VOA – CONNECT EPISODE #169 AIR DATE 04 09 2021 TRANSCRIPT OPEN ((VO/NAT)) ((Banner)) Team Spirit ((SOT)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) ((NATS)) Come on, come on. I'm fortunate to be able to coach really good athletes. I think that when you're successful, that it is a combination of, you know, you being able to get the best out of your athletes, but you have to have good athletes to work with. ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Thinking of Others ((SOT)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) Hey guys. It’s Zoe and I’m the CEO of the Zoe Project. I started my project with making cards for anyone in nursing homes, nurses, doctors or anyone in jail, anyone who feels forgotten. ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Live and Learn ((SOT)) ((Helen D’Ann Dorris, Librarian)) The lady that he was going on a date with, I babysat her son so they could go on a date. That's how I met my husband. ((Open Animation)) BLOCK A ((PKG)) FEMALE VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL COACH ((TRT: 9:06)) ((Topic Banner: Playing True)) ((Reporter/Camera: Arturo Martínez)) ((Map: Fallon, Nevada)) ((Main character: 1 male)) ((Sub characters: 4 males; 1 female)) ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Come on. G up. Come on, Sam. Good, good. Nice, nice. Stay with it. Push, push, push, push, push, push. Don’t get screened, Matt. Don’t get screened. Board, board, board, board. Got it, baby. Keith, nice shot. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) My name is Chelle Dalager and I coach the boys varsity basketball team at Churchill County High School. In the state of Nevada, I'm the first female coach to coach a boys varsity program. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Back cut, back cut. Next pass. Look, look. Back cut him. Back cut him. Nice. There you go. Good rig, Keith. Nice pass. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) There is really more to basketball than just the game of basketball. It really is about life lessons. Your life is full of wins and losses, you know. You feel like you've done something great, and sure enough somebody will knock you down or you feel like you're maybe not so great, and then something picks you up. It teaches kids discipline, teaches them about work ethic and it teaches about being able to rely upon somebody and about a commitment to a family. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Here we go. Rotate. First off, you're not always going to reach your goal, right? You're not always going to make it. That's just part of life and part of basketball. What you should never do is stop or quit playing hard or stop trying to at least get the highest number you can get. We made lots of good progress when we were early, right? So then, you all went home and had turkey legs. And then, I don't know what happened, right? Like our minds aren't focused on basketball anymore. And really this is where we should be the most focused we can be. Understand? So, talk to your pals and get them out. Okay? Questions? Collin? Guys? All right. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. ((NATS)) ((Keith Smith, Boys Varsity Basketball Player, Churchill County High School)) I love it. It's probably like my favorite basketball coach. I've played for a couple of different coaches and she's just different. She pushes us, the intensity, demands a lot out of us. ((Toby Anderson, Boys Varsity Basketball Player, Churchill County High School)) She really pushes us to our limits and I think that's why we have done well the past few years. We've been just pushing hard in practice and getting what we need done. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Wave on me. Wave on three. One, two, three. ((NATS: Team)) Wave. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) We've just completed and we've won two state championships back to back. One in 2019 and one in 2020. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) This is the state championship team that won for the first time in 47 years, and it's pretty exciting. The last time they won a state championship was in 1971, and that was the year I was born. You can see my two boys together. Number 11, that was Avery when he was a sophomore, and just behind him with a big curly head, that was Hayden when he was a senior. This is our basketball trophy case. Here's our first one and the other one is in my office because I'm not ready to give it up yet. So, this is 2020 and this is 2019. And so, I play those. If I'm in a bad mood, I go back and I watch both of them. ((NATS: TV show)) State Championship, Churchill County High School taking on Elko High School. Game time. Less than 10 seconds left in OT [overtime]. And that’s Elijah Jackson. However, not the first time it’s happened. What? Flashback in 2019, Nevada 3A Basketball State Championship. Elijah Jackson hit the three against the same team. Boom. Ridiculous. No way..…to win the state championship. No way. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Second time. Second shot. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) I'm fortunate to be able to coach really good athletes. I think that when you're successful, that it is a combination of, you know, you being able to get the best out of your athletes, but you have to have good athletes to work with. It's not about gender for me. It's really about just coaching and trusting your players and, you know, making them believe in themselves. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) add chyron I really did not expect to get the job. I wasn't really even going to apply for it because I didn't think that I would get it because you don't ever see, you know, women getting those types of positions. And so, you've hired a female coach. Yes, she's coach, but now we have two state championships to go with that. And I think that just helps people, maybe, recognize, I hope that a lot of female coaches get hired to coach male programs because I don't think it's a gender issue, right? It's you just don't see it very often. Although, you see men coach and women's team. It's just never been done, I guess. And that's what makes it pretty special. It makes it unique. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Also, a really cool thing for me is that my two sons were on the team and we got to share a state championship together. That's a big memory for me. So, that was them playing youth basketball for me. The left one is when they were a little bit younger. The right one is when they were a little bit older. You can tell that they're getting a little bit taller than me. When they were growing up, we played a lot of different games outside at home. When they started beating me, I started using my Achilles as a crutch. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) When basketball season happens, that's all that we're doing. I'm at school at 7:00 in the morning and I don't really get home until 8:30 at night. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) James or Lacey is here. Are you sure? How was your day? ((Avery Stresdin, High School Student, Michelle’s Son)) Good. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Good? Where are you going? ((Avery Stresdin, High School Student, Michelle’s Son)) Nowhere. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Nowhere. You are just hanging out? ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Oh, this looks so good. My partner at home is very supportive. Our boys are her biological sons and, you know, she's been really supportive about, you know, having me coach them and she's a huge part of our team as well. She travels and goes to all the games and takes our scorebook. ((Photo Courtesy: Thomas Ranson / Lahontan Valley News)) ((Tricia Strasdin, Michelle’s Partner)) We love basketball. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Yeah. ((Tricia Strasdin, Michelle’s Partner)) We got lucky. If you get the opportunity to embrace anything that is going to bring your family together, ((Photo Courtesy: Thomas Ranson / Lahontan Valley News)) ((Tricia Strasdin, Michelle’s Partner)) and you get to travel together, and you get to experience success together, and you get to fail together, and you get to kind of pick yourselves up and try again together, and you get to have some early mornings and some late nights and some long weekends together, I'm not sure that it matters if it's basketball or what it is. ((Photo Courtesy: Thomas Ranson / Lahontan Valley News)) ((Tricia Strasdin, Michelle’s Partner)) I think it helped us in lots of different ways. ((Hayden Stresdin, Former High School Student, Michelle’s Son)) I'll never forget it. I was glad to have my mom as a coach and my brother on the team for my year, and then for him to win a back-to-back is even cooler. ((Avery Stresdin, High School Student, Michelle’s Son)) Yeah, I don't have so many words for it, if I’m being honest. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) For me, it's the best memories I will have with basketball will be with my family and, you know, what we brought to Fallon, and we've been able to travel to all those tournaments together, and then I coach them, and then we get back in the car and we talk about the games and….. ((NATS)) ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) Start close, they say. Oh, one for one. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) I was a terrible shooter in high school. And then, when I went to community college, it got a little bit better because I was a little bit older. I'm thankful for Fallon. They've supported me in coaching 100 percent. I just have, we haven't run into issues like that. My 2019 team, some kids on other teams were, you know, giving them a hard time about me, you know, being gay and about them playing for a woman. ((Michelle Dalager, High School Athletic Training Teacher, Boys Varsity Basketball Coach)) And, you know, I just told my players, I said, “That doesn't hurt my feelings.” And he was like, “Well, what do you mean, coach? It doesn't?” I said, “No, because it's true. Yes, I'm in a relationship with a woman. That makes me gay.” And I said, “I'm sorry you have to feel like you have to defend me. You don't.” I said, “It does not hurt my feelings at all. Now, if they call me fat, then you can get after them, right? But other than that, just let them say whatever they want to say, and you prove your point by just playing the best basketball you can play and beating the people that are saying those mean things.” And that’s a life lesson, right? ((Video courtesy: Thomas Ranson / Lahontan Valley News)) ((NATS/MUSIC)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up….. ((Banner)) Online Learning ((SOT)) ((Arti Jain-Kumar, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love and Light 4 Kidz)) I know in my own house we have had an exorbitant amount of screen time, and it can be difficult even after the school day is done, to find the balance of turning it off. BREAK ONE BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK B ((PKG)) ZOE’S CARDS ((TRT: 04:00)) ((Topic Banner: Zoe’s Cards)) ((Reporter:??Faiza Elmasry))? ((Camera/Editor:??Adam Greenbaum)) ((Map:??Gainesville, Virginia))?? ((Main characters:?? 2 female)) ((NATS)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) You can keep a card forever. It won't go anywhere. You can send them to anyone you want and you can just write a little note inside which means a lot. ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) I started creating cards when I was probably like a little baby ((Photo Courtesy: Zoe’s Project)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) and we always created the cards in school for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas. I started making cards then, and then it just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. ((NATS)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) I have started my cards during this pandemic. I use all different kinds of colored paper. I use markers and I use stickers to make it have a little spice in there, to make it look cute. I write scriptures on the front of the cards and on the inside of the cards, there is just a happy note. ((NATS)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) I deliver my cards anywhere near us. So, my mom would drive to the nursing home and we would have to call the nursing home because we can't come inside. You pass the cards to a nurse that comes to the door. And they would deliver it to anyone in the nursing home. ((NATS: Zoe Moser and Nurse)) Oh, my God! I have to hug you. I know I’m not supposed to. I miss you so much. Look at you, you’re growing up. You’re so beautiful. Thank you. You’re so talented. Thank you. Thank you, baby doll. You’re welcome. Thank you. Thank you. We love you, okay! Thank you. See you. Bye. Bye. ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) Lonely people need a cheering card so they can feel loved. ((NATS: Zoe Moser and Olivia on the phone)) Hey, Olivia. Hey, Zoe. What you’re doing? ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) I do keep in touch with my friends. We also have little events sometimes where we get together on Zoom. We have movie nights. We talk. We eat our snacks on Zoom or we'll just call on a daily basis to check up on each other. ((NATS: Zoe Moser and Sharmaine Moser)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) Well, this is all of our family right here. While my family is in North Carolina, we keep in touch with them on social media. When we moved to Virginia, it was a big impact on my life because we had no family here. So, it was just me and my mom. ((NATS: Zoe Moser and Sharmaine Moser)) Oh, I like it. What other colors do you have? You’ve got a pink one. I’ve got red. ((Sharmaine Moser, Zoe’s Mother)) Zoe has always been a creative. She's always used her resources. We haven't always had the most money. So, she's really skillful with learning how to use what she has. ((NATS: Zoe Moser)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) The name of my project is The Zoe Project. ((NATS: Zoe Moser)) ((Video Courtesy: Zoe’s Project)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) Hey guys. It’s Zoe and I’m the CEO of the Zoe Project. ((NATS)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) I started my project with making cards for anyone ((Photo Courtesy: Zoe’s Project)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) in nursing homes, nurses, doctors or anyone in jail, anyone who feels forgotten. And that has leveled up. I have written my first book called, ((Photo Courtesy: Zoe’s Project)) ((Zoe Moser, Founder, The Zoe Project)) The Million Dollar Project, which is a goal planning workbook. I wanted to remind my teachers, school people, my friends, my family, everyone around this world, that you cannot forget about your goals. And it’s a seven-step goal planning workbook for all ages. ((Sharmaine Moser, Zoe’s Mother)) At 12 year old, she's not thinking about how to make money for herself to buy like the next game or to buy the next hair bow or hairpiece or something like that. She is creating cards and ((Photo Courtesy: Zoe’s Project)) ((Sharmaine Moser, Zoe’s Mother)) sending out the good word to individuals. ((NATS)) ((PKG)) VIRTUAL LEARNING TIPS ((TRT: 2:45)) ((Banner: Virtual Learning Tips)) ((Reporter: Lisa Vohra)) ((Camera: Lisa Vohra, Arti Jain-Kumar)) ((Map: Virginia Beach, Virginia)) ((Main Character: 1 female)) ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Banner: Virtual Learning - Strategies)) ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) Hi, I’m Arti Kumar-Jain, the founding director of Love & Light 4 Kidz. ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) Love & Light 4 Kidz is a program that helps with coaching for parent, child and family. ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) I want to thank you for this opportunity to talk to you about how parenting has been impacted by COVID, and how we’re entering a new era of parenting in general. ((Banner: Tips)) ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) Some tips to share that you can easily do, for yourself and for your kids. A lot of difficulties have been faced with technology and the role that it plays. And one of the things I can encourage you, as a parent, is just to remember the delicate balance that does exist and to be patient with yourself. ((NATS: Computer)) Here is a pretest to see if you can read and understand this story. ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) I know in my own house we have had an exorbitant amount of screen time, and it can be difficult even after the school day is done, to find the balance of turning it off. And that screen fatigue for the kids, you can be like, stop and drop whatever you’re doing and taking mindful moment breaks. ((Banner: Mindful Moment Breaks)) Always those reminders of breathing. ((NATS: Computer)) Click the right answer. ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) I have had children who literally have found even doing something of a small practice such as ((Banner: Squeezing Stress Reliever)) squeezing a ball or playdough, completely that pathway from the brain to their hand, that kinesthetic movement, that they literally can have a shift in their behavior. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) If you’re still having a child who has a hard time with the virtual school, as we are still in it for a little bit longer, fingers crossed, is that to help them to focus is doing a quick chair yoga pose. ((Banner: Chair Yoga)) ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) Like they can literally have their hands underneath their chair and just putting their hands down if they want to have a shift. They can even bring their hands and do a quick little grip. They can even do what’s called cross-lateral, bilateral fix, and just take their hands and just put them in. Nobody’s going to see them, right. ((Banner: DEAR Time)) And also, building some DEAR time: Drop Everything And Read. It’s a time that everyone can pick up something to read, fifteen or twenty minutes on a weekend. And the kids also love this time where you can also read something that you find a pleasure to them. ((SOT)) Don’t talk about school. I cover my ears. ((Arti Kumar-Jain, National Certified Counselor; Director, Love & Light 4 Kidz)) This past year has been a learning curve, for you, for me, but also the world. And to just show yourself appreciation and gratitude is the message that I’d like to send you. ((MUSIC/NATS)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up ((Banner)) Manhattan on Foot ((SOT)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) Hi! I'm so happy to see you. So happy. I started this as a passion project to promote and give exposure to small businesses. Having owned my own small business, a children's bookstore, which I had for 10 years, I truly understood what it meant. BREAK TWO BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK C ((PKG)) MANHATTEN SIDEWAYS ((TRT: 04:06)) ((Topic Banner: Manhattan’s Hidden Treasures)) ((Reporter: Olga Terekhin)) ((Camera: Max Avloshenko)) ((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki)) ((Map: New York City, New York)) ((Main character: 1 female)) ((Sub characters: 2 male)) ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) I'm Betsy Bober Polivy. I've walked 155 streets on the original Manhattan grid. It took me six years. And I documented every single place. I took business cards from every single business that had one. So, I honestly have over ten thousand business cards and I met all the owners or whoever was working there at the time. And every single business, every garden, every school, every firehouse, police department, tattoo parlor, hair salon is on my website. ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) It's 2021 and I'm still walking because businesses open and close on a daily basis. Sadly, right now, a lot of them are closing, but I'm always trying to keep the website up to date. ((NATS)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) Oh look, Manhattan Sideways. Who knew? Right here. I wrote a story and he printed it. Hi, I’m Betsy and I just saw that you have me in your window. ((Barbershop Owner)) That’s you? ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) That’s me. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) My husband called me the Energizer Bunny and I was out there seven days a week, almost every single week for six years. And he always joined me on the weekends. And no matter how cold or how hot it was. On a July 4th, we were out and it was over 100 degrees one year. Today, it's freezing. But we were out there in the snow. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) I had reached around 130th street. And I had pain in my foot. That Monday, I went to the orthopedist and I had broken it. And he said it was purely from walking. I had to be off it and I said, “Well, that's not happening.” ((Photo Courtesy: sideways.nyc)) He put me in a boot and he gave me crutches and I literally crutched from 130, whatever street it was, till 155th until I finished. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) Hi, Suzanne. How are you? ((Suzanne)) You found us. ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) Hi! I'm so happy to see you. So happy. ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) I started this as a passion project to promote and give exposure to small businesses. Having owned my own small business, a children's bookstore, which I had for 10 years, I truly understood what it meant. I was always trying to capture something special about each of these people, and what their passion was, and what inspired them to want to start a business. Many of them, it was their father who owned it, their grandfather who owned it, their grandmother. A lot of them worked on Wall Street or in the financial business, and always loved flowers or always loved making sandwiches. And they gave up their secure job to follow their dream. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) And I can't tell you how many times people have said to me, “I’ve lived here all my life and I never knew that was there”, because we all tend to walk or take the bus or take the subway or whatever it is commuting to where we're going, be at work or somewhere else every day, and we go the same way. If you're on 70th Street, you've never walked on 71st street because you have no need to. ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) There's this amazing bakery one block over from you. Check it out. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) So cute. ((Betsy Bober Polivy, Founder, Manhattan Sideways)) Somebody just last night said to me, “I don't understand what got you up every day.” She said, you know, a lot of people could say, “Sure, I'm going to walk 155 streets”, but nobody does it. Around every corner, every bend, every time I entered a business, there was something else to discover. There was something beautiful, something fascinating, something heart- wrenching, heartwarming. I never was bored and ((Photo Courtesy: sideways.nyc)) I always said my favorite, favorite part was just the people. People have contacted me from different parts of the world and certainly from different cities and asked, “Did I want to come and do this there?” But I always said, “I need to do Manhattan. I need to finish Manhattan.” It's forever changing, so I'm never going to finish Manhattan. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((PKG)) CONNECT WITH -- HELEN D’ANN DORRIS, LIBRARIAN ((TRT: 02:26)) ((Topic Banner: Connect with – Helen D’Ann Dorris)) ((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal)) ((Locator: Geneseo, Kansas)) ((Main character: 1 female)) ((NATS)) ((Helen D’Ann Dorris, Librarian)) My name is Helen D’Ann Dorris. I'm 76 years old. I live here in Geneseo, Kansas. I ended up taking this position as the librarian, which is a part-time position. I come from a family of nine children. I have always said, “I wouldn't trade that for the world. I learned a lot of things growing up in a large family.” But I wouldn't have that many children of my own. So, I only had two children. My first child was a Down syndrome child. He still lives with us. He is now 53, and it was a learning experience from day one. It makes you grow as a person and learn to look at things from a different perspective. I probably would have pursued my education much earlier. I did try. I went to business school. My parents gave up quite a bit to, even to do that. There really weren't finances to put all of our children, my brothers and sisters, through school. So, I probably now realize that I probably could have done better on that on my own than, but you know, as a young person, you want to explore the world and you want to see what's out there and you want to try things you've never tried before and some of them aren’t always good things. But you still try them, and you learn. I got married. Unfortunately, that did not work out. It was very brief. So, I went back home, and I worked just around where my parents lived, and I met my husband there. Actually I met him because I babysat the lady that he was going on a date with. I babysat her son so they could go on a date. That's how I met my husband. The next week, he was at my door asking me out. Two years ago, we renewed our wedding vows on our 50th wedding anniversary. My granddaughter officiated at the ceremony. That was pretty neat. ((MUSIC)) CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect BREAK THREE BUMP IN ((ANIM)) CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect SHOW ENDS