October 2011

Springville Junior High School will be having a cultural assembly on November 22, during school hours.  Assistant principal of SJHS, Mr. Dave Knudsen, said the idea for the assembly came from a high school he used to work at. Mr. Knudsen said, “The idea came about because the school leaders thought it would be a great idea to have students see what other cultures are like.”  The idea also has to do with this year’s theme for reflections which is Diversity.   Mr. David Hansen, history teacher at SJHS, is in charge of the assembly along with Mr. Knudsen.  Students Klade Smith and Moroni Black are helping.  According to Mr.

At Springville Junior High, the seventh though ninth-grade boys football season is under way and is going until the end of October. There are six teams: SOS Drug Store, Rotary, Quality Cleaners, Reams, the freshman A team, and the freshman B team.

Klade Smith, a member of the freshman B team, said, “Football is a great sport. you get to go out and hit with your brothers on the team.” According to Klade, it is fun to got out and play with your friends. “I treat my teammates like my brothers,” said Klade.

Mrs. Maughan, the English and dance teacher at Springville Junior High, had her class take on a project. They wrote an ‘I Will’ statement, promising they would do something on the anniversary of 9/11, in memorial of the people who died that day. They wrote cards to local firefighters and police officers. They also took time to learn more about 9/11, and remember it, in the process.     

Apringville Junior High School is now holding Morning Enrichment from 7:20 to 7:50 for students who have two or more tardies in a class. One day at morning enrichment will make up for one tardy. While students are at enrichment they get to work on homework or do something quietly. They can’t talk to anyone, though.
Mr. Ken Van Ausdal, principal of SJHS, said, "Kids need to be on time to their classes because it’s a life skill to be on time, and if you’re late often then it’ll create bad habits. They also miss information, and it disturbs the class.”

This year Mr. Trent Mikesell, a former Springville Junior High School seventh-grade teacher, was appointed by Mr. Ken Van Ausdal, the school principal, to be a new assistant principal along with Mr. Knudsen at SJHS.  For the past few years Mr. Mikesell taught seventh-grade English and Creative Writing.  

Ms. Rachel Neeley, who teaches seventh-grade English, said, “It is really fun working with Mr. Mikesell, he always has great ideas and works hard.”  Now that Mr. Mikesell is no longer a teacher, he has more time to spend with individual students.  Even though he doesn’t know as many, he likes spending time one on one with the students he does get to know.

Lately, the tables in the Springville Junior High cafeteria seem to be cleaner. Why is that? It’s because the student council and the school administration have decided to create the Lunch Wars. The whole purpose was to keep finished lunch in the trash instead of on the tables or floor, and to encourage students to pick up their mess. “Lunch Wars is to make lunch clean, but fun and rewarding!” said Amanda Ripley, the student council vice-president.

This year something mysterious came to our school. A mysterious thing that has students stay after school and learn about things they don’t learn in class! This mysterious thing is called 4H clubs. These clubs are a way for students to learn about the things they’re interested in outside of school hours. The person behind all this work is Ms. Justine Kent. She gave SJHS the opportunity to have these clubs at our school. 

Every Monday, the Springville Junior High School golf team has a tournament. The tournament is at either Hobble Creek in Springville, Spanish Oaks in Spanish Fork, or Gladstan in Payson. Joseph Bell, a member of the golf team, said, “I like going to Hobble Creek because I like the way the holes are set up.” 

Mr. Dallin Krebs, math teacher at SJHS and coach of the golf team, expects the team to finish in the top three at the districts. The golf team consists of nine boys and one girl. They are: Tanner Gervais, Nicholas Cooper, Joseph Bell, Cortez Nelsen, Charlie Fry, Lydia Austin, Jaden Warren, Alex Donahue, Michael Nelson, and Brandon Merkley. According to Joseph Bell, the golf team is the "bomb dot com."   

This year, several SJHS ninth-grade girls are playing on the high school soccer team. They play soccer games on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week, and they practice three times a week for two hours at Springville High School. The girls' high school soccer team has won four games, and lost three, and tied three.  They defeated Provo High School's junior varsity with a team of 8-0.

The coach of the girls' high school soccer team is Jay Mason, and his assistants are Kim Marchbanks and Mike Shulski.  Jay Mason used to be head of coach for boys' soccer team.  Kim Marchbanks has always been involved with high school sports. Mike Shulski was also a coach for boys’ soccer team.

This year Springville Junior High School is having a no tardy party at the end of the term for students who are never tardy for class.  According to Mr. Ken Van Ausdal, principal of SJHS, the administration wanted encourage kids not to get tardies and reward the ones that don’t.  Being on time helps students develop life long skills, shows respect to teachers, helps gain academic skills. 

Mrs. Kim Rice, English seven and pre-algebra teacher at SJHS, said, “ If the quality of the party was interesting, I think it would be a fun, adventurous opportunity.”