Gregory Leavitt
Principal, Hillcrest High School
In the last year, United Way of Salt Lake partnered with Canyons School District and the City of Midvale to ensure that children growing up in Midvale have the same opportunities for success in school and life as any other kid in our region. Today in Midvale, 14 percent of students aren’t graduating from high school and 76 percent aren’t completing secondary education.
At Hillcrest High, one kid not graduating is too many, and we aim to change that. Moreover, what we know to be true is that many of our 9th graders start high school behind, making it almost impossible for them to catch up and graduate.
With this in mind, we are launching our first ever 8th to 9th grade transition program over the summer. We’re calling it Hillcrest High School Head Start. Of course, we know it is hard to get 9th graders to come to school over the summer, we’re not naïve. So, we’re sweetening the deal. For every day a student shows up, we are paying them $5. And, for those that have good attendance at the end, we’ll be giving out rewards like gift cards, electronics, and more. We won’t be raffling these items mind you, but giving them to every student who has earned it by showing up.
In addition to this transition program, we’re hosting Day of Action at Hillcrest on June 24. Day of Action is a United Way of Salt Lake volunteer event that will bring together hundreds of volunteers from Midvale and surrounding communities to rally support around our city.
Volunteers will be assembling more than 1,000 hygiene kits and student learning binders, doing indoor and outdoor cleaning, and distributing information to the community.
We invite you, your family, your coworkers, and your friends to this fun morning of service.
Free lunch and festivities included!
Find out more and register at dayofaction.uw.org.
