South Jordan City Journal | February 2023

SOUTH JORDAN PIANIST TELLING STORIES THROUGH MUSIC

By Rachel Aubrey | r.aubrey@mycityjournals.com

Her genre: contemporary, new age, solo piano, but according to longtime fan Holly Potter, it’s not your typical “elevator music.”

Pianist and composer Michele McLaughlin describes her music as a diary of her life. Unlike most full-time musicians, McLaughlin is 100% in charge. A true independent artist, without a music label attached, McLaughlin has been able to create freely and authentically since 2007, telling stories through her music of things that inspire her on a daily basis, from trips to foreign countries to the purchase of a home. Born and raised in Utah, McLaughlin started playing piano at age five, and recalled being drawn to piano above all other instruments.

“If there was a piano around, I was always tinkering around on it,” McLaughlin said.

A self-taught pianist and composer, she released her first album in 2000 called “Beginnings.” She has produced an album every year since. In 2003, she took advantage of the online platforms for music sharing and streaming. The streaming turned lucrative in 2007, when she was

finally able to earn enough revenue to quit her full-time job, thanks a loyal fanbase.

“It was always my dream to play and write music,” McLaughlin said. “To have it actually become a career and this is what I do for my life, that happened by accident.”

With 22 albums to her credit, and more in the works, McLaughlin’s music producing pursuits began as simple cassette tapes of recorded Christmas music which she gave to family and friends during the holidays as gifts.

Thanks to digital streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, she was able to quit her job as a project manager to do music full time. According to her website, she has received 67 million spins on Spotify, 14 million spins on Apple Music, 13 million spins on Amazon Music and 1.8 billion spins on Pandora. A spin means someone has listened to the track for 30 seconds or more. While those numbers seem like they would have big money signs attached, musicians streamed on Spotify, for example, earn $0.002 per

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Solo piano artist Michele McLaughlin quit her job in 2007 in order to pursue a music career full time. (Photo courtesy of Michele McLaughlin)

Bingham basketball

Jordan District asks legislators to prioritize support of high quality educators

By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com

TheJordan School District Board of Education hosted a breakfast for state legislators Jan. 11 to share their educational priorities and to answer questions from representatives preparing for this year’s legislative session.

The Board asked for support from lawmakers as they focus on providing safe working and learning environments at schools and in recruiting and retaining high quality educators and educational support professionals.

“We understand that the fundamental thing that makes education great, that affects the lives of individuals, are great educators,” Board First Vice President Niki George said.

In his Supercast podcast, Jordan School District Superintendent Dr. Anthony Godfrey regularly highlights outstanding employees who have an impact on students. One of the teacher-student relationships he featured was Bingham High School sophomore Claire Burnham, who has become a national youth storyteller because of the support of her teachers at Jordan Ridge Elementary. Burnham and her sixth-grade teacher Frankie Walton shared their story with the legislators at the breakfast.

It reminded the legislators of the teachers that have had an impact on their lives.

“My ‘Mrs. Walton’ was Mr. Young,” Rep. Mark Strong (house 47) said. “I had him three classes a day for my entire senior year of high school. I still talk to him—every few months I call him.”

An intern for one of the state representatives shared that the only reason she had good attendance during her senior year was because she had a connection with her choir teacher.

Rep. Jordan Teuscher (house 44), who attended Jordan District schools, said, “Each of my elementary school teachers was really amazing,” but he remembers specifically his

fifth-grade teacher. “I just remember being given more responsibilities and being looked at differently from a teacher than I had in the past.”

Teuscher still sees his AP political science teacher, Scott Crump, who taught the class at Bingham High for 25 years, and now works as a green coat at legislative sessions. Jenicee Jacobson, who is now an administrator at West Jordan High, was Teuscher’s debate teacher his senior year and helped him become who he is today. “She really took an interest in us and found ways for us to be able to accomplish the things we wanted to do,” he said.

Godfrey’s podcast also highlights the behind-the-scenes workers such as aides, nutrition workers, custodians, bus drivers and other support personnel who are critical to creating a successful educational environment for students. Currently there is a shortage in these positions—custodial crews are the most short-handed right now. The Board told legislators their current priority is to be able to provide competitive pay to fill these positions.

“It’s easy to look at a school, and the teacher, but we have so many people that play a huge part in the education of our children, and we hope that we can recognize all of those needs,” George said. “Students are constantly receiving extra help through education support professionals, receiving experiences in the lunchroom and receiving relationships through school bus drivers.”

Board members also reported on how legislative funding has been spent. Their priorities have been employee pay, school safety and mental health resources.

They took time to answer questions legislators had about topics such as student attendance and discipline and the procedure for banning books.

Bingham High School ProStart students provided the food for the breakfast and the Madrigals Choir performed two songs.

JSD hosts a legislative breakfast every year before the legislative session. Last year’s legislative breakfast was particularly productive. It took place at Herriman High School, which on that day happened to be implementing the test-to-stay protocols the governor had put in place. When the lawmakers saw the procedure in action, they immediately texted the governor about the problems

with the protocol.

“It was a very striking moment,” Associate Superintendent Mike Anderson said to lawmakers at this year’s breakfast. “It was thanks to your jumping in at that point that we were able to get some things changed rather quickly at the state level.”

Godfrey said the entire state benefited from the lawmakers’ efforts that day.

“That’s the best example of us working together in really difficult times,” he said. l

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Some of the state legislators and board members in attendance at the Jordan School District Legislative Breakfast held Jan. 11 (Jet Burnham/City Journals)

South Jordan students learn about performing, history, friendship through “Annie, Jr.”

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Shortly before winter break, South Jordan Elementary students performed “Annie, Jr.” on stage – or on three stages — in their school multi-purpose room.

For months leading up to the show, the cast of 65 fourth- through sixth-grade students learned the 10 songs with Beverly Taylor Sorensen music specialist Nancy Hopkin, practiced their dancing with second-grade teacher Alan LaFleur, and rehearsed the show under the direction of fifth-grade teacher Diane Witt-Roper.

It’s the tenth musical South Jordan Elementary students have performed.

“The kids are amazing, and they really have so much talent,” LaFleur said.

To help students understand the time period the story is set in, the teachers taught them a little about life during the Great Depression. They also got special permission to perform “Hooverville,” which is not part of the “Annie, Jr.” script.

The cast performed to a backdrop of a city skyline, and of a mansion featuring a grand staircase. Their sets included actual bunkbeds in a dull orphanage setting and a parlor with furniture around an old-time radio. For two weeks, a dozen parents created the sets under the direction of volunteer Stephanie Miller.

Although the cast battled some illness as well as microphone and sound system issues, the show went on — much to the delight of their schoolmates that crowded around the stages to see the preview before it opened for the community.

“Annie, Jr.” is set in the 1930s in New York City and opens with an optimistic and upbeat Annie determined to find her parents who left her on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan.

Brooke Hansen played Miss Hannigan.

“I wanted to be Miss Hannigan because it’s fun to be the villain; I get to show more character,” said the home-schooled fifth grader who returned to her boundary school to perform with friends. “My friends say I’m the nicest person, so I had to practice for two weeks to say my lines with meanness.”

Brooke is friends with fourth-grader Gwenyth Nielsen, who played Annie.

“I wanted to be Annie really bad,” she said. “I love theater a ton. I love telling stories and dancing. It’s been my dream to be Annie, to step into her character and feel what it’s like to be her. It’s been powerful to perform her story.”

Gwenyth said that she studied more about the depression and orphanages for her role.

“It was just terrible; everybody lost their job. The orphanages were crowded and didn’t treat the children well. They were expected to work hard and not be kids at all. When (Ol-

iver) ‘Daddy’ Warbucks, who is really rich, came into Annie’s life, she helped him open his heart. I liked that part of the story; it’s important we take the time to listen to each other and be kind.”

It’s also important to have fun, said sixth-grader Maddox Pogue as he played Drake, Warbucks’ head butler.

“I like making my friends smile and laugh with trying to have an English accent,” Maddox said. “In rehearsal, I had to improvise a bit when I forgot my lines, but I got them down. It was challenging at first because I was nervous performing in front of a bunch of people and I had some quick costume changes, but I got it down, and now, I like performing so people can have a good time.”

Fifth-grader Jacob Pacini portrayed Rooster, Miss Hannigan’s flashy, smoothtalking brother. His two older brothers also performed in South Jordan’s musicals, including “Aladdin,” “Wizard of Oz,” and “Lion King.”

“I wanted to be a protagonist,” he said. “I like challenging roles. I like that he is scheming and has a swagger about him. He is a character that is so large, but is limited in his scenes, so I had to learn to be expressive, to have his character and story be told.”

While he enjoyed singing “Easy Street,” Jacob said he had to remember to squirm a little when he was arrested in front of Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, played by fifth-grader Stockton Affleck, who was so dedicated to his role, he shaved his head.

“I did it for the commitment,” he said. “My dad got the razor, and I was all in. This has been the most fun.”

His classmate Ruthie Mortensen had to

wear a wig for the show as Lily, Rooster’s girlfriend, so she could “pretend to be a dumb person.”

“It was kind of fun purposely not being perfect singing ‘Easy Street’ or acting as if I wasn’t quite sure what was going on,” she said.

Sixth-grader Lauren Cowan played Warbucks’ secretary, Grace.

“It was fun having a more challenging role,” she said. “I worked on my part, but the most fun was working with my friends.”

That’s what sixth-grader Spencer Storm, fourth-graders Emmett Pehrson and Glorya Weaver appreciated, while fourth-grader Elizabeth Welch acknowledged that as well as having the chance to wear make-up for the performances. Her classmate, Hazel Anderson, said she liked wearing a microphone until it pulled her skin taking it off.

Fourth-graders Isla Crowther, Lyla Barrus and Whitney Park love singing and dancing, but they got to learn a little about cleaning with rags and mops as orphans. Their classmate Brinlee Zingleman learned about projecting her voice and discovered she likes to perform. She appreciated the choreography, especially as each orphan rotated to the front in “Hard-Knock Life.”

Others, like fifth-grader Sanah Bhardwaj, appreciated the choreography as well.

“I love dancing; it’s great exercise and fun to do,” she said.

Fourth-grader Hadley Clark couldn’t decide if she liked the choreography, the staging, the acting or the whole experience best, but her classmate Claire Stevenson knew what was the best: ‘The ending when everyone was clapping. I knew we did our best and I was happy with how it went.” l

South Jordan Elementary students watch their peers perform “Annie, Jr.” in December; it was the tenth musical South Jordan Elementary students have performed. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

At South Jordan Elementary, a cast of 65 fourth- through sixth-grade students performed “Annie, Jr.” for their schoolmates and community. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

From gingerbread to IRAs, Bingham students learn personal finances through class game of Life

Every year, hundreds of students walk through Bingham High School’s media center in awe of the dozens and dozens of gingerbread homes and structures that are made as an option for the mathematics in personal finance class.

There are red barns, tree houses, football stadiums, the house from the movie “Up,” a Hogwarts house from the Harry Potter book series, a miniature Rockefeller Center, as well as two scaled-down Bingham High Schools. This year, they ranged from a simple schoolsized milk carton gingerbread cabin to a replica of the Washington National Cathedral that measured several feet wide and high.

“We were given the challenge to make a gingerbread with the guidelines that it had to be mostly edible, and it had to fit through the school doors, so we decided to make it as big as possible,” said senior Ethan Williams, who created the cathedral with Namoa “Mo” Tuikolongahau and James Southworth. “We added the sides once we got it inside.”

While Williams is the only one of the three who has been to the second largest cathedral in the United States, the others, who were thinking Taj Mahal or the St. Basil’s Cathedral, agreed.

“I knew we were going to make it big, but not this big,” said Tuikolongahau about the first gingerbread structure he’s made.

It took the trio less than a dozen days to complete the project, from planning, to making the intricate structure and moving it into the library, where it sat alone on a table as it was too large to be placed on top of a bookshelf with other students’ creations. They finished the project a week before it was due.

The scaled-down cathedral was supported by wood, supplied by Williams’ dad, who is a contractor. His son, who has worked with him on some projects, was the one to make the calculations for the gingerbread church.

After building the cathedral’s frame, they covered it with cardboard so the graham crackers would stick better.

The boys bought nine large boxes of graham crackers and used “just under 1,000” of them.

“Graham crackers were cheaper and lighter than gingerbread,” Tuikolongahau explained. “I did the details; they gave me ideas and I just went for it. I learned teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

The structure is coated with about 40 pounds of candy, and Williams’ mother’s mixer stopped working as 30 pounds of royal icing was made to decorate the replica of the church that is built in the shape of a cross.

Southworth said there wasn’t too much difficulty involved.

“When it comes to detail, it’s a lot easier on these big ones,” he said. “The towers got a little bit tricky though.”

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Southworth designed the stained-glass windows, but Tuikolongahau said they tweaked the design to use pretzels in support of the melted colorful Jolly Rancher hard candies.

Gumdrops lined the roof near the powdered sugar-coated ice cream cone spires with Sixlet candies placed on top of the towers. Three gingerbread boys, representing the teens, stood on vanilla wafer stairs as if to walk out of the cathedral and into the marshmallow trees representing the Olmstead Woods on the 59-acre grounds.

Marc Jensen teaches eight periods of about 250 students in the yearlong class that covers 16 different units including the cost of housing, rentals and mortgages. It counts as a finance, math or an elective class credit.

“We talk about how a mortgage works, housing trends, the values of houses and what impacts that, and how much of our budget we should use on housing,” he said, adding that at the end of the unit, students are given a quiz to assess their learning as well as an optional project that is designed to supplement their learning.

For this unit, students choose to write an essay on questions to ask when buying a house; put together an amortization table revealing the advantages of a 10-year mortgage as compared to a 30-year mortgage; or create a gingerbread structure.

“I give them a chance to kind of showcase what they learned, go in a little bit deeper and do it in a way that they want to,” Jensen said, adding the majority pick the gingerbread creation. “Every project is scored for participation; there’s no grading as far as how good the house is. For fun, teachers vote for a winner and the top 25 of the gingerbread creations.”

He said the top vote-getters get a little bonus of pretend income in the nine-month “Miner Money Madness” game they play, where students have a budget to manage.

He said the gingerbread house idea came about from the unit they study during the holidays.

“I thought it would be fun with toothpicks and straws and gummy bears, the typical engineering type stuff, but it was one of the students, probably 15 years ago, who suggested to make a gingerbread house. I love seeing kids’ creative juices come out a bit,” he said, adding that the choice of assignments gives every kid an opportunity to show their different strengths. “I want them to know the basics about a mortgage, the basics of what house values are, the basics of what to look for when they purchase a house, right? More than it has a cool couch and a cool TV.”

While Jensen said the Washington National Cathedral and other creations are beautiful, there is more behind the option.

“They may be making a gingerbread house and ask Mom and Dad, ‘do we have a 20-year or 30-year mortgage and why did we do what we did?’” he said. “In the springtime, when we talk about purchasing cars, we may have kids who are really good at auto body or diesel mechanics, and they will go above and beyond on the supplemental project we do for that. I try to let the students have some fun and see if I can grab their interest and tie it to the educational education we’ve learned. We also do a unit on emergency preparedness and their project is to put together a 72-hour kit. I don’t ask them to buy a $300 kit or put one together for themselves that cost $50. All I ask is if they learned and did something for emergency preparedness. When we talk about taxes, students will fill out a fake tax return. This class is about the finances of your life.”

It’s all incorporated into the game where they roll a die to see if they will marry or divorce, have children or need to pay child support, if they go to college or have a second job.

“Every Friday kids pay their bills and account for their weekly expenses,” Jensen said. “They decide whether they pay off their college loan a little bit this week or if they invest in a stock. They’re learning what tax rates are and what gross income is and what our leftover money is. They literally are in charge of how much money they earn, and the kids get kind of competitive. They want to be the richest one in class.”

Senior Ashton Clarke said he took the class as his older siblings told him they’ve applied what they learned to real life.

“Thinking about managing your finances, it can be overwhelming,” he said. “But throughout the whole year, we play a game of Life. Every week we pay bills, we learn to budget, and learn about insurance and mortgages,” he said.

His classmate senior Matt Philbrick agrees.

“The class helps you be more prepared and less nervous about life after graduation when you’re an adult and having to worry about rent and car payments,” he said. “I didn’t know much about stocks and mortgages and houses, which sound like big scary things. But through the class game, I’ve learned to understand and it’s not as intimidating. One thing we learned in this class is that the time to invest is early, let compound interest take over and not to spend your money away. I plan to look into opening up a Roth IRA account. I didn’t know anything about compound interest or certain types of savings accounts before.”

Senior Tessa Densley is learning about life’s financial decisions.

During the first week of the game, she

rolled the die to learn she divorced her spouse “who makes lots of money.” A later roll on another week meant she remarried the same person, bringing the end of child support for their five kids.

“It’s been good to learn things like keeping our monthly mortgage payments under 30 percent of our gross income or if we put down an 80 percent down payment on a house, we don’t have to pay a PMI (private mortgage insurance),” she said. “It helps us establish our goals and know how to reach them. I want to work for NASA, and it’s made me think more about my future besides college and scholarships. I need to look at who and when I may marry as that is going to have a huge financial decision and what house I’m in besides what I do for work so I know how I will pay for things. It’s been beneficial because we have been learning stuff that I know I’ll use outside of school.”

As each student navigates through the game, they have a chance to earn extra money. Many students do it through challenges such as going to bed by 10 p.m., doing homework or attending a high school activity. They’ve exercised, read books, practiced hobbies, given up drinking soda pop, and “do healthy things that teenagers should develop as habits that lead to more productive lifestyles,” Philbrick said.

While they’re projecting their future lives in the game, they’ll be thrown a curve ball and face a depression, Jensen said.

“I try to make this applicable to real life and not knowing what may happen and this depression will also teach them that money value can fluctuate,” he said. “I want them to think, ‘where do we go from here’ and never spend more than they make, know how to save, and understand some of the biggest financial and planning decisions they’ll make in life.” l

Bingham High seniors James Southworth, Namoa “Mo” Tuikolongahau and Ethan Williams created the Washington National Cathedral out of graham crackers and candies for their mathematics in personal finance class. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Jordan District’s seventh-graders discover career agricultural opportunities

By Julie Slama | j.slama@yahoo.com

Atthe Salt Lake County fairgrounds, there were animals — alpacas, goats, birds, wild horses; fruits and vegetables — apples, peaches, pumpkins; as well as animal skeletons, tractors, flowers, water experiments, healthy-eating diagrams and more.

It was Jordan School District’s sixth annual agriculture day. More than 4,800 seventh-grade students from all the district’s middle schools, including its virtual middle school, learned from 56 different organizations about agriculture, said Shauna West, Jordan School District’s career and technical education assistant.

“Seventh-graders in the state are required to take a college and career awareness class, with 17 of those days being devoted to agriculture,” she said. “We decided to hold this event to help our teachers educate seventh-graders about all aspects of agriculture.”

The broad spectrum showed sheep shearing to drone use in agriculture. Students learned about things ranging from the price of machinery that gets wheat onto a dining room table to the importance of good nutrition.

“We’re hoping students learned the important part that agriculture plays in their everyday life, that their bread does not come from the shelf, their milk does not come from the refrigerator. We wanted to give them an opportunity to see and smell and feel what it’s all about, to get that hands-on experience,” West said.

She said teachers prepared students beforehand and about 120 Future Farmers of America and science high school students set up for the day as well as escorted student groups in rotations and answered their questions.

Elk Ridge career and technical education teacher Steven Asp was overseeing two groups of his students through the rotations.

“I want my students to become aware of all the different career clusters, and agriculture is a big one,” he said. “I love that students are getting exposed to where food comes first hand from people in the industry to having the opportunity to learn about clubs and careers in high school and college. This is much more interactive than a discussion and I love that we’re getting out of the classroom to experience it.”

Elk Ridge seventh-grader Ola Hamadi was excited to see the sheep and to learn about them. She and classmate Emery Ross just learned that they needed to have plenty of vegetables and protein to eat healthy.

They had listened to Jordan School District nutrition coordinators Lisa Totorica and Jodie Bowles.

“We taught them about the five groups of food on ‘My Plate,’” Totorica said.

Bowles said that not all the students were aware that Jordan School District offers students breakfast with fresh bread every morning.

“We talked to them about some of their favorites – chicken sandwiches and spicy orange chicken – and they were able to understand the nutrition of the meals,” she said. “It’s amazing how smart they are.”

Students rotated to learn that alpacas, the shortest member of the camel family, have an average lifespan of 22 years, and then to learning about aviation technology in agriculture for a college class choice. They also learned about wild mustangs in nearby Butterfield Canyon and how a high school student adopts and trains horses, and how she rides them now to compete for prizes.

Horticulturalist Crystal Trentelman shared with students her knowledge and love of plants and answered their questions, such as why her strawberry plant has pink flowers instead of white.

“I’m a Utah State student, but I also work for Progressive Plants and in both cases, I really like to be involved in the plant community and share with anyone interested about plant education,” she said. “I talked a lot about plant breeding, working on different genetics to make those things happen. The kids were really asking some intelligent questions. I just am so jealous of these guys getting to learn about these options while they’re young.”

Elk Ridge seventh-grader Amalia Vallejo appreciated learning from Trentelman that

working with plants is a peaceful career and one which also can focus on need and beauty with plants’ different colors. She also liked learning about the different programs available at Utah State University.

West Jordan Middle School student Naomi Fisutalia Hamilton said through her rotations, she learned that most breads are made from part whole wheat flour and part white and can share that with her family.

West Jordan science teacher Allyson Jellito said she can tie what they learned into her class discussion.

“I really like the pods with ducks, chickens and horses and dogs since they’re learning about the diversity of life,” she said. “We can use those to determine what is living, what isn’t living, and particularly how to care for living things themselves. I’m going to bring this back to my class to implement.”

Parent Dan Hastings was escorting a group of seventh-grade students.

“It’s cool that these students are exposed to as much as possible here,” he said, remembering he helped farm and ride horses where the district offices now stand. “There are so many more choices in agriculture today.”

Top: Horticulturalist Crystal Trentelman shared with students about plant breeding at Jordan School District’s annual agriculture day. Right: At Jordan School District’s sixth annual agriculture day, more than 4,800 seventh-grade students were engaged in learning about everything from animals to farming equipment. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Salt Lake County Council approves funding for a temporary mental health receiving center

Witha $2.5 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Salt Lake County Council approved funding for a temporary mental health receiving center at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute (501 Chipeta Way).

As an alternative to jail or the emergency room, the temporary center will accept residents going through a mental health crisis, brought in by law enforcement. The center will focus on getting people the professional help they need.

“The current option is to take those who are experiencing a crisis to jail or an emergency room, which is costly, can take more of an officer’s time, and may not give those in crisis the long-term help they need,” said Ross Van Vranken, executive director of the HMHI. “We applaud the council and mayor’s foresight and commitment to mental health resources.”

Funds from the council will cover the cost of retrofitting and expanding an existing space at the HMHI. It will also cover 17 months of staffing to allow operations beginning in April 2023 until the construction of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center is finished in fall 2024.

The new center is being built in South Salt Lake and will be a place where people

can go to stabilize and connect with vital mental health resources. The temporary location at HMHI will address those needs until the center opens. It will help alleviate the Salt Lake County Jail which houses a large population of people needing mental health services.

“The county is designated as the mental health authority by the state, and we operate the jail, so this is a good fit,” said Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton. “This investment will not only improve mental health outcomes but will save taxpayer dollars in the long run.” As was proposed in Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson’s budget, the council will also approve an additional $1 million toward the construction of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center.

“The $1 million donation was included in my proposed budget to go towards the construction of the permanent space,” Wilson said. “We are committed to getting this finished and appreciate all those who have partnered on this project.”

The $3.5 million commitment from the county is part of a public-private collaboration with the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, which has committed $3.5 million to the construction of Larry H. and Gail

Miller Family Integrated Healing and Innovation Center, helping those in crisis. The integrated center will provide legal support services, case management, medical and dental support, and mental wellness counseling.

“In the time I’ve been on the council, I’ve never seen eight council members

co-sponsor an agenda item,” said Salt Lake County Council Chair Laurie Stringham. “This shows the commitment of the Council to support mental health resources for our residents.”l

A temporary mental health receiving center, at the existing Huntsman Mental Health Institute, will allow law enforcement officers to bring people experiencing a mental health crisis to a safe place to receive professional help. (Photo courtesy of Huntsman Mental Health Institute)

spin. Because McLaughlin is 100% in control of her music, she doesn’t have to share those profits with other writers, producers or a business manager.

McLaughlin, who once toured the country performing her music, did a tour with fellow Utah native and pianist Ryan Stewart. Stewart mentioned that there is a place for the type of music McLaughlin produces. Stewart has also been in her home and heard her perform, and recalled being amazed by the quality of sound she was able to produce on her Fazioli piano.

“It’s a heartfelt story,” Stewart said of McLaughlin’s music. “It’s peaceful, yet full of energy.”

Prior to the worldwide pandemic, McLaughlin performed in front of audiences via house concerts, where attendees would pay for a ticket to hear her play the piano in a private residence. Although the house concerts stopped during the height of the pandemic, McLaughlin is set to once again perform at a house concert in Boise, Idaho on Feb. 26, her first performance since 2019.

In 2018, McLaughlin was featured in “Rolling Stone Magazine,” and has been nominated for several awards from Solopiano.com as well as featured on the New Age Billboard charts.

All this success didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen without a high amount of dedication and determination.

Both McLaughlin and Stewart mentioned the need for perseverance and patience for those looking to become an independent artist.

“You have to be really patient in this music business,” McLaughlin said. “Something you release right now may take 3-5 years for it to start earning you an income.”

Despite not working with a label, McLaughlin said she is open to that in the future provided she remain in control of her content.

Those wanting to purchase an album or individual sheet music, or for more information about upcoming concerts can visit michelemclaughlin.com/. l

Buy One Get One 1/2 Off

Students benefit from co-teaching through different teaching styles, perspectives, flexibility

WhenBingham High junior Boston Richards had a chance to enroll in a cotaught English class, he jumped at the chance.

“Both of the teachers have helped me; they see things differently, but they have the same goal,” he said. “Sometimes one takes the lead and the other supports, or they’ll divide us into groups and switch so we’re getting more personal attention. When we’re in one big group, we can raise our hands and they can help us twice as fast. They work well with each other, and I definitely feel I’ve become a better writer from having two teachers.”

Richards is in a class taught by teachers Kari Ortiz and Braxton Thornley, who through co-planning and co-teaching, help each other develop and practice all aspects of teaching, and seamlessly alternate between leading and assisting students in their lessons.

On that particular day, the class was learning about personal narratives. Thornley, who teaches English, took the lead on instruction, while they both interacted with students about their themes and dialogue that add value and personalized their stories.

Students had prompts to describe a time when they were extremely happy, sad, angry, new or did something new. They read and learned a personal narrative can be as simple as a conversation as Jason Reynolds wrote, “Eleven Minutes: A Call from Kobe Bryant” days after the NBA star tragically died.

The two teachers have taught together for three years and before that, Ortiz co-taught with another teacher.

“Our collaboration helps improve my own classes; his teaching style is dynamic and energetic, and he has a lot of ideas, so I think about that when I plan and deliver my lessons in my classes,” Ortiz said, adding that she may take this narrative writing assignment and “tweak it to serve our special education students” in her other classes.

The two usually plan together and Thornley keeps an organized calendar of lesson plans and responsibilities.

“We decide together if we need to focus more on something or if we’ve got the new seating chart, we decide who will work well together in a strategic grouping,” she said, adding that they assess students’ learning together.

While not everyone will know the classes are co-taught, Ortiz said the students who have disabilities and have individualized educational plans are aware of it. She said the classes help all students with non-subject related learning.

“The IEP students benefit from working with their general education peers because we often work in groups and pairs,” Ortiz said. “It helps our gen ed students be able to talk about the subject and my students absorb that confidence in expressing themselves.”

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Co-teaching allows us to integrate special education students into the general education classroom so all students can not only learn, but they also learn about how to work with each other. When people come in, they can’t tell, but half of the students in the room have a learning disability or a behavior need. They’re all together.

Braxton Thornley

Thornley said that he has seen students’ performance improve in the co-teaching model.

“Co-teaching allows us to integrate special education students into the general education classroom so all students can not only learn, but they also learn about how to work with each other,” he said. “When people come in, they can’t tell, but half of the students in the room have a learning disability or a behavior need. They’re all together.”

The former Special Olympics’ Bingham High unified coach said when he learned of co-teaching, he was immediately on board.

“I love working with those students who maybe just need a little bit extra help,” Thornley said. “I also really like having Kari there; it’s easier to reflect on what’s happening and brainstorm solutions together or clarify instruction or vice versa. We’re able to pull aside students who may need help, to intervene and review that concept. We can look at our class and give them what is needed to improve their student achievement.”

Those are words that Jordan School District’s special education curriculum & instructional specialist Renee Sass likes to hear.

“There is no one model, no one way to co-teach, but one of the goals is to help these kiddos learn not only the subject matter, but also strategies to become successful and some soft skills and life skills to be good citizens,” she said.

Co-teaching began in the 1970s when the

Disabilities Education Act was put in place to make sure “access to education wasn’t denied for students with disabilities,” Sass said.

While co-teaching provided a structure by which licensed general and special educators could work together to deliver instruction, it has expanded to include content teachers, intervention specialists, multilingual teachers and others, she said.

Sass said she began the co-teaching push in Jordan District about 15 years ago.

“I remember saying, ‘if they can be in a gen ed setting with just a little bit of support, then that’s what we should be offering them,’” she said.

Since her early days of co-teaching math, the momentum has skyrocketed. There are co-teaching professional development opportunities for teachers as well as Jordan District’s own two-year training program.

“I love that while one teacher may be giving the instruction, the other teacher is able to go around and see a few mistakes of students who have an increase in anxiety or fear of failing, but they aren’t saying anything. So, that teacher is able to say, ‘I’d love for some clarification’ and help those struggling students who may be fearful of raising their hands,” she said. “Our kids are learning from each other how to be a good student, how to take notes, how to listen and not be on their cell phones, how to raise their hand and take a chance.”

Another initial unseen reward is when students observe their teachers, two adults, interacting with each other.

“Many of these kids come from broken homes or homes that are dysfunctional. These kids are in a safe place where they can see how they talk to each other, how they do things for each other without yelling and screaming at each other,” Sass said. “They can see disagreements between the two teachers, but they see how they resolve it, too. So not only are our students getting that additional help and support with the content, they’re observing teachers who are role modeling appropriate behavior. As a result, inappropriate behaviors are decreasing.”

Bingham High special education chair Katherine Manousakis co-teaches a math class where she will trade off instructing and helping students or she and her co-teacher will walk around the class during independent practice. Sometimes, they’ll put students in small groups to review a concept or work with one individually.

Manousakis has co-taught the past seven years.

“It’s been good to have another teacher because part of teaching is not only teaching the concept, but managing all of the other things,” she said. “We’re able to gel, use different strategies for teaching and presenting concepts, and work together to help students. The students get twice the knowledge from having two teachers and we bring a lot of different references into the class. We have flexibility to review, to enhance, to explain and to show how concepts apply to real life.” l

Bingham teachers Braxton Thornley and Kari Ortiz converse while they co-teach a high school English class. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Writing isn’t easy, author tells students

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Albion

Middle teacher librarian and media specialist

Bridget Rees may be one of young adult fiction author Neal Shusterman’s biggest fans. She began reading his work in 2007, two years after the writer won the Boston GlobeHorn Book Award.

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

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

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

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

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

The Brooklyn, New York-born author, who once lived in Florida and answered that he does not have a pet alligator, now lives in Southern California. He said the inspiration for his books comes from various places, including basing his book, “Dry,” in the neighborhood where his kids grew up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The third part of the book’s inspiration came from an

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

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

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

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

Shusterman will read his third draft out loud.

“I read it out loud to myself because the experience of hearing your words is different enough from the experience

of reading silently on the page, that you get a whole new perspective altogether different based on how it sounds,” he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While he likes introducing characters, Shusterman said it was hard to eliminate some of those he has developed when it is necessary.

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

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

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

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

cipal.’ Then, I got a yellow slip from the principal’s office to see him immediately. Now, the yellow slips were the bad ones. So, I think ‘great, it’s only my first week of school and I’m going to get myself suspended because the principal wants to make an example out of me because it’s inappropriate to write this kind of gross, gory story in school.”

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

Come Down to Larry H. Miller

Ford Lincoln Draper…

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

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

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

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

Shusterman shared it with his first-year teacher; she told him, “I love the story that you wrote. I’m going to send it to the prin-

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

“By the end of ninth grade, I felt like a writer, and I haven’t stopped writing ever since,” he said, adding that he dedicated a novel to her and presented her a collection of his autographed books.

“As we go through school, you’re all going to find that you have teachers that have a powerful influence over your lives. For me, my ninth-grade English teacher was one of those teachers. She challenged me to believe in myself. And from that moment on, I just kept on writing and getting rejected, and writing and getting rejected, and writing and getting rejected,” he said. “It takes determination to succeed, and it helps when you have someone who believes in you like my English teacher believed in me.” l

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

What’s your legacy?

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

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

literacy teacher there jumped on it and it caught the kids’ interest,” she said.

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

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

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

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

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

.com

“I’d say about 60% of our entries were from Albion Middle School because the digital

“I thought it would be fun to do a video contest because I think kids love to make movies and they love to use technology to express their ideas and their creativity. So, I thought how cool it would be for the kids to create

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

New 55+ Community Now Building in South Jordan

Just south of Salt Lake Community College, Utah’s leading builder of active adult communities has begun construction of their newest development. Leisure Villas, known for their lifestyle-oriented neighborhoods, has broken ground on what is promising to be one of their more premiere locations.

County library celebrates all-star readers just in time for NBA All-Star game

With Salt Lake City and the newly renamed Delta Center set to host the NBA All-Star game in February, the Salt Lake County Library system decided to celebrate a different kind of all-star.

All-Star Winter Reading, an all-ages, basketball-themed event presented in partnership with the Salt Lake County Mayor’s Office, will offer opportunities to read, create, learn, play and connect in Salt Lake County and beyond, while scoring big with books, Utah Jazz tickets and other prizes in the process.

“It’s kind of like we took the referee out of the game,” County Library Program Manager Nyssa Fleig said in a press release. “There are so many ways people can take part in Winter Reading, whether by reading; playing sports like basketball; jumping in on a board game; volunteering; visiting rec centers, museums, and parks; making new friends; or starting a new club. It’s really up to the participant.”

The program began Jan. 3 and runs through Feb. 18. Participants, all ages and abilities are welcome, may register any time during the program’s run.

videos and then to show those videos in the school,” she said.

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

“We had that video contest, and it was literally the week before COVID closed the schools. We still had winners, but we didn’t get to share the films in person. We may have put the videos on Canvas or something for other students to see,” she recalled.

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

“Now we’re ready to roll it out to the

Winter readers may participate through the County Library’s Beanstack app, a safe, secure, interactive activity tracking program or with paper reading records, available at any branch. Either method aims to keep All-Star Winter Reading stats a fun, engaging and rewarding experience.

Finishers will be entered into a drawing to win books and Utah Jazz tickets, with each of the County Library’s 18 branches giving away a pair of tickets. Finishers will also have the opportunity to meet NBA mascots and the County Library’s Owlexander the Owl at an exclusive event at the Library’s Viridian Event Center Feb. 15 in West Jordan.

More information on the County Library’s All-Star Winter Reading program can be found at thecountylibrary.org/WinterReading.

In addition to All-Star Winter Reading, Salt Lake County is boosting the NBA AllStar Experience with ticket giveaways and fan events. Learn more at slco.org/mayor/slco-all-star-experience. l

whole state,” she said.

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

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

55+ Community offers better living for retirees

While nobody likes to see another open field disappear to housing, it is nice to see that it will be constructed by a builder who has a strong reputation for not only building quality homes, but homes and communities that are attractive and fun.

Hearthstone Villas, located at 9550 S. 3400 W. has just opened its first building for sale. While supply and labor shortages threaten to slow construction, the builder is committed to doing all in their power to open four new homes for sale each month.

This long-anticipated community will soon have its community clubhouse under construction also, with its accompanying amenities, like a pool, theater, exercise room, billiards, library, community gathering areas. This community is also planning on installing two pickleball courts and some horseshoe pits in the next phase of construction. Needless to say, there will be plenty to do, and great people to do it with.

If you would like more information about this new community, you can speak with a representative by visiting the sales office on site, or by calling: 801-701-1147.

Salt Lake County Library system runs a winter reading program until Feb. 18. (Wikimedia)

Herriman High staff tunes-in to immigrant students’ needs

By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com

High tech translation earbuds will soon be a normal part of classroom instruction at Herriman High School for some of the 200 students who are identified as English language learners, many of whom are refugees and immigrants.

Many of these students come to Utah and are immediately enrolled in high school classes in which they don’t understand their teachers but are too overwhelmed to ask for help.

“They don’t have the courage to say, ‘I don’t understand this,’” Luis Pulido said, a Herriman High sophomore from Venezuela.

The earbuds work with a phone app which can translate speech into multiple languages and dialects at the same time so both teachers and students understand each other.

Herriman High School Assistant Principal Julie Scherzinger said this device will prevent misunderstandings.

“It’s allowing for instruction to occur, because students can get all the instruction in their language and ask questions in their language, and it comes back to me in English and then I can answer them in English and they get the answer in Spanish,” she said.

Pulido, who has lived in the United States for just over a year, has used the earbuds and said they are a helpful tool.

“The teachers understand you if you don’t have the words in your mind at that moment, and you understand the teachers,” he said.

Pulido said he, like many students who are just learning English, has been intimidated to take upper-level honors and AP classes. He said this tool will enable everyone to reach their full potential, allowing them to

take classes that have not been accessible before because of language barriers.

“Those classes have technical language that I don’t understand right now, but I will. The earbuds will help me with that,” Pulido said.

Scherzinger said it is common for students who have excellent transcripts from their home country and are very smart to re-

main in general classes because of their language skills.

“Even with the scaffolding that we have in place and the accommodations we have in place, it is an uphill battle,” she said. The earbuds will allow students to continue progressing in their education despite the linguistic challenges.

Scherzinger said when students struggle with language, it affects their ability to learn, which can then affect their mental health and whether or not they choose to stay in school and graduate.

She said the earbuds are an effective solution to many problems these students face.

“It removes barriers, is what it does,” Scherzinger said. “It removes barriers so that equalizes the playing field for our immigrant students and multilingual students.”

Herriman High staff members are always looking for ways to help students. Principal Todd Quarnberg said costs have always been a prohibitive factor for these types of devices, but that once they saw these earbud translators in action, they decided to make it a priority to find a way to purchase them.

They applied for funding from Live Daybreak’s school grant program. A large portion of students attending Herriman High

Non-English speaking students wear these translation earbuds to access classroom instruction in real-time alongside their peers. (Photo courtesy of Julie Scherzinger)

live in the Daybreak community. Students and staff demonstrated the earbuds at a Live Daybreak board meeting and were awarded $17,500, which will purchase about 58 devices.

“It was a very compelling project,” Jenny Nigbor of Live Daybreak said. “We don’t normally fund to that amount, but they had a real need and our board was more than excited to be able to support them in that way.”

The first devices purchased will go to students who most need them and to front office workers and counselors “to change the dynamic of being able to speak to the public,” Scherzinger said.

Five years ago, the only office staff member that spoke Spanish was the school resource officer, Scherzinger said. Now the school administration prioritizes hiring bilingual and culturally competent employees.

“Every new hire we’ve required to either be ESL-endorsed or willing to go back and pick it up,” Quarnberg said.

The number of support staff and new positions at Herriman High continues to expand to meet the needs of refugee students and their families. These include bilingual homeless liaisons, study skills teachers and aides and counseling center staff, some of whom are English language learners or first generation immigrants themselves.

Students who are new to the country take an English Language Development class. Last year, there was just one class; this year there are five. They also participate in

the Latinos in Action classes. Last year, English language learners participated in a Be the Change program to break down social barriers. At the beginning of this school year, a Hall of Flags with 32 flags representing each of the home countries of students was created.

Pulido said he feels the support of teachers, administrators and school staff members.

“The school has done good with it,” Pulido said.

The support of students extends to their families. With community donations and funds from the Jordan Education Fund, the school provides beds, blankets, food, clothing and school supplies to refugee students and their families.

“When that parent walks in the door with a heavy load, the goal is that we can really help where we can, lift where we can,” Scherzinger said.

The number of minority students attending Herriman High has jumped from 5% in 2018 to 28% this year, the majority of whom are immigrants. About 60 new refugee students enroll each semester, and with the border opening again, Scherzinger expects that growth to continue.

Quarnberg said it takes a lot of school funding just to make the system work and that breaking down each barrier costs money. He and his staff are committed to break down barriers, address shortfalls and create new positions to help their students access a quality education.. l

After an unbeaten run to start the season, the Bingham girls basketball team comes back to Earth

By Brian Shaw | b.shaw@mycityjournals.com

The Bingham girls basketball team started out the season with a 5-0 record. They were not to be denied, using a combination of clutch perimeter shooting and gritty defense.

But that lady luck ran out in Las Vegas, as Bingham had its unbeaten mark snapped, losing three straight before getting back on the winning side in a 66-48 rout of a California school to wrap up the Tarkanian Classic.

Once the Miners got back home though, the struggles they had in Vegas came back with them as well.

Bingham [6-7] hasn’t won since that 66-48 rout back in Vegas on Dec. 22, 2022, losing four in a row since then.

There appear to be two reasons why the Miners could have been struggling. They lost junior Levani Key-Powell to an injury in the win at Skyline on Dec. 13. Key-Powell, who is Bingham’s third leading scorer [13.2 points/game], did not play in Las Vegas.

The second reason could be that the Miners closed out their preseason trailing in the first quarter in each of the three games they played.

On Dec. 30, Bingham trailed 15-11 in the first quarter en route to a 63-55 loss at Pleasant Grove. Junior Brianna Badonie had 16 points courtesy of four three-point shots she made—her season average. Junior Uma Tukuafu added 13 the hard way, but she got hers—as did junior Mata Peaua who scored 10.

At Skyridge Jan. 3, the Miners fell behind early 21-7 to the No. 4 ranked team in Utah. That deficit was too much for Bingham to overcome, but they battled back to make it competitive in a 69-50 loss.

In the Miners’ final game of the preseason Jan. 5, they were trailing 15-11 after one quarter, but chipped away at the deficit in a 63-59 home defeat to Corner Canyon. The trio of Peaua, Tukuafu and Badonie were held under their scoring averages, but seniors Sarah Broederlow and Hallie Bayles chipped in eight points apiece, and Key-Powell five, as she works her way back from her injury.

It was Key-Powell’s first game action in almost a month, and for the Miners who will now head into Region 3, play her return couldn’t have come at a better time. l

Paige Nelson is one of three seniors for the Miners this year. (Travis Barton/City Journals)

Bingham boys hoops dedication beginning to pay off

By Brian Shaw | b.shaw@mycityjournals.com

Admittedly,

Bingham boys basketball coach Kyle Straatman knew the preseason was going to be a struggle—and it was, as his team went 1-6 from the start of the season on Nov. 22, 2022 to Dec. 19.

“We are a very inexperienced team but are a very scrappy group. This team is fun to coach because they show up every day and work very hard to get better,” Straatman said of his Miners squad.

But the grind of playing against some of the top teams in Utah and elsewhere is beginning to pay off for the coach, who in his fifth year is trying to rebuild his team after five players graduated from a team that went 22-3.

The reason is as old as the game itself.

“I have been going in at 6:00 a.m. every morning and we have multiple players getting up extra shots before school starts on our two shooting machines,” Straatman said. “They also are working very hard in the weight room and have really bought into the team concept and do not care who gets the glory. We have great leadership on this team, and they are doing a great job picking up where last year’s group left off with continuing our Bingham Brotherhood culture.”

That buy-in by Bingham’s starters, who all average between 7 and 12 points per game,

has led to a 3-3 record since Dec. 20. In that span the Miners have defeated 6A schools Westlake and Pleasant Grove.

At the Tarkanian Classic holiday tournament in Las Vegas, they defeated a team from California, and took teams from Florida and Arizona to the wire before losing.

To top off the preseason for the Miners, they lost by 7 [66-59] to an American Fork team many believe will be in the 6A title conversation.

In that game at Bingham Jan. 11, the Miners were tied 10-10 after the first quarter. But American Fork clogged passing lanes, growing the Miner deficit to 8 after two quarters, and 51-29 going into the fourth.

But Bingham fought back in the fourth quarter, pressing from almost the length of the court on every American Fork possession.

That pressure led to turnovers, and after an and-one by senior forward Brayden Whitehead [8 points and 6 rebounds], the Miners cut the American Fork lead to 17, 5336 with 5:48 to play.

That run was short-lived as American Fork grew Bingham’s deficit back to 21 with four minutes left.

But the Miners were lifted by freshman Luke West whose 13 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds against AF were like a stick of dy-

namite.

They blasted at American Fork’s lead and got it to just 6 at 62-56, when with 30 seconds to go a skip pass from senior KJ Jenson [12 points, 6 assists] to junior Stockton Tueller [8 points] in the corner led to a 3-pointer.

Six points was as close as Bingham would get Jan. 11 in the Miners’ last test before region play begins, but they’ve been chipping away and figuring out how best to compete despite the loss of those five guys all season long. Senior Gage Vance [5 pts], junior Jason Peterson [6 pts] and senior Carson Bagley [7 pts] also contributed in the loss to AF, as did sophomores Donovan Averitte and Alex Kartchner.

“We play one of the toughest schedules in the state which will help us get ready for our region,” said the Bingham coach, whose team stood at 6-10 overall and 2-1 in Region 3 play which tipped off Jan. 13.

“We have won three region championships in a row and have a goal of trying to make it four in a row this year. It is going to be very difficult this year with a very tough region.”

BECAUSE NO TWO ARE ALIKE

Kaden Jenson brings the ball up the court in Bingham’s 64-50 win over West Jordan. (Travis Barton/ City Journals)

Bingham stays put, Corner Canyon joins as regions realign

By Greg James | g.james@mycityjournals.com

Teams in the Utah High School Activities Association’s Region 2 in 6A will become the new Region 4 in 5A.

Every two years the UHSAA adjusts its school’s region placement. The changes are scheduled to take effect for the 2023-24 school year.

“I am excited about the proposed region alignment,” Hunter boys soccer coach Brett Solberg said. “It is our best fit. An ideal region should consist of schools that are similar.”

A public hearing was held on Dec. 14, 2022 to receive feedback from districts and schools. The new alignment was adopted on Dec. 15 and approved by the Board of Trustees. Schools wishing to move up or down in classification had the opportunity to petition the board in its Jan. 19 meeting.

“The board is going to reconsider the current realignment based on the petitions of a few schools,” Copper Hills Athletic Director Ben Morley said prior to the Jan. 19 petitions. “I am not convinced the proposed realignment will remain as such a few weeks from now. Many schools are upset at the uneven regions at the 6A level.”

Morley was proven correct. Originally, Copper Hills was placed in 6A Region 2 with Bingham, Lehi, Herriman, Mountain Ridge, Riverton and Westlake. But Lehi and Westlake were moved to 6A Region 3 after the Jan. 19 meeting, with Corner Canyon joining Bingham in the new Region 2. The change was to keep schools within their own counties with Bingham assistant principal Art Erickson telling the UHSAA board they were in favor of an option that kept the southwest valley schools together.

West Jordan High School was moved to 5A Region 4 with Cyprus, Hunter, Granger, Taylorsville and Kearns.

The move to 5A may indicate a drop in enrollment and the competitiveness of the region.

Region 2 teams have not had much state competition success recently but have

amassed 132 football playoff wins. Granger High School began playing football in 1958 and Taylorsville in 1981. The schools have many former players with NFL and NCAA experience

“Playing Kearns and Hunter is good for us,” Cyprus head basketball coach Tre Smith said. “These are our rivals, but at the end of the day, we want them all to be successful. We want our neighbor schools on the westside to be successful and reach their goals.”

The high school association administers and supervises all interschool activities. These activities are a significant educational force for students to develop skills to become contributing members of the community.

The board of trustees takes into account the opportunity to promote fair competition in its activities. Some of the things the board considers include enrollment, demographics, time out of school, rivalries and competitive success.

“It is more fun to play our rivals. We know each other and may talk a little more trash in those games,” Cyprus guard Quentin Meza said.

One of the new factors the board of trustees has been considering is the elimination of regions. The RPI system has diminished the importance of regions. If regions are eliminated the coaches could arrange their schedules in whatever manner they wished. Schools could play a demanding or easier schedule depending on what the administrative staff wished.

“You can’t have your feet in both, one in RPI and one in regions. Maybe it’s the learning lesson of this realignment year,” Board of Trustees Chair Jerre Holmes said.

“We’re trying to have our cake and eat it too, we can’t sustain regions and RPI. We are working against ourselves,” Wasatch Superintendent Paul Sweat said.

Erickson said he favored regions with nearby communities matching up against each other. “Regions mean something,” he said, highlighting his days in Logan and how they cherished those region rivalries.

He has no problem with the RPI, he said before adding that region trophies are “still significant” since not every team will win a state title. l

Bingham boys wrestler named All-American

By Brian Shaw | b.shaw@mycityjournals.com

Bingham sophomore Banks Love earned All-American status Dec. 21, 2022 at the prestigious Reno [Nevada] Tournament of Champions.

According to Bingham High’s press release, “Banks sailed through the early rounds of the tournament by racking up the pins. He finished second overall in the tournament which granted him [the] All American status.”

Love followed that up on Jan. 11 by participating in the Ross Brunson All-Star Duels at UVU as a Wildcard entrant and won by fall in the featured bout of the evening in just 5 minutes and 55 seconds.

Heading into the 2022-23 season, Love had already amassed quite a record as an amateur wrestler. According to his TrackWrestling.com profile, he’d won 62 matches and lost just 17—with 32 of those victories coming by pin. Another 15 came by way of technical fall.

At the 2021 6A state wrestling tournament Love finished in fourth place overall at 126 pounds—the only freshman in his weight class to have done so.

Now a sophomore, Love will go into the 2022-23 season knowing that he and his Bingham wrestling teammates have some unfinished business to take care of. Senior Carson Neff also finished in the top 6 at state, last year.

Love and his Bingham teammates wrapped up Region 3 action in mid-January. They’ll be turning their attention toward the 6A state tournament in early February.

Bingham’s head wrestling coach is Matt Walker. He’s assisted by Robby Duncan, Dean Moody, and Max Stidham. l

The Bees are moving south with Daybreak its new home

By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com

OnTuesday, Jan. 17, the Salt Lake Bees announced their intention to move from their current home in Salt Lake City to a new stadium to-be-built in Daybreak by 2025.

“The Larry H. Miller Company will build a baseball stadium in Daybreak, a master-planned community in South Jordan, Utah, for its Triple-A baseball team, the Salt Lake Bees. The privately financed stadium will serve as a year-round entertainment anchor for the fast-growing southwest quadrant of Salt Lake County. Construction will begin this year, and the stadium will open for the 2025 baseball season,” the Bees announced

in a press release.

While the exact location of the future stadium is not yet known, it’s expected to fall somewhere between the Trax line and Mountain View Corridor and between Lake Avenue and South Jordan Parkway.

The move comes about a year after the Larry H. Miller company purchased 1,300 acres of undeveloped land in the Daybreak area.

“The Larry H. Miller Company has been a collaborative partner, considering all aspects of the impact this business decision will have on the community. The South Jordan

City Council and I have appreciated working with them and look forward to continuing our partnership on additional plans for this area,” South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey said.

Mayors of neighboring cities all chimed in on the news.

“While the stadium won’t be located in Herriman, it will still become an economic driver for our entire region! Exciting to see these types of amenities headed to our area,” Herriman Mayor Lorin Palmer said.

“Just heard the news that the Bees are moving to South Jordan. Very close to our community off of Mountain View Corridor. I

know I’ll be attending more games with this move,” Mayor Trent Staggs said.

As for resident reactions, many expressed concerns about how the new stadium might impact parking and traffic, among other things.

“As a homeowner who lives close to where this new stadium will be located, I have serious concerns about providing an adequate amount of parking so that the surrounding neighborhood streets will not be negatively impacted with overflow,” said one commenter on the Daybreak Facebook post announcing the move. l

Bingham football will see Corner Canyon on a yearly basis now that the teams share a region. (Photo by Pat McDonald)

Salt Lake County grant supports the Utah AIDS Foundation’s community health center

The Utah AIDS Foundation has been a compassionate voice for people struggling with HIV/AIDS for nearly 40 years. In 1985, when the Utah Department of Health reported 17 people in the state living with the disease, UAF was established to address the need for public information while offering assistance to those dealing with HIV/AIDS.

What began as a crisis hotline with a handful of volunteers grew into an organization dedicated to championing mental and physical health issues for those living with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Now, a $2 million grant from Salt Lake County will help UAF create the first LGBTQ+ community health care center in Utah.

“It’s a game-changing grant,” said Ahmer Afroz, executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation. “Finding funds for capital projects is quite difficult, so the support of the council and the mayor was game-changing. Our goal at UAF is to make impacts on health equity and reduce health disparity. If we can make quality, culturally competent health care accessible to everyone, we can make strides to achieve health equity in a real tangible way.”

Located at 150 S. 1000 East, UAF provides HIV case management, linkage to care and HIV and STI testing. Last year, the nonprofit added a mental health component by hiring a full-time therapist and demand soon exceeded availability. As the need for mental health services expanded, the foundation hired another therapist and will hire a Spanish-speaking therapist this spring.

As members of the LGBTQ+ community search for services that feel safe, UAF felt the community clinic was

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

a natural step, based on a model used by health centers across the country.

“It will all be in the same location,” Afroz said. “One side will be mental health, one side will be medical, and programming is upstairs. It’s a unique model and that’s why we strongly feel it will make an impact in the community.”

Offering social activities, clinical care and a mind/ body/soul approach to healing, UAF provides services for any person living with HIV/AIDS or anyone who is part of the LGBTQ+ population. Services are provided whether a person is insured, uninsured, undocumented or underinsured.

UAF is the largest tester for HIV in the state and case managers serve nearly 200 people living with the disease. The foundation’s medical director, Dr. Susana Keeshin, is one of the top infectious disease providers in the state and sits on the board of the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

Along with medical and mental health services, UAF offers educational presentations, including HIV 101 which is a basic understanding of HIV infection and transmission and how to reduce risk. The trained volunteers can give presentations anywhere in Utah.

The foundation also offers food bank services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and the UAF Thrive program encouraging healthy movement, nutrition, community and education. For more information, visit UtahAids. org.

“There’s a lot of pieces to what we do,” Afroz said.

“It’s been a long time of needing to grow. We were able to get into a new building and expand our services. One of the biggest gaps we’re seeing in Utah is looking at clinical care and general LGBTQ+ competent care and HIV care. We hope to open in June 2023. We really want to be able to celebrate Pride Month with the launch. It’s really amazing.” l

(From left) Shiya Zeng, Ahmer Afroz, Ellie Echeverio, Ryan Gibbs, Bobbi Farnsworth, Chelsea Mitchell and Jared Hafen work at the Utah AIDS Foundation, which just received a $2 million grant from Salt Lake County to support the capital costs of the foundation’s new community health center. (Photo courtesy of UAF)

The Other Side Village provides a unique solution to chronic homelessness

It’sa revolutionary idea. Build a neighborhood where the chronically homeless can learn how to own and care for a home, be a good neighbor and invest in building a community. It’s the mission behind The Other Side Village and will become reality this summer.

Located at 1850 W. Indiana Ave., The Other Side Village’s pilot phase is an 8-acre area that will include 85 homes, each ranging in size from 280-400 square feet. Most of the homes will be given to those who sign up for the Welcome Neighborhood program, some will be used for staff and community buildings, and several will be used as shortterm rentals to raise money to support the project.

“This will create a place for those who haven’t really fit into other places, so they can build their own sense of identity and their own sense of safety,” said Samuel Grenny, manager of Welcome Neighborhood. “It’s a peer-led model, so everything that happens in the community is determined by members of the community and it gives them the ability to define their safe, shared space in a way that is best for them.”

The Salt Lake County Council approved a $2 million investment to support the village which isn’t just about homes for the unsheltered, but creating a social system and culture that changes lives.

Welcome Neighborhood is a program that transitions people out of the homeless lifestyle and into The Other Side Village community where people are invested in personal growth and home ownership. When a new occupant arrives, they are given guidance to adjust to the new environment. This includes help with drug or alcohol addiction, mental health counseling and classes in how to be a member of a

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

therapeutic community.

“The only criteria is we don’t allow sex offenders or people convicted of arson charges. They must be chronically homeless and interested in living in a clean and sober community,” Grenny said. “They must have a desire to improve their life. This is permanent supportive housing, not a transitional model.”

Part of the program is teaching residents how to have healthy, strong relationships with each other. They’ll learn life skills like how to keep a neighborhood clean and how to resolve conflicts. It borrows from a housing model that shows people need base-level resources, like having a roof over their head, before asking them to take on challenges like personal growth and addressing health issues.

“People actually want expectations to be had of them,” Grenny said. “People actually thrive when they feel they’re capable of something. The Welcome Neighborhood is where people spend two, three or four months identifying and working on core areas that are important to them and will help set them up for success with their housing so they’re not cycling through it.”

After the resident completes the program, they are allowed to choose their forever home in The Other Side Village. Welcome Neighborhood is already working with future residents and 17% of the homes are taken. By the time the village opens in the summer, Grenny expects the first phase to be 25% full.

“Really core to our model is the self-reliance aspect, teaching skills to individuals to live as self-sufficiently as possible,” Grenny said. “We hope everybody gets to be

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the best version of themselves. We have a social enterprise where neighbors are able to work, making $14 an hour. They learn job skills and all profits go to paying for the operational needs of the village.”

Salt Lake City gave The Other Side Village a 40-year lease on city-owned land to develop phase one of the project. The $2 million investment from the Salt Lake County Council will help fund the phase, estimated to cost $14 million. For more information, visit TheOtherSideVillage.com.

“This budget is an example of what we can accomplish when we all work together for the greater good,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. l

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The Other Side Village in Salt Lake City was given a $2 million boost from the Salt Lake County Council. The village offers a safe community for those transitioning out of homelessness. (Rendering courtesy of The Other Side Village)

Salt Lake County invests $5 million in open space

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

Whenthe Salt Lake County Council certified its 2023 budget, it included an unprecedented $5 million investment in open space funding. The funds will be set aside to create additional trail systems, park space and improvements in the canyons.

It’s a larger amount than is historically allocated for open space because there were lots of one-time dollars available from the American Rescue Plan Act that must be used before 2024. While no specific open space projects are targeted with this funding, the council will have the funds they need to purchase properties, green-light proposals or approve expenses as projects come forward.

down the road.”

By approving the budget, the council agreed to a tax increase for the Salt Lake County Library service area. The increase will be approximately $30 per household annually, for the average home valued at $560,000. The funding will help modernize the county’s library system and address inflationary pressures. County residents have not seen an increase to the County Library tax in 10 years.

Other initiatives in the budget include funding for active transportation projects including safer sidewalks and bike lanes, waterwise upgrades to the irrigation infrastructure in county parks and facilities, and a matched grant to Centro Cívico Mexicano to support planning for a new center that will replace the aging facility.

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“As property continues to appreciate and our county eventually expands out with people coming and moving here and bringing development, we want to make sure we are ahead of the game in keeping open space for our residents,” said Salt Lake County Councilmember Aimee Newton. “We know it’s a priority for our residents to have plenty of open space to recreate outside and spend time with their families.”

An additional $85 million in ARPA funds will be used for deferred maintenance, the largest investment in deferred capital maintenance in the history of the county. Some of these projects have been put off for more than a decade and the upgrades will improve the efficiency and sustainability of county facilities.

“This year was an interesting budget because while our ongoing funds were tight with inflation and salary increases, we had a ton of one-time dollars,” Newton said. “We had a bunch of ARPA funds we had to use, and we put a lot of funds toward deferred maintenance which we know will save taxpayer dollars

An additional $2 million investment in the Other Side Academy Tiny Home Village will help provide solutions for the unsheltered in the county and a $2 million grant given to the Utah AIDS Foundation will support the capital costs of the foundation’s new community health center.

For more information about the Salt Lake County budget, visit SLCO.org.

“The 2023 comprehensive budget provides historic support to health, quality of life initiatives, homeless system assistance and environmental sustainability investments,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. “Additionally, all of the county’s priority deferred maintenance was funded including much needed improvements at parks, recreation centers and buildings throughout the county system.”

The Salt Lake County Council’s 2023 budget invests a record $5 million to create and improve open space projects in the county. (File photo City Journals)

Winter stargazing on Antelope Island offers a unique view of the night skies

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@davisjournal.com

As cities get brighter, our view of the stars gets dimmer. With more people living under artificial light, it’s changing the way we see our skies and blocking astral views we used to enjoy. A worldwide effort to reduce light pollution encourages communities to create Dark Sky areas to help people return to a natural nighttime environment.

In 2017, Antelope Island earned the Dark Sky designation administered by the International Dark-Sky Association and it’s become a place to witness exceptional views of the night sky.

Utah has 10 state parks and 24 locations that have earned the Dark Sky designation. In fact, the state has the highest number of certified Dark Sky Parks and Communities in the world. But Antelope Island offers a unique experience.

“Our geography out here really made it possible to earn the designation,” said Trish Ackley, park naturalist for Antelope Island State Park. “We’re surrounded by a lake. We’re undeveloped out here and the lake makes it almost impossible for development to encroach on us, so already the park was pretty dark. We did have to adjust some lighting and eliminate some lighting that wasn’t necessary.”

It can take years for a location to earn approval from IDA. The effort to get the designation was spearheaded by Wendy Wilson, now the assistant park manager at Antelope Island State Park. There are several requirements to keep the designation each year, including public outreach and working with community partners to bring awareness to light pollution.

Winter is Ackley’s favorite time to stargaze on Antelope Island because it gets dark much earlier and the pesky mosquitoes and gnats aren’t around to irritate visitors. But she does warn people to bundle up, because it can get really cold.

“It’s a little warmer out here than it is on the Wasatch Front because we’re surrounded by what is usually a warmer body of water, but it’s often windy,” she said. “If you’re taking pictures, be sure to wear gloves. Just

bundle up.”

While summertime stargazing at the park is popular, with star parties, astronomy programs and dark sky photography, it’s been harder to get people to enjoy the dark skies during the colder months. But Ackley said the benefits to winter stargazing are numerous.

“Winter constellations are, in my opinion, so much better than summer constellations. There are just more stories to see and more you can play with and use your imagination in the winter.”

Although Antelope Island State Park closes at 10 p.m. during the winter months, it gets dark enough to see a phenomenal star show starting around 7 or 8 p.m. It’s a good time for families to visit and still get the kids home in time for bed.

As light pollution continues to increase, the International Dark-Sky Association states more than 80% of the country can no longer see the Milky Way. Artificial light has been shown to affect sleep cycles, disrupt migratory patterns in birds and even contribute to climate change.

Ackley said Utah home and business owners can reduce light pollution and help protect views of the night sky. Small changes like using lights only when and where necessary, shielding lights and directing them downward, using warmer light bulbs and closing window blinds at night are all ways to reduce light pollution.

As our view of the stars dims, people are traveling to locations with Dark Sky designations to catch a glimpse of what’s missing from bright cities, towns and neighborhoods.

“Astrotourism is really picking up. People are starting to travel to darker places and seeking that out,” Ackley said. “Most people don’t have access to the Milky Way. It’s up there but we don’t think about it and don’t see it. But now that people are getting a taste of that, it’s really powerful. People want that.”

For information about Antelope Island’s Dark Skies program, visit StateParks.utah. gov/parks/antelope-island/dark-skies/. l

Dark sky photography is popular on Antelope Island State Park. With the park’s Dark Sky designation, photographers like Ryan Andreasen capture phenomenal views of the heavens. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Andreasen)

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Four steps to learning the languages of love

By Holly Curby | hello@hollycurby.com

‘Tis the season of love. These days everyone seems to claim they have a language of love. For some it’s coffee, others a day at the spa and for many it’s cheering on their favorite football team. Author of “The 5 Love Languages,” Gary Chapman, claims that “Love languages actually apply to how people express and understand love.”

Those five love languages are:

1. Words of affirmation. Those needing love in this area need to be verbally encouraged, shown appreciation, extended empathy and genuinely heard.

2. Physical touch. This physical affection can be shown appropriately in many different relationships of love. You might hug a friend, pat a co-worker on the back, rub your kids’ shoulders, kiss your partner, or simply sit next to someone going through a rough time (physical presence).

3. Receiving gifts. We communicate this through our thoughtfulness in giving something to someone, and we feel loved by receiving even a small token. It doesn't have to be grand, it just needs to be thoughtful and heartfelt.

4. Quality time. This is intentional, undivided attention spent with the other person. Time playing a board game with your kids, a walk around the block with your spouse, a lunch outing with your friends, a one-on-one meeting with a co-worker.

5. Acts of service. This could simply be offering to help someone through your actions (or someone offering to help you). From teaching your child a new skill, cooking dinner for your spouse, helping your co-worker with a project, pulling in your neighbor’s garbage cans, or simply showing support of someone’s idea in a meeting.

So, why is it important to know and understand these languages of love?

- To better help us understand what we need so that we can better communicate our needs to others. We can't expect others to just know what we need or be able to read our mind.

- To avoid showing love to others using the love language of how we feel loved. This can result in our expressions of our love being overlooked if this isn’t their primary love language too.

- To help us learn how to effectively show our love to those around us in a way they prefer to receive it.

Four steps we can take today to find our love language include:

1) Visit www.5lovelanguages.com or download the Love Nudge app (the official app to The 5 Love Languages).

2) Take the quiz to discover your primary love language, what it means, and how you

can use it to better connect with your loved ones.

3) Have your loved ones take the quiz. Then discuss what you learned about yourselves and each other.

4) Encourage your workplace to incorporate learning the love languages of your co-workers as a way to help open pathways of improving communication and your company culture.

Want to learn more about the importance of knowing, understanding and expressing love through the five love languages? Check out Holly’s Highlights podcast season 3 episode 3. Holly’s Highlights podcast is available on www.hollycurby.com and wherever you listen to podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and even “Alexa, play Holly’s Highlights podcast season 3 episode 3.” l

Learn more on Holly’s Highlights podcast. (Photo courtesy of Holly Curby)

The Harding family expresses their language of love with a group hug. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Jones)

Award-winning local podcast provides insight to Salt Lake

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

The City Cast Salt Lake podcast has a mission: to help people understand and love the Salt Lake community. With its daily dose of local news and topical conversations, the podcast was voted Best Podcast by City Weekly in its first year.

Podcast host Ali Vallarta worked as an employee at Sundance Film Festival before relocating to Salt Lake from Florida. It’s been fun for her to share her experiences on a wide range of podcast topics, from sports to vegan ice cream, as she learns to navigate the city.

“It delights me how well it’s done,” Vallarta said. “I’m not terribly surprised because I think Salt Lake is generally a community that’s very receptive. We get to gobble up a lot of different topics, we’re kind of like PacMan.”

The show runs Monday through Friday and recently celebrated its 200th episode. Four diverse young women make up the City Cast Salt Lake team. Along with Vallarta, lead producer Emily Means, producer Ivana Martinez and newsletter editor Terina Ria help Salt Lake residents feel engaged with the community by highlighting local stories and answering questions from listeners.

City Cast Salt Lake just recognized its first anniversary with a celebration at Quarters Arcade Bar in Sugar House, with drinks and Skee-Ball, as a thank you to the people who listen to and enjoy the podcast.

“We have a huge advantage because every single member of our team lives in Salt Lake. We know its issues and we’re just innately curious people,” Means said. “I think that resonates with a lot of our listeners here in the city and in the valley. Something special about City Cast is we really want to answer your questions and bring you along on our journey of discovery.”

Vallarta said there’s an episode for everyone, but she’s received the most feedback for the episode that highlighted the best breakfast burrito in Salt Lake. Her own favorite episode was done with Princess Ken-

nedy, right after the city’s Pride Festival. Princess Kennedy, owner of Salon at Library Square, chose to discontinue her iconic Pride party this year. She spoke with Vallarta about her decision.

“She thinks Pride in Salt Lake needs a bit of a reset, that it’s become a runaway train. The party didn’t feel anymore like the party she’d set out for it to be,” Vallarta said. “It was a special feeling that we have created something that is meaningful and well-received by people who are institutions in the community. It was also a sign that the show would do well, because if it was good enough for Princess Kennedy…”

Many listeners responded to the podcast’s episode on the Salt Lake Sea Monkeys. A local graphic designer wants to bring a professional hockey team to Utah and call it the Sea Monkeys as an ode to the Great Salt Lake brine shrimp. Another favorite episode broke down the unique and unmistakable Utah accent.

Vallarta described the podcast as an informative, enlightening love letter to Salt Lake where listeners learn the ins-and-outs of city government, parks, sports, food, arts and more. She isn’t worried about running out of ideas for the show. Just living in the city brings up lots of questions.

“Just as in your day-to-day life, you’ll never stop having questions about things or inquiries or concerns. That’s parallel to how we make the show,” she said. “I don’t think I’m ever going to stop having questions about how to be a better neighbor or how to make the city better.”

The City Cast Salt Lake podcast can be found at saltlake.citycast.fm/podcast and on podcast streaming platforms. Listeners can call 801-203-0137 with feedback, topic ideas or questions.

“There’s no topic too small, we’ll find a way to turn it into something,” Means said. “It just goes back to us being curious and present and engaged with the city.” l

Throughout the ages, there have been many important advances in mobility. Canes, walkers, rollators, and scooters were created to help people with mobility issues get around and retain their independence. Lately, however, there haven’t been any new improvements to these existing products or developments in this field Until now. Recently, an innovative design engineer who’s developed one of the world’s most popular products created a completely new breakthrough . . . a personal electric vehicle. It’s called the Zinger, and there is nothing out there quite like it.

“What my wife especially loves is it gives her back feelings of safety and independence which has given a real boost to her confidence and happiness! Thank You!”

–Kent C., California

The first thing you’ll notice about the Zinger is its unique look. It doesn’t look like a scooter. Its sleek, lightweight yet durable frame is made with aircraft grade aluminum so it weighs only 47.2 lbs. It features onetouch folding and unfolding – when folded it can be wheeled around like a suitcase and fits easily into a

in

backseat or trunk. Then, there are the steering levers. They enable the Zinger to move forward, backward, turn on a dime and even pull right up to a table or desk. With its compact yet powerful motor it can go up to 6 miles an hour and its rechargeable battery can go up to 8 miles on a single charge. With its low center of gravity and inflatable tires it can handle rugged terrain and is virtually tip-proof. Think about it, you can take your Zinger almost anywhere, so you don’t have to let mobility issues rule your life.

Why take our word for it? Call now, and find out how you can get a Zinger of your very own.

Call now and receive a utility basket absolutely FREE with your order.

The Zinger folds to a mere 10 inches.

Once in a lifetime, a product comes along that truly moves people. Introducing the future of battery-powered personal transportation . . . The Zinge r.

Available

Green, Black and Blue (shown)

Dark sky photography is popular on Antelope Island State Park. With the park’s Dark Sky designation, photographers like Ryan Andreasen capture phenomenal views of the heavens. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Andreasen)

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“When you’re depressed you’re always fighting to live… to survive the next day. NeuroStar made such a difference… all of a sudden I felt empowered, I felt strong, I felt like I wasn’t a victim anymore.” ~DEBBIE

NeuroStar is like physical therapy for the brain. It uses magnetic pulses, similar in strength to MRI, to reignite dormant connections in the brain and give you control of your depression. With NeuroStar, you can live on your terms. NeuroHealthUtah.Com

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

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

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

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

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

Peri Kinder Life and Laughter

passion.

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

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

See. People change.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Dozens of doctors told me that there was nothing more that they could do to expect to be in a wheel chair. I went from the top 1% in the army Special Forces to being in so much pain that I could not tie my shoe or hold my new daughter. I did physical therapy and pain killers for years, but nothing worked. Finally, I went to Dr. Smith and I improved exactly as he told me I would. I couldn’t believe it! My wife cried, “I have my husband back.”

—Steve M., Army Special Forces

D.C. CSCS Chiropractic Physician