Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #1: Blaire Penry, Washington State Teacher of the Year

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Episode #1: Blaire Penry, Washington State Teacher of the Year · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Alan Spicciali, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us today.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: We're using this podcast as a way to get out some great stories in the district.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: So uh over the coming months, I'll have a chance to speak with people across Auburn who are making a difference in our schools.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: We think we have a really a spectacular school district here.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have the privilege of seeing things behind the scenes and seeing 24 schools and all those support departments in operation.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh a lot of times I'll see something and think, gosh, wouldn't it be great if we could tell people about this?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: People don't see behind the scenes some of the things that are happening.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my goal with this podcast.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again uh for trying it out.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is our first full podcast uh with a guest that I will introduce in just a moment.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but thanks for being here.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you like it, please hit like and subscribe so that you'll discover more podcasts and we can spread the word about the Auburn School District.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, today my guest, the very first guest on the Recess Podcast, is a very special guest.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm joined by Blair Penry, and Blair is a teacher in the Auburn School District, but probably from here forward will be known as the Washington State Teacher of the Year.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Blair.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the podcast.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on the very first episode.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, this is good.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually at ease.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: You told me that you haven't done this before.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't done it either, so uh we'll be two newbies figuring out this format.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love a good learning experience.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, Blair, we're so glad to have you.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're glad to have you here in the Auburn School District, and I'm glad to have you as the inaugural guest on the podcast.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're gonna start with a question every episode asking about the guest's favorite teacher.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me, who comes to mind as your favorite teacher when you were growing up and and tell us why?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, my uh favorite teacher, or the teacher who really kind of comes to mind when I think of someone who is really influential or uh really kept me engaged and excited about learning is Miss Price from I went to a small high school in in Washington, and she was my history teacher, and I took her for a variety of classes, but really what sticks out to me is her ability to always kind of draw more out of her students, uh, to set those really high expectations and hold you to them and then make you want to go past them.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she was really skilled uh in drawing it out and to bring out kind of the this might sound weird, the like ferociousness of learning, like that drive to make you just like want to go further.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so I will I will always remember her for that.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love that phrase, the ferociousness of learning.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it paints quite a picture.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: I had an eighth-grade English teacher like that who I on a regular basis complained to my mom about how much homework we had and uh why do we have to do all this stuff, you know, all the stuff that an eighth-grade student might say.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she finally threatened to go down to the office and pull me out of the class.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I said, No, no, no, no, no, I'm learning a lot.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I just need event.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So Yeah.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I always there's a would you rather that I do with my kiddos of would you rather have a strict teacher but you learn a lot, or a nice teacher and you don't learn as much?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and it's always kind of a toss-up in in the class, uh, but I always tell the story of Miss Price because I don't know if I would generally describe her as a nice teacher, uh, but she was a passionate teacher and she was a strict teacher, and she held you right to to those high expectations, and I learned so much, and so I always kind of share that story.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then of course they always like, can we have both?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, well, yeah, but it's a would you rather like oh well uh you know you paint quite a clear picture.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I can already picture Miss Price, and uh I think that that's gonna be fun for me hearing people's favorite teacher uh because you you hear so many different reasons why, and uh you're you put us off to a great start.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for that, Blair.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Blair Penry was the Auburn School District high school teacher of the year in the springtime.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And just to give a little bit of props out, uh we we select a teacher of the year at all three levels in Auburn School District, and I'm happy to recognize Dee Dee Goodspeed, the PE teacher at Alalco Elementary, and Bruce Spotney, the counselor at Mount Baker Middle School, as our other Auburn School District Teachers of the Year.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I know Dee Dee and Bruce uh very well through their work, and they're fantastic human beings and educators, and so I celebrate them and uh we'll see.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll get them on the podcast sometime as well.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: That'd be awesome.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: There is a process then uh to apply to be the regional teacher of the year, and so do you want to just say a a word about that when you were selected?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um what was the next step?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: After I was uh selected as ASD's high school teacher of the year, um, I uh went on to submit some extra essays uh regarding my teaching philosophy or uh things that I have done in my classes, and then I also had to send in a uh recording of me teaching a class, uh, which was interesting being in an online setting.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: I had to kind of preface you know what AO was all about.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so explaining kind of the creation of Auburn Online uh and what made us really unique uh for our students and for the district, and then sending in a recording of a Google Meet.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I was like, I have no idea how they are going to respond to this.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and all that was submitted and they narrowed it down to a couple of finalists, and then I had an interview with a couple of the uh regional representatives.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and they asked me uh seven questions that I had 20 minutes to answer, and just we went from there.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we will get into Blair's uh role at Auburn Online and hear more about that later in this podcast.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I want to stay with the progression.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you were the District Teacher of the Year, you're the Puget Sound ESD teacher of the year, which I am in in and of itself is a big deal.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think forty percent of the students in the state attend school in the Puget Sound ESD region, which is all of King and Pierce County.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then you went to Olympia.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: I did.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: I went to so the ceremony was held on Saturday, and I went to Olympia on the Wednesday before, where they brought all of the regional teachers together to have a like a workshop of sorts.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we all got to know each other.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: We got advice about how to use this new platform that we will we would all have as regional teachers.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they brought in previous teachers of the year who are all just really wonderful and gracious human beings giving us advice uh and walking us through what potentially this journey of teacher of the year, Washington State Teacher of the Year would look like.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was really an experience to come together with teachers and kind of have this experience of reigniting a passion for your platform to work with teachers and to work with previous teachers of the year and uh work around messaging and how to get that out and how to really take this opportunity to be a year of service.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was really educational for me.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: I had a really wonderful time getting to know these spectacular educators and spectacular human beings.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and as we worked through Wednesday, Thursday, and and Friday, uh Saturday morning was the ceremony, and so we all packed up all of our stuff and left the hotel and went to Olympia High School and the Performance Arts Center, and they're like, Okay guys, we're gonna have you on stage the entire time.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, what?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this was news to us.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were we were all sitting on stage and we were each recognized.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, we will now announce the 2024 state teacher of the year.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then they called my name.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: That was that was something.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you're on stage and they call your name, yes, and all of a sudden you are the state teacher of the year.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us like w what goes through your mind.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us are not going to be able to relate to that moment.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the first thing that goes through my mind is, oh boy.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I hear my dad and my mom and my husband and Nola and Mo in the audience.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: I can hear them clear as day.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I I get up and I I walk towards, and I think you can even see in pictures uh pretty clearly uh a face of panic.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's almost kind of like a grimace smile, uh, because I was not expecting it at all.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so after I'm shaking hands with Chris Ragdale, uh, I kind of take this moment of a deep breath, and I can see, like on the recording, uh, that I go, okay.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then I walk to the podium and give my my acceptance speech.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, disbelief, shock, absolute surprise, uh, and a and an oh boy moment kind of round out what I was feeling.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I can only imagine.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned Nola and Mo.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us who they were and and why was it uh important and significant to you that they were there?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so uh Nola Wilson is the principal for Auburn Online, uh, and she really guided and led uh the structure, creation, uh journey of Auburn Online for those two years that it was the um kind of continuous learning program that it was.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then Mo or Rachel Mo Smith uh is my mentor and my friend who has uh been such an incredible thought partner uh and just general, wonderful human being for me as an educator and me as a person as I learn more about myself uh and as I uh go through my own equity journey.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she has been there and is full of wisdom.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us a little bit more about Auburn Online and your role.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know that you worked with Career and Technical Education, Electives.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just tell us a little bit about your role at Auburn Online.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I was really fortunate to come into Auburn Online at its creation.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and it was really about putting together a program that met students exactly where they were with exactly what they needed.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so our whole purpose was or our mission was how do we give students this really engaging, student-centered experience through a screen.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: We wanted them to have that traditional school day feel, uh, but also utilizing really innovative technology.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: But my role in Auburn Online was the electives teacher.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was able to teach career and technology education, so CTE.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: I did marketing, which was really fun because we got to utilize just all kinds of programs like Canva and other professional programs online, so they were getting really good uh involvement and engagement with those.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also taught psychology and career choices uh and acting online.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, transitioning from an in-person acting class to an online acting class really uh needed some creative problem solving.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but one thing that I really loved about Auburn Online is that some of our students who maybe would have been really hesitant to participate in a classroom, especially in an acting setting, really kind of shined online.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: It brought down some of the barriers that some of our kids were facing in a face-to-face setting and allowed them to take risks and explore in a setting where they still had some control over, which allowed and empowered them to do something different and to be involved in ways that they weren't necessarily before in an in-building setting.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, it was just it was a lot, a lot of fun.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was really impressed how well Nola and the staff were able to make a school that, you know, encouraged the whole child, presented more than just basic academic instruction, but really engaged, and I I can only imagine that acting class had that effect on students, and just really proud that the whole staff was able to make that happen.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then Auburn Online has evolved as it uh, you know, the the need has been with us and has evolved over time, and we're really excited to see uh the next chapter.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um you want to talk just a little bit about the next chapter for you?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I am fortunate enough to now be the instructional specialist for Olympic Middle School.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and in this role I get to still be in classrooms, which is really great.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's a new perspective for me.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so right now I've been really working with some of our new teachers and some of our new CTE teachers to just help with the student engagement to build up uh programs so that students are engaged and learning in really high quality settings.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So let's uh talk about your opportunity as a Washington State Teacher of the Year.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've had the opportunity to hear several of your predecessors speak, and it's been really great to hear different perspectives, perspectives from outside of Auburn, uh perspectives from teachers who are really awesome at what they do and have thought deeply about their relationships with students and their role, kind of bigger than the classroom, but the the difference that a teacher makes in a school, in a student's life and in in the community.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um have you thought about what your message is or your platform?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know you had a chance to do some work when you were uh part of the cohort in Olympia for the Regional Teacher of the Year Summit.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us about your what's your message going to be?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it's kind of twofold.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um investing and valuing our communities is really important, and I think with that it means understanding the communities that we serve uh and recognizing that our students are coming in with cultural knowledge and that that is something to be built on and to be utilized in the classroom.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the other side of that is also the need to make sure that we are increasing our numbers of educators of color.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's really clear in the research is really plain that when there are more educators of color in the schools, everybody does better, right?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Students of color, their discipline goes down, their test scores go up.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Students who don't identify as students of color have better critical thinking skills, more creative skills.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so it really is the best thing for all kids to have that representation and to have that diversity in their schools.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's really important that if we say that we value our community, that our staff and our educators represent that community.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so those are two things that I I feel really strongly about and are really ingrained throughout the messages uh that I have.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think back to when our district was going through a strategic planning process about a year and a half ago.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had a conversation, we knew we wanted something in about the uh the staff reflecting the community, and and somebody stood up and said, No, we should say represents.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: We need to represent the community, and that stuck, and it's one of the four pillars in our plan to have outstanding educators who represent our community, and so it's music to my ears uh to hear your message and um really excited as you you know polish it up and take it on the road.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, do you want to share?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: I know some of the details are still being worked out, but you've had some invitations to share uh your message with different groups or media.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to just kind of talk about that?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've been I was fortunate enough to be asked to come to a youth advocacy conference.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I've been asked to come to the uh WASA Superintendents Conference later this year.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I will be doing an interview with NPR next week, which is just very strange to say.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh never did I think, um, I'm gonna be giving interviews and I'm gonna be uh going on these conferences.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it must be surreal.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: It you know, I think the the most interesting piece of this so far is people recognizing my face.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I am very used to uh just going about my day, especially as an educator.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're you know, you might get recognized by your students at the grocery store, or and that's kind of where you think that'll stop.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and now I'm I'm getting stopped, and people are like, hey, I know your face.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Are you who are you?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh goodness, this is this is new.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that's yeah, that's been a change for me, something that I'm definitely having to get used to.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: As a superintendent, I sometimes get recognized, and uh one of my sons, as only you know, young adults can do, cut me down and said, Dad, you're a micro celebrity.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to give him credit for that one.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you might be a little bigger than a micro celebrity.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, we're just so proud that you're gonna be representing Auburn as well as yourself and uh spreading the message about education and representing this incredible profession around the state.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you very much.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: I feel very fortunate to have uh have this opportunity uh to kind of go out and yeah, and just like you said, kind of spread that message and about why it's important to have that representation.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: So as we uh near the close of this podcast, I want to introduce a second question that I plan to ask every guest on the Recess podcast.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what was your favorite thing to do at Recess?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh Tetherball, hands down.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was like the thing that everybody ran out the door to like get in line, because if you were first and you just kept winning, then you got to play the entire time of recess.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but if you didn't get out that door, then you were waiting in line.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: For your turn, and that could take forever, and then you would only play for a couple of minutes.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and yeah, so absolutely tether ball.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I I was pretty fast when I was a kid.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so while I might not have been like playing a long time because I was constantly winning, at least like I got the chance pretty early on.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you get a chance to get out on the court again with your son as he gets a little bit older.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: He he would absolutely beat me.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like he is so determined and so he's really athletic.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I I'm just amazed at the clarity of memory that people have and the affection they have for those games at recess.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh for me it was kickball.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Kickball! How can I forget about kickball?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: I loved kickball.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was the thing to do at my elementary school.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh in fact, we we would need to work on bringing it back.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think tetherball is alive and well.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's really good to hear.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that I maybe I dated myself when I said tetherball, but I'm glad to know that it's still going strong.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Blair, you've been a great guest.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and we're really just incredibly proud to have you with us in the district.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um if there's anything we can do to be supportive, I know this whole community uh would do anything to support the teacher of the year.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um you're gonna have a really great adventure.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh thank you for what you do for our students in the Auburn School District.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you for having me.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was Blair Penry, our Washington State Teacher of the Year.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh she's gotten this podcast off to a phenomenal start.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Alan Spicciati signing off.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Please join us next time.