For Park City High School science teacher Mary Purzycki, what could have been the third strike became her third-time charm.

Purzycki recently earned her certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an independent organization that aims to improve teacher quality through a rigorous process that can take years.
This was the third time Purzycki tried, having missed certification the second time because she was two points short on one of the tests.

"You feel like you won, trust me," she said, noting if she'd failed this time she "was not gonna do that again."
National Board Certification is voluntary and enhances, but does not replace, state licensing. It is a professional certification used by many states as an option for advanced licensing status, and fulfills the No Child Left Behind requirement for a teacher's "highly qualified" status.
Only 83 Utah teachers are nationally certified, and Purzycki is one of eight in the Beehive State to earn hers this year. Other Park City certified teachers are Jennifer King, Shelley Pierce, Lorie Anderson. Kevin King, a former PCHS teacher who now works at the Utah State Office of Education, is also certified.

"If you really want to look at what you're doing when you're teaching, this is really it," Purzycki said.
Jennifer King spent more than 600 hours preparing a portfolio and many more preparing for a final examination.
"I always thought I was doing things really, really well, but I have made some significant changes as a result of going through the process," King said, in a previous interview. "It's probably one of the most professionally rewarding things I've ever done or will do."

The process
In order to qualify for National Board certification, a teacher must have:
* a bachelor's degree
* completed three years of successful teaching (or as a school counselor) in one or more early childhood, elementary, middle, or secondary school(s)
* a valid state teaching (or school counseling) license for each of the three years of employment
Teachers compile an extensive portfolio and take examinations. The process has taught Purzycki empathy for student test-taking.
"It gives you a little more perspective on that kind of examination," she said.
The certification portfolio includes video components, so Purzycki filmed herself teaching students about the scientific method.
"That's the most unnatural thing in the whole world," she said. "It was really hard to show that's what you're doing."

Park City has increased emphasis on board certification. As part of this year's teacher negotiations process, the Board of Education increased compensation for nationally certified teachers from an additional $600 per year to $1,500.
But even before the compensation increase, Purzycki wanted to obtain the certification for two specific reasons. One was very practical: in case she had to move. National Board Certification carries from state to state, whereas teaching licensure must be obtained in each state.
Because she's moved around the country, Purzycki has already had to apply four times for licensure. In New Jersey, the process cost her $200.
The second reason was more philosophical.
"I was at a point in my teaching where I really wanted to look at my teaching," she said.
Certification is good for seven years, at which point teachers must reapply "so you don't get into teaching ruts of doing the same thing over and over again," Purzycki said.
When she started, several other PCHS teachers were working on certification, so she was able to do it as a group.
"We had people who understood what you were supposed to be doing," Purzycki said.
For more information, go to nbpts.org.

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A group of Miners visited China in October, continuing Park City High School's legacy of outreach and friendship to the People's Republic.

PCHS Spanish teacher Martyne Stout led the group of 11 students. Vice Principal Janice Jones went too.

"It was nothing like I imagined it would be," sophomore Lea Anderson said. "There was always something to do. I learned a lot about the culture."

The group visited Shanghai and Beijing. A port city of about 13 million, Shanghai is more westernized than Beijing, China's capital, where preparations are underway for the 2008 Olympics. Park City students climbed the Great Wall, visited monuments, visited with Chinese teenagers, and viewed a performance of the world-famous Shanghai acrobats.
"It was really a mix: athletic, cultural, academic, artsy, music, and we traveled like crazy, we covered a couple thousand miles," Stout said.

Some of the students in the group are enrolled in Mandarin Chinese classes at Park City High School, but some didn't have any language training at all. The visitors appreciated the Chinese hospitality.
"I have never been treated better anywhere in my life when I've traveled," Stout said, noting, "The Chinese kids were just a hoot, their English is excellent."

The Park City students visited Beijing People's High School No. 4, Stout said, which is the best academic high school in that province.
"Our kids were pretty impressed when they went to classes," Stout said.

Beijing students hosted Park City kids for two nights, "which is almost unheard of for Americans,' Stout continued.
To repay the favor, in early February, students from the school will come here to visit and live with Park City families.

Junior Victoria Kochanek was nervous because this was her first vacation where she didn't know anyone, but that quickly changed.
"I enjoyed most the Great Wall experience because it's not only physically demanding but I also found it to be a point for spiritual growth," Kochanek said. "On the hike I really connected with a lot of the girls and through it all we made great friendships I discovered my ability to climb and conquer literally mountains."

In Beijing, which is also known as Peking, the group had authentic Peking duck. They ate the whole animal, including the heart, the tongue, and the webbing. Kochanek said the heart tasted best.

"It's the most that's considerably in the section of meat," she said.

Stout said, "I ate everything except the web and I just shoveled that around the plate until one of the kids caught me."

Anderson didn't know anyone when she left, but "everyone came back as best friends."
"Since it was so different, you depended on everyone in the group so much since they were the only familiar thing. It was like a temporary family," Anderson said. "I didn't think people would click like they did."
The experience was "definitely an eye opener," said senior Alex Hill.
"Everything you can't learn in books, you can learn in travel," Hill said. "Some of the dishes we ate were pretty gnarly."

Hill appreciated how friendly the Chinese were, and thanks trip organizers Val Chin and Shirley Smith.

Sophomore Ian Painter's favorite part of the trip was the seven-mile hike along a section of the Great Wall.
"It was incredible. It's actually very steep. There's no edges on it, like a railing or something," Painter said.

Chinese students aren't much different from those in the United States, Painter said, and family structure is more traditional.
"They're not really (different). They're more academically driven and less social," Painter said. "There's usually only one kid and a mom and a dad. The mom stays home and cooks and the dad goes out and works."
Kochanek suggests that anyone who has the chance for such a trip to take it.
"The Chinese kids are great, they're very smart," she said. "They can actually speak incredible English. For the most part everything is extremely accommodating."
Contributing: Kendall Fischer, Dale Thompson

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Next year, Park City Academy is planning to boldly go where it's never gone before: high school.

The academy, the largest private school in the Park City area, has only offered classes up to the eighth-grade, at which point graduates have traditionally continued at Park City High School, a private school in Salt Lake, or a boarding school elsewhere.

But in large part because of the Park City School District's grade realignment, academy officials want to start a ninth-grade next year.

According to headmaster John Gutman, academy families don't like the idea of a student graduating from eighth-grade, then going "back to middle school at Treasure Mountain" for ninth-grade.
"They don't like that configuration," Gutman said. "It generated enough interest with the grade realignment. I think it's a good time for us to be doing it and we have some real serious parents who want to see this happen."

Marci Landis wants a ninth-grade at the academy for her daughter, a student there now.
"I feel that Park City Academy is a well-rounded education that can only enhance my child's experience in life and prepare her for college," Landis said.

She appreciates the school's small class sizes, the honors-level classes, the field trips, study of literature, and the Christian aspect of the school.
The academy is a non-denominational Christian school in Pinebrook, formerly called Carden Christian Academy until about five years ago. Lessons regularly include Bible study and other religious elements.
For example, on Monday, the students recreated a play of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," based on C.S. Lewis's book cum blockbuster movie, which is steeped in Christian theology.
"A whole lot of kids dressed up and went to a midnight showing when it first showed. They were really excited about it," Gutman said.
But finding enough students could be a challenge. Gutman says the minimum students they need for ninth-grade is eight. There are 12 students in the academy's eighth-grade this year.
"We feel like we are ready. A lot of it will depend on a commitment right after the first of the year," he said.

The other private school which includes middle grades is The Colby School, which graduated eight eighth-graders this year. Colby has no immediate plans for a ninth-grade, so perhaps the academy could pick up some Colby grads.
"We'd be interested in them if they're interested in us," Gutman said. "They've expressed an interest in a ninth grade as well, I don't know how far they've gotten with it."
Gutman hopes to extend into a 10th grade the subsequent year, but if they don't he wants "want to make a smooth transition to PCHS and other high schools our students go to."
The academy is also arranging for its ninth-graders to participate in sports with in the Park City School District.
"We do have some athletes that would like to do that," he said.

Lora Payne is excited that her eighth-grade son will be able to stay at the academy next year. She said "the proof is in the pudding" as far as results from the academy are concerned.
"I have two older children who have achieved large scholarships at boarding schools on the East Coast thanks to the education at the middle school at Park City Academy," Payne said.
A teacher at her son's school in New York told Payne that "you've sent me this little genius."
Payne said, "Well I know he's not a genius, he just had a great teacher who prepared him so well."

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Park City High School will offer a new class for the Academic Decathlon team next year, plus one for helping students who need help with the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test, which they must pass in order to graduate with a traditional diploma.

Educators can design their own courses like this, which must then be approved by their principal and the School Board, which approved these two courses at its meeting last week.
"It gives us one more opportunity to offer classes that may assist students in one way or another," said high school Principal Hal Smith. "These are classes that are not within the state-approved list and that is why they need to be approved by a local board. They are broader based or more unique than those courses that are listed in the state guidelines."

The Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (UBSCT) consists of three sections: reading, writing, and math. Students take it as sophomores, then have multiple opportunities to pass sections they fail before graduation.
According to a report Smith gave at last week's board meeting, of the 313 senior students at Park City High School and the Park City Learning Center, 92.3 percent have passed the writing test, 92 percent have passed the mathematics portion of the test and 94.8 percent have passed the reading section. The school is taking steps to help those who have not yet passed all three sections. The last test for seniors will be given in February 2006.
The class for the Academic Decathlon was designed by the team's coaches, history teacher John Krenkel and physics teacher Charlie Matthews. Academic Decathlon teams consist of nine students who compete in 10 subjects.
The last two years, Park City High School's team has won the state competition and finished third in the medium-school division at nationals. This year, Park City also won 10th in the nation overall.
Krenkel said, "I think I speak for both Charlie and me (and the junior team members, too) when I say that having an Academic Decathlon class at PCHS opens up whole new horizons for our Academic Decathlon team."
But it also creates a whole new set of higher expectations, he continued.
"The coaches, the team members, and the school community will be expecting to see results from this commitment. But both the possibilities and the expectations are really exciting," Krenkel said.

Anyone from grades nine to twelve can sign up for the class. Assigning team members will be based on performance, so any potential member of the class is a member of the team, or a future team.
"Not to say the 10th grader or ninth grader couldn't compete, it's just that it's less likely they'd be able to beat out juniors and seniors," Krenkel said.

More classes on the horizon

The board is also considering two more locally developed courses: "Power Training" and "American and World Folk Music." In January, the board will approve or reject them.
"Power training is for athletes," Smith said. "I'm sure that a lot of the football students would be using that course, but it should be a broader base than that as well."
Strings and orchestra teacher Dennis Harrington designed the folk music class. But just because a teacher designs the class, it doesn't mean he or she will teach it.
"It should be a course anyone can teach. It's not necessarily you're going to teach it if you design it," Smith said. "Just because somebody indicates their willingness or excitement to teach it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to."
For example, last year Jon Green designed a course called "Science Fiction Literature," which Roger Arsht is teaching.
Just because a locally developed course is approved, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be taught. If enough students don't sign up, the school can't offer the class. These courses must be submitted by December, because students sign up for classes in February.

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"Vindicated" is a popular word for Treasure Mountain International School Principal Bob O'Connor these days.

O'Connor has been cleared of wrong-doing in a two-year-old law suit filed by five female teachers, accusing O'Connor of harassment and discrimination, and transferring them to another school against their will.

"In no way was I harassing them," O'Connor said. "But you think about how this weakens someone's case who may be harassed at some point. I think this weakens women's rights."

Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cleared him of the accusations.

"I'm just glad it's over," O'Connor said. "The climate here at the school is great. The faculty here have moved on, we still have great parental support and test scores are up."
The five, who taught at Treasure Mountain in the 2002-03 school year, are Judy Holt-Ottley, Judy McClelland, Tessie Palczynski, Peggy Quinlan-Gee, and Michelle Breinholt. All are still employees of Park City School District, but Breinholt is the only one still at Treasure Mountain.

"It's a bureaucracy, what can you say?" Breinholt said. She has no plans to pursue the matter any further.

About Breinholt, O'Connor said, "I think we have a pretty good working relationship."

He praised Breinholt's efforts as an honors biology teacher and involved teacher with the International Baccalaureate program.

Holt-Ottley has is on a year's leave of absence working in a school for at-risk youth in Jamaica, Breinholt said. Last year, Holt-Ottley was a counselor at the Park City Learning Center.

McClelland and Quinlan-Gee teach at Ecker Hill International Middle School and Palczynski teaches at the Park City Learning Center.
Palczynski said, "They did clear him of discrimination charges but they said they can't do anything about poor management skills and conflict in management styles, that's something that's going to have to be addressed by the district."
She said she misses her colleagues at Treasure Mountain, but is glad to be at the learning center.
"We have all moved on and always embraced our new jobs because it's about the kids. So we're all doing fine. We're not in our place of passion, which is 7, 8, and 9 grade but we're all doing just fine," Palczynski said. "Although they may have separated us as colleagues, we have grown closer as colleagues and as friends because our main focus is and always has been the kids."

The law suit

In the suit, the teacher's attorneys wrote:
"The fact is, these five women have been targeted, intentionally and with bad faith, to be harassed, singled out for repeated abusive and punitive discipline, had their professional credentials and integrity held up to ridicule, and been threatened with termination and/or removal entirely without cause."

To resolve the situation, the suit asked for letters of apology, reversal of the involuntary transfers, and re-assignment of O'Connor. Teacher transfers are handled at the district level, and O'Connor had no authority over that.
"It is my hope that for these five remarkable women, the anguish and pain can soon give way to fairness and healing. I await your reply so that process can begin," wrote attorney Jan Graham in the suit's cover letter.

In 2003, Park City School District hired two independent investigators who interviewed about 80 employees from Treasure Mountain and Park City High School, where O'Connor had previously worked as vice principal for five years.

"It was a nerve-wracking time for me," O'Connor said. "I was extremely pleased at the support and response that the other half of the school and community gave me."

At the same time, the state labor commission also conducted a study. Neither one charged O'Connor with any malfeasance, so the teachers each appealed the matter with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The last of the five appeals came back rejected on Friday.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's settled with the final one last Friday," O'Connor said. He noted, "That closed the book on it."
Graham, Utah's former attorney general, was a partner at the Park City law firm Tesch Graham. She left the law firm about a year ago, and the firm now has nothing to do with the case.

"I was looking forward to meeting the lady," O'Connor said. "I guess I don't get to."

"Tapped a keg"
Besides the suit, O'Connor objected to the tactics used against him.

"I was surprised and disappointed at the perception that was put into the community about how I was treating teachers," O'Connor said. "I was disappointed at the attempt of attorneys to try the case in the media."

O'Connor cited articles in The Park Record, interviews on KPCW, and public comment at School Board meetings as an attempt to create "enough humiliation to get him or the district to roll over."

The parties charging him even "tapped a keg and had a buffet at Deer Valley to, in my mind, garner support," O'Connor said.

He says the entire experience hasn't changed the way he conducts himself as a principal.

"The school community here has been supportive, so I'm appreciative about that," O'Connor said. "I don't think it has changed the way I conduct things. I have gotten faith in the process that the district and state used to involve everybody. That process worked."

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In order to graduate from Park City High School, students need to fulfill 26 credits worth of required classes. But a current policy up for consideration might raise that to 28 credits.

Since the district has a block schedule of eight classes, students can take a maximum of 32 credits in their four years of high school. A year-long class is one unit, a semester class is 0.5. The state of Utah requires students take 24 credit units.
Kirsten Kohlwey has worked on this proposal with the PCHS Community Council for two years.

"I believe it encourages the students to get a broad education while they're in school," Kohlwey said. "If you want to have students competing at a national or global level and be prepared for the future they should have the broadest skills that they can acquire."

The additional credits the high school would require are

A semester of financial literacy (a requirement by the state of Utah)

A semester of computer technology

A year of an elective class, chosen from the student's "education occupation plan" (like a college student has electives within his/her major)

School representatives proposed the idea to the Park City Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday evening. The board approved posting the policy for consideration, but will not vote on it until mid-January, according to the current schedule.
Board members Lisa Kirchenheiter, David Chaplin, and Kim Carson voted in favor of posting. Vern Christensen voted against it, and Kathryn Adair was not at the meeting.

"Their main goal is to keep our kids competitive on an international level, not just a Utah level," Kirchenheiter said.
The financial literacy and computer requirements are "very appropriate and very well thought out for our world today," Christensen said.

Even though the board approved the measure, members are skeptical.

Kirchenheiter continued, "I want to support what the high school and the community council are desiring and I feel like they're up close and personal with this and they should know what the needs of the school are, but on the other hand there are some serious questions about how this will help students who are struggling."

Chaplin said, "This will be maybe too difficult for some students to accomplish."

Struggling students

About 70 percent of Park City students already graduate with 28 credits or more, Christensen said. Some students even take a zero-hour class or one on Saturday morning.

But how will this new requirement affect the other students, Christensen wonders. Before approving such a measure, he continued, the board should answer such question as:

What has been our historical drop out rate?

What number of students do we have who are seniors who might have 25 credits who might leave the district and go graduate at another high school?
How many of the students that are not high achievers, who struggle to get 26 credits how much more problem would there be to get 28 credits?

What about our ELL students?

Moreover, Park City High School offers an extensive array of elective classes such as science fiction literature, debate, Student Council, peer tutoring, and internships. Would increased academic requirements detract from a student's capacity to take electives?

Christensen praised "the rigor of coursework and diversity of coursework that we have at the school. I applaud what their doing and it's very important what they're doing for our students and their progress. How does that fit with increasing the basic requirement levels? I'm not sure."

The increased requirement could also affect students enrolled in the Latter-day Saint Seminary. Students who took a seminary class every year would then have no room for additional elective classes (28 credits + 4 seminary credits = 32 total available in high school).

"It is a concern, it's an issue it's something to keep in mind, but it's something we've dealt with all along. It's just a matter of reality that we deal with," Chaplin said.

About 200 students at both Park City High School and Treasure Moutnain International School are seminary students, said Mike Cottle, the seminary principal.

"It could affect" the number of students enrolled in semiary, Cottle said. "I'm not sure how many, but it could affect us."

Many LDS seminaries have a class before school hours, but Park City does not at this point.

The requirements could also reduce the number of students who get parental release to miss class for whatever reason, such as athletics.

"That makes sense doesn't it? I think it does figure into the whole mix of things, less parent release," Chaplin said.

Board members are interested in community input on the subject.

Kirchenheiter said, "If we get enough feedback from stakeholders where they can tell us how this is going to be negatively impacting our child, it could be put off again."

Chaplin said, "We thought it would be important to get it in front of the public by posting it so the feelings of other people might get back to us and we'll have a clear way to go."

Board contact info:
Dave Chaplin, 649-9613,

dchaplinLisa Kirchenheiter, 649-7786, lisakirchVern Christensen, 655-2941, verncKim Carson, 649-1743, kcarsonKathryn Adair, 645-0819, kadair

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If all the world is a stage, some of the players must be opera singers.

This was the attitude at Park City High School recently when apprentice artists from the Utah Opera came to teach and perform for choir students.
"One of our basic core beliefs is everybody should have the opportunity to experience all sorts of music in their life," said Paula Fowler, director of education and community outreach for the Utah Symphony and Opera. "You never know what kind of music or music -maker is going to be something that makes everyone excited and then see what adds to their own lives and sparks their own interest."

Five opera artists four singers and one pianist visited Park City High School on Dec. 1, as part of the opera company's student outreach through POPS (Professional Outreach Performance in the Schools), a state-funded resource, and other private donations that make school visits like this free.
"We try to go to every public school in the state every three to five years," said Lori Fisher, educational assistant with the opera. "We help enhance the curriculum that's already available and assist in helping the teachers to continue to motivate their students, to enhance their current curricular program."
The artists performed scenes from operas and sang solos. Beyond the artistic side of professional singing, they answered questions from students about the realities of such a career.
" high school, people are really interested in it as an avocation or a vocation, we have a more intimate program for high schools," Fowler said. "It's kind of a school-to-work presenation for people who are having to think about college and eventual careers."
When opera singers visit elementary or middle schools, they usually just do big assemblies, Fowler said, but high school students have more engaging questions they want to ask.
Maria Alu, a soprano who visited Park City High School, said, "They have a lot of really insightful questions. Even the young ones and the middle school ones have insightful questions. It's great to be able to share the art form that we love so much with young audiences."
Park City teachers are very involved, Alu said, and choir director Derek Furch "is doing some really good things."
"It's a lot of fun to see the reactions of the different kids," Alu said. "It's a lot of fun that we get to sing for different age groups. I actually really enjoy working with the high school kids."
The other visiting apprentice artists were Glorivy Arroyo, mezzo-soprano (alto), Beau Gibson, tenor, Sean Damm, baritone/bass, and Shirley Chow, pianist.
"These were students who were talking to future musicians on the how and why," Fisher said. "These are professionals and how often do schools get to see professional quality work in their schools?"
Alu's advice to any kids interested in the performing arts is:
"If you have a career you want to pursue, go ahead and go after it. I know careers in the arts are not always the easiest things in the world but it's definitely worth it," she said.

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Lugner is a veteran user of the MySpace.com, the popular Web site that makes blogging simple. People can log on to write journal entries, post pictures, and meet new friends.
"You meet people from Park City, people from everywhere really," said the Treasure Mountain International School student. "I am friends with some people I know from Heber and Kamas, but mostly just kids at school."
MySpace is free and requires no hard or software beyond an Internet connection. Posting on the Web site also requires no real computer knowledge beyond basic Internet proficiency. MySpacers customize their own site with the images and text they want to use.
Park City High School senior Kelli Tompkins uses MySpace to keep in contact with friends who have moved.
"I guess it's just the most efficient way for me to keep in touch with them," said Tompkins.
She just uses it for email, but a lot of Park City teens use it to blog or post pictures from dances or other events.
Park City High School junior Stephanie Stoler said, "It's a fun environment, you have the ability to meet a lot of cool people from around the world that see something on your profile that catches their eye. The ability to share pictures is a great feature, and having a lot of my favorite bands use MySpace is very cool indeed. I enjoy the bulletin factor, which give you a chance to shout something out to all of your friends at once."
Park City High School 2005 graduate Elizabeth Leader uses MySpace to keep in contact with friends while she's at Claremont Mckenna College in California. In one blog, she writes:
"Hello my lovelies. I miss you and am thinking of you all often. But college life is treating me very nicely. I would be ecstatic if you dropped me a note (if even a free postcard from a restaurant). Or the bill for something of yours I damaged. That works too."

Parents: up and in your business?

"I like MySpace because it's only between you and your friends really," Lugner said. "Your parents aren't always up and in your business. It's a more advanced email connection, you can see pictures. You don't have to use the phone for people who are long distance."

In fact, some of the material posted on MySpace could get teens in trouble. Max, a 17-year-old Parkite who uses MySpace under the screen name Maxipad, emailed The Park Record.

"Park City teens find it okay to meet adults off of MySpace or put pictures of them at their 'Deer Valley parties' where they are all drinking or smoking reefer on their pages," Max wrote.
He also that sometimes teens form groups against teachers and students and recruit others to these groups and "really hurt people's feelings."
Technically, people have to be 16 to use MySpace, but "it doesn't really matter" as long as they use it safely, Lugner said.
"A lot of parents don't like their kids using AOL Instant Messenger because you can get messages from people you don't know, but on MySpace you're in control of everything," Lugner said.

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Folks at Treasure Mountain International School are looking to change history.

So to speak.

Students of history teacher Kevin McIntosh is again having his students create elaborate visual projects which focus on some historical movement such as civil rights or moment like the Cuban missile crisis. The displays involve art, research, and essay writing.

"It's dynamic because it brings them a wide variety of choices and a variety of student talent," McIntosh said. "These projects allow students to use their talents to create something that deals with history."

The projects will enter into competition for National History Day, held in March. Students first compete at the school level, then judges send them on to a regional level, then state, and finally a national level at the University of Maryland in late spring.

Only the displays that finish in first or second place at the state level proceed to nationals. Last year, Treasure Mountain students finished in third place.

"We missed it by that much," McIntosh said, holding his fingers an inch apart. He added, "I'm very proud of all the students. This is something I look forward to every year."

Charlie Actor studied the assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler, and recreated the one that came closest to succeeding with action figures he bought at the store. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg put a bomb in a briefcase, then left it in a meeting with Hitler and other Nazi leaders.

"This sounded the most interesting to my group," Actor said. "Not many people know about it. We barely found any books on it."
coincidence, the briefcase was removed from the table and the explosion failed to kill Hitler. Actor worked on the project with fellow students Matthew Wolbach, Peter Johnson, John Dwyer, and Audrey Kohout.
The projects were on display in Treasure Mountain's library Thursday evening for a parent and judging night.
"It was inspiring. "It was really cool," said Ashley Newhall on Thursday afternoon. "We're being judged tonight. We get to go to state if the judges like it."

Student projects

The history projects cover a wide variety of topics. Courtney Luttmer said about the project, "Even though it was a big pain, I learned a lot." She commented that McIntosh is "a good teacher."
"This project was so long," said Tori Gagnon. "It was fun. It really did take forever. Our parents got so sick of us meeting at our houses"

Gagnon's group chronicled Jackie Robinson's career in professional baseball.
"We thought Jackie Robinson was really brave in taking a stand for African-Americans and being brave enough to be the first black man to play in the major leagues," Gagnon said.
Laurel Van'tHof, Sarah Boline, and Mary Allen researched the history of the Berlin Wall.
Van'tHof said, "The Berlin Wall was important because it divided East and West Berlin." (The girls had to pause to double-check which was communist.)
"I enjoyed learning about how when it was up and all of the different kinds of graffiti that was on the wall and stories of people who attempted to climb over the wall," Boline said.
"If I was separated from my family, I think I would try to get over the wall, because I would have a hard time being without my family," Allen said.
Kyle Matt studied the education and integration efforts of Blackfeet Indians: schools that taught them in American style and those which take an approach traditional to their culture.
"They're trying to teach the Indians to be white people," he said. His great-great-great-uncle was a Blackfoot Indian. "I know more about my relatives and their past and who I am."
Alex Anderson studied the Cuban missile crisis.
"It was the closest the world has every gotten to thermo-nuclear war," Anderson said.
Jessica Hinrichs studied the last queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani.
"I went to Hawaii once and thought that it was a very interesting story how the last queen tried to keep Hawaii's original culture," Hinrichs said.

Mary Hart and her friends studied Bob Marley.
"Most people get the wrong impression about him," she said. "There's so much more to it (his music). Through songs, he tried to get peace and love."
Alison Madrovsky added, "It was fun because we actually like the topic. We found something that people don't know about."

Annika Karlsen's group studied Malcolm X.
"We decided to do him because no one knew much about who he was," Karlsen said. "I thought it was interesting how he was in jail for 10 years and then became one of the greatest civil rights leaders aside from Martin Luther King Jr."
Austin Harris added, "It sounded interesting and I didn't really know about it. I learned a lot of stuff."
Sarah Morrison's group researched the Live Aid rock benefit concert.
"I already knew a lot about Live Aid because I was in London when it was taking place," she said. "I thought it would fit what we were supposed to do for the project perfectly because it was a group of people taking a stand against poverty and showing that you can make a difference"
Erin McMahon added, "There was a lot of information that we didn't know. It was a lot of fun to do and work with your friends."

Danya Bush studied Jane Goodall and the chimps.
"I'm an animal lover," Bush said. "It made me really wanna help them (the chimps). There are more unfortunate beings out there and we shouldn't just focus on ourselves."
Contributing: Interns David Lambert and Kendall Fisher

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To help combat this "silent epidemic, the Attorney General's office recently joined forces with anti-suicide group the Jason Foundation to provide suicide prevention training for free to Utah teens, parents and educators.
"We're going to work with them to make parents more aware of what's going on," Johnson said. "The Attorney General just wanted to make parents more aware of the warning sings. It's something he feels is important and parents should know about."
The Jason Foundation was founded by Tennessee resident Clark Flatt after his then 16-year-old son, Jason, killed himself in 1997.
"I don't want another parent to go through the pain I went through," said Flatt in a press release. "My son was a bright and lively young man who was looking forward to the upcoming football season. Together we can make a difference in the tragedy of youth suicide in Utah by helping one person at a time."
The Jason Foundation has a kit prepared for parents and educators ("A Promise for Tomorrow") which includes a video, brochures, and a teacher's manual.
"It's a program that should be used in schools," Johnson said. "Teachers, principals, and parents can get the resource material and request more information at the Jason Foundation Web site."
The Web site, jasonfoundation.com, offers a host of resources including info for seminars, suicide statistics, and lists of affiliated health care centers.
"If you saw someone having a heart attack, you'd call 911. But what if a friend told you they were thinking about suicide? What would you do? Who would you call?" reads a page on the Web site. "People are afraid to talk about suicide. Because no one is talking, young people are dying --- one every one hour and forty-five minutes, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."
The Jason Foundation helps parents and teachers recognize suicide warning signs, Johnson said, which include when teens withdraw from school, suddenly fail in classes, become depressed, and stop engaging in the same activities they used to enjoy, Johnson said.
According to jasonfoundation.com, other warning signs include a pre-occupation with death, taking unnecessary risks, and making statements about feeling worthless or hopeless
Nationwide, youth suicide is the third leading cause of death for those between the age of 15 and 24 and the second leading cause of death for college-aged students.
"It's all over the map, you can't say there's more 15 year olds than 24 year olds," Johnson said.
Part of the anti-suicide push is accumulating more statistics on suicide rates in Utah, he continued. The Attorney General's office is promoting the community assistant resource line (CARL): 1-877-778-CARL (2275).
"It's a line that parents can call to talk with a professional. From that they can get mental health resources," Johnson said, noting the hotline can help with other mental health issues, not just suicide.

Suicide rates in Utah have gotten worse in the last 10 to 20 years, Johnson said. That reflects national statistics as well: in the past 40 years, youth suicide rates have almost tripled, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age youth, according to jasonfoundation.com.
"Teen suicide is always a concern, it's a complex issue. It's not one that we want create a lot of drama around," said Merrilee Buchanan, clinical social worker and assistant program manager with Valley Mental Health.
School counselors are well trained to recognize when kids are feeling suicidal, Buchanan said. Sometimes kids will tell their friends and then swear them to secrecy.

Suicide statistics

Suicide is more common in Western states. One reason could be because of easier access to firearms.
"In the Western United States everyone is more gun-pro out here so they are more accessible," Johnson said.
A commonly quoted suicide statistic is that women attempt it more frequently, but men are more successful, since they tend to use more immediately lethal methods (like guns), whereas women tend to use drugs or poison, which can be treated, Buchanan said.
"Kids are impulsive when they have access to things that could hurt them, that's when the risk goes up," Buchanan said. "In the rural populations people are more likely to keep guns."
The Utah Health Department reported that in 2003, its most current data, 335 people in Utah killed themselves; 281 were men. Firearms were the most frequently used method, in 181 total suicides. Of those, 162 were men and 19 were women.
University of Tennessee head football Coach Phillip Fulmer is the national spokesperson for the foundation and former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher serves on the foundation's Medical Advisory Board.

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