1 00:00:05,780 --> 00:00:06,580 All right. 2 00:00:08,860 --> 00:00:21,400 Welcome everybody to the Athenian Academy board meeting. The date is Thursday, 27th of August, 2026. Board members, if you will please acknowledge your presence. Tenor ribbon. 3 00:00:25,990 --> 00:00:36,110 He's traveling. He's asking. Yeah, he was going to try and call in. I wasn't sure if he made it or not. Yeah, I'm not sure. He's going to be able to make it. Ryan Burrubi. 4 00:00:37,290 --> 00:00:41,070 Hey, Jennifer. I'm here. Hi, Ryan. How are you? 5 00:00:41,850 --> 00:00:45,810 Hey, how are you? Good. All right, Kevin Cuykin doll. 6 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:52,280 He's also absent. I think he asked me excuse today too. 7 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:59,480 Okay, and Dallas wall here. All right, so we do have a quorum. 8 00:01:02,590 --> 00:01:08,070 Do we have a quorum? I think so. 3 out of 5. Yeah. 3 out of 5. Yes. 9 00:01:08,070 --> 00:01:08,450 Yep. 10 00:01:10,750 --> 00:01:18,670 Okay. Yep. I just had to do the math in my head. So we'll go ahead and proceed. 11 00:01:19,070 --> 00:01:22,290 Are there any changes to the agenda as published? 12 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,260 Okay. Hearing none, we'll go ahead and proceed. 13 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,880 Are there any changes that need to be made to the minutes as published? 14 00:01:37,210 --> 00:01:37,850 Okay. Hearing none, 15 00:01:37,970 --> 00:01:44,630 we'll go ahead and approve the minutes as published. That takes us to our financial report with 16 00:01:44,630 --> 00:01:54,930 Tanner out. I am going to turn that over to Arthur. Yeah and I'm actually wondering. I had to update 17 00:01:54,930 --> 00:02:02,290 the financials and just notice that the new financials are not on that exact link. Is there a 18 00:02:02,290 --> 00:02:12,290 possibility to go to another item and then come back to me? Absolutely. We can go ahead and rearrange. 19 00:02:12,290 --> 00:02:25,810 That's not a problem. We can actually swap out with the board's leave. If there's no objection, we could go ahead and do the academic report and then come back to the financial report. Is there any objection to that rearrangement? 20 00:02:29,050 --> 00:02:31,750 Okay, let's go ahead and just swap B and A. 21 00:02:31,750 --> 00:02:34,410 Will you email them to me and I'll put them in the week? 22 00:02:35,150 --> 00:02:36,950 Oh, I'm putting them in right now. 23 00:02:37,110 --> 00:02:37,770 Oh, are you okay? 24 00:02:38,130 --> 00:02:38,230 Yeah. 25 00:02:38,750 --> 00:02:40,010 Let's just go ahead and we'll go ahead 26 00:02:40,010 --> 00:02:41,690 and do the academic progress. 27 00:02:41,690 --> 00:02:43,190 We'll just swap under four. 28 00:02:43,330 --> 00:02:44,470 We'll just swap B and A. 29 00:02:45,130 --> 00:02:47,070 And that'll give us a chance to bring that up. 30 00:02:47,630 --> 00:02:54,270 So I'm not sure it says super 10 and administration. 31 00:02:54,310 --> 00:02:57,070 So I guess I will go to Jared first. 32 00:02:57,570 --> 00:02:58,170 Thank you. 33 00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:02,570 So we have started our new year at many locations. 34 00:03:02,570 --> 00:03:05,270 We've got one or two that are a little behind 35 00:03:05,270 --> 00:03:07,510 because of some community events that go on there 36 00:03:07,510 --> 00:03:09,950 but we'll be starting in the next week or so. 37 00:03:10,570 --> 00:03:11,310 And we're excited. 38 00:03:11,450 --> 00:03:14,370 We've done some trainings to provide some staff, 39 00:03:14,650 --> 00:03:17,810 some information that's necessary every year 40 00:03:18,230 --> 00:03:21,030 and we also got our trainings set for, 41 00:03:21,230 --> 00:03:22,890 I believe the first week of, 42 00:03:23,290 --> 00:03:27,070 oh, now I'm saying October, it's for regional trainings. 43 00:03:27,070 --> 00:03:36,490 somewhere in there. And so we've got our return of our consultant and helping us with our 44 00:03:38,350 --> 00:03:42,210 personalized competency-based learning model. We've also got a student planner this year that 45 00:03:42,210 --> 00:03:46,530 lists standards for the students grades three through eight. We're really excited to have that 46 00:03:46,530 --> 00:03:52,550 and gives a chance for students to be able to kind of look out for their own goals, academic goals 47 00:03:52,550 --> 00:03:57,630 and plan with that and those in blended ed can use that with their parents and their 48 00:03:57,630 --> 00:04:01,370 teachers at the school as well as the teachers at the school use that with the students 49 00:04:01,370 --> 00:04:04,510 in their classrooms and parents can review that and see it. 50 00:04:04,710 --> 00:04:09,870 So something new for the school customized and we've got the first iteration in place. 51 00:04:10,230 --> 00:04:12,710 This year we're very excited to see that happen. 52 00:04:12,870 --> 00:04:20,170 Pamela worked a bunch of hours to make that a reality and so did Zach in helping make 53 00:04:20,170 --> 00:04:26,470 sure that we got that ready for the the start of school. So this past year we reviewed the data 54 00:04:26,470 --> 00:04:32,970 and we looked at our test results and our scores for our students and so forth. We're doing okay. 55 00:04:33,130 --> 00:04:39,390 I think I'm with reading and reading progress and growth and so forth. We're struggling a little 56 00:04:39,390 --> 00:04:47,830 bit with math and we've got some things and and further down the agenda Natalie can talk to you 57 00:04:47,830 --> 00:04:52,590 kind of boost our math scores and hopefully a new approach to some of the things we're doing. 58 00:04:53,270 --> 00:04:58,450 But we had two teachers that really stood out as exceptional with the growth of their 59 00:04:58,450 --> 00:05:05,450 students. And these two teachers also exemplify just some incredible character traits that 60 00:05:05,450 --> 00:05:13,270 we're really appreciative of. They're kind, they're happy, their classrooms are enjoyable 61 00:05:13,270 --> 00:05:18,730 places to be for our students. And so we selected a teacher this year from the 62 00:05:18,730 --> 00:05:23,350 blended education program and that's lose Warner and loses on with us tonight. 63 00:05:24,570 --> 00:05:31,170 So yeah we can recognize I don't know how we on Zoom is it we give a pause icon 64 00:05:31,170 --> 00:05:40,010 or something and we're a character there we go. But I just I would like to lose to 65 00:05:40,010 --> 00:05:45,430 just tell you what maybe her philosophy is about educating kids or share 66 00:05:45,430 --> 00:05:48,470 that because she's a great person. And then we're going to tell you about the 67 00:05:48,470 --> 00:05:54,350 other wonderful person we have. Well thank you. I'm just really honored to be 68 00:05:54,350 --> 00:06:00,410 nominated the teacher of the year for blended ed. And actually I was having this 69 00:06:00,410 --> 00:06:03,930 conversation a few minutes ago with a parent that's thinking about coming to her 70 00:06:03,930 --> 00:06:10,370 school and she was asking me about how my first week of school was because her 71 00:06:10,370 --> 00:06:16,990 kids are already hating school and I was just telling her about some of the 72 00:06:16,990 --> 00:06:23,230 things we've done and I told her about one specific person in my life when I was 73 00:06:23,230 --> 00:06:30,090 younger that really influenced me to think outside the box and to really 74 00:06:30,090 --> 00:06:36,110 a revalue my life and what I was wanted to do with it and that was my English professor 75 00:06:36,110 --> 00:06:42,610 in high school. He looked at me as a person. He treated me like a person. He invested 76 00:06:42,610 --> 00:06:51,550 his time in me. He found out about the things that I do. He spent time getting to know me 77 00:06:51,550 --> 00:06:59,110 and by doing so he was able to teach me ways that I've never thought was possible. And that's 78 00:06:59,110 --> 00:07:06,510 what helped me become a teacher that after spending those years with them, I'm like, I want 79 00:07:06,510 --> 00:07:14,670 to be a teacher. I don't want to do anything else but be a teacher because I want to get 80 00:07:14,670 --> 00:07:21,450 to know my students the way he got to know me and be able to help them in more ways than 81 00:07:21,450 --> 00:07:27,110 just by telling them what to learn and how to learn it. But by doing those things together 82 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:45,290 and by really getting to know them because if you don't know your students, you're not going to know or understand how you're going to teach them because one thing that I've learned as a parent and as a teacher is that just because he makes sense to you doesn't mean that it's going to make sense to to them. 83 00:07:46,670 --> 00:07:52,230 And I learned that when I was younger, I'm still learning it as an educator. 84 00:07:52,230 --> 00:08:00,110 And I cannot tell you how many times I looked at my kids' eyes when they're asking a question about something that we're doing in class. 85 00:08:01,010 --> 00:08:07,990 And I think outside the box and we come up with a different strategy and they suddenly make sense. 86 00:08:09,070 --> 00:08:16,270 And I've gotten comments from my students from I've never had a teacher that cared enough about me to. 87 00:08:16,270 --> 00:08:21,310 So thank you for loving me, 88 00:08:23,660 --> 00:08:30,580 thank you for conservation with me, thank you for making 89 00:08:30,580 --> 00:08:36,640 jokes because you know I'm nervous and some of the things that have really helped me 90 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,980 become a teacher that you need. 91 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:48,300 And I've stretched myself kinds of directions to find out, to learn more about how I can 92 00:08:48,300 --> 00:08:56,540 teach them better or how I can approach a subject or a skill or anything that we're doing 93 00:08:56,540 --> 00:09:02,480 in class in a way that is going to make sense to them. Even if I know it and maybe as well 94 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:09,780 as I thought I knew it, my goal is to make it make sense to them and to love it. I want 95 00:09:09,780 --> 00:09:16,120 them to develop but love for learning. And that's not going to happen if I don't love them 96 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,260 and spend time with them. 97 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,560 She means what she says. 98 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,800 She's absolutely the kind of person that she describes 99 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,360 and the teacher that she was inspired by is the teacher she's become. 100 00:09:35,300 --> 00:09:39,680 We had a program a few years ago in one of our areas delta 101 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:41,900 that was really struggling for students. 102 00:09:41,900 --> 00:09:46,900 lose rallied that community and got 30 students enrolled there made the 103 00:09:46,900 --> 00:09:53,180 campus into a really nice beautiful place for kids to come and a program 104 00:09:53,180 --> 00:09:58,300 that we thought was that was maybe in danger of not making it was rescued and 105 00:09:58,300 --> 00:10:05,420 continues to move forward because of her so we're very grateful for her. Our second 106 00:10:05,420 --> 00:10:14,200 teacher is also a teacher who has a beautiful, wonderful classroom and a philosophy of helping students 107 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:20,180 that we really appreciate. And that's Christy Davis at the Treemonton campus. And I would love 108 00:10:20,180 --> 00:10:24,940 for Christy to share kind of her philosophy about teaching her kids. 109 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:32,760 Okay. I want to reiterate what Lou said about getting to know your students, getting to know them 110 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:39,740 and let them know that you love them and knowing a different learning style has been the biggest 111 00:10:39,740 --> 00:10:47,640 thing for me. Another thing that I really implemented this year is just trying to get them to 112 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:54,800 understand that they can learn and that they are capable. Like we did a lot of growth mindset things. 113 00:10:56,060 --> 00:11:01,820 A few years ago I had a little boy who was just really struggling in one of my classes and 114 00:11:01,820 --> 00:11:07,640 He said, I'm just not smart like there, I can't do it and that really impacted me. 115 00:11:08,300 --> 00:11:14,740 And it took everything, I just focused everything on helping him learn that he could and he 116 00:11:14,740 --> 00:11:19,920 was smart and he was capable and me believing in him and then him believing in himself. 117 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:21,840 And that's a big thing with my students. 118 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,800 I just need them to know that I believe in them and I help them to believe in themselves 119 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,780 and it makes a big difference in how they learn. 120 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:52,580 We so appreciate these two teachers, we were able to provide a little stipend to share appreciation for them in the countless hours that they spend preparing the lessons they provide for the students, but the most important thing I think is a love that they emanate from their from their personalities towards these kids and we really appreciate that. 121 00:11:52,580 --> 00:11:58,580 We serve some kids who have some severe needs and come with a lot of challenges 122 00:11:58,580 --> 00:12:02,620 and these people know how to reach them and I'm grateful for that. 123 00:12:02,940 --> 00:12:11,080 So appreciate them and give them one more round of whatever kind of applause we do. 124 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:14,220 Thank you both. 125 00:12:14,220 --> 00:12:16,340 and I just want to say something really quick. 126 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,300 I know you have a tight schedule. 127 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:22,860 I just wanted to thank you and thank all the administrators 128 00:12:22,860 --> 00:12:27,120 and other professors that have helped us be able to do this 129 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,100 because you've given us the ability to really teach in a way 130 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:33,340 that I've never experienced anywhere else. 131 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:36,500 Thank you for giving us the trust and the above. 132 00:12:38,990 --> 00:12:39,690 Thank you, Luz. 133 00:12:40,830 --> 00:12:42,330 My pleasure to work with you. 134 00:12:42,530 --> 00:12:42,890 Thank you. 135 00:12:45,210 --> 00:12:50,990 The other thing I think we're going to bring up just to your attention, we're really excited 136 00:12:50,990 --> 00:12:53,530 to have a new administrator join our ranks. 137 00:12:54,170 --> 00:13:01,490 Samantha Sproul is our new administrator, our newest addition to the team that way and 138 00:13:01,490 --> 00:13:04,470 we're excited to invite Sam to join us. 139 00:13:04,510 --> 00:13:06,110 She's on there with us today in Sam. 140 00:13:06,770 --> 00:13:12,310 If you wanted to say hello and tell them where you're at and maybe share your philosophy 141 00:13:12,310 --> 00:13:13,930 to be helping kids that love it. 142 00:13:17,740 --> 00:13:19,260 I'm Samantha, I'm Sam. 143 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:20,220 Call me Sam. 144 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,140 I'm a Muslim in trouble. 145 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,400 Then you can call me some of the... 146 00:13:24,060 --> 00:13:25,940 I'm up in Tremont in... 147 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:28,640 I live in Perry, Brigham City area. 148 00:13:30,380 --> 00:13:32,560 I've been a teacher for 10 years 149 00:13:34,860 --> 00:13:37,700 and I've been going down the administration route 150 00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:39,160 with my education recently 151 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,280 and so this was a fun fall into. 152 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:57,560 I think getting to know students and knowing their background is one of the highest things that you can do to have student achievement because if there's no trust, there's no success. 153 00:13:58,060 --> 00:14:04,760 And so that's one of my biggest philosophies as you got to know and love your students. 154 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:07,780 Thank you, Sam. 155 00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:09,760 I'm excited for the year. 156 00:14:10,420 --> 00:14:11,400 Thank you so much. 157 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,140 We're excited to have you join us. 158 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,900 She's going to be a great fit in our in our group of leadership. 159 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,640 So thank you for right now. 160 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,400 I think that's that's the main thing I have about academic. 161 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,160 We're starting the year. 162 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:31,040 So we'll have some more progress as we as we collect some data and so forth. 163 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:35,200 And then again Natalie has some information for you about a math initiative. 164 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:59,720 We're hoping to get our grant. We're hoping to work on it and a person that's come forward to really provide some assistance to our school awesome. Thank you and and thank you to all our wonderful teachers and new administrator. We're looking forward to another great year and I know I hear fantastic things both of the teachers that we honor tonight. 165 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:29,140 So thank you so much. Okay. Are we ready to move forward with financials? Yes. All right. Let's go for it. Before I start, I've got to tell Dallas, I'm a little jealous of the beard, man. It's looking really good. So I see we share the same haircut. Yes, we do share the same haircut. All right. 166 00:15:29,140 --> 00:15:36,480 Right, just to start off, I just really appreciate everybody on the Athenian team been involved 167 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:45,420 in audit prep, and we have such a great team just going through this process and getting 168 00:15:45,420 --> 00:15:50,460 documentation, and we're still in the middle of it, but it's just been phenomenal to reach 169 00:15:50,460 --> 00:15:55,860 out to our team and have the support through this process. 170 00:15:56,340 --> 00:15:58,120 It's just a fantastic group here. 171 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:04,220 So in the past couple of months we've been really engaged in audit prep, we've had a lot 172 00:16:04,220 --> 00:16:10,160 of work sessions, reviewing transactions, going through the GL, going through all of the 173 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:19,300 financials to wrap up the fiscal year which ends June 30th and then FY27 starts July 1st. 174 00:16:19,740 --> 00:16:27,160 We're going to start our build work part of the audit in the upcoming week and we'll continue 175 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,420 to fulfill all the requirements that we're being asked of. 176 00:16:30,860 --> 00:16:36,560 We held a meeting with our benefits providers to review and finalize our August in service 177 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:43,920 and open enrollment and something that Jared and the team decided to do is to up the benefit 178 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,420 coverage from 77% to 80%. 179 00:16:47,420 --> 00:16:51,020 And we will also be working on pulling draws. 180 00:16:51,020 --> 00:17:04,320 We finalize pulling the draws for FY26 and we are going to be in the process of submitting again for FY27 for grants. 181 00:17:05,260 --> 00:17:16,020 Just a couple notes on the balance sheet, our total operating cash is just a little over 1.7 million total liabilities or 753,000. 182 00:17:16,020 --> 00:17:25,860 and our income statement, our net income for the year is $243,000, $61,000, and of course 183 00:17:25,860 --> 00:17:29,080 we're 100% of the fiscal year for June. 184 00:17:30,630 --> 00:17:36,680 So that's just kind of a quick report on the finance, unless anybody has any questions. 185 00:17:42,180 --> 00:17:44,940 Let me see what's in the chat there. 186 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:46,020 Wow. 187 00:17:46,340 --> 00:17:46,860 Thank you for both. 188 00:17:46,980 --> 00:17:47,140 Okay. 189 00:17:47,140 --> 00:17:51,880 Okay, yeah, I don't have any questions, board, any questions? 190 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:55,980 Okay. 191 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:01,560 Let me say that we're grateful to have this increased capacity with Arthur joining us. 192 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:09,200 It's really nice to have some additional support with the new accounting system the state 193 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:10,480 has in place. 194 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:15,660 It's added a considerable additional workload to our school. 195 00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:45,580 and so he and Rebecca and all the work together really well with our assistant that helps us as a kind of a third party audit that's ongoing with Mandy that helps us and it's been really, really helpful with the bond with the cruel of or taking on Moab it was a challenging year last year to get all the finances put in the put in the right places and categories even the company that we work with had to do some. 196 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:50,800 kind of rearranging and he's been relentless in his approach to making sure things work. 197 00:18:51,580 --> 00:18:57,260 I always ask him when I see him each morning, did you go home last night because I'm worried 198 00:18:57,260 --> 00:18:58,320 some nights he didn't. 199 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:02,420 All right, 200 00:19:05,590 --> 00:19:05,970 awesome. 201 00:19:07,770 --> 00:19:10,970 Any other questions or comments on that financial report? 202 00:19:10,970 --> 00:19:12,130 Okay, 203 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:24,520 my agenda kind of came in really funny, but let's we do have a facility's update before we get to public participation. 204 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:29,100 So Margo, are you on here? 205 00:19:31,420 --> 00:19:33,320 Yes, I'm here. 206 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,540 Okay, I'll just say a couple of quick things. 207 00:19:37,540 --> 00:19:44,460 First of all, I said this before in prior meetings, but I am consistently and constantly 208 00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:56,540 impressed with the quality of our teachers and administrators, and tonight just the icing on the cake to have these two wonderful teachers that we honored. 209 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:09,440 Through this summer, there were a lot of projects completed, some kind of big ones, specifically I'm thinking of Moab, but in a lot of other locations, 210 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:23,340 There were many projects completed that brought additional safety issues in line and a lot of things were done just to make the campuses more appealing. 211 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:31,340 And I think that's really important for attracting new students and keeping your students safe and happy. 212 00:20:31,340 --> 00:20:45,240 And again, it was done by these administrators and the help of the staff on those locations without everybody pitching in and doing that, it just would not even be possible. 213 00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:50,620 So big thanks to everybody. Did you have more to add, Jared? 214 00:20:51,580 --> 00:20:59,200 I think Margo has been working really hard with our team and we got some new floors put in some places we needed to. 215 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:03,380 We just continue to chip away at the problems and needs of the schools. 216 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,320 Malab looks really good with some covers on their decks. 217 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:13,560 The sun there is brutal to the outside structures and so forth in the decking on our locations. 218 00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:17,000 And that was a lot of that was carried out by volunteers. 219 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:33,860 but with support from Julie monitoring that and making sure that things went well and like Margo said all of these administrators contribute a large amount of their own personal efforts to making these places look great and so I just appreciate the team. 220 00:21:34,460 --> 00:21:36,940 It's been it's a very inspiring team to work with. 221 00:21:39,140 --> 00:21:41,460 Awesome. All right. Any questions on that? 222 00:21:44,940 --> 00:21:48,480 Okay, Zach, any public participation requests? 223 00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:52,580 No, nobody has signed up for public comment. 224 00:21:53,360 --> 00:22:00,340 Okay, that is going to take us to our... 225 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:07,380 I'm assuming this is a... Sorry, my agenda is coming through really, really weird. 226 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,480 A board action, which is the ULEED grant proposals? 227 00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:15,900 Yes, I will go ahead and tell you about that. 228 00:22:16,060 --> 00:22:16,360 Okay. 229 00:22:16,820 --> 00:22:17,000 Natalie. 230 00:22:18,180 --> 00:22:24,800 So I was actually approached by a couple of teachers at our Ogdom location and they had 231 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:32,080 found this grant and I was very excited about it because it's not money that our school 232 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:39,040 has to come up with the what it is is it's called the You Lead Innovation Grant and what it 233 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:45,880 does is it allows teachers to try and implement innovative programs in their classrooms. 234 00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:49,400 And so there's different things that they can do. 235 00:22:50,380 --> 00:22:59,880 And what they're doing in Ogden is there's a lady we have connected with Dr. Bonnie Jones. 236 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:06,880 And she has her and our education specialist in Ogden connected and they got talking and 237 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:15,620 And they realize that they had a lot of theories and philosophies on education in common. 238 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:22,380 And we have a very unique program with our hybrid program where people are educated 239 00:23:22,380 --> 00:23:26,120 at home for part of the week and they come to our school for part of the week. 240 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,740 And they got talking about this. 241 00:23:29,740 --> 00:23:37,140 and Dr. Jones has been in education for a very, very long time. 242 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,560 She specialized in mathematics and even computer programming. 243 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,860 Being one of the first female computer programmers in the 80s. 244 00:23:46,340 --> 00:23:49,200 And then has been in education and teaching. 245 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,780 And she has recently completed her doctorate where she specializes 246 00:23:53,780 --> 00:23:58,060 in the anxiety that is around education. 247 00:23:58,060 --> 00:24:06,940 And she has looked at a lot of it as like the anxiety that people, like students have, but also she's 248 00:24:06,940 --> 00:24:12,560 found that a lot of teachers have anxiety in teaching and specifically mathematics. 249 00:24:13,420 --> 00:24:24,020 And as I've been doing this research trying to understand our homeschool parents, I've also found that a lot of parents will homeschool their children 250 00:24:24,020 --> 00:24:32,840 because they had really unpleasant experiences in education and in their going through school. 251 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:40,940 And so then they they decide to homeschool their students. And then they are what we're finding 252 00:24:40,940 --> 00:24:46,060 is that they're kind of transferring that anxiety that they're feeling to their own children. 253 00:24:46,060 --> 00:25:02,460 And so we I was connected with Dr. Ronnie Jones and she we are talking and we realized that we had we all had this line like Jared and Pamela and I and Dr. Jones. 254 00:25:02,460 --> 00:25:06,820 We realized we had very similar philosophies and this desire to be able to help families. 255 00:25:06,820 --> 00:25:22,000 And so we are implementing this unique program in Ogden where she is going to be working with she has this really innovative program where she implements games and things like that to try. 256 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:28,800 And that's something we've been trying to do for years is trying to game if I math, but she has been doing a lot of research on the subject. 257 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:58,780 So she's going to be doing it in a lot more intensive ways we were having a meeting at the office and it happened to be our new teacher training and she just volunteered to teach our new trainers or sorry to train our new teachers on some of her fun innovative ways and they were doing these coming up with fractions and math and it was just so fun and it was like you could see the benefits of teaching teachers but also what we have to do is teach parents and so she's actually had a 258 00:25:58,780 --> 00:26:06,140 to several of our parent nights in blended ed that we're having and she's going to be starting 259 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:12,180 to help parents address their anxiety that they have in teaching and specifically in math, 260 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:19,020 but just in teaching in general. And so her and Julie Johnson, our education specialist in 261 00:26:19,020 --> 00:26:25,320 Ogden, came to me with this grant proposal and what they want to do is, and there's two parts 262 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:31,240 in the grant there's two separate grants, so $5,000 each because the grant 263 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:38,980 allows each classroom to apply for the grant and then what they'll do though is 264 00:26:38,980 --> 00:26:45,660 they'll work together. So part of it is a lot of manipulatives hands on kind of 265 00:26:45,660 --> 00:26:52,440 this gamified math and then the other part of it is setting goals and working 266 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:58,500 towards these challenges to be able to see that they can do hard things. We're seeing 267 00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:02,840 a lot of our kids have anxiety that they don't feel like they can do hard things. And so 268 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:09,180 between these two grants and unfortunately they are having their back to school night 269 00:27:09,180 --> 00:27:14,940 tonight and so they weren't able to come here and discuss their grant because I'm sure that 270 00:27:14,940 --> 00:27:21,140 they could do a lot more articulate in the plan that they want to be. But as I've heard 271 00:27:21,140 --> 00:27:24,760 them discuss it and as we were meeting and as I've been reading through their grant proposal, 272 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:31,740 I'm just so excited and we're going to be looking at this Ogden program as a pilot program 273 00:27:31,740 --> 00:27:37,100 that we might implement throughout our whole school if it's successful. So they'll be tracking 274 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:45,000 the data very, very closely. They'll be using accadiants testing and some other assessments to gauge 275 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,200 how the students are doing and their performance. 276 00:27:47,860 --> 00:27:52,280 We will get parent approval for all of the students 277 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,840 before we begin using this program. 278 00:27:55,260 --> 00:27:58,120 But we're still following the state standards 279 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:02,260 and I don't think it's such a radical idea 280 00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:04,720 that anybody would be really turned off by it. 281 00:28:06,540 --> 00:28:12,100 It's an innovative idea, but it's kind of when you listen to it, 282 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:14,380 it's like, oh, that makes a lot of sense. 283 00:28:14,380 --> 00:28:21,020 just doing these hands-on things, doing little steps of hard work to demonstrate that you can do it 284 00:28:21,020 --> 00:28:30,280 and tailoring the things so that it's engaging and appealing to the students and their interests. 285 00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:35,560 So the way that the grant works is they have proposed it, I shared. 286 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:44,220 Zach shared the grant proposals with you. I know Tanner had expressed some concerns that he couldn't 287 00:28:44,220 --> 00:28:49,340 see all of the grant. I'm not sure if you guys were able to. I don't know if his because 288 00:28:49,340 --> 00:28:53,700 is having spotty service or something like that, his the PDFs didn't completely download. 289 00:28:54,300 --> 00:29:01,620 But all of the grant in the PDFs that we sent out, it was completed. It was like all of the areas 290 00:29:01,620 --> 00:29:08,380 are covered. So we take this grant and if the board does approve it, then we take it to the state 291 00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:15,560 and we say hey, here's this potential grant. Are you willing to give it to our teachers for one 292 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:22,560 year? They can request an extension in the future if it works, but it is for a one year, $5,000 293 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:32,060 for each of these two teachers, so a total of $10,000 to try and innovate some different or implement 294 00:29:32,060 --> 00:29:34,420 and some innovative practices in their classrooms. 295 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:42,160 Jennifer, Pamela also met with Natalie and Dr. Bonnie 296 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:44,160 and Julie as well. 297 00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:47,340 And Pamela, obviously, for those of me 298 00:29:47,340 --> 00:29:49,100 not know is our academic director. 299 00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:51,280 And I believe Pamela's excited 300 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:52,520 to have some support in this too. 301 00:29:52,660 --> 00:29:54,520 But Pamela, do you want to weigh in or add anything 302 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:56,340 in terms of your support? 303 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,980 Do you have any concerns, or do you think this is 304 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,220 This grant will be a good thing for us to do. 305 00:30:13,940 --> 00:30:40,440 I was trying to unmute myself, but I'm not doing a very good job at it. No, I'm pretty excited about the plans. They sound like they're they're based in research, which is really important to me that we're not just trying something new, but we're actually following what best practices and some effective ways to get students to enjoy. 306 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:46,360 math and to stop fearing it, so I'm really excited about the parent nights because a lot 307 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:52,600 of the research that Bonnie has done is about that math anxiety and as she was explaining 308 00:30:52,600 --> 00:31:01,260 it to in our new teacher meeting, it felt very good that I could feel some of the things 309 00:31:01,260 --> 00:31:07,040 that she was saying that I had felt as a student and as a parent and so I'm really hoping 310 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:12,220 that parents also feel like they're getting to be understood and that there's something 311 00:31:12,220 --> 00:31:16,880 that they can do to help their students. So I'm excited about it. I think it'll be really great. 312 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:18,180 We'll see how it turns out. 313 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,420 So I think Jennifer, I think they have to have 314 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:36,200 potentially a motion from the board to be able to go ahead and pursue the grant. Is that right, Natalie? 315 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,740 Sorry, I was muted. I was just going to open it up for questions from board members. 316 00:31:46,260 --> 00:31:51,020 I had a question. I didn't get to read all the way through this, but I did notice that 317 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,380 If I understood the right, this right, I'm looking at the 318 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:01,560 innovative math application that was done and 319 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:08,100 you're planning on doing some after school opportunities 320 00:32:08,100 --> 00:32:10,160 like you're going to incorporate in one of the classes 321 00:32:11,140 --> 00:32:14,460 one day a week but then after school and I was just wondering 322 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:20,100 is that, I mean, how are we covering the cost for 323 00:32:20,100 --> 00:32:24,300 that after school stuff, as far as the teachers go, 324 00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:26,420 are the teachers being compensated for that? 325 00:32:27,180 --> 00:32:29,220 Yes, and this would be part of it. 326 00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:31,640 In our blended education program, 327 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:33,200 it's a little bit different. 328 00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:35,140 So they marked it since it's after school, 329 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:37,900 but it's really, we have our, 330 00:32:38,140 --> 00:32:40,360 in Ogden, they're gonna be meeting twice a week 331 00:32:41,460 --> 00:32:44,360 and kind of approaching, 332 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:47,840 they're tackling things. 333 00:32:47,840 --> 00:33:12,760 And so when it's marked after school, it's meaning it's outside of those two hours or those two days, they're going to be their goal is to do a lot of like Phil trips and things like that and and go but but Dr. Jones's philosophy is not just like, oh, we're going to go on a Phil trip and then the kids are just they're observing they're going to be active participants in it. 334 00:33:14,300 --> 00:33:19,640 So if they're going to go to a farm, they're not just going to walk around and see the 335 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:20,360 farm animals. 336 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:26,360 They're going to be there doing some hands-on things like seeing how this is how you 337 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:27,040 integrate math. 338 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:31,480 This is what you would be using in a real-life situation. 339 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:39,280 And so while it does say it's outside of the school, it really is more outside of the epic 340 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:40,000 day hours. 341 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:45,740 But yes, the teachers will be compensated for that. 342 00:33:46,220 --> 00:33:48,160 The requirement for blended education 343 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,480 is that they do go on field trips once a month. 344 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,300 And so that's part of their, that would be part of their hours. 345 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,460 But this would just help pay for either transportation costs 346 00:34:00,460 --> 00:34:03,200 or fees to go to these locations 347 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,460 and like entrance fees and things like that. 348 00:34:06,460 --> 00:34:08,100 Thank you. 349 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:14,740 What is our estimated number of students that this is going to impact? 350 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:19,820 Well, as of right now, we're looking at about 20 in Ogden. 351 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:29,760 And we're actually hoping that this new program will be a really good recruitment tool to beef up that program because it is struggling a little bit. 352 00:34:31,380 --> 00:34:34,900 Our Ogden location is kind of, I don't want to say it's weird, 353 00:34:34,900 --> 00:34:39,780 But it's we're kind of serving a different demographic than most of our other locations because it's our most 354 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:47,420 urban area versus all of our rural areas and there's a lot of different charter schools. So we've really struggled with 355 00:34:48,180 --> 00:34:55,540 you know defining ourselves and what makes us unique in Ogden and we're hoping that this program will help 356 00:34:56,500 --> 00:35:02,720 set ourselves apart from the other programs and be a recruiting tool. So right now it's 20 students. We're hoping to 357 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:10,600 it will attract more and then eventually if it's really successful will implement it at other locations. 358 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:20,520 We did a survey of parents and teachers as to what kind of with their perceptions were of math and 359 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,240 Pamela did an excellent job of building a very comprehensive survey. 360 00:35:24,860 --> 00:35:31,860 What we found in that survey is pretty much what Dr. Bonnie Jones suggested in that 361 00:35:31,860 --> 00:35:40,860 There's so much anxiety around math that the teachers avoid it sometimes and parents avoid it sometimes and 362 00:35:41,700 --> 00:35:50,160 That serves really no one very well and so we're hoping that we can build some confidence in in everyone's 363 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,120 Abilities to understand it to make it more relevant 364 00:35:53,120 --> 00:36:00,800 I think one of the biggest challenges is sometimes is to make math relevant and to make it visual it seems it seems sometimes like it's so 365 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:09,100 conceptual or something that they can't visualize and so that's one of the things that this 366 00:36:09,100 --> 00:36:15,340 professor or this not professor but this doctor does is finds tools to make it more visual 367 00:36:15,340 --> 00:36:21,540 and so that's representational they can see why the numbers add the way they do or subtract 368 00:36:21,540 --> 00:36:27,600 the way they do and so forth. So we're really excited. She's really kind of volunteering her hours to 369 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:34,460 teach the kids at the location. We're paying her to go out to the locations to do the parent meetings, but 370 00:36:35,780 --> 00:36:41,640 she's volunteering her hours to put a small cadre or a small cohort of students that she has 371 00:36:42,420 --> 00:36:48,960 with ours and do the teaching together with them. And so it's a great opportunity. We feel like 372 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:55,180 to get some specific expertise in an area that we're trying to understand better. 373 00:36:55,180 --> 00:36:59,180 and Pamela has done an excellent job with it. 374 00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:03,520 In fact, we're right on par with what Pamela's already done. 375 00:37:04,100 --> 00:37:07,080 The challenges is Pamela's stretched already so thin. 376 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:11,640 And so to have some more support is really helpful. 377 00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:18,480 I'm just, I'm not questioning the grant itself, 378 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,520 but as I look at the two different grant applications, 379 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:29,400 questions, I would expect them to be very, very sort of looking for almost identical. 380 00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:31,660 And yet they're very, very different. 381 00:37:31,820 --> 00:37:36,620 Is that intentional or is it just because when you're pulling them in as a PDF, they're 382 00:37:36,620 --> 00:37:37,020 not coming? 383 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:44,460 The idea is that they're different because they're two parts of the same program. 384 00:37:44,700 --> 00:37:44,940 Okay. 385 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:45,760 That makes sense. 386 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:50,820 I think if they were identical, I think they were concerned that it would only get the 387 00:37:50,820 --> 00:37:55,100 one grant, but because they're hoping to be able to get the two grants and then work together, 388 00:37:55,100 --> 00:38:00,800 which is why they're each addressing a different area. Got it. Then this may just be because the 389 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:10,800 PDF is going kind of weird, but on the one that has Bonnie's name first, on page seven, 390 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:21,600 at least on the one that I'm viewing, it seems to be missing a good chunk of it just stops. 391 00:38:22,820 --> 00:38:26,320 And so maybe it just didn't like pull that completely. 392 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:33,600 So she does have the curriculum and then instruction materials and then there is a spot 393 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:39,680 for Christian curriculum justification and materials link which on the application those are optional. 394 00:38:40,800 --> 00:39:05,140 Just like right right on mine. It says they also incorporate play which science has shown is important for learning up. Oh, yes, I do see that. Yeah, yeah, you've had you've had this to the full. Yeah, I just have. I requested an access to it, but I haven't gotten it. Yeah, and like I said, they're at their their parent. 395 00:39:06,620 --> 00:39:09,260 they're back to school night and so she wasn't able to. 396 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:14,820 I just didn't want us to submit a grant that was. 397 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:21,400 And honestly, I'm not even sure if this is a new thing for me. 398 00:39:21,580 --> 00:39:26,340 I'm going to contact the you lead thing and see if they need to submit this. 399 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:33,880 But I think this is actually so here it says this form is intended to be a supportive resource 400 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:40,340 but is not required for an application to be approved. So this form is more for us 401 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:44,760 than it is for the state. Interesting, okay. 402 00:39:47,020 --> 00:39:52,100 And so that is, I will say that's, unfortunately, 403 00:39:52,300 --> 00:40:00,580 that's a gap in the grant, but it's very possible that just in the sharing of it, it got deleted. 404 00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:06,860 You're not going to turn it off. 405 00:40:07,220 --> 00:40:09,120 It's just, they're all on their own sensor. 406 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:16,080 OK, board members, let's talk this out. 407 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:22,680 I've for word that, oh, for it, I think it can be 408 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,280 to do to them with understanding math. 409 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:30,760 It's a good together with something that always made me anxious 410 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:39,720 that I think I've maybe lived with myself because I've been so worried about not understanding it, 411 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,600 so I think it would be with itself great. 412 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,640 I agree. Anything that can help, I mean, 413 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:56,780 just trying to do math with my own kids when we were at home doing their homework. I think that's, 414 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:01,340 I mean, every Quinn laughs because everyone's experienced that frustration and so 415 00:41:01,340 --> 00:41:13,240 Yeah, good opportunity. I did have one question for Natalie if if both of these is still going to work if we only get awarded one of the applications rather than both? 416 00:41:14,140 --> 00:41:24,360 Yes, it'll still work. We were going to kind of fund this program anyway. This just gives us a little bit of flexibility in being able to do so. 417 00:41:26,420 --> 00:41:27,200 Thank you. 418 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:28,080 Okay. 419 00:41:32,740 --> 00:41:43,320 Well, I think to move this forward, it would take a motion and yeah, I've had to make a motion that we move forward with the E lead grant. 420 00:41:45,180 --> 00:41:46,360 I'll second it. 421 00:41:47,180 --> 00:41:53,780 Okay. It's been moved and seconded that we move forward with the E lead grants. 422 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:59,640 Is there any additional discussion on these motions? 423 00:42:03,370 --> 00:42:06,430 Mary Nunn will proceed to vote. All those in favor? Please say aye. 424 00:42:07,290 --> 00:42:07,790 Aye. 425 00:42:10,310 --> 00:42:11,310 Any opposed? Say no. 426 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:18,100 All right. That motion passes. So let's go for it. 427 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:30,840 Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. And then I will make sure that when I'm working with Bonnie and Julie before we submit anything to the state that everything is completely 100% filled out and that there are no gaps. 428 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,560 So, thank you so much, Natalie. 429 00:42:34,380 --> 00:42:35,000 Appreciate that. 430 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:36,960 Yep, I appreciate that. 431 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:37,420 All right. 432 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:45,460 We do need to go into an executive session primarily. 433 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:52,020 We have two items that need to be handled, but primarily we do need to discuss. 434 00:42:55,820 --> 00:42:59,880 Teacher certification isn't quite the right word, but help me with the right word, Crystal. 435 00:43:02,990 --> 00:43:08,750 credentials. Yes that's where so we like to discuss that in closed session just 436 00:43:08,750 --> 00:43:13,770 because it is a staffing issue so for those of you who have joined us we 437 00:43:13,770 --> 00:43:19,310 appreciate your time you're welcome to stay in a holding room while we go for 438 00:43:20,310 --> 00:43:23,930 go through this and then we can bring you back if you'd like or you're welcome to 439 00:43:23,930 --> 00:43:26,470 sign up for the night and we'll see you at our next board meeting and we 440 00:43:26,470 --> 00:43:30,150 appreciate all you do it's your choice just let Zach know what you would prefer 441 00:43:31,570 --> 00:43:34,370 And we do need a motion to go into executive session. 442 00:43:36,310 --> 00:43:39,430 Jennifer, do you want to indicate who you'd like to stay on? 443 00:43:39,590 --> 00:43:41,510 I mean, obviously the board members, Dallas Ryan. 444 00:43:42,530 --> 00:43:44,350 Yeah, Dallas Ryan, we need Crystal. 445 00:43:47,170 --> 00:43:48,050 Zach here. 446 00:43:48,470 --> 00:43:51,530 I may be Rebecca as well with HR. 447 00:43:51,770 --> 00:43:52,830 Oh yeah, Rebecca, sir. 448 00:43:53,770 --> 00:43:56,710 Without people having their faces, and I know I'm just guilty too. 449 00:43:56,890 --> 00:43:59,670 But I'm just like there's so many names on my screen right now. 450 00:44:00,150 --> 00:44:00,530 Yes. 451 00:44:01,090 --> 00:44:02,830 Yeah, I think that's probably about it. 452 00:44:03,570 --> 00:44:04,430 Thank you. 453 00:44:07,730 --> 00:44:10,290 Well, that's a big emotion to go with the executive session. 454 00:44:11,050 --> 00:44:11,250 Thanks. 455 00:44:12,830 --> 00:44:13,390 Okay. 456 00:44:13,490 --> 00:44:15,850 It's been moved in second that we go to executive session. 457 00:44:15,990 --> 00:44:18,110 This is a roll call vote. 458 00:44:18,530 --> 00:44:22,770 I'm going to call your name, please indicate whether you support going to executive session 459 00:44:22,770 --> 00:44:23,430 or not. 460 00:44:23,990 --> 00:44:24,290 Dallas? 461 00:44:24,790 --> 00:44:25,350 Yes. 462 00:44:25,930 --> 00:44:26,330 Ryan? 463 00:44:26,850 --> 00:44:27,370 Yes. 464 00:44:28,150 --> 00:44:28,530 Okay. 465 00:44:28,610 --> 00:44:29,070 That passes. 466 00:44:29,070 --> 00:44:31,070 as we will go ahead and enter executive session. 467 00:44:32,870 --> 00:44:33,870 Thank you, Dawn. 468 00:44:34,850 --> 00:44:35,330 Thanks for that. 469 00:44:35,910 --> 00:44:38,470 All right, this is the executive session 470 00:44:38,470 --> 00:44:41,150 for Athenian eAcademy Board Meeting, 471 00:44:41,370 --> 00:44:44,070 the date is Thursday, 27th of August. 472 00:44:44,070 --> 00:44:45,030 20