“The Health City”

                Smithfield was dubbed “The Health City” several years ago by city council members and is now known across Utah for it. It all began in 1925 about having healthy teeth.       

                Then Summit School Principal, Sara McCracken heeded a call from President Calvin Coolidge requesting that the school and community dedicate one day to recognize healthy living. McCracken made the goal of “100% O.K. Teeth” for the children at school.

                Smithfield has had an annual Health Days parade with different health themes every year since. The celebration now lasts a week and consists of golf and softball tournaments, family bike rides and marathons, among many other active based activities.

                “The activities they have are so much fun. My school always gets to walk in the parade,” Jada Griffin, 11, said.

                Former mayor Chad Downs used “The Health City” to his advantage. He promoted this to help Smithfield receive funding for the begin Trails Committee and to build more parks and trails, Downs said.

                Bloomberg Business Week recently voted Smithfield the best place to raise kids in Utah stating that it has great outdoor opportunities and plentiful parks. “It’s a great recognition,” resident Brenda Smith said.

                Smithfield is also on the “Healthy Cities of Utah” recognition list provided by a program through the Utah Department of Health. “We had to achieve so many goals to be able to qualify for the award,” Downs said. Some requirements are smoke-free parks and recreation areas.

                “We provide monthly newsletters about how to stay healthy on the city’s website,” City Deputy Recorder Char Izatt said.

Drug Court Offers a Different Option

Cache County’s Drug Court program offers something different than imprisonment for most local residents facing felony drug related crimes. In conjunction with the Bear River Health Department, offenders are offered a structured and disciplined program to help conquer their addictions.

The recidivism rate after completion of the program is around 18 percent, Drug Court Case Manager Sheryl Andreason said. About 45 percent of offenders convicted of similar drug related crimes that served prison time will relapse, according to the US Justice Department.

“It is a successful program,” Andreason said of how the program is structured. “It puts the responsibility back on the client.”

Drug Court is designed to be completed in a 16 month timeframe. Offenders must participate in rigorous treatment sessions, regular court appearances and undergo random urinalyses test.

One of the main goals of Drug Court is the emphasis on long term recovery, Andreason said. Most the participants have had previous drug related charges.

“I have done drugs for years and been to prison four times because of it,” Christine Quire said. “Every time I got out, I went right back to my same pattern of use.”

“This is the first time that I feel that I am actually in recovery,” she says of the Drug Court program. “I finally have the desire to be sober and have learned so much about myself and how I should be living from the program.”

Others cannot handle, or choose not to participate in Drug Court. There are strict guidelines participants must abide by or sanctions such as jail time or community service are immediately enforced.

There is also the cost factor. After paying for the ongoing counseling treatments, urinalysis tests, and probation costs, Drug Court participants pay over $3000 for the program.

“Some insurance companies cover a portion of the costs incurred by the clients,” Andreason said. Medicaid covers all counseling treatment sessions, which accounts for the majority of the programs costs.

Medicaid covering portions of the program don’t settle well with some. “It is really frustrating to me that we accept Medicaid cards to pay for this when they are here because they have gotten themselves in trouble,” an anonymous health department employee said.

Clients that successfully discharged from the program maintain a sustained period of sobriety, gain an understanding of high risk behaviors, obtain knowledge of chemical and addiction, and develop a relapse prevention plan, according to the Drug Courts Executive Summary.

Upon completion of the Drug Court program, all charges pertaining to the offender as to why they were in the program will be dismissed.

SCPD – 10 Years of Service

                Smithfield City Police Department has been in operation for 10 years responding to growing number of incidents the community has.

                Smithfield contracted with Cache County Sherriff’s Department until 2001 for their law enforcement needs until the city council re-evaluated the need for a local police department.

                Smithfield population has increased by 30 percent in the past decade.

                “We can tailor to the specific needs of the community,” Administrative Division Commander Brenda Smith said.

    “The response times are significantly shorter,” she said, instead of using the county department.

    Along with the growing population, crime rates have had an increase in the past five years, according to the department’s 2010 annual report.

    The officers had also responded to over 11,000 Smithfield incidents last year, showing a large jump in family disputes, custodial interference and burglaries.

    There were also 48 cases of child abuse or neglect. “A lot of the residents would be surprised with some of the number,” Smith said.

    The SCPD has eight full time officers, and an animal control officer who responds to the numerous animal ordinance violations. “There is always one officer on duty along with the Chief and Detective Sargent,” Smith said.

   “When our cars were broke into, the officer spent almost an hour finger printing the cars,” Stacie Hale said. “He went above and beyond.”

   The suspect was arrested and Hale received her stolen belonging back.

Charter School Better?

             Thomas Edison Charter School located in North Logan is a publically funded school that educates several Smithfield resident elementary and middle school students.

 The school teaches the Spalding Method for its language arts programs stating that it encourages the students to have higher levels of reasoning and critical thinking, the schools Director of Instruction Jamie Lewis said.

 Along with teachers being state certified, they must also take three additional years of Spalding training.  

             Teachers, parents and students are encouraged to have a close niche relationship with a minimum of four hours volunteer time from parents each month is expected, said Melani Kirk, another Director of Instruction. 

             “Really it is just up to the preference of the parent on what school they feel their kids will excel best in,” Birch Creek Elementary Principal Trudy Wilson said. Parents can be just as involved whatever school they go to, she said.

             Both instructional directors help the teachers with curriculum and classroom management and have past experience teaching elementary education, Kirk said. They have weekly visits to the classrooms to monitor and access any changes needed.

             The Charter school teaches Saxon curriculum math to its student’s one grade level above what is required by the state, Lewis said. The spelling level is taught at two grade levels above average.

             Although the Charter school teaches higher levels, test scores do not prove it to be more successful than Cache District elementary schools.

Thomas Edison scored 11 percent lower on language arts proficiency and eight percent lower on math proficiency than Sunrise Elementary in Smithfield, according to the most recent test scores from the Utah State Office of Education.

The Charter school does have its perks though.

The student per teacher ratio is about 3 less children than the average Smithfield elementary and middle school, according to the Utah State Office of Education. The Charter school has a full-time aide helping in each kindergarten to third grade classroom and one aide per grade thereafter.

“She has really enjoyed it,” Ashley McKnight said about her daughter who is in kindergarten at the Charter school. “I have been pretty impressed with their curriculum and the adult to child ratio in each classroom.”

Others have mixed feeling about the Charter school.

“My daughter went there for three years. They were great, but it was horrible for her to go to the local middle school,” Taunacy Horton said. “She was so used one-to-one help from the math teacher and aide that she has really struggled with math this year.”

             “I decided against the Charter school for my seven-year-old quintuplets,” Horton said.

Vehicles Not Only Link to Bad Air

    Tis the season that Cache Valley residents will start to see more red air days than not. Although air quality can be bad in other seasons besides winter, the valley is affected more when it is cold due to the intensity of inversions.

                “I hate when I leave the house and see this layer of smog over the valley, and then drive down into it,” said Laura Griffin, whose home is above Birch Creek Golf Course.

                Many different things can affect the air quality other than just cars, said Grant Koford, Environmental Health Director at Bear River Health Department.

                 Although Cache County does not require emissions testing on vehicles yet, state inspections are rigorous in testing exhaust systems for any leaks or malfunctions, Midas General Manager Ray Balentine said.

                 Public transportations in the valley are also joining the more environmental friendly vehicles. Cache Valley Transit District is replacing old busses with new hybrid busses. Cache and Logan School Districts received a federal grant last year to install particulate filters in school bus exhaust systems.

                 “Local restaurants and manufacturing plants exhaust systems contribute most of the hazardous pollutants along with wood burning stoves and fireplaces,” Koford said. With more efficient cars being built, these are the big focus areas for the health department right now, he said.

                 When it is a red air day, residents are restricted from using their wood burning stoves and fireplaces, Koford said. The exceptions are if the stoves are Environmental Protection Agency certified or have a pollution control unit. “You can tell if their fireplaces have them or not by how much smoke comes out of the chimney,” he said. 

                 The Health Department aims to educate the residents in violation of the order before taking any further actions.

                “That’s just a hard situation. Some people have to heat their homes this way because they can’t afford to pay for heat,” Smithfield resident Devri Lott said.

                The Division of Air Quality and local stakeholders are writing an implementation plan for Cache Valley which could enforce fines to residents not abiding by the burn restriction, Koford said.

                     The implementation plan is also aimed to take more strict measures with businesses such as restaurants and manufacturing plants. The businesses will have to follow guidelines on exhaust systems to help prevent excess pollution, Koford said.

White Pine REACH Program a Hit

                White Pine Middle School in Richmond, UT has a record number of participants in their after school REACH program, according to Principal Curt Hanks.

                The REACH program is offered to 11 to 13 year-olds at White Pine before school from 6:50 a.m. to 7:20 a.m. and after school from 2:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. There is a minimal fee charged for the clubs offered, but scholarships are available for those who cannot afford it but would like their child to benefit from the program.

                “It is a great opportunity for the kids to get help in the different areas that they need it,” Hanks said. “It has helped our at-risk kids to immensely improve their grades.”

                The morning session offers free math tutoring and a sports club.

                At the beginning of the afternoon session, all students are served a free snack provided by a government grant. The students then receive help with their homework from tutors that are available before going to the different clubs that are offered.

                Each quarter the students are offered new clubs to attend such as ping pong, sewing and a sports club.

               “The clubs are fun and I get all my homework done before I have to go home,” Grayci Lucio said. “I get a lot better grades now too.”

               The three tutors available are students at Utah State University, two of which are secondary education majors. They work through the Access and Diversity Center’s educational outreach program America Reads.

                    “It is fun for us to work with the kids and get good experience,” tutor Stephan Seabury said. “You get to know the kids and see how much they grow through the year, just like a teacher does, but we get to work with them more one to one.”            

L. Rios   

“Night of Giving”

                The Greater Smithfield Chamber of Commerce sponsored the fifth annual “Night of Giving” benefit at Sky View High School on Nov. 19, raising over $15,000. The money will go to families in needs living in Smithfield area this holiday season.

                “This year was the best turn out that we have had,” the Chamber’s Executive Director Stacey Dority said. “We had planned to cater 200 people.” The event sold 214 tickets.

                With the money raised, the board of directors hopes to help close to 40 families with purchasing gifts and food for Christmas, Dority said. Some money also goes toward paying past due utility bills for several other families.

                The families that benefit from the “Night of Giving” donations are selected randomly by the board of directors from recommendations suggested by community members and school personnel.

    “Many of the families are struggling from being laid off and the poor economy,” Dority said.

                Along with a dinner catered by Culinary Concepts of Smithfield, there was a live auction directed by auctioneers Lane and Jared Parker. There were decorated Christmas trees and wreaths that attendees bid on.

                Community members and businesses donated gift items that were used for a silent auction, Dority said. Those items were things that people would normally buy a person as a gift for Christmas.

                “Alpine Cleaning donated a gift set for a boy and a girl. They had a grill and kitchen set and a bunch of other things,” Chamber President Bart Caley said.

                Along with the money raised from this specific event, Sunrise Elementary students are donating to the Chamber’s fund for those families as well.  Each teacher has donation jar for their students to donate, Principal Kathy Toolson said. They will turn the proceeds in on Dec. 10.

                The Chamber also sponsors many events during Health Days including the Birch Creek Golf Tournament. The money from this benefit go to local schools. This past tournament, they were able to donate $5,000 to Birch Creek Elementary.

                “Not many people even know the Greater Smithfield Chamber of Commerce even exists,” Dority said. “We have grown a lot in the last five years though mostly due to word-of-mouth.”

                The Greater Smithfield Chamber of Commerce was designed to help the northern part of Cache County, Dority said. It currently has over 40 businesses registered with it.

                “It is all done by donation of time and our talents,” Dority said about the Chamber’s board members.

L. Rios