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Mortgage Matters is your go-to show for all things home financing. Join Roland and Heidi as they break down the ins and outs of the mortgage world. From first-time homebuyers to seasoned investors, we’re here to guide you with expert insights, real talk, and the latest market trends. Whether you're looking to buy smart or refinance right, Mortgage Matters is your trusted source for smarter decisions and financial freedom. Tune in and take control of your home financing journey.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education to
Roland Daniels 0:40
No. Good morning Las Vegas. Welcome to mortgage matters. I'm Roland Daniels, a certified mortgage advisor with Geneva financial. My NMLS number is 355859, our company, NMLS number is 42056, and I'm here this morning as always, with my fantastic co host, Heidi Griffith, good morning. Heidi, well, good morning. Roland, good morning. How are you this morning? I am doing absolutely outstanding. I am so happy to hear that. How about this weather? It is very nice, man.
Heidi Griffith 1:16
This is this is that little period, isn't it? It is
Roland Daniels 1:19
fantastic. Ah,
Heidi Griffith 1:20
let's go out and enjoy the day. I hope everyone goes out and enjoy right. Good morning, everyone. I'm Heidi Griffith. I'm also a mortgage advisor and your Director of Client Services. My NMLS number is 2247754, so today's show. It really means a lot to Roland and I. So it does. We've kind of spent the last couple of holiday seasons right working to support kids and families across the entire Clark County School District, but this holiday season, one school really, really stood out to us, Ruby Thomas Elementary. So really quickly, before we go into anything, I want everyone to know that I actually attended Ruby Thomas, the school's been around since I believe 1964 we're going to talk about that in a minute. You're old. I am, but that's okay. That's good. That's good. I'm here. So, you know, we we learned a little bit about the school, and so many of these students are facing some challenges. Roland and I knew that we had to do something. So today, we are actually launching the toy drive. This isn't just another toy collection. I know that there's a lot of drives out there. I know that there's a lot of stuff going on in people's lives that makes it difficult this. Really, I'd love to see this become a community effort to bring happiness to these kids a sense of belonging and just give them a little spark of joy this year.
Roland Daniels 2:46
And joining us today is someone who works with these students every single day, Melissa Marzan, the Student Success instructional facilitator at Ruby Thomas Elementary. Melissa, thank you so much for being here today. Good
Melissa Marzan 3:04
morning, good morning. Thank you guys for having me. Thank you, Roland, thank you, Heidi,
Heidi Griffith 3:07
no. Thank you. Thank you for coming in. I know that we spent some time together a couple weeks ago. Roland and I actually toured Ruby Thomas. That was pretty exciting for me. I know there's been a lot of changes since I was there last right? Yes, the brand new building. I know it's really exciting, so we'll talk about that today. Let's start by having you tell you know, our listeners, just a little bit about yourself, your role, what you do at Ruby, and what you do each day, and what drew you to do this.
Melissa Marzan 3:34
Well, this is my 10th year Thomas elementary school. I was a teacher. I've worked in a lot of the events for the school and positive behaviors and student supports. Right now, my role is for engagement, so working with the students to help support them, and participating in their learning, in class, with our staff for recognizing them and events for them. And in particular, working with community engagement, which is, that's why we're here.
Heidi Griffith 4:04
We're here. So you pretty much do everything. I bet you do a whole lot. I bet you thank you again for being here today, before we talk about the statistics with Ruby Thomas and why this kind of really pulled on my heartstrings, and why I'd love to get as many people involved as we can. I want to kind of talk about just Ruby Thomas from my perspective. And if, if the listeners are, if you're not familiar with where Ruby Thomas is located, it's kind of cross streets would be like Maryland and di desert in road. It's located in paradise palms. So if you've been in Vegas for a while, maybe you know a little bit of the paradise palms history, if not, you know, in the 60s and 70s, Paradise plum, it was literally the place to be. I mean, all of the Vegas celebrities were there. I know that. You know, we had Joe Louis, the boxer, live there, Sonny Liston lived there. Who else was there? There's a bunch. From Debbie Dionne, Warwick, Debbie Reynolds, Johnny Carson actually rented a property when he was in town working shows. So, I mean, that was the place to be, a super nice mid century modern neighborhood. They've done a great job there. Actually, I believe it is actually on the historical records now. And so there's some stuff being done over there, which is fun. We're seeing a lot of new people move into the area, and Ruby Thomas just kind of sits in the heart of that area, right? So it's an older area. It was built in the early 60s, sits just directly behind the boulevard Mall. And so there's a lot of history when it comes to both Ruby Thomas and the area it sits in, right?
Melissa Marzan 5:41
Yes, it's the rumor was that in the very old building that was made in 1964
Heidi Griffith 5:47
the one I was in, yes,
Melissa Marzan 5:51
but that Elvis Presley actually paid for, like, the wooden
Heidi Griffith 5:56
floors there, I wonder how we can find that out some research, because you and I talked about that when we were at the school, and that's kind of one of those cool little tidbits, right? And he could have, he could have,
Melissa Marzan 6:05
very well have, because he was Viva Las Vegas kid, 1964 so,
Heidi Griffith 6:09
and he played the Hilton a lot. He played the online. So that would be interesting to find out. So, so that building is gone, right?
Melissa Marzan 6:16
It is. So we spent a year at a portable city location while they built us a brand new school where the old school was, and it just was rededicated last year 2024 Wow.
Heidi Griffith 6:29
So you guys just reopened in 2024 we did. I got to tell you, I saw this building. It is amazing. It is an awesome it is it is so now, now that you've got this beautiful new building, right? And dedicated team support for success. What? What makes it such a special school?
Melissa Marzan 6:48
I think, like you kind of said, Ruby Thomas is in the heart of Las Vegas, yep, right? So we're pretty unique in a lot of the things that we have. We have over 20 different languages in our school. There's a lot of refugees and newcomers that go to our school. We have a lot of different families that go there. And couple unique things is that a lot of our students are actually unhoused as well. So a lot of our students come from around, kind of like, where Ruby Thomas is okay, but also, like, kind of like, up towards the strip a little bit right where this, that's how the zoning works over there, right? Yes. And so a lot of our students are doubled up or living in some of the weeklies or or living in the shelter as
Heidi Griffith 7:34
well, right, right? So we've got some homelessness at the school, yes, larger than the majority of schools in Clark County. Yes, it is. It's a theme. Yes, it's a thing. And unfortunately, this, this is where, you know, this is where I start to tear up. And this is why this is so important. These are kids. These are K through five, right? So we're talking about five year olds to 11 year olds. Maybe.
Melissa Marzan 7:59
Yes, pre K through five, I've got youngest three. So, wow,
Roland Daniels 8:03
didn't know that pre K, wow.
Heidi Griffith 8:05
So and So, a lot of different families, a lot of different living situations, and we know that we roll. And I talk about the economy a lot, right? And so we know that the economy is in a strange place right now. Right now, we're facing the government shutdown so people aren't working, even if they were, or if they are working, may not be getting paid. So there's a lot of stuff. But then when we couple kids into all of this, I think sometimes people miss that that, you know, we know what it's like to struggle as adults. Kids are just kind of put into these situations, aren't they? Yeah, they
Melissa Marzan 8:39
don't necessarily get to choose who their families are, who their parents are, right? And it's unfortunate that a lot of our kids are going through some really tough things in their lives that a lot of us maybe didn't know about until we were adults, right? And so they're dealing with some really serious, chaotic things that are happening. And it's it's unfortunate, but it's also amazing to see how resilient and strong they can be.
Heidi Griffith 9:04
That's amazing. That's amazing. So again, you and I had a conversation when we talk about school lunches. Once you give me the stats on school lunches at Ruby Thomas, 100%
Melissa Marzan 9:16
of our students are on free breakfast and free lunch.
Heidi Griffith 9:19
100% 100% that's not common. It's every single child. Wow.
Roland Daniels 9:23
So that means Ruby Thomas supports all of the children that attend. Yes,
Heidi Griffith 9:28
right. So when we were talking about all the different statistics and school ratings and all that kind of stuff, and just these kids personal situations, we talked about the funding for Ruby Thomas, right? And I was made aware that Ruby Thomas is really taken care of by the school district.
Melissa Marzan 9:50
We are yes, title one, right? And CCSD are really helpful with a lot of
Heidi Griffith 9:56
not to interrupt you, but can you, can you kind of just really quickly explain. Explain what Title One is?
Melissa Marzan 10:01
Yes, Title One is one of the programs in Clark County School District that helps students that are at risk. The at risk is usually at risk of not graduating due to a lot of their life circumstances, especially helping us with a lot of our students that are homeless and so they provide us with a lot of supports at our school, a lot of the needs are kind of taken care of there. So we also have a lot of community supports that help with like, we have a food pantry at the school Taiwan provided jackets, you know, to our to our students clothing, you know, school supplies. So a lot of those things are given to our kids because they may not have the money or the wherewithal or the opportunity to be able to buy a brand new backpack, right?
Heidi Griffith 10:55
Well, I'm really happy to hear that I know that the school is equipped. I mean, this is a state of the art. I mean, this building is just amazing. I mean, I walked around and kind of placed myself where I would be, because the other school is not there anymore. But it really is amazing. We were able to tour some of the classrooms, and there were smaller classrooms, which was really nice to see. I know that you and I had talked about the teachers taking a different approach than they might take in another school. Can you tell me a little bit about that and how that
Melissa Marzan 11:28
looks? Yes. So in the different kind of demographic, or different kind of school, like your counselor would come around and teach, like social, emotional or behavioral learning, like once a month before like the class, because of our students, is unique situations in which they live, having to deal with homelessness or like incarceration or drug addiction, or, you know, any other difficult things that they're dealing with. It's a school wide effort for that social emotional learning, because it can't just be one counselor, one lesson, once a month, once a month, right? It's it's every day, every teacher, every staff member, every student, is getting those kinds of supports and kind of like a wraparound service to kind of help them with what they're going through. Because it's really difficult, what their lives are. And I don't want to get into kind of details, but it's quite sad sometimes, when you sometimes when you think about what they're dealing with, and we're trying to support them with all of those needs so that they can come to school and like, learn, learn,
Heidi Griffith 12:32
learn, right? And it's probably a little bit of a reprieve, right? Because now we're with our friends, we're having a good time and we're learning. I think it's wonderful. It really is. So their needs once they come, you know, into the school, behind the walls are met. I know that, you know, they've got food in their bellies. We know that they've got backpacks, all the stuff that we're usually talking about when we talk about, you know, back to school, drives and that kind of stuff that's being taken care of. The thing that I'm really passionate about as we sit here today is making sure the fun stuff is taken care of too. Because when they leave and they go home, whatever that looks like for these kids, right? They're probably, and I'm not even looking at going out and, you know, getting Nintendo's and things like that, for these kids, you know, I bet and correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet, you know, a fun doll or a bunch of puzzles or a ball or those kinds of things are going to bring joy to these kids faces. Yes,
Melissa Marzan 13:31
yes. A lot of their, like you said, the needs are met, right? We don't necessarily need any backpacks or any school supplies. It's those wants, those like nice to have the something that can bring, you know, the smile to their faces that they may not necessarily get in their lives. One thing that we did last week was a treat or treat at school, because all of our students live in Los weeklies or live in like the shelter, they may not get the opportunity to go trick or treating, right? You know, stuff like that. So we do it at school, you know? So it's just the fun stuff that, like those kids need that's amazing or want
Heidi Griffith 14:07
and deserve. I'm excited about this. I'm really excited about it, and it's we're taking on, like, a big task as two people rolling, we're taking on a big job. But I have faith. I have faith in humanity. I have faith that we can come through for these kids. How many kids are in the school
Melissa Marzan 14:24
right now? About 680 680 Okay,
Roland Daniels 14:27
and so you have 680 from pre K to fifth grade. Yes, that is a lot of kids, kids, yeah, when we did the tour, you had mentioned that, I guess the students and the parents felt excited because they get to attend a new school, and you can see that it changed. Maybe some of the behaviors, maybe compared to going into one of the schools that are run down or not older, built in 1964
Melissa Marzan 14:57
Well, yeah, the. They did their very best to help us out. CCSD with that old building, but the air conditionings, or air conditioning systems weren't being made anymore, so they were fabricating a lot of maintenance. Was just in love. They loved us there, but the the brand new building, you know, north of $30 million you know, kind of thing, just the joy on their faces to be somewhere that's clean and beautiful and open with giant windows, outdoor spaces. Oh, it's spectacular. You know, a
Roland Daniels 15:35
new environment, it
Melissa Marzan 15:36
does. And you know, think about like you know us as adults, if you know our houses are messy, you know, we don't necessarily get along really well. And if maybe we clean our house, you know, then we feel better. Yeah,
Heidi Griffith 15:47
absolutely. You know, we paint a wall, or whatever that looks like. I just the place is spectacular. It really is. I think it's a really fun space. And, you know, I didn't obviously meet with any kids, but as we walked into some of those classrooms, the kids looked genuinely happy. Yes, you know, and that was kind of exciting. We walked into a she was teaching math, she was and I probably wasn't quite that happy. They looked like they were. I wasn't nearly as happy as they were. And that was a great feeling. I would love to be able to keep that joy, you know, what time does school get out? Three ish, whatever that looks like. I would love to see that as they leave the school, too. And that's my ultimate goal. You know, I have big dreams. Roland and I are very community focused. You know, we have a mortgage radio show, and we are not going to discuss mortgage one time today, and that is because we do care so much about helping people as two people, we can't do it alone, and it's not going to be a huge amount. I really, you know all of the logistics aren't mapped out. I should have some pickup times dates coming up within the next week or two. I know that we're going to do an Amazon wishlist, so that, if it's easier to go online, we can do that. And we're going to ask, you know, we're going to ask the businesses in the area, if you own a small business, if you have kids that go to Ruby Thomas and you can help,
Roland Daniels 17:17
right? Because no gift is too small, never, never, never,
Melissa Marzan 17:20
no, it's, it's kind of amazing, like the what you're talking about, your sense of community, right? It's what the community really means. And I think it's amazing to be a part of this.
Roland Daniels 17:33
And then, of course, when it comes to children, it just, how should I how do they say it? It just hits a little different. It's a little bit differently when it comes to our children in the community. Yeah, agree,
Heidi Griffith 17:46
and, you know, we want to I feel like helping these kids is helping their families. You know, these are good families. These are families that maybe need to catch a break. These are families who have been through things that maybe we don't even understand. I know everybody's situation is different, but remember, 100% of these kids at this school get free lunch and free breakfast. Many of them live in shelters, possibly on the street. Maybe they double up. And when we say double up, that means maybe they're staying with friends or family and having to sleep on the sofa or on, you know, or on the floor, and it pulls up my heart strings, and so I feel that Ruby Thomas is the right place, and I'm excited about this, and I'm excited to see where we can go with it. So if you're listening and you'd like to help, whether that be pass out flyers, whether that be donate a small toy, whether that be go on Amazon, please feel free and reach out. Our telephone number is 702-210-2057 you can call Roland and ri or I at 702-210-2057
Roland Daniels 19:00
and like I said, No gift is too small. Every single item helps remind these kids that they really do matter.
Heidi Griffith 19:08
Absolutely right. Yes, yes. So I'm going to make this as big as I can. To my family members, you are going to be here. No gifts for me this year. We want to make sure we take care of these kids. We plan on doing something big, um, you know, maybe we do a day where we've got hamburgers, hot dog, something that looks like that. I'm not quite sure how that's going to play out. But as we get closer to the holiday and we're there, I mean, you know, we're in November. We are here. We are so we've got Veterans Day, we've got Thanksgiving, and then we have Christmas. So we need to get this done quick, and we need everyone's help we do we are on the clock, yep. So, So Melissa, when we think about this, what do you think this type of a thing? Now I know that other folks have helped the school before, individuals. Have come in toys, all of that kind of stuff. And I bet a lot of the schools in the school district, you know, have people that do that. I want this as big as possible. I love if these ladies are still out there collecting toys. I want to do as big as we can for these kids. How do you think that they feel when these types of things happen? You know, when people come together and make their days a little bit brighter,
Melissa Marzan 20:23
I think they remember what it's like to be a kid. Sometimes our students, they don't know what it's like to be a kid all the time. They may be taking care of like their younger siblings at home. They might be the one that has to make dinner, right? Because their parents are working nights. They might have to, you know, be looking after several people, or, you know, they're, like you said, living with multiple families in one different house, right? And it's, it's that, that joy, I think that's that's missing sometimes, you know that, the smile that you forget that they're pre K through fifth grade, right? So they're 10 years old or younger, right? And sometimes the world makes them grow up a little bit faster. Oh, we don't want that, you know? Then we want that. So to remember what it's like to be a kid that wonder, that joy,
Heidi Griffith 21:13
man, let's smile. Let's do this. Let's do this.
Melissa Marzan 21:17
So I think one of the, really, another unique thing about the school is that our students are very diverse, with, like, 20 different languages. That's crazy, like what you said, and kind of looks like what America is going to look like in the future, the kind of thing. And oftentimes, when your students are brown or black or, you know, they're all on free breakfast and lunch, right? So low socioeconomic, some people can think that the students can't learn, or don't deserve to, you know, learn kind of thing. And unfortunately, we've seen some of that, you know, around and one thing that is really cool about Ruby Thomas is that it's not, this is your student, this is my student, right? They're all our students. And we've worked really hard over the past four years to kind of create that community in the school, not just for social, emotional, behavioral learning, but for academics as well. And so we recently went from one star to two star, showing that, hey, these kids, when you support them in a couple different ways at school, they can learn. Wow.
Heidi Griffith 22:29
So when you say one star to two star, because I don't know what that means, what exactly does that look like? You don't have to give complete logistics, you know. What does that mean? I mean, so were we, you know, not learning, and now we're killing it, or are we just kind of moving up the tiers? And is this with, like, the Clark County School Districts levels?
Melissa Marzan 22:49
Yes, it is, yes. So Clark County School District shows, you, know, like, how much your school is supporting your students different aspects with this star program, and we went up 22 points this last school year. Congratulations. Thank you. We doubled our math and our reading growth doubled, doubled in and it was really, really amazing to see that. You know, not everyone thinks these kids can do these things like
Heidi Griffith 23:17
that, and they can, and they can, they can, that is outstanding. So I know that that takes a village. It does. I know that it's not just that new, beautiful building. I know that that's every single one of you at Ruby Thomas. So I'm going to say this, if any teachers are listening, especially those that teach at Ruby Thomas Elementary. Thank you so much. Thank you for all that you do. I know that it's not easy every day heroes in our community. Absolutely, you're dealing with a bunch of little kids, and I bet that's its own challenge, but it's, it's, it's, really, is it's heartwarming. I appreciate all that you do. So as we kind of wrap up, I just want to kind of circle back, if you're just tuning in, we will be having a toy drive for these amazing kids everywhere. Thomas Elementary, we will be sharing more details, including drop off locations, pick up dates, and I know that we're gonna have an Amazon wishlist. You'll be able to find that information. It's going to be on our Facebook page, mortgage matters, radio, once I get that all put together. But starting today, we're asking community partners, local businesses, and anyone who wants to make a difference to please feel free and reach out. You can call or text us. We're at 702-210-2057, again, our number is 702-210-2057, we'll give you more information on how you can help this holiday season, again, Roland said it said it several times. No gift is too small. Every single item is going to help remind these kids that they do, in fact, matter. So thank you so much, Melissa,
Roland Daniels 24:51
thank you for being here. No, thank you so much
Heidi Griffith 24:52
for having me. Will you come back as we get a little bit further along? Oh, I would love to have you back. Yes, yes. I'm so excited. Thank you again. Ruby Thomas is really proof that when a community comes together, educators, neighbors, local businesses, real change can happen. And this holiday drive is going to be one more way that we're able to keep the spirit alive to all our local businesses, business owners, community partners and listeners. If you've ever wondered how you can make a real difference? This can be your chance. Let this holiday season be a little bit brighter for the kids of Ruby Thomas Elementary School. Before we wrap up, let's talk a little bit about Silver State Fair Housing, because we do that every single week, right? So before we close out, let's take a moment to remind everyone about the important work being done by Silver State Fair Housing Council. Fair Housing is about more than where you live. It's about opportunity, stability and dignity. Silver State Fair Housing Council is currently looking for volunteers to become housing testers. Testers help uncover discrimination by documenting what their experience was when inquiring about housing. It's one of the most effective ways to hold the system accountable and ensure fairness is happening for everyone. They've got some tester trainings coming up. They do they're going to be online. I know that as becoming a tester, you actually get a small stipend, but I think it should be more than that, right? It should be making sure that we all have that equal shot. Next upcoming online class is actually going to be Thursday, November 13. That's from one to 4pm It's online. And then they've got another one that's going to happen on Tuesday, November 25 from 9am to noon. So if you're a morning person, that would be a great one for you. If you'd like to learn more or sign up, you can contact Silver State Fair Housing Council at 7753240, 753240990, that number, again, is 775-324-0990, or you can actually email them at fair housing, at s, s, f, h, c.org, and they'll get you set up there too. Again, I really do want to give a heartfelt thank you to Melissa Marzan from Ruby Thomas elementary for joining us today and sharing what her students and families are facing this holiday season. The Ruby Thomas toy drive is about more than gifts. It's about community stepping up for one another. If you'd like to help make this holiday a little bit brighter, we invite you to be part of our community effort, you can reach out to us at 702-210-2057 again, our number is 702-210-2057 for more information on how to donate or get involved and remember Fair Housing, Community and opportunity, they all go hand in hand,
Roland Daniels 27:39
we'll be back next Sunday morning at 7:30am right here on KU nv 91.5 until then, believe in what's possible, even if you've been told that it's out of reach. And remember, stay true to yourself and your mind. Bye. You. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai