Alta senior Katrina Jones is a force to be reckoned with.

Jones plays the harp, runs track, is the Student Body Hawk Council Chairman, is a member of the National Honor Society, has edited the yearbook, worked on the school newspaper, gathered funds for Sub for Santa and maintained a 4.0 grade point average all through high school.

More than that, Katrina is the kind of student who looks around for opportunities to participate.  And when she doesn’t find them, she makes them.

“I wouldn’t want to spend my time on anything else,” Katrina says of the long hours she puts into academic and extracurricular activities.  “It’s always who I’ve been, academically, helping others and making a difference – I’m busy with the stuff I want to be busy with.”

As a sophomore, Katrina proposed a plan to the Canyons Board of Education to create a student council, where students could provide input on what was happening in their schools.  By the end of her junior year, the Board of Education formed the Canyons District Student Advisory Board, consisting of two students from every high school who meet twice a month to discuss what is happening in each school. The Student Advisory Board is one of Katrina’s proudest accomplishments – a challenge she didn’t shy away from, even though trying to convince a room of adults to accept her idea was a daunting task.

And Katrina didn’t stop there. She created a study hall program so students with sluggish grades could come receive one-on-one help with their homework. She also started a program, at the request of Alta High Principal Dr. Fidel Montero, to help elementary school students get extra help learning how to read. Jones handpicked fellow students who could participate, and together, they video-chat with their young peers twice a week. At the end of the year, Katrina’s hard work helped one student move up three reading levels.

Now that she’s graduating, Katrina plans to attend Brigham Young University in the fall and possibly study statistics. She fully intends to invest her energy in her new surroundings, as she did in her old environment. Wherever she goes, she’s sure there will be someone who could use her help – and she’s more than ready to share.

“I know opportunities will present themselves,” Katrina says. “There is always an opportunity, and if there isn’t, make one.”