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| Photo Credits: Alisha Tondro |
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Local student struggles through life, but comes out on top of graduating class
Although he attended at least eight different schools throughout his school career, Kyle Avery of Riverton learned how to focus on life and goals throughout his education. Despite several physical limitations, Kyle is determined to be a positive role model.
“When he was young, doctors said he wouldn’t be anything. Now they are simply astounded as to what he’s become,” Margaret Avery, Kyle’s mother, said. “It’s a miraculous feat what he’s accomplished.”
Kyle grew up in a family of five adopted children. He is one of two in the family with physical limitations.
Kyle’s limitations include fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and ADHD. Even though Kyle was told numerous times by people in his schools that he wouldn’t be able to handle life, he has managed to surprise them.
According to his doctors, teachers and parents, Kyle has actually gone above and beyond that which anyone thought even remotely possible.
Kyle’s motto is “wherever you go, there you are.” He lives by this motto and tries to teach others around him the meaning of these words. He really believes that no matter where you are in life, it’s up to you what you make of yourself.
“I knew that I was a normal kid, but no one else could see that,” Kyle said.
Kyle is extremely aware that a lot of his accomplishments are due to his upbringing.
“If my parents weren’t being good parents, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today,” he said. Both Gary Avery, his father, and Margaret Avery agree.
“Everything my family does is a reflection of what I should be doing,” Kyle said. As he talked about his family, there was a look of respect on his face.
Margaret Avery explained that Kyle has always made friends easily. “He’ll do anything for a friend,” she said.
She also spoke about how compassionate and forgiving Kyle is. “He gives his friendship so easily,” she said.
Kyle recently graduated from the Jordan Resource Center, in Midvale, with a GPA of 3.5. He also attended both Bingham and Riverton high schools briefly.
“We always thought there was an answer, and a way to make it all possible for him,” Margaret Avery said.
Kyle has advanced so far that one of his teachers asked him to help teach a class on how to make computer games. This came about because Kyle was curious about how to do it and asked if he could take the book home with him over the weekend. He picked up on it so quickly that the teacher handed the class over to him.
“He likes to figure out how things work,” Gary Avery said of his son.
Gary Avery said that Kyle taught himself how to ride a bike, use a skateboard, and play the guitar. He has also done some woodworking, building cabinets and book cases at Herriman High School.
“We’re all astounded at the knowledge that he has,” Margaret Avery said.
Kyle said that his schooling has taught him to be responsible with his life. “It doesn’t matter what they teach in school, it’s always about preparing you for life,” he said.
He also writes his own raps as sort of a venting process. He even admits that some of them are not acceptable to his parents, but it’s better than the alternative.
“Through all of the challenges I’ve been through, I’ve made some tough choices and some of them may not perfect, but through my rapping, I’m able to express myself,” he said.
Both of his parents agree that Kyle never gives up and won’t quit on anything. And although he’s been through many struggles with school, with the law, and other aspects of life, he continues to push forward.
Kyle is applying to attend Salt Lake Community College in the fall. He will be studying IT and web design.
“When he was young, doctors said he wouldn’t be anything. Now they are simply astounded as to what he’s become,” Margaret Avery, Kyle’s mother, said. “It’s a miraculous feat what he’s accomplished.”
Kyle grew up in a family of five adopted children. He is one of two in the family with physical limitations.
Kyle’s limitations include fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and ADHD. Even though Kyle was told numerous times by people in his schools that he wouldn’t be able to handle life, he has managed to surprise them.
According to his doctors, teachers and parents, Kyle has actually gone above and beyond that which anyone thought even remotely possible.
Kyle’s motto is “wherever you go, there you are.” He lives by this motto and tries to teach others around him the meaning of these words. He really believes that no matter where you are in life, it’s up to you what you make of yourself.
“I knew that I was a normal kid, but no one else could see that,” Kyle said.
Kyle is extremely aware that a lot of his accomplishments are due to his upbringing.
“If my parents weren’t being good parents, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today,” he said. Both Gary Avery, his father, and Margaret Avery agree.
“Everything my family does is a reflection of what I should be doing,” Kyle said. As he talked about his family, there was a look of respect on his face.
Margaret Avery explained that Kyle has always made friends easily. “He’ll do anything for a friend,” she said.
She also spoke about how compassionate and forgiving Kyle is. “He gives his friendship so easily,” she said.
Kyle recently graduated from the Jordan Resource Center, in Midvale, with a GPA of 3.5. He also attended both Bingham and Riverton high schools briefly.
“We always thought there was an answer, and a way to make it all possible for him,” Margaret Avery said.
Kyle has advanced so far that one of his teachers asked him to help teach a class on how to make computer games. This came about because Kyle was curious about how to do it and asked if he could take the book home with him over the weekend. He picked up on it so quickly that the teacher handed the class over to him.
“He likes to figure out how things work,” Gary Avery said of his son.
Gary Avery said that Kyle taught himself how to ride a bike, use a skateboard, and play the guitar. He has also done some woodworking, building cabinets and book cases at Herriman High School.
“We’re all astounded at the knowledge that he has,” Margaret Avery said.
Kyle said that his schooling has taught him to be responsible with his life. “It doesn’t matter what they teach in school, it’s always about preparing you for life,” he said.
He also writes his own raps as sort of a venting process. He even admits that some of them are not acceptable to his parents, but it’s better than the alternative.
“Through all of the challenges I’ve been through, I’ve made some tough choices and some of them may not perfect, but through my rapping, I’m able to express myself,” he said.
Both of his parents agree that Kyle never gives up and won’t quit on anything. And although he’s been through many struggles with school, with the law, and other aspects of life, he continues to push forward.
Kyle is applying to attend Salt Lake Community College in the fall. He will be studying IT and web design.
 |
Kyle Avery with his mother Margaret, father Gary and one of his sisters. Kyle has struggled to get through school, but his hard work paid off. He graduated at the top of his class in June. |
By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley
Published in July 2011 in Riverton, Utah
Bluffdale celebrates sixth year as Tree City, USA
On May 25 Bluffdale City planted a tree to commemorate this year’s Arbor Day. Bluffdale Elementary was invited to host the presentation and help to plant the tree. “Arbor Day can be celebrated any day,” Scott Zeidler, Wasatch Front community forester, said. Zeidler is from the Utah Department of Forestry and State Lands. He explained that Arbor Day is to help get students involved and really become stewards of the environment.
“We use trees to improve the quality of our lives,” Zeidler said.
The morning consisted of a small assembly held at Bluffdale Elementary where Ty Nielsen, Herriman City arborist and a Bluffdale resident, spoke to the students about the importance of trees. He presented the school with a copy of the book “I Can Name 50 Trees!” and gave a short slide presentation on the parts of trees.
The students became very excited when Nielsen introduced a special guest. Smokey the Bear, represented by McKay Christensen, high-fived students and even hugged some of them. Smokey was accompanied by Zeidler.
Jana Christensen, McKay’s mother, is the tree board chair for Bluffdale City. Christensen, along with Zeidler, talked to the students about the importance of trees and fire safety.
The Bluffdale City Tree Board provides an active blog with helpful gardening information and provides a monthly article in the Bluffdale Times. Members of the board have helped to plant hundreds of trees within the city.
The tree was planted at the Bluffdale City Park just behind the elementary school. Students walked with Smokey and the other guests to the site where Nielsen briefly explained how to properly plant a tree.
Each student was encouraged to bring soil or dirt from home to help bury the roots of the tree. They were called up as grade levels and allowed to dump the home-grown soil into the hole.
As part of the event, Bluffdale Elementary held a poster contest. The winners were announced during the assembly. The winning students were given certificates. These winners were Caden Stones, kindergarten; Kylee Snow, first grade; Kaelie Sorenson, second grade; Logan Cook, third grade; and Jossie Workman, sixth grade.
“We like to use this as an educational tool to help the students learn the value of trees in the community,” Blain Dietrich, Bluffdale City public works manager, said.
“Even though this is really a city thing to get these trees planted, we like to get the school involved,” he said. This is the third year of planting trees with the students.
Each year the city plants about 40 to 150 trees. This year the tree planted was an Emerald Queen. It is a fast growing, oval tree that has dark green foliage. The leaves will actually be a reddish color when first emerging in the spring but will turn a bright yellow in the fall.
“We use trees to improve the quality of our lives,” Zeidler said.
The morning consisted of a small assembly held at Bluffdale Elementary where Ty Nielsen, Herriman City arborist and a Bluffdale resident, spoke to the students about the importance of trees. He presented the school with a copy of the book “I Can Name 50 Trees!” and gave a short slide presentation on the parts of trees.
The students became very excited when Nielsen introduced a special guest. Smokey the Bear, represented by McKay Christensen, high-fived students and even hugged some of them. Smokey was accompanied by Zeidler.
Jana Christensen, McKay’s mother, is the tree board chair for Bluffdale City. Christensen, along with Zeidler, talked to the students about the importance of trees and fire safety.
The Bluffdale City Tree Board provides an active blog with helpful gardening information and provides a monthly article in the Bluffdale Times. Members of the board have helped to plant hundreds of trees within the city.
The tree was planted at the Bluffdale City Park just behind the elementary school. Students walked with Smokey and the other guests to the site where Nielsen briefly explained how to properly plant a tree.
Each student was encouraged to bring soil or dirt from home to help bury the roots of the tree. They were called up as grade levels and allowed to dump the home-grown soil into the hole.
As part of the event, Bluffdale Elementary held a poster contest. The winners were announced during the assembly. The winning students were given certificates. These winners were Caden Stones, kindergarten; Kylee Snow, first grade; Kaelie Sorenson, second grade; Logan Cook, third grade; and Jossie Workman, sixth grade.
“We like to use this as an educational tool to help the students learn the value of trees in the community,” Blain Dietrich, Bluffdale City public works manager, said.
“Even though this is really a city thing to get these trees planted, we like to get the school involved,” he said. This is the third year of planting trees with the students.
Each year the city plants about 40 to 150 trees. This year the tree planted was an Emerald Queen. It is a fast growing, oval tree that has dark green foliage. The leaves will actually be a reddish color when first emerging in the spring but will turn a bright yellow in the fall.
 |
Students from Bluffdale Elementary were asked to bring dirt or soil from home to help plant a tree during the Bluffdale City Arbor Day celebration. |
By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley
Published in July 2011 in Riverton, Utah
Rallied around reading at Monte Vista Elementary
For the past three years, Monte Vista Elementary’s administration has been encouraging students to keep good reading habits. As such, they have become a “Ken Garff Road to Success school.”
As part of this program, Ken Garff donates several bikes to participating schools to give to students who make a good effort in maintaining good reading habits. Monte Vista held a rally on June 2 to award these bikes.
During this assembly, there were also several other prizes awarded at random to the students. In order to be eligible for the drawing, the students had to have read at least five consecutive days and their name was entered once. If they read for seven consecutive days, their name was entered twice for that week.
“We are trying to encourage daily reading habits,” Principal Tom Little said.
During the assembly, four bikes were given to students. These students were chosen at random from the names of the students keeping up their reading. These students were Dylan DeVoogd, Sienna Chilcutt, Ashley Romrell, and Colby McComie.
Four Utah Education Savings Plan gift certificates were awarded to students in the drawing. These students were Rachel VanCott, Kyler Sudbury, Kayla Nicholls and William Olsen.
Other prizes included eight bike helmets and bike accessories, along with books, a few of which were autographed by the readers at the school’s Dr. Seuss Day celebration.
The helmets and bike accessories were donated by Robert Debry Law Firm and Staats Bike Shop.
“The kids get really excited about the prizes they can earn from reading,” Brooke Howard, PTA president at Monte Vista, said.
Along with the rally, the school also held a book shop. In the past, the school has only received a few hundred book donations which were given as prizes during previous assembly rallies...
This year, however, through donations from the PTA, parents, the principal, the Scholastic book fair program and the Ken Garff Road to Success literacy program, Monte Vista received more than 1,400 books.
This book shop was held on June 1 and June 15. Class times were set up and each student was able to choose his or her own book to take home. “This program is designed to motivate good daily reading habits,” Howard said. “Our students have outperformed and have shown us that reading is important to them.”
Overall, the students read a total of 130,372 days during the school year which averages to 138.7 days for each student.
As part of this program, Ken Garff donates several bikes to participating schools to give to students who make a good effort in maintaining good reading habits. Monte Vista held a rally on June 2 to award these bikes.
During this assembly, there were also several other prizes awarded at random to the students. In order to be eligible for the drawing, the students had to have read at least five consecutive days and their name was entered once. If they read for seven consecutive days, their name was entered twice for that week.
“We are trying to encourage daily reading habits,” Principal Tom Little said.
During the assembly, four bikes were given to students. These students were chosen at random from the names of the students keeping up their reading. These students were Dylan DeVoogd, Sienna Chilcutt, Ashley Romrell, and Colby McComie.
Four Utah Education Savings Plan gift certificates were awarded to students in the drawing. These students were Rachel VanCott, Kyler Sudbury, Kayla Nicholls and William Olsen.
Other prizes included eight bike helmets and bike accessories, along with books, a few of which were autographed by the readers at the school’s Dr. Seuss Day celebration.
The helmets and bike accessories were donated by Robert Debry Law Firm and Staats Bike Shop.
“The kids get really excited about the prizes they can earn from reading,” Brooke Howard, PTA president at Monte Vista, said.
Along with the rally, the school also held a book shop. In the past, the school has only received a few hundred book donations which were given as prizes during previous assembly rallies...
This year, however, through donations from the PTA, parents, the principal, the Scholastic book fair program and the Ken Garff Road to Success literacy program, Monte Vista received more than 1,400 books.
This book shop was held on June 1 and June 15. Class times were set up and each student was able to choose his or her own book to take home. “This program is designed to motivate good daily reading habits,” Howard said. “Our students have outperformed and have shown us that reading is important to them.”
Overall, the students read a total of 130,372 days during the school year which averages to 138.7 days for each student.
 |
This year’s Ken Garff’s Road to Success bike winners at Monte Vista Elementary are Sienna Chilcutt, Dylan DeVoogd, Colby McComie, and Ashley Romrell. |
By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley
Published in July 2011 in Riverton, Utah
Bluffdale residents encouraged to participate in emergency preparedness program
To help get city residents actively participating in emergency preparedness, Bluffdale City officials have hired an emergency program manager.
“Connie Jones has been doing a tremendous job since she started in February,” Mayor Derk Timothy said.
Jones has been meeting with a communications team twice a month to get the city ready for any kind of disaster. The team is made up of Bluffdale residents who have received training provided by the city. The team ran a drill at the end of April to see if the system was working.
“It went really well, and I’m excited to see them all working together,” Jones said.
To get the public more excited about being prepared, Jones has started a drawing for those who participate in projects to ready themselves.
“We really need to have a community of self-sufficient people,” she said.
This drawing will be held throughout the year. The first drawing was held at the end of May, the second at the end of June. There will be one in July and also Aug. 13. The one in August will take place at Town Days.
The winners of these prizes will be announced in the Bluffdale City newsletter each month.
Jones writes a column for the newsletter each month. In April, she asked the residents to choose and complete at least one emergency preparedness project. She also informed them that there would be prizes. To further the preparedness level of city residents, Jones offered another prize opportunity. She wrote in the May newsletter that the first person to submit a finished project would win a headlamp.
All other prizes will be based on the same idea -- furthering preparedness. The May winners were Kim Lords, Kelly Albiston and Shawna Garzarelli. The June winners were Stacy Reagh, Brenda Gowans and Tina Walters.
For each project completed, residents need only contact Jones with his or her name and give details of the project completed. Those names will be entered into the drawing each month. To send in an entry, Jones may be reached at 801-419-6278 or curlyconnie@gmail.com.
“I hope that everyone will take action and will enjoy the feeling of being better prepared,” Jones said.
Jones has also accumulated family emergency preparedness guides that can be picked up by residents at City Hall.
“Connie Jones has been doing a tremendous job since she started in February,” Mayor Derk Timothy said.
Jones has been meeting with a communications team twice a month to get the city ready for any kind of disaster. The team is made up of Bluffdale residents who have received training provided by the city. The team ran a drill at the end of April to see if the system was working.
“It went really well, and I’m excited to see them all working together,” Jones said.
To get the public more excited about being prepared, Jones has started a drawing for those who participate in projects to ready themselves.
“We really need to have a community of self-sufficient people,” she said.
This drawing will be held throughout the year. The first drawing was held at the end of May, the second at the end of June. There will be one in July and also Aug. 13. The one in August will take place at Town Days.
The winners of these prizes will be announced in the Bluffdale City newsletter each month.
Jones writes a column for the newsletter each month. In April, she asked the residents to choose and complete at least one emergency preparedness project. She also informed them that there would be prizes. To further the preparedness level of city residents, Jones offered another prize opportunity. She wrote in the May newsletter that the first person to submit a finished project would win a headlamp.
All other prizes will be based on the same idea -- furthering preparedness. The May winners were Kim Lords, Kelly Albiston and Shawna Garzarelli. The June winners were Stacy Reagh, Brenda Gowans and Tina Walters.
For each project completed, residents need only contact Jones with his or her name and give details of the project completed. Those names will be entered into the drawing each month. To send in an entry, Jones may be reached at 801-419-6278 or curlyconnie@gmail.com.
“I hope that everyone will take action and will enjoy the feeling of being better prepared,” Jones said.
Jones has also accumulated family emergency preparedness guides that can be picked up by residents at City Hall.
By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley
Published in July 2011 in Riverton, Utah
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