Episodes

  • Episode 331: Legendary Football Coach Ron McBride and His Lifelong Passion Caring for At-Risk Youth

    Episode 331: Legendary Football Coach Ron McBride and His Lifelong Passion Caring for At-Risk Youth
    Jan 8 2026

    He is known for his winning ways at the helm as head football coach at the University of Utah, leading the Utes to historic success over 12 exciting seasons. We’re talking about Ron McBride, or Coach Mac as many have come to know him over the years.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we have the honor of sitting down with the legend and hearing first-hand about his time coaching, recruiting, and giving young athletes opportunities they never thought possible. Find out how Coach Mac is continuing his passionate work in our schools today with the Ron McBride Foundation, making sure at-risk youth have every chance to succeed. Plus, hear how Coach Mac impacted the life of one of our very own, Valley High Principal Jacinto Peterson.

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    29 mins
  • Episode 330: Multilingual Students Celebrate Success in Special WIDA Graduation

    Episode 330: Multilingual Students Celebrate Success in Special WIDA Graduation
    Jan 1 2026

    They have worked hard learning the English language trying to be the best they can be, making change in their own lives and the lives of generations to come.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to a very emotional WIDA graduation. WIDA stands for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment. Listen as we talk to graduates about the great pride they take in their achievement, becoming proficient in the English language; listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Find out what the milestone means to the multilingual students and their families now and well into the future.

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    21 mins
  • Episode 329: Elk Ridge Middle School Principal and His Huge Passion for Painting Works of Art

    Episode 329: Elk Ridge Middle School Principal and His Huge Passion for Painting Works of Art
    Dec 24 2025

    He is a middle school principal who loves working with students, bringing out the best in them every single day. But there is a secret talent that keeps Bryan Leggat going long after the last bell of the day at Elk Ridge Middle.

    On this episode of the Supercast, we find out about Mr. Leggat’s longtime passion for painting and creating beautiful works of art. Hear how he finds inspiration as an artist, sometimes thanks to his meaningful and impactful work as a school principal and the relationships he has built along the way.

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    24 mins
  • Episode 328: Joel P. Jensen Students Present “Sounds of the Season”

    Episode 328: Joel P. Jensen Students Present “Sounds of the Season”
    Dec 18 2025
    It is a showcase of student talent, musical magic, and seasonal joy. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Joel P. Jensen Middle School for a holiday music program that will make your spirits bright one note at a time. Listen and enjoy. Audio Transcription [MUSIC PLAYING] Anthony Godfrey: Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a showcase of student talent, musical magic, and seasonal joy. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Joel P. Jensen Middle School for a holiday music program that will make your spirits bright one note at a time. Listen and enjoy. We're in Ms. Johnson's classroom just after the performance. Tell me about this group of students. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, this is our concert choir. So it's our students who are taking choir for their second or third year here at Joel P. Jensen. We have a few students who are seventh graders as well who just came to boost our numbers. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about the process of taking them from not knowing these songs and some of them not having experienced singing, to being at this point. They sounded great. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, we do a lot of learning up front, doing rounds where students have to really get used to singing their part independently and start learning how to read music. Then it takes us about two months to learn our concert. So usually each class is learning about four or five songs. We start with just learning the notes, and then we try to make it more musical, add dynamics, the louds and softs, and make it more interesting and emotional from there. Anthony Godfrey: I'm always amazed at how music teachers, both instrumental and choral, are able to have each individual practice their part and then bring everyone together and blend all of that so it's a unified sound. Talk to me about that process. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, we work with just the altos or just the sopranos, and then sometimes we'll spend like 20 minutes just working on eight measures. So just a really small portion of the song, making sure everyone understands how their part fits in with the rest. Yeah, it's fun to see how everyone is able to find their note and by relying on the other people who are on their part, but then still have that independence from the other parts in the group. It just all comes together so beautifully at the end of the day. Anthony Godfrey: So to blend without being lost. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, exactly. Anthony Godfrey: I always get lost. Tell me about your journey to becoming a music teacher. How long have you been here and what made you interested in music from the start? Ms. Johnson: Yeah, this is my second year teaching at Joel P. Jensen and ever. I graduated from college in 2024. So it's been a fun journey to have my first choir. I actually decided to teach music because I had a wonderful middle school choir director and several wonderful piano teachers who made me love music and see the benefit that it could have to my life personally. I felt like I really found a place in choir. It's nice to be able to offer other students now those same opportunities to have connections socially and to understand their emotions better by working through them in music class. It's really rewarding to pass that forward. Anthony Godfrey: There's a huge personal benefit. Tell me about one of those instructors who had such an impact on you. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, so I lived in Pennsylvania when I was in middle school and my choir teacher was named Mrs. Farrell. She had really high expectations for us as a choir class and made us better musicians and better people, teaching us to really care for each other and always seek to do our best at anything we did. Anthony Godfrey: Do you find yourself doing some things that you experienced in her class, using some of that now as a teacher? Ms. Johnson: Yeah, for sure. I learned so much from her, from my professors at college and I've found some great mentors here in the District as well, high school and middle school choir teachers that I've been able to steal some of their best ideas from. Anthony Godfrey: Good. Ms. Johnson: Yeah, it's been great. Anthony Godfrey: We love that. Well, whatever you're doing, it's working. They sounded wonderful and I just really appreciate everything you're doing and we're excited to have you here at Joel P. Ms. Johnson: Thank you. This is "Beautiful December" by Amy F. Burnin. [MUSIC PLAYING] Now when the garden awaits, the return of spring. Now when the silence is deep and blue. Now when the winter has cast its spell again. Beautiful December, beautiful December. Here where the snow is as soft as the woolly land. Here where the sky falls deep and blue. Here where the stars are so bright you reach for them. Beautiful December, beautiful December. Child, may sleep in peace tonight. Dream of songs that rise on silken leaves. When you wake enchanted by snow's fun light. Sing the songs that came to you in dreams. Your beautiful ...
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    19 mins
  • Episode 327: Snails Help Students Fast Track Their Knowledge in AP Environmental Science Class

    Episode 327: Snails Help Students Fast Track Their Knowledge in AP Environmental Science Class
    Dec 11 2025
    They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slow with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk called the Gastropoda. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to an Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course, and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning. Audio Transcription Anthony Godfrey: I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time. Chase Barlow: Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot like we have a lot of activity going on in there and if you just look at it it's it's not a very clear water it's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either. Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slowly with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk in a class called gastrocato. On this episode of the Supercast we take you to an advanced placement biology class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning. (music) Anthony Godfrey: We're talking now with Miss Craig here at Mountain Ridge High School about her AP environmental science class. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us. Ms. Craig: Yeah of course anytime, thanks for coming out. Anthony Godfrey: Tell us about the project that has been going on and what's happening today with students. Ms. Craig: So in AP environmental science we're learning about the biogeochemical cycles. So things like carbon and nitrogen and phosphorus and water cycles and we started this project six weeks ago. So each group got a little aquatic habitat and each group got between six and eight snails depending on the group. They've just been monitoring the nutrients, keeping track of dissolved oxygen, trying to keep their snail habitats as healthy as possible for the last six weeks. Anthony Godfrey: So they've had to test hypotheses and figure out how exactly to do that. Ms. Craig: Yes. So each group after the two-week period after we collected some baseline data each group made a modification to their tank so they changed something that would impact the nutrient cycle and then we continued to collect data for four more weeks so that they could see how that change impacted the lifestyle of the snails. Anthony Godfrey: The only cycle that I really caught was the water cycle. Ms. Craig: Yes. Anthony Godfrey: So all of these different cycles — The phosphorus cycle, was that one of them as well? Ms. Craig: Yes. Anthony Godfrey: So all of these cycles are aspects of environmental science that they'll be tested on as part of the AP test. Ms. Craig: Exactly. Yep. Anthony Godfrey: So tell me about some of those other cycles. The water cycle I'm familiar with but tell me about some of the others. Ms. Craig: So nitrogen and phosphorus are critical nutrients that every living thing needs in order to be able to survive. It's part of your DNA, it's used in cellular functions. So we're measuring those critical nutrients. We're measuring dissolved oxygen levels as well which can help us keep track of the rate of photosynthesis and respiration rates, and how well the quality of overall quality of the water. Anthony Godfrey: Tell me about what's happening now today. They've each had their individual biome where they've been experimenting adding different factors into the environment to see how it impacts the snails. Anthony Godfrey: What happens now? They're combining everything together and what is that going to demonstrate to the students? Ms. Craig: So basically we've had a few unfortunate fatalities and some of the water is getting kind of murky. There are no filters on these biomes so at this point, after the six weeks is over, we're gonna combine them into one big habitat. We're gonna put a filter on there and then I have some students that are interested in earning their Sentinel Service Hours diploma, which is 80 service hours outside of school time, and they have volunteered to monitor the snails and try to keep that bigger tank as healthy as possible. Anthony Godfrey: So the snails who were part of the experiment now get to live on in a more regulated community environment. Ms. Craig: Yes, they're moving on up, they'll be living in a mansion, they'll have maid service that will come and take care of their water and clean it and everything. Anthony Godfrey: The survivors now get the reward of having the better environment. Ms. Craig: Yes. Anthony Godfrey:...
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    22 mins
  • Episode 326: Finding Kindergarten Reading Success with Out of This World Program

    Episode 326: Finding Kindergarten Reading Success with Out of This World Program
    Dec 4 2025
    It is a unique program that is helping students achieve huge success in reaching their reading goals, and students and teachers alike are having a blast in the process. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Riverton Elementary School where kindergarten students and teachers are dressed as astronauts to celebrate their incredible accomplishments in a Districtwide initiative called “Planet Kindergarten.” The space-themed program is helping students reach for the stars in achieving their literacy goals and we’re about to hear from some of the amazing educators behind it all. Audio Transcription [MUSIC PLAYING] Michelle Lovell: Planet Kindergarten is a movement that we've started in Jordan School District where teachers are working to have their kindergartners know all of their letters and sounds by the 1st of November. I love the sense of community that has come from this school and just getting everyone involved in the success of these youngest learners. [MUSIC PLAYING] [BELL RINGING] Anthony Godfrey: Hello, and welcome to The Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a unique program that is helping students achieve huge success in reaching their reading goals, and students and teachers alike are having a blast in the process. On this episode of The Supercast, we take you to Riverton Elementary School, where kindergarten students and teachers are dressed as astronauts to celebrate their incredible accomplishments in a districtwide initiative called Planet Kindergarten. The space-themed program is helping students reach for the stars in achieving their literacy goals, and we're about to hear from some of the amazing educators behind it all. [MUSIC PLAYING] Anthony Godfrey: We're talking now with two of our literacy gurus in the District. Introduce yourselves and tell us why we're here today. Michelle Lovell: I'm Michelle Lovell. I'm the literacy consultant for Jordan School District for grades K through 6. Lori McCarty: And I'm Lori McCarty, a literacy specialist, specifically for kindergarten. Anthony Godfrey: And we are here for Planet Kindergarten. Tell us about what Planet Kindergarten means. Michelle Lovell: Planet Kindergarten is a movement that we've started in Jordan School District, where teachers are working to have their kindergartners know all of their letters and sounds by the 1st of November. Anthony Godfrey: And this has made a huge impact. We've seen big increases in literacy among kindergarten students, specifically for years running. We have had our best scores ever, year over year and this is a big part of that. Tell us about some of the success we've seen lately. Michelle Lovell: Well, so last year, we had three kindergarten teachers who made that goal, and we were so proud of them. But this year, we're happy to report we have 13 teachers who have made the 100% goal. Anthony Godfrey: And that's every student in their class, regardless of where they started out-- Michelle Lovell: Exactly. Anthony Godfrey: --and every letter and sound by the 1st of November. Michelle Lovell: And we have over 25 teachers who are in the 90% range. So huge amount of growth from last year to this year. It's been really exciting to watch the data come in. Anthony Godfrey: And that's out of how many kindergarten teachers total? Lori McCarty: 140-ish. Anthony Godfrey: So that's a whole lot of kindergarten students that are reading better than ever. Michelle Lovell: Exactly. Exactly. Anthony Godfrey: Now, there are some students who may come to kindergarten already knowing letters and sounds. Talk to us about what we do to help make sure that we're meeting their needs as well. Lori McCarty: So in Jordan School District, we don't have ceilings. So if kids are already reading, if they already know their letter names and sounds, we want to make sure that they're challenged as well. And one of the pieces that we have in place in our structure with Walk to Read is all of the students who need extensions should be getting extensions. Anthony Godfrey: And extensions are for those who are advanced beyond-- Lori McCarty: Exactly. Anthony Godfrey: --the expectations for that grade and age. Lori McCarty: Accelerated reading, accelerated experiences with both reading and writing and so we want to make sure that that differentiation is still happening. I really believe that a good, solid phonics program, having kids know-- have that experience of having a structured phonics program as they go through, even if students are reading, is really beneficial for them. Because they may be able to read, but they may not know how the language works. And so I think that knowing how all the language structures put together, how all of the syllable types work together, will strengthen their reading and their writing abilities. Anthony Godfrey: Now, beyond this, there's an additional goal for whole words read by the end of kindergarten. And I think these benchmarks have made a big difference in ...
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    20 mins
  • Episode 325: Experience of a Lifetime for JSD Employees in Mongolia Focused on Fostering Education

    Episode 325: Experience of a Lifetime for JSD Employees in Mongolia Focused on Fostering Education
    Nov 26 2025
    They traveled thousands of miles away on a mission to foster education and share knowledge with fellow educators in Mongolia. On this episode of the Supercast, find out what inspired three amazing Jordan School District employees to spend much of their summer providing training to English teachers in Mongolia. We’ll hear about the incredible lessons they learned and the life-changing impact they discovered, learning about another beautiful and very different culture. Audio Transcription [MUSIC PLAYING] Krista Mecham: Chanar and I, we started talking and Chanar expressed her interest in having a collaboration between us as educators and Mongolian schools. Chanar Conley: And I had the opportunity to give back, especially in this important times of our lives. [MUSIC PLAYING] Anthony Godfrey: Hello, and welcome to The Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They traveled thousands of miles away on a mission to foster education and share knowledge with fellow educators in Mongolia. On this episode of The Supercast, find out what inspired three amazing Jordan School District employees to spend much of their summer providing training to English teachers in Mongolia. We'll hear about the incredible lessons they learned and the life-changing impact they discovered, learning about another beautiful and very different culture. [MUSIC PLAYING] Anthony Godfrey: We're talking now with three educators from Jordan School District who spent their summer in Mongolia and we want to find out more about that. So introduce yourselves and tell us about your role in Jordan before we get into learning more about your trip this summer. Chanar Conley: My name is Chanar Conley, and I'm a school counselor at Terra Linda Elementary School. This is my fourth year being an elementary school counselor and I am from Mongolia originally. I came to this country in 1996 when I was 20 years old. Learning English has been kind of hard, but still learning. So that's my background and I have been here almost 30 years. Anthony Godfrey: And how do you like being an elementary school counselor? Chanar Conley: Oh, I love it. I love all my Terra Linda Elementary kids. I love my staff and I love, love my administration. Love Yajaira Martinez. She is the best. Anthony Godfrey: It's been a role that's new in just the last few years in Jordan to be a counselor at the elementary level and now feels essential. Everywhere I go, people say we couldn't do it without our counselor. Chanar Conley: Oh, I love to hear that because it is so amazing. I think it's my passion. I think I found it. I'm just going to do my best to just help my little kids to feel needed and included and wanted. That's one of the things that I love about Jordan School District. Because when I talk to other people about other districts, they don't have elementary school counselors. We are so fortunate to have all of our elementary school counselors filled with school counselors that's essential. Anthony Godfrey: It's really important. It makes a huge impact. Chanar Conley: Yes. Krista Mecham: My name is Krista Mecham and I've been in Jordan since the 1900s. Now I'm working in Language and Culture Services as a teacher specialist at the elementary level. Anthony Godfrey: Talk to us about what that means for those who don't know what an elementary teacher specialist does. Krista Mecham: So we have close to 6,000 multilingual learners. They come from many different countries. They speak about 58 different languages. We want to support those students and they come with so many assets. So we want to support those assets, add to that, and teach them English and the content so that they can be as successful as their English speaking peers. Anthony Godfrey: You were recently announced as a WIDA fellow. Talk to us about that. I know it hasn't even started yet. But talk to us about what WIDA is and what it means to be a Jolly Good Fellow. Krista Mecham: WIDA is World Class Instructional Design and Assessments and it is the assessment that we use to test English proficiency. It's a philosophy. It's a background. It's strategies that we use to teach English as a second language. Anthony Godfrey:And we've had more and more graduates that have been able to level up their English language skills and it's been really great to see that trend. Krista Mecham: Last year, we actually had over 500 students test proficient on WIDA. That's a lot of work to learn the curriculum in a second language and learn English at the same time. Anthony Godfrey: Yeah, it's about academic language, not just conversational language. Krista Mecham: Exactly. Leah Davis: My name is Dr. Leah Davis and I'm a culture and diversity specialist in Language and Culture Services. So Krista and I sometimes collaborate and work together. My role is to support all of our diverse students across our schools and support teachers and administrators and culturally responsive teaching practices. So I'm out and about like ...
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    26 mins
  • Episode 324: Students Go from the Classroom to the Front Line Fighting Fires in Utah

    Episode 324: Students Go from the Classroom to the Front Line Fighting Fires in Utah
    Nov 20 2025
    They were high school students already getting up close and personal hands-on experience at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers (JATC) in their quest to become firefighters. On this episode of the Supercast, meet some recent Jordan School District graduates who spent this past summer on the front line fighting wildland fires in Utah. Hear how they got a jump start on their careers in high school, enrolled in the JATC Fire Science program. Find out what advice they have for current students eager to don their turnout gear and start their own careers as firefighters after graduation. Audio Transcription Sean Garrett: This program is working and this is exactly what we designed it to be. Full-time firefighter EMTs for Unified Fire Authority that come from this program. All home grown. Dalton Hendricks: If you want to do this job, it's a really good opportunity to come here and further yourself and put yourself ahead of other people that also want that same job. Place just has so many of the aspects of the real job that we got to practice for two years. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They were high school students already getting up close and personal hands-on experience at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers in their quest to become firefighters. On this episode of the Supercast, meet some recent Jordan School District graduates who spent this past summer on the front line, fighting wildland fires in Utah. Hear how they got a jump start on their careers in high school, enrolled in the JATC Fire Science Program. Find out what advice they have for current students eager to don their turnout gear and start their own careers as firefighters after graduation. [Music] Anthony Godfrey: We are here at the Jordan Academy for Careers and Technology at the South Campus, talking with the Fire Science and EMT Program Coordinator. Go ahead and introduce yourself. Sean Garrett: Yeah, my name is Sean Garrett, and I am the Coordinator for the Fire Science and EMT Program at JATC out here at the South Campus. I'm a full-time firefighter with the Unified Fire Authority and with just under 19 years full-time experience. Anthony Godfrey: You were here previously and now you're back. Tell us about that. You were part of the original program. Sean Garrett: That's correct. So I actually graduated high school in 2002 at Riverton High myself and took this class there. It was just called South Jordan Fire Science. It was taught at the South Jordan Fire Department Station 61 at that time. Then with all the changes to districts and everything else, the Jordan School District didn't have a program for a number of years. It was 2012-13, and the principal at the time, Jason Skidmore, reached out to us because we had an internship program that we were running in the Valley for all the work-based learning and CTE students, and he wanted to start a Fire Science Program. So that's all she wrote. So myself and a few others built the program, put the curriculum together, and we started teaching at the North Campus and that first class was 2013. Anthony Godfrey: We're going to talk to some former students now who are firefighters. Talk to me about that. Sean Garrett: So I'm staring at them right now and, you know, these three buttheads, they were high school students here. I believe it was two years ago. Those kids were successful in this program. They graduated high school, moved on to our Camp Williams seasonal wildland program, worked on getting, finishing, testing, getting their EMT certification. Then once they had their two years seasonal, they ended up hiring on full time with UFA. Right before I came out here as a coordinator, I was a fire training specialist so I also got to be one of their lead instructors for their 16-week recruit school that they had when they hired on full time. So we brought them back here. They're, you know, obviously not just the story piece for sure, the recruiting piece, but just this program is working and this is exactly what we designed it to be. It was to give us these three over here that's standing over to your right. Like that's what we're supposed to have. Full time firefighter EMTs for Unified Fire Authority to come from this program, all homegrown. Anthony Godfrey: What a huge benefit to them and their families and to the community at large. Sean Garrett: And to be 20 years old and to start this career is, you know, it's not for the faint of hearts. It's hard on your body. It's hard on your mind. So, to start early on like that and to have a healthy 25-year career and get out of it with a pension and enjoy your life, like there's so many, so many takeaways from starting early and getting after it while you can, especially programs like this just taking advantage of the opportunities that are given. Anthony Godfrey: Well, it all comes down to the instructors. So thank you for making this opportunity ...
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    23 mins