Sandy December 2017

December 2017 | Vol. 17 Iss. 12

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Meet Kurt Bradburn, Sandy’s first new mayor in 24 years

By Justin Adams | j.adams@mycityjournals.com

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or the first time in 24 years, Sandy City is going to have a new mayor. On Nov. 7, Sandy residents went to the polls and voted by a 56-43 margin to replace long-time mayor Tom Dolan with Kurt Bradburn, who had previously been working as a state attorney.

Bradburn said he first thought about running for mayor in 2014 when a large apartment complex was being built near his home.

“I participated in a lot of those planning commission meetings at the time and I felt like we weren’t being listened to. I felt like there were a lot of concerns that were being dismissed,” he said.

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“I remember one meeting in particular where a lot of residents stood up, but the planning commission ended up voting for something directly in favor of the developer. I came home and told my wife, ‘I think I’m going to do this.’”

While his wife initially said no to the idea (she said he didn’t look like a mayor), Bradburn said she eventually came around to the idea and supported him throughout the election, along with their four kids. Even though their kids are young (ages 2 through 9) Bradburn said they even helped him canvas neighborhoods during the election.

“There were a lot of days during the summer when it was hot and I’d get home from work and I’d tell them we have to

Kurt Bradburn poses for a picture with his family on election night. (Courtesy of the Bradburn for Sandy Mayor campaign)

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go knock doors. I really wanted it to be a family experience because I think it’s good for my kids to see that you can work hard, have a goal, and you can achieve it, but it’s going to take some effort. It was good for them to see,” he said, “but there was a bit of whining.”

Bradburn focused his campaign on issues like slowing growth and development in Sandy, cutting the city’s budget, making the city government more transparent and setting term limits for elected officials.

One of his proposals to make the city government more transparent and accessible is to live-stream the weekly city council meetings so people can watch at home.

“People want to be engaged with local government and the best way to do that is to bring it into their home and make them aware of what’s going on. Technology has come so far.

There’s no reason we shouldn’t be taking advantage of simple things like being able to watch from home, ask questions from home, or go back and watch it later.”

Bradburn also hopes to cut a lot of what he called “wasteful” spending by the previous administration. His campaign website cites things like golf tournaments, office lunches and bonuses for executives in the mayor’s office that he wants to cut.

Instead, Bradburn’s website says that he will “eliminate all bonuses for the mayor’s office,” “will eliminate the slush fund for entertainment and travel” and “will require a 10% cut in non-essential budget items before any new spending projects can be considered.”

Bradburn said one of the biggest challenges of the campaign was to point out the problems he saw in the current mayor’s office without seeming like he was attacking anyone personally.

“The nature of being a challenger in a political race is I can’t come in and say that Sandy is the best run city, but vote for me over Tom. Everyone will just vote for the guy that made it so great,” he said. “So you have to come in and say, yes Sandy is a great city, but here’s some areas where we can improve and I think I’m the person with the ideas and skillset to make that happen.”

“That was a real challenge,” he said. “Making sure we got that message across without being overly negative and people thinking that we were attacking them.”

Bradburn said he hopes Sandy residents will be patient with him when he takes office in January. “Mayor Dolan did a tremendous job, so it’s always intimidating to try to come in and fill someone’s shoes. He earned a lot of respect from people and I can’t just earn that same respect overnight, so I hope people give me the benefit of the doubt and give me time to adjust and adapt.” 

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hen Alta High first opened, teachers Ricque Ochoa and Brent Palmer were among the school faculty.

In 2018, when Alta High turns 40, the third phase of the remodel of the school is expected, thanks to voters who in November approved a tax-neutral $283 million bond to modernize and upgrade Canyons School District schools.

“The initial recommendation by the administration is to begin with the high schools,” Superintendent Jim Briscoe said. “The rationale is that construction costs will increase significantly every year, so The conceptual drawing seen here could be a likely look for Alta High, made we’re fiscally more responsible passing of the 2017 school district bond. (Brian McGill/Alta High School) to work on these projects first.

Three other high schools — Corner Canyon, Plus, they will impact more students initially and Brighton and Hillcrest — also have renderings in in the years to come.” place and will benefit from the bond, Wilcox said.

An estimated $38.5 million of the bond will Both 55-year-old Hillcrest in Midvale and focus on Alta’s new auditorium and performing 48-year-old Brighton in Cottonwood Heights will arts areas, commons and main school and coun- be completely rebuilt in stages so students will atseling offices as well as athletic updates and pos- tend class at their campuses, he said. sibly an additional gym or field house built at Alta “Currently, there is no infrastructure at HillHigh, said Principal Brian McGill, who attended crest to support 21st-century learning,” Wilcox the school as a student. said.

He also said the school needs to update its Both schools also are looking at improveinfrastructure and overhaul its heating, air condi- ments in the performing arts areas and auditoritioning and plumbing. ums as well as extending athletic facilities, includThe school already has conceptual renderings ing possibly adding field houses to the campus, as well as an architectural firm and construction Wilcox said. crew in place.

“We are still in the preliminary stage and in “These are just preliminary designs. We want discussion with school plans, but we’re exploring to hold town hall meetings and hear what all our ideas and costs and trying to find better ways to stakeholders have to say,” McGill said, adding that serve our students,” he said. he already has talked with a group of 30 students, Hillcrest is estimated to cost $85 million and the School Community Council and the PTA about Brighton $87 million. Both schools’ first phases the bond prior to it passing with 57 percent of the are expected to be underway in summer 2018 and vote. currently have architects and construction compaCanyons School District Business Adminis- nies in place, he said. trator Leon Wilcox said the goal of the project at At Corner Canyon High in Draper, an estiAlta, as at other schools, will be to have little dis- mated $4.5 million of the bond is earmarked to ruption to students, who will remain onsite during add 16 classrooms to the east side of the buildconstruction.

ing and remove the current 12 portables that serve students, Wilcox said, adding that construction will take place during the summer of 2018 and 2019.

At Sandy’s Union Middle School, Principal Kelly Tauteoli is grateful the bond passed.

“I’m thrilled that the community could see the need in our schools and backed it financially,” she said, adding that a date for construction at the school has not been set.

Initial thoughts for Union Middle is to construct a new school at an estimated $45 million on the same property while possible with the students attend class in the existing 49-year-old building, Tauteoli said.

“I’m grateful that people could see our school isn’t earthquake safe and needs updates in technology, science labs, heating and air conditioning and natural lighting. Our parents have expressed an interest in a beautiful auditorium for our performing arts. We want our students and teachers to be physically comfortable, so the focus can shift completely to learning.”

Wilcox said that improving lighting in 18 elementaries and new offices in six elementary schools will take place during summers of 2018 and 2019, but no decision has been made to the timeline of rebuilding 60-year-old Midvalley Elementary, 53-year-old Peruvian Park Elementary in Sandy and a yet-to-be-determined White City elementary as well as building a new elementary in Draper.

Briscoe said when Canyons District was first established, engineers and others compiled a list of projects needing to be completed. The first bond addressed 13 of those needs and this bond will address additional projects, he said.

“I’m excited for the families and students of Canyons School District,” he said. “I thank our community in making this monumental decision for the future of our students.” 

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Sandy gets first in the nation Harry Potter Christmas experience

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By Keyra Kristoffersen | keyrak@mycityjournals.com

hoppers to Sandy’s South Towne Expo Center are in for a treat this Christmas with the introduction of a new Harry Potter experience featuring Christmas in the wizarding world.

“The whole experience is fun to see and a great contribution to the center for the holiday season,” said Heather Nash, who runs the marketing department for the center.

Crowds lined up Nov. 9 and the following weekend for up to two hours to walk through a set designed to look like a small portion of Diagon Alley that included Ollivander’s Wand Shop and officially licensed Warner Bros. products such as robes, tree ornaments, chocolates, wands and clothing for each of the Hogwarts houses.

Some attendees weren’t surprised by the lines after going through Harry Potter theme park attractions and were glad for the experience so close to home.

“It looks really cute. I think they’re gonna get a good turnout with this,” said Latecia Miller, who saw the event on social media and thought it sounded interesting, “It brings lots of little kids here.”

Manning the line and each shop are employees specifically dressed and in character to match the people who would be naturally seen working in Diagon Alley, rather than specific characters, an experience that thrilled Warner Bros. and the center because it allowed them to show off local Utah talent.

“I think they’ve done a great job with the

Krista Duarte tries her hand at Quidditch. (Keyra Kristoffersen/City Journals)

structure, the buildings and windows, the animation,” said Nash. Anyone who is less familiar with Harry Potter can look down into the set from the top floor, but it’s also a great experience for everyone who is into Harry Potter.

Krista Duarte had around 10 people share the event to her social media pages because of her love for the world of Harry Potter.

“I’m excited, I love it. I was excited when I heard it was coming,” said Duarte, who was excited that the detail was so similar to the theme parks.

While there, she was able to add to her Harry

Potter Christmas tree covered in Hallmark ornaments, Funko Pop toys and Sorting Hat topper and floating candles that her husband made. The couple has plans to visit London in 2018 to become fully immersed in the Harry Potter experience.

Duarte said she has loved the world of J.K Rowling since the first book was released in the United States because of the positive message in the books.

“I think it just brings hope when it feels like there is none,” said Duarte.

The Shops at South Towne have been work-

ing with event management company GES, who also work with Warner Bros. to create touring experiences based on popular movies and television shows. This is the first time a Harry Potter experience has been brought to the U.S. and into a retail setting with trademarked products.

The Shops at South Towne were chosen in part because of accessibility and in part because of the family environment of the community. Also, one of the local theaters was number one in box office sales for the first Harry Potter movie and sold well for each successive film.

“We also know that this is a huge attraction for our community — the retail that’s sold in that experience, a lot of it was exclusive to this location, it can’t be found any place else,” said Nash, who believes Warner Bros. and GES is proud to be part of the Utah market.

Joanna and Jesse Wayman love dressing up and going to new things with their son, Dorian, and Jesse was especially excited to visit the wand shop.

“Harry Potter is a really uplifting book series and movie series, so it’s perfect for the holidays,” said Joanna. “Sit on Santa’s lap or visit Ollivander’s, what do you wanna do?”

“It’s been very successful this year and it will be something that we have next year,” said Nash.

“Makes it a great experience for everyone who is into Harry Potter.

The Christmas in the Wizarding World will be on display until the end of January 2018. 

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From firefighter to city councilman, Zach Robinson is ready to serve

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By Justin Adams | j.adams@mycityjournals.com

ach Robinson will be the newest at-large city council member after defeating incumbent Steve Smith on Election Day by 12 points. Robinson is no stranger to working for the city; he previously spent over 10 years working for the city’s fire department.

“My dad worked for the fire department here in Sandy as well and so I grew up around the fire department,” said Robinson. “It’s been a part of my life since I was 1 year old, so that’s kind of where I got that bug.”

Robinson also has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Utah, which he describes as a “fallback plan if I ever got hurt or couldn’t do that job anymore.” He ended up using his post-fire department plan a little earlier than he expected, as he now works for the University of Utah Hospital in an administrative role.

“We always knew he would eventually go on to bigger things,” said Chris Dawson, who was Robinson’s battalion chief in the fire department. He described Robinson as being “very sharp,” “a fun guy to work with” and someone who has a “strong drive to help other people.”

“He had some very difficult calls, both for fires and medical situations that involved fatalities,” said Dawson. According to Dawson, Robinson even “came close to losing his life once.” But those experiences “only seemed to make him stronger. He never lost his drive.”

For Robinson, being on the city council is just an- Zach Robinson will be the newest at-large city council member. (Courtesy of the Zach Robinson other way of serving the residents of Sandy. “I felt like campaign) it’s a great way to give back to the community. There

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are a lot of issues out there that need to be dealt with and this is a great way to deal with some of those issues.”

Robinson had a little experience in political campaigning prior to this run; he said he had previously had a few unsuccessful attempts at running for the state legislature. “Running for office is a very humbling experience. You get built up and then knocked down,” he said.

Robinson credits the success of his campaign to his family, who he described as being a “rock” during the campaign. “They’ve been with me every step of the way,” he said. “They walked every neighborhood with me. They knocked every door with me. I could not have been successful without them. I owe everything to them.”

Based on conversations he had with Sandy residents throughout the campaign, Robinson said that people’s most frequent concern was with growth. He said he received multiple calls, emails and social media messages every day from people with concerns about how things like the Cairns project or new high-density housing projects would affect their lives.

Robinson said he looks forward to trying to address people’s concerns, while recognizing that he can never make everyone totally happy.

“There’s a group of people who absolutely want Sandy to grow and develop. And there’s a group that likes Sandy the way it is. As a council member, you have to live in the middle of that, you have to see both sides of those stories and form a solution for both of those groups. I look forward to that challenge.” 

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Brooke Christensen to bring leadership experience to District 1

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By Justin Adams | j.adams@mycityjournals.com

ifteen or twenty years ago, if you had asked Brooke Christensen if she could see herself ever being on a city council, she would have laughed. “That’s never going to happen,” she would have said.

Yet here she is, winning a seat on the Sandy City Council representing the city’s District 1. “Things evolve,” she said. “It’s interesting to see where life takes you.”

Christensen grew up in Sandy, attending Sandy Elementary, Mt. Jordan Middle School and Jordan High School. Her father, who is also a Sandy resident and lives just two doors down from her, also attended Jordan High School. Her husband also grew up in Sandy (they attended the same LDS ward growing up but didn’t date until they were older). She also has aunts and uncles that live in the city.

“Most of my family lives here,” she said. “I love that about Sandy. It’s a great city to raise a family.”

Christensen said she decided to run for city council after she saw things happening in her area that she didn’t like. “I tried to get them changed as an ordinary citizen and I saw an opportunity to help. I thought, ‘I can’t just complain, I have to do something. I have to put my money where my mouth is.’”

She said the biggest challenges that Sandy faces right now are growth and the city’s budget.

On the subject of growth, she said Sandy has “focused on building big apartment buildings and tons of high-end city housing.

We need to take a look at that and ask if that’s the kind of city we want. Do we want to focus just on growth and business? That’s not what I want.”

She also said they need to make “serious cuts in the city’s budget.”

Christensen will come into the position with a lot of prior experience in leadership positions. Through her life, she has served

Brooke Christensen (left) was endorsed by Maren Barker (right), who is a current member of the Sandy City Council. (Courtesy of the Brooke Christensen campaign)

and worked in a variety of positions — including student government in college and as the president of her sorority — led teams as part of her job with an international supply chain manager and volunteered with the local PTA, the LDS church and the Arthritis Foundation.

She also started a Girl Scout troop with her friend Mary-Lynn Richardson for the girls in their neighborhood.

Richardson said the leadership qualities she’s seen from Christensen as they’ve worked in Girl Scouts together will help make her a good city council member.

“She’s always been very easy to work with, very professional, very personable,” said Richardson. “We don’t always agree on things, but what I’ve always loved about Brooke is that even when we disagree, we can always work it out.”

That quality, of being able to get along with people that disagree with you, is one that Christensen hopes to bring to city council.

“Just because we disagree doesn’t mean we can’t be civil and discuss things,” she said. “Honestly I think it’s really important to listen to other viewpoints and listen to one another. It sounds trite, but just be nice. There is no reason we can’t all be nice to each other even if we disagree.”

Christensen’s addition to the city council will mark the first time in Sandy’s history that women outnumber men on the council.

“I think it’s exciting that it’s a council full of women,” she said. “It’s really neat to see the community represented that way because at least half of Sandy is women.”

“More than anything I think it’s important for my daughter to see that, so she can say, ‘I can do whatever I want.’” 

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Students learn about needed education paths for career possibilities

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lbion sixth-grader Lola Esla may want to be a pilot or a choreographer, but she’s also thinking about science.

And that’s OK, according to Canyons School District’s Work-Based Learning Facilitator Eileen Kasteler, who lined up several speakers during Albion Middle School’s Career Day for sixth-grade students.

“We want to give students a glimpse into what the possibilities are,” she said. “There’s no limit. Knowledge is power. The more informed students are about careers, the better decision they can make about their future.”

Speakers talked about careers as a space control analyst, electrician and occupational therapist, among others.

Lola’s favorite was learning from Brian Wittke, who is a Delta Airlines 737 pilot. He outlined the education — a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and a lot of math, science and legal classes to a master’s degree — and some responsibilities of his position, which include needing to ensure the safety of the flight with preflight system checks, fuel and weather planning and the exterior inspection of the aircraft.

“I’ve known I’ve wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid,” Wittke said, adding his brother also is a pilot. “I love to fly and travel. To be a pilot, you need a strong work ethic and need to be punctual.”

Most pilots begin learning to fly on a Cessna 152. He then became a certified flight instructor, a regional airline pilot and corporate jet pilot be-

By Julie Slama | Julie@mycityjournals.com fore flying for a major airline. Others, he said, may learn their skills through the military or being an air ambulance pilot.

“Each aircraft takes about three to four weeks to learn the instrument,” he told students.

He also answered questions about flying about 1,000 feet apart from other flights and bird strikes.

“I like my job, and when my son brought a request for parents to speak, I thought it would be good to let them know it’s a job that they can learn with proper education and training,” he said.

Sixth-grader Leila Fauver, who would like to be a microbiologist, said she picked up the need for college and more education from the speakers, especially in math and science.

“In middle school, we’re starting to think more about what we’d like to do, so this is giving us some options on the path we’ll take,” she said.

Leila also said several presenters had PowerPoint presentations and videos to share with students that gave them a “better vision of the careers.”

Speaker and manufacturing machinist Shaun Wyllie showed videos of a fiber laser cutter making cuts into a quarter-inch piece of steel for a car door.

“Nowadays, with lasers, we’re able to make a cleaner, more precise cut,” he said. “It’s all programmed on a computer. We could program it and walk away. The machine will work on its own as it’s basically a robot. It used to take hours to cut one out and now it takes two minutes. It’s a high-

tech, clean job — gone are the days of working in a dirty factory.”

However, Wyllie did point out that the need for education is great.

“It takes a lot more science and math, especially when making something round like a cylinder. Many take two CNC control classes as well as shop and engineering,” he said.

Speaker Josh Clark asked students to sketch a floor plan of their home — because that is in part what he does as a homebuilder.

“Think of your favorite room in the house,” he said. “Where do you spend the holidays? Where do you spend the most time — and why? We look at how you enjoy the space, how you use your homes and how best to create memories there.

It’s from when you walk in, the feel, how light the ceilings are, to where you like to be.”

Through his career — starting when he built a gazebo in his backyard growing up — he has learned through framing and construction management, how both experience and education is needed.

“A lot of math is needed to build a house as well as know how to finance it,” he said.

Kasteler said that Canyons School District has different emphases for students’ levels. At elementary schools, like Brookwood — who hosted a Career Day on Nov.10 where parents came to speak to classes about what they do — it’s more of an introductory level.

“We want students to know what is out there and know there are more careers than what their

Shaun Wyllie speaks to Albion sixth-graders about his career as a manufacturing machinist during the school’s Career Day. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

parents do,” she said. “Middle school is more of an exploratory time and high school gives them a chance to try out some of their interests in careers and even job shadow.”

Alta High hosted a Career Exploration Day Nov. 16, which featured 65 speakers from a variety of careers — medical, art, military, law, culinary, engineering, said Holly Richards, Canyons’ Work-Based Learning lead. Students attended two sessions during the two-hour block.

“We wanted students to learn the pros and cons of the jobs and learn a little about fields they never thought of and now can interact with people in the careers,” she said. 

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Page 8 | December 2017

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Recovery program offers hope and home

By Keyra Kristoffersen | keyrak@mycityjournals.com

Damian Trujillo and Kenny O’Rourke founded Inspiro, a Sandy recovery and treatment center. (Damian Trujillo)

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hen the police chased him down in a stolen car that night so many years ago, Damian Trujillo had no idea his life would turn around so entirely. Instead of dying that night, he was led on a path through prison to treatment at the Haven, a Salt Lake-based recovery and sober-living facility, his first time ever in that sort of environment in 2008.

“I promised myself one day I would come back to this facility or a facility like this and work here and do what these counsellors are doing, helping people,” said Trujillo.

Trujillo began doing hard drugs and getting arrested at 13 years old, and was in and out of prison at 19. All of that came to a head with a bar fight and high-speed chase with police that included Rosie Rivera, who was elected Salt Lake County sheriff in August of 2017.

“I suffered quite a bit because of my addiction,” said Trujillo. “When they stopped me, I tried to get them to shoot me.”

Upon graduating from the program at the Haven, Trujillo got involved in recovery programs around Salt Lake where, he said, they have a pretty

strong program with a lot of different people and types of groups. After becoming a licensed substance abuse counselor, he went back to the Haven and worked there as a counselor. It was while he worked there that he met another recovering addict with a sadly similar story of substance abuse named Kenny O’Rourke, who shared Trujillo’s dream of opening a treatment program of his own.

Trujillo said that even the best treatment centers only average about 10 percent sobriety rates among those seeking help, and felt that those odds were inadequate and unacceptable. He and O’Rourke became business partners and interventionists, starting Inspiro in Sandy in 2016.

“We’re here helping people get into treatment, helping people get into detox, helping people get into sober living,” said Trujillo.

They currently get about 20 to 30 calls a day from people seeking help and have around 20 in their program. Until they have a fully functioning treatment center of their own, they pull people off the street, out of homeless shelters and crack hotels and give them a place to stay at either of their houses or a hotel until they can be taken to a treatment facility. Trujillo believes they have built trust in the community that is helping others.

“We wanted to be part of their lives through the whole stay. We want to build a community around this place,” said Trujillo.

He credits his recovery with the encouraging and understanding people around him.

“They protected me and kept me safe, and

so we want to create that environment here,” said Trujillo.

O’Rourke and Trujillo are hoping to be able to expand into an in-patient facility and offer patient detox. They have spent a lot of time lobbying and working on a prison reform committee, even sitting on the prison relocation committee to help bring their perspective to planners and local government. At the annual Utah Sheriff Convention in St. George, they were also able to provide perspective and opinions on effective ideas.

In November, Trujillo celebrated nine years of clean and sober living and O’Rourke celebrated three years with more than 150 of their friends and colleagues at a Gratitude Day where they gathered together, ate food and shared their stories.

“Kenny has drastically changed his life around. He helps out a ton of people. He answers his phone any time it rings,” said Trujillo. “He’ll go above and beyond what his call of duty is.”

Inspiro also employs a team of 12 to 13 recovering addicts as staff and interns to further continue their path to living healthy lives.

“We really want to create a safe environment for people that want to be sober and don’t want to be mixed up with alcohol and drugs,” said Trujillo.

That includes hosting events like UFC (ultimate fighting championship) Night and perhaps gatherings for the upcoming holidays to ensure people have a welcoming place this winter.

For help or more information about Inspiro’s mission, visit http://www.inspirorecovery.com/ 

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Canyons Middle School debate program grows as student interest increases

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undreds of Canyons School District middle school students filled the halls and classrooms at Mt. Jordan after school one day in late October.

Some were talking as fast as they could while others scribbled notes. Yet others were found pacing or reciting in the hallways.

These students are part of the district’s middle school debate program, which gives students a chance to try their hand at either debate or speech, said Leslie Robinett, district English language arts specialist, who coordinates the program.

“This gives students a real-world application of English and language arts,” she said. “They need to form an argument, research, write, speak and listen and then tests those skills. They work individually or with one another in the competition, but ultimately, they’re part of their school team and are learning teamwork as well.”

She said these skills — critical thinking, reasoning and communication — also will translate to their classroom work as well as benefit them in the real world.

Robinett said the program has steadily grown since she received a grant five years ago to help make debate an extension of the core curriculum.

The result has been six of the eight middle schools developing at least one class, with Midvale and Butler middle schools looking into the possibility of adding classes in the future.

“This means most of these students are get-

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

Butler, Albion, Indian Hills, Midvale, Mount Jordan and Union middle schools’ novice policy debate winners celebrate after the first debate tournament of the school year. (Leslie Robinett/Canyons School District)

ting class time in addition to the one hour each week after school. They’re able to learn more from returning students, mentors and coaches in addition to researching and practicing,” she said.

The interest has increased, as well. Last year, Robinett said about 250 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students across the district participat-

ed. This year, the number has increased to about 375.

The students compete in four areas — policy debate, Lincoln Douglas debate, original oratory speech and extemporaneous speaking. Policy, which at this tournament had 95 entries or 190 students participate, is the area more students pur-

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sue, as many of the students get an opportunity to compete in fifth grade, she said.

While not all middle school coaches have a debate background, Robinett meets with all coaches together regularly to share ideas and talk about the season’s tournaments.

Butler Coach Jordan Decman said this is her first year coaching debate, as it is her assistant’s, Connor Armstrong. She has 25 students who meet once each week after school for one hour.

“I’m naturally a competitive person, but my goal is for these students to learn and have fun,” she said. “I have the veterans — the returning students — to help mentor the newer students and me as well. It’s giving some of our eighth-graders the chance to be leaders and to take pride in what they’re doing.”

She said that this year her newcomers will learn from their mistakes and persevere.

“Whether we win awards or not, we’re showing tenacity, resilience and integrity. These students are learning teamwork, how to listen to each other, how to be a good sport and how to be a really good friend. These are life skills that they can take and use past debate tournaments,” she said.

The next tournaments are Jan. 11, 2018 and March 15, 2018, which will extend invitations to schools outside the district. The season will continue through the district and state tournaments in April.

Page 10 | December 2017

SanDy city Journal

Sandy students honor veterans at school ceremonies

By Julie Slama | Julie@mycityjournals.com

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astmont Middle School students in the National Junior Honor Society served hot breakfast to veterans and those on active duty as well as to their families at the school’s fourth annual Veterans Day breakfast. After the Boy Scouts presented the flag, veterans heard the school choir sing, they read letters written to them by students and they listened to students speak.

“I’m so appreciative of our veterans; we can never do what they have done for us,” said eighth-grader Alexandra Hill, who spoke to the veterans.

In her speech, she said, “You are the reason we all wake up every day and go to sleep at night. You are the reason we learn and grow through education. You are the reason that our country was, is and always will be free. And for that, I thank you. We all do.”

Among the veterans was Principal Charisse Hilton’s uncle, Ken Allred, who served in World War II. “I joined at 17 with the condition that I could graduate from high school,” he said. “Two days after graduation, I went to Great Lakes boot camp. I was excited and proud and looked at it as a great adventure when I left on the train for boot camp. My mom was crying and I couldn’t understand that at the time.”

While he was there, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and “things changed daily after that,” Allred said.

“People knew the war was over and the streets were full of people in Chicago, waving flags and hugging. Everyone was elated the war was over and the servicemen would be coming home. Everyone was helping with the war effort in some way; I had lady cousins who worked in the shipyards. We all

were doing our part.”

He served aboard the USS Bushnell submarine tender, a supply and medical ship that provided relief to sailors in Guam. He also served at Pearl Harbor as part of what is called a “kiddie cruise,” for those who enlisted before 18 and served for less than four years. Allred then re-enlisted and served 22 years in the Navy reserve as a steel worker and steel worker chief.

He has been on both an honor flight to Washington, D.C. and the 75th anniversary honor flight to Pearl Harbor.

“It’s very humbling to see the Arizona. It brings back lots of memories. I had good times in the service, but I’m not a hero. I was never in a really bad situation; I never had to dodge any bullets, but I am grateful and proud that I served.

The Navy is a big part of me and still is. It was a brotherhood, a second family to me,” Allred said.

Other students shared a slide show and thanked veterans.

“I want to change the world someday and because of people like you, I have the opportunity to do so,” an Eastmont student said.

Eighth-grader Merrin Maughan said she was glad that she was able to write letters and talk with veterans.

“We realize that every family member in America knows or has a veteran,” Maughan said, adding that she had family fight in every American war. “We all have someone who we can thank and can show our appreciation.”

At nearby Alta High, students and their families also invited veterans who were thanked for their service and sacrifice at the annual school-wide ceremony. 

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December 2017 | Page 11

S anDy Journal .com

Passing on Veterans’ stories

By Keyra Kristoffersen | keyrak@mycityjournals.com

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Retired Air Force Veterans Bob Adair and Maurice Wells share some war stories. (Charles Otis)

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andy Senior Center celebrated Veterans Day this year by hosting a program highlighting veterans’ service, which included a free breakfast sponsored by the advisory council.

“These gentlemen, to hear their stories, it’s an honor for me to be able to talk to them to hear what they have gone through and listen to their experiences, to joke with them, to laugh with them,” said Cindy DeLao, program director of the center.

Along with the breakfast, veterans and their families were treated to the ROTC posting the colors and a candlelight service for the fallen and those who have since passed on. The glee club, which has around 20 members who perform at schools, civic events and other senior centers, performed the songs of each branch of the military.

Last year, over 50 veterans attended, including five who served in World War II and their families, and a similar number was expected for this year.

“The word has gotten out that it’s a very cathartic event, where people can come and acknowledge each other and feel better,” said Charles Otis, who has been the center director for four years where the event was already fairly well established.

Les Beach, an army veteran of 36 years

who served in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and Dennis Howland, a Marine who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969, spoke to those in attendance about their service and how things have changed since.

“It has grown because we’ve been able to get more Vietnam veterans to participate,” said Otis. “We’re also getting more women veterans.”

A star flag ceremony was also part of the program. Flags were handed to the veterans who wanted one. The star flags began in World War II — they were displayed in homes with a star for each member of the family serving in the armed forces.

DeLao received a three-star flag for her grandfather, herself and her son, who all served or are serving in the U.S. Army. She will soon be trading in her three-star flag for four stars when her daughter, twin to her son in the army, finishes basic training and enters the Air Force.

“I’m very proud of my children,” said DeLao. DeLao is concerned by the treatment of not just veterans but all seniors in western society due to the push of technology that makes utilizing them for wisdom and information less desirable. She worries that we, as a society and families, don’t go to seniors

anymore to learn, who are being pushed to the outskirts.

“I just love being able to talk to them and just give them the attention they deserve because they are a resource that’s dying off,” said DeLao. Both DeLao and Otis hope to stem that descent by engaging with younger people whom they have things in common with, and veterans are a great place to start.

“We have a very active center and we get a lot of participation by our veterans because they know that,” said DeLao. “We have a reputation that precedes itself and they enjoy coming out and participating.”

The Sandy Senior Center is one of 18 senior recreation centers in the Salt Lake Valley. It is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and offers a litany of classes, activities and programs like enhanced fitness class, mixed martial arts, yoga, cooking class, bingo, oil painting, chess, stained glass, Spanish, ukulele, dance classes and many more.

The program directors also have monthly meetings to brainstorm and trade new ideas for keeping their centers active and interesting to their seniors. http://www.sandyseniorcenter.org/ 

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Page 12 | December 2017

SanDy city Journal

Strength in numbers for Alta swim team

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By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com

he swimming pool gets a little busy when the Alta swimming team shows up for practice. Lanes fill quickly and swimmers are nearly touching each other as they swim lap after lap.

“This is the biggest team I have had since I began coaching here,” Alta swim coach Kelsie Court said. “I am excited to see what we can do with a good mix of newcomers and veterans.”

The swimming program at Alta High School has had its share of large teams. But when Corner Canyon split from the school five years ago, the numbers fell drastically. Still, the Hawks have been able to keep around 25 to 30 students on the team from year to year, more than enough to fill all the slots between individual and relay teams on both boys and girls teams.

But an influx of 30 additional swimmers this season has the team at near record numbers for the program.

“We have a lot of new freshmen and sophomores of course,” Court said. “But we also added new juniors and seniors who haven’t competed previously at the high school level. It is rare to get newcomers as seniors, so it is great to have them join us.”

Court has about 15 seniors on this year’s team, a group that is dear to her heart. These are the students she began the program with when she became the swimming coach at Alta.

“This is my first group to have for all four years,” Court said.

“They are very special to me.”

Leading the way on the boys side are four seniors that are already setting state qualifying times. Steven Hood, Dakota Dalley and Nate Bookout have picked up from their performances last season. And Sawyer Stevens is already setting a blistering pace in the dashes after taking a couple years off from swimming. All three help with the relays and swim the sprints. Dalley also adds the butterfly as a specialty.

“Dalley’s form in the butterfly is so smooth and beautiful,”

Court said. “He seems to glide through the water.”

Stevens has been the surprise for the Hawks. He last swam on the team as a freshman. But in his first meet back on the team, Stevens won the 50-yard freestyle, a race usually reserved for the most seasoned swimmers.

“I have never seen someone come back from a break and swim a dash like that,” Court said.

Bookout and Hood were the only returning swimmers to reach the state meet last season. Both are using their experience in a leadership for the larger team this season.

On the girls side, it is Lydia Stueber leading the way for a much younger squad.

“She is the most hardworking girl on our team,” Court said.

“Her stroke is gorgeous and she always wants to improve it.”

Two newcomers are already showing great results for the lady Hawks. Junior Megan Smith brings her experience on club teams to Alta for the first time, and freshman Destiny Maack is already making a name for herself on the squad.

“I have so many good swimmers this year. I am excited to see where we can finish,” Court said. 

Alta’s Lydia Stueber leads the Hawks’ girls swimming team as captain and the most experienced swimmer. (Ron Bevan/City Journals)

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December 2017 | Page 13

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Three Canyons educators recognized as mentoring ‘champions’

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

E

lizabeth Davies is a South Park Academy teacher who has helped hundreds of students earn their GED diplomas, whether they’re 15 or 70. Working with her is Elaine Peterson, a counselor who advocates post-secondary education for many who don’t consider it as they are in the Utah State Prison System. But she doesn’t take no for an answer, and instead arranges ACT testing and encourages all students to find challenges.

These two educators — along with Katie Blunt, Canyons School District education technology specialist who helps students from Youth in Care classes participate in the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs to help elementary students learn technology skills — recently were recognized by Utah Education Network (UEN) as American Graduate Champions who help Utah learners reach academic and professional milestones.

“American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen” is a long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to help young people succeed in school and life. Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, more than 100 public television and radio stations have joined forces with about 1,700 partners across 49 states to elevate the stories of youth and the supportive adults that help them find pathways to graduation and successful student outcomes.

These Canyons educators recently were among 11 others who shared their stories with public and higher education officials of inspiring and guiding students preparing to enter careers and colleges.

Blunt, whose UEN-produced video was included in the national PBS broadcast of American Graduate Champions, said the American Graduate program aims to increase high school graduates.

“The desire is for these high school students to prepare for careers and colleges and to help them reach their goals,” she said. “By

mentoring students and other teachers and improving education and high school competition rates, these students not only reach graduation, but go on to be successful in the world. All the mentors are wanting to help and have students achieve.”

For three years, Blunt has had Brighton High and Entrada High-Draper campus students participate in the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. She has helped them learn broadcasting skills and put together news packages. Parts of three of these reports have been aired nationally, she said.

“It’s a neat program even if their goal isn’t to be a journalist, a reporter or a camera operator. The students are learning so much more. They’re learning technical skills, planning, working as a group, cooperation, writing and organization. These are skills that can help them in whatever career they want in the future,” she said.

In addition, Blunt also helps students at Draper Elementary, Altara Elementary and Midvalley Elementary learn technical skills.

She also coordinates the annual Canyons Film Festival, which gives both students and teachers throughout the district a chance to submit their films in several categories.

“I love the power of ed tech to reach every kind of student.

Some students are college bound. Some students are career bound.

But no matter what their track, technology is going to be part of whatever they do,” she said. “I consider it a privilege to mentor other people, to be able to help them with the skills I have acquired that they haven’t yet and together, make something better.”

Blunt’s video was part of Graduate Day, an annual television event which has reached more than 83 percent of U.S. households on more than 100 public television stations. The 2017 broadcast, hosted by Soledad O’Brien and featuring guests such as General Colin Powell, focused on efforts to address the “middle skills gap”— the

difference between the increasing number of jobs that require specialized training and the number of workers qualified to fill them.

UEN is part of the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN), a nationally recognized innovator in broadband and broadcast delivery of educational and telehealth resources to students and educators, patients and clinicians statewide. UETN provides network, application and support services to more than 1,000 schools, colleges and libraries. 

Three Canyons School District educators, Katie Blunt, Elaine Peterson and Elizabeth Davies, recently were recognized as American Graduate Champions in mentoring by the Utah Education Network. (Laura Hunter/ UEN)

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Page 14 | December 2017

SanDy city Journal

Night of Broadway to be night to remember

By Julie Slama | Julie@mycityjournals.com

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case their talent. This also gives some of our super ome day, perhaps, a Jordan High student talented students who are in the musical but may will shine on Broadway, but until then, these not be a lead to have an opportunity to have a solo student performers can be in the spotlight this or duet to shine. Then next year, with this show in month on their own school stage in “A Night of their experience, they’ll be ready to take on a bigger Broadway.” role,” she said.

The one-night performance will feature stuLast year, the show’s proceeds helped students’ dents performing about 20 numbers from Broadway travel costs for their New York tour. This year, Dumusicals, said theater director Suzie DuVal. Val said ticket sales will be earmarked for the Utah “It’s a super fun evening where the students Theatre Association’s annual conference in January, who are selected perform a number from a modern which features both professional actors and college or classical musical,” DuVal said. “It’s a great way professors communicating to them about the career to showcase our talented students.” and programs and scholarships to assist them with The second annual “A Night of Broadway” future plans. They also will see others perform and will be at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 15 at Jordan High meet other high school theater students from across School, 95 E. Beetdigger Blvd. (9880 South). Tickthe state. ets are $5 and can be purchased either from a cast “I like the idea that our fundraiser is a performember or at the door. mance. We already have ‘A Night of Shakespeare’ At deadline, the two-hour show had yet to be as a fundraiser for our students to compete in the cast, but last year, selections included pieces from annual Shakespeare festival in Cedar City, so it was “South Pacific,” “Chicago,” “Wicked,” “You’re a natural to create another to help them finance other Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “Waitress,” “Les Mistrips,” she said. “It’s a show everyone enjoys.” erables,” “Next to Normal,” “Bonnie and Clyde” Jordan High students will present “A Night of Broadway,” as seen here in 2016, which will showcase students’ Other upcoming Jordan High performances intalents. (Suzie DuVal/Jordan High School) and other musicals. clude “A Comedy of Errors,” performed at 7 p.m., In late November, students were to audition tice on their own,” she said, adding that she did give her advanced Thursday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 24 and with a one-minute number. Those selected were exMonday, Feb. 26, 2018; Theatre 2 students performing a showcase pected to practice on their own. DuVal said last year, several groups theater students some time in class to prepare last year.

DuVal also added that the performing arts teachers were avail- of scenes and one-act plays on Wednesday, May 16; and advanced of students practiced after school.

The show comes together in the one dress rehearsal on show able to assist students as well as provide simple costuming and sets. theater students directing one-act plays Thursday, May 17 through “It’s a nice opportunity for other kids, who may not have the Saturday, May 18.Theater students also are expected to compete in night, DuVal said.

“It worked really well. The kids learned responsibility to prac- time commitment for a musical or be in a theater class, to show- the regional festival in March and state in April. 

Final RSL home game features local unified soccer team

F

ive Real Salt Lake (RSL) unified soccer team members represented the area of Sandy, Midvale and South Jordan when the team took on Sporting Kansas City’s unified team in an Oct. 22 rematch of the April game in the Midwest. Kyle “Pickles” Kareem, of Jordan High, was one of two players who made a penalty kick, which allowed the hometown team to win 4-2 and was the only Major League Soccer (MLS) unified team to be undefeated this season. Joining Pickles on the field was Maison Anderson and Boston Iacobazzi, who attend Hillcrest High; Ivan Yin, a Hillcrest alumnus; and Natalie Green, a sophomore at Bingham High. In April, RSL’s unified team defeated their opponents in Kansas City, but a rainstorm forced them to play indoors instead of after the MLS game. Pickles, who scored a hat trick in the midwest, was later selected captain of the western allstar team, which led them to victory over the eastern all-star team

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

in July.

Boston said the match was more than just about who won or lost. “It was awesome to be on the field, see our team on the giant screen as they announced us and have the Special Olympics motto at Members of Real Salt Lake’s unified soccer team were highlighted at the MLS team’s final home game. the start (Stacy Anderson/Sandy resident) of the dinner together. Maison, who get to know one another, but to game,” he said, adding that while Sporting flew on an airplane to Kansas cheer for the plays, not just the Kansas City’s unified team was City for his first time, said they teams,” he said afterward. “It’s in town they went together to attended a Kansas City Royals not just about competition; it’s ride the tram at Snowbird, at- game together there. “We sat to- about becoming friends and betended a Utah Jazz game and ate gether and not only it was fun to ing there for one another.” 

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December 2017 | Page 15

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Area students clamor around Jordan High’s award-winning robot at Stemfest

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

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hile small groups steadily attended Orbital ATF, iWorlds, Microsoft and other booths at Stemfest, packs of students crowded around Jordan High School’s robot.

Jordan High, which in its inaugural year last season won the FIRST Utah regional robotics contest and in April took part at the world competition, was demonstrating how the robot, named “Beetbot” — affectionately after the school’s mascot — was programmed to move as younger students took aim with plastic balls to try to make a basket in the tub that it was carrying.

“We’re trying to teach the kids about FIRST Robotics and how much fun it can be,” team president Nicole Brooks said at Stemfest, which was held Oct. 3-4 at the Sandy South Towne Expo Center. “Joining FIRST was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

Brooks’ journey began in ninth grade when her aunt, Annie Drennan, invited her to be on a team — the Jedi — she was co-coaching with Michelle Estrada.

“I invited her because I had seen that she was patient and took good notes for her classes at school,” Drennan said.

“I already knew that she was a fabulous artist. She wasn’t sure she would be any good at it, but was willing to try. What I didn’t know was just how great she

would be. She was patient, persistent and methodical in her programming.

She was a huge benefit in designing because she could imagine things and then draw them out to demonstrate her ideas and work out the details.”

That team won the state FIRST Lego League title and competed at world competition where in the robotics game, they finished 12th.

Brooks said she learned how to approach both the robot and the project the team was working on with persistence.

“I learned how to approach it with consistency even though we failed over and over. We worked together as a team and had fun along the way,” she said.

Since that initial year, Brooks has used the same approach with her high school teams.

“She’s always been hardworking which has helped a lot, and I’ve really seen her grow in her ability to lead and work with others,” Drennan said.

Brooks joined Hillcrest High School in her sophomore year since Jordan High didn’t have a robotics team.

That year, the team won the Creativity Award for a “robot design that was developed outside the box” at the regional contest.

Last year, with adviser Cameo Lutz on board, she began an all-rookie team called the Gravediggers at Jordan High,

which not only won the Utah regional title in March, but also competed at the World Festival.

“We have a good team, and often we stay until late working on something because something always goes wrong.

We work together to figure it out and deal with the problems as they come up,” she said.

At Stemfest, Brooks and her teammates answered students’ and parents’ questions about FIRST, how the electronics board works and how to get involved. She also explained last year’s mission, “Steamworks,” and told students that everyone on the team had a part in the mission, which included programming their robot to climb aboard a hovering airship to being able to lob “fuel cells” (in the form of balls) into a mock steam boiler.

“We had students who could come on certain days or for certain amount of time and we worked it out so everyone who really wanted to be on the team was able to contribute and work toward our goal,” she said about the 30-member team.

Now the robotics team is offered as a class at Jordan, and Brooks said a core 15 people enrolled work together to learn CAD, strategize programming and building, learn how to use power tools and how to wire and brainstorm togeth-

Area elementary and middle school students take part in Jordan High’s robotic demonstration at Stemfest, which was held at the Sandy South Towne Expo Center. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

er. At the same time, they are creating a curriculum so the team will remain a class for the future.

“We have returning students teaching younger students and cross training so everyone will have the knowledge and can step in to help anywhere,” she said.

Jordan High’s team plans to compete at two regional-qualifying tournaments. This year’s mission will be available Jan. 6; they plan to collaborate and work with local teams such as Waterford, Hillcrest, Alta and others as well as the High Rollers from Las Vegas, whom they teamed up with at regionals.

In the meantime, Lutz said the team has made other appearances, such

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as programming the robot to use a pair of golden scissors to cut the ribbon for the STEM Action Center’s STEM bus and a game of “Capture the Flag” with other high schools where the robot participates.

Brooks also said the high school team will continue to help mentor other teams and talk to middle schools about creating FIRST Lego League teams.

“I tell students that they don’t have to have experience. If they’re willing to learn, work hard and want to have fun, then they make the best team members,” she said. “It’s the same for us.

We’re hoping to win, but we have a lot more focus on having fun and learning things.” 

Page 16 | December 2017

SanDy city Journal

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Park Lane cluster class to write book to help other students with autism

By Julie Slama | Julie@mycityjournals.com

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his school year, 15 Park Lane Elementary students will become authors, thanks to Park Lane teacher Linda Tognoni and Voya Financial.

Last spring when Tognoni heard about Voya’s $2,000 Scholarship America grant, “Unsung Heroes,” she immediately went to work writing and researching.

“I wanted the grant to help my students academically, but also be an engaging way for them to learn,” she said.

In early October, Voya came to a faculty meeting to present her with the check.

“I was happy — elated,” she said. “Once our computer arrives, we will have it be dedicated to helping the students become authors and write a book on how to help others understand autism and for those who have it, ideas on how to improve their behavior.”

Tognoni, who came up with the idea, said it will help her own class identify their own ways to approach behavior.

“Each of my students has a different story and they may have different approaches on how they manage their behaviors. Kids with autism typically have lower maturity levels so they need to understand how to calm themselves and focus on their academics,” she said.

Tognoni knows this firsthand. At 18 months, her son was diagnosed with autism. He was in a preschool for autistic children by two years old and by third grade, he was declared autism free.

Now, as an adult, he holds a high-level position with UPS and lives with his family.

She also has been familiar with teaching students since 1979, including four years in Canyons School District. This past year, Tognoni was named Park Lane’s

Park Lane teacher Linda Tognoni is the Utah recipient of Voya’s $2,000 Scholarship America grant that will give her students three iPads and a computer so they can write a book on how to demonstrate good behavior skills. (Jeannie Hill/Park Lane Elementary)

teacher of the year and the district’s runner up.

“I have good insight to it. I try to be on the cutting edge for children with autism and how I can help them,” she said.

This also includes recently receiving the Mountain America Credit Union and Utah PTA $1,500 grant for wobbly stools and a rug for her students.

“I researched and learned that the stools help with anxiety. We offer our students several different seating areas so they can choose the best to help them focus,” she said.

With the book project, her students will write under pseudonyms and address several chapters: I Can Follow the Rules, Work First Before Play, Oops Instead of Melting Down, Calm Myself and Be Happy, and Be a Problem Solver, not a Problem Maker.

The last chapter is their class motto.

“We want students to negotiate and use their words, not have meltdowns

and cry,” she said. “With the chapter about staying calm, we will brainstorm ways of being calm. Maybe one student will think of puppies or others will count to 20, take deep breaths and find a quiet space. Our desire is to create calmness and be happy.”

While Tognoni said that the concepts aren’t new, having students identify them and write about them is.

Once students have written their methods, they will illustrate it before sending it to createspace.com to publish it. The book will be available on Amazon.

Tognoni said the process is important as well. Students will improve their writing skills, as that, along with spelling and reading, are often areas autistic students need to focus on the most.

The iPads also will be put in use with reading, writing and math applications.

“It’s going to be good for our students to have a fun, personalized, engaging way to keep progressing academically,” she said. 

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December 2017 | Page 17

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Sandy sisters do the kicking for Jordan

F

By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com

riday night lights. A rite of passage for families with teenagers. You gather weekly at the local high school football field to watch your children play football, just like your parents did when you were young.

Corey and Cindy Bluemel of Sandy have been doing it now for a few years, beginning with watching their first child play for Jordan High School.

This season the Bluemels did triple duty, watching their middle three children play in the varsity, junior varsity and sophomore games.

But it wasn’t a rite of passage for the Bluemels.

Although athletic himself, Corey never played football in high school, and he certainly didn’t expect his children would either.

“We were a soccer family,” Corey said. “I play soccer and they all played soccer. I didn’t expect to ever be at a high school football game, let alone three each week.”

It’s understandable that the family would be a bit bewildered on this change of lifestyle. Not because dad didn’t play football, but because they named their children Ashley, Emily, Kylee and Hannah.

And yes, they are all girls.

While it hasn’t been completely unusual to see females playing on boys football teams across the country, usually as kickers, this may be the only family to have each successive girl give it a try.

The Bluemels have been field goal kickers for the Beetdiggers ever since Ashley, now 19, suited up a few years back as a sophomore. An avid soccer player who never gave much thought to football, Ashley was just kicking a soccer ball around one day when a fellow student told her she should kick field goals.

“Ashley was always breaking barriers,” Emily said. “Her friend was joking around with her, kinda teasing her. But she decided to try it and made the team.”

Ashley was already a mainstay on the Jordan girls soccer team as a defender. Both the football coach and the soccer coach worked with each other to allow her to continue in both sports, as they are played at the same time of the season. She would go to kicking practice early, then hustle over to soccer practices.

“Her biggest worry was that we wouldn’t want

her to play football,” Corey said. “But my wife likes to push our comfort zone and get us to try new things. We were behind her from the start.”

But it did come as a surprise to Corey. Having no boys, he hadn’t prepared to become a football dad.

“I realized I hadn’t taught them any of the rules in football because I never thought I would need to,” Corey said.

Ashley’s first time to enter a game for Jordan came on a bigger stage than normal. The Beetdiggers were playing a nationally ranked team from New Jersey at Rio Tinto Stadium. As she lined up to kick, the snap wasn’t the best.

“She had these huge linemen rushing in at her and blocked the kick,” Corey said. “She got hit a bit and I had to tell her that was part of the rules.”

But a little tussle from bigger boys didn’t deter her and she continued kicking.

Ashley did double duty for the Beetdiggers as a sophomore and a junior. But she gave it up for her senior year and concentrated solely on soccer.

It was the right decision for her, helping her to land a scholarship in soccer at Missouri Southern State University.

Enter Emily. When Ashley stepped down, Emily decided she wanted to kick as well. But she came into the sport with a bit of trepidation. She had been playing soccer and was used to being around girls on a team.

“This was a big step for me,” Emily said. “Ashley taught me how to fit in. She taught me how to kick a football instead of a soccer ball. And she taught me what to expect from the boys.”

Emily also played both soccer and football her sophomore year. But a change in coaching changed all that.

“My junior year I was forced to choose one sport or the other by my soccer coach,” Emily said.

Although she had played soccer her whole life, she had fallen in love with football and quickly made her choice. She not only devoted her high school years to the sport, but also her off time, practicing kicks and watching other kickers.

“I would turn on an NFL game and watch only what the kickers were doing,” she said.

Her decision to focus on football also changed her high school experience.

Emily Bluemel sends a kick toward the uprights for Jordan’s football team. A senior this year, she is one of four sisters who has kicked for the Beetdiggers. (Photo by Corey Bluemel)

“My junior year was when I really bonded with the boys on the team,” Emily said. “They got to see a different side of me and I saw a different side of them. Now I have 80 brothers who walk the school halls with me and protect me just like a big brother would do. I can call and ask any of them for advice.”

Emily has become deadly with kicks from 35 yards inward. She has only missed one extra point kick her entire career.

But there can be some downsides to being a female in a male-dominated sport. Where does she suit up? After all, she can’t use the boys locker room. And the girls locker room is taken by the visiting team.

“At first, sometimes I would have to change in storage rooms, or even bathrooms,” Emily said.

“Once at Viewmont I was changing in the girls bathroom and the Viewmont cheerleaders came in and said I couldn’t be in there. They hassled me about it pretty good. That’s when my coach decided to change things.”

After that incident Jordan’s coach made a rule and set aside a part of the boys locker room just for Emily.

“The boys knew that was my area and they weren’t allowed near it,” she said.

Another issue is the college side of things. While Ashley chose soccer to continue in college, Emily, who has kicked her last football in high school,

wants to continue playing football.

“College coaches would see me kick and ask my coach about me,” Emily said. “But when they find out I am a girl, they quit inquiring. It is tough to see kickers that are being chosen for colleges and know that I am better than them. They should just look at my stats. Why does gender have to be part of it?”

Emily is still trying to get on a college roster, and may even try to walk on wherever she ends up. But whether she continues to kick or not, the Bluemels are not done with the sport.

Kylee, 15, was the one who thought she wouldn’t play football. But there she is, kicking this year on the junior varsity team and next year for the varsity.

And then there’s Hannah. At just 14 years of age, she not only kicked for the sophomore team but played defensive cornerback, as well.

“The first time I got hit by a player while in the defense he came back to help me up,” Hannah said.

“That’s when he first realized I was a girl and the shock on his face was priceless.”

As Corey reflects back on the what has become of his family of all girls, he is proud of their decisions to play football and the lessons they have learned.

“I look at the challenges they will face in our world, and I believe they have an edge over others,” Corey said. “They can look back at their high school years and realize they have already competed in a male-dominated environment.” 

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Page 18 | December 2017

SanDy city Journal

Jordan looking to improve on last season’s state appearances

C

By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com

onsistency is the key word for the Jordan High School swimming team. Consistency in numbers, and consistency in results.

That’s what Jordan coach Richard Barnes is hoping to see at this year’s state meet in February. And so far he is pleased with the results his charges have already turned in.

“We have some fast times already being turned in by many of our swimmers,” Barnes said. “It is pleasing to see how hard they have worked pay off this early in the season.”

The Jordan swim team has around 30 swimmers competing this season, a number that has stayed consistent for the Beetdiggers for several years.

“We have a wide range of abilities in all of our swimmers,” Barnes said. “We have some who are very fast and who will most likely place at state. And we have some brand-new beginning swimmers, some who had never swam competitively until this year.”

Barnes is seeing progress with the newcomers because he has several standout swimmers who have taken the time to work with the newest members.

Jordan has a corp of seniors and juniors, with a sophomore thrown in, that helped carry the team into last year’s state meet. Although the 2016–17 edition of Jordan swimming included a lot of now graduated seniors, there

Jordan junior Gabi Wagner is one of the fastest swimmers on this year’s Beetdigger swimming team. Wagner is closing in on two of the school’s freestyle records. (Ron Bevan/City Journals)

were enough underclassmen to give the Beetdiggers a good head start going into this season.

Among the leaders of the team are senior captains Gretchen Hyer, Jazmine Moore, Kevin Metcalf, Ben Stepan and Joe Sampson. Also helping out are junior Gabi Wagner and sopho-

more Julia Hyer, sister to Gretchen.

“Our goal is to be better than last season and we have the swimmers to do it,” Barnes said.

Jordan’s girls team finished ninth overall at last year’s state meet, while the boys failed

to score at state.

Gretchen and Wagner should be the leading Jordan girls swimmers. Gretchen already owns the school record in the 100-yard butterfly event. She is also on every single relay record setting team at Jordan.

“Hyer is good at all four strokes and I can put her wherever I need in the pool,” Barnes said.

Wagner is on track to break both the 50and 100-yard freestyle events, which are the two fastest sprint events in swimming.

“She is one of our most amazing swimmers,” Barnes said. “She has a good chance of breaking both records, and if she does, she will be the fastest swimmer ever at Jordan.”

A surprise for the team this year came in the form of senior swimmer Tyson Tate, a sprint specialist. Tate joins the squad for his final year at Jordan, after playing on the basketball team for the past three seasons. Swimming and basketball compete during the same months, so he had to choose one sport over the other each year.

“Tate has been competitively swimming for club teams all his life, but chose basketball as his sport in high school,” Barnes said.

“We are fortunate that this season he wanted to swim.” 

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Former Sandy competitive swimmer now makes splash on poker tour

By Ron Bevan | r.bevan@mycityjournals.com

Jared Griener ponders his next move while playing in a poker tournament.

Griener, raised in Sandy but now living in California, has earned over $1 million in poker tournaments.

S

ometimes our life choices make us think we are heading in a certain direction. And sometimes that direction changes, but the decisions we made honed our skills for our new venture.

So it is with Jared Griener, a former Sandy resident who found the work ethic he put in as a swimmer and a door-to-door salesman has given him the skillset to compete at the highest level of poker tournaments. In just a few short years, Griener, 31, has already surpassed the $1 million mark in career winnings at poker tournaments across the nation. He has been featured in televised tournaments and even took home over $400,000 in just one tournament. Not bad for a young man who had never even played poker until 10 years ago.

“My first poker game was in the summer of 2007 when I was selling security systems door to door in New York,” Griener said.

“All of the sales people were housed in an apartment complex. I was invited to play and I won the very first time I played.”

But even then, being a professional poker player was far from Griener’s mind. And it didn’t fit in with how a young boy going to Sunrise Elementary in Sandy pictured his life would become.

“I grew up LDS with strong convictions toward the gospel,” Griener said. “There isn’t a lot of poker in Utah and I wasn’t around the game at all. I had other outlets that interested me.”

Griener knew from a young age he had a competitive spirit in him. He first learned this playing soccer in the local AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) program.

“I remember the first game I competed in as a soccer player,” Griener said. “I really liked it. I liked being a part of something that had an outcome and was competitive. I thrive on the competitive side of things.”

He continued his competitive nature in the swimming pool, By age 10 he had finished second in the state AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) competition for his age.

But then his family made a choice to leave Sandy and move to Lindon, a move that at first was hard on Griener.

“I have a lot of fun memories about Sandy,” Griener said. “It was a great community to grow up in, and I remember being really mad about leaving Sandy. I had a lot of friends that I was leaving.”

But Griener made new friends in Lindon, and he kept up his

competitive swimming. By age 12 he was training with the high school team. He won several state titles for club swimming and soon found himself competing in the high school ranks. He finished second twice at the state swimming meets and won an Academic All-State award for combining swimming with a 3.97 GPA. “Swimming taught me how to work hard,” Griener said.

“People don’t realize it, but there are not a lot of things as hard as training for swimming. It’s just you staring at the bottom of the swimming pool for three hours every day. It toughens you physically, but also mentally.”

Griener’s life was on track for what he thought he would become. He was at BYU and on the swimming team and it was almost time to make a decision for a mission. But although he knew that’s where his life was taking him, he also knew it wasn’t the right choice for him.

“I needed to figure out what I wanted to do,” Griener said.

“So I took a summer sales position for a security company and went door to door.”

He also checked out of BYU and landed another swimming scholarship for a small school in California. For him, this was the right choice.

“I did one more year of swimming in college but felt it was time to move on from it as well,” Griener said. “I had trained so hard all my life in swimming and I had pushed my body as far as I could. I had put in as much effort and dedication as I could. My skills had taken me as far as they could. Mentally, I was as tough as any swimmer out there, but my body is what it is. I don’t have the best frame for a swimmer.”

Griener then spent a year knocking on doors in Cleveland and found he was very good at sales. He was already making good money, so he went into sales full time and left school for good.

Griener was now living in California and had become a sales manager for a solar sales company. He was still taking part as a hobby in his new interest of poker. There are some large poker rooms in the Los Angeles area, and Griener was playing in small tournaments. At the same time he was putting in 50 to 60 hours each week for the solar company. He wanted to see if poker might be a way to go when, in 2014, it happened.

“I won $85,000 in one tournament that year,” Griener said.

“I had never gotten even close to that before and I was ecstatic about it.”

Two months later, Griener won $19,000 and added another large jackpot one month after.

“I was burnt out on the sales job and this gave me the push I needed to seek a competitive side of me and make money at it,” Griener said.

So, in 2015, Griener stepped away from the solar company, working only as a consultant when it was necessary. He focused on his poker game and entered as many tournaments as he could.

“The thing with poker is, you can’t always expect to make money in each tournament,” Griener said. “It is the long game you have to focus on, just like in golf. For every time you make money in a tournament, there are 10 tournaments you don’t. It is a game of skill, but it also has its down swings.”

Griener’s biggest win came this year, in a tournament called the LA Poker Classic. Griener entered the tournament by doing well in a smaller tournament. From there he was able to finish in third place at the classic and bring home $430,000.

“I was focused and I played one of my best tournament runs ever,” Griener said.

Griener credits his swimming and his summer sales positions for getting him into the elite ranks of poker.

“Swimming taught me the mental toughness I need in a long tournament,” Griener said. “But going door to door sharpened my ability to read people’s emotions and get to know what they are feeling in a short amount of time. It helps me when I am at the table. I need to know my opponent better than they know me.” 

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SanDy city Journal

The Great Toy Hunt

by

JOANI TAYLOR

For as long as there has been Christmas Hype there have been hard to get toys. And, with those toys come parents and grandparents willing to go to crazy lengths to get one for their child. Last year it was Hatchimals and this year new toys like Fingerlings and a Nintendo that looks like something from then ‘80’s have already gone missing and pop up with over inflated prices from toy scalpers on eBay and Amazon. It’s become an American tradition.

Ninja Turtle Super Shredder toy was my most memorable toy hunt. Some of you probably remember getting one or wanting one. It was sometime around 1985. I remember spending hours hunting, calling and searching for this silly $6 dollar toy. And I was finally able to snag one after stalking ToysRUs employees, showing up at the store before the doors opened, racing to dig through a box of newly arrived Turtles to get one of the 4 that came in a case. Keep in mind; the Internet did not exist for common folk at this time.

Yep, I got caught up in the hype and thought, my kid must prevail, determined for him to have bragging rights of being the owner of this prestigious toy. I got that little rush when I brought my treasure home and carefully hide the sack on the top shelf of the closet. To this day, Super Shredder still has a home among the dust in my attic.

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were common dinner table items. I learned to clip those .10¢ coupons out of necessity, not because it was the popular thing to do.

Looking back on my Super Shredder hunt, I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to give the gift of one of life’s most valuable lessons instead. After all, what better gift than to teach a child that we don’t always get what we want.

Have you gone to crazy lengths to find a Christmas toy or do you have a memory of toy you got or didn’t get as a child? Enjoy the hunt, but know that if you don’t prevail you are still giving a treasured gift to the child you love.

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Laughter AND

by

PERI KINDER

SANDY

E

very year on November 30, while my girls slept, I’d spend the evening putting up Christmas decorations. I’d place every Santa just so and every angel just right. My daughters would wake up to a magical Christmas wonderland with twinkling lights, cinnamon-scented pinecones and beautifully wrapped packages.

That was my dream. Reality was much different.

Oh, the house was decorated, and the girls were excited, but within five minutes the entire holiday-scape was destroyed.

My daughters would walk into the idyllic wonderland I’d created, squeal with glee and run to their favorite Christmas decoration. One daughter immediately turned on the display that had Disney characters barking your favorite carols. If you haven’t heard “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” sung in “Woofs” by Pluto for 25 days in a row, you don’t know the real meaning of Christmas.

Another daughter ran to the Nativity scene where she helped Mother Mary run off with Frosty the Snowman, leaving Baby Jesus in the care of a 6-foot polar bear wearing a holiday scarf.

Yet another daughter took the ornamental French horn off the wall and marched through the house trumpeting Jingle Bells. Not to be outdone, her little sister used the tree skirt as a cloak and pretended to be the Queen of Christmas,

which caused several fistfights in front of the holy manger.

When the girls went off to school each day, I’d put all the decorations back in their traditionally ordained locations. I found Ken and Barbie naked in a Christmas stocking. I discovered one of the Wise Men snuggled with an angel behind an advent calendar. I glued the shepherds’ crooks back on because the girls would have them fight ninja-style and kept breaking them off.

I found the singing Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer shoved into a pile of laundry. Oh, wait. I’d put that there. Because it never shut up.

The girls would come home from school and spend the rest of the evening rearranging the decorations while I radiated anger.

“Leave the damn tree alone!” I’d repeat 40 times a day.

“But someone moved my ornament from its special place.” (Insert the sound of Christmas decorations falling off the tree.)

When I found the Christmas pillow I had painstakingly cross-stitched had been used to wipe up a Kool-Aid spill, I finally lost it. I was exhausted from trying to redecorate the house every day to keep everything looking perfect.

I screeched, in a very unholiday voice, “Put the Baby Jesus back in the manger

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before I tell Santa to burn all your presents!”

Everyone froze.

The daughter who had wrapped Baby Jesus in layers of toilet paper to keep him warm looked at me, eyes brimming with tears. “I just wanted to hold him,” she said, as her lip quivered.

That’s when it hit me. I was the Grinch.

Why the hell was I ruining Christmas?

Why was I trying to keep everything perfect? To my daughters, it was already perfect. They loved the decorations and wanted to play with them for the short time they were displayed.

I took a few deep breaths. I apologized. I even agreed to sit through a Christmas play where the Wise Men kidnapped Jesus and held him for ransom, but a stuffed Santa Claus karate-kicked the Wise Men to rescue the holy babe who

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My house was messy and emotional, but delightful and creative, too. This was my Christmas wonderland. 

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