The Live Like Sam Foundation likened people to plants during a presentation at the Wasatch County Library.

“Does anyone have a sad house plant?” asked Programs Director Jessica Parker on Thursday.

A few people gathered in the meeting room — mostly adults — raised their hands. Parents, guardians and other trusted adults had come with their kids for “Bonding Better Together,” a new, free program by Live Like Sam providing activities for intergenerational bonding.

Parker and representatives from the library, Wasatch County Health Department, Wasatch Community Foundation and Wasatch Behavioral Health explained some of the vital components needed for a plant or person to thrive. 

The pot is the support system, providing structure and protection. The sapling sprouting from a little seed represents each person’s inner strength. Soil represents family, and water represents daily, healthy habits. Finally, just as external environments shape a plant, a person’s ability to weather a storm builds character. 

As the speakers explained this, each adult and child pair painted flower pots before filling them with soil and a plant to nurture.

Mother Valeria Cruz came to “Bonding Better Together” with her 15-year-old daughter, Valentina. Valeria is a gardener, and Valentina is currently taking a floriculture course at Wasatch High School.

“We love our plants and spending time out in the garden. It gives you hope in the spring, especially when the weather doesn’t make up its mind,” Valeria said. “It feels really good to be among our peers and neighbors and do something fun.”

Of the two, Valentina was the artist, painting a neon tiger on the side of her flower pot. Valeria, meanwhile, was a self-styled “imitator” who used a stencil to color flowers on the side of her own pot.

The mother and daughter typically bond through conversations on the way to school, whether they be about books, friends or TikTok videos. But the pair weren’t always so close. 

Valeria explained that she used to have more of a mother-knows-best mindset, which she’d inherited from her parents. As Valeria took parenting classes and read books, she realized the road to mutual respect was being receptive to her kids’ critiques.

“The fact that I’m older doesn’t necessarily make me wiser. Even though that’s been hard to admit, it’s also what our relationship needed,” she said. “When I want to improve on something, I rely on their feedback, and I encourage that. And it’s not always easy to hear it, but it’s what makes me connect better with them. And it’s totally worth it. I can leave my ego aside and be like, ‘OK, girl. Give it to me straight.’” 

Like her mother, Valentina also adopted that mindset.

“I felt like I was always right, even though half the time I was wrong. But it didn’t feel good hearing that,” she said. “I think it’s good to just sit down and get your criticism because all your parent really wants to do is help you.”

Valentina said she feels grateful to have the mother she does — it’s one of the healthiest relationships she has.

Valeria’s advice for other parents is simple: “All you have to do is keep them alive, teach them a few skills and then watch them become, because they’re already their own person. As long as you can respect that, I think things flow pretty (well).”

While Valeria acknowledged parenting can be tricky, it can also be fun.

“Moments like today make it all worth it,” she said. “We’re going to go home, and we’re going to have our little memory of what we did and the time we spent together. … She’ll take (the flower pot) to college. I’ll make her.”

“Bonding Better Together” will be held seasonally at Wasatch County Library and will eventually come to Park City Library, according to Parker. Activities will be listed at livelikesam.org/events.

The post Adults and kids grow together in new Live Like Sam program appeared first on Park Record.

Perhaps the most surprising revelation during a youth panel on Wednesday at the Wasatch County Library is that some modern teenagers are romanticizing the 1980s.

“What looks so appealing about that is the raw, authentic experiences that were had,” said 17-year-old Amiah Baker. “When you were bored as a child, you’d go out and play outside instead of building something on a screen. … I think boredom leads to creativity. And when you’re not given the opportunity to sit in stillness and think about what you desire, that creativity can’t happen, and you end up feeling a little bit unfulfilled.”

The importance of boredom was just one insight illuminated by panelists from Wasatch High School who discussed topics ranging from AI use to phone restrictions.

The panel was organized by the Live Like Sam Foundation, the Park City-based nonprofit named for Sam Jackenthal, who died in a skiing accident at 16. The organization, founded by his father and sister, teaches youth in Summit and Wasatch counties to live as Sam lived — with courage, joy, self-awareness, kindness and leadership — through preventative programming.

Wednesday’s panel was the second held in Wasatch County after one at Wasatch Alternative High School in January. The panels are part of a broader effort by the organization to establish relationships with Wasatch County youth.

“In Summit County, we are starting with kids in pre-K,” said Programs Director Jessica Parker. “Here, they’re not growing up with Live Like Sam. They maybe bump into us here, see us at a lunch table, but I don’t think we’re as familiar to them.”

Parker said youth panels provide an opportunity for teenagers to gain experience with public speaking while educating the community about their perspectives.

She said what has amazed her about the kids she has worked with is their openness about mental health.

“Kids are like, ‘Yeah, I go to therapy on Tuesdays,’ … whereas, my generation, therapy was if you had a problem,” she said.

Although Parker thought the stigma around discussing mental health had decreased since her generation, most of the panelists agreed that the taboo hadn’t completely dissipated.

“There is kind of an almost unspoken rule. It’s not really a ‘Don’t talk about it.’ It more (so) seems to make people uncomfortable,” said 16-year-old Aubry Schaff.

Even if the mental health struggles are not talked about, there are a variety of stressors impacting teens — for example, national and international news, now more accessible and unfiltered than ever in the digital age.

“I don’t know what news sources I can trust to tell me what’s actually happening in the world,” Schaff said. “And honestly, what I do know is true really stresses me out, and it scares me quite a bit. And I guess the impact it takes on my mental health is that there is pretty much nothing I can do right now, and it kind of makes me feel a little hopeless about our future.”

Kyra Harris, 18, added that academic pressures have been another source of mental health struggles.

“I’ve had many late nights, just super upset doing homework,” she said. “I’m forced to be in this specific box because of expectations put upon me from either my parents, my teachers or leaders of some sort. And not that that’s bad, … (but) it has harmful effects when you are a star, and they’re trying to put you in a circle shape.”

The panelists concurred that adults tend to underestimate what they’re capable of.

Take Jesus Zarco as an example. At 18 years old, the Wasatch High School senior has already launched a business called Clutter Busters. Like Marie Kondo of the Wasatch Back, Zarco offers all kinds of organization services, from garages to pantries (email clutterbustershelp@gmail.com to set an appointment).

While running the business has come with challenges like taxes and time management, it’s also given Zarco a better sense of independence.

“Anyone can do anything at any age if you just put your mind to it,” he said.

Though that sentiment rings true, Harris admitted that relying on AI for difficult tasks was tempting. She said she’s seen peers use AI to cheat on assignments, and said AI is sometimes “more creative than what I could come up with,” which has discouraged her.

“Technology, period, is a tool and a destroyer at the same time, depending on how you choose to use it,” she said.

While the panelists agreed that technology was the root of many of their woes, they could not come to a consensus about how to restrict its use, as exemplified by a discussion about a permanent phone ban in schools. 

That discussion turned out to be timely, as Senate Bill 96, which would restrict use of smart devices by students for the entire school day, passed in the Utah State House of Representatives the day after the panel. As of Thursday, the bill still needs to be signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox.

Schaff said such a ban would make her less focused at school.

“I have a lot of things happening with my life right now, and I’m constantly worried that I might miss something important that’s happened,” she said.

Meanwhile, Harris attended a public charter school in Colorado that had a no-phone policy for the first half of high school and benefited from the ban.

“It was super strict. However, I definitely feel like I was more creative at my other school. You were able to have genuine interaction with other students, and I think it was good for my mental health,” she said.

She said now that she has constant access to her phone, she’s had more chances for social interaction with friends, but it distracts her from learning.

Despite the stressors, the panelists agreed that there are many exciting aspects of being a teen in Wasatch County today, from increased opportunities for self-expression through social media to the wide array of opportunities to gain professional experience through Wasatch High School’s Career and Technical Education programs.

“It’s a fun era right now for teenagers,” Zarco said.

Live Like Sam’s next panel in Wasatch County will be focusing on raising resilient youth. The panel will feature youth, mental health professionals and educators. That panel will be on April 30, though the venue is yet to be determined.

The post Wasatch County teens detail stressors in Live Like Sam panel appeared first on Park Record.

The Live Like Sam foundation has announced registration is open for Thrive, a free, evidence-based program aiming to equip Summit and Wasatch counties students in grades 6-12 with vital life skills, and registration for the fall session closes on Oct. 21 at 11:59 p.m.

The program will strive to help youth accomplish the following:

• Confidently manage stress amidst school pressures and social uncertainties
• Nurture positive relationships built on empathy and effective communication
• Make healthy choices for their physical and mental well-being

Students will meet for one hour weekly for six weeks on Zoom with a cohort of up to 10 peers and a Thrive facilitator to learn, practice and reflect on well-being skills.

Those interested can register here: livelikesam.org/thrive.

The post Thrive program will equip youth with life skills appeared first on Park Record.