Episode 35: NSBA with Board Members

April 19th, 2024 /
Shauna Sprunger /

Sup with the Sup

00:00 / 45:32

Welcome, everyone, to this week’s episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up With the Sup podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau, and I am super excited for the podcast this week. During spring break, the school board and I went to NSBA, which stands for National School Board Association Conference. We walked away with so many ideas and thoughts and learned so many new things from our partners across the country. This week I am joined by school board members Teri McCabe, Rebecca Nielsen, and Meg Van Wagenen to discuss some of the conference topics we were most excited about.

Let’s get to our updates.

On Monday, April 29th, Dixon Middle School will be hosting a Farewell to Dixon event. This event is open to the public. The school is especially hoping that past students and employees of Dixon Middle School will be able to come and help say goodbye to the location. The event begins at 6 o’clock p. m.
The Find Your Swing Pins are in! If you have finished reading the book, The Boys in the Boat, check in with the office of your school to receive your pin.
If you are interested in hearing updates regarding the construction projects happening in the district, please visit the district website and click on the New Construction Newsletter sign up link. The next newsletter will go out after our April 30th board meeting.
The Board of Education currently has one new draft policy available for community input on the district website. From the main page of the district website, click on the Policies, Forms, and Documents button. On the next page, at the top left, there is an orange Review Draft Policies Here button. The new policy available for review is a draft Use of Micromobility Vehicles and Pedestrian Conveyances on School Campuses policy.
The next school board meeting will be on Tuesday, April 30th. The study session will be held in boardroom one at the district office. Start times will be announced closer to the date. This meeting is open to the public.
A survey has been sent out to all Provo city school district families regarding Camp Big Springs. We would like your feedback about this program and its importance in our community so that we can continue to provide great learning experiences for our students. Thank you to those who have already completed the survey.
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.

Opening: Okay, got it. Okay. Now we’re starting again. Because we’re just full of such great information. We really are. This is going to get the most hits right? We’re gonna get the most hits on this podcast. Okay. I hope you’re recording that part and I hope you better put that in there because that’s amazing. We’re the Power Women.

Wendy: Welcome everyone. I am so excited for this week’s podcast. I am joined by three of our board members, Rebecca Nielsen is our board president.

Rebecca: Hello. Thanks for having me.

Wendy: Thank you for being here. We have Meg Van Wagenen, also a board member.

Meg: Hi, I’m so happy to be here today.

Wendy: And then we have Teri McCabe, who is also a board member. Welcome.

Teri: Hello.

Wendy: So, we’re here to talk about the National School Boards Association Conference which we just got back from. Like, we spent a good chunk of spring break together. So, um, tell me a little bit about what NSBA is, and why Provo is affiliated with it so much. And why do you feel like it’s valuable for us to be part of this?

Teri: NSBA stands for National School Board Association. And they’re the, yeah, the national association for all the school boards. This is my third year going and I hadn’t seen any Canadian school boards before. And they showed up and I went to a class with them this year. So that was really good. Yeah, I like going because I like to see what other boards are doing because they’re the ones who are giving the classes.

Wendy: Right.

Teri: You know, it’s not the association, it’s other school boards from around the country and see what’s working in their neck of the woods and. See if we can implement something like that, if it will work for Provo or not.

Wendy:That’s great. Rebecca, Meg, anything you want to add about that?

Meg:One thing that I liked in one of the main general sessions, the NSBA leadership talked about their initiatives for the new year. So on top of being an association that us as school boards can have used as a resource, they take on different initiatives to kind of implement and further the work of public education. And this year, one of their initiatives is working at the federal government level for IDEA, which is the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. When that was passed, it was never fully funded. And so one of the initiatives this year is to really advocate for that to be fully funded, which would be really instrumental for our schools and schools across the country.

Wendy: That’s great.

Rebecca: Yeah, I appreciate that we’re members of USBA and therefore affiliated with NSBA because I think it’s really an incredible opportunity to have these conferences and be able to get together with school board members from literally across the country to share ideas and perspectives and whatnot, but also to be able to gather as a, as a body, be able to see how many people are really out there advocating for public education on a federal level. It’s really quite incredible to see how many people really care about education and people like us that are just in it for the kids, right? It’s really great. It’s quite a large group of people and it’s fun to be able to be together and to feel that camaraderie as we all advocate, you know, nationally and of course, obviously on our local levels, but for kids, it’s a really great experience.

Wendy: I thought it was great. I didn’t even realize how much they partner. So a lot of the presentations are done by superintendents and board members and they’re working together and I’m just furiously writing things down going, oh, that’s another thing I need to learn how to do or whatever. So it was, that was great. So I’d love for each of you to share some of your favorite classes or some of the breakout sessions, because it’s, really, I think what was great was that we all went to different breakout sessions, so we were all bringing back some different ideas, but what were the favorite things that, that you heard about or that you learned that you were like, Oh, this is something we’ve got to maybe think about for Provo that would be really good. And any one of you can start.

Rebecca: I took a couple classes that were very focused on elevating the student voice and helping students. feel like they are able to be heard within our school districts, because really they are our, they’re our end product, right? We’re here for them. We want them to be the ones that are the beneficiary of all these public dollars that are being spent on them and whatnot, and this is all about them. So I took two classes, one on student summits and another on student school board members, and they were both quite eye opening and really fun and exciting to to be in because we, as a district here, have just started our student board member program and we’re just a year into it and we’re learning still and we’re gaining experience there. But these are a couple ways we could elevate those experiences for the kids to not only be able to give them a little bit more of real world experience as board members and as people on on a council advisory councils, but also to be able to take that in and help it trickle down through the school so we really can get and hear more of the student perspective on what we’re doing. So the student summits was really incredible because they have kids from all over the school district come on a day they and they have kids come and you. and talk directly to the superintendent and to school board members and they bring their questions, they bring their problems, they bring their good things as well. And they have a whole day where they can collaborate together and feel like they’re being heard and helping to solve the problems of the school district. So I think that’s a really incredible thing for students to be able to do. And learning from this group that does these student summits, I think it’s something that we can absolutely bring into our district. and be able to help our kids feel like a little bit more a part of the decision making process, which is really neat. So I took that class, which I really loved. And then I also took another class on student board members and having them be really involved in service opportunities and leadership opportunities. And like I said, we’re starting that already. We’re in that process. But it was really great to learn. Just more new ideas and things where we can take that and really expand that program and, and, and hopefully be able to bring a lot of kids in that. While we only have two student board members, there’s actually good ways to incorporate kids from across the district in that process. So, lots of great ideas there, and I’m really excited about really helping the kids in the district feel a part of what we’re doing here.

Wendy: It’s important that they feel like that things are not being done to them. That we are doing things with them.

Rebecca: Absolutely. And it was great, it was so interesting because the superintendent that was teaching this class said, if you’re going to go out and market a product, you’re always going to go directly to those people and say, you know, what is it you want or what do you want to get out of this? So why would we not do the same for our students?

Wendy: Excellent.

Rebecca: So it’s a really, it was really great.

Wendy: Meg, what about you?

Meg: Yeah this is my second year going, and I have enjoyed being able to catch some of the breakout sessions with some of our local Utah school boards that have been presenting I went to Park City’s and they talked about the reason I wanted to go because they were talking about their strategic plan and we are in that process right now with our own strategic plan and how to really implement that in a way that is effective and how we’re measuring the work that we’re doing in our schools It was great to kind of see how they’re doing that in the dashboards They’re using to kind of measure the their priorities and their goals with the actual accountability measures in their schools so that school board, the public, people can really see how our strategic plan is kind of like a living, breathing document, right? It’s like alive in our schools and in what we’re doing and really guiding us so that we can be, I think, use it to really tell the story of what we’re doing outside of more kind of that I guess, um, qualitative piece to telling our story as a district and what we’re working on. I love doing that, and one thing I love about the opportunity to hear from other school boards and districts in Utah is they’re close to like really reach out as a resource, right? And that kind of goes along, I think it’s another piece of seeing all the great work, just even across our state, people working for public education and their commitment, which is so, so fun. And I also went to Jordan School District’s and I really loved all of their presentations over the, over the last year that I’ve seen from them. But they were talking about their employee wellness program and ways in which they have tried to incorporate ways to really think about the wellness of their teachers and their staff and there were some really great ideas that they are doing to kind of help with that in their district.

Wendy: And it’s interesting because as, as we’ve tried to look at implementing our strategic plan, the mental health and wellness of employees and students has come up time and time again, right, as being a major priority. And so it’s good that we’re looking at those kinds of things. So Teri, what about you?

Teri: I went to a class by Alberta.

Wendy: Oh, here we go. Canada.

Teri: board. Yeah, actually call themselves the Board of Trustees and not the nboard of education.

Wendy: Oh, yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Teri: So that was really good. They have an onboarding or an orientation for new board members. And I never got that opportunity because I was originally elected during COVID and, you know,

Wendy: Y weren’t supposed to even like look at each other during COVID, right?

Teri; Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I like that. There are ideas. It wasn’t just the new people were going to this orientation. It was the whole board was going. And so it was more of a team building experience. And one thing people don’t realize is that we’re legally not allowed to be around each other. The seven of us, except for twice a month. And so when you have a job and you see your coworkers every day, you get to know each other and you work together. And when you’re not allowed to be around each other, except twice a month, it makes it hard to be a team and work together. So I liked their ideas of, um, how they did their orientation. I really liked that class.

Wendy: Well, and I think what’s interesting about that is when you’re talking about, you know, board members being together, remember, you know, they, we would all of a sudden have four board members show up at graduation and we’re like, do we need to post an agenda? And I was like, no, there’s no action being taken, right. And so it does help, but you always have to delineate that very clearly. Right? Like this is just a chance. gathering or this is a learning opportunity versus this is an actual meeting where we have to be careful because we’re discussing things that we’re actually thinking about implementing, right? Then that has to be a public meeting, right? I love that too in this, in the sense of it isn’t just about onboarding a new board member. It’s about onboarding a new board because now you have a new dynamic, right? So I’m glad you’re bringing that.

Teri: It’s a new seven people.

Wendy: Yep.

Teri: And they also mentioned in another class, they said, you’re not just a team of seven, you’re a team of nine because it’s the board, the superintendent, and the business administrator because the nine of you all have to work together to, you know, make things happen.

Wendy: That’s exactly right. And if those relationships are not good, then we don’t go anywhere.

Teri: Yeah.

Wendy: That’s for sure. So, oh my gosh, we’ve learned so many great things. It was pretty exciting. So as we kind of went to these different classes and, and obviously there’s a lot of great ideas that came out of that. How are you going to decide as a board what to prioritize? Because as I’m hearing all of these things, I might have a little anxiety about, all right, all the stuff we’re going to do, but, so, what are those things that help you as a, as a board to prioritize? What needs to be implemented? What is something that we put into like a three year plan or a five year plan, or what does that look like?

Rebecca: There’s always so many factors, right, to decide on what we work on first and what order we put it in. So true. But first, well, the first thing we did as a board while we were there at NSBA is we got together on the last night of the conference, and we all shared our findings, right? We shared the things that we learned, we shared the things that we love, and even though we probably all learned, I mean, so many things we tried to share just kind of our top two, because we know that there’s a limited amount of resources in the district, right? So we’re not going to be able to just come home and do everything we want. But that’s the first step, I think, is we get together, we share everything we learn with each other. And from there, what we’ll do now is we’ll actually have a public discussion, a discussion in public at a board meeting where we will be able to actually put things in priority order and decide what we feel like is worthy of, you know, our budgeting, worthy of the students learning and, and, and what our budget can handle or what we have capacity for, et cetera. I think too, one of the big pieces, which even Meg was talking about, but we are in the process of working on our strategic plan. And so, when that’s finished, we keep kind of saying, when that’s finished, and I know we have some things already guiding us, but we’ll use our mission, our vision, our values to look at what we’ve learned and say, okay, do these things align? And if so, what What can we do that’s most important to us and going to benefit the students most that aligns with this mission, this vision, this values, and I think that’s also going to be really helpful and a very good guiding star for us when we learn new things to be able to say, okay, this is going to be our priority or this is going to be our most important thing.

Meg: Yeah, and I’ll add, I think as I’ve been reflecting this last couple of days since getting back from a conference, I think too, some of it is like going to these classes, it actually just kind of gives me a different lens. I think learning different things that are happening in different places and different programs, where maybe we can’t implement it all, it helps me as a board member, think about the questions to ask about something, gives me ideas in a meeting to be like, Oh, Oh, I remembered this district talking about this. I’m going to ask this question because it fits in the context of this discussion that we’re having right now. So that’s a way that also I think individually helps me as a board member just to continue to think like a board member a little bit, right? And to really be a little more grounded in what my role is as a board member. And I think both times I’ve been to this conference that I’ve come back kind of with that piece as well. So.

Rebecca: I would agree. That’s probably one of the most valuable parts about going to NSBA to the conference there is that we’re learning from other board members. We’re learning from other superintendents. These are our, you know, these are our colleagues that are doing the same thing with us. And so it’s, it’s very, very valuable to be able to help us in remembering how to think like board members and knowing the questions to ask cause these are our people, right? And these are the same kind, they’re doing the same work we’re doing just in a different place. It’s actually a really valuable piece of the conference to learn from our peers.

Wendy: Did you have anything you wanted to add, Teri?

Teri: I, Gina and I both went to this aviation class and when we were doing our last night recap, I realized she got something out of it that was different than what I got out of it. And we remembered different things and we wrote notes about different things. And one thing that I did was I, when I got back, I emailed the principals of my area so I can say, Hey, I have this idea. I need to talk to you about it. So I scheduled meetings for him in the next couple of weeks to see if, you know, the students in their schools would be interested in an aviation program.

Wendy: Right.

Teri: You know, we do have an Amelia Earhart Elementary School.

Wendy: We do have Amelia Earhart and we have a Provo airport. We got a lot of things happening right here. And Clay would probably be a good person to bring into that conversation too, for sure. I think that’s an excellent point, you know. Two people can go to the same class and you’re remembering different pieces that helps in the implementation of something. Um, because you are going in with different lenses sometimes and you need to have all of those pieces in place. That’s the value of having a team with different perspectives. So that’s really good. Okay, so well, and maybe we can kind of go down this rabbit hole a little bit. Let’s use aviation as an example or something. But how do you take an idea from a conference like this and actually implemented it? What is the process of this? Or have you gone to NSBA in the past and pulled something from it and implemented it? And how has that worked? What does that look like?

Meg: I wasn’t necessarily part of this process, but our student board members is a direct result of conference. I know Gina Hales, one of our board members, that was something she left NSBA two years ago and came like, okay, this is something we need to start doing in our district.

Teri: Last year too, there was another class, there was a couple of classes and Ginaand I went to them and we’re like, okay, this is how you implement this. And then we came back in and hurried and got started.

Meg: Right. And kind of, that’s a very concrete example, right? This, this kind of small insular project that, okay, I think we have the capacity and I think talking to the right people and saying, do we have capacity to do this? What, you know, what’s the fiscal response, what cost here? Is that something we can do? Is it feasible? And when it is, the lessons learned at the conference are able to, to like use to build our template. Right? And then like Rebecca was saying, we’re still in the process of that program. So even going to like continuing education, if you will, this conference, right? How do we do this better? How do we bring in more student voice, right? So that’s definitely a concrete example.

Rebecca: I think that the process, it’s hard to say exactly what the process is because any process we do here is just, it takes time and it takes a lot of people. I don’t know if people realize. How many people were actually involved in getting our student board member program off its feet, right? So that that implementation process, while that’s a direct result and a great example, it’s important for people, I think, to understand that that was a year in the making before we actually got the program on its feet, and that included our board members kind of saying, Hey, we really want to get this going and giving us some directives to get it going. It included our secondary assistant superintendent. It included the student government advisors at the high schools. It included talking to some students and figuring out what might work and included writing a policy to allow the program to start. I mean, all these things take time. And so really it starts with, I think, board members saying, Hey, this is where we want to go giving some directives. And then all of our really great employees here getting to work and just really just taking the time to thoroughly think of the processes and the procedures and document everything and put that policy into place. And then actually, I mean, it really is quite exciting when we get to the part where we actually take applications from student board member, you know, hopefuls, because this is literally like a year’s worth of work, right?

Teri: Yeah.

Rebecca: It’s a long process sometimes and I think that’s very normal, right? For anything. You want to do something correctly. You want to do it thoroughly. You want to do it right. And so it’s, it’s a long process, but it’s a good process, and there’s so many interesting and great things to be learned in, in the meantime as we’re doing all of that, things we learned this year you know, like, for example, one thing I think everyone’s really enthusiastic about is that aviation class. It’s, it’s kind of a no brainer. We’ve got an airport. We’ve got Duncan right by, you know. We’ve got lots of, lots of really great resources, and so it feels like a no brainer, and we’ve said amongst ourselves as board members, This is easy. This is a no brainer. We should do this. However, easy means we’re not gonna see that class on the rolls, you know, for probably another school year or two. Right? Because that’s just how long it takes and what it takes. So that’s, I mean, the process, hard to say, but long, but good. And hopefully thorough and, you know, so we really get a good result at the end.

Teri: And another thing is. Is there student interest?

Wendy: Yeah, that’s good point. If you know, we might think it’s a great idea, but if they don’t want to sign up for it, it doesn’t matter

Teri: With the student board member, it was the students that came to us and said, we want to give this presentation to you in a board meeting. And so that kind of pushed it even farther because the students wanted it. I mean, that’s why I set up the appointments with the principals because I’m like do you think students would be interested in something like this?

Rebecca: Well it’s another testament to the reasons why we need a little bit more student voice an elevated student voice, right? So we can know like hey going into this conference. We’ve had students interested in aviation. This is a perfect fit for us. Let’s go for this, right?

Wendy: Well and I think the other piece that I see in this is I think sometimes we get so worried about implementing something perfectly that then it can paralyze us. And what I’ve really appreciated is we’re willing to try some things and, and it’s okay. And we’re learning along the way. And then we just keep making it better. And then we’re like, Oh, why didn’t we think about that? Let’s add this component to it. And so it is a process. It’s not like you get to the end product and it’s like, Oh, we’ve arrived. We’re done. You’re always going to keep learning how to do things better. So that’s been a real positive, I think.

Rebecca: And we’re educators, right? And so that’s exactly part of the process we want the kids to learn how to do the lifetime skill. We implement something and then we educate ourselves along the way and learn and grow just as they’re doing in schools.

Wendy: That’s right. What were your favorite parts of the conference? I mean, obviously you’ve pulled some things away from the classes, but were there other things that stood out to you? I know there’s general sessions, there’s just opportunities to collaborate and talk and what, what other things stood out to you?

Meg: For me, for sure, it was hearing Ruby Bridges give her keynote chat, fireside chat. It felt pretty remarkable to be hearing from her in the city of the school that she integrated, you know, back in, what was it, 1960, as a six year old. I loved this too because it is such a direct connection to public education, right? Public education was the central to a bit in this discussion in the country about desegregation, right? And that’s kind of on the ground where we made progress, right? But it took a lot of, uh, a lot of work, and there was a lot of opposition, right, and to think about so much of that being on the shoulders of this little six year old, and seeing that six year old in person and realizing how recent that was, and being in that very city, for me, like, helped me think about our commitment to public education and how are we supporting all of our students and what progress do we still need to make.

Rebecca: Absolutely, I was, I was going to say the same thing. I love the keynote speakers. They really bring in some incredible people. We were lucky to hear from Tim Shriver about the Dignity Index, but also from Ruby Bridges, which was quite incredible. I was sorry. I just thought, Oh my gosh, this is incredible. I’m in the same room as Ruby Bridges. She said some really incredible things. It was so interesting to hear about her family background and to really stop for a minute and contemplate what that experience, you know, in being the first black child to integrate into a white school, what that meant for her family. And she talked a little bit about the impact that had on her family and it was not easy by any means, you know.

Wendy: And even her parents disagreed about whether or not this was a good idea, right? Like mom and dad were not on the same page with this, right? And that’s so real true to life, right?

Rebecca: Any family there’s always gonna be those disagreements But as something as big as integrating being the first person to integrate into a white school. What an incredible impact that had on her family. I was also so touched when she talked about her teacher. Her teacher was a white woman and she talked about how her teacher just embraced her and loved her and made school fun and awesome. And she loved going to school. What a testament to the power that teachers have. I mean, in such a volatile situation that she was in and such a controversial and, and it was surrounded by so much fear and anger and hatred. There’s so many of these really. Negative type things and in the midst of all of that, there was this huge positive, which is that her teacher was incredible and loved her and embraced. I mean, how neat is that to hear that from her? That school, even though it may have been a very scary thing, integrating was a positive experience for her. That was- I was so touched by that. I loved that so much.

Wendy: Teri, what about you?

Teri: Yeah, it’s gotta be Ruby Bridges. Sorry. I mean, such an iconic thing of, in my brain, I keep thinking of her as a six year old and I keep forgetting the fact that, Oh, it really wasn’t that long ago. She’s still alive. Yep. And what is she in her 50s or 60s?

Rebecca: She’s the same age as my mom, actually, which really put it into perspective for me as well. She’s the same age as my mom. So she’s, she’s early 70s.

Wendy: Yeah.

Teri: Right. Right. Yeah. Like she’s still alive. She’s still working. And one thing I really liked. It wasn’t that she was talking about this teacher that loved her and she also told the story of how she went back to the school when her nieces were going to the school to become that adult. I know I keep hearing the same story over and over again that as long as there’s one adult in the building, a student will do better. And will like school and when I stay in school and do better in school. And that was her. I mean, she lived that experience where she had a teacher and then she became that adult for her nieces.

Wendy: For her nieces.

Teri: Yeah.

Wendy: I think what’s, what was also really interesting about that whole experience with Ruby Bridges was to think about how public education has the ability to either sustain a status quo or has the ability to really, truly open up opportunities for students. And I think most educators are in education. I would like to say all of them, but I don’t want to speak for all of them, but I feel like we’re in this because we’re trying to find ways to expand those opportunities for every single child and that we need to figure out ways to make sure that our schools truly are doing that. That we don’t have barriers, either intentional or unintentional. A lot of the barriers are just unintentional, right? And just making sure that those are broken down so that kids really can find that success and then we can be like, wow, we contributed to that. It’s like, it’s so amazing. Love it so much.

Rebecca: I think sometimes people ask me questions about what do you do on the school board? And I think, okay, do you want the six hour version or do you want the 10 minute version? Because I could talk about school board all day, every day for a long, long time. There’s a lot to know. There’s a lot to learn. There’s so much to do on the school board. So, I mean, we could probably podcast here for like six hours about an SBA, right?

Wendy: Oh, I think we could podcast about the school board for ever.

Rebecca: Absolutely. It’s become a little bit of a passion, you know, for me. So yeah. So I always caution people. Be careful what you ask me. I got like, I got like three days worth of info for you if you want it.

Wendy: Maybe we could take an opportunity to talk a little bit about that. I mean, I wonder if people know what a school board member actually does because one of the things that I see is I see all of you in the schools all the time and you’re dedicating a tremendous amount of time for literally no money or like a penny or something like that.

Teri: It’s 5,000 a year. I do remind people that’s how much I get paid.

Wendy: But I think it would be helpful for people to understand just what it, even just preparing for a board meeting, what it is that you’re doing and, and how many emails you’re responding to and phone calls. I’d love for you to just talk about that for a minute, because I do think we need to have an appreciation for all the work that you guys are doing. So tell me a little bit about what it is.

Teri: I just did an Instagram posts with a list of all the meetings that I went to for the month of March. So if you want to go check that out, it was literally every day.

Wendy: That’s a lot.

Teri: I have something every day. Yes, you do. I know that personally. Teri’s in the schools all the time.

Teri: I went to a Amelia’s PTA meeting today and, uh, they forgot to tell me it was canceled.

Wendy: Well, that sometimes happens too. Yeah, that’s true. So what about you, Meg? Maybe even highlight some of the things that you didn’t think that was going to be part of your job and you’re like, oh, that’s a fun fact.

Meg: Yeah, definitely is much more time, um, than I anticipated, which is fine. I think a part of that piece is like just trying to turn it off. Like you’re always thinking, what can I do better? What do I need to be doing? You know, what do the schools that I’m over need? Um,

Teri: I’m always forgetting something too. I’m like, I know I’m supposed to be doing something. But I forgot what that was.

Meg: Right. What is that? But yeah, I think just like you were saying even preparing for um board meetings. There’s, you know, we have two a month but man that Tuesday comes quick because you just for me like getting reading all of the pieces to prepare to and then you come to the meeting ready to discuss, ready to ask questions, ready to think about how I may be needing to vote on any given agenda item. And then you kind of decompress right after and then by the time you decompress, it’s like, okay, I got to do this again. Right? And it’s, and it’s great. And I think, but it’s just that piece,

Teri: As long as we don’t have all day meetings all the time. That’s true. Just twice a year.

Meg: You just, yeah. And you just can’t, I don’t think until you’re doing the job, even if people are telling you what the job entails. You don’t know until you start. That’s true for me. One thing I, I will say that has been like my favorite part is stepping into a board and working with seven other people, six, you know, six other board members, the superintendent, and realizing that we have different experiences, different perspectives, but we can also get along and work well together and respect each other. Like I, I think especially right now when there does feel like…Things around us feel like there’s a lot of turmoil when you think about elected officials and just government and politics and I have found like a lot of hope in like, oh we can do this and we actually come to things differently as a board, but we can be productive and work together and really like each other.

Wendy: Yeah, we spend a lot of time together,

Teri: Especially this weekend.

Rebecca: I think, um, to answer your question at its core, there’s some basic duties we have, right? And that is what our board work is, right? And so we’re, we’re in charge of the superintendent and the business administrator, right? And we are in charge of technically one of our duties is policy, right? We are the policy makers for the school district. We are the budget approvers, right? And so we are those kind of more of those umbrella. type duties. We don’t get into the nitty gritty. Um, we don’t go to schools and hire and fire, you know, plan, art festivals, things like that. That’s, that’s not our job. We’re really more of like the umbrella, right? The overall type of, um, work. But what’s interesting about being in charge of that, that umbrella type work is that we have to know the nitty gritty. We have to know that in order to make sure that those umbrella type decisions that we’re making are right and that it’s going to send the school district in the right direction. So, while our job duties entail, you know, making an approving policy, we’ve got to be in the schools, we’ve got to be at the PTA meetings, we’ve got to be at the community council meetings, we’ve got to be sitting on committees at the school district and working together as a team and all these little things that add up to, okay, now we’re ready and educated and know the right questions to ask and, and know who to talk to, to be able to vote on these policies and to know what’s appropriate to put in them and what’s not. And so I think when I first filed papers to be on the board. I was told it’s two meetings a month and it’s, it’s two conference, two meetings a month, two conferences a year, you know, you might spend a few hours on a, you know, a week and honestly, you can be that kind of board member. You can, that’s all that’s required of you. You can just show up to the two meetings a month. You can just show up to the two conferences and technically, you are doing your duty. But if you really want to be a good board member, you need to know the in and out, the day to day, the little details. And that I think is what allows board members to really be effective in the policy they make and the budgets they approve because you can’t really make those decisions unless you are really educated on what truly happens in a school district. And I do have to say, I think it took me a good, solid year. My first year of board work was really just learning and understanding and really even figuring out, you know, enough to know what questions to ask, right?

Meg: I feel that all the time. Okay, I need to learn what questions I need to ask in my first year, yeah.

Rebecca: And so after having that good, solid year of experience is when I really felt like I could I mean, be on my feet and really get into things a little bit more thoroughly and a little bit better because I had kind of a foundation there, but there really is a quite a bit more to it. And you’re right, Meg, it’s hard to turn it off, right? It’s hard to go home and not want to say, Oh my gosh, did you know there’s a policy about it? And we’re learning this and that, you know, and my poor husband is always like, thanks, can we talk about soccer or baseball or something else, right? But there’s, there is quite a bit to it. And I would say, too, something that’s interesting to note is like how many hours we put in as board members. I’m talking bare minimum 20 a week. At the very least, right? And I even have gotten a new perspective serving as, I served as the vice president for two years and now I’m serving as the president. And that includes more, right? That includes a few more meetings. That includes, even like management of just sometimes like how the board works, sending out text messaging and emails and coordinating schedules and getting meetings set up and all those kinds of things.

So it’s really a lot more than what people might imagine. But even with that being said, I have to say it is incredibly fulfilling work. Like, it is such good work. I love the work. It’s exhausting. Right? It’s up and down. It’s emotional. It’s a lots of things, but that’s the kind of work when you do that kind of work that fulfills you the most, right? Your hardest, your hardest things in life or your most challenging things in life are the things you’re going to learn the most from, and that is going to give you the most fulfillment. I think board work is like that. I’m not campaigning, but I would say, you know, if you’re looking for something, get involved in the schools, right? I’m not saying you have to run for the board, but getting involved in schools, volunteering, even if you don’t have kids in the classroom, volunteering and helping schools is such a fulfilling thing to do. And you can’t beat the cuteness of the kids either, right? It’s so fun to be with the kids.

Teri: I have a story.

Wendy: I can’t wait.

Teri: Okay, so I was at community council yesterday at Franklin, and the principal told us that Mr. Benson does principal of the day. So yes, students qualify for principal of the day. And yesterday, There were three girls who were being principal of the day, fourth graders, and they said they wanted to meet the superintendent because she’s an awesome woman leader. Oh, it was, it was awesome.

Wendy: I went in and met them and they said, they said, you’re slaying it, Mrs. Dau. Okay. And I was like, I was like, so cute. Wow. I’m old. I felt like I had to look that up.

Rebecca: Well, I’m glad you met them because I was just going to offer to set up the meeting for you.

Wendy: They were awesome. It was incredible. That’s what reminds me about why we do what we do, right? Is when we get to work with kids. I think one of the things that is coming across to, I have two thoughts about this. You’re saying, Rebecca, to be in the schools. It’s so easy to listen to the media or read this article about guess what’s happening in our public schools. Just go check it out. Go find out what’s going on in the schools because before you believe what somebody else says you need to witness it for yourself and see the hard work see all that teachers do to prepare for a day. I was telling the principals this morning I was at Franklin Elementary watching a teacher and she had a tough class. It was a fourth grade class. They were working on their literacy block and she had to redirect the behavior like constantly and I was like, Oh my gosh, I sat there for 45 minutes and I was exhausted just sitting there. But she was so positive. Just everything that she did was engaging them.

Teri: I heard about one of the redirects.

Wendy: Yes. Yes. I’m sure.

Teri: It was hilarious when he told us. Yes. But it was. I don’t know if it’s appropriate for a podcast.

Wendy: Probably not. Probably not. But it was, but I just was, what you see is you just see how much care is going into how much we do care about children and how much we do want them to be able to learn and how much we want them to be in a safe environment and an environment where they’re loved and appreciated and seen. And where they can learn and thrive. And that was really incredible. I think the second thing that comes to mind is you guys all went to this conference to learn. You guys are demonstrating, you guys are lifelong learners. You embody that. You’re researching all the time. You’re trying to learn new things. You’re trying to figure out ways to make our schools better. I just, I hope you know how much we appreciate the work and the energy and the time that you put into everything that you do for our kids, but with that any last minute thoughts you want to leave us with.

Teri: I don’t know

Wendy: I put you on the spot. Yes I’m, sorry.

Rebecca: I would love to say something about the dignity index. Can I do that? Oh, please do so We did have a keynote speaker tim schreiber who’s one of the co founders of the dignity index And it was such a pleasure pertinent message to our, to our time and to, to the climate that we have today in politics and in, in the media and even just on social media, right? There’s so much divisiveness. I just felt so hopeful and so inspired after hearing him talk. So the Dignity Index, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is just a scale from one to eight, right? And it’s based on the idea, and I shouldn’t even say an idea, but just the principle, right? That every person has worth, no matter what. Every last person has worth, and so the way you speak to them and the way you speak about things absolutely matters. And so you use this scale from one to eight, one being awful, you know, the most horrible type of speech you can get up to eight, which is like the best ever, right? And you use the scale to evaluate the way that, uh, that your speech comes across. And it was, it was just so hopeful. And I loved what he said. When people first hear about the Dignity Index, they’re like, Oh great, I’m going to take this and I’m going to prove that that other side are, you know, are being so awful to us, right? But in the end, what ends up happening when you start using this scale to help, um, you know, evaluate speech is that it actually turns it back on yourself and you end up looking in a mirror and you begin to be very careful and deliberate about the way you speak to other people. That was just so great. Because I think that’s something we could really use, right? That’s something that you just see on the news, like school board meetings that are being shut down because of angry people. And, and, and that has no place in education. No, when we really truly have our kids at the forefront of education and they’re the reason why we’re doing things, you know, that should never happen, right? At a school board meeting, that should never happen in education. And so, using this Dignity Index and this scale to help remind yourself that the things you say matter was really a great thing to hear and just left me with a lot of hope and kind of a lot of inspiration, you know, that with a little bit of mindfulness, we can really change the climate of our, of our, our media and our social media and the things that people hear, and that can change our a lot of things. That can change the trajectory of so many things. And it was just, it was really a great, a great thing to hear.

Wendy: That was really good. What about you Meg?

Meg: Thanks for adding that Rebecca. I think any closing remarks would be I left the conference and even sitting here chatting with all of you Yeah, just continually grateful for the opportunity to be part of this work and to be among so many wonderful people that are working hard um for our students for public education making sure that we are thinking about what barriers there are and how we’re addressing those and to realize yeah that we have children in mind and we are doing it with them as a motivator. So I am just really grateful to be part of this work and to be with all of you and seeing all of your strengths and just being led by those examples, too.

Rebecca: I know, it’s great.

Wendy: Made me feel really good. Teri, what about you?

Teri: Um, what I really also like about going to NSBA is that there’s other people that are, I can commiserate with.

Wendy:Yeah, that’s true.

Teri: Where, I mean, it’s kind of exhausting and they understand what we’re doing because they’re doing the same thing we are and yeah, that’s what I like.

Wendy: I think what, I think what’s really great about it too is it’s like you commiserate about it, but it’s also very problem solving. It is a very solution oriented, like here are the challenges we’re facing. This is how we handled it. Here’s some, here’s so you don’t make the same mistake we did, you know, and that was helpful for me to just listen to some superintendents, you know say that and, and help with some approaches about tricky issues and things like that. So that was helpful, but, well, thank you so much for being on our podcast today.

Wow. I forgot about how much we all learned and I’m very excited for our future conversations and all of the different things that I hope we get to implement to benefit kids, but it’s been great to speak with all of you today. So thank you for being here.

Meg and Rebecca: Thank you.

Wendy: 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 wherever you get your podcast. If you have any topics or questions you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us at podcast@provo.edu. Until next time.