Park City & Deer Valley

The Program uses Art for Youth-Development

Arts-Kids is a free after-school, youth-development program that uses the arts as a tool to reach children with special needs.

"The children we help are not selected for their artistic ability," said executive director and founder Pat Sanger. "They are selected because they may be living in a stressful home life, shy, or if they are new in school and need a place to make some friends."

While living in Norfolk, Va., Sanger noticed children living in stressful environments were not getting the nurturing they needed.

"I got this whole idea to help integrate the emotional creative part of developing oneself, which often seems to be absent in these kids," Sanger said. "I started up the program after I moved out to Park City, and found the program can be used for any child from any kind of background."

Arts Kids, which involves an eight-week schedule in all the elementary and middle schools in Summit County, also holds sessions at Park City High School, Sanger said.

"The younger children in the elementary schools always do clay, make hats, use watercolors, face paint and hip hop dance," she said." The secondary or older levels, which include Treasure Mountain and North Summit middle schools and Park City High School will be creating graphic novels, ceramics and hip hop sessions."

In order for the sessions to run smoothly, Arts-Kids needs volunteers.

"There are up to 18 kids in nine groups," she said. "We would like three to four volunteers to help the trained facilitator, especially in the elementary schools."

Sanger is looking for adults and teens who aren't necessarily artistic, but value art as a learning tool.

"We would like to have the volunteer commit to three hours a day," she said. "The groups start immediately after school and they run two-and-a-half hours. We would like the volunteers to come 15 minutes early and stay for clean up."

There is a one-time, two-hour training session as well.

"Volunteers do have fun," Sanger said. "If they want, they can do the project with the kids. We like them to work alongside the kids and be a mentor and a role model."

To volunteer or for more information, call Arts Kids at (435) 615-7878 or email pat@art-kids.org

Teens attending Park City High School and Treasure Mountain Middle School can volunteer through the Arts Teens program by talking to their school counselors.

by Scott Iwasaki OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

The After-School Ski Program offers Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding, Nordic Jumping & Cross Country Skiing

Every Friday afternoon after school, close to 500 elementary students in the Park City School District gear up and head to the hills. As part of the Get Out and Play Ski Program, the children go to one of four venues: Park City Mountain Resort, Canyons, the Utah Olympic Park or White Pine Touring Center.

The district-wide, after-school ski program run by the parent-teacher organizations began about 30 years ago with students skiing at Park City Mountain Resort once a week, according to program coordinator Kerry Morgan. As popularity grew, the program added snowboarding and extended to Canyons. Attendance was split between the two resorts.

In 2008, the Youth WinterSports Alliance approached the district with a proposal to further expand how the students could take advantage of winter sports through the season.

"They wanted to offer students more options to the program because there is more you can do getting out there on the snow," Morgan said. The new partnership added cross-country skiing at the White Pine Touring Center and Nordic jumping, freestyle and freeride skiing at the Utah Olympic Park to the mix.

Until last year, the program was entirely coordinated by parent-volunteers. To further streamline the growing program, YWSA created Morgan's position to oversee coordination efforts, contracts, registration and to handle finances, allowing parents to focus their efforts on creating a positive experience for the students.

Parents arrive at the elementary schools at about 12:15pm, shortly before the end of the day. They help students get ready, load them into the appropriate buses by about 12:45pm and accompany them as they travel to the venues, arriving at about 1:15pm. For safety and organization, every child has an arm band with his or her name, school, phone number and the name of their instructor. After the lessons, students pile into the buses and return to their schools to meet their parents.

"This program would not run without all of the amazing parents who show up on Friday afternoons," Morgan said.

Students choose what sport they want to take part in when they register, Morgan said. The two resorts alternate which schools they host each year. This year, students at Trailside and Parley's Park Elementary schools are at Park City Mountain Resort, while those at McPolin and Jeremy Ranch go to Canyons. Students at any school can choose cross-country skiing or Nordic jumping.

Lesson times vary depending on the sport. The shortest lesson is a 90-minute cross-country skiing class at the touring center. "If you've ever cross-country skied, that's more than enough," Morgan said. Nordic-jumping classes last for two hours.

Students at Canyons and Park City resorts ski with instructors for two-and-a-half hours. Classes are split into age-group and skill level and the resorts ensure that no classes have more than about six or eight students.

Two sessions run through January and February. The first is a five-week session from January 7th, 2011 through February 4th, 2011. Between 450 and 500 students participate in sports at all four venues. The second, four-week course runs from Feb. 11 through March 11 and is limited to about 150 students at the Olympic Park and touring center because the resorts face an influx of business and can no longer accommodate the program, according to Morgan.

Interested students register in October and early November. If there are open spots in session two, registration reopens for a brief period during January until every spot is filled. Registration for session two recently closed.

The program cost varies depending on the sports and the length of the session. Those who ski or snowboard at one of the resorts can expect to pay $185, which includes lift tickets but not equipment rentals. For participants with a season pass, the price drops to $160. The resorts offer 10 scholarships for each of the four elementary schools. Scholarships cover lift tickets, lessons and rentals.

The first session at White Pine Touring is $140. The second session is $115. Rental equipment is included in the touring center program fee. Participants at the Utah Olympic Park pay $180 for the first session and $150 for the second.

The Youth WinterSports Alliance offers five additional scholarships for any of the four venues for either session. Members of the alliance also hold drives to collect equipment, from jackets and mittens to helmets and goggles, for students who want to participate but don't have everything they need.

"We will, through parent and community donations, provide whatever they need for this program," Morgan said. "The whole goal of this program is to make it as affordable as we possibly can to reach these kids who otherwise might not have this opportunity."

For more information, visit the program website at www.getoutandplay.ywsa.org.

by Douglas Greenwood OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

Physical & Intellectual Development a Focus of Indoor Play Land

A new family-friendly activity center is now open at Kimball Junction. Monkey Mountain has over 2,000 square feet of play area for children up to age 12 in the Silver Mountain Sports Club building on Ute Boulevard.

It is the creation of the Carter family. Chris Carter's career moves him around a lot, so his family has lately been living in a different country every six to nine months. Their only constant has been a second home in Park City where the family spends a few months each year.

That's why Sarah Carter felt inspired to start a business here; it was the most logical place to put down some roots. Right now motherhood is the most important thing in her life, she said, so naturally a business catering to the needs and development of children was at the forefront in her mind.

Her last three homes were in Canada, England and Russia. In the former two, she found indoor play structures for children to help them run and exercise year round something especially important during cold winter months.

In Russia, she found a culture committed to child development and lacking the commercialism that permeates products and services for kids in the U.S.

Investigating the schools in Park City, she discovered there were not many choices to keep children engaged after school.

That inspired her to build an indoor playland with an emphasis on structured and unstructured play.

Nothing gives her more joy at this point in her life than hearing the laughter of her children her youngest being five-year-old twins.

"We want to hear the noise. Kids can be as loud as they want here," she said.

Sarah Carter's own background is in figure skating, so she naturally cares about physical development and fitness.

Two playground-equipment companies were hired to create Monkey Mountain. One made the climbing structure that engages both upper and lower-body muscles. The other made jungle-themed carpet and plastic animals children can climb on and around. The idea is to inspire creativity in play with every available square foot while catering to children of all ages and ability levels.

There are two party rooms for hosting birthdays and special events. But Carter is also lining up partnerships with other businesses to provide structured activities like yoga for children, or maybe art classes.

Because Monkey Mountain is all indoors, it does not currently qualify as a childcare center. Her long-term goal, however, is to provide an environment where parents can drop children off for several hours at a time to take classes and play.

Some kind of themed activity will be provided every hour, so no matter how brief the visit, there will be structured and unstructured activity.

For right now, parents must attend with their children but a parents' lobby next to the play area overlooking the Basin is filled with desks, couches, flat-screen televisions and wireless Internet access so they can relax or work while the kids enjoy themselves.

Monkey Mountain

1526 Ute Blvd.

435-214-7451

www.monkeymountain.com

by Andrew Kirk OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

Monkey Mountain Now in Silver Mountain Sports Club

A very different kind of business is opening in the Silver Mountain Sports Club this Saturday.

From 12:00pm to 4:00pm children of all ages are welcomed to check out Monkey Mountain, a new indoor playland above the Church of Scientology at 1526 Ute Boulevard.

Owner Sarah Carter's own background is in ice skating. Her husband is in trading. They currently live in Russia and own a home here. While in town, Carter said she's noticed that parents don't just want to find fun things for their children to do, but would prefer if the activity aided in their development somehow.

Wanting to give children more year-round physical activities, she met with two playground equipment manufacturers and with them designed Monkey Mountain. The equipment gives them lower and upper-body exercise as they play. The staff is trained to facilitate learning through play, she said.

The 4,100-square-foot space has a 22-foot tall playland with cushy carpet and educational panels on the walls for toddlers.

"We utilized every inch of space we could. Everything is custom made to fit our space," she explained.

After Saturday's grand opening, regular hours will be 9:00am every day to 8:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 7:00pm all other days.

To learn more, visit monkeymountain.com.

by Andrew Kirk OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com