Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #28 Dee Nelons-Director of Safety & Security

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Episode #28 Dee Nelons-Director of Safety & Security · 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 Spicotti, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: The Recess gives me a great chance to share some of the things that happen uh maybe behind the scenes or different roles of people in the district.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: We get to talk to all kinds of staff members, uh, students.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're coming up on uh the springtime and graduation, you'll hear from senior from every high school.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I love getting to share these stories.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in schools uh uh many times a week and get to hear uh some amazing things that are happening, get to see our students.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I could take all of you with me uh because they're very inspiring places to be.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Our kids are amazing, our staff is amazing, and uh you might be surprised how on point uh things are in the schoolhouse.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one of the many reasons for that is the support of our safety and security department.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We've uh greatly increased our investment and our emphasis on safety and security over the last five to ten years.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we're gonna hear about that and learn about it right now from our director of safety and psych security, Dee Nellens.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Dee, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thank you for having me.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Having me.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I really appreciate this opportunity and look forward to uh having this discussion.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well I am too.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Dee has been a great hire in the district.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: He's been here uh coming up on on two years, and uh just uh towards the end of the springtime it'll be two years.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And he's the first person in this role.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's pretty common for a district our size in a in a major urban area to have a director of safety and security.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh as Auburn grew, we we didn't have that role.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was kind of an other duty as assigned to somebody in in our human resources department.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we made the decision this is a critical investment so that our uh safety and security team has somebody who's a resource for them who can help coordinate training and policies and all the things that we need to do on the leadership level.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so we're glad to have D.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get to know him, you're gonna hear about the team and the work that happens, and uh, I think you're really going to learn some things that we're doing as a school district to keep students and staff and learning environments and our whole community safe.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get right into that.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but before we do, first things first, I have to ask the first question of the recess podcast.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Who is your favorite teacher and why?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh, that's a great one.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's going to take me back to when I was a little.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my favorite teacher was uh Miss Ward.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she was my third grade teacher, and she was truly amazing.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I remember we we talk about, you know, creating a welcome environment here in the Auburn School District.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I went to school um in Los Angeles, and Miss Ward was the epitome of creating a welcoming environment.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um I grew up in an urban area that uh was uh faced with a lot of challenges, a lot of uh student discipline challenges in school and everything, but Miss Ward was was a lifesaver for me in terms of instilling um a sense of welcoming and belonging.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can do anything that I put my mind to, just encouraging and um more almost like a an extension of my mom in the classroom.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I'm that old that you know, where moms actually were in the classroom at some point.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they were invited into the classroom and interacted in the classroom in elementary.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: So uh Miss Ward is definitely uh my third grade teacher is my favorite of all.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, shout out Miss Ward.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you went to school in Los Angeles, correct?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's where you grew up.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and what brought you up this way?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what brought me to the Pacific Northwest is I was I'm a proud graduate of the Oregon State University.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: I I just loved it when I came on my recruiting trip.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: I had an opportunity to uh I was recruited and offered a scholarship at USC and UCLA, but I chose uh to come to the Pacific Northwest and uh just move out of California and and start a different life and enjoy uh a different part of the country.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's super getting to know you personally a little bit.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have a question a little bit later where we talk about your pathway into the work you do today.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but let's just head on, talk about what is the role of director of safety and security in the Auburn School District, and you know, what are the things that fall in your scope?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um first and foremost, uh, in my role is making sure and providing a environment that is safe and secure for all students, staff, and visitors um to our campuses.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that is uh my primary role, um, and within that is is a lot of partnerships and relationship building with departments, uh local um agencies, and taking a uh community approach to providing safety and security in a school district because um I'm one person.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I am just one person, and it really takes a uh village to provide that safety.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So always having a second eyes and set of ears and everything to provide that um sense of feedback and also encouragement when things are going well and things uh maybe are not going so well, providing that level of feedback because if we don't know, we can't do better.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um so I I look at that as a a community effort um to provide safety and security.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So and what that also looks like is um having what we call the uh district safety security and planning team.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um they're a group of individuals um that are employed by the Auburn School District who come together monthly and we talk about things um related to helping the district become safer and more secure, and we also um discuss best practices and how we can become safer and secure.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: So working with that group and having them um help implement and also stay in front of any type of uh security and s um safety situations in the district.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let let's actually just kind of stay on that path and talk about your team for a minute.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one of the things that I I probably should have said it right up front is student safety, staff safety is our top priority on a daily basis.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and we have long-term goals for learning and uh all kinds of growth and preparation for college and career and right down the line.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: But uh day in and day out, our number one is keeping our kids and our staff safe.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we've invested in that.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when I came to Auburn almost 10 years ago, we had three school safety officers.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had a different model than than our current SRO model.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so can you talk about uh your staff as well as the SROs who's working for us and doing this great work?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, great.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we the district has uh 12 campus safety officers, and those campus safety officers are deployed throughout our district, and the way that we have the the officers assigned is we have at the um high schools, we have two officers assigned to each of our high schools, um, with the exception of uh West Auburn High.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: We have one officer that's assigned there, but two officers to um the high schools, and then one officer at each of the middle schools.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then also this year, the great thing is we added uh an officer that is responsible for um uh building relationships at our 16 elementary schools, and it is I have just received nothing but great feedback on everything that um the officer is doing, building relationships with the littles and um also the parents that kind of come and visit our schools.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I just nothing but great feedback.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also have uh three school resource officers.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Those school resource officers are um commissioned law enforcement officers that work and employed by the um Auburn Police Department.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Those um officers are basically on loan to the school, and their job primarily is um providing a safe and secure environment, um, or helping provide that safe and secure environment, but also at the same time building relationships and getting to know kids and and just blending in to our uh school district environment and not so much um from the standpoint of a law enforcement role but from a community partnership role.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have nothing but praise for both of those groups.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: So our uh district employed safety and security staff, uh they're very professional, they are fantastic with relationships, they really connect with kids, um, and they just really step up in a lot of ways.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Our school resource officers who we contract with the City of Auburn and Auburn police for, you know, they're they are full police officers.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when we're on summer break, uh they're out there doing police work uh for the city or or on spring break or uh any time that we're not using them.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: But for about nine months of the year, uh they're with us and it takes a skill set because uh some of it's police work, but a lot of it is um, you know, it's a combination of law enforcement, but really educator work, building connections, helping kids make good choices, understanding that kids make mistakes and um you know keeping everybody safe is paramount, but we're also raising kids is a little different than if you're in the community.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I'm just I think we're really fortunate to have you know, that's fifteen individuals plus uh D would be sixteen.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is a really great crew that's uh done so much to help with our kids and and just the whole climate here.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for sharing a little bit about the team and uh hope you don't mind me uh shouting their praises as well.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's uh let's go back to uh your role as director.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: What does a normal day look like for you?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that is a tough question, and I think uh in the world of K-12 education, I think uh if you ask anyone what a normal day is, they will probably give an answer similar to mine.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: There, I don't believe I have a normal day.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I come every day prepared with a plan, uh, written out of what I plan to accomplish during that day, and inevitably there are unforeseen things that come up that uh pull me in a different direction and that I have to address um from a uh maybe a safety and security standpoint, or maybe in a um crisis situation um with one of our students.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so a normal day is something that I say the probably the most normal and consistent thing is relationship building.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um I make it a plan every single day to do some form of relationship building, um, be it with a student or be it with staff.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm frequently called um to be in the schools, and um probably two or three times a week I am in the schools building that relationship, not only with my staff, but with the students and the building administrators, because I think relationships are at the front and center of everything that we do, um, and it makes everyone feel comfortable and welcomed.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's one of the constants of my dailies responsibilities.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so I teased us before.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh let's talk about how what prepared you for this position.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was a very competitive process.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: We had a number of excellent uh candidates with some really strong backgrounds.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us about your pathway into this kind of work throughout your career.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think it I'll go back to um again um Oregon State.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm a graduate of Oregon State University.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: I graduated um with a degree in sociology and political science.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I had every intention to uh go off to uh law school.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: I took uh the um the LSAT and I was ready to go, and then life circumstances happened and I pivoted and I went into law enforcement.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um I worked in law enforcement for eight years, and then um I did another career pivot when I moved from the Portland area up to um the Tacoma area, and that's when I um moved into private industry, and I was in leadership and over safety and security for a private company, and I had a six-state region that I was responsible for.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: And again, going back to the relationship building, a lot of that was building relationships and also trying to keep all of the uh employees safe and secure in that.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: That was a great experience from the standpoint that it was different than law enforcement, but it wasn't different.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was still a lens that I had to do my job from a lens of if this happened, then are we prepared for that happening?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: And if so, how are we going to react if something happened?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: After that, after um working in private industry for 15 years, then I took a position as director of safety and security at a college.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And um I worked for the college for seven years, so I did higher education safety and security work and oversaw a safety and security team at the college and built policies and ensured a safe and secure environment on a college campus, and then that also led me back to uh really my passion of um being around kids and younger kids because college were basically adults.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was a lot of adults, but um uh my happy place is working with kids and watching kids um achieve their dreams.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for sharing your your background.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when we interviewed you, uh, we were most impressed with like your your even-handedness and common sense.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you see kind of both extremes in this work.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: You'll see people who are really just cops.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like they they're all about the law enforcement side of it.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then you see others who are all about the social service side of it and and saving kids.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um there's I think throughout the day there's a room for a little bit of both of those, but to have a good head on your shoulders to to not be uh in in one extreme or the other, but just really think like there are things we can do to keep our kids safe and uh also support them without being overly punitive and uh not not being at either end of the pendulum.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that about uh our guest Dean Ellens and uh thanks for sharing your background.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so now that you've been in the job a couple of years, what do you find rewarding about your role?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I think the most rewarding thing is again, I'm going back to kind of the last part of my answer is watching kids um achieve things that either they didn't think was achievable because of maybe their life circumstances, or just watching them survive and thrive in an environment um at all levels, elementary school, elementary school level.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: You got kids that the only thing that they're worried about is when the next meal is and when they're gonna watch cartoons or whatever, to the high school student who is um nervous about applying to college and watching those different um stages that our students go through and watching them succeed and then also watching them overcome obstacles because not everybody's road is gonna be smooth sailing.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: So watching a kid start at one point and then seeing them achieve some things that or overcome some things that they didn't foresee.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um so th those are the most rewarding things is just seeing that in kids, and because uh oftentimes as adults we we forget we were those kids because we get caught up in our adult lives, and sometimes it's really easy to forget about us when we were 12 or when we were 15.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I love that reflection.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great perspective um and a good reminder.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we have the ear of the community, all of the many listeners of the recess podcast, um, we want to get the word out.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: What should the community know about the safety and security um in the Auburn School District?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think the best thing that I can say is it goes back to a statement that you made, and I think the more that we say it, the more that it's ingrained in us as a um school district community is first and foremost, we value um providing a safe and secure environment.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: That is our primary thing.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: If kids do not feel safe and secure on campus, we cannot ask them to perform um to their best in school.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that that is really um first and foremost, I feel is my role, and I feel that's one of the roles of our uh school district to provide that environment, that that safety net for kids, because not every kid comes to us from a situation where they feel safe and secure at home.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: So if we provide that to them, um the world is, you know, at their fingertips, so to say, I think, and that's what I truly believe.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm gonna prompt you on a few things that I think our listeners might be curious about, um and or things that happen behind the scenes that people not might not know about, but is uh are important tools that we have.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh let's start with with something that is very visible.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: So um we have a couple of protocols for lockdown and secure and teach.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Can you explain like when we have to use those, why do we do it and what happens?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And just y you know, I a lot of times I'll get feedback that we, you know, why are you sharing more and there are reasons for that?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh things that we can't disclose, or it's a PD story to tell, or it's an active situation, or or what have you.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I think this is a chance in in a general sense to just kind of pull back the curtain and say what happens, you know, you get that email or that text you see on social media that schools in lockdown are secure and teach uh what's happening?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's I again that's a great question to uh um kind of expand on because knowledge is is power and knowledge also sets people at ease when they have the information.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: So um I I would take the first part of that.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: When we go or when we determine um that a school needs to be in lockdown, a lot of factors come into play.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: But the most important factor is that we do that to ensure safety of all people that are on campus, um our students, visitors, our staff, um, we do that out of an abundance of caution.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it could be from something that is happening in the community from a law enforcement standpoint that we um get communication from law enforcement saying, hey, there is a situation and we feel that it's probably best for the school to be in lockdown.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: So at that point we make that determination um to place the school in lockdown, bring everyone indoors, make sure all of our doors are secure and not allow anyone into the building or out of the building.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the situations that comes to mind um that um plays into this is we had a situation where a robbery took place or a bank robbery took place and the suspect fled from law enforcement, and law enforcement was in pro pursuit of that suspect.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: And um obviously in our community um we have schools located all over.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: So as they're pursuing that suspect, a lot of things can happen that impact us negatively.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: So out of caution, we put schools in that vicinity in lockdown to make sure that nothing happens in terms of maybe that suspect gets out of their vehicle and tries to enter our building and blend in and everything.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: So having doors locked and secured and not allowing people in or out helps prevent that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: That threat from coming into our buildings because again, our goal is to make sure that everyone is safe and secure.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be a situation on a lockdown.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: More of a secure and teach situation.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: It could be something similar to that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, something happened in the community, but not as severe as pursuing a uh suspect who committed a felony.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: But again, it's all goes back to hey, when in doubt, be safe and do something to protect the students and get them from harm's way.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So a secure and teach is when we um allow students to continue activities um as normal inside of the school, but all activities outside of the school are shut down because we don't want the kiddos to be out in the environment where something could happen to them or potentially happen to them.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll would if I were to to characterize it this way, would you say that a uh lockdown is more of a concern about something imminent at the school site and secure and teach is more about something in the community where we just want to make sure that you know nobody ends up on school grounds because there's police activity a chase or what have you.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I would say that would be a good way to describe that.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here's another one that uh people may or may not know about.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: If they know they probably don't have much information.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um one of the tools that we have put in place um and and used quite extensively is the threat assessment protocol.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so can you explain when what kind of um would prompt us to use a threat assessment protocol?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: What are we trying to accomplish and and on a high level, how does that work?
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: So our threat assessment protocol um is we evaluate any threats that um are made to our um schools or our district staff or district buildings, um, and what that looks like is an example would be we get a threat that from our tip line that a kid or an individual has made a threat toward um our schools.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the incidents that we had was a kid said that they had a firearm and they were going to uh do something at one of our schools.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: We identified who that student was and we took the um appropriate action in terms of again going back to the lockdown, going in the lockdown, and then that phase of it was the immediate phase of protecting, but then the aftermath of that is getting with that student and actually sitting down and going through the actual threat assessment, why the student made the statements that um they made, um, does the student have the ability to carry out that and doing that assessment of that?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: And does the student pose um a current threat or a fruit a future threat to our school districts?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so that the threat assessment helps us evaluate that and then also helps us determine what resources that we can align that student with and potentially direct that student in a different fashion.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's really helpful.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I think uh my perspective having been a principal, schools i anywhere in America today have a just a lot more chatter to deal with, right?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's all the stuff going on social media.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's unfortunately been tragedies that uh raise anxiety and stakes uh appropriately that we take that extra step to be safe.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so the threat assessment protocol that's just a tool that we have that gives us a lot of insight and helps us to react appropriately as things come up.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, uh I have one more question related to what we think the community should know, and you actually referenced it in your last answer.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um can you talk about the role of the Safe Schools Tip Line?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so uh the role of the Tip Line is is it gives a platform for students in our buildings, um staff in our buildings to anonymously make a tip on something that poses a threat to our school district.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it also gives uh community members an opportunity, so not just an internal channel of reporting a potential threat to our um safety and security of our schools, but it's also a community platform for us to receive um information on threats that may be heard um throughout the community, or some of it may not even be a threat.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: It could be something as simple as a student being suspected of having alcohol on them.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So so there's a variance of things that come through the tip line.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: It not all of them are threat related.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is just a variety of information that um we encourage people to uh see something and say something and use that as a tool to have them be able to do that.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh the more I learn about safety in in schools, the more uh I realize that people sharing uh information.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: You just said if you see something, say something, that that campaign really captured what we're trying to do.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time somebody knows something, and if we're talking and uh and reporting things, it really helps all of us to do our job to keep schools safe.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I I think this tool is is really helpful.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is helpful to have an anonymous outlet and there's I think there's four different ways you can do it.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can call it, you can text it, you can email it, there's a website.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's really helpful.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um and then we take it from there.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's been terrific.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we also have uh this doesn't really fall under uh my guests purview, but we have uh a web filter program called Securely that people can actually um set certain keywords and uh it will trigger an email to the principal and or counselor if certain you know search terms are used or or keywords are used in an email on the student email system so that uh we might want to look into it.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I had a middle school principal say he gets twenty emails a day often uh and fifteen of them are completely innocent.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but every once in a while there's one in there that's a student who uh is thinking about self-harm and we've been able to intervene uh in a timely fashion before it got any uh more dire, and uh that's just another tool that we have.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: So between the the safe schools tip line and the securely uh information we can intervene that might even lead to a threat assessment protocol, and you see how all of these tools work together to support safety on campus.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh two more questions, and the last one is the fun one.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: But the last one about your job is what is your favorite success story?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm gonna kind of go a little bit out of bounds on this one and not say that it's more um about my job, but uh I will relate it to coaching and link it back to kids.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um one of my uh greatest success stories is that I I I I've been coaching for 30 years, and about four years ago, I had a um student.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: She attended uh Auburn High School, and she um was on my uh club softball team and just an outstanding uh student and um someone that I bonded with uh really good, and she just uh went on to uh play college softball and um she's doing fabulous things.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but this was a student that was extremely shy and not really sure of herself, but um athletics and academics was something that she really excelled at, and now she's just um just a bundle of joy, and she's graduated college and just uh doing outstanding things right now.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's one of the success stories, and I kind of link it close to home because uh she is a uh proud graduate of um Auburn High School.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's fantastic, and uh, we are all educators in whatever role we're in, uh, so I think that's completely in bounds.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're kind of getting right into fun and athletics.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's a perfect segue for the last question on the recess podcast.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Dean Ellins, what was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: I have to admit, I I was a kid that uh excelled at sports, and one of the fun things uh being a little was dodgeball.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: I completely loved dodgeball, and um I I can't say I love being hit by the dodgeball, but uh I love being uh the person that uh got the ball and was able to to uh throw the dodgeball.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I I thoroughly enjoyed that.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh I'm guessing none of us were expecting to hear dodgeball from the director of safety.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we don't we don't see dodgeball so much anymore, and I I think the insurance companies have had their say on that, but um we do have fond memories of those I've mentioned several times for me is kickball.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and you you did have peg outs, right?
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: You could throw the ball at the the runner instead of having to tag them like baseball.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's funny what you remember, what you enjoy, and uh unfortunately we probably have a little too much bubble wrap out there for the kids today, but uh we uh all enjoyed those sports in the past, and I think most of us survived and and lived to tell about it.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Dean Ellins, thank you for joining me on the recess podcast.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thank you for having me.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was a fun um time to to share.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is fun.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and once again, thanks to your whole staff, the team of of 12 Auburn School District officers, uh, they're uh great folks and just fun to uh to get to know and to have them around and our our partnership with Auburn Police and our SROs.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're we're really grateful for all the support we get on campus to keep kids safe, and that's the theme of this episode.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: This has been the Recess Podcast.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are produced by Vicky Alonzo, who runs our communications department and uh helps us to sound great on the podcast.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Mostly I'd like to thank all of you.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't do this podcast without our listeners.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you liked this episode, if you found something interesting or know somebody who is uh, I don't know, an Oregon State beaver or interested in in uh safety and security in our schools, please help us spread the word.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Share this podcast, uh, spread the word about the recess because we're really proud of this district and the role we play in our great Auburn community.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um we want to get the word out.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: That will be a wrap.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: So uh until next time, I'll see you on the recess podcast.