ST. GEORGE — A local high school providing a second chance for students with behavior problems or learning disabilities gave a grand tour to a grand leader Thursday.

The national president of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks fraternal order, otherwise known as “The Elks,” came to Millcreek High School in the Dinosaur Crossing area of St. George to give a national eye on what has been called a local success story as well as see the fruits of a project by the St. George Dixie Elks Lodge.

Known in Elks terms as the “grand exalted ruler” of the Elks organization, Bruce A. Hidley and his wife, Elks First Lady Helen Hidley, told St. George News that even while his role takes him all over the country, he has never seen anything like the work done at Millcreek to boost teens who others might have given up on.

“I’ve never seen a school that is as committed to helping to do that right,” Hidley, who traveled from Albany, New York, said after being taken to almost every corner of the campus on Riverside Drive. “If this community could expand this program, I know the Elks would be 100% behind it.”

At that point, the grand exalted leader’s first lady turned and expressed that what she saw at Millcreek inspired her. 

“I wish I had this home in New York in our own community,” First Lady Hidley said. “It’s heartwarming and it’s a wonderful program to be able to reach out to all these kids that need help … and to have a facility that they can actually come to and be themselves.”

National and state Elks leadership, as well St. George Elks members, got a nearly hourlong look throughout the campus – from the classrooms, to a specialized food pantry, to a nursery for teen moms to a “beach house” that allows students to refresh before going back to class for more learning.

“These are the kids who get lost in the shuffle of the other schools,” school counselor Jerry Beck told the assembled group.

Millcreek is the Washington County School District’s alternative school — a place where those with behavior or learning difficulties go after those problems have been hindrances at other local schools. The students walking the halls of Millcreek are those who have struggled with learning or who have gotten in trouble. 

It’s also the only school in the district whose majority population isn’t Caucasian. Of its 200 students, a little over 50% are Latino, according to the website Public School Review.

Back in 2010, the Dixie Elks Lodge took on the school as a partnership project. The goal was to increase graduation rates, which were sitting at around 60% at the time. Those rates now sit above 90%. 

But it’s not just graduation rates that Millcreek touts as a success story. According to Public School Review, Millcreek now places in the top 30% of all schools in Utah for overall test scores. 

Much of that has been attributed by school officials to the infusion of cash and donations from the Elks, who have also partnered to bring in help from the United Food Bank, Salvation Army and Deseret Industries.

When the tour group entered teacher and Elks member Steven Buckholz’s financial literacy class, Grand Exalted Ruler Hidley was asked for financial advice. But even though Hidley was previously an auditor for the state of New York and has been the Albany County Clerk since 2013, he said he wasn’t the one most qualified to give financial advice in the room.

“You better talk to my boss over there,” Hildey said pointing to his wife, “for the financial literacy stuff.”

As far as a boss in the classroom, Beck pointed out senior Octavean Olveran who he said was one of the top students in the school.

But two years before, Olveran was far from a star student.

“I was a student that didn’t want to finish high school and now I’m a senior about to graduate. It’s crazy to me to think about that,” Olveran said. “We get stereotyped, and we’re not as much who you think that we are. We’re all just kids trying to get through school and live a life that we want to.”

Once less than eager to be in a class, Olveran said he now can’t stay away. 

“I don’t even want to leave the school, honestly. But I’m ready, I’m excited to see where it takes me,” Olveran said. “There’s kids at other schools that don’t have those tools that we have here. Everybody looks out for everybody and everybody knows who everybody is here. The teachers here, they know how to, to speak to the students and how to touch them and how to tap into their mindsets.”

Walking through, Hildey couldn’t miss all the signs noting the contributions of the Elks. The big Elks sign above the pantry that provides food and essentials to students for when they leave campus, to the wooden cradle in the nursery built by an Elks member. It was all a source of pride for Hildey, who later in the day toured another facility where the local Elks lodge has made a large contribution, the Southern Utah Veterans Home in Ivins. 

“As the national president of the Elks, I couldn’t be prouder,” Hildey said. “Everything that we can do, that’s what we’re all about. We’re all about the community, we’re all about the kids.”

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