“G-O Lets Go! Springville, G-O Lets Go!!!!!” These words are very familiar to the Springville Junior High football players. Here at Springville Junior High we have cheerleaders supporting and gathering the crowd for the football players.

According to Cynthia Esklund, Springville Junior High cheerleader, cheerleaders help the football players. Cheering gets them “pumped up.” Alyssa Nance, another Springville Junior High cheerleader, said “Heck Yes!” cheerleading is a sport.

Mr. Ryan Chambers is the health teacher at Springville Junior High. He teaches eighth and ninth graders. Shyenaia Luna, an eighth grader, said “Mr. Chambers explains the things we’re learning clearly and thoroughly.”

Mr. Chambers said, “I love teaching health! I feel it is the most important class you will ever take.”  Eric Harrison, another eighth grader, said, “So far I have been able to handle the topics well. Mr. Chambers has been a good teacher.” Mr. Chambers lives in Spanish Fork and has to come to Springville to teach. “To be honest, it would not really matter where I was teaching. I love helping students make healthy choices.” said Mr. Chambers.

Everyday hundreds of students walk through the doors of Springville Junior High. To many, this school is a home away from home, where students advance academically and prepare themselves for the future. But what about the past? We’re going to step back and relive the birth of this school.

Springville Junior High was born in 1957, when guest speaker Governor Clyde opened these doors and welcomed the first junior high knights. Around 602 seventh, eighth and ninth-grade students came. It was a good start with 26 teachers ready to share their knowledge.  

Each month in eighth grade science, SJHS teacher Mr. David Kindrick selects a “Scientist of the Month.”  Jacque Kass received the honor in October because, according to Mr. Kindrick, not only is Jaque a great student, but she is also “very friendly and has a positive attitude about everything.” 

Jacque Kass was born June 7th and has lived in Springville her whole life.  She has one “awesome brother name Mitch and two chill parents that I love to death, and I have a pet fish that is a beta.” 

Mrs. Kayde Dexter is a student teacher at Springville Junior High. She will be teaching history in Mr. Greg Shields's class until December fourth, though she wishes she could stay longer.
   
Mrs. Dexter said that the reason why she is interested in teaching is because “I was one who lucked out and had some amazing teachers in junior and high school. These teachers were able to instill a love of learning.”  Mrs. Dexter wants to help her students become more engaged, responsible citizens so they can succeed. 
   

Springville Junior High is now offering basketball intramurals everyday except for Wednesdays, from 2:45-3:45.  Intramurals is an after-school program for any student who needs to make up an absence in PE, or just wants to play basketball.

Basketball intramurals end November 6th and tryouts for the school basketball teams will be November 9th-13th.

Volleyball intramurals will begin sometime in the month of November.      
 

A fun way to interact with students with special needs in our school is to be a peer tutor. Students have the option to take peer tutoring, a class where they get to have fun helping and interacting with the students that have special needs in Mrs. Claire Mills’s class. Peer tutors help make the kids' school life a little bit easier. The peer tutors will help Mrs. Mills’s students with their assignments, study with them and help them take tests for their classes.

This year, counselors at Springville Junior High decided that they would try something new in order to help new students succeed. “Peer Pals” is a program in which students try their hardest to look out for new students and make sure no one feels excluded or left out. Teachers recommended students who are good leaders and able to include others.

“Sometimes students notice things that teachers or the other councilors don’t notice,” Mrs. Monica Distefano, a counselor at Springville Junior High, said. Mrs. Distefano went on to say, “We’re going to try to meet with new students at least once a term to see how they are doing.”

There are a lot of elective classes at Springville Junior High. One of these is the clothing class; in the clothing class students have the opportunity to learn new sewing techniques and how to use the techniques on their own sewing projects. Students come each morning and work on their projects. Ms. Diane Bird, who also teaches service learning, is the teacher in clothing.

Here at Springville Junior High School we have many students from a variety of different countries.  For example, Cheira Enriquez, a student at SJHS, is from Mexico where she lived and went to school until her family moved to America five years ago. “In Mexico you have to wear uniforms and here you don’t,” said Cheira, explaining the difference between schools in Mexico and schools in America.  She says she moved to America to get a better education.