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Show 1 : 1 i I 0 Q Receiving the top awards in Music and Photography in the South Davis Council Reflections contest are (front row) Cierra Damm, Jason Steorts and Tony Goodman; (back row) Andrea Campbell, Jeremy Botelho, Roxie Mabey, Andrew Eversole and Heidi Rust. Rachel Bastien is not pictured. Rated tops in Literature and Visual Arts are (front row) Kristin Mumford, Jared Fields, Caroline Rasmussen and Holly Mead; (middle row) Aaron Bean, Haley Rasmussen and Jessica Rawlins; (back row) Brett Griffiths, Stephen Norman and Heber C. Riddle. Not pictured is Emily Mabey. Mountain High kids challenged by life By KRIS JOHNSON Staff Writer KAYSVELLE Karen Ford isn't your typical high school student. stu-dent. She has no family living in Utah and she supports herself by working two jobs. After her car broke down one morning, Ford walked three miles to work in the cold weather, despite being ill. Ford is a senior at Mountain Moun-tain High School, a non-traditional high school designed to educate and provide guidance for "at risk" students who are unable to continue in a regular high school setting. Mountain High School recently received its first accreditation approval ap-proval from the Northwest Association Associa-tion of Schools. Once every 10 years each of the 99 Utah high schools is thoroughly reviewed to determine if it meets the State's educational ed-ucational criteria. "The students at Mountain High are delighted about the accreditation accredita-tion approval The kids are happy I that it will go on their records that they graduated from an accredited high school, I am really glad for I them." said Betty D. Brand, Moun tain High School principal. Even though Karen Ford has had far more challenges and obstacles to conquer than most teen-agers, she will graduate from the newly accredited ac-credited high school on time. Ford's roommate, Charity Phillips, also endured a tragic upbringing. upbr-inging. Phillips was raised by her grandparents. Her grandpa died when she was 12, she rarely sees her mother and she doesn't know where her father is. Even though she works 30 to 40 hours a week, Phillips will graduate from Mountain Moun-tain High on schedule. Before going to Mountain, both girls attended traditional high schools. They were unable to function func-tion at their school and were on the verge of dropping out, until they were referred to Mountain High. "These girls are a terrific example exam-ple of people who have turned their lives around," Brand said. "Karen said she has learned that she can overcome her problems and that she is a survivor. Charity, whose goal is to become fully in charge of her life, says she has learned to not give up and to not drop out. ' ' The majority of the students are severely depressed when they arrive at Mountain High. They have acquired ac-quired overwhelming problems, yet lack the coping skills to deal with both their problems and school, said Judy Nixon, MSW, assistant director direc-tor at Mountain High School. 'We have kids that are gifted, we have kids that are parents, some of our students have addiction habits. Most of them have not found their niche in life, or they are going through stages that cause identity problems," said Nixon. ' 'We try to help them with their self-esteem. These are students that no one has realized their potential, and so we focus on their potential," Nixon said. When the students first arrive at Mountain High, the school faculty tells them that, "they are in charge of their own lives," said Brand. "All of the students referred to us are kids that don't succeed or fit in the traditional school setting. We're an alternative high school, so we have the luxury of being able to find alternatives for students that t will help them succeed more than they would in a traditional environment," envir-onment," said Nixon. Students who have drug and alcohol problems can attend a daily support group that confronts the problems of their addictions. A drug and alcohol consultant will meet with the students three times a week, and they also receive daily support from their teachers. Mountain High provides a family atmosphere for the students, so that they can feel comfortable in a educational edu-cational setting. The classes are small and the teachers go by theii first names. "Many kids open up and bloom and the high school becomes the family for them. They often have difficulty leaving us because there is a genuine caring support for them," Brand said. "We try to put the staff and the kids on an equal plane. Our objective objec-tive is to help the kids learn responsibility," respon-sibility," Nixon said. Respect and responsibility are basics at Mountain High for faculty and students. Brand said that if her staff respects the kids, the kids will return that respect to them. Each student is accepted as a valuable human being regardless of his or her level of academic skills or excellence in performance, she add- "If you can see past the clothing and past the hair, these students are the most wonderful people in the world. They're kids that you would want to take home with you. I have not met a kid that I did not adore, they are just neat, neat kids," said Nixon. |