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Cool Coffee 10 - Dr. Jenny Woolever - Frontier Trail Middle School

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Konten disediakan oleh KPA: Kansas Principals Association. Semua konten podcast termasuk episode, grafik, dan deskripsi podcast diunggah dan disediakan langsung oleh KPA: Kansas Principals Association atau mitra platform podcast mereka. Jika Anda yakin seseorang menggunakan karya berhak cipta Anda tanpa izin, Anda dapat mengikuti proses yang diuraikan di sini https://id.player.fm/legal.

In this episode, Dr. Jenny Woolever of Frontier Trail Middle School shares about the efforts she makes in keeping building morale high, especially during the grind of the school year. Building upon her "Principal Perspective" from the October 28, 2024 episode, Jenny shares more thoughts and ideas to help any building at any time.

Quote from the show...

Gratitude:

“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Email: Dr. Jenny Woolever

On X: https://x.com/WooleverJenny

Chapters (time stamps do not account for the Cool Coffee intro--full transcript of the show below)

00:00 Introduction and Thanksgiving Excitement
02:00 Building Morale Through the Holidays
04:58 Traditions and Community Involvement
10:14 Budget-Friendly Staff Appreciation Ideas
12:04 Recognizing Staff Needs and Support
16:00 Self-Care for Educators During the Holidays
18:50 Community Outreach and Empathy in Education
24:04 Data-Driven Decisions and People-Centric Approaches

YOUR FEEDBACK ON COOL COFFEE IS APPRECIATED!

Leave show suggestions, guest recommendations, questions HERE!

Connect with us on...

Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee

Facebook: KSPrincipals

Contact the host: KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service.

Read more about the KPA HERE.

TRANSCRIPT (AI produced)

Rick Sola (00:01.302)
Hello and welcome to another edition of Cool Coffee with Kansas principals. Today I am with Dr. Jenny Woolever of Frontier Trail Middle School and USD 233, home of the Jaguars. Hello, Jenny.

Jenny Woolever (00:13.994)
Hi, good morning. I'm good, you know excited. We're counting down. We're about four days out for Thanksgiving break, so we have a lot of excitement here with the staff and students.

Rick Sola (00:15.564)
How are you this morning?

Rick Sola (00:25.112)
It's perfect and that's a lot of the reason why I wanted to bring you on. before that, right before we went live here, I guess we're not live recording, talking about where I was just a couple minutes late getting on and we were talking about why that is and how I don't know that we were late as often as we were until we had kids. So getting that.

Jenny Woolever (00:34.264)
You

Jenny Woolever (00:46.286)
Yeah, that's so true. I have a middle schooler and an elementary, so it's like two different schedules and one's getting involved in the events. so balancing that in your, you know, your profession, it's a lot sometimes. So you appreciate that and I think you have a better understanding when staff go through the similar situations that you are as a parent.

Rick Sola (01:08.086)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, getting the kids to and from and we're at three different levels this year for the next couple of years. So there's three bell schedules to maneuver, but it's all good for another show. I wanted to kind of follow up. A few weeks ago, you submitted a principal perspective called building morale through the holidays. And first of all, really enjoyed it.

Jenny Woolever (01:13.921)
wow.

Yep.

Rick Sola (01:33.15)
And I know others that we both know but had listened to it and just thought it was really great. And I thought that would be a really good topic. And especially for this right now, this episode will come out on the 21st right before the Thanksgiving break, but then the three weeks or so before the holidays. And so I'd love to talk to you a little bit more about your philosophy with that. And if you haven't heard the principal perspective on that that Jenny did.

It's about a five minute deal and there's a lot of quick sound bites, but I wanted to get a little deeper into it. But you spoke about your intentionality with this time of year because one, there's a lot of energy that can be tapped into, but two, when you go from like October to Thanksgiving, that's kind of a typical lull and it could be a grind. Staff need to pick me up. So let's start with

Jenny Woolever (02:11.672)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (02:24.056)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (02:29.868)
what's going on right now at your building or coming up because you know where we're at as far as the calendar goes.

Jenny Woolever (02:35.808)
Yeah. Well, I was going to say we're excited. Wednesday is our faculty feast. And so what that means is that as the building, we kind of purchase the turkey and I believe ham. so staff bring in different kind of sides. And so we kind of invade the culinary space, which they know. And so they go to an alternate location. But it's really nice. And so we have kind of a long table we spread out. And it's just a staff.

It's a warm meal during that day and so staff have their regular lunch ships but it's really nice because we keep it warm in the ovens and I couldn't do without my office staff. I would say my office staff does a really good job of creating the sign up genius and kind of incorporating that and a tradition that when I started with Frontier Trail they also have what they call a pie day which is really cool too as well. Parents donate pies and so right before on Friday staff select their pies and they get to take one home to share with their family which I think is a pretty neat tradition.

We have an assortment all laid out, but our families are really supportive and sometimes they just want to know how to help. And so that was been one that's been kind of long standing and staff really enjoy it every year too. So I would say is those are two events this week that kind of get us through to the week. It's something that staff kind of look forward to.

Rick Sola (03:51.82)
That's awesome. A Pi Day. What a great, great idea. So is that more of your parent directed? Or is it kind of initiated from you and then parents take over? Or is it such a long-standing tradition now it runs itself?

Jenny Woolever (04:01.186)
Yeah.

Yes, you're exactly right. I would say anytime I kind of begin with a building, one of the questions I usually give surveys out to staff, I find I like the survey a little bit better than the face-to-face because it allows them to kind of reflect on questions and it allows me to get to know the building prior to kind of becoming that lead administrator. And so one of the questions, which is probably my favorite, is what's your favorite traditions at your school? And sometimes I'm shocked they don't list any traditions, which gives us kind of an open canvas and some of them are really

passionate about whether it's we like to pick what snowed it what will be the first snow day or had a raffle or you never know what's more meaningful to the staff and so I really try to keep those going or add to that and so you'll be surprised just having a little social committee many times it's a few of my ladies in the office as well as a couple of teachers that that's what they love to do too and so it kind of carries itself.

Sometimes I just share my experiences from other schools about when we, here's something we could do, but it's neat because with Pinterest and Instagram and all the things, I usually have some other stuff that have great ideas too. So we try to keep traditions, but we also try to build our own and to kind of as they go through. I would say Halloween was one not really tapped much here at Frontier Trail. So when I came, we

began Red Ribbon Week. And so that's when we tied in kind of the costumes and then we did the food contest in the lounge that is kind of spooky treats and that has graduated over the last three years. So it's neat to see how big it's gotten now. So some of those do become traditions and sometimes it's just a one-off but it's nice because staff look forward to it.

Rick Sola (05:42.744)
I love that question you ask him, what's your favorite traditions? I've been in this building this my fifth year and I feel like that's a question I would like to ask even though I've been here. What's your favorite traditions? What is it we're doing that or our parents are doing or whatever that's really resonating. But then also like what's a new tradition that maybe you saw in a previous building? Yeah, just to add some fun. You know, so much of it too is.

Jenny Woolever (05:55.384)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (06:09.302)
what resonates with an individual and not everything hits everybody. kind of tapping into, is that a thought that you give as far as how do I reach everybody or maybe you know, costume day is gonna really hit well with this group and then there's a Mr. Sola over there who's like, I don't wanna wear a costume, you know.

Jenny Woolever (06:15.821)
Okay.

Jenny Woolever (06:33.486)
Well, I have a Mr. Todd. He doesn't like to do that either, but he does a lot of others. So you're exactly right. And I think our staff does a nice job of, you know, it's OK if you don't want to participate, but you also need to mix different activities in. You're exactly right. I would say, you know, sometimes food is driven by people, and sometimes it's just a simple spirit day. Ones that I, you know, sometimes people that are less hesitant around the Super Bowl, we did odds, like they do of the game, like will it be heads or tails? We've done NCAA brackets.

So sometimes I have just varying staff, so I know their interests, so we try to combine different activities to help meet that. Because you're exactly right, Rick, that you have varying abilities, varying interests. But it's kind of interesting, because if you find one activity that gets someone involved, they end up kind of joining those other activities too. So that's where I feel like I've really kind of brought in the staff is, they may not like this one as much, but they know we do some others as we go through. A new one that actually was led by our science department, I think,

When you kind of create that climate where people feel like they can contribute ideas, our science team is actually doing a legacy night, which I think is really cool. Your building, in fact, had a recent one for years of, it's been established, right, Rick? Can you tell me how many years?

Rick Sola (07:49.464)
Yeah, 25 years. Yep.

Jenny Woolever (07:51.502)
25 years, yes. And so FT kind of had that before I came, but what they're wanting was they're trying to raise funds for an outdoor classroom. And so their idea was, you know, we've had so many staff that are no longer here that have a desire or want to help. And so there we worked with the American Legion and we're doing a pitch night. So they're going to be playing cards, they're coming in. But it was almost like another community outreach, but it was kind of neat because I didn't even, you know,

do that. I was just asked, hey, can we get this going? So our SRO officer as well as our science department is leading that. it's kind of changed since then. Even though we have a good social committee, if you give that ability to staff to come up with ideas and stuff, it really builds that. I just, I enjoy that.

Rick Sola (08:35.448)
Well, what a great culture and like you say, it's almost like a snowball once you get it going and then it sparks ideas and that's perfect. Not that you wouldn't have wanted to have been involved, but I bet it's really nice that you had some champions in the building ready to move forward with it. And then at the end of the day, once they achieve that goal, that classroom, how great is that as far as the ownership and the maintenance of it and that sort of thing. It's ironic because we just did a father's club cleanup on our classroom over the weekend.

Jenny Woolever (08:39.459)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (08:50.446)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (08:56.3)
Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (09:02.774)
I saw that.

Rick Sola (09:05.594)
you know, that's going to be a different move moving forward, maintaining that and getting it back to its good use. So, no, that's awesome. You had mentioned in the perspective you did, kind of the, I mean, there's things we can do, we can spend a lot of money, but then there's times that, you know, we need to do so on a budget or we can't maintain a trajectory of oftentimes like a pre-service before the school year. And there's a lot more meals and activities and things.

Jenny Woolever (09:13.87)
Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (09:22.888)
yeah.

Rick Sola (09:35.21)
that you do invest in, what are some of those kind of budget friendly items that you have found that have been really a big success?

Jenny Woolever (09:35.309)
Thank you.

Jenny Woolever (09:45.09)
Yeah, well our staff loves the snack cart and so that's something that we have here in the office and typically staff just pay 50 cents. We just kind of cut even on it. We buy supplies from Sam's and just kind of keep it stocked. But anytime you can just get a free item from the snack cart is a big deal. And so they can use coupons at any time. So it's kind of very much like our PBIS system that we do with students. They can earn tags and they can earn something. So if it's something within that that's a little amount, but hey, it's a pick me up during the day, those are really nice.

I also do prizes where they can select a menu. So we have two parking spots that are free, that one in the front of the building and one on the side of the building. And so they can earn those two as well. That's an item that doesn't cost us anything that we just had. Maybe the sign that says staff appreciation so they know that they can park there. And they can maybe earn that for the month.

Just covering a class is really nice Supervision duty is a big one sometimes I always thought it was the class But it made if they don't have to get up in the morning or go outside when it's cold They love those as well and so those are just some of the free things that we kind of have incorporated within and sometimes just making a fun certificate I was surprised

Because our staff is so competitive, just having a certificate that they hang behind their desk or on their door, that's enough for them sometimes too. So if you have that kind of environment, it's fun too because, or a traveling trophy, that sometimes just does the trick too.

Rick Sola (11:06.626)
That's really cool. You mentioned tags. How do staff earn tags? What do you do with that?

Jenny Woolever (11:12.104)
So they don't necessarily, it's similar role, but they don't necessarily earn it. We have little slips that they can nominate each other to as well, or I can earn it as a prize, but you're exactly right. And sometimes, pizzas are really cheap, so we will allow them to, they can purchase a pizza and they share it with their team. But again, that's kind of a team builder too. So it's just a list of menu items. So it's rather than you earn this, but they can pick what they want.

Our local church that is one of our community partners, they also give us little $5 gift cards. So those are kind of the Sonic and Starbucks too. But again, those were brought in from the community so it didn't cost us anything, but it's a way that maybe they want the $5 card or maybe they want the parking spot. It allows for a choice option. And so we have those laid out. So it could be that staff nominate other staff or maybe we give it as a prize for one of our activities that we're doing. But having a menu each month is helpful because it allows us to kind of pick and choose.

or what's been given, what hasn't been given.

Rick Sola (12:08.448)
You know, as the year goes on, there's, I think there's certain times of the year that we know that it just gets to be a grind or it's just kind of that ebb and flow. But there's also just times where there's, you sometimes we'll pick up like an undercurrent. What's going on and how do you go about, A, I guess, discovering it, I mean, outside of your own gut instinct. How do you determine that? then,

Jenny Woolever (12:15.778)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (12:30.338)
Okay.

Rick Sola (12:35.98)
What are some of those things you may do kind of in the off times versus like, we need to pick me up. We had a rough week. We had whatever go on. How do you get to that point?

Jenny Woolever (12:42.722)
Yeah. Well, I'm lucky that my social committee, a lot of times they'll see things if I can't see it too as well, like, hey, we really need this. You're exactly right. Like, I think about assessment season. It's kind of an enduring one. And sometimes just placing little Easter eggs around. Like, you just try to come up with some different ideas. Sometimes it's as simple as writing little things in the restroom of just encouragement. You know, just kind of those little pick me ups. I know that they...

They have little like sometimes song quotes and different things that we kind of add into that could be through announcements as well. And just checking in that those many times just through conversation. Hey, how's it going? Yes, I agree. This is kind of like this one that is kind of my favorite. do a little stock the fridge.

and I get pop and so it's like they need a little pep in their step and it's like different flavors of Dr. Pepper or you know so really we just try to read it and find little reasonable things and just plug it in randomly throughout and I think those little pick me ups and surprises are really nice.

Friday is sometimes tough getting subs in and teachers in that will do a free cart Friday. So I kind of mentioned the snack cart. So they know, I get two free items from the cart. And so a free cart Friday, they love to. And again, that's just determined on, do we have a lot of subs in the building today? Hey, who are those staff that are there? Do they need this? Kind of pick me up. Kind of sprinkling those in is really helpful. But many times, like you said, I kind of use my group to let me know, hey, I think we could use something here. I do meet with my other admin.

team every Monday. And so they're also a good idea of, hey, assessment season's coming. What can we do here? What can we do there? But always doing things and activities for students. But I think it's also important that one of our conversations is what can we do for staff too? Because again, we know how difficult our job is and their job. So anytime I can kind of sprinkle those in. I'm all about ideas. Again, I get a lot of input off Twitter. Like Rick, I saw you guys doing the cleanup for your group.

Jenny Woolever (14:38.05)
I think that's important as administrator because I don't have all the ideas and if I see a really cool one, that's something I would share with the team. What do you think would look like this at FTE? It may not be the time for it, but it could be something that we add later on. So I just really try to keep open minded and let other people drive it as well as myself.

Rick Sola (14:55.352)
Yeah, I like that you, I mean, thank you for the shout out on that, but it's awesome. mean, that's what's great about Twitter. Truly, these conversations that I'm able to have and hopefully others are listening to because...

Jenny Woolever (14:58.338)
Yeah.

Rick Sola (15:08.728)
There's just so many ideas. I've been just taking notes almost feverishly because I'm thinking, we could do something like that or what would that look like here? And there's just so many, just so many ideas out there. And I can probably take credit for like 2 % of my original ideas. But at the end of the day, I don't know that it matters where the idea comes from. If it's going to help your building, because if you're helping your staff, it's going to help your kids and it's going to help your community. I'm a big believer in the

Jenny Woolever (15:15.758)
Okay.

Rick Sola (15:38.834)
the whole community aspect of it, but kids go home and talk about school. They talk about their teachers, and they do that with their parents. so it's really, you know, talk about the snowball, but that's a good positive snowball effect of these little gestures that can manifest into really a positive, not just school culture, but community culture. what are you doing?

Jenny Woolever (16:00.578)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (16:03.72)
right now to take care of yourself and as you head into the holidays but you're also heading into the holidays as a mom but also as a principal of a building and how do you take care of yourself?

Jenny Woolever (16:06.252)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (16:14.286)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (16:19.234)
Well, I love the holidays and I think that's why I'll probably always be a building administrator because I love my breaks. I love that time with family.

I'm fortunate my family and my husband's family are all really local and so we have an opportunity to spend time at each. We now have our children and their children, my siblings and things and so really it's about family I would say as I kind of shut it off when I can. I like to still follow and see what staff are doing and so that's something when I come back I can say I see you guys traveled or I see you guys went you know you had you went to your grandparents and so those are things that I think is important to share and then I think if staff get to know

the things you do on the things that you find important to as well. It resonates with them, but I'm excited. So like we do movies, we do game nights and all those kind of things built into the Thanksgiving break. I really love having the full week. Most of you know it's the time to clean your house, get those things caught up as well, get those decorations out and kind of, it just allows for that break time. And so I really recommend is,

unconnecting to school and just really focusing on your family and resting because I gotta tell you when you come back those next three weeks are a lot too so you gotta take care of yourself and I really do that through just spending time with my family.

Rick Sola (17:37.59)
Yeah, one thing you mentioned in the perspective was, you know, kind of tapping into the energy. And you're exactly right. When we come back from break, from Thanksgiving, it's three weeks and it is a sprint. just like you, we have concerts, we have games, there's a city basketball tournament. There's spirit, you know, we do a 12 days of holiday, leading up to the holidays of spirit days and pep assemblies. And it's a lot.

Jenny Woolever (17:49.792)
Yes, it is.

Rick Sola (18:07.466)
that you had mentioned tapping into that energy, that's naturally there funneling it in a positive way to get to December 20th or whatever it is.

Jenny Woolever (18:11.178)
Thank

Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (18:19.33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I would say is our staff is really good about inviting other staff too. So it's not even that they're helping supervise the event, they're just attending to watch students. And sometimes that's nice because I think we forget that, I need to supervise and so we're constantly monitoring and watching maybe the halls or the event. But just coming to an event to be a spectator is really important. And I would say I've seen more and more of that, especially with our new staff. I really enjoy that because it gives you a different light that you're not so much worried about supervising everyone, but you're really able to watch and absorb.

that and so that's something I would recommend to staff as they kind of go through is just asking them just to attend just to be able to observe and watch and maybe bring their family in. I know my children loved watching our musical and so those are things that I bring them to it too as well because I can make that a family event as well as what I'm doing too so I I would recommend that for others that we do have a lot of events so some that you can incorporate your own family in is important too.

Rick Sola (19:17.868)
Yeah, now that's.

That's really great and there's a lot of the kids notice when you're there like as as a teacher you step into the gym for a basketball game and they they love that they kind of light up and then you know there's a lot of great conversation the next day at school. It's just building those connections and I'm going to have you share here in a bit about your KPA membership and what what leads you to it but there was a quote I was just going to share it since this is going to be right before Thanksgiving.

Jenny Woolever (19:24.182)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (19:34.947)
Yes.

Rick Sola (19:49.418)
Thanksgiving, but I put this in my staff newsletter, but it kind of goes to a lot of what you're talking about, especially this week of gratitude or leading up to Thanksgiving. But you cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. And that's Ralph Waldo Emerson. And I just came across that as Google searching some good gratitude quotes and put

Jenny Woolever (20:10.681)
huh. It is very good.

Rick Sola (20:13.666)
put that out there and you know, especially this time of year, that's one thing that we try to encourage our kids to write a note of thanks to their teachers and all the things that are mentioned. Sometimes that note is just like so meaningful. You see the notes on teachers walls, whether it came from us or it came from a kid or a parent. So I wanted to incorporate that into this one, but as a KPA in last year, Jenny, we didn't present together, but we traveled together.

Jenny Woolever (20:22.541)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (20:31.981)
again.

Rick Sola (20:43.66)
to the KPA conference and we both had our separate sessions but what is it about the KPA that keeps bringing you back?

Jenny Woolever (20:51.318)
Yeah. What I enjoy about the KPA is it's so interesting to see what other Edmin are doing across the state of Kansas. Our buildings, our demographics can look very different and it's so neat to hear and learn different perspectives, but also the similarities we still have and the same things that we go through. And so really why I've joined KPA and why I keep going is the relationships that I have formed with other colleagues.

And it's really neat to get insight in what seeing what we're doing across the state. I have to say is it really allowed me to build more relationships outside of my district or even Johnson County. So I have to say is that's really what I enjoy about it. And I'm a person that likes to continue to learn. So the stuff that KPA pits out, whether that's to the newsletter, your podcast, Rick, conferences.

I went to also the Women's Leadership Summit that they had in February and stuff and I really enjoyed that. But like I said, it's the things that they produce and support us to is really why it's kind of continued and why I feel connected to that.

Rick Sola (21:55.774)
Awesome. Gonna give you a chance to brag on Frontier Trail. I know there's a lot over there to talk about, but speak about your people.

Jenny Woolever (22:00.942)
Well, I have to say is the past two years we've really taken a look at our data and we've seen great growth in our ELA. So our focus has really been math and really what we're seeing is about enriching students. And I'd have to say I'm really proud of our MTSS. We have an academic extension block and really students sometimes we're really focused on those ones doing interventions.

It's been really neat to watch my staff then look on how we're enriching those students that aren't in interventions. And so still trying to grow that. It's something I've been really proud of and taking time to really look at the data. What is it telling us? How can we help students? Really means a lot. And this past Friday was also another opportunity that we had. I've been really watching some of our buildings in the district that do community outreach.

we were able to have a half day this past Friday and when you mentioned about thanking one another, one of the stations was writing notes for our first responders, police, fire department. We also had a station that helped make things for dogs and cats for shelters and we just really reached out of what do others need and we spent the afternoon dedicated to that and I just, think education's more than just what our dad is telling us to is.

how can we create people that are showing empathy and how they can help one another. And FT did a lot of that prior to COVID and it kind of drifted off once we got back. And so we're not at the scale of other buildings, but we were able to dedicate kind of an assembly schedule where I built kind of rotation and we did these activities within the building. And it was just really nice and I heard such great feedback from staff and students participating. And I got to tell you, that was also a day we had zero office referrals.

So sometimes when you build those in, you realize everyone participating and it's meaningful to everyone, that behavior goes down quite a bit too. when you get kind of to breaks, we all know as admin how that can be, but kind of plugging something like that in, again, it's.

Jenny Woolever (24:04.974)
being an administrator, open to ideas. That was something that I know they've mentioned. We just didn't do it last year and we knew we wanted to do something with community service. We just didn't know how to do it. And so this was the perfect opportunity. And we kind of had an assembly and they wanted each grade level to be in an assembly. And you all know trying to figure out a bell schedule with that is very difficult. And so.

We were able to work it out through BLT, but it was something that, even though there's a great idea, it took probably a year for us to establish that. it was really nice because you're excited and nervous whenever you start something new because you're 700 kids preparing for that. But it was well worth it. And I got to say is those are the things, even though you don't have to rush to something right away, just over time, mole it and it will be successful when you kind of have your support of your team.

Rick Sola (24:51.466)
I love that you talked about the importance of data and we know how important it is. That's how we measure a lot of things, but sometimes we can be data rich and maybe people poor, you know, and we're not focusing enough on, there's people behind the data, you know, and there's got to be a balance of, that's going to drive a lot of our goals, our vision, but we've got to keep the people in the center of that and doing that community outreach and providing an example.

Jenny Woolever (25:16.846)
Thank

Rick Sola (25:21.582)
students that there's something bigger than just themselves or even the school and that there's people out there that can benefit from them is such a powerful message. So a lot of awesome things going on at Frontier. I also see the things that are posted on Twitter and of course we're colleagues so we stay in touch but so many great things going on over there and I just want to say one thank you for coming on here today but for sharing everything you did and all the things that you mentioned that are happening at Frontier Trail that you are

Jenny Woolever (25:37.804)
Yeah.

Rick Sola (25:51.286)
that Frontier Trail, I'm confident that you're making an impact on Chisholm Trail too because I'm gonna steal some of these ideas.

Jenny Woolever (25:57.012)
Nope. And I'm all about sharing. So you tell anyone that's listening to this, Rick, they got my email. Just I'd be happy to share anything because that's what it's about. And it doesn't have to be exactly the way we do it. You just make it to your building. You're exactly right.

Rick Sola (26:11.424)
Yep, and actually I'm glad you said that, just a reminder. Check the show notes. Jenny's email and contact will be there. X handle, Twitter handle, and the quote that I read just a little bit ago. I'll put that in there as well. But Jenny, thank you so much. And I know there's a busy day ahead of us and a busy week, but it's going to be awesome. thanks for sharing everything and making the state of Kansas and the principles within it a little better today by listening.

Jenny Woolever (26:39.97)
Yeah. Thank you guys.

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In this episode, Dr. Jenny Woolever of Frontier Trail Middle School shares about the efforts she makes in keeping building morale high, especially during the grind of the school year. Building upon her "Principal Perspective" from the October 28, 2024 episode, Jenny shares more thoughts and ideas to help any building at any time.

Quote from the show...

Gratitude:

“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Email: Dr. Jenny Woolever

On X: https://x.com/WooleverJenny

Chapters (time stamps do not account for the Cool Coffee intro--full transcript of the show below)

00:00 Introduction and Thanksgiving Excitement
02:00 Building Morale Through the Holidays
04:58 Traditions and Community Involvement
10:14 Budget-Friendly Staff Appreciation Ideas
12:04 Recognizing Staff Needs and Support
16:00 Self-Care for Educators During the Holidays
18:50 Community Outreach and Empathy in Education
24:04 Data-Driven Decisions and People-Centric Approaches

YOUR FEEDBACK ON COOL COFFEE IS APPRECIATED!

Leave show suggestions, guest recommendations, questions HERE!

Connect with us on...

Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee

Facebook: KSPrincipals

Contact the host: KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com

The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service.

Read more about the KPA HERE.

TRANSCRIPT (AI produced)

Rick Sola (00:01.302)
Hello and welcome to another edition of Cool Coffee with Kansas principals. Today I am with Dr. Jenny Woolever of Frontier Trail Middle School and USD 233, home of the Jaguars. Hello, Jenny.

Jenny Woolever (00:13.994)
Hi, good morning. I'm good, you know excited. We're counting down. We're about four days out for Thanksgiving break, so we have a lot of excitement here with the staff and students.

Rick Sola (00:15.564)
How are you this morning?

Rick Sola (00:25.112)
It's perfect and that's a lot of the reason why I wanted to bring you on. before that, right before we went live here, I guess we're not live recording, talking about where I was just a couple minutes late getting on and we were talking about why that is and how I don't know that we were late as often as we were until we had kids. So getting that.

Jenny Woolever (00:34.264)
You

Jenny Woolever (00:46.286)
Yeah, that's so true. I have a middle schooler and an elementary, so it's like two different schedules and one's getting involved in the events. so balancing that in your, you know, your profession, it's a lot sometimes. So you appreciate that and I think you have a better understanding when staff go through the similar situations that you are as a parent.

Rick Sola (01:08.086)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, getting the kids to and from and we're at three different levels this year for the next couple of years. So there's three bell schedules to maneuver, but it's all good for another show. I wanted to kind of follow up. A few weeks ago, you submitted a principal perspective called building morale through the holidays. And first of all, really enjoyed it.

Jenny Woolever (01:13.921)
wow.

Yep.

Rick Sola (01:33.15)
And I know others that we both know but had listened to it and just thought it was really great. And I thought that would be a really good topic. And especially for this right now, this episode will come out on the 21st right before the Thanksgiving break, but then the three weeks or so before the holidays. And so I'd love to talk to you a little bit more about your philosophy with that. And if you haven't heard the principal perspective on that that Jenny did.

It's about a five minute deal and there's a lot of quick sound bites, but I wanted to get a little deeper into it. But you spoke about your intentionality with this time of year because one, there's a lot of energy that can be tapped into, but two, when you go from like October to Thanksgiving, that's kind of a typical lull and it could be a grind. Staff need to pick me up. So let's start with

Jenny Woolever (02:11.672)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (02:24.056)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (02:29.868)
what's going on right now at your building or coming up because you know where we're at as far as the calendar goes.

Jenny Woolever (02:35.808)
Yeah. Well, I was going to say we're excited. Wednesday is our faculty feast. And so what that means is that as the building, we kind of purchase the turkey and I believe ham. so staff bring in different kind of sides. And so we kind of invade the culinary space, which they know. And so they go to an alternate location. But it's really nice. And so we have kind of a long table we spread out. And it's just a staff.

It's a warm meal during that day and so staff have their regular lunch ships but it's really nice because we keep it warm in the ovens and I couldn't do without my office staff. I would say my office staff does a really good job of creating the sign up genius and kind of incorporating that and a tradition that when I started with Frontier Trail they also have what they call a pie day which is really cool too as well. Parents donate pies and so right before on Friday staff select their pies and they get to take one home to share with their family which I think is a pretty neat tradition.

We have an assortment all laid out, but our families are really supportive and sometimes they just want to know how to help. And so that was been one that's been kind of long standing and staff really enjoy it every year too. So I would say is those are two events this week that kind of get us through to the week. It's something that staff kind of look forward to.

Rick Sola (03:51.82)
That's awesome. A Pi Day. What a great, great idea. So is that more of your parent directed? Or is it kind of initiated from you and then parents take over? Or is it such a long-standing tradition now it runs itself?

Jenny Woolever (04:01.186)
Yeah.

Yes, you're exactly right. I would say anytime I kind of begin with a building, one of the questions I usually give surveys out to staff, I find I like the survey a little bit better than the face-to-face because it allows them to kind of reflect on questions and it allows me to get to know the building prior to kind of becoming that lead administrator. And so one of the questions, which is probably my favorite, is what's your favorite traditions at your school? And sometimes I'm shocked they don't list any traditions, which gives us kind of an open canvas and some of them are really

passionate about whether it's we like to pick what snowed it what will be the first snow day or had a raffle or you never know what's more meaningful to the staff and so I really try to keep those going or add to that and so you'll be surprised just having a little social committee many times it's a few of my ladies in the office as well as a couple of teachers that that's what they love to do too and so it kind of carries itself.

Sometimes I just share my experiences from other schools about when we, here's something we could do, but it's neat because with Pinterest and Instagram and all the things, I usually have some other stuff that have great ideas too. So we try to keep traditions, but we also try to build our own and to kind of as they go through. I would say Halloween was one not really tapped much here at Frontier Trail. So when I came, we

began Red Ribbon Week. And so that's when we tied in kind of the costumes and then we did the food contest in the lounge that is kind of spooky treats and that has graduated over the last three years. So it's neat to see how big it's gotten now. So some of those do become traditions and sometimes it's just a one-off but it's nice because staff look forward to it.

Rick Sola (05:42.744)
I love that question you ask him, what's your favorite traditions? I've been in this building this my fifth year and I feel like that's a question I would like to ask even though I've been here. What's your favorite traditions? What is it we're doing that or our parents are doing or whatever that's really resonating. But then also like what's a new tradition that maybe you saw in a previous building? Yeah, just to add some fun. You know, so much of it too is.

Jenny Woolever (05:55.384)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (06:09.302)
what resonates with an individual and not everything hits everybody. kind of tapping into, is that a thought that you give as far as how do I reach everybody or maybe you know, costume day is gonna really hit well with this group and then there's a Mr. Sola over there who's like, I don't wanna wear a costume, you know.

Jenny Woolever (06:15.821)
Okay.

Jenny Woolever (06:33.486)
Well, I have a Mr. Todd. He doesn't like to do that either, but he does a lot of others. So you're exactly right. And I think our staff does a nice job of, you know, it's OK if you don't want to participate, but you also need to mix different activities in. You're exactly right. I would say, you know, sometimes food is driven by people, and sometimes it's just a simple spirit day. Ones that I, you know, sometimes people that are less hesitant around the Super Bowl, we did odds, like they do of the game, like will it be heads or tails? We've done NCAA brackets.

So sometimes I have just varying staff, so I know their interests, so we try to combine different activities to help meet that. Because you're exactly right, Rick, that you have varying abilities, varying interests. But it's kind of interesting, because if you find one activity that gets someone involved, they end up kind of joining those other activities too. So that's where I feel like I've really kind of brought in the staff is, they may not like this one as much, but they know we do some others as we go through. A new one that actually was led by our science department, I think,

When you kind of create that climate where people feel like they can contribute ideas, our science team is actually doing a legacy night, which I think is really cool. Your building, in fact, had a recent one for years of, it's been established, right, Rick? Can you tell me how many years?

Rick Sola (07:49.464)
Yeah, 25 years. Yep.

Jenny Woolever (07:51.502)
25 years, yes. And so FT kind of had that before I came, but what they're wanting was they're trying to raise funds for an outdoor classroom. And so their idea was, you know, we've had so many staff that are no longer here that have a desire or want to help. And so there we worked with the American Legion and we're doing a pitch night. So they're going to be playing cards, they're coming in. But it was almost like another community outreach, but it was kind of neat because I didn't even, you know,

do that. I was just asked, hey, can we get this going? So our SRO officer as well as our science department is leading that. it's kind of changed since then. Even though we have a good social committee, if you give that ability to staff to come up with ideas and stuff, it really builds that. I just, I enjoy that.

Rick Sola (08:35.448)
Well, what a great culture and like you say, it's almost like a snowball once you get it going and then it sparks ideas and that's perfect. Not that you wouldn't have wanted to have been involved, but I bet it's really nice that you had some champions in the building ready to move forward with it. And then at the end of the day, once they achieve that goal, that classroom, how great is that as far as the ownership and the maintenance of it and that sort of thing. It's ironic because we just did a father's club cleanup on our classroom over the weekend.

Jenny Woolever (08:39.459)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (08:50.446)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (08:56.3)
Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (09:02.774)
I saw that.

Rick Sola (09:05.594)
you know, that's going to be a different move moving forward, maintaining that and getting it back to its good use. So, no, that's awesome. You had mentioned in the perspective you did, kind of the, I mean, there's things we can do, we can spend a lot of money, but then there's times that, you know, we need to do so on a budget or we can't maintain a trajectory of oftentimes like a pre-service before the school year. And there's a lot more meals and activities and things.

Jenny Woolever (09:13.87)
Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (09:22.888)
yeah.

Rick Sola (09:35.21)
that you do invest in, what are some of those kind of budget friendly items that you have found that have been really a big success?

Jenny Woolever (09:35.309)
Thank you.

Jenny Woolever (09:45.09)
Yeah, well our staff loves the snack cart and so that's something that we have here in the office and typically staff just pay 50 cents. We just kind of cut even on it. We buy supplies from Sam's and just kind of keep it stocked. But anytime you can just get a free item from the snack cart is a big deal. And so they can use coupons at any time. So it's kind of very much like our PBIS system that we do with students. They can earn tags and they can earn something. So if it's something within that that's a little amount, but hey, it's a pick me up during the day, those are really nice.

I also do prizes where they can select a menu. So we have two parking spots that are free, that one in the front of the building and one on the side of the building. And so they can earn those two as well. That's an item that doesn't cost us anything that we just had. Maybe the sign that says staff appreciation so they know that they can park there. And they can maybe earn that for the month.

Just covering a class is really nice Supervision duty is a big one sometimes I always thought it was the class But it made if they don't have to get up in the morning or go outside when it's cold They love those as well and so those are just some of the free things that we kind of have incorporated within and sometimes just making a fun certificate I was surprised

Because our staff is so competitive, just having a certificate that they hang behind their desk or on their door, that's enough for them sometimes too. So if you have that kind of environment, it's fun too because, or a traveling trophy, that sometimes just does the trick too.

Rick Sola (11:06.626)
That's really cool. You mentioned tags. How do staff earn tags? What do you do with that?

Jenny Woolever (11:12.104)
So they don't necessarily, it's similar role, but they don't necessarily earn it. We have little slips that they can nominate each other to as well, or I can earn it as a prize, but you're exactly right. And sometimes, pizzas are really cheap, so we will allow them to, they can purchase a pizza and they share it with their team. But again, that's kind of a team builder too. So it's just a list of menu items. So it's rather than you earn this, but they can pick what they want.

Our local church that is one of our community partners, they also give us little $5 gift cards. So those are kind of the Sonic and Starbucks too. But again, those were brought in from the community so it didn't cost us anything, but it's a way that maybe they want the $5 card or maybe they want the parking spot. It allows for a choice option. And so we have those laid out. So it could be that staff nominate other staff or maybe we give it as a prize for one of our activities that we're doing. But having a menu each month is helpful because it allows us to kind of pick and choose.

or what's been given, what hasn't been given.

Rick Sola (12:08.448)
You know, as the year goes on, there's, I think there's certain times of the year that we know that it just gets to be a grind or it's just kind of that ebb and flow. But there's also just times where there's, you sometimes we'll pick up like an undercurrent. What's going on and how do you go about, A, I guess, discovering it, I mean, outside of your own gut instinct. How do you determine that? then,

Jenny Woolever (12:15.778)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (12:30.338)
Okay.

Rick Sola (12:35.98)
What are some of those things you may do kind of in the off times versus like, we need to pick me up. We had a rough week. We had whatever go on. How do you get to that point?

Jenny Woolever (12:42.722)
Yeah. Well, I'm lucky that my social committee, a lot of times they'll see things if I can't see it too as well, like, hey, we really need this. You're exactly right. Like, I think about assessment season. It's kind of an enduring one. And sometimes just placing little Easter eggs around. Like, you just try to come up with some different ideas. Sometimes it's as simple as writing little things in the restroom of just encouragement. You know, just kind of those little pick me ups. I know that they...

They have little like sometimes song quotes and different things that we kind of add into that could be through announcements as well. And just checking in that those many times just through conversation. Hey, how's it going? Yes, I agree. This is kind of like this one that is kind of my favorite. do a little stock the fridge.

and I get pop and so it's like they need a little pep in their step and it's like different flavors of Dr. Pepper or you know so really we just try to read it and find little reasonable things and just plug it in randomly throughout and I think those little pick me ups and surprises are really nice.

Friday is sometimes tough getting subs in and teachers in that will do a free cart Friday. So I kind of mentioned the snack cart. So they know, I get two free items from the cart. And so a free cart Friday, they love to. And again, that's just determined on, do we have a lot of subs in the building today? Hey, who are those staff that are there? Do they need this? Kind of pick me up. Kind of sprinkling those in is really helpful. But many times, like you said, I kind of use my group to let me know, hey, I think we could use something here. I do meet with my other admin.

team every Monday. And so they're also a good idea of, hey, assessment season's coming. What can we do here? What can we do there? But always doing things and activities for students. But I think it's also important that one of our conversations is what can we do for staff too? Because again, we know how difficult our job is and their job. So anytime I can kind of sprinkle those in. I'm all about ideas. Again, I get a lot of input off Twitter. Like Rick, I saw you guys doing the cleanup for your group.

Jenny Woolever (14:38.05)
I think that's important as administrator because I don't have all the ideas and if I see a really cool one, that's something I would share with the team. What do you think would look like this at FTE? It may not be the time for it, but it could be something that we add later on. So I just really try to keep open minded and let other people drive it as well as myself.

Rick Sola (14:55.352)
Yeah, I like that you, I mean, thank you for the shout out on that, but it's awesome. mean, that's what's great about Twitter. Truly, these conversations that I'm able to have and hopefully others are listening to because...

Jenny Woolever (14:58.338)
Yeah.

Rick Sola (15:08.728)
There's just so many ideas. I've been just taking notes almost feverishly because I'm thinking, we could do something like that or what would that look like here? And there's just so many, just so many ideas out there. And I can probably take credit for like 2 % of my original ideas. But at the end of the day, I don't know that it matters where the idea comes from. If it's going to help your building, because if you're helping your staff, it's going to help your kids and it's going to help your community. I'm a big believer in the

Jenny Woolever (15:15.758)
Okay.

Rick Sola (15:38.834)
the whole community aspect of it, but kids go home and talk about school. They talk about their teachers, and they do that with their parents. so it's really, you know, talk about the snowball, but that's a good positive snowball effect of these little gestures that can manifest into really a positive, not just school culture, but community culture. what are you doing?

Jenny Woolever (16:00.578)
Mm-hmm.

Rick Sola (16:03.72)
right now to take care of yourself and as you head into the holidays but you're also heading into the holidays as a mom but also as a principal of a building and how do you take care of yourself?

Jenny Woolever (16:06.252)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (16:14.286)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (16:19.234)
Well, I love the holidays and I think that's why I'll probably always be a building administrator because I love my breaks. I love that time with family.

I'm fortunate my family and my husband's family are all really local and so we have an opportunity to spend time at each. We now have our children and their children, my siblings and things and so really it's about family I would say as I kind of shut it off when I can. I like to still follow and see what staff are doing and so that's something when I come back I can say I see you guys traveled or I see you guys went you know you had you went to your grandparents and so those are things that I think is important to share and then I think if staff get to know

the things you do on the things that you find important to as well. It resonates with them, but I'm excited. So like we do movies, we do game nights and all those kind of things built into the Thanksgiving break. I really love having the full week. Most of you know it's the time to clean your house, get those things caught up as well, get those decorations out and kind of, it just allows for that break time. And so I really recommend is,

unconnecting to school and just really focusing on your family and resting because I gotta tell you when you come back those next three weeks are a lot too so you gotta take care of yourself and I really do that through just spending time with my family.

Rick Sola (17:37.59)
Yeah, one thing you mentioned in the perspective was, you know, kind of tapping into the energy. And you're exactly right. When we come back from break, from Thanksgiving, it's three weeks and it is a sprint. just like you, we have concerts, we have games, there's a city basketball tournament. There's spirit, you know, we do a 12 days of holiday, leading up to the holidays of spirit days and pep assemblies. And it's a lot.

Jenny Woolever (17:49.792)
Yes, it is.

Rick Sola (18:07.466)
that you had mentioned tapping into that energy, that's naturally there funneling it in a positive way to get to December 20th or whatever it is.

Jenny Woolever (18:11.178)
Thank

Yeah.

Jenny Woolever (18:19.33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I would say is our staff is really good about inviting other staff too. So it's not even that they're helping supervise the event, they're just attending to watch students. And sometimes that's nice because I think we forget that, I need to supervise and so we're constantly monitoring and watching maybe the halls or the event. But just coming to an event to be a spectator is really important. And I would say I've seen more and more of that, especially with our new staff. I really enjoy that because it gives you a different light that you're not so much worried about supervising everyone, but you're really able to watch and absorb.

that and so that's something I would recommend to staff as they kind of go through is just asking them just to attend just to be able to observe and watch and maybe bring their family in. I know my children loved watching our musical and so those are things that I bring them to it too as well because I can make that a family event as well as what I'm doing too so I I would recommend that for others that we do have a lot of events so some that you can incorporate your own family in is important too.

Rick Sola (19:17.868)
Yeah, now that's.

That's really great and there's a lot of the kids notice when you're there like as as a teacher you step into the gym for a basketball game and they they love that they kind of light up and then you know there's a lot of great conversation the next day at school. It's just building those connections and I'm going to have you share here in a bit about your KPA membership and what what leads you to it but there was a quote I was just going to share it since this is going to be right before Thanksgiving.

Jenny Woolever (19:24.182)
Yes.

Jenny Woolever (19:34.947)
Yes.

Rick Sola (19:49.418)
Thanksgiving, but I put this in my staff newsletter, but it kind of goes to a lot of what you're talking about, especially this week of gratitude or leading up to Thanksgiving. But you cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. And that's Ralph Waldo Emerson. And I just came across that as Google searching some good gratitude quotes and put

Jenny Woolever (20:10.681)
huh. It is very good.

Rick Sola (20:13.666)
put that out there and you know, especially this time of year, that's one thing that we try to encourage our kids to write a note of thanks to their teachers and all the things that are mentioned. Sometimes that note is just like so meaningful. You see the notes on teachers walls, whether it came from us or it came from a kid or a parent. So I wanted to incorporate that into this one, but as a KPA in last year, Jenny, we didn't present together, but we traveled together.

Jenny Woolever (20:22.541)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny Woolever (20:31.981)
again.

Rick Sola (20:43.66)
to the KPA conference and we both had our separate sessions but what is it about the KPA that keeps bringing you back?

Jenny Woolever (20:51.318)
Yeah. What I enjoy about the KPA is it's so interesting to see what other Edmin are doing across the state of Kansas. Our buildings, our demographics can look very different and it's so neat to hear and learn different perspectives, but also the similarities we still have and the same things that we go through. And so really why I've joined KPA and why I keep going is the relationships that I have formed with other colleagues.

And it's really neat to get insight in what seeing what we're doing across the state. I have to say is it really allowed me to build more relationships outside of my district or even Johnson County. So I have to say is that's really what I enjoy about it. And I'm a person that likes to continue to learn. So the stuff that KPA pits out, whether that's to the newsletter, your podcast, Rick, conferences.

I went to also the Women's Leadership Summit that they had in February and stuff and I really enjoyed that. But like I said, it's the things that they produce and support us to is really why it's kind of continued and why I feel connected to that.

Rick Sola (21:55.774)
Awesome. Gonna give you a chance to brag on Frontier Trail. I know there's a lot over there to talk about, but speak about your people.

Jenny Woolever (22:00.942)
Well, I have to say is the past two years we've really taken a look at our data and we've seen great growth in our ELA. So our focus has really been math and really what we're seeing is about enriching students. And I'd have to say I'm really proud of our MTSS. We have an academic extension block and really students sometimes we're really focused on those ones doing interventions.

It's been really neat to watch my staff then look on how we're enriching those students that aren't in interventions. And so still trying to grow that. It's something I've been really proud of and taking time to really look at the data. What is it telling us? How can we help students? Really means a lot. And this past Friday was also another opportunity that we had. I've been really watching some of our buildings in the district that do community outreach.

we were able to have a half day this past Friday and when you mentioned about thanking one another, one of the stations was writing notes for our first responders, police, fire department. We also had a station that helped make things for dogs and cats for shelters and we just really reached out of what do others need and we spent the afternoon dedicated to that and I just, think education's more than just what our dad is telling us to is.

how can we create people that are showing empathy and how they can help one another. And FT did a lot of that prior to COVID and it kind of drifted off once we got back. And so we're not at the scale of other buildings, but we were able to dedicate kind of an assembly schedule where I built kind of rotation and we did these activities within the building. And it was just really nice and I heard such great feedback from staff and students participating. And I got to tell you, that was also a day we had zero office referrals.

So sometimes when you build those in, you realize everyone participating and it's meaningful to everyone, that behavior goes down quite a bit too. when you get kind of to breaks, we all know as admin how that can be, but kind of plugging something like that in, again, it's.

Jenny Woolever (24:04.974)
being an administrator, open to ideas. That was something that I know they've mentioned. We just didn't do it last year and we knew we wanted to do something with community service. We just didn't know how to do it. And so this was the perfect opportunity. And we kind of had an assembly and they wanted each grade level to be in an assembly. And you all know trying to figure out a bell schedule with that is very difficult. And so.

We were able to work it out through BLT, but it was something that, even though there's a great idea, it took probably a year for us to establish that. it was really nice because you're excited and nervous whenever you start something new because you're 700 kids preparing for that. But it was well worth it. And I got to say is those are the things, even though you don't have to rush to something right away, just over time, mole it and it will be successful when you kind of have your support of your team.

Rick Sola (24:51.466)
I love that you talked about the importance of data and we know how important it is. That's how we measure a lot of things, but sometimes we can be data rich and maybe people poor, you know, and we're not focusing enough on, there's people behind the data, you know, and there's got to be a balance of, that's going to drive a lot of our goals, our vision, but we've got to keep the people in the center of that and doing that community outreach and providing an example.

Jenny Woolever (25:16.846)
Thank

Rick Sola (25:21.582)
students that there's something bigger than just themselves or even the school and that there's people out there that can benefit from them is such a powerful message. So a lot of awesome things going on at Frontier. I also see the things that are posted on Twitter and of course we're colleagues so we stay in touch but so many great things going on over there and I just want to say one thank you for coming on here today but for sharing everything you did and all the things that you mentioned that are happening at Frontier Trail that you are

Jenny Woolever (25:37.804)
Yeah.

Rick Sola (25:51.286)
that Frontier Trail, I'm confident that you're making an impact on Chisholm Trail too because I'm gonna steal some of these ideas.

Jenny Woolever (25:57.012)
Nope. And I'm all about sharing. So you tell anyone that's listening to this, Rick, they got my email. Just I'd be happy to share anything because that's what it's about. And it doesn't have to be exactly the way we do it. You just make it to your building. You're exactly right.

Rick Sola (26:11.424)
Yep, and actually I'm glad you said that, just a reminder. Check the show notes. Jenny's email and contact will be there. X handle, Twitter handle, and the quote that I read just a little bit ago. I'll put that in there as well. But Jenny, thank you so much. And I know there's a busy day ahead of us and a busy week, but it's going to be awesome. thanks for sharing everything and making the state of Kansas and the principles within it a little better today by listening.

Jenny Woolever (26:39.97)
Yeah. Thank you guys.

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