“A Place close by with its standards high”: 60 Years of Sky View High School
A lot can happen in six decades. Since 1965, humans have landed on the moon, sequenced the human genome, invented GPS, the internet, and cell phones—and survived a global pandemic. Through it all, Sky View High School has “stood close by with its standards high!”
As we honor the Bobcats’ 60th anniversary, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the lasting impact that Sky View has had and continues to have in our district. Five of the CCSD School Board members are Sky View graduates, and each expressed gratitude for the school.
“Coming from Avon every day was quite a lengthy bus ride,” said CCSD School Board Member Roger Pulsipher (Class of 1972). “But I liked going to Sky View. I was involved in the FFA program, and played saxophone in the school band for two years.”
From its inception, Sky View has been a gathering place. Board Member Brian Chambers (Trenton - Class of 1993) credited the school with helping him cultivate lifelong friendships.
“My years at Sky View gave me an opportunity to meet friends from all across the north end of the valley,” he said. “They pushed me to be my best.”
Other board members recalled participation in extracurricular activities. Board Vice President Kathy Christiansen (Smithfield - Class of 1967) remembered being active in drama, music, student government, and clubs. She and Board President Teri Rhodes (Newton - Class of 1983) were also Vistauns—members of the drill team. Board Member Allen Grunig (Smithfield - Class of 1966) reflected on his “cherished time” on the football team.
“I was in the Class of 1966,” he said, “and the moment I remember best was winning our first ever game.”
The Bobcats’ tradition of excellence began in 1965, when a small group of students and teachers gathered under “a Sky-View-blue sky” to build something new. Jim Kearl, Sky View’s first Student Body President (Chairman), reflected on these changes during the school’s 50th anniversary.
“[Time] gives a certain perspective,” he said. “(Sky View) now has histories, traditions, roots, families, and long-time friends…It had none during our year there. But there were those who understood that we were making decisions that would become traditions, and that this mattered.”
Today, one of Sky View’s most cherished traditions is the singing of the school song. Students stand with arms around each other, swaying to the beat, as they sing of “friendships dear” and a place “where the mountains meet the starry sky.” But this beloved anthem wasn’t always near and dear to the Bobcats’ hearts. It, too, needed a champion.
When Eugene Lundquist wrote the school song in 1965, it was sung only at graduation ceremonies. Over time, it became less and less salient to Bobcat students, and it was largely forgotten by the 1990s.
“By the time I entered my senior year in 1999,” said Ben Salisbury (Class of 2000), “singing the school song had become a rather… dismal tradition. Up ‘til then, the school song was only ever sung once a year—at graduation—by graduating seniors, most of whom were hearing it for the first time in their lives. Nobody knew the words or the tune, much less could sing it by heart with their friends. It was an embarrassment – a laughing stock!”
That all changed because of a visionary teacher – Kaye Dawn Falslev. Mrs. Falslev is well-known for her deep dedication to Sky View, and her classes have shaped generations of its students. In the fall of 1999, Falslev decided the school song could be more – much more – and she wanted her students to lead the charge. With characteristic pep and pluck, she recruited Salisbury and other senior class leaders for the task. They seized the moment with gusto.
“We began talking about how cool it was to be the graduating class of 2000,” Salisbury said. “It’s a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, so we wanted to make an especially big deal of our graduating class – maybe even more so than in previous years.”
Salisbury, the 2000 Utah State Sterling Scholar for Music, composed today’s version of the song from the original written in 1965 by Eugene B. Lundquist. His father, Floyd, could still sing the song by heart. As Salisbury listened, he realized that the melody needed more “pep, energy, and enthusiasm.”
When he sat down to compose, the music flowed so easily it felt like destiny.
“Honestly, it came to me quickly,” Salisbury said. “It was completely different from how I write music now. I just thought about it for a minute, I improvised a bit, and that was it. Maybe it was the optimism of youth, but it felt right after the first draft. It’s like it was meant to be written that way.”
The real challenge came in teaching the song to the current students, who had never heard it before.
“We decided that if we wanted to create a new tradition, we needed to make sure that Sky View students knew the school song. When it came to that moment of graduation, we wanted everyone to be able to sing the song with pride and spirit! That meant repetition. So, we distributed sheet music and sang it over the PA system every morning.”
The first couple of days were awkward and embarrassing. The leaders didn’t know if anyone had picked up on the song, but they persisted in teaching their peers, including at assemblies.
The first real test came at the Homecoming football halftime. Salisbury set up a digital piano on the 50-yard line and began to play…Mrs. Falslev must have known that this would be a defining moment for Sky View students. It was a huge success.
Twenty-five years have passed since that day on the football field, and the Bobcats still sing the song after every major sporting win, during pep assemblies, and, yes, at graduation. The tradition has evolved along the way. By 2004, students decided to sway and sing with arms around each other in a display of unity and school spirit, a tradition that stands today.
The singing of the school song at graduation holds a far different meaning today than when Salisbury entered his senior year. It is the crowning moment of commencement, and students proclaim the beloved words with joy. Mrs. Falslev, who is retiring this year, gave the Class of 2025 one final gift. She called Salisbury back home from Los Angeles, and he accompanied the students on a Steinway baby grand piano. It was a full-circle moment for him.
“This tradition has really taken on a life of its own,” he said. “From Lundquist’s version in 1965 to now, the Sky View School Song has lived on through generations. And even after 60 years, it’s continuing. That’s pretty special.”
Sky View School Song:
Where the mountain peaks meet the starry sky,
Where the green hills meet the blue,
Stands a place close by with its standards high.
It’s our school – our own Sky View.
There’s the blue and white, and a golden hue
We will long remember, too.
It’s a place close by, with its standards high,
It’s our school – our own Sky View.
We will always say as we go our way,
And of this it can be told –
The friendships dear we have made while here
Are a treasure more than gold!
Where the mountain peaks meet the starry sky,
Where the green hills meet the blue,
Stands a place close by with its standards high.
It’s our school – our own Sky View!