October 2012

Springville Junior High School has recently elected a new student council. SJHS’s election took place during the end of last school year. The following students were elected: Jacqueline Bradford as president, Betsy Vega as vice president, Maddie Taylor as vice president, and LeGrande Bair as vice president. Mrs Murray,the SJHS student council advisor, said, “They are outgoing, excited, and hard workers.”

SJHS has a student council for many reasons. Maggie Anderson, an eighth-grader at SJHS, said that the student council exists “because we get our input into what we do.” The student council at SJHS does a number of things that helps SJHS be a successful school.

Have you ever wondered if a girl could  play football? Well, according to the students at Springville Junior High, a girl can definitely play football.  Mikinna Mchoes, eigth grader at SJHS, is a girl that plays on the Reams Springville Junior High team. Her older brother and her dad both loved football, and when she saw how much fun they were having she decided to have a go at the sport. In third grade she signed up for flag football just to give it a try. After that year she really liked it, so she did it again the next year and every year through sixth grade. When she moved up to seventh grade, she decided to sign up for tackle football,which she really liked it so she signed up this year.

On Wednesday, September 12th, the Springville Junior High School HOPE Squad members and counselors attended a HOPE Squad training session. It was held at the Grant Building during school. The training lasted the whole day. 

One elective class that is offered at Springville Junior High School is called Foods l.  In this class, ninth-grade students are learning to cook so they will be better prepared for the future.  Mrs. Luke, the foods teacher at SJHS, said, “Cooking is a life skill that can be used for the rest of our lives and starting at a young age to learn how to make foods, choose healthier alternatives, and spend more time at home are things that will make us better adults.”  

Students enjoy taking the foods class.  According to Kimber Hicken, a ninth grader at SJHS, the class is fun because they are learning how to make recipes from all around the world.  Kimber said, “I want to be a chef.”  

Springville Junior High School has a new administrator. His name is Mr. Penrod. “I love it here!” he said. According to Mr. Penrod, the people here at SJHS have great energy and enthusiasm. The students and staff have really made him feel welcome. 

Mr. Penrod is no rookie in education. He has been an elementary school teacher, elementary school principal, and a middle school principal. “He’s been in education a while, and he knows kids,” said Mrs. Bales, a secretary at SJHS.  According to Mr. Van Ausdal, the principal at SJHS, he will be a great addition to the school because he is a good problem solver and won’t over-react in important situations. 

This year at Springville Junior High we have two eighth-grade Football teams. One of the teams that plays for us is undefeated, that team is the red team—the Quality Cleaners Vikings. The other team is not far behind, that team is the blue and green team—the Reams Bagders.       

Here at Springville Junior High School, we have a class made for kids who are need a little help in learning new things, or have learning disabilities. What is special about this class? These kids are tutored by other students here at SJHS! It’s an elective class, one semester long, and is taught by Mrs. Hunsaker.

Here at Springville Junior High there is a dance class where students in eighth and ninth grade can get down.  SJHS students get to practice awesome, new, random dances in many different dance styles including jazz, hip-hop, and ballroom.

Tennis is one of the many sports that Springville Junior High offers. There are two teams, one for the girls, and one for the boys.  Mr. Dahl is the girls’ tennis team coach.  The girls’ season for tennis is August through October, where as the boys season is during the spring. 

According to Mr. Dahl, there are tryouts that the girls must go to in order to join the team. Participants in the tryouts can make several different teams. The teams are varsity, junior varsity, and the B team. Only girls on the varsity and junior varsity teams will be able to compete in matches, but the B team is welcome to come and practice with them.

On Friday, September 7th, all of the FFA members in Springville Junior High were excused from class at 1:00  to attend the State Fair in Salt Lake. It wasn’t just the kids at SJHS though, all members of the Springville FFA chapter went. FFA stands for Future Farmers of America. It’s a class that students can take in ninth grade, and it teaches them about the agriculture of America. 

FFA members learned a lot about animals and farming at the State Fair. According to Mrs. Giffing, FFA teacher at SJHS, students that go to the State Fair every year learn lots of important lessons, such as showing and selling a market animal, as well as entering shop projects or fresh vegetables and fruit from their gardens.