00;00;00;01 - 00;00;07;16 Speaker 1 Take on. Um. I just went like Travis Kelce and TV show. 00;00;07;16 - 00;00;08;19 Speaker 2 I guess I wouldn't doubt. 00;00;08;19 - 00;00;11;04 Speaker 1 Your take on next year. I do. Well. 00;00;11;07 - 00;00;24;15 Speaker 2 My ten year old, she has created a spread sheet. I'm talking about the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce situation. It is something I have heard far more than I would ever like to hear. 00;00;24;18 - 00;00;26;00 Speaker 3 Oh, my goodness. Did you. 00;00;26;00 - 00;00;28;08 Speaker 1 Think it's can we get that on social media, please. 00;00;28;08 - 00;00;35;08 Speaker 3 Like that? I don't. Did she did she expect a proposal to happen if they won the Super Bowl? 00;00;35;09 - 00;00;46;02 Speaker 2 You know, she didn't express that to me. But I think she definitely sees that as the path forward. Yeah. Okay. Oh, she will be heartbroken along with so many other kids if this does not work out for Taylor Swift. 00;00;46;03 - 00;00;50;08 Speaker 1 Now, did you even care about football before this? 00;00;50;10 - 00;00;52;28 Speaker 2 Um, no, not really. And I don't even know that she cared. 00;00;52;28 - 00;00;55;01 Speaker 1 Okay, now. Now she doesn't know. 00;00;55;01 - 00;01;02;01 Speaker 2 No, she just likes the little highlight reel at the end of, you know, getting to see Taylor Swift's face on the camera and all of that. Yeah. 00;01;02;05 - 00;01;28;18 Speaker 3 So I actually saw. I read something. Now, I. I don't remember where it came from. So hopefully this is accurate. This was before the Super Bowl. So I would imagine even Super Bowl made this number higher. But apparently, since Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift started dating, the NFL and the Chiefs have earned $330 million more this year. 00;01;28;25 - 00;01;34;12 Speaker 2 Wow. I mean, I've heard something similar. It's just incredible. It's that what do they call that? That the Taylor Swift. 00;01;34;12 - 00;01;36;23 Speaker 3 Like Taylor Swift effect? Yeah. 00;01;36;25 - 00;01;41;12 Speaker 1 It's like it's. Oprah used to be like that. That's right. I think she would touch would. 00;01;41;12 - 00;01;43;01 Speaker 2 Turn to gold. Absolutely. 00;01;43;01 - 00;01;44;25 Speaker 1 And now it's Taylor Swift. 00;01;44;27 - 00;02;02;22 Speaker 3 Like that is unbelievable that amount of money like. But it makes sense because I mean I have I have nieces who are one one's totally anti Taylor Swift, I think just because her sister is so for Taylor Swift but the one who's for it, Oh, my gosh. She wants to catch every moment that she's shown during the game. 00;02;02;23 - 00;02;10;00 Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. And I mean, but you think about that, like all these little kids who weren't watching before are now watching because they want to see. 00;02;10;00 - 00;02;15;27 Speaker 2 Her and they need the merch. They need the like the shirts that say, Go, Taylor Swift's boyfriend. Yeah. 00;02;15;29 - 00;02;17;02 Speaker 1 Now, that's funny. 00;02;17;03 - 00;02;17;24 Speaker 2 That is funny. 00;02;17;28 - 00;02;18;16 Speaker 3 Yeah. 00;02;18;18 - 00;02;41;21 Speaker 1 I do. I do enjoy watching those videos of girls asking their husbands. Do you think he'll become more popular? No, no, no, no. Like, what are you talking about? The idea is to be a star. Yeah, he's just so funny. Okay, So welcome to season three. Episode ten of Feisty is the podcast where Kelsey goes, That's me and Dana. 00;02;41;21 - 00;03;02;04 Speaker 1 Oh, and that's me. I have the pleasure of interviewing interesting people and discussing anything and everything. Friendswood. SD Okay, so I've really been wanting to do this podcast for a while now, and I'm not sure why I haven't done it until now. Probably because we've been so busy jam packed full of stuff. 00;03;02;07 - 00;03;03;17 Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, it's free. 00;03;03;18 - 00;03;28;29 Speaker 1 Yeah, it's free. Nice. True. So today we had invited to PTO presidents, of course, feisty mothers as well. McMorris is here today from Westwood Belles? Yes. And my other mother was actually she was not feeling well this morning and she was so sad and had to call me and say that she's not going to be here. So we're bumped. 00;03;29;01 - 00;03;36;15 Speaker 1 However, Micah has promised that she will represent all the 36 PTO officers that. 00;03;36;17 - 00;03;41;01 Speaker 3 Her son Michael will deliver today. You know, she was she was. 00;03;41;01 - 00;04;04;05 Speaker 1 Let's just say she was very sad that her friend was unable to attend. Yes, but we're so glad that you're here and we hope our other mother obviously feels better and gets will soon. Yes, of course. So let's talk about a common thread for us here today, which would be your children. Yes. You get as detailed as you want to get. 00;04;04;05 - 00;04;08;14 Speaker 1 But tell us a little bit about your kids, how many kids you have and what grade. Sure. Grade seven. 00;04;08;15 - 00;04;28;01 Speaker 2 Okay. So I'm a girl, Mom. I have three girls. My oldest is ten. She's a fourth grader. I have a first grader and I have a three year old at home. And they're real active in different sports. They like volleyball. My oldest is a big volleyball player. Okay? They like gymnastics and art. We do art over at Miss Betsy. 00;04;28;01 - 00;04;30;02 Speaker 2 Shout out to Miss Betsy. She's wonderful. 00;04;30;02 - 00;04;32;05 Speaker 1 Is that weekly or weekly? 00;04;32;08 - 00;04;36;19 Speaker 2 And she. Yes. They come home with the most beautiful pastels, so they love doing that with her. 00;04;36;19 - 00;04;38;10 Speaker 3 And yeah, that's awesome. 00;04;38;10 - 00;05;01;09 Speaker 1 I know. That's great. It is. So let's just get right into one of the first thoughts that I have about my mother and PTO. And there are so many things I feel like in ways to be involved as a as a mother, as a parent here in Friendswood ISD. Tell us about PTO, how you decided to get involved with PTO. 00;05;01;12 - 00;05;01;29 Speaker 1 Sure. 00;05;01;29 - 00;05;29;16 Speaker 2 Okay. Well, our children, you know, they just spend an enormous amount of their day and really their childhood at school. It's such a big part of their life. And PTO has given me the opportunity to kind of fill that gap between the school and my family. And it's given me an opportunity to have a better understanding of what their school day looks like and what that part of their life looks like and be able to connect with them and and really understand who they are. 00;05;29;18 - 00;05;49;14 Speaker 2 So that's something that I really benefit from having some time with PTO and, and being up at the school, I get to see how much our educators really care for our students and I want to just be able to support those teachers and support those educators however I can. So I think you know, that happy wife, happy life. 00;05;49;14 - 00;06;00;06 Speaker 2 I think the same with teachers like happy teacher, happy classroom, and whatever I can do to help support the school and bring some happiness to that every day schedule that they have. 00;06;00;08 - 00;06;16;04 Speaker 1 That's awesome. So tell us a little bit about there's a mom out there listening who has not ever been involved with PTO. How would someone start at the beginning, like the beginning of the school year? How does how does a mom get involved with PTO? Yeah, walk us through that. 00;06;16;04 - 00;06;20;20 Speaker 3 And maybe even clarify just for anyone who doesn't know, what does PTO stand for? 00;06;20;20 - 00;06;39;27 Speaker 2 Sure. It's parent teacher, organization, and all of our parents have ownership in our PTO at Westwood and Bales, and we want them to know that. We want them to be a part of our organization. We want to hear their feedback. We want them to attend our meetings. We have monthly meetings. We actually have one tomorrow morning at Westwood. 00;06;39;29 - 00;06;58;22 Speaker 2 We want them to attend those meetings and give us feedback. Talk to us about programs that their kids are really enjoying, how they can see that we can benefit the school. We have volunteer programs throughout the year. We have events in the fall where we need volunteers to come and help support those events. We have them through the winter. 00;06;58;22 - 00;07;05;29 Speaker 2 We have book fair actually coming up next week. We need lots of volunteers. That's one of our favorite programs. It's so much fun. It is. 00;07;06;00 - 00;07;08;27 Speaker 1 PTO run the book fair now. 00;07;09;00 - 00;07;27;21 Speaker 2 PTO supports the school in running their book fair. We support them by providing the volunteers so they need parents there to help check kids out with their books and help them shop and all of that. So PTO fills that gap again. It connects and communicates from the school what's needed to the parents, how they can be involved, how they can help. 00;07;27;23 - 00;07;38;25 Speaker 2 And we have programs all year long. We we post on our Facebook site sign ups and opportunities. And we really would love to see all of our parents have, you know, opportunity to be involved. 00;07;39;00 - 00;07;51;04 Speaker 1 Absolutely. And Kelsey, on the website, they would just go to I think I think it's under parents and students and then parent involvement is the tab that it's under. 00;07;51;07 - 00;07;51;19 Speaker 3 Yes. 00;07;51;19 - 00;07;55;17 Speaker 1 And then each individual campus has a PTO like tab. 00;07;55;18 - 00;08;23;23 Speaker 3 Yes. Yes. So there's a button for each school they can click on and it should take if if you do have, I believe, all the PTO is have their own website, if not is an email address, but it will take them to the correct spot to get more information, find the correct contacts. I think we also may have that under a spot on our website where it's volunteer, which I think is also under I think is also under our parents and students tab. 00;08;23;23 - 00;08;37;08 Speaker 1 Okay. And listen, if you can't find it for whatever reason, we have a little chat bot off to the side chat with us just just ask a question and we will make sure that we get it to the right person to get your, your needs met. 00;08;37;10 - 00;08;48;21 Speaker 3 Now, Micah, I was wondering, so you were talking about like you all do fundraisers, so what sort of things? Like you're obviously generating funds. Yes. So what are those funds goes go towards. 00;08;48;23 - 00;09;16;11 Speaker 2 Okay. Yeah. We actually hold events throughout the year and some of those are going to be fundraisers and some of those are going to be more community engagement activities. So in the fall we hosted four and again, this is Westwood and Bailes, but we hosted a fall family night that was really, really fun. It was more about just family engagement, kids getting to come together and build relationships with their classmates, make friends, families got to meet each other and meet parents of other students in the class. 00;09;16;12 - 00;09;17;21 Speaker 1 Was this before school started? 00;09;17;21 - 00;09;38;11 Speaker 2 This was right after school. So this was right after they'd had a couple of weeks in. And now they're getting to go and have an opportunity to see them outside of school and have a little more fun. Parents get to meet. So we have those type of events and then we have events where we're raising some money for the school, Our roundup carnival that we had this fall. 00;09;38;13 - 00;09;49;19 Speaker 2 It brings in quite a bit of money and we use that money and we also have an event this spring. It's our auction night. It's supposed to be our largest fundraiser of the year. Really fun parents only event. 00;09;49;21 - 00;09;51;14 Speaker 1 Do you remember the date of that? 00;09;51;16 - 00;09;52;19 Speaker 2 I should. April. 00;09;52;26 - 00;09;56;25 Speaker 1 Okay, it's. It's in April. April Yeah. Make sure that we. 00;09;56;27 - 00;09;57;14 Speaker 3 Help promote it. 00;09;57;14 - 00;10;21;17 Speaker 2 Yeah, absolutely. We'd appreciate that. Yeah. So that's one of our largest fundraisers of the year. And we use those that money that we are able to raise to provide things to our school to improve our outdoor learning spaces. We have been working with Bales, they're building out an outdoor learning center, building some play structures and opportunities to bring the classroom outdoors. 00;10;21;17 - 00;10;39;18 Speaker 2 We've been helping raise funds for that project. For Bales, we help with teacher laptops. That's something I recently found out. We raise money to help improve teacher work spaces and promote relationships among the teachers and morale by having, you know, teacher luncheons and things like that. 00;10;39;21 - 00;11;00;14 Speaker 1 That's what I think about specifically. I guess it's been so long since I've been in the classroom. We've had always just incredible support from our PTO over the years. But that's what I look back and remember and think about is how you are support teachers and then set up lunches or just kind of like popcorn bars, you know? 00;11;00;14 - 00;11;01;12 Speaker 2 Yes, just. 00;11;01;12 - 00;11;13;25 Speaker 1 Surprises. That's that's the sort of thing that I just think teachers just appreciate, you know, being appreciated. They appreciate that. And PTO always does a great job with that. 00;11;13;25 - 00;11;32;04 Speaker 2 And this teacher, they're so great. I mean, when our volunteers go in, we have a drink cart committee that goes around a couple times a year. And, you know, this winter they did that and had hot coffee and passed that out to teachers with creamers and you know, all that. And the teachers are just wonderful. They're so appreciative. 00;11;32;04 - 00;11;36;08 Speaker 2 They they just are so supportive. We really love getting to pamper our teachers. 00;11;36;14 - 00;11;47;05 Speaker 3 In another way and I know that you all support our teachers is actually through the Education Foundation grants so that y'all will go in and y'all. That's right. 00;11;47;08 - 00;11;48;26 Speaker 1 That's right. You'll buy up a little. 00;11;48;26 - 00;11;50;19 Speaker 3 Buy up a lot of those grants. 00;11;50;19 - 00;12;10;02 Speaker 2 We do. We do. We actually have an event coming up the end of this month. That's our color run. This is our second annual color run at West Wood and Bales. And we pledge all of the proceeds from that event to purchase grants for the Education Foundation. So we have a great partnership with them. Education Foundation is really supportive. 00;12;10;02 - 00;12;16;20 Speaker 2 They come out, cheer us on and let us be a part of that prize patrol when they show up to the schools and give those checks. 00;12;16;26 - 00;12;19;12 Speaker 3 Mm hmm. Yeah, that's awesome. 00;12;19;14 - 00;12;46;13 Speaker 1 So I can imagine life as a mother in today's world just so much going on with your children and their classes. And, you know, I don't know how I'm if I'm going to word this correctly or not, but we think that technology will just put everything at our fingertips, like easy to find and will always be up to date and will be informed. 00;12;46;13 - 00;13;09;11 Speaker 1 And but I find that it's almost the opposite because there's so much information and you have so much at your fingertips. It's like, are you getting everything that you need to get? Talk about the life of a mom with kids and that work life balance of how you help support the teachers in PTO, but then also be a mom and. 00;13;09;13 - 00;13;35;10 Speaker 2 Sure, sure. I mean, finding that balance is obviously just such a struggle for all of us. It's something that I think we have to be really purposeful with. I need to make sure I plan out events that I can in advance, just things coming up with my kids schedules and my family schedule, school stuff. I always need to plan those out if I can in advance till so that they don't pile up right at the end like Steph tends to often do. 00;13;35;12 - 00;13;57;15 Speaker 2 But I also have a really great support system, so my husband is really supportive of me and helpful and he's a great sounding board. He listens to me and helps me think through things. And yeah, he's he's wonderful. He helps fill in when I need to step away and focus on PTO events or things like that. So I'm really thankful for him. 00;13;57;15 - 00;14;05;11 Speaker 2 And you know, my parents actually live here in Friendswood. I was raised here and my family. 00;14;05;12 - 00;14;07;14 Speaker 1 Right. You're a I your mom. 00;14;07;15 - 00;14;09;10 Speaker 2 I am K through 12. 00;14;09;10 - 00;14;18;04 Speaker 1 Oh yeah, that's it. K Well, I don't know that other districts say K 12, do they not? I don't know. This is a big deal here and this. 00;14;18;06 - 00;14;18;25 Speaker 3 Is a big deal. 00;14;19;02 - 00;14;23;14 Speaker 1 Big down here in this district. My boys are K 12. That's right. And it's like this. 00;14;23;20 - 00;14;24;02 Speaker 2 I. 00;14;24;02 - 00;14;25;10 Speaker 3 Mean, can I, can I have. 00;14;25;10 - 00;14;29;06 Speaker 1 A little badge or a sticker made for white children. 00;14;29;06 - 00;14;34;15 Speaker 3 Or K 12. That's my kids love. I'm better than you. 00;14;34;17 - 00;14;36;06 Speaker 1 You do you don't like. 00;14;36;07 - 00;14;39;12 Speaker 3 So it's like, hey, we're part of a class. 00;14;39;14 - 00;14;44;27 Speaker 1 Right? Well, yeah, that's right. I did not know that. Michael. We're also interviewing and along. 00;14;45;02 - 00;14;45;22 Speaker 2 That's right. 00;14;45;25 - 00;14;48;21 Speaker 1 That's true. You re right. I Oh, gosh. 00;14;48;22 - 00;14;49;03 Speaker 3 Righty. 00;14;49;05 - 00;14;56;02 Speaker 1 Thank you. Some questions now about being in alone and. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Awesome. So what was your graduating class? 00;14;56;04 - 00;14;56;21 Speaker 2 2000. 00;14;56;21 - 00;14;58;06 Speaker 1 4004. 00;14;58;06 - 00;15;02;28 Speaker 2 We just were a 20 year reunion right now. Okay. Yeah, big deal. 00;15;02;29 - 00;15;06;02 Speaker 3 So are you part of, like, planning for those events, too? 00;15;06;02 - 00;15;20;07 Speaker 2 I'm not, But there is such a great group of women who have who I graduated with that have really come up with some awesome family activities for our graduating class and a really fun event this spring to celebrate. So. Oh, yeah, I really appreciate them. 00;15;20;07 - 00;15;32;15 Speaker 3 Yeah, I feel like at least I graduated from Alvin K12 and now. Okay. And I'm pretty sure it's our class officers. Yeah, exactly. That works everywhere. 00;15;32;15 - 00;15;33;08 Speaker 1 Yeah, I think so. 00;15;33;09 - 00;15;33;20 Speaker 3 Okay. 00;15;33;22 - 00;15;48;20 Speaker 2 Yeah, They should probably let those kids know in high school that that's going to be an expectation after high school because I think typically those Yeah, those kids aren't really ready to play that right. So ours is being planned by other graduates, not necessarily our class officers. 00;15;48;20 - 00;15;49;12 Speaker 3 Okay. Yeah. 00;15;49;17 - 00;15;55;10 Speaker 1 Oh, and I was thinking, you know, your reunion only is as good as the planners. Yes. Of the people. 00;15;55;10 - 00;15;55;19 Speaker 2 Right. 00;15;55;25 - 00;16;23;03 Speaker 1 That that are willing to take that on. But so tell us a little bit about is you said there's a color run coming up. Yes. Okay. So is that the the traditional where every I've never done a color run. Okay. Look really fun and great They do you get covered with chalk or. Yeah. Colorings as you're running meaning of your run at the end of your run. 00;16;23;03 - 00;16;24;05 Speaker 1 How does that work. 00;16;24;07 - 00;16;29;20 Speaker 2 Okay so at our color run, we have different stations where as the kids. 00;16;29;20 - 00;16;33;19 Speaker 1 Pass, oh, okay. Did they get drenched with a certain color? 00;16;33;21 - 00;16;52;11 Speaker 2 Yes. Yes. And we have color sponsors this year, which is something a little bit different. So families are sponsoring specific colors and their their kids will have a spray bottle of their own in that color and we'll get to spray their classmates. Also as they run around different spray bottles. 00;16;52;11 - 00;16;56;09 Speaker 3 You know, they love bottles, but yes. 00;16;56;11 - 00;16;58;13 Speaker 1 Assuming they just threw it at them with like. 00;16;58;13 - 00;17;00;14 Speaker 2 Color. Yeah. Oh, yes. 00;17;00;14 - 00;17;01;24 Speaker 1 Spray bottle. Okay. Absolutely. 00;17;01;26 - 00;17;03;28 Speaker 2 It's direct contact. Yeah. 00;17;04;01 - 00;17;14;14 Speaker 3 It's during the school day, right? It is. Ours is. Okay. That's what I thought because I think I've been in it's captured some of those funny moments in pictures and. Yeah. Good. Yeah. 00;17;14;14 - 00;17;35;26 Speaker 2 This is our second one. So last year was our first first one. We learned from that and we're growing from there. This is our second event, second color run. And yeah, it's during the day, it's during specials time. The kids all get to participate, so everyone gets to run around that track. And you know, I'd like to also say when Song I recently found out they're also doing a color run. 00;17;35;26 - 00;17;38;15 Speaker 2 There's this going to be on a weekend. There's this on a Saturday. 00;17;38;15 - 00;17;41;24 Speaker 1 They just reached out to us and asked us to add that to our calendar. 00;17;41;24 - 00;17;52;03 Speaker 3 So our newsletter is just letting you know. And once you once you know that firm date, let us know. We'll be happy to put it in our weekly newsletter that goes out every Sunday. Yeah, we have. 00;17;52;03 - 00;17;53;17 Speaker 2 To thank you. 00;17;53;19 - 00;18;12;22 Speaker 1 So let's talk about FISA for a second, okay? Why? Why Friendswood Esty, whenever you were making the decision to well, for you, you lived here, so you came back to live in a town where you grew up. But talk to us a little bit about Friendswood. Esty and what do you see are some perks? 00;18;12;24 - 00;18;19;29 Speaker 2 Sure, Yeah. I mean, I lived all the way over in Clearlake, Texas for a little bit, and. 00;18;20;02 - 00;18;21;16 Speaker 1 My friends from the other side of the. 00;18;21;16 - 00;18;21;29 Speaker 3 Tracks. 00;18;22;01 - 00;18;36;12 Speaker 2 Really ventured. And when my oldest was approaching the age to start kindergarten, you know, my husband's also a friends at Graduate. We're one of those. But even he used to hey so. 00;18;36;16 - 00;18;38;22 Speaker 1 It was same year graduate two. 00;18;38;26 - 00;18;40;13 Speaker 2 Years before. Okay. Older man. 00;18;40;13 - 00;18;41;19 Speaker 1 Okay. Yeah. 00;18;41;22 - 00;18;59;07 Speaker 2 That's right. That's right. But yeah, you know, it was easy for us to decide to come back. We love this community. The community has a really great focus on family and on education and and we really help each other out in times of need. That's something I really love about Friendswood. 00;18;59;10 - 00;19;23;19 Speaker 1 And it seems like a small town. I know whenever we were trying to, my husband and I were trying to figure out where we wanted to grow our family and what school district. I was an educator, so I felt like I wanted to be a part of Friendswood. I see. I grew up in Pasadena and I just felt like, which I will say Pasadena Estate and Alvin, I see the same. 00;19;23;22 - 00;19;34;16 Speaker 1 They're actually excellent school districts. I mean, right. You know, there are so diverse, they have to be on their game and they are they're great school districts. But you. 00;19;34;18 - 00;19;35;27 Speaker 3 Can tell. 00;19;35;29 - 00;19;37;04 Speaker 1 I was K12, Pasadena. 00;19;37;04 - 00;19;38;22 Speaker 3 You have to. 00;19;38;25 - 00;19;40;06 Speaker 2 Have. 00;19;40;09 - 00;19;49;18 Speaker 1 A pair of cowboy boots and tassels to go on our cowboy boots whenever we graduate. I'm totally kidding. Oh, no kidding. 00;19;49;20 - 00;19;55;09 Speaker 3 See, I completely leveled. I did, though, because that sounds exactly like something Alvin would have done, too. 00;19;55;11 - 00;19;57;07 Speaker 2 I love it. It should be like. 00;19;57;10 - 00;20;09;08 Speaker 1 Oh, I'm totally going red zone here. But have you heard Beyonce's new song that Beyoncé just put out? It's a country song. No. Oh, Kelsey, you're going to have this on repeat. Really? 00;20;09;10 - 00;20;11;19 Speaker 3 Yeah. I repeat songs badly. 00;20;11;20 - 00;20;14;08 Speaker 2 Till they're not good any longer. That's what I do. 00;20;14;13 - 00;20;33;07 Speaker 3 Oh, yes. She she the whole thing. I'm really insecure about it now. At the office. I always wear earbuds because my first year so I do like pretty much all the videos for for ABC and like that can get really annoying with like playing audio out loud. And she thought that's what I was doing. She's like, What keeps playing? 00;20;33;09 - 00;20;37;06 Speaker 3 It was the same song that I was just like obsessed just at the time loving that song. 00;20;37;06 - 00;20;47;02 Speaker 1 When she gets obsessed, she just puts it on me. It's like, Please hit next song, Do not hit loop again. Okay, Y'all need to listen to the new Beyonce songs. 00;20;47;02 - 00;20;47;19 Speaker 2 But this I knew. 00;20;47;19 - 00;20;53;11 Speaker 3 She pumped new music during her Super Bowl ad with it was one of the cell phone providers like T-Mobile movie. 00;20;53;16 - 00;20;58;12 Speaker 1 Yeah. Chelsea that you've been listening in about the commercial. I don't know that she played that. 00;20;58;14 - 00;21;11;27 Speaker 3 Maybe she played the song, but it was like about her breaking the Internet. Yes. And then she ended with, okay, time to drop the new music. So that's why I went crazy about that. Like Beyonce dropping new music. Okay. Sorry. I would be. 00;21;12;03 - 00;21;14;20 Speaker 1 Happy to hear what people think about the song. It's a fun. 00;21;14;25 - 00;21;18;28 Speaker 3 I will download it right now. Okay. But I will listen to it later. Okay. Good game. 00;21;18;28 - 00;21;23;08 Speaker 1 And if you could. Yeah, I don't know how you're going to know which one is the country song? 00;21;23;08 - 00;21;25;26 Speaker 3 Texas. It's called Texas Hold'em. I think that might be. 00;21;25;26 - 00;21;30;28 Speaker 1 Oh, that is so good. It's good that you're going to love it. You're going to love it. I have. 00;21;30;28 - 00;21;35;03 Speaker 3 A feeling this might be like one great song. 00;21;35;05 - 00;21;44;03 Speaker 1 And problem solving. Good job, Kelsey. Why you hired me. So I do not even know what we were talking about. 00;21;44;03 - 00;21;47;05 Speaker 2 But tassels. Tassels on the. 00;21;47;08 - 00;21;48;28 Speaker 1 Tassels on boots. 00;21;49;01 - 00;22;02;00 Speaker 3 You came to Friendswood, so you explain. Y'all wanted to raise your kids here. You both graduated. So I guess maybe further on that is. Is that like, just your love for friends, or is that the reason why you wanted to give back to the school? 00;22;02;00 - 00;22;18;11 Speaker 2 Yes. Oh, yes. I mean, we we love friends at GSD and our families are still here. You know, my mom and dad are here and my husband's parents are here. And so we just have a great community right here in Friendswood. We wanted to be here with our kids. 00;22;18;14 - 00;22;47;15 Speaker 1 And, you know, you brought up a great point. That's why I think Peatos are so important. I feel like school districts, just public schools in general, are just getting a bad rap the last several years and it's not easy being a teacher. It is a really hard job that people just don't understand. And maybe PTO gets a better look at because you are in our schools and you get to see what teachers do. 00;22;47;18 - 00;23;14;13 Speaker 1 Teachers, they have such a heart for kids. They truly they have a heart for kids. But you get to bridge PTO gets to bridge that gap of what teachers just don't get to hear very often how much they're loved and appreciated and I know our community loves their teachers. Yes, they have shown that and proven that over and over and over again just even recently by passing the last voter. 00;23;14;13 - 00;23;41;18 Speaker 1 But, you know, just being at the door and handing them a cup of coffee or being in the lunchroom and saying, here's a cookie, thank you for everything you do, it really means a lot. It may sound like a small token or seem like that coming from, you know, if you are doing that. But let me tell you, it's it's so much that means so much and it goes so far with our good with our teachers. 00;23;41;18 - 00;23;43;00 Speaker 1 So we appreciate that. 00;23;43;02 - 00;24;02;29 Speaker 3 And I know with that comes just like that boosts in morale because I think teachers have been tasked with a lot more now than ever before. And I think that's really in relation to how much education has evolved, right. So like, what have you seen? What have been some changes you've seen in the classroom even since your kids started coming to school? 00;24;03;01 - 00;24;24;00 Speaker 2 Okay. Yeah. You know, we're not there yet, but I have to say the career tech opportunities at the high school are really impressive. They are. They're really exciting. I mean, there's culinary and engineering, the Mustang preschool, like, so neat, really great hands on opportunities. And I can't wait for my kids to get to be there and experience that. 00;24;24;02 - 00;24;51;19 Speaker 2 But, you know, at the elementary intermediate level, I see a big push to have more hands on learning opportunities, more collaboration between students and even between grades. I've seen teachers recently have some of the older students from the Bayles campus or even the second graders over at Westwood moved down to the younger classes, the younger grades, and read to them or work on their writing exam. 00;24;51;19 - 00;24;53;17 Speaker 1 It's it's so sweet. Oh, it's. 00;24;53;21 - 00;25;08;18 Speaker 2 Seen as very impactful to. I think that means a lot. It means a lot to the older student that gets to be a leader and it means a lot to the younger student to see someone that they can look up to. So I think that's really exciting. And I'm also, you know, I'm a fan of standard based learning. 00;25;08;18 - 00;25;31;03 Speaker 2 I really am. I think it's it's neat that there's a goal. It's it's cool that you get to see progress towards that goal and really identify areas that maybe a student could could improve or an area where they're really excelling. And I think it's very clear and it's easy to understand, and I really like that That's a change I've seen too. 00;25;31;07 - 00;25;41;07 Speaker 1 That's been fun for us, being in classrooms, watching kids and teachers sitting down one on one just talking about their goals. 00;25;41;07 - 00;26;07;22 Speaker 3 It's it's unbelievable, like the way that these kids are able to verbalize what they're learning. Like, I've never seen that before. I don't think I was doing that, you know, when I was in school. And I think that's because they're just spending it's very intentional time to do that, to to self evaluate. And usually we find like they're actually a little they're pretty accurate overall, but maybe even a little bit harder on themselves than what their teacher will give them credit for. 00;26;07;22 - 00;26;08;02 Speaker 3 So. 00;26;08;02 - 00;26;34;02 Speaker 1 Well, and, you know, that's one of the interesting things about kids and behavior. If you ever give a child the ability to give their own discipline, they're sometimes not even it's not even like doable. Like they'll say, you know, take this away for a month or I should spend the next month in my bedroom. It's like, okay, I wouldn't yeah, I mean, kids are really they are hard on themselves. 00;26;34;05 - 00;26;50;14 Speaker 1 So that is fun to see, though. But it goes back, Miko, to what you were saying of it's easy to understand. It is. And so, you know, as parents, not everybody lives an educational world. So, one, it's easy to understand for parents, but two, it's easy to understand. For students. It is. Which is what makes it, you. 00;26;50;14 - 00;26;53;19 Speaker 2 Know, and it helps give them ownership of their education. 00;26;53;21 - 00;26;54;05 Speaker 3 100. 00;26;54;05 - 00;26;56;03 Speaker 1 Percent, which is the beauty of that. 00;26;56;03 - 00;27;14;28 Speaker 3 It is. And it's a change. And like any change, it it's hard. You know, you're going to have some obstacles, obstacles overcome and learning curve. There's a learning curve. But I think like especially with something like this is what we've continued to say with In Friends, What I see is this is something we believe, like we believe this is best for students. 00;27;14;28 - 00;27;38;27 Speaker 3 And so we're going to work through those obstacles. We're going to work through some of those learning curves and just keep pushing forward that. And I think it will just it'll just be better over time. Overall with understanding. And but it's great to hear positive feedback, too, from a parent like that. You say you're understanding it more because I think that's kind of been maybe some people saying, well, I understand a number grade, you know, because that's how it has been. 00;27;39;00 - 00;27;40;18 Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I. 00;27;40;18 - 00;27;54;10 Speaker 2 Have to kind of help guide him. He's kind of old school in that way. Yeah, he's having a harder time grasping, but I recognize the benefit of the standard based learning and try to help encourage him to, you know, grow and adapt with the times. Yes. 00;27;54;10 - 00;28;20;18 Speaker 1 Yes. And it's and, you know, one thing I'm finding is it's really we talk a lot about the grading. It's not just about the grading. You know, it's really about what you just said about being intentional about these are the goal. These are the things that we want you to accomplish. Yeah, these are the things that you as a second grader, a fifth grader, whatever grade you're in that we want you to accomplish as we move through the year. 00;28;20;21 - 00;28;43;28 Speaker 1 And in looking at these very clear goals or expectations or growth measures, where are you at? Do you need to get better or do you need more help? You feel like you've got it. That's really that's in simple terms, yeah, the whole grading side of it. But it's then knowing what do I need to work on this week to grow in these areas? 00;28;43;28 - 00;28;47;02 Speaker 1 So grading is kind of a byproduct. It's like a side part of it. 00;28;47;02 - 00;28;47;23 Speaker 3 Exactly. 00;28;47;23 - 00;28;57;12 Speaker 1 It's the overall just kids knowing what it is that they're what skills they're getting better at. Yeah. You know, so yeah. 00;28;57;12 - 00;29;05;07 Speaker 2 And there's like a celebration there too, to see like look at this, look at this skill. You mastered this, this semester. Like great job through it. 00;29;05;10 - 00;29;06;21 Speaker 3 Right. They can so. 00;29;06;24 - 00;29;38;23 Speaker 1 They can talk through it. It's so sweet. One of those things that, you know, education is is evolving. And I think about as a parent, you know, you have technology and things going on at home and more reasons. I feel like more than ever of kids not feeling like maybe school is always important. I don't know if that happens so much when they're younger, but as they get older, they really need something to join Link to be a part of Take ownership. 00;29;38;23 - 00;30;08;07 Speaker 1 Take ownership. Yeah, with and we're seeing and we have for a while in friends what I see I would think as long as I was a teacher and in administration attendance has been a the importance of getting kids to school. But I feel like what we're really seeing now and not everybody wants to have this conversation, but you know, we get paid, schools get paid based on kids being in class. 00;30;08;10 - 00;30;32;19 Speaker 1 That's just one thing that I just want to say out there to PTO we're trying to brainstorm with is how can we get back to letting our family and parents know, you know, we're in a deficit and we're doing everything we can to cut our budget, especially for the next year because the state's just not it's not happening for whatever reason. 00;30;32;19 - 00;31;05;21 Speaker 1 We're not seeing funds that we need to support all of the things that it is that we need to support. But we we know and are aware that attendance is big. And so I guess I'm just saying PTA, we would love y'all's creativity and how can we push and brainstorm ways to not only get kids in school and make sure they understand being there every day is important, but if you go to a doctor's appointment getting that note back, we get paid for that. 00;31;05;21 - 00;31;21;22 Speaker 1 If you don't turn that note in, we don't get paid for that. So it's really important. Yeah. You know, for our parents to understand about intended attendance. And so maybe PTO can kind of help us support this initiative that we're going to. 00;31;21;26 - 00;31;23;07 Speaker 2 Help communicate that message. 00;31;23;08 - 00;31;28;27 Speaker 1 Definitely. And really, maybe even Peatos could come up with some ways that they could. 00;31;28;29 - 00;31;31;08 Speaker 2 Be a reward system or something for. 00;31;31;08 - 00;32;04;18 Speaker 3 Yeah, well, I told Dana when I was a senior in high school, so I did not have perfect attendance, not even close. Played club volleyball, maxed out on days every every year from like 13 through 18 years old. But the end of my senior year, they did a raffle, which was a limited number of kids, but still they did a raffle for all of the kids who had perfect attendance from the time they were in kindergarten through senior year and they gave away a car. 00;32;04;21 - 00;32;05;17 Speaker 3 No. 00;32;05;19 - 00;32;06;11 Speaker 2 That's incredible. 00;32;06;16 - 00;32;07;17 Speaker 3 Way a mustang. 00;32;07;24 - 00;32;08;14 Speaker 2 That's incredible. 00;32;08;14 - 00;32;10;02 Speaker 1 Yeah, that is incredible. 00;32;10;04 - 00;32;13;29 Speaker 3 Carter and Alvin donated the the vehicle. 00;32;14;02 - 00;32;21;23 Speaker 1 Amazing How early on in your school experience did you like? Were you in the fifth grade when they're like, you know, your senior year or if you're here. 00;32;21;23 - 00;32;22;23 Speaker 3 Every day, you. 00;32;22;28 - 00;32;24;16 Speaker 1 Have a chance at a I mean, I. 00;32;24;23 - 00;32;51;27 Speaker 3 Don't remember I genuinely don't remember hearing about it. I don't like maybe they did. And I just again, I was like, okay, that day I probably wasn't there that day. That's right. I was I was in Washington State playing volleyball tournament. But no, it was pretty I mean, that was pretty amazing, though. And it was like a big event they had for a seniors one evening when they actually did the did the drawing. 00;32;51;27 - 00;32;54;09 Speaker 3 And a girl I knew won it. How cool is that? 00;32;54;09 - 00;33;22;11 Speaker 1 That is awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. So let's talk some challenges, okay? What are some challenges? How can we make things better for for parents, for PTO, for or what do you, what do you need from us if you in across the board, it doesn't matter. What are some things that you personally, Myka, that we can help you with as a parent or just as a PTO President? 00;33;22;14 - 00;33;53;20 Speaker 2 Sure. Okay. Well, you know, geographically, we talked about how friends what is pretty small, but our population has been growing at a rate and a pace that we now have The three elementary intermediate campuses, they all feed up to the junior high and the high school. But elementary and intermediate are really divided up in our community. And I don't see a ton of collaboration right now between those campuses, even though we're all going to the same junior high and high school. 00;33;53;28 - 00;33;56;23 Speaker 2 It's like the first time they really meet is right there. 00;33;56;23 - 00;33;57;02 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00;33;57;07 - 00;34;19;27 Speaker 2 So I'd love to see more collaboration between the schools. I'd love to see opportunities for those kids to get to meet their neighbors just right down the road. We're small, you know, we're real small. I'd love that. I know that. You know, for Peatos, the district has been putting on some bi annual meetings where the Peatos get to come together and talk about events they have coming up and collaborate in that way. 00;34;19;27 - 00;34;34;00 Speaker 2 And I'd really like to see us grow from there as the Peatos maybe take the lead on, on collaborating together and coming up with opportunities to partner together. I think we have a lot we could learn from each other. I think that. 00;34;34;03 - 00;34;34;29 Speaker 1 Absolutely. 00;34;34;29 - 00;34;44;17 Speaker 2 We can't. There's so much I mean, we do similar events and I think we could get great feedback from some of these other organizations that have done something similar. So I'd like to see that. 00;34;44;17 - 00;35;03;23 Speaker 1 And there's no point in reinventing the wheel, right? Of course, if it's working one place, I mean, to be able to get together and come together just really as a community as a whole, how do you plan your big events, like if you don't plan together, or is that one of the things that you do whenever you come together? 00;35;03;26 - 00;35;33;18 Speaker 2 Well, so we we talk with internally with our PTO board, talking about our goals for the fall and school year. We're actually getting in to kind of that part of the year, which is really exciting to think of all the new opportunities that a new school year will bring next year. We're kind of getting into that swing, talking about what we would like to do next year, getting meetings set up with our principles to hear about their goals, what are ways that we can support them, what are events that they think we're really successful or events they would like to see added? 00;35;33;18 - 00;35;53;08 Speaker 2 Maybe so we're kind of getting in the swing of that. And once we get an idea of what our PTO and our principals would like to see for the upcoming year, we bring those maybe to our Stacy Calzada to say, Hey, do we have these dates available? Like is there a conflict within the community? And she'll let us know. 00;35;53;10 - 00;36;06;09 Speaker 2 And then when we get together at one of those beginning of the year meetings with the other peatos, we start talking calendars, what we have going on, make sure that we know that we aren't burdening the community too much with too many events through. 00;36;06;10 - 00;36;27;19 Speaker 1 Making sure they're spread out. And because your fundraisers are so big and it's a big part of your budget and the things that you're doing and that's right. What is there one way that you can think about? Like when you think back, that was a super creative thing that we did that year. And are there any things that like that you've heard of or that are stand out for? 00;36;27;19 - 00;36;30;03 Speaker 1 Peatos As far as raising money. 00;36;30;05 - 00;36;38;08 Speaker 2 I'm going to give one song, another shout out, okay, because I'm just really impressed with them. This year they started from a whole new board, just That's right. 00;36;38;08 - 00;36;39;29 Speaker 1 So they went elementary. 00;36;40;01 - 00;37;01;01 Speaker 2 That's right. K through five, right over there for the first time. And they'd always been partnered with Kline. Their PTO had so started off this year with a whole new board and trying to come up with new ideas. And I just think they've been so creative. You know, we had our fall carnival, we typically have a spring carnival. 00;37;01;08 - 00;37;02;25 Speaker 2 We moved it to the fall because. Oh, that's. 00;37;02;25 - 00;37;03;13 Speaker 1 Right. Yes. 00;37;03;20 - 00;37;04;03 Speaker 2 Wild. 00;37;04;04 - 00;37;05;12 Speaker 1 Yes, bring as well. 00;37;05;13 - 00;37;30;28 Speaker 2 The families are busy. Schools are busy. It's just it's too much. So moving it to the fall helped us to reach more of our community at Westwood and Bales. I know that Kline also does their fall event, their fall carnival and Fun Run. So they hosted that. And then when Song just blew me away, they came up with such a cool winter event that I would say was somewhat similar to our carnivals, but they did it in the winter time. 00;37;31;05 - 00;37;43;21 Speaker 2 I saw that they had snow hills and, you know, a little concert from their choir. It was so a Christmas train. I mean, it was adorable. It was really thinking outside the box. And I was just really impressed. 00;37;43;24 - 00;38;00;25 Speaker 1 I'm always impressed with just in general how creative human beings are. But it's truly these moms. I mean it. And I'm sure their dads dads shout out to dads if you know you're a part of PTO. But I it is amazing the creativity that goes on. 00;38;01;03 - 00;38;01;23 Speaker 3 Oh yeah. 00;38;01;23 - 00;38;07;13 Speaker 1 With with our PTO and our really our parent groups. It just flows me. Absolutely. 00;38;07;13 - 00;38;25;15 Speaker 2 And that's why we want our parents to be involved because there's just so many people that have really great gifts that they could bring to the organization, really good ideas, really great input. And that is how we improve. That's how we get better is by having that involvement. So it's important that these parents know they're wanted. 00;38;25;18 - 00;38;35;12 Speaker 3 Now, I will ask because I feel like maybe why some people would say, I don't I don't think I've time. What would you say the time commitment is? 00;38;35;15 - 00;38;55;06 Speaker 2 Well, I think it just depends on on what type of role you would like to take with the PTO. There's all different levels of involvement. I mean, obviously we have the PTO board, which is maybe a little bit more of a time commitment. I'm the co-chair right now at Westwood and Bailes, so maybe that's a more of a commitment. 00;38;55;06 - 00;39;15;14 Speaker 2 But then we have opportunities all the way down to a couple of hours at the book fair, you know, just showing up and doing that or again, just attending the meetings and and hearing what's going on. I mean, even that we have really great parent involvement and we're so thankful for that. They're generous with their time. They're generous with their money. 00;39;15;14 - 00;39;21;05 Speaker 2 I mean, they are just incredible. They support us. And we couldn't do it without all these parents. 00;39;21;07 - 00;39;27;17 Speaker 3 So I think that's just to say that there's don't let time be a factor, that it can be as much as you want it to be. 00;39;27;17 - 00;39;30;01 Speaker 2 We have space for everyone. Part of it. 00;39;30;04 - 00;39;39;10 Speaker 1 And even just reaching out and saying, Hey, I would love to be of service, even if it's just one event or how can I help or plug me in, you know? 00;39;39;13 - 00;39;54;00 Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, we have a mom that makes jewelry and she donated some jewelry for our gala night. You know, she's also helping in other ways for that event. But it just goes to show, I mean, there's we can use everyone's talents. 00;39;54;02 - 00;40;21;27 Speaker 1 Absolutely. You know what? We need to we need to partner with you on all the peatos. We have a day of service in April that we just started a couple of years ago, just we were thinking we needed a day where kids, families, teachers, just a community. Businesses come together and just serve their neighbors, which is what a day of service is about. 00;40;21;27 - 00;40;29;15 Speaker 1 It's it's taking off. It's taking off slowly. We we see like more the sports, the organizations getting together and going out and serve. 00;40;29;15 - 00;40;55;22 Speaker 3 Yeah, lots of high school groups. And I think maybe they have like say, student council or something at the elementaries or do something really not on that day, like preparing cards or something in advance, but we'd love to see more of the Littles out in a great place. I just pulled up my calendar again, but it is actually April 19th. 00;40;55;22 - 00;41;06;18 Speaker 3 It's a Friday this year we've normally done it the Monday after Easter, but this one will be a little bit it's going to be a little bit different. So anyway, just plugging that to. 00;41;06;18 - 00;41;09;26 Speaker 2 Really I like that things. 00;41;09;28 - 00;41;41;14 Speaker 1 So we've kind of talked about some ways that PTO partners with our schools and supports our schools thinking about outside of academics a little bit because we've talked about standard based let's just talk the overall well-being and mental health of kids. What are you seeing today that is been difficult for families, parents just as a mom, maybe not even about PTO necessarily, But yeah. 00;41;41;17 - 00;42;13;06 Speaker 2 I just think the pressure that is on kids right now, I feel like there's just so much implied and just outright pressure and expectation. We're expecting them to perform perfectly in all areas of their life socially, academically, you know, athletically. We just have so much that we're expecting from these little people that are still developing, still growing social media pressures, always making you feel, I mean, as an adult, you know, it can make you feel like you're just not enough. 00;42;13;06 - 00;42;29;18 Speaker 2 And for somebody growing up and trying to figure out who they are, I can see that that noise is very confusing. And so I think as a mom, that's something that I'm trying to figure out how to navigate as my ten year old gets a little bit older, how to protect her heart, how to help her see that, you know, she's important. 00;42;29;18 - 00;42;35;04 Speaker 2 Who she is right now is perfect. So I think there's a lot of that noise we have to overcome. 00;42;35;06 - 00;42;44;00 Speaker 1 Well, it's funny you said you have a ten year old daughter and we've talked a little bit about the ten year old Sephora phenomenon. 00;42;44;03 - 00;42;47;05 Speaker 2 So drunk elephant. Yeah. Of products. 00;42;47;08 - 00;42;53;12 Speaker 1 Yeah. Of of girls just feeling Sephora. 00;42;53;15 - 00;42;58;26 Speaker 3 Yeah. Maybe feel like the samples are just like this endless. 00;42;58;29 - 00;43;21;07 Speaker 1 But think about the difference of when you were ten. When I was ten and then now they are skincare and girls. Oh yes. The amount of money that they're going to spend in a lifetime now on skin root, you know, make up. I've just recently become so interested in makeup, just and I know it's because I see it. 00;43;21;07 - 00;43;21;23 Speaker 1 All right. 00;43;22;00 - 00;43;23;04 Speaker 2 Social media. 00;43;23;06 - 00;43;35;26 Speaker 1 And I'm like, oh, there's the answer to all my links is this is going to be the product that will completely transform my face. And of course, nothing happens. But yeah, that's $30 later. 00;43;35;27 - 00;43;38;24 Speaker 2 Yeah, 30. Well, you're getting out okay. 00;43;38;26 - 00;43;44;25 Speaker 1 And I'm cheap when it comes to that kind of stuff. So I'm like, okay, what's the cheapest product that can change my face? Right? 00;43;44;27 - 00;43;54;01 Speaker 2 Right. Yeah. Oh, get ready with me. Videos when you watch it and you're like, Wait a second, I didn't know I needed 50 products to get ready for the day, but I guess I do. 00;43;54;03 - 00;44;03;12 Speaker 1 You know, and, and the dressing. And when they start I don't know if you follow this person, but she starts breaking down the prices of these girls that have. Yes. 00;44;03;15 - 00;44;05;15 Speaker 2 The rush the rush sorority girl. 00;44;05;15 - 00;44;09;17 Speaker 1 She's like, yes, we need thousand dollars. I know what's happening. 00;44;09;17 - 00;44;12;19 Speaker 2 It's bizarre. And and look at that pressure. Look at that. 00;44;12;19 - 00;44;25;23 Speaker 1 Pressure. That's right. That's a great seat. That's a great way to think about it. See, I'm being hard on. Come on, girls. We don't need to do this. But it is a pressure. And it is when everyone around you seems to. 00;44;25;25 - 00;44;32;16 Speaker 2 Seems to. I think that's important. That's right. Yeah. When they seem to have all those things, when they seem to have it all figured out, it's hard. 00;44;32;16 - 00;44;39;21 Speaker 1 And it's causing I'm doing air quotes, it's causing happiness like this is what you need to be. This is the key. 00;44;39;23 - 00;44;40;12 Speaker 2 Right? 00;44;40;14 - 00;44;46;09 Speaker 3 There's like, definitely. I think you always have to look through the lens of it's an illusion a lot of times. Absolutely. 00;44;46;12 - 00;44;49;24 Speaker 1 It is. No, it is an illusion most of the time. 00;44;49;27 - 00;45;00;15 Speaker 3 Most of the time. Because like I mean, not that this is the case for everybody, but that that person wearing the $20,000 worth of whatever, they could also be fighting crippling debt, you know, like. 00;45;00;15 - 00;45;01;01 Speaker 2 And it's true. 00;45;01;08 - 00;45;17;20 Speaker 3 Like you just never you don't know the back story. You don't know like they're the why is there this need to please there's a story for that you know so I think trying to look through that lens but part of that is being anchored and who you are and what's important to you and your values helps a little bit. 00;45;17;20 - 00;45;27;01 Speaker 3 But I also think maturity because like I definitely know I felt more pressure with some of that stuff when I was younger versus even now. I just care a little bit less. 00;45;27;01 - 00;45;29;18 Speaker 2 Absolutely. Absolutely. 00;45;29;21 - 00;46;05;00 Speaker 1 So how can I know? PTA is the bridge between families and schools. How can we as FASB help with that help foster one help foster parent involvement? You know, I need to also say we probably don't do a great job letting PTO volunteers know how much we appreciate them and how much we really can't do without them. So, you know, one of the things that I was saying is how much teachers appreciate what you all do for them because they just don't get too many pats on the back. 00;46;05;03 - 00;46;18;04 Speaker 1 I guess I need to say for our school district, we need to do a better job with that as well for our PTO and just wanting PTO in general to know how much we appreciate you and we couldn't do it without you. 00;46;18;09 - 00;46;36;17 Speaker 2 I think you and we have really great administrators that are very supportive of our initiatives and, you know, Ms.. Hall at Westwood and Mr. Corporate Bales, they are really great. They are always reaching out. How can we help you? What can we do? Can we help get the word out? Can we communicate these things that you have going on? 00;46;36;17 - 00;46;59;02 Speaker 2 So we have great support and they're really wonderful at showing appreciation. So we like working with with our administrators. They're great. I think, you know, I have to say, as far as mental health within the school, I am really impressed with the focus that I see at Westwood and Bales. Even from a really young age. They're really meeting these kids where they are. 00;46;59;02 - 00;47;13;23 Speaker 2 And I see Ms.. Elmore at Westwood. That's our elementary campus. She she's right now or has been working on helping kids develop relationships within their classroom. That's a big part of elementary understand each other. 00;47;13;24 - 00;47;16;03 Speaker 1 Life, especially today more than ever. 00;47;16;04 - 00;47;35;15 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And she's been helping helping those kids develop those relationships. And she does this in different ways. But one of the fun ways that she's doing that is she's been pulling kids in small groups within their classroom to come and eat lunch with her. And she's helping, you know, facilitate conversations and learning about one another. 00;47;35;21 - 00;47;55;03 Speaker 2 And it's really great. I think that there's so much benefit there and they're getting to know her a little bit better, getting to understand her as a resource to them. And I think that's really awesome. And then over at Bales, Ms.. Parker, she's wonderful. She's been doing some little yoga sessions and some meditation sessions with students. 00;47;55;03 - 00;47;55;16 Speaker 1 Love it. 00;47;55;16 - 00;48;11;17 Speaker 2 It's so quiet. She brings her yoga mat in and teaches them ways to cope with anxiety and stress. There's just too much on these kids and she's been going in and helping them, you know, just decompress. So really appreciate their focus on that. 00;48;11;19 - 00;48;46;05 Speaker 1 There are so many things I want to say about, you know, mental health. And one of the ways that I feel like parents that we can contribute to our kids mental stability is routines are very important. You know, one of the things we find with older kids is they're somewhat given a choice in that they drive themselves. You know, they kind of are responsible for getting themselves up and getting themselves to school and so they may not it may not be as easy as when a parent can drop them off. 00;48;46;05 - 00;49;26;02 Speaker 1 But I do think that them being at school on a regular basis with other people, it's that social connection that we're finding the break down of mental well-being is isolation and how detrimental it is to kids mentally. But I just want to say that starts at a young age. It doesn't just start in high school. You know, your kids are going to show signs at a younger age of not wanting to go to school, not feeling like they're successful in school. 00;49;26;05 - 00;49;49;23 Speaker 1 And it's going to manifest itself in different ways. But I just want to encourage parents to continue to pick up the phone and call and talk to teachers. Let them know that you're seeing the struggle going on at home. Maybe it's something that the teacher can help with that they would say, you know, I'm glad you said that because this is what I see. 00;49;49;26 - 00;50;09;23 Speaker 3 There is this great at church. This again, there was a great analogy given about an airport and you can be in the airport but not be on the plane. You can be at the airport, you can be at your gate, not get on the plane. And if you're not on the plane, you're not going to get where you need to go. 00;50;09;23 - 00;50;23;11 Speaker 3 And so I think it's like the same thing, like a kid can walk into school, they can be in the building, but are they really connected or are they really like, we can go to work. You're in your building, you're in your office, Are you really connected? Are you really going in where you need to go? 00;50;23;11 - 00;50;25;10 Speaker 1 Which is what will keep you there in the long. 00;50;25;11 - 00;50;43;25 Speaker 3 Which is what we'll that gets you to where you want or need to be. But I thought it was such a great just I mean, it was, you know, is centered around faith. But but it's such a great analogy for so many other things. But I do think with, like you said, mental health, it's it's the routine, but it's the connectedness. 00;50;43;25 - 00;50;54;05 Speaker 3 So what you're doing too, and I do think that takes some ownership and making those decisions to be connected in some. 00;50;54;05 - 00;50;54;29 Speaker 1 Particularly. 00;50;54;29 - 00;51;04;12 Speaker 3 You know, sometimes not and expecting everyone to come to you, but maybe you being the one to approach to, yeah, go out of your way what you want. 00;51;04;15 - 00;51;26;07 Speaker 1 And I would hope parents can talk to their kids about. Do you feel comfortable in school? Are you making friends? Do you feel loved by the people around you? And just having that conversation with your with your kids and then communicating that to teachers if they really honestly, if they do or don't they just want you to know how to. 00;51;26;07 - 00;51;51;20 Speaker 1 Great conversation this morning with Sarah. And Sarah said she really feels connected in and loved in class. That's a positive for a teacher like you may even have to anything personal with that teacher but that warms a teacher's heart or hey, I'm just kind of concerned. This is what they said and they don't feel as connected. Do you feel like they are or is there anything we can be doing at home that would help that or you at school that would help that? 00;51;51;23 - 00;51;53;29 Speaker 1 Just keeping that communication going? 00;51;54;02 - 00;51;54;12 Speaker 3 Hmm. 00;51;54;19 - 00;52;21;03 Speaker 2 Communication is so important. And you mentioned going to these teachers to, you know, maybe seek guidance on a life event that is maybe causing some stress or anxiety with students. And I think, you know, sometimes these things happening, we can feel like we're so alone, like we're so isolated. It's just us. And the truth is, it's probably not that teachers First rodeo, they've probably seen somebody go through a similar situation, a similar circumstance, and I think they have really valuable input. 00;52;21;03 - 00;52;36;12 Speaker 2 I do think these these teachers love their students and want to see them succeed and want to see them be happy and joyful. And I just think reaching out to those teachers directly and having good communication is so important. 00;52;36;14 - 00;53;13;08 Speaker 1 I agree. Speaking of communication and putting you on the spot here, but is there anything that we could do better as far as a communication team that you wish you saw more of or that you feel like you're not informed about? When we put things out, we really try to, whether it's articles in the newsletter, little blurbs, social media videos, you know, our struggle is how to parent, How does how will this best kind of get the point across to parents? 00;53;13;08 - 00;53;32;25 Speaker 1 Or how can we fill those needs that parents needs to learn more about whether it's standard based or learn more about our special ed programs or our CTE pathways? I guess I'm just asking kind of as communication department to a mom, what do you feel like is going well and what do you feel like we could do better? 00;53;33;00 - 00;53;38;01 Speaker 2 Yeah, I'm I think we need more anonymous Facebook post now. I just need. 00;53;38;03 - 00;53;44;01 Speaker 1 You to say yes. So, you know, anonymous Facebook could really help us know. 00;53;44;04 - 00;54;02;01 Speaker 2 You know, I, I like to see newsletters and read those. I know. You know, on a smaller scale, our schools do a good job sending us monthly newsletters, letting us know what events are coming up, what's happening within the schools. And so many questions we have throughout the month are answered right there. And those newsletters that they're sending out to us. 00;54;02;03 - 00;54;20;07 Speaker 2 And even though I see that it's just a treasure trove of information, so I like to read those when they come in and reference those throughout the month. If I have a question, I know that some parents maybe are just real busy or just not remembering that that is a resource they have. And so I'll see kind of the same questions come up. 00;54;20;07 - 00;54;44;07 Speaker 2 And I recognize that is a challenge to out how to communicate with so many people about information. Having stuff readily available helps me if I can go to somewhere and look up my question or dig around when I'm thinking about it, that's something that benefits me. So information on websites like you've been talking about, I think I think that's really best for for busy parents. 00;54;44;15 - 00;54;48;01 Speaker 1 Did you even know that we have this chat bot on the side that says chat with us? 00;54;48;02 - 00;54;49;10 Speaker 2 Not until you said that. 00;54;49;12 - 00;55;01;21 Speaker 1 So I don't know that everybody knows that. I don't know how often all of our parents go to our Web site, but whenever you pull up my thestar.com off to the right side, you'll see chat with us. 00;55;01;24 - 00;55;34;02 Speaker 3 Yes. So it's a new and newer feature. We had it this year. So it's just really it pulls a form for you to fill out. We are guaranteeing that you'll receive a response within two school days, but it's been I feel like people have utilized it pretty well. I get all of the reports on them, so I see all of the questions that come in and I hope that it's just a great vessel for people if they especially if they don't know where to go, that, you know, you can go there, that's going to be automatically sent to the correct person. 00;55;34;05 - 00;55;48;25 Speaker 1 So what's the point? That's that. So if you ever have any questions about anything, feel free to go on, chat with us and give us your question. And even if you choose the wrong department because you weren't quite sure where it should go, we're going to get it to the right person. 00;55;49;02 - 00;56;13;14 Speaker 3 Yeah, I literally had one like that yesterday. It came to me even though again, I get all of them, but it was the one that I would normally get and respond to, and it was not a question that probably was intended for me, but I did know who I supposed to go to, so I was just able to offer that along and then still respond to the person saying, I just want to let you know, we received your your message and I've passed it to so-and-so and here's their email. 00;56;13;14 - 00;56;14;29 Speaker 3 They should be reaching out to you. 00;56;15;01 - 00;56;20;18 Speaker 2 So it's important to be able to directly communicate with the people who are going to be able to best answer that question. 00;56;20;20 - 00;56;24;25 Speaker 1 That Westwood Belle's PTO have a social media page. 00;56;24;27 - 00;56;34;23 Speaker 2 We do. We have a Facebook page for just Westwood Bales families. You get a lot of information, pictures throughout the school year calendar, all of that out there. 00;56;34;23 - 00;56;42;11 Speaker 1 So, Mike, is that you who if you see something on social media and you want to reposted or share it, would that you or a couple of other. 00;56;42;12 - 00;56;48;18 Speaker 2 Yes other members of our board okay. We are administrators on that Facebook site and can add things there. So yeah, if you have something to share. 00;56;48;22 - 00;57;08;07 Speaker 3 So I will say because I was just meeting with the receptionist Bales who I love, I shout out to Kinsey. Yes, she was asking some questions about social media recently. And one thing we did realize was we're not able to share. 00;57;08;09 - 00;57;09;03 Speaker 1 Oh, it's a private. 00;57;09;03 - 00;57;30;07 Speaker 3 Group because it's a private group. We're not able to share the posts that y'all ever put in there. So if there's ever anything that's really awesome in there that you feel like should be shared out to all of our feisty, you know, maybe even just let us know and we'd probably have to be sent like the pictures separately because we can't go in and share the individual posts, unfortunately. 00;57;30;07 - 00;57;35;07 Speaker 3 But it is a great page. I see. Like very there's always lots of activity on that page. 00;57;35;13 - 00;57;37;22 Speaker 2 Our parents are very involved. We're so thankful for that. 00;57;37;22 - 00;57;52;17 Speaker 3 Yeah, Yeah. But anyway, just a little. Just a little heads up. If there's anything ever that y'all feel like really should be promoted to the district level, we would love to share. We just literally can't share posts from that group. Since it's since it's private, it won't allow it won't allow us to do that. 00;57;52;17 - 00;58;01;25 Speaker 2 But okay. And same I mean that's what we're all about, is building that partnership being that bridge. So we'd love to, you know, share posts from Feisty as well. 00;58;01;27 - 00;58;07;02 Speaker 1 Awesome. Is there a certain method of communication that you enjoy more than others? 00;58;07;04 - 00;58;28;17 Speaker 2 I'm like, Do you mean okay, if I if I wanted to talk with a teacher, for instance, I just I'm most successful when I send an email directly to that teacher with my question or concern. That's typically the best method for me. And I've always had really good luck where they're happy to set up additional time if needed to talk in person or on the phone. 00;58;28;20 - 00;58;46;04 Speaker 2 That's always been great. I mentioned, you know, from information coming from the school, I do really like that news bulletin that they put out. I think that's wonderful. And like you mentioned, we do have our Facebook site where we have all of our PTO events and calendar pictures from the event so people can see what all we did. 00;58;46;04 - 00;58;50;20 Speaker 2 And I think those are my favorite ways to communicate with the school. 00;58;50;21 - 00;58;58;11 Speaker 1 Yeah, good. No, that's what I that's exactly what I was asking. Does PTO ever collaborate with local businesses? 00;58;58;14 - 00;59;29;05 Speaker 2 Yes, I guess we we could not do half of the things that we do without the community involvement. The the businesses here in the area that help sponsor some of our events, we're really, really thankful for that partnership. We also partner a lot with different organizations within the community. I'll say we talked a little bit about the color run and how that's a partnership between our PTO and education foundation. 00;59;29;07 - 00;59;44;22 Speaker 2 We also, during our Fall family event, which I think I mentioned, we had the high school art club come out and do face painting for the kids. They volunteered their time and and that was really special, really cool. So you. 00;59;44;22 - 00;59;47;21 Speaker 1 Have FFA come and do a and I think they have something or they. 00;59;47;21 - 00;59;50;22 Speaker 2 Come to the school and show off their animals. Okay. 00;59;50;22 - 00;59;52;23 Speaker 1 I didn't know if that was the same partnership. 00;59;52;23 - 00;59;56;17 Speaker 2 With not necessarily a PTO partnership, but the FFA does come to the. 00;59;56;17 - 00;59;57;19 Speaker 3 School that's okay. 00;59;57;19 - 00;59;59;29 Speaker 1 So the door is so cute. 00;59;59;29 - 01;00;00;19 Speaker 2 The sheep. 01;00;00;21 - 01;00;19;13 Speaker 1 Oh my God, it's so cute, so sweet. Well, I do. It did make me remember that PTO. We always do an end of the year celebration with as an entire school district. So all the employees we're going to be at the new competitive gym this year. Yeah. Knock on wood. 01;00;19;15 - 01;00;21;06 Speaker 3 That's ready. Yeah. 01;00;21;08 - 01;00;36;03 Speaker 1 And we're going to, you know, it's just a time for us to celebrate. Just as educators, the school year that we had and and we do a lot of years of service, have different retirements. Retirements have different groups. Stand up. We applaud them and judges. 01;00;36;03 - 01;00;40;12 Speaker 3 Of the get a now that's right the the secondary and elementary. 01;00;40;12 - 01;00;47;25 Speaker 1 Yeah but PTO always gives us our baskets and like gift cards so. 01;00;47;25 - 01;00;50;06 Speaker 3 Really good really nice Yeah. 01;00;50;07 - 01;00;59;22 Speaker 1 Great baskets and you know that's just something that I don't know if you realize how much teachers I'm going to be honest with you all. I think that's the only reason they come the present. 01;00;59;22 - 01;01;01;04 Speaker 3 Yes, it is. It is all. 01;01;01;04 - 01;01;07;22 Speaker 1 About the prizes. And we're able to give away like five, $250. 01;01;07;22 - 01;01;08;18 Speaker 3 Yes. 01;01;08;21 - 01;01;23;02 Speaker 1 You know, gift cards in cash with some local businesses. Also step up and help us give that out. But big shout out to PTO because you all pull baskets together. And by the way, just so you know, we'll say this is the Kline PTO. 01;01;23;03 - 01;01;24;03 Speaker 2 Yes, I know. 01;01;24;04 - 01;01;51;26 Speaker 1 And everybody is like, oh, I want that basket. Yes, this is the Westwood bales PTO basket. You know, I love that. It does mean it does mean a lot to us. So just thinking through just want to remind you all that obviously that's every year in May. But if as you're kind of planning and thinking about stuff, always just keep that in mind that our teachers love those gift cards and baskets and things like that that you'll give. 01;01;51;26 - 01;01;53;16 Speaker 1 So we appreciate that for sure. 01;01;53;16 - 01;01;54;27 Speaker 2 Right. 01;01;55;00 - 01;02;17;20 Speaker 1 Is there anything else coming up that we want to give you a chance to plug? Oh, sure. You can kind of talk about. Let me just say this. I randomly selected names. I do not know Micah, the other mother that I invited, I literally randomly selected PTO, two ladies names just to come on and talk about overall less PTO. 01;02;17;22 - 01;02;31;08 Speaker 1 So we're not just about we're sorry we weren't able to represent your school, but I think Mike has done an excellent job representing PTO. Oh yeah. Overall in general. But yeah, What would you like to plug specifically? 01;02;31;09 - 01;02;54;19 Speaker 2 Sure, sure. So I talked to him earlier about our color run coming up. It's last day of February, 1st of March I, Westwood and Bales campuses. We do have opportunities to sponsor that event. And like I mentioned, all of the proceeds from that are going to go straight to purchasing grants through the Education Foundation for Westwood and Bales. 01;02;54;22 - 01;03;19;16 Speaker 2 We're also gearing up right now for our gala. It's our biggest event of the year, Adults only. We have live auction, silent auction. We have some poker table set up. It's a really good time, really fun to get to just hang out and let our hair down with other parents and other families within our schools. It's our, like I said, our our largest fundraiser and a great time. 01;03;19;16 - 01;03;25;06 Speaker 2 A great time. So we have that coming up this April at let's see, I think it's April 19th off the top of my head. 01;03;25;06 - 01;03;26;22 Speaker 1 Is that a Saturday? 01;03;26;24 - 01;03;28;07 Speaker 2 Yes. 01;03;28;09 - 01;03;29;08 Speaker 3 April 19th. 01;03;29;08 - 01;03;29;14 Speaker 2 Is. 01;03;29;18 - 01;03;31;14 Speaker 3 For Friday, because that's the day of service. 01;03;31;18 - 01;03;32;00 Speaker 2 That's right. 01;03;32;00 - 01;03;37;28 Speaker 1 So, okay, so 20th maybe. Oh, so it's the 20th. Okay, so it's a Saturday. Okay. 01;03;37;28 - 01;03;46;12 Speaker 3 Feel free to go out, volunteer, work hard on the 19th. Right. Celebrate that hard work on the money. That's right. 01;03;46;15 - 01;04;16;16 Speaker 1 That's a great way to say it. That's perfect. Well, let me just say, Micah, we appreciate you coming here today. And thank you to all of our parent volunteers, our Peatos, FGF, all parents that volunteer because you know it all comes back into our schools and and it's in its hour. This district could not do without it. I'm telling you that in our kids benefit from it and there's nothing better than community coming together and just supporting community overall. 01;04;16;16 - 01;04;19;00 Speaker 1 So thank you for everything that you do. 01;04;19;00 - 01;04;21;17 Speaker 2 Thank you. We are setting aside time for us to. 01;04;21;18 - 01;04;23;10 Speaker 1 Absolutely. Thank you. 01;04;23;11 - 01;04;57;01 Speaker 3 Thank you. And.