Today’s money tip comes from America Saves. Dining out is something everyone enjoys. Instead of pressuring yourself to stop eating out, try something more realistic like cutting one night of dinner out. If it costs you $25 to eat out, but only $5 (even less!) to eat in, then the $20 you save each month allows you to almost completely fund a $500 emergency savings account!
More resources and tips to help you cut your spending are available on the Believe website!
by Jenn Sanchez
Community Impact Director
PARK CITY – About 80 fourth and fifth graders recently got the chance to attend “Career Day” at Ecker Hill Middle School. It was the first time the district organized such an event for Latino elementary students, said Nora Buchanan, the Park City School District Latino outreach counselor. She said she coordinated “Career Day” to get students excited about what they want to be when they grow up, so they know what to study when they go to college.
“We want children to start thinking about their future goals,” she said.
The students attend Trailside, Jeremy Ranch and Parley’s Park elementary schools, which are also Community Learning Centers. The centers, also known as community schools, are apart of United Way of Salt Lake’s strategic plan to serve families and provide them with the resources they need to be successful in the areas of education, income, health as well as how to integrate into society. UWSL and its partnering agencies work in six neighborhoods, including Park City, Salt Lake City and Kearns, with more than 20 centers.
Buchanan also said she wanted to expose kids to role models in their community who look like them, who are Latino, and who can identify with them. Some of the guest speakers included: Jose Enriquez, an assistant principal and founder of Latinos in Action (a program for Latino students in high school and junior high), Miguel Contreras, an officer with the Park City Police Department, Irlanda Lamoureux, a community learning center coordinator in Park City, a banker, a victim’s advocate, and myself.
I spoke about the importance of volunteering in your community to make it a better place. I also stressed the importance of graduating from college and following your passion, especially when people try to bring you down or say you can’t do something. After our small group discussions, the students were encouraged to write us questions. Here are some of questions I was most impressed with:
My favorite: Are you happy with your life?
Yes, of course! I get to do what I love!
by Alison Cundiff
Resource Development Executive
It is always so exciting to see a company who knows how to have a little fun with their employee giving campaign! This year the Director of FedEx Services Western Region of Sales, Phillip Ragatz, told his employees that if they raised at least $2,500 in special event money for United Way of Salt Lake, he would shave his hair into a Mohawk and dye his hair and beard purple! Well, as you can see from the picture below, FedEx Services employees met their goal!
Thank you, FedEx Services employees, for the money you raised for United Way! Also, a huge thank you to Phillip for being a great sport and encouraging your employees to come together for a common goal! That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED!
Pictured with Phillip are two Inside Sales teams from Salt Lake City, The Great Salt Lakers and the Wasatch Wonders.
Geoff Brandt
Granite Park Jr. High
Monthly Report
October was a big Month for our after-school program and Granite Park Jr. High. We had our Lights On event at the PAL Boxing Center on Thursday October 27th. There were many students from the PAL Boxing Center and Granite Park in attendance. We had music for the kids and their parents along with bounce houses in the gym. The staff cooked a hot dog dinner for everyone in attendance. Overall it was a good turn out!
The other big event we had in October was the haunted house we hold every year, but this year it was at Granite High School. The after-school students helped decorate and set up the haunted house Wednesdays the 26th and Thursday the 27th. They were very excited to set up the haunted house and find there favorite stop to hide so they could scare someone Friday evening during the haunted house. On Friday the 28th the kids from Granite Jr. High came to Granite Park to put together the final touches and get hidden in there favorite spots. The haunted house turned out to be a huge success and the kids had a wonderful time.
We are excited for the month of November at Granite Jr. High and every thing to come.
by Sarah Flanigan
Empowering Parents Coordinator
English Skills Learning Center
A few weeks ago, we began implementing our Parents Engaged in Everyday
Reading (PEER) lessons in the English Skills Learning Center’s Empowering
Parents classes at elementary schools. We are very excited about this
new component of our classes.
Each PEER lesson uses a children’s book to teach parents strategies
for reading with their children and activities that they can do with
their family after reading the book. The lessons are taught by the
volunteer teacher who regularly works with the class and an ESLC staff
member. Our goal is to get parents involved in their children’s
reading, encouraging their children to read at least twenty minutes a
day and making reading a special family activity. Each parent who
participates in the lesson receives a copy of the book to keep.
Rachel Blackmer, the ESLC’s Associate Director, shared this story
about the PEER lesson she taught today. “During our PEER lesson,
when we were reading our book together,Yolanda’s son climbed into her
lap and started pointing to the pictures in the book and talking to
his mother about them. He wanted her to read it to him right then!
Yolanda told us that her son loves books and she was so happy to be
able to take the book home with her to read to him in English.”
We appreciate the support of our sponsors who have made this exciting
new program possible!
