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A red day lily blooms in Jolene Grabill’s Collins Park garden. Photograph by Nick Krug.

Welcome to the fall 2022 edition of TopekaMagazine!

How has your autumn begun? For me, it has begun with exploring the usual delights. This is the time of year when I tend to get outside the most, combinations of walks and drives.

I particularly like some of the fall color runs around Topeka: Old River Road, Mill Creek Scenic Drive, or the short trip to Echo Cliff Park.

But there are also plenty of wonderful scenes inside the city: neighborhoods and parks that I love to find an excuse to drive by or walk through to check up on the scenery. Familiar, but with new surprises or additions each year.

That’s our goal as we wrap up 16 years of publication and look ahead to the coming year. We want to bring you updates on familiar aspects of the city, but also introduce you to new attractions, people, and possibilities close to home.

In this edition, we devote many pages to sharing stories from the working lives of a group of highly trained dogs who are making tremendous differences to the lives of their partners or the students they work with. The dogs are trained in Kansas and sent out across the United States, but we are fortunate to have many who call Topeka home.

We also have stories on an expertly planned garden, a world-renowned sport-stat guru, a quick fall Kansas getaway, and a 16-page insert section of Topeka Family Magazine. We hope you find something comfortingly familiar and excitingly new in these pages.

—NATHAN PETTENGILL, EDITOR

On the Cover Educator Hayley Van Amburg finishes a run with her trained facility dog, Montana.

PhotographbyBillStephens..

Editor Nathan Pettengill

Art Director/Designer Alex Tatro

Copy Editor Leslie Andres

Advertising Representative Angie Taylor ataylor@sunflowerpub.com (785) 832-7236

Photographers Bill Stephens Susan Kraus

Nick Krug

Writers Frank Barthell Melinda Briscoe

Jordan E. Brooks

Evan McHenry

Christine Steinkuehler

Bill Stephens

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Topeka Magazine is a publication of Sunflower Publishing, a division of Ogden Publications. Director: Bob Cucciniello Publisher: Bill Uhler

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Glenda Taylor Visual Arts: Jake Jackson

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DEPARTMENTS

10 PERFECT PLUS

Jolene Grabill got the small, manageable garden she always wanted—the adventure and stories were the delightful extras

14 ABILENE: IT STARTED HERE

A small city rich in Western history and full of family attractions, Abilene should be on your list of Kansas road trips this autumn

FEATURES

17 HIGHLY SKILLED & ENDLESSLY LOYAL

The graduates of a dog-training facility in Washington, Kansas, are transforming lives across the States and in homes and classrooms around Topeka

26 MINDS BLOWN

Topekan Paul Carr has earned an international reputation as one of the quickest, most authoritative sports-stats gurus

TOPEKA FAMILY

07 CLASSROOM WISDOM

A conversation with Dr. Jennifer Gordon about a life dedicated to public education

10 HOME ART PROJECTS: EVENT COLLAGE

Help young children anticipate, remember and further enjoy a city outing by commemorating it with a collage project

12 LEVEL 2, FOR ALL

A free, all-ages, state-of-the-art digital equipment and services center opens to Topeka

Project Expansion

Parks & Green Spaces, our partner from our summer 2021 project See Topeka: Parks and Green Spaces, is expanding its lineup of 1930s-style posters celebrating the outdoors. The latest group of posters commemorates locations across Kansas, such as the Flint Hills and the Kaw River National River Trail—all by Kansas artists. You can see and read more about the project at parksandgreenspaces.com. You can also see Topeka Magazine and Park & Green Space’s original SEE TOPEKA lineup of posters on display at the Great Overland Station through December 1.

Join Us?

As our publication continues to grow, we’re looking for new contributing writers to cover and submit stories about life in Topeka. Previous writing experience is highly preferred, but expertise in a subject field is also valued. If you are interested, send an email and resume to Topeka Magazine editor Nathan Pettengill at npettengill@ sunflowerpub.com.

Next Edition

The winter 2022 edition of Topeka Magazine arrives in early December and includes our next installment of our Topeka Top Tier selections, a section on senior living, and our usual range of stories concentrating on arts, culture, people, places and spaces of the Kansas capital.

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A birdbath of succulents provides a variety of textures and colors in a small space—a perfect combination for Jolene Grabill's compact, standout garden.

Perfect Plus

Jolene Grabill got the small, manageable garden she always wanted—the adventure and stories were the delightful extras

STORY BY Christine Steinkuehler | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Nick Krug

While many might dream of sprawling landscapes, Jolene Grabill was drawn to the tiny footprint of her 1920s Tudorstyle stone cottage in the Collins Park neighborhood. It reminded her of the Washington, DC, neighborhoods where she had lived for years, and it was the perfect size for herself and her King Charles cavalier spaniel, Chloe.

But one thing the house didn’t have was a garden. When Grabill moved in, there were a few marigolds and a dysfunctional sidewalk that went straight to the street instead of from the front door to the driveway. So, the first thing she tackled was the hardscape. Calling in landscape architect Ann Palmer for assistance, Grabill drew up a better connection to the driveway, a curving sidewalk with a low stone wall, beds in the front yard and a showcase spring snow crabapple.

Grabill also decided to add a path for the letter carrier, who would cross from yard to yard to deliver the mail. Crossing the yard had been fine when there were no flower beds, but with the flower beds she wanted to direct traffic, keeping her plants and the mail carrier safe. So she added another path running parallel to her home, and every carrier since she created this path has used it.

Grabill says one of the joys of a garden is observing how plants respond over time and adapting care for them to thrive. Finding the right place and the right amount of water is always a challenge, particularly with changing weather conditions. She has never had a irrigation system and feels that she can control watering better with a hose and a sprinkler. She prefers deep watering less often, but deep watering for one plant, like a Hosta, would kill another, like creeping thyme, which could be in the same zone if she had an automatic sprinkler.

Jolene Grabill and Chloe enjoy sitting in their garden. Grabill says one of the keys to a successful garden is observing how plants respond to different locations and conditions over time and adapting care routines to help them thrive.

Of course, any property has its challenging areas. One of these for Grabill is the median strip that she shares with her neighbor to the south. It dries out fast and is extremely hot because the hard surfaces on both sides reflect heat. Grabill has tried a number of different plants there; currently she and the neighbor are trying out herbs. But her biggest challenge is finding a place to grow sun-loving tomatoes. As her pin oak has grown, her garden has gone from being all-sun to all-shade. For now, Grabill has a couple tomatoes by the street among the perennials; if this placement doesn’t work, they will be somewhere else next year.

Walking around the garden, Grabill points to the peonies she received from a neighbor who was struggling with them; she plans to divide them and return some this fall. This network of fellow gardeners is something Grabill enjoys about her neighborhood, where many people have backyard gardens and like to discuss the weather, exchange plants and share gardening tips. Lately, the discussion has been about Japanese beetles, which were bad this year. Grabill picks them off by hand or uses soap on leaves. She has tried pheromone traps but believes they work well only when there is a lot of space between the trap and the flowers. Snails are another frequent pest; one year, her nieces killed over a hundred in one night with liberal dousings of salt. They haven’t returned in such numbers since.

Grabill’s Garden Stories

The Fairy Tale Tree

Spring snow crabapple was an appropriate name for the tree that Jolene Grabill first planted in her yard. Every spring, the tree dropped all of its white flowers in a day, giving off the appearance of a springtime snowstorm under its branches. Grabill describes it as something of a fairy tale tree, and it was one of her favorite plantings. Unfortunately, the tree died last year, an odd experience, as Grabill notes, because “you don’t think that you are going to outlive the trees that you plant.” Now, it lives on in her memory, and a fresh, healthy hydrangea has taken its place.

Holidays

Since moving to the College Hill neighborhood, Grabill has joined other neighbors who decorate their yards and gardens for the holidays. One of the biggest events is the annual 4th of July parade, which was started by four neighborhood mothers who had a daycare collective and wanted to plan an activity for their children. That first year, they handed out fliers, and 150 people came. That was 51 years ago, and more people come every year. Grabill can be counted on for a house full of friends and family and a garden full of decorations for the occasion. In the spirit of the event, Grabill decorates a small statue of Abraham Lincoln in her yard and hangs flags and buntings. The neighborhood has also decorated for other occasions. For many years, the neighbors placed candle-lit luminaries along their garden walks and driveways during the Christmas season. But after four fires, the city fire department asked them to abandon this tradition. Wreaths are now popular.

Home history

Grabill says she prefers watering by hand in order to give each plant individualized amounts and frequencies. What might be good for a particular Hosta might not be good for a neighboring day lily.

Jolene has located the surveying pins on her property and has the original plat for the property. She has also learned that her home was built by the first homeowner, not a professional builder. One of her former neighbors who grew up across the park from her house remembered watching the man come over to the building site every night and put up another course or so of stone after work each day until the house was completed. The landscape and garden were not necessarily affected by the amateur construction, but nothing

in the house is quite standard. Jolene enjoys and makes use of these quirky spaces, one of which is the breezeway to the garage, which she turned into work area.

Grabill loves these plants and additions for Topeka gardens

• Caladium—particularly the jumbo variety; spectacular

• Toad/candy lily—elegant and not often used; they resemble an orchid

• Virginia bluebells—colorful and classy

• Pine bark mulch—provides a beautiful background for plants and improves soil conditions; does not recommend using mulch with dyes

Every home/garden should have … King Charles cavalier spaniels are the perfect home/garden companion. There isn’t much scientific proof, but Grabill loves them, has been active in rescue organizations and has had this breed as a companion for over 26 years.

Although Grabill has been in her home for more than 30 years, she says there are still spots in the garden she hasn’t decided what exactly to do with. And there’s always changes to be made. She put flagstones in the backyard, moved the air conditioner to expand flower beds, and is contemplating renovating her deck. The small backyard has hosted potted plants, many on rollers so they can be moved around to catch the sun, and some perennials such as Hostas and sedums, which are brought inside for the winter.

Retired from her work as a lobbyist, Grabill sometimes works as a landscaper, drawing on her own experience as well as her family heritage. She grew up on a farm where both her father and her grandfather were gardeners and says that she has developed her gardening skills by relying on a foundation of instinct and inheritance.

A great garden should reflect the location, the home, and the owner—and Grabill’s garden does just that.

Abilene: It Started Here

STORY BY Frank Barthell | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Susan Kraus

“What is one thing folks in Abilene know about their town, that travelers passing through are missing?” I posed this question to several Abilene residents on a recent trip. Their responses came down to this: “It started here.”

“It” refers to several firsts in this former cattle town: first and foremost, the American cattle drive. In August 1867, a herd of some 2,400 long-horned cattle arrived in Abilene, driven from Texas along the Chisholm Trail. A month later, the Kansas Pacific railroad shipped them to markets back east. It’s said that 35,000 head of cattle were shipped from this small Kansas town that year. The cattle drive, a consequential slice of American history, may be fully appreciated by visiting the place where it began.

Abilene officials recreate a historic cattle drive. The city grew in size and economic power by becoming the point where cattle that had been driven from the South would board trains for the slaughter yards.

From Topeka, Abilene is a short stretch (90 minutes) straight west on I-70. You can easily leave in the morning and return the same day or make a short weekend trip.

A small city rich in Western history and full of family attractions, Abilene should be on your list of Kansas road trips this autumn

Start just two miles south of Interstate 70 in Old Abilene Town, an award winning, recreated Wild West experience covering one block of replica storefronts. Meet the lawmen and witness recreated gunfights of old; enjoy the saloon performances, then board the stagecoach. In season, keep your eyes peeled for the longhorn cattle, some two dozen especially trained for this work, driven through Texas Street. It’s straight from old West mythology, but as accurate as can be. Even many of Abilene’s historical reenactors base their personas on citizens from history.

For a more detailed picture, step inside the Great Western Cattle Company office. The centerpiece is a scale model of the city, circa 1871, showing locations of Abilene’s 10 saloons, five general stores and four hotels. Visitors hear stories of Abilene lawmen Wild Bill Hickok and Tom “Bear River” Smith, the all-night saloons, gambling, prostitution, and deadly gunfights.

But Abilene quickly changed. By 1872 the townspeople “were fed up with the cowboys, prostitutes, shootings, gambling and drinking that had gone into giving Abilene the ‘sin city’ reputation,” according to accounts by J.B. Edwards, an Abilene merchant of the time. The town voted to shut out the cattle business. Gradually the new cash cow for the city moved from animal to plant. Winter wheat proved to be hearty enough to grow in Kansas with enough now-empty pastureland to grow it.

You can get an appreciation for this industrial and farmland transformation by climbing aboard a train on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad for a two-hour round trip through the Kansas prairie and harvest fields, coupled with a conductor interweaving histories of the steam engine, railroad, and the growth of Kansas agriculture. Four times a year, the railroad offers a dinner on the rails. No wonder the Saturday Evening Post included this railroad line as one of the seven best steamengine train trips in the U.S.

A 10-minute walk from the train depot gets visitors to the Dickinson County Heritage Center. Among the many

discoveries are an original pioneer log cabin and the Museum of Independent Telephony, which describes Abilene’s origins of the company that became Sprint Telecommunications.

The website Travel Awaits rates Abilene the #1 Favorite U.S. Small Town and #1 Friendliest U.S. Small Town. And what noteworthy small town doesn’t feature a carousel? Charles W. Parker, sometimes called the “Amusement King,” completed the 24-horse, four chariot, 40-feet-in-diameter carousel in his Abilene shop in 1901. It’s located just outside the Heritage Center and worth taking a few spins.

Seven decades later, a student in an Emporia State men’s choir got his first look at a run-down mansion in Abilene as he drove past on a school trip. Terry Tietjens later assured his friends he would live in that 1905 mansion on day. He fulfilled his dream. Since 1985, Terry has been leading tours of this 11,000-square-foot mansion. It’s named after Dr. A. B. Seelye, an Abilene doctor who manufactured and distributed pharmaceutical drugs from home. His medicine lab is as impressive as the rest of the mansion. Original furnishings remain, including those from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, lighting designed by Thomas Edison, and Victorian phonographs that still work. Plus, there’s a working antique “box ball” bowling alley in the basement.

If there was ever a U.S. president made for his times, it was the man from Abilene, Dwight David Eisenhower. Affectionately known as “Ike,” he was a respected soldier, president, and world leader. His Kansas heritage is found throughout the 22-acre grounds and inside the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home. Leave time to comprehend the full scope of his leadership directing the June 1944 D-Day invasion when the balance of the free world seemed to rest on his shoulders.

Abilene has earned its place in American history. Since the first arrival of the longhorn in 1867, this city has never been just a drive-by town. To the contrary, according to the Midwest Travel Network, Abilene is the #1 destination for 2022. And it’s just down the road for a perfect autumn road trip.

A historical reenactor greets visitors at the 1857 Cabin on the grounds of the Dickinson County Heritage Center.

"I Learned to Serve My Community"

Dr. Jennifer Gordon on a life

A ONCE UPON A TIME

THAT NEVER ENDS

Watch school readiness skills almost magically unfold and experience the delight of sharing stories with your child.

Editor Nathan Pettengill

Director/Designer Alex Tatro

Editor Leslie Andres

Taylor

Photographers Nick Krug Bill Stephens

Writers Melinda Briscoe

E. Brooks Bill Stephens

Topeka

Welcome to our second edition of TopekaFamilyMagazine!

In these pages, we continue our series of interviews with distinguished educators from Topeka. And what a delight it was to talk with Dr. Jennifer Gordon about her life dedicated to improving the lives and perspectives of countless students. A Kansas native from Salina with a family heritage of education, Gordon brought that balance of being able to understand her students while also challenging them to reach higher goals. We hope you enjoy reading about her life and the wisdom she shares.

For the cooler months ahead, we also bring a new section with artist Jordan E. Brooks demonstrating accessible home art projects for younger students, as well as a focus on a new technological education and creative center at the public library that will reward students of all ages.

We hope you enjoy these stories and look forward to bringing you more in the future.

—NATHAN PETTENGILL, EDITOR

On the Cover

Dr. Jennifer Gordon sits outside McClure Elementary School where she served for many years as principal.

PhotographbyNickKrug

Begin your child’s learning journey at your library

From the time they place that wiggly bundle in your arms, until you wave goodbye to them on their first day of school, parents are their child’s first teachers. The public library will help you be an amazing teacher with programs that teach children structure and social skills as they develop the love of reading and learning. The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s community impact goal of “Every Child will be ready for Kindergarten” is a commitment to provide experienced librarian educators armed with research and resources to help kids learn through play. Here are some of the ways the library will help prepare your child for school.

Eloise has read 1000 books and so can your child!

“Eloise has always loved for us, as a family, to read books! We started reading with her when she was just a newborn. Her love of books and learning has grown more and more over the years. We are so blessed to have the Topeka (and Shawnee County) Public Library with all the opportunities that they’ve given us. We love going to story times at the library and exploring the Learn & Play Bus. At storytime we learned about the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, and Eloise was determined to finish her goal! When she finished it, she was so excited to get all dressed up and go to the library for her bag and prizes!” —Joseph & Nicole, Eloise’s parents

How can I possibly read 1000 books with my child?

1000 books before kindergarten sounds like a lot. However, it’s not as hard as you think. If you read one book a day, you’ll finish 1095 books in three years. Or if you read three books a day, you’ll finish in less than a year. A newborn baby has about 2000 days before starting kindergarten. Lastly, you don’t need to read 1000 unique books. If you read the same book 10 times, that counts as 10 books.

Is this REALLY important?

Yes! Research shows reading to your child is the most reliable predictor of school success. Reading will:

• Teach pre-literacy skills

• Build vocabulary

• Foster problem-solving

• Create bonds between child and reader

• Encourage lifelong reading habits

Here’s how to start reading and earn rewards

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is free and easy. Sign up online through Beanstack or inside the library at the Kids Library desk. Next, read to your child anywhere. Keep track of the books you read in Beanstack or with a paper log sheet. When your child finishes reading 100 books, visit the Kids Library to receive a special reward. Contact 1000books@tscpl. org and we will get it ready for you. Your child will continue to receive a special reward for every 100 books read.

Imagine getting 60 FREE books!

Having books in the home is essential for children to be able to read with you and mimic reading on their own. The Dolly Parton’s

Imagination Library is for Shawnee County children newborn up to age 5. It’s easy to register so your child will begin receiving a FREE book a month mailed directly to your home. The Imagination Library is a 60-volume set of books (birth until 5th birthday) beginning with the children’s classic The Little Engine

That Could. The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Friends of Library, The Library Foundation, and United Way of Greater Topeka and the Kansas Children’s Cabinet fund this project for our community.

Learn & Play Bus

The Learn & Play Bus is the library’s mobile preschool where families with children 5 years old and younger participate in storytime, playtime, check out books and create art. Children learn best through play. Families are welcome to come and go as needed.

The library is for everyone

The library is a welcoming place for more than 45,000 children in Shawnee County. It’s a place to meet with friends, get homework projects done, read comics and discover more about your child’s current “why” question.

To learn more about our collections, resources and events scan the QR code.

FSGC introduces integrated youth substance use treatment to community

Sometimes the pressure of growing up can overwhelm a child or teen: pressure to fit in, have a lot of friends, get good grades and make their own decisions. All of that can result in a range of mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression.

To escape, some youth experiment with alcohol and drugs. Sadly, some start using them regularly, and it takes them down a dark, dangerous path.

Now, children and teens in Topeka have a new local partner in recovery—and this partner takes a state-of-the-art approach.

Family Service & Guidance Center has established an integrated youth Substance Use Treatment Program. Integrated care is a model in which mental health professionals trained and licensed to treat both mental health and substance-use disorders work closely with the youth and their family to address these problems simultaneously. Most providers are certified to treat one or the other but not both. So, youth have to see multiple counselors in multiple locations.

“Children and teens are facing more stress and mental health challenges than ever before,” said Kathy Mosher, CEO of Family Service & Guidance Center. “Since the pandemic, the number of Shawnee County students who said they ‘felt hopeless’ increased by 32 percent. Sadly, more and more are self-medicating and turning to drugs and alcohol, and there was no place local where they could get the help they needed in one location. FSGC has stepped up to bridge that gap.”

Approximately 60–70 percent of youth being treated for substance use disorders are also living with a mental health challenge. Dana Schwarz, substance use disorder team manager at FSGC, explained the importance of an integrated approach.

“This is better for the youth and their family because barriers to service have been removed. Integrated care provides a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ where youth and their families can get all the help they need and have the best chance for positive outcomes and a lasting recovery. Our goal is to treat the whole person—not just one specific area,” she explained.

No referrals are necessary to engage in FSGC’s Substance Use Treatment Program. The program can also be utilized for youth who have been court ordered to have an evaluation or suspended from school for substance use.

When youth enter a treatment program, they are first evaluated to determine their level of need. For now, FSGC’s program is done on an outpatient basis for youth who require five hours of treatment or less each week. In the near future, the program will grow to include intensive outpatient treatment of up to 12 hours per week. By summer 2023, FSGC’s Youth Crisis & Recovery Center will have eight substance-use treatment beds and will offer up to 28 days of in-patient treatment to youth for whom it is appropriate.

For more information on Family Service & Guidance Center’s adolescent Substance Use Treatment Program, call 785.232.5005.

Dr. Jennifer Gordon recently retired from a distinguished career as a public education principal in Topeka.

Classroom Wisdom

A conversation with Dr. Jennifer Gordon about a life dedicated to public education

STORY BY Melinda Briscoe PHOTOGRAPHY BY Nick Krug

“I learned to serve my community from my mother [Peggy Rodgers],” says Dr. Jennifer Gordon. “Mom always had some sort of project going and I knew I’d be doing the same thing.”

And Gordon did exactly that. After graduating from Kansas Wesleyan University in 1973, she went on to earn her administrative certification from Washburn University and both her master’s and PhD from Kansas State University before dedicating her life to public education in schools at Salina and Topeka. Her last job was as principal of McClure Elementary, where she retired in 2021. Being retired allows Gordon to spend more time with her husband of 50 years, Loring, her seven children, thirteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild. But Gordon refuses to slow down. She has three children’s books in the works and sits on different boards and committees.

“My bucket list hasn’t went anywhere,” she says with a smile. “I still have a lot I want to do.”

Topeka Family Magazine (TFM): When and where was your first day as an educator? Does anything about that day stick out for you?

Dr. Jennifer Gordon (JG): I began my first day as an educator in 1991 as a paraprofessional in a kindergarten classroom at Hawthorne Elementary School in Salina, Kansas. That was the school that my grandmother, my older brother, my sons and daughter, and I attended. The teacher really didn’t want me in her classroom, so she gave me a student desk that she sat behind her upright piano. One day, a student asked me to read her a story, and she selected a book from the teacher’s classroom library. It was a copy of Little Black Sambo [a book originally released in the late 1800s with notorious racist depictions of the main character]. Boy, was I shocked to see a copy of that book in the 1970s! The lack of children’s books with positive images for children of color became a passion of mine as I raised my own children and worked on my dissertation.

TFM: Did you have any mentors in your first few years as a teacher?

JG: The late Lois Gay, the principal at Hawthorne at that time, was the person I later modeled my principalship after. Her commitment to her building was undeniable. The feeling that I got from watching her operate was [that] nothing [was] too good for her students and school. Later, when I was hired as principal for Scott Computer Technology Magnet School [now Scott Dual Language Magnet Elementary School in Topeka], my mentor was the

former principal, Nancy Hedstrom. She was experienced, organized, and innovative. I learned a lot from her.

TFM: What were the biggest challenges in the early days of your career?

JG: In 2002 at Scott Computer Technology, my biggest challenge was having to hire new staff to teach in our innercity school. I was always concerned that many first-year teachers were not as prepared as I would have liked them to be, especially if they did their student teaching in other school districts.

TFM: Did you always intend to become a principal?

JG: No. When I was completing my PhD, all of my course work was in the area of curriculum and instruction. I wanted to work in professional development. One professor at K-State was riding in the elevator with me, and he suggested that I go into administration. I told him that I had no interest in administration. Little did I know that that is where I would end up, and I loved it!

TFM: Can you tell us about a highlight for you as principal?

JG: Some of the accomplishments that I am most proud came as I was leading McClure Elementary in character education. Our work led us to be recognized at the state, national, and international levels. Our school earned recognition as a State School of Character in 2017 and 2022, and as a National School of Character in 2017. What was most outstanding is that our first effort gained us both the State and National School of

Character on first application. We were told that this had never happened for any school!

We were able to present our entire school on the international stage during International Character Day where we participated in an international Zoom event, doing our Good Character Chant. Our development of “House Families,” after the renowned Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta [an innovative nonprofit elementary school that has gained national attention for its approach to teaching], was awarded an “honorable mention” from Ron Clark himself in 2020. We were so thrilled.

TFM: What is the difference in teaching elementary school students and older students?

JG: Both groups of students have their own sets of needs and challenges. For me the position as an elementary school principal was about fulfilling my mission to serve children and families. So, the challenges always became how can we better meet their needs and how can we find solutions to their challenges? I love elementary aged students, and I’ve always thought of challenges as opportunities.

TFM: Do you still get a bit of teacher anxiety when the first day of school rolls around?

JG: No, I don’t. I didn’t retire until I knew that I had given my best and my all. I knew in my heart that it was time for me to leave.

TFM: Can you talk about how technology changed for teachers through the years?

JG: When I started at Scott Magnet, we had computers for every student. That wasn’t the case at some of the other schools. Thankfully that has changed. There are iPads or Chromebooks for every student.

TFM: Your last day was filled with flowers and accolades. Does anything else about that day remain fresh on your mind?

JG: The staff organized two weeks of festivities before I retired, and I brought flowers home for two weeks!! The staff and Superintendent Dr. Anderson hosted a Zoom retirement celebration for me since we were limited in gatherings at that time. It was great to see friends from Lawrence, Kansas City, and North Carolina at my retirement. The school and district placed a Buddy Bench on the playground and planted a tree in my honor. The Topeka Chapter of the Links, Inc. also placed a PoSITivity Bench on the playground in my honor. Another thing about my last day, I wore false eyelashes as an insurance policy to not cry. By the end of the day, that strategy had failed. You can’t get any more ridiculous looking than a principal with one eyelash on.

This chuckle brought

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Topeka

Home Art Projects:Event Collage

Help young children anticipate, remember and further enjoy a city outing by commemorating it with a collage project

STORY BY Jordan E. Brooks PHOTOGRAPHY BY Bill Stephens

In my work teaching young students, I’ve found that art projects can be a wonderful way to have them focus on a recent or upcoming event, to prepare for or to relive and commemorate an outing together.

For example, if you are taking a child to the zoo, you might encourage them to share their impressions by finding a photo or drawing of their favorite animal from the trip and making it the central piece of a collage and then using it to talk about the outing. This encourages sharing joys and perspectives of a time spent together.

But even without an event to draw their focus, collages can be a fun, affordable art project for young children. Being creative as well as recycling something into a second life is always a beautiful habit to encourage! Many print materials can be found around your house. Even a copy of a favorite poem or story section from a child’s old book can add an element of depth and thought. When a child creates a collage, they are using their creativity and spatial awareness to design and construct their own abstract puzzle.

Once your child has selected and laid out their collage pieces, they can then glue them down and begin writing or drawing on top of them.

Why on top? Why not?

From an art perspective, drawing in words and designs on the top helps children understand layering and planning for spatial relations. It also adds a final layer of commentary and ownership, encouraging the child to share what they thought about the experience.

Once a layer is dried, the first few steps can be repeated until the child is satisfied with the total look of the collage. Younger artists might need some help in knowing how much glue to apply and how long to allow layers to dry, but there is no wrong way for them to create something that should be uniquely theirs.

Enjoy. Have fun. Stay creative, friends!

Artist and educator Jordan E. Brooks recommends collages as an accessible art project that teaches children about spatial relations, creativity, and reflecting on memorable events.

Step by step

Step 1: Select a surface for the collage (thick paper, cardboard or even a canvas)

Step 2: Set up your area with images/text, scissors, and glue.

Step 3: Build a collage by placing or layering the images/text on the paper or cardboard. Don’t glue anything down yet. Like with a puzzle, figure which pieces you really want to be there before permanently fixing them there.

Step 4: Glue the layers to the paper or cardboard and allow to dry for 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 5: With each layer, test if collage is dry by running a finger along surface. If it is dry, then begin hand-drawing images, words, or graffiti over the most recent layer if the child wishes.

Step 6: Continue to add layers as desired, and allow for drying time.

Event booklets or brochures can be recycled to create personalized reflections on recent trips or outings.

Level 2,For All

A free, all-ages, state-of-the-art digital equipment and services center opens to Topeka

The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library recently opened its newest high-tech facility, free to access and available to any library card holder. The Level 2 Tech Center contains more than 30 high-end Dell computers, a fully equipped recording studio, photo and video studio, and a digital art studio complete with a Cricut cutting machine, 3D printers and 3D scanner, and all of the software needed to allow users to expand their skills. The studios have a mixture of iMac and Dell computers.

“This second-floor location used to be for book processing, mending, and staff offices,” explains Debbie Stanton, the library’s public services supervisor. With all of the new equipment it has become a 5,700 squarefoot smorgasbord of technology, with staff members ready to train young and old users. “Many of the library staff possess a thorough understanding of different pieces of our technology and I am leveraging that through cross-departmental staffing. When we have a library user who needs help with Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom or choosing the correct microphone for their podcast

or recording, I know which of the staff to contact for assistance,” Stanton says.

“The Tech Center is part of the library’s long-range master facility plan and addresses the needs of members of our community who are looking for advanced technology tools used in business and personal life,” says Diana Friend, the library’s communications and marketing director. This ambitious master plan is the same plan that has led to the recent renovations of the bathrooms, lobby, café, and gallery.

Construction of Level 2 began in 2019, and once the physical space was complete, the technological components were given the latest upgrades. For example, the 30 Dell computers in the main area are each loaded with software such as latest Microsoft Office applications and have high-speed internet access. The center’s five small meeting rooms are equipped with monitors, webcams, speakers and software. These rooms are great for virtual meetings, remote work, and video interviews or consultations. The inside wall is floor-to-ceiling glass, but much of it is frosted so those inside will have some privacy.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY Bill Stephens

Though all the stations are open for drop-in patrons, the staff suggests you reserve a three-hour block in advance.

Two studios are available specifically for reservations. The first, the recording studio, has several microphones, headphones, an iMac computer loaded with Adobe Audition and Garage Band, both popular audio creation and mixing platforms. A PreSonus audio interface connects the mics to the computer. A small music keyboard is also part of the studio. “This room can be used for podcasts, music recording, and interviews for audio projects,” Stanton says.

“It is soundproofed to a level of 80 decibels, enough to keep the sound level so low that people outside the room cannot hear what is going inside the room.” Both dynamic and condenser microphones are available.

The other separate studio is for photography and video production. It is equipped with two Panasonic Lumix cameras that feed a Pearl mini video interface. It in turn feeds an iMac computer for recording and editing the video. Ample lighting is provided with two large white umbrellas on stands. A large ring light is also available. A large green screen is in place on one of the walls if you want Niagara Falls or an inviting beach scene as

your background. You can also bring your own camera equipment and use it if you choose.

Before a patron can use any of the special equipment in the Level 2 Tech Center, they must attend an orientation class that explains how the equipment works and how to achieve the desired results. These one-hour courses provide patrons with the skills to use the equipment independently although staff always is available to answer questions.

The digital art studio has a mixture of iMac and Dell PCs loaded with the Adobe Creative Suite software. Among other things, these computers can be used for postproduction editing of video and audio files. They are also loaded with the Mac software iLife Suite.

Another popular feature of the digital art studio is the Cricut cutting machine, which allows the user to create projects using popular craft materials like cardstock, vinyl and iron-on materials. Users can create their projects using the on-site computer and software, or they can bring a digital file with them that they have created elsewhere.

A 3D scanner is available to digitize objects that are placed on a rotating stage and scanned from all sides. 3D printers are available to print 3D replicas of items;

Debbie Stanton, the library's public services supervisor, demonstrates Level 2's digital art studio.

however, if the item is large, it may require hours to complete. Cura software is used to drive both the scanner and printers.

A practical use of these facilities, beyond learning new skills to create projects, is to assist the users with building or fine-tuning their resumes. High-quality portraits can be made at no cost in the photo studio, and the staff can assist with ideas for getting that resume into the computer and printed to give to prospective employers.

Legal forms needed for everyday life are conveniently located in the tech center. Dozens of forms are available, from making a will to setting a rental agreement. The

library’s business team provides help with resume building, job hunting and using other common forms.

“Regardless of your skill level, the library has the staff, equipment, software and training to help you level up your tech game,” says library CEO Marie Pyko. “You can try new ideas, expand your skills and polish your projects without investing in the technology yourself.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing what customers do creatively with these new tools and resources,” says Todd Smith, the emerging technologies librarian. “I think cardholders will appreciate this space devoted to exploring and learning technology.”

CLOCKWISE

FROM TOP: Debbie Stanton and Diana Friend demonstrate the Level 2 production studio. Stanton holds up an alien head created on the center's 3D printer. A sign in the library entry rotunda directs visitors to Level 2.

That’s why Family Service & Guidance Center offers the Real-World Parenting Series. It can help make parenting a little easier.

Each month, there’s a different kids’ mental health topic. FSGC posts short videos about the topic on Facebook. Parents and caregivers can also join a FREE, one-hour Q&A session via Zoom on the fourth Thursday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Submit and ask questions about the topic and an experienced FSGC professional will answer them.

Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/FSGCtopeka.

Register for Zoom Q&As at FSGCtopeka.com/parenting.

Parenting is the toughest job in the world.

Highly skilled Endlessly loyal

The graduates of a dog-training facility in Washington, Kansas, are transforming lives across the States and in homes and classrooms around Topeka STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY Bill Stephens

W hen teacher Hayley Van Amburg is out in Topeka, she occasionally runs into one of her students, and most of them are eager to say “hello,” but not necessarily to her, at least not at first. That honor goes to her dog, Montana.

“The kids … recognize us, burst into a smile, come bounding over to where we are and look me in the eye and say: ‘Hi, Montana!’ and go in for a big hug. They always get their faces licked!” Van Amburg explains. “I just don’t exist. They only see Montana,” she adds with a smile.

State Street’s favorite Montana is a two-year-old yellow Labrador retriever who joins Van Amburg in her work as a counselor at State Street School in Oakland. In fact, this work is Montana’s work as well. Facility dogs like Montana serve in schools, hospitals, and courtrooms, usually to provide comfort and support for children in need of companionship. Montana trained to

become a facility dog in Washington, Kansas, at the KSDA Assistance Dogs program. In addition to preparing facility dogs, the center also trains guide dogs and service dogs. Their training is such demand that there is a long waiting list for people to work with the graduate dogs.

“When I went to Washington to receive my training and be paired with Montana, it was the culmination of a four-year wait,” Van Amburg explains. “I was on the waiting list that long.”

But once Montana and Van Amburg were paired and trained, they immediately reported to duty at State Street School.

“Montana helps me work with the children,” Van Amburg says. “Many of them have problems at home, and we have found that a furry friend that they can cuddle with and unload their emotional burdens on is very useful,” she explains. “As an added bonus, everybody likes her friendly disposition and wants to hug her.”

While at work, Montana wears a distinctive vest. The children and staff know this uniform signifies she is concentrating on the tasks she was trained to fulfill. Though she does not frolic while working, Montana’s professional duties allow her to be her warm and loving self. After school hours, Montana’s vest comes off, and she transforms into a playful two-year-old puppy who shares a home with three cats and an owner who leads an active life well suited to a 65-pound puppy with plenty of energy.

“Montana and I spend our off-the-clock time walking or running,” Van Amburg says. “She just wears a regular leash like any other dog unless we are playing catch or playing with the Frisbee or Chuckit. Then she only wears her standard collar. If we see some kids on our outings, they understand the difference between play mode and work mode.”

Hayley Van Amburg treats Montana to runs and walks when the two of them are not working at State Street School.

‘To regain that independence’

Sitting on the steps of his back porch in Overbrook, Bill Dain scratches behind the ears of his guide dog, Bogey. Bogey’s eyes are half-closed as he enjoys the attention and the relaxation of being just a dog. But once Bill puts Bogey’s harness on, the dog instantly goes into working mode, responsible for Bill’s safety and well-being.

Diagnosed with a condition in 1990 that led to blindness in 1996, Dain began training with guide dogs and has relied on them ever since. In fact, Bogey is his fourth guide dog. The ashes of his three previous guide dogs, Lego, Bronco and Kirkcaldy, reside on a shelf in Dain’s house as a reminder of their times together and the love he holds for them. “When my time comes to go, they will be buried with me,” Dain says.

The dogs have not only created an unbreakable bond with Dain but also given him a quality of life that he values.

“Independence,” Dain explains. “Independence is what I missed most as I was losing my sight. My guide dog allows me to regain that independence. I don’t need my wife or a friend to lead me wherever I go. The dog does that.”

Four years ago, Dain and Bogey were paired after they trained together at the KSDS facility in Washington. All recipients of KSDS dogs must spend a week on the campus for training on working with a guide dog even if they have been there before.

Back in Overbrook, Dain and Bogey have mastered daily routines. Dain’s wife drives him to the city building, the post office, or on shopping trips. When they arrive, Bogey takes over and provides guidance through the locations and leads Dain to the cashier or window that is open and with the shortest line. “He knows my routine so well that if I am at the grocery store I just need to say ‘milk’ and he will take me to that aisle,” Dain explains. “‘Hamburger’ will prompt Bogey to head to that part of the store.”

Though Dain is retired from managing cafeterias in the Landon and Docking State Office Buildings in Topeka, his previous service dogs allowed him to carry out the varied responsibilities of his job. During that same time, in 2001, he also earned an associate degree in business from Topeka Technical School with a service dog at his side.

Giving back to the community is important to Bill. He has gone to the Topeka Correctional Facility and talked to the women who participate in the facility’s dog-training program, Pooches and Pals Program. He also is a frequent speaker at area grade schools and nursing homes where he answers questions about life without vision and with his canine companion.

He says losing sight is a devastating reality, but the assistance of his guide dogs has allowed him to adapt and adjust.

Bill Dain says service dogs such as Bogey have helped him regain independence after he lost his vision.

After 18 months of individual training, KSDS dogs return to Washington for a series of evaluations that will determine their role (facility, service, or guide dog) and the person with whom they will work. Paired up, the dog and person also begin a final training session at Washington before beginning their new life together.

‘Changing lives, one dog at a time’

“We like to think that we are changing lives one dog at a time,” says Bob Bartkoski, board chairman of the KSDS. “We provide professionally trained guide, service, and facility dogs for those in need of a canine partner to enhance their independence, to fully function in society, or to enrich professional career responsibilities with the ongoing support of our trainers.”

Bartkoski and his staff of 13 provide this training at their seven-building campus, which has graduated more than 600 dogs since opening in the early 1990s after it began as a Washington County 4-H project. More than half of these 600 graduates have gone on to work outside of Kansas, in 36 different states including Alaska, Florida, Virginia and California.

“Graduates” is the proper term for these dogs because the process of becoming a trained guide, service or facility dog can run from 18 months to two years, comparable to other educational programs.

Training begins with the breeding, which is done on-campus. The breeding and whelping take place in a designated wing of one of the buildings, and a strict biohazard protocol is followed, allowing only certain people access and requiring shoe covers and scrubs be worn to protect the animals from outside contamination.

Mothers and pups remain together for eight weeks in the canine housing unit that contains indoor kennels and outside play areas. “One of the highlights of this time is our Puppy Playtime when we invite the public to sign up and come on campus to socialize with the pups when they are three weeks old,” explains Eliza Benteman, the KSDS canine housing unit coordinator. This event serves at least two purposes: it allows the public to see what happens on the campus, and it helps puppies learn to accept and socialize with people.

During this time, the puppies are constantly evaluated to monitor their health and to observe their personalities. These evaluations are key components of determining where they will go on their next step, when they are handed off to puppy raisers eight weeks after birth. The puppy raisers are a select group of volunteers from all demographics and in locations such as New York, Minnesota and Texas. They travel to the Washington campus to pick up their pups and go through an orientation program.

“The orientation is required if they are a veteran puppy raiser or a first-timer,” says Kayanna Volkman, the KSDS puppy raiser coordinator. “The next 18 months of the dogs’ life will be their formative years when they grow accustomed to routines involving walks, eating, and learning to be around people. House manners, basic obedience and socialization are also stressed,” she adds.

The puppy raisers teach the dogs about 40 commands in the 18 months they are together. Standard commands include heel, find curb, stay, closer, find table, down and under (used when the partner wants the dog to rest under a table).

The puppy raisers also began to teach more complicated tasks that require careful observation on the part of the dogs. For instance, if the trainer starts to move away from the dog and starts on their left foot, the dog should follow and heel by staying on the left side of the partner. If they leave and start on their right foot, the dog should stay in place.

During the 18-month stretch with the puppy raisers, the dogs will make a couple of trips back to campus for evaluation. Here, they are tested on their new skills and on how they are developing in their confidence level and their ability to socialize. Only after they have successfully passed these behavior checks will they be paired with a human partner.

Advanced Training

Recently, Kelly Miller, a Hutchinson resident who has been blind since childhood, was on the Washington campus to bond with her partner, Emerald. They had finished one week of a twoweek program, and Miller was noticing a difference in her life.

“I can already tell that this dog has changed my life by making me more independent,” Miller says. “We are together 24/7. Something as simple as getting to and from the restroom at a restaurant is now possible for me. Emerald heels and helps me avoid tables and obstacles along the way.”

Debbie Tegethoff, the KSDS lead guide dog instructor, recently took Miller and Emerald to Topeka’s West Ridge Mall to practice using escalators. As Tegethoff observed, Miller and Emerald approached the escalator and felt the entrance. Miller gave spoken commands, and the team was on its way up to the second level. Though Emerald was a little skittish on the first run, the pair ascended and descended many times with no problem.

Part of the advanced coursework at KSDS is for the dogs to use what trainers call “intelligent disobedience” if their human partner asks them to do something the dog assesses as dangerous. An example would be telling the dog to go over a curb where there is not a ramp or step somewhere that may not be solid. In these cases, the dog must redirect the human or indicate to them that there is a reason the command is not being followed.

The on-campus training also includes many hours of learning to interact with other people, dogs and distractions. Miller and Emerald were part of an exercise where four dogs and trainers sat in a circle and many stuffed toys were on the ground all around. Some of the toys made noises and moved. The dogs stayed quietly by the side of the chairs that their partners were in. All of a sudden, a person appeared dressed in a cow suit and went up to each dog to interact. The dogs were a little puzzled at the strange costume, but all remained calm. Another person ran into the room in a Pennywhistle scary clown face mask and that elicited a few barks, but the canines remained calm. As a final distraction, little brown treats were scattered on the floor around the dogs, but there were no takers. Then treats were placed on the dog’s paws, and they still refrained from eating them. In all these instances, the canines did exactly what they were supposed to do—they remained focused on attending to the needs of their partners.

Some training is particular to the type of work a dog will be doing. For example, service dog Mocha was working on retrieving dropped objects with lead service dog instructor Annette Kohlmeyer. In these exercises, Kohlmeyer sits in a wheelchair with Mocha at her side. She will fumble and drop items such as a TV remote, a cell phone, car keys, and a credit card. Mocha, in turn, is to retrieve the items and return them to Annette. Mocha can also put her jaws around Annette’s shoes and remove them for her. Next comes the socks, and they are also expertly removed. These are tasks that are not necessarily easy for a dog to learn, but may be very difficult or impossible for a person with limited mobility or strength.

Naming the KSDS Puppies

When a new litter is born at KSDS, all the puppies in that litter are given a name corresponding to a common theme. One litter theme was “Reindeer,” and the pups in that litter were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, etc. Another theme was “Shades of Green,” and the pups were Emerald, Neon, Pine, etc. Another theme was “Famous People with Disabilities,” which led to pups named Keller (for Helen Keller), Reeve (for Christopher Reeve) and Stevie (for Stevie Wonder).

The Three Specializations of Washington Dogs

KSDS divides dogs into three separate training categories, choosing the specialization that best matches each dog’s abilities and temperament.

A guide dog is partnered with a visually impaired person. The dog helps their partner find and navigate curbs, find doors and chairs, and avoid overhanging obstacles such as tree limbs.

A service dog is paired with a partner who has physical disabilities such as being in a wheelchair, who may not have the strength or agility to pick up dropped items, or who needs a sturdy brace to push against to get up or keep themselves stable.

A facility dog works with multiple people in hospitals, courthouses, or schools. They provide emotional comfort to people who may have been through a traumatic experience or just need the simple comfort of being able to pet the dog or provide a nonjudgmental ear to listen. Often, schools will use facility dogs to provide comfort for children who come from stressful homes. The children will sometimes unload their concerns and problems as they talk to the dog, and the counselors or teachers can become aware of potentially dangerous home situations and be able to assist.

‘Such a Valuable Asset’

Back in Topeka, Erin Corbin has been working with her Washington graduate for the past four years in her role as a counselor at Logan Elementary School.

Kiah, a black Labrador who sports a working vest that reads “Facility Dog” accompanies Corbin most every day at the school’s Wellness Room, which can accommodate three or four children at a time who may need some calming, a shoulder to cry on, or something else that Kiah can assist with.

“I recall one youngster who did not want to get out of the car in front of the school,” Corbin says. “His mother finally got him out, but he stood defiantly with his feet firmly planted and would not move towards the school door. Kiah and I walked over to him, and I asked him if he would like to help me walk Kiah into the school. I told him he could hold Kiah by the top of the vest and that’s just what he did. The two of them proceeded into the building with no issues.”

Sometimes if a student gets upset in class or at recess and becomes antisocial, the teacher will ask if they need to go visit the Wellness Room. “When they show up at my door, they may be argumentative or hostile,” Corbin explains. “I invite them in and ask if they would like to lie down on one of the padded mats on the floor or swing in a basket seat suspended from the ceiling. My approach is that the child is not there to be lectured to or punished or scolded. Kiah usually moves towards the child, and they make contact and things deescalate from there. Within a few minutes, the child is ready to return to their regular classroom.”

Kiah and Corbin also make the rounds of the classrooms, where Corbin points to Kiah’s self-control, calmness, and friendliness as models for behavior.

“Kiah is such a valuable asset to the school,” Corbin says. “He can reach kids in a way that we can’t.”

Erin Corbin and Kiah work to assist Logan Elementary School students in difficult emotional situations.

Costs and Continuation

To insure a continuation of dogs, potential breeding candidates are taken to Kansas State University for a series of tests including X-rays, eye exams, and more. Based on these exam results, some of the dogs are kept as potential breeders and their puppies are entered into the program.

When the puppies are sent to puppy raisers, KSDS continues to supply them with food and medicinal supplements as needed. Should the puppy not be successful in the service or guide or facility track that it was assigned, a career change may take place. If things are still not satisfactory, then the puppy raiser gets first choice of adopting and keeping the dog. If the initial puppy training is successful, the dog returns to the Washington campus and is matched with one of the many people who are on a list for a dog.

People who need a dog receive it free of charge.

KSDS estimates that the twoyear training for the dogs costs approximately $25,000, an expense covered by corporate sponsors and individual donors.

MINDS BLOWN

Topekan Paul Carr has earned an international reputation as one of the quickest, most authoritative sports-stats gurus

STORY BY Evan McHenry | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Nick Krug

Paul Carr briefly played soccer as a youth, but his career in the sport has thrived on crunching numbers, knowing stats, and finding the right bit of trivia for the right moment.

It’s a stormy summer night in Rio de Janeiro. The 2014 World Cup is well underway, and Paul Carr, a longtime Topekan and a senior researcher at ESPN, is on duty behind the scenes for the semifinal broadcast, a clash of two juggernauts: Brazil and Germany. Nearly 6 million people are tuned in to ESPN’s coverage of the game, and as soon as the broadcast is turned over to the commentators, disaster strikes: a power surge from the raging storm causes a blackout in ESPN’s studio, leaving the team in Rio without electricity. Broadcasters and crew quickly attempt to relocate as water begins seeping through the ceiling of the studio, turning the gray carpet a shade darker. Then, as if things weren’t crazy enough, Germany starts scoring, putting up a record 5 goals in a mere 18-minute span. Chaos ensues, and amid the pandemonium Paul Carr frantically tries to do his job. “The notes I have to look up keep changing because they keep scoring, like I can’t even get this one looked up because it’s irrelevant already,” says Carr. “And then we have to figure out where we’re doing halftime, because we can’t do it in the studio. … That was probably the nuttiest hour I’ve ever had in my career.”

But Carr came through. By halftime, he had researched and confirmed the following stats that went out live through ESPN broadcasters Alexi Lalas and Mike Tirico: no team had ever scored five goals in the first half hour of a World Cup match (Germany was up 5-0 after 28 minutes), and Brazil had never trailed by four goals in any World Cup match, ever. Carr had conjured all this while working through a blackout and escaping a flooding studio.

This is what Carr does, filling the role of the stats master behind the curtain, digging through loads of sports-analytical data to find the perfect stat, a factoid that “captures the essence, the heart, the truth of the game,” as Roger Bennett, host of the famous soccer podcast Men in Blazers, explains it. “To me,” Bennett adds, “it always seemed like [Carr] was so in tune with data and statistics, that some of his best friends were numbers.”

The Origin Story

Roger Bennett co-hosts the soccer podcast Men in Blazers, which boasts over a quarter-million Twitter followers and has somewhat of a cult following among fans of the sport. Here’s what he has to say about Paul Carr and the origin of the chant “Paul Carr Blows Your Mind.”

We met Paul in Brazil 2014. He was a producer … [and] clearly a gent who not only loved his football but truly knew so much about it in the most nourishing of ways. I found him to be the kind of gent whose insights always challenged and improved my own—which is the greatest. Our show really connected to an audience in that first week, and Paul, whose true job was to support and service the big studio on ESPN, went out of his way to keep slipping me incredible morsels of information that improved our performance also. He got nothing out of this, other than a sense of shared love of football.

It made no sense to me that there was a gent off stage who was making our performance on stage all the better. To me, he should be rewarded and acknowledged in his own right, and so we decided to bring him on and let the American audience marvel at Paul Carr in his own right. The challenge was, he had to serve the main stage—the one with Michael Ballack and Alexi Lalas and Gilberto Silva on it. So he could only be with us for 2 minutes maximum. So to give him cover, and give his segment and energy and a crescendo, we naturally did what football fans do when they are in the company of transcendent creative genius—we gave him his own chant. It was based on a tweet we received from a fan … and it stuck. Paul is to football what Bill Nye is to science—a genius who makes the complex instinctively accessible. He blows your mind.

Carr’s lifelong identification as a sports-stats nerd has led to his working alongside widely known sports pundits such as Scott Van Pelt, Taylor Twellman, and Bob Ley. Carr has spent time covering major soccer tournaments in Germany, South Africa, and Brazil. For years he lived in Connecticut, where ESPN’s headquarters are located. His new job at TruMedia allows him to work remotely, and so in 2018 Carr moved back to Topeka; he now lives with his wife, Heather, and their daughter in a historic house near Gage Park.

Carr’s choice to locate in Topeka wasn’t by chance; he was born in Topeka, where his parents owned RJ Carr’s Family Bookstore, which they operated until 2004. They encouraged his affinity for the intersection of sports and numbers at an early age. “My parents would say I’d be reading the box scores at the table the next morning,” says Carr.

After attending Cair Paravel Latin School, Carr moved on to Wheaton College in Illinois. While Carr had only played soccer casually, preferring theater when he was younger, Wheaton’s successful soccer team and Carr’s interest in sports commentary allowed him to become more familiar with the game. He did play-by-play for matches on the college’s radio station and worked in the sports information department. “That’s really where I learned to love soccer,” says Carr, who also roomed with several members of Wheaton’s team. “I just got to ask questions, because I didn’t know how anything worked.”

After graduating from Wheaton in 2002, Carr came home and “walked into just about every media outlet in Topeka, just to ask, ‘what can I do?’” He landed a job as a producer at 580 WIBW radio, which evolved into more responsibilities, such as doing live commentary for high school football and soccer games for FOX 43, and writing about soccer for the Topeka Capital-Journal. After around five years of this, Carr noticed a job posting for a researcher position at ESPN—a type of role he had not known existed before. “It was tailor-made for me,” he says. He knew experience in broadcasting would certainly help, but being a self-described “sports nerd” turned out to be his key qualification—something the job’s extensive interview process revealed. Besides a timed, written sports-trivia knowledge test, Carr underwent a phone interview in which he was quizzed on “almost literally just trivia.” The first question required Carr to name 10 baseball players with 3,000 career hits. “As soon as they asked the 3,000 hits question, I was like, ‘oh, I’m good here,’” says Carr. “I was the dork who would try to rattle off the 27 or however many people it is, just for fun.” (He’s right—at the time of his interview, there were exactly 27. Now there are 33.)

Despite showing off his vast breadth of sports knowledge in the interview, Carr didn’t land the job immediately, but ESPN called him back several months later. In March 2008, Carr moved to Bristol, Connecticut, to start his job as a researcher at ESPN’s main campus.

His role there consisted of creating notes for anchors to use in upcoming games, building graphics, fact-checking scripts for anchors or producers, and answering any questions broadcasters had. Much of his work was done before the shows went on air, but also, he had an important

After working for several years in Connecticut, Carr returned to his hometown of Topeka to begin a new stage of his career in sports information.

role to play when they went live. “During the show, you’re in the studio,” Carr says. “By then, ideally, you’re just kind of coasting and making sure nothing blows up, but if there’s breaking news, you gotta make sure the anchors have the right notes and you can build the graphics.” These graphics usually have some statistical or historical angle. Examples include charts displaying World Cup attendance, the locations of a given player’s goals in that World Cup, or a team’s average goals with and without a certain key player.

Carr worked on ESPNEWS, the Mike & Mike in the Morning show, and SportsCenter. Over time, his interest in soccer allowed him to focus on the sport. While at ESPN, he traveled to cover the 2010 Men’s World Cup in South Africa, the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, and the 2014 Men’s World Cup in Brazil.

There, Carr met Roger Bennett and Michael Davies, the hosts of the thennascent Men in Blazers podcast, which is now one of the top soccer podcasts in the world. Bennett and Davies quickly noticed Carr’s aptitude for numbers and figured he deserved a cameo on their show. “The first day, Roger sticks his head in and says, ‘Paul, I want you to come on, give your best stat, and leave,’” recounts Carr. “So after that I come in and give them whatever the stat of the day was, and leave. I’m there for like a minute, maybe. And the next day I come in and they’re singing a song.” The “song” in question is really more of a chant, to the rhythm of the Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head.” “Paul … Carr … blows your mind, I said-a Paul Carr blows your mind.” It proved popular with fans of the podcast and became a semi-regular segment for some time.

Carr’s time at ESPN wasn’t always spent conjuring up sports-related numbers or being featured on podcasts with jovial Brits. Sometimes his job came down to quick and savvy use of online search engines. In one instance in Brazil, seconds before the anchor, Bob Ley, was going to go on air, he had a question for Carr: “Bob pauses and

yells at me across the room like, ‘Paul, is it a full moon tonight? You have 10 seconds,’” Carr recalls. After a frantic Google search, Carr confirmed it was indeed a full moon, and the broadcast began smoothly. “No one watching it on TV has any idea that those last 10 seconds were crazy,” says Carr. “That’s not a statistical thing where I’m going to have a database, obviously. I’m just the guy who has a computer.”

Carr’s closeness to these television personalities also allowed him to have a front seat on some legendary moments. After the United States Men’s National team failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018, the famous pundit and former U.S. player Taylor Twellman went on his legendary “What are we doing?” rant. There, but sitting behind the scenes, was Carr. “Taylor looked at me, after [the game] was over, because he’s gotta go upstairs and do SportsCenter, and he’s like, ‘Paul, what do I say?’” Carr recalls. “I just said, ‘tell them what you think, and don’t swear.’”

After leaving ESPN in 2018 and taking his Topeka-based job with TruMedia, Carr continues to translate analytical sports data into an easily readable format, which fans or teams themselves can use to benchmark performance. His company currently works with over two-thirds of the MLB, and over 80 soccer clubs and federations, and many other high-level sports operations. “Coaches don’t know how to code,” says Carr. “But the website makes it easy for them to go to Clayton Kershaw’s page and see where he throws every pitch on an 0-1 count.”

Although Carr is not involved in live broadcasting as much as he used to be, he still sometimes watches games like he is— with his laptop out, tracking stats. “If I’m sitting down paying attention, it’s almost part of my enjoyment,” he says. “I can still go in the stands and be a fan, but in the back of my head I’ll still have that, ‘Oh, I wonder what the xG [expected goal] value of that shot was,’ or ‘how many touches did they have?’—it’s still back there, but I can still turn it off … mostly.”

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