Jordan Supercast

Jordan Supercast
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The Jordan School District Podcast Starring Superintendent Anthony Godfrey

  1. Double Determination to Win as Twin Sisters Coach Riverton Girls Lacrosse Team to State Championship Title

    1d ago

    Double Determination to Win as Twin Sisters Coach Riverton Girls Lacrosse Team to State Championship Title

    They are identical twins with an identical goal, getting the very best out of high school athletes on the Riverton High School girls lacrosse team. On this episode of the Supercast, meet identical twin sisters Hannah and Maddie Kelleher who recently led the Riverton High girls lacrosse team to their very first state championship title. It was a hard-fought victory that came down to the wire in overtime. But the winning didn’t stop there, the team had something else to celebrate as Coach Hannah Kelleher was named the 2026 Utah USA Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year. Audio Transcription Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about this team in particular. Student: I mean it's like just such a special group. It is like how can I go and be successful for the team. Student: We all like sisters, we all support each other. Student: We just knew this year, like before the season even started all the seniors just got together. We decided like hey, let's just make this the best year ever. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are identical twins with an identical goal, getting the very best out of high school athletes on the Riverton High School Girls Lacrosse team. On this episode of the Supercast, meet identical twin sisters Hannah and Maddie Kelleher, who recently led the Riverton High Girls Lacrosse team to their very first state championship title. It was a hard-fought victory that came down to the wire in overtime, but the winning didn't stop there. The team had something else to celebrate as Coach Hannah was named the 2026 Utah USA Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: We are at Riverton High School on the field talking with two of the Riverton Girls Lacrosse coaches. Introduce yourselves. Coach Hannah: I'm Coach Hannah, I'm the head coach here at Riverton. Coach Maddie: I'm Coach Maddie, and I'm the assistant coach. Anthony Godfrey: So if you can't tell by listening to their voices, they are twins, and they are incredible. They just won, here at Riverton, the first Girls Lacrosse state title. Tell us how that feels to be part of that. Coach: Oh, I mean it feels great. Like, I mean, we told the girls because we had the privilege of doing it at Herriman when we were played over there in 2019. And it's like, I'm like, it's the best day ever. Coach: Seriously, like, it's all that hard work. It's like finally coming to fruition and to have been able to make history with this group of girls, like, I mean, it's something we've been working on for three years now. And so to have finally seen it happen, like, it's just so, so awesome. Coach: Yeah, I mean, just to add on to that awesome feeling, awesome group of girls, I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. And so it's just an awesome feeling, so exciting. And to see all the girls' hard work come like to this, it's just awesome. Anthony Godfrey: So you were players at Herriman, and you won the state title there. And in 2019, which, because it was pre-pandemic feels like prehistoric to me. That was not long after lacrosse had been sanctioned, probably. So tell me about the timeline. Coach: Yeah, so 2019, it was actually the year before it got sanctioned. Anthony Godfrey: Okay. Corch: So that was when they still had like the divisions. So you'd have Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 championship instead of having it by class. 6A, 5A, 4A. And so we were Division 1 state champions, which was awesome. Played Park City. So yeah, that was kind of this timeline there. Then 2020 is when it got sanctioned. And word on the street was we were going to go back-to-back, but we'll never know. We'll never know. Anthony Godfrey: We'll never know. I'm going to just say that you went back to back. In our hearts. In our hearts you went back to back. So tell me about the evolution of the sport since you played at Herriman the last year that it was not sanctioned. And tell me how it's grown and how it's evolved over time. Coach: I mean, I think the biggest thing that you see is there's a lot more players now. Back when it was pre-sanctioned, schools would have to kind of combine sometimes. So especially the schools up north, like it would be like Davis and Northridge. They didn't have enough to fill their two separate teams, so they would combine. And so I think with the sanctioning, it's getting a lot more girls wanting to play. Honestly, we've seen it with our team. We have basketball players wanting to come. We're having soccer players wanting to come. And initially it's like, "Oh, I just want to come do this for fun. Kind of on my off-season.“ And then they end up quitting their main sport to come play because they love it so much. So I think that's the biggest thing I've seen. Coach: Yeah, I mean, I also think the girls' game is always changing. It feels like every year we get new rules. And so, I mean, it's hard to think back to when we last played in 2019 in high school. Just again, with all those changes. But I think it's also just like a faster moving sport now with like the different rules that they've applied, which is cool to see. Right? Like it used to be a little bit odd, but now it's very free flowing and everything. Anthony Godfrey: So what are some of the rules changes that you've seen happen over the years? Coach: So it used to be on every whistle. So the refs would blow the whistle. The player who got fouled would get the ball. The refs would be like, "Okay, everybody four away." And they would individually have to be like, "No, you have to go four away. You have to keep backing up." Like you were the player who fouled. You had to come four behind. Anthony Godfrey: Four away, meaning four feet away. Coach: Four meters, sorry. Four meters. Anthony Godfrey: Four meters, okay. Coach: And it was like so slow. It was like every whistle. It was like, "Stop. Move everybody away." And then to start play again, it was like a whistle start. Then it's crazy because everybody on the field would have to stop. Like it would be whistle. Everybody stops. Everybody is like being positioned, whistle again. So it was just so slow. Like it made the game so slow. It was so choppy. So now it's like, you know, there's a whistle. They're giving the advantage. So it's just, yeah, much, much better game. Anthony Godfrey: So it's a faster-moving game, the way that they're officiating it now. Coach: Oh, yeah. For sure. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about this team in particular. Coach: I mean, it's like just such a special group. Like truthfully, like they went out there every single game. And it was never about them. It was never about their stats. It was like, how can I go and be successful for the team? We talked at the very beginning of the season, like everybody has a role. And, you know, sometimes that role is you're going to be a starter. It's going to be like you're going to be a sub. Sometimes you're going to be a bench player. You know, but like everybody has a role, and everybody is key to the success in our role. And, you know, I think a good example is that is our freshman goalie, Ellis Snow. You know, she didn't play at all that championship game. And I think sometimes it's easy to be like, “Oh, like I wasn't part of it. Like I didn't do it.”  Like it's very easy to get stuck in that mindset. But you look back to Mountain Ridge, our semifinal game, and you put her in like a little bit into that second half, and she came up with huge saves. Truthfully, we wouldn't have made it to the championship game without her. You know, and so like in Mountain Ridge, she was, she played the sub role, you know, in the championship game, she played the bench role. But like truthfully, every single girl, we couldn't have done it without any of them. And so it was just good group, good group of girls, pure hearts. Like they're just great, great girls. Coach: Yeah. And I mean, I'll add on to that. These girls, they are like, I know it's so corny, but they're like sisters. I mean, they the seniors have done a great job of making such a good like team community, a great culture here. They embrace the underclassmen as one of their own. And they just are great leaders. Like all of our seniors are just great girls, great leaders, and have done a great job getting this team to where they are, as far as culture goes and like the hard work and everything that everybody puts in. Anthony Godfrey: What are the two of you love most about coaching? Coach: I think one of two things for me, I think one, it's just so awesome to still be involved in the game. Like I am athlete at heart. Like I like to compete, and this is without playing, this is as close as I can get to still getting the wins and losses and having that competitive nature. But I think, also like I look back on my time at lacrosse and the things that I've seen from it, and like I've had some awesome, awesome coaches. And for me, it's like I want these girls to experience that. Like, I want the girls to have that state championship feeling. I want them to like, have that and just get back to the sport. And it's just been fun. Coach: Yeah, I mean, very similarly, I've had great coaches, I've had bad coaches. And for me, I want to be a great coach and give the girls that experience to have a good coach. A good coach, because I mean, a coach can definitely change your outlook on, I think, the sport as well as your experience. And so I want to give the girls the best experience possible. And you know, if I can do that by being a good coach, like I'm going to do it. Anthony Godfrey: Stay with us when we come back. The Riverton High Girls Lacrosse team tries to teach me how to play lacrosse. [music] Male Voice: Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. [music] Femal

    19 min
  2. Riverton High Student Delivers Heartfelt Handwritten Messages to Every Single Schoolmate at RHS

    May 21

    Riverton High Student Delivers Heartfelt Handwritten Messages to Every Single Schoolmate at RHS

    He was on a mission to make sure no one felt alone, left out, or without a friend at Riverton High School. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Riverton High Student Body President Seth Christensen managed to write and deliver a personal message to every one of his 2300 fellow students, hoping to make them feel seen, loved, and never without a friend to turn to. It was a labor of love that took Seth a year to complete, spreading smiles and happiness throughout the halls of Riverton High. Audio Transcription [MUSIC] Seth Christensen: If someone writes me a letter, it means the world to me. I've saved every single letter I've gotten since I was in eighth grade. I wanted to find some way that I could make every single student here at Riverton feel loved. Anthony Godfrey: How many students do we have here at Riverton? Just let everybody know. Seth Christensen: Well, at the beginning of the year, we had 2,335. Anthony Godfrey: And so you've written over 2,000 cards. Seth Christensen: Yes. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He was on a mission to make sure no one felt alone, left out, or without a friend at Riverton High School. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Riverton High student body president Seth Christensen managed to write and deliver a personal message to every one of the over 2,000 students at Riverton High, hoping to make them feel seen, loved, and never without a friend to turn to. It was a labor of love that took Seth a year to complete, spreading smiles and happiness throughout the halls of Riverton High. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey: We are at Riverton High School today talking with the student body president. Please introduce yourself. Seth Christensen: Hi, yes. My name is Seth Christensen. I'm the SBO president here at Riverton and a senior this year. It's awesome. Anthony Godfrey: Seth, you are on the cusp of graduation. How does it feel to be this close to the end of your public education? Seth Christensen It is crazy. I've had many, many great memories here at Riverton. I owe Riverton so much. I owe Jordan School District so much. It's crazy to think I'm graduating, but a lot of good memories were made here and a lot of good memories are going to stay in those journals. Anthony Godfrey: Well, you've been an incredible leader. It's been really fun to watch, especially this year, the things that you've accomplished and the way that you've lifted your whole school. And that's why we're here today to talk about a particular project that a lot of people have taken interest in. It's the project where you wrote a card for every student in the school. Talk to us about that. Seth Christensen: Yeah, it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made, is taking on this project. I wanted to find some way that I could make every single student here at Riverton feel loved. I knew if I just relied on meeting and saying hi to every single person I saw, yes, it would be good and it'd be great. I do do that, but people are going to fall through the cracks, because obviously I'm not going to have a physical interaction with everyone. So these letters are the next best idea, trying to find some way to get my words of affirmation to these people. Anthony Godfrey: That's really incredible. How many students do we have here at Riverton? Just let everybody know. Seth Christensen: Well, at the beginning of the year, we had 2,335, and then we've had people join throughout the year. Anthony Godfrey: So you've written over 2,000 cards. Seth Christensen: Yes. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about the process of writing those cards. How much time did that take? You have to pace yourself. And these are handwritten cards, every one of them. Seth Christensen: Yeah, handwritten cards. All of them are personalized. They say something different. It's been awesome, because to write a personalized letter to someone, you can't not know them. So I got a book with all the names in the entire school, all the students. Started going through it, wrote letters to those that I knew. Then once I got through the book once, I now had a list of people at the school that I didn't know. A lot of them were sophomores, so I talked to my sophomore class officers. I'm like, “hey, do you know this person? How would I get to know them? What did they like doing?” and trying to track down each individual student to try to get a personal relationship with them. And it was incredible, because as I started doing that, I just started to get people at Riverton and know them on a much deeper level than I would have before. Anthony Godfrey: Is it hard to get through the hallway now, because you know so many more people than you did at the start of the year? Do you need a special pass to be a little bit late to class, because there are too many people to talk to? Seth Christensen: I wish. That saved me a lot of makeup school. But it's awesome being able to walk in the halls and say hi to each person that's coming by. Be able to call them by name, because I think just that, being able to know someone's name, means a lot to them. It meant a lot to me. This entire project was inspired because the SBO president, when I was a freshman, knew my name. And I didn't even go to the school. I wanted to help people feel that love that he helped me feel. So that's what these letters are inspired from. Anthony Godfrey: Well, it's just an example of how when you do something kind for someone, it does tend to be paid forward, and it does spread. But you have really worked hard to make sure that no one is left out, and that's particularly difficult to do. Like you said, great effort saying hi to people and getting to know people, but you have to be very intentional in order to reach the people that you don't get to know just because of your grade level or classes or activities you're involved in. Being deliberate like that and intentional is just really valuable and really impressive. Seth Christensen: Thank you. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me, you said that you wanted to make sure that everyone at Riverton felt loved. Why did you feel that need? Seth Christensen: The students at Riverton High School are the best people I have ever met in my entire life. Truly, they are some of the most inspiring people you will ever see. You know, I've seen people go through such hardships this year, and not only do they go to school with a smile, but they're carrying a weight. My goal is to help people know that not only do I love them, but I'm here to support them. And words can only go so far, but once you have a project like this that's like, "Hey, I'm willing to put in time to write you this letter. If you have an issue, come talk to me. Let's do it." And throughout this year, I've gone to a lot of counselor appointments with different people, helping people, and it's truly been incredible because I have had experiences and opportunities that I wouldn't have had any other way if I didn't get to reach out to them first. For example, I had someone come up to me and say, "Your letter came up the perfect time." Found out that their parents were getting a divorce. And I had someone else who came up and just started crying to my arms, and their sister had died of cancer the week earlier. It's just deep. I think if I didn't do these letters, actually, I don't want to think about it. I want to keep it where it is. Anthony Godfrey: Well, what I love about this is that you created this opportunity. It's not even that someone said, "Hey, you should write a card to everyone in the school." And then you decided whether that was worth your time. You care about the students, every student at Riverton, and you tried to think of a way to reach out and make sure they knew that you loved them. That's pretty incredible. Seth Christensen: Thank you, Dr. Godfrey. And if anyone knows it's you, it's like once you get to know these people, they're pretty easy to care about. They're pretty easy to be able to look them in the eye and ask them how they're doing. It's pretty easy once you understand how truly incredible they are, how blessed we are to even know them. Anthony Godfrey: Well, you're exactly right. And you've heard me say it before. I get a backstage pass in Jordan District. Is that the way I like to say it? And I get to meet lots of incredible people. And they're all incredible in their own way. The more you get to know them, the better you can understand that. This is a lesson that you're going to really benefit from for the rest of your life. But every person who received a card is going to benefit from this in a big way as well. One other thing that I love about it is that you don't have anything to gain from this. It's not like you're the student body president and now you're going to run for Supreme Chancellor and this is really going to help with the votes for you to be Emperor Palpatine or anything. It's like you're finishing your time here and you wanted to make the most of your position. You wanted to make the most of your opportunities. That's probably what I admire the most is that you've been creative about making the most of your time because too many times we look back and think, oh, there's more I could have done. You're going to have lasting friendships and even acquaintances. Aren't acquaintances a wonderful thing? Seth Christensen: They’re awesome. Anthony Godfrey: Someone that you know. But maybe you don't know them deeply, but you know them and you have a connect and you've expanded that in a big way. So congratulations. Seth Christensen: Yeah, thank you so much. And I'll say it again. It's, it's just so easy to love them. It's so easy to care for these people because they make it easy. And it's just …. it just really is wonderful. Anthony Godfrey: Stay with us when we come back more with Riverton High student body president Seth Ch

    18 min
  3. Learning About “Candy Bomber” Builds Bond Between Students from Berlin and Students at West Hills Middle School

    May 14

    Learning About “Candy Bomber” Builds Bond Between Students from Berlin and Students at West Hills Middle School

    They have been learning together, while thousands of miles apart this year, about the rich history of Air Force Pilot Gail Halvorsen, nicknamed the “Candy Bomber” or “Uncle Wiggly Wings” from his time flying candy drops in Germany during the Berlin Airlift. On this episode of the Supercast, find out what happens when students from Berlin arrive in Utah to join West Hills Middle School students as part of their Colonel Halvorsen history lessons. It all culminated in the bonding of young minds, making chocolate bars, a moving assembly, and inspiring words from Halvorsen’s daughters, words that would make “Uncle Wiggly Wings” proud. Audio Transcription Mark Sanderson: You know, the Candy Bomber was all about from small things, great things come and this event today was a manifestation of that. Daughter: We're just so thrilled that his legacy could continue because of the principles he taught. Lorraine Moore: He had no idea the power of what he started, but he spent the rest of his life sharing that. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They have been learning together, while thousands of miles apart, about the rich history of Air Force pilot, Gail Halvorsen, nicknamed the Candy Bomber or Uncle Wiggly Wings, from his time flying candy drops in Germany during the Berlin airlift. On this episode of the Supercast, find out what happens when students from Berlin arrive in Utah to join West Hills Middle School students as part of their Colonel Halvorsen history lessons. You'll hear about the bonding of young minds, making chocolate bars, an impactful assembly, and the inspiring words from Halvorsen's daughters, words that would make Uncle Wiggly Wings proud. We're talking now with Mark Sanderson, the teacher who put all of this together. What a wonderful event. Introduce yourself and talk about what inspired you to bring everyone together to commemorate Gail Halvorsen today. Mark Sanderson: I'm Mark Sanderson. I teach 8th grade at West Hills Middle School, 8th grade English. The project started really two years ago. I had been doing chocolate projects before that in connection with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” But since I wasn't teaching “Charlie,” I thought, "Hey, like, I need something else." But also I had been collaborating with the Aggie Chocolate Factory up at Utah State. And I said, "Hey, like, we've done this a few times. Like, let's do something more ambitious, like something bigger. Like, what about the Candy Bomber?" And they said, "Yeah, he's connected to Utah State. He came here." So they really latched onto the idea and I said, "I'm gonna reach out the Candy Bomber Foundation and make sure they're okay with that. I want to make sure we're doing it legitimately." I emailed the Candy Bomber Foundation and they were like, "Yeah, totally. Let's do it." And the project has really, to me, the key of the project has been the collaboration. Everybody who's been involved with it has caught the vision of it and has made the project bigger and better. Through the foundation, we were connected with the Gail Halvorsen School in Berlin who also did the project and had their students fly out here today. So to me, it's just been the collaboration that's the big takeaway. Anthony Godfrey: What impact do you see this having on students and on the community? Mark Sanderson Hopefully it'll make projects like this more possible, like easier to do, more common to do. And we can take pride in some of our local heroes and celebrate them at our schools. Anthony Godfrey: Well, I really appreciate the creativity and the drive and the energy that you brought to this. These are the types of experiences that students will never forget. What is the personal impact on you of Gail Halvorsen's story? Mark Sanderson Well, I don't... well, ultimately I'd rather have my students remember the event than necessarily remember me or my name. If they can remember the event, to me, that's the main thing. But for me, you know, the Candy Bomber was all about from small things, great things come. And this event today was a manifestation of that. It started with a small idea and a bunch of other people joined in to make it happen, make it possible. I couldn't have done all this by myself. So I think it's a manifestation of his vision, his belief, his legacy. And hopefully our students will collaborate with others to make big things happen that are positive in our community. Anthony Godfrey: Well, today's activity, in my mind, honors what he did and exponentially extends the influence of his actions. I just really appreciate your providing such a unique and meaningful experience for these students. [band music] Anthony Godfrey: Talking with Lorraine Moore about the Gail Halvorsen Foundation, we're here waiting for the Candy Bomber event to happen. Tell us a little bit about what you do. Lorraine Moore: Wonderful. I appreciate the opportunity at the Candy Bomber Foundation. We're looking to carry on Gayle's legacy of kindness, service, education, and really bringing hope to people that need it because we all do. Anthony Godfrey: I remember that he was very active in the community, loved visiting schools, and I got to meet him when he visited, I think it was, Oquirrh Hills Middle School years ago. Lorraine Moore: Fun. And if you got the opportunity to speak to him for 30 seconds, you had a lifelong friend. Anthony Godfrey: Yes, that's right. Lorraine Moore: He's always like that. Anthony Godfrey: Yes, very friendly. Tell me about the work that your organization does. Lorraine Moore: Absolutely. Well, Gayle always felt that education is the power to create a life, and service is the power to create a life of joy for yourself and for those that you're serving. So we like to combine those two elements, and our programs are values-based STEM programs, not only teaching kids what they can do with science and education, but what good they can do, and helping them to see how important even a little bit of good, even just two sticks of gum or a parachute with a chocolate bar, how much that can do for people. Anthony Godfrey: Well, Gail Halvorsen is an incredible example of making the most of your circumstances and finding opportunities to do good, not just do what you're assigned to do, but to go well beyond that. Lorraine Moore: Way beyond that. He was very likely thought he was gonna get court-martialed for doing it, but he saw a whole generation of children that had never known anything but war, and there was just a light had gone out of their eyes, and he realized, "I can't do a lot, but if I can do a little, I can bring a little bit more light back in those eyes," and he had no idea the power of what he started, but he spent the rest of his life sharing that. Anthony Godfrey: When he did that, I'll bet he had no idea it was going to last a lifetime, and well beyond. For those who may not know, tell the story of Gail Halvorsen and what he did. Lorraine Moore: He grew up here in Utah, so he is a local hero. He was serving in the Berlin airlift as one of the cargo pilots, bringing in food and fuel and all of the supplies that Berlin needed to survive after the war, and when they would unload the planes, the pilots would want to get out, stretch their legs, and him just being a people person, the first thing he loved to do is go talk to the people at the fence of the airport, and usually it was young kids. A group of them there loved meeting the American pilots. He loved that he could help these kids realize that planes flying into their airport didn't mean bombs. It meant someone was here to help, and that meant a lot to him, and so one day he was at the fence and he just really felt inspired. These kids needed a little something more. He reached in his pocket and all he had was two sticks of gum. He thought two sticks of gum and 30 kids, I'm gonna start a riot. He was so worried, yeah, but he just knew he had to do it, so he gave the gum to the kids, and instead of fighting over it, they broke it into the smallest pieces they could break it into, and the kids who didn't get gum smelled the wrapper. Double mint gum. It's become the smell of freedom all over the world, and for them they knew that was the smell of freedom, and they asked him, "Don't give up on us. We can do without food for a while, but if you guys give up on us, we'll lose our freedom, and we'll never get it back," and it just really put a fire in his heart to do more to help these kids, so he told them he'd come back and he'd bring them more candy. He went that night and got everyone's candy bar rations and everyone's handkerchiefs and tied parachutes and made these parachutes with the candy. The kids asked him, "How will we know it's you because there's a hundred planes coming in every hour and we don't know who you are," so he told them he'd wiggle his wings, and that's how he got the name Uncle Wiggly Wings, and so a legend was born. Anthony Godfrey: I didn't know that part. I didn't know that part. That's cool. Lorraine Moore: Yep, he loved that. That was one of his favorite nicknames. Anthony Godfrey: And how many candy runs did he make? Lorraine Moore: I don't know how many runs, but by the time they were done, they had dropped almost 10 million pounds of candy. Anthony Godfrey: Wow. Well, thank you so much for being here, and let's join the ceremony. Lorraine Moore: Yeah. Anthony Godfrey: Stay with us when we come back. We continue to celebrate Gail Halvorsen at West Hills Middle School. Male Voice: Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. Female Voice: Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jor

    20 min
  4. Mountain Ridge High Student Has Defining Moment, Crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen

    May 7

    Mountain Ridge High Student Has Defining Moment, Crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen

    She is a high school student determined to pursue her dreams, and never let a disability get in the way of her drive to success. On this episode of the Supercast, meet Mountain Ridge High School junior Linda Boequi who was recently crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026. Hear how finding success in the competition is helping Linda and others explore their passions, in and outside of school, with pride, purpose, and power. Audio Transcription Teacher: Becoming Miss Amazing Teen has given her the opportunity to have more confidence with advocating. Linda: My advice is that it doesn't matter what challenges you have. We are all different, but everyone deserves to be happy and go after their dreams. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey: On this episode of the Supercast, meet Mountain Ridge High School sophomore Linda Boequi, who was recently crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026. Hear how finding success in the competition is helping Linda and others explore their passions in and outside of school with pride, purpose, and power. [MUSIC] Anthony Godfrey: We're here at Mountain Ridge High School to talk about the Miss Amazing Teen Pageant. Go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us about, tell us a little bit about why we're here. Teacher: Hello, I'm Alexis Sway. I'm one of the special education teachers at Mountain Ridge High School, and I get to work with Linda, who won the Miss Amazing Teen Utah Pageant this year, back in March. Anthony Godfrey: Linda, thank you for talking with us today. Tell us, what is the Miss Amazing Teen Pageant and how did you get involved? Linda: Miss Amazing is a wonderful program that helps girls build confidence. When I first got involved, I was so nervous, but at the same time, I was very excited to be part of it. Teacher Do you remember how you heard about the pageant? Linda: No, I never hear before. When my mom, she was with me doing a dub during a cheer, inclusive cheer. I hear about it is very, like, my first time to hear, so I'm dancing to do my passion and to link those ideas, to pass through my, my in progress to know my future, what is it? Anthony Godfrey: Tell us more about what your role was in helping support Linda in applying for this and being part of this competition. Teacher: Yeah, so we actually had a former student here at Mountain Ridge. Their family started Adaptive Arena in Bluffdale. It's an awesome facility where they provide sports, dance, and gymnastics opportunities for students and cheer with disabilities. That way they can be included in those opportunities, and it was through Adaptive Arena that Linda found out about the Miss Teen Pageant. And so we really just appreciate that parents reach out and share that information for us as teachers to share with our students and their families so they can know about these resources in the community. This year, when Linda came to school one day, and was telling us that she's going to be in this pageant, and she tells the dates when the competitions were coming up and what she was doing to prepare for it. We just got to cheer her on, and we're so stoked when she came back to school with her sash and tiara, saying that she won Miss Teen. Miss Amazing, right? Anthony Godfrey: You have the sash and tiara on now. Do you ever take it off? Linda: It depends on the place where I can take to use my crown and sometimes I tell some teacher if I can use my crown or some other place to have like a band or cultural evemt. I pull my crown and my sash to know everyone, to know about me, to follow me, and to know about more some people and to have fun. Teacher: Did you wear it at the lacrosse game this week? Linda: Yes, I put because from the last week it was my birthday on April 3rd, and the same time was on Lacrosse Day and then I saw a friend, she was doing lacrosse and I was hoping to. So she was like doing great, and her whole team did great, and then this time did like the girls gym, did it so well. I'm so proud of her. Anthony Godfrey: What was going through your mind when you were crowned Utah Miss Amazing Teen 2026? Linda: I couldn't believe it. I still think about the crown in my head all the time. It's made me so excited to use my title to do great things in my future. Anthony Godfrey: Now I've heard that you did a dance for the talent portion. Can you tell us about the dance that you performed for the talent competition? Linda: Yes, dancing is my passion. So it's a feel great. I perform a fun mix of ballet and hip hop all put together to music from the movie Tangle. Speaking of which, I have a hip hop performance today May 5th at my school auditorium. I would love to invite you and all your listeners to come and see it. Anthony Godfrey: That's fantastic. So you can do ballet and combine it with hip hop? Linda: Yes. Anthony Godfrey: I can't do either one of those things, much less do them together. So that's awesome. The Miss Amazing program, from what I understand, focuses on confidence, like you said, and self-advocacy. How has participating in the program helped you see yourself now and see yourself in the future. Linda: The program gives me a lot of confidence because of it. I believe in my future. I want to keep taking dance classes and focus on my passion for dancing one day. Anthony Godfrey: Wonderful. If there's one piece of advice you could give other students who are looking for the confidence to pursue their dreams, what would that be? Linda: My advice is that it doesn't matter what challenges you have. We are all different, but everyone deserves to be happy and go after their dreams. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about Linda in class. Teacher: Linda is very sweet and very motivated to be independent and work hard. She strives to be the best student that she can be. She puts her head down and gets right to work. She asks for help when she needs it. Becoming Miss Amazing Teen has given her the opportunity to have more confidence with advocating, too. That's something we've worked on a lot with Linda, is asking for help, not being afraid to ask teachers to use translation tools or for more clarification if she's not getting something. I've really seen that bloom this year with her advocating for herself. She works really hard, and she's very friendly. Anthony Godfrey: Tell us about what you teach here. Tell us about your job. Teacher: I'm one of our three self-contained support classroom teachers here at Mountain Ridge. Anthony Godfrey: For those who don't know what that is, describe that, please. Teacher: It's a special education class. It's students who have moderate to severe disabilities who need more time in a special education class. I have a unique position where I get to work with the students who can handle being fully mainstreamed into their classes, but they still need a home base and to have an aide or a peer tutor with them. I get to manage the peer tutors and the aides that work with the students and support them as their home base, helping them with emotional regulation and executive functioning skills. Anthony Godfrey: Describe how that peer tutor program works. Teacher: We have students. It's just open for any student. They can select it as an elective during arena scheduling. We do a training at the beginning of the year, and we definitely rely on spreading awareness and having peer tutors try and recruit friends that they think would be good peer tutors too. So they get to be paired up one-on-one with a student with disabilities and help them in their classes by staying on task and getting the academics done. Anthony Godfrey: It's an important program for everyone involved. Thank you for running that and teaching that. It's a great support to our students. Teacher: Thank you. I enjoy it. Anthony Godfrey: Stay with us when we come back. Linda teaches me some Samba dance moves and I do my best to learn them. Male Voice: Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. Female Voice: Does your child need the flexibility to learn from anywhere at any time on a cruise in another country or simply at home cozy on the couch? The Jordan Virtual Learning Academy is tailor made for you and your family. It's personalized dynamic virtual learning on your schedule. The Jordan Virtual Learning Academy is an integrated system of three schools in Jordan School District. Rocky Peak Virtual Elementary School, Kelsey Peak Virtual Middle School and Kings Peak High School. Our programs are designed to meet or exceed District and state core curriculum standards, ensuring your child receives a superior educational experience tailored to their needs. Join us today at jordanvirtual.org. Anthony Godfrey: What do you love most about dancing? Linda: Dancing is like …. for like you like it something like want to go your future for your graduation. So when I was a kid I was dancing from ballet club and then this is could be one day dance teacher. And then I moved to here in United States like four years ago. And then this is could change my life. And then now with me the Miss Amazing pageant changed all my life. So I can like help the kids teach them how to dance work, how it's easy or hard for them. And then could be fun is like I'm like my dance teacher. I love dance. I love like everything like music and dance, type of dance. I love my passion. Teacher: When I got to teach our class some of the Brazilian dances that she used to do back in her home country. Anthony Godfrey: Oh wow. Super fun. Yeah. Do you think you can teach me a Brazilian dance? Linda: Yeah for sure. Some steps is like easy and like I have….. Anthony Godfrey: So you're saying it has to be easy for me to be able to do it. Is that what you mean? Linda: Yeah. Anthony Godfrey: Okay. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. Show me what we got. Linda

    17 min
  5. More Than One Kind Act a Day Gets Daybreak Elementary National Kind School Designation

    Apr 30

    More Than One Kind Act a Day Gets Daybreak Elementary National Kind School Designation

    They are spreading kindness and enhancing a positive culture at Daybreak Elementary School. The school even celebrates student kindness with a big parade through the happy halls of Daybreak once a month. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Isaac Broadbent, school counselor at Daybreak and a former Daybreak student himself, has stepped in, revamping school wide expectations, and together with the support of teachers, is making kindness rule number one. The work has earned Daybreak a national Kind School designation. Audio Transcription Isaac Broadbent: Through this program, Teach Kind, we were able to go through each grade and teach a variety of lessons centered on kindness and how that looks like, how that sounds like, and how that feels, and the impact it can have. Student: I think kindness is important because it makes people feel noticed and wanted, and it just makes people feel like they're proud. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are spreading kindness and enhancing a positive culture at Daybreak Elementary School. The school even celebrates student kindness with a big parade through the happy halls of Daybreak once a month. On this episode of the Supercast, find out how Isaac Broadbent, school counselor at Daybreak and a former Daybreak student himself, has stepped in revamping schoolwide expectations and, together with the support of teachers, is making kindness rule number one. The work has earned Daybreak a national Kind School designation. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: We are at Daybreak talking with the school counselor, Isaac Broadbent, about a kindness initiative that's been happening here at the school. But first, talk to us a little bit about yourself. Isaac Broadbent: My name is Isaac. I am a school counselor here and I've been a school counselor for about three or four years. I started here, and then I stayed because it's so amazing. And, fun fact, I actually used to attend the school when it was first built. Anthony Godfrey: And what grade did you... How old were you when you came? Isaac Broadbent: Fifth and sixth grade. So, when it first opened up, they pulled us from Rose Creek to help populate it a little bit because Daybreak wasn't as built out as it was back then. Anthony Godfrey: Right. Yeah. Isaac Broadbent: And so, I was a student here and there were some familiar faces that were around as well. Anthony Godfrey: Some of the teachers are still here that were there when you were in fifth grade. Isaac Broadbent: Correct. Yep, correct. There's actually, I think, four. Yeah. Four of them. So, it was kind of cool to have a full circle where I was a student. And then, lo and behold, I'm working here with some familiar faces from back then. Anthony Godfrey: And how has the school changed? First of all, it seems a lot smaller now, right? Isaac Broadbent: It's a lot smaller. I remember this was a gigantic place when I was a student. Anthony Godfrey: That's right. That's right. Isaac Broadbent: But no, it's really great because obviously I'm biased. I really like this school because I used to go here. And it's great to be able to help it become a better place because the whole reason why we kind of want to focus on kindness is that in our MTSS meetings and leadership meetings, we were realizing that there's just a lot of meanness going on. Every school has their bullying instances, but there's just a lot of overall just meanness, just one-off jabs and things like that. Anthony Godfrey: Yeah. Isaac Broadbent: And so, through a process, we revamped our entire school system with our big three rules and number one is being kind. And we really tried to push that as much as we could. And so, with this year particularly, we doubled down on kindness and through this program, Teach Kind, we were able to go through each grade and teach a multiple, I guess I should say, a variety of lessons centered on kindness and how that looks like, how that sounds like, and how that feels, and the impact it can have. And then we were able to wrap it all up with a huge school-wide initiative that included snowflakes, actually. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about the snowflakes. Isaac Broadbent: Yeah. So, as part of this program and this designation, we had to, after we focused everything on kindness throughout the school year, we had to wrap it up with a school-wide project. And that project was, each student was able to get cutouts of a snowflake, and they would write down what they did as an act of kindness for someone else. And then I would periodically go by week after week and collect those and then hang them in a main hallway that we have. Anthony Godfrey: So, these how large are the snowflakes? About the size of the palm of your hand? Isaac Broadbent: Yeah, exactly. Anthony Godfrey: Okay. Isaac Broadbent:And we had hundreds of them. Anthony Godfrey: Larger than actual size. Isaac Broadbent: Large, exactly. Yep. And we wanted to kind of have that visual effect so everyone in the school could see how kindness was falling over. Anthony Godfrey: Some things were snowballing. Isaac Broadbent: Exactly. And that's a good way to put it. Anthony Godfrey: Nice. Isaac Broadbent: And so, we had hundreds of those, right, get submitted throughout that time window, and they were all out there on display for a while. And then we were able to submit for the Kindness designation and luckily, we were able to get that award. Anthony Godfrey: What organization gave the award? Isaac Broadbent: Oh, yes. It's the Teach Kind program. And so, it's a national program and we were able to get nominated as a Teach Kind school, one out of 32 in the nation. Anthony Godfrey: Wow. Isaac Broadbent: And so, it was really cool. Anthony Godfrey: That's fantastic to have that designation. That's wonderful. So, what are some of the other things that you did with students to help motivate them and not just motivate, but to highlight the great things that they were doing to focus on kindness? Isaac Broadbent: Yeah, absolutely. So, what I would do is I would go in and push into every class, every grade level, and have different presentations and lessons based on kindness. Anthony Godfrey: So, it's not just, "Hey, everybody, be kind," but it's, "This is what kindness looks like. These are some specific things you can do to be kind and some things you can avoid in order to be kind." Isaac Broadbent: Yes, exactly. We did a deep dive. I even, with one of those lessons, shared the science behind kindness and the psychology that goes into that because it's the only thing in this world that doubles when you share it. And there's nothing else that does that in the economy, in the world, nothing like that. Anthony Godfrey: Wow. Isaac Broadbent: We just really focused in on that. And since it was such a high priority, we had a lot of momentum going. And so, we had a lot of those students being kind and then filling out those snowflakes. And since we had so much momentum, we decided to keep it going even though the submission deadline had passed and we were waiting to see if we got the award or not. We moved forward with this kindness initiative with the challenge of looking for kindness or writing it down and sending that to those individuals who are being exceptional. Anthony Godfrey: Now, I've heard about a kindness parade. Is that right? Isaac Broadbent: Yes. Yeah, so we have, yeah. Anthony Godfrey: Explain that to the folks. Isaac Broadbent: Absolutely. Yes. So, that's actually one of the things that we revamped at our school with our leadership team is we have something called an MVP parade. And so, a teacher gets to nominate an MVP for the month who has shown exceptional kindness and looking out for others. Since then, we've actually modified it to match up with different elements of A Portrait of a Graduate to be aligned with the District. Anthony Godfrey: Yeah, I love to hear that. Isaac Broadbent: And so, yeah, we've kind of modified it since then but initially, we were just focusing on kindness. And so, for a couple of the parades, it was just only kindness, who has been a leader and outstanding in kindness. And then, on the first Friday of the month, we would call all the families together of the MVP kids and they would re-line the halls of the school as well as the rest of the school and the students. And then, we would get them all together, we'd line them up in the office and then we would make a lap around the entire school while everyone's just cheering them on. Anthony Godfrey: Wow. Isaac Broadbent: For a good like 10, 15 solid minutes just like a huge spotlight on them. Anthony Godfrey: Great. So, the MVPs walk through all the halls, one from each class, with the entire school cheering them on. Isaac Broadbent: Yes. Lots of clapping, lots of cheering. Everyone's chanting, "MVP, MVP." So, it's really wonderful to have that spotlight on the students. Anthony Godfrey: Yeah. I don't remember being cheered by 600 people in elementary school. That's got to be quite a good feeling and I love that this reaches students from five years old to 12 years old. This is a wide range, so you really have to adapt your kindness lesson to the classroom you're visiting. Isaac Broadbent: Yep. Exactly. Yeah. And modify that so that way each student can grasp it. And then, more importantly, implement it. Anthony Godfrey: And what changes have you seen at the school as a result of these efforts? Isaac Broadbent: Well, we've actually got like hardcore data showing that our overall sense of belongingness is increasing with the Panorama data that we administer. We've also had an up...well, actually, I should say that we've had an uptick in all five areas of social-emotional learning. And it's been cool to see that actual data being transferred over from the interventions that we're doi

    20 min

  6. Apr 23

    CTE Internships Give Students Priceless Professional Workplace Experience

    They are getting top notch on-the-job training by industry professionals while still in high school. On this episode of the Supercast, hear from some high school students themselves about all the benefits of internships offered in Career and Technical Education or CTE. Find out how internships allow juniors and seniors to have fun doing what they love, while exploring career paths, building professional networks, gaining industry-recognized skills, and earning high school credit. Audio Transcription Teacher: They're working in an area that they're interested in pursuing once they graduate from high school. Student: I've always been passionate on working things, but you know mostly cars and smaller pickup trucks, so working on a bus, it's a whole other story. Student: I love the relationships that we have with everyone here. It feels like you actually work here. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are getting top-notch on-the-job training from industry professionals while still in high school. On this episode of the Supercast, hear from some high school students themselves about the many benefits of internships offered in Career and Technical Education, or CTE. Find out how internships allow juniors and seniors to have fun doing what they love while exploring career paths, building professional networks, gaining industry-recognized skills, and earning high school credit. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: We are here at the Transportation Department talking with Melissa about the internship that students are participating in here as mechanics in the Transportation Department. Melissa, introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about this program and how it works. Teacher: Sure. So my name is Melissa Goble. I'm the CTE internship teacher for Jordan School District. This program is …. the students apply for it. They interview. We place interns in all CTE pathways. This just happens to be one of them. Once they're in the program, they have to get a minimum of 40 hours of internship time, and then they also complete a LinkedIn profile. We work on some employability skills, things like that. We just help mentor them through the semester. Anthony Godfrey: A lot of the internships are created with outside companies and other groups, but we get to benefit from these students and what they're learning right here in the Transportation Department. That's what's unique about this one. Teacher: Yes. It's great. We are very excited that our own district took on students. We're hoping that it will spread the excitement because it is beneficial. The kids get to be invested in their district. They're getting to learn new things, and they're with our own people. Anthony Godfrey: Now, you started recently in your role in the last year or two, and I have seen a real uptick in just presence on LinkedIn, and internships have really been propelled since you started, and we've added this emphasis on internships. Just talk generally about what would attract a student to an internship and the kinds of internships that we have available in the District. Teacher: What attracts them, generally what I find, attracts them to the internship is the opportunity to work with industry. They're working in an area that they're interested in pursuing once they graduate from high school. They're meeting people who could give them recommendations, mentor them, help point them in the right direction. Sometimes they know what they want to do, but they don't know how to get there. I also have students who come to my program because they think they know, and then they find out that they want to go a little bit different direction, which is also a great way to get through my program. Anthony Godfrey: It's the perfect time to find out that this is not the career for you. A lot of times people love what they try, but if you don't, this is the time to find out, and that's long been something I knew was a benefit of CTE programs. Teacher: Absolutely. And they also, when they're working in industry, they find out that there's pathways they didn't even know about that are related to what they're interested in. It's just this might be a little bit more interesting, or it might be a little bit more accessible for them. And so that is awesome as well. And then we have, we do have a lot of internships. In fact, I have joked that I'm getting to the point where we have more internships than I have students right now. I need to switch my focus a little and really start targeting them because we've had so many great industry partners step up and offer us multiple opportunities. And from anything from our diesel students, we've got students who are doing aviation internships, engineering, business, all over. We're all over the place. Anthony Godfrey: So if someone with a business is listening and they think, "I'd love to have a couple of interns and I think I'm aligned with the CTE pathway," do they just reach out to you? We can put your email address in the show notes, and then you can get them set up with some great students. Teacher: Yeah, yeah, that would be great. I also can help them get into the schools a little bit before they take interns. If they want to do some job shadows or maybe a tour or something like that, I'm absolutely the person that can help them. Anthony Godfrey: Fantastic. Is a job shadow kind of a precursor to an internship sometimes? Teacher: Yeah, so we do have some programs that, well, in fact, Diesel, they go in their first semester, they spend time doing job shadows, so they'll spend just a few hours at different locations and they get to see different types of industry that's within their field. And then we go for the internships second semester. Anthony Godfrey: Wonderful. Well, thank you very much for everything you're doing to provide these opportunities for students and for businesses to benefit from these great students We talked about what businesses can do. If a parent or student's listening and they would like to be part of an internship next year, how do they go about doing that? Teacher: Well, there's a couple of ways that they can do that. First, the JordanTech.org is our website and our applications open every year in February, March timeframe. They can apply that way or my application actually stays open all year and they can go out to JordanTech.org again, but go to the CTE internship webpage and I have information there that they can apply. So it involves doing a resume and letting me know what they're interested in. And then I also should mention that one of the requirements for applying to my program is that they do have to have some coursework in their background. Anthony Godfrey: Okay. Wonderful. Richard, let's talk about Diesel Mechanics specifically and these students. Introduce yourself and tell us the history of internships in the Diesel Mechanics program in Transportation. Richard Burrell: My name is Richard Burrell. I'm the shop coordinator, shop foreman for Jordan School District here. I have 15 employees out here in the shop with me. We keep tabs on about 500, 600 vehicles. Anthony Godfrey: Yeah. Wow. Richard Burrell: So we're a full-time job. Anthony Godfrey: Millions of miles. Richard Burrell: Every day. So, and the internship, when I first started back in 1989, internship, we'd take on the interns from the schools like we did here, the colleges. And we would bring a couple of kids in and they'd work with us and the object of the game is to give them every chance what we do out here every day. I mean, oil changes, we do that a lot, but we do brake jobs, we do engine work, we do everything out here. So these kids, three kids right here, get in the middle of it all. I put them with each mechanic out there. It takes on a kid. It's a supervisor position. So they watch him and they teach him everything that goes on out here and what we have to do. Some days it's repeatedly learning how to do services, but they get into other things too, brake jobs and everything else and go with it. It takes a lot to keep these things on the road every day. Anthony Godfrey: Yes, it does. And we're glad to have their help. Tell me about these three students. Richard Burrell: These are great kids. They came in during their spring break time to work with us because we worked here. So they wanted to come in and keep playing. So we let them come in and work with us. Anthony Godfrey: That's awesome. Richard Burrell: And they enjoy what they're doing out here. And they're seven o'clock in the morning, they're here and they're here till ten o'clock every or twice a week. And they love what they do. Anthony Godfrey: I didn't know I was showing up so late into their shift here. Richard Burrell: I told them they had to stay somewhat clean today. Anthony Godfrey: All right. Well, all bets are off after we're done. You can get nice and dirty. Well, thank you for everything that you're teaching these students and the opportunities you're providing for them. Richard Burrell: We love these kids. They're good. Hopefully it can work out. When some of us retire, we can move other kids into this place. Anthony Godfrey: Well, you started just after Reagan was no longer president. So I mean, hopefully we have you for a few more years. Richard Burrell: Not too many more. But there's a few. Anthony Godfrey: All right. We'll get you for as long as we can have you, Richard. Stay with us when we come back. Hear from student interns in our own Transportation Department and find out what they are up to as diesel mechanics working on our school buses. Male Voice: Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org. Female Voice: Does your student want to become a veterinarian, commercial pi

    20 min
  7. How “Pony Races” Track Progress in Standardized Science Testing

    Apr 16

    How “Pony Races” Track Progress in Standardized Science Testing

    Elementary schools in Jordan School District are giving each other a run for their money in the second annual “Pony Races.” On this episode of the Supercast, hear how two incredible science specialists came up with the idea of “pony races” to track RISE standardized testing progress and make science exciting and fun for students and staff. It’s turning out to be a win-win for everyone. Audio Transcription Transcription coming soon.

    17 min

  8. Apr 9

    The Gold Standard of School Counseling: Meet Mountain Creek Middle School’s Nationally Recognized Team

    They work tirelessly to give students every opportunity to find success in and outside of the classroom. On this episode of the Supercast, meet the amazing counseling team at Mountain Creek Middle School, recently recognized as an American School Counselor Model Program. It is a prestigious national recognition that is not easy to come by and only given to the best of the best in comprehensive school counseling programs around the country. Audio Transcription Transcription coming soon.

    24 min
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About

The Jordan School District Podcast Starring Superintendent Anthony Godfrey

Information

  • Creator
    Jordan Supercast
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    351
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2019-2024 Jordan School District
  • Show Website
    Jordan Supercast

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