SJHS students board the busses for the 95% attendance activity.

Morgan Bowser
SJHS Staff Writer

Now that the end of the term has come it’s time for the 95% attendance award activity.  The 95% attendance award activity happens at the end of each term. Students who have 95% attendance and didn’t get any F’s, N’s, or U’s on their first term report card get to miss school and go to the Spanish Fork Red Carpet Theater where they can watch a current movie.

Maddie Joyner, an eighth-grade student, said, “I like skipping school to go see a movie!”  According to Victoria Ireland, another eighth-grade student, she liked going in the past because she can be with her friends and not have to worry about doing school work all day it’s nice to relax. The 95% Activity Award Activity was held on Thursday, November 19th.

The SJHS Chamber orchestra preparing to go on stage at the festival.

Robin Anderson
SJHS Staff Writer

The orchestras at Springville Junior High School busily prepared all last week for the Utah Valley University (UVU) festival on Wednesday May 6th.  They traveled to UVU and stayed there all day to perform in the district-wide festival.  The festival was held in the Regan Theatre in the Sorensen Center on UVU campus.

There are three orchestras at SJHS. They are the beginning orchestra, (The Young Artists) intermediate orchestra, (Sinfonia), and the advanced orchestra, (the Chamber Orchestra).  All three orhestras attended the festival.

According to Mr. Sam Tsugawa, the orchestra teacher at SJHS, the students did very well in the festival. “They were all very well prepared, especially the Young Artists. They have improved in both staying in tune and staying together.”

The orchestra students arrived at UVU, performed, and listened to other orchestras in the district. “It’s was so much fun hearing how we sounded compared to other schools.  Lots of the time, we sounded much better!” said Carli Sorenson, a student in the Chamber orchestra.

Nikki Drake
SJHS Staff Writer

The Art Foundations classes at Springville Junior High School are going to pay The Hogle Zoo a nice little visit on May 1st. They get to do school work and have fun at the same time. They will be drawing animals and getting a closer look at the colors for the school part.  For the fun part, obviously it’s getting to go to the zoo! The classes will be there all day, and it is $8 to get into the zoo, and the bus is already paid for.

“We wanted to celebrate the end of the year by doing something fun, and my classes have worked really well this semester–they deserve it,” Mr. Jethro Gillespie, the art teacher at SJHS, said.

Makaiah Williams
SJHS Staff Writer

As term three comes to an end, the students at SJHS are rewarded for their good attendance. Students with good attendance get to go to a movie of their choice. The students can have a combined total of two tardies or absences in each class; if they have three or more tardies or absences in any class they will not be able to attend the movie. The movie activity was on April 10th.

“It’s a fun way to spend a school day,” said Whitney Norman, an eighth grader at SJHS, “And plus I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t rather be at a movie than school.”

“I don’t get to go to movies with friends a lot,” said Morgan Bowser, a seventh grade student at SJHS, “So it is a time when my friends and I can hang out and watch a movie together.”

Throughout the year, the number of students that get to go has decreased. In the fall there were approximately five hundred students that were able to go. Now, that number has decreased and only three hundred and twenty are eligible to go.

Delon Lier, Matt Fitzgerald, Micah Hansen, David Hobb, and Nathan Thurman dissect a brain during the gifted and talented activity.

Brittany Blackmon
SJHS Staff Writer

On March 19th, there was something brainy going on in Mrs. Lise Carpenter’s room. Mrs. Carpenter is a teacher at SJHS. Robin Anderson, a ninth-grade student at SJHS, gave me the slimy details.

Before the ninth graders got to do anything, BYU students explained how messages got from the brain to the correct part of the body. The students were put into groups and practiced sending messages through the group until the last person knew what to do; it was harder than they thought. Mrs. Carpenter said, “The activity gave the students a greater appreciation for how the brain works and how amazing it is.” Then came the dissecting…

The ninth graders learned that there is a layer around on the outside of the brain, and the ninth graders had remove that outer layer. Then they had to cut the brain in half to see what the inside looked like. How fascinating! Robin explained what the inside of the brain was like. She said, “It was like cutting up a rotten-hard boiled egg that smelled like formaldehyde. It was amazingly fun!”

Even though brain dissecting sounds fun, it can have its downside as well. I made sure I took Robin’s advice for this. For what there is to know about brain dissecting, she said, “Don’t eat pizza afterwards unless you have a strong stomach.”

Kaydie Kerby
SJHS Staff Writer

The SJHS Service Learning class went on a field trip February 27 to the LDS Humanitarian Center. Humanitarian Center employees and volunteers put hygiene kits together for people all around the world. The students spent two and a half hours packing 3,000 sanitation kits. The kits had four toothbrushes, tube of tooth paste, two towels, two combs, and two bars of soap. Sanitation kits go to people who are homeless or have had a catastrophe in their area such as earthquakes, tornados, or hurricanes.

When our students went to Salt Lake City for the field trip they took ten quilts. Shelby Kendall was in charge of the quilt making. Mackenzie Morris and Amberly Austin where in charge of making sure all the students were on the buses and ready to go.

Every student learned something new or important when it came to service for other people. The Service Learning students had so much fun with the service that they performed.

“We had so much fun working at the Humanitarian Center,” Mrs. Kathryn Crandall, the service learning teacher, said. “Everyone loved doing the service and when it was time for the tour of the of the Humanitarian Center, no one wanted to quit working.”

Shelby Duke, a service learning student, said, “I learned all about the needs of other people all around the world. I learned that even though I’m only one person I can help many people have better lives.” Mackenzie Morris, another service learning student, said, “We made hygiene packets for people all over the world. We did it because it made us students feel like we were doing something good.”

Everybody that participated thought it was really fun to go and help out at the Humanitarian Center.

Makaiah Williams
SJHS Staff Writer

On January 26th fourteen Springville Junior High School students went to Brigham Young University (BYU) for a Model United Nations conference. Before the conference each school was assigned a country to represent. Springville Junior High represented the country of Azerbaijan.

“One of my favorite parts of the conference,” said Rebekah McClain, a student at SJHS, “was meeting all the different faces and being able to work with them.” The conference was a learning experience for everyone including the teachers. KresLynn Knouse, another SJHS student, said, “I thought using parliamentary procedure was interesting, because it was like learning a new language.”

After the conference students got awards for their success and hard work. Jason Haymond won the award for best position paper for the General Assembly Plenary Committee.

Alyssa Payne and Delon Lier won honorable mention for their work on the Economic and Social Council Committee. Springville Junior High won honorable mention for outstanding work as the Azerbaijan delegation.

Mr. David Hansen won the award for outstanding faculty advisor. Teachers and students are excited to be doing the competition again next year. If you are interested please, contact Mrs. Carpenter at Springville Junior High.

Rylee Vest
SJHS Staff Writer

The state math competition is a fun and exciting chance for students to test their math skills for on behalf of Springville Junior High. The students will participate in the competition on March 18th at Utah Valley University (UVU). Mr. Jim Anderson, the math teacher in charge of the competition said, “At the competition, the students work on the 30 problem test. The teachers receive a copy of the test, and discuss with each other the teaching of mathematics.”

Seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students will compete at UVU. The students attending have been given a set of former state math exam problems to review their skills. “These problems are challenging, so it is exciting when you can solve at least some of them,” said Mr. Anderson.

When one of the students attending the competition, Mitchell Murray, was asked if he thought the competition was going to be challenging, he said, “From the past it looks like it was hard, and so I am assuming that it’s going to be hard this year also.” The school wishes the best to the students competing and good luck for all!

KresLynn Knouse
SJHS Staff Writer

On Wednesday, February 11th, Springville Junior High School’s Government and Law class, accompanied by the seventh grade Gifted and Talented, visited the Utah State capitol building. Students took a tour of the capitol, were able to watch The House of Representatives and the Senate vote on important issues, and spoke with the Attorney General’s assistant.

Mr. Hansen, the Government and Law teacher at SJHS, said, “Going to the capitol building will let the Government and Law students see what it’s like to work for the government.”

During the tour, the students got to see every beautiful room and painting in the capitol, learned about lobbyists, and got to see the amazing “gold room.” The “gold room” is a room they use exclusively when meeting with important government officials.

“It was way fun,” said Alyssa Payne, a ninth grade student at SJHS, “My favorite part was watching the House of Representatives vote. They had a flat screen T.V. hanging up for us to see which house member voted ‘yea or nay’ on the bills.”

Meghan Paynter, another ninth grade student, also enjoyed watching the house vote. “Watching either the House or the Senate vote was actually pretty cool. The senators were below us, and we would watch them from another floor.”

Every student enjoyed taking a tour of the capitol and being able to see how bills pass through our government. Some SJHS students might even end up working there someday.

Matthew Fitzgerald
SJHS Staff Writer

“It’s an enrichment program that goes beyond a normal class,” stated Mr. Hatfield, vice chairman of the Gifted and Talented Program. Four to six times a year thirty students from each grade at SJHS go on some sort of field trip dedicated to learning something new and out of the ordinary.

To get in to the Gifted and Talented Program, students had to score well on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in math and reading. Students can also get in from teacher nominations. The goals of the program are to take students that excel and find school maybe a little easy and help them have fun while learning something new. Mr. Hatfield and Mr. Hansen also want to help students becomes leaders to help others along in school. These goals are accomplished through many different activities.

For example, last year the program took a trip last year to Utah’s capital building to take a tour. They also got to meet Gary R. Herbert, the lieutenant governor of Utah! They go on an activity about four to six times a year. The activities usually last all day, so the students have to make up the work, but it’s usually no problem. When asked what his favorite trip was, a member of the gifted and talented at SJHS, Joseph Davies, said, “Probably the capital building in Salt Lake, it was fun, plus the fact that they had a really good cafeteria!”