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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, April 26-28, 2017 The Park Record A-10 ‘Little Women,’ big honors BUBBA BROWN/PARK RECORD Calie Gallup, left, and Tori Kenton are two of the students who performed last fall in Park City High School’s musical production of “Little Women,” which was recently nominated for eight honors in the Utah High School Musical Theater Awards. They say they are proud to have been part of a production that was is garnering statewide attention. PCHS production nominated for eight statewide awards categories are: Best Musical, Best Actress (Alexa Wilcox), Best Supporting Actress (Eileen Riley), Best Director, Best Lighting Design, Best Set Design, Best Technical Crew and Best Orchestra. Several stu- By BUBBA BROWN The Park Record Rick Kimball faced a dilemma last fall when casting issues forced him to alter course about seven weeks before Park City High School was set to premiere a musical performance of “Jekyll & Hyde.” He had already done the blocking for the play, and students had already auditioned for their roles. But Kimball, in his first year as a drama teacher at the school, made a difficult and risky decision: They would perform “Little Women” instead. Kimball was nervous about making such a big change so late. It turns out he had no reason to be. The school’s production of “Little Women” garnered eight nominations in the prestigious Utah High School Musical Theater Awards, which were announced late last month. The I’m really excited that the students are getting this type of validation because we have such a talented student body here. The greatest thing is that we’re going to be able to show at that performance that Park City High School has a premier theater department.” Rick Kimball PCHS teacher dents will perform songs from the play at an awards show in Salt Lake City on May 13. Kimball, whose productions at other schools have earned acclaim, called the awards Utah’s Tonys and said earning that many nominations is unheard of for a school the size of PCHS. The recognition is a testament to the students who worked so hard to make the musical a success. “When I heard that we got nominated for eight, I was just floored,” he said. “We’re a small program that’s just trying to get up and going, so I was floored. “I’m really excited that the students are getting this type of validation because we have such a talented student body here,” he added. “The greatest thing is that we’re going to be able to show at that performance that Park City High School has a premier theater department.” Calie Gallup, who played the supporting role of Beth, said it was clear to her the production was something special because of how intently everyone focused on getting their parts just right. Receiving the eight nominations made all of the hard work worth it. After the experiPlease see PCHS, A-11 Continued From A-9 Budget proposal said. “So I was like, ‘How cool would it be to actually have clothing that would have your entire body shaking?’ It was like, ‘Why don’t I actually do that?’” Haas’ idea has already earned acclaim. He recently presented it at the High School Entrepreneur Challenge put on by the University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which tasks students from around the state with developing an idea for a product and a plan of how to bring it to market. While Haas’ vision didn’t take the top prize, it proved to be a hit, earning him the People’s Choice Award and an accompanying $1,000 grant Continued From A-9 Student award and enrichment. “You have to look at, ‘What types of intervention do our students need, and what are the real needs that are obstacles to their learning?’” Conley said. “And as we know, things like mental wellness and nutrition, all of those things affect our children.” To that end, notable elements in Conley’s proposal include four new school psychologists, two behavior specialists, an elementary behavior disorder teacher, special education staff members, school counselors and a funding increase for school nurses. “We are really focusing on that top-level tier, where the most intensive students with the most intensive needs have to be addressed,” she said. The proposal also includes to help him turn the idea into reality. Haas intends to do just that. He said he will begin the process of turning the technology from a design sketch he worked on for about a month into an actual product in the coming weeks and hopes to continue the work in college, where he will pursue an engineering degree at either the University of California, Berkeley or the University of Colorado. One vision he has for the technology is tailoring it so users would simultaneously feel bass frequencies in their chest through a shirt, mid-range vibrations lower in their body and treble waves on their feet. “You could literally turn your body into a vibrating instrument,” he said, adding that the technology could also have uses in the medical field because exposure to certain frequencies has been shown to heal the body. Creating the technology and building a company out of it is something he can picture himself working on for the next decade or so, he said. He has already even begun the process of applying for a patent. “Ideally, within the next month or so I’ll be starting to learn how to actually code and put this stuff together,” he said. “These parts are incredibly cheap on Amazon, and the circuitry and how to do all this stuff is pretty open sourced. You’ve just got to figure out what to look for, and that’s the first step.” Building the company would be a convergence of two passions for Haas, who tears apart audio systems and creates small companies -- such as a cold-brew coffee business -- in his spare time. The mere mention of it is enough to elicit a smile from him. “For me, being able to lead my own company and turn nothing into something is freedom,” he said. “I’ve worked in restaurants for four years in my life, so I’m pretty used to working within a system. But being an entrepreneur gives you unlimited freedom. Your time is up to you to decide how to use it. You don’t have any other boss than you.” roughly $150,000 for an associate superintendent of student wellness, a cabinet-level role that would be tasked with overseeing the district’s mental health services, among other initiatives. Conley said the position would alleviate the workload burden that has fallen on the shoulders of several school officials after the district bought Tom Van Gorder, a longtime associate superintendent, out of the remainder of his contract last year in an attempt to free up more money for the classroom. “You have staff, you have students, you have programs that have to be supervised and managed,” she said. “… That position is critical in being able to deliver the programs and being able to implement some of the things that we need to implement in a fashion that’s acceptable.” As well as the wellness and special education components, the proposal also includes money to improve classroom instruction, such as a request for secondary-level academic interventionists and additional teachers throughout the district. It also allots more than $150,000 to put full-time La- tino outreach coordinators in every school. The Board of Education has until June 22 to pass a final budget for the 2017-2018 school year. Julie Eihausen, president of the school board, said that budget is unlikely to include everything the superintendent outlined. The board is committed to improving student mental wellness and special education services but must be responsible in allocating the district’s resources. One option, she said, is to examine which responsibilities highlighted in the proposal could be handled by current staff members and which require new positions. “I do think we need to phase it in,” she said, adding that the budget proposal is a valuable exercise, but isn’t necessarily designed to be adopted wholesale. “I personally am a big fan of, ‘We don’t spend beyond our means,’” she added. “However, if there are mental health needs that we’ve not kept up with as much as we should have … at some point you hit a crisis point and you have to do a lot. The mental health issues of our students need to be addressed.” Your new best friend is waiting for you Pa RK CITY LIFE UNCORKED 2 FOR 1 ALL 4 U Good for one entree with purchase of another entree of equal or greater value. Dine in only. 20% service charge will be added to the bill before the discount.Valid through April 28th with coupon.One coupon per party please. Park City’s first winery presents a bold new bistro. Wine tastings, as well as small and large plates designed to pair nicely with, guess what.You in? Winery & Bistro - 1260 Iron Horse Dr. | 435-640-3206 | CognitionWinery.com See page B-7 for just a few of the cats and dogs available for adoption THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH of Park City presents a free lecture by MELANIE WAHLBERG, CS titled NEVER ALONE How God’s spiritual ideas work in us for direction, healing, and more empowered living. Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. • 3rd Floor, Park City Library Childcare provided • www.christianscienceparkcity.com |