#71. Roger Macdonald: Embracing Community, Facing Challenges, and Celebrating Education

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and neighbors, uh, Scott Hammond with 100% Humboldt Podcast with actually my very new and old best friend-

Roger Macdonald: Roger

Scott Hammond: … Roger Macdonald. Hi, Rog.

Roger Macdonald: Hey, Scott. How are you?

Scott Hammond: I am very, very well. It's just, uh, the rain is back.

Roger Macdonald: It's back. It's back with a vengeance. We had a little cold snap too last week that was-

Scott Hammond: That was really cold, man. A couple nights ago in McKinleyville, chilly.

Roger Macdonald: We're in the 20s.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man. My daughter's in the sixes up in, um, Boise, Idaho.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, I know. I always say it's like it's a little taste for us of what it's like in the rest of the country when it gets cold.

Scott Hammond: Oh, but we had the-

Roger Macdonald: We get, like, a little flavor, and then it warms up, you know, by, you know, the 50s by, like, 11:00 in the morning.

Scott Hammond: And then we had the magic Ju- uh, Ja- January.

Roger Macdonald: It was magical. We had, like, three weeks of

Roger Macdonald: bliss.

Scott Hammond: It was horrible. It snowed. People don't come to Humboldt. It's terrible. Terrible weather.

Roger Macdonald: My, uh-

Scott Hammond: Except for the winter

Roger Macdonald: … yeah, my brother-in-law was up, uh, my sister, and, um, w- it was one of those just absolutely beautiful days. It was like when the realtors were just out.

Scott Hammond: 60 degrees in January.

Roger Macdonald: Right, and talking about the fog machine.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: It's like, you know, they turned the fog machine off today.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Now it's raining. So tell… Roger, tell, uh, tell us about who you are, what your-

Roger Macdonald: All right

Scott Hammond: … what your duties, what's your title. What are you, uh-

Roger Macdonald: I'm-

Scott Hammond: … uh, all about?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. I guess I'm all about a lot of stuff. My job, I'm, um, the superintendent of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District, and that is, uh, McKinleyville High School, Arcata High School, uh, Mad River, Pacific Coast, and, um, Six Rivers Charter High Schools.

Scott Hammond: So Mad River and Pacific Coast, are those charter schools?

Roger Macdonald: Mad River is the, um, alternative ed site at the McKinleyville campus.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And Pacific Coast is the alternative site at the Arcata High School campus.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Roger Macdonald: And we have really good staff there that take care of kids that are maybe slipping through the cracks a little bit or-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … um, you know, the comprehensive site's really not working for them.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Roger Macdonald: So-

Scott Hammond: Got it

Roger Macdonald: … it's good.

Scott Hammond: I imagine that's, uh, that's common now.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. You know? I mean, I think it's always, um… You know, when I was growing up, uh, you know, they'd have, like, a site, like, you had to, like, hoof it to.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: And, uh, having them on both sites is, uh, um, it's a little bit extra for us, but it's also makes it convenient for kids and

Roger Macdonald: families to-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause Zoe, Zoe Barnum was sort of that, right, when it was at, down the street over here in Eureka?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, I think it still is, and I'm sure that-

Scott Hammond: Is it still there?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Roger Macdonald: And I'm sure that they get… I mean, I'm sure they have transportation to take care of, you know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … getting kids there, for sure.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha. So how many kids are you over? How many teachers? You must have a lot of staff between all the schools.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. We have a little over 1,700 students-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Roger Macdonald: … across the district, uh, and about, you know, pushing 300 employees.

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's a-

Roger Macdonald: That's everything. We have our teachers and our custodians.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And, um, s- we have really great staff, um, secretaries, the transportation department, maintenance and operations.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Um, we have a-

Scott Hammond: You guys have it, right

Roger Macdonald: … big fiscal team that takes care of a lot of other school districts.

Scott Hammond: So you're not over the middle school, just, uh-

Roger Macdonald: Correct

Scott Hammond: … or are you? Okay.

Roger Macdonald: No. We're, uh, we're straight up high school.

Scott Hammond: So-

Roger Macdonald: So we, we're from-

Scott Hammond: … Arcata High, Mackay.

Roger Macdonald: Right. Arcata High and Mackay. So we go from basically, um, Freshwater

Roger Macdonald: to Orick.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Roger Macdonald: And then-

Scott Hammond: Let me show everybody where that is on our map.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, show… Let's go to the map. Let's go take-

Scott Hammond: Please

Roger Macdonald: … a look at that. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Everybody over here with me to the map. Arcata's up there.

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: McKinleyville's on top of it.

Roger Macdonald: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Right over there. You can see it-

Roger Macdonald: The, the right-

Scott Hammond: … on the map

Roger Macdonald: … the right there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. North of Eureka, which is in California.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: All right. Well, there.

Roger Macdonald: That's excellent.

Scott Hammond: Haven't, haven't used my prop for a little while. That was fun.

Roger Macdonald: That was pretty good, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so-

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: The Metzger prop.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm. And pr- uh, previous to that I was principal at, uh, McKinleyville High School for five years.

Scott Hammond: That's right. And then you moved into the district, so you're the whole, you're over the whole shebang.

Roger Macdonald: Correct.

Scott Hammond: Got it. So what's your, what are your roles there? What do you do?

Roger Macdonald: Oof. Um, I know. It's, like, it's, it's a lot of other duties as assigned. I'm responsible to, uh, ensure that, um, that our, that our mission and vision and that our, our board-adopted policies are, um, enforced. You know, is probably, like, the simplest way to say it. Um, but basically my job is to ensure that our kids are safe, our staff are safe, um, that we're doing the very best that we can to provide an education, um, to provide our students, uh, the opportunities to be really successful in career, college, whatever it is they wanna do when they're out of high school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: So.

Scott Hammond: So tell me, uh, tell me where, where'd you come from? Uh, your, the arc of your life. Life story in a couple minutes.

Roger Macdonald: So-

Scott Hammond: Were you, are you local?

Roger Macdonald: I'm not.

Scott Hammond: You're, you're Bay Area for-

Roger Macdonald: I'm really not. Yeah, my wife is, so I have that connection. I, um, I grew up… I moved around a lot, but I'll just try and keep it somewhat simple. For the bulk of my elementary years, uh, I lived in, uh, southern Marin County in Greenbrae.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, I was raised by my grandparents, and they were amazing.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Um, yeah, they were great. Uh, so I lived there, uh, until I was 12, and then we moved to, uh, Redwood City basically for middle school, and then I had high school up in Sonoma County, Rohnert Park.

Scott Hammond: What got you to Humboldt?

Roger Macdonald: What got me to Humboldt was, well, my wife essentially. Um, when I was, uh, towards the end of high school and through college, um, and then afterwards I worked at a summer camp in Mendocino County. It was, uh, Camp St. Michael formerly.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: And now it's Redwood Adventure Camp. And, which is a great place. Any of you have, you know, young, uh, middle school and high school students that wanna experience just an amazing atmosphere, hit up Redwood Adventure Camp.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: Formerly Camp St. Michael.

Roger Macdonald: Formerly Camp St. Michael.

Scott Hammond: Where is that in M-

Roger Macdonald: Right

Scott Hammond: … where is that in Mendo?

Roger Macdonald: It's in, um, south of Leggett. So if you're driving south on 101-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … um, you will see the Eel River there to your right.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Roger Macdonald: Right as that slide's coming down, the old slide that was coming down. And then we're down in that, uh, riverbed down there.

Scott Hammond: Beautiful.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good spot.

Roger Macdonald: It's a great spot.

Scott Hammond: Let me show you on the map. No, I'm just kidding.

Roger Macdonald: It's… There was McKinleyville, Arcata, Eureka, and then there's-

Scott Hammond: I think it's-

Roger Macdonald: … Mendocino County

Scott Hammond: … I think it's down there where the map is curled on the floor.

Roger Macdonald: So, so right. So I started out there as a counselor, and then I ended up being, um, maintenance director and then summer administrator. So I, the first half of the summer was all girls, or all guys. Second half was all girls. And then Dina and I both took on leadership roles and ended up spending the summer together, and we were really good friends for a while, and then realized-

Scott Hammond: That's funny

Roger Macdonald: … we had a ton in common, and she asked to marry me, like, I think twice during our time there, and then I-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Roger Macdonald: … finally, uh-

Scott Hammond: Finally said yes

Roger Macdonald: … took me a little while, yeah. She was more confident and-

Scott Hammond: Did she-

Roger Macdonald: … uh, more mature than I.

Scott Hammond: Did she actually get on her knees and, and offer it, that-

Roger Macdonald: No

Scott Hammond: … propose?

Roger Macdonald: She… No, she didn't. She-

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Roger Macdonald: No, she did it d- cooler. You know, she set up a nice, uh, dinner on a session break

Roger Macdonald: and-

Scott Hammond: So she proposed to you. That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: She did. I probably- Shouldn't be saying that on a podcast. She'd probably appreciate it, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, I think it's romantic

Roger Macdonald: … and she was right

Scott Hammond: … it's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. She was right. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I mean, it, it's, uh, uh, it's a different world, and I, I love it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: So, uh, yeah, so we ended up dating through the end of college, and then, um, after I graduated, I went to Chico, and she was at Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Roger Macdonald: Um, I moved-

Scott Hammond: Oh, Chico State.

Roger Macdonald: Chico State, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Chico State. Oh, we know about Chico State. Everybody, everybody does that. My brother-in-law went to Chico State. Every- Oh, uh, oh, Scott, Chico.

Roger Macdonald: For sure. For sure. I get that, too.

Scott Hammond: It's a great school.

Roger Macdonald: It is. It's a great, it's a great place to go to school.

Scott Hammond: My daughter went, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, it's, it's, um, if you like the outdoors, uh, and I, I got there at the tail end of the party day reputation.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Uh, the, you know, the Playboy party school thing.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Um, but Dina and I, uh, I moved up here after, uh, college, and I worked for a couple years, um, in construction. Dina was getting her teaching credential. And then we got married, and Dina got a job, um, that started four days after we got married down in the East Bay.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: So then we spent the next 20 or so years of our lives down there. Um, Dina taught. I was in construction for another couple years.

Scott Hammond: Whereabouts?

Roger Macdonald: Uh, Antioch.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: In the, that Brentwood, Oakley, Antioch area.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And then I got my teaching credential, and then I got a job teaching at the high school in Antioch, and she was at the middle school in Oakley.

Roger Macdonald: And-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Roger Macdonald: … for about six years, I was her principal. And we had kids and, uh, in my family we had had a bunch of, you know, like some of my elders, um, had, you know, had died, and we're, like, realizing, you know, your parents aren't getting any younger.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And her brother's up here, and, um, and we really, we were always driving back and forth. And so I applied for a job, um, up in, uh, at Arcata High School, actually. I was hired as assistant principal at Arcata, and then eventually was over at McKinleyville High School as principal. And it was just, you know, it was a good move for us. People were like, "Why do you wanna, you know, be an assistant principal when you're a principal?" And like, "Well, we just wanna be in Humboldt County." And so,

Roger Macdonald: yeah.

Scott Hammond: Plus, Arcata's not a bad gig.

Roger Macdonald: No, Arcata's nice.

Scott Hammond: Who was your boss there?

Roger Macdonald: I was hired by Dave Navar.

Scott Hammond: He's a good guy.

Roger Macdonald: Dave is a good guy.

Scott Hammond: Is he retired now?

Roger Macdonald: He is.

Scott Hammond: Navar.

Roger Macdonald: There's Dave Sidings. Um, yeah, Dave's, Dave's very good people.

Scott Hammond: He's a good guy.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I've heard, yeah. No, we, uh, we used to go to church across the street, and y'all would borrow, uh, our building-

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … while they were doing the new construction on the new, uh, auditorium.

Roger Macdonald: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And, um, it was great. Great relationship.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, and we, you, and then you used our parking lot on the, on the weekends and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then Da- I think Dave invited us over for an Easter service to do it at, at the building there, which is, uh- … it was state of the art. It was brand new at the time.

Roger Macdonald: It was, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Beautiful.

Roger Macdonald: Well, it's still nice, but yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: I remember that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, speaking of Pastor Bethany and Jason, they met at camp down in the Bay

Scott Hammond: Area.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: They're pastors at Catalyst Church in Arcata.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So a lot, lot of camp counseling, um,

Scott Hammond: couples.

Roger Macdonald: I don't know. I mean, it's like, you know, if you're doing, you're doing such, um, you know, good work, and it's, it's pretty intimate, you know, like, being-

Scott Hammond: Camp

Roger Macdonald: … you know, being in nature and, you know, there's no radios or TVs or phones. You know, you're just out there. Um, and it's a simple life. And, you know, the mission, you know, I mean, at the time was a Catholic summer camp, and it was all about, you know, creating that sort of Christian environment on Earth, you know?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And it was, it was just, you know, the relationships and challenging people to be their best selves in the outdoors.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Uh, be a team. And so in that environment, ropes courses, uh, backpacking, all that stuff, you-

Scott Hammond: All the fun stuff.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, you do all the fun stuff, and then you really, you know. So yeah, it was, it was a good, uh, a good nurturing place for, for our relationship as well.

Scott Hammond: Especially down there 'cause of the magic of the Eel and-

Roger Macdonald: Oh

Scott Hammond: … the Eel Valley and come on.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, and then we'd, like, backpack to the, to the coast to Rockport and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, it's really, really a beautiful space.

Roger Macdonald: It's great.

Scott Hammond: It's really nice down there, yeah. So you came up, you became prin- uh, assistant principal.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and then went over to Mac.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: What year was that?

Roger Macdonald: 2012.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Time flies.

Roger Macdonald: I know. I know.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause I think I met you around '13 or '14.

Roger Macdonald: So you did. What, so we moved up here, and, um,

Roger Macdonald: I think it was that next year. Father Mike Maloney is a good friend of ours, too.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. What a guy.

Roger Macdonald: You know, he's, he's great. We have him over all, all the time.

Roger Macdonald: He's-

Scott Hammond: Sweet guy

Roger Macdonald: … good friend.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Good old friend.

Scott Hammond: How old is Mike now, 107?

Roger Macdonald: Uh, no, he's still double digits.

Scott Hammond: Kid, kid Mike.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, sorry, Mike. Yeah, Padre, I know I need to give you a buzz, too.

Scott Hammond: He wouldn't, he wouldn't care.

Roger Macdonald: He wouldn't. No.

Scott Hammond: I think it would be funny.

Roger Macdonald: I think he's 80.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Somewhere around there.

Scott Hammond: He's, he's a good f- he's a good father.

Roger Macdonald: He's a g- he's a great human.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Um, and we ended up buying a house three doors down across the street from where Dina grew up.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Roger Macdonald: So, you know, Patricia and Sabrina would, you know, uh, you know, Patricia get off

Roger Macdonald: the bus, walk over and see her grandparents on the way home to our house and all that. It was great.

Scott Hammond: How cool is that?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, it was cool. It was that old-fashioned, uh, it was, it was very good. Very good times.

Scott Hammond: Are they still living, the grandparents?

Roger Macdonald: No, they've both, um, they both made it into their 90s.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: And, uh, so they had really good, um, rich, full lives.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like that. That's

Scott Hammond: … I haven't heard that said for a little bit.

Roger Macdonald: No, they were f- you know, it's, it's, uh, good family. You know, the Delashmitts, um, they both were teachers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Uh, met in Or- they're like a really good old Humboldt County story, too.

Roger Macdonald: They met-

Scott Hammond: Delashmitt

Roger Macdonald: … yeah, met in Orick. Um, Dina's mom, uh, was p- a Romanini, which is a, you know, pretty, you know, big family in Orick, and they-

Scott Hammond: Romanini. Is there Romaninis?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: She was an amazing, uh, matriarch of Orick, right?

Roger Macdonald: Oh, sure.

Scott Hammond: Is this the lady that would shoot, uh, shoot things that would try to get to her

Scott Hammond: sheep barn?

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Back in the day.

Roger Macdonald: Back in the day.

Scott Hammond: We actually did a survey. Quick story about Mrs. Romanini. What was her first name?

Roger Macdonald: Tiki.

Scott Hammond: Kiki.

Roger Macdonald: Tiki.

Scott Hammond: Tiki. She was like a-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … legend, right? Kind of-

Roger Macdonald: Her, yeah, she was married to, uh, Dina's uncle, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So this, so Tiki would've been Dina's uncle and-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, so we gotta be careful here 'cause everyone that's up in Orick is, if they're watching, we wanna make sure we get this right-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … 'cause she was like the mayor of Orick.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All, all three of you, Orick people. No, I'm just kidding.

Roger Macdonald: Uh, you'd be surprised. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, no, uh, you're right.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Orick sits right over north on-

Roger Macdonald: Right

Scott Hammond: … the north part.

Roger Macdonald: If you went, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: If you go north of McKinleyville-

Roger Macdonald: Mendocino, McKinleyville

Scott Hammond: … Trinidad

Roger Macdonald: … yeah, yeah, it's up there.

Scott Hammond: Mendocino, McKinleyville.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. We'll keep working our way north. And so, so then they, you know, they had their time in Orick. Uh, uh, Doris, uh, taught at Orick School.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Roger Macdonald: And then she came and taught at Pacific Union, and then Dina's dad, uh, was, worked in the woods for a long time-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … then he got his credential and taught, uh, Eureka High School. He was a shop teacher.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Roger Macdonald: And people still, you know, they'll go to Delaschmitt and people will say, "Hey, I have a, I have a school boat that Wade Delaschmitt built." That's, you know, Dina's

Roger Macdonald: dad or-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Roger Macdonald: … or they were in his shop class, and same thing with their mom. So they, they, they're both, uh, loved, um, in the community for a long time.

Scott Hammond: It's cool how educators can make that impact.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: We'll, we'll circle back to that, but-

Roger Macdonald: Sure

Scott Hammond: … let's go back to Orick for a sec.

Roger Macdonald: Let's go to Orick.

Scott Hammond: Let's go to… Hey, we're on our way to Orick. Orick's actually a really amazing space, uh, there's no doubt. So I, when I was a young s- state farm agent, I was up there with Don Brown, state farm agent for Tu- for Tuna, California.

Roger Macdonald: For Tuna, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And he, he took me up to Tiki's house. She had just died.

Roger Macdonald: Mm.

Scott Hammond: And he walked me through this home and, and we met her, uh, nieces.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I… Gosh, I couldn't even tell you who it was now, but it was such a cool thing because she was so le- she was legend.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Period. And she would sit up with her binoculars, and this is a quarter-mile gunshot now. She, and she would watch… Went through her sheep barns and everything down below-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … then we got the tour of the house.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I'll never forget… Yeah, no, she used to take shots at, at, at critters going after the, the lambs.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You know, she's just a old school badass.

Roger Macdonald: She was, and also, like, you know, if, how many people got, you know, in the family say, "I didn't get…" Dina's parents got 'em. They're like, you know, whether it was, like, the pickled goods, the canned goods-

Scott Hammond: That's the other thing

Roger Macdonald: … or the chocolates. And so if you know, like, the way that you can actually demonstrate that you actually did have a connection would be whether you got, like, the plate of, uh, of candies at the holidays. And it wasn't just, like, just chocolates. All sorts of different stuff. And-

Scott Hammond: I've heard

Roger Macdonald: … and there's, like, a lot of people that got in… or whether it was if you're connected with the, the rodeo up there. So just really just a woman that, like, had a really big impact over a lot of

Roger Macdonald: people.

Scott Hammond: Isn't that cool? I love, I love that. And I think that's kinda 100% Humboldt stuff. There's-

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … and there's, there's men and women like that all over the county through history that, you know, made Blocksburg or made Alderpoint or made-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Mad River, you know, whatever, and it's, it's all those-

Roger Macdonald: Right

Scott Hammond: … kinda pioneer souls that kinda… Yeah, that, that'd be fun. I bet, I bet Jerry Rhody, the historian, knows about some of those people.

Roger Macdonald: Probably.

Scott Hammond: Jerry, uh, call me.

Roger Macdonald: Call him. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Call in. We'll take callers, taking callers at the end of the show.

Scott Hammond: Call… Operators are not standing by.

Scott Hammond: So-

Roger Macdonald: Uh oh

Scott Hammond: … so you became then, uh, so you ascended from principal to, uh, superintendent.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, you know, it's funny, uh, when I look back 'cause I never, um, like, intended… Like, I never intended to do anything other than what I was doing at the time. When I was a, when I was a carpenter, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Right

Roger Macdonald: … this is it, you know? And then when I went back to school and got my teaching credential, um, I loved that, and the same thing when I was a principal, but there, there was an opportunity, and I put in for it, and, and I got the job.

Roger Macdonald: And

Roger Macdonald: honestly, I didn't know what I'd got myself into. It's a, it's a big job.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And it's, um, a job with a lot of responsibility, and the thing is, like, I, and I carry that. I carry that in, in a, uh, um… It matters to me-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … that I'm doing the best I can to take care of, of my people-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … so they can take care of the rest of our community-

Scott Hammond: I love it

Roger Macdonald: … and, and just make good decisions, um, that, uh, that are in the best interest of our students and their families and our staff. Uh, and I have a great team. I have, we have exceptional s-… Our, our faculty and staff are

Roger Macdonald: awesome.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know, we have, whether, when I'm driving down the street and I look up and I wave to the bus drivers, like, we all sort of know each other mostly.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And it's, and it's, um, you know, 'cause we get new staff sometimes that I haven't-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … uh, gotten to know real well. But, uh, it, it, I'm, I'm proud. You know, when I s- when I see, when I'm driving north on 101 and I see that Northern Humboldt bus coming south-

Scott Hammond: There's one of my-

Roger Macdonald: … it, pulling off of-

Scott Hammond: One of my guys right there

Roger Macdonald: … I love that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: It just, it just gets you, you know?

Roger Macdonald: Um.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. Take pride in that.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, I do. And, and like I said, just making the best decisions that we can and-

Scott Hammond: Panther and Tiger pride

Roger Macdonald: … Panther and Tiger pride and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … Pirates and the rest of it, you know?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: Wolves and-

Scott Hammond: Let's talk about, let's talk about, uh, the Tigers.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Arcata High Tiger football team. State what champions?

Roger Macdonald: I know.

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls-

Roger Macdonald: So-

Scott Hammond: … let's start all over.

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: That's actually a pretty big darn deal.

Roger Macdonald: It's a big deal.

Scott Hammond: Right?

Roger Macdonald: And so I'll go backwards in that. What's funny about that is I'm in this, uh, I was at a, uh, superintendent symposium, and we had a dinner of, of just the high school, union high school superintendents.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And of the thousand school districts or so in California, how many do you think are just high schools?

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Roger Macdonald: You won't guess.

Scott Hammond: A third?

Roger Macdonald: It's, like, 74. You know?

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Roger Macdonald: And-

Scott Hammond: So it's a, not even a 10th.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, so, like, I know most of them. So we're in this room, and I was talking to the superintendent of the school district where the other team was, and I just… And I wasn't, like, grandstanding or anything. I said, "Hey, isn't that sort of cool that our teams…" And he's like, "So what, Rog? Is this, like, your first high school football championship?"

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Roger Macdonald: And I'm like, "Okay, okay. That's good."

Scott Hammond: Jerk.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, but I'll, I'll tell you about that. Um, like I get z- I had nothing to do with, um, with that other than just, like, supporting the

Roger Macdonald: kids.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: The coaching staff, um, athletic director-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … uh, the parents that support the team-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … it's honestly some of the nicest kids you're ever gonna meet. And so it really is that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … it makes it that much better of a story-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … when you know that, uh, the, the quality of the student athletes and their families supporting it and the co- the, the, the team around the

Roger Macdonald: team-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … around the team, and the, the community effort to come forward and make sure when… You know, before we could even really engage in trying to, to help them as a district with their transportation, people had already pitched in and gotten-

Scott Hammond: Handled it.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, handled it 'cause they went to, you know, they had two big road trips. And, and then, um, and also just, you know, having a football team that's, like, reaching out to the cheerleaders and bringing them all in as a family.

Roger Macdonald: It was cool.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: But it was. It was, it was a, it is a significant amount of pride and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … you know, a number of those 5:00 AM greet the vans as they're leaving town, and police escorts. It does. It's, it's cool.

Scott Hammond: It's really cool.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like that. The, uh-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Cody's 18, so I could probably use his first name. I don't know his last. He came in for a donation with some other young gal from Arcata High.

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: Nice guy. Really respectful.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And just, you know, if, if he's an example of the team, these guys are-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … doing it right and pretty cool guys.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, they're really, uh- W- now where did they pl- they, they won the championship down in LA somewhere,

Scott Hammond: right? Or-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, they're down in Fullerton

Scott Hammond: … LA? Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: So-

Scott Hammond: They're playing bigger school probably. Is it sa- same size?

Roger Macdonald: I don't know that the school was that much bigger.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Roger Macdonald: But it was a little bit bigger, I think. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. With obvious some- obviously some, some, um, experience in the playoffs.

Roger Macdonald: Probably.

Scott Hammond: Been to the Super Bowl, man. Don't worry about it.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, they've b- yeah, they've been. But, I mean, this, yeah, this group's, was well prepared and ready to go.

Scott Hammond: Think these guys will be back this year? Is th- do they have some of their players?

Roger Macdonald: They have a lot of, there's some seniors that are moving on, but there's some n- there's some younger kids that, uh, th- they'll, they'll step up, and they'll be… They'll, I, I would say this was a pretty, uh, unique group. Um, but I expect them to be successful next year too.

Scott Hammond: Don't forget about James Washington, your, uh, track coach.

Roger Macdonald: Hi, James.

Scott Hammond: Emer- emeritus.

Roger Macdonald: Just talked to James a couple hours ago.

Scott Hammond: What a great guy.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: He's legendary. Now, James is, like, 200 years old, isn't he? He's been around for-

Roger Macdonald: I think James is actually, like, just timeless.

Roger Macdonald: Like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, probably is

Roger Macdonald: … so James, you talk about, you know-

Scott Hammond: James is gonna be 45 all the time.

Roger Macdonald: So Dina, like James was Dina's, uh, I wanna get this, fifth-grade track coach. And, like, Dina's close to my age. She's younger. But, you know, so this is a long time ago.

Scott Hammond: You're only 49 or something.

Roger Macdonald: I'm s- 59, but I-

Scott Hammond: 59

Roger Macdonald: … I was just gonna take that, but just, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay.

Roger Macdonald: This is more about James than me.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Roger Macdonald: So James has been in the community that long.

Scott Hammond: Thank you.

Roger Macdonald: Right? And he, um, a- and the thing about him is he, I mean, he just builds relationships. People love James. Um-

Scott Hammond: He's a lovable dude, man

Roger Macdonald: … and, and he's r- you know, really done well for a lot of, lot of people too. He's, he's, he's a Humboldt, you know, original-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … so.

Scott Hammond: Used to hang out at the Joggin' Shop a lot in Arcata with Chuck-

Roger Macdonald: He still does

Scott Hammond: … with Chuck Ehlers, or Ch- is that his last name?

Roger Macdonald: Chuck Ehlers.

Scott Hammond: Ehlers. Is that his-

Roger Macdonald: Chuck, yep.

Scott Hammond: Chuck was a coach too, right, at Arcata?

Roger Macdonald: Chuck, yeah, Chuck coached… And here's a cool st- uh, oh, I wouldn't tell stories about Chuck. He's my neighbor as well.

Scott Hammond: Nice guy.

Roger Macdonald: And he was a friend of Dina's parents growing up, and

Roger Macdonald: we just… Yeah, I won't go too far down all that, but, um, we see him all the time. Chuck, uh, was track coach, I believe, at McKinleyville and Arcata High School.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, he was a teacher, and then his wife Barbara was the librarian at Arcata High.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: So they're old school, um, Northern Humboldt, Arcata, McKinleyville.

Roger Macdonald: And, um, when we, um, when the district chose to, um, to honor James, and, like, uh, w- we don't really name things after people in our district, but the track and the little facility down there is the James Washington Track.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Chuck was like, "I'm there."

Scott Hammond: Of course he was.

Roger Macdonald: You know? He's right on, 'cause I went and talked to him. He's like, "Absolutely," you know, and he was, like, really-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … um, a gracious and respectful, um, guy, you know. And he, and he's, um, he, uh… Then the Joggin' Shop, um, still, you know, Mike's doing a great job. And it, the Joggin' Shop is like a-

Scott Hammond: Shout out

Roger Macdonald: … hangout. It's… Oh, absolutely. Shout out Joggin' Shop. I only buy my shoes there.

Scott Hammond: Mike Williams.

Roger Macdonald: Mike Williams.

Scott Hammond: 10% discount.

Roger Macdonald: Do you?

Scott Hammond: Ask Mike about the 10% discount, folks.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, you'll get it anyway. That's the problem. Mike doesn't charge enough. He'll give it to you anyway. You won't even have to ask.

Scott Hammond: That's true.

Roger Macdonald: And so, uh, and Dina used to work there too.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Roger Macdonald: You know, back in high school there, and they all kind of-

Scott Hammond: For Chuck? Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: There was a shop in Eureka and-

Scott Hammond: That's right. He had a second shop in Old Town

Roger Macdonald: … yeah, with the surfboards and everything, yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, 'cause Chuck had that surf background.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Chuck's got, um-

Scott Hammond: Now he's a golfer.

Roger Macdonald: I do know he's a golfer. I know he's got a, he just got another hole… This is great. I hope Chuck watches this. He g- just got another hole in one, I think, recently, and he had one 30 years ago out at Beaupre, so.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Roger Macdonald: Chuck's quite the competitor. Um, and he's still golfing, so you gotta…

Roger Macdonald: That's good.

Scott Hammond: Chuck, man, nice guy. So I was a sales guy for the Tri-City Weekly, this thing called a

Scott Hammond: newspaper, and Arcata was my beat. And Chuck was-

Roger Macdonald: When's the last time… I don't, I don't, I don't know the Tri-City Weekly.

Scott Hammond: Tri-City Weekly.

Roger Macdonald: Should I?

Scott Hammond: Well, they just retired the masthead that Time-Standard owned it for-

Roger Macdonald: Okay

Scott Hammond: … whatever reasons. So The Shopper paper, like the PennySaver in the Bay Area, anything like that, uh, it was legendary here for 35, 40 years, and I worked to help build that.

Scott Hammond: Um, see how I took credit, like, just very slightly there?

Scott Hammond: Hey-

Roger Macdonald: It was good

Scott Hammond: … I helped, I helped build the, the, the, the empire.

Roger Macdonald: I built the Time-Standard.

Scott Hammond: I built the- Since 1895, I built the Time-Standard.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Roger Macdonald: Glad we still have the Time-Standard.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we d- well, yeah. Um, we won't go down that road either.

Scott Hammond: So, um,

Scott Hammond: the, uh… So Chuck was on my beat. So he, I would come in and sit at the Joggin' Shop and just shoot-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … chew the fat with Chuck, who's delightful. You know, old surfer guy, and, you know, kinda, uh, I was gonna say opinionated. That's not the right word.

Roger Macdonald: It is.

Scott Hammond: Okay. I was trying to be diplomatic, Chuck. I gave it a shot.

Roger Macdonald: It's okay.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so, um, yeah, so surrounded with a, with a cadre of wonderful team members up there.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's cool. I love that.

Roger Macdonald: That's cool. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and you were part of my son, special needs son Gabe's, uh, experience at

Scott Hammond: Mac High.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, sure. Gabe was great.

Scott Hammond: And his, uh, his, uh, teacher, is he still there, Mr. what's his name? David, uh-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I don't-

Roger Macdonald: David's still there.

Scott Hammond: What's… I, do we need to say his last name? Doesn't matter.

Roger Macdonald: Well, just, just-

Scott Hammond: Shout out to David

Roger Macdonald: … Da- just, he, um-

Scott Hammond: What a great guy.

Roger Macdonald: Oh my God, no, kind-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Patient

Roger Macdonald: … um, loving.

Roger Macdonald: Uh,

Roger Macdonald: absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Just, just tremendous.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So it's okay to say we both have special needs kids?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Gabe's got Down syndrome, and he's 23, just turned

Scott Hammond: 23. Is that right?

Roger Macdonald: Is Gabe 23?

Scott Hammond: 20-

Roger Macdonald: I think he's older.

Scott Hammond: He just turned 26.

Roger Macdonald: I was gonna say Gabe's older than me.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, on Inauguration Day of all days.

Roger Macdonald: Really?

Scott Hammond: He doesn't really care who the president is either. He, he could care less.

Roger Macdonald: Um, no, I don't think he could.

Scott Hammond: He's not even worried about the mortgage dinner.

Roger Macdonald: No, I don't think he probably is.

Scott Hammond: He's just-

Roger Macdonald: Patricia cares though.

Scott Hammond: She's really i- into it, okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, my, my twen- yeah, Patricia also has Down syndrome, and, uh, she, uh, she went through our school system. She went through Arcata High, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … um, and she, uh, she's doing great.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Roger Macdonald: Um, she very much is concerned about politics, and I just have to just, like-

Scott Hammond: We should, we should go there for a minute.

Scott Hammond: Jody s-

Roger Macdonald: We, we can

Scott Hammond: … Jody suggested, you know-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … ask you about how, how a new policy's gonna affect everything, but we'll wait on that.

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: So Gabe had a stellar experience in, at Mac High-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … as a special needs guy till he's 22, which is-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … to a point where you guys, you know, it's the policy where people move on.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Well, no, that's right. When you're twen- once you get to be 22, you, uh… And this is, and this is one of the things that I, um, and, like, having a daughter with Down syndrome and, and our journey with her, and Dina and I, you know, we, one of our sort of theories is that, you know, we live in a typical world.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And, and so we do as much as we can with her And I try and do that with our high schools too when, when I'm engaged with, um, um, our special education programs, is that we're preparing students, um, and young adults to enter a world where they don't have quite the same amount of support, right?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Um, and so yeah, when you get to that age, you move out. But one thing that I, I do tell all of my parents, um, when I'm on, in life skills campuses, 'cause a lot of the parents know that, "Hey, he has a child with Down syndrome too," and then so we'll, we'll have conversations, is that-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Roger Macdonald: … you know, life doesn't end after high school. There are so many supports out there and opportunities for-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … our, our young adults, um, with developmental delays. It's really, oh, oh, my eyes have been opened.

Scott Hammond: What Humboldt's famous-

Roger Macdonald: Humboldt's famous

Scott Hammond: … regional, regional center number one.

Roger Macdonald: And look what, look what Mary Keen's doing over in McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: And, and, uh, We Are Up, and all of that work to try and-

Scott Hammond: Mary Keen, shout out.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, massive. Have you had Mary on the show?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Oh.

Scott Hammond: She's like my first guest.

Roger Macdonald: She's… Of course she was. Mary's-

Scott Hammond: She's my first guest? I think she… Well, I think she was, actually.

Roger Macdonald: Just another-

Scott Hammond: She's delightful

Roger Macdonald: … delightful, uh, and, and taking the success that she had and understanding how things work to create, you know, a community, um, that not only, uh, will help our students with, you know, d- disabilities, but also just the rest of the community too, to cele- celebrate and, um, integrate.

Scott Hammond: That's good. So the We Are Up branch is, uh, is it 80 acres? They're gonna use eight of them. Whatever they're gonna use. So they got a big giant, uh, facility.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And it's all tracking, dude. They got money. They're ready to-

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … rock and roll pretty soon, I think.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And it's a progressive model based on something back east-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … where,

Scott Hammond: I mean, I-

Roger Macdonald: College students

Scott Hammond: … could tell that story all day long.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah. It's a great story.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it is.

Roger Macdonald: Get her back on.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I think I will.

Roger Macdonald: I'll watch. I'll go back and watch that.

Scott Hammond: You watch that? Okay.

Roger Macdonald: I will. No, I, I… Mary's inspirational, you know? It, she's great.

Scott Hammond: I'll just show you the first one, and you can start there.

Roger Macdonald: Okay. Got it, got it.

Scott Hammond: I can text you 'cause I know you, I know you're in my phone.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So let's talk about what you like.

Scott Hammond: Um, what are your issues with Humboldt? Do you ha- you got… What problem do you have with Humboldt?

Roger Macdonald: What problem?

Scott Hammond: I haven't really asked it that way.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: Hey, do you have a problem with Humboldt? What's your, uh… What are your challenges that you see for us?

Roger Macdonald: I, you know… Oh, challenges. I mostly see opportunities.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And I see, um-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you're an optimist like me.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. I, I think, um, we are such a diverse county, and as far as, uh, mindset and, um, the, the… for, for being so big with so few people, um, there's a lot going on up here, you know? And I think that that makes us stronger, though.

Roger Macdonald: Um,

Roger Macdonald: I, uh, as far as pr- I would say, uh, the economy. You know, finding, making sure that we have, um, jobs for, um, our, our youngsters as they, as they mature into adults and, and have it be a place where people would like to stay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And, and make sure that we have jobs for them, and so that's, as far as, you know, the intersection with work, you know, trying to make sure that our students aren't just ready for college but also ready for career.

Scott Hammond: So you've seen a decade or more of guys and gals that have had to go, right, that left the county?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, and I see, I see people coming to the county and hoping it'll be something, and it's not.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And I see, um, yeah, people that have left for other jobs. But I, I'll tell you, I see a lot of folks that have stayed. I mean, our schools are full of graduates. Um, we had a couple. Uh, one of my former students just came in to our Indian Ed program, um, at, uh, McKinleyville High School, and it's just this young woman with kids, and she's just vibrant and just taking names.

Roger Macdonald: Um, you know, r- bringing her, you know, talents back to the high school. So we, we have also had a number of, uh, of, of our young adults that leave, get degrees, and come back to make a difference.

Scott Hammond: To return.

Roger Macdonald: You know? So-

Scott Hammond: Sounds great, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: So I, I probably… It's easier for me to talk about the things that I, I like as far as, um, the potential for really seeing our county

Roger Macdonald: grow.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Um, but as far as our challenges, I'd say it's, it's healthcare, attracting, um, and, and keeping, um, high-quality-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … healthcare, uh, professionals.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know, that seems… That's a challenge. I have friends that are in that industry.

Scott Hammond: I'm on the board of, uh, Destination Humboldt, where we-

Roger Macdonald: Oh

Scott Hammond: … pay doctors loans who agree to stick around five years.

Roger Macdonald: That's great.

Scott Hammond: What a great idea.

Roger Macdonald: It's a great idea.

Scott Hammond: Mention that?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's got great r- track record. They're doing great.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Good.

Scott Hammond: Just, yeah. Shout out Destination Humboldt.

Roger Macdonald: Thank you. I'll have to get you on the show.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I should come on-

Roger Macdonald: Talk about that

Scott Hammond: … I should come on the show.

Roger Macdonald: I should come on your show.

Scott Hammond: Wait. How do I do that?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Um, I think, uh, yeah, the… You know, we can be, um… I, I know there's gonna be improvements to technology and broadband and all that, so some of those things that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … that, that… And I know we need to fix some of the highway stuff. We need to fix, you know, the road to Crescent City, and it's, doesn't take much for us to be completely isolated.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: There's only a few ways in and out of here.

Scott Hammond: Oh, we were shut down two weeks ago, I think, with that big… There was some big storm. I remember my friend. Well, it was last week. Ron came up.

Roger Macdonald: Mm.

Scott Hammond: They couldn't go. Leggett was shut down on 101, and then they decided to go 36, and guess what shut down-

Roger Macdonald: 36

Scott Hammond: … before, before they got there. So they had to go over the Neeland Road.

Roger Macdonald: Oof.

Scott Hammond: Bridgeville, Neeland. That's over-

Roger Macdonald: That's over there. That's that way.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's terrible.

Roger Macdonald: I've never done that.

Scott Hammond: In a storm, in the dirt, in the fog, an hour trip that takes

Scott Hammond: two plus.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no fun.

Roger Macdonald: Oof. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oof. Yeah, terrible.

Roger Macdonald: I like our county, though. The more I get to… I mean, when I say our county, I've only lived here since 2012.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, but, you know, we have, um… We're fortunate to have a, um, a little cabin that Dina's parents built, you know-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Roger Macdonald: … in just over the border in Trinity County. So we sort of-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Roger Macdonald: … get to know that-

Scott Hammond: Beautiful

Roger Macdonald: … part of the county as well and, you know, family up in, uh, you know, Crescent City and down in, uh, you know, obviously in, um,

Roger Macdonald: in, uh, Sonoma County and, and whatnot. But so we, you know, drive around quite a bit. But it's, uh, there's a lot of things that are good.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You know? Um, so it's a good place. Good place to live.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Not too shabby.

Roger Macdonald: I can get in my… I can, like, you know, I can be… From my house, I can be in the redwoods in, like, four minutes.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: You know what I mean? It's like-

Scott Hammond: You're here in Eureka, right?

Roger Macdonald: I'm in Arcata.

Scott Hammond: So you could go to Arcata Forest.

Roger Macdonald: So I can go… Yeah. I can ride my bike over here.

Scott Hammond: Oh, th- that's true. And e- even faster with the new trail coming in any

Scott Hammond: minute.

Roger Macdonald: That's gonna be cool. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's, hey, f- they said the first of the year, and guess what time it is? Spring of… It's almost spring.

Roger Macdonald: Sure. That's actually, that, that that actually happened, and that it's come as quickly as it has is pretty good.

Scott Hammond: It's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Should I show everybody where it is on the trail, on the map?

Roger Macdonald: I think if people remember that we talked about Eureka and Arcata, they'll

Roger Macdonald: get it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they connect.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, they connect.

Scott Hammond: So we could go from the power plant south of Eureka-

Roger Macdonald: Right

Scott Hammond: … on a bike trail or a walking trail all the way to literally Little River Beach, north of Clam Beach.

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: Abutting Moonstone Beach, which is a long freaking

Scott Hammond: trek.

Roger Macdonald: It's a long trek.

Scott Hammond: It'll be fun.

Roger Macdonald: Let's do it.

Scott Hammond: I got an e-bike. I could just cruise it.

Roger Macdonald: Do you really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they're great.

Roger Macdonald: Tell me about your e-bike.

Scott Hammond: Well, I was, uh, during COVID, we were, uh, having a, a bakery moment, went down to the bakery with my daughter and grandson and, and, uh, in Ferndale.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And so there's two older farts in Ferndale riding e-bikes. Cruised around in whatever that park is. I should know the name of it. What's the name of the park? Do you know it, Nick, offhand? It's the one with the big Christmas tree. Anyway, it's, it's on the south side of town.

Roger Macdonald: Gotcha.

Scott Hammond: And these guys are cruising. I go, "Hey, can I, hey, can I have a ride?" He goes, "Sure, get on there, boy." And I got up, and I'm whizzing around. I'm going downtown. I'm, you know, popping wheelies. Not really. They're pretty heavy.

Roger Macdonald: They are. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I'm going, like, 20, and I'm going, "Man, this is, this is the bomb. I could really have a good time. I could go a long ways. I could keep up with Joanie, my

Scott Hammond: wife."

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: Which is-

Roger Macdonald: Right

Scott Hammond: … which would be really good. And so-

Roger Macdonald: I see, I see a lot of people, you know, with the e-bikes. It's funny, 'cause I… So about, I don't know, when I first moved up here, a couple of my teachers, like, really, like, uh, great teachers and also, like, super fit, really into cycling, got me into cycling.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And so, um, I was riding a lot, you know, several times a week and-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Roger Macdonald: … you know, working my miles up, and I'd went on some, you know, pretty big rides with those guys. Um, and then Dean and I took the family to Europe for the summer, to Italy, and I'm like, "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna rent a bike." And so I rented a road bike-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Roger Macdonald: … to just cycle, you know, through, you know, the areas that we were staying. And I'm going up this steep hill, and all of a sudden these two kids in jeans come flying by me on mountain bikes. And I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … "What is happening here?" And they're e-bikes, but I'd never really seen an e-bike. And I was like, "What just happened?"

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Roger Macdonald: You know, and it took me, it took me a while to figure that out. I'm like, "I'm done. I need to just hang this bike up." But-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Roger Macdonald: … it was, they had that battery assist.

Scott Hammond: So y- you're super involved. As I remember, you're, like, Mr. Involvement. You, you go to sports stuff for-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … your kids, your, your, your school kids.

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: That, that's part of your gig.

Roger Macdonald: I tr- yeah, I don't… Yeah, I think it is. I think if you're gonna be, um, like a small town, like, I mean, you know, I, our school district is one of the bigger school districts in the cou- it's not that big, you know. And if, if you're gonna be a superintendent, a leader of a, um, you know, of an organization like that, you should, you should be out and visible. And I enjoy it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You know, um, and so I do. I do go to, um, I try and make it to as many events as I can just to celebrate our kids and see people.

Scott Hammond: You, you're like me. Here's how.

Roger Macdonald: Probably lots of ways.

Scott Hammond: Many ways.

Roger Macdonald: We like each other, yeah.

Scott Hammond: No, y- but it gives you life to hang out with people.

Roger Macdonald: It does.

Scott Hammond: It's life-giving. So for some of us, others that will go unmentioned, it's life-taking. In, in other words, going out and-

Roger Macdonald: Sure

Scott Hammond: … hanging out at the, uh, at, uh, the Carter House or going to Mad River Brewery or-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … you know, whatever, an event, sport. It's like, it's life s- it's life-draining and life-soul-sucking, uh, which is really interesting. So, and, and we, I kinda, uh, I'm learning to be sensitive to that.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and to go, uh, and there's a point where I need to back off too and be-

Roger Macdonald: For sure

Scott Hammond: … go home and have a quiet, we call it a quiet night in, which is, uh-

Roger Macdonald: Well, there's a balance, right? There's your, there's a balance.

Scott Hammond: There is a balance, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: There's two things on that. There's a balance between your family and your professional life, and sometimes they, they intersect, you know.

Scott Hammond: Correct.

Roger Macdonald: Like, you know, we're, we're all doing the same thing together. Um, and I, and I've had to, to work on that to be more present to

Roger Macdonald: my family.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Roger Macdonald: Like, I'll be like, "I gotta go." It's like, wait a minute, do I really? You know, I should be with them, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Um, or we'll all go together, you know.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Roger Macdonald: And also, and you're right. Everyone's different. Um, um, when I say that I think it's important, I probably should say it's important to me for me.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You don't have to, but for me, I feel like I need to be engaged.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And one thing that I've really… So this is my eighth year in this position. When I was principal for five years before, and then in the Bay Area prior to that, when you're a principal, you're sort of like, you are, you have a different role in the community. Like most people, it's like politics, like, "God, I hate the government, but I love my politician."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And I think it's somewhat, in some ways it's like, it's easy to, um, because I say no a lot, it's easy to, uh, 'cause I have to, um, to, like, not know me that well or have some issues.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And when I was principal, like, I almost never had that because you could always work it out, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: And so anyway, I say that just to say there have been periods of my time when I didn't necessarily wanna go out, and I just have had to sort of, like, work that through, uh, my whole head space too about, you know, it's like you have ups and downs and you're in your community, but you're still in your

Roger Macdonald: community.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And I will say that no matter what's been going on in our school district, um, or around it or, you know, with me or others, like, it is rare that somebody will, um, see me and be anything other than respectful and kind.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Um, you know, which is great. I mean, I j- d- you can always… And it's just, it's so that for me in this job, it's just good to be out and about-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … you know, and in connection and be available for people if they wanna share something, so.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, I have some feedback for you.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah. Well, no, hey, I, I… Well, the, the line isn't, isn't that. It's like, "Hey, I hate to bother you on a Saturday," or, "I hate to bother you with your family." But it, and so, and I always, I always laugh and I always… And it's, and my family gets it too. Like, they'll just take a couple steps off to the side and-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … it's just, it's a choice, you know.

Scott Hammond: Try being-

Roger Macdonald: I, I made that choice.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Try being an insurance agent. "Hey, Scott, I…"

Roger Macdonald: You're out there, though. You're not just an insurance agent. I mean, you're everywhere all the time.

Scott Hammond: I try to, try to be present

Scott Hammond: … for the community, and-

Roger Macdonald: You are

Scott Hammond: … I think that you're right, though. There's a balance. It's like you don't… I don't know. I… You know, raising nine kids, I wasn't out there at all other than I would grind and go to work every day-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and, and kill myself and-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and commission sales. You better work your ass off-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … because or you're not gonna eat, and that's the end of the story. Oh, I cussed. So, the bottom line is it's different now because it's, it's cool to be… I'm on a board.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They accepted me in a club. I'm in a club. Whoa, they had me. Remember Groucho Marx?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Never be part of a… I would never be part of a club that would have me as a

Scott Hammond: member.

Roger Macdonald: Right. Right.

Scott Hammond: Hilarious.

Roger Macdonald: That is good.

Scott Hammond: It's a d- kind of a dad joke almost.

Roger Macdonald: It is.

Scott Hammond: So let's talk about the, the club of politics.

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Segue. So, new president, new administration. Uh, everybody's… H- nobody can keep up with him. Joni calls him exhausting.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wherever you stand, how does that affect,

Scott Hammond: uh, y'all-

Roger Macdonald: Oh, man

Scott Hammond: … in Arcata and McKinleyville at this point? Is it… Is there… Are, are, are you anticipating? Are you seeing, uh… We have a friend at church who's in the VA-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … uh, here locally.

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: He goes, "It's just like… It's, it's, it's crazy pills."

Roger Macdonald: I, you know,

Roger Macdonald: it's, um… It is, and I, um… It, the change and the rapid change is affecting a lot of people in a lot of different ways. Um,

Roger Macdonald: I try not… And the- when I was younger in this role, I would be a little more, like, public about, like, my stance on, on things. Like when we were going through a, a period of time of really trying to, to raise, um, our visibility of, of, of really, um, caring and making every effort for our, um, you know, for our students of color and their families to, to, you know, close the disproportionate gaps in education. We were a little more public about that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And I think for most people, they understood, you know. Like, this is what we're trying to do in our community that's got this rich indigenous, um, heritage.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Roger Macdonald: And, um, as our demographics change, we have students that, you know, came from, um, underrepresented groups that need more support. For the most part, people get that. Um, I'm not gonna go out there and grandstand one way or the other right now, um, over the political divide because people are coming from all sorts of different places on it.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And it's just not a productive conversation. What we do do, I said do do, is we, um-

Scott Hammond: Now you're cussing

Roger Macdonald: … I know. I'm sorry. Now I'm cussing, is that we, you know, we work with, um, we work with some of our, our community partners to make sure that, um, that some of our, our students and, and their families that are, um, facing the potential of some actions that can be harmful for them.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: We're trying to stay in touch with them to let them know how we can take care of them, you know.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: So trying to… I don't want to engage in a sort of binary good-bad conversation about politics right now, or ever really.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Because that, that doesn't help. You know? Then you're gonna have a winner or loser in that conversation.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: But when we're talking about this, this, this change, and it's affecting so many people, the… You know, my staff are legitimately concerned about their

Roger Macdonald: jobs-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … right now, you know, and their life-

Scott Hammond: And your, and your kids

Roger Macdonald: … and their families.

Scott Hammond: And the kids.

Roger Macdonald: And students are too. You know? Like, I walked through… I sent a… Oh, I sent an email out a couple weeks ago to our, uh, students and staff and their families. And like, I'm on campus, and students are like, "Hey, Macdonald, I, uh, I read that email that you sent.

Roger Macdonald: Thanks."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And so I get that, you know?

Roger Macdonald: And-

Scott Hammond: Good for you

Roger Macdonald: … and then I'll lean into that and ask if they wanna talk more about it. And so we, um… As far as the politics part of it, I'm, I'm more interested in, um, how we can prepare for any consequences of-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … the change in direction for our staff. You know, whether it's, um, being really, really prepared in case there are cuts and, and really thinking about our, um, families that, um, that feel like they're, that are sort of, you know, under fire right now, that we're taking care of them.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like it. Human beings.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Roger Macdonald: For sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I love that. The… Do you know Carla Darnell? She was specifically-

Roger Macdonald: Carla?

Scott Hammond: Carla and Steve.

Roger Macdonald: Love Carla. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hey, Carla. Hey, Steve.

Roger Macdonald: Hey, Car- yeah. Hey, Carla.

Scott Hammond: Now, Steve tells about the time where she was, um, you know, in a situation to take care of students.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: That, that there was… That story doesn't really matter. The, but the, the fact is she had the influence, the control and some power, and wielded the power to take care of said under, uh-

Roger Macdonald: I may know what you're talking about

Scott Hammond: … staff people.

Roger Macdonald: And just to give her a break, won't mention the-

Scott Hammond: No

Roger Macdonald: … but I, but she, uh, Carla's fearless and student-centered-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … and kind, and she was great. Carla's great.

Scott Hammond: Got to take care of some people.

Roger Macdonald: Yep. Yep.

Scott Hammond: Didn't have to grandstand. Didn't have to-

Roger Macdonald: Nope

Scott Hammond: … divvy up and call names and just kind of got it quietly, got it done.

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I love that. I think that's a really good-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. She's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … she's a good one. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, hey, uh, first question of the day.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, what do we got? Bing.

Scott Hammond: What three things do you do to make a difference? You t- we talked about a lot of them-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … so far, Roger. But, uh, in your job, in your life, in your, uh, ministry, if you will, in your service, what-

Roger Macdonald: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … what are the three things do you think that you do or practice that make you a difference maker-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and Humboldt, in Humboldt?

Roger Macdonald: I think, yeah, that's actually, that's a great question.

Roger Macdonald: Um, what do I do? Um, I can tell you what I try and do. Um, I try and make sure, um, or I do make sure that the decisions that I'm making, um, around the policies that we have, um, and the decisions around, you know, like hiring and professional development, what we're doing, that they're, they're most impactful for our students.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And that any, um, any changes that we make or any programs where we implement are, like, as, as staff-centered as possible to help them be successful.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: So, um, I guess trying to be other, other centered as far as the impact. It, it doesn't look like that to a lot of people, but that's-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Roger Macdonald: … you know, behind the scenes, that's something that I really, um, do think about.

Roger Macdonald: I think, um-

Scott Hammond: Well, you're juggling two-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … money and budgets and profitability, profitability-

Roger Macdonald: I'm-

Scott Hammond: … or I don't know if that's the right word to use.

Roger Macdonald: Well, it's not profitability.

Scott Hammond: You're not private sector. Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: It's not, but it's, it's making sure that, that the dollars go, um, to in the immediate and

Roger Macdonald: then

Roger Macdonald: … developing terms where it can be best supportive-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … um, and effective and impactful.

Roger Macdonald: Um, I am honest and I'm humble.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You know, I'm not really in this for myself.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, I am in it for, um, you know, caring for my family for sure, but also caring for my greater school community. And so, um, that humility means that I will take a lot and, and I won't lash out and like, you know, make a fire bigger.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And I think that, that, um… Over the long run, I think that's helpful-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … and, and makes a difference. And I'm also, like I'm helpful. You know? Like I, I care about my, like my… I have a group of superintendents that I keep. I love our Northern Humboldt group of superintendents. It's a really good-

Scott Hammond: Who, who are they?

Roger Macdonald: … tight group. Um, that's gonna be your superintendents of, um, uh, the Arcata Elementary School District And Pacific Union and Jacoby Creek.

Scott Hammond: All those names.

Roger Macdonald: So it's like, you know, Melanie Nitze and Luke Biesecker and Renee Mc- I mean, there's a bunch. Julie Jann… There's a ton of them.

Scott Hammond: There's another Melanie at Mac High, right?

Roger Macdonald: Melanie… No, that's Melanie Susavilla.

Scott Hammond: Is she, is she still there?

Roger Macdonald: Oh, she's money. Yeah. She's, she's-

Scott Hammond: Is she a principal?

Roger Macdonald: Melanie works in the district office, uh, managing, um, our grant

Roger Macdonald: programs.

Scott Hammond: Okay. She was VP or something-

Roger Macdonald: Yep

Scott Hammond: … in Mac High.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. She was very impactful with Gabe.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's true.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. No, she's-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Melanie

Roger Macdonald: … she's great. Hi, Melanie.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Melanie's in Washington, DC right now.

Scott Hammond: Of course she is.

Roger Macdonald: She is. She's working with the, uh, Department of Ed on some of our grants right now, like today.

Scott Hammond: Sweet.

Roger Macdonald: Probably not tonight.

Scott Hammond: Bring in that money. That grant money.

Roger Macdonald: She's, she's gonna come back with information for us, yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: So, um, but ju- just our little, um, uh, the, all the associate schools that feed into our high school district, you know, we… If any of us are having a problem, um, the rest of us will chip in and help out.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: You know? Whether it's-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Roger Macdonald: … you know. Yeah. It's good.

Scott Hammond: Like Jacoby Creek Elementary or anything.

Roger Macdonald: It's great.

Scott Hammond: Middle?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Huh. So kind of a synergy.

Roger Macdonald: It is a synergy, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is everybody like that? All the other principals and supers?

Roger Macdonald: We, in our group, we all, yeah, take care of each other, whether… And sometimes, you know, sometimes we're not always… You know, we're like a little family. And, um, but we do. We're always, we always do show up for each

Roger Macdonald: other.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: So it's good.

Scott Hammond: And Michael Davis Hughes, is he… Would he be a distant peer or boss?

Roger Macdonald: Is Mi- Is Michael like our uncle?

Scott Hammond: He's like Uncle Michael.

Roger Macdonald: Uncle Michael.

Scott Hammond: The su-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … super- superintendent of public school. Superintendent-

Roger Macdonald: For sure.

Scott Hammond: What's his title?

Roger Macdonald: So Michael is… And I feel like I should rattle off the names of all the superintendents in our area.

Scott Hammond: That's fine.

Roger Macdonald: Like, you know, Raven and Justin and Deanne and, uh, and, uh, the rest of them.

Scott Hammond: I must have forgotten someone.

Roger Macdonald: I know. I'm like, "I gotta kill you."

Scott Hammond: It's the Academy Awards.

Roger Macdonald: I know. I'm like, "Oh, shoot."

Scott Hammond: I forgot, uh, my producer,

Scott Hammond: Nick.

Roger Macdonald: Right.

Scott Hammond: Thank you, Nick, for all you do.

Roger Macdonald: But, uh, no, Michael is… So the county office… So in Humboldt County, with our 130,000 people and 20,000… 17,000 students or whatever we have, we have 31 school

Roger Macdonald: districts.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And I think 15, 12 to 15 charter schools.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: Um, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is that a lot for our size?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Antioch, where I used to live-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Roger Macdonald: … had 130,000 people and 20,000 students in one school district.

Scott Hammond: Huh? Wow.

Roger Macdonald: So just for perspective.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, bigger.

Roger Macdonald: Well, s- yeah, all centralized, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And so, um, all of our unique, um, rural school districts, we function, you know, independently and in larger groups. We have three main groups. We've got, um, the Eel River group, um, ar- around Fortuna High. You know, the associate schools gets together.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: There's central Humboldt, which is Eureka High.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And then-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … the rest of the small school districts around there.

Scott Hammond: Very nice.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, very nice. Very nice. And then, uh, then-

Scott Hammond: The way you say it like that

Roger Macdonald: … and then, you're right. You gotta bring it back to the microphone. Uh, my inexperience.

Scott Hammond: It's fine. You're great.

Roger Macdonald: It's my first podcast, Scott.

Scott Hammond: It was mine, too. I-

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I don't know what I'm doing here.

Roger Macdonald: And then Michael and the county, they're… You know, they provide, uh, they provide… Their prime, uh, duties are to provide oversight, um, for our LCAPs and to make sure their budget's paid.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Three areas then. Eel River. What were the other two?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Well, there's southern Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Roger Macdonald: … which is southern Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And then there's Eel River, and then there's central Humboldt, which is Eureka's city schools, and then, like, you know, the Freshwaters and the South Bays-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Roger Macdonald: … and the, the rest of them.

Scott Hammond: Uh.

Roger Macdonald: And then there's, uh, northern Humboldt, which is us.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And-

Scott Hammond: Would it put Hoopa on the Trinity?

Roger Macdonald: Well, no, and then I would say, then there's Klamath Trinity.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Roger Macdonald: And KT… And they're great. I mean, they do, they're doing great work up there.

Roger Macdonald: It, it-

Scott Hammond: I like that, the KT Valley.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. No, they're great up there, and it's just hard… It's hard for them to, to make it down to things.

Roger Macdonald: Like-

Scott Hammond: It's remote

Roger Macdonald: … when, when Michael… When there's events at the county-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … you know, like, you know, it's an hour plus.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Roger Macdonald: And then the weather, and then it's two hours because you drove, and then the meeting's two hours. You just spent an entire day at a meeting.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: And o- That's one thing that we got out of COVID was a lot of those meetings can happen remotely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know? So people can get the information that they need,

Roger Macdonald: um, without having to drive down.

Scott Hammond: Let's, let's talk about the big C, COVID. Uh, what… Ugh. How did COVID affect your educational, um, world, Roger? What did, what did, what did COVID do to-

Roger Macdonald: Oh, it was rough.

Roger Macdonald: COVID, um, uh, we could prob- This is like a five-parter, right?

Roger Macdonald: I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … so the first… I'll just… Well, the first thing was, um, I remember, uh, in the lead-up to it, like that week, it was… You know, I think we, I think we announced that we were gonna shut our schools down for a couple weeks on a Friday, and it was just the Wednesday before that we were in a meeting at the, uh, at the county office with everybody talking about, what are we gonna do?

Scott Hammond: Something's happening.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, and it was… It just… But the thing about it that was hard, like, I, I think it's great that we all have the autonomy that we do, but I, I do… At the time, I remember we were all sitting around. It was Saturday, and we're in the conference room, um, over at McKinleyville by my office over there, and all the principals and all the district admin and, uh, you know, Sarah with transportation and John with ma- All of us were in there waiting for this… We were waiting for the governor to come on. And the governor, we waited, and we waited at the podium. They showed us on TV. There was the podium, waiting for the governor to tell us what

Roger Macdonald: to do.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Roger Macdonald: And we never really were told what to do.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Roger Macdonald: Like, usually there's, like, a protocol or there's a, um, there's a, uh, you know, like

Roger Macdonald: … something to follow.

Scott Hammond: Was it Newsom then?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, it was Newsom. Yeah, and it is, and it's…

Roger Macdonald: But I mean, we never, they never really took the responsibility to say, "This is how you need

Roger Macdonald: to-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … to, uh, interact with this COVID." There was guidelines and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … but everybody could sort of pick and choose in our schools how we responded to

Roger Macdonald: that.

Scott Hammond: Boy, that's gotta be hard.

Roger Macdonald: So it was hard.

Scott Hammond: Well, I mean, informed.

Roger Macdonald: But, but this is where you… And so I guess you could say it was hard 'cause we were each sort of forced to make our own decisions.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: And however, it was also good 'cause different communities gotta choose what they thought was best for them.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: But I've always wondered, like, how is public health something that, like, a, a superintendent who was trained for education and a school board who are volunteers in the community should be given that responsibility, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Everyone did the best they could do.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: Everyone in that time, um, was, um, was working hard to ensure for the safety and the success of our students.

Roger Macdonald: Um, and, and you… Those times were wild. You look back, um, the testing-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … and the, the, all, all of the work that was done just to sort of, you know, keep track of, of, um, how many students were in a space with a certain amount of distance between them, all this stuff, you know?

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Roger Macdonald: Um, but what it did is it really affected our community. You know, we were having board… I remember sitting in my office past midnight in a school board meeting that started at 6:00, with still a couple hundred people

Roger Macdonald: online, not happy, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Um, not happy because they were afraid that we weren't being safe enough or not happy because we weren't providing enough in-person, face-to-face instruction. And every single person that was complaining was right.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: You know what I mean?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: They were all right because of their family situation or the health of their own family-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … or the needs of their own family. And, um, so that was definitely challenging as

Roger Macdonald: far as-

Scott Hammond: So you guys could win.

Roger Macdonald: No, it w- it was a no winner.

Roger Macdonald: I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … we kept, we kept doing the best we can to, to do the very best that we knew how to do. So I'm actually proud of the work that we did, and I'm really proud of my, of my staff and my teachers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … and everybody for, um… But it was just, we probably were given too much freedom and probably were given, you know, too much money at one time without a, a longer timeline to spend it to imple- I mean, it was just, it was… Things were happening in a way that made it very difficult to

Roger Macdonald: manage.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: You know? And so, um, yeah, I think there was, you know, some definite, uh, um, pushback from the community.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: There was some trust that was… I mean, this is across the country, the world, the county-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … for sure. Um, so you had some families picking up and moving their kids to other schools. What you saw were, you know, some schools, um, some of our charter and private schools, like, their enrollment jumped up because th- they had the flexibility and they were willing to do that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, and so it was, um, it was tough, you

Roger Macdonald: know? Um-

Scott Hammond: It was tough

Roger Macdonald: … good things that came out of it. Uh, better, um, uh, instructional practices for kids that can't be at school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: So, like, if you're, if you're sick, it's… For students that are missing some school, they… Our teachers are doing this amazing job of, of putting their in-person classroom onto the Google Classroom.

Scott Hammond: Perfect.

Roger Macdonald: And so th- th- there's a lot of that stuff that's, that's good.

Scott Hammond: That came through that, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, that, that, that came through.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: And now we're seeing, you know, we're seeing, um, attendance rates come back up.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: But we're, we're definitely seeing, um, a group of students that, that doesn't have

Roger Macdonald: the same, um, skills or knowledge that we're accustomed to at different times, whether it's fourth grade or whether it's 11th grade.

Scott Hammond: So there's a deficit, definitely affected.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I imagine emotionally and mental health stuff too.

Roger Macdonald: 100%, all of it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: And so,

Roger Macdonald: um-

Scott Hammond: Which is pretty ubiquitous, right, a- across the nation.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Or the world, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, yeah. It was… For some, it was such a, um, oh, a, a lonely, scary place to be, you know?

Scott Hammond: Weird, yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. Like for me, my hair grew out. I gained weight. I know a lot of my friends, like, lived their best lives, you know? But I was… I went to the office every day. I, I worked from home, like, one day, and I'm like, "I can't do this."

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I couldn't stay home for, for-

Roger Macdonald: No, so, like, you know, for me, I actually, um… Oh, I have stories of my friends and family that, like, I'm just gonna s- they spent months just exercising and doing, uh, e- eating perfect food and stuff, like-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Roger Macdonald: … you know, it was great. And, um, I, I didn't make that choice. Looking back, I probably should've been more selfish, you know? A little bit, but I wasn't. Old Catholic guilt maybe, I don't know.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: It happens.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. You know, but we're all, we're all sort of coming back from that in our own different ways.

Scott Hammond: You mentioned charter schools real quick.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I want to park there and then talk about your legacy-

Roger Macdonald: Sure

Scott Hammond: … what you'd like to see. Um, what's your, uh, what's your sense of how the charter school model's affected-

Roger Macdonald: Mm

Scott Hammond: … um, California, Humboldt, y- y'all?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. We… I think that we have a disproportionately good experience up here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: I think that, um, the charter school… I don't… I think our charter schools are run by and managed and, and taught by people that really care about their

Roger Macdonald: community.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, I can't say that for all the charter… There's, there's lots of… We don't need to get into, just internet, whatever, the charter schools that are scams, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: That were just, that just were there to generate revenue for the charter director and a few key people. And so there's lots of stories of, of charter schools that have just taken. I think, I think our charter schools up here, by and large, have really given. They've given a, a different, um-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Roger Macdonald: … yeah, d- so I, you know, I, I, I have a different perspective on charter schools than I think, um, a lot do. But I would also say this as a public school educator. You know, um, we, um… You and I know firsthand, we both have children that would not have made it at a charter school.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Roger Macdonald: You know? My younger daughter, she'd go wherever she wants. Um, but, you know, we have students with disabilities.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: Um, we have students with families don't have means to get them to different places. And, um, I don't think there's a better place to raise, um, a, a student, to raise a citizen than a public school.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Roger Macdonald: So I definitely am a proponent of our public schools.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Roger Macdonald: I just, um, if you polled me compared to a lot of my colleagues that are superintendents, I would have more positive things to say about our charter schools than others would.

Scott Hammond: Got it.

Roger Macdonald: I do think, though, too, that a lot of our charter schools are housing students that just weren't gonna make it in, in our schools-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … which is a challenge to us to innovate-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Roger Macdonald: … and, uh, and to improve our practices, too, so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So they f- they fulfill a role.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And Glenn Paul School's amazing.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, for sure. Well, Glenn Paul, yeah, the county office there, it is… Have, have you been over there?

Scott Hammond: Oh, many times.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Gabe went there.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. It's… Oh, younger… Yeah, it's, um… Yeah, they're doing, they're doing excellent work over there.

Scott Hammond: It's one of, like, very few of its kind, right? I think there's two or three in the state or something.

Roger Macdonald: No, I think most county offices have a school like that.

Scott Hammond: Something like that.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, yeah. That's part of their charter.

Scott Hammond: This one's like legend, though.

Scott Hammond: It's kinda-

Roger Macdonald: It's nice. It's good

Scott Hammond: … history.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, and it's also in a good spot.

Roger Macdonald: It's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … it's well taken care of and, and staffed and in nice… Yeah. It's good.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the rest of your quiz. I almost forgot.

Roger Macdonald: Oh, what else we got? Yeah, that was-

Scott Hammond: Okay, you continue-

Roger Macdonald: I don't even know if I answered your question.

Scott Hammond: Great. Question number one.

Roger Macdonald: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Really quick. Speed, speed dating. Number one: where do you go to dinner? It's free, 200 bucks, 100 bucks-

Roger Macdonald: So-

Scott Hammond: … a meal

Roger Macdonald: … my… I cook a… I like to cook, so if I-

Scott Hammond: Anywhere you wanna go.

Roger Macdonald: I'll do it quick. So if I… I won't talk about my cooking. If I'm gonna go to dinner, um, I wanna go to Larrupin.

Scott Hammond: Larrupin.

Roger Macdonald: I wish it was closer because I can't walk to Larrupin.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: No. Well, you can if you have enough time.

Roger Macdonald: But when we get… I'll tell you, as a family, when we get there, you slow down, and you… It's consistent. I've been eating there for 35 years, like once or twice a year. It's, like, I don't go there all the time. But it's… I, I, I like that for a meal.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … I, uh… Shoot, I mean-

Scott Hammond: Never had a bad meal there.

Roger Macdonald: No. Gosh, no. It's the same thing all the time, but it's good.

Roger Macdonald: You know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Well, similar. Um-

Scott Hammond: They vary up fish and different specials.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah. I'm gonna miss Dutchie's.

Scott Hammond: Dutchie's.

Roger Macdonald: Call out Dutchie's Pizza.

Scott Hammond: Pizza.

Roger Macdonald: Couple weeks if you wanna get a pizza at Dutchie's.

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: That's… Is that in Arcata?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, it's in Arcata. 11th Street.

Scott Hammond: Right, right, right.

Roger Macdonald: 11th and K.

Scott Hammond: Yep. Used to be Cal Farm Insurance.

Roger Macdonald: Was it?

Scott Hammond: 100… Earl Miranda, great guy.

Roger Macdonald: Ah.

Scott Hammond: What a sweetheart.

Roger Macdonald: Another… You, you keep bringing people back. Earl Miranda, old family friend of, uh-

Scott Hammond: You used to know him?

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, of my, uh… Yeah.

Roger Macdonald: Not a m-

Scott Hammond: What a great guy

Roger Macdonald: … I mean, one of those things where I, I inherited all these old family friends.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Roger Macdonald: Earl's great. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What a sweetheart.

Roger Macdonald: He is.

Scott Hammond: Man, he was a really neat guy.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay, question two.

Roger Macdonald: Two. Go ahead.

Scott Hammond: Where do you go for coffee?

Roger Macdonald: Oh, man. Um-

Scott Hammond: You're a coffee drinker, are you?

Roger Macdonald: I'm a coffee drinker, and I gotta tell you that, um, my favorite spot, but a job doesn't allow me to be there so much, is, uh, Northtown Coffee in Arcata.

Scott Hammond: Nice. Okay.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Number three. You get to have a free cocktail and the night off. Where are you gonna go?

Roger Macdonald: Oh, where am I gonna go for a cocktail? And, yeah, and the night off to back that up. Um, I'm probably… I've only done this once. I'm probably gonna go to Moonstone. I'm probably gonna go to Moonstone Grill-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Roger Macdonald: … and, and have a drink up there.

Scott Hammond: The view is killer.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, with the view. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, okay.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Day off, you and Dina, whatever you wanna do. Tomorrow you got… Well, let's, let's pretend it's sunny tomorrow. It's probably not gonna be, but- What, what would you guys do with the-

Roger Macdonald: So we're starting off at our house?

Scott Hammond: What would you do? Yeah, what would you do with a day off?

Roger Macdonald: I think we'd get up. We'd get a fire going. Um, we'd make the coffee that we like to make. Go for a hike. Um, I think that, uh, a great day off would be… So Dina would say a great day off would be, uh, mushrooming somewhere-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Roger Macdonald: … and foraging. Um, it would involve hiking, cooking together, and some form of, of sporting activity, whether it be playing a little golf or something like that.

Scott Hammond: Last question: what do you wanna have, uh, said about y- your celebration of

Scott Hammond: life?

Roger Macdonald: Oh, my gosh.

Scott Hammond: Or your tombstone or-

Roger Macdonald: Um-

Scott Hammond: What are we reading about you?

Roger Macdonald: Wow, I would have no idea how to answer that other than, uh, I, I would hope that people would realize that, um, I don't know, that I, that I cared. You know, that it was, it was an intentional life, um, um, in the service of, of others and in my family.

Scott Hammond: Love it. Intentional. Thanks for coming, Roger.

Roger Macdonald: Thanks for having me.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate you.

Roger Macdonald: Yeah, appreciate you too. Thanks, Scott.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I'm gonna do my, uh, announcements now. So if we wanna know more about you or the school district, where do we… What website? Where… How, what would be the-

Roger Macdonald: If you are curious today and wanna know anything about our, our district-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Roger Macdonald: … you can go to nohum.org.

Scott Hammond: nohum.org.

Roger Macdonald: And you, you can find the phone number, find the email, and if you're, uh, if you either are, uh, already in our school district and thought that that was interesting and have questions, shoot me an email, or if you're-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Roger Macdonald: … interested in being part of our school district and you weren't, then-

Scott Hammond: There you go

Roger Macdonald: … shoot me an email. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: nohum.org.

Roger Macdonald: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate it. Well, everybody, Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Um, thanks for coming. Thank you, Roger. And, uh, we're, we are, uh, live on, uh, Access Humboldt. We're on YouTube. We're on all the podcast platforms and somewhere else. And we'd love you to like us, uh, share us, uh, maybe write something nice, and, uh, come back next week. Thanks very… again for coming, Roger.

Roger Macdonald: That was great. Thank you.