CottonWood Heights Journal | February 2021

February 2021 | Vol. 17 Iss. 02

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JUNIOR LANDER BARTON CONTINUES FAMILY LEGACY AT BRIGHTON HIGH SCHOOL

By Tavia Dutson | t.dutson@mycityjournals.com

Byline

W

hen the Deseret News announced that Brighton junior Lander Barton was the Region 6 MVP for the 2020 football season, he was busy topping charts on the basketball court.

For the past three years, Barton has been wrapping up a successful football season and launching right into basketball. While most high school basketball players have been training all summer, Barton gives himself a small break before switching gears in November.

“I try to give myself a week or two off just to rest my body and recover after football season,” Barton said.

Barton leads the Bengals in both total points scored and rebounds. He is ranked as one of the top rebounders in the state for this season. Although Barton is thankful for the recognition he’s gotten on the court so far, he is far from satisfied.

With 160 points through 10 games, Barton’s points per game is currently 16. By the end of the season, he hopes to increase his average to 20 ppg. After talking to Barton ahead of their region rivalry game versus the Olympus Titans, he went on to score 30 points, already chipping away at that lofty goal.

What is most impressive about Barton is his ability to compete at such a high level in both football and basketball. He is a perennial standout on Brighton’s football and basketball teams, both of which consistently rank in the top 10 of the state.

Those who are familiar with Brighton athletics are likely unsurprised to see this high level of success from Barton. Lander is the youngest of four siblings, all who Lander Barton dunks the basketball in a December 2020 game vs. Alta. (Photo courtesy Christine Yee)

have been standouts in Brighton athletics.

Following in the footsteps of parents Mikki Kane-Barton and Paul Barton, Lander’s three older siblings have gone on to play Division 1 sports at the University of Utah. Older brothers Cody and Jackson were drafted in the 2019 NFL Draft after successful collegiate careers.

Although his brothers are spread across the country (Cody playing for the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson for the New York Giants), the family stays closer than ever. Every spring as they finish up their professional seasons and Lander wraps up basketball, the family comes back to Cottonwood Heights to train.

“When my brothers come back from the league I can work out and train with them,” Barton said. “My brother Cody plays the same position and so he is always giving me tips to help perfect my craft.”

Barton admits that having a family of successful athletes has been advantageous but comes with pressure to live up to his family name.

“It’s good to be able to look up to them but it’s kind of intimidating,” Barton said. “In my mind, I’d like to be better than them. It will be pretty tough, so it’s a lot of pressure but it’s a good challenge.”

It looks as if Barton is more than up to that challenge. After his sophomore football season, he was offered a full athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Utah. Since then, he has racked up offers including full scholarships to seven other Pac-12 schools and most recently, an offer from Notre Dame, the fourth ranked team in the country.

The University of Utah should have a leg up on all the other programs trying to woo Lander as his family’s Continued page 5

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February 2021 | Page 3

City votes to restrict parking near canyon trailhead

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

I

n September 2020, the Cottonwood Heights Journal reported on a resident petition that was needed in order to implement a permit-parking-only area around the Ferguson Trailhead (7721 Timberline Dr.) in Cottonwood Heights. That petition has since been formed, signed, submitted, edited and unanimously approved by the Cottonwood Heights City Council.

Kelly Calder submitted a petition to extend permit parking on Prospector Drive to the City of Cottonwood Heights with 15 signatures on Oct. 15, 2020. The petition requested that a permit-parking-only area be implemented on Prospector Drive from approximately 7800 South to 7920 South.

Public parking would be restricted within that neighborhood.

“This is a situation that continues to get more severe as time goes on and there’s more interest in hiking trails,” Calder said.

“As everyone is trying to get up on the trail, property owners have to deal with annoyances from people outside of the community. I’ve had dirty diapers and beer bottles on my lawn.”

In order for a resident petition of this nature to be considered by the city council, signatures from over 51% of those in the affected area are required. Calder’s petition had 15 signatures out of the 19 properties affected: 79%.

“Everyone was enthusiastic about getting this implemented. It really does impact everybody,” Calder reported. He shared a story from his neighbor about how she recently scheduled work on her home on a Saturday afternoon. With all the parked automobiles, the workers could not bring in their equipment.

As the Cottonwood Heights City Council deliberated over this petition, one major

Journals

factor consistently contributed to the conversation. There is a plan to construct a parking lot in 2021 to capture that overflow parking from the trailhead.

“It will eliminate the need to park outside of the overflow parking lot,” said Community and Economic Development Director Michael Johnson.

The overflow parking lot will have 70 stalls. As of publication, the design process for the parking lot was scheduled to begin next month. Once designed, construction has been scheduled to begin in the summer.

As long as everything stays on schedule, the parking lot will be completed by the end of fall.

“This has been the biggest issue people have brought up to me,” said Cottonwood Heights Councilmember for District 4 Christine Mikell. “I support the petition.

I love that people are using our trails and mountains. The overflow parking will be (0.3) miles from the trailhead. It’s making it so all of us need to walk. It seems reasonable and rational.”

On Dec. 1, 2020, a public hearing was held for this petition. A few of Calder’s neighbors spoke in support of the petition, while a few other residents voiced their opposition.

Sam Fisher, a neighbor who signed the petition, said, “Every weekend is busy from May until September. My primary concern in safety and lack of visibility. I’ve experienced delays accessing my own driveway, guests can’t find parking, and on one occasion an unleashed dog ran into my home.”

David Hancock told the city council that he was supportive of the petition, as long as Quicksilver Drive could be considered for permit-parking-only as well. “We are concerned that the parking will just move

Delivery trucks often have no option but to park in the middle of the road due to parking congestion.

(Photo courtesy of Kelly Calder)

over to Quicksilver. Our street is extremely narrow, too narrow for a sidewalk; we only have one. We are empathetic to Prospector Drive and support the petition, as long as we are included.”

Resident Katie Brown told the council there was a need for signage. “There is not awareness that there is overflow parking.

Make it easy for people to access the trail for the overflow parking lot.”

A handful of residents opposed the petition. “Public roads should have public parking. No parking zones just push the parking down the neighborhood. How far do we

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push the no parking zones?” asked Brendan Dodge.

Calder addressed the point of public roads brought up by many residents. “There was a Supreme Court case in October 1997, Board vs. Richards…The ordinance rationally promotes that residents are protected from unreasonable burdens.”

Calder explained how the case was similar as it considered restrictions on commuter parking. The case was first heard by the Virginia Supreme Court and they ruled in favor of the commuters. However, the Board of Arlington County took the case to the U.S.

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Continued from front page

Hikers lounge on a residential lawn. (Photo courtesy of Kelly Calder)

Supreme Court, where it was overruled.

After hearing many comments from the public, the city council spent two weeks considering the issue. On Dec. 15, 2020, the city council voted on Resolution 2020-58 “Designing a Portion of Prospector Drive as a Parking Permit Area (designating a portion of Prospector Drive from approximately 7800 South to 7920 South as a parking permit area pursuant to Cottonwood Heights Code Chapter 11.22 due the unusually heavy on-street parking demands caused by its proximity to nearby trails and trailheads).”

Councilmembers Tali Bruce and Scott

Bracken voiced their hesitancy before voting. “I’m struggling with the 14th amendment. I’m a little torn about it,” Bruce said.

“I’d prefer that streets be open for the public,” Bracken said.

Councilmember Mikell reiterated why she was supportive of this petition. “Residents voiced concern and begged us for help.

We had an agreement with Salt Lake County for the overflow parking lot. (Mayor Mike Peterson), (City Manager Tim Tingey) and others worked to bring that funding to our city. I think this is the best solution.”l

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legacy there is strong. Parents Paul and Mikki left their mark at the U in the early ’90s when Paul played baseball and Mikki excelled in both basketball and volleyball. Jackson and Cody graduated from the U in 2019 and sister Dani Barton-Drews is currently setting records as an All-American for the Utes on the volleyball court.

Although Barton admits that football is his true passion, he loves having the opportunity to suit up for Brighton basketball. Not only does it keep him in shape, but it provides him with a different group of kids to get close to.

“On the football team there’s a wide range and a variety of people on the team.

Basketball is the same kids every year, so it’s a smaller close-knit group,” Barton said.

As Barton finishes the 2021 basketball season, he looks to repeat last year’s region title and make a run at a state championship.

As more and more football athletes graduate early to get a head start at college training, this season may be the last time we see a Barton playing basketball for the Bengals.

After the basketball season, you can find Lander and his siblings staying close the best way they know how—working out together.

All the Barton’s swear by Pilates as their favorite way to stay in shape, especially when navigating multiple sports with very different training regimens.

“All my siblings go to Jenny Carr for Pi-

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Lander Barton jumps for a block in an August 2020 game vs. Fremont. (Photo courtesy Christine Yee)

lates. In football season we work on more rigid motion and stability and then for basketball she helps me work on fluidity and explosion,” Barton said.

Although they are still trying to convince dad Paul to join them at Pilates, the Barton’s close family relationships have helped them to excel in athletics. If there is one thing that comes before sports to the Barton’s, it’s family.l

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February 2021 | Page 5

Generous students, community members help fund and fill Cottonwood school pantry

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

E

very year, Cottonwood High students, like many other high schools, hold a winter fundraising drive to donate funds or supplies for a charitable organization. In recent years, they raised thousands of dollars to help children’s wishes be granted through Make-A-Wish Foundation.

This winter, as they were looking at a variety of options, they realized there was an obvious need right within their own community.

“We were looking at a variety of options, when we realize that we could hold the month-long fundraiser to help our own community, to help stock our school pantry,” studentbody president Faith Godina said. “We have a need right here.”

During the three weeks leading up to the winter break, student leaders came up with ways to raise funds in a COVID-19 fearful time.

“We were able to seek donations online, hold a silent auction online with baskets and our usual tree festival instead of having crowds of people in-person, and we even held grilled cheese nights and had student government and other volunteers waving signs out on 13th East about it,” she said.

The gift baskets featured donated items, such as a TV, air pods, $100 gift cards and other items, as well as the club-decorated trees, brought in several thousand dollars.

Coupled with cookie or candygrams purchased by students and delivered weekly in December and restaurant nights, where local businesses, such as Swig, would donate a percentage of profits for the night, helped to fill the pantry’s shelves.

It wasn’t just an effort to raise funds, but to unite the school. They held a spirit week which included a simple unifying action—when students who were randomly called answered their cell or home phones with “Colts are Great,” they would win a donated prize and a chance to be in schoolwide assembly as a way to build school unity.

“I was surprised at all the ways we could raise money during COVID; it felt great,” Godina said. “We want to help everyone at our school and be a positive community.”

Cottonwood High’s pantry is almost the size of a classroom, with rows of shelves organized and stocked with nonperishable items, such as macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, cereal, rice, graham crackers, soup, and even Girl Scout cookies. On other shelves, there were school supplies, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items.

SBO adviser Tara Battista said that hundreds of students rely on the pantry weekly for food and Principal Terri Roylance said the shelves need to be restocked every few days.

“We let kids come and get what they need. It may be a day where they didn’t bring a lunch and they’re hungry or they may need to stock up for the weekend,” Roylance said.

Students also are able to come before the school dismissal bell rings on Tuesdays and Thursdays to gather what they need.

“It has been amazing that our studentbody wants to help other students here within the school,” Roylance said.

“They raised $1,000 alone when they auctioned off Christmas trees that clubs and groups donated. One anonymous donor purchased a tree and said, ‘I want this to go to a home in need.’ Our community is reaching out to our students, calling to ask if they can donate canned fruit, soup or

Page 6 | February 2021

Cottonwood High Principal Terri Roylance shows a full pantry, thanks in part to students who raised funds to help stock the shelves for their peers who are in need. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

ask what is on our list of needs.”

Behind the scenes of the pantry are a handful of dedicated volunteers who weekly organize donations, headed

by Robyn Ivins, who recently was honored by Holladay Mayor Rob Dahle and the city council for her volunteerism.

Ivins declined to be interviewed, not wanting to be in the spotlight, but in 2018 said that she worked in the pantry to provide food and items to reduce some of the 1,700 Cottonwood students’ anxiety issues.

“In high school, there are all sorts of pressures from sleeping with a boyfriend or getting asked to a dance and wearing the cutest clothes to where their next meal will come from and how their family will cope with pressures,” she said then.

Cottonwood serves a great number of refugee families and more than 40 languages are spoken in the school’s hallways, Battista said. That diversity will be celebrated when the student leaders hold a cultural week in February.

In addition to raising funds for the pantry, student leaders also volunteered to help Ivins and others with the Cottonwood Extravaganza in December.

“We allow our kids to ‘shop’ for themselves and their families,” Roylance said. “There were sports balls, candy, games, hot chocolate, jackets, school supplies, perfume and cologne, personal hygiene items, gift cards, Cottonwood sweatshirts bought from donated funds—about anything

kids want and need.”

Godina said that they donated some of the funds they raised for toys and other items students usually “shop” for siblings at Christmas. Battista said they spent up to $499 on those items, with the rest of the funds raised earmarked for the pantry.

Roylance said that the annual one-day was “crazy,” with boxes and pallets of items for any Cottonwood student to “shop” for, but also “so rewarding” as hundreds of students took part in the free shopping spree.

“The items were all donated or purchased with donations. Robyn started it four years ago and she heads it up and reaches out to neighborhoods, churches, Scouts and anyone in our community. This is on top of her overseeing the pantry,” Roylance said. “Robyn knows so many people and is so much a part of our community. She gets others to help out. It makes such a powerful positive impact on our school and students.”

Student leaders have learned that spirit of generosity, giving back to their school.

“It’s been such a hard year so this is a way we can show we care for one another and build school unity,” Godina said. “It’s heartwarming to put in all the work and see people smile and happy and make them feel good.” l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Butler Middle student’s new soda pop flavor, label become reality

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

S

hortly before a small ceremony, Butler Middle School seventh-grader Emery Gallegos revealed she was so surprised— and super excited.

“It was a sixth-grade assignment and now it’s a reality,” she said. “This is super cool.”

Then, she joined not only the sixthgrade teachers, but her family, her school administrators, Canyons School District Board of Education president and vice president and the owner of Real Soda in Real Bottles, who livestreamed from California.

Emery and other Butler sixth-graders had an assignment to make a new flavor of a soda pop, describe what it would be like, create a label and a slogan, and pitch it to their class.

The winner of each class would compete against other sixth-grade winners until they had an overall winning flavor and marketing campaign. Then, it would be turned over to Real Soda to actually make the flavor.

“We voted last fall and I won in my class, but I tied with another student from second period, so we had to have a runoff. I was super excited that I won,” she said about the competition amongst 250 other students.

“I can’t believe it actually got made.”

Emery decided the flavor she wanted was raspberry, lemon and strawberry because “they go together.” She likes sunsets and likes painting them, so she incorporated that into her label, the name of her flavor, “Sunset Blend,” and her tagline: “I’ve never seen an ugly sunset.”

“I wanted it to remind people of a place or memory. And I thought, ‘I’m pretty good at painting sunsets, and I enjoy doing that,’” she said.

At the ceremony, she saw and tasted her soda pop for the first time.

“It does taste like a sunset if you could drink a sunset,” she said.

Butler Principal Paula Logan said that the school purchased several cases to share with former sixth-graders who were in her

Butler Middle School seventh-grader Emery Gallegos holds a bottle of the soda pop, “Sunset Blend,” she created and named. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

It does taste like a sunset if you could drink a sunset.

Emery Gallegos

class as well as have it be available in the school store. She also plans to display Emery’s original artwork and a bottle of the soda pop alongside it.

While the flavor has yet to reach the local area grocers’ shelves, it already had made its initial debut in St. George, with bottles available at a general store for about $2.50 per bottle. It also made its way in several California markets after being bottled in

New Mexico.

It was sixth-grade teacher Mark Sanderson who had a connection to Real Soda in Real Bottles owner and operator Danny Ginsburg.

“I had worked a year with seniors at Hillcrest while they were writing research papers and thought they really had some good ideas,” he said. “I already had known Danny, so when I came to Butler, I asked

what if a student here could develop a new flavor soda and he immediately said he would make it a reality.”

So, Sanderson and colleague Rachel Sollis assigned students to “be creative like Willie Wonka” in the novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” He said that Emery, who is “a smart, artistic, quiet and modest student” won by five votes cast by her peers and received the “golden ticket” to have her creativity be bottled in the soda pop.

“Danny said that he would make the winning student’s flavor, the color of the drink, tagline, label and name,” Sanderson said. “We began this last fall, but everything—the production, the supply chain— slowed down with the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s like a Christmas miracle that it happened.

And now it will be fun to see it in stores. It’s a school lesson that got produced to be a real product. His generosity brought learning to the real world.”

Ginsburg stayed true to Emery’s idea and concept.

“It’s the first time I’ve done something like this before and it’s been fun,” he said.

“I liked her flavor; it’s a good combination.

Lemon goes well with fruit flavors. The strawberry is subliminal to the lemon and raspberry mix. I think it is so exciting when academics meets the real world. I can see her creativity as she explored it.”

Ginsburg said some of his other products were based off his doodling in school when he was a student. He also collected bottle caps as a hobby. This evolved into bringing an idea of combining creative names and flavors into the soda pop industry and his company.

“As we all get older, we look back on the teachers we remember who stimulated some interest in us when we were younger and not really sure what we wanted to do with our lives,” Ginsburg said. “Doing an interactive and innovative project like this can really blossom into something, not just for the students who participate, but for those who see what’s possible and are inspired.” l

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February 2021 | Page 7

2021 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

T

he 2021 Utah State Legislative Session began on Jan. 19 and will run until March 5. This year, much of the session will be held virtually as the State Capitol Building (350 State St.) has been closed to the public due to COVID-19. It is estimated that over 200 bills will be filed this year. As the session begins to ramp up, many will be paying close attention to various bills. Cities like Cottonwood Heights tend to track bills that could impact local authority.

Cottonwood Heights Lobbyists Brian Allen and Chantel Nate have been advocating for Cottonwood Heights for years. They pay close attention to any drafted bill that might influence local control. As of publication, they shared concern over potential bills regulating firearms at the state level, billboards, local zoning and COVID-19 measures.

Allen shared that there will most likely be a bill filed allowing sections of homes to be rented legally, which would “put guardrails around what cities can do.”

Lobbyist Greg Curtis reported that there will be an emphasis on infrastructure funding this year. “(The legislature) will be looking at that from the state level. (The Utah Department of Transportation) has a process for state road improvements.”

Cottonwood Heights Councilmember Christine Mikell voiced some concern over infrastructure funding at the state level, as funding might go toward Wasatch Boulevard and influence the corridor development opposite of what the city’s Wasatch Boulevard Master Plan outlines. “How can we influence that to lessen the impact to our commu-

Lobbyist Brain Allen and Chantel Nate watch for bills that may limit local control for Cottonwood Heights. (Photo courtesy of Cottonwood Heights)

nity?”

Cottonwood Heights City Manager Tim Tingey recalled an emphasis from the legislature on trails last year.

Tingey anticipates discussions around funding trails to resurface. “We are committed to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail,” he reminded Curtis.

All three lobbyists reported that there will be over 70 bills addressing issues of police reform. “These bills will be taking some authority away from cities,” Allen said.

Allen and Nate shared that there are drafted bills addressing K-9 certification, citizen review boards and disciplinary action. A drafted bill of particular interest will

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address use of force.

“It will define use of force and how it is reported. Municipalities and counties are defining it differently,” Allen reported. The intention with this bill is to get a clearer picture of use of force throughout the state.

City lobbyists and elected officials work closely with the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) every year.

ULCT is a nonpartisan, interlocal, government cooperative working to strengthen the quality of municipal government and administration of Utah’s cities and towns.

Tingey and Mikell attend ULCT meetings regularly. At a recent ULCT meeting, they learned that there are multiple bills proposed to address COVID-19 related issues.

Curtis also reported on drafted bills addressing COVID-19 legislation. “Some are working to try and rein in unchecked emergency powers,” he said.

The anticipated argument related to COVID-19 between legislators will be about where the decision making power resides. Does the legislature take a one-size-fits-all approach, or do they allow the cities to keep their authority and govern themselves? (In other words, they’ll be discussing a statewide mask mandate.)

As mentioned, the session is encouraged to be as virtual as possible. “The chief clerk is concerned about an COVID-19 outbreak at the capitol,” Allen said.

“Advocacy will change this year,” Tingey said. “We will have to work more closely with legislators and keep them informed.” l

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“Where else can you get two hours of excellent care, two bags of IV fluids, Zofran and Torodol and discounted blood labs for $10?” said Medallus Medical member Teresa Prater.

Though not an insurance plan replacement, Medallus does save patient’s money for the majority of their medical needs. Medallus’

Page 8 | February 2021

goal is to get rid of the financial obstacle to medical care.

“I can’t say enough about what a blessing to our family it is, to have found Medallus. We are self-employed and pay about $1,600 [every month] for a $5,000 deductible health insurance policy. We have a family membership with Medallus and use them for literally everything. In the last few months, we’ve been seen for a sprained ankle, sinus infection, accidental essential oil spill in the eyes, and the stomach flu…,” Prater said.

After an initial $20 registration fee and a 12-month contract, Utahns are ready to know exactly what their appointment will cost before they even walk into their doctor’s office.

But affordability isn’t the only thing bringing people into Medallus’ nine urgent and primary care clinics, quality of care also recommends Medallus.

“We just wanted to say thank you so much for going the extra mile the other day when we stopped in. I know you probably didn’t think much of it but for me, as a mom, it meant a ton that you called your other location and connected us with another amazing doctor. It saved me the worry and hassle of trying to do it all on my own with an upset little boy, so thank you!” one patient wrote of Medallus.

Medallus isn’t just for personal use; businesses can set their employees up with their own affordable care. Not too far off from the individual plans, companies pay $45 per employee per month to give their team $10 visits, anytime over the phone medical

advice, access to all of the Medallus facilities and other Utah clinics.

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Residents to pay more for curbside green waste collection, trailer rental

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

T

he Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District (WFWRD) has increased a handful of fees for 2021, as the governing board approved their new budget on Dec. 16, 2020.

The increased fees apply to the residential green waste and bulk waste trailers services.

Additional nonresidential fee increases include recycling front load containers for special services and district pricing.

WFWRD’s base fee will remain $17 per month/$204 annual. This base fee covers services for one garbage can and one recycle can with additional occasional services like Christmas tree cleanup in January.

Curbside green waste collection fees are increasing from $9.50 per month/$114 annual to $10.50 per month/$125 annual. This will be the first fee increase for the WFWRD curbside green waste collection service since it was implemented in 2014.

“It’s very important that service pays for itself, and cover its own cost for wage increases and container repair and replacement,” said WFWRD General Manager/CEO Pam Roberts.

Fees associated with the trailer program are increasing for residents. The bulk waste trailer rental increased from $145 to $175. In addition, fees for loads over two tons will be $45 per ton.

Modifications had to be made throughout WFWRD from the impacts of the COVID-19

pandemic. The bulk trailer rental program was modified the most as a result.

Usually, the trailer program staffs 21 drivers. In 2020, they were short-handed by five employees at the beginning of the year as they started with 16 drivers.

“It’s a competitive industry for drivers, with companies like Amazon,” Roberts said.

“There’s a nationwide shortage of CDL drivers.

We work with people to get their CDL in a hope that they stay.”

In addition, they were constantly shortstaffed as employees who were exposed to COVID-19 or sick had to be taken off their routes.

“We had to pull full-time people from curbside pickup to staff the trailer program,” Roberts reported.

WFWRD’s trailer program became online reservation only. Concern for the health and well-being of their employees modified the delivery policy as well. Trailers began to be delivered onto resident driveways, instead of on the streets.

“It’s an attraction when containers are on the streets, like ants to a sugar pile. With such a large-scale program it’s difficult to protect the sanitization workers,” Roberts said.

WFWRD collects waste from 83,000 homes within the cities of Cottonwood Heights,

Herriman, Holladay, Millcreek, Taylorsville, portions of Murray and Sandy; the Metro Townships of Copperton, Emigration, Kearns, Magna and White City; and unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County.

Of those 83,000 homes, 10,790 are within Cottonwood Heights. One thousand three hundred and three bulk waste trailers were delivered to Cottonwood Heights where residents discarded 379 mattresses, 41 tires and 24 fridges.

Altogether in 2020, 9,548 containers were delivered to gather 8,481 total tons of waste. In comparison to 2019, 11,470 containers gathered 11,000 tons of waste.

Your well-being is our well-being.

During 2020, between 80 and 100 containers were reserved per day. The drivers were eventually able to average 10 container deliveries per day.

“The team became more efficient for this program,” Roberts said.

For 2021, WFWRD will continue with the online reservation-only model for their trailer program. They hope to tweak the program and fix some loose ends in order to keep the program modifications moving forward. The biggest focus is to make their online reservation system quicker.

“We have to verify that the person who is scheduling the reservation is the homeowner,” Roberts said.

After the trailer program wrapped up, WFWRD asked residents to partake in a survey. Two hundred and twenty-five of those who responded left detailed comments. Thirty-two of those said they were not in support of the modification to the program because they wanted more availability. Some responders asked for this program to be available year round.

“We are looking at that, but there would be cost increases. It’s better for costs to keep it in municipalities within certain dates,” Roberts explained.

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February 2021 | Page 9

New parking structure to help alleviate canyon traffic

By Joshua Wood | j.wood@mycityjournals.com

L

ocal officials dedicated a new parking structure in Cottonwood Heights as part of the Canyon Centre mixed-use development. The structure was developed through a public/private partnership to help make area shops and Big Cottonwood Canyon more accessible. The parking garage provides up to 278 public parking stalls on weekends and holidays and 80 during weekday business hours.

“As the ‘City between the Canyons,’ we are constantly looking for ways to improve our recreational experience, and one challenge we face is congestion and limited parking for those who recreate in the Cottonwood Canyons,” said Cottonwood Heights Mayor Mike Peterson.

On Jan. 14, Cottonwood Heights and Salt Lake County officials along with members of the Central Wasatch Commission gathered via Zoom for a virtual dedication of the structure.

“This is what a public/private partnership looks like when you have a good outcome,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. “There are great restaurants and amenities for people to enjoy. I can’t wait to park and head up the canyon.”

Mayor Wilson thanked Chris McCandless for his leadership on the project, which

McCandless said was a long time in the making. “I remember coming to this site as a teenager, and to see it revitalized is exciting,” McCandless said. “I’m thinking of the people on those great ski days who can come here and have covered parking.”

The new parking structure is located along the southwest corner of Wasatch Boulevard and 7000 South. The Canyon Centre is a mixed-use development consisting of restaurants, a hotel that is scheduled to open in early 2021, single family homes, a future apartment building, and a future office building.

Traffic and parking, particularly on busy ski days, remains a challenge for local officials as demand for access to local canyons has outstripped infrastructure. The new facility is intended to help with canyon traffic.

“One goal for this project was to help alleviate some of that pressure, and by providing the availability of up to 278 additional parking stalls on weekends, this structure will assist in decreasing canyon-related congestion,” Mayor Peterson said. “We encourage recreationalists to take advantage of these stalls and use mass transit to make their way up the canyons.”

The parking stalls are located on the lower level of the garage and accessed on the

Caring, Honest, Quality Service

The new parking structure is located on the southwest corner of Wasatch Boulevard and 7000 South.

(Photo courtesy of Cottonwood Heights Communications Manager Tim Beery)

north end of the Canyon Centre project. According to city officials, the new stalls will increase the parking inventory at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon by nearly 300%.

“It helps solve issues we face in gaining access to these mountains by reducing con-

gestion in Cottonwood Heights and going up and down the mountains,” said Ralph Becker, executive director of the Central Wasatch Commission. “While parking garages aren’t exciting, it’s a fine example of how people can come together to get things done.”l

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Granite’s Academy programs give students taste of business, tourism worlds even during pandemic

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

O

n a day in November, about 100 students from Cottonwood High and Granite Technical Institute all clicked into a virtual lecture given by Andrew Taylor with Pure Life Adventures and Octagon Mentoring.

It was part of their annual fall reception for Cottonwood Academy of Finance and GTI’s Academy of Finance as well as their Academy of Hospitality and Tourism.

Taylor’s speech, titled “Invest in Yourself,” encouraged students to “step into the arena” and find out what they are passionate about, take steps toward their dream, work hard, and lean into discomfort as change can be a good experience, said Jen Riches, Cottonwood’s instructor of the Academy of Finance of 15 years, who is joined by Ashley Merrill, who has taught in the program for 10 years.

“Every year we have a fall reception like businesses may have in the real world to network over cocktails. Ours is centered around a guest speaker that may talk about business, finance or tourism as a career to motivate students,” Riches said. “We couldn’t meet in person, but we thought we could still provide students a good experience to hear Andrew Taylor’s story of starting his own business of adventure trips for youths, and his message of getting to know themselves and what they want to do.”

Granite School District’s 30-year-old Academy of Finance is designed to have juniors and seniors in a cohort and take the same courses as their peers with similar interests. Cottonwood has housed the program the entire time, but as enrollment fluctuated at other high schools, they were merged into GTI, which now has students coming from several high schools.

Typically, Academy of Finance students study personal finance, economics, business, marketing and accounting. Some are concurrent enrollment courses so students can gain college credit while in high school. They also enroll in advance computer production and gain the Microsoft suite certification.

GTI’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism is designed in the same cohort fashion, for about 25 students, with class offerings including customer service, business communication, event planning, hospitality and tourism and sports marketing. The program was brought to GTI 15 years ago from Skyline and Kearns high schools to ensure all students had equal access to it.

GTI Counselor and Academy of Support Coordinator Julie Bagley said that the goal of these “rigorous” programs is to help students be prepared for the business world when they leave high school.

“We want the students to be ready to enter the world of business while they’re in

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

college so they’re having a business job in the business world instead of another parttime job to help them out,” she said. “These programs are explorative and allows students to ask, ‘is this the direction I want to go?’

Students in the two-year program develop a relationship with each other and with their teachers, which during COVID, has meant a lot to have that connection.”

Typically, students in Academy of Finance have benefited from in-person speakers and for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, travel throughout the state that may include visiting a national park, a hotel that caters to that park or a ski resort, and downtown hotels, specialized restaurants and sporting or arts events. Students not only experience these businesses, but they learn how they operate to locals and international travelers.

“We want to have our students become familiar with what Utah offers and have learned most haven’t been to these places,” Bagley said.

However, during COVID-19 those experiences have been shelved, and Academy instructors are finding other ways to reach students and pique their interests.

At Cottonwood, navigating through teaching online as the school has flipped virtually twice this fall has also proven challenging for Riches as some of her 70 students come from Olympus and they, also, have flipflopped three times between in-person and online.

“They have come back one day and then, Cottonwood goes on closure, so I actually went to Olympus and taught one day in-person,” she said to keep students’ motivation up.

With so many disruptions in students’ learning and the inability to do some of the activities that enhance their learning, the Academy of Finance Board members have stepped up and provided speakers that will deliver inspiring talks to students.

“We’ve had so much positive feedback,” Riches said. “Hearing messages from professionals in the field really benefits the students.”

Bagley said that their board has arranged speakers from the marketing director for the new airport to an individual who works in the cruise industry who can speak about the COVID-19 impact and how they plan to rebound.

“They’ve had some great conversations and are getting authentic answers. It’s really been a candid look into the industry,” she said.

GTI Academy instructor Erin Paulsen said that several individuals have stepped up to speak to students, including the Utah Jazz

president.

“We’ve been trying to connect to industry as much as we can,” she said, adding that she has recorded these conversations so she can use them with future students.

Since last year’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism classes had many of their tours canceled because of the pandemic, Paulsen said, “The advisory board offered to say, ‘hey, we have all of these speakers, what would you like?’ (They said) ‘if you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you.’”

She offers these speakers as an optional experience and said typically has 45 kids that tune in.

“Kids really, really wanted to connect to the industry; they want to explore and want

it will be virtual,” said Riches, who was a student in the program (then at Kearns High) herself. “This program really prepares students for college with their study skills, time management and organization skills and being able to communicate and advocate for themselves.”

Paulsen said that even if students opt to pursue other interests, these skills—resume writing, communication, presentation and interviewing—will “help them no matter what they do.”

Bagley said that networking with speakers and board members can end up leading students to internships in their field and parttime jobs so once they’ve graduated college, they’ve already worked their way up in the

Academy of Finance students were able to participate in-person at the fall reception in 2019; this school year, it was virtual. (Photo courtesy of the Cottonwood High Academy of Finance)

GTI’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism students toured Deer Valley in 2019 as an opportunity to learn about the field. (Photo courtesy of GTI’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism)

to hear about it.”

Paulsen said that she asks students to provide a short paragraph reflection about their connection to speakers, but with one presenter, a student turned in a three-page reflection.

“They are like sponges, because they just really are trying to explore and figure out what they want to do,” she said. “It’s almost not a class, (but) ‘this is my chance to see what there is out there as far as jobs.’ For me, I want them to explore, to see ‘where do I fit in the big picture of life.’”

Through learning students are inspired and that has led their board to go ahead and plan their annual spring event that helps Cottonwood and GTI students, dressed in professional dress, prep themselves for success with learning how to create resumes to presenting themselves at mock job interviews.

“They learn how to prepare for a job interview, from communicating to conducting themselves at mock interviews. It’s really invaluable. If they can’t have it in-person, then

business.

“Knowing how to make connections whether it’s your college professor or someone in the business world is really powerful,” she said.

Paulsen added, “The thing I try to tell these kids is you have a skill now, you’re in the Academy of Finance. There is no need for you to be working at a movie theater making minimum wage. You can go out and you can actually compete with people for careers.”

In addition to providing this experience, the board also awards students scholarships to pursue their interests in college. Last school year, eight $1,500 scholarships were awarded to students in both Academy of Finance programs; half were based on need and half on their application which reviewed academics, awards and essays.

“The program is open for anyone in the district,” Riches said. “It really is a hidden gem.” l

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

The UHSAA aligned its schools for possibly the last time

he Utah High School Activities Association made its biannual changes to school region alignments. The adopted proposals have been applauded and scrutinized.

“Looks like Region 7 was picked by throwing darts on a map,” Derek Erickson, a concerned fan, commented after the alignment was announced.

According to the Utah High School Activities Association’s constitution, the Board of Trustees has the responsibility and authority to classify its member schools and assign them to regions within the classification.

This year may be the last year of regions as we know it.

Considerations for alignment include fair competition, school enrollment, travel costs, and natural rivalries.

Region 7 has a 348-mile spread. Uintah High School in Vernal was placed in the 5A region with Cedar Valley, Cottonwood, Hillcrest, Payson, Stansbury, and Tooele high schools.

T

By Greg James | g.james@mycityjournals.com

Making it one of the most scrutinized region placement divisions.

“We can’t just look at the numbers of the school and say, ‘Hey, because you have 2,000 students you should play against other schools that have 2,000 students. We need to look at the balance,” Juab School District board president Dale Whitlock said.

Hillcrest has over 2,100 students; Cottonwood and Uintah both have over 1,600 enrolled.

“We are absolutely excited for realignment,” Hillcrest Athletic Director Scott Carrell said.

“We have regions and the RPI (rating performance index used to seed teams at state tournaments), they don’t work together very well. When they started to put together the changes we were put in a very competitive region in Utah County. We sat down with our coaches and asked for that to be changed. We knew that in order for us to build our programs we needed to be put with similar schools. They told us we would have to travel more, but we were

OK with that.”

The teams at Hillcrest realize there will be challenges.

“We know that not everyone will be on board, but we are excited to be able to build our programs back up,” Carrell said.

“We are looking at ways to have hotspots on buses to help with homework and more opportunities for distance learning.”

Many other schools were also enthusiastic about their new placement.

“We are excited about our new region,” Copper Hills Athletic Director Ben Morley said.

“Mainly because of the proximity of the member schools and having West Jordan back in Region 3.”

West Jordan and Copper Hills have a natural rivalry again in Region 3 and are located just four miles from each other. They have played 25 football games against each other and Copper Hills has only won once, in 2013.

It is not the only rival to be preserved in the current alignment; Hunter and Granger, Ke-

arns and Taylorsville in Region 2; Herriman, Riverton, and Mountain Ridge now all reside in Region 3; Bountiful, Viewmont, and Woods Cross in Region 5; Olympus and Skyline in Region 6; and Alta and Jordan in Region 8.

Roy administrators asked to be moved from Region 1, in northern Utah, to Region 2.

They stated competitive balance as their reasoning. Roy last won a state championship in 2012 in softball. West High School won Region 2’s most recent title in 2019 in softball, but Granger has not been a state champion since 1979 in boys baseball.

In the upcoming season, Region 2 will consist of Cyprus, Granger, Hunter, Kearns, Taylorsville, West and Roy. “I like our region,” new Taylorsville head football coach Chris Rosales said. “I just wish that winning a region championship meant more. With the new RPI, it has all changed.”

The UHSAA Region 3 will consist of Bingham, Copper Hills,

Herriman, Mountain Ridge, Riverton and West Jordan.

Because of an increase in enrollment Mountain Ridge was moved from 5A to 6A in all sports.

Region 5 includes Bountiful, Woods Cross, Bonneville, Box Elder, Northridge, and Viewmont.

Region 6 contains Brighton, East, Highland, Murray, Olympus, Skyline and Park City. Region 8 is comprised of two other Salt Lake County schools including Jordan and Alta.

“I think no regions in our alignment will be beneficial for every school in the state of Utah,” Carrell said. “Then games could be scheduled against teams of like opponents, more participation is the ultimate goal. It would not work for every sport, but we need to make goals to improve.”

UHSAA is exploring options for its realignment in two years.

Some of those ideas could include the adoptions of no regions allowing teams to make schedules of their choosing. l

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February 2021 | Page 13

Resident committees prepare for 2021

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

T

here are many different resident-governed bodies (councils/associations/committees) within the Cottonwood Heights community.

On Dec. 1, 2020, an annual recap from the Parks, Trails and Open Space Committee, Youth City Council, Historic Committee, and Arts Council was presented to the Cottonwood Heights City Council.

Parks, Trails and Open Space (PTOS) Committee Chair Jennifer Shah presented the current plans to meet the committee’s goals for 2021 and recapped what the members achieved in 2020.

“We are currently doing a review of all amenities throughout our parks,” Shah said.

The review will be influential in considering a donation program for 2021. Donations would contribute to purchasing park amenities, such as benches and memorials dedicated to deceased loved ones.

In 2021, the PTOS Committee plans to get a master plan approved; implement the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Access Plan (and alignment); see the overflow parking lot for Ferguson Trail constructed; hold naturalist talks; design and install wayfinding signage; redevelop Antczak Park (1850 E. 7200 South); contribute to the city’s monthly newsletter; continue efforts on getting a dog park within the city; and continue improving trails and con-

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nectivity throughout the city. Currently, Canyon Rim Trail, Union View Trail and multiuse paths along Fort Union all have planned improvement.

A handful of naturalist talks were scheduled to occur at various city parks throughout the summer of 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PTOS Committee hopes to have those events in 2021.

In 2020, the PTOS Committee reviewed all master plans for the city including the Wasatch Blvd. Master Plan; collaborated with Utah Open Lands to purchase and preserve a parcel of land for open space; worked with Blu Line Designs on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Master Plan and related events; published walking tours with the help of the Historic Committee and city staff members; and cleaned up city parks on Halloween.

“We’ve done multiple tree-planting events and planted over 50 trees,” Shah said.

On Nov. 6, 2019, six trees were planted at Butler Elementary School (7000 S. 2700 East).

During the summer of 2019, 30 trees were planted in Mountview Park (1651 Fort Union Blvd.). On Sept. 27, 2020, 15 trees were planted at the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center and City Hall (7500 S. 2700 East).

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tunities; enhance the interconnectivity of trails in the city and adjacent communities; preserve natural open space; enhance the character and livability of the city through (PTOS); improve accessibility and safety; and enhance partnerships with local and regional agencies.

The PTOS Committee has and continues to work with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Coalition, Ivory Homes, Salt Lake County, Tree Utah, Seven Canyons Trust (participating with the Seven Greenways Visioning Plan), Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, United States Forest Service, Utah Open Lands, and Wasatch Mountain Club.

Historic Committee Chair Jim Kichas provided the city council with an update on what the Historic Committee has been up to over the past year.

“The first major initiative we took on in 2020 was developing a strategic plan for our committee covering the next five years,” said Kichas, making sure to align the goals of the committee with the objectives of the city’s master plan.

Part of that plan was to further develop their social media presence. “Engagement numbers have been steadily growing,” Kichas reported.

The Historic Committee formed an oral history and storytelling initiative, however it

too had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the Historic Committee hopes to interview older residents soon, in order to further create a city archive that may be repurposed in many different ways.

A working group was created to analyze existing records for that city archive project.

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Cottonwood Heights hosts regular tree-planting activities throughout each year. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Shah)

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Over the years, the Historic Committee has gathered, generated, and received donations of many different types of historical documents and artifacts. Analyzing and incorporating these into a city archive should be completed in 2021.

In addition, a working group was formed to utilize city information in order to designate more historic homes and sites on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2021, the Historic Committee will be applying for grants to work more extensively on gathering the city’s history. They will work to maintain their certifications as well.

The Historic Committee is also considering creating a veteran monument at Cottonwood Heights City Hall to honor the veterans within our city.

Overall goals for this Historic Committee are: provide information about the history of the city through a variety of analog and digital methods; develop and administer an archive of committee records, oral histories, written histories, photographs, artifacts, and any other documents related to the history of the city; and take a lead on historic preservation in the city.

Cottonwood Heights Councilmember Doug Peterson reported on recent activities of the Arts Council. In 2020, the Arts Council held a virtual Santa Claus meet and greet where Santa met with 150 children in a single weekend, along with a virtual Light the Night event.

In addition, a virtual art show was hosted which highlighted “some amazing entries that won awards,” Peterson said.

In 2021, the Arts Council hopes to be able to present the play “Matilda.” In the meantime, they have been working on play-related preparations like cleaning out costume closets.

They have also been working to boost their social media presence, and their engagement is up 200%.

Cottonwood Heights Councilmember Tali Bruce re-

ported that the Emergency Management Committee held the annual Shake Out event and received a 10.6 response rate in 2020. They asked residents to practice red tag procedures, where a red tag is placed outside the home to let emergency responders know to stop.

“Kudos to (President Carlos Cardon) and his team, they took second in the nation on Field Day with the Amateur Radio Club,” Bruce said. “They always come in first or second in the nation. We are really lucky to have that club within the city.”

Cottonwood Heights Councilmember Scott Bracken reported that the Youth City Council has been busy this past year as well, trying to move their regular meetings online.

Service Officer Anna Fairbanks coordinated a virtual service project where every member received a fabric pack to make clothing to be delivered to The Road Home.

The Butlerville Days Committee, CH2, and Business Association have all been working to adapt to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

Cottonwood Heights councilmembers are actively engaged with municipal bodies throughout the valley as well, including the Salt Lake Valley Mosquito Abatement, Utah League of Cities and Towns Legislative Policy Committee, Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District Board, Central Wasatch Commission, Conference of Mayors, Council of Governments, Unified Fire Authority, Zoo, Arts & Parks, and Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center.

For more information about the committees mentioned above, visit: the Boards and Commissions page on the city’s website.

Or visit their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram (@chartscouncil/@chcity arts for the Arts Council and @CottonwoodHeightsHistoricCommittee for the Historic Committee.) l

The Parks, Trails and Open Space Committee helped to clean up city parks in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Shah)

“Battered Eyes” by J.M. Mason in acrylic. (Photo courtesy of the Arts Council)

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February 2021 | Page 15

High school student-athletes undergo COVID-19 testing, change approaches to competitions

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

I

n swimming, the faster swimmers compete in the middle lanes. In basketball, traditionally, team captains shake hands with the opposing team and refs before the game and afterwards, players on both teams give each other a high-five. Wrestlers take the mats in multi-day competitions, but not anymore this season.

Those, and many other norms, aren’t the case in high school sports this winter. As high school student-athletes and coaches follow the Utah High School Activities Association’s COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, winter sports have a new look—and likely spring may follow some of the same protocols, say local high school athletic directors.

Throughout the state, the biggest change from fall sports to winter has been with restricting fans at indoor competitions and administering rapid COVID-19 every 14 days for student-athletes.

It’s part of the UHSAA “Return to Play” guidelines after high school sports mostly took a two-week break in early November following former Gov. Gary Herbert’s mandate, said Sally Williams, Hillcrest High athletic director in Canyons School District.

The “Return to Play” guidelines were issued in early December after the Utah School Superintendents Association and UHSAA worked with the Utah State Department of Health to provide protocols after the state health order suspended the start of the winter season.

Those guidelines were updated, with new policies of “test to stay” and “test to play” that took effect Jan. 4, when schools resumed from winter break. These have included if individuals are exposed to COVID-19, they can end quarantine 10 days after the last time they were in contact with the person who tested positive if they don’t have symptoms or they can return after a negative COVID-19 test result.

“We had to reschedule a bunch of games and give our teams time to prepare for the season; it was a bunch of shuffling for preseason and hard for both our boys and girls basketball teams as we have new head coaches in both programs and they had to put everything together, after delaying tryouts and early season preparations,” Williams said about the delayed winter season for her Midvale school. “But it still was probably good to get COVID numbers (of positive cases) down even though at that time, our school wasn’t high.”

Even so, both Hillcrest programs have had coaches and/or players test positive or be exposed to COVID-19, playing preseason basketball games with a skeleton team and both teams, canceling at least one game.

Already numbers at tryouts were down, about half as many for the boys and barely enough student-athletes to fill three team rosters for the girls, Williams said, because of the impact of COVID-19 and that some online learners aren’t involved in sports this year.

“We’re at about 85% in-person enrollment this year,” Williams said. “The good news is that with the vaccine coming, we hope our spring season will happen since last year, their seasons were canceled because of COVID.” Admission to the basketball games and wrestling matches are restricted to assigned seats for contact tracing purposes and with two tickets issued per athlete, with Hillcrest stating no children in attendance. Masks are required for patrons.

Even athletes sit socially distanced from each other, totes by their chairs with their own water bottles and face masks. Student-athletes are allowed to take them off only during competition, Williams said.

Swim meets’ admission is restricted by the facility; many

Page 16 | February 2021

Jordan High’s girls basketball team sits socially distanced on the sidelines with masks on when they aren’t playing following UHSAA winter sports guidelines. (Jason Long/Jordan High)

schools practice and compete at county pools, which limit capacity at 50 people including both boys and girls swim teams, coaches and officials often exceed that number. So, 11 of the 13 Hillcrest meets were scheduled at non-county facilities.

“We looked at swimming boys or girls or varsity and JV separately, but that gets to be kind of a nightmare. They all swim together, so what happens with those other kids and how many days are they unable to practice if we do it that way,” Hillcrest head coach Ryan Thierbach said, adding that meets are livestreamed free for the Hillcrest community.

Hillcrest swimmers also split the pool, so girls and boys teams have less interaction with one another to reduce possible spreading of COVID-19.

At Jordan High, in Sandy, athletic director Jason Long said the school’s swimmers aren’t as much impacted as other schools since they practice at private pools and when public pools are shut down, those schools that practice at them have no options and aren’t getting time in the water.

They also are finding a way for parents to watch their swimmers.

“We have invited some of our parents of seniors to be timers and judges so they can be there,” he said.

The competitions in the gym are different without student sections or pep bands.

“We aren’t pulling out all the bleachers in the gym as only two parents are allowed in to watch competitions,” Long said, adding that most sports are being livestreamed for families to watch with a subscription.

At Jordan, staff members are continuing to take student-athletes’ temperatures and go through health symptom checks just as they did in the fall in addition to administering COVID-19 tests, usually 45 minutes before the school day begins.

Not only does Long’s crew test student-athletes, coaches and managers, but also theatre and debate students since those activities fall under UHSAA. “We’re not relaxing on anything,” he said, admitting that the days get long, with early morning testing to games at night.

“We’re all on the same page following UHSAA guidelines. It’s a lot of extra work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every single day, but we’re hopeful our students can compete and showcase their talents—and that’s worth the work.”

The push continues to wear masks for student-athletes, coaches, managers, trainers and athletic directors at practices, in huddles, team meetings, on the sideline and all the time, unless competing, he said.

“We have assigned seats socially distanced on the bus, in the locker room, on the bench. We’ll be able to trace each athlete and with the guidelines, keep the spread low. We shouldn’t have to shut down this way,” Long said, adding that even basketball drills are kept in small groups and drill is spaced distantly for contact tracing purposes. “If drill does any kind of lifts, they’re to practice in small groups and sanitize their hands.”

While the schools maintain the safety of its student-athletes and programs, referees fall under the UHSAA. “Many of our refs wear masks until the game starts, then they take it off so they can use their whistles. They put the mask back on when talking to the coach or scorekeeper,” Long said.

In Jordan School District, Bingham Athletic Director Andee Bouwhuis said that instead of totes for the sideline seats, they have placed command strip hooks for masks and athletes keep their individual water bottles next to the chairs.

“We wipe down the bench with cleansing towels—the seats are spread out and assigned,” she said. “In the pool, we follow the county guidelines and limit five swimmers per lane, so our team is small this year.”

After the governor’s shutdown, Bouwhuis said she was surprised to see more athletes at tryouts.

“Kids are wanting to be involved and at school, not isolated at home,” she said. “Everyone is being flexible even as we’ve had to cancel or reschedule competitions. The coaches are just hopeful we’ll have a season and the athletes are putting it into perspective that just one or two games or meets aren’t that critical. I’m hoping that when spring comes, we can have a full season. That would be amazing.” l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Local high schools pool together to help area families, International Rescue Committee

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

E

very year, many area high school students decide on a charity or nonprofit organization to help or raise funds for during the month leading up to the winter break.

This year, three local high schools— Brighton, Hillcrest and Jordan—collaborated to bring awareness and raise more than $35,000 together for the International Rescue Committee.

IRC in Salt Lake City helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and regain control of their future, said Jesse Sheets, IRC development manager, who added that since 1994, when IRC opened in Salt Lake City, they have helped more than 12,000 individuals.

“We are grateful for any student-led initiatives, including the effort of Hillcrest High School in collaboration with Jordan High School and Brighton High School,” Sheets said. “Student-led fundraisers bring together large, diverse student bodies and their communities, unified behind a focused effort to raise awareness of refugee resettlement in Utah as well as raise vital funds in support of over 20 programs and services offered by the IRC in Salt Lake City and in direct support of the more than 2,100 refugees, asylees, immigrants and new Americans we serve each year.”

Brighton studentbody president Will Rahaniotis said that Brighton jumped at the opportunity to join forces when invited by Hillcrest and Jordan.

“In my three years of high school, so far we’ve helped with the Tyler Robinson Foundation, Make-A-Wish, and the Utah Refugee Connection so this was a good opportunity to mix it up and reach out to help others,” he said.

Early in their efforts, a $500 donation to each of the three schools came from Scheels.

Jordan High studentbody president Brooklyn Wagner said that it was Scheels who contacted the high school students.

“It was generous of them to contact us,” she said. “It’s pretty cool that we all came together to raise money for the IRC.” While the schools worked together and pooled their donations, because of the need to social distance and not mix students from schools during COVID-19, each high school held their own activities independently, with the exception of several area businesses holding fundraiser nights, earmarking a portion of the proceeds to go to the campaign.

“We were able to hold class competitions, and we passed out fliers to have

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

the community support our silent auction or make a straight donation by scanning a QR code that lead them to a donation link,” Rahaniotis said.

The items in the silent auction baskets included donations such as BYU memorabilia, a record player, skin care and Cotopaxi items, a photo shoot, amongst others.

Some traditional activities and in-person assemblies weren’t allowed as the student leaders followed the COVID-19 safety and health guidelines.

“It means a lot to help others any way we can, especially this year during a year of a worldwide pandemic with natural disasters and a need for humanitarian help,” he said. “I think if we all just think of seeing someone’s face react when they’re handed a check or something they need, that gives a lot of meaning to this.”

Rahaniotis said that although the student leaders of all three schools had wanted to do joint activities, those ideas could be held during a non-COVID pandemic year.

Hillcrest studentbody president Max Lapore said they started their plans then positive COVID-19 pandemic cases soared by mid-November.

“We wanted to hold activities together, but this year has just been crazy,” he said. “We’d talk and they’d be shut down because of a high count of COVID cases and then when their high schools opened, we were closed for the same reason.”

While some funds were earmarked to help families in need in the school communities, Lapore said the IRC also serves families in the Hillcrest community.

“We have a lot of refugees in the Hillcrest community and we were able to share with our studentbody how they have benefited from the IRC and how it changes their lives,” he said. “I like the idea of sharing and working together with the other schools on a charity. It’s a hard time with so many people struggling financially, mentally, emotionally and we know for those who can serve and give, it’s a great thing they can do in today’s world.”

Rahaniotis agreed: “It made sense for us to try to raise funds and spread awareness together, to help people, than for us to just have three smaller fundraisers.”

Nearby Alta High and Corner Canyon High also held fundraisers to help children’s wishes be granted through the Make-A-Wish foundation. Cottonwood High held events to raise funds to help stock their school pantry and Murray High fundraised to help the YWCA shelter. l

Scheels donated $500 to each school—Brighton, Hillcrest and Jordan—to help the high schools raise more than $35,000 to help local families and give to the International Rescue Committee. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Hurst/Hillcrest High)

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theapexcleanair.com Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Canyons School District announces top awards—virtually

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

L

earning that she was named the 2020 APEX Award-winner of School Administrator of the Year, Kelly Tauteoli said it renewed her spirit in an otherwise “stressful, discouraging year” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “It has been a rough year for everyone; this is a happy, shining moment.”

The Union Middle School principal was tipped off to the award shortly before she received an official letter from Canyons Board of Education. Then, APEX winners were given a basket of gifts and recognized at the Nov. 10 board meeting instead of at a dinner since Canyons School District is following health and safety guidelines for COVID-19.

Other awards were given included district administrator of the year, teacher of the year, business/community partner of the year, volunteers of the year, elected official of the year, student support services professional of the year, education support professional of the year and the legacy award.

“I go to work, do my best, and hope to make a difference in students’ lives. I try to meet the needs of my staff and community,” she said.

That has been a challenge that Tauteoli has met in her tenure in Canyons School District. Coming to the District after teaching at Salt Lake Valley Detention Center and at a private psychiatric hospital and after serving as an assistant vice principal at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, Tauteoli served three years at Midvale Middle as an assistant principal, two years at Park Lane Elementary as principal and now is in her sixth year at Union Middle in Sandy.

Described as “the calm in the eye of the storm,” she has navigated students and staff through a water main break at Midvale Middle to a shooting four years ago on the Union campus. Tauteoli also has helped students, families and her staff through Union’s fire last year where she said for about six weeks, she “worked around the clock” trying to respond to parents’ concerns and emails, up to 100 per day. She also worked with the district and state for the return of students on a split schedule to ensure their education continued.

While restoring the building, Tauteoli also has been part of the discussion of the rebuild of the school. Those meetings will continue through the construction process as a groundbreaking ceremony is expected this spring.

“It’s been a lot, but we’ve created a very resilient and caring staff who have learned to collaborate, adapt and, as a result, become tight-knit and have worked hard to provide students with great learning experiences,” she said. “This means a lot, but I still plan to go into work each day and keep doing

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

Former Canyons School District superintendent Jim Briscoe, seen here supporting student robotics a week before soft closure of schools last spring, recently received the school district’s APEX Legacy Award.

(Julie Slama/City Journals)

my best for the kids, staff and community of Union.”

Joining Tauteoli as an award-winner is Bob Dowdle, who as an assistant superintendent and educator of 31 years, is responsible for keeping 6,000 employees working to support the growth and achievement of 34,000 students.

“Dowdle is more like a stealth leader of leaders, quietly planting in others the seeds of progress and change,” said Canyons spokesman Jeff Haney. “Whether teaching high school history lessons or serving as assistant superintendent, Dowdle's approach has been to build trust with people and give them the freedom to do their best work.”

With every inherited responsibility has come more work, but Dowdle says his colleagues make his job easy. Even as the pandemic has brought unforeseen challenges, Dowdle credits his team for finding solutions, though he's missed nary a day of work since the onset of the health crisis, Haney said.

Dowdle shares the District Administrator of the Year with Susan Edwards, Canyons public engagement coordinator.

Twelve years ago when the District was created and a clear directive from the voters that the district should be innovative, responsive and proactive, Edwards has made it become her personal mission, Haney said.

“Whether the call comes at midnight on a Saturday or 6 a.m. on a Sunday—or both— Edwards is known to put all other matters aside and respond,” he said.

Edwards works with local legislators, city leaders, parents and volunteers to ensure the District creates and maintains valuable relationships, advocates for school funding

at the Legislature, and remains focused on the success of Canyons' students.

Though her job is demanding, Edwards always finds a way to say “yes,” and backs it up with the energy and commitment that makes everything seem possible, said Charlie Evans, Canyons’ director of external relations.

“In Susan Edwards’ mind, there is no insurmountable problem,” Evans said. “I have never worked with anybody who is willing to work harder and longer hours and do whatever it takes to get the job done like Susan.”

Canyons teacher of the year and the state’s runner-up for the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, Emma Moss also is the APEX teacher of the year, who says, “I just do whatever I can do to help.”

During her three years teaching, doing “whatever” has meant changing classes and grades every year she’s taught, learning new curriculum, earning her endorsements and preparing challenging, yet engaging lessons.

She also has volunteered to help write curriculum for a new digital literacy course for the district and is guiding others statewide on the standards—that is, when she isn’t advising the 35 members of student council.

During last spring’s soft closure of schools, Moss lead the transformation to digital learning on the Canvas learning platform and Google Meet video meetings alongside the school’s education technology coach.

“She is always the first to reach out and support the other teachers and staff members,” said her principal, Stacy Kurtzhals.

“She already had infused technology into her classrooms and was ready to implement it online.”

If implementing it isn’t enough, she also dons a lab coat and safety goggles and leads students to dissecting computers so they can understand technology better.

“They take it apart, treat it as organs of a body, asking what it is, how it works, why it works. She lets them take it apart, but they also have to be able to put it back in working order,” Kurtzhals said, who added that while online, Moss held lunchtime trivia games to challenge any Eastmont student. “She wants to keep connected with the kids, to be a friend to them, to make them feel appreciated and loved, to show how she cares about each and every one of them.”

The District’s APEX Legacy Award was given to former Superintendent Jim Briscoe, who served students from 2014 through the pandemic this past spring.

“He had a vision of creating a school district where students and employees thrived and community relationships were strengthened,” Haney said. “In his words, Briscoe sought to build an environment where ‘every single person knows they are valued.’”

In fact, Briscoe would guide the District by that belief of serving students.

“I think they’re all my kids,” he said prior to his retirement. “I think every time I have a discussion with the administrators and board members, I always remember that every kid in this district is my responsibility.

Every student here is important to me.”

During Briscoe's six-year tenure, Canyons' students regularly outperformed their Utah peers on year-end tests, and the district’s graduation rate rose to an all-time high. He also oversaw the completion of several schools’ construction projects, and he led the successful passage of a $283 million bond in 2017 for more schools to be rebuilt or renovated.

Briscoe also oversaw innovative programs that were created to meet the needs of students while advocating for employee compensation increases and working with the Board of Education to increase teacher salaries to among the highest in Utah.

Other APEX award-winners include Kevin Kelson, custodial coordinator for the education support professional of the year; Sally Goodger, school nurse specialist, and the instructional supports department’s education technology team specialists for the student support services professionals of the year. Volunteers of the year are Araceli Rivera, East Midvale Elementary volunteer; and Stacey Kratz, who has volunteered in Sandy and Midvale area schools. The elected official of the year is Rep. Steve Eliason and the business/community partner of the year is the Utah Food Bank. l

February 2021 | Page 19

A tale of two seasons: Resorts enjoy strong business while water experts monitor worsening drought

By Joshua Wood | j.wood@mycityjournals.com

Editor’s note: this is the first in a fourpart series looking at the state’s drought conditions. elow normal snowpack totals this winter have contributed to worsening drought conditions and concern for water in an already parched state. So far this season, the effects of Utah’s drought conditions have been mixed. While water resource experts have raised red flags about the severity of the state’s drought conditions, ski resorts have reported a strong start to the season.

“As expected, demand has been high,” said Paul Marshall, director of communications with Ski Utah. “Visits are better than expected.”

Ski resorts throughout the state have reported strong seasons in terms of skier turnout, despite COVID-related safety measures. Below-average snowfall has led to reduced snowpack totals and fewer snow days, but that has not had a significant impact on the ski industry early in the season.

The story is different for Utah’s water supply.

“Everything is sort of hurting right now, and we’re looking for some more snow kind

B

Skiers and water officials hope to see more snow in the coming months. (Joshua Wood/City Journals)

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

of urgently at this point,” said Jordan Clayton, data collection officer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in a December presentation to the Board of Water Resources. “We’ve really received a dismal amount of precipitation over the last 12 months, and it’s getting frankly kind of frightening.”

Unless that pattern changes, well-below average snowpack will lead to reduced runoff, even drier soils, and lower reservoir levels.

By December, about 70% of the state had fallen into category D4 drought, or exceptional drought, which is the worst degree of conditions in the NRCS tracking system.

The agency’s maps of Utah showed a red swath of drought covering most of the state.

Clayton stated that, while it is statistically possible that conditions could change and trend toward a normal snowpack for the year, Utah has a lot of ground to make up to rejuvenate its water stores. Persistent dry conditions have affected more than just the annual snowpack and reservoir levels. The state’s soils are also parched.

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Page 20 | February 2021

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

dry soils is going to affect the efficiency of our runoffs in the spring,” Clayton said in his presentation to the Board of Water Resources. “We’re going to lose a lot of that snowmelt runoff to our watershed before we can start filling our reservoirs. What that really means effectively is that we are going to need to receive a well-above average snowpack to get even close to an average runoff.”

A tale of two seasons While low snowpack totals will likely have a significant impact on Utah’s water situation come spring and summer, skiers have made the most of the snow that has fallen.

“We definitely have had a demand for skiing,” said Andria Huskinson, communications manager for Alta Ski Area. “The skiing is still great out there. The snow quality is holding up.” Huskinson said that by mid-January, the resort area had received nearly 140 inches of snowfall.

Just down the canyon, skiing has held up at Snowbird as well. “With 138 inches of snowfall this season to date, accompanied by cold temperatures, we are thankful to have the entire mountain open at Snowbird right now,” said Sarah Sherman, communications manager at Snowbird. “That being said, everyone is eager to have more powder days, soon.”

Even in Southern Utah, where drought conditions have been even worse than along

the Wasatch, skiing has been strong so far this season. “Business levels have been surprisingly good,” said Brian Head Public Relations Coordinator Mark Wilder. “Lack of snow hasn’t kept people from coming. We were more worried about the COVID situation than the snow situation.”

During the first few months of the season, concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary safety policies have concerned resorts more than snow levels. “Due to ongoing and effective efforts, mask compliance at Utah resorts has been very good,” said Ski Utah’s Marshall.

“Lower than average snowfall has hampered visitation, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, resorts fared better than expected over the holiday period.”

As in communities everywhere, skiers seem to have adjusted to COVID-related protocols, which has helped resorts to a strong start to the season. “Our guests have been very understanding about our community well-being standards, including wearing masks,” said Sarah Huey, communications manager at Solitude Mountain Resort.

Should snowfall remain below average for the rest of the winter, the real impact will likely be felt as the snow melts and thirsty soils soak much of it up before runoff can reach reservoirs.

“Reservoirs are suffering,” Clayton said. l Higher than average snowpack will be needed to fill reservoirs during the current drought. (Joshua Wood/

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SelectHealth to Grant Nonprofits Supporting Healthy Communities Submission window opens to submit for an award for community health improvement worth over $20,000.

SALT LAKE CITY—Are you working to improve health in the community or build a strong community? If so, SelectHealth wants to help by recognizing twenty organizations with $3,000 and a marketing package worth $20,000 to further their cause.

SelectHealth asks anyone who may qualify to apply. Submissions for the award are being accepted February 2, 2021 through February 28, 2021 or until 500 submissions is reached at selecthealthawards.org.

A wide range of organizations have received the SelectHealth Awards since it was first introduced in 2008. Last year’s recipients represented a wide variety of causes including physical activity programs, crisis centers, recovery centers, and free medical services.

“It is an honor to work with so many positive nonprofits throughout the state,” said SelectHealth Community Relations Manager Greg Reid. “Each year, we are inspired by the recipients and all they do to make our communities a better place to live.”

In addition to offering a cash award, SelectHealth will develop marketing materials for each awardee including a promotional video to help promote their organization and cause.

For more information and to apply, visit selecthealthawards.org.

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February 2021 | Page 21

Psych 101: What is gaslighting?

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

I

f you’ve tuned into the federal news at any point during the past four years, you’ve probably heard a phrase or two about President Donald Trump gaslighting America. Even though the term has been thrown about rather loosely at times, it seems to be becoming part of our common collective discourse. Personally, I wanted to make sure I really understood this term, and the research behind it, before evaluating the claims made about our current political climate. I’d like to take a moment to define and clarify gaslighting, discuss its prevalence, and illuminate potential harmful impacts.

The term “gaslighting” has been used to describe abuse involving emotional and intellectual manipulation, most often recognizable through mind-manipulation strategies. Gaslighting often leads to a person questioning their sanity, perceptions of reality, and/or memories.

Even though the term was recently popularized in politics, gaslighting has been well recognized within psychology research for decades. One of the first mentions of gaslighting was on June 21, 1969. Russell Barton and J.A. Whitehead published an article in “The Lancet” where they outlined two cases in which “there were definite plots to remove an unwanted and restricting relative by securing admissions to a mental hospital.”

They compared this to the storyline of

a play titled “Gas Light” by Patrick Hamilton where a husband tries to get rid of his wife by driving her into a lunatic asylum. Dr. Paige Sweet attributes the common usage of the term to a story as well. In the 1944 film by George Cukor, “Gaslight,” a husband attempts to isolate his wife by making her believe she is insane.

“His eponymous tactic is to dim and brighten the gaslights and then insist she is imagining it.

(He) aims to undermine (her) sense of self and everyday life, to confuse and distort her reality such that she must accept his imposed reality in place of her own.”

The term appeared minimally throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but eventually it began to recur in research as the focus on interpersonal relationships intensified. In 2007, Dr. Robin Stern published “The Gaslight Effect” focusing on how to identify manipulation in relationships.

As might be apparent from the contextual history of the term, gaslighting is of importance in domestic violence research and intimate partner violence (IPV) literature. “Gaslighting is a conscious or unconscious form of psychological abuse that occurs when a perpetrator distorts information to confuse a victim, triggering the victim to doubt their memory and sanity,” defines Dr. Madeline Tormoen.

In the popular conversation, confusion,

distortion and anxiety are all recognizable as consequences of gaslighting. However, the potential impacts of gaslighting can quickly become more harmful and severe. Those being gaslit may start to question their own perceptions and lose trust in their own experience of reality.

Tormoen described how gaslighting may often affect memory, contribute to emotional abuse and interpersonal abuse, lead to a victim undermining their sanity, and betrayal. “Gaslighting can also prevent domestic violence victims from accessing institutional resources that would help them escape the abuse. The very institutions set up to help victims can become part of the gaslighting process,” she described.

In addition, gaslighting may contribute to double-binding and depersonalization, resulting in losing a sense of self, multiple perceptions of reality, and varied internal versions of reality.

Gaslighting creates hostile social environments. Sweet and others have argued that gaslighting is not just a psychological tactic, but a sociological phenomenon as well. “When perpetrators mobilize gender-based stereotypes, structural inequalities, and institutional vulnerabilities against victims with whom they are in an intimate relationship, gaslighting becomes not only effective, but devastating.”

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Page 22 | February 2021

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Vaccines expanded and administered to more Salt Lake County residents

Aimee Winder Newton Salt Lake County Council | District 3

Since COVID-19 vaccines were approved and rollout began for healthcare workers and teachers, we have all been a little more hopeful that the end of the pandemic is drawing near.

A few weeks ago, vaccinations were expanded to Utahns 70 years of age or older. Vaccinations were prioritized in this manner by the State of Utah to provide protection to those on the front lines of fighting the pandemic and to reduce the number of fatalities among those most vulnerable to COVID-19.

The State is making the determination on which groups will receive vaccinations, but they have recognized that counties and their local health departments are best equipped to carry out the actual vaccine administration. I was able to meet with Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and health officials from both the county and state as we discussed the best way to vaccinate as many people as possible. The State of Utah is working hard to obtain more vaccines from the federal government and our county is dedicated to getting vaccines to residents as soon as we receive each batch.

Your Salt Lake County Health Department has been hard at work preparing and executing the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. In the national vetting of the vaccine, no steps were skipped to ensure its safety and efficacy. I have seen the vaccine administered at the Mountain America Expo Center and the process is orga-

nized and sanitary. As of Jan. 19, the Salt Lake County Health Department had administered 21,400 vaccines. As you are eligible to obtain the vaccine, I encourage you to do so. The faster you and those around you can get vaccinated, the better off we will all be.

Here is some additional information that may be helpful: Hospital healthcare workers are being vaccinated by their employers. Long-term care facility healthcare workers are being vaccinated through their employers by Walgreens, CVS and Community Nursing Services.

All other healthcare workers who live or work in Salt Lake County are being vaccinated by the Salt Lake County Health Department.

Teachers and other school staff will have their vaccines administered through their school district via Community Nursing Services (CNS), but information can be found at cnscares.org/covid19vaccine-educator Those 70 years of age or older can sign up to be notified of vaccination appointments at SaltLakeHealth.org (click “COVID” then click “Vaccine”) or can obtain more information by calling the Salt Lake County Health Department at (385) 468-7468.

There is no cost to get vaccinated, regardless of whether you have health insurance or not. For general information regarding the rollout and groups able to receive the vaccine, visit: coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine

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righton Dance Company adviser Lindsay Christensen is taking the hard year of COVID-19 to try to turn it into a positive teaching lesson.

“I always thought this year would get better when school started in the fall,” she said toward the end of 2020. “In July, I thought the numbers were high, but then we hit higher. I knew then we couldn’t hold our traditional dance concerts, so I turned to see what professional dance companies were doing.”

Christensen saw virtual concerts, but dancing for film intrigued her.

“They made it look like a movie. It’s a totally different art form so instead of trying to do what we always have done, I decided the company should learn something new.

We’ve created a dance for camera about the COVID-19 school year,” she said. “It made a lot of sense to try this instead of trying to put a square peg in a circular hole.”

That film, titled “Unity,” is expected to debut this spring. How and when it will be shown was still being worked out at press deadline, but Christensen hoped to have the Brighton community be able to see it, perhaps in a drive-in setting. If that doesn’t comply with the health guidelines at the time of the release, she said she would make the link available online.

During early fall, Christensen and the students learned how to dance for film and also, how to video and edit it from Raw Focus Dance in Arizona, who provided workshops.

Junior Lauren Jacobs said that they had to brainstorm scenes and then decide how they wanted it to look on camera.

“We looked at how to frame the dance, and how to portray the feeling and emotions of the time we were filming,” she said. “When we danced, we had to look past the camera and know how our movements would look on

camera.”

Brighton Dance Company decided to choreograph the film with four 20-minute movements. The first section is what it was like when school was put on soft closure last spring and other businesses closed. The second focuses on what it was like being quarantined during the summer at home, away from friends, work and other typical summer activities. The third movement illustrates how the pandemic has affected people and the loss of lives. The fourth leaves viewers with a sign of hope as the pandemic vaccine is promised to be available.

“It’s really cool that the students are dancing, choreographing, filming and editing this project,” Christensen said.

The first movement is filmed in a classroom “where they explore how they felt in March,” as six student-dancers are dressed in normal school clothes wearing backpacks and dance to pop music.

“It has a more edgy feel,” Christensen said, adding that the dancers use both hip hop and contemporary dance to showcase the emotion.

While in quarantine, in section two, dancers performed at Murray Park. It features one dancer dressed in white creating dance movements in a giant box, while others, in black, danced to illustrate the outside world of political unrest, chaos and tension. Six dancers were showcased in this section.

Jacobs was one of three dancers who worked on section two.

“We wanted the figure inside the box to illustrate what quarantine life was like, using slow, repetitious movements. Outside the world was full of chaos, with everything changing fast and a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “We put the box with the solo dancer in the center of our frame because we knew we

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

wanted the audience to focus there.”

Jacobs began ballet when she was 3, then started competing in jazz, modern and hip hop when she was 11. Her freshman year, she sat out of dance with a torn ACL. Then, she joined dance company as a sophomore and is the company’s unity officer this year.

Jacobs said many of the 17 other dancers also have a variety of dance in their backgrounds.

“What I like is that we’ve been able to use all our training in the past to really incorporate different dance styles in this film and to have it show different emotions and feelings of this year,” she said.

The third movement is a result of when students reached out to others to hear their stories. They interviewed a local nurse who went to help in New York City at the early peak of the pandemic to hear her story about how difficult it was to be there, and know patients were going to die away from their family.

“We Facetimed her and the students saw her face and learned the gravity of the situation from someone who had been there,” Christensen said.

They also interviewed teachers, an individual whose dad had died from COVID-19 and others.

“We had a collection of stories from the consequences of COVID. Everyone has a story and a voice to be heard,” Christensen said.

“It was a hard topic for everyone. We talked through it at the rehearsals and talked about

various people’s experiences. They learned ‘faces’ to this pandemic, not just statistics. It was good to hear the truth, not a masked story; it was deep for high school students.”

She said that the seniors danced this section, using a heavy step to show the gravity of the pandemic and dressed in gray shirts.

Originally, Raw Edge Dance was going to choreograph and edit the fourth section, but because of the travel restrictions with COVID-19, they were unable to come to film it. So, Christensen planned to complete it in early 2021 with the entire dance company.

“We’re back at school, showing what has changed and how we’re living during the pandemic,” she said about the fourth section.

“We’ve learned how to do new things, how to teach and learn and survive in a digital age. We will show how we’ve united and hope for better days after COVID. We’re moving forward and ending up on a note of hope.”

Originally, the film was planned to be done in the fall, but when Brighton flipflopped between in-person and virtual classes, the timeline got pushed back. The dance company even held some practices over Zoom.

When they were able to practice together, they wore masks and like many sports, had temperature and health checks for all in the company. They even have assigned warm-up spots, so they can contract trace.

“It has made the company appreciate every time we’ve danced together,” she said.

“They’ve been resilient and optimistic.”

Dancing inside a box symbolized quarantine in the film about the past COVID-19 year that Brighton High Dance Company performed and produced. (Lindsay Christensen/Brighton High)

Jacobs is happy with the way the dance company production is turning out.

“I think it’s pretty cool. We got to express ourselves with what’s going on,” she said. “It

was sad that we aren’t doing our regular concerts, but this is such a cool learning opportunity and we’re getting to showcase what all our dance company can do.” l

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A lot on my plate Fear sells, but why does the food industry use anxiety to sell products? I mean, if there’s one thing the seven billion people on this planet agree on, it’s that we need food. (And Baby Yoda is adorable. That’s universally accepted.)

When COVID hit last spring, I heard we’d run out of beef by autumn. My husband lost his mind. Someone told me canned vegetables would be as valuable as gold, which is good because I’d rather wear a can of peas on a chain around my neck than have to eat them.

Experts tell us food is plentiful and cheaper than ever before. Just the food left over from Las Vegas buffets could feed several Third World countries for generations.

They’d all develop diabetes and heart disease, but they’d have plenty of food.

And that’s the other fear; the idea that the food we eat, even broccoli and kale, has no nutritional value because the soil’s been depleted of nutrients and we’re consuming the dietary equivalent of Rice Krispies for each meal.

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Companies tell us fans are “raving” about their green juice. False news. No one raves about green juice. The recipes have unknown ingredients like chlorella (a dried sea vegetable) and rhodiola, a cold-climate plant used by Vikings. Mmmmm. Yummy.

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JUNIOR LANDER BARTON CONTINUES FAMILY LEGACY AT BRIGHTON HIGH SCHOOL

By Tavia Dutson | t.dutson@mycityjournals.com

Byline

W

hen the Deseret News announced that Brighton junior Lander Barton was the Region 6 MVP for the 2020 football season, he was busy topping charts on the basketball court.

For the past three years, Barton has been wrapping up a successful football season and launching right into basketball. While most high school basketball players have been training all summer, Barton gives himself a small break before switching gears in November.

“I try to give myself a week or two off just to rest my body and recover after football season,” Barton said.

Barton leads the Bengals in both total points scored and rebounds. He is ranked as one of the top rebounders in the state for this season. Although Barton is thankful for the recognition he’s gotten on the court so far, he is far from satisfied.

With 160 points through 10 games, Barton’s points per game is currently 16. By the end of the season, he hopes to increase his average to 20 ppg. After talking to Barton ahead of their region rivalry game versus the Olympus Titans, he went on to score 30 points, already chipping away at that lofty goal.

What is most impressive about Barton is his ability to compete at such a high level in both football and basketball. He is a perennial standout on Brighton’s football and basketball teams, both of which consistently rank in the top 10 of the state.

Those who are familiar with Brighton athletics are likely unsurprised to see this high level of success from Barton. Lander is the youngest of four siblings, all who Lander Barton dunks the basketball in a December 2020 game vs. Alta. (Photo courtesy Christine Yee)

have been standouts in Brighton athletics.

Following in the footsteps of parents Mikki Kane-Barton and Paul Barton, Lander’s three older siblings have gone on to play Division 1 sports at the University of Utah. Older brothers Cody and Jackson were drafted in the 2019 NFL Draft after successful collegiate careers.

Although his brothers are spread across the country (Cody playing for the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson for the New York Giants), the family stays closer than ever. Every spring as they finish up their professional seasons and Lander wraps up basketball, the family comes back to Cottonwood Heights to train.

“When my brothers come back from the league I can work out and train with them,” Barton said. “My brother Cody plays the same position and so he is always giving me tips to help perfect my craft.”

Barton admits that having a family of successful athletes has been advantageous but comes with pressure to live up to his family name.

“It’s good to be able to look up to them but it’s kind of intimidating,” Barton said. “In my mind, I’d like to be better than them. It will be pretty tough, so it’s a lot of pressure but it’s a good challenge.”

It looks as if Barton is more than up to that challenge. After his sophomore football season, he was offered a full athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Utah. Since then, he has racked up offers including full scholarships to seven other Pac-12 schools and most recently, an offer from Notre Dame, the fourth ranked team in the country.

The University of Utah should have a leg up on all the other programs trying to woo Lander as his family’s Continued page 5

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*All offers are for homeowners only. One per household. Some restrictions apply. Call for details. Not valid with any other offers. Must present offer at time of appointment booking. Offer ends 2/28/21.

(801) 845-4414

allhoursplumbingslc.com

uintahfireplace.com

ALL HOURS MAIN OFFICE

1063 E. 3300 S. Ste # 100 | Salt Lake City

UINTAH FIREPLACE

4497 S. Highland Drive | Holladay

HEBER LOCATION

486 N. Main Street | Heber City