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May 9, 2024 17 mins

Welcome to Affton Unplugged, the podcast that takes you into the heart of the Affton School District by highlighting the individuals and narratives that form this remarkable learning community. For our latest episode, we turn our attention to National Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week, devoting the entirety of this special edition to appreciating and recognizing the excellent work of our teachers.

For the most comprehensive insight, we hear directly from our students. From the youngsters at Mesnier Primary School to the mature voices at Affton High School, all students were eager to share their views on their teachers. Responses beautifully encapsulate the enthusiasm, affection, and respect teachers inspire daily.

Our younger students expressed their love and appreciation for their teachers widely. Words like 'kind,' 'fun,' 'helpful,' and 'nice' were frequently used to describe teachers who made learning enjoyable and engaging for them.

Moving up to Gotsch Intermediate School, students fondly spoke about the flexibility and generosity offered to them by their teachers. They mentioned the varied teaching strategies and learning activities, teachers' willingness to answer questions and provide ample time for task completion, the extra recess, and the unforgettable field trips!

At Rogers Middle School, the appreciation for teachers jumped up a notch, with students expressing gratitude for teachers treating all students equally, creating a welcoming learning environment, offering individualized attention, and providing substantial educational support.

Finally, at Affton High School, the students portrayed their teachers as hardworking, selfless, approachable, passionate, and dedicated educators. They particularly appreciated their teachers for incorporating students' interests in the learning process, maintain high teaching standards and provide early morning ice cream when necessary!

In summary, the episode offered a momentous celebration and acknowledgment of the teachers' significant contributions to the Affton School District. Don't miss out on hearing these heartfelt testimonials that paint a vivid picture of the positive impact made by our educators!

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.

(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.

(00:44):
Welcome to this episode of the Afton Unplugged podcast and today's episode we're
going to highlight National Teacher Appreciation Week and what better way to
recognize our teachers than to hear from our students across the district tell
us what they appreciate and
what they enjoy about their teachers.

(01:05):
So to kick us off, we're going to start by hearing from some students at Mainier Primary School.
I love her, and I love her school, and she's really nice.
She teaches a lot, and I love her, and I love her school. Okay.

(01:25):
Like, she can give us candy.
Okay. Come on, Chica. I like Ms. Price because she teaches us so good.
I like Coach Wolf because we get to play with her toys.
I like Ms. Price because she helps us learn.

(01:45):
I like Ms. Frozen because I love her and she teaches us very good.
I teach her how to read. I like Ms.
Price because she's fun, and she teaches us about sight words.
Ms. Price helps us read, and she gives us candy, and she helps us, and she's kind,

(02:12):
and she lets us get from Friday.
What do you like about your teachers? My name is Kennedy. I like Dr.
Bean because she is the best and she calls people names who reach our goals.

(02:34):
I like Ms. Rungan because she lets us paint.
I like Ms. Rungan because she lets us do art.
I like Coach Wolfe because he lets us play games. Right. It's really fun. How about you?

(02:58):
What do you appreciate about your teachers? What do you like about them?
I like Coach Wolfe because he lets us play games.
All right. What do you like about your teachers?
Ms. Edmondson is my number one favorite because she's so nice and she lets us
do everything. How about you?

(03:18):
Ms. Luman because she's really funny, she makes a lot of jokes, and she's pretty kind.
All right. How about you? I like Ms. Emerson because she lets us do fun things, and Ms.
Lumen because she is so funny and makes jokes.

(03:41):
How about you? What do you like about your teachers? What do you appreciate about them?
My kindergarten teacher, she's
very fun, and she would always let us pick where we want to sit and paint.
Okay. How about you? What do you like about your teachers?
Uh, I like my first grade teacher because she is kind.

(04:06):
I like my second grade teacher because she teaches me new things.
Chew. Um, I like Ms. Simpson because she helps me do science. All right.
Chew, what do you like about your teachers? I like Ms. Simpson because she takes me on field trips.
All right. I'm here with some fifth grade students. at Gotch Intermediate School,

(04:30):
and they're going to tell us what they appreciate or what they enjoy about their
teachers. How about you get us started?
So what I enjoy is my current teachers, they let us do like a bunch of subjects in different orders.
So like one day you could do math, ELA, and then science, but then the next
day you could go like science, ELA, math instead.

(04:52):
Instead and then like in third grade the teacher the third grade teacher let
us do a lot of things and it was really cool because I got to do a lot of things that I normally,
wouldn't get to do and then there's also the fact
that some teachers host like cougar care which like has kids stay until like
five at school so they can be picked up and then the fact that we We have teachers

(05:19):
that are really kind and empathetic to the kids.
It's also something nice about the teachers.
I appreciate teachers because they let us do fun stuff like make your time.
We get to pretty much do a lot of things like color, do beads,

(05:42):
and fun stuff like that. Pass.
What I like about my teachers now is that they let us pick our own schedule.
I like how they let us pick our own schedule.
Well, my fourth grade teacher, she was just really kind and caring,
and she just had a really nice personality.

(06:04):
And she still does, so...
I also like how flexible they are with, like, our work and how we do it.
But the way they teach us is really easy for me to, like, pick up on and learn.
So I appreciate that as well.
I like how most teachers aren't very strict about most stuff.
A quality I like about the teachers at GOTCH is they're all so helpful.

(06:28):
For example, if you have a question, they'll always answer it.
And I think that's a quality that all teachers should have.
Pass. Guess. I mean, I really like the fact that the teachers are quite supportive
of, like, pretty much anything, and they are quite lenient with also just about anything.

(06:49):
I like how our teachers, like, let us pick what order we do our subjects in.
Well, you can really, like, tell them anything, and they just really care.
Also, we get a lot of extra recess. I
just love my fourth grade teacher and my third grade
teacher and yeah I really like

(07:09):
that the schedule is a little different and I
really like how I really
just really like the schedule this year it's like
more flexible if we need more time on something we
could use it that time to do it and it because
in other classes we would have a

(07:30):
strict schedule so if you don't get something done in there like
you can't really do anything but with this schedule that
we have we can like choose what time we
do other things so one reason i appreciate the teachers is because they always
want you to do your best and even if you're struggling that's something they
really want to help you so you can do better i like how the teachers always

(07:51):
want the best for you even if it's not something that you're necessarily going
to like they want the best for you.
Something that i like about my teachers is
that they like they like
teach us like a lot of things and like they help
our minds grow to like accomplish something
bigger something i like

(08:14):
about our teachers is just it is like if we have and so like we have phonics
and if some and if like not many people are finished with their work at that
point and we're not gonna have much time to do it at the end of the day is that
well we can like skip phonics or something like that to give us more time to
work so we can actually finish our work when we have a lot.

(08:35):
One thing I like about our teachers is I really like how sometimes if we don't
have enough time in the morning because we have a lot of groups at like midday
before we go out to Daily Mile like give us some time we'll be able to do it at Daily Mile.
I also like how in PE we basically get to do anything as long as it's allowed.

(09:00):
One thing I like about our teachers is the strategies that they give us.
It's really easy for me most of the time, and it works out really well because it's fast and easy.
What I like about the teachers in GARCH is how they care so much about students
and help us accomplish anything.

(09:22):
What I love about our teachers is that they always they always let listen to
what we have to say about like things that have been happening at school and
like what how like we're not able to learn something or it's like we don't understand
something. They always help us learn how to do it.
What I like about our teachers is they're hardworking.
They manage to get through the entire day and they also have like meetings and

(09:47):
stuff they could do like after school.
That takes up a lot of time and yet they still manage to
get through their day with like a good energy and
they're really hard working pass pass
what i like about to teach miss pearson inspires they choose if they have different
learning strategies than other teachers and they do it like they teach their

(10:11):
students different than most others i like about gotch which is how they respect
you no matter who you are.
And they have, they want you to be as successful as possible.
All right. We're here with some students from Rogers Middle School,
and they're going to tell us what they appreciate, what they enjoy about their
teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.

(10:34):
So let's start with you. What do you appreciate about your teachers?
I appreciate that all of them teach really well, and they help me when I have
problem with, have some problems with some of the work. and they just really
help me with my work and stuff.
All the teachers are really nice to me and help me accomplish all the work that I need to do.
I really appreciate how our teachers make school feel welcome for everyone and

(10:54):
like everyone deserves to have the same education.
I really also appreciate the fact that teachers treat all their students the
same and give them all like the same kind of love and just help them all equally.
I appreciate how the schools are close.
That's okay. I appreciate how the teachers make us feel, like,

(11:18):
comfortable and, like, if we need help or something, they'll, like, help us out.
I appreciate how the teachers care about us all as individual students.
I think all my teachers are really helpful and they're kind to all their students
and they don't really have, like, favorites or anything, which is really good about them.
They're just really good at their job, and I appreciate them as teachers.

(11:39):
And they're probably, this year, are probably some of my favorite teachers from the middle school.
I appreciate that all of our teachers show respect to their students and help
us learn the best way possible.
I appreciate that our teachers try to help us through stuff and try to make the activities fun.
I appreciate how they try to help us to, like, the best we can be.

(12:01):
I appreciate that our teachers are patient and forgiving in class.
All right. We're here with some students from Afton High School,
and they're going to tell us a little bit about what they appreciate or enjoy
about their teachers in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week.
So what is it that you guys would want them to know? I would want the teachers

(12:22):
to know that we appreciate that even when we're having bad days and they're having bad days,
they still find a way to overcome their bad days just to help us out so they
don't stop what they're doing when they're having a bad day. They keep going.
They always find a way to make class fun, even if we're learning something boring,
whether it be like changing up and doing like a fun activity or they crack jokes

(12:44):
or they just like ask us how we're doing and kind of incorporate our lives into the learning.
I really appreciate how selfless every teacher is.
They're always putting their students above themselves and you can really tell.
One thing I really appreciate about the teachers here at Afton High School is
that they really pay attention to you, not just in the sense of like when you

(13:07):
walk in the door, they're saying hi.
But whenever you're asked, like whenever they're asked a question,
they always give a thoughtful answer and really give an informed answer,
I think. And they really care about what you're doing.
It's not just they're not just
there to get a paycheck. They're there to actually build relationships.
And I think they're very good at that.

(13:28):
Yeah. One thing that I appreciate about the teachers at the high school is how
much time and effort they put into their job and not just in school,
but out of school, just to make sure that, you know, me as a student is understanding
everything and doing well in class.
And I also think that it's great that they build relationships with the students.

(13:50):
Like they're always saying hi, asking me how I'm doing, you know,
building you know that relationship and having meaningful conversations with
me and make sure i'm doing good yeah so there's different things i like about
you know different but like specifically with
jennings i like that he like goes out of his way to help people like
i remember there was one time whenever he's helping us with something in the
auditorium and he's like if i need to i will get you guys ice cream if that's

(14:13):
what you need to function in the morning and i like that i thought that was
nice hi i just want to give a big shout out to miss bone i just really appreciate
her her being there for me inside and outside of school,
no matter the day or the time or whatever. Yeah.
I appreciate when teachers are able to connect with me and talk to me about
things that I enjoy doing in my free time and just when they're down to earth, you know.

(14:37):
I like whenever teachers are able to go above and beyond, especially Mr.
High Cutter. He goes above and beyond to get the, like, hands-on experience
for everyone and, like, his woodshop classes and his automotive classes.
I really like it when teachers, they're just able to recognize when you're having
like an off day or you're just not in the right like mind space, I guess.

(15:01):
And they're kind, they don't like change their whole class for you,
but they allow you to kind of reconnect yourself.
Really, something that I've noticed with a lot of the teachers in this building
is just the amount of passion that they have for just what they're doing.
And especially, for example, Dr. Esselman. I mean, he's so really just passionate

(15:27):
about American history, and it just shows in everything he does. It's like...
The amount of dedication he's put into it is phenomenal. And I think that we
have an amazing faculty here.
I would have to say that I would have to agree.
And that all the teachers are very passionate about what they teach us.

(15:48):
And kind of to shout out our band director, Mr. Luca.
Sad that he'll be leaving us soon, but we've made some pretty good memories.
And he has really taught us a lot and helped everyone improve.
And kind of created this giant family, you know, that there's a lot of love in there.
And I think it's an amazing job of what he's done. I would just like to say

(16:11):
that all the teachers really show a love of appreciation for the students,
and I appreciate that they also broaden our minds.
They give us a proper education and give us something we can talk about and
all of that. I would like to thank Mr. Friendly.
He is our choir director, if people don't know well.

(16:34):
I have been with him for a couple of years now.
He has taught me to sing properly and how to sing, really.
And with that, I can read in between the lines of songs and everything else.
And I'm really appreciative of that.
Music.

(17:01):
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
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