November 22, 2003

General George Washington visited students in Provo on Friday, speaking on topics ranging from the values held dear by the founding fathers to whether or not he really chopped down a cherry tree.

In reality, Washington was played by Carl Closs, a former educator and business executive who travels the country portraying Washington for adults and children and relating Washington's experiences to their everyday lives.

"I love it," Closs said. "I love acquainting people, for most people for the first time, why George Washington was considered the Founding Father of the country by the founding fathers."

Dressed in costume, Closs spent the day at Meridian School, first addressing students in a schoolwide assembly and then visiting individual classrooms to answer questions. Meridian is a private school at 931 E. 300 North in Provo.

"I'm basically revealing to them what I call 'Washington's secrets to success.' Of course, they're not really secrets," Closs said. He encouraged one group of students to "be nice to everybody" and another to pursue worthy goals.

During the assembly, he explained to students that they live in a republic, not a democracy, instructing them to always stay involved in their community and school.

"In a republic, you have to be a good citizen," Closs said. "You should voice your support for something or your objection to it."

Closs said he visited American Heritage School in American Fork and Ivy Hall Academy in Provo on Thursday and spoke at the Brigham Young Museum of Art on Thursday night. He is scheduled to visit another school on Monday in the Salt Lake City area.

Meridian Headmaster David Hennessey said Closs has a deep understanding of who George Washington was as well as a passion about freedom and values that Hennessey believed would be beneficial to Meridian students.

"He becomes so real to (the students)," Hennessey said. "It's not something that can be passed on to them any other way."

Meridian sixth-grader Chase McCloskey said he liked the presentation.

"He was funny. I liked his uniform," McCloskey said. "My favorite story was probably the cherry tree one."

The story is not true, Closs told a classroom of fifth- and sixth-graders. The tale was part of a book written by a minister who told stories about Washington's upbringing, he said.

"He was really trying to teach parents how to raise your child to be just like George Washington," Closs said.

Karen Humiston, a parent with a first-grader at Meridian, attended Closs' presentation Friday. "It brings that patriotic feeling and instills it in the children," she said. "I think its really important as an American citizen to understand where our freedoms have come from."

______________________________________________________________________

November 20, 2003

Roger and Rebecca Merrill will speak on "Your Job, Your Family, Your Planner, Your Checkbook ... and the Gift of the Holy Ghost" Friday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East. The lecture is offered free to the community as a public service by American Heritage School and Family Education Center as part of their Family Lecture Series. For more information, call 642-0055, Ext. 503, or e-mail Ckarr@AHSmail.com. A tour of the school will be available immediately following the lecture.

______________________________________________________________________

November 6, 2003

As LDS general authorities go, we'd be willing to swear that J. Golden Kimball was in a class by himself. Then again, so would he. Catch the one-man comedy "J. Golden" at the American Heritage School at 736 N. 1100 East in American Fork. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Info: 376-6745 or www.wordofmouthmedia.net .

_______________________________________________________________________

October 24, 2003

Alan and Karen Ashton will speak about family values at 7:30 tonight at American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East. The lecture is part of the school's Family Lecture Series and is free and open to the public. From founding WordPerfect Corp. to creating Thanksgiving Point and developing the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the Ashtons have a broad range of experience.

_______________________________________________________________________

October 23, 2003

"J. GOLDEN" -- One-man comedy based on the life of the beloved and quirky LDS General Authority. Proceeds will benefit "Reach the Children." 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-15, American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East, American Fork. $8. 376-6745. www.wordofmouthmedia.net .

_______________________________________________________________________

October 16, 2003

"HERE'S BROTHER BRIGHAM!" -- One-man play based on the life of Brigham Young. Proceeds will benefit "Reach the Children." 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Runs through Oct. 18, American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East, American Fork. $8. 376-6745. www.wordofmouthmedia.net .

_______________________________________________________________________

October 8, 2003

THE DAILY HERALD

While the world outside whizzed by at a 21st century pace, a small room in a Provo museum Tuesday morning was taken back to the 1400s.

Pulling the handle of a printing press modeled after the one that Johann Gutenberg used in the 1450s to make the first printed Bible, Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings and Gaylord Swim of the GFC Foundation American Heritage School printed one of the first -- if not the first -- pages printed in 600 years using the same kind of metal type that Gutenberg used in the 1450s.

On a large sheet of paper, two pages were imprinted with two columns -- on one page a passage from Isaiah and on the other a quotation from St. John.

The pages came off the press at the Crandall Historical Printing Museum.

"Oh my. Beautiful," said Louis Crandall, president and founder of the museum.

Billings echoed, "Beautiful."

The crowd of an estimated 25 guests and media members applauded the feat, which is being hailed by the museum as the "first authentic and complete B-42 Gutenberg metal type since ... Gutenberg printed the world's first book (The Holy Bible) 600 years ago."

For the project, some 244 characters of type were cast at a foundry in Howell, N.J., duplicating the exact type that Gutenberg used. Gutenberg scholar Thomas K. Hinckley then spent a month laying the type and a month setting it.

The Crandall Historical Printing Museum is located at 275 W. Center St. in Provo.

_______________________________________________________________________

October 2, 2003

"POLLY: A ONE-WOMAN MUSICAL" -- Pretty much the title tells it all. Proceeds will benefit "Reach the Children." 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East, American Fork. $8. 376-6745. www.wordofmouthmedia.net .

_______________________________________________________________________

September 24, 2003

Alan and Suzanne Osmond will kick off the Family Lecture Series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at American Heritage School , across from the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple in American Fork. The monthly lectures are free and open to the public.

The Osmonds will speak on "Strengthening Families with One Heart" as well as how their family survives life in the entertainment world. A question and answer period will follow. Future dates and speakers include: Alan and Karen Ashton, Oct. 24; Roger and Rebecca Merrill, Nov. 21; and Ed and Pat Pinegar, Jan. 9.

_______________________________________________________________________

May 2, 2003

LECTURE: Authors of New York Times' best-selling book Teaching Your Children Values, Linda and Richard Eyre, will speak at American Heritage School in American Fork May 9 at 7:30 p.m. on the Art of Nurturing. The public is welcome. A donation of $5 per couple or $3 per person is appreciated. For more information or to reserve a seat please e-mail ckarr@ahsmail.com or call 642-0055 ex. 503.

_______________________________________________________________________

Daily Herald – April, 25, 2003

LECTURE: Authors of the New York Times' best-selling book "Teaching Your Children Values," Linda and Richard Eyre, will speak at American Heritage School in American Fork on May 9 at 7:30 p.m. on the art of nurturing. The public is welcome. A donation of $5 per couple or $3 per person is appreciated. For more information or to reserve a seat, please e-mail Ckarr@AHSmail.com or call 642-0055, ext. 503.

_______________________________________________________________________

Daily Herald – March 15, 2003

Nadaulds to Speak

AMERICAN FORK -- Stephen and Margaret Nadauld will speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday at American Heritage School in American Fork, across from Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple.

Margaret Nadauld, former Young Women General President of the LDS Church and husband will speak on "That Our Children May Know to What Source They May Look."

Stephen Nadauld has served as a General Authority in the Second Quorum of Seventy, been president of Weber State University and will leave with his wife in July to serve as mission president in Switzerland.

To reserve a seat for the lecture, e-mail ckarr@ahsmail.com. Donations are $3 per person or $5 per couple and are accepted at the door. Call 642-0055 for more information.

_______________________________________________________________________

Daily Herald – February 13, 2003

American Fork will continue celebrating its sesquicentennial with a Valentine's Day dance Friday. It will be at the American Heritage School , 736 N. Mount Timpanogos Blvd. (1100 East) from 8-11 p.m. The cost is $5 per couple and $10 per family. Each is invited to bring a cake mix to donate toward a future activity in June.

_______________________________________________________________________

Daily Herald - February 26, 2003

Plan a Clear Violation of Fair Taxation Ideal

By JANETTE HALES BECKHAM

Tuition tax credits are a violation of the most fundamental principle of fair taxation.

If there is a reason to tax, the most fair tax is a broad-based one. Gov. Mike Leavitt has described the best tax policy as one that taxes the most people the least amount of money.

The most unfair tax is the one that taxes the least people the most money.

Funding public education is the responsibility of every taxpayer -- married, single, childless, aged, those who home-school or those who send their children to private schools.

When you reduce the tax for any special interest group, you have raised the taxes for those who remain.

Those who argue for a tax credit claim private schools improve education. Our state education system is fortunate to have private schools. Are Brigham Young University, Westminster, Waterford, the American Heritage School and others an asset to the state and to the educational system? Absolutely.

But private and religious schools should not be funded by tax dollars.

It has been our tradition that public education is paid for by the public and that it is open to all and paid for by all. If someone wants an alternative education -- private, religious or whatever -- it should be paid for from private funds. This is fundamental and fair.

The public education system could never adequately meet the desires of every individual family. Individual preferences often require personal time and personal funding.

If parents don't like the math program, for example, they do have choices. They might teach their child the times tables at home or ask a neighbor for help as a tutor. They might sign up for a special class or even use private funds for a private school.

Parents can also volunteer in schools and help not only their own children, but other children.

Good public education is a commitment of our tax system, not just because it provides for my preferences for my children, but because the hope of society is rested upon it. Could our public school system be improved? Of course it can, and we need our best resources, both financial and intellectual, to go toward that effort.

But it is an elite mentality that would remove needed dollars from the tax base to support schools that are not available to all children.

With adequate funding of public education at such risk, the argument of appropriating tax dollars to private schools to improve public schools cannot be justified.

If the school lunch program were operating at a deficit, would it make sense to give a tax credit to Burger King or McDonald's to improve school lunch?

I question any legislator or governor who cannot resist special interest lobbying for private access to tax dollars. Needs are always greater than resources. Most of us could not balance our own budgets if we bought into every good idea someone tried to sell us.

Keep the tax base solid by not giving up taxpayer dollars for private and religious education.

Janette Hales Beckham is a former member of the Utah State Legislature, and served

on the Revenue and Taxation Committee. She lives in Provo.

_______________________________________________________________________

Daily Herald – July 19, 2003

Christian Principles

AMERICAN FORK -- Art Riccardi speaks on "The Principle Approach" at 1:30-4:30 p.m., July 26, at American Heritage School , 736 N. 1100 East, American Fork. Riccardi is president of the Foundation for American Christian Education and authored The Noah Plan curriculum guides used by educators throughout the world.

Tickets are $15 per person or $20 per couple. Call 642-0055, ext., 503 for more information.