Salem Hills’ adaptation of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown will be showing the 14th - 20th of April at 7pm in the Salem Hills High School auditorium. This play is about Charlie brown and his friends and their troubles through their childhood. Charlie struggles with the label he’s been given as a “good man;” he wonders if he really is. His friends struggles with grades, puppy love, and what will become of their futures. The stars: Craig Applegate, Seth Mason, Zach Heywood, Ben Cowley, Lexi Brown, DeGrey Christianson, Colton Simons, Rachel Paulson, Lorianne Paulson, Aubrey Palfryman, Jenny Stone, Katelyn Unsworth, and Jason Colver. When I asked choreographer Kandalyn Russell how the show was going to turn out she said “The show is going to be amazing, it’ll be so much fun to watch after all our rehearsals.” So come see the show and have a great time.

Salem Hills Track is off to a great start, they have had four meets thus far.  With their first on, March 9th, at home.   It was between Payson, Salem, Uintah, and Maple Mountain. The Skyhawks did excellent for their first meet.  The boys scored 84 and the girls 81, placing 2nd behind Maple Mountains boys(124) and girls(112). On March 20th, the Skyhawks traveled to the UHSTCA Invitational at Timpanogos High School, where they saw many great results from many of their athletes. On March 16th, Salem Hills Track competed against Springville, and Spanish Fork at SFHS. They performed very well, the boys pulled out a well fought victory and took first over Springville by just two points. The girls took second behind Springville. On March 25th-26th, Salem Hills attended the Mt Timpanogos Invitational. After two days of somewhat crummy weather, the Skyhawks came away with some great performances. Despite missing most of their seniors, the boys’ team finished 4th (out of thirteen teams) and the girls finished 2nd. In the coming week, the Skyhawks have two four way meets. One at Maple Mountain, and another at the Alpha Invitational at Timpanogos High School. For a complete list of statistics, and more info visit www.salemhillstrack.blogspot.com 

This year marks the second annual knowledge bowl held by our own Spanish teacher Mr. Macdonald. The bowl was a large success due to the fact that so many teams cooperated and the level of knowledge each team had.                 “I think it was very successful, judge by two yard sticks, due to the fact 32 teams signed up in under a day and we had to turn down 7 teams,” says Mr. Macdonald. “The caliber of knowledge each team had, and the championship teams were really good.”                  “We lost, but we had a fun time.” Says well fought competitor Mikalyn Orten, an avid bicycle and unicycle rider, “and I think it was especially fun because of Mr. Macdonald.”                 Even though one of the victors, Natalie Chaney, won’t be back next year, she would like to leave behind some wise words worthy of wishers wanting to win. “Pay attention to things learned in class, don’t forget the things you’ve learned right after the test, and always give as many high fives as possible,” she says,  eyes swimming in tears as she remembers the ghost of her past.                 Though this year was great, Mr. Macdonald said next year will be even better, so those wanting to prove their vast knowledge, be sure to sign up. 

Thursday March 25, 2010 Salem Hills showed their team work mixed with a lot of hard work and determination by beating Uintah after going into extra innings with the final score being 4-3. Pulling away with a win is a great accomplishment for Salem players. Salem Hills was beat out last year at state by Uintah, who took 2nd in state, so it really shows Salem Hills’ strength and improvement as a team. “Our players knew as a team they would have to be quick and work together because they have seen how strong Uintah really is. They are great competitors with very honest and respectful coaches. It really showed at the game!” Said Taelyr Stevenson.             Courtney Moody has another win under her belt for Salem. She had seven strike-outs in the game. Hailey Ingram was a great player herself going 2/4 with an RBI. Kayla Palmer going 2/4 with the game-winning RBI. Brooke Ford scored the winning run off Kayla Palmers hit in the 8th inning.  “WOW this game was so intense and close it’s almost scary,” parents and supporters in the stands were saying. “It feels good to sweep Uintah at home. They are a good team and it required a solid team effort to pull this win off!” says Coach Clarke with a big grin.

Adam Cardoza: (sophomore) was nominated by Mr. Haskell; he enjoys snowboarding and playing the saxophone. His favorite class is Jazz Band or Math. What makes him unique? He doesn’t follow the crowd! Molly Cannon: (sophomore) was nominated by Mrs. Lyman for being a hardworking, kind and respectful student. She enjoys reading and doing gymnastics. Her favorite class is Math. What makes her unique? She can put her feet behind her head! Heather Bolz: (junior) was nominated by Mr. Gillie; she enjoys rock climbing, swimming, singing, and playing the guitar. Her favorite class is psychology. What makes her unique? She can be herself without feeling like she has to impress anyone! McKay Robison: (junior) was nominated by Mr. Shuler for being a hard worker, enthusiastic, optimistic and getting along well with other students. He enjoys playing the guitar, playing basketball, volleyball and swimming. His favorite class is Seminary. What makes him unique? He’s happy and smiles a lot! Morgan Hales: (senior) was nominated by Mr. Graham for her outstanding dedication to academics and athletics and working hard and well with others. She is involved in basketball, volleyball, and softball. She’s a very kind person, happy and always has a good attitude. Josh Wilkins: (senior) was nominated by the student council. He enjoys reading, playing soccer, reading and hanging out with his buddies. His favorite class is English. What makes him unique? He’s a triplet! 

Tuesday March 9, 2010 Salem Hills played their first game against Orem and kicked some serious butt. Their varsity team won 9-1 and their JV team won 2-1. Both teams played their hearts out and showed great sportsmanship, hard work, and determination. They all played amazingly.             Varsity pitcher Courtney Moody threw some wicked balls with 12 strike outs, a home run (in the park), and a double going 2/3 for the evening. Bridget Bradford went 2/4 with a double. Trisha Christensen did an awesome job catching and went 1/2 with a double. Hailey went 3/4 and scored twice. Kiley Williams had an unbelievable hit over the fence; home run! “I’m very pleased with our team’s first outing. We battled some bad weather and got our first home run!” Coach Clarke stated.             Taelyr Stevenson, the JV pitcher, also had a great first game, having only one hit off her powerful left handed pitch. They called the game at 2-1 with Salem taking another win for the night. All of the players played great with one catch that got everyone off the cold wet benches. It was out way past the line and Amanda Tuttle got to it with no problem and snatched it just in time! “I’m pumped about our JV team. We have a lot of depth and will be a force to be reckoned with,” Coach Clarke stated. “If you haven’t been out to one of our games before, oh man! This is the year to come out. We have a killer team,” says Clarke.

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