Most students have heard of President’s Day, but have they ever taken the time to think about, understand, and appreciate it?   We have the national holiday, President’s Day, on February 22 every year.  “We have it to celebrate the birthdays of our most popular and beloved presidents of the United States,” said Mr. Shields, eighth-grade history teacher.  The presidents we celebrate are Washington and Lincoln.   We have this holiday to show appreciation to those presidents for their service, for establishing America and holding it together in our darkest hours.   Washington’s birthday was Feb. 22, and Lincoln’s was Feb.

 Everyone loves a good long break from school. Spring break is April 11-15. Different teachers and students will be staying at home and the others will be enjoying a vacation with their family somewhere else.

Teachers like Mrs. Luke, the foods teacher here at SJHS, are staying home and relaxing during this week long break. “It is my favorite week. It helps me survive the rest of the school year. Plus it is a good way to celebrate the new season,” said Mrs. Luke.

Here at Springville Junior High School, students get to spread the love for Valentines Day with Valegrams! A Valegram is a little note students can send to each other in honor of Valentines Day! Students have their choice of sending a romantic flower or a candy and a note. “They were sold outside of the cafeteria at lunchtime and would be delivered to the receiving student’s period right after lunch,” said Mrs. Bird, the service learning teacher at SJHS. “Anyone could buy them for that special someone, “Gregg Davis, a ninth grade student at SJHS, said.

Missed a lot of school and need to make up PE credit?  Almost everyday SJHS holds an extra-curricular activity know as Intramurals that students can attend, to make up their PE credit.  Intramurals are held from 2:45 to 3:45 in the girls gym every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday after school.

Not only do they get to make up credit for PE, but they can also get extra credit while playing the sports that you love.  Mrs. Maughan, a pre-algebra teacher at SJHS, is one of the teachers that volunteered to help out and supervise the activities after school.  Mrs. Maughan says, “It is a really fun job, because I either get to watch students play sports, or I get to join them myself!”

Spring is coming and along with it so is track. Track will start on Monday, March 21st. If you are a student with a GPA higher than a 2.0 you can join track. On Tuesday, March 8th the school will hold a meeting explaining track and what you can do. At the meeting you will get forms that you and your parents will sign giving you permission to join track. There is also a fee that you will have to pay of $35.

In Mr. Mikesell’s seventh grade English class at SJHS, the students are creating hero reports. All the seventh graders pick a hero, or someone who means a lot to them, and then present an oral report to the class about their hero.  Reports took place on Friday, February 25, giving each student about five minutes to explain about their hero to the class. Chris Luther, a seventh grader at SJHS, chose Tom Cruise for a hero. Chris said, “I chose Tom because he is awesome, and I was excited to tell people just how amazing Tom Cruise is.”

Recently, P.E. students have entered the world of pickleball. Pickleball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island on a short ferry ride from Seattle WA. According to inventors, U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum, the original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family. Mrs. Anderson, girls P.E. teacher, said, “It’s been played here at this school for as long as I can remember. So for at least 30 years.”

Seventh graders at Springville Junior High took a dive into the work field on February 4th, which was Job Shadow Day. Job Shadow Day is a day where kids can pick an inspiring adult they know and go to work with and to learn about that adult's career. The purpose of Job Shadow Day is to help the seventh graders decide on their future careers. Mrs. Hales, a seventh-grade CTE teacher, explained why she liked Job Shadow Day, “It gives the students an experience in the work field that they normally wouldn’t get.”

The new kids on the block are Gregg Davis (president), Samantha Child (vice president), Marissa Carpenter (vice president), Haleigh Payne  (vice president).  Are all ninth-grade students at SJHS on the student  council.

At the beginning of the new semester, the new student council took over the responsibilities that the former student council was in charge of. The former student council is still helping  the new student council with dances and other major events that require more help than just four people; but the new student council are the ones most involved in the activities they are participating in.

Photo caption: The winter semester journalism class:  Front row, left to right:  Anna Bunnell, Joee Lowe, Sarah Clark, Hollie Coulon, and Whitley Hicken.  Middle row, left to right: Stacy Stapel, Ali Earnshaw, and Kira Craig.  Back row, left to right: Renae Lovelace, Annee Lange, Kylee Jensen, Mckenzie Reidhead, Tiare Spencer, Klade Smith, and Camilla Dunn.  Not pictured: Ashlan Kendall.

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