September 2015

“She really has a knack for teaching!” said Ms Pina, a seventh grade English teacher, about Ms. McBride. Ms. McBride is an eighth grade English and film studies teacher here at SJHS.

“Springville is a great place because it’s full of great people,” Ms. McBride said. She has been teaching here at SJHS for four years, and she loves it here.

 “I love her classes. She’s one of my favorite teachers,” said Bethany Stewart, an eighth grade English student. 

Here at Springville Junior High (SJHS) football season has started! 2015 is a brand new year for Reams, one of the 8th grade football teams, to win! SJHS wants to spread their love for football!

Mike Giles, an eighth grader at SJHS, said that he has been playing football for as long as he can remember; he said maybe around five or six years! Tyler Kelly, another eighth grader known as TK, said he has been playing, “around 3 years or longer.”  They both love football and are on Reams team. Karson Benson, another eighth grader, said that their team has been undefeated. 

Last year Mr. Bass moved to SJHS as a science teacher after just finishing work as a teacher facilitator at BYU, according to Mr. Bass. He also said he was placed here at SJHS by Nebo School District.

Mr. Bass loves helping all of the students, and working with the administration and staff. “The teachers and administration and staff are very supportive and a lot of fun to work with,” said Mr. Bass. 

“He helps all of the students with the things they need help with,” said Sean Roylance, an eighth grade student at SJHS. 

“I love the plain and simple truth of search for answers that science provides,” said Mr. Bass.

This year has brought many changes that are unexpected.  One of them is the Chivalry Award.  This is the first year it has been introduced.  According to Mr. Rowley, one of the assistant principals, he and Mr. McGuire, the principal, came up with it.  According to Mrs. Porter, a US history and Utah Studies teacher, we have so many great students here, and this is a great way to honor more.  Each teacher will get to choose one student for the award.  

Mr. Shields is one of our history teachers here at Springville Junior High School. Mr. Shields has been teaching for about 27 years, and eight of them have been here at SJHS. He is currently on his ninth year here. 

Scott Mitchell, a former NFL Quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, and Cincinnati Bengals, is a Springville resident and was recently a contestant on the show The Biggest Loser.  “I was motivated to do this because I was overweight and my dad died from being overweight and having diabetes, and I wanted to set a good example for my kids,” said Scott Mitchell. Scott Mitchell wanted to start eating healthier and get his life back.

It all started out last year explained Madi Mitchell, a ninth grader at SJHS and Scott Mitchell's daughter, “My dad wasn’t eating healthy. He had a lot of bad habits, and it was hard to do a lot of active things like go on a hike or do anything active together.” 

You will always go on an adventure in Mrs. Ottley’s room. Mrs. Ottley is a new English teacher this year at Springville Junior High School. According to Mrs. Ottley, she came to SJHS this year because she lives in Springville, and she loves the faculty, administration and the building. She said, “I think Springville is the best place to live and work.”

Mrs. Ottley’s room is sailing themed. According to Mrs. Ottley, it is sailing themed because they are learning about anchor questions when they are reading. In addition to anchor questions they are also learning about reading skills. She said her room is decorated like this because, “reading takes you on a voyage.”

The Springville ninth grade football team is doing great! Their team is awesome at playing. They had four football games and won all of them, and they are so proud of that. Shane Staples is one of the players on the team, he said he likes the team because they all have the same goal which is to win all the games. Shane said that he thinks they can, “Yes we are going to stumble sometimes, but we got this.” 

This year at SJHS, Mr. Jackson became our eighth grade school counselor after Mrs. Linton left.  Mr. Jackson said, “When there was an opening at the school, I immediately requested to come here.”  According to Mr. Jackson, he went to the University of Utah for Human Development and Family Studies.  Afterward he got his graduate degree from the University of Phoenix in Educational Counseling.  

According to Mr. Jackson, he has worked at Spanish Fork Junior High, as well as Sage Creek, Park, and Goshen Elementary schools.  Mrs. Distefano, the ninth grade counselor, said, “We’ve been to many meetings and conferences together over the years.” 

Every year there are changes in schools- some are big and some are small. This year Mr. McGuire is the new principal for Springville Junior High School. He started this year, 2015-2016. According to Mr. McGuire, he became our principal after Mr. VanAusdal moved to the District offices.