September 29, 2025 • 42 mins
In this podcast, CUPF Director, Ramona Bell-Pearson and Communications and Outreach Specialist, Derek Ross, will be joined by Summer Fellow, Sarah Hoffman and Program Specialist – Childcare & Special Projects, Emily Brewster-McCarthy. Listen as we exchange stories, sharing more about our backgrounds, focusing on our community involvement. Learn about each of our experiences and how they have played a key role in helping us thrive in Montgomery County Government. Plus, there are new changes to our PTA/ PTSA reservation process. We are here to help!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (00:13):
Welcome to Off the CUPF.
This is a community use ofpublic facilities podcast
powered by the InteragencyCoordinating Board, also known
as the ICB, and that is ourgoverning board.
Did you know you can reserveindoor and outdoor community
space in a school?
Well, schools are great placesto conduct a wide variety of
activities, classes,performances, camps, and
(00:36):
cultural and religious programs.
How about regional servicecenters?
They provide an opportunity forbringing together county
resources, community activities,and support groups.
Available venues are here to bereserved, and we are the office
that can make it happen.
We are CUPF, and thank you forjoining our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:57):
Here we go, here we go.
Another phenomenal voiceover byuh director Ramona Bell
Pearson.
But you know what?
I know what, you know what?
Last episode we were talkingabout retirements.
You know, I was crying in thebackground and stuff like that
as we were talking about Ramonabecause Ramona is such an
awesome director and awesomeperson.
But Ramona's still here.
She's not she's not gone.
So we're back doing another onewith Ramona.
(01:18):
Yes, yeah, yay for us, but hiRamona.
But you know, I suspect Derek,this is the last one.
Oh, why you had to be why youhad to do that?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:25):
I gotta, I gotta temper the you know, the
expectations.
Derek Ross (01:29):
Oh, okay.
Well, what are your highs andlows?
How are you feeling, Ramona?
How are you?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:37):
The highs are it's been a nice summer.
It's been hot, but not too bad.
Um, because you know, one ofthe things that happens in
summer when we have really badtemperatures or high
temperatures is we have tocancel community use or at least
invite permit holders to cancelwithout a penalty, no
cancellation fee, refund oftheir money, which means we
(01:57):
don't make money.
But um, so that's a low.
Um, but a high is we haven'thad that many days this year
like that.
Derek Ross (02:04):
So that's pretty good.
Okay, okay.
I think a high for me is thatyou're you know, you're still
around.
That's a good high for me.
I feel good.
I feel good.
I feel good.
Uh but a low for me is that Iour summer fellow is leaving
soon.
No, yeah, yeah, you know, youknow, Sarah, Sarah's been
rocking it.
Sarah's been rocking it, beendoing great work.
I'm not even gonna look over ifSarah's not here, but how you
(02:25):
doing, Sarah?
Sarah Hoffman (02:26):
I'm I'm doing great.
Um yeah, I'll go through myhighs and lows too.
Yes.
Um, high is that I do have sometime before the school year
starts to, you know, do thingsfor myself.
Um, so I'll go on a tripsomewhere.
Um, lows, though, was thisprogram's ending, and I have to
go back to my regular insaneschool schedule.
(02:49):
And I've really enjoyed justbeing able to work for CUPF
during the summer.
Um, so that's a low for me, ishaving to go back to school.
Derek Ross (02:57):
Oh my god, you gotta go back to school.
Yeah, that's crazy.
Yeah, Ramona, Ron, Sarah.
Wow, this is, you know what,this is we just going down the
list.
But we got Emily though.
Hey, what's up, Emily?
Emily's back every Emily'sback, everybody.
Emily's back.
Hey, Emily.
Emily, I'm sorry, go ahead.
Highs and lows.
Just give us everything.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:18):
Highs and lows.
Highs, um, I went out and Ibought a whole bunch of rubber
ducks uh and I placed them onour manager's desks.
I uh gave Derek one.
It's right uh in front of us.
Derek Ross (03:32):
Thank you.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:32):
Uh so that's what's his name?
I don't know.
Derek Ross (03:35):
I was gonna say Howard.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:37):
Howard it is.
Howard, the duck.
Derek Ross (03:42):
I was afraid he was Howard.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (03:44):
Marvel's gonna call.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:47):
We get a call from Disney immediately.
Uh no, I um and my lows,honestly, I don't really have a
low.
Well, I can say that it'sTuesday, and I wish it was a
Friday.
But that's not really a low.
That's just like any day that'slike a Friday.
I wish it was a Friday.
Derek Ross (04:10):
Well, here we are, here we are.
We're just we're just gonnakeep laughing and just having
good times.
But this episode is, you know,connecting the dots, sharing
community engagement experiencesand how it aligns with our our
current titles and stuff likethat.
But we're gonna jump straightinto it.
We're gonna talk about uh uhlike a did you know, did you
know?
And Ramona, this is a big one.
We we actually got a coupletopics going on here, but let's
(04:30):
get into our uh to thecommunity, our listeners.
Are you familiar with ouremergency closing policy?
Woo! Do you know about it?
It is a very intenseconversation when it comes to
closings.
I'll stop there because Iwanted to bounce back to Ramona
just to get this conversationstarted.
We have closing policies,Ramona.
(04:50):
Director, give it to us.
Please, let's talk about it.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (04:53):
Yeah, we do, we do.
Well, first of all, let me saya lot of people get very upset,
concerned, confused when we haveinclement weather and they
don't exactly know what to do.
And the decisions about how theday will go start in the wee
hours of the morning, likeanywhere from 3 to 4 a.m.
Um, there is a 4 a.m.
(05:14):
call.
There are many executives onthat call, including the
National Weather Service and theHighway Patrol and the County
Executive's office and countycouncil and the school system
and fire and rescue and police,because they all need to make
decisions about how thecommunity will be protected and
directed to handle themselvesonce the day starts.
(05:37):
Decisions as to whether schoolswill close, it's not the end,
um, even as it relates toschools, because often the
schools will close foreducational purposes, but the
administrative offices will beopen.
If the administrative officesare open, then we are entitled
to have our child care open.
It opens on the same scheduleas the admin offices.
So if admins opening two hourslate, then the child care can
(06:00):
often open two hours late.
The significance of that isparents still need the coverage
that school that a school daywould normally cover.
They have to go to work, theyhave responsibilities outside of
the home, and they need thatsupport.
And our gracious child careproviders are right there ready,
even though their workers haveto get out on those roads, which
(06:20):
is why we have to make surethat the roads are safe.
The school system has to makesure the parking lots and the
sidewalks are clear and thebuilding structures are clean
and dry so that people won'tslip and fall.
So there's a lot that goes into those emergency closings and
the inclement weather notices.
Wow.
And as I said, it starts, ifnot the night before, definitely
by 4 a.m.
(06:41):
then that morning, it's it'salready on.
Derek Ross (06:43):
Yeah, yeah.
And I I was looking down, I waslike, yeah, because you you
talk about snow, freezing, rain,school delays, and then you
have I'm talking just for thewinter.
I mean, I I hope I hope it'snot snowing in the summer.
Anyway, then the summeremergency, we have heat
advisories, high temperatures.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (06:58):
Well, in the summer, we have hurricanes,
Durangos or Durantos, or whatare they called?
Derek Ross (07:03):
Something.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:04):
It's the summer storm.
Derek Ross (07:05):
Yeah.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:05):
You know, like a small hurricane or
whatever.
Uh, and we often will have toclose for that.
Derek Ross (07:11):
What was the last one during our stat?
What was the fires or was theresomething that happened that
like there was there something?
I'm I'm trying to remember.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:18):
There was a smoke problem from fires in
Canada.
Thank you, thank you.
Wildfires, yeah.
Derek Ross (07:22):
Thank you, thank you.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:23):
And we had to close outdoor and even some
of the indoor things becausegymnasiums in some areas don't
have air conditioning.
Derek Ross (07:30):
And that was what I was thinking about when I had
school buildings andventilation, but I know we're
jumping around, we're talkingabout it because emergency
closing policy is such animportant conversation.
But I also had down our circlethat because we were talking
about is childcare.
Uh Ron from a childcarestandpoint.
Yeah, I know you mentioned it,but I know we have Emily here
too.
But bouncing it off of the bothof y'all, like, how does that
work?
You know, childcare, emergencypolicy, is it does it are we
(07:53):
good?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (07:54):
Emily, you want to jump in?
Yeah, I can talk a little bitabout that.
Really, it's it's not supercomplicated.
If you have a child inchildcare, we really just asked
to um for you to communicatedirectly with the childcare
provider and uh your school,because they they really um take
the reins there.
We're here to make sure that wegive them a safe and secure
(08:18):
space that is usable and youknow, that makes sure everything
is covered, you know, withtheir license uh and all of
that.
But really, when it has to dowith closing, uh it's on a
case-by-case uh situation, likekind of like what Ramona was
saying.
Uh, if the admin umadministration is in the
building, then childcare is inthe building.
(08:39):
Uh and it typically depends,like that's why I said please
reach out to your child careprovider um directly and they
would be able to uh let you knowwhat the move is for that day,
or if they're gonna be open allday, or just before and after
care, or maybe just before care,maybe not after care.
And it really depends on if theschool is closed in the middle
(09:01):
of the day or if it's closed,you know, from the morning.
Uh and we just have to wait,like Ramona said, those meetings
happen at four o'clock in themorning, and typically the
public doesn't get um is notaware of the closings until
5:36, 6:30 in the morning.
So really just make sure thatyou're on it uh to check with
(09:22):
your child care provider to seeif they're open.
Derek Ross (09:24):
Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, that that's a lot.
That I'm listening now andlooking at the both of y'all
that is a lot of informationretaining and coming from the
communications avenue andtalking about it, it is a lot.
I will I will definitely saythat.
And and working with Ramona andhearing it, it's one of those
ones where you got you gottastay ready.
Especially, I think this lastwinter, I I I I felt like I had
(09:44):
to stay ready, be ready, and andand I've haven't had so we had
so many conversations withRamona.
I was texting Ramona so much,you know.
We I was like, wow, we aretexting, we are BFFs.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (09:55):
We are friends.
And that's at like 4 30 in themorning.
Derek Ross (10:00):
What's that?
Oh my goodness.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (10:01):
Yeah, and then it changes.
Derek Ross (10:03):
What's happening?
Is it snowing now?
Is it not?
Anyway, Sarah, I know you'vebeen here with us and we've
talked about it.
You've seen the policies andstuff like that.
What is your take on anythingemergency closing related and
stuff like that?
Sarah Hoffman (10:15):
Yeah, I think something that you have down
here that I think is reallyuseful is like the resources for
people to be able to stay ontop of like whether there's
gonna be a closing.
So social media, the CUPF um,like blog, that's helpful.
And then like other like countygovernment resources.
So I think like just havingthat like bookmarked or like
somehow saved on your device tobe able to get those reminders
(10:37):
is like definitely gonna be veryuseful.
Derek Ross (10:38):
Oh, yeah, that's very important.
And and for more informationabout it, like we have a lot of
our emergency closing oremergency cancellations and
modifications and information,it's on our website.
It's it's it's every we try tokeep the information is is
possibly in a place where youmay just like, where is it at?
Oh, there it is.
There it is, there it is.
And same with social media, andthank you, um, Sarah.
We try to put it there.
(10:58):
Uh the gov delivery, socialmedia, and every other place
like that.
We try to get the informationsent out as much as possible.
But as we continue to bouncearound, I wanted to jump in this
question real quick, Sarah,because uh let's get into this
Axe the Summerfellow series.
I know we didn't do it lasttime, but before we jump
anywhere else, Sarah, did youhave any kind of questions you
want to ask?
We have Ramona here.
Sarah Hoffman (11:18):
Yeah, I have a question for Ramona as you're
reflecting like on your timehere with CUPF and thinking
about all the different greatfacilities that we get to work
with.
Is there like one facility thatyou've really enjoyed working
with or that you just is yourfavorite?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (11:34):
I guess I've probably been to more
events, uh, which probablysuggest that's a favorite.
And that's the Silver SpringCivic Building in the Veterans
Plaza.
Oh, yeah.
They have such a variety ofthings.
I've been there for wintermarkets where they're having
indoor like flea market or um afair where there's you know
different vendors that havedifferent goods.
(11:55):
Some are Etsy type goods andsome are like vendor
professional store type things.
Uh, not to say that the Etsy'saren't professionals because I
love makers.
And then I've been out to thethe plaza where I guess the most
recent thing my kids and I wentto was the um Pride in the
Plaza.
And it was fabulous to see thecolors and the artistry and the
(12:17):
talent because they had a dragshow fashion show.
I don't know if it was afashion show, but it was it was
hilarious.
And and they did a really goodjob.
I just can't imagine them ontheir heels jumping on and off
the stage like they were.
It was it was really good.
So that's that's a favoritefacility for me.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (12:35):
I would like to add, we also had your
retirement celebration that'strue at the Civic Center at the
Great Hall, which is beautiful.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And we uh just a quick uhtidbit in here.
We were you are able to splitthat room in half.
If you don't need the wholeroom, you can you know open it
up.
There's some super amazing uhspaces for use there in civic.
I mean, along all of MontgomeryCounty, but specifically we're
(12:59):
highlighting uh civic center.
And shout out to Eric, he doesan awesome job.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (13:03):
He does, he really does.
Yeah, he's had weddings, barmitzvahs, bot mitzpas, yeah,
retirement ceremonies, churchreligious events, all kinds of
things there.
Derek Ross (13:14):
Yeah, it's it's and Sarah, thank you for that
question too.
Because I mean it I know Ramonacould have gone any other way.
She could have said anyfacility that she wanted, but
Civic Building is an awesomefacility.
But before we jump down andkeep going, and thank you for
bringing that up too.
Uh, so when we were chatting alittle bit on the sidelines,
Emily brought up one.
I I missed a few.
I missed a few in regards toanything emergency related.
(13:35):
Is there something that Imissed?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (13:36):
Yeah, we just wanted to uh just let
everybody know, the listenersknow, that you can sign up for
uh weather alerts and otheremergency alerts through Alert
Montgomery.
So that's always a really goodtool to use.
Uh if they'll send you a text,uh if you sign up for text or an
email, and they will let youknow if things are closed within
the county.
They'll let you know if there'sa thunderstorm on the way and
(13:56):
you need to, you know, gosomewhere, take, you know, hide
or do whatever you need to do.
So that's uh always a reallygood um tool to use.
And it'll also uh obviouslyhelp you know whether or not
things are happening.
So if schools open, uh not,childcare is open, not.
So that's always good to have.
Derek Ross (14:14):
Yeah, that's always good.
And thank you for that, Emily,too.
There's so many, what is it?
I guess it's your your cup oftea, wherever you want to go to
get your information and get theemergencies and the news.
But the county has some greatresources as well, too.
You know, the it's MontgomeryCounty has some resources too as
well.
So going down the line, goingdown the line, let's get into
it.
I mean, we did talk about,we're talking about a little bit
of the community engagement andsharing experiences.
(14:36):
And I and I know we have, Ihave Sarah here with me, and I
say I have Sarah here with mebecause we we were able to bond
over a couple different uhthings that we've done in our
past or stuff that we've donecurrently and all that stuff.
And we're gonna talk aboutAmeriCorps, our AmeriCorps
experiences.
We're not gonna go deep intoit, but I would probably say my
AmeriCorps experience, I did twodifferent terms, uh, one doing
(14:57):
playworks and another doing umpublic allies.
Uh both programs were more orless leadership programs.
One was working in a school fora year, the other one was a
10-month leadership program, andall both were in DC, but those
programs really helped meunderstand a little bit more
about myself, probably what Ican and can't do, or what I
should understand more about whoI should ask.
You know, I think I've learneda lot about thinking what I can
(15:21):
do and more or lessunderstanding that there's a
team, there's a community andstuff like that.
And I think America helped meunderstand that, you know, you
can try to do what yourself.
You can go and find out thehard way that you probably want
to understand how to link upwith people and do stuff.
But that's how I was able tokind of connect the dots with my
experience.
This to kind of shorten it alittle bit, to say from a
communication standpoint, Istarted to understand that how
(15:42):
you get out there and do someoutreach and stuff like that is
that you gotta get out there.
That's that's the only way Iwas able to kind of get that,
get out there and do some stufflike that.
But I want to give a shout outto AmeriCorps being an alum.
I also don't want to put toomuch time on it, but I'll bounce
it to Sarah before we getaround because I would love to
hear everybody's timelines andstuff like that.
But Sarah, I know we talkedabout AmeriCorp, but I know
you've done other stuff too.
Sarah Hoffman (16:02):
But please.
So yeah, I'm also a proudAmeriCorps alum.
I did three previous programswith AmeriCorps.
They're yeah, they're alleducation related.
So I did um one calledGeneration Teach.
They are like a um teachingfellowship, but they run like a
summer, like Steam camp formiddle school students, and they
(16:23):
have different programs aroundthe country.
That was a great experience.
Then I went on to do amentorship program in Columbus,
Ohio, working with like fifthand sixth graders, doing like
one-on-one mentorships.
And then I did sit mostrecently, I did Cityer in DC,
which is also like a nationalorganization, but they have uh
locations throughout thecountry.
(16:44):
And yeah, those were just Ilearned so much from all three
of those experiences.
Like I definitely can't evensummarize all the things that I
learned, both like about myself,like my values, the kind of
work that I enjoy, but also justabout the about each of the
communities that I worked in andjust the different issues and
(17:06):
assets that these communitiesare facing, especially working
with youth, was veryenlightening about things that
are impacting their lives that Ieven being a young person
myself that I haven't thoughtthat much about.
Um, and I just feel like myexperiences they inform
everything I do and you know thepath I took for my education
(17:28):
and the jobs that I choose andthe kind of work that I hope to
do in the future.
So it, those are very valuableexperiences for me.
And I'm like a big advocate foryoung people like getting
involved at Americor.
I think it's a really great wayto like give back to
communities, but again, like wealready mentioned, like get the
um experience and learn aboutyourself and the path that you
(17:49):
want to take in the future.
So yeah.
Derek Ross (17:50):
Absolutely.
Fist bump on that fist bump.
Blah doubt.
There we go.
There is some love in the room,love in the room.
As I bounce around, Ramona, I'mgonna save you for last.
Cause I know Ramona, you got 35years.
You got so much experience, butwe're going to save you for
last.
But you know, Emily, Emily, Iknow we we've talked a lot about
some of the work you've done inthe community, but share with
the world what you've done.
(18:10):
Share it.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (18:12):
Well, before I share it, I wanna um I
mentioned to Sarah a littleearlier, but she's such an
amazing person.
She's such an amazing uh youngwoman.
And it's just it's awesome tojust be in her presence, just to
hear her speak.
This is, I just have so muchhope for the future for
humanity, and this is justawesome.
(18:32):
I'm just really happy that youwere with us.
Um, but as far as my experiencein terms of community uh work
and community outreach, uhRamona mentioned it, I think, in
our last uh episode that werecorded that I worked with HHS
for almost 10 years.
And that first half, uh, I didcommunity outreach work um with
(18:53):
Street Outreach Network, and Iworked uh with young people for,
like I said, almost 10 years.
And I ran a rites of passageprogram for uh young women,
which was amazing.
Uh, and we did somethingsimilar.
I mentioned it before.
You guys do highs and lows, andwe used to do roses and thorns.
Uh so that was pretty cool,pretty neat.
(19:14):
Uh, and then I worked withchild welfare for um maybe like
five-ish years, and I did a lotof community uh support there.
I did some parent education.
Um, I worked closely with thekids that were in foster care,
and uh it just I think it takesa special type of person to work
with people.
And we're really fortunate toon our team here at CUF, we have
(19:36):
people that have a lot ofexperience with people.
Uh, and it shows because wetake really good care of our
community and we really careabout what we do and all of the,
you know, even though we putsome boundaries up, we have a
lot of rules.
We were talking about Fulasbefore, we're talking a whole
bunch of, you know, other stuff.
Uh, we have a group of peoplehere that really care for their
(19:57):
community.
And, you know, I'm reallygrateful to have the opportunity
to work alongside Derek too onsome of our community outreach
stuff that we've done, ourevents.
Uh, we're very, very excited.
This is just, I I love talkingto people, so that's kind of my
strong uh, you know, point.
And and I'm just super exciteduh for what's to come.
(20:19):
So we'll see.
We'll pass it back to Ramona.
Derek Ross (20:22):
Yeah, Ramona.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (20:24):
So you're interested in background?
Is that what you're interestedin?
I was so enthralled by thestories, I was just enjoying
listening to Sarah and Emilytalk about their past.
Derek Ross (20:36):
I I love it.
I love it.
I know that this it's just somuch.
It's just so much.
It's so much.
I don't know if it's tailoredlike that, but that's some of
the information that we get out.
And I know that when we'vetalked about stuff in the past
too, I'm always interested.
Like when I've gone in youroffice, even though your office
is kind of empty right nowbecause you're retired, I put it
out there like that.
But when your office was fullof all of these paintings and
(20:56):
different frameworks and stufflike that, I was like, Ramon,
what is that?
What is that?
What is that?
So I'm always intrigued tohear.
I know you've talked about itbefore, but I think a lot of
that work that I've seen or thatyou've talked about, it it it I
see it when I talk to you as adirector.
I'm like, I I I see it.
Now, I don't know if I'm rightor wrong, but I would love to
know is there something about itthat has shaped you as a
director?
Like you've been doing this,you've been in a game, Ramon.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:19):
Well, you know, I started in high school
being interested in communityservice.
I they started a uh crisishelpline when I was probably a
sophomore in high school.
And by my junior year, I wasvolunteering.
And by the end of the junioryear, I was like on by myself,
you know, because it was hard toget people to work shifts.
And I ended up doing theweekend shifts because nobody
(21:42):
else wanted to do them.
And you're in there, you'repretty much by yourself, locked
in the building for safety.
Um, and and I learned a lotabout myself in in talking to
people.
And the main thing I learnedwas people just want to be
heard.
Um, even if they're they'rethreatening to do harm to
themselves or others, or ifthey're um in a mental health
(22:04):
crisis, or if they're whichisn't synonymous, those things
are, you know, collaborative orwhatever.
Um, if you listen to them,you'll learn a lot and you'll
help a lot.
And then I moved from there andand after college, I went into
law enforcement, which again wasan opportunity to work with the
community as the way I saw it.
I knew I wanted to go to lawschool, so I had only planned to
(22:25):
do that for a couple of years.
And I did do it for a couple ofyears as a Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation special agentcriminal investigator.
Derek Ross (22:32):
What?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (22:32):
So it wasn't uniformed, it was
undercover, it was uh whitecollar crime, just you know, a
lot of we were talking beforeabout trigger pull, and I was
saying I used to have toexercise my hands to make sure
my finger was strong enough topull the trigger uh when we had
to qualify every few months orso.
Um, but then I went to lawschool, which is where I had
(22:53):
intended from probably highschool on.
And I didn't have a specificarea, except I knew I didn't
want to do criminal law becauseI had been working in criminal
law for a few years at thatpoint in law enforcement.
And then I ended up first withthe Federal Election Commission
because I was a politicalscience major and undergrad.
And I thought politics was justso amazing and the way it
(23:16):
changes the country and howeveryone has a voice.
And then I really saw the dirtyside and said no.
Uh so then I ended up um inlitigation, which I really did
enjoy.
And I did that for severalyears, first with the federal
government, going from umcircuit court to circuit court,
arguing for the Social SecurityAdministration.
(23:37):
And then I went to countygovernment and did litigation
there and represented the schoolboard and the teachers and
police officers and board ofeducation and just a lot of
different clients.
And then I ended up inmanagement, and that's how I got
here.
Speaker 03 (23:53):
Wow.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (23:53):
Um, so all of those things I had a common
thread, I think, and that wascommunity service.
Um, I think when you work for agovernment, you don't just do
it because it gives you a achance to have a life, because
it does.
You you pretty much have a nineto five for the most part, but
you also have to be dedicated ifyou stay with it.
(24:14):
And you have to want to workwith your community and hear
them and and and understand themand try to service them.
Because I'm a public servant.
Derek Ross (24:22):
Yeah, yeah.
Wow, wow.
And you know what?
It's great.
We've talked about it before,and I think we've heard about it
even from the retiring party aswell, too.
And you were, I guess we'vebeen getting some more
information about Ramon.
We know we didn't know that.
We didn't know that.
But it's it's it says a lot.
It says a lot.
And I kind of felt that whenwe've talked before many, many
moons ago, about some stuff likethat.
And I got an idea of like a lotof the work you were doing it
(24:44):
that you did in the past too.
And I I never got, I can neverget over that, all that extra
work you were doing with thepolice and stuff like that.
I was like, what?
That is intense, intense.
But as always, thank you,everybody.
Thank you for sharing.
You know, I know I think Emily,we can go into this even more
later on because we've we'vetalked about stuff like this for
forever, forever.
But as we continue on, let'slet's let's see if we can get
(25:05):
back on track.
You know what?
Sarah, I think uh what whatwhat is your last day?
Sarah Hoffman (25:11):
My last day is next Friday, the 8th of August.
Derek Ross (25:14):
8th of August.
So that means compared to usdoing this show or this podcast
episode and now, so it'spossibility Sarah may not be
here.
Well, I won't say it like that.
Sarah would not be around forthe podcast.
So Sarah.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (25:28):
She'll be here.
She'll be with us.
Yes, thank you.
Derek Ross (25:30):
Thank you.
You you saw what I did.
I was like, well, I don't wantto say it like that.
Because it was in any way,Sarah, Sarah, you know, we I I
do believe in giving flowers.
And I do believe that, youknow, we're all here, you know,
we're enjoying this momenttogether.
But thank you so much.
Thank you so much for all thework you're doing.
Thank you.
I mean, you're still here,technically, right now.
We have a few more days, youknow, that you know, we're going
(25:50):
to get stuff done.
But the work that we've beenable to accomplish now, what
we're going to continue to workon even from a sustainability
standpoint, best believe it wasmuch appreciated.
And it will be used.
I don't want you to thinkyou're just going to do your
work and roll on out and it'sjust going to be put in a file
cabinet and get dusty.
Uh I'm going to make thatpromise to you that it will not
be.
It won't get dusty.
We're going to take that work.
But thank you so much.
(26:10):
Thank you so much for all thatyou've done.
That is me talking greatlyabout you.
I want to keep talking aboutyou, but I feel like I'm the
only one in here with the waterwork's about to come.
So, Ramona, is there anythingyou would like to say about
Sarah?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (26:21):
I would like to say thank you to Sarah.
Uh, thank you for selectingCUPF because you did have
choices.
Um, thank you for working ashard as you did.
We are still in the formativestage in terms of how much and
what kind and where and what wewill do as far as outreach goes.
It's not an easy topic.
Some people think, I'll justput some stuff out there or blog
(26:41):
it or you know, get a socialmedia page.
It's not that easy, as you wellknow.
And uh, you did really goodwork for demographics with us to
help us understand where to dooutreach and how to do it.
You did good work documentingthings that we probably already
had in existence somewhere, butbecause it wasn't in an
intelligible state, we weren'tactually using it.
(27:02):
So I do appreciate all youreffort and I wish you all the
best in your coming ventures.
And um, I don't won't sayadventures, I'll say ventures.
Um, because that suggestsmoney.
Never thought about it likethat.
Yeah, yeah, that's the way Ithink of it.
So I I think you will um be asuccess at whatever you want to
(27:23):
do.
Sarah Hoffman (27:23):
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Um, yeah, it's been a reallygreat summer.
Went by really fast, but it'sI've really learned a lot
through this experience.
I think something that I'vereally appreciated, both like
during my time with CUPF, butalso like the research project
that we each had to do asfellows was just the opportunity
to be able to connect with likedifferent people in the county
(27:46):
government.
So obviously with CUPF, likeworking with everyone in the
office and talking with them.
And through like the fellowprogram, we've had the
opportunity to like chat with abunch of the council members,
which has been really amazing,and to ask them questions and
learn more about sort of theirjourneys to public service.
And then for our researchproject, we've each had the
opportunity to like interviewdifferent people in the
(28:09):
communities that can provide usguidance on our research.
And so I feel like within thesepast like eight weeks, I've
built a sort of like network ofall these people that I've been
able to talk to and reach outto.
And like that's definitelysomething that I feel like happy
and like proud about that I canlike walk away with at the end
of these 10 weeks and definitelylike gonna be looking to
(28:30):
Montgomery Gaunty for likefuture opportunities, maybe.
Um, so yeah, it's just beenreally great.
And I'm I'm very like gratefulto be to have been placed in
CUPF to be able to work with allof you guys.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (28:42):
Thank you.
Derek Ross (28:43):
Oh, thank you, thank you so much.
So I dear, I have to tell astory.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (28:47):
Yes, school is starting, right?
Um, I'm originally fromTennessee.
And I have a great nephew whostarted first grade yesterday.
He had his little sign.
I got a picture of him with asign on said his name, said
first grade.
He gets to the school, andapparently they have this
process where you roll up withyour child in the car and the
teacher opens the door to greetthe kid and then takes them into
(29:09):
the school.
Well, my nephew's name is Jace.
So the car pulls up, he'sgetting out, the teacher, and he
looks her in the eye and hesays, You know, I still can't
read.
And she said, That's okay.
We're gonna teach you.
And he was like, Well, okay.
Like, like, you know, he'stelling her, setting those
(29:29):
expectations from the beginning.
But that's the way Jace is.
He's like a, you know, aboutthe facts, just the facts, man,
type kid.
Derek Ross (29:36):
I like that.
I like that.
I mean, okay, okay.
I'm I'm with you on it.
I'm with you.
I like that.
I like okay, okay.
Emily, I I mean you've you'vebeen speaking so highly of Sarah
and we appreciate it so much.
Is there anything you wouldlike to say one more time or
you're good to go?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (29:51):
No, I just wanted to say she's a major
trailblazer.
This is like uh if you haven'talready.
Please follow her journeybecause I'm sure she's going to
do amazing, amazing things.
Uh, so I I'm like we said,we're super fortunate to have
had you uh, you know, with usfor the summer.
You're all the research andstuff that you did, invaluable,
(30:14):
like completely just amazingwork.
It's gonna help us major,majorly.
Uh and yeah, I mean, I I thinkeverybody has said some pretty
amazing things.
I don't know that I can say toomuch more.
They took all the words for me.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
Derek Ross (30:30):
But we're going to talk about a big update that
just recently happened.
Well, wouldn't say recently,Ramona, I guess it happened
what, months ago a little bit.
Um, but the PTA, PTSA changesregarding priority use and dates
and how you reserve in schoolsand stuff like that.
But Ramon, I'll bounce it backto you.
Like I know we've done it andit was part of the whole fee
structured stuff like that, butplease jump into it a little bit
(30:52):
more just in case, because Iknow it's a tough topic, but an
interesting one.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (30:55):
It is.
Um, and and I think it it mightuh confuse the community a
little bit.
But the uh Parent TeachersAssociation, um, PTA, PTSA, is
an organization that ispartnered with Montgomery County
Public Schools.
They do a service to theschools because they provide
forums for the parents,information for the parents,
they support the students byhaving fundraisers and different
(31:17):
activities.
They are informational sources,um, all types of resources that
fully support the educationalcomponent that schools have.
Because they're partnered withschools, we had the
understanding from MCPS thatthey wanted to facilitate their
use of the facilities as much aspossible so that they would
have the ability to do all ofthe outreach and the things that
(31:40):
I just mentioned.
On that vein, a when we did thefee schedule, we reorganized
locations and how groups are puttogether and established fees
based on the placement of thosegroups.
One of those groups that wasput into a category as a
partnership agreement with uhMCPS was PTAs.
And those PTAs in thatpartnership are now entitled to
(32:03):
have free use of facilities.
When we say free use, free isnot necessarily free.
Speaker 03 (32:09):
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (32:09):
Because with any entity, if you have
free use of a facility, youstill have to pay if staff are
needed, if cleanup is needed, ifa security is needed, any
incidental, if you needaudiovisual, you need a media
specialist, all of those thingscome with additional fees.
Those fees are not waived.
Okay.
It's the fee for the facility.
So that's where the support ofPTA comes in because the average
(32:34):
PTA meeting doesn't needadditional support.
Um so it it would be a freeventure for them to just have a
PTA meeting, but they often haveother things.
They have fundraiser events,they have activities, and when
they do that, they do incurthose additional fees.
Derek Ross (32:49):
Wow.
Wow.
And Emily, I know you're heretoo, and we're talking about
PTAs and PTSAs.
Is there anything that you wantto jump in, especially from the
child care angle and stuff likethat?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (32:58):
Um, so if you check on our website, uh
you'd be able to see our list ofpriority users, I would say.
Uh so the first on the top ofthe list is obviously MCPS for
MCPS use.
So if the school has use withinif there's like a play or
something going on, they couldobviously book their own school
(33:18):
or use their own space.
And then comes child care.
So child care, that's beforeand after uh school, sometimes
during admin days, and thencomes PTAs, PTSAs.
Uh and one important thing thatwe want to just continue to say
is that if you need to reservea space within a school, you
(33:41):
have to do it through ourwebsite, through CUPF.
You can either call us, you canemail us, you can put it
through Active Montgomery.
And then PTAs would basically,I don't know if Ramona mentioned
this uh just now or not, but umwould then go back to the
school and figure out a paymentplan with the school.
So the school will book thespace for the PTA typically, or
they'll request, uh, and thenthe PTA will have an agreement
(34:03):
with the school in terms of howthey're gonna pay for the space
or anything like that.
But it's really important to ummake sure you book the space
online because then we know thatthe space is uh reserved and we
don't give that reservation tosomebody else or we don't book
child care or somebody in thatspace uh when they need it.
And typically, if let's say oneof my childcare uh providers is
(34:24):
in the space that a PTA needs,uh, they can just call CUPF or
email CUPF and say, hey, we havesomething going on.
We have a big event going on,we need the gym space from I
don't know, five to eight.
Uh we're very easy to, youknow, move things around and we
really work with um whoeverneeds the the space.
We really try to get everybodyin to make sure that they can
(34:45):
run their event.
And that's just as easy asmoving childcare to another
space, so another classroom,another, maybe the gym or
something like that.
But yeah, we just ask foreverybody to please reserve
using our online format.
Derek Ross (34:58):
Okay, okay.
Sarah, I could bounce it backto you before we close out about
anything PTA or PTSAs oranything in regards to priority
usage.
And I know, Emily, thank youfor that too, about breaking
down the priority use and how itgoes for CUPF like that.
But is there anything from yourangle, Sarah, as well?
Sarah Hoffman (35:13):
Yeah, I think um, I mean, something that I've you
know have learned um throughthis summer looking at some of
like the facilities and um theirsort of their usage is like a
lot of times it's these priorityuses that um impact whether or
not like a space is available ornot or whether they're being
(35:33):
utilized.
So there are certain spaces inthe county where when we like
initially looked at the the likeusage data, um, we thought that
maybe oh, they'reunderutilized.
But um upon like further, likeyou know, we look at the data a
little more and think about whatthe facilities are, figured out
that oh, it's just it's becausethey are being utilized for
(35:54):
sort of these like prioritythings.
So whether that's like theschools using them for storage
or it's like aftercare space.
Um so yeah, it can impact likesort of like which facilities
are more available and have moretimes open.
So that's something toconsider, like when looking at
what's available inreservations.
Derek Ross (36:12):
That was spot on.
Boy, she's learned a lot,hasn't she?
Well, you said 10, you may hit10 weeks.
You made 35 years, right?
Because that sounded like aRamona answer.
35 years of the world.
Well, you know, we're gonnaclose out this show.
We're gonna close it out.
We we've spent some good timeon it.
You know, we try to bounce in alittle comedy, a little some,
some, some, some realness inregards to PTA, PTSAs, and
(36:35):
everything else and ourexperiences.
We try to give you a little bitof some of everything.
But Ramona, I think we're justgonna close it out and we're
gonna, you know, give a shoutout to our Summerfellow.
You know, you know, why not?
Why not?
You know, why not?
Sarah's here.
So why not?
Why not call y'all while you'rehere?
But thank you so much, Sarah,once again, for all of the work
that you're doing, you continueto do, and we wish you so much,
so much success.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen,everybody in the world that
(36:57):
you're listening to it, yes, weare gonna continue to give
flowers and love because it'sthe only right thing that we can
do as we continue to um givesupport to so many different
people.
But Ramona, I'll start off withyou because I I really want to
hear your your last last.
Is this your last last?
He keeps saying that, right?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (37:14):
Like as if saying it will make it not be
true or something.
Derek Ross (37:18):
Oh, okay.
But please, Ramona, your lastbefore I get around everybody, I
want to hear your last, last.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (37:27):
Well, I don't know.
We've been doing these for awhile now, and I've really
enjoyed it.
I appreciate the fact that youtook it upon yourself to look at
things that we needed and getit started.
Um, we've been talking foryears about doing podcasts and
getting on social media, and itdidn't happen.
It happened under you, and Iwant to thank you for that.
I think that you are a goodsteward to leave all of this in
(37:50):
your hands.
And I feel very confident thatCUPF is going to continue to be
more successful, open,available, which is what we
want.
Um, so thank you for doing thatand for giving us uh a voice
and a face that I think peopleenjoy and that will be
successful in communicating ourmessage.
Derek Ross (38:10):
Thank you.
Thank you.
I I I'll take that and run withit and say thank you so much.
I I appreciate it.
Uh, I like I said, I'velearned, I've learned, you know,
with connecting the dots,community and engagement.
I have learned through mywicked ways, Ramona, that I need
to communicate and talk.
And and I have Emily here andSarah's here.
And it's like, I cannot blockthis greatness.
I can't block all of thisawesomeness that's happening
(38:31):
with CUPF right now.
So I just wanted to say thankyou, thank you.
But who do we go to?
Emily.
Last words, you just want toclose out this show.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (38:42):
Uh, just piggybacking on Ramona, I
you don't get a lot of flowerson this show.
Uh, so I want to give them toeverybody here.
Um, but Ramona's heard myflowers a little bit, and
Sarah's heard my flowers alittle bit.
And just to give your flowers,uh, you your flowers, Derek, you
have done an amazing job atgathering us, like as a whole
(39:05):
unit, uh, and just, you know,sparking this movement of
getting connected to thecommunity and really just
engaging uh in a different waythat's more effective, that's
fun, that's lighthearted attimes, which is wonderful.
Because, you know, in in theworld that we live in today, we
need a voice and a person likeyou, Derek, that can really just
(39:27):
bring light uh to what we do.
So I'm very grateful that I'mhere uh on the podcast, but I'm
also super grateful that I havethe opportunity to work with
you.
So it's not well.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:37):
And she'll be back, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
Derek Ross (39:39):
I mean, I'm I'm trying to keep throwing Ramona.
We need to do a better job oftelling Emily you got to come
back.
You gotta come back.
You're not good.
I'll be back.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:49):
I'll be back.
Derek Ross (39:50):
You're gonna be back?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:51):
Yeah, I'll be back.
Derek Ross (39:51):
Yeah, like Arnold will be.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:53):
She can even do an episode in Spanish.
Derek Ross (39:55):
Oh, yes, that's what we want.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:57):
That's what we need to do.
Maybe, maybe we yeah, maybeanyway.
We will we'll we'll do it.
You and Vanessa could couldteam each other.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Derek Ross (40:06):
Ramona's because that's because you're not
leaving, right?
Because this is that was a goodidea.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (40:09):
Ramona will be here for the no, I'm
just kidding.
Derek Ross (40:11):
She's not gonna be exactly in spirit, yeah.
In spirit, in spirit, inspirit, Sarah, Sarah.
So technically, this isRamona's last last time.
Is Sarah's last last time?
Did you have any last, lastwords?
Sarah Hoffman (40:26):
I think, yeah, my last words.
I think uh, I mean, topiggyback off of Emily, I think
just thank you, Derek, for likereally great summer.
I learned a lot about likeworking in county government,
but also just likecommunications, outreach,
thinking of new ideas to likepresent and like advertise
information, because this isdefinitely not something that I
(40:48):
have like as much experience in,I would say, at least the
communication sides of things.
So it's been really great likeworking with you.
And like I couldn't have askedfor a better supervisor.
You're really great in like,you know, giving me freedom to
choose what I wanted to do, butalso offering support and like
giving suggestions and feedbackand like being able to come on
the podcast has like definitelybeen a highlight of the summer.
(41:09):
So yeah, just thank you for areally great experience.
Derek Ross (41:12):
What C, see, see, see what I feel like I got
flipped back on me, but thankyou so much.
Thank you so much.
Once again, we we've done agreat job with all that we
continue to do as a team.
We have so many people flippingin this room as well as we
record, but there is also anindividual in here named Cell,
also part of the county as well,too, has been helping us as
well.
So we're just gonna keep givingflowers out.
(41:33):
We have a lot of things comingalong.
CUPF has done a great job, ourleadership has done a great job.
So we're gonna hold strong.
Sustainability is going in.
Emily's not going anywhere.
You're probably coming backagain.
So thank you again, everybody.
Thank you so much.
And check in.
We have a lot more we're gonnatalk about, and we hope, we
hope, we hope the community isgonna keep on listening and
enjoying it.
But thank you so much.
Thank you.
Announcer (41:54):
This podcast is brought to you by County Cable
Montgomery, your source for newsand information from the
Montgomery County government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube
by searching for County CableMoco.
Welcome to Off the CUPF.
This is a community use ofpublic facilities podcast
powered by the InteragencyCoordinating Board, also known
as the ICB, and that is ourgoverning board.
Did you know you can reserveindoor and outdoor community
space in a school?
Well, schools are great placesto conduct a wide variety of
activities, classes,performances, camps, and
(00:36):
cultural and religious programs.
How about regional servicecenters?
They provide an opportunity forbringing together county
resources, community activities,and support groups.
Available venues are here to bereserved, and we are the office
that can make it happen.
We are CUPF, and thank you forjoining our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:57):
Here we go, here we go.
Another phenomenal voiceover byuh director Ramona Bell
Pearson.
But you know what?
I know what, you know what?
Last episode we were talkingabout retirements.
You know, I was crying in thebackground and stuff like that
as we were talking about Ramonabecause Ramona is such an
awesome director and awesomeperson.
But Ramona's still here.
She's not she's not gone.
So we're back doing another onewith Ramona.
(01:18):
Yes, yeah, yay for us, but hiRamona.
But you know, I suspect Derek,this is the last one.
Oh, why you had to be why youhad to do that?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:25):
I gotta, I gotta temper the you know, the
expectations.
Derek Ross (01:29):
Oh, okay.
Well, what are your highs andlows?
How are you feeling, Ramona?
How are you?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:37):
The highs are it's been a nice summer.
It's been hot, but not too bad.
Um, because you know, one ofthe things that happens in
summer when we have really badtemperatures or high
temperatures is we have tocancel community use or at least
invite permit holders to cancelwithout a penalty, no
cancellation fee, refund oftheir money, which means we
(01:57):
don't make money.
But um, so that's a low.
Um, but a high is we haven'thad that many days this year
like that.
Derek Ross (02:04):
So that's pretty good.
Okay, okay.
I think a high for me is thatyou're you know, you're still
around.
That's a good high for me.
I feel good.
I feel good.
I feel good.
Uh but a low for me is that Iour summer fellow is leaving
soon.
No, yeah, yeah, you know, youknow, Sarah, Sarah's been
rocking it.
Sarah's been rocking it, beendoing great work.
I'm not even gonna look over ifSarah's not here, but how you
(02:25):
doing, Sarah?
Sarah Hoffman (02:26):
I'm I'm doing great.
Um yeah, I'll go through myhighs and lows too.
Yes.
Um, high is that I do have sometime before the school year
starts to, you know, do thingsfor myself.
Um, so I'll go on a tripsomewhere.
Um, lows, though, was thisprogram's ending, and I have to
go back to my regular insaneschool schedule.
(02:49):
And I've really enjoyed justbeing able to work for CUPF
during the summer.
Um, so that's a low for me, ishaving to go back to school.
Derek Ross (02:57):
Oh my god, you gotta go back to school.
Yeah, that's crazy.
Yeah, Ramona, Ron, Sarah.
Wow, this is, you know what,this is we just going down the
list.
But we got Emily though.
Hey, what's up, Emily?
Emily's back every Emily'sback, everybody.
Emily's back.
Hey, Emily.
Emily, I'm sorry, go ahead.
Highs and lows.
Just give us everything.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:18):
Highs and lows.
Highs, um, I went out and Ibought a whole bunch of rubber
ducks uh and I placed them onour manager's desks.
I uh gave Derek one.
It's right uh in front of us.
Derek Ross (03:32):
Thank you.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:32):
Uh so that's what's his name?
I don't know.
Derek Ross (03:35):
I was gonna say Howard.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:37):
Howard it is.
Howard, the duck.
Derek Ross (03:42):
I was afraid he was Howard.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (03:44):
Marvel's gonna call.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:47):
We get a call from Disney immediately.
Uh no, I um and my lows,honestly, I don't really have a
low.
Well, I can say that it'sTuesday, and I wish it was a
Friday.
But that's not really a low.
That's just like any day that'slike a Friday.
I wish it was a Friday.
Derek Ross (04:10):
Well, here we are, here we are.
We're just we're just gonnakeep laughing and just having
good times.
But this episode is, you know,connecting the dots, sharing
community engagement experiencesand how it aligns with our our
current titles and stuff likethat.
But we're gonna jump straightinto it.
We're gonna talk about uh uhlike a did you know, did you
know?
And Ramona, this is a big one.
We we actually got a coupletopics going on here, but let's
(04:30):
get into our uh to thecommunity, our listeners.
Are you familiar with ouremergency closing policy?
Woo! Do you know about it?
It is a very intenseconversation when it comes to
closings.
I'll stop there because Iwanted to bounce back to Ramona
just to get this conversationstarted.
We have closing policies,Ramona.
(04:50):
Director, give it to us.
Please, let's talk about it.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (04:53):
Yeah, we do, we do.
Well, first of all, let me saya lot of people get very upset,
concerned, confused when we haveinclement weather and they
don't exactly know what to do.
And the decisions about how theday will go start in the wee
hours of the morning, likeanywhere from 3 to 4 a.m.
Um, there is a 4 a.m.
(05:14):
call.
There are many executives onthat call, including the
National Weather Service and theHighway Patrol and the County
Executive's office and countycouncil and the school system
and fire and rescue and police,because they all need to make
decisions about how thecommunity will be protected and
directed to handle themselvesonce the day starts.
(05:37):
Decisions as to whether schoolswill close, it's not the end,
um, even as it relates toschools, because often the
schools will close foreducational purposes, but the
administrative offices will beopen.
If the administrative officesare open, then we are entitled
to have our child care open.
It opens on the same scheduleas the admin offices.
So if admins opening two hourslate, then the child care can
(06:00):
often open two hours late.
The significance of that isparents still need the coverage
that school that a school daywould normally cover.
They have to go to work, theyhave responsibilities outside of
the home, and they need thatsupport.
And our gracious child careproviders are right there ready,
even though their workers haveto get out on those roads, which
(06:20):
is why we have to make surethat the roads are safe.
The school system has to makesure the parking lots and the
sidewalks are clear and thebuilding structures are clean
and dry so that people won'tslip and fall.
So there's a lot that goes into those emergency closings and
the inclement weather notices.
Wow.
And as I said, it starts, ifnot the night before, definitely
by 4 a.m.
(06:41):
then that morning, it's it'salready on.
Derek Ross (06:43):
Yeah, yeah.
And I I was looking down, I waslike, yeah, because you you
talk about snow, freezing, rain,school delays, and then you
have I'm talking just for thewinter.
I mean, I I hope I hope it'snot snowing in the summer.
Anyway, then the summeremergency, we have heat
advisories, high temperatures.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (06:58):
Well, in the summer, we have hurricanes,
Durangos or Durantos, or whatare they called?
Derek Ross (07:03):
Something.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:04):
It's the summer storm.
Derek Ross (07:05):
Yeah.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:05):
You know, like a small hurricane or
whatever.
Uh, and we often will have toclose for that.
Derek Ross (07:11):
What was the last one during our stat?
What was the fires or was theresomething that happened that
like there was there something?
I'm I'm trying to remember.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:18):
There was a smoke problem from fires in
Canada.
Thank you, thank you.
Wildfires, yeah.
Derek Ross (07:22):
Thank you, thank you.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (07:23):
And we had to close outdoor and even some
of the indoor things becausegymnasiums in some areas don't
have air conditioning.
Derek Ross (07:30):
And that was what I was thinking about when I had
school buildings andventilation, but I know we're
jumping around, we're talkingabout it because emergency
closing policy is such animportant conversation.
But I also had down our circlethat because we were talking
about is childcare.
Uh Ron from a childcarestandpoint.
Yeah, I know you mentioned it,but I know we have Emily here
too.
But bouncing it off of the bothof y'all, like, how does that
work?
You know, childcare, emergencypolicy, is it does it are we
(07:53):
good?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (07:54):
Emily, you want to jump in?
Yeah, I can talk a little bitabout that.
Really, it's it's not supercomplicated.
If you have a child inchildcare, we really just asked
to um for you to communicatedirectly with the childcare
provider and uh your school,because they they really um take
the reins there.
We're here to make sure that wegive them a safe and secure
(08:18):
space that is usable and youknow, that makes sure everything
is covered, you know, withtheir license uh and all of
that.
But really, when it has to dowith closing, uh it's on a
case-by-case uh situation, likekind of like what Ramona was
saying.
Uh, if the admin umadministration is in the
building, then childcare is inthe building.
(08:39):
Uh and it typically depends,like that's why I said please
reach out to your child careprovider um directly and they
would be able to uh let you knowwhat the move is for that day,
or if they're gonna be open allday, or just before and after
care, or maybe just before care,maybe not after care.
And it really depends on if theschool is closed in the middle
(09:01):
of the day or if it's closed,you know, from the morning.
Uh and we just have to wait,like Ramona said, those meetings
happen at four o'clock in themorning, and typically the
public doesn't get um is notaware of the closings until
5:36, 6:30 in the morning.
So really just make sure thatyou're on it uh to check with
(09:22):
your child care provider to seeif they're open.
Derek Ross (09:24):
Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, that that's a lot.
That I'm listening now andlooking at the both of y'all
that is a lot of informationretaining and coming from the
communications avenue andtalking about it, it is a lot.
I will I will definitely saythat.
And and working with Ramona andhearing it, it's one of those
ones where you got you gottastay ready.
Especially, I think this lastwinter, I I I I felt like I had
(09:44):
to stay ready, be ready, and andand I've haven't had so we had
so many conversations withRamona.
I was texting Ramona so much,you know.
We I was like, wow, we aretexting, we are BFFs.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (09:55):
We are friends.
And that's at like 4 30 in themorning.
Derek Ross (10:00):
What's that?
Oh my goodness.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (10:01):
Yeah, and then it changes.
Derek Ross (10:03):
What's happening?
Is it snowing now?
Is it not?
Anyway, Sarah, I know you'vebeen here with us and we've
talked about it.
You've seen the policies andstuff like that.
What is your take on anythingemergency closing related and
stuff like that?
Sarah Hoffman (10:15):
Yeah, I think something that you have down
here that I think is reallyuseful is like the resources for
people to be able to stay ontop of like whether there's
gonna be a closing.
So social media, the CUPF um,like blog, that's helpful.
And then like other like countygovernment resources.
So I think like just havingthat like bookmarked or like
somehow saved on your device tobe able to get those reminders
(10:37):
is like definitely gonna be veryuseful.
Derek Ross (10:38):
Oh, yeah, that's very important.
And and for more informationabout it, like we have a lot of
our emergency closing oremergency cancellations and
modifications and information,it's on our website.
It's it's it's every we try tokeep the information is is
possibly in a place where youmay just like, where is it at?
Oh, there it is.
There it is, there it is.
And same with social media, andthank you, um, Sarah.
We try to put it there.
(10:58):
Uh the gov delivery, socialmedia, and every other place
like that.
We try to get the informationsent out as much as possible.
But as we continue to bouncearound, I wanted to jump in this
question real quick, Sarah,because uh let's get into this
Axe the Summerfellow series.
I know we didn't do it lasttime, but before we jump
anywhere else, Sarah, did youhave any kind of questions you
want to ask?
We have Ramona here.
Sarah Hoffman (11:18):
Yeah, I have a question for Ramona as you're
reflecting like on your timehere with CUPF and thinking
about all the different greatfacilities that we get to work
with.
Is there like one facility thatyou've really enjoyed working
with or that you just is yourfavorite?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (11:34):
I guess I've probably been to more
events, uh, which probablysuggest that's a favorite.
And that's the Silver SpringCivic Building in the Veterans
Plaza.
Oh, yeah.
They have such a variety ofthings.
I've been there for wintermarkets where they're having
indoor like flea market or um afair where there's you know
different vendors that havedifferent goods.
(11:55):
Some are Etsy type goods andsome are like vendor
professional store type things.
Uh, not to say that the Etsy'saren't professionals because I
love makers.
And then I've been out to thethe plaza where I guess the most
recent thing my kids and I wentto was the um Pride in the
Plaza.
And it was fabulous to see thecolors and the artistry and the
(12:17):
talent because they had a dragshow fashion show.
I don't know if it was afashion show, but it was it was
hilarious.
And and they did a really goodjob.
I just can't imagine them ontheir heels jumping on and off
the stage like they were.
It was it was really good.
So that's that's a favoritefacility for me.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (12:35):
I would like to add, we also had your
retirement celebration that'strue at the Civic Center at the
Great Hall, which is beautiful.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And we uh just a quick uhtidbit in here.
We were you are able to splitthat room in half.
If you don't need the wholeroom, you can you know open it
up.
There's some super amazing uhspaces for use there in civic.
I mean, along all of MontgomeryCounty, but specifically we're
(12:59):
highlighting uh civic center.
And shout out to Eric, he doesan awesome job.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (13:03):
He does, he really does.
Yeah, he's had weddings, barmitzvahs, bot mitzpas, yeah,
retirement ceremonies, churchreligious events, all kinds of
things there.
Derek Ross (13:14):
Yeah, it's it's and Sarah, thank you for that
question too.
Because I mean it I know Ramonacould have gone any other way.
She could have said anyfacility that she wanted, but
Civic Building is an awesomefacility.
But before we jump down andkeep going, and thank you for
bringing that up too.
Uh, so when we were chatting alittle bit on the sidelines,
Emily brought up one.
I I missed a few.
I missed a few in regards toanything emergency related.
(13:35):
Is there something that Imissed?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (13:36):
Yeah, we just wanted to uh just let
everybody know, the listenersknow, that you can sign up for
uh weather alerts and otheremergency alerts through Alert
Montgomery.
So that's always a really goodtool to use.
Uh if they'll send you a text,uh if you sign up for text or an
email, and they will let youknow if things are closed within
the county.
They'll let you know if there'sa thunderstorm on the way and
(13:56):
you need to, you know, gosomewhere, take, you know, hide
or do whatever you need to do.
So that's uh always a reallygood um tool to use.
And it'll also uh obviouslyhelp you know whether or not
things are happening.
So if schools open, uh not,childcare is open, not.
So that's always good to have.
Derek Ross (14:14):
Yeah, that's always good.
And thank you for that, Emily,too.
There's so many, what is it?
I guess it's your your cup oftea, wherever you want to go to
get your information and get theemergencies and the news.
But the county has some greatresources as well, too.
You know, the it's MontgomeryCounty has some resources too as
well.
So going down the line, goingdown the line, let's get into
it.
I mean, we did talk about,we're talking about a little bit
of the community engagement andsharing experiences.
(14:36):
And I and I know we have, Ihave Sarah here with me, and I
say I have Sarah here with mebecause we we were able to bond
over a couple different uhthings that we've done in our
past or stuff that we've donecurrently and all that stuff.
And we're gonna talk aboutAmeriCorps, our AmeriCorps
experiences.
We're not gonna go deep intoit, but I would probably say my
AmeriCorps experience, I did twodifferent terms, uh, one doing
(14:57):
playworks and another doing umpublic allies.
Uh both programs were more orless leadership programs.
One was working in a school fora year, the other one was a
10-month leadership program, andall both were in DC, but those
programs really helped meunderstand a little bit more
about myself, probably what Ican and can't do, or what I
should understand more about whoI should ask.
You know, I think I've learneda lot about thinking what I can
(15:21):
do and more or lessunderstanding that there's a
team, there's a community andstuff like that.
And I think America helped meunderstand that, you know, you
can try to do what yourself.
You can go and find out thehard way that you probably want
to understand how to link upwith people and do stuff.
But that's how I was able tokind of connect the dots with my
experience.
This to kind of shorten it alittle bit, to say from a
communication standpoint, Istarted to understand that how
(15:42):
you get out there and do someoutreach and stuff like that is
that you gotta get out there.
That's that's the only way Iwas able to kind of get that,
get out there and do some stufflike that.
But I want to give a shout outto AmeriCorps being an alum.
I also don't want to put toomuch time on it, but I'll bounce
it to Sarah before we getaround because I would love to
hear everybody's timelines andstuff like that.
But Sarah, I know we talkedabout AmeriCorp, but I know
you've done other stuff too.
Sarah Hoffman (16:02):
But please.
So yeah, I'm also a proudAmeriCorps alum.
I did three previous programswith AmeriCorps.
They're yeah, they're alleducation related.
So I did um one calledGeneration Teach.
They are like a um teachingfellowship, but they run like a
summer, like Steam camp formiddle school students, and they
(16:23):
have different programs aroundthe country.
That was a great experience.
Then I went on to do amentorship program in Columbus,
Ohio, working with like fifthand sixth graders, doing like
one-on-one mentorships.
And then I did sit mostrecently, I did Cityer in DC,
which is also like a nationalorganization, but they have uh
locations throughout thecountry.
(16:44):
And yeah, those were just Ilearned so much from all three
of those experiences.
Like I definitely can't evensummarize all the things that I
learned, both like about myself,like my values, the kind of
work that I enjoy, but also justabout the about each of the
communities that I worked in andjust the different issues and
(17:06):
assets that these communitiesare facing, especially working
with youth, was veryenlightening about things that
are impacting their lives that Ieven being a young person
myself that I haven't thoughtthat much about.
Um, and I just feel like myexperiences they inform
everything I do and you know thepath I took for my education
(17:28):
and the jobs that I choose andthe kind of work that I hope to
do in the future.
So it, those are very valuableexperiences for me.
And I'm like a big advocate foryoung people like getting
involved at Americor.
I think it's a really great wayto like give back to
communities, but again, like wealready mentioned, like get the
um experience and learn aboutyourself and the path that you
(17:49):
want to take in the future.
So yeah.
Derek Ross (17:50):
Absolutely.
Fist bump on that fist bump.
Blah doubt.
There we go.
There is some love in the room,love in the room.
As I bounce around, Ramona, I'mgonna save you for last.
Cause I know Ramona, you got 35years.
You got so much experience, butwe're going to save you for
last.
But you know, Emily, Emily, Iknow we we've talked a lot about
some of the work you've done inthe community, but share with
the world what you've done.
(18:10):
Share it.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (18:12):
Well, before I share it, I wanna um I
mentioned to Sarah a littleearlier, but she's such an
amazing person.
She's such an amazing uh youngwoman.
And it's just it's awesome tojust be in her presence, just to
hear her speak.
This is, I just have so muchhope for the future for
humanity, and this is justawesome.
(18:32):
I'm just really happy that youwere with us.
Um, but as far as my experiencein terms of community uh work
and community outreach, uhRamona mentioned it, I think, in
our last uh episode that werecorded that I worked with HHS
for almost 10 years.
And that first half, uh, I didcommunity outreach work um with
(18:53):
Street Outreach Network, and Iworked uh with young people for,
like I said, almost 10 years.
And I ran a rites of passageprogram for uh young women,
which was amazing.
Uh, and we did somethingsimilar.
I mentioned it before.
You guys do highs and lows, andwe used to do roses and thorns.
Uh so that was pretty cool,pretty neat.
(19:14):
Uh, and then I worked withchild welfare for um maybe like
five-ish years, and I did a lotof community uh support there.
I did some parent education.
Um, I worked closely with thekids that were in foster care,
and uh it just I think it takesa special type of person to work
with people.
And we're really fortunate toon our team here at CUF, we have
(19:36):
people that have a lot ofexperience with people.
Uh, and it shows because wetake really good care of our
community and we really careabout what we do and all of the,
you know, even though we putsome boundaries up, we have a
lot of rules.
We were talking about Fulasbefore, we're talking a whole
bunch of, you know, other stuff.
Uh, we have a group of peoplehere that really care for their
(19:57):
community.
And, you know, I'm reallygrateful to have the opportunity
to work alongside Derek too onsome of our community outreach
stuff that we've done, ourevents.
Uh, we're very, very excited.
This is just, I I love talkingto people, so that's kind of my
strong uh, you know, point.
And and I'm just super exciteduh for what's to come.
(20:19):
So we'll see.
We'll pass it back to Ramona.
Derek Ross (20:22):
Yeah, Ramona.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (20:24):
So you're interested in background?
Is that what you're interestedin?
I was so enthralled by thestories, I was just enjoying
listening to Sarah and Emilytalk about their past.
Derek Ross (20:36):
I I love it.
I love it.
I know that this it's just somuch.
It's just so much.
It's so much.
I don't know if it's tailoredlike that, but that's some of
the information that we get out.
And I know that when we'vetalked about stuff in the past
too, I'm always interested.
Like when I've gone in youroffice, even though your office
is kind of empty right nowbecause you're retired, I put it
out there like that.
But when your office was fullof all of these paintings and
(20:56):
different frameworks and stufflike that, I was like, Ramon,
what is that?
What is that?
What is that?
So I'm always intrigued tohear.
I know you've talked about itbefore, but I think a lot of
that work that I've seen or thatyou've talked about, it it it I
see it when I talk to you as adirector.
I'm like, I I I see it.
Now, I don't know if I'm rightor wrong, but I would love to
know is there something about itthat has shaped you as a
director?
Like you've been doing this,you've been in a game, Ramon.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:19):
Well, you know, I started in high school
being interested in communityservice.
I they started a uh crisishelpline when I was probably a
sophomore in high school.
And by my junior year, I wasvolunteering.
And by the end of the junioryear, I was like on by myself,
you know, because it was hard toget people to work shifts.
And I ended up doing theweekend shifts because nobody
(21:42):
else wanted to do them.
And you're in there, you'repretty much by yourself, locked
in the building for safety.
Um, and and I learned a lotabout myself in in talking to
people.
And the main thing I learnedwas people just want to be
heard.
Um, even if they're they'rethreatening to do harm to
themselves or others, or ifthey're um in a mental health
(22:04):
crisis, or if they're whichisn't synonymous, those things
are, you know, collaborative orwhatever.
Um, if you listen to them,you'll learn a lot and you'll
help a lot.
And then I moved from there andand after college, I went into
law enforcement, which again wasan opportunity to work with the
community as the way I saw it.
I knew I wanted to go to lawschool, so I had only planned to
(22:25):
do that for a couple of years.
And I did do it for a couple ofyears as a Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation special agentcriminal investigator.
Derek Ross (22:32):
What?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (22:32):
So it wasn't uniformed, it was
undercover, it was uh whitecollar crime, just you know, a
lot of we were talking beforeabout trigger pull, and I was
saying I used to have toexercise my hands to make sure
my finger was strong enough topull the trigger uh when we had
to qualify every few months orso.
Um, but then I went to lawschool, which is where I had
(22:53):
intended from probably highschool on.
And I didn't have a specificarea, except I knew I didn't
want to do criminal law becauseI had been working in criminal
law for a few years at thatpoint in law enforcement.
And then I ended up first withthe Federal Election Commission
because I was a politicalscience major and undergrad.
And I thought politics was justso amazing and the way it
(23:16):
changes the country and howeveryone has a voice.
And then I really saw the dirtyside and said no.
Uh so then I ended up um inlitigation, which I really did
enjoy.
And I did that for severalyears, first with the federal
government, going from umcircuit court to circuit court,
arguing for the Social SecurityAdministration.
(23:37):
And then I went to countygovernment and did litigation
there and represented the schoolboard and the teachers and
police officers and board ofeducation and just a lot of
different clients.
And then I ended up inmanagement, and that's how I got
here.
Speaker 03 (23:53):
Wow.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (23:53):
Um, so all of those things I had a common
thread, I think, and that wascommunity service.
Um, I think when you work for agovernment, you don't just do
it because it gives you a achance to have a life, because
it does.
You you pretty much have a nineto five for the most part, but
you also have to be dedicated ifyou stay with it.
(24:14):
And you have to want to workwith your community and hear
them and and and understand themand try to service them.
Because I'm a public servant.
Derek Ross (24:22):
Yeah, yeah.
Wow, wow.
And you know what?
It's great.
We've talked about it before,and I think we've heard about it
even from the retiring party aswell, too.
And you were, I guess we'vebeen getting some more
information about Ramon.
We know we didn't know that.
We didn't know that.
But it's it's it says a lot.
It says a lot.
And I kind of felt that whenwe've talked before many, many
moons ago, about some stuff likethat.
And I got an idea of like a lotof the work you were doing it
(24:44):
that you did in the past too.
And I I never got, I can neverget over that, all that extra
work you were doing with thepolice and stuff like that.
I was like, what?
That is intense, intense.
But as always, thank you,everybody.
Thank you for sharing.
You know, I know I think Emily,we can go into this even more
later on because we've we'vetalked about stuff like this for
forever, forever.
But as we continue on, let'slet's let's see if we can get
(25:05):
back on track.
You know what?
Sarah, I think uh what whatwhat is your last day?
Sarah Hoffman (25:11):
My last day is next Friday, the 8th of August.
Derek Ross (25:14):
8th of August.
So that means compared to usdoing this show or this podcast
episode and now, so it'spossibility Sarah may not be
here.
Well, I won't say it like that.
Sarah would not be around forthe podcast.
So Sarah.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (25:28):
She'll be here.
She'll be with us.
Yes, thank you.
Derek Ross (25:30):
Thank you.
You you saw what I did.
I was like, well, I don't wantto say it like that.
Because it was in any way,Sarah, Sarah, you know, we I I
do believe in giving flowers.
And I do believe that, youknow, we're all here, you know,
we're enjoying this momenttogether.
But thank you so much.
Thank you so much for all thework you're doing.
Thank you.
I mean, you're still here,technically, right now.
We have a few more days, youknow, that you know, we're going
(25:50):
to get stuff done.
But the work that we've beenable to accomplish now, what
we're going to continue to workon even from a sustainability
standpoint, best believe it wasmuch appreciated.
And it will be used.
I don't want you to thinkyou're just going to do your
work and roll on out and it'sjust going to be put in a file
cabinet and get dusty.
Uh I'm going to make thatpromise to you that it will not
be.
It won't get dusty.
We're going to take that work.
But thank you so much.
(26:10):
Thank you so much for all thatyou've done.
That is me talking greatlyabout you.
I want to keep talking aboutyou, but I feel like I'm the
only one in here with the waterwork's about to come.
So, Ramona, is there anythingyou would like to say about
Sarah?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (26:21):
I would like to say thank you to Sarah.
Uh, thank you for selectingCUPF because you did have
choices.
Um, thank you for working ashard as you did.
We are still in the formativestage in terms of how much and
what kind and where and what wewill do as far as outreach goes.
It's not an easy topic.
Some people think, I'll justput some stuff out there or blog
(26:41):
it or you know, get a socialmedia page.
It's not that easy, as you wellknow.
And uh, you did really goodwork for demographics with us to
help us understand where to dooutreach and how to do it.
You did good work documentingthings that we probably already
had in existence somewhere, butbecause it wasn't in an
intelligible state, we weren'tactually using it.
(27:02):
So I do appreciate all youreffort and I wish you all the
best in your coming ventures.
And um, I don't won't sayadventures, I'll say ventures.
Um, because that suggestsmoney.
Never thought about it likethat.
Yeah, yeah, that's the way Ithink of it.
So I I think you will um be asuccess at whatever you want to
(27:23):
do.
Sarah Hoffman (27:23):
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Um, yeah, it's been a reallygreat summer.
Went by really fast, but it'sI've really learned a lot
through this experience.
I think something that I'vereally appreciated, both like
during my time with CUPF, butalso like the research project
that we each had to do asfellows was just the opportunity
to be able to connect with likedifferent people in the county
(27:46):
government.
So obviously with CUPF, likeworking with everyone in the
office and talking with them.
And through like the fellowprogram, we've had the
opportunity to like chat with abunch of the council members,
which has been really amazing,and to ask them questions and
learn more about sort of theirjourneys to public service.
And then for our researchproject, we've each had the
opportunity to like interviewdifferent people in the
(28:09):
communities that can provide usguidance on our research.
And so I feel like within thesepast like eight weeks, I've
built a sort of like network ofall these people that I've been
able to talk to and reach outto.
And like that's definitelysomething that I feel like happy
and like proud about that I canlike walk away with at the end
of these 10 weeks and definitelylike gonna be looking to
(28:30):
Montgomery Gaunty for likefuture opportunities, maybe.
Um, so yeah, it's just beenreally great.
And I'm I'm very like gratefulto be to have been placed in
CUPF to be able to work with allof you guys.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (28:42):
Thank you.
Derek Ross (28:43):
Oh, thank you, thank you so much.
So I dear, I have to tell astory.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (28:47):
Yes, school is starting, right?
Um, I'm originally fromTennessee.
And I have a great nephew whostarted first grade yesterday.
He had his little sign.
I got a picture of him with asign on said his name, said
first grade.
He gets to the school, andapparently they have this
process where you roll up withyour child in the car and the
teacher opens the door to greetthe kid and then takes them into
(29:09):
the school.
Well, my nephew's name is Jace.
So the car pulls up, he'sgetting out, the teacher, and he
looks her in the eye and hesays, You know, I still can't
read.
And she said, That's okay.
We're gonna teach you.
And he was like, Well, okay.
Like, like, you know, he'stelling her, setting those
(29:29):
expectations from the beginning.
But that's the way Jace is.
He's like a, you know, aboutthe facts, just the facts, man,
type kid.
Derek Ross (29:36):
I like that.
I like that.
I mean, okay, okay.
I'm I'm with you on it.
I'm with you.
I like that.
I like okay, okay.
Emily, I I mean you've you'vebeen speaking so highly of Sarah
and we appreciate it so much.
Is there anything you wouldlike to say one more time or
you're good to go?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (29:51):
No, I just wanted to say she's a major
trailblazer.
This is like uh if you haven'talready.
Please follow her journeybecause I'm sure she's going to
do amazing, amazing things.
Uh, so I I'm like we said,we're super fortunate to have
had you uh, you know, with usfor the summer.
You're all the research andstuff that you did, invaluable,
(30:14):
like completely just amazingwork.
It's gonna help us major,majorly.
Uh and yeah, I mean, I I thinkeverybody has said some pretty
amazing things.
I don't know that I can say toomuch more.
They took all the words for me.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
Derek Ross (30:30):
But we're going to talk about a big update that
just recently happened.
Well, wouldn't say recently,Ramona, I guess it happened
what, months ago a little bit.
Um, but the PTA, PTSA changesregarding priority use and dates
and how you reserve in schoolsand stuff like that.
But Ramon, I'll bounce it backto you.
Like I know we've done it andit was part of the whole fee
structured stuff like that, butplease jump into it a little bit
(30:52):
more just in case, because Iknow it's a tough topic, but an
interesting one.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (30:55):
It is.
Um, and and I think it it mightuh confuse the community a
little bit.
But the uh Parent TeachersAssociation, um, PTA, PTSA, is
an organization that ispartnered with Montgomery County
Public Schools.
They do a service to theschools because they provide
forums for the parents,information for the parents,
they support the students byhaving fundraisers and different
(31:17):
activities.
They are informational sources,um, all types of resources that
fully support the educationalcomponent that schools have.
Because they're partnered withschools, we had the
understanding from MCPS thatthey wanted to facilitate their
use of the facilities as much aspossible so that they would
have the ability to do all ofthe outreach and the things that
(31:40):
I just mentioned.
On that vein, a when we did thefee schedule, we reorganized
locations and how groups are puttogether and established fees
based on the placement of thosegroups.
One of those groups that wasput into a category as a
partnership agreement with uhMCPS was PTAs.
And those PTAs in thatpartnership are now entitled to
(32:03):
have free use of facilities.
When we say free use, free isnot necessarily free.
Speaker 03 (32:09):
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (32:09):
Because with any entity, if you have
free use of a facility, youstill have to pay if staff are
needed, if cleanup is needed, ifa security is needed, any
incidental, if you needaudiovisual, you need a media
specialist, all of those thingscome with additional fees.
Those fees are not waived.
Okay.
It's the fee for the facility.
So that's where the support ofPTA comes in because the average
(32:34):
PTA meeting doesn't needadditional support.
Um so it it would be a freeventure for them to just have a
PTA meeting, but they often haveother things.
They have fundraiser events,they have activities, and when
they do that, they do incurthose additional fees.
Derek Ross (32:49):
Wow.
Wow.
And Emily, I know you're heretoo, and we're talking about
PTAs and PTSAs.
Is there anything that you wantto jump in, especially from the
child care angle and stuff likethat?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (32:58):
Um, so if you check on our website, uh
you'd be able to see our list ofpriority users, I would say.
Uh so the first on the top ofthe list is obviously MCPS for
MCPS use.
So if the school has use withinif there's like a play or
something going on, they couldobviously book their own school
(33:18):
or use their own space.
And then comes child care.
So child care, that's beforeand after uh school, sometimes
during admin days, and thencomes PTAs, PTSAs.
Uh and one important thing thatwe want to just continue to say
is that if you need to reservea space within a school, you
(33:41):
have to do it through ourwebsite, through CUPF.
You can either call us, you canemail us, you can put it
through Active Montgomery.
And then PTAs would basically,I don't know if Ramona mentioned
this uh just now or not, but umwould then go back to the
school and figure out a paymentplan with the school.
So the school will book thespace for the PTA typically, or
they'll request, uh, and thenthe PTA will have an agreement
(34:03):
with the school in terms of howthey're gonna pay for the space
or anything like that.
But it's really important to ummake sure you book the space
online because then we know thatthe space is uh reserved and we
don't give that reservation tosomebody else or we don't book
child care or somebody in thatspace uh when they need it.
And typically, if let's say oneof my childcare uh providers is
(34:24):
in the space that a PTA needs,uh, they can just call CUPF or
email CUPF and say, hey, we havesomething going on.
We have a big event going on,we need the gym space from I
don't know, five to eight.
Uh we're very easy to, youknow, move things around and we
really work with um whoeverneeds the the space.
We really try to get everybodyin to make sure that they can
(34:45):
run their event.
And that's just as easy asmoving childcare to another
space, so another classroom,another, maybe the gym or
something like that.
But yeah, we just ask foreverybody to please reserve
using our online format.
Derek Ross (34:58):
Okay, okay.
Sarah, I could bounce it backto you before we close out about
anything PTA or PTSAs oranything in regards to priority
usage.
And I know, Emily, thank youfor that too, about breaking
down the priority use and how itgoes for CUPF like that.
But is there anything from yourangle, Sarah, as well?
Sarah Hoffman (35:13):
Yeah, I think um, I mean, something that I've you
know have learned um throughthis summer looking at some of
like the facilities and um theirsort of their usage is like a
lot of times it's these priorityuses that um impact whether or
not like a space is available ornot or whether they're being
(35:33):
utilized.
So there are certain spaces inthe county where when we like
initially looked at the the likeusage data, um, we thought that
maybe oh, they'reunderutilized.
But um upon like further, likeyou know, we look at the data a
little more and think about whatthe facilities are, figured out
that oh, it's just it's becausethey are being utilized for
(35:54):
sort of these like prioritythings.
So whether that's like theschools using them for storage
or it's like aftercare space.
Um so yeah, it can impact likesort of like which facilities
are more available and have moretimes open.
So that's something toconsider, like when looking at
what's available inreservations.
Derek Ross (36:12):
That was spot on.
Boy, she's learned a lot,hasn't she?
Well, you said 10, you may hit10 weeks.
You made 35 years, right?
Because that sounded like aRamona answer.
35 years of the world.
Well, you know, we're gonnaclose out this show.
We're gonna close it out.
We we've spent some good timeon it.
You know, we try to bounce in alittle comedy, a little some,
some, some, some realness inregards to PTA, PTSAs, and
(36:35):
everything else and ourexperiences.
We try to give you a little bitof some of everything.
But Ramona, I think we're justgonna close it out and we're
gonna, you know, give a shoutout to our Summerfellow.
You know, you know, why not?
Why not?
You know, why not?
Sarah's here.
So why not?
Why not call y'all while you'rehere?
But thank you so much, Sarah,once again, for all of the work
that you're doing, you continueto do, and we wish you so much,
so much success.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen,everybody in the world that
(36:57):
you're listening to it, yes, weare gonna continue to give
flowers and love because it'sthe only right thing that we can
do as we continue to um givesupport to so many different
people.
But Ramona, I'll start off withyou because I I really want to
hear your your last last.
Is this your last last?
He keeps saying that, right?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (37:14):
Like as if saying it will make it not be
true or something.
Derek Ross (37:18):
Oh, okay.
But please, Ramona, your lastbefore I get around everybody, I
want to hear your last, last.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (37:27):
Well, I don't know.
We've been doing these for awhile now, and I've really
enjoyed it.
I appreciate the fact that youtook it upon yourself to look at
things that we needed and getit started.
Um, we've been talking foryears about doing podcasts and
getting on social media, and itdidn't happen.
It happened under you, and Iwant to thank you for that.
I think that you are a goodsteward to leave all of this in
(37:50):
your hands.
And I feel very confident thatCUPF is going to continue to be
more successful, open,available, which is what we
want.
Um, so thank you for doing thatand for giving us uh a voice
and a face that I think peopleenjoy and that will be
successful in communicating ourmessage.
Derek Ross (38:10):
Thank you.
Thank you.
I I I'll take that and run withit and say thank you so much.
I I appreciate it.
Uh, I like I said, I'velearned, I've learned, you know,
with connecting the dots,community and engagement.
I have learned through mywicked ways, Ramona, that I need
to communicate and talk.
And and I have Emily here andSarah's here.
And it's like, I cannot blockthis greatness.
I can't block all of thisawesomeness that's happening
(38:31):
with CUPF right now.
So I just wanted to say thankyou, thank you.
But who do we go to?
Emily.
Last words, you just want toclose out this show.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (38:42):
Uh, just piggybacking on Ramona, I
you don't get a lot of flowerson this show.
Uh, so I want to give them toeverybody here.
Um, but Ramona's heard myflowers a little bit, and
Sarah's heard my flowers alittle bit.
And just to give your flowers,uh, you your flowers, Derek, you
have done an amazing job atgathering us, like as a whole
(39:05):
unit, uh, and just, you know,sparking this movement of
getting connected to thecommunity and really just
engaging uh in a different waythat's more effective, that's
fun, that's lighthearted attimes, which is wonderful.
Because, you know, in in theworld that we live in today, we
need a voice and a person likeyou, Derek, that can really just
(39:27):
bring light uh to what we do.
So I'm very grateful that I'mhere uh on the podcast, but I'm
also super grateful that I havethe opportunity to work with
you.
So it's not well.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:37):
And she'll be back, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
Derek Ross (39:39):
I mean, I'm I'm trying to keep throwing Ramona.
We need to do a better job oftelling Emily you got to come
back.
You gotta come back.
You're not good.
I'll be back.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:49):
I'll be back.
Derek Ross (39:50):
You're gonna be back?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:51):
Yeah, I'll be back.
Derek Ross (39:51):
Yeah, like Arnold will be.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:53):
She can even do an episode in Spanish.
Derek Ross (39:55):
Oh, yes, that's what we want.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (39:57):
That's what we need to do.
Maybe, maybe we yeah, maybeanyway.
We will we'll we'll do it.
You and Vanessa could couldteam each other.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Derek Ross (40:06):
Ramona's because that's because you're not
leaving, right?
Because this is that was a goodidea.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (40:09):
Ramona will be here for the no, I'm
just kidding.
Derek Ross (40:11):
She's not gonna be exactly in spirit, yeah.
In spirit, in spirit, inspirit, Sarah, Sarah.
So technically, this isRamona's last last time.
Is Sarah's last last time?
Did you have any last, lastwords?
Sarah Hoffman (40:26):
I think, yeah, my last words.
I think uh, I mean, topiggyback off of Emily, I think
just thank you, Derek, for likereally great summer.
I learned a lot about likeworking in county government,
but also just likecommunications, outreach,
thinking of new ideas to likepresent and like advertise
information, because this isdefinitely not something that I
(40:48):
have like as much experience in,I would say, at least the
communication sides of things.
So it's been really great likeworking with you.
And like I couldn't have askedfor a better supervisor.
You're really great in like,you know, giving me freedom to
choose what I wanted to do, butalso offering support and like
giving suggestions and feedbackand like being able to come on
the podcast has like definitelybeen a highlight of the summer.
(41:09):
So yeah, just thank you for areally great experience.
Derek Ross (41:12):
What C, see, see, see what I feel like I got
flipped back on me, but thankyou so much.
Thank you so much.
Once again, we we've done agreat job with all that we
continue to do as a team.
We have so many people flippingin this room as well as we
record, but there is also anindividual in here named Cell,
also part of the county as well,too, has been helping us as
well.
So we're just gonna keep givingflowers out.
(41:33):
We have a lot of things comingalong.
CUPF has done a great job, ourleadership has done a great job.
So we're gonna hold strong.
Sustainability is going in.
Emily's not going anywhere.
You're probably coming backagain.
So thank you again, everybody.
Thank you so much.
And check in.
We have a lot more we're gonnatalk about, and we hope, we
hope, we hope the community isgonna keep on listening and
enjoying it.
But thank you so much.
Thank you.
Announcer (41:54):
This podcast is brought to you by County Cable
Montgomery, your source for newsand information from the
Montgomery County government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube
by searching for County CableMoco.
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