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Show EDUCATION The Park Record. Editor: Bubba Brown education@parkrecord.com 435.649.9014 ex.118 LAPTOP COLLECTION AT PCHS SET FOR JUNE 7 Students at Park City High School are required to turn in their laptops on Wednesday, June 7. According to the school’s website, pchs.pcschools.us, the laptops will be shut down at 6 a.m. that day, meaning students will not be able to access the internet or any documents on the computers. Students will return the laptops outside the library and will also be expected to fill out year-end check-out sheets. They are responsible for any damage laptops sustained in their care and must pay a deductible by June 8. Those who will return to PCHS next year can keep their bags, chargers and cables, but seniors must return all items. PARLEY’S PARK TO HOLD STUDENT ART NIGHT Parley’s Park Elementary School is scheduled to hold its first annual student art night June 2. According to the school’s website, ppes.pcschools.us, the event will combine the international festival, talent show and art show. The event is tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and more details about performance scheduling, food truck options and a student art gallery stroll are forthcoming. PCSD SEEKS FEEDBACK ON SCHOOL START TIMES The Park City School District is seeking community feedback about school start times. According to a press release, the survey takes just a few minutes, and the information will be given to the Park City Board of Education, which for several months has been considering changing school start times to better accommodate the learning habits of adolescents. The survey is offered in both English and Spanish and is available on the district’s website, pcschools.us. The website also has more information about why the district is considering a change. The deadline to take the survey is May 21. PCHS SENIORS REPEAT AS STATE CHAMPS, A-8 PUSH HELPS STUDENTS OBTAIN DACA, A-8 www.parkrecord.com A-7 WED/THURS/FRI, MAY 17-19, 2017 Effort pays off in foundation’s first year Organization doles out more than $39,000 in scholarships to seniors By BUBBA BROWN The Park Record South Summit High School’s graduating class will have the backing of an entire community as the students embark on the next step of their educational careers. They are the beneficiaries of the first set of scholarships from the South Summit Education Foundation, which is wrapping up its inaugural school year after forming in March of 2016. According to Director Jodi Jones, the foundation was set to dole out more than $39,000 to 42 students in the school’s 92-member graduating class during a ceremony set for Tuesday, May 16. Jones said the awards banquet, which was also slated to celebrate the school’s Sterling Scholars, is the culmination of a lot of hard work from everyone involved with the foundation. The hope is that this year’s students are the first of thousands who will benefit as the foundation grows alongside the district in the coming years. “It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s awesome to see something grow from just an idea in someone’s head to fruition. We’re giving scholarships to over half of the graduating senior class. So that’s going to be awesome to see them all up on the stage. It’s exciting to see they’ve got a good start on their post-high school education.” Discussions about starting the foundation, which had long been a goal of Superintendent Shad Sorenson, began in 2015, Jones said. But it wasn’t until last fall that the organization got off the ground in earnest. The community has welcomed the idea since, with both residents and alumni offering their support. Just last week, in fact, former students raised nearly $2,000 in a two-evening telethon. Jones said the foundation aims to build the type of hype for academics that the school’s athletic program receives every year. That can be rare in small towns where Friday-night football represents a community-wide celebration, but the outpouring of enthusiasm so far has Jones optimistic. “They’ve embraced it,” she said. “It’s very exciting to see the support. A lot of people, even if they don’t have kids in the school, they went to the school or they know neighbors who do. So everyone is involved and excited to give. They’re excited to see we’re recognizing the students and that we’re giving them an opportunity to pursue education beyond high school.” The foundation organized its scholarship program so every senior could It’s amazing. It’s awesome to see something grow from just an idea in someone’s head to fruition. We’re giving scholarships to over half of the graduating senior class.” Jodi Jones Director, South Summit Education Foundation participate, Jones said. The money was allotted based on how many outside scholarships students had sought; students who applied for five scholarships earned $500, with the amount increasing up to $1,000 for 10 applications. That way, the students were encouraged to create opportunities to receive even more financial aid than what the foundation could provide. “That’s a lot of work,” she said. “The students are putting in a lot of time to fill out a lot of scholarship applications. The foundation wanted to reward them and incentivize them to keep doing that and to try to get as much of their college education paid for as they could.” Even more important than the money, BUBBA BROWN/PARK RECORD Jodi Jones is the director of the South Summit Education Foundation, which is wrapping up its first school year by doling out nearly $40,000 in scholarships to 42 seniors at South Summit High School. She says the impact of the foundation will only grow from here. though, is the message the scholarships send to the students as they leave Kamas and begin the next step of their lives, Jones said. “It’s emotionally exciting for them, and it’s powerful for us to say to them, ‘We believe in you. We’re going to give you this money because we know you can do it,’” she said. “I think that boosts self-esteem and confidence and helps them as they move into the future.” Sorenson, who identified starting an education foundation as a priority when he applied for the superintendent posi- tion in 2014, said the work of the organization so far has been a “dream come true.” The foundation will hopefully help make a college education a reality for more South Summit students for years to come, building on other efforts that already existed within the district. “It’s actually moved faster than I ever anticipated,” he said. “I don’t know about other foundations, but I certainly know that, for a small, rural foundation to be pulling off the type of awards that we are giving to our students, it is very exciting.” |