Rise and Brine with Ryan Dalton

Show Notes

Join Kosta and his guest: Ryan Dalton, Teacher at Avery Trace Middle School, Social Worker, Educator, Activist, Facilitator and Co-Founder of the ATMS Pickle Club. 

After 10 years of living in Cape Town, South Africa working with homeless youth, Ryan found his way back to the United States, settling in the Upper Cumberland with his two daughters Maya and Tiege.

In this episode: The origin story of ATMS Pickle Club and how it became the most popular club in the Middle School's history, Ryan's career in education and social work and how we can help teachers to grow and thrive in 2023 with a special call to action from our host Kosta Yepifantsev.

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

Find out more about ATMS Pickle Club:
https://www.facebook.com/ATMSPickleClub
https://www.instagram.com/ATMSPickleClub/

🥒 ATMS Pickle Club's Pickle Festival:
🗓 Saturday, April 29, 2023
⏰ 10 AM – 4 PM
📍 230 Cavalier Dr Cookeville, TN 38501
🖥 https://www.facebook.com/events/s/upper-cumberland-pickle-festiv/3232906353691980/

Find out more about Kosta and all the ways we're better together:
http://kostayepifantsev.com/

What is Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev?

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a podcast about business, parenting and living life intentionally. We're here every week to bring you intentional conversations on making your own path to success, challenging the status quo, and finding all the ways we're better. Recorded in Cookeville, TN, Kosta joins guests from all walks of life to bring fresh perspective and start your week with purpose. We're better together.

Ryan Dalton: Young people
shouldn't be put in a position

to fail. And I want to see kids
set up for success. I think a

lot of times what happens is
failing schools end up getting

the worst of the worst teachers
too, because nobody wants to

work there. And if everybody
kind of runs away, then it can

never sort of be transformed.

Morgan Franklin: Welcome to
Better Together with Kosta

Harvard. Yepifantsev, a podcast
on parenting business and living

life intentionally. We're here
every week to bring you

thoughtful conversation, making
your own path to success,

challenging the status quo, and
finding all the ways we're

better together. Here's your
host, Kosta Yepifantsev.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey, y'all.

This is Kosta and today I'm here
with my guest, Brian Dalton

teacher at Avery trace Middle
School, social worker, educator

and activist. After 10 years of
living in Cape Town, South

Africa, working with homeless
youth, Brian found his way back

to the United States, settling
in the upper Cumberland, with

his two daughters, Maya and
Tasia. Ryan, you've created the

most popular club in Avery trace
middle school history. Will you

give us a brief origin story of
how this started?

Ryan Dalton: It was a total
accident. First of all, when

we're talking about the ATMs
pickle club, so it's literally a

club about pickles. I love it.

Yeah. So I had a student who
he's a current eighth grade

student. And last year, I would
go down and hang out when the

kids are in lunch and stuff. And
I would see him and he would his

tray would always on the days
that they have pickles in the

cafeteria, his tray would always
be full of pickles, like piles

of pickles, amount of pickles.

And then he would have them in
his pockets throughout the day.

And he would pull them out start
eating the pickles. So that was

just a random thing that I knew
about him. And last school year,

over Christmas break. I went to
slice here in town, and they

have really good pizza, a pizza,
and they have a dill pickle

pizza. And so yeah, and I didn't
know that at that point. So I'd

see this thing and I try it. And
I was like, this is actually

amazing. Like, I've always liked
pickles. I never thought about

having it on a pizza sauce, send
a text to his mom. And I was

like the student's mom and I'm
like, Hey, do you mind showing

Caden this pickled pizza? I
think you would really love it.

And so he was like, Oh my gosh,
I would love to try that. So I

said, Alright, when we get back
from break, I'm gonna buy one

for lunch. So I got one of these
pickled pizzas. When we got back

from Christmas break, and two
other colleagues and Caden and

another friend of his, we all
went to my room during lunch and

ate this pickle pizza. And we
were like, We all loved it. And

they're talking about how great
it is. And they were like, What

are other cool things we could
try? We're all pickle lovers,

you know? So it was it was just
kind of like conversation. And

then somebody was one of them
was like, oh, we should start a

pickle club. Yeah. And I was
like, oh, yeah, that'd be funny.

And so as a joke, total joke. I
printed out these shirts that

said ATMs pickle club. And they
came and I handed them out to

that small group of people. And
the next Friday, we all wore

them. And all the kids were
like, I want to be in the

pivotal club. What's the pickle
club like they were, they were

really going for it. So kinda, I
just started amping it up kind

of still as a joke. And I got a
pickle costume. And I started

wearing it in the hallways be
like join the pickle club. And,

and so I started a Google forum
for kids to sign up. And within

one day, over 100 kids signed up
and now Yeah, within like three

days, we had over 300 kids who
signs out insane. Yeah, good. So

you Yeah, so it. I mean, it's
like,

Kosta Yepifantsev: what what do
you guys do? Like, what are the

meetings like? Well,

Ryan Dalton: so that's what's
kind of funny. We did this and

then, like, I have, like, 300
members. And it's like, now we

have to have a meeting. I'm
like, what did we do exactly

what you just asked me? And I'm
like, I'm not really sure. So I

created like a alma mater song.

Actually, I sat with our music
teacher, she created it, but we

kind of did it together a little
bit, but she wrote the words and

we talked about different things
about vehicles. She didn't even

like pickles. And she wrote the
song for us. So it's like a real

like old school sounding alma
mater. So we really we just met

in the auditorium a bunch of
kids were like, bringing

pickles. I brought some pickles
for us to try. I was wearing a

pickle suit and we sing the alma
mater, we chanted about pickles.

We talked about what we might do
as a bagel club. And yeah, it

just took off from there.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So like your
end goal for the pickle club or

essentially what you're trying
to accomplish is what

Ryan Dalton: I don't even know
like there's really no end goal

per se but I would say the goal
is like there's no end goal

every day every day is the end
goal kind of like it's the the

goal is at this point now is
just to have fun to be

inclusive. We everybody's
included, anybody's invited. You

don't have to like pickles to be
in the club.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I love that
though. I mean, I love the fact

that your your end goal is no
goal and it's just the Making

sure that you have a vehicle so
that everybody can be together,

you know, in a positive way, of
course, yeah. And

Ryan Dalton: it's Middle School
is such a hard age. Oh my god,

it's so hard. That's why I
enjoyed teaching this age

because yeah, I get it. I
remember it. I it's just, it's a

time of life where the kids kind
of, especially in seventh and

eighth grade, I say that I think
their brains just kind of fall

out. They surrender to the
hormones, and their bodies are

changing. It's so hard. I mean,
it's really so hard. They don't

know why they're angry. They
don't know why they're upset. A

lot of times, yeah, so they just
need these outlets. And I think

right now, in some ways, in this
country, we've taken a lot of

the fun out of school. And I
mean, I think you can make math

class fun, I think you can make
all types of curriculum fun. But

in general, there's been these
active initiatives of sort of

taking the arts out of school
and kind of taking sports away.

Yeah, here and there. And a lot
of fun has been removed from

squats. So

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, why
would you want to take fun out

of school? Because I mean, kids
don't, at most of the time, want

to go to school. So if you make
it less fun, they're gonna want

to go even less?

Ryan Dalton: That's a great
question. And that's what I

would love to ask the people who
are doing it. But yeah, I mean,

it's, I think they look at
funding and things like that.

And, and they think that money
could go to other things, rather

than these certain programs. But
pickles, pretty, pretty easy,

pretty cheap. And pretty funny,
just so random. So I think it's

just something that it's a good
outlet. It's silly, it's funny.

It's something that like any
angle of a kid could get behind

any kind of like, I don't know,
we attract kind of all groups of

kids from the like, real sort of
smart kids who are in all the

honors classes to like the
sporty kids to just the random

kids who don't have another
place. Everybody's kind of can

meet in the middle with picnic.

I

Kosta Yepifantsev: love it. I
love it. So tell me about your

journey. And I want to go all
the way back to the beginning,

because you've been an educator
for how long

Ryan Dalton: so I'm a social
worker, undergrad. And while I

was doing social work, studying
social work in Cape Town,

University of Cape Town, I was
placed at a school. And with my

work in Cape Town, I worked with
homeless youth, I saw a lot of

times the breakdown was at it
was something to do with a

school. This is in South Africa.

Yes, Cape Town, South Africa. My
interest really, I started

becoming interested in school
and what's going on there. And

every kid's story of how they
ended up on the streets that I

was working with, I would say
probably like 95% of the time,

the turning point was something
to do with school, they didn't

have the school uniform. So they
were kicked out. They, like got

in trouble in school got
expelled. They like just

something related to school, the
content was too hard. And they

were getting in trouble because
they were acting out because

they didn't know what to do.

When I was placed at a school
doing social work. I got a more

in depth look at like the
schools in South Africa. And I

ended up teaching one class a
week for five years there at a

little Elementary School sixth
grade. Well, I guess that would

be middle school here. What

Kosta Yepifantsev: was it like
working with homeless youth in

South Africa? It was did it what
10 years?

Ryan Dalton: Yes, I was 10 years
there. Was that like, it was it

was amazing. I mean, it was
really, I say like, besides the

time I spend with my current
biological kids now, it's like,

the best time I've ever had in
my life

Kosta Yepifantsev: is, I mean,
how big is the problem in South

Africa? How many homeless kids
are there? I mean, because like,

the only reason I asked that
question is because in the

United States, I don't I see
homeless people, but I don't see

a lot of homeless kids.

Ryan Dalton: I don't know
currently the exact numbers. But

I would say in the 1000s. And
the the difference in Cape Town,

which is one of the things I
thought were the thing that sort

of led me to advocacy and
activism was the bigger

structure that allowed kids to
live on the streets, the

difference in Cape Town, unlike
a place like Uganda, or Rwanda,

a place that's like been just
like, demolished by the AIDS

pandemic more war torn or
something like that. The

difference in Cape Town is that
those kids were kind of choosing

to be on the streets. And yes,
they come from communities that

were have difficulties
gangsterism poverty, drug

addiction, all that stuff is bad
in the communities. At some

point, there was a choice where
they were allowed to be on the

streets and like society, just
kind of let them but they would

have family, a lot of them would
have families at home. And it

might not be like the most
functional family but they had

families, a lot of them to go
to, whereas in other countries

you see more like kids who are
on the street, usually a lot of

times orphan or maybe their
whole family lives on the

street, right? Um, Cape Town was
a little different in that sense

had

Kosta Yepifantsev: their kids
survive. I mean, I just I'm

trying to like wrap my head
around it up. somebody being

homeless indicated the same
time, like how do they even

survive

Ryan Dalton: if they survive and
like kind of group mentality. So

they have these little groups.

And it's not like gangs per se,
but some of them are also like

gang affiliated or in weird
ways, which is weird because the

the groups themselves in the
town spin downtown are like

their own little groups, and
they kind of control little

areas. And so it'll be like the
Green Market boys or the long

street boys, or it's like Lord
of the Flies, it really is. And

they survive by being a part of
a group, usually. And then it's

like, whatever they depending on
the group in the area, it's

begging, like long street was
the big clubbing area of Cape

Town. So they survived kind of
on the nightlife of Cape Town,

whereas Green Market Square,
they have the market in the

daytime for tourists to come in.

So they survive by like begging,
they're stealing, robbing

whatever

Kosta Yepifantsev: you ever go
to, like New Orleans, or New

York. And you know how like in
New York, those kids on the

subway cars, like they do the
dances and stuff, and then you

give him money. And yeah, and
then like New Orleans, they do

the gentleman's and everything.

Do you ever think like, are
those kids homeless? Like, do

they have a family that they're
gonna go back to? Or do they

live in a shelter? Or something
like that? Or does that that

idea never cross your mind when
you're in the US?

Ryan Dalton: Um, when I'm here,
I think poverty here in America

is very different than the
poverty that I saw over there.

And so I always kind of question
everything. And I wonder, like,

what's going on with these kids
lives or whatever. I know that

this country doesn't allow child
homelessness in the way that

South Africa did at that time. I
lived there. So you

Kosta Yepifantsev: were working
with homeless youth for 10

years. And then you got a job at
a school for five years working

in teaching? What did you teach

Ryan Dalton: over in Cape Town?

So I was placed at that during
my university college years

University. Nice. University.

Yeah, I was doing social work as
well. So I did individual and

group therapy with some of the
students. And they have this

course that had like, just come
out that one of the first years

I was there called Life
orientation. And it is actually

an incredible course. It was
mandatory K through 12

curriculum. And it literally is
like, everything about life

orientation. So it covered
everything from like, sex

education, money, like racial
inequality, type stuff, all that

kind of stuff, just like
anything. You might success

skills, anger, strategy, like
Coping with Anger, anything that

you need in life, it was in that
course. And a lot of the

teachers were really intimidated
by it, because they themselves

needed it per se. Like they,
they didn't know how to teach it

because they sort of never had
it and kind of needed it. This

teacher at that school was like,
Hey, would you mind teaching

this to my class? And I was
like, No, I wouldn't mind at all

I would love to. So I did it.

The one year, the year after my
internship was over there, I

came back and taught that class
once a week, and they really

enjoyed me doing that. So I just
continued that for five years.

And it was really my
introduction in like classroom

teaching. I worked at an after
school program in high school

here, but that was my first sort
of classroom teaching

experience. And my first year it
was 47 kids in the class and

47/6 graders. And it was Yeah, I
mean, you learn classroom

management really quickly.

Kosta Yepifantsev: But you grew
up in Cookeville, though,

correct. So you decided I'm
leaving Cookeville? And I'm

going to South Africa.

Ryan Dalton: Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah, I was kind of

Kosta Yepifantsev: like, you
just like, throw a dart in

there.

Ryan Dalton: Kind of Yeah, like
it was sort of, that's kind of

what I did. I went with the
youth program and, and I kind of

just did kind of throw a dart.

And I was in Cape Town for three
months, and then India for three

months. And when I was in Cape
Town, I met the kids who lived

on the streets there. And it
just like I connected with them,

and I thought like, well, this
is this will be a good next

thing to do. And I moved back
there to work with them full

time. So eventually

Kosta Yepifantsev: you leave
Cape Town, and you move to New

York City. Yeah, Brooklyn. Yeah,

Ryan Dalton: I was I was back
here in Tennessee for like a

year and a half. I was doing
freelance writing just the kind

of I didn't know what was next
year, I was doing that just to

make a little money. And I was
like, I love writing and I hate

writing for other people

Kosta Yepifantsev: have tried to
wear CPT.

Ryan Dalton: So I was like, I
want to, I wanted to get my

Master's because I'm an
undergrad in social work,

psychology stream, and I wanted
to get my masters and I also

wanted to get back to just
working with youth because

that's what I really love. And I
found out about the New York

Teaching Fellows, and so I was
able to get my master's degree

while doing full time teaching.

So yeah, I went up to Brooklyn
and worked in a school in Crown

Heights, Brooklyn. While I was
pursuing my master's degree, and

then ended up living in teaching
there for four years,

Kosta Yepifantsev: so how do you
get to a retrace Middle School?

And how much different? Is it
based off of like the experience

that you've had in teaching in
Brooklyn teaching in South

Africa? And I'm just curious,
like, what's it like?

Ryan Dalton: Well, so I went
from Brooklyn to when I had my

first daughter who's about to
turn seven. She was three months

old, we ended up moving to
Montgomery, Alabama, where my

brother worked for Equal Justice
Initiative. Bryan Stevenson, I

was there teaching in high
school for four years. And I

will say, both of the schools
that I've taught at in America

before a retrace were failing,
like on failing schools list,

the school culture was different
than schools that you see around

here. And

Kosta Yepifantsev: I would,
would you think,

Ryan Dalton: I loved it? It's
like, Yeah, I kind of that's my

kind of vibe. Like, I like it.

I, I feel like the underdogs.

Yeah. But I also, you know, I
feel like kids, young people

shouldn't be put in a position
to to fail, right. And I want to

see kids set up for success,
right. And I think a lot of

times what happens is failing
schools end up getting the worst

of the worst teachers too,
because nobody wants to work

there. And if everybody kind of
runs away, then it can never

sort of be transformed. Yeah. So
it was a choice. I did it on

purpose, like to work at schools
that are on failing lists and

things. And I loved it. And I
love the students. I love my

colleagues. I love the work I
was doing. And so yeah, you can

then imagine, I guess, like
every Chase was a step down. And

but I love it equally in
different ways for different

reasons. And yeah, but it's very
different than any school or

sort of youth environment that
I've worked in.

Kosta Yepifantsev: What's it
like to be a public school

teacher? In 2023? Do you feel
like you're properly equipped, I

Ryan Dalton: feel like I'm
equipped. I do not necessarily

feel supported by the broader
system. But I definitely feel

equipped. But that's also I
think, because of my background,

teachers are asked a lot these
days. I mean, we're asked to be

social workers, counselors, all
the things along with teaching

and then teaching very specific
things in specific ways these

days. And my I think I'm at a,
at an advantage, having a

background in social work.

Because I, I see education in a
different way. And I see the

students in a different way. And
a lot of the like, sort of

social emotional stuff. And the
issues that I see students going

through, I understand it on a
deeper level. And I am able to

kind of respond to what's going
on, on a deeper level than react

to what you see. My

Kosta Yepifantsev: wife's best
friend is a teacher in Bradley

County. So I think right by
Chattanooga in that area. And

when she comes over, we talk a
lot about some of the

frustrations that she has as a
teacher. And I mean, it would be

hard for me to see kids who
don't who aren't supported by

parents. And I think the feeling
that she gets, and she doesn't

say this, but it kind of
resonates as she's talking. Do

you ever get the feeling like
you're going one step forward?

And two steps back?

Ryan Dalton: Yeah, it can. It
can be like that. Um, and I

would say on the frustrations
that I feel, I would say 9.999

repeated decimal times out of
10. It's not the kids. It's the

adults. Okay. Yeah. The parents,
adults, all adults, adults.

Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean,
colleagues, people making

decisions at a district level.

Yeah. People making decisions to
state national level. Yeah,

parents like, but it's usually
the adults because kids are

still kids. They're kind of just
products of their environment at

the moment, and they're still
very, you can still, like see

change, and things come in them.

But yeah, like, I would say most
of my frustrations come from

adults. And I'm not saying that
kids aren't don't cause Oh,

Kosta Yepifantsev: sure. Yeah,
of course mean their kids. Yeah,

but they get a pass because
they're still growing up. Yeah.

Like, like we were talking
earlier, you actually don't

become an adult and you may or
may not be held accountable to

the same degree until you really
turn 30 You gotta like develop a

frontal lobe, you know, until
then you're like, you know, it's

all jelly up here, you know?

Ryan Dalton: Yeah. And I think
that's, that's what is, is. I

think a lot of adults forget
that. And a lot of a lot of the

issues I see in the classroom
are even if it looks like it's

the students that are the
problem, it's really not,

Kosta Yepifantsev: but like,
okay, obviously the public

school system is made up of
adults, you've been in the

public school system a long time
you've been teaching at every

trace for how long?

Ryan Dalton: Yeah, well, you did
ask me how long so this is my

third year at every trace. And
this would be my 11th year in

America. And if you add the five
years in South Africa that I

just taught, like once a week,

Kosta Yepifantsev: so here's the
question of the day. Do you feel

supported by the public school
system? And are we giving our

children the tools to succeed?

Or are we giving our children
the tools to score well on

standardized tests?

Ryan Dalton: So I'll answer
those separately. So do I feel

supported by the system? No,
absolutely not why I don't think

I could ever feel supported in a
profession that so egregiously

under pays the professionals, I
agree with you on that. And I'm

not saying, and there's that
whole thing, like we're expected

to be like, I'm not in it for
the money, which I'm not like,

literally, I would be doing
something else if I was in it

for the money. But um, I, you
could still be a professional,

and be good at this and make
money that you deserve.

Kosta Yepifantsev: You guys are
as teachers, you guys are

supporting and developing the
future of our country. This is

this, I've said this at least 25
times on this podcast, teachers

should be paid more than, than
doctors and lawyers, they should

be the number one paid
profession in the United States,

because your job it makes or
breaks us as a society because

you're developing the future of
our country. I just don't

understand it.

Ryan Dalton: i So me, I have, at
this point, 16 years of teaching

experience. Yeah, I have a
master's degree. Yeah. Someone

at my level in a profession, or
any other profession should be

making pretty good bucks and not
and I'm not 100,000 Plus, but

I'm, I'm pretty good at what I
do. Like, I'm pretty good at

what you did.

Kosta Yepifantsev: You created a
pickle club accidentally. But

yeah, well, I mean, I think
there was at least some

intentionality behind it, and
you pulled 300 students in, but

Ryan Dalton: yeah, it's like
you, you wouldn't see that. And

money is not everything. But I
think if you pay people what

they deserve, then you create a
more competitive environment.

And a lot of these things that
people complain about, because

you know, you hear all these
complaints about teachers and

this and that, well, then if you
treat it more like an actual

profession, a competitive
profession, than those who

aren't performing in the way
they should, you know, shouldn't

shy Oh,

Kosta Yepifantsev: exactly.

Shouldn't wouldn't be in the
profession. Yeah.

Ryan Dalton: And so it's, it's
wild to think about that I spend

more time with people's kids
than they actually do waking

hours, at least in a day in a
school year. I mean, I spend

from I get to school, on purpose
to kind of hang out in the halls

and greet the kids, when they
come in, I get there at seven, I

dropped my own kids off at 650.

So I could be at a retrace at
seven to hang out downstairs,

see the kids greeting when they
come in, make sure they're doing

okay, when they come in, I'm
there from seven until three

something to four. And I was
spending that whole day with the

kids. And really, then they go
home, they go to their

extracurricular activities, they
dinner and they're off, you

know, in their rooms or
whatever. Teachers often spend

more times more time with
people's kids than the parents

themselves. And that's not like
some weird, like, Haha, but it's

like, I would want to pay the
person spending time with my

kids very well.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So here's the
question, then why? Because

governor, Governor Lee just put
out a budget $3.3 billion for

the transportation department
roads, bridges, infrastructure,

I get it. That's important. But
why Okay, fine. Take that $3.3

billion, and give it to teachers
and raise them to be the highest

paid salaries in the United
States attract the best talent

from all over the United States.

And you know, what, maybe some
of those majors that are, you

know, wanting to be engineers
may think, you know, what, maybe

I'll be a teacher, you know,
what I'm saying? Like, why,

what's the what is the the the
hidden plan for why they don't

want to pay teachers?

Ryan Dalton: Well, I think I
mean, if you look historically

in this country, it I think it
goes back to patriarchy, and

misogyny. I mean, like all the
sort of professional jobs that

were once considered a woman
dominated job teaching, social

work, care, nursing, caregiving,
all of those things are people

who are incredible people who
are doing some of the most

important work in society and
paid the least when it comes to

professional jobs that you need
degrees for. So in some sense, I

think it comes down to that it
comes down to still this

historical injustice that hasn't
been rectified here in this

area. And then I think it also
comes down to in this state

we're seeing like the total
dismantling of public education

It seems intentional. And there
is a political agenda behind

that. And it's, it's scary
because public education is a

wonderful thing. It's a great
thing. Yeah. That you can send

your kids for free to be
educated, for other people to

teach them the things that you
don't even know or don't want to

teach them like algebra and
geometry, like most parents I

talked to don't want

Kosta Yepifantsev: to listen, I
hated geometry. I mean, Algebra

all day, you know? Yeah, I'm
good. But geometry from my brain

doesn't work like that. Yeah, we
are.

Ryan Dalton: And thank goodness,
there's people who are willing

to, you know, yeah, teach that.

But yeah, I think that's part of
it as well. There's just this

sort of real, there's become a
sort of hostile political

movement against public
education and against teachers.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So because
you're maybe different than some

than the majority of teachers
that you work with. Do you ever

feel like you are in somewhat of
a hostile environment? Like, do

you feel like you just creating
something like a pickle club

puts you on a radar in a bad
way?

Ryan Dalton: Well, I the pickle
club? Definitely. Yeah. Yeah.

Funny radar. Um, I will say, you
know, I grew up here, right. And

so it kind of gives me a
different leverage, I would say,

but I do I, a lot of my thoughts
and ideas and beliefs are very

different than people in this
area. And I do think, I do think

at times, it sort of puts me out
there, but it's also something

that I'm not scared of. And it's
also just how I want to be

because how I conduct myself on
a daily basis is making

decisions that I feel like are
in the best interest of the

kids, and in the trying to
support kids in the best way I

can. And that doesn't always
look how people around here

might want it to look, but it's
I'm going to support the youth

and support the kids. And, um,
yeah, I mean, I think that

definitely probably rubs some
people the wrong way. But um, it

also is important, I think,

Kosta Yepifantsev: yeah,
absolutely. So before we finish

up, though, I just want to tease
out one more thing. Is there

anything else that as a as a
school system, we can do better

to support teachers? Because
you're because I've talked to a

lot of teachers, and you're the
first one that's letting it

letting it roll? Let it roll?

Yeah. So just keep going.

Because I want to know, because

Ryan Dalton: I want to know, as
a system or as like society,

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, as a
system for let's just talk about

Putnam County, what can what can
Putnam County schools do better

for teachers, if the citizens of
Putnam County got behind a

specific mission and said, you
know, what if we could do if we

can't raise wages, because
there's not, there's just not

enough money to crowd fund, you
know, millions and millions and

millions of dollars to raise
wages? What's something else

that we can do as a community to
help our teachers in Putnam

County that the school system
isn't doing?

Ryan Dalton: I mean, I'm gonna
reiterate even though you said

if you can't pay teachers what
they deserve, that's, that's

gonna be my number one, okay, go
in there. Pay people what they

deserve, no matter what the job
is. Yeah, I think minimum wage

should be raised. So anyways,
that's all other things.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So what we'll
do, here's what we'll do, we'll

we'll put a call to action taken
upon from my other my other

podcasts a call to action. So at
the end of the semester, every

parent, give your teacher $50
You know, or if you can't give

them 50 Give them 20. If you can
give them 20, give them

something, but at the end of the
semester, give that teacher

something special for taking
care of your child for more

hours. And you did for for four
or five months. How long is this

semester? Four months?

Ryan Dalton: Well, semester?

Yeah. 18 weeks? So

Kosta Yepifantsev: yeah. So give
him something to say I

appreciate you because teachers
need more money. And this is how

we're going to do it. Yeah,
right here first

Ryan Dalton: and with the so if
we can't pay if we can't pay

more, which is whatever. I think
there's simple ways of

supporting teachers in our
classrooms. Because we're

underfunded and whatever. A lot
of times, some things we

constantly constantly need are
just things like tissues,

toilet, or what's it called
Paper towels, cows, menstrual

products, deodorant, indeed, in
middle school, like when Yeah,

all kinds of stuff because my,
my closet is just full of

whatever kids might need. Sure,
they can get it there. Um, so

anything that type of day to day
things, chapstick, whatever it

may be, that we can help the
students with. That's, that's a

easy way that people can support
just drop off some tissues and

stuff because you'd be surprised
how many tissues we go through.

But I think also, a huge thing
that people could do is voting

for people who support public
education and voting for Pete

People who support teachers.

Absolutely. Um, so I mean, you
mentioned Governor Bill Lee. He

was, you know, openly, not in
support of public teachers for

the voucher bill. Yeah. Yeah.

And, and it's like, that's I
don't know, if people actually

realize what would happen if
public education is destroyed in

the way they're trying to do it?

Because they like, where are
they going to send their kids?

Yeah, private school is
expensive. Right? Exactly.

Kosta Yepifantsev: And public
school is there to provide

guardrails on ideologies. It
provides balance. Yes. So have

both a boat of all free thought
and freedom of speech, and

freedom of religion, and freedom
of everything inside the school

system. Correct. So everything
is balanced. When you take away

that balance, then the scale can
get tipped in either direction.

Any direction, any direction.

Yeah. All right. We're gonna
wrap up with the pickle club.

And we're going to talk a little
bit about the pickle festival.

So I want to ask what can we do
to support the pickle club?

Ryan Dalton: The the pickle
club? You can I mean, we are on

Facebook and Instagram. So if
you want to just even just

follow us follow our
shenanigans, you can do that.

It's ATMs pickle club. Nice. And
any of those. Also YouTube, we

have a weekly cooking show. So
check that out. With pickles.

Yeah, every, every week, every
Monday we really set a different

thing is cooked with pickles.

Um, I mean, we were always doing
random things that could be

funded. And I just pull stuff
together if it's not, but like,

we're I was asked to do a pickle
pep rally on an upcoming special

day, we have a school. And so
I'm like pulling funds together

for that. But you know, there's
always something we're doing

that's silly and fun. Um, but
yeah, just I don't know. I think

just enjoying the fun. The
Pickle festival is a great way

to support

Kosta Yepifantsev: and what is
the pickle festival just briefly

explain what it is and when it
is and where,

Ryan Dalton: okay, so it is
April 29 at every tray sports

fields. And it is just all
pickle everything. We're gonna

have different pickle vendors,
we have all kinds of random

vendors who have signed up. We
have a soap company that's going

to be doing like pickles soap,
we have like, wax melts that are

like little pickle wax melts,
and whatever. And then food

vendors, slice peas and games,
they became our big deal

sponsor, so they like gave us
quite a bit of money to do to do

this. And then we have other
sponsors on there. But it's just

gonna be a fun day, we're gonna
have helicopter rides from the

football field. And then all the
money we're doing it also as a

fundraiser, and all the money's
gonna go back into those sports

fields where it will be. I was
it's in there in big need. Yeah,

I couldn't even really see the
kids play football, because of

the way it's all set up. And I'd
really like to be able to watch

them, you know,

Kosta Yepifantsev: just think
about what you've accomplished.

So you took a club of 300 kids
and you've and you've found a

way to fill the gaps in your
school to help improve the

conditions for the students and
you're talking about you know,

the funding going back to the
football fields. Like that's a

big deal. And you did that
industriously on your own no one

else really. I mean, obviously,
that the student you were

talking about gave you the idea
for the pinnacle club, but still

you did on your own. We always
like to end the show on a high

note. Who is someone that makes
you better when you're together?

Ryan Dalton: I cannot say
someone I cannot say some to and

that is definitely my daughter's
I'm better person with them.

They're like the love of my
life. I love them. I mean me

like tearing up talking about
it. But yeah, there's nobody in

the world I'd rather be with.

We'd love spending time together
and yeah, that would be them.

Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of

Better Together with Kosta
Yepifantsev. If you've enjoyed

listening and you want to hear
more, make sure you subscribe on

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friend. Better Together with
Kosta Yepifantsev is a Kosta

Yepifantsev Production. Today's
episode was written and produced

by Morgan Franklin post
production mixing and editing by

Mike Franklin. Want to know more
about Kosta visit us at

kostayepifantsev.com We're
better together.