East High is working to make students on the west side of SLC feel united

SALT LAKE CITY — Diana Mayorga is one of many students who live on Salt Lake City’s west side but are East High Leopards.

“Personally, I’m from the west side of town; I’m commuting to East High,” Mayorga said. “I know there may be difficulties, but by working and implementing new, innovative ideas, we can do something truly strong and indestructible.”

One idea she and other student leaders came up with was to organize the school’s fall dance on the city’s west side.

“The reason for changing the location of our dance is to make everyone feel united and to have something on the west side, so that everyone knows that this is an inclusive event and brings awareness to everyone,” Mayorga said.

“When looking for ideas to bring to the west side of the school, the smartest thing I did was give them to the kids because they always have the best ideas,” said East High Principal Ryan Oaks.

One of Oaks’ goals in his first year as principal is to make all students and families feel a part of the East High community. He says he and other school administrators actively try to go to the city’s west side to build relationships with families.

“We have very unique boundaries. We stretch from Hogle Zoo all the way to Glendale, which creates a very unique set of challenges, but I always say that with every challenge comes an opportunity,” he said.

For example, East High is hosting parent-teacher conference nights at Glendale Middle School to make it easier for parents and students to commute to the school on the west side of the school, as families have requested. School officials are also physically attending more meetings on the west side of the school to hear their concerns and see what’s working. East High is also home to The Dance Krew, a primarily hip-hop based dance group that focuses on diversity and teamwork.

“East High is trying to do something that is really challenging, really rewarding and really cool,” Principal Oaks said. “The name may be East High, but it belongs to all students on the east side, west side and everywhere in between.”

The Saturday dance is one of many student initiatives, but the work does not end on the dance floor.

“I hope it’s the first of many,” Mayorga said.