EP 15 Jayme Gill International Baccalaureate Coordinator Tates Creek Middle School

Jayme Gill is a deep thinker who believes in the importance of education for the functioning and development of society. Recognizing the necessity and comfort it brings, Jayme acknowledges the need to constantly evaluate and adapt the education system in order to maximize its benefits for students and the world at large. Jayme also emphasizes the role of education in preparing individuals to contribute and take care of future generations, highlighting the importance of continuous improvement and change in the educational landscape. Jayme's insights prompt us to question and challenge the status quo, ensuring that education evolves and remains impactful.

Education Perspectives is proud to welcome Jayme Gill to the podcast She is theInternational Baccalaureate Coordinatorat Tates Creek Middle School in Lexington. Jayme moved to Kentucky in 2000 to attend Transylvania University and graduated with a degree in French Language & Literature. She then went on to complete a Masters in Teaching World Languages from the University of Kentucky, despite growing up swearing she would never be a teacher! Jayme thought she would move away after Transy and maybe work as an interpreter or travel the world as a tour guide...but then she met someone. Jayme has a lovely husband and twin boys who keep her more than busy at home. They love travel, boating, fishing, and anything outside! Jayme student-taught at Tates Creek Middle and this is now in her 16th year working there. She taught French for 14 years at Creek, but when the International Baccalaureate Programme Coordinator position opened up, she couldn't resist. Jayme truly believes in what the programme can bring their students, families, teachers, and community!

Quote of the Podcast – 

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela

Podcast/book shoutouts

The Lexington Podcast with Erica Friis (A former colleague and education, sharing knowledge!)

Transcript

Liza Holland [00:00:02]:

Education Perspectives is proud to welcome Jamie Gill to the podcast.

She is the International Baccalaureate coordinator at Tates Creek Middle School in Lexington. Jamie moved to Kentucky in 2000 to attend Translivenia Universe

city and graduated with a degree in French language and literature. She then went on to complete a master's in teaching world languages from the University of Kentucky, despite growing up swearing she would never be a teacher. Jamie thought she would move away after transient and maybe work as an interpreter or travel the world as a tour guide, but then she met someone. Jamie now has a lovely husband and twin boys to keep her more than busy at home. They love travel, boating, fishing, and anything outside. Jamie student taught at Tates Creek, Niddle, And this is now her 16th year working there. She taught French for 14 years at Creek, but then when the international Baccalaureate program coordinator position opened up. She just couldn't resist. Jamie truly believes in what the program can bring her students families, teachers, and community. Jamie, welcome to education perspectives. We're so glad to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. So every guest gets the first same first question. If you take a thirty thousand-foot view, why do you think that we as a society invest in education?

Jayme Gill [00:01:55]:

I think that it's something, like, at this point, I think self-preservation. We've created a society in which we have to be educated to make it run and to keep it going. And so at this point, we don't have much of a choice from a lot of perspectives, there's not much of a choice, but to continue with some kind of system of education. I also think it's comfortable. It's what we've been doing. it's easy to invest in it. But at this point, I think, and maybe it's just because of my career choice, it seems like the way to invest reasons for investing and how we invest have changed or at least are changing, which is good. It should change. It should change regularly. but I think that those just making sure that we have people to take care of us in the future. You're not born knowing how to do heart surgery. So I think that's one of the reasons we do, but then also just we're comfortable. It's what we do. But I think it's important to continue to examine it like you are really thinking about it from different perspectives so that we are making the changes that are most beneficial to our current students and our current world and not just we're doing it because we do it. Very good answer. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Liza Holland [00:02:59]:

So I was reading in your introduction, which is marvelous. Tell me a little bit about that transition when you finally decided to go for education.

Jayme Gill [00:03:10]:

Well, it was the one thing I said I would never do. I grew up with a grandma who was a special education teacher for a very long time. and always loved school. I'm a school person. I love going to class. Like, that I was always a good student. Like, that was my jam, but I always thought that it looked so hard. And it was so important that I didn't want to do it and mess it up. So it was never something that I thought I would do because it just wasn't. It was too much pressure. So I actually, and this sounds funny saying it out loud, but I actually went into college at Transia, went there pre-vet, which is also a lot of pressure, but maybe it was just with the animals felt different for me. But regardless, I was like, no. This is the direction I wanna take. Animals are my thing, like, it just felt really good. And the longer I was in, classes and the longer I ex the more experiences I had in college, the more I realized what I truly enjoyed my guidance counselors were so good at helping me with this, but I realized that French is what I really enjoyed. And so I decided to go for it and major in French. And I was definitely on the path for more of the working for the government side of linguist language specialist kind of thing. UK contacted me and they said, you know, we're looking for people for our French masters program. We'd love for you to come. You can be a teaching assistant. Like, it'll be great. We'll fund lots of things. And I was like, well, sure. That sounds fantastic. like, funding my masters. I was gonna take some time off. And I was like, wait. No. I can't pass this up. So I went on to UK and as a teaching assistant, I was in that department, we were in complete control of our classrooms, which was eye-opening and inspiring and something I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to do because I would never have realized that that's truly where I was supposed to be if I hadn't had that opportunity. So I put all my other things. I was like, you know what? This I can't. My students were so encouraging. I had a lot of older students at that time, and they were you know, what do you wanna teach? Are you gonna do elementary or admin? Like, what do you think? And I was like, I'm not gonna teach. And they were like, what do you mean? You're not gonna teach. And I was like, that's not what I'm doing here. And they were like, You have to. You have to. So that was really it was the motivation and encouragement that I needed, and I am so so happy that I had that opportunity and that I decided to then I did my masters in teaching instead. So it was fantastic, but it was an interesting journey, and it was definitely not where I expected I would end up, but I'm very thankful to be where I

Liza Holland [00:05:30]:

am. You know, so many people have that kind of a story about where they started out thinking that was gonna go one direction and completely turned around to another direction. And

Jayme Gill [00:05:40]:

I love it. I think it means it's real then. You know, it's not just a plan I had since I was 5. This is legit. This is really where I'm supposed to be, and I'm excited about it. Exactly. Well, let's talk about that a little bit more. What is it that you love about what you do? Being in the class, I was in the classroom at Tates Creek for 14 years teaching French. And that I loved seeing my students use what we've learned in class at just any time, but especially when we travel to Europe and things like that, seeing them actually get to use the skills that we've learned and not just the vocab reciting that kind of thing or having a test with me, but really getting see it. I love that. I love seeing the transition that kids make middle school is my absolute favorite. Every day is different. The kids don't know what they love, or what they wanna do from one day to the next, and it changes, and it's it keeps it interesting. But I think that getting to see them use what we learned in class and tell me, come back later and say, oh my gosh. I was in public, and I saw this person. I could tell they were speaking French and then get help. And I got to help them. That kind of thing, that's what I love because they're really using things. And it doesn't have to be French. It could just be, used as a communication skill that we learned in class. It was in English, but I still learned something, and I used it in the real world. And now being out of the classroom and being able to go back in and observe classes and still be with students, but also get to help teachers in a way that I wasn't able to before because I had my own classes to teach is something that I really, really enjoy. The planning And the why behind everything we do is something that's very important to me, not just the robotics of I'm teaching this class. It's what I always do. I'm just gonna do it again. but really reflecting and figuring out what I'm doing that works and what we are doing as a school that works in what ways we could grow is something that has been a huge part of the reason why I transitioned to the position that I'm in now. So being the international baccalaureate milliliters program coordinator, It's long. But the IBM YP coordinator for Tate's Creek Middle School has given me the opportunity to share so much, but also to truly get to know what teachers I like, I knew from my own perspective what was happening in our building and what our students needed and what they were doing. But being able to see that where I'm still in classrooms all the time, but seeing it from different areas of the building, different grade levels, different teacher's perspectives, different content areas. has been amazing. Really great in knowing how best I think to plan for our teachers, for our students, for our community, because it's not just about what's happening inside the building. So I'm really excited. This is just my 2nd year in this position, but I am very, very excited to see what we can do. 

Liza Holland

That is so exciting to me too. And I love the International Baccalaureate program that you are utilizing through Tates Creek because it really takes great steps to move our education system to better serve the needs of our students today.

Jayme Gill [00:08:33]:

Mhmm. And so I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about how that looks in the middle school. And because I know there's a lot of people that don't even know anything about IB. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about that. Of course. Of course. So some of the things that are most valued as a part of each of our classrooms are that we, and this is something that, as you know, we talked a lot about in the change makers, rank 1 program as well, the rate change program But it is something that we concentrate on is making sure that there's inquiry in the classroom that kids are encouraged to ask questions and maybe not everything goes exactly as you had planned it out in your head in the beginning, and that's okay because the students need to take it in a direction that they're interested in. So they're retaining the information because they loved it so much. We do a lot of promoting agency as well through a lot of different things, which is part of what my capstone action project that you heard about. was on was the community service piece in promoting agency. Community service in action is something that's incredibly important in the middle years program. Kids are encouraged. And we have things planned for them, and then they're encouraged to do things outside of that, of course, but grade levels have, service projects that they work on. We also have the house system at Tates Creek. So that worked. It works in so well with the belonging and just the feelings of comfort at school. but they do service within those organizations at school as well. Our 8th graders do a community project, and it's a year-long project that is just a chance for them to take what they've learned about service and put it in their own community, or they can choose to a different community. That's not their own. Someone they want to benefit but something they're interested in. They get their parents involved. We get the community involved. We have a night at school where they're able to present everything they've done to their parents and anyone else who wants to come And we're actually being recognized for that. Our students are at the state of school's breakfast tomorrow morning with the superintendent. So they're very excited. Yeah. Wonderful. Excited. So And then for the IB program in school in each of the classrooms, we value more than just a few classes. There are 8 subject areas. All of our students take classes in all eight subject areas every single year. So they have math, and science, they have landlit, also have individuals and societies, which is like social studies. And then they also have to have a year-long arts course. So we offer band and chorus and theater. visual arts and humanities. They also have a language all 3 years. They do get to try it out in 6th grade, and she's the one they like best we offer French, Chinese, and Spanish. They have PE and health all year every year. And they also have a design course. And so those are kind of where we can fit in some of the different kinds of courses that kids don't get at every middle school. We've got AgroScience. We've got Agro business as well. We did have a design course that you met Erica Fries She did. Yes. She was our design teacher, which is a fantastic course, and she did hands-on everything and did a lot of digital designs. We've now integrated that into some courses that we're working a couple of our other teachers who are gonna do some project lead-the-way courses. And within those, talk about design in many, many ways. The design cycle is something that we use in all classes. So anytime students are engaged in any kind of creation, they can go through this design process where there's reflection and there's learning from what did work and didn't and then you're moving along. It's not just I did it. There's a process to it, which is really cool to see the kids work through. One of my very most favorite parts of the IB program especially for middle school are the approaches to learning skills. So it's a thing. Like, we all talk about 21st-century skills and soft skills with our program, those skills are something that we teach, that we practice, and that we assess. So kids will know where they need work, do they need help with working with others, or do they need help turning things in on time or budgeting their own time, or is it something that they are having trouble SEL is is one of those ATL skills if they're having trouble just interacting with people. Maybe that's something that we take time to work on. And those skills are something we can use anywhere. but especially work well in that advisory period that I also talked about in that project. So that's a very brief description mean, there are so many things. I know. I can talk about it for hours. I know.

Liza Holland [00:12:39]:

But that's a good overview, and it definitely shows how it is so much better meeting the needs of what kids need to have to prepare for -- Yes. I'm still in the world. So a lot of residents there, which is exciting, but you just provided a great segue into talking about your advisory periods. You -- Great. -- innovative

Jayme Gill [00:13:01]:

stuff. Tell me. we've had them for years, but we haven't been making misuse of them by any means. But through the change makers program, there were a lot of things that were brought to my attention that I thought would be fantastic in those advisory periods. that could truly make a bigger difference than we were already making. So we have these smaller classes. We try to keep them under 20 for sure, but if we can keep them under 15, that's even better. But smaller classes where kids are getting the SEL experience where they are comfortable, hopefully, with their classmates and their teacher. That's a home base for them. where they can go through having any trouble. If that teacher's not one that is their safe person, then they tell that teacher who that person is and they that connection during that time or if they need any kind of support, that's a great time for that. We also, like I said, do our community service oftentimes to that period, which is a great place for kids to not it doesn't feel as heavy. It doesn't feel like it's a class where you're getting a final grade on your test and all that. There's not a final test grade It should be a place where they can go where they feel like they can make mistakes and learn from those mistakes and not be judged because of them. We have like I mentioned, the house system. So that's part of that belonging piece of the advisory periods where it's they're all with their housemates. So all of the houses have separate. We have 4 houses, and each house has 4 advisory periods per grade level. So they're split up that way and they're able to team build and, again, kind of work through some of those boundaries that they face as middle school students where they're afraid to talk in front of people, or they think they're weird, or things like that where everyone's just okay to be exactly who you are. And I think that that a lot of kids do really learn in that period. A lot of very, very useful skills more useful probably than a lot of the memorized content knowledge that they're actually learning in class I hate to say that, but we really want these kids to be 100% prepared for what happens when they leave us. And thinking about them leaving without skills, is terrifying. That's a time during which we build in a lot of the skills as opposed to the content to hopefully make a make a meaningful impact on them. before they get away from us. I think that is so important. And in fact, I wish you would say it, and I wish everybody would say it more and more often because

Liza Holland [00:15:15]:

realistically, it's the processes and the learning how to think. And how to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I mean, we're preparing these kids for jobs that don't even exist yet. So it's not about the content that you already have in your pocket.

Jayme Gill [00:15:30]:

I am such a super fan when it comes to that thing. And I think too, they're so our kids today, especially in middle school. Maybe others are just as much, but they're so involved in technology and the way they communicate is through technology. And in school, we try, and especially during that period, we try to encourage not using our phones to talk to each other, not using you know, making sure that we're actually having face-to-face conversations. There are many students who come to us, especially after at-home learning who aren't used to talking to people, and it makes them very anxious. And they have a lot of just anxiety in general at school. So being able to give them a period where they can They feel good talking to people. I hope is helping them in the real world because there are tech jobs, of course, that so many require you to actually speak to humans and wanna make sure that they are safe. -- have to communicate. No. You know, one way or another, and we can't let them go without having a skill set in that comfort. And communication skills are one of the 5 parts of our ATL skills. So it's something that we're able to show them a rubric on and be like, listen, these are our goals. This is kinda where we want you to be. How can we help you feel comfortable doing that? So I hope it's good. I hope it's good for them. 

Liza Holland [00:16:53]:

Oh, it just sounds absolutely amazing. And, you know, the passion and the the level of interest that you show is going to make a difference for so many kids. That's just -- I hope so. I really do hope so. Thank you. So tell me a little bit because you had some great data to support some of the work that you did in your action research project. Talk to us a little bit about that. 

Jayme Gill [00:17:15]:

Yeah. So with the service and action project that we do for 8th grade. Like I said, it is a year-long project. We start September. They present at the end of April and then a little more in May as well. of kind of what their process was. It's not just about their end result, but it's about their entire process. They keep a process journal. They have regular meetings with their teacher counselors. They have a partner teacher. It's that the teacher for their advisory period that they have regular meetings with. They keep track of where they are. They have rubrics to go by. We regularly go over them with them, kind of guide them along the way, but all of the decisions are completely up to them. what they do their project on how they do it because they can choose to do direct service and go out there and get in the community and really do physical activity with who, whatever they're they're choosing to benefit, but they can also just do research and advocacy if that's more their style. And so many of them love social media. That's a great place for them to start, and it's a way for them to I think recognize the good in social media and not always the bad. So that was really powerful as well, but the what I studied for my project was agency. through community service and whether or not community service could help in giving kids that agency. And my findings were that, yes, it does slightly increase agency. It wasn't a crazy increase, which I I don't know what I really expected at all. I expected something, a positive influence, but I didn't really think they had enough to know if I thought it would be huge or not. It was not huge, but it makes a difference. And what was so powerful, I think, for me to see, but I think also for our students to experience was they fought it in the beginning. Many of them did because it's a big project. It was overwhelming Some of them really struggled to see why do I have to do this? It was but there wasn't a lot of excitement. Now some were absolutely excited and they started working on it in 7th grade because I knew it was coming but then there was a large group who were like, ah, do we really have to? You know, does that suddenly have to do? So we really pushed it with them and the importance of it. And by the time the few weeks before their presentations came. I had students tracking me down all over the building asking me to come to sit with them and look at their presentation, sharing with them with me online, asking me if I could come to their advisory period and sit with their group and watch their practice presentation, kids that I never would have expected from the reactions at the beginning of the year, to want my help with that kind of thing. We're asking for help regularly. Like one girl, it's every day. Can you come to sit with me again? Can you look at this Another couple where she's resharing? Can you look at it again? Can you make sure that's okay? So seeing that the more they got into it and the more they saw the difference they could make and became interested in making that difference, the more excited I got, of course. And then the night when they presented, their parents were in so many were in tears. Like, they were so proud of their kids and said things like we never would have expected them to do a project like Like, they must have really loved it, you know, to get this into it. And I was like, they did because they got to choose letting them choose is so important. So they chose their topic. They talked about how they wanted to address it. I mean, like, it was all up to them. And I think the power, yes, it gave those kids agency, but the power that it gave them as humans to know that what they were doing mattered. And we did reflections at the end, and many mentioned the fact that they didn't think that one person could make a difference, but now they see that one person can. And it was just, like, I think teachers too. A lot of the teachers were new to our building, and they were like, what is this? And, you know, is it this is a lot of work. And and then by the end of it, they were like, oh my gosh. I'm so proud of the work these kids did. When in the beginning, they fought it in the end they really did embrace it. So it was it's a fantastic project. We do it every year. And I'm now working in some of the same kinds of project, only less pressure, less length kind of thing with our 6 and 7 freighters. so that when they get to 8th grade, they're gonna feel super confident and hopefully be able to take it even further than our students at this point have. So we're excited about it. 

Liza Holland [00:21:10]:

That is marvelous. Do you have a specific example of one of the projects that really just made your heart sing or that you would particularly love to give a shout-out to? 

Jayme Gill [00:21:14]:

We had a group, and they're actually being recognized from our morning too. So I'm not the only one who's super proud of them. But we had a group who decided, and their presentation was fantastic because they just said it like it was. They decided they wanted to address hygiene in middle school. And -- Oh. Yeah. Which is incredibly important and super smart. And a lot of kids would hesitate to talk about it because it personal, and they don't really want to talk about their personal selves, but they went into kind of the science behind why you start to stink as a middle school student, ways to prevent it. The risks, if you don't shower often, if you don't wash your hands often, like, they went into that kind of science y side of it, which is very educational. They made flyers who put up around the school in the bathrooms and things like that to educate kids as they were washing hands or as they were walking into the bathroom. And then they also made a huge effort and they were able to have some people from the district also donated and helped out, but they wanted to make little hygiene bags for all of the classrooms. because we have a few teachers who keep things like that in their rooms and kids know who they are, and they'll go to them if they need it. But they were like, we can't always get to that room, or we can't always that teacher's not always available. And they said that they wanted to make sure that kids have the opportunity no matter where they were in the building. to get what they needed, whether it's toothbrushes, whether it's deodorant, whatever hap just some ax. They had little ax sprays in there, whatever it is they needed to make them feel healthier. is what they wanted to have. So they got donations from the community. Some hotels helped them out. And then also some district personnel saw their project and wanted to help. And brought in some supplies to get ready for next year. So they'll be in high school. But if a 7th-grade group wants to take over that project and take it even further, they've got supplies to get them started, which is pretty cool. But they're a great group of kids. They're just they're wonderful humans anyway, but they're the way they addressed it in such an honest and open way was just refreshing. And we used them a couple for a couple of different visits at school, and everyone was always like, oh my gosh. They're fantastic people. They're just good people. And I was like, they are. And this is just showcasing how fabulous they are. So so that group's just wonderful.

Liza Holland [00:23:17]:

You know, and we as adults sit and fuss with problems all the time and look at how brilliantly those students pick on an issue that has been bothering adults for a very long

Jayme Gill [00:23:29]:

Yeah. And that is hard to address. Awesome. Yes. Right. They just took it and said, this is what we're gonna do. We wanna make sure. And they told their fellow classmates, hey. If you need deodorant, just go and ask There's deodorant back there. And they I mean, it worked. Ken started asking, like, I had many kids who would be like, where are those bags of things? And I'd be like, oh, someone says rude. Just go grab one. You know? It was great. 

Liza Holland [00:24:05]:

Oh, that's fantastic. Well, see, you've mentioned several times about there were some obstacles to overcome, and people sort of resisted some of this work that you're doing and whatnot. So talk to us a little bit about what some of the biggest challenges and obstacles that you faced inputting in this type of programming in school. And then, you know, maybe follow that up with what would you like for decision makers to know? You're in a great school because the entire school has committed to this whole process. And so you know, you have to do it because you're an IB school. A lot of schools don't have that kind of backup. So if you wanted to move things forward like this in their schools. What kind of things have you've faced that, you know, kinda looking back, boy, I would have done this differently.

Jayme Gill [00:24:38]:

That kind of stuff. I think that once Fayette County has recognized us and has been on board with us the whole time, which is nice, but we're one of 11 middle schools that does things differently. And so sometimes that is weird for our teachers because the words we use aren't always the same. So a lot of the transition that's been difficult and not impossible and not necessarily a lot of pushback, but just it's hard to see how the IV program simply embraces what we need to do anyway, the standards we need to teach anyway, the things that we would do as good teachers anyway, and presents it in a different way that is open-minded and international and really focuses on the important skills our kids need. In addition to Of course, the content that they're supposed to learn, but it's simply a way of presenting what we normally would in just a better just that's the best word for it. It's just better in a better way. It's just better. Yep. It's just better. That's gonna be the quote of the podcast. It's just better. The IB program is not I think the way it's laid out, the unit planning, and all the things you integrate to create this phenomenal class. It's not the easiest because it does take processing. You have to really pay attention. You have to see where these connections are. You have to create connections in some cases. And that can be hard as well because once you're used to a routine as a teacher and what you do coming in and being like, alright. Cool. we're gonna we're just gonna turn it a little. That's intimidating. That's tough for some people. It's scary. Like, I think that has been something that we've really hard to make sure our staff feels supported. And I've been at Tates Creek since the beginning of this. I was a teacher at the time and a part of our grading committee where we went from percentages standards-based grading. That's another scary thing. And so we did all of this kind of at once because it fits together. IV is not percentages in that way either. So it it really fits together so well and being able to explain why. I've said that before, but the why is so important being able to explain why we do things is challenging. I think always starting with that is the very best thing to do. Be like, okay. I know this is weird and different. Here's why, though. And then hopefully that opens minds up enough to really listen and understand or at least accept the differences because there I mean, it really is very different the way a lot of other schools around us do things. I do think that the difficulty for teachers as far as just accepting this is what we do, and we need to make this change. is a matter of making everybody comfortable. I know it was nice for me. I'm someone who, if you tell me we're changing, like, alright. Let's go. I'm doing it right now. What I need to do. And that's not or I'll forget or I'll get overwhelmed or whatever, you know, but I that's not how this program works. It takes years, and I tell my teachers that now, especially the new ones. It takes years to really understand all of the facets of what Ivy can do for us. And it's okay to take years to truly understand. No one's gonna expect you to do this overnight. So understanding that it's a process that it's you do have to have buy-in. You can't fake the program. And I think it's important to get that to make sure that everyone involved, not just teachers, everyone involved in what we're doing, needs to be trained. needs to our the trainings they send us to. We just want one in Colorado this summer are so powerful because we're there and you're in it, and everybody is there for the same reason. and then you get back and you feel alone again. But it empowers you to the point that you can hopefully get that knowledge on to others that work with us. And we're slowly getting everyone to those kinds of trainings. We're slowly explaining or getting our people who are really enthusiastic about it and truly understand why we do it. to talk with some of our new people so they understand because it's not just, well, this is we do it different. It's how we do it here. It's we do it because it's so important. So everyone does it, imagine how powerful that is for our students and our families and our community. It doesn't stop it just inside the school, and I love that so much about the program. And what I think would be nice for help the things that I think would be nice for people who are making decisions to know is that not everyone needs the same thing. And I know that we say that educators for sure say that. Not every student needs the same thing. Not every teacher needs the same thing. Not every school needs the same thing. Not every classroom has the same kid in it thirty times. That schools need to be treated the same way that we are expected to treat our students in the classroom. We have to differentiate. We have to look at the actual needs and not just Well, our nation seems to need this. Let's give that to everyone. It is so it's so important to stop and really think about your audience. And Listen to the people who are in the classrooms. I think that that's something that should go without saying, but I don't think it always does. But it doesn't. So it doesn't. Yes. I think listening to the professionals who are in this all of them who are in the school. I talked to everybody. Every adult in that building has something that they could say that's going to help make sure our kids get to be where they need to be, where so that they're comfortable so that they're a contributing member of our global society, not just right here. But listening, I think, is incredibly important and understanding that there are different perspectives. There are different individuals. And we really need to treat every school that way, or we're not gonna be able to see the change in people and the readiness for life that we truly want. 

Liza Holland [00:29:54]:

That is so profound. and so very true. That's an awesome answer. I believe it. So so well, you and you can tell, and that's marvelous. and it just aligns so much with what I see and hear and whatnot. And one of the things that inspires me about the middle school's program is that it's an entire school effort. I mean, well, I'm a big fan of the IB program at the high school level and all that kind of stuff. It's selecting a certain group of people. Yeah. And this is a systemic thing that works even with a population that has some challenges and some different needs and that sort of thing. Yeah. Absolutely. Then that high school group might. Yeah. And just think that there's a lot that we can learn there. And I love your commentary about everybody having each other's backs and creating a network of support because when you feel alone, it's really hard to keep things moving. And so many initiatives in education go by the wayside because one passionate person leaves. Yeah. And a lot of times it's because they've been recognized for their work and they're like, okay. We're gonna pull you up to the district level or we're gonna pull you up to the state level or whatever.

Jayme Gill [00:31:07]:

Which is a compliment, and that's wonderful. But is, but somehow there isn't,

Liza Holland [00:31:13]:

There's gotta be a way for us to be able to look at things on a comprehensive level like you're doing and make it systemic that this is how we do business here. So it's not dependent upon a particular person or even a group of particular people to be able to make sure that those things happen. So I'm so happy that you are where you are and what you're doing for kids is just phenomenal. So thank you so much. Thank you. Is there anything we haven't talked about that you would like to bring up at this point? I don't think so. We've talked about a lot what I have. I've talked about a lot. That's our point. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time and how exciting that New school year is just around the corner, and I hope that this year will be even bigger and better and reach more great kids. Yes. Yeah. That's the goal. Well, thank you so very much for being a part of the podcast today. And -- Of course. -- we should be seeing you up here in the next couple weeks. and I'll send you some information about it. So -- Fantastic.

Jayme Gill [00:32:14]:

Thanks. Thank you. Take care. Thanks. Bye bye.

Liza Holland [00:32:19]:

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of education perspectives.

Liza Holland [00:32:23]:

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