Pentatonix / p. 18 FREE SUBSCRIPTION
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Inside
This Week
Teen’s suicide prompts parents’ plea BY KEN SAIN Tribune Staff Writer
COMMUNITY.......10
Parents rip change in math CTA curriculum
BUSINESS .............. 12 Underground Burger fetes 1st anniversary
Sunday, September 3, 2023
FREE | QueenCreekTribune.com
S
outh Chandler residents Gene and Taryn Lower said they did everything they could to save their 16-year-old son, Ryder. “That’s the hardest thing,” Gene said. “We don’t blame ourselves or each other. We do know that we tried everything.” Ryder, a junior at Arizona College Prep High School, died by suicide on Aug. 11. It is the second straight year that a Chandler Unified School District student died by suicide in the opening weeks of the school year. Taryn and Gene said they have sought help
for their son for two years, seeing different doctors and reaching out for help. They also helped Ryder change schools. Ryder was an excellent athlete, his parents said. Any sport he tried, he was instantly good at. He settled on lacrosse as his favorite and was starting to earn interest by college recruiters. His parents said Ryder, who had good grades, was interested in attending college in the eastern United States, where most of the top college lacrosse programs are. Ryder also had no problem speaking before big crowds. He was diagnosed with type-
see SUICIDE page 4
South Chandler resident and Arizona College Prep junior Ryder Lower, 16, died by suicide Aug. 11. (Lower Family/Submitted)
EVIT superintendent beams as enrollment soars BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Staff Writer
SPORTS................. 17
Eastmark flag football embracing lofty expectations
COMMUNITY ............. 8 BUSINESS ................ 12 OPINION ................... 13 SPORTS .................... 17 GET OUT .................... 18 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 23
A
t a time when many East Valley school superintendents confront continuing enrollment declines, Dr. Chad Wilson confronts a very different kind of challenge: Planning for the continuing increase in the number of high school juniors and seniors who are flocking to the East Valley Institute of Technology, where he has been superintendent since 2019.
With few exceptions, including Queen Creek Unified and Higley Unified, demographers have painted a gloomy outlook for student enrollment in the region’s districts — including some of Arizona’s largest public school systems. But students — and even adults looking for a career change — keep on coming to EVIT and its more than three dozen career and technical education programs. This year alone, EVIT is counting 5,741 stu-
dents, mostly juniors and seniors who split their school day between their high school and one of EVIT’s two Mesa campuses. That’s nearly a 20% increase over EVIT’s 2022-23 student count — and well above the 3,828 students who were on campus when Wilson was named superintendent by the EVIT Governing Board. Indeed, so many students are attending its
䜀攀琀 琀栀攀 匀䤀娀䔀
䴀䔀䐀䤀䄀 圀䄀䰀䰀匀 䠀伀䴀䔀 伀䘀䘀䤀䌀䔀 䬀䤀吀䌀䠀䔀一匀 匀琀漀渀攀䌀爀攀攀欀䘀甀爀渀椀琀甀爀攀⸀挀漀洀
匀琀礀氀攀 ☀ 䌀漀氀漀爀 礀漀甀 眀愀渀琀
䄀吀 䄀 䘀䄀䌀吀伀刀夀 䐀䤀刀䔀䌀吀 倀刀䤀䌀䔀
see EVIT page 3