On Friday, April 19, Springville Junior High participated in a school math competition. Mr. Anderson, a math teacher at SJHS, and students from all grades who volunteered, went to the school library and took the 2013 state math test. This competition was for students who wanted to test their skills in math and also have some fun.
After working for thirty years, twenty nine of those years at Springville Junior High, Mrs. Anderson, the girls PE teacher, has made the tough decision to retire at the end of this school year. Mrs. Anderson said, “I am ready to try something new, I think I'm ready for a change. Also, I always wanted to retire when I still enjoyed my job, not because I hated my job.” Mrs. Anderson loved teaching here at SJHS. According to Mrs. Anderson, her favorite part about working here was the students and the friendships with the faculty and staff. She said, “The thing I will miss the very most, however, is seeing a student succeed when they have been working hard on something, and kids saying the funniest things!”
Springville Junior High had their first track meet on March 29th at Payson High School. According to Ms. Gardner, one of the track coaches, our girls won and our boys tied for first place. We had boys and girls place in each of the distance events: the 1600 meters, 800 meters, and 400 meters. Julie Sumsion, a student in track, broke the school record in both the 1600 and the 800. She won both of those events by a long shot.
Ever heard of Rube Goldberg? Or a Rube Goldberg Machine? Rube Goldberg was a famous, inventive, and creative man who designed wonderful machines that did simple tasks. They were very complex and some even involved animals! For example, he created machines that could curl a man's mustache, open a door, or even a self-operating napkin machine. All of the tasks would be operated by chain reactions that moved parts of the machine. Mouse Trap (a board game) is another example of a Rube Goldberg machine. Of course these were never built until a few years ago. For the past few years, Mr.
One, Two, Three: Ready set sew! At SJHS the sewing students made aprons towards the end of March for an Apron Competition. All of the sewing students were required to make aprons, but they got to choose if they wanted to enter the competition or not. Mrs. Bird, the sewing teacher at SJHS, chose five of the students that wanted to participate from each of her classes. Students got to go out and pick the fabric of their choice. They pretty much got free reign on what they wanted it to look like. However, there were some requirements for the apron: it had to have at least two pockets and it had to be double-sided.
Ever wonder where ice cream came from? Or where the story of Johnny Appleseed originated from? In the eighth and ninth-grade foods classes at SJHS, students have been given the chance to learn about some of the most common foods, and where they came from, or their history. Some foods they have learned about this year in both foods classes are ice cream, apples, jello, chocolate, and donuts! “It's a fun way to learn about a food and to celebrate the end of the week. The kids earn the days with good behavior and clean kitchens,” said Mrs. Luke, a foods teacher at SJHS.
Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Teachers! Springville Junior High had a teacher appreciation week during the week of March 25 to 29! The PTA put together a week full of activities for teachers to enjoy. The two PTA members in charge of teacher appreciation week were Mrs. Elison and Mrs. Patten. Many teachers enjoyed everything that the PTA did for them. Mrs. Gleave, a math teacher at SJHS, said, “Our PTA is amazing! They were so generous and kind during teacher appreciation week. They decorated the hallways with basketball banners and spent the week giving teachers basketball themed treats, gifts, and meals. It was just incredible!”
Mr. Bentley, Mr. Booth, and Mr. Hansen are all World Civilization teachers at SJHS. The World Civilization classes are made up of ninth graders and are the next level of history after U.S. history classes that are taken in eighth grade. Mr. Booth has been teaching band for 17 years, and has been teaching World Civ. for 15 of those 17 years. Mr. Hansen and Mr. Bentley, other history teachers at SJHS, have been teaching World Civ. for much longer and really enjoy the subject.
Springville Junior High’s dance class has been working hard to learn steps, rhythm, and all different types of dances. The dance class is an elective class that the eighth and ninth grade boys and girls can take to express themselves in another way. Each semester, new kids come into the class to learn the dances and show what talents they have with technique and how well they can follow the steps given. Mrs. Maughan, the dance teacher, said, “Dance is an elective, and the main point is to learn an appreciation for dance and movement.
Early this April during their English classes, students at Springville Junior High took an online survey in the computer labs about their school. The survey was created by Dr. Erin Whiting, a professor of Teacher Education and Multicultural and Inclusive Education at BYU. Dr. Whiting met with the SJHS administration, counselors, and Ms. Miley, an SJHS English teacher, last summer to see what kind of information they were interested in learning about SJHS students. Based on those conversations, Dr. Whiting assembled the survey for students to take. “The purpose [of the survey] was to gather information about how students are connecting with the school,” said Mr. Van Ausdal, principal at SJHS.
