WEBVTT

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and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened, the

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podcast that features folks from all walks of

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life telling us one true childhood story and

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how that event, that experience has impacted

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who they are today. I'm your host, Jay Rehak,

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and anybody who's listened to me knows I've had

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my share of childhood experiences. Some of them

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were pleasant, a lot of them weren't so great,

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and a few were actually traumatic. But in my

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life, I've tried to think that everything that's

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ever happened to me has made me a better person

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and My children to tell you that's absolutely

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not true and other some of my friends tell you

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the same thing, but that's what I like to think

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so Today I have as my guest Katie Todd Katie

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is an award -winning elementary school music

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educator children's music artist and mother of

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two beautiful girls Welcome to the show, Katie

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Todd. Hi, Jay. Happy to be here. Well, thank

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you so much for coming on the show, Katie. One

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of the things that I didn't really mention in

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the intro is that you're a member of the Children's

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Music Network, I believe. And that's how I know

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you or know of you through people that my wife,

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who is also a children's musician, knows. And

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so I was connected to you. Via a friend of ours

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mutual friend of ours by the name of Jane Arsham.

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So I thank her for Introducing me to you and

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I look forward to hearing your story So are you

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ready to tell it? I'm ready All right, Katie.

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I'm gonna mute myself. Take it away Katie Todd

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So my full name is Katherine. And every time

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I walked into a classroom, our teacher would

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start by reading through the roster and saying,

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so -and -so's here. Correct me if I'm wrong.

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Is this your name? And so every year, they'd

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say, Katherine cries. And I would say, I actually

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go by Katie. But in second grade, for some reason,

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for the first time, I decided, no, I'm not going

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to correct my teacher. No one calls me Katherine.

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But this once, I'm going to go by Catherine.

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That's how second grade is going to be. And so

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all of second grade, everybody called me Catherine.

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Mr. White was my teacher, and he was a young

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teacher. I think it was his fourth year of teaching,

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but he was exceptional. And not because I was

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the best at spelling or that I knew every single

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state and capital, although he did make sure

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I knew those things. It was because he cared

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about every single student in a unique way and

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made sure that when we were at school, we enjoyed

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being there. It wasn't that we just had to sit

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still or learn how to follow the rules or make

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sure that we always got an A on every paper.

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It was that we were valuable simply for being

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in the classroom with him and with all of our

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classmates. I distinctly remember being in the

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hallway on a bathroom break. And it's a bathroom

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break you're just supposed to stand there you're

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in second grade wait your turn when you're done

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you wait until everyone else is done and we all

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go back in the classroom but it wasn't just a

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bathroom break. Mr. White made it a roller coaster

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ride. Literally. We would all be in our line,

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and then he would stand at the front of the line,

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and we'd all be on an imaginary roller coaster,

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and we'd lean this way, and we'd lean this way,

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and we'd have to silently scream as we pretended

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to go down the hill. And it was the best thing

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to do while you were just waiting for everyone

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to get their drink and go to the bathroom. It

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was so much better than telling everyone to be

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quiet or playing the quiet game. It was interactive.

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It was fun. It was using your imagination. And

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it... made second grade so memorable. He made

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us all feel special. And because of that, I was

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so significantly impacted. And that's my story.

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Well, I was a school teacher for 1 ,000 years,

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actually 36. And so I always like to hear stories

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of teachers who impacted young people. So how

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do you think, Katie, or should I call you Catherine,

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how do you think? That second grade experience

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has impacted who you are today. So I will say,

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I went on to have a third grade teacher that

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was excellent and a fourth grade teacher was

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excellent. And in our district, that one building

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housed second, third and fourth grade. And when

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I left the building after fourth grade, I knew

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in my mind, I always wanted to come back. Like

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that was just the best place to be. So I was

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going to be a teacher. I was going to be an elementary

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school teacher, and I stayed in touch with Mr.

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White. And in high school, I said, hey, Mr. White,

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he was teaching fourth grade by that point. Can

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I come observe you teach just to confirm this

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is what I want to do? And I went and I observed

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him teaching and I left that classroom after

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observing and said, oh my gosh, this is not what

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I want to do. I do not want to have to memorize

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historical facts. I do not want to teach your

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kid how to do math. I do not want to have to

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check spelling papers all day. This is not what

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I want to do, but it is where I want to be. and

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I was in choir and I was in band and I'd always

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enjoyed music. So I thought, okay, so I need

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to pivot. I will be in elementary, but I'm going

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to do it with music because I can use music to

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make the kids feel as valued as Mr. White did

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when I was in his class. But not only can I do

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it for one class, I can do it for a whole school

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of kids and see them for years. So I went to

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school. I got my music education degree. I got

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my master's in music education. And I was so

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excited. I got my first job at an inner city

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school in Wichita. And I was thrilled. I got

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to know all the kids. I got to teach them how

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to sing, how to play, how to have musical experiences

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that they would never forget. And then my second

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year of teaching, I'd already told my principal

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at this school, hey, I'm committed to next year.

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I have no plans to leave. And then who calls

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but Mr. White? and he is now a principal. And

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he said, hey, just so you know, I have an opening

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in my district and I think you need to come work

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here. To which I immediately said, yes, tell

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me more. And then he said, it's a traveling job

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where you get to go to four different elementary

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schools every single day and teach music. I said,

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oh, actually, I get to stay in one building right

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now. and know all of my kids and all of the staff,

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and it is much easier. That does not sound like

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the job that I want." And he said, well, it won't

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last forever. I said, how long will it last?

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He said, I don't know, but you should just take

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my word for it. Just come back. I said, okay.

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So I spent three years traveling every day between

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four different schools and taught and got to

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know the staff at all of those buildings. And

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even though it wasn't easy, Having to get to

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know four different sets of staff and all of

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the kids and also being very unknown because

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you're not really a part of any community building

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was not easy. But at just the right time, I got

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the call from Mr. White and he said, the permanent

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teacher, so that I was a traveler, I would cover

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like two classes where there was another teacher

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who covered all the classes all day that were

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left. I just had to do the filler job. Well,

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the teacher at his school was retiring and would

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I like the job? And the timing was crazy because

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I was literally a week away from having my first

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child. And so I thought about it for just a split

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second and I said, I may go into labor because

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of all of this, but yes, I will take this job.

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Let me have my baby first and then I'm going

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to come back. And now I get to teach in the school

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where I attended second, third, and fourth grade

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and fell in love with elementary school for the

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principal who was my second grade teacher. And

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I still get to watch him impact kids every day.

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And I get to impact kids every day. and the joy

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and the freedom and the feeling of being valued

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that he as a principal can share with his staff

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and feed to the kids and allows me to give to

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the kids is just beyond measure. It is a joy

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to come to work every day. And sure, there's

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hard days. I mean, no job is perfect. But when

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I get to come here and do what I love with people

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who I know support me, who have known me since

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I was eight years old, it's just incredible.

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Wow. I really don't know too many people who

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have that type of experience where they go back

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somehow, you know, there's the old line, you

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can't go home again. The idea that somehow if

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you return to your original place, it won't be

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good enough or something, there'll be some...

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you know, some sadness, but it sounds like you

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actually circled back and you absolutely sound

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joyous in your position right now. And it sounds

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like you're really happy with what you do, which

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is, I won't say it's rare, but not a lot of people

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have that energy, I would say, with their employment.

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I wish it were so. I enjoyed being a teacher

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in my life, but I didn't go back to my... my

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school to do it, but that's wonderful that you

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were able to do that and you're still connected

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to Mr. White. Is he in any way connected in your

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life and on the other way? Did you name many

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of your kids after him or anything like that?

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No, I didn't, but he does know them very well

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and they come and talk to him in the mornings

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and he's very much aware of our personal life

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and our work life and is always supportive. He

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is a principal who puts family first, which We

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all as a staff really appreciate and it motivates

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us to be here and do our jobs and also to take

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care of ourselves. So we're the best selves for

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the kids that we need to teach and take care

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of. Fantastic. Well, do your children go to that

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school or are they not old enough yet? I have

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a first grader and she goes to the school across

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the street. OK, so she gets to be here with me

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in the morning and my staff knows her and I bring

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her back over in the afternoons. So they do know

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her, but she does go to a different school. All

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right. Well, listen, I really like the story

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because it's a happy one and I usually don't

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get happy stories to be honest with you Most

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of my most of my guests tell me some trauma and

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yours is actually impactful But in a positive

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way I was I'm flashing back to my own second

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grade experience with Sister Mary Jane France

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is telling us to be very quiet in the hallways

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and you know going to the bathroom You couldn't

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even make sounds during that time and this kid

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mr. White with the roller coaster trying to keep

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you entertained that is pretty Brilliant, and

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I can see where it could be In a way something

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that you would carry with you the rest of your

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life and say I want to be like that So that's

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hats off to Mr. White. Yes, absolutely. Well,

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thank you for being on the show, Katie. Thank

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you so much for having me. It was a treat. All

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right. Well, that's our show. Katie Todd, thank

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you for the happy story. Inspirational. I still

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kind of want to give a special shout out to Mr.

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White because it seems that you have somehow

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magically found a way to be happy in your job

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at the same time. inspiring other people, which

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is a wonderful thing. And I think that has to

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be, to some extent, a consequence of a good second

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grade teacher. Thank you, Katie, for what you're

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doing. You're welcome. I'm going to end this

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show a little differently, folks. Usually I end

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with my theme song. This time, we're going to

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change it up a little bit. We're going to end

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with the Katie Todd original. So until next time,

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this is Jay Rehack asking you all to please stay

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safe out there and try not to hurt anybody. Tickety,

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tickety, tickety, tickety wanted to be free.

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Tickety, tickety, tickety, tickety couldn't wait

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to see what's outside the shell that seems to

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be surrounding me. Said the tickety, tickety.

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Tickety, tickety, tickety, tickety hatched a

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plan. Was it big or small? It was so small. Hmm.

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Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, thought

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it would be bigger. Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee,

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chickadee, more than just a sliver. I worked

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so hard, I did my best, why didn't it deliver

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more? Chickadee, chickadee, you got this, she

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wins. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Until she...

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Scratch, scratch, scratch.