August 2022 | Vol. 19 Iss. 08
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LOW-COST DENTAL CLINIC HELPS TRANSFORM SMILES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS By Sarah Morton Taggart | s.taggart@mycityjournals.com
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n 2019, the Charitable Health Clinic operated by Midvale Community Building Community (CBC) was busy: an average of 200 medical or dental visits per month. A few months into the pandemic that number increased, and now the number of total visits has doubled. “June (2021) is when we started getting absolutely slammed,” said Mauricio Agramont, the executive director of Midvale CBC. “People started being ready to go back to get medical and dental services. Everybody who had delayed treatment for so long, they all came. A lot of people lost their job or their insurance.” A few months later, Dr. Priscila Bautista began volunteering. Originally from Brazil, Bautista came to the United States with her husband and three children in 2016. Though she graduated from dental school more than 20 years ago, Bautista needed to complete a two-year residency and work 6,000 hours to be fully licensed to practice dentistry here. “I’m an international dentist,” Bautista said. “I need to build up hours working as a dentist and the only way I can do this is as a volunteer. It’s amazing helping those people who need it. So I decided to stay here full time, every day, all day long. Some Saturdays, some nights.” Soon after Bautista arrived, the clinic was also able to upgrade the dental equipment. “We used to work with portable dental units,” Agramont said. “Now we have four full working chairs with a vacuum pump and compressor. We’ve improved our electronic medical records system and that has really changed Continued page 5
Priscila Bautista was a full-time volunteer dentist at Midvale CBC for nearly a year. (Photo courtesy Priscila Bautista)
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August 2022 | Page 3
Students to see new administrative faces as they return to school this fall By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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hen students return to Union Middle School, they will see longtime Hillcrest High assistant principal Brenda McCann as their new principal. Union’s Kelly Tauteoli, who has been the middle school principal since 2015, will work as a human resources administrator in Canyons School District. “I'm recruiting the teachers for the secondary schools, so it has a step away from kids in that way, but I will have a big impact on kids in that I’m recruiting and hiring the best teachers,” she said a couple weeks after she packed her belongings where she was principal of the school that serves 850 students. “It's bittersweet. It really is. I’ve poured my heart and soul into a place that I care so much about and care about the outcomes for the kids and for the people that work there. The students keep me laughing all the time. Middle school students are hilarious, and tender and sweet—and I know that's not what people usually say about middle school kids, but they really are. I love the people I worked with and that's one of the hardest things, is to leave that amazing team at Union, the people that I love and respect so much.” During her tenure, Tauteoli helped to build a caring community. “It is just such a solid, wonderful supportive community. One thing I love about Union is, I love the diversity and how the community and the staff just wrap their arms around kids and support them. Just so many times, parents have come forward and said, ‘How can I help, what can I do, can I gather school supplies, can I pay for somebody else's yearbook?’ The staff just goes absolutely above and beyond for the kids at Union. Students are really getting a very caring community and support in every way at Union,” she said. “I hope that's a legacy that I've left and I know it will continue because the people that I worked with care about that too.” Tauteoli also has ensured there are academic as well as social-emotional supports in place for students. “We’ve really strengthened our academic supports and our students have done remarkably better on the state tests at the end of the year,” she said. “We’ve also worked heavily on mental health for students. The kind of pressures they face and the increase in anxiety, we’ve ramped up adding more check-ins with kids, creating a plan where we talk and share concerns, teaching life and social skills, adding staff to help. In general, in schools, we’re seeing more mental health issues, more anxiety, more depression, more social isolation, with kids, and you just never can have enough support in that area. They just think they need it. They need a lot.”
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Part of Tauteoli’s time also has been meeting regularly with a construction team on the re-build of Union Middle, a position that now has shifted to Union alumna and now principal Brenda McCann, who helped with the construction process at nearby Hillcrest High. “I had so much fun helping in the design process for Union; it was a fun thing for me to be able to be part of and they're doing a great job. I think Brenda has good experience on how to make a transition into a new building, so she'll do a great job when that happens at the end of the school year,” she said. The new Union is set to open fall 2023. Hillcrest High also has changes with two other administrators as longtime assistant principal Jan Hansen retired and assistant principal Quinn Linde moved to Murray High School as principal. Linde previously had taught biology and been an assistant principal at Corner Canyon before serving at Hillcrest the past three years. “I think from teaching, coaching and being an administrator at schools, I’ve learned that relationships are really at the heart of everything I’ve tried to do,” he said. “Seeing the potential in every student and helping them to reach their goals and potential has been something I’ve kind of prided myself on and it is what motivates me. I’m going to miss the staff, admin team and the student at Hillcrest and all the programs I was having the opportunity to build there. They’re just great kids and such a good community at Hillcrest.” Jordan High assistant principal Dina Kohler; Katie Campbell, a Canyons School District multi-tiered student support specialist; and Andrew Yawn, a behavior specialist are joining the Hillcrest High administrative team. Jordan High Athletic Director Jason Long will step in the shoes of Kohler for the Beetdiggers. At Mt. Jordan, Brighton Assistant Principal Ryan Durant will serve as principal as Matt Watts will become a Canyons special education department administrator. Linda Hall, a special education specialist, also will become a special education administrator as current administrator Nate Edvalson will become the department’s director. Current Special Education Department Administrator Tifny Iacona will become Glacier Hills assistant principal. Jordan High Assistant Principal Mary Simao will become an assistant principal at Brighton and Corner Canyon Assistant Principal Sara Little will move to Jordan High to take Simao’s position. Corner Canyon counselor Misty Jolley will take Little’s
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Kelly Tauteoli, seen here at the new Union Middle’s groundbreaking in April 2021, will leave her post as principal to work as a human resources administrator in Canyons School District. (Julie Slama/ City Journals)
current position. Brighton High Assistant Principal Marielle Rawle will transfer to Corner Canyon High. She will replace Christian Cowart who, in turn, will transfer to Brighton. Draper Park Middle Assistant Principal Randall Seltz will transfer to Mount Jordan Middle as an assistant principal. He replaces Sierra Segura who, in turn, will transfer to Draper Park. Granite Elementary Principal Ronnie Mulqueen will serve as Draper Elementary principal, replacing Christy Waddell who is retiring. Bell View Principal Tamra Baker also is retiring. Edgemont Principal Elcena Saline will replace Mulqueen at Granite. Instructional Coach Aimee Wagner will become Copperview Elementary assistant principal. She will replace Cassie Kapes, who is relocating to another state.l
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Continued from front page the quality of the experience. Before, our capacity to serve wasn’t as great. We had to develop X-rays. Now we are digital. That is improving the experience of our volunteer dentists.” The clinic offers all the services of a private clinic: fillings, root canals, extractions, implants, even cosmetic treatments like whitening and veneers all for less than half the price. Clients do not need to have insurance, but they do need to provide proof of income. “Patients save 60% of the costs. The community said we don’t want free services, we want affordable services,” Agramont said. “They would live with an impacted tooth for a year. Deciding to start the dental clinic came from horror stories, people coming in with a broken tooth because they tried to extract it themselves. We serve working families who would delay care for themselves, but not for their children.” One in five children in Utah have untreated dental decay and need immediate dental care, according to the Utah Department of Health. With a $5,000 grant from the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, the clinic has been able to expand low-cost preventative dental services to treat more low-income, uninsured Latino children in Salt Lake County. “This is one of those key initiatives that we really want to support,” said Tiffany Erickson, the media relations manager at Rocky Mountain Power. “What we know is that when kids are hungry, they don’t go to school. When they have medical issues, they don’t go to school. We want to support organizations and initiatives that are helping lower those barriers and make sure that kids have opportunities just like anybody else.” Often, families have some children who were born in the United States and others who weren’t. The younger siblings can qualify for the Children’s Health Insurance Program or Medicaid, while their older siblings don’t. “We have families where one of the children qualifies, but others don’t because of where they were born,” Agramont said. “As a parent, they don’t want to favor one child.” For more than a decade, the clinic has offered dental services mainly to adults. Now they have one pediatric dentist, Dr. David Stewart, but they need more. The clinic relies on state funding, donations and volunteer providers. “It doesn’t work if the right pieces don’t fall into place,” Agramont said. “You can have the funds, but not the dentists, or the dentists but not the funds. Like teeth in a smile: if one is missing, it’s not pretty. A local dentist who can donate a few hours a week or month will make a big difference.
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You can choose the schedule that works best for you.” Bautista completed her required hours in July and began working at a private clinic in Murray. She has every intention to continue volunteering at Midvale CBC, but can no longer do it full time. Word of mouth alone keeps the clinic busy. Patients have come from as far away as Tooele and Wendover. Virtually all of the adults who seek care at the clinic are first-generation immigrants from Latin American countries who work full-time, yet are underinsured or have no insurance at all. They often put off dental treatment as long as possible to avoid missing work or facing costly bills. Most employees at Midvale CBC are fluent in English and Spanish. “When I say ‘buenos días’ instead of ‘good morning’ I can see their relief,” said Bautista, who’s native language is Portuguese. “I’m learning both English and Spanish, and the assistants and staff help.” “All of the dentists make that effort to communicate,” Agramont said. “They learn that basic vocabulary and always have dental assistants that speak Spanish and can step in. When the dentist makes that effort to communicate, that’s the spirt of this clinic.” “You are here to help, but you can learn, too,” Bautista added. “It’s a learning environment because you can take your time. You can do a procedure that is a little bit more complicated, but you can have an hour, two hours per procedure. We can do really nice dentistry.” Tiffany Velasco is the dental manager for the clinic. She has also completed the education necessary to become a dentist, but needs to obtain her license from the state. “My goal is to do the same process as Dr. Bautista,” said Velasco, who is originally from Peru. Velasco coordinates the volunteers, schedules patients, buys supplies, helps maintain dental records and steps in as an assistant when necessary. The volunteer dentists are also supported by a team of volunteer dental hygiene students from Salt Lake Community College. Bautista has been the supervising dentist this past year, working at the clinic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Thursday. “Most need a deep cleaning,” Velasco said. “But that’s so expensive. You have to pay out of pocket if you don’t have insurance. It feels great, but $400 is a tough sell for our community. Here you pay $17.” Midvale CBC’s dental and medical clinic are located at 49 W. Center St. in Midvale. “It’s a nice place to work,” Bautista said. “We are like a family here. The environment is special. For me it’s so nice, for the people that would never be able to afford a private practice, we change their smiles.” l
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Oakdale librarian does more than stock shelves, she connects with students By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
O
n an Oakdale Elementary library bulletin board, students had written favorite memories—getting a dog, doing a cannonball off the high dive, riding roller coasters, eating macaroons with a great-grandpa—on little paper balloons. It was an engaging activity, tying into “The Memory Balloons,” a book where a grandson shares his favorite memories he had with his grandfather, who had forgotten them. “I liked doing that,” one student said. “She always gathers us on the rug, reads a story, then we can draw or write about it. We’ve done ones on poetry and Earth Day. Last year, we had one about making a difference in the world. She knows where to find all the good books.” She is Tami Carlson, or sometimes “Mrs. Carwash” as students have fondly combined her name with her with longtime colleague Shannon Walsh, and through Carlson’s 31 years at Oakdale, she has intermixed activities with library time, breaking the stereotype of a librarian holding her index finger up to her lips to shush students or stocking the shelves of a bookmobile. Former Oakdale Principal Lori Jones recalled a lesson where Carlson would introduce the character trait of kindness. “She read the kids stories about being kind and then, they wrote letters to seniors in nursing homes to cheer them up,” Jones said. “A lot of the teachers do that too, but she reinforced the bigger picture going on in school and made the library a fun and cheerful place to be.” Carlson started working at Oakdale as a playground and copy center aide while her mother was the school secretary. The next year, Carlson slid into the open position in the library and has worked there ever since. She has worked under the direction of nine principals, through changing enrollments (its high was more than 600 students, now it is about 400) with five co-librarians, including Walsh who has worked beside her for 16 years. “We just can't imagine working without each other,” Carlson said about her colleague, who used to be a reading interventionalist and would work with students in the library. Walsh feels the same way. “Tami is just hilarious, and she is just an easygoing person. She's a storyteller. You know when she tells a story, she's very animated with the kids. When she's talking about a lesson, she brings it to life and connects with the kids,” Walsh said. “Tami loves children, and she loves reading in that order. She just loves being around children and making them smile, but she also loves the reading sector and what they learn from it from them. I don’t think she’ll ever leave this job. I think she enjoys it too much.” Alice Peck, who served as Oakdale principal for four years, remembers Carlson knowing all the students. “She has a familiar face, and she knows all the students by name. She’s always bubbly, upbeat, and positive and never in a bad mood. She has a lightness, a smile for everyone, so kids just adore her,” she said. “She and Shannon just work together so well, whether it’s checking in books with the barcodes or doing lessons for the kids. When they found out I was moving to the district, they created a bulletin board of students’ limericks that was the sweetest thing. Then, they presented me them in a big binder. It was just touching. They’re the dynamic duo.” Through the years, Carlson has seen change in education. When she started, the school featured open classrooms. “It's so ridiculous that anyone ever thought that would work. You could literally roll a ball from the office down to the sixth grade or hear a piano playing and singing going on or hear a video over here or hear a teacher who spoke loudly over there,” she said, also recalling that they’d prop open the
Page 6 | August 2022
Oakdale Elementary librarian Tami Carlson is excited about a set of new biographies. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
school doors so even a stray dog wandered through the school a couple times. Walls and air-conditioning were installed in the 1990s after a before-school fire broke out in the music room, which was located inside the back door. “Back then, none of the doors were locked. Most of the teachers were here and a few students were outside because the opening bell had not run yet. We think someone came in that back room and set the music room on fire. We didn't know who or why because there weren't security cameras back then, but man, that fire marshal and two other men in suits sat on one side of a table and you were on the other and they interrogated all of us one at a time in a very intimidating manner. Like, ‘Do you smoke? Have you ever had a vendetta against anyone at this school?’ We did learn an accelerant was used and that room was filled with storage from floor to ceiling with desks, equipment, chairs—and with student records. That room was burned to the ground and then the fire traveled through the false ceilings. There was a lot of smoke damage, especially to our beautiful art collection that we inherited from the old Union Elementary. They had to send all those paintings out to be cleaned with the smoke damage. Our school wasn't closed for more than a few days. It was the end of the year, so they brought in those giant fans, and gave a warning to kids that have breathing problems,” Carlson remembered. She was at Oakdale on Sept. 11, 2001. “I had been just watching the news like I do in the morning when I'm getting ready for work and saw those planes hit those towers. I just wanted to stay home, curled up in a ball and cry all day, but we had to come to work that day. The principal called us in and said, ‘We're not going to bring it up
with the kids. If they ask, you smile and say that you're safe here.’ And we didn’t know that, but we were told to try to have as normal day as possible. We had to just keep quiet and carry on and know that their parents can help them when they get home. That was a day I wished we’d have off because that was a hard one to get through,” Carlson said. She also worked at Oakdale when the Jordan School District split, and Canyons School District was created for the eastern schools. “A lot of people were highly opinionated about it. Are you for or against? I think it's been a really good thing because that district was so big and it was hard to get help or be heard because there were so many schools,” Carlson said. “Canyons has been so good about technology. We have technology devices and support in every school. There’s someone to answer your questions on the phone or send someone over. We have someone assigned to our school to help just with that and that has been a wonderful thing, especially recently during COVID.” During the pandemic, the library had assigned seating, which started when students were tracked to minimize the spread of COVID-19. “It somewhat mimics who they sit by in class and that's actually been helpful to minimize the distractions and interruptions, but now, younger students who were at home are needing to learn all the normal routines of how to walk quietly, sit still and not wander around and be disruptive. At the beginning of the year, they scattered like mice. We'd have to call the office and say, ‘I've got three kids on the loose’ because I’d just look up from a lesson and they’d be gone,” Carlson said. “I think most kids if one thing they learned from that is they
Midvale City Journal
do love going to school and they never want to go home again and do schooling.” Jones said that when schools transitioned to COVID-19 protocols, “Mrs. Carwash” was there. “They had jumped in and helped us with a lot of things like checking out the Chromebooks and helped me with that immensely. They also helped with checking out new curriculum to our teachers, doing bulletin boards, posting what teachers and staff were reading to interest kids in reading, and they are able to wear so many different hats,” she said, adding before COVID, they maintained the Red Bookshelf, which provided students a place to grab a free used book. Carlson’s own job has changed from those early years when there was a card catalog. “When we got a book, we would create cards. That book had a card for the author, another card for the illustrator and so on. One book would have maybe six 3-by-5 cards that needed to be filed. Then, if someone asked if we have a book about unicorns, we’d go to the card catalog to look up unicorns. It was time consuming and insane making up all those cards, then filing them and discarding them when we got rid of the book. Now the kids can go to the student computers and look up unicorn and be able to find the book. We still use the Dewey Decimal System because it works. We've worked with the kids to teach them to find their own books because county
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and government libraries are still using the Dewey Decimal System,” she said. Walsh said that when they get new books, “It’s like Christmas to us. Tami gets all giddy because we get to read new books to students and show them all the new books and introduce them to new genres.” Those new books are put on display; recently, Carlson put out some new biographies she was excited to share with students. “Biographies used to be hundreds of fine print pages and few pictures, and the kids would have to read the entire book to find out basic facts about someone. Now, we can Google, but these books are just beautiful and inviting. Look at this one about Kamala Harris. You know how she wears the sneakers? On the inside cover of each of these is something unique to the person and hers is sneakers. It’s just fun and engaging. These kids are just dying over these books and they’re going to learn all about these people and they’re just colorful and beautifully illustrated. The books are made with better quality ink and pictures, and they’re nicely bound,” she said, recalling when she started in the library, the district would send books to the school. “We had no say in it whatsoever; they ordered the same books for every school, and they’d weed out the surplus books that were out-of-date or not being checked out. But we do everything now which we should because we know our school population and we have kids ask for certain books and we try to make that happen.”
As Carlson and Walsh place orders, they make a conscious effort to get books that represent diversity. “We try very hard to choose books that kids can see themselves in and their families. So, children of color and children with disabilities, or say, my parents are divorced, or I have two moms, so we look for books that are inclusive. We don't sit we don't talk about it too much, but we have books that reflect that. We buy books about different holidays, so they aren't all Christian holidays. We want them to find books that are age appropriate and aren’t all mainstream, so all our students can see themselves and their families in them,” she said. That’s something former principal Peck appreciated about Carlson: “She’s very much an educator that is beloved by kids. She chooses books that are appropriate and enjoyable on any level and often, they correlate with topics in the classroom, so we have an integrated support for our curriculum.” Carlson said the library continues to check out classic children’s books. “We just ordered a bunch of new copies of Beverly Cleary books, and I love a book by Kate DiCamillo called, ‘Because of Winn-Dixie;’ we have four copies that are constantly being checked out,” she said. “I can’t choose my favorite book because it is like choosing a favorite candy. It can't be done.” “Mrs. Carwash” also works with teach-
ers to match their library lessons with the class curriculum. “Back in the day, we read them a story and let them check out books. Now we always plan. We teach them library skills. We look at the core curriculum and try to hit on as many of those as we can. Sometimes we find a book that we just love, and we do a lesson around that book,” Carlson said, adding that in recent years, they’ve also begun to meet on a regular basis with the school principal to learn about schoolwide schedules, trainings, drills and concerns so they’re in the loop with faculty and staff. “We also meet with other school librarians. We can exchange ideas and trade book suggestions and support each other.” Even with the skills and lessons that are taught in the library, Carlson said there is a goal above those. “We try hard to make the kids feel loved and to make them feel like this is a safe, happy place. When they come in here for a minute, we want there to be no stress, just a place that they can relax and enjoy,” she said. “That’s the most important thing for me, more important than learning about the genres of the books and how to do research. That's my goal.” This is the second of three profiles spotlighting longtime Canyons School District employees. l
August 2022 | Page 7
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Elementary students learn firsthand about careers, advice to get them to dream jobs By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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hroughout the spring, Canyons School District students had the opportunity to learn about careers from professionals in the field. Presenters were asked to tell the students a little about themselves and their job, including skills they have, what they learn on their job and fun parts and maybe not-so-fun, but necessary parts. Many presenters brought tools with them to illustrate what they may do, talked about an average day and shared if they were bilingual and how it helped with their careers. At East Midvale Elementary, Midvale Mayor Marcus Stevenson was among the presenters. Stevenson was two months into his new position and was asked by a student what he does. After answering that he oversees 200 employees including police, fire and public works, he also told them he has multiple conversations on topics ranging from family shelters to clean air. He brought with him a huge pair of scissors and ribbon so students could experience cutting the ribbon as he does for new buildings and businesses. Another student asked Stevenson the most important skill he has as mayor. “To be a good listener,” he answered. “I have to be able to listen to thousands of people. They tell me about issues they care about and I’m the voice for them. I also need to be able to bring people to work together.” Stevenson was “pleasantly surprised” by the students’ engagement. “I was asked so many questions and it was good to see they have opinions and concerns,” Stevenson said. “It’s important they know they have a voice.” At Oakdale Elementary, guest speakers ranged from a commercial pilot to an artistic director of a children’s choir. In a second-grade classroom, Brigham Young University chemistry professor Rebecca Olsen almost magically created a spark of fire for the students. “I love chemistry and it’s fun for the kids to get a glimpse of what they can learn,” she said. “A lot of them were asking questions and were excited.” Second-grade teacher Shannon Prado said the presenters get students excited about learning about their careers. “Our students are able to talk to them to learn what skills they learned in school will help them,” she said. “We had a life and wellness coach share what she does and many of the students didn’t know a thing about that career. We had a police officer show students not only his tools, but also demonstrated how he is able to de-escalate a situation with his voice. It was
Midvale Mayor Marcus Stevenson allows students to practice a ribbon-cutting during East Midvale Elementary’s career day. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
amazing and really interested the kids.” In another classroom, FBI agent Ryan Blair shared with kindergartners and fourth-graders about what he does, mostly investigate white collar crimes across the country. He answered questions about drugs, cybercrimes, national security, terrorism, espionage— breaking it down in simple terms to the youngsters. “Think of us as the federal police investigating crimes across the country and helping keep people safe,” Blair said. After allowing a couple kids to put on his gear, a student asked what is needed to become an agent. “One hundred thousand people apply, and we hire 2,000 of them so do well in school, stay away from crime and those involved in crime, and be good to other people,” Blair replied. At Canyon View, entrepreneur Terrance Jesclard explained to students what an entrepreneur is and how and why he became one. Then, he shared how he and his parents developed a fuel tank fire suppression kit. “Basically, before these, the gas tanks would explore when the bad guys shot at the gas tank,” he said. “Now, this is on every vehicle to keep the military safe.” Second-grade teacher Ann Fisher said the kids were excited to learn about different careers. “They’re finding their passions and being exposed to a lot of different jobs,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll talk to their par-
ents about what they liked, but we’ll also write about what they learned and write our presenters thank-you notes.” In a fifth-grade room, David Schonberg told students he was impressed with what they already knew about solar energy. They told him that the natural resource uses sun’s energy, it can save money and provide cleaner air and can help create electricity. He also had them calculate that one solar panel produces roughly 500 kilowatt hours of energy per year per panel on a house roof. He said there are approximately 20 solar panels per roof and in Utah, with a great amount of sun, it can provide homeowners greater savings and help air quality. Fifth-grade teacher Karla Antivilo said that career day was a good tie-in to their experience at Junior Achievement business town when they role-played positions in several businesses. She planned to have students share their strengths and talents with possible careers at their morning meeting. Midvalley held a couple large speaker sessions for students before returning to rooms for classroom speakers. The multipurpose speakers included an environmental engineer, who had hands-on examples for students to see how decisions impact the quality of water; a Girl Scout membership support specialist, who shared with them about her position supporting the Girl Scout mission; and a certified equine therapist, who explained how she helps
Midvale City Journal
From aviation to sports venues, Hillcrest job fair offered options By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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reshman Kassidy Beck may have landed a job from Hillcrest High’s recent job fair. “I was looking, and I’m genuinely interested in working at the front desk at Alta Canyon (Sports Center),” she said. “I got an application. I think it would be a fun job.” Students were able to talk to employers and recruiters at the job fair, which was set up along the sidewalk overlooking the football stadium. “We’re wanting to give our students lots of opportunities to look into possible jobs now, during the year, or even for the future,” Hillcrest High work-based facilitator Cher Burbank said. As the fair began, Southern Utah University landed a helicopter in the end zone and allowed students to check it out as part of their aviation program. “We offer both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees and the aviation field is hurting for people so by the time students earn a degree, there are jobs waiting,” SUU Aviation Recruiter Mike McCoy said. “Students can work as an aviation maintenance tech or become a helicopter or airplane pilot and by the time they’re done, be certified by the FAA.” He also told students that there are scholarships available and there’s a huge demand for women in the field. Sophomore Lily Rees was interested. “I could become an aviation aircraft
mechanic as a faster route to getting my FAA certification,” she said. “I’ve taken the controls in a flight before and it’s awesome.” Other students were looking at other possible jobs, some that even offered tuition assistance for college, such as FedEx. FedEx Talent Acquisition Coordinator Karen Peacock said students could get more than $5,000 of their college tuition paid when they work at FedEx, either as a fulltime or part-time employee. “We’re looking for package handlers who are 18 years old or older,” she said. “We’re a great company and can help with a college degree and they’ll get paid essentially to work out as they load and unload the trucks.” Shantell Thornock, Levy Restaurant human resources manager, said they were looking for students age 16 and up to be a cashier, chef and work in the warehouse. They serve the entertainment and sports venues, such as for the Utah Jazz, RSL and concerts. “It’s a fun environment and there are opportunities to move up,” Thornock said. Wild Mid-Mountain Fire Protection was looking for workers age 18 and older to help install fire protection systems. “We start at $15 per hour, then after training and learning the power tools, the pay goes up,” co-owner Becky Parkin said. “We’re a family-owned business, so we treat our employees well, including paid time
massage and relax horses—and took one class out to get a firsthand look how she does it. Many students were excited to see their former school office staff team member Polly Gallman return to the school as a registered nurse to share about her journey and what she now does for her patients in the medical/surgical unit at Primary Children’s Hospital. “I check for bumps on their head, take their pulse on their wrist or foot, check their eyes and their mouth, listen to their heart and lungs and belly, take their blood pressure, look at their back and feet, press on their belly, and make sure they’re drinking water—all as part of my assessment,” she said. “Many of you know me from working here at the school office and I’d help you if you got sick, now I’m doing it for more kids. I found my passion in helping kids get better. What I want you to remember is that you’re never too old to go back to school so don’t ever give up on your education.” Canyons Career and Technical Education Coordinator Patti Larkin said that career days gives parents and the community a chance to play an essential role in children’s education. “Each parent or community member brings a unique perspective and job they can share with our students,” she said. “Especially now as COVID allows, it has been great to get our presenters back into the elementary schools helping our young students explore their interests and learn about possible careers.” l
MidvaleJournal.com
Hillcrest students check out the SUU helicopter that landed on the football field to promote its aviation program as part of the school’s job fair. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
off.”
Snowbird Human Resource Specialist Gondie Ambros was seeking students to work as housekeepers, floor inspectors, lift operators or work in food and beverage or the hotel front desks.
“We have lots of benefits like tram passes, hotel, food, retail discounts, ski passes and summer activities,” Ambros said. “It’s a happy, friendly atmosphere to work in.” l
Former students, colleagues invited to celebrate influential Professor DiFiore
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celebratory event for former professor Roene DiFiore is scheduled from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 7500 S. 97 West in Midvale. In honor of what would have been her 100th birthday, her former students, and all who loved her will join together for An Evening with Roene where songs will be sung and stories told. DiFiore, affectionately known as Mrs. D., taught music performance at Dixie College (now Utah Tech) for 25 years. “I don’t know anybody that had an effect on young people like Roene did,” said Richard Whitehead, former head of development at Dixie. DiFiore was best known for instituting Program Bureau at the college in 1967, the concept was created to promote friendships, loyalty and provide self-value, fun and fellowship.
Former Dixie President Douglas Alder said, “Her concept seemed so old fashioned that it was doomed to fail, but her charisma gave it vitality. It was catching.” Alder explained that DiFiore’s strategy included “capturing the lonely freshman, the awkward sophomore, the left-out struggler, and mix them with the student leaders to create a unity of friendship.” DiFiore was even recognized by then-Gov. Michael Leavitt in 1997 when he declared Nov. 1 Roene Bigler DiFiore Day. The former music educator passed away in 1990. Former students and others can find more information on the event at difiorecenter. org. l A celebratory event for former professor Roene DiFiore is scheduled from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 7500 S. 97 West in Midvale. (Photos courtesy Difiore Center)
August 2022 | Page 9
Hillcrest High students’ artwork shines from shows to streets By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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illcrest High junior Lukas Rohde, who was elected to serve as the school’s student body artist, recently created the 2022-23 school T-shirt design. This fall, each grade level will receive their own Husky shirt. “I showed our school pride and theme with the T-shirt,” Rohde said. “It was cool to be able to do that. We can use the same design for marketing or anything we need.” Rohde has been recognized for his artistic talent at his school’s art show, Canyons School District’s high school art show and at the 50th annual Utah All-State High School Art Show. Hillcrest High art department chair Kari Bennett said Rohde had two pieces selected for the all-state high school art show that selects artwork on “talent, originality and enthusiasm” to display in the Springville Museum of Art. “It’s a rarity that students get more than one piece in Springville,” she said, adding that eight other Hillcrest students’ artwork was displayed. “It shows our kids are working hard and doing some good, thoughtful pieces.” The exhibit at Springville Museum of Art included 335 students’ artwork, selecting from the 1,063 entries submitted from 108 high schools. Two students, senior Connor Nichol and junior Emma Cecil, also had their artwork selected for Utah’s traveling exhibition which will showcase their pieces throughout the state. In addition to shows, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate art students also have portfolios and solo exhibitions on a sustained investigation or topic. AP students have about 15 images supporting that theme, while IB students’ portfolio typically are around eight pieces, Bennett said. “The concept they choose is their own. They curate the exhibition, picking and choosing the pieces that they feel are strong works that support their intentions, and then they decide how that's going to be displayed,” she said. This year, five Huskies held solo exhibitions. “We had some really strong ones,” Bennett said. “One student focused on alcoholism. She comes from a background of living with an alcoholic, so her entire exhibition was based on that perspective. She shared what it’s like to live with an alcoholic and the repercussions of that and some of the things people don't see on the outside. She painted a self-portrait on a door and she's sitting down at the bottom of the door with her hands kind of wrapped around her knees and her head is by her knees. She built a doorframe and put the door in, so in her exhibition you actually walk through the door. On the front of the door, it just looks like a normal door, but on the backside of the door is her sitting leaning against the door. It’s really creative, walking through the door into her exhibition and then seeing her when you close it.” That exhibit included a piece with a guitar and a song her alcoholic family member would sing, “but it was the song that she hadn't heard for many years because he doesn't play anymore because of his alcoholism,” Bennett said. Another piece was one that she did with her sisters. “They actually took bottles of alcohol and threw them at a canvas and then kind of responded on the canvas with marks that kind of represented their frustration,” Bennett said. “In a text explaining the piece, she wrote that they’ve dumped bottles of alcohol down the sink, in hopes that it would stop them from drinking. She also said that she and her sisters came together while doing it to show the mark alcoholism has left.” Another student showed differing views and how abstraction kind of changes and how people respond to it and another student-artist shared how culture is intermixed with
Page 10 | August 2022
Hillcrest High’s Lenny Beddoes, Elena Parker and Imogen Valentine start painting a “Tree of Life” on doors for a Habitat for Humanity exhibition. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
Hillcrest High junior Lukas Rohde created “Rust,” which was one of his two pieces of artwork selected for the 50th Utah All-State High School Art Show. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
food. The exhibits have shown humor and imagery to technology, showing how human beings can parallel technology, Bennett said. Rohde chose childhood as his theme for his exhibit. “My dad was away in the Marines going to Afghanistan or Iraq, so I was a very quiet kid, unless I was with my mom or my sister or my brothers,” he said. “Art gave me a comfort in a way. It also gave me a creative outlet. With my investigation, I’m focusing on the energy of children, and I come up with ideas about childhood like creativity, dependency on objects or the attraction to small things like bubbles, to the opposite side of the spectrum—isolation or trying to block out things that you're just not comfortable with. I look for something that just attracts me specifically and I start sketching to find a way to express it. I just like love childhood when you have this innocence and understanding in a different way of the world and you're exploring it.” Bennett said a couple of Rohde’s pieces have shown “some of the things that causes the child to have to grow up a little sooner and lose some of that innocence and optimism that we have as children as we grow up and face some of the hard things that life throws at us. He is not only skilled, but he's nice and adept, especially at watercolor.” One of Rohde’s pieces is a child who is sitting with his knees tucked in and has boxes that surround him. “Lukas was kind of playing around with this idea of a child being ignored and has built up these barricades around him that isolates or even protects as a defense mechanism,” Bennett said. “He’s expressing energy that comes from experiences that children have, whether those are positive or negative. The color choices that he's making, some of the marks that he's making, are all kind of expressions of this energy.” Rohde, who likes to paint with both oils and watercolor,
said he has “30-something in oil paints and 200-something in watercolors.” “I'm a bit of a geek about the pigments. I have specialty paints from pigments I’ve made and keep in a closet that probably is 25% clothes and 75% art stuff,” he said. Hillcrest students have a variety of options in art classes in addition to drawing and painting. Students can explore jewelry-making, sculpture, photography, printmaking, art history, studio art, ceramics and more. They draw from their experiences or observations in their artwork, Bennett said. Art history, AP and IB students may have gained insight in art when they went on the optional art department trip to San Francisco this year to take in art and architecture, which included visiting four museums and checking out the street art and murals in the Mission District. Locally, students gain inspiration after learning and seeing the Spiral Jetty. “There's not water around it now, but there has been in the past, so I bring my pictures in and they see how it looks when it’s completely covered and now when it’s completely exposed. The whole idea is this idea of entropy that it will evolve and change and eventually work its way back into the landscape and disappear,” she said. “We've watched that over the years so it's nice for them to see it in person.” A team of Hillcrest students also competed in Artstock, an inter-district competition where students spend four hours creating art, which is juried. The Huskies won the overall award this past year as well as several individual awards. Students also have shown their art from the congressional art contest and city art shows to the streets. This past summer, students participated in Midvale’s first Mural Festival designed to revitalize Main Street. “We had classes this spring learning how to use spray paint and some tips to use. We also have a box that's an 8by 8-foot cube that the kids are creating some murals on,” Bennett said. Students also used spray paint to create a tree of life on interior doors for a Habitat for Humanity exhibit. Sophomore Elena Parker was joined by juniors Lenny Beddoes and Imogen Valentine on the initial artwork. “We wanted to have a tree of life and having that connection of culture tie into the infinite circle of the seasons,” Parker said. “We’ll Mod Podge the leaves on.” Bennett said kids in the community had the opportunity to contribute to the artwork by drawing on the leaves.
Midvale City Journal
Valentine appreciated having the opportunity for a different kind of art project. “I like doing projects like this or field trips that can lead to some really cool art ideas and designs,” she said. “Using spray paint like this is not a typical art project at school.” Beddoes also appreciated the creativity of it: “Art is subjective; it gives us freedom and a great experience we can do together.” Students, including Parker, had summer plans to attend workshops. Parker, who was honored this year by Utah First Lady Abby Cox for her artwork of unified sports, had plans to attend California College of the Arts in San Francisco while other students have attended classes at Rhode Island School of Design. Even locally, Bennett encourages students to gain art experiences. “In the summer, I tell students to go see as much artwork as they can. When they’re on vacations, I encourage them to find museums, go see the work, take lots of photos and put together portfolio in categories like portraiture, landscapes, architecture or interiors or exteriors. So, when we come back to school, we have all these photos and can look at ‘what things am I seeing over and over?’ Because obviously those are the things that they’re interested in and can use to include in their artwork,” she said. “We use that as a springboard for the rest of the year.” l
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August 2022 | Page 11
Real stories, not click bait, draw reporter Sarah Morton Taggart to community journalism By Heather Lawrence | h.lawrence@mycityjournals.com Editor’s note: this series we were doing a lot to highlights the writers help that community. behind the stories found But in 2008 when the here every month. housing bubble burst, arah Morton Taggart we lost our funding has written for the and everything fell City Journals since 2019. apart,” she said. On any given day you She got a job with can find her practicing Groupon just as the instruments, interviewcompany went public. ing people for Midvale It was the exact opposite of life at a nonJournal stories or out profit. walking in the neighborhood with her family. “The company If you’ve got time was very profitable to start a conversaand I experienced a tion with her (and she Silicon Valley type would love that), you’ll of excess. I was a find she’s an engaged Sarah Morton Taggart has written for fact-checker, so I and intelligent voice for the City Journals since 2019. (Sarah learned about the Taggart) Midvale, with lots of life businesses we partnered with. I know experience. way too much about “I grew up in the Kaysville/Farmington area. I went to body waxing and gym memberships,” Davis High, and then to the U right out Taggart said. When she decided to come back of high school,” Taggart said. Taggart started playing alto saxo- to Utah, a friend who knew she was a phone at 12 years old because she relat- multi-instrumentalist asked her to join ed to “The Simpsons” character Lisa. By a band he was forming. At their first the time she got to high school—where practice she met bassist and keyboard band was “a big deal”—she earned a player, Steve Taggart, who is now her spot in a group her conductor took to a husband. They still play together and conference in Chicago. have two sons. At the U, she worked for The ChronTaggart’s other interests, like the icle as a photographer. While there, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, has led her IOC hired the student paper to write to discover that music and writing were a newsletter for the Olympic Village in her blood all along. during the 2002 Winter Olympics and “I always felt connected to my Paralympics. grandma. She played the saxophone, “We had so much fun getting to too, and met my grandpa, who played know the athletes. We had passes to the the trumpet, in high school. They went Olympic Village, so we would use them to Davis High 50 years before me. to go to parties. The Canadian hockey “Recently, we found out that my team was really nice. They had a huge grandma was writing a memoir; she had party after Closing Ceremonies and we it all typed out. We had no idea! So now went over and hung out with them,” Tag- I’m working on finishing it. It was such a gart said. gift to find it.” Taggart’s bachelor’s degree in Taggart said writing for the Jourmass communication and sociology nals has helped her see the best in her got her a job in the U’s Marriott Library. community and helped her cut people She became a “detective” going through some slack. She’s also passionate about slides of Glen Canyon and writing about the need for journalism, especially outside of social media. their special collections department. “I feel lucky that we write about Taggart went to grad school in Chicago where she studied Urban Planning real stories, not click bait. The best and Policy. After graduation she worked thing about working for a small newsfor a nonprofit that supported start-up paper is bringing people’s stories to businesses in Bronzeville, a south side life,” she said. “I love that every month I’m learning something new.” Chicago neighborhood. “That was a great job and I felt like
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Salt Lake County youth film festival winners received a swag bag and other prizes. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
Hillcrest students share messages about resilience through film By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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t was a chance for secondary school filmmakers to share their stories through original films in Salt Lake County Health Department’s fourth annual film festival — and Amber Parker and Abigail SlamaCatron of Hillcrest High took advantage of it. The two won third place in the audience choice with their film, “5 things you can do to help your health.” The winners were announced April 28 during a virtual screening. More than 40 entries were submitted. “That was the most we have ever had,” said Julia Glade, Salt Lake County health educator and healthy communities coordinator. “The public can go to the Salt Lake County Health Department YouTube channel and view them.” The theme of resilience was new this year after previously focusing on the dangers of youth e-cigarette use. Glade said it came about from listening to the youth. “We value the youth voice, especially when it comes to learning how public health topics have an impact on them and their community,” she said. “The film festival is a
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terrific opportunity to motivate teens to continue engaging in these important conversations about their physical, mental and social health, especially after the last two years they’ve endured during the pandemic.” Other winners include first place upper division Anna Liu of Skyline High School with the film, “My Resilience Kit;” second-place upper division, Rebecca Lontop, Taylorsville High School, “Off;” and third-place upper division, Jesus Solano Cano, Taylorsville High, “Amigo Feliz.” First place in the lower division was Angel Jimenez, Glendale Middle, for “Social Emotional Health Solutions.” Other audience choice winners include first-place Annie Pasmann, Highland High, “Be the Reason;” and second place went to Liu. Honorable mentions go to Silvana Moya Gonzalez, Taylorsville High, “Descansa;” Jaquelyn Correa, Taylorsville High, “Breather;” and Ashley C. Flores Reina, Taylorsville High, “Tengo Hambre.” All winners received a teen health swag bag. l
Midvale City Journal
Two Hillcrest High students competed in National History Day By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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n amongst his finals and year-end assignments, Hyun Chun took a few minutes to look at his computer. The Hillcrest High sophomore was making revisions to his website on the “Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act: The Failed Economic Diplomacy.” “There are some improvements I can make,” he said. “One of the main things is that I should put more of my analysis instead of using quotes from other people, so it really shows how I understand this topic.” Chun learned that after attending a workshop to help him prepare for the National History Day, which was held virtually June 12-16 this year. Hillcrest junior Jayashabari Shankar also attended the workshop and made improvements in her paper on “The Power of Words: How Rachel Carson Sparked the Environmental Movement through Debate and Diplomacy” before submitting it on May 17. It’s the first year both students have competed. Chun said he was encouraged to enter from his older brother who also competed at nationals. “I wanted to build a website because I like to be creative and I’m interested in technology; I thought this was the best way I can provide all my information,” he said about the project that took him about 50 hours on top of his other activities including FBLA, Key Club, cross country and orchestra. Other forms of presenting the topics at National History Day include documentary, exhibit, paper and performance. “I choose Smoot-Hawley because I’m interested in 20th-century American history and specifically, The Great Depression. I felt like it was a key contributing factor of The Great
Depression and because the theme this year was ‘Debate & Diplomacy,’ it was perfect since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act debated diplomacy,” he said. Chun said through individual research, he learned that “the protectionists just wanted to focus on domestic industry and prevent competition with foreign industries. On the other side of the debate is free traders who wanted to liberate the market and trade internationally.” From his research, Chun was able to explain the impact of tariffs and how it led to different effects such as increased globalization. “I learned that the government should not impose tariffs otherwise it will be like Smoot-Hawley,” he said. “I also learned how much I really like history.” Chun used a website maker and got advice from both his brother and Midvale Middle School teacher Sheradee Bradfield. Shankar said Hillcrest High teacher David Veenstra gave her feedback on how to make her paper flow better. She related her historical argument about Rachel Carson after learning how pesticides affected animal and human health in her high school class. “In my textbook, it noted how the main cause of why the eagle population plummeted in the 1960s was because of pesticides,” Shankar said. “The more I learned, the more I was fascinated. At the same time, I was saddened to see the effects it had on an entire population. So, I researched more and read her book. It was really inspiring.” In her paper, she explained “how Carson sparked the environmental movement and how that led to a lot of debate.” Shankar takes both International Baccaulerate and Ad-
Hillcrest High junior Jayashabari Shankar works on her paper about Rachel Carson sparking the environmental movement for National History Day. (Photo courtesy of Narayani Shankar)
vanced Placement classes and is a 2022 USA Biolympiad semifinalist. She also competes with the school’s forensics team and participates in science club, but found time to work on her paper over several months. “I really like writing; I think it’s a very effective way to convey your argument,” she said. “I feel this was the best way to convey my argument.” In addition to receiving the state medal, Shankar earned a special award from the Utah STEM Action Center. American Preparatory Academy fifth-grader Shloak Nakra also was a state champion with his paper, “The Effects of Westward Expansion: Success for Americans, but Damaging for Native Americans.” It was his first time competing in the program. l
Hillcrest playing fields, tennis courts to be ready for 2023 seasons By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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he last phase of the multi-year Hillcrest High rebuilding process is getting the new soccer, baseball and softball fields and tennis courts ready to play. Construction has been underway, starting with evening out the former school grounds for the playing areas. “We’re hoping they’ll be done early October,” Canyons Chief Financial Officer and Business Administrator Leon Wilcox said. “The students won’t be able to play on the fields this fall as we have to let them settle. The idea always has been to start with the 2023 baseball and softball and boys soccer seasons in the spring. Girls soccer will still be playing at East Midvale (Elementary) this fall.” He said the girls tennis program can begin playing on the courts once completed. “There's a chance hopefully they'll get to play a little bit on them (this season),” he said. Other than the sports fields, there may be “just a few items to complete, the biggest thing is just fine-tuning the mechanical system to ensure it’s not too hot or too cold,” Wilcox said.
MidvaleJournal.com
“It can take several months to finetune it in a building that big, to get everything lined up properly.” The rebuilding of Hillcrest began with a ceremonial dig in May 2018. Then new fieldhouse and gymnasiums for the Huskies, followed by the main, four-story academic wing tying into the then five-year-old STEM building. Now, four years later, the class of 2023, who has been in the trenches of construction during their high school careers, should see the completion of the school and fields shortly before their graduation. The $121,659,600 new home of the Huskies sits on the 38-acre campus and was made possible when voters approved a $283-million tax-neutral bond in 2017. l
Sprinklers water the newly laid sod on Hillcrest High’s soccer field, which should be ready for the spring playing season. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
August 2022 | Page 13
Nielsen to lead Huskies girls basketball as permanent head coach By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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hortly before school was dismissed for summer, Hillcrest High girls interim basketball coach Alyssa Nielsen accepted the permanent head coach position. Not wasting any time, she began holding open gyms for her returning players and those incoming and transfer students. Those open gyms continued this summer and will be held into the fall. “We’re getting in a lot of ball handling and just really just getting a lot of shots up and getting their form back down,” Nielsen said. “We've had a pretty good show out for the open gyms. Starting out preseason, I'm hoping to get the mindset in, when you come in, you work hard, and you earn what you get. I want to make sure everybody is putting in their full 100% every single day and let them see the changes that that make in themselves. I think when they work hard and put in everything that they have, they'll really end up seeing the results by the time region comes around. We’ll be able to compete with every team in the region. I think my main thing is just getting them to believe that they can do it. They're very capable of doing it if they put in the work.” Before taking over mid-year last season when the former coach resigned, Nielsen coached the school’s freshman-sophomore
front
team; many of those girls who were on that team now will play as juniors and seniors this year. Nielsen already is making plans with returning assistant coach Laura Roth and new coaches Cassie Sylvester and Nikki Orreli. “Defense is going to be huge this year because the more we can keep them off the board, the better chance we'll have on the offensive end,” she said. “It's going to be a big push to get defensive stops, get some steals and rebounds and then, push it the other way. We're going to add some more presses. I have a few offensives in mind, but I am going to kind of let them play and see what works and then build off of that.” She’s hoping to build the team through scrimmages with other local teams in the preseason. Nielsen was a student-athlete at her high school in Duchesne, Utah, playing basketball, softball, volleyball and even running track a few seasons. She received a scholarship to play basketball at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Craig, but she stepped in to play softball her freshman season when several players went out with injuries. She ended her basketball career her sophomore year, being ranked in the top five
for her league in assists, rebounds, points, steals and minutes played. “I had quite a few injuries the last part of my sophomore season. My body was just kind of over at that point, so I decided not to play on anywhere after,” she said. “I miss basketball a lot and would definitely love to play some more.” Right now, that means challenging the Huskies—not only on the court, but also off. “I kind of take my own experiences and I know everybody's experience is going to be different, but I know what I've seen, what works or doesn't as far as team communication and team building goes,” Nielsen said. “The main thing I've learned through sports is you have to be a good teammate. You have to be able to work together as a team, you have to be able to communicate, and you have to be able to put those differences aside and work together. We all have one common goal so to get that goal accomplished, we have to all be able to work together.” She hopes to get the team to gel through “a lot of team bonding activities, a lot of communication activities and really just letting everybody get to know each other on a different level than just being a teammate— and then transitioning that to the court and
being able to all work together.” Part of that also will include holding study halls with the coaches to help provide tutoring on subjects to make sure the student part of student-athlete comes first. “We’ll be checking all their grades constantly and making sure that everybody is eligible and ready to play when it when it comes to the season,” she said. “We don’t want any distractions; we want them to put academics first and to make sure that quarter really counts and everybody's eligible going in.” Through her early years of coaching the Huskies, Nielsen said it’s building the relationships with the girls that has been the best part. “Just getting to know them and who they are, then being able to be there for them, being that person who can get them motivated and wanting to do better,” she said. “Yeah, that's the best part for sure. All the different personalities that come with it can be definitely challenging at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way because they're all their own individuals and it's awesome to kind of see all of that.” l
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Page 14 | August 2022
After finishing the end of last season as its interim head coach, Alyssa Nielsen, seen here pumping up the team in the first round of the state tournament, was named Hillcrest girls basketball head coach. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
Midvale City Journal
Number of Hillcrest runners up this fall after slim spring turnout By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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right and early, just after sunrise, Hillcrest High’s cross country team can be found this summer stretching before a run, getting in their mileage before the first meet in mid-August. “We have around 40 kids on a lot of our runs,” head coach Scott Stucki said. “We’ve had quite a few freshmen out and I think our girls are going to be quite a bit better than we were last year. Guys, I'm not sure yet.” Stucki is optimistic even though top returning runner junior Claire Hastings is recovering from an injury. “We’ll just see how much she can do. She's pretty talented,” he said. Other top runners include junior Edith Nelson, sophomore Kimi Mavaddat, junior Anna Ames and with the improvement of junior Madelyn Croft, he expects the girls squad to be more competitive at the region meet. On the boys’ side, the team is expected to be led by “Sam and Sam,” meaning returning seniors Sam Timmerman and Sam Martin. Martin’s younger brother, sophomore Josh, also is expected to help lead the Huskies. “He’s really improved. On the trail runs, Josh is never very far behind Sam and Sam,” Stucki said.
Junior Wesley Ellsworth and freshman Levi Walton also are showing early promise, he said. In region, he expects the competition to come from Stansbury High. “Stansbury is always good; they lost a ton of seniors, but they have enough numbers that they always reload, and they’ll be tough again,” he said. “I don’t know we’ll have the depth to beat them. I told the kids we need to have a summer with better consistency getting those miles in than we did last year because I’m tired of going into divisionals hoping we make state. I need them to go into divisionals knowing we’ll make state.” Last year, three girls qualified individually for state. The boys squad finished 21st. This year’s region meet is set for Sept. 30 at Cottonwood Complex. Divisionals are set for Oct. 11 at Lakeside Park in Orem and state will be held Oct. 25 at the regional athletic complex in Rose Park. Many of the runners are coming off of the spring track season where the team was young and lacked depth, Stucki said. “We probably ended up with about 60 (student-athletes for all events); usually we have a lot more than that. Part of that is we just didn't have high numbers of juniors and
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At the region meet at Uintah High in Vernal, sophomore Josiah Gonzales qualified for state in the 400 meters with his best time of the year. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
MidvaleJournal.com
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seniors,” he said, saying the absence of the 2020 track season affected the return of the seniors. “We had one meet so we didn't really have a chance to get them hooked and then they haven't ever come back.” Even so, Stucki said, “We did really well with those we had out.” He said in addition to relay teams, he only had nine individuals qualify for state, six of them being the pole vaulters. Ames took second with a vault of 10 feet and junior Emily Swain placed seventh at 8 feet. Freshman Charly Nelson finished 11th at 7 feet. For the boys, junior Shawn Spencer took third at 13 feet 6 inches—“he went out at a height that I thought he had, but he just didn’t quite get it. That would have been a PR,” Stucki said. Junior Naoto Robison got seventh place “with a good PR, he went over 12 feet for the first time,” Stucki said about his vault at 12 feet 6 inches. Senior Jack Nielson took ninth at 11 feet 6 inches. Two boys’ relays, mostly underclassmen, qualified. “I was running three sophomores on our boys 4x100 and we qualified for state. Our 4x400 qualified for state and I was running two sophomores and freshmen on that,”
Stucki said, adding that the 4x400 relay ran its best time of the season at state. Sophomore Josiah Gonzales qualified for state in the 400 meters with his best time of the year, Stucki said. He placed 19th at state. While Sam Martin had run “some big PRs this year,” according to Stucki, he nor any other distance runner qualified for state. “That was the first time in a while,” Stucki said. On the girls’ side, the 4x100 relay “did pretty well for us,” he said. Senior Alycea McVey had been trying to throw the shot 30 feet all season and accomplished that goal at state, he said. At state, she finished seventh in shot and fourth in discus. Senior Sophia Clark qualified in the 100-meter hurdles and placed 22nd at state. Junior Olivia Bacchus qualified for state in the high jump in a jump-off for fourth place. “Here’s the ironic thing, it was her second year in a row to qualify in a jump-off,” Stucki said. At state, she finished 21st in high jump and placed seventh in long jump. l
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August 2022 | Page 15
High school students tour, observe, gain hands-on opportunities during job shadows
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By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
hroughout Canyons School District, high school students had the opportunity to job shadow professionals in several fields before summer hit, allowing them to learn more about the careers during the summer months, possibly find an internship or take a summer class. “We had a lot of new businesses step forward and offer to have students job shadow them this year and we had three return businesses in a law office, a chiropractor and Larry H. Miller Companies,” said Chris Morgan, Corner Canyon High’s work-based learning facilitator. “This opportunity gave students more time to focus on their future and they have been so enthusiastic about their experience.” Many of the job shadows happened on one morning, after which Morgan, as well as other high school work-base coordinators, hosted a luncheon for students at Corner Canyon to debrief and share their experiences. Some 22 students had spent the morning at area businesses to job shadow, and Morgan had scheduled another 20 for another day. Senior Aidan Richmond shadowed a Draper City detective. “I’ve always been interested in what they do at crime scenes, what a victim ad-
vocate does, the forensics surrounding cases and programs they offer,” he said. “I met the police chief and learned how he works with all sorts of people outside the department as well as within. The detective said they recently investigated and closed a cold case, and it was interesting to hear. It was very rewarding experience.” During freshman Stella Cianflone’s visit with Dr. Blaine Awerkamp at Awerkamp Chiropractic, she oversaw his treatment of five patients and learned he treats people suffering from stress to car accidents. “I’ve thought about going into the medical field, but I didn’t think about being a chiropractor,” she said. “It’s a good combination of medical and business, where I’d run my own business, set my own hours and have that flexibility, which I like.” Senior Anna Page toured several departments in Lone Peak Hospital and also donned a hair net and shoe coverings to be in the operating room. “They taught us basic CPR, chest compressions and lifesaving techniques we could do on a dummy, and we toured the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and used a stethoscope to hear a baby’s breathing pattern,” said the student who is on the pre-med pathway. “We saw the lab, pharmacy and a
number of departments and it was great to see how they interacted with one another. It gave us an opportunity to see patient care and really solidified my wanting a career in medicine.” After spending a morning with Conyers & Nix PC, criminal defense lawyers, junior Catalina Giraldo was excited. “We got to see the court rooms, meet judges and ask questions and it was so amazing,” she said. “I’m taking a business law class, so this just inspired me.” Junior Carlee Earnhart job shadowed at the neurorobotics lab at the University of Utah where she learned about prosthetics. “They showed us what the prosthetics can do and said that they work continuously to upgrade their abilities,” she said. “I’m interested in the engineering and medical aspect and went to CTEC (Canyons Technical Education Center) in the medical forensics program and I’ve been on our robotics team two years, so this was an opportunity to learn more about this field and how engineering and medicine work together. It was just fascinating to be in their work environment and
learn about it firsthand.” Brighton High Work-Based Learning Facilitator Eileen Kasteler said that their research indicates high school students who make work-force connections are more likely to graduate and continue post-secondary education and training. “This activity is designed to impress upon students the benefits of career exploration,” she said, adding that the goal for the 110 Canyons students who participated in job shadow day include discovering career opportunities, engaging in high school work-related classes, entering post-secondary education with career-oriented focus, developing important workforce connections and networks and being inspired while gaining real-world experiences. Other companies that participated include Avalanche Studios, Cottonwood Heights Police Department, Ensign Engineers, Filevine, Hunt Electric, Jordan Valley School, Merit Medical, Savage Services and Think Architecture. l
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Canyons School District students donned protective coverings before heading into Lone Peak Hospital’s operating room as part of their job shadow day. (Photo courtesy of Anna Page/Corner Canyon High)
Midvale City Journal
In The Middle of Everything MIDVALE CITY DIRECTORY City Hall Finance/Utilities Court City Attorney’s Office City Recorder/Human Resources Community Development Public Works Ace Disposal/Recycling Midvale Historical Museum Midvale Senior Center SL County Animal Services Police Dispatch Unified Fire Authority Fire Dispatch Communications
801-567-7200 801-567-7200 801-567-7265 801-567-7250 801-567-7228 801-567-7211 801-567-7235 801-363-9995 801-567-7285 385-468-3350 385-468-7387 801-743-7000 801-743-7200 801-840-4000 801-567-7230
MIDVALE CITY ELECTED OFFICIALS MAYOR Marcus Stevenson 801-567-7204 Email: mstevenson@midvale.com CITY COUNCIL District 1 - Quinn Sperry Email: qsperry@midvale.com District 2 - Paul Glover Email: pglover@midvale.com District 3 - Heidi Robinson Email: Hrobinson@midvale.com District 4 - Bryant Brown Email: bbrown@midvale.com District 5 - Dustin Gettel Email: dgettel@midvale.com
WHO TO CALL FOR… Water Bills Ordering A New Trash Can Reserving the Bowery Permits GRAMA requests Court Paying For Traffic School Business Licensing Property Questions Cemetery Water Line Breaks Planning and Zoning Code Enforcement Building inspections Graffiti
801-567-7200 801-567-7202 801-567-7202 801-567-7212 801-567-7207 801-567-7265 801-567-7202 801-567-7213 801-567-7246 801-567-7235 801-256-2575 801-567-7231 801-567-7208 801-567-7228 385-468-9769
EMERGENCY OR DISASTER CONTACT Public Works Fire Dispatch – Unified Fire Authority Midvale Police Precinct or Police Dispatch Unified Police Department EMERGENCY
801-567-7235 801-840-4000 385-468-9350 801-743-7000
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AUGUST 2022
City Hall – 7505 South Holden Street • Midvale, UT 84047
CITY NEWSLETTER
Marcus’s Message
By Mayor Marcus Stevenson
As I talked about in my June message, Midvale City is proposing to raise property taxes this year. Our final proposed amount is a 7.2% increase – an average increase of $1.21 per month per household or about an extra $15 per year per household. With Utah seeing 9.4% inflation, not only have cost increases on groceries and gasoline affected your family and mine, but it has also created extreme constraints for the city when trying to ensure we can continue to maintain our services. That’s why, as difficult as it is for us to propose an increase this year, I’m proud that the increase we are asking for is below the inflation level and it’s on the low end of the options we were previously looking at, which ranged from an increase of 5-26%. In part, we can keep the property tax increase lower because the growth that Midvale City is experiencing has relieved some of the budgetary pressures we would otherwise face. This year, it’s projected that revenues to Midvale City will increase by $2.25 million – most of which will come from sales tax. However, even with this increase in revenue, after going through the budget process, our city was still short $225,000 – which is the amount that a 7.2% property tax increase will cover. Though I know a proposed increase will not be welcomed by all, I think it’s important to keep in mind that only about 8% of our property taxes come to Midvale City and this increase only affects that amount. You should also know that the impact of inflation has not only hit Midvale City, but in fact, 17 other entities across Salt Lake County are proposing property tax increases including many cities, some of whom are our neighbors, such as West Jordan and Murray. GENERAL FUND BUDGET GOALS This proposed increase, along with the rest of our general fund budget, has two basic goals for our city: maintain current service levels & support employee retention. For this fiscal year, our member fee with the Unified Police Department (UPD) is expected to control about 47% of our general fund. With the police wage wars that have been happening over the last year, plus today’s inflation, the cost to provide policing at its current level has increased drastically. From this time last year to now, our law enforcement costs increased by roughly $2.1 million – about 23% – even after using $435,000 from our police rainy-day fund to cover one-time costs and limit the impact of the increased member fee. This member fee increase largely covers higher wages, but also considers increased gasoline and ammunition costs. With law enforcement increasing by $2.1 million to maintain current services, and with an estimated revenue increase of $2.25 million, that leaves only about $130,000 to cover other cost increases and any new services that our city hopes to provide. Because of that, the other new items added to our general fund are of the utmost importance to ensure our city can continue to function properly. That’s why, with the increased green space in our city, and the demand for it by residents, we’ve added a new parks technician to help maintain both our Midvale City Park and the many smaller parks we have throughout our community. Secondly, we’ve also added a city prosecutor which will help ensure
that our city’s government can move a little faster by freeing up the time of our current legal team. We all know that government moves slowly, and Midvale City is no different, but having a good legal team in place to review contracts and any proposed ordinance, will help us be more effective and efficient for our residents. Finally, last year we had a 32% staff turnover at the city which meant services for our residents were decreased as staff tried to cover multiple jobs. That’s why our budget includes an 8% cost of living increase to all employees. While this amount may seem high, it’s in the range of what we are seeing many other government agencies do. Further, without an increase this year, we would technically be giving a pay cut to our employees due to inflationary increases. This increase will ensure that our city stays competitive in the job market and that the critical services we provide are maintained for our residents. OTHER FUNDS Though my messages have largely been focused on the general fund, Midvale City has 15 other funds that are used to pay for the many things a city does. The focus on the general fund is because this fund is where all your sales tax and property tax flow into, and it’s where we pay for ongoing expenses like road maintenance, law enforcement, snowplows, etc. However, I want to quickly explain the other funds that exist in our overall budget that don’t affect sales or property taxes. The Redevelopment Agency (RDA): The RDA has four separate funds within it – the Bingham Junction project area, the Jordan Bluffs project area, the Main Street project area, and the city-wide housing fund. Redevelopment agencies can be created by partnerships from a city and county to allow property taxes to be shifted in that area. As an example, if you live in one of our three project areas, 80% of your property taxes flow back into that same area it came from. In short, Salt Lake County has allowed us to revert some property taxes from other projects with the intent that they be reinvested into the community where those dollars came from with the goal of revitalization. Main Street is our newest project area and having this area as part of the RDA has allowed us to bring in the mural festival and continue other revitalization efforts our general fund cannot financially support. Further, each project area is required to spend 20% of all collected property tax on affordable housing initiatives. With this money, we have invested in affordable housing projects and are also working on a program to help first time home buyers. Enterprise Funds: There are four separate enterprise funds that many of us see each month on our utility bill from Midvale City – water, stormwater, sanitation, and street lighting. In essence, enterprise funds are fully funded by the fees they collect. As an example, the money you pay the city for water only pays for water, water infrastructure, and water maintenance. As we’ve seen water fees increase, that’s an indication that those basic operating costs to maintain our water supply is becoming more expensive. Capital Projects Fund: Almost opposite to the general fund, which pays for ongoing maintenance costs and other items that
MAYOR’S MESSAGE CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
In The Middle of Everything
WWW . MIDVALECITY . ORG MAYOR’S MESSAGE CONTINUED we know will continue year after year, the capital projects fund pays for one-time projects such as new infrastructure, like a brandnew road, bridge, or trail. Once that project is completed and we just need to keep up on yearly maintenance, those costs would move into the general fund. Internal Services Fund: The internal services fund works on things that are internal to city work. This includes telecommunications, fleet, and information technology. As an example, Midvale City has an I.T. team that works to ensure that employee software and hardware is working properly. I.T. will rarely work with the public, but they are critical in ensuring that the rest of the employees can do so efficiently and effectively. Debt Services Fund: The Debt Service Fund does a pretty basic job: pays for the city’s debt. As a city, we have taken out loans to pay for certain projects where we don’t have the cash on hand to be able to do so. Those repayment efforts are concentrated into one fund. I know, clear as mud, right? One major thing I have learned in my time as mayor, is that municipal budgeting is more than confusing. However, even through the confusing nature of municipal budgets, I hope to have shed some light on this process and have given some context to the reason for needing a property tax increase this year. With your support, we can continue our support for law enforcement and to our city employees who do so much work each day to ensure that we all have the basic services that we expect, and deserve, as residents.
IMMEDIATE OPENINGS – APPLY TODAY!
• Training Provided • Work Part-time • Nights, Weekends & Holidays Off • Earn Between $15.50-$31.00 per day SEND APPLICATIONS TO: Unified Police Department Special Operations Division 3510 South 700 West Salt Lake City, Utah 84119
AUGUST 2022 CITY NEWSLETTER WWW . MIDVALECITY . ORG
Amnesty Late Fee Forgiveness Program
Fall Prevention Classes at Midvale Senior Center
Salt Lake County Animal Services Make a fresh start for you and your pet! Salt Lake County Animal Services is providing an Amnesty Late License Fee Forgiveness Program for all pet licenses from Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2022. All residents in our jurisdiction are invited to take advantage of this program to get pet licenses up to date without having to pay a late penalty fee. ALL pets in Salt Lake County are eligible to receive a free microchip, licensing may apply. How to License Online: Visit AdoptUtahPets.org and visit “Licensing”. If you have questions or need assistance, please email animal@slco.org, call 385-468-7387 and leave a message for the licensing department. Or come into Salt Lake County Animal Services, Tue-Sat, from 10 AM – 6 PM at 511 W 3900 S, SLC. Jurisdictions Licensed by Salt Lake County Animal Services: CITIES: Bluffdale, Holladay, Midvale, Millcreek, Murray, Salt Lake City TOWNSHIPS: Brighton, Copperton, County Islands, Emigration Canyon, Kearns, Magna, White City LICENSE FEES: $15.00 – Sterilized pet license $5.00 – Senior citizen license (Residents 60 years & older) $40.00 – Unsterilized pet license
Falls are common and costly, especially among older adults. However, falls are preventable and do not have to be an inevitable part of aging. Midvale Senior Center is offering two classes that address known risk factors and behavior changes that can reduce the falls among those participating. Stepping Up Your Nutrition is an interactive one-time session designed to help improve nutrition and strength. Topics covered include how nutrition affects falls, loss of muscle as we age, and the importance of fluid and protein in our diet. This class will be taught Thursday, August 25, at 10:00 AM. Stepping On is a community-based workshop offered once a week for seven weeks to help those over 60 build confidence in their ability to reduce falls. Guest professionals visit the class each week to address different aspects of fall prevention. A physical therapist talks about the importance of exercise, a vision expert talks about the necessity of regular eye check-ups, a pharmacist addresses the risk of medication interactions, and a home safety expert gives tips about keeping the home safe. This class will be taught Thursdays, September 15 – October 27 at 10:00 AM. Register for classes by calling 385-468-3350.
E - Wa s te a n d Sh r ed di n g Ev en t Saturday, September 10, 2022 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Midvale City Hall (Parking Lot) 7505 S Holden Street Enter from the southwest entrance (Holden Street) and exit out of the southeast entrance onto Main Street.
Acceptable items Documents Cell Phones Computers & Laptops Keyboards iPods/MP3 Players Hard Drives Stereos/DVD Players Fax Machines
NOT Accepted Televisions CRT Monitors Cracked LCDs Printers This program is strictly for Midvale residents and their residential items
Questions? Call 801-567-7235 Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
BINGO
Possible Prizes include Nintendo Switch, $250 Gas Card, Fire Pit, Games, Toys & more
Saturday
August 6, 2022 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Midvale City Park Large Pavilion 425 6th Avenue Midvale, UT
Join us for a fun-filled BINGO game. Mayor Marcus Stevenson, City Manager Matt Dahl, and Harvest Days Festival Committee Member George Ferris will be our BINGO callers and will treat us to classic '5 in a Row' BINGO plus some other fun games. You don't need to know anything about BINGO to join in and have fun in this game of chance.
MidvaleHarvestDays.com
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Midvale City Journal
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illcrest High junior Devika Rajeev and several Hillcrest High Careers Club members will bring in job flyers and hang them on a bulletin board. “We do it so other can know the different jobs that are available,” said the club president. “My friends have applied for jobs. We’ve had companies reach out to us and come here.” Club members also have toured different companies or have taken part in events for multiple school districts such as engineering day and SheTech. The opportunity is extended to their peers as well. “I'm just super excited that so many more people were able to do something with Careers Club and have different job shadows and different experiences,” she said. Through the club, Rajeev cemented her ambition to be an anesthesiologist. Through the help of her club advisor, Cher Burbank, she was able to connect with an anesthesiologist over Zoom for 30 minutes. “I was able to ask a bunch of questions and she kind of explained to me what the experience is like, and especially what the experience is like with COVID. It was really interesting to learn all about that,” she said, adding that other members have had some in-person job shadowing experiences. Volunteering is part of the 30-member club. A group of students helped with Union Middle’s Reality Town and others helped with the school’s career day. “There is no specific number of hours we need. We do what we can and at the end of the year, we get a certificate with all our volunteer hours accumulated on it,”
MidvaleJournal.com
Rajeev said. “It’s just about helping other people. I like helping them learn about careers that they may be interested in doing. When I first joined the club, I wasn't sure about what I wanted to do. I've seen that with so many others who have been kind of confused with what they want to do, but after seeing so many different opportunities, they have an idea. I just really liked seeing that. It makes me happy that they’ve been affected by the club.” Career Club originated by student Morgan Sharp in 2015. “She thought it would be a good idea and brought that to my attention that it'd be good idea to organize a club where students could attend these activities and also tell others about them,” said Burbank, Hillcrest’s work-based learning facilitator. Originally there was 70 students involved, but that dipped to six during COVID-19 years, she said. So, this year was a rebuilding of participation and spreading what the club is about. Burbank said club members are creating a video of their experiences to share with others and also to put on the club website for students in the fall to become involved. “They invite their friends and classmates to come to our monthly meetings and to go to events. They hand out flyers for field trips because they’re genuinely wanting more people to know about these opportunities, but it also is a service they’re providing,” Burbank said. “They’re learning through service-learning and are learning a lot through helping people. It’s a really valuable life lesson.” l
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By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
ER GUA
INSTALLS ON NEW & EXISTING GUTTERS
Hillcrest High Careers Club spreads awareness of career exploration and job opportunities as part of its service-learning mission. (Photo courtesy of Hillcrest High yearbook)
Hillcrest Careers Club reaches out to serve others, explore career options
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August 2022 | Page 21
It’s curtains for the Sandy Movies 9 discount movie theater By Heather Lawrence | h.lawrence@mycityjournals.com
S
andy was one of the last holdouts of “the dollar theater” or discount movie theater with its Movies 9 location at 9539 S. 700 East in the Sandy Mall. Despite reopening after the initial pandemic shutdown, it closed permanently as of May 31. “I was there on the last night with my wife and daughter seeing ‘The Lost City.’ I don’t think the employees were supposed to say anything, but somehow the news got out and everyone was so sad—they didn’t want to leave,” said Bill Becker of Sandy. The closure seemed to come as a surprise to everyone. The next day signs were posted on the doors explaining it was closed permanently. “After 33 years of sharing the magic of movies with this community, we regret to inform you that Cinemark Sandy Movies 9 is closed for good. “We thank you for your generosity and support over the years. Thanks for the memories!” the signs read. Becker, who moved to Sandy in 2006 and has been going to the theater ever since, said he hears the same reaction from everyone when they find out it closed. “They’re always disappointed. It was the kind of place you could go with the family and get popcorn and tickets without dropping $40. If you could wait a month or two to see the movie, it was fun,” Becker said. He heard all kinds of rumors. “I heard that the wife of the CEO of Cinemark decorated the interior herself in the early 1990s. “I also heard that the lease was up and they didn’t want anyone in the community to know about it, so the employees had to keep the closure a secret so no one would fight back. I don’t know if it’s true, but there are a lot of people who loved going there,” Becker said. Locals posting on social media also complained about the closure. A question on Reddit about why it closed prompted dozens of responses. “This theater was one of the neighborhood spots growing up. I remember walking down there many times…with some friends,” said one person. Others remember it as an inexpensive place for a date. “Bummer, had a first date with my wife there 25 years ago,” someone posted. “Dollar movies were great! I can’t count the number of movies I saw here. From a young teen going out for the first time with friends, to being a broke college student taking his future wife on a poor man’s date, this place was special and it will be missed,” was something an-
Page 22 | August 2022
Bill Becker of Sandy just happened to be at Sandy Movies 9 on May 31. He snapped this final picture after the rumor got around that it was closing permanently the next day. (Bill Becker)
other person remembered. But there are some who were surprised that it held out as long as it did. “This theater has been dead for a while, even when it was open. The movie times always seemed to be at odd hours, and streaming services kinda took over dollar movies,” one person commented. Another mentioned that they’d be nostalgic for the dated décor. “Dang, I’ll miss going there on rainy afternoons and stepping into a time machine to 1997.” Movies 9 officially opened Nov. 10, 1988 as a first-run theater with seven screens. By 1991 it had added two more screens, thus becoming Movies 9, and had 2,250 seats. It was the main theater in Sandy until Larry Miller opened the Megaplex at Jordan Commons in 1999. Despite showing premieres of current big movies like “Star Wars Episode I” in 1999, the theater couldn’t compete with Jordan Commons. It transitioned to a discount theater Feb. 25, 2000. Since then, it’s been a mainstay of inexpensive dates, first jobs, a hangout with friends, a place for daycares and summer camps to entertain large groups and an air-conditioned reprieve for harried parents with young kids. “It’s sad and anticlimactic that it just closed. I bet a lot of people went there the following days and weeks and were shocked. “A lot of times my wife and I went there as parents just looking for something for the kids to watch, and that’s what we did that last night just by coincidence. Everyone was sad, they were kind of in mourning,” Becker said.
A few weeks after closing, the posters and lights had all been taken down, and a sign on the door informed people of the permanent closure. (Heather Lawrence/City Journals)
Some people online will be nostalgic for the 1990’s décor, which is rumored to have been designed by the wife of Cinemark CEO in 1988 when the theater opened. (Bill Becker)
He compared it to the shift that happened when drive-in movies weren’t as popular. “When I was a kid, going to the drive-in was the best. Discount movies
closing is similar to when the last driveins closed,” Becker said. “It’s kind of a part of history, and something especially meaningful for those who went to it as teenagers.” l
Midvale City Journal
National recognition for Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com
W
hen COVID closed senior centers around the state, Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services created virtual senior centers that allowed patrons to stay connected from the safety of their homes. Started in August 2020, the virtual centers were an innovative concept that earned Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services the 2022 USAging Aging Innovations and Achievement Award, presented at USAging’s annual conference in July. “Through the Aging Innovations and Achievement Awards, we salute our members’ outstanding accomplishments and hold up their programs in the hopes that doing so will seed replication and additional innovation by their peers around the country,” said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging. Senior centers have been proven to help older adults stay active and engaged in life. The psychological boost of regular interaction with other seniors helps alleviate feelings of loneliness. When the centers closed to the public, aging services employees created the virtual platform to offer crafts, exercise programs, educational courses and ways to socialize. “I want to thank the dedicated em-
ployees and volunteers whose work resulted in this recognition. This award highlights the innovation and thoughtfulness of our senior center staff,” said Paul Leggett, division director for Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services. “I’m proud of the way that our team utilized technology to continue engaging with older adults during the worst days of the pandemic, and so it’s fitting that we are receiving this achievement award in the technology category.” Criteria for the award included the ease with which other agencies could replicate the program in their communities. The 2022 USAging Aging Innovations Awards honored traditional and new strategies in a range of categories, including advocacy, diversity, equity and inclusion, elder abuse prevention, healthy aging, home and community-based services, nutrition, social engagement and workforce development. “We applaud our members for their tireless efforts to creatively develop vital services and support for older adults,” Markwood said, “as well as their caregivers and people with disabilities in communities nationwide.” l
Suzy Butler (top left corner), program coordinator with the Millcreek Senior Center, has students share images during the virtual senior center’s acrylic painting class, one of the centers most popular courses. (Photo courtesy of SLCounty Aging & Adult Services)
City Journals recognized multiple times at the 2022 SPJ awards (Society of Professional Journalists) HERE ARE THE WINNERS FROM DAVIS:
Front page design First place – Anna Pro and Roger Tuttle • Honorable mention – Anna Pro Best single page design • Honorable mention – Anna Pro Best photographer • Honorable mention– Roger Tuttle Humor/lifestyle • Third place: – Peri Kinder • Honorable mention – Peri Kinder Best newspaper reporter • First place – Becky Ginos Medical/Science • First place – Becky Ginos General news • Third place – Becky Ginos
MidvaleJournal.com
and Roger Tuttle Military • Third place – Becky Ginos Sports • Third place – Tom Haraldsen Military • Honorable mention– Tom Haraldsen
HERE ARE THE WINNERS FROM SALT LAKE:
Sports • First place – Julie Slama • Second place – Carl Fauver Personality profile • First place – Julie Slama • Second place -- Sarah Morton Taggart • Third place – Sona Schmidt Harris Religion/values • Third place – Sarah Morton Taggart
Medical/science • Second place – Julie Slama • Third place – Shaun Delliskave Military • First place – Julie Slama Education • Second place – Jet Burnham • Third place – Jet Burnham • Honorable mention – Jet Burnham Environment • Second place – Deb Hafner Diversity and equity • First place – Julie Slama COVID-19 investigative • First place – Cassie Goff Continuing coverage • First place – Cassie Goff
Business/consumer
• Second place – Sarah Morton Taggart
Arts and entertainment
• First place – Julie Slama
Best newspaper reporter
• Second place – Carl Fauver • Third place – Cassie Goff
August 2022 | Page 23
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Page 24 | August 2022
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Midvale City Journal
Home visitation program helps parents and families with young children By Sarah Morton Taggart | s.taggart@mycityjournals.com
O
ne day in June, Lisia Satini was working with a young client. She asked the 3-year-old boy to name the plastic animals she held up, and was delighted when he named them all. “This was a child who could not speak before. His verbal skills were like ‘uh, uh,’” Satini said. “Now he’s able to say ‘zebra!’” Satini is the home visitation program supervisor for Children’s Service Society of Utah (CSS). The home visitation program offers parent education to families throughout pregnancy and until the child enters kindergarten. Satini had originally been working with the child’s older sibling. “The parent was able to pick up on the cues. She knew something was up,” Satini said. “We were able to detect at a young age that he was on the autism spectrum. So we screened him and saw a child development (specialist). We were able to consult with the parent about seeing a pediatrician and now we have him in an IEP (Individualized Education Program).” Satini continued working with the family and recalls another recent visit with that child. “He had the potty training seat on his head,” Satini said with a laugh. “You know, I’m sure it was clean, his mom was letting him. He’s working on potty training and this is how he’s connecting with it. He has the seat and he’s saying ‘circle’ because he loves shapes. I love it, going from where he was at couldn’t say words to now he knows shapes. Just the way he was connecting through the screen was awesome.” The home visitation program uses the Parents as Teachers curriculum, a method used throughout the United States and six other countries. Caregivers learn how to overcome challenges involved with parenting to help children ages 0 to 5 reach their full potential. Certified parent educators like Satini are trained on how to apply scientific information on early brain development into specific, practical advice for parents. For example, parents learn how to find teachable moments in everyday life to help improve their child’s language, social, intellectual and language skills. “This program, now that I know what it is, I recommend it to everyone,” Satini said. “You’re able to learn about the family and how it functions. Whether you’re a single parent home, two parent home, just a parent. It’s not easy. Children are not easy. We’re all still learning.” The parent educators usually visit twice a month, or once a week in the case of single parent households. “I didn’t know, besides just going to the doctor, that these are the milestones my children need to be at,” Satini said. “And knowing the statistics of what it does when
MidvaleJournal.com
you read to your child. It sets them up at an early age to be able to perform in the school system.” Along with lessons and advice, the educators offer screenings to assess the child’s development as well as connections to other resources that are available. “Right now we serve refugee families, Pacific Islanders, Spanish-speaking families, and also teen parents,” Satini said. “We have paraeducators trained to provide that culturally-sound connection where families can feel comfortable.” Of course, challenges arose at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “In our curriculum we strongly push parent engagement. We talk a lot about limiting screen time,” Satini said. “But with the pandemic we had to start offering virtual visits, so then of course we’re going back to the screen. We went through a transition in the beginning with families not having the right technology. It was not easy doing visits through the phone.” In 2020, CSS organized fundraising campaigns and provided Chromebooks for all of the families in the home visitation program. But even with the new technology there were hiccups. “Visits are an hour long and we’d use most of that training them on how to get set up,” Satini said. “But now we have parents who have that skill. We can say that’s a plus. We have kids interacting on the screen and attention spans are a little longer. These are the little milestones that make it worth it.” Home visitation paraeducators are just beginning to make arrangements to visit families in person again, as long as everyone involved feels comfortable with meeting. Virtual visits will continue to be an option. Representatives from CSS are back to attending community events to let parents know about the home visitation program, and social media and word of mouth also drive participation. Interested parents can visit www.cssutah.org/services/home-visitation/ to fill out a referral form. “When we visit with these families, we learn how their family functions,” Satini said. “If they need resources we’re able to help them tap into all of these connections, from mortgage relief, rent relief, to free lunches in the summers.” Most families working with the home visitation program live in Salt Lake County, but educators have begun working in Davis County as well. “To me, home visitation is the true prevention program that exists in our community,” said Encarni Gallardo, the executive director of CSS. “The program puts educators and community health workers in their homes. They see where the struggles are, and offer the resources the families need. It tailors support to the family to ensure the
Children’s Service Society of Utah is the state’s oldest nondenominational child welfare and family support agency. (Photo courtesy Children’s Service Society of Utah)
children are safe and receiving the support they need to be ready for school.” “We always say CSS is the oldest child welfare agency in Utah,” Gallardo continued. “We’ve been around since 1884 and we’ve adapted services to meet the needs of the community as things change.” Today, CCS offers several programs in addition to home visitation: adoption services, Grandfamilies Kinship Care, and Care about Childcare, which offers services to parents and providers. The organization’s newest venture is the Building Blocks Childcare Center in Taylorsville, which offers free and reduced cost childcare and preschool to low-income families in partnership with the United Way of Salt Lake. “I’ve worked with families of all kinds and all different incomes,” Gallardo said. “Children have a universal language. All children want to succeed in life. To me what
CSS does is put a voice to those children. CSS is here to assure that caregivers have the support they need for children to grow up and succeed. These kids will be taking care of our future. Let’s give them the opportunity they need to stay healthy and safe.” Satini’s own children are nearly grown. When they were young she was a stay-athome mom. She later worked in community health. In 2016, she joined CSS as a specialist for working with Pacific Islander families. “It’s the same work, except I’m now going into homes,” Satini said. “My baby is now 13, so I didn’t get to take advantage of it. However, I do love this curriculum because I still apply a lot of things with my teenage kids. I believe connection never stops with your children.” l
August 2022 | Page 25
Constantly learning, instilling challenges key to Canyons’ outstanding teacher By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
I
t had been a long night. Katie Tinoco had her high heels in her hands, walking barefoot on the red carpet that was placed in Hillcrest High’s commons for the parade of teachers, each representing their schools, excited to be recognized for their positive impact on Canyons School District’s 34,000 students. Even at the late hour, Tinoco had a smile on her face even as the cameras and cell phones had faded to just those of family and friends. Tinoco had just been announced she was Canyons School District’s teacher of the year. This month, the outstanding teacher will be putting on the finishing touches of lesson plans and room decorations before she greets a new group of second-graders. “I originally did not want to be a teacher,” Tinoco said. “I wanted to be a pediatrician or do business. I was Sterling Scholar state runner-up for business and marketing and that’s the path I started when I first started college at BYU (Brigham Young University). Then, I got into my classes, and I just wasn't loving it. So, I did some reflecting on what do I really love, and I just kept coming back to I love learning, reading, helping people, working with kids. Those things together led me to teaching. Once I started the program, I never looked back. I knew teaching was what I was supposed to do. It's just an awesome profession.” Now the Brighton High alumna who was a FBLA national champion is in her 12th year of teaching, eight of those at Draper Elementary. “I loved school when I was a kid. I would go to school sick because I didn't want to miss school and then my teacher would have to send me home. I was that kid,” Tinoco said. While her third- and sixth-grade teacher Janice Flanagan had a huge impact on her, Tinoco’s love is teaching second grade. “It's just the sweet spot in my opinion. They're old enough that they have been in school and know what to do, but they're still young enough that they are still eager to learn. They're excited to be here,” she said. “And the amount of growth that second-graders make from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is just exciting to watch.” However, Tinoco has taken Flanagan’s love of incorporating real-life learning in her teaching. This year, her students embraced that lesson when they read a story about writing petitions. “After reading the story, I challenged my kids to write a petition and I gave them the example of how a student can go to his HOA (homeowners association) and ask for longer pool hours, with all his neighbors signing the petition. This year, my kids wrote a petition saying they wanted a
Page 26 | August 2022
class pet. They thought of all the reasons I could say no, and included that they’d pay for it, take care of it, clean its cage and take it home on breaks and weekends. They all signed it and so I told them that since they did all the work, we’ll get a class pet. So we have a hamster—Scout Cookie,” Tinoco said, adding that it was named by her student who is a Girl Scout and her family that stepped forward to buy the hamster. “The hamster will be in third grade with them next year and likely go all the way through fifth grade with them." Tinoco’s class was part of the process when she was selected teacher of the year. “The committee came in to observe our class and watched part of my morning meeting and part of my phonemic awareness lesson and part of my phonics lesson. My kids were like, ‘What's going on?’ I told them why the people were there, and the kids were really excited. I reminded them that ‘we’re like this always, it doesn't mat- Draper Elementary teacher Katie Tinoco smiles as Canyons School District’s teacher of the year along ter if there's someone in our room or not, with runners-up Mount Jordan Middle choir and theater director Skyler Bluemel and Brighton High because we're awesome all the time,’” she chemistry teacher Nicole Shon and Canyons officials. (Julie Slama/City Journals) said. It wasn’t an easy year for Tinoco. As one at home. But she's still so professional “When I first got here five years ago, a dual immersion teacher, she’s used to and did everything she could because she I knew right away that Katie was a good teaching two classes of 28 students on the wants the best for these kids,” she said. teacher. You can tell anytime you walk by English side while her colleague teaches When the April 19 awards night ap- her class,” Waddell said. “She is so calm them math in Mandarin. However, with the proached, Tinoco said her principal and and positive; the kids are all doing what COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restric- second-grade team wanted to come support they're supposed to be doing. She's so kind tions, he was detained in China, and she her. to them, but she also has standards for them worked with several substitute teachers. “I told them, ‘You guys don't have to to reach. The kids, they all just love her. I “We started the school year with what come. It’s going to be really late. I'm not mean it's seriously a very good place to be, was supposed to be a long-term sub. I did going to win. Don't worry about it,” she in her classroom.” a ton of extra work, but I also had a lot of said. Meanwhile, after the ceremony, her support from the school’s Chinese team Disregarding her, they came as well as toddler was making his own fun. helping me create Chinese content. It’s her parents, husband, and 16 month old. “He is having such a great time carrytricky to teach two different classes and “I read through all the bios of all the ing around my giant check. He thinks it’s switch during the day, so we tried not to teachers that have been nominated. I'm like, the new coolest toy ever,” she said. overwhelm her, but unfortunately, it was ‘They're so amazing, so incredible.’ And The next morning, many students altoo much. She was a new mom and her hus- they're like, ‘Yeah, well, so are you,’” she ready knew Tinoco was Canyons’ teacher band got sick and she had to put her family recalled. of the year. At before-school choir practice, first,” Tinoco said. “So, then our next longOn stage, she was surprised when she the students gave her a round of applause. term sub stayed till Christmas break. All was announced she was the elementary Second-grade teacher Madison Ellingof January was just one sub after another, teacher candidate. But when she learned son directs the choir with Tinoco. and I constantly was reinforcing what they of the other two finalists—Brighton High “Katie is just an amazing educator and were learning. There always is a lot of col- chemistry teacher Nicole Shon and Mount is always thinking of her students and what laboration, talking about the kids and where Jordan Middle choir and theater director they need the most,” Ellingson said. “She’s they're at and how they did on this and mak- Skyler Bluemel—she thought the overall always doing something meaningful with ing sure we’re seeing the same things. But teacher of the year would be one of them. her students that is going to make a differJanuary was probably the hardest time just “When the announcer started reading, ence in their academics or their life. She's helping the kids and reassuring parents that and mentioned dual language, I knew it was really mindful of the growth of her students the teacher was coming back because they me and I was really shocked, overwhelmed, and that’s with each of her 56 students. were justifiably worried if their kids would really humbled, really grateful. It was a She knows exactly what progress each kid be on the level to continue to the program. huge, huge surprise,” she said. “I feel like I is making and how close they are to their I’d tell them, ‘He's going to catch them up.” do a good job in my classroom, but nobody end of year goals. As a teammate, she has Nobody else could do what he's done with goes into teaching to get awards and praise some awesome ideas and is always willing these kids. It's incredible. I'm very lucky to and attention. It's been overwhelming and to share them and be supportive. When we have him as a teaching partner.” just incredible. Everybody deserves to be collaborate, she always brings in, ‘Let's Draper Principal Christy Waddell ap- honored like this. Teachers do so much and make this a little bit deeper or let's add a preciated Tinoco’s dedication. make such a difference.” component that would make it a challenge “She did not complain once to me with During Waddell’s first observation of for our students.’ She has such a positive the extra workload that she had. It was defi- her in the classroom, she knew there was energy that we love and that the kids love. nitely a lot of hard work, and she has a little something special about Tinoco. They were so excited to congratulate her.”
Midvale City Journal
Once school began, Waddell made an announcement. “My class cheered and was asking me what it’s like to be the national teacher, and I'm like, ‘Whoa, whoa! We go to state first,’” she said, adding that submitting her state application was on her summer schedule. “They’re very much invested in this.” As Canyons’ teacher of the year, she received a crystal award as well $1,000 and a gift basket of prizes and gift cards to area businesses. It’s been a far cry from her first four years teaching at a charter school where she created her own curriculum, paid for most every material she used in class and didn’t have a support system. “I saw that Canyons was in line with the type of professional that I want it to be. I wanted to be in a place that was going to encourage and support my desire to always try to be better. I’ve earned my master’s in education from SUU (Southern Utah University) and I’ve been supported each step of the way,” she said. “There’s always learning involved with being a teacher. Even with this award, which is a huge overwhelming honor, it’s not like OK, I am now the ultimate teacher that I could ever be. It’s never like that with teaching. You can always be tweaking and changing and bettering and trying new things and with every class. Every class brings different challenges and exciting things.”l
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August 2022 | Page 27
Seek shelter from the heat at county-owned facilities By Sarah Morton Taggart | s.taggart@mycityjournals.com
T
riple-digit temperatures and excessive heat warnings have become common during the summer in northern Utah. These conditions can be deadly to those without reliable access to air-conditioning. Thanks to a partnership between Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services, Salt Lake County Library Services and Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation, anyone can seek shelter from the heat in one of 36 county-owned facilities. Adults age 60 and older can use an additional 18 senior center locations. The Cool Zone locations are air conditioned and open to the public. Anyone can cool off, hydrate and learn about other resources and programs. Loriann Warner, manager of the Midvale Senior Center, reports that older adults come to the center who either don’t have air conditioning in their home or the unit they do have is not working. “If a senior is staying at home in a house with no ability to cool the space, temperatures escalate above 100 degrees and if the senior is not drinking enough water they can become dehydrated and ill,” Warner said. “Dehydration due to excess heat can negatively impact the health of a senior.” Warner recommends coming to the cen-
ter for a class, staying for lunch, and following that with time to exercise to take advantage of the facility during the hottest hours of the day. Most senior centers are open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Libraries and recreation centers are open on weekends and have longer hours—as late as 9 p.m. at some libraries and 10 p.m. at some recreation centers. Libraries are free and open to all. Recreation centers may require fees to participate in programs or activities, but anyone may sit in the lobby or entryway to cool off. “Two weeks ago a homeless gentleman visited the River’s Bend Senior Center to escape the heat and rehydrate,” said Afton January, communications manager for Salt Lake County Aging & Adult Services. “Staff showed him around the center because he is over 60 and eligible to visit and participate in the programs there. It also happened to be the date of the primary election, so he was able to register to vote for the first time.” The Cool Zone program started in 2014 in response to concerns about older adults’ vulnerability to heat-related illness. “Aging and Adult Services case managers and front-line staff recognized a need among our older population, namely that a lot of lower-income older adults don’t have air conditioning at home to help manage hot
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Page 28 | August 2022
The Midvale Senior Center is a great place for individuals 60 years and older to cool off in the summer. (Sarah Morton Taggart/City Journals)
summer temperatures,” January said. “Our teams mobilized and started two initiatives: one to distribute fans and portable AC units to our homebound clientele, and the cool zones, which are aimed at people who can leave home and are mobile enough to visit a senior center, library or county recreation center.” Sean Bailey, communications and public relations manager for the county, was with the Department of Aging & Adult Services at that time. “At the inception, we realized that we needed to offer more locations as to not limit the program to people 60 years or older,” he said. More information can be found at www.
slco.org/aging-adult-services/cool-zone/ or by calling 385-468-3200. “We hope that the cool zones offer two things to our community—a safe place to cool off from the sometimes extreme temperatures we experience in the summer and an opportunity to learn more about the things Salt Lake County is offering in your neighborhood,” January said. “Whether you visit a library, recreation center, or senior center, you can expect to be treated with respect and invited to participate in programs and activities designed to keep you healthy, happy, and engaged.” l
Whitmore Library is one of 36 county-owned facilities where anyone can cool off and find respite from hot summer days. (Sarah Morton Taggart/City Journals)Ur
Midvale City Journal
Outgoing Sen. Gene Davis still plans to keep serving By Shaun Delliskave | s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com
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on’t expect outgoing Sen. Gene Davis to hang up the “gone fishing” sign. After 36 years in the legislature, Davis still feels he has unfinished business. Democrat voters rejected the long-ime moderate legislator of central Salt Lake County in favor of progressive candidate Nate Blouin. Democrats left Davis at this year’s convention, but he still had enough signatures to join the ballot. However, the primary election results strongly indicated voters wanted a change; Davis lost 24% to Blouin’s 76%. “It’s been my pleasure to serve and work with many different mayors. South Salt Lake, Midvale, Murray, Holladay, Millcreek, West Valley, as well as my home area in Sugar House. Working on the needs in these various areas, we were able to rehabilitate portions of State Street as well improve roads in Murray and Millcreek,” Davis said. As a former disc jockey, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, gained from his years spinning records for KNAK and KALL radio stations. Then, as all good broadcasters do, he switched careers and went into public relations. Davis was first elected to the legislature in 1986, when the Democrats asked him to challenge a longstanding, seemingly invulnerable Republican house member. Davis served six terms representing South Salt Lake and Sugar House. “I ran for the Utah State Senate as Sen. Blaze Wharton decided not to run for another term. I ran in his stead in District 3, adding parts of Murray and Midvale, so my career representing that area of Salt Lake County began. In 2002, redistricting created a larger district that included parts of West Valley City and most of Murray into Holladay and parts of Midvale,” Davis said.
Of all the legislation he has worked on during his decades in the legislature, Davis wishes to be remembered for his healthcare access legislation. He sponsored legislation creating the Utah Health Insurance Risk Pool, the predecessor to many of today’s health reform initiatives. “When Barack Obama was elected and brought forward the Affordable Care Act, I was one of the first proponents of that change. It meant that in economic downturns, people would still have access to healthcare. One of the great advantages of the Affordable Care Act was Medicaid expansion. I worked for many years trying to get that through until the people decided to take it upon themselves, and we passed through a referendum on the expansion of Medicaid in Utah. It meant more people had more access to health care,” Davis said. Still, he wishes he had more time to finish his work regulating medicinal marijuana to provide better consumer protections. He also wanted to do more as co-chair of the Local Food Advisory Committee to address food insecurity. According to Davis, “I’d like to get that taken care of, that we just reauthorize that committee to go on for another five years. So, there’s a number of things that I’d like to be working on to get that done…but having not gotten enough votes to proceed into the general election, that will be forestalled. And so I just have to work with that on the periphery end of the future. I don’t know exactly what the future holds; do any of us?” Davis does have some plans once his term ends in December. “I would like to share my experiences in the classroom. I also would like to continue working on legislation. It’s important to our communities to work on the Murray Theater and
Sen. Gene Davis addresses the Utah State Senate. (Photo courtesy of Gene Davis)
make sure we can get the funding in place to make sure that it gets rehabilitated,” Davis said. Davis will still be involved in committee work until the end of his term. However, he says his mantra of 36 years remains the same: “I have always told people I don’t own the office; I serve at the will of my fellow citizens,” Davis said. l
First drum major in decades reflects on experience leading band By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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illcrest High’s marching band returned this past year after about a 40-year absence, although initial steps were taken to introduce the parade band two years before the COVID-19 pandemic. The band followed the direction of senior Zoe Welch, who was selected as drum major. “I was asked if I’d want to conduct and I said, ‘Sure,’” she said recalling there was no hesitation. “I was really excited. When I was a freshman, I decided I really wanted to be band president, but when he (band director Austin Hilla) brought up drum major, I was like, ‘Nobody's done that recently,’ and it just seemed like way too much fun to pass up.” In her first days as drum major last summer, Welch joined band members, learning how to march. Their practices were split between marching on the field and in the new fieldhouse. “I learned how to march so I could teach people and help them,” she said. “Marching is hard. You have to be conscious of like every single muscle for like 10 minutes straight. When you're doing a whole show, in the hot beaming sun, it’s just so hard.” Then, with Midvale Middle band teacher Wyatt Giles, who served as Hillcrest’s assistant band director, she learned how to conduct.
MidvaleJournal.com
“I spent about three hours with him. He was the drum major for the marching band when he was at the U(niversity of Utah),” Welch said. “He taught me how to do it, how to have the cut-offs, and we went over some of the halftime shows together.” She conducted the band at Hillcrest High’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building. “That was my first time directing the band in front of other people,” Welch remembered. “It was exciting and super nerve-wracking because there's all these people staring at me, like, ‘Who is this student doing this?’ But it was cool to be able to do it and be a part of the historic event.” Welch also directed the band at home football games and then, because of the rise of COVID-19 cases, the band was restricted to just one boys and one girls basketball game. “At times, I missed playing my sax, but conducting was really kind of fun. I would sing the song while they would play it, but I would miss out on songs we had learned in previous years. I'd be like, ‘Oh, I miss playing that,’” she said. “I think our last show at the final home football game, we played the full set and the band watched and trusted me and that was our best performance. People don't talk about how much you have to trust each
Hillcrest High drum major Zoe Welch conducts the band at the school’s Aug. 13, 2021 ribbon-cutting. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
other when it comes to music. It was a lesson for the band and for me because I'm leading them, but I'm also friends with them. They had to trust me enough to be able to do this and when they did, it was sweet.” Welch, who graduated in May, had been a leader in the school’s musical council, serving three years.
“I think it's super cool that the marching band is back, but I feel more people will be aware of it when they take the field in the fall,” she said. “It was a cool experience, and especially, as a female, to be the first returning drum major. I’m not sure it was a thing when Hillcrest had a marching band years ago.”l
August 2022 | Page 29
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With Comcast and Xfinity, families can get free internet access through the Affordable Connectivity Program. (Photo courtesy of Comcast)
Comcast introduces new service offering to support the ACP, where Utahns can apply for free internet By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com
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n today’s world, access to high-speed internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Unfortunately, many Utah families can’t afford to pay for internet access without cutting back on other essentials. The Affordable Connectivity Program, created as part of a bipartisan infrastructure law, helps millions of American families reduce internet service costs. As the only internet provider in Utah participating in ACP, Comcast has increased its efforts to bring awareness to the program while helping families receive $30 each month toward connectivity costs. “It's never been more important to make sure that every Utahn has access to in-home broadband,” said Bill Crim, CEO of United Way of Salt Lake. “We are grateful for Comcast's contribution to closing the digital divide and will continue to work with Comcast and our other partners to remove barriers and address the needs of those without access in every zip code in our community.” To access the savings, people can sign up for Internet Essentials Plus, a service that is free after the ACP Benefit, at local Xfinity stores. Internet Essentials Plus includes 100 Mbps speed, a cable modem, access to Wi-Fi hotspots and unlimited data for $29.95 per month. Any Xfinity customer across all Comcast markets who qualifies for ACP can apply their $30 credit toward their monthly internet bill. As an added bonus, Internet Essentials customers can get one Xfinity Mobile Unlimited line with 5G for $24.95 a month plus tax when they qualify for ACP. In addition, through its Project UP pro-
gram, Comcast commits $1B to advance digital equity and build a future of unlimited possibilities. “Our state is making great strides toward digital equity, thanks to engaged community members and dedicated partners like Comcast,” said Liz Gabbitas, digital access and education program manager with the Utah State Library Division. “These collaborations are how we'll get every Utahn connected.” ACP is available for homes with an income of less than twice the federal poverty level, $55,000 a year for a family of four or $27,000 a year for an individual. Also, those who receive SNAP/EBT, Medicaid, or free and reduced-price school lunch would also qualify. ACP is a game-changer that makes high-speed internet available to families across the state. United Way of Salt Lake operates a 2-1-1 help center in Utah, where 6% of calls are related to bill payment assistance. The center will refer inbound callers to Internet Essentials and ACP when calls refer to internet bills. “Working toward all Utahns having access to high-speed, in-home broadband is the right thing to do,” said Deneiva Knight, Comcast external affairs director. “We're proud to support the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides people with the digital resources needed to actively participate in today's society.”l
Midvale City Journal
Peri Kinder Life and Laughter
To infinity and beyond
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early one million miles away from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is gazing into space with the intensity of a teenager watching TikTok. The most powerful observatory ever launched (Hubble orbits a measly 340 miles away from Earth), the JWST navigated to its location and deployed its mirrors, telescopes, solar panels and antennas, unfolding like a Transformer in the middle of space. NASA (Nerding About Space Again) was unsurprisingly geeked about the first images from the JWST and organized a live event to reveal the pictures to the world. I’m an astronomy fangirl, so it made my nerdy
heart happy to see the images unveiled on July 12 during the NASA production. I couldn’t help but appreciate that Hollywood hadn’t produced the reveal show. It would have been completely different, with movie stars turning it into a literal song-anddance. It would have included a Gorgeous Galaxy red carpet event before the Beautiful People, dressed in sequins and velvet, highlighted the space pictures “right after these messages.” Instead of talking to actual astrophysicists, the Beautiful People would have interviewed actors like Matthew McConaughey and Tom Hanks, asking them what it was
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like portraying an astronaut in the movies. There would have been glitzy graphics, a soundtrack by Lizzo and brief glimpses of the space images before the cameras returned to the Beautiful People so they could talk about how much they liked planets. Thankfully, NASA did the whole program themselves. It was like someone handed the high school astronomy club an iPhone and told them to prepare a science project about the Webb telescope. They didn’t use professional spokespeople. They weren’t dressed in formal wear. It was just astrophysicists literally (yes, literally) bouncing with excitement as the world saw the photos for the first time. There was even a technical glitch when NASA tried to connect to scientists in Canada but couldn’t get through. NASA can relay images from billions of light years away, but can’t connect with colleagues in Montreal. Stupid Zoom calls. Astronomers explained the images sent from the JWST that included dying stars
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and black holes and cosmic cliffs and binary stars, which I don’t think are legal in Utah. It showed a universe teeming with galaxies never seen before. At least not by people on Earth. The telescope can see through space dust, asteroid rubble and alien trash to get the clearest pictures ever created. Scientists once thought there was only one galaxy in the universe, but one JWST image showed thousands of galaxies in a teensy bit of sky. Hopefully, this will prove to politicians that the world does not revolve around them. Webb’s mission is to search for light from the first stars and galaxies that formed the universe after the Big Bang, unless you don’t believe in the Big Bang. In that case, you can sit next to those who think the moon landing was fake, the earth is flat, evolution is a fraud, the Mars mission is bogus, the moon is an alien spacecraft, that it’s NASA’s job to create space hoaxes and we’ve never crossed the Van Allen Belt. But if you’re a star-nerd, like me, watching something so vast is mind-boggling. We’re a tiny, blue marble floating through the enormity of space, doing our best not to fall into a black hole or get vaporized by a meteor. So many evolutionary steps had to happen for us to even be here. What a rare gift. Let’s stop messing it up. l
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August 2022 | Page 31