In their debut appearance at the regional FIRSTRobotics competition, Hillcrest High students and their creation, the robot HARV-E, captured the All-Star Rookie Award. As a result, the team and its adviser, teacher Clief Castleton, qualified for the world championship later this month in St. Louis, Mo.

CSD was represented at the event by Hillcrest and Alta high schools, both first-time entrants. The contest at the Maverik Center, attended by 44 schools from 10 states, required students to design and build remote-controlled robots that also can climb walls or throw discs into goals. FIRSTRobotics is a nonprofit organization focused on engaging students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.  

The Hillcrest team is raising funds to attend the world championship. On Wednesday, April 17, 2013, Arby's on 129 W. 9000 South in Sandy will donate to the team 15 percent of the proceeds earned from 5-8 p.m. Additional information about Hillcrest Robotics, including how to make a donation for the students to go to the international competition, is on the school's Web site. 

Take a look at a KSL-TV Channel 5 story about FIRSTRobotics.
See the Hillcrest FIRSTRobotics team on ABC4. 
The Huskies talk to KUTV's Heidi Hatch about the upcoming world contest.

The Jazz Bands from Jordan and Alta high schools hit all the right notes at the State Jazz Festival.

Student musicians from both schools received the highest possible ratings at the annual event. 

Only nine of the 25 bands that qualified to perform at the event were given such high marks from the judges.

This is the 12^th consecutive year that Jordan High has received superior ratings in jazz.

Many Canyons District schools are participating in the 2013 Great Utah Shakeout
 
The second-annual statewide earthquake safety drill will be Wednesday, April 17, at 10:15 a.m. At that time, those participating will “drop, cover and hold on” as if an earthquake of great magnitude had hit the Wasatch Front.
 
The mock disaster will test the preparedness of schools, businesses, hospitals, city governments and families in case of an earthquake. The Great Utah Shakeout is sponsored by FEMA Region VIII, Emergency Essentials, Wal-Mart, Utah Disaster Kleenup, Deseret News, dailybread.com and the Enterprise Business Journal.

See ABC4's report of Altara Elementary participating in the Great Utah Shakeout.

David Skorut is the Ben Affleck of Canyons School District.

Like the director of “Argo,” which took the night’s big award at the recent 85th annual Academy Awards, Hillcrest’s Skorut was the big winner at the 4th annual Canyons District Film Festival, held Thursday, April 11, 2013 at Eastmont Middle School.

Skorut took home trophies in the secondary PSA and Feature Film categories, and won the festival’s first-ever poster contest. His design will be used to promote the 2014 CSD Film Festival throughout the next school year.

The winning entries are available for viewing on the CSD Education Technology Web site. 

The festival celebrated the best in films that were written, directed, acted and produced by students and teachers in the Canyons School District.

Seventy-nine entries from 21 schools across the District entered films in eight categories: Public Service Announcement, Animation, Newscast, Documentary, Advertisement, Feature Film, Teacher Film, and Poster Contest. Entries were first submitted at the school level. Each school, with the help of its Education Technology Specialist, selected its top entries to go on to District-level competition.

Two Canyons middle schools have received national honors for their sustained efforts to promote tolerance and inclusiveness within the school community. Albion and Indian Hills Middle Schools are the only two Utah schools to be named 2013 National Mix It Up Model Schools by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance program. Sixty-three schools nationwide received the honor.

Mix It Up Day provides students with opportunities to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. The simple action can have big results, as studies have shown that interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice, Teaching Tolerance reports. Many schools plan activities for the entire day, and some use the event to kick off a yearlong exploration of social divisions. Last year, more than 3,000 schools nationwide took part in the event.

Mix it Up Model Schools have met five criteria set by the Teaching Tolerance program: Host a Mix it Up at Lunch Day in 2012; include the school's community in organizing the event; follow up with at least two more Mix It Up-related programs or events; publicize Mix It Up at Lunch Day with posters, announcements and other media; and host events viewed as successful by students and school officials. Students at Indian Hills Middle School hosted a second Mix It Up event, complete with a mariachi band. Students at Albion Middle School formed a "Thriller" flash mob, wrote acrostic poems based on the letters in Mix It Up, and found other creative ways to engage students' bodies and minds.

Assistant Principal Nicole Svee-Magann talks to KUTV's Cristina Flores about Albion's efforts to make a more inclusive school.