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Show A-8 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 28-March 2, 2018 Despite delays, academy excelling Opportunities are Silver Summit Academy building set to open April 9 CAROLYN WEBBER The Park Record At the South Summit School District office building and the Oakley City Hall, school is in session. Despite construction delays for the Silver Summit Academy, school officials said that the pilot year is going well. When the blended-learning school was originally announced by the district last spring, the plan was to have the building completed in the fall when school started. Construction delays pushed the opening to the first of February. After more setbacks, the opening date is currently set for April 9, said Dari Thacker, a teacher at the elementary school of the academy. She, along with Jeff Greiner, principal of the secondary school, said that while it has been frustrating for parents and staff, they have been able to make the best of the situation. Students in the elementary school currently meet at the Oakley City Hall for classes while the secondary students meet at the district office. Shad Sorenson, superintendent of the district, said that delays came because of unforeseen obstacles, such as the contracting company not being able to find enough employees to get the job done in the established timeline. “They are doing their very best, and so are we,” he said. “We have not shafted our students because they do not have the building that they thought they would be attending.” Greiner said that one of the main difficulties is space limitation, but students have not complained. Since they often work in small groups, they spread out into different rooms and work on their individual projects. “It’s all brand new to them,” he said. “They are now getting used to the fact that they can work in small groups. I think they are happy with it.” Greiner and Louise Willoughby, principal of the elementary school, said that they are grateful that they have the space that they do. They are also grateful to the parents and students who often must drive longer to get to the buildings. But, the administrators are excited to see how they can continue to grow the program once they are in their building. When completed, the limitless for youth Event to focus on issues facing teens in Summit County CAROLYN WEBBER The Park Record COURTESY OF JEFF GREINER Halle Hendry, left, and Derek Blazquez show off DNA molecules that they made out of candy for a project at Silver Summit Academy. schools will both be located at 6407 N. Business Park Loop Road in Park City. The elementary and secondary schools will be divided, and the building will have makerspaces for students to create projects and collaborative areas for students and teachers to focus on individualized learning. Willoughby said that providing unique and fulfilling learning for each student is one of the key values of the academy. Teachers work with students individually, and students move through content at their own pace. Students are in the classroom part of the week and at home using technology to further their learning during the other part. Since the hybrid classes are new to many in the academy, Willoughby and Greiner said that they are learning how to use technology in the most efficient way for students to learn at school and home. The schools plan to write their own curriculum for the following school year after using online learning platforms this year. “I think to fit our model, it is best if we do it in-house,” Greiner said. “Our teachers 1/4 Vertical Trib COURTESY OF JEFF GREINER A student study group working together at Silver Summit Academy. Mavis Ads.pdf 3 2/13/2018 3:18:09 PM With the school’s flexible schedule, students are allowed time to study or work on projects during the school day. understand it and they are eager to do it. They realize that they will have ownership of that course completely.” Learning as they go has been a theme for school officials this year. Both Greiner and Willoughby said that school schedules will remain flexible next year to meet students’ needs, but there might be an increase in the amount of days in school for some grades in the elementary level. They also plan to hire one more teacher and two teacher aides at the elementary school and three teachers at the secondary school. Greiner and Willoughby said that with a new building, the structure of learning will change a little bit. The students will have more room, and the makerspaces will allow them to design and create once they have completed their work for the day. Greiner said that he is excited to see the building in action, not only for his students but for a community speaker series and coding camps. “It’s going to be unique, it really is,” he said. “I’m ready to start.” In a few weeks, food trucks will drive into the South Summit High School parking lot and a jazz band will start jamming. The third annual Opportunities Night is coming. The evening will focus on a keynote address and four break-out sessions for topics such as “internet and electronics information and safety” and “drugs and harmful substances information and recognition.” It is scheduled to take place on March 13 from 4:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Shad Sorenson, superintendent of South Summit School District, said that the goal of the event is to bring parents and their students together to talk about issues that are plaguing the youth in today’s world. He said that all community members are invited to attend. “Parents are able to find out information that will help them improve communication with their teens,” he said. “That will help them to be more alert and attentive to signs and distresses that they may be seeing in their teens so they can do early prevention and intervention.” He also hopes that students will walk away learning the truth from experts about topics like drugs. The nonprofit CONNECT Summit County and local law enforcement officials will provide information during the break-out sessions. The event is set to begin with a tailgate party that will include food trucks Steve’s Killer Dogs, Lola’s Street Kitchen and Waffle Love. There will also be opportunity drawings. Sorenson said that the district wanted to make the evening fun, since some of the topics are weighty and can be difficult to discuss. He said that the name of the event is meant to be positive as well, in order to show that there are opportunities for all students, no matter their past. “You can choose to rise, find strength and be productive and positive or you can go a different direction,” he said. “We want people to leave feeling hopeful.” At 6 p.m., Clint Pulver will give a keynote address to the audience about the importance of keeping options open. Pulver struggled throughout school because of learning differences, but he discovered drumming as an outlet for his energy. “It perfectly matches what we are trying to accomplish in this opportunities night of coming to a fork in the road and deciding to go in a positive direction rather than a negative direction despite heavy stuff in your backpack,” Sorenson said. Booths featuring nonprofits such as Valley Behavioral Health and the Peace House will also be at the event to provide information about resources in the community. The break-out sessions cover topics that were brought up during a community meeting in which the Summit County Sheriff’s Office met with parents. Sorenson hopes to continue to have conversations about hard topics within the community and inside homes, and he said this event is a way to keep that conversation going. “It’s all about saving people’s lives and helping them to find the opportunities,” he said. “Our goal is to address things before it becomes too late.” Get all the latest Park Record updates. BUILD YOUR DIGITAL BRAND “With the professional help and direction of Jodi Hecker at The Park Record, I decided to run my first digital advertising campaign. Utilizing Google AdWords and a custom landing page, we were able to generate two listing appointments and one hot buyer lead in fewer than three months on a conservative budget. This is the first advertising campaign that has translated into direct and qualified leads in such a short period of time. 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