Uniquely Davis Newsletter

The Davis School District announces that the Parent Guidance Mental Health Series is back again this school year. This series is provided by the district Student and Family Resources Department and is a response to parent concerns about student health and well-being.

Davis School District is partnering with ParentGuidance.org to deliver presentations developed by licensed therapists. This series will be virtual, interactive, and is designed to help parents and caregivers support students. Registration, attendance and interactions are kept totally anonymous from other viewers.

The Davis School District and Hill Aerospace Museum held a back-to-school night at the museum exclusively for families of Purple Star Schools. In addition to a VIP museum experience, there will be food trucks and prizes.

Purple Star Schools are schools that are recognized nationally and by Hill Air Force Base and the Utah State Board of Education for their commitment to serving military-connected students. There are 24 Purple Star Schools in the Davis School District out of the 34 total schools in Utah.

Below is a list of efforts underway to keep temperatures in classrooms as comfortable as possible given high square footage, complex systems and warm temperatures.

Completed Efforts:

• Filled, treated, and tested the thousands of swamp coolers district wide.
• Turned on all cooling and ventilation systems on August 7th. This allows systems to be tested and tuned before the start of school.
• Programmed ventilation systems in areas without air conditioning to turn on at 4 a.m. to allow cool morning air to be pulled into the building.
• Sent out a memo to Principals and Facility Managers letting them know when the systems would be back online so they can assess and report issues.

Ongoing Efforts:

• Monitoring systems in real time and submitting work orders as problem areas arise.
• Distributing available portable swamp coolers to the warmest spaces in the schools.
• Monitoring daily temperatures in buildings and adjusting equipment as needed.

Students and principals teamed up to promote inclusion and diversity at the inaugural Davis School District MAC Conference.

Every secondary school in the district has a Multicultural Advisory Council made up of student leaders of diverse backgrounds. The MACs, built on the premise of open discussion and mutual respect, work with administrators to meet the needs of all students in the school.

Junior high and high school students involved in MACs were invited to attend to share their experiences and brainstorm ideas for the coming year. Held at Farmington High, the conference featured keynote speakers, workshops and cultural performances. Over the course of the two-day event, students worked closely with their principals to develop strategies for fostering inclusivity among the student body.

At the end of the conference, each MAC planned activities and set goals to promote unity in their respective school communities.

The beginning of a new school year is always exciting. Students head back to school with new backpacks, new goals and sometimes a little apprehension.

Our newest Davis School District principals are no different. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of them on their first day of school. Check out the Davis School District's newest 10 principals in our district on their very first day of school.

For the beginning of the school year, 500 elementary-aged students will be decked out in new clothes, thanks to the Davis Education Foundation’s annual Child Spree.

Each year, volunteers shop for students in need, picking out the perfect back-to-school outfits for success. They start early at 6 a.m. before stores are officially open to the public and work quickly to make sure every child on their shopping list gets everything they need.

This event is sponsored by America First Credit Union, Lifetime, Citi Bank, Waste Management, Holy Cross Hospital Davis Medical Staff Providers, Young Caring For Our Young Foundation, Kohl’s, Kayscreek Dental, Lakeview Hospital Medical Staff and generous individual donors.

During the 2022-23 school year, the Davis School District Catalyst Center partnered with Congressman Blake Moore (UT-01) to film and edit 29 interviews with Veterans from the state of Utah. This past June Congressman Moore was able to deliver these 29 videos as part of the first batch of 65 interviews to the Library of Congress.

“The Catalyst Center was central to [the project’s] success. The congressman and the veterans and their families are very grateful for the quality interviews The Catalyst Center provided,” Constituent Liaison Anthony Coombs said in an email to Catalyst Center Principal Dr. Tyler Poll.

Poll stated that this is exactly the kind of project that The Catalyst Center was created for. Students not only participate and work on real-world projects, but they are instrumental in planning, filming and editing these historical videos.

“Most students read about these stories instead of being able to film and interact with our veterans. We interviewed men and women who were in their 80's and find out who they were as people in their 30's,” said Catalyst CTE Teacher Elizabeth McEuen.

The videos the students created last year now have a permanent and safe place in the Library of Congress. The Catalyst Center will continue their partnership with Congressman Blake Moore and has a goal of recording three interviews a week for the entire first semester.

Congressman Blake Moore presented the 65 videos to the Library of Congress in a filmed ceremony that can be viewed at these links: Veterans History Project Donation Ceremony and Veterans History Project Library of Congress Donation Ceremony Interview.

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) is designed to archive stories of veteran’s time in military service. The project was voted unanimously by Congress in 2000 and to date there are over 112,000 veterans’ collections currently archived at the Library of Congress.

For anyone interested in participating or having a veteran in your life participate in an interview, please access the interest form on Blake Moore’s website or by using this link – Veterans History Project Interest Form.

On Aug. 3, 2023, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) approved Davis Connect K-12 Online School as an authorized State Online Education Program (SOEP) Provider. This will permit Davis Connect to offer middle school and high school courses and credit to students throughout the state and to be compensated by the WPU generated for each student.

Beginning immediately, students who do not attend Davis schools will be able to enroll in Davis Connect courses in the areas of Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Physical Education. More information about SOEP and how those interested can enroll is found here: https://www.schools.utah.gov/edonline

Congratulations and special thanks to Stephanie Mouritsen, Shara Ballstaedt and Sarah LaBarge for their dedicated work in the application process.

Rather than start the year with disclosures and class rules, Mountain High started their year with a Quick Start, an entrepreneurial group project. This year's quick start was called the Snack Shack, challenging each group to create the best snack.

"The purpose of Quick Start is to get kids connected with school, with staff and our resources, and get them excited about coming back to school," Principal Greg Wutrich said.

Snack Shack is a group project where students spend five days working in teams to create a snack and a station to sell it. They are responsible for making the product, creating a marketing plan around it, and finally presenting their snack shack at a competition on the final day.

During the first five days of Quick Start, the students move from class to class with their team to learn about Mountain High, meet administration and counselors and review typical school material for half of their day. The other half of their classes, however, focus on their snack shack challenge. The students learn about financing, securing start up cash, creating sales pitches and developing a marketing plan.

"We do quick start because most of our students come to our school from other schools, and they are nervous, they don't know anyone and may have heard stereotypes about our school, so students are apprehensive to come here and are unsure," said social studies teacher and Quick Start leader Tommee Call.

On the day of the Snack Shack challenge, student teams set up their Snack Shacks, testing the popularity of each teams’ snacks. Gathered in the cafeteria, 200 students sample the products, get to know their peers and, ultimately, vote for their favorite snack shack.

At the end of the activity, the winning team was the group behind Frost Fuel, an icy energy drink concoction. Although Snack Shack only awards one champion team, many appreciated the opportunity to meet new people and flex their entrepreneurial muscles.

The West Point Junior High science department was nominated and selected as the Utah Science Teacher Association's 2023 Outstanding Middle School Department.

The award will be presented at UTSTA's Annual Conference on Sept. 15 at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah.

Congratulations to Haylie Tracy (Department Chair), Debra Eaton, Kandie Kunzler, Nichole Shupe, Julynette Martinez-Gonzalez, Rebecca Prescott, Brian Kelley and Amanda Stansfield.

Congratulations to two Davis School District teachers, Amber Heguy, 5th grade teacher at Sunburst Elementary, and Cole Mason, 4th grade teacher at Snow Horse Elementary, for being recognized as Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) in the class of 2023.

The Apple Distinguished Educator program recognizes K-12 educators who are pioneering the use of technology to "transform teaching and learning in powerful ways," according to the Apple K-12 website.

Heguy and Mason were recognized at the ADE Institute in Dallas, Texas this past summer.

Congratulations to Lacey Goforth, who has been accepted as a member of the 2023-2024 National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Teachers of Tomorrow program.

The NFB Teachers of Tomorrow program is an "immersive, professional development program that connects teachers of blind and low-vision students to the lived experiences of blind people," stated in Goforth's acceptance letter from Anil Lewis the Executive Director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute.

The letter also states that the program will equip participants with knowledge of the skills and attitudes that can help blind students thrive in school and beyond.

"This is a very prestigious honor and a great professional development opportunity that will impact all of our vision teachers and our students with vision impairments," related services director Taya Johnson said.

I wish to extend a warm welcome back to the invigorating yet familiar rhythms of the school year. The initial days of classes are already behind us, and I sincerely hope that each one of you has felt the contagious excitement for the journey that lies ahead. I hope you experience the joy that I feel at the prospect of learning new things, conquering unknown challenges, and looking forward to the promise of new insights, new friendships, and new possibilities.

During the month of September, Utah observes American Founders and Constitution month, a time to reflect upon our nation's origins and its guiding principles. My own deep appreciation for the Constitution of the United States and other founding documents began to flourish in Lori Chandler's Government Law class when I was a junior at Clearfield High School. Ms. Chandler possessed a remarkable ability to draw out the very best from her students, instilling in me a genuine comprehension and belief in the promise of America. While the foundational words of the Declaration of Independence had crossed my ears countless times, it was within Ms. Chandler's classroom that these words truly enveloped me as a student: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..."

The magnitude of writing those words to challenge the dominance of the English monarchy, the paramount global power of that era, was not lost on any of us as students. Familiar though we were with those words, within Ms. Chandler's class, their gravity became palpable. We also noted that the signatories felt no obligation to defend the notion that all men are created equal. As they said: it is self-evident. The notion that all people are created equal was certainly not the broadly accepted view in the world at the time, but the signers stated it boldly. In their view, the argument didn’t have to be made.

Chief Justice Warren Burger said, “the Declaration of Independence was the promise; the Constitution was the fulfillment.” The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written framework for current governance in the world, but it is much more than just a framework.

The Preamble of the Constitution eloquently declares: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

It is noteworthy how the Founders articulated the profound aspirations of the Constitution in a remarkably matter-of-fact manner. Particularly striking are the Constitution's aims of establishing justice and fostering domestic tranquility, reflecting a remarkable vision for societal harmony. Equally significant are the closing words that affirm the commitment to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." These sentiments unite us all as people of the United States, casting us both as beneficiaries and guardians of the ideals enshrined in the Constitution. As custodians of these principles, it is incumbent upon us to not only ensure their enduring presence but also to steadfastly safeguard them for every individual within our society.

Over the past year, the words inscribed in the Constitution, it’s unique promise and charge to preserve the equality of humanity, have been present in my mind as we translate that promise to practical application in the day-to-day functions of our school district. A question we routinely ask is whether we are ensuring all students are enjoying the promises we all so dearly value and that I learned as a student. A starting point for us is the work towards assuring that every child experiences a safe environment where they can learn free of harassment, discrimination, or any form of prejudice due to their differences. Our district is taking a stand against behaviors that would contradict the promises embedded in our Constitution. We invite you to join us in this shared stewardship. It takes all of us.

All in together.

Dr. Dan Linford