some communities don't know their rights within the school, right?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um most times in meetings, sometimes they come and just say yes, you know, yes, and agree with everything just because it they're uncomfortable, you know.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: So in those meetings, I want to let them know that they have an advocate here and they have a voice.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a great part of my job.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: I want the parents to know that their student um is somewhere safe.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm the I'm each student's biggest cheerleader.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: My role as a behavior specialist, behavior intervention specialist, you would think that it just aligns with students, our tier three students that have challenges, but that's not it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Our role is so much more.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um and oftentimes those tier three students um have challenges that are completely underrelated to school and anything related to academics.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: And through my through my experience, clinical and sh lived experience, I can easily get to the core of that.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And they trust me because um I don't share what my knowledge is, I don't share my experience with ever with anyone, um but I let them know that I see them and I understand and I'm here for them.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: And they got somebody that can advocate for them here.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And also I ask them what do they need, you know, what do you need at home?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: How can we fix it?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and we partner with other agencies and we through those partnerships and experiences that we support our uh our families, it it brings them closer to us, you know, and that's the goal, you know.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: We that the school is just not a school, it's a big part of the community.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're there eight hours a day, right?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's the best part of my job is building relationships, fostering ra fostering and cultivating relationships.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned the term tier three a couple of times.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Could you explain for the audience they may not be in education and be familiar with that framework?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Every student gets tier one supports um those supports in our school look like um every student gets access to the student store, every student gets access to the SEL curriculum, um, things of such a tier one is roughly 80% of the students.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: But tier two students they need an additional level of support, such as a behavior plan or a point sheet or check-in, check out with the preferred staff.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Tier three students are are students that need the most intensive supports.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and there's those students' behaviors greatly impact their access to education.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And those students um need uh additional support such as you know, I individualized education plan, 504 plan, and also um you know, additional supports in that line.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then long in addition to all those, the tier one and tier two supports.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the students that I love to work with because let it be told, I think after my grandmother left the school, I think I might have been a tier six student.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then you I know you are a big part of the Lee Hill elementary School community.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know I've been there when the announcements are on and you were a part of that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: I know I've seen you out at recess.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so what are those other things you do in addition to the things on your job description about the BIS role?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so w one of the best parts of my job is I get to be at recess.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and with recess, I think that's a the perfect time to foster and cultivate relationships through play and through sports.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that I f I love facilitating jump rope with uh pre-K and kindergartners because oftentimes it's their first time doing it.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: And they're learning, and oftentimes when it's their first time, they're apprehensive.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can see them standing on side, they want to do it, but they don't know how to uh initiate engagement.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: So me, me and my happy self, I cheer them up, I cheer them on.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can do it, let's go.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see you out here.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, they inch their way and then they get in line, and then once they get in line, um I have this upbeat energy because I want everybody to be happy and engaged.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And they get in line and um they try it, and they don't leave unsuccessful.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: We'll stay there and we'll coach them through it.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Not just me, but the other students there, we'll coach them through it, and then they leave feeling successful and proud of themselves.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then they run back in line and now they're doing it, you know, and they're part of the fold now.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's that's just it's so rewarding to see kids feel proud of themselves and know they can do it.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then hopefully I hope that translates when they're in the classroom that if they try something that's hard, it may be difficult, but they can do it and get through it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I shared with you earlier.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: My son goes to Lee Hill and I get to be with him every day.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like it can have been drawn out, you know.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I get to be with like your grandmother was.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is right.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't think about that connection.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: He just made it.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and my son is the most the most important thing to me.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: So to be with him every day to model um kindness, honesty, integrity, resilience, uh it's a beautiful my life is beautiful, and I love the job, and I'm grateful for Lee Hill and giving me the platform to be great when I didn't have it when at a younger age students.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I've never had a guest on who actually spent their work day, part of their work day, at recess.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I can't wait to hear what did you enjoy doing at recess and do you do it today?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking hard now.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what did I enjoy doing at recess?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: I got this.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think it might be the reason why I do jump rope.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: I remember in elementary school, I was the only boy doing double dutch with the girls.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say that's something I remember is double dutching with the girls and being successful at it and feeling a part of something.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you and you still are connected to jump rope.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm learning a lot about myself through this interview.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of connections here.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we've really enjoyed getting to learn about you as well.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's important to note as you know, one thing I value about this district is we're on an equity journey.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And through that equity journey, I think it's very important for people to accept what they don't know.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: I want to send a plug out to uh my team at Lee Hill, Mr.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Herter, Miss Madsen, Wendy, uh Schoonover, office staff office Wendy Schoonover, office staff, Paris, everybody at Lee Hill.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because we're on that journey together.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, one thing I appreciate about Mr.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Herter is that um he encourages me to share life through my lens because he acknowledges that his experience is not, he says, I'm I'm I'm I'm a white man.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: I don't my experience is totally different than yours, but he understands our population.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and he knows that in order for him to grow, um, he has to hear the truth in some regards.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm so honored to work with him and and Miss Madsen, um, because they are they're friends, and I'm grateful for him.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, our guest today has been Brendan Hoggins, and I think this has been a really uh enlightening, uh, very, very touching episode, and I hope you're a little bit smarter about what we're doing with the BIS role, and I hope that uh you've grown a little bit as I have, just kind of contemplating how we show up for our kids every day and and uh really think about being better in those big themes of life that uh are there with our kids every day, uh, and we have to choose to see them.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, Brandon, thank you very much for being on the Recess Podcast.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my guest today has been Brendan Hoggins, uh behavior intervention specialist at Lee Hill.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want to really thank him for sharing his story uh and making us all a little bit richer.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think of how many students are benefiting at Lee Hill, uh, that we have him as a part of our staff.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And really we have folks around the district who I think increasingly are doing the kind of things that Brandon are doing.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: We have a great BIS team, uh, and all of us are learning uh that discipline uh means to teach.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things that you learn in in school, and it's really about how do you help students make good choices and grow so that they'll make their own good choices down the road.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: This has been the Recess Podcast, a production of the Auburn School District.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Vicky Alonzo, our communications executive director, is our producer.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being along for this ride.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, and I'll bet you did, please share it with uh friends, with others who are in your circle.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're really trying to get these stories out and let people know what's happening in the Auburn School District and really get a chance to just think about how we support our kids.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think uh today's a great example of that.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: So please share and uh I appreciate you being with us today.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time on the Recess Pop.