SJHS News

Emily Regan
SJHS Staff Writer

On April 29th Springville Junior High School and Mapleton Junior High School combined their efforts for a spectacular orchestra concert. Held in the SJHS auditorium, students from both junior highs came to play and be conducted under one teacher. There were a total of 85 students on stage, being led by Springville Junior High’s own Mr. Samuel Tsugawa and Mapleton Junior High’s Mrs. Deanne Helquist.

Mr. Tsugawa himself was looking forward to the concert. He and Mrs. Helquist had planned to do the combined concert last year, but it ended up not happening. They decided to do it this year instead, and it was worth it.

“I was pretty eager to see some of our old students again,” Mr. Tsugawa said. “I consider Mapleton our sister school, so it was good for all of us to play together again.”

First, both schools had the chance to perform by themselves. Then they all came together to play Star of County Down, a combination of Irish fiddles, and Lover’s Waltz, by J. Unger. Audience members were wowed by the beautiful tunes, and the students enjoyed playing them for their audience.

“I was so excited to hear how much sound we could make together and be able to hang out with some of my Mapleton friends that I don’t get to see very often,” said Kristi Hatch, eighth grader at SJHS.

Overall, the joint effort of Springville and Mapleton students was a success. Audience members agree that the concert should definitely become a tradition for our two fine orchestra programs.