On Tuesday, March 2nd, Salem Hills High held an assembly to recognize the students and athletes who have supported their school by “Pursuing Victory with Honor.” Students were chosen for their accomplishments and behavior throughout the school’s many activities. For the boy’s basketball team, Josh Adams was given an award for his good sportsmanship and encouragement to the team as well as Amanda Tuttle from the girl’s basketball team. Along with them was Dallin Gividen for wrestling, Emily Bell and Dylan Nelson for swimming, Jessie Wilkins for cheer, and Taylor Lamb for drill. Mrs. Sessions also spotlighted Mitch Howell, Rhett Anderson, and Trevor Williams from her U.S. Studies class for reaching out to a homeless man and taking him to lunch.  Each of these students is hardworking, motivated, and loyal to their school. Salem Hills is proud of their accomplishments and for everything they have contributed to the school.

The Salem Hills High School Theatre performed The Importance of Being Ernest from February 20th to the 27th with two different casts. DeGrey Christensen played as Jack Worthing, Tyler Hayes played as Algernon Moncrieff, and Sydney Allred played as Gwendolen Fairfax. The other casts main roles were played by Rylee Locke, Dustin T. Memmott, and Celeste Lee. Polly Dunn directed the play. Written by Oscar Wilde, the play is about two British gentlemen who fall in love with two young ladies who dream of marrying a man by the name of Ernest. Both of the gentlemen claim their names are Ernest in order to fulfill their lovers’ wishes. Things begin to fall apart when both of the young women find out the real names of their supposed suitors.   “You won’t be disappointed with all of the hard work the students have put into this play. It was well rehearsed and performed.”  Tyler Hayes says, “We felt that it was one of our best nights, and everything turned out great.”

              Jazz Band went to region competition on Wednesday, March 3rd at Payson High School.  They basically blew away their competition by attaining a higher score than all of the other schools.  They started with an amazing song called “Blue Not Special,” which caused the competition to tremble in their seats.             The second song they played was called “Spring,” which was their most difficult piece. They nailed it and received a perfect score on it. The last and final song that they played at region was “Basie Straight Ahead.” They played excellently in all of their songs. They were awarded perfect scores and qualified for state competition!             “I thought that this jazz band region concert at Payson High School was very good and very entertaining. I could tell that our jazz band worked really hard and that they deserved to be at Region. Not only that, they also deserved to qualify for state which is exactly what they did! I felt that the other jazz bands at the other schools were not as creative and energetic when it came to their songs. When our hardworking jazz band came on, you could feel the energy in their playing. We all know that the Jazz band really deserved winning region and qualifying for state,” said Tyler Hayes

Twelve contestants have entered the annual Mr. Skyhawk Contest to be held Saturday, March 11th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Salem Hills High School Auditorium. Each contestant will model beach attire, evening wear, and perform a talent. Contestants will also participate in week day competitions that include posters, “kiss-a king,” sexy legs, limbo, and a king cake auction. The public is invited to experience an entertaining evening as the men show their Skyhawk spirit in hopes of being crowned Mr. Skyhawk 2010. Admission Cost $5.00. Contestants include: Jason Anderson, Brandon Barlow, Billy Fairbanks, Tyler Gebert, McKayd Gordon, Phil Lundell, Gavin McKee, Sam Metz, Steven Russell, Chris Sanchez, Tanner Snow, Phillip Sorensen

The first round off the 4a playoffs was last night at Salem Hills High School, The confident Skyhawks of Salem faced off against the Rams of Highland High. It was a highly anticipated game, and forced the Salem Hills Skyhawks to take a crash landing after a 59-53 loss. The game started off well for the Skyhawks when they got the tip and went on a 5-0 run in the first 2 minutes. However the Rams came back and took the lead from the Skyhawks 10-9. It was a good game; both teams continued to go basket for basket most of the game. The Skyhawks however, were having a lot of difficulty landing shots and getting open. They missed many shots that we normally see them make, not to mention the lack of rebounding. The Rams completely dominated the paint, and the team that controls the paint is the team that controls the game. The final score was 59-53, the Rams on top and leaving Skyhawk arena abnormally quiet, the usual ring of “We Are Skyhawks” was absent from the arena as the Salem Hills players and fans went home--hopes dashed. The Skyhawks overall season record was 11 wins and 11 loses, but they went 7and 3 in region. They Skyhawks may have lost that playoff game but let us not forget the Skyhawks have back to back region championships and no one can take that from them. Congratulations to the Salem Hills Skyhawks on another great season.   

Seventeen students competed at the recent Region FCCLA Convention. Each student presented a project of their choice either in a group or by themselves. Projects included fashion construction, chapter service, chapter showcase, interpersonal communication, career planning and investigation, and culinary arts. Each student received either a bronze, silver or gold medal according to scores received on their presentations. Nine students will move onto the state competition to be held March 24th and 25th. FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) is the only National Career and Technical Student Organization with the family as its central focus. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers, and communities by addressing important personal, work, and societal issues through family and consumer sciences education. 

Tesia Balls is a senior  at Salem Hills High School who is an intern at Mountain Air Assisted Living in Payson. She helps with the CNA duties and with culinary arts for two and a half hours every other day. Her favorite part is helping people there.  The people are very funny. “They say random things” she says. Her least favorite part is washing dishes, which there seem to be plenty of, she says. There isn’t much more to do in the culinary arts section. She is not a registered CNA but she plans on taking the class soon and wants to become one.  When she’s at home, she likes to read, cook, sew, take pictures, and hang out with her friends. She says she wants to go to college at UVU or Utah State and become a photographer. Her favorite class is photography and her least favorite class is Medical Anatomy. 

  The Region 8 championship basketball game was held Wednesday, February 24 at Salem Hills High School, the Payson Lions played Salem Hills High School, in the end the Skyhawks were flying high as a kite, the ending score was Payson 43, Salem 45.             The game started off well for the Skyhawks when they got the tip, the Skyhawks then took the lead for the 1st and 2nd quarter. The Skyhawks played hard all game, London Simmonsen in particular. He shot a lot of mid-range jump shots landing most of them.             The game began to get intense in the 3rd quarter when the Skyhawks lost the lead, it then went basket for basket for the 3rd and 4th quarter. The Lions then pulled ahead of the Skyhawks to take a 3 point lead. But the Skyhawks would not be denied as they made a come back, Jake Skinner making a free throw to assure the Skyhawks victory. When asked how it feels to be a region champ, Skyhawks center Jordan Robles said, “Amazing! Best feeling in the world.” After the game Coach Jimmy DeGraffenried was asked if he felt his team deserved it.               “Yes they do, they have worked hard in practice all year, and have prepared for this game. They knew it was going to be a battle and they came out fighting.”               The Skyhawks did an excellent job congratulations to the Skyhawks on there 2nd region championship in a row.    

Salem Hills High School Wrestling took an amazing seventh in state. Two wrestlers from Salem Hills made it on to the finals, Spencer Davis a sophomore wrestling at a weight of 103 lbs. and Phillip Sorensen a senior wrestling at a weight of 189 lbs. Davis wrestling an amazing match, fought his best but came out with and unfortunate loss. Davis still placed a well earned and well respected second in state. He plans to come back next year even better and ready to win state.  Phillip Sorensen took an extremely impressive first place in state! He is the man! He is the hero at Salem Hills being the first wrestler from Salem to ever win the State championship.  “Taking state was the single greatest moment of my life. Everything that came with it was worth all the crappy practices,” Says Phillip Sorensen.              Sorensen has very much going for him. Keep your eye out for Phillip in the future of wrestling. Way to go Phillip Sorensen!! The rest of the Salem’s Wrestling team will be back next year ready to make some amazing accomplishments for Salem Hills High School. Go Fight Win Skyhawks!!

After the game on 2/16/10 the Golden Eagles were shot down and possibly bleeding. The game Tuesday night ended in a 62-34 blowout, Salem Hills flying away as the victor.             “They are a young team but if we play sloppy we will lose,” said Salem Head Coach Jimmy DeGraffenried.             But the Skyhawks did not play sloppy; they played tough defense and high pace explosive offense. The Golden Eagles kept the score within 6 points of each other for the 1st and second quarter. However the Salem Hills Skyhawks pulled ahead in the 3rd quarter. The Skyhawks also went on a 21-4 run in the 4th quarter leaving the Golden Eagles, crying in the dust.             Joseph Mormon did particularly well scoring 18 points and embarrassing the defense on their home court. Also Jake Skinner scored 14 points and had 3 rebounds.