[0:04] hey everybody this is Carissa ker from [0:06] Stillwater area public schools home of [0:08] the ponies and you are listening to Pony [0:10] voices on this show we celebrate the [0:13] amazing people of Stillwater schools and [0:15] give you an Insider's view of what is [0:17] happening across our district not only [0:19] is our mascot unique so are our stories [0:23] so grab a cup of coffee get comfy and [0:25] settle in for our latest episode2 [0:28] [Music] [0:32] sticks and stones may break my bones but [0:35] wordss will never hurt me you've [0:38] probably heard that childhood rhyme [0:39] before it's something many kids learn to [0:41] say on the playground when other kids [0:43] tease them it's also a lie the fact is [0:46] words do hurt and for many of our [0:49] students the experiences they are having [0:51] on the playground in the classroom the [0:53] cafeteria or the hallway can cause deep [0:56] wounds and have a lasting impact on both [0:58] their emotional and physical wellbeing [1:01] just listen to what some of our students [1:03] have to say I don't think many people [1:05] know what like like certain derogatory [1:08] terms and their history behind it and [1:10] how it's been used and how impactful it [1:12] can actually be it was a leadup of [1:16] multiple years of verbal harassment and [1:19] racism which kind of turned into [1:22] physical altercation and then it kind of [1:25] just turned into this huge schoolwide [1:28] issue picking on somebody for I don't [1:31] know their hair or their skin color [1:34] religion their size their gender [1:36] identity there's also been stuff about [1:39] how much money somebody has or like [1:42] their bodies you know there's lots of [1:44] body shaming and I feel like that's just [1:46] been normalized but it does cause harm [1:49] to people's mental health today we're [1:52] talking with superintendent Mike Funk [1:54] along with Caitlyn Willis and jacn bis [1:56] Caitlyn is the district's executive [1:58] director of Elementary educ [2:00] and Jac is the district's integration [2:02] coordinator thank you all for joining me [2:04] thanks it's great to be here so you just [2:07] heard from a few of our students about [2:09] their experiences in our schools and [2:10] what does what comes to mind when you [2:12] hear the stories from our kids I think [2:14] that a lot of our kids are experiencing [2:16] some really positive things within our [2:18] schools but they're also telling us that [2:20] there's a lot of room to grow um in [2:22] terms of how we treat people the [2:24] kindness that we show and just the [2:26] communities that we're building I go [2:28] back to you know a couple years ago the [2:31] district did a strategic planning um [2:34] exercise in which we sought input from [2:37] our students from our staff and from our [2:39] families and I go back to to Really what [2:42] our students were asking for the [2:44] students in their own words so they want [2:46] …