March Students of the Month

Today was our Student of the Month presentation.

Left to right:

Bill Hudson, St. George Exchange Club President

Patrick Kelly, Tuacahn High School, son of Michael & Gloria Kelly

Esteban Bautista, Millcreek High School, son of Esteban Bautista Sr.

Elisha Proffit, Dixie High School, daughter of Robert & Peggy Proffit

Luis Morfin, Pine View High School, son of Roberto & Cecilia Morfin

Riley Pearce, Snow Canyon High School, daughter of Brent Pearce

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

Today's speakers were Tom and Denise Webster. Tom is a retired Air Force officer who is now working part time for the past four years at the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Denise is a Reserve volunteer. They shared information about the reserve and brought a couple of turtles and a gila monster to help keep us awake.

The Reserve was established in 1996 to protect a large, diverse, and functional expanse of habitat capable of sustaining wildlife populations threatened by rapid development and habitat loss across Washington County in southwestern Utah. Located immediately adjacent to several growing communities, the Reserve also protects the cities’ scenic red rock backdrop and an increasingly popular area for recreation.

The Reserve spans across the north central portion of Washington County in southwest Utah. It is approximately 20 miles wide and 6 miles deep. The Reserve is north of Ivins, Santa Clara, St. George and Washington City, south of Leeds, and west of Hurricane and LaVerkin. The Reserve is trisected by Highway 18 in the west and I-15 in the east. There are many access points and trails for recreational opportunities within the Reserve.

For more information visit their website.

DSC and the Dove Center Present: Greg Mortenson

Lani Puriri, Director of Public Relations at Center for Media Innovation (CMI), introduced our speakers this morning. Lani is married to Ra who presented to us on March 3rd about the Middle East. Our presenters today were Del Beatty and Kay Whitlock.

Del is the Dean of Student Services at Dixie State College. He shared some of the challenges the college is facing with getting students more involved in social interaction. Kay is on the Board of Directors with the Dove Center. Together they promoted the upcoming charity event for the Dove Center, Greg Mortenson presenting "Peace Through Education". This will be a very educational and inspiring message from the author of Three Cups of Tea, Stone for Schools, and Listen to the Wind.

Click here to purchase tickets to this event or call 652-7800. You can either attend one of the three shows (all shows are on March 31st) or attend the charity dinner which includes tickets to the 7:00 show.

SUPAF AWARDS NIGHT 2011

Tonight was the SUPAF Awards Night. We had a great turn out and gave our a lot of awards. YellowPix was there and seemed to be a big hit. A big thanks to Hayley Winsolw for another great festival.

PAX Exchange Program

Todays presenter was Laurel Paul, Community Coordinator for PAX. PAX - Program of Academic Exchange is a non-profit educational organization that promotes and arranges international student exchange to foster the positive development of the world's young people and to support international peace, friendship and cross-cultural understanding.

Founded in 1990, PAX provides young people from the United States and abroad with opportunities to live with a family in another country and to study and travel abroad. Each year up to 600-800 high-school students participate in international exchange through PAX.

While PAX has a global vision, the organization works one student at a time. Committed to a quality program that is small and personal, PAX works exclusively with high school exchange. All PAX programs feature a homestay experience with a family abroad.

For more information call Laurel at 435-251-8212 or visit their website: PAX website

Ra Puriri and the Middle East

Ra Puriri, presented to us today. He gave a fascinating commentary on the Middle East. His wife is Lani Puriri and they have six children, 5 boys and one girl, all highly educated. Lani works for DSC. Ra is a plumber by profession but teaches others like engineers and manufactures how to use the internet to design water systems around the world, and in that capacity comes into contact with people from the Middle East. He has some family in Egypt and some other Arab countries and has been in contact with them over the past several months. His views and comments parallel much of what you can read in the Wall Street Journal and in the New York Times. I hope the link helps to provide you with more information.

Here is Ra's blog: http://tradewarrior.wordpress.com