The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - New Public School Association Interview 6/26; Details On Public School Associations In Virginia

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: New Public School Association Interview 6/26 Details On Public School Associations In Virginia Five Public Schools Have Already Left VSBA Get To Know The School Board Member Alliance Rockingham Discussing Discipline In Schools Ethos Wine & Tea Coming To Old Guajiros Spot W Alb HS Swimmer Qualifies For Olympics Albemarle HS Grads Give Back W/Tutoring Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Thursday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. A lot we're going to cover on today's program. We have official confirmation on an interview that I think is going to be pretty significant, not just for Central Virginia public schools, but perhaps the Commonwealth of Virginia public schools. Perhaps your first introduction, many parents and teachers and staff, first introduction to an organization, an alliance they bill themselves as, the School Board Member Alliance, that is offering public schools an alternative option to the Virginia School Board Association I think we're in the early stages of this story and I think this story is gonna gain momentum in the new cycle one of the things that we try to do on the I love Seville

network is to gay to get a feel for content or storylines that are on their early stages of either breaking, have not broken, or on the cusp of being a momentum-based storyline with many layers to the onion. And I think this is one. On Wednesday, is the interview Wednesday, J-Dubs? 626, yep. We'll have one, at least one member of the Virginia

school, the Virginia School Board Member Alliance, and we may have the executive director as well. We're working on the executive director. And we're going to utilize this interview opportunity to give the VSBMA, that's their acronym. I hate acronyms personally. So I'm just going to call them the Virginia School Board Member Alliance, a chance to tell the Commonwealth, tell Central Virginia, what they can offer public schools if they are currently disenchanted with the Virginia School Board Association. And we've seen five schools, thank you, Ginny Hu, for setting us that list, that have currently pieced out of the VSBA,

and our prediction is more will follow. With these types of stories, you generally get more participation. The more people entering the fray as participation numbers increase. Currently, Bedford County, Isle of Wight County, Orange County, Rocky Amp County, and Warren County have left the VSBA. I think the Virginia, the website Virginia Mercury is doing a good job covering this. Outside of what I've seen on Virginia Mercury, I have not seen a ton of traditional or legacy media coverage on this topic. I'm going to make a prediction. After today's show and after the coverage we offer next week and after the interview on Wednesday, this is going to be a storyline to follow and a storyline that penetrates legacy media.

So what I'd like to do is introduce you to the Virginia School Board Member Alliance. And I'd like to kind of give a state of the union of public schools here in the Commonwealth of Virginia and why we think this will be a dividing factor for many of those schools. We'll also highlight on today's program a new business that's opening on West Main Street. Juna knows one of the owners in the old Guajiros location. We have a Western Alamaro High School swimmer qualifying for the Olympics, which is amazing. And Alamaro High School gradmer qualifying for the Olympics, which is amazing. And Albemarle High School grads giving back with tutoring, a positive story on today's show. And we're open-minded to your ideas on the program. Well, we viewed you to wick our in on a two-shot.

In a conversational format, ask you first how you would characterize, before I give my thoughts, the state of public schools in the Commonwealth today, June 20th, a Thursday. Your thoughts, my friend. I think there are some good discussions going on, and I think that while they may have seen better days, I think they have some good things coming in the future. I think between this SBMA organization and things like Rockingham County School Board discussing how to change

how they discipline in their schools. Which we'll talk about today. I think there are some people who see the problems and are looking for ways to fix them. Highlight how Rockingham is changing discipline. Rockingham County Public Schools. I won't get into all of it right now but they they're discussing what to do with uh what to allow in terms of cell phones for uh for high school students i believe cell phones have to be left uh cell phones are not allowed in in earlier grades but uh just bananas it shouldn't be allowed in any grade, but go ahead. They have still allowed them in the halls and the lunchroom in high school. And there are some people that say, look, you can talk to your friends during lunch.

We don't want you on your phones. Which is the way it should be. You've got you've got potentially forever to answer a text but you know missing out on on personal interaction with with friends and and classmates even just during lunch is something that we shouldn't be giving up for our kids. I think we're starting to see a clear divide in Virginia with public schools on how to teach students, what to teach students, how to manage students,

how to reprimand and hold students accountable. Clear divide on curriculum, a clear divide on curriculum a clear divide on politics a clear divide on sexuality a clear divide on screen time a clear divide on school resource officers and a clear divide on metal detectors that's no secret that school boards and the commonwealth and it's not unique to virginia it's in every state we just happen to live in the Commonwealth. It's no secret that Commonwealth school boards have become hotbeds, lightning rods for political activity, political promotion, and folks utilizing school boards to spring or trampoline into other offices. They start at the school board level, and they jump into other offices after gaining some experience in a four-year term in a school

board capacity. What we do not want, or what should not happen, is the ideologies, the beliefs, and the politics of these elected officials who are paid very meager dollars, school board members, to infiltrate or corrupt hallways, curriculum, schools, teachers, students. And that's unfortunately what is happening. So many parents have seen that their respective schools, and please get lower thirds on screen, so many parents have seen that their respective schools have become landmines for politics. And this new association, which we will introduce you to on Wednesday, the Virginia School Board Member Alliance, is looking to do perhaps a more neutral,

a more politically agnostic, if you may, alliance association or help to its members. This is what they have on their website, which you can find at mysbma.org. The Virginia School Board Member Alliance empowers Virginia School Board members with training focused on what you can do rather than what you cannot do. SBMA's mission is to promote high-quality school board governance training that emphasizes excellent in public education and addresses the

distinctive needs of each student. We believe education should prioritize traditional academics, provide students with opportunities for growth and recovery in reading and math, and celebrate their academic achievements. We are staunch advocates for creating safe and challenging learning environments for all children. They offer professional development for school board members. They champion academic achievement, and they prioritize student and employee safety. And they encourage people to join the SBMA by offering these levels.

These levels are extremely affordable. Are we talking $175 and $250 levels here of membership? I mean, these levels are ridiculously affordable. What storylines do you want to follow here with this? What questions are you going to ask? I have a long list already accumulated, Judah. I think what I want to know is how much this will affect what actually goes on in schools, how they choose to teach, how they choose to organize their classrooms. I saw some interesting discussion

recently on the fact that a lot of Central Virginia schools are just tossing all the kids into one classroom, and it makes it really hard for teachers to teach. They're expected to basically have four different teaching plans for every individual class because you've got everybody. You've got the low-end students, you've got the high-end students, you've got the high end students, you've got everybody in the middle. And having the low end kids in those classes is counterproductive because they're not gaining anything from being with people that are ahead of them in their learning. And they can't get the kind of time that they need from a teacher to really teach them what they need to learn at that point. And they may also be feeling, you know, they may also be feeling, what's the word?

Left behind, overwhelmed, intimidated. Imagine you're a middle school basketball player and somebody tries to put you on a team with the high school all-stars. Is that going to make you feel good be offering much guidance on the positioning of academically talented and students with overachievers with underachievers. Is that more of a state mandated thing that they can't affect? I think what you're looking at with this Virginia School Board member alliance is more back-end infrastructure and support. I think the Virginia School Board member alliance is going to offer public schools that want perhaps a more politically neutral approach to governing their respective school division. They're going to say, consider us. We're going to

provide similar infrastructure that the Virginia School Board Association does, but we're going to say, consider us. We're going to provide similar infrastructure that the Virginia School Board Association does, but we're going to do it potentially without the politics. We're going to do it without the pomp and circumstance, perhaps without some of the curriculum issues that others have faced, perhaps without some of the infiltration of sexuality that others have faced. I think that's more what they're going for. It's not about chopping up the students based on academic performance. the infiltration of sexuality that others have faced. I think that's more what they're going for. It's not about chopping up the students based on academic performance.

Well, that's a shame. That's going to be done more at the teacher and educator level. And the unfortunate nature... I don't think teachers have any control over how their classes are put together. And that was what I was going to say. And on the unfortunate circumstance of what's going on right now is there's so many students and such few teachers

that square pegs are being put into round holes. And then that's why when you have a group of students in a classroom that may not be cohesive of where they are performance-wise. They may not be on the same academic track. I certainly agree that having overachievers, middle achievers, and underachievers in the same classroom is troubling for all three groups. But that is the nature a lot of what we're dealing with in schools today. But couldn't it be said that a lot of that a lot of the problems with uh

teachers leaving is because of something stuff like this i think that's part of it i think violence is the other way around i think i think the primary reasons teachers are leaving is because they're underpaid and overworked i think that's the primary reason teachers are leaving they are not paid enough money for the value they provide, and they're asked to do more with less. I think the second reason teachers are leaving is because of safety, violence, and just quality of life. I think the third reason teachers are leaving public schools or are disenchanted with the profession is because the, I don't want to use the word volatile nature, but the tumultuous relationship with some parents, the lack of support from administrators.

I think one of the aspects that teachers find frustrating is they're teaching a broad cloth of students in one classroom, but I wouldn't characterize that as a top five or top ten, top five reason why we're seeing a teacher shortage. Primary reason for teacher shortage is underpay overwork. Sure, but that's always been the case. Underpay overwork. I mean, it's always been the case, but look at the massive inflation that we face. Underpaid and overworked is even worse now than what it was before the pandemic. Groceries, fuel, housing, everything is more expensive now. Credit card interest rates, more expensive now. So underpaid and overworked today is way worse than underpaid and overworked was in 2019

because the whole world's more expensive. Furthermore, we saw out of the pandemic a student body, and it's public or private, it's homeschooling. We saw kids come out of the pandemic, impressionable minds, seriously impacted, and we're still navigating that cause and effect. I was watching a clip from, I think it was Saturday Night Live, and it was Woody Harrelson was on Saturday Night Live. And he had some commentary that was extremely compelling to me.

He said this in his monologue, his stand-up, and I'm going to paraphrase what he said. He said, imagine a world where the biggest drug cartels in the world, the most powerful drug cartels in the world, the most powerful drug cartels in the world, buy the media and buy the politicians and utilize this influence with the media and politicians by buying commercial campaigns

and by donating to the most powerful politicians out there, influencing them to get the entire country to go on lockdown and take a medicine or take their drug to drive revenue to their bottom line. Most powerful drug cartels in the world, by media, by politicians,

and the media and the politicians get folks to do a certain change of human behavior and to take the drug cartels' drug on a regular basis. And that, in a lot of ways, it's a very simple form, but that, in a lot of ways, is what happened with COVID. We still have COVID out there, right? One would presume. People are still getting COVID.

People are still testing positive for COVID. What's the difference between now and then? A little more understanding of what COVID was. We all know now, today, that COVID was exploited for political purposes. We all know now today that COVID was exploited for political purposes. We all know that. And Harrelson's point was this, those most powerful drug cartels are not Columbia or drug lords in Mexico or South America. They're the publicly traded companies that we see on stock market exchanges. And they're the drug cart companies that we see on stock market exchanges. And they're the drug cartels that provide the medicine for you and I to take on a daily basis, our kids to take on a daily basis. The medicine we see on the shelves at CVS or Walgreens.

So his nutshell was this. His premise was this, his premise was this. The pandemic, we are still navigating the cause and effect of what we did for two and a half, three years. And in those two and a half, three years, the folks that were most impacted by what the influence from the drug cartels, buying the politicians and buying the media and changing human behavior and changing the way kids learn, the folks most impacted by this were children. And the children are still navigating what they went through during COVID. And part of that navigation is struggling in schools and classroom, whether that's socialization, whether that's learning,

whether that's reading, whether that's writing, whether that's arithmetic, whether that's just paying attention to teachers, whether that's dealing with the navigation, a drug addiction to screens. What did we do during COVID? We told kids to stay home and not learn with their peers, further driving the addiction of screens. When you tell kids to stay home for two and a half years and to learn through a screen as opposed to in a classroom in a regular setting, you are driving an addiction to screen time. I've seen it with our six-year-old.

I've seen it with other kids. This is a, I've seen it with me. How many people when they don't have their phone or can't find their phone have ridiculous anxiety and are like, where's my phone? What's my phone? I was talking with Susie, the attendant at Bel Air Market, fabulous lady, outgoing, pleasant, just a kind lady I encounter often at Bel Air Market, the Tiger Fuel. Susie, you're the best. I hope you hear this. And Susie and I had this conversation yesterday at the checkout line. She said, you know what, Jerry? Yesterday when I left work, I realized I forgot my cell phone. And I was 10 minutes from work, stuck in traffic, and there was not a chance in hell I could go back

and get it. I didn't get my cell phone until the next day and for a second I was nervous and had anxiety about it but then I said there's nothing I can do about it and then she said you know what happened to me nothing bad nothing at all I went home and I was more present I woke up

and I was more present with my family and friends that's good and when I got home my cell phone was right where I left it. In today's world, whether we want to admit this or not, the drug cartels that purchased our politicians and bought the national media with television, radio commercial, SEO, pay-per-click, social media campaigns that influenced the most powerful people in the world by buying them and by ramming commercial commentary

or call-to-action messages on televisions and radios and on computer and social media feeds, encouraging or influencing all of us to change our human behavior from learning in classrooms or eating out in restaurants or shopping in mom-and-pop places, learning in traditional settings, changing that behavior and forcing us all to lock down. The people most damned by this were the kids.

And these kids are still trying to figure it out. Still trying to figure it out. And because they're still trying to figure it out, collateral damage is teachers having to deal with these impressionable minds still trying to figure it out collateral damage is teachers having to deal with these impressionable minds still trying to figure it out I think some of that is fair we're going to reach a point where all the kids that were affected by COVID

are out of school and then we're going to be left with the question, is something still wrong with the schools? I mean, COVID may have hurt our kids as students, but... I'm not sure what you're saying here. I'm saying eventually we're going to reach a point where we can't fall back on COVID as an excuse for why our schools are not teaching our students in the most efficient, the most potent way possible. We are, what, a year and change removed from the pandemic? More or less. More people, less for others. It started in March of 2020.

Yeah. Students finished, I believe, the second semester in 2020. Went into summer when the lockdown started happening in 2020. The school year fall of 2020 and spring of 2021 was disastrous. 2022, people were getting fed up and frustrated and saying enough already, but still that school year was impacted.

Yeah. 22, 23. 22, 23. 22, 23. We're not that far removed. I know. And we have left the pieces to be picked up

by the educators. Yeah. And these same educators said the job was hard enough already. Mm-hmm. And now the job today is this. We're picking up the pieces from a pandemic. We got no extra money, despite the job being harder.

And the cost of living of everything we're experiencing, 12 to 14, 15, 16% more, depending on where you live. And that's probably light. Who wouldn't be burnt out, or who wouldn't think of quitting, or who wouldn't look to reinvent themselves professionally? Tom Starcho, I'm going to get to your comments here in a matter of moments. He's an educator from Almaro Golden, Apple Award winner, and he's got some comments. I'm excited for the interview on Wednesday. in a matter of moments. He's an educator from Al Marl, Golden Apple Award winner. He's got some comments.

I'm excited for the interview on Wednesday. I'm excited to ask this question. And I would bet you 10 bucks they watch this show for preparation. If they're not watching right now. They reached out to us about doing the interview. Yeah. I'm going to ask this question. What is it that you're going to offer

that the Virginia School Board Association is not? What's the value proposition that you provide that the VSBA does not? Mm-hmm. How are you going to help public schools in the Commonwealth find improved or optimized performance across the board why should a school leave an institution the VSBA to go to yours

which is brand new yeah what's the role of politics in schools what's the road what's the what's the situation with politics and school board members? That crossroads, and how do we navigate it? How do we navigate curriculum concerns? Taking books out of libraries. How do we navigate sexuality in schools? How do we navigate the use of screens in schools, SROs in schools, metal detectors in schools? How do we change a trend of public school enrollment in certain schools dropping?

As parents consider homeschool schools and private schools. Should Yunkin, who has dabbled or touched on a voucher system, should that become a reality for parents? And if a voucher system is a reality, will that not just empower the wealthy or the upper class parents? Will we see private schools raise their tuition if a voucher system becomes a reality? Those are the types of questions I'm going to ask. Comments are coming in. I'm going to go to literally a Golden Apple Award winner, Tom Stargell. He said, in the I Love Seville group, I taught civics for many, many years. I cannot fathom trying to do that

and being fair to all political beliefs in Albemarle County Public Schools today. Surefire firing in short order. Fairness in teaching all beliefs are out the window in the county of Albemarle. That's from a man who worked there. Bill McChesney, the mayor of McIntyre, also watching the program. He's highlighting how the drug cartels are pushing a sugar addiction. And then he highlights the price of diabetes drugs. If you push sugar and get people in a diabetic situation, my father has diabetes.

As does mine. My father has diabetes, insulin, to the point of insulin when he's not healthy, to the point of taking a pill when he's somewhat healthy. And his sugar is under control. Yeah. It ain't cheap. No. Let's go to Twitter. Let's go to number one, Deep Throat.

He says this. The VSBA is feeling the heat. Check out what's on their front page. Oh, wow. I didn't even see this. He says on the front page of the Virginia School Board Association, there's three posts. Post number one is titled,

Myth Busting, The Nonpartisan Role of the Virginia School Board Association. Post number two, Addressing Misconceptions about the Virginia School Board Association. And post number two, addressing misconceptions about the Virginia School Board Association. And post number three, development and adoption of school board policies. So he highlights the new messaging that's on the VSBA website. Thank you for sharing that. He says, I think a big difference is actually not in service to school boards,

but what they do under the advocacy rubric. The VSBO, Virginia School Board Association, advocates to the Commonwealth authorities for policies that some more conservative districts would probably find imprudent and or offensive. No doubt. My pulse for news has been one that was trained and refined

by a five six, seven year, I forget the exact window period of time at the Daily Progress working as a staff writer, as an editor, working at NBC29 as an on-air personality and producer, and working in syndicated radio as an on-air personality and director. In that period of time, we were trained on how to find stories that had a Pandora's box element

to them, where you can continue a frequency of reporting and coverage. The radar, the news radar for me is going off at ridiculous frequency and levels right now with this. I think this topic and storyline is going to potentially influence parents and where they potentially could move. Just like folks choose to move to Crozet, to Ivy, to get in the Western Amaro School District, I would not be surprised if you see parents choose school enrollment based on which association they belong to,

the public school. Could this impact teachers, administrators, staff, support, bus drivers, on where they choose to work? Would you want to work in a position or a company that's aligned with your beliefs, your ideology, the way you look at life? Or would you want to work at a company that is nowhere close in alignment to your ideology, beliefs, your politics, and how you look at life? I think this is going to impact, potentially, tax bases.

Will wealthy parents choose to go to a school system that aligns with its ideology? And if those wealthy parents move or migrate to that system, how does that impact tax revenues with jurisdictions? Yeah. I can't wait. Mark your calendar. Wednesday.

In-person interview. And if you want to follow up with them, tell them to bring three people with them. We've got four chairs on this desk. They can bring an executive director and support staff if they want. Now, you wanted to highlight on the program

the impact of what Rockingham is doing with discipline. If you want to get that lower third on screen, Rockingham County discussing discipline in schools. I think this is a great discussion for not just them, but any school to have. I think a lot of schools have been too lax. I think they don't really know what to do with kids in some cases. One of the other items in our discussion is ensuring that only one person enters single-use

bathrooms in schools, how to handle students who curse at or speak derogatorily towards teachers. I think I don't know what the percentages are of reasons for teachers leaving the profession, but I think having kids coming into class and cussing you out or just, you know, using that type of language in general at all times has got to be one of the reasons that teachers are deciding to cut their losses and find another career. And I think it's great that Rockingham County is discussing these things. What to do with phones as well, as we mentioned. In my ideal setting, as a parent of two, in my ideal setting, I'd like to see, and this is going to irritate,

this will irritate some parents who will say this, our kids should have their phones because of safety issues if there's an active shooter in the school. I think that's far reach in a stretch. I don't see how that argument holds a single ounce of water. Same with me. I think that's a straw man's argument. I see a perfect scenario that could be accomplished of phones not on your person. They have these phone pouches, clear bags, where some schools are insisting their students put their smartphones in these clear bags. I see a situation where there's a metal detector

you walk through, a school resource officer in the hallway, phones not on your person or utilized during school hours. I see a situation where if those changes are made, you will have improved quality of life. Improved quality of life would mean perhaps better teaching in the classroom, a better learning environment, a scenario where kids don't have text net because they're constantly looking down on screen,

and they return to eye-to-eye human connection, mouth-to-mouth, talking to people. I see a fantastic situation where learning is encouraged in a more free setting as opposed to a throttled setting. The sexuality piece in school, that's a topic in a lot of ways that should originate at home with moms and dads. Moms and moms, dads and dads, moms and dads, whatever you want to call it. That's where I would want that topic with our boys. When the age is right. And not everyone is, just because you're 10 or 12 or 14, not everyone matures at the same clip. Parents know the maturity level of their kids and when to have that conversation.

I'd love to see more support from admins. I'd love to see more support from home. We're a long ways from that, but that's something that can be accomplished. And the first to market often gets slaughtered. You saw first to market slaughtered. What is a good example of first to market getting slaughtered? You got any suggestions?

Not right off the top of my head. Friendster, MySpace, social media. Tom is dead, proverbially, from MySpace. Everyone's first friend. He made a lot of money, but MySpace got slaughtered. Friendster slaughtered. Who won? Third to market.

Facebook. Who won? Fourth to market. Twitter. Fifth to market. Instagram. LinkedIn. Not first to market or second to market So in some ways you've got to give props to

First to market First to market in this scenario Warren County The next to market Rockingham, Orange, Isle of Wight and Bedford I would bet you those school board members are getting ripped that voted to leave the VSBA. But with the advantage of perspective,

I would bet a lot of people are going to be like, maybe they were right. Yeah. All right. That's about 45 minutes at schools on Thursday. A couple of items out of the notebook, including one that's close to Judah's personal network. If you want to get the Ethos Wine and Tea

coming to the Old Guajiro spot, lower third on screen, the show is yours, Judah. This is an interesting spot to open a wine and tea bar. Yeah. I don't really know the person very well. In fact, I don't know that I've ever met her, but I do know who she is because of her association with my dad and his partner. I can't wait to see what they do with this place.

I believe they're working on construction right now, making some changes, and it'll be exciting. I think we need... Set the stage for what the business is. That's the first thing. The who, what, when, where, why. wine and tea spot where people can I believe the desire is to just have a place to sit down, relax, and

be with friends. Who's doing it? This is Kylie Britt and Tiffany Nguyen. They're the ones bringing the ethos wine and tea to the Charlottesville community. Okay, so that's the who, what, who, what, when.

They are, let's see, when would be, I believe, early... Sometime this summer is what they said. They didn't want to put in exact data when they were going to do it. Yeah. Why? Nope, next one's where. This is the basic premise of how you put a news story together. Everyone learns this in Journalism 101.

You are doing news here. Who you've covered. What you've covered. Where? Where is in the old Guajiro's spot on West Main Street. And then the why. Why they want to share their values of community with us. They want a space where you can have delicious wine or tea.

And also a gathering place for fostering connections in the neighborhood. I think it'll be exciting to watch the development and see how this progresses. I think, what do you think of the spot they chose to do it? I think it's got potential. Guajiro certainly used it to its utmost and did a great job with the spot. Whether or not you think that West Main Street is a good spot for businesses.

I believe it could be a little more inviting. I think all of Charlottesville could be a little more walkable, which would help all the businesses. But I think it's a nice spot. It's got a great little balcony. Not concerned about parking? I'm always concerned about parking in Charlottesville. But they've got, there's a pretty big

lot right behind them that could certainly be used. I've parked back there, as long as you don't mind a few stairs. All right, we'll follow closely. Not concerned about a business in industry that has headwinds. What business doesn't? How's this different than

the T-Bazaar on the downtown mall? I don't know yet. I wish them the best of luck. I think it's going to be all about the execution. I think the spot, Guajiros, did prove you could be successful there, but we also saw Parallel 38 struggle there. We saw L'Etoile close there.

How long was L'Etoile there? L'Etoile was there for a while, but they had the benefit of catering. Maybe it's their bread and butter business and something they're still in right now. That West Main Street corridor, you've got to do something to stand out so you don't get lost in the shuffle. Daniel Kaufman's doing that very well with the public. All right, we'll see it this summer. I wish Ethos wine and tea tremendous success two items out of the notebook we got a western amiral high school swimmer that's qualified

for the olympics i mean that is an amazing story yeah 17 years old 17 year old swimmer from western amiral high school qualifying for the olympics you got the who what when where why there oh let's see it's uh the who, what, when, where, why there? Let's see. It's the who is Thomas Heilman, a student from Crozet, attending the aforementioned Western Albemarle High School, qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

Absolutely amazing. 17 years old. What was the stroke? What was the what? The stroke. The stroke was the 200-meter butterfly. Tough stroke. He was in the U.S. Olympic swim trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. I have no idea what is a good or bad time for swimming but he got 154

50 you're saying you have no idea if that's a good time I mean he edged out the next guy so it's got to be he's going to the Olympics so obviously that's a good time right yeah but I couldn't tell you what the

for instance if you're 17 years old and you're going to the Olympics that's a good time, right? Yeah, but I couldn't tell you what the, for instance... If you're 17 years old and you're going to the Olympics, that's a good time. That's fair. It's going to the Olympics. That's an amazing time. There's only a handful of Americans that are going to be swimming at this event.

And then Almaral, this is a positive story. Positive for the schools. Almaral graduates giving back via tutoring. We had to get positivity in there. And also planning on going to UVA. This is a positive story. Positive for the schools. Albemarle graduates giving back via tutoring. We had to get positivity in there. And also planning on going to UVA. This is a great story. I mean, hardly surprising. Give them the stage.

What? Set the stage. I thought I already did. The Albemarle high school grads giving back with tutoring. Oh, oh. Hold on. Let me grab the headline. I mean, this is just really nice. Positivity.

It really shows that there is as varied a population of students as there is in the population anywhere. Former Albemarle High School students are taking time to support the next generation through education. I'm working for a company called Smile Tutors that's obviously tutoring, helping students who need a little more instruction in, you know, whether it's math or English or whatever. School. They are asking, I believe it's mostly free. They do ask if students come in for extended tutoring that they give a donation. And all the donations raised from the sessions go to Child Education International. So not only are they helping students who need more instruction, they're also helping to raise money for a cause that they believe in.

There we go. Close the show with some public school positivity. The Thursday edition of the I Love CVO show. Mark your calendar for Wednesday. I think we're going to have a lot of folks watching that interview. And we delayed it from tomorrow to Wednesday. So we had the in-person interview and a longer time with the interview. If we had done it tomorrow, it likely would have been virtual and under 20

minutes. Wednesday, we can spend the full hour. That's the Thursday edition of the I Love CBO show. For Judah Wickauer, my name is Jerry Miller. Thank you.