Read Transcript:

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Matt Rogers: Welcome back to the Better Learning Podcast.

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My name is Matt Rogers, I’m your host today.

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Um, I’m here with a very exciting guest down in South Carolina, Andrew Jones.

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I’m gonna let him do a little bit of a, a debrief on who he is, who he’s with.

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Um, but we’ve got a very, very exciting episode, one that kind of touches on a topic that we don’t really get involved with as much.

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So I’m really excited to bring Andrew into this conversation and kind of dip into his expertise.

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Andrew, how you doing?

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Andrew Jones: I’m good.

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How are you, Matt?

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Matt Rogers: I’m doing fantastic.

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Doing fantastic.

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Well, Andrew, yeah, if, if you could, um, just give us a little bit about who you are, um, who you’re with, your role in the district

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Andrew Jones: Yes, sir. Well, thank you.

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Um, again, glad to be here.

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Um, thank you for inviting me.

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This is great.

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again, my name’s Andrew Jones.

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I’m the Executive Director for Safety Emergency Management for Rock Hill School District.

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Um, I guess the, the brief version of, of who I am and how I got here, ironically enough, I went to college to be a youth minister to start.

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I came back home, um, to a local town nearby here and, um, became a police officer.

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So I was in law enforcement for 11 years.

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The last four of those years I was a school resource officer and just loved it, and I kind of joke and that first week I was an SRO, I went
home and was having a conversation with my wife before we had kids and stuff, and I was like, “I need to be working with kids full-time.

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I know this is where I need to be.” Um, you know, we’re, we, we’re strong in our faith, so we thought about it, prayed about it, and, um, I went back to school and got my master’s degree in education.

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and then transitioned from an SRO position into a teaching position.

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I taught high school business and technology classes for four years.

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Um, and then continued my education, got a master’s degree… I’m sorry, got a specialist degree in education administration, and then was continuing with my doctorate and should be finished, but I’m not ’cause of COVID.

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but moved into an administrative role in another district as an assistant principal, school administrator.

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And then, uh, four years ago now, I came into Rock Hill School District as the Executive Director for Safety Emergency Management.

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Kind of moved all that, put it together with the law enforcement and the safety side with the education, and, um, it’s been an incredible journey, um, to be here, and I absolutely love coming to work and great team, great district every day.

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So yeah, thank you again for having me.

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Matt Rogers: That’s awesome, Andrew.

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Yeah, thanks for diving in.

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Yeah, four years, um, you’ve been with the district now.

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Um, I know a lot of the initiatives we’re gonna be talking about today probably really started about four years ago.

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So I’m just kind of excited to really, you know, dive into that path and, and, where you’re at today now with that.

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But before we get into that, um, because I’m a sports guru, um, actually for our audience, we were talking a little bit of sports beforehand.

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We’re coming off, uh, the weekend of the Memorial Tournament here in Columbus, Ohio.

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I’m based here in Columbus.

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Um, was fortunate enough to kind of go and see some of that really exciting stuff.

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I know, Andrew, you were talking about the Truist Championship that you were at, um, which is very awesome.

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So I wanted to ask a sports question, and if I’m not mistaken, Rock Hill is known as Football City USA.

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Is that correct?

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Is

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Andrew Jones: That is very correct, sir. Uh, we’ve got a very, um, very good football program in this area.

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All three of our high schools, Rock Hill High School, Northwestern High School, and South Point High School are all fantastic programs, fantastic coaches.

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Um, just the kids are amazing.

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They work really hard.

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Um, yeah, we’ve got more, students and, uh, student athletes that have made it to the NFL than any other, uh, city in the country, I believe is still the case.

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So yeah.

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Matt Rogers: Yeah.

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Yeah, that’s incredible.

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I mean, it’s actually kind of weird for, for me to– ’cause I actually just learned this, that it’s Football U- City USA, um, that it’s, that wouldn’t be in Texas.

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So that’s, that’s pretty incredible.

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It’s pretty incredible you guys have it.

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Andrew Jones: Florida maybe.

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Yeah, yeah.

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No, it’s here, right here in South Carolina, so

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Matt Rogers: That’s amazing.

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Yeah.

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So a-any names that, that you could throw out there for us of like maybe names maybe even I know?

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I’m kinda curious to

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Andrew Jones: Clowney, everybody knows him.

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He was probably one of our biggest, I think he’s, you know, the, the highest draft pick we’ve ever had.

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Um, Savon Gilmore, um, oh my gosh.

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Now if you, of course, if you asked me, like I can’t think of any, um,

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Matt Rogers: Yeah.

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Andrew Jones: the quarterback that was with Pittsburgh for a while.

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Oh my gosh, I’m drawing a blank on his name.

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I’ll think of it about halfway through and I’ll be like, “Oh yeah, it’s, uh, uh-”

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Matt Rogers: I don’t know if it would’ve been like Trubisky or,

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Andrew Jones: No, it was a young kid.

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He was filling in.

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The one with the, where the, the guy tried to hit him with his helmet.

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Matt Rogers: Oh, Mason Rudolph.

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Andrew Jones: Mason Rudolph.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Yes, Mason Rudolph

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Matt Rogers: Yeah.

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Well, I’m a Cleveland Browns fan.

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I said I, I’m here in Ohio, so I’m a Cleveland Browns fan.

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So that, that, uh, that one was– Yeah, I was watching that game when that happened, and that was a pretty crazy

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Andrew Jones: Yeah.

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Yeah

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Matt Rogers: not one that I’m, I like talking about, but, I don’t know.

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Yeah, now we’re talking about it, Myles Garrett, who actually performed that, he’s not even with the Cleveland Browns

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Andrew Jones: There you go.

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Yeah, he just, yeah, big grade there too.

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Yeah

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Matt Rogers: Yeah.

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Well, that’s awesome.

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Yeah.

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And, and I was kinda doing some digging.

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Um, you guys are the second-largest school district in York County, um, but also one of the largest in South Carolina as well.

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What’s, what’s kinda like the, you know, how many schools do you have in the district?

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How many students?

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just to kinda put it in perspective

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Andrew Jones: Yeah, there’s been, um, as you probably know, there’s been some decline in some areas.

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I don’t know if it’s like that for you guys up in Ohio, but we’ve had a little bit of a decline.

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We used to be the largest in York County, um, but now a neighboring district has got a few, a few more kids than us.

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Um, I think we’re in the sixteen thousand range, uh, sixteen to seventeen thousand now.

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we’ve got a couple schools that were closed that are kinda being used, so arguably we have twenty-six active locations to include some elementary schools, a child development center.

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Um, we’ve reopened a virtual school, um, uh, an alternative school, three high schools, uh, applied technology center, which is a fantastic program for our students, um, and five middle schools as well.

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So there’s a, you know, a lot of things going on into- including, as we mentioned earlier, the Carroll School, which I think we’ll talk about in a few minutes.

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Um, it’s a small little, one classroom, you know, building.

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Um, and I, I wish I knew more of the details and I could tr- try to get them for you, but, um, the history behind it, it’s an incredible place.

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Um, but that’s part of our program as well.

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So yeah, we’ve got, um, a lot of things going on, a lot of buildings, um, to include seven auxiliary buildings, operations, transportation, district office, um, the Bellevue Learning Center, all kinds of different things that, that we’re doing here.

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So yeah, yeah, a lot going on

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Matt Rogers: in- that’s incredible.

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Yeah, and I wanna dive into that, um, ’cause yeah, Andrew, you, you, you all have a lot of moving parts right now in, in the district.

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I know, um, for one, the, probably the biggest one on your plate right now is I know you all are pushing forward to an August 2026, if that, if that’s still the right timeline right now, but pushing for the new Sunset Park Elementary.

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Um, and I know you’re probably navigating, you know, a lot with, um, like you said, with the Carroll School, kind of preserving that historic, um, feel for the, for that school too.

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yeah, a- a- and then I believe, if I’m not mistaken too, you all have like a 10-year, $336 million facilities assessment plan that, that you are, are kinda navigating as well.

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So a lot of different things, um, that you are looking at.

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And from your role, um, you know, I do wanna kinda dive in a little bit to, um, how you’re prioritizing the, the designs of, basically what needs immediate impact a- and just kind of navigating that.

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Um, what, what does that look like for you as, as far as, uh, your role with some of these projects and, um, you know, just trying to make sure
that, you are being more innovative, but also trying to take into effect the, the safety and security side of things as well with your role

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Andrew Jones: Yeah, absolutely.

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Thank you.

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Um, we’ve been working really hard, like you said, with these projects.

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the biggest one, Sunset Park, um, Elementary School, um, th- that’s been going for a couple of years now.

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early on we had, uh, some very robust planning meetings on what it looks like from our perspective.

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I was a part of the committee, um, that, uh, took care of the RFQ and RFPs for the project to see who was gonna get the bid.

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a year, we went and visited locations, um, of, of current projects of all of the vendors and all the bids.

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Um, it was a fantastic, process just to be a part of and to learn and to grow in my own self.

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And like we were talking about earlier, from the safety and security perspective and safety emergency management perspective, you know, years ago, that was a piece that was forgotten, um, or, or was not as much of a consideration.

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Um, and nowadays it’s something that it is at the forefront, and I’m very appreciative to our district and our leadership that they wanted me to be a part of that process.

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So getting to be a part of that process and talk to, you know, the, the companies and the vendors and to, have the conversations with them and understanding that they know what CPTED is, and to have something

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Before people would be like, “What’s CPTED?” And being able to have, you know, crime prevention through environmental design and have that conversation with them and have somebody knowledgeable to, to work through that.

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And then as we chose a builder to be a part of, um, the process of, of how we’re designing it and where things are going and our access controls and, uh, windows and what those windows
look like, and if we’re gonna do impact resistant filming on those windows, and all those things that, you know, is important to me and it’s just one piece of the puzzle for everybody else.

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But to be a part of that process has been, I’m very thankful, and it’s been an incredible journey to be a part of that.

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So, yeah.

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Matt Rogers: Yeah, that’s incredible.

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Well, let’s, let’s maybe even take Sunset and, and kind of go back four years, cause that’s probably ar- around the time, like you said, when you were kind of starting this proc- process of kind of looking at this.

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Um, I, I guess tell me first, like, how, how you defined, um… And I’m not even sure who your architect partner was at the time or what your relationship was there.

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But when you sit down with that design firm or that design team, um, for the first time on a project like this, um, to now, like what, what does that process really look like, um, to making sure, you know, the safety requirements that you
all have in mind is, is really taken into consideration there, while also just making sure that the innovative design packages that they have in mind with their strategic plans, things like that, that that’s all, you know, in line too.

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So tell me, you know, just talk through that process a little bit for our audience.

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Andrew Jones: I mean, and it’s just like anything else.

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I mean, you have to have a, a partnership.

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Um, and that’s what we’ve learned, and that’s what I’ve appreciated so much, is they’re willing to listen.

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They’re willing to have those conversations.

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And from the very beginning, like I said, I was… I felt like I was a piece of it and I wasn’t an afterthought, and the safety was a focus.

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Because it’s a beautiful building, I’m very excited for it to open, but there’s a lot of glass and there’s a lot of windows, and, and, and I understand that from an educator standpoint.

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You know, the natural light is something that is, um, beneficial to children and learning, and I understand, you know, all those pieces, and we wanted to be able to have that for our students.

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But also in the mindset and through the lens of safety and, and, and designing it in a way that offers those benefits but also keeps them safe
and, and that, you know, to include impact-resistant filming or things like that that could happen or that could, um, be a part of the build.

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Um, and, and our partners were fantastic in, in listening to that piece, um, and being a part of that process.

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Like, I learned very ear- early on in my career, you know, like I was telling you earlier, the older buildings, I could walk around and, and l- see the problem places before they existed.

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Um, understanding there’s a choke point here, understanding there’s a blind corner here.

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There’s places that, um, needed attention, but it was the older builds.

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And to be on, on the front end of that, on this conversation, has been incredible.

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To, to say, “Look, we need to look at it from this perspective.” Um, and the design guys, they’re the experts and I trust them, but having a voice to be able to be a part of that, um, has been extremely beneficial.

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Matt Rogers: Well, yeah, that, that’s incredible, Andrew.

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Um, and I guess the question I have is, when people think of school safety, they often think of the extreme, right?

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And even myself, like I can even kind of, you know, fall, fall victim to that.

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Um, and, and it could be, you know, some of those worst case human threats situations.

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Um, but your team really manages everything from like even, you know, whatever it is, like a playground accident to, um, you know, weather conditions that, that may be, you know, threatening.

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you know, from your end, talk to me a little bit about some of the safety packages and things like that, that you are putting into this new school.

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maybe, maybe some different factors that as you’ve gone through this process that you’ve kind of learned along the way that, that are good, um, features for other districts that might be going through, this phase of their project as well.

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Andrew Jones: Yeah, absolutely.

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Yeah.

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And so as part of this process, obviously with, like I said, we have other buildings, but this one we wanted to be, um, our benchmark.

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We want… This is our newest building.

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We wanted to put, you know, all the bells and whistles, you know, th- within the budget, right?

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Um, that we could afford.

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Um, so with this project, there was a lot of things that we really sat down and were intentional about what we wanted to do with it, um, to include,
again, like you’re saying, my department is involved in a lot of things outside the traditional sense of what people think of safety and security.

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Um, we are responsible for all access control, so the doors, door locks, you know, the doorbell systems when you come up and push a button and you talk to the lady in the front or the gentleman in the front, like that’s all our systems that we utilize.

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We’re responsible for all the cameras, um, camera access servers.

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Um, not necessarily the IT servers, but the camera servers.

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We’re responsible for all of that.

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We’re responsible for the intercoms, um, the emergency communications throughout the building, um, district radio communications, you said, weather services.

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So when we were building this, we wanted to make sure that this is going to be, you know, the future.

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We’re looking 30, 40, 50 years from now saying, “This is what we want it to be.” So when we did that, we designed it with that in mind.

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Um, when we were doing access control, some of the things that we didn’t do before is we hardwired all of our doors through the access control instead of using batteries and things like that.

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Um, additionally, we’re gonna put all of those, um, IDF closets and, and, and our servers back to the generator, so if we lose power, we’ll still have access to those doors, we’ll still have access to those cameras and things like that.

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Which again, we’ve learned through the years that, uh, previously that wasn’t done, so we’re making sure we have that.

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All of our cameras, um, are state-of-the-art, um, AI cameras.

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I could put in search perimeters, you know, white male, brown hair, green shirt, and they will follow you everywhere you’ve been in the building.

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Um, including to coming up to the building, we could put parameters in and it could, uh, face identification and give us a notification that you’re coming to the building and you’re not supposed to.

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Um, so we’re very excited about some of the new technology that we’re bringing on board with this new school as well.

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Um, and just like I said earlier from the design perspective too, it just, it’s, it’s, it’s a whole different beast.

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but it’s beautiful and it’s amazing, and, uh, to be a student walking into this building, I couldn’t imagine the learning environment that we are creating for them.

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and to kind of prep or go back to what I was saying earlier, the design has so much to do with how these kids learn, for the positive and the negative.

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Um, we’re gonna have that beautiful space for them to learn, but also designing it to where kids, you know, have a place to learn and understanding that, that sometimes the behaviors are because of the environment, and we wanna make sure that they feel safe.

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I, I understand my job Students are not gonna learn if they don’t feel safe.

00:14:37.345 –> 00:14:39.515
Teachers are not gonna teach if they don’t feel safe.

00:14:39.845 –> 00:14:51.265
So anything I can do, my job as a support system and my department’s job as a support system to ensure that children have a safe place to go every day and that teachers have a safe place to be there to love their kids.

00:14:51.605 –> 00:14:55.315
Um, and, and that’s ultimately every day if I do that, then I’m successful

00:15:00.543 –> 00:15:05.323
You know, when we work with schools at K12, it’s not just about furniture or design, it’s about impact.

00:15:05.563 –> 00:15:09.733
Our radically student-centered approach puts students at the center of every decision.

00:15:10.043 –> 00:15:18.123
From that first conversation to the final walkthrough, we’re focused on creating spaces that actually work for the kids, the teachers, and the community.

00:15:18.403 –> 00:15:22.173
So if you’re looking to do more than just check a box on your next project, let’s talk.

00:15:22.423 –> 00:15:32.393
Visit k12.com, that’s K-A-Y-T-W-E-L-V-E.com, and see how we’re helping schools transform learning one student at a time.

00:15:32.733 –> 00:15:36.773
Because at K12, it’s not just about projects and furniture, it’s about purpose

00:15:42.056 –> 00:15:42.886
Matt Rogers: I want to hear from you.

00:15:42.886 –> 00:15:50.402
I know you said you, you all kind of did some, you know, visit some other campuses, other schools as you were kind of going on in the early stages of this.

00:15:50.702 –> 00:15:57.342
Um, and then you even mentioned too, like trying to pick and choose what are the best safety features, what are we gonna include, um, in our school.

00:15:57.532 –> 00:16:03.232
How did you really narrow down the selections of, of what you ultimately decided on, on putting into the new school?

00:16:03.442 –> 00:16:05.272
What, what did that process look like?

00:16:05.419 –> 00:16:15.409
for those that, that might be kind of navigating this, um, in our audience, what would you recommend as far as like, this is the process we went down and, and, and, uh, this is kind of how we narrowed down that selection process?

00:16:16.277 –> 00:16:17.347
Andrew Jones: Yeah, you can’t do it alone.

00:16:17.497 –> 00:16:18.997
I mean, that’s the biggest thing, right?

00:16:19.027 –> 00:16:27.310
Um, if they were to hand it to me and say, “Hey, do this,” it wouldn’t be as, as impactful and, and as well done and as prepared as it is now.

00:16:27.320 –> 00:16:28.960
We had so many eyes on this.

00:16:29.250 –> 00:16:31.170
Um, I was one small piece of the team.

00:16:31.260 –> 00:16:32.720
Uh, again, thankful to be on the team.

00:16:33.130 –> 00:16:39.300
We had operations, we had custodial, we had law enforcement, we had… I mean, it was such a great group of people.

00:16:39.300 –> 00:16:50.918
Finance, we had teachers, we had administrators, uh, we had parents, community members, uh, business partners that were all part of this committee, um, that we were actually able to all work together.

00:16:51.138 –> 00:17:07.286
Uh, we took two buses, Matt, two buses down to multiple schools in our area, and just spent the day there walking through, talking to the teachers and the
principals and saying, “Hey, what do you like? What do you not like? What would you… If you could go back now and start over, what would you do different?”

00:17:07.766 –> 00:17:10.146
Um, and that’s where we got a lot of our ideas from.

00:17:10.146 –> 00:17:22.446
And then coming back and sitting down as a group and, and, you know, filling out some surveys and, and just having roundtable discussions, again, with our, with our partners and our builders to, to say, “This is what we’re looking at.

00:17:22.446 –> 00:17:23.176
This is what we want.

00:17:23.186 –> 00:17:24.036
No, let’s change this.

00:17:24.066 –> 00:17:31.493
No, let’s do this.” And all of us coming together to build our unique little, our, our campus, our l- you know, little campus for, for our students.

00:17:31.503 –> 00:17:38.263
So it was… Again, that was part of the process and just looking through of what is gonna be a better fit here and a better fit there.

00:17:38.263 –> 00:17:40.173
It’s a unique design that I haven’t seen.

00:17:40.173 –> 00:17:43.523
It’s, um, it’s a more of a pod-type design.

00:17:43.628 –> 00:17:49.828
probably more familiar with it than I am even, um, just being kind of newer in the building aspect of that.

00:17:49.828 –> 00:17:57.248
But it was– it’s, it’s a beautiful design where there’s pods and, like, learning neighborhoods, and the kids have different classrooms inside the pods, and they can come out and have community.

00:17:57.678 –> 00:18:21.097
Um, it’s just a, a brilliant way to, to learn, to grow, especially for our younger children, especially for the elementary age, and just to build that community together and still, like I said, keeping it safe with, you know, the way we designed the
walls and changed the little thing, things like that so that, you know, in that event, what you were talking about earlier, in that catastrophe, that critical incident, the students still have a place where they can be safe, is that, perfect marriage

00:18:21.867 –> 00:18:22.187
Matt Rogers: Yeah.

00:18:22.287 –> 00:18:23.227
Yeah, absolutely.

00:18:23.247 –> 00:18:23.827
Absolutely.

00:18:24.081 –> 00:18:36.111
yeah, so now, um, looking at opening day, um, what’s, um– I always kind of like to, to look at like opening day, what is, you know, we, we kind of know at this point like what, what success looks like there.

00:18:36.111 –> 00:18:39.741
But I also kind of look at like the 20-year horizon, of this project.

00:18:39.741 –> 00:18:44.111
And, um, I know you kind of talked a little bit about your role and like what success looks like there.

00:18:44.111 –> 00:18:56.660
But looking 20 years from now, you know, if, if Rock Hill Schools, you know, any, any school that you look at in the district, if it’s
thriving, safe, um, and relevant in that community, what, what, what would that tell us about the hard choices that you’re making now?

00:18:56.660 –> 00:18:59.090
Like you said, making some of those like cuts on certain things.

00:18:59.260 –> 00:19:01.827
What like, what, what does that look like, from your standpoint?

00:19:02.475 –> 00:19:10.430
Andrew Jones: Yeah, I think, uh, you know, if you look 20 years from now, I, I think success is other schools and other districts wanting to come see what we did.

00:19:10.640 –> 00:19:21.640
Um, wanting to, to, to model what we’ve designed for our children, um, and, and what we put in place for our children to come and to feel safe and to learn.

00:19:21.660 –> 00:19:29.845
Um, yeah, anytime there’s a project, there’s gonna be, give and take and opportunities and things that you may not get the whole wish list and, and we didn’t.

00:19:30.112 –> 00:19:40.462
but I think prioritizing where the monies need to be spent, the, for the most bang for your buck, or like I told my boss, you know, are we getting the most squeeze for the juice, right?

00:19:40.492 –> 00:19:42.642
I mean, and that’s what I wanna make sure we’re doing.

00:19:42.682 –> 00:19:44.442
Um, there’s, you know, other things out there.

00:19:44.442 –> 00:19:47.242
I’m not a fan of just buying technology just for technology.

00:19:47.242 –> 00:19:54.905
I wanna buy things that are gonna be, you know, best practice and proven for our, for our campuses and, things that are gonna be easy.

00:19:55.185 –> 00:20:01.845
Uh, I don’t want something just for the sake of, of doing it, and now it’s more complicated for our teachers or more complicated for our administrators.

00:20:01.885 –> 00:20:04.615
Um, that was part of our goal when we’re designing that.

00:20:04.615 –> 00:20:10.455
And the, the front entry and, you know, the single point entry location, which is a big thing in school design.

00:20:10.455 –> 00:20:16.225
And the vestibules, I call them man traps ’cause that’s just what I’ve always called them, the vestibule areas and things like that.

00:20:16.575 –> 00:20:22.915
And designing that to where it is ease of flow for the public and for our school and our teachers and our administrators to where it’s easier, but it’s…

00:20:23.705 –> 00:20:28.145
The design is, is to a point to where it’s easy to navigate.

00:20:28.145 –> 00:20:36.955
The way finding is, is well done and, and easy for visitors and guests, and not only so they know where to go, but so they’re not in an unauthorized area, right?

00:20:37.005 –> 00:20:41.715
Um, and make it to where they, “Well, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be here.” Well, there’s a make it easy for you.

00:20:42.025 –> 00:20:56.515
And designing that in a sense where we can look back and like I said at the beginning, this is that model school, not only for us, but for other districts around the state and
around the country, that they can call and say, “Hey, we really wanna come see what you guys have done there because we’ve heard that it’s the best, best practice right now.”

00:20:56.883 –> 00:20:58.273
Matt Rogers: Well, yeah, that’s incredible.

00:20:58.273 –> 00:21:13.123
Um, and I, yeah, uh, it sounds like, being able to d- dip into some of the schools that, that you’ve been able to see kind of make those decisions for your community,
it sounds like, you know, you guys will have some, some really amazing features to, to kind of have, you know, host, um, some of those, um, sessions down the road.

00:21:13.123 –> 00:21:14.523
So, um, that’s great.

00:21:14.573 –> 00:21:22.657
Um, I guess looking ahead to, um, I mentioned, um, at the beginning of our discussion, you all have, I believe, uh, 336 million.

00:21:22.657 –> 00:21:23.237
Is that correct?

00:21:23.237 –> 00:21:28.093
Is that figure correct for, um, you know, other maintenance, you know, uh, initiatives as well?

00:21:28.307 –> 00:21:29.327
what does that look like?

00:21:29.367 –> 00:21:35.370
Um, and, and Do you have any lessons learned from this first time going through this to how you’re doing it now, um, looking forward?

00:21:35.660 –> 00:21:40.882
Um, what’s that process kind of looking like as you navigate what that challenge is gonna be, you know, looking like here in the

00:21:41.180 –> 00:21:41.930
Andrew Jones: Sure, sure.

00:21:41.930 –> 00:21:46.060
And so our assistant superintendent for operations is leading that project.

00:21:46.060 –> 00:21:48.150
I’ve been involved with some of it.

00:21:48.150 –> 00:21:49.480
It is in the earlier stages.

00:21:49.500 –> 00:21:57.420
Um, I do know that we are working with a firm to kind of build that plan out so that way it’s just, you know, not throwing something against the wall to see if it sticks.

00:21:57.420 –> 00:22:00.293
We wanna be very deliberate and, methodical about that.

00:22:00.693 –> 00:22:05.483
And they’re working through that, and we’ve done some, um, needs assessments and things for our buildings.

00:22:05.893 –> 00:22:10.513
Um, you know, having some older buildings, that is a challenge, and I do know those are gonna be prioritized.

00:22:11.033 –> 00:22:13.083
Uh, my understanding is, I believe they’ve…

00:22:13.933 –> 00:22:19.053
in the immediate, just for this summer alone, they’ve already released 10 million to, to get that part, part started.

00:22:19.633 –> 00:22:25.913
Um, I know a big portion of that is gonna be some of our HVAC systems, some of our roofing areas for some of our buildings.

00:22:25.913 –> 00:22:30.143
It’s not gonna be new builds, it’s gonna be construction… or not new construction.

00:22:30.153 –> 00:22:33.013
It’s gonna be, uh, just maintenance, upkeep, replacement.

00:22:33.053 –> 00:22:35.743
Some things that, that we really, really need right now.

00:22:35.917 –> 00:22:39.952
for the future, just building out that, goal, those plans, and making those goals for the future.

00:22:39.972 –> 00:22:41.272
Um, I know that’s a process.

00:22:41.272 –> 00:22:46.712
I’ve been involved in a handful of those meetings as well on, on kind of where we’re at in building that plan out.

00:22:46.712 –> 00:22:47.972
That is still in process.

00:22:48.196 –> 00:23:00.207
and without going, I guess, too far because I don’t have all the details, it is still a process and we’re excited to continue that journey, um, and, and to see where we are and, and, and to spend, that money responsibly for our community.

00:23:00.625 –> 00:23:06.105
Matt Rogers: well, thank you, Andrew, for, for kind of doing a deep dive, um, on, you know, current initiatives, future initiatives.

00:23:06.485 –> 00:23:16.085
Um, the way I always like to kind of tie this all back around, um, to kind of end this off is obviously everything you’re doing is, it aligns with the shirt that I’m wearing.

00:23:16.095 –> 00:23:21.665
You’re, you’re being radically student-centered with your approach and making sure that every decision is really for what’s best for students.

00:23:21.820 –> 00:23:29.030
but I wanna hear, I wanna ask you, um, ’cause I love to ask guests this, is how would you define radically student-centered in your own terms?

00:23:29.336 –> 00:23:34.416
as you kind of work on these initiatives, how do you kind of always keep that in the forefront for, for your decision-making process?

00:23:35.204 –> 00:23:35.584
Andrew Jones: Yeah.

00:23:35.594 –> 00:23:38.004
I mean, that’s why we’re here, right?

00:23:38.034 –> 00:23:41.315
Um, I, I think my journey, I still love kids.

00:23:41.477 –> 00:23:42.437
I love what I do.

00:23:42.487 –> 00:23:44.117
I loved my time as a SRO.

00:23:44.117 –> 00:23:45.347
I loved my time as a teacher.

00:23:45.907 –> 00:23:47.227
I loved my time as an administrator.

00:23:47.227 –> 00:23:51.177
I miss being in the schools every day, so I get there and, and get to be a part of that as much as I can.

00:23:51.617 –> 00:23:56.677
So, um, you know, as I mentioned before, my entire job is to be radically student-centered.

00:23:56.887 –> 00:23:58.487
Students aren’t gonna learn if they don’t feel safe.

00:23:58.487 –> 00:24:00.225
Teachers aren’t gonna teach if they don’t feel safe.

00:24:00.350 –> 00:24:07.490
Um, but I also understand that I’m one person, and I tell our team this, and I tell our teachers this all the time, like, none of us is as smart as all of us.

00:24:07.550 –> 00:24:08.670
I need their input.

00:24:09.030 –> 00:24:10.560
I need their perspective.

00:24:10.580 –> 00:24:11.880
I’m not in the classroom anymore.

00:24:11.880 –> 00:24:15.980
I need that teacher to say, “Hey, Mr. Jones, have you thought about this?” No, I haven’t.

00:24:16.270 –> 00:24:18.780
Um, I, I need that perspective.

00:24:18.899 –> 00:24:22.369
and, and we have those meetings with teachers, and we have those meetings with students.

00:24:22.369 –> 00:24:25.163
I just had a, student meeting the other day about some of this stuff.

00:24:25.163 –> 00:24:29.181
So, we have to be, uh, in partnership on.

00:24:29.421 –> 00:24:32.231
Um, and it’s one of the things that, that, that I love about this.

00:24:32.231 –> 00:24:42.108
And being that s- that radically student-centered, leads me back to me ensuring that we’re having those conversations and not just I’m on my own sitting over here.

00:24:42.178 –> 00:24:47.898
Um, you know, the safety aspect, you see it all the time, the, the, the critical incidences of the scary things.

00:24:48.528 –> 00:24:54.068
You know, I tell our team I, I refuse for us to be the next one they’re talking about because we didn’t do something.

00:24:54.808 –> 00:25:06.858
People say all the time, “Oh, we hope and pray.” Well, we hope and pray, but we’re gonna prep and plan, and we’re gonna do the things that
we need to do, and we’re gonna work hard, and we’re gonna do everything we can to ensure that our students and our staff are safe every day.

00:25:07.208 –> 00:25:19.328
Um, our goal, and I tell our team this too, we want to be the most prepared district that never has to experience a critical incident, and that starts with buildings, building designs, and what we’re doing on a daily basis

00:25:20.758 –> 00:25:21.328
Matt Rogers: I love that.

00:25:21.338 –> 00:25:26.788
And I love the, the two aspects you mentioned there, hope and pray, and then pl- uh, prep and plan.

00:25:26.788 –> 00:25:28.468
I, I love how you laid that out.

00:25:28.468 –> 00:25:34.301
So, well, for our audience, yeah, um, you know, super thankful to kinda get, um, introduced to Andrew.

00:25:34.321 –> 00:25:41.101
Um, for everybody who, who, uh, might know his name, he, he actually was a recent attendee of, was it one of the regional conferences

00:25:41.135 –> 00:25:42.238
Andrew Jones: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

00:25:42.278 –> 00:25:43.188
Yep.

00:25:43.188 –> 00:25:45.038
The one in Greenville, the southeast in Greenville?

00:25:45.134 –> 00:25:45.454
Matt Rogers: Yes.

00:25:45.514 –> 00:25:47.224
Yep, yep, the Southeast in Greenville.

00:25:47.224 –> 00:25:51.574
So, um, so yeah, you might have seen him in passing there if you were at that conference.

00:25:51.584 –> 00:25:57.444
For those, you know, around the country, maybe hopefully we might see you at one of the, the LearningScapes national conferences as well.

00:25:57.444 –> 00:26:01.704
So, um, but you know, super excited to kinda hear, hear more about what you’re doing.

00:26:01.984 –> 00:26:07.014
Um, also for our audience, um, we talked about Sunset, um, the Sunset Project.

00:26:07.014 –> 00:26:08.864
We also kinda dipped into a little bit about Carol.

00:26:08.864 –> 00:26:18.774
If you’d like to learn more about those projects, um, and more about that process too, we’ll, we’ll also kinda link some of those, uh, projects, um, from the Rock Hill website as well onto this episode for them to follow.

00:26:18.984 –> 00:26:23.574
Um, we’ll also have some of Andrew’s, um, you know, pages as well, um, on there as well.

00:26:23.574 –> 00:26:32.634
Uh, but Andrew, really appreciate you, um, you know, coming onto the show, talking about how you’re making a radically student-centered, um, approach and plan to, to the work that you do in the district.

00:26:32.944 –> 00:26:36.044
Um, any other final closing words you would like to provide to our audience?

00:26:36.604 –> 00:26:38.144
Andrew Jones: I mean, I think I covered it all.

00:26:38.144 –> 00:26:40.684
I mean, I, I, I guess that was, that was my spiel.

00:26:40.684 –> 00:26:45.704
I mean, kids are first and, and, and I love what I do, and I’m thankful that I get to do this every day.

00:26:45.704 –> 00:26:47.154
I can’t believe they pay me to do this.

00:26:47.164 –> 00:26:48.934
So, um, it’s amazing.

00:26:48.934 –> 00:26:54.074
And building the partnerships with, you know, our builders and our community and you guys, like it’s, it’s…

00:26:54.094 –> 00:26:55.014
This is what it’s about.

00:26:55.064 –> 00:26:59.084
Um, and, and being a part of, uh, of this, and I’m, I’m thankful to be a part of this.

00:26:59.094 –> 00:27:00.084
So thank you for having me today

00:27:00.880 –> 00:27:01.200
Matt Rogers: Yeah.

00:27:01.280 –> 00:27:01.740
Awesome.

00:27:01.950 –> 00:27:04.550
And for our audience too, um, like, share, comment.

00:27:04.580 –> 00:27:06.660
Uh, we always love to kind of get these episodes out.

00:27:06.950 –> 00:27:09.840
Uh, but Andrew, thank– Andrew, thank you again for joining us on the show.

00:27:09.850 –> 00:27:10.430
Appreciate it

00:27:10.488 –> 00:27:10.898
Andrew Jones: Thank you, Matt.

00:27:10.908 –> 00:27:11.508
I appreciate you

00:27:14.446 –> 00:27:18.906
The Better Learning Podcast is produced by Matt Rogers and edited by Kelly Jones.

00:27:19.586 –> 00:27:28.956
The views and opinions shared on this podcast are those of the individuals speaking and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of their affiliated companies, organizations, or associations