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.

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.

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!

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.

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.”

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.

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!