Summer is winding down across the country, and along with that comes the start of a new school year with students returning to the classroom for another year of growth and learning. Castle Country Radio sat down with Carbon School District (CSD) Superintendent Mika Salas to talk about what went on in the district over the summer, as well as what to look forward to when school gets back in session.
Big changes have happened over the summer within the district, namely a new renovation to the cafeteria at Mont Harmon Middle School,” I’m sure as people drive around, they see our cafeteria expansion at Mount Harmon. That’s probably the most public capital project we have going now. And it’ll just help Mount Harmon so much. They’ve been putting kids wherever they can during lunch, and so this expansion is needed and it’s a long time in coming.” Salas explained,” We have things in every school, capital projects in every school, but they’re smaller scale. And just passing by, you wouldn’t probably notice. But we’re super excited to tie all that together and celebrate Mount Harmon’s new space.”
Superintendent Salas also wanted to shout out to the maintenance and custodial workers who have been hard at work all summer helping prepare these projects while maintaining the schools. “The summer is anything but restful for them. They are painting and refinishing floors cleaning carpets and painting walls and getting everything sanitized and cleaned and ready, organized for the new year. So, thank you to all the custodians and maintenance staff who put in so much time during the summer and just do these massively huge projects in their own right in each building. So, we just love them and we appreciate them.”
After this, the Superintendent wanted to share her excitement for the upcoming school year,” We can’t wait. They bring such excitement, such a wonderful thing to our buildings. Schools are nothing without the kids and we just can’t wait to see them again. They grow. They change. They come back with so many stories and we just can’t wait to get them back.”
One serious note that Superintendent Salas wanted to hit on was attendance, which across the nation has seen massive drops since the COVID-19 Pandemic, but Salas started on a hopeful note, ” Carbon School District was celebrated in the Tribune for being one of two school districts in the state that have increased their attendance since 2020. And so we’re super proud about that. And it’s because of the support of our schools and our parents.” Salas continued,” When parents value education, they value sending their kids to school. We benefit and the kids benefit. As a community, we benefit from that. But the students benefit the most from that because they need school. They need school for lots of reasons, academically and socially. They need to be there. And it’s very difficult for students to make up when they’re gone, so anything we can do to help with that, we want to.”
Another point of emphasis for the school year is that people with concerns should contact the district or schools directly, instead of airing the complaints in a manner that won’t solve the problem,” We’ll just put out a big plea. You know, if there’s an issue with anything in the school district, any school or the school district, I’m just imploring people to just give us a call.” Salas explained,” Call the right people. Get the people involved who can solve the problem. When we go to other methods, it just isn’t helpful.”
Closing out our interview, Superintendent Salas spoke again on the excitement felt around CSD for the school year, “You know, we’re just so excited. We’re very fortunate to work in education. It’s the best job in the whole world. We value our role, and the students, and each other. And it’s just a wonderful place to be.”
For more information on upcoming important dates and events for the CSD, you visit their website here.