Triton Gives Back (#104)

Matt Fleck:
Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Inspiring School Counselor’s podcast. I’m Matt Fleck. Whatever term you use for this wonderful time of the year, it is often called The season of Giving. Giving is definitely the theme of our podcast today, as Aimee Portteus interviews three lively school counselors who have created a comprehensive service learning project that has become successful in so many ways. Here’s Aimee.  

Aimee Portteus:
Oh my gosh. I am so excited to be here today with my friends from Triton School Corporation. I know our listeners won’t be able to see you, but you are a stunning group of school counselors inside and out, and I thank you so much for being with us today. So, to begin with, can you just tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? I need you to share your name since there’s three of you, and they won’t know which voice goes to whom unless you tell us. And then tell us what role you play at Triton.  

Sarrah Arvesen:
Okay. I’m Sarrah Arvesen. I’m one of the school counselors at Triton Junior Senior High School. I was a resource teacher for 10 years, and then I went to a conference, fell in love with hearing about school counseling and jumped into that role. This is my third year now.  

Aimee:
Ashli, how about you?  

Ashli Faulkner:
I’m Ashli Faulkner. I was a teacher for 14 years and I was a junior high social studies teacher. When my good friend Sarrah became a school counselor, I started to kind of think along those lines and kind of jumped in feet first, or headfirst, maybe <laugh>.But this is my second year as a school counselor. I’m currently trying to finish up my grad degree in school counseling and yeah, it’s been a lot of fun.  

Aimee:
That’s awesome. So you guys were friends before you started counseling together?  

Sarrah:
Yep. Yep.  

Aimee:
Yeah, that’s always a plus. And speaking of friends, Stacy Sheetz, introduce yourself <laugh>. 

Stacy Scheetz:
Yay. Well, I’m the grandma of the group because I’m older, but, I was an adult probation officer for 14 years, and then I was a school counselor at Plymouth High School for 17 years, and this is my first year at Triton Elementary as an elementary counselor.  

Sarrah:
She’s like this giant ball of energy that just comes into our room  

Aimee:
Yes, she is!

Sarrah:
We know we’re gonna get things done when she’s with us.  

Aimee:
That’s right. I understand that you guys do a service learning project tha actually your corporation’s become kind of famous for around here. It’s called Triton Gives Back. Is that right? 

Sarrah:
So, Triton Gives Back was started as a way to just give our kids experiences and opportunities to serve and fall in love with serving. And it has been something that actually Ashli and I started as an idea, <laugh>, and we took it to Jeremy. And Jeremy, he’s our superintendent and if you’ve ever met Jeremy Riffle, he’s a go big or go home guy. And he goes, well, what about the whole corporation? And we were like, yeah, sounds like a great idea. Not realizing the magnitude of the project, but we did it and it turned out awesome. It’s a preschool through 12th grade day and it includes all the staff in the entire corporation, from cafeteria to custodians, to bus drivers. Everybody serves for a couple hours that day, and we all do something that impacts our community or in the surrounding communities.  

Aimee:
That’s amazing. So this is your third year that you’ve done it, is that right?

Sarrah:
This is our third year, but we actually have done four of them. Fall tends to work a little bit better than the springtime does, but I think one thing that is really exciting is a lot of our teachers have jumped on board to the point where they’ve actually inquired about us maybe trying to do two in a year, which we have not delved into yet, but, but maybe, you know, in the future, it just is exciting to actually hear that our, staff and students are that gung ho about serving and providing that service to our community that they’re interested in that.  

Aimee:
Why do you think there is such strong buy-in to this project?  

Sarrah:
I think that what we saw the first year, so the first year when we did this project, you know, everyone was like, yeah, sounds like a good idea. And then you had the group of people who were like, eh, one more thing to do and it takes away from the classroom. But after that day, I’ll never forget the first day that we did it and we got back to the school and buses and buses of kids were just coming into the building and everybody was smiling and hugging each other. Yeah. And it was very cool talking about how amazing it was going to this nursing home and they met this lady and they did this over here at the food bank and everybody there was just such a joy that came from it. And I’ll even tell you like tears from staff members here that were just like, I’ve never seen this student act this way. I’ve never been able to connect with this student before, you know, because they don’t do anything in my classroom. But I took them out into the community and I saw something else.  

Aimee:
You know, and as a former high school  counselor, I can picture it at junior high and high school, but I’m not picturing this project at elementary school. Stacy, tell me how that worked for your younger kids. 

Stacy:                                                                                                                                                                        Oh, it was great. Each grade kind of picked a project that they want to, you know, go with preschool. They colored photos and  our law enforcement came here that day and they went out to give photos that they colored. Our kindergartners do snacks for the dogs and cats at the Humane Society. So they go over to the high school to the kitchen and they make treats for the pets. We also bring in therapy dogs for them to play with after they make the treats. So they think that that’s really great. So each grade picked something that they did for the community.  Our fifth graders went to our retirement home where they played bingo with them and let them win door prizes and socialized with the residents there. So it was fabulous. I mean, it’s a lot of work. I don’t understand how Sarrah and Ashli have done this on their own for the last two years. It’s a lot of work, but boy, it feels awesome, you know, at the end to see everybody doing something for somebody else. 

Aimee:                                                                                                                                                            Absolutely. Do you guys have stories then, like where you can see the impact that this project had on a particular student or a staff member? A story that would say like, this is what we do and this is why it matters to us.  

Sarrah:
One that sticks out to me is we had a student this year that went to a local preschool and she was totally not, she was just like, oh, okay, whatever. We’re going to the preschool. And, and the point was that they go to the preschool to kind of introduce themselves to the kids. And you know, when little kids see the older kids, they get all excited, you know, they get to do fun things with them. And I don’t think she took into account how much she was going to make some of those little kids’ days, but when she got back to school, I kid you not, she ran into the office and she came in and she’s like, when are we gonna do this again? I need to go back and see him. This little boy was crying when I left, and there’s pictures of this little boy just bawling as she was leaving. This student in particular is just somebody who has not had an easy road in middle school and high school has struggled just kind of like finding her place in the building. And you could tell right there she was like, I found, I found my niche. I love working with kids. When can I go back there? Can we schedule another time? Just to see that excitement and the happiness that came from her was pretty cool. Yeah. And this particular school has a graduation ceremony at the end of the year and she asked if there was any way that they could attend the graduation ceremony so that she could see this young man graduate. I mean, it was just a really cool thing to see that impact. 

Ashli:                                                                                                                                                                     And even at that same preschool, there’s this young man and he is one of those that’s also like, you don’t see much out of him in the classroom whatsoever. But he went to that preschool and was interacting with the little kids and his teacher just came in and completely sung this young man’s praises about how she was so impressed with how he handled himself and he just jumped right in and the little kids loved him. And the smile on his face working with those kids was something that she thought she would never see. Those are the stories that you hear and the impact that you see that just really warm your heart and it makes it worth it.  

Aimee:
Absolutely. Have there been particular struggles you’ve faced and how did you persevere through those?  

Sarrah:
I think with any program and it’s every year, you know, we’ll have the same thing where you will have those few people who do not buy in. And it’s almost like you wanna prove to them like, this is why you need it, this is why it’s going to work for you. And, um, we struggle with that. That is something, there’s a few people who just don’t love the program like we do. I think we got a serious buy-in though this year because we have one teacher who, and I love this person because they are all in, they’re great teacher, but when it comes to doing some of the extra stuff like with Trojan Wars or Triton Gives Back, like sometimes they just were not 100% on board. She took her class to the Bread of Life food pantry this year. And I think she’s just sold, you know what I mean?  

Ashli:
They had such a great experience working with the people there and the kids did such a great job at that particular event and I don’t think that that’s gonna be an issue with her anymore. I think the buy-in is there and she sees the value of it, which is awesome. That’s the one thing that we’ve really tried to do, is make it so that each person is responsible for their group, it becomes their event, not our event. It is their event and it’s something that they become passionate about themselves. And I think, Stacy, you saw that with the fourth grade this year when they took over Riley’s, like now they’re all about that, right?  

Aimee:
Yes. Yeah. Well, girls, I really appreciated talking to you about this. Um, I told you that one way we like to end our segment is by doing rapid fire questions. So we’re getting ready to do that. Are you ready for this? You each are going to answer my question very briefly. Very briefly. And I think I’ll tell you that we’re gonna go in order of Sarrah, Ashli, Stacy, because that way you’re not stepping on each <laugh>. Gotcha. Okay, here we go. Rapid fire questions. Sarrah, you begin. Who’s your favorite superhero?  

Sarrah:
Amazon. Amazon Prime.

Aimee:
<laugh>.  

Sarrah:
It’s a superhero to a mom, I’m just saying.

Aimee:
Yes. <laugh> Ashli, who’s your favorite superhero?  

Ashli:
My Lord and Savior. Jesus <laugh>.  

Aimee:
Very nice. I like that. 

Stacy:
Great. And I’m gonna follow this up with Ironman because Robert Downey Jr. Duh. And his outfit, I don’t even know what he stands for, but I just love Robert Downing Jr. 

Aimee:
So I’m so disappointed. I was pretty sure you were gonna say Aimee Portteus, but hey…

Aimee:
What question or statement from a student annoys you the most?  

Sarrah:
Um, when we’re scheduling? Can you tell me who’s in that class? Who teaches that class?

Aimee:
<laugh>. Ashli, how about you?  

Ashli:
Um, I wanna switch my class because the lunch that they have,   

Aimee:
I used to tell kids I haven’t had lunch since 1985. Yeah. <laugh>. Stacy, what’s your statement that you hate? 

Stacy:
Well, I don’t hate anything at the elementary cuz I love all these children, but as a high school counselor, when it was college application time, they’d be like, uh, Mrs. Scheetz, I don’t know how to fill out this application. Okay, what don’t you know how to fill out? Well, I, I don’t know. I don’t even know where it is. Like, oh my gosh, you haven’t even worked on the college application. The first question is name like, what do you mean you don’t know how to do it? So <laugh>, those are my, those are my frustrating things. 

Aimee:
Absolutely. Oh my. Sarrah, what candy do you have in your office right now?  

Sarrah:
Uh, chocolate. We have uh, two jars of chocolate on our desk.  

Aimee:
Ashli, are you in the same office or you, do you have different candy? 

Ashli:
I’m in the same office and I have chocolate and I think maybe there might be some Jolly Ranchers. We’re kind of known as the Jolly Ladies around here because we usually have Jolly Ranchers on our desk too.  

Aimee:
<laugh> Jolly ladies. I like that. <laugh>. Stacy, what candy do you have on your desk? 

Stacy:
I have Tootsie Rolls because I like them. So I mean for me I get the candy that I like.

Aimee:
Sarrah, what’s the most unique job you’ve ever had? Other than being a counselor?  

Sarrah:
I worked at a landscaping company and that’s where I decided that I never wanted to do outdoor work in my life.  

Aimee:
<laugh>. How about you Ashli?  

Ashli:
I’m a loser and my jobs have pretty much been in the school. Um, I did work for my aunt one summer, actually a couple summers when I was in high school and that was okay. But um, I was a varsity girls basketball coach for three years, so I would say that is pretty interesting at times.  <laugh> 

Aimee:
<laugh> interesting quote unquote. Yes. <laugh>. Yes. How about you Stacy Sheetz? 

Stacy:
Oh my. I worked at a 3D department store. You probably don’t even know about 3D department stores? It was like the mini Walmart back day <laugh> and I worked in the automotive section, which was hysterical because I couldn’t tell you a wiper blade from a I don’t even know. But that was my job. Uh, the summer before I went to college, I worked at 3D department store in the automotive section.  

Sarrah:
I bet you did a great job.  

Stacy:
Right. People’s cars probably were dying because I was giving them the wrong thing. I don’t know.  

Sarrah:
How many times did Tracy have to come out?

Stacy:
<laugh> A couple times. Just a couple times actually. Just a couple. 

Aimee:
This is honestly something I didn’t know about you. That’s a riot I love. Yeah. Oh yeah. All right, last one. If you could meet one famous person, who would it be, Sarrah?

Sarrah:
Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks. He is like my person. Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Aimee:
Ashli, how about you? 

Ashli:
Michael Jordan. I am a humongous and always have been a humongous Michael Jordan fan. I kind of bleed basketball, so… 

Aimee:
Stacy Sheetz, who would you like to meet?  

Stacy:
Well, God rest her soul, Queen Elizabeth is who I’d like to meet. I would love to meet Queen Elizabeth. So she would have been my person. 

Sarrah:
Awesome. I was waiting for Robert Downey Jr. Okay.  

Stacy:
Well, you know, I thought I’d try to be professional on my person to meet. I just was going with the superhero and the appearance for Robert Downey Jr.  

Aimee:
Girls, you are way more fun than I deserve on a Monday morning <laugh>. Well, thank you for being with us.

Matt:
All three of these wonderful school counselors have said they would be more than happy to email or chat with listeners about how they started and made Triton Gives Back the successful program that it is today. You can find their contact information and pictures of each on our podcast website@inspiresuccess.org slash podcast. And if you enjoyed the RapidFire questions at the end, click on the link to the inspiring school counselor’s form on the right hand side of our podcast website, which will allow us to possibly contact you or a future podcast chat. It’s all at inspiresuccess.org/podcast. And one more quick thing, it is the season of giving. So if you have a moment to rate our podcast on your app, whatever you’re using, it will be like a holiday gift to us. So thank you in advance and have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any other title you use for this joyous time of the year. So long.