Learn how to decrease the tax on your IRA or

Even with online school, teachers appreciate students with awards

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Although the end of this school year may have looked different than any before, Jordan Ridge third-grade teacher Kimberly Sanders knew it was important to give all 22 students in her class their year-end awards.

Since she couldn’t do it in person, because of schools transitioning to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanders announced the awards over the last Zoom session with her students, June 3.

“Their faces lit up on the screen and were excited,” she said. “I shared the slides on the screen so they could see them, but they’ll have to come see me before the backto-school night to pick it up.”

The awards ranged from the “computer whiz” in the class to the “bunny lover” award.

The latter, she said, really touched her.

“She said, ‘I can’t believe it. I’m proud of myself.’ They were so cute and happy. I just looked at their strengths and tried to make it meaningful and fun. It was sad to say goodbye this way, but it gave them a lift at the same time.”

The school’s teachers also selected two citizenship awards for their class and then, students who worked to earn their Soaring Leader awards received them when technology items were turned in at the end of the school year.

Jordan Ridge wasn’t the only school to present end-of-the-year awards.

At Mountain Creek Middle School, Assistant Principal Tim Brooks said administration and teachers worked together to nominate and deliver awards for each grade level on a recorded video, available on their website.

Since the school is in its first year, they looked at other schools’ awards before deciding on their own.

“The kids don’t know about the awards other than attendance or high GPA (gradepoint average),” he said before the video was

posted. “So, there will be surprised faces.”

The video was posted in early June, after year-end drop-off of Chromebooks, textbooks, library books and picking up the memory book, filled with highlights from the school’s ribbon-cutting with South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey and the first school assembly to their abrupt end of in-person classes because of COVID-19, Brooks said.

The yearbook’s theme, “Your Future is Bright,” is what teachers and administrators have tried to maintain during the last months of the school year as ninth-grade teachers posted a fun video saying goodbye to their students and the dance teacher edited together the last performance to share. Even Instagram posts have kept an upbeat message.

“We’ll be mailing out the award certificates and medallions, so the kids feel a sense of the end of the school year and everything is fresh in their memories. By doing this, we can start next year anew; we don’t know what that will look like, but we can be ready. In the meantime, we’ll keep posting messages to the students saying, ‘hey, you’re OK; you’re buoyant, resilient’ and we’ll keep adding some humor.”

Cottonwood High instrumental instructor Amber Tuckness also wanted to ensure her 150 students received their awards.

Together with the music council, they awarded instrumental students awards from most improved to excellence in music. In a virtual award ceremony, the music council announced the awards before distributing them to students.

“I didn’t want this to be dropped or have anything taken away from the awards,” Tuckness said. “We gave every single one of our students an award and clapped and cheered for them. I even got sentimental and cried because I didn’t get to give them a hug and tell them how much I appreciated them.” l

Mountain Creek Middle School, like many schools across the area, presented its year-end awards virtually in light of the “soft closure” of schools because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Screenshot)