SJHS News

Andalyn Hall and her pet kangaroo

Students enjoyed learning about kangaroos from Grandpa Dutch.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

On April 28, 2010, students in Ms. Tiffanie Miley’s seventh grade English class were all in shock when a kangaroo jumped into their classroom. Throughout the semester, Andalyn Hall, a student in Ms. Miley’s first period class, has told the class about her grandfather’s kangaroo.  Her grandfather and mom brought the kangaroo in to surprise Andalyn and the rest of the class to celebrate the end of state testing.

Andalyn’s grandfather, Grandpa Dutch, owns a farm in Springville where he raises animals. After his kangaroo is full grown, he will give the kangaroo to one of his friends who keep full grown kangaroos.

Andalyn was just as surprised as everyone else to see a kangaroo walk into their class room. “Andalyn’s face lit up, she was so surprised,” Whitley Hicken said.

“I was so excited when I got to present him to the class,” Andalyn explained.

The class not only got to see and pet the animal, but they also learned a lot about kangaroos. Burke Collings said, “We learned that they can grow up to be six feet tall.” The class also learned that kangaroos use their tail for a third leg and that they are a lot softer then they look.

Ms. Miley’s class was excited and eager to learn about this animal, and was grateful for the opportunity to learn hands on.

The students who were named Citizens of the Year at SJHS are: 7th graders Annie Anderson, Emilee Christensen, Claire Hatch, Olivia Monney, Mikel Everett, Jose Romero, Hadley Roberts, Austin Dayton, Chandler Collings, Tegan Jenkins, 8th graders Paige Smith, Megan Miller, Medina Dore, Joee Lowe, Victoria Ireland, Max Schreiner, Gabe Campbell, Collin Pope, Zachary Ewing, Christopher Taylor, and 9th graders Maddie Staheli, Libby Devenish, Cicely Potter, Kara Dunn, Mindy Stapel, Braden Peterson, Mark Singleton, Mitchell Rose, Aaron Brown, and Matthew Vaughan.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

Springville Junior High has a tradition that once every year, thirty students, ten from each grade, are selected to be students of the year. On April 2, 2010, these students went on a special field trip to Trafalga Family Fun Center for being voted citizens of the year at Springville Junior High. These students were nominated by teachers and staff for being outstanding citizens.

Students were allowed free passage to everything that Trafalga could offer, as well as a discount on their food. Springville Junior High paid for pizza, and students were allowed to do whatever they could find to do, including miniature golf, go karts, and arcade games, before heading back to school.  These students worked hard to earn this trip, and are congratulated by Springville Junior High.

Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

At SJHS, there are some pretty amazing people.  The administration is always helping out students, and teachers come every day in order to give students the education they need to be successful in life.  At the end of each year, however, Springville Junior High School recognizes some students who have been “Super Citizens.”

These students have been nominated by teachers and staff at SJHS, and they receive a letter to their parents (to inform them of the great things their child has done), a certificate, and they get to go on a field trip on Friday, April 2nd.

The students who have received the awards are: 7th graders Annie Anderson, Emilee Christensen, Claire Hatch, Olivia Monney, Mikel Everett, Jose Romero, Hadley Roberts, Austin Dayton, Chandler Collings, Tegan Jenkins, 8th graders Paige Smith, Megan Miller, Medina Dore, Joee Lowe, Victoria Ireland, Max Schreiner, Gabe Campbell, Collin Pope, Zachary Ewing, Christopher Taylor, and 9th graders Maddie Staheli, Libby Devenish, Cicely Potter, Kara Dunn, Mindy Stapel, Braden Peterson, Mark Singleton, Mitchell Rose, Aaron Brown, and Matthew Vaughan. Congratulations to these students!

Kristi Hatch
SJHS Staff Writer

At Springville Junior High, there are some pretty amazing students with some unique talents. One of these incredible students is eighth grader Danica Nusink.

Danica’s talent is soccer, but she’s no ordinary soccer player.  Out of about 200 soccer players, Danica was one of the 36 people in her age group who made it to the State ODP, which stands for Olympic Development Program. ODP trains the top players state wide, and after the players make State, they can move on to Regional and even National.

Danica started playing soccer about two years ago.  Danica explained, “My friends were doing it, and I was playing on a school team, so I decided to try out for competitive soccer.”

Danica made it onto the team as one of the four team goalies, and she, along with the other top players, is training every Saturday.  As with any talent you want to soar in, Danica has to have a strong desire and a high level of commitment to succeed at soccer.

In her spare time, Danica likes to read, listen to music, and hang out with friends. Still, she likes to play soccer most of all. Keep up the great work, Danica!

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.

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!”

Christopher Taylor
SJHS Staff Writer

Almost everyone has heard of someone who plays instruments like the violin, flute or trumpet.  There are many junior high students that play these instruments, especially since students can learn how to play them in band and orchestra.  But not that many students play instruments like the mandolin, harp, guitar, djembe, and oboe. SJHS has its fair share of these unique musicians who have all found great ways to express themselves through their music.

Lyndsay Wheeler, an eighth-grade harpist at SJHS, loves music. Along with playing the harp, she finds other ways to express herself through her music, like percussion or piano.  She said, “For me music is just amazing.  I love letting my fingers roll through the chords.” But, according to Lyndsay, playing the harp can be difficult sometimes, especially when she is learning a new song. She said, “Practicing is the hardest part about playing the harp because you want the song to be perfect right then.”

Jackson Averett, an eight-grade guitarist at SJHS, agrees with Lyndsay. According to him, practicing a song that you’ve never even heard before is one of the hardest parts of playing the guitar.  But he thinks playing the guitar can be fun sometimes too. He said, “Playing the guitar is a great way to get my mind off of things.”

SJHS students Kara Dunn and Makaiah Williams made the high school Winter Guard team.

Hayde Blanco
SJHS Staff Writer

Winter Guard tryouts took place in mid-November, and two ninth graders from SJHS made it in. Kara Dunn and Makaiah Williams worked hard to learn the routines and dances, and they were excited to make it into Winter Guard.

The girls had to go to the high school and learn an eight count flag routine and a dance. Then they had to go perform it for girls that were in Winter Guard but are now graduated and came back to help.

Winter Guard does many things. They do flag and rifle spinning and dances. They have competitions where they get to show off their dance and routines to the other schools. Their first competition is January 30th at Orem High School. They also do the salute at the basketball games.

The ninth graders like working with the older girls. Makaiah said, “It is cool to get to know the older girls and hang out with them.” Kara and Makaiah both love winter guard. Kara said, “Winter Guard is the highlight of my week.”

Team Captain Derek Boyer

Max Schreiner
SJHS Staff Writer

Twelve people made the boys basketball team this year, and two of those twelve were voted team captain. One of those captains is Derek Boyer. Derek has been playing basketball since he was born and has always loved it. This year he made the junior high basketball team by using his amazing shooting, dribbling, and passing skills.

On the day of the third practice before the team started practicing, Coach Shaun Blakey called everyone over and had them vote on team captains. He said “I want you to vote for someone who you think would be a good leader, be able to push you to your limits, and make us better as a team.” The vote was unanimous; Derek would be one of the captains.

Derek’s favorite thing about playing basketball is scoring! “I just love the feel of knowing I got my team points to help us win.” He also loves making a nice assist and having that sweet sensation just knowing that he was responsible for making that happen.

His basketball idol is Michael Jordan because he had so much heart for the game and that’s what Derek wants to be known as, the guy with all the heart.

Kenia Martinez
SJHS Staff Writer

Ernesto Sandoval, ninth-grade student at Sringville Junior High school, is a DJ. He and his brohter have their own DJ business called “Luz Y Sonido” which translated into English means “Light and Sound.” Erney has been a DJ for only about a couple of months. He uses is a laptop, turntables, mixers, speakers and a program called Virtual DJ. “They’re pretty expensive, but really worth it,” said Erney.

Erney uses a lot of turntables and effects. He and his brother mostly put Mexican music into their performances because that’s what their customers mostly want. But they also mix in hip hop and reggaeton.  His DJ name is “DJ Creative” and “Luz Y Sonido” is going pretty well.  Erney said that they actually have quite a few customers and the places they mostly play are at quinceaneras, birthdays and weddings. “All have been satisfied with our work,” Erney informs. Unfortunately though, no one from this school has ever seen Erney and his brother perform.

DJ stands for “Disc Jockey.” Several techniques are used by DJ’s as means to better mix and blend recorded music. The role of selecting and playing recorded music for an audience is the same for every disc jockey. The selected music, the audience, the setting, the preferred medium, and the level of sophistication of sound manipulation are factors that differentiate the various DJ types.

Jantzen Dalley, team captain

Max Schreiner
SJHS Staff Writer

Twelve people made the boys basketball team this year, and two of those twelve were voted as team captains. One of those captains is Jantzen Dalley. Jantzen loves basketball; he has been playing basketball since he was in third grade and has loved it from the beginning. This year he made the junior high school basketball team. Before the third practice, the team voted on team captains for the year. Mr. Shaun Blakey, basketball team head coach, told the team, “You should vote for someone who you think will be a good leader, will be able to push you to your limits and make us a better team as a whole.”

Jantzen said, for him, basketball is the best sport because, “It’s a high intensity, quick paced, fun game,” When he went to one of the games last year he said he thought the intensity level was a lot higher than his accelerated games which made him look forward to playing on the team even more than before.

His basketball idol is Michael Jordan, with LeBron James as a close second. The reason Michael is ahead of LeBron is because he was the best there ever was, and Jantzen wants to be the best there ever was.

Hannah Packard, Amberly Austin and Ashli Averett, 9th graders at SJHS, show their Red Devil pride.

Andrew Garza
SJHS Staff writer

This year, three ninth-grade students at Springville Junior High made the Springville High School girl’s basketball team: Ashli Averett, Amberly Austin, and Hannah Packard.

“I think it is really cool and great experience to be on the high school basketball team,” said Ashli Averett, one of the freshmen that made it to the girls high school basketball team. Ashli said, “I watched my sister play for many years. She had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. I hope to get the same experience.” Ashli also said, “Basketball is a lot of work, but it’s so much fun. I love it.” Ashli’s siblings, dad, and cousins have played high school basketball, and she said they are the ones who help her and teach her new skills.

Hannah Packard, another freshman that made the high school basketball team, said that she thinks high school basketball is a good opportunity and a privilege. Hannah said,“Basketball is one of my favorite sports.” Hannah has also been to many high school basketball games and wants to be like the people who play in them. She likes basketball because of the “Intensity-it’s a sport where you think and need skill.”

Amberly Austin, the other freshman that made the high school basketball team, said, “I think it is a big accomplishment to make the team as a freshman. It is something I have wanted to do since I was little.” Amberly said she went to some games last year and liked it because the intensity level is a lot higher. Amberly also said, “I like basketball because it is a fun sport and it is also a team sport.

Katya Wagstaff
SJHS Staff Writer

Many people love to travel to far-off places for vacation.  People crave vacations because they’re a chance to get away from everyday life and either relax or go sightseeing.  Most people go to see sights that are famous for different reasons; perhaps they go to visit the Seven Wonders of the World including the Pyramids at Giza.  Perhaps what someone else dreams to see is the Eiffel Tower (“Tour de Eiffel” in French) in the City of Lights.  Whatever that special place may be, students, teachers and faculty members at SJHS love to travel.

Students at SJHS have a love of traveling to different places.  Julie Barbosa, a ninth grader, has been to Brazil and South Africa.  She said, “I love Brazil because it’s a party place and the food is great!”  Eighth-grade students Christopher Taylor and Spencer Duncan have both visited England.  According to Christopher, Oxford was a cool place to see because of the different old buildings.  Spencer said, “I like to go see the different places you can learn about Old and New London.”

As a teacher, the work schedule is different than “normal” office jobs.  Teachers have plenty of time in the summer for vacations.  Mr. Steven Robbins, a seventh-grade English teacher, has traveled to places all over the globe.  The most exotic vacation he has been on was to China.  Mrs. Natalie Luke, the foods teacher, has been to Ireland and Finland.  While she was in Finland, she ate reindeer!  Mrs. Lori Caras, a seventh and ninth-grade science teacher, couldn’t decide which vacation spot was her favorite.  She said, “Europe was filled with amazing history.  I loved being in a different culture and hearing different languages.”  Her other favorite vacation was Cancun.  According to Mrs. Caras, it was a relaxing place to visit.

Teachers aren’t the only ones who work in schools and have time to take vacations.  One of the newest faculty members to enter Springville Junior High is Mrs. Courtney Johnson, an assistant principal.  She said, “Last May, I traveled to Germany and drove down through Austria and into Slovenia.”  Slovenia is one of her favorite vacation spots because it is “easy to explore” because of its small size.  She also went through the Alps, one of the largest mountain ranges in the world.

These exciting vacations to far off places seem like you have to go to the other side of the world to experience.  But that’s not true, there are places in Utah that people across the world come to visit, and these places are practically in our backyards.  Utah is home to five national parks, which is more than any other state.  We also have many ski resorts to visit during the winter months.  This means that memorable vacations are right around the corner!

Kenia Martinez
SJHS Staff Writier

Here at Spingville Junior High we have students with many different talents. And the school’s curriculum offers a couple of classes for those wishing to learn more and practice those talents.

The school offers a class called Creative Writing for those who love to write. It’s a class where students can practice not only short stories, but poetry and song lyrics as well. Halley Rencher is a ninth-grade student at SJHS who has started too many stories to count, but said she’s only finished a few. She said she started liking to write at the beginning of seventh grade. “I mostly write short stories and novels, but I’m starting to like poetry,” Halley explained. She enjoys writing fiction, horror, realistic fiction and fantasy.

“I’m working on a realistic fiction about a group of teenagers who live a secret life and what happens to them because of their secret life.” She’s also currently working on a poem about a hunting creature who likes to terrorize his victims. Lately, Halley has been writing more fiction stories because “it sounds like it actually could happen.”  Halley finds inspiration in her friends, other books and dreams she’s had. She said that there was a time when she was having a particularly hard time finding inspiration, but she’s starting to get past that.  She also often finds inspiration in an unfinished novel by her friend.

SJHS also offers a choir class for those who enjoy singing and want to practice and extend their skills. Holly Whearley is a ninth-grade student of Mrs. Leslie Walker, the choir teacher. Holly has been singing for six years. She sings slow songs, and she sings in soprano which is high-pitched. Her hero is Celene Dion. “She started out as nothing and became something,’’ Holly said, “No matter who you are, you can become something.”

Holly thinks she can improve on having more power in her singing style; she wants to sing like Dion. Her favorite things to sing are classic, old songs like Ave Maria.  She advises anyone who has a passion for something, even if they’re not very good, to keep striving for success. “You should follow your dreams.” Holly said.

Every kid likes to draw. Students doodle on the margins of their homework or on their notes in class. SJHS also offers a class for students to let out their creativity and get a grade for it. Jackson Averett is an eighth-grade student in Mr. Mitch Cudney’s art course. Mr. Cudney describes Jackson as an imaginative boy with advanced technical skills, good concentration and who is serious about art. He also said that he studies outside school in private art lessons. Jackson has been drawing since he was a little kid, but he says that he doesn’t really want to make drawing a career; he used to, but not very much anymore. He said it’s just a hobby now. Jackson’s favorite thing to draw with is a pencil, and he mostly does pencil sketches. “I like it because just because it’s fun.”

Steven Nunn, ninth-grade student in Mr. David Booth’s band class, plays the guitar, saxophone and clarinet. His favorite is the guitar because he said it is much more challenging than his other instruments. Steven said he would like to make a career out of music. “Only if the opportunity presents itself. There are many other careers I would enjoy doing.”

Steven’s number one inspiration is Eddie Van Halen. “He is the best guitarist ever… enough said,” Steven explained.

Steven started the clarinet in the 6th grade with Mr. Booth. “He is my hero,” he said. Steven has recently started to play with his father’s saxophone, and he has been playing guitar for almost a year now. The instrument that Steven wishes he could play is the drums and other percussion instruments.

Though there is not a class offered for every talent or passion a student may posses, there are still a lot of interesting, fun, and exciting classes to choose from.

Jonathan Luther and Jordan Robinson, two members of the light and sound crew, are shown here working inside the light booth.

Christopher Taylor
SJHS Staff Writer

Imagine if you went to a concert or play, but you couldn’t see or hear the performers.  The lights and sounds crew’s job at SJHS is to make sure this does not happen.  They are in charge of all the lights and sounds in plays, concerts and assemblies.   The seven students on the crew are directed by Mr. Shawn Hatfield, a biology teacher at SJHS.

Being on the lights and sound crew can present some challenges. According to Jonathan Luther, an eight grader on the crew, it’s really hard to memorize all the knobs, switches, sliders and buttons. You also have to be able to think fast when something goes wrong, since you can’t stop an assembly when a light won’t turn on or a microphone breaks.  Another difficultly of serving on the crew is that there are concerts, plays, and other after school programs.  Students on the crew could have to do something at almost any time of day, from five’ o clock in the morning to ten’ o clock at night.

The kids on the lights and sound crew are given a lot of responsibility, but they get a lot of privileges as well.  They get to get out of class, and sometimes they will miss a whole day of school to do a play or special assembly.  Jordan Robinson, a ninth grader on the crew, said, “I like doing lights and sound because it makes me feel like I am in control, and I get to be with some of my friends.”

According to Jonathan, one of the most enjoyable parts of being on the crew is working with Mr. Hatfield.  He said that Mr. Hatfield is “fun to joke around with.”  According to Jordan, Mr. Hatfield is always willing to help the students on the crew with anything they need.  Mr. Hatfield said, “I enjoy seeing the success of kids in plays. Lights and sound is one of the things that makes a play a success.” He has been helping the lights and sound crew for 10 years.