Speaker 1: Well, hello there, and welcome back today. I want to
Speaker 1: talk about something that's both very important and very top
Speaker 1: of mind right now. Education. I know we all know
Speaker 1: that cliche saying it takes a village to raise a child,
Speaker 1: But what happens when the village and charge of raising
Speaker 1: the kid is flawed or even broken. Nobody could disagree
Speaker 1: with the fact that teachers and staff today have it
Speaker 1: really tough. They're expected to educate students, a monumental task
Speaker 1: on its own, get them ready for college, make sure
Speaker 1: they've got transferable skills for that first job. But they're
Speaker 1: also asked to do more under immense pressure, virtual learning
Speaker 1: during a pandemic, remotely supporting over twenty kids adequately. Add
Speaker 1: to that laundry list the idea that education ers now
Speaker 1: have the job of keeping their students safe from violence.
Speaker 1: It's unfortunate that the drills of my youth, where we
Speaker 1: hit under a desk or just walked onto the playground
Speaker 1: and lined up according to height, that that safety measure
Speaker 1: is nowhere near enough today. Now, as you know by now,
Speaker 1: this show is all about leveraging our collective power to
Speaker 1: influence change. Our two guests today, they are testaments to
Speaker 1: this both are well aware of the odds, and yet
Speaker 1: they choose to go against them to build safe spaces
Speaker 1: for students to achieve their goals, regardless of where they
Speaker 1: come from. Joining us today is Eli Cappeludo, President of
Speaker 1: the University of Kentucky. He's the university's twelfth president and
Speaker 1: has led a two point eight billion dollar transformation of
Speaker 1: the campus that's aimed at enriching the living learning experience
Speaker 1: of his students by strengthening the research infrastructure. He's a
Speaker 1: huge believer in the university's capacity to teach, heal, and
Speaker 1: serve through partnerships with various philanthropic and private partners, and
Speaker 1: much like President Kappeluto, our second guest, Gordon Matchett, is
Speaker 1: focused on fostering spaces where students feel safe enough to
Speaker 1: reach their best potential. He's the CEO of Take a Hike,
Speaker 1: an organization that partners with public school districts to engage
Speaker 1: vulnerable youth and mental health and well being programs in
Speaker 1: alternate education classrooms in Canada. Two great guests, One big topic.
Speaker 1: That's how we do it here less divan Welcome class.
Speaker 1: Good to have you here. I want to start with
Speaker 1: what you see as the key to a successful educational
Speaker 1: experience for a student, President Cappoluto, what are the key
Speaker 1: ingredients here? Well, that you maximize your experience by understanding
Speaker 1: at a deeper level who you are, and that you
Speaker 1: find your meaning and purpose. We certainly know those expressions
Speaker 1: about being able to bear any burden if your hy
Speaker 1: is sufficient. I think college is a wonderful time to
Speaker 1: explore yourself and opportunities to have that life of meaning
Speaker 1: and purpose. How you may treat a community. I want
Speaker 1: to follow up on that because so much of the
Speaker 1: trend that I perceive an education is about individual focus, personalization, customization,
Speaker 1: and being your best self, individual self as opposed to
Speaker 1: collective self. So can you add a little flavor to
Speaker 1: what the diagnosis of a community? What does that practically
Speaker 1: look like and how does that affect how you educate
Speaker 1: your students. So I think one understands that in tackling
Speaker 1: us area is problem, there's not just one factor. So
Speaker 1: what are these determinants of a healthy community? Education, safe water,
Speaker 1: safe streets, good nutrition, mental well being. There is not
Speaker 1: one lever to pool. I like to say that there
Speaker 1: are micro interventions to have a macro effect. So understanding
Speaker 1: the complexity of a community. Today, we are one of
Speaker 1: eight universities in the country that has a RAID on
Speaker 1: a contiguous campus. The depth and breadth of disciplines you
Speaker 1: need to answer the serious questions of our day. So
Speaker 1: something we like to maximize is that experience of working
Speaker 1: with others that have competencies and perspectives that you may
Speaker 1: not have. I knew there's a reason you're on this
Speaker 1: podcast because we're all about that multidisciplinary collaboration being that
Speaker 1: fourth multiplier. And this is how you've designed your whole school.
Speaker 1: We've heard this word experience a lot, Gordon, and uh,
Speaker 1: I think I know part of the answers to your
Speaker 1: question about what makes for successful experience. Given the title
Speaker 1: of your group take a hike, can you just share
Speaker 1: a bit of the value of that exposure to an
Speaker 1: experience in nature and how that fits into how your
Speaker 1: program works and why you consider it an essential part
Speaker 1: of the educational experience. Yeah. So we use nature as
Speaker 1: a hook as a way to get students in. It
Speaker 1: captures their attention, it's something that excites them, a place
Speaker 1: to learn. We also experience the healing properties nature, but
Speaker 1: most importantly, we use it as a place to build
Speaker 1: relationships with yourself, with your peers, with your adults, and
Speaker 1: a really strong connection to school and community. Something that
Speaker 1: I was super surprised to find out is that school
Speaker 1: connected us is the number one indicator of youth mental health.
Speaker 1: This is even more important than family connectedness. And so
Speaker 1: what we want to do is we want to get
Speaker 1: these kids that have typically been isolated from school not attending.
Speaker 1: We want to get them back in and we want
Speaker 1: to get them forming relationships. We want to get them
Speaker 1: forming deep community within their classroom so they can then
Speaker 1: go out and find community outside of the classroom. It's
Speaker 1: really about making sure that their desire to learn is ignited,
Speaker 1: but it's also about making sure they've got the social, emotional,
Speaker 1: and mental health skills to really succeed in school and life.
Speaker 1: And what are some of the challenges the students in
Speaker 1: your program in particular are facing. God, yeah, I am.
Speaker 1: I always hate answering this question because it also I
Speaker 1: know it puts our It puts our kids in a
Speaker 1: in a deficit light. And really, when I look at them,
Speaker 1: they're smart kids. They've got to be smart kids to
Speaker 1: deal with everything they've been facing in life. They just
Speaker 1: haven't find the right environment to thrive in. And I
Speaker 1: see that when they have the right environment, they thrive,
Speaker 1: they shine. They go from never attending to always attending,
Speaker 1: to getting you know, really happy gariades, to being on
Speaker 1: the Principles list. So, these are the kids that have
Speaker 1: experienced some violence in the home. They might have experienced
Speaker 1: some mental health concerns in the home. They're often finding
Speaker 1: themselves with some mental health concerns. They are coping with
Speaker 1: self harm, isolation, anti social behaviors. You know, they've had
Speaker 1: a really hard hand dealt to them. And so by
Speaker 1: the time they get to the University of Kentucky, Mr President,
Speaker 1: how do you handle engaging with such a diverse range
Speaker 1: of students when they get to your door, different types
Speaker 1: of school systems, different financial circumstances, different possibly traumatic backgrounds.
Speaker 1: What are you doing to provide a sort of an
Speaker 1: inclusive learning environment for this full range of humans. So
Speaker 1: a little picture of our campus population. We have a
Speaker 1: hundred and schwanne counties in Kentucky. Students from all of those,
Speaker 1: all fifty states and a hundred countries. So this is
Speaker 1: a wonderful opportunity for the these in our sections of
Speaker 1: life that Gordon talked about that are so important. We
Speaker 1: recognize that we would never be able to hire enough
Speaker 1: counselors to individually work with each student. The support that
Speaker 1: I think Gordon has described that they can get from
Speaker 1: one another is enormous. So we've tried to have living
Speaker 1: learning experiences that bring our students together to be with
Speaker 1: individuals who have a different story, a different identity. Often
Speaker 1: we come from communities where everyone looks like us. At
Speaker 1: the University of Kentucky, we have students who come from communities.
Speaker 1: If you go from east to west, the life expectancy
Speaker 1: can change by ten years. We have in one part
Speaker 1: of our state a traditional fossil fuel industry in coal
Speaker 1: that has a whole host of challenges. At the other
Speaker 1: end of our state, we're building one of the most
Speaker 1: modern battery plants. We have an enormous set of supports
Speaker 1: around students that go beyond, you know, traditional counseling, and
Speaker 1: we have a community that cares. You know, we have
Speaker 1: a group of seventy eight people that meet once a
Speaker 1: week use all kinds of information we garner from faculty, advisors, counselors,
Speaker 1: and so forth to wrap around services to our students.
Speaker 1: We're at a time where we have to be high
Speaker 1: tech and hot touch on the use of technology to
Speaker 1: reach out to students at at all times of the
Speaker 1: day and night. One thing that comes to mind when
Speaker 1: I whenever I hear university is cost. The price tags
Speaker 1: seem to be moving at an extraordinary clip. In fact,
Speaker 1: they are moving at an extraordinary clip. How do you
Speaker 1: make sure that students can afford to remain in school?
Speaker 1: Thank you for raising the question that has been a
Speaker 1: top priority for us, using lots of data analytics to
Speaker 1: determine why students succeed or not. And keep in mind
Speaker 1: we've got thirty one thousand students. You have to customize
Speaker 1: your interventions. It's not one size fits all. So we
Speaker 1: used our data analytics to determine, you know, what are
Speaker 1: those key factors that seemed to hold our students back.
Speaker 1: And one that surfaced was that gap in unmet financial need,
Speaker 1: which is really the the total cost of attendance and
Speaker 1: how much you have in scholarships, grants and loans. We
Speaker 1: found that once you close that to less than five
Speaker 1: thousand dollars annually, the retention rates and graduation rates go
Speaker 1: up dramatically. So we have built programs ours is referred
Speaker 1: to as leads, and we target these students and we're
Speaker 1: immediate in our responses. It can be in the middle
Speaker 1: of a semester that we see these financial challenges along
Speaker 1: with the immediate support comes with a financial wellness curriculum.
Speaker 1: How can you learn about wise management of your finances?
Speaker 1: What debt you undertake? Of our students graduate with no debt.
Speaker 1: The average debt of students who do take out loans
Speaker 1: is around thirty thou dollars. We watch those figures closely.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to say to our financial aid has increased
Speaker 1: significantly and it goes most to those in the lower
Speaker 1: income groups. Of our students come from families whose average
Speaker 1: annual income is just twenty dollars. Mm hmm. Gordon, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give you a chance to brag a bit about
Speaker 1: take a hike in terms of the impact you've noticed
Speaker 1: this program having on the students who are enrolled. Do
Speaker 1: you have examples or stories you could share? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: see so many education programs today that are really smart
Speaker 1: about using something to hook kids. Take a hike. We've
Speaker 1: used the outdoors to hook kids. But I see trades
Speaker 1: culinary programs, hairstyling, art, sport technology programs. We find ways
Speaker 1: that cook kids, that get them excited and interested in
Speaker 1: learning and then bring them in And for kids that
Speaker 1: have experienced vulnerabilities, these hooks are a really great way
Speaker 1: to start to build those relationships and form friendships. When
Speaker 1: we look at kids that have experienced some extreme trauma
Speaker 1: in their lives, that have experienced some vulnerability. When kids
Speaker 1: get reconnected, they want to start talking and they want
Speaker 1: to start talking to adults that care about them. And
Speaker 1: we can't expect that of teachers in the school system.
Speaker 1: They are too busy doing too many other things. And
Speaker 1: that's why I take a hike has embedded a registered
Speaker 1: clinical counselor in the classroom, and so this is the
Speaker 1: same person that when I go to see my therapist.
Speaker 1: It's the same qualifications, and this person is there for
Speaker 1: the kids all day, every day. We've got one counselor
Speaker 1: for every twenties youth that we see. They start with
Speaker 1: really seemingly innocuous conversation. You know, they might help a
Speaker 1: kid with math homework, and all of a sudden, the
Speaker 1: child starts to say, I hate math, and this is
Speaker 1: why I hate math. And then they go for a
Speaker 1: walk and it gets a deeper and deeper conversation until
Speaker 1: they're finally starting to unpack some of these really really
Speaker 1: meaningful events in their lives that are holding them back.
Speaker 1: We get kids reconnected back to school. But when we
Speaker 1: get them connected back, then we've got the place for
Speaker 1: those kids that are experiencing vulnerabilities to really open up
Speaker 1: and share and that's where we see these huge differences
Speaker 1: happen in their lives. Does that cover the kind of
Speaker 1: the mchin of the program and if not, is there
Speaker 1: a a walk through what is a student experience of
Speaker 1: the Take a Hike program? On a weekly basis, they're
Speaker 1: in classroom four days a week throughout on the land
Speaker 1: one day a week learning on and from the land.
Speaker 1: Every single day starts with a circle where we get
Speaker 1: the kids together in a circle. We asked them a
Speaker 1: thought provoking question, uh, something that will help them open
Speaker 1: up be vulnerable with their peers, and then we asked
Speaker 1: them to give a number between one and ten about
Speaker 1: how they're feeling that day. It's a really great way
Speaker 1: for us to check in and we can watch numbers
Speaker 1: change throughout the day, So that's kind of what the
Speaker 1: day starts like. They'll be academic instruction, just like in
Speaker 1: any other classroom. And then there's that interaction with the
Speaker 1: mental health clinician. Some days it will just be a
Speaker 1: casual conversations helping you out with math. The mental health
Speaker 1: clinician gets to see issues that happened in the classroom
Speaker 1: arise and gets to watch them in real time. So
Speaker 1: that's part of what happens and take a hike. But
Speaker 1: then there's that finer stuff that happens in between the scenes.
Speaker 1: It's a ground kids actually starting to develop relationship ups
Speaker 1: with each other, starting to find out that they're adults
Speaker 1: in their lives that care about them, and being able
Speaker 1: to go from you know, never going to school to
Speaker 1: having this adult that comes and sees them at their
Speaker 1: house and says, hey, what can I do to get
Speaker 1: you back into school? We really miss you, we really
Speaker 1: care about you, and showing up in their first day
Speaker 1: with their hoodie on, not wanting to engage. And then
Speaker 1: on the last day of school, they're around a campfire,
Speaker 1: they've got their hoodies down and they're looking around at
Speaker 1: a group of twenty other kids that they've made friends with.
Speaker 1: They've never had friends before in their lives. This is
Speaker 1: what take a high because it's about it's about building
Speaker 1: that community, and it's about being able to show up
Speaker 1: and find that place of belonging in a really mentally
Speaker 1: healthy way. You're listening to a podcast called Force Multiplier,
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Speaker 1: Join us today. Hey, I'm still Baritune Day, your host
Speaker 1: for Force Multiplier, but I'm checking in with you with
Speaker 1: a little different energy because if you're listening, you like
Speaker 1: the show, and if you like the show, you might
Speaker 1: like my other show, How to Citizen, where we take
Speaker 1: citizen as a verb and find out from people practicing
Speaker 1: the ways we can shape our community by showing up,
Speaker 1: investing in relationships, understanding power, and valuing our collective selves.
Speaker 1: Check it out at how to citizen dot com or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast. Do you have any partnerships
Speaker 1: formally with sort of higher education third level education institutions
Speaker 1: going in BC? We are British Columbia, where the province
Speaker 1: where I live in Canada, we have lots of partnerships
Speaker 1: where we're able to get um youth and of experienced vulnerabilities,
Speaker 1: some opportunities to look into what university life is like.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite programs is the Trade Sampler program
Speaker 1: that we have here, and so this takes kids that
Speaker 1: are interested in some type of trades program and they
Speaker 1: spend their last year of high school where they're actually
Speaker 1: going into the college to be able to learn some
Speaker 1: of the trade skills. Well, Gordon doesn't doesn't know this,
Speaker 1: but he's going to be opening up a satellite campus
Speaker 1: in Kentucky. We have plenty of places for magnificent hikes.
Speaker 1: We just need more caring people like Gordon. I am
Speaker 1: so impressed that he's willing to take these individuals who
Speaker 1: suffer trauma, who are hurting, who oftentimes we give up on,
Speaker 1: and turn their lives around. So Gordon, thank you. Well
Speaker 1: I'll take that as an official limitation. It is President Cappeluto.
Speaker 1: You gave this really high impact commencement speech recently talking
Speaker 1: about careers and further education. But really what struck me
Speaker 1: as the encouragement you offered to these graduating students to
Speaker 1: find or build community. And I'm hearing this theme come
Speaker 1: up between both of you, Eli and Gordon, about your
Speaker 1: engagement with the community, about extending the reach of the
Speaker 1: educational experience beyond the classroom, and about inviting support from
Speaker 1: beyond the school institution, from businesses, from neighbors, from governments.
Speaker 1: So what does it look like to you for someone
Speaker 1: to to give back, to build community and to extend
Speaker 1: that relationship and that learning experience beyond the school or
Speaker 1: the campus. Well, I think if we remain connected this
Speaker 1: era that we're going through now, which is to fund
Speaker 1: too often by divudge. When we have any kind of disagreements,
Speaker 1: we have a better chance of bridging those. I think
Speaker 1: if one and vest in the common goods of community
Speaker 1: are one is a part of that, we have a
Speaker 1: better chance of understanding one another at deeper levels. So
Speaker 1: certainly we want our students to succeed individually and be
Speaker 1: competent in many ways to do so. But it's time,
Speaker 1: I think, to reinvest oneself in community. And you can
Speaker 1: do that through so many opportunities school board service today.
Speaker 1: You know, in the United States we've got a lot
Speaker 1: of conflict in school boards now. People may want to
Speaker 1: stay away from them. We need another generation to step
Speaker 1: forward to solve those problems. You can do so in
Speaker 1: your faith community. They're a variety of ways to engage.
Speaker 1: We want to prepare our students to do so effectively.
Speaker 1: And with meaning and purpose? How do you handle the
Speaker 1: expectations that we continue to pour onto our educators. We
Speaker 1: want you all to be safety officers, counselors, serrogate parents,
Speaker 1: also occasionally teach curriculum, befriend the students, be ambassadors. It
Speaker 1: feels like we're asking more. Is that your experience of it?
Speaker 1: And uh? If so, how are you handling it? You know,
Speaker 1: we have all these people who come here every day
Speaker 1: to serve our students and our commonwealth, and we have
Speaker 1: to pause and say, if they're going to take care
Speaker 1: of our students and take care of our entire commonwealth,
Speaker 1: we need to take care of them. So, um, we
Speaker 1: have done a variety of sort of interventions to give
Speaker 1: our employees tom and support to carry these burdens that
Speaker 1: I think you so comprehensively describe that we're asked to
Speaker 1: do today. So in need Tom away, You need familyly
Speaker 1: policies that are supportive. You need pay in graces, you
Speaker 1: need a competitive wage. All those things that we've tried
Speaker 1: to address and I think been successful. Still more work
Speaker 1: to do. Yeah, Gordon, how are you all handling the
Speaker 1: increased expectations on our educators? I find that the educators
Speaker 1: and the adults that we see coming in to take
Speaker 1: a hike, they have these increased expectations of themselves and
Speaker 1: they get into the line of work that they're in
Speaker 1: because they really want to make a difference in people's lives.
Speaker 1: And so, of course it's about making sure we have
Speaker 1: all of those things that President Capa Luto has talked about,
Speaker 1: that fair pay, the good leave, time, the benefits programs.
Speaker 1: But we're also finding that we've been introducing something that's
Speaker 1: unique within the school system here in BC in Canada,
Speaker 1: and it's around to focus on the adults in the classroom.
Speaker 1: They're so much research that shows the healthier the adults
Speaker 1: in the classroom, the healthier the youth in the classroom.
Speaker 1: I've really shifted my thinking from my job is to
Speaker 1: care about youth to my job is to care about
Speaker 1: the people that care about the youth, because that's where
Speaker 1: I'm going to have the most impact, is to make
Speaker 1: sure that the people who are they're taking care of
Speaker 1: those youth that needed every day they need the love
Speaker 1: to That is a positive reinforcement. Gordon, I like that
Speaker 1: very very much, and it just keeps escalating in a
Speaker 1: good way. It does we We also have sometimes an
Speaker 1: increasing mismatch between the preparations that schools are offering to
Speaker 1: their students and what the workforce requires. We want more
Speaker 1: educated workers to power to economy, and I'm wondering if
Speaker 1: the relationship between business leaders and corporate partners and educational
Speaker 1: institutions is that something that's also evolving in terms of
Speaker 1: that the handoff. You know, we've got Gordon handing off
Speaker 1: to President Cappelutto, But President Cappelutto, how's that handoff going
Speaker 1: into the workforce in our There any changes that you're
Speaker 1: promoting in that relationship. I think to be able to
Speaker 1: offer our students internships, co ops, experiential learning is essential.
Speaker 1: We've made tremendous strides there. We certainly have more to do.
Speaker 1: I do believe a silver lining of COVID is how
Speaker 1: can we use the technology to make more opportunities available.
Speaker 1: You know, traditionally we've educated students in sixteen or eighteen
Speaker 1: weeks semesters. They may take a break in the summer.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to take an internship coop at that time
Speaker 1: is pretty crowded. Well, now, why can't we have an
Speaker 1: on campus experience? Shift that to a online learning experience
Speaker 1: away from campus, while someone also has a co opera
Speaker 1: internship experience. So I think the technology is going to
Speaker 1: empower us to offer even more or of that kind
Speaker 1: of career life preparation. Gordon, do you have anything to
Speaker 1: add on on this kind of preparation for life beyond school. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of what Take a Hike does is
Speaker 1: we really want to see kids be really successful in
Speaker 1: whatever way they define success. And for us, it's about
Speaker 1: making sure that they've got those skills to be really
Speaker 1: good human beings, to to find friendships, to build relationships,
Speaker 1: to have a family. If that's what they choose to do,
Speaker 1: then there's also that career part that is important to us.
Speaker 1: We often find ourselves handing off to President Cappolluter to
Speaker 1: take it on from there, and I can see here
Speaker 1: doing a good job of it. You also talked about
Speaker 1: corporations and and how we're handing off to them, but
Speaker 1: I want to talk about how they're given back as well.
Speaker 1: We're seeing a lot of corporations and really wealthy philanthropists
Speaker 1: really investing and take a Hike. We're actually not funded
Speaker 1: by the government. Of the funding received last year for
Speaker 1: the mental health clinicians and the out our activities we
Speaker 1: do with our kids. It came from philanthropists, it came
Speaker 1: from corporations that really want to see youth succeed. And
Speaker 1: the importance of our donors. It's the money, yes, they
Speaker 1: give that to us, but they're also lending the support
Speaker 1: to the classroom when we're able to talk to kids
Speaker 1: and say, you know, it's actually these people that care
Speaker 1: about you and they're giving their funds because they want
Speaker 1: to see you succeed. They see that there's more people
Speaker 1: that care about them and it really does make that change.
Speaker 1: We've also seen the way it makes a change in
Speaker 1: our organization. We really borrowed the brains of our donors
Speaker 1: and we've said, how do we develop a growth strategy,
Speaker 1: how do we develop the organizational capacity so that we
Speaker 1: can sustain significant investments and significant growth. And it's our
Speaker 1: donors have been able to really encourage us to grow
Speaker 1: and develop because they see the value that we provide
Speaker 1: to the kids and they say more Canadian kids need
Speaker 1: it kids and can Tucky needed. This is a good
Speaker 1: point to keep building on that and learn about any
Speaker 1: unexpected partnerships that you've forged or benefited from. That have
Speaker 1: made a real difference in the success of your program. Gordon,
Speaker 1: I'll start with you. We've recently begun forming relationships with
Speaker 1: Indigenous communities. What we've been feeling is there's a really
Speaker 1: strong connection between take a Hikes, focus on learning on
Speaker 1: and from the land, community building and relationships with many
Speaker 1: of the First Nations and Indigenous communities here in Canada.
Speaker 1: We've just recently begun working with a First Nation here
Speaker 1: on Vancouver Island and it's the first time we're ever
Speaker 1: doing a First Nations or Indigenous focus program, and we're
Speaker 1: excited for how this learning is going to change our organization.
Speaker 1: We know that as much as we're going to be
Speaker 1: able to offer the Indigenous communities, they're going to offer
Speaker 1: so much back to us. We recognize the intergenerational trauma
Speaker 1: that was caused by residential schools and that many of
Speaker 1: these families have a hard time trusting education system because
Speaker 1: of it, and we're really excited for our role in
Speaker 1: being able to build bridges between Indigenous communities in the
Speaker 1: school system. Thanks for that, Gordon, Uh. President Cappeluto is
Speaker 1: clapping for you. Look at this. President Cappelutto, same question
Speaker 1: to you about unexpected partnerships that have been of benefits
Speaker 1: to your community. At the University of Kentucky, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you one that's interesting to us that we just got
Speaker 1: into a few years ago. Wasn't expected at all, But
Speaker 1: we started to hear a lot about the sports and
Speaker 1: game and I'd have to say I was an individual
Speaker 1: leary of those kinds of activities. I thought that they
Speaker 1: could be detrimental to one's mental health. For instance. Those
Speaker 1: are the impressions I had when we recognized how quickly
Speaker 1: that was growing. You know, when you visit a high
Speaker 1: school a few years ago and they're proud of their
Speaker 1: sports trophy that they, you know, just won as a
Speaker 1: state champion. When you meet students who say that they
Speaker 1: have maintained their connectivity with their younger siblings through the
Speaker 1: games they have played online and all, and we said, gee,
Speaker 1: we need to lean into this. So we have an
Speaker 1: international partner that shares our values and GINGI. They offer
Speaker 1: internships in Korea for our students. We have a gaming
Speaker 1: facility that a private concern built for us in partnership,
Speaker 1: and it's a multi use facility. So here we're building
Speaker 1: community in a way that I never imagined. And uh,
Speaker 1: probably don't fully understand yet, but it's work. It's working
Speaker 1: in a new way to keep people connected. I love
Speaker 1: that you can admit that. And uh, do I get
Speaker 1: athletic credit for esports? That's my question that that is
Speaker 1: outside of our athletics department. And in fact, I learned
Speaker 1: about all of this when I served on the n
Speaker 1: c A Board of Governors, and n c A considered
Speaker 1: whether we would roll that in as a sort of
Speaker 1: new sport, decided not to. But it's springing up on campuses.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. To go to university and play games. I
Speaker 1: did that, but I got no such credit. So I'm
Speaker 1: glad that there's an adjustment that's happening. Well, we have
Speaker 1: faculty engaged in this doing research on what are the
Speaker 1: benefits and warning signals you see from these kinds of activities. Yes,
Speaker 1: yes it's not all good, but clearly it's not all
Speaker 1: bad either. That's very unexpected. I'd love to know one
Speaker 1: thing that you want someone listening to this to know
Speaker 1: about inclusivity and access to education and something you'd urge
Speaker 1: them to do to contribute to that. President Capelutto, Well, Uh,
Speaker 1: I think it takes courage to choose who one wishes
Speaker 1: to associate with and learn from. So I think if
Speaker 1: you can get yourself into a situation that offers you
Speaker 1: a variety of perspectives, identities, stories, to develop a deeper
Speaker 1: understanding in a place that promotes this in a safe
Speaker 1: way is important. So for me, it's about finding that
Speaker 1: place where you belong and it takes all of us
Speaker 1: to do that. I am so astounded by what Gordon
Speaker 1: is doing and salute him and others who labor in
Speaker 1: those vineyards. Gordon, what's one thing you want someone listening
Speaker 1: to this to know and to do? And the kids
Speaker 1: we see it take a hiker often seen as those kids,
Speaker 1: the one that's when you're walking down the street you
Speaker 1: go to the other side of the street to avoid.
Speaker 1: What I love for people to know is that they're
Speaker 1: actually really smart kids. They're actually really caring kids. They
Speaker 1: just need the right environment. They need some respect, They
Speaker 1: need be treated as human beings. So instead across and
Speaker 1: over the street, maybe stop and say hi. They are
Speaker 1: worthy of care and respect as well, and they need
Speaker 1: to find their way to the right environment might not
Speaker 1: be take a hike for them, but somewhere that can
Speaker 1: see them for their strengths, not for their deficits, somewhere
Speaker 1: where they can succeed and UH find their place to belong. Well,
Speaker 1: you've both given me, UH and our listeners a lot
Speaker 1: to take away. And then the positive column here high tech,
Speaker 1: high touch. I really like that connecting with each other,
Speaker 1: with these selves, with the community around you, with the
Speaker 1: land around you. That's right in line with a lot
Speaker 1: of what we believe. So thank you both for the time,
Speaker 1: for your contributions, and for investing in not just education
Speaker 1: but our larger community. Really appreciate you both. Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me. Thank you. I think a lot of us
Speaker 1: can take some big lessons away from President Cappoluto and Gordon.
Speaker 1: It's so important to protect the people at the front lines,
Speaker 1: the educators, school teachers, counselors, making sure they have what
Speaker 1: they need to nurture their own mental and physical health.
Speaker 1: I also love the idea of trusting the process, meeting
Speaker 1: students in spaces where they already gathered, be it through
Speaker 1: technology or somewhere in nature, to adopt the lessons they
Speaker 1: learned in the classroom. And even when we don't understand
Speaker 1: these spaces fully or maybe feel uncomfortable, the ability to
Speaker 1: lean into the unknown, this willingness to teach resilience, It's
Speaker 1: just something we need to survive these volatile times. Are
Speaker 1: you feeling inspired and want to check out more information
Speaker 1: about the organizations we talked about in this episode. Learn
Speaker 1: more about our guests and how you can support their
Speaker 1: work by going to Salesforce dot org slash Force Multiplier.
Speaker 1: Force Multiplier is a production of I Heart Radio and
Speaker 1: Salesforce dot Org. Hosted by me Barrettune Day Thurston. It's
Speaker 1: executive produced by Elizabeth Stewart, produced by Ivan Schien, edited
Speaker 1: and mixed by James Foster, and written by Yvette Lopez.
Speaker 1: A special thanks to our guests, President Eli Cappeludo and
Speaker 1: Gordon Matchett. Listen to Force Multiplier on the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast