1.1 The Intro.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of "We Are Randolph. This Is Our Story."—a podcast dedicated to shining a spotlight on the unique history, vibrant community, and exceptional achievements of Randolph Field Independent School District. In this first episode, Amanda Bauer, the newly appointed Director of Community Engagement and Public Relations, takes us on a journey through her nineteen-year career within RFISD. From teaching English to becoming Vice Principal and now taking on this new role, Amanda's passion for the district and its community is palpable.

This episode is rich with anecdotes and historical tidbits that paint a vivid picture of Randolph Field ISD's evolution, as well as the unique history and structure of the district. One of the standout features of Randolph Field ISD is its location on Randolph Air Force Base in Universal City, Texas. Established in 1932, the school district has a rich history that Amanda delves into, highlighting the establishment of the elementary school and the later addition of the secondary campus in 1962. 

Throughout the episode, Amanda emphasizes the importance of community input and encourages listeners to share their ideas, questions, and suggestions for future episodes. She is committed to making the podcast a collaborative effort that reflects the diverse voices and experiences within Randolph Field ISD. 

Each episode will feature special guests, Randolph trivia, and opportunities for listeners to win exclusive swag. This interactive element aims to foster a sense of belonging and engagement among students, staff, parents, alumni, and community members. 

Tune in the third Wednesday of every month to hear riveting conversations, fascinating Randolph trivia, and stories that celebrate the heart of Randolph Field ISD. There's something for everyone in this podcast, so please join Amanda Bauer on this exciting journey as she shares the stories and achievements that make Randolph Field Independent School District truly extraordinary.

Send us a text to tell us what you think, ask a question, or suggest a topic for a future episode! Although this system does not allow us to respond to messages, we will read each one! : - )

Episode Transcript

Amanda Bauer (00:01):
Welcome to the official podcast of Randolph
Field Independent SchoolDistrict.
We are Randolph.
This is our story.
Tune in on the third Wednesdayof each month and join our host,
Amanda Bauer, Director ofCommunity Engagement and Public
Relations, as she visits withspecial guests from the Randolph
community, and don't miss theRandolph trivia portion of each

(00:22):
episode.
We've got cool swag and itcould be yours.
Subscribe, download, share anddefinitely listen as we tell our
story.
Okay, well, this is technically, I guess, our first episode.

(00:58):
It's just me today.
Our actual first episode willdebut once school has officially
started, but I decided to goahead and make an episode to
kind of really just try it outand see how to do it.
I have never done a podcastbefore, but I am super excited
about the opportunity to do thisfor Randolph Field ISD.
My name is Amanda Bauer and mynew title is Director of

(01:21):
Community Engagement and PublicRelations for the district.
I have spent well, my wholecareer has been at Randolph.
This will be my 19th year ineducation and my 19th year at
Randolph.
I started my journey here atRandolph as a high school
English teacher and loved that.
I did that for eight years.
My first four years of it Itaught English 2, and my second

(01:43):
four years of it, I taughtEnglish 3, English 4, and
English 4 AP, along with a lotof other electives in the mix.
During those years I alsosponsored student council,
National Honor Society all kindsof activities.
I loved being involved in somany different student
organizations when I was ateacher.
It was really a great way tohave an impact on the campus.

(02:06):
After my eight years in theclassroom, I moved into a
position as an administrator atthe secondary campus, so most
recently some of you may know meas the vice principal from the
secondary school.
As a vice principal, I enjoyedgetting to still connect with
students and parents and othercommunity members, but when this

(02:26):
opportunity came for this newrole, as this community
engagement public relationspiece of the puzzle that I think
Randolph hasn't had previously,I was just thrilled to have the
opportunity.
I am very much pro-Randolph andI'm excited to get to share our
stories.
As you know, the title of thepodcast is We Are Randolph.

(02:49):
This Is Our Story, and my goalis to have a variety of guests
on the show throughout ourseason and hopefully get to let
them share their stories andwhat they love about Randolph,
but also to let our listenersget to know some of the
important members of ourRandolph community.
So that's what I'm lookingforward to.

(03:11):
For those of you who are notsuper familiar with Randolph, we
are Randolph Field IndependentSchool District, so we are
located on Randolph Air ForceBase in Universal City, Texas.
We are a public school district.
A lot of people think we arepart of the Department of
Defense DOD school, but we arenot.
We are an independent schooldistrict on Randolph Air Force

(03:31):
Base, so it's a little differentthan a regular school district
in that sense.
But we are not Department ofDefense.
Our school district is highlysought after.
We think we're pretty great andhopefully this podcast helps
those who aren't here learn alittle bit more about us.
The school district was actuallyestablished in 1932.
Originally it just includedRandolph Elementary School, but

(03:53):
eventually there was a need fora secondary campus, and so I'm
actually looking.
As I talk right now I have thefirst edition of the Randolph
High School yearbook called theTalon.
It's the issue from the veryfirst year that the secondary
campus was open, which was1962-1963.
And the first little article onone of these early pages says

(04:17):
on September 5th 1962, the doorsof Randolph High School were
opened to its first students.
This was made possible by thegenerosity of the Air Force in
leasing one of their unusedbuildings and granting help in
renovating it into an adequateschool.
After 18 months of planning,construction of the new Randolph
High School began on February1st 1962, and it was completed

(04:38):
in the spring of 1963.
So the first graduating classof Randolph High School in the
spring of 1963.
So the first graduating classof Randolph High School was the
class of 1963.
So that's when it wasestablished, and we've been
going strong ever since.
Things have changed a little bitover the years.
We used to have a lot morehousing on base, and so our
on-base students automaticallygo to our schools.

(04:59):
We're their neighborhoodschools, just like any other
neighborhood that has schoolswithin their boundaries.
We are the neighborhood schoolof anybody who lives on Randolph
Air Force Base.
As I mentioned, there used tobe more base housing, so we used
to have higher numbers ofon-base students.
Now, though, our on-basehousing has decreased.

(05:21):
There is still some on-basehousing, so those students
automatically go to our schools,but many of our students are
what we call transfer studentsnow, and so transfer students
are students who have some typeof military affiliation but do
not live on base.
So they might be the childrenof active-duty military members
who live off-base, be thechildren of active duty military

(05:43):
members who live off base, orthey may be the children of
civilian parents who work onbase and live off base.
But regardless of theirconnection, if they don't live
on base they have to apply as atransfer student.
So that applies to ourelementary school, our middle
school and our high school.
Now, these days we are stillthree separate campuses.

(06:04):
However, Randolph SecondarySchools is kind of the umbrella
over Randolph Middle School andRandolph High School.
The middle school and highschool have one set of
administration, so technicallyit's one campus, but we do still
keep them called RandolphMiddle School and Randolph High
School.
We also, of course, have ourwonderful elementary school,
home of the Thunderbirds.
The secondary campus, middleschool and high school is home

(06:26):
of the Ro-Hawks, and I would beremiss if I didn't at least give
a little moment to the Ro-Hawk.
What is a Ro-Hawk?
We get that question a lot whenpeople are new to Randolph and
they see our t-shirts or theysee our mascot at an athletic
event or some type of activityand they find out that we are
the Ro-Hawks.
Many, many times I've beenasked what in the world is a

(06:49):
Ro-Hawk?
So no introductory podcastepisode would be complete
without a little bit ofinformation about that.
So what is a Ro-Hawk?
A Ro-Hawk is a hawk riding arocket and very key point the
hawk is also carrying alightning bolt in his talon.

(07:10):
So a Ro-Hawk is a hawk riding arocket holding a lightning bolt
.
Ro-Hawk is short for rockethawk.
So we are the Randolph Ro-Hawksat the middle school and the
high school, and then, of course, the Thunderbirds at the
elementary school is a tie in tothe famous United States Air
Force Thunderbirds, as I recallI've heard this story a few

(07:32):
times over the years, as Irecall the way that they picked
the Ro-Hawks.
The time that the school wasbuilt in the 60s, space
exploration was very big and sooriginally Randolph wanted to be
the Randolph Rockets.
However, judson ISD, just downthe road, had claimed that
mascot not too long before, andso of course Randolph couldn't

(07:56):
also be the Rockets, so theybecame the Rocket Hawks,
Ro-Hawks, which I think is acute story.
I always have enjoyed that andexplaining what it is to our new
Randolph community members overthe years.
So that's a little bit ofbackground information about our
district.
It's a very special place and Ithink my goal in this podcast
is to share some of the storiesthat our community members might

(08:20):
not get an opportunity to hearotherwise, and I'm looking
forward to sharing andconnecting with various
community members.
I have a whole list of specialguests already scheduled for our
inaugural season and I'm hopingthat it goes as well as I'm
anticipating that it will.

(08:41):
I think anytime you startsomething new, it's a learning
process and a work in progress,naturally, but I'm excited.
I would love input from thecommunity.
If you have ideas, things thatyou want me to talk about on the
podcast, questions that you'vealways wondered about, Randolph
ideas for special guests,anything really, I'd love to

(09:04):
hear from you.
You can reach me at my schoolemail address, which you can
find on our webpage, and Ireally would love to hear from
you.
I'm also going to have aspecial segment on each episode
not this first one, of course,because this is just kind of our
practice episode with just meand some background information
to share, but I'm going to havea Randolph trivia portion of

(09:26):
each podcast episode and I dohave some very cool podcast swag
on the way and it could beyours.
If you know the answers, I'llgive instructions on how to send
in your answers and how I'll beselecting the winners.
But I'd give instructions onhow to send in your answers and
how I'll be selecting thewinners.
But I'd love for you guys toparticipate in that.
This is for anyone students,parents, alumni, community

(09:48):
members, anybody related toRandolph.
We want you guys to getinvolved and we'd love to hear
your story.
So I will be sharing someopportunities as we continue on,
for ways to share your storyand help me share your story.
So please stay tuned for that.
And again, if you ever haveideas, questions, thoughts,
really anything related toRandolph, please don't hesitate

(10:10):
to reach out.
I look forward to seeing youguys out and about at our
various activities on our threecampuses.
Please tell your friends, tellformer students, tell current
students, tell all the parents,tell all the people.
We want a good listenership anda good participation, so we'll
look forward to it.
We are Randolph.
This is our story.
Thank you for tuning in today.

(10:38):
If you have an idea, questionor trivia suggestion for a
future episode, please reach outto Amanda Bauer via email.
Come back to listen againanytime.
New episodes release on thethird Wednesday of each month
and, as always, thank you to ourguests, past, present and
future, our listeners and theentire Randolph community.
Remember we are Randolph, thisis our story.