Years ago, here in Wasatch County, there were many different organizations attempting to fill the needs of its residents. In 2000, a dedicated group of volunteers formed Wasatch Community Foundation to connect residents who were able to give, with residents in need and “From the community, For the community” was realized.
Today, Wasatch Community Foundation is a thriving 501c3, and the largest all-volunteer, non-profit organization in Heber Valley. Our vision is to build an extraordinary community by enabling families to be happy and healthy. Our mission is to advance the well-being of Wasatch County residents by uniting community resources and programs through our pillars.
Our education pillar mission is for Wasatch County citizens to have every opportunity to enrich and enhance their lives through exceptional educational opportunities beyond the classroom. From community-based programs to technology and college readiness, the Foundation will support and partner in the community. We want to ensure all students of learning, of all ages, will be successful in whatever their educational journey may be.
Our partnership with CAPS this past Semester brought together the Foundation and two Wasatch High School seniors who took on the challenge to learn retail operations. Not only did the students learn the trade from inventory to sales, they learned that giving back is also an element to any good business plan. Together with Northland USA we were able to run a successful project that not only raised scholarship money for local students but helped the less fortunate and a homeless camp with warm clothing.
Other projects our education pillar is looking forward to working on this year, 2024. Is to continue to support adult education, special needs programs and further the enrichment opportunities for the whole community.
When the Wasatch Community Foundation says, “From the Community, To the Community” it means just that, as reflected in our CAPS project and many other programs we support and fund.
If you would like to join our efforts or donate to our cause, please reach out to the Wasatch Community Foundation.
Tucked away on 100 South, in the heart of Heber City, there’s a magical, little place that has been enriching the lives of children and adults for over 22 years.
Lee Music provides a serious music education. It takes the general idea of private music lessons and instantly ratchets up the possibilities. Whether you love classical sonatas, or dream about riffing on the electric guitar, there is a teacher who will take your dream seriously and lead you along the way to mastery — or slaying on the guitar.
As a young toddler, Winston Lee would lie underneath his mother’s grand piano while she played. He was also shaped by the complex sounds and storytelling of Prokofiev’s orchestral “Peter and the Wolf” which he listened to several times a day. When Winston was seven, his mother started his piano training. Winston recalls,“I would throw the music on the floor because I was able to memorize songs quickly. My mother took me to B.Y.U. at age eight to audition for Dr. Pollei. He took me on as a student and I began practicing four hours a day.” At the age of nine, Winston became the youngest instrumentalist to perform with the Utah Valley Symphony where he performed Mozart’s 19th Piano Concerto. That led to spending his youth practicing piano and participating in many competitions; Winston received many awards along the way.
Winston shares that he eventually, “[…] burned out at around fourteen and stopped competing. When I was sixteen I worked at The Homestead dining room as a pianist. I enjoyed playing there, but still had no desire to compete. Finally, at age nineteen I had a desire to study music and received a full tuition scholarship at Utah State where I studied with Professor Amano. While at the University, I taught piano at the Conservatory on campus. I felt like I was effective in not only my ability to teach, but also in my ability to connect with students. It was very fulfilling. From that time to the present, teaching has been my passion.”
In speaking with a parent of one of Winston’s students she mentioned specifically choosing him because of his competition-level training and artistry that was tempered by his priority to keep music joyful for the students. Another mom whose children were with Winston for over 10 years, she shared, “In addition to his mastery of the piano and ability to teach skills, I appreciate how much he taught the ‘Whole Student’. The music was never more important than my child, and I think that Winston’s experience with having burned out made him an inspired teacher who always nurtured their interests in music in such a quiet, kind, way by simply allowing the music to motivate them.”
THE GENESIS
After college, Winston set up private lessons in Heber. “For several years, I taught about sixty piano students at Winston Lee Piano Studio which was housed in a small room at my dad’s store: The House of Fine Arts where he sold gift items and original paintings, as well as provided custom framing for customers. Eventually, my dad allowed me to build two more teaching studios in the store to bring in three more teachers: Russ-guitar, Kirk-violin, and Heather-saxophone. The four of us taught there for a few months before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away two months after his diagnosis.”
After his father’s passing, Winston saw a “For Rent” sign at the current location on 55 West 100 South. “I contacted the owners, Jim and Norma Fosgate. They were excited to have a music studio open up in their building and told me about the history of the building. Jim originally bought the building, and it became Audionics, where he developed sound equipment under the name of Rockford Fosgate. Notably, he won an Emmy in technology for designing what is now known as “Surround Sound,” which is used in homes and theaters all over the world. He sold the patent to Dolby.”
Dedicated to developing a music school with a variety of instruction, the new location started humbly with two crates of sheet music to sell and four teachers.
EXPANSION, SHAPING LIVES AND LIFTING HEARTS
“I had seven studios built inside to expand instrument lessons. People supported us right from the start. They came in asking if I would carry guitar strings, reeds, instrument cables, etc. I installed some slat wall and bought hooks and filled it with musical accessories that had been requested. I also recruited teachers on various instruments. Today, we have sixteen teachers, a school of rock program, rental instruments, guitars, ukuleles, and musical accessories. We opened in August of 2000 with tremendous support from the community: without them, Lee Music would not exist.”
Lee Music’s teachers provide lessons in the afternoons and evenings when students are out of school or work with a variety of private lessons and group instruction. Lee’s also has lessons in the form of rock bands through Lee Music School of Rock. The school also rents and sells guitars, ukuleles, violins, violas, and cellos, as well as providing minor repairs on instruments and changing strings.
There are multiple University and private studies citing the benefits of music to the brain and general well-being for those who play music or simply listen. It’s not just for those seeking a career in music. Winston feels that music touches the heart and lifts the spirit of every human being and it’s never too late to start. He mentioned that his adult students are often his most dedicated since they have great discipline to practice.
ALUMNI KEEPS GROWING
By having a serious music school available in Heber, kids from all along the Wasatch Back have access to life-changing opportunities. Some of his former students, now professional musicians, composers, and songwriters shared their insights.
“Winston and Lee Music shaped my childhood, and eventually my adulthood, by giving me opportunities both with performance and collaboration. Winston was completely unique as a piano teacher in his approach to music theory, improvisation, song writing, accompaniment, and playing music with other people in ensembles. The way he taught made music feel deeply accessible and fun, like anything was possible and that I could do anything I wanted to do with music. I feel like Winston didn’t just teach me how to play the piano, he taught me how to speak the language of music.” Stefania Barr of Shrink the Giant
“Winston did a good job at responding to my personal interests and needs. I wanted to learn all the Beethoven sonatas that I could and he supported me in that interest. Later, when I taught music, I found that it helps to keep kids interested when they get to choose the music that they want to learn so they can become the type of musician that they want to be. Winston encouraged a variety of approaches to learning music. Sometimes maybe a very strict classical teacher will focus on reading music and perfecting your execution and technique, and that is important. But if you don’t also teach improvisations, harmonies that exist outside of classical music, like in jazz for example, the process of creativity in composition, then you’re really lacking something in your musical education. I think I got a well-rounded music education in technique, learning discipline for practice, learning creativity, composition, improvisation, and how to dissect music to understand theory.” Jean-Christian Barr of Shrink the Giant
MISSION
The mission of Lee Music is to provide high quality musical instruction and inspire students to bring music into their lives. Winston shared, “What makes me most proud of our accomplishments are watching former students continue pursuing music after their time at Lee Music. It’s also rewarding when former students drop by and visit us. They let us know how grateful they are that we gave them such a positive experience with music when they were growing up. We’ve had an exciting 22 years and really appreciate the enthusiasm and support we’ve received along the way. As long as people still believe in music, we’ll just keep on moving forward.”
“Practice Every Day” At least 20 minutes and it will still provide great benefit.
Piano is recommended for all students because it helps them to make sense out of any other instrument they pursue later.
You’re never too old to start learning an instrument. You should just jump into it. I’ve found that adult beginners are some of my best students.
Students should be encouraged to learn whatever instrument they are drawn to.
If someone has been playing all their lives, they should continue to do so. I still practice, arrange and compose music for about two hours each day.
Wasatch County residents have earned what seems like a doctorate in dealing with growth, but channeling change is a never-ending process that seems to be as challenging as the teenage years. Just like that awkward, formative, and stressful stage of life, Wasatch County has a lot of current issues: traffic, taxes, affordable housing, water, air quality, the airport, public safety, and on and on and on. (Take a deep breath — it’s going to be okay.) With growth being the proverbial issue on every local campaign, and education always being a high priority to the community, the Wasatch County School District School Board has set out to develop a 10-20 year master plan while pursuing citizen involvement. This planning process has been named “Future Schools Project” (FSP). In 2021 WCSD held a multi-step interview process in hopes of hiring a consultant team. With an impressive presentation and an exceptional resume of projects and values, GSBS Architects, in Salt Lake, was selected to direct this process of determining educational goals, assessing the facilities, and recommending future options.
Last fall, 489 registered voters responded to a community survey issued by Y2 Analytics. All results can be found on the FSP website (futureschoolsproject.com). The question is not if we will need more schools, but why, where, when, and most importantly how. One key finding from the survey showed that Wasatch County residents find fiscal responsibility (91%) and transparency (87%) “very important”.
According to the FSP website, “The Wasatch School District administration and Board of Education are committed to a master planning process that prioritizes listening to parents, students, and community members. Our Master Planning Goals are: Be innovative and forward-thinking as we plan for growth, Ensure that students reach their personal goals and become productive contributing members of society, and create solutions that are efficient and financially responsible.”
The FSP is a simple concept yet has detailed steps and multi-involved phases that have been taking place since September 2021. Phases include: gathering information, generating options, reviewing with the public, and finally the master plan draft presentation at the school board meeting on April 21, 2022. As part of community engagement, three committees were formed to help consult, frame, and direct this process; an educators committee (teachers and administrators), an advisory committee (elected officials of local jurisdictions and leaders of community organizations), and a steering committee (constituents selected by school board and district administrators). The FSP team has tried to give the community as many opportunities as possible to voice opinions, share ideas, and ask questions. There have been surveys, neighborhood meetings, and a special website with a place to “join the conversation”. It is always possible to email or call board members and district personnel. Contact information can be found at wasatch.edu.
Part of the process also included an assessment, completed in December-January, of current school buildings and facilities. The project team analyzed safety and maintenance issues; and explored whether or not buildings were meeting the education visions gathered from the prior input of the committees.
Building “Bridges” to Future Schools
This project comes on the heels of the 2019 bond failure. It was an emotional campaign with frustration and passion from both proponents and objectors. The final outcome showed 57% voting against and 42% in favor.
Superintendent Paul Sweat explains, “The Future Schools Project is the Board of Education’s response to the community asking to be more involved in the planning process, as well as to the rapid growth that we are experiencing in Wasatch County and within the District. Based on continual updates from District Staff, they know our buildings are at — or over — capacity, and we are in need of a long-range plan to address the growth, which shows no signs of slowing down, based on data from local agencies gathered by our demographers, Davis Demographics.”
Findings from the community survey referenced above, show how growth and education are perceived in the valley. 67% believe that the county is growing “much too quickly” along with 82% agreeing that public education is “very important to the health of a community”. Community involvement is also “very important” to 67% of those who participated in the survey.
Sweat reflects, “It’s been eye-opening to see the engagement and enthusiasm for the process from within our District and throughout the community. We’ve long heard that our constituents want to become involved in our District; now they are actively participating in the process through committees and community meetings. Our visits to school staff meetings were very productive in gathering information for us to share with our consultant team, GSBS Architects, and allowed teachers and staff to candidly share their thoughts and concerns.”
April: Enroll in Civil Engagement 101
Although much has happened in the past six months, the next two months are even more crucial and exciting. All the effort and hard work will culminate at a public open house on April 7th. A final master plan draft will be shared at the school board meeting on April 21st. Look for details to be announced soon on the district website (wasatch.edu) or the Wasatch County School District’s Facebook page.
“The Open House on April 7th will provide the public with an opportunity to view the recommendations from GSBS, which will incorporate the information they’ve gathered during their months-long process. It will be a chance for folks to weigh in on the possible next steps in addressing growth within our District,” says Sweat.
Lindsey Ferrari, the public outreach consultant for GSBS Architects, explains, “This master planning process is designed to identify the public’s vision and values for education through a set of guiding principles; assess how the district’s facilities and buildings are performing now and how they will perform with future growth projections; then give the public some options for addressing growth based on the public’s vision. Those options will be presented to the public for feedback at the open house in April and through other various methods such as the District website and smaller group meetings. It’s important for residents to get involved in April and let the school board and consultant team know which options they want to accept as a community.” Ferrari continued by stating, “I’d also like to add that the master plan will not dictate where and what a new school or expansion might look like, but rather when the board should consider taking action based on pre-determined milestones regarding growth or building condition. So the public should be on the same page as to when and how the District will address growth.”
Just like a high school graduate that made it through those tough and fun teenage years, the future holds many possibilities and educational options for Wasatch County. Now is the time to take the opportunity to be a part of the vision and decision-making process for future schools. The next few weeks will advance the goal of addressing and managing growth and education in positive and intentional ways.
Sweat concluded by stating, “It’s crucial for our community to know we are working diligently to ensure our learning environments will provide the best possible achievement outcomes for the students of Wasatch County. Whether that takes the form of updated or new buildings will be determined by the FSP process and our much-anticipated Facilities Master Plan.”
Lee Music provides a serious music education. It takes the general idea of private music lessons and instantly ratchets up the possibilities. Whether you love classical sonatas, or dream about riffing on the electric guitar, there is a teacher who will take your dream seriously and lead you along the way to mastery — or slaying on the guitar.