Episode 91 of Podyallup is for Friday, September 4, 2026. School is back, the Washington State Fair is here, fall sports are underway, and the host is deep into final preparations for Read to Speak before fall quarter begins at Pierce College.

The episode also looks at school construction, the Ferrucci Junior High fire restoration, the role of battery backup systems, and the opening weekend of the fair.

Rain, fall weather, and getting back in shape

September arrives with pouring rain followed by one of those bright, clear evenings that sometimes appear after a storm.

A walk turns into skipping with the host's daughter, which quickly reveals that there is still some work to do on the fitness front. The diet is tightening up and the goal is to get back toward fighting weight, even if an actual fight would probably end quickly.

Building Read to Speak for fall quarter

Much of the summer has gone into rebuilding and expanding the homework system that will be used in Spanish classes at Pierce College this fall.

The system is called Read to Speak. Pierce students will receive access at no additional cost, continuing a move away from requiring students to buy expensive textbooks and commercial homework products.

More information and a free preview are available at readtospeak.com.

From textbooks to open educational resources

Since around 2019, the host and colleagues at Pierce have increasingly relied on open educational resources instead of traditional commercial textbooks.

A conference in Vancouver, British Columbia helped push that work forward. Since then, hundreds of hours have gone into writing readings, activities, textbook material, and other resources that students can use without purchasing another book.

The old Spanish textbooks still have a purpose. They now serve as a monitor stand in the office.

The textbook problem

Traditional textbook publishing often asks students to pay high prices for books that may be replaced by a new edition after only minor changes.

Used books lose value when publishers rearrange chapters or release a new edition, while much of the underlying educational content can now be found freely online.

Authors should be compensated for their work, but the host argues that the old textbook model places too much of the cost on students while adding too little value.

Why not just use Canvas?

Canvas is useful as a learning management system, especially for accessibility. It handles standard HTML well and provides tools that help instructors make course content compatible with screen readers.

The problem is that Canvas is designed to serve many subjects and many institutions. It is primarily an instructor-facing system rather than a language-learning product designed around the learner experience.

Course material also becomes tied to the platform. If a college eventually moves to another learning management system, extracting and rebuilding that material can become another large project.

A learner-centered homework system

Read to Speak is designed around language processing rather than around a generic gradebook.

Learners work through assigned readings and can choose additional practice from sentence-ordering activities, multiple-choice questions, true-or-false comprehension, flashcards, and other interactions.

Students receive credit for making a real attempt, while stronger comprehension produces better scores. The system gives learners some control over how much additional practice they want to complete.

Flashcards use spaced repetition, and the app tracks experience points, weekly goals, streaks, and progress over time.

School is back in Puyallup

Puyallup School District students are back in class. The first-day reports from the host's household are mixed but generally positive.

One child comes home enthusiastic about the new teacher, friends, and a new armpit-noise trick. The other had spent much of the summer dreading the return to school but found the first day better than expected.

School gets more difficult from year to year, but harder material can also become more interesting as students gain enough knowledge to work with more complex ideas.

Edgemont and Ridgecrest construction

The district's construction updates show the Edgemont track project entering its final stretch, with new surfacing work underway.

At Ridgecrest, the district highlights three layers beneath a new playground surface: a drainage layer, a fall-protection layer, and turf replacing traditional wood chips.

The comparison brings back memories of older playgrounds built over gravel, wood chips, and giant tractor tires, including one childhood fall that left the host with a long-lasting scar on his knee.

Ferrucci Junior High restoration

Ferrucci Junior High remains in restoration after the April 4 fire in an electrical room in the newer wing of the school.

Firefighters contained the fire itself, but the resulting smoke and contamination created a much larger cleanup problem.

The district's restoration process includes investigation, remediation, construction, and eventual reopening after all required safety systems are restored and occupancy approval is granted.

What remains before Ferrucci can reopen

Several major building systems remained out of service in the latest update discussed in the episode.

Those include fire alarms, sprinklers, building power, heating and ventilation, security systems, technology infrastructure, and communications systems.

Until those systems are restored and the building receives occupancy approval, Ferrucci cannot reopen to students.

The battery inverter fire

The likely origin of the Ferrucci fire was the school's emergency power battery backup system.

The batteries in that system were lead-acid rather than lithium-ion. In a typical backup system, building power charges a battery bank and an inverter converts stored direct current into alternating current when emergency power is needed.

A short circuit, damaged connection, failed component, or other electrical problem can produce intense current and heat very quickly.

The larger disruption came from smoke and residue spreading beyond the electrical room. Cleanup has included testing and removal of contaminated porous materials and evaluation of building systems such as HVAC.

High school sports are underway

Fall high school sports are now active around Puyallup, including football, volleyball, girls soccer, golf, and tennis.

Puyallup football opens on the road against Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho. Rogers and Emerald Ridge also begin their non-conference schedules.

Listeners are encouraged to support students competing for Puyallup, Rogers, and Emerald Ridge throughout the fall.

Value for value and the final nine episodes

Podyallup is a value-for-value show. There are no traditional ad reads, so listeners who receive value are invited to send some value back.

That can mean sharing the show, sending a local story or event, providing useful information, or making a financial contribution.

To support the show financially, visit podyallup.com/donate.

The original target is 100 episodes. Episode 91 leaves nine more before the show reaches that point and the host decides what comes next.

Opening weekend at the Washington State Fair

The Washington State Fair opens this weekend and runs through September 27, with the fair closed on Tuesdays.

Opening-day guests can receive free admission with a suggested nonperishable food donation benefiting the Puyallup Food Bank.

BECU Free Kids Weekend runs Friday through Monday, with free admission for guests 18 and younger. Opening weekend visitors can also receive a return coupon for a free weekday admission later in the fair.

Friday is Military Appreciation Day, with free admission for eligible active-duty, reserve, retired military, National Guard members, certain dependents, and disabled veterans with qualifying identification.

Labor Day weekend entertainment

Labor Day weekend includes concerts, stage shows, rides, animals, agriculture, and the usual fair food.

Performers mentioned in the episode include Boy George and Culture Club, Wang Chung, Danny Vernon, Roberto the Magnificent, Professor Smart, Captain Arrr, and several recurring stage acts.

The fair also features livestock, Future Farmers of America exhibits, dairy and beef cattle, goats, and other agricultural displays.

More information is available at thefair.com.

A childhood goat incident

The livestock discussion unlocks a childhood memory involving a friend's FFA or 4-H goat.

The young host agrees to hold the goat's rope. The goat suddenly runs, the child refuses to let go, and the result is a short trip across a concrete sidewalk and a substantial scrape across the chest.

The obvious question afterward was why he did not simply let go of the rope. There was no good answer then, and there still is not one now.

Closing

Episode 91 closes with an invitation to visit the fair, support local high school sports, send in Puyallup stories, and return next Friday for episode 92.