Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is living her dream, working as a special education teacher at South Jordan Middle School, making a difference in the lives of students every day. But Lauryn Macedone saw another dream come true not too long ago when she was a contestant on the wildly popular show, “The Voice”, selected to be a part of Alicia Keys' team. On this episode of the Supercast, we meet this superstar teacher and musician who has a heart of gold and a voice that turned heads around the nation and turned the chairs of judges on “The Voice”.

We're here with Lauryn Macedone, a teacher at South Jordan Middle School, talking to her about her experience on “The Voice”. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Lauryn Macedone:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm grateful to be here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about your teaching career, first of all.

Lauryn Macedone:
Okay. Yeah. So I actually just started in January, just finished my student teaching at Copper Hills High School, and then this is my first job, so I'm really excited to be here. I'm in special education here at South Jordan Middle School. I'm in the autism classroom specifically, so an autism support classroom. I have seven students and get to help them meet their individual needs and get to help them in their education, so it's awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
That’s fantastic. I love a good mid-year hire. . Tell me what made you want to be a special education teacher?

Lauryn Macedone:
Oh, that's such a good question. I've known it since eighth grade. I took a peer tutoring class when I was in middle school, had an awesome teacher, met incredible individuals with disabilities who just inspired me. And I knew from then on that I wanted to help them and I wanted to be on their side, and I wanted to be their cheerleader to help them reach their goals and dreams that they have in life.

Anthony Godfrey:
That is a great peer tutor success story, and there are a lot of those out there. It's such a great experience for kids to get to know someone who might be a little bit different from them or from their friends. And I think it changes you permanently when you have that experience.

Lauryn Macedone:
Totally. We're so grateful for all of our peer tutors here. Like we have such a good peer tutoring program and are so grateful for all the students that take a class period out of their day to come and help others and learn from them as well. It’s awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
And I love to see your enthusiasm and excitement for your new role here at South Jordan Middle.

Lauryn Macedone:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
It is kind of hard to come in the middle of the year and jump in, but it sounds like it's gone really well for you.

Lauryn Macedone:
It has. This school is so supportive, the admin so supportive. I have a ton of awesome aides in my classroom that are super helpful and it just made the transition really smooth.

Anthony Godfrey:
Good. That makes a big difference. We've struggled to hire classroom assistants throughout the district. and it makes all the difference when you have that kind of support.