FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)
00:00:02:26 - 00:00:28:06
Jeff Krakoff: Welcome to Voices, a national award-winning podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District. This is Jeff Krakoff. Today we have three guests Lisa Graham, who's a counselor at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, and we have two students joining us today - 10th grader Elaina Donahue and 11th grader Nolan Aleprete. Thanks for joining us, everybody.
00:00:29:02 - 00:00:31:12
Lisa Graham: Yeah, good to be here. Thanks for having us.
00:00:32:04 - 00:01:47:06
Jeff Krakoff: So today we're going to talk with about the "We are SV." We did have a conversation with Assistant Principal, Quincy Gildea more about what the program's all about, what you're hoping to achieve as a District. But I want to talk to you to get your perspectives, maybe looking at this from a different point of view. But first, I did want to reiterate, um, you know, "We are SV" it's really about being a good member of the community, right? It's about being good people. So I did want to repeat, I know that teachers, counselors, students develop this program as a group, but it's based on norms and the norms for "We are SV" we keep ourselves and 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. So with that framework, I will leave it, um, basically to the three of you. I am curious, when did the planning for the program "We are SV" start and how did this all evolve?
00:01:47:25 - 00:02:36:25
Lisa Graham: Yeah. So we are really came about as a result of conversations that our district LEAD committee had. And on that committee we had students and teachers and administrators and LEAD really is our it stands for Learn, Explore, Act and Develop. But at Seneca Valley's program that encompasses bullying prevention, kindness and our positive school culture initiatives. So last year we started looking at our goals for the LEAD program and doing some more research where we learned that, you know, really to build a positive school culture, we needed to have first a set of values, a set of norms that we could all rally behind and get behind as a school and community.
00:02:37:04 - 00:02:37:20
Jeff Krakoff: Okay.
00:02:38:15 - 00:03:01:21
Elaina Donahue: Yes. As being a student that was in LEAD last year. Um, what we did was we met a couple of times and we assessed all the problems and we work them out. Um, then we created a Google forms for the entire student body and staff to complete so we could see areas for improvement. And we chose the phrase "We are SV" to encapsulate all the things that we wanted to change.
00:03:02:08 - 00:03:21:02
Nolan Aleprete: Yeah. And I was part of that process too. And I think "We are SV" was like truly a huge collaboration between, like, administrators, teachers, students, everyone, because it was really important that we had all different perspectives and diverse voices in the community making these norms.
00:03:21:26 - 00:03:43:09
Jeff Krakoff: Okay, so we're just back to school. Um, I understand that the, the program is kicked off, but tell us what, what can everybody expect, whether you're a student, a teacher, you're just a member of the community. Um, where the expectations of "We are SV" for folks?
00:03:44:03 - 00:03:51:01
Elaina Donahue: Um, the student body and teachers can expect a very respectful and safe environment which promotes education and kindness from "We are SV."
00:03:52:01 - 00:04:01:02
Nolan Aleprete: Yeah, and everyone can expect "We are SV" to like demonstrate what Seneca Valley stands for as a District and set the standard for inclusivity at Seneca Valley.
00:04:01:23 - 00:04:24:29
Lisa Graham: Um, so really, you know, "We are SV" is for everyone. These norms are for all of our community members, our students. So just kind of holding ourself up to that and those standards. We hope to hear students talking about it. We'd love to hear, you know, people in the community talking about it and visually kind of seeing it everywhere.
00:04:25:11 - 00:04:55:19
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So you make a good point. It's not just for students, right? It's for faculty, staff, administrators. It's everybody throughout the District. Um, I do understand that there are posters all over the building about "We are SV" and talking about the norms. You're on a podcast right now to talk about it, and promote it. But what other kinds of things you're going to do to let people know, to raise awareness to, I guess so to speak market the program.
00:04:56:09 - 00:05:22:21
Lisa Graham: Yeah. So, you know, when we talked about, you know, this and this idea of marketing and we really wanted it to be seen think less is marketing and more of just something that we all sort of start to embody and live out and really it become a part of our community and what we stand for here. Um, but I think our students can talk about some of the social media things we have planned.
00:05:23:22 - 00:05:43:23
Elaina Donahue: Yeah, we have some posters in the classrooms, like you said, some in the hallways, just as a gentle reminder, you know, to create a peaceful atmosphere. Hopefully with a few vocal reminders, you know, maybe on the announcements this will help towards improvement. We will also be recognizing students and staff for behaviors that exemplify norms. There are student of the month nominations and awards.
00:05:44:09 - 00:06:23:10
Nolan Aleprete: Yes. And when it comes to digital stuff with social media, we're mostly focusing on Instagram. That's where most of Seneca Valley social media takes place. And we plan to incorporate the "We are SV" slogan in more Seneca Valley events and organizations. Um, on online, we'll be using video slideshow announcements to educate people about "We are SV" our teachers will be talking about the norms in their classroom. And we're hoping, we're hoping to work with community members and partners to like kind of display the norms in the real world and show students how they can make a difference with "We are SV."
00:06:23:12 - 00:06:40:16
Jeff Krakoff: Okay I think it's Elaina just mentioned a big part of this is having a student of the month right. Um, I don't know Lisa, if you can talk to that. How's that process work? Is it teachers that will be nominating students of the month and how does it all work?
00:06:40:18 - 00:07:39:27
Lisa Graham: Yeah, so we do - every month our assistant principal sends out a link, and this is both in the intermediate high school and senior high school for teachers to nominate students that they feel like have done a great job exemplifying the norms or gone above and beyond to do something positive or kind for their school or classmates. So they fill out the form and then all of those students are given a certificate. Um, and then their parents are also notified via an email and then they're put into a random drawing to be the official student of the month. But all the students nominating are recognized and made aware of why they were nominated. So that's something we started working on last year here at the Intermediate High School, and I know that our teachers really enjoy doing it. Our principals like handing out the certificates. It's something just to help us continue to focus on what it is that we're working towards.
00:07:40:17 - 00:07:58:07
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. And I was checking out the program on the Seneca Valley website and it mentioned that at the end of each month that Mr. Ceh, Mr. Henderson Henderson will be featured on the SV News show and will broadcast and talk about the winner each month, right?
00:07:58:16 - 00:08:05:13
Lisa Graham: Yes, that is correct. Yeah. So that the drawing of the student of the month is broadcasted live there.
00:08:05:16 - 00:08:08:07
Jeff Krakoff: Wow. That's like the lottery; exciting.
00:08:08:09 - 00:08:32:20
Lisa Graham: Yeah. Yes it's good. Yeah. And I would say to you know, we're also always open I know this is going to be this podcast will be heard by our community and if anybody in the community listening has any ideas for us or, you know, ways that they feel like they could become involved or help promote in local businesses and things like that, we're really looking to partner with the community on this venture as well.
00:08:33:12 - 00:08:52:26
Jeff Krakoff: Okay, next question. This is really for Elaina and Nolan. You know, from your perspective, your student representatives, you are part of the planning of this program. But just as a student, when you think about a program like this, what excites each of you the most about it? Elaina If you want to start.
00:08:53:06 - 00:09:33:11
Elaina Donahue: Yeah, I'm actually very happy as a student that every student has easy access to these reminders, and I'm also very happy that they're not posed as rules. They're posed as statements to show how we should act as a high school. And sometimes we all need to be reminded of that. Um, um, I'm in the marching band and often Mr. Armstrong will say to all of us that we all matter and that we're all one band and with different jobs. And that's what makes our show what it is. I think this can also be applied to school. We may all be different, but we're all here, we're all working and we're all doing it. And we all have good days and bad days. And I think that with the "We are SV" it really shows that we're all one.
00:09:34:09 - 00:09:35:27
Jeff Krakoff: Great. Nolan. How about you?
00:09:36:10 - 00:10:27:05
Nolan Aleprete: For me, I'm excited to have something that can represent the values of inclusivity and positivity that Seneca Valley stands for because I think without something to look to as a District, it becomes kind of hard to enforce this positive environment that we're trying to achieve. And "We are SV" really can be something that can show the community and show the faculty, staff, teachers, all those people too of it can like show them what we stand for as a District, and it can represent that for any organization, from sports teams to clubs to like personal student projects, everything like that. So it's just something that we can all look to and have to say "We are SV" and know what we're saying and what we need.
00:10:27:20 - 00:10:35:06
Jeff Krakoff: Lisa How about you? From the perspective of being a counselor at the Intermediate High School, what excites you the most about this program?
00:10:35:09 - 00:11:34:01
Lisa Graham: Yeah. Um, so Jeff I would say that this is something that I've been excited about coming, you know, last year and ideas, seeds that were planted before that. And it's really just having a foundation, right, that all of our students kind of as Nolan and Elaina said, everybody in the community can be a part of. And I really hope that it helps to bring a greater sense of community and of belonging for all of our students to know that we means we. It means all of us here in this community and all of our students belong in their part of this. And we're all going to hold each other to these standards. And I truly believe that if we do that, everybody will genuinely feel like they belong to the school in this community. And we know that is so important in a school for so many reasons, for mental health to just overall well-being.
00:11:35:22 - 00:11:53:09
Jeff Krakoff: I love the way they're being, you know, the terminology of calling them norms. Again, not rules, but, you know, normalizing great behaviors. So, you know, I'll leave this open to all three of you. Is there any additional information that you'd like to share about "We are SV."
00:11:54:19 - 00:12:07:25
Elaina Donahue: I just think it's very important for people to take pride in what they're a part of, and we're all a part of this school, and I would love for everyone to take pride in it and think that "We are SV" as it grows, can really help students with that.
00:12:08:19 - 00:12:22:27
Lisa Graham: I think I think we all play a part right? We all have a role to play here and we're all part of making Seneca Valley what it is and growing this positive culture that we want to have in a school and in a community.
00:12:23:15 - 00:12:50:26
Nolan Aleprete: Yeah. I would just I want to reiterate what Mrs. Graham said earlier about getting involved. I hope that, um, and this is open to anyone in the Seneca Valley community, I hope that you will like if you're interested, you'll reach out to us or to LEAD or any of the other programs that are happening in Seneca Valley and kind of use this to inspire you and create something that could potentially like make the school a better place. So don't feel afraid to reach out.
00:12:51:26 - 00:13:07:24
Jeff Krakoff: Great way to end it. Thanks so much for your time. Again. This was Lisa Graham, who's a counselor at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School. And we're joined by students Elaina Donahue and Nolan Aleprete. Thanks again for your time. It was great talking with you.
00:13:07:29 - 00:13:09:16
Lisa Graham: You're welcome, Jeff. Thanks for having us.
00:13:09:18 - 00:13:10:23
Nolan Aleprete: Thank you.