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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Wasatch Academy Heaven Help Us 130 years old By Celestia A. Whitehead A sheepskin saga Cory Lynn Player’s Note: My sister, a guest columnist this week, describes how quickly one seemingly insignificant decision can change into a disaster: Returning home from teaching middle school, I took my Chihuahua for his customary walk around my apartment complex. Already dressed in a white sweater and brown slacks, I looked forward to a special dinner and movie date in a few hours. As Banquo and I passed the dumpster, I spotted a large, dingy sheepskin lying on the lawn. “Why throw away a perfectly good rug?” I reflected, as I hefted it and glanced around the empty parking lot. Although no one yelled, “Stop! That’s mine!” a little voice nagged, “What on earth do you plan to do with a sheepskin rug?” Dragging Banquo, I clutched the giant fur ball, thinking “I’ll just get it all clean then give it to someone who needs it.” When I plopped the sheepskin directly into the bathtub, Banquo hid under my bed. I ignored him, took down the showerhead, and started spraying. Then I drizzled shampoo all over the fur, muttering “Hair, fur, it’s all the same. ...” The shampoo bubbled into dark gray foam that ran in rivulets from the sheepskin. Germs popped into my mind, so I turned the water to hot and threw in a handful of laundry soap. As I scrubbed away, I suddenly thought, “If you wash a sheep in hot water, will it shrink?” I leaned over to turn the water to cool, and my cell phone fell into the steaming sheep dip. Wiping the drenched phone on my sweater as the light went dead, I ran to the kitchen for a dishtowel and a tool to open the phone before something bad happened. Then I heard water splashing, so I set down the phone, and raced back to the bathroom. The showerhead was waving around like a cobra. Water streamed from the walls and a small lake covered the white tile floor. I wrestled the showerhead back into the tub, shut off the water and threw around towels to sop up the lake while I went back to my phone. After performing surgery with a fingernail file and a corncob holder, I returned to the bathroom, with the phone’s wet entrails on a paper towel, to find my hair dryer. Water lapped my toes as I reached for the wall socket and spotted a sweaty, disheveled face in the mirror. The shock of seeing myself kept me from being electrocuted. I swerved away from the plug and sloshed to the kitchen to stand on a rubber mat and finish dehydrating the wires and plastic. When the clock chimed 6:30 p.m., I remembered my 7 p.m. date. Abandoning the phone, I hurried to remove the sheepskin. Almost overpowered by the smell, I let out the water then grabbed a sopping corner of the skin to wring it out. It was like twisting Goliath’s wool socks and moccasins at the same time; I wasn’t strong enough. Taking off my soggy socks, I climbed into the tub to stomp on what felt like a huge bowl of rubbery Jell-O. I finally squished out enough water to drag the mass out to my deck, where I draped it over the rail. Running back inside to clean up, I slid in a puddle that spanned the entire living area and slammed my foot into the pantry door. Limping, I scooped the rest of the clean towels out of the cupboard and dried the floor. Rinsing the dregs of black dirt down the drain, I masked the wet sheep stench with spray deodorant, lugged the dripping towels to the washing machine, and collapsed onto the couch. As I sprawled, my eyes rested on my bare feet. “I have a date and I’m not even dressed,” I thought. Wet from knees to shoulders, my white sweater streaked with gray, I hobbled into the bedroom to change. By then, it was 7:10 p.m. Just as I smoothed on lipstick, I heard a knock at the door. Pasting on a smile, I threw open the door for Troy. Entering, he spotted my phone’s corpse scattered on the coffee table. “I tried to call to say I’d be a few minutes late. Now I see why you didn’t answer,” he said. Then he turned toward me, smiled, and said, “You look a little tired; did you have a hard day at school wrestling those teenagers?” “Yeah,” I said. “Except it was more like wrestling sheep.” He raised his eyebrows, slipped my arm under his elbow, and led me, limping, to his car. Tsunami Relief We will be accepting blankets/quilts to send to the victims of the recent Asian Earthquake/Tsunami. We will take all donated items to the Latter-Day Saint Humanitarian Center to be sent to the victims of the Tsunami. Please contact the credit union for Quilt Guidelines. You may drop off blankets/quilts to any of the Credit Union Offices. Moroni Feed Credit Union 84 West Main, Moroni 268 South Main, Ephraim 520 South Main, Gunnison 435-436-8288 or 800-795-6328 Member NCUA Must be eligible for membership. A5 Sanpete Messenger - Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition BRUCE VAN DER RIET PHOTO Historic Wasatch dormitory. MT. PLEASANT—Wasatch Academy is celebrating its 130th birthday this year, and students, faculty, parents, alumni and the greater community are invited to join in the festivities. Located in Mt. Pleasant along U.S. 89, the academy is one of Utah’s oldest schools. Covering 17 acres, the academy boasts some of the oldest buildings in the region. The entire campus, which includes classrooms, a gymnasium, dormitories, a playing field, homes for faculty and a museum, has earned historical designation. Parents’ Day One of the events to mark the 130th birthday is Parents’ Day Feb. 4-6, which brings students’ families to campus for a weekend of celebrations and excursions. This year, activities include a ski trip, a dinner and fundraising auction. Parents will also attend parent/teacher conferences, and have opportunities to interact with their child’s teachers and classmates. Founder’s Day The school’s annual Founder’s Day will be April 16, which will promote the history and future of the school. “We are very interested in finding more ways to promote the school within Mt. Pleasant and the entire state, especially in terms of how we fit in and contribute to the heritage highway,” Vern Fisher, the school’s development director, says. “We are interested in having people come see the campus and go on tours. For example, we have a museum that is quite amazing. We also have 12 original Stansfield paintings displayed throughout the campus and 14 original Ansel Adams photos displayed in the new student center. The Ansel Adams photos were donated to the school by the artist, whose grandson was one of our students,” Fisher says. The private boarding school has 146 students enrolled in grades 9-12. Accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges since 1939, Wasatch Academy is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the College Board. Diverse studentbody The school’s students come from 14 different countries and 24 states. About 14 students are day students, meaning they attend classes and school functions but live with their families in the community. Most of the students start in ninth grade and stay through their senior year. “We have kids from all walks of life; there are many different cultures represented,” Fisher says. “The diversity that the school helps bring into rural Utah is absolutely phenomenal.” One international program the school has is its Tibetan scholarship. “Every four years, we get two new Tibetan students. They literally arrive here with nothing; they often come straight from refugee camps in Nepal,” Fisher says. “Two new students will soon be joining us… Students who have gone through the program stay in the United States for school and then plan to return to their country.” The school has about 50 fulltime and 25 part-time employees, with 50 percent of the faculty and staff living on campus. Faculty and staff interact with students all day, including at meals and afterhours study sessions, often held in faculty members’ homes in the evenings. BRUCE VAN DER RIET/MESSENGER PHOTO Donna Glidewell, director of alumni affairs, at work in the Wasatch Academy archives, which is housed in the school’s museum. Student life “There is excellent one-onone time between students and faculty. The structure of the students’ life in regard to their study habits is one of Wasatch’s best attributes,” Fisher says. “Wasatch Academy is truly a community inside a community. For example, all meals are eaten in the dining hall. Families of our teachers and staff are all encouraged to join the students and teachers for meals.” The school has a daycare on campus for children of employees. Students also mingle with the community, regularly going on outings and excursions such as shopping sprees, movies or ski trips. The school’s cross-country ski team participates with the public school district’s team, and they are looking into creating a joint La Crosse team. Good neighbors “Throughout the years, we’ve had a good relationship and association with the city and public school district,” Fisher says. “Today there is a synergy coming together. We are working hand-in-hand for the betterment of the city as whole.” The school also has extracurricular activities, one being its debate program. Last year, the school hosted the world debate championships, an event that attracted participants from around the world to Mt. Pleasant. Recently, Wasatch Academy was designated as the location for the National World debate semi-finals to be held annually. This year’s competition was held Jan. 21-23. “This is a permanent designation,” Fisher says. It is the first such honor for a Western U.S. school, says Fisher. For more information, visit the school’s website at www.wacad.org. BRUCE VAN DER RIET/MESSENGER PHOTO Donna Glidewell displays a John H. Stansfield painting, housed in the school’s museum. The school owns a total of 12 of the local artists’ works. Sanpete County Agriculture Crop School Feb. 16 - 2 p.m. Utah State University Extension will be hosting an Agriculture Crop School for agriculture producers and businesses in the Sanpete Area. This program will cover alfalfa seedling weed control, warm season annual forage grasses, pesticide safety, and grasshopper outlook and control. Continuing Education Units for the UDAF pesticide license will be provided. This will be a great program for the agriculture community in the area. 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