Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

For the second year at SJHS, one of the many elective classes that is available is Chinese.  The Chinese class has a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Debra Wells, and the students enjoy it.

Mrs. Wells learned Chinese while serving an LDS mission in Taiwan, and then continued to study in college.  She decided to be a public school teacher, so she went to China and took an 8-week teaching course.  Between her mission and her life as a school teacher, she kept her Chinese up in many ways. “I worked for the U.S. Department of Defense in the Washington, D.C. area for a couple of years, translating oral Chinese materials. I worked with the BYU high school level Independent Study Chinese classes. My family and I hosted Chinese dancers several times for the Springville World Folkfest. I even got to be a guide during the Olympics – for the Chinese Women’s Hockey Team!” she explained.

Next year, Chinese 1 is available for eighth and ninth graders, and if students take Chinese 1 in eighth grade, they can take Chinese 2 in ninth grade. They do a lot of fun class projects, like learning about the Chinese Lantern Festival and attending the BYU Language Fair.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

Seventh graders at SJHS skipped school on February 5th and spend a day acting as an adult for Job Shadow Day.  Job Shadow Day is a day where the seventh graders spend a day with someone who has a job and learns about that job.

Ms. Josie Jarvis, CTE teacher at Springville Junior High, said, “Job Shadow Day is really beneficial because students get the opportunity to spend the whole day observing a specific job that they may be interested in. We want students to get thinking about a career path, so they can explore different paths before they head down a certain career path.”

Some students that went on their Job Shadow expedition had an interest in the job. Sarah Muir, a seventh grader who went to a massage clinic with her grandmother, was one of these students who had an interest in the job. “I really enjoyed it, I learned a lot and I’ve wanted to be a massage therapist for a long time,” she explained.

Other students discovered that they had no interest in the job they shadowed. Courtney O’Halloran, another seventh grader, enjoyed her experience at the BYU bookstore, but didn’t have an interest in perusing it as a career. “I had a lot of fun, but I want to be a chemist when I grow up.”

Lots of students at Springville Junior High participated in Job Shadow Day. Ms. Jarvis said that about 98% of her students were gone on Job Shadow Day.

For some students, finding and keeping a job isn’t something they’re particularly concerned about, seeing as their only in seventh grade. But as time goes by, it tends to speed up and the time flies by. Now is the time for students at Springville Junior High to be thinking about a career path they want to take.

Assistant Principal Dave Knudsen, Principal Darrel Rolfe, journalism students Christopher Taylor, Andrew Garza, Spencer Duncan, Katya Wagstaff, Kristi Hatch, Cody Woolsey, Kara Dunn, Julie Barbosa, and journalism teacher Tiffanie Miley.

Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

On Wednesday, February 10, 2010, the journalism class of SJHS made a presentation to the Nebo District School Board.  Using the same presentation as when they presented to the Nebo PTA, the journalism class impressed the School Board.

Mr. Rolfe, the principal of SJHS, introduced the class and the teacher, Ms. Miley.  Then three students of the class, Kara Dunn, Katya Wagstaff, and Christopher Taylor presented a brief summary about what the duties and opportunities of the journalism class, after which there was a video presentation that Ms. Miley put together.

The video covered certain areas of journalism, and throughout the presentation, students were talking about what the certain things meant to them and how they do it well. A few the areas discussed were brainstorming, interviewing, drafting, editing, and peer review.  Students also expressed their satisfaction with being published in the Springville Herald and how their writing improved throughout the semester.

“Those who visited with me after the presentation indicated they were very impressed with the journalism program,” said Mr. Darrel Rolfe.  Ms. Miley also said, “I think the school board liked our presentation. They seemed interested in our video and were reading our newspaper.”

There’s no doubt that this year’s journalism class has been very successful. Mr. Rolfe said, “The fact that we had published so many articles and 100% of our students had been involved stood out to [the school board] as very untypical.  Certainly this is not only a tribute to our students, but to Ms. Miley as well.”

For more information, click here.

Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

In Mr. Shields’s eighth grade history classes, students have been debating and learning about politics as they determine who they think will win the 2010 Super Bowl.  On February 5, students used the Electoral College system to vote on who they thought would be this year’s champion.

Electoral College is the system that the United States uses when it’s time to vote for the president of the United States.  Each state gets a certain amount of votes, based on the population in that state.  This system brings a different set of results than using popular vote.  For example, if a few lower-populated states all vote Republican and one higher-populated state votes Democratic, Democratic could still win in the Electoral College, but Republican would win in popular vote.

Well, needless to say, Mr. Shields’s classes were excited and involved on February 5.  Before the voting, the classes had a debate. Half the class represented the Saints, and half represented the Colts.  Then each student picked a state out of a hat (some students got two so that all 50 states were represented), and then they voted.  Mr. Shields remarked, “The kids had fun with it. It was a little vocal and fun, and they got to campaign.”

The results are in, and the total (all the classes combined) Electoral College votes for the Saints was 1,255 (popular was 131), and for the Colts, 1,970 (popular was 175).  As it happened, there was one unusual score: in Mr. Shields’s third period class.  In popular vote, the Saints won with 27 votes to 23 for the Colts.  However, the Colts won in Electoral College, at 310 votes to the Saints score of 228.  Despite all of these students rooting for the Colts, the Saints pulled ahead in the game, winning 31-17.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that is celebrated throughout the world. It has never been confirmed as to where this holiday originated, but there are, however, many speculations. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine that were martyred, but the real origin has never been confirmed.

Springville Junior High school is celebrating Valentines Day this year in a few different ways. The Service Learning class is creating Valentines that students can buy and give to other students. These Valentines will cost one dollar, and the service learning class will deliver them to the appropriate student during the students’ sixth period class.

Springville Junior High is also hosting a school dance for students at Springville Junior High. The dance will be February 11th from 7:00 to 9:00 and will be four dollars without their student I.D. and three with. Students are asked to wear best dress, but still follow the dress code found in the student handbook.

Gavin Kent and Reid Dwiggins, members of the cello section at SJHS.

Jacob DeRosia
SJHS Staff Writer

Have you ever been walking down the hall and heard the low hum of a cello? Every day the orchestra students have the opportunity to listen to the graceful sound of the Violoncello, Which is the long name for the cello. For the students who play the cello, “It’s great! I wish I could have 8 periods of orchestra!” said Reid Dwiggins, a cello player in the SJHS orchestra. Even the people who don’t play the cello love the sound.

The cello is one of the middle instruments in the string orchestra. Second only to the bass, the cello is one of the lowest instruments in the orchestra.  The songs played in orchestra are the favorites of every cello and violin alike. But according to the cellos, they sound so much better when they play them. And most of the cellos agree, “cellos are better than trumpets!”

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

On January 20th, Springville Junior High’s journalism class gave a presentation to the district PTA board about what goes on in the journalism class and how they write their articles.  “Whenever the district PTA has a meeting, it’s hosted at a different school. The schools are asked to give a presentation for the PTA members, and Mr. Rolfe asked that the journalism class give the presentation at our school,” Ms. Miley, the journalism teacher, explained.

The journalism class worked together to make a video explaining the process they go through everyday and their thoughts about the different steps. Three students wrote up introductions and introduced themselves and the journalism class to the PTA members and school principals in attendance.

“I really appreciate all that the students have done to prepare for this presentation. I think it portrays a very good message about the academic climate at the junior high,” Mr. Rolfe, principal at Springville Junior High, said.

Although the students worked hard on their presentation, Ms. Miley really made the presentation possible. “Ms. Miley has helped this class come alive to the students,” Mr. Rolfe observed.   “I believe it was very obvious to those who saw the presentation that our students are totally involved in the class and learning these wonderful principles of writing,” Mr. Rolfe said.

“I’m glad that the community reads what my journalism students have written throughout the semester. There are so many good things that go on at Springville Junior High, and I’m glad that we get a chance to share them.” Ms. Miley commented.

The journalism class has also been asked to give a follow up on this presentation to the Nebo School Board on February 10th about how they feel and why they enjoy journalism.

Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

You always hear about Honor Choirs and Marching Bands, or in other words, extra-curricular activities for band and choir members.  But this year, Nebo School District has put together an Honor Orchestra.  Each school had about ten or twelve students who got to go to Springville High School on Thursday, January 21st to participate in this program.

These students were under the direction of Dr. Dabczynski, a professor at Brigham Young University.  They only had two rehearsals to get their music perfected before their concert: a four-hour rehearsal on the 21st, and an all-day practice on the 26th, and then they returned for a concert that night at 7:00.

Ten students from Springville Jr. were able to participate in this great opportunity.   Caryn Crandall, a violinist, said, “I thought it would be a good experience and look good on my college application.”   Honor Orchestra was a great place to make new friends from other schools, learn new music, and to have fun.

The students really enjoyed the conductor. “[Dr. Dabczynski was] very professional and organized,” said Mark Singleton, a cellist.  Elizabeth Elliott, a violinist, also said, “He’s an amazingly cool and talented person.”

This experience was definitely different than the normal orchestra experience.  They had about 72 people participating, so it was definitely a bigger sound. “The Honor Orchestra is a lot larger than the Springville Junior High Orchestra,” said Elizabeth Elliott.  This was also a great experience to meet new friends and associate with other young musicians their age.  Caryn Crandall remarked, “You get to meet new people and you only get to rehearse together for a few hours.”

Andrew Sa’u, seventh grader at SJHS, enjoyed snowshoeing in PE.

Hayde Blanco
SJHS Staff Writer

Mr. Michael Parker, the boys P.E. teacher, and Ms. Carrie Parker, the aerobics teacher, both did snowshoeing for their classes. Snowshoeing is where you walk around in the snow with snowshoes on. Snowshoes are web type shoes that make you walk on snow without sinking in. Mr. Parker tries to do it every year. He said, “If there is enough snow then we do it every year.”

Mr. Parker did games with snowshoeing. They did relay races and walking backwards. Andrew Sa’u, a seventh-grade student, said, “Walking backwards on snowshoes was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done through my experiences with snowshoeing.”

According to Mr. Parker, most of the students enjoyed snowshoeing. Kaleni Neiufi, a seventh grader, said, “I liked flicking snow at people with the snowshoes.” Andrew Sa’u said, “It was a good experience for me because I haven’t snowshoed before and I really did enjoy it!” Mr. Parker does snowshoeing because it is “active and fun!”

Mrs. Leslie Walker and one of the SJHS choirs.

Jose Martinez
SJHS Staff Writer

Every year at Springville Junior High there is always a very special concert, The Winter Choir Concert.  This year the Winter Choir Concert will be held on January 14th.  It is a prestigious honor for the choir students to be in. They have been practicing since the beginning of the year to bring students and staff members a rich and life filled-concert with a variety of musical styles and well known songs.

“The Winter Concert has a lot of variety in the types of songs we sing. I think people coming to see it will enjoy the different styles of music that we sing,” said Mrs. Leslie Walker, choir teacher at Springville Junior High.

“Next semester, we have the Journey Men. They are a group of eighth and ninth grade boys. I’m excited to work with them. I will also have a new group of Apprentice Singers, which I’m excited about. It’s always fun to get to know the new 7th graders. We will continue working in Master Singers, and we will have another concert in May,” said Mrs. Walker. The choir isn’t just stopping at this concert they are also going to continue throughout the year and beyond.

“The first semester students have been fantastic! I have really enjoyed working with them,” said Mrs. Walker. Springville Junior High is excited for the concert and for choir. The concert is scheduled to be on January 14th.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

In the world today, we are faced with many different challenges and problems that weren’t in the world a hundred years ago, or weren’t as threatening. One of these many dangers is drugs. “I think most people in the world today are affected by drugs, even if it’s not directly,” Mr. Ryan Chambers, the health teacher at Springville Junior High explained. “Even family members participating in drug use can affect a person’s life.”

In health, students are required to learn about the dangers of drugs and ways they can refuse them. Mr. Chamber’s health classes, just recently finished their unit on learning about drugs and the dangerous threat they can be to a persons life.

“We discussed some of the main drugs, effects, and, most importantly, refusal skills,” Mr. Chambers explained. According to Mr. Chambers, there are nine main “refusal skills” that a person can resort to when asked to participate in drugs, including the delay tactic, avoiding the situation, the broken record (no, no, no, no) and giving a reason or excuse.

“Now is the time to learn about the dangers of drugs,” Mr. Chambers explained, “Sometimes at this time in a person’s life, students are more likely to listen to their peers then to their parents and teachers. It’s critical for students to surround themselves with friends that have the same standards.”

“I’m never going to take drugs; people that do, ruin their life, and the lives of those that watch them,” Mariah Snyder, a ninth-grade student at Springville Junior High explained.

Drugs are becoming more common and more dangerous. It’s a worry that everyone needs to be aware of.

Spencer Duncan
SJHS Staff Writer

At Springville Junior High, Mrs. Koriane Maughan has come up with something called Friday Incentive.  The incentive occurs every Friday.  For twenty minutes of the period an activity takes place.  The activity is a surprise.

Students earn the activity by accomplishing the task Mrs. Maughan writes on the board every Monday.  If the task is not accomplished the students who did not complete it have to do something else while the other students get to take part in the activity.

Mrs. Maughan said, “Another teacher gave me the idea of Friday Incentive.”  Tyler Oman, an eighth grade student in Mrs. Maughan’s class, said, “It’s a good way to reward students.”  Mrs. Maughan said, “I think it helps students keep a goal in their minds.  If a person knows that they have to complete a certain task to receive a reward, then hopefully they will try their hardest to complete that task.”

Tyler said, “The students who complete the challenge get the Incentive.  Students who don’t, don’t get the reward.”

“I thought the first incentive went really well.  It rewarded and punished students individually, so they knew they couldn’t count on someone else.  If a student didn’t get the incentive then they knew it was their own fault,” said Mrs. Maughan.

Dr. Sam Tsugawa plays along with the junior high orchestra.

Sarah Jensen
SJHS Staff Writer

January 20th is the first concert of the year for Springville Junior High’s eighth and ninth grade orchestras. They will play many different songs. Alex Hawker, a seventh grader in the eighth-grade orchestra, said, “We will play six songs, and one we learned it without any music!” Dr. Tsugawa is the director of these orchestras. Students in his eighth-grade orchestra think he is funny. According to Yamina Castro, Dr. Tsugawa teaches music concepts well and jokes with them.

In orchestra, the students learn many songs and do music theory. Dr. Tsugawa helps them with everything they do. Alex Hawker said, “Dr. Tsugawa is nice and funny. He makes learning theory fun and exciting.”

Yamina Castro’s favorite part of being in orchestra is “being able to play with many different parts and harmonies at the same time to make beautiful music.” They play songs called Frolic, Fiddles Down Under, Joust, Nightrider, Ashgrove, and Two English Dances. Remember, the concert is on January 20th at 8:00 p.m.

SJHS Staff Writers

Front row, left to right:  Jack Setzer, Spencer Duncan, Jacob DeRosia and Cody Woolsey.  Second row:  Jacob Simmons, Brooke Seaton, Morgan Bowser, Hayde Blanco and Christopher Taylor.  Third row:  Cheslea Ricks, Kenia Martinez, Julie Barbosa, Katya Wagstaff and Sarah Jensen.  Back row:  Max Schreiner, Andrew Garza, Jose Martinez and Kara Dunn.

Kenia Martinez
SJHS Staff Writer

This week is the last week that journalism will be available this school year. Students have enjoyed writing about different events from around the school. From student and teacher spotlights to school-wide happenings, the journalism students have covered nearly everything.

Ms.Tiffanie Miley has taught journalism this year. Ms. Miley enjoyed teaching the class and described her Journalism students as a group of great writers who are motivated to do good work. “I’ve been really impressed with what my journalism students have written this year–both in quantity and quality,” said Ms. Miley. The journalism students have done so well that Ms. Miley cannot think of a way that the students can improve in their writing.

Andrew Garza is an eighth-grade journalism student this semester. Andrew is sad that these are his last days as a journalism student. He’s had fun writing a wide variety of articles for this class. All the students in the journalism class can agree that their writing has improved since they’ve taken this class. “I think my writing has improved. I can be more descriptive when I write,” said Andrew. Andrew’s favorite article was one he wrote about what students were planning on doing for Christmas.

Sarah Jensen is another eighth-grade student in the journalism class. Her favorite article was one she wrote on Mr. Booth because it was fun to learn about band. “Yes!” Sarah said, explaining that the journalism class has indeed helped her in her writing, “I write tons better!”  Sarah isn’t particularly happy about leaving Journalism this semester because she enjoyed getting published, and she thinks that the class is really fun.

This semester will not be the end of news from SJHS, however. Next semester, a couple of former journalism students may end up writing articles. The scheduling is still being worked out, and Ms. Miley really hopes it happens. There will also be a journalism class next year for eighth and ninth grade students.

Jacob Simmons
SJHS Staff Writer

Over the past few weeks, students in Mrs. Mary Rice’s honors English class have been working hard to create there very own renditions of a “Faustian Bargain.”

In the story Dr. Faustus a very intelligent scholar sells his soul to the devil and in return, the devil grants the man his every wish for a number of years. The students in Mrs. Rice’s class have been making their own versions of this exchange. They are making up stories that involve a character giving up something of long term importance for something of immediate gain. The ideas the students have come up with ideas that vary from a jungle scene to an ocean scene, and they involve all different kinds of characters such as lions, fish, and llamas.

After the students come up with an idea, they ponder on ways to share it. They can do a skit, a puppet show, or pretty much anything else they can come up with. The students create the scenery, the character, and the voices in each scenario.

All of this is in preparation to read the classic novel, Dr. Faustus. After the skits the students of Mrs. Rice’s class read about the real Faustian Bargain. The main purpose of all of this was explained by Mrs. Rice, “I am really aiming for students to understand how sophisticated authors layer stories together. The layering indicts the original story in some ways and affirms it others. Lots of times young people think that they have to come up with an entirely new story, which is not the case. One of the traits of brilliant authors is that they can tell an old story in way that sounds fresh and relevant for modern audiences.”