December 2009

 

Sub-for-Santa By: Sammi Magoffin                 The Spirit of Christmas is thriving at Salem Hills High School during the holiday season. Two weeks ago the Dance Company at the High School started a Sub-for-Santa fundraiser to provide Christmas for 76 local kids from Springville to Payson. Including fifty dollar donations from Smiths, Fast Gas, Chevron, Gas-n-Go, Boothe Bros., MVP Sports, and Salem Family Dental, the school raised $3,200 – enough money to buy Christmas for all 76 kids on their list. On Wednesday Dec. 16, the Dance Company took a group of students on a several hours shopping trip. The following Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the Company took more students to deliver the gifts.                  “It’s been an amazing opportunity to serve these people,” said Sammi Magoffin, the Service Coordinator on the Dance Company,   “They’re complete strangers, but the love that is felt when we are helping out is so strong.”                   Alesha Erdmann, the Dance Company Captain said, “Some of the families we delivered to didn’t speak English, but they didn’t need to for us to understand their gratitude. Kindness is the Universal Language.”                 Many of the teachers at the school put in a lot of dedication and support to the cause. One teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought all of the books needed for the kids. “Sub-for-Santa is a good program because it gives us the opportunity to help people who need just a little help to provide Christmas for their families.”                 The Sub-for-Santa program didn’t only help those who couldn’t afford Christmas, but it provided deep insight for many of the students involved.                 “This whole experience just makes me appreciate what I have.” –Kandalyn Russell, a dancer on the Dance Company.                 The Dance Company plans on making Sub-for-Santa a yearly tradition to help bring the true Christmas Spirit to the High School.  

 

The Salem Hills Boys Basketball team went down to St. George on December 10th through December 12th. They participated in 3 games against Hurricane, Desert Hills, and Pineview. In the first game of the 3-game road trip Salem Hills played against Hurricane High School, in which SHHS had a hard fought 1 point loss, 55-56. Jake Skinner was the leading scorer for Salem Hills with 24 points. In the second game Salem Hills played against Desert Hills High School, and won by 6 points, 76-70, with London Simonson scoring 27 points. In the third and final game of the road trip SHHS played Pineview High School and once again won, by 4 points. Jake Skinner was the leading scorer with 15 points. Overall it was a good road trip for the Skyhawks, winning two out of the three games. By: Patrick Dulaney and Caline Hoover 

 

WINTERTIDE A holiday choral and orchestra concert   On Wednesday, December 16, 2009 the Salem Hills High Fine Arts department hosted a concert at Salem Hills. Concert Choir, Serendipity, Men’s Camarata, Salem Hills Singers, Philharmonic Orchestra, and Dance Company all performed. A lot of people showed up, it was a very successful concert and really brought out the Christmas spirit. They sang songs such as The First Noel, A Holly Jolly Christmas, and Do You Hear What I Hear,  but those are just a few of the 21 songs performed. It happened to be Mr. Bills’ birthday, and his Choir students surprised him during the concert with a gift and everyone sang him Happy Birthday. Conductors: Justin Bills, Mike Larsen, Paul Wells “This holiday concert is one that I hope you will make part of your family’s holiday traditions, long after your students have left the halls of Salem Hills High School,” said the choir director Justin Bills “I love singing and am very excited to perform in this Christmas concert” said choir member Ivan Bijil  

 

 

To start off the Christmas season, Salem Hills High school held a fine arts assembly on December 18. It began with an amazing reminder of the joy of giving. Porter, the boy whose wish was granted through Make-A-Wish and Salem Hills’ fundraising, was greeted with a standing ovation from the student body. He expressed his thanks and shared the experience he and his family had while in Disney World.  The assembly continued with several performances and presentations from different art groups in the school. These included the several choirs, orchestras, bands, and Dance Company. After the room had been filled with classical music, the assembly was wrapped up with the Jazz Band. They received another standing ovation and left the students overjoyed, as they received candy canes on their way out of the auditorium.  

 

  Last Wednesday, around 65 Salem Hills High School students and staff participated in the blood drive sponsored by the school’s HOSA club.  The HOSA club (Health Occupation Students of America) gives students the opportunities to explore their interests in the medical field. Contributing their time and effort to the blood drive shows the students’ desire to pursue their interests in health care careers. MountainStar Services came to the school to draw blood from eager individuals.  The blood stays in the state and will be distributed to 7 hospitals in the area. One blood donation can be used to save three lives. The blood drive at the high school will supply blood to approximately 195 patients.  The HOSA club would like to express appreciation to the student body and their willingness to donate. 

 

By: J.T. Atkinson and Jake Durfey This year’s Salem Hills High School wrestling team has the bar set high after last year’s second place finish in their region. Salem Hills has made the move to 4A and is placed in region 8. It consists of the schools:  Payson, Spanish Fork, Springville, and Maple Mountain; which makes it a very tough region to compete in. Despite the challenge of competing with more experienced schools, the Salem Hills wrestling team has been working hard, and is coming into this year’s season with their chins held high, confident, and ready to compete.                  They had their first match on December 3rd which was against the Timpanogos Timberwolves. With victories from Chase Wilson(103), Craig Findlay(130), Mckayd Gordon(135), Jake Jensen(152), Phil Sorensen(189), Mason Morganson(215), and Derek Mangelson(HWT) the Skyhawks came out victorious in a BLANK-BLANK win.                 Last Friday the Skyhawks faced the Juab Wasps who are ranked third in state for 3A. With the Skyhawks forfeiting only 1 weight, they overcame the Wasps in a 57-24 victory.                 “We went in there knowing that Juab was a good team. But we also knew that we were a good team and that we wouldn’t go down without a fight.” –Phil Sorensen

 

Eric Woodhouse was born in Idaho Falls, and is the new assistant principal at Salem Hills High School. He is the third assistant principal in a school that has been standing for less than two years.  He is a pretty interesting man; he has ran 5 marathons, and loved to play basketball growing up. A couple other hobbies that he enjoys these days are snowboarding, fishing, and he still enjoys playing basketball. He has four children, three girls, and one boy. He is working towards his Master’s Degree in Education of administration at Brigham Young University, and says that one day he wants to become a principal. He loves to watch movies; a couple of his favorites are Transporter, Dead Poet Society, and Dumb and Dumber. His favorite food is Pizza. He does not like candy bars that much, but says that he is a bigger fan of foods more like ice cream…And his favorite drink is coke. This was a brief look into the life of the Salem Hills High School’s new assistant principal; the students are looking forward to getting to know him.

 

By: Kjirsten Collins                 In their first home basketball game of the 2009 season, the Skyhawks put up a great fight against the Orem Tigers. Salem Hills was in the lead for most of the game, until the Tigers altered their strategy in the fourth quarter. This brought them to a tie, with only five minutes left in the game.  The Skyhawks managed to come back, but then Orem took the lead again, and those five minutes were neck and neck between the teams. With less than a minute left, the Tigers made four foul shots, which brought them a win in the end, the score being 44 to 49.