Clearity

CCISD to the Fullest with Wendy Clough & April Fortenberry

Episode Summary

In this episode of CCISD to the Fullest, hosts Lindsey Hunt and Dava West sat down with Ed White Elementary physical education teachers, Wendy Clough and April Fortenberry. From costumes to communication and collaboration, this dynamic duo brings passion for the job and passion for physical education every day to the students at Ed White. We’re excited to shed light on their story and the importance of communication in team teaching. Enjoy!

Episode Transcription

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;08;05

Speaker 1

.

 

00;00;08;05 - 00;00;18;13

Speaker 2

There's a reason that the word people comes first in our CCISD guiding principles and our people are really the purpose behind our podcast series titled CCISD to the Fullest.

 

00;00;20;08 - 00;00;36;25

Speaker 2

A podcast where we talk to those who live and embody all the facets of CCISD giving their time, their talents, their hearts and their minds to this amazing school district. Hello and welcome to CCISD to the fullest. This is Lindsey Hunt and I'm joined by my co-host Dava West.

 

00;00;36;29 - 00;00;38;03

Speaker 1

Hi, Lindsey.

 

00;00;38;03 - 00;00;49;09

Speaker 2

and Dava and I are privileged to have embarked on a journey throughout the school year to tell our stories, make connections and share advice on how to live or strive to live CCISD to the fullest.

 

00;00;51;02 - 00;01;07;02

Speaker 1

So, Lindsey, I'm so excited. This morning we have Wendy Clough and April Fortenberry from Ed White Elementary joining us this morning. And to kick things off, I'm going to ask what I hope is an easy question to start with. Wendy will go with you first. What made you want to be a teacher?

 

00;01;07;18 - 00;01;32;08

Speaker 4

that's a great question. Well, I come from a line of teachers, so my mom, she is definitely the person I look up to the most. She retired after 38 years of teaching. wow. She taught at Dickinson High School and was a varsity volleyball coach. So she taught there. And then she moved to Clear Creek ISD, and became a counselor at SEABROOK Intermediate.

 

00;01;32;10 - 00;01;48;22

Speaker 4

And so I just loved seeing what she did for children. And honestly, I come from a line my aunt, my uncle, her teachers, retired teachers, and I have some cousins in this district who teach as well. And so

 

00;01;48;22 - 00;01;56;27

Speaker 1

So it's the family business that's a theme we keep hearing. Yes. What about you, April? What made you want to be a teacher?

 

00;01;57;16 - 00;02;17;01

Speaker 1

So growing up at my elementary school, I went to Dabbs Elementary in Deer Park and I had phenomenal PE teachers. They were just amazing. So it's kind of on the fence. When I started to become a teacher, what what I wanted to do, my neighbor was a kindergarten teacher growing up, and so I just adored her. And it looked like so much fun.

 

00;02;17;04 - 00;02;34;00

Speaker 1

But then when I was in college, I went back to my elementary school and the observation of my PE class and the teacher was still there Coach Lingon and Coach Ahlstrom and I'll tell a story about them later, but they were still there. And so I had a conversation with them and she had said, Have you thought about doing PE?

 

00;02;34;02 - 00;02;39;25

Speaker 1

And so went home and thought about it. And I thought, yeah, yeah, that's definitely what I want to do. So.

 

00;02;40;00 - 00;02;45;02

Speaker 2

So you went straight into teaching physical education? Yes. Okay. How about you?

 

00;02;45;02 - 00;02;46;09

Speaker 1

Did you teach anything else?

 

00;02;46;17 - 00;03;11;10

Speaker 4

Well, this is my 31st year in the district, and so I first started in Alvin as a PE teacher at Intermediate School. But back in the nineties, you know, Clear Creek was the school district You wanted to be in. Everyone wanted to teach in Clear Creek ISD And so that was my mission right from the get start to teach Clear Creek.

 

00;03;11;13 - 00;03;37;13

Speaker 4

And so I was lucky enough to get hired on at Creekside Intermediate, and I taught a life management class and I coached volleyball, basketball, and so I did that for two years. And then I kept seeing this woman who would come in to Creekside and she would work with the kids with disabilities. So I started inquiring about her job and I found out she was an adaptive PE teacher.

 

00;03;37;15 - 00;03;50;26

Speaker 4

And so I knew right away I wanted that job. So I taught adaptive PE for 17 years in this district before moving to Ed White Elementary as a Gen Ed PE teacher.

 

00;03;50;26 - 00;04;07;15

Speaker 1

So I'm going to ask a question since you both teach PE. I heard some volleyball coaching over here. Did either one of you play sports in high school? Are growing up? Is that what led to your passion about PE or you just like to work with kids in that way? Well, honestly, I did play sports.

 

00;04;07;15 - 00;04;08;01

Speaker 1

I did plays.

 

00;04;08;01 - 00;04;12;03

Speaker 4

sports, and I was a cheerleader in high school. But my mom, she was a

 

00;04;12;03 - 00;04;14;09

Speaker 1

PE Teacher. So.

 

00;04;14;09 - 00;04;26;10

Speaker 4

got to see how much fun she had at work and she also taught it wasn't called adaptive PE back then, but she did have one class where the special needs kids came into her class.

 

00;04;26;10 - 00;04;27;29

Speaker 4

And so I was her

 

00;04;27;29 - 00;04;30;21

Speaker 1

Assistant. Very nice. That's kind of how.

 

00;04;30;21 - 00;04;40;21

Speaker 4

my passion evolved for that. But, you know, I just saw how much fun my mom had. She got to wear really cool clothes to work.

 

00;04;40;21 - 00;05;01;12

Speaker 1

Why not? I will second that motion. I was a PE teacher too, in a former life, and I loved wearing sneakers and shorts and warmups and everything every day and working with kids. It was fun. It was a super fun job. So you kind of alluded to this already, April. Tell us about your favorite teacher that you had and why.

 

00;05;01;15 - 00;05;03;04

Speaker 1

Okay. Well, that would have to definitely.

 

00;05;03;04 - 00;05;19;08

Speaker 1

be my elementary PE teachers. And as a matter of fact, interesting story. I think it was last year. Film Field Day might have been the year before. I had a man come up to me and say, hello, do you remember me?

 

00;05;19;08 - 00;05;25;18

Speaker 1

This is my granddaughter. So come to find out my old coach from elementary school, his granddaughter.

 

00;05;25;18 - 00;05;28;18

Speaker 1

goes to my school. yeah. Yeah.

 

00;05;28;18 - 00;05;45;27

Speaker 1

So that was just when he came and said that to me at Field Day. I just lost it. I got in, I was in tears. I was just so excited. And I told him, You guys are the reason that I'm a PE teacher today. So it was neat to have him there. He watched the whole field day, gave us lots of compliments afterwards.

 

00;05;46;04 - 00;05;52;15

Speaker 1

It was just really an honor to to have him come back after all these years and get to see me teach. So it's like it was super

 

00;05;52;15 - 00;05;56;08

Speaker 1

Yeah. It was really neat to see her because.

 

00;05;56;08 - 00;06;00;27

Speaker 4

it was so emotional. I mean, she introduced him to

 

00;06;00;27 - 00;06;01;11

Speaker 4

everybody.

 

00;06;01;12 - 00;06;01;29

Speaker 3

And.

 

00;06;02;01 - 00;06;03;10

Speaker 4

Told everybody,

 

00;06;03;10 - 00;06;17;22

Speaker 4

This is why I am here, this human being right here. He made this happen and it was really neat to see her have this special moment and how how odd, you know, I mean, totally full circle. It was great.

 

00;06;18;01 - 00;06;19;00

Speaker 2

So what was it about

 

00;06;19;00 - 00;06;20;13

Speaker 2

him that they.

 

00;06;20;13 - 00;06;37;21

Speaker 1

Just made it so much fun? I learned a ton of that class about health, but also they made it so much fun. I mean, we did Western days and these big stations. I remember when she came, I was telling her when I was a kid, we used to do these stations. They set up all these stations and we rotate through the gym.

 

00;06;37;22 - 00;06;52;28

Speaker 1

I just loved it. I loved every minute of it. I was not a person that played sports in high school. I did in junior high. I wasn't a sports person, but I loved exercise and having fun and being active. So it was really, really special.

 

00;06;52;28 - 00;07;03;28

Speaker 1

It sounds like your mom was a big influence for you. Was she your favorite teacher or did you have a favorite teacher also? Good answer. Good answer. Good answer.

 

00;07;03;28 - 00;07;21;14

Speaker 4

listen. No, no. She really just looked up to her so much. And she is a huge sports fanatic. I mean, it's really neat. Even now she's in her seventies. But to see her with all the men, you know, at Christmas time and the holidays, I mean, she knows the rules and she can keep up with anybody.

 

00;07;21;14 - 00;07;21;24

Speaker 4

So

 

00;07;21;24 - 00;07;23;20

Speaker 1

Love that. Just.

 

00;07;23;20 - 00;07;25;10

Speaker 4

her in action.

 

00;07;25;10 - 00;07;28;00

Speaker 1

And I would just like to say as far as my mom goes.

 

00;07;28;00 - 00;07;45;25

Speaker 4

in addition to teaching P.E. and being a coach, you know, because when you're a coach, you take on so many roles. But I would see my mom if there was a child that didn't have a prom dress. My mom is going out buying our prom dress.

 

00;07;45;27 - 00;08;00;24

Speaker 4

If I saw if she had a kid that needed glasses, she would go buy that kid glasses. She would do whatever it took to help kids and to see so much love and support. I'm going to

 

00;08;00;24 - 00;08;02;22

Speaker 1

And that's okay.

 

00;08;02;22 - 00;08;04;02

Speaker 4

I love.

 

00;08;04;02 - 00;08;04;23

Speaker 2

Passion.

 

00;08;04;27 - 00;08;14;10

Speaker 4

So much. Passion and just teachers are so caring. They're just caring, loving people who are. And I knew that's how I want it to be.

 

00;08;14;13 - 00;08;45;27

Speaker 2

Well, know that you are the same. As a Ed White parent, I know the impact that you're having on my child. You and she speaks so highly of you all. And I got to witness some fun and some joy in your class recently. And just watching the parents engage as well as the students. It was a very fulfilling and joyful moment in my life.

 

00;08;45;27 - 00;08;51;10

Speaker 2

So what you all are doing is meaningful and it's powerful and.

 

00;08;51;10 - 00;08;53;23

Speaker 1

And it's making a difference. It's.

 

00;08;53;23 - 00;09;02;21

Speaker 2

making a difference. So let's transition to a little bit about your teaching styles. Two people teach together.

 

00;09;02;21 - 00;09;11;20

Speaker 1

This is the first time we've interviewed two people at the same time. So you guys are groundbreaking today. Dynamic duo.

 

00;09;12;01 - 00;09;18;01

Speaker 2

You know, I think maybe a costume queen. We have costumes,

 

00;09;18;01 - 00;09;34;28

Speaker 2

we have stations, we have themes. It keeps it really, really interesting. So was that just a combination to gel decide together? Just talk to us a little bit more about kind of your your approach individually, but also together.

 

00;09;35;01 - 00;09;55;09

Speaker 1

I'll take this. I one of the things that I will say so when she came in, she had a different background. And so I've learned a ton from her, just a ton. And we work really well together. We're able to talk everything out. I mean, we leave work and a lot of times three days out of the week, as soon as we leave the parking lot, we're on the

 

00;09;55;09 - 00;09;56;28

Speaker 1

phone together.

 

00;09;57;00 - 00;09;57;10

Speaker 1

So

 

00;09;57;10 - 00;10;11;23

Speaker 1

I do think we work really well together. We but it's a lot of communication. We're very similar in our styles and how how we treat the children. We both have really big hearts. And so yeah, she, she's.

 

00;10;12;00 - 00;10;12;07

Speaker 3

She.

 

00;10;12;07 - 00;10;28;24

Speaker 1

Teaches the third and fifth graders and I tend to assist her and then I do the kindergarten through second and, and I think that works really well for us. She's played sports. She's really good at the competitive side of it. And I like the babies. And so yeah, I think it works out really well for us.

 

00;10;28;24 - 00;10;34;17

Speaker 1

I heard costumes, though. I want to learn a little bit more about this costume situation and.

 

00;10;34;20 - 00;10;37;27

Speaker 2

Into a.

 

00;10;38;00 - 00;10;42;03

Speaker 1

So can we get an example of what this costume in P.

 

00;10;42;03 - 00;11;02;03

Speaker 4

say being an adaptive head teacher for 17 years, I had the luxury of going in and out of P.E. classes every day because I would have five schools. So I got to go into elementary, intermediate, high school. I got to see phenomenal teachers,

 

00;11;03;24 - 00;11;11;24

Speaker 4

I became a PE teacher, April taught me so much because it was very different from adaptive PE.

 

00;11;11;27 - 00;11;21;07

Speaker 4

She used to say, I taught her a lot. She taught me just as much, you know. And so we had to figure out, you know, because we're two

 

00;11;22;26 - 00;11;34;22

Speaker 4

we had to figure out how are we going to make this work. And so I thought, you know what? I really want to be fun. I want these kids to walk in here, be excited to come into PE.

 

00;11;34;24 - 00;11;52;10

Speaker 4

I want them to know we care about them, we love them, and I want them to be happy because everybody's happy every day, you know? But I want to be silly, so maybe I'll put a smile on their face. So I just started with one costume and then, let's see, that was probably Halloween. Okay,

 

00;11;52;10 - 00;12;01;21

Speaker 1

Very appropriate for that. Start with Halloween. Yeah. Thanks. Today I got to be in Turkey.

 

00;12;01;21 - 00;12;21;09

Speaker 4

Will. wait, now there's Christmas. How about a Christmas tree? A snowman, You know, a penguin, you know, whatever. So. Well, then there's Valentine's Day, My, my little heart. And so, you know, And then there's Easter. Hey, let's be a bunny rabbit and St Patrick's Day, and then.

 

00;12;21;12 - 00;12;35;08

Speaker 4

And. my goodness. If you could see my garage. I just have tons and tons of funny hats and funny glasses and little finger puppets and tiny hands. Kids love tiny hands. I'll put in little tiny hands and we have five

 

00;12;35;08 - 00;12;35;29

Speaker 4

when they come.

 

00;12;36;06 - 00;12;37;06

Speaker 1

To the front.

 

00;12;37;08 - 00;12;53;20

Speaker 4

That's the funniest thing. And I'll or I'll put a horse on my finger or just something funny that I find, you know, my my family's like, my gosh, you know, they'll see me in the kid department is not because I have little kids just because I'm trying to fun funny things to make the kids laugh.

 

00;12;53;20 - 00;12;59;12

Speaker 1

And to connect with your students. What I'm here for is the happy and silly costume person.

 

00;12;59;14 - 00;13;20;26

Speaker 1

Well, it sounds like you guys are a great team, and I know teamwork is something that you can teach in PE as well, especially probably the upper grades. Whenever we're talking about that competitive part. So you guys work at a team as a team. Our teachers now, a lot of them work as teams. What since you guys seem to be the expert in this, what is the key to working together as a team?

 

00;13;21;09 - 00;13;34;23

Speaker 4

Communication Big time apologizing. Yeah, apology. We had to both apologize to each other and but we you know, we talk it out. I think we're really good about talking about.

 

00;13;34;28 - 00;13;37;11

Speaker 1

We compromise sometimes.

 

00;13;37;14 - 00;13;43;28

Speaker 4

And we can say, hey, I don't know if that's going to work, but let's try it, you know, and.

 

00;13;44;00 - 00;13;52;05

Speaker 1

Just try it. Very nice to have somebody to bounce ideas off of. Like I said, we're constantly on the phone in the evenings, bouncing ideas off of each other.

 

00;13;52;06 - 00;13;53;14

Speaker 4

You think about this what.

 

00;13;53;16 - 00;14;00;06

Speaker 1

What I found on Facebook, what if we tried this equipment or. Yeah, so let's and lots of communication.

 

00;14;00;09 - 00;14;19;12

Speaker 4

That's what I love about April because I say what do you think about this? And she'll give me an honest answer, you know, and I really appreciate that that's really meaningful because I know she's not going to just say, yeah, just do it, you know, just to appease me. You know, she is really going to give me her honest opinion.

 

00;14;19;12 - 00;14;26;13

Speaker 4

And we talk it out and and we both value each other's opinion. Yeah, greatly. Yeah.

 

00;14;26;13 - 00;14;40;12

Speaker 1

And it sounds like you guys love working together as a team, but there are days that don't go maybe necessarily as planned. So what do you think? Is your biggest challenge that you face as a teacher, and how did you overcome in

 

00;14;40;12 - 00;14;41;09

Speaker 3

 

 

00;14;41;09 - 00;14;53;10

Speaker 4

Coming from adaptive pe and having such small classes, I would have to say being a Gen Ed Pe, moving to that large class size and classroom management.

 

00;14;53;10 - 00;14;54;21

Speaker 1

Yeah.

 

00;14;54;24 - 00;14;55;14

Speaker 2

You know.

 

00;14;55;14 - 00;15;07;08

Speaker 4

80, you know, nine year olds, eight year olds, ten year olds in there. And what do you do to manage behavior?

 

00;15;09;13 - 00;15;22;27

Speaker 4

sad We have kids come in angry. What do we do to keep them moving, keep them safe, keep them happy? You know, we're also going up against all these video games.

 

00;15;22;27 - 00;15;26;05

Speaker 1

Yeah. Cell phones. They're on their cell phone.

 

00;15;26;05 - 00;15;55;10

Speaker 4

phone. They you have to entertain these days. It is a big entertainment. It is a show because they need to be entertained. It's very different from when I first started at White. And so what I think we did to help with behavior management and I'd love to see more elementary schools do this because I really think we have something going on here is we added some fitness equipment in the gym,

 

00;15;55;10 - 00;15;58;00

Speaker 1

Very nice small business.

 

00;15;58;09 - 00;16;15;09

Speaker 4

You know, we just start, you know, start with one piece. And we just kept adding more pieces and getting donations. And so that really helped with behavior management because if someone's having a really bad day, you can say, Hey, why don't you go ride the bike?

 

00;16;15;09 - 00;16;17;09

Speaker 1

It's.

 

00;16;17;09 - 00;16;21;10

Speaker 4

that's going to get you some exercise, help clear your mind.

 

00;16;21;12 - 00;16;28;06

Speaker 4

And guess what for me is a PE teacher. They're getting exercise, all right? They're getting their mind off. Why? They're angry.

 

00;16;28;06 - 00;16;32;25

Speaker 1

You're still working out, getting those endorphins going. Are there still.

 

00;16;32;25 - 00;16;43;00

Speaker 4

I tell them all, all the time about endorphins. And so I really think adding that exercise equipment was a game changer for coach. And I know what you

 

00;16;43;00 - 00;17;06;08

Speaker 1

And you're teaching them coping strategies also. So like, you're teaching them that if I'm feeling this way and I need to try to work through it, here's a very safe way and how I felt before and how I feel after. And that's something that they can then take into. Okay, the counselor in me is coming out because I'm loving all of this and that you can teach them and they can know now one way that they can help themselves, too.

 

00;17;06;09 - 00;17;11;26

Speaker 1

So I love that idea. So many classrooms now have calmed down. That's a.

 

00;17;11;26 - 00;17;21;12

Speaker 4

really big, you know, strategy for kids. And so we use our exercise equipment. It's not just for calming down. It's also for you can come in and just ride

 

00;17;22;17 - 00;17;33;13

Speaker 4

to come in and warm up. You can use it for enjoyment, but we can also use it like, you know, Hey, Coach, I don't you know, my arm hurts.

 

00;17;33;16 - 00;17;39;13

Speaker 4

okay. That's okay. Why don't you get on the bike or, you know, they're still getting exercise. You know.

 

00;17;39;15 - 00;17;40;21

Speaker 1

Alternate activity.

 

00;17;40;26 - 00;17;45;06

Speaker 4

They get alternate activity. So I really think that was a game changer for both of us.

 

00;17;45;06 - 00;17;46;08

Speaker 1

So

 

00;17;46;08 - 00;17;50;00

Speaker 1

If you were talking to your first year teacher.

 

00;17;50;00 - 00;17;55;05

Speaker 2

what advice would you give yourself when you start.

 

00;17;55;08 - 00;18;31;27

Speaker 4

boy, don't beat yourself up. You're going to have some bad days. You might have some really bad days. It's okay. It's okay. My my friend's daughter, she's becoming a teacher. She's due student teaching. And I have to keep reminding her you're not going to know everything. Behavior management takes a long time, and I tell her I'm still figuring things out at 31 years.

 

00;18;31;29 - 00;18;57;22

Speaker 4

If somebody is going to throw your curveball, you know, sometimes every day, you know, but you're always going to have a curveball where you're like, that's never happened to me one time. This is a funny story. It's not really it is funny, But we had some golf putting targets that were Velcro. And so this little girl, we said, Hey, can you all help carry?

 

00;18;57;22 - 00;19;04;10

Speaker 4

And the equipment is the end of the day. So she carries in this Velcro putting target in

 

00;19;04;10 - 00;19;17;17

Speaker 1

her beautiful long hair got stuck

 

00;19;17;17 - 00;19;41;10

Speaker 1

Coach, I need some help. I run over there because we have a look each other. We need help. Emergency. So I run and I'm like, I'm on it. So we know that I had to go take her out just later on in that. And I just. And I probably took it like 45

 

00;19;41;10 - 00;19;50;01

Speaker 4

minutes to get her hair out, but we didn't have to cut it. It was a success. You know, you're always going to have a curve ball.

 

00;19;50;03 - 00;20;13;09

Speaker 4

It's okay. You know, we we figure things out. We figure things out. Don't stressed out about it. Don't beat yourself up about. I know it's easier said than done because I had gone home and cried like, you know, what could I have done better? You know, because I'm so passionate, You know, we're passionate people, but you can figure it out.

 

00;20;13;11 - 00;20;30;09

Speaker 4

It's got to be okay. Yeah. Like our Ed White Elementary motto. I love it. Make mistakes, learn and redesign. I say that many times to each other. We say it to the students. We all make mistakes. It's okay.

 

00;20;30;10 - 00;20;32;04

Speaker 1

Learn from it and redesign.

 

00;20;32;04 - 00;20;33;17

Speaker 4

We learn from it and

 

00;20;33;17 - 00;20;34;27

Speaker 4

redesign love our motto.

 

00;20;35;03 - 00;20;35;13

Speaker 3

How about.

 

00;20;35;13 - 00;20;40;26

Speaker 1

You? I would say reach out for help. There's resources galore. Ask for

 

00;20;40;26 - 00;20;50;04

Speaker 1

help. I don't think I did that enough. So I would definitely say, I mean, there's just resources coming at you from all over the place so.

 

00;20;50;04 - 00;20;50;22

Speaker 1

 

 

00;20;50;25 - 00;20;54;27

Speaker 3

You don't have to know everything. Ask for help and that going to be okay.

 

00;20;54;29 - 00;21;24;11

Speaker 4

Our wonderful district has a Susan Rizzo. She's a PE teacher. She leads a monthly P.E. Afterschool meeting. And so we it's it's the web optional. It's on the web so you don't have to, you know, drive anywhere. And so we still, you know, we go every month to attend this meeting online because we are still learning 31 years still how many years ago, April.

 

00;21;24;11 - 00;21;24;29

Speaker 1

18.

 

00;21;24;29 - 00;21;33;20

Speaker 4

1818. We still want to learn. You know, it's really important to us. And we learned so much from these teachers. We have some really

 

00;21;33;20 - 00;21;37;14

Speaker 1

We do have some amazing teachers there working.

 

00;21;37;14 - 00;21;37;29

Speaker 4

very hard.

 

00;21;37;29 - 00;21;57;00

Speaker 1

Yes. I'm also very lucky. My my best friend since childhood is also a PE teacher. She's in Pasadena. So that's neat for me because I'm able to learn, you know, a different way of doing it in their district. And then we can bounce ideas off of each other too. So she's been a big resource for me as well.

 

00;21;57;02 - 00;22;08;11

Speaker 2

Passionate, giving, fulfilled people. What advice would you have for someone who might need to hear a little bit of motivation today? Wendy, I'll start with you.

 

00;22;08;13 - 00;22;36;18

Speaker 4

I'll wake up and you know, we all have personal life. She may not have this day. You know, you get up and something might happen, but I come into work and I want it to be the best day for my students possible. You know, sometimes it is like an Academy Award winning performance because you may not feel good or you did have a bad day, but I do not want my students to see that.

 

00;22;36;18 - 00;22;59;24

Speaker 4

I want them to know I'm super happy that they're with me. I'm very lucky that they're in my class. I can't wait to see them. I miss them. Like over the holidays, I'll miss them. And I tell them that when we come back, I want them to know that they're loved if they need anything, you know, coaching. Ah, if they say they're hungry, we provide them snacks.

 

00;22;59;26 - 00;23;03;06

Speaker 4

If their shoes don't. Or one girl tagged

 

00;23;03;06 - 00;23;06;23

Speaker 1

The shoe doctor we have.

 

00;23;06;23 - 00;23;28;15

Speaker 4

shoe glue, we have Velcro, we have shoe laces, we help them have their shoes too small. We have extra shoes, we have extra jackets. We want them to know they're loved. They can get anything from us. We'll help them. You know, I just think making our students feel like they're the most important people in the

 

00;23;28;15 - 00;23;37;24

Speaker 1

World and you could translate to two adults as well. Like, there's there's somebody out there that's going to lend you a hand and care about you. What about you, April?

 

00;23;38;15 - 00;23;55;17

Speaker 1

Focus on the positive in life. I mean, those kids come in and you could be having the worst day ever, and they just look at you and say, I love you, Coach. What are we doing today? So focus on the positive. Those kids are dying to be in our class and have a good time and learn and have fun.

 

00;23;55;17 - 00;23;59;15

Speaker 1

So just focus. Focus on the positive.

 

00;23;59;15 - 00;24;27;24

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think we see the lineup to coming to the gym. You just see their little heads. Let me. Let me. You do an activity and you think they're probably tired and they're coming at you. What's next, coach? Yeah, well, that's part of. I love you, Coach. And some even go home with you, and we laugh. But, you know, I think I feel it.

 

00;24;27;24 - 00;24;30;20

Speaker 1

I think they really care about.

 

00;24;30;20 - 00;24;42;19

Speaker 1

So one thing that we ask everyone that we talk to is what does living CCISD to the fullest mean to you?

 

00;24;43;09 - 00;25;02;02

Speaker 1

teamwork, for sure. I would say teamwork because it takes a village and we've got support from our block team for the teachers at our school or admin or PE department. I mean, there's just a massive amount of teamwork and we have to have teamwork to make this work. So

 

00;25;02;02 - 00;25;10;29

Speaker 1

Team. We're a team in Clear Creek ISD. What about you, Wendy? What to you means living CCISD to the fullest.

 

00;25;12;06 - 00;25;48;23

Speaker 4

I'm really proud to say that I work for Clear Creek ISD and I agree with April. I mean, teamwork. We have so many resources that other school districts don't have, and we have people from administration. Let me just say this. Dr. Engel came into our gym and she watched our students do an activity. And after that, she sent us a personal email thanking us and telling us what a great job we did.

 

00;25;48;25 - 00;26;00;14

Speaker 4

And the support from our district is is just overwhelming. I mean, how many people get a superintendent that sends them a personal email? It was like,

 

00;26;00;14 - 00;26;07;00

Speaker 1

one for the smile file. All right, you put that in the smile for your day because you go.

 

00;26;07;00 - 00;26;21;18

Speaker 4

to work and you try to do the best you can, but you know, you're not always going to be recognized every day. It's not like you've got a fan club, but, you know, for her to do that was so meaningful and then seeing what they do makes you want to work harder.

 

00;26;21;21 - 00;26;44;26

Speaker 4

Seeing that that our district appreciates you, makes you want to work harder. And you know, our principal, we set goals every year and at first it's like, you know, goal. But then then it you go, I get why they want us to set this goal because it really gets your brain thinking and, okay, we can do this and this and this.

 

00;26;44;28 - 00;26;56;21

Speaker 4

So I really like the way our district leads us. They make us think outside the box. And I love the support that they're giving us. You know, it's really, really an outstanding district.

 

00;26;56;21 - 00;26;57;16

Speaker 2

To work for.

 

00;26;57;16 - 00;27;20;01

Speaker 1

I wanted to give a shout out to my partner because not only she supports me in work, she supports me in my personal life. I'll tell a funny story. I'm known as the animal person on campus. So if anybody needs an animal to be rescued, I'm your girl. I worked at a vet in high school, so I had a little experience and I've done some volunteer work with a wildlife rehabilitator.

 

00;27;20;01 - 00;27;35;07

Speaker 1

So I really love animals. And we we were doing a pizza delivery thing for our school one year where the teachers deliver Papa John's and then our school get some money back from that. So we're driving down the road. She's in her lovely pizza

 

00;27;35;07 - 00;27;56;15

Speaker 1

And of course, that has a drew on a big mustache. She’s the waiter and I’m the pizza. So we're we're driving down the road in a convertible in a kind of outstanding outstanding. A sudden there's a stray dog running down the road. And of course, coach goes, we're on it. She pulls over because she knows me so well.

 

00;27;56;15 - 00;28;02;02

Speaker 1

By now she's like, don't get in that dog. So she pulls over and I jump out of the car and.

 

00;28;02;02 - 00;28;04;24

Speaker 1

pizza costume and I'm running, chasing a dog.

 

00;28;04;24 - 00;28;15;25

Speaker 1

And we were we were laughing so hard. But that was a good, good time. But she's always there to support me and in all areas of my life and I'm very lucky I get to work with her every day.

 

00;28;15;25 - 00;28;18;20

Speaker 1

we really are the ying and the yang.

 

00;28;18;26 - 00;28;19;14

Speaker 3

I can see.

 

00;28;19;14 - 00;28;20;19

Speaker 4

That they're

 

00;28;20;19 - 00;28;45;23

Speaker 4

out, you know, and we're she's she can be really dramatic and her mannerisms are just so cute and funny to me that we just laugh and just have so much fun together. You know? I've been adapted pe, seeing all these teachers work. Not everybody has this kind of relationship, you know? So I am blessed. I am blessed to be with this woman.

 

00;28;45;25 - 00;28;50;15

Speaker 4

We have so much fun and it's just a great dynamic.

 

00;28;50;15 - 00;29;10;18

Speaker 1

it's authentic. Yes. I was going to say list. So I the whole time we've been having the conversation, I honestly have been thinking about our core values. And the one that sticks out to me is the word caring. And sometimes it might just be words on the paper, but you guys have brought caring to life just with your words and your stories.

 

00;29;10;18 - 00;29;24;22

Speaker 1

And I'm sure if we went and observed you in your classroom, we would see that coming through. So if you ever need to see an example of our core values in action, I think the coaches have been doing an amazing job and continue to do amazing job. So thank you so much. I love to hear it in action.

 

00;29;25;00 - 00;29;30;08

Speaker 1

Like the words really have come to life and you guys have brought that core value to life. So thank you for doing that today and.

 

00;29;30;08 - 00;29;54;08

Speaker 1

I have also got to say that we're very lucky in that we have extremely supportive parents at our school and the community community is very supportive. We have a running program, running and sports sponsors are running program. And so our our parents are just a huge, huge help to us. So we're very, very lucky.

 

00;29;54;10 - 00;29;57;10

Speaker 4

And we also have a very supportive administration.

 

00;29;57;10 - 00;30;00;04

Speaker 1

It's.

 

00;30;00;04 - 00;30;06;20

Speaker 4

trust us, they believe in us, and they give us the freedom to do what we do.

 

00;30;11;17 - 00;30;13;01

Speaker 1

Y’all are making

 

00;30;13;01 - 00;30;26;24

Speaker 2

connections every day in the lives of the students that are in your class and and those connections go to their families and beyond. And so we are just honored and

 

00;30;26;24 - 00;30;29;10

Speaker 1

Full of joy. Yes.

 

00;30;29;10 - 00;30;36;01

Speaker 2

a part of just a little bit of your life today, but thank you for sharing your stories with us. I'm sure

 

00;30;36;01 - 00;30;48;10

Speaker 1

And I will say thank you for leading the way on being a duo for us today. This has been great fun for us. So thank you. Are very honored.