HEBER, Utah — Nestled in Heber City, you'll find Wasatch High School — home of the Wasps — where students and staff take their "Expect to Excel" motto seriously.
Wasatch High School is this week's Cool School for many reasons, but the attitude of excellence is something we noticed around every corner.
"We have almost 3,000 amazing students here at Wasatch that make every day so much fun," said Student Body President Isaac Hardy.
"I love Wasatch because no matter who you are where you're at, you can feel like you belong and that you fit in," said one student.
"I love Wasatch just because of all the different involvement opportunities. There are so many clubs and sports you can get involved in," added another.
Multiple students also brought up the incredible teachers and staff at Wasatch High. Another element that makes the school a cool school is its "Teaching as a Profession" pathway, which is all about building up future educators.
"The teaching as a profession pathway offers three courses for kids to go through, and to go out into classrooms and actually observe real classrooms and to get to try lesson planning, and all these pieces," said Wasatch High teacher Kasie Payne. "They end in an internship with the hope they go onto college, partner with our schools, and go on to teach here."
The program is already working — Callie Robinson took the Teaching as a Profession class in high school. Recently she returned to Wasatch High, but this time as a teacher.
"This is my home. I love my co-workers who were once my teachers. The admin feels like family. This is the best place to be," she said.
At this school, it's "Cool 2 Care." To promote happy and healthy behaviors, the school partnered with Labrum Chevy and Ford to give away a car to one lucky student every school year. A lucky teacher also gets a free short-term lease.
"Students will receive these cards for doing things around the school that people notice," said Assistant Principal Ryan Bishop. "At the end of the year, we have a big assembly and the Labrums give this car away."
"I think we have great people in our community who support us, and we have great teachers and great students, and we just wanted to give back to our community," said the Labrum family.
During our "Cool School" segment, Principal Justin Kelly did one of many drawings that will happen this year to narrow down finalists — all leading up to the end-of-year winning drawing.
Outside the school, you can find more than cars. You'll also find a large banner that says "Education Elevated" — part of a district-wide effort to continue leading student achievement.
"Education elevated is a celebration of high achievement in Wasatch County School District," said Superintendent Paul Sweat. "We have more and more kids that are on grade level and doing well throughout the district, and as we continue to rise, we want to celebrate that."
If you'd like to nominate a school for Cool Schools, you can send nominations to gooddayutah@fox13now.com.
