Congratulations to Bingham High School’s Travis Lucero, who has been selected as one of 50 finalists nationwide for the 2026 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. The award is in its 10th year and was established by Harbor Freight Tools owner and founder Eric Smidt to advance excellent, skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools.

Mr. Lucero was nominated for the amazing work he has done teaching welding and collision repair to Bingham students for more than 20 years. He is now in the running for one of 25 prizes totaling $2 million, which Harbor Freight will award in Fall 2026.

For most students summer break is well underway, but for those enrolled in Jordan PREP, it was the first day all over again. First-year students started their six-week Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) with icebreakers to meet their new classmates and some introductory testing. Returning Jordan PREPers were reacquainted with old friends and even began working on capstone projects. 

The program gives students a series of classes with a mathematical, logical, and reasoning foundation over four consecutive summers and puts them on track to graduate with a two-year engineering certificate from Salt Lake Community College before they receive their High School Diploma.

REMINDER: No USDA Free Summer Meals on Monday, June 15
The free meal service will resume on Tuesday, June 16. All children 18 years old and younger are welcome to enjoy free breakfast and lunch, Monday through Friday, until July 31, excluding June 15, July 3, and July 24.

The free meals will be available at four locations:

• Columbia Elementary School, 3503 West 7800 South, West Jordan
• Heartland Elementary School, 1451 West 7000 South, West Jordan
• Terra Linda Elementary School, 8400 South Old Bingham Highway, West Jordan
• Westvale Elementary School, 2300 West Gardner Lane, West Jordan

🥞 Breakfast service is from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
🌭 Lunch service is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Music filled the air at Terra Linda Elementary School as first grade students stepped onto the dance floor, transforming their school into a royal ballroom for a day. The school hosted its first grade Cinderella Ball, a special event designed as the grand finale to a unit in the District’s Wit & Wisdom English Language Arts curriculum. The unique lesson goes beyond the traditional fairy tale, teaching students to explore and analyze what people around the world admire about Cinderella’s character—such as resilience, kindness, and perseverance.

To bring the global literature unit to life, students traded in their usual school clothes for fancy attire, including sparkling crowns, tiaras, and ballgowns. The event was a family affair, with parents and older siblings asked to join their first-graders as their royal dance partners. Teachers taught everyone how to dance the Waltz.

Connecting physical activities such as dance and dress-up to classroom texts helps younger students engage more deeply with the reading material, making the core virtues of the curriculum both memorable and impactful.

Thank you to the teachers and staff at Terra Linda Elementary School for putting together such an incredible and memorable event for students and families.