Cottonwood Heights | May 2024

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Fifth grader knows the need for insulin; she lobbies legislators to make it affordable

Ten-year-old Liviana Ramirez has plans for May 18.

The Canyon View fifth-grader plans to be at The Shops at South Town in Sandy to raise awareness and money and take part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation One Walk, the largest global event for type 1 diabetes. It’s being held in multiple locations.

Liviana is an advocate for affordable insulin for those who have type 1 diabetes, like herself. She has made videos, lobbied legislators and speaks out to bring awareness to the autoimmune disease.

“I used to have to get three shots every day at every meal and we’d have to figure out what kind of dosages I’d need because you never know what’s going to happen with diabetes,” she said.

Instead of regular shots, Liviana now wears a Omnipod, which provides nonstop insulin delivery through a tubeless insulin pump.

“I don’t have to deal with the shots every single day. Instead, it’s one shot that delivers insulin every three days,” she said.

Liviana uses a cell phone to swiftly read her body’s continuous glucose monitor, which she uses to watch her glucose levels. Her mother can track it as well.

“With this, there’s no more poking my finger for learning my blood sugar; that’s even worse than shots,” she said.

Liviana has been diagnosed for almost three years.

“It’s not clear what causes type 1 diabetes,” her mother, Julie, said. “But we’ve learned that symptoms can start quickly.”

Liviana remembers, “I was hungry and thirsty. I was going to the bathroom a lot, but it was summertime, and it was hot. Then, it got worse and I was always tired and was in a bad mood.”

When her mother noted her then 8-yearold daughter wasn’t her “happy self,” she read

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By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

an article about another child who had the same symptoms and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

“She’d wake up, hot and sweating,” her mother said. “Livi was so skinny, but she was skinny anyway, I’d tell myself. But I was watching her, like any mother would when they notice something wrong. When I read that article, I knew we needed to get her tested. I knew they were going to say she was diabetic.”

Liviana remembers that it was after summer camp, she went to the doctor.

“They poked my finger and came back and said I needed to go to the ER (emergency room) immediately,” she said.

Her mother said her daughter had a diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication of diabetes when the body can’t produce enough insulin and the acids build up in the blood to levels that can be life-threatening.

Like most people, Liviana was lethargic, tired and weak, all symptoms of needing more fluids, insulin and electrolytes. Without treatment, diabetic ketoacidosis can lead to loss of consciousness and death.

“We took her, it was a shock, in denial,” her mother said. “I knew what type 2 diabetes was, but I didn’t know type 1, where her immune system attacks her pancreas and kills the cells that turn sugar into energy. It’s an autoimmune disease. It’s not caused by being unhealthy. That’s a misconception.”

Learning to manage type 1 diabetes is ongoing, they quickly realized.

“When we got to the ER, the endocrinologist explained to us that she would most likely be in the ‘honeymoon phase,’ because once her body starts getting insulin introduced, it feels as it can work. But it’s random,” her mother said.

“That stage can last anytime from two weeks or two years, but once you get out the honeymoon phase, you need more insulin, basically. But it’s not as simple as that.”

She said that with long-acting insulin that keeps her daughter’s blood sugar down, she needs to have fast-acting insulin within typically, an hour.

“It depends on the types of food as to how fast she needs it. So you’re basically guessing how much you need,” her mother said. “You think, she needs this many carbs for a unit of insulin. But then you give her the insulin and her pancreas kicks it out, so it can drop randomly. That can be scary.”

Liviana doesn’t flinch as her mother outlines the procedure. She knows she’s constantly walking a fine line, trying to balance so her blood sugar doesn’t go too low or too high. It’s something she will live with her whole life.

“Sometimes, I completely forget about my diabetes, and I do kid stuff. But living with type 1 diabetes is like living with constant interrup-

tions and I have to stop all that fun to do something like check my blood sugar or be woken up in the night to get a shot,” she said. “But it’s good that I have the ability to monitor my blood sugar. Sometimes, I forget how hungry I am. After I get insulin, I get food and start feeling a little better.”

When insulin was first invented, it was “priced at $1 because the person who invented it believed that everybody should be able to get it,” her mother said, adding that now it can cost upward of $300 per month.

That’s why Liviana and about 160 other youth representing the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation delegates traveled to Washington, D.C. to talk to lawmakers about the Affordable Insulin Act.

She was one of three youth from Utah; they shared their stories and talked with Sen.

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Canyon View fifth-grader Liviana Ramirez shakes Sen. Mitt Romney’s hand when she, and other Utah youth delegates, asked him to support affordable insulin for diabetes. (Photo courtesy of Julie Ramirez)

Twokindergartners put on solar glasses at lunchtime and looked up into the sky. One, Emilie Puente, was struck with awe as the other, Noelle Lansfeldt, was mesmerized by the partial solar eclipse she was witnessing in Murray.

The Parkside Elementary girls were amongst 400 of their peers out on the playground at lunch recess April 8 having the option to borrow one of the 100 pairs of solar glasses the school ordered, or one of the 60 pairs donated by T-Mobile.

“The excitement was electric at lunch for sure,” said Merissa Graves, Parkside assistant principal who shared a Google Slide presentation informing students about how the moon is between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on Earth, and addressing the safety of wearing solar glasses with the school beforehand. “‘Woah! I can see it! Look!’ was heard all around.”

Graves said one new student, a thirdgrade refugee, put on the glasses and held them tight to his face.

“(The student) had the biggest smile on his face,” she said, adding that about a dozen parent volunteers helped teachers with the viewing.

Parkside was one of several schools that gave students the opportunity to view the eclipse. In the Salt Lake Valley, about 48% was viewable, according to the Clark Planetarium.

At Welby Elementary in South Jordan, fifth-grade dual immersion Spanish students left the classroom three times to witness the eclipse. Beforehand, they discussed the risks of looking directly at the sun and the importance of protecting their eyes.

“Understanding these safety measures was our No. 1 priority: the glasses were go-

Mitt Romney about the importance of affordable insulin. They later met with Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. John Curtis in Utah.

“I told them diabetes is a 24/7, 365 days. I know it depends on insurance, but they can put a $35 cap on it to make it affordable and accessible for everyone. It’s literally lifesaving medicine for us,” she said. “I talk about it because I wanted to make a difference for thousands of people. It’s important to make an impact on the world. It’s a simple thing. I want the world to be at a better place so I’m willing to put in the effort.”

It’s not just the insulin that costs her family. While with insurance, Liviana’s insulin is about $70 per month; her pump is $850 a month and her Dexcom CGM, another $350 a month—and so on.

The trip to Washington, D.C. wasn’t without worry as travel impacts Liviana’s diabetes. She spent half of a day in the hotel room trying

Solar eclipse didn’t eclipse student learning

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

ing to allow us to watch the eclipse directly without risking eye damage,” Welby teacher Ana Cerezo-Berbel said. “To deepen our understanding, we watched and discussed various videos explaining solar and lunar eclipses.”

The students compared it to a “game of hide and seek,” she said. “Our initial adventure outside treated us to the eclipse’s opening act, with about 10% of the sun covered.”

During the second time outside, the students saw it near its peak eclipse in Utah.

“The excitement was palpable as we observed this significant moment, marking

to stabilize her blood sugar levels.

“It happens any time. It could be 10 o’clock, and Livi’s blood sugar is messed up from dinner, because careful as you try to be, it’s still food and that can impact her, and it can be the emotions from the food that change with her blood sugar. It can change with exercise. If she’s hot or cold or super stressed for a test—it’s just unpredictable. It can be hormones when she reaches her teenage years,” her mother said, adding that it was scary for her during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While her mother admits she’ll always worry, she knows Liviana regularly checks her levels and her teacher is trained and has experience taking care of diabetics.

“Before she leaves the house, we make sure she has the supplies she needs,” her mother said.

That includes a bag to keep insulin cool, candy for lows, needle tips, PDM or remote

ground,” she said, adding that the students also followed the event in other cities via the NASA website.

At Canyon View Elementary in Cottonwood Heights, second-grade students in Raydean Fernandez’ and Madison Elingson’s classes also used pinhole viewers to see the eclipse.

A first-grade teacher, Joy Smith, bought eclipse glasses for her class.

“I tied it to our Wonders curriculum where our question of the week was, ‘What can you see in the sky?’” she said.

Smith also was able to link the experience to the first-grade state science core curriculum about obtaining, evaluating and communicating information about the movement of the sun, moon and stars to describe predictable patterns.

They were able to discuss how the sun and moon typically appear to rise in one part of the sky, move across the sky and set, but during the eclipse, it was a different kind of view than the first graders were used to seeing.

Recently, students have been able to view several eclipses in the area.

almost the halfway point of the eclipse,” Cerezo-Berbel said. “This time we also crossed our fingers over each other and formed square gaps. When we angled our hands and the sun was hitting them, sunlight passed through the gaps projecting mini eclipses onto the ground.”

As the eclipse began to wane, they stepped outside to witness its concluding stages, watching the moon slowly retreat, revealing the sun’s brilliance.

“This time we used another creative way to observe without looking directly at the sun: paper viewers. We made holes in a paper to safely watch the projection onto the

control device for her pump, back-up pods, and Glucogan in case she has a hypoglycemic event and can be administered immediately to bring up blood sugar levels.

The fifth-grader who loves to read books and create roleplays from them and is gifted at writing —she’s currently writing her first novel—is mature beyond her years.“I feel like I’m more resilient with getting type 1 diabetes, because I already have to deal with having cochlear implants and had to relearn the sounds I lost when I was little,” she said. “When I was younger, my mom used to sign (ASL) with me all the time. I was good at that, but the more I got used to cochlear implants and talking, I lost a little bit of that language. I’m working on it and since my dad’s from Guatemala, I’m learning Spanish.”

Liviana is sophisticated in her knowledge of medical terminology, but she currently doesn’t want to be a doctor.

This past fall, when an annular eclipse passed through Southern Utah, students could see the moon hide nearly 90% of the sun in the Salt Lake Valley, according to the Clark Planetarium.

Some students could recall the total solar eclipse in 2017; which was the first time a total solar eclipse swept from the Pacific to the Atlantic since the United States was involved in World War I. During that eclipse, where the peak was in central Idaho, Salt Lake Valley students could see about 90% as well.

The next total eclipse viewable in the Salt Lake Valley will be in 20 years. l

“I was thinking my goal is to be president, but I still have time to decide; I want to make things better,” she said. Her mother said her daughter is all “girl power.”

“Livi’s out there, fighting to help, whether it’s diabetes, deaf people, women’s rights. She’s just so fierce about the things that she advocates for. She has learned her words are powerful,” she said.

Liviana looks back at photos of when she got her first insulin shot.

“Every so often I look back on it and think how lucky I am to be alive and to have all this technology,” she said. “It’s just amazing.” l

Parkside kindergartners Emilie Puente and Noelle Lansfeldt were amazed at the solar eclipse they saw during their lunchtime. (Photo courtesy of Cheree Larson/Parkside)

UFA hosts annual Fire School for local officials

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

UFA partners with the Burn Unit at the University of Utah to treat victims of emergency fire situations. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

During the helicopter flight demonstration, the volunteer victim signals to Fire School attendees that he’s strapped into the gurney and ready to go on his flight. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Rescue Randy is made from old fire hoses and weighs between 60 and 80 pounds. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Most victims that firefighters rescue from structures on fire are within 10 feet of the door, so they can be dragged out relatively easily. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Elected officials and various staff members from UFA’s municipalities attend Fire School on April 12. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

UFA staffs 692 employees with 485 of those being full-time sworn firefighters. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Rescue Randy, made from old fire hoses, is rescued again. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

UFA staffs 692 employees with 485 of those being full-time sworn firefighters. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Rec Center gears up for summer camps, SilverSneakers programs

Cottonwood Heights Parks and Recreation Service Area

(CHPRSA) Executive Director Ben Hill presented his annual report to the Cottonwood Heights City Council on April 2. Board of Trustee Members Bart Hopkin, Dan Morzelewski and Patti Hansen were in attendance to cheer him on. Assistant Director Lyse Durrant, Human Resources Director Melissa Ruff, and Recreation and Fitness Manager Bonnie Lee provided additional details when needed.

One of the more exciting pieces of news for the Cottonwood Heights City Council is that the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center will be getting new fitness equipment in fall 2024.

While the CHPRSA maintains parks and recreation areas in Murray, Holladay and Sandy, the Rec Center is one of the most populated facilities within the service area. It’s a 160,000-square-foot activity center that is open over 100 hours per week (located at 7500 S. 2700 East).

The Rec Center is currently preparing for their summer activities. As 650,000 patrons tend to use the four indoor and six outdoor pools each year, lifeguard training is in full swing. They expect an average of 4,000 individuals to sign up for swim classes and the 26 water aerobics classes that are held each week.

Summer camp programs are filling up as well. As the participants go swimming and ice skating every other day, the CHPRSA has been focusing on the ice skating rink.

“We had an ammonia leak and it proved to be a lot more than ‘small,’” Hill reported. “The $200,000 expense was something we weren’t expecting, so we are going to have to dive into the fund balance to get that fixed.”

Being the home rink for the Junior Grizzles and having

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

The Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center is seeing an uptick in senior members taking part in the SilverSneakers programs through Salt Lake County. (Photo courtesy of the Cottonwood Heights Parks and Recreation Service Area)

popular ice skating classes and programs (including the Cottonwood Heights Figure Skating Club), they are trying to get the rink fixed as soon as possible.

“The ice has melted, so maybe you can come play dodgeball or something,” Hill joked.

While the city councilmembers do frequent the Rec Center, they were only five of the 6,490 total memberships sold during 2023. Seventy-two percent of those members were residents of the service area. Twenty-two percent were over the age of 65.

“That means our seniors and SilverSneakers (participants) are traveling to us,” Hill said.

The CHPRSA is also in charge of maintaining city parks including Antczak Park (7200 S. 1850 East), Bywater Park (3149 Banbury Road) and Butler Park (7500 S. 2700 East), Mountview Park (1651 Fort Union Blvd.), Golden Hills Park (8295 Wasatch Blvd.), Mill Hollow Park (2900 Hollow Mill Drive), and Ferguson Park (7721 Timberline Drive).

This year, the CHPRSA is focusing on updating some amenities in Bywater Park. As many of the baseball field fences present safety issues as they are so old, the CHPRSA has opted for a portable fence for the home run area. In addition, they opted not to reopen the tennis courts in Bywater Park this year as the courts have been cracking.

“That can result in a sprained ankle—and you can’t really paint or fill it in,” Hill said. “We want to help the tennis community and go all hands in on the Bywater Park Master Plan.”

The CHPRSA is an independent taxing authority. They are funded by a certified tax rate, memberships, bonds, grants and fundraising.

“We have all of our bonds fully paid off as of 2021,” reported Hill. l

Career days help shape future of elementary students

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Brittany

Gharring met James Blake while working on “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse.”

As a celebrity makeup artist, she did his hair and makeup. Her services have been used for other celebrities, from Disney and Marvel productions to Nike and Kroger campaigns.

It’s a career that has taken her from Los Angeles to New York, but it started 20 years ago with a skill she learned at school. She now chooses Utah to raise her family; her kids attend Oak Hollow Elementary in Draper.

“I learned a skill and developed it to take it to where my career is now,” she told students at Oak Hollow’s career day. “Find your passion, your inspiration and start learning about it.”

She was one of hundreds of career day speakers at Canyons School District’s elementary schools’ career days, which dotted the calendar throughout the school year.

Most, like Gharring, were parents invited by their students to share expertise in their field, said work-based learning facilitator Jared Vincent, who helped coordinate the career days in 27 elementary schools.

“It’s important to start planning early so they can be college and career ready; they may choose to learn a trade or attend a vocational school,” he said.

Oak Hollow fifth-grade teacher Alexis Johnson said prior to Gharring speaking, no student showed interest in wanting to cut hair or do makeup.

“Now everyone is excited about that career,” she said. “We want students to learn what careers are out there so they can find their passion and realize what they’re learning in school applies to future careers.”

While fifth-grader Zach Boyster said it was “really cool” to hear about how she does hair and makeup, he connected more to hearing details of an orthodontist who came to speak.

“It might be a fun job,” he said. “I’d need to set a plan, go to college and get a degree.”

Speaker Zach Gibbs told classes about being a software engineer.

“Sometimes it can be really hard to get systems to talk to each other,” he said. “I have had to write a lot of programs and sometimes, there’s not enough memory so I have to problem solve and use critical thinking while working with others. I learned that in school.”

He’s even compared writing code to writing a school paper.

“I’ve spent all day writing code just to throw it out and start over the next day to make it better. Sometimes, you may have to write again and again when you have to revise an essay. It can seem long, but when you’re doing either one, you can be creative as you try again,” Gibbs said.

April Burnell told fourth graders she’s a steward for the environment as a national park ranger. It was a career she picked as an elemen-

tary school student.

“I asked questions; I studied everything I could about the environment, nature, animals, people; I got a college degree and was able to turn my passion of enjoying the outdoors into my dream job,” she told students. “The decisions you can make now can impact your future.”

At nearby Willow Springs Elementary, Steve Ball spoke about being a bomb technician to fourth graders.

“I studied a lot of math and science, especially chemistry, electronics, robotics, in school,” said the bomb squad leader of 11 years who also was a SWAT team member for 17 years. “In the U.S., there are 3,000 bomb technicians and every bomb squad—there’s eight in Utah—go to Huntsville, Alabama for more training.”

It’s a job that he finds is intriguing and where he always is learning new things.

“I like to help people and through my education and ongoing training, I can,” he said. “I hope students learned that learning never ends.”

That, too, was a message interior designer Candice Marsh, who spoke to Midvalley Elementary students in Midvale.

“I took art classes in school and use those skills all the time,” she said to students. “I use math when I measure and draw a design to scale. I need to communicate with my customers. I’ve been mostly doing residential houses, like the ones we live in, but now, I’m in school as I want to do commercial or design for hotels. You can always keep learning.”

She gave first-grade students a challenge. Each student received a piece of material and

editing where he “brings it all together with the best takes.”

Down the hall, Rivka Wilkins shared her work as an artist and graphic designer with students. They oohed and aahed when she showed them her Northern Lights artwork and were intrigued when she explained her technique.

Wilkins explained that while she loves blending colors, she also has a business mindset. That is a concept she wanted students to understand.

“As my own business owner, I do the marketing, the pricing and work with my 2,000 serious clients,” said the Instagrammer who has about 275,000 followers. “If I do nothing, I don’t get any sales. Then, my art isn’t shared.”

At Ridgecrest Elementary in Cottonwood Heights, students learned about doing surgery on animals to building a custom bicycle. They asked West Valley City police officer Hunter Burbage how to escape out of handcuffs.

A retired professor, a historian and grandfather of a Ridgecrest tiger, Ron Esplin, won the hearts of many students.

instruction to design a room around that color. It gave them a chance to be creative and apply skills they’re learning in school.

In a kindergarten classroom, Trent Labrum pointed out the router in the classroom and explained his career.

“I’m a superhero of the internet,” he said. “I work on stuff behind the Wi-Fi to connect you to the internet, and I put up safety guards to keep the bad guys away. I use my computer to do good things.”

Kindergarten teacher Kylie Falke said not only does it help their “brains to start thinking about careers they may want someday, but it also ties into learning about our communities and people who work in it. They’re learning that the reading and math they’re doing now could someday be built upon the careers and skills they’ll do in the future.”

Metal grinder Trevor Woodford, who has two children at Sandy’s Peruvian Park, talked to a class and told them that he fabricates new tools “that nobody else makes.”

“It can be challenging and creative to make something useful out of nothing,” he told students—most, who were learning about the career for the first time.

Talking to a class nearby was filmmaker Dan Kettle, who’s first job was to make a video for a friend’s restaurant in trade for food.

“My camera has taken me to some cool places from Hawaii to Ghana,” he said. “Well, maybe not my first camera anymore. It fell into the ocean during a boat tour, but I dove in to save it.”

He walked students through writing scripts in preproduction, talked about the excitement that comes during filming and then

“I write the stories of our past so we know who we are, where we come from, the possibilities of what we can do and how we can be even better,” he said. “I look at documents, court records, journals, letters and books. I’m like a detective and get clues to get the story behind the story. Then, I write what I find out and connect the dots.”

Esplin said that he hopes the students do the same thing in school.

“Connecting what you read and learn in school with your writing is fun,” he said. “It’s like magic.” l

At Ridgecrest Elementary, students learned from speakers about law enforcement to a custom bicycle builder. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

At Peruvian Park, many students learned about metal grinding for the first time from career day speaker, Trevor Woodford. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Canyons School District’s woodworking contest spotlights talent and craftsmanship

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Twenty-five woodworking students—five from each of Canyons School District’s five comprehensive high schools—had their tools ready to begin.

Only they didn’t know what they were creating in the four-hour block of time.

Welcome to Canyons woodworking and turning contests.

At the given time, the plans and materials to make a toolbox with a rounded handle were distributed and students began as their woodworking teachers looked on.

In a second room, additional woodturning students started on making a three-legged stool on lathes.

“The projects change every year,” said Ben Poulsen, Corner Canyon High’s career and technical education coordinator. “Last year, it was an end table. The year before, a chessboard with a drawer.”

The competition has been going on since before the District formed 15 years ago, when it was Jordan School District.

“It was an event that was always well attended by the schools on the east side so naturally, we continued it when we became Canyons,” he said. “It sets students up for the Skills USA woodworking contest, which also has students figure out how to build the project on their own. That’s why this is set up the same way; it give students an opportunity to compete and to hone their skills. It prepares them for the state competition.”

While state is limited to one student per school, this experience also allows more students that level of competition, Poulsen said.

“The one at state is more of a cabinetmaking competition, which is a box-building activity. Here, we do more of a furniture type level, which involves joinery, and that’s more difficult than box-making so we give them more of a deeper experience to learn from,” he said.

In the woodworking contest, students are given wood for them to cut to size for the toolbox.

“If they mess up and they cut something too small, they have to work with what they were given. They can’t get any more lumber. It’s one of those measure four times to cut once,” Poulsen said. “They may make the overall project smaller than what was on the plans or glue boards back together. You may still see the glue line to make it the original size, but it can look really nice because their excellent craftsmanship. These students just don’t give up.”

That was the experience of Hillcrest High senior Fischer Coleman, who said he was calm and thinking logically, when the miter saw wasn’t fully locked in.

“I have a good memory and that usually allows me to get ahead of my competition, but this time, I messed up,” he said. “The miter saw slipped. I’d have to unglue everything to make it smaller and at this point, I’d rather help my friends. I’ve done this contest twice before and finished in the top three last year so now, the best thing I can do is be a good teammate and help them. I love the fact we can use teamwork; the best way to help your friends is for them to learn from my mistakes. Honestly, I’d rather them win than for me to do OK trying to

undo it to fix my mistake. Helping them is the best part of this competition.”

Coleman even offered tools and advice to a student from another school.

“I don’t really care about winning. I would rather everyone has a fun time doing it and see them perform really well,” he said.

His teacher, Alaina Hales, said teamwork is part of the students’ learning.

“I see students looking at somebody’s project problem solving, collaborating and talking it out,” she said. “Everybody gets to benefit; they realize that ‘I don’t have to shoulder this project all on my own. I can talk to my peers. Every year, we have great successes and failures. And we tell the students we make mistakes too; the art of woodworking is learning how to cover those out so that they look like you did it on purpose. In fact, the expectation is you will make mistakes, but you’re going to be judged on how well you deal with those mistakes.”

Hales watched as students interpreted the plan using the wood and tools provided.

Brighton High woodworking teacher Paul Otterstrom also liked seeing students put into practice what he teaches.

“They have to be able to read the plan and figure out how to build something on the fly,” he said. “A lot of times in our classes, we hold their hand. Now they’re just taking their knowledge, applying it and building upon it.”

Brighton sophomore Ryan Paul is thinking his future career may not be in woodworking, but real estate or music. In his woodworking class, he was making a guitar.

“I really love to play guitar so it’s fun to be able to make one,” he said. “This toolbox I’m making may sit in my garage, but the guitar will be played.”

Coleman also likes the creative side of woodworking. He started woodworking his freshman year and has continued doing it throughout his high school experience.

“My first year, it sounded like a fun class and I liked using tools. Now, I’m in my fourth year doing woodworking, and I really enjoy the artistic side of it. It’s fun to express your creativity and to come up with something in your head and make it exist with the wood,” he said. “I like that I can create something I can use in my life and it can be passed down for generations.”

Poulsen said it’s just fun to watch students who are passionate about woodworking.

“It’s just really fun to observe them applying what they’ve learned and seeing what they turn out; it’s amazing to see how much they get done in four hours.”

The top three students in the toolbox competition were Gage Day, Corner Canyon; Brody Clayton, Corner Canyon and Kaden Huffman, Alta High. In the turning contest, Brighton High students swept the competition with winners Andrew Jensen, Lincoln Zacharias and Whitney Boyack.

Paulsen said that businesses support students, from Intermountain Wood giving a 50% discount on the contest wood to industry professionals judging students works awarding them with donated tools or gift certificates. l

Students use lathes to make legs for three-legged stools in the Canyons School District lathe woodworking contest. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Canyons School District woodworking students compete in a four-hour woodworking contest making tool boxes. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Benefits of Deep Brain Stimulation

with Dr. Joel MacDonald

eep brain stimulation is an important surgical treatment option for patients experiencing progressive symptoms from Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder with prominent impairment of movement including a disabling combination of tremor, rigidity (stiffness), and bradykinesia (slow movements). As these symptoms worsen, they interfere with daily function and diminish quality of life. Even simple daily tasks like using utensils to eat can be extremely difficult. Many patients notice declining effectiveness of medications over time.

Deep brain stimulation both directly improves these symptoms and allows medication doses to be decreased so that side effects are minimized. The process involves a brief surgical procedure under local anesthetic to implant electrodes within specific targets of the brain. The targets are selected based on the predominant symptoms. The electrodes are then connected to a small implanted stimulator that can then be programmed to improve movement function. Programming is done by a neurologist. Most patients recover from surgery quickly but optimal programming can take some time. This type of surgery has been routinely performed at Holy Cross Hospital - Salt Lake for several decades.

For more information about CommonSpirit Health and our Holy Cross hospitals, including information about neurological disorders, please visit www.holycrossutah.org.

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Education SECTION

With a little PREP in their step, underrepresented students are college-bound

By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com

“Without PREP, I'd be a loser right now,” West Jordan High School graduate Arlen Villalba Guerrero said. “I wouldn't be very far, just the same old boring stuff, getting ready to do a job that I didn't even enjoy.”

Arlen is one of 15 students graduating from high school with an Engineering Drafting and Manufacturing Technology Certificate of Completion from Salt Lake Community College through Jordan School District’s Pre-freshman Engineering Program (Jordan PREP).

Jordan PREP students, many of whom are typically underrepresented in STEM careers, take four years of science, technology, engineering and math summer courses to prepare to earn 30plus general and engineering college credits by the end of high school.

Arlen joined the program his sophomore year and immediately began to explore his options.

“Being in PREP, you get to think so early about how you're gonna get to what you want to do,” he said. “PREP makes you do so much better and shoot for so much more. I know everything I wanna do right now. I know exactly how to get where I wanna be, and I know exactly what I need to do to get where I wanna be.”

Arlen is now on the pathway to become an Air Force fighter jet pilot, with a head start and higher pay grade due to his college credits.

Natalia Solis said the PREP classes she took as a 12 year old helped her discover her interest in drafting and interior design. She is already on her way to earning a college degree, the first person in her family to do so.

First generation college students, those from economically disadvantaged families or underrepresented minority groups make up the majority of the

students in the Jordan PREP program, which recruits interested students from Title 1 designated schools to motivate and prepare them for STEM careers.

Jordan PREP Coordinator Stacy Pierce has been amazed by the students’ dedication to the program despite difficult life circumstances.

“You've got kids that you had no idea the challenges they had at home— and the challenges got far greater—and they're going to make it,” she said. “They're going to graduate from this program regardless of those challenges.”

She said the rigorous academic enrichment courses students take each summer during their middle school years, prepare them academically, socially and mentally for advanced courses in high school and increase their opportunities to attend college.

“Because it's not a camp—it's a rigorous academic program— I think that's been key to making these kids believe that they could do anything and pursue any career,” Pierce said.

She said the math courses have the biggest impact.

“Math is the gatekeeper that keeps kids out of, say, 80% of the higher paying jobs that help these kids break into a different economic level,” she said. “To help them maintain and build that math confidence—I think it's absolutely huge.”

Anna Fotheringham said staying academically active during the summer with PREP courses gave her an advantage.

“You learned a little bit of math before [school started], so when you did math [in school], you already kind of knew what you're doing,” she said. “So I feel like it gave me a step ahead in regular classes, and then also just in life, because we have a lot of college classes

done that kind of set us up to, if we want, pursue the certain career that they have set up for us to go into.”

When she was younger, Anna wanted to work in a nail salon but is now planning to earn a manufacturing degree.

“Doing programs like this made me realize that doing nails is not really going to give me enough money to live on my own, basically,” she said. “It made me realize I can do harder careers.”

Ayden Bascom said many of his friends don’t have a post-graduation plan yet, but that PREP taught him to think ahead.

“In PREP, especially with Stacy [Pierce], she tells you this earlier, to be prepared for life,” he said.

Natalia said the expectations set in PREP classes, especially during her middle school years, helped her set

higher goals.

“It pushed me into showing myself that I can do harder stuff than I had set myself to, because I had set my standards low for myself,” she said. “You can do much more harder things than you think you can.”

Lai Lai Havili almost dropped out of the program but is glad to be graduating high school with college credits he can use as a fallback plan if his dreams of playing in the NFL don’t work out.

Talon Johnson, who has always known he wants to be a chemical engineer, said the PREP program has not only given him a head start that will save him time and money, but the confidence to be successful in college.

“I have this foundation that a lot of other students may not, and I can push

Continued page 14

Jordan PREP Plus students have fun exploring technology. They will graduate high school with 30-plus college credits. (Photo courtesy of Stacy Pierce)

Unique traditions make graduation ceremonies special

By Jet Burnham and Julie Slama

Thousands of students will be graduating at the end of this month and each school will conduct their graduation ceremony with unique traditions, awards, celebrations and themes.

Students will be the main speakers at Providence Hall High School’s graduation ceremony. The student body president, two valedictorians and two other students will share their thoughts and wisdom with their peers.

“We really make it kid focused, so adults don't speak more than three minutes,” Principal Melissa McPhail said. “I feel like if we're waiting ‘til the last day to teach them something, then we have not done our job for four years.”

McPhail said one of the student speakers chosen to speak this year is not a well-known student but will share an impactful message.

“We get these kids who have had a unique journey through high school, and we catch the attention of those kids that weren't the activity type or the academic type,” she said.

Providence Hall’s graduation ceremony is always less than an hour and 40 minutes to ensure the students have time to celebrate with friends, family, and former elementary, middle and high school teachers who attend the ceremony. Of this year’s 155 graduates, 29 have attended Providence Hall since kindergarten.

After the speeches and diplomas, the students will leave the stadium as the ‘song of the year’ plays. McPhail chooses the song that best fits the graduating class. Last year’s song was Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” and in 2020, it was R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It.”

“The kids really want to know all year what their song is going to be, but I wait until the day of graduation,” McPhail said.

Providence Hall’s ceremony will be held at the Zion’s Bank Stadium at nearby Salt Lake Academy, which also has a unique graduation tradition. Following the graduation ceremony, each Salt Lake Academy graduate receives five roses to give as a ‘thank you’ to their parents, teachers, counselors or friends.

“They get to present them to people

Continued from 13

myself to do more, to do better because of this foundation,” he said.

Talon will return to Jordan PREP in June as a tutor for some of the 220 PREP students taking classes this summer.

Many of this year’s program gradu-

who have influenced them along their journey,” school office manager Cheryl DeHeck said.

Gifts are also a part of South Valley School’s open house style graduation. Students and their families will also be treated to refreshments and a slide show highlighting each of this year’s 35 graduates.

Here is the pertinent information. ADA accommodations are available at all locations.

Academy of Math, Engineering and Science — An anticipated 118 students will take part in the school’s commencement exercises, which will feature nine student speakers and two musical numbers. The 90-minute ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., May 23 in Cottonwood High’s auditorium.

Alta High — About 545 seniors are to walk through commencement exercises at 10 a.m., May 29 at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center with Canyons Board of Education Vice President Amanda Oaks and Board member Holly Neibaur speaking and will be joined by Director of High Schools Tom Sherwood. This year’s theme is “Alta, Let’s Fly!”

American Academy of Innovation — About 60 seniors will take part in their commencement exercises. Graduation will be at 6 p.m., May 29 at Thanksgiving Point’s show barn.

American Preparatory Academy — At APA’s commencement ceremony, 52 students will graduate at 10 a.m., June 1 at the school. The APA Chorum Vita choir will be singing a Latin piece titled "Omnia Sol" by Z. Randall Stroope and "For Good" from the Broadway musical “Wicked.” The valedictorian will be selected in early May. The ceremony is by invitation only.

Beehive Science & Technology Academy — Twenty-three students will listen to their commencement speaker, Sandy City Council Member Marci Houseman at 7 p.m., May 23 at Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Free Enterprise Con-

ates were part of the first cohort of the Jordan PREP program which began the summer of 2018 with 25 seventh graders. It has since served over 300 students.

Nationwide, PREP is only a threeyear program. With grant money, a sponsorship by Merit Medical, and a partnership with Salt Lake Community College,

ference Center’s auditorium. This year’s valedictorian is James Nelson and salutatorian Lliam Delahunty.

Bingham High — Commencement exercises will be held at 5:30 p.m., May 30 in the UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University in Orem. The theme is from author T.S. Eliot, “The end is where we start from.” Speakers will include Jordan School District Superintendent Anthony Godfrey, Jordan Board of Education members Marilyn Richards and Bryce Dunford with Board president Tracy Miller and District Administrator of High Schools Brad Sorensen in attendance.

Brighton High — Canyons School District Assistant Superintendent McKay Robinson is scheduled to speak to 520 students who are expected to graduate at 2 p.m., May 29 at the Maverik Center. Joining him will be Canyons Board of Education President Amber Shill and former Board president Nancy Tingey. This year’s theme is “The future depends on what we do in the present,” by Mahatma Ghandi.

Copper Hills High — May 29, 6 p.m. UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University

“Be your best self”

Corner Canyon High — “Always

Jordan District’s program expanded to a PREP Plus program, continuing through high school to earn a college certificate and set the students up for a promising future.

“It so far exceeded anything I ever dreamed of when I first started the program,” Pierce said. “If they decide not to pursue any more education, they've

One” is the theme for 550 seniors who will graduate at 2 p.m., May 29 at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center. Canyons School District Director of High Schools Tom Sherwood is scheduled to speak. Joining him is Canyons Board of Education Vice President Amanda Oaks and Board member Holly Neibaur.

Cottonwood High — About 400 seniors will walk through the traditional commencement exercises at 10 a.m., May 24 at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center.

Cyprus High — May 23, 1 p.m. Maverik Center

Diamond Ridge — About 60 students will graduate at 6:30 p.m., May 28 at Eastmont Middle School’s auditorium. Canyons School District Director of High Schools Tom Sherwood is scheduled to speak. Joining him is Canyons Board of Education Vice President Andrew Edtl, former Board president Nancy Tingey and Board member Karen Pedersen. This year’s theme is by Canadian poet and author Rupi Kaur: “You don’t just wake up to become a butterfly. Growth is a process.”

Entrada — Canyons School District Director of High Schools Tom Sherwood is expected to address 135 soon-to-be graduates at 7 p.m., June 26 at Alta High School. Canyons Board of Education

got a sustainable livelihood, and then they also have the option to continue their education and have the means to pay for it.”

For more information, see prep.jordandistrict.org.

Former Sunrise students who studied at several Salt Lake Valley high schools reunited at their elementary school prior to their 2023 graduation ceremonies. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

President Amber Shill and Vice President Amanda Oaks will be present. The theme is “Winners never quit. We choose to win!”

Granger High — May 24, 7 p.m. Maverik Center

Granite Connection High — An open house will be held 4-7 p.m. on May 22 and 23 at Granite Connection High.

Granite Peaks High — June 5, 6:30 p.m.

Granite Peaks

Granite Transition Services — The graduation ceremony will be 10 a.m. on May 23 in the Granite Connection Auditorium.

Hartvigsen School — May 23, 12:30 p.m.

Hartvigsen gym

Herriman High — May 30, 7:30 p.m.

Herriman High Football Stadium “Here and Now”

Hillcrest High — About 480 seniors will turn the tassel at their 9:30 a.m., May 29 graduation at the Maverik Center. The speaker is Canyons School District Assistant Superintendent McKay Robinson. Joining him will be Canyons Board of Education Vice President Andrew Edtl and member Kris Millerberg. The theme comes from American businessman and writer, Max Depree: “We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.”

Hunter High — May 24, 2 p.m. Maverik Center

Jordan High — Canyons School Board of Education Vice President Andrew Edtl and Karen Pedersen will address the 430 seniors at the 6:30 p.m., May 29 commencement ceremony at the Maverik Center. For their theme, the seniors selected “And the Beet Goes On,” to tie into their nickname, the Beetdiggers. Canyons School District Assistant Superintendent McKay Robinson will be in attendance.

Jordan Prep Plus — May 3, 10 a.m. Maverik Center

Jordan Valley — Canyons School District Special Education Director Nate Edvalson will talk to five students who will graduate at 3:30 p.m., May 24 at the Hillcrest High School’s fieldhouse gallery. Canyons Board of Education former president Nancy Tingey and Board member Kris Millerberg will join him. The theme is “Adapting to Change.”

Juan Diego Catholic High — The Baccalaureate Mass for 168 students in

the Class of 2024 will be held on May 21 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine Catholic Church. The commencement exercises will take place on May 25 at the school. Both events require a ticket to attend.

Kearns High — May 24, 9 a.m. Maverik Center

Kings Peak High — May 30, 6 p.m.

Hidden Valley Middle Auditorium

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”Eleanor Roosevelt

Life Skills Academy — Eight students will graduate at 12:30 p.m., May 28 at the school. The theme is a quote by author J.R.R. Tolkien; he said: “The greatest adventure is what lies ahead. Each day brings new possibilities for exploration and discovery.” Speaking will be Canyons School District Special Education Director Nate Edvalson and he will be joined by Canyons Board of Education President Amber Schill, former president Nancy Tingey and member Karen Pedersen.

Lone Peak High — May 22, 12:30 p.m.

BYU’s Marriott Center

Mountain Ridge High — May 30, 1 p.m.

UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University

“This is the Time”

Murray High — The graduation cer-

emony will be held at 11 a.m., June 6 at the Lifetime Activities Center on Salt Lake Community College’s Redwood Campus.

Olympus High — May 24, 2 p.m. Huntsman Center

Paradigm High — At 4 p.m., May 30, 55 seniors will graduate at the University of Utah’s Kingsbury Hall. The yet-to-benamed valedictorian will be the student speaker.

Providence Hall — May 24, 10 a.m. Zions Bank Stadium

River’s Edge — “Level Up” is the theme for this year’s commencement, which will be held at 1 p.m., May 31 in the school’s auditorium. Speaking will be Jordan Board of Education President Tracy Miller and Jordan School District administrator Lisa Robinson. Joining them will be Board vice president Darrell Robinson and Board member Lisa Dean.

Riverton High — May 30, 8:30 a.m.

UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University

“Beginnings are usually scary, and endings are usually sad, but it's everything in between that makes it all worth living.” - Bob Marley

Salt Lake Academy — May 30, 10 a.m.

Zions Bank Stadium

Skyline High — May 24, 6 p.m. Huntsman Center

South Valley — May 29, 3 p.m.

South Valley School Cafeteria

“Chart Your Course”

Summit Academy High — May 30, 2 p.m.

Summit Academy High Gymnasium

Taylorsville High — May 23, 6 p.m.

Maverik Center

Valley High — Graduation will be held at 10 a.m., May 29 at Zions Bank Stadium at Real Academy in Herriman. This year’s theme is “The People, The Stories, The Experiences.” Speaking will be Jordan Board of Education President Tracy Miller and Jordan School District Administrator of High Schools Brad Sorensen with Board vice presidents Darrell Robinson and Niki George and Jordan District administrator Becky Gerber in attendance.

Waterford School — At 10 a.m., June 6, the school will honor its Class of 2024 on the campus’ east soccer field. About 70 students are expected to participate in the commencement exercises, which will feature Waterford’s vocal ensemble, the Troubadours, as well as a musical performance by the Lower School students. ADA access is on the southwest side of the field.

West Jordan High — May 29, 2 p.m. UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University

“We didn’t know we were making discoveries, we were just having fun.”A.A. Milne in Winnie the Pooh

Thousands of students and their families will attend graduation ceremonies this month, such as this 2023 Copper Hills High School graduation ceremony (Doug Flagler/Jordan School District)

Young women in Jordan and Canyons School Districts are shaping the future of business

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

A celebration was held for the 22 graduates of the South Valley Chamber’s Junior Women in Business Program. This year’s cohort was the biggest so far in the history of the initiative that coaches high school seniors through leadership, business and mentoring opportunities.

Young women from high schools across Jordan and Canyons School Districts spent the year attending women in business events, meeting female entrepreneurs in the area, doing job shadowing, participating in service projects and receiving one-on-one mentoring with prominent business and civic leaders.

Savanna Barlow (Alta High School) said the experience was a valuable way to create connections with female leaders, gain experience with the legislative process and develop relationships with the other young women in the program. She plans to attend the University of Utah to get a degree in business management. Each graduate received a $1,000 scholarship.

“That scholarship was only the tip of the iceberg for what this program gave us,” Savanna said. “It was amazing. First of all, the monthly luncheons and the guest speakers

were incredible. We talked to CEOs, authors and entrepreneurs…Each of these women told us about the challenges they faced in the business world and in their personal lives. Those experiences are priceless.”

Sponsored by America First Credit Union, WCF Insurance, Intermountain Health and Crystal Maggelet, president and CEO of FJ Management, the Junior Women in Business program started 12 years ago.

Along with Savanna, these high school seniors also graduated from the program: Aubrey Campbell (Brighton High School), Ava Pezely (Riverton High School), Brooklyn Woodley (AHS), Chantel Moore (Jordan High School), Daira Camacho (West Jordan High School), Gabriella Martinez (WJHS), Giovanna Grant (BHS), Grace Mahoney (JHS), Grace Palmer (RHS), Hannah Bradshaw (Juan Diego Catholic High School), Healani Hernandez (Bingham High School), Jaci Elzinga (BHS), Kaitlyn Rios (Herriman High School), Kate Taggart (Corner Canyon High School), Kiara Sunil-Singh (Providence Hall), Madison Crowther (Copper Hills High School), Makai Johnson (Mountain Ridge High School), Mya Ruiz (American Preparatory Academy), Samantha Picker-

ing (JDCHS), Sienna Yang (Hillcrest High School) and Zoe Kener (CCHS).

“At the Chamber, we’re trying to do some good, and I think the community is a better place,” said Jay Francis, South Valley Chamber president and CEO. “We have 22 young ladies who have rubbed shoulders with some of the best business women in the community. We’ll just keep multiplying that and we’ll just be better.”

At the graduation ceremony held at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers South Campus, Sarah Davies (The Piano Place), Alma Lopez and Diana Lopez (Cakes by Edith), and Sadie Bowler (SadieB) participated in a panel discussion talking about their business journeys as female entrepreneurs.

“From the age of 11, I decided I wanted to go to business school and learn how to manage business, how to hire people, how to manage a group of people and eventually how to become an entrepreneur,” Alma Lopez said. “I feel super happy and blessed that my sister and I are able to take the reins of the business and manage the business and be entrepreneurs.”

Nearly two dozen young women graduated from the South Valley Chamber’s Junior Women in Business Program in April, after receiving leadership and entrepreneurial training. (City Journals)

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

The beginning of May welcomes Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month: a time to recognize, honor, commemorate and celebrate the history, culture, contributions and achievements of members of AAPI communities and their influence within the State of Utah and subsequent counties and cities.

Roughly one out of every five Utah residents belong to an ethnic or racial minority group including Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian and Black, according to the 2021 census.

In Salt Lake County, the AAPI voter population includes over 85,834 residents, with an additional 27,211 AAPI residents in Utah County and 15,423 in Davis County, according to 2022 voter data.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are wide-ranging ethnic groups with over 100 languages and 51 communities. Utah’s Asian American communities describe themselves as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog-Bikolnon, Filipino, Khmer, Laotian, Hmong, Taiwanese

Fortand Asian Indian. Utah’s Pacific Islanders communities describe themselves as Tongan, Samoan, Micronesian, Melanesian, Native Hawaiian, Polynesian and Fijian.

“There’s a lot of solidarity in communities within Taylorsville, Cottonwood Heights, Millcreek and Holladay,” said former Utah Sen. Jani Iwamoto.

Even though there has been increased recognition and visibility for AAPI communities, the history of discrimination throughout the State of Utah has been documented.

Iwamoto points us all the way back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, where a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers was observed by the nation. In 1952, the Immigration and National Act lifted immigration restrictions for Asian countries. However, many hate crimes and discrimination acts continued to be documented including the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982.

In 1987, AAPI Heritage Month originated as Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. In 1990, it was expanded to the month-long

City council evaluates traffic study on Fort Union Boulevard

Union Boulevard continues to be one of the busiest roads within the City of Cottonwood Heights. The City Council, Public Works staff and CHPD (Cottonwood Heights Police Department) officers wanted to gather a better understanding of the traffic patterns along the boulevard with further credible detail. They asked the Public Works Department to partner with a consultant to run a traffic study.

Ultimately, the city council wanted to know if the posted speed limit was adequate for the entire boulevard, or if they needed to consider lowering the speed limit in certain segments of Fort Union. The data from the traffic study would help the city’s planning staff, Public Works members, and officers plan for traffic patterns in the future as well.

Avenue Consultants placed pneumatic tubes along five areas of Fort Union Boulevard in order to study the traffic patterns. They collected over 300,000 points of data including speeds, car types, daily traffic volumes, times and gap data.

After interrupting this data, Avenue Consultants was able to report on the average daily usage of the boulevard, average speed profiles throughout different segments of Fort Union, and design elements of the road. They researched the last five years of traffic data in the area as well.

On an average weekday, there can be up to 87,656 daily vehicles along Fort Union Boulevard (based on average daily vehicle data within five segments of road, that number may account for some repeated vehicle

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

traveling along the boulevard east-to-west).

The segment with the least amount of daily vehicles is from 2700 East to 3000 East, with 9,880 average daily vehicles. The most populated segment of the boulevard is between 1300 East and 1700 East with 24,508 reported average daily vehicles.

Fort Union Boulevard is classified as an Urban Core Arterial 5-Land roadway. Avenue Consultants determined that Fort Union Boulevard does indeed align with UDOT’s

Access Category 5 roadway classification. The speed recommendation from UDOT for such a road is between 35 and 45 mph. From 1300 East to 3000 East, the speed limit posted along Fort Union Boulevard is 40 mph.

Vehicles tend to travel the fastest between 2300 East and 3000 East, averaging 45 mph. While vehicles traveling through Highland Drive to 2300 East tend to travel 39 mph, on average. Vehicles travel at 42 and 43 mph along the remaining segments of the boulevard, on average.

“Your speed limit is pretty well set if vehicles are traveling 5 miles above or 5 miles below the posted speed limit,” said Public Works Director Matt Shipp. “Eightyfive percentile falls within the standard of not needing to adjust the speed limit.”

There have been 392 crashes on Fort Union Boulevard since 2019. Looking at the history of the roadway in the most recent five-year period, the highest number of crashes occurred in 2022 with 106 crashes. 2023 reported the lowest number of crashes with 19.

“Fifteen crashes were speed related, with none of those crashes being severe,” concluded Avenue Consultants in their Speed Study Report.

Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo wasn’t surprised by this data and further explained that “speed isn’t necessarily the issue…it’s all the other components around it.”

Five out of seven severe accidents involved impaired driving. Russo reminded

the council that Utah is one of the leading states for DUIs in the nation.

Avenue Consultants ultimately recommended not to alter speed limits along Fort Union Boulevard. “As the posted speed limit fits within an acceptable range based on the current roadway characteristics, no speed management strategies are recommended to realign the character of the roadway with a desired speed.”

“If we want to affect the speed limit, we need to look at traffic-calming redesigns and adding some features that would slow that traffic down,” Shipp said.

Avenue Consultants recommended a combination of proactive speed management measures to assist in aligning the desired speed with the desired character in the future. Potential traffic-calming features might include improved signage, road design modifications, increased enforcement and traffic monitoring. They also recommended increasing awareness campaigns to the public to highlight the importance of adhering to speed limits.

To view previous City Journals coverage, visit the Cottonwood Heights City Journals website and search for “Fort Union” (www.cottonwoodheightsjournals.com)

To view the Fort Union Area Master Plan, visit the Cottonwood Heights City website, navigate to “City Services” and click on the “Adopted and Special Plans” label. (www.ch.utah.gov) l

A Life of Flowers (With a Special Sight and Sound Recital featuring Traditional Japanese Instruments) will be held May 2 from 4-6 p.m. at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. This a free event. (Photo courtesy of the University of Utah)

celebration observed today.

In 2016, Rep. Karen Kwan was sworn into the House of Representatives and became the first ever Chinese American to serve in the Utah State Legislature.

In 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate Coalition was founded and it continues to track and respond to hate crimes and incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the nation.

In 2021, a settlement agreement addressing widespread racial harassment of Black and Asian American students was announced between the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for Utah with the Davis School District in Utah.

“This agreement will help generate the institutional change necessary to keep Black and Asian American students safe,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division.

While trends in 2021 reported increasing hate crimes, Iwamoto reminded us that hate crimes increase against women. “Asian women are seen as easy targets. Sexism and racism surged within the first three months of 2021.”

In 2022, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall proclaimed May as Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage month.

Many organizations throughout the greater Salt Lake area will be hosting and

celebrating events throughout April, May and June, such as the: Salt Lake Japanese American Citizens League, Asian Association of Utah, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, Asian American Collegiate Association, Pacific Islander Student Association, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, Pacific Islanders in Communication, National Tongan American Society, Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Islander Knowledge 2 Action Resources, Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition, National Tongan American Society, Community Alliance of Filipino Americans of Utah and OCA Asian Pacific Islander American Advocates, among others.

Salt Lake Community College’s Student Engagement, Experience, and Achievement Office celebrated AAPI Month throughout April with an event series that included a beauty standards workshop, tattoo history lecture, drumming and performance workshop and a noodle bar.

The Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging, founded by President and CEO Ze Min Xiao, launched their We Are Utah Toolkit on April 12.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts will be hosting A Life of Flowers—Sound Recital featuring Traditional Japanese Instruments on May 2 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Community Leader Mixer will be

held on May 11 at Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South).

The Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration will be held on May 11 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper.

The Asian Association of Utah will be hosting the 47th annual Utah Asian Festival on June 8 from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Grand Building of the Utah State Fair park (155 N. 1000 West).

If Utah residents can’t make it to the events, they can celebrate AAPI Heritage Month in a variety of ways, including visiting locally owned restaurants including Takashi (Salt Lake City), Bartolo’s (Salt Lake City), Doki Doki Dessert Café (Salt Lake City), Hong Kong Teahouse (Salt Lake City), Pho Tay Ho (Salt Lake City), Sapa Sushi Bar and Asian Grill (Salt Lake City), Skewered Thai (Salt Lake City), Bucket of Crawfish (West Valley), Fat Fish (West Valley), OMO Korean BBQ (West Valley), Tonkatsu Ramen Bar (West Valley), Chabaar Beyond Thai (Midvale), Chanon Thai Café (Midvale), Montauk Bistro (Draper), Bakes ‘N Bubbles (Murray), Tea Rose Diner (Murray), Mulan Chinese (Sandy), Teru Sushi (Cottonwood Heights) and Oh Mai (several locations). l

MURRAY PARK

https://www.strideevents.com/events/murray-park-amphitheater/2024/tickets

Señor Pollo and Comcast Business partner as restaurant expands

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals

When Jesus Ruiz and his wife, Dulce, opened their first Señor Pollo location in Ogden in 2018, they knew they were onto something special. Ruiz is from Michoacán, a state in Mexico, but was raised in Utah. He introduced his secret family recipe for Sinaloa-style grilled chicken to patrons at his Señor Pollo restaurant and it quickly became a local favorite.

Since 2018, Ruiz has expanded his business to include nine restaurants, with more expected to open this year. Now fully franchised, Señor Pollo will soon open its first location out of the state in New York. He expects his award-winning restaurant to be a national brand soon, offering his fire-grilled chicken to even more consumers.

“Our challenge is consistency,” Ruiz said. “The biggest problem is training employees. We expect them to be very friendly to everybody. We’re trying to get all our staff to offer great customer service. One of our main goals is for every customer to leave satisfied and happy.”

As his business grows, Ruiz needs a reliable internet connection, not only to create a good customer experience but to communicate effectively with franchise owners. After having troubles with his previous internet provider, Ruiz turned to Comcast Business and has worked with the company for several years.

Comcast Business helped Ruiz streamline his communication channels and create a reliable point-of-sale system to give customers an easy way to pay for their chicken plates, tacos, nachos and tamales.

“I was paying too much for internet services, so I shopped around, talked to a Comcast representative, and

we went from there,” he said. “They provide internet and phone service. We don’t have problems with our TV services or problems with our point of sale. We have no problem connecting our equipment. They make it easy.”

Comcast Business works with companies of all sizes to create a strong network. As businesses grow, products and services grow too, including the need for better cybersecurity, unified communications, reliable connectivity and IT assistance.

Because each organization is different, Comcast Business can design, build, implement and manage a custom solution for each industry. Whether it’s a custom app for a restaurant, for easy ordering and delivery, or a transformative online presence for a unique shopping experience, a Comcast representative can help create the best system.

“Señor Pollo has been using our Comcast Business Internet and Mobility lines, which offer the fastest, reliable network and fiber solutions, for each of their locations,” said Tomas Cid, Comcast sales representative. “Beyond providing internet speeds up to 10 gigs, having our Connection Pro service gives Jesus peace of mind that he will always have data to service his customers.”

When unexpected disruptions happen, Connection Pro helps keep a business internet service seamlessly connected for up to 16 hours with powerful 4G LTE backup, which becomes more critical when businesses grow as Señor Pollo has seen.

“Working with Jesus has been great because on every location that we provide service, we’ve overcome different challenges, such as construction, installation schedul-

ing, and transferring phone numbers from other carriers,” Cid said. “Together, we work out the details so he has the fastest, most reliable internet and mobile service all the time.” l

Señor Pollo's business keeps growing as owner Jesus Ruiz and team operate nine locations with more expected to open this year. He works with Comcast Business for the fastest, most reliable internet and phone service.

Will Brighton boys tennis repeat as state champions?

By Jerry S. Christensen | j.christensen@mycityjournals.com

The Brighton athletic facility and its eight tennis courts along Bengal Boulevard will host the opening round of the 5A high school state championship tournament. It’s here that Brighton Bengals boys tennis team is poised to repeat as state champions in 2024.

“The team is healthy and strong going into the final month of the season,” notes Brighton tennis coach Natalie Meyer. “We have a chance to repeat as state 5A champions even as Highland is loaded this year and Skyline and Woods Cross are always tough.”

Headlining the much decorated varsity boys tennis team at Brighton is the same lineup that narrowly won the state title last May. Singles are: Ford Owen, Owen Hopkin and Cameron Grass. Doubles are James Covey/Henry Owen and Talbot Ballstaedt/

Max Pohlman.

“Our team has definitely become stronger, we didn’t lose any varsity players from last year and we have been training very hard this year,” said Ford Owen, a senior who stunned 5A boys tennis as an individual state champion as a freshman. “There are many good players and strong teams like us out there, some who have recently gained some players. We just have to fight like we did last year to win it. I think we could have a good chance of doing well in state.”

The first round of the state tournament is May 11 at the Brighton Athletics Field. The final rounds are May 16 and 18 at Liberty Park.

Keep your eye on what’s happening at the tennis courts on Bengal Boulevard. l

Brighton’s individual tennis players look to match last year’s state championship—Ford Owen, Owen Hopkin, Cameron Grass. (Photo Natalie Meyer)

Brighton Rugby player only Utahn selected for USA youth rugby team

By Jerry S. Christensen | j.christensen@mycityjournals.com

ThirteenU.S. high school rugby boys sat in a classroom in New Zealand’s King College, awaiting the rugby tradition of presenting jerseys the night before a big tournament. Each of the athletes had this dozens of times before, but this one was different. This one came with more pressure. This white jersey with the USA Rugby patch on the chest was heavier than any they had ever worn. They had played for their families, their clubs, their high schools. This time, they were playing for their country.

Brighton High senior Siale Ofa was the only player from Utah to be selected for the USA Rugby under-18 team to play in the Global Youth Sevens tournament in December. He was recently selected again for the next USA Rugby u18 summer tour to either South Africa or Amsterdam.

Ofa represented the USA, the state of Utah and the Brighton community. He grew up in Cottonwood Heights not far from the recreation center, but in the seventh grade, he moved to Glendale to help take care of his ailing grandparents but continued to attend school at Butler Middle School and Brighton High playing football and rugby.

Few knew of Ofa’s selection to the national team. He did not tell people, which is not entirely surprising. Some would call him reserved. He tends to lean more on the quiet side. His football coach Casey Sutera said, “Ofa doesn’t say a lot so when he does, it’s usually important and people listen.”

His selection to the USA Rugby u18 team was a big deal for his Brighton teammates. “Siale sets a great example of what we can do with this sport if we use it as an opportunity and make the best out of it,” said Brighton sophomore Sofele

Hansen. “On and off the field, Siale leads his team, family and friends by example.”

Playing for USA Rugby was a huge departure from the norm. International play is no cake walk.

The first USA game in the tournament was against a New Zealand team called the Asian Dragons. “We got dominated,” Ofa said. In the 38-19 loss, a Dragons center saw a gap in the defensive line and ran about 80 meters—nearly the whole length of the field—to score. He did a “mana wave,” the NZ equivalent of a shaka sign. Then Ofa recalled him saying, “Welcome to New Zealand, [epithet]!”

“At that moment I wanted to just get off the field,” he said. “I called home to talk to my dad that night. I asked him what I could do better.” Ofa has always played for his father, Vea, who started the Brighton Rugby Club in 2015. His dad advised that he had to be more strategic and responsive to play better with people he had just met. The adjustments had to be quick.

In the USA versus Pakuranga match, the last of pool play, Ofa put everything he had learned on display. He made fixes in how he played but also paid attention to how others on his team played and adjusted to their strengths and weaknesses. Ofa scored twice in the 43-5 USA win. His score off of a quick lineout—a throw-in after the ball goes out of bounds—was posted on various rugby sites including Rugby 7s magazine and USA Rugby’s Instagram page to thousands of replays. USA finished in sixth place in the international tournament.

But Ofa didn’t have time to be prideful. Rugby doesn’t stop the world from turning. Days later, he was back in a

classroom at Brighton, tackling lots of catch-up work and preparing for the high school rugby club season.

Ofa anchors the Brighton boys rugby team which wraps up its season in May.

Two other Brighton alumni—Sione Ofa and Mana Nonu—are playing at St. Mary’s in California. They are undefeated this spring, recently beating BYU and Cal. l

Now FDA-cleared for depression

Siale Ofa, a senior at Brighton High School, scans the field in a match against Mountain View on March 9. The Brighton Rugby boys captain was selected for the USA Rugby u18 team. He has been selected again for team this summer. (Photo Christine Yee)

Will food costs keep eating up consumer budgets?

By Robert Spendlove, Zions Bank Senior Economist

While inflation has leveled out, food costs continue to take a big bite out of the household budget.

Americans have been spending more than 11% of their after-tax income on food— reaching levels similar to the 1980s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That spending is divided nearly equally between eating at home and eating out, the combined cost of which jumped 25% from 2019-23.

However, there may be relief ahead. Food inflation broadly appears to be slowing. Grocery prices stayed flat from February to March, with notable decreases in butter, cereal and bakery products, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Retail prices on dairy, flour, breakfast cereal, rice and pasta dropped over the past 12 months, while beef, chicken and bakery products increased.

While sticker shock at supermarkets has diminished, restaurant prices have been slower to come down. The CPI’s “food away from home index”—which includes food purchased from restaurants, fast food chains and other eating establishments—rose 4.2% from March 2023 to March 2024, compared to a 1.2% rise in the “food at home” category.

This disconnect between food at home inflation and food away from home inflation illustrates an important dynamic happening

broadly in the economy right now. Food pricing is complex because it reflects not only commodity prices, but also the cost of bringing food to market, like labor, transportation and packaging.

In 2020 and 2021, the Coronavirus pandemic shifted consumer behaviors and snarled supply chains, sending food prices skyward. Those effects were compounded in 2022 by an avian flu outbreak impacting egg and poultry prices, and also the war in Ukraine pushing up global energy costs.

As supply chain strains eased over the last couple years, price inflation for goods also eased. The USDA Food Price Outlook now forecasts slowing food inflation in 2024, predicting a 2.4% rise in all food prices in 2024.

However, a new dynamic has emerged regarding consumer demand. Consumers have moved their purchasing preferences from goods to services. Rather than making dinner at home, consumers increasingly prefer to eat dinner at a restaurant. They value the service and ease of having someone else prepare meals for them. Eating at a restaurant also reduces food waste and takes less time for the consumer. And people enjoy the social component of the dining out experience.

However, eating away from home adds

extra service costs to the price of food. After all, those cooks, servers and dishwashers need to be paid. And a persistent labor shortage has caused labor costs to increase, as wage growth has accelerated. The result is that food away from home inflation now exceeds the inflation of food at home.

Families with the lowest incomes have been hit hardest by rising food prices. In 2022, households in the lowest income bracket spent just over $5,000 on food, representing nearly a third of their income, while households in the highest income quintile spent

nearly $16,000—about 8% of their income. Rising inflation remains one of the biggest challenges to the economy, and the Federal Reserve is determined to achieve its mandate of broad price stability. Historically, goods inflation has been easier to tame than service inflation. And this seems to be true again in the current economy. The stubbornness of food inflation is an example of how the path back to normal can be bumpy. l

Over the last few years, more readers are emailing us about the Life and Laughter columns that run in the Journal. Last month, realizing the topic was more controversial, we decided to ask for reader feedback. Our readers left nearly 200 responses.

Over 60 percent of readers agreed with the article. Here is a small sampling of the comments that we received from our readers.

“I always love Peri Kinder's articles. I am on the same page with her politically. However, the length and tone of her articles make clear they are written for people who already agree with her - not for people on the fence or are looking for information on a topic”

“Peri inspired some thoughts that I hadn't paid much attention to.”

“Peri's bigotry is showing. No one should have to apologize for their sex, race, income status, or sexual orientation, unless of course, according to Peri, you’re a straight white male in Utah. Replace white with black and male with female in her piece and maybe you’ll be able to recognize the vitriol for what it is. Women are entitled to safe, private spaces, and I guarantee that if there were a man pretending to be a woman ogling at Peri in the bathroom, she might feel just a wee bit uncomfortable. As a woman, I’m tired of feminists telling me to “just get over it” and that my feelings don’t matter. Must I once again subjugate my desires in deference to a man who wants things his way? Maybe you should ask the girl in Virginia who was sexually assaulted by a transgender girl in the girls’ bathroom at school. Just because Peri doesn’t mind men in her bathroom doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t traumatized by it. The Legislature did absolutely the right thing, carefully balancing the rights of transgender people with women’s right to privacy and safe separate spaces.”

“Biological men do not belong in the same restroom as women. I do not want my children to ever be in a bathroom where a man is present. Just because the author has

Life and Laughter Reader Response

not encountered a “creepy man dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire, accosting women in the restroom,” does not mean this has not occurred. There are numerous cases where women have been assaulted by so called transgender info inside of women’s restrooms, for example, the case in Louden County VA.”

“I really like a lot of her articles but I am very opposed to pretty much everything she said in this one.”

“I agree with most of the comments about the legislature. However, I do not want transgender (born male) in my women's bathroom. They can use the family bathrooms which are becoming much more available.”

“Responding to "the article" as a whole cannot be done here because many different opinions were expressed on many issues. My only reaction to the overall article is "what happened to laughter"? I have often enjoyed your humor but this article had none! That's sad.”

"I agree that Trans women should not be allowed in the female bathrooms. Why? Because they are not women. There are only two genders. There always have been two genders and that cannot change. It is not dependent on what we think we are or are not.

We cannot and should not change the gender given to us by our Creator. I think He knows best.”

“Also, the author makes it sound like not allowing Trans women in a female bathroom is being unloving...love thy neighbor. Since when does disagreeing with someone's lifestyle directly correlate to being unloving? In any relationship we have with others, there are likely times we don't fully agree with someone's opinion or choices. We can still love that person, but not agree with their actions or lifestyle. These days it seems that if you disagree in any way with diversity, equity and inclusion you are labeled a hater. How is it that everyone else is entitled to their opinion but if mine is different in any way, I am wrong. How is that loving? We live in a free country that allows us to have a variety of opinions and express those opinions in a respectful way. But we also have to understand that not everyone is going to agree with each other and that is OK. With the bathroom issue, single stall bathrooms that allow either gender is the best solution in my opinion."

“Thanks for printing this. I'm a trans woman who lives here and this was nice to see. I worked at the airport before, now I'm looking for a new job. It's been a rough couple of years for trans people and can seem overwhelming at times. Thanks for reminding me there's allies out there.”

“Peri is so sensible. I appreciate her writing this column.”

"I completely agree. We have a short legislative session and too much time and efforts were made supporting hatred and exclusion, singularity of thought and government being for themselves instead of for the people.

Read the polls: none of this is what the majority of voters are asking for.”

“It is so refreshing to read an opinion driven by common sense and compassion, rather than ignorance and fear. I know people in Utah are more compassionate than those who represent them, based on proposed legislation.”

“Agree 100%. Peri is right. Sometimes it is embarrassing to live in this state with the things the legislature worries about and focuses on, and the bills they pass. There are more important problems to deal with than worrying about which bathrooms people are using, fighting DEI, and what books kids should or shouldn’t be reading. Frankly I think some of these things send the wrong message; I fear the kids are only learning that the adults don’t trust them to make good decisions. Or any decisions at all which will only lead to more problems down the road… an even more intolerant society with no critical thinking skills which is never a good thing.”

“This article is right. I couldn't agree more with all of Peri Kinder's articles. This one is my favorite.

I usually read the Peri Kinder column to get a good chuckle but this one hit the nail right on the head.”

“I look forward to Peri Kinder's article every month. This article was especially "spot on". Government needs to be more transparent! Not hidden behind so called "privacy" laws that block access to to the daily calendar of elected officials. I also agree with Peri's stance on public restrooms. Nobody goes into a restroom 'looking for" a transgender. They are there to "do their business" and leave asap! I have noticed that airports, some restaurants, and some of the wonderful theaters (Pioneer Theatre's new Meldrum Theatre and The Eccles) have an open doorway. The stalls allow for individual privacy, but the rooms are open and very visible. This is the first time I have used my scanning code. I felt it was important to express my point of view.”

“Acceptance has been slow over the years, but acceptance of the reality is gaining more support as people learn about their families.”

“I question the comments about guns in schools but clearly agree with the rest.” l

dog, Jedi, runs to the closet where her leash hangs. She spins in circles as I take it off the hook and click it on her collar. She bites the leash and pulls because I’m just not moving fast enough. She is so happy to walk the neighborhood and terrorize small animals.

Usually, these daily walks cheer me up, but recently, I follow behind her like I’m wearing cement shoes on a muddy beach. Does anyone else feel soul-tired?

I’m the weariest I’ve been since my daughters were newborns when sleeping two hours a night left me moving through life in a haze of dirty Pampers and milk-sour T-shirts.

But what’s my excuse now? I’m a deflated balloon, bouncing along the floor without the helium needed to float. I’m too weary to yawn, too sluggish to nap.

I guess I’m not alone because author and computer science professor Cal Newport said we’re in the throes of “The Great Exhaustion.”

It’s not about getting more sleep, it’s not about eating more fiber or fewer Hostess Twinkies, it’s a complete burnout because rest is a sign of weakness.

Taylor Swift recorded a double album while performing in a sold-out global tour

Peri Kinder Life and Laughter

Dead on My Feet

and then flew halfway around the world to catch her boyfriend’s little football game. And here I am, struggling to write a column and make it to my granddaughters’ soccer games.

I sprawl on the couch watching dust accumulate on the end tables, too fatigued to do anything about it. I pray a brisk breeze blows through the house, scattering the dirt back to the floor where it belongs.

I feel a lot of people are in this same engineless boat. It doesn’t help that companies now require employees to return to the office, even though the flexible, at-home schedules have kept thousands of women in the workplace. Even though, for the first time in history, job schedules have helped women feel like work and home are almost manageable.

Our energy is also being drained fast-

er than our bank accounts because we’ve trained ourselves to be 24/7 content creators. We spend a crapload of time making reels about our trip to the Grand Canyon or a TikTok video about how to raise goats and make goat milk ice cream.

But there’s more! Start a tech company during your free time! Renovate your kitchen and use time-lapse videos to share with the world! Become an Instagram influencer by creating beauty masks using pencil shavings! Document all the moments all the time and share on all the platforms!

With nonstop information from streaming shows, music, podcasts, audiobooks and social media going directly into our big noggins, our brains are tired. Every person in your household (and possibly your pets) is processing information at speeds unheard of just a few years ago. There’s probably smoke coming out of our ears.

It’s a firehose of electronic data. Everything is breaking news. Everything is trying to capture our brief attention. Life is one big clickbait link and we doomscroll like we’ve been enchanted by a wizard to sell our souls for just a little more spilled tea.

Are you feeling burnt out? Tell us about it.

Are you feeling fresh, share your secret with us!

The funny thing is, we can turn it off, silence the noise and deactivate the notifications. But our cortisol addiction is out of control.

So what do we do?

Jedi has the right idea. Walking outside, breathing fresh air, maybe even chasing a cat up a tree reminds us the small things matter. Quiet rituals are important. “The Great Exhaustion” is a bone-deep weariness but also a reminder we’re not alone as we stumble through life.

Maybe in sharing our weariness, we can find a listening ear, a comforting shoulder or a Hostess Twinkie.

ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAM

to Honor Military Veterans for Their Service to Our Country

Monday, May 27, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.

At Larkin Sunset Gardens Cemetery 1950 East Dimple Dell Road (10600 South), Sandy

FEATURED SPEAKER: Congressman Blake Moore

PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE: Hill Air Force Base, Honor Guard, Utah Firefighters Emerald Society Bagpipes, Patriotic Music by Brian Stucki and the Minuteman Brass Quintet OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC