The Bethel School District Presents Podcast

Bethel School District (WA)
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The flagship podcast for the Bethel School District in Washington state.

  1. 5d ago

    Episode 188: The dirt on moving a middle school

    With Cedarcrest Middle now demolished and the new school starting to take shape, on this week’s podcast we sit down with Cedarcrest students to get their unfiltered thoughts on how things are going at their temporary home, the old Bethel High building. We also check in with new Cedarcrest principal Zach Womack to get the behind the scenes dirt on what it takes to move an entire school and still start the year strong. Along the way we’ll learn it’s not the building that makes a school what it is, it’s the people inside. New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast  --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Conor: Hey everybody, I'm Conor. That's Doug, and this is the Bethel School District Presents Podcast, the greatest podcast in the history of the universe. And as you expect from us, we have a fantastic show today. We're taking our show on the road, heading over to the new Cedarcrest Middle School, which happens to be the old Bethel High School. But before we do that, you know what we do, Doug. We do useless trivia. So, go ahead and get us started. Doug: Well, thank you kind sir. And I have been inspired by our students this week for my useless trivia. You actually posted a story on our Facebook page about some students that were learning about microbiomes and doing some real scientist kind of stuff. And these are middle school kids. I just, I thought that was amazing. And then we had a teacher this summer who joined the fight against cancer as a teacher-scientist. Both those stories available at bethelsd.org/news. Promo aside, it inspired me to do a little research of my own. And by that, Conor, I mean I sat in my chair with my phone out and Googled some things. So, did you know that baby kangaroos are born without back legs? Conor: One, no. But two, how did you get from biomes and cancer-fighting teachers to kangaroos without back legs? I want to know the thought process, the Google hole you went down to find that. Doug: That's called biology, Conor. It's one of the many medicinal sciences that are out there. And my source for my useless trivia is National Geographic. So when baby kangaroos are born, they are born without back legs. They're basically little nubs back there that are useless. But they do have really strong front legs with claws, and that's good because they're able to crawl into their mother's pouch. Now, Conor, this is where it gets even weirder. At this point, these little, I don't even know if you call them joeys, because they're more like jelly beans. They are literally an inch long, because they're born after 33 days. Conor: That's insane. How did I not know that? Doug: It's really, really weird. So then, the mother licks a path that then this tiny little jelly bean is able to crawl through the fur and into the pouch. And that's where it stays. At around four months, the joey can come out of the pouch for short trips and graze on grass by itself. At 10 months, joey is mature enough to leave the pouch for good. Conor: Crazy talk. Doug: It's as the legendary natureologist Sir David Attenborough said, "Nature be crazy." Conor: Nature be crazy, indeed. Doug: She do, Conor. Let's use some real language here, and let's hear about your useless trivia. Conor: Okay. Well, mine... As a little background, our wonderful audience should know that both Doug and I are apple connoisseurs. We can't get enough of them. Doug's more of a Cosmic Crisp guy. I'd say I'm more of a Honeycrisp. But, did you know, Douglas, that there are actually thousands of apple varieties? The handful you see at the supermarket represent just a tiny fraction of all the varieties grown around the world. And their names can be pretty bizarre. Some of them sound like insults or diseases, or maybe even like minor aristocrats. Some of my personal favorites are the Slack-Ma-Girdle, the Bloody Ploughman, the Brown Snout, the Sheep's Nose, and of course, the Knobbed Russet, and the Peasgood Nonsuch apple. Doug: These all sound like pub names from somewhere in the UK. Love it. What is your source today? Conor: My source is none other than applerankings.com. Doug: Oh, ladies and gentlemen, that sound that you are hearing indicates that our officials on the sidelines have flagged Conor's source as lacking. Conor, you're going to need to provide a better source, or you will get a yellow card for this episode. Conor: Oh, my goodness. I don't agree, but I will consent to finding a better source now. Let me just get my little phone here going. All right, let's see here... All right, how about this? I got two of them for you, Doug. I will go with Mental Floss, which I know we've used before, and as a secondary, foodandwine.com. Doug: Well, I don't hear the alarm. It seems like you have passed the test this week. Well done, sir. It's time for us to get on the road. We're going to pack our gear up and head on over to talk to some students. Conor: And we are on location today at old Bethel High School, which is almost new Cedarcrest, but you can't say that because there's technically a new Cedarcrest being built right now. Thank you, voters, who supported our 2019 school construction bond. But we're at the temporary new Cedarcrest Middle School. We're joined by Principal Zach Womack and two amazing students, Kaileina and Kayliana. Welcome all. Zach Womack: Thank you. Thank you. Conor: So, Zach, what's the transition been like coming over here to this new building? Zach Womack: The transition has been very smooth. Our staff and students have been great as far as directions and expectations. I'm going to be honest with you, the kids coming over from the old Cedarcrest, they all have to catch a bus, so we have to be really lockstep with our transportation and making sure we're communicating with them. Other than that, it's been a really nice, smooth transition. The staff love it because there's more space at this new building. As you know, the old Cedarcrest was super small and it was, let's just call it, it was outdated. And the space here has been great for our staff and students. They don't feel so snug. Now it just feels a little bit more, you know, they have room to, you know, move around and maneuver around the school. Doug: Absolutely, it's a huge transition to get everybody over here. For both of our students, you all each spent two years over at the old Cedarcrest, and now you're here at the quote-unquote "new Cedarcrest" for a year. What are the biggest differences that you're seeing in the hallways? We'll start with you, Kaileina. Kaileina: One of the big differences from moving to the old Cedarcrest to the new Cedarcrest is like the classroom space, it's way bigger. Now we have backpacks instead of string bags. Doug: That has got to be different. Kayliana, how about you? Kayliana: Yeah, I agree about the backpack situation, it's good. I also like how like, our old Cedarcrest used to be just one-way hallway, and now you kind of like can maneuver all around the school. Conor: Yeah, it sounds like there's a lot of extra space, which was much needed. Zach, you know, generally when you move to a new building, it's because you're breaking in a brand new school and it's full of all kinds of awesome tech. I'm thinking about the new Bethel High School. There's a reason this is the old Bethel High School, which is it needed to go. So, you're not taking the plastic off this school; it's got some problems. What's been the biggest challenge so far coming into an older building? Zach Womack: I think, again, the space. So, there's so much space. This was built for, you know, 2,000 kids. We have about 780 right now of kids here. So, we had to cut pretty much the school almost in half. We're not using the portables, and we cut down the old science wing in the Bethel High School wing, so we're not using any of those classrooms. So, we wanted to make sure that it was like a box, so just a bottom box, top box, where kids can maneuver, but not have to use all that space, because, as you know, there's a lot of hiding holes here. So, we wanted to make sure kids are also safe, but we wanted to make sure the space was used just for educational purposes and not running around the school and hiding. So, it's been great. We put up a makeshift wall in the back of the science building to make sure that we, you know, students have zero access to get to that science wing. Doug: Yeah, that takes a lot of planning. You're saying that those back doors that went out to the science wing before, that's now walled off? Zach Womack: Yep, that's all walled off now with just a lock to get in and out, if you know, for, we just use it for storage, basically, now. So, now it's just kind of like a graveyard for our utilities here. Doug: Yeah, and probably a good thing those portables are out of use. I saw some of those before. Zach Womack: Yes, absolutely. Doug: So, we're talking about the building. A school can be nice, a school can be not so nice, but Kaileina and Kayliana, you both know it's the teachers and the staff and the student body that really make a school what a school is. What teachers or staff members are really standing out to you this year? Kayliana: For me, obviously, our new principal, Mr. Womack. Zach Womack: Yeah, yeah! Kayliana: I also think most of our teachers are really good. I feel like all a lot of them stand out, like our new teacher, Miss Hawkins, she's been standing out. Stuff like that. Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of teachers who do really good at this school, and I think like it's not just one like teacher like, you know, like standing out. It's like everybody coming together to stand out,

  2. Sep 23

    Episode 187: From high school fields to the NFL ... and beyond

    What does it take to help student-athletes succeed both on and off the field? This week, we discuss how participation in school sports fosters essential growth, teaches work ethic, and builds lasting connections. You'll find out which hometown alumni are starring in college athletics and the NFL, showing how sports set students up for a lifetime of success. New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast  --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Conor: Hey, everybody. I'm Conor. That's Doug, and this is the Bethel School District Presents Podcast. We have another great show for you today. We're talking sports, we're talking student athletes, we're talking robots. Let's just say it's a big show. But before we get into any of that, you know what we do, Doug. We start our shows with useless trivia. Doug: Man, I hope we're talking about robot wrestling later on, because my useless trivia this week comes to you from the WWF. That's right, the World Wildlife Fund. So, did you know that 75% of the world's wild tiger population is in India? Conor: I did not know that. That's pretty fascinating, actually. Doug: Yeah, I thought it was pretty interesting, too. The remaining 25% is also located in Asia. They span nine other countries including China and Russia. Tigers never spread out like lions did. Lions evolved across both Africa and Eurasia; tigers, just in Asia, and 75% of them in India. So, there you go. That's my useless trivia. Conor, over to you. Conor: That was a good one, Doug. I'm going more sports to stay in line with the show. So, Doug, did you know that the longest game in professional baseball history took nearly two months to finish? The Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings began their 33-inning game on April 18th, 1981. They played until the following morning and then had to suspend it, 'cause it just was too much darn baseball. They finally returned to the game on June 23rd, when Pawtucket took the lead, 3-2, and that score held up. Interestingly, there were two absolute baseball legends on the field that day: Wade Boggs was playing third base for Pawtucket, and Cal Ripken, Jr. was on Rochester. And my source on that is the Baseball Hall of Fame. Doug: That's fantastic. Makes me think of a book I read, it's called The Iowa Baseball Confederacy. It's about a game that lasted 2,614 innings, written by the same guy that wrote Shoeless Joe, which became the film Field of Dreams. Conor: Oh, what do you know? Doug: Bonus useless trivia. I just had to step on yours, but it was at least sports-related, and that's what we're here to talk about today. We have lots to talk about with our very special guest. Some people still call him coach; we call him first class here. It's Bryan Streleski. He's our Director of Athletics and Security. Bryan, welcome back to the show. Bryan Streleski: Thank you. Thank you, Doug and Conor. Conor: Yes, indeed, thanks for joining us, Bryan. And it's the fall, means football season. We know you're kind of the resident jock around here. So, tell us, you think the Seahawks have it in them to repeat, our defending Super Bowl champs? I know they lost their quarterback dang near the first play of the season. How's the season going to play out for them this year? Bryan Streleski: Oh, they looked really good in their first game. I mean, other than losing their quarterback, had a good win. Nice to win at home, beat the team you beat in the Super Bowl, so super fun to watch that. Did catch that second half, which is the only half that really mattered in that game, 'cause the first half didn't look very good. But I think that they've got a tough road ahead, 'cause the NFL's super competitive, but they looked really good. Doug: Yeah, I only watched the fourth quarter of that game, and that was the only quarter I needed to watch. It really bothers me when we waste time in the first three quarters of football games and everything happens at the end. Another cool thing that happened during the Seahawks' opener was a Graham-Kapowsin High School alumni, his name's Dakota Harris, class of '24. He got to hold the American flag during Mike McCready's playing of the national anthem. Dakota's stationed at Naval Hospital Bremerton, and we loved seeing him on the field. Love seeing what our students do after they graduate. Conor: And speaking of that, we've got some Bethel School District alum who are actually playing in the NFL this year, which is really awesome. And for whatever reason right now, they all happen to be on the O-line. But we got Vega Ioane—if you remember, he was the absolute stud Graham-Kapowsin offensive lineman on that state championship team—Foster Sarell, a few years older, he's playing for the 49ers this year, and Ezra Cleveland, another Bethel High grad, he's starting for the Jacksonville Jags. So, congrats to all three of those guys. And we have another generation coming up. We got a lot of kids who are playing collegiate football as well. Just at UW alone, we've got Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, Ramak Froun, and Darrien Clemens, which is amazing to think from our district we've got three—I think they're all starting and they're all playing well. We also have Joshua Wood at Idaho, he's their starting quarterback; Jabez Woods, also from GK, he's at Montana State and he actually won a national championship last year and had a couple of really big catches in that; and Josiah Wagoner's at Cal from Spanaway Lake High School, Go Bears! So, that's another cool thing: we as a district are sending student athletes to the next level, which is awesome. So, talk to us a little bit about the importance of transitioning our student athletes, whether that's from elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, or high school to the collegiate realm, the importance of that. Bryan Streleski: Yeah, I think it's exciting to have all these kids going on to play collegiate sports, but I think that the transition from elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, is a significant jump for each student athlete, and our females struggle probably the most in that. And the national numbers will show that our girls struggle to come into our middle school programs after they leave elementary, and then from middle school to high school, but we're seeing a significant drop from high school to the collegiate level as well. And that's not just our Division I athletes, that's our NAIA athletes, our Division III athletes, and our community college athletes. And some of even our local programs at the college level are struggling to get our female athletes. And so, one of our pushes right now is to find ways to help encourage and keep our kids going and moving forward in their athletic endeavors as well as their academics. And so, it helps them learn life skills and continue to build. Not to mention, I tell a lot of our kids this as I get to talk to them around the district, is you're never going to regret going and traveling and going to play at a different college, go to a different state. While yes, you're paying for school, but your school's paying for you to live in a hotel room for a weekend to compete in a sport that you love. It's a great opportunity for our kids, and so we're trying to find ways to encourage our kids and help our kids develop those skills that want to push themselves to go on and continue to play at the collegiate level. Doug: Yeah, Bryan, there are a ton of benefits for our student athletes as they move through their K–12 education. Let's talk now about some of the significant roadblocks that are in our students' ways. Bryan Streleski: Yeah, for our sports that we don't have a venue for them to participate in, it creates a very interesting dynamic. Our swim in the fall right now for our girls, you know, they're spending their evenings at a pool at PLU or up in Eatonville. Their meets are all on the road. They're treated as home meets at a different school's venue as a home meet, so the other school's running the venue for us. And so, it's just an absolute challenge for them. So, you know, shoutout to all of our swimmers, and then in the winter, our bowlers, our golfers, any of those sports that don't have a venue. It's a significant issue for them to be able to get to and participate in these events. And so, they do a great job, our coaches are dedicated and want our kids to succeed, and you know, pushing them and teaching them all the life skills. And it's a huge time management piece for our student athletes and our coaches when they've got to, you know, work into the evenings, late evenings sometimes, to be able to do this. Doug: Yeah, you got to factor in transportation. You said bowling, man, if we need to build one, I offer my office space for it. Let's bring that alley right over here; I love bowling. Conor: And speaking of incentivizing our student athletes to kind of take that next step and move on to collegiate sports and just college in general for a lot of them, what I like about what all of our schools do is we have these big signing ceremonies. And we don't just have it—it's easy to have a signing ceremony for someone like Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who I think was like the number one football player in the state. Of course, we're going to do that, but I love that they'll have a signing ceremony for a student athlete who is going to maybe bowl for a community college, and they treat it exactly the same. So, it really gives them incentive to say like, "Hey, you know, I'm going to be celebrated if I do this." So... Doug: Yeah, it really builds that sense of belonging, and that's something you were talking about earli

  3. Sep 16

    Episode 186: Quick-thinking senior saves life using skills learned in class

    On this week's show, we share the dramatic story of a high school student whose quick response saved a life during a medical emergency. Applying hands-on techniques he learned and practiced in a sports medicine class, he delivered chest compressions and successfully used an AED before first responders reached the scene. Hear his dramatic firsthand account, plus a conversation with his teacher about her practical training methods and the citizen lifesaving award the student received for his remarkable bravery under pressure. New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey everybody, I'm Doug. That's Conor, and you're listening to the Bethel School District Presents podcast, and whether you're listening to us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, or Radio Tacoma 101.9, we are glad to have you here today, because we have an incredible story about a student who saved a life this summer. It's dramatic, it's inspiring, and you're going to want to hear it. But of course that's going to happen after useless trivia, which is how we start every show, Conor. Conor: It is indeed, Doug, and I figured, we're getting into the fall season here, so I'm going to do a fall themed one. And don't you just love it, speaking of fall, when those leaves start to turn color? Well, Douglas, did you know that the red ones are actually due to sugar being trapped inside the leaves? Doug: Sweet! Conor: Sweet indeed. So here's what's going on. As the days get shorter, the trees start building a tiny wall of cells at the base of every leaf stem to prep for winter. But on those warm, crisp fall afternoons, the leaf is still photosynthesizing, pumping out simple sugars, and they have nowhere to go. They get completely trapped inside the leaf, and when all that trapped sugar sits in the cool night air, the leaf undergoes a wild chemical reaction that produces a pigment called anthocyanin, which is actually the exact same stuff that makes blueberries blue and cherries red. Doug: This is fascinating one, and you are a fountain of big words this morning. What is your source? Conor: My source on that one is the National Institutes of Health. Doug: How about that? Doesn't get any smarter than those folks up there. Conor: No sir, they don't get any smarter than that. Let's see if you can match my genius level trivia here. Doug: Well, I will give it a shot, and I was thinking about our lifesaving student when I was preparing mine, and so I was looking into the history of CPR. I'm going to take you back to 1774. The Royal Humane Society, that's what they're called now, Conor. Back in 1774, this UK group was called the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned. Conor: Love that name! Doug: Very specific, it was formed by two doctors, and they had a couple of goals. One was to publish information on how to save people from drowning. This was a big deal back then; there weren't as many swimmers in London. And then two, they were going to pay people two guineas for anyone that attempted to rescue a drowning person, and four, if you actually brought the person back to life. Conor: I'm scared to know, but how much is a guinea? Doug: That's, I had to look that up. I was afraid it was some kind of guinea pig barter system, apparently. And this is according to the Royal Humane Society in the UK, one guinea is equal to one pound and five new pence. Today, it'd be about 140 bucks, so we're talking over $400 to rescue someone, $200 to try, and I'll give you one guess what happened. Conor: Well, they probably do what you do, Doug, and start scamming everybody. Doug: They 100% did that! So two people would get together, and they would, one would claim to have been drowning, and then the other one saved them, and they'd come and collect their money. So this didn't last very long; they eventually went from guineas to certificates of participation, which helped them out financially, uh, but still a worthwhile endeavor. Conor: Absolutely. And our guest this week needed no financial incentive to be a hero. Ethan, who's a senior at Spanaway Lake High School, was at a basketball game this summer at his school when something pretty scary happened. He's going to tell you about it. Ethan: It was about halftime. As they were cooling down, whistle blew, I just hear a thud. And I just start hearing screaming from Vincent, the victim. I heard it, and I turned around, and I saw what was happening. I see a, see a bunch of people crowding around him, kind of just trying to see if he's okay, trying to like tap him, stimulate his chest, but nothing seemed to be working. He just kept screaming. Uh, I see my auntie trying to call 911, and I think everyone was just in a panic state at that time. During that moment, I ran out to grab the AED near the front office. I put it beside him, just in case anything happened, and I think when I put it down, I think at that moment they picked him up and decided to go outside with him, right in the front of the lunchroom. That's when I just ran out. That's when I knew like, I knew CPR, and maybe I'm the only one that knows it. So I ran out, and right when I walked out those doors, I hear, um, "Does anyone know CPR?" And that's when I kind of just shoved everyone out the way and just kind of just got started, just giving compressions and trying to get everyone to stay back. And I did three rounds of compressions, 90 compressions, and I was really lucky to have my auntie there to help, and she just started counting, counting for me, cause I was losing my mind at the same time. I was kind of losing track of how many, like compressions I was going for. And I think after the third round, that's when I got up behind me and grabbed the AED and put it on him, and I told everyone to back up, and it shocked him. We gave him one shock. Doug: Wow, very, very dramatic. And walking up to a scene like that and having someone, "Does anybody know CPR?" and the high school student says, "Yeah, I know CPR." Where did you learn CPR? Ethan: Right here in this classroom, Ms. Dahl. I learned it two years straight, sophomore year and junior year. Ms. Dahl really helped me like, it just came muscle memory, cause I wasn't really thinking in my mind, it just became just muscle memory and staying on beat. And there's a lot of things to remember, but I think Ms. Dahl did a great job just getting it down in my, my muscle instead of my brain. Conor: And that is a great segue to our second guest here. We've got Kristyn Dahl. She's a Spanaway Lake High School sports medicine teacher. So, you just heard that very dramatic retelling of a very, very dramatic afternoon for one of your students. What does it mean to you to see that the work that you're doing in this classroom actually has practical applications? This isn't just theory; these are lifesaving techniques you're teaching. Kristyn: Well, first of all, I'm so proud. I've been teaching CPR for over a decade. I've been certified since I was 16 and worked in the medical field, and I have never had to give compressions. I've been the 911 caller, I've been on scene for many cardiac arrests, but like Ethan and I talk about, you, you tend to have somebody else that will jump in. And the fact that my 17-year-old student is the one that was like, "Okay, here we go," I'm super proud of that. So, that's first things first. So proud of you. And then second of all, being able to teach real-life skills is what we try to do in CTE, and making it fun while we're in the classroom, but then making it something that they can take out into their life. Because I tell them, it will be someone you love, unfortunately. That's typically when we use our skills, is on somebody that we love. And so being able to kind of take that emotion out of it is something that I do try to teach them when we're in here. It's huge that he was able to do that. Doug: Yeah, you mentioned CTE, Career and Technical Education classes, of which sports medicine is one of many that we offer here in the Bethel School District. I like that you said you try and take the emotion out of it, and Ethan, you said it was just muscle memory. Is that just part of CPR being a good trained CPR person, is just that repetition and you just get into the zone? Kristyn: It is. It's repetition, and I make them get out of their comfort zone. They do not like the first day or two that I do it, because they, you know, they're 16, 17 years old, they want to play around, they want to, "Mine's dead!" and, you know, they want to do that kind of thing. And so I just, I make them do it till they're fatigued. Um, I do do silly songs... Doug: I was going to ask about the songs, because when I learned CPR the first time it was "Staying Alive." Is that still the song? Kristyn: Or "Another One Bites the Dust"! No, it's actually, it's actually, uh, we use Kendrick, "Not Like Us." And so, and it's awful because it starts with, "Shh, I see dead people." And they all know, but that's actually American Heart Association. So it's not even, I will, I will say they did, but I will say I was doing it before they did. I'm just going to say that. I was an early adopter. Uh, Bad Bunny has a song that the American Heart Association is using now, too. Um, but it's the, we role-play the whole thing. Like, they have to run to find an AED, they have to go through all of it. Like I said, I push them out of their comfort zone, and it is, it's awkward. That first couple times when you're yelling, "Hey, doesn't have a pulse! Call 911! I need an AED!" They don't get to say it like that. They're screaming, they're yelling, they're awkward, an

  4. Sep 9

    Episode 185: How librarians are teaching kids to tell fact from online fiction

    In a world flooded with AI generated content and online clutter, helping kids figure out what’s real isn’t always easy. On this week’s show, we sit down with two of our district's teacher-librarians who share how their exclusive summer experience at the Library of Congress is giving local students the tools to navigate online information with confidence. From historical maps to hands-on programs like Battle of the Books, we’ll learn how primary sources and great reads are sparking curiosity and building critical thinking across our schools. New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Conor: Hey, everybody! I'm Conor, that's Doug, and this is the Bethel School District Presents podcast, and today we are talking with two of our fantastic district librarians, both of whom went to Washington, D.C. over the summer to attend a very prestigious opportunity at the Library of Congress. In fact, they were the only two librarians in the entire state of Washington to do that. Doug: They sure were. The focus of the trip was learning about the importance of primary sources and clever ways to teach that to students. And what could be more important, Conor, in this day and age when misinformation is rampant and skepticism is at an all-time high? Conor: Right you are. And that's actually one reason we kick off each show with useless trivia. Our regular listeners will notice that we always ask each other to provide our sources. Doug: Just setting a good example for the kids out there. Conor: And when someone asks how you know something, FYI, Google is not an appropriate answer. Doug: No, and Facebook is definitely not an answer. Conor: Well, speaking of all this stuff, Doug, let's not delay our good listeners any longer. What do you got for us? What's your useless trivia this week? Doug: Well, we're talking about the Library of Congress today, so I was thinking about books, I was thinking about just all the different kind of resources they have there. And so, Conor, did you know that in 2025, there were 4.2 million books published, and my source on this is Bowker. They're the official ISBN agency for the United States. Conor: That is a lot of books. How many of those did you read? Doug: I've read... That's a... It's classified. I also looked up... So 4.2 million books. According to YouTube and Alphabet Investor Relations, there were 500 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute of 2025. That translates to 720,000 hours of footage a day and approximately 7.3 billion video uploads last year. Conor: Who's watching all this? Doug: I watched all of it. Conor: Okay. Glad it's not going to waste. Doug: But no books. Didn't read any books. Conor: Well, you and I were actually a little simpatico this week, because my useless trivia is actually book-related as well. So, Doug, you know when you go into a used bookstore or library, you get that wonderful old book smell? Doug: I love that smell. Conor: I also love that smell, but did you know that's actually the books decaying? Doug: That's horrific. Conor: I know, it's kind of a downer, but as paper ages, cellulose and lignin break down, and they release volatile organic compounds. Researchers have described some of the resulting aromas as resembling vanilla, almonds, grass, and chocolate, so not so bad. So that wonderful old library smell is technically the books dying. Doug: Fantastic fact. What's your source this week, Conor? Conor: My source is a 2017 peer-reviewed study in Heritage Science conducted by researchers at University College London. They chemically analyzed the volatile organic compounds emitted by an old book at the historic St. Paul's Cathedral. Doug: Man, I need scientists to get on bottling that odor, putting it into a candle so I can light that up around my house and just have that old book smell, the smell of dying literature. Conor: You know, you could just get books, Doug. Doug: Never, I'm too busy watching YouTube. Well, Conor, let's get on with our show today. Why don't you welcome our two guests to the show? Conor: Joining us today are two of our amazing teacher librarians. We've got Jerilyn Gerhardstein from Expedition Elementary and Amy Dalin from Kapowsin Elementary. The two of you recently got back from a pretty amazing experience in Washington, D.C. You were only two of about 90 teachers, librarians from all around the country that got to do this. Why don't you start off by telling us what you did? Amy Dalin: We got to attend the Library of Congress Teacher Institute. Our cohort was 26 people, and it just happened that Jerilyn and I had applied. We didn't tell each other, we just like applied randomly, and then we didn't know we were in each other's cohort until we were all in a group chat, and we were like, "Oh wait, we know each other." And so, we got to meet with 26 amazing educators from mostly the East Coast. We were the only two from the West Coast. We got to work with librarians and history teachers and English teachers, and the whole goal and premise of it was to talk all about primary sources. Jerilyn Gerhardstein: And they told us some really creative ways to teach about primary sources, looking closely at at a source, and then having the kids walk through it. So, to kind of build excitement and interest. And we would do lessons for each other, we did some mini-lessons, and they were all super excited to learn. So, it's really fun to be with lifelong learners. Conor: I bet. That's such a cool opportunity. Doug: And I love that you focused on primary sources. Those really force you to look at the original proof of something instead of taking somebody else, like two knucklehead podcasters', word for it. So, how do you use that concept in the library with kids and build solid media and social media literacy in in young students? Jerilyn Gerhardstein: Well, the Library of Congress has a lot of free-to-use pictures as well as audio clips and video, and so you can download those for free, and you can use them like I did when I presented in front of the librarians, and I will do this with my students where you show just a portion of it. And then kind of build interest, have the kids first just look, observe, see what they see, then what they think it might be about. So, they're reflecting, and then questioning with "I wonder" statements, and that just builds interest. And I I think it could be a a great way to start, like we talked about, the inventor lessons with CKLA for fourth grade. It's a great way to introduce biographies. It's a really great asset to use with our lessons. Amy Dalin: Yeah, we focus a lot in fourth and fifth grade on like research and building research skills, and primary sources is an incredible source for students to use that often times I think they will just like Google, like, you know, "Abraham Lincoln," and then you get a secondary source that's, "Abraham Lincoln was born on, blah, blah, blah." But then you have primary sources where it's like letters written by Abe Lincoln or about Abe Lincoln, or newspaper articles, or actual pictures of him. And I think that adds more context to them, and it kind of gets them more interested, I think, in the topic or the unit that you're talking about. Conor: The other great thing about primary sources, and especially in relations to younger kids, is with the rise of AI, it's so hard to know, especially if you're a younger learner, what's real, what's not real. And this is a really interesting way for them to actually see these things firsthand. And so, not only are they getting that interesting aspect of seeing the audio-visual element, but they're you're kind of showing them what they can trust, what they can't trust, and that's going to be so vitally important for the rest of their lives. Doug: The Library of Congress has millions of primary sources, original letters. One of you even mentioned they have the copyright for the "I Have a Dream" speech. That's That's a little piece of history that people don't always think about. What What's something that stuck out to both of you? Amy Dalin: We got to go to the rare books, and so we got to see like a 1200 copy of Aesop's Fables written in Latin, which was incredible, and like I was like, "Can I breathe this close to it?" They also had a 1940s copy of Aesop's Fables, which was written in English, but it was really cool to see how like the pictures were very similar because they're the same stories, but they've been like passed down from generation to generation. So, even in Latin versus in English, you have the same pictures, and so it's kind of beautiful in a way that you can be like, "Wow, these pictures are the same, and the stories have maintained the same kind of lessons behind them." Jerilyn Gerhardstein: And I really liked the maps section. So, you can, and I looked at Puyallup. I went online to look up, "What did Puyallup look like in the 1800s, and what does it look like today?" And having and centering a lesson around that to kind of, maybe at the beginning of the school year, "This is your hometown, and look at how it's changed over time." And because students don't really necessarily look at maps anymore either, and so it's really fun to see and layer the maps on top of each other so they can see and look for the differences. And so that it's close reading, and then maybe you could do a lesson on mapping, so... Conor: It It really is like insane how much just like American artifacts are in the Library of Congress. When Doug and I were doing our little bit of research prior to the show, we got kind of hung up on just th

  5. Sep 2

    Episode 184: From Netflix to next door

    What actually determines how long, and how well we live? This week we dive into the fascinating world of the Blue Zones and explore how the Parkland/Spanaway community is actively turning the tide on low life expectancy through movement, simple nutrition, and strong social connections. From free neighborhood fitness classes and pop-up cooking demos to walking school buses and community garden projects, discover how everyday, micro-level changes are creating a healthier, happier future for everyone. New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast  --TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey everybody, I'm Doug. That's Conor, and you're listening to the Bethel School District Presents podcast. And as our name implies, we have a very educational show for you today. In fact, one of the preeminent pontificators of Pierce County is joining us today. She is an expert in all things health, including diet, movement, connection, and purpose. That's right, we are talking Blue Zones today with Queena Tupou, and she's going to join us in just a few minutes after Useless Trivia. And Conor, that's where I'm going to kick it over to you.   Conor: Well, thank you there, Doug. And in honor of today's show, my Useless Trivia is all about longevity and health. And so, Douglas, did you know that the oldest person alive at this very moment is Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom? Ethel was born August 21st, 1909, which means she just turned 117 years old. Congrats on that, Ethel, if you're listening, which I'm sure you are. That's old, but she's not close to the all-time record. That record, the oldest verified person ever, remains France's Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 years, 164 days. Source on both of those: Guinness Book of World Records. Doug: Amazing, Ethel. Wish you were from Bethel. Congratulations, happy birthday. That's a fantastic piece of Useless Trivia, Conor. Conor: And what do you got? Doug: Nothing as tied to the show as that, unfortunately, but I have a fun fact. Did you know that every original James Bond book written by Ian Fleming was written in Jamaica? Conor: I actually did know that, but only because you told me. Doug: I guess we talk too much out of the show, I probably spoiled that one. But after discovering Jamaica during a naval mission in World War II, Ian Fleming bought a plot of land there, built a simple house, and he retreated there from January to March each year, getting away from those London winters. And during those three months in Jamaica, he would write a new James Bond book. He started with Casino Royale, and over 12 years, he wrote 14 Bond titles—that's 12 novels and two short story collections—entirely from Jamaica. Conor: That's fascinating, and I too would like to work from Jamaica. Can we make that happen, Doug? Doug: Let's call the superintendent right after this show. Joining us today now to get us back on track is Queena Tupou. She's the Executive Director for the Blue Zones Project Parkland-Spanaway. Queena, thanks so much for joining us. Queena Tupou: Thanks for having me. Doug: I'm really excited for our listeners to get to know you and the work that you and your team are doing. But first, let's talk about Blue Zones. A lot of our listeners watched the Netflix docuseries a few years ago called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, and we all saw remote places like Sardinia and Okinawa featured. These were places where people are amazingly healthy and living long, long lives. So for those that didn't see the show, what are the folks in the Blue Zones doing that the rest of us aren't? Queena Tupou: Yeah, so a little bit of background about the Blue Zones. Blue Zones are areas of the world that have the most centenarians, so the most people that live over 100. And our founder, Dan Buettner, went out and researched these areas. He's who you'll see on the Netflix docuseries. And what he learned about these areas was that actually most of the people that live there live below the poverty level of those areas. Doug: Interesting. Queena Tupou: But they did four basic things, which we implement in the work that we lead here in Parkland-Spanaway. They encouraged folks to move more, eat wisely, connect, and have purpose. And those small changes that each of the communities implemented added on to longevity of their lives. Conor: It's a really interesting concept and a really interesting thing to study, and kind of discover what are these things that may be driving this longevity. We're very curious, living here, what made Parkland-Spanaway a good candidate to bring this program? Queena Tupou: I have to give a shout-out first and foremost to the sponsors, and it's the reason why we can do this work in Parkland-Spanaway. It's Pierce County, MultiCare, and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. They're the ones who are contributing into making this project possible. When Blue Zones came into the area and did a discovery of Pierce County, it was discovered that Parkland and Spanaway had the lowest life expectancy than anywhere else in the county. Conor: Wow. Queena Tupou: And so, from there, that was how Parkland and Spanaway was selected as the community. It wasn't that they were like top scorers or anything. It was noticing that there was a need here, and also looking that it's an unincorporated area. There's not a lot of resources that are coming out here, that we really, as a collective with the sponsors and community partners, could make an effort to do more work in Parkland-Spanaway. And so that's initially why it was selected. Doug: Yeah, that's a sobering fact for our listeners to hear about life expectancy here. The core Blue Zones philosophy—and you can correct me if I'm wrong on this—but it's that health isn't about willpower. It's about making the healthy choice an easy choice. What does that look like in practice for our folks here? Queena Tupou: So, what that looks like in practice in Parkland-Spanaway, we take the four core values, which eating wisely, moving, connecting, and purpose, and we apply that into the community through three pillars: people, places, and policy. And so what we do to encourage that is we have currently a healthy pledge campaign that folks can go online to bzp-parklandspanaway.com and pledge to live a healthier life. Two, we have health and well-being events throughout the community. We have movement classes that are available at no cost, and we try to make our movement classes available to all ages and families because we don't want there to be a barrier for them. Those movement classes can look like yoga, Mat Pilates—we added in July, in partnership with Day 1 Fitness, hip-hop step, which is a fun movement activity. Zumba, of course, is a fun one that's held at Brenda's Fit. Burrito's Boxing is every first Friday of the month. So there's just multiple ways that folks can get involved. And even thinking of all ages, shapes, and sizes, Qigong at Trinity Lutheran Church is really meant for our elderly population. The other piece, we noticed there's no pools in this area, so we partnered with PLU Pool, and that's open every Tuesday of the summer. Our goal is hopefully to have more opportunities, but we know the school year's starting. But just recognizing there's not enough spaces for people to come out and gather. We're also putting on healthy cooking demonstrations, and so teaching people how you can cook with foods that you might find at a food pantry, or even just providing low-cost meals that you can make for your family, and we have amazing cooking instructors for that. Conor: It's fascinating because it does really sound like you have this roadmap of these pillars and things that I'm sure are proven to work. But I'm curious because the original Blue Zones were obviously places where there was a high percentage of 100-year-olds and people living these healthy lives. We obviously don't have 100 years right now to figure out, "Okay, is this working or not?" So how does your team judge success as we go along in this project? Queena Tupou: Yes. So, since we work under the Blue Zones national brand, the current assessment that Blue Zones is using is the Gallup Well-Being Index. That will be conducted again mid-September, and will last about a month in community. It's randomized. The last time we did it was 2025, and we have seen measurable changes here in Parkland-Spanaway community. And so, that assessment has to be done in order for us to become a certified community. So I should kind of take a step back and say all of this work is for us to lead to become a Blue Zones Certified Community by January 31st when our project ends. And that has been the ultimate goal, and we have to show that through meeting all of our individual goals that was set locally with our partners and with Blue Zones national. We will be successful because that's just how my team works. We will get the certification for Parkland-Spanaway, and we'll be the first Blue Zones of Pierce County, and actually of the west side. Walla Walla is the first Blue Zones Project in Washington State. Doug: That's amazing. Wow, just incredible work that your team is doing and really setting up the community to continue it forward even after we get the blue checkmark, which is great. Tell me about how Bethel School District fits into all of this. We heard you speak at an all-staff meeting recently where you talked about the work and the connection with Blue Zones and Bethel School District. Tell us about that. Queena Tupou: We're working with schools, worksites, grocery stores, and restaurants through a list of items to move them forward i

  6. Aug 26

    Episode 183: Inside the new Bethel High

    On this week's show, we tour the brand new Bethel High School and share highlights from the grand opening event. Hear directly from students, staff, and local tribal partners as they reflect on what this milestone means for the future of our district. This building represents decades of planning, perseverance, and dedication to student success. A tremendous thank you goes out to our community whose unwavering support made this dream a reality! New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast  -TRANSCRIPT-- Conor: Hey everybody, I'm Conor, that's Doug, and this is the Bethel School District Presents Podcast, and we have a very, very special show, and I know we say that every week, but this week we actually mean it. This week is all about the brand-new Bethel High, and we were at the ribbon-cutting last Friday, and, boy, was it a special afternoon, Doug. But before we get to that, as we always do, we're starting with our little useless trivia section. Doug, what do you got this week? Doug: Well, I got a good one, and mine is tied to the ceremony in that I welled up with tears a little bit at the ceremony, and this movie makes me well up with tears, too. Conor, did you know back in the 1980s, they were making a little movie and they auditioned 8,000 girls to play this one role? Any ideas what that role was? Conor: I'm going to guess Annie? Doug: That is it, man! Off the top of your head, too. Very well done. Back in 1980, they began auditions for the movie version of Annie. 8,000 girls auditioned, and Aileen Quinn eventually won the role. Now, a lot of people don't know that Aileen was also in the Broadway production of Annie. She was what they call a swing orphan, meaning that she was trained to play any of the orphans except for Annie. How about that? Conor: That's impressive work on her part and good job. She nailed it in the movie. And Doug, what's your source on this one? Doug: My source this week is Mental Floss: 15 Hard Knock Facts About Annie. Conor, what do you got for us this week? Conor: Well, I am also trying to tie my useless trivia into this week's show in that it's about a big, beautiful building, just like our new Bethel High School. So, Douglas, did you know that the Burj Khalifa is so tall, you can actually watch the sunset twice? Doug: How is that possible? Conor: So let me break it down. The 2,722-foot Dubai skyscraper is high enough that the sun sets about two to three minutes later near the top than it does at ground level. So, in fact, in 2011, Dubai's Islamic Affairs authorities actually advised the residents on floors 80 to 150 to wait an extra two minutes before breaking their Ramadan fast, and those above the 150th floor to wait three, 'cause the sun was still visible from that high up. Doug: Yeah, it is an amazing building, for sure, and I love the Burj Khalifa's cameo in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol where Tom Cruise is hanging off the side of it and really did those stunts. That was pretty, pretty incredible. Conor: It certainly was. And speaking of incredible, let's get right into the show because we had the chance to see the incredible new Bethel High School on Friday, and what a ceremony that was! Doug: Do you think Tom Cruise would come hang off that building? Brian Lowney: It is an absolute joy to welcome you all, finally, to the new Bethel High School. Doug: That is Superintendent Brian Lowney at the official dedication for the brand-new Bethel High. Brian Lowney: Looking out across this room, seeing our incredible community partners, our tribal partners, parents, colleagues, and, most importantly, our students gathered together here today, my heart is incredibly full. Years ago, well before my time here, during some of the long planning sessions, county water modeling reviews, or legislative hurdles, it must have been very hard for many of you to envision today. But through every twist and turn, the warmth, resilience, and spirit of the Bethel family kept us moving forward. Conor: And move forward we shall. One of the first speakers at the dedication was Brandon Reynon, Director of the Tribal Historic Preservation for the Puyallup Tribe. Brandon Reynon: Ha-Ska-He-O, Twa-Kla-Poo, Twa-Kla-Poo, Twa-Kla-Poo-Dah-E-Shah, Dah-E-Shah, Dah-See-Yah-Yah-Yah. Doug: That's Brandon beginning his remarks using the language of the Puyallup and Nisqually tribes. Brandon Reynon: And I said See-Yah-Yah-Yah three times. In our language, when it's repetitive, it means the significance, the greater significance. And See-Yah-Yah-Yah in Lushootseed or Twulshootseed, the Puyallup and Nisqually language, that means family and friends. Conor: And it was really amazing to hear Brandon speak so passionately about the history of the area, specifically where this high school's actually sitting. Brandon Reynon: This location where the school was built is on the sacred lands of the Puyallup and the Nisqually people. Before the arrival of settlers, we were one people. We were not separated into two different tribes. And the area in which we stand is significant. That is where our people gathered, where our youth would follow their fathers, and young women would follow their mothers, and gather, and hunt. In those places, they would share their stories. This is where our history was taught. This is where our lessons were taught, were on these trail systems. They became temporary homes and permanent homes throughout the year. Doug: That trail system he's talking about stretched all the way from the Puget Sound to Yakima and beyond. Brandon Reynon: When settlers arrived and the trail system was destroyed and lost, we didn't know where the trail system was. It wasn't until the Puyallup Tribe asked for an archaeological study when this building was being constructed. And in that study, we discovered over 200 Native American artifacts—Puyallup, Puyallup and Nisqually artifacts. We discovered a handful of homestead artifacts as well on on this same property. But more importantly, we were able to once again identify this trail system. So, once again, we have this center where we can learn and grow. And that's Bethel, this new Bethel High School, which my children will be attending as well. They're they're the future classes here in just a few years. So I'm I'm invested just as much as you are in this school. And this school will now be a same place that it'll be just like we did thousands of years ago. This will be a place where children will gather, they will they will learn stories, they will learn our language, they will learn other languages. They will be able to learn and and adapt and appreciate other cultures, not just from here, but from around the ancient and around the country. Conor: It was really cool hearing the history of this land and how it's coming full circle from a place of learning back to a place of learning. Very, very cool stuff. Doug: It was indeed. Well, the next speaker had people drawing their eyes, and I was one of them. Brian Lowney: So would you please welcome our superintendent, Mr. Thomas Seigel. Conor: I really love how Superintendent Lowney introduces him as our superintendent. Tom Seigel served our district as superintendent for 23 years, and the ovation that greeted him showed it. He got a standing O that lasted nearly a minute, and everybody was excited to see him. Tom Seigel: Thank you very much. My kids aren't going to see a video of this. They won't believe that. That's wonderful. Thank you so much. Doug: It was absolutely great to have him back in Bethel, and nobody knows the history of the new Bethel High School project, which stretches back to the early 2000s, better than Tom. Tom Seigel: Old Bethel High has served us well for a very long time. But when I got here a quarter of a century ago, the building was already in serious trouble from the standpoint of overcrowding and could not really support all the needs of the students. The opening of Graham-Kapowsin High School helped relieve the crowding, but the old building itself still lacked a great deal of what was needed. Remember, Old Bethel High opened in 1952. I was three years old. And there were no computers for kids or for anybody at that time. New Bethel High School is actually a culmination of 25 years of planning from when it was first envisioned to acquiring the property from the Crate family, whose son, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Casey Crate, a Bethel High School graduate, was killed in Iraq in 2005, to surviving numerous legislative challenges in the process at the state and county level in order to use this land, including successfully bringing a lawsuit, to working through all the related federal, state, and county land use and zoning requirements, which would have caused the faint of heart to run away. But the team at Bethel did not quit, and as a result, we have this beautiful facility today. Additionally, by providing this new facility, students and teachers have tangible evidence that the community really cares for them and their future. This is an important psychological boost and sets the stage for truly amazing student success. Conor: It absolutely all comes back to students here in Bethel. Everything we do is done with them in mind. Doug: And Tom mentioned the community's support. Let's hear more about that. Tom Seigel: But I want to especially recognize the members of the Bethel community who trusted us and supported the bond measure to make this project a reality. Your trust will be kept, and New Bethel High will be a truly magnificent place for students to learn. Thank you. Conor: Well said, Superintendent Seigel. We can't say enough about our community. Thank you, voters, and thank you, everyone, who stood by and supported this project. Doug: Now, Tom mentioned this in his remarks we ju

  7. Aug 19

    Episode 182: Big gains in grad rates for students facing homelessness

    For students experiencing homelessness, getting across the graduation stage can feel nearly impossible. But our graduation rate for these youth just jumped to 84%. On this week’s show, we dive into the real-world efforts making that happen, from connecting kids with after-school programs and basic necessities to providing one-on-one math tutoring at the local library. We’ll also share student success stories and much more!  New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast    -TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Doug: Hey, everybody, I'm Doug. That's Conor, and you're listening to the Bethel School District Presents podcast. We have a fantastic show for everybody this week, but before we get started, be sure and like, comment, subscribe, share with a friend. We'd love for you to share the show far and wide, just like Radio Tacoma 101.9 is doing, Saturdays at 2:00 PM. You can hear us there every weekend. And this week, we are talking about students who are experiencing homelessness and the hurdles they have to overcome to get to the graduation stage. And we have some amazing results to talk about. You're going to hear some stories and hear from some folks here that work very closely with those students. That's coming up in just a minute. But first, Conor, it's time for useless trivia. What do you got for us this week? Conor: It absolutely is, and summer's winding down, so I thought I'd take one last hurrah and give us a summer-ish-themed useless trivia. So, Douglas, did you know that the Popsicle was invented by accident by an 11-year-old? Doug: Really? Conor: It's true! In 1905, Frank Epperson mixed powdered soda flavoring with water and accidentally left it outside overnight with a wooden stirring stick in the cup. Happened to be an unusually cold night in the San Francisco Bay Area, and by morning, the drink had frozen around the stick. Epperson apparently tried it, he liked it, and began sharing the frozen treats with other kids. But here's the weird part: he waited nearly 20 years to do much about the idea. As an adult, Epperson began selling the treats and applied for a patent in 1923. In 1924, the patent for a "frozen confectionery" designed to be eaten by holding a stick—no plate, no fork, no spoon—he originally called the invention the "Epsicle," combining his name Epperson with icicle. His own children didn't like that; they reportedly started calling them "Pop's sicles," which inspired the name "Popsicle." Doug: How about that? Conor: And my source on that, 'cause I know you're about to ask... Doug: I'm a stickler. Conor: ...is Smithsonian Magazine. What about you, Douglas? What do you got this week? Doug: Well, I love that you took us back to 1905. My useless trivia isn't going to go back that far, but we will go back to the greatest era of all the eras: the '80s, Conor! 1982, when the US Border Patrol decided they were going to do a roadblock on US 1. That's the sole highway connecting the Florida Keys to the mainland, and they were checking vehicles for drugs and other things. This resulted in a traffic jam 17 miles long. And you know who didn't like that? The mayor of Key West, Conor. He seceded from the United States. That's right. Key West seceded from the Union and declared war on the United States. Before I go further, my source is CBS News. This actually happened. Key Westers literally attacked federal forces and naval officers, hurling volleys of stale Cuban bread, water balloons, and conch fritters. Exactly one minute later, the mayor surrendered to a US naval officer and promptly requested a billion dollars in foreign aid for post-war reconstruction. The whole stunt actually did work, and the blockade was removed from US 1. Conor: Wow, the world's shortest civil war. I love it! And not a violent one, so we love that. But I don't blame him, that kind of traffic jam would drive me nuts as well. Doug: Yeah, absolutely. And let's not be a traffic jam of nonsense getting in the way of what people came to listen to. Conor: Joining us today is friend of the pod, Darius Alexander. And Darius is back with a whole new title: he is now the Director of Equity, Access, and Community Engagement. And that title is the result of the merging of two of our departments: our Community Connections team and our Equity and Achievement team. Both of those departments do amazing, tireless work to remove barriers for our students. Doug: So, Darius, to talk about what that means, you actually grew up here in Bethel, and you've said before your elementary and middle school years were actually tough ones. What kind of barriers did you face as a kid, and how does your department make sure other kids aren't facing the same things? Darius Alexander: My primary barriers were really just like finding a place to belong, and just being transparent, from 2nd grade to about 11th grade, I was a kid that got made fun of a lot, just really had a hard time connecting. I like to say I was a good bad kid, but a lot of times that means you're stuck in the middle, and where do you really fit in? Grades are really important to me, but fighting to be popular was important to me, so it's really about that sense of belonging. And then also, just the nature of our world, my family is from the Deep South, my parents grew up in the civil rights movement, and so that was an adjustment of trying to figure out where do you fit in in a diverse, but still divided community also. Doug: Absolutely, that had to be tough. So what kind of work does your team do now to make sure that kids can find out about opportunities and get around the things that are in the way of them sitting in class and learning? Darius Alexander: One of the main things that I'm super proud of for our department is really working with parents, community members, and community organizations to help kids find something to connect to. Out in our area, we don't have the Boys & Girls Clubs and all those kind of things, and our staff, they do a—they do a lot of work and we have a lot of invested people in our buildings, but how do we provide more opportunities for kids to connect to their school communities? So we're able to bring in organizations to run after-school programs, to run weekend programs, to come in schools and do mentoring. So really just navigating those systems and trying to figure out how can we bring in more support has been amazing. Conor: Yeah, another thing that your department has been doing for a long time now is you have equity teams in every building. Can you tell us a little bit about what that is all about and what they're doing to help students? Darius Alexander: At a super high level, each school comes with its own community, own culture. So equity teams are really charged with identifying what that culture is, what's the school climate, and working with students to try to figure out what's working and what's not working, and really expanding the definition of equity and then also our efforts. So one thing I'm really passionate about is equity goes so much further than just the surface level of what we can see when kids walk into the building. So it's really the charge of the equity teams to try to figure out what are those things, what are the barriers for our students, and how can we help them win. Doug: That's really important work, and I think anybody that meets you would come away with the fact that you have a lot of pride in your work, in your team, and also in your community. You grew up here, you live here, and you've said community pride is something you actually want to see more of. Tell me about that. Darius Alexander: Growing up here, when I was younger, especially like in high school, our school was so connected. We didn't have social media and things like that that makes our kids' world bigger, which it's a great thing, but then also at the same time, I see just this sense of we lose that pride of showing up and feeling like we really belong to something. One thing I've been really passionate about and really trying to drive out in the community is, because of where we are, how do we get people to show up for our kids? How do we show our kids that, one, that they—that they matter? How do we show up and cheer these kids on so that they say, "My community takes pride in me as a human being," which then takes helps me take pride in my school, the street I grew up in, the neighborhood that I'm in, and our district as a whole. Conor: Yeah, and one way we can build that community pride is to teach the next generation. And recently, I heard an interview with you, and you said something that was kind of provocative. You said, "As adults, we don't always set a good example of how to handle conflict." What can we do to strive to change that? Darius Alexander: I think it's all about self-reflection. That's something I really try to push myself in. I'm—I'm very, very hard on myself, but I just think overall we have to stop and pause and say, "How am I showing up?" In every situation and every aspect of our lives, how am I showing up? And especially when it comes to dealing with young people, am I setting an example for them that's going to help them? I keep saying "win," but I mean, how are we going to help them succeed? How are we going to help them find value in themselves and see the contributions that they can make? And let's be completely real about the nature of our world right now. We all have our different backgrounds, our different opinions, and adults have really set the tone of, if you don't agree with me, we can't come together, we're going to argue. Our kids are seeing all of that, b

  8. Aug 12

    Episode 181: Forensics, fieldwork, and future healthcare heroes

    On this week’s show, you’ll meet some Bethel High School students who are getting a massive head start on their healthcare careers! We talk with four top “HOSA – Future Health Professionals” competitors and learn how they stepped out of their comfort zones, scored real-world experience, and found their future career paths. This is what happens when levy-funded programs give local students the hands-on opportunities they need to thrive. Thank you, voters! New episodes drop on Wednesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma, Saturdays at 2 p.m. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share with a friend! bethelsd.org/podcast    -TRANSCRIPT-- This transcript was automatically generated by Gemini from the original audio file. While it aims for high accuracy, it may contain minor discrepancies from the original audio. Conor: Hey everybody, I'm Conor, that's Doug, and you are listening to the Bethel School District Presents Podcast, and for the first time ever, some of you lucky folks are even listening to us on the radio. Doug: That's right! Saturdays at 2:00 PM, you can hear us on 101.9 Radio Tacoma. Thanks so much to their board for picking up our show. We look forward to introducing your listeners to the amazing staff and students in our little corner of Pierce County right here. Conor: And we have four of those amazing students joining us in just a few minutes. But first, Douglas, it wouldn’t be our show if we didn’t kick things off with a bit of useless trivia, so what do you got? Doug: Well, I just finished reading a book about one Chuck Yeager. What do you know about old Chuck? Conor: Love me some Chuck Yeager. The Right Stuff, he broke the sound barrier, right? Doug: He absolutely broke the sound barrier, but he had a huge career before and after that. Huge—my voice broke there a little bit! But I'm pretty excited about old Chuck here. At one point, when he was training in California before going to World War II, one of his instructors was one Jimmy Stewart. Conor: Well dang, that is a really interesting bit of useless trivia. Well done, Doug. Doug: Well, that is not it, of course, because, as it's me, this is going to be a Wikipedia page of useless trivia. Again, sourced from a book that I read. So, while he was in World War II flying his P-51 Mustang, he actually was the first person to shoot down a jet. Now, the P-51 is a propeller plane, Germany had invented jet fighter airplanes, and old Chuck said the first time that he saw a jet engine, he shot it out of the sky, which I thought was pretty cool and a good saying. Not only did he fly in World War II, not only did he break the sound barrier, but 30 years later, he flew missions in the Vietnam War. Can you believe that? Conor: That's a long time to be flying and shooting and doing all the stuff he was doing, but way to go, Chuck. Doug: Yeah, really amazing, and I love digging into the history around people that you think you know what they did, and it turns out they did a whole lot more. So, Conor, over to you. What is your useless trivia this week? Conor: Well, in honor of one of our great students that we're about to talk to, who is studying to be a criminal forensic scientist, I thought I'd go in that direction. So Douglas, did you know your ears are almost as unique as your fingerprints? Doug: That's a very nice compliment, thank you, Conor. Conor: Not you in particular! But while fingerprints are still the gold standard for identifying people, the shape of your outer ear is surprisingly distinctive. The curves and folds and little ridges on your ear, they develop before you're born and remain largely unchanged throughout your entire life. Researchers have actually studied ear recognition for decades, and some security systems and forensic investigators have even explored using ear shapes and occasionally ear prints left on things like windows or doors as a way to identify people. Isn't that fascinating? Doug: Never heard of that. Conor: I thought of ear prints really early on as you started talking, and I'm glad it came up at the end. What a bizarre thing. What's your source on that? Conor: So, my source on this one is the Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine on ear prints and forensic use. That's a mouthful. Doug: I saw that on your bookshelf. I was wondering why it was there. Conor: Yeah, I know. Light reading. Doug: Well, let's go meet some of those students from Bethel High School right now. Conor, we're going to pack up the microphones, and we'll be over there in just a second. Doug: Well, we are here at Bethel High School with four amazing soon-to-be seniors. We are chatting today with Madelynn, Joon, Marcella, and Kaydence, and these four ladies have done some pretty amazing things. Conor: They certainly did, and we are here talking all about HOSA. And if you aren't familiar with HOSA, think of it as the Olympic Games for future healthcare professionals. It's a massive international student organization that prepares high school and college students for careers in the healthcare industry through intense, hands-on academic and clinical competitions. Doug: And all the students at the table today that we're talking to placed in the top three in Washington State in their respective events. They are literally the best of the best. Conor: They absolutely are, and they're doing really cool things, too. So, Madelynn and Joon, your focus is forensic pathology, and you had a really cool thing. You secured an interview with a medicolegal death investigator for Pierce County. Tell us about that. Joon: Right. So, it basically started off one day. We really, really wanted some firsthand accounts to include in our tri-fold, which is what we were competing in, is displaying our tri-fold. And I just had the thought. We were in one of HOSA's meetings after school where it's just kind of a space for us to study and prepare for competitions, and I was like, "Why don't I just call and see if we can get in touch?" And so we stepped outside for a second, and I—at first I called Pierce County's just Sheriff's Office, and they referred me to Pierce County's Medical Examiner's Office. And they gave me the contact info for just, you know, a bunch of offices that I should email and just let them know what I'm doing, like, "Hey, we're just two high schoolers, and we really want to get in touch with some people that we really look up to." And just later that week, we got an immediate response from Ms. Sarah Pleshe. She's actually the lead, yeah, forensics leader of the whole team for Pierce County. And we sent her over a Google Doc full of different questions that we wanted to know from her, and she just edited her responses in, and it was really, really, really awesome. Doug: That is an amazing interview to get. I think it's also really good advice for other students to reach out and just ask, because you found out people do want to chat, especially with students, about what they do. I think that's really cool. Madelynn, what is it about death investigators that fascinated you? Madelynn: I feel like forensics usually gets a bad reputation due to it being so taboo, but me and Joon, honestly, we're really interested in forensics and death investigation as a whole to give clarification to grieving families and allow them to mourn in a positive way. Even if it's such a morbid thing, I would say it's a really beautiful thing as a whole because we're able to bring our community together. Doug: Well said. Conor: So, Kaydence, your event was respiratory therapy, and evidently you were so interested in this and got so hooked on it that you think you want to do that as a career now. What was it that was so special about that event that really hooked you? Kaydence: I think what was so special about this event that I did was doing hands-on stuff. I was really kind of bored with the studying on books and just like knowing exactly, like, all the procedures I have to do, but like getting to do the procedures like in person and hands-on was definitely so fun to me, and I was very interested. Doug: I really love that for you, that you found direction through this process. What were you thinking about as a career before this? Kaydence: Um, it was nursing, but it was mainly because I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew that I did want to be in the medical field. Doug: I love that. And this kind of narrowed down your focus, that's fantastic. My mom was a nurse for many, many years. It's a great, great profession. Conor: So Marcella, you took part in the life support skills. Can you tell us a little bit about what that was like for you? Marcella: Well, um, part of the life skill support I did, I manage the boys basketball team, and part of the life skill support was stuff similar I did in basketball—the CPR and the, like, nasal stuff and taping—so I had like an idea of what I was doing. Doug: That's really cool. So what made you want to become a sports manager to begin with? Marcella: Well, um, I tried to get over like my fear of like being around people and all that, and also I needed stuff to do, and the coaches really liked me, and I had fun, so I'm about to be in year three doing it. Conor: Why don't we go around the horn now and talk about what interested everyone initially in getting involved in HOSA. Joon, let's start with you. Joon: I was always interested in forensics and being a part of the medical field and just helping people out. And so when I saw something that gave me an outlet and gave me connections and opportunities to network with just people in my local area and compete and just show off what I know and what I'm capable of, I thought, "I really, really want to do this." My sophomore year, I definitely took a leap and went way out of my comfort zone, and I joined HOSA, and I definitely stuck with it, even when it got really hard, and it defin

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