December 2014

On November 21, 2014 the SJHS second Super Knight Assembly happened. The Super Knight Assembly’s purpose is to spotlight students for doing the school basics which are: being responsible citizens, successful learners, and effective communicators. 

According to Mr. VanAusdal, the principal  at SJHS, we have Super Knight Assemblies to celebrate the good things students do. The Super Knight Assembly is centered around the school basics. Teachers nominate students that do those things, then the faculty votes on the selected students-one boy and one girl from each grade. 

On November 18, 2014 the boys basketball team played against Frontier Middle School from Saratoga Springs at home.  The SJHS boys team won with a score of 41-38.

SJHS has many sports to offer, one being girls basketball. Girls basketball is offered to all ninth grade girls; it started at the beginning of November and goes to the beginning of February. The team practices every day (except game days) from three to five, and on Wednesdays from two thirty to four thirty. The team includes 13 girls:  Jessey Simons, Taralyn Gervais, Megan Nusink, Avyrie Fellows, Brielle Cruz, Erin Call, Cayla Giles, Danielle Hartness, Kaitlynn Broderick, Sam Atkinson, Lynn Bereton, Grace Ashcraft, and Nikiah Jones. The coaches are Ms.Brennan, our very own history teacher here at SJHS, and Ms. Merrell, a special education teacher here at SJHS.

On November 24, 2014 the Agriculture Science (Ag science) class here at SJHS journeyed to Ottesen Dairy in a quest to discover the sciences behind dairy production.  According to Mrs. Thomas, the Ag science teacher, the dairy is owned by her husband’s family.     

Also according to Mrs. Thomas, after the class arrived at the dairy students visited different stations.  “Some examples,” she said, “of these stations are: the milking barn, baby calves, and everyone’s favorite- the milk tank.  At each of these stations we discuss what science is occurring.”  

Mr. Dahl, a science teacher at SJHS, has been teaching for six years. He has been working at SJHS for all six years. “I love working with the students and passing on the things that I have learned about science,” said Mr. Dahl. “I want to help students to be as excited as I am about science. I really like this age group as students are still excited about life and have a lot of energy,” said Mr. Dahl. 

On November 3rd and November 4th, we were lucky enough to have an archaeologist and orthodontist come and visit our school. These visits were for the Window to the Workplace program put on by the Counseling Office at Springville Junior High. 

Kara Kawakami Petty, the archaeologist, presented her career using a lot of pictures. These included photos of skeletons she had uncovered herself, artifacts, and sites that she had worked on. Abi Maicas, a seventh grader, said, “I liked the pictures the archaeologist had. It showed what you would do and find.”

Mrs. Bales, one of the SJHS staff members, helps the school and helps to make people feel good about coming to SJHS.

Mrs.Bales, the attendance secretary, said, “My favorite part about my job is the kids because they make me laugh.  It took a really sweet personality to get my job.  My job’s not too difficult, but it’s stressful and a little hard because there are eleven hundred kids and two parents per kid, so it’s hard to keep people where they're suppose to be and running smoothly.  I also really love the new, open, bright building so I can see the naughty and nice students walk by.”

Mr. Kindrick, a science teacher at SJHS, has been teaching for about 15 years.He  taught one year of science at both Timpview High and East Hardy Middle School before coming to Springville Jr. High school where he has taught for thirteen years. He said he loved science when he was little, and he wanted to teach science because he likes to understand things. According to Mr. Kindrick, he wanted to teach junior high students because they make him feel young. 

An SJHS English teacher, Mrs. Maughan, gave her ninth grade students a chance to stand in the spotlight. In ancient Roman times entertainment for the people was called “Bread and Circuses.” In middle school terms this entertainment is called skits or plays.

 “I want students to be able to adapt a story and comprehend it as a group,” said Mrs. Maughan.

After reading the Odyssey, and learning about Greek and Roman mythology, they put on plays depicting the stories. They were required to take the story and change it into a script. According to Mrs. Maughan, they were then required to present it to the class.

 Intramurals is a time after school to come and play sports that you normally would not be able to do. They take place after school in the gym or outside usually on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2:45 to 3:45, usually, unless there is a basketball game, dance, etc. You can count intramurals for extra credit or make-up if you miss a day in P.E.