Midvale Journal | February 2023

FORMER STUDENT-ATHLETE

HILLCREST MENTOR

5A COACH

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

YEAR

Everyseason-ending banquet, Hillcrest

High cross country coach Scott Stucki tears up. The team waits for the moment from the mostly stoic coach.

This year, some thought it may be when the school Athletic Director Scott Carrell surprised Stucki with the announcement that the longtime coach was named Utah High School Activities Association’s 5A Coach of the Year.

But they were wrong.

The tears and hugs came when Stucki talked about his runners.

“I always break down when I talk about the seniors, but I never know which one it will be,” he said.

Many times, it’s not for the top runners. It may be for the runner in the back of the JV squad who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, or it may be one of those runners who overcame injury or when a runner moved up into the varsity squad when few believed.

Stucki was honored at a luncheon Jan. 11 in front of his peers and the UHSAA and received a wooden plaque.

Hillcrest’s most tenured coach has at least 67 seasons—he hasn’t kept it tallied—of UHSAA coaching experience. He coached 27 seasons of girls’ and boys’ track and field, 25

seasons of girls’ and boys’ cross country, and 15 seasons of boys’ basketball. In addition, he has coached 10 seasons of nonsanctioned indoor track. Stucki estimates “well over 1,000 kids” he’s coached.

He also served four years as president of the Utah High School Track Coaches Association.

“I’m really excited for Scott,” Carrell said. “To have a coach with his tenure and commitment and the reputation he has throughout the state, it says a lot about his character and what he does for the kids here.”

It was 1987, just a few years after graduating high school when Stucki fell into coaching.

“I had started officiating indoor track meets at Idaho State since I competed in long and triple jump,” he said. “The Hawthorne (Middle School) head track coach mentioned that he needed help, because he was coaching

Continued page 7

Hillcrest High coach Scott Stucki gives then senior Derek Croft his splits during his April 2022 race at Juab High School in Nephi, Utah. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

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When the writer, who now has written 50 novels, posted on Instagram that he would travel the country to talk to students and sign his newest book, “Gleanings,” Rees jumped through hoops to bring him to the Sandy school. She also shared the information with other area librarians so he also spoke at nearby Alta High, Midvale’s Hillcrest High, Draper’s Corner Canyon High, and at South Jordan Middle School.

While many Albion seventh- and eighth-graders were familiar with Shusterman’s writing, some Albion faculty and staff weren’t, including Assistant Principal Justin Matagi, who listened to one of his books on a family trip during fall break.

“This is a good opportunity for students to get a glimpse and learn what it takes to be the best of the craft,” he said. “I’ve had 50 students come up to me who are excited to read what he has written and were looking forward to his visit, so it’s hard not to fall in love with that enthusiasm.”

Instead of lecturing students, Shusterman engaged them to ask questions. He talked about the writing process to collaborating with other authors on “Gleanings” (which he said he may write a prequel to) to writing for film as his 2017 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book, “Scythe,” which he said was in development as a feature film with Universal Studios.

Shusterman also has written for TV, including the Original Disney Channel movie, “Pixel Perfect,” which was filmed in the Salt Lake City area.

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Writing isn’t easy, author tells students

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Middle teacher librarian and media specialist Bridget Rees may be one of young adult fiction author Neal Shusterman’s biggest fans. She began reading his work in 2007, two years after the writer won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.The Brooklyn, New York-born author, who once lived in Florida and answered that he does not have a pet alligator, now lives in Southern California. He said the inspiration for his books comes from various places, including basing his book, “Dry,” in the neighborhood where his kids grew up.

“It was fun writing a story in a familiar place. My kids grew up in this gated community, Dove Canyon, and it required less research because we knew the meaning of the streets and we knew the schools; it was really interesting writing a story that took place in the high school where my kids went to,” he said. “I’ve always tried to include places that I’ve been or places that I’ve lived in the stories that I write because I think writing from experience sometimes means writing about places that you’ve been.”

Shusterman said the inspiration for “Unwind” came from three different places.

“Sometimes an idea is a common one or several different things you sort of build together. First, there was a headline of an article that caught my attention. ‘Why is England afraid of their teenagers?’”

Shusterman said that it was during an economic downturn in the United Kingdom so when students graduated from school, there wasn’t work for them and they hung around, and many got in trouble. Eventually, the government passed a law which told them, “It’s OK to get rid of your unwanted teenage people,” he said.

The second part the inspiration for “Unwind” was from a team of researchers studying the psychology of the American voting system.

“Why is it that we choose our candidates? What is the core of each of our decisions? They interviewed hundreds of people, and they asked them why they chose their candidates,” he said and learned more

Instead of lecturing students, Neal Shusterman engaged Albion Middle School students to ask questions, which ranged from writing and editing to specific details in his best-selling young adult books. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

about their responses.

The third part of the book’s inspiration came from an article on transplants and interviewed a woman in France who had “a terrible thing happened to her face when she was mauled by a dog, and they couldn’t repair it.” She would go through life with a scar, or they could do “radical surgery for the world’s first face transplant from a target donor face,” Shusterman said, and read about the controversy about using another human being’s face.

“I started thinking about all of the medical issues, these issues of ethics, and how

do we decide what to make that decision?” he said. “Suddenly, I connected with these other stories, and rather than looking at this side versus this side, I’m tried to point out that when we try to look at it from a new perspective, that doesn’t divide us, it’s the only way we’re ever going to resolve these issues. My story is an anti-political spin, trying to break that deadlock that we have not just one issue, but on all the issues, and points out that when we find ways of looking at it from new points of view, we have hopes of solving these very complicated issues, instead of looking at them simplistically.”

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Although Shusterman outlined “Unwind,” “the plot always changes as I’m working on in terms of true events. I do a lot of research even when I’m writing something that is science fiction and fantastical subjects,” he said, adding that he goes through six drafts of his books before he submits it to his editor, starting with writing the first one by hand.

“When I write it into a notebook, it forces me to do a rewrite as I’m typing into the computer,” he said, adding that he still has those first drafts stored in his garage, but is considering giving them to the Ted Hipple Collection of Young Adult Literature at University of Southern Florida’s Tampa campus.

Shusterman will read his third draft out loud.

“I read it out loud to myself because the experience of hearing your words is different enough from the experience of reading silently on the page, that you get a whole new perspective altogether different based on how it sounds,” he said.

One of the last preliminary drafts is to share it with friends, teachers and students who act as a focus group and uses those comments to help him finalize it before submitting it with his editor, who often finds more for him to revise.

When asked about writer’s block, Shusterman simply answered, “I don’t believe in writer’s block.”

Then he explained, “The real part of writing is the hard part, those days where you can’t figure out what you’re doing, what’s not working, where you just feel like you have to bang your head against the wall to get ideas out. If you call that writer’s block, that’s an excuse for not working through the hard part of writing. If you just understand that that difficult part is just an ordinary expected part of the writing process, you’ll be able to take a breath and work your way through. It might take time. You might be stuck on the same chapter for a week, for a month. That’s expected. That’s normal. It’s not a block. It’s just a normal part of the process.”

Shusterman said that he hopes students learn “nothing is done the first time you write it and how important rewriting is; and how important reading is in general as it gives you perspective on the world.”

He also shared with students that he’s had fun naming his characters, which often come from his readers and fans who follow him on social media.

“I post a character and then I go away for about an hour. When I come back I have 1,000 different responses. I’ll go through every single name and I’ll choose a number of them. I may use somebody’s first name and somebody else’s last. What’s really fun is when I am at a book signing and someone comes up to me and says, you named that character after me. It’s nice to be able to sort of give that back,” Shusterman said.

While he likes introducing characters,

Shusterman said it was hard to eliminate some of those he has developed when it is necessary.

“There was a character in ‘Unwind’ that I was going to kill off and I didn’t have the heart to,” he added.

While Shusterman somewhat dodged the answer about having a favorite book, he said that “Challenger Deep,” which won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, is a deep story about mental illness.

“It was inspired by my son’s experiences with mental illness, so it’s very close to my heart,” he said.

Shusterman grew up reading Roald Dahl books and the Lord of the Rings series, but said when he first read “The Shining” by Stephen King, “it scared the heck out of me. I remember sleeping with the lights on for weeks.”

However, between being excited about stories and characters Roald Dahl came up with to learning how King’s book kept him turning pages, Shusterman knew writing was what he wanted to do.

His first story in ninth grade was inspired by Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, “Jaws,” that had recently opened.

“I went to see the movie on opening day, and I remember saying to myself I want to be Steven Spielberg. I want to be able to come up with stories that can capture people’s imaginations and keep them on the edges of their seats. I wrote my first story and I remember thinking writing was fun. The story was like ‘Jaws’ where you’re swimming in the ocean and this giant jellyfish would attack you and paralyze you and drag it down to the bottom,” he said.

Shusterman shared it with his first-year teacher; she told him, “I love the story that you wrote. I’m going to send it to the principal.’ Then, I got a yellow slip from the principal’s office to see him immediately. Now, the yellow slips were the bad ones. So, I think ‘great, it’s only my first week of school and I’m going to get myself suspended because the principal wants to make an example out of me because it’s inappropriate to write this kind of gross, gory story in school.”

Instead of being reprimanded, the principal told him, his story will represent the school in a district story contest.

A few months later, when his English teacher announced the winners, he said, “I didn’t get first place; I didn’t get second place or third place. I didn’t get any one of the 30 honorable mentions. I got nothing and I was crushed. I felt humiliated. I said, ‘I am never going to do this again.’ Then, she came up to me and said, ‘Do you want to be a writer? Great. This is your first lesson as a writer; it’s called rejection. Deal with it.’”

Shusterman then took up the challenge she presented him to write one story per month for the rest of the school year.

“By the end of ninth grade, I felt like a writer, and I haven’t stopped writing ever

since,” he said, adding that he dedicated a novel to her and presented her a collection of his autographed books.

“As we go through school, you’re all going to find that you have teachers that have a powerful influence over your lives.

For me, my ninth-grade English teacher was one of those teachers. She challenged me to

believe in myself. And from that moment on, I just kept on writing and getting rejected, and writing and getting rejected, and writing and getting rejected,” he said. “It takes determination to succeed, and it helps when you have someone who believes in you like my English teacher believed in me.”

Before leaving Albion Middle, winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Neal Shusterman answered a few questions and signed books for students in the school library. (Julie Slama/ City Journals)

Best-selling young adult author Neal Shusterman answered questions about his novels at Hillcrest High School. (Photo courtesy of Abigail Slama-Catron)

Local girl vies for Youth of the Year

By Shaun Delliskave | s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com

Several years ago, Yoaltici Espericueta had just moved to Utah and her family was facing hard times. Her father was in jail, and her mom always worked to make ends meet. Angry and depressed, the youth searched for a place to fit in when a neighbor suggested she check out the local Boys & Girls Club. Fast forward to today, and now Espericueta is being considered for a national Youth of the Year award.

“Initially, I didn’t want to go, but that changed as I walked into the teen side, which was full of teens all getting along and talking to each other. I felt as if I was back in California surrounded by family reuniting,” Espericueta said.

Now in its 76th year, the Youth of the Year program honors awe-inspiring young people on their path to great futures. As the Greater Salt Lake Youth of the Year, Espericueta will serve as an ambassador for all teens in the Greater Salt Lake area and receive a $2,000 college scholarship from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake.

To be considered for the award, youth must show initiative and leadership. The Hillcrest High School student involves herself in a myriad of different projects.

“I have been involved in mock trials at school, as well as the Earth Club, I have taken part in reproductive rights marches, I have personally reached out to representatives in order to voice my agreeing or disagreeing with laws or actions they have taken. I don’t try to base what I believe on a specific area or time; I like to stay up-to-date on the world and what is happening. I really do things because they’re the good I want in the world,” Espericueta said.

Espericueta has been described by her teachers as dedicated—she has ambitions to become a lawyer or politician and is passionate about getting involved in her community. She has been elected twice as president of the Keystone Club, a teen group dedicated to leadership and community service. According to the Boys & Girls Club, “She has been an outstanding leader because of her ability to listen to others’ ideas, contemplate them, and make her decisions with kindness.”

“I am involved in our Keystone

Club, having taken on the role of president in this. This club is a program focusing on developing leadership and community involvement.

I am involved with the community at the Boys & Girls Club. I have made and continue to make friends here, and I like the staff, which are a few reasons to keep coming back. So much as it has become part of my routine,” Espericueta said.

In her speech on the impact of the Boys & Girls Club on her life, Espericueta shared her story. Her father spent time in jail during her childhood, and she felt it set her on a path of anger. She felt isolated and couldn’t find friends who understood her. Finally, her parents confronted her about her anger and behavior; it served as a wake-up call that she needed to find a way to change. When she came to the Boys & Girls Club, she found friends like her. Other Hispanic children, other oldest sisters who felt responsible for their siblings, and other kids who felt like they did not fit in. It allowed her to feel unconditional support. She credits the staff with pushing her to improve academically and personally. Now she is ready to take on college and the battle of making her community a better place for everyone however she can.

This spring, Espericueta will compete against other Utah club winners to vie for the state title. If named the state winner, she will be

awarded an additional $2,500 college scholarship and the chance to compete for the regional title. Six youths, including five regional winners and a military youth winner, will advance to the Regional Youth of the Year event to compete for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Pacific Regional Youth of the Year title. Then the Pacific Regional winner will move on to National Youth of the Year, where the winner will receive an additional scholarship of $50,000.

“It is just an honor to be chosen from all the other candidates. It is a big commitment and to be chosen is an amazing opportunity to use my platform to help other people and share the ideas and the principles I consider to be important,” Espericueta said.

In the meantime, Espericueta hopes to help those starting in the Boys & Girls Clubs to take advantages of all the opportunities that the clubs offer. Furthermore, she seeks to advise the younger members of the clubs.

“Don’t let fear consume you,” Espericueta said. “Being so young, people are so insecure, often stopping them from doing new things in life and the club. I have seen many of my peers lower themselves by giving in to what their friends like or want to do, and they don’t reach their potential of who they are and can be.” l

Yoaltici Espericueta presented with a $2,000 scholarship check for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake. (Photo courtesy Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake)

both distance and long and triple jumps. I started coaching the jumps and then, I also helped with cross country.”

Stucki coached in Pocatello, Idaho for five years.

“I was OK with it, but I thought I would start coaching after I got a teaching job,” he said.

By 1994, Stucki stepped up to help officiate long jump at a Sky View High track meet (in Smithfield, Utah) while student-teaching at North Cache (Middle School) in Richmond, Utah. When he learned they were without a long jump coach, Stucki assumed those duties.

In 1997, after moving to the Salt Lake Valley, he coached Brighton High’s long jumpers for a season before becoming an assistant track coach over long jump and pole vault as well as coached two seasons of cross country at Copper Hills High School.

In 1997, Stucki settled into teaching social studies at Midvale Middle, and coached boys’ basketball for 15 years. While still coaching basketball, he started helping with Hillcrest High’s cross country in 2003 when his son joined the team.

“The spring of 2005, I was at my son’s track meet and as I was watching, I thought, ‘Ah, I miss this,’” Stucki said.

The next season, he helped with pole vault and worked himself into being a full-time assistant. Stucki was hired as the full-time track coach after the 2006 season.

In 2007, he also stepped into the assistant cross country coaching position. Seven years later, he became head coach.

Stucki remains Hillcrest’s cross country and track coach.

“I’ve always known I would coach. I feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do. I like working with the kids and seeing them accomplish things they don’t think they could,” he said. “Truthfully, some of my best moments from coaching aren’t from our best kids, but from some of our other kids.”

In cross country, Stucki recalls a runner who usually finished toward the back of the pack, yet she stuck with it.

“She kept getting better. Her goal was to break 40 minutes. We were at the Utah State Invitational and there was a girl right alongside her. She outkicked that other runner at the finish and all the other kids were so excited for her. It was a cool moment, and she found some success when she didn’t think she was ever going to have any,” he said.

Another student-athlete decided to try distance running in track after sprinting didn’t work out for her.

“She was having a hard time even breaking eight minutes (in the 1600 meters) and she was discouraged and wanted to quit,” Stucki said. “After our time trial—she wouldn’t do it because she was so discouraged—I said, ‘I’m not worried about you breaking eight minutes. I’m worried about you breaking seven minutes.’ She looked at me like I had three heads.”

The runner remained dedicated and diligently worked Stucki’s speed workouts to end up running a 6:50 at JV region.

“She found me out after the finish line and was draped over me, just sobbing tears of absolute joy. All her friends were crying, and it was just one of my favorite moments of all the times,” Stucki said. “It’s one of the reasons I love cross country and track; it’s finding victories. It’s about helping kids find their competitive level and accomplishing things.”

While Stucki will trail his team on a run, joke around or talk with them about his truck or alma mater Utah State University, he is dedicated to their success. He will map his runners’ progress, create workouts for them to specifically improve and be right there at the race with a stopwatch. He has even met a runner who missed a time trial later, so she could run the course.

“I always tell the kids most of you aren’t going to compete against anybody but yourselves. So, when they go out there, they give it their all, to get better,” he said.

When it results in a region win, the runners hold Stucki

to his longtime promise. He performs a cartwheel, which is captured and treasured on his runners’ cell phones.

During his tenure, about 20 cross country or track and field athletes have competed at the collegiate level. He’s also had a few of his middle school basketball players play college ball after high school.

As a boy, Stucki “played everything.”

“I don’t remember not loving sports. There are lots of photos of me as a young child holding a ball of some sort. In one of them, I wore a sand pail like a football helmet over my head. It doesn’t matter what sport it was; I was just crazy about all of them,” he said.

One of Stucki’s earliest memories was when his dad took him as a 4-year-old to high school games in nearby Montpelier, Idaho.

“I thought those guys were so amazing,” he said. “I remember when I was 3 or 4 years old, our house had a door frame across the whole room, and I would use that as if it was the backboard for a basket. I would do layup lines like the high school team kids did,” adding he wore his pajama top in the same fashion to mimic the players’ uniforms. “I would do layup lines by myself. There wasn’t a basket, but that didn’t matter. I wanted to play like them.”

Stucki played one year of high school football as a defensive back before he realized he was too small. He also played freshman basketball before realizing at 5-foot-2, he wasn’t going to make the cut for the JV squad. He played about any position on his Little League team, but he didn’t play high school baseball since the school didn’t have a team.

So, he found running.

Stucki ran and lettered three years of cross country—“they killed the program before my senior year”—and earned letters three of his four years in track. He mostly ran the 800 meters, anchored the medley relay, and taught himself the triple jump.

“I was just very passionate and learned technique and anything I could about my sport,” he said, adding that it is the advice he would give to new coaches today.

Then the tenured coach adds: “Be true to yourself, you can’t be someone else and use their training plans even if it has a lot of success. It has to be tweaked for your athletes, for your personality and program.”

Even at the UHSAA recognition, Stucki, not one for the limelight, repeated the same thing he said when he learned about the award.

“Truthfully, I don’t know how I feel about it,” Stucki said. “It’s a really nice recognition and it’s cool somebody thought to nominate me. I feel I haven’t done anything special; we haven’t won that many region trophies and there are other coaches deserving. If you look at it as a lifetime achievement award, I’ve been around awhile, but I’m still coaching.” l

At the April 2022 Davis High Invitational in Kaysville, Hillcrest High coach Scott Stucki talks after his girls’ track 4x400 relay team finishes their race. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Hillcrest High coach Scott Stucki poses with Corner Canyon High School Principal Darrell Jensen who presented him with the UHSAA 5A Coach of the Year plaque. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

After Hillcrest High’s 2017 cross country team won region, head coach Scott Stucki attempts a promised cartwheel. (Photo courtesy of Hillcrest High 2017 cross country team)

Utah PTA sponsored statewide film contest promotes digital wellness with healthy use of technology

Last year, an Eastmont Middle School sixth-grader claimed the top prize in the first Utah PTA digital wellness film contest, which was held only in the Canyons School District.

This year, the film contest is extended statewide to sixth- through 12th-grade students with the submission deadline March 15.

“The purpose of the video contest is to promote digital wellness and awareness and to promote healthy use of devices with students,” said Melinda Rosevear, Utah PTA Digital Wellness Committee member who is directing the video contest. “Our theme is ‘being safe, kind and responsible online.’ We wanted to make it broad so students can take any of those aspects they want to focus.”

Currently, information is being shared with career and technology education teachers in schools throughout the state.

“Every student in Utah is required to take the digital literacy class in eighth grade, unless parents choose to opt their student out, so that seems like a good place to get the word out to students,” she said. “I would love for the teachers who are al-

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

ready doing things in their eighth-grade digital literacy classes to participate in this.”

Last year, in its pilot year in Canyons School District, many Albion Middle students in classes taught by CTE teacher Bethany Hanson participated.

“I’d say about 60% of our entries were from Albion Middle School because the digital literacy teacher there jumped on it and it caught the kids’ interest,” she said.

Rosevear said that Eastmont winner, Jake Despain, “really knows his technology. He had all these cool special effects, he was very concise and very creative in his message.”

The contest allows students to have an engaging way to teach and to learn.

“It’s more impactful when kids are teaching kids and when they’re using their creativity to convey a message about digital safety and awareness. It’s such a powerful tool when they use their own videos to help teach concepts and while they’re making the videos that helps them think about these issues that help them process what is appropriate, say what’s responsible and express that in a way that’s creative

and uses technology for good,” she said. The film, which has a maximum time length of 90 seconds, can be worked on as a group, but only one student will be allowed to enter it. If that student wins local or state prizes, which may be up to $500, it can be shared with other participants, she said, adding she appreciated the support of generous donors.

Rosevear said the idea emerged from when she held White Ribbon Week film contests as a PTA leader at Quail Hollow Elementary and Albion Middle School.

“I thought it would be fun to do a video contest because I think kids love to make movies and they love to use technology to express their ideas and their creativity. So, I thought how cool it would be for the kids to create videos and then to show those videos in the school,” she said.

Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as she planned.

“We had that video contest, and it was literally the week before COVID closed

the schools. We still had winners, but we didn’t get to share the films in person. We may have put the videos on Canvas or something for other students to see,” she recalled.

When Rosevear proposed a film contest to the Utah PTA committee, “they loved the idea” so it was tested last year in Canyons District.

“Now we’re ready to roll it out to the whole state,” she said.

The Utah PTA Digital Wellness Committee, coordinated by Utah PTA Digital Wellness Specialist Linda Zenger, has about 15 digital citizenship and industry experts who will judge the entries. By the end of April, the committee will send certificates and winning prizes to students’ schools so they can be recognized at the school in front of their peers.

Students wishing to learn more about the video link may get additional information on the website, www.utahpta.org/video-contest. l

Eastmont Middle School Principal Stacy Kurtzhals (left) congratulated then sixth-grader Jake Despain on his win in the Utah PTA video contest along with Utah PTA Digital Wellness Specialist Linda Zenger and Utah PTA Digital Wellness Video Contest Director Melinda Rosevear. (Photo courtesy of Ann Despain)

Inspiration, lessons from New York inspire Hillcrest’s Dance Company this season

When Hillcrest High Dance Company president and senior Leah Ahlander stepped onto stage for their December showcase, she used the inspiration she gained from their New York City workshops in mid-October.

“It was really cool,” she said. “We took in a lot of workshops. We took a class from a Broadway performer and got to learn part of a dance from ‘Moulin Rouge,’ which we saw on Broadway. It was really neat because we could talk to him about the show since we had seen it the night before.”

While Ahlander’s favorite style of dance is modern, she said the “Moulin Rouge” dance combined hip-hop with contemporary dancing.

Students from the 30-member Dance Company spent all day taking classes at the Broadway Dance Center. They took a class from a former Radio City Rockette, where the Dance Company was told they had to learn the routines quickly, so they had time to rehearse to polish it.

“She told us that you cannot let yourself blank out during rehearsal; you always need to put in 100%. It gave us a reality check that we need to always put in effort to get better,” Ahlander said.

The high school dancers also saw the New York City Ballet.

“When we saw the New York City Ballet, the dancers are on the stage for 20 minutes at a time and never dropped themselves or go out of that mindset. The stage presence was incredible,” she said.

They also saw the show called “The Jazz Continuum” — “that dance show was filled with live jazz music and improvisational dance,” Ahlander said.

Before they departed The Big Apple, the group took in “Hadestown” on Broadway, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Highline, Chelsea, Central Park and Times Square.

“We were able to get a taste of New York; it was really dance heavy, which is what we wanted,” she said. “I learned that dancing comes in all shapes and different forms and the outcome can look different on everyone. We saw and talked to so many different dancers and performers in New York and learned how they got there. It was fun to hear their different stories because I want to go into dancing after high school and New York University and Fordham University are places I’m looking at going to for school.”

Ahlander got into dance when she was just 18 months old. Her mother, Julie Johnston, graduated with a master’s in fine arts and is a dance teacher. She followed her older sister into dance.

“I did a mommy and tot dance class and then just kept dancing ever since

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

then,” she said. “I’ve been on Hillcrest Dance Company since my freshman year and before that, my sister was on Dance Company, so I got to see those concerts and knew I wanted to be part of Dance Company. I love dance. Sometimes, there are days when I feel ‘I don’t want to do this,’ but I always leave happier and feeling good.”

Ahlander said Dance Company is a supportive community.

“I appreciate the environment that Dance Company creates; it’s welcoming of everyone and we create a family. There’s not any drama and everyone’s very nice to each other,” she said.

The group has had fun, dressing in bright workout clothes and leg warmers and headbands to dance a 1980’s routine for homecoming to a flowing, graceful performance at their December showcase. They also perform at assemblies, in the high school’s musical and other shows.

Ahlander said that the techniques they’ve learned from New York as well as from taking early morning ballet classes has helped “strengthen our techniques and ability.”

Throughout the year, the Dance Company has embraced their theme of “Vitality,” which the presidency, including seniors Lily Greenwood as vice president and Courtney Kelly as secretary, chose.

“We choreographed a piece to that theme for our opening assembly and it sets the tone for the year. We feel the power of dance is giving us drive in life and things we looked forward to,” Alhander said. “For our big April concert, we all can audition a piece we want to choreograph. Then, our adviser, Chelsea Lujan, picks the top 10 who get to choreograph for the concert. I think what we gained from New York is the approach, ‘go big or go home’ with our dancing and just knowing that making mistakes is human. We can learn off those mistakes and then keep going and grow.” l

Hillcrest Dance Company poses outside of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. (Photo courtesy of Hillcrest High Dance Company)

Hillcrest Dance Company’s 30 members perform on stage at their winter showcase. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

At Burning of the H, Dance Company sports 1980’s gear as they dance to “Holding out for a Hero” from “Footloose.” (Julie Slama/City Journals)

She told us that you cannot let yourself blank out during rehearsal; you always need to put in 100%. It gave us a reality check that we need to always put in effort to get better.

Leah Ahlander

Memories shine on for Midvale fourth-graders who decorated governor’s mansion

While the sparkly silver balls and glittery gold-framed photo ornaments may be put away, the shining memories of decorating the governor’s Christmas tree may be lingering on in the memories of 29 Midvale Elementary fourth-grade students.

It was the first trip to the Kearns Mansion for many of the nine- and 10-year-old students. Not only did they learn a bit of Utah history (more than their fourth-grade curriculum) when they heard U.S. Sen. Thomas Kearns built the French château-esque home in 1902 after making his fortune silver mining in nearby Park City, but they were also able to tour a couple floors of the 32-room official residence of the governor’s family.

For many students, a highlight may not only have been posing in feathered-headbands and pearls or sporting hats and fake moustaches for black-and-white photo ornaments they created for the 1920s-theme tree, but for getting to interact firsthand with Gov. and First Lady Spencer and Abby Cox.

Many of the kids posed questions, including asking about his cowboy hats hanging in the room, and a few of the students who are bilingual or are studying Spanish at their dual immersion school, spoke in Spanish with the governor.

“One of our Spanish-speaking students

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

who only speaks Spanish as he is new to our country, was totally attached to the governor as soon as he learned he speaks Spanish,” Midvale Elementary Assistant Principal Sara Caldwell said. “He was just totally attached to him the entire time and had all kinds of questions for him. They talked about some of the artwork that was upstairs on the third floor. His artwork is diverse, and I believe one of the pieces that he had was from Hispanic artists. It was neat that he was able to communicate with that with our Hispanic students.”

Another student who had a law enforcement coin from where his grandfather worked presented it to the governor. Caldwell said Cox was pleasantly surprised and traded it with his gubernatorial coin with the youngster.

The students gathered on the floor near the former teacher, Abby Cox, who read Colin McNaughton’s book, “Suddenly.”

“The kids were excited, and they loved it. They don’t get that opportunity a lot and not as much now that they’re in fourth grade. So, they really enjoyed that, and their full attention was on her,” Caldwell said.

While the entire fourth grade was invited in early November to share in this experience, Caldwell said it was offered to students

who were in good academic standing and had regular attendance since there was limited space on the bus and in the mansion’s library, where they decorated the tree.

Abby Cox had selected the 1920s theme which was carried throughout the mansion. Before their visit, students helped create the greenery and pearl fireplace mantel piece as well as giant ornaments that were placed in the fireplace itself. Signage and even the tree skirt identified the creativity of students’ projects, which was under the direction of the school’s head administrative assistant, Jeri Jorgensen.

Perhaps the crowning moment came when the governor, who stands more than 6 feet tall, tried and tried again and again to place the star at the top of the tree, but instead, the star insisted on leaning.

“He was having a hard time getting it to stay up there and it was kind of funny because he was really trying to get it straight,” Caldwell said. “Then, one of the students just said, ‘It’s OK; it’s a shooting star.’ He laughed and agreed, so he kept it that way.”

This was the second time students have been invited to decorate the governor’s tree in Canyons School District history. In 2018, Brookwood fourth-graders decorated the tree for Gov. Gary Herbert. l

New year, new baby for two Midvale residents

Bundle up, put your gloves on because baby Wynter is here! Wynter Kisa Magandazi was born at 12:34 a.m. on Jan. 1, at Intermountain Medical Center. She is the first baby of the new year born at any Intermountain Healthcare hospital in Utah. She’s the daughter of Midvale residents Madi and Jermaine Magandazi and is their first baby. Baby Wynter weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces and is 20 inches long.

Wynter was born early at 37 weeks, just three weeks short of the typical 40 week full-term pregnancy. Madi Magandazi went in for her 36-week checkup on Friday and since her blood pressure was high, she was admitted to the hospital. The couple knew the baby was a girl ahead of time due to a blood test at 10 weeks and a later ultrasound to determine the health and sex of the baby.

“Wynter’s middle name, Kisa, means grace in Luganda, the native language of Uganda where her dad is from,” Madi Magandazi said. “I was really hoping she’d be born on New Year’s Eve, since I ended up being induced that day, but with more than three hours of pushing, she ended up being born on New Year’s Day.”

Jermaine Magandazi said, “It was a magical experience seeing my wife give birth. We’re so grateful Wynter is here, and she is healthy.”

Madi Magandazi had an Intermountain midwife who helped with labor and delivery and an Intermountain maternal fetal medicine physician, Dr. Ibrahim Hammad, who assisted when baby Wynter needed to be turned. A maternal fetal medicine physician, also known as perinatologist, is a doctor that specializes in the branch of

By Annabelle Larsen | a.larsen@mycityjournals.com

medicine that focuses on managing health concerns of the mother and fetus prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy. With his and the midwife’s expertise, Madi Magandazi was able to give birth to a healthy baby girl to welcome in the new year.

“My midwife was like a cheerleader. She wouldn’t let me quit. I had more than 12 hours of labor, and I just wanted to be done,” Madi Magandazi said. “And we’re so grateful Dr. Hammad was there when things got complicated.”

“I received a call from the midwife asking if I could help in assessing the baby’s head presentation. We confirmed the baby was facing upwards or ‘sunny side up.’ That position usually makes the delivery harder and longer. I rotated the baby, so the head was faced downward, helping mom and baby with the delivery. Maternal fetal medicine physicians are always available to help and be present for a second pair of hands if needed,” Hammad said.

Madi Magandazi said Wynter is doing well and is content and happy and on her way to breastfeeding. “I loved my care team at the hospital. Everyone that has come in has been great,” she added.

The new parents received a prize basket from Intermountain Healthcare to celebrate the New Year's birth at Intermountain Medical Center, which included donations from three Utah-based baby product vendors: Minky Couture, Lou Lou and Company and Over the Moon.

More than 3,000 babies were delivered at Intermountain Medical Center in 2022. l

After decorating a tree in the governor’s mansion, Midvale Elementary students await for Gov. Spencer Cox to place the star atop of the tree, but the topper insisted on being “a shooting star.” (Photos courtesy of Sara Caldwell/Midvale Elementary)

Wynter Kisa Magandazi rests in her beanie with her statistics next to her. (Photo courtesy Intermountain Healthcare)

Midvale Middle students’ memorial blankets raise homelessness awareness

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Awintersolstice storm brought snow and a wicked wind chill.

That night, hundreds gathered as more than 150 people’s names were read. Officials say that’s twice the number in 2020; these individuals had died as a result of homelessness.

As part of the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project, blankets and quilts were distributed, said Connie Crosby, Canyons School District’s liaison for homeless students.

“At the candlelight vigil for every person who passed away on the streets, we pass out blankets,” she said about Canyons, and specifically, Midvale Middle, participating in the Remembrance Blanket Project.

The project’s goal was for each state to make at least 100 blankets, with 90 or more being shared locally, and to send 10 to Washington, D.C. as part of a 9,000-squarefoot national display.

Two quilts Midvale Middle students made after school were to be displayed by the Washington National Cathedral as part of the project. Other handmade blankets were on display on the west lawn of the capitol.

After being displayed, Midvale Middle’s quilts along with others that were knit,

Sharon Higgins

crocheted and handsewn were to be shared with those in need.

The project began in December 2021, when 219 blankets were displayed in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on the longest night of the year. The nonprofit Charles Bruce Foundation jumped on board to urge citizens nationwide to make blankets and take the display to the capitol to rally to end homelessness.

In support, Dec. 21 was designated to be a day to think of those who live unstably housed and those who die that way.

Midvale Middle’s involvement began

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when Crosby had seen a flier and shared it with her assistant, Sharon Higgins, who works at Midvale Middle, one of Canyons School District schools that has a steady number of students who are or have experienced homelessness in their lifetimes.

Higgins immediately was on board and asked a West Jordan quilter, Vicky McIntosh, for assistance. McIntosh, who made and donated five quilts on her own, sewed the quilt tops from donated materials for the schoolchildren’s project.

After learning about the project, about a dozen students who are in Midvale Middle’s after-school project volunteered and committed to tying them over three days in the school library.

“This was a great project to be associated with,” Higgins said. “It was truly a pleasure seeing the students work together, to give of their time to learn something new and for them to be proud of their accomplishments to have something comforting they helped make for others in need. It was a labor of love.”

She also said that the students bonded over helping others.

“After we told them what the project was for, the kids were all in. They got to know each other and had a great time making the quilts,” she said. “They absolutely loved it and took great pride in doing it. For some, it was their first time serving others and for others, it was a way to give back as they may have been homeless themselves and this was a way they could share.”

Midvale Middle is about one and one-half miles from The Road Home

shelter in the same community. Crosby said as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act as part of Every Student Succeeds Act, she and her staff support students who experience homelessness and poverty. These students historically have high mobility and loss of housing, putting these students at great risk for educational challenges.

Crosby estimates that during a given year, about 1,500 students in Canyons District are homeless.

“Nationwide and statewide, we’re seeing an increase especially in families experiencing homelessness, between the cost of housing and COVID,” she said. “My whole goal is to provide opportunities for students experiencing homelessness and help them graduate so that we can break the cycle of poverty. Education clearly is the way out of poverty.”

She is able to provide students with backpacks and school supplies, clothing, fee waivers, transportation assistance, immunizations and other medical help and other needs.

“I write a lot of letters for them for college applications so that they can get the FAFSA Pell Grants to get admitted into college. I also work with a lot of students that have IEPs (individualized education programs) and I do a lot with transportation,” she said. “My primary goal with this project was to call attention to how many unsheltered children we have on the streets, and it was wonderful working with these students. They were so excited and so willing to give; it was touching.” l

Midvale Middle School after-school students work on tying quilts for the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project; their quilts were on display in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Canyons School District)

After we told them what the project was for, the kids were all in. They got to know each other and had a great time making the quilts. They absolutely loved it and took great pride in doing it.

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MIDVALE CITY DIRECTORY

City Hall

In The Middle of Everything

City Hall – 7505 South Holden Street • Midvale, UT 84047

Marcus’s Message

801-567-7200

Finance/Utilities 801-567-7200

Court 801-567-7265

City Attorney’s O ce 801-567-7250

City Recorder/Human Resources 801-567-7228

Community Development 801-567-7211

Public Works 801-567-7235

Ace Disposal/Recycling 801-363-9995

Midvale Historical Museum 801-567-7285

Midvale Senior Center 385-468-3350

SL County Animal Services 385-468-7387

Communications 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 801-567-7200

Ordering A New Trash Can 801-567-7202

Permits 801-567-7213

Court 801-567-7265

Paying For Tra c School 801-567-7202

Business Licensing 801-567-7214 Cemetery 801-567-7235

Planning and Zoning 801-567-7231

Code Enforcement 801-567-7208

Building inspections 801-567-7213

Graffiti 385-468-9769

PUBLIC SAFETY & EMERGENCY CONTACTS

EMERGENCY 911

UFA Fire/UPD Police

> Non-emergency 801-840-4000

Uni ed Police Department

> Midvale Precinct 385-468-9350

Public Works 801-567-7235

Rocky Mountain Power 877-508-5088

CITY NEWSLETTER

A YEAR IN REVIEW

Each year, the Utah State Legislature meets for 45 days from mid-January to early March. During this time, the legislature will consider roughly 1,000 new bills, and vote to implement many of them into law. Hundreds of these bills will have direct impacts on cities, including impacts to homelessness, growth, taxes, law enforcement, and more.

The “legislative session” is in full swing, and our city is actively involved to give a voice to Midvale City residents. As mayor, I’m regularly at the capitol to voice support for, or opposition to, bills that will impact our community. While every year there are proposed bills that could have impacts on our city and our residents, this year there are already several legislative e orts where the impact could be signi cant.

HOMELESSNESS

As Midvale City is one of only three cities in Salt Lake County that hosts a year-round homeless shelter, and one of only ve cities across the state, homelessness is an issue that impacts our city more than many others. Before I go on, I want to be clear that I am truly proud that our community hosts the Midvale Family Resource Center, where many families experiencing homelessness are supported and given resources to get back on their feet. It is also true that hosting a shelter does come with its challenges.

Each year, the State of Utah gives shelter hosting cities money to minimize the impact on the areas directly surrounding the shelter. This money comes from a “mitigation fund” which all cities across the state, that don’t have a shelter pay into through sales tax. At most, cities will pay $200,000 into this fund, as it’s capped at this amount and based on the amount of sales tax collected – 6 cities across the state have hit that yearly cap. While last year Midvale City received $1.7 million to support mitigation e orts, our true mitigation costs were about $2.7 million. In short, at most, a city is paying $200,000 to not have a shelter, and we paid $1 million to have a shelter. Because of this, much of my time is spent with other mayors, trying to get them to understand the challenges we face as a shelter city, and convince them to step up and support providing more money into the mitigation fund or open a shelter themselves.

Luckily, we have made progress with many cities from all over the state and we believe our request for more mitigation is moving in the right direction. However, it’s not a guarantee, and in these 45 days, a lot could happen to change the current system of funding shelter mitigation.

GROWTH

As we all know, Midvale City has grown a lot in the last several years. As Utah is the fastest growing state in the entire country, we are not alone. While the current estimate for the statewide housing shortage stands at 31,000 units, that’s down from 56,000 units in 2017. Though cities are clearly making progress in trying to combat the a ordable housing crisis and appropriately growing to meet demand, state lawmakers are looking at continuing to force the hand of cities to grow more, and quickly.

By Mayor Marcus Stevenson

Whether it be requiring cities to plan for more high-density housing, shrinking lot sizes, or removing parts of the public process – many state lawmakers are working to ensure that cities continue to grow. As these conversations move forward during the legislative process, Midvale City will continue to advocate for local control and do our part to make sure that our legislators understand that Midvale has played, and is playing, its part to address the housing shortage. We strongly believe that the more these decisions are taken away from the local level, the worse position we will be in when balancing community wants and housing needs.

TAXES

State lawmakers are proposing changes to many taxes, which have the chance of drastically impacting the ability to provide city services. There will be potential changes to property tax, sales tax, and the gas tax. More speci cally, these changes will reduce the amount of revenue that every city receives. While the State of Utah has generated a budget surplus, cities run a balanced budget, meaning we only collect what we need, and we spend those full amounts. If city revenues decrease as a result of new legislation, we will have a challenging time meeting the needs of our residents without increasing taxes. While many of these changes sound intriguing on the surface, they will create signi cant impacts that will a ect every person, municipality, and business in the state.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

As recruiting and retaining police o cers has become increasingly challenging, the state has looked at ways to help. Mostly, the proposals center around retirement bene ts that are aimed to encourage individuals to enter the profession. Unfortunately, many of those costs are likely to be placed on local governments who fund law enforcement. While we know that these changes are likely needed, unfunded mandates are nancially daunting, especially when there are other proposals to cut municipal revenues.

Further, there is likely to be a proposed bill that would directly a ect Uni ed Police member communities – which includes Midvale City, along with Salt Lake County, Millcreek, Holladay, Magna, Kearns, and unincorporated areas of the county. With the Salt Lake County Sheri serving as the CEO of the Uni ed Police Department, the overlap in job duties between the Sheri ’s o ce and UPD has often created confusion and misunderstandings regarding how Uni ed Police operates. The proposed bill would mandate that the county sheri could no longer be the CEO of UPD and would likely result in removing Salt Lake County as a UPD member, which will impact the way our police department operates. Midvale City is opposed to this legislation and thinks that changes to UPD should be made by its member communities, not by the state legislature.

ADVOCATING FOR YOU

While many bills are being proposed that could impact our city, myself, our city council, and city sta , are actively advocating on behalf of our residents. During these 45 days, we are working tirelessly to ensure that Midvale gets the best deal possible and that we have a seat at the table.

In The Middle of Everything

Fall Prevention Class at Midvale Senior Center

Midvale Senior Center is hosting a Stepping On class that will be taught Thursdays, March 2 – April 13 from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. This class is a community-based workshop o ered once a week for seven weeks to help those over 60 build con dence in their ability to reduce falls. Guest professionals visit the class each week to address di erent aspects of fall prevention. A physical therapist talks about the importance of exercise, a vision expert talks about the necessity of regular eye checkups, a pharmacist addresses the risk of medication interactions, and a home safety expert gives tips about keeping the home safe. You can register for this class by calling 385-468-3350.

Why shop local Citizens Agenda Summary

City Council meeting agendas are often dicult for people to navigate. Filled with jargon and legal requirements on how an item must be listed, it can be a challenge to determine what council members are discussing or deciding on. Therefore, City sta now prepares a summary of the agenda items for the community to review. The o cial published agendas and support¬ing materials can be found at www.MidvaleCity.org/PublicMeetings. You can read the current Citizens Agenda at www.MidvaleCity.org/CitizensAgenda

Participating in City Council Meetings

You may share your views with the City Council:

• • During legally required public hearings

• • During the regular open public comment period

• • Other opportunities when the mayor allows for public comment

Public comments may be submitted electronically for City Council consideration at www.MidvaleCity.org/PublicMeetings. Submit comments by 5:00 p.m. the day before the City Council meeting.

Located in the middle of everything, Midvale City’s economy is a vibrant mix of retail, commercial, service, and manufacturing. Midvale is a rare combination of modern progress and traditional values, where innovation and economic opportunities are bal¬anced by the basic virtues of family, friends, and community pride.

Shop Local First is designed to increase awareness that every dollar spent in Midvale City is an investment in its future. By supporting local businesses, you are contributing to greater local economic sustainability and a brighter future for everyone who lives or works in Midvale. In fact, shopping locally rst helps in more ways than you might think.

1. Sales tax pays for public services - With every local purchase, part of your sales tax pays for public programs and services that make our city better.

2. Helps create jobs and opportunities - Local purchases support local businesses so they can grow, which means more jobs.

3. Faster and easier to nd what you’re looking for - Finding the products and services you want here in Midvale City saves you time and the expense of driving to neighboring cities.

4. Supports community causes and organizations - Local businesses are big con¬tributors to community organizations and activities and your support helps them support our community.

5. Generates a multiplier e ect - Shopping locally creates a multiplier e ect: the more times a dollar circulates in Midvale City, the more income, wealth, and jobs it generates.

6. Improves local economic sustainability - Midvale City is a proud and independent community. Shopping locally strengthens our economy, encourages entrepreneurship, attracts more businesses, and improves local economic sustainability, self-reliance, and control of our economic future.

7. Creates a stronger sense of community - Shopping locally strengthens the relationship between residents and businesses and reinforces a sense of community and common cause.

8. Shows you care - Shopping locally sends a powerful message and shows your family, friends, and coworkers how much you care about your community.

FEBRUARY 2023 CITY NEWSLETTER

WWW. MIDVALECITY. ORG

Midvale Historical Museum Scoop the Poop

By Bill Miller

The Midvale Historical Society and Museum will celebrate our 44th anniversary this year! The Midvale Historical Museum is a unique and valuable resource for the community of Midvale. The museum is dedicated to preserving the rich history and cultural heritage of the area and o ers a wide range of exhibits and programs that educate and engage visitors of all ages.

Everything in YOUR Museum belongs to you, the residents of Midvale, with a few exceptions (items that are loaned to the museum.) Your museum holds many great items that belonged to the early residents of Midvale. These treasured items include:

• A picture made of human hair (belongs to the Jenkens family.)

• A piano that is more than 100 years old from the old elementary school.

• A bench from the old elementary school (Did you have to wait in the hallway, and sit on the BENCH?)

• Displays from the old drug stores - Vincent Drug, The Valley Drug, and Morley’s RX All Drug stores.

• Violin that came across the plains with the pioneers.

• Doll collection from around the World.

• Wood/coal stove.

• Treadle sewing machine

• Maytag wringer washing machine

• An old pay phone

• Wedding and graduation dresses from the late 1800s

The Museum is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The museum is located at 350 West Park Street (7615 S) on the northeast section of Midvale City Park. It is a great place for families, students, and history bu s to learn about the rich heritage of this community. It is a valuable resource for the community and an important part of preserving the history of the area for future generations.

Midvale Historical Museum

Dog and cat waste left on the ground is more than smelly and unsightly….it pollutes our water and poses a health risk for pets and people, especially children! Please remember to always Scoop the Poop and to dispose of pet waste properly!

Human and Pet Health

• Giardia • Roundworms

• Salmonella • Other viruses and parasites

Water Quality

• Overgrowth of algae and aquatic weeds

• Reduced oxygen for sh

What Can You Do?

• Bring It! Carry a scooper bag when you walk your dog.

• Scoop It! Use the baggie like a glove, scoop the poop, invert and seal the bag.

• Toss It! It belongs in the trash.

• Place a Sign! Put a “Scoop the Poop” sign in your yard to encourage your neighbors to scoop it up too! We even created a fun sign for you to print at home. Visit www.MidvaleCity.org/Scoop to download the sign.

Protecting Groundwater

We work every day to ensure our customers can turn on a tap or take a shower with no worries about the purity of their water. In keeping with federal, state, and our own agency rules and guidelines, our Water Division team strives to protect our water supplies, our water quality, and safety and to deliver this life-giving resource. To maintain clean, high-quality water, we must all work together to protect the groundwater source. Water that is pumped from wells ows through a groundwater aquifer that is located beneath this area before reaching the well. Because the soils between the ground surface and the aquifer are porous, any contaminants that are discharged on the ground have the potential to seep into the groundwater aquifer and eventually contaminate the water in the well. This could in turn compromise the health of the people drinking the water. Fortunately, there is something that we all can do to protect our groundwater. There are two fundamental categories of groundwater protection: Keeping it safe from contamination and using it wisely by not wasting it. For more information, visit www.ngwa.org.

Hillcrest cheer looking competitive

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Hillcrest High cheerleaders kicked off its competitive season in December 2022, with the Winter Classic at Mountain Ridge, with a first-place finish in song/pom and second place in show/cheer. In the jumpoff competition, senior captain Summer

Elbortoukaly placed second and teammate junior Dominic Rojas got third. The squad also plans to compete at the UHSAA central division qualifier in Lehi. State finals was scheduled for Jan. 25. (Julie Slama/City Journals) l

Midvale tattoo shops host Friday the 13th body art event

By Annabelle Larsen | a.larsen@mycityjournals.com

Unlike the victims in Victor Miller’s “Friday the 13th,” many Midvale residents enjoyed their Friday the 13th as they got in line to get some tattoos at local shops. With no sign of Jason Voorhees in sight (apart from the inked skin he appeared on), tattoo shops opened their doors to many eager ink enthusiasts looking for their next work of art. This tradition is often considered a major event at many tattoo shops across the nation, offering inexpensive flash designs to tattoo fans throughout the “cursed” day. The beginning of this “holiday” originated from Dallas, Texas tattoo artist, Oliver Peck, who

offered his artistic skills on Friday the 13th to those looking for a piece of art at a very affordable price. Since then the tradition has spread across the country and to Midvale. Wild Coyote Tattoo, 7681 S. Main, was one of several locations in Midvale that offered deals on this “unlucky” day. Within five minutes of opening Wild Coyote’s foyer was packed with patrons already adorning outlines of flash art that portrayed images of spider webs, ghosts, cats, and, of course, hockey masks all incorporating the number 13 into the design. l

A couple of friends wait outside the tattoo shop excited for their new ink. (Annabelle Larsen/City Journals)

Hillcrest students to present cases to judges in courtrooms

HillcrestHigh senior Kunal Kamtekar remembers watching “Law & Order” television episodes with his mother, who was a lawyer.

“I heard that mock trial was basically having that court experience and getting to do that line of questioning,” he said. “It’s kind of cheesy how I fell into it, but I found a lot of interest in it. I genuinely want to go to law school now. It’s become my passion and goal.”

Kamtekar is a four-year member of Hillcrest’s mock trial team that is presenting their assigned mock case in front of actual judges. First up, is to present in front of Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen.

As a mock trial lawyer, Kamtekar gives direct and cross examinations. He also may present the opening and closing statements.

“I’m excited about what we can do with mock trial this year. Last year, some people left and as the lawyer captain, I filled in for different lawyer roles. We almost went to semifinals with a team of five when normally the team size is nine,” he said.

Last year’s court case was a mock murder involving a woman who was in debt to a loan shark.

“The defense was trying to redirect eyes from the business partner to the loan shark because he had a bad reputation of laying down

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

the law. There was a lot of nitpicking and hearsay and how much you can use of what other people were saying in the case,” he said. “I genuinely learned a lot about the ins and outs of how much you can take from someone else saying it even if you have an eyewitness testimony in court.”

Kamtekar said one witness was a convict who was in jail with a loan shark and “his entire witness story was while he was in jail, he basically confessed to the entire crime.”

“The sad thing is that entire story he gave is hearsay, so I couldn’t really use it to prove any point. You have to kind of work your way around of gathering bits of information not to prove the truth of the matter, but show how the person got there,” he said.

That advice he got from his mother.

“She told me the questioning is not to have the witness confess to the crime, but to elicit information that I can construct my case around. She said to ask the witness for direct facts, then construct that story for the judges,” he said.

Hillcrest students are divided into multiple teams of lawyers, witnesses and bailiffs. Last year, one of the teams argued in front of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

This year marks the return of mock trial to the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse after

not having the opportunity to compete there during COVID-19 years. It will be Kamtekar’s first experience there since it was during his freshman year when the competition moved to online because of the pandemic.

Preparation for this year’s season, which also includes a day at Weber State University, begins in October with students researching. About 30 high school teams compete.

Not only does the team learn courtroom procedures, but they learn the differences between criminal and civil cases.

In addition to explaining the rubric, Hillcrest teacher David Veenstra explains to the team the basics of questioning and the judge’s perspective to help prepare for the competitions, where students compete multiple times in the same trial cases that follows actual cases.

“I usually step in with the new kids and I’ll break down the affidavits with them and kind of go through how you get means, motive and opportunity for a case before the older students teach them more specifics,” said the five-year mock trial adviser. “This team is pretty good. I have a group of juniors and seniors who are good and my officers this year are extremely strong. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think that we are going to be very competitive this year.”

He relies on mock trial leaders, like Kamtekar who is the lawyer captain, to teach their peers their roles.

“I’m in charge of lawyers, so I make sure people know how to do defenses, openings, closings, how to have good presentational speaking, what information to include when laying out your entire case,” Kamtekar said. “I’ll teach them the ins and outs of crosses, what you can do on a direct and what you

can’t do on cross. I make sure everyone knows courtroom procedures like when to approach the judge.”

Other mock team leaders include president Pravani Gundu, vice president Matthew Chidester and witness captain Morgan Webster.

Veenstra said that students learn how to find and parse information as well as memorization skills.

Kamtekar, who also is the student body vice president, computer science club vice president, and chess club and National Honors Society member, said through mock trial, he’s learned different skills as well as teamwork, organization and leadership.

“The biggest skill I’ve learned is public speaking, having the ability to like present myself in front of judges in a competent and confident manner,” he said. “I’ve developed a good line of thinking and inquiry. When I read an entire witness alibi, I’m able to construct my line of questioning based on what’s important and finding the stuff that really matters. I found in AP Lang (Advanced Placement English Language and Composition) that I can analyze texts a lot faster to find the content and learning how to research helps with my International Baccalaureate essays.”

For Veenstra, he has appreciated having the relationships with mock trial members like Kamtekar.

“A lot of times, teacher-student relationships are just one and done and I don’t see them again, but that’s not the case with these people,” he said. “They’re bright and hard-working, a real good group.” l

Hillcrest High’s mock trial team is seen preparing for their day at Utah’s Supreme Court in front of Justice Diana Hagen. (David Veenstra/Hillcrest High)

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CottonCrest mountain biking ‘family’ completes successful season

ineteen student-athletes competed at state for the composite CottonCrest mountain biking team, with top places going to Hillcrest’s Josie Paul, who finished second in senior open girls’ race, and Hillcrest’s Alex Fisher, who grabbed fourth place in the freshmen B boys’ contest.

“We had a great season,” coach Anthony Stowe said. “We had more podium finishes this year than we’ve had in a very long time.”

While not every biker who attends Cottonwood High, Hillcrest High, Academy of Math, Engineering and Science (AMES) and Intermountain Christian placed in the top 10 for CottonCrest, Stowe was pleased with his student-athletes’ successes, which came in different forms.

For Hillcrest senior Matt Sebahar, it was about competing.

“Matt has been a part of our team recreationally for years. He decided to race and competed in senior open boys’ race at state, so that’s a great success,” Stowe said.

He also was proud for Hillcrest’s Alice Stephens who he said had a “stellar” season and capped it off with a 65thplace finish at state for freshmen girls.

Hillcrest seniors Kolby Butler and Braxton Little and Intermountain Christian junior Micah Autry all competed at the varsity level.

Hillcrest senior Kenna Stowe, coach Stowe’s daughter, was the lone female rider for the team who raced varsity.

“I’m pretty bummed with how it went because at the very beginning, there’s a really big pile up and I was stuck in the very back underneath everybody. I was the last to get up and get out of the gate,” she said about her overall 78th finish. “One of the girls just slammed on her brakes and caused everybody to just pile up.”

It also was a day with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, which the coach said were “horrible” and “memorable.”

“The wind picked up right at the start of my race and just continued to get worse,” Kenna Stowe said. “During my second lap, the gusts at the top on the plateau were literally pushing me off of the trail. It was deadly.”

She had placed in the top 15 in every race prior to state.

“I thought my season went pretty well. I reached my goal of racing varsity. My fitness wasn’t exactly where I wanted it to be because I got sick three times over the summer, so I didn’t have that much time to train,” she said, adding that she wanted to meet the challenge of racing varsity, which competes an extra lap on the courses. “It was still really fun and still really difficult.”

Kenna Stowe began mountain biking after her older brother Kaden started into the sport. Their dad started as CottonCrest’s assistant coach and moved into the head role seven years ago as his children competed.

“My dad said, ‘We’re going to try something besides dancing to see if you like it. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it after this year,’” she remembered about her seventh-grade year. “But, at the end of the year, I really liked it, and we bought me a bike.”

The former Hillcrest Dance Company member now has switched gears.

“Biking just took over and takes up so much time, I’m not dancing anymore,” she said.

Throughout her years of biking, she has been coached by her dad.

“What’s been kind of cool to spend more time with him and he also talks with me a lot after my ride and helps me figure out how to get better. But it can be frustrating because he’s hard on me,” Kenna Stowe said. “Sometimes I’m fo-

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

cused and I’m pushing it really hard, and he will just make random comments about the day. So, I’ll be riding up the canyon as hard as I can, and he’ll be like, ‘just look at the nature.’”

Her dad explained that he was “trying to divert her attention because she hyperfocuses on the workout.”

Kenna Stowe then said, “I was looking down at my bike, wishing for it to be over. I like what I get from (the hard workouts), but I just don’t like doing them. I like that I get a lot of power from them and that helps me in my races.”

Stowe said often workouts are designed to help riders in their races, but through it all, he’s appreciated coaching his kids.

“One of the most wonderful things about coaching my daughter is I’ve been able to watch her growth and be so close to it,” he said. “It’s become a family thing for us. We’ve been able to spend a great amount of time together and it’s just been super unifying experience. It’s also created a unique relationship with my daughter and I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to spend this time with her in high school.”

Even though her senior high school season is over, her biking career isn’t.

She plans to continue competing. This May, her family plans to take part in the 12-hour ride, 217-mile loop as a relay team around Mesa Verde National Park. She also plans to ride in the six-hour endurance race in the Hurricane, Utah rim area.

Kenna Stowe isn’t the only one who is parting from the CottonCrest team. Her dad, who placed third in the state coaches race, has stepped aside to let others lead the team.

“We have great people that will be running the team,” he said, adding that there are nine seniors graduating or about one-quarter of the team. “It has been a great experience to watch these students go from freshman to seniors

and be someone that can provide them with a safe place to learn valuable life lessons. My No. 1 rule is no cliques so it’s fun to watch these kids come together through one common sport. Coaching our team is one of the most impactful things I’ve ever done in my life. Watching a new high school kid become an athlete and their parents who have never mountain biked before, are supporting practices and then, they’re racing, and it creates a new communication line for a parent and a child. It’s been everything for me and my family, and it’s just been so impactful to watch.”

The support and camaraderie of the sport became apparent from his son’s first race in Vernal.

“I was so used to every other sport where parents from opposing teams are typically yelling about a foul or ‘your kid did this.’ When my son finished the course, and it was obvious he had crashed as he was covered in dirt, I was walking toward him and this other parent from another team starts talking to him. Initially, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, no, here we go again.’ But that person said, ‘Dude, you had such a cool race. Did you wipe out?’ He was just totally rooting him on, and my son’s face changed. You could see the sun in his eyes. He brightened up and told him the story of his race. From that time on, I wanted to try and infuse this family feeling into the team. I’ve wanted to make sure that it was inclusive for every kid because mountain biking is a great place for anyone to come and learn about themselves. I’ll miss the friendships and closeness of the sport.”

His daughter agrees.

“I’ve had a lot of support in my races, the girls, their parents, the boys; it’s been super awesome,” she said. “I’m friends with a bunch of kids from different schools. They’ll come up and talk to me after my race and ask, ‘How did it go?’ I’ve made a bunch of good friendships.” l

Nineteen CottonCrest mountain bikers competed at state in coach Anthony Stowe’s last season. (Photo courtesy of CottonCrest mountain biking team)

New Hillcrest High region expected to support student-athletes, fans

Havingschoolwide student involvement was a critical factor when Hillcrest High’s principal and athletic director were jockeying for a position in the new Utah High School Activities Association’s realignment of regions for 2023-25.

“We got together with Jordan, Murray and Cottonwood (high schools) prior to all the meetings happening and we discussed that we really wanted to get more student involvement at games,” Hillcrest High Athletic Director Scott Carrell said. “After our away football game at Jordan, where we had 500-plus students from Hillcrest there, we felt it would be a good idea to really kind of push to get all of us in the same region. It was nice that it worked out and we’re excited for that it’s going to help us over the next two years, getting more kids out to games to support our student-athletes.”

This upcoming region, Hillcrest drops to 4A to compete against not only Jordan, Murray and Cottonwood, but also Stansbury, Tooele, and Park City high schools. Initially Stansbury and Tooele were to compete with Utah County schools, but geographically, it made more sense for them to compete with this region and for Uintah High in Vernal to travel south, Carrell said.

With the region alignment two years ago, Carrell said Hillcrest’s “primary reason was trying to boost participation in athletics. In most of our sports it really did help us and we saw a lot more participation.”

He said that boys’ basketball and boys’ soccer had 80 and 90 student-athletes try out and 42 girls for softball, all up from the low numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, it made it difficult to maintain a fan base. The past two years, with Hillcrest High in 5A region 7, students and fans had to travel three hours east to Uintah, hours south to Payson and Cedar Valley high schools and

Huskies readying its high-quality drill team for state

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

west to Stansbury and Tooele high schools. Cottonwood has been the only nearby high school.

As a result, fan attendance at away games fell. So far this season, only a student yearbook photographer has traveled to a competitor’s gym for a girls’ basketball game, two hours away at Duchesne High for a non-conference game.

Travel also influenced Carrell’s and Principal Gregory Leavitt’s thinking.

“Mr. Leavitt and I sat down, and we said, ‘Our student sections are amazing at our home football games. We have a ton of students even if we don’t have the best team out there,’” he said, adding that currently, the school is interviewing for a new coach after the resignation of former head football coach Brock Bryant. “We want to make sure that we can try to find a way to help them be able to travel because they’re not going to be able to travel to Uintah, to Payson, to Cedar Valley and those schools all the time, but we want them to be as involved as possible. So having schools close enough where we could build school spirit was one of our big focuses for this alignment.”

Carrell also hopes to continue to support the nearby rivalry with Brighton High in all sports, not only with the Battle of the Axe in wrestling.

Wrestling, however, will be one of the sports that faces the biggest competition in 4A as strong programs at Payson and Uintah also were realigned to 4A, he said.

“The region will be really evenly matched around so we feel like it will be a good move for the whole school except the classification is going to be brutal on wrestling. Wrestling has some of the best teams in the state are now in 4A with Payson, Uintah, Mountain Crest and Bear River (high schools),” Carrell said.

When the current region was formed, Leavitt liked it as it would give students a chance to compete with students on their level.

“We chose to be more competitive than geographic,” Leavitt said. “Our records speak for themselves. Our kids are playing harder and trying harder, but we want to be competitive. It will help us to develop our student-athletes and most of the coaches feel good about the region.”

The result of that desire has been mixed. This past year, Hillcrest girls’ tennis squad won the region title and boys’ and girls’ soccer placed second and third, respectfully.

However, football was winless, and baseball scored a single win.

“A lot has to do with coaches’ turnover and our athletes,” Carrell said. “When we were looking at region this year, it also came down to our enrollment numbers, with our small senior and junior classes. We wanted to keep up our participation numbers, both on the field and in the student sections. We’ve missed having those away games with our natural boundary schools and I think our community misses those too. We’re excited for this region.” l

Hillcrest High drill team opened its season at Herriman High’s invitational in December 2022, taking first place in pom as well their show piece where they dressed as chameleons. HD also snagged second in dance and fourth in military for a second-place overall finish. This season’s schedule included Bountiful and Roy invitationals before region on Jan. 21 at Cedar Valley. State semifinals were Feb. 1 and finals, Feb. 4 at Utah Valley University. (Julie Slama/City Journals) l

Hillcrest High student-athletes, seen here in the 2022 state softball playoffs, will compete in 2023-25 against the local high school teams of Jordan, Murray and Cottonwood in region as well as Stansbury, Tooele and Park City. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Utah must be nimble to adapt to an evolving landscape

Irecently toured Lone Peak Hospital in southern Salt Lake County. This facility, in the heart of one of the fastest growing areas of Utah, must adapt to the constantly changing economic and demographic landscape. Although the hospital opened its doors only 10 years ago, it just completed a major expansion, including nearly doubling its bed count and expanding its women’s services, surgical services, and interventional radiology services. It is also expanding into other communities, including Herriman, Riverton, and South Jordan.

To survive and thrive in our changing environment, all businesses must remain nimble and responsive to the needs of a growing population.

Our state continues to grow. Utah’s population topped 3.4 million last year, and grew by more than 61,000 people, according to the recently released 2023 Economic Report to the Governor. This is like adding a new city the size of Herriman every year. And Utah remains one of the fastest growing states in the nation.

Our birth rate is slowing. One of the traditional unique characteristics of Utah’s population growth is that because of our high fertility rate, most of the population growth has come from “natural increase” — the number of births minus deaths in the year. However, in recent years Utah’s fertility rate dropped and is now lower than South Dakota, Nebraska,

By Robert Spendlove, Zions Bank Senior Economist

and North Dakota. But Utah recently saw a resurgence in births. For the first time since 2008, Utah births increased, topping 46,000 in 2022.

Migration is driving our growth. On the other hand, Utah has seen a migration surge in recent years. The Utah Population Committee estimates that net migration (in-migration minus out-migration) brought more than 38,000 new residents to our state in 2022. This represents 62% of the total population growth in Utah and it is the highest number of people moving into the Beehive State in a single year.

Growth is a struggle and a blessing. There is no doubt that our state has struggled under the weight of high population growth and high migration. Population growth puts greater strains on roads, schools, housing, public utilities, natural resources, and social services. It is vital for civic leaders across the state to appropriately plan for population growth and build the infrastructure necessary to support these new residents. And we must all adjust to higher demand for our limited resources as the population grows.

However, while population growth produces challenges, it is much better than the alternative. Many states in our country are currently experiencing the struggles of population loss. In these states, governments struggle to fix roads, bridges, and infrastructure; businesses struggle with decreasing demand as customers move away; and housing price growth slows or drops as people leave. On the other side of the world, China just announced that for the first time since 1961 the country’s population shrank. A shrinking population will cause the supply of workers to shrink, which may cause productivity and overall economic growth to languish.

Supporting the needs of China’s aging population will place a greater strain on workers and taxpayers as the dependency ratio increases.

Utah is blessed to have unmatched natural beauty, a high quality of life, and a strong and vibrant economy. Businesses are attracted to our state because of our strong and growing workforce, which is driven by strong population growth. And nimble companies and communities will be able to thrive in our growing state. l

If you’d told me 20 years ago that I’d be a yoga instructor, I’d have laughed hard enough to tear a hamstring because I was very inflexible.

I took my first yoga class as a dare. My tennis instructor laughed at how tight I was and challenged me to try yoga. I hated every minute of that stupid class. I hated the words and I hated the poses and I hated the teacher and I loathed downward facing dog with a fiery passion.

But I realized my tennis instructor was right. My muscles were as tight as two-byfours, but less bendy. So I kept going back to yoga. Hated it every single time.

After about two months of practicing yoga, I noticed, little by little, my flexibility was improving. I could almost touch my toes without the usual amount of grunting and tears. My hips didn’t scream out loud while doing pigeon pose. My shoulders dropped away from my ears, where I’d held them at strict attention for decades. Even my back stopped hurting each time I rolled out of bed.

I grudgingly had to admit yoga wasn’t the hippy-dippy dumpster fire I thought it was. But learning the poses was just the beginning. As I explored yoga’s history, philosophy and favorite recipes, I came to realize yoga was a lifestyle that encouraged, nay demanded, self-love and com-

A bit of a stretch

Peri Kinder

Life and Laughter

passion.

Yikes. As a lifelong subscriber to self-loathing, I wasn’t sure how to handle that type of ideology. Just like when I started the physical practice, I took lots of tiny, baby steps toward accepting myself as a worthy human.

Fast forward 20 years and not only do I teach yoga but I LOVE yoga with a fiery passion. Yoga has changed me in so many ways. I used to be sarcastic, cynical and snarky but after studying yoga for so many years, I’m a sarcastic, cynical and snarky yoga instructor.

See. People change.

I’m also much less judgmental. I’m not so hard on myself and I give most people the benefit of the doubt. Most people. Maybe someone can propose a bill that would require our legislators to take a yoga class each morning before discussing the divisive and harmful bills proposed

this year. OK, when it comes to our lawmakers, I’m still pretty judgmental.

Being a yoga instructor is super silly. As an instructor, I get to say things in class that don’t make a whole lot of sense, and my students listen to me!

I’ll say, “Breathe in through your collarbones, breathe out through your kneecaps. Inhale to fill up your armpits, exhale to release tension in the ear lobes.”

Or I’ll instruct students to “Melt into the mat, send energy out of your fingertips, ground through your sitz bones, wring out your body and lengthen the crown of your head.” And I’m totally serious. (Laugh emoji)

My yoga practice has evolved from trying to do the most difficult poses and making my students sweat and swear, to focusing on deep stretches and stress-reducing breathing exercises.

It isn’t about who can be the bendy-est or the one who can hold crow pose for five minutes. It’s about appreciating what my body can do today. Not what I think it should do or what I want it to do tomorrow, but what it can accomplish right now.

I appreciate all the yoga teachers who took this rigid block of a body and mind and transformed it into a pliable, warm and accepting human being. My hamstrings thank you. l