Rams News & Views Transcriptions

RAMS News & Views Episode 34

0:02 
Welcome to Rams News and Views. I'm Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools. On Rams News and Views, we talk with students, staff and community members about the Rockford Public Schools, the impact our schools have on us and our community, and how our public schools support and enhance the places where we live and the activities that we enjoy. 
0:23 
The people who work for the Rockford Public Schools understand the immense responsibility that we have to work with our families, to support parents, and to ensure that our students have the skills and abilities needed to be successful today and tomorrow. Rams News and Views gives you a place to keep up with our school district and the ideas that shape public education. 
0:42 
Today I'm joined by Brian Phillips, director of bands at Rockford High School, and Nathan Palmer and Elise Clark, Rockford High School students, members of the Rockford High School Marching band and as I understand it, drum majors this year. That's correct. OK, so today we're talking about bands, specifically the marching band and the work that goes into creating a program and the lessons learned as part of a marching band. 
1:05 
So welcome to all three of you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So first, let's learn a little bit about you. Where did you go to elementary, middle, and high school? Elise, we'll start with you. I went to Valley View Elementary and then I went to North Rockford and like you said, I go to Rockford High School. OK, very good, Nathan. 
1:21 
I went to Knap Forest, which is an elementary school in the Forest Hills District, and I went to East Rockford Middle School and now the Rockford High School.Very good.Well, we're glad you're here. We're glad you left that district. So am I. So, and Mr. Phillips, how about you? 
1:36 
Elementary, middle and high school. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I I went to the Jennison school. Yeah, now still a fan our band program has a wonderful relationship with the Jenison Band program and so yeah, OK, we enjoy each other all the. Way through K12.Yes, OK. 
1:52 
Very good. All right, so let's turn to the band. When did you start playing in the band? Have you always played the same instrument? And why that instrument? Nathan, we'll start with you. So I started, as most people do, in 6th grade. I started on the Alto saxophone. 
2:09 
Now, the reason I chose this instrument is kind of interesting. I have seven older siblings, all of which. That's a lot of siblings. All of which either did choir or orchestra, now all. Of them did band. Nope. Now, I moved here when I was going into 6th grade, so 5th grade when I did a visit at East, I was on my way to the orchestra room, walking past the band room. 
2:38 
I heard them playing and I was like, I've never heard anything like that before.That is awesome.So I went in to talk to Miss Kilgore and my I wanted to play.I wanted to play a percussion because I was mainly playing piano at that point. 
3:01 
But my options were between clarinet, trombone and saxophone. Clarinet wasn't my thing. Trombone, my mother says, sounds like farts. Love you, mom. And so I was a big fan of The Simpsons. Lisa Simpson, the saxophone. 
3:18 
OK, very good. That's that is quite the story. How about you, Elise? I also started in 6th grade. I went to the north like trial thing to figure out what instrument to play. Tried about every single mouthpiece, tried percussion, tried everything in the books, and the euphonium was the only one I could make a noise on. 
3:35 
And my older brother, he was in band and he's three years older than me. He played tuba and I thought a mini tuba would be perfect. So, OK, very. Good.Well, that's good and have played it ever since. Played it ever since. OK, that's awesome. Mr. Phillips, what instruments do you did you start on Well? 
3:51 
I actually started on the saxophone and in 7th grade, band director said, hey, anybody want to play the baritone? We call it a euphonium. And I was like, I'll do it because whichever 7th grader and I, I thought I was bored or whatever. 
4:07 
So yeah, I'll try a new challenge and never really looked back since. OK, very good. Well, that's good. I played the baritone when I was growing up, so I had a brand new baritone in middle school that I got to use. So that was quite the thing. So as we continue kind of thinking through and thinking about the marching band here at Rockford High School, you've been director for many years, Mr. Phillips. 
4:29 
How many years exactly? As the head director at the high school, I think this is year 26.OK, Very. Good, yeah. And and so has the band experience changed over time? Significantly. In in what ways? 
4:45 
Absolutely. So we've always had a solid concert program and that persists and we still are very, very proud of that aspect of the program. But the marching program, when we first got here, it just didn't, we didn't do a lot. 
5:00 
It wasn't, it wasn't a priority of the students. And that's perfectly fine. You know, it served the community well for what it was. There's certainly nothing to complain about by any means. But as we started to do a little bit more and, and just challenge the marching band a little bit more, the students wanted to do more. So whatever we fed them, they ate basically. 
5:17 
So when we first started growing the program, we rarely competed. We went out occasionally, maybe once per season or something like that, but then we started going to watch MCBA and then they wanted to join MCBA and then we went and we visited BOA for two years in a row and then they wanted to join BOA and do those things. 
5:35 
So now we're perform all fall. We have 6 state championships. We have great showings at the national level. And the most significant portion to that people need to understand is that the students were in continue to be the driving force of what the marching band does. 
5:50 
This is not Miss Reynolds in my choice.This is we ask the students every year, do we want to continue? Do we want to push harder?Do we want to lay off?What do you want out of this program? And it's always accelerator on.OK, well that's very exciting.So originally the marching band was not part of MCBA. 
6:07 
No, no.Yeah, they would occasionally participate in a scholastic show, but not anything significant. And the Scholastic show differs from MCBA in what way? Scholastic shows are they're closer to like the MSBOA show. I mean, they're unlike the MHS AA, we don't have a governing body that you have this much time and all of the the teams are practicing and doing similar activities or similar amount of time or resources or anything like that. 
6:36 
So the scholastic programs, they're not, they're often not as involved certainly with with time. A lot of the bands that are maybe one night a week or maybe not even rehearsing at at night do that. There are less expectations of design, of depth, of visual, but some of the finest bands in the state perform scholastically or don't even perform in competitive circuits at all. 
7:03 
So it's scholastic. You you see the basic level of show, we would say without being insulting, because some of my dear friends and programs out there do wonderful things with it. And then MCBA, there is more expected a level, there may be a sophistication of design. 
7:20 
And then of course, BOA is the ultimate level there, where you're seeing bands from across the country that just have what seemed like endless resources and time to put into these shows. Yes they do, and some of those bands in BOA, for example, they have dedicated time during the school day for bands to practice in addition to their after school activities. 
7:42 
And and it's clearly a year round kind of thing focus for. 100% In fact, I think we can boast with pretty much accuracy or good accuracy that we are probably right there at the top of the bands that that rehearse the least to prepare for BOA. 
7:59 
In fact, we we, when we're compared to each other, I mean, it's not really about outscoring other bands or whatever, but we tend to place better than some bands that put up a lot more rehearsal time into it than we do. I mean, rarely, especially deep into the BOA, like the finals or even semifinals, do you find band programs that are out there competing at that level that A rehearse as little as we do, even though we have kind of a significant schedule. 
8:26 
The students might not believe that, but it gets way more significant than that. Or B, share students. We are very proud of our student athletes, student thespians, just we, we share students, a ton of students with other programs and are proud of that. Fact and we  we should be proud of that fact that we allow our students to be students in the high school. 100%. 
8:46 
So Elise and and Nathan, you, you heard Mr. Phillips talk about the investment of time and effort. My sense is you probably think you invest a lot of time and effort. I was up at the high school on Saturday and, and there you guys, I saw the, the percussion at one spot, the xylophones at another, the color guard in another spot. 
9:05 
And so so you were working hard on on the weekend. So what do you believe being in the marching band has brought to your high school experience here in Rockford? Nathan.I think having any sort of team experience is a value unlike any other. 
9:27 
You know, and it pushes you in a way that you wouldn't necessarily think to on your own because there's a bunch of other people coming together all supporting each other and all pushing you, You know, so any, any team, any team, not even sport is going to is going to do that for you, right. 
9:50 
I think specifically what, what band has helped me with is like the mental game, if that makes sense. You know, like, really like playing. I've played, I've played tennis here at Rockford. You know, it's a different kind of focus trying to play tennis than it is trying to perform, you know? 
10:10 
Mr. Phillips likes to say heart on fire, mind on ice, right? That's really it's, it really is true, you know, and, so what does that mean to you? Hard on fire, Mind on ice. So for me, that means like your hearts on fire, you are OK. 
10:30 
You're excited to perform, right? You're excited to put what you have out there. But your mind is on ice, right? You are constantly observant as to what's going on. You are able to make adjustments when needed. 
10:46 
You know, you're playing with passion, but also thinking intelligently. You know, very good. How about you, Elise? What's the being in the marching band brought to your high school experience? Yeah, I 100% agree with Nathan. I definitely think that it has provided a sense of like passion and just like joy that like can't come from any other performing art that I've tried. 
11:06 
And there's nothing quite like being on the field and performing under the lights around some of your closest friends. Vanda has brought me so many people that I don't think I would have met otherwise. And we've had so much fun, like both on the field together and off the field, and it's just really provided a family and a community that's unlike any other. 
11:22 
So when you 2 started in 6th grade, then your band experience, did you have a sense that that the marching band was where you wanted to go when when you got to high school? So I had actually quit from 3rd trimester of 7th grade, joined back third trimester of 8th grade, and I hadn't even considered marching band until I was in the high school. 
11:48 
Wow. OK, so walking in for that first rehearsal, so I was like, so. What changed your mind? To join back, well, I'd quit for a myriad of reasons. COVID was the biggest one. Just got my braces on. Never fun. 
12:05 
But I joined back because I really felt something missing. I don't know right now what that exactly that is, but I felt something was missing and when I joined back that hole was filled, you know, so it. 
12:21 
Feels like you're glad you you joined back up, Yes. How about you at least always wanting to be in the marching band? I mean, not exactly from the get go. When I was in 6th grade, I wasn't really thinking about that. I was just having fun playing in a chair with my friends. But like I mentioned my brother, he was in the marching band his freshman year. 
12:38 
And at that point, I was in fifth grade and my mom brought me to states to go see them. And so I was, you know, of course, focused as as one student with their mom would be when their mom is cheering their heart out. So and I was watching the show and I was just like, whoa, this is so cool. And that was the first time I really ever truly watched the marching band and understood what it was. 
12:57 
And from there I was like, I want to do marching band.I'm so excited to do it.And I just foot on the brake or foot on the accelerator. OK, that's good.Not brake.So Mr. Phillips, each year the marching band develops a new show. So, so each year it's a it's a different thing, right? 
13:12 
So who's responsible for developing the show and and how much time does that take? Well, I'm, I'm glad you asked this question. I think a lot of people don't really know what happens behind the scenes, maybe even some of our own students and parents. So we have a an initial design team of about 7 to 10 people. 
13:32 
It varies. That includes our program coordinator, drill designer, music designer, sound engineer, guard coordinator, visual coordinator, percussion coordinators, and then of course the directors, they let us on it as well. We first meet in January to discuss just kind of which direction we think we might want to head in terms of just style, feel of the band. 
13:52 
Is this going to be a big beautiful band? Is this going to be aggressive or what? What direction do we want to go in terms of design? And then we bring to the table just some musical or visual inspirations that we just might be able to grow something from. 
14:09 
So it could venture anywhere from, hey, I really love this piece of music, what could we do with this and grow around it? Or I like this visual idea, what could we grow around it? And so this year we had some music ideas and we had some visual ideas, and nothing was really hitting home until our program coordinator brought up, for example, these Moroccan tiles. 
14:28 
And so we just started talking about colors and patterns and all these different things. And then music of the North African region that just really seemed to hit home. So that tends to happen at that meeting. We walk away from there, our program coordinator gets busy working with different ideas and color palettes and things like that, and we start to build a show. 
14:46 
We the music's written first, the drill is then written to the music, flags are designed, props are designed .And it really doesn't stop until about a week and a half before nationals where we say no more changes and then we just clean what we have and go. 
15:03 
So it feels like the the design comes first and then the music. Or is it? It really can vary. Yeah, it depends. There have been years where there was a year, I don't remember what. I'm terrible with remembering exactly which years it was, but I, I fell in love with this, this Beethoven 7th, 2nd movement. 
15:25 
They used it a lot in The King's Speech movie back in 2000. Now to say 11 maybe. And it was just, I mean, it's a gorgeous piece of music to begin with. And then I heard another marching band do it. And I was like, I really want to do that someday. 
15:40 
So we brought that to the table. And then we built an entire show around that piece of music. And it can vary. We looked at doing from various operas that we've done what was our show last year. 
15:57 
No transparency, Yeah. Transparency. So last year it was based off from completely this idea of, of artwork and then we had to try to fit music around it. So it can be quite often the visual fitting around the music or the music fitting around the visual. Just depends on which theme kind of pops into our heads or which one strikes the team.eam. 
16:18 
So the MCBA and the BOA kind of marching band experience, it's, it's not kind of a typical halftime show. It is a show in and of itself. Correct. Yeah, If we were doing halftime shows, we'd be out there, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, you know, whatever we could. 
16:39 
And I'm sure some people would love it as what our students. But you're right that it is more of an artistic engagement at that level. Yeah, it's really, it really is about combining both the music and the visual essence of what you see to create this experience. 
16:56 
Yes, that is really overwhelming. It really is.It really is.So Mr. Phillips kind of talked about how shows developed. So you 2 are the drum majors this year. So why don't you tell me about this show? 
17:12 
What's it called and and what's it supposed to represent? Elise. Well, the show I can't really pronounce. So it's Liege. Yeah, it's felt a little funny, but like Mr. Phillips says, based on rocket tiles, one thing I really like about the show this year is part of our music comes from the Prince of Egypt. 
17:30 
And that's always been one of my shows that I've liked growing up. And I remember watching in my grandma's basement all the time. So I feel like it's just a style that we personally, Nathan and I haven't gotten to partake in quite a lot. And I just think the sort of North African feel is really fun and like bouncy and it just adds a new level of drive. 
17:51 
OK, how about you, Nathan? What do you think about this show this year? I think this show is great. I kind of noticed with the shows we've been having this last couple years, we've kind of been moving around like the Mediterranean, you know, like starting, starting like France like our freshman year and like Italy our sophomore year, like kind of like a Babylon sort of feel this year. 
18:10 
Now we're into North Africa. But I mean, I don't really have much to say besides I'm, I'm really excited for us to, to get this out there with some, some good competitions, you know? So talk to me about drum major. What, what does that mean? 
18:26 
My, my sense is that  you don't play an instrument right in the marching band. The the three-year, you're both seniors, correct, correct. And so the three years before this, have you played an instrument in the band? I played baritone for my three years and I was a section leader last year and this year I decided to try out for drum major. 
18:46 
OK. How about you, Nick? I played Alto. Sax my freshman year, Barry Sachs my sophomore year, and last year I was a drum major. OK.And so So how are drum majors picked? Who picks them? Does Mr. Phillips pick them? Or the vote of the band? How does this happen?It's a whole process. 
19:03 
We have to fill out an application, we have to answer essay questions, get recommendations from teachers. And then there is an audition process of two rounds of that. I'm doing a sort of things and it eventually comes down to an interview on in the, in the second round of the auditions with them. 
19:23 
And I mean, he could probably tell you how much weight all that stuff bears. And I don't decide that. OK, Lisa, what made you want to be a drum major? I've always thought it was super cool. I remember ever since freshman year, like meeting the drum majors and being told watch the hands, like watch the drum majors, like, and I kept remembering like asking my sexual leaders, what do we watch the hands for? 
19:47 
And I was just confused. And once I finally got it and I understood sort of like the purpose and like how much control they have to have over the entire show to keep everything together. I thought that was very interesting. And something else I just really liked about it is the leadership position. The drum majors, my freshman year 1, specifically, the first time I was learning drill, I had no idea what I was doing. 
20:07 
And all these seniors were marching behind me and I was just so overwhelmed that I was crying behind my sunglasses. And one of the drum majors came over, saw I was crying, and just stopped and like, asked quietly, like, would you like some help? Do you like, know what you're doing? I was like, no, I don't know what to do. And so he helped me figure out where my sets were, like just walked me through that. 
20:26 
And for the rest of year, those drum majors were just reaching out socially and like being friends and also leadership wise, like helping get the band together and just keep everybody on track and also just form a family. And that was something that just continued to inspire me throughout the past three years, so. So do you miss playing an instrument in in the marching band or not? 
20:45 
Yes. I think concert season provides a lot of the musicality for me. I really enjoy concert season and playing like a different instrument both on the field and like off. I enjoy concert season, like the euphonium better there. One thing I do really miss though, is the visual aspect of like marching across the field with all of your friends around you, doing all the choreography and like hitting all your your marks. 
21:07 
So that's something that I've always really enjoyed. So, Mr. Phillips, how important are drum majors in the overall scope of a marching band? So ultimately important, but maybe not for the reasons that you would think. I mean, we can really train anybody, to wave their hands in time and, and make sure that the band has something to, to look at the drum major's position much more so as a position of servitude. 
21:31 
We, we need to find 4234 individuals unique to the band that are willing to serve the band, to be there for the band. Whatever the band needs above their own personal desires or, or, or needs has to come first. Good leaders, people that care about other people, people that care about improvement and just open minded thinkers. 
21:55 
And so it's we've got phenomenal students all over the high school and especially in the music department. And to narrow it down to two, 3-4 people is, is really, really, really difficult. But people rise to the top and it, you know, a lot of times our choices are just presented to us like this. 
22:13 
This makes sense. So you have multiple platforms for the drum majors to stand on and and you share, you kind of rotate among them. Not quite. We do in certain rehearsal settings, but our main positioning is Mia at the head podium, our junior Mia, sophomore Xavier, and then Elise to my to my left and right backside line. 
22:50 
Mia Sorry, I I realized that podcast you can't really show visuals very well. Yeah, but that stems from experience largely. So Nathan is our only returning drum major this year. So he has a year of experience under his belt, which is why he is head. And all of us share the responsibility of conducting. 
23:08 
And ultimately we're on equal levels of like authority and leadership. But we look to Nathan to keep us like in time, like we're looking at him to make sure all four of us are staying together. And then also if there's an adjustment that needs to be made on the fly, Nathan's the one that does that and we follow him. So Mia, our junior is on the back this year, so she can get some experience, I guess, being on the Rays platform and also with our metronome because running the metronome can be a lot sometimes. 
23:34 
So she has a year of experience there. And Xavier, like you said, is on Nathan's, right and he will be on the back next year. So he can get that same experience Mia's getting. And both of them will eventually be in Nathan's position in the next two coming years. Well, it sounds very complicated. 
23:51 
It's a lot, yeah. It is a lot.So I have two questions. One is, do you ever get tired of the metronome? Yes, yes, I hear it in my sleep. So.I can't imagine cuz I'll go on my way to the high school, I'll hear it going. When I'm going over to a soccer practice, I'll hear it going. 
24:08 
I'll come and watch you guys and I hear it all the time and it is a steady beat. It really is. And then the second, is a euphonium the same as a baritone or is it different for? For this conversation, we're just going to say it's the same instrument. There is a technical difference. 
24:25 
There is, yeah. If you want to science out for a second, the the euphonium is, well, we'll start with a baritone. It's more similar to a trombone. It's a cylindrical instrument, which means from the lead pipe until the start of the belt, the flare of the bell, after the valve casings if you would, the the pipe doesn't change, so it eliminates overtones and you get a little bit of a brighter, crisper sound. 
24:48 
Most people have never seen a baritone unless you've seen like a British brass band or in in in Europe. They use them a lot for different things, but you don't typically see them in bands, right? But what most of us play are euphoniums, and that is a conical instrument which gradually gets bigger from the lead pipe. 
25:08 
It provides more overtones, which gives it just a little bit of a fuller, darker tone compared to like the trombone which has a little bit more bite. Interesting. Well, I think I'm more bare tone. I'm a brighter. Person. There you go. As opposed to a darker person. Well, I want to thank all three of you for coming in and talking with me today are the Rockford High School Marching Band. 
25:29 
This podcast will air on the 15th.You guys have your competition, a first competition on the 13th and then I think you have have right away a band of America on the 20th.Yeah, we go to a regional in Toledo. OK. And then from there you go to several more over the course of September and October and hopefully ending up at Ford Field in Detroit in November and hopefully getting your 7th state championship. 
25:55 
That's the goal. OK, Very good. Well, I'd like to thank Elise and Nathan and Mr. Phillips for talking with me today about the Rockford High School Marching Band. On the next Rams News and Views, we'll talk with Lisa Abram and Rockford High School Student council officers about our high school student council. 
26:11 
So until then, this is Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools, thanking you for listening to Rams News and Views. 

RAMS News and Views - Episode 33

0:02 
Welcome to Rams news and Views. I'm Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools. Rams news and views provides insight on the Rockford public Schools, our Rockford, MI community, and issues and ideas surrounding public education. Our school district contributes in ways large and small to the success of our Rockford community. 
0:21 
Through our academic programs, athletics, the arts, our community programs, we create opportunities for our students, families and community to find a place and to come together. Rams News and Views shares the stories of the Rockford Public Schools and our impact on the lives of our students, families and community 
0:37 
Today I'm joined by Matt Zokoe, principal at Lakes Elementary, Chris DeYoung from Rockford High School, and Mike Ram, assistant Superintendent of instruction.Welcome to the three of you. Thank you. Thank You for having us. Today, we're talking about a bond proposal that will be on the November ballot here in the Rockford Public Schools that if approved by the voters would generate $230 million in revenue for buildings, buses and technology in our district. 
1:03 
But before we begin that conversation, let's learn a little bit about our guests. What elementary, middle, and high school did you attend growing up? And we'll start with you, Mr. DeYoung. All right well, born and raised in Rockford, haven't left. So I started out at Belmont Elementary, spent a lot of time there, and then I was actually in this building. 
1:22 
It was just 6th grade at the time, Sheridan Trails what it was called, and then the rest of my middle school was bouncing around a little bit as they shifted buildings and then ended up at the high school. OK, very good. And you graduated what year? Graduated 1998, just a couple years ago. Just a couple of years ago, Mr. Zokoe. I grew up on the West side of Grand Rapids. 
1:40 
I went to West Side Christian for my K through 8 opportunity and then on to Calvin Christian High School with the same elementary students. So it's one of those things where tight knit community matters and moving into the tight knit community of Rockford exemplified exactly what I grew up with. 
1:58 
So it's awesome to see that balance of what education can look like with a community around it. Very good. And Mr. Ram? I am from the east side of the state to, town called Frankenmuth, and so I went to List Elementary, EF Britt Miller Middle School, and then Frankenmuth High School, which Frankenmuth and  maybe different than Rockford, maybe similar to Mr. Zokoe. 
2:21 
I graduated with about 120 students and so a proud Eagle for sure. Very good. And you had a little bit of a connection to Rockford in that there was a football coach at Frankenmuth High School when you were there. Yeah, the former varsity football coach in Rockford was my football coach in Frankenmuth. 
2:38 
So worked out in a cool way and you know, life happens.I went to Michigan State afterwards and my student teaching on the West side landed a job and he was one of the first people to reach out to say congratulations. That's very awesome. OK, So today's discussion highlights 3 bond proposal initiatives that if the bond ballot proposal passes in November, would be part of our bond proposal. 
3:03 
And Mr. Zokoe, you've been a principal now at 2 buildings in our district that have had neither air conditioning or stand alone gyms. stand-alone gyms at our four elementary buildings that do not have it. The bond proposal would add air conditioning to all buildings that do not have it, primarily our 6 remaining elementary buildings and stand alone gyms at our four elementary buildings that do not have that. 
3:25 
So first, what would the impact of air conditioning be on the elementary student and staff experience? Yeah, that is a great question. When we have students and staff in a building that is a little too warm, it does make it rather difficult for that full active engagement that we're hopeful for all of our participants. 80° outside can easily be 85, 90, 95 within the building. 
3:52 
Fans are constantly running. It makes it difficult for just paying attention when you are hot and a little too hot to take on that day. At Cannonsburg Elementary, it wasn't uncommon to see a multitude of fans running to just move and circulate the air. 
4:10 
Lakes Elementary it wasn't uncommon to see a teacher even trip over their air conditioner on the floor as we call them, because those fans are running constantly just trying to move that air. Having that constant state of feeling I can do this is awesome. 
4:26 
Red faced, sweating and melting in your class trying to take a test, trying to get ready for N.W.E.A assessing at the beginning of this school year is always rather difficult, so it helps us. So you were not only a principal now at Lakes, but you were also a teacher there at one point. 
4:45 
So when you were a teacher, you, I'm assuming you used a variety of fans in your classroom. That is most definitely the case. My classroom settings were in fourth or fifth grade, so I was in the upper wing with bigger bodies, and we called them little batteries in the room. We did so much of everything that we could to cool the room off. 
5:05 
It didn't matter how many fans you had running, it still was too hot. Too hot to the point where we would do our matters. Science lessons, understanding how the state of matter works, and we could melt things right on the windows. 
5:21 
When we understood what glue or crayons melting temperatures were in a classroom setting, it really talked about it's a little too hot in here, so it is a warm space to be in a building when you have no climate control. And, and from your perspective, you know, we have kind of snow days in the winter, which we always view as disruptive to the educational process. 
5:47 
But the the hot days, even if it's only 85 outside, can still be a disruption to the learning environment. Yes, our buildings were built well. As we know, Lakes Elementary is 73 years old this year. Cannonsburg Elementary is one of the originals as well, made of brick mortar, all the great things that keep a structure standing. 
6:09 
But it's also what you can build a brick oven out of. And they get hot. And we don't have the ability to open windows and doors after school to cool it off. That air gets trapped. And it makes it tough to say, OK, this is OK, but that building's age, for us, that is the difficulty. 
6:25 
And seeing it in two schools, seeing it in a classroom, it is a challenge. So air conditioning would aid us in the months where it's warm, but also there's a impact with only having one space for the gym and the cafeteria. 
6:46 
So we have 4 elementary's currently and Lakes is one of them that doesn't have a separate gym and cafeteria space. So. So, how would that impact the building to have a separate space for the gym and the cafeteria? That's always a great question that we can come across because people want to know what can you do different. 
7:03 
For us, it's scheduling. We have the opportunity to schedule within our day at a more consistent rate. We can have specials which would impact not only PE using a gym space, but art, music and steam operating within the day, keeping everybody busy and going and using a different multi purpose space or the cafeteria for cafeteria purposes. 
7:27 
It's something that we've never had, so we dream big about it as we see our peers taking on scheduling challenges and opportunities with it. They're able to have a little bit more free flowing day for their students and it allows their students to have that regularity and our teachers to understand where to go within the day as opposed to pausing and then getting back into that instructional time. 
7:48 
So currently at Lakes, your gym teacher, your PE teacher has to take a approximately 2 hour break during the middle of the day and, and so how does that impact her schedule and how does it impact you as you try to schedule gym experiences for all of our students? 
8:05 
Yeah, it's one of those things where we try to get creative. She runs a few different things. She does mileage club, she helps with other various activities, but it also goes into our art, our music and our steam. We also have to pause them for two hours as well. 
8:20 
So we look at a group of teachers that pause within the day can be tough and it's what do I feel it? We've got great opportunities, but we'd love to be more consistent with our educational programming throughout the entirety of the day. Because currently gym is kind of paired with art and music and steam and, and so a grade level will go kind of divide between those four areas over the course of an hour and when you have to pause one of them at that correspondingly means you have to pause the others as well you. 
8:51 
Got it. And it's one of those things, we're in that pause, we start to figure out, well, what can we do? We would like to just continue that programming for our students. It just allows for so much more. Our schedule is such a puzzle. We have instructional opportunities within the day where we have pull out for intervention that is all built around that schedule. 
9:11 
And it's hard to pause that within the day. Or can we continue it? Our lunchtime is spread out. We can't keep it tight. There's just so many little puzzle pieces that we forget with just something that a gymnasium in a cafeteria can add to the body of the day. 
9:27 
Very good. So Mr. Ram, the bond proposal identifies that we would expand hands on learning in our district. The last bond proposal also identified that. So what did we do in this area through the 2019 bond? Yeah, that's a great question. 
9:43 
I think there's great value for experiences that students have in our district. And we believe that, you know, student engagement and interest can be increased by providing opportunities where they get to experience their learning, right. And so one of the big pieces from the previous Bond was a real focus on STEAM And so science, technology, engineering, arts and math and how we can have students have experiences throughout our DK through 12 scope and sequence. 
10:16 
So you'll see in our district a lot of programming at the middle school that was in in its infant stages before the Bond. So we have robotics that are there. We have some infusion of some CAD, some just lots of different experiences at the in an elective way at the middle school. 
10:38 
But I would say the biggest impact that we've had has been at the elementary when it comes to STEAM. Over the past two years, we've been able to expand a special for every single elementary student one day per week and and every single building. And so that has been really significant. 
10:55 
It's an expensive program. It takes a lot of equipment to have a STEAM experience, and so the bond has allowed us to do that as well as renovate some of the rooms that the students are in. And so through DK through 8th grade, our STEAM program has been really strong at the high school. 
11:12 
We've had computer science and some robotics classes and some engineering classes. And So what the Bond has also, the previous bond has also allowed us to do, is to begin construction on a space at the Rockford Freshman Center that would house our STEAM programming and really kind of move into bringing that into ADK through 12 scope, scope and sequence. 
11:35 
So if a student is interested in that type of programming and has those rich experiences, we can extend that all the way through their time. So that's been the big feather in the cap of the district. In addition, the district has renovated our culinary programs and the kitchens and some of those spaces you've seen the Creative Teaching and Learning Center on the West side of Rockford High School. 
11:58 
That is all about hands on inquiry. And so there's definitely a lot of touch points where it's been where it's happened. So we've had an emphasis on kind of hands on learning, getting students involved throughout our bond proposals. What would we do in the area of hands on or career exploration with this 2025 bond? 
12:18 
I think that's the next big focus, right? So the student achievement in our district continues to rise. Our core content areas are strong all the way through. There's fantastic opportunities for college credit and a new focus for us is really ensuring, especially at the secondary level, that kids have an opportunity to take classes in a course in a pathway, if you will. 
12:40 
And so you know that Mister Deyoung here has a digital communications or beyond the rock program. And so maybe, you know, if a student wants to go into media, there's an there's opportunity there. However, in this bond, what we envision is the construction of some a part of our high school that is directly focused on a variety of career pathways. 
13:00 
So when students take an elective class, say a business class or an engineering class, or you know, an art class or cooking class, it can perhaps number one, have depth. We can have additional classes because of the space, but #2 it might even lead to a certification. 
13:17 
I can see us having building on our Health Sciences programming right now and having a doctor's office in a new place. And so where we have students that are participating in being physical or physical therapy or being a nurse practitioner or those types of experiences. 
13:34 
So we want to bring that outside world to our kids, let them have experiences that they might not know about and hopefully peak their interest about moving forward. So one of the things that some people might argue is that the Kent ISD has a Career Technical Education Center, but one of the things that we know is that many of our students don't take advantage of that because they have to travel down to the Kent ISD. 
13:57 
And also sometimes it's hard to get into those programs at the Kent ISD. So, so having some complimentary programming here at Rockford High School would help our students, give them additional opportunity and not have to have them leave our campus, I think. One of the biggest goals of high school is to have kids inquire and hope about what their future might be as well as be prepared. 
14:19 
The ISD does a fantastic job for having kids think about post secondary preparedness. But you're exactly right, it doesn't afford all of our kids with their schedules, be it, you know, around their curriculum, but even maybe sometimes they are co-curricular or to have that opportunity. 
14:35 
So we do want to bring elements of what's happening at the county level to Rockford Public Schools. And also, I would say diversify those experiences as well too.So, Mr. Deyoung, I've told community members that are beyond the rock television and video production classes have been wildly successful. 
14:53 
How successful have they been? That's awesome. It's been just great to see what the students can do when you put something in front of them. But yeah, they've had some great successes. They've been recognized as the high school Television station of the Year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for 17 different years, and they've gotten 11 in a row, which has been pretty neat. 
15:11 
They've gotten some awards for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and some student production awards, which is essentially kind of like a student Emmy, same company that does the Emmy productions. We've done a lot of live streaming, especially when we went through COVID, we did quite a bit of live streaming, but we've continued on that. 
15:27 
So we got recognized by the NFHS a little bit as well. Thanks, Mr. Springer, on that. Just kind of spearheading doing a lot of live streaming for sports and the MHSA and that kind of a thing. And then probably one of the best parts is to watch the students like go out in the industry. So you know, you'll turn on a TV monitor and there's a student that you had in class, you know, they're behind the scenes or in front of the camera for some. 
15:47 
It's just a good growing experience. So kids have done some neat things so. A lot of success in our program, but some would argue, and I might be one of them, that our actual facilities are not world class. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I would. They were. And I think, you know, that's when we first built it. 
16:03 
Everything when I was a student back there, it was like, man, this is state-of-the-art. This is new. This is incredible, but you know, 30 some years later some of those things get a little outdated and you know, we've tried to do the best we can with the space and be innovative and like how could we do that? But you know, when you're broadcasting out of storage closet still 30 years later, it's a little tougher just from an infrastructure standpoint. 
16:21 
So I think that the kids and everybody in the district have helped us to, we do the best we can with some great opportunities and great facilities. We've got some stuff we're super thankful for. But as we move forward, we're like, man, if we want to be kind of on the cutting edge of things, we want more opportunities for kids and there's a lot of opportunities to expand, so. 
16:38 
So, So what would new facilities or new opportunities for Beyond the Rock and the video production group look like and and what you can you envision if this 2025 bond passes?Yeah, yeah, we've got lots of ideas we'd love to see. 
16:55 
Essentially we'd love to see the program have like a just a state-of-the-art television facility that would rival maybe a small market television station. We'd love to expand some of things we're currently doing, make them even better. So like the podcasting that we're doing now, we'd love to have some, you know, different podcasting rooms and voice over recording. 
17:12 
We've always talked about radio broadcasting and we've been kind of working on that a little bit. Currently we're looking into weather. So we've been kind of consulting on some weather and being able to broadcast that. We've had some successful student meteorologist in the field, which has been neat. And then just kind of interconnecting all of it in one almost like interconnected media hub. 
17:29 
So everything is kind of connected with what our students are doing. So we have an executive crew with like a sports department, a news department essentially. We want to give them like cutting edge what they would experience if they went into the industry or they went into this at a college level. And so we feel like from a foundational standpoint, we can provide that from the content and the curriculum and everything that they're getting. 
17:48 
And then from a standpoint of infrastructure, we just think that if we had that ability, it would be a huge blessing and we could do so much more. So part of the bond would be kind of a bricks and mortar thing creating, as you said, kind of this small market television studio. 
18:06 
And part of it would be for equipment as well. I'm assuming that video production equipment's cheap, right? Yeah. That's right. Yeah, Couple bucks. We're fine. We'll be, we'll be totally good there. Just a few dollars. So the the equipment that you use, what is the equipment that you use? 
18:21 
Yeah. So we would of course, you know, want to upgrade all of that and stuff. And so there is, you know, when you get to industry standard things, so such as your your cameras that you have in studio, you know, you know, thousands of dollars for these cameras and the lenses that you put on them, But they're going to give the students the same gear that they would be using if they went to a local station. 
18:39 
Also, some of the infrastructure of, you know, we'd love to be able to be a central hub for broadcasting. So if let's say we can have a fiber connection out to a field somewhere and there's a game that at that hub, we could have our main Control Center and in that spot we can control the cameras out there and we could have students on location. 
18:55 
But then we could have students kind of in that central media hub that could actually direct from there and call follow their cameras and things like that. So there's a lot of that kind of especially when it gets down to the live streaming function that yeah, the quite a bit of technology upgrade and obviously radio broadcasting brings in a whole another set of different elements to that. 
19:13 
So the technology would be a huge component of that as well, that would be great. The three of you have been around our district for quite a while. Mr. Deyoung probably has been here the longest since he grew up in our district. But but part of our district's history has been having a bond every five to seven years because the we pay off some bonds and then we ask our community to  keep the rate the same and, and that would generate additional revenue for us. 
19:40 
So, so as we look back over the last, you know, 20 to 25 years, we've had bonds every five to seven years. Mr. Ram, I noticed at our Back to School staff event you were recognized for having 25 years here in the district. 
19:56 
It goes fast. It does go fast. And so you've been around the district, Mr. Zokoe. You've been here with us for how long now? I've got 19 years, 20 years in the district. OK, and and Mr. Deyoung, you've been here. 20 years in district and then a little bit as a little scrapper. 
20:14 
So, so over the course of time, you guys have seen some significant improvements in the district based on what the bonds have been able to do. As you look back over previous bonds, what would be a highlight for you as some of the previous bonds, Mr. Ramm? 
20:30 
Yeah, I think so. Two things stand out to me, and I would say there are many for sure. Just generally when you look around their district, the bond impact is significant. So I know these guys are going to talk about some as well. 
20:46 
But I would say too, that stand out to me #1 is the safe the school safety factor in the past bonds and the future bond? School safety continues to be a priority. So there's been construction of vestibules that limit access, there's been door locking pieces, there's been window film, there's been just general architecture and construction. 
21:08 
So mindful and many of the bonds is the school safety piece. So that that is one that is significant. I would say generally speaking. Maybe the other part is this having been on some discussions where you know, you're, we're talking about budget and we understand that the budget is dovetailed the general budget with maybe other ways in which schools are funded and being able to see how bonds impact student experiences directly. 
21:36 
So you know, instead of saying out of our per pupil allowance from the state, we have to replace a roof, we're able to use bond funds. Those monies then can go directly to programming for students. And really that's what we want. We in Rockford, we want escalated experiences. 
21:52 
We want to have innovative programming for students and the Bond complements our general budget and allows us to do that in a variety of ways. So I'm purposely not pointing to one of them because I believe there's many things that are indirectly impacted that are all student learning focused by the Bond approvals. 
22:10 
Mr. Zokoe, has anything come to your mind? It definitely does. When I started in this district, I was in a portable classroom and I was in a little bit of the playground space of my school at Lakes Elementary. That being said, we were able to be responsive. These bonds allow us to respond to the meeting challenges of our students, opportunities to grow and do more. 
22:32 
And specifically when I think about it, Lakes has gone through paint changes. We've changed the paint, updated that. That might sound simple, but it's huge for our students. We've added new carpet. We've changed furniture and the way in which we learn. We've added new technology to the classroom, again, all through the bond and it allows our students to understand these changes are part of it. 
22:54 
No more toes and rows in doing that aspect, we have teaching and learning that comes to life because of these bonds. One of the things that I always connected to too, was I had a sense of community. When I was able to move into the building, we expanded the building. I was able to join, my students could join. 
23:12 
We weren't left outside to do what we needed to out there. So the bond allowed us through that time to do so many things every five years. Yes, it's it is a great thing. Mr. Deyoung. Yeah, I think for me, it's just neat that it's, I feel like this community is so focused on what is best for the community and the kids. 
23:31 
And to me, you just kind of keep seeing that. So when a bond like that goes through, I think it's neat to see like how supportive everybody is. And so and like Mr. Ram said, it's hard sometimes to pick specifics because there's a lot of different things. You know, from my perspective, of course, I see some Beyond the Rock stuff, which has been great. You know, we'll have, we'll have guest tours come in from different schools and they're like, we've heard about your program, could you tell us about it? 
23:51 
Could you show us? It's one of our favorite things to do. And they and they leave after a tour like that. And we just have the sense of pride. And there's also just this thankfulness. Like that's really neat that we get to do these things and we have these opportunities because of the community supporting that, you know, and we've have former students that are now like news directors, broadcasters, they'll come in sometimes and they'll look at what we're doing and what we're working with and they're like, Oh my gosh, we didn't have this at our TV station, you know, So it's it's neat, you know, just to see the opportunities that things like that can afford the kids down the road and things like, you know, air conditioning. 
24:21 
I also was in a portable my first year in Rockford Public Schools, and I remember a day it was 98° and really hot. And it's hard to focus and concentrate. And I know Mr. Ram at one point had brought up just about all the things that go into the basics that allow students a platform for success. It's hard to concentrate when you're really hot in a in a room. 
24:39 
But now, hey, I've got some air conditioning, I have gym space, so I can participate in that activity. And then like Mr. Ram said, it frees up money to innovate and to keep moving things forward. So I don't know how through the years as an as a community member, as a teacher, as a parent with five kids in the district, I've always been just proud of our community and how they come to support that because it's so important and we get to see the day-to-day of it with the students and the and the staff. 
25:01 
We do and it's, it's very exciting when you walk in our in our schools, in our classrooms and, and see the things that our community has supported over the years. And so that's why we will come to our community this November with a bond proposal. More information is on our district website. 
25:17 
And if you have additional questions, you can always reach out to me here in the Superintendent's office. I want to thank Mr. Zokoe and Mr. Ram and Mr. Deyoung for talking with me today about the projects that have been identified. 3 of the projects that have been identified in the 2025 bond. There are other items highlighted on our Rockford Public Schools website where you will find a link to more bond information on the next Rams News and Views. 
25:39 
We will talk all things marching band as our Rockford High School Marching band season begins and we look forward to having that conversation. So until then, this is Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools, thanking you for listening to Rams news and views. 

RAMS News and Views - Episode 32

0:01 
Welcome to Rams news and Views. I'm Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools. Rams news and views provides insight on the Rockford public Schools, our Rockford, MI community, and issues and ideas surrounding public education. Our school district contributes in ways large and small to the success of our Rockford community. 
0:21 
Through our academic programs, athletics, the arts, our community programs, we create opportunities for our students, families and community to find a place and to come together. Rams News and Views shares the stories of the Rockford Public Schools and our impact on the lives of our students, families and community. 
0:37 
Today I'm joined by Shannon Ollett, principal at Edgerton Trails Elementary, Jen Donovan, a teacher at Edgerton Trails Elementary, and Brandy Berta, parent in our school district. So welcome to all three of you. Thank you. So today we're talking about the start of school, which is less than two weeks away, and what we can do to help our students and our parents start the school year well. 
0:59 
But before we begin, let's learn a little bit about each of you. What elementary, middle and high school did you attend growing up? We'll start with you, Miss Donovan. Good morning, thanks for having me. I am an east side of the state girl. I went to Marie C Graham Elementary School and then I went to Middle School South and then Lance Cruise High School. 
1:21 
OK, so all in Lance Cruise School District. And that was my first job, too, in Lance. Oh, really? Yeah. So that was great. OK, so how long have you been a teacher? Here in Rockford, 15 years, 27 total. OK, very good. And what buildings have you taught at? I started at Canonsburg and then went to Belmont and then followed Mrs. Olette to Edgerton trails. 
1:41 
OK, we were trying to separate YouTube but evidently it didn't work. Nope. Can't be done. Miss Olette, where did you go to? Elementary? Midland High School. I am a Rockford Ram. I went to Valley View Elementary starting in second grade, then N Rockford Middle School which is now the Freshman center, and then Rockford High School which is North Rockford Middle School and I am a graduate of Rockford. 
2:04 
So your middle school was at the freshman center? Yes, that was our junior high, but it. Was called a junior high at this. Point. Yes, it was. And then you went to high school at what is now N Rockford Middle School. Correct. OK, very good. How many in your graduating class? 280. 
2:20 
OK, very good. We're a little bigger than that now. We are a little bit bigger. My first teaching job was also at Valley View and my and my own kids went to Valley View, OH. That's awesome. Very good. Miss Berta, How about you? I grew up down the road in Lowell and attended Runzman Riverside Elementary, which is now the administration building in Lowell, and then I went to Lowell Middle School in Lowell High School. 
2:45 
OK, very good. And how long have you been in Rockford? 11 years. OK, very good. And how many kids and where do they go to school here? I have 4 in the district. I have a junior, I have a freshman. Well, incoming junior, incoming freshman. 
3:01 
I have an incoming 5th grader and a three-year old who's in the speech program. Oh, very good at Parkside, very, very exciting. So we're, we're glad to welcome each of you today. And so as you look back when you were in school as a child, what excited you about the first day of school? 
3:20 
We'll start with you, Miss Olette. Oh, always getting to see my friends and new school supplies. Loved the new school supplies and new tennis shoes. We always got to go get new tennis shoes. So that was always like the thing. But really loved a good pencil and a good pen. 
3:36 
So it's a weird thing. Still do, still do still do very good. How about? You miss Berta? Well, seeing my friends, Lowell is a big district like Rockford, so everyone's coming from different areas. And also the textbooks had the names of the previous students. 
3:53 
So when you were assigned A textbook, you could open it up and see who had your book the year before and the year before that, and it was so exciting. And then you got to put your name in and. Then you got to write your name with your new pencil in the book, so.  Miss Donovan. But similar, I loved seeing my friends, loved reconnecting with teachers that I had seen the year before. 
4:15 
I we, my friends and I would make big plans for the year and what Shenanigan or Ray we were going to plan. And it's funny because I still feel that way and my most treasured friends are all from school, either past or even current. 
4:31 
So I those friendships are huge for. Me school really is about kind of building that community, and oftentimes that community lasts a lifetime. Doesn't. It it does it Does. That's pretty cool. Yeah. So Brandy parents typically look forward to the start of the school year. 
4:47 
That is correct, yeah. So that's true for you as well? It is OK. And if So, what are you looking forward to as this school year begins? Well, we've had a wonderful summer. My kiddos have gone off to camp. They've served in different capacities within the community. 
5:04 
We're getting sports started this week, so we have tryouts and things like that.B ut really over the past couple weeks we have been craving routine and just having, you know, we're eating dinner at this time, we're going to bed at a certain time, just getting up and getting out the door and things like that. 
5:22 
I I just cannot wait to have just a routine back in place at our home because it's been kind of chaotic with all, all the different ages and the kids going everywhere and doing things so. So at the the end of the last school year, people generally get excited about the coming summer. 
5:41 
But there comes a point in the summer when the clock turns and you say, I'm  I'm ready for routine, I'm ready for some consistency. I'm ready for us to know exactly what's going to happen every day. And that's where you're at as a family right now. I believe that was last Wednesday. 
5:57 
Really, if we could define a time, it was like, OK, you need to go back to school. And Jen, teachers typically have some more complex feelings about the start of school. We we care deeply about our students and we enjoy teaching them during the school year. 
6:16 
But having some time in the summer is typically really nice. But as you look forward to school beginning, what are you looking forward to? I I look forward to a new fresh start every single year. I think this career that we've chosen is unique and that there is a distinct start and stop and it's just a refresh. 
6:38 
It's wonderful and it's, I feel really lucky for that. We get new students, we get new parents and families to connect with. Some of us have new positions in the district that will challenge us, new opportunities, new experiences, new clubs. I think of my 5th graders and I think of all the great experiences that they'll have in fifth grade. 
7:00 
I think about my own son who's going to be a a sophomore at the high school and things that he can look forward to. And I think that's what's so refreshing to me is that it's a new fresh start. And it's kind of my husband and I were talking last night about this. 
7:17 
It's almost like a, like a novel, right? Your career. And every year is a new chapter. And like, it's just so it's, it's great. I feel really lucky for that. So I'm really excited for that new start every year. It's it's energizing to me. That's great. So what grades have you taught? 
7:34 
I started in middle school. I was a middle school special Ed teacher and then I had we adopted both of our sons. And when Drew came home, I taught 3rd grade and then second grade and then third and then fifth. 
7:52 
And so I've mainly upper L. OK. So, so you one of the things that excites you about the coming years, just that anticipation of yeah, students coming together, new families coming together and, and you building that community over the course of the year. 
8:08 
Yeah. And I and I know like I can speak for my colleagues that, you know, we prepare all summer and we're ready, but it's just that it's that opportunity that excites me. Are you nervous on the first day of school? Yeah, always, always. The first day is great. 
8:24 
The second day now is really hard because the routine is the novelty is set off and now we're in the trenches. So, but yeah, I'm always nervous the first day, but as soon as I see the kids, I love what I do and it melts away. That's awesome. So, Miss Olette, elementary principal, you've been an elementary principal for several years. 
8:44 
And while there are certainly many teachers, parents and students looking forward to the start of school, for some students in the district, there's a bit of anxiety about that. What can parents do to help those students who are anxious about the start of school? And why would students be anxious about the start of school? 
9:02 
I think a little anxiety is probably common among a lot of kids. So I think first of all, for parents not to be worried about that, a little bit of anxiety is a OK. So I think taking some time to visit the school, the schools are open, but if it's not just spending some time showing them where the front door is, where the door is, they're going to go in, play on the playground, talk about your family's routines. 
9:27 
If they're a bus rider where they'll walk to to wait for the bus, who's going to meet them after school? They're a Walker. What that looks like. I think just having those conversations, sometimes simply asking the question, what are you worried about? And sometimes it's as simple as, well, I will, I will miss you. 
9:44 
So maybe you stick that note in their backpack that they'll always have, or maybe it's, I don't know how it works at the end of the day. So you talk about that. So asking first because what you might assume is an anxiety for them might not be.  So asking those questions. Spending some time at the school next week, our elementaries will all have their open house. 
10:02 
So attend that open house that lets you get in the building. Your student can meet their teacher. They might see some friends or some peers that will be in their class. That always helps. They can start to think about the routine of when I enter, I'm going to walk right here and I'm going to be good. 
10:18 
I think starting some routines at home. You know, Brandy spoke to that like last Wednesday felt like a breaking point. So starting I, I heard my neighbor say to her kids, come on, you got to get to bed. We're we're starting the school routine.  So starting that school routine. Summer sure provides an opportunity for lots of late nights and you know, all those, all those things. 
10:38 
But now it's probably time to start that routine a little bit, get numb up a little bit earlier. I think if you're a have a screen time, kids start reducing that, but also just enjoying these last few weeks and creating those last memories and knowing that anxiety, a little anxiety is OK and reminding them that all of the people at a school are in a school because they care about kids and they'll be safe. 
11:02 
So not only are students anxious at times, but parents are a little bit anxious sometimes. What?What can we do to reduce parent anxiety? I think you know, we our district has a couple avenues that are in terms of communication. 
11:19 
One is district website, building website and then family access where the school itself sends out information. I think just being aware of all of those avenues, you could probably go down a lot of rabbit holes, but maybe finding what works best for you. Like the building website serves me while I know all the newsletters are on there spending time that way. 
11:40 
I think the more you know, the more prepared you are, maybe the less anxiety you have. And if any of your questions aren't answered always to just reach out to your specific building either with an e-mail or a phone call. Sometimes having your questions answered makes you feel so much better. 
11:55 
I've had a few emails from parents with some wonders and when I respond back I get the response of oh thank you we feel so much better right. So if you have a worry or a wonder, you should reach out to your school. That's great. So one of the things that happens at the beginning of school is me and, and my best friend, we come to school and all of a sudden we find we're not in the same class. 
12:16 
And so I get a little anxious because, you know, he's my buddy and I and I spent all summer with him and now I'm not going to see him during the course of the day. So, so how do you, how do you help parents have those conversations with their kids about it's going to be OK, you're going to make new friends, you know, you're not going to lose that friend. 
12:33 
How do those conversations start and how do they go? Yeah, what a growing experience, right? You've been with maybe student A for a couple years and you think you need that person, you know, you know, and the people sitting at this table know that the staff takes a lot of time creating those lists based on all sorts of student academic, social, emotional needs and in good fit. 
12:54 
So it will be OK. So I think you remind your student it will be OK. And there's a lot of opportunities that students are together. All of our grade levels peers all eat lunch together, all have a couple recesses together each day, see each other before school, see each other after school. 
13:11 
Also the way our academics work and our PLC process, our students actually intermingled during the day as well. So what might not be sitting next to the student at 8:35 every day is still not going to look like a complete separation. 
13:28 
There is lots of opportunity both academically and in those non academic times at school that are same grade peers are together. I also asked parents to just to work through it with their student rather than request the change because the change is, is domino, you know, based on all sorts of things. 
13:50 
And sometimes things we can't share, right, that we take a lot of time with our special Ed staff and the teachers before and the teachers coming up and really work through that. So I think it's a great learning opportunity for your student that, uh oh, this isn't quite what I thought or needed or thought I needed, and it'll be OK. 
14:09 
So there I think one of the things to reassure parents is there's some intentionality about how we create classless, especially at the elementary level. It is intentional and time consuming and so important. So, yeah. So like that domino effect is huge, right. 
14:25 
So sometimes when they say can I and then we say we really can't there, you know, there's a really strong reason for that. Yeah. So we appreciate parents understanding of that. We also appreciate that a student might feel a little sad at first. That's right, I totally get it. So Miss Donovan, you have a class list already, 232425 kids. 
14:46 
You know they all have parents. From your perspective as a teacher, what would you like parents to do to help their children get ready for the start of the school year? Parents have a truly a really important job. At this point. 
15:03 
I think there's a few things that I that were mulling around in my mind. I want parents to be optimistic about the year. Know that whether it's an incoming kindergartner or my 5th graders or a rising senior, just reassure them that it's going to be a really good year. 
15:22 
School. It's fun. We are, we're prepared, we're ready. We really do care about them once they're our students. There are students for life and some of the best back to the relationship thing. I, I truly do care about my, my seniors that have graduated last year and I love senior walkthrough day and visiting them and going to grad parties. 
15:48 
And you know, it's just, it's such an important part. Know that that that community is important. I would also encourage parents to ask their children to try something new, whether it's a new club, a new sport, maybe do student council or some leadership or try try to meet someone new. 
16:14 
I think that is huge. School is for opportunity and new experiences. Also just be kind to be helpful. Relax. School is great and it's I think that's just the easiest thing to do. 
16:30 
Just reassure them. Yep. Yep. So you've had, you said over 20 years of teaching experience. And during that time, my sense is you've seen the whole gamut of students, some very cautious coming into the classroom, some just exuberance and and big personalities walking in. 
16:54 
But your perspective is that is that you have lots of confidence that you're going to be able to help every student be successful. I do, I really do. I think. I think about growing where you're planted and sometimes we have control over that, sometimes we don't, but we can. 
17:11 
What we can control is our attitude and our our sense that we can do a good job wherever we are. And the kids, the kids will flourish. They always do. And our community is strong and kids get a lot of support, so I'm proud of that. 
17:27 
Yeah, I'm proud of that as well. So Miss Berta, you've had students now that that have been in our system for a while, junior and and two other kids that have been kind of going back to school for several years. So from your perspective, what do you want teachers to know that would help you as a parent and help your children start the school year successfully? 
17:53 
I would say that communication is very important and we have wonderful teachers in Rockford. But just knowing that you can reach out to your students teacher if you have a concern or if you have a praise and just being having a partnership between parents and your your students and the teachers. 
18:16 
Because it does take a village and we all need each other to help these children of ours just flourish and grow. But here at Rockford, so I've had experiences where I've had concerns and I've been really grateful that those concerns have been met and taken care of. 
18:34 
And it's it's, I always tell teachers, you know, they always say at the end of conferences, reach out to me if you have any concerns. And I say the same thing back to them. Yeah, please do reach out to me too. So we can, you know, work through things together.But just having that open communication is just so important as the year goes on. 
18:51 
And yeah. So from your perspective, what, what are what's a good way for you to reach out to A to a teacher? If, if you have a concern? Is it, is it stocking them in the parking lot? 
19:08 
Is it absolutely? Is it waiting by the front door when they come in during the morning? Is it just sending an e-mail? What's the, I usually just send an e-mail or, you know, there are volunteer opportunities within the schools sometimes getting in and, you know, helping to be a classroom volunteer and reading with students. 
19:27 
And then you can see different things happening or maybe volunteering on the playground or just different things. So just reaching out to, you know, the teachers through e-mail, I feel like has worked really well starting there. And usually you know you get a response right back and. 
19:45 
So, so you've had, as we said, kids in the system for a while. Sometimes they'll come home and, and it feels like there's a 5 alarm fire at school. You know that. Oh my gosh, you won't believe. So do you believe everything your kids say about what goes on at school? 
20:02 
Absolutely not. And I hope that the teachers don't believe everything my kids say about what goes on at home. So there has to be a line there, right? But, you know, you know, if something happens with Billy and we're very upset, you know, just sitting down and talking about it and hearing about it. 
20:22 
And I know a lot of good coaches will have a 24 hour rule with different things, maybe employing that 24 hour rule with teacher, you know, at home or, you know, go back to school. Maybe these are some things that you can ask the teacher about or ask your fellow student about and then see how it goes during that day. 
20:39 
And then if they get home and they're still an issue, maybe follow up then. But yeah, not everything is an emergency, just like not everything's an emergency at home too with multiple kids. But. So, so part of going to school is, is the whole friendship piece, right? 
20:56 
That, that you, you meet new kids, you have different kids in your classroom, you try to make friends. You know from your perspective as a parent, what words of advice can you give your children to help them develop skills in making friends? 
21:13 
Oh, I would just say kindness, just you don't, you're, you might sit in the classroom with, with another student every day, but you don't know what path they walk. So just having, you know, openness and kindness and, you know, treat everyone the way that you want to be treated. 
21:30 
That golden rule is so important. And not everyone thinks the same way that you do or acts the same way that you do. But we're all Rockford Rams. We're all people and everyone is worthy of kindness, so just making sure that you know if you want to treat someone the way that you want to be treated. 
21:52 
Yep, So Miss Olette as parents and staff get ready for the start of the school year, what advice might you offer that you think would lead to the a successful start for everyone? I think Brandy kind of already said some of them, but I'm going to repeat them because they are so important and that one is communication. 
22:10 
So we try hard as a building to communicate to parents and I want parents to communicate to us, whether it's the front office or the teachers, just establishing that and they'll meet the teachers at open house and that's Step 1.So that's great. I think staying engaged with your school, I think parents are busy and kids are busy. 
22:29 
Most of our kids have some sort of after school activity, whether it's a music lesson or a sport or another activity or so just knowing that families are busy, but staying engaged. So you'll receive a lot of messages from Family Access and website, just making sure you check those. 
22:49 
I think get involved with the school if your schedule allows. So we have some volunteer opportunities during the school day. We also have volunteer opportunities in post school hours. So our PT OS are very active and sometimes in our buildings our PT OS are very small. 
23:05 
So you don't have to go to every single meeting to be involved. But your kids will love to see you as part of the the book bingo night or whatever that event might be. So if your schedule allows you to do one event, do it. So we'll just that kind of partnership. 
23:22 
Your kids will love to see you. And we of course, love to have parents in our building. I think taking the time every day to talk about school, whether that's in the car or while you're having dinner, taking time to prioritize some downtime to get homework done is is also important. 
23:40 
Their elementary students don't have a lot, but if they don't, they should be reading. Just making those connections and having had four children who are now grown adults, the days are long, the years are quick. So capitalizing on just those conversations you have, you are the most important person to those students and we play a role in that, but we need that partnership. 
24:05 
So I just so appreciate that. I think we always try to assume positive intent and we appreciate that back as Brandy said, you know, everyone's interpretation of things. So that open communication make attendance, attendance a priority if you can. 
24:20 
When kids miss school, school looks so different. It's so engaging. And we can't repeat or replicate that because we don't do worksheets. So making school a priority, attendance a priority when you can. We know that there are things that come up, but that is truly helpful and just a lifelong skill for your student because their attendance in school will be their attendance at work probably, and just getting ready for a great year. 
24:45 
You know, we're all Rams and I don't think of Rams as sports. I think Rams as our community. So at Edgerton, we're ready, you know, we're ready to wear our Ram spirit wear on whatever days. So, you know, just get ready to be back in school, be back in that routine, get ready to be a Rockford Ram again, and I'll be in the same place, under the same roof for five days a week. 
25:05 
Yeah, that's exciting. So August 25th, 1st day of school, everyone I think is looking forward to that day and looking forward to seeing kids on buses, getting off and walking up to school, getting into classrooms. 
25:21 
It has a real sense of almost celebration when the first day of school comes around. And so we're very excited that Miss Olette and Miss Donovan and Miss Berta helped us as we look ahead to the beginning of school. And we look forward to a great start on August 25th. 
25:39 
On the next Rams News and Views, we will talk about the proposed school bond issue that we will be in front of voters in Rockford on November 4th.So until then, this is Doctor Steve Matthews, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools, thanking you for listening to Rams News and Views. 
 

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