Mr.Rolfe and Mrs. Johnson in the cafeteria at SJHS.

Julie Barbosa
SJHS Staff Writer

With every school there is a principal behind it, one who runs the fundraisers, does the school assemblies, supervises students, and encourages staff members.  The principal behind Springville Junior High is Mr. Darrel Rolfe.

Mr. Darrel Rolfe has been principal of Springville Junior High for three years and continues going strong. Prior to leading SJHS, Mr. Rolfe worked at Spanish Fork High as a teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal.  Mr. Rolfe said, “I am excited to be here. I have enjoyed the transition from high school to the junior high. Both have their advantages, but this has been a good experience for me.”  With all the hectic work, Mr. Rolfe isn’t alone in running this busy school. Mrs. Courtney Johnson and Mr. David Knudsen are vice principals, ready at his side to help. Mrs. Johnson said, “Mr. Rolfe is very intelligent man, who really cares about the kids and teachers. He also has a really great sense of humor.”

There is talk of a new Springville Junior High going to be built, even with a new building the knights will live on. Mr. Rolfe said, “We continue to work on our school sprit each year. Much has been done to display our logo in the school and help students identify with the KNIGHTS. Over the next few years as we move through the process of building a new school, we will look at many changes and improvements.”  Springville Junior High Knights are effective communicators, responsible citizens and respectful learners.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

Springville Junior High school is undergoing a few changes this year in appearance and staff. Mrs. Courtney Johnson has been added to the staff at Springville Junior High as the new vice principal. “I love how well-rounded the school is. Mr. Rolfe and Mr. Knudsen really understand the kids here, and you can tell they really care,” Mrs. Johnson explained.

Mr. Dave Knudsen, another vice principal at SJHS, shared his thoughts on working with Mrs. Johnson when he said, “I enjoy working with Mrs. Johnson; she’s really funny and a hard worker. She’s also very energetic about her work.”

Mrs. Johnson said, “I had just finished my administrative degree, and I’ve wanted to be a principal for twelve or so years. These kids are at my favorite age. They’re funny, honest, and make me laugh.”

Just like anyone else, Mrs. Johnson also has outside interests, besides being a vice principal. She has written one book, and is in the process of writing two others.  Mrs. Johnson also had a dream to be an airline pilot. “I originally wanted to work for the airlines, but I fell in love with the kids when I was student teaching and decided to give up my airline career,” she explained. Mrs. Johnson’s husband, however, is a pilot, and they are able to fly together.

Mrs. Johnson loves working at Springville Junior High because of the overall atmosphere and the excitement that goes on inside the halls. “I hope to stay here for a long time,” she explained.

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!

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.”