by Steve Whatcott
Kearns High Community School Coordinator
Hi. My name is Steve Whatcott and I started working as the Community School Coordinator at Kearns High School on March 1. I consider it a privilege and a wonderful opportunity to work as part of the United Way of Salt Lake team!
I come to the United Way after being a middle school teacher in the Jordan and Salt Lake City School Districts for over 18 years. As such, I bring many years of experience and a lot of “teacher perspective” to our efforts of helping students achieve academically, as well as in other areas of their lives. In addition to teaching Spanish to students and adults, I have taught language arts and reading to students of all ability levels and cultural backgrounds in at-risk schools. I feel fortunate to have worked with visionary and award-winning principals and colleagues at the schools where I have been, and I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to be part of leadership teams that have strived to help students be successful.
As important, if not more so, as being a teacher, I am a parent of five wonderful and at times challenging children [ages 5-15]. I feel that being a parent helps me understand the families we are trying to serve and more fully relate to them and their circumstances.
To me, LIVING UNITED means that everybody gets and everybody gives. Most of us can never repay our parents, teachers, friends, associates, and forefathers who have lived, fought, and sacrificed so that we enjoy the life we do today. We can, however, pass it forward by serving others in community. Our past, present, and future are united by the way we live and give today. We are all different, with different challenges, purposes and abilities; yet, we all must depend on and take care of each other. Ironically, the more we give, the more we get back in return.
Many things at the United Way of Salt Lake excite and interest me. I love that the organization not only finds individuals and corporations that want to give time, talents, and resources, but that we also strive to use those resources in a way that will make a lasting impact on the lives of students and families. I am excited to work in a high school, where the goal is to identify students who are falling through the cracks and figure out how to keep them on the path towards graduation and future college and career success. I am excited to work with an amazing team of dedicated, talented, and extremely smart individuals who are all working together towards a larger goal. Most of all I’m excited to be part of an organization that helps people not only in the short term, but that also strives to make a lasting impact.
