A Spooky Story by Marcus Kim

Marcus Kim

In this special episode, staffer Marcus Kim tells a spooky story called, "The Whistler" written by user u/Grand_Theft_Motto from the subreddit r/nosleep. Listen on Spotify here!

Marcus Kim: Hello and welcome to Point of View, where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I’m your host Marcus Kim and today I’ll be telling you a spooky story.

Every night, no matter the weather, something walks down our street whistling ever so softly. You can only hear it if you’re in the living room or kitchen when they walk by and it starts exactly at 3:03 AM. The sound starts faint, somewhere near the beginning of the lane near Carson’s place. We’re towards the middle of the street, so the whistling moves past us and it fades away in the direction of the cul de sac.

When I was younger, my sister and I would sneak into the kitchen some nights to listen. Mom and Dad didn’t like that and we’d catch Hell if they ever found out but they weren’t ever too hard on us since we always stuck by the one Big Rule.

Do not try to look at whatever was whistling.

My neighborhood is a funny place. I’ve lived here since I was six and I love it. The houses are small but well-kept, good-sized yards, plenty of places to roam. There are lots of other kids here my age, I turned 13 back in October. We grew up together and would always play four square in the cul de sac or roam around the back or play in the trees during the summer. This was a good place to grow up, I’m old enough now to see it. And there’s only two strange things here; the night whistling and the good luck.

The whistling never bothered me too much. Like I said, I couldn’t hear it from my bedroom. But mom and dad don’t like talking about it, so I’ve stopped asking questions. My dad is a strong guy, tall and calm. He has an accent since he moved to the US as a kid. His family, my grandparents, they’re from the islands. That’s what they call it, anyways. My dad, the only time he isn’t so calm is if the whistler comes up.

He talks a bit quicker, his eyes move faster, and he tells us not to think about it too much since it’s not good to talk about it. But he always keeps the one Big Rule: do not try to look outside when the whistler goes past.

Not that we could even look if we wanted to. See, there are shutters on the inside of every window, thick pieces of heavy canvas that pull down from the top and latch at the bottom of the window frame. Each latch has a small lock, about the size of what you’d find on a diary. My dad locks those shutters every night before we go to bed and keeps the key in his room.

My mom…I don’t know what she thinks about the whistling. I’ve seen her out in the living room before 3:03 AM when the sound starts; I could see her if I cracked my door open just an inch to peek. She’s not out there often, at least I haven’t caught her much, but once or twice a month I think she sits out on the big red couch just to listen.

The whistler goes past and hums the same tune every night. It’s…somewhat cheerful.

Remember how I said there are two odd things about where I live? Well, besides the night whistler, everyone in my neighborhood is very, very lucky. It’s hard to explain and dad doesn’t like talking about that part either, but when people live here, good things happen. It’s small things, like winning a radio contest, getting unexpected promotions, or finding some arrowheads buried in the yard, you know, like the authentic kind.

The weather here is pretty good. There’s no crime at all and everybody’s gardens bloom a little bit extra in the fall. “A million little blessings,” I’ve heard my mom say about living here. But the main reason we stay here, why we moved here in the first place, is my sister Nola. She was born very sick, something with her lungs. We couldn’t even bring her home when she was born, only visit her in the hospital. She was small, I remember, small even compared to the other babies. A machine had to help her breathe.

We moved into our house here to be closer to the hospital. As soon as we moved here, Nola started getting better. The doctors couldn’t figure it out, so they chalked it up to whatever they were doing but we knew they were confused. But my parents knew, even I knew, Nola getting better was just another of the million little blessings we got for living in this neighborhood.

So that’s why we stayed even after we found out that, for every small miracle that happens here every day, now and then…something bad happens. But only to those who look for the whistler.

See, our neighborhood has a Welcoming Committee. They show up with macaroni casseroles, a gift basket and a manila folder whenever someone new moves in. They’re friendly. Four people showed up when we moved here seven years ago. The committee made small talk, gave me a Snickers bar, and took turns holding Nola. It was her first week out of the hospital so they were extra careful.

Then the committee asked to speak to my parents in private so I was sent to my room where I still managed to hear nearly every word. The Welcoming Committee told my parents about how nice the neighborhood was, really exceptionally, hard-to-explain kind of nice. And then they told my parents about the even harder-to-explain whistling that happened across our street every night at 3:03 AM. They explained how it started at 3:03 and ended at the tick of 3:05. The group, our new neighbors, warned my parents that the whistling was quiet, would never harm or hurt us, as long as we didn’t look outside to try and see what was making the sound.

This part they stressed and I pushed my ear into the door straining to hear them. People who went looking for the whistler had their luck change, sometimes tragically. A black cloud would hang over anyone that looked. Anything that could go wrong, would. The manila folder the committee brought over contained newspaper clippings, stories about car crashes, ruined lives, funerals, public deaths and freak accidents.

“Not everyone dies,” I heard them say. “But if their life goes on, even if they live, there’s no light in them ever again, no presence.”

My mom, I could tell she wasn’t taking it seriously. She kept asking if this was some prank they played on new neighbors. At one point my mom got angry, accusing them of being racist or even trying to scare us out of the new home. But my dad calmed her down, told her that our new neighbors were sincere and were just trying to help. He explained that he grew up hearing these kinds of stories from his mom and that he knew there were strange things that walked among us. Some of the strange things were good and some of them were bad but they were all just different.

After the committee left, my dad went to the hardware store, bought the canvas blinds, the latches, and the locks and installed them on every window in the house after dinner. That first night in our new house, I crept out of my room at 3 a.m. only to find my dad sitting awake on the living room couch, holding my baby sister. My dad held up his finger in a shh motion but patted the couch next to him. I sat and we waited.

At exactly 3:03 we heard the whistling.

It came and it went just like the neighborhood said. The whistling returned each night and we never looked so we got to enjoy our million little blessings every day. Nola breathes on her own every day and she’s grown into a strong, clever girl. My dad even joined the Welcoming Committee. We don’t get new neighbors often, why would anyone want to leave? But when a new family moves in, my dad and the committee would bring them macaroni casserole, a gift basket, and the manila folder. I can always tell by the look on my dad’s face when he comes back if the new family took it seriously or if we’d be getting new neighbors again soon.

Not long ago a family moved in directly next to us. The previous owner, Ms. Maddie, passed away at the sweet age of 105. She’d lived a good, long life. Our new neighbors, they seemed like they’d fit in just fine. They believed the Welcoming Committee, took my dad’s advice about the locking shutters since they had a young kid of their own. Whatever newspaper clippings that were in that manila folder, whatever evidence, my dad never let us see. But I imagine it must have been awfully convincing since our neighbors got along with no issues for the first month.

One night, when our new neighbors had to leave town, they sent their son, Holden, to stay with us. He was 12, a year under me in school. I didn’t know him well before that night but as soon as his parents dropped him off after dinner I could tell it was going to be a bad time.

“Do you know who is always out there whistling every night?” Holden asked the moment the adults left the room.

The three of us were sitting in the den, some Disney movie playing idly on the television.

My sister and I exchanged glances. “We don’t talk about that,” I said.

“I think it’s that weirdo that lives in the big yellow house on the corner,” Holden said.

“Mr. Toles?” my sister asked. “No way, he’s really nice.”

Holden shrugged. “Must be a psycho killer, then.”

Nola tensed.

“We don’t talk about it,” I repeated. “Let’s go in my room and play Nintendo.”

We spent the next few hours playing games, eating popcorn and then watching movies.

A typical sleepover but I could see Holden was getting antsy.

After my parents had wished us a good night, locked the blinds, and gone to bed, Holden stood up from his bean bag and walked over to where Nola and I were sitting on my bed.

“Have you ever even tried looking?” he asked. “It’s nearly time.”

Like most sleepovers, we’d conveniently ignored any suggestion of a bedtime. I was shocked to see he was right; it was almost 3 a.m.

I sighed. “We don’t-”

“See, I can’t, I can’t even try to look because my dad locks the blinds every night and hides the key,” he continued, ignoring me.

“So does our dad,” said Nola.

“No,” replied Holden. “No, he doesn’t.”

“You saw him do it,” I said, a little sharper than I meant to sound.

Holden grinned. “Your dad locks the blinds, yeah, but he doesn’t hide the key. He keeps it right on his normal key chain.”

“So?” I asked, worried I already knew what he would say next. Because I had noticed that my dad didn’t bother hiding the key anymore after all of these years. Because he knew we took it seriously.

“So, after your dad locked up but before your parents went to bed, I went to the bathroom. And on my way, I may have peeked into their room, and I may have seen your dad’s key chain on his nightstand, and I may have went and borrowed that keychain to the blinds.”

Nola and I stared and his grin only grew wider.

“You’re lying,” I said.

Holden shrugged. “You can check if you want. Just open your parents’ door and look, you’ll see his keychain right there on the nightstand.”

“Stay here,” I told both of them. “Do not move a muscle.”

I hurried over to my parents’ room but hesitated at the door. If Holden wasn’t lying…my dad would be angry. Beyond angry. I was scared thinking about it. But more scared of an open window with the whistler right outside. I opened the door, barely an inch, and looked in but it was too dark to see. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the room.

Two steps into the dark I froze. The whistling started. I could hear it ever so clearly…from my parents’ room. I never realized it but they must have been able to hear it every night since we moved into the house. They never told us. I don’t think I could have slept through it.

I stood there, listening to the whistling come closer, unsure whether I should turn the lights on or call out for my dad. Soft sounds from the living room brought me back to reality.

“Nola,” I yelled, running out of my parents’ room.

Holden and Nola were standing near the front door next to a window. Holden wasn’t lying. I could see him fumbling with the lock on the blinds. I heard a click. He did have the key.

Holden let out a quick laugh. Nola stood next to him, hunched up, afraid but maybe curious. The whistling was right outside our house.

I think I made a sound, called out. I can’t remember. Time felt frozen, clock hands nailed to the face. But I found myself moving. I’m not fast, I’ve never been athletic. Somehow, though, I covered the space between me and Nola in a moment. My eyes were locked on her but I could hear Holden pull the blind all the way down so it could release. I heard the snap as it started to raise, and I heard the whistling just on the other side of the window.

But I had my arms around Nola and I turned us so she was facing away from the window. At the same time, I jammed my eyes shut. The blind whipped open.

The whistling stopped.

I felt Nola shaking in my arms.

“Don’t look, okay?” I told her. “Do not turn around.”

We were positioned so that she was facing the back towards the hallway and I was facing the window. My eyes were still closed. I felt her nod into my shoulder.

I reached out with one arm not holding Nola and tried to touch Holden. My hand brushed against his arm. He was shaking worse than Nola.

“Holden?” I asked.

Silence.

I reached past him and gingerly felt for the window, eyes still sealed shut. The glass was cold against my fingertips. Colder than it should have been for that time of year. I moved my hand up the window, searching for the string of the blinds. The glass began to get warmer the further up I reached and I heard a gentle hum feeding back into my fingertips from the window. I tried not to think about it- what might be on the other side of the window. Finally, I touched the string and yanked the blinds shut.

I opened my eyes. In the dim light leaking through the kitchen, I could make out Holden, pale and small, staring at the now closed window.

“Holden?” I asked again.

He turned towards me and he screamed.

Everything became a flurry of motion. Lights sparked to life in the halls, then the living room. My parents’ footsteps thudded across the hardwood floor. I didn’t turn to look back at them, my eyes were glued on Holden.

He was pale, he had bit his lip so hard there was a thin red line of blood running down his chin and he’d wet himself.

“What happened?” my dad asked from behind me.

I managed to swivel away from Holden and look back. “He looked.”

I’d never seen my dad scared before but I saw it that night, in that moment, an ugly terror stitched across his face.

“Just Holden?” he mouthed to me.

I nodded yes.

My dad let out a breath. He looked so relieved I nearly expected him to cheer. But then he turned to Holden and my dad’s face changed. I wondered if he felt bad for feeling good that it was only Holden who looked.

There was a knock on the door.

Thud thud.

We all froze. Holden whimpered.

“Don’t answer it,” my mom said.

She stood at the threshold of the hallway. I’d always thought she was a skeptic and just humored my dad about the windows and the whistler but that night we were all believers. I noticed that both of my parents held baseball bats they must have taken from their room.

The knock came again, this time a little louder.

Thud thud.

“Please don’t open the door,” Holden whimpered.

My dad walked over to him, hugged him close.

“We won’t,” my dad promised, still holding the bat. “Nothing is coming in here tonight.”

Thud thud thud.

This time the knocking was loud enough to rattle the door. Holden screamed again and Nola clutched her arms around my neck. My mom came over and knelt down next to us, wrapping my sister and me close. Again, the knocks came.

“Call the police,” my dad whispered.

The knocking instantly stopped. My dad looked over his shoulder at us.

“Do you think-” He was cut off by the frantic knocking that trailed off to a polite tap tap tap.

“Police,” something said from the other side of the door. The voice from outside sounded exactly like my dad, like a parrot repeating the words back to him.

“Police. Call. Police.” tap tap tap “Police.”

My mom pulled us closer.

“Police. Police. Police. Police.”

“Please stop,” I heard her whisper.

“I don’t think calling them will help,” my dad said. “How will we know when they’re the ones at the door?”

The knocking came back, but this time harder than before. The door shook. Then it stopped. After a long moment, I heard the knocking again but it was coming from the backdoor.

We all turned together towards the backdoor but the knocking immediately returned to the front. Front to back, back to front, loud to quiet to loud. Suddenly, the sound was coming from both doors at once, big, heavy blows like a sledgehammer. Something started rapping against all of the windows in the house, then the walls. It was like we were inside a drum with a dozen people trying to play at once. Or we were a turtle and something was attempting to claw us out of our shell.

“PLEASE STOP!” Holden yelled.

The knocking died.

“I won’t tell,” Holden said, staring at the door. “I promise I won’t tell anyone what I saw. Please just go away.”

We waited for nearly a minute. Then we heard it, the soft tap tap tap coming from the window Holden had looked through earlier.

Holden began to cry, sobbing like a prisoner watching gallows being built outside their cell.

My dad held him, brushed his hair but he never lied to him. My dad never said that things would be okay.

The tapping at the window went on for the rest of the night. We huddled together in the living room for I don’t even know how long. Eventually, my mom tried to take us kids into my room while my dad stayed to watch the door. But the second we moved into the bedroom, the knocking came back, so loud it was possible to ignore. I was afraid the door would break.

We went back to the living room and the knocking stopped. Only the tap tap tap on the window remained. None of us slept that night.

The tapping stopped at around 7 a.m. That’s about the time the sun comes up here. We waited another two hours before my dad opened the blinds from one window. He made us all go back to my parents’ bedroom first. I heard him open the door then come back in.

“Okay,” he told us. “It’s done.”

Holden’s parents came back around lunchtime. My mom and dad walked Holden over to his house and they went inside for a quick while. Nola and I watched from the window. She stuck to me the whole day, right at my side, sometimes even holding my hand. When my parents came back they looked grim but they wouldn’t tell us what they said to Holden’s family. It was a Sunday so we spent the day together, ordered a pizza and watched a movie.

That night everyone slept in my room, Nola and my mom in the bed with me, my dad in a chair he’d pulled up. There was no knocking that night or any night since.

We didn’t see much of Holden or his parents for the rest of the week but by Thursday there was a moving truck in their driveway. Nola and I watched them pack up that whole afternoon after school. What sticks with me the most is how tired Holden and his parents looked. All three of them had the same pallor, grim across their mouth and light-less eyes. Even from across the street I could tell that something was very wrong. Holden and his family were gone before sunset.

I remember what the original Welcoming Committee said to my parents when we moved in. Not everyone who looks for the whistler dies, but even those who continue to live get their life drained out of them and live their lives forever in misfortune. A million little tragedies.

I think Holden’s parents must have looked, either to comfort him if they didn’t believe or share the burden if they did. I watch Nola some days, happy, young and alive, and I wonder if I’d been slower, if she’d looked out the window that night…would I have looked too? To comfort her? To share the burden? I’m glad I don’t have to find out.

We still live in that house, in that neighborhood. We still hear the whistler go past every night. The blessings, the luck, the good things that are too good to leave. But we’re careful. We don’t have friends over to spend the night anymore. And my dad hides the keys to the blinds very, very well. Not that I’ve gone looking. Because, I’ve learned some things you just don’t need to go look for.

This concludes our spooky story. Thank you so much for listening. 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 @nhspointofview for updates and new episodes. I’m your host Marcus Kim and this has been Point of View.

News Flash - Homecoming Titans

Rachel Everett, Orelia Thottam, Grace Yang

Point of View host, Grace Yang, sits down with Northview's 2021 Homecoming Titans and Student Council President and VP to discuss the new title of Homecoming Titans. Listen on Spotify here!

Grace: Hello and welcome to Point of View where we give students a place to listen,, learn and lean in, I'm your host Grace Yang and today I'll be talking about the brand new title of homecoming titans; how the idea formed, and its impact on the school and the student body.

[Crowd Cheering] 

Grace: Every modern American high school student or alumni is familiar with the titles of Homecoming Queen and King. This is typically the selection of two students in the senior class, previously male and female, to represent the school at the homecoming dance. The key words there are male and female. 

Grace: With our growing and changing society, male and female are not the only accepted genders. There are people who identify as transgender, non-binary and even more. Having a homecoming queen and king cannot encompass and accurately represent schools anymore. 

Grace: Returning to school after nearly two years of remote learning, new opportunities are flowing in. It is a perfect time for new traditions and changes within schools. It ties in as well into Northview’s 20th-anniversary celebration. As we celebrate the past, we can create new traditions to replace those that might be outdated or obsolete. 

Grace: In addition to many other things, a more recent change was the new title of Homecoming Titans. Inspiration for the change in title was Northview’s diverse student body. As many of us know, Northview has many different cultures, which are highlighted in different events. Bringing this diversity into the homecoming court was an important factor to President Kelly Jeong and Vice President Jessica Kim. 

Kelly: The reasoning behind this change was that especially because of this rise in inclusivity, in social media, that was where the idea first originated. And because we want to keep this environment, this inclusive environment in Northview, which is what we are known for this diversity and inclusivity. at large, we also wanted to seep this into the student council decision making as well.

Jeong and Kim brought this proposition to student council members during a council meeting. This decision was important for them and had to be decided quickly before the homecoming season. They figured that the term Titan would best encompass everyone at Northview.

Jessica: In one of our meetings, we had voting among the student council members, and they are the representatives of their class, and our entire school. So we wanted them to predict the responses from the students and not just think, with their, with what they just think, but what their whole class would think and represent their voices. So we didn't consult with the other people outside of student council, when making the decision, but I believe that the student council as a whole was representative of the entire school.

Grace: While the overall response to the change was good there were of course varying responses and opinions. After the council meeting, the change was released to the entire school and the response was similar to the student council. The response was a positive one. 

Grace: There was also another change in the homecoming court. In previous years, only seniors were permitted to vote both male and female students onto the court.. All of the other grades were open only to female students. In contrast, this year, the court was open to anyone. Any and all students could be nominated, regardless of gender. . It was simply the people with the most votes.

Grace: This same voting system was used to decide the Homecoming Titans. The two homecoming titans would be the people with the most votes. It wouldn’t matter if it was two people of the same gender or two different genders. 

Grace: It just so happened that this year’s homecoming was a male, TJ James, and a female, Holyn Trautwein. These two winners were selected because they wholeheartedly embody what Northview is and what it represents. 

Grace: James and Trautwein were the inaugural homecoming titans. Both of them were very excited to be crowned homecoming titans and lead in creating a more inclusive space for people who do not identify as male or female. 

Holly: I really like how we're becoming more inclusive as a high school and I know some high schoolers still trying to become more inclusive. So I think we're like leading in that,” James said. They’re not just leading inside Northview but also for other schools in the area. “I think Northview is the only school I've ever heard of so far that's been using like Titans instead of king and queen. Like named for the role, which I think is really cool. Because again, it's like accepting of others and inclusive to everyone. And I think that's a really big step that I'm kind of proud of Northview for taking.  

Grace: This new step for Northview is due to the desire to create a more inclusive space. In addition to the Homecoming title change, Northview has created a new pledge committee in order to increase inclusivity and promote diversity. One of the Northview United leaders, Tania Pope, even selected James to be on the student portion of the committee. 

TJ: I'm actually a member of Northview United, I was recruited by I think Miss Pope was the one who invited me to join the team. So I think it's really important that we do have Northview United here at Northview. Because ours we have a diverse student body. But that doesn't mean that we know how to handle diversity appropriately, especially with like everything going on in like current events, and all that. So I think that Northview, I mean, Northview united is really helping us be able to learn how to take both, like consider cultures as perspectives, and respect them, and maybe like implement them in our lives if they work for certain situations.  

Grace: Even for students outside of Northview united, it provides an example to learn more about diversity and how to handle it appropriately. Trautwein shares how she sees Northview United from a student perspective. 

Holly: I think it's kind of a learning opportunity for everybody to see how to kind of, like, consider others and learn about other diversities. And just like, again, like what he said, with all the current events going on, I think it's really important to have this thing that educates us and helps us learn how to react to certain things.

Grace: While a simple homecoming title change can be impactful, Northview itself is also a place that leaves a lasting effect on everyone. Through its diversity and effort to be inclusive, it creates a strong safe environment. It also leaves an impression on the students. Including studying and hanging out and through events like international night, students are able to learn about varying cultures and learn how to navigate through an ever-diversifying world. 

Holly: I think the level of diversity here has helped me understand like, different kind of backgrounds, like those around me, who are some of my best friends like I never would have really known if I hadn't had Northview to bring us together. So I think really like broaden my knowledge of diversity and like cultures and stuff.

Grace: Despite the change in homecoming tradition, Northview students are embracing Student Council’s efforts to create a safe space for all students and present new opportunities for change. 

Grace: This concludes this episode of News Flash. Thank you so much for listening - For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website nhsmessenger.org& follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at @nhspointview for updates and new episodes. I'm your host Grace Yang and this has been point of view.

Across the Table - Social Shifts

Jordan Anderson, Rachel Everett, Marcus Kim, Delisa Troupe

In this episode, staffers Delisa, Jordan, Marcus, and Rachel observe the shift in social interactions through the pandemic. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music!

Rachel: Hello, and welcome to Point of View, where we give students a place to listen, learn and lean in. My name is Rachel Everett.

Marcus: My name is Marcus Kim.

Delisa: I'm Delisa Troupe.

Jordan: And I'm Jordan Anderson, and this is Across the Table, where we will discuss different topics that affect our everyday lives.

In today's episode, we'll be covering how our social lives have shifted over the past year. Since March 2020, I can definitely say my social life and friendships have definitely changed. I've lost a few friends, I've made a few friends, and I kind of connected more with people over the past year, I’d say.

Rachel: I feel like my friendships dipped off. I never really hung out with people outside of school back in March. Then once COVID hit, the only person I talked to was my boyfriend at the time.

Marcus: Yeah, a lot of our, at least, going into COVID and our freshman year, all of our friendships were mainly in person, right? Like, our friends were decided by who we would sit by at lunch, who we were assigned to be seated next to in our classes. And depending on if you had classes with people or not, your friendships were like wax and wane. So once we were forced into COVID, right, into quarantine and not being able to see people face to face, it really started to challenge how you approached friendships with different people.

Delisa: I feel like rather than dipping out, most of my friendships just went virtual. It was hard not seeing them face to face, but at the same time, it helped me expand some of my other friendships. Like people who I may not have been super close with, I got close with just because we could talk to each other online all the time.

Jordan: I also have to say, especially with the friends that you only talk to in school, and you don't talk to outside of school, I definitely lost those friendships. Because we only talked in class, we would hang out in the hallway, and eat lunch together. But then when quarantine hit, I just stopped talking to them because I had no other way to talk to them, which was kind of unfortunate, but it just shows how not everyone you think is your friend is your FRIEND friend, if that makes sense.

Delisa For me, it was kind of the opposite. I've kind of found myself getting closer to some people who I consider my school friends. A lot of people who are at school, they only hang out with people who they're super close to or who are in their friend group. And I realized that when people are online, you interact with a bunch more people. Like through Instagram, you can just comment on their posts or DM them or whatever. So it was a lot easier to communicate with people who I wouldn't have hung out with outside of school.

Rachel: I think going off what Jordan said, like the whole thing of, maybe it was a test of who your true friends were. And I remember, and this might be a recent thing, but I remember it was the whole thing of- well, if they don't text you first, then it doesn't matter, or they're not your real friend. And also, I feel like that goes both ways. But it's also a test of- are these people your real hardcore friendships that could last for a while? Or are they just, you're at school, you're my friend, I want to hang out with you and I don't really have anyone else to hang out with.

Marcus: Yeah, I actually think that with these very superficial, just in-person friendly friendships that aren't too deep, I don't think that those are exactly a bad thing. I think that those, you know, superficial friendships actually have a place in our lives, right? Because not every friendship you're going to have is going to be very deep, lifelong and life-changing, you know. We've all had friends that we knew in elementary school that we don't talk to anymore and there's something about that, that helps us grow as people, right. So once quarantine hit and we were forced to truly kind of interact with the people we actually wanted to have deep friendships with, I think a lot of our social skills, right, like learning how to be able to adapt to different sorts of social situations and how to approach different people kind of started to fall off because, you know, we didn't exactly have to talk to, you know, these superficial friends.

Delisa: For me, it was lowkey kind of the opposite. Like during school, around freshman year, I found it really hard to engage in small talk. But I would say, this summer I got a job, and it’s in retail so it helped me interact with people of all different ages, races, etc and just know how to engage in small talk with them. And so I guess the pandemic, like using social media a lot, plus having a job actually helped me know how to interact with people who I wasn't super close with.

Jordan: Yeah, I feel like when it comes to, like you said Marcus, learning how to talk to people, for me, it was way harder to communicate with my friends online because normally we don't really text. I have many friends, like we're really close but we don't talk outside of school that much. Like, we'll hang out once every three months, literally. But during quarantine, when we did not see each other for eight hours, five days a week, for a minute, it was kind of awkward. When I text her I'd be like, “Hey”, and then she just says, “Hey”, and it'll be awkward, because we really don't know what to say, because we're not used to the online communication, back to back, every single day. And that goes for all of my friends too.

Rachel: The element of small talk, I think maybe Delisa was talking about it, was just like- I feel like it's so awkward to go up to someone, online, in an online aspect of just being like, “Hey, how are you?” And I feel like it's so difficult taking that first step, especially online. Maybe in a way, it's just like, I don't want to inconvenience this person, I don't want to bother them with a bunch of notifications. But when you're in person, you're able to pick up on social cues and be like, Oh, is this person busy? Oh, this person isn't interested in talking to me. And so I've kind of developed the thing where I kind of hate small talk. I mean, I get DMS from people that I know and like, this is by no means a call-out, and they’re just like, “Hey, how are you?”, and I'm like, “This is really awkward.” I don't know what to say because it'll just be like, “Hey, how are you?” and then it'll go to, “I'm good, how are you?” “I'm good.” and then the conversation will taper off.

Delisa: There were definitely a lot of times during the pandemic where not much was going on and so it felt like, even if I wanted to talk to my friends, I wouldn't have anything to talk about. Or even if I did text them, they wouldn't reply because everyone has their own thing that's going on.

Marcus: Yeah, so in AP Lang there was this very, very interesting topic we had to write about- “Is small talk relevant in today's age?” And arguments had to be made where, you know, you're kind of concealing your true intentions or you might come off as insincere, right? So oftentimes, you know, in the hall when you pass somebody, you kind of have to make a decision. Do I pretend like I don't see them? Do I try to wave? What if they don't look at me? What if I just look weird waving at someone who isn't waving back? So I think this element of small talk was completely eradicated for me in quarantine. And honestly, in a weird way, it kind of helped with my self-confidence, almost. It kind of taught me that I really don't need to, you know, pretend to be super friendly with my peers, but still maintain my friendships, right?

Jordan: Another thing when talking online, when you're in person with somebody, you can see their expressions. You can see, Oh, they're happy, they're sad or they're annoyed but online, you don't know. You can text someone, “Hey”, they can say “Hey” back, but that “Hey” can be an annoyed “Hey”, or a I really don't feel like talking “Hey”, or it can be like Oh, I'm glad you texted me “Hey”, and you really don't know. And that’s like what you were saying Rachel, how sometimes you don't want to be annoying. Because there's been times where I've texted my friends, we'll be having a conversation, I just feel like- even though they didn’t say they were, I felt like I was being annoying in some way. Like, maybe I should stop texting them and just wait until two weeks later to continue the conversation. But then at the same time, that person could get the wrong message if you stop talking to them, thinking that you're being annoying, but then they'll think, Oh, that I do something wrong? It's really confusing. It's just confusing.

Marcus: Yeah, it's kind of like when you see a message be left on read on Instagram, right? And, you know, they're different types of social medias, right? There's Instagram and Snapchat that, you know, tell you when someone has read something, or when they're typing. And then there's things like i-messages, where you have the option to show if you read something or not. And honestly, I think that the element of, you know, in social media, when it shows your status of Okay, I have seen this message, I think that adds another layer of complexity, right? So it's like, you send someone a message, and you don't see if they read it or not, that kind of gives you a peace of mind. It's kind of weird, but social media, my perspective on social media has definitely changed. Because, you know, without social views, right, without face to face, you kind of have to rely on any resource you get, right. So read recipients are basically the only type of contact anyone could ever have in online situations.

Jordan: There would be times where someone would text me and it would just be them responding to something I said, and I would leave them on read because it's not something I would respond to. But then when someone does that, to me, I’ll be thinking, Man, did I just mess up? Are they mad at me or something? So, like I said before, it's confusing. But you just have to base your knowledge on your own intuition sometimes.

Rachel: That kind of brings into the whole thing of this rising of tone indicators. Are you all familiar with that? Like a little slash? And then there's a letter? I feel like, maybe, because we've gone into quarantine and haven't had these social cues, I feel like that might have been one of the reasons why the tone indicators have increased. Like, with what Marcus was saying, with peers, with social media, and having those read receipts, is also very important.

Delisa: There's been a lot of times where someone's left me on read or ignored my messages and it has made me feel insecure or start to overthink, Oh, are they annoyed with me and stuff like Jordan was saying. But I realized that I also do that to people and usually it's not because I'm annoyed with them or anything like that. It's because, especially through the pandemic, I had a lot going on, I wasn't really focused on every single person I was talking to. Sometimes I would read a message and just forget to respond completely. So being able to see that different perspective that, Oh someone may leave me on read, they might be annoyed at me, but also realizing that- wait, I do the same thing to other people and it's usually not because of that reason. So talking to my friends about it and being like, “Hey, we haven't hung out in a while, what's going on?” And just having that sort of open communication has really helped me stay close to my friends.

Marcus: You know what? That reminds me of something, right? Remember, before quarantine, if someone would DM me and I looked at their profile, and I asked myself, Who is this? So then you kind of have to click on their profile, see their tags, and I'm like, Oh okay, I know who this person is. But after quarantine, right, when we had to, you know, shift to online and you know, we would play games with people, we would meet strangers online, I feel like I've become more comfortable with opening conversations with people I don't know. I feel like I don't need to know the context of who this person is, who their friends are, to be able to make a good conversation, right? You know, I see that we both like the same common interest, okay boom, I can make a good conversation off that. So it's definitely helped me in my, you know, communicative arts, right, I'm able to, you know, have deep conversations- or maybe not so deep, but have conversations with people that you know, I don't really know.

Delisa: And I realized that, over the pandemic, it was extremely hard for me to open up and have deep conversations with my friends, which is another reason that it was really important to have open communication with them because I know mental health struggles and school and all of that could be even more stressful when you're not seeing anyone and you're literally sitting alone in your room on your desk all day just doing work and not having anyone to hang out with or talk to. So yeah, it was really hard for me, I think I've become a lot more reserved, and a lot less willing to talk about myself, just because of the pandemic.

Rachel: I can definitely relate to that. Having that whole thing of trying to communicate with people and maybe you overthink what you're doing and the whole thing of overthinking, Am I annoying this person? I feel like that also applies with being able to communicate with people with your mental health.

Jordan: I also feel like, having to communicate, people might have brought some friendships closer, because I know one of my friends, we talk every three months, for no weird reason. But when quarantine started, we started talking more, especially freshman year, because she was in lots of my classes. And we started talking more, and it actually brought our friendship a lot closer, because now we are a lot closer than we were this time last year or two years ago, three years ago. And I definitely feel like having to talk to people online gives you better ways to communicate, like Marcus was saying, it helped with communicating and learning how to talk to people without being afraid to, because in this time period, we definitely really can talk to people.

Delisa: And one thing I've noticed is that, when I'm introduced to a friend of a friend, usually I won't get super close to them unless we have that one-on-one hangout session. And it's the same thing with online, you're talking or typically talking to someone, just one on one, and that can help you grow closer, when you're not surrounded by other people, you know.

Jordan: Without other people just watching you, it's not easy. Sometimes it can be awkward. Like, one of my friends, he introduced me to one of his friends and we were on a FaceTime call and he left the call and it was just me and his friend. And it was really awkward at first because I had no clue who he was and we were just sitting there in silence the whole entire time. But eventually, we started to get in a smooth flow of a conversation and it became less awkward. And I like how, when the other person leaves, it helps you be more comfortable because it's like having eyes watching you or, you knowing someone's listening. It's awkward because you can't really be yourself in a way.

Marcus: And also for me, when I shifted to talking with people online, you know, we've talked about how we can't see, you know, facial, you know, tone indicators and a lot of difficulties came into fruition after, you know, being online and not seeing people face to face. And you know, as Delisa said, when you get left on read, you get really self-conscious, right? Like, Oh, did I make this person mad? Did I say something wrong? And surprisingly, through quarantine, I think I've actually matured to be able to actually express those feelings, right? So after coming back to school, whenever, you know, I talk with a friend, sometimes I'll just say, “Hey, how's everything? Am I doing anything wrong? Are you happy with our friendship? Is there anything I can do to better myself?” So I think that's helped me mature as a person and not only in my friendships, right? So it definitely helped me, quarantine definitely helped me take that step forward, to be able to, you know, take the first step and try to make things right with a friendship if you think something's off with it.

Delisa: I think the transition from online to school was super impactful for me because people who I got close with over online, suddenly I could see them in person and talk to them. And it was really fun because suddenly I have all of these new friends that I would never have talked to before. So I think coming back to school and seeing everyone in person was much more enjoyable after an entire year of being online.

Rachel: But with what Marcus was saying, with the online friends and the social cues, I definitely found myself appreciating online friendships a lot more. I think I would say that I had more online friendships than in-person friendships. Of course, we weren't actually in person. The fact that I didn't have to worry about overthinking all of these social cues almost made me ignorant, but in a good, ignorant way. I was able to just enjoy the conversation and talk with all of these people and I was able to make plenty of friends because I didn't have to worry about if they'll like me or if they think I'm nice or something. I'm just able to play games with them, we can hang out and stuff.

Jordan: And another thing about online friends that I really like is that when you're meeting online, you don't know them, right? They get to know you from scratch. Because when you're meeting people from, let's say your school, let's say you're meeting a friend of a friend, they most likely know something about you that they heard from someone else, they don't really know you for how you would describe yourself. But online friends, you can start off from scratch, you can build up a relationship with them, and they can build how they perceive you as a person without having that background knowledge of, Oh, she did this so she must be like that. And I definitely feel like online friends, in a way, it's a nice way to start over.

Rachel: Absolutely. You don't have to worry about what someone might have heard or a rumor that might have happened. They'll just know you by whatever you present.

Marcus: Yeah, that's also really difficult since, you know, Northview is kind of a smaller school, right? So everybody kind of knows everybody. So, definitely over quarantine that really helped me, you know, interacting with online people that helped me become more self-confident in myself, right. I remember, before, it was really difficult, you know, people would say bad things about you and you would care a lot about what people said. But then, after quarantine, after having, you know, a lot of time with yourself and a lot of time with people who know nothing about you, I kind of learned to be able to take those things in stride, right? And of course, not everyone's going to believe everything that they hear, and actually, some of my closest friendships have actually started when, you know, they told me “Hey, I heard this thing about you, but I didn't choose to believe it and it sounds like that thing isn't true.” And that, you know, it really showed me over quarantine that, not only I, but a lot of other people have matured as well.

Jordan: Yeah. I just feel like this is one big experience that tests our maturity, how we feel about ourselves, and mainly how we feel about ourselves. Because I know a lot of people, this whole experience of being online, a lot of people kept to themselves, because you were at home and stuff like that. So it really just helps us learn more about ourselves, and just stop caring what other people say. Because at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what other people say because they're just saying things to be saying things 90% of the time. It only matters what you think about yourself, because, at the end of the day, it’s only going to affect you, and not the people you sit next to in class or the people you bump into the hallway.

Rachel: I definitely think that, now that we've come back to school, I mean, I'm not that involved in the drama so I don't know, but I feel like I've gotten the sense that there's less drama, less rumors, everyone seems to be keeping to themselves or their small group because they realize that it just doesn't matter. You can be who you want to be and just kind of chillax. I definitely think coming back to school has been a good opportunity to understand all of these things and see how quarantine has really changed you.

Marcus: You know, it's an interesting thing, right? You know, time seemed to go by so much slower when we were younger but you know, as we got to middle school, the year started to go by quicker. So I think quarantine really gave us a good sense that, hey, a lot can happen in a year and you can change a lot as a person- not only yourself, your maturity, your social situations, a lot of things can change in a year, right? So after seeing, you know, a whole gap of a year, seeing those people you remember from freshman year, and now in junior year, at least for me, it's really cool. You know, I didn't give people enough credit, right, you know, people have matured, people have changed and I think that's probably the best thing that's changed to help my social life, right?

Jordan: Another thing, when we came back to school, it was really fun to see how people changed. When you know someone from seventh grade, how they acted then, and now you see them now, you’re just like, Whoa, that's crazy. And even though people have said that to me personally, I don't think I've changed that much. But people have definitely said, “Oh, Jordan, you've changed a little, like you're not the same not in a negative way but in a positive way. You're not the same person you used to be a year ago.” And like you said Marcus, it shows us how much things can change in a short period of time. It’s like a reality check to be honest.

Delisa: I feel like for most people, the pandemic was an opportunity to explore who we are separate from our friends and everyone else around us. So it really gave me the opportunity to, like Marcus said, and like you said, grow as a person.

Rachel: I think this whole experience of quarantine, not involving COVID just like the social aspect of it, is really going to affect us. I mean, maybe in a good way, maybe in a bad way, but it's definitely changed us in a way.

Marcus: Yeah. And who's to say, you know, it might seem weird to say but who says bad change is a bad thing, right? Maybe losing some friends might, you know, actually turn out for the good and you look at it in a future lens, right?

But yeah, thank you so much for listening. I’m Marcus.

Rachel: I'm Rachel.

Jordan: I'm Jordan.

Delisa: I'm Delisa

Marcus: And this was Point of View. Thank you for watching.

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.