MURRAY, Utah — This week, the red carpet was out at Hillcrest Jr. High, our Cool School of the Week, sponsored by Granite Credit Union. "At Hillcrest [Jr.] our values are take care of ourselves, take care of our school, and take care of each other," said one student government member.
Those values were evident as the comradery between the student government leaders was on display Wednesday morning in the school's commons. Inside the commons, there is also a display of dozens of flags representing different countries students come from. "We have these flags to represent that everyone who comes here in the doors through the school is welcome here," said one student.
Down the hall in the dance room Dance Company brought the energy as they showed us a contemporary and hip-hop dance — intermediate dance showed off some of their moves as well. "Hillcrest Jr. High is a cool school because we have the opportunity to be on Dance Company here, and you're able to dance no matter what," said the Dance Co. President. "It's just such a great opportunity for those who might not have a dance studio they can go to."
A special moment for me during this Cool School was when I got to see the teacher who changed my life — Amber Rogers — who is now an administrator at Hillcrest Jr High. She introduced us to the choir teacher who has decades of experience and is now teaching one of her grandchildren! The choir students sang two songs — one being Journey's famous 'Don't Stop Believing'. "It's so much fun to be in the choir, you get to come here early in the morning and be with a bunch of people who are just so much fun to be around," said one choir student.
Hillcrest Jr. High also has many after-school programs. One is called Makerspace, where students are encouraged to be creative in whatever way best fits them. "Kids sign up every single day they get to do 3-D painting, or they get to make really cool bonsai wire trees or play with puzzles," said teacher Mr. Smith.
"It's really nice after all of the stresses of school and homework, I really like having a place to go after school to hang out with friends," one student said.
At the end of the morning, Granite Credit Union brought out its Mobile Branch — one of the only of its kind — to Hillcrest Jr. High. It includes a full-service mobile branch, an atm, a teller pod, and more exciting features. "We want to take our services, in any way possible, to where people are at," said Ileana McDonald, Granite Credit Union's Director of Community Relations.
In front of the Granite Credit Union Mobile Branch, they made a donation to Hillcrest Jr. High, which will be used to help support the school's Black Student Union's upcoming Women and Children's Drive. "Granite Credit Union supports our communities and our educators, and we have a little contribution for you to help your students and the teachers," said McDonald.
"We are so grateful, and we just love supporting our students," said one Black Student Union advisor.
If you know a Cool School you can email nominations to GoodDayUtah@Fox13Now.com.
