In late June, Payson High School was demolished after nearly 60 years of operation, and those in the Sorenson family think fondly of the years spent in the hallways while looking forward to making new memories.
For the past eight years, Jesse Sorenson has served as an administrator and as the head principal for the past six. He is also a PHS graduate (class of 1995), and his siblings, many cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents have also donned the PHS cap n’ gown. In fact, seven generations in Sorenson’s family lineage have attended Payson High School, with some attending the original school built in 1912.
Serve Daily was able to connect with members of four of those generations, who all had great things to say about their experiences as students at Payson High.
“My parents had four graduates of Payson High, I had four children graduate and Jesse has had three of his four children graduate from Payson High, with his youngest being a sophomore this year,” said Jesse Sorenson’s mom DeeAnn Sorenson. “Our family has 19 Payson High graduates with three more enrolled this coming school year.
“My dad was the first in his family to graduate from Payson High School,” she continued “He was the first in his family to even attend high school. That was always a kind of a proud moment for him because you didn’t typically get to go on to high school because they were needed on the farms. He rode from Goshen to get to come to Payson High. And then my maternal grandmother was the first to graduate from Payson in her family.”
DeeAnn went on to name her parents, Dawna (Butler) Stewart and Jerry Stewart who met and graduated from the original high school in 1952.
“I was born and raised here. My dad was born and raised here. My mom grew up in Spring Lake, but attended Payson High,” DeeAnn Sorenson said. “That was typical to Payson given the size of community it was. You knew everybody you went to high school with. My graduating class was about 200 students.”
DeeAnnSorenson said that even with how small the town and school was at the time, that there were plenty of opportunities to get involved in school. She said she was on the debate and drill teams and was the sterling scholar in homemaking after making a wool coat that she said “took her over the top.” She spoke about “Friday Night Lights” and after-game stomps and proms at the school.
“All of our proms and all of our dances were at the high school,” she recalled. “That was back in the day when you didn’t go to public buildings or other venues to have dances. You got to participate in more and help decorate. Football games were always a big deal. The high school was kind of the center of the community for the kids because there were no recreation centers and places that you could go like there are nowadays.”
Even with things changing over the years, DeeAnn Sorenson’s grandchildren also felt like their experiences at Payson High were central to their growing up. Jacob Sorenson (class of 2021) and Maya Sorenson (class of 2022), both spoke about the connection they felt to the school, students, staff and community at large.
A student body that ‘works hard’ and ‘roots for the underdog’
Maya Sorenson spoke about a time when students participated in a slip-n-slide activity, and a fellow student with disabilities needed the assistance of others to be able to join in. She recalled carrying this student to the top of the hill and watching fellow students do the same. Maya also told about a time during a bake sale when she and fellow classmates made cakes to sell. She spoke about how they were all working hard and even donating their own money to ensure that every cake got sold and each student knew their contribution was needed.
“Payson has a really heavy tradition of rooting for the underdog,” Maya Sorenson said. “I would describe Payson kids as ‘show-er-uppers,’ and that’s really special to me.”
Jacob Sorenson said that one of the many things he loved about attending Payson High was the work ethic that he said many students and community members embody. He spoke about working in the cherry orchards with many of his classmates and noted how this “small-town” type of work has really shaped him and, as he sees it, many of his classmates learn how to work hard.
“Something so special about Payson is that there are a lot of immigrants and it’s not the wealthiest area, and so everyone is very humble and kind,” Jacob Sorenson said. “So many kids have jobs. Some students had two or three jobs and many of my friends and teammates couldn’t participate in the activities that they wanted to because they couldn’t afford it. … It was a very humble and kind group of people in the school. Even the ones who were more financially well off still recognized the need for a good work ethic.”
Both Jacob and Maya spoke highly of the staff, saying that they always felt safe at school and knew that the staff had their best interest in mind, “not just because they were the principal’s kids.”
Looking back while moving forward
There is a perk for being related to the principal, and for the Sorensons’ one of the big ones was being able to walk through the old high school before it was torn down.
“We have been Payson people for a long time, but it’s always been very special and sacred to our family,” Maya Sorenson said. “Right before the school was torn down, we took a last walk-through of Payson High as a family. It was just like the last time in the ancestral home.”
Jesse Sorenson said that having gone to Payson High himself as a student and seeing his aunts, uncles, siblings, his own children and countless students attend the school, that it is the people who have always made his school one of the best.
“I think we as educators underestimate the value of the friendships forged at school,” Jesse Sorenson said. “I’ve had a unique perspective as someone who grew up in Payson to be able to see the longevity of many of those friendships. When you see a building that (has) held so many experiences get torn down, you realize that it’s the spirit of the building and not necessarily the structure that matters. It’s the people who are there and they will continue on and make generations of new memories.”
Even with growth of the school and town very much on the horizon, if you ask any of the Sorensons, all say that they don’t have plans of leaving Payson anytime soon.
“There’s a lot of love here and I think it started years and years ago,” Maya Sorenson said. “My great-great-great grandparents loved being Payson people. They loved looking out for the land and for each other. I think we just grew up feeling loved and then we learned how to love each other.”
“I’m just very grateful that I was able to grow up in a town that has such great people,” Jacob Sorenson said. “I know a lot of small town people don’t love it when the town starts to grow, and I don’t blame people at all for wanting to come live in Payson. I wouldn’t want to grow up anywhere else, and I wouldn’t want to raise my family anywhere else.”
“I know Payson High is way bigger than when I graduated from high school, but I feel like we still have that sense of community,” DeeAnn Sorenson said. “You see it when you go to a basketball game or a football game. You have people who’ve been attending these high school events for generations. Our family is not the only family that has long called Payson home. I can think of so many others who go back as far as we do. It’s the kind of town that makes you want to stay and the high school is a big part of that.”
The newly anticipated Payson High School will welcome students this month, and the Sorensen family is set to continue on with the generations of tradition alongside, no doubt, countless others.
