Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was an evening of fun traveling back in time to 1984 when Joel P. Jensen Middle School first opened its doors. Joel P. Jensen recently threw a big birthday bash to commemorate four decades of being at the heart of their community.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you inside the 80s style party where everyone was having fun celebrating 40 years of history, making memories, building friendships, and educating students.

We are here at Joel P. Jensen celebrating 40 years of Joel P. Jensen. It's an exciting time. Introduce yourselves and tell me about your relationship with Joel P. Jensen, the middle school, not the man, and how long you have been here.

Aaron Hunter:
Aaron Hunter, principal, off and on at Joel P. for a decade, 10 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the offs and the ons.

Aaron Hunter:
So I started my admin career in Jordan District at Joel P. I was an assistant principal here for six and a half years and then two years ago came back as principal.

Anthony Godfrey:
A triumphant return to everyone's delight that they got to have Aaron Hunter back in their lives.

Aaron Hunter:
It's a great place to be.

Anthony Godfrey:
And you have done a great job of promoting Joel P. Jensen and the great things that are happening here, which we'll get back to in just a moment. But let's take a trip through memory lane and talk with a couple of employees who've been here for a while.

Deb Atkinson:
I'm Deb Atkinson. I'm the head secretary. I've been here for a really, really long time. This is 26 and a half years so far.

Anthony Godfrey:
26 and a half years.

Deb Atkinson:
I had one little break in between where I got bumped to the district office and I was in Info Systems for 13 months and then I interviewed and came back to my school.

Anthony Godfrey:
You knew where you needed to be. Okay, we'll get back to some stories from you. Tell me about your time here at Joel P. Jensen.

Suzie:
My name is Suzie. I started 25 years ago. I started in the ISS room. Steve Crowther hired me. I was there for a while then they asked me to be a hall monitor. I was that until we went under numbers. So then they said that I had to not do a hall monitor, but I didn't want to leave because I liked Joel P. so much, so I stayed as a tracker. And then when numbers went back up, I came back to the hall monitor and then they went to the part-time stuff. I hung out with that and then I kind of retired until this lovely gentleman over here called me and said would you come back? For some reason, I said yes, probably because I love Joel P. So I came back and so I've been back for the last year and a half.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is really a pattern for all three of you. You leave, you come back. And for you you leave and you come back and you leave and you come back.

Suzie:
Yeah, it was like I can't describe it. There's– Joel P. is just different. The kids are different. I love it. I missed it. I tried somewhere else a long time ago and it's just not the same.

Anthony Godfrey:
As Al Pacino says ‘They keep pulling you back in.’

Suzie:
He pulled me back in and she's amazing so to work with. The two of them have just been–