NOVEMBER 2017 | Vol. 14 Iss. 11
FREE COTTONWOOD CITIZEN, BUSINESS PARTNER, ELECTED OFFICIALS THANKED FOR SUPPORTING SCHOOL DISTRICT By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
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ew things catch Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore off guard, but that’s what happened when he received a call informing him he was a recipient of the Canyons School District Apex Legacy Award. “I was told I’d be honored for my contributions to Canyons School District and I was surprised,” he said. In September, Cullimore was honored as a Canyons Apex award winner along with 12 other individuals and community partners who were recognized at the school district’s eighth annual Apex Awards banquet. Winners for the crystal award, which is the highest honor given by the Canyons administration and board of education, were nominated by the public. “We host this event every year to pay tribute to those in our community who have stood should-to-shoulder with us as we have worked to deliver a world-class education,” said Board President Sherril Taylor. “Whether your jobs are in a classroom or at the state capitol, you have taken to heart the sentiments that it takes a village to raise a child, that many hands make light work, that teamwork, as so eloquently stated by Andrew Carnegie, ‘is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.’” Cullimore appreciated the recognition. “It’s wonderful, but I was doing what I saw best for our community and our kids,” he said. Cullimore referred to the official 2009 launch of Canyons School District and his supporting the vote to divide Jordan School District in half. “Cottonwood Heights heavily wanted a new district. Two of our elementary schools, Cottonwood Heights and Mountview, had closed and there was talk of closing another. Our schools weren’t getting upgrades and our community was being
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affected with the closures,” he said. Cullimore, who served as chair of the mayor’s committee, met with several others to ensure the vote passed in his community. He also has served as chair of Bella Vista Elementary’s school community council and with Jordan Education Foundation. But he’s not always in board rooms. Cullimore also will step into the schools, wearing a Dr. Seuss hat, to read to children, or to talk about his careers both as mayor and as CEO of a medical device company to middle school and high school students. “Education is what it’s all about and we need to invest in our community, our kids, our future,” he said. State Rep. Marie Poulson, who won the Apex Elected Official of the Year Award, also is a staunch supporter of Canyons School District and public education. Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, seen here at Ridgecrest Elementary’s 50th anniversary, was “I taught 20 years in the classroom awarded the Canyons School District Apex Legacy Award. (Julie Slama/City Journals) and was involved in the PTA with my five kids in Canyons schools,” she said. children, said much discussion falls on standardized testing. “There are few of us with classroom experience in the legisla- While it’s good to have benchmarks, she said much of it should ture who really understand what the effect is going to be when be reorganized. we talk about issues concerning students and the classrooms.” Poulson said she can compare it to farming with the saying, Poulson, who has the voice of the teachers, the parents and “If we spend all our time weighing and measuring than feeding, the community alongside the interests of what is best for school it’s a problem.”
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