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Episode 75 New Board Member, Emily Harrison

Sup with the Sup
Sup mit dem Sup
Episode 75 New Board Member, Emily Harrison
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Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up with the Sup’ podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau. This week I was able to visit with our newest school board member, Emily Harrison. It was great to get to know more about her and to learn about why she is so excited to serve on our Board of Education.

But first, let me give you our updates.

  • Provo City School District is aware of the recent announcements from President Trump that schools are no longer regarded as safe havens for the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, also known as ICE. We will continue to follow our established policies and procedures regarding the release of students from school.  Currently, our practice is to only release students to parents or guardians, individuals listed as emergency contacts, or law enforcement agencies that have valid legal documentation that comes from a judicial court. We do not share immigration status of students or parents with outside agencies.
    • We also want to reassure our community that our Raptor visitor management system does not collect or store any data, nor do we share data with law enforcement.  It is only used to verify identification to allow visitor entrance into our schools. Provo City School District is committed to ensuring that students are safe and well cared for at school.  
  • The next school board meeting will be on Tuesday, February 11th. The study session will take place in boardroom one and the business meeting will be held in the professional development center.  One of our big items for this board meeting is to share the results of our boundary and feasibility study. So please tune in to this specific board meeting. Check our district website for start times and the agenda as the meeting gets closer.
  • The Utah legislative session is currently ongoing. There are many bills up for vote tied to education.  Please be involved in the legislative process. Contact your legislators, make sure that they know how you feel about public education and the experiences that your kids are having in our schools.  
  • Continue watching for my weekly videocasts in your email every Monday. These videocasts provide one place for you to learn about important things happening across our district.

And now, let’s talk with Emily Harrison.  Welcome everyone to this week’s podcast. Our guest is Emily Harrison, who is our newly elected board member. Welcome, Emily.

Ich danke Ihnen.

Tell us a little bit about what area you represent of Provo and maybe where your kids go to school and how long you’ve been in the Provo area.

I represent District Six, Westridge and Lakeview elementary schools. I have been a Provo resident my whole life.

Oh, that’s amazing.  

So I was born in Provo, I grew up most of my life near the mouth of the canyon, attended Timpview High School, also attended Fair Middle School. And I attended Canyon Crest Elementary, and then before that, as kindergarten and first grade, I was at Provost.

Oh, wow. So, so, so you know a lot of the schools.

I do.

That’s amazing. And, and your kids, they go to-

Yes, my kids go to Provo High.

Ja.

So I have three boys, my oldest is at BYU actually, graduated from Provo High, and then I have a senior and a freshman at Provo High.

Oh, that’s awesome. And they went to Dixon Middle School then as well?

They did.

Perfect.

And Westridge Elementary.

Okay, that’s awesome. Tell us a little bit about what got you interested in running for the school board and deciding to be a part of the Provo City District Board of Education.

It came about because I knew Rebecca before, and she had mentioned to a few of us, we have a, actually have a cooking group that we do together.

Yes, you do.  

And so she had said, Oh, well, I think I’m going to be done with the school board. And I said, Oh, really? You don’t want to go again. She’s like, no, I think I might be done. And I said, well, if you’re really going to be done, maybe  could I ask you some questions about it? Cause I didn’t really know what it would be like and how much time, but I’ve always been interested in education.

I work as a speech pathologist, so I’m in the schools and I really care about public education. And she was a great school board member. And I was like, yes, I don’t want someone that I don’t know. to take that spot and she did such a great job anyway. So I kind of picked her brain a bit and asked her some questions and she was great to tell me really like, it’s a lot of work.

It is a lot of work. You guys do a ton of work.

But I felt like I could probably, this is a time in my life where I felt like I could devote the time since my kids are older and they don’t really need me as much, sadly.

I know.

And in a good way too, like they’re growing up, which is great, but yeah.

That’s good. What has been the biggest surprise so far? I mean, you’ve only been on the board for a couple of weeks, but what has surprised you so far?  

Honestly, and this shouldn’t be a surprise, but everyone is so nice.

Oh, good. Yes! Winning!  

It shouldn’t be a surprise though, because I mean, people are just kind, but the board and everyone has been like, so kind and been like, how are you doing?

And do you have any questions? And how can I be helpful? And I’m like, everyone is so nice. Wow. That is so great. Yeah. I’ve just felt very welcome. And even if I don’t know something, I know I can ask people and I won’t feel stupid.

Well, and as you’ll hear board members say all the time, like I’m still figuring this out.

I’ve been doing this for eight years and it, and it takes time, right? Like you’re just, you’re always figuring out something new and you go, Oh, that’s how I’m going to do that next time.  

For sure. That happens. A learning process.

Yes. Tell us what are some of your responsibilities as a board member. Our board members are divided up into committees. And what are you learning about those specific responsibilities?

Well, I’m just figuring all of this out, but the legislative committee is going to be my biggest time, I think, and I’ve attended one meeting and I was like drowning in information because  I didn’t realize how involved the board was in the legislative process and understanding what bills were coming up and, you know, taking positions on this. So this is all very new to me, but I feel like It’s awesome. Like, it’s amazing how much, like Jennifer, for instance, really knows what’s going on and she’s been so kind to be like, okay, this is how you read a bill and you can pull it up on this website and you can look at this and this and this is when they’re going to be talking about it.

And so I feel like that will be a big committee for me to really learn a lot. And hopefully, as I get my feet wet and figuring out how to read a bill, that I’ll have more opinions about things. And I’m trying to think what other committees I’m on. One, I don’t even know what it stands for yet. It’s the P.E.A. slash-

oh, a liaison committee with the Provo Education Association.

I have no idea what I’m going to be doing on that, but I’m sure I will find out soon.

You will, and it will be awesome. You get to work with the Teachers Association and really listen to a lot of their concerns and that helps as we go into negotiations.

We really want to do what’s best for our teachers, like that’s really important in our district, so I think you’ll, I think you’ll enjoy that. I think one of the things that  As fascinating as we were at a meeting today with school board members and superintendents and Jennifer was able to comment on a lot of the bills because she actually sat and watched the education committee meeting.

And I was just like, I’m glad we have board members who have the time to do this and to help us with kind of figuring out talking points and different pieces.

She’s awesome. It is a really important role, um, for our board members because we try to stay more neutral as district leaders, but we also want people to know the impact that these bills are having, you know, on our education system.

So. Yeah.

What are some of the things that you really appreciate about Provo’s education system as you’ve sent your kids through the schools here in Provo? What are those things that you’re like, wow, I wish people knew this about Provo?  

I’ve had nothing but great experiences with every school that my kids have gone to.

Which is Westridge, Dixon, and Provo, and the teachers are amazing. I mean, I’ve had so many great teachers. All of my kids have had amazing teachers. And when I’ve had concerns with a few of my children, I won’t name which ones.  And I’ve met with, like, I’ve emailed the teacher, Hey, could I meet with you about this?

Nothing but kindness. Like, just really, they care about the kids. And I’ve felt, like, so much support from the school community for my own family.

That makes me so happy to hear and I’m not surprised though at all. That’s been the experiences. We’ve been working with teachers as well. What is something that you look at in education and you’re like I would really like to see this improved for our students And this is what I’d like to be a part of.

That’s a good question.

I feel like I, as a new board member, didn’t have a good understanding of what the board actually does and like, in our meeting today, what actually goes on in the district. I think most of the time, as a parent, we’re just like, who’s going to be my kid’s teacher? And maybe you know who the principal is, but honestly, you don’t really.

You’re just worried about which class they’re in. But as I’ve been seeing all of the ins and outs of how things work, I think the public needs to, and hopefully I can do this as a representative of my district, to say, hey, there is so much behind the scenes going on that makes the district run. And just being really grateful that there are people doing so much work that we never really know about.

And if we don’t know about it, it probably means because they’re doing their job.

Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, I hear about it when things are not going well, not so much when things are going well.

Yeah.

And I think what’s also interesting is just to see, like, how many different moving parts, you know, to even get to the point where the teacher has resources to do a lesson, for example, or to make sure the bus is going to pick up the kids at the right location and they’re going to get there at the right time.

There’s just, there’s a lot of logistics that go into all of the different aspects of a school district. So just kind of everyone keeping that in mind. It’s super helpful. So we would love for you to tell everyone about, well, did you have any idea that this person does this? This is amazing. So, yeah, what are you most scared about as being a board member or nervous about, let’s use the word nervous. That’s better.

Nervous. When I was thinking about running and I was talking to my husband, he’s like, you do not deal well with people being mad at you, Emily, you do not deal well with that. I’m like, you’re right, Dave, I don’t. So that’s my biggest concern is I take things a little too personally sometimes.

So if I were to make a decision, which I’m like, I’m always probably going to make someone mad on a big decision. If I’m, you know, representing.  So many people and I’m going to make a call on something, I’ll probably have people mad at me. So that’s my biggest concern, like dealing with that and dealing with it in a way that it doesn’t make me feel like I’m a crazy person.

I don’t know. That’s fair.  

That’s fair. I think too, as you’re in this role, you’ll have conversations with people and sometimes they may not agree with a decision that’s made, but if they understand the why and what your perspective is, they can be like, okay,  I might disagree with that, but at least I understand, like, I don’t feel like it was just arbitrary or it was made without any thought or with only this group in mind. I feel like our board does a really good job of trying to help people understand kind of the reasoning behind certain decisions. So you’ll, you’ll see that for sure.

But it is hard when people don’t like you. It’s hard as a teacher. It’s hard when you’re a Principal. It’s hard as a school board member. I’m just going to tell you that right now. It’s, it’s rough, especially if you’re a person that’s like usually well liked this. So this will be rough for you, Emily. I’m just going to say.

I’m like very sensitive, you know, like, Oh, I don’t want to make people mad.

I don’t like people being, I don’t like my kids being upset about things. I don’t like anyone being upset. I like everyone to be happy. So, but that’s not realistic. So, you know.

We’ll work together and figure out the best decisions we can for kids. So that’s, that’s right.

That’s kind of what we do and work together.

As you have this position over the next year, let’s think about this for a second. What are some things you’re excited to learn more about in terms of the workings of the district and education in general? Yeah. Just what are you most excited to learn about?

I think I’m excited to learn from the other board members, like how they deal with like, kind of on the last question, how they deal with someone bringing up an issue that they’re frustrated about or passionate about.

And I’ve seen it a little bit as I can see how people respond to emails like, Oh, wow, that was a good point. I’m really excited to get more confident in my own knowledge of how things work so that I feel more confident in relaying information and being able to explain things and being able to relay like how a decision was made and the thought that went into that.

And sometimes the explaining part can be really tricky. And that’s where I’m like, okay, as I’m learning more, I will become more confident in how I explain something or how I would answer a certain question. And I think that will be a big growing thing for me to be able to put my thoughts in a way that actually makes sense and are helpful for people.

Let’s also talk just a little bit so people get to know a little bit more about you as a person. So you mentioned your profession. Talk a little bit about what you do and what that entails, what your passions, what your loves are. I know you love to cook. So just talk about, let’s get to know you just a little bit better.

Yeah. So I, as a high school senior at Timpview High School, I got to do an internship. There was an internship program and I got to do this internship where I rotated around the hospital, Utah Valley Hospital. So I went to the ER and we had an internship in some other location. And then I got to go to the Speech Language Department and observe a speech pathologist doing her job.

And it was Anne Sumner. She ended up being one of my supervisors when I. finished my graduate work. But anyway, I watched her and I’m like, that is a cool job. I think I might want to do that. And so I left high school thinking, I don’t really know what else I want to do. So I’m going to do that. I got a scholarship at UVU and went for two years and I called BYU and I was like, what classes can I take at UVU so that when I transfer to BYU that you’ll accept those.

Then I went to BYU and got my undergrad. In speech pathology and then applied to graduate school at BYU and the U didn’t get in. And I was devastated and I thought, Oh man, what am I going to do? And my husband’s like, it’s okay, like you can just apply next year, it’s going to be fine. Right. Then I get a call in October.

So school had started in August for graduate school and they’re like, Hey, someone didn’t show up. You can start in January if you want.

Oh, wow.

Do you want the spot? And I’m like, yes, I want it. So I was kind of in a cohort, but kind of not because I was a little behind. But anyway, it ended up being great. I went to the U, got my master’s degree.

And then I started working in Nebo school district and loved it. Loved working with kids. Kids are just the most fun to work with. And then I got an opportunity to work at a pediatric rehab, which is an Orem by Orem Community Hospital. And so I worked there and then I worked with adults and did a lot of swallowing therapy.

And then I had my first kid and I was like, I want to be back in the schools. And so I work in the schools two days a week as a speech pathologist. And then I work at a clinic in Provo working with people with concussions two days a week. And-

Oh, wow.

So I get to work with a lot of different people, a lot of different disabilities, a lot of different challenges, and I love it.

It’s the best job. I just-

That’s amazing.

And then on the side, I cook. That’s my other thing. I go to work and I cook. And now I do board stuff, but I do love to cook.

You might have a little less time to do all of the things.

Exactly.

What’s your favorite thing to cook? What are you most passionate about?

I love to cook things that I don’t have to follow a recipe.

I hate following a recipe. If I want to make something new, I’ll, you know, find a recipe and I’ll make it one time.  And then I’m like, I don’t ever want to look at that recipe again, but I’m going to do it my own way, but make the same thing. So that’s my creative outlet is how do I make that chicken curry, but in the way that I like it and not have to follow a recipe, I just do it out of my head.

That’s my favorite.

That’s incredible. I hope you go on like Food Network for like, I feel like you could win a competition.

I cower under pressure. That would be my worst.

Ja.

I’d be like, no,  no.

There’s a time limit. There’s no, no, no, no.

I just wanna do it whenever I feel like it, and I don’t have to have it just perfect. It’s fine. It worked out good enough. Good enough is one of my things. Yes. Good enough. Yep.

And actually most people are so grateful that someone else will make food for them.

Ja.

They’re just going to eat it and be like, this is amazing. And you’re just like, I mean, how do you shy away from that kind of awesome feedback?

It’s so great.

So is there anything else you would like to share about just your loves, your passions, things that you really care about that are important to you?

I care about kids. I care about kid’s education. Working in the schools with kids that have a really hard time communicating. I mean, I’m passionate about kids that need an IEP,  kids that need that extra support.

I care about people that feel marginalized. I care about people that feel like they’re not seen or heard. So, yeah.

And you’ve dedicated your life’s work to that. That’s pretty incredible. So, thank you. Well, we are so excited to have you on the Board of Education. I’m excited to get to know you better.

We’re going to be going to the National School Boards Conference together, all of the board members, and that’s a real treat. We learn a lot and. We also learn a lot about each other and, and learn from each other. So it’d be a really good experience, but we’re excited to have you. So thank you so much.

Thank you very much.  

Thank you everyone for joining me for this week’s episode of What’s Up with the Sup’. As always, all episodes will be posted on the district website, YouTube, and anywhere you get your podcasts. If you have any topics or questions you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us at Podcast@Provo.Edu. Don’t forget to join us again next week for another new episode of What’s Up With The Sup’. Thanks, everybody.

Shauna Sprunger
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