0
0
We all have that friend that left us. We all know someone who has mysteriously disappeared from the hallways of NS. We all know someone that’s no longer a Hawk, but instead, a Tiger.
Wasatch Academy is a private boarding school, but it also offers students an option of attending as a daytime student.
Jocelyn Mardell, a sophomore at Wasatch Academy, originally attended NS during her freshman year.
“I felt like Wasatch could offer a lot more opportunities, and I wanted to see what it was like,” Jocelyn Mardell said.
Mardell’s father, Jason Mardell, owner of the Corner Station Deli, also had worked at Wasatch for a while before enrolling his daughter. Jason Mardell felt it would be an excellent experience for her, primarily because of the school’s many different cultures.
“I know that they have a very diverse population of kids, and I thought that Jocelyn could benefit from that,” Jason Mardell said.
Like NS, the school also offers a French and Spanish class, which is crucial at Wasatch given that they have students from around the world enrolled.
“Getting to know people was a little hard at first, but once you know a couple, you tend to make friends a lot easier,” Jocelyn Mardell said.
Both father and daughter agree that kids at Wasatch are more social than students at NS and bond together easier
“I think the diversity at Wasatch helps kids be more kind [than those at NS],” Jason Mardell said.
However, this diversity also causes some problems.
NS Math and Physics teacher Jed Brewer explains that while many students tend to score around 90 percent on Aleks assessments, new kids, despite their backgrounds or good grades in their old schools, tend to score only about 20 percent.
So in a school like Wasatch, with global diversity and many different backgrounds and academic curriculums, it can be tough to find a foundation on which all of the students can begin to learn.
Wasatch however, is noted for its high level education and teaching.
“[Wasatch] is more or less based [on] college teaching,” Jocelyn Mardlel said. “So they really push towards getting you ready for college.”
Although Wasatch is a choice school for college preparation, it doesn’t offer concurrent enrollment classes like NS, so you can’t obtain college credits. This is quite a big deal because taking college classes at high school saves substantial amounts of money.
On another account, many people think that a successful boarding school would be rigorous, but neither of the Mardells seems to think so.
“The strict rules were never an issue with Jocelyn, so I wasn’t really concerned about that,” Jason Mardell said.
While Wasatch seems to be superior as far as the curriculum goes, NS has another significant benefit; the locals of Sanpete County.
“NS gets you out there a bit more; it gives you an opportunity to meet people closer to home,” NS junior Ethan Terry said.
Even though the Mardells agree that NS has its benefits, they prefer Wasatch.
“For NS High, it’s kind of nice to know all of the local people, [whereas] at Wasatch, you’re always making new friends with people,” Jocelyn Mardell said. “But it’s nice to know locals.”
It’s nice to make new friends, but it can be hard when you don’t get to see them outside of school in an informal setting. Some kids at Wasatch find it hard to socialize with as well, like some in NS.
“I know particularly there are Asian boys that they only hang out with each other. They don’t really associate with anybody else,” Jason Mardell said.
Another issue at Wasatch is the cost of enrollment. For a boarding student, according to Jason Mardell, it costs around $60,000 for registration before including financial aid
“You go through their financial aid program, so it’s different for everyone based on their income. There was [also] an employee discount before I started working there,” Jason Mardell said.
Even with the aid, this can still be quite a bit of an expensive sacrifice for some people, especially because NS is a government funded school. Most fees are just club or sports related and money for lunch.
“I think it’s overpriced, especially when going to Wasatch for my whole high school career costs as much as going to college for one year,” NS sophomore Makayla Robinson said.
Another small issue is that some students feel that even if they had enough money to get into Wasatch, it would still be a struggle to get in because of their harsh acceptance rate.
“Wasatch is a bit more strict in who they accept,” Terry said.
This can also be a positive effect because it helps increase the outcome of success for the students. Some teachers consider this “cheating” however.
“You tend to have a lot more success when you get to choose who’s in your program,” NS teacher Tyler Bailey said.
NS doesn’t choose its students. It takes whatever it’s got and makes it into gold.
In the end, you could say that Wasatch might offer a higher chance of success, but it takes significantly more money and mental effort.
