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Orem High has a proud tradition and history. In addition to outstanding academic and athletic programs, our fine arts are among the best in the state.
We consistently compete at the highest levels in choir, orchestra, band, and drama.
[Our] Unified Studies program is one of very few programs of its kind in the state. Students meet all day, every other day in a context quite different from the normal classroom. They may be out cross-country skiing in the low valleys of the Uintas, or studying geology in the Grand Staircase National Monument.
It is a course that relies heavily on getting out of the classroom to create experiential learning. The two teachers of the course structure the curriculum so that each student earns credits in Science, English, P.E., Art, and Social Studies.
This experiential context is real and relevant to students, and integrates the subjects in ways that the traditional classroom can't.
The Latinos in Action program was started by Jose Enriquez, assistant principal at Mt. View High School, and is now in several schools in the Provo and Alpine School Districts. It has been fantastic.
While it is spreading quickly to other high schools, it is still quite unique to a handful of Utah Valley high schools. In this program, outstanding Hispanic students are in a class that trains them to tutor younger children in Math and Reading.
Then for the majority of the year they get on a bus and go to our feeder junior high and elementary schools to tutor younger Spanish speakers to help them be more successful in school.
The main purposes of the class are to help younger Spanish speakers be successful in school and to give them a role model. They are wonderful role models and it has had a significant effect on the younger kids as well as our own students.
In addition, it is designed to help the high school students enlarge their vision of what further education can do for them. It also provides a forum for them to give back to their community through service.
Thank you again for looking for what's right in Utah Schools. For every gang shooting that implicates a school in the news, there are literally hundreds of thousands of great things happening in schools across the state.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to spread the word.
--Orem High School Administrators
