School named for Kauri Sue

Kauri Sue Hamilton isn't a past president.

She's not a famous inventor, pioneer or explorer.

But she's about to leave her mark on Jordan District.

The 36-year-old Hamilton is believed to be the first living person with a disability — she has Down syndrome — to have a school named after her in the district and maybe even statewide.

The Kauri Sue Hamilton School will be built upon her parents' gift to the district: an unprecedented 10.5-acre parcel, valued at nearly $1 million, from Sharon and Cletus Hamilton of Riverton.

The Jordan Board of Education paid tribute to the couple's generosity on Tuesday, with President Peggy Jo Kennett calling them "two of the greatest advocates for special education and students with disabilities."

The Hamiltons are more modest.

"We had always wanted to help out in that respect," said Sharon Hamilton, a former PTA and Little League volunteer "tickled" the district would name the school after their daughter. "We're so glad that now we can."

Three generations of the Hamilton family have farmed in the Salt Lake Valley since the early 1930s, tending some 2,700 acres, the district reported.

But Cletus and Sharon Hamilton are retiring and moving to southern Utah. They have been selling some of their share of the acreage to developers and the LDS Church. The donation to the school district seemed natural.

"You're not going to take everything with you when you die. You ought to leave something someone can enjoy," Cletus Hamilton said. "We hope they will."

A $10 million school for students with disabilities will be built on the parcel at 2700 West and 13400 South and will open in fall 2011, the district reports. The school will be built as part of the $281 million, 22-school building bond that voters approved last year.

The Hamiltons' donation allows tax dollars that would have been spent on land for the school to go toward other educational needs.

"Everyone benefits from this donation: students, parents, taxpayers and the community at large," Jordan Superintendent Barry Newbold said. "We simply couldn't be more appreciative of the Hamiltons' generosity."

The school will ease crowding at Jordan Valley, whose students with severe, multiple disabilities ages birth through 22 years have filled the school and six portable classrooms, principal John Gardner said. It also will bring services closer to home for families in the western part of the district, helping some children avoid a 90-minute bus ride to school.

The land donation "made me cry," Gardner said. "But it didn't surprise me at all. That's just the Hamiltons . . . extremely caring people, caring about everyone, but with a special . . . caring and understanding of people with disabilities. They go the extra mile."