EPISODE 12: Garrett Kerr, Assistant Principal

[00:00:20] KK: Hi, everybody. welcome to risky business. I'm Kathy Kaehler.

[00:00:23] BL: And I'm bliss Landon.

[00:00:25] KK: Welcome to our show. We're so happy to have you here. And join us for another episode where we are going along. We are really pulling in more and more cool guests and learning stuff. It's so fun.

[00:00:40] BL: Absolutely.

[00:00:41] KK: Are you having fun?

[00:00:41] BL: Wait till you hear from this next guest we have. Very informative.

[00:00:45] KK: Very excited. Well, what's new? What's happening?

[00:00:51] BL: That is a loaded question. I'm just happy to be here. I've been a little under the weather. But I'm happy to be here now and hosting a dinner party for my friend, Jan, tonight, her 70th birthday. Yeah. So I have that to look forward to tonight.

[00:01:10] KK: It’s so nice. We haven’t really talked about our family life.

[00:01:18] BL: We haven't. Yeah. And I was just talking with our next guest about my son. I have three kids. You have three kids. I actually have a bonus get to. I've got a fourth bonus step-kid. So yeah, life is busy with those kids, even after they become adults. They’re still very busy.

[00:01:36] KK: And I always say this when people say, “Oh, does it get easier?” I always say, “No. It just gets different.”

[00:01:42] BL: Exactly. Exactly.

[00:01:44] KK: It just gets different.

[00:01:44] BL: Not easier. Different. Yeah.

[00:01:46] KK: Right. And I grew up where the minute I got my driver's license and then that second I graduated from high school, I was like I am out of here. But they're all home.

[00:01:57] BL: No. Our kids our kids stay.

[00:01:59] KK: Our kids are home. Oh my gosh! But anyway, so we share a lot of that, what's going on in our home life.

[00:02:07] BL: We do. My oldest just got his own apartment. So that was fun. We moved him up the weekend. And my oldest two are both working for me now, which has been really fun. They're doing a great job. And then my youngest is graduating high school. So got that going on. Life is busy, Kath. It's just busy.

[00:02:25] BL: It is. But we still make time to do our fun stuff, because that is important.

[00:02:31] KK: Very much so. Yes.

[00:02:31] BL: So, estate sale this weekend. Here we go.

[00:02:34] BL: Okay. I’m ready. I'm ready.

[00:02:36] KK: All right. Well, we wanted to introduce our guest. We're very excited. And we hope you will enjoy this guest. He is someone that Bliss has actually been – They've known each other for a long time. They’ve worked together. And we were just actually talking with somebody that our guest has worked with as well. So we're really kind of like a big family right now. I'm getting introduced. I'm so excited. So without any more time wasted, I would love to introduce Garrett Kerr. He is joining us. I'm going to say maybe at home, but maybe from school. He's the assistant principal at Tustin School District. Garrett, welcome to Risky Business.

[00:03:25] GK: Thank you so much, Kathy. Nice to see you again, Bliss. Happy to be here.

[00:03:27] BL: You too, Garrett. So glad you're here to talk with us. It's great. Now, are you at home? Or are you at school? We got to figure this out.

[00:03:35] GK: I'm on my lunch break at work.

[00:03:37] KK: Oh, cool.

[00:03:37] BL: Wow! You have a nice office. Okay.

[00:03:39] KK: Yeah.

[00:03:41] GK: Come on down for a tour some time.

[00:03:43] BL: I would love to. Absolutely. So Garrett has been a crucial part in what we have been doing for the last few years. Garrett was part of a postal council. Are you still doing that? The Postal council? I don't even know what it's called. The meeting with the post office in your area?

[00:04:06] GK: No, we're not doing that anymore.

[00:04:07] BL: You're not doing anymore. Okay. But that's where you met Michelle. Michelle works for us. And they were both on this council for the United States Postal Service. And they met each other there. And I know that Michelle's daughter dropped her laptop and broke it. And then I know that Garrett and she were talking about that. And he said, “Well, do you guys offer insurance for learning devices at schools?” And Michelle said, “I think we do.” And she wasn't exactly telling the truth, by the way, but –

[00:04:42] KK: We’re going to.

[00:04:43] KK: But we developed a program to ensure school issued devices, laptops, computers, Chromebooks, and Garrett and Michelle really were kind of the people that got it off the ground. They were the ones that you communicated. Garrett, you were kind of already doing a one-to-one program at the time with another company. And so you kind of knew the ins and outs and what you were looking for. And then we developed this great partnership with them.

[00:05:13] KK: That's so cool.

[00:05:14] BL: And I think we do think so well because of our relationship with Garrett and David at Tustin. And they have helped a lot of other districts do things really well with their one-to-one program. But take us back, Garrett. Give us give us your backstory as to how you got involved and how the one-to-one program came to be, because I know you were a crucial part in implementing that.

[00:05:38] GK: Yeah. Well, thank you for all that good background right there too. Let me just tell you a little bit about Tustin Unified first. We're a district that really resembles a lot of the state in terms of demographics. So we have a decent percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged as well. We have a very diverse district in terms of population and demographics. So you can imagine that we have every single kind of household here in the district. So we need to come up with something that would represent and be affordable, as well as a good option for every single household. And I think that the program that we have developed with School Device Coverage is meeting that need.

In terms of history and where we started, Tustin Unified, some of our board members really saw this need for students to be able to leverage technology more and to potentially have a one-to-one program. Maybe a certain grade levels, it wasn't like totally fleshed out. But we knew that the desire and the need was there. And so there was a bond put forth, a bond measure on the ballot, and there was a lot of campaigning for measure S. And lo and behold, our community really embraced it. And they said, “Yes, we see the need, we see that our students need technological skills, but also to be able to work on these devices in the future. So let's start using that now. Let's start leveraging that now.”

So our community did pass a bond, which is allowing us to do a majority of the things that we are doing now with technology, but it was $135 million bond for 30 years strictly for technology. And you really cannot find something like this even in the United States. So we're very fortunate, very lucky to have such a supportive community, a vision-driven board, and of course, leadership in the school district that is really championing this and moving it forward.

Now, from that point, it was like, “We have the money. How do we do this? How do we make this work?” So then implementation comes into play. And the side that I land on, I landed on at that time, I was very fortunate to get the role of what is called the educational technology coordinator. And then I worked hand in hand with our IT department, with our educational services department, with our administrative services department where I was residing in. And I was fortunate to help guide how the devices were used once they were deployed.

So I worked with about 13 teachers, which we call digital learning coaches. And our job was to go out and coach teachers on how to use these devices in the classroom with the students. And that was like a dream job for me. I didn't envision that coming into that role. It was just sort of, “Hey, Garrett, here's the bonus.” And I was in heaven from day one, because these are amazing teachers. We worked with teachers that were willing to try and push and set goals and reach those goals. And students were going home and saying, “Mom, I'm doing this, and I'm producing that.” And it was music and videos and artwork and just stuff that – And all this digital content that before wasn't an option because we didn't have the devices.

And then it was, “Well, how do we secure this stuff? How do we make it so that it's safe? And if something happens, what do we do?” Right? So that plan had to come into play real quick.” And Bliss, you did mention that, yeah, we had a company that we weren't totally happy with. We'll leave them unnamed for the moment.

[00:09:28] BL: That's fine. That’s fine.

[00:09:29] GK: Right? Right? But yes, then that relationship started with School Device Coverage through Michelle. And I got to tell you, it's been one of the best that I've seen in an education/business relationship that we've had in a long, long time. And I'm just really, really honest. And every time I talk with Michelle and Jesse and any member of the team, I just have to like say, “Hey, what number are we again?” And they go, “You're number one.” But literally, we are number one. We were the first school district to onboard with School Device Coverage, right?

[00:10:03] BL: You are. Yes. Absolutely.

[00:10:05] GK: To the start what that program looks like. So I don't know if that's necessarily fair to other school districts, because of the relationship, the flexibility, the history, but we certainly have that great relationship. And over the years, it's evolved. And I'm grateful for that because we can say, “Hey, we need to tweak it this year.” We have this different group that needs coverage, or we have a different party, or we need to switch this or that. And your team has been amazing. They've said, “Okay, no problem. We'll switch it up. You share the information that we need, we'll cover what you need, and we go.”

[00:10:45] KK: Yeah. I mean, that's the way our relationship has worked. It's been amazing. But I think we've been flexible. That's kind of our business go-to culture here. Is just to be flexible, and try to help out our customers with whatever they have going on. And this was a new product for us. But it folded in nicely into what we were already doing. So that was a plus for us. And we had the resources available. And you guys taught us so much on how to do a great job. We were very fortunate to get you as number one. We could have gotten somebody else who didn't know what they were doing, which we wouldn't know what we were doing. And so it just all worked. It was one of those things that it just really meant to be. Yeah.

[00:11:31] GK: Thanks. Yeah. And just add to that. And you'll talk to David Smith, he's our CTO.

[00:11:38] BL: Yes. We've talked to him already. Yeah, we did.

[00:11:39] GK: Okay. Yeah. He wasn't here when we started the program. He's been able to carry it to the next level for sure, and no doubt. But the former CTO, we really had a great working IT department who understood devices, hardware, software and the need for our students, right. So after all that stuff was identified, then it was like, “Okay, then how do we secure and take care of these things?” So a lot of stuff had to happen first. But once that did, it was alright, “Now we're in a good place? How do we secure moving forward, privacy?” All those good things. Then those questions started to be answered and taken care of.

[00:12:21] KK: Wow! Well, speaking of privacy, and again, I'm not really well versed on this. My kids are older. I didn't have to go through this as a parent. But I guess when kids are in school and they are either home, obviously now, or get back into the classroom, they have access to the Internet. Is that correct?

[00:12:43] GK: Of course, yes.

[00:12:44] KK: Okay. And does the school have parameters on that for them not to be able to search certain things? And then when they go home, obviously, they're taking these devices with them. And are they able to then surf the web with no boundaries at home? How do you keep that, I guess, student data privacy and just safety and security for kids?

[00:13:09] BL: Good question.

[00:13:10] GK: You sound like one of our parents, Kathy.

[00:13:12] KK: Oh, look at that.

[00:13:14] GK: I have all these questions for you. And luckily, we have answers, right? Some of those are better answered by David, but I'll do my best to answer them again. He's the really nuts and bolts, but big picture when it comes to the IT things. You what's interesting is that we held a lot of like kind of open forums for parents to come to school and say, “Hey, what are your questions or concerns about putting devices in your children's hands?” And you ask those questions nicely. And some parents were a little bit more heightened and concerned, because 6,7, 8 years ago, this wasn't a thing that everybody might have had a device. And so there was a lot more concern and misinformation possibly, right? So it was, “Hey, I don't want this in my child’s hand.” And we said, “Look, we will do everything we can to protect your child. We will set the most robust filter that we have available that we can find. We will put that on every single device. Actually, it's going to be in the cloud, right? And on the device if necessary. So that when they are on school premises, it will be filtered. And guess what? It will be filtered when they go home as well.”

Now those things have evolved from time over time to be even better. And sort of like an artificial type intelligence or machine learning that like if things pop up that should be blocked, the filter can catch it and then cache it and say, “Okay, like we're going to start blocking this as well.” So in terms of like the security of students being able to access certain things, it really comes down to just educational content. And so we say, “Okay, that is what is permitted on campus, off campus.” If you want to do something different, you're going to have to use a personal device for that. That will not be permitted on a Tustin Unified device.

[00:15:11] BL: Very good.

[00:15:12] GK: Yeah. So all the learning takes place on our devices. And anything else, go use another device?

[00:15:17] KK: Well, that's a big sigh of relief for parents. I mean, just that right there. It's very comforting.

[00:15:23] GK: Yeah. I would assume so.

[00:15:28] BL: Yeah. It would comfort me.

[00:15:29] KK: Well, and I think a lot of it is driven by fear. We have heard stories in the news. We've been exposed to different things. If you've accidentally gone onto a website, it's like, “Waaa!”

[00:15:44] BL: Yeah.

[00:15:46] KK: So it's fear based. And so that's probably where some of the heightened emotion is. But just from we were talking with David, there's really the intention to educate, to really look at that in a broad sense and really communicate what you're doing and what the intentions are. And it's all to that child to educate and keep them as we do when we let them go to be safe.

[00:16:17] GK: Yeah, that's very true. We do as much education for the parents as we do for the students almost from time to time.

[00:16:23] BL: That’s what kind of what David was saying, that you really entrusted the parents with this device. But you also had to let them know that they're ultimately responsible, but it's also a big responsibility that they trust you in addition. It has to go both ways, right?

[00:16:48] GK: Right. And that trust, it's reciprocal. It definitely is. Every single year, I would put together an educational video for our parents, as they would go through a registration process. But just the overall picture from, “Hey, thank you for trusting us, parents, to educate your child. Welcome to Tustin Unified. Welcome to the world of a one-to-one device.” Now, when we started this, it was only grades five through 12. In the last pandemic year, we've gone all the way down to kindergarten, because we saw the need and we had the ability, right? But prior to this, it was grades five – Five to 12 had a one-to-one device. In grades K, or kinder through four, it was every three students had access to one device, and then schools could supplement from there. But back to the educational piece, every year, I will put together a video just as a way to help parents understand the situation, the gravity of it, as well as what they do, what we do, and what the students do and how we all work together to make this program work.

[00:17:55] BL: How do you circulate that video?

[00:17:58] GK: Well, every school has opportunity to pass out whether it's a QR code or a link or through our what we call like a robo call. Just the mass calls and say, “Hey, here's the information you need to know when you're going to show up to register.” And each year, we got closer to that making it being a requirement. Sort of on the registration processes, it was like doing your checkboxes. And one was, “Did you watch the video talking about one-to-one device?” And parents could be honest or not and say yes. So I would put together a video, and it ended up using anywhere between 6 to 10 minutes of, “Hey, here's the things that you need to understand now. What this device is. How we're protecting your child. How you can keep the device healthy. How you can have conversations with your child about technology, about Internet use, about safety, about privacy. Oh, by the way, here's how you can ensure the device too.” All that stuff. Really, it was. And it was, “Hey, parents, thanks for watching. If you have any questions, please contact us.” And sometimes they do.

[00:19:12] BL: Well, that’s fantastic. One of the things besides many other things you guys do so well is you reach out to the parents and you get them involved. So we call it participation rate by the parents. And you guys have a very high participation rate. And I think it's because you communicate so well with the parents. So when we sign up a district, we’ll give the district a flyer to put in the device so they can purchase the insurance. But Tustin takes some other steps to make sure that the parents see that there's insurance available over and over and over again. Didn't you – You used to do like a big banner on the registration day and some other things too in addition to the video.

[00:19:54] GK: Yeah, I mean, like you've already hit on a couple of banners, flyers, calls out to the homes, that teachers would emphasize, “Hey, you have this device in the classroom. You need to get insurance on it.” There was nowhere you could go on a school campus that people weren't talking about, “Cover that device. Protect your device. Get it insured.” And on your side, on the School Device Coverage side, the prices are so reasonable. A logical person would look at this and say, “Oh, it's $110 to break to cover a broken screen, or $32 a year, and I can get it covered multiple times.” Well, I don't want to wait for that $110 bill to show up in my kid's hand saying, “Mom, I got to do this.”

I have three children of my own, two that are in schools. I cover both their devices, even though they're the most responsible kids I ever found, knowing how I got blessed with them. I still cover their device. Because what if something else – What if somebody else hits their device? What if somebody knocks it off the table, right? I don't want the what if. I just want to say, “I'm covered,” if the what if happens.

[00:21:05] BL: Right. Right? Well, you guys do a great job. And I wish all of our districts did that great of a job. And a lot of them do. They're getting better at it, especially once you have a year or two under your belt doing this, you get better at it, and the word gets spread out among all the parents and teachers. But is there anything else that you can think of, Garrett, that you guys do to promote the insurance?

[00:21:39] GK: What's interesting too about Tustin Unified, a lot of our teachers and staff members live in the community. So it helps to have that word of mouth share, right? We say, “Hey, oh, yeah, your kids. By the way, did you get the insurance? Like it's so easy, it's so cheap. Just go on the website and get it.” I live in the community. I live like – Before I switched to this role that I'm in now, assistant principal, I lived three miles from my previous position. And in my neighborhood, I know tons of families, and a lot of them actually are employed by Tustin Unified, but we all talk to the families that are in the neighborhood that aren't employed. We just say, “Hey, your kids should get the device and they should have insurance on it.” “Oh, yeah. Right, that's easy.” So we live, we work, we play all together in the community, and we share it that way. So it's easier.

[00:22:31] BL: Yeah. Maybe some communities just aren't as tight like that. But you guys have done a great job. So okay, so you change roles. You're now principal.

[00:22:41] GK: Assistant principal.

[00:22:42] BL: Assistant principal. Okay. I’m sorry. To me, your principal. Okay. But anyway, so how has your role changed in regards to the one-to-one program?

[00:22:54] GK: Well, in my previous role, I was concerned with 24,000 students. I really was. It was, “Hey –” And my role consisted of a lot of different things. But it was – I have kindergarten students that need to know how to use an iPad effectively, right? To do their learning. But I also have 11th and 12th graders that have a totally different need on a different device, right? So we had two devices, we had an iPad and we also had a laptop for a long time. We have a Surface Pro now, which they're wonderful devices. Like I said, our IT department goes through and really finds the best thing. But it isn't just the IT department, right? We go through a very lengthy pilot.

[00:23:43] BL: Yeah. David explained that to us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:23:46] GK: Right. And that's the wonderful part of the process, because it's not just one person selecting the device. It's the group, saying, “This will service our needs for the next four to five years.” So then we go, “Great. Now we know what we have to work with. Let's go forth with that.” It's like you can imagine me saying, “Okay, I got to go work with this high school teacher. And then I got to go work with a third grade teacher. My mind is shifting all the time saying, “Okay, they have this device, they have this need, they have this goal, this learning objective, versus this group over here that has a different learning objective and need.” So that was my world for about seven years of, “Hey, how do we help and support all these different learning needs with different devices and different learning goals?”

Now it shifted, it's very focused now – I'm in a TK8 school. And we're a phenomenal school here. We have a dual immersion program. It's a Spanish dual immersion program that's just up and coming. It's a great foundation. But now I have one device to focus on. The learning needs and the goals are still diverse, with language as well as grade level, content area, but I can focus in on little bit more, and I'm happy to say that I can bring that knowledge that I had from my previous role onto this campus. And I know many of these teachers, and they knew me in that former role. And so they're like, “Yay! Come share with us. Come work with us. Let's see how we can integrate more educational technology into what I'm – Into my current practice.” So I'm excited to be here and to work with these teachers in a more focused way.

[00:25:25] BL: And when did you take this role? Was it pre-pandemic?

[00:25:30] GK: It was like mid pandemic, like right when it started. I saw a role, assistant principal role becomes available. And being in my previous role for seven years, I thought I need to get up to a school setting again. I need to be closer to teachers, to students to be on the ground level. And then the opportunity for assistant principal came up, and I landed here. I'm super excited about it. So I've been here like working since probably July last year. And I hope to be here for a long time.

[00:26:02] KK: And are kids, are they coming into school?

[00:26:05] GK:  Yeah. So in September of 2020, Tustin Unified opened up school at the end of September and said, “Hey, if you want to come in-person, we'll call you a hybrid learner, an in-person learner. You can come in. Elementary was like a staggered an a.m. a p.m. session. The secondary school, so the middle of the high school, we had a Monday-Thursday or a Tuesday-Friday cohort. And now we're doing all day. So we just opened up this week for all day. Work for four days a week, four days a week, and then next week, elementary will come back full day on Thursday. So we couldn't be more excited to start like having kids more often.

[00:26:50] BL: That's awesome. That's great.

[00:26:50] KK: That’s fantastic. Wow!

[00:26:51] BL: How do you think kids are doing with the transition? I mean, they had to learn a new normal by being at home. And now they're going back to school. I know my son, h a senior, and he had some hesitation, because it was like first day of school again, right? Have you noticed that with the kids?

[00:27:12] GK: Yeah, very much so. Personal story from a student here. He's already coming two days. Kind of pulled me aside and said, “Hey, Mr. Kerr. What if I don't want to come four days? I'm just kind of nervous about being here all the time.” I said, “Young man,” I go, “It's up to you and your parents. You don't have to be here full day.” I mean, four this week, or every week.” I go, “I would love to see you here, because I know this is the best place for you. It's the best place for you to learn. But it's whatever is the best decision between you and your mom and your dad.” So there's some verification.

[00:27:49] BL: How long are you going to keep that available where they can do a hybrid type learning situation do you think?

[00:27:56] GK: Well, this year is the last of it. Our leadership has already announced that we will be coming back in-person full time next year, five days a week, right? And the other great thing about Tustin Unified is we offer, as an online Blended Learning Academy, Tustin Connect. So if parents say, “Hey, I don't want my student in person,” you have the option to go to that school, but you're still part of Tustin Unified. All the devices, all the learning, all the greatness just in a sort of an independent learning, blended learning environment.

[00:28:30] BL: Oh, that's great. Do you see – We've been asking this question kind of a lot lately. But do you see the curriculum kind of changing? Because now technology is definitely a part of every grade for every student, do you see things maybe pivoting to more of a customized curriculum per student maybe?

[00:28:55] GK: I think the word personalization is something that's been out there for probably –

[00:29:04] KK: He paused for a moment.

[00:29:05] BL: He stopped .Yeah.

[00:29:07] KK: But I have a feeling what he's saying, is that it's been percolating. People are – There you are there.

[00:29:13] BL: Oh, there you are. You paused for a minute. You’re back.

[00:29:17] KK: It’s okay. Okay. You were just saying the personalization. That’s okay. The personalization –

[00:29:22] GK: Yeah. The personalization, right? I think personalization is key to what – So it's twofold. A student has to realize where they are, and then a teacher has to realize what that student needs and to be able to meet that need. And a lot of that may be based on sort of the process or sort of a mastery learning process that a teacher can develop through a grading system and through working in a class. And then a student has to be able to say, “Okay, I'm able to work this way,” almost independently from other students. They may not be able to check in and say, “Brian, what's number three?” And then Brian might say, “Hey, I'm not at number three. I'm not even there. I'm doing something else.” If a teacher is able to work that way with each student, now, that takes a lot of skill, and that takes a lot of work by a teacher too. A lot of understanding on the parents side, the school side, the student side to say, “Hey, I'm willing to accept that this teacher is going to individually help me and personalize for me, and for all my peers.” But if we truly want to meet the student where they are, that's the way to go.

[00:30:37] BL: Yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting and very exciting to see where all this takes us in the future.

[00:30:46] KK: Absolutely. This generation.

[00:30:47] BL: Yes.

[00:30:48] GK: I think what you're saying though – But technology allows that to happen better.

[00:30:53] BL: Exactly. That's where I was going, is that technology allows for a more customized, personalized curriculum for each student. And how great would it be that students can actually focus on something that they're very interested in and that they could make a living on when they graduate? And I'm starting to see that a little bit in my son's school where there're some classes that they can take that they can actually use that to make money when they graduate if they want to get a job for the summer. So things like that. I think that's really exciting. And technology will allow that to happen.

[00:31:28] GK: Right. That’s such a great thing. And I think, again, Tustin Unified has done an amazing job with that. Being here at this middle school, we have an opportunity to really develop what we call pathways for students to be able to be successful and to dabble in certain things that they think, “Hey, I'm really interested in that.” And our high schools, you can go to any one of our high schools and they have robust programs for various things. Tustin High School has this amazing program called TTech. And it's an engineering program. But there's also a programming side to it so that students can go to either pathway to do the sort of the mechanical engineering side or the programming side of things and come out with a certificate, right? And I'm versed in these programming languages. Therefore, I can come in and be a part of your company, and start on day one. Or I can go to a Boeing and actually contribute day one because I have a certificate in SolidWorks.

But a lot of that starts early on in Tustin Unified, right? We get kids involved in STEAM and STEM and try to stimulate those ideas, and Science and Technology, Engineering, math. And then maybe in the middle schools, they say, “Hey, I'm going to take some graphic design course, some introductory to graphic design,” right? Leveraging the technology, like we said, or computer apps, or even art. Now, you can do art on the device as well as 2D art. And then we have music programs that you leverage the technology where you record and you re-record and you develop and you create. So the technology is only enhancing. And even to the level of transforming what students are able to do with the curriculum that we're putting forth. And so the personalization is coming in there, but also the opportunity, and the technologies just helping everything go faster and be better.

[00:33:24] BL: That's amazing.

[00:33:25] KK: It just makes me feel more like a dinosaur. I was going to say, Garrett, that you will soon have parents that they've only grown up with devices in their hands. We probably have a few stragglers still coming in that actually had the dial phones, but that's moving, obviously, in the direction where these parents come in with tech savviness.

[00:33:54] BL: So they probably expect a certain exact level of it already.

[00:33:58] KK: Exactly.

[00:34:00] BL: Well, that's fantastic.

[00:34:01] KK: It’s exciting.

[00:34:02] GK: Part of that is really exciting for us. But there's also education that comes with that, right? Prior to that thought is, how do we get parents to engage with the technology? Because this is where things are going if they're not well versed in it. So some schools have, “Hey, come on over. We'll teach classes. We'll get you informed. We'll get you –” And believe it or not, we'll sign you up with an email and get you started.

[00:34:32] KK: Oh, archaic. Like night school for parents.

[00:34:37] GK: But just like an industry that you're in, Bliss, like you couldn't get somebody to come in and just be 100% well-versed day one, right? So we've got to do education for our parents and say, “Hey, the educational way to use technology is this,” right? And if we don't do that, they just assume certain things and then continue on in their path. And we say, “All right, hold on. Let's stop for a second. Let's retool, retrain, because this is the way we have to operate here in an educational setting.” A business setting is completely different, right? So that's why we say, “Yes, we love that you embrace technology, we love that you use it, but at the same time, here're some education about how to use it in our environment.”

[00:35:20] BL: That's really great.

[00:35:20] KK: That’s really awesome. Well, Garrett, thank you so much for just enlightening myself and everyone listening. So fascinating. And hats off to your district and your school, like really ahead of the game I think.

[00:35:38] BL: They really are. Yeah, and Garrett, I can just see how happy you are there and so proud of where you are as an individual and at the district, because your whole face lights up when you talk about all the advances that you've made and the things that you already have in place and where you're going. So we're really excited for you. We love our partnership with you. And I know we're going to learn more from you. And just keep moving forward together. So we're really excited about that. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

[00:36:09] GK: Well, thanks for the opportunity. It was really a pleasure to talk with both of you today. Again, I enjoy working here in Tustin Unified, being a part of this district. It's been amazing career so far. And then, again, the partnership with School Device Coverage. It has been nothing but wonderful. I look forward to working more with School Device Coverage even at the school site, but you have some really special individuals over there that do a great job. And I wish you continued success. Thank you.

[00:36:36] BL: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your day.

[00:36:39] KK: Thanks, Garrett.

[00:36:39] GK: Alright. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

[00:36:40] BL: Bye-bye.

[00:36:41] KK: Amazing. Bye. Well, hats off to you, my friend.

[00:36:45] BL: For finding such great people?

[00:36:46] BL: Yes. Fantastic.

[00:36:48] KK: I found a great person to find a great person to find a great district. I mean, it's been – Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:52] KK: Really good. Good job.

[00:36:53] BL: Yeah. It's so nice. It’s so nice to have these business ties, and they become your friend. So it’s just been it's just been great for us.

[00:37:04] KK: It's awesome. Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Really, really interesting topic, great people. And if you have questions about your school district – On our previous show, we talked about you know where you can get in touch, but just reach us here.

[00:37:23] BL: We’ll put you in touch with them —

[00:37:23] KK: Yeah. We’ll send you an email or send us an email at riskybusiness@coveragequeens.com. We have our YouTube channel. We've got Twitter. You can find us on coveragequeens.com on our website. All of our other episodes are there too. So feel free to reach out. But we hope you enjoyed the show today and hopefully you'll be back soon.

[00:37:45] BL: Yes. Until next time.

[00:37:47] KK:  All right. Take care. Bye.

[00:37:48] BL: Bye-bye.

[END]