The Park City School District Board of Education unanimously voted to decommission Treasure Mountain in September after years of contemplation.
The first principal at the school, Brian Schiller, advocated for the school's closure at the second of three required public hearings. He also shared the ups and downs of Treasure Mountain’s history.
Schiller was hired as principal before the school was finished in 1981.
“They were in the process of digging and pouring the concrete foundations for this building. So I walked all around the construction site with them,” he said.
By the 1981-1982 school year, the southern portion of the building was ready for students while construction continued on the northern part.
Schiller reminisced on a number of fun projects and activities for staff and students during his 11 years as principal.
He said the students helped create a metal mobile that adorned the school’s library ceiling for many years.
“The kids in the art classes designed it, and kids in the industrial arts classes helped work on the design and the weighting of it and the balancing of it, and then we took it to this metal smithing shop, and they made it, and they suspended it from the ceiling,” Schiller said.
He recalled how hundreds of students would shout and cheer for each other in the annual bridge-building contest. Made only of toothpicks and glue, the one bearing the most weight would win.
Schiller said the highlight for Treasure students every year was “outdoor ed.” The legacy program was a days-long camping trip. Sixth graders went to Dinosaur National Monument, seventh graders went to Arches National Park and eighth graders went to Yellowstone National Park.
Students learned to prepare meals, pitch tents and show their skills on talent night.
“At Arches National Park, there was a natural sand base, and it actually went up like a theater. And the kids who did their performances, their acts, their jokes, their stories, whatever stood under the arch,” Schiller said.
One trip to Yellowstone stands out. Schiller said seventh-grade teacher Jill Christensen took what nature gave her and improvised one of the finest lessons he ever witnessed.
“For an hour and a half, Jill Christensen took the parts of that elk carcass, which were still connected by the tough tissues, sinew, tendons, things like that, and she taught off the top of her head this anatomy lesson and connected the anatomy of an elk to human anatomy, and it was mind-blowing,” he said. “I have never seen a better lesson during my 42 years [in education].”
Interim Superintendent and former Treasure principal Caleb Fine said the outdoor ed program continued until the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn’t been resurrected. Yet.
Schiller also recalled a few challenges during his tenure including HVAC issues in the 1990s.
“From what I know, studies were done after I left, the system was not either operating at all or operating [the way] it was designed to operate or wasn't installed properly and wouldn't operate properly, but there was not enough air exchange in those windowless classrooms,” he said. “The kids only stayed in there, usually an hour, and they were on to another classroom, but the teacher was in there all day long.”
He said that meant higher carbon dioxide levels in those areas.
More recently, contaminated soil piles with heightened levels of lead and arsenic were stored behind the school for years. Removal of the piles was completed this year.
But the good outweighs the bad. Schiller fondly remembers Treasure as a place that helped students learn in exciting ways.
“We tried to have fun every day in school,” Schiller said. “Kids who are having fun in school are kids who are learning.”
Fine said that legacy will live on.
“The legacy of Treasure and it being a fun learning environment continued and will continue until the last day of school in June, just so you know,” he said. “We’re proud to say that legacy still exists here. We're having fun and we're learning.”
Ecker Hill Middle School and Park City High School are expanding to accommodate Treasure Mountain’s students. Ninth graders from Treasure Mountain will move to Park City High School and eighth graders will attend Ecker Hill Middle School.
The board has created an athletics master plan which involves demolishing Treasure Mountain. It includes new softball, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts, Dozier Field upgrades and possibly a new field house and increased parking.
The final hearing is after the board’s next meeting Nov. 19.
