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I might be the only living person in Salt Lake City who is not a Jazz fan. Just not interested in pro sports generally, plus I’m not from here so I don’t have that nationalistic fervor.

But I do know Jerry Sloan is fanatically beloved. So I asked my (step)son Sam Warchol, a basketball fan from birth, what was so special about Jerry Sloan, the longtime Jazz coach who died yesterday after a bout with Parkinson’s and Lewy Body dementia. Here’s what he said, with all the hyperbole (or is it?) reserved for sports heroes:

“Jerry Sloan was the greatest coach of all time.

With 1,223 wins, Sloan is in the top five amongst his peers. However—perhaps more importantly, —Sloan’s hard-nosed coaching laid all the groundwork for a fledgling Jazz team, in a city without any semblance of jazz music, struggling to stay in the NBA.

Epitomizing 80s and 90s basketball, Jerry Sloan was tough as nails and grittier than sandpaper, without a single damn about what anyone had to say. With these qualities tied to two of his most notable players, John Stockton and Karl Malone, the trio carried the Utah Jazz to become one of the most greatest franchises today. There would be no Jazz without what he did.”

Famous for his salty mouth, most of Sloan’s notable quotes can’t be quoted. Because, as Sam Warchol says, Sloan was at heart just a tough, gritty, blue-collar SOB.”

He loved riding his John Deer tractor around his Illinois farm. The team made this picture to sum up their beloved coach—1,223 is the number of his wins.

Why did you love Jerry Sloan? We’d love to hear your memories and comments.

For more happening in Salt Lake City, click here.

From where I stand on the motherhood continuum, Mother’s Day is every day. While superheroes are considered fictional, consider this, who else would place their head on a chopping block, fry it up in a pan and do your dirty work? It could be a friend, possibly your partner, but almost always, it’s your mom. Adopted, biological, an aunt, a grandma, perhaps a guy played the mom role for you, no matter. This is not meant to guilt, but to nudge you toward a more proactive approach to Mother’s Day gifts. We asked SLmag staffers (some who also carry the title of mom) what moms REALLY want for mother’s day gifts.

#1 Do something WITH them. Duh.

#2 Empty the Dishwasher. Put things away and here’s a stretch, possibly reload, don’t throw her nice china or knives in there (they need to washed by hand). Place a post-it note with some cute words like, “D.O.N.E. <3″—or—”Hey Mom, it’s about time I did this ;).”

#3 Get her car washed with the works. If your mom will allow, borrow her car, fill up the tank and take it to the wash, all those deep encrusted goldfish crackers, and lingering sour milk spills be gone.

#4 Do yard work. OMG, you would think we asked you to commit a crime to pull a weed, mow the grass or plant something new. Run on over to Cactus and Tropicals on 2700 South and browse their amazing indoor and outdoor plant selection. Flowers like geraniums and petunias keep blooming all summer long and love full sun, and while they don’t smell like roses, they will brighten up your mom’s front porch, and she’ll think of you every time she admires them. Cactus and Tropicals, 2735 S. 2000 East, SLC, 801-485-2542.

#5 Do the Laundry. Do it right as well. No mixing reds with whites unless she loves pink! Pull out the delicates and don’t throw them into the dryer… we could go on and on here, use your common sense: sort, fold, hang. —Megan Bartholomew, Utah Style and Design Web Editor.

#6 Make a meal (and DO those dishes). You may not be a Michelin-starred chef, but there isn’t one in Utah anyway. And if you don’t want to cook, you’ve got plenty of options! Just check out some of the many recipes we have on our site! Click here.

#7 Give her the day off. Her special day doesn’t end with that breakfast you made her. For once, why not leave her alone and hold off on asking for favors?

#8 Frame a special photo. Take an existing one or have them printed at Costco or Walgreens, SLmag’s Exec Editor, Mary Malouf loves to find re-cycled frames.

#9 Plan an event. It doesn’t have to be big, but something the two of you can do together and enjoy. A hike up to City Creek, a weekend trip to Bryce, a pedicure.

#10 The CARD (we like the ones you make yourself). If your mom is like me, I am a sucker for a handmade, handwritten “mama I love you” note. We hold onto these documents like rare, prized possessions, don’t miss out on this. Penmanship is a dying art, and custom lettering and calligraphy are fun ways to make a card uniquely yours.

BONUS: Chocolate. Maybe you don’t know what sweet, savory or salty treat is your mom’s favorite, but find out and give it to her. Hint-hint: Caputo’s has an amazing selection of fair trade chocolate that is sure to please!

You probably don’t remember. I didn’t, until George Takei reminded me.

Today, February 19, is the Day of Remembrance, the annual recognition of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing Executive Order 9066 and the subsequent incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Photo by: Dorothea Lange

Many of those Japanese-Americans were sent to Topaz, Utah, near the desert Topaz Mountain, where they finished building the barracks they were to live in, set up the barbed wire fence and build out the rest of the camp. More than 11,000 people were processed through Topaz—the population peaked at about 8,100 to 8,300.

Many books have been written by those who spent part of their life in the Topaz camp. In 2007 the Topaz site was listed as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. The Topaz Museum opened in 2017 with its interpretive exhibits.

You know the saying: Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Reading about Topaz and visiting the Topaz Museum is good way to refresh your memory.

From the Topaz Museum website:

On January 29, 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that volunteers would be accepted in an all-Japanese American combat unit. At about the same time, residents seventeen years of age and older in all the camps were given a questionnaire. Two questions became sore points for more than just the first-generation Japanese, who were not permitted citizenship in the United States. Question 27 asked, “Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty wherever ordered?” Question 28 followed with “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government, power or organization?” Since the Issei, or first-generation Japanese, were denied citizenship in the U.S., answering “yes” to question 28 would leave them without a country. After a protest by many residents, the questions were altered; but damage had already been done. Some became “No No boys” by answering “No” to both questions.
President Roosevelt announced in 1944 that the camps would close in 1945 and then people could return to their California homes. The Topaz camp didn’t close until October 31, 1945. 55 W Main St., Delta, UT 84624, 435-864-2514.

All photos courtesy of: Topaz Museum

I was amazed by the love that filled the room at Campos Coffee in downtown Salt Lake City. Campos Coffee held “Rebuilding our Roots fundraiser: To Australia with Love” on February 13th. There were over 50 people in attendance.

With fun auction items that included an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia, Australian art, signed Utah Jazz jerseys and Donavon Mitchell’s sneakers, the bids were flowing in.

Campos Coffee raised $13,000. An incredible amount of money that is being donated to WIRES, an Australian wildlife rescue organization. This money will be used to save the lives of thousands of native animals affected by the bushfires.

If you were not able to make it to this wonderful event, there are still ways to help. The bushfires continue to take a toll on Australian wildlife and organizations like WIRES need all the donations they can get.

To donate to WIRES, click here.

To learn more about Campos Coffee, click here.

How are Utah schools faring in the constantly changing world of modern education? This new world includes school violence, more pupils than most other states (we still have the largest households in the country), multicultural classrooms and very little money.

Meet Denis Hevner, Welding Tech at Highland High School.

Vocational ED gets a bad rap when it shouldn’t.

Denise Hevner first learned to helmet up while wielding a flame torch in high school. After graduation, she worked in fabrication shops for eight years. When a high school teaching opportunity presented itself, Hevner was able to earn her teachers’ license through the state’s ARL (Alternative Route to Licensure) program. Now she’s a welding teacher at Highland High School.

With a realization that there are as many hands-on learners in today’s society as academic ones, the CTE (Career Technical Education) program can assist by training students in areas of skilled performance work.

“Right now America is short by about 300,000 welders,” she states. By teaching students to use the tools of the trade as well as the soft skills needed to gain and maintain employment, Hevner shares, “I have had many students join the industry right out of high school and many more go on to college as well as trade schools.”

“All students need a place where they can feel successful,” Hevner explains.

How are Utah schools faring in the constantly changing world of modern education? This new world includes school violence, more pupils than most other states (we still have the largest households in the country), multicultural classrooms and very little money.

Meet Angela Rowland, Principal of Utah International Charter School.

Utah International Charter School is a public charter junior high and high school in South Salt Lake intended to give refugees, immigrants and American-born students full access to content-based, sheltered English instruction in every class, and to empower them with collaboration skills, critical-thinking skills, and diverse global perspectives. Mixed-ability classes are limited to 25 students, with an average class size of 20.

The art assignment sounded simple. Each student had written an essay about what their “home” looked like; now they were supposed to draw a picture of that place. But many of the students were stumped. Rowland leans over to help a student think the assignment through: “Was your house square? Round?” she asks.

They decide the house was an unadorned rectangle. When many of these students think of home, they’re thinking of the refugee camp they used to live in. It’s hard to translate that imagination to Utah, where we think of picket fences and manicured lawns.

Rowland has experience working with underprivileged and outsider kids—she was a teacher in the Navajo Nation and a social worker for 13 years. She was the founding principal of Utah International Charter School.

Charter schools have a controversial reputation—the week we were researching this article, two went out of business. Intended to add flexibility to education bureaucracy, charters are tax-payer funded like public schools, but many have been managed for profit, a risky business. But you don’t have to visit the classrooms at Utah International to see that it’s unlike other district schools.

“We have 240 students here. And there are 30 home languages,” says Rowland. “Most kids are new to the country. Many have never been to school. We have 15-year-olds reading English at a first-grade level. They’re all behind. We have a schedule full of English, Science, Social Studies, Math, plus PE or art. We concentrate on the basics.”

Besides the linguistic and cultural challenges, The Utah International campus is located in a neighborhood of generational poverty.

“We’re community-eligible, so every kid gets free breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.”

The students are fed, but this school faces challenges others do not: For funding and follow-up purposes both the federal and state level want to ensure schools are communicating with parents. And these parents value education greatly, they know it’s the key to getting their kids out of poverty. “But the parents of our students often don’t have email. They may not read English, they’re working two jobs or doing shift work. They may own one car for the whole family or not own one at all”. In some classes, says Rowland, only two students may speak the same language. Difference is the norm. But, she adds, “A big strength of our school is that differences that mattered at home don’t apply here. There are a lot of cross-cultural friendships.”

See all of our City Life coverage here.

How are Utah schools faring in the constantly changing world of modern education? This new world includes school violence, more pupils than most other states (we still have the largest households in the country), multicultural classrooms and very little money.

Meet Heidi Matthews, two-term President of Utah Education Association.

“Kids bring their home lives to school,” Matthews said. “A student says, ‘My parents are in jail. I have to get my brothers and sisters ready for school before I can get here.’ Or ‘My parents just got deported. I don’t know what to do.’” Surveys by organizations like the American Psychologists Association say 25 percent of U.S. kids under the age of 16 have experienced trauma.

Before you teach a young mind about latitude and longitude, you have to make sure they are ready to learn. As president of UEA, Matthews hears stories from teachers all over the state, helps assess the needs of districts as different as affluent Treasure Mountain, where she used to teach, and Jordan, one of the poorest districts in Utah. UEA’s purpose is to take classroom issues to decision makers.“You can’t teach a hungry kid,” Matthews says. “You can’t teach a kid whose mind is filled with problems like can they buy food, pay rent, avoid violence.”

UEA has 18,000 members, all professional teachers; it’s an organization to take the problems and issues of the classroom to the decision makers, to promote teaching as a respected and desirable career path by making it appealing to college students, to help influence local and state boards.

“So much of the problem comes down to per pupil spending,” says Matthews. Utah now spends $7,179 per pupil. We are still 51st in the country. It’s not enough.

“This leads to the extreme teacher shortage we now have in Utah,” says Matthews. “It’s not that there are not enough applicants (Utah schools don’t require a teaching certificate, a change made in light of the teaching shortage); there is a mass exodus of experienced teachers from the profession.” Matthews says, “They call it ‘burnout’ but I hate that word. It implies a lack of fortitude when it’s actually demoralization. Teachers are constantly being asked to do more without being given additional resources.”  Teachers buy boxes of protein bars for hungry kids. There is no time or money for professional development in a rapidly changing field. The solution to low funding is larger class sizes—how class size affects learning can be debatable (there are hundreds of studies) but the need for a teacher to know their students is undeniable, especially in these unstable times. “UEA seeks to give teachers a voice in places that weren’t designed for them to have a voice,” says Matthews. About 450 teachers from nearly every school district gave their time to meet with legislators on UEA Educator Day on Capitol Hill in 2019. The UEA’s message: “We have to invest in Utah.”

How are Utah schools faring in the constantly changing world of modern education? This new world includes school violence, more pupils than most other states (we still have the largest households in the country), multicultural classrooms and very little money.

Jim Brewer looks young, but has worked in schools all over the country. “I’ve worked in rural and urban schools in five different states,” he says. “I was looking for the best experience for me and for my kids.”

He believes he found that at The McGillis School, a brick building that could be the setting for any ’50s film about a classic American elementary school. Our Miss Brooks would be right at home in the book-lined room where we’re talking. But according to Brewer, McGillis is built on a very different foundation from the basic 3Rs curriculum of that too-idealized time.

“A school is a culture,” he says. “We start with values and base our curriculum on building good human beings.” McGillis is non-profit, funded by that anxiety-inducing word “development” as well as tuition. But, Brewer says, “The big question is, what is our why? How are we intending to shape the school according to our mission? Our board has a visionary position as well as fiduciary responsibility.” 

Unlike public schools, he says, McGillis doesn’t have much of a problem with teacher attrition; he attributes that to the teacher-pupil ratio of around 9 to 1. A class of 20–24 students has two teachers. Those are pretty luxurious numbers for someone who loves to teach and McGillis tries to allow its teachers to flourish.

“We know every kid,” says Brewer, “and we have an inclusion and diversity committee.”

Although the student population is primarily white upper middle-class, Brewer says “Diversity makes any organization stronger—22 to 25 percent of our students are students of color, 14 percent are Jewish (McGillis was founded as a Jewish school and still gathers for Shabbat on Fridays). Students come from all over the valley and 25 percent receive some kind of assistance.

“Society’s ills exist everywhere,” says Brewer, although it’s hard to believe in this sun-filled room with windows looking out on leafy trees. McGillis has a full time school psychologist to deal with student problems. McGillis’ philosophy allows experiments, like integrated studies, where English, science and history are taught together. Children have regularly scheduled hikes and  outdoor education programs. “We want to be a light,” says Brewer. “Let us be a way to show how it can work.”

Yes, you most certainly can. Getting around the city on two wheels is a healthy choice that goes beyond fitness. Taking your bike instead of a fossil-fueled vehicle helps to reduce greenhouse emissions such as CO₂ which right along with deforestation, is one of the leading contributors to global warming. For those who are already taking bikes or ready to take the next step to bicycle commuting, just a little south of town, on West Temple, The Bicycle Collective is definitely a resource you should be aware of if you aren’t already.

The Bicycle Collective: Tell me more…

Not only can you repair a bike or purchase a used bike at the Collective, as a non-profit, they supply hundreds of bikes to adults and kids in need each year and teach free repair classes.

2312 S. West Temple. SLC
801-FAT-BIKE (328-2453)

My bicycle is a road bike, which has very thin high-pressure tires. Versus a mountain bike with thicker more sturdy tires makes them much more susceptible to damage and requires frequent maintenance. The advantage of road bikes is that they are lightweight and clip along at a nice speed on smooth bike paths and roads.

Having the confidence and the equipment to repair bike tires has been an ongoing dilemma, and when they act up, often run over to a local bike shop and have them do the work. Last Saturday evening, headed out to meet friends and within minutes, noticed that something was up with my front tire. On closer inspection, the wheel was bulging out—not good—having one blow up before, which is not only dangerous but incredibly loud.

Before retreating back home on foot, realized that I was only a short distance away from the Bicycle Collective. And within minutes, my bike was up on a repair stand with a table of tools at the ready. With the help of a staff member Cole, he diagnosed the issue (a bum wheel) and gave me the needed replacement, tools and taught by demonstration, placing the actual hands-on work back in my court.

Wow!! With slightly blackened hands from stretching the new tire onto the wheel hub, I left the Bicycle Collective with not only a workable bike, like a right of passage, felt empowered with my tire-repair knowledge and was on my merry way.

Need another excuse to get riding? Our weather is perfect, the new Parley’s Trail is dope and smiles come to bicyclists a lot more than you’ll ever get inside a vehicle. So, attach on some reflector lights (most needed at dusk), wear your flipping helmet and get out there.

To read more SLC community-related posts like these, visit here.

There are many disasters you personally can do nothing about. (Let’s not talk about Iowa.)

Others, every little bit helps and that’s where you come in. The fires in Australia have been a massive tragedy. For people, yes, but mostly for the continent’s wildlife, animals and birds that are found nowhere else on earth.

Campos Coffee, the Australian specialty coffee company that has made Salt Lake City its American headquarters, is hosting a love-fest for its fire-ravaged homeland: Rebuilding our Roots: To Australia with Love will be February 13, 6—9 p.m. at the downtown location on Edison Street.

Campos is so much more than a coffee bar—this gala night will feature hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, wine, beer, and live music. Special guests Utah Jazz player Joe Ingles and his wife, Renae, a gold medalist netballer and winner of the International Player of the Year Award, will be in attendance. A silent auction will feature exciting offerings including a trip to Australia, coffee brewing equipment, and gear signed by Utah Jazz team members, plus items include coffee brewing equipment, wine classes, whiskey tastings, Jazz tickets, and private chef-catered meals.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to WIRES (Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service, Inc.), an Australian non-profit that has provided wildlife rescue services for more than 30 years.

Our planet is under attack from all sides, but this specific event for a specific cause gives you the opportunity to help directly. Think of it as your valentine to the planet.

Purchase your tickets here