001Evening everyone. We'll call the meeting to order. Our uh October 13, 2025 work session. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Thank [clears throat] you. And we have a visitor's guest list somewhere over there. Please sign that if you would and we will go down the list. But I think we're going out of order a tiny bit. Right, Mr. Drill? >> Yes, we are. >> We're going with my understanding is >> integrated plan programs, then special uh programs, then elementary, then secondary. >> Okay. Integrated plan programs is Mr. Dyer and Ms. Alisa. >> All right. How you
002guys doing tonight? >> We sharing the mic. >> I'll give mic over to you. We could be like the Beatles like I'm John Lennon. You're Paul McCartney. Do it right there. All right. >> All righty. So, um, first off, we have I believe we have four five goals in front of you guys. And the first one we we have two that's really revolving around high school graduation rates. The other one is around CTE programs. Tony will talk to you guys more about that a little bit more in depth. And then the other ones really revolve around elementary, around ELA proficiency standards. um passing OSAS and all that kind of fun stuff. So, and I can kind of dive into those um as we get as as we move on through the goals. So, the first
003one is graduation rate um is for our focal point uh focal groups at 85%. So, first off, what I want to say when we're talking focal groups, we're talking about economically disadvantaged, we're talking about English learners as well as special education. Those are the three that we are attacking and making sure that they are over that that hump. [snorts] Um so we uh when we're talking about currently right now we are actually surpassing our goals. Economically disadvantages is sitting at 90%. English learners are at 92.3 and special education is at 88.5. Um so which is actually phenomenal right now and we're really excited about that. So, how we did that, I would like Tony to kind of talk about what we did. >> So, we do a lot of awesome things throughout the high school
004opportunity center at which to make these uh percentages up there. We a few years ago started doing math tutoring that we offer two days a week after school between 3:30 and 5. So, we have a certified math teacher that is there for students who are struggling. Um, it's also a good time if a student say in another class wasn't doing so well, just needs a place to work independently, needs it as like a homework club kind of thing as so they do not have to be in there specifically working on math, but there is a math teacher there in case that's something that they need help with. What we've done in addition to that this year is we've added a science tutoring component to that as well. So, one day a week on Tuesdays, we
005have uh one of two science teachers that's present also until 5 with the goal of hoping to expand that to a second day. also >> one of our regular science teachers. >> Yes, one of our regular science teachers. So, currently um Mr. Edwards or Miss Story and they alternate weeks depending, but we're hoping to be able to do it where one is one day and then another's moving forward. We're kind of seeing how it's going. Last week we had six students sign up for science tutoring. So, lots of new things there. We also offer an EL tutoring which hits our English language learners and so Miss Rojos and Miss Griffith at the high school offer that four days a week which has really been impressive. They started out with groups of two students that were
006there and now they're upwards of seven each week. So, it's a really good way when their students are struggling, they recommend that. What we really do to make sure that we're also hitting economically disadvantaged, we provide transportation home for that for students that live within district. So, at that 5:00, um, if a student is wanting to stay after for tutoring or is recommended to stay after for tutoring, then they could get added to a bus list and transportation department will transport them home. So that way you don't have to worry about transportation being a barrier for additional academic success. Um we also offer engagement opportunities, field trips, um the outside cascade events, after school clubs, things that students go. This is the reason this this is why I like going to school on these days
007like Thursday's creativity club. Miss Belmore has eight students that every Thursday that she offers it, they're there and it's just like clockwork. These have become their own community within the school and the people that they're excited to be around. So, it's a way to support their continual attendance and then which leading to those graduation rates. Um, yeah, >> I would like to add uh to that really quick and again we look at that high graduation rate. Again, what really tops that off is a cascade. We're so big on relationship [snorts] and relationships is everything. I just walked into Katie Rojos's room because I had a quick question uh for her and she had 15 kids in there and she wasn't just it wasn't just a a study hall where they're doing that. She's up at
008the board working with them, showing them things, underlining, working through um interactive notebooks. Absolutely phenomenal. And so again, it's all about that relationship, but again, it's the power of the practitioner. It's the power of the teacher that is going above and beyond to meet these students where they're at. And that's what is serving us well here at Cascade. It's awesome. Um, goal number two is we're talking about ELA and math. Um, 80% by third grade. Um, this is a very very lofty goal. If we were hitting this, we would be I don't know like double the the amount of any other school in the state of Oregon. It would be phenomenal. Um, what makes this school so lofty is a lot of times this is the first time these kids do any kind of big
009tests or state testing. And so this is where we're also judged which makes it really really hard. It's like we're going to judge somebody off their very first game. It's like a lot of us are coaches, right? Or we coached before we played athletics where it's like judging a team based off pre-season a preseason match or a non-league game. Um and so that that makes it really hard. However, we still attack it and we still um push forward with it. Um, right now currently ELA we were at 38% last last year. At math we were at 45%. To be honest with you that was a little bit down from the previous year. From the previous year we were at 48% um to 52 and the year before that 45 45 which roughly we're kind of
010just around 50% mark passing which is roughly probably around 10% higher than the state average. Um when we look at how other districts are doing around us. um what we're doing to strengthen this and to kind of work on this, we're really taking a lot of we're taking a hard look at our core instruction and we're making sure that we're standardized across the district. Um so that a lot of PLC groups with grade level um across the elementarymentaries um we're doing um essential standards work. We are doing common assessments, some things I'm going to talk about later on tonight in the board report. Um we're also doing math incentives. We're also taking a look at our testing prep and how we are test and prepping kids for the test and also just testing atmosphere. Um
011I was talking to one of the principles and I wouldn't really say if we're not hitting the mark doesn't really have to do with our instruction. Sometimes not really too much. A lot of times this is how we attack the test and just making sure that we have a little tweak in here. Um because a lot of our kids, they start here at 40% and they go up by the time they get to the junior high high school. They're over 60% passing and doing a great job. So um those are some things that we're doing right now. Um do anyone do I can do the next one. You guys get tired of me talking here. Uh the next one is goal number three. Um it's really talking about um social emotional learning and making sure
012that we're decreasing um um bigger issues that kids are dealing with. and we wanted to decrease that by 20%. Um we right now we saw around a 35% decrease when we were looking at the DESA. Um what did we do with that? Um first off I have to say again it's the power of the practitioner. Our counselors are absolutely phenomenal. They have a very strong PLC group. Uh Jessica Auxburgger has done a lot of work with that if you ever get the chance to talk with her. Um but again in every single building you have phenomenal counselors that are meeting kids where they're at. And again it's that power of the practitioner and of the relationships that are formed there. But again uh we have wayfinder which is a curriculum that we're using. We are
013tracking kids' moods and we're addressing uh kids in in real time. And um so those are the things that we're kind of doing there. The last one that I'm going to talk about here is foundational reading grade uh scores by the second grade. And so what we're really trying to do here is look at indicators before we get to third grade OSAS testing. And one of the big indicators is fundamental skills in reading um by the second grade. Um we measure this through a cadence or dibbles is what we would call it. And um kids are benchmarked three times a year and we collect that data and that's how we see how they progress throughout the year in their growth. And um so right now last year's uh group we were sitting at 55%. And
014so we're getting closer and again we're looking for that 80% mark. Um but 55% of our kids had those foundational skills. Now I did add and I wanted to add this because I think it's really kind of cool. Um as we go up in grade level the proficiency standards were hitting those marks. And so by third grade is current uh third grade has 58%. Fourth grade has 58% in our fifth grade current fifth grade class has uh 70% right now. Um and so we're sending these kids up um to the junior high with foundational reading skills intact which is absolutely amazing. So again, yes, we're trying to hit it by second grade. Yes, we're trying to get these scores up by third. But mo most importantly going to hear elementaryaries talk about this more is
015how are we sending kids from fifth grade to the junior high to um make sure that they are ready for that rigorous work that Debbie has them ready um has ready for them at the junior high. And so the last one I'll let Tony talk about. >> So our last goal on there is about increasing what are called non-traditional students in our CTE program. So those if you think about manufacturing and construction um just kind of to give everybody perspectives we have completers and pathway completers students that make it through a variety of classes in these and over the last few years we've averaged one to two students that are females in manufacturing and construction and we're wondering how can we get more females into these types of industries? How do we support our learners
016who maybe you know want to try something but they're a little nervous about getting into something that maybe they haven't seen done before? And so what we've been doing is working with Mr. Iverson and Mr. Kenzie and really um trying to come up with industry talks or professionals that come in and meet with students that are from a variety of different backgrounds as opposed like so women in the trades that come in and speak someone that when they're standing there they can say I could see me doing that. We've gone and been on panels of women in the trades with Mr. Iverson and I presented at one of them last year and try to talk to other school districts about what kind of things are we missing? How are we working on that? And this
017year we're really excited because just in first trimester alone we have nine students that are signed up for Mr. Iverson's classes this trimester. So what we're doing we're progressively working towards that. We want to make sure we're encouraging everybody to take classes that maybe they aren't as familiar with and not just the introductory courses because taking one because you're like I need a spot to fill in my schedule is one thing versus I really liked that. How can I continue to take those types of classes? I really liked what I was doing. This year we also have students of female students in the manufacturing program at the WAMIC career academy as well which was my first year having a student that had signed up for that. And so it was really exciting to see how
018those kind of opportunities are growing. But we also are looking at students how are we supporting our special education students that are in manufacturing and construction? How are we supporting our English language learners? And so all of these non-traditional students that may or may not know what job opportunities or how they can be supported. So, we're continuously looking to improve in our CTE programs and find ways that we can make sure say, "Hey, have you tried that class? Did you like it?" And if they say, "Yeah, well, what do you what could we do with that? Do we want to keep trying? How do we get you more engaged in those types of opportunities?" And providing them the resources they need to do that, whether it's additional equipment that maybe fits differently because of your
019females versus your males. And so, we've ordered more equipment and done things along those lines, but what else? So, we're consistently looking for ways to make sure that nobody slips through the cracks and if they want to go into a career in the trades, how do we get them there? >> So, that wraps it up for us. And I should have started off with this, so I apologize, but a lot of these programs here and these goals are funded by the integrated plan, which is again our student investment account, our high school succession measure 98, um, early literacy, um, and those all the funding sources that we use to fund u these initiatives that we have in the district. Do you guys have any questions for us? >> Could you give me those percentages of
020graduation rates that you >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, if we're looking at our focal groups again, our economically disadvantage is at 90%. Our English learners is at 92.3%. And then our special education is at 88.5%. Yeah, those are just phenomenal rates uh for focal groups. >> I just wanted to hear it again. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> So, Dr. Dyer, you talked about on like number two and number four of your bullet points of 80% um great proficiencies and those are fabulous goals and maybe I missed this part. What are we going to do to >> different to achieve that? >> Yeah. So right now, especially for like let's say we're looking at goal number um four with the foundational reading skills >> 55% you said now we want to get to 80 which
021is fabulous goal but what are we going to do different? >> Yeah so right now we're working with Oregon RTI so it's a response to intervention so >> was it last week? No it's two weeks ago we just spent uh two days in Bend all three schools working together and we're taking a hard look at our core instruction. So response to intervention really breaks things down into three tiers when we're looking at a student. So tier one is what we're talking about core instruction. That's where everybody is kind of getting. And if and after we we progress monitor them, not progress, we benchmark them and we assess them. And if they kind of fall behind or they're a little bit behind, they're either going to be green as that mean they they made it or
022yellow as they're just a little bit behind or they're red or they're really behind. If they're in the yellow and a red, we now move them to what we call a level two or a tier two. And then we have some interventions and curriculums and some programs that we run through there. Um, and then if they still don't progress after that, then we move them to a tier three. And so then we again we intervene that way. So what we did at the conference was we looked very specifically what we're looking at this year is we're analyzing our tier one, two, and three at separate times to make sure that we are all on the same page across the district and also to make sure that we have the best practices around um to service
023our kids. >> So let me ask another let me take that a step further. I've been sitting here long enough I've heard a lot of years of all the things we're doing and we're adding and we keep adding and we keep adding. At what point do we put too much on a teacher's plate where other things start to fall off? It's I mean because again they do a fabulous job and they have a ton on their plate now. >> So a lot of so the RTI um situation uh process we do have a reading specialist. So when it comes to reading we have a reading specialist and then kids go out for a 30 minute block for a response to intervention or RTI reading block where they get pulled or it's called a win um
024depending on what school you're at. and that's going to a a team of reading specialists or reading instructional assistants that deliver that instruction to those kids. And so really what we're doing with organ RTI is how do we lighten the load on the teachers or how do we streamline it a little bit, >> right? Because we can't dumping on them again something has to give. >> Nope. and and so and and again we I think with us working together as a team in our PLC's group in our PLC groups is we're learning how to work together not even as a a school but also as a district and so now we've opened up the network across all three schools and we talk very regular um on the regular and we very we talk about a
025whole bunch of best practices and so they're meeting and they're talking they're a phone call away we have teachers visiting other classrooms and again we're trying to make that easier for them to streamline that process and get everybody on the same page which is it's it's really cool to see >> right >> and also working with Oregon RTI we work with a lady called Beth Ferguson and it's funny she looks at our data from our benchmarks and I'm like she's like let me just see where you're at because we were like we want to get here we want to get here and she's like well let me see your data she looks at it and her face her jaw just goes this is the some of the best data I've seen what are you guys
026doing and how and so they're kind of talking back and forth with us about what we're doing, >> right? And and real quick, RTI is stands for what? >> Response to intervention. >> Yep. >> I want to follow up question. Um going back to where you were talking about the testing at the third grade level. >> Yeah. >> Um and I think you were saying math, you were still in the 40s >> and trying to get up to the 80s. >> Um Do so you've already had three years with the kid, right? Kindergarten, first, second. >> By second grade, do you have some sort of idea where they're at or has there not been any testing? So, third grade is really the first benchmark where you see the kids real level. >> That's a great
027question. So, um the first formal assessment that we get from the state is given at third grade. We do >> Yeah. The state test. >> Yeah. State test. So, we work through and we have a cadence which is foundational skills for reading which we just talked about. In math, we use I Ready and we're doing the exact same thing. We're progress monitoring three times a year. Um there's actually a program that actually tracks their progress and growth called My Path and Kids get to test and assess throughout the year. Um but again, we formally um assess them three times a year. >> So that that starts at the kindergarten level. >> That starts at kindergarten level. >> So by the time they're in third grade, they've been assessed nine times. >> Yes. Yep. assuming assuming
028that they're here >> and and the coolest thing right now that we are finding right now at Cascade and this is where again power the practitioner we have two great math coaches right now that are paid out of SIA Shannon Stinett and Margaret Hill um and they do a phenomenal job getting our kids ready what we're seeing right now is a great correlation with how kids are doing on their I Ready assessments and it's correlating very well how well they're going to do on um their OSASS or a state test which is great. That's not this the story in a lot of different places. They do these things. Oh, they're doing great and I ready and then they bomb the I and they they bomb the state test. If our kids are doing pretty well,
029they're going to do pretty well. If they're doing great, they're going to do great. If they're doing bad, they're going to do bad, which means we know how kids are probably going to perform before they even take the test, which is good news for us. Now, we can make adjustments in order to get them ready for that. >> You didn't use this isn't a new ready. You've already been using it for a couple years, right? >> Seven years now. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, that's not something new then, >> would it? >> But when you're five, okay. Yeah. It seems like forever. >> When you're talking about trying to get to 80%, which in all of our minds is like, well, that's a B, right? >> I don't know of a district in the state
030that's even at 70%. >> For math. I mean, they're not even I mean, the state average is in the low 40s or 38. I think it's >> then the state's um target off. I mean that just seems like a a drastic >> the state's target is the well no we are being very aspirational about wanting we believe we can get kids to that level but the reality is most kids are not not just in Oregon across the nation it is difficult to get to that level. So, is it because they're of their background and then we're having to at kindergarten already play catch-up? >> Most people, including most kids are afraid of math. And the reason why we have math coaches at the elementary level is lots of elementary teachers are really good at English
031and they're really good at some other things. Math's a little more difficult for them. They'd even rather take teach science than they would math. >> Okay. >> So, that's a that's a cultural issue that goes beyond here. >> Okay. So I [clears throat] mean they're but you know Brian's like 80% baby and I'm like okay [laughter] >> you know I'm not I'm not >> a lot of it that's what the state is asking us that's what I was getting confused about >> absolutely >> and try to push forward and then the other thing too that's really hard how the and I could go on I mean I literally could talk about this for days and I don't think anybody wants me to talk about it for days and I get very excited about it but
032it's just that sometimes we even how they track cohorts and we're showing growth the state I don't think I'm being recorded, huh? Yeah. >> Uh yeah, sometimes it's frustrating on how we have to report and how we show growth and how we um collect different things in the state. So again, like when we compare third grade to third, they compared last year's third graders to this year's third graders. That's a totally different group of kids. You can have a totally different makeup of kids, but that's how we're shown growth. And so that's really that's frustrating sometimes. That makes sense. >> But again, as we're moving forward, and sometimes when we're looking at elementary, it's the first time these kids take a test >> and it's the first time they ever taken a big test. And
033so just test anxiety and working kids through that is that's a big deal for these kids. And again, I think we're doing a great job with it. And as we go up through the junior high, our kids are outperforming every especially in ELA. Um, like I said, I think we're up 17% than the state average in ELA in the high school by the time they hit hit the high school. Um, and junior high is in the same boat. So, we're doing a great job in that continuum. I really want to reiterate that idea of we look at kids K12, how do we get kids from the time we have them and how are they leaving us is the most important thing. These are just indicators. It's how they leave us is what's really important. >>
034You're at about 20 minutes right here. So I don't know how how much money. >> I got one last question. We wrap this up. One more question, Dr. Dyer. So other than money, what can this board do to support you in these goals? >> I think the biggest thing if I could say is just kind of what I talked about right here is just keep on supporting the idea of K12. Sometimes again I mean the small indicators along the way are great and how we're doing but again how we what are we giving the world when as a when a kid leaves cascade and really stay hyperfocused on that idea. Um also again the whole child and we're talking about that and just keep on being positive and ask really good questions. Um that's another
035thing you can do. I like questions because that also informs me and um it makes me fine-tune the things that I need to to fine-tune. So, keep on asking tough questions, keep on just being supportive and again we're looking at the child, the whole child from K2 and just always keep that in mind. So, yep. >> Any other questions? >> No. Awesome. Good job. >> Thank you both. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay, we're going on to special education special ed >> and I'll and I'll mark about 20 and you guys can decide. No, we're going longer. That's up to you guys. >> That's fine. >> Good evening. >> 20 minutes. I planned on six. [laughter] >> You'll ask a lot of questions. >> Hi. Good evening, guys. Um I um last year I didn't get
036to talk to you about goals. Um I sat and then we just we ran out of time. So I want to say thank you um and thank you for allowing me to go. um special education. You guys have seen my passion for the last six years as the director. Um and my biggest um goal is to get kids across that stage to get them graduated and ready for the world with students with disabilities. And it starts from the ground up and it starts with high quality instruction. It starts with finding out exactly what the student needs are. And if you were to ask the administrators in this room, every year they become a little bit more unique and a little bit more challenging. And uh yet we still seem to rise to the occasion. Compliance
037is a big part of my job. So um I have um a bullet point in here about ensuring compliance um across the board. And this year we're in cyclical monitoring, which means the OD gets to take a deep dive into our special education files. Um, and last year or three years ago when we did it, uh, we submitted 40 different files for different students across the, um, uh, district, they came up with four compliance errors. I fought all of them in one, so we had zero compliance errors. And, um, I'm not saying that that's going to be this year, but I'm really hopeful. Um, we we our teachers work really hard and our administrators work really hard to ensure that IEPs are written well and purposeful and compliant. um supporting parent involvement. Um if we
038want kids with disabilities to do well, we need to give their parents resources. Um if they can support their kids to the fullest extent at home, we have a better chance of seeing huge success here at school. This school year, I'm going to be working with the family resource center, my autism specialists, um and a couple other uh specialists around creating a resource fair for our families with disabilities. Um and there's more information to come on that. and then providing professional development. So um again because the the needs are ever changing um and becoming more unique and a little bit more challenging, professional development looks a little bit different each school year um and sometimes monthtomonth. And some of the big things that I'm targeting is everything that I talked about just a few seconds
039ago as well as um looking at again higher level instruction, but this year a lot around safety. So restraint and seclusion across our district. There's been several Senate bills that have been passed. Um and safety for not just our students, but our staff is very important. And so upcoming here soon, we have what's called a pad and shield training. Um which sounds a little bit intense, but it actually helps keep staff safe. And so that's going to be our upcoming professional development. And then sprinkled in throughout the school year is again instruction uh and safety and compliance. >> So >> questions for me? Let's go back to your pad and shield. We're talking obviously a physical barrier that people are going to be trained to use >> because of of physical attacks against the staff.
040>> Yes. Um >> are we seeing that here in particular or is that a statewide issue that they're saying thou must? >> It is a statewide issue. It's a national issue. Um and it is uh we have about across our district I want to say about 20 students who can become physically violent. um mostly at the elementary level. I have found K5 is the most violent. Um by the time they get up to sixth grade, seventh, and eighth grade, they usually just run away. Um [laughter] >> but they they kind of outgrow that, if you will, and and >> if they haven't, I have them in a a a very um definitely a more restrictive placement. Um for >> when you say run away, you're talking literally >> they just leave campus at it's Yeah.
041Um and there's different laws, right? You can press charges on a student who's 12. um where and their police can come um where an elementary school that's not necessarily the case, right? Um but there's also they're gaining more skills. So the goal is if if I have I have been able to show that if I can get have a student with intensive supports kindergarten, first grade, second grade, we start to see large improvements around fourth and fifth grade and even graduating out of behavior programs by the time they walk through sixth grade. And the goal is to get them the skills they need. We look at behavior and emotional regulation as a skill just like reading, writing, and math. And so a lot of these kiddos, they're coming from extreme trauma. Their disability um is
042incredibly impactful and they might not have the skills. And developmentally, you might have a third grader, but developmentally they're a second grade, they're they're a two-year-old, right? And so um you're dealing with a vast majority of of skill deficits. And so the goal is to get them the skills they need to be successful. Makes >> sense. So good. >> Okay. >> I have a question. >> Um, can you speak more to how how do your kids meet graduation? >> And I'm sure that's a long conversation, but >> um to like wrap it up in a good package. Um, >> so in the last not going to have the same skill sets as this kid, right? So how does that [snorts] >> Right. In the last six years, we've we've seen a huge significant jump in
043graduation rates and it starts from the ground up. So, if you can have really solid elementary programs, resource autism, life, whatever the program is, if you can have really solid programs at the elementary, it's just like in general education, you're setting a strong foundation. And then again, at the junior high, we're preparing those kids to be successful at the high school level, right? Um, and the way that we run our programs really is helping our kids at school with their assignments. A lot of our kids, if if we expect them to take all of their work home with them and the level of need that they might have, it's going to be more challenging. So, the way that we set up all of our programs at the secondary level is half their class period is
044specially designed instruction and the second half period is working on their math class, their English class, their science class to to definitely take away the amount of work that they're having to do outside with the lack of support they might have. And we want kids to be active. We want kids to do sports. We'd like them to go to bed at a decent hour. We'd like them to spend time with their family. And so, in order to do that, they need a little bit more help. So it sounds like you're talking about the kids like with IEPs that just needed that little >> extra assistance, but what about a [snorts] kid with severe autism? >> So that kid also has >> be held to the same standard that that a kid without that >> would
045have, right? >> What you have at the high school level, you have an honors diploma, you have a regular diploma, you have a modified diploma, you have an extended diploma, and you have a certificate of attendance. Okay? >> And so what you're looking at is where do those where do all of our kids fall into play? And a student who is in special education qualifies can qualify for any one of those depending on their level of need and their academic ability. >> And you and you make that decision or who who makes that decision? >> It's a team decision. >> Sometimes sometimes >> it's not like the state then comes in and says this is where we put the kid. You >> correct your team. >> Our schools and our teams and there's different criterias
046for each of those but we would be here all day. >> Yes. Understood. >> Okay. What else? >> So, I'll ask you the same question. Other than money, what can this board do to support you? >> Special education sometimes can um be the um [sighs] the second thing we do. And I would love to see um a board and and just as a entire community um that special ed is the thing that we do to support all kids. Um and it runs alongside with what we do first, right? It's the whole child. It's making sure that we um say to our community that all kids belong here, all kids belong at each school and all kids have a right to an education regardless of their disability. That's it. And money is always great, too. But
047you said I do now. That's why that's my leg [laughter] money. >> That That's the place we we're limited. Everything else we've got, we've got nothing but opportunity. Um, and then like you said in here about supporting parent involvement. >> Do you see a trend on parents that are involved versus parents that aren't? I mean, is there a is there a social or an economic um can you group and say, you know, we're pretty sure that these kids aren't getting the support they need at home based on X, Y, and Z. Or is it random on who's supporting and who's not? >> I think what happens um in special education is it's easy to say, oh, it's because they don't want to be involved or maybe it's this socioeconomic class. It's not that. I think
048a lot of times it's parents are doing their very best to work their jobs nine to five and then having a student with a disability adds a whole other complex level and sometimes it just comes down to to resources and understanding the process. Special education is complex for most parents. Um and then you add parents who single parents, you add on parent foster parents, you add on all sorts of other elements to it. it's just a very overwhelming um process. And so I think sometimes parents are like, I don't have it in my my belt today to make that happen. And so my goal is to give parents resources at home so they don't feel so overwhelmed. And teaching them the process. You know, we're going to have an IEP night. We're going to have
049um a a resource fair for just our our students with autism. Um because that's that's the biggest barrier I think is what happens is that it's just overwhelming >> and um we we look at the numbers, we see the number of kids that are in the school, we see the number of kids that are doing the the IEPs and etc. and it continues to grow. Do we are we keeping pace with the growth of the needs of those kids? >> Um Darren, and I think this is the what you're asking is like are we able to keep up with the growth essentially? Um Darren would say that I'm a puzzle maker. Um and I am working that puzzle as hard as I can. And um it's getting harder. Um I would I would be lying
050if I said absolutely. Um but the puzzle's getting harder, right? >> Um because of the needs. And I know everybody up here knows I don't want to just give services. I want to give really good services to kids. And so again, because of that puzzle making, I go to Darren when I've run out of puzzle pieces. And we're we're getting there. >> And and is the bar getting higher or lower for kids to fall into the the special needs program? So 20 years ago, >> would all the kids that are in it now have qualified or would they have have fit that that space? I mean, is it is it are more kids coming into us because the bar is changing or >> the bar has not really changed. It's actually become more specific. Okay.
051>> Um I would say needs are different than 20 years ago. There's so many more different dynamics. Um additionally, um when you build it, they will come. And we built really solid programs. Um it's just becoming harder because our programs are getting so big. So for example, five years ago, our autism program had 12 kids in it. >> Okay. >> We're at 26 as of yesterday. >> And how many of those are transferred in? Um, I'd have to take a look. They're mostly moveins. Um, okay. This school year alone, we had tw over 20, I want to say 25 preschool students living in our district who are already identified come in with high high needs. Um, it's the highest we've had since I've been here. Um, and of those 25, uh, 13 of them ended
052up in my special my autism program. >> Wow. Mhm. >> Is that just this school district or have you looked at Salem and has their numbers right? >> They they correlate. Are they the same? >> I would say um yes, I would say even Jefferson. Jefferson is a tiny district compared to ours. Um >> and she was telling me just yesterday she also had the highest number she's ever had come in. And so I think you're seeing districts all over the state numbers are starting to grow. The difference is is that if you are in a larger district, it doesn't feel as impactful because you have way more programs and resources and systems in place. It starts to become more impactful in a district our size because we're limited, >> right? >> Also limited in
053space. >> Exactly. >> So, >> yeah. Okay. >> Okay. >> Kathleen, [clears throat] if somebody were to say, "What are you most proud of in the special ed department?" What how would you answer that? [sighs] >> So many things. I I would say our staff um I hired one new teacher this year. Um and that means if you think about how many staff I have in the special education world for teachers, I had one new teacher and just a handful of instructional assistants. Um I'm proud of our staff and they we couldn't ask for a better teaching crew and classified staff. You really I we are blessed. Um especially in our teaching u staff. They're veterans. They're good at their job, but what I love most is they love kids. They're in it because they
054love kids. >> Awesome. Good. Any other questions? >> Wonderful. >> Awesome. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you very much. >> So, we're two down. >> Two down. >> Two to go. >> Um, if you want if you need a minute, great. If you want to move forward, you can certainly move forward. It's up to you. >> Does anyone need a minute or can we charge on? >> We're charging on. >> Yep. >> Mr. Mr. Mincer, I believe, >> and Miss Iverson, >> everybody. All right, >> it's a party. >> Zack straighten up that podium just a bit. She's kind of walking around with it. [laughter] >> You'll just be out of camera. >> Oh, sorry. >> It was just part of how you were moving. It's all good. >> Good. >> We're good. >> You
055know, we talk about these goals and just following Kathleen. I mean, the times are surely a changing. You know, I've taught in this district since 1999, and the only time I was clobbered by a student was a kinder earlier this year. So, we set lofty goals. We work hard toward those goals, but until we manage the behaviors and all the incredible needs, and sometimes those needs are just the the hierarchy of needs, starting with clothing and shelter and safety and food. Those are what we manage first before we get to all of these lofty goals that we're talking about today. And one of those goals that we're all committed to at the elementary level is literacy. We have a campaign called Everything Literacy. Yes, is math important. I'm proud of the fact that we've never
056had the numbers we've had in calculus at the high school. But frankly, if they can't read, they can't do much. Even our I Ready program, which we are in our four in our fifth year, is heavy heavy on reading and word problems. So, we're really tackling literacy. We did get some additional funding with the early literacy grant that Brian manages as part of that package of funding, but it's more than that. A lot of people in Oregon, well, every school district received that money, but frankly, the needle hasn't really moved yet in its second or third year of inception. And we have to be so careful of where we place that money. First of all, teachers need adequate training, and we're doing that. Most of our staff now have had the letters training, which is
057the number one training tool to teach the science of reading. And science of reading, not some fancy slogan, but back to the basics of how most kids need to learn how to read. And that's that strong phonetic base. Back to the basics. We're doing that at all the elementary schools. We're also teamed up, as you heard, with Oregon RTI so that a third party can come in and watch our core instruction, give little tidbits, and though it's true that it's one more thing for teachers, but it's like what's is it one more thing on your plate, but I'd say it's a better plate instead of going to the country buffet [snorts] where you just kind of grab a little bit of everything. We want a high-end dining experience where what's on the plate is the
058best of the best. The teachers are going to teach reading regardless, and we are hopeful with these strategies in place that they're teaching it to the best of the research and the abilities out there. They're still going to teach reading. We want them to master teaching it well to get results. And when I first got this job and this is my fifth year along with I Ready, I thought if we do reading really really well, we won't need all the reading interventionists and IAS can then be in classrooms giving more support. But the challenge with that is that we keep getting new students moveins that need help with reading. We just got a third grader this year who was homeschooled, which I fully support when it's done well, but in this particular case, she didn't
059quite learn how to read. And we have a whole team of people from the literacy expert to the classroom teacher, all on the same goal with her of getting this kid to read. She doesn't like that she can't read like her classmates do. So, it's like I feel like we take three steps forward, then we got to take one back to bring everybody else along. But we're doing that one kid at a time. I'll turn it over to my esteemed colleagues. Esteemed. One of our main and I would call it a chief focus is determining what students leave our buildings, what they look like, what skills do they have when we transition them to the junior high. Can they read? Can they write? Can they do math? And are they good humans? That's our biggest
060goal in my opinion. And needless to say, that's why it's on our list. So, we we are focusing on all of those things to make sure that kids can read at a high level like Mr. Mr. Dyers talked about, Lisa talked about as well. Um, we're also making sure that they can they can access math at a high level. Rigorous instruction is a word that gets thrown around quite a bit, especially at the secondary level. [laughter] >> Sorry. >> It's okay. Um, so rigorous instruction is something that gets it's it's a term that gets thrown around a lot at the secondary level. And we had this great conversation last week with uh a team of teachers and myself and we talked about academic stamina. We need to build academic stamina in our students so that
061they can access that rigorous instruction. And this goes handinhand with everything Mr. Dyer talked about earlier with our state testing scores. We've got kids in third grade who have never seen that test before. They've never experienced that. They've never been on the field to use your your game analogy. And so if we can do our best to build that academic stamina in them as all the way through kinder all the way to fifth grade, then we can be sure that they're going to do their best on those state assessments and that they're going to be in the best place and best position to excel in the junior high, which I feel like, and Debbiey's not here yet, but Debbie has seen some amazing growth the last couple of years, and I I 100% want to
062pat the junior high on the back, but also at the same time, the three elementary schools are are getting some very quality students to the junior high and and that is something that I don't think we could be more proud of. So that is our second goal. Miss Bradley, >> your next esteemed colleague. >> My next esteemed colleague. >> Okay. Um so basically I think what they're saying is great. Um just what we focus on with our kids, but at the same time what we also want to do is just honor our staff because it is our staff that get our kids to where they are. Um, it is the staff. It's our classified staff who work tirelessly with kids. It's whether they're doing recess duty, small group instruction. Um, you name it, they're everywhere.
063And if you were ever just to sub for a classified staff, it's non-stop. It's just go go go. Um, and they work so hard to just go everywhere to help our kids. And same with our teachers. So, it's also just making sure that all of our teachers are doing very similar things. um that Oregon RTI process that we were talking about, that's also kind of streamlining it, but it's also simplifying what they're doing because sometimes there is so much thrown at teachers and this does take out the things that aren't going to be wasting their time. So, it's finding out which strategies, what is it that we can really implement that are really highly effective and taking out the things that might just be a waste of their time because there is so much. So,
064it's just a way to filter it out. Thought I'd throw that in there, by the way, because I was thinking about that earlier. Um, but also just making sure we're focusing on AVID strategies, everything that we're doing, and then also just holding the um, administrators accountable that we're also doing the same things by supporting our staff and keeping in the district initiatives. So, any questions? >> Ask away. >> I'm looking right at you. >> I'm I'm waiting. I didn't want to go I didn't want to hog in. So, here's my question. M Dr. Dyer, you might be able to weigh in on this. If if a a student goes from the fifth grade to the sixth grade, and I'm since the three of you are standing here, I'm going to ask this. Can a sixth
065grade teacher tell which school they came from? >> I'm just going to say yes. All the great ones are from Cloverdale. No, I don't. [laughter] >> I think once upon a time it was very evident. >> I agree. That's why I'm asking the question. >> Yeah, I would say now >> doubtful. Mr. Dyer, would you like to >> Dr. Dyer, would you care to weigh in on that? >> Maybe. Maybe I'm a little biased. >> You think? Maybe. [laughter] I I will weigh in on that. Um to be honest with you, in the years past it has been that has been something that was was talked about. Um I I've checked in with uh teachers um and >> the like it's it's not there. It's it's not there especially after the first month. Um it's
066just they >> I realize everything's going to be different. We can't have a cookie cutter. But what I'm asking is are they close enough that we can feel confident that >> Yes. I I honestly I I would I was even looked through data and I was pulling out data um just on who was passing, who's this and on that and by the time they hit even the end of sixth grade or seventh grade, you can't tell Cascade Kids a Cascade kid. >> Nice. >> So nice. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Go ahead. >> I wanted to make a comment on that because I was a parent who knew the strongest grade school and we transported ours out of district to that grade school. But and when I first came on the board, the elementaryaries seem
067so divided and almost competitive. >> And it just seems like I have to say that all three of you are just the perfect fit for your schools and you work so well together and I feel the professional respect among the three of you and it's just wonderful and I just wanted to say that. >> Thank you. >> Got a good team. >> Yes. And I would send my kids to either any school and be so proud. So, I'll ask my question that I asked the others. Other than money, what can this board do to support each of you individually in your goals and objectives? >> Well, I've been actually I've been thinking about that because when you've asked it and I honestly didn't really have an answer, did you? >> No, not I I mean
068truly it's it's what you guys are doing. Being inquisitive, asking questions, caring. >> I'm not We don't want a pat on the head. Seriously, >> trust him. [laughter] I wouldn't give you just the the courtesy pad. There's Yeah, I I truly think what the amount of interest and investment and and curiosity that all of you have for what we do, K12, I I think that to me is the most important thing. And the fact that you guys are all well-rounded and with it people who understand what we do here is more than just faces and books, right? It's more than just that. We're we're graduating these people who become amazing individuals and and if you just looked at our staff and on how many people graduated from that from Cascade that work here, I think
069that would tell you something. This is a special place and you guys are a huge part of that. And so I would say keep doing what you're doing. Ask more questions. >> Careful what you wish for. >> Lisa, Lisa, do me a favor and answer the question. >> Exactly. I say >> I would actually I would love for each of you and I know you're busy. This is a volunteer position, but spend more than a 10-minute walkthrough. Go to each school at one point this year and spend a day, spend a half a day. If I could actually scream from the mountaintops about public education, which I've, you know, my husband and I have devoted our entire life, I want the public to know. I want the public to know that we have a family
070where the kids are living in a tent and mom's expecting again and we feed them. we give them care and nurturing. I want the public to know that if we can just regulate this kinder and the teacher's coffee doesn't get thrown or somebody doesn't get hit that that's a good day. But despite every single obstacle, I walk and visit every single class every single day. And I just cannot believe how on point our teachers are. There just isn't any I said this at our teachers meeting the other day and I mean it. There's just no um weak sauce. They are doing their job every single day. They are bringing their best despite the fact that don't ask for anything. We don't have any more money. Despite the fact that all of the challenges from our
071special education and the needs of our community has never been greater. They're still bringing it every day. Nobody's just putting on videos and relaxing. And I want you to see that >> and help out at lunch. C45 lunch because [laughter] >> wait a minute wait a minute 68 kids through the lunch >> because whatever the bond whatever the bond plan we are flat out of room again and we're going to have another boom and we need a plan B and just be on the ground one day this year. >> Let me ask that question in a different way. >> No, no, no. I was just going to say maybe we should schedule a time. She's >> Yeah, I I did tour Turner the year before you came, but I would love to come and do
072that and I've been to Almsville and >> I would love to come to Cloverdale. I feel like I know it well, but you know, it's it would be nice to meet the new teachers. >> So maybe two at a time we could go visit or something, you know, like schedule >> something. So just like not one of us is taking your time away. hard to take a whole day off, but I'd like to >> come for like an lunch or something. >> And it would go a long way too with our educators to know what it's like just to see it. >> Yeah. >> I agree. >> It's kind of like you can't believe it till you see it sometimes. >> Yeah. >> Erin, did you have a different way to ask the question? >>
073Yeah. Just just um what do you think the biggest challenge is this year >> for Almsville specifically? It's what Kathleen had had mentioned, our autism classroom doubled in size. And so, um, being able to meet the needs of those students, getting enough staffing to meet the needs of those students and, you know, giving them the best education we can is is truly one of the biggest challenges we have in addition to teaching kids to read and do math and keeping them safe and all of those things as well. Um, I think as you will see when you come and visit Almsville, Almsville is a very busy place and we've got the three self-contained programs for the district. So, there's there's often a lot of challenges that that come with our attempts to support those students.
074And we we hit it out of the park nine times out of 10, but there are hard days for sure. >> Follow up to what you just said. >> Yeah. >> And I don't I don't know the answer to this what I'm asking. Being that you guys are both in the same building, do you guys share teachers? Like is there ever some overlap that that a teacher could swing and go help where she's supposed to be, but like Kathleen needs an emergency teacher to go help in the situation. Is there any sort of overlap with you guys or is it just like she's got hers and you have yours? >> Well, I So >> maybe it's not enough to make that >> teachers. They're not just my teachers. So I think that's a >> But
075you have your program, right? >> No. So it's our program. So I don't have separate programs. Um, is that kind of Yeah, maybe I didn't understand the dynamic at all. >> We do have our gened teachers. We do have um certified teachers who support primarily in the gened and then we have special education teachers on top of that. So, we do have a very large staff and Kathleen is involved a lot, I would say 100% plus [laughter] our 100% with our special education teachers. Um, so there there's not an overlap like you're describing, but we do have shared teachers all in the building. >> So in in an event like where there's an emergency, it is all hands on deck. And >> I would love to say that staff attendance is 100% perfect. >> I
076already know that answer. >> That's not true. And um because of that, sometimes we are begging, borrowing, and stealing from other programs to make sure that are higher need programs. It's a safety issue. So I can't go with a bunch of subs in a behavior program because you really need to be mantraed and I can't have a a teacher out and no sub in any one of those programs. I have to grab another teacher or we have to because at that point student safety is our biggest concern. Got you. >> Yeah. >> Okay, that makes sense. It's a good question. others. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah, Julia, since since you're the newest of the three here, but not necessarily newest as an administrator, um open open season right here. I'm going to give you
077the shot right after a couple three years. What >> Yeah. What What do you What do you see at Cascade that works well and what do you see that we're still needing support with or work need to work on? >> Sure. Um, if I could just compliment 100% it would be Kathleen Johnson. Um, if you go to any other district, um, your sped director can either make it or break it. Um, she has a very strong philosophy of any student that has any high needs should get high support. Um there there is a sense of I know that there as an administrator it can be really hard if you have a child hitting people and they continue to go back in the same classroom again and again and again and it impacts the learning of
078everybody where I know she will have my support. She is going to be hard on me and say I need this and this and this before I'm even going to consider looking at this child. But I know she will support me 100%. She will also take tough conversations with any parents if if I have exhausted everything I've got. Are you coughing for a reason or is that just Oh, [laughter] all right. Um, but really just just even when I was getting interviewed, just hearing her was what made me say, "Okay, this is where I need to be." Because it does impact everything. Everything. Um, so I I would really just applaud her for that. Um, and also I've applauded you before. Um, I've also worked for a district where the board is a hot hot
079mess and it's almost like having swords thrown at you um, left and right. You don't want them in your school. You flat out don't. And we're wanting you there. Um, so that's another piece of it. Also, administratives that it's we're so small that we can actually make change together. My opinion matters, which I love that. And Dr. Dyer always asks our opinion, which is just amazing. Um, and just I know that Darren is so 100% supportive and I know that he has my back every time, too. So, I there's so much I could say that I I could keep going, but >> anything else that we could do? >> I say those are fabulous and we appreciate that, but what can we do to be better? >> Um, >> because we don't know what we
080don't know. >> Yeah, I I honestly just can't think of an answer right now. I'm sure once I sit down, I'm going to be like, "Oh, yeah. my fancy. [laughter] Um, but as of right now, I'm not thinking of it. Um, but I'll let you know if I do think >> you got 50 minutes. 55 minutes. >> Okay. If I just if I jump up, you'll know. You'll know. But thanks for asking. >> Since we have a little more time, do you mind if I ask a couple questions? >> Please do. >> All right. Mr. Mer. >> Yes, sir. >> Uh, you run essentially um the largest you you do run the the the largest elementary and essentially you have more staff than any other building in the district. Um, same kind of question. What
081do we do well? What are we missing? >> I think I know what we do well is we we build a strong sense of family in Almsville. For as big as we are and as disconnected as both buildings can be at times. Our staff, our administrators, we've done a phenomenal job of building this very unique sense of community. And anytime we hire a new staff member, we check in with them regularly. And I think Jay even mentioned this today in our leadership meeting. He's gone around and met with every single new staff member that we've hired and he said resoundingly that most most all of them had said the sense of family and community that our school district builds is is huge. And I think at Almsville we have we've definitely done that. Um in
082my experience there it definitely has become a wonderful and amazing place to work. Um, I say this term a lot. We want kids running into the building and not out of the building. So, and that just goes to show that we've built some an amazing community. So, um, that that would be the one thing I think we do really well. On the same token, those new new staff members, sometimes if we're not very intentional about getting to them or checking in with them on a regular basis, it can be lonely because of our size. So, we as administrators, um, the other folks on their team, we have to be super intentional about providing them the mentorship that they might need, the resources, or just things as simple as, hey, we've got a fire drill tomorrow.
083Where do I line up? Right? So, there's just we we've kind of called it like the new teacher kit. We need like this toolbox of all the stuff. And so, that would be one thing I think that we could do a little bit better job of onboarding our new teachers. Specifically, I think um when it's with our instructional assistants, they've got pretty great systems in those programs to onboard them, but specifically with our teachers, I think we could be a little more intentional with with onboarding. >> Thank you. So, if I may, Lisa, you ready to drink water? So, you don't >> So, so my my question to you would be a little bit different. So, in the five years that you've been there, when you started >> Yes. >> Right. there were at least
084a hundred fewer kids, >> correct? And now you're over you're run running right around 420 422. I'm sure you can correct me because you you and I >> you and I both know which how many there are per day. It's kind of interesting. >> So in that change in that five years, right? So what do we what do you feel like you guys do now? Because your your dynamic your size you went you went from a small country school to an actual real full full-blown elementary school with all its issues and all its problems. So what do we do well and what are we missing? Well, I'm I am super excited when they talk about those multi-tiered of interventions. Like we give kids that need the help with reading a tier 2, meaning they go
085and get small group, but tier one is what every kid gets. And we do a really good job with tier one. I mean, Kelly and I know every single kid's name. So, it starts with that. We know I know their test scores. I know who's struggling with what. So getting to know our kids, you know, there's this Facebook group and they were debating about how much time administrators are at recess. And somebody said, "Well, you don't have time for that." I consider it essential. I know Brian wanted to meet with me and I'm like, "But I'm on recess duty." Because that's when I know my kids. I mean, I talk to them. I visit with them. I know who's playing with who. I know who's left out. Um, that's how I knew how much the
086reading bothered our new third grader last week because she was out at recess sitting alone because they just finished with reading. So, that's what we really do well. We know our kids. We also give kids experiences that they're not getting anywhere else. You know, a lot of schools, not to always bash on Salem Kaiser, but they just don't do field trips anymore. I am the biggest advocate, as we all are, for experiential education. I mean, they will remember that field trip, that experience forever. We do that really well. And I think it's it's not something that we do poorly, but just being attentive to behaviors. We've had several teachers come to us from Salem Kaiser and they say it's so amazing just to be able to teach because we're not just dealing with behaviors, but
087we are seeing an uptick in some pretty significant behaviors for Turner. And my message actually at the last late start meeting was the day that we start saying that's just the way it is is the day we might as well give up on public education. We have to be attentive to every single behavior. Ch other children no matter what their needs are cannot interrupt the learning of others and we have to be very attentive to that and we have to be on it every single day. And if that means we're in classrooms every day helping out, that's what we need to do. So, it's not that we do it poorly. I just think we're learning how to do it because they're seeing things that they didn't. The old-timers that have been at Turner for a
088while, they didn't just see that. They didn't see kids that tear apart a classroom or that clobber their principal. It just didn't happen there. And it's happening now. But it can't define us and it can't take away the learning that needs to happen in that classroom. Any questions? >> I'm done, Mr. Chairman. >> So, so I'll ask one more that's kind of in this realm. So, when you bring on a new teacher, and you mentioned like the making them aware, you know, feeling welcome or whatever the case may be. Do you find it easier or more difficult to bring on a seasoned teacher that came from another district that may have good or bad habits, or do you find it more of a challenge to bring somebody brand new, fresh out of the gate, up
089to speed? >> Both. And that's a really good question. Um, most recently we hired a brand new teacher. She actually worked for us as an IIA for four years before going to college. So she or while going to college actually. So we we hired somebody who had worked for us previously and already knew it. So it's hard for me to answer that. On the other side of that question is is a seasoned veteran coming to our building and you know there might be some some tricks that need to be unlearned or some bad habits or or things like that, right? Um, I feel like we have done a really good job of hiring over the last few years. And the times that we have needed to hire um, veteran teachers from other districts, we've made
090extremely great connections during the interview. And, you know, it's it's like it's it's kind of hard. And Jod Jod sat in in there with me, too. You just know when a teacher has it. And it's so hard to put that into words, but you just know that they can work with kids and they're going to love them every single day. And yeah, they might have some some things that need to be unlearned or they might need to, you know, learn the Almsville way of doing things that we can figure out. >> But if you can't people well, if you can't kid well, >> we've got bigger issues. And and I truly feel over the last few years, most I I'd say all of our hiring has been with that in mind. And last year we
091had one position to fill and I don't think that's happened >> for a long time. >> A long time. So, >> okay. >> Did I answer your question? >> Absolutely. Okay. Yep, you did. >> Yeah, it's kind of an open-ended question. There's no right answer to it. I appreciate this. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Good job. >> We're good. Thank you to all three of you. Appreciate it. >> Secondar's on. Somebody yell at Pete. >> Next is Mr. Rasmmanson. Miss Le and Miss Thompson. Welcome by the way. >> Oh, did they really? They're up two >> by a lot. >> Nice. Is 3-1 last night. What was the score today? >> Like 103, I think. >> Oh, they smoke them. >> 103. >> I don't mind. >> You're on that roll. >>
092Come in. Come in. Come in. You're up. >> Give it just a sec and we'll get started. >> I do find it impressive that you know every one of your kids names, though. >> Lisa. >> I do find it just impressive though that you know every one of your kids' names. That's >> I'm not sh >> There's no way I can do that. >> I'm not sh >> Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. >> Hello. >> So guys, we've got uh about 20 25 minutes uh for you guys to go through your process and please leave enough time for questions because you know there will be some. >> Sounds good. >> And Spencer will be right back. So just go ahead and get started. >> Okay. Um we met as a team and kind of
093it brainstormed together you know what makes sense for us and then um realized that some of our needs are definitely different. Um the junior high is definitely focusing on our AVID strategies throughout um organization is definitely a key component for incoming students and our junior high kiddos. um coming from a single home room class to then suddenly having one home room teacher and three other teachers to try to move around and then as a sixth grader and then as a seventh and eighth grader you have six different teachers throughout the day can be a challenge trying to stay organized. You don't have of a desk to keep all your junk in. You now have a locker and a backpack and a notebook and some kids multiple. Um, we had a student just the other day
094in our counseling office and it was like the clown pulling out the um different um handkerchiefs out of his backpack and binder because it was an explosion of I don't know what. So, um really working on organizational skills um coming up with kind of a to-do list using their planners to know, oh, tonight I have a math assignment. Here's what I need to do. Um teachers actually going around and making sure are they filling in that they have a math assignment. Um, some kiddos really work best with a homework folder, the to-do and to turn in side. Um, interactive notebooks is definitely an avid strategy that starts clear with our elementary kiddos. So, we definitely pursue it and keep it going in the junior highs. Um, critical reading strategies. We took a group of 13
095of us down to um the San Diego conference and they definitely focused on critical reading strategies which is kind of getting students to engage with the text before and during and after they've actually read. I can remember in college reading reading things and then after I was done with the passage I'm like I have no idea what I just read. and we're trying to make it so kids actually engage with it prior, look at vocabulary words that might be a challenge so that they are understanding what they're reading before they even get started. Um, so this year, Mr. Nolan is taking some of the people who went to AVID and each one of them is having to present different things that they are doing personally in their classrooms and hoping that other teachers have the
096ability to model it or use it as um different strategies. So during late starts in our professional development, we've already had two and during one of our late starts and we have four others who will be presenting a week from Friday. And Miss Bol actually did a really good one. She came up and kind of modeled everything, color coding and really working with kiddos from ground zero so that we do a lot of handholding in September so that we can start holding less hands down the road and so that when they get to the state test they are able to access the education and they're reading all on their own. Then lastly, um we're really focusing on increasing our stamina, students being able to access and do everything more on their own and with less
097support. Um we are realizing math fact fluency. We all remember as third graders, you know, learning how to multiply and everything and we're bringing it back. They have to be able to access those facts fairly quickly. And the problem is is if you don't know it accurately, your math problem's wrong right from the get-go. So even if you're doing all the steps right, if you miss that 7* 8 is 56 and you think it's 45, then you're in trouble right out of the gate, even though you've done everything right. So we're really focusing all the way from six, seven, and eight. All of them, even our algebra kiddos are working on fact fluency because if you don't use it, you're going to lose it. So all of our classes are really working on that. Um
098we talked about accessing the um reading strategies. And then lastly, we're really trying to increase our number of kiddos who are having access to the advanced classes. Um our numbers are showing um the advanced math is great. Um for our seventh to eighth graders this last year, my advanced current seventh grades down a little bit and I'm not sure why. We do have a significantly higher number of special um education. So I'm not sure if that's where our balance is, but it doesn't seem right. So, I'm going to be definitely looking at those numbers because we sent almost 96 kiddos to high school that are both advanced in math and reading. And I'm hoping that those numbers will pop up again as we send them next year. And it's looking good so far for my
099eighth graders moving on. I have 90 and 95 so respectively, which is pretty good numbers heading three classes. So, that's good. >> Any questions? >> Do we want to do questions at one at a time? Do you want to do them at the end or do you care? >> Up up to you. >> Don't care. All right. Any questions here? >> No. >> I'll ask a question. Oh, not a chance. You don't get to sit down yet. >> It was worth a try. >> Yeah, good try. So, the increased academic stamina um and and I'm I think these are fabulous goals, but talk to me a little about how how are you going to do that? How are you going to increase the number of students in advanced math and English in the seventh and
100eighth grade? I think part of it is making sure we are identifying them correctly. Um, with I Ready, the end of the year diagnostic and the beginning of the year diagnostics. Um, we weren't seeing the we're not using that data as well as we should because there was a lot of last minute shifting the first and second week of school. Oh, this kid is rocking it. So, I need to have my teachers talking with sixth grade. Here's what an advanced kiddo looks like. Here's the list that we came up with as seventh grade teachers. and here's who maybe you missed as sixth grade just to make sure that we're getting those kiddos pushed. We can't just use the state test. A lot of teachers who are in the classroom when I taught, I knew who
101my advanced kiddos were, the kids who rocked it all the time and were on top of things. >> I think we need to push them. And I try to enforce to my staff and counselors and sixth grade teachers. Shove them. I'd rather push them hard and then have to have them back up. Oop, that was too much. because if we get two, three months in, it's too late to shove them up again. >> So, so then with that being said, are we implementing that philosophy now or is that something that we want to implement? >> We're doing some um seventh grade teachers did a good job of catching some who should have been shoved and then coming in the spring, we need to make sure that we identify the ones that were missing and that
102the state um the I Ready is catching them, but I want to make sure teachers are catching the others too, right? and not just using our state test scores or whatever to shove. >> And and not to beat you up on this, but how are you going to make sure that happens then? >> Well, I probably have to be in some meetings, you know, because I actually taught sixth grade. I taught the low the lower kiddos and I taught the advanced kids. >> And again, I'm not beating you up. I just think these are great goals. I'm just what are we going to do to achieve this? >> And I know I need to have teachers talking with each other, right? Um Mr. Dyer did a great job on bringing our vertical alignment teams to
103talking six, seven, and eight all in one room. So now let's start talking. you know, who goes into our sheltered core are the lower kids who struggle academically, but also who goes to the higher classes and get kids moving faster just because maybe they're not the top tier in our gened groups. If they're up there, let's shove them and see what they can do. >> Yeah. Okay, that's fair. >> Challenge them. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I'd rather challenge them and then go, "Oops, it was a little bit too much than to say, we missed this kid and now it's too late to move them." >> Right. And so I guess the same question on the on the math um fact fluencies and the um the minimizing support content. What are we going to do? What
104are we doing different tomorrow that we didn't do yesterday? >> Um last year we r sixth grade did a really good job of the fact fluency but not all year long. And um seventh and eighth grade they basically didn't. So this year we're bringing it back. Um all grades all the time are you know once a week. So it's already in play. We're already seeing that in action. And seventh grade has done a really good job at breaking it way down. Say this week we're working on threes. Next week we're working on fours. Sixth grade's pretty well doing the one through 100. You know, >> right? And I I asked this question when Dr. Dyer was up earlier and I'll ask it to you is the concern I have or it makes me wonder is
105these teachers all very much have full plates and they have a full schedule and a full load and we bring more goals to the table every year to put more on their plate. Does something have to give for them to have time to do these other steps that we're asking or did they have that much free time in their day? >> Oh gosh, no. >> Exactly. So, so what gives or what do we what are we taking off of their plate to allow more to go on when we make that meal that that Miss Iverson described the uh the the was it the buffet meal? Thank you. I think um I'm hoping that by improving their fact fluency and these other things, it's going to diminish the need down the road so that they will
106have the skills that are going to enable them to not need the extra support with the pulling out the multiplication charts and everything that the kids's going to know the information and for factoring you know um algebra that they're going to know that oh six and eight are two of the numbers that I can use for this polomial to get our answer. So I'm hoping that by >> you lost me at polomial. I'm sorry. >> It's where they're factoring, you know, and everything. So I'm hoping that by building their number sense better that it's just going to um help them down the road. Is it going to cost more on the back end right now? Yes. But if we practice it for the next two years, I would hope that middle of seventh grade, most
107of eighth grade that we're going to see the back end of it to benefit us. >> Okay. Down the road. My last question, then I'll let anyone else have to ask if they what what can the board short of money, you can't ask us for money. What can we do to support you in your goals? >> Um, I don't think anything. I think just your visibility and seeing coming in and seeing what my staff is doing and how they're walking the world. I mean, my state test scores, you know, show that my staff's working hard and to acknowledge them, you know, and come in and see what's going on in my building, they would they love to show off what they can do and they're pretty phenomenal. So, I would love to have you come
108through any day of the week. >> Fabulous. All right. Any other questions, Mr. Drill? We're good. We're good. Thank you. >> Hello everybody. >> Welcome. >> Um, so you have my goals in front of you. Um, the first goal we wanted to focus on writing. Um, writing is an essential skill that students need to have in order to get their diploma. And so we have a number of students who did not pass their writing the portion of writing in their ELA state assessment. So we're going to be focusing on that. So teachers are working on providing some baseline data. Um it'd be a cold write um and then doing some instruction and seeing how that affects it's mostly in the areas of organization conventions your basic writing skills. Um, [clears throat] so we're just that's
109a focus that we're doing this year um in order to kind of get them across that line for their diploma because like I said they they just really need it. Um, and then we want to also add an AVID goal. um we can't do AVID in the same capacity necessarily as some of the other schools because of our online curriculum, but the goal that our teachers really wanted to f focus on are the um the interactive notebooks. And so I don't know if you remember, but we do have some live instruction for our English and for social studies. And so among those um our students still have the difficulty in organizing their work, their time, all of the things. And so now they have their notebooks, they're being checked on. Um and then when they
110transfer either coming to us from a from the high school or going back to the high school, they're able to transfer that notebook or that skill onto the next place that they go. Um and then the last one is on student engagement. So that's one of the big goals that we have um to for attendance and engagement within the classroom. So I can let you I mean I don't know what questions you have but just as a step towards achieving that goal in particular um we attended some training on um at the ESD the year before last um through an organization called attendance works and ESD hosted that and so out of that we built an attendance matrix we have agreements on the simplest things that like if a student isn't there for two days
111in a row. What is our response kind of thing for attendance? Um we also last year went right after school instead of going to summer institute we had our own retreat for our staff and our trainer Kila Lynn. Um she came to us and facilitated meetings on building a behavior matrix that fits for our students. We had always kind of used the student handbook. We used the behavior matrix from the high school. Um, but some of that stuff just didn't really fit totally with our students and their behavioral expectations in our classrooms and how we respond to that. So, we created our own behavior matrix that aligns with the handbook, but it also adds a few of the little nuances that deal specifically with our students and their needs. Um, that's basically it. I can
112answer whatever questions you have if you have them, but I didn't want to take up the whole time explaining. Are there any questions? Questions? >> Yeah, I'll ask. Um, goal number three, student engagement. It says that um the staff at Cascade Opportunity Center will identify and increase usage of student engagement strategies in their daily classroom practices. What does that mean? >> So, kind of what we did at the training was, like I said, we developed an all school behavior matrix and how we're going to respond to certain behaviors, whether it's um disrupting the classroom to drug use. So what are we doing now? Before we talk about what we're going to do, tell me what we're doing now. >> Yeah. So they have posted um more specific behavioral expectations in the classroom and um they
113are using their traumainformed restorative skills in order to respond to students. So oftentimes a student will come in and they're already in a bad mood. They're already ready to disrupt the whole day for everybody. And so through that training, our teachers are learning and realizing that sometimes it's not about that assignment that they didn't have ready. Sometimes it's about something that happened way before school. And so just having them be at school is a win. And so instead of attacking a symptom, they are trained. And that was part of our training this last summer was to identify maybe the wise and how you're going to approach a student not about that symptom but about probably the the cause of what's causing any sort of behavior. We have students that come to us. There's one particular
114student who was actually assaulted at a previous high school and she came in from Portland. So just coming into school was a huge traumatic event for her. And so she would do things to sabotage. So she would come in dressed totally inappropriate. And instead of, you know, dinging her for what she's wearing and making that a big stink, we approach it through the side, you know, kind of through the side of um more of a restorative instead of, hey, this is what it says in the handbook. You have to get a call home or whatever because that just wasn't going to work for her. And so just little strategies like that right now that we're doing on an individual basis with students instead of just hammering them on your typical behaviors that happen in a
115school, right? >> Um it's not like our expectations have gotten lower for our students, but we are recognizing that there are causes and some of these are just symptoms to their acting. >> Instead of being black and white, we can be a little more fluid when >> a little more. It's more on an individual basis, you know. So, that's the challenge because >> I always talk about with my staff, there's the art of teaching and there's the science. The science is what you have in writing, the stuff that's going to keep you from getting sued or whatever, all the policies that are there. But the art of it is when you look at that student as a whole, and you also get to know them outside of school so that you can have a more
116global um understanding of where that student's coming from. And so we kind of have a code that it's not about the hat. So sometimes people get in trouble for wearing hats, but sometimes it's just not about the hat. So that's kind of our code saying maybe it's not about the hat, you know. Um right now, you know, we have no cell phones. And [clears throat] it's actually been going pretty well. We had a little snaf snafu today about one, but again, it's not about the phone. It's about something else. And we will get to that. But sometimes these kids just need a little more time to kind of process different things. So, and um there's other things too that go with training. And again, that's the hard balance of not lowering our expectations. We still
117have high expectations, but we're going to approach it in a a little bit more of a restorative way. And so, that gets a little dicey and gray sometimes. And that's where I come in. And I have to make some of those decisions on how to handle that. Um and then again engagement also includes attendance. So using our agreements on how are we going to respond to students that are very sporadic in their attendance. So does that answer your question? >> Absolutely. So my last question I've asked everybody before you is other than money which you can ask us for, what can this board do to support you and your goals? Um well um I'm going to just kind of piggyback on what um was said before about being present. Um we've talked about different ideas
118about you know different people from the district office or different people that maybe was a former teacher kind of adopting a student, but it's kind of hard to do that when they don't know you either. But anytime anybody feels the pull to come and just visit and just get to know what we do, um get to see who's there. Um I did have one visit from a board member last year that was super awesome and refreshing and it's just nice to get that face in the building. But I guess the other one would be um prayer [laughter] if you're praying people. So, um, you know, and I guess also when we have students that come in and present, I just really appreciate the attentiveness that you guys have shown to our student and the interest
119and the questioning and the affirmation that all of you have done in the past. And so, if we have another student presentation at a board meeting, um, I would just did fabulous in your >> I would encourage Yeah, they're just great. And >> so I just really appreciate that and just um >> keep that going. >> You [laughter] got it. >> All right. >> Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Good job, >> Mr. Rasin. You get money, so I just saved it for you. We said no one else had money. [laughter] >> Whatever you want to give me, I guess. >> What? >> Hey. Hey, I put the tie in just for you folks. I want you to know that. >> You nailed it. >> Um, hey, three goals. Uh, actually, they're the exact
120same three goals I bought you last year. and we've talked about this in the staff and they are they are long-term goals all three of them. They're not just things you can check off and say we've done them. So, I don't know what order I put them in, but first of all, uh increasing rigor um that is a cultural change we're continuing to work on. Um there's two pieces of that. There's a structural piece where there's some things that we can change in our graduation requirements within some of the ways that we assess things and do some things. And then there's also just the just the uh the actual practice of it. It's like the thing that we're working on this year is uh the questions that we ask. Um I think we referenced this
121last board meeting, but we're asking teachers to ask better questions. Um a lot of times you're working through a math problem and you're always focusing on the the what and the and the uh and the where and the h and the who instead of focusing on the why or the how. getting to the higher level questions, asking things like um persuade me to believe in XYZ or analyze this or evaluate this or weigh the weigh the consequences of these two actions. Asking those kind of questions, making kids think um is going to is going to increase rigor if we ask basic factual base level questions um and we do that as teachers because it moves faster. It moves it moves the it moves the instruction along. Kids get feedback, we're going, we're good. two times
122four. Okay, there we go. We're just going down the list. But the reality is is we've got to pull back and say, let's do something harder. Let's do something that's going to make us think. And so that increasing rigor piece is don't is that um we're asking teachers to think of two prescripted uh two to five presscripted um concrete questions that they're going to write out and share with their kids this each week. So they have something that they don't just come up off the top of their head, but they're like, "Okay, I'm going to ask this question today." somewhere in my presentation or lesson or activities and kids will either respond in whatever Avid strategy they want to whether it's a writing activity, whether it's a pair share, whether it's a it's a group
123whipound or whatever it is. So, uh we're going to do that. So, that's one thing, uh increasing rigor. Secondly is, um increasing our critical reading strategies. Um you know, we know kids aren't reading as much as they used to. Um Tik Tok, Instagram, whatever, kids are reading short sentences, short phrases. Um it is a pain getting kids to read. If you're an employer, maybe you've witnessed that. I don't know. Um but and kids are so so compartmentalized when it comes to reading. They'll do reading in an English class, but heaven forbid ask them to read in a science class. You give them an article about something, they're like, "What? I don't have to read in his class." And in fact, I had a teacher come to me last year and said, "Hey, our kids can't
124write. What's happening?" And this was a social teacher. I go, "Oh, that's not true. They can go write. Go to an English class. they're producing excellent. They're just not transposing the skill. And so the reality is is we want to do this building wide. So we're asking each department um for our next professional development is to bring their favorite reading strategy. When they give kids something to read, it could be a a how-to list of how to start a air compressor in the workshop or it could be a uh an article about, you know, some phase of the moon uh for science classes. They're going to bring their best reading strategies. How do they help kids access those articles? How do how do they do that? And then we're going to share those and see
125what we're missing. Um see what we're doing. Hopefully teachers glean something uh from that. And if we're have some gaps, we're going to fill those in for them. And then finally, the last one, increasing rigor, crit uh what's the third last one? >> Mindset. >> Growth critical >> growth mindset. That's what I got a great story for this one. Uh growth mindset. That also is not something you're just going to conquer in a day. Um that is that is the piece where we're asking kids to do harder things. That goes hand inhand with the rigor. Um last week we brought in a speaker from the Northwest Anxiety Institute. And you're like anxiety? How does that relate to to um that? Well, it certainly does. Um when kids are anxious, they are not going to be
126in a growth mindset place. Um when kids are stressed, they're not going to be in a growth mindset place. And the speaker was outstanding. Um, [clears throat] it was really super practical. And he defined anxiety like this. When you have a flat tire, the emotions that you experience are stress. It's stressful. You're on the side of the road, cars are whizzing by, digging through the trunk, pulling the tire out, doing all that. That's stress. He said, "Anxiety is worrying about having a flat tire." And then it's going beyond that. Worrying about where am I going to have the flat tire? Is it going to be in a rainstorm? Is it going to be a night? And he said, "Our kids come to us with all those things." And so the idea is is how do
127we help them through that? Because the reality is they have they don't have a flat tire, but how do you get them past that? And the truth is the only way through some of that is just straight through it. You have to help kids walk through the hard things. And um that's kind of what we're asking kids to do. Not shy away from the hard conversations, not shy away from the hard tasks. Um, I was uh we're embracing the power of yet. Not saying I can't anymore, but saying I can't do that yet, but I'm going to soon. So, I was talking to my staff about asking better questions. And I say, "Some of you are great question askers. Some of us aren't." I said, "I'm not a tremendously great question asker." And teacher said,
128"Mr. Asmusson, some of us aren't great question askers yet." And it's like, "Okay, you're right." And it is a cultural mindset piece that we all have to teach ourselves. Um because it's something we want to be better at. Okay? And if we want kids to be able to grasp hard things and do great things and do complex things, uh we've got to find ways to help them do that. And so one of the one of those ways is is putting tougher tasks in front of them, supporting them, and asking them to do it. So those are our uh uh three goals this year. Those are some things that we are doing this year to attack it. Um we'll we'll do more as we go throughout the year. Um but uh we're it's a good start
129so far. >> So if we're going to add these new tasks to their plate and I've asked this question of others, what are we taking off of their plate? >> The opportunity cost. When I do something, it costs me something, right? >> Got it. >> Okay. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. >> Uh for sure. >> Um >> yeah. So when it comes to asking questions, we just replace some of the basic pre-level questions with some of the harder questions. Okay. And maybe we don't show five minutes of the video clip. I just showed two minutes of the video clip I was going to do. So, you have to find places for sure. Um, and you know, we we talk about one of our principles is [clears throat] making the classroom sacred.
130Um, we started that in the junior high and we've continued on. The class time you have with kids is limited. It's finite. And so, in in theory, it's 60 classes you get with a group of kids for a half a credit class. You get 75 minutes se 60 times. And so those moments are precious and important. So planning those out, being detailed about those is important. I would venture most of us can find some extra room to do some basic things like ask a better question. Okay? Um let's not, you know, take five minutes to clean up. Let's take two minutes to clean up. I'm going to push you right till two minutes because I've already asked you a a hard threem minute question. So I think I think the things that we're asking people
131to do is is such um we're using some PD because to start on the growth mindset side to start with your increasing growth mindset. You've got to increase the growth mindset of your staff. If your staff aren't moving towards that then they're going to have a hard time sharing that with the students. Okay. Um and the truth is growth mindset is something partly personality DNA. Some of us come with it like I can do anything. Some of us like I can't do anything. Uh, but the reality is is that we can all help kids grow. So, um, and the staff are the same way. So, I think I think we have room. I think there's room. The the cost is there for sure. We're going to have to be more um, judicious and prioritize our
132activities in the classroom, but I think it's doable. >> Okay. So, last question is, what can the board do to support you other than, and I was just kidding about that money part, other than money, what can we do to support you? >> Well, I win. I win. I'm the winner. Uh, no. I you know I think I think honestly having quality conversations with you guys about this stuff and letting us balance things from you and and truthfully the freedom. Um I was talking to a principal today from a different district and they're a little hamstrung by some requirements that you know are requirements but they're they're things that you could do differently and have more flexibility. and the board and the district office is outstanding because they give us flexibility to make things happen
133which we think are best for kids. Um, and that's what I appreciate the most is the flexibility and um, the graciousness to let us do the work that you've hired us to do. So, we appreciate that. >> Any other questions? >> Mr. >> So, um, what what we hope that Thanks, Pete. What we hope that first first thing when he said opportunity co cost, I looked over at Zach. Zach said, "Oh my god, I'm in Mr. Rasmmanson's economics class all over again. So that hasn't changed. Um seen that before, heard that before. Thank you, Mr. Rasmmanson. Um wanted to give the board an opportunity. This this as you could tell, right? This is kind of the academic side of the house, >> right? When you when you listen to all the people that are sitting
134in this room, it's the academic side of the house. These are the people that lead uh various parts of this district from a academic standpoint. what what their philosophy is, what they're thinking. Um, and in planning for this night, uh, one of my thoughts was, yeah, there's different things we can talk about. Certainly, finance is an important piece. Certainly, some other things that we do are important. None of it, none of it's not. But this opportunity was to look at these folks, including Jay over here as a former principal uh, in multiple places and starting to understand as an HR director what this looks like and give you guys a really deep deeper flavor. I mean, you get a three-minute report from different buildings and that's it. But each one of them, if you listen,
135if we're listening carefully, you heard some philosophy about how this works from kindergarten all the way through in special education in in the alternative setting. Um, and uh, this is also what I get from time to time when I'm visiting with them, right? The there's there's a needs for specific things. Um, not one person in this room right now is shy about asking. And I love that about them. Um I love that there is some level challenge and as we move farther into um financial uncertainty that's going to get more interesting. Um but the none of these people in here are without um brain power and resources to figure out how to make it work. So like I said tonight my goal was to say here are our academic folks. This is how they handle
136it. Any questions on that? >> Here [cough] questions. >> Nope. I also need to say, if I can't [clears throat] choke myself, I caught what Lisa had earlier. Um, I can't think of when I [clears throat] sit in other superintendent meetings and we begin to have conversations about staff, I can't think of a better mix of academic allstars that are sitting that that are sitting in front of you for various reasons. They all bring different strengths to the table. Some have been in this district a very long time. others have come more recently, right? And they they provide really unique answers to this process. Um it it has been uh tremendous to kind of sit and listen to them and and the ask is going to be harder this year, right, as we round the
137corner out of January and February and into a new budgetary season. Um more with less. I mean it it's ironic that you were asking that question tonight because that is unfortunately I think where we're headed and I you know I wouldn't want to go into battle without these folks right here. Um they are uh superior in their process. I mean it just and the the thing that comes out for me is they care about every one of their kids, >> right? Um, I used to say as a high school principal, if I can make it so that a kid feels like this is my space, that that I kind of own this place, that they're going to do really well. Well, all of these folks have taken it to a whole different level, right? It's
138it's not just that. We're not just going to own the place. You're going to learn well. You're going to understand quickly. You're going to understand how to be a good citizen, and you're going to graduate at a very high level. And that's just totally impressive. So, >> yeah. Yeah. >> Nothing else on that. any anything else? Anybody? >> I would just like to say that one thing I like that I heard from from all of you was was not just numbers and like, hey, I want to hit this benchmark and and that's what I care about. Every one of you said something about caring about the kid and and you know, how can I make them grow and just be a better person and like I got that from everybody. It was phenomenal. >> Great.
139>> Good. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you all. appreciate everyone's time for coming in here and doing this um outside of our normal meeting which starts in well about 15 minutes. So yes, on that note, meeting ajourned. Thanks everybody. Appreciate it.