Canyons School District is partnering with Sandy City to provide information to families about a vitally important issue: Teenage addiction to pornography.
 
Students, parents and Canyons District faculty are invited to a free informational workshop on Thursday, Feb. 28 to learn how to avoid pitfalls that are prevalent in our constantly-connected-to-the-Internet society.   
 
The “Fight the New Drug: Educating on the Harmful Effects of Pornography” event will be at 7 p.m. at Jordan High School, 95 E. Beetdigger Blvd.

Following suggestions received by the Canyons Education Association last December, the Board of Education approved the 2013-2014 school calendar, which schedules Aug. 19, 2013 as the first day of school.

The calendar includes two, non-contract end-of-quarter days for teachers to prepare grades and end-of-term reports. It also includes slight changes to accommodate for grade reconfiguration in the 2013-2014 school year, during which ninth grade will be moved to high school and a new middle school curriculum will be introduced. One change includes placing middle schools on the same school year calendar as elementary schools to better meet the needs of middle school students, who are moving from a schedule of four quarters per year to three terms per year.

Additional features of the grades K – 8 and 9 – 12 calendars include the traditional days for fall, winter, and spring recesses, and two half days for teacher professional development. The Brighton High School trimester school year calendar remains similar to what it has been in the past.

The calendar was approved by the Board on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. It had been drafted by a Calendar Committee of 18 parents, teachers, District Office representatives, school administrators and education support professionals.

Bruce Shuck has always felt a close connection to Native American culture. It started when he was young, when the neighborhood kids used to play "cowboys and Indians" — and he always chose to be the indian.   
 
He was 30 before he discovered that he really did have Native American blood — his great-grandmother was part of the Cherokee Nation, with generations of ancestors from the Powhatan tribe — and he was thrilled.
 
Since then, as a guidance counselor at Crescent View Middle School, Shuck has helped hundreds of students on the path to learning more about their Native American identity. His efforts working with students in the Standing Tall program helped earn him recognition this fall as a recipient of the prestigious Utah School Counselor Association's Human Rights Award.

This week, CSD is lauding all its school counselors for the impact they have on helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association, will be celebrated Feb. 4–8, 2013.
 
For his part, Shuck says the Human Rights Award honors his students more than himself. "It means an awful lot," he said. "It's recognition of the students I work with."
 
Standing Tall is a program designed to teach students with Native American heritage about Native American culture, inspire confidence and monitor academic performance. The program helps students ranging from those who have just moved from the reservation to those with native ancestors who want to learn more about their heritage.
 
In addition to meeting weekly with Standing Tall students at Crescent View, Shuck is also a member of the Indian Education Parent Committee and he coordinates a districtwide, monthly Native American meeting.
 
"Bruce is a champion of civil rights for not only our American Indian population, but for all students, particularly those who have been disadvantaged in various ways and could use a measure of compassion and support, as well as a caring mentor," Crescent View Assistant Principal Dave Barrett told the Utah School Counselor Association in Shuck's behalf. "He is generous, thoughtful and often engaged in small acts of kindness both with students and faculty."

Hillcrest High School invites parents and students an informational meeting about its International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, a prestigious college preparatory program. Hillcrest is one of just 12 schools in Utah that is authorized to teach the International Baccalaureate curriculum.

The meeting will be:

• Wednesday, Feb. 6, 6-7 p.m., Hillcrest High School, 7350 S. 900 East

Attendees also are invited to stay for the Hillcrest Incoming Freshman and Sophomore Orientation Program at 7 p.m.
 
Questions? Please contact Hillcrest’s IB Office at 801-826-6018 from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
 
Information also can be found at www.hhs.canyonsdistrict.org and www.ibo.org.

C'est magnifique! The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded the prestigious Label FrancEducation to French Dual-Immersion schools Butler and Oak Hollow elementaries. Label FrancEducation, which has been extended to just nine schools in the United States and 25 schools worldwide, recognizes institutions with high-quality francophone departments and access to a range of services. 

In addition to the Label FrancEducation designation, Butler Principal Christine Waddell and Oak Hollow Principal Corrie Barrett were invited by the Ministry and the French Senate to attend a bilingual education seminar in Paris in December 2012. The event, fully funded by the French government, included a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Quai D'Orsay), a seminar held at the French Senate, a day at the Centre International d'Etudes Pédagogiques in Sèvres, and the opportunity to share ideas with fellow Dual Immersion principals from around the world.

CSD Evidence-Based Learning Specialist Jill Landes-Lee talks to KUTV about why students should take that third or fourth year of world language.