Episode Details

Graham:
Today is the fourth annual Dia de los Muertos activity at Valley High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is experiential learning at its best and I would suggest that these are some of the most memorable experiences that students will have. Who are some of the people that you're honoring and remembering today personally?

Sylvia:
Celebrating my grandparents, two aunts, one uncle, and a student who passed in April.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a long time tradition at Valley High School, thanks to the hard work and dedication of two incredible staff members. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Valley High's Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos celebration, a touching and colorful commemoration, remembering lost loved ones through family photos, favorite foods, and much more. At Valley, it's also an opportunity for students who participate to benefit academically through the school's credit recovery program.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at Valley High today. It's a Friday and we're talking with Graham about what happens on Fridays at Valley. Graham is a friend of the Supercast. Graham, talk us through why we're here and what's going on.

Graham:
Well, Valley High School is a very special place that we are actually celebrating our 50th anniversary, kind of, sort of. Fifty years of graduations, 50 years of serving students and ensuring that we are helping as many kids get across that finish line as possible. I do not know the exact year that Friday activities started, but Friday activities kind of serve this purpose of bringing students into our building, giving them an opportunity to recover credits that they have previously not earned for a variety of reasons, engaging them in some sort of creative, fun, good activity, giving them some nuggets of knowledge, bringing them together, and helping them get that step closer towards graduation. It is one of the most important things that we do here at the school. Because of our schedule four days a week, teachers will volunteer their time, sell packets, create these experiences that are only as limited as our imagination and willingness as teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
And experience is the right word for it. This is experiential learning at its best. I would suggest that these are some of the most memorable experiences that students will have as part of their secondary education. Just being able to delve deeply into some very meaningful opportunities.

Graham:
It is the most important part of everything that we do. Some of these students have not had experiences that have been very positive with schools, and they haven't had as much fun as they should have been having. So being able to really center everything that we do around bringing them in, having fun, giving them something that is going to serve them, and then pushing them towards where they need to get to. It's the best part of the job.

Anthony Godfrey:
Elective credit is an important part of it, but it's an enriching experience. That's what I think of most of all.

Graham:
Exactly. And we create and we write these packets so we can do any sort of credit that the teacher is licensed for. We align it to standards and we get to do so in a way that