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Show VIEWPOINTS A-13 www.parkrecord.com Wed/Thurs/Fri, June 7-9, 2017 EDITORIAL Park City School District raises the bar, and teacher salaries, too T LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Running with Ed blazes a trail of success Editor: On May 20th, over 200 teams, totaling over 1,300 runners, enjoyed an absolutely beautiful Park City day for the 8th annual Running with Ed (RWE) 38-mile relay race. This event is a true celebration of our schools, enjoyed by teachers, students, parents and community members. Teams included over 160 PCSD teachers and staff and over 260 student runners – many of whom braved the UOP Nordic jump stairs! Many more PCSD staff and students, as well as the fantastic PTO’s, were enthusiastically volunteering at their school exchanges, providing treats and entertainment to all. Thanks to wonderful community partnerships, sponsors, volunteers, runners and fundraisers, RWE 2017 was an amazing success! This year, RWE will raise over $275,000 for the Park City Education Foundation (PCEF). These funds will be distributed into our local Park City School District through PCEF’s granting process. Working together with donors, PCEF’s grants go beyond what public education funding provides to meet the needs of our students, teachers and community. As RWE Fundraising Chair, I want to give a very special thanks to each RWE participant who joined their team fundraising efforts. In addition to running the race, these individuals spent LETTERS POLICY The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines. They must include the home (street) address and telephone number of the author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. Letters must not contain libelous material. Letters should be no longer than about 300 words (about 600 words for guest editorials) and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long or if they contain statements that are unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Writers are limited to one letter every seven days. Letters thanking event sponsors can list no more than 6 individuals and/or businesses. Send your letter to: editor@parkrecord.com The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Bubba Brown Angelique McNaughton Griffin Adams Contributing writers Tom Clyde Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Steve Phillips Tom Kelly Joe Lair Interns Jessica Curley Emily Billow Copy Editor Frances Moody ADVERTISING Classified advertising Jennifer Lynch Office manager Tiffany Rivera Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Jennifer Snow Advertising director Valerie Spung Advertising sales Lori Gull Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lisa Curley Digital Products Manager Mike Boyko Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director Ben Olson Production Nadia Dolzhenko Patrick Schulz Linda Sites weeks reaching out to friends and family members asking for donations to PCEF. Teams created and personalized their team fundraising pages, sent out emails, posted to Facebook and thanked their donors. Their extraordinary efforts paid off and teams exceeded our goal, raising almost $125,000 for PCEF. Each year, we award free teams to the captains of our top fundraising teams. This year, 21 of our 60 teams raised over $2,000 to earn a free 2018 RWE Team. Incredibly, 8 teams raised over $5,000 and enjoyed our VIP Lounge at the Finish Line Party. Many of you reading this letter contributed to this success by donating to RWE teams, so thank you, too! Thanks to our incredible community and your overwhelming support, RWE 2017 was another successful “Celebration of Education.” Elissa Aten, RWE Fundraising Chair PCEF Board Member Ruts for nuts Editor: Amy Roberts’ article reminding the reader of trail etiquette entitled “Happy trails” was an interesting opinion piece. Your insinuation that the hostile, annoyed and speeding bike riders are caused by President Trump is ludicrous. For almost six months I have read nonprofit articles in this newspaper and sat in non-profit audiences and read or listened to President Trump being castigated when he has nothing to do with the what is being presented. I, as a donor to the organization and President Trump supporter, sit and have no recourse but to leave without benefiting from the program and no longer donating to the non-profit. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but do you really have to announce your political opinion in an article about bicycle etiquette? Gail Tomlinson Park City Withdrawal from climate accord was a sad day for Utah Editor: When President Donald Trump announced on June 1 that the U.S. is walking away from the Paris climate deal, it was a sad day for Utahns. Our children and grandchildren will look at this decision by Trump (which, sadly, was applauded by his allies in Utah’s Congressional delegation) and wonder why he turned his back on an opportunity to protect our beautiful home for future generations. Why did he put the profits of the fossil fuel industry over us? We have very little time to act to reduce greenhouse gases to ward off the reduced snow pack, limited water supplies, sustained drought, increased forest fires and worsening air quality which is threatening our families, our communities and our economy. The President’s action is built upon a tragic lie: that improving our environment comes at the expense of our economy. Moving aggressively towards cleaner energy will boost our economy, not harm it. We certainly see that in Utah, where jobs in our growing rooftop solar industry already outnumber those in coal. Even as we bemoan Trump’s sad and potentially devastating announcement, we strongly believe that change has always come from the ground up. We find hope in the thousands of Utah families investing in clean energy and in the leadership of communities like Salt Lake City, Park City and Summit County, setting and reaching ambitious climate change targets. Matt Pacenza HEAL Utah Executive Director he Park City School District has a lot to celebrate as the 2016-17 school year comes to an end. And it won’t be just the seniors who are leaving the campus with big grins on their faces. Teachers and administrators throughout the district earned high marks, too. Last month, Park City High School regained its stature in a pair of prestigious national rankings. U.S. News & World Report listed it as the second best high school in the state and No. 418 in the country, while the Washington Post deemed PCHS as the most challenging in the state and No. 446 in the country. The accolades were based, in part, on concerted efforts throughout the district to close the opportunity gap that has affected students who speak English as a second language. The high school was also deemed most challenging in the state and was lauded for the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses and their college readiness. But the teachers won’t be heading out for summer vacation with just a pat on the back. Last week the Park City Board of Education and the Park City Education Association finalized their salary negotiations with a stunning announcement: Ev- ery teacher in the district would be receiving a $7,000 raise and starting salaries would be increased to $50,700. The new pay scale makes Park City teachers among the highest paid in the state and underscores the district ‘s commitment to enlisting and retaining talented educators. It also reflects the area’s high cost of living and competitive job market. But the honors and salary increases also come with high expectations. Like the students who will be facing their own new challenges after Friday’s graduation ceremony, the Park City School District has a long list of daunting projects to tackle, many of which will require attention over the summer. In order to deal with enrollment growth, the district must finalize an expansion plan and bond request in time to gain voter support before November’s election. That effort alone will require seamless cooperation between teachers, administrators and board members. But given the district’s record over the last school year, and the extraordinary cooperation demonstrated by the administrators and staff during the salary negotiations, they are likely to find overwhelming community support. GUEST EDITORIAL Community rallied for mental health awareness SHAUNA WIEST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CONNECT Summit County CONNECT’s second annual May Mental Health Awareness Month has concluded with a total attendance of over 2000 individuals participating in more than 20 community-wide education events. Thanks to the cooperation and generosity of our community partners and strong media support, CONNECT brought nationally and internationally recognized mental health experts to Summit County. Their talks, panel discussions and films addressed complex topics including suicide prevention, Alzheimer’s disease, postpartum depression, trauma, and opioid addiction. They also focused on maintaining mental wellness throughout life – discussing the importance of healthy eating, sleep, mindfulness, and exercise. The attendance during Mental Health Awareness Month proves that Summit County residents hunger for help maintaining their own mental health as well as the health of their loved ones. In the past year, the conversation has gone from recognizing the problem to planning solutions. The county, through the public-private partnership of the Summit County Mental Wellness Alliance, has drawn together a deep pool of talent and expertise to investigate the most efficient and cost-effective ways to fill the many gaps in Summit County’s mental health services. Alliance committees are wrestling with the complexities of creating a hub from which mental illness and substance abuse can be treated from crisis to recovery. We can expect some preliminary results late this summer. CONNECT is privileged to have a voice in this pro- Tell Senator Hatch not to cut children’s health insurance Editor: Most Utahns do not realize that hundreds of thousands of children have health insurance thanks to Sen. Hatch. But the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”), which stands on the shoulders of Medicaid, is under threat from the efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. CHIP funding expires on Sept. 30, 2017. Under the House bill, at least 141,000 Utah children would be uninsured by 2019 and 171,000 parents would become uninsured too. Approximately 71 percent of Utahns on Medicare (and CHIP) are children. Join me in calling on Sen. Hatch to urge him to keep CHIP and Medicaid coverage for children when drafting the Senate version of the health-care bill. David Billings Salt Lake City Individuals can honor Paris Climate Accord Editor: Are you, too, fighting mad about Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord? Then let’s fight back three times a day by adopting an eco-friendly, plant-based diet. Yes, our diet is pivotal. A 2010 United Nations report blames animal agriculture for 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, 38 percent of land use, and 70 percent of global freshwater consumption. Carbon dioxide is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by fossil fuels combustion to operate farm machinery, trucks, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. The more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are released from diges- cess and to help move it along as quickly as possible. Our sense of urgency stems from our own experience that continues to confront individuals seeking treatment in today’s fragmented and inadequate mental health care system. CONNECT continues to receive calls from people across the county who don’t know where to turn: Mothers seeking mental health interventions for their children; addicts in need of a detox and recovery program other than the county jail; parents of adolescents contemplating suicide; and seniors struggling with the crises of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, for many who suffer, accessing treatment means coming face-to-face with a complicated and burdensome mental health care system. Too often, our information falls short because too often, adequate services just aren’t there. But they will be, we are confident, and they can’t come soon enough. Park City High School students, who created their own mental health week during May, came up with a powerful mantra: ‘H.O.P.E. – Hold On Pain Ends’. We draw upon their optimism to press forward. Together we will succeed in better serving the mental health care needs of our community. If anyone reading is in a place of struggle, please reach out to someone who can help you. If you don’t have someone, here are several phone numbers that can get you started: • UNI Crisis Line: (801) 587-3000 • Utah Suicide Hotline: (801) 261-1442 • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-8255 tive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools, respectively. In an environmentally sustainable world, meat and dairy products in our diet must be replaced by vegetables, fruits, and grains, just as fossil fuels are replaced by wind, solar, and other pollution-free energy sources. Each of us has the power to protest Trump’s failure to maintain America’s leadership in moderating climate change, simply and effectively, by what we choose at the grocery store. Pruitt Richardson Park City Ski lockers would increase bus use Editor: Many residents are concerned about traffic to the resorts and the difficulty of parking during ski season. I am sure that Vail must be as well. Their out-of-town guests don’t want to spend hours stuck in traffic any more than the locals do. There is one thing that can be done to alleviate the need to drive and to get more residents to take the bus: more lockers at the resort. Right now, there are some lockers available for day rental at both Canyons and the main PCMR base area, but there is no ability to rent a ski locker for the season. Carting one person’s worth of gear on the bus is inconvenient for an adult, but the logistics become impossible to manage for families with small children. I am sure the day will come when day skiers will be forced to pay to park in some of the lots which are currently free of charge, and the availability of the bus will be small solace to families or to older folks who struggle to tromp around in ski boots with their gear. As Vail renovates or adds on to the base area lodges and hotels, it would behoove them to add many seasonal and short-term ski lockers. As a local parent, I know that I and my family will be much more likely to take the bus if we are able to do in street shoes with our boots, skis, and poles securely stored at the hill. This amenity is offered at Alta for approximately $300 for the season and it is common at other resorts as well. Surely, Vail can find space in some of the facilities near the lifts at Park City Resort to offer this service as well, especially given their professed commitment to public transit and environmental well-being. I am sure that dedicating valuable slope-side square footage to locker rooms will not bring in the revenue that an extra wine bar or spa would, but being a good corporate citizen requires building in ways that work well with the town’s transportation system. Joe Newcomb Park City Interfaith Council lifts spirits at the high school Editor: I want to publicly thank Park City’s Interfaith Council for helping produce this year’s Park City High School Baccalaureate with Student Body President, Albany Miller. The evening in the Eccles Center was inspiring. We left thinking about what we “should” do rather than what we “can” do. We were reminded to strive to serve. We imagined a beautiful world and considered how to “Let It Be.” This was the first time I attended a Baccalaureate in Park City. It set a warm tone for the upcoming week. Julie Hooker Teacher, Park City High School |