Building a Legacy: Jessica Richardson on Teaching and Leadership

In this episode, we sit down with Jessica Richardson, an inspiring educator and school leader who has dedicated her career to shaping young minds and fostering a positive learning environment. Jessica shares her journey from the classroom to administration, highlighting the challenges, rewards, and pivotal moments that defined her path. She discusses the importance of leadership in education, the evolving needs of students, and how she’s working to make a lasting impact in her community.

Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or simply someone who values the power of education, this episode offers valuable insights into the world of learning and leadership. Jessica’s passion for guiding students and supporting fellow educators shines through as she shares her experiences and lessons learned. Tune in for an engaging conversation about resilience, mentorship, and the future of education!

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29
Unknown
Where are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.

00;00;14;29 - 00;00;30;21
Unknown
Jessica, I am so happy to have you here on the podcast, listeners, Jessica Richardson. And I'm going to go through all the designees, sins and accomplishments she has. We are pretty lucky to have her today. The principal assistant principal teacher.

00;00;30;28 - 00;00;48;05
Unknown
Every single job position there is in the school system. Thank you for coming and being on the podcast today. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be. We are. I am so excited because I come from a long line of teachers, okay? My mom's a teacher. My, my, mother in law, a teacher, of course.

00;00;48;05 - 00;01;08;19
Unknown
You know, my wife is a teacher. So when you have teacher discussions around the coffee table, it can last for hours. So I've got a ton of respect for teachers, especially principals. So I want to get right into it. It's going to be fun. All right. You know, you sent me your resume, and I was just thinking it was just going to be a normal resume.

00;01;08;19 - 00;01;34;22
Unknown
It was filled with with awards and and amazing accomplishments. Teacher of the year 2002. Assistant principal of the year 2013. Principal of the year 2019. Like, how do you do it? Is there anything left for you to accomplish here? I'm sure there's things left out. Problems? I just, you know, those those awards and recognitions are just something that, you know, are mostly, voted on by your peers.

00;01;34;22 - 00;01;53;27
Unknown
Yes. And so they were each one of them was just a humbling honor. Yes. You recognize? Yes. In those different times of my life, the assistant principal of the year was when I was that kind of, Creek Elementary, and I just, I really think back on, oh, that school, everything I know about special education.

00;01;53;27 - 00;02;10;08
Unknown
And that's what I'm currently doing. And they really. I kind of baptism by fire. And the people there really taught me everything I need to know. So I felt like that was an award for our whole school. And then, the principal of the year was after opening Palm Valley Academy in Nocatee and yes, that is a big deal.

00;02;10;08 - 00;02;28;14
Unknown
And for for you that don't know, she's talking about a brand new school, a brand new school that was not there the year before and is there and you're in charge of opening it, which has to be a pretty major thing, correct? Yes. So this go back to a couple things. I want to go right out of the gate and then we'll go into your history.

00;02;29;25 - 00;02;54;08
Unknown
Is there a funny situation that that happened while you were principal teacher, assistant principal? You're smiling. So I'm feeling like something's coming to your mind. Yeah. There's always. I mean, every day inside schools, there's stuff happening. Yeah, there's stories and. And any place you've got kids, especially at a K-8, you've got, you know, kids that are, have just turned five and you have pre-teens and, and those getting ready to be teenagers.

00;02;54;08 - 00;03;18;04
Unknown
That's a lot of variety. Yeah. And, but, you know, I was thinking a lot about being at Palm Valley and just, you know, that school was built and kind of the end of a neighborhood. And we sort of took away, land obviously, that needed to be there. And build a school. And I just got thinking about all the different creatures that have come across my path.

00;03;18;04 - 00;03;41;03
Unknown
Interesting. And principal things you didn't think you would need to know how to do. And, and so even at, at Ocean Palms one morning, just the kids were just sitting outside their classrooms, reading before the school day began. Yeah. And I walked was doing my daily rounds in the morning checking on everybody. And I realized we had these sound, flags that hung from the ceilings.

00;03;41;03 - 00;04;03;07
Unknown
And I was like, well, this is interesting. There's bats. Bats that's hanging from the sound. And they were just sleeping. Yes, just as quiet as they could be. Asleep. And the kids just, you know, I mean, they they just said, Miss Richardson, I think that's a bat if they're sleep. And I said, you are right. So bats inside of this side the school.

00;04;03;07 - 00;04;32;10
Unknown
Interesting. So that was that was fun. But the kids were super respectful and they were protected animals. And I had to really go through a lot of. And is that in your Rolodex? A bat removal expert? I know who to call. So you got you, for getting bat safely outside of their house. I also know who to call when, when little baby alligators decide to make their way right by the front door where first graders are coming in from recess, so.

00;04;32;10 - 00;04;49;27
Unknown
Oh, my God, those are just a couple of things that I came straight to my head. There's lots of other funny stuff, but you know, you're in people, you're in nature and you're in other. Yeah, in animals environments. I mean, we, I, I really cool thing about the animals too, is we actually on the first day that Palm Valley opened, our mascot, if you remember, was Bobcats.

00;04;49;27 - 00;05;07;05
Unknown
Yes. And they're what? We saw a bobcat on the first day of school. That's pretty rare that near that, bridge. You know, you had to pick the right person for the right mascot. Yeah. So, just, you know, you have to adjust and be flexible, but there's definitely things that I didn't think I would have to know that.

00;05;07;08 - 00;05;25;22
Unknown
So I didn't think you would go in that direction. I'd had a thousand other ideas. Did you do animals? That's amazing. There's lots of there's lots of things. But, you know, lots of special codes for different things that need to be cleaned up around schools. Yeah. Special codes. Interesting. That's interesting that you, you, speak a different language around there.

00;05;25;22 - 00;05;54;07
Unknown
You get stuff so you can keep that goal going. That's hilarious. Now, shifting, was there a really scary situation that you had to deal with that you can remember? Yeah, I would say any time that, you know, when you're responsible for, and I'll go back to Palm Valley just because, I mean, being the principal there by the third year, I was responsible for over 2300 students and, a staff of a little under 200 at any time.

00;05;54;07 - 00;06;18;18
Unknown
You're responsible for, people and human beings. I think anytime something doesn't go quite right. Yeah, there's an accident for sure. Or somebody's safety is in jeopardy. Yeah. Those are really can be really scary time. So I can think back about, lots of times where, you know, and I want to say lots, but, you know, the first days of school and all the kindergartners, when everybody needs to get on a bus and go home safe.

00;06;18;18 - 00;06;37;25
Unknown
Yeah. And somebody might step on the wrong bus. Right? Right. The temporarily misplaced is what I like to say. You know, there's nothing that you can say or do to make a parent. Yeah. Feel like their kid is safe and they don't know where their kid is. Right? Absolutely. And we have, again, wonderful, wonderful people in our, in our transportation department.

00;06;38;08 - 00;07;01;02
Unknown
And that, I mean, that that becomes everybody's top priority. But yeah, learning how to stay calm and how to keep your staff calm. Right. Or a real fire. There was, you know, one day at Ocean Palms, I, the principal at Palms right at arrival. And our kiln was actually fuming. Okay, so, you know, it's an unplanned real fire, which is not a fire drill.

00;07;01;03 - 00;07;20;19
Unknown
Right? And, nobody had taken attendance yet. Okay, so then you're trying to figure out, you know, where is everybody? Is everybody safe? Do we have everybody out of the building? And then you know, and just things have happened where has been plenty of time. I've written, written and a lot of ambulances come with kids because their parents couldn't get there in time.

00;07;20;21 - 00;07;41;15
Unknown
And so just I think back about all those times and those are scary. Yeah. But that, you know, training a staff to remain calm and. Yeah. And how kids respond in those situations. Yeah. And then knowing that, you know, you can look a parent in the eye and say, I'm here, your kids okay, we're going to get through this together.

00;07;41;15 - 00;07;59;23
Unknown
Amazing. Yeah. I've always wondered, how do you keep track of all the kids, especially the young ones that have no clue what's going on and getting on the bus and all of that? Because I can just remember and I'm. You have kids too. I can remember back putting your kid on the bus for the first time how terrifying it is.

00;07;59;26 - 00;08;26;20
Unknown
So transferring that to hundreds of them that you're responsible for, right? And just, you know, processes, procedures, kids are resilient and kids like routine. And, and so, you know, putting those things in place. Yeah. So that whether you have 200 kids on busses or a thousand kids on busses, you're following the same protocols, right? And working with our school district transportation department is a huge piece of that.

00;08;26;20 - 00;08;44;17
Unknown
And we've come a long way, and how we can make sure kids are safe. Yeah, we take it for granted as parents. That's amazing. I'm really glad you brought that up. So I want to go back to the beginning. So that's. Think of Jessica, coming right out of high school. What am I going to do for the rest of my life?

00;08;44;17 - 00;09;03;29
Unknown
So is it when, principal of the year is that what you knew right off the bat? Oh, I, I never saw myself as a principal. I was a communication major when I first started. Okay. And, very quickly changed my major when we moved from North Carolina to here to Jacksonville. Okay, I entered UNF. Okay.

00;09;04;17 - 00;09;21;12
Unknown
I was, and I made a pretty quick decision. I was playing, I was playing on the soccer team for UNF as well. Okay. And had to make a pretty quick decision that, you know, backup goalkeeper versus getting a degree. And how am I to do this now that I'm missing a bunch of classes? And I changed my major in between.

00;09;21;12 - 00;09;43;09
Unknown
So the soccer was fun, but it had lived its life. Now I know why soccer is a big part of family. Yeah. And so, so. Yeah. So I started in the education, major at UNF and just, I think I always, I always, I think back, I mean, I babysat, I taught swim lessons, my whole, you know, life, I tutored.

00;09;43;11 - 00;10;05;14
Unknown
So it came natural to me to be around kids and to help kids want to learn whether it was the skill of a sport or, help with an academic subject through elementary school. I wasn't very good after that. So that's how that's how it started. Was, your parents, teachers, their parents were not teachers. My grandmother worked in a preschool.

00;10;06;14 - 00;10;29;17
Unknown
But I think back about those kind of, essential, those people, those role models. Yeah. You're like, hey, I want to emulate that person when I'm a teacher. Yeah. And it was my fourth and fifth grade teachers, and I mean, clear as day. I still keep in contact with them through Facebook. That's crazy. You know, I just I wanted to my fifth grade teacher read to us every day.

00;10;29;17 - 00;10;49;08
Unknown
It was a male teacher read, read to us every day after recess. And I loved just going into this world of fiction and fantasy when he would read with his voices and I. So I mean, I am I did that entire 12 years I was a teacher, read a lot of same books that he read to us.

00;10;49;14 - 00;11;13;13
Unknown
And so you clearly remember your fourth and fifth grade teacher, Mr. Barry Clay and Miss Rhonda Fusilli? My gosh, shout out to them. Shout out to them. That is incredible. And you could probably point to those two is really being your motivator to be in the education. Absolutely. Wow. That's interesting. It is, very important to realize how impressionable kids are.

00;11;13;13 - 00;11;37;15
Unknown
I think we forget about that. I know I do. That's pretty that's pretty unbelievable. I was expecting a parent or something like that, but to go that far back, that's incredible. No, I mean, my parents definitely were supportive, of different things we're doing that they were. And my mom worked at school. I will say that that I really kind of grew up even though, she was an, a teacher, we lived overseas and we were in an international school system.

00;11;37;17 - 00;11;54;03
Unknown
And so my mom started out as a bus aide because the bus drivers didn't speak English. And she was the media paraprofessional. She has an accounting background, but, she was worked in the library. And so I went to the library every day after school to do my homework. And then she ended up being the principal secretary.

00;11;55;00 - 00;12;21;15
Unknown
And then after I was in high school, she worked and, like, what we would call a central office or district office. Read more in the finance. Okay. Taking care of principals and yeah, superintendents for so you do have some like. Yeah. So I was always around school and we're always around teachers in that client. And that climate and culture where we lived in the Middle East, we, we really did life with the people that were at the school too.

00;12;21;15 - 00;12;44;20
Unknown
Okay? The teachers were a lot of husband and wife couples. Yeah. And, really that socialization piece and things we did outside of school was that community. And where was this in the Middle East? That's for, Saudi Arabia. Wow. Awesome. And how long were you there? I was there from second grade to eighth grade. Wow. And then my parents were there for almost 30 years.

00;12;44;22 - 00;13;09;03
Unknown
My gosh. Wow. Didn't realize that. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's a, kind of a cool, contrast to administration school over there to bringing it back over here. But you can clearly say that you really had that desire from day one of helping kids and being around kids, educating them. It sounds like. Yes. Okay, so that's awesome.

00;13;09;03 - 00;13;28;02
Unknown
That's awesome. We talked about role model. We already answered my next question, I love that. What what motivates you in education? Like, you know, I it's extremely hard work. I mean, I know that I've seen it personally. I mean, it's long hours. Lots of stuff that you have to do. There has to be a drive. Like what?

00;13;28;03 - 00;13;48;09
Unknown
What's driving you to get to the next day, right? Yeah. I think, you know, being a teacher and even and then the role and and now I think it's always just been about being a helper, and being a servant leader. And so any, you know, when you trying to look at each day as a new opportunity, I mean, they're all different.

00;13;48;09 - 00;14;19;04
Unknown
No day is the same. Right. And you don't really know it. I mean, you can have the best laid lesson plans and something will probably not go your way. But knowing that you have the responsibility on your shoulders to, expose students to their curriculum, to a holistic approach to education, to molding them into their so they might be inspired to do, to be a teacher, to do something else, that you have you're laying the foundation for that.

00;14;19;12 - 00;14;42;23
Unknown
Especially is I mean, I was always I taught elementary school. So I, you know, it just what motivated me every day was getting to go and know that I was helping someone become smarter today than they were yesterday. Yeah. And, and then if they, if they struggled, being able to help them overcome those struggles, I mean, it's a pretty powerful and impactful job.

00;14;42;25 - 00;15;03;26
Unknown
Well, you can see improvements pretty quickly, right? You can you see the fruits of your labor is pretty quickly. Absolutely. And I think that's the drive is just, you know, I don't think I don't think most people, anyone would necessarily say they're going into education for money. Right. We know that. Yeah, there's some great benefits. So being a public educator.

00;15;03;28 - 00;15;22;27
Unknown
Yeah. You know, with, with as with retirement and things like that. But I think most people go into because they have a heart for learning and then the heart to watch people grow. Right, right. Well, it's it's interesting, I mean, to be in and as long as you have and to be as decorated, you absolutely had to have.

00;15;22;27 - 00;15;43;08
Unknown
The heart is kind of interesting. You know, I interviewed, a young lady that ran a retirement home, a couple of weeks ago. Same thing. The heart, like her heart for elderly people, was there from day one. It's very interesting to kind of see what drives and motivates people. That's awesome. Right. We were also talking about what's the most rewarding thing in education.

00;15;43;08 - 00;16;01;16
Unknown
I think you kind of answered that a little bit is really just seeing that immediate growth. Like what's an example? Like, you know, Monday you come in, you have a lesson plan and you lay down and literally Tuesday they come in and they execute it and you're like, wow, they didn't they couldn't do that on Friday before. Is that kind of it or.

00;16;01;20 - 00;16;18;24
Unknown
Yeah. And I think just back I mean, it's been a while since I was in the classroom. I love being a teacher. And so anytime even I get to, you know, plan, as an administrator, you know, even still, like, your lesson planning turned into more like you're faculty meetings and, yes, planning engaging opportunities for your adult learners.

00;16;19;07 - 00;16;40;15
Unknown
But, you know, I think back about you know, starting in second grade because that's where I taught for ten years. You know, they came to you as, as pretty decent readers, and then you could take what they would like, what Christy did for so long, those first grades that she taught them how to read. And then when I got them, it was like you could just put it all together.

00;16;40;15 - 00;17;07;19
Unknown
And so planning these great units where they got to then, you know, you'd teach them a skill and, and then put it together into some project that they would implement and work in, in teams. And then just watch them, sort of like that light bulb moment. Those are the things that were really rewarding. So yeah, you're, you know, you're you're talking about a science lesson and, and on a Monday you do a couple of things and they're like, oh, now they understand the concept of the life cycle.

00;17;07;21 - 00;17;23;28
Unknown
And now they've put their they've created their own at the time like diorama lifecycles. And they got to pick their animal and they did the research, you know, and then you're helping them, you're helping an eight year old learn how to become a public speaker. Yeah. Wow. Wow. So in a matter of a week, you can do a lot of things for sure.

00;17;24;05 - 00;17;52;20
Unknown
Conflict resolution and problem solving and decision making and reading comprehension and written expression. And that's awesome. So you mentioned reading I would do you think that's probably one of the most important things that the readers excel. Is that very correlated? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, once you have I mean, when you go back and you really study the science of reading and what it takes to learn to read, right?

00;17;52;21 - 00;18;22;16
Unknown
That's pretty fascinating. The, the neuroscience behind it. And so then to watch it happen before your eyes and watch someone just become alert, you know, not all kids become lovers of reading, but now they can read to process information. So, and that opens, do you think the love of reading is kind of an innate or is that something that they can be turned onto?

00;18;22;18 - 00;18;44;24
Unknown
I think you can with the right. I mean, you talk to any media specialist and they'll tell you you just need to be connected with the right type of book, right for you. Right. And then people, I think can enjoy reading in different ways now. I mean, that's, you know, I mean, you can you can still be a learner of new content, new knowledge through like the audio books, right?

00;18;44;25 - 00;19;07;22
Unknown
Things like this, like a podcast. And people are still gaining their information, you know, and that's not everybody has to be sitting down with a book in their hand. But some people love that. Yeah. For sure. Well, I mean, you know, the more successful people I study over the years, I mean, reading always seems to come back to it like the people that are super successful, are reading a lot, a lot of books.

00;19;07;22 - 00;19;30;12
Unknown
They're going down 12 to 20 bucks a year, and I'm like, wow, that's, that's impressive. Yeah. And I would say just, you know, with how technology has evolved so that somebody weird because, I mean, now my, my main role is overseeing all of our exceptional student education department for the school district. And so watching someone struggle to learn to read is also that's challenging.

00;19;30;18 - 00;20;04;19
Unknown
And so to be able to take away a barrier so someone can still, you know, someone that has severe dyslexia, which you know, is not going to just be cured, right. To watch them be able to flourish because they can listen to the content and they can gain just as much knowledge, that person there, they can they can listen to those 16 or 20 books or the news or whatever the content is for their college coursework, and have the ability to do that and have ability to have, curriculum read to them, textbooks read to them.

00;20;04;22 - 00;20;23;05
Unknown
To me, that is just break and broken down. So many barriers for students on the opposite of that that will, you know, we'll always struggle to pick up a book and read it. So, that brings up a good point. So tell me what you're doing right now. You've done so many different things, like what is exactly your job right now.

00;20;23;05 - 00;20;47;14
Unknown
So right now I'm the senior director of exceptional student education for the school district. So I facilitate and supervise all of the departments, around special education. So when you say exceptional student that that means like a certain classification or what is that. Yeah. So everything from, students with disabilities to gifted. So along that continuum. So anyone that has a recognized disability.

00;20;47;16 - 00;21;17;02
Unknown
Okay. So that might be someone with a mild disability, mild reading disability or math disability to, more, complex disabilities, like intellectually disabled or other health impairment. Anxiety. Yeah. And or medical or medical fragile students. Our department oversees all of the support services like physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy that we we deliver into schools to, help.

00;21;17;03 - 00;21;39;00
Unknown
So you're charged of setting the the bar or the guidelines and then it gets infiltrated throughout all the schools. I follow the law. And that's what people. You're not crazy. No no no no no. And then have a I mean our, our whole department is, is a little is probably 250 people. But a lot of those people are direct service into schools every single day.

00;21;39;02 - 00;22;02;18
Unknown
And then I have a, a department of about 30 that help manage those different, you know, speech. Yeah. Or gifted or varying exceptionality or intellectual disabilities or behavior disabilities in our special programs. So that just seems like a, a monumental job. But you're used to managing. What difference does it make? What do you what do you find most difficult about education?

00;22;02;18 - 00;22;30;15
Unknown
Like, the most the challenging, like the obstacle. Like, is there something that comes to your mind? I think, you know, just kind of. What? The same thing we were talking about, what motivates you and your celebrations of successes is just, you know, every single student you come across, whether and now I think about a lot, I mean, I do I work a lot with adults, you know, and those and doing making sure there's adults have what they need to be able to help the students.

00;22;30;15 - 00;22;51;10
Unknown
Right. And so I did that as a principal, too. I felt like my role as a principal was to remove a barrier, whether it was for the front desk receptionist, the custodian, the the person running the cafeteria. It was my job to know enough to if they had a barrier to do their job, I needed to remove that barrier for them or get them the resources they needed to do their job right.

00;22;51;12 - 00;23;29;04
Unknown
And so as much as that's really exciting to watch it happen, that's also probably the most difficult and challenging thing is that everybody needs something different. Yeah. Whether you're the, you know, you're the 11th grade student who's already and, you know, taking dual enrollment in fact, or, you know, Saint Johns River or UNF and your teacher and, you know, but you also have an individual education plan for something and you need something versus, you know, a teacher that might need something, from their principal or from us or, somebody that works in our department, you know, every single child that you are in front of needs you for something different.

00;23;29;04 - 00;23;48;24
Unknown
Yeah. And so figuring out what that is every day and tailoring and being able to tailor instruction when you still have obviously global standards you're trying to meet for everybody. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of things that are aligned that are for all. Yeah. And then tweaking that out for each student to make sure that they are reaching their highest potential every day.

00;23;48;24 - 00;24;14;05
Unknown
I think if you asked any teacher that probably say that's part of the challenge, also part of the reward, and you're doing that for teachers too, right? And so now our job is to make sure that we, we, we, we put in the hands of the teachers that are teaching our students with disabilities. We give them the knowledge and the skills and the capacity to be able to serve, to their highest level and, you know, effectiveness each day.

00;24;14;05 - 00;24;37;15
Unknown
Yeah. Well, it's it's a huge job. And we keep uncovering and things that you're doing and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's a lot. I want to talk about Covid because I think it was, you know, schools were ground zero. And you were a principal. Yes. You were principal during that. Yeah. So at Tom Valley, yes, I can I can see the stress already starting to come on.

00;24;37;17 - 00;24;58;26
Unknown
Can you remember the day that it became a thing like. Yeah, I can't because was that during a school, term that it became a thing? It was right before we went for spring break. Okay. That's right. I remember and I just remember kind of standing in front of the staff and just saying, I think you should all get your laptops and make sure you have your computer record.

00;24;58;28 - 00;25;18;17
Unknown
Right. And I didn't really know what else to tell them. Right, right. And and I just was like, and I'll, we'll see you soon. Yes. And then was that the last day they were in school? Yes. Wow. So literally it's that happened that fast and and you're helping my memory. But and it did happen that fast like we didn't.

00;25;18;17 - 00;25;38;13
Unknown
Nobody knew what it was. But were you ready for that? Like, I mean, that's amazing. I mean, we talk about a lot of online stuff and online, but no, I mean traditional schools, not ready. That's not what they do. No. And so, you know, they've raised uses that word pivot. I feel like it's like an overused you just you just do it.

00;25;39;07 - 00;26;00;05
Unknown
But I think, you know, again, having that team around you, I mean, we were we all went on spring break, the administrators and Saint Johns County work the first four days of spring break. Yeah. So it was just kind of like, well, what's going to happen? What are we going to do? And then I just remember when they finally made the decision like, no, we're not coming back.

00;26;00;05 - 00;26;29;14
Unknown
So then we were given, I think, a few extra days to try to figure out, like, what does that look like? And then very quickly it was, you know, the drive through and you know, we we just I mean, I remember just we the teachers, I think somehow we, the teachers were able to come in and pack up like we've got Publix, you know, brown paper bags and packed up everybody's, workbooks and, and there are headphones and, you know, there are school supplies.

00;26;29;14 - 00;26;51;12
Unknown
And I just remember our hallways were lined with these bags and we all started organizing. Like, if you're a through D comm at this time, through the drive through, if you're in this letter of the alphabet and you come at this time, and then it would just became fumbling through what to call on. And, with the virtual platforms.

00;26;51;18 - 00;27;07;07
Unknown
Well, but like correct me if I'm wrong, but like, not every student was just ready. Hey. Yeah, I got my laptop. I'm ready to go. So that was. And then it was getting all the laptops, making sure they were would be able who need it. I mean, you can't find a hotspot now, but you know who needed a hotspot and.

00;27;07;07 - 00;27;27;24
Unknown
Yeah, and the same thing, it was like, okay, now that was our next drive through. And then it was the food drive thrus. Like that was a I mean, we did a lot of, tell me what you mean by that. Like people coming again. Yeah. Lunches. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Did you think about that part? Yeah. Yeah, we did that, every day for a while and, you know, so and just really kind of.

00;27;27;28 - 00;28;06;03
Unknown
And you're trying to keep your families in touch with what you were doing, and also your staff really needs you at that time. So, I have a distinct memory of holding a virtual staff meeting, for like, Cinco de Mayo and playing bingo and something else virtually. Yeah. You know, just to bring them together because everybody could see each other's faces and, we had, music teacher and ASL teacher at the time, and they wrote a song about when the kids did start to come back about about what to do, and it was washing your hands.

00;28;06;06 - 00;28;36;22
Unknown
So everybody learned the Covid song and just had to the that had to be, again, you tell me if there has to be one of the most challenging things in your career, was that. Yeah. Trying to figure that out, I think so, I mean, just, you know, it was you just every day was something different, and and, you know, I, I didn't spend I mean, you know, everybody else kind of, you know, people were at home and I just remember our, our close knit admin team, I mean, I, I only think I spent a couple days at home, right?

00;28;36;23 - 00;28;58;24
Unknown
I mean, I just had I mean, we were at school, but there was very, very few of us is a weird teacher in school. When I was in school, it was it was, it was just that's it. I mean, Palm Valley arcades or over 200,000ft². Yes. And having them used to being filled with noise. Yes. Happiness. Yeah.

00;28;58;24 - 00;29;21;01
Unknown
And people to have them empty for so long. And they are so big and so vast. Right. Weird. Yeah, sure. I got some good work out. Yeah, I would imagine inside there by myself. Well, that's super interesting. I think you underplay the, the magnitude of having to pivot like you said and do that. Well, you guys did an amazing job.

00;29;21;01 - 00;29;36;26
Unknown
And I'm glad that that's over. So you know we are moving on from the questions for sure. Yeah. What what do you have my mask bag Aaron. Do you know I, I went to throw it away a couple weeks ago. Was clean underneath my bathroom sink. And I was like, oh please, I just can't. And I got it.

00;29;36;26 - 00;29;55;17
Unknown
I just slipped it back up and put it back. Just, you know, you never know. You never know. I like some of them. Yes, yes, yes. Well, you've been in education probably 25 years or so. From what I saw from your resume, what stands out different when you started versus different now I know you can. We have a whole podcast list on that.

00;29;55;17 - 00;30;18;00
Unknown
But like what pops in your head? The technology. Okay. Yeah. So I just think back about like, you know, the first principle that hired me at Ocean Palms, I mean, he just he didn't even I don't think he even checked email, you know, I mean, I think it was I think they had email and I don't, I don't remember her being a teacher when I first started teaching.

00;30;18;03 - 00;30;53;14
Unknown
I don't remember, like, email being a thing. Right, right. And so now, you know, there's this. So for educators, I think it's just and for kids too, it's the evolution of, instant access to everybody. Right? That's the, the evolution of and the expectations and the communication piece for the communication piece. And then I think for the kids, too, I mean, I remember I, I was part of a grant funded classroom for a couple of years where every single one of my second graders had, an Apple laptop.

00;30;53;15 - 00;31;21;06
Unknown
Right. And I just and I went to training every two weeks at this group of educators around the district, and I was like, oh, the digital camera. Right. You know? And so I was like, we got the digital cameras to learn how to use them and implement them into the classroom environment. And then, you know, I mean, I it just is so different to watch now how fast you can get information and how fast you can use it as a tool to do good.

00;31;21;10 - 00;31;45;16
Unknown
Yeah. Or a tool to harm. Right, right. And then just not I feel like I had more flexibility as a teacher. Yeah. And the way I taught and the, the pace that was the other thing was just the pace. I mean, I just pace being much faster now. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. And so there's the demands on kids and the stress on kids.

00;31;45;16 - 00;32;12;11
Unknown
Yeah. And the expectations on the kids. But then the expectations on, you know, the teachers and everybody's and everybody expects something right away. So even back to that safety thing. You know, I used to say the parents like you don't email your teachers five times during the school day. Your teachers should be teaching. Yeah. Right. Right. You know, and so like if you and then, you know, somebody goes and emails a transportation change, well, the teacher might not see it.

00;32;12;11 - 00;32;33;21
Unknown
Right, right. And then also, you know, it's like this isn't the way this works. And, you know, working through some of those things and when it's appropriate to communicate how we communicate. And, you know, I would talk with parents about that, you know, this this person that is responsible for your child seven hours a day has their own life, right?

00;32;33;21 - 00;32;51;01
Unknown
Right. And so what you what's important for you is, is also we want to make sure that's important. But how do you protect that teacher to to make sure they can still give 100% to your kid? Every single. Sure. No, that's, that's really good. I just what what happened to the old the old, good old overhead projectors.

00;32;51;01 - 00;33;18;15
Unknown
You know, with the light, you get to draw on it and all that stuff, I remember. And the Triple-A. Triple-A cuts. Yes. The forms that were pink, yellow and white. I think we still have a couple of those for certain things. But, yeah, a lot of that stuff has, you know, changed for the good. Yeah. And and like I said, that what you can do to help students, that's also, I mean, just the amount of assistive technology, what we can do to help students that do have a disability.

00;33;18;18 - 00;33;45;18
Unknown
And we have just some amazing technology, whether it's part of, you know, for hearing loss or for vision or physical disability, things that have just really smart people have invented some really cool things. Well, I know if it can fix my horrendous spelling, it's like an amazing in technology. I blew up spell check that wasn't good enough for me.

00;33;45;18 - 00;34;23;26
Unknown
So that's. Yeah. Make it. Yeah, but make it help in helping students understand how to manage that pace and manage the pressures, and then also help in helping a teacher. You know, teachers had to it has to compete with all that. So, you know, if I can get attention all this steadily in front of me from my iPad or my phone or whatever, you know, what is engagement in the classroom have to look like for your brain to move from that type of stimuli to now I'm in front of my teacher and you know my does my teacher have to be an actor and actress all day long?

00;34;23;26 - 00;34;43;01
Unknown
Right? Right, right. Yeah. So no, that's that's I mean, the pace that that's what strikes me is, the pace. So, kind of a funny question. I know you have a son and daughter. What was it like for them when mom was the boss at work, or what were you, the assistant or when they were in school?

00;34;43;03 - 00;35;00;07
Unknown
So Tyler was with me and I was the principal at Ocean Palms. Okay. So that was the only time I was the principal. Okay. And did ever report the principal, Carter, you know, what I think is funny is because I always used to say, I always used to tell him, y'all need to, like, have a low profile.

00;35;00;10 - 00;35;21;26
Unknown
Like, people around the community should not know who you are. And, it's funny because that was another one of my questions is that I always felt like when you get to that status, a principal and even a teacher, that there's some hesitation to go out to dinner, like, because you might run into all the people and you know that just like, hey, you know, I'm I'm off.

00;35;21;26 - 00;35;42;01
Unknown
I'm good. Yeah. He's I mean, he, I just, you know, I try to treat him as equals. I would everybody else. But yeah, this little group and yeah, I mean I don't think he really cared that I was okay. He would come to my office after school to get all his snacks and eat his candy. And then I'd come in needing to have a mean in there and have to kick him out.

00;35;42;01 - 00;36;03;04
Unknown
And then, they've recently showed me some videos that they took around Ocean Palms. Oh, good. And so that's fun. Yeah. I should do things that they shouldn't have been doing. Right. But I think, you know, I hope that they, you know, it's a lot like you're saying, being in the community and always kind of being on.

00;36;03;04 - 00;36;18;06
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. For sure. Especially because if you're kids, if you have kids that mean my, my kids were fortunate enough to because I was a I've been an educator and an employee of Saint Johns County. For them to go through the Saint Johns County school system that we don't live in Saint Johns. Right. So that was a that was a job perk.

00;36;18;07 - 00;36;44;24
Unknown
Yeah. And so I really, you know, tried to instill in them, this is this is a, privilege. Yeah. And to get this education and you need to take it seriously, but then you do get embedded whether you're at soccer, cheerleading or the grocery store or the restaurants, you know, and I always love seeing kids because I think especially the little kids, I think they've just really looked at you out of context and thought, like, I thought you like, I think they thought there was a bed at school.

00;36;44;24 - 00;37;07;14
Unknown
Now I think you're actually real. Yeah. Outside of school. Yeah. And you have, like, you know, your exercise outfit on or whatever it is. So, for the most part, it was it's been great. I mean, I would say 99.9% of people respect that. I understand that. And. Well, I mean, whether you want to admit it, when once you, even teacher, teacher, principal, you're kind of a little bit of a celebrity.

00;37;07;14 - 00;37;29;16
Unknown
So, you know, I know I've always thought that you probably answered this already. Like, how did you, how did you deal with, the stress and all that? And I know you're big and exercise. So is that your thing? Running, jogging? Sprinting, whatever you do. Not not fine. Not sprinting. But, Yeah, I just think of finding a balance, trying trying to practice what you preach.

00;37;29;16 - 00;37;44;14
Unknown
And I wasn't always great at it. Yeah, I really try to tell the staff that every year. And the staff I have now, just remind them of the importance. Like, if you can't, you know, if you're not, if you can't be well inside for yourself, you're not going to be there for somebody else. You have to serve.

00;37;44;16 - 00;38;14;25
Unknown
Yeah. And I think trying to do that, and I think for my own two kids, there's a lot of sacrifice. And, you know, I mean, you've, you've you have a wife. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, everybody I don't know hardly anyone in the field of education that works a 40 hour workweek. Right, right. And and there's lots of professions like that and that, you know, I do think that when our kids see us, we're totally modeling of service of herself, that it's helped them become the adults they are.

00;38;14;26 - 00;38;55;09
Unknown
I mean, my daughter's 21 and my son's 19, and I don't think they have any real regrets. About that. And a husband that was supportive. And I know you've been super supportive of Christy and her career as well, but I think that's what you have to have. And then just trying to find, you know, like, again, I think balance is hard because I don't know if there's really any such thing, but, knowing when to turn it off, knowing when do not respond to something, knowing that, I had a principal tell me, principal mentor, tell me one time if you've got, you know, 85% of your faculty or your families that love

00;38;55;09 - 00;39;16;20
Unknown
you, you are doing a good job. You're knocking it out of the park. And so I would tell that to teachers, to you, you know, you're not going to win everybody over and you're not. Our job is not to make everybody happy. Their job is to teach their kids and to run a safe school. And, and we not we might not always agree, but we can do it in professional manner and try not to take things personally.

00;39;16;20 - 00;39;36;28
Unknown
Well, I think what people don't understand is, teachers are always on. Yeah. It's not like a, a job where you go and you move paperwork and you can go take a coffee break and walk around like you're always on. I wanted to hit real quick. Saint Johns County. You've been there since the beginning. What an amazing explosion it's been.

00;39;36;28 - 00;39;59;02
Unknown
And the explosion doesn't seem to be ending. Talk about a little bit of of what you've seen, like where you started and where you are now. Yeah, I just, I mean, it's crazy even talk like it's how many, how many students were in the Saint Johns County 20 years ago? Gosh, I think it's so. I know for a fact it's over doubled.

00;39;59;02 - 00;40;19;19
Unknown
So. Wow. I think in the last ten years in that don't quote me on that, but we're at over, right around 52,000 students. And so, that is for sure, because when we, we just went through those two referendums, that was some of the talking points to the community, why it was so important. Thank you. Thank you, community, for passing those two referendums.

00;40;19;19 - 00;40;39;11
Unknown
But what is the growth? I mean, the population of Saint Johns County itself had doubled, and I think the student population was like at 110%. Well, growth. And so being still, still in the state still just, you know, we have a need for obviously all these schools, we're building K-8. So that's really what we build for the most part.

00;40;39;14 - 00;41;04;20
Unknown
Right. But yeah, I think, you know, one of the things is when I like when I first got to Ocean Palms, it was around the size it was built for. Yeah, for year one. And then it quickly, grew. The whole time I was a principal, my schools grew by 15 to 20% per year. And so I think if you think about that, like in the business field, you know, that's great for certain aspects.

00;41;04;20 - 00;41;26;05
Unknown
If you're, if your, for your what you're producing. Right, right. But you know, I, I was hiring whole new schools. Right. Every single year of teams like is a principal though. Are you, are you literally responsive over everything in the school. Like do we have enough toilet paper? Do we are the or the is there enough food?

00;41;26;23 - 00;41;51;08
Unknown
Like all of like the the individual things. So technically speaking, yes. I mean, if something goes wrong, it's kind of yes, you're responsible, but, you're also responsible for putting together those teams. I think that was one of the things I just I love putting teams together and putting people around me. They they're smarter than me that, you know, do I have to know about the supplies and the toilet paper?

00;41;51;11 - 00;42;12;13
Unknown
Yeah, but I only have to know, you know, this small little bit. I need to hire the maintenance manager that knows all the details. And then, and I also have to know that that maintenance manager, is going to hire, a great staff that are going to work for him. Right. Or with him, just like, you know what?

00;42;12;15 - 00;42;37;13
Unknown
Who are you going to pick as your grade level chair or your department chair at a high school? You know, you have to have these people around you. You have to have that ability to delegate leadership because you can't be everywhere. But you have to trust the people that are, you know, managing your finances and your books and your and the people who are serving the food in the cafeteria and, what a what a what a huge job.

00;42;37;18 - 00;43;01;14
Unknown
Going back a little bit to when you were a teacher. Can you don't have to give me names, but can you remember some of your favorite students right off the bat? Yeah. You know, I think I had to have. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if our favorite kids that just, you know, you'll remember are. You see, I mean, that's the one great part about being in this community, you know, I mean, you can, and being here for so long is that I get to.

00;43;01;14 - 00;43;21;29
Unknown
And in my role now, I get to participate in graduation. Yeah. And, and so watching still, I still have a few more years because some of the kids I first got here in the 30s. Yeah. But I still have a few more years as people that will be kids who will be graduating that, you know, were either in kindergarten or first grade at Ocean Palms or we're still at Palm Valley.

00;43;21;29 - 00;43;39;15
Unknown
So I love sitting at graduation and reading through all the names and then picking if I happen to get to be on their side to hand them their diploma, or shake their hand to see if they recognize me. I think that's really. Yeah, that's that's it. Was there any can were any of your students ever famous become famous?

00;43;39;17 - 00;43;59;04
Unknown
You know, I, I don't know I mean, I'm sure they became famous in their own right or different things. But I will tell you, I'll tell you a cool story. Okay, cool. So going back to the fifth grade teacher, Mr. Clay, that read, okay, so he read Roald Dahl. That's what he read. BFG, James and the Giant Peach.

00;43;59;04 - 00;44;20;15
Unknown
Matilda. Right. And Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Right. So because he loved Roald Dahl, I love Roald Dahl. And at one point, somehow he when Roald Dahl was still alive, I got picked to be in a phone interview. Okay. With Roald Dahl. Okay. And ask him some questions. Okay. That kind of stuck with me all along. Yeah. So then I read Roald Dahl.

00;44;20;16 - 00;44;45;14
Unknown
Okay. So, just in the last couple of years, one of the students I had, my second grade class has opened up her own book store and Austin, Texas, and, and she told her mother in law, who happens to be a teacher and friend of mine, that part of her inspiration for wanting to do that was when she sat in class and we read Roald Dahl.

00;44;45;22 - 00;45;07;00
Unknown
Wow, wow. So full circle. Yeah, same thing on you. You got your inspiration. Now you're the inspiration for. Yeah, yeah. Well, wrapping up, I wanted to ask you people thinking about getting an education. Whether you're in college or you're out of college, you want to go back to your what are some things that you feel like you want them to know?

00;45;07;00 - 00;45;28;23
Unknown
Like what? What what's your advice? Like, how do I get in? What what arm branch do I go into? What what what what would I do? So I think it comes back to that heart piece. I mean, you have to want to be a teacher. Yeah. And I think if you've got the heart piece, you can be taught all the other things, especially those that are coming.

00;45;28;23 - 00;45;51;13
Unknown
We have, you know, a large population, especially with our, teachers that teach students with disabilities of people coming out, cert or alternative certifications, into the field, you know, we can help support you. But I can't teach you to love kids, right? Right. And I could usually tell within about 60s of the interview. I would think so of whether somebody had that right and that in them.

00;45;51;13 - 00;46;14;10
Unknown
Yeah. And and so I would say that's first and foremost. And then I think you, you should I would encourage anyone just to go volunteer. Right. Around their local schools. Right. And become a volunteer. Just go observe, go to multiple different grade levels to different schools. If somebody is really thinking about it, sign up to be a substitute and try it out.

00;46;14;10 - 00;46;33;01
Unknown
Substitutes. Great. Yeah. And then, and then you got to have your people, you know, and it takes a village to raise a kid. Yeah, it takes a village to survive. I think as an educator these days as well. And so I think you have to put yourself around a core group of people that know what you're trying to accomplish and then are there to support you.

00;46;33;02 - 00;47;09;13
Unknown
Yeah. Along the way. So I would I would that's what I would tell people. And, you know, it is sad to watch our, universities and our College of Education programs declining. Right. And I think we need whatever we can do to advocate for people to choose the profession. And sometimes the profession chooses you. But, you know, I want to be a part of that because, well, I think you illustrated earlier how important teachers are because your teachers in the fourth and fifth grade motivated you to do this whole list of stuff right here.

00;47;09;15 - 00;47;33;10
Unknown
That's pretty cool. And now you have students doing the same thing. So it's cool because you said you can kind of test drive it a little bit, volunteer, substitute, and if you can make it through substitution, yes. Yeah. You're winning for sure. Yeah. Well, this was awesome, Jessica. Thank you. I know, our audience is going to love this because, you bring so much to the table.

00;47;33;13 - 00;48;04;12
Unknown
And, I loved your insights on your experiences of being a teacher. Principal, assistant principal. It's a great. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Aaron. I have to give a shout out. I do have to say, since I have the the floor kind of got the floor, just. And again, another just super impactful because I just and now, you know, Christi for the audience that your wife was Tyler's first grade teacher and, you know, she I know she treated every student who's ever come across her path like she treated Tyler.

00;48;04;12 - 00;48;23;20
Unknown
Yeah. And he he was just one of those kids that was kind of sensitive. And he needed a little extra TLC every day, especially with his mom working at school. And she just was so amazing with him. And she taught him to read. Oh, awesome. And so that's pretty special. Yeah, she's still working on me. Also works out.

00;48;23;22 - 00;48;47;18
Unknown
So let's see. You know, I know that that's how she was with everybody, but, it's it's just and I think that's a great part about being in education too, is that you build lifelong friendships with people. Yeah. And connections and, you know, they end up becoming part of your family. So I just wanted to give a shout out to Christy and all the teachers out there, but all the teachers make sure that it's it is absolutely hard work.

00;48;47;18 - 00;48;53;27
Unknown
But man, you could make the case. It's probably the most important work and the most rewarding. Yeah. For sure. Well thank you. Yeah. You're welcome.

00;48;53;27 - 00;49;08;05
Unknown
The Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.