Meet Brian! Brian is originally from Atlanta and started teaching Social Studies in 2004. He moved to Utah, taught at Riverton High and then Hillcrest High and then spent the last six years at a charter school. He just started teaching with YESS at Decker this year. He’s married with three kids, likes to do […]
Two Great Days Art
Students in Detention at the Salt Lake Valley Youth Center participated in a unique art project in Cathleen’s classes. Each student was given an 8.5 X 11 white sheet of cardstock with part of a letter or word. They drew designs of choice, not knowing the actual quote. When all projects were completed, they were […]
YESS Boss on Boss’s Day!
YESS has been privileged to have Jason lead our school for the past 5 years as Associate Director! Jason is highly respected by his school staff, students, and those with whom he collaborates in our partnering agencies. He came to us with a background in JJS, the courts, teaching and administrative positions in Granite School […]
The GooseChase is on!
Team building, getting to know and showing appreciation for colleagues, sharing talents and interests, and learning some distance learning strategies, all necessary during these unusual times! What if they could all be encompassed in one activity? Well…for the teachers of YESS, sSTEP, and Gap they have been in a scavenger hunt! A weeklong scavenger hunt […]
Talented Staff
Tucker, new ETCA at DSI/Gemstone, wore his Irish Kilt and brought his Highland bagpipes to play for Pamela’s music classes. He explained how warriors played their bagpipes as they lead their troops into battle. Bagpipers learned how to speak in code in ancient times when the English occupied Scotland and outlawed bagpipes. The bagpipers have […]
Going the Extra Mile
YESS’s own Ann, Administrative Secretary and Lead Juvenile Justice Advocate (Lead Mentor), recently received the Extra Mile “GEM” Award, presented by the Granite Association of Educational Office Professionals (GAEOP). Here are some exerpts from the nomination which was submitted by Heather, Kim, and Ceciley, three of YESS’s mentors: “Ann goes the extra mile in a […]
Making a Name for Oneself
Heather, one of the amazing YESS Juvenile Justice Advocates (Mentors), shared a recent experience with some of the students that she mentors. A group of students met for lunch in her office and an interesting conversation ensued. One mentioned that he wanted to change his last name because there were no positive male role models […]
Natural Clouds at DSI/Gemstone
The STEMCAP program continues this year at DSI/Gemstone, with a bit of a twist with a “cloud learning” approach. Not to mention that the first project was an activity about clouds and cloud formation. In art, Carol, art teacher, worked with the the STEMCAP representatives from the University of Utah via Zoom meetings to create […]
Setting a Positive Tone at Decker
The school at Decker endeavors to support the facility’s programs. This is a motivational bulletin board that Tottie, Instructional Assistant, created.
New CTE/Grad Lab Teacher
Nick, is the newest YESS face at Decker Lake. He is the CTE teacher in the Graduate Lab. Some of the projects he’s doing with the students include the use of Adobe Audition to learn how to edit and layer music tracks, among other cool CTE experiences!