Random acts of kindness are secretly being done all around Springville Junior High School, thanks to the Service Learning class. Service Learning is a class in which students work on projects for the school, as well as provide services to help people out around the community. The Service Learning students make and do all kinds of things to provide a better learning environment and all around make the school a better place. The class gets involved in many things, but one of the main things they are doing lately are running RASK (Random Acts of Selfless Kindness) week. This is a way to recognize and respect others around your. The class also runs Red Ribbon Week, which is a drug awareness week.

Front: Wyatt LeFevre.  Second row, left to right: Riley Brockbank, Lauryn Ethington, and Meg Longhurst. Third row, left to right: Sidney Gierisch, Julie Sumsion, Natalie Sumsion, Emily Bird, Tyree Strong, Emily Baugh, and Paige Cook.  Back: Carlie Maughan.

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Teachers had the following things to say about this month's Super Knights.

7th grade girl - Holly Hill

• Holly Hill is an all-around great student. She works hard, turns her assignments in, and is always ready to volunteer when I ask a question in class. She is friendly and kind to those around her.
• It seems like Holly is always happy.  She's never mean to anyone and is always willing to help.  I really enjoy having her in class.

7th grade boy - Easton Call

Even though eighth graders at Springville Junior High will spend their freshman year at the junior high, they will be considered high school students.  This means that they need to start learning what it takes to graduate high school and what they can do to prepare for college.  That’s why, as SJHS nears the end of the school year, counselors at SJHS visited the eighth-grade history classes to talk to students about some things they can do to prepare themselves for the future.  This year, the counselors visited eighth graders on Tuesday, February 26th.  According to Mrs. Distefano, a counselor at SJHS, counselors discussed a four-year plan with the students.

All students at SJHS are in Mr. Rencher’s class in seventh grade for Career Technology Education. After learning about technology in seventh grade, many students take Exploring Technology from Mr. Rencher in eighth or ninth grade. The Exploring Technology students were recently able to build and control robots as an activity in class. The point of the exercise was so that the students that took the class could learn about robotics and electronics. This task is called Mechatronics. Mr. Rencher had the class start in February and they spent about a month with the students programming and learning about the robots. 

This year at Springville Junior High School the PE classes added a new unit. Ping pong! Coach Parker, the boys PE teacher at SJHS, teaches the ping pong unit. According to Coach Parker, he loves the game and he thought that the students would like it too, and so far most have. Taylor Sweeten, a ninth grader at SJHS, said, “It was really fun, but it was too short.” Taylor wishes they could have played ping pong for longer. Coach Parker likes ping pong and has fun teaching it. He said, “I just teach the basics, grip, rules, serving, doubles strategy. We do little demos, short drills, and lots of games!”

Ninth graders at Springville Junior High took a visit to the Springville High School on February 25, 2013. The reason they went to the high school was to get to know the school, to get tenth-grade registration materials, and to get ready for next year. The ninth graders watched videos about some classes that they can take next year.  They also got to take a tour around the school so that they could get to know the school a lot better. 

The girls’ physical education (PE) classes have started shooting for the hoop. On March 4, they started the basketball unit. The students have begun learning to shoot, dribble, pass, and how to avoid fouling the other players. According to Maryn Giles, an eighth grade girl currently in PE, PE is where you learn different activities to help you stay physically fit. The main goal of PE is to teach kids how to play sports and give the kids a class where you don’t have to sit still. Natalie Sumsion, another PE eighth grade girl, said, “PE exists to make kids get physically active.” 

On March 1, Springville High School’s cheer, drill, and dance teams all came to Springville Junior High School. Many SJHS  eighth and ninth grade students went to the girls gym during Quest Time to watch the teams perform. Sarah Mitchell, a ninth grader at SJHS, said, “It was a fun performance to watch! The girls on the teams did really cool stuff.” 

The cheer and drill teams started the performance with an incredible dance that they did together. After the opening number, the cheer team performed. The cheerleaders’ happy and exciting attitude pumped up the crowd. Their dance included amazing tumbling and throwing girls up into the air!

Back, left to right: Mrs. Anderson, Melanie Anderson, Caleb Houtz, Jessie Simons, Marin Rosenberg, Jeremy Esklund, Nathan Standley, Dakota Dalley, and Wylie Warren.  Front, left to right:  Kaylee Reymund, Sarah Tucker, Becca Hammond, Brynn Patten, and Emily Mason.