Point of You - Tech Talk with Mr. Paul

Jonah Chadwin, Dhruv Singh

In this episode, staffer Dhruv Singh interviews Mr. Paul about his experience as a Media Center specialist, Assistant Director of the marching band, and Taylor Swift fan. Listen on Spotify here!

Dhruv Singh: Hello, and welcome to Point of View where we give students a place to listen, learn and lean in. I'm your host, Dhruv Singh, and today we'll be interviewing Mr. Paul, the media specialist here at Northview. So Mr. Paul, a lot of people might have seen your face before, when you help with tech issues and stuff, but I'm not sure that everyone really knows what your role is. So do you mind going into that a little bit?

Mr. Paul: Okay. Which part of my role that's- I do a lot.

Dhruv: So like, what is the main job description for media specialists?

Mr. Paul: Okay. Well, job description-wise specific and official, Fulton County changed this to media and educational technology instructor a couple years ago. So that's a nice way to say that we're here to help with students and teachers' needs in media and technology. Media being books, internet, video, audio, pretty much anything, and then technology, the obvious things. We do everything from the personal devices. We have recording equipment, video, and audio, all that stuff that we check out and help people with. But in the media side of it, I get to curate the list of books that we buy, and I get to decide which books need to go, and which books need to stay. And by mean to go, I mean, old and not used- not 'this is controversial.' No, no, no we don't do that. So I get to do that. And that's really exciting. And I really like that.

Dhruv: So how did you end up in this position? Is it like you just liked media and just kind of naturally filled this role? Or was it something you actively sought out? Or?

Mr. Paul: It's, I kind of fell into it? My story is a long winding path.

Dhruv: If you want to go into that, we'd love to hear it.

Mr. Paul: Sure!

Dhruv: How did you end up?

Mr. Paul: Well, I graduated high school convinced I was going to be a doctor. And then Freshman chemistry happened and that was wrong. So no matter how easy and great you think chemistry is in high school, wait till college. Don't be afraid it's fine. So then I had already decided to major in history with pre med because pre med is not a major. A lot of people major in bio or genetics or biochem, something like that. But I loved history always did. So I majored in history. I ended up getting that history degree. And then the financial collapse of 2007 happened and there were literally no jobs for people with just history degrees. So I went back to school, my now wife, then girlfriend, and her parents convinced me to give teaching a shot. And you know, it sounds different. My parents have been telling me that since I was 14. And you know, you just got to hear it from somebody else. So they convinced me to give it a shot. And I got my social studies education degree. And I taught everything you can teach in social studies for two years. But by the end of that second year, I knew that in the classroom was not where I belonged. I love education. And I love to read, and I'm good at technology. And I like talking to people about books and technology. So I went for the media specialist role at a master's degree. And there it is.

Dhruv: So and then on top of the media specialist stuff, you're involved with a lot of extracurriculars. So do you mind going through some of those?

Mr. Paul: Yeah, absolutely. The one that I love the most and takes up the most of my time is marching band. I was involved in band from the time I was 10 years old until now. And I was lucky enough my second year here that I went and talked to Mrs. Dickerson, the band director, and asked if she needed any help, and she was like 'oh my god, please come help.' So I'm lucky enough toI'm one of the few folks that gets to be an assistant marching band director without a music degree, which is pretty rare. And it's an excellent situation. I'm very lucky to be here. And I love working with the marching band and doing that. So that takes up most of my time. And it's where my heart is outside of the library. But I also have sponsored a lot of clubs. I restarted Model UN here in 2014 and passed that on when I had a kid because it takes up so much time. And so do kids. Gosh, oh, I sponsored the book club here, which is natural for a librarian. We had one when I got here and I kept that going for a couple of years and it just kind of- interest waned. So just as you know, if students aren't interested in it, then it's not gonna be great. So I let it pass and then this year, a couple of students approached me and asked if I was starting another one, so I was very happy to do that. This year, we've also started a Makerspace club. Some students approached me that had obtained some 3D printers and other making equipment through a charity they were working with during the pandemic to make PPE. And they wanted to start a Makerspace club here where students can come and just make things with 3D printers, laser printers, CNC machines, all that kind of stuff. So we do that and we meet every Tuesday and just build things and cut things and burn things and it's great.

Dhruv: To go back to marching band, so assistant director, what exactly does it entail? During the season and stuff like that.

Mr. Paul: I do basically whatever Mrs. Dickerson needs me to do. We have instrument specialists for each instrument, so I don't need to help with that. But well, what we don't have are marching technique specialists. So we have Mike Rostin is a former student of Mrs. Dickerson, and so he is an alumnus of Northview High School and teaches music in Cherokee County, but he comes and helps us with visuals, but I do more with the one-on-one on the field, helping with marching technique and helping people do that. And then I do logistics, and just really anything that's needed.

Dhruv: Do you have any thoughts on the season as it has just wrapped up? How marching band did or any thoughts? The marching band or the football team? The marching band or we can stay away from that.

Mr. Paul: We had a really good year this year. We were actually very pleasantly surprised, because you know, after the pandemic, a lot of bands like Milton typically has 200 people in their band or more. They were down to 130 this year, and we usually march round 121, 140. So we were afraid that we'd be down around 80, 60. But we had 109 people come out. It was great. You could tell that everybody, directors, students, everybody was so happy to be there because everybody was so much more focused than we've ever been. And I think we had one of our best seasons we've had since I've been involved with it.

Dhruv: Yeah, you can really hear it come out when they are playing during games and stuff. It was a lot of fun.

Mr. Paul: Thanks!

Dhruv: And you said you have a background in playing music right? Did you play music during college?

Mr. Paul: Oh yeah, I marched in the marching band at UGA for five years, you know, super senior. Gotta get one more in. And I marched in high school and played in concert bands in elementary.

Dhruv: What instrument did you play?

Mr. Paul: Saxophone and French horn and bass drum.

Dhruv: Okay, woah, that's quite a few.

Mr. Paul: Yeah. I'm sure you could tell I have eclectic tastes, I could never pick what I wanted to do for a living because I couldn't decide what I liked the best and I couldn't pick which instrument I wanted to play because I couldn't decide which I liked the best.

Dhruv: Yeah, that's a big reason I thought interviewing you would have been fun for this because I've seen you around the school just doing whatever really you like helping out with devices and then one day you were like offering to help out with the Bolt and stuff like uploading to YouTube and then you were like doing 3D printing. And I was like, he probably has an interesting job. Is there a reason why you pick up so many clubs? Do you just like seeing students do this stuff? Or is it just some of your interests?

Mr. Paul: It's a good mix. I love the day to day of my media specialist position. But the thing I miss the most from being a classroom teacher is forming relationships with students. It's hard in a librarian role to meet and really get to know students because I see 1000 kids a day instead of 120 and maybe 150. Look at the other teachers in the room. So it's hard to get to know kids so that's one of the reasons I wanted to get involved in band and clubs and things. I enjoy the specific activities because I didn't seek out clubs that I would not enjoy participating with. That would be no fun at all. Why would I spend my extra time doing that? So I find the stuff that I like and kids that are interested in that too and it gives me- I really enjoy it. Yeah, it's a great way to connect.

Dhruv: And then some more like simple questions since you're a media specialist you'd probably have some opinions on this. Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?

Mr. Paul: Ugh, you ask the hardest ones. Oh gosh, favorite movie I mean can watch Star Wars over and over forever you know.

Dhruv: Classic.

Mr. Paul: I'm a librarian nerd for life.

Dhruv: And then a favorite band or musician? You have a background in music.

Mr. Paul: Favorite band- currently, man I love Jason Isbelle he's great. You know Jason Isbelle?

Dhruv: I don't know if I know on the top of my head.

Mr. Paul: Sure, you know he's more new age Southern rock kind of thing. A little country, little Rock that's great. Of course I listened to Taylor's version of the Red album cuz you know you have to.

Dhruv: It was great.

Mr. Paul: And it was really solid and Silk Sonic just dropped their album and that was really well done. And you know, I like a little bit of everything.

Dhruv: Yeah, exactly.

Mr. Paul: Outkast, love Outkast. Outkast might be my favorite group ever. They're timeless.

Dhruv: There's some good opinions here Mr. Paul.

Mr. Paul: I do my best.

Dhruv: And then do you have a favorite book as a librarian?

Mr. Paul: Favorite book? I don't know if it's a favorite. But I tend to read 6, 7, 8 books at a time.

Dhruv: Oh wow.

Mr. Paul: Just because when you're in a different place you want to read a different kind of book. I usually have two nonfiction, a couple of fiction, and maybe a biography or something going on. That's nonfiction but. Something I always have going when I need something to decompress and not think all that hard is the Harry Potter series. It's always going. I just finished seven for, I don't know, 100th time. Who knows? But I just read that because some of the stuff I read, you know, there's lots of heavy books out there that are very much worth reading, but they can drain you so you need something to lighten it up. So I guess that's probably my favorite because that's what I read the most.

Dhruv: Yeah, the fun Star Wars, Harry Potter the fun classic stuff.

Mr. Paul: Absolutely.

Dhruv: Always fun.

Mr. Paul: Oh, Harry Potter is classic. Oh my god. Might have made you feel a little bit. Oh, you came out when I was in middle school? Oh my lord.

Dhruv: Anything else you want to talk about? Any hobbies or interests that you dive into outside of school?

Mr. Paul: Really love to travel. Travel to hike a lot.

Dhruv: Oh, hiking.

Mr. Paul: Yeah, my wife and I love to hike. My wife, my brother in law, my mother in law, and I are on a quest to go to every major league baseball stadium. We've been to 22, getting there. Very close. San Francisco highly recommend their ballpark. Chicago and Boston are amazing too. And you know, Truist down the road's not bad either. But yeah, we're huge baseball fans, we do that. And 2017 was our big one. We did a two week road trip and hit five stadiums in the Midwest.

Dhruv: That's a cool hobby. It's a cool thing to talk about.

Mr. Pau: I recommend it. We do a lot of credit card points. We kind of game the system to travel on a teacher's budget. So I taught a course to my mother in law's friends one time on that. So I mean, once y'all graduate if you can be responsible with a credit card we can talk about how to game the system and travel. Travel is, I can't recommend anything more to anybody in their life. Make sure you see other things. Everything's different and it just enriches it.

Dhruv: You heard it here. Come to Mr. Paul, if you want tips for traveling on a budget.

Mr. Paul: Absolutely.

Dhruv: Okay, so this concludes our interview with Mr. Paul. Thank you so much for listening.

Mr. Paul: Thanks for having me.

Dhruv: For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website nhsmessenger.org and follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook at @nhspointofview for updates and new episodes. I'm your host Dhruv Singh, and this has been Point of View.

Point of View - Interview with Downey

Jonah Chadwin, Dhruv Singh, Caleb Smith, Suhani Mahajan

In this episode, Point of View interviewed principal Brian Downey, asking student submitted questions. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music!

Caleb: Hello, and welcome to Point of View, where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I'm your host, Caleb Smith, and today I'm very excited to be here with our principal, Mr. Downey, to ask student submitted questions.

Caleb: As our first question, what was the hardest thing about being a principal during COVID-19?

Mr. Downey: Wow. So, Caleb, first, thanks for having me on board here. I'm excited to have a conversation with you and everybody else. The hardest thing for COVID-19 is really two parts to that answer. One is that the students weren't physically in the building and when you're not physically here, it's so hard to develop relationships with kids, and really that's the best part of my job is working with the kids every day, kind of like we are now. The second part is that so much of what we have been dealing with is outside of my control. So, you know, we have to make decisions, and we have to carry out decisions that others make, based on information that we just don't have control over. So oftentimes, it's just very frustrating for everybody involved, and I end up having to make some decisions that I know impact people differently, and there's really just no good answer or right answer through all of this. So, it certainly has been hard.

Caleb: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you, all right for the second question.

In terms of future years after the pandemic has ceased enough for a new normal of learning, what future changes will the school be adding, if any, to be prepared in case this ever happens again?

Mr. Downey: Well, it's certainly the biggest learning piece that we had, is that we can actually still in some manner, shape or form carry on with teaching and learning in a remote setting. Yeah, it certainly isn't perfect yet. I don't know if we'll ever get to perfect, but we can certainly do enough to maintain the learning. I think the changes that we're looking for in the future is really going to be centered around the learning platform that we use. Going forward. Right now, we've been leveraging Microsoft Teams, whether or not that continues beyond this year. I don't know yet. But that is something that we certainly have learned to master and to take advantage of. So even now, when we have kids that are out and that are sick, they should still be able to access their learning, without physically being in the building.

Caleb: All right, and as we're getting into the school and the students, what inspired the idea of Titan time?

Mr. Downey: Really there are a lot of factors that went into that decision. We wholly understand that our student experience is a difficult one. You know, we really challenge our students academically. But there's more to school than academics, you know, we really have to look out for the whole child, you know, we have talked about building relationships, we've talked about the social emotional well-being of our kids, and those things have to be taken care of, in order for our kids to be successful academically. So, coming out of this pandemic, we've known that we have to address a lot of issues, we have to address the mental health concerns of our kids. We have to find ways to build relationships with our kids beyond just that typical teacher-student interaction. We have to have time to deliver lessons around these things, and that's where the student's success skills come into play, and we also want to have time built into the day to support our kids. You know, if the kid is struggling, one of the factors that we all struggle with is just time. Yeah, it's just hard. You know, our teachers are busy, our kids are busy. So, we were very intentional and just trying to carve out a little bit of time during the school day, to allow for those relationships to allow time to deliver some focus lessons to allow time for interventions and supports to, to kick in and it's time to take a breath during the day.

Caleb: Yeah, I absolutely agree, I think the biggest thing, during COVID-19, in the pandemic, at its peak was students being in isolation and alone. And I think taking that time for Titan time, especially, and giving students a place where they can actually feel things and actually learn a lot more is very, very amazing, and I'm very grateful that you guys incorporated that this year. Thank you.

I'm speaking about students in our clubs this year, we have an environmental club, and they're very, very passionate about composting, and we're wondering, what would they do to go about getting a change in Northview, and any other students passionate about anything else? How would they come to you with any ideas that they have that they're passionate about?

Mr. Downey: Well, that's, you know, you use some of my favorite words there, being passionate is one of them, you know, one of the, one of our goals here at Northview, is that, you know, is to help our students find their passion, and then to act on it, and to use their voice to affect change, whether that's at a local level, or in a more global level. So, in a case, like the environmental club, you know, they want to tackle this idea of being more responsible in our community and our planet, and the one piece that we want to focus on, or they want to focus on, is the idea about composting and reusing and recycling. So I would encourage them or any other club, you know, to come on into my office at any time, you know, literally the door is open for a reason that's to signify that, hey, I'm available, come on in, to come talk about their ideas, and it's my job to help guide them through that process and to help remove some obstacles so they can tackle their goals and accomplish their goals. So, in this case, that composting idea, I mean, that's a significant change in practice in our building. So, there's a lot of things are going to have to go into that. So, let's go to really my job to help guide them through that to give them the lookout fours, provide some guardrails around their decision making put them in touch with the right people to see if we can get that to go forward.

Caleb: Absolutely. All right.

Speaking on a lighter note, what school event did you miss most during the fully virtual school year of 2020 to 2021?

Mr. Downey: Wow, you know, there's so much that goes into that question. Yeah, you know, to narrow it down to one is pretty hard, but probably, you know, well, let me just flip the question a little bit, every year the one event that is the highlight on my calendar is International Night. Yeah, absolutely. Because it's such a special night for our kids and our community, to really showcase their cultures and their experiences, and to showcase their talents. I think that one event just so represents everything that is so great about Northview High School, that to not have that certainly left a big empty place in my heart and an empty place in our building last year. So I'm looking forward to that night this year.

Caleb: I think it truly represents the diversity we have at Northview, and a lot of the students and where the backgrounds that they come from, and the culture. So, I really enjoy International Night and everybody coming together, it almost feels just like a very good group of people kind of going along with each other.

Mr. Downey: If you if you ever get a chance to see the second show that night, the B show, it is just wild, the energy that's in that room is just incredible, and it's so much fun. So much fun. All right.

Caleb: For a more serious question with our students, does the amount of people in the cafeteria without masks worry you about the future risks that we're taking with COVID still going on?

Mr. Downey: Absolutely. Yes. You know, COVID is still a thing, and it's still a huge concern, and everything about it is still a worry. You know, just having 30 kids in a classroom is a worry. You know, right now we have two lunches. So that's about, you know, 800, 900 kids at a time, that aren't necessarily in the cafeteria because we can spread out some other spaces. But nonetheless, you know, it's we have a lot of kids in the cafeteria. It's a full cafeteria. And obviously, during lunch, you know, masks are off. So, people can eat. So yeah, it's a worry. We have been very fortunate so far that in our building, the cases that are involving students and staff have been relatively minimal, especially in comparison to some other schools. So, it's always a worry, you know, and we have some decision-making matrixes to help us that if things get worse, we do have a plan to go to four lunches, and actually you know, cut that number in half that's in the cafeteria at any one time. We just haven't reached that point yet. So, it's a worry. Yeah, it's something we're keeping an eye on, but we seem to be handling it well, so far, yeah.

Caleb: I just think students. they should be there. I think they're relatively safe in terms of that, but I feel like and sometimes you can get kind of carried away, but I think the guidelines that you guys are going to be putting in. Mr. Downey: You know, it's just natural, you know, a couple things. One, our student body is very responsible, if you stand in our halls during passing time, 99.99% of our kids are doing the right thing all the time. Absolutely. And that includes COVID related stuff. At lunch, you know, when the mask comes off, it's just a natural thing for a kid to get up and move around and talk and forget to put it back on. So those are just things that we have to keep an eye on and just politely remind everybody.

Caleb: Yeah. Caleb: In terms of the lunch and everything like that, why were the social studies classes moved to B lunch, because in considering COVID, they were asking that wouldn't it be safer if the lunch was smaller?

Mr. Downey: Our lunches are actually pretty evenly divided. So let me just correct that man.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: Social Studies historically ate first lunch, because historically, most of their department was on the 100 side of the building.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: But because of some things that have happened over the years, most of their department is now on the 600 side of the building. So, we try to keep the lunch divided by halves of the school, so that we don't have kids in the halls. When classes are going on. So that's what led to that change, but we've actually been able to balance the lunches fairly, fairly evenly.

Caleb: Sounds good.

Mr. Downey: Yeah.

Caleb: All right, and also about lunch, is there anything that we can do to improve the quality of our food, which fuels our students?

Mr. Downey: Well, I gotta tread lightly on this answer.

Caleb: Yeah, absolutely.

Mr. Downey: You know, the phrase quality of the food is subjective in nature, because, you know, our cafeteria, the workers in there and the prep that goes in, they meet and surpass every single guideline that is out there in terms of nutrition and quality. So, like, it depends on the metric that we're going to use. If the metric is the student's enjoyment of it. That's just going to be a tough one, but I get it, you know, the cafeteria and the food that goes into it is something that's outside of the principal's sphere of influence. I don't have direct oversight over that. So that that's, that's a hard, hard one for you to answer.

Caleb: I get it.

Mr. Downey: But I will, I will say this, I often eat the cafeteria lunch. I enjoy it.

Caleb: Now. I have no problem. This is one of the questions we've received. All right.

As we Segway into this, what else will have to occur for Northview to go back into remote learning? I know there was some brief little infographic that went into it talking about the cases, but what was your insight on that?

Mr. Downey: Yeah, so Fulton County just updated, some metrics for us to keep an eye on and it's always based around the Fulton County Board of Health epidemiology report, and the number of the spread rate per 100,000 of our population within each city. So currently, the city of Johns Creek we're right around 300. In terms of a spread rate, if it goes below 100, then we can talk about masks being optional again. If it goes above 500, you know, we start talking about lunches changing and things like that, but it's not until it goes above 1,250 that we will then have to switch to full remote status. So, we're fortunate that we're a long way away from that. There are other schools in Fulton County that have met that and are indeed in a full remote status now.

Caleb: Wow. When I looked at the infographic, it said per 100,000 is that considering the entire Fulton County?

Mr. Downey: No, so it's broken down by city, so Northview physically resides in the city of Johns Creek. So, it's whatever the number is for the city of Johns Creek, and that will then determine what happens at Northview.

Caleb: Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Okay.

If we go online, what will sports look like?

Mr Downey: They would continue, but the change would be in the audience. So, I mentioned that matrix and the numbers that are in there. We would as we kind of increase those cases, we would reduce the audience by 50%, reduce it down to 30%, and then ultimately, if we were in that full remote status, we would have our athletic events with no audience. We're committed to running face to face classes as long as we ca, but we're also committed to hopefully, that extra experience of athletics as well.

Caleb: Yeah, I know this is sports in general, just something students really enjoy whether it's football, softball, volleyball, basketball, any of those, we really enjoy being in the audience and considering going back to remote learning and going with no audience, that will be truly sad, because we didn't get to last year.

Mr. Downey: That will be a sad day indeed.

Caleb: Yeah. So, we're hoping that we can stay where we are and kind of just get better from here.

Mr Downey: Yep. So, to that end, mask up, get vaccinated, wash your hands, stay healthy and lets rock and roll.

Caleb: Absolutely.

Do you have anything you'd like the students to get back into the swing of or something you feel like will take time to get back into?

Mr. Downey: You know the worry that I had at the start of the year is that for most of our kids, 75% of our kids, they had not been in school, physically in school for a year and a half.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: So, it was really about managing our own expectations as adults and having to reteach and remind students about their expectations of them as students. It's so far been actually a much smoother, easier transition than I was worried about. So, I'm happy to say that, you know, kids being kids are pretty resilient and can adapt pretty quickly. So just being back in school, I think everyone was pretty happy about.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: And we've managed the transition fairly well.

Caleb: Yeah, it's been great being back since it's been so long.

Mr. Downey: Absolutely.

Caleb: Missed seeing you guys.

Mr. Downey: Yeah, we miss you guys' man. *both laugh*

Caleb: We've been talking a lot about things that have changed due to COVID, but what have you seen endure over the course of this pandemic?

Mr. Downey: You know what I've seen the most of that just reinforces some of our beliefs is that at our foundation, relationships matter the most, you know, the academics will come, but if we don't create an environment, whether it's via teams, or hear face to face in which our kids feel supported and loved, then that learning is going to be hard.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: And probably every kid who listens to this podcast, they're going to remember a teacher, not because of the content that was taught, but they're going to remember the teacher because of their personality, how they interacted with the kids, because they cared about the kids, they love the kids.

Caleb: Yes.

Mr. Downey: That's what you're going to remember, and that's what's really at our foundation, in order for us to achieve our success. So, I saw that carry through the pandemic, that a lot of our teachers were able to still connect with our kids, and show that, hey, we love you guys, we care about you, and we're gonna do everything we can to help you, and vice versa, and our kids did the same.

Caleb: Yeah. Teachers were amazing, especially being online.

Mr. Downey: And our kids are too, you know, it takes both.

Caleb: I know that we've created a new organization, if that's what you will call it called Northview United, and we just wanted to ask you, what is the role of Northview United this year?

Mr. Downey: Really, it’s to help guide and advise the school and as the principal: Me. In what we do and how we do it. You know, I just spoke to the fact that relationships are important. Well, every kid and every kid means all 1,755 individuals, they have to know that they matter, that they're important and that their voice matters.

Caleb: Yes.

Mr. Downey: And Northview United is helped to guide and shift us to make sure that we take care of all those kids, that we don't marginalize a group that we don't unintentionally or intentionally silence a group of students that we really have to be intentional, to make sure that they have a voice that we listened to that voice, and that we support that voice, and I think that's been the biggest advantage of creating that group, that sort of advisory board that's helped to guide us and give us feedback, and it's just one of those things that we, especially the adults, we have to be intentional in what we look at, and the look at is the impact of what we do and how we do it. So often, we do things, say things, teach things highlight things, but we don't look at it from the lens from the other side. From the student's lens, to make sure that what we meant is indeed what was received. And oftentimes, it's not. And oftentimes, we'll do something, say something, have a policy teacher book, to, you know, do something in which, you know, a kid sitting back saying, Well, what about me? What about, you know, my culture? What about my experience? That's not even addressed in anything we do here. So, you know, we want to make sure that we value all those different perspectives, and support all of our kids.

Caleb: Absolutely. Considering the diversity, we have in our staff. This is that's a really great program that you guys have started this year.

And we also wanted to know, what is the program you have planned for this year? And the years to come?

Mr. Downey: Well, so yeah, that's the million-dollar question is, you know, how do we carry this work forward? Right now, it's between the last year and this year, it's really been focused on the professional development side of the adults to bring these issues to the forefront so that we, as adults can have conversations around these topics in around our students, and all their different voices that they represent. So now we're trying to pivot to Alright, what actions are going to come out of this now? What are we doing differently now? So, some actions that have come out of it that I'm proud to say some are seemingly small, but they're important. Homecoming is coming up. Well Student Council, under the topic of Northview United said, you know what, we don't want to have a homecoming king and queen. You know, it should be any student.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: Why are we gonna identify them as a king or a queen? So now they're called homecoming Titans.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: So, to represent that, hey, anybody, can be a leader and be recognized here at Northview.

Caleb: That's great.

Mr. Downey: And then some of its deeper and more meaningful, all the way down to the text that our students are reading, to make sure that our kids, that if this is the state standard here that we're teaching, while the vehicle we use, doesn't have to be this one historical text. You know what, let's put, let's put a variety out there. That may speak to our individual kids that our kids can relate to, and say, hey, that's my story as well, that will then allow that kid to access that learning in a much more meaningful way. So, we're looking at changing up some of those things. So that we reach more kids.

Caleb: That's good, that's good.

Caleb: And we also wanted to know who is on the advisory board of Northeast united?

Mr. Downey: Its parents, teachers, students, and assistant principal and myself, this is a group of about 10 or 12 of us.

Caleb: Okay, cool. Yeah. Sounds great.

Caleb: Is there a place where students can submit questions and concerns? And how will those be addressed?

Mr. Downey: Well, you know, that's a great question. You know, it's certainly anyone and people do, their emails, public email, it's downeyb@fultonschools.org. I love it when students email me stuff. Because you know, going back to an earlier conversation about using their voice being passionate, speaking up, I think that's wonderful. So, I would encourage them to email me at any time, but also to stop me at any time. Yeah, you know, I'm in the cafeteria a lot. I'm in the halls a lot. The doors open here. I love it when the kids come in, especially if they're trying to make the place better. You know, especially if their goal is to bring something to light that we can be better at. I would encourage anyone to reach out to help me out.

Caleb: Absolutely.

Caleb: And as we get into the end of this. Do you have any closing comments for our audience? Mr. Downey: Closing comments? Well, first of all, Caleb and the team that's behind the mic that people can't hear. This is an awesome initiative you guys are taking on. So, I commend you guys for stepping up into these roles, and for trying to connect with our community a little more. That's fantastic. So, kudos to you guys.

Caleb: Thank you.

Mr. Downey: And then beyond that, you know, at the end of the day, my job as principal is to try to make the school in this community the best that I can for our students.

Caleb: Absolutely.

Mr. Downey: But I need help doing that, you know, that the principal is supposed to know everything, but quite frankly, the principal doesn't know everything.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: I can only fix or make better what I know about, oftentimes, I won't know about an issue or concern or something that's not right. And then I'll get the complaint. And I'll say, wow, I wish I'd known about that, I would have done something sooner. So, you know, at the end of the day, my job is to remove those obstacles and to support our kids, so that they can achieve everything that they want to achieve. So, keep talking, keep interacting, keep supporting each other, keep loving each other. And at the end of the day, we will all be successful if we can do that.

Caleb: Absolutely. So that was the end of our serious questions. We just got a couple more for you on the fun side.

Mr. Downey: All right!

Caleb: So, get ready for this. All right, thank you for that, and we appreciate it. All right to our fun questions.

Mr. Downey: All right. Whoo!

Caleb: What kind of student were you in high school?

Mr. Downey: Wow. So, we're going back a few years now guys, you know, I'm turning 50 this year. So, you know, we're going back 30 plus years here. You know, I was, you know, you're A-B student. I wasn't top of the class, but I was a pretty good student. I was into athletics; I was a soccer player. So, I guess this stereotype would fit that jock idea in some level, but you know, I kind of went to a school that was similar to Northview, in the sense that the student body was into school, like we all love school. And we were involved and did stuff and had fun with it. So, you know, while I was clearly not as smart as most of our students are here at Northview, I think I would fit that same profile of Northview. Where I love school, I was into school, I was involved in clubs, I was involved in athletics, and just had some fun.

Caleb: So the bored Northview student.

Mr. Downey: Just not as smart. *both laugh*

Caleb: I love that you’re being vulnerable there. What was your favorite class in high school?

Mr. Downey: You know my favorite class was actually my senior year in high school. We had a graduation requirement in the class was called family living, and it fell into that PE, health area, but it was a class that was designed to prepare you for life. And we tackled everything imaginable about life, sort of outside the regular academics. We talked about religion, and all the different religions, we talked about mental health, and everything that went into that. We talked about marriage, and what that meant, and what does that look like. We talked at length about sex education and everything, and anything under that topic that would come into play. And what made the class so fascinating and interesting, and why it's so memorable, is that in your senior year, you're actually mature enough to talk about these conversations. And that's what took place. I mean, we had very adult mature conversations with our teacher, that was about learning about all these topics. You know, this is back in the 80s. So, for example, AIDS was still the pandemic at the time, and there was no cure. And it was primarily, you know, associated with homosexual population with drug users. So, it was still kind of a taboo. Well, one of our guest speakers, was a gay man who was HIV positive who had AIDS. So that's how like on the cutting edge this class was. So, to have that speaker in to talk about that real life experience was incredible. We had a priest come in and talk about his experience. We had a rabbi come in and talk about their experience. We had you know, all sorts of, you know, we had a pro-life person, a pro-choice person come in to talk about abortion, like we just tackled everything, everything under the sun. And it just armed me and my classmates with such a great education about life beyond the traditional standards, that by the time we went off to college, we were the experts in our dorms. Like when you would hear all these myths and conversations that college kids have, and you'd be like, well, that's not right. So, it was a great class, it had a great teacher. So that was a really neat class.

Caleb: Sounds very, very informative. I wish we still had that this year. I mean, in the recent years to come.

Mr. Downey: And we don't offer it here in New Jersey, sorry I grew up in New Jersey, we don't offer it here in Georgia, the state of New Jersey does offer this class.

Caleb: Still to this day?

Mr. Downey: Yep, still to this day they have this class. So if I go back to my old high school, they still teach that same class.

Caleb: That’s great. Hopefully in the future years, we might incorporate some of that, because I feel like a lot of students would need that kind of guide to life. I feel like a lot of students feel like when they turn 18, and when they graduate high school, they just let off into the world without knowing too much about it, especially if their parents haven't told them much about it. So, I feel like that's a great input that New Jersey is doing. If you remember what was your senior quote?

Mr. Downey: It was sometimes you kick sometimes you get kicked, which was a quote from an NXS song which was one of my favorite bands back in the 80s. And it was just kind of a like, just roll with life a little bit. Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked, right? Sometimes you're on top, sometimes you're not. You know, learning how to deal with those things, and still move forward in a positive manner. That just because you get kicked doesn't you know, doesn't mean doesn't mean to quit, right? It means you get to get back up and keep after it. So short and sweet. Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked. *both laugh*

Caleb: What is your favorite sports team?

Mr. Downey: Hey, you know, I grew up my first 18 years in a suburb in Philadelphia, but then I spent 20 years in New England and fell in love with the Patriots, you know, yup if you look at my desk, I still have some paraphernalia there. So, my high school buddies, I'm still close with would just be crushed if I don't say the Eagles, but the Patriots, you know, I started to become a fan of the Patriots in the early 90s when they were terrible. And then got to watch this whole transition happen. Living up in New England it was it was still so much fun to see all that happen that I'm still a huge fan.

Caleb: You still support them through the deflation of the football.

Mr. Downey: Oh! There we go. We're going there. Yeah, I beg to differ on those facts, but yes, Bill Belichick has my undying support, the Patriots do they're a great organization.

Caleb: Respect. I respect that. *both laugh*

What is the craziest hairstyle you've ever had?

Mr. Downey: Dear god I rocked the mullet in high school, I big time rocked that mullet, I was a soccer player, so I kind of embraced that soccer persona at the time, which was you know, having really long hair. And I owned that mullet back in the day. In fact, the funny quirk was that after soccer season was over in the fall. So, after the season ended my senior year, I cut it off, and I got a haircut similar to what I have now: short, and my girlfriend at the time didn't even recognize me. Like would walk by me in the hall like wouldn't even say hi. I’m like honey is everything all right? Literally just didn't even know who I was.

Caleb: Kind of like a buzzcut almost.

Mr. Downey: Dude, I had some long hair. Yeah. And then cut it all off senior year. Yep.

Caleb: All right. What has been your favorite marching band theme?

Mr. Downey: You know, the marching band rocks every year. And they're a fun bunch to watch perform. We talked earlier in the earlier segment about international night being such a wonderful thing. Well, the theme this year is their own in that international theme as a part of their show this year so I got to go with this year because it ties into everything, right? And we talked about Northview United we talked about international night. We talked about you know, the great diversity of our school. So, to have our band kind of own that and run that run with that, I think is super cool. So, I know I hate to give the easy answer, but this year's theme is awesome.

Caleb: I love that theme as well.

What is your favorite book?

Mr. Downey: You know, the book that I always go back to is called Trinity Leon Uris. And it tells the history of Ireland through a fictional story that traces some families through generations. I’m of Irish descent. I've always been very proud of my family and my family culture and background and that and that book just resonated with me over and over and I've probably read it four or five times. And the story in it, it's just heartbreaking. It's, you know, the history of Ireland much like the history of a lot of our countries. There's just a lot of heartbreak and difficulties there, and Leon Uris the author just does a wonderful job of sort of telling that story in a very moving passionate way that I just found so intriguing that I leaned into and have read and reread a bunch of times.

Caleb: Sounds like a pretty good read.

Mr. Downey: It's a big one. It's a huge book, so it's a challenge to get through.

Caleb: More fun.

Mr. Downey: Yes.

Caleb: Who is your celebrity crush?

Mr. Downey: You know, I got a couple there. You know Natalie Portman always knocks me out. I think she's just a stunner and her acting is fantastic but let me throw a curveball at you. Tom Brady is just like, if I'm going to crush on somebody. It's Tom Brady. Like he is the man.

Caleb: You are a Patriots fan I can see it.

Mr. Downey: Yeah, well now I’m a Tampa fan because I'm a Tom Brady fan. He's doing everything right in life. Whatever he's doing in life is working. So, like, you know. You know, the curveball I’m throwing at you is between Natalie Portman then Tom Brady. There's two of them for you.

Caleb: I think she was also in Thor. She was in the Thor movie.

Mr. Downey: Yeah, I’d have to go through her history. I don't know. Was she in Thor.

Caleb: I think so. I think she was Thor's girlfriend. At one point. I'm not sure.

Mr. Downey: When she was in V for Vendetta and she shaved her head, I thought she was just such a stunner of a person, and her acting is incredible. She's just great.

Caleb: As going more into Northview, which Northview clubs? Would you join? If you were here?

Mr. Downey: Wow. Northview clubs? Well, of course, we have 97 of them at Northview. There's so many to jump into. I don't know I hadn't thought about that one. You know the...

Caleb: It's hard to think off the top of your head. Do you know most of them by heart?

Mr. Downey: Oh, dear goodness. No. *both laugh*

That list of 97?

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: I've worked the most with the robotics club, but I don't know if I would join that one, because it's such a commitment. Those kids pour their hearts and souls and time into that. I don't know if I ever would have been able to afford to dive into that that much, but at least I'll give a shout out to the robotics team.

Caleb: Okay, here's the very anticipated question.

Mr. Downey: All right.

Caleb: What is your favorite BTS song?

Mr. Downey: See, I feel like that's a loaded question.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: Because, you know, if you're a fan, you're being asked to narrow it down to one. Right. I doubt anyone if you're a true fan out there that you would narrow it down to one. So, I'm going to give you a very superficial answer that I think Dynamite kind of represents. They're kind of attraction to everybody. It's such a fun, like uplifting kind of poppy cool song that, you know, how could you not like it? And I think that's what makes them so popular. Is that really any audience should and could enjoy their music man.

Caleb: Me personally, I haven't listened to them, but I know I might get a lot of hate for that.

Mr. Downey: Well in this school like I think you almost have to.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: I mean, you know, one of the challenges I have as principal is to try to stay connected to teenagers, right? Like I mentioned how old I am. It's been 30 some odd years since I've been in high school. So, I try to keep up keep up with things like music and pop culture and things the kids are into. And in our Northview community if you're not a fan of them, then well yeah, like you and I would get made fun of if we don’t..

Caleb: Follow the trends, you know.

Mr. Downey: Right.

Caleb: What is your favorite movie or TV show?

Mr. Downey: I'll just give you one answer here, which is The Wire, which ran on HBO, which really told the story of the drug trade in the city of Baltimore. And it did it over five seasons and every season looked at that central issue from a different lens. Whether it was the police, the politicians, the drug dealers, the schools, the politicians, the newspapers, it looked at it from each different lens, so every season just had a really different take to it. And it was gritty, and real and heartbreaking.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: What I don't like in movies and TV shows are happy endings. Sort of like that Hollywood ending, because to me, that's just not the real world. Like, what connects with me? And maybe I shouldn't say it but you know, movies that are sad that are heartbreaking that at the end like you're an emotional wreck, that you walk away from that you've experienced that emotion. Besides is that happy, sappy Hollywood ending so the wire is always a series that I just loved.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: I think they did just such a great job with it.

Caleb: All right, very good question.

Mr. Downey: All Right!

Caleb: Is it soda or pop?

Mr. Downey: It’s soda. I don’t even know anyone who calls it pop. If you’re calling it pop, who are you? Who are these people?

Caleb: I don’t know where they’re from. *both laugh*

And if so what’s your favorite soda?

Mr. Downey: I always go back to root beer, you know. Root beer’s always a special treat. Growing up that was a special treat. It’s not as common as your regular Cokes and stuff like that. A good A&W root beer is always a treat.

Caleb: Really good, really good. What is your favorite thing about being a principal?

Mr. Downey: You know the funniest thing that I find that’s one of my favorites is the intercom. I get to get on the intercom, and I have a captive audience of 2,000 people. And it just cracks me up every day when I get on the intercom that I’m at a point in my life, I’ve got my master’s degree, leadership degree. I’ve done all these things, but my greatest thrill is that I get to pick up the intercom mic and talk to the entire school. Even if I'm just saying the pledge, it just always gives me a quick little thrill in like a very immature, funny way. That 2,000 people are forced to listen to me very day. *both laugh*

Caleb: No, we enjoy it. I think we enjoy it. Just getting a little bit of your voice every day makes me want to be here. Our very last question.

Mr. Downey: All right! Fire away.

Caleb: Is it ever not a good day to be a titan?

Mr. Downey: Yes, because it’s always a great day to be a titan! *both laugh*

Caleb: I embrace that mantra just to remind myself and to everybody else that we’re here at Northview, we’re here at school, it’s okay. We’re gonna have some fun along the way. We’re gonna do some serious work, but let’s not take ourselves too seriously while we’re doing it.

Caleb: Yeah.

Mr. Downey: And let’s embrace the day ahead of us and make the most of it. It’s always a great day to be a titan.

Caleb: It is. All right. So, that’s the end of it.

Mr. Downey: Well, thank you so much. It’s a ton of fun.

Caleb: We enjoyed you being here with us. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Mr. Downey: I appreciate you guys and thank you for everything you guys do.

Caleb: Absolutely.

Mr. Downey: I certainly love you all.

Caleb: All right. This has been point of view.