It is a beautiful story of one teacher’s true love for her students …how her big heart is not only impacting lives, but changing them.

On this episode of the Supercast, we visit Megan Dotson’s third grade class at Antelope Canyon Elementary School. Find out what Ms. Dotson is doing to support one of her beloved students battling cancer. Hear how her caring heart is lifting not just Lucas, who has leukemia, but the entire class in the process.

Megan Dotson:

We found out that one of our little family members wasn't going to be able to come with us anymore. I immediately started just surfing the internet.

Anthony Godfrey:

It's a way to still feel like he’s somehow a part of things.

Marcela:

Oh, absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:

Why do you think they want to call you a superhero?

Lucas:

Because I’m going through something so hard.

Marcela:

We didn't ask her to prepare plans. We didn't ask her to do anything. We just said, "Hey, he relapsed."

Anthony Godfrey:

Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. We all know that teachers care deeply for their students.

On this episode of the Supercast, we visit Megan Dotson's third grade class at Antelope Canyon Elementary School to find out what she is doing to support one of her beloved students battling cancer. Hear how her caring heart is lifting not just Lucas, who has leukemia, but the entire class in the process. She launched the “Smile Like Lucas” campaign and is providing opportunities for students that they will never forget.

We're at Antelope Canyon today talking with Lucas. Lucas, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk with me. I see “Smile Like Lucas” everywhere I look. I see shirts. I see sweatshirts. I see it written up on the whiteboard. Why are we smiling like Lucas today?

Lucas:

We just invented it and I really liked the idea. Even the idea of a monkey in the chair.

Anthony Godfrey:

Tell me about the monkey in the chair.

Lucas:

It came with a book, and it shows whenever you're not there, the monkey will be there, and it will be like wearing the exact same outfit as you. Except it will be wearing its own shirt, I think. It came with its own shirt, except we put on a little one like me.

Anthony Godfrey:

So is the monkey wearing a “Smile Like Lucas” shirt? And for those listening who don't know, why can't you be here sometimes?

Lucas:

Because I have hospital appointments and I have to stay in the hospital. And sometimes I might have to stay in there for maybe a month.

Anthony Godfrey:

I hear that you really love school. Is that right? What do you love most about school?

Lucas:

Spending time with the class and Miss Dotson.

Anthony Godfrey:

Tell me about your teacher. What has your teacher done that has made it such a great place to be?

Lucas:

We made Lucas Friday, the monkey in the chair. Well, really everything.

Anthony Godfrey:

What's Lucas Friday?

Lucas:

Lucas Friday. It's where everybody wears their “Smile like Lucas” shirt and then they come to school with it. Unless if your school doesn't do it. So then they come and it's short day so we do mostly fun things.

Anthony Godfrey:

Mostly fun things. And have you noticed that people smile like Lucas, like the shirt says? Do they? So I see your t-shirt and the sweatshirt and lots of other things as I walk into school that says “Smile Like Lucas” and it's got a big smile with lots of teeth and the blue glasses. Are the blue glasses kind of how people know you? Have you had the blue glasses for a long time?

Lucas:

There's even a ribbon.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh yes, look at the orange ribbon. I didn't see the orange ribbon. What does the orange ribbon mean?

Lucas:

It's the symbol of my leukemia.

Anthony Godfrey:

So it's a symbol of your leukemia. And because of the leukemia you have to miss class sometimes, right? Hospital visits, doctor visits, and how long have you had to be out before?

Lucas;

Two weeks.

Anthony Godfrey:

Two weeks?

Lucas:

One time I had to be out for a pretty long time. I don't remember how long but it was more than a month.

Anthony Godfrey:

And there's a monkey that takes your place. Is that right? And his name is?

Lucas:

George.

Anthony Godfrey:

George. Is he curious at all? Okay, good. I thought he might be.

We're talking now with Lucas' mom, Marcela. Tell us a little bit about what the support from the school has meant.

Marcela:

It's been incredible. So he has always been a very social kid. He thrives in having those interactions with his friends. And when he first was diagnosed, he was out of school for about ten and a half months. We did a lot of online classes, which were helpful, but we could see that his emotional well-being wasn't like, it wasn't being taken care of as well as we wanted it to be.

It wasn't until he came back, he came into third grade, and we got Miss Dotson involved, and we had the nurse and the counselor, and they were all really helping him thrive because he would say that he was very lonely even when he was here. He would come out to Miss Dotson and give her a hug and say, "I'm just really lonely." And then all of these other activities that we're having, the monkey, the pictures, the letters that he gets every week. I mean we get pictures every day, "Hey, we're wearing his shirt today. It's not Lucas Friday but we're wearing it." And it makes him feel like people are there. Even if he can't see them and he can't hang out with them, people are there for him. And it's made a huge impact on his well-being emotionally.

The other thing that I will say is that we notice that when he is in a good mood or in a good emotional state, he recovers from the chemo or the procedures a lot quicker than when he's sad or feeling a little bit depressed. So it's there. We see it. We see it every day.

Anthony Godfrey:

So it lifts his spirits, but it also improves the medical outcomes and his physical health.

Marcela:

Absolutely.

Anthony Godfrey:

When you said the diagnosis was about how long ago?

Marcela:

So he was first diagnosed in June of 2023, and then he relapsed and they found it in January of 2025.

Anthony Godfrey:

The relapse is very recent.

Marcela:

Yeah. January 6th.

Anthony Godfrey:

Is that when all of the super Lucas and the “Smile like Lucas” started out?

Marcela:

Yeah. There were a lot of things that were happening before, but the relapse was like when we, it was like a lot more because we knew his treatment last time allowed for him to somehow interact here and there. Not very often. It would go weeks before he could see people. But this time around, he's heading in for a bone marrow transplant. He's going to have radiation which he didn't have before, and the chemotherapy that he'll be given will be very, very harsh. So he will actually have to be out of school for a full year and not just out of school like we'll have to fully quarantine. His immune system will not be back to normal for at least two years and any little virus could kill him. So we have to take a lot of measures. So I think once we found out how serious this relapse was, that's when we're like we need to be there for him. We need to help him and he has handled it like a champ because he knows he has an army.

Anthony Godfrey:

Yeah. It's pretty remarkable to see all of the support and is today the last day before he prepares for all of that.

Marcela:

Yes. So today will be the last day he is at school because tomorrow he has a procedure to change his port. He has an internal so it's an inserted port on his chest, but they need a different line for the bone marrow transplant. So he gets that tomorrow. So he'll be out all day and then he starts cranial radiation on Wednesday and he'll be admitted to the hospital on Friday.

Anthony Godfrey:

We'll be wishing him the very best.

Marcela:

Thank you. We appreciate that.

Anthony Godfrey:

George the monkey will have his work cut out for him.

Marcela:

Absolutely. We love getting the pictures of George the monkey playing the parachute, or going to recess, or at lunch. He loves it.

Anthony Godfrey:

Well.

Lucas:

That's how I put him in the parachute and you guys launched him. I tried to catch him but he would just keep going into the parachute. He's like “No, I'm not going anywhere”.

Megan Dotson:

He's talking about a time that we took the monkey to PE and put him in the middle of like the traditional school parachute and we launched him in the air and he says he just doesn't feel really right about launching George into the air like that.

Anthony Godfrey:

Well.

Lucas:

I'm like, doesn’t that hurt?

Marcela:

Would you like to be launched?

Anthony Godfrey:

You know I'm not surprised that you're looking out for George, making sure that he's okay too. Does it make you as a family feel more connected to the school, getting the pictures of George? I'm sure that for Lucas it's a way to still feel like he's somehow a part of things.

Marcela:

Oh absolutely. I think obviously he's missing out on part of it, right? He's not here, but being able to see what the class is up to when he's not, because he's– One thing that I love about Ms. Dotson is we didn't ask her to prepare a plan. We didn't ask her to do anything. We just said, “Hey, he relapsed,” and that was a huge burden that she lifted. The fact that we didn't have to say “Hey, is there any way we can set up Zoom calls” or think about how we were going to keep him up to speed with school. She did it all. She gave us a schedule, and she said “I'm going to have it on whether he joins or not. It'll be on. If he doesn't feel well, that's fine, we'll catch him up.” And that was just as a family, we were worrying about all of these other things that we had to do. His medication, finding a donor, all of it, and to not have to worry about that was just incredible.

So he joins the calls, but then what he considers the fun, like the not school stuff, he doesn't get to be part of that, so getting the pictures of the monkey and the letters that describe all those things, that's just he he loves it. He absolutely loves it.

Anthony Godfrey:

I think it's a great way to keep you connected and you know that people are thinking about you when you're not here.

Stay with us when we come back more with Ms. Dotson and Lucas.

Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.

Break:

Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:

Ms. Dotson, tell me about what this has been like for you this year.

Megan Dotson:

I feel like my kids mean a lot in this room to me. They're a big deal. Each one of them are a really big deal, and when we found out that one of our little family members wasn't going to be able to come with us anymore, I immediately started just surfing the internet of like what have other teachers, there's got to be another teacher out there doing this.

So I just started looking and this foundation came up and I reached out to Marci and I was like “Hey, what do you think about this?” I needed some more information from her about his case and stuff like that to get it sent to us, and they sent it, and we found really good ways and putting him in our room. Honestly it feels whole again. We're all back together for at least reading and math, and those are our important parts of the day, and the biggest pieces, and he's here with us when he can be. And hearing his voice. He ends up being over the loudspeaker and hearing his voice is so wonderful. He'd been out a couple of days before he got to be back on Zoom with us and they all, I wish I could have known that he was going to speak to show their reaction. There's the biggest smiles in this room because that's what he is to us.

Anthony Godfrey:

So you found the idea for having George on the internet, but you took a lot of initiative to leap into action. Tell me what sparked that for you.

Megan Dotson:

I just knew that we cheer each other on a lot here. My biggest thing is “Can we give so and so a big ‘Oh yeah’” and they all shout ‘oh yeah’ in class pretty often. I needed a way for him to hear his ‘oh yeah’ pretty often because I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. I knew that there was going to be a lot that he was going to do this time.

There's a member in our class that I had heard a rumor that her aunt did t-shirts, and I was like, you know what? I got to figure it out. I sat down to my trusty computer and I came up and I was like, oh, his blue glasses, and then his smile is something that lights up our room so much every day. And I sent Marci the idea and I was like “Oh my, does this fit him? Is this kind of the message we want?” And she's like “Yeah” and so I decided to make a t-shirt for each of the kids in this room to show their support. Not only that, but in his brother's class and his little sister's class they all have the same shirt because they need an army too, not just his class.

Anthony Godfrey:

That’s great. Well, let me give you a big “Oh yeah” for jumping in and doing that. I think that's really tremendous. What do you think the other students in this class and other classes have learned from this experience of really supporting Lucas?

Megan Dotson:

I think I've watched the empathy and each of these little kids grow by a million and a half. Over conferences just the last couple of days, having the parents come in and like, oh my, they just talk about it all the time, how excited they are for Lucas Friday or how they're going to grab an extra of this or whatever at home to put in his mailbox or things like that. Just watching them care for someone else has been really really cool. And then come up with ideas about how we’re doing to, or what we’re going to say, or what they'd like to do to show him love. I encourage that a lot in this room, but I have watched it grow tremendously in the last little bit.

Anthony Godfrey:

It sounds like you had created a classroom that was very supportive long before you knew that Lucas was going to be in this situation. That gave you a lot of a lot of momentum to build on instead of just starting out of nowhere like “Oh wait a minute, we're going to focus on each other for a moment.”

Megan Dotson:

Yeah, I do. I mean, my biggest thing in here and I always, I usually cry at the beginning of the year when I tell them. But I always tell them how important kindness is to my heart. I never want someone to leave this room feeling like they don't matter, that they don't have anyone. I always say that when you get to middle school and you're sitting at the lunch table alone I want you to see someone else that's from Miss Dotson’s class in third grade and like “Hey, I could go sit with them like they were part of my family I know that they'll have me” because we are a family in here.

Anthony Godfrey:

That's remarkable and this is exactly the type of education we're hoping that students receive. One where they feel a part of things, supported, and they learn to support each other as well. You're creating some unforgettable learning experiences here.

Megan Dotson:

Thank you.

Marcela:

I can attest to that because Miss Dotson is actually a legacy teacher for our family. Our oldest had Miss Dotson when he was in fourth grade and around that time we were navigating a diagnosis for ADHD for him, and he was really struggling emotionally. I can tell you what we're seeing with Lucas is not just because Lucas has cancer. Miss Dotsen is this kind of teacher. The teacher that went above and beyond when my child couldn't make friends, when he was moving a lot, and he couldn't figure out why he had so much energy. She almost catered to his needs and we saw the difference in his academic performance once she came into the picture. Once she took over, and it was like “He's not like that. No one is the same. He's not like the rest of the students. We need to pay attention to what he needs.”

Anthony Godfrey:

And that's such a good point. We get into trouble when we think, “Well everyone needs to be this way, that's going to work best for me.” Instead of figuring out how we can best support the needs of the learner. So a legacy teacher I'm going to steal that term. I really like that. So Lucas, how does it feel to be in this class with so many friends that care about you?

Lucas;

Awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:

And I saw you have an orange cape when you came in. Will you go grab that and show me what that's about, Lucas? Oh, with the L and the shield. Oh. And what's all this writing on there?

Lucas:

It’s the other people in my class.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh nice. That's really cool. That's such great support from other students.

Lucas:

Even I signed it down here.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh yeah let's see. Well I'm glad you support yourself. Well done Lucas. That's step one. Awesome. I saw you were wearing that when you came in. How long have you had this cape?

Megan Dotson:

Just today right? Why did we choose to do a cape? Can you tell them?

Lucas:

Because they call me a superhero.

Anthony Godfrey:

Why do you think they want to call you a superhero?

Lucas:

Because I'm going through something so hard.

Anthony Godfrey:

You said you're doing a good job with it. What is it like going through something so hard like this Lucas?

Lucas:

Well, leukemia is not that hard because they do this for me. But sometimes I have to do really hard stuff. I used to have to do this thing called virus and they would give me a shot and I'd have to.

Marcela:

And what's your biggest fear?

Lucas:

That.

Marcela:

Needles.

Anthony Godfrey:

Needles of your biggest fear?

Lucas:

Mm hmm.

Marcela:

And what do we do on Thursdays, Lucas?

Lucas:

Um, that's when she comes to visit me at my own house at my house.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh, she comes to your house on Wednesdays?

Lucas:

Uh huh but.

Marcela:

We do school on Thursday at home.

Lucas:

Mm hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh.

Lucas:

Mm hmm. And then she'll just come visit me at a hospital whenever.

Anthony Godfrey:

Well, you're uh... I've just met you. Everyone else is used to this and how awesome you are. But I'm crying because I'm so impressed with you. Lucas, you're inspiring students to be at their very best and to learn a lot of lessons about looking out for each other.

Lucas:

Mm hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:

I think that's really cool. You also have a pretty special teacher that's going out of her way to really make sure that she's doing everything she can for you so that makes her pretty special too, doesn't it?

Lucas:

Mm hmm.

Anthony Godfrey:

Thanks for letting me come talk with you, Lucas. It's been really important for me to have a chance to meet you. I heard about you and I really wanted to record this podcast with you, so thanks for taking some time out of your day.

Lucas:

You're welcome.

Anthony Godfrey:

Thank you very much for being such an incredible supporter and for teaching these kids unforgettable lessons in empathy, and that's a gateway to learning everything else. So thank you.

Megan Dotson:

Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it.

Anthony Godfrey:

Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.