Students who participated in the Latinos in Action Program at Park City High School attended their last career day presentation Friday morning in Ali Webb's classroom.

The 19 students in attendance, which hosted four professional speakers, all earned their seats through efforts made this school year, according to Webb who is the English-as-a-Second Language department chair and teacher.

During the year, students who seek access to the group must maintain a minimum 2.5 Grade Point Average and commit to volunteer work at the school and around the community. Last year, more than 40 students submitted applications to join, but only those at the event last week made the cut.

"Latinos in Action spend a minimum of three hours a week tutoring students at McPolin, mentoring students at Ecker Hill and volunteering at community events like Running With Ed, kindergarten registration, parent-teacher meetings," Webb said. "They also help run quarterly Latino parent nights for the Latino Parents in the community. "

These efforts, along with the career days, hosted by Ernest Oriente, are used to demonstrate to students the importance of education and help them follow in the footsteps of the speakers that visited the school.

Oriente, who is a professional business coach in Park City, selects all of the speakers.

The guest speakers are invited to the school to broaden students' views on education. With all of speakers having diverse backgrounds and experiences, the students are exposed to possibilities that they may never have encountered before. In addition, speakers spoke of adversity they had overcome and offered opportunities for mentoring and networking.

Speaking at last week's event were: Brian Wynn, Aimee Cunniff, Phil Davidson and Len Bowes.

The eclectic group of speakers all had diverse backgrounds and successful careers, ranging from an inner city childhood, a local student who excelled in college after graduating from PCHS and a doctor that had nearly 20 years of education.

One speaker, who was not on the roster of guests, stole the show.

With time remaining in the class hour, Oriente introduced his mother, Doris Schweppe, who had been sitting in the room quietly throughout the presentations.

The Puerto Rican native immigrated to New York City along with her mother and three sisters when she was 10 years old.

Despite her self-made success in a career dedicated to real-estate, Schweppe explained to the students why going to college is a much easier route to success than the "hard path" she took.

Standing at the front of the class, in a stern voice she probably practiced on Oriente while he was young, Schweppe said, "Get an education. There is no reason in the world why none of you living in this community can go to college."

According to Webb, all six seniors participating in the program this year are attending college in the fall.

Latinos in Action prepares students to be leaders. This is done through practical training, attending lectures, and volunteering hundreds of hours in the community. All LIA students are bilingual and use their voices to be ambassadors and advocates for those in the community. They do this by translating, mentoring, tutoring and helping run community events. These experiences and qualities fulfill both scholarship and admission requirements.

"The Latino in Action students are a special group of kids who consistently find ways to step up and give to our community," Webb said.

The post Latinos in Action end the year strong appeared first on Park Record.

It's customary for a sporting team to unveil its championship banner during the home opener for the next season. With the school year coming to conclusion at the end of this week of class, Ecker Hill Middle School couldn't wait until next school year to display their achievement.

Although the school didn't have a banner to hang from the rafters, hundreds of balloons fell from the ceiling of the school's gymnasium to help students and administration celebrate the schools' latest recognition as a 'School to Watch'.

In March, Ecker Hill became the 11th Utah middle school in 14 years to be named a National School to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Reforms.

"This has been a great honor and opportunity for Ecker Hill," Evans said. "We are now among a group of high-performing middle schools and we can learn from each other. I believe you can achieve greatness by working together."

The school has joined the ranks of about 380 middle schools across the country since 1999 that have met the 37 criteria required to make the list. The criteria fall into three categories: academic excellence, development responsiveness and social equality. In addition, there must be organizational structures in place to support, sustain and increase performance in those areas.

In order to reach these strict demands, Evans, along with her staff started making changes to the way students learned at the school.

With over two years of preparation to get the school at the level needed to be recognized, different programs were initiated into the students' daily schedules to help them become their best, according to Evans.

During these efforts, Evans and her staff recognized learning is constant, and time can be used effectively to help students learn.

In order to ensure students were receiving enough time to absorb learning material, Evans and the facility created different periods throughout the day, giving students the opportunity to catch up on work. The school also broke students into six teams, to give them a chance to institute a common planning time, and to receive more individual attention.

"Partnering with parents and having an open-door policy is also a big focus in the school's success," Evans added.

Later this month, the school team will be traveling to Washington D.C. to be recognized by the National Forum.

"This is where we will be benefiting the most from becoming a Schools to Watch school," Evans said. "Now that we have joined the ranks of the other select schools around the country, we will get the chance to participate in conferences and workshops and see what other top schools are doing."

The post Ecker Hill Middle School ‘School to Watch’ appeared first on Park Record.

Teachers around the district were so occupied with their students Thursday morning they didn't even see the Excellent Educator Express coming before it hit them.

Retired developer and builder, Jim Doilney, has been conducting the Doilney Excellent Educator Awards since 1996, to help honor teachers, counselors, and staff who have been selected by their peers to receive the accolade.

With the school year coming to an end, the unsuspecting educators selected for outstanding efforts during the school year were easy prey Thursday morning, as members of the Park City Education Foundation, Deer Valley Resort staff and members of the Doilney family gathered in a limo, to visit the many PCSD schools to surprise the selected educators.

Teachers were approached at their desks; others were ushered into the school's gymnasium or library, school lobbies turned into coliseums full of students. No matter the scenario, all seven of the teachers were surprised and smiling.

Starting off the morning's events, the first batch of balloons, accompanied by a plaque, was delivered to the classroom of Jim Fleming, social studies teacher at Park City High School.

Fleming was recognized for this year's Stephen and Sarah Doilney Award, an honor determined by the votes tallied from the senior class during their English classes based on the most influential teacher during their school career in Park City School District.

"Here I am, nothing's changed," Fleming said from his desk chair as the celebration crew arrived, led by Jake Doilney who attended Fleming's seventh grade social studies class years ago.

"The names were all a surprise until a few days ago and when I saw Jim's name on the list I knew I had to present it to him. He meant a lot to me as a teacher, so this was pretty special for me," Jake Doilney said.

Seniors aren't the only ones who get to bestow honors on their faculty favorites. Staff members at each school in the district also get a chance to acknowledge someone who has gone the extra mile.

Five other schools were visited during the day's event, two this past Monday, to award the Doilney Excellent Educator award.

This year's winners were Paul Burton (McPolin Elementary School kindergarten teacher), Krista Clayton (Parley's Park Elementary School preschool teacher), Juleen Smith (Ecker Hill Middle School social studies teacher), Susan Boone (Jeremy Ranch special education teacher), Polly Panos (Trailside Elementary School first-grade teacher), Samantha Walsh (Park City High School Intervention Counselor), and Bev Pacal (Treasure Mountain Junior High School Secretary).

At each of the schools visited, Doilney watched from the side of each ceremony - he does every year.

As the awards were presented by members of his family, his smile outweighed many onlookers.

"I'd like to see this go on for generations; it's fun watching the grandkids running around," Doilney said. "We all have our different views about taxes and education, but the bottom-line is, some of these people have dedicated their lives to teaching and recognizing these amazing people is important."

This year, Deer Valley Resort took over as sponsor for the event, but according to director of sales, Dirk Beal, the resort is leaving the Doilney family name on the award. They just want to keep the tradition alive.

"The Doilney family approached us and asked if we'd like to get involved and we jumped on the opportunity," Beal said. "I have two children that are in the school district now and one already gone through, these people are a big part of our small community and its great to recognize them."

According to Doilney, after 19 years of honoring the school district, which educated his children and currently his grandchildren, he is passing the tradition along to the local resort, simply, because he's not in business anymore and he'd like to see it continue.

"Deer Valley has the longest tenure of continuous ownership between the three Park City Resorts, and they have a history of giving, so they were the first people I went to," Doilney said.

The post Excellent Educator Express rolls in appeared first on Park Record.

When the Park City Education Association and the Park City School District started negotiating new teacher contract in April of 2012, neither side anticipated the discussions would take that long, nor include a mediator to help reach a decision.

But, despite the delay, Park City High School teachers and co-presidents for the PCEA, Jim Fleming and Ed Mulick, say the extra time used to hammer out the new contract was worth the three-year contract it produced.

"This is going to be great for all of the parties," Fleming said. "With this extra time, the association can build a better relationship with the district and the next go-around can go smoother. Now we can work on focusing on the most important thing, teaching the kids."

The traditional Step and Lane model that has been used in the PCSD for over 20 years, is taking on a remodel.

The formula, which allows teachers to be compensated for advances in their education, is sticking to its principles, but changes are going to be made to reward teachers for their loyalty, added Fleming.

"The new salary schedule has far-reaching effects," Mulick said. "We look forward to testing what we have developed."

When fully implemented, the district's new salary schedule will work with Senate Bill 64, a bill passed last year to tie teacher salaries to effective evaluations.

According to Mulick, instead of receiving compensation for earning higher degrees, teachers will also receive effective evaluations from the district before a step, or pay raise, can be advanced.

"Under our old salary schedule there were dead ends, years when teachers were frozen and did not advance for a number of years," Mulick said. "Using the new salary schedule, every teacher qualifying for a step will be able to earn additional compensation."

A new concept to the district, and the state, extra earning opportunities, also called endorsements, will give teachers an opportunity to add to their salaries determined by the step-and-lane model.

Endorsements, which are based on academic groups taught by teachers, tie additional salary to larger district goals while keeping pressure on teachers to perform and improve. An opportunity to earn a bonus for meeting a school-wide goal is also part of the new contract.

Teachers will only be accredited for one endorsement, which entails a $1,000 stipend, but the contract allows for changes to be made, added Fleming.

The finalized contract adopts an employee insurance cost-sharing plan recommended by the insurance recommendation committee.

According to Mulick, the committee, which was formed to help the district contain insurance costs, recommended the district employees pick up an additional 10 percent of their insurance costs, moving from 20 percent to 30.

The last topic to be discussed, and changed, is the new salary schedule. Entry level pay for first-time teachers with a bachelor's degree is now $40,000, and a starting salary for a first year teacher with a master's degree is $45,000.

According to Mulick, teachers will not earn less than current salaries; everyone will have a chance to earn more.

"The compensation agreement was a cloud over everybody's head," Fleming said. "It's nice to have the negotiations in the past. Now we can focus on class size, teacher input and evaluations. Not everybody understands the new contract really well, but I think it will be a good direction for the future and work well with the current Senate Bill 64."

The post Teacher contract negotiations come to an end appeared first on Park Record.

Mining has kept Park City alive since, well, the beginning.

Pulling silver out of Summit County mountains is what put the town on the map, but according to Todd Fischer, general manager at Silver Star Ski and Sport, "white gold," aka snow, is what kept it there.

But while mining is a year-round trade, Fischer, and other recreational outfitters in the area, who rely on snow, only get a few months out of the year to capitalize on their trade - skiing.

This time of year outdoor retail stores in Park City are going through a "changing-of-the-guard" as the snow or "white gold," melts and a new season begins.

Walking into Silver Star located at the base of Park City Mountain Resort's Silver Star lift, cruiser bikes, paddle boards and golf grips clutter the normally tidy store.

"It doesn't look like were open right now, but this mess should be put away in a few days," Fischer said, while carefully walking through the store as shop dog, Vidalia, led the way.

"Stores in the area need to find something different to put on the shelves during the summer, skis sure don't sell. Some stores carry bikes, others carry lawn furniture. We are trying to cater to the outdoor lifestyle, so we carry a little bit of everything," he added.

This past week, Fischer and his four-man crew have been putting away anything related to winter and swapping it with summer gear - not furniture.

During, what Fischer describes as a "spring cleaning," the store which focuses on high performance rental equipment and apparel for all seasons, is replacing skis with cruiser bicycles, ski jackets with fresh summer wear, goggles with golf grips, and snow boards with paddle boards.

"Almost everybody in Park City is here for the same reason; they want to enjoy the outdoors. If that means kicking it like Kung Fu drinking a beer outside the store on the plaza, or engaging in some mountain biking or hiking, this town has it all," Fischer said. "But, that's the problem, well I guess the fun with running a ski shop during the summer, you need to have your hands in a little bit of everything to survive."

'Epic Fridays,' as he likes to call them, are days Fischer lets his crew run the operation while he goes out and plays.

At 6:45 a.m. Fischer starts the day with nine-holes of golf, followed by a mountain bike ride on the various trails located outside the front doors of his store. His biking jersey is then swapped with a fishing vest for his early afternoon fly fishing for Brown Trout on the Provo River. Amazingly, at the end of the day he finishes it atop a paddle board for a cruise around the shoreline of Jordanelle Reservoir.

The only equipment the store doesn't carry is the fishing gear, he said.

Living in the area since 1998, Fischer spent eight years in the ski industry working at Deer Valley Resort as a mountain host and rental shop manager.

The avid outdoorsman is also accustomed to switching gears during the summertime, filling the role as a golf professional at Park City Golf Club and Tuhaye Golf Club.

"I guess you could call me a jack-of-all-trades and a master at none," Fischer laughed, Kate joining from somewhere hidden in the clutter of the store. "But really, at the end of the day we like to have fun. Obviously there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done in the store right now, making this job feel like work since, well last year at about this time. Really were trying to sell a lifestyle that all of the employees are really avid about."

Chris Poepping has been on the job at Silver Star since the beginning of the week, but the bicycle mechanic with over 20 years of experience has already helped get a new fleet of rental bikes ready for the new season.

According to Fischer, a new fleet of cruiser bicycles, mountain bikes and paddle boards are available for rental during the summer. Those with their own gear, a full mechanic is on duty every day, perfect for last minute tune-ups or heavy work.

Plaza Palooza will also be making its return Thursday June 13 to the Silver Star Plaza. The laid-back concert series, offering food and beverages, and a bike ride to the McPolin Farm and back, led by Fischer, will be taking place every Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. until Labor Day. The event is free.

The post Silver Star gearing up for summer appeared first on Park Record.

It would be a little dramatic to say "oohs and ahhs" could be heard from employees hauling heavy tables, book shelves and couches at the home furnishings and custom design center located at 1351 Kearns Boulevard this week.

But, when you're moving an entire showroom to the back of a truck - a few groans can be expected.

For over 10 years, Interiors with Oohs and Aahs, have provided furniture, accessories, lighting, appliances, rugs, and more to locals and tourists, looking for "mountain-style" furniture.

Friday, they closed their doors - for good.

A yellow sign with red lettering reading "going out of business," surrounded by an arrangement of "sale" signs, appeared on the store windows mid-May, but despite the haste to pack up shop, Owner Paul Hower said the closing had been brewing for nearly five years, so the lease wasn't renewed.

"Things changed after the economy dropped in 2008. What we were hoping to be temporary problems turned out to be long term," Hower said from the store full of moving boxes. "We need to downsize and redevelop ourselves. Furniture retail is hard in the area, mostly because people who are buying furniture drive over the hill to Salt Lake City to get it. We need more niche in our product, something that tells a story."

Unlike other local businesses who have thrown in the towel as of late, Hower is getting the opportunity to recreate the story, so to speak.

During 1995, the Gunnison, Colo. native opened his first location, and with success opened another in close by Crested Butte, Colo. The Park City location, which opened its doors in 2003, is the only location to be closed.

Focusing on clientele in mountain towns, all three locations that offered manufactured furniture in the past, are downsizing, and reformatting what they normally do to get back to what they have passion for - making furniture.

"We opened a wood shop in Colorado about a year ago and things are starting to progress with that aspect of business," Hower said. "I have a passion for making furniture and I want to offer a product to customers that has a story behind it, opposed to going to market and buying something generic."

At the wood shop, located in Gunnison, Hower is starting to produce his own line of furniture. Handmade furniture built at the location, along with older items he refurbishes, will be distributed around the country and sold from his other two locations.

According to Hower, selling products manufactured by other companies was good business before the economy sank, but things changed and never rebounded at the Park City location. Putting a unique touch on furniture is what customers now find appealing.

"When running a business you need to evolve with the times and I think we tried moving forward using the same business model for too long. A change needed to be made," Hower said. "We wanted to stay in the area, but couldn't find a location small enough. This location has just become too much space and the effort to keep it open has kept us from progressing with our own line of furniture."

Employees, who are accustomed to shipping merchandise to customers, have been following this routine to the extreme all week. But will not be following the furniture to Colorado, Hower said.

According to Hower, the crew consisting of locals, who have been helping the entrepreneur provide complete home design packages, have individual design projects they are pursuing.

"I've been lucky to work with great employees over the years and have made a lot of great connections," Hower said. "We've been trying to keep it out of the red for a long time, and we're worn out. I'd like to come back to Park City when the time is right."

The post Interiors with Oohs and Aahs shuts it down appeared first on Park Record.

Although many counties throughout the state operate their records' department differently, said Summit County Manager Bob Jasper during an interview, a major of the counties had started providing information online, so Spriggs made the decision to follow suit.

More than 900,000 documents, totaling four million pages of data, normally acquired through a trip to the county courthouse in Coalville, have been available for free.

The information normally received through the surveyor, treasurer, assessor's offices, and information from the Recorder's Office is still available to the public without charge. But, those who want to search further into the records, such as liens on properties and home owner's association rules, will need to subscribe and pay.

The fees were implemented by the county on May 15, and community members who rely on the service to conduct business were not pleased, according to Jasper.

Now recognizing that fees applied by Spriggs before leaving his position must be implemented by the County Council, not the recorder things are going to change.

Thursday, the county held a stakeholders meeting in Coalville to allow Realtors, surveyors, banks, and lenders to voice their opinions on the new fees, and see if both sides can come up with a solution.

"It's a different world, the World Wide Web has changed how we do business," Jasper said. "So, when Alan (Spriggs) went ahead and implemented these fees, as you can imagine a variety of groups, who were getting information for free were upset."

In order to get the new system up and running, the county put everything online first to get the bugs out of the system, then came back and applied the fees a process that should have been reversed, added Jasper.

"According to county and state law, the recorder doesn't have the authority to levy fees," Jasper said. "The county council has to make that decision at a county meeting."

During the meeting, locals who are concerned about how new fees will affect their business, were joined by the County Council, Jasper, Spriggs and the new county recorder Mary Ann Trussell, who was elected to the position earlier this month to discuss an alternative process they can all agree on.

Jasper, who feels the office should charge for services, mostly to offset the cost to build the new technology, wants to keep things fair.

"We have ongoing costs in terms of computer licensing, data entry and things like that we need to make up for," Jasper said. "We want to help our business community. The Recorder's Office is there to make sure a record of commercial activities is available so they can do business. We want to do this as efficiently and effectively as possible, but that comes at a cost, unfortunately."

During the meeting, described by the Recorder's Office as a successful two-hour event with great dialogue, suggestions and concerns were gathered and will be presented to the County Council next Wednesday.

"I am hoping the council will make a decision next Wednesday after we present them with our report from Thursday's meeting, but they may not," Jasper said.

Depending on the council's decision, online user fees will remain free for the time being.

"One thing I said to stakeholders during the meeting is, 'don't tax me, don't tax me, tax the fellow behind the tree.' So I think everybody should be paying a reasonable cost when they benefit from the services, but it should be fair."

The post County rethinking document fees appeared first on Park Record.

Thursday evening, members of the South Summit High School graduating Class of 2013 held onto their hats during a windy but sunny ceremony in Wildcat Stadium.

Of the 96 graduates, 12 received high honors and eight earned associates degrees through the school's EdNet program which offers college-level classes via interactive video conferencing.

Residents from Kamas Valley packed the stadium bleachers as first-year principal Steve Camp addressed the crowd.

For the first time as the leader of the school, Camp had the honor of saying, "School Board, Superintendent Barry Walker, educators, parents and friends, I present to you the class of 2013, from South Summit High School, as having met the high school graduation requirements of the state of Utah, South Summit School District and South Summit High School."

"I am very proud of all the students that are graduating, not only because they were my first class, but because of all the hard work they put in to earn the honor," Camp said. "In today's world we are looking for instant gratification, but this is four years of hard work and I am proud of them."

Camp also spoke of ways students could earn gratitude during the next chapter of their lives. Treating others kindly, the golden rule most of us learned in kindergarten, will earn the feeling, he added.

"You'll always be better off treating others with respect and dignity; it is a reflection each desires the most. You can't help but feel better respecting others. Gratitude will always renew your perspective on life, if you allow it to," Camp said during his speech to graduates.

"Happiness is not a virtue, it's earned," Camp added.

Without a valedictorian to take the podium for the farewell speech Thursday night, senior class president Quinn Hicken addressed the graduating class.

"As most of the senior class knows, I get nervous talking in front of crowds," Hicken said while addressing the crowd. "I hear telling a joke helps "

After the pause intended by Hicken, the group of 12 high honors students sitting behind the speaker wearing gold cords with their caps and gowns, must also know the class presidents sense of humor - their laughter started off a roar throughout the crowd to ease the student's stage fright.

Other students wearing select cords varying in color from silver (general honors), maroon (visual arts), blue (social studies), green (science), pink (performing arts), orange (math), red (language arts), lavender foreign language) were worn by an abundance of the graduates.

According to school counselor Becky Dees, eight students also received associates degrees issued through the Utah Valley University along with high school diplomas this year.

Students who sought the extra work load were required to complete UVU degree requirements along with their regular high school courses to earn the degree. Usually adding an additional five to nine credits to an already abundant workload, added Dees.

"It's really great seeing these students not only get excited for college, but take the extra steps during high school to get ready," Dees said.

The post South Summit High School seniors bear the breeze appeared first on Park Record.

North Summit High School Salutatorian Caishalynne Richins believes her class will be remembered for its diversity. She underscoredher pride in that fact by singling out her classmates and highlighting their unique contributions.

"I truly believe everyone in the class of 2013 is great and we are great because we are unique," Richins said during her speech. "We have our own gifts and talents, some of these traits I see in you are; Jacobie (Witt) kind, Kenzie (Wells) artistic, Todd (Wayment) studios, McKenna (Vernon) well mannered, Jesus (Varela) charming "

As Richins listed off all of the adjectives she learned during her 12 years in the North Summit School District, you could see smiles appear on the faces of the 67 graduates sitting on the stage of the high school auditorium when she read their names - never repeating a single word to describe her classmates personally.

According to Vice Principal Mike Calderwood, the smaller-than-usual graduating class has an abundance of greatness, including valedictorian Cameron Smith, salutatorians Jared Bell and Richins, 10 Sterling Scholars, 15 National Honor Society members, two associate degree earners and 13 honor graduates.

Richins list of words wasn't bland, to say the least.

"This year has a great bunch of students," Calderwood said before the graduation. "We've got a lot of graduates that have achieved in many areas during their careers academically, athletically and in many other extracurricular capacities; it's a group we're extremely proud of."

Using a formula that combines students' grade point averages, SAT and ACT scores to determine the speakers, this year produced two salutatorians, a rarity at the school, according to Calderwood.

"We typically don't have this many students being honored during graduation, but this year we have a lot of students that performed equally at a high level; it's just the way it worked out," Calderwood said.

National Honors Society, honors graduate and associate degree recipient, McKell Richins, credited the many great teachers in the school district for the graduates' success when introducing the main speakers for the event.

"Henry Adams said, 'A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops.' As a class we echo that statement," McKell Richins said to the crowd during her speech. "We are who we are today in part because of your influence, and we express our appreciation to all those teachers who have helped us along the way."

The three teachers selected for the honorary roles during the ceremony were Cindy Christensen, who taught many of the seniors in the first grade, followed by Joyce Housley, fourth and sixth-grade teacher and Bryan Stephens, the freshman English, band and drama teacher at the high school.

According to seniors Brandon Ball and Mario Carreno, the only word they could use to describe the night was sad.

"I've got mixed emotions really," Ball said standing in the hallway of the school preparing to walk on stage. "I'd say it's bittersweet because I grew up with all of these people and it might be the last time I see a couple of them, most of them actually."

The post North Summit graduates celebrate appeared first on Park Record.

The hiring process has been delayed most of the school year, based on the timing of Timothy's departure. But, after selecting a list of candidates for the School Board to consider last week, four finalists have been named according to a press release from the School District office.

The finalists are: