Kaleb Barnum
SJHS Staff Writer

A lot of people in the world list weights almost every day; SJHS has a great teacher who is willing to spend his time and help kids work out. Mr. David Hansen, history teacher and weight lifting coach at SJHS, thought that there was a need to have a weight lifting program so students who have pent up energy can come and let some of it the energy go. Mr. Hansen thinks that lifting weight is a great way for students to physically exert energy in a good, positive way. Mr. Hansen loves to see kids come and do physical activity. It helps them meet their goals and look forward to something.

Mr. Hansen said, “It helps kids get stronger, and it gives them self confidence.” About 15-20 students show up everyday. They work hard and don’t goof off. A student like Kenny Roach, eighth grade student at SJHS, loves to work out. He says, “On bad days, weight lifting helps me get through the tough times.”  Weight lifting takes place after school except Wednesday. So people who don’t have anything to do after school, Mr. Hansen would love for anyone to work out after school with him.

Cody Woolsey
SJHS Staff Writer

One of the mandatory, but maybe the most fun, classes at Springville Junior High is Mr. David Hansen’s Utah History class. Seventh-grade students are required to take this class, and many of them enjoy it a lot.

I love the “interesting things we study,” said Trista Linder, a seventh grader at Springville Junior High. Mr. Hansen’s Utah History class covers everything from the Constitution to the physical attributes of Utah.

Mr. Hansen’s teaching method “helps me a lot,” said Madissyn Kiggins, another seventh grader at Springville Junior High. Mr. Hansen’s teaching method consists mainly of hard study and notes. Students do very well on his tests and quizzes.

Jacob Simmons
SJHS Staff Writer

For many years now Springville Junior High School has successfully held a peer court in their government and law class. Soon the class plans to reopen the court system for this year.

According to Mr. David Hansen, the government and law instructor, the class plans to start the court within the next two to three weeks. “We are working on the Constitution and on opening and closing statements. Once we finish with that we plan to open the court.”

The court is run completely by the students who act as the bailiffs, clerks, attorneys, and judges. When the class gets a viable complaint, the attorneys are sent out to interview possible witnesses. They then draft opening statements which are given as if in a real court of a law. The trials continue as real trials do, with questioning of witnesses in front of the judges. The attorneys give the closing statements and the student judges make a fair ruling.

Trials are held for many things, from swearing to stealing binders. “We hold trials for the minor things,” Mr. Hansen said. He explained that if a situation is serious, it is handed over to the principal or other appropriate personnel.

To get a trial, students need to pick up a referral sheet from the front office. On the paper, they explain what happened, as well as other students that witnessed the event. They then submit the sheet to Mr. Hansen, who determines if it is a real case, and then runs it through the court with his class.

“The greatest thing about the court is that it gives students the opportunity to control their own destiny,” said Mr. Hansen. The court has had much success with this in the past by giving students the chance to give proper punishment to their offenders.

Cody Woolsey
SJHS Staff Writer

Mr. David Hansen is one of our most important history teachers here at Springvile Junior High. He not only teaches history to seventh graders, but he also teaches something he thinks is very important: civic rights and character.

Mr. Hansen has been teaching at Springville Junior High for 22 years. In that amount of time, his students have really grown attached to him. “He is awesome and fun!” said Katie Carter, one of Mr. Hansen’s seventh grade students.  The reason he has stayed so long is “it’s the time where most of the changes occur for a student. It’s a crucial age where students start to decide what they are going to be later in life, and I like to be a part of that.” Mr. Hansen likes to “help nudge students in the right direction.” He wants them to be a very big success later in life.

According to Mr. Hansen, education is very important; it helps you build a strong foundation for the rest of your life. He did a couple things before teaching but then realized “everybody’s got their gift, teaching is mine.” He started teaching at Mountainview High School in Orem then he moved over to our school and what a difference he has made!

Christopher Taylor
SJHS Staff Writer

Many kids want to have a position in or participate in the government someday. The Government and Law class teaches them how to do this.  Government and Law is an exciting class at Springville Junior High, where kids learn about how the government works and how they can apply its principles to their own lives. It is taught by Mr. David Hansen, and both ninth and eight graders may take the class during eight period. The class is one semester long.

Lots of kids feel like Mr. Hansen is perfect for teaching government and law. He knows all about the government and how it works, and he is eager to teach it to kids. It helps that he has already taught all of the students Utah History in seventh grade. Allan Maughan, a student who has taken both classes at SJHS, said, “When I was in seventh grade, Mr. Hansen was my favorite teacher. He was one of the reasons I wanted to take Government and Law.”

Kids in Government and Law get to participate in peer court, which is a system that helps kids solve problems between each other. According to Mr. Hansen, it is great because it gives kids a “fair trial” instead of one person deciding their punishment.

Another one of the activities the students have been participating in is writing a bill. They decided to write one about health care, since that is a big debate currently happening in the government.  Allan said, “Writing bills is fun! We get to put in our word of what we think of health care.” The students in Government and Law will be submitting their bill to their legislator.

Christopher Taylor
SJHS Staff Writer

Springville Junior High School has a new tardy policy. For many years, students had to go to Morning Enrichment at seven o’clock if they were tardy to class.  This year SJHS has switched to a lunch detention tardy policy.

Once students have been tardy twice, or have sluffed class, they must report to detention at lunch. Students have five minutes to get lunch and go to the detention area. The detention area is behind an expandable wall in the lunchroom.  Kids must eat lunch and then sit quietly or do homework.

Mrs. Courtney Johnson, the new assistant principal at SJHS and one of the lunch detention supervisors, said, “It’s not a party.”  She said that there will be “constant eyeball supervision” while kids are serving in detention.

Last year, many students simply decided not to go to the Morning Enrichment Program. Hopefully, since the new detention program is during school instead of before, this will not happen anymore. There will be punishment for kids who still don’t show up though. Mr. David Hansen, a teacher at the school, said that he will “Pull off your fingers one by one” if you don’t come to detention. Although he was kidding, there will be serious consequences for kids who don’t come. According to Mrs. Johnson, if you don’t come to the detention, they will find you the next day and add to, or double your time.

Many people said they felt that this program will be better than Morning Enrichment. According to Mr. David Kindrick, the eighth grade science teacher, it will be better because students get an automatic penalty, and because they will have no excuses for not coming to lunch detention.  When Mrs. Johnson said that the reason she likes the lunch detention program better is because “It’s a drag to miss lunch.”

Kayla Price
SJHS Staff Writer

There is justice at Springville Junior High school!. Mr. Hansen is the 7th grade history teacher and Peer Court advisor.  What Mr. Hansen is looking for students “that are clear thinkes. Students  that stay in the law and want the truth.”

Peer court is where you take someone to court that has said or done something to offend you. There have been eight court hearings this year. students can go to the office to get reterral forms to fill out. The school will provide students with the help that they need. Students should watch themselves closely and make sure they’re not doing anything to upset others or they WILL be taken to peer court.

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.

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.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

Schools around the US have put together a competition in which students who wish to participate may take part in the school’s mock trial team. According to Mrs. Rice, one of the teachers involved in the mock trial, ever since 1980, a volunteer attorney writes out a legal case involving issues that youth would understand and get a feel for. Students are given a handbook containing the facts and legal information involving the case.

The mock trial team for Springville Junior High has put together a team involving witnesses, attorneys, and clerks. Each student has chosen a position in which they wish to participate. Mr. David Hansen, one of the mock trial directors, and a teacher at Springville Junior High, explained his reason for participating in the mock trial. “It gives students opportunities to decide what they want to do with their lives when they grow up.”

Schools participate around the US and compete for the opportunity to make it all the way to Atlanta, Georgia in May for the final case. Our mock trial team is already preparing for their big case with having practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.

When asked why she signed up for Mock Trial, Susan Watson, one of the members says, “My uncle is a lawyer, and it’s fun.” We are cheering you on Springville Junior High!

Jacob Simmons
SJHS Staff Writer

Springville Junior High School has decided to implement a new program for students who choose to break the rules. From now on students might have to report to Peer Court. There are various offenses that could get a student referred to Peer Court: bullying, swearing, butting in line at lunch, or picking on someone. Students will be put on trial, where a “judge” will decide their punishment, which could range from a week worth of cleaning the lunchroom, to just apologizing and writing a paper to the court.

Peer court is run by the students of the Government and Law class at SJHS. Mr. David Hansen oversees the court as his students defend, prosecute, and decide punishments for the criminals.

“We try to run a real court,” explained Mr. Hansen, “We have judges who make the decisions, and attorneys who give opening statements, and research to argue for their side.”

To sue someone, students can go to the office and pick up a referral form, which they may fill out and give back to Mr. Hansen for their chance to have their day in court. Once Mr. Hansen receives the referral form, he will decide whether it is valid or not, and then he will try and find a spot on the calendar for a trial to take place. Once your referral form is approved, a case will be passed on to a lawyer from the class, who will begin to research the situation, interview witnesses, and find people to who they can use to testify.

In the court, students go through the whole process of a real court, including an opening statement, a closing statement, settlements, punishments, etc. It allows students in the class to learn about government and law. Peer court has been very helpful to keeping the peace at SJHS.

Darryl Barnes
SJHS Staff Writer

On Election Day, Tuesday November 4th, most history classes at the junior high had the opportunity to vote and the candidate they felt was most qualified to be president of the United States.

On Election Day Some of the history teachers decided to hold an in-class election where the students decided on the next president of the United States. The students each cast their vote and decided who they wanted to win.

In most of the classes, it was by popular vote. But not in Mr. Shields class. In his class they did it by the Electoral College vote. Each student was given a piece of paper with a state on it. They would write the candidate they were rooting for, and left the paper with the teacher. Mr. Shields then read each states vote, and using his computer, clicked on the appropriate state, and it would automatically count that states vote.

In all but one of Mr. Shield’s 8th grade classes, John McCain and won. In the other class, it was a close race between John McCain and Barack Obama. In Mr. Bentley’s 9th grade class, the election was by popular vote and went as follows: John McCain received 135 votes,and Barack Obama received 80. Of Mr. Hansen’s 9th grade classes, only 1st and 3rd period had Obama elected.

For the most part, the history teachers say that the students enjoyed the elections. Of course there are always a few students who don’t really care, can’t decide, or are just messing around. In that case, the results aren’t completely solid. But the students had a good time and learned a bit more on how our government functions.

The teachers all agree that the majority of the students followed their parents’ example, and voted for the same candidate. That means that students look up to their parents a lot. Sometimes more than they like to let on.

The elections also led to great discussion and debate. In many classes, the teachers had to quiet down a few of the discussions that had a messy potential. The teachers agree that the students showed a lot of enthusiasm on the subject.

The mock elections were a big hit with the students, and the history teachers didn’t expect Democrats to win in a Republican state. Overall, students have a new understanding on the subject of election.

Whitney Norman
SJHS Staff Writer

How would you describe the Springville Junior High School? Just an old school or… is it a building filled with history and facts? Springville Junior High school is definitely worth something. It has history, and great stories from the past, and more for the future. SJHS was built in 1957, and its first principal was L. Lynn Hanks. Principal Darrel Rolfe is the tenth principal at Springville Junior.

Springville Junior High School has also had some ‘fame’ in its halls. Back in the early 1980’s, Clayton Brough, (a meteorologist ABC 4 News) used to teach science at SJHS. “He did some crazy things!” Mrs. Anderson said. Mrs. Anderson is a girls P.E. teacher at Springville Junior High, and she has been working here for 25 years. She has had a lot of great memories about SJHS and her teaching years.

“I have enjoyed wrestling some of the kids,” Mr. Hansen, another teacher at Springville Junior High, shared some of his prized memories. “I loved just messing around with the students, and when they think they can beat me, they don’t,” Mr. Hansen explained. The SJHS building has a lot of history inside of it. Some students may think that we have to tear down this school and get a new one. But others do not think so.

“I love the building. I know it’s old, but I think it has a lot of character!” Mrs. Anderson said. “Some parts remodeled, yes! This is a great building. I just think it needs to be updated.” Mrs. Anderson also stated something very inspirational. “I also think we could have two junior highs in Springville. This could be a smaller one, and it should have a smaller and limited enrollment.”

“The important thing is not the school itself, but the people. It’s the memories that keep the school,” Mr. Hansen stated his wise opinion.

So, what do you say? An old school that has been here since 1957, or a school filled with history and adventure?

by Darryl Barnes
SJHS staff writer

Every week students get together with the PE teachers after school to participate in intramurals. Intramurals are fun after school activities in which students can express themselves through physical activity. This program has physical benefits, but it can also help the students make friends.

There are a couple reasons that we have these activities. The first reason is that the PE teachers need a make-up program for those who have injuries, illnesses, absences, etc.

Another reason that the PE department hosts intramurals is that some students and teachers may be worried about their physical fitness or health. So they go to these intramurals and participate in the activities available. “It’s good for me. I go in there and leave feeling better having worked hard,” Mr. Hansen, a history teacher, explained. For the most part, intramurals are on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The teachers have meetings after school on Wednesdays, so there are no intramurals after school that day.

Teachers are in the gyms for the different events held each day. The different activities held are: Weight lifting, sports (whatever they are doing in PE, for the most part), and martial arts.

Weightlifting is usually taught by Mr. Hansen. Martial arts are usually taught by Mr. Hatfield, a science teacher. Mr. Parker, a PE teacher, and other teachers switch off on teaching the different sports. Sometimes they have all of the activities, sometimes they don’t. It depends on the day.

Intramurals are a great way to get active and spend your after-school time. It’s all in the consistency though; better attendance means better results and a fantastic way to get active. Recommend it to your kids; it’s a way to get them moving. If you’re a kid, come on and join in!