Hands hovering over buzzers, four Wasatch High School students in military uniform answered obscure trivia questions asked by retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Denise Harris.

“The ancient ouroboros motif shows,” Harris began, before junior Joe Grayson hit the buzzer, answering that a serpent eats its own tail.

Other questions left the quartet stumped, like when they were asked to name the novels “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf and “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe based on only a few plot details.

These four students — sophomores Hilary Palmer and Jonas Bevan and juniors Emilia Charlton and Grayson — are participants in the Leadership & Academic Bowl, a club that is part of the high school’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, known as JROTC. 

On Friday, they will be traveling to Washington, D.C., with their instructors as the only Academic Bowl team in Utah to advance to this year’s national finals at The Catholic University of America. 

JROTC, an elective course with voluntary after-school clubs and service projects, uses the roleplaying of military service to instill self-discipline, civic engagement and leadership in student “cadets.”

Wasatch High School’s Air Force JROTC unit began in 2017. It’s the only one in the Wasatch Back and has about 70 cadets currently enrolled.

The elective course teaches the expected, such as the history and science of aviation, as well as other, less military-specific lessons, like how to fill out a college application, land a job interview or manage finances.

“We’re just trying to build future citizens that can affect their community in a positive way, giving them the tools to be a good human. … Learn how to be a follower. Learn how to be a team player. Learn how to be a leader,” Harris explained. “We hope they just become better people. They don’t have to become better military people, but just better people.”

Some clubs within JROTC focus on physical fitness, marksmanship or cyber security. 

Meanwhile, the Academic Bowl was created to prepare students for the ACT or SAT standardized tests they take in their junior year. Cadets answer questions in categories including math, English, science, social studies, financial literacy, college readiness and current events. Math, Harris said, is always the trickiest subject.

All students in Wasatch High School’s Air Force JROTC unit take the Academic Bowl practice test at the beginning of the year, but often it is only those who performed exceptionally well who decide to join Academic Bowl. 

Advancing to nationals involves making it past two rounds of tests. Sixteen Air Force/Space Force JROTC units will be advancing to nationals out of the 715 who took the first test. 

These 16 teams will compete against each other this weekend to determine which will represent the Air Force in the final round against the top teams in other military branches of JROTC, including Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard.

Wasatch High School’s Academic Bowl team advanced to the national competition and got second place in the Air Force qualifier in 2022 and 2023. 

“It was a race to the buzzer,” Harris said about the final tiebreaker question in the 2023 competition.

Harris and the cadets this year are hoping to take home the gold — and its prize of bragging rights. But, Harris noted, they’ve already won in a sense: Outside of souvenirs and meals, their trip was entirely paid for by the College Options Foundation, the organization that runs the Academic Bowl.

The thing that excites Grayson most about the trip is meeting other cadets from across the United States and its territories. He said he was “timid” when he joined JROTC as a freshman. Now, he’s a more confident leader — but still calls himself “antisocial and an introvert,” despite his obvious love for his teammates.

“The people, in general, are the main reasons I stick around. It’s like a second family to me,” he said.

Grayson will likely join the Army or Marines after high school. 

Cadets Palmer and Bevan are also looking forward to military service. 

Palmer wants to join the Air Force as a stepping stone toward becoming an anesthesiologist. Military scholarships, she hopes, will help her pay for medical school.

Palmer is the commander of the Academic Bowl team. She said JROTC has made her someone more willing to serve others, stand up for what’s right and be a leader. She recently became cheer captain, a role she doesn’t think she would have volunteered for if she hadn’t flexed her leadership muscles in JROTC.

Meanwhile, Bevan has wanted to join the Navy ever since he was a kid listening to stories from a Navy SEAL neighbor about the excitement and grueling physical training. 

Additionally, Bevan’s father is a foreign service officer, meaning Bevan has lived in countries like Gabon, China and Albania for much of his life. He’s lived with his grandparents in Wasatch County since his freshman year, when his father was stationed in the Central African Republic.

“We always lived in embassies, and there were a lot of families near us (with) parents who spent time in the military or were working for the Department of Defense while working at the embassy. So, I was just surrounded by veterans or current military officers. I grew up with a lot of those people,” Bevan said.

He added that learning military protocol and ceremonies, like how to march or fold an American flag, have prepared him for what he’ll deal with in the actual military. 

“I’ll be ahead of kids in the future when I do join,” he said.

Three years of JROTC service also equates to two promotions in any branch other than the Marine Corps as soon as a student enlists, according to Harris.

That’s why JROTC models the actual military as much as possible, which can be a sticking point for students and parents alike. Cadets must follow a military dress code, right down to their haircuts, and those who are even 30 seconds late to the first-period class must request permission to enter the classroom and explain why they are late.

“You’re following a system. You’re learning discipline,” Harris explained. “We’re trying to build you into a person that’s going to succeed when you leave here, so we’re taking the training wheels off.”

She said the values JROTC instills are useful no matter what career path a cadet chooses.

Charlton, for example, joined JROTC three years ago because she was dead set on becoming an FBI agent and had heard that military service would be a good gateway into that career. 

She’s since changed her mind and isn’t sure what she wants to do with her career, but she’s stayed in JROTC all the same.

Charlton was a bit of a British fish out of water when her family moved from England to Utah seven years ago, all so her father could pursue his dream of becoming a ski instructor in Park City.

The culture shock first came with bathrooms being inexplicably referred to as restrooms, then, the food, and finally, her American peers, who seemed, by and large, more extroverted and bold than she was.

By the beginning of high school, she found company in literature more often than people and wasn’t sure how to prepare for the ACT or navigate the differences in university here versus in England. 

JROTC helped her with all of those problems — culminating in an above average score on the ACT this year — all while giving her an outlet to express her love for literature in Academic Bowl. 

“Every Tuesday, we’re answering questions and laughing,” she said. “It’s just super fun because then you’re shouting, ‘Oh, I know this answer!’ and then you’re arguing about it, and you’re just sort of making fun of each other. It’s that companionship.”

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Of the roughly 25 Wasatch High School students who qualified for the Utah High School Rodeo State Finals at the Wasatch County Event Complex late last week, seven will advance to the national finals next month in Nebraska. There, these cowboys and cowgirls will vie for a winner’s saddle and belt buckle, along with the chance to meet college recruiters and potential sponsors.

For most of the students, the four-day gauntlet of bronc riding, bulldogging and goat tying was a lesson in how to brush the dirt off their chaps and get back up after being thrown to the dirt, both literally and metaphorically.

“It’s definitely been a marathon trying to avoid burnout and have consistent runs and have fun. It’s been quite the journey,” said junior Isla Bell, who competed in breakaway and team roping events.

Breakaway roping involves the competitor roping a fleeing calf while on horseback. Team roping is similar, except the target is a steer, and there are two competitors — referred to as a header and a heeler — who rope the animal’s head and legs, respectively.

“It’s like catching a fish,” described Eva Hunsaker, a fellow junior and breakaway roping competitor. “It’s just a great feeling.”

On a hot day like Friday, the key to managing sweaty hands is baby powder, Hunsaker explained. Still, her lasso came short, in part because her little calf was as speedy as a shotgun.

Breakaway roping was challenging for Bell, too, in no small part because her breakaway horse of five years, Jerry, tore a deep flexor tendon mere days before the event. 

“His career is over,” Bell explained. “I had some really amazing friends offer me a horse to use this week, but I’d never ridden it before, so it was just a rough time trying to get the whole run to click.”

Ty Bingham, Bell’s stepfather and the director of the team, explained that the horse she had borrowed had come from an unlikely person: her rival.

“They’re competing against each other, and one of her competitors is like, ‘Hey, jump on my horse,’” he recalled. “That’s a very common thing in rodeo. Whatever you need, your competitors will typically do it for you.”

Although contenders came from all over the state, Hunsaker said everyone was more like friends than adversaries as they chatted in line for events and played an evening kickball game together.

The almost familial bonds of the rodeo world are rivaled in closeness only by the bonds competitors have with their animals.

That was true of Hunsaker and her steed, Holy Smokin’ Cayenne, or Cayenne for short. Hunsaker has been riding Cayenne since she was in eighth grade, but they only became best friends once they started rodeoing in Hunsaker’s freshman year. 

“Now, my parents say that we’re a lot alike,” joked Hunsaker. That includes both horse and rider’s fiery red manes.

She continued, “We’ve worked together super well, and I can feel what she’s feeling. … We just want to compete the best we can. No matter how fast the calf is, she always gives me a shot.”

Hunsaker’s love for Cayenne has blossomed into a desire to become an equine dentist.

Bell, on the other hand, hopes to work in marketing, ideally for a western-themed brand. She already has the poise and unwavering confidence of someone used to speaking with the media.

Her communication and public speaking skills can be owed to her experience serving as the vice president of the Utah High School Rodeo Association. In that role, she helps organize events like dances and activities during the state finals, votes on changes to state high school rodeo rules and bylaws and acts as a role model for her fellow competitors.

Next school year, Bell will be president of the association. She also plans to train hard and “kick some butt.”

Just as rodeo is a family tradition for Bell, it plays the same role in senior Jenna Jepperson’s family.

Like Bell, Jepperson switched horses after one of her team roping horses sustained an injury. She borrowed her older brother’s horse, which had a lot more energy than hers did.

“If you get after it, it’s going to bring out even worse in you,” Jepperson explained.

Something similar could be said about Jepperson’s brother, though he has been one of her greatest mentors.

“Me and my brother have gotten closer in ways, but we also know how to fight pretty good,” Jepperson laughed. “But it’s drawn us so much closer. He knows what bugs me and how he can help me when things are going wrong.”

And in rodeo, anything can go wrong, Jepperson explained, from ripping a brand-new pair of pants mid-competition to eating dirt. The key to enjoying rodeo is resilience.

That’s something Jepperson’s younger sister, sophomore Lydia, is learning, as well. She’s figuring out how to focus on the good aspects of a bad run and control her feelings amid high-pressure competition.

Now that Jepperson has graduated from high school, with plans to serve a Latter-day Saint mission in Pennsylvania and attend nursing school afterwards, she will carry the lessons she learned in rodeo with her.

“It is great to win, but you’re going to lose more, and you’ve just got to keep your head up and keep going,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re going to get stuck there and not go anywhere.” 

Here are the seven Wasatch High School competitors advancing to the National High School Finals Rodeo in July.

• Genevieve Graham: Rodeo Queen
• Sam Haderlie: Steer wrestling
• Jack Rodeheaver: Saddle bronc riding
• Westin Simpson: Bareback riding, bull riding
• Colton Smith: Trap shooting
• Wiley Thomas: Bareback riding
• Ellie Thompson: Barrel racing, breakaway roping, goat tying, All Around Cowgirl

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Nestled beside the Jordanelle Reservoir, the town of Hideout is a small, secluded community that can be hard to reach by bike, bus or on foot. Town leaders hope to change that. 

Last week, Hideout announced it was awarded a $150,000 grant from the Utah Department of Transportation to develop a comprehensive transportation master plan that will focus on addressing multi-modal transportation options through town and the surrounding area. 

It’s one step closer to transportation and safety goals outlined in the town’s developing General Plan, according to Hideout Town Administrator Jan McCosh. 

“We actively pursued (the grant) because we have so much growth in the area, and we don’t want to repeat some of the errors of, say, Kimball Junction,” McCosh said, referencing high traffic. “Because of the generous size of the grant, we have excellent facilitators who have already reached out to us.”

McCosh said the transportation master plan will serve as a way to connect Hideout with nearby regions and municipalities. That includes the Silver Meadows annexation area, which will have multi-modal routes into “older” areas of Hideout. 

The master plan will address issues such as traffic and safety — necessary topics in transportation planning. Mayor Ralph Severini said the grant is a solid “first step.”

“You want planning to be your foundation,” Severini said. “We’re already working with UDOT in co-funding and co-delivering some safety improvements in town on (S.R.) 248 at the Ross Creek entrance.”

Severini said that the high-traffic area has been a safety concern for residents. 

“We’re doing some things with UDOT productively already. So, I just see this as a next stage of … multi-modal planning,” Severini said. 

The mayor has already met with UDOT officials such as Carlos Braceras to talk safety, public transportation, traffic and trails. When it comes to the $150,000 grant from UDOT, Severini said the first step, aside from planning, is addressing the most pressing needs. 

“I think it begins with integration of our community with other communities,” Severini said. “We also have a lot of priorities going forward with the town in terms of where the new developments are occurring.”

That includes the Richardson Flat and Silver Meadows development areas. 

McCosh also said the increased number of trails will benefit the active community members.

“We have a lot of active outdoor enthusiasts, a very Park City demographic who enjoy the outdoors. They enjoy snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and we want to make trails available for active transportation,” McCosh said. 

Thinking bigger, Severini said even water transportation is under consideration, given the town’s proximity to the Jordanelle Reservoir. 

“I’ve noticed the decrease in quality of life as we spend more time in traffic,” McCosh said. “I think getting the traffic plan right is very important for quality of life for all of us in the region, so I’m really pleased about this grant.”

Although Hideout is small, McCosh said residents’ needs are just as important as those in larger areas. 

“We’re a tiny city, and (this grant) allows us to professionally address traffic concerns,” McCosh said. 

Severini agreed. 

“It’s such a critical issue for all of us,” Severini said. 

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With more than 600 students, the Class of 2026 constituted one of Wasatch High School’s largest classes ever since 1912, likely for the last time, with class sizes set to shrink when the new Deer Creek High School opens in August.

Among those graduates were 67 who maintained a 4.0 average throughout high school, as well as students who snagged scholarships, seals of biliteracy, associate’s degrees and other impressive accolades, explained Principal Ryan Bishop during Thursday’s graduation ceremony at the high school football field. 

Some other records were altogether less impressive.

“Just to keep things grounded, this class also managed to rack up well over 1,000 unexcused absences,” Bishop joked, to hoots and hollers from the graduating class. “We are not proud of you for that. And just to top it off, a few hundred parking tickets along the way. So, yes, you definitely left your mark in several different ways.”

Bishop added it is not the impressive GPAs, test scores or awards he wants students to remember, but the peers, family members and teachers who helped them through the journey.

“I hope you carry humility with you. The world will tell you to focus on recognition, comparison and proving yourself. But humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s remembering that no one succeeds alone,” he said.

That rang true for co-valedictorian Brynnlea Scheuller, who in her speech compared the high school experience to climbing Mount Timpanogos, whose snowcapped peaks she’s gazed at from her front window every morning since she was five. She finally took the plunge and climbed the mountain last year.

“Getting to the top requires waking up at 4 a.m. to beat the heat, hiking 7 miles straight uphill and earning at least three blisters and a shoe full of rocks along the way,” she said. “Just like this mountain, our lives have two sides: a side that everyone admires from a distance and a side we keep hidden. People often see the photo at the summit, the part that looks easy and put together, but the real story is in what happens before the picture is taken. It happens during the switchbacks, in the moments when no one’s watching, when we are tired and unsure but decide to keep going.”

Co-valedictorian Matthew Blood also used literal and metaphorical heights as inspiration in his speech, recalling NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon in April.

“I don’t know who the first to say, ‘The sky is the limit’ (was), but they sure weren’t very bright,” he joked. “There is no limit to where humanity can go. … We will be at the forefront of these projects. We will be advancing society and building a positive culture. Presently, we are the most influential generation because we will set the precedent of excellence in our communities, countries, the world and eventual interplanetary species.”

After the four co-valedictorian speakers was a fitting musical number by the high school’s chamber choir, “North” by Sleeping At Last. The lyrics about repainting when “our color fades” and “our paint chips away” set the tone for school board member Brad Ehlert’s speech about resilience.

Ehlert began by telling the story of Cory Hanks, a Charleston resident who, while working in a gold mine in Nephi, lost both hands and his sight after he picked up a box of blasting caps that had been sitting in the sun. 

He had been working in the gold mines to pay for his tuition to Stanford University and, despite his accident, went on to attend Stanford, Harvard University, the King’s School of Oratory and Columbia University. He became a lecturer in high schools, colleges, universities and civic halls throughout the United States, Canada, Cuba and the Hawaiian islands. 

Before Hanks died in 1955, he authored his autobiography, “Up From the Hills,” in which he wrote, “We can never turn in our pathway of experience. We must go on.”

“One choice changed Cory Hanks’ life, but the choices after that defined it,” Ehlert said. “He chose to learn and work again. He chose to build again. He chose not to let one moment, even a devastating one, become the final definition of who he was or what his life could become.”

Ehlert then awarded a surprise $5,000 scholarship to a student who embodied Hanks’ tenacity: 19-year-old Crew Baxter, a football and baseball player who recently received an athletic and academic scholarship to the Colorado School of Mines, where he will study civil engineering.

Baxter’s older brother, Kaden, died in a car collision with a drunk driver in 2020. Kaden was 20 at the time. Surrounded by family after the graduation ceremony, Baxter explained that Kaden’s death had completely changed his approach to life.

“It’s pushed me forward in schooling and sports and everything. I feel like I’m living his life through me. I mean, he did civil engineering, too, and he was really a football star and a baseball star,” Baxter said. “Every day, I feel like he’s looking down at me. He’s giving me his energy to go through all this stuff and achieve.”

Another challenge for Baxter throughout his schooling has been his parents’ divorce. He described his father as “abusive.”

“We went through a lot of years of going through the divorce, going through a scheduled visitation and then going through a lot of court systems,” Baxter said. “I lived in an apartment for most of my middle school and elementary school, sharing a room with my mom and my brothers.”

Throughout the challenges, Baxter’s family has been his guiding light.

“The comfort and moral support that we had with each other really helped us grow and blossom,” he said.

Baxter said high school came with its fair share of fun — participating in sports, becoming more sociable and growing into himself — but it felt “amazing” to be acknowledged for the hardships, too.

“Us Baxters, we don’t really like talking about our grief, especially me. I don’t want to feel like I’m given a step up or pity,” he said. “Having the scholarship was being recognized at least, for once. It really salved my heart and soul.”

The message Ehlert left the Class of 2026 with was to persevere, just like Baxter did.

“When you choose a path that isn’t the right fit, do not let that be the end of your story. Learn, repair, stand back up, choose again, because your life will not be built by one perfect decision. It will be built by the choices you kept making after the plan changes,” he said. “You are not behind. You are not broken. You are not defined by the hardest thing that has happened to you. You are the person who still gets to choose what comes next. That is what this valley has been teaching you.”

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Angela Rose George, a special education teacher at Midway Elementary School who was accused of hitting a first grader in the face two years ago, pleaded no contest on Wednesday to abusing a child with a disability.

The first grader, who was 7 at the time, reported to a teacher’s aide that George hit him in the face above the eyebrow on March 28, 2024, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office police affidavit. The aide took the first grader to the nurse’s office. The school nurse photographed the injury, which the child described as a scratch, according to the nurse. Principal Jennie Mecham was also notified and reported the incident to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.

In a following interview with the Wasatch County Children’s Justice Center, the first grader said he was studying sight words and “wasn’t being good enough” for George when she “smacked” him twice and put him in “time out,” according to the police affidavit. 

The incident took place during indoor recess when George was alone in the classroom with the first grader and three other students while the rest of the class and aides were taking recess outside.

The first two aides who returned to the classroom said in interviews with police that George was upset with the first grader when they arrived. 

Later in the day, one of the aides noticed a “red welt” above the first grader’s eyebrow. The first grader said George hit him. 

The aide and the first grader left the room, and the child repeated that George had hit him. George then said she had “only (come) down on him like a hammer,” according to the police affidavit. Another aide witnessed the exchange.

Three of the five aides in the classroom said that between the end of recess and the first grader’s leaving the classroom, they saw another student hit the child on top of his head. Two agreed this was not the cause of the first grader’s injury above his eyebrow, as the other student did not hit the child near his face.

The third aide only said she witnessed the incident in her interview with police. She also disclosed that she had met with Principal Mecham the day before the incident regarding her concerns about George, whom the aide described as “a bully” in an interview with Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Baeza. 

Another aide also reported to law enforcement that she met with the elementary school principal to express worries about George. According to court documents, she said she saw George “push kids, yank kids and kick the ball from underneath them.” Other aides also described George as aggressive. 

George has been on paid administrative leave since the incident. Data from Transparent Utah shows she was paid a salary of nearly $87,000, plus over $51,000 in benefits, in 2025. She was charged with abuse or neglect of a child with a disability, a third-degree felony, in April 2024.

George first pleaded not guilty to the charge on Oct. 30, 2024. The hearing in Fourth District Court on Wednesday was to determine whether the case would be heard by a jury next week.

George’s no contest plea acknowledges there may have been sufficient evidence to find her guilty in a jury trial, but Judge Jennifer Mabey said it does not constitute an admission of guilt. 

As part of George’s plea deal with Wasatch County prosecutors, the third-degree felony was lowered to a misdemeanor. 

George has undergone court-ordered Level I Anger Management and Thinking Errors courses through Capstone Counseling Centers, which she completed earlier this month.

Other than the counseling courses, George had to maintain a clean criminal record for 12 months as part of her plea deal. However, the timeline began when she was first charged in 2024, and George retroactively met this requirement.

Ryan Bartlett, the director of strategic communications for the Utah State Board of Education, confirmed the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission is actively investigating George. He said the commission will review the case and issue a disciplinary recommendation to the state Board of Education following the resolved court proceedings. 

A disciplinary recommendation could range from a letter of warning to a teaching license suspension or revocation, though Bartlett explained it will be the state Board of Education that makes the final decision.

The Wasatch County School District declined to comment on the case.

“While we understand there is public interest, we are committed to respecting employee privacy and following appropriate HR procedures and legal requirements,” the school district’s statement read.

Mabey acknowledged the resolution of the two-year-long case “might not feel satisfying, quite frankly, for anyone.”

“One of the difficulties this job has taught me is that sometimes situations occur that, no matter the outcome, it won’t necessarily feel as if justice has been done,” she said.

Nonetheless, Mabey accepted the resolution of the case because it had been “very carefully negotiated.” Mabey expressed hope that the Capstone Counseling Centers courses George had taken would assist her in the future.

The first grader’s parents wanted to avoid a trial to avoid the possibility of traumatizing their son through testifying. The child’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous to maintain her son’s privacy, later said she would have preferred a trial over George’s felony charge being lowered to a misdemeanor. However, the child’s parents do not plan on appealing the decision at this time.

In a victim impact statement, the child’s mother described watching her son’s interview with the Children’s Justice Center as something she would never forget.

“No child should ever believe they deserve to be hurt because they were not ‘good enough,’” she said.

She said her son had developed stress-related body rashes in the days following the interview. Later, when he spotted George unexpectedly in a grocery store parking lot, he “immediately dove down in the car because he was afraid she would see him.”

When the first grader’s mother asked him whether he had anything he wanted her to say to George in court, he said, “You hurt my heart.”

“The mark above his eye faded long ago, but the emotional impact for him did not,” the child’s mother said.

George also read a two-sentence statement. She acknowledged the difficulties the case had brought to her own family, friends and students.

“Hopefully, today brings closure so all of us can move forward,” she said.

The post Midway Elementary School special education teacher accepts plea deal in child abuse case appeared first on Park Record.

During the Wasatch Alternative High School graduation, educators and families celebrated 48 students who received their diplomas despite the personal and academic challenges they had faced.

Among the students Friday was Alistair VanRoosendaal, an aspiring musician who looked the part with his flowing brown hair, pink velvet suit jacket and wealth of jewelry pieces, each with a special meaning — even the necklace of strung-together Goldfish cracker bags, which his siblings made for him. 

VanRoosendaal has been at the Alternative High School for one year. He said he’s learned more in that year than in his first three years at Wasatch High School.

“I never felt like a curriculum was being shoved down my throat. It felt like I was learning what I needed to learn in order to be who I needed to be. … I think every teacher is incredible. I don’t like calling them teachers because they’re friends,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s just a school, and I don’t feel like it’s just a place to go hang out and goof off, because it’s the perfect marriage of the two.”

The Alternative High School, held at west campus, provides intervention for students in need of extra attention and guidance outside of a traditional classroom environment. 

“A lot of kids obviously come for different reasons, but we have some that are just so credit deficient that recovering credits at main (campus) while earning credits gets to be super daunting,” explained Administrator Amanda Edwards. “Kids will also come with family trauma or anxiety, depression, reasons that keep them out of main campus right now. It’s 2,700 kids (at main campus). It’s overwhelming, busy, daunting. The classes there are 80 to 90 minutes, and we run on a much shorter, 50-minute class schedule.”

During the ceremony, each graduate was introduced by a teacher who had tracked their progress to ensure they made it to graduation. Unlike a traditional graduation, each of the nine teachers also shared thoughts about each student after reading their name.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, though many tried to hold back their tears. 

Teacher Lindsey Jacobsen, for example, began announcing names in an even tone, but the steely-faced facade didn’t last as she spoke about students like Anthony Gonzalo Rodriguez Batalla, a budding barber who calls Jacobsen his “school mom.”

“Oh, dear,” she said, choking up, to which a graduate shouted from onstage, “You’ve got this, Ms. Jacobsen!”

Teacher Paul Smith was also emotional as he addressed Sandybel Reyes Dominguez.

“Sandy, when I first met you, you wanted nothing to do with school or with me. However, over the last few years, I’ve seen miraculous change, like the caterpillar and the butterfly,” he said. “It’s been one of the great blessings of my life to see this transition.”

He took a more jocular tone with Antonio Saucedo Tapia.

“Oh, Tony, Tony, Tony,” Smith sighed after reading his name. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep over getting you to graduation. We went back and forth so many times about what work you needed to do and the time you needed to get everything done. Every time, you’d say you’d do it, and you did.”

He used the same routine on the following graduate, Collin Coomes.

“I’ve never lost more sleep over anybody but you. I’ve also lost six pounds,” he jested.

Smith wasn’t the only one with jokes. 

“I’m going to be honest. In a way, Caston (Spear) was a disappointment,” teacher Derek Brooks said. “Because he’s such a hard worker, he ended up finishing many of his credits earlier than expected, and this meant that I got to experience less of our meaningful conversations before, during or after class this past year.”

One of the 48 graduates was given special recognition by school board President Kim Dickerson.

Dickerson began by telling the story of Cory Hanks, a Charleston resident who died in 1955. Hanks lost both hands and became blind after a box of blasting caps exploded while he was working the gold mines in Nephi to pay for his tuition to Stanford University. After the accident, he pursued his education anyways, becoming an author who gave 6,670 lectures throughout his life.

Dickerson quoted a passage from Hanks’ autobiography, “Up From the Hills”: “Tears shed through trials should be tears of joy, for scars grow together stronger than before.”

Dickerson then awarded a surprise $5,000 scholarship in Hanks’ name to Josie Perez, who will be studying nursing at Utah Valley University in the fall. 

Perez had been one of five graduate speakers and told the story of her parents’ immigration to the United States over three decades ago.

“Their sacrifice became the foundation for my opportunities,” she said. “All my life, my parents told us the importance of school. ‘We have no choice but to work with our hands for the rest of our lives. You have an opportunity to work with your brain.’”

Education was the “job” Perez and her siblings were tasked with, but her first three years of high school were “rough.”

“Transferring to Alternative may be seen to many as a setback, but for me, it was a turning point. It gave me a chance to reflect and to rebuild,” she said. “It gifted me with teachers who saw me, who believed in me and who pushed me to believe in myself again. … Anyone can handle assignments and show up to teach a class, but it takes something much deeper to truly change a student’s life. It takes a person with a genuine and compassionate heart to look beyond the grades, the struggles and the setbacks, (and) continue to see potential, to choose encouragement over judgment, patience over frustration, belief over doubt.”

Using Perez as an example, Dickerson said that each Alternative High School graduate’s story is not defined by strife. Rather, each story is defined by “resilience, determination and hope” — qualities that will guide the graduates as they write the next chapters of their lives.

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Representatives from the Utah Department of Transportation informed the Heber City Council on Tuesday that they are considering redesigning the controversial Heber Valley bypass in line with some suggestions given by Wasatch County’s elected officials. 

The new highway will divert through traffic from Heber City Main Street. UDOT’s preferred route, Alternative B, cuts through the North Fields — a freshwater wetland area that has been used as farmland for generations — between Potters Lane and 900 North instead of keeping traffic on U.S. 40 between the two roads as Alternative A does. 

UDOT’s announcement of its preferred route in January sparked division among residents that sprouted into protests during the 60-day public comment period, which ended in March. 

During that period, the Wasatch County Council wrote a letter asking that the bypass be shifted east, as close to U.S. 40 as possible, to protect the North Fields.

The letter said the realignment would prevent bisecting existing farmlands and better align with the county’s goals of preserving open space and establishing conservation easements in the North Fields. 

It also argued that the realignment would better protect groundwater. The entire project area for both route alternatives is in the contributing area to the Heber Valley Aquifer, which is part of the most protected aquifer class in Utah for its pristine water quality. 

UDOT has maintained that significant groundwater contamination will not occur because mitigation measures will be included in the design and approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The County Council, meanwhile, believed realigning Alternative B closer to U.S. 40 would pose the least risk to the aquifer because U.S. 40 already has mitigation measures in place. 

The County Council’s letter was also signed by the Midway City Council, Charleston Mayor Doug Clements, Sen. Ronald Winterton, Rep. Mike Kohler and all members of the Heber City Council except Mike Johnston and Sid Ostergaard.

UDOT is considering “potentially shifting the North Field alignment a little bit further to the east,” said project manager Craig Hancock. They haven’t yet determined exactly how much further east that would be.

UDOT Senior Environmental Program Manager Naomi Kisen said if the bypass was “shifted all the way to close where (U.S.) 40 is,” it would perform “rather similarly” to Alternative A, which has slower travel times than Alternative B on U.S. 189, U.S. 40 and Main Street.

“Every change we make does affect our travel time. It also affects the traffic volumes that we’re pulling. It’s about trying to find that happy place, where you’re not losing too much of the performance, but you’re also kind of avoiding the impacts that you’re trying to avoid,” Kisen added. 

UDOT is implementing another design change in response to a letter sent by the City Council during the public comment period. That letter focused on local impacts, traffic and safety concerns identified by city engineer Russ Funk.

The proposed bypass design would require pedestrians and cyclists traveling on trails to take a half-mile detour to cross the Midway Lane interchange. Funk was concerned that those unwilling to take the detour would jaywalk, increasing the potential for traffic accidents.

“We’ve added in a sidewalk through that interchange, with ped(estrian) crossings across the ramps that’ll be coming in,” Hancock said. “We’ve also added in a bike lane in the shoulder of the road as well, so anybody who wants to just ride a bike through, they can do that.”

Additionally, UDOT will address the foremost of the City Council’s concerns identified in its letter. 

The raised bypass connection between the western bypass and U.S. 40, leaving the city to the southeast, runs along 1300 South in a developed area surrounded by homes and businesses. The City Council asked that the elevated roadway be shifted south into undeveloped land to minimize impacts to residents.

“We’re just evaluating it right now but just wanted to let you know that we are going to take a look at that,” Hancock said.

Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco called the potential bypass redesigns the “best news (she) could have heard.” City Councilor Yvonne Barney agreed. 

“I know a lot of the citizens are concerned, and I think there were some who felt that it was a lost cause. And they were being told by many sources that, ‘You can’t argue with UDOT. UDOT won’t listen to you, so why even bother?’” Barney told Hancock and Kisen. “I’ve always appreciated the two of you because you’ve always been very respectful and considerate of the fact that we know our citizens here are very … sensitive about the changes that are coming forward.”

UDOT plans to release its final environmental impact statement, including its final route, by the end of the year. That document will also include UDOT’s responses to questions and concerns raised in the over 700 public comments received. 

Then, UDOT will submit a record of decision to the Federal Highway Association and begin determining funding sources for the $760.5 million project — a price tag Kisen has acknowledged could increase by the project’s horizon year of 2050.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not formally weigh in on UDOT’s plan to mitigate groundwater contamination until UDOT applies for a Section 404 permit during the design phase. 

That’s also when UDOT will come up with a plan to protect at least 2 acres of wetlands, canals, ditches and perennial streams for every acre impacted — which is 54 in Alternative B’s current design. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will also approve or deny that plan.

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On 80-year-old Sharon Carlson’s crown of pink dyed hair, she’d donned a similarly pink flapper’s feather headband. It read “Happy New Year!” in silver glitter. 

“I’m always much happier when I’m wearing pink or purple. Today, I wore this color,” she said, gesturing to her beige sweater. “But I was trying to be the Happy-New-Year type.”

When Carlson turned 50, color “happened” to her. She can’t exactly explain her affliction, but she’s certainly felt the symptoms. 

On Carlson’s farm in Wallsburg, where she raises chickens, goats and a basket’s worth of fruits with her son, you’ll find purple fences and an orchard adorned with fairy lights. In Carlson’s room, there’s an explosion of pink. 

Her flowing pink locks are the latest evidence of her obsession. Carlson had her hair dyed in 2025 with Allie Mecham, who she calls the second of “The Three Stooges” in her close-knit friend group. 

Carlson was one of about 120 seniors who crowded into the Wasatch County Senior Citizen Center on Tuesday to ring in the new year over lunch. To mark the occasion, Carlson brought her grandmother’s velvet coin purse, which was adorned with a button from her grandfather’s suit. 

“She gave it to me four years before she died,” Carlson explained. Her grandmother lived to be 104. 

In 2026, Carlson will be expressing her burst of color through oil painting.

Carlson wasn’t the only partygoer planning on picking up new talents through the senior center’s programming.

Last year, Shelly Hokanson resolved to learn something new every day.

In August, she began her learning journey by taking the senior center’s ceramics course. By Christmas, she’d made gifts by hand for each of her 22 grandchildren. Chess sets, piggy banks, dinosaurs, jewelry boxes — she sculpted it all in those feverish four months before the holiday.

In 2026, Hokanson will first set her sights on tai chi.

“I think it’s a martial art, but I don’t really know. That’s why I’m going to go try it out,” she laughed.

Hokanson said the senior center has been the perfect place to make friends. Her husband died in 2020, and her 11 kids have left the nest. 

“Going from 13 to one is really wild,” she said. “I needed to just be around friends. … I’m trying to fill my life with something that keeps me happy.”

Mike Winward, the senior center’s director, said that participation in the 60-plus social club has grown significantly in his past four years of leadership. That can be owed to an increase in programming, which stemmed from Winward’s desire to change the culture of the senior center to “someplace where you could just relax and kick back,” and word of mouth. Winward said lots of people insist, “I’m not old enough for that,” before realizing they’re not being invited to an “old folks’ home.”

In 2026, Winward said the senior center is going to continue to “party like crazy.”

Lifelong Heber City resident Vickie Todd remembers dropping off both her mother and grandmother at the senior center. Now 75, Todd herself participates. She’s seen an increase in activities and has made more friends through the center than she can count.

She’s also observed plenty of change in Heber City. Todd said that when she was growing up, kids rode bikes and horses to school, and there were barely any cars. With U.S. 40 now feeding into Main Street, that fact has certainly changed.

Meanwhile, Merrill Hall sticks to Wallsburg, where she has lived for over 30 years, for its small-town feel. It reminds her of growing up in Slaterville in Weber County.

Other than turning 100 in April, Hall can’t quite remember what she accomplished in 2025. 

“I’m too old,” she cackled.

Hall’s resolution is to stay active in the New Year. Although she has difficulties standing, she refuses to use a cane or walker and continues to climb the stairs at her home. She even stood for the Pledge of Allegiance before lunch.

The centenarian’s advice to Wasatch County residents going into 2026 is simple: “Be good and enjoy life.”

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A change in Hideout Planning Commission rules and regulations is creating tension between town officials.

In a Nov. 13 Town Council meeting, the Planning Commission suggested two changes to the commission’s rules. One rule simply seeks to allow planning commissioners to elect a chair and vice chair at the first meeting of the new year by a majority vote. But the confusion lies with the second proposed change.

By removing two words in its rules and regulations, the Planning Commission hopes to reduce the Town Council’s power to remove a commissioner. As of now, the regulations state the Town Council may remove any planning commissioner with or without cause. 

The Planning Commission is seeking to eliminate “or without” from the regulations, which leaves the Town Council with the option to remove a commissioner within reason.

“We were just concerned that because somebody (on the Town Council) didn’t like us … they could get rid of us. Or if they didn’t like the way we were voting, they could get rid of us,” said Planning Commission Chair Glynnis Tihansky. 

Tihansky said the Planning Commission’s timing for the change comes with the upcoming new year, but also in the wake of the recent general election, which she considered contentious.

Town Councilors like Jonathan Gunn, however, believe the language for removal should stay the same.

“The Planning Commission is not elected; they’re appointed. If (the change is) successful, they’ll be unaccountable and unelected officials,” Gunn said. “I think anyone with government power should be accountable to someone, somewhere, somehow.”

Gunn said there is no problem with the Planning Commission seeking to elect a chair and vice chair annually. 

Hideout Planning Commission members sit on the appointed body for typical four-year terms. Two commissioners’ terms expire in 2026: Chase Winder and Joel Pieper. Two alternate members’ terms, Brad Airmet and Catherine Woltering, are also expiring in 2026. 

Tihansky said the change is not so serious.

If there is just cause, a commissioner could still be removed. For instance, if any member was absent from two consecutive regularly scheduled meetings or a total of four meetings per year, that individual may be asked to resign or be removed. 

“So they can remove with cause, “ Tihansky said. 

The Town Council is expected to vote on the change in January.

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The combined voter turnout of Wasatch County’s five municipalities was just about 50% this year.

Joey Granger, the Wasatch County clerk and auditor, said she usually anticipates voter turnout around 35%. She sees that as an “average to even high turnout” for a municipal election. 

“Any of the areas like ours that experience the rapid amount of growth and new people coming in, you’re going to see this type of activity happen,” Granger explained. 

In the case of small towns, they’re often “lucky to even get candidates to fill the position,” she said.

That was certainly the case in Interlaken. The town of just a few hundred was established in 2015. Ten years later, it held its first election. 

Bart Smith, town administrator, clerk and recorder, is thrilled. 

“It’s always been a challenge finding candidates. It’s a volunteer position,” he said. “We have typically really low attendance at our council meetings.”

Three candidates stepped up for two open seats this year, and the two incumbents were reelected. 

Smith saw it as a battle between the status quo and new ideas. Longtime residents have an understanding of how the town operates, but Smith said an influx of homeowners is coming in with new ideas.

“If you’re just moving in, you might look at how we spend our money and go, ‘Hey, you could save some money there, or you could spend some money here,’” he said. 

Smith sees the incumbents’ victories as an affirmation that residents like the way the town has been running.

Interlaken received 82 ballots from its 155 registered voters, or 53%.

Charleston, another small town, had the highest turnout in the county at 79%. Of its 327 registered voters, 259 cast ballots this year. 

Charleston’s town clerk and lifelong resident Karen Mair said it’s an election unlike any she’s seen, not just because of the turnout. The town is currently undergoing a recount because the mayoral candidates, one of whom is a write-in, were split by only one vote.

Mair said the town is undergoing changes, such as commercial expansion and annexations, that are changing the dynamic of the town. She added that many residents are senior citizens who would be affected financially by any changes the town makes, which may have been a factor contributing to high civic engagement.

Demographics may have also contributed to high voter turnout in Hideout, at least according to recently elected Mayor Ralph Severini. He described the town as “on the more mature side” age-wise.

“There are a lot of physicians, attorneys, accomplished executives, and they tend to vote,” he added.

But that can’t be the only piece of the puzzle. Hideout’s 69% voter turnout is almost 30% higher than the 41% turnout during the 2023 election. That turnout could be attributed to a number of other factors, including growth, annexations and developments looking to bring commercial businesses to the town.

Severini has lived in Hideout for nine years. He said this election cycle was the first time the town held a debate and the first time Severini saw any campaign signs around town.

Of the municipalities that held elections, the two most populous towns had the lowest turnouts. 

Midway had 1,981 ballots cast out of 4,143 registered voters, or almost 48%. City Recorder Brad Wilson said that turnout is typical for Midway, which tends to land somewhere around the mid-40s percentage-wise.

Heber City Recorder Trina Cooke said the city tends to generate around 30% voter turnout. Turnout this year was 48%, or 4,301 ballots cast out of 8,933 registered voters.

Cooke theorized that higher turnout could have something to do with the national political climate. She said she “wouldn’t be surprised if municipal elections are up everywhere.”

As for city public information officer Ryan Bunnell, he attributed the turnout to a number of factors.

“Last five years in particular, we’ve seen a significant population spike. Our last several elections, I think there’s been a bit of a curiosity as to when the new citizens would activate,” Bunnell said.

He speculated the activation may have happened this year. This election also saw increased spending by candidates, as well as some “fuel” in the mayoral race between Heidi Franco and Scott Phillips, Bunnell explained. 

“I think that there were some campaigning variables that might have been a little more incendiary than years past,” he said. “People were definitely feeling passionate about their candidates, particularly in that mayoral race.”

Bunnell explained that he became civically involved around the early 2010s, and wanted to change a pervasive culture that saw Heber City as a commercialized pit stop on the road to larger municipalities. As Bunnell became more civically engaged, he began to understand the process of his local government, making the powers that be much less of a mystery.

“If I had a wish as a public information officer, it would be that people would … become critical thinkers on their own, instead of just depending on what somebody said on Facebook,” he said. “I love that citizens are getting more involved in their municipal and county governments. It is the true place where your actions can be immediately seen and recognized.”

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