Archive for November, 2010
Val is the owner of Stokes Trucking Inc, he travels to Africa doing humanitarian projects there. He’ll be bringing slides and sharing stories of some of the projects that he’s been involved with.
LaVar Christensen is one of our board members and will be the speaker this Sunday. He recently won the election and will be serving in the Utah House of Representatives District 48.
A Family History of Public Service
LaVar’s roots go deep in Utah. His great, great grandfather was a member of Utah’s first Territorial House of Representatives and the first Salt Lake City Council, which established the City’s early water and lighting systems. His Father James L. Christensen, was Mayor of Upland, California and a prominent public servant in Southern California during the time of Governor Ronald Reagan. LaVar’s family is from Utah and Sanpete Counties and his wife Sue’s family are from Carbon County.
Education and Business Experience
LaVar Christensen is an attorney and small business owner with a broad legal and business background. He has a deep respect for our Constitution and founding principles. LaVar served a volunteer church mission to Colorado and Kansas. He received his B.A. degree from BYU and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. While in Law School, he was a Legislative Assistant for the Governor of California and a Judicial Law Clerk.
Family and Community Involvement
LaVar is married to Susan Kay Christensen. They have three children: Kenny, married to Elizabeth Lee; Karen, married to Lincoln Scoffield; and Jeff, a college student. LaVar and Sue have four grandchildren and another on the way! LaVar has always been active in his church and community. He has high school teaching experience and has enjoyed serving as a mock trial coach for students in the Jordan School District. For many years he coached youth baseball teams in Sandy and Draper.
Prior Legislative Service
LaVar Christensen served in the Utah House of Representatives from 2002-2006. His responsibilities included: Vice-Chair of Education Committee, member of the Budget Appropriations Committee for Public Education, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee; Chair of Judicial Rules Review Committee and member of the Constitutional Revision Commission.
LaVar is the author and sponsor of Utah’s Constitutional Amendment in support of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. It passed by a 2/3 majority in the Legislature and was adopted by the voters in 2004. (It is now Utah Law as reflected in Article I, Section 29 of the Utah State Constitution). LaVar also successfully sponsored important legislation that recognizes and strengthens parental rights in Utah as well as civic and character education in our public schools. He passed legislation, which granted township legal recognition to White City in our District. He also increased the criminal penalties for smuggling illegal drugs into our prisons and correctional facilities while also obtaining much needed funding for added prevention resources. LaVar was named Statesman of the Year by the Salt Lake County Republican Party and received “Guardian of Small Business” and “Friend of the Taxpayer” awards while serving in the Legislature
What makes West Ridge different from other residential treatment centers? Ken Allen, the Executive Director of West Ridge Academy, discusses the role of West Ridge Academy in serving troubled teens and their families. West Ridge is one of the oldest, and most successful programs in the United States for dealing with troubled teens. Many miraculous events throughout it’s history have formed it’s values, system, and culture. This podcast tells the story — past, present, and future of West Ridge.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Our first game of the region tournament we played Salt Lake Lutheran. I think that’s the best I’ve seen them play. We had some great rallies and all the games were close.
The scores were: SLL 25- WR 21, SLL 25- WR 16, SLL 25- WR 19
The next day we played Oakley, we had to win this game in order to have a cross-over game with another region. We won the first two games, they won the third, and then we won the fourth, which qualified us to go to the cross-over game.
Scores: WR 25- Oakley 10,WR 25- Oakley 17, Oakley 25- WR 23, WR 25- Oakley 10
Our cross-over game was with Bryce Valley, a 3rd place team from their region and we were a fifth place team. We travelled 4 ½ hours to play this game. I don’t know if the girls were tired, or what but we didn’t play as well as we could have. We lost all three games, we started out sluggish and weren’t able to pick the intensity level up. Bryce Valley had four tall girls, so they always had a couple of blockers on the front row. We had to adjust our hitting to more angles, which we struggled with. We were all disappointed that we didn’t play better.
The final scores were: BV 25- WR 8, BV 25- WR 10, BV 25- WR 5
Congratulations to Alexis S who made the all-tournament team.
Coaches nominate players from their teams and then all of the coaches in the region vote on the players. So it’s quite an honor to make it.
All in all we had a good season. At the beginning of the year we set team and individual goals. Our team goals were to work together, stay positive and never give up. Most of the time we accomplished our team goals and at times we didn’t. One of the things I love about sports is how it parallels to life. Hopefully the girls came away learning some valuable lessons that they can carry over into their lives.
We’re so proud of them for the hard work, sacrifice, dedication, commitment and fun that we had this season. They all brought something unique to our team.
Coach Ballards
