Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #55 Angelo Herrera & Todd Arrigoni

Transcript

Episode #55 Angelo Herrera & Todd Arrigoni · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, and welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the Recest is a production of Auburn School District where we tell the stories of the people and the programs that make this such a great place to raise your kids or work or just uh uh be a proud community member.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Alan Spicciotti, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: And today I'm really looking forward to sharing about some folks who you may have seen around campus, especially at our high schools, uh, but they do a lot of work behind the scenes.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: They do a lot of work with kids, they do uh some after hours work to make sure everything is safe and secure for us, and they are our great safety and security officers for the Auburn School District.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: We are excited to have two on this episode of the recess, uh Angelo Herrera and Todd Aragoni.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Angelo is at Auburn High School and Todd is at Auburn Riverside, and uh I'm gonna welcome you both to the show right now.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, how are you doing?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I like to have fun with my guests and get to know them a little bit with two questions, one at the beginning and one at the end, uh, that we keep the same every episode.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: So let's take a crack at it.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: Who is your favorite teacher, Todd, and why?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so my I have two favorite teachers, my mom and my dad.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: My dad taught in the Auburn School District for about 40 years.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: My mom taught in the Renton School District for 30-ish, and then came over here doing some substitute stuff and some special ed stuff with some kids.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, my parents are are pretty great.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: My dad was awesome.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: My mom is still fantastic, and you know, they taught me everything that I needed to know, and they've helped me along in life.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: What did your dad teach?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: He taught math and computer stuff.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he started at Cascade, and then when Riverside opened, he went over there.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's great.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, did you overlap with him at all?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I worked with him for like my first five-ish years, I believe, at Riverside.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: He was there for a little while, did the retire, rehire thing, came back, did some subbing, and then then he passed away, and my mom was still around a little bit, but she did some subbing at Riverside too.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: It was pretty cool.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's great.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: What a great tie and uh uh good answer, it sounds like so good.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Angelo, how about you?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, who was your favorite teacher and why?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my favorite teacher was Neil Inquis.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he was a teacher a mathematics teacher who taught over at Cheeseuth High School.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the reason why he's my favorite is because he was helpful in helping me do a lot of my homework because I was struggling a little bit in my senior year.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I was out and about, not paying attention, and he really got me more engaged in academics, and he really is supportive of me, and I was able to graduate thanks to him.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: So you graduated from Chief South?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: How about you?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Lindbergh High School.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, great.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, um, we're glad you both ended up in Auburn.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about how you got here.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so maybe just briefly talk about uh from from high school to being uh a safety and security officer, right?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um in in Auburn, how that happened.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so basically while I was still in high school as well, too, at Chief South, uh, we have two security officers who worked in the school.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I saw what they were doing and looked interesting.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I talked with them both, and they told me how great it would be for me to work in the schools because you were there to help other people in the same process that I was struggling through and what they were doing.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, but they told me uh get some experience first, work mall security, which I did at South Center Mall in Tequila for two years.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: After I did that, I saw there was a criminal justice degree I want at YVC in Yakima.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I moved over to Yakima to get my criminal justice degree, and they had a position for security at the college.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up working there two years at the college, and when I was getting that degree, I was kind of like, okay, well, I'll try Yakima schools.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I came back home uh because the parents were kind of struggling to keep the house, so I was like, oh, I have to come back home so the family we don't lose our family house.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I saw the position saying up in school district uh security.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, I'll go apply there and see what happens, and this is where I'm at.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then we were talking before.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: I understand you guys have a connection on on your hire date.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: You want to pick it up, Todd?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so Angela and I were hired the exact same day, about 23 years ago.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, 24 years ago now.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is our 24th school year, so we've been here the same amount of time.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: And how about you?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: How did you get into this work?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I was at Central, and when I was done with Central, I was started working at a secure residential center in Yakima for runaways and kids that were in crisis.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoyed doing that, working with the kids, getting to know them, trying to help them a little bit.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I moved back here for a girl and started doing some contract security stuff.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Ended up marrying the girl, saw this job, applied for this, and I've been here since.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still married to the girl too, with four kids.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: So everything worked out.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: It did all work out.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's that's good.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's it's it's funny, you know.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think about a lot of little kids think their teachers live at school.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, with you guys too, like people don't know the whole background and the human being part of it and your family and all that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really cool uh to share with us.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um all right, so when you started, you were the first two to have this role ever.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then we had just talk about you were working with Silson Dotson at the time, or maybe somebody else.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: What what was the setup?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: So back then it was Angelo and I.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was at Riverside, he was at Auburn, and then we had two other uh school district police officers.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: At that time, it was Officer Dotson and Officer McCluskey.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, we had three then.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: We had McCluskey, Dotson, and Maglio.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they were stationed at school, one is was stationed at each school, and then there was another one that would just rove the district all the time.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then that program went away a few years ago when we started contracting with the Auburn Police Department.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: So you guys are trailblazers in your role uh before Auburn Mountain View opened up.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: That is correct.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh it opened, and uh and Ken Elliott uh filled that position and he's just retiring out of that after about 20 years.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yes, and the three of you like just have been institutions in your in your school and define that role.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: And uh if I think if Ken were were still uh working into the new year, we'd have brought him in here too.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we wish him well.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um we also now have school resource officers.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: So um I first I want you to talk about what your role looks like, what are your responsibilities?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: What do you do as a school safety officer?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then also I'm curious how it's different than an SRO.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh one of the great things about the job that we do is that it's not the same any given day.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's all dependent on what's going on in the district, what's going on at our school in the day, how the kids are acting.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there are some various basic things we do, like hang out with the buses in the morning and stuff like that, greet the kids as they're coming to school.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: But then after that, the day is just completely different.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: And basically, our main goal is to build relationships with the kids, keep them safe, and make sure they stay on the straight and narrow and everything stays good at school and everybody feels safe and feels comfortable.
• 8:19
  unknown: Perfect.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to add to that, Angela?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and definitely meet and greet and uh well, meet and greeting, saying hello, good morning to students and staff, and uh advising them hi, we're here for you if you ever need any assistance or need to find something.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: I was I I'm curious what you think, so I have an answer to this, but do you consider yourself educators in your role?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, uh, I was not considered as an educator, but as years go by and a lot of differences and more diversity and everything start changing, I believe we are more close to education because kids come to us about answers or questions or concerns that they can't feel that they can talk with the teacher or their administrator.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we try to educate them that way.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would I would say we are.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um not in the same way as a classroom teacher is.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we have completely different relationships with the kids than the teachers or even the admin do, because they'll come and tell us stuff that they won't tell anybody else.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes we can find more creative solutions to help them as opposed to a teacher.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean I'm all in you, I think you guys are educators, the kids look up to you.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think it's important to have strong male role models in school.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um you're based at the at the high school, but I know that you also have some district roles, so you're interacting with kids all the time, and and it's different than just a security role.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we really emphasize safety and helping kids make good choices, uh forming the relationships to help them develop, to help keep everybody safe.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like our best defense usually is that we have relationships and we know what's going on, and if something's out of line that we hear about it in time to to do something about it and head it off at the pass.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so you guys do a great job with that.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you were the first two in your role uh 24 years ago.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh modern day, we've added a lot.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: So just so that the audience understands, um, of course, we added Auburn Mountain View, so there was a third there, but um we've now added uh one to West Auburn, to all four of our middle schools, also.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: We have oh, actually, we hold added two at middle school, right?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we have twelve altogether.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we also have a second at each high school now, too.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So there's two of us at each high school.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we and we also have one that's roving around the elementary schools.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: So it's actually 13, I think, if if you add them all up.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then we have three school resource officers.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So you want to just share just just so there's I'm sure there's folks out there who maybe don't understand the difference of the roles.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: What is their role versus yours?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: So the school resource officers are commissioned Auburn police officers who are stationed in the schools.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's one at each high school, and they're also so at my school at Riverside, we have Officer Dominguez, and he's responsible for all the schools that feed up into Riverside, except Alpac, because it's in Pacific.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we have one at Auburn who does all the Auburn schools, and at Mountain View who does all the schools that feed into Mountain View.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're primarily there for issues that rise to criminal things.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um they're also there for a point of contact for kids and parents when they need to talk to the police but may not feel comfortable calling 911 and having a regular street cop show up.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're fantastic resources for the kids, for us, for everybody.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it takes a very specific personality to be able to be an SRO, and the three that we have right now have nailed it perfectly.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas the school safety officers, Angelo and I, we're there for more of an everyday hey, don't skip class, don't do this, build relationships, head things off the passes.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Just the more a basic in-school presence.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot a lot of times the SROs aren't around because they like they'll have to go to Baker or they'll have to go to Oli or something, so we won't see them for a while, but there's almost always at least one of us at a school.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we can get them on the phone real quick if we need them.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks for clarifying that.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll just put in a word.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've worked with SROs for 30 years, back to when I was a high school system principal.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the ones that we've had in Auburn have been just outstanding.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: And and Todd, I think you nailed it, they they can't just be a cop, it's not gonna work.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you're helping kids make decisions whose brains aren't fully formed yet, right?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and there's some times that they have to be a cop, and and just for the for the audience's knowledge, like they do police work and they work beats in the summer and things like that.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: They've they've got those chops, but they're also helping us to to raise our kids to make good decisions.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, they don't enforce any school discipline or any school stuff like that, they just do law stuff.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times, especially with like traffic stuff, they can educate the kids before the kids do something really stupid and hurt themselves.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we we love being proactive.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I think it was Todd who said you don't have a typical day.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, the next question that I had jotted down to ask you is what does your typical day look like?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: But maybe Angela, you want to just share a little bit about what you do throughout the day at Auburn High School?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh typically this is what I I come in in the morning hour checking all my emails and checking the cameras, make sure everything's operational and good to go.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Afterwards, I go back out to the hallways just before the buses come in to bring the students in and interact with them best as I can, see how they're doing, see how the weekend's going, uh, anything else I need to know about, and so forth.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also check around uh the hallways and check the restrooms, make sure it gets cleared out so the kids can use it the way they're supposed to be, and move on uh to their breakfast and stuff.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been uh really nice to be able to talk with them and staff and uh build the relationships and uh see what they need help with while I'm doing that constantly walking the halls, checking the doors, checking the parking lots and perimeter uh fences to make sure we don't have any unauthorized personnel uh person on the property and make it a nice safe learning environment for all.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then um talk about the other side of the job because I I see you guys all the time at events, sporting events, things in the summer, after hours.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: What are a few examples of of things that you do after the school day ends?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: So Angelo and I are both responsible for responding to alarms uh all hours of the night, weekends.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we get calls from our security company, go hit those.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: We all supervise every almost every sport.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um mostly the sports that take money, we're at those ones.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh plays, barbecues.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: We work a lot, and there's just a lot of different things going on that we are at.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, earlier you had said something about kids not thinking that the teachers and stuff lived at school.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I feel like I live at school.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's a fair point.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because there's times we work from 7 a.m.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: to 10, 11 o'clock at night.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: So when people think we just go home after our day and call it good, no, we're there to be with the kids during school, after school, there are programs supporting them and all their academics or even music, fine arts, and sporting events and everything.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: That way we can be involved.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: That way they don't feel like all only we were only involved for a certain section of kids.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: No, we're involved for all kids and all backgrounds.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that I think actually leads into my next question.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: You when you're around kids that much, that you know, round the clock practically, you're establishing relationships, you're getting to know them.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: You have this great thing about being in high school four years with kids uh to get to know them.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious, thinking back uh over your 24 years or maybe recently, could you share a favorite success story that you've had with a student?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yes.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh mine's kind of uh a little more different.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had a student in the in the past uh that was struggling with his homework and uh struggling going into classes.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh his peers and administration at the time was trying to help him and he was still doing what he was doing.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I decided to go ahead and involve myself, talk with him to see what's going on, see uh if anything I can help.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the minute he started talking about video games and Japanese anime, that triggered me.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Those are my hobbies.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: So now I have something I can relate with him because I still, even to this day, watch Jap uh Japanese anime and play video games.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm talking to him more and more, and we're uh connecting, building that relations.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when I talk about certain games, he knew what games he talked, it's already new.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So after a while, I said, you know what?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Let me let me give you an offer.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you were to attend your classes and graduate, I'll give you these two video games, which was uh uh two role-playing games that he really liked, and uh uh then I'll give you a little DVD of a Japanese anime, and you'll get it when you graduate.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And at first he kind of thought about it, and he's like, Really?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are you serious?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're not you're not pulling my leg?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: I said, No, I am serious.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So he did.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: He actually uh it took a while, but he actually started going to classes, start doing what he needs to do, and next thing when he graduated, he looks at me and I already had the gifts for him, and it made him proud.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's fantastic.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's a perfect story.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: How about you, Todd?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no, I don't really have a really specific this is the one time I did something good for a kid.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the relationships I've been able to establish over the years have led to a lot of small incremental progress for the kids, and in conjunction with everybody else at the school, you know, I work together with the principals and the counselors and the teachers, and as a team, we all get together and we can help these kids graduate and succeed and move on to the next step of their life.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's really great.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it occurred to me as I was listening to you.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Angela like had a really concrete connection with a kid, but some of your success is you know, the dog that didn't bark, like things that you had off, things that didn't happen.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm really grateful for that.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I know like our our administrators and our teachers really value you guys and your colleagues and uh everybody who works in in safety and security in our SROs, uh keeping our school safe.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll put that out there.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: I I wanted to just point one thing out that uh Angela mentioned cameras.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: So um I want to take a moment to first of all thank our community for supporting us.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: We've prioritized safety and security, but we couldn't do it without uh the support of our community.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so some of these are things that we have recently added or purchased, or they're coming up with the capital levy that passed in November 2025.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so pretty soon our our schools will have key card access uh and secure entry.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've locked the front doors up already.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: We could do that, you know, without building anything, but it's really better to have an entry vestibule that's controlled.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: So those are on the way.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um we lock all of our exterior doors, of course.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh these days we have upgraded our video surveillance dramatically.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Our high school's kind of led the way, but uh now with the new bond we'll be adding to our elementary and really have it's it's it's pretty slick.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are um I won't get into it, but there's a lot we can do, and it and it really helps us in real time and also if we need to look back at an incident.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then uh things that are coming up additionally uh uh from the levee.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're already uh breaking ground on fencing projects.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um especially we have like I know in middle school we have 45 portables.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: We we're we're just out of space.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: And high schools, um it's it's not a big issue at Auburn High School because we planned for portables within the kind of fenced secure perimeter.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: But like at Auburn Riverside, for example, we have I think 17 portables uh in in basically three different locations.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: And to to keep kids safe coming in and out of the building and accessing them, uh it's it's a super big challenge.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're not going to be able to fence that perimeter.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that work is underway.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna take a little bit longer because of permitting and all that, but we're excited to have that.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um And uh lots of other things, different just things as simple as blinds and just being able to to you know control access if we need it.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: So thanks to the community.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and that's all a really big part of what we do.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh one more question about your job.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: You guys have been great.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm really glad that that you joined us today.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what's your favorite part of the job?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: What brings you joy working in this role after all these years?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: Todd, you want to go first?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I really like the kids.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: I if I it would be hard to keep doing this job if you didn't like kids.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, just like every day though, sometimes they can be a lot.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: But you then have to look back and be like, I was like that.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: We were all like that.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the kids are my favorite part.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and seeing them grow up and succeed and come back, it's pretty great.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's I mean, you get that somewhat with elementary and middle school, but being a high school person, like you get that reward and you see you see them move on and and become something is pretty exciting.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh turn it over to Angelo and uh so what's your favorite part of the job?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just helping maintain a safe uh learning environment for everybody on campus, even off campus in the events, uh being there to see them smile and then be there in their times of sadness, uh to try to help and being around kids all the time.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's just really a great thing, and I just keep coming back.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have children myself, so to me they're all my children that I want to protect and move on forward so they can be successful in life.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I always love coming back every day and daily.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I plan on for 17 more years.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you put a lot of service in already.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: We're grateful for that.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I want to thank Angela and Todd for the amazing work you've done and being trailblazers in your role, uh, being really proud of how professional you and and your nine colleagues.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm not good at math today.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Your eleven colleagues are on the job.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, let's finish on a high note, think back to to when you uh maybe were a little bit more active on the playground.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: What was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Angelo, go first.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love to run around and play basketball and just run.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: I used to just run because uh when I grew up I ran track cross country and played basketball when I was in shape.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Elementary, middle school, and high school for varsity.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it was great to do that.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's great.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I really like playing wall ball and tetherball.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: That was a lot of fun.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Wall ball and tetherball.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have a favorite?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Probably tetherball.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, duck and weave sometimes.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: I hear that a lot.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then sometimes people got whacked in the head, and that was just hilarious for everybody.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Back when we didn't worry about concussions quite as much.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: I got a lot of stories that are like, oh, sorry, you ruined it.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: We can't do that anymore.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but tetherball's a fun one.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: We still have tetherball, and uh kids are running and playing hoops and all this stuff.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I I I love it.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh when's the last time you guys were out there playing?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: It probably was at least like three years ago.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because uh I I tried to shoot baskets five times uh this past summer, and I bricked them both.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, okay, I'm done.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: I played kickball last year.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: That was kind of fun.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: So awesome.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: That was my favorite thing to hear, he says.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: All right, well, uh, you guys have been a blast.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Again, thanks so much for your service to our kids and our staff and our whole community.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, people who listen to this, uh whether you work in our schools or your parents or community member, uh even a few students listen sometimes, uh these are real people and friendly folks.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: So go ahead and say hi uh because we're really proud that they're on our team and uh they're an important part of our community.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: So thanks, Todd, Angelo, you guys have been fantastic.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And thanks to everybody for listening to this episode of the recess.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Please help us get the word out.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, if you know folks, I'll tell you what, if they've been uh Trojan or Raven in the last couple of decades, they know these guys.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh send this episode around and help us spread the word and tell the great stories.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, I'll see you on the recess podcast.