June 29, 2023 • 34 mins
In this episode of “Inside the Oval” presented by Dignity Health, Sara Jin spoke about her journey to the 49ers, the intersection between sports and education, what she’s learned from being on the leadership board of the 49ers APEX ERG and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the Inside the Oval podcast presented by Dignity Health.
I'm Patty Kwan and I'm Hailey Jones, and today we
are joined by forty nine ers Edu Senior Coordinator Sarah Jin.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Sarah, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
To start off. Can you tell us a little bit
about fort nin Ors Edu and what your role there is.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, so Foreignators Edu, we have a flagship program. Were
typically rebring in K through eighth grade students on a
field trip and a virtual lesson, all teaching them steam
subjects science, technology, engineering, arts, and math and what that
has to do with football. So we use football as
a platform to get them excited about these subjects. I
(00:51):
get the privilege of scheduling all the schools that come
in and being the teacher communication, so making sure that
the teachers know everything they need to know coming out
of the field trip and everything runs smoothly the day of.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Do you have a favorite lesson or moment that you've
had with EDO?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I would probably say it's a lesson that doesn't get
picked a lot. It's our career connection lessons. So I
really like listening to what you guys all do everybody
else in the organization does, and trying to figure out
a lesson on their position and a project to do
so the kids understand all the different possibilities there is
to work in sports.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Another K through eighth, but definitely recommend this podcast to
them for the career connections lesson.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, occasionally for special events, we do get to work
with high schoolers and it does hit home with them.
A lot of times. They always just kind of think
of either playing the game or being a coach. They
don't realize there's like two hundred of us behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yeah, it was really fun. I was at an event
and you taught that lesson when Eric was in the classroom,
and it was really fun.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, that was interesting because I don't normally we don't
normally get players in it, but incorporating what he does,
and it's I think showcasing Eric. He's not just a
player on the field. There's a lot of other things
he does, and there's a lot of things that he
probably thought of behind the scenes. What if football didn't
work out? What's my plan?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
B what was your path to the forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I would say it's an unexpected path to the forty
nine ers, and I think in education in general. I
didn't think I was going to be in the education space.
I went to school, I graduated with business administration as
my degree, and then I was trying to work in
sports because I was interested in the industry, and I thought,
(02:43):
if I got a business degree, I can go anywhere.
I can go into sports. And I was doing a
bunch of internships. I worked at cal I worked at
the Giants, and then my friend's like, oh, well, I
have this opening at my after school program. Why don't
you just work at the after school and then continue
doing your internships. And I was like, okay. So I
got to the after school program. I think a month
(03:06):
after I was there, They're like, we're going to breathe
full time. You're going to work at the preschool in
the morning and do after school in the afternoon. And
I really liked it. I really liked the non traditional sense.
The one thing I didn't like was development reports. I'd
hated doing those reports seeing if the kids are meeting
their criterias, meeting their development stages. But I love the
(03:28):
non traditional sense of We were a project based school,
so we spent three months working with the kids, whether
it's like making an escape room learning about dinosaurs. We
spent three months kind of on a long term projects,
working on their understanding, and then as they're working on
(03:49):
like let's say, the escape room, they don't realize they're
learning planning skills. They don't learn realize they're working teamwork
or anything like that. So I really liked the nondditional
education space and I was like, hmm, I think I'm
going to stay here. I got I took all the
courses in early child development. I was going to stay
in preschool. And then one of my colleagues like, I
(04:11):
think you should continue looking into sports. See if like,
let's make sure you close that door if that's not
really not where you want to go into anymore. And
then I found this job opening here had foreignine or CDU,
and it was like the perfect thing. It was sports
and education. I again, I don't think I want to
be in the classroom. I have a lot of friends
I work in the classroom. I don't want to be
(04:33):
grading papers. I don't want to be doing parent teacher conferences.
But I liked making sure that the kids are having
fun and I'm actually making a difference. Hopefully they're being
successful later on.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So you came in as like a steam educator and
have since worked your way up. I guess how has
your role progressed since you first got here.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I don't think I realized this till like probably two
weeks ago. Full circle moment. I work on all the
meta within forty night or CDU. So I do use
my business degree in some sense. I don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Glad someone is using their degree in their job. I mean,
I am it.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Communication is broad, but Hailey has a degree in ancient history.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I use the writing portion of it. My grammar is
a plus.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah. So I have since moved out, like more out
of the classroom in a sense. I kind of work
behind the scenes and making sure all the schools come in.
But I also get to work directly creating the lessons
and also finding all the manipulatives that go with the lessons.
So I'm the one with all the toys on their
(05:41):
desk because I get to play around with everything making
sure it fits the lesson. But I think I'm from
when I first started to now I'm less in the
classroom and more behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Your LinkedIn is really like fun to look through because
you have you have all of your experience on there?
You have to do the like click more, like click
for more. Is that something that you decided to have
to have the Starbucks, to have the Berkeley, to have
all of your forty niner stuff, like just to keep
a running record of all of your work experience.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I honestly don't look at my li likedin a lot,
so I don't even know what's on there. I think
I just kept everything on there. I guess when you
think about it in an education space, when I'm teaching
the kids, like, there's many different paths you can go.
If you really like to draw, you could still be
part of the forty nine ers. You can go to
Disney if you really wanted to, because there's a lot
(06:34):
of skills that translate from one industry to another. So
I guess, without thinking about it, having all that there
was great because it's I might be an educator, but
there's a lot that I can do beyond just teaching.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You mentioned you have a lot of toys on your desk.
I'm curious, like what goes into a lesson plan and
like do you maybe practice with your colleagues or just
seeing like what kind of might resonate with these kids
different age groups.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I think because we work with K three eight,
we really have to think about making sure that it
hits home with let's say a kindergarten versus as an
eighth graders. So for a lesson plan, we do look
at all the steam subjects first, which one do we
want to focus on? And then if let's say we're
thinking about technology, how does that really apply to football?
(07:23):
So what in football uses technology? Is it the Levi
Stadium we have a lot of technology putting on each game,
or maybe it's the coaches that instead of having a
binder full of plays, they have a tablet. Everything is
real life. And then we go and look at California's standards,
we make sure we are standard aligned. And then I
(07:44):
think from there we start kind of thinking about what
really is exciting for the kids, So what projects or
what can we do so get the kids active, and
also thinking about what can they do here that they
might not be able to do at school. So it
is a little bit more unique when they come to
the field trip. So I think it's starting there, and
(08:06):
then it's really kind of seeing how the lessons play
out in real life and then I start going on
Amazon and going on whatever Google trying to find things
to add on. So I think throughout the school year
I will start adding little things. So it's going to
start off real small, kind of basic with the project,
and then at the end of the year, I'm like,
you have all these things to work with.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Have you ever had like we talked about your favorite lesson,
but have you guys, ever had a lesson that you
thought was like good, but maybe like really overperformed that
the kids just like loved.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I don't know. I think all of our lessons, our
kids are pretty they enjoy it really well. I think
it also depends on the students themselves. Are they kind
of like the quiet ones, Are they active? Are they
into sports? I think usually when we get to the
students who aren't really into sports, they're kind of, you know,
more the artsy type, more the reading. They start to realize.
(09:00):
I think with those, let's say an art lesson, that
there's a lot of graphic designers all those things that
they don't realize that just really you don't have to
be athletic to be able to do so. I think
our quarterback curator right now, that's a pretty good lesson
because they're like, oh, it's just pictures, it's just whatever.
And then they're like starting to build their own gallery.
(09:20):
And that was another thing. I finally got to buy
little figurines, like football figurines to put in there so
that they can kind of see for themselves, like what
it really looks like a three D model of a museums.
I think that one probably.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Do you have a favorite Steam subject? Personally?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I want to say math, but I wasn't great at math.
I was great to a certain point, but I guess
math seems to be it because I make it look
real easy when it comes to metrics and they're asking
me all those things in XL.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Patty, do you no?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean, I don't know. Well tell me, can you
break down each each of the subjects?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah? I think so if you look at science, there
could be a whole lot of things. I think a
lot of times people think of science as in doctors
or but they don't realize we have athletic trainers here,
or even the nutrition. There's a science that goes down
into the food that the players are eating. Let's see technology.
I think a lot of times people think of it,
but obviously there's the people that build their laptops, are
(10:23):
the mics and everything that we're using. There's engineering. Engineering
can go a lot of different ways, so engineering is
a very broad one. I would say arts, you like
graphic design, drawing, even game day production, putting on a
whole game, making sure fans are excited, and then math.
That one can go a lot of different ways too.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So yeah, Patty, I feel like you'd be a mix
of like technology because like social platforms, and then like
art with.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
That's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I was like, I did well in school and like
the steam subjects, but I didn't like them. You know,
I hate math and science just goes what right over
my head? So yeah, probably technology and art.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And I think that's one thing people don't realize is
we talk about these subjects as individuals, but they overlap
each other. So we might be talking about one thing,
but that that's everything.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yeah, it'd be really weird to see an engineer who
couldn't do math.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, that would not be good. What extra curriculus did
you do in college or outside of that just to
help you get to where you or I saw you
were in a service fraternity and the Filipino American Student Association.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Yeah, I think those two in college, those I got
dragged into because interestingly enough, everyone thought it was Filipino,
so they just kind of put me like everyone just
kept kind of pulling me to it, and then I
started getting involved in there just working. I forget what
I was even doing for the Filipino Club. I think
(11:59):
I was a social coordinator there, so I was working
on all the social events, which I guess that's what
I do for APEX, So it kind of those skills
kind of came into play. For the Service for Attorney.
I don't talk about this a lot because then I'm like,
everyone's like, what's a service for attorney? And we did
a lot of community service. It was great. It was
a great experience. But I guess I didn't realize so
(12:22):
later when I talked to my friends about what I
do now working in education, they're like, yeah, that's you.
We could see it from early on. You were always
that one person we can rely on when they needed events,
they needed volunteers. I was always ready like, yeah, okay,
i'll come, I'll do it. So I forgot about all
those that I did.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Well, they're on your LinkedIn so you'll always remember if
you ever go back.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yeah, I guess that's another good thing that LinkedIn has.
Like once you like start something, you put it on
and just leave it there, so then it's just like
memory lane.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So you mentioned APEX and obviously we co chair together,
which is really funny because kind of to what you
were just saying, you were just like, do you want
to be my coacher or like do you want to
do this with me?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
And I was like, you know, I wouldn't say it
was dragged into it.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I think I was interested, but it never occurred to
me that like a leadership position on an ERG would
be something that I would do. And here we are,
like two years later.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Kind of I didn't even realize those two years.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, it's that kind of wild.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
But you know, what have you learned so far being
on the leadership board for APEX.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
I didn't even think of being in a leadership or
even being part of employee resource group. I didn't really
know what that was coming into this because I worked
at schools we didn't really have that. But I remember
Jazz who's no longer here, who said that Prima antikety
recommended that i'd be part of a leadership group, and
(13:45):
I'd even realize that I connected or I like networked
with Prima like that, and so that was kind of
the start of it again, someone suggesting that I should,
you know, be involved, and then because I don't think
that I would put myself out there because I'm a
little bit shy, I'm like, no, I don't think that
I can. I don't know if I will do good
at it. So it was that push that got me
(14:08):
into APEX, and I think being your coach chair, I
was like, well, I'm a little afraid to do this
on my own, so someone else needs to be with me.
So then of course you came on. And I think
the biggest thing is realizing or just learning that bringing
in your culture, I think, into your job force. I
(14:30):
think there's been a lot of times where a lot
of us would be like, oh, I'm going to be
like this at work, and I'm going to like make
sure that I don't show it because I don't want
people to like overthink or think it's weird. So I
think that's the biggest thing that I've learned is just
making sure that you're like, for me, as a leader,
it's okay to show those things, it's okay to start
these events, so then it gets other people to kind
(14:52):
of open up.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, I think it's cool that we have this space
and we have the backing, you know, top down to
just show our culture, right Like I think, like you said,
we would typically kind of just like, Oh, I just
go to work and I keep my head down and
I do a good job, I work hard, whatnot.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
But I think this kind of allows us to.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Get into a new headspace and like think about the
world and think about this workplace specifically in a different light,
and have other people see kind of like how we
are entering work every single day as Asian Americans. So
I think that's really cool that we have this backing
from from the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
But yeah, like, what was your favorite event that we've
put on.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I don't know. I think the one that everyone loves
was those red envelopes that I know you were like,
I want to do this, I want to make sure
this happens. And I think I didn't when we decided
we were going to do the Red Levels. I didn't
think that it was going to land home like that
that everyone was like, oh my god, this is the
greatest thing. I saw everyone posting it. I saw people
(16:00):
were like, I want to buy it, all those other things.
So I think that I didn't realize was going to
be such a big thing that everyone remembered. But I
think the movie Night had to be really cool. We
brought in Limpia, we had a private scurity here at
the museum, So I think Movie Night was probably.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
As I say, Easter Sunday is my favorite event you
guys have put on. That was really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That was fun.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I'm glad and like, there's actually kind of a lot
of work. There is a lot of work that goes
into these events, which is funny because it's like show
rates aren't incredibly high. I think people like this was
in the middle of the season. People are busy, Like
we totally get that. But I think it is definitely
like a labor of love, right, Like it is very cultural.
(16:42):
Should be like we need to feed everyone and make
sure they have a good time and make sure we're
not taking up too much time. Like that event, I
feel like captured everything that we are.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, we also make sure to order extra so people
take over leftovers, Like no, we have to take over
leftovers is not enough. You have to take more than that.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
There will never be a shortage of food at an
APEX event.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I think that's something though that I really appreciate about
both of you, is that you have come in to
your roles in APEX, but I think also in this
workforce with such authenticity to yourselves, so yes to your culture.
But I think also watching you guys lead APEX to
(17:26):
building your leadership style and not putting on an air
of this is what a leader or a co chair
would be, but like still remaining true to yourselves. I
say that's been really fun to watch, like as you've
done events, as I sit next to Patty during meetings
like that, you guys have like remained true to who
you are and like led with such like an authentic self.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I think we're also kind of spontaneous, like I want
to do this, let's just do it. Like we don't
put that much like okay, we plan it out for
twelve months, We're like, no, we should do this. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
We'll literally just like text each other like what about
a boba bar or like just something like completely random
that like we think about and then we'll chat about.
And I think that's really important is that we communicate
really frequently, which is completely underrated.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
I'd say, how well did you two know each other
before you became co chairs.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I don't think we knew each other that well. We
just knew each other in passing, right. I think also
pre pandemic, EDU five days a week would be gone
for like five hours of the day, so I think
no one even really saw EDU.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And we're just like in opposite parts of the building. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
not very well. So you know, this brought us together,
and I think, like you said about just how we
kind of approach it, Like we both said, we were
both like, I don't know if I want to do this,
Like I don't know if I'm cut out for it,
but I think it helps to have someone who's like
(18:50):
in that same space where you could just be like,
let's just do this and see what happens. It's kind
of what we've done.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah. I think people even ask their like, what is
being part of a board like ENTAIL. I'm like, I
don't know. Me and Patty just feel like we do
whatever we feel like.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
We do what we feel like, but we also meet
with the other board members, so it's not like, you know,
it is a democracy, right, Like We're very open to ideas,
We're very open to feedback because we want to make
it as inclusive as possible, and so, like you know,
especially when it comes to just like different parts of
(19:26):
the Asian culture, like you and I are both like
Eastern Asian, and so we need perspective from just because
Asia is so vast, like you know, we need that
perspective from just the other regions so that we can
be inclusive because you know, we're the four nine Ers,
and we're in the Bay and are the way our employees,
like our employees reflect where we are, and so I think,
(19:47):
you know, for us, it's important to just capture everything
that comes with that.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, I find it wild that API is covering so
many so much of the world, and like to your
point where you stay, so we only kind of know
so much. And I think you also do a very
good job of being like, well, I want to make
sure that we are hitting holidays or traditions that resonate
with the people here, Like we can hit on all
(20:13):
of AAPI, but does that resonate with everybody? So I
think you do a very good job of making sure
that we are making sure we know who's here and
that we're making sure they feel included. Now.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I think it helps to have, you know, Pacific Islander
representation in the NFL and even on our team.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So shout out my guys uh.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Huff and Keith and Khalia because I know they're all
a part of the Pacific Islander community. So that just
it makes it that much more organic, right to make
sure like not only our employees who only included, but
like our players can get on board with it as well.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, I think, and also creating in like inclusivity here
in the workforce. I'm curious, I guess both of you,
but mostly Sarah, because that's who matters right now. Did
you have a teachers or people that you felt represented
you when you were growing up in education?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
That's kind of interesting. So I am from San Francisco.
I have always grown up with Chinese people around. But
I think what's interesting is that my I know we've
talked about how you calculate this. So my dad was
born and raised in San Francisco as well. My mom
was born and raised in Hong Kong. She came out
here for college. So the way that my brother explains
(21:28):
it is that we're two and a half generations to
kind of really be able to explain that we understand,
like the third fourth generation Asian Americans and then also
the first generation Asian Americans. But in San Francisco when
my dad came around, there was a lot of Cantonese
people that immigrated here. So in my neighborhood, in the
schools that I went to, was a lot of third
(21:50):
fourth generation Chinese Americans. So yes, there was representations. My
teachers were also Asian Americans. I was in the Chinese
bilingual program, but I was a little bit more fluent
than them in Cantonese, so I was kind of always
teaching them about the culture and traditions. I was. My
family was the one who made up all the arts
and crafts activities that we had at school. So like, yes,
(22:13):
there was a representation, but there wasn't one that was
specific to me that I could see that everybody else
like also spoke, they also wore their jade and everything else.
I know a lot of people expect me to be
able to speak Cantonese, and so they kind of But
what's interesting is I never had a translate for my mom.
My mom went to San Tise State. I never had
(22:34):
to translate anything for her. I was always like translating
for my friends at restaurants and delis.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, one of my biggest regrets is actually not going
to Cantonese school because I had friends that were in
it and they were like, I'd rather be playing outside
or like the teacher is mean, and I was like, Mom,
I don't want to go, like I just want to
play like on the playground with my friends.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
But now that you're.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Older, I'm like, that is such like an asset to have,
and like, you know, I wish I could speak to
people at the restaurants in Chinese. They probably look at
me and they're like if I even try, like I
can barely count to ten right, And my mom would
say that my accent is horrible. So that was one
of my biggest I think I was like.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Your friends, I was like, Mom, everyone else is playing outside.
I also had to be the MC at all the
Chinese picnics at the schools. I think this is why
I also hate public speaking, because I was always put
in the spotlight to be able to speak it. But yes,
credit to my mom that she made sure that we
didn't speak English at home. She made sure that we practice.
(23:38):
I also grew up watching Hong Kong dramas, so if
you heard of the rapper mc gin his first single
came out, it was called like ABC, that's totally me.
I am that song. But yeah, I realized girl, like,
now that I'm older, how much like that was a
great skill. My brother also now lives in Hong Kong.
It's like ten years now, and the only people that
(24:00):
didn't question if he would like assimulate out there was
my parents. Everybody's like, is he going to be able
to get on the train? Is he going to be
able to talk to everyone? My mother's like, yeah, why not?
And then I didn't realize I think again. Full circle
moment is when I taught at the preschool. Because it's
a Japanese bilingual preschool. One of the things that we
(24:20):
tell during parent teacher conference is to the Japanese parents
is don't feel like you have to speak English at home.
Don't feel like you have to make sure that you're
packing sandwiches for your kids because they're going to end
up learning that at school. Make sure you speak Japanese
to them at home. Make sure you like have all
the food and everything so they don't lose that part
of themselves.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, what advice do you have to anyone who wants
to get in the industry both, I'd say sports and
like education, maybe a sports education as well.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Hmm, that's a good one. I would probably tell them
not to just be narrow minded or tunnel visioned about it,
because a lot of times we're like, oh, I have
this and I'm going to go A, B, C, and D,
and that's going to get me where I want to be.
There's a lot of doors that are going to open.
There's also a lot of doors that are going to close.
And I feel like if you're like, well, I'm going
(25:10):
to do this and this is the way that I'm
going to get there, you might miss out on something
that you could have probably enjoyed a little bit better,
or you didn't realize what's going to be your path
to get you where you want to be. And I
think one of the things that we learn in all
of our education classes is that even as teachers, we're
not going to stop learning. So if you're going to
be like, this is my path and I know how
(25:32):
to get I'm going to get there, you kind of
close some doors of you being able to learn other
skills or learn about other positions other industries where you
might realize, oh, maybe I'd rather do that instead.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
I know you said you're more behind the scenes now,
but what is something that you've learned from students who
have come through the doors here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I think one of the things that we tell our
part timers when the interview is that the kids are
not gonna know when something's wrong. They're never gonna know
when something goes wrong. But it's our job to make
sure that they never realize that. It's our job to
make sure that they have the best day in the world.
And that's kind of in life. You never really know
(26:15):
when something's supposed to go wrong. You kind of just
go with the flow and everything is gonna happen the
way that it's supposed to. So I think that's the
one thing that I've learned. Like I tell the teachers
from nine o'clock to twelve o'clock, what is supposed to happen?
How is it supposed to happen. Is it gonna happen
the way that I told them? Probably not about fifty percent.
It's not gonna happen the way that I told them.
(26:37):
But we're gonna have to figure it out on the
fly so that one teachers don't even notice that something
went wrong, or even the kids. They're here. All they
want to do is have fun.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, this is like the Disneyland of all field trips.
I'm like, it really is. I'm sad I didn't have
this when I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
I think, honestly, I think you guys should do a
day when school's out of session, so June or July,
and you should do like a forty nine ers front
office field trip and we should all go through like
an I feel like we would be at the eighth
grade level. I feel like there's like, are you smarter
than a death greater?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I'm not I could do I'm not. Yeah, yeah, give
it to us, test.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Us we would like to go on a field trip.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yeah, of course, everyone's always welcome to come on a
field trip.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I'm in me too.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
What is from nine to noon? You said they're here?
What does like the day look like?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, so typically we asked the schools to come at nine,
We'll do a quick chicken with them, making sure everything
is good to go, and then we have other lunches
to bring into the stadium. But once the kids are
in the stadium, they'll either they'll do one of three
things depending on how their rotation works, but they'll get
a museum tour, so they get to tour the museum
privately with you know, one of our educators. So it's
(27:53):
like a VIP tour to them. They get to go
around the stadium a little bit and then ending it
with a classroom session, and everything surrounds the subject that
the teachers picks, if they picked our art lesson and
its quarterback curators. While they're going around the museum, we're
telling them, like, what's the thought process of curator put
(28:14):
into making the Hall of Fame gallery to the heritage?
When they're around the stadium, why is the pictures the
paintings put out a certain way? Why is the seats read?
You know? So they know it's the forty nine ed stadium.
And then they get into the classroom and all that
comes together. So when they get to their project, they're like, oh,
I know what I do. I'm ready, let's go.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I'd like to know all that stuff as well. So
I'd really like this front office field trip to happen.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I think we should send her on the math one though.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh god, I want to do one of each, so
I will go on five field trips.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah. I mean there is a lot of fun facts
that I even like, unrelated to the subject that the
teachers pick about the stadium and I'm like, did you
know the scoreboard is six like school buses wide and
you could see it from like the airplane And they're
like what, But I just throw in like fun facts.
There's like a lot of random things that people don't
(29:12):
even realize about Levi Stadium. I'm like, yes, this is
what engineers think about and that's why fans just like
have the best day. You could do that too. I
even talk about like game day productions, everything that they
do to make sure game day, you know, runs smoothly
and the fans are excited. I'm like, yeah, they think
about other people. They don't think about themselves. They think
about other people, making sure that like it's the greatest
(29:35):
day ever.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Speaking of game day, what do you what is your
game day?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Like, Oh, my game day is so Fortnitors Edu is
under the foundation, so it's supporting the foundation, and we
have a lot of auction package for game day, so
making sure that those guests are having the greatest experience,
and I get to nerd out and tell them everything
that I do.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's so cool.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
So you would actually be good at like a stadium tour.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
You know, that's the one tour that I don't like.
I will take you through the museum and I can
tell you that, but like stadium tour is like the
one thing that I'm always like, I don't know enough facts.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
It's like Patty and I were talking the other day
about getting lost, and like we're almost six years in
and I still get I still get lost walking around
this place.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I cannot give directions for the life of me.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
I Like, we had some new employees start last summer
and I was responsible for like trying to show them around,
and I was like, you guys, like I will be.
My only advice is like, it's an oval, So just
keep walking because eventually you're gonna you're gonna circle.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Oh. I love getting lost because that's the way you
learn different paths. And then like game day comes, I'm like, oh,
we can go this way, we can go in this
like the shortcutway. But I love getting lost, even with
the kids. I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, you turn I
didn't realize we can't go this way. We're gonna you turn.
We're learning together, we'll figure it out. It's fine.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I'm sure they appreciate that too.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Just an extended time on their field chair at the
Disneyland of all field trips.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yeah, I mean, no one knows or no one expects
you to know everything. So I'm like, what's the harmone
just being like, you know, guys, I'm sorry, messed up.
We'll figure it out. It's fine.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
On job postings, there's always the bullet point at the
very bottom. Other duties as a signed Have you done
anything with the forty nine ers that probably wasn't on
your like on the job posting if you get your
job description, but would be classified as in other duties
as a signed.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Oh, I don't know. I think sometimes I'm just a
way that I was taught, like just do whatever they
tell you, just do whatever you tell you. And I
probably that's one thing that we talk about in APEX
is making sure that we're breaking that stereotype. We're not
just like doing you know, putting our head down and
doing what we so I think sometimes I don't even
realize it's not part of my job duty. I'm just
doing it because I was told to. She'll probably figure
(31:56):
that out.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well. Sarah, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
This was fun.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Thanks for having me. I hope this was interesting.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
It was it was.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I think we like there was a lot of intersectionality, right,
like talking about being Asian, we're talking about being an
educator and in like all in sports like it is.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
I think that's just a uniqueness one to your job
because not a lot of sports teams have this education piece.
And I think that's just like fascinating, Like there's like
everyone thinks sports and they think coaches and players, and
you have this like crazy other realm.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Yeah. Yeah, And I just choke with people. I just
play with toys all day.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You're like one of a kind kind.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
What would your actually, this is a great question, what
would your recommendation be? Like you've played, like you've tested
out a lot of toys like birthday gift or holiday
gift of the year. What's your recommendation.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
I think for anybody in elementary school, I would say
magnet tiles. WHOA, It's very open ended and like they
can just play build a spaceship, they can do whatever
in magnet there's also some magnetiles that help you learn
three D shapes. So you build it flat on the
(33:13):
tape on the connect, but then you lift one part
of it and then it snaps up into like a.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Three D shape. That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, sick toys are not the same. What were we
playing like in elementary school?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I have Legos.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I liked legos.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Yeah, legos are cool.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh see, I avoid Legos because it's very kind of set,
like this has to go on top or has to.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Yeah, you can build a square.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, So with magnetiles there's triangles, there's squares and other shapes.
But yeah, yeah, it's a little bit more of that,
so it's a little bit more open ended. Open ended
toys are great for elementary school kids.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
That is good to know.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Okay, thanks the political ape Betifical
Welcome to the Inside the Oval podcast presented by Dignity Health.
I'm Patty Kwan and I'm Hailey Jones, and today we
are joined by forty nine ers Edu Senior Coordinator Sarah Jin.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Sarah, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
To start off. Can you tell us a little bit
about fort nin Ors Edu and what your role there is.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, so Foreignators Edu, we have a flagship program. Were
typically rebring in K through eighth grade students on a
field trip and a virtual lesson, all teaching them steam
subjects science, technology, engineering, arts, and math and what that
has to do with football. So we use football as
a platform to get them excited about these subjects. I
(00:51):
get the privilege of scheduling all the schools that come
in and being the teacher communication, so making sure that
the teachers know everything they need to know coming out
of the field trip and everything runs smoothly the day of.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Do you have a favorite lesson or moment that you've
had with EDO?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I would probably say it's a lesson that doesn't get
picked a lot. It's our career connection lessons. So I
really like listening to what you guys all do everybody
else in the organization does, and trying to figure out
a lesson on their position and a project to do
so the kids understand all the different possibilities there is
to work in sports.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Another K through eighth, but definitely recommend this podcast to
them for the career connections lesson.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, occasionally for special events, we do get to work
with high schoolers and it does hit home with them.
A lot of times. They always just kind of think
of either playing the game or being a coach. They
don't realize there's like two hundred of us behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yeah, it was really fun. I was at an event
and you taught that lesson when Eric was in the classroom,
and it was really fun.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, that was interesting because I don't normally we don't
normally get players in it, but incorporating what he does,
and it's I think showcasing Eric. He's not just a
player on the field. There's a lot of other things
he does, and there's a lot of things that he
probably thought of behind the scenes. What if football didn't
work out? What's my plan?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
B what was your path to the forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I would say it's an unexpected path to the forty
nine ers, and I think in education in general. I
didn't think I was going to be in the education space.
I went to school, I graduated with business administration as
my degree, and then I was trying to work in
sports because I was interested in the industry, and I thought,
(02:43):
if I got a business degree, I can go anywhere.
I can go into sports. And I was doing a
bunch of internships. I worked at cal I worked at
the Giants, and then my friend's like, oh, well, I
have this opening at my after school program. Why don't
you just work at the after school and then continue
doing your internships. And I was like, okay. So I
got to the after school program. I think a month
(03:06):
after I was there, They're like, we're going to breathe
full time. You're going to work at the preschool in
the morning and do after school in the afternoon. And
I really liked it. I really liked the non traditional sense.
The one thing I didn't like was development reports. I'd
hated doing those reports seeing if the kids are meeting
their criterias, meeting their development stages. But I love the
(03:28):
non traditional sense of We were a project based school,
so we spent three months working with the kids, whether
it's like making an escape room learning about dinosaurs. We
spent three months kind of on a long term projects,
working on their understanding, and then as they're working on
(03:49):
like let's say, the escape room, they don't realize they're
learning planning skills. They don't learn realize they're working teamwork
or anything like that. So I really liked the nondditional
education space and I was like, hmm, I think I'm
going to stay here. I got I took all the
courses in early child development. I was going to stay
in preschool. And then one of my colleagues like, I
(04:11):
think you should continue looking into sports. See if like,
let's make sure you close that door if that's not
really not where you want to go into anymore. And
then I found this job opening here had foreignine or CDU,
and it was like the perfect thing. It was sports
and education. I again, I don't think I want to
be in the classroom. I have a lot of friends
I work in the classroom. I don't want to be
(04:33):
grading papers. I don't want to be doing parent teacher conferences.
But I liked making sure that the kids are having
fun and I'm actually making a difference. Hopefully they're being
successful later on.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So you came in as like a steam educator and
have since worked your way up. I guess how has
your role progressed since you first got here.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I don't think I realized this till like probably two
weeks ago. Full circle moment. I work on all the
meta within forty night or CDU. So I do use
my business degree in some sense. I don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Glad someone is using their degree in their job. I mean,
I am it.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Communication is broad, but Hailey has a degree in ancient history.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I use the writing portion of it. My grammar is
a plus.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah. So I have since moved out, like more out
of the classroom in a sense. I kind of work
behind the scenes and making sure all the schools come in.
But I also get to work directly creating the lessons
and also finding all the manipulatives that go with the lessons.
So I'm the one with all the toys on their
(05:41):
desk because I get to play around with everything making
sure it fits the lesson. But I think I'm from
when I first started to now I'm less in the
classroom and more behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Your LinkedIn is really like fun to look through because
you have you have all of your experience on there?
You have to do the like click more, like click
for more. Is that something that you decided to have
to have the Starbucks, to have the Berkeley, to have
all of your forty niner stuff, like just to keep
a running record of all of your work experience.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I honestly don't look at my li likedin a lot,
so I don't even know what's on there. I think
I just kept everything on there. I guess when you
think about it in an education space, when I'm teaching
the kids, like, there's many different paths you can go.
If you really like to draw, you could still be
part of the forty nine ers. You can go to
Disney if you really wanted to, because there's a lot
(06:34):
of skills that translate from one industry to another. So
I guess, without thinking about it, having all that there
was great because it's I might be an educator, but
there's a lot that I can do beyond just teaching.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You mentioned you have a lot of toys on your desk.
I'm curious, like what goes into a lesson plan and
like do you maybe practice with your colleagues or just
seeing like what kind of might resonate with these kids
different age groups.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I think because we work with K three eight,
we really have to think about making sure that it
hits home with let's say a kindergarten versus as an
eighth graders. So for a lesson plan, we do look
at all the steam subjects first, which one do we
want to focus on? And then if let's say we're
thinking about technology, how does that really apply to football?
(07:23):
So what in football uses technology? Is it the Levi
Stadium we have a lot of technology putting on each game,
or maybe it's the coaches that instead of having a
binder full of plays, they have a tablet. Everything is
real life. And then we go and look at California's standards,
we make sure we are standard aligned. And then I
(07:44):
think from there we start kind of thinking about what
really is exciting for the kids, So what projects or
what can we do so get the kids active, and
also thinking about what can they do here that they
might not be able to do at school. So it
is a little bit more unique when they come to
the field trip. So I think it's starting there, and
(08:06):
then it's really kind of seeing how the lessons play
out in real life and then I start going on
Amazon and going on whatever Google trying to find things
to add on. So I think throughout the school year
I will start adding little things. So it's going to
start off real small, kind of basic with the project,
and then at the end of the year, I'm like,
you have all these things to work with.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Have you ever had like we talked about your favorite lesson,
but have you guys, ever had a lesson that you
thought was like good, but maybe like really overperformed that
the kids just like loved.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I don't know. I think all of our lessons, our
kids are pretty they enjoy it really well. I think
it also depends on the students themselves. Are they kind
of like the quiet ones, Are they active? Are they
into sports? I think usually when we get to the
students who aren't really into sports, they're kind of, you know,
more the artsy type, more the reading. They start to realize.
(09:00):
I think with those, let's say an art lesson, that
there's a lot of graphic designers all those things that
they don't realize that just really you don't have to
be athletic to be able to do so. I think
our quarterback curator right now, that's a pretty good lesson
because they're like, oh, it's just pictures, it's just whatever.
And then they're like starting to build their own gallery.
(09:20):
And that was another thing. I finally got to buy
little figurines, like football figurines to put in there so
that they can kind of see for themselves, like what
it really looks like a three D model of a museums.
I think that one probably.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Do you have a favorite Steam subject? Personally?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I want to say math, but I wasn't great at math.
I was great to a certain point, but I guess
math seems to be it because I make it look
real easy when it comes to metrics and they're asking
me all those things in XL.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Patty, do you no?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean, I don't know. Well tell me, can you
break down each each of the subjects?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah? I think so if you look at science, there
could be a whole lot of things. I think a
lot of times people think of science as in doctors
or but they don't realize we have athletic trainers here,
or even the nutrition. There's a science that goes down
into the food that the players are eating. Let's see technology.
I think a lot of times people think of it,
but obviously there's the people that build their laptops, are
(10:23):
the mics and everything that we're using. There's engineering. Engineering
can go a lot of different ways, so engineering is
a very broad one. I would say arts, you like
graphic design, drawing, even game day production, putting on a
whole game, making sure fans are excited, and then math.
That one can go a lot of different ways too.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So yeah, Patty, I feel like you'd be a mix
of like technology because like social platforms, and then like
art with.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
That's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I was like, I did well in school and like
the steam subjects, but I didn't like them. You know,
I hate math and science just goes what right over
my head? So yeah, probably technology and art.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And I think that's one thing people don't realize is
we talk about these subjects as individuals, but they overlap
each other. So we might be talking about one thing,
but that that's everything.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yeah, it'd be really weird to see an engineer who
couldn't do math.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, that would not be good. What extra curriculus did
you do in college or outside of that just to
help you get to where you or I saw you
were in a service fraternity and the Filipino American Student Association.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Yeah, I think those two in college, those I got
dragged into because interestingly enough, everyone thought it was Filipino,
so they just kind of put me like everyone just
kept kind of pulling me to it, and then I
started getting involved in there just working. I forget what
I was even doing for the Filipino Club. I think
(11:59):
I was a social coordinator there, so I was working
on all the social events, which I guess that's what
I do for APEX, So it kind of those skills
kind of came into play. For the Service for Attorney.
I don't talk about this a lot because then I'm like,
everyone's like, what's a service for attorney? And we did
a lot of community service. It was great. It was
a great experience. But I guess I didn't realize so
(12:22):
later when I talked to my friends about what I
do now working in education, they're like, yeah, that's you.
We could see it from early on. You were always
that one person we can rely on when they needed events,
they needed volunteers. I was always ready like, yeah, okay,
i'll come, I'll do it. So I forgot about all
those that I did.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Well, they're on your LinkedIn so you'll always remember if
you ever go back.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yeah, I guess that's another good thing that LinkedIn has.
Like once you like start something, you put it on
and just leave it there, so then it's just like
memory lane.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So you mentioned APEX and obviously we co chair together,
which is really funny because kind of to what you
were just saying, you were just like, do you want
to be my coacher or like do you want to
do this with me?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
And I was like, you know, I wouldn't say it
was dragged into it.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I think I was interested, but it never occurred to
me that like a leadership position on an ERG would
be something that I would do. And here we are,
like two years later.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Kind of I didn't even realize those two years.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, it's that kind of wild.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
But you know, what have you learned so far being
on the leadership board for APEX.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
I didn't even think of being in a leadership or
even being part of employee resource group. I didn't really
know what that was coming into this because I worked
at schools we didn't really have that. But I remember
Jazz who's no longer here, who said that Prima antikety
recommended that i'd be part of a leadership group, and
(13:45):
I'd even realize that I connected or I like networked
with Prima like that, and so that was kind of
the start of it again, someone suggesting that I should,
you know, be involved, and then because I don't think
that I would put myself out there because I'm a
little bit shy, I'm like, no, I don't think that
I can. I don't know if I will do good
at it. So it was that push that got me
(14:08):
into APEX, and I think being your coach chair, I
was like, well, I'm a little afraid to do this
on my own, so someone else needs to be with me.
So then of course you came on. And I think
the biggest thing is realizing or just learning that bringing
in your culture, I think, into your job force. I
(14:30):
think there's been a lot of times where a lot
of us would be like, oh, I'm going to be
like this at work, and I'm going to like make
sure that I don't show it because I don't want
people to like overthink or think it's weird. So I
think that's the biggest thing that I've learned is just
making sure that you're like, for me, as a leader,
it's okay to show those things, it's okay to start
these events, so then it gets other people to kind
(14:52):
of open up.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, I think it's cool that we have this space
and we have the backing, you know, top down to
just show our culture, right Like I think, like you said,
we would typically kind of just like, Oh, I just
go to work and I keep my head down and
I do a good job, I work hard, whatnot.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
But I think this kind of allows us to.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Get into a new headspace and like think about the
world and think about this workplace specifically in a different light,
and have other people see kind of like how we
are entering work every single day as Asian Americans. So
I think that's really cool that we have this backing
from from the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
But yeah, like, what was your favorite event that we've
put on.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I don't know. I think the one that everyone loves
was those red envelopes that I know you were like,
I want to do this, I want to make sure
this happens. And I think I didn't when we decided
we were going to do the Red Levels. I didn't
think that it was going to land home like that
that everyone was like, oh my god, this is the
greatest thing. I saw everyone posting it. I saw people
(16:00):
were like, I want to buy it, all those other things.
So I think that I didn't realize was going to
be such a big thing that everyone remembered. But I
think the movie Night had to be really cool. We
brought in Limpia, we had a private scurity here at
the museum, So I think Movie Night was probably.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
As I say, Easter Sunday is my favorite event you
guys have put on. That was really fun.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That was fun.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I'm glad and like, there's actually kind of a lot
of work. There is a lot of work that goes
into these events, which is funny because it's like show
rates aren't incredibly high. I think people like this was
in the middle of the season. People are busy, Like
we totally get that. But I think it is definitely
like a labor of love, right, Like it is very cultural.
(16:42):
Should be like we need to feed everyone and make
sure they have a good time and make sure we're
not taking up too much time. Like that event, I
feel like captured everything that we are.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, we also make sure to order extra so people
take over leftovers, Like no, we have to take over
leftovers is not enough. You have to take more than that.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
There will never be a shortage of food at an
APEX event.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I think that's something though that I really appreciate about
both of you, is that you have come in to
your roles in APEX, but I think also in this
workforce with such authenticity to yourselves, so yes to your culture.
But I think also watching you guys lead APEX to
(17:26):
building your leadership style and not putting on an air
of this is what a leader or a co chair
would be, but like still remaining true to yourselves. I
say that's been really fun to watch, like as you've
done events, as I sit next to Patty during meetings
like that, you guys have like remained true to who
you are and like led with such like an authentic self.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I think we're also kind of spontaneous, like I want
to do this, let's just do it. Like we don't
put that much like okay, we plan it out for
twelve months, We're like, no, we should do this. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
We'll literally just like text each other like what about
a boba bar or like just something like completely random
that like we think about and then we'll chat about.
And I think that's really important is that we communicate
really frequently, which is completely underrated.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
I'd say, how well did you two know each other
before you became co chairs.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I don't think we knew each other that well. We
just knew each other in passing, right. I think also
pre pandemic, EDU five days a week would be gone
for like five hours of the day, so I think
no one even really saw EDU.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And we're just like in opposite parts of the building. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
not very well. So you know, this brought us together,
and I think, like you said about just how we
kind of approach it, Like we both said, we were
both like, I don't know if I want to do this,
Like I don't know if I'm cut out for it,
but I think it helps to have someone who's like
(18:50):
in that same space where you could just be like,
let's just do this and see what happens. It's kind
of what we've done.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah. I think people even ask their like, what is
being part of a board like ENTAIL. I'm like, I
don't know. Me and Patty just feel like we do
whatever we feel like.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
We do what we feel like, but we also meet
with the other board members, so it's not like, you know,
it is a democracy, right, Like We're very open to ideas,
We're very open to feedback because we want to make
it as inclusive as possible, and so, like you know,
especially when it comes to just like different parts of
(19:26):
the Asian culture, like you and I are both like
Eastern Asian, and so we need perspective from just because
Asia is so vast, like you know, we need that
perspective from just the other regions so that we can
be inclusive because you know, we're the four nine Ers,
and we're in the Bay and are the way our employees,
like our employees reflect where we are, and so I think,
(19:47):
you know, for us, it's important to just capture everything
that comes with that.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, I find it wild that API is covering so
many so much of the world, and like to your
point where you stay, so we only kind of know
so much. And I think you also do a very
good job of being like, well, I want to make
sure that we are hitting holidays or traditions that resonate
with the people here, Like we can hit on all
(20:13):
of AAPI, but does that resonate with everybody? So I
think you do a very good job of making sure
that we are making sure we know who's here and
that we're making sure they feel included. Now.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I think it helps to have, you know, Pacific Islander
representation in the NFL and even on our team.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So shout out my guys uh.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Huff and Keith and Khalia because I know they're all
a part of the Pacific Islander community. So that just
it makes it that much more organic, right to make
sure like not only our employees who only included, but
like our players can get on board with it as well.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, I think, and also creating in like inclusivity here
in the workforce. I'm curious, I guess both of you,
but mostly Sarah, because that's who matters right now. Did
you have a teachers or people that you felt represented
you when you were growing up in education?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
That's kind of interesting. So I am from San Francisco.
I have always grown up with Chinese people around. But
I think what's interesting is that my I know we've
talked about how you calculate this. So my dad was
born and raised in San Francisco as well. My mom
was born and raised in Hong Kong. She came out
here for college. So the way that my brother explains
(21:28):
it is that we're two and a half generations to
kind of really be able to explain that we understand,
like the third fourth generation Asian Americans and then also
the first generation Asian Americans. But in San Francisco when
my dad came around, there was a lot of Cantonese
people that immigrated here. So in my neighborhood, in the
schools that I went to, was a lot of third
(21:50):
fourth generation Chinese Americans. So yes, there was representations. My
teachers were also Asian Americans. I was in the Chinese
bilingual program, but I was a little bit more fluent
than them in Cantonese, so I was kind of always
teaching them about the culture and traditions. I was. My
family was the one who made up all the arts
and crafts activities that we had at school. So like, yes,
(22:13):
there was a representation, but there wasn't one that was
specific to me that I could see that everybody else
like also spoke, they also wore their jade and everything else.
I know a lot of people expect me to be
able to speak Cantonese, and so they kind of But
what's interesting is I never had a translate for my mom.
My mom went to San Tise State. I never had
(22:34):
to translate anything for her. I was always like translating
for my friends at restaurants and delis.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, one of my biggest regrets is actually not going
to Cantonese school because I had friends that were in
it and they were like, I'd rather be playing outside
or like the teacher is mean, and I was like, Mom,
I don't want to go, like I just want to
play like on the playground with my friends.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
But now that you're.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Older, I'm like, that is such like an asset to have,
and like, you know, I wish I could speak to
people at the restaurants in Chinese. They probably look at
me and they're like if I even try, like I
can barely count to ten right, And my mom would
say that my accent is horrible. So that was one
of my biggest I think I was like.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Your friends, I was like, Mom, everyone else is playing outside.
I also had to be the MC at all the
Chinese picnics at the schools. I think this is why
I also hate public speaking, because I was always put
in the spotlight to be able to speak it. But yes,
credit to my mom that she made sure that we
didn't speak English at home. She made sure that we practice.
(23:38):
I also grew up watching Hong Kong dramas, so if
you heard of the rapper mc gin his first single
came out, it was called like ABC, that's totally me.
I am that song. But yeah, I realized girl, like,
now that I'm older, how much like that was a
great skill. My brother also now lives in Hong Kong.
It's like ten years now, and the only people that
(24:00):
didn't question if he would like assimulate out there was
my parents. Everybody's like, is he going to be able
to get on the train? Is he going to be
able to talk to everyone? My mother's like, yeah, why not?
And then I didn't realize I think again. Full circle
moment is when I taught at the preschool. Because it's
a Japanese bilingual preschool. One of the things that we
(24:20):
tell during parent teacher conference is to the Japanese parents
is don't feel like you have to speak English at home.
Don't feel like you have to make sure that you're
packing sandwiches for your kids because they're going to end
up learning that at school. Make sure you speak Japanese
to them at home. Make sure you like have all
the food and everything so they don't lose that part
of themselves.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Yeah, what advice do you have to anyone who wants
to get in the industry both, I'd say sports and
like education, maybe a sports education as well.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Hmm, that's a good one. I would probably tell them
not to just be narrow minded or tunnel visioned about it,
because a lot of times we're like, oh, I have
this and I'm going to go A, B, C, and D,
and that's going to get me where I want to be.
There's a lot of doors that are going to open.
There's also a lot of doors that are going to close.
And I feel like if you're like, well, I'm going
(25:10):
to do this and this is the way that I'm
going to get there, you might miss out on something
that you could have probably enjoyed a little bit better,
or you didn't realize what's going to be your path
to get you where you want to be. And I
think one of the things that we learn in all
of our education classes is that even as teachers, we're
not going to stop learning. So if you're going to
be like, this is my path and I know how
(25:32):
to get I'm going to get there, you kind of
close some doors of you being able to learn other
skills or learn about other positions other industries where you
might realize, oh, maybe I'd rather do that instead.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
I know you said you're more behind the scenes now,
but what is something that you've learned from students who
have come through the doors here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I think one of the things that we tell our
part timers when the interview is that the kids are
not gonna know when something's wrong. They're never gonna know
when something goes wrong. But it's our job to make
sure that they never realize that. It's our job to
make sure that they have the best day in the world.
And that's kind of in life. You never really know
(26:15):
when something's supposed to go wrong. You kind of just
go with the flow and everything is gonna happen the
way that it's supposed to. So I think that's the
one thing that I've learned. Like I tell the teachers
from nine o'clock to twelve o'clock, what is supposed to happen?
How is it supposed to happen. Is it gonna happen
the way that I told them? Probably not about fifty percent.
It's not gonna happen the way that I told them.
(26:37):
But we're gonna have to figure it out on the
fly so that one teachers don't even notice that something
went wrong, or even the kids. They're here. All they
want to do is have fun.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, this is like the Disneyland of all field trips.
I'm like, it really is. I'm sad I didn't have
this when I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
I think, honestly, I think you guys should do a
day when school's out of session, so June or July,
and you should do like a forty nine ers front
office field trip and we should all go through like
an I feel like we would be at the eighth
grade level. I feel like there's like, are you smarter
than a death greater?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I'm not I could do I'm not. Yeah, yeah, give
it to us, test.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Us we would like to go on a field trip.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yeah, of course, everyone's always welcome to come on a
field trip.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I'm in me too.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
What is from nine to noon? You said they're here?
What does like the day look like?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, so typically we asked the schools to come at nine,
We'll do a quick chicken with them, making sure everything
is good to go, and then we have other lunches
to bring into the stadium. But once the kids are
in the stadium, they'll either they'll do one of three
things depending on how their rotation works, but they'll get
a museum tour, so they get to tour the museum
privately with you know, one of our educators. So it's
(27:53):
like a VIP tour to them. They get to go
around the stadium a little bit and then ending it
with a classroom session, and everything surrounds the subject that
the teachers picks, if they picked our art lesson and
its quarterback curators. While they're going around the museum, we're
telling them, like, what's the thought process of curator put
(28:14):
into making the Hall of Fame gallery to the heritage?
When they're around the stadium, why is the pictures the
paintings put out a certain way? Why is the seats read?
You know? So they know it's the forty nine ed stadium.
And then they get into the classroom and all that
comes together. So when they get to their project, they're like, oh,
I know what I do. I'm ready, let's go.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I'd like to know all that stuff as well. So
I'd really like this front office field trip to happen.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I think we should send her on the math one though.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh god, I want to do one of each, so
I will go on five field trips.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah. I mean there is a lot of fun facts
that I even like, unrelated to the subject that the
teachers pick about the stadium and I'm like, did you
know the scoreboard is six like school buses wide and
you could see it from like the airplane And they're
like what, But I just throw in like fun facts.
There's like a lot of random things that people don't
(29:12):
even realize about Levi Stadium. I'm like, yes, this is
what engineers think about and that's why fans just like
have the best day. You could do that too. I
even talk about like game day productions, everything that they
do to make sure game day, you know, runs smoothly
and the fans are excited. I'm like, yeah, they think
about other people. They don't think about themselves. They think
about other people, making sure that like it's the greatest
(29:35):
day ever.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Speaking of game day, what do you what is your
game day?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Like, Oh, my game day is so Fortnitors Edu is
under the foundation, so it's supporting the foundation, and we
have a lot of auction package for game day, so
making sure that those guests are having the greatest experience,
and I get to nerd out and tell them everything
that I do.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's so cool.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
So you would actually be good at like a stadium tour.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
You know, that's the one tour that I don't like.
I will take you through the museum and I can
tell you that, but like stadium tour is like the
one thing that I'm always like, I don't know enough facts.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
It's like Patty and I were talking the other day
about getting lost, and like we're almost six years in
and I still get I still get lost walking around
this place.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I cannot give directions for the life of me.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
I Like, we had some new employees start last summer
and I was responsible for like trying to show them around,
and I was like, you guys, like I will be.
My only advice is like, it's an oval, So just
keep walking because eventually you're gonna you're gonna circle.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Oh. I love getting lost because that's the way you
learn different paths. And then like game day comes, I'm like, oh,
we can go this way, we can go in this
like the shortcutway. But I love getting lost, even with
the kids. I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, you turn I
didn't realize we can't go this way. We're gonna you turn.
We're learning together, we'll figure it out. It's fine.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I'm sure they appreciate that too.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Just an extended time on their field chair at the
Disneyland of all field trips.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yeah, I mean, no one knows or no one expects
you to know everything. So I'm like, what's the harmone
just being like, you know, guys, I'm sorry, messed up.
We'll figure it out. It's fine.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
On job postings, there's always the bullet point at the
very bottom. Other duties as a signed Have you done
anything with the forty nine ers that probably wasn't on
your like on the job posting if you get your
job description, but would be classified as in other duties
as a signed.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Oh, I don't know. I think sometimes I'm just a
way that I was taught, like just do whatever they
tell you, just do whatever you tell you. And I
probably that's one thing that we talk about in APEX
is making sure that we're breaking that stereotype. We're not
just like doing you know, putting our head down and
doing what we so I think sometimes I don't even
realize it's not part of my job duty. I'm just
doing it because I was told to. She'll probably figure
(31:56):
that out.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well. Sarah, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
This was fun.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Thanks for having me. I hope this was interesting.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
It was it was.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I think we like there was a lot of intersectionality, right,
like talking about being Asian, we're talking about being an
educator and in like all in sports like it is.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
I think that's just a uniqueness one to your job
because not a lot of sports teams have this education piece.
And I think that's just like fascinating, Like there's like
everyone thinks sports and they think coaches and players, and
you have this like crazy other realm.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Yeah. Yeah, And I just choke with people. I just
play with toys all day.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You're like one of a kind kind.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
What would your actually, this is a great question, what
would your recommendation be? Like you've played, like you've tested
out a lot of toys like birthday gift or holiday
gift of the year. What's your recommendation.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
I think for anybody in elementary school, I would say
magnet tiles. WHOA, It's very open ended and like they
can just play build a spaceship, they can do whatever
in magnet there's also some magnetiles that help you learn
three D shapes. So you build it flat on the
(33:13):
tape on the connect, but then you lift one part
of it and then it snaps up into like a.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Three D shape. That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yeah, sick toys are not the same. What were we
playing like in elementary school?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I have Legos.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I liked legos.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Yeah, legos are cool.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh see, I avoid Legos because it's very kind of set,
like this has to go on top or has to.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Yeah, you can build a square.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, So with magnetiles there's triangles, there's squares and other shapes.
But yeah, yeah, it's a little bit more of that,
so it's a little bit more open ended. Open ended
toys are great for elementary school kids.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
That is good to know.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Okay, thanks the political ape Betifical
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