FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)
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Welcome to Voices, a national award winning podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District.
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Jeff Krakoff: This is Jeff Krakoff. Today we are talking with Quincy Gildea, Assistant Principal at the Seneca Valley Intermediate High School. Thanks for joining us today.
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Quincy Gildea: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
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Jeff Krakoff: So there's a brand new program called "We are SV." I understand it's available both at the senior high and the intermediate high school. What can you tell us about it?
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Quincy Gildea: Yeah. So first of all, in working with "We are SV" group, something that we want to get across is that this is not a program, this is more of a way of being a way of holding ourselves as members of the Seneca Valley community. So at the beginning of each year we meet with something called a LEAD group. LEAD stands for Lead Explorer Act Develop. And this is Seneca Valley's program that kind of encompasses bullying prevention, kindness and creating a positive school culture. And it encompasses any initiatives really within those those realms. So last year, as we looked at our goals for our LEAD program, we began to kind of research the best ways in building a program that really attacks that positive school culture. So we did some research with our group. It's a group of teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, and we came across this idea of setting a good foundation with norms.
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Quincy Gildea: So we learned that when setting these norms, it's important to have student and staff cultivated feedback to really unify our efforts and give meaning to to what it means to be a member of our Seneca Valley right now high school 9-12 community. So we started there. We solicited feedback in our meetings throughout the year from staff, guidance counselors, students, and we created these norms. And they're not rules because rules don't build a community. What builds a community is that shared set of expectations that we rally behind to make our community a good place for everyone. So the norms that we came up with from last year's efforts are and we have these posted everywhere. So I'm actually looking at my wall right now to read them to you. It says "We are SV." We keep ourselves in our community safe. We advocate for ourselves and others. We strive to learn and grow. We own our actions and we show respect for all.
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Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So it's if I interpret it, it's, you know, it's one thing to be a good student and athlete and artist, but this is really focusing on what kind of person am I right? What kind of member of the SV community am I? So who are you targeting with this? You mentioned it's high school students grades 9-12, but is it just students?
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Quincy Gildea: Well, it's everyone. So currently with the start of this, we're really at the ground level right now. We are focusing on our 9- 12 community. So that includes not just students but staff members as well. Like I said before, staff was really involved and serving them a few times throughout the year of what they needed within their school community to be able to strive. So it's staff, administrators, students. Our goal as we move forward with this, right now, we're kind of focusing on that staff, student aspect of it. But our goal is to really bring it into that broader community and get parents involved, other businesses, businesses that our students might work for or spend a lot of time and outside of school - get them involved. But like I said, we're at the ground level right now. So that's a goal that we're going to work on this school year.
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Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So is this "We are SV" is it something just built from the ground up at the district? Is it based on models that have taken place elsewhere?
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Quincy Gildea: So we when we were doing some research and again, this is all surrounding that idea that we want to build a positive school culture in a school environment. We did kind of look at a few school districts in other places really across the nation just who are doing a great job in building that school community. And I can't think of any specifics off the top of my head, but we as a as a staff group kind of dug into what data is there out there that shows what other schools are doing to promote a positive school environment and norms was a really great place to start because it gives everyone something to rally behind and learn and stick to and set that good foundation of that positive school culture.
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Jeff Krakoff: Okay, So what's the purpose? What, what do you want to see happen through this program? And I know you said it's not just a program. It's more a way of thinking and being, but why are you doing this and what do you help them to achieve?
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Quincy Gildea: Again, our main goal is just to create a school community where everyone feels valued, everyone feels safe, everyone feels comfortable, everyone can really strive in. So that's our main purpose. I think this year, specifically, our purpose is to kind of spread the norms through both of our buildings, through our community and get students really involved in embodying these norms. And one thing we're doing this year to achieve that is working with our PR department here at Seneca Valley to figure out ways like this podcast to spread the word. We have some posters that are Cyber Academy helped us create to put in all of our classrooms, in our school hallways, eventually maybe get those out to businesses within the community. Yeah. Um, another thing we're doing is staff members are shouting out and nominating students for our "We are SV" Student of the Month initiative where students will be nominated each month for showing these norms, embodying these. And then at the end of each month, a student from each grade level will be celebrated for their hard work and showing these norms. Um, and those are just some of the beginning things. Like I said, we're going to be meeting with our LEAD group who will take on this initiative throughout the year, and that's a group of students, staff, guidance counselors, administrators to, to plan our steps moving forward.
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Jeff Krakoff: Okay. Is it possible or likely that these themes end up being used in curriculum for particular classes?
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Quincy Gildea: Definitely. I know this year our teachers really took on to having these in their in their syllabus and their welcome backs and their websites, but that that's always a goal. And weaving it into curriculum is something that I think would really make it a very strong program. And even spreading it beyond just the high school, just beyond 9-12, maybe getting it into our middle school, maybe trickling down to the elementaries, too. Those are those are big, big goals. But that would be very, I think, beneficial to see this "We are SV" being a broader, broader part reaching a broader part of our community.
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Jeff Krakoff: So you mentioned there are posters throughout the high school. What if somebody has questions, wants to learn more? Where can they go?
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Quincy Gildea: So right now they can go to our school website on the IHS page and the senior high page. There is some information about LEAD, and then they'll also be able to click into "We are SV" student of the month. That's another piece we're going to be working on putting more onto our website this school year, getting more out with our PR team as far as district wide publication. So really spread the word and and get more people involved.
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Jeff Krakoff: All right. So, we're at the very beginning of this, right? Just being launched now as school just started. It's exciting. Can't wait to see what comes of this. And is there any additional information that you'd like to share with people about the "We are SV" initiative?
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Quincy Gildea: No, I don't think there is. And I know you're going to be speaking with some of our student reps and one of our guidance counselors here soon. So I think they'll be able to to add anything, fill in any gaps that I missed. So I think I'm going to leave it to them, see what they have to say.
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Jeff Krakoff: Awesome. Well, thanks for all the great information. Again, this was Quincy Gildea, Assistant Principal at the Intermediate High School. Have a great day.
