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Show Page A10 Thursday, June 9, 1988 Park Record Simmons leaves his mark on the Park City School District KF ' '.."-" .'N.JJUHJII..II. imu i wucm ii urn mm . m i ,.",',. .. . V . . . . . . . . i it f . ill P- . T . . "t. ,-. , - a ,...- - , . ... By RON GEORG Record staff writer Today, while some people may have some complaints about Park City School District.most take for granted that their kids will have a bus ride each morning. For that, they can thank Dr. Mark Simmons, director of support services for the Park City School District. In that position, Simmons has taken a two-bus, unreliable system and turned it into a 15-bus system which could serve as a model for other districts. Before he became involved with support services, however, Simmons Sim-mons already had a long career as an educator. He began in Granite have come to take for granted re quired some work to get started. "Some of the most creativity came from the ski program. They borrowed bor-rowed skis from the rental places and such. You just don't need to do that today." In 1977, Simmons moved from the high school to the Carl Winters Middle School, as principal. With an entire decade as a Park City principal under his belt, Simmons has watched a good bit of Park City grow up. "Many students, as they see me now, will come up and say, 'Remember me, I was a real troublemaker.' For the most part, though, they weren't major troublemakers." There are a few who Simmons is School District as a history teacher, then went to Altamont High School to take a prinicipal's position in 1967. Five years later, in 1969, he moved mov-ed to Park City as principal of Park City High School. Those were turbulant times socially, and Simmons remembers debating with the students in a political science class he taught. "Political science was the most interesting in-teresting because it was the late sixties, and we were still fighting the problems in Vietnam. Many of the students in my class were very much against the Vietnam war, at least verbally. Many of these students chose to go into the paratroopers or the Marines, where the discipline was unbending." Park City was also a very different dif-ferent place back then. "When I first came here I borrowed some money from the federal government govern-ment to finish my doctorate degree, and this was listed as a poverty area. Those loans were discounted; I only had to pay about ten percent. You could buy homes and lots here for about six hundred dollars." Many of the programs people particularly happy with. "We had several students with drug problems. pro-blems. One is now a medical doctor. doc-tor. We had a small number of students. If you go to a larger school, they ought to have 10 or 20 times as many success stories, but we have more than our share." With Park City's modern wealth, there comes a tendency to derogate our less prosperous past. Simmons sees such comparison as unfair. "The last year I was at Park City High School, there were about two scholarships. It was a different time. At that point the superintendent superinten-dent was making about $12,000, and we only had about one and a half coaches. Today the superintendent makes more than that, and we have about 15 coaches." Many will also say Park City has come a long way in terms of discipline, but again Simmons says it's just different. "At about the time Jack Dozier came, the district came up with some money. They went from an old building to a new one, and we started picking up students and money as the population popula-tion grew. When I was principal we had under 200 students. Many of them were from mining families, while most today are professionals. They were a little more aggressive, more apt to get into a fist fight, but they were no more unruly. The problems pro-blems were different then." In 1979, the district became concerned con-cerned about busing. The district had two school buses, and no garage. The buses were parked in a lot in Summit Park, and the mechanic had to put on extra clothes in the winter to climb under the buses in the snow. With improving bus service as a main goal, the district hired Simmons Sim-mons as director of support services. ser-vices. His other duties include overseeing the district's food service ser-vice and maintanance staffs. Simmons Sim-mons says the latter two items were fairly well established already. He attributes the lunch program to a woman named Millie Wheeler, who Simmons says ran the lunch program while he was learning to understand it. Simmons also said the maintanance main-tanance staff was already efficient, but the bus system was in shambles. "Chaos. That's what it was when I started. I drove every day, and that made it impossible. I had to try to keep track of the other drivers, and we had no radios. The mechanic had to drive, too, so if we had any problems we had to find him." . As Park City began to boom, Simmons found plenty of people to drive the buses, but they weren't exaclty dependable. "The wages were low. I'd hire people that were skiers. At noon they'd decide the weather was great for skiing, and they'd park the bus and leave. I had two people actually leave buses parked in Park Meadows. There was so much work in town, they just didn't care." Even with the problems, there has not been a bus accident in the school district since Simmons took over. Even before he started directing direc-ting bus service, Simmons says there were only two incidents he could remember. One was a woman who slipped under a bus, but she was simply pushed into the -- ' if,' - . ' (' - " rn '"ri.M -5. - .. ft "'. 5r 7.. ;;: f I , L I ... ,,. -i - ' -,- JJ WW"""' I - " s - ! f i ", f- - ' t III ... .. . . ... - ' . ' ' A4 1 1 x J J ( I 't y X 's - -TV ; ' . ii x Mark Simmons snow. The other involved a bus in Summit Park which rolled into a ravine due to frozen brakes. No kids were on the bus, and even the vehicle survived. Since taking over the system, Simmons has become an expert on busing. In fact, he has helped author the Utah and the national Busing Standards. These documets lay out various aspects of safety and organization which govern most school bus systems. With all he has set in place, Simmons Sim-mons figures the district will get along without him when he retires June 29. Even the school roofs, which have all had troubles, are due to be replaced with a single-ply construction technique which should be much more efficient than the past methods. Simmons will continue to live in Summit Park, where he and his wife have raised four children, two of whom are still in the Park City School District. The district plans to give more responsibility to various employees to take up the slack left by Simmons's departure, and he says that will work well. "I have good enough employees I have excellent employees, in fact that I think it's organized to the point where they can take over." Not really. Classified advertising in the Park Record is affordable for anyone who has things to sell. From baseball gloves to ski equipment, Park Record classifieds will sell for 7- to 70-year-olds. 649-9014. 3ft its i O1 -MEDICAL DOCTORS Holy Cross Family Health and Emergency Center 649-7640 Holiday Village Shopping Mall (between Albertsons and Hermans). Adult and Pediatric Medical Care. Obstetrics, Family Planning. Medical Emergencies and Trauma. Diplomates, American Board of Family Practice Robert W. Barnett, MD Lisa A. Bollen, MD Robert J. Evers, MD Paula Gibbs-Taylor, MD Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics Robert T. Winn, MD Family Nurse-Clinician R. Herbert Lepely, FNC Diplomate, American Board ofOBGYN Howards. Berk, MD Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 1 0 a.m. to 9 p.m. Office appointments encouraged for non-urgent visits. Emergency care anytime. 24 hrs. everyday Univ. of Utah Medical Center Obstetrics & Gynecology Group 50 N. Medical Dr. 581-7647 James R. Scott, M.D. Prof. & Chairman: High Risk Obstetrics, Tubal Microsurgery and and Gynecologic Surgery. William Keye, M.D., Chief, Division of Endocrinology Full range of infertility and laser surgery. Also the Department has 1 6 other Board Certified Obstetrician Gynecologists including all subspecialties offering complete State of the art obstetric and gynecologic care. Park City Urology 649-2070 645-8275 (By Appointment) Bruce W. Carlin, MD Park City Office 1 700 Park Ave, . . . Urology-adult and children ' Male Infertility Bed wetting Prostate Disease Kidney Stone Removal Urinary Tract Infection Vasectomy Vasectomy reversal Microscopic Urological Surgery Male Impotence and and Prosthesis Genital and Urinary Tract Cancer Surgery MEDICAL DOCTORS OB-GYN ASSOCIATES, INC. 649-0657 CARLT. WOOLSEY, JR. M.D. DAN L. CHICHESTER, M.D. JEFFREY D. QUINN, M.D. TINA HEDIN GOLDSMITH, R.N. , M.S., FNP Specialists in Adolescent and Adult Women's Health Care providing obstetric, gynecologic, surgical, infertility, and family planning Physicians on -call 24 hours Female provider option Salt Lake Office 1151 E. 3900 S., B299, SLC NURSE-MIDWIFERY SERVICE Deanne R. Williams CNM Lynne Atwood CNM Ida Ripley CNM 328-7196 for appointment 1 670 Bonanza Dr. (Park Record Bldg.) Clinic Hours in Park City Well-Woman Care Pregnancy testing and follow-up counseling Routine breast & pelvic exams Pap smears Premarital exams Birthing Care Comprehensive Prenatal Care Individualized Birthing Experiences at LDS Hospital Obstetrical Consultation and Referral PHYSICAL THERAPY Physical Therapy Services Mark Anderson 645-8080 for Appointment Orthopedic, sports medicine and rehabilitation (In Genesis Health Club, Prospector Square) CHIROPRACTIC Cofer Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic Dr. Donald A. Cofer 649-101 7 for appt. Available 7 days a week North Park Avenue (Across from golf course) COUNSELING SERVICES Counseling Institute 649-2426 Psychotherapy for individuals, couples, families adolescents and children. Medical and in-patient referral is available. A Free, Confidential, Consultation Is offered by appointment. James P. Wheeler, ACSW-Director Dr. Marion Ayers, DSW Shauna Bradley, LCSW Kitty Getz, ACSW Jerry Jeffries, CSW All therapists licensed by the State of Utah. Mon-Fri.9a.m.to5p.m. Eves, and weekends by appt. 1 700 Park Av. Suite 2001 (Floor above Park City Central Check In-North entrance) A United Way, Non-Proflt Agency Timpanogos Community Mental Health Center Tues. & Fri. 649-9079 Mon.&Thurs. 654-1545 Individual, Couple & Family Therapy for adults, children and elderly. Inpatient and Day Care Services. Information and Referral. Sliding fee scale. . Summit County Services Bldg. 1 753 Sidewinder Dr., Park City 24 Hour Crisis Una The Prevention Center 649-8347 Drug and alcohol counseling, Individual, Family, Marital Crisis, Referral Services, Prevention and Education. 1 753 Sidewinder Dr., Park City Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. VETERINARY White Pine Veterinary Clinic 649-7182 Keith S. Lund, DYM Large and small animal full service hospital Appointments and 24-Hour Emergency Service OPTOMETRISTS The Vision Center 649-5200 Roberts. Briggs.O.D. Visual Examinations, Contact Lenses Large selection of frames and sunglasses Personalized Service. Prescriptions filled 750 E. Kearns Blvd. AUTO BODY Maedel's Sales & Service 649-9802 Est. 1947 Your full service body shop. Free towing if we fix it. Insurance Claims welcome. Hours:8-5 Mon.-Fri. After hours estimates available by appt. 41 1 7 W, Kilby Rd. Across I-80 from Jeremy INSURANCE Farmers Insurance Group Judy Kimball Hanley, Agent 649-8656 Fire, life, commercial, auto Holiday Village Mall Farmers Insurance Group Blake Jones, Agent 278-4651 649-8587 Health, life, commercial, auto, fire 3950 S. 2300 E , SLC 5485 Old Ranch Road t |