November 2011

In Mr. Sam Dahl’s science class at SJHS, the eighth-grade students made a periodic table of the elements.  Mr. Dahl assigned elements from the periodic table to the students, and the students went to a computer lab to research their assigned element.  Darien Karren, a student in Mr. Dahl’s class, said, “The funnest part was getting to draw and getting to color the element cards we made.”  The students were also able to make more element cards for extra credit.

Mr. Greg Shields, Mrs. Elizabeth Bass and Mrs. Lise Carpenter, the teachers of the eighth grade pod decided to do a pod activity with their second, third and fourth period classes.  They decided that they would do a tie-dying activity because of the book they read in Mrs. Bass’s classes called “Schooled.” "Schooled" is about a teenage hippy that has lived with his hippy grandma his whole life. But when his grandma gets injured he gets his first taste of the real-world and gets elected as Claverage Middle School's eight-grade president.   Along with making tie-dyed shirts, Mrs. Carpenter made some home made root beer with dry ice which had to do with what her classes where learning at the time.

Sarah Emmett and Kelty Cope, eighth graders at Springville Junior High School, are making fleece quilts for Primary Children’s Hospital.  Primary Children's is a hospital that specializes in helping really sick children.

According to Mrs. Adrienne Murray, service learning teacher, Sarah Emmett and Kelty Cope are in charge of the quilt making for Primary Children’s Hospital.

Sarah Emmett said, “When the children from Primary Children’s Hospital come out of surgery, they have a blanket, and they will feel special, and think that someone made this blanket just for me.” 

Ms. Rachel Neeley, the creative writing teacher at Springville Junior High School, adds mystery to what students learn at school.  Here is the basic process of how mystery stories are written:  Ms. Neeley presented several different books to her class, each on the topic the class has chosen to write about, in this case mystery.  They learned about the general characteristics of that particular genre, and then learned what needs to be included in that type of writing. Then the students will planned their story with a plot diagram and a character sketch.  After they finished those things, they wrote the rough draft, then edit and peer review.

Students who are not understanding math or having trouble with math, there’s no need to fear! Mrs. Meredith Sabey is here! Mrs. Sabey is the new half-time math teacher at Springville Junior High School. Her job is to help students with math when they are struggling. 

“I teach a math intervention for seventh through ninth grade. It is a class that helps students get more practice with certain math concepts they might be struggling with. We work on assignments in class, and I help students understand the concepts a little bit better,” Mrs. Sabey said. Mrs. Sabey started working here the third week of school and she teaches fifth, sixth, and seventh period. 

Students at SJHS begin in band the seventh grade and continue in eighth and ninth grade. Students learn to play the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, or percussion. Their first concert is on Wednesday, December 14th and second one Wednesday, May 16th. 

Most students' favorite part of band is the awesome music they play and Mr. Booth’s humor. Mr. Booth tells a lot of stories. Hannah Grosland, an eighth-grade student at SJHS, said, “I wanted to take band because I wanted to learn to play an instrument.”

For many years, students have been designing the yearbook for Springville Junior High School. According to Ms. Rachel Neeley, yearbook advisor, SJHS has the yearbook so students may look back on their junior high years and remember them. 

To get into the yearbook class, students fill out an application that asks questions like why they want to be in the yearbook class. Ms. Neeley and the current yearbook class will interview the applicants and pick seven to ten students to be in the yearbook class. According to Ms. Neeley, the class is small because its easier to keep track of assignments and she gets to know the students better. 

Springville Junior High School has started a new program called advisory. Advisory is 20 minutes between third and fourth period on Mondays where students will stay in their third period teacher’s classroom.

During that time, students are able to plan where they will go during Quest Time for the week. It is also a time when the teachers can teach the students lessons on how to become responsible citizens.  According to Mr. Ken Van Ausdal, principal at SJHS, during advisory students are able to get extra help and learn social skills. Advisory also helps students adjust to junior high.

On October 7th, six Springville Junior High School students named were called up on stage during an assembly to receive an award for being great students.  Mason Merrill and Miriam Burrell, ninth-grade students, Sarah Rawle and Oakley Call, eighth-grade students, and Lela Packard and Jake Rowland, seventh-grade students were named “Super Knights.” 

In eighth or ninth grade students have an option to take sewing. Students get to make tons of fun and helpful things such as pajama bottoms, a school bag, and an apron. Katya Fullmer, a eighth-grade student at SJHS, said, “I enjoy sewing a lot, and it’s one of my favorite classes.” Mrs. Diane Bird, the sewing teacher at SHJS, said, “Sewing is so fun and teaching it to kids is great, because it teaches them to do something with their hands.”