Emergency response personnel assist an injured motorist after a collision on Utah Highway 10 at Robertson Lane on April 27. Police reported that the collision occurred when the driver of a sports utility vehicle attempted to turn left in front of a white delivery van. The van struck the SUV on the driver front corner of the vehicle. Airbags deployed in the van, but not in the SUV. The driver of the van was reported to have suffered minor arm injuries as a result of the airbag deployment. The SUV driver reportedly suffered more serious injuries in connection with the accident.
All the junior highs in Carbon and Emery counties brought teams to the Quiz Bowl last Friday in the Carbon High auditorium. The battle of the brains was an all day affair that tested all the students involved intellects. The local junior highs were all represented at the Quiz Bowl. The winning team was Mont Harmon Junior High with 151 points.
They barely edged out Pinnacle Canyon Academy who garnered 148 points in the competition.
Helper Junior High came in third place.
The two Emery County junior highs San Rafael and Canyonview came in as fourth and fifth place.
| Bikers Against Child Abuse members celebrate Child Prevention Month with the staff and youth at a party presented by the Carbon County Family Support and Children’s Justice Center in Price. The children, staff and guests also celebrated the 10 years the center has been helping local families. |
As April drew to an end, so did Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Carbon County Family Support and Children’s Justice Center wrapped up its month long celebration by presenting a party.
Bikers Against Child Abuse members attended the event as the staff and children celebrated the 10 years the center has been helping families.
The center tries to schedule events to give the families who use the center a reason to come to visit.
Many families use the center for small crisis and issues in their lives.
The families and children think of the center as a safe place to be. It is not a place where parents take their “bad” youngsters, explained the staff.
Although some children come to the center for difficult reasons, almost all of the youth take away a sense of well being and a few minutes of comfort after they leave.
Recently, a youth came to the center to volunteer and do her practicums for a degree, indicated the staff.
The youth remembered when she needed to come to the center for an interview.
The memories were of the friendly spaces, the teddy bear she received and the warmth of the staff while she was there.
The center tries to focus on what other agencies are able to – primary prevention and providing services before families get into crisis.
The staff encouraged Carbon County residents who drive by the center to remember that the families using the facility to avoid crisis and are not necessarily facing one.
As the school year comes to a close, many people have been reflecting on the changes and progress that have taken place at Carbon High and Mont Harmon Junior High.
Perhaps the most notable change of the 2005-2006 school year has been the influx of new students from the East Carbon area.
After the closure of East Carbon High last spring many wondered what the new year would bring, with new faces in new schools.
There have been ups and downs along the way, noted the students and school district representatives.
But for the most part, it appears the students and faculty feel that the move ended up being a positive one.
“I feel that we have been pretty much accepted,” commented former East Carbon High student Chris Candelaria.
Some youth found that it took time to adjust, both for the students who had attended Carbon High and those who were new to the school.
“People weren’t cool at first, but now things are better,” pointed out student Nichole Paiz.
The administration of Carbon High also saw some of the problems and tried to mitigate the concerns proactively throughout the year.
“In the beginning, there were heated debates about the transition, not just among students and parents, but among faculty as well,” explained Melissa Hamilton, the assistant principal at Carbon High. “There was a lot of anxiety about the move. But we tried to make the transition as smooth as possible by personally welcoming the students to Carbon High School and making special arrangements for tryouts and activities.”
“We just wanted the students to become full members of our community and they have. We’ve handled it the best we know how and I can’t think of how we could have done it differently,” added Hamilton.
Although most of the East Carbon students have seemed to assimilate well, the youth still miss their old school.
“If I could change one thing, it would be that our school never closed,” stated Nichole Paiz. “That was a big change.”
Some youth found the changes difficult because of the patterns that had developed during the years they spent attending East Carbon High.
“We went to East Carbon for so long and everything moved at a different pace,” said Patricia Hernadez.
Other youth missed some of the people who were at the old school.
“I wish that more teachers made the move with us,” added Hernandez.
Familiarity was also a common theme amongst some former East Carbon students.
“Everybody knew you at East Carbon, so coming to school in a new place was hard at first. There are a lot more people at Carbon, and nobody knows you here,” said Chris Candelaria.
To make the move easier, the district made some changes to allow the East Carbon students the opportunity to participate in after-school activities.
“The East Carbon students have interacted well and we have done things so they can be a part of the school,” said Mont Harmon principal Todd Lauritsen. “There is an activities bus that leaves every night around 6 p.m. that allows students to be involved with the activities that go on at the school, attend practices, or get tutored.”
Overall, the schools have faced few problems and the students seem to be getting along nicely.
“We didn’t have a lot of problems,” stated Lauritsen. “There is always going to be an increase of problems when the student body increases, but there was no one group of students responsible for the increase. We haven’t had a lot of complaints. There has been a couple, but not a lot.”
Students were not the only people in the school district who had to adapt to a new environment.
“There were about six or seven faculty members from East Carbon who came to Mont Harmon and a lot of the existing students had to get used to new faces just like the East Carbon students did,” said Lauritsen. “I think it was harder for the adults to get used to how we do things here at a larger school. Overall, this has been a positive year.”
Overall the administration of both schools feel the year has been productive despite some minor set backs.
“The students have assimilated well and have handled the change with grace and dignity,” pointed out Hamilton. “Now, you can’t tell the difference between the East Carbon and Carbon students. The boys in the hall are just the boys in the hall, not the East Carbon boys. In the end, I think most feel positive about the change and realize that they have more opportunities to grow.”