Jacob Simmons
SJHS Staff Writer

Springville Junior High School is very pleased with their English department. One of the men that helps make the department so successful is Mr. Trent Mikesell, seventh-grade English teacher.

Mr. Mikesell is working on his fourth year as a teacher. He has taught at three schools: Payson Middle School, Pocatello High School, and of course, Springville Junior High. He has taught grades seventh through ninth, as well as eleventh. “I like seventh best of all, especially in a junior high. They are so new and really enjoy coming to school,” he said.

“I really like teaching, it is truly the ideal job for me,” said Mr. Mikesell, “I like that each day is varied, and that I get to work directly with people.”  According to Mr. Mikesell, he chose to teach because both of his parents had taught. “It is in my blood,” he said. Originally he wanted to be a music teacher; however after taking a few music classes in college, he decided to change. He chose another of his favorite hobbies: reading.

Mr. Mikesell also helps out with the school’s “Gifted and Talented” program. The program is for a group advanced students in each grade level, which get to go on various activities throughout the year to places like the Utah Capitol, or museums close to home. “Mr. Mikesell has a great sense of creativity which contributes a lot to the program,” said Ethan Trunnell, a ninth-grade student in the program. While Mr. Mikesell is still new to the program and learning his way around what they do, he says, “it’s fun to see the students outside of the classroom and do fun things with them.”

Outside of school, Mr. Mikesell enjoys playing the piano, reading, and going to his parents’ cabin in Island Park, Idaho. While there, he and his family ride four wheelers, go snowmobiling, and canoeing. Something many people don’t know is that Mr. Mikesell likes skiing, although he claims he is not very good at it. Mr. Mikesell stated, “If I had unlimited money, I would want to travel all over the world in my free time.”

Mr. Miksell teaching his 7th grade English class.

Christopher Taylor
SJHS Staff Writer

Have you ever found it hard to tell someone that you appreciate them?  Seventh grade students in Mr. Trent Mikesell’s class at Springville Junior High recently did this by writing character sketches.  According to Mr. Mikesell, kids chose someone they admire, usually in their family, and wrote about their “appearance, actions, thoughts and feelings, even their speech.” They typed them in the computer lab. They printed the character sketches out and gave them to the person they wrote about.

Many students enjoyed this activity, and are excited to see the person when they get their character sketch.  Sean Tedrow, a student in Mr. Mikesell’s class, wrote about his brother Chandler. He said, “I wrote about him because he is my favorite brother, and he’s awesome!” He thinks his brother will be very excited to read his character sketch.  According to Caitlin Dinkel, another seventh grade student in Mr. Mikesell’s class, all the people who get character sketches will be happy to see that the authors appreciate them.  As a bonus, the authors will become better at describing people when they write.

Mr. Mikesell, Tanner Gervais, and Mrs. Gleave, believe it or not.

Jack Setzer
SJHS Staff Writer

Thursday was crazy at SJHS! Students dressed like teachers, and teachers like students! What’s going on? Why, it’s Swap Day, part of Red Ribbon Week. Swap Day represents “Swapping Drugs for Education.” On this day, students were SUPPOSED to wear what the teachers wear, and vice versa. The Red Ribbon effort was organized by the Service Learning class.

Many students and teachers think Swap Day was a good idea, and therefore tried to participate. Hadley Roberts, a seventh grader at SJHS, said Swap Day is “Fun, because once you dress up like the teachers, it helps you know how the teachers feel.” Mrs. Diane Bird, Service Learning teacher at Springville Junior High, said Swap Day was “A great idea, because I [was able] to wear a tee shirt, jeans, and flip flops.”

Some people really dressed up. Mr. Trent Mikesell, one of the Springville Junior English teachers, wore purple skinny jeans. You could hardly tell Mrs. Corrin Gleave, math teacher, from one of her students. “I had absolute blast!” said Mrs. Gleave. “I think we should keep [Swap Day for Red Ribbon Week] every year.”

Mr. Mikesell and seventh-grader Indy McRae in Swap Day attire.

Student teacher Mrs. Murdock and seventh-grader Andalyn Hall.

Mr. Mikesell is one of the English teachers who supervises the after school writing lab at Springville Junior High.

Cody Woolsey
SJHS Staff Writer

Most students at Springville Junior High have not yet heard of the important news – there is an after school writing lab for students. Students can use this writing lab to finish assignments on computers or get help on their writing assignments.

“The writing lab is everyday after school from 2:40-3:30 except Wednesday,” explained Mr. Mikesell, an English teacher at Springville Junior High, “We have English teachers there everyday. They can help you with any writing assignment, and can help you learn how to use computers.” The supervisors are Ms. Neeley, Mrs. Bass, Mr. Mikesell, and Mrs. Rice, all English teachers at Springville Junior High. They are there the whole time to help students with anything they need.

According to Mr. Mikesell, the environment in the writing lab is a very calm, peaceful, laid back environment where students can get their work done with very little interruption. It’s a place where, teachers hope students can feel calm and know that they can get help if they need it.

In the past, very few students have shown up to the writing lab. This is its second year being used and the supervisors hope that this year more students will show up.

“The writing lab is in room 22 – a computer lab; there are plenty of available computers for students to use, if needed,” explained Ms. Bass. If you need to finish your writing assignments or need help understanding how to use computers for school, the writing lab is the place for you!

With the last day of school quickly approaching and end of year testing is wrapping up, teachers are trying to find fun projects for their classes to do. In Mr. Trent Mikesell’s eighth grade English class, the students are writing biographies, only with a creative twist.

First, the students interviewed someone who preferably is older than them, and then they printed out information about that person’s date of birth from a web site. “They have to write a biography about the person using each letter of the alphabet as well as draw a picture to go along with what they wrote,” said Mr. Mikesell. The students were given four days to work and decorate the project however they wanted. “I interviewed my mom. I liked getting to know her better,” said eighth grade student Maggie McCausland.

“Everyone learns in their own way,” Mr. Mikesell said, “This is a way to reach out to students who learn in a different kind of way. I hope they turn out well!”

Seventh graders here at Springville Junior High are all pumped up to be becoming eighth graders next year as the year comes to a close.  At SJHS, the seventh graders are known as the “sevvies”, or in other words, the new kids at the school.  So as you could probably imagine that most of them are excited to be moving up a step higher in junior high.

Stacia Davenport, a seventh grader at SJHS, stated, “I’m looking forward to making a lot of new friends, and I’m excited for some new classes to be opening up to us!”

Eighth graders have more elective classes to choose from, such as foods, sewing, and Spanish.  They have a lot more choices in what they think they’ll be interested in the future.

Mr. Trent Mikesell, a seventh and eighth grade English teacher, stated, “Seventh grade is a really fun grade to teach.  Seventh graders have a lot of energy and most seem to enjoy school, so I will miss my classes and students; they are all outstanding in their own way.”

As you can tell, everyone is excited for another year to be over and done with.  As we all prepare for a new school year seventh and eighth graders alike are all getting pumped up to be moving to another grade, at the same school, and with different classes.

The end of the year is coming up fast, so get ready for summer! Some of the events that are coming up are last chance dance on May 14th, and awards assembly on May 22nd, yearbook signing which starts on the 28th, and best of all…Lagoon!

Most students are excited for Lagoon which will be on May 27th. Unlike other schools, Springville Junior High School lets seventh, eighth, and ninth graders go. Mr. Trent Mikesell, an English teacher at Springville Junior said, “I think that going to Lagoon is fun, and it builds up our school community. Students should remember school as an enjoyable place as well as a place of learning.

Mr. Mikesell also said, “I am very excited for summer. Teaching is a great job because you get a break every summer to do whatever you want.” When asked what he would be doing for the summer he said, “My wife is about to have a baby, so I get to learn to be a dad. I will also be going up to my parents’ cabin to go 4-weeling and rafting.”

Seventh grader MacKenzie Pullman said, “In some ways I’m excited for summer, but in some ways I’m not. I will miss the teachers here and friends. But I also like having a break. It gives me time to go on trips with my family, like we are going on a cruise to Alaska.”  She also said that she thinks one of the most fun things at the end of the year is being on the track team. “This school is way better then elementary!” MacKenzie said. According to MacKenzie, most of her friends are excited for summer and all the fun activities that they will be able to do.

Mitchell Murray, Mr. Mikesell, and Wes Ivie re-enacting their April Fool’s joke.

Sariah Morris
SJHS Staff Writer

April Fool’s Day was just last week and students and teachers at Springville Junior High School played jokes on other students and teachers. One of Springville’s English Teachers, Mr. Trent Mikesell, played a joke on a student named Wes Ivie, but Wes thought he was playing a joke on the class.

Before class started on April 1st, Mr. Mikesell took Wes into the classroom and told him he was planning on playing a joke on the rest of the class and he wanted Wes to be in on it. Mr. Mikesell told Wes to come into class late and that they would get in this big argument and they would be yelling at each other.  So Wes agreed and then left the classroom.

By the time sixth period came around, everyone was in class except for Wes. Everyone was in their seats, and Mr. Mikesell said, “I told Wes that I was going to play a joke on you, but the joke is really on him. In just a few moments Wes is going to come in late and we’re going to start to argue. When I grab onto him I want someone to jump up and say. ‘Hey, you’re not allowed to touch students’ and then come up here and push me out of the way.”

So everyone agreed and then Mr. Mikesell started to tell the class what they would be doing that day when Wes walked in. “Where have you been?” Mr. Mikesell asked Wes. Wes told Mr. Mikesell that it was none of his business. Mr. Mikesell got mad and said, “Yes actually it is my business because I am the teacher. When Mr. Mikesell touched Wes on the shoulder, a student named Mitchell Murray jumped up and said, “Hey, you’re not allowed to touch the students.” He walked up to Mr. Mikesell and pushed his hand off of Wes, he then threw him down on the floor and into a bunch of desks.

Wes was shocked. He just stood there not knowing whether Mr. Mikesell was hurt or not. Wes said, “At first I thought Mitch was involved, but after he pushed Mr. Mikesell down I hesitated. I didn’t know if Mr. Mikesell was hurt or not.”

Many Springville Junior High students play jokes on each other. Our school loves to mess around with teachers and other students, but it looks like this year the teachers got the kids back.

left to right:  Holly Sumsion, Kelsey Wood, Selene Mooney, Cami Sumsion, Taylor Earnshaw, Maddi Dayton, and Katie Bair act out a scene from The Diary of Anne Frank during Mr. Mikesell’s first period class.

Autumn Hathaway
SJHS Staff Writer

Mr. Trent Mikesell’s eighth grade English class at Springville Junior High is taking a trip to the past through drama by performing the well known play The Diary of Anne Frank.   This play takes a journey back to the time of World War II where eight people are living in the upstairs of a work building.

Now you may be wondering, what is the purpose of bringing history to an English class? Mr. Mikesell, the eighth grade English teacher, explained that “English is all about communication. The acting skills help students learn to speak and present, learning history is also important because students need background.”

Madison Dayton shared her opinion of how she thought it worked into English, “Well they all are combined in the play and you get a little bit of each element of English, history, and drama all in one.”

As you can tell, this is a very interesting way of teaching history and English in an English class, Maddi also said, “It was a nice break from the normal things we do English.”

The Diary of Anne Frank is a very inspirational play that teaches you acting skills, drama, history, perseverance, and even a little English if you interpret it that way.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speak English as a second language? It is difficult to communicate with the teachers and learn the information presented in class for those students who speak other languages. This year Ms. Josie Jarvis, Mrs. Lise Carpenter and Mr. Trent Mikesell, teachers at Springville Junior High, are taking Teaching English as a Second Language classes at Riverview Elementary School.

The teachers learn a lot of great information at these classes. “We basically are learning how to be better teachers to our ESL students. We are learning how to incorporate language activities into our lessons, so that our students can learn and not have to worry about a language barrier,” Ms. Jarvis, Springville Junior High computer teacher, said.

The teachers who are taking these classes really enjoy taking them. “They are very educational and very meaningful. It is a great opportunity to make myself a better teacher for my ESL students,” Ms. Jarvis explained.

These teachers have worked hard to improve their teaching ability. Great job and keep the good work!