A few weeks ago, Mr. Sam Dahl’s science enrichment class started an unusual and exciting project: rockets. According to Alexandria Sorenson, a seventh grader at SJHS, students got to decorate rockets, build them with a team, and launch them in the field. Some students, including Alexandria, decided to name their rockets.

According to Mr. Dahl, science enrichment is a class where students get to explore science in more depth than they do in regular science classes. “The rockets were really mostly for fun,” said Mr. Dahl, “but I think we learned a lot about the history of space travel along the way.”

Teachers at Springville Junior High keep parents informed about what is happening in their child’s classroom through email.  If parents have questions for a teacher, or vice versa, emailing helps get answers faster and easier. According to Ms. Rachel Neeley, seventh grade English teacher at the junior high, her emails to parents help keep them informed as to what is going on in class.

Every fall at SJHS we have a Halloween dance. The dance will be on October 28th from 7:00-9:00 in the boys’ gym. Admission costs three dollars with an ID card and four dollars without an ID card. This year the student council has decided to wear costumes for the dance. According to Mrs. Joye Wimmer, secretary, students don’t have to wear a costume if they don’t want to but it would be fun to see everyone dressed up. Mrs. Wimmer also said, “Our DJ will be Audio Visions which is a home owned company. They have done our dances for years and do a good job for us.”

Mrs. Lise Carpenter’s class is stirring up the cold drink of wisdom. A few weeks ago Mrs. Carpenter, science teacher at the Springville Junior High, and her class did experiments with dry ice.

Mrs. Carpenter created these experiments for phases of matter. “I was looking for something fun to do which had to do with physical properties and changes of matter. I somehow found a book of dry ice experiments and knew it would be perfect!!” said Mrs. Carpenter. Students learn how matter reacts in certain situations, such as an ice cube melting in warm water.

At the beginning of the new school year, a new English teacher came to Springville Junior High School. Mr. Ryan Strong, the new eighth and ninth-grade English teacher said, “I love teaching at SJHS. Like seriously. Tried it, love it, crave it.”

Mr. Strong, grew up in Sandy, Utah and currently lives in Orem. He likes to read and write, and that’s why he started teaching English at SJHS. He also enjoys playing volleyball, racquetball, building legos, and spending time with his family. Mr. Strong has three kids, Josephine, age three, Atticus, age two, and Margaret, who was just born eight weeks ago.

Teachers agree that service is an important life skill, yet most classes focus on other subjects. For students who want to make a difference in our society, SJHS has a class called Service Learning.

Service Learning focuses on teaching students the values of serving others. Students are given the opportunity to plan and carry out an act of service, such as making blankets for The Women and Children’s Justice Center, decorating posters for the school dances, or cutting out stars for the upcoming “Make a Wish” fundraiser.

A few weeks in to a new school year, Springville Junior High has yet another new chance to learn-and this time, it is with Shakespeare. Many times, students don’t know who Shakespeare is or what he has written. Now, every student has the chance to find out. Mrs. Elizabeth Bass, seventh and eighth-grade English teacher at Springville Junior High, is leading a new enrichment class about Shakespeare on Tuesdays during Quest Time. According to Mrs. Bass, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is acknowledged by many to be one of the most accomplished playwrights in history, and his influence expands into modern day literature and plots. He has authored more than 37 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 narrative poems and two "lost plays."

he Springville Junior High School Knights have many successful sports programs, from football, to track, to tennis.  But what many people do not know is that SJHS also has a winning golf team.

This school year, the team has been to many meets around the district, and even won third place at their last tournament on September 27th.  Coached by Mr. Dallin Krebs, the team headed down to Gladstan Golf course in Payson.  They competed against Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Diamond Fork, Mount Nebo, and Payson Junior Highs.  

Quest Time, the new program at Springville Junior High, brings many enrichment activities. One of which is Recreational Math-a “doing math for fun” activity.

Recreational Math is a Quest Time activity every Monday in Mr. James Anderson’s class room (59) the class is meant to challenge students who enjoy trying to figure out mind-boggling math problems, or just finish up some homework or play a game.  Mr. Anderson, a math teacher at SJHS who is in charge of the activity, said, “We plan one challenging math problem that students can try, then answer at the end of Quest Time. We [also] allow ‘thinking games’ to be played.” 

Mr. Trent Mikesell is one of the many teachers at SJHS. He teaches seventh-grade English and one period of creative writing. Mr. Mikesell is also on the School Community Council and the Quest Time Committee. “I love all my classes,” said Mr. Mikesell. “I have taught seventh grade the longest, so I am most familiar with it. Seventh graders are so fun to be around; they have so much energy, and it is contagious.” He has been teaching for five year and helped with the gifted and talented group last year. “He is my favorite teacher,” said Anna Gurney, a seventh grader at SJHS.