Has your 9th - 12th grader read "Ghosts of War - The True Story of a 19 Year-Old GI" yet? In a unique program started by the PCHS English Department, with funding granted by PCEF, the author, Ryan Smithson, will be coming to Park City September 5th - 7th.

He will meet with the high school English classes throughout the school day, as well as speak to the entire student body during an assembly. On the evening of the 5th, he will speak to the Park City community during a free event at 7:00 pm at the Eccles Center.

Now in it's fourth year, this program is a big success. All students, whether struggling academically or performing at the highest levels, can have a shared experience. Please check out all the ways PCEF helps advance student achievement at pcef4kids.org  

During the 2011-12 academic year, PCEF invested over $500,000 into our schools and classrooms.  In Park City, $1 per day can move mountains.  Consider donating monthly.  

That's just: 

One Student = $15 a Month  

Two Students = $30 a Month

Three Students = $45 per Month

Are YOU in?

Tickets are available online.  

Can't attend? Purchase an opportunity drawing ticket for one of 5 baskets worth $750 each from our local luxury hotels.  Opportunity Drawing Tickets Here.  

And speaking of Galas, PCEF would like to thank the Kimball Art Center and Susan Odell of foodell.com. In a unique collaboration, The Kimball Art Center and PCEF teamed up to split proceeds from one of the live auction packages sold at the Art Festival Gala on August 2nd. Susan Odell will be catering an amazing dinner for 16 at the Kimball during the Chihuly glass exhibit. Half the proceeds from this item will benefit the PCEF Art Fund!  

PCEF funds many grants focused on language arts. The Author-in-Residence program, which affects every 9th - 12th student in our district, was detailed above. Two others are the Utah Formative Writing Assessment (UFWA), and The Shoe Tree Book. Both are Ecker Hill Middle School programs.

The UFWA is an online writing program that allows students to submit writing and get immediate feedback and scores, based on the 6 traits of writing in the Core Curriculum. While it may seem counter-intuitive to have a computer 'grade' a paper, this innovative program has proven successful, when used as a supplement to teacher instruction.

This has enabled the language arts department at Ecker to give the students far more experience writing papers than would otherwise be possible. In addition, teachers in other subjects such as social studies and science are able to add writing assignments to their instruction, and use UFWA as well. This grant has touched every student at Ecker Hill.

The Shoe Tree Book was another program funded by PCEF. Every year in Deb DeKoff's 6 Silver writing class, the students write a story from the point of view of a shoe. This past year, Ms DeKoff had her students write and illustrate a poem about Park City's beloved Shoe Tree. The grant enabled students to publish the book, return to their elementary schools to read portions of the book to 5th grade classes, and leave a copy of the book behind for the elementary school library! What a great experience for all students involved!

We would like to thank the teachers for creating these innovative programs, and our donors for providing funding for them. Together, we can advance student achievement!

Park City School District has decided to take a proactive stance to create and sustain a year-round, multi-year program to eradicate bullying in our community through the effective and meaningful education of our youth.

The collaborating entities of this initiative are impressive, and underscore the desire of our community to meet and beat this problem. The partnership includes community organizations like The Peace House, People's Health Clinic, PC Rotarians, Park City Foundation, PCPD, The Christian Center, Leadership/LIA at Treasure Mountain Junior High School, Children's Justice Center, Park City Film Series, PCEF, Utah Film Center, Equality Utah, Pride Center and concerned parents and students of the PCSD.

Spearheaded by TMJH Assistant Principal Kevin McIntosh, this campaign will kick off with four screenings of the movie 'Bully.'

Thanks to the Park City Film Series, a Reel Community Series in partnership with PCEF and underwritten by Kumon, there will be a free community showing at the Jim Santy Auditorium on September 13th @ 7:00 pm.

Then, in a partnership with the Utah Film Center and Park City Performing Arts Foundation, three separate screenings will occur the next day at the Eccles Center exclusively for Ecker, Treasure, and PCHS students and teachers. All of these screenings are free, and will feature a Q & A with one of the participants afterword.  

The film is PG-13. We hope you and your family will join all of us on this journey.