Reflections on a Year of Learning in Jeffco Public Schools

As the school year winds down, our Elevate Education hosts; Matt Palaoro, Tara Peña and Jason Firestone, come together to reflect on the moments, challenges and growth that shaped this year in Jeffco Public Schools. In this wrap-up episode, the trio shares the words that defined their leadership journeys: voice, gratitude, and community and revisit some of the season’s most impactful conversations, from student leadership, AI in education to mental health and the joy of tiny library concerts.

Tune in as they highlight how student and family voices helped shape decisions, celebrate the resilience of educators, and offer words of encouragement to carry us into summer.

Episode Transcript

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Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Elevate Education podcast. I'm Matt Polaro, and today we're going to do something a little bit different. So as we near the end of this school year, we thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on the journey we've taken as educators. So I'm joined by my amazing co-hosts, Tara Pena and Jason Firestone. Hi, Tara. Hi, Jason. Morning, Matt. Hi, Matt. I'm doing okay. How about you both? It's a beautiful day here in Colorado, so you can't complain. All right. Well, let's wrap up season three of Elevate Education and to kick things off, I just want to share a story that really stuck with me this semester and quite honestly not so much of a story but more of a word that's kind of resonated and inspired my Leadership journey over the course of this year. This year, my word has been voice, not just mine, but the voices of students, families, Educators and of course the team that I get to work alongside every day. Voice reminds us that leadership isn't about having all the answers. Earlier this year at Leadership Launch, we had our keynote speaker, Dr. Manny Scott, and he spoke about the importance of being a student of our students, right? Understanding the student experience and inspiring learning Through relevance, connection, and meaningful engagement. He connected for me how listening can be a powerful tool to foster belonging for not only students, but those that we work alongside of. And he taught me that by truly listening to their perspectives and seeking to understand their experiences, we can harness the knowledge necessary to. Deeply engaged not only our students but our people to provide an experience that's beneficial for everyone and something that I'm really excited about that Has been really special in the Division of Student Success is this Jeffco Parents Encouraging Parents conference It's the first conference of its kind that we're doing. And it is a conference designed by parents for parents, educators, and caregivers of students who have Exceptionalities such as special education or gifted and talented or even 504 plans in our district. And it's just been amazing to. Have this small but mighty crew of parents who all have an invested interest and all who have students or have had students in our district come together around this notion of. Let's bring our voice to this design process and let's create a conference that our parents would actually want to attend because it was designed for them by them. And it's just been incredible to see that all come to life and have over 350 participants from all across the district come together for this special day. And I think that to me is. How voice can really be elevated and put into action to have a real meaningful impact. So as we reflect today, I know each of us brought a word or theme, so I'm anxious and excited to hear what shaped your experience throughout the school year. On something that captures a key takeaway from the work you've done or the work we've done and the people that you've served. So maybe Tara, we'll start with you. Thank you for the intro, Matt. And I'm so excited to hear a little bit more about your conference I'm sharing power with families as a research based strategy in support of student outcomes and I think it's going to be a powerful experience, especially the fact that it was planned. hats off to you and your team. It's going to be fantastic. So, you know, I'm sure our listeners can tell, but we're dusting off the mics a bit since the last time the three of us recorded together and it feels really good to be back. Hopefully our listeners really enjoyed the spotlight series over the course of the last couple of months. We shared the podcast stage with Superintendent Dorlin and other district leaders and it was really great to be able to uplift and elevate the important work happening in Jeffco Public Schools. And it's really fun to be back with the two of you. And so I'm excited to close out the year together with our listeners and reflect a little bit on this school year. one word or theme that shaped my leadership or learning this year. For me, the word that I keep coming back to is gratitude. And it's gratitude for a lot of things. First and foremost, when I'm faced with challenge or when I'm having a hard day, I really like to flip my perspective and my mindset and really like to lean into gratitude. And so on the hardest days or when I'm, I'm faced with a challenge, I'd like to be reminded of all the things that I have to be grateful for. And my tremendous support system working in a credible system that I know cares deeply about students. But when I also think about gratitude, time and time again, I go back to gratitude for our educators. Gratitude for our teachers and our school leaders, our central staff, everybody that shows up every day committed to making a difference on behalf of our students. We all know that the last couple of months and frankly the last couple of years have been really challenging and I'm always reminded that we never know what somebody's walking away from or walking into, but every single day across this organization. We have educators showing up on behalf of our students, and I'm reminded that no matter what we might be going through, our students show up every day at school needing us. To show up and do our very best. And so our educators keeping the main thing, the main thing, and that's educating our students, creating cultures of safety and belonging for every student that we serve for my own children. I just feel really, really grateful. And so gratitude is the word that I'm going to lean into as I close out this year. And it also should go without saying that I'm grateful for the two of you as well. That's beautiful. I love that Tara. Thank you. And I think so many conversations this year and I love this term that you brought into the room today around the exceptionality, which is I think just a beautiful way to elevate and highlight and celebrate. Our students is our student voice should be threaded throughout every conversation that we have again and again. And on this podcast, I know that that's been A theme hopefully for the listeners can hear. That's a theme that just gets threaded throughout every conversation. And Tara, I love how you say we show up for kids because they need us. And so I'm just curious how Student Voice has influenced your work this year? Student Voice really grounds my work every day and this year is no exception. So this year, whether it's been working with our Jeffco Student Leadership Board or attending some Jeffco events like the Safe Student Summit that we hosted a couple of weeks ago, I'm reminded over and over again that students aren't just experiencing our education system, they're shaping it. So really fun example is the second annual Jeffco Student Leadership Conference And the conference is all about student voice, student leadership, and giving our incredible young leaders the platform to lead with purpose and shape the future. So this year's theme that our students selected is Think Globally, Act Locally. And I think it is a perfect theme that really shows about putting student voice into action. So we've got students from every Jeffco High School coming together for the conference to share ideas, build community, and drive real change. I mean, that is student voice in action. It's going to be a powerful experience. the conference is a powerful reminder that when we ground in student voice, that when we slow down and truly listen, our students will tell us what they need, what's working, and where we can do better. And so student voice has made me intentional about creating opportunities for students to speak up and be a part of the decision making. And just like we're welcoming Bringing families to the table, like in the example that Matt shared earlier, inviting students to the table to help us make decisions. It's going to make us a stronger district. And so I'm just really excited for this opportunity and all the opportunities that we provide for our students in this space. So what about you, Jason? What word or idea stands out when you think about this year? Obviously, I love the Student Leadership Conference, Tara, because I do think that it's students coming together as leaders and designing for other students to show them how to be leaders as well, which I think is just a powerful example of How education engages young people, not just as learners, but as leaders. And so as I reflect on this year, it really brings me back to this concept of community. The word that sticks out for me is community. And I think that we've been challenged as a community with many different things this year and in reflection I really have appreciated coming together as a community and I think the example that comes to mind is our Safe Students Summit and it really elevated How important it is to be working together as a community, educators, family, government, non-profit agencies, and just coming together to ensure the safety and well-being of our children. The most precious thing I think that exists in our community is our young people and our children because they are the future. And so in reflection, just with gratitude, that our educators and our families and everyone did come together as a community to ensure safety and education of ourselves around how to keep our children safe and ensuring that. That's great, Jason. You know, something I've noticed in my own work is how my role tends to adapt each year based on the evolving needs of our schools and our community and wondering I have is how has your role shifted this year in supporting educators? The question that you pose is one that in reflection just brings me joy. I think about the incredible opportunity that we had to bring indigenous student voice in the development of some social studies and history curriculum this year. This was really done in partnership with our partners in curriculum and instruction where they brought classroom educators, middle school and high school teachers who are currently in the field teaching, brought them together to do a book study and Really concentrating on indigenous history. They created their own lessons based on their own learnings around those topics in the book study. And then they had this incredible opportunity to present They're lessons to our Indigenous Student Council, really as a way for educators to be curious, to be learners, to learn about someone else's culture, history, identity, try to design something that was built for a classroom. Where there was multiple identities and then in reflection being very vulnerable and asking indigenous students, what things did we get right and what things can we improve on? And I think that's an amazing way to partner. Young people with very committed educators to say, as we come together as a community, we learn from each other. We learn about each other's identities, our cultures. And it just reminds me that sometimes as we're doing this work as a leader, you need to slow down enough to truly see and support the people doing the work. And I think that was a great example of. Very generous educators taking time to let us hear and see what's happening in the classroom and having students contribute to an ultimate lesson that's going to be taught in Many of our schools in the next year. So I also feel very fortunate not just to learn from educators here in Jeffco, but really as we think about our podcasts. Learning from educators all across the nation. I think back to my conversation with Kelly McLean in August about college application and then this deep dive into education innovation with the Skills21 team. It was so much fun. I loved talking with John Thanos from Chatfield High School, really about High School Reimagined and the experience of a high school principal and what's happening With innovation and creation in our, in our own high schools here in Jefferson County. So I think we just have had such great opportunities, to talk to educators. Matt and Tara, were there any podcast guests this year who really challenged or inspired your thinking? You know, Jason, it's a great question and there were Definitely a few, but a couple that stands out to me was one, our episode on cell phone restrictions in schools. I thought that was a fascinating conversation and Jeffco actually is interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And our practices across the district to be in better support of our students and our staff. And it was just really interesting to learn how these decisions are actually affecting learning environments, you know. One example that was shared and that still resonates with me today in this specific episode, you know, our interviewer had talked about how they had not planned for students to Sharing with them that they felt a greater sense of belonging and connection to their peers in the classroom as a result of having cell phone restrictions, not necessarily bands, but. Phones being put away during times when students are expected to be engaged in learning and that actually resulted in a student sharing that they felt more connected to their peers. So they're, There was just so many fascinating things that I learned from that conversation. And I also just can't stop thinking about our conversation with Victor Lee from Stanford. Who, by the way, I highly encourage if you didn't get to check out that episode, go back and listen. This guy knows so much about the world of AI and it will just blow your mind. There are so many interesting things about this topic in particular, but he really just helped us unpack the role of AI in education and it made me reflect on. How quickly the tools we use in schools are changing and how important it is for educators to stay curious and open minded and how much our students are actually embracing this as a tool that, you know, essentially can be. Available to support them in a wide range of different areas, not only for their own self-learning and growth, but in ways that we don't even know yet. So Tara, what about you? What are some things that resonate from this past season for you? Gosh, you recall so many great episodes and I, I loved listening to all of them, but Matt, I love that you uplifted the AI episode and Because it actually inspired and sparked a curiosity within me that I went on like this deep dive of finding and learning more about all the different AI tools that I could. Both personally and professionally. And so I'm using AI in so many different facets of my life. I was actually having a conversation about AI with my youngest daughter last night about using it to create some study guides and helping to support some of her. End of the year, you know, learning activities and things as she's gearing up to close out the year. But I, I'm actually like really Well, lean into my word. I'm grateful for AIs and just the ways that I feel like there are times it's actually making me a better educator. And so that episode like really lit a fire for me and I'm just so grateful. So that was a really great episode. For me, I was especially impacted also by our two-part conversation with Dr. Jessica Hawks from Children's Hospital Colorado. Her insight on childhood development and emotional resilience were not only eye-opening, but also incredibly practical for educators and families. You know, in my work and in ways in which I lead within our community, I am constantly referring those episodes back to families that I'm connecting with that are just looking for information or seeking to understand developmentally how they can support, you know, their children's safety and well-being. And there was, gosh, we talked a lot about mental health and development of our students. And as a mom, I learned a lot. I had my husband take a listen. It's, you know, it's been really great, you know, dinner table conversation. But it's also made me, you know, more reflective, especially as a parent. And so as I'm, you know, growing through what I go through. I'm sharing those examples with the families that we support and serve and really encouraging them to take a listen and families have found them to be really valuable learning tools as well. So just so grateful for the partnership that we have here. Jeffco with Children's Hospital and especially for Dr. Jessica Hawks. You know, I walked away a better mom that day and I'm just really grateful and hopefully it brought great value to our Jeffco community as well. But on a lighter note, I loved our tiny library concert series. Those moments of joy and creativity from our students have been a real highlight this season. As a middle school educator, hearing a middle school, you know, music group. It's no pun intended music to my ears. It is just the best and I could just like in my mind visualize all those young people performing with so much pride and anticipation and it's just one of the best parts of our jobs getting to see students perform. And engage in something that they love. So that particular episode was one of my favorites, but that tiny library series, like, come on, how awesome is that? You guys know that I have a huge bias for tiny desk concerts from NPR. I love that Elevate Education has its own version of that. Tiny library concerts. It's the best y'all go back. It takes ten minutes to tune in to our amazing, uh, student artists to. Worked so hard to record our own version of Tiny Library of Concerts. It's so fun to listen to as well. It was really fun. Just a shout out to our producer, Michaela, who, you know, was innovative and creative. And brought that concept and idea to life here in Jeffco. So thanks, Michaela. Yeah, right on Michaela. It's awesome. I love hearing both of your reflections and I think it's a good reminder that, you know, leadership isn't just about big decisions. It's about the everyday moments of. Leaning in to listen and learn. And to wrap us up, I have one final question for both of you. As we head into the final stretch of the school year, what's one sentence you would offer to encourage our listeners, whether they're educators, students, or families? That crossed the finish line. And to give you a couple seconds to think about that, I'll share my sentence. So going back to my word around voice, I would say to our listeners, your voice, whether it's quiet, it's bold. Or it's questioning or certain it all has the power to shape systems, shift mindsets and speak possibility into spaces that need it the most. Thanks Matt, you're always so inspiring, For me, it's progress over perfection, and as a self-proclaimed perfectionist, You know, I have to give myself grace, but also extend grace and know that everybody's doing the very best that they can, especially our students and our families. I would say the same goes for our educators and our leaders as well. But everybody's shown up doing the very best that they can. And it's really all about, about progress and the growth that we make. And we get a little bit smarter every day. We get a little bit better every day. And so. Really leaning into those wins and the growth that we make. Sometimes it's not about the final product. It's usually not about the final product, right? It's about the journey, not the destination. You know, as I reflect on this year, it really is about that progress, being present with people, extending, you know, empathy and kindness, being patient with myself, Being patient with others and knowing that whatever it is that I'm leaning into or that I'm supporting somebody through, that there is growth and possibility on the other side. And so just taking the time to slow down and be present in those moments. You know, I'm going to take that in with me to next school year. I love that. How about you, Jason? My thought or phrase really anchoring back to my work community is seeing the individuals that exist in that community and stopping and taking the time to really see them. And giving them empathy, showing kindness, and remembering that collectively, if we do that here in Jefferson County, We ultimately create a space where children will thrive and can be their authentic selves and can show their exceptionality in all the different ways that they show up every day. But that takes us. Really being intentional in a world that's moving very fast, whether that be because of AI or whether that be because, you know, we just have so much on our plates and we have so many hats we wear. Just taking the time to see somebody is so important. Those are great guys. I appreciate you both so much. And if you can believe it or not, that wraps up this season of Elevate Education. Thanks to all of our listeners tuning in. To all our educators, leaders, families, and students, thank you so much for learning alongside us this year. We'll be back next season with more stories, more voices, and more ways to elevate education across Jeffco and beyond. And.