Hello APGD
Hello APGD is a neighborhood podcast that highlights the people who make the Audubon Park Garden District one of the most celebrated destination neighborhoods in Central Florida. We chat with business owners, community leaders, volunteers, long-time residents, artists, and other influential locals; documenting the untold stories of this magical place just minutes away from Downtown Orlando.
Hello APGD
Principal Trevor Honohan of Audubon Park School K-8
Meet Trevor, Principal of the award-winning Kindergarten through 8th grade public school in Orlando's own Audubon Park neighborhood. Principal Honohan shares his philosophies on leading with grace and empathy; trusting the experts (teachers); prioritizing social and emotional learning; fundraising for campus improvement projects; the importance of matching the vibe of the neighborhood; and ensuring kids utilize their voices through video production, art, music, and poetry.
Intro: Hi friends, Thank you for joining us for another episode of Hello APGD, a neighborhood podcast about the Audubon Park Garden District in Orlando, Florida. I'm your host, Michael Lothrop, and today we'll be speaking with Trevor Honahan, principal at the award-winning Audubon Park School K-8. For more information, go to AudubonParkK8.ocpsnet or on Facebook and Instagram at APS K-8 underscore ocps. If you'd like to be a guest on the show or if you'd like to be a sponsor, please feel free to message me on Instagram at helloapgdpod. Thank you for listening. This episode is brought to you in part by Trevor Brown, Audubon Park resident and trusted Central Florida Realtor with Fannie Hillman Associates, proudly serving their clients for over 40 years. For listings, market trends, helpful home buyer and seller tips, email directly to Trevor at fanniehillman.com or find him on Instagram at Trevor Brown 407.
Host: And with me today is Trevor Honahan, principal at the award-winning Audubon Park School K-8 and adjunct instructor at Rollins College. Welcome, Trevor.
Trevor: Thank you for having me.
Host: Absolutely So a little nervous in doing this interview, as we're hardwired to--you know--if you're going to the principal's office and you're talking to the principal, that means that you're in trouble. And in doing some research, it turns out that there's a whole slew of other things that the principal does. You're not just waiting for people to show up because they've done something wrong. Right?
Trevor: That is correct. The last thing and the least favorite thing I like to do is have students come down to the office for disciplinary or negative reasons. That's not something that we do anymore. That might be a misconception. If they're coming to the office or they're coming to see me, it's for a positive, it's to talk about something that is exciting, that's about to happen. The disciplinary stuff happens outside of my little bubble in the office and I don't want the students to get a mixed signal that coming there is a negative thing.
Host: You definitely seem very forward-facing and so they know you for all of these other things and they trust you because of it, and the teachers respond that way as well. So you have like a much healthier relationship. I did not know my principal's growing up.
Trevor: Well, yeah, that's super important. I don't sit in my office with the door closed. I go out in the morning in the car line, in the afternoon during dismissal and I do lunch duty in the elementary school lunch period and I go do lunch duty with the middle school students and I walk the halls several times a day. So visibility is really the key. I used to call that when I was a new principal management by wandering around.
Trevor: You start to learn all the things that are going well and that are going well by getting out there and just seeing what's happening in real time. By doing so, the students know you and you know them, and the relationship is healthy, and so it's not. Oh, i got to go to the principal's office. Those are for movies and old school practices.
Host: Right, what a relief too, right? Yeah, i mean, that is basically you are the manager of the school in a lot of ways, so people that know and trust and respect you and your presence doesn't make them nervous because you're not there to bust anybody, right? That's correct. Yeah, as it should be. That's a lesson to all managers out there, i feel.
Host: There you go. So the school opened in 2018 and then obviously in 2020, covid shut things down. as far as being in person, tell me about kind of the beginning of that experience and how that went.
Trevor: Well, i'll remember the day that we shut down school. It was March 10th of that year. We always try to have our field day for kindergarten through fifth grade on that Friday before spring break, and we were doing so on March 10th and throughout the course of that day I was starting to get indications, or at least a strong sense, that that might be our last day of school for a while. And, sure enough, we ended the day on field day. It was like time was frozen. We left cones out on the field and field day activities just sort of stopped and we didn't come back to school for a long period of time. Yeah, and it was very bizarre and students just stayed at home and we had to adapt and learn a new way to learn, learn a new way to teach, learn a new way to collaborate and socialize, and that was quite an experience for all.
Host: Yeah, yeah, i mean, it had to have been weird for the kids and also for us adults, who have never seen anything like that, and we're trying to convince them. Hey, this is not normal, right? This is something that is totally new and we're all navigating it together. We don't know how long it's going to last, we don't know where it's going. We don't know what's going to be different after the fact, right?
Trevor: 100%. I told the teachers and the parents we are building the aircraft while it's in flight. Yeah, and that's what was happening. Yeah, every day we were putting another piece of the puzzle together, you know, while we were experiencing life with one another, and that was some trying times, but it also built a lot of character, it built strength, it built grit and resilience, hard work and a lot of defeat, some tears, some failures, yeah, but that's life, right? Yeah, take what you get and be figured a way around it.
Host: And also that appreciation and gratitude when something actually comes back to you know, when you don't realize it's like for some of the kids they may not have liked going to school very much, but then after that it's like wow, like what a gift.
Trevor: You're right, i'm back. When they came back, they were back and it was with excitement coming through those doors again and getting to see their friends and teachers that they missed. For many, it was a safe place to come eight hours a day, it was a breakfast at lunch and just a lot of positive role models and camaraderie. So, yeah, it was a good thing when we came back, that's for sure.
Host: Yeah, better and stronger than ever.
Trevor: Better than stronger than ever. Yeah.
Host: And it's hard to learn as much remotely as you do, kind of in-person, that in-person connection, especially just access to resources that you don't necessarily have at home, right, so it's a different experience.
Trevor: It is, and trying to capture the attention of a kindergarten through second grader and maybe even all students while they're at home in their living room in their pajamas. Who knows what's going on through the left of the camera? who knows what's going on behind them? We encountered all sorts of things. We had students taking online exams through the drive-thru at Starbucks in their mom's car with the laptop on their lap while they were doing all sorts of other things.
Trevor: Not ideal, not ideal, and so a lot was lost along the way, but we really have come back stronger than ever and the school is thriving and the students are thriving, and that was a really interesting time.
Host: Yeah.
Trevor: And I think everybody is better off because of it in a way.
Host: Yeah, do you think there were? were there any things that you can think of that may have sort of lasted after the fact? that could be considered sort of improvements or even just the gratitude of being in the school? I'm sure there are some things that kind of were learned from that time.
Trevor: Yes, Yes, we took for granted just what it is like to interact with one another, to be able to, you know, be in the same building and celebrate one another, taking a mask off your face. That was a pretty big moment when we did not have to try to teach reading with a mask on the teacher's face and a mask on the student's face, and being able to see that oral interaction when you're trying to learn how to pronounce a word. That was an amazing roadblock, And so when all of those things ended, there was a big sigh of relief, that is for sure.
Host: Yeah, i believe it. I can only imagine. I mean, it was such a surreal time for us all, but I just think about kids that are kind of just new to the outside world, in a way, just starting to go to public school and starting to interact with other people, Starting to interact with others. And I saw that you had a kind of a message to the students about reach out to your friends and make sure that you keep those connections, because those are so important.
Trevor: You know, in addition just to the education part of it, it's just the social part you kind of miss out on During that time period we spent a lot of time putting academics aside and worrying more about social and emotional well-being for the students, especially interacting with peers. We focused on submit a video of a way that you're connecting with a friend, even though you might not be able to do it in person. Sure, what are you doing to stay connected and continue to form those bonds with like-minded, aged, appropriate peers? Because when students did come back, there definitely was a difference in their social and emotional well-being from that time away. They lost a little something along the way the interaction and the day-to-day stuff not being able to go to a graduation if you were a high school senior, or your first Little League baseball game as a five-year-old t-ball child. You skipped all those things, and so we were worried about that more than the academics. We figured we could catch everybody up academically, but socially and emotionally that was a large concern during that time.
Host: Yeah, Yeah, That makes a lot of sense And I feel like the vibe of the school really does match the Audubon Park community as well. We have friends that have kids in school there and we just hear the greatest things about the teachers, the staff, the programming, all of the extracurricular things And it's exciting to have such a state-of-the-art education facility. A public school at that level in this neighborhood has been really a game changer.
Trevor: You're right about that, and during the 2017 year, while the school was being built and we were getting ready to open in 2018, i had already been appointed the principal and was afforded the opportunity to work in a small office here at a manual school, when Father David was here, oh yeah, and so I spent about six months coming to that church every day, hiring teachers, interviewing people, and I basically lived over in this area and got to see what was happening around the school, got to feel the vibe of the small businesses and the community, visited all the businesses ate lunch here and talked to people there, and it just organically happened that we matched what was going to happen inside the building with what was happening around us in the community, and I think that's what makes the school the most unique school in the district of all the schools is that we're so close to the small businesses, we're so close to the vibe of this area.
Trevor: Yeah, it's quite an unfair advantage that we have to be able to capitalize on partnerships with people that literally are, you know, sometimes just a one minute walk from a classroom door. That's unique and really powerful, and so we've we've gone out and embraced them and the business owners have come into the school and embraced us.
Host: Yeah.
Trevor: And it's. It's more than just a reading, writing, arithmetic type situation. We're teaching the students life lessons. We're teaching them how to be problem solvers. We're teaching them how to be change makers and business owners and entrepreneurs. That's one of the reasons why we've done so well, is it's? it's just an overall world class experience in a in a world class setting.
Host: Yeah, that, that vision, i think, is so important, because all of the basics that you learn in elementary school and middle school, those are, those are important things, obviously, but those life skills, you know, i feel like that Had always been lacking, you know, when I was going to school in the 80s and 90s, and it's it's so cool to see that kind of finally come full circle where, where kids are being taught these life skills and see kind of what their options are. You have this excellent media center and this, this AV room, which is really like a, like a TV studio. Right, tell me about that.
Trevor: The AV room is a TV studio. Ms Hannon, who is the media production teacher, her and I have a long history. We've been at three schools together, and when I was at Glendridge Middle School, Being a middle school, had a state of the art AV room very similar to what we have at Audubon, and so she learned her craft there and became just excellent at producing a live nine minute news show every day, and so we brought that with us when we opened the new building, and because we had the fortune of moving into a new school, it came with all the new bells and whistles that you were talking about, and so this equipment is equivalent to what you would find at WESH 2 News, and it became an elective for our seventh and our eighth graders. So we've got students that are behind the camera because they like to be in front delivering the news and reporting on topics that are of importance. And then there are students who don't want to do that but they like to go out and get the stories and build the content. And then we've got the students that like to sit in front of the computer and edit it and put it all together and run the teleprompter, and so they are learning life skills right now that nobody else is learning.
Trevor: And I always tell Ms Hannon I'm not downplaying what she does, but the only people in the building that can actually run that equipment are the students that are in that class. So if she's ever out or can't be at school, there really is no reason to get a substitute teacher, because that person would just stare at the machines and scratch their head. You can't leave a lesson plan on how to run that stuff. So the kids are self-sufficient and they do a bang up job And so, yes, every day now we do a live nine minute TV program. That is as good as it gets. The skills that they've learned there will certainly translate to real world setting. If they decide that they want to get into that industry, even out of high school, they've got a lot of options, and this podcast is an example of that. They would be ready to roll with something like this because of their experience in middle school.
Host: Yeah, absolutely. And to gain that confidence at an early age and I don't know, just exploring different avenues, because all of this communication is so important in connection, And when we find ways of self-expression like art and music and I understand you have pretty tremendous art and music programs there at the school as well that stuff is so important to quality of life, Even if you don't pursue it as a job. We all need our side hustles and we all need our outlets. So just to learn that at a young age I think is such a cool thing.
Trevor: It is, and giving students a voice whether it's through a violin or a Mac in a TV lab, giving them a voice is so important. They need to be able to express themselves, and when they know that others are going to be viewing the final product, they make sure that it is perfect Because it's a reflection of them, and so all of those factors really produce a confident and bright young person who is going to take good care of us when we're too old to take care of ourselves. Yeah, absolutely.
Host: I mean they are going to be leading everything in the future right, so they have to be prepared And things are changing so quickly And there's a lot of uncertainty. But just to know that the kids are going to be well-equipped and educated to deal with whatever is coming next and to be problem solvers and to be critical thinkers, to see that starting in this neighborhood and it being done so well, it's so exciting.
Trevor: It is exciting, and something that the staff at Audubon always talks about is we're preparing the students for careers that have not been created yet. How do you do that? How do you get them prepared for something? Because, like you said, things are changing so quickly. Careers are evolving at an alarming pace And truly careers now are equivalent to the college experience. Careers are just as fruitful and important, and if you can prepare them for a career or a college experience, then you've really done your job.
Host: Yeah, And having skills, having life experiences too, it just adds to the person. I think that thinking about future employment, those soft skills and those just having a story to tell and being relatable and connecting, like all of those things, are invaluable And they always will be, And I think that that really gives that competitive edge to the workforce of the future too, when they get those positive experiences from the beginning and they have all of these teachers that truly, truly care. And you can just see it And your online presence. You have a great kind of record of things that you are doing and just all of the programming, the fundraising. Tell me a little bit about that. It's a. Is it the Falcon Fund?
Trevor: The Falcon Fund correct. It's a branch of the Orange County Public School Foundation, which is a 503(C) nonprofit way to raise money for large capital gain projects Or anything that you think that you can do to sort of give your school a competitive edge outside of the regular public school budget. And so, anywhere that I've ever been, i've always understood the importance of that and developed a group of parents and community members who can get behind a fundraising initiative to give the students and the staff something that's unique, powerful, something that separates you from the rest, something that drives people to want to come into the community where you're teaching and move into that community. And the more you do that, the more powerful the area gets. The more powerful the area gets, the more successful the school is, because you're bringing in families that understand the importance of education and also have the means to help you continue your fundraising. So, yes, we do have a fundraising effort called our Falcon Fund And we've done some amazing things over the five years.
Trevor: We've purchased a lot of interesting collaborative furniture inside the building that allows the students to collaborate in a K-8 setting. Eighth graders can sit on furniture that's manipulated to work alongside kindergartners, and we build that kind of collaboration in the building. We've obviously done a lot with Life Underwater, which is one of our innovation initiatives. That's brought coral reef tanks and tarantulas and snakes and all sorts of amphibians into the building, which has really been a wildly popular part of the school. And currently we're working on a capital project to bring a variety of artificial turf inside the courtyard between the cafeteria and the media center. That area gets beat up pretty good by 800 students out at recess five days a week And the grass cannot hold up to what's going on there.
Host: So this is so. That's the Audubon Recreation Complex that you're raising. That's correct.
Trevor: Yes, Yeah, and that's probably our most ambitious fundraising effort to date. We're trying to raise $200,000 to do something that really nobody else in Orange County Public Schools has, and I'm pretty confident with our plan to get there with the people that are interested in it. And the one thing that's great about the APS K-8 is that the families understand that their greatest asset is their students. They understand that their children is where they need to continue to invest, and they'll get that back over and over again. So it's never a difficult ask when you know that people care about their children and they'll do almost whatever it takes for them. So it's a lofty goal, but we're going to get there at some point, and it may not be today or tomorrow, but that's something that the Falcon Fund is going to leave behind for generations of students at that school.
Host: That is incredible. I mean, the school itself is such an excellent building And just to know that there are future projects in the works and it's only getting better And you make the best use of the footprint that is there as well. I know that there had to be some pivoting because there was going to be a parking garage And so that just kind of figuring out where everything is going to go. And you have residences and then the business is just adjacent And then you have the road, so really it's like you can't extend the land, so you're working with what you have there and it's such good use of the land too.
Trevor: You're right, we can extend the land and it is a smaller footprint for what a typical kindergarten through eighth grade acreage might be, because it was an elementary school and converted into a K-8. So, you know, we did go up three stories and we're making the best use of the land. And you know you mentioned that you know the school's getting better with age. That really is true. When people say, oh, the school's five years old, i like to say no, it's five years new and we're just continuing to get better as we go.
Host: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, as it should be too right, correct, yeah, So in addition to some of the awards, it also was recognized, or has been consistently recognized, as a green school. Yes, tell me about some of those things that go into a green school.
Trevor: So many different things go into the green school. The first thing would be our recycling efforts. We've got a wonderful eighth grade physical science teacher named Melanie Lee And she, from day one, has really educated the staff and the students on what recycling really is. You can't put a half empty milk carton in a recycling bin with copy paper. She's taught us how to separate true recycling items based on the city that they're going to and the types of things that you're putting in, and so that's a collective effort. We've got an internal green team consisting of students that now have learned those differences and they go around with giant green recycling bags and just get everything where it needs to go by the end of the week. So that's transformed the school and really put an awareness in the building as to what recycling should be.
Trevor: We've also partnered up with Fleet Farming.
Trevor: I know the Audubon Park Garden District and the residents in this area are very familiar with what Fleet Farming is.
Trevor: Yes, early on they partnered with the school and they've helped us maintain now six to eight beds where our sixth grade students, led by Ms Pellerin, who is a world cultures teacher in middle school, they are learning how to go from seed to crop to harvesting, then to selling their items either at the market at East End, or parents will come by and take something home and then show us via video what they did with the item. They've learned new recipes They're cooking with their kids, so that's been a wonderful piece of the green puzzle as well. We now have. It took about four to five years to get it straight, but we have a community guarded now towards the end of the property, just beyond the track that community members will be able to come to and plant and visit and learn how to really have a green thumb. That is purposeful. So there's just a lot of things that the students have learned about going green that really have been meaningful and, again, more lifelong skills that will only benefit everybody as they learn more.
Host: Yeah, and I heard that Sprouts Farmers Market which is really kind of a grocery store in the neighborhood, It's a chain. They were big contributors for those programs.
Trevor: They were big contributors for the programs. They kicked in quite a bit of money to make this happen. They partnered with us. They spent some Saturdays coming out and building a greenhouse and showing our students how to get that all under way so that the community has a place to come.
Host: What a cool thing that they're investing locally that way too.
Trevor: Great collaboration.
Host: Yeah, yeah, it's very smart. I mean, it makes you want to support those businesses that do give back. I've heard that there are sometimes field trips to the small businesses as well. You had kind of alluded to that Palmers garden and goods. That was a field trip spot. I think Park Ave CDs was another field trip spot for the kids. I mean, what a cool thing to get to do during the school day, right.
Trevor: To be able to walk to those places. It's been so fantastic. Two weeks ago our first graders walked to Lou Gardens and got to explore what was going on there. Our students participated in the past at an activity called Poemville, which is just coming up again soon, where they visit the local businesses. The local businesses put the students' original poetry on whatever item that they sell in the business, whether it's on the back of a vinyl record cover or on a coffee cup at Lobos. Again, that partnership is wonderful. It's another example of giving the students a voice. That partnership also draws in customers because parents want to come see their students work. Now everybody's just a team profiting and benefiting in multiple ways from the work that's going on inside and outside the building.
Host: I know the customers really appreciated that too. What a cool thing just to experience that and to read the creative thoughts of the kids in the school and the neighborhood. It kind of connects everybody on a whole other level. I knew Joybird Books was heavily involved with Poemville and Will Be again this year. They do a lot of programming for kids too. There's just so much opportunity for collaboration. It seems like those opportunities are really being seized, which is so cool to see. I just feel like it's very rare, especially for a public school, to have that capacity and to really work on those goals and really make those things happen. I believe that you're a big part of that from what I hear. Thank you.
Trevor: You're very welcome. Thanks for recognizing that.
Host: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Tell me about your career trajectory. You've been an educator for 30 plus years.
Trevor: Well close to 30. I started with the Orange County Public Schools right out of college. I went to UCF and began my teaching career in 1994 with Orange County Public Schools. That is all I have done since then. It's been quite a while and I've enjoyed the journey. I've been a principal now for 17 years. I was an assistant principal five years before that. I've been around quite a bit and I've really had the fortune, since 2005, of being a principal at three different schools, basically in the primer of this area right here. I live in Winter Park and I've had the wonderful and unique experience of being the principal for my son and my daughter, both kindergarten through eighth grade, which was a unique experience for me, yeah, and for them, i'm sure, and for them, yeah. My son really enjoyed it a lot more than my daughter did. My daughter liked her dad being the principal when she wanted something, but other than that, it was not cool for your dad to be the principal when you were a seventh grade girl in middle school.
Host: Sure sure. Our parents are never cool when we're that age right.
Trevor: That's correct.
Trevor: But it's been a very wonderful and satisfying journey And sort of as I come maybe to the twilight of this experience, falling into this school and this community is one of the most gratifying things I've done, and the power of what's happening here and the top 1% staff that we have in the building It's all just been dynamite and I could talk about it all day and share with everybody what's going on there, because the people are really what makes it so powerful And I just get to show up every day at work and watch all the great things that they do.
Host: Yeah, and part of a principal's role too is staffing right, and I understand there are several besides Ms Hannon who have followed you to multiple schools as well, so that's an indicator, i would say.
Trevor: Yeah, i do have a number of people who have come with me as far as Thornbrook Elementary School, which was my first principal job in Windermere, all the way over to here at Audubon, to Glen Ridge and then back to Audubon again. There's been a large number of people that we've gathered up along the way and I'm lucky that they are good people, and when good people get together they want to stay together. They see the power of good people, and others have not always been as happy with me by taking them away from where they were to come to one common place.
Host: Yeah, that's a tough one, hey what are you going to do?
Trevor: I know, You can't break up the high-performing team right. You can't do that, and when you go somewhere, you want to make that place the best possible, and I've met a lot of wonderful people on the way, and so why not just get them all together in one building and do something like we're doing right now?
Host: Yeah, It's amazing And I would imagine from each of those moves it's a different territory, so slightly different environment, and you probably have learned more than you would have just being at one school for those 17 years. I wonder also are there some changes that you've seen in the job itself or just the schooling environment in the 17 years that are notable?
Trevor: Not a few changes for sure, right now the changes that we are experiencing in public school are more political in nature. We are just managing with a political climate and things that are coming down to us from Tallahassee. That may or may not be great, depends on who you talk to, but those policies and the leadership changes over the years with the Department of Education definitely have an impact on the school, whether it's positive or negative. I would definitely say that post-COVID there's a large emphasis on social and emotional learning.
Trevor: Mental health is a ginormous topic these days, so we're dealing maybe more so with that than the academics. Like I alluded to prior, without a mentally stable, mental well-being situation with a student, what academic progress can really occur? So you have to make sure that the social and emotional pieces are addressed before you can get into the academics. So we've had a flip and make sure that that is there before you can get moving with actual schoolwork. And then, of course, the climate, with all of the tragedy and the safety issues, not just in public schools but in just public settings. That's always a concern in the back of your mind And you're always doing things to get better at keeping the building and the occupants of the building safe.
Trevor: So, those things have been a big part of what being a public school educator and an administrator is like.
Host: Those are big changes. Those are big changes, very big changes, right, and it's such a big job as it is and dealing with things like budget cuts And then, when you do have this government that is trying to restrict what is taught, it's difficult to know how that is going to be helpful in the future, how teaching empathy and just how we experience empathy and how we grow that. It doesn't seem helpful to that element. And I think that there's nothing more important than embracing the entire community at all times and I don't know removing road blocks and trying to let people be who they are, you know, and express oneself. And yeah, i just I think that there's so much that we have to learn about that and community and all parts of the community and kind of learning about ways of life, and there are a lot of ways to do that. Obviously, besides, you know the public school setting, but it should also be part of curriculum. It's just my opinion. I won't ask you to weigh in on that, because I know that it's a difficult balance, right.
Trevor: It is a difficult balance but I could not agree with you more. That is all so very important. One of my go-to words now coming out of COVID is grace. Grace is so important now from a teacher's standpoint and the expectations they may have on a student who did fall behind because of COVID and did not have the opportunities to keep on pace when they were at home. You don't know what a student is dealing with when they're at home and you're on the other side of a computer screen trying to get them to complete an assignment. It just may not be possible for them to do so in the conditions that they were in.
Trevor: So teachers have to have a lot of grace with the pace that students are learning and the skills that they may be lacking because of that situation. And then the flip side of that is parents need to have some grace with the expectations of a teacher, with the trust that they need to develop with a school. The climate now is so demanding and the importance of grace on both sides and a true partnership That's really the only way that we can get through. For those people that don't know what the day in the life of a public school teacher is if they just came and experienced it for one school day, they would understand why grace was so important, because it's become an extremely difficult profession And a lot of times the thankfulness is not there and the appreciation is not there, and so grace goes a long way to building up a teacher's exuberance to come back the next day and do the difficult work. And so grace on both sides of the table and empathy those are huge Has to be there.
Host: It has always been such a difficult job. I do have some friends who are teachers and the amount of hours that you put into it are just beyond what you would ever expect in a job description. Or yeah, as you said, until you actually witness the amount of work and even just being in front of a classroom and speaking to people for hours upon end, it is very tiring. And then you have to find the energy to grade papers and develop curriculum and do all of the other things, reset the classroom. It is incredible what teachers do and for them to keep caring about it the way that they do. You absolutely do need that.
Trevor: You do need that. And it's a profession, but it's also a passion. I think you get into the profession because you have the passion to change lives, develop children and make a difference. You're not getting into the profession for the dollar signs, you're getting into it for the passion, and so the dollar signs need to be made up by the appreciation and the grace of those that you're working so hard for, and that's where the true rewards come in. A simple pattern in the back goes a real long way.
Host: Yeah, Yeah. Is there other ways that people can appreciate teachers? I mean there are holidays and things maybe that are there for that. I understand Lexi from Swine and Suns, Lexi and Reese would do like a teacher appreciation thing. B3 would do that. Tell me about some other things that might be done.
Trevor: We have a teacher appreciation week that is like no other. You mentioned Swine and Suns and B3 when we were still able to go to B3. Yeah, you know all these local businesses and our PTSA parents. The things that they come up with for that one week where they pamper the staff and appreciate the staff is really like nothing that anybody that's in this building has ever experienced. Those that have been here with us for five years. They know what's coming and they're super appreciative. The new folks that come every year really can't believe what is going on that week. They're treated so wonderfully and given so many terrific things during the day, food being the number one thing. You know, a teacher has 25 minutes during the day to eat whatever they can get out of the lunchbox and put away. Yeah, but during that week the food that is brought in, the time given to enjoy and eat with one another, is stupendous. That's a wonderful thing, but really it doesn't need to be a week. We don't need to wait for a week in April to show that gratitude.
Trevor: The parents at Audubon really are overwhelmingly supportive. When I was talking about the importance of a parent understanding grace, everybody does get that. There's always going to be an outlier who hasn't figured that out yet, of course, and you want to convert them. But the day-to-day trust that the parents and the community give the teachers and the staff in that building, that's what's most important because it's real and authentic. When it's happening on a Wednesday in September and also on the last day of school, that's really where the appreciation comes in, is the trust. I trust you to take my child 180 days out of the year and do what you think is best with them, and I'm not going to stand in your way and I'm not going to tell you how to do your job, because I don't think that you're going to leave your classroom and come down to the bank and tell me how to do my job. So let's have that mutual respect for one another, absolutely.
Host: Yeah, as it should be.
Host: Yeah, they are the experts. That's right. And just how smart these kids are like our friends that have kids and it just blows me away How well-adjusted they are and how well-spoken they are and you're just like they've got it. This is great. Yes, yeah, and that space, obviously, when the old school closed and it was kind of temporary school for a couple of different locations And, as you said, like that kind of went on and on where we basically didn't have a school in the neighborhood.
Host: So to see the difference and I don't know just the vibrance of it, and it's perfect timing because in Audubon Park, this neighborhood that was built in the 50s, we're having a full turnover of families that originally moved in and all of these young families. It's like, in doing this podcast, i've really found that a lot of people found their way to Audubon Park because of the school system. They wanted to get their kids in the best schools And even back then it was like Audubon Park Elementary and then going to Winter Park and it just it makes all the difference in a community and you want that for every community. But we're just so fortunate and it's such a celebrated thing to have it here And it's exciting to talk to you and just know that that you're at the helm there and making sure that all of these things kind of continue in that direction, and I hope that you don't move on to another school. That's my hope as well.
Trevor: I really do love it here. Like I said, I live in the surrounding neighborhood, which is good. I'm not sure I would want to be planted right in the neighborhood, Yeah a little too close to home.
Trevor: A little too close, but when I want to go out on the weekend or visit a restaurant or a business. this is where I come because it's just a wonderful place to be and why not give back to the people who are giving to us as well? It's a unique place and I'm so thankful for the leadership of the Audubon Park Garden District and their creativity and their innovation and their vision to continue to develop this area, because the school's development and the Garden District's development is going to go hand in hand and it'll continue to be the model for business, public education and the desire to develop the houses and raise value and build a powerful area. That's what's happening right here before our eyes.
Host: Yeah, those connections, those collaborations, those, yeah, it's just so exciting to see those things actually happen. You're not just talking the talk, this is all being put into practice and it's very visible to the community. I'm very excited for Poemville. That's been like such a cool thing. It got lots of media attention, as it should, and I think that just fostering that creativity and finding a way to put it out there in the businesses it just kind of adds an extra layer of how that school is part of this community. Even for those of us who don't have kids, we feel connected to it in those ways. I saw you speak at Bird Call. Thank you so much for doing that. Those types of things, that visibility and just being out there and connecting with people, is what it's about. Right, it's what it's about.
Trevor: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we've found a pretty good way to really make the four walls of the school building somewhat disappear and it's like we have an open classroom that connects to all the businesses in the area, and it's just so fluid and wonderful.
Host: Yeah, and that proximity, as you said, I think is very unique, and the fact that they are all small businesses. You can meet the owners, you can go in and oftentimes they'll be there and you can talk to the people and hear their stories of how did you come to be the proprietor of this store. How are these entrepreneurs that are inspiring these kids and showing them that it can be done?
Trevor: They can be done, yeah, and they've survived through some very difficult times and they're telling the story on the other side of things about their resilience and they're great, and those are great lessons for the students to have as well.
Host: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are real life survival tales of a business, right, that's right. As hard as it is to be a small business in this online marketplace and you know different competitors and they're still thriving. They're still here.
Trevor: Yeah, that's right.
Host: Yeah Well, Trevor, thank you so very much. The website that people go to to check out the school.
Trevor: Well, if they go to Audubon Park Schoolk8.net, you can always go to the Orange County Public Schools website, ocps.net, and search for our school there. You can find us on social media all over the place. We're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. We have an open door policy Not that the doors are unlocked, but come visit us appropriately And you can email or contact me anytime. I'm always willing to talk to people who are interested about the school or doing something innovating and unusual to benefit our students and the community.
Host: Yeah, absolutely Yeah. One other thing I want to talk about before we break is the lunchroom program. I saw online that basically you can and I know that this is probably similar for other schools as well, but you can kind of select what your child is having for lunch or breakfast. Tell me a little bit about that, You can to an extent.
Trevor: there are some options on the menu And, like you said, that is not unique to our school. That's an Orange County Public School cafeteria manager initiative. It's wherever you go in OCPS on that given day the menus will be the same at every school. But you do have choice, which is a nice thing to have. Probably the biggest challenge in an elementary school setting is getting the students to enjoy what the cafeteria is serving.
Host: Yeah, that's a real challenge. I remember that being a challenge, that's a real challenge.
Trevor: It still has the stigma of a school lunch Sure. But there are really wonderful things going on, with food services and good meals and good options and healthy options being served. Yeah So you don't have to bring your your bag lunch. You can get some good stuff at a really good price and eat nutritionally during the school day.
Host: Yeah, and looking at the menu, it did seem like there were some more nutrient, dense things, which is super important.
Trevor: Super important.
Host: Listing the calories and things like that. Yes, we did not have that growing up, right We're not serving the old school pizza five days a week.
Trevor: There is a day when pizza is served and people look forward to that day. But there's a lot of healthy options money through Friday.
Host: Yeah, the rectangular pizza. The rectangular pizza is gone.
Trevor: That was a favorite of mine as well. But now you get the traditional pie shaped pizza slice.
Host: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I kind of miss those too, they were good.
Host: Yeah, and their own way. they were good, yes. Well, thank you again and we'll see you around the neighborhood. Thanks for having me. Take care You too. Hello, apgd, a neighborhood podcast, is brought to you in part by Stardust Video and Coffee, audubon Park's beloved neighborhood cafe, bakery, bar and meeting place, located at 1842 East Winter Park Road. We're also sponsored by Redlight. Redlight Brew Pub. Founded in 2005, Redlight is widely known as the source for world-class imports and micro brews, a wide selection of natural wines plus award-winning beers brewed in-house. A full kitchen is in the works with an amazing menu by chef Jess Tantillo, located at 2810 Corrine Drive. Please check out Redlight for all things beer and wine, and soon food. Our theme song is by Christopher Pierce, and special thanks to Tre Hester for all of his help in making this podcast a reality. We do hope you enjoyed this episode. If so, please click subscribe and leave a review, if you'd like. We'll see you next time.
