SPS Podcasts

In episode eight of SPS Extra, Taylor Brooks and Stephanie Splater pump up the excitement around ONE Spokane Stadium. All Spokane Public Schools girls and boys soccer teams as well as football teams will play their home games at ONE Spokane Stadium. The stadium is set to open on September 28th with Shadle Park hosting Pullman in girls soccer with a 4 PM start. North Central and Clarkston will go h...

Happy Summer Break!  Stephanie Splater and Taylor Brooks jump into everything summer programming and how everything is going in our schools. Before we know it, the school year will be here, but for now, let's enjoy what summer has to offer at Spokane Public Schools! This episode will feature Le'Andra Myers, the after school activities director as well as Shadle Park football. 

In this episode, Taylor Brooks and Stephanie Splater dive into what's it like to be a senior in high school.  You will hear from Catherine Dietschak, a recent graduate of Lewis and Clark High School. She shares her experiences about Tiger Drama and how the program set her up for her future. Brooklyn Holbrook also just graduated from John R. Rogers. She spent four years immersing herself in th...

In this interview, Taylor Brooks sits down with Catherine Dietschak. Catherine is a recent graduate of Lewis and Clark High School. She immersed herself in Tiger Drama for the last four years, gaining experience on stage and off stage.  Catherine will head off to New Jersey in the fall where she will major in musical theatre at Rider University. 

For the month of May, SPS Extra focuses on the building of programs and schools from the ground up. Spokane Public Schools opened two brand new middle schools named Denny Yasuhara Middle School and Pauline Flett Middle School. SPS also replaced Glover Middle School and Shaw Middle School with new builds.  In the fall of 2023, Carla Peperzak Middle School will open and Sacajawea Middle School will...

Spring has sprung in Spokane! With the weather finally turning around for the better, Taylor Brooks and Stephanie Splater check in on spring sports around Spokane Public Schools. Unified sports also introduced pickle ball for the spring.  This episode features interviews from Lewis and Clark Athletic Director, Dave Hughes, as well as Hutton students who participated in Fit For Bloomsday. We also v...

Spokane Public Schools offers so many different types of extracurriculars. Each school has the typical sports programs, but Taylor Brooks (Scheib) and Stephanie Splater dive into the non-traditional extracurriculars like Cyber Patriots, theatre and drama, esports, and so on.  If you want to see what schools have to offer, please visit spokaneschools.org. 

We hit the court in the second episode of SPS Extra! The school district and AAU have combined their efforts with Hoopfest to create the Hooptown Youth League. This is a league where there are three levels: recreational, competitive, and advance competitive for youth participants grades K-6th.  In this episode, Stephanie Splater and Taylor Brooks talk about the importance of youth development when...

SPS Extra sheds light on all of the extracurricular activities that students engage in at Spokane Public Schools. Each episode will feature a main topic with in-studio and field interviews with students, coaches, and community members.  In this episode, Stephanie Splater and Taylor Brooks dive deep into the spirit games. This is a rich tradition across SPS as Lewis and Clark faces Ferris in the Ru...

“Every day is a reward, but seeing kids break through some of those things that are tough for them, that’s really what makes my heart happy.”  Homeless Community Specialist Danielle Duffey assists some of the nearly 700 students supported by our Homeless Education and Resource Team, or HEART. HEART is holding its annual gift card drive for unaccompanied youth in our district who are experiencing h...

"I don't know anything... And ultimately I don't really need to know. What I need to be able to do is to hear that story and to be able to pick up the things that they are in need of in that immediate moment, to just help, and provide caring and love." Sarah Miller has been with the Spokane Public Schools Homeless Education and Resource Team for a dozen years. HEART is the dist...

Haili Andreas and her husband have two awesome girls. Her oldest, Temperance, was diagnosed with autism and sensory processing disorder when she was three. “It’s very heart-wrenching when you get told your kid’s going to be in special education, because when you have that baby you don’t think you’re going to have those struggles. You don’t see your child like that. You don’t see your child as unde...

This drum chant was performed by Dr. Martina Whelshula and her husband, SPS Native Ed Support Specialist Martin Whelshula, in front of more than 100 community members during a dinner and award ceremony held at Shaw Middle School on Nov. 18, 2022.  “We are honoring our students who have shown some of the Seven Grandfather Teachings that come from my culture (Anishinaabe),” said Native Education Coo...

"It takes trauma to know trauma. I experienced my own set of trauma as a child and I want them to know that you don’t have to be defined by that trauma. You can have a successful life and you can have a wonderful life. Over the years I’ve only grown a deeper love, a deeper need to work with them." Trisha Rosema is a paraeducator in a Behavior Intervention classroom at Jefferson Elementar...

"It takes a village to support a child, and that village might be bigger or more complex if you have a student with a disability." Mollie Weber is the district's Special Education Parent Liaison. Here, she shares where families can go for special education services, the greatest challenges and rewards of her work, and what working with special needs students has done for her perspec...

Throughout the month of October we’ve talked to a range of experts about early learning. How important it is, what parents can do to set their little ones up for success, and more. But one group of experts we haven’t spoken with much is the kids themselves. Meet Desmond and Gianna, who are in preschool and first grade, respectively. They share what they're learning now and what they're e...

Rebecca Hill has taught early childhood education for the past 23 years. For the past six, she's managed a preschool that matches 3-and 4-year-olds with North Central High School students. The program has benefits for students in both age groups, like Salima, a senior who plans to pursue an education career. Here, Rebecca and Salima share why preschool is a good idea for toddlers, and why the...

Bambi Howe is starting her 32nd year as a Spokane Public Schools teacher. She’s spent the past 20 of those years with Madison Elementary kindergarteners, mostly in a big, colorful space at the end of the hall. Here, she shares what the ideal kinder student should know on day one, why early socialization is vital to learning how to “do school,” and a few reasons kindergarten is a magical place. Wel...

SPS Early Learning Coordinator Angela Haberman works with a team of psychologists, pathologists, teachers, paraeducators and others to make sure brand new students get off on the right foot. She walks through what parents can do at home to make sure their child's preschool experience is positive and gives some key reasons experts like herself believe preschool is vital for 3 and 4 year olds,...

"If you don't learn about it, certain aspects will repeat. Because a lack of knowledge creates arrogance, I feel, which can lead to more problems." - Gus, a Rogers High School junior, who visited Gonzaga University with his classmates this week to view “Americans and the Holocaust.” Gonzaga was among just 50 venues across the country selected to host the traveling exhibition from th...

Myo Myo Aye is a Class of 2021 grad who's now earning her Pharmacy Tech Certificate and AA at Spokane Falls Community College. She's among the first in her family to attend college. Here, she shares how programs like the College Success Foundation helped her navigate the postsecondary planning process and what she'd tell her freshman self. Welcome to the SPS Friday 5 - five question...

"Graduation is an amazing ritual, it’s not a stopping point. It’s really a launch into something else. And this High School and Beyond Plan that starts when they're younger is part of what will launch them into a meaningful life after high school." For the past 36 years, Kitty Hennessey has served as a counselor at all grade levels within SPS. Here, she outlines the purpose of a Hig...

Jeremy Day is the Graduation Assistance Specialist for SPS, working with students who need a little extra aid to make it across the stage and on to postsecondary success. Prior to this, he was a school counselor for 15 years, much of it at Rogers High School. In this week's Friday 5, Jeremy shares his take on when families and students should begin considering life after high school (hint: it...

Will Merritt is a Class of 2022 Lewis & Clark High School grad who's now at the University of Portland studying biology on a pre-med track. Here, he talks about what helped him plan for postsecondary success, what he'd tell his freshman self, and ways the adults in his life helped him start thinking about life after high school. Welcome to the SPS Friday 5 - five questions posed in a...

Before he became the SPS Executive Director of Student Success, Scott Kerwien spent about a decade as a high school counselor. Here, he shares his take on how to talk to a teenager, the top three things parents of high schoolers should be doing to prep their student for a successful new year, resources for families, and more. Welcome to the SPS Friday 5 - five questions posed in about five minutes...