September 13th, 2024 /
Alexander Glaves /
Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up With the Sup’ podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau. For our episode this week, I visited with two Timpview High School seniors, Alema Foster and Taani Makasini. We talked about their experiences at Timpview and how it is preparing them for their future and what they’re excited about for the coming school year.
But first, here are our updates.
And now for our podcast, let’s talk with Alema and Tani.
So to start off by telling us a little bit about, um, what you’re involved with at Timpview High School. So like different programs, sports, um, let’s just start with that.
Taani Makasini: So obviously the football team, number one, uh, I’ve also been enrolled in AVID all four years, nothing much crazy else.
I just go to all the events, try to go to sports games and stuff like that.
Wendy Dau: Awesome. So very involved, even beyond just football.
Alema Foster: Yeah. So like he said, football, but then I’m also involved with like the people of Pacific, like the club. And that’s really fun to interact with those are the same culture as me.
And I really like that we have the opportunity here at Timpview to do that.
Wendy Dau: And you guys are both team captains on our football team, right?
Taani Makasini: Yeah, we are.
Wendy Dau: Tell me what that means. Like, why is that so important? And how do you lead and what kind of responsibilities does that place on you?
Alema Foster: Being a team captain just means being accountable for yourself, while also your teammates, just making sure they’re doing the right things.
But you can’t be hypocritical. You also got to lead by example too. And I feel like you have to be a good example both on and off the field. So as team captains, we’ve talked over that with our coach, Donnie, our head coach, and some of the things that we want to do to build the team culture around, uh, Timpview Football.
So yeah, that’s some of the things we do.
Taani Makasini: Well, our coaches always tell us that a good team always needs a leader and, uh, it’s been really important for us to like step into that role. It’s kind of weird for me because I’ve like for the past three years, I’ve been one of the guys that always listens, but stepping up into the role is different, but it’s a good learning experience and helps us grow and develop skills that will help us later on in life.
Wendy Dau: Tell me a little bit about your involvement with AVID and kind of how that’s helped you because you’ve been involved for four years and sometimes kids don’t stick with it for the four years. So tell me what kinds of advantages you feel like that’s given you and what kinds of skills that’s helped you.
Taani Makasini: Well, I like AVID because it makes me feel like I’m ahead. It also does put me ahead. I feel as I have more time and more resources to help me during school. And even after school, there’s always tutors and stuff for me to go to. And I just, it just helps me a lot with my schooling, especially juggling football and school.
It just makes my life a lot easier.
Alema Foster: I really like AVID because it’s just a place where you can go and you know you will get things done. Mrs. T, she’s very good at making us do our work and making sure we’re organized. Like, she does binder checks. She shows us how to take the proper notes. And I feel like, especially early on in my, like, freshman, sophomore years, that really helped me to get the grades that I wanted and the GPA that I desired.
So, I think AVID was a big part of the reason why I was successful as a student.
Wendy Dau: That’s great to hear. I think one of the things people don’t realize is a lot of being successful in life is just having organizational skills, follow through, right? Doing what you say you’re going to do. Those are all things that I think AVID is really good at teaching us.
Tell us a little bit about your Peoples of the Pacific class. I’d love to hear more about that. I have some experience with that, but I want our listeners to hear about all of the cool things that you do.
Alema Foster: So it’s a class in school, but we also do stuff like out of school. We’ve done a bonfire activity just to really bond with the students at the school of our culture.
And we also learn stuff like designs of our culture, dances. We make foods of our culture. So it’s a pretty good experience to have at Timpview is to be in the People of Pacific.
Wendy Dau: Are you in the People of the Pacific? Okay. Tell me what you’ve learned about it.
Taani Makasini: My favorite part about People of the Pacific is, uh, when we have to do our dances or we get to do our dances, we do our big assembly with the whole school and everybody kind of just shares their cultures.
It’s just a really great opportunity to get back to your roots, especially living in the USA and you feel so far away from where you’re from. It’s just a great way to be like connected back to your heritage and stuff.
Wendy Dau: And you’re really finding an opportunity to keep your heritage alive and keep connected to it because it really is very important because it shapes who you are. Right?
What are you most excited about? So you’re both seniors. What are you looking forward to the most this school year?
Alema Foster: I think that just bonding with my peers, you know, and you get to the freshmen and sophomores, like more awkward, like you don’t really know everyone and all that, but we’ve gotten a little more comfortable with each other now, like juniors and seniors.
So I feel like just going to school events and having a good time with all my peers, like. Not only the football players, like the volleyball team, the basketball team, the cheerleaders, like just everyone, the band, just bonding with all my classmates, class of 25. So, yeah.
Wendy Dau: You become a family, right? Yeah. You’re stuck together. What about you?
Taani Makasini: I’m happy that I get to transition on to the next step. I’m grateful for high school cause it’s helped me to kind of grow and be ready. I’m just, you know, ready to move on after this.
Wendy Dau: So that kind of leads me to the next question. Tell me a little bit about how Timpview High School has prepared you for that next step or what you feel like it’s done to help you.
You kind of alluded to that already.
Taani Makasini: Misty helps me a lot. She put me in a lot of online classes that really helped me during high school. So I’m actually going on a mission right after high school. And then I’m committed to play at BYU after this. And so she just helps me a lot with applying for the college scholarships and all that stuff like that.
So I just feel like what she has done for me and what the school has done for me is really helping me to move on.
Wendy Dau: Okay. What about you, Alema?
Alema Foster: I just feel like Timpview has a lot to offer. Not only Mrs. T, she’s helped me a bunch, but also like the counselors and stuff. They helped get me my right schedule and set me up perfectly.
So, I’m in a spot where I can succeed. And also the teachers here, I feel like they really care about you. I’ve had a lot of teachers that not only care about me as a student, but me as the person. And I’m really grateful for that. At Timpview, we have a lot of access to tutors. Like, I feel like there’s tutors always around.
And I was a little struggling with math, and then I got a tutor and I ended up, like, getting an A in that class. So I’m really grateful for all the things that Timpview has to offer and all the things that I can do. I just get better here at Timpview. So yeah.
Wendy Dau: That’s really great. So there’s a lot of support here to help students be successful.
You kind of talked a little bit about what you want to do after high school. It already sounds like you guys are leaders in your communities. And so just curious as to kind of what you’re thinking about beyond high school.
Alema Foster: Beyond high school for me. First, I’m gonna go on my mission after this. And then I was going to college and I want to study like dentistry.
I want to become a dentist. Like Taani said, Mrs. T in the AVID class and all these other classes help you get ahead. So I’m already taking some college courses just so it’ll make my college life easier after my mission. And then I feel like a big thing that I love as a football player is when I look in the stands and I see our alumni come back.
That support really gets me fueled up. So I feel like that’s one way I could come and give back to the community, just staying around the community and just showing up to all the events, showing my support.
Wendy Dau: What about you, Taani.
Taani Makasini: For me, it’s kind of different knowing that I’m going to BYU know how close I am going to be to like Provo and Timpview High School.
I know when I was growing up that everybody knew BYU football players, like they’re really big thing in the city and knowing that that’s going to be me and I’m going to have to like step into that role and be good for the children and for the people that are looking at me, it’s really like kind of scary, but also makes me want to like be a good person and stand up for the community and stuff like that.
Okay. So you’re both football players. So I want you to tell us about your position and maybe what you’re most looking forward to, and you hope to accomplish in the football season in general, because you’re coming off being state champs from last year. So tell us a little bit about that. I’ll start with you.
So I play linebacker. It’s kind of like the quarterback of the defense. I communicate the most and, uh, I’m both in the run and the pass. So it’s kind of like a leadership role of the defense, I would say. So I play center on the offensive line. So I snapped the ball and then. I helped make the pass protection calls and other calls for my own line.
So we could keep the quarterback safe. And one goal that we had this year was coach Donnie always says, he said, don’t dwell on last year, last year’s last year. So today’s a new year. We can’t keep being big headed and think we’re still the state champs. We still got something to prove.
Wendy Dau: Are there any pieces of advice you would like to leave with freshmen or sophomores that you wish you had known that you now feel like, Oh yeah, that would have been super helpful.
And I’m really glad that I do that now.
Alema Foster: For the freshman, I would just say, don’t take for granted like the opportunities you have. I feel like every opportunity you have, you gotta take it. Since Timpview, like I’ve said, they offer so much opportunities that you just gotta take all of them. It’ll really help you grow as a student and then don’t be complacent with your work.
Get it done. Get it over with so your life will be easier towards the end of high school, going into college. That’s a big one. I’m glad for teachers like Mrs. T and others for pushing me. Like that. So I had that to not be complacent and just get the work done. So yeah, I’m grateful for that.
Taani Makasini: My advice would just have a positive outlook.
Like in high school, you’re not always going to do things that are going to be fun or you’re going to enjoy, but you gotta take a look at it and find the good in it. Nobody likes going to math class all the time, but those skills that you develop are going to help you a lot later on in life or your English.
When you read a book, reading a book doesn’t sound very fun to some people, but it develops a lot of skills for you that will help you a lot.
Wendy Dau: Thank you so much. I’m just so impressed with how connected you are with the school, and there’s a lot of love that you have for this Timpview community, and I can see why students are looking up to you quite a bit.
Thank you 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.
We will be back again next week with an all new episode of What’s Up with the Sup’.
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