Press Releases
- Meet Utah’s National Student Poet: Rowland Hall Senior Gabriella Miranda Selected for Country’s Most Prestigious Youth Poetry Honor
- Rowland Hall Offers Tips on Supporting Preschool and Elementary-Aged Learners Who Are Anxious about a New School Year
- As Extreme Heat Continues to Grip Northern Hemisphere, One Utah School is Working to Lessen the Impact of Future Heat Waves
- Rowland Hall Joins National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign
- Rowland Hall Students to Perform World Premiere of Commissioned One-Act Play 'The Great Salt Film'
Meet Utah’s National Student Poet: Rowland Hall Senior Gabriella Miranda Selected for Country’s Most Prestigious Youth Poetry Honor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 29, 2023
MEET UTAH’S NATIONAL STUDENT POET
ROWLAND HALL SENIOR GABRIELLA MIRANDA SELECTED FOR COUNTRY'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS YOUTH POETRY HONOR
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—Rowland Hall is pleased to announce that senior Gabriella Miranda has been selected as a National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. Gabriella is one of five outstanding high school poets from across the country, chosen to represent the West Region of the United States.
National Student Poets are selected by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers from a group of high schoolers who collectively submitted more than 24,000 works in the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. From a pool of National Medal recipients, 40 semi-finalists were identified as the most gifted young poets in their regions, based on their originality, technical skills and personal voice, and invited to submit additional poetry and performance videos to distinguished jurors for the final selection of the five National Student Poets, chosen for their exceptional creativity, dedication to craft and promise. These poets will serve as national poetry ambassadors, sharing their passion for poetry, literacy and the literary arts with their communities and throughout their regions, and will each receive a $5,000 academic award.
“It's challenging for me to distill exactly how I feel about being named a National Student Poet because writing, and poetry especially, has always been very central to my life,” reflected Gabriella. “Writing is what I love most in the world, and I can't even begin to express my excitement about the opportunities to come in the following year, from engaging with other poets whose work I've studied and admired for years to developing a service project in order to connect with other students and writers in the community.”
Gabriella centers her writing around depictions of human relationships, the complexities of looking for connection and what it means to build an identity from the foundation of another’s. She has been an editor of Rowland Hall’s literary magazine, Tesserae, since her freshman year.
“Gabriella Miranda showed her gifts as a writer from her first classes with me in ninth grade,” said Joel Long, Rowland Hall English, creative writing and literary magazine teacher. “She has an instinct for images and rhythm that resonate at the deepest levels. Her voice naturally channels towards authenticity and gravity. Insightful from our first meeting, Gabriella exhibits wisdom that continues to grow through her curiosity and empathy. Gabriella represents perfectly all the wonderful young writers who have come through our program. She will represent the creative writing program and the school well, and with her charisma, talents and passion, she will share the power of poetry with many in our region and across the country. I couldn't be more proud.”
In addition to being named a National Student Poet, Gabriella was also recently named to the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up Global Teen Advisory Board, which is dedicated to helping young leaders gain knowledge, resources and support to amplify their activism across the globe.
Interviews with National Student Poet Gabriella Miranda are available to local media. Please contact Stephanie Orfanakis for support.
About Rowland Hall
Rowland Hall is Utah's oldest independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving 1,000 students in 3PreK through twelfth grade. Driven by our vision of developing people the world needs, we believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.
Rowland Hall has deepened its longstanding commitment to giving students authentic learning opportunities in which they can shape solutions to the world’s toughest problems and to connecting them with community partners to create real, lasting and far-reaching change.
Contact
Stephanie Orfanakis, Director of Marketing and Communications
stephanieorfanakis@rowlandhall.org
Office: 801-924-2960 | Cell: 801-244-2862
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Rowland Hall Offers Tips on Supporting Preschool and Elementary-Aged Learners Who Are Anxious about a New School Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 15, 2023
ROWLAND HALL OFFERS TIPS ON SUPPORTING PRESCHOOL AND ELEMENTARY-AGED LEARNERS WHO ARE ANXIOUS ABOUT A NEW SCHOOL YEAR
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—It’s back-to-school season, and while some children are filled with excitement this time of year, others are anxious. For parents and caregivers, it can be especially difficult to see their preschool or elementary-aged children express anxiety about the start of school—particularly when anxiety in children is on the rise and, as a result, on our minds more than ever before. However, experts say back-to-school anxiety is normal and, with thoughtful support and guidance, parents can prepare their young students for a new year and successfully ease them into a routine.
“The biggest source of anxiety is separation from parents for a significant portion of the day,” said Deborah Wright, emotional support counselor for Rowland Hall’s McCarthey Campus, which serves students in preschool through fifth grade. Knowing this, Wright provided seven tips to help parents and caregivers understand and support anxious young learners, before the school year starts and in the early weeks of the new year.
Rowland Hall is pleased to offer local media interviews with Emma Wellman, Beginning School and Lower School principal, during this year’s back-to-school season. Emma is available to discuss the above linked tips and to speak about social and emotional well-being in preschool and elementary-aged children. Please contact Stephanie Orfanakis to coordinate interviews.
About Rowland Hall
Rowland Hall is Utah's oldest independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving 1,000 students in 3PreK through twelfth grade. Driven by our vision of developing people the world needs, we believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.
Rowland Hall has deepened its longstanding commitment to giving students authentic learning opportunities in which they can shape solutions to the world’s toughest problems and to connecting them with community partners to create real, lasting and far-reaching change.
Contact
Stephanie Orfanakis, Director of Marketing and Communications
stephanieorfanakis@rowlandhall.org
Office: 801-924-2960 | Cell: 801-244-2862
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As Extreme Heat Continues to Grip Northern Hemisphere, One Utah School is Working to Lessen the Impact of Future Heat Waves
Left: Rowland Hall students display a CAPA sensor that will help map heat islands in Salt Lake City. Right: Student volunteers drive the city during the hottest part of the day.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 18, 2023
AS EXTREME HEAT CONTINUES TO GRIP NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, ONE UTAH SCHOOL IS WORKING TO LESSEN THE IMPACT OF FUTURE HEAT WAVES
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—At a time when more than 91 million US citizens are currently under heat alerts across the Southwest and South, one Utah school is helping to identify the hottest areas of the state’s capital city in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) urban heat island mapping campaign.
On Saturday, July 15, Salt Lake independent school Rowland Hall was part of the group of Utah citizen scientists who supported the campaign by mounting CAPA sensors on cars and driving 10 routes around the city to record temperature, humidity, time and location in the early morning, afternoon and evening.
Data from Saturday’s campaign will be used to create local heat maps and to identify Salt Lake City’s urban heat islands—areas that can measure up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than neighborhoods with more trees and grass, and less pavement. Heat islands are often home to those most vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat, particularly due to the areas’ ties to historical redlining. Heat maps will help local decision-makers take actions to reduce the life-threatening impacts of extreme heat, the number-one weather-related cause of death in the US for the last three decades, including planting trees and reducing heat trapping surfaces.
“Heat mapping is important because communities around the world are experiencing more frequent and more intense extreme heat events,” said Robert Wilson, Rowland Hall biology teacher and coordinator of climate studies, and a lead volunteer of Salt Lake’s urban heat mapping team. “Extreme heat is among the most dangerous weather events.”
Salt Lake City is one of 18 communities in 14 US states and one international city* selected by NOAA to gather heat data in 2023, and one of only three communities in the Western United States. The city’s application was a joint effort among representatives and students from Rowland Hall, Utah State University's Utah Climate Center, Salt Lake City, the Natural History Museum of Utah, TreeUtah and Northwest Middle School.
*Communities chosen for the 2023 NOAA urban heat island mapping campaign are: Salt Lake City, Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Asheville, NC; Framingham and Brockton, MA; Johnson County and Wyandotte County, KS; Wilmington, DE; Toledo, OH; Little Rock, AR; Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, PA; Sedona, AZ; Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, IA; and Washington County, OR. NOAA is also working with local groups and the Pan-American Health Organization on an international heat island mapping campaign in Santiago, Chile.
About Rowland Hall
Rowland Hall is Utah's oldest independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving 1,000 students in 3PreK through twelfth grade. Driven by our vision of developing people the world needs, we believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.
Rowland Hall has deepened its longstanding commitment to giving students authentic learning opportunities in which they can shape solutions to the world’s toughest problems and to connecting them with community partners to create real, lasting and far-reaching change.
Contact
Stephanie Orfanakis, Director of Marketing and Communications
stephanieorfanakis@rowlandhall.org
Office: 801-924-2960 | Cell: 801-244-2862
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Rowland Hall Joins National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, left, meeting with students and Rowland Hall teacher Robert Wilson, right, at an Arbor Day celebration in April 2023.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 11, 2023
ROWLAND HALL JOINS NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION’S URBAN HEAT ISLAND MAPPING CAMPAIGN
SCHOOL PART OF TEAM OF CITIZEN SCIENTISTS GATHERING DATA ON HOTTEST AREAS OF SALT LAKE CITY
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—This Saturday, local school Rowland Hall will be part of a group of Utah citizen scientists mapping Salt Lake’s urban heat islands, the hottest areas of the city. This work is being done in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) urban heat island mapping campaign.
Salt Lake City is one of 18 communities in 14 US states and one international city* selected by NOAA to gather heat data in 2023, and one of only three communities in the Western United States. The city’s application was a joint effort among representatives and students from Rowland Hall, Utah State University's Utah Climate Center, Salt Lake City, the Natural History Museum of Utah, TreeUtah and Northwest Middle School.
“Heat mapping is important because Salt Lake City is experiencing more frequent and more intense extreme heat events,” said Robert Wilson, Rowland Hall biology teacher and coordinator of climate studies, and a lead volunteer of Salt Lake’s urban heat mapping team. “Extreme heat is among the most dangerous weather events, and it is more dangerous for underserved communities.”
Urban heat islands are often home to those most vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat. With few trees, little grass and more pavement that absorbs heat, hotspots can measure up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than neighborhoods with more trees and grass, and less pavement. Identifying and mapping urban heat islands is a necessary step to help local decision-makers take actions to reduce life-threatening impacts: extreme heat is the number-one weather-related cause of death in the US for the last three decades, a statistic that’s front of mind as more than 88 million US citizens are currently under heat alerts across states in the Southwest and South.
Volunteers will build local heat maps this Saturday, July 15, by using heat sensors mounted on cars. Sensors will record data (temperature, humidity, time and location) in Salt Lake’s urban heat islands during the early morning, afternoon and evening.
“Our heat maps will help us identify neighborhoods that experience the hottest conditions and guide our efforts to plant trees and reduce heat trapping surfaces and provide other forms of relief from extreme heat,” said Robert.
Media are invited to join volunteers at the project hub, the Poplar Grove Park pavilion (800 Emery St., Salt Lake City), on Saturday, July 15, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Volunteers will be available for interviews following shifts that end at 7 a.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., or can be scheduled as needed. Interviews with teacher/lead volunteer Robert Wilson and Rowland Hall students are also available this week and during Saturday’s event. Please contact Ashley Atwood to coordinate these interviews.
*Communities chosen for the 2023 NOAA urban heat island mapping campaign are: Salt Lake City, Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Asheville, NC; Framingham and Brockton, MA; Johnson County and Wyandotte County, KS; Wilmington, DE; Toledo, OH; Little Rock, AR; Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, PA; Sedona, AZ; Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, IA; and Washington County, OR. NOAA is also working with local groups and the Pan-American Health Organization on an international heat island mapping campaign in Santiago, Chile.
About Rowland Hall
Rowland Hall is Utah's oldest independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving 1,000 students in 3PreK through twelfth grade. Driven by our vision of developing people the world needs, we believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.
Rowland Hall has deepened its longstanding commitment to giving students authentic learning opportunities in which they can shape solutions to the world’s toughest problems and to connecting them with community partners to create real, lasting and far-reaching change.
Contact
Ashley Atwood, Marketing Content Associate
ashleyatwood@rowlandhall.org
801-924-2465
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Rowland Hall Students to Perform World Premiere of Commissioned One-Act Play 'The Great Salt Film'
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 16, 2023
ROWLAND HALL STUDENTS TO PERFORM WORLD PREMIERE OF COMMISSIONED ONE-ACT PLAY 'THE GREAT SALT FILM'
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—Rowland Hall is proud to present the world premiere of The Great Salt Film, a one-act play about the disappearance of the Great Salt Lake, this Thursday, May 18, and Friday, May 19, at the Larimer Center for the Performing Arts.
- The Great Salt Film was commissioned by Rowland Hall students and theater teacher Matt Sincell, and written by award-winning local playwright Rachel Bublitz.
- Eleven students from Rowland Hall were a part of the play's development, offering feedback that was incorporated into the final script. Rowland Hall students will also perform the play’s premiere.
- By producing the play’s world premiere, Rowland Hall is making it possible for The Great Salt Film to be published and, therefore, available to theaters and schools across the nation, helping to further necessary conversations about water.
“It’s been a goal of Rowland Hall and the Arts Department this year to find different ways to illuminate the very real environmental issues facing the Great Salt Lake,” said theater teacher Matt Sincell. “I wanted to contribute to the conversation and give my students an opportunity to have their voices heard. I knew that working with Rachel would provide a unique opportunity for our students to become a part of a larger national conversation."
Play Summary
The Great Salt Film centers around the disappearance of the Great Salt Lake and is told through the perspectives of teenagers. Set at the edge of the lake, the play focuses on two groups of teens who are in the process of creating short films to enter into a competition that seeks to bring attention to the lake's decline. Through the voices of the teenagers, we learn about the frustration, the struggle and, ultimately, the genuine love they have for the lake. Realistic and hopeful, The Great Salt Film reveals to viewers what the lake used to be—and what it could be again.
Performance Details
| Date: | Thursday, May 18, and Friday, May 19, 2023 |
| Time: | 4 pm |
| Cost: | Recommended $10 donation per person; all proceeds will go to FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake |
| Location: | Larimer Center for the Performing Arts 843 Lincoln Street, Salt Lake City |
Running time is approximately 45 minutes. A talkback with student performers, theater teacher Matt Sincell and playwright Rachel Bublitz (May 18 only) will follow the show.
About Rowland Hall
Rowland Hall is Utah's oldest independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving 1,000 students in 3PreK through twelfth grade. Driven by our vision of developing people the world needs, we believe in a transformational education that gives students agency and purpose, connects them to their global community and empowers them to make the world a better place for all.
Rowland Hall has deepened its longstanding commitment to giving students authentic learning opportunities in which they can shape solutions to the world’s toughest problems and to connecting them with community partners to create real, lasting and far-reaching change. A focus on Great Salt Lake’s climate crisis has given students opportunities to learn and inspire change in a variety of disciplines, including the arts.
Contact
Stephanie Orfanakis, Director of Marketing and Communications
stephanieorfanakis@rowlandhall.org
Office: 801-924-2960 | Cell: 801-244-2862
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Graphics
Photos
Video
The below video is property of Rowland Hall and shared only to provide a visual understanding of this event. Do not use without permission. Please contact stephanieorfanakis@rowlandhall.org. for image/video support.