April 2019 | Vol. 19 Iss. 04
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Senior prom takes on whole new meaning By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
C
ouples, dressed in their finery, were dancing under the lights and disco balls to the deejay as he played a little this and that — from today’s pop songs like Cupid’s “Cupid Shuffle” to the 1970s and 1980s hits of Wham’s “Wake Me Up” and Village People’s “YMCA,” from Elvis’ 1950s hit “Jailhouse Rock,” to even back earlier with the Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” Even though this senior prom had a king and queen who swayed to the last dance together, it took on a twist. It included both senior high school students and senior citizens dancing together. “We are having a ball,” said 101-year-old Mary Ida Hunt. “What’s not to like? We have music, we have dancing and we have high school guys.” The Cedarwood at Sandy senior living community hosted local high school students from Corner Canyon and Alta high schools to their prom night of the “Roaring ’20s” on Feb. 28, where Hunt, a 1938 high school graduate, danced the Charleston, the rock, the two-step — and even “YMCA.” Cedarwood Executive Director Jesse Buntjer had hoped for this outcome. “We wanted seniors in high school to connect with seniors in our community,” he said. “The two generations can laugh, dance and have fun together and make this milestone memorable.” The two generations also took part in the preparations as Cedarwood’s senior resident council and members of Corner Canyon High’s 35-member Peer Leadership Team (PLT) met beforehand. “PLT is a service-learning class where they are out in the community, gaining experience serving others so they can build the skills they need to take up leadership roles and gain a better sense of community,” Corner Canyon teacher Russ Boyer said. “They learn cooperation, collaboration, critical thinking — skills they can use in college and throughout their lives — and they can find something they’re passionate about, which they can contribute to at the same time.” Senior Corrine Tousley was one of four students who helped plan the event, which not only featured dancing, but
talent of the prom guests, as well as a photo booth with pearls, feathered headbands and boas and other props. “We typically help with Head Start and Meals on Wheels, but when they came to us, I was super excited,” she said. “Our teacher thought it was a fun idea and I love the elderly, and often go visit on my own time, so I wanted to be involved. I think it’s a great opportunity to interact with the elderly. I love hearing stories; there is so much value uniting our generations.” Joining Tousley with the planning were classmates Sophie Chernosky, Kiara D’Amico and Madison Gastelo. In addition, some Alta High students attended, guests of the Corner Canyon students, including Alta High’s student body president Traven England, who was named prom king. “I wasn’t expecting it,” the Alta senior said. “A friend invited me to come and I was just expecting to dance since I used to be on the ballroom team. It’s just awesome to have fun with these residents in our community.” Cedarwood’s Kristi Nielsen was honored with a crown and sash as the prom queen. Her sisters, Karla Ney and Karen Neilsen, were among those who clapped for her. “Everybody loves her,” said Ney, who also is Cedarwood’s resident council president. “She’s mentally challenged, but her smile draws people near her. She wasn’t able to go to high school back then and our family didn’t have money, so this is our first prom. It’s been incredible whether we’re 82 or 18. It’s such a happy time with the residents all dressed up dancing with these darling young people who came here to join us. It’s just been amazing.” Before their dance together as king and queen, several others were getting in their kicks, including Mary Lou Banks, who will be 87 in April. “We had sock hops and Sadie Hopkins at the end of the school year, prom — but nothing like this. It’s a lot of fun,” she said. Corner Canyon’s Tousley said it was planned as “a fun and lighthearted way to bridge the age groups together.” With smiles all around and several students dancing the night away with the seniors, resident Florence Roberts was just beaming as she was one of the last on the dance floor.
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Senior high school students and senior citizens dance together at the recent Cedarwood of Sandy senior prom, which invited Corner Canyon High School students. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
“It’s a ball of fun,” she said. “It’s just uplifting at a time in our lives, when we don’t think it’s ours anymore — this is just wonderful. It brings back memories of dances. I never went to prom, but now I have.”
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Salt Lake Valley’s epic pranksters show us ‘how to April Fools’
SANDY
C ITY OURNAL The Sandy City Journal is a monthly publication distributed directly to residents via the USPS as well as locations throughout Sandy. For information about distribution please email circulation@mycityjournals. com or call our offices. Rack locations are also available on our website. For subscriptions please contact: circulation@mycityjournals.com The views and opinions expressed in display advertisements do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions held by Loyal Perch Media or the City Journals. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the owner.
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By Jennifer J. Johnson | j.johnson@mycityjournals.com
F
rom placing a pair of live lobsters in the glove box of a paramour’s car to endorsing their boss as a disco-loving ninja on a global career website, to punking fans of the third-largest professional sports league in the world, Utahns know how to April Fools. The City Journals wanted to get up close and personal with some of the pranksters and the pranked in a sort of hall of fame. Look forward to hearing more of your stories, in the comments and for next-year’s piece. Food and fools: Lobsters, an imposter waiter, and under-the-table pranking Long-time radio and web celebs Todd Collard and Erin Fraser (“Todd and Erin”) involve one particular type of food, lobster, as an ongoing April Fools’ staple. One year, Todd, recalls, he actually placed the lobsters in the glove box of Erin’s car. There were no fatalities to report. Rather, the frenetic lobster game is part of the ongoing love affair of Salt Lake City area’s longest on-air-turned-over-web morning personalities. The imposter waiter… Dean Pierose is owner of Cucina wine bar, restaurant, and deli in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City. Pierose is long-term best friends with comedian Pat Mac. An April Fools’ prank provided the perfect opportunity for Pierose to meet his best friend’s wife. But a simple meet-and-greet is not Pierose’s style. Instead, Pierose convinced a fellow restaurant owner to let him stand in and wait the table that Mac and his wife occupied the night of April 1, 2011. Prepped about the woman being a teacher and her having attended the University of Idaho, the imposter waiter set out to be as insulting as possible, first complaining that the table’s former customers, “who must have been teachers,” stiffed him for a tip. On another visit by the table, Pierose slammed the University of Idaho, the woman’s alma mater, making fun of the college’s “Joe the Vandal” mascot, and identifying himself as identifying with the rival “Broncos” of Boise State. “He hit every button he could, to set her off,” laughed Mac. “Dean is a master prankster.” A little Disney’ll do ya, on April Fools Disney Channel actor, writer, and voice talent Jerry Straley just celebrated 30 years with Disney. “My goal is to make 10 million people laugh,” he shared. Straley estimates his role on the “Good Luck, Charlie” sitcom got him about halfway there, with more than five million views of the sitcom’s four seasons. Holladay-dwelling Straley routinely pokes fun at the area’s wealthy, and says
When not loving on her husband and on-air/over-internet personality Todd Collard, Erin Fraser’s go-to food is lobster. Not surprisingly, Todd has turned it into an April Fools’ go-to that enhances the couple’s relationship. (Photo Credit: ToddandErinDailyStream.com)
April Fools’ jokes include replacing upscale Grey Poupon whole-grain mustard with plain-yellow mustard at hoity-toity Holladay restaurants and making early-morning prank calls, indicating peoples’ butlers are taking the day off. Getting paid ‘under the table’ Saralynn White, a Cottonwood Heights copywriter and creative director/chief storyteller/owner of Salty Dog Marketing, recalls hijinks from now-defunct, but ever epic ad agency Dahlin Smith White. “They taped a sandwich under his desk and it started to reek,” she recalled, “but he couldn’t find what was smelling up the place because of where it was.” Writing the April Fools’ playbook Writer White has not only been pranked, but has pranked upon. One year, colleagues posted “disco” and “ninja” expertise as some of her unique skills on the LinkedIn professional website, comprising 500 million members globally. Professional colleagues of White can still find these skills on her profile today. Another year, White could not get her computer to respond to her keystrokes. Absolutely frustrated at the technological stalemate, she dialed in corporate 911 – the IT or information technology department. Who she credits as “ingenious” colleagues had taken a screenshot of her computer desktop. Pranksters made it so that every keystroke the increasingly frustrated White entered did nothing more than ping a static image, doing absolutely nothing to engage the computer’s functionality. April Fools’ Day: A Team Sport For the Utah Jazz franchise, April Fools’ Day has been good to the Jazz, with the team winning 65 percent of the games played April 1 over the past 33 years, including last year’s 121-97 blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves. This year, at 7 p.m. on April 1, the Jazz
square off against the Charlotte Hornets in hometown Vivint Arena. The team’s best prank came a few years ago, in 2015, when the Jazz punked fans, commentators, and even readers of the National Basketball Association by launching a new “look-and-feel” three-quarter-length pant. The news went official, with a mock press release and photo featuring Rudy Gobert (27) and Derrick Favors (15). April Fools’ DNA Brothers Jamison and Truman Carter grew up with their prank-playing family first in the Avenues and then Herriman. The two now reside in Salt Lake’s Marmalade neighborhood. The brothers recall stories of their mother’s receiving an April Fools’ Day bouquet of already-dead flowers from high-end florist Every Blooming Thing. Knowing that the bouquet likely cost her then-husband at least $50, their mother called in to complain. Right at that moment, while on the phone ripping the prank-engaging florists who were emphatically denying her description of the bouquet, an incredibly stunning, much bigger and more expensive arrangement arrived from Every Blooming Thing, with the same delivery person. Order restored. The Carter sons were pranked themselves, waking up one April Fools’ morning to a breakfast of meatloaf, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Luckily they tried the odd meal. Their mother, this time, was the prankster, having made Rice Krispie treat “meatloaf” with butterscotch “gravy” and ice-cream “potatoes.” And regarding our last set of pranks? Confession time: I am the mother of the Carters, recipient of dead bouquets, and chef of dreamy April Fools’ breakfasts. Even though it sounds like it could be, that is not a prank. Happy April Fools’ Day, Salt Lake County!
Sandy City Journal
Sandy residents make connections at RootsTech 2019 By Heather Lawrence | heather.lawrence@mycityjournals.com
RootsTech 2019 was held in the Salt Palace Convention Center on Feb. 27, 28 and March 1 and 2. There were over 20,000 attendees, including many from Sandy. (Heather Lawrence/City Journals)
M
any Sandy residents were among the 20,000 people who attended the fourday RootsTech 2019 conference held in Salt Lake City Feb. 27-28, March 1-2. Locals are happy that access to this international event is in their own backyard. “We had people attend from all 50 states and from 38 countries. Technologies were highlighted, along with hundreds of how-to classes for beginners, enthusiasts and families,” said Tyler Shaun Stahle, marketing and communications manager for RootsTech. Peggy Lander of Sandy was there look-
ing for some help with her family history. “I’m here for the whole four days. I’m on a journey to understand my father’s side and his family tree,” said Lander. Lander, who also attended in 2017, struck it lucky. “I actually found a whole family tree that I didn’t know existed. I attended a class this morning that was really helpful. It was on connecting your immigrant family and finding those records,” she said. Lander’s parents were both immigrants. “My mother was from the Netherlands, and my father was from a Dutch colony in Indonesia. I got some hints on how to find immigration records,” Lander said. Her tip for finding information was to put in the effort. “I think the experience here is as good as the time and effort you put into it. You need to talk to people and visit the displays and find the right classes that meet your goals. I’m working on a story that will hopefully be a book one day,” said Lander. Bob Taylor of Sandy was at RootsTech giving presentations on a free online tool he developed called the Family History Guide. “I was serving as a consultant at the Granite Family History Center and I kept getting the same questions from people about how to use Family Search. I thought there must be a more efficient way,” he said. FamilySearch is the family history pro-
gram developed and used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since Taylor had a background in instructional design, he designed a helpful website. Eventually, he was contacted by FamilySearch, who wanted to partner with him in developing the program. “They realized that we had created the step-by-step instructions that so many people needed to be able to use FamilySearch. We filled a niche they had wanted filled. Now we are an official training resource,” said Taylor. The Family History Guide has since added instructions for using Ancestry, My Heritage and Find My Past. “The feedback from people who stop by the booth is 95 percent positive. One woman left our training Thursday and said, ‘I’m going to do cartwheels out of here.’ We work with family history groups and doing presentations to wards and stakes. We’re really a grassroots organization. People hear about us by word of mouth,” said Taylor. Susan Holt was another Sandy resident getting information out at RootsTech. Holt serves as the Utah State Regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). “We are a national society, with chapters in each state. We currently have nine chapters in Utah; we are working to organize a 10th that will include Riverton, Herriman, Bluff-
dale and Daybreak,” Holt said. Holt and other DAR members ran a booth teaching people how to join. “People don’t realize that we have a presence here in Utah. They wonder if we are the same as the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, but we are different and separate from that organization,” Holt said. Applicants must be females age 18 or older. They must be able to prove that they have a direct line to someone, male or female, who was a patriot. That could mean a woman’s ancestor fought in the Revolution, or gave assistance to the patriot cause. “The DAR works to educate citizens about patriotism, we work with veterans and we do community service. It’s not just a genealogical society,” Holt said. With new technology comes more access to records. “We are learning more all the time, and with that, our demographic focus has shifted. We want all ethnic groups with patriot ancestors to be included. We’re finding records for African American, Spanish and Native American patriots, and welcome them all,” said Holt. RootsTech 2019 also included speakers such as actress Patricia Heaton and Saroo Brierley, whose life story inspired the movie “Lion,” and a dance presentation by former Sandy resident and nationally recognized dancer Derek Hough.
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n Sunday, March 10, the congregations of Mountain View Christian Assembly (MVCA) in Sandy and Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in Murray each hosted a performance of the African Children’s Choir. Since 1984, the choir has performed internationally and raised funds to support education in Africa. MVCA has a long-running relationship with the choir and hosts them every three or four years. “It’s been our honor to have the choir here over the past 20 years. We’ve always been impressed with the spirit and mission behind what they do. There’s lots of shouts and clapping when we announce they are returning!” said Pastor Ken Krueger of MVCA. The choir is made up of about 15 boys and girls ages 7–10. The performance included spirited choreography and multiple costume changes. The children were led and accompanied by two former members who tour with them and are referred to as “Auntie” and “Uncle.” Uncle Ronnie sang and played drums with the choir while Auntie Debbie directed them. Both Ronnie and Debbie sang as children with Choir 21 in 2001. Ronnie described his time with the choir as “his life’s greatest miracle,” because it gave him the opportunity to get a college education. Standard Christian hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” got spirited updates. New songs created for the choir went along with the theme, “Just as I am.” Pastor Jenna Berthoud, office administrator for MVCA, made the connection between this year’s choir and past choirs. “They’ve been coming since at least 2001 when Uncle Ronnie, who is now a choir leader, was a child and member of the choir,” said Berthoud. At the evening concert at Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in Murray, the hall was packed and extra chairs were set up to accommodate the guests for the free event. MerriLee Zaba works with the Discipleship Ministry for Cottonwood Presbyterian. “We heard about the choir originally through our pastor Tom Abbott and his wife. We hosted a concert here a couple years ago, and now they reach out to us when they’re coming through,” Zaba said. “The kids are just beautiful! They’re talented, they’re full of energy and full of grace and beauty,” said Zaba, who was at the church with her husband and children for the performance. While the children are touring, they have the chance to stay with host families. “We host them in our homes. That’s fun too, because we get to know them and connect with them,” Zaba said.
The African Children’s Choir performed at Mountain View Christian Assembly in Sandy and Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in Murray on March 10. (Heather Lawrence/City Journals)
Berthoud’s family were also hosts. “We have four kids of our own and we hosted two of the kids, Emmanuel and Joshy, in our home. They came with their chaperone Riley, and were the epitome of respect and good manners,” Berthoud said. The kids soaked up fun elements of American culture. “We played Uno Attack where the cards shoot out. They loved it! And Emmanuel loved pushing the button that made our garage door go up and down. They are super sweet kids with adorable little accents and great laughs,” said Berthoud. A big element of the concert was fundraising for their group Music for Life. The choir members change out each tour, and alumni refer to themselves by which choir they were in (this was Choir 49). When the children finish touring, they go back home and have their schooling paid for. There is a strong Christian element to their education. The website, africanchildrenschoir. com, says, “Music for Life provides thousands of impoverished children throughout Africa with the education, discipleship and leadership skills needed to rise above their conditions so they can bring positive, lasting change to their families, communities, and countries.” Zaba said she appreciated the opportunity her church had to bring the choir to the Murray area. “We really love the opportunity to serve our community. We love the mission (of the choir), which is raising money for education for children in Africa. Even children who aren’t a part of the choir go through education programs that are funded by the choir.” When kids went backstage for a costume change, short videos with voiceovers were shown. Many videos told stories of what funds could do for the children. A highlight of the show was the introductions. Each child had the chance to tell the
audience his or her name, age and what he or she wanted to be as a grown-up. The answers varied from doctor and lawyer to musician and pastor. Krueger of MVCA appreciates the work that’s done once the kids get home to Africa. “From what I understand of their time with the choir, it doesn’t end with the tour. Rather, their lives are changed and they are propelled into lives and jobs that serve the betterment of society and them as individuals,” he said. Tour leader Auntie Janelle said, “Despite their challenging circumstances, these kids have refused to lose hope. They represent the tremendous potential that is found in Africa. They have traveled halfway across the world to share their faith, their hope and their joy with you.”
The African Children’s Choir performed at Mountain View Christian Assembly in Sandy and Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in Murray on March 10. (Heather Lawrence/City Journals)
Sandy City Journal
Local fitness guru wins Trainer of the Month award from national magazine By Heather Lawrence | heather.lawrence@mycityjournals.com
R
yan Carver has something most gyms don’t: septuagenarians enjoying their retirement in improved health. Carver has found his niche giving his mostly senior clientele a dose of exercise, the most powerful medicine he knows. Carver works for Leverage Fitness Solutions, a gym located on the border of Cottonwood Heights and Sandy. He was surprised to find out he’d been named Personal Fitness Professional magazine’s Trainer of the Month in the January/February 2019 edition. “I’ve written articles that were picked up by the magazine. I filled out the application for the award, but didn’t really think I’d win,” Carver said. Heidi Campo, one of his colleagues at Leverage, wasn’t surprised. “I was very happy for him because I thought he deserved it. He’s dedicated to learning, to betterment of himself and his clients,” Campo said. Campo started working with Carver after she heard him at a speaking engagement. “He’s nationally recognized in our field. We really see people’s lives change. The strength they gain is a testament to the exercise lifestyle,” said Campo. She described how one of her clients came in and all he could do was “the Kmart shuffle — it’s where you lean on the cart and
kind of shuffle along. But the stronger they get, the more life they get back,” Campo said. Carver said his career really found him. “I graduated from the University of Utah and was working as a strength coach. I thought I’d work with athletes as a career. It’s a tough field to get hired in, so I started personal training on the side,” said Carver. Then something happened: he got clients. And they followed a certain demographic. “We serve retirees and empty nesters. And we’re on a crusade and a mission. We’re working with people who are on medications and have complicated medical histories. This demographic is the most challenging, and I love the challenge. It’s like a puzzle,” Carver said. Cody Lockling is the associate director of Sports Performance for Olympic Sports at the University of Utah and has known Carver for years. “I’m impressed by his motivation to learn. The longer people are in the field the more complacent they get. He finds ways of staying hungry to learn every day,” Lockling said. One of Carver’s requirements for his trainers is education. They all hold certifications that require a four-year college degree. Client Darren Young said working with
Carver has made a difference. “I’ve been with him four years. The biggest reason I went was to get my strength back. He helped me lose the last 15 pounds and I’ve never been healthier. It’s something I needed. I need someone to report to,” Young said. Another client, Stephen Fisher, was a runner his whole life, but thought he needed to stop when he got a herniated disc. Carver got him back into running again the right way. “He’s helped me build my core so my back doesn’t hurt the way it used to. I’m back into running again this year. I wish I’d met someone like him 30 years ago. I would have been smarter about a lot of the things I’d tried to do,” Fisher said. “Ryan definitely deserves this award. I heard about him by word of mouth, and didn’t think I needed a trainer. I’m pretty skeptical, but he really tailored a program just for me, and I’m sold,” Fisher said. Carver said exercise is for everyone, especially as they age. “People wait for retirement their whole lives. To get there and not be in good health is a kick in the pants. These people come to me not because they want beach bodies; that’s so fleeting. They are in it for the long haul. They want to improve their lives, and it’s so inspiring,” said Carver.
Ryan Carver works with client Steven Fisher. Carver is on a mission to bring health through exercise to the aging population. (Photo courtesy Ryan Carver)
Personal Fitness Professional magazine is an industry magazine that’s published every other month throughout the United States and Canada. Since Carver has won a Trainer of the Month award, he is now eligible to win the 2019 Trainer of the Year award. The online version of the article can be found at www.fit-pro.com.
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What’s new? Checking in with the Sandy Fire Department By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com If you see a sleek and shiny new 110-foot-long, $1.3 million vehicle rolling down the streets of Sandy, odds are it’s the Sandy Fire Department’s brand new ladder truck. The new truck is just one of many recent additions to the Sandy Fire Department that combine to help make the department one of the best in the valley, at least according to Chief Bruce Cline. The new ladder truck is an important addition to the department’s fleet because its previous ladder truck was nearing two decades of service. Especially considering the increasing number of high-rise buildings that dot Sandy’s skyline, having a more modern ladder truck is much more than a luxury. “Before our tallest building was the Jordan Commons building. It’s 10 stories tall. But now we’re hearing reports of anything
from 13 to 20 stories. You have to start looking at whole different fire operations,” said Cline. The city will retain its old ladder truck as well so it can be available if the new truck is in the shop. “In a worst case fire-of-all-fires scenario, we could even use both trucks,” said Cline. Over the past few years the department has also replaced its fleet of ambulances with new four-door ambulances. The extra row of passenger seating means family members of the patient can ride along in the ambulance with them. “It’s so important to keep a family intact if you have to take someone to the hospital,” said Cline. “It’s nice to say, ‘Would you like to ride with us?’ Often they’re not in the right state of mind to be driving when their loved one is sick or injured.”
The Sandy Fire Department’s new four-door ambulances make it easier for patients’ family members to ride along with them to the hospital. (Courtesy of Sandy Fire Department)
The Sandy Fire Department’s new 110-foot-long ladder truck shows off its impressive reach. (Courtesy of Sandy Fire Department)
Newer ambulances also translate to smoother rides for the patients themselves. “It’s surprising how many people come to the hospital and they say, ‘Man that was a rough ride,’” said Cline. In the same vein, the department has also acquired new machinery that lifts stretchers into the back of the ambulance. Besides being more comfortable for the patient, it also helps cut down on injuries to firefighters and paramedics. “We used to get two to four people on both sides of the gurney to lift them into the ambulance. Now you just push a button and it lifts them. They’re expensive but they’re well worth the cost of a back injury,” said Cline. And perhaps most importantly, all this new equipment is being operated by firefighters who recently got a pay raise. Last year the Sandy city budget included a restructured
compensation structure for both the police and fire departments. “All the departments in the valley are struggling to hire high-quality people,” explained Cline. “Not a lot of people want to be firefighters, so what we’re finding is that the best firefighters are moving around the valley depending on who is offering the best pay.” Now that the compensation for Sandy’s firefighters is more comparable to surrounding cities, Cline said it’s become much easier to retain the kinds of people that make the department what it is. “Sandy is the best fire department to work at,” said Cline. “We have great people and a great community to work and serve in.”
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Dimple Dell Earth Day Cleanup returns for third year By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com
Volunteers at the 2018 Earth Day cleanup collectively hauled out 10,000 pounds of trash from Dimple Dell Park. (Justin Adams/City Journals)
F
or the third year in a row, the Dimple Dell Preservation Community (DDPC) is hosting an Earth Day–affiliated cleanup of Dimple Dell park. Last year the event drew over 500 volunteers who collectively hauled out over 10,000 pounds of garbage and invasive weeds from the massive park that stretches across nearly all of Sandy City. This year’s iteration will take place on Saturday, April 27, at 9 a.m. (the Saturday after Earth Day). Volunteers will be gathering at the Wrangler Trailhead, located just south of the Smith’s grocery store on 1300 East. Monica Zoltanski, the founder of the DDPC, said this year’s effort will be particularly focused on removing certain species of invasive weeds such as myrtle spurge, cocklebur and thistle. Volunteers should bring their own gloves and wear long sleeves and pants because some people may be allergic to myrtle spurge, said Zoltanski. Good hiking shoes,
S andy Journal .com
sunglasses and water bottles are also recommended. Volunteers (large groups in particular) are encouraged to register beforehand by RSVPing to the event on Facebook, which can be found through the Dimple Dell Preservation Community’s page. Zoltanski emphasizes that the cleanup is a family event. Last year’s cleanup saw volunteers of all ages, ranging from very small children to the elderly. It also brought together a wide variety of people: Boy Scout troops, church groups, corporate volunteers, outdoor adventures and of course some good old tree-loving hippies. All volunteers are welcome. “We can find work for everybody that comes that day,” said Zoltanski. In addition to volunteers, the DDPC is also looking for local business partners for the event, either to help with supplies or to make a donation. (The DDPC is a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.)
April 2019 | Page 9
Sandy’s Civil War By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com Amid the well-publicized water contamination crisis in Sandy City, only the most engaged of Sandy residents would have noticed that a second crisis—which has been building for over a year—was culminating at the same time. Several local news reporters who attended the Feb. 26 Sandy City Council meeting to continue their coverage of the ongoing water crisis were surely surprised when they first had to sit through two hours of internal political squabbles made public as the city administration and the city council made accusations of lies, leaks and illegal behavior against one another. A full summary of the events of that night is on page 11) It wasn’t a pretty sight, and multiple residents walked away calling it an embarrassment to the city. Any Sandy resident in attendance that night would have asked how this happened, and what’s being done to improve the relationships within Sandy City’s government. Those are the questions the Sandy Journal asked both the mayor’s office and the city council via email the very next day. In response, Mayor Kurt Bradburn sent an email to all members of the council saying he wouldn’t be responding to those questions, and encouraged all council members to do likewise. “We owe it to those we serve to treat each other with dignity and respect and re-
solve our differences professionally,” said Bradburn in the email. The request worked, as every sitting council member declined to answer questions from the Sandy Journal about the situation. While the silence may be a sign that all parties have resolved to keep their disputes private, it still doesn’t answer the core question that concerns many Sandy residents: Is the current Sandy government capable of doing its job effectively? While a certain degree of tension between branches of government is good and healthy for democracy, at a certain point it negatively impacts that government’s ability to do its job. “I believe Sandy is past that point and both branches have difficulty performing their responsibilities,” said Steve Smith, who was a Sandy City councilor until last year and now frequently attends meetings as an engaged citizen. He agreed to give the Sandy Journal some insight into how these problems arose and whether or not he thinks they can be fixed. “The current tension is, in my opinion, a direct result of prior councils ceding too much legislative authority to (former Mayor) Tom Dolan. This was facilitated by the city attorney and Dolan’s senior staff under the guise of allowing flexibility and not burdening the council with hard decisions,” he said. While Smith said he fought to reverse these changes during his tenure, they re-
mained in place “because a majority of the council trusted Tom Dolan and were unwilling to risk his ire.” Now, according to Smith, Bradburn is using the same authorities granted to the administration, and the same council members who empowered Dolan now resent Bradburn for doing the same things. That analysis is echoed by a memorandum issued by Mike Applegarth, the executive director of the city council office. “Encroachment from the executive into the legislative is not new,” reads the memo. “Many, but not all, past and current council members operated with a high level of trust in the previous administration. As a result, council oversight was not rigorously exercised, and the administration filled those gaps … It seems that the decision to exercise oversight is largely dependent on the trust in the person who occupies the mayor’s office.” The memo goes on to call city council members to “put personality aside and exercise its authority based on the demands of the law, not who occupies” the mayor’s office. Why any current city council member dislikes Bradburn is a question only they can answer. However, Smith said that from his knowledge, distrust of the mayor stems from some of the new administration’s earliest actions. According to him, the administration “froze out” city council office staff from
cabinet meetings, “which had been used to coordinate things happening in the city with the council and to confirm the agenda for that week.” Evelyn Everton, Sandy’s deputy mayor, said that after Bradburn learned of the city council staff’s exclusion from cabinet meetings, “he asked city council staff to resume attending cabinet meetings. They did for a time but are currently choosing not to attend.” Smith also said there was a real, or at least perceived, us vs. them culture in the mayor’s office “that viewed anyone who had a good relationship with Tom Dolan as the enemy.” Everton disputed this characterization, noting that Bradburn’s “first act as mayor was to recognize the service of Mayor Dolan by naming the River Oaks Clubhouse in his honor.” “(Bradburn) has asked for meetings with each individual council member to resolve differences instead of airing grievances publicly. He has apologized on the record for any mistakes he has made. He has been more than willing to meet with any council member who requests a meeting to discuss any issue,” she said. As for whether or not the dysfunction will be resolved in the near future, Smith said he’s doubtful, based on the current and projected future makeup of the city council.
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Sandy city dysfunction takes center stage during city council meeting By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com
From left to right: Councilwoman Maren Barker, Mayor Kurt Bradburn and City Council Office Director Mike Applegarth. (Justin Adams/City Journals)
I
t took nearly two and a half hours on Feb. 26 for the Sandy City Council to work through two issues previously reported on by the Sandy Journal: a concern about city council office employees being removed from an email list and a concern about recent hires in the mayor’s office. Emails If you thought the minutiae of government emails was only a controversy in the federal government, think again. Mayor Kurt Bradburn quickly apologized on Feb. 26 for the removal of city council office employees from the city’s staff-wide email list, calling it an accident. In fact, before the meeting had even started, the employees and the city council had been placed back on the list. “This feels like something that could have been easily handled with a phone call, rather than an agenda item,” said Bradburn. City Councilmember Maren Barker also questioned the city council office employees’ decision to raise the issue through the forum of a city council meeting, rather than going to the city’s human resources department or by going to the administration directly. “This could have been fixed with a simple phone call,” she said. City Council Office Director Mike Applegarth said he and other city council office employees are “taking everything public” because previous attempts to work through the city’s HR department have “failed miserably.” Councilmember Steve Fairbanks questioned whether the removal of city council employees was even a mistake. “I think it’s part of a larger plan to marginalize the city council,” he said. “This administration has a history of telling us as little as possible.” Deputy Mayor Evelyn Everton told the Sandy Journal the day before the meeting that the decision to remove city council mem-
S andy Journal .com
bers from the email list was done in order to “not clog up inboxes.” However, Bradburn seemed to suggest that the withholding of information could have also been a retaliation. “You’ll forgive me if I’m a little tentative about what information I give you after you leaked sensitive personnel information to KSL,” he said, specifically referring to news reports about Public Works Director Tom Ward’s leave of absence that occurred before Bradburn’s press conference last week. Council Chair Kris Coleman-Nicholl told the Sandy Journal she only confirmed to the media what was already public information. Mayor’s office hires The city council’s discussion surrounding the recent hiring of two new positions within the mayor’s office focused on the discrepancy between the budget for the two positions (they’re being paid from the Chief Administrative Office budget) and the positions’ place within the administration’s organizational chart (they report to the mayor). Multiple motions were put forward by city council members to reconcile the issue but most were either met with legal questions by either the city attorney or the city council’s attorney. Multiple motions were voted down by the council. Eventually, and after a five-minute recess to discuss the issue, the council decided to postpone their decision to a later date, and directed both their legal counsel and the city attorney to provide them with possible courses of action. There are also questions about the suitability of the individual who landed one of the new positions, that of project analyst manager. A memorandum issued by the city council office stated that concerns over the individual’s “lack of qualifications … have caused much complaint” among the city staff. One such complaint, quoted anonymously in the memo, describes the individual as having “no experience,” and says that they only got the
job because of a personal relationship with the mayor. When the Sandy Journal inquired with the mayor about an apparent discrepancy between the job requirements of the position and the experience listed on the individual’s public LinkedIn account, he said he’s “very comfortable with the private experience she’s had.” Soon after, however, the LinkedIn profile was deleted. An illegal meeting? During council member business, Barker told the audience she felt like she had to speak out about what she saw as an illegal council meeting that took place on Sunday, Feb. 24. Barker said she was informed of the meeting the preceding Friday when she was notified by a notice issued by Coleman-Nicholl. “The order was given under the state code that allows the chair to order a special meeting. The problem is, the state code says that two council members must order a special meeting, not one,” said Barker. Barker said she tried to alert Applegarth, the city council director, about the problem on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “I received no responses from him all weekend,” she said. When Applegarth interjected to defend himself, Barker resisted, saying, “I am speaking and I would like to finish.” “Not right now you’re not,” he said. Applegarth went on to explain that he didn’t respond to Barker’s messages because he was with his family. “If I’m going to be accused of doing something naughty because on the weekend I don’t want to be bothered then I need to look for another job,” he said. Coleman-Nicholl told the Sandy Journal the emergency meeting was called in order to answer council members’ questions about GRAMA requests (Government Record Ac-
cess Management Act) related to the water crisis, for which they had a Monday deadline. The meeting also included a closed-door session to discuss pending or imminent litigation. The sequence highlighted that tension exists not only between the city administration and the city council, but within the city council itself. Reaction Councilmember Linda Martinez-Saville mourned the lack of communication within the city. “There’s no communication going on,” she said. “We never used to be in the newspaper or on the news. None of this would be happening if we would just communicate.” Amidst the proceedings, Councilmember Zach Robinson tweeted, “This is simply amazing.” Multiple residents also voiced their displeasure with the current state of the city government. “Over the past year it seems like council meetings have been geared as a nonstop from council at administration,” said Dea Theodore, who ran against Coleman-Nicholl for her seat in 2017. “It makes our city look bad. Really bad. You were not elected to make it look that way.” Jim Edwards, who has also run for city council in the past, spoke about how the council has fought Bradburn “tooth and nail” about everything from improving the council’s live streaming capabilities to his appointments. “Ever since the mayor got in I’ve seen conflict about stuff that doesn’t need to be there,” he said. “Let’s get down from the cliff and work together more agreeably.” Multiple residents throughout the meeting could be heard saying that the meeting was an “embarrassment” to the city.
April 2019 | Page 11
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Sandy City Journal
Safe Driving Habits
S
pring is upon us, summer is on the way; and with warmer temperatures and (hopefully) blue skies on the horizon, drivers can’t blame slick roads or blinding flurries for their faulty driving anymore. Driving safely requires good driving habits. Habits. Not occasionally safe maneuvers. The following are some prudent practices to implement in your daily travels.
drove over a nail and didn’t realize it. We often don’t look at the tires on the passenger side since we don’t approach the car from that direction, checking regularly allows you to examine those opposite side wheels. It will keep your car’s handling in its best condition. Each vehicle can have different appropriate PSI (measurement for tire pressure), but when temperatures drop, so Blinkers and blind spots Driving 101. If you plan on changing does the pressure in your tires. lanes, let others in on your secret. Everyone Keep car maintained will appreciate it. Others want to know what Since you’ll be regularly checking the you are planning. tires, might as well keep regularly schedLikewise, if you see a blinker come uled maintenance on your car. This can range on indicating your lane is that car’s desired from oil changes to transmission flushes. destination, let it in. This isn’t the Daytona Simply checking windshield washer fluid or 500. We are not racing for $19 million. It is the antifreeze level in your car’s reservoir can common courtesy, if we want people to use prevent serious issues happening on the road. their blinkers, then we should reward them Wash your car especially after storms for doing so. or if you’ve parked under a pine tree where Remember the blinker doesn’t automat- birds can drop their white business on the ically assume safe passage to the next lane. hood or sap could drip onto the roof. Left And while your car’s sensors in the rearview untreated, these outdoor stains can ruin the mirrors are helpful, they are not omniscient. paint on your vehicle. Check your blind spot with your own eyes. Drive defensively There’s a reason it’s called a “blind” spot. This means keeping distance between
troubling and you probably shouldn’t be behind a steering wheel. Also you can’t always see what’s in front of the car before you. They may have to slam on their brakes due to an unexpected obstruction. If you rear end them, insurance rarely works out in your favor. This can also mean slowing down on wet roads or not weaving in and out of traffic. Distractions This is the No. 1 reason for accidents. This is not limited to using the cell phone, though texting, checking news alerts or making a phone call are all terrible decisions to make while driving.
It also extends to dozing off or checking the price at the gas station you just passed. Be alert, stay vigilant. Other drivers may suddenly stop, they may not see you as you yield or turn. By staying engaged and sharp, your reactions can be sharper and you may even anticipate what other drivers are looking to do. One way to stay engaged is to vary your daily commute. Changing your routine alerts your brain, breaking you from the monotonous snooze you may find yourself after traveling certain routes hundreds of times. These habits are important and it is not overdramatic to say that they could save a life.
Tire pressure you and the car in front of you. This one is almost as simple as the first. Touching their bumper does nothing for Check your tire pressure on a regular basis you. And if you need to get that close to read to know if there is a small leak. Maybe you their license plate or sticker, your eyesight is
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‘OUR LITTLE FIGHTER’
Once given zero percent chance of survival, toddler finally home By Jennifer Gardiner | j.gardiner@mycityjournals.com
Z
ariah Donovan is not your ordinary 3-year-otld. In fact, many would say she has been more than extraordinary since the day she was born. Weighing only 1 pound 6 ounces when she entered the world on Sept. 13, 2015, Zariah, who after being given a zero percent chance of survival, came home after spending three years and four months in the hospital. Zariah started her journey after being born at just 23 weeks. No one knew at the time, but her tiny little body was about to conquer the struggle of a lifetime and inspire thousands of people across the world. When she was born, doctors told Zariah’s parents, Shawn Donovan and V. Thipsouvan of Sandy, their daughter only had a 15 percent chance of survival and faced the possibility of a plethora of medical issues including, among other things, blindness, hearing loss and cerebral palsy. Zariah’s father said the last three years have been a roller coaster. “Our little fighter has endured and conquered many trials over the last three years,” he said. “She has triumphed over heart surgery at three weeks of age, pneumonias, 12 blood transfusions, sepsis and lung collapse.” Despite being told numerous times that Zariah was not going to make it, she continued to push through every obstacle. But in 2016, Zariah’s parents were given the devastating news their little girl had the worst case of chronic lung disease the hospital had seen, and her chance of survival was zero percent in Utah. In a move that would end up saving Zariah’s life, Shawn gave up his career to be with his daughter around the clock while V. stayed back in Utah to take care of their other daughter, Raven. Now hundreds of miles away in Columbus, Ohio, Zariah’s condition started to improve. “Zariah went from a medically paralyzed and sedated baby to a smiling, interactive and thriving child,” said Shawn. “This 1,700-mile move gave Zariah a 96 percent chance of survival.” In December, Zariah and her family were told it was finally time for her to start her next journey, home to Utah. Although it would be a challenge to make the transition, with a plan in place, Zariah made her way to Primary Children’s Hospital, where she stayed until February. Then, after 1,221 days, her family was finally home together for the first time. Zariah’s journey continues with many challenges to
Zariah finding laughter through all her trials. (Photo Courtesy Donovan family)
overcome, but her father says she is working on taking steps and walking. “Our future holds extensive speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy,” said Shawn. “We know she will able to overcome these developmental challenges with the help of OT, PT and speech therapy.” Shawn says they do everything possible to to keep Zariah healthy by preventing her from getting sick. “Something as small as the common cold can send us back to the PICU,” said Shawn. “In a perfect world we are hoping to have Zariah off the vent in roughly two years. At that time, she will be able to run around like a normal little girl.” Shawn says being home has new hurdles to overcome, but overall Zariah is thriving at home. “Big sister Raven loves playing with sissy,” said Shawn. “It has been hard on our family taking on all of Zariah’s med-
ical cares, but with help from friends, family, neighbors and from the church we have been able to stay strong through this transition.” The journey has not come without its fair share of costs, however. Medical bills, therapy and having to convert their home into their own NICU has been costly. For anyone wishing to help, there is a GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com/ZariahStrong) where the family continues to provide updates on Zariah’s progress. Zariah continues to show the world her strength and her father says her perseverance has been life-changing to so many. “We are so blessed to call her our daughter. Her light and strength lifts us up during the unbearable moments,” said Shawn. “She has reminded us to treasure and celebrate every moment. We know in our heart that she can overcome anything. We continue to witness miracles daily.”
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Page 14 | April 2019
Sandy City Journal
Lion Dance, Monkey King, Ribbon Dance – all bring in Year of the Pig at Lone Peak By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
L
one Peak Elementary parent Kristy Bastian came to support her children in the dual immersion Chinese New Year program. What surprised her was to see her fifth-grade son, Luke, play the role of the monkey king. “I didn’t realize he was the actual monkey king — wow,” she said. “What a great opportunity for him to learn something extra, to be challenged in something he likes.” The monkey king was just one part of the Lone Peak celebration for the Year of the Pig. The program, which included the lion dance and ribbon dance, was the start of the day that included several rotations in the school multipurpose room for the entire studen tbody. The activities included kung fu, games, Chinese jump rope, marionettes, calligraphy, making red paper lanterns and the traditional Chinese national sport of jianzi. “Our goal is for the whole school to come together to see how much fun it can be to explore other cultures,” said parent volunteer coordinator Sarah Erwin.
Lone Peak students are surprised by the lion dance at the school’s Chinese New Year celebration. (Julie Slama/ City Journals)
Second-grader London Glover, who is in a neighborhood class, said she enjoys Chinese New Year celebrations at her school. “We get to celebrate and learn about the Chinese,” she said. “It’s fun to see the dragon and use chopsticks. This is my first time trying calligraphy.” Her classmate Lucy Smith said she learned about the importance of wearing red when she was a first-grader. “We learned about the story and watched a show about it,” she said. “What I like about dual immersion is learning Chinese. It’s almost like a secret language since my parents don’t know it, and I can speak to my friends in it.” Principal Tracy Stacy said that while her knowledge of Mandarin also is limited, she finds it valuable that the whole school participates in the Chinese New Year’s program. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our Lone Peak Eagles to experience different cultures,” she said. “It helps children understand and value each other for their differences.”
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April 2019 | Page 15
Middle school popularity of History Day Fair expands, Canyons holds own competition By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
Indian Hills seventh-grader Lauren Simons, who teamed up with classmates Sydney Roberts and Ella Marston, were questioned by Superintendant Jim Briscoe about their research on women’s suffrage leaders with their exhibit. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
W
ith the increasing interest in National History Day Fair, Canyons School District held its own middle school competition last year. This year, the numbers participating increased by 50 percent. “It used to be that our (middle) schools would just send students directly to regional competition, but now with more than individual teachers offering it to students, we’re seeing our biggest numbers,” said Scott Lambert, who coordinated the district’s History Day Fair Feb. 20. Last year, at the first district competition, 95 students took part with 60 individual or small group projects, and most attended Indian Hills and Union middle schools. This year, 140 students presented individually or with groups a total of 88 projects with five of the eight Canyons middle schools represented. Of those five schools, Albion had five students; Draper Park, three students; Indian Hills, 10 students; Midvale Middle, 18 students; and Union, 20 students who advanced to the regional round. Region was slated for March 21 at Salt Lake Community College’s Redwood Campus. “Teachers are learning the benefits — improved critical thinking, more extensive research, speaking and listening, writing, reading several sources. It’s broadening students’ skills and they’re becoming historians,” Lambert said. While each school participates differently, whether it’s part of a social studies assignment for seventh or eighth grade or maybe just a certain class, or if offered yearly or every other year, Lambert said his goal is to get all middle schools to participate — Mt. Jordan Middle plans to participate next year — as well as increase interest at the high school level. Currently, high school students automatically advance to the regional level since participation numbers are low locally.
Page 16 | April 2019
This year, he had judges from non-participating middle schools so those who aren’t familiar with the program could see it firsthand. Judges also were represented from Hillcrest, Brighton and Alta high schools. Through the National History Day (NHD) competition, students choose a historical topic, then conduct research in libraries, archives and museums and on the internet, conduct oral history interviews, and visit historic sites. Students analyze and interpret their materials, draw a conclusion about the significance of their topic and present their work in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary or a website. According to the NHD website, more than a half million sixth-grade through 12thgrade students nationwide participate in the contest, which every year introduces a theme for the competition. This year it “triumph and tragedy in history.” “It’s a broad theme, but students can address it many ways to show us about both sides,” Lambert said. “I’ve been impressed with some great ideas and research these kids have done.” Indian Hills At Indian Hills, all 400 seventh-graders participated, competing at their own school before advancing to district, said social studies teacher Kamil Harrison. “We had 230 projects at our school alone, and after being judged, 25 projects advanced to district,” she said. “Since we had seventh-graders in Utah Studies participate, we had all our projects focus on Utah topics. These ranged from the Candy Bomber to John Browning from internment camp at Topaz to the miracle of the seagull. We had projects on the transcontinental railroad, the invention of the television, the implant of the first artificial heart and the tragic death of Larry H. Miller.”
Through the project, Harrison said students learn to understand primary sources and often searched through the Library of Congress or Gale Research, sources they hadn’t used before. “They picked topics that didn’t know much about or hadn’t heard of before. Some of them are the coolest ideas, but they’re tough so they really put a lot of work into their projects,” she said, adding they also learned teamwork and time management skills. “It’s something we’ve embraced. It’s amazing to hear 13- and 14-year-olds talking about history.” Three students in Morgan Taylor’s social studies class were questioned by Supt. Jim Briscoe about their research on women’s suffrage leaders in their exhibit. Seventh-grader Lauren Simons, who teamed up with classmates Sydney Roberts and Ella Marston, said she learned Utah was the second territory to allow women to vote. “However, it was a tragedy that Utah didn’t succeed in becoming one of the first states to allow women to vote,” Sydney said. Albion Middle Nearby were Albion’s Zack Parker and Drew Stevens, who created their exhibit on Wild Bill Hickok. “We already were interested in him and knew a lot about him, but I didn’t know he didn’t like Calamity Jane,” Drew said about the 1860s gunslinger during the western expansion. His classmate said he learned about the gun Wild Bill used. “It was a specific 1851 Navy gun,” Zack said he learned about through research, which he said was included in the “bibliography that took a long time to do in MLA (Modern Language Association) format.” Union Middle Eighth-grader Laura Curtis entered the competition with her documentary on Amelia Earhart. She was one student from the largest delegations to the district contest, Lambert said. “I learned she was interested in medicine before becoming a pilot,” Laura said about the first woman to fly the Atlantic and set numerous flying records before disappearing while trying to fly around the earth at the equator. “I learned you can always start new things.” She also learned how to write an annotated bibliography as well as how to include pictures, tapes and other material into her first-ever website. “It’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” she said. Draper Park Middle Eighth-grader Ethan White also created a website in his first district competition. “This is a huge opportunity for kids, not just to learn history, but to be involved in discovering it,” he said. “I’ve been intrigued
about the stock market, but I learned about the tragedy when people lost their life savings. It was a devasting event.” Social studies teacher Jared Collette said he had all his students complete the project, but he didn’t require them to participate at district. “They learned to be creative in the project choice and how they presented what they learned,” he said. “But they also learned the importance of research and citing sources.” Midvale Middle Midvale Middle eighth-graders choose topics that ranged from learning about Freddy Mercury being a champion in rock ’n’ roll to Walt Disney’s propaganda films during World War II, from the Iranian Revolution to a better education for Honduras, said English teacher Bethanne Lenhart, who along with history teacher Sheradee Bradfield supported students in participating in NHD Fair. Eighth-grader Cameron Jessop already was familiar with the contest as his four older siblings previously competed, and having placed at region, state and even nationals. However, it was Cameron’s first time competing. “I put a documentary together and know they did as well, but I didn’t pay attention to how they did it,” he said. “I just thought it would be easier and a better format for the interviews I taped.” Cameron’s project was on post–World War II European Jews trying to resettle in Palestine with the help of American sailors. “I didn’t know what happened between the Holocaust and Palestine. As I learned that the (British Minister for Health Aneurin) Bevan wasn’t allowing them in, even though (President Harry) Truman asked that 100,000 Jews be able to go there, I knew it was a story to tell. There’s not many who know that story of Americans willing to help and could die if they were caught.” Cameron’s documentary included three interviews with American sailors as well as period photographs and research. His mother, Tiffany, said she appreciates all her children learning “research skills they use for the rest of their academic life” as well as the relationships with the interviewees. She said her other children are still in touch with people they interviewed for their NHD projects — from relatives of those killed in Birmingham’s 16th Street church bombing to a now adult who was one of 50 Jewish children rescued during World War II by an American couple. “It’s the relationships they’ve made with history that has become so meaningful to them,” Jessop said. “It doesn’t matter where they finish, but what they’ve learned and how it has impacted them today.”
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April 2019 | Page 17
No matter the language — happy birthday to what parents, educators say is a successful program
生
日快 — bon anniversaire, feliz cumpleaños — happy 10th birthday to the dual-immersion program at many Utah elementary schools. Eleven years ago this legislative session, former Gov. John Huntsman signed Utah’s International Education Initiative into law, funding dual-immersion programs in Chinese (Mandarin), French and Spanish beginning in the 2008–09 academic year at 15 elementary schools, including some within the Salt Lake Valley communities. Since then, German, Portuguese and Russian have been added as the number of Dual Language Immersion (DLI) schools soared to 224 programs from St. George to Logan, reaching 43,000 students, said Jordan School District Elementary Dual Language Immersion Content Administrator Michele Daly, who oversees her district’s nine elementary programs. Principal Scott Jameson, who recently was moved to a DLI Spanish elementary in Sandy — Alta View — said he immediately could see a benefit for students. “It gives kids a chance to be challenged,” said the principal in Canyons School District, which houses eight elementary DLI and 11 secondary programs. “They put in a great effort in school, especially with the opportunity to learn Spanish while studying math and science. They are learning to persevere, even if it’s difficult, and develop that skill and a language they can use their entire lives.” The start Elementary DLI programs in the area are 50/50 immersion programs where students spend half their school day learning in the English language and half the day learning math, science or social studies in the target language. There are two teachers, one who teaches in English, and one who only speaks the language to students after the initial months when first-graders are enrolled in the program. First-grade English teacher Michael Vierra at South Jordan’s Monte Vista Elementary said the popularity of the DLI program has grown and he is teaching 25 to 28 students per class. “I reinforce what students may not understand initially in Mandarin, but they quickly learn and have an awesome experience learning a language, usually from a native speaker and teacher,” he said. “They become independent very quickly and realize if they don’t know how to do something, they have to be able to learn and express it in the language.” Many of the DLI language teachers are on a visa to teach in Utah, meaning that there is a turnover; so English teachers help them learn the ins-and-outs of the program, Vierra said. “There always is some adjustment from
Page 18 | April 2019
By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com how they teach in China or Taiwan, and they have to learn to American style of living, but the benefits of having a native teacher outweigh any challenges,” he said. Eastlake Elementary, in South Jordan, like many schools, have host families help DLI teachers from China and Hong Kong set up their housing, transportation, banking, and get their social security cards and driver’s licenses when they arrive a couple weeks before school begins to attend state dual-immersion training. “They’re usually on a three-year contract so there is a constant learning curve,” second-grade teacher Teresa Wang said. “They learn to teach more interactive, bring in their culture, not just give lectures.” In her own classroom of second-graders, Wang focuses on childhood activities. “Kids are getting a broad vocabulary of daily words that help with conversation. They’re able to put those together in simple sentence structure so it’s easier for them to speak. By the time these students are in third and fourth grades, most surpass their peers academically in both languages and are able to converse in Chinese,” she said. Colleague Christina Ma said she’s been impressed at the level of her fifth-grade students. “They’re at the intermediate level where they can talk about places they want to travel or food they want to eat and even debate and express their opinions,” she said. While she may use easier vocabulary for students to understand science concepts — “science has harder vocabulary” — Ma said they are able to pick up math easily and understand their equations of multiplication, division and fractions. “Research has shown that these kids aren’t losing their math or English skills, but just learning another language alongside them,” she said. The State DLI website supports that claim, stating that “immersion students perform as well or better than non-immersion students on standardized tests of English and math administered in English.” It continues to say DLI students develop greater cognitive flexibility, are more attentive, and have better memory and problem-solving skills. Ma said her students are proactive learners. “The students practice talking, even if it is to a parent who doesn’t understand or a stuffed animal. If they have siblings who speak the language, they’re even going further,” she said. Mike Ward has his children in Chinese dual immersion at Ridgecrest Elementary in Cottonwood Heights. “Dual immersion is remarkable,” he said. “By the time they’re in third, fourth and
At Draper Elementary in 2017, second-graders performed the traditional fan dance as part of school’s annual Chinese New Year celebration. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
fifth grade, they understand and are speaking quite fluently. I can’t understand Chinese, but my third-grade daughter is understanding what her older brother is saying.” Monte Vista parent Carrie Newbold agrees to the benefits of siblings conversing in the language. “I love the opportunity my kids have to share with each other and talk outside of class,” she said. “It’s made the school schedule easier to have everyone on the same track and same schedule.” Newbold also said students have created a bond with their classmates. “These kids are together from first grade all the way through. They form a family because they’re in it together. We have friendships with parents, who band together to help welcome the Chinese teachers. Many parents can only help in the English classrooms since they don’t know the language, but we do what we can to help them settle in. It’s just a powerful experience for these kids to learn and have a better understanding of the culture,” she said. To every advantage, there can be a disadvantage. At Lone Peak Elementary, Kristy Bastian has her younger children in the program,
but her seventh-grader was not admitted because of not enough space, she said. “They take siblings first and since there is limited room, he didn’t get in,” she said. “He wanted to learn and needed the challenge. It’s an incredible program, but frustrating when there isn’t a benchmark test or anything to help students get in.” With many elementaries, parents need to apply in February before first grade for the program. Applying doesn’t mean guaranteed entrance as many schools have a wait list. While there is no test to enter, preference is given to siblings who have someone already enrolled in the language program. Entrance generally is limited to first grade, although if a student transfers from another DLI school or shows proficiency, Daly said there have been exceptions in Jordan District. Eastlake’s Wang agrees the fast-paced program isn’t for all students. “Some kids can’t pick it up and struggle tremendously. They need a strong base in their first language. It can be common for those with learning disabilities to not do as well, but it’s up to the parents to decide to apply to enroll them,” she said. Megan Morrison, who has a son at Lone Peak and feels lucky her third-grader has “an
Award winning program Canyons School District recently received the Melba D Woodruff Award for Exemplary Elementary Foreign Language Program from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The district was chosen to receive the national award to honor the program that aligns with the World-Readiness Standards for Language Learning curriculum, has proficiency targets set for each grade level, and has teachers that are highly qualified, lifelong learners.
Sandy City Journal
amazing opportunity,” said she may not enroll a younger sibling because she doesn’t see it as a good match for him. “He isn’t at the level of other kids and I can see with speech problems, he could be frustrated learning Chinese. I don’t want to take an opportunity away from another student,” she said. Secondary DLI As the first DLI students progress through school, dual immersion is added to that grade, meaning many of those first-graders in 2008–09 are now juniors in high school and have fast-tracked to take the AP Spanish exam to earn college credit. Murray School District Assistant Superintendent Scott Bushnell said that upon successful competition of the AP Spanish exam, students can begin the Bridge Program, a partnership with public and higher education, which was supported by SB152, that awarded $300,000 to the University of Utah to launch the program. At Murray High, sophomores, juniors and seniors enroll in a team-taught course, with both a University of Utah professor and a Murray High teacher instructing the coursework. “Students are able to complete upper-division language coursework and can finish their senior year of high school two courses shy of a minor in the language,” he said. Jordan’s Daly said their comprehensive abilities are “amazing.” “Their proficiency levels are so high, they are truly immersed and have that high level, they’re so lucky and don’t realize the gift we’re providing,” she said. Morrison has a student who has been in the program since first grade and currently is a sophomore at Alta High in Sandy. “It’s a unique opportunity for him to be learning from a University of Utah professor in his high school class. He’s had incredible experiences as the program has developed and I’m just amazed at what he’s accomplished in the 10 years,” she said. However, Midvale Middle School Chinese teacher Karma Lambert said students can still learn languages if they don’t enroll in DLI. “You don’t have to start in first grade,” she said. “Students who begin learning in sixth, seventh and eighth grades are still quick enough to learn languages and be able to carry on basic conversations in the language by the time they finish middle school. In general, they won’t be as far as long as their dual-immersion peers, but they can still learn the language and have those positive cultural benefits.” DLI benefits When Sarah Erwin’s family was looking to move into the Sandy area from St. George, she looked for a DLI Chinese school. They selected the Lone Peak neighborhood so her kids could learn Mandarin. “I speak Mandarin and at the time, St. George didn’t have dual immersion,” she said. “My kids needed more challenge and
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there are tremendous benefits of learning a second language.” Ridgecrest Elementary parent Brooke Moench said she has seen great progress academically for her children. “They tend to learn at a higher pace, and so, they have kept on task,” she said. “The teachers are ensuring students are learning by reteaching and reinforcing in English what they learn in Chinese so the languages are supporting one another.” Many parents, teachers and principals point to cultural benefits as school programs may include celebrating Chinese New Year or Cinco de Mayo or even having a word of the day for the entire student body to learn, or rooms, such as the library or cafeteria, labeled in the target language. Canyons District’s Butler Elementary students who are studying French immersion not only sample macaroons and learn about impressionism and Claude Monet and other parts of French culture, but they also get a taste of other countries’ culture, art and music during its annual World Night. Last year, for example, students wrote their names in Arabic, made Native American replica pots, learned about typical life in the Fiji Islands and more. “It’s important that the community opens our eyes and celebrates our diversity,” Principal Jeff Nalwalker said. At nearby Midvale Elementary, students celbrate Mexican Independence Day, Dia de los Muertos, Cinco de Mayo, and Mother’s Day with cultural activities, food, dances and song for the entire student body. “As a whole school, it’s important that we are learning other cultures, and are inclusive,” Principal Chip Watts said. Murray District spokeswoman D Wright said she also has seen culture be introduced in the district’s Spanish DLI classrooms. “I have visited in the Horizon DLI classes many times and see ongoing examples of music, dance and art integration through fun and captivating activities,” she said. “I also see exposure to a variety of related ethnic foods and culturally related holidays incorporated into the awareness and curriculum in the grades.” Several Chinese schools celebrated the Year of the Pig during Chinese New Year festivities that included programs, activities, food, singing, dancing, acting and learning the history of the celebration. Some schools also celebrate the Moon Festival in the fall. Erwin said that through her school’s Chinese New Year program, it offers all students an opportunity to learn about culture. “It’s a fun time to explore another culture and for the whole school to come together,” she said. Monte Vista parent Corby Robins said the opportunities her second- and third-grader have had in DLI have been impressive. “The teachers are top notch,” she said. “They teach about the culture and pique students’ interest in China through food, games, stories and telling how they celebrate holiday
Last year, Midvale Elementary fifth-graders perform “Chinelos de Morelos” during the school’s third annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
with the family.” At Midvale Middle School, eighth-grader Eric Snauffer said, “it’s the best day of the year” as he learned to make Chinese dumplings with classmates afterschool. K-12 Chinese outreach coordinator Shin Chi Fame Kao, of the Confucius Institute at the University of Utah, said they support many cultural Chinese events at schools, and have even given grants to the first schools who had Chinese programs, including Canyons’ Lone Peak and Draper elementaries. “It’s important that children learn these customs of China as they learn the language,” she said. “It’s a time to understand families and communities celebrating together.” Lone Peak Principal Tracy Stacy said there is value in understanding other countries’ culture. “When children understand and value each other’s differences, it allows them to not only see differences and accept them, but also appreciate the way we are all similar,” she said. Eastlake Principal Suzie Williams agrees. “I love the culture piece dual immersion brings to our school,” she said. “It draws families together who are interested in their children becoming bilingual. Even if the parents aren’t versed in the language, they’re learning words and customs from their children. It isn’t a classroom where they sit and listen to the language. They’re learning the vocabulary and language while involved in enriching, engaging cultural activities.” The future of DLI Many programs continue to add a grade as DLI students progress, like in Murray District. However, there are no plans to expand to another language at another school at this time, Bushnell said. “In a district our size, a cohort of 60 students allows us to run two elementary classrooms of 30 DLI students in each class,” he said. However, at nearby Midvale Elementary, there are plans to expand the classes, Watts said.
Currently, about one-third of the school is enrolled in the Spanish DLI program and he said there are plans to increase that to twothirds. “Our data shows that students are achieving better in reading and math, and at the same time learning Spanish for those who are not already Spanish-speakers,” he said. “The language development as they learn a second language is helpful as they practice their native language. It’s a very engaging program for our students.” Alta View’s Jameson appreciates the DLI program in its entirety. “The DLI was created as a comprehensive pathway so students in elementary can continue in middle school and high school. It doesn’t just stop, but it prepares students for their future, for global careers,” he said. Jordan District’s Daly agrees. “We’re preparing them for the global market and job opportunities in the 20th century,” she said. “They’re learning language skills, as well as an awareness and appreciation of different cultures.”
During Butler Elementary’s World Night in 2018, students were read books to them at Monet’s Story Garden. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
April 2019 | Page 19
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Sandy City Journal
Students impact community through service, fundraisers By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
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Indian Hills Middle School teacher Breanna Holtry has her dog pose as a reward for art students to draw after they reached their goal in the school’s second annual Make-a-Wish fundraiser. (Photo courtesy of Indian Hills Middle School)
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n 2013, the Alta View student council and their adviser, former school psychologist Dania Allen, decided to help fundraise for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Little did they know that six years later, their decision was to become an annual tradition. “What it is, is our students raising money for blood cancer to help find a cure for it,” said Megan Otteson, fourth-grade teacher and student council adviser. Alta View, like many schools in the area, helps fundraise for many nonprofit agencies. Most common, elementary and middle schools will hold food drives in the fall or warm clothing drives in the winter and provide agencies and shelters items that are needed. High schools participate in fundraisers during the holiday season, often to help the community for those who need a helping hand or need a bright outlook. Alta View received trophies for being the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s top fundraising school with $10,363 last year and earning the Inspiring Impact award, but Otteson said that isn’t the point. “We turn it into a fun event at our school, but the purpose is to help. Knowing people with cancer really touches a lot of teachers and students,” she said. The Feb. 4–8 contest this year was a Harry Potter–themed penny wars, with students divided into four “houses” that were named in the book series. Students would donate pennies into a cauldron to help build up the amount their house would earn. However, students in other houses could bring silver coins or bills to put into competitors’ cauldrons and that would sabotage or deduct the amount. “We encouraged students to help in their community to help earn the money for the cauldrons. One teacher, Mr. (Jesse) Flink, offered to do chores from taking out trash
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to grading other teachers’ papers to help his house earn money.” Student council’s responsibilities covered decorating hallways and teacher doors to performing a skit at the kick-off assembly. They also gave daily announcements and helped young students donate their coins into the cauldrons. Likewise, East Midvale’s 14-member student council was involved in their annual fundraiser. After researching different agencies in the community and discussing it as a group, the students decided to help the Utah Humane Society, said fifth-grade teacher and student council adviser Raschell Davis. “Most of the kids love animals and wanted to help them,” she said. “I advised; I let them do what they wanted to do and really let them run it. They learned a lot. They came up with the idea, created posters, collected donations, counted money, gave speeches, promoted it on our school news and got the whole school involved.” Students brought in 250 items — cat and dog food, toys, blankets, cleaners, towels and other requested items. “We even had a parent donate a largebreed doghouse,” Davis said. “We filled up the whole back of a truck with supplies.” The student council sold donated Valentines to their peers for 25 cents and then delivered them to friends and teachers throughout the school to make $116, earmarked for the humane society. In addition to that money, fourth-grade students from Andrew Farley’s class, who earned the incentive for a pizza party by bringing in the most donations, opted to give the money that would have been for pizza to the humane society. “I was really happy that the students in Mr. Farley’s class didn’t expect anything in return for giving so many donations in the
first place. It was a real learning moment for them,” she said. Indian Hills Middle School student council, which organized a 11,406-item October food drive, decided to repeat helping Make-a-Wish Foundation raise money for critically ill children, said student council adviser and seventh-grade history teacher Kamil Harrison. “Last year we helped a 4-year-old — cutest little girl — who loved knock-knock jokes,” Harrison said. “Participating in the fundraiser made our students realize the impact they could make with those who have cancer.” This year, they raised enough funds to grant 7-year-old Benjamin’s wish of traveling to Harry Potter World as well as to help another child. The students had raised about $7,700. “We had teachers get on board and be involved. For every $1,000, teachers would do something fun and crazy, but those incentives weren’t to take away from the donations,” she said. For example, sixth-grade science teacher Shaun Evensen agreed to having his hair dyed blue and art teacher Breanna Holtry gave her students a drawing experience with a model, her Chihuahua mix. Other teachers shaved beards, dressed up in a kilt and a kimono, gave rap performances, swapped subjects to teach, got the class a pet fish and seventh-graders were treated to a magic show — alongside their Make-a-Wish boy. “The fundraiser is for an amazing cause, but there are also real benefits to IHMS,” she said. “This fundraiser unites the school as everyone gives their time (and) money, and even some dignity to help a child get his wish.”
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April 2019 | Page 21
Foster a child in need
Middle schools to present musicals this spring By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
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his spring, two middle schools will hold their musicals, finishing up the middle school theater season. Union students will Open your heart & home to make perform “The Addams Family” in early a difference in a child’s life May, followed by Mt. Jordan with its performance of “Peter Pan, Jr.” mid-May. Union Middle students will perform “The Addams Family” at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 2 through Saturday, May 4, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, on their school stage, 615 East 800 South. Reserved tickets are $3 and can be purchased online in advance at umspa.yapsody.com or at the door, with cash, credit or debit cards. Mt. Jordan students will perform “Peter Pan, Jr.” at 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 14 through Friday, May 17 in their auditorium, 9351 South Mountaineer Lane. The show is free. Union — “The Addams Family” As Union students return to school April 8 after spring break, rehearsals will be daily instead of two hours, three days per week, said music teacher David Christensen, who is co-directing “The Addams Family” along with drama teacher Danica Davies, stage crew teacher Chris Olson and dance teacher Roxanne Poulsen. “We selected ‘The Addams Family’ because it is a musical that is accessible,” Christensen said. “The ensemble, as ancestors, can be their own person from history, Our mission is to work with foster make the character their own, and still be in their own group, interacting with the other parents in helping children in need leads and involved on stage.” make significant differences in their The ensemble will be taken from the lives. At Starlight we train our foster 110 students who auditioned in mid-Septemparents to model healthy family ber and are on stage for the musical. Another systems and promote self sufficiency. 40 students, composed of some stage crew These tools enable the child to address class members as well as those interested in helping with the show, will be moving emotional issues and thrive in a sets, helping with props, costumes, lighting, nurturing, structured environment. sound and even assisting parent volunteers with painting and building backdrops. Our support staff is always available “We started with rehearsals in early Octo help both the child and the foster tober, with leads reading scripts. What we learned was that a lot of the students had no parent address some of the day to idea about ‘The Addams Family,’” he said, day challenges. We also provide unless it was with the 1991movie. “So, we therapeutic services in the home watched a lot of the old black-and-white TV to address various behavioral and shows.” In addition to learning about the origins emotional issues as they arise. With of the show, students also learned how to foster children being on Medicaid, perform on stage and overcome any anxiety all health issues are covered as well about performing in front of people or with as monthly stipend and personal a large group of students, Christensen said. allowance for incidentals. Foster care He added that they work on diction and singing on pitch with songs that aren’t typically income is not taxed. choral or pop. Christensen said students also learned how to handle rejection. “Everyone wants the lead, but they accept and add to participating in the ensemble. We have some of last year’s leads in the 345 E. 4500 S. Murray #260 ensemble. It’s a good lesson that you don’t always win, but you can still make a large
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Page 22 | April 2019
impact,” he said. Students also have the opportunity to expand their social circles. “In middle school, I’ve learned from my 10 years of teaching, students tend to stay with their social group and this is an opportunity to find new groups, to meet and do things with more than five to eight people,” he said. Union’s performing arts program is rich in history, starting about nine years ago under the direction of Lara Kimball and continuing under Bryan Stephenson. Now, with four directors, it’s expanded and plans are for it to continue offering students experience, even through its upcoming construction, as Union was identified as one of several schools to be rebuilt with the passing of the 2017 bond. “We use the team approach. It’s the school that puts it on, not just the drama department,” he said, adding that the date of the show was selected to work with nearby Hillcrest High’s theater production schedule. “Hillcrest performing arts is next to legionary with great things being done there, so as a feeder school, we want to keep our auditorium as big as it can, so we can not only use it for our own performances, but also for the district and the community to use.” Typically, Christensen said they sell about 1,000 tickets per show night in the auditorium that has seating for about 1,300. Patrons can follow Union’s production on Instagram @ums_musical. Mt. Jordan — “Peter Pan, Jr.” With 55 Musical Theater 2 students at Mt. Jordan, “Peter Pan, Jr.” was double-cast after extensive auditions that not only had them try out on stage, but also had them prepare with resumes. “I want them to be ready, to have a professional product, so when they audition somewhere else, they know what to expect and are prepared,” director Julie Thrasher said. As this is her first year, it also gave her a chance to learn about their talents. “For middle school, I want them to have as much stage time as possible. In other places, they may be one of 500 in a show, but here, they can have the opportunity.” Thrasher extended the leads of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Wendy to four actors per part. “Casting Peter was tough. I used a numerical rubric and still they were within three points of each other,” she said, adding that not all her leads have extensive theatrical experience. The role of Peter will be played by eighth-graders Jessica Conrad, Brooklyn Davis, Natalie Timothy and Destiny Zank. Captain Hook is played by eighth-graders Olile Akom, Numia Lelu and Elena Nielsen and seventh-grader Kyra Webster. Wendy is
portrayed by eighth-graders Destiny Howard and Hailey Richards and seventh-graders Meryn Lee and Sophia Palmer. With her class being mostly female, Thrasher has the Lost Boys parts played by females as well because she liked the script. “It’s really close to the original 1955 script and so many junior scripts aren’t similar. I like the number of speaking roles — 25 — so most of the kids have a couple lines to speak. These students are learning how to put every inch of themselves into their characters, they’re learning how to analyze a script, how to sing good, clear diction and vowels and how to take direction from their peers,” she said. Thrasher is thrilled about the set. While Mt. Jordan doesn’t have a $8,000 fly system, she does give credit to Stage Tech Director Ben Simmons, who is building a see-saw device to have Peter and the Darling children fly. They also are being creative, as the crocodile will move across stage on a skateboard, she said. The set, which will be moved — as one of their duties — by the 25 theater tech students, will have an extensive Neverland, pirate ship and nursery for the Darling children, the last two of which Thrasher is grateful will be on loan from Sandy City Fine Arts Guild, along with several costumes. “With a musical of this size, it’s all hands on deck, and I appreciate the help,” she said. That also includes 80 Art 1 and Art 2 students helping to make and paint papier-mache foliage, a cake and a bomb. Two dance captains, eighth-graders Morgan Cowley and Kennedy Guth, are choreographing two dances, and eighth-grader Vienna Villalobos is coordinating publicity for the show. Many skills students are learning in alignment with Jordan High’s theater and choir programs, allowing for a seamless transfer in curriculum. Thrasher said Jordan’s theater and choir teachers have held workshops for her students and she wants to take her students to next year’s productions at the high school. “I’m most excited to see these kids turn into actors. Some of them came in reading scripts, almost monotone. Now, they are taking on characters and everything is starting to click. It’s incredible to watch,” she said. Earlier this year, Albion students performed “Mary Poppins, Jr.” in late January and Draper Park Middle put on “Bye Bye Birdie” in early March. At press time, Eastmont students were to take the stage with “Annie, Jr.” March 21–23 and Midvale Middle students on March 27–28 with “The Little Prince.”
Sandy City Journal
Mayor presents blankets, support kids to Edgemont celebrates Dr. Seuss with visit Bell View students from mayor By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com
Sandy Mayor Kurt Bradburn presented Bell View Elementary students Feb. 27 with hand-tied blankets and weekend support kits, some of which he helped assemble. “Hopefully you’ll be able to use this and it will help you to continue to study and grow strong and healthy and be great kids and great students,” he said through the broadcast on the in-school television station, BBTV. He also told students his lunch choice for the day — cheesy nachos — and that “Wacky clothes, and snacks, and pajamas at school — this sounds way cooler than being mayor.” Off the camera, he said Sandy City partners with Canyons School District to help reduce child hunger and by working with Canyons Education Foundation, on behalf of the city, he was able to donate 75 blankets and 50 weekend support kits of food, which were composed of donations from staff, as well as Smith’s and Harmons grocery stores, to Bell View Elementary. Principal Chanci Loran thanked the mayor, adding, “We will be sending home these weekend support kits with some of our families that might need some extra food or some extra blankets at home.” Bradburn said he hopes the partnership can help as many students as possible. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
On Feb. 28, to celebrate the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day and the birthday of the late children’s book author, Dr. Seuss, Mayor Kurt Bradburn admired the colorful Dr. Seuss–related math and artwork in the Edgemont Elementary hallways, and then introduced himself as Mayor Cat in the Hat as he sat down to read “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” to kindergartners and “Green Eggs and Ham” to first-graders. He’d pause to ask them if they had ever milked a cow, do they brush their teeth or if they planned to really eat green eggs and ham (he was planning to eat green pancakes and ham instead). He shook hands with some second-graders before settling in to read “What Pet Should I Get,” and discussing his pet bunny and turtle from his childhood. However, the book ended on a cliffhanger — without identifying which pet the children would get. After some speculation of the group, he asked students to make him a promise: “Will you keep reading? Reading is one of the best things you can do. You can think, you can use your imagination and it helps you be creative. So, you can come up with whatever ending you want.” (Julie Slama/City Journals)
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Asian-American high school students encouraged to tap ‘superhero’ potential By Jennifer J. Johnson | J.Johnson@mycityjournals.com
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Motivated” was a common word AsianAmerican high school students across the state felt, after attending the 20th-annual Asian-American High School Conference Feb. 28 at the University of Utah. This year’s theme — “Shaping Superheroes; Creating Positive Change” — was a powerful one, providing context to the keynote and breakout sessions. The conference seeks to help Asian-Americans high school students be prepared for collegiate success, and, even more importantly, be prepared to embrace their everyday, figurative “superhero” potential as community leaders. “When a student is passionate about something, their drive is extraordinary,” informs the conference brochure. “As such, students will learn about issues facing the Asian and Asian American communities and how they can use their passions and educations to create critical, sustainable, and positive changes in their own communities.” Students treated to ‘Who’s Who’ of Asian, Asian-American scholars Students attending the conference received academic resources, including scholarship guidance, admissions counseling, and opportunities to meet and connect with university faculty, staff, and students. Graduate students, professors, and university administrators from not just the
Students attending the conference and their university hosts were encouraged to dress in either semi-formal or cultural attire.
University of Utah, but also from Salt Lake Community College and Westminster College participated in the event. Distinguished academicians, including a Rhodes Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellowship winner, politicians, and successful entre-
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preneurs also participated in the event. Academic disciplines represented ranged from electrical engineering to ethnic studies; from history to humanities; from medicine to music education; and from art history to Asian studies. Asians as Superheroes, through world history and mythology … “Our Asian identity is not something to be ashamed of,” advised Matt Wong, a self-described “Cantonese American” who attended Salt Lake Community College and now works at the university. In a breakout session, Wong recounted stories of historical and mythical Asian superheroes and challenged students to liberally share their own family history and stories, particularly “if your family is recent immigrants.” He cited Ishikawa Goemon, “A Japanese Robin Hood” from the 1800s and another figure from that century, the Hindu queen Lakshmibai who led troops to battle for independence against British colonization. He also shared his family’s reverence for the contributions of Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China and the forerunner of democratic revolution in the People’s Republic of China, which overthrew the last Chinese imperial dynasty. In more recent history, Wong cited what he considered heroism of the “No-No Boys” of World War II who protested America’s unconstitutional treatment of 110,000 Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps, yet were, themselves, asked to serve in the military. … And, today, as comic book characters – and creators Following up on a subtheme of the conference — that Asians can be stereotyped and must move beyond those stereotypes — Dr. Paul Fisk shared with students a vibrant future outside of what people consider or even uniquely recommend as careers for Asians (e.g. careers limited to science or engineering). Marvel Studio’s upcoming “Shang-Chi” will be its first superhero movie featuring an Asian protagonist. The film has signed a Chinese-American writer and is considering
a variety of Asian and Asian-American directors, with the goal being to “introduce a new hero who blends Asian and Asian American themes, crafted by Asian and Asian American filmmakers.” Those are jobs that students could look forward to in the future, Fisk indicated. Inspiration and challenges Students attending the conference looked forward to applying what they learned. A student from Taylorsville wants to take the inspiration and tools to help coach her younger sister through school. Other students shared challenges in negotiating their Asian history with being raised in “white communities” and, for biracial students, the everyday anguish of and not having “white relatives” honor or appreciate their Asian roots. One young woman indicated feeling like a literal alien. On the difficulty of being Asian in predominately white schools, a student from, arguably, the state’s most diverse high school, West High School in Salt Lake City, observed, “When your parent has an accent, they look down on you.” West’s studentbody represents students from homes where more than 120 different languages are spoken. Students attending the conference appreciated being able to bond with so many in similar circumstances. “I am really glad I came,” shared a student from Granger High School in West Valley City. “It feels like I need to do more,” said a West High School student, who felt inspired to study Asian and Asian-American history and seek to serve as a role model. The Asian and Asian-American population at the U of U and in context with Salt Lake City metro Asian students comprise 5.82 percent of the university’s student population. Biracial students account for another 5.13 percent of the studentbody. According to the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, this is about twice as significant a population as within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan area, where Asians comprise 2.6 percent and those of two or more races are 2.5 percent of the overall population.
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With a playful, larger-than-life-size blowup bottle of the popular Thai sriracha sauce in the background, members of the University of Utah’s Asian-American Student Association greet conference attendees.
Sandy City Journal
International Women’s Day events support,celebrate women By Jennifer J. Johnson | J.Johnson@mycityjournals.com
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arch 8, the official “International Women’s Day,” is ever-growing in international and social-media buzz, and prompted a flurry of local activity on par with the weather happening that day. City Journals presents a recap on several Salt Lake Valley-based activities and commemorations of Women’s Day. First-time celebrators — for the youngest of young — Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum Nearly 900 members and guests of the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum were treated to a celebration of women’s social, cultural and political achievements, through the lens of gender equality. On March 8, children up to age 11 learned “the amazing things women can do,” recounted marketing coordinator Anna Branson. Children used unique materials and media to create artistic renditions of historic and current women leaders, including the late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, anthropologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, and human rights advocate Malala Yousafzai. All received “Believe in Girls” stickers and had the chance to walk through a unique kaleidoscope, featuring all of the wonderful possibilities for girls and women. Rising up, lifting up at the U of U – for college students, staff, faculty and community At the University of Utah, the “day” has become a week-long celebration of women. The Women’s Leadership Summit, themed “Rise Up, Lift Up” was preceded by the “Empower U” Symposium, where president Ruth Watkins provided the keynote address. The Women’s Leadership Summit, now in its fifth year, offered a resources fair, with everything from women’s health information to voting engagement. The fair was presented in booths lining a wall of windows in the Ray Olpin Student Union building. The university assembled a roundup of nearly 20 breakout sessions, dealing with topics as edgy as navigating shame culture to as vanilla as financial-planning strategies for women. “It was truly a day of learning, engagement, and idea sharing,” shared Jessica Lynne Ashcraft, co-chair for the event and associate director for student leadership and involvement at the U. Ashcraft indicated 200-plus women attended the event, “due to the wonderful range of topics presented and the excitement to engage on topics that are so salient for women right now.” Women in international business as a theme… World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) leveraged one of its trademark strengths — partnering — to commemorate International Women’s Day, and, like the U of U, made the celebration into a full week of activities, versus just a day. On March 8, WTC Utah co-hosted a soldout luncheon, in collaboration with the Women’s Business Center of Utah and the Salt Lake Chamber. “WTC Utah would like to be a part of the solutions that address the challenges facing women as they pursue global economic opportunities,” said Suzette Alles, chief operating
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Let us help fuel yours. A University of Utah student created this mosaic of the beauty in women’s diversity. International Women’s Day was celebrated around the world and across Salt Lake Valley on March 8. The University of Utah turned it into a week-long celebration. (Photo Tina Dirmyer/University of Utah)
officer of WTC Utah. “Increasing international trade, and supporting women in their efforts to do so, helps companies grow, create wealth and become more resilient. This, in turn, bolsters economies on a local, national and global level.” … And as an honor and an inspiring thought of global contribution March 7, the day before the official day of commemoration, WTC participated in the 10th-annual Women in International Business Conference. This power-packed day included perspectives from 30 business, government, and education leaders representing various facets of Utah’s diverse economy. At the half-day conference, Dr. Mary Beckerle, CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, was named International Woman of the Year. In her role at Huntsman, Beckerle oversees a cancer research laboratory focused on fundamental cell biology and Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer that typically affects children and young adults. All that, an incredibly important role, and yet, Beckerle shared with City Journals deeper insight into the awesome responsibility and opportunity she and other women and men like her bear. “I believe that cancer researchers have a role in advancing global partnerships and understanding,” she observed. “In a sense, we serve as volunteer diplomats as we travel the world to share our results and work together to advance human health.” More than a day, or even a week… a month? Women Techmakers Salt Lake and Miss Nations of the World both identified March 23 as the day for their respective International Women’s Day Celebration event. The Women of the World held its ninth annual fashion show just a few days before the official date. Snowy weather on March 8 scrubbed or severely limited celebratory efforts from Sandy’s Miller Center to downtown Salt Lake’s Capitol
demonstration. Regardless of the stormy weather, the message at all events was clear. Women — and girls — are to be encouraged, mentored, and celebrated all day, all week, all month, all year, whether officially or unofficially.
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Sandy City Journal
Jordan makes it to state championship game in boys basketball By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com
Senior guard Terryn Mosley splits two defenders for a shot during the 5A state tournament. Mosley was the second leading scorer on this year’s Jordan Jordan junior Dyson Koehler grabs a rebound during the state championship game with Corner Canyon. Koehler led the Beetdiggers in boys basketball team (Photo by Adam Martinson, Amart Photography) rebounds, and all of 5A in scoring this year. (Photo by Adam Martinson, Amart Photography)
I
t was a run unlike any seen at Jordan in more than a decade. But the run ended just one win shy of a state title for the boys basketball team. The Beetdiggers made it to the state 5A championship game Feb. 26 against Corner Canyon. The Chargers would end up beating Jordan 62-45 to take the Draper school’s first state title and handing Jordan the second-place trophy. “We beat Corner Canyon four times in a row,” Jordan coach Trace Bevell said. “It’s just hard to beat a good team five times in a row, and Corner Canyon is a good team.” Jordan and Corner Canyon are rivals in not just proximity but also in region. Both are in Region 7 and the Beetdiggers beat the Chargers twice in the regular season this year as well as last. Jordan won the region title this year, losing only once to both Alta and Brighton during region action. “Our goal this year was to win the region title and get to the championship game,” Bevell said. “We made both goals but it would have been nice to finish it off with a championship.” It is the first time since 2003 the Beetdiggers made it through to the semifinals at state, let alone the title game. The last time Jordan hoisted the championship trophy was in 1984 when they were a 3A school. But Bevell, in his sixth season coaching the Beetdiggers, has challenged his boys year after year and they have responded. Jordan lost all but one game in region action during Bevell’s inaugural season of 2013–14. Jordan made it to a play-in game for state in 2016 and reached the quarterfinals in 2017. But after least year’s firstround exit, Bevell challenged his players to respond, to make it to the title game. “I think our players have matured along the way,” Bevell said. “Two years ago making it to the quarterfinals taught us
S andy Journal .com
what we could accomplish. This year our guys just wanted it more.” Led by junior sensation Dyson Koehler, Jordan racked up a 16-8 record prior to state play. Koehler, at 6’7”, gives teams fits from his ability to play inside or beat you on the perimeter. He led Jordan in scoring with a 22 points per game average, including knocking down 55 three-pointers. He also led in rebounds with 187 boards for the year, a combination that is rarely seen as players adjust to only the outside or inside game. “He is a matchup problem for other teams because he can go inside or out,” Bevell said. “Although he is just a junior, he already has Pac-12 and other Division 1 universities looking at him. He ended up being the number one scorer in 5A. And he was being guarded by two players a lot of the time. He just worked harder to get his shots.” Jordan also relied on five seniors who gained experience from last year’s run. Led by point guard Terryn Mosely, the seniors also included Kelton Allen, Lincoln Oldham, Larry Opiyo and Connor Smith. Mosely is a star of the senior class. A 6’7” perimeter player, Mosely complemented the playing style of Koehler and helped keep the opposition guessing. He was second in scoring with just over 10 points per game. “Mosely is long and athletic,” Bevell said. “He is very athletic and is one of our best defenders. He has a chance to play college ball next year.” The state tournament would prove to be a bumpier road for Jordan than was the regular season. It took overtime for the Beetdiggers to slip past Maple Mountain 56-55 in the opening game. Jordan had an easier time with Murray in the quarterfinals, beating the Spartans 61-43. Still, Bevell wasn’t completely pleased with the ball the
Beetdiggers were playing. “We never played a great game at state,” Bevell said. “But we always played good enough to win. We got a little bit better each time, but never our best.” The victory over Murray landed Jordan in its first semifinal game in 16 years. Pitting them against the East Leopards. Last year, East knocked Jordan out of the tournament in the first round by just one point, 54-53. Facing the same team again had some of the players nervous. But this year Jordan made sure it wouldn’t happen again beating the Leopards 6052, setting up the title game with Corner Canyon. Ironically, Corner Canyon was in the same position last season as Jordan was in now. It was the Chargers’ first trip to the final game, and they lost out to another Region foe, Olympus. “Corner Canyon went last year and knew what the championship game was like,” Bevell said. “It is a big deal to make it to the final game. You have to step up and play your best for a solid four quarters.” The title game was close through the first two quarters, with Corner Canyon holding a 19-18 edge at halftime. But the Chargers would blow the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Jordan 21-10, and Corner Canyon never looked back. Bevell said he hopes Jordan can do what Corner Canyon did this season and come back to the final game next year and walk away with the title. Chances could be good, as Jordan returns four starters. There will be a change of scenery, however, as high school realignment places Jordan into the 6A bracket next year. “We will be one of the smaller 6A schools next year, but I think it is a good fit for us,” Bevell said.
April 2019 | Page 27
Jordan shortstop earns baseball All-American honors By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com
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he season hadn’t even begun, but awards were already piling up for Jordan’s Jacob Shaver. Shaver was named to Collegiate Baseball News’ 2019 preseason high school All-American baseball team. Shaver plays shortstop for the Beetdiggers. According to the Collegiate Baseball News, the players on this list “have demonstrated amazing athletic ability and talent in their respective positions and are among the most sought after players by pro scouts and college recruiters.” The 5’10”, 180-lb. senior is the son of Greg and Shelby Shaver. He has been a mainstay on the Jordan team since he was a freshman, and was instrumental in last year’s championship season for Jordan. “He is a hard worker that loves to play baseball,” Jordan coach Chad Fife said. “He doesn’t take a day off. Last year he had a state record for hitting triples, which not only shows his batting abilities but his speed on the base paths. Nobody else on the All-American team came close to the number of triples he hit.” Shaver batted .479 last season, hitting seven doubles, 11 triples and seven home runs. As the starting shortstop for Jordan, Shaver helped lead the Beetdiggers to a string
of 18 straight wins last season, culminating with a 11-1 victory over Olympus to win the state 5A baseball championship. Shaver began his baseball career at the tender age of 8, playing in the Riverton youth leagues. His talents soon earned him a chance to play for the Utah Horns, a competitive team that has traveled throughout the nation, before landing him at Jordan. A two-sport athlete at Jordan, Shaver not only shines on the baseball diamond, but also on the gridiron. He led Jordan’s football team last year as a running back, scoring 23 touchdowns and rushing for 1,133 yards. “My dad played college football, so both myself and my brother gravitated to the sport,” Shaver said. Although both he and his older brother, Colton, followed their dad in playing football, it was Colton who first led the two to baseball, the sport that has been a passion for the brothers. Colton was drafted by the Houston Astros and now plays in their minor league program. Colton also won a state baseball championship while at Jordan, along with a football title. “I want to be able to win a second baseball title this year to match his two titles while at Jordan,” Shaver said. “(Colton) left me some big shoes to fill. It has always been in
SPOTLIGHT
the back of my mind that Colton did this and Colton did that and it kept me working hard. He has been super supportive and has helped me along the way. He had success here at Jordan and he wanted me to have more success.” Although Jordan is the favored team to win this year’s title, Shaver and the rest of the Beetdiggers know they have their work cut out for them. Jordan lost 13 seniors off last year’s championship team. But this year’s senior class includes not only Shaver but outfielder Hunter Swapp, who has committed to play next season at BYU. “We do have a lot of young guys this season,” Shaver said. “But every one of them had a good season in junior varsity action last year. They are all talented, so it’s just that our season this year will depend on them stepping up and I know they can do it. It is my job, and Hunter’s job and the other seniors on the team, to help them out with that.” Shaver has already committed to continuing his baseball career next year. He chose to sign with PAC-12 powerhouse University of Arizona where he will study criminal science. “The coaches at Arizona are awesome and the program is a good one,” Shaver said. “Plus it is always sunny there. And there is nothing like playing baseball in the sun.”
Jordan shortstop Jacob Shaver was named to the preseason high school All-American baseball team by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. (Photo by Ron Bevan/City Journals)
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Page 28 | April 2019
Heiden Orthopedic’s Dr. Gibbs brings pro sports experience to Utah
quickly as possible.” That fast turnaround time is one of the things that drew him to Heiden Orthopedics. “That’s something we really try to do here at Heiden Orthopedics,” he said. “We
see a patient, figure out what we think the problem is, if they need an MRI or if they just need physical therapy, and we try to get that process solved in a couple days. I think that really is a service for the patient so they
can get better fast so they can get back to their activities and their work.” Here in Utah, Dr. Gibbs is more likely to be treating an injured snowboarder than a linebacker, but the satisfaction of seeing them get back to what they enjoy doing is just the same. In fact, Dr. Gibbs (a native Utahn) is an active skier himself, which helps him treat patients who incur injuries from any of the adventure sports that Utah has to offer. “I know what the demands of those sports are on the human body and so I think I have a unique perspective when it comes to getting patients back to doing the outdoors things that we have here in Utah—hiking, skiing, mountain biking, snowboarding, cross country skiing.” Dr. Gibbs and Heiden Orthopedics are committed not only to helping patients heal, but also making sure that they stay healthy and avoid future injuries. “That’s why I work so closely with physical therapists to help patients stay in good shape. That’s going to help them in the long run to avoid having to come see the orthopedic surgeon,” he said.
Sandy City Journal
Jordan baseball coach named 5A Coach of the Year By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com sociation for 2019. He is also the coach of Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum, Utah. “ T h e award is voted on by the 5A coaches throughout Utah,” Hansen said. “Fife is well liked by his peers, not just because Jordan baseball coach Chad Fife was named the Utah 5A Coach of the Year. (Photo by he is a great Ron Bevan/City Journals) coach and runs ne of the perks of taking home a state title a good prois that you get noticed. You also get rec- gram, but also because he is concerned about ognized for your hard work. his players and takes care of them.” But that isn’t the only reason Jordan baseFife is in his sixth season as the head ball coach Chad Fife was recently named Utah coach of the Jordan Beetdiggers and 13th 5A Baseball Coach of the Year. overall season with the program. He came to “Obviously his team winning the state Jordan at the request of former head coach championship last year helped, but more than Ron Anderson. that it was the leadership Fife showed through“Anderson called me up and said he out the playoffs that earned him this award,” needed an assistant,” Fife said. “At the time Stephen Hansen said. Hansen is the presi- I thought it would be fun to coach at the high dent of the Utah State Baseball Coaches As- school level and here I am 13 years later.”
O
Fife was well acquainted with Anderson as the two had played collegiate baseball together at Utah Technical College (now Utah Valley University) in Orem. After college, Fife kept busy in baseball coaching in the youth programs and some traveling teams. He even had a stint as an assistant coach for his former college. Jordan has won two state titles since Fife became the head coach, once in 2014 and again last year. The 2018 campaign began with little recognition of becoming a state championship. Early-season results had the Beetdiggers losing just as many games as winning. But then the team turned things around and put together a streak of 18 straight victories, the final being an 11-1 win over Olympus to claim the state title. All this despite the school having little or no programs developing young players to become baseball prospects. “We don’t have a feeder program here in Sandy,” Fife said. “There is no little league program that builds the kids from a young age. It mostly ends up becoming travel teams for the players that eventually become good players.” Instead Jordan has become a powerhouse in baseball because of its reputation. “We get a lot of players by word of mouth,” Fife said. “We have consistently put
out a good product and been a good grooming tool for young boys to become fine young men. They know they have a chance to go on to college from here, and their parents know we teach them good life skills as well.” “Fife just restocks the shelves every year,” Jordan Athletic Director Brandon Watts said. “This is the school where kids that play baseball want to play.” Although winning baseball games has its advantages, Fife makes sure his players stay grounded. Every year they become involved in different community services, which almost always includes a few days of feeding the homeless. “If your players become good young men that means more to me than winning or any type of award,” Fife said. For Watts, having a coach like Fife on his staff makes his job that much easier as he rarely has to worry about the baseball program. “I love his demeanor with the kids,” Watts said. “He treats the players well and he runs a good program. I have never heard a parent or kid say anything bad about him. To have a program that has competed at the top for as long as we have and not have any troubles is a great thing. At the high school level we always have people that want to be nitpicky with our coaches. It just doesn’t happen with Fife.”
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he due date for taxes is quickly approaching. The Internal Revenue Service wants all taxes filed by April 15. As many are still trying to file their taxes, either with a consultant or at home with online services, the question bouncing around in frontal lobes is: how can I maximize my tax return? Hopefully, you should have already prepared for this. Sometime last year, you should have ensured your W-4 was correct, checking that it was set to withhold the right amount. A common mistake professionals in the tax industry see is not withholding enough during the year; making it so you’re paying money back to the IRS in spring, instead of receiving money in return. So, if you haven’t checked up on the withholding amount prescribed in your W-4 for a while, now would be a good time to do so. One of the most effective ways to maximize your tax return is to claim dependents. In other words, have some minis. For tax purposes, the more children the better. However, if you’re not the paternal type, you might be able to claim your spouse, parent, or friend as dependent, depending on the situation, and the necessary evidence. Those dependents will probably need some shelter. Another way to maximize your return is to buy a house. Mortgage insurance is deductible! In fact, there are many items that are deductible including: charitable donations, med-
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Sandy City Journal
Life and Laughter—Hang me out to dry
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PERI KINDER
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fter happily drying our clothes for a decade, our dryer hit its tweenage years and started giving us the silent treatment. It would only work when we said magic words or used pliers to wrangle it into submission. I wasn’t ready to plop down several hundred bucks for a new dryer, so I suggested we string a clothesline in the backyard for fresh, sunny, natural drying. But with all the snow and the rain and the wind and the snow and the snow, I finally gave in. One weekend, the hubbie and I got in the car, girded our loins (I think that means we buckled our seat belts) and drove to the gargantuan furniture/appliance store where we were immediately attacked by suit-coated salespeople. They swarmed from everywhere. I thought, at first, they were zombies and impaled a couple of them with the leg of a kitchen chair before I realized my (understandable) mistake. One of them valiantly latched onto us, and the rest of them staggered back into the bowels of the store. Our salesperson/creature had mainlined 17 Dr. Peppers and hopped around us like a crazy ding-dong until we reached the appliance center. There were washers and dryers as far as the eye could see, which isn’t far because I’m pretty nearsighted. But trust me, there was a huge dryer selection. Mr. SalesCreature launched into his spiel. “I want you to have the dryer that your future washer will adore. Not the washer you have now, but the one you’ll want in two years.”
I explained we weren’t looking for an appliance matchmaker, but he continued. “You don’t want a dryer that will be mocked by your future appliances,” he said, as if he weren’t talking nonsense. “You want a dryer that will raise the standard of your home.” He’d obviously never seen our home. He guided us to the Drying Machines O’ The Future, detailing all the dryer features we never knew we needed. Throwing out terms like Wrinkle Shields, Quad Baffles and All Major Credit Cards, he described a Utopian laundry room where unicorns came to raise their young and clothes never smelled like mildew. We then learned about laundry pedestals; the crazy 12-inch tall invention that raises your washer and dryer by, well, one foot. “Why do I need my laundry machines on $300 pedestals?” I asked. “That seems like it’s setting a bad precedent for other appliances in my home.” “You won’t have to bend over to get your clothes,” he said, jumping in place. “They even have pedestals with a tiny washing machine to wash small loads, or to store cleaning products!” “Wouldn’t I have to bend over to reach that?” I asked. He blinked, then started again with the benefits of appliance pedestals, but I interrupted. “Look,” I said. “We have $300 in cash, $200 in collectible stamps, $123 in Kohl’s
cash and $67 in pennies. What can we get with that?” His face fell. He waved his hand in a vague direction that could have been behind him or downstairs, then walked away. We wandered until we found a machine that could dry our clothes. We purchased it and ran from the building, making no eye contact with any sales-zombies in the area. The new dryer is beautiful. It’s shiny. It’s not coated with lint-covered laundry detergent. It actually seems kind of haughty, so I’m glad we didn’t buy it a pedestal. We assure our old washing machine that it’s still a valuable part of our family. We hope positive attention will keep it working for a few more years, but it’s also in the tweenage stage, so I’m expecting tantrums and/or the silent treatment at any time.
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