Episode 21: Find Your Swing Contest Winner

January 5th, 2024 /
Shauna Sprunger /

Sup with the Sup

00:00 / 6:47

Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up with the Sup. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau and this week we have an exciting podcast. We are visiting Dixon Middle School to surprise the winner of our Find Your Swing pin design contest.

But first, our updates.

The next school board meeting will be a study session and business meeting on Tuesday, January 9th. The study session will begin at 5 o’clock p.m. and will be in Board Room 1, and the business meeting will begin at 7 o’clock p. m. and will be in the Professional Development Center. Both meetings are open to the public and public comment is welcome at the business meeting.
There will be no school on Friday, January 12th, Monday, January 15th, and Tuesday, January 16th. Teachers, however, will have a professional development day on Tuesday, January 16th.
Look for the weekly videocast from me every Friday. In this short video, I provide important information and updates about work happening throughout the district.

And now, on to our episode.

Wendy: Okay, are we ready? Okay, where’s Brooke Mangum? Oh my goodness. So Brooke entered a contest, right? Do you want to tell people about what your contest was about? What did you do, Brooke?

Brooke: I drew a picture about Find Your Swing. It was the theme from Boys in the Boat, and then they’re going to make it into a pin.

Wendy: Tell us a little bit about why you made it this way. Like, what were some of the thought processes going through this? How many of you saw the movie The Boys in the Boat? Have any of you seen that movie yet? Okay, you have. Okay, so tell us a little bit about what made you, um, represent people in that way, and why you put, like, I noticed you put the word unity on there, so talk to me a little bit about that.

Brooke: Well, find your swing means, like, in rowing, you have to, like, all go at the same exact time to be able to go, and the book’s about, like, this team of boys, how they find their swing, and they, like, win the Olympics and stuff. And so it’s about, like, teamwork. And so I put lots of people from, like, different backgrounds and stuff. And they learned how to unite and, like, work together and win.

Wendy: When we make the pins of it, then those of you that read the book, you get a pin, and it’s going to be designed by Brooke. So you would be able to wear that. It’ll be pretty cool. But I loved how you had representatives of, like, different racial groups. And you had boys and girls. You were trying to demonstrate that we can all come together and do something awesome, right? That’s so great. So anyway, give her a big round of applause. And then I’m going to ask you some questions outside and she won $100. Oh my gosh. So that’s pretty cool, right?

Wendy: Tell me what made you decide to enter the contest.

Brooke: Um, I wouldn’t have even known about it except my dad, he like saw it on there and he thought I should do it since we’re reading the book, me and my dad are together. So I decided to try.

Wendy: That’s awesome. And have you guys finished the book yet?

Brooke: Not quite. We’re getting close though. They’re on their way to Berlin for the Olympics. So.

Wendy: Okay. So you’re close. Okay. What has been your favorite part of the book so far?

Brooke: I liked hearing about, uh, the main character’s childhood and stuff and how he took care of his step siblings when his parents didn’t.

Wendy: You know, Joe was a kid that basically kind of got abandoned by his parents and he had to really take care of himself and really do a lot, so there’s a really great story there. Are there other parts of the book that really stood out to you that you’ve liked so far, or maybe a part of the movie that you liked a lot?

Brooke: It was more at the beginning when he started rowing. Um, they would all sit together and some people would make fun of Joe and stuff, but the person sitting behind him would say like, I’ve got your back, Joe, and stuff.

Wendy: That’s a really good message, right, that we’re, that you need to have that person, right, that has your back sometimes. Well, how do you think this kind of a book applies, like, for school? Like, how would you use this as a young student in middle school? Like, what does that mean to find your swing and to be unified and be all together? What, what kinds of things are you learning from that?

Brooke: Well, we have to, like, include everyone, and in the book they have to really trust each other if they’re gonna be able to work together. So we have to, like, rely on other people to do our best.

Wendy: And I think you’re touching on something that’s really important, like it didn’t matter how good each individual rower was, it was about how good they were all together and that that’s what made them successful, right? What do you know about Berlin in the 1930s? Have you studied that or do you know a lot about it? Have you and your dad talked about that at all?

Brooke: It says in the book, like it was right before the World War II, so like there were Nazis in there and stuff and yeah.

Wendy: I’m impressed You know a lot you have really paid attention. So that’s great Okay. So how much longer do you have of the book to read?

Brooke: Um, Probably a week and a half maybe.

Wendy: How long do you read each day with your dad?

Brooke: We read like right before bed 10 15 minutes

Wendy: That is awesome. And is this the first book you’ve done that with or is this something you do with your dad regularly?

Brooke: Yeah, we always do that. So I’ve done other books too.

Wendy: That’s awesome. Well, I loved your pin design. It was amazing And so I’m so glad that you entered and I’m glad that you enjoyed the book and that you’re reading it and I can’t wait for you to finish it. So thank you. And what are you gonna do with your 100?

Brooke: I don’t know yet.

Wendy: Oh my goodness That’s pretty exciting. So you’re gonna have to let me know what you end up doing with your hundred dollars. Okay. All right. Sounds good. Thank you so much Brooke. It was nice to meet you

Thank you for joining me for this episode of what’s up with the soup as always all episodes will be posted anywhere you get your podcasts as well as on YouTube and the district website If you have any topics or questions, you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us at podcast@provo.edu.

Stay tuned next week for another new episode where I will be joined by Sanjay Moorthy, a senior at Timpview High School and a current intern in our communications department. We will be talking about the internship program available to our high school students and the value it can provide in their educational journey. Until next time!