Episode 8 (Special Edition!): Dancing with the Montcalm Area ISD Stars! or: They do that too?!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stef (00:13):
I am Steph Reed.
I am the Director of theFlat River Community Library

Penny (00:20):
My name is Penny Dora, and I am the Director of
Communications at Montgomery ISD,

Kyle (00:27):
Kyle
Hamlin.
I'm the
superintendent of the Montgomery Area ISD,

Cindy (00:33):
I'm Cindy DeYoung.
I am the Early ChildhoodSpecial Ed Supervisor.

Shannon (00:40):
I am Kristen Larson.
I am the principal overat Sider Education Center.
Um, and also a special ed supervisor
my name is Shannon Tripp.
I'm the Associate Superintendent ofCareer Tech Ed and Early College.

Stef (2) (00:56):
Welcome to the Flat River Front Porch.

Stef (01:01):
All right, welcome.
this is a really special episode.
I'm excited about this one.
Um, not that I'm not always excitedabout them, but I'm excited specifically
about this one because we changedthe, the rules a little bit this time.
And usually I'm talking to one person orI'm talking to at most a couple of people.
Um, I've got the sepulas in hereand they're sniping at each other,
you know, that sort of fun stuff.

(01:21):
Um, but this time I decided to breakthe mold a little bit and we brought.
What felt like half ofthe Montcalm area ISD,

Penny (01:29):
ISD.
No, there's more.
There's

Stef (01:31):
yeah, it felt, it was a full room definitely, but it was a small
representative sample in context,the reason that this conversation
came about was because, of aconversation I had with someone who
couldn't be there which is a perfectrepresentation of everything about her.
She plans things and thenshe, Wraps herself in her cape
and flies off into the night.
Um, but That's

Penny (01:51):
That's a very generous analogy.
Thank

Stef (01:54):
yes.
You're like,

Penny (01:56):
Thank you for that.

Stef (01:57):
Yeah, so, um, but I will have her introduce herself.

Penny (02:00):
thank you
Stephanie.
My name is Penny Dora, and I am theDirector of Communications at Montgomery
ISD, and I have worked there for 22 years.

Stef (02:09):
you're kind of like the whirling dervish of MAISD,

Penny (02:14):
Well, I feel like when you've been there for such a long time, you,
you do become a little bit of a, a cog.
So I, I know a lot of history and havea lot of answers to a lot of questions
because I've been there for 22 years.
My, my

Stef (02:28):
my metaphor was a little bit different.
I was saying that, you were justthat masked crusader who's, making
things happen and, um, gettingthe word out in the community

Penny (02:37):
That's the best part about my job.
I get to do a lot of community stuffand I, I love that because you get
to share information about MontgomeryISD and what we do and how we serve
and, and spread a lot of good work.
So that's, that's one of themost fun parts about my job.

Stef (02:54):
this all started because, uh, we are in Rotary together, um, and

Penny (02:59):
Greenville
Rotary.
Yay!
is it?
Service Above Self.
Rotary rocks.

Stef (03:03):
meet every Tuesday at noon, just in case you're interested in checking us out.
But, um, we were talking about,the fact that, everybody sort of is
familiar with their own school district.
They, you know, they know theirmascots, they know their teams,

Penny (03:16):
a ton of, um, um, um, um, um, um, um,

Stef (03:19):
They have the, they have their local pride going.
Um, but there isn't a ton of.
knowledge across the countyas to what the ISD does.
People might be familiar withthe concept of an ISD in general.
They might even know whatthe acronym stands for.
Um, but they don'treally know what they do.
Well,

Penny (03:37):
Well, ISDs were created in the state of Michigan in 1962 by legislation.
So there are 56 ISDs in the state.
they're called intermediateschool districts.
They tend to be county specific.
the goal is to provide collaborativeservices that support students.
most people know us for the Career Center.
Um, Montgomery Career Centeris a program that we operate.

(04:00):
Uh, we operate the Sider Education Center.
Uh, we also have theMontcombe Transition Center.
Our own admin building, whichis in Stanton, and then we own a
building, uh, south of 57 on, on 66.
It's our H.
O.
Steele, uh, Center, and we housetwo programs in there that are the
I Am Safe Child Advocacy Programand the I Am Third Kids meal.

Stef (04:25):
You know what?
I don't know how it's possible, but inthat entire conversation yesterday, at
no point did those two programs comeup and I am just now learning that you
all are affiliated with those programs.

Penny (04:36):
well, they rent space from our building, so we're a partner in the
fact that we provide a location forthem, we provide technology for them,
you know, we provide some things forthem and they are in our building.
but really they're,they're their own entities.
So a lot of people are quitefamiliar with I Am Kids Third Meal.
They provide after school food programfor students in Ionia and Montcalm County.

(04:58):
That's the I

Stef (04:59):
Center, but they do forensic

Penny (05:01):
then the I Am Safe CAC, it's called.
It's a child advocacy center.
But they do, uh, forensicinterviews and work with children
who have been sexually abused.
So, very, very fabulous program.
Yeah,

Stef (05:16):
and they both do really amazing, really essential work that, that fulfill
needs that are hard to think about, thesechildren who are struggling with food
insecurity or, with really negative homesituations or et cetera, it makes me
really grateful that there are advocatesthat are, making this their mission.
I love that you use the word partnershipbecause I think that is really the best.

(05:40):
Thank you.
One word summation of whatthe ISD does that it, it, um,

Penny (05:45):
what we're all about, collaboration.

Stef (05:47):
and making those connections filling needs that are not met by other
organizations across a broader spectrum,

Penny (05:56):
That's really what all ISDs in the state of Michigan do.
We, we do a lot of work with MDE.
We provide a lot of services as aliaison, so to speak, between MDE and,
and some of our local districts, but

Stef (06:08):
Michigan Department of Education.
I, I gave a lecture.
It's okay.
I gave a lecture to them yesterday about,guys, don't, don't use the abbreviations.
Don't assume that people know

Penny (06:16):
Michigan Department of Education is a pretty critical acronym for us,

Stef (06:19):
Right.

Penny (06:20):
So I think we use it in, you know, almost every sentence, right?
But we do provide a lotof collaborative services.
Technology, pupil accounting, businessservices, those are some of the
things behind the scenes that nobodyever sees, those types of things.
But we do also have a lot of programsand services for students in the county.

Stef (06:39):
I think there is a preconceived,
impression that people have in theirminds of anything that is organized
from the state level like this.
there's a little bit of, skepticismof something like that, of
being quote unquote dictatedfrom, from the state level.
But I think what's important to notewith you all is that while these, in
the same way that the infrastructurefor libraries are set at the state

(07:02):
level, It's those local organizationsthat are really making the meaningful
changes, making things happen.
it is the people who work in thisorganization and who bring all of
their passion and all of their,energy to what they do that really

Penny (07:16):
Well, we best know our needs in a local
situation because certainly the needsthat we have in a rural area are
going to be vastly different thanwhat they have in Oakland County
or sometimes even Kent County.
So you best know what you need on a locallevel so you can identify some of those
programs and make them more specific tothe needs that you have in your area.

Stef (07:40):
the goal of this conversation was to try to illuminate so many aspects
of this that operate quietly without,
a, a significant percentage of people inthe county actually getting to see it.
if you are, the family member of someonewho is directly involved in these
services, you might know aspects of

Penny (07:59):
Right.

Stef (07:59):
you're not, you're not seeing the whole picture.
So we really wanted to give everyone achance to see a picture of what, what
a day in the life of people from theISD and What sort of beautiful things
they create

Penny (08:10):
the folks that were sitting there yesterday, really make up a
broad spectrum of the programs thatwe have because the state of Michigan,
the only state in the nation thatserves special education students from
the ages of birth to 26 years old.
So that is unique to Michigan and thenof course on, so we have all of those.
programs and services throughthe ISD for zero to 26.

(08:33):
And then we also have our, on our generaled side, we have preschool programs,
we have great start readiness programs.
And then, um, through the high schoollevel, we have our early college
programs So, so we hit a really largegamut of age groups that I don't
think people are often aware of.
So a lot of people just don't,don't realize there are services

(08:55):
for students of those age groups.

Stef (08:57):
this is a little touchy feely, but I kind of like to think of the ISD as
being just a nice big warm hug aroundthe, around the school districts in the
area to sort of, you know, wrap them up inall of these extra, extra things to, um.
I

Penny (09:14):
We're, we're, we like to give warm big hugs,

Stef (09:17):
it's like wrapping it up in a nice blanket.

Penny (09:19):
always needs one, right?
So.

Stef (09:21):
I would be remiss if I did not talk about the event that you have coming up.

Penny (09:26):
Oh, goodness.
Yes, I'm a star.
I'm, I'm, I'm in Dancing with the Stars,so I've gotten a lot of laughs about
that, that I'm making some mileageout, out of telling people I'm a star.

Stef (09:37):
Well, and they, they said that you've been dancing around the office as

Penny (09:40):
I have to practice.
Trust me.

Stef (09:43):
on guys, I have to practice.

Penny (09:45):
I do have to practice.

Stef (09:47):
so can you talk a little bit about what it, I'm sure people are familiar with
it, but just in case you're not the, the

Penny (09:51):
Dancing with the Stars.
It's Dancing with the Local Stars.
So, you have to get thelocal part in there.
It is a fundraising event that is plannedby the Education Foundation of Greenville.
And I am on that board as a volunteer.
And, um, Apparently thatmeans I get to dance also.
there are 10 people,10, 10 teams of dancers.

(10:12):
So there's a star, which really issomeone who has no clue about dancing.
And then they're partnered with, uh.
Pro.
So of course the pro is your,your lead and my pro is the
current Danish Festival Queen.
So yeah, it's kind of cool.
So she is young and vibrant and excitedand she's a student at Grand Valley.

(10:33):
She's studying psychology andshe is going to teach me a
tiny little bit about dancing.
So the point is that we raise moneyfor mental health programming and
mental health services for studentsat Greenville Public Schools.

Stef (10:48):
the meantime, you get to learn these amazing dance moves,

Penny (10:51):
Well, my young, vibrant, professional dance partner,
uh, apparently loves hip hop.
I've seen her do hip hop, she's quitegood at it, and um, so I'm thinking
that she might hip hop and I mightjust jump around, so, I don't know.
It's going to be quiteentertaining, I'm sure.

Stef (11:07):
has it been choreographed yet?

Penny (11:09):
We have to do that.
We're, we have, we're supposed tobe on stage for two to four minutes.

Stef (11:14):
my gosh, that

Penny (11:15):
So, I, you don't think it's long until you're standing up there timing
yourself and then you're like, oh boy, two

Stef (11:21):
It sounds long to

Penny (11:22):
So, we have about two minutes done.
we've had one dance practice so far, soI feel like we're making good strides.

Stef (11:29):
Are you allowed to say what, what you're dancing to?

Penny (11:31):
dancing to?
I don't know.
I don't know if I'm allowed to say that or

Stef (11:35):
Okay.
Okay.
I don't want to, Idon't want to break any,

Penny (11:38):
We had to write it down on a sheet and provide that to the, the coordinator
of this event is Miranda Curry.
She does, she's our VolunteerEducation Foundation board member.
But she has Flat River dance

Stef (11:51):
Oh, yes, yes, okay.

Penny (11:52):
she's that person and she coordinates this event
for us, so she knows our song.
I don't know if I'mallowed to tell anybody

Stef (11:59):
Okay, I won't, I won't try

Penny (12:00):
will say this, it is, we get 10 points for audience participation, and our
song is very audience participation y, so.

Stef (12:10):
All right.
All right.
It's interactive.
I like it.
so obviously, uh, people can buy ticketsto this event and, go, um, go see
all of our local dancers and whatnot.
What's the date of the event?
April 13th.
and then also the individualcommunity members who are the
local stars are also, there's
you sponsor them.

Penny (12:30):
Exactly.
That's how we win.
So here, I know that, and I don't meanto throw any, cast any shade on my dance
partner who is very good, but I don't feellike I'm going to win for my own talent.
So I have to win in fundraising.
So there's to like awards for the team.
So one is The team whomakes, raises the most money.

(12:51):
And the second one is theteam who dances the best, so.

Stef (12:54):
know your strengths.

Penny (12:55):
So yes, I do.

Stef (12:57):
do.
It's like, I spend a lot of timetalking to the community, so I
can, I can lean hard into that.

Penny (13:03):
I'm a runner, I'm not a dancer.

Stef (13:05):
one of the earlier interviews we did for this was with Corey Smith and
he did it in a past year, but he alsopicked it up kind of at the last minute
because he was filling in for MikeWalsh, who I think he hurt his knee.
Yes,

Penny (13:20):
but I'll tell you what, Corey Smith came in at, you know, the last Two
days, I think he said he had time for twopractices or something, but if you saw his
dance, oh my gosh It was it blew me away.
He was so good.
And you know here he's like,oh, I didn't even practice So
this puts some pressure on me.
I will not be as good as he was

Stef (13:40):
so.
Maybe that's the secret.
Maybe you just have to learn it two

Penny (13:44):
Right you just go up there and wing

Stef (13:46):
there

Penny (13:46):
it worked for him

Stef (13:47):
and I'll do it.
like a movie from the 90s about, athletes.
You see a montage of you practicing, andyou're having a little bit of trouble,
and you're just not sure it's gonna workout, but then you get there and you just.
You're

Penny (14:01):
Well, I've tried to line dance before and I'm usually going the other
way every time the rest of the people aregoing the other way, so that will tell
you a little bit about my dancing ability.

Stef (14:12):
have to not dance in lines, yeah, don't be a rockette,
don't try to do that, just like,

Penny (14:16):
can kick.
I might be better at that,

Stef (14:19):
But they have to kick really high though,

Penny (14:21):
Well, then I'd probably fall over backwards, so.

Stef (14:23):
yeah.
Balance is, balance is key.
Okay.

Penny (14:27):
Maybe I'll just stick with the jumping.

Stef (14:30):
Alright, and since Penny is participating in this event, I put our
other ISD representatives on the spot tofind out what kind of dancers they are and
if they could bring some to the table too.
So maybe we're going to haveto have our own little ISD
like dance competition here,

Penny (14:43):
one of them said they were the best

Stef (14:45):
I'm not gonna, you have to keep your secrets, I'm gonna keep mine.
People will have to find out whenthey listen to the interview,
but, um, but thank you Penny for,for coming in and helping, to
bring this to our attention, um,

Penny (14:56):
Montcomeria ISD.

Stef (14:59):
Area ISD.

Penny (15:00):
We have a lot of fantastic staff doing fantastic work
for students in this county.
we serve a lot of students and wehave a lot of people doing great work.

Stef (15:08):
I'm not going to attempt to rattle off their names beforehand
because I'm going to forget them.
But we, we were joined by four really,awesome and dedicated MAISD people.
And I will let themintroduce themselves, our

Penny (15:21):
stars.
Thank you so much.

Stef (15:27):
good morning.
it's early for us.
it's, well, maybe it's early for me.
if we're talking to school people, Isuppose you all have been up for a while.
But, for me, it's early.
I am Steph Reed.
I am the director of the library as usualand we've got a party going this morning.
We've got a whole crowd of peoplethat are joining us and it's, I
am really looking forward to it.
It's gonna be fun.
I'm just gonna go around and haveeverybody introduce themselves So if

(15:52):
you could tell me, uh, Who you are,what your role is, and then sort of
a quick what is your average day.

Kristin (16:00):
then, since

Stef (16:01):
since Penny is doing the, Dancing with the local stars competition, which
I know she is really pumped about.
I'm going to see what kind of, dancingenergy the MAISD brings to the table,
because we all know that's a reallyimportant thing to consider here.
what are your dancing skills?
if they come to you and they'relike, Hey, we need you to do this.
Can you step up?

Shannon (16:21):
lot,

Stef (16:22):
I know, I know.

Kyle (16:23):
you be careful what you volunteer
for,
but.
Um, Kyle
Hamlin.

Kristin (16:27):
I'm the

Kyle (16:28):
I'm the
superintendent of the MontgomeryArea ISD, on an average day, I don't
know what an average day looks likefor me, so I go from policies to,
personnel items to
You know, somebody from thecommunity might reach out
with a question or concern.
I get called by our buildingadministrators, leaders, if they have
issues going on in the building, or ideas,for programming, or, concerns they have,

(16:51):
of a situation that might be brewing.
So I don't have a typical day.
Um, so, I I couldn'telaborate much more than that.
other than It just
changes day to day, which I guess is
a great part of my job.
Um, so,
in terms of dancing with stars,
I can get down, so,
um, but I'm
not volunteering for dancers with thestars, so I do You know I'm more of a,

(17:15):
you know, sit in a seat dancer kind of
thing,

Stef (17:17):
Oh, okay.
So we were okay.
We were getting a little bitlike cocky there for a second,
but it was we were bluffing
just a

Kyle (17:24):
I'm not bluffing,
but, uh, I'm not volunteering either,

Shannon (17:26):
it.

Kristin (17:27):
all of them.

Stef (17:28):
Close to close to

Kyle (17:29):
But I, you know, I, I think it's, I do agree with you that
Penny brings energy to a room.
So She's, uh, we'll
hear, we're hearing allabout it in the office

Stef (17:36):
Oh, yeah, I'm not

Kyle (17:37):
bops around humming her tune that she's dancing to and
see her, practicing her moves
as she sashaying about the building.

Stef (17:44):
I 100 percent can see that.
All right.

Cindy (17:48):
I'm Cindy DeYoung.
I am the Early ChildhoodSpecial Ed Supervisor.
So I supervise birth to threeservices, which is early on.
a typical day for me is like all of uswill probably say it could be anything
in terms of, Talking to families,supervising, staff, because early
on as a statewide program that everycounty has a program, there's a lot

(18:11):
of state level meetings, coordinatormeetings, those kind of connections.
communicating with how thingsare going across the county with
all the staff, all the families.
anything like this is always,like, there's a lot of moving
parts, so it's really hard.

(18:35):
Spending a lot of time in my car,driving around, um, observing staff or
supporting staff where they need it.
And it just, every day is very different.

Stef (18:44):
if
it's hard to picture how much spacethat covers, sometime when you don't
have anything to do on a given day, trystarting at one of the corners of the
county and then just drive around theboundaries and that should give you a good

Cindy (18:59):
And I think because if you look at our map, we have the map of the county,
but we serve the school districts in the

Stef (19:05):
Right, right, so it spills over a little bit, yep.

Kristin (19:08):
Like

Cindy (19:09):
like some of our school districts are only half in our county, and so
we can go, and so we can, and EarlyOncan serve people who actually live
in Nuego County, but they're tricounty schools, and so we serve them.
We or they're way up north and they'reliving in the very part of Montebello,
so they're very close to Mount Pleasant,but they're still in our school district.
So, I can have providers who willdrive an hour to a visit, and then an

(19:33):
hour to their next visit, um, becausewe provide services in the home.
So, it just, it's very unique, andevery day is different for them, and
every day is different than for me.
important.

Shannon (19:43):
absolutely would not be

Cindy (19:45):
Oh, I absolutely would not be on Dancing with the Stars.
No one would want me to do that.
I have very little dancing ability.
But,

Stef (19:55):
Just, yeah, Kyle, just a reminder, this is not being
videotaped right now.

Cindy (19:58):
I think Kyle really would like to do it, and I

Stef (20:01):
Was that a cowboy maneuver?
Was there a lasso

Shannon (20:04):
man in

Cindy (20:04):
She's showing the
move.

Shannon (20:06):
I am Kristen Larson.
I am the principal overat Sider Education Center.
Um, and also a special edsupervisor and supervise our
Greenville local ISD programs.
Um, Day to day.
Oh, wow.
Day to day is verydifferent every single day.
My day usually starts around 5 likemaking sure that we're fully staffed

(20:28):
for our coverages and our buildings, um,which is always fun to try to figure out.
And then, yeah, and then

Stef (20:37):
Low level sarcasm.
Yeah.

Kristin (20:39):
very low level sarcasm there, but, um, that's always a puzzle first
thing in the morning and then kindof move on just to the day to day
operations of being a building principal.
So, supporting with studentbehaviors, doing observations like
Cindy kind of mentioned, meetingsfor students with families,
yeah, no day is ever the sameat Sider Education Center,

(21:01):
so we're definitely busy.

Stef (21:02):
Which

Kristin (21:03):
I like about it, though, and I enjoy, that no day is ever, ever the same.

Stef (21:07):
keeps it

Kristin (21:08):
It 100 percent does.
Um, in terms of dancing,uh, that would be a, No.
Um, I am a dance mom.
My middle daughter dances on a danceteam, and I see the hard work that
she puts into it, learning dances,and there is no way in the world
I could do anything close to that.

Stef (21:27):
a vicarious dancer then.

Kristin (21:29):
a vicarious, I live through my daughter dancing
on the stage.

Shannon (21:33):
my name is Shannon Tripp.
I'm the Associate Superintendent ofCareer Tech Ed and Early College.
my typical day, I usually start atthe Montgomery Career Center, because
I'm the principal of that building.
we greet students in the door, wehave a little over 300 students
that come to our building each day,make sure my staff is all going.
And then there are some days thatit's a little crazier than others

(21:54):
like last Thursday when the snowstarted right at the time that
buses were getting on the road.
And then I was on the phone withlots of our local districts figuring
out who was coming to the CareerCenter and who was deciding to
keep their students at their local.
Um, parent issues, staff issues,um, I'm also the instructional
leader in the building.
So, um, training for my teachers,evaluating my teachers, um, trying

(22:15):
to improve our practice every day.
I'm the director of the earlycollege program next door at
Mount Calm Community College.
So I have four staff over there, about60 students, and those students are
working on their associate's degreewhile they're still in high school.
supervise that staff and evaluate andsame instructional leader and, and trying
to improve our practice there every day.

(22:36):
So.
Just like everyone else has said, it justdepends on the day what, what we're doing.
So, um, as far as Dancing with theStars, I'm gonna tell a secret to my
colleagues that they don't know about me.
So, up until I was like in my mid teens,I took ballet, tap, and jazz lessons.
So, you know, I could, I coulddance a little bit probably.

Stef (22:55):
I didn't.
I don't

Cindy (22:56):
room knew

Shannon (22:57):
No.

Kristin (22:58):
I did not know that.

Shannon (22:59):
revealed.
Oh my gosh.
No,

Stef (23:01):
list.
No,

Cindy (23:02):
next on the list,

Shannon (23:03):
want to do that public.
It's been,

Stef (23:05):
gonna

Shannon (23:06):
I don't want to

Kyle (23:07):
about where she was going.
with

Shannon (23:08):
going.
I don't want to say how many yearsit's been between my mid teens
and my age today, so it's been alittle while since I've danced.

Stef (23:16):
Which one, did you have a favorite of the,

Shannon (23:18):
I mean jazz of course is more fun because it's more upbeat
and but I love tap dancing too.
That was good.

Stef (23:24):
So it sounds like we've got some serious admin in the house this morning.
Okay.
this sounds all very familiar becauseso much of being an administrator is
just trying to keep the wheels moving,
Keep the train on the track.
but what that means, of course, is thatthere's a lot of pieces to this whole
story and a lot of components that allcome together, to make the entirety
of the Montcalm area the only personI knew in this room before coming in.

(23:48):
because Penny couldn't make it heretoday, uh, was Kyle, and we were in,
a Leadership Montcalm group together.
I always like to trumpet, Leadership.
com because it's such a coolprogram, Could you sort of come
at it from the absolute top level?
What drives having all of these services?
In one place, as opposed to say, servicein the individual school districts.

Kyle (24:08):
You just have a lot more voices.
And so when you have local districtswho are very different in size, and the
way they look and demographically,in terms of the students
we serve are pretty close.
When you start thinking of, economicdiversity here in the county.
We don't have a lot of diversityper se, but we have a lot
of economic similarities.

(24:28):
you know, in terms of poverty levels.
some districts have more resourcesthan others, Greenville is our largest
district, so they have a lot more

Shannon (24:35):
looking at, um,

Kyle (24:37):
They may not need as much support on certain things,
but when you're looking at,

Cindy (24:41):
Um,

Shannon (24:41):
know,

Kyle (24:42):
district like Vesterburg that has just a handful of administrators,
we sometimes get pulled in tosupport them not necessarily.
to do the work or whateverthey're working through but
Sometimes there's safety in numbers andin terms of reaching out and saying,
Hey, I've never dealt with this.
How do I do that?
But, we do a lot of,
pulling
people
together.
So we don't have ourinstructional services department

(25:02):
represented here today.
but we do a lot of professionaldevelopment so that will gather
data from the county and findthe commonalities and need.
So whether it be literacy or math.
so we'll coordinate a lotof those and bring people in
whether it be Title IX trainingor evaluation training.
Penny's not here
today because she's coordinatingour countywide counselors meeting.

(25:24):
like Adele's not here, so sheleads the elementary and the
secondary principals meetings.
A lot of our folks attend thesemeetings because they have latest
and greatest information comingdown from Department of Education.
We have a superintendent's meeting,so that usually is once a month, We
have our legislators, usually attendthat, so we'll talk about concerns we

(25:45):
might have, from a local level, that'srelated to, policies and education, and
then we have curriculum coordinatorsat all the districts attend those.
many of our superintendents
double up as the curriculum.
directors

Stef (25:57):
for the curriculum.

Kyle (25:58):
So,
they attend the superintendent meetingand then show up in the afternoon for
the curriculum directors meeting as well.
a lot of our, um, liftingas an ISD comes from
Um, economy
of scale and justbringing people together.
Whether it be training, updated topics,legislative priorities, budgeting.
the state's getting into the conversationsfor the 2024 25 budget right now.

(26:22):
So just trying to stay ahead of those,uh, topics, so that we sometimes
have the freedom to go and do some of
those things
that a district may not be
able to do.
So, we
try to be a resource,
um, more than anything.
We talked, talked aboutearly college, so we
do
a lot with, Montcalm communitycollege, which is not
the same as Montcalm Area Career

Stef (26:41):
period.

Kyle (26:42):
run into that a

Shannon (26:43):
into that
a little

Kyle (26:44):
the ISD runs the Career Center.
The college is just a good partner.
a lot of the lifting that we do isTrying to see a need and fill a need.

Stef (26:53):
I don't think it's going to be news to anybody listening to this that, the
schools have a lot on their plate andthey have a lot they have to accomplish
with sometimes limited resources.
And,
The fact that any of that can beoutsourced, so to speak, and, those needs
can be filled sort of semi universallyfrom one district to, to the next.
It's also not news to any of us thatthe different districts are going to

(27:14):
be funded differently, and their needsmight be a little bit different, So,

Kyle (27:18):
there are a lot of examples.
we do a lot of guided schoolimprovement, activities with the
local schools to help them as they'rebuilding their school improvement.
plans and One of the things
right now we're looking at doingas well as the strategic planning
Relooking at the one we have as well.
And then obviously You know if anybody'sreading the newspaper and seeing you know,
Facebook and social media we have beendoing a lot with a bond planning right

(27:42):
now.

Cindy (27:42):
Kyle's role and the people at the Helen Hamler building are really doing
administrative support to the districts.
And then the three of us aredoing, we're doing student level
support to the districts becauseall of us provide services to local
district students
because students are theirdistricts resident first, right?
So we're kind of on the kid level.
on the student level, um, supportingkids every day in lots of different ways.

(28:06):
And then we have a whole team of peoplewho are really at the administrative
level because the adults in thosedistricts are supporting the kids.
So it all comes down to the kidseventually, but we kind of have different
roles, um, kind of what we do every day.

Stef (28:19):
I'm not going to lie.
Your job sounds like way less fun, Kyle.
I'm a little biased on the kids side.
I'll be perfectly honest.
I feel like they're the
fun ones to

Cindy (28:26):
all say that

Stef (28:28):
Yeah.

Cindy (28:28):
and these ladies get to see them more than I do because I'm work in a
home visiting program, so I don't havea building where they come to, although
I do get to see the transition studentswho are the older students, but that's,
that's why we get up in the morning.
I mean, it's because we want to work withthe kids, and, and it's great that we
get, we get to see them in a different waythan, than the Opera Administration does.

Shannon (28:50):
I'd like to

Kyle (28:51):
And I'd like to reiterate what Cindy just said.
that I think Um, Even at our level.
um, whether it be business office orjust down the hallway, you know, whether
anybody in whether instructional services
are priority or students, so,

Stef (29:04):
yeah, no one's questioning that.
I'm just saying
that you get, you getthe less fun part of it.
Mm

Kyle (29:09):
we
try to do what's best for kids.

Shannon (29:11):
best for

Stef (29:12):
you get one of the most fun groups.
Again, a little biased.

Kristin (29:15):
little biased.
I

Cindy (29:17):
I don't know if Shannon would agree, but, you know, we all,

Stef (29:19):
know what, we all yeah.

Shannon (29:20):
If you're a high school person, you're not into They all

Stef (29:24):
they, they all have their different,
their

Kristin (29:27):
think I get the best.
I have

Shannon (29:28):
You have everybody.

Kristin (29:30):
I mean, I have
everybody.
yeah.
Isn't it a

Shannon (29:33):
when

Stef (29:33):
it a good sign when you're like, I
get the best job?

Cindy (29:36):
yeah, you find your niche.

Kristin (29:38):
Cindy,

Stef (29:38):
So, Cindy, from the early childhood side, can you talk a little
bit about, um, what goes into those

Cindy (29:44):
Yes.
So, at the ISD, we operate earlyon, which is a statewide program.
Each ISD in the stateruns one, runs a program.
It's for children whoare birth to age three.
And it's a home visiting program that'sfree for families, for students who have
a delay or a pre existing condition.

(30:04):
So we get referrals because kids are bornevery day, so we get referrals every day.
Um, and we reach out to the family, weask if they're interested in our program.
It's a voluntary program, but it is free.
Um, and we support families insupporting their kids development.
So.
We, it's really about parent coaching.
It happens in the home, which iswhere kids are when they're that age.

(30:26):
Um, and we support the adults, thecaregivers, the grandparents, the
parents, that, that, are caregivingand taking care of their kids.
And so we're coaching themto support their kids.
We generally will provide, sometimes onetime a week, sometimes twice a month,
sometimes once a month, kind of dependingon what the family and the child needs.
But if we're there once a week, thinkabout all the hours that we're not there.

(30:49):
And so we're there to support thefamilies because they're supporting their

Stef (30:53):
are supporting their

Cindy (30:55):
we're really partners with the families, and it just depends on what the
area of need is, if the child is having,um, delays in gross motor, say they're not
walking, when they typically, um, wouldbe, or they're not talking, um, or all of
the things, we support that development.

Stef (31:12):
not talking, um, or all of the things, we are,
we support that development.
Yeah, about six years now.

(31:33):
Um, I have, I have two boys,one who's in first grade here in
Greenville and one who, um, isgoing to turn three on Saturday.
Um, and that means he's graduating out
early on,

Cindy (31:44):
that, that is one of the things about early on.
Kids are born every day andkids turn three every day.
So, so the services were pretty,pretty strict about that.
And we have to be, the law requires it.
So, we kind of havethis rolling enrollment.
We don't have a cohort.
We don't start in August and end in May.
Um, we provide services as soon aswe As soon as a kid, um, needs it or

(32:07):
sometimes that's the day they're bornand then we end when they're three.
We are a year round program.
So as you probably
know, you know, we provideservices all year round.
We're not just a school year
program So

Stef (32:17):
a critical period.
We do
take breaks, but we

Cindy (32:22):
especially at that young Young age like that's such a critical

Stef (32:26):
staying after early,

Cindy (32:27):
breaks We do take breaks, but we don't take the summer off But as you know
when you're ready to your child's readyto turn three and you're well ready to
move on to the next thing after early on.
If you build a relationship with yourprovider, you may have somebody who
came into your home for three years.
You know, that's a that's a big and it'syour home and it's it's it's supporting
where where all the living is happening.

(32:49):
And and so those are bigchanges for families.

Stef (32:51):
And the kids get really attached to the
caregivers to like it.
they're a vital part of their, their life.
for my oldest, we hit that.
that three mark, there was stillwork that needed to be done, and we
transitioned into the next level, and,he has an IEP in the first grade system,
I mean, he didn't walk until he wasalmost two, and when you're a parent of

(33:12):
really young kids, it's just, it's soheartbreaking, and you feel so powerless.

Kristin (33:17):
to support

Cindy (33:17):
the families, right?
To tell them, so our taglineis don't worry but don't wait.
If you have concerns about your child,call 1 800 EARLY ON or go to www.
earlyon.
org.
But it is that piece where we want tosupport Um, families where they are,
and if there's a child who continues toneed services after three, in Montcalm
County, though, that transitionsto the local school district.

(33:39):
So, we support you through that.
if the child qualifies, they would needan IEP to continue to get services,
whether it's physical therapy, or,

Stef (33:46):
already falling into that trap of the acronyms.
It's

Cindy (33:49):
stuff.
Yes.
Individual education.

Stef (33:51):
education.
plan.
Yes.
So,

Cindy (33:53):
so,
so
early on is countywide for birthto three, and then when a kid turns
three, if they still need services,they would go to their local district.
So if you live in Greenville, you'dbe, the services would be provided
by Greenville Public Schools,um, or Montebello, or Tri County,
or wherever it is that you live.
So we, as the early on staff,support that transition.
We help with that evaluation.
We feel like we Pass the baton as gentlyas we can, um, so that the family feels

(34:18):
comfortable with the way that changes.
So, that's a big transition for families,when you've had someone come in your
home, and then that's transition.
but we want to support that.
So, hopefully you felt supported.

Shannon (34:28):
Yeah, yeah,

Stef (34:29):
we had a wonderful experience with it in both cases.
I will underscore how importantit is if you have concerns,
the worst thing that happens isthat they come and evaluate them
and they, it turns out they don't

Cindy (34:38):
come out and then we determine, oh really, things are on track, these
are a couple things you could do,that happens all the time for us.
if that is what gives you the peaceof mind and your child doesn't need
that extra support, well great.
one of the other things thatwe do is we provide weekly play
groups, all throughout the county.

Kristin (34:55):
to, to

Cindy (34:56):
And so those are for anybody, children birth to five.
Um, for families to come, they don'tnecessarily have to have an IEP.
Um, or be enrolled in early on.
It's for anybody to, to engageand kind of get out in the
community, get out of the house,

Stef (35:10):
yep.

Cindy (35:11):
kids, socialize the parents, grandparents can bring the children,
um, and we do One in Greenville, one inSydney at the, um, MAC, the Career Center.
Um, one in Tri County,and one in Montebello.
So, if you go to our website, youcan get all that information, but
that's another way we support.
We staff it, we supervise it,we, everybody gets a book.
Um, we have a book theme for everymonth, and so it's a really great

(35:35):
way for families to connect witheach other, but also for kids to
have some time to play together.

Stef (35:41):
And It's so much fun.
I haven't done the ones here in, inMontcalm County, but I did them in Allegan
County when I was a librarian down there.

Shannon (35:47):
the cool thing about

Kristin (35:48):
playgroups, too, is that you guys have a lot of different people there.
So when my kiddos were in early on, wehad an OT, occupational therapist there
who noticed something about somebody else,or one of my kids who was able to tell
their provider, and so really, looking atthe whole child, so it was very helpful.

Cindy (36:07):
They're staffed by teachers, speech therapists, physical
therapists, occupational therapists.
So, we're there to lookat your whole child.
if there's a concern, then we are there.
we want to answer questions.
We want to support families.

Stef (36:20):
I could talk about this all day, but I'm going
to resist.

Cindy (36:22):
And I could too.

Kristin (36:23):
have an

Cindy (36:24):
on to other
people.

Stef (36:25):
I want, before we move on, I want to quick mention to you all have an
affiliation with the Great Start program.
as

Cindy (36:30):
Right, so we, so we have the Great Start Collaborative.
And so that is a county wide program.
Um, Um, that supportsfamilies in so many ways.
Um, and then we, that is part of GreatStart Readiness Preschool, which is a
state funded preschool for four year olds.
So, we're all connected.
and so the Great Start Collaborative is.

(36:51):
Yeah, they support families withplaygroups and, um, activities, like
they just did the Tooth Fairy, um,
activity.

Stef (37:01):
is so much fun!

Shannon (37:01):
And
so

Cindy (37:02):
we always say that that's sort of the gen ed component of
Early Childhood at Montcalm County.
We work together.
We're in the same office.
We pair together.
Uh, playgroups are fundedand, and staffed together.
Um, so we are connected.
They're just on the Sort of the gened whole community side and, and what
I do is more of the special ed side.

Kristin (37:22):
number

Stef (37:22):
So yeah, in conclusion, if you've got kids under
five, there's fun stuff to do.
So

Cindy (37:26):
go to that website, the, the Montcalm Great
Start Collaborative website.
There's lots of information
there.

Stef (37:32):
I'm going to have about 300 links on the,
on the stuff for this, this one because Iwant to make sure that if you hear about
anything that you were curious about,then you can check it out afterwards.
Um, um, contrary to what itsounds like, I, I like the older
kids too.
Like,

Kristin (37:45):
older
kids

Stef (37:46):
my, my, my kids happen to be in that age group now, but I
mean, I worked with kids up until18 I love the older stinkers too.
So many of them just.
I love the attitude theybring to the table sometimes.
Um, so Kristen, for anyone who isunfamiliar or does not necessarily
know every aspect of what goes intothe CIDR Center could you speak to

Kristin (38:07):
I love to talk about CIDR Education Centers.
So, um,
Sider Education Center is a, uh,center based building for students
who are most significantly impactedby their disability, in the county.
So we service, uh, students, um, whoqualify for special education with a
severe cognitive impairment, autismspectrum disorder, emotional impairment,

(38:31):
uh, severe multiple impairment.
We have super complex and amazingkids at Sider Education Center.
We have, 11 classrooms right now.
Um, ranging from ages 4 to age 26.
So a very, very, very diverse building.

Stef (38:49):
Usually when people think of education, they think of K 12.
everything stops more or less at 18.
In Michigan, that's obviouslya little bit different.
Do you

Kristin (38:57):
Yeah.
And so in Michigan, we servicestudents, um, with IEP transition
needs through the age of 26.
So we actually operate four, uh,transition programs, two of which that are
housed at Sider Education Center, wherethey would be considered more restricted.
And we're really working at lifeskills, uh, for those students.
And then we also operate thetransition center, which is in Stanton.

(39:20):
And those, uh, It's actually thesame building that, uh, Cindy
works in, which is interesting,
right?
Bookends.
We

Cindy (39:27):
We have the earliest learners,
where they don't come, but wedon't, they don't come to school

Kristin (39:31):
Yeah.
We

Shannon (39:31):
we,

Cindy (39:32):
but all our staff is housed there.
And the other side of the building isour oldest learners, who are 18 to 26.
So it's super fun.

Shannon (39:38):
Yeah, 18 to 26,

Kristin (39:40):
they operate the treasure shop over there, and they're working on more
employability, still life skills, butwe know that students have transition
goals, and our goals are to help themto be as successful as they can be
when they leave us, whenever that is.
So they operate like their owndaily shop that they have every day
so people can go in and actually
buy stuff from there.

(40:00):
Yep.

Cindy (40:01):
And then they go out and do work.
Like they stack the cooler, thepop cooler at the gas station.
Or they make popcorn and sellpopcorn across the street at
the Montcalm road commission.
they go to Leping's and they greet.
they do.
work during their school day to helpthem get career ready for when it's
time for them to be totally independent.

Stef (40:21):
I, think anyone who has parents of older kids, no matter the circumstances,
probably has a good grasp of the factthat they don't magically become self
reliant when they're 18, even more so whenthere are limitations associated with it.
I think it's fantastic that it'ssomething that continues past
that age, to the older kids,

Cindy (40:39):
Right, and they're doing life skill stuff.
Yeah.
Like, they make their own breakfastand they make their own lunch, and
all of our kids need to work on that,but some kids need more practice and
more specific practice, and that'sthe sort of thing that they're
getting at the transition center.

Shannon (40:51):
transition center.

Stef (40:52):
how big is the need in the county, would you say?
how big are, are the groups thatwe are working with at this point?

Shannon (40:59):
at

Kristin (41:00):
at Cider?
Yes.
Yeah, so I say that the need is great.
So as we, uh, we have a lot ofstudents, um, who have really complex
needs throughout our entire county,uh, whether that is behavioral, uh,
academic, socially, like the needs forsupporting complex students is great.

(41:22):
And we know that we need to,uh, educate them in their
least restrictive environment.
Um, but sometimes they justneed additional support.
So we also operate our local programs,which are housed in, two districts,
central Montcalm and Greenvillepublic schools, ISD operates them.
And again, we servicestudents from all seven.

(41:44):
local school district.
So we have students from every area of,of the county because it's a service we
provide to the locals because you don'thave enough students in tinier school
district to operate one of those programs.

Cindy (41:59):
in early on, our numbers, we generally sit at about 140
students at any given time.
Like we said, the kids areborn on turn three every day.
So it's sort of that revolving door.
We generally get about 350to 400 referrals a year.
Um, and sometimes those parents, whenwe get a referral, say no thank you.
and then sometimes they don't qualifyand then, you know, they move on.

(42:20):
So we said, that's about what we sit at.
Um, how many

Kristin (42:24):
Yeah, about, we have about 95 students at a Tonsider Education Center.
Um, and about, I would say, about130 within our local programs,
including the Transition Center.

Stef (42:37):
Okay, so this, yeah.
This is definitely not a small group

Kristin (42:39):
It is not a small group, and they're very, very complex students.

Cindy (42:42):
And like we said, these are students from
everywhere in the county, from,

Shannon (42:46):
from

Cindy (42:47):
very up at the top of Montebello to Greenville to Tri County.
So we, we provideservices to all the kids.
Which means they, They take the bus.
And so transportation is awhole other part of what we do.
Um, we, we transport them.
Not for early on, butfor the older grades, so.

Shannon (43:04):
Montgomery

Cindy (43:04):
you see our yellow buses, our Montgomery ISD buses are
putting a lot of miles driving kids,you know, where they need to be.

Kristin (43:12):
If that's

Stef (43:12):
daycare facilities as

Cindy (43:14):
If that's what works for the family.
So what we would prefer to do isnot solely provide services at the
daycare, but sometimes what we'll dois do, um, if it's weekly, two times
a month at the childcare and thentwo times a month with the family.
So that we can just makesure everyone's connected.
But yes,

Stef (43:29):
I just wanted to mention, because I think some families, especially if you've
got multiple working parents, they'relike, I would do this if I had time.
Um, but there, there is that aspect to

Cindy (43:39):
Absolutely.
And if grandma and grandpa dochild care, then we can go to their
house.
You know, we, we meetthem where the kid is.

Stef (43:46):
there's a phrase that is coming up again and again that is the um, the
least restrictive environment concept.
Um, anybody want to take quickversion of why that's important?

Kristin (43:55):
important?
Well, we know that students need accessto their general education peers, and
by law, they need to be educated intheir least restrictive environment.
Um, and then through the IEP process,we determine what supplemental aids
and services they may need to be ableto stay there, but some students need
more, and so then they would, youknow, add programs and or services.

(44:17):
But least restrictive environmentis, is super important and
something that we definitely strive.
I'll also add that, if a student comesto Sider Education Center or one of
our ISD local programs, our goal reallyis to teach them whatever skills,
whatever lagging skills they have sothat we're able to help them transition
back to their resident local districtbecause, um, that's also very important.

(44:41):
We want them in their home community,but when they're with us, we also
want them to feel like they'rea huge part of our community.

Shannon (44:46):
community.
And

Cindy (44:47):
And least restrictive changes.
So that's why our leastrestrictive environment for
birth to three is in their home.
We don't take six month oldsand bring them to school.
That's, that's not where they're learning.
But as they get older,then that is school.
And then every kid has different needs.
So sometimes a student's least restrictiveenvironment is their neighborhood school.
And, and for some kids it's CIDRbecause the needs are higher.

(45:08):
And then there's more services thatare, that are appropriate for them.

Kristin (45:11):
want to just add to that process of having a student come
to Sider Education Center or oneof our local programs is really run
through the local school district.
So through their IEP team,the locals reach out to us.
and ask for additional supportand our services, and then the IEP
places them within our program.

(45:32):
So, we are definitely providinga service to the local school
districts and the students.

Stef (45:38):
There's so much collaboration and, at the end of the day, everybody
just wants these kids to, to get thesupport they need obviously you all
are not replacing any of that, so youall are building on it creating an
extra framework that, that holds it up.
I love that.
So.
We're getting a little older.
We're sort of moving up

(45:59):
the scale of age wise.

Cindy (46:01):
sat here in the perfect

Stef (46:02):
Yeah, it's worked out nicely.
I like, I always worry that I'm gonnaforget somebody's name or for, you
know, forget some piece of context.
So thank you for making my job easier.

Cindy (46:11):
We're

Shannon (46:12):
job easier.
You're really

Stef (46:13):
Yeah, there we go.
Yes.
Yes, you're supporting me right now.
Thank
you.

Shannon (46:17):
I

Kyle (46:17):
sitting here
a while.
We're getting
older

Cindy (46:20):
getting

Shannon (46:21):
we're getting older while we

Stef (46:23):
No, that was not what I was Do you want to start with the Career Center?
Sure.
Okay.
when we're talking about theolder kids, when we're talking
about the ones that, um, are lessprecocious and a little bit more

Kristin (46:33):
um,
so

Shannon (46:34):
feisty,

Stef (46:35):
this is, your focus is, is general education more
rather than special education.

Cindy (46:40):
More,

Shannon (46:40):
yes, but we definitely have special education students who attend the
Career Center because career and technicaleducation is good for many kids, all kids.
So Kyle talks about economies ofscale and I think that that is why
the Career Center exists because wehave programs that our local districts

(47:01):
couldn't afford to run, you know,
every district can't havethe 12 programs that we have.
I mean, it just wouldbe so cost prohibitive.
So it makes sense for us to cometogether as a county, provide those
programs to all kids in the county.
So, um, we currently run, um, 12 programsat our building and some of them are
designed for students to take the programand go directly into the workforce.

(47:25):
Some of them are designed forstudents to take the program and
their education either at a universityor some kind of, um, trade school
or something beyond high school.
but really our main goal is careerexploration because I think as educators,
part of our job is to help kids, uh,try things out, test, test out what they

(47:45):
might want to do for a living becausenot all of us know when we're 16,
uh, what we want to
do.
Okay, who
knows

Kristin (47:52):
okay,

Shannon (47:52):
16.
if they're like, like reading that?

Kristin (47:55):
like, really

Stef (47:56):
so

Shannon (47:56):
and so we try to make our programs as,
as much like a job site as possible sothey really get that feeling of what it's
like to do this job on a day to day basis,um, to see if that's what they want to do.
And when we're recruiting for CareerCenter, we tell the students if you
come out and take a program and findout that you hate it and that's not
what you want to do for a living.
then that was a success, because nowyou've eliminated one area that you don't

(48:20):
have to, you know, work that directioneven longer and, and waste that time.
You can now move on to something elsethat you think you might be interested in.

Stef (48:29):
Yeah, that is So phenomenal that that is something that
they have the opportunity to do.
Honestly, when, when we were in LeadershipMontcalm, we, we toured the Career Center
and, um, as you mentioned, it is not MCC.
It's just really

Shannon (48:42):
It is,

Kristin (48:42):
just really close

Shannon (48:43):
and we, and we have similar initials, so it gets, it gets very mixed
up, but we, we are 100 percent highschool level programming run by the ISD.
We do not have college students in ourbuilding, um, Every semester, when the
college is starting up, we have a fewstudents who will wander into our building
looking for their college classes, andso we have to direct, redirect them,

(49:07):
but yeah, it does get confusing, butwe are a high school level program.
And then

Stef (49:11):
And then they're like, wait, why didn't I get to do
this when I was in high school?
I really wish I had done thiswhen I, when I was younger.
Um, but no, what I was going to sayis just walking through the building.
I was thinking to myself, man, even asa grownup, I kind of wish that I could
just spend a few days in each of theserooms getting to do, cause they get to
do some really interesting, cool stuff.
and they get to do it hands on and it's.

(49:33):
You know, very practical applications.
Can you talk a little bitabout some of the programs?

Shannon (49:37):
the programs?
Sure.
So, um, brand new program thatwe started this year is business.
I should say restarted.
We had business several years ago.
Um, the enrollment, uh, waned a littlebit and so it ended up closing, but
we have reopened that this year.
So, um, we're excited to havethat back in the building because
business is an essential part of.
everything.
And so if you have a business background,you could really work in most industries.

(50:02):
then three years ago, westarted a digital arts program.
So these are students who arelearning how to, build websites,
social media, posting photography,um, because that's a job title now.
Like if you're in charge of somebody'ssocial media presence, that's a
full time job for some companies.
when I started as a teacher at theCareer Center, that was not a thing.

(50:24):
That was unheard of.
And so, part of our job, too, is to makesure we stay on the edge of what's up and
coming so that we're training studentsfor jobs that are not here yet.
Um, we have an educational careersprogram that is near and dear to our heart
because we, there's a teacher shortage.
And so, if we can grow some of our ownteachers and hopefully they come back
to Montcalm County and help us fillsome of these positions that we struggle

(50:46):
to fill, um, we would love to do that.

Kristin (50:49):
those students
are

Shannon (50:50):
But of course, those students are going to have to continue on
their education because you can't bea teacher right out of high school.
So, um, they know going
into that one,

Stef (50:58):
going into that Which

Shannon (50:59):
They know going into that one, there'll be some more education
required, but those students spendhalf their year out in classrooms
with students practicing lesson plans,practicing delivery of instruction.
So they really have a good ideawhen they finish the program.
They truly want to be a teacher,and so rather than spend four years
in college and then find out duringyour student teaching that that's not

(51:20):
really what you want to do, um, it'sso much better to do it now with us.
and then we have Health Careers,which is an exciting program for
students just because of everythingthey can walk out of there with.
So if they take the class as ajunior, they get their certified
nursing assistant license, and then,yeah, and then their second, they
can come back their senior year.

(51:40):
Take it as a second year student and walkout with their medical assisting license.
So they could be very, employabledirectly out of high school.
Most of the students do that,work in those fields while they're
continuing their education becausetheir ultimate goal is something
higher in the healthcare field.
But it gives them opportunityto work in the field while
they're continuing training.

(52:01):
our second year students also getsome phlebotomy training so they
actually can work as phlebotomistsright out of high school as well.
we have a public safety program, soanyone who's interested in anything in
the field of criminal justice, so lawyers,paralegals, corrections officers, police
officers, if they have an interest inany field in criminal justice, that's

(52:22):
a great class for them to see if,if that's truly a good fit for them.
and then we have an Ag Science program.
So, um, we run the onlychapter of FFA in the county.
So if students are into agricultureor, um, we have a lot of students who
want to be veterinarians or vet techs,um, we spend about one semester focused
on animals and one semester focusedon plants and crops and landscaping

(52:46):
and floriculture and all the thingsthat have to do with, more plant side,

Stef (52:50):
I remember there being a bunch of bunnies in that room when I went in.
We actually have

Kristin (52:54):
bunny

Shannon (52:55):
have a bunny right now who's due to have bunny babies on Thursday.
So, um, yes, we have, uh, all kinds.
And then that, that programalso has a beautiful greenhouse
on the front of the building.
So always things growing in there,whether it's plants or animals.
So they also do a projectof, uh, salmon release.
So we pick up salmon eggs inNovember, they hatch them out.
And then in April, theyrelease them into the river.

(53:17):
So helping our environment, at thesame time that they're learning.
We have a CAD and engineeringprogram, so students who are
thinking they want to work in, um,

Kristin (53:26):
field.

Shannon (53:26):
So typically we have our juniors take CAD so that they learn how to use
the software, make the drawings, um,and then they come back for a second
year and do our engineering program.
And the kind of the way we describeit is the CAD students do all the
fine detail stuff, the engineeringstudents are our problem solvers.
So here we have this problem, whatare some ways we can solve it?

(53:47):
They come up with some ideas, theCAD students draw it up, it might
be something we can 3D print andtry it because that's a lot cheaper
than machining a part out of metal.
So they 3D print it, we test it out, seeif it works, if it doesn't, engineers
step back in, they've got to try plan B.
Um, so they work well together as ateam, we have electric car races, we have

(54:07):
robotics teams, um, on both underwaterrobotics and, um, Um, so a lot happening
in that class all the time because everykid is working on something different.
Um, and then we have a weldingprogram, which is very popular.
Um, it's full every year with a waitinglist, um, because welding is something
that they can walk out with certificationsand get a fantastic job right now.

(54:31):
So.

Stef (54:32):
a very lucrative industry,

Shannon (54:33):
Yes.
Yep.
Uh, we have auto and diesel.
So kind of similar.
So our auto kids work on more ofthe passenger type vehicles and our
diesel students work on the, um,larger, pieces of equipment that
have more, that have diesel engines.
Um, so they're working on semisand tractors and buses and,
um, and then our auto kids areworking on passenger vehicles.

(54:54):
those two programs are always very busy.
A lot going on in there all the time.
our students who are the most hands onlove those two programs because they
spend so much time, with their handsin an engine and tearing things apart.
And then our finalprogram is construction.
So our construction program, everyother year builds an entire house.
So the students get to learn.
From foundation, and framing, androofing, and siding, one year, and

(55:19):
then the next year they learn drywall,and trim, and painting, and installing
cupboards, and wiring, and plumbing,and so all, everything that goes into
building a house over a two year period,

Stef (55:30):
the other thing I remember thinking as I was going through there and, um,
I will fully acknowledge that part ofthis is because I have ADHD and I, I,
I, I get shiny object syndrome hardcore,but like every, every program that we
went into and we're, we're, you know,getting a taste of what it looked like.
I was like, Ooh, this sounds like fun.
And I, I just like, I wantedto do every single one

Shannon (55:51):
trust me, as the principal of the building, I would like
to take several of the classes.
Yeah.

Stef (55:56):
part of me really wishes I could go back in time and get to, to do that,

Shannon (55:59):
I mean, I would love to take construction, not because I want to
work in that industry, but just so Icould do the stuff in my own house.
I

Stef (56:06):
we have a lot, about, having kids be prepared to go out into the world
these days is the, this concept that,the school system is not adequately
preparing them for practical skills whenthey leave home and, I mean, there are
definitely aspects of this that have,
very practical application evenif you don't necessarily end
up doing it professionally.

Shannon (56:27):
you take auto, you learn to work on your own car, it'll save you some money
when you're an adult and have to do that.
So yeah, there are lots of ways theycan use the information even if it ends
up not being their full time career.

Stef (56:38):
and then you all work with the early college program as well, right?

Shannon (56:42):
Yes.
So that program started in 2013, 14school year, um, as a partnership actually
between the ISD and the community college.
So to confuse
Our affiliation even more we decided topartner and create a program together
So this program is housed completely onmotcomb community college's campus It's
for students who are going into theirjunior year of high school And they

(57:05):
attend at mcc their junior year theirsenior year and a 13th year And then
they graduate with their associate'sdegree and their high school diploma
at the end of that thirteenth year.
And the best thing for familiesis we pay the tuition and
fees and buy all of the books.
So if you're looking at the costof college, um, the thought of
getting your first couple years paidfor by someone else, um, I don't

(57:27):
know how you can go wrong there.

Stef (57:29):
Yeah.
I mean it is a not an intense programnecessarily, but you have to be a, like a
serious student to really accomplish it.
one of our staff here, her daughterdid the early college program
and, it was a perfect fit for her.
And now.
she is just making it happen.

Shannon (57:44):
it's definitely about motivation and, um, the really cool thing is we
are now seeing the fruits of some ofour labor because we have a student
who went through early college is nowa teacher at Vestaburg and, um, at
the middle school and then one of our,um, Former early college students is
a 31N counselor, serving our studentsover in the Carson City District.

(58:05):
So, we're seeing them finishtheir education at a university
and then come back and, andprovide services to our students.

Stef (58:12):
that's

Cindy (58:13):
is

Shannon (58:13):
is huge

Kristin (58:14):
that's

Shannon (58:14):
That's

Stef (58:14):
one thing that it's, again, if you work in nonprofits, if you work,
you know, in government, one of the bigconversations that keeps circling in
these, um, groups and this is somethingthat's getting talked about at the
state level too with some of GovernorWhitmer's programs that, how do we

Shannon (58:28):
keep our, our

Stef (58:29):
how do we keep them invested in our, um, in our communities?
How do we invest in them so thatthey want to, um, to stay here?
And I think, both of those programs doa phenomenal job of, of, making those
kids feel supported so that they want to,you know, they want to stay home, so to

Shannon (58:46):
speak.
Yep.
Definitely.
And at, at the career center we have,uh, we're required to have advisory
committees of industry people whoadvise us on all those new up and coming
things that we need to know about.
Mm-Hmm.
. And so I had no problem reaching outto an, my former early college student
who's now a teacher and saying, willyou serve on the advisory board for
our educational careers program?
And he said, absolutely.
So, um, I'm definitely gonna exploit thoserelationships, and, um, make sure we can

(59:11):
work with those people going forward.

Kristin (59:12):
advantage

Stef (59:12):
Take advantage of, not exploit.

Shannon (59:14):
okay.
That's a better word.
Better word.

Stef (59:16):
a huge takeaway from this is, is definitely that we have a lot going on
at the ISD, I've been able to, um, to,tour facilities and stuff like that.
And then of course, with earlyhad personal experience with that,
but I still, even with, Penny andI talking about this, I was like,
holy cow, you all do all of that.
And I have a feeling that there was still

(59:38):
a few things that didn'teven get touched on.
I think we were all really good at,
being speakers about, ourrole is in the community.
as an administrator, you getused to the elevator pitch.
You get,

Shannon (59:48):
elevator

Stef (59:49):
get used
to trying to, um, trying to succinctlyexplain what, what your organization does.
But, my favorite stories when, isalways, How you as individuals sort
of got pulled into these roles orrather fell or I keep making it
sound like it's accidentally like you

Kyle (01:00:04):
Just

Cindy (01:00:05):
into

Stef (01:00:05):
the hill into these roles, but
how does your role feel meaningful to you?
have you had moments where you thought,yes, I am, I am doing what I love doing.
have you had those aha moments in your.
I think all of us

Cindy (01:00:20):
I think all of us started, started our careers in what we're supervising now
in
some way.
So I think that
we've, we've done
this for a long time.
And I mean,
I
have done early childhoodfor 25 years and, and
so that is just my Like, just what I love.
But when you get thosefeedback, when you get the

(01:00:40):
parents who say, you know, our life is
better
because this provider cameout, and our child learned
to talk, or our child learned
to walk because of
your support.
I mean, those are
goosebump moments becauseyou know it really
impacted the child.
It's going to impactthem in the future, and
it really made an impact in the family.
So, um, yes, we get those, andthose are really great days.

Kyle (01:01:00):
And I think probably everybody in this room has a story
of how they landed, you know.
For me, I worked juvenile correctionsfor quite a few years and the commonality
I noticed with a lot of the studentswhere I'm, you know, I was a child
development worker was my title.
Um, many of them did nothave a male role model.
And so, I was in the process of completingmy degree and so I switched from

(01:01:21):
psychology to elementary was my focus.
So I, you know, I went in andbecame an elementary teacher.
Um And that was my driving force ingetting into to And then of course,
as you go through, it's like, okay,I want to have a bigger impact.
And where do you do that So maybe insome cases you take on a leadership
role in the bill building, whetherit be school improvement or whether

(01:01:41):
it be leading an afterschool program.
Somebody sees something in youand encourages you to apply for
something, and so then you endup in an administrative role.
And then again, the goal is, and sofor me, I, you know, I don't ever walk
into work thinking, why do I do this?
there are days where you gohome and think, okay, I didn't
handle that as well as I couldhave, or boy that didn't go well.

(01:02:03):
Um, there's quite a few of those days,

Stef (01:02:05):
Uh huh.

Kyle (01:02:06):
where you go home and you question, you know, are you the
right person, or should somebodyelse's voice be, uh, better at
lifting whatever you're working on.
Um, but the biggestfrustrations I have is when I
can't get them what they need,so my biggest stressor is.
Knowing Christian and her building, um,you know and she may not hear this from me

(01:02:27):
all the time, but I think it's importantfor her to hear, you know, not being able
to give the people who are working hardevery day what they need, um, to support
the kids and staff in the building, inLakeview, when I was a soup there, it
was, you know, our funding was tight.
So, you know You know, we weren'tgiving increases and raises.
And so, you know, people work hardand you want to recognize that by

(01:02:49):
giving, you know, raises and increases.
And, you know, and the best you cangive sometimes is kudos or a thank you.
And many people appreciate, youknow, the sincerity of those.
But so for me, it is more aboutwhen you can provide what the
people need the things we're doingon a day to day basis, whether
it
be Shannon, Cindy or Kristen.
Or anybody else

(01:03:09):
for that matter.
So I

Stef (01:03:11):
think it's a really beautiful

Kyle (01:03:13):
you

Stef (01:03:13):
so many people get into.
Um, administration.
It's not because they're like, oh man,I need to get away from these kids.
Like,

Cindy (01:03:20):
so,
um,

Shannon (01:03:21):
from

Stef (01:03:21):
they're not, tired of being in the classroom necessarily.
They're not tired ofbeing around the kids.
it's,
that sort of call to, I, I feel greatthat I'm, I'm, um, having this positive
impact on these individual students.
it's such a great experience.
But is there a way thatI can even do more?
Um,
and

Kyle (01:03:38):
the

Shannon (01:03:40):
because

Stef (01:03:41):
hmm.

Kyle (01:03:42):
because, you know, I'll go back to Lakeview, you know, you had building
administrators and there was me, therewasn't a layer of associate soups
who were overseeing people running

Stef (01:03:51):
like,

Kyle (01:03:51):
I'll And so my office was located centrally on campus.
4 7 building was right next door
and I'd walk to my truck going
somewhere or whatever, you know,in the middle of the day and
you'd hear those kids outside at
recess and you'd hear themhollering your name on the

Stef (01:04:07):
what they

Kyle (01:04:08):
hi, Mr.
Hamlin.
And then, you know, that's probably,you know, the Coolest experience you
can and you know, in terms of, okay,you know, kids know you and recognize
you whether it be the brief pop insyou're doing or the, you know, during
March's reading month, you know, causewhen you're an administrator and not
directly in the building, you know,your interactions sometimes become those
invitations at

(01:04:29):
that level.
So, um, definitely miss the, kid
interaction because, you know, that's
what fills your bucket so to speak.
that's why I've at

Shannon (01:04:37):
said this is the top level of my career for me because I don't ever want
to be So, um, yeah, Not in a buildingwith kids every day, this is where I'm
meant to be, because if I'm having a hardday, I go walk around my classrooms, and
inevitably by the end of my walk around,they've made me laugh, they've, you know,
done something that was just corny, andyou know, they're just wonderful to be

(01:04:58):
around, so I need that in my life everyday, because parts of this job are really
hard, too, so, um, you gotta balance.

Stef (01:05:06):
For

Kyle (01:05:06):
learn some lessons like for me that it was always the babies, you know, you
go on and see the sillier funnythings they do in the building,
but you avoid ketchup and hot
dog days
in

Shannon (01:05:15):
avoid
ketchup and hot

Stef (01:05:16):
know,
you walk

Kyle (01:05:17):
walk through and they just want to hug you and touch you and

Shannon (01:05:19):
just want

Stef (01:05:20):
touch

Kyle (01:05:20):
over

Stef (01:05:20):
Oh, yup, yup.

Kyle (01:05:21):
what's for lunch today before I
walk through that room.
But, uh, um, so yeah, little lessons.

Stef (01:05:27):
we don't, don't budget for this.
We

Kyle (01:05:29):
there's not a line item in it, but

Shannon (01:05:31):
there, are

Stef (01:05:32):
so much of all of this comes down to the relationships with the kids, too,
and how powerful it can be to connect
there are adults in these classroomsand in these buildings That you matter
to them, that they care about you andlike it's something that, that just
sort of happens organically, it makes
so much more of adifference for so many kids.

Shannon (01:05:53):
years ago

Kyle (01:05:54):
often enough, but it does happen where a student that
you had 3, 4, 5 years ago

Shannon (01:06:00):
We'll either come back and visit, or write you a letter, or,
and just say you had a huge impact onmy life, and then that's what makes
you go okay, I'm, I'm in the rightplace, I'm doing what I need to do.

Kyle (01:06:09):
day that

Stef (01:06:16):
average resident or, or caregiver, you know, parent,
grandparent in this county doesn'tget to see or isn't aware of?

Shannon (01:06:24):
you hear a lot, every generation always says, Oh, these kids, they're,
you know, our, our future is hopelessbecause these kids aren't motivated.
They don't work hard.
They're, you know, whateverolder adults say about kids.
Um, but if you're with them every dayand you work with them and, and we often
invite them industry professionals intoour building to do some activities with

(01:06:46):
our kids and one of them said to melast year this has given me hope for
our next generation because I hear allthose negative things and spending the
whole day with these high school kids.
I now know that what they'resaying is not, not correct.
Like these kids are awesome.
You know, they are working hard.
They are motivated.
They are going to be great in the future.

(01:07:08):
So, I, I want everyone to know that.
Like, rest assured.

Cindy (01:07:12):
assured.

Stef (01:07:12):
Ha
ha,

Shannon (01:07:14):
to be fabulous.

Kyle (01:07:16):
I appreciate Shannon's statement, kids are kids, um, and if
you take a genuine interest and youpeel back the layers of the onion,
so to speak
that kid's still there andthat, you know, even though, you
know, the older they get, they don't havemuch as much use for adults, you know,
when they think they know everything,you know, just, but they're still
kids And there's still a lot of fun.

Cindy (01:07:36):
I think that almost everybody went to school, so they think
that they're an expert in school.
And I think that what people don'trealize is the work, the thought, the
effort, the what, like for example,if I happen to attend to a principal's
meeting, like the things that go intothe decisions that principals make
every day, or the curricular decisions,

Kyle (01:07:57):
those,

Cindy (01:07:58):
that is so big, and it is so
much work, and I think that theaverage person doesn't realize that,
because they went to school, and thenthe teacher taught them, and then
they went
home, and
it's
like, the amount that goes in
is incredible, and we
need to give
all of those decision
makers, and then all of those teachersthe credit that they deserve to
do the work they do.
A lot of it
is unseen.

Shannon (01:08:18):
work they
do.

Kristin (01:08:20):
I would say by the teaming that happens between our staff.
within buildings to beable to support students.
So from the para educators, totransportation staff, to related
service providers, to teachers, tomyself, consultants, that type of stuff.
The, um, the amount of immense support,like, especially in my building, that

Kyle (01:08:45):
All

Kristin (01:08:47):
receive because our staff care so deeply for the
students that they work with.

Kyle (01:08:51):
with.
Just don't always see the advocacythat takes place, from the
leaders and teachers on behalf of
the students
we serve, because we don'talways walk into a meeting and
agree
on
everything.
and so there's a lot of hardconversations, so we also have
to come back and, patch some
of our relationships a
little bit, because sometimes we saythings a little more tart than we should,

(01:09:15):
um, but genuinely speaking, Their focusand their, uh, mode of operation in
terms of doing what's best for kidsis, might look a little different, but
you know, it's always about the kids.
So I mean, I very much appreciate
that

Stef (01:09:29):
when we think of,
school, our brains can sort of go to themost simple concept of what school is.
if we boil it down completely,it's that one room schoolhouse.
kids in a classroom together.
there's reading, math, there's history.
I think that's our, our first instinct.
one of the things that I think isphenomenal about what you all do is
So many aspects of, of the ISD are,are covering areas where students may

(01:09:55):
have not gotten what they needed inthe past, um, or earlier incarnations
of what school looked like, um,didn't, didn't get what they needed.
cover the needs of a, uh, in a particulararea, whether it's because, um, by the
time, some kids get to kindergarten,they might already be behind because
they haven't had the supports that theyneeded at a younger age, or if it's
because a teacher, in a gen ed classroomcan't accomplish, um, Or, accommodate

(01:10:21):
the, the specific learning needs of,of a student who might be outside of
their purview of understanding or, orsimply because they've got enough on
their plate that, you know, there'ssome kids that need more attention.
Um, and then in terms of,you know, preparing them for
going out into the world in
a way that maybe education inthe past did not provide them.
I think this creates so many phenomenalopportunities that, schools 50 years ago.

(01:10:44):
Couldn't really accomplish, so,
so go all of you.
Well
done.

Kristin (01:10:49):
to keep all

Stef (01:10:50):
Um, so yes, having, having said all of that, um, it does take
a lot of work to keep all this

Kyle (01:10:56):
done

Shannon (01:10:57):
moving

Stef (01:10:57):
and, there's so much dedication from all of you all and from your staff
and, and the community investment and, andworking with the school districts, to make
sure all these kids get what they need.
And, and usually I think people think of.
if they put these pieces together,they're thinking of those day
to day operational things.
They're thinking of teaching,obviously, transportation and,
planning curriculum and all that.

(01:11:17):
the operations of things.
the.
complex budget that goes into thatprocess, what's easy to forget is
how above and beyond that operating,aspect of things that, things change
over time and things grow and all ofthis needs space and infrastructure
to keep all of that happening.
and those classrooms and buildings,they need care, they need reinforcement,

(01:11:38):
and then, as the student needs grow,they need, expansion sometimes, too.
the students might get older and move on,and the buildings have to be ready for
new students, and sometimes more students.
if you weren't already aware, thereis a, a bond proposal next week on the
27th that the, the ISD is bringing.
it's not operational,it's intended generally to
accomplish some of those needs.

(01:11:59):
can you talk a little bitabout what that bond is for?

Kyle (01:12:02):
before I
jump into that, I think it's important toknow how we arrived at asking for a bond.
And so, it's been abouta two year process.
you heard me mention earlier thatI came from Lakeview, and so,
just trying to get an idea ofthe state of our facilities.
So, we had a comprehensivefacility needs assessment, done.
when that was completed, They puttogether a 44 million list of items

(01:12:27):
that needed to be addressed at allof our buildings and locations.
the bulk of our funding goes towardspersonnel and providing the needs for
day to day operations of district.
So, you know, there really aren't
funding sources for local districtsto truly address their facility needs.
So the state provides this avenue foryou to approach your community for a

(01:12:48):
bond when those needs get to a pointthat, your budgets can't address,
you know, whether it be, you know,a boiler, replacing a boiler, you
probably can, you know, address that.
when it
was all
said and done, we met as a
team and it was very important for us to,
Make sure it was a a needs ask, sowe can pare that down to 40 million.

(01:13:08):
about this time we start talking aboutwhere our budgets are on an annual basis.
And whether it be special ed, um,and whether it be general ed or
even our career and tech ed budgets.
we kind of see where our expendituresare and we realize that, Hey, we're going
to have a little bit left this year.
Let's set that into a capital outlay.
And so capital outlay is where youcould do projects like a parking lots,

(01:13:30):
potentially a roof, depending on the
cost, but once you put itinto this capital outlay
fund, you can't move it out of

Stef (01:13:36):
of there.
Uh

Kyle (01:13:36):
And so we have to be very.
thoughtful in terms of themoney that we're setting aside.
And so, over the course
of the last five or six
years, we've been able to putaside four million dollars.
we just said that, okay, we have a 40million dollars here that we know we need.
We're going to cover some of that with themoney we've set aside, 8 million dollars.

(01:13:59):
each building has, uh, differing needsdepending on, where they're at and, but
our biggest needs
right now are, are true, they'rejust roofs, parking lots, and, um,
related mechanical HVAC, um, and justreplacing and updating, some of the,
services that come into the building.
for instance, the careercenter, needs a roof.

(01:14:21):
And so the projection on the costof replacing that roof is 4 million.
Parking lot's 2 million.
probably the thing that we, are,excited, the most is the support
to potentially add buildings andclassrooms to the Cider Center.
Kristen spoke at length about the needs,you know, of our students that are,
very unique, um, and very challengingat times, but we just want the

(01:14:44):
spaces that we're providingservices, um, to be conducive

Stef (01:14:49):
So,

Kyle (01:14:49):
meet the needs of the students.
And so
the only
building right
now designed
for
what it's being used foris the Career Center.
And so that was designedas a Career Center.
That's what it's being used for.
Um, all of our other buildingshave been purchased from various
businesses and just repurposed.
So the Career Center is, like Isaid, was built with that in mind.

(01:15:10):
Um, but the transition center,the Hamler building and the Cider
Center have been repurposed.
Now, the Cider Center isfunctional, our buildings are all
functional, um, but they're notideal for the students we serve.
So um, we just felt like, you know, whenyou, we talked about the intricacies
of a student leaving a local programto end up at the CIDR Center and I'll

(01:15:31):
draw you guys in here in a second, um,because I specifically want to hear
Kristen talk about what it's going tomean to her and her kids, um, related
to this bond, because I don't knowif we've had a lot of opportunity to
hear the practitioners in thebuilding and what it means to them.
once a kid gets to a point of, hey, youmight need to go to the CIDR Center,
they come and do a

(01:15:52):
site visit.
So the look and feel of the
Cider Center does not look the same as ifyou walk Baldwin Heights, or Greenville
Middle School, or Greenville High School.
Very vibrant, modern, up to date.
And again, I'll say it's functionalbecause our facilities folks have
done a great job, but that buildingwas never designed as a school.
And so, that's where I'd liketo maybe pull our folks in here.

(01:16:14):
Outside of parking
lots roofs and
HVAC, mechanical, youknow, the cider center
is where the most workis going to be done, so.
lots roofs and
I think, we've done agreat job is where the work

Kristin (01:16:30):
service providers, we have offices where we have multiple people
sharing multiple spaces just because weneed to do that, which doesn't always
make for great working environments forour staff, but that's staff focused.
But student focused, I think we'vedone a great job doing what we can
with what we have but when I, youknow, bring a family for a tour, I

(01:16:53):
try really hard to be positive andbe like, here's our space, but in the
back of my head, I'm like, you know,
this looks, um, maybe just,

Kyle (01:17:01):
hard
to be and be

Kristin (01:17:03):
Not as welcoming as what a, as what a typical or some of
our renovated buildings look like.
So I, if we're able to get theexpansion, we're able to add on
to it and create an actual gym oreven I think of like the lunchroom.
Our lunchroom right now is pretty tiny,um, and we're able to do that, but we've

(01:17:23):
been working really hard on bringing allof our grade levels down at a time because
we know That when students can interactwith their same age peers, regardless
of their disability, that's great for

Stef (01:17:34):
great

Kristin (01:17:34):
Well, we can't even fit some of, like, all of our wheelchairs
down there at the same time.
So, like, even just that opportunity tomake our cafeteria bigger and just more,
uh, ways to have different conversationsand just to make it more functional for
this great group of kids that we have, um,

(01:17:54):
A gym area that's actually a gym, um,depending on what it is right now, we
have a multi purpose room, which isgreat, but it's carpeted, we call it
our gym, I think just to freshen itup, to give these kids like a sense of,
wow, we really are important, we do getthe new school too, or we do get a new
space, I think would be very, very, very,

(01:18:17):
exciting.
Like, I just, I smile every time I thinkabout the possibility of that happening.

Kyle (01:18:23):
every time I think about
the
possibility
of
that happening.
So half of my

Kristin (01:18:42):
classroom don't have windows.

Stef (01:18:43):
Oh yeah, and
that makes a

Kristin (01:18:45):
they're on the inner side.
So I think of natural light and theability to be able to see outside.
Like that, that in and of itself,especially if it's sunny, makes days
happier and brighter and stuff like that.
So I think the overall culture, feelinglike a school, um, for staff and
students alike will help, um, definitelywith some of our complex students.

(01:19:08):
Our entryway, for example, too.
Like we have this tiny little

Cindy (01:19:13):
way

Kristin (01:19:13):
where we can go in,
so it doesn't really necessarily make for,like, great collaboration with parents.
Like, you kind of just feel like you'retalking on top of different people.

Kyle (01:19:24):
on top of

Kristin (01:19:26):
the possibilities are super exciting.

Kyle (01:19:28):
the reason for looking
for the addition the possibilities
are

Kristin (01:19:31):
trying

Kyle (01:19:32):
exciting

Shannon (01:19:33):
culture,

Kyle (01:19:33):
and I think,
a statement we've been trying to make is,
We service kids from all the localcommunities, so we are a service agency,
And
so when Greenville or Vesterbergor Lakeview send their students
to the Cider Center we wantedto look and feel like a school.
Yeah, And and
I
mean, these kids
deserve a space that
feels

(01:19:54):
to the Center
very subtle level.
So
Shane,

Kristin (01:19:59):
cool.
Um

Stef (01:20:01):
or Vesterburg

Kyle (01:20:10):
I don't know if you have anything to add about Career and Tech
Ed.

Shannon (01:20:13):
we are a very large building, and so anytime we need something
major like a roof or a parking lot,um, it's not going to be cheap.
My focus as we, uh, move throughout theschool year and I look at our, our yearly
operating budget is I need to make surethe students have updated equipment to
work on because I can't send them out, um,having learned on 1960s, 70s cars to work

(01:20:37):
on the cars of 2024, um, because they'reabsolutely nothing alike and, and actually
we're a, um, Accredited program in ourauto and diesel and in order to keep
our accreditation I have to have cars inthere that are less than five years old.
So the money has to be spent onthe lab Equipment, the, the things

(01:20:59):
that actually touch the kids andthat the kids work on and touch.

Kyle (01:21:02):
right?
And

Stef (01:21:02):
you're talking, just to make sure that it's very clear, you're
talking about the operating budget.
That needs to be spent to that

Shannon (01:21:07):
Yes.
And so it does limit how much Ican put into our capital outlay.
Right.
Which then, you know,limits how fast that grows.
And if it doesn't grow very fastand then all of a sudden my roof
is leaking in spots, um, we haveto figure out something else.
So, we're definitely not, for the CareerCenter, we're not asking for money to,
do anything cosmetic.

(01:21:28):
Um, because, like Kyle said, our buildingwas built to do what it is doing.
Um, and it works, it, it, it looks likea Career Center, it functions like a

Stef (01:21:37):
functions like

Shannon (01:21:38):
Um, ours is strictly just,
money to keep the building

Stef (01:21:42):
and I

Kyle (01:21:42):
the question becomes, you know, what's this kind of run the average
taxpayer so Roughly for about every 10,000 from a taxable value standpoint,
it's about six or 7 this average Soif you have 120, 000 taxable value
on your home, it's going to run 78a year if your taxable values, 240,

(01:22:03):
000, it's going to be double that.
but it's a 20 year term and it's a 0.
65 mil and it's anincrease because right now
in our,
62 years of existence, we'venever gone for a bond before

Stef (01:22:15):
So
it
is

Kyle (01:22:16):
is the first time we've gone.
So, you know, just, you know, being
transparent with communication, it isnew, so therefore it's a new millage.
So, and so in those regards,it's a 20 year term, it's 0.
65
mils
And then
some of the
questions we've been doing a lot of,uh, community outreach and various
organizations, one of the questionsis when are we going to start seeing,

(01:22:38):
if this is a past, when will westart seeing dirt move, so to speak?
Um, so the Cider Center would probably.
Cause it takes time to do thedrawings and build the specs out.
So you'd probably be looking at maybe thefall of twenty five before you saw any
building level um, construction going on.
But you know, people dolike to see things going on.

(01:22:58):
So parking lots, roofs, some of thosethings would probably start as soon as
this summer and maybe even this fall.
But you know, we'd certainlywant to get some things going

Stef (01:23:07):
certainly want

Kyle (01:23:09):
versus waiting until next year because you want to be able to
communicate.
thank you for your support.
Here's what we're doing.
And, um, so
putting that out in front
of folks in you

Stef (01:23:24):
get.
a new roof.
It's pretty straightforward.

Kyle (01:23:26):
is not for
salaries
or, you know, this is there'snothing flashy about the ask.
And so
we have
to, if
you look at the ballot language,have to stick within the parameters
of what that language is.
So
no raises, no
personnel and
those all for facilities related items.

Shannon (01:23:44):
take

Kyle (01:23:44):
So personnel and

Stef (01:23:47):
you look at the boundaries.

Kyle (01:24:03):
Um,

Cindy (01:24:04):
we

Kyle (01:24:04):
um,

Stef (01:24:05):
we
don't necessarily rootfor the ISD, so to speak.
There is no ISD mascot, althoughI feel like that would be fun.

Kyle (01:24:12):
be fun.
Um, Education Center

Kristin (01:24:14):
mascot, We are the Jaguars.

Stef (01:24:16):
Oh, nice.
Okay.

Kristin (01:24:17):
Okay.
Yes, we are.

Stef (01:24:18):
I stand corrected then.
I keep

Kristin (01:24:20):
yes, uh huh, we are.

Stef (01:24:21):
but, you know, it's all part of one large

Kristin (01:24:24):
that

Stef (01:24:25):
that works for the entire county and the whole county can
share in its success in that way.
Um, so I think it's, I thinkyou all are worth rooting for.
So, you need to get a basketballteam together or something like that.
And so like the ISD basketball team.
Um, so people have something to root for.
Yeah.

Kyle (01:24:41):
I did play college
basketball.
so
I

Shannon (01:24:44):
um,

Kristin (01:24:44):
appreciate

Kyle (01:24:45):
to vote?
No, I coach my boys going through,but I'm not nearly as athletic as
I used to be, so now I'm more threepoint line to three point line.

Shannon (01:24:54):
that,

Kyle (01:24:55):
a little bit
lazier as you get
older,
I do
appreciate your statementbecause I think you do kind of
think
about you your district andat a local level and we are
also
everybody's school district.

Stef (01:25:07):
It may not be down the street, but it's Absolutely.
I have to say, you are like the singing,

Kyle (01:25:14):
basketball,

Stef (01:25:15):
playing, like, any, any other renaissance man skills you want
to throw in there, into the mix?

Kyle (01:25:21):
the guitar.

Cindy (01:25:23):
talent show, I
play.
But I

Shannon (01:25:24):
I

Kyle (01:25:25):
lot of
times I do a lot of,
uh, Garth Brooks.
I do, Bonnie Raitt.
Oh Bette
Midler Actually
the first song I ever played.
I was
second grade in a talent show.
I played The Rose.

Stef (01:25:36):
nice.

Kyle (01:25:37):
Couple
how well that sounded.
I Bette
Midler Actually

Stef (01:25:40):
But
I bet it was cute.

Kyle (01:25:41):
was second
grade in a
Second grader thumping on a guitar
probably
don't sound
much better either way,singing or playing.
but I

Stef (01:25:48):
All right.
Well, thank you all for

Kyle (01:25:49):
on a I

Stef (01:25:52):
I
definitely learned something from this.
I hope that everybodylearned something from it.
I hope a bunch of you knew all this stuff.
That would

Shannon (01:25:57):
uh, I

Stef (01:25:58):
I hope that.
that everyone takes a momentto think about how they might
already be seeing this in theirlives without even realizing it.
do you know people in your ownfamily or in your neighbor's
family who has benefited from it?
think about, um, the significance it'shad for the community that you've seen.
for yourself and, um, probably more thanyou necessarily realize, as I mentioned,

(01:26:21):
the election day that this bond proposalis coming up at is February 27th.
gonna.
A week from today, that's a Tuesday.
And, early voting has already started.
So you are welcome to go out andvote now if you are not going
to be able to do it on Tuesday.
Feel

Kyle (01:26:34):
I actually did
that yesterday.
I was curious how it was goingto work and it was very, very
smooth.
I was in and out.
You

Stef (01:26:40):
So if you don't want to stand there the day
of,
do it in between, definitely.
the non November elections,
sort of, presidential, the non bigelections, that there's always fewer
people that tend to turn out, um,because they don't necessarily take it
as seriously, but to me, I feel likethere's almost more value in showing
up for those elections, because thoseare the ones that you're going to see.

(01:27:01):
close to home, what the effects are.
Like, you're gonna be able tolook out your front door, so to
speak, and, and see, the meaningthat is derived from that.
So, all the more important, I think.
Thank you all for, um, for sitting downwith me and talking about all this.
yay

Kristin (01:27:16):
this, Yay!

Stef (01:27:17):
thank you all
Take

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