Granite School District breaks ground on teen center at Cottonwood High School

A Cottonwood High School student died by suicide two weeks ago.

"I have been thinking about that every single day," said Robyn Ivins, founder of the school's food pantry. "If we had had this teen center open last year, would he still be playing basketball today? Would he be hanging out with his buddies on the last day of school?"

Ivins and other leaders in the Granite School District and at Cottonwood High School on Thursday broke ground on the district's inaugural teen resource center.

The teen center, located inside the school, will provide students with a safe place to shower, do laundry, study, receive one-on-one assistance from family service workers and access critical resources such as food, hygiene products and school supplies. It's an essential resource for a district that is home to over 1,500 students who are classified as homeless.

"There is a huge need at Cottonwood for a teen center," said Michael Douglas, principal at Cottonwood High School. "Teen centers will help students who are struggling with home insecurity (and) homelessness. You might say they're couch surfing with relatives (and) some of them might be sleeping in a car. They won't be spending the night here, but everything else they might need ... we're hoping to provide in the teen center."

While the teen center will be a resource for students dealing with homelessness, Ivins and other school and district leaders emphasized that it will be a place for everybody.

"We have kids who come who aren't hungry," Ivins said. "We have kids who want us to celebrate a passing grade on a test, We have kids who want to cry on our shoulders for a failing grade on a test, and we have kids that just come for a hug or a high five. Every kid just wants to be loved."

District Superintendent Rich Nye said when looking at why students are struggling in school, it's important to look at the "antecedents" that preclude academic success.

"We discover many things. Food insecurity, basic necessities — we identified that there's gaps in their basic needs, and then we work with community agencies and terrific partners to be able to fill those gaps, and the teen center represents an opportunity to fill a gap that's going to meet some needs of students in ways that allow them to be successful in the classroom," Nye said, adding that the center won't only address needs academically, but also "general well-being as humans."

Nye said that while this is the district's first teen center, he anticipates more will follow.

"When you consider the magnitude of what we're about to do here, that for me, and I think for all of us, illustrates the need. That we're meeting the basic needs of children so they can be successful not only in school but for the rest of their lives," Nye said.

And while the teen center won't be housing students overnight, they might be able to find a familiar, friendly face and a place to sleep nearby.

"Mr. Douglas said that the kids won't be sleeping here, but I do live next door. So, there is a chance that they actually will be sleeping real close by," Ivins said.