Intro: A production of Pioneer Utility Resources.
StoryConnect, helping communicators discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers.
Megan McKoy-Noe: How can you turn "take our kids to work day" into a career adventure?
That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The StoryConnect Podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, Megan McKoy-Noe, one of the storytellers here at Pioneer Utility Resources.
And I am joined by Sarah Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at Clatskanie PUD in Oregon.
Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today.
Sarah Johnson: Thank you for inviting me, Megan.
I love talking about take your kids to work day.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I mean, it's an exciting topic. And I've got to say, I was surprised this is your first time on the podcast,
but I have been getting ideas from you for years.
You are a huge influence in the Northwest, so it is a treat to introduce you to our podcast audience.
I have no doubt that you will be back talking about all the other wonderful things that you do for folks in the Northwest.
But I walked into a conversation with you .
You were talking about putting kids to work at your utility, and then paying them,
and then having a huge staff family celebration.
At the end of the day, I have to know more, which is why I asked you on the podcast today.
Tell me about Clatskanie PUD's take our kids to work day.
Sarah Johnson: All right. Well, it started years ago with more just the general.
Bring your kids, we'll get together.
We'll bring in pizzas for lunch.
We'd have a few demonstrations, but, you know, I wasn't satisfied with that,
so I took it up a notch. And now we have themes, and we do some kind of educational lesson for the
kids to learn, you know, just a basic adulting lesson.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wait. Okay, well, I need adulting lessons.
We can talk about that offline. But themes I know, and you are a woman with themes.
I've seen how you get around the holidays. What are some sample themes that you've had for this event?
Sarah Johnson: So our first one was superheroes, because we took like a lineman and made them a superhero.
So we said the kids would also be superheroes, so we gave them masks and capes.
They got to decorate their capes and kind of just made the activities around that.
Last year, we did a whole like investigation spy type thing with the
hats, and yeah, they literally had glasses, and we gave them a mystery to
solve. They had pads of paper with pens with disappearing ink, and they created their
own mystery that they had to solve.
Megan McKoy-Noe: And by solving it, I assume you involved all the different departments at the PUD?
Sarah Johnson: Yes. And the departments were involved.
The part that I was talking about with the adult life lessons is we incorporated that they had to fill out a time
sheet. So as they did these different activities and went around to the different departments to hear about what we do here and
all the different departments' presentations, they got to mark off their time sheet.
Then they took that to the finance department, and they literally got paid with fake money that looked like real
hundred dollar bills.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Nice.
Sarah Johnson: They had their paycheck, and they took their cash.
Then they went down to my department because in their backpacks that we had given them that morning was an electric bill that
they had to pay.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh no! You gave them money, and then you're taking it away?!
Sarah Johnson: And then taking it away because they had to pay for the power that they use.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Adulting is hard, Sarah.
Sarah Johnson: Adulting was hard. It was hard. So they came down to customer service,
presented their bill at the front counter, handed over some of their hundreds.
We didn't take all of their money, but a lot of it.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay, okay, I was wondering if they would be in arrears or something at the end o f the day.
Sarah Johnson: No, we gave them chocolate gold coins for change, and there's a cookie store here in Clatskanie
called Cryptid Cookies that does custom cookies for us.
And we made light bulb cookies to represent the power that they had for paying their bill.
So they got a cookie as well. So that was [inaudible]
Megan McKoy-Noe: Did they have to pay for th eir cookie?
Sarah Johnson: Yeah, they did, because the cookie was their power.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah.
Sarah Johnson: So they were paying for it.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that so much , especially the reality check with their adulting class is
fantastic. S o let's get a sense of the scale for this for folks who have not been able to visit
your beautiful office in Oregon.
How many staff members do you have?
How many kids participate? And do you open it up to grandkids of staff members too?
Because I'd imagine this could be pretty popular.
Sarah Johnson: It is popular. We have 38 staff members total, and we had 48 kids
last year.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You were outnumbered by t he k ids?
Sarah Johnson: They do outnumber us. Yes, well, we have several large families.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay.
Sarah Johnson: And we do open it up to grandkids because several of us, you know,
our kids are in their 20s and 30s.
So, grandkids are welcome, also nieces and nephews.
So for a few people that have never had kids, but they have a close niece or nephew,
they're allowed to bring them in as well, because our whole point is to inspire kids on what kind of
careers they could have in our industry, and just in general, to have that sense of family for our
staff.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, I love that so much. W hen are you holding it this year?
Because I know some folks do it in April.
Sarah Johnson: We do. We do it the fourth Thursday in April, which is the national day.
There's a couple different organizations that sponsor it.
I've always looked at the materials from the original one that started in the 90s.
That was "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," because originally that was what it did,
and I used to bring my daughter to mailboxes, etc.
when I was managing then, and then I kept it going at West Oregon when I was there.
And so then they added boys, so my son got to come and participate.
Now it was not the kind of activities we do here.
Then it was really just I brought them to work, and I had them help me do things.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yes. And I think a lot of folks do that and have heard of that traditional approach to it.
And I love that you've been involved with this since it was "Take Your Daughters to Work Day," and it has been evolving over the
years, I think last year, Junior Achievement took over the reins for the national organization of it,
and they've got great ideas and options on their website.
They've got – let me see. There's a toolkit, there's branding, sample schedules,
activity guides based on grades.
All of that's available for free, if you're interested in that and seeing what's already there.
You can go to pioneer.coop/podcasts, and we'll have the links in this episode.
But Sarah, I feel –
Sarah Johnson: And activity sheets are important, like especially like first thing in the morning when because we
start at 7 a.m., right, with our 4-10 schedule.
So we have a movie this year since we're doing an outer space theme this year,
we're doing "The Magic School Bus" goes to outer space." So that will be on when the kids are first coming in.
I am actually dressing up as Miss Frizzle.
So we're we're taking this to a whole new level.
Our apprentice will be an astronaut doing a pole climbing demonstration to save a green blow up
alien.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wait. I have so many questions. Okay, okay, so it's outer space.
Sarah Johnson: Yes. M ission Power Up.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh.
Sarah Johnson: This is the whole ianvitation.
Megan McKoy-Noe: For folks that are not watching on YouTube, S arah just showed us the invitation for the kids.
Can you send us an example of that that we can share with folks if they want to see?
Sarah Johnson: Sure, I'll be happy to.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Love it. And you are dressing up as Miss Frizz, which if anyone does not know The Magic School
Bus, look it up and –
Sarah Johnson: Highly recommend it for kids.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I highly recommend it for adults too.
I mean, adulting, it's a beautiful, beautiful way to engage folks.
So you start the morning 7 a.m., right?
And they're going to watch an episode of The Magic School Bus.
Sarah Johnson: The one where they go to outer space.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Nice. And then what happens from there?
Sarah Johnson: They get their backpack. We do all the sign-ins.
They have activity sheets. We give them breakfast snacks.
They hang out with their parents for a while.
Then we usually about an hour in because some of the kids come a little later because their staffs' partners
will bring the kids in, especially our littles.
We have a lot of two and one year olds, and we didn't want to exclude them like some places have to have
certain age things, but we didn't want them to be excluded.
So they come a little later. Then that's when we'll start the tour of the building,
the different demonstrations. This year, instead of a time sheet,
they have a map of the planets, and they'll get a star on each of the planets that represents the
different departments.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, okay.
Sarah Johnson: And then they get a spaceship cookie when they complete their map of planets.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. But they don't have to pay their bill this time.
Sarah Johnson: They don't have to pay their bill, this time. I figured we couldn't get away with that every year.
Megan McKoy-Noe: It's not like the planet of power.
Sarah Johnson: Yes, because we have a lot of repeat kids.
There's been kids that have done this now the last five years.
Well, we didn't do it during Covid, but you know, they've had at least 5 or 6 years that they've come
to the different years.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Covid ruined a lot of fun things, so I completely get that.
So you've mentioned backpacks a couple times.
Are these branded PUD backpacks that they get to keep, or is it something they check in and out?
Sarah Johnson: No. Branded PUD backpacks that they get to keep, and we have snacks in them.
We have on themed things that are helpful.
This year, it'll be an activity.
We've got little jars that's called My Pet Alien.
And so they will actually put the little alien together as an activity when we're in the group room,
when we're in the board room. And then they also have paperwork.
If there's anything like electrical safety.
Any other kind of lessons that we're trying to teach, those will all be in the backpack as well.
And their map of the planets.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that so much. So I know you're getting excited about this.
I heard you mention it to some friends, and I freaked out and said,
I need to know more about this. But we're adults.
How do kids react to this event?
And what kind of an impact does it make on your staff too?
Sarah Johnson: They actually love it. I have several of our staff members that tell me that their kids are asking all the time when they get to
come back to work. They look forward to it.
We have several that have made friends, like the kids continue to be friends outside of work,
and they love to see each other.
We also have a Santa event in December, so the kids are at least seeing each other twice a year with our
family events. And it is so rewarding to see all of them play together and share,
because with the activities, they get to share, like crayons and markers.
And sometimes, well at Christmas, we decorate stockings so they get to use glitter and all kinds of
fun stuff. And it's just so nice to see the older kids helping the younger ones.
So it really is creating a whole nother family.
Besides our staff being a family, we've got a whole family of kids that are helping to support each
other.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well and learning early on how incredible that community culture is within your staff family too.
I mean, that's wonderful. So I'm going to ask a question about how this works just because it's good to know.
A s you mentioned, a lot of folks celebrate Take a Child to Work Day,
fourth Thursday of April every year.
So when you celebrate, do you have to coordinate it with your local school system for kids to get the day off?
Sarah Johnson: Given that a lot of our employees actually live outside of our area,
that would be a lot of schools to be coordinating with because we pull from across the river as well.
We have employees that live in Longview and Kelso.
I actually live in Scappoose. That's at the other end of our county,
like we come in from a lot of different areas.
So that's part of why we always keep it on the national day.
So schools are more aware that, you know, this is a possibility,
and we help do like a form. And I believe I've gotten that off of one of the websites that's helped for the national day
that people can use for the excuse to be able to make it easier than sending a note with the kids the next day.
Megan McKoy-Noe: That's what I was wondering, if there was a form that you used, and that you then just send like is in the backpack with all the
other materials, or you give it to the staff members so they can share it as an excuse.
Sarah Johnson: Yes, we also have a liability waiver that a parent needs to sign.
They can put all of their kids' name on the same one, but they have to sign one.
Megan McKoy-Noe: This is important because a lot of things can happen when you go to outer space,
and you want to make sure that all kids stay inside the school bus and have a safe journey there and back.
Sarah Johnson: And we do go to the bowling alley in the afternoon.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Of c ourse you do.
Sarah Johnson: We close the office early at 3:00 instead of going till 5:30, and we go over to Longview,
which is the closest bowling alley we have in our area, and bowl from 3:30 to 5:30.
And a lot of times, that's when some of the older kids will join us,
because sometimes they have school activities that they just don't want to miss the whole day at school.
But families will then get the older kids, spouses come, and we end up taking over the whole entire bowling
alley.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that, so really, it becomes a family event for all of your staff too.
Have you, I know you've been doing it like this the last five years,
and you mentioned West Oregon. You were there before you came to Clatskanie PUD.
H ave you seen any kids that have been exposed to careers at the PUD or at
the co-op, then come back and apply for jobs or apply for internships?
Sarah Johnson: There are some. Yeah, there have been several that have done internships in the area.
And last year, our finance manager, two of his boys came up and told me that their plan is to
work here when they graduate. And they, yeah, so they want careers.
They said they don't know exactly what they want in public power yet,
but they want to work here, or at least at another co-op or PUD.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, because it's a feeling, right?
It's that community focus. It's the fun.
It's the family. I t's definitely attracts a certain person to want to serve in public power.
So I love that you all are doing that.
L ast question before I let you go.
I mean, I could talk to you about this for ages, but I'm hoping that this sparks ideas for other folks and that
they end up reaching out to you. Because, Sarah, you're an amazing resource for folks in the community.
Sarah Johnson: I always love to help.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You do. I mean, for folks that don't know, Sarah also organizes the Northwest Regional Group,
which she helps and has for more than a decade.
You have been organizing.
Sarah Johnson: [inaudible] the chair yeah.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You've been the chair for a long time to help bring together utility pioneers from Washington and Oregon and just
visiting different utilities and sharing ideas.
Just small groups of 20 or 30 people, but they're so valuable.
So that's why I was surprised. This is your first time on the podcast. B ut to get folks started,
if someone has heard this idea, and they're like, "Oh, we can really supercharge our career day
at the utility." So if they want to create a career adventure day,
just like yours, whether it is, you know, an outer space theme, a,
you know, solving a mystery and then having adulting lessons wrapped in with that what should they do to
start? What would your advice be?
Sarah Johnson: I the thing that I find most valuable is I have a committee.
That's the events committee that I help get ideas.
So people that currently have young kids have a say in what we're putting together for the agenda.
So, you know, having a group of your staff does help.
I keep it at about 5 or 6 people.
And then just knowing kind of get an idea of how many kids would you have.
You know, what kind of scale are you able to do?
Because not everyone like at West Oregon, we weren't able to do like a big thing like what I'm doing here.
S o just knowing what you will be able to pull off, what your area can do.
Can you do a full lunch for everyone?
Just things like that is a great place to start.
And you don't have to start with big themes.
Like we had fun the other way too.
I just had to keep adding to it, and I'm happy to help anyone that would like to contact me at sj
ohnson @clatskaniepud .com. Happy to help.
Megan McKoy-Noe: We'll have your contact information in there as well if folks want to reach out to you.
Sarah, you are always a treasure to mine for ideas and just to hang out with too.
But thank you so much for sharing your story with utility pioneers.
She is Sarah Johnson at Clatskanie PUD, and I'm your host, Megan McKoy-Noe at Pioneer Utility Resources.
And until we talk again, keep telling your story.
Outro: StoryConnect is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources, a communications cooperative that is built to share your story.