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Speaker 3: 1:34

Welcome to the Bubba Lounge. I'm your host, sean Jackson. No, not really. We haven't changed the format, and Martha will be back for next week's episode, but she thought, since today's episode is all about the dad's contribution to the neighborhood, that maybe we should have a dad hosting. So she asked me to step in and I was glad to do it. And the reason is is because we have two very special guests here today Ryan Scripps and Scott Trueluck, both of which have been hugely active in the Dads Club Association. That really is the best way for dads to give back to the neighborhood, to be able to socialize with their peers, to really be present in their children's life throughout the year. So if you're a dad in the neighborhood, this episode is dedicated to you. So, scott Ryan, please introduce yourself.

Speaker 4: 2:25

Yeah, hi, sean Ryan Scripps. I am going to give myself the title President Emeritus of the Highland Park High School Dads Club and I've been involved with Dads Club for a while, so I know that's kind of nominally part of what we're here to talk about, but also just dads in general in the neighborhood. So looking forward to this, and we also have.

Speaker 5: 2:44

Hey, it's Scott Truelock. I'm the current president of the Park City Dads Club, which is the umbrella organization over all of the dads clubs of the district. So glad to be here, and I think Ryan sells himself short when he says just President Emeritus. He has been chief cook and bottle washer. He's done just about every role you've ever asked of a dad.

Speaker 3: 3:05

Well, I will say this that I you know when you first come into this neighborhood, right, your moms have lots of things they joined. You know the preschool association, the PTA, et cetera. But I will say that the one thing that I highly encourage everyone to do is join the Dad's Club. The sooner the better, but you're never too late to join. But before we give you the reason, what is the Dad's Club? Can you guys give an overview for people that may not be familiar?

Speaker 5: 3:30

Sean, great question. The Dad's Club, like I said, is kind of the central location for dads to gather, build community, help out with their children, get to know each other a little bit better and provide some financial donations back to the schools to help the teachers, staff and ultimately get the community together.

Speaker 3: 3:52

I just thought it was a drinking club. Okay, never mind, there's a lot more to it. Basically, quite a bit more.

Speaker 5: 3:57

Certainly, social hours are part of it, but we're definitely there to help support our schools, our teachers and our students.

Speaker 3: 4:04

Well, ryan, how is this different than the PTA? I mean, we had the PTA presidents on and those lovely ladies. They do a lot and there was a lot they covered. But how is this different than the PTA?

Speaker 4: 4:13

Well so the Dads Club. We kind of see our roles as dads, dads for the community, where anyone that's involved in raising a child through in the park, cities and are, you know, throughout the city and the country, whatever. But you know, obviously we're focused on our neighborhood. So anyone involved in raising a child, you know, during their adolescence, is who we support. So that's going to be parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, but you know, specifically also teachers, administrators, you know.

Speaker 3: 5:02

So it's a compliment to the PTA. Would you call it a complementary to the PTA?

Speaker 4: 5:05

Absolutely, and we organize a lot of events together. Scott could speak a little bit better to that, but yes, it's coordinated with the PTA's events and supportive of their events, of course, and of course they support us as well.

Speaker 5: 5:21

Yeah, no question, we definitely work hand-in-hand with the PTA on a number of events. In fact, many times they're coming to us to ask for additional volunteers or support or labor or what have you for some of the events that they hold, which is fantastic. But it's important for dads to have their own organization to gather and form bonds and generate camaraderie with each other, get to know each other. These are the dads that kindergarten dads are going to meet each other. They're going to be hanging out with the same group you know for the next 12 years. So it's important to build those relationships, get those bonds in place, and that's what the Dads Club helps facilitate.

Speaker 3: 5:56

Absolutely Okay. So let me get this straight Basically, you are helping support everything that's going on in the school, and you know whatever initiatives they need help with, you guys are there. But it's also the social bonding aspect, right, that's. That's another big part of this to get to know each other, especially if you're new in the neighborhood, etc. So I want to talk a little bit, though, about how this thing is structured, because you know when you come in, most people come in elementary age kids, and then you don't realize that there may be other dads, clubs and other things. So talk a little bit about how this is structured in general.

Speaker 5: 6:32

Sean, that's a great question. And we have an organization, the Park City Dads Club, which is the umbrella organization over each of the affiliate dads clubs at each campus. But all that really is structured to do is to help provide oversight, administration, insurance, all that fun stuff that is required to manage a professionally run 501c3 organization. So we are a nonprofit, but each campus has their own leadership structure. So, for example, whether it's Bradfield or Boone or Armstrong, or what we call Raiders, which is the middle school, or Highland Park High School, which Ryan, of course, was the prior president of, each one has their own organization. They all have their own priorities. They have their deep relationships with the principals, the PTAs on campus, as well as all the parents, and they help set the agenda and drive the events at each local campus.

Speaker 3: 7:24

So when did you get involved, Ryan? When did you first get involved with Dad's Club? Just in general.

Speaker 4: 7:28

Yeah, I want to say it was, uh, it could have been our, our oldest kindergarten year, possibly first grade year. I just I went to a Dad's Club meeting and walked up to the front and said, hey, how do I, how do, how do I get more involved in this stuff? And uh, uh, it would have been. I'm almost certain it was Michael Denton. We're going to go ahead and just call the current godfather of the Park City's Dad's Club. He really turned it into something special over the past decade or so. But anyway, he said you want to be involved and I said yes, and he said great, you're in, and he just started giving me work to do.

Speaker 3: 8:06

Now, that was a screening process right there, did they realize? Yeah, or because it just started giving me work to do.

Speaker 4: 8:12

Now, that was a screening process right there. Did they realize who was going to do it? Well, another great this I'm 1,000% certain was Michael Denton. Who did this, because I remember it distinctly.

Speaker 4: 8:25

We were about to start our fifth grade year with our oldest at the middle school and as we were wrapping up her fourth grade year, I again asked Michael Denton hey, can you introduce me to the leadership at the middle school, the Dad's Club leadership at the middle school? And he said, yeah, sure, here, just come to the Park City's Dad's Club meeting this Thursday morning. You know, this is where all of that local leadership that Scott was referring to meet up and he said I'll introduce you there. And I said, OK, great, Scott was referring to meet up and he said I'll introduce you there. And I said, OK, great. Well, when he got to introducing the middle school Dad's Club president, that's when I found out it was me. But it was. It was an honor to to be asked him to serve in that position and that's all, but anyway that wants to get involved, just just go raise your hand.

Speaker 4: 9:24

There's a lot, especially at the elementary school. So one of the things that Scott and I also do behind the scenes is is update all the websites and everything else. So every year I get there's just a lot of. I mean, when you start thinking about, well, we're going to have a kindergarten carpool chair, a first-grade carpool chair, a second-grade carpool chair, you know, so, on and so forth, and then the kindergarten cafeteria volunteer chair and you know all these different things, because the Dad's Club has really started serving in a lot of different positions, that at all the schools and it continues into the middle school and the high school. Um, we, we might, it might start fading a little bit, but, uh, as we kind of advance. But, um, you know, we still at the high school we still have a you know handful of regular guys that are coming in every uh third thursday to uh serve lunch. Um, you know, we, we help regular guys that are coming in every third Thursday to serve lunch. You know, we help out with a lot of other events too.

Speaker 3: 10:14

Yeah, I'm going to get to the lunch thing, Scott. What about you? How'd you get involved?

Speaker 5: 10:18

Yeah, great question.

Speaker 3: 10:19

And then why did you become the president of the whole thing?

Speaker 5: 10:23

Entropy, I'm sure. But no, I got involved early, kind of like Ryan, I raised my hand early on. When I was a kindergarten dad, one of my good friends happened to be in the leadership of the Bradfield Dads Club, clayton Kennington and Clayton sat down with me and talked about what the Dads Club did. I mentioned to him boy, that sounds fantastic. One of the important things about growing up in the district is both Ryan and I have which, by the way, we're both class of 93 Highland Park kids.

Speaker 4: 10:53

Wow, former Bradfield Brats together.

Speaker 5: 10:57

We have, I guess, a lot of reason to give back. This community has been wonderful to us. It's been wonderful to our families, to our children, and it's kind of beholden upon us to give back where we can. Clayton talked about getting involved and I became a room dad, so Ryan talks about all the different roles and responsibilities. While room parents have been a long-staying presence with PTAs at Bradfield, they have room dads as well to help communicate all of the events to the dads, build relationships within the classroom. So I was the kindergarten room dad for my oldest child's classroom and I think I stayed as a room dad every year for one or the other of my children until finally my youngest, claire, just graduated fourth grade at Bradfield and I'm a little sad to leave campus. But anyway, all good, on to bigger and better things and off to the middle school.

Speaker 3: 11:56

Did you volunteer to become president of the whole organization or just you? Were somebody like Ryan said, and our new president?

Speaker 5: 12:03

is God we laugh it's. You know you're not volunteered, you're voluntold. But no, I kid a little bit. No, I got involved early and I kind of picked up the reins a little bit with Ryan to help revamp the websites and so forth, got involved on that angle and then you know pretty quickly was helping out quite regularly with the Bradfield Dad's Club and the way a lot of succession works in the Dad's Clubs is you take on a slightly bigger role each year. So I became the carpool chair, right, right, right, which is great and a lot of fun At the time. It was the carpool slash cafeteria chair and then the next year I was, you know, the treasurer, and then after that, president-elect and then president of the Bradfield Dads Club. You know, a year after that I was on the board of the, so you just worked your way up the chain Effectively helping out wherever I can.

Speaker 5: 12:58

I mean, look, there's always a need for great assistance and volunteers from the community. We're always looking for dads to come in and help out in one form or fashion, and we've got a great team. We need more dads that are interested in helping out, giving back, and we greatly appreciate their time.

Speaker 1: 13:16

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Speaker 3: 15:01

Now I want to sell this a little bit, because you guys have given a great overview of it, but let's be honest, there's a lot that goes on to build that camaraderie. All right. First off, you guys have some big events every year, right? So what are some of the big events that everybody talks about?

Speaker 5: 15:20

And then we can go into some of the more micro moments. Sean, that's a great segue. So each campus has their own events, whether it's a cornhole tournament, a poker tournament, happy hours and so forth, but there are district-wide events as well, and we've been really grateful for the leadership that has built up these events into what they are now, whether it's the Sporting Clay Tournament, which is a longstanding event that we have every year. What is that? It's the Dallas Gun Club and it's the Sporting Clay Tournament.

Speaker 3: 15:46

Oh, so bring your shotgun and shoot some pigeons, that's right, clay pigeons, I should say.

Speaker 5: 15:50

It's a good fundraiser, but it's really even more so. It's a great chance for Daz to get together and bond on a random Friday morning. In addition, one of our absolute biggest events is the Teachers' Cup Tournament, which we have been doing for gosh. It's about 25 years now. It's been a longstanding fundraiser for us. Great chance to get dads together to help our teachers. 100% of the proceeds go back, help our teachers. 100% of the funds go back to proceeds. Go back to our teachers. In fact, we've even endowed a Lead for Tomorrow Foundation endowment with the proceeds from that tournament. Each year it raises around $200,000, which is a tremendous result. We have a great team of guys that help manage that. Last year, sayers Brown did his second year in that role and just had an outstanding result. So that's one more event. We also have the barbecue competition, which started out small. This is an event that started at UP and then Boone, I know where you can find a smoker, by the way.

Speaker 5: 17:03

So apparently Ken Rathburn is missing his. If it shows up, we know where it is, let us know for sure. But no, that's a great event that it's kind of started bubbled up from grassroots from one campus and turned into a district-wide event which is so much fun. Annually it's held at the Northway Christian Church parking lot in the fall. Great chance for folks to get together, share some great barbecue and it's really a time for family picnic.

Speaker 3: 17:24

All right. So let me get this straight you can shoot guns with your fellow dads, you can go play golf with your fellow dads, and then you can go get some great barbecue with them as well. That sounds like a dad's club boy. That is all dads right there.

Speaker 5: 17:38

Oh, and I haven't even gotten to the pickleball tournament we have in the spring.

Speaker 3: 17:41

Well tell all.

Speaker 5: 17:42

Oh yeah. So we've just started this. It came out of Armstrong Dad's Club and now it's a district-wide event as well. So, look, there's a lot of opportunities for dads to get together, be social, have a great time, all the while raising great funds for our district.

Speaker 3: 17:58

All right, I want to go to the micro moments, though, because I think one of the things when I got involved very early on in elementary like most people do, these guys that I ended up meeting you just see, I saw them when we were moving our daughter into UT down in Austin. I mean, it's really lifelong. So, ryan, you are fairly social, so I hear what has kind of been the dad club, you know. But these are the big things. What about for you? I mean kind of the camaraderie and bonds that you built up over the years?

Speaker 4: 18:27

yeah, I mean, you know certainly going to uh, you know they are referred to as social events, um, that are uh often held at a uh local watering hole and there might be beverages involved.

Speaker 4: 18:39

But uh um, anyway, certainly, I've met plenty of people through those and that's a lot of fun. But, uh, honestly, it's been also just serving at the school. Um, you know it, I was at Bradfield before carpool was an official Dad's club responsibility, um, but I would still just kind of help out with the carpool every day and I met a lot of parents through that. Uh, cafeteria is also just a lot of fun. I mean, you get to see your kids kind of in their natural habitat and uh, um, you know whether or not that's, you know, you know, scared first graders.

Speaker 4: 19:15

They're like afraid to order what they actually want, cause they, they, uh, were, uh, you know, you know scared first graders that are like afraid to order what they actually want because they were, you know, up to the high schoolers who pretend they can't see you, or that's actually more middle school.

Speaker 3: 19:27

You know you were definitely. I mean certainly. The moms have a whole brigade that goes there. But you know the dads definitely show up as well.

Speaker 4: 19:34

Yeah, there's a number of dads that that don't. You know, the dads definitely show up as well. Yeah, there's a number of dads that don't. So every campus has an official Dads Club day, that's. You know, that's staffed officially by the Dads Club, but I am very fortunate to be able to show up sometimes just on. You know, I don't know just some any given Wednesday or something, and there are a lot of other dads that take those shifts. They might not be able to. You know, at the high school we do third Thursdays. Well, that can be a conflict sometimes for some people. You know, maybe they can't do Thursdays but they can do Tuesdays or Fridays, and so there's a handful that also. But you know that sign up for a regular shift or just do drop-in shifts uh, you know as, uh, as needed, but but, but it's a great way, because you end up kind of standing next to somebody serving chicken fingers for two and a half hours.

Speaker 3: 20:24

You're gonna get to know them, you know, and it's it's a great way to make connections and I think it's so important too for the kids, especially the boys, to see dads in leadership roles. You know, obviously the moms in this neighborhood, you know, truly contribute so much to the social fabric and the schools and everything that goes on, and of course the kids see them kind of constantly but to seeing male role models serving, being there, being a part of the community and interacting with them, I think that has a huge impact as well, because then you have someone else that you can say oh, being a dad is more than just going to play golf, eat barbecue and shoot skeet. It's about being here in the classroom, being at the carpool, being in the cafeteria. It's about being present and leading by being present and you're exactly right.

Speaker 5: 21:14

It's not just the social events, it's showing up and being present in the schools and the kids see us there, which is hugely important in the cafeteria line. By the way, ryan is one of the all-time great volunteers, a multiple-time winner of the Golden Spatula Award. Thank you, ryan. And coordinator and organizer of both middle school and high school cafeterias for years. And coordinator and organizer of both middle school and high school cafeterias for years. But showing up for pumpkin carving on Halloween, which is a longstanding Bradfield tradition, or showing up for the annual campout at Boone, for example, to give mamas a break, to have a ladies' night out while the guys—.

Speaker 3: 21:52

Wait, wait, wait. Boone has a campout now on campus. They do, they took up all night from UP, oh for sure. Oh, wait, wait, boone has a camp out now on campus. They do, they took up all night from UP, oh for sure. Oh, my word. Okay, I was at the very first one, by the way. Oh, wonderful, the very first time they did it, we were there and I did it, and I want to say that you never appreciate how loud Dallas is until you sleep outside that Northwest Highway. But I can't believe Boone took that as well.

Speaker 5: 22:16

So here's one real secret to why we have, I guess, an umbrella organization is to help cross-pollinate great ideas from campus to campus. Whether it's, you know, a pickleball tournament from Armstrong or pumpkin carving from Bradfield, what have you? Meeting, talking, gathering and discussing great ideas and making sure that all dads have great opportunities. Each campus is distinctly different, but ideas tend to cross-pollinate, like you mentioned.

Speaker 3: 22:46

Yeah, I think as men, we certainly appreciate the fraternity that comes with being with our peers, and I also think, if you're new to the neighborhood, this is absolutely a like a rapid fire way to build your network, to build your connections, to come in and I will say that you know, no matter what, you know grade, your child is in. Right, you can step in at any time, I mean even at the high school, right. I mean, if they're transferring in, go join the dad's club, right, right.

Speaker 4: 23:13

Absolutely, yeah, I mean you do have to kind of put yourself out there. Club, right, right, absolutely, yeah, I mean you do have to kind of put yourself out there, but yeah, it's not hard, um, and you and it's a very welcoming community and um, um, especially when it comes specifically, we're talking about dad's club. But I'll just but I can just kind of say it in general that that, for the most part, somebody that wants to, you know, start making their way around and and, uh, getting to know people, will find their way around. It's not they're going to find people that will say, hey, you know what? I know this guy, sean. He does this podcast that I've heard about and you might want to meet him.

Speaker 3: 23:49

He also does this and yeah, I was going to say that my wife does the podcast. I'm stepping in today, but, yes, I appreciate the point. Yeah, and I think that's the thing You're right. Anytime you're into someplace new, it's always a little difficult, but you're all in this neighborhood, we're united around the children, right, and so I mean, in fact, and sometimes it's actually nice when you're new, because people want to meet the new person, right, the new guy. Who's this new guy that comes in? And I think that also is just part of the nature of what makes you know the Park City so unique out there.

Speaker 1: 24:21

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Speaker 3: 25:32

So I want to know about your favorite story. It could be an event Give me the favorite experience you've ever had in the Dad's Club. I know, all right, they're looking at each other, they're taking notes, that mental checklist and that you can say on the air I should say that's the other thing.

Speaker 4: 25:50

I'll tell you that one of my favorite kind of structured events and was the first poker tournament that we did at Bradfield. No one really knew how we were going to pull this thing off. It was an absolute blast. Everyone had a great time. May have gone into uh after hours a uh at another uh, uh, locally owned uh establishment with the initials I, t, that's on on on Inwood Um, but uh, anyway that was. That was really a lot of fun.

Speaker 5: 26:25

A lot of guys had a lot of fun at that Um, and then I know I've had a good time just just hanging out at a lot of the other just kind of slightly more casual events. Well, ryan, one of the funniest stories we had was our poker tournament annually does a great job of generating revenue for the Bradfield Dads Club and when I was the I think I was the president-elect at the time and we had a great turnout. North of 100 dads were at the event and one lady. She signed up for the poker tournament and we had, you know, not billed it as a guys-only event. We hadn't.

Speaker 5: 27:06

It was just a poker tournament sponsored by the Bradfield Dads Club, a lot of fun. Well, she showed up and she cleaned us out. She was the overall number one winner and it was funny because we wound up calling her the Black Widow. It's like, look out, the Black Widow is going to come and take the pot. And by all means, she sure did. And it was a lot of fun. She had a great time, we all had a great time and raised a bunch of money that year for folks.

Speaker 3: 27:32

So it's funny you both mentioned the poker tournament, because I also one of my favorite memories was winning the UP Elementary Poker Tournament. They were handing out these really nice cases, which I still have to this day, you know, as the prize for coming in. But it's funny that you mentioned the Black Widow, because there is one class of people that I do not play poker with and it's women, because they terrify me. They are so much better at bluffing, so much better at just figuring these things out. So if there's ever a woman at the table and I'm playing poker, I'm probably not going to sit at that table. They're scaring me.

Speaker 5: 28:08

This lady did mention she used to play a little bit of poker in college, which I presume meant the MIT poker team. Yeah, exactly exactly, exactly.

Speaker 3: 28:15

Well, you know we've talked a lot about, you know all the things that happens and all the camaraderie that comes in, and then, of course, the fact that you know, for many of the people that are coming into this neighborhood, you know they're generally, you know they're going to be a man and a wife that are coming in and they have a kid or kids that are coming through. But if you are single, right, you can still be part of the Dads Club, right, ryan?

Speaker 4: 28:38

Absolutely. And you know there's single dads, there's single moms, and we are very sensitive to the fact that you know, if there's something like a daddy-daughter dance, that we want to make sure that a daughter is able to participate, sure, you know, um, uh, and like Scott was mentioning, these aren't guys only events exclusively. Um, I mean, it is done by the dad's club, but that that doesn't mean that a mom couldn't show up. Yeah, um, so, uh, we, we do try to make sure we are, are, are being aware of and, uh, helping out when, uh, to make sure that no kids are feeling left out. Absolutely, we don't want any parents to feel left out either.

Speaker 5: 29:19

And a lot of people play the role of dad, whether it's an uncle or a grandfather and what have you. We're inclusive to all. We just want parents involved with their kids' lives. And that's what's super important here.

Speaker 3: 29:30

All right, we're coming to time. So Martha has started this tradition now where we're doing rapid fire questions. Okay, so now I'm going to shoot some questions at you and be quick. Let's see, here we go.

Speaker 4: 29:45

Ryan, you'll be the first one Favorite HP tradition Go Serving in the cafeteria, parents serving in the cafeterias. All right, scott.

Speaker 3: 29:51

Friday Night Lights. Oh yeah, I got to love that. All right, here we go. Scott, back to you. Most used tool in your dad's club toolbox.

Speaker 5: 30:00

Email and text.

Speaker 4: 30:01

Well, Scott stole my answer, so now I'm at a loss.

Speaker 3: 30:05

The answer is a wagon so you can haul around all the stuff that the PTA moms want you to carry on field day, right? So all righty moms want you to carry on field day right? So all righty, uh, ryan, you got to catch up now. Most underrated dad skill that helps at school events most underrated boy.

Speaker 4: 30:22

Uh, I think we overrate all of our skills way too much uh now, but no, I gotta know I gotta think of what one that we uh, that we underrate, um, uh, I think we're just too arrogant a group.

Speaker 3: 30:35

Scott, oh, it's patience, okay, I'm just going to say showing up on time. You know, there you go, just being there, right, okay, all right, last one Funniest moment volunteering. Now you've got to make everybody laugh. Come on, no pressure.

Speaker 4: 30:51

Funniest moment. I mentioned this earlier. I used to help out in the carpool line at Bradfield and I had this one boy that I would help him every day. And one day he got out and he said guess what, Mr Ryan? Miss Chaney yesterday put me on an improvement plan and, having had a son who was a few years older than him, we knew exactly what an improvement plan meant. It meant that there had been something that needed to be improved upon.

Speaker 5: 31:25

Boy. I wish I had one specifically funny event, but usually the funniest events we have is pumpkin carving and seeing what those crazy kids come up with, it's usually highly entertaining. One of the best events we have on that same day is dads dress up for Halloween in their costumes and serve lunch, so seeing what dads will show up with is usually pretty entertaining as well.

Speaker 3: 31:48

Okay. So my funny story is I went to my first kind of dad's club. They were serving donuts, I think, right before school, et cetera. And this is when we were first new to the neighborhood. And I'm sitting there and there's this gentleman next to me, kind of older, and I turned to him. I'm like so are you here? You know, as a grandparent, do you have a kid here? Because he looked fairly older and he goes no, I'm the coach of the high school football team and those are my players over there. They were sliding. I was like, oh, how's that going for you, coach Little? Did I realize who I was standing next to?

Speaker 5: 32:25

An absolute legend, Randy Allen.

Speaker 3: 32:28

So, yes, I think the rule of thumb is whenever you're at Dad's Club event, just remember that there are some very fantastic people that belong to it and you may be standing next to literally a living legend, so it's worth it for that experience alone and Coach Allen will show up every year to just about every campus for breakfast to meet so the kids can meet the Scots leadership Absolutely yes.

Speaker 5: 32:52

And Coach Susan Bailey does the same thing with the Scots leadership Absolutely yes. And Coach Susan Bailey does the same thing with the ladies captain.

Speaker 3: 32:57

Oh wow. Well, that just goes back to the fact that I think really, what makes Heinlein Park and University Park so special is the involvement of the parents, and it's not just the moms. Dads play a huge role and, gentlemen, I can't thank you enough for being here today. It really means a lot to us. Thank you, sean. Thanks Sean. This was a lot of fun. That's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge, and Martha Jackson will return in the next episode. Stay tuned.