Wes: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Teacher Interview podcast.

I'm your host, Wes Kriesel. I work as Director of Innovation and Instructional Support in Fullerton School District, and we are now in season four of the podcast where we get to know teachers better. Our themes this season, our passion, drive and determination. Join me today. We spend time with Melissa Zaucha, who is a fifth, sixth grade combo teacher at Commonwealth Elementary in Fullerton School District.

We're live. Hello, hello, hello, world. So thanks for joining us on the podcast today. We're so happy you're here. In the past we've worked on a few projects together. Yeah. And actually one will probably come up Which is the Master [00:01:00] Chef Project. Yes, we emailed some people you put us in contact with and asked them for some quotes about you, so we might introduce those along the way.

But first, because we're just trying to get to know you and what you're passionate about, what drives you tell us a little bit about your teaching journey. Like, where have you been, where are you now? Where have you been? Uhhuh, just a little, little like history of Melissa.

Melissa: Okay. So I, I didn't know what I wanted to do in college at all until I, where, where'd you go to college?

I went to Cypress College. Okay. And then Cal State Fullerton. Okay. And I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I was just going, you know, in 95. And I had a teacher or a professor at Cypress College who made me want to be a teacher. Really? She made history. I, I couldn't wait to get to school. Wow. It, I just wanted to be there.

I wanted to be listening to everything he said. I hung on as every word. He made it so much fun and interesting. So at that moment I'm like, oh, I can do what he does. I wanna do what he does. Wow. And so his name was Brian [00:02:00] Sealing. Okay. I still remember his name. I named my son Bryant, but not after him. But I, I could say that and just really make it

it's

Wes: whole other story.

Melissa: Yeah. But, and then from there I just, and I kind of got in on the tail end of that teaching hiring boom in the two thousands. So when I went to get a job, there was nothing available. Right. And I'm not saying I went to Compton because there was nothing available, but it was kind of far for me to drive.

Yeah. But I ended up going there and I was there for, Till 2018, so Oh, that's quite a while. And I, yeah, loved, I loved it. I loved it there so much. And that's where my, my mom grew up in Compton, so. Yeah. That's

Wes: great. And so then from, from Compton to Fullerton, you were at Commonwealth and maple. Mm-hmm.

And so you're combo teacher right now. Have you done that before?

Melissa: I, last year at Maple, I was a five six combo. Okay. And this year at Commonwealth, I'm a five six combo. Five six combo. So

Wes: what's what's [00:03:00] that like?

Melissa: I, I like it. I mean, ideally that's not the position you wanna be in, but Right. It, it works for, I mean, I did it and it's, it's the only thing that's really different that you really have to focus on is math.

Yeah. Everything else kind of falls into line. And even math kind of lines up sometimes if you're lucky enough to get those chapters or Yeah. Units that can line up. But generally everything is the same. You're just teaching at a little bit of a deeper level in the upper grade. But The kids are of so many different levels anyways.

Yeah. That it kind of, it works itself out. It really does. So

Wes: where in teaching do you find yourself, you know how you described your history professor at Cal State Fullerton and you're like, oh, I just, I just love going to class because of that energy. What, where do you find that kind of joy? Teaching?

What's your favorite thing to teach, let's say, or history. History. Yeah. Okay. Do you have a favorite, actually, standard or.

Melissa: Theme or US history? US history. Okay. I love US History. Yeah. So can you go more

Wes: narrow? Like a

specific [00:04:00]

Melissa: American Revolution, you know, founding of our country. Okay. Okay. Okay. The, you know, all of the things that came with how our country started and how awful it was, but also amazing, you know?

Yeah. So,

Wes: Yeah. That's cool. Do you have a certain thing that you usually, you see students light up, like where they get some understanding they didn't have before? Is there some like aha moment for students around the American history, American Revolution?

Melissa: I would say with how our C like and I, you gotta kind of be careful how you say these things to the kids.

Yeah, yeah. Because our country was founded in a pretty rotten way. So, but I do talk a lot about, I do tell them, yeah, like, cause you talk about the Native Americans and that's the beginning unit, right. In fifth grade. And so you talk about them and you kind of have to walk that fine line of saying, you know, This is their country.

Yeah. This is, it started, you know, this, we stole their land. But you gotta be careful cuz Yeah. You know, they're little kids you don't wanna, you know, do gl 'em too much,

Wes: but Right. You're trying to educate 'em, not [00:05:00] traumatize 'em. Yes, exactly. But, but yeah, that's true. And we do a huge disservice not telling students the truths.

True. Pretending like, oh yeah, no, they love Thanksgiving. Exactly. Exactly. It's, it's things like that get very nuanced. So that's interesting. Do you have any advice for teachers who don't know what that barometer is? Because you sound like you're trying to be sensitive. Walk a line. Is there anything you're like, oh, a teacher, you know, here's a gut check or something, or, oh, what do you do if you're not sure?

Melissa: I tell 'em the truth. Oh, okay. Yeah. But like, but in a, in a way that's, Palatable to fifth and sixth graders. Like I say, this country, like if we look at people and say, you know, the border issue that comes up and most of my kids are Hispanic. Mm-hmm. So I, I'm sensitive to that. And so I do say, you know, this, where we're at right now used to be Mexico.

Mm. Like this is the land of the Mexican people. And then, you know, through, you know, [00:06:00] treaties or Yeah. Purchasing and however, you know, it was taken I let 'em know, like everybody has a right to be here. Right. Like, and, and I want them to know, like I am fully aware of where this country started. Right.

And that it was stolen. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and, and not just the Native Americans as we, you know, know, but also the Hispanic population that was here. Yeah. And so I'm very cognizant of that and I do let. Them. No. Like, I understand that.

Wes: Yeah. Let's I'm gonna include a, a topic here, a quote rather. This is your sister.

Oh, Meredith. Meredith. Meredith and

Melissa: Melissa and Melanie. Don't forget, she's oldest. And Melanie, I'm the middle child and I act like a middle child.

Wes: Three sisters that Start with Melanie Nelson. Meredith. Okay. So just a very short quote, inspiring reading. Mm. And your students is one of your great passions.

Mm-hmm. Tell me a little bit about that. What does that look like [00:07:00] in your classroom?

Melissa: Well, and I know it's probably what a lot of teachers do, but Harry Potter. Mm-hmm. I did not like to read. And I was like, eh, my mom goes, there's this book, this, you know, it's about a magical kid. And I was like, eh, I don't wanna, and I, and I was like, what?

18 when it came out? Yeah. And I'm like, oh, okay. I guess I'll read it. And I couldn't stop. I was like, this is amazing. How am I missing out on this opportunity? And I just wanted to be in a different world, and I knew that it could take me there. Yeah. And so then I started being an avid reader and then, So I bring that to my students.

We just finished Harry Potter about two weeks ago, the first one. Okay. And we did persuasive writing. Okay. Or no? It was no, it, it was an opinion. Oh, okay. And I had let, you know, let them know. I, I asked them, what is your opinion on Harry Potter? And they had to prove their, you know, give their reasons Yeah.

And examples. Yeah. And they, I, I had one student who didn't like it, but it was more of a religious thing. Yeah. But everybody else said, it's such a good book. And I don't know if they were trying to appease me, because I mean, you're a fan. Oh my gosh. My classroom is red. [00:08:00] It was ridiculous. Before the pandemic, it was, you know, I had a paper mache, giant train coming out of the wall, and the kids were sorted into their houses and yeah, I, I got so excited.

So they all know me as the Harry Potter teacher, my student from I had three, I had students, I had my last class for three years in a row. Yeah. And she just came to me about, you know, four weeks ago and brought me a Harry Potter purse that her mom and Oh, that they saw. And she goes to a difference.

She goes to Ladera Vista. And so she walked across the street to Commonwealth and was like, miss Zuko, we saw this. We got it for you. So I'm known as the Harry Potter teacher. And they, even kids' call me Harry Potter. They're like, I'm, I don't even think they know what it means, but that's funny. But yeah.

So I, when I do that now, my kids, they are all checking out Chamber of Secrets from the library. Mm-hmm. They wanna read the second book. So I, if I can get just one kid to be obsessed with reading. Yeah. I've done such a great thing. Yeah. And I think I have a whole class of kids now who they all want the second [00:09:00] book.

Well, Zuka, if we read the second book, you watched the movie in class. Cause we did watch the movie in class. I got all the permission slip sign, we watched it and they were just like, and so then we're doing compare and contrast and Yeah, how they, how the movie, they're like, Ms. Zuka, they love that part out.

Why did they leave it out? And, and we have really good discussions. And so yeah, I think. Just that, that's where I, and, and from there we move forward and we have all these different books, restart and Front desk and realistic fiction. Yeah. And they love that too. Okay. Because connects to them and I try to get books where they're gonna see characters like them.

Yeah. So, so yeah. That's

Wes: great. That's great. I'm going to go onto another quote here from Meredith in this I'm, I'm just, I'm gonna, not gonna read it, but she talks about a garden. Does that

Melissa: ring a bell? Oh my gosh. What? Yeah. Yeah.

Wes: Where's that in Compton? Yeah. Emerson.

Melissa: Yeah. Tell that was I, I named my dog Emerson after that.

Oh yeah. Because we found, he came onto the campus and ran in and they were track trying [00:10:00] to kick him out. And he was just a little puppy. And I, I said, please, can I keep him? And they're like, no, we're kicking him out. And I called my husband, he was on his way home from a midnight shift and he was my boyfriend at the time.

And I said, Kevin, come get the dog. And he. Came and got the dog. We couldn't get the dog. We had that dog for 15 years. Oh,

Wes: and so the garden. The garden at Emerson.

Melissa: What is that? Oh my gosh. So I couldn't believe when I got to the school, there was no grass. It was just dirt. I'm like, how are these kids gonna play?

There's no grass. And so the principal that I had, she was from Placenta or Belinda. Mm-hmm. And she came to Compton because she wanted to end her career. In Compton mm-hmm. Where she could make the most difference. Mm-hmm. And she and my mom, my mom and her are the same age. And sh, if you saw this woman, She would give you a kiss on the cheek, my baby.

Oh, I love you. That was my first experience at, with a, with a principal [00:11:00] hug and kiss. And you're my daughter and I love you. Like that's, that's so when I didn't have that kind of principal, I'm all, why aren't you hugging me like it was? But she was the most incredible woman and her name was Ruben White.

And I said, can I do something about the grass? What can we do? Right? And she's like, What do you wanna do? I said, can we just put a little garden in for the kids? And she said, go for it. So I got parent volunteers. I went to Home Depot. I said, can we get donations? And they yeah. Gave us donations. Parents came in and they donated.

Wow. And we got probably about 50 people. And I mean, we didn't have a lot of money, but we got probably, I dunno, I don't even know what the square footage was, but it was enough to have a bench. Yeah. And we got some. Really nice, like ev like plotted plants, but not things that would last. Yeah. And

Wes: just if you're listening to this, Melissa's illustrating everything with her hands while she's, I'm [00:12:00] thinking about thinking of the words, but your hands are going like, like, I'm picturing it because you're, you're like drawing it

Melissa: in the air.

Yes. Oh, it was. It was. It was. And it was when we were done, it was so cute. And the parents, they came on the weekend and I came on the weekend. My whole family came out. That's great. And so, ugh, this is this. It was cra it was wild. Yeah. So I, I took the Monday off. She said, I'll take the Monday off. You worked all weekend.

And then I walked on campus and everybody's looking at me with their eyes big. And I'm like, what is wrong? And they're like, don't tell Masuka, don't tell Muzz, Mazua, Uhuh. And actually I was Ms. Marshman at that point, and then I ca I came and they said Someone stole the grass. What, because we had sod. Oh.

And so somebody drove their Oh truck, their work truck into the thing. Oh, rolled up all the grounds. Oh no, they were doing a gar, a yard, not very far from there. And they stole it. So all who steals grass. Oh my. And I didn't, and I didn't wanna be like, only in [00:13:00] Compton, but that's not true. It would happen anywhere.

Yeah. There's there's people who would do something anywhere. Yeah. But I was just like, who steals grass from kids? From kids? So, but they ha they, they found the guy they took and they got the grass back. They got the grass bag. So we got it back and we put it back on the ground, but it was already dead.

And we tried. Oh my gosh. But the kids, the ki the but the but the moral of the story and the bene benefit was the community that came together. Yeah. They, they felt so bad for me. The parents like came around me, they're like, we're so sorry. I'm like, it's okay. Yeah. Like the kids. Yeah. We all put in work and the kids came and it was great.

It was a great community building experience and we did what we could. Yeah.

Wes: No, that's great. That's, and it's sometimes, You know, the, the effort to put it in is one bonding type of thing. Yeah. But then there's this other bonding that comes from loss. Yeah. You know, and grief and thinking about somebody else's feelings and helps you not take things for granted.

I don't advocate stealing grass, but No, but think the kids, you see how that's

Melissa: bonding [00:14:00] too. So upset. They were like, how can this happen? So that was a little, you know, a little tick in their brain like, Stealing is bad. Yeah. Like, and I know we say it to them all the time. Yeah. But that was a real moment.

They felt like they were robbed. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, it was a teaching moment for everybody. Yeah, for sure. Especially me. My, I was like very naive. Like, that's thin grass, but that's okay. It worked. I,

Wes: I wouldn't have thought that would've happened. I wouldn't have predicted that. I would've thought, no steals grass.

You're okay. I was like, wow. Okay, here's a quote. And this is from Davy. Mm-hmm. She remembers a time. Dressing up, like book character day. Mm-hmm. And then you brought an idiom book and then every one of your students. Dressed up like an idiom. Yeah. So, and then you made sure everyone had a costume.

Nobody was left out. Mm-hmm. So gimme an example cuz I'm, I can't

Melissa: picture it. So we had like raining cats and dogs. So a student had an umbrella and underneath we, she colored cats and dogs. And had them coming underneath her. We had [00:15:00] butterflies in my stomach. So a student had a box with butterflies and there were butterflies hanging.

Oh, that's fun. Teacher's pet. I was the teacher and one student was like my pet. Okay. And so she was, I, she was my teacher's pet. And it was actually like everyone goes, of course you're the teacher's pet. Of course. Yeah. My teacher's pet. It was great. The kids loved it. I have pictures of all their costumes and it was.

So fun because, and they also got to do their Halloween costume, but it had to be a book parade cuz we have to be like, you know, sensitive, but mm-hmm. Yeah, it was great. That's great.

Wes: And so what is it about these experiences, like the dressing up and tying in. The the idioms and also like the book, the Harry Potter and like, building a train coming out of your wall, like I sense a little bit of a, a dramatic flare.

Mm-hmm. Where's that come from? Like how do you explain that? Because you couldn't go through a teacher education program and you, you won't find that in the, in the books. Right?

Melissa: My, my mom. Okay. My mom, cuz she. [00:16:00] J and my dad, like, we don't do anything small. Okay. In my family, everything is grandiose and huge.

Like my mom ran the Homeless Children's Foundation for La Angeles County Sheriff's. I mean, we had Santa coming down on a helicopter and I mean, but I mean she had it through Lee Baca kind of endorsed her to do it, and yeah. So it was not, she had the funding. Yeah. And so we were doing thousands of bags and feeding thousands of children and because she saw some unhoused guy on the bench one day and she's like, let me help him.

And then, you know, he yelled at her and she's like, I can't help adults, but let me help children. So she just did that. And, you know, we do big things and I like, I'm the first teacher at my school to get my classroom ready. I will spend two weeks Yeah. All day. I want my kid. Yeah. It's because I want, and not because I like to decorate, because I was going to be an interior decorator and I realized they said, well, you are at the whim of rich people.

I'm all, wait. They're [00:17:00] like, well, who can hire an interior decorator? They're like wealthy people. I'm all, so if they want something, they're gonna get it because they have the money. I'm like, I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna listen to somebody and tell they're not gonna tell me what to do. So I didn't do that.

Yeah. But. I want my kids to walk in and know from the effort that I put in that I care. Yeah. Yeah. Like, my kids know that I love them. I tell them all the time. They know. Yeah. And they, they, they feel cozy. Like, you know, when we did Harry Potter, the watch, the movie, we all wore pajamas. We. Threw the desk to the side.

We laid on the floor. They bought their stuffed animals. Their blankets. Yeah, their pillows. That we were all, like we, I made hot cocoa. We had popcorn. I just want those moments because I grew up with those moments. Mm-hmm. I grew up with cozy grandma, cozy grandpa. Mm-hmm. My parents were very loving. And I want that for my kids.

Yeah. And I know I'm not their parent, but I can give them those Yeah. Experiences to where they're like, oh, I like this. Yeah. This is nice and cozy. And so,

Wes: and they'll [00:18:00] remember that that will be a memory above all others. Yeah. In their you know, school career. They're gonna remember those moments that were, you know, the deaths were pushed aside.

It, it's. The disruption of the

Melissa: normal, which is what Dr. Bob told us to do on that retreat you went on. Right. He said just, you know, just, just get to know your kids on a personal level and then that's, you could build the relationships first and then everything else is gonna fall. Yeah. And I've been doing that my whole career.

Yeah. Like I. My goal is to have my kids walking away saying, miss Zuka, you're the best teacher I ever had. Like, I want that. Like, and I, and, and I'm not trying to be better than other teachers, right. I'm trying to be the best for who I have that, that group of students that I have, I want them to go, wow, I feel loved.

I feel relevant. I feel important. Yeah. And I feel like I can do anything because our, that's awesome. Our country, you know, we say anybody can be anything, but it doesn't always, Everybody's not starting off equally. Yeah. And I want my students to feel as [00:19:00] much of that as possible. Right. And that I believe in them.

I full, I do, I believe in every one of my kids. Yeah. So,

Wes: yeah. That's awesome. Speaking of believing anybody can do anything let's bring in the master chef. Mm-hmm. Idea. So just tell us a little bit about what that is. So kind of start to finish. So somebody Who hasn't heard of it can understand it.

And then I, I have some additional follow up questions.

Melissa: Yeah. Though, so I was brought in with two other teachers, with the Iias team and Dr. Bob. He just wanted us to have a pa, like a passion project. Mm-hmm. An innovative passion project. Mm-hmm. And said, what's your dream field trip? And I was like, okay. And so I was sitting there, I didn't know what I'm like, okay.

And they said, no limits, no budget. And I'm like, okay. I wanna, I want them, my kids to cook in Italy. Like I want them to cook in Italy. I want them to learn from a whole bunch of Nonnas how to cook the best Italian food in the world. And so that's great. That's so great. Great. I'm gonna start there. And then they're like, okay, now realistically we can't do that.

So how can we bring [00:20:00] that experience to our students? And I'm like, okay. And I love competition. You can ask my students today, we have reflex math and I, we we get a tiger and I told my students, I'm all, we are not losing this tiger. Our class is going to win. And our class won today every Friday. Really?

Really? And I'm like, it's our tiger. Nobody else has ever had it. And I'm like, and they're trying to get it. I'm like, this is our tiger and if we lose it, I'm gonna cry. And they're like, I said, so I'm very competitive. So the competition came into it because I'm like, okay, let's have a competition cuz it's gonna drive.

It drives me. It doesn't drive everybody right. But I'm like, let's, yeah, let's do this. We'll have prizes and the kids are gonna, you know, work to win something. Yeah. So describe that

Wes: competition, what the kids did and the competitions for somebody who wasn't

Melissa: there. So we had the cooking and the competition, so I thought, okay, master Chef, and I'm just sure that's coins somewhere and.

Breaking some kind of laws. I don't know. I'm just kidding. But yeah, they, we split the kids up into groups of four. Okay. And we were so lucky that [00:21:00] Michael Burns and the nutritional services department bought eight, well, actually nine Yeah. Full kitchens. And, and not, you know, they're

Wes: like kind of portable mobile, portable

Melissa: mobile kitchen.

Mobile kitchen. So, you know, induction, stove and everything. You would need to cook a meal. Yeah. And he even bought a Vitamix and. Provided us with a refrigerator, a full industrial refrigerator. Yeah. And so I told the students, and I brought all this to Maple, brought it all to Maple in the npr. We had a great company help us like decorate it and get, you know mm-hmm.

The pipe and drain, pipe and drain all the way around. So just, we, we wanted it to look like a, a TV show, so, yeah. Yeah. And it did, it really looked great. And so the kids came in and they had all the swag you can think of. They had a cookbook, t-shirts, aprons bags. They got water bottles. They got a whole bunch, you know, everything they needed to plan three-course meal.

Mm-hmm. And we had chefs from Cypress College come in and support the kids for the week. So they met 'em on Monday. On Monday, they made a grilled cheese. [00:22:00] Tuesday they kind of prepped their food, like did you know, their first test of their, their dish that they were gonna make. And then Wednesday we went to an incubator kitchen in Santa Ana and they cooked in a real incubator kitchen, like with stoves and there was fire and knives.

And I, I, you know, when I, all the things that makes. Teaching. Exciting. Yeah. I was like, there's no way they're gonna approve this and Dr. No, we have Ladera Vista. They have, you know, they cook and we we're good. Yeah. Liability-wise, I'm like, this is scary. But I didn't have one IT issue. Yeah. We had one little nick on a finger and didn't even bleed.

Yeah. I was so proud. I'm like, because the kids really, even though sometimes they could be a little wild in the classroom and they don't pay attention and they run around and you tell 'em not to, Right here. They, they rose to the challenge. They rose because they were, I said, you do anything that's gonna hurt anybody else, you're out.

Yeah, you gotta leave because it's not safe. And they took it seriously. Yeah. And they did a great job. So

Wes: they plated the things they made. Then we had community judges. Yeah. And [00:23:00] then that's the competition, right? Yeah. They're all kind of up against the other groups and they have to present and kind of narrate through.

Yeah. They

Melissa: had to write a menu decision. So we had, we, we did, they had to do math with measuring and they discussed that with the chefs. They had to do science and if you put too much of this in it's, and you know, it wasn't act, no really science, but I guess it was. You know, when you, when, when it comes down to it, if you put too much salt, it's gonna be salty.

Yeah. Right. But they, you know, they did a great job. They had to write that menu and then they had to present their meals to the judges and describe what it was. Yeah. And you know, they're using words they'd never used before. Right. They increased their vocabulary a ton. They met people they never would've met.

Yeah. They went someplace they never knew was. In existence And yeah, it was just, and they, and they did have some guest speakers some people that had started restaurants Yeah. And talked to them about what they did. And I went over, I go to Ladera Vista a couple times, like once a month to see my old kids.

Okay. Because I. [00:24:00] Love my students. I love all my students, but this group, because I had them for three years, like, oh, wow. We got so close. Yeah. And so I, I went over to talk to them and a lot of them are taking the culinary, culinary arts class there. That's awesome. They're like, miss Zuka, we're in, we love it.

We're cooking. And so I don't know if I started a passion or not. Yeah. But hey, who knows? I might have the next James Beard winner and they're gonna, you know, invite me to come eat.

Wes: That's awesome. I even noticed the. Community college chefs those culinary students, like the way they looked at their students, I'm like, oh, they, they don't get this opportunity to like mentor somebody who, who thinks they're, you know, so amazing and advanced.

Yeah. So that was a, a cool Moment to kind of see them, you know, shepherding these

Melissa: students too. Yeah, I know. I'm working with a new group of chefs that's coming to Commonwealth cuz we're doing it again. That was my next

Wes: question is, okay. What's happening next is it's, you're doing it again at Commonwealth.

We're

Melissa: doing it again. So, okay. The, the whole idea with I, I think what you guys wanted to do and Dr. Bob was, have something that's reproducible and that could [00:25:00] be done again and again. And expose more students to different things. So we're doing it again and it's bigger this time. We have five teachers.

Oh my gosh. Three weeks, five teachers,

Wes: if I remember right. Last year was just you? It was just me, but it seemed like a hundred kids. It was because the presentations, it was like, yeah. And I remember the judges, they had to sample everything.

Melissa: Oh my gosh. I felt bad cuz they were

Wes: probably so full. It was so much to eat so much cuz it was, it was literally.

Three courses. Yeah. Like there was an appetizer, a main and then like a dessert and dessert. Yeah. Yeah. It was a lot. Now five teachers doing that, I can't even

Melissa: comprehend it. Well, we're not doing the competition this time. Okay. It's just cooking. Cuz I'm like, how, how can I replicate this with, yeah. So it's three weeks.

So I'm on Mondays. I'm every Monday and the first week we're doing grilled cheese parfaits, just Oh, okay. Things that they could do and then they're gonna plan our next week. They have to do ramen. Yeah. Because they have, I'm going back to TikTok again. They have these TikTok Ramen recipes, so I'm gonna have them doing research on which one they wanna do.

Cause we can just do the boiling water. [00:26:00] Yeah. Get the ramen done. And they have to add two vegetables. This is all things that they can do at home. Yeah. That they'll feel comfortable doing. Like my eight year old he'll, oh, sorry Joe, you're nine, my nine year old. He does this ramen on his own. And he, you know, he does the little kettle and he'll do, he'll do it on his own.

And so I'm like, okay, kids can start doing things Yeah. Independently and learning how to, you know, be safe in the kitchen. And this is something, and ramen is not expensive. Yeah. It's something they can always have on hand. So. Yeah. We're, we're gonna do that. And then last, the last day is when, so the chefs are not gonna be there all three weeks, right?

They're only gonna be there the last week. Yeah. So that last week. The kids are gonna have to bef without the chefs there, pick something they wanna make. And when the chefs come, they'll make this meal and they're gonna cook for a parent or a guardian. Oh, that's so they're gonna serve parents or great guardians.

Great. Yeah. So, okay, so

Wes: you're like creating a restaurant essentially.

Melissa: Yes. So it's, it's a little bit different. Yeah. But it's still, it's still the same idea because

Wes: the parents and gardens come in and then they sit down and have a meal and they're gonna sell [00:27:00] them. They, oh my gosh. So

Melissa: that's awesome.

Yeah, so that's really cool. Five different times for five different teachers and they, they don't know cuz they didn't see it last year. Yeah. So they're like, what is this? Like, they're all excited, but what's gonna go on? Huh? We're gonna cook with the kids. I'm like, okay. So I have, we're having a meeting next week so I can really break it down.

Yeah. You know, they can figure it out. But we are having a lot of parents come in to support cuz. We, one teacher can't do that by themselves.

Wes: So we're, we have to get to a place to kind of land the plane of this interview. But we have another quote. I want to, I think I'm gonna extract, extract a couple of adjectives.

So this from Gene Summy principle of Commonwealth. And I'm just gonna give you, I'm gonna give you three adjectives that she uses to describe you and pick the one that you wanna talk about first. We may visit the others. But she uses enthusiasm. Mm-hmm. Creativity. And then she uses authentic.

So I'm gonna say [00:28:00] authenticity. Okay. So out of those authenticity, creativity, and enthusiasm, which one strikes you? Enthusiasm. Okay. Tell me more about that. Why is that the first one

Melissa: you pick? Because I just. I want all the kids to have fun. I want them to experience school and go like, that was fun. Like today, I had a student say that today was the best day of my life.

Aw. Because we did secret snowflakes. Okay. And so we passed 'em out and she got who she wanted and she was so excited. And then I let them have a half hour free time and they were playing Super Mario because we're doing the eSports. Yeah. eSports. So they're playing Super Mario. And she's like, could it get me better today?

I'm like, that's what I want. Yeah. Like it, we weren't learning, we weren't doing math or anything. Yeah. But. You know, she was happy. Yeah. She was happy at school. And that's what I want them to have. And she prob like I, we weren't gonna have a haunted library this year. Mm-hmm. And I never even knew they had it.

Mm-hmm. And they're like, yeah, the college students aren't coming. I'm like, then we do it. It.

Wes: Let's

Melissa: go. So [00:29:00] I did the haunted library and did it. I don't know what a haunted library is, but it sounds, well, it's just basically like a maze. Like a knottsberry farm maze. Okay. Okay. So we made it spooky and we had Oh, that's cool.

The upper grade parents all donated and we had, it was great. They said it was the best one they've ever had. Okay. Maybe they didn't say that, but in my head it was the best one I ever had. Melissa.

Wes: This is the best one we've ever done. Yeah.

Melissa: Woo woo. So that's great. I think I've, this is my problem. I've pigeoned my whole hell myself in these plea.

Things and then people are gonna be like, well, are you doing it again? Right. So I mean, cuz it was a lot of work. But the kids, like they said, that was the hit cuz the lines were like not scary farming lines. The kids were waiting to get in and it was great. That's great. So I am very enthusiastic if you give me like any little opening, I'm gonna run with it.

Yeah. And be extra, but, and that's who I am. I'm extra. I'm extra. I am. And my mom tells me, but my sisters are too. So whatever, it's her fault.

Wes: Okay. Let's, let's end with a shout out to give you opportunity to, so On the side of enthusiasm and [00:30:00] extra, we have your family. Mm-hmm. I think, and that's probably clearly where it comes from.

Yeah. But any other people you, you think like, yeah. I, I love their generosity or their, like, over the topness, like o other people that you've noticed that you think, oh, that's, that's good. I like that. I want to be like that.

Melissa: Hmm. I would say like just in education or just here? Anywhere.

Wes: Like life friends growing up.

Yeah.

Melissa: My sister Meredith.

Wes: Okay. Tell us, tell us a little bit about her.

Melissa: She's just, Funny. She's so funny. And we used to fight all the time because I'm the middle child and I don't like people take my stuff. And she took my friends. She took your friends well, because she's so fun and I didn't like it.

And so my friends were like, bring your sister. I'm all, no, you're my friend. And she was always there. At everything. All of a sudden, Meredith's there. I'm like, why? And I didn't understand. Yeah. Because I was always, it was a [00:31:00] competition to me. And she was like, I just wanna be here. I just wanna be happy and have fun.

And I was like, get away. And then she had a baby. She had Austen and I, that was beyond end all for me. And so we became best friends after that. Oh. And she is just, and now I get it. Yeah. Once I let my. Bratty sister thingo. Yeah. I'm like, she's freaking funny. Yeah. Like so I don't know if you talked to her.

No, she emailed. Oh, she emailed. Oh my gosh. She's so funny. She just cracked and so everywhere. She, I wanna be like her. I am, I try to be silly in fun, but I don't compare to her. She should be a comedian. Like, she just makes me laugh. I, I'm

Wes: gonna end with this bonus feedback cuz everybody we said, you know, we asked some specific questions and then we just said bonus feedback.

Anything else you want to. To know. So this is what she wrote. She said I said, anything else you want to share about Melissa? She said, having Melissa as my sister and one of my best friends feels like winning the lottery. She's such an amazing person. She's a wonderful daughter, wife and mother, but I think she's the best aunt ever.

Oh, her ability to love [00:32:00] someone's child like a mama bear. I know my other sister would agree and not even be offended. She'd say, Melissa beat us both in that department. My kids have a second mom with her. She's generous with time, love, and gifts. She gives her undivided attention to children. She can easily see potential in everyone.

Oh, so

Melissa: she's much better writer than me too,

Wes: so I love that. Thank you for joining us on the podcast today. And I can't wait to see the master

Melissa: Chef this year. Well, it's called junior Chef Academy. We changed it. Ooh, junior Chef Academy Academy. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. My kids, and it's not a surprise this year, so my kids kind of know what's happening.

Yeah. But we got reordered, their books, they're all getting the, the same cookbook and they're excited, like, and that parents are like, I can't wait. They get to, you know, they're gonna cook. So That's cool. Yeah. That's great. When is that? End of January. So, like

Wes: last, oh, it's coming up? Yeah. Okay. It's. So in January, the three weeks, it's like on.

Melissa: Yeah. Okay, great. Thanks Melissa.[00:33:00]

Wes: This has been the Teacher Interview podcast. Thank you for joining us.