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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Thursday, March 23, 2006 1 Hage4 notes IIEWG A fj D IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS Jp lit rir ft W : I ROBB COSTELLODaily Herald Britney Jensen plays her violin during orchestra class at American Fork High School on Monday. Jensen is a part of the AFHS Orchestra limup that will Ik- ning to I'luhidelphiu to purluipute in lienjumin Frunklin's 'MXHh Birthday Celebration. Orchestra to play in patriotic celebration American Fork High School group will participate in anniversary of Benjamin Franklin Barbara Christiansen I s ctillcd Benjamin franklin .'iX) lliil.nli'lphia. and American Fork High S hixil will k' there. I he celebration begins in fall 2005 and will culminate this year, the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin. early American statesman and scientist. The American f ork High School orchestra orches-tra will play in a concert April 8 in a program pro-gram at the National Constitution Center in Hliladelphla The orchestra is the only group from I 'tali to erlorm "We are really excited because we have U-en asked to represent tlie state." said Sliauna Smith, orchestra director at tlie s( hool. "It is really an opportunity we are excited excit-ed alxnit." Smith said "Usually the strings xrtion of the world doesn't get asked to go very much." She explained how they were asked to participate in the celebration. "We had decided we wanted to go out of state for a tour this year and were in the process of working with the school board to go to California." she said. "We were c Hit at led by the American Musical Salute" committee and asked to participate in the Benjamin Franklin event. "I asked them if they had the orchestra confused with the band, but they said they knew the school had a strong music program pro-gram and wanted a si rings group." Smith said 1 lie orchestra has received superior ratings rat-ings at state festivals. Smith said "I contacted (princ ipal) Mrs. Merrill and she said to go ahead." Smith said. "She has been really .supportive." Parents of orchestra members were also agreeable "The parents jumped at the chance." she said They had to restart the process. "In three days we did the whole pa)erwork over again " T lie trip will be April fi to 9. They will fly to Washington. D C, and have a chance to visit some of the historical monuments, the Smithsonian Institute and Arlington National Na-tional Cemetery. One of the pieces they will perform is "Arlington Sketches." From there, they go to Hiiladelphia. where they will take a tour of historical sites. Saturday afterncxin they will perform with other groups from across the country. Numbers on the program include "Mock Morris" by Sandra Dackow. "Chaconne" by Ciustav Hoist. "LI Capitan" by John Itiilip Sousa. "Amadeus" from Symphony 25 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Mountain Chase" by Alan Lee Silva. The (iX students each had to pay S750 to go on the trip. They have done some fund raising, individually indi-vidually and as a group. Towne Cinemas in American Fork sxnsored a movie night and may be able to do another. "The Barn at Thanksgiving Point is letting let-ting us do a benefit concert on March 29," Smith said. "It will be slightly over an hour. We are asking for S5 donations at the door or S20 for a family. We w ill be playing for their Tulip Festival." Some of the features of the concert are student soloists who performed at the Solo and Lnsemble Festival for the state orchestra. orches-tra. "It should be a fun concert," she said. Smith said the students have been excited alxnit the opportunity. "It has been a great learning experience," she said. "The kids have been real motivated. moti-vated. They are putting in the time. Sometimes Some-times there is a lot of prodding and a lot of threats, but they have come together." "We have rehearsing every week after school, along with having sectional rehearsals," rehears-als," she said. "For the most part we have had everybody at every rehearsal. I am grateful the parents have supported this. It has been a real growing experience." Cellist Kelli McDonald said she was excited ex-cited and had been practicing a lot. In addition, addi-tion, she has been doing spare jobs to earn money. Samuel Smith, who plays the violin, said "I think it is great. We will be going to celebrate cel-ebrate Benjamin Franklin. Of all the founding found-ing fathers, he is my favorite because he is a scientist." Smith said they have been working hard to prepare for the trip and trying to anticipate antici-pate what will be needed. "I have a real respect for John Miller and the band," she said. : "The bottom line is the kids and giving that experience," she said. "They have been learning there is some-" thing more than themselves, and working' toward a goal. There is a lot of energy on everybody's part." t m It r k Shauna Smith directs her orchestra dass at AFHS on Monday. ROBB COSTEUOUonti County ALLSCHpOLS Special education parents meeting " Parents of special education educa-tion students are invited to an instructional meeting tonight from 6 to 8 at Forbes Elementary (281 N. 200 East, American Fork). Topics will spotlight district services and programs. I Alumni news Nick Parmley of American Fork was elected Vice President of UV Clubs for the Associated Students of UVSC in their elections this month. AMERICAN FORK HIGH SCHOOL Makeup days The last days to make up tardiesindor absences for third quarter will be Monday through Wednesday. Report cards will be distributed the first week of April. I AP payment deadline The deadline for payment for AP tests is Friday. Any student planning to take an AP test must pay the S82 fee to the financial fi-nancial office by this date. No AP tests will be ordered after this date. AP testing begins May 1. I Student elections meeting Any student who plans to run for SBO or class officer should plan to attend a meeting meet-ing March 27 at 7 a.m. in the media center. Applications will be available and important information regarding the elections process will be covered. cov-ered. Applications will be due March 30 by 2:45 p.m. Incomplete Incom-plete or late applications will not be accepted. I Students recognized for character traits The PTSA would like to congratulate all the students and staff members mem-bers who were nominated for displaying the character trait of respect for the month of February. The character trait that the school will focus on for March is service. i Teacher wins limerick contest - The school congratulates English teacher Sam Beeson who was the winner of the KUER FM 90 limerick writing contest. The contest had more than 400 entries with a topic of "Life in Utah." Beeson's winning entry was: In Utah there's one major theme That every beehiver will dream: The theme, I submit Is to comfortably sit At the top. of a pyramid scheme. FORBES ELEMENTARY Report cards Report cards for third quarter quar-ter will be sent home with students stu-dents on March 31. I Volunteers sought Dr. Chil-coat Chil-coat needs volunteers to help with the reading program. She will train anyone who is interested inter-ested in helping. They should call her at school at 756-8531 if interested. SHELLEY ELEMENTARY Shakespeare plays scheduled The sixth grade classes will be presenting their Shakespeare Shake-speare plays next week. Mrs. Knowles's classes will present Tuesday, Mrs. Ricks' classes will present Wednesday and Mrs. Williams' classes will present March 30. Bad weather helping students' attention span Mason Porter 'NORTH COUNTY STAff March is upon us, and for a while it seemed that the temperature tem-perature was on a never ending end-ing incline. But thank goodness for the recent turn of events that brought a downpour of rain, sleet and snow. (No worries, the postal service will still deliver.) If it wasn't for the unexpected, and ironically unwelcome un-welcome moisture, we might have found ourselves skipping spring and heading straight into summer, which would certainly take a toll on the students' already diminishing attention span. Thank goodness for the horrible hor-rible weather. A fellow Caveman commented comment-ed on the sudden overcast, saying, say-ing, "It's a torrential downfall, the storm of storms. And how crazy that it's all going down in March? But at least it will make for a good weekend. If you know what I mean, eh?" If you don't know what he means then let me be of assistance. as-sistance. He was talking about the prospective, good powder in the mountains that many a student will be enjoying now. A few weeks ago there was only slush and ice. but after a week and a half straight of snowfall there is more than a foot of fresh powder to enjoy. So how many students will take advantage of the extended extend-ed snowboardski season? "On a scale of one to 10, I'd say about seven," says Jon caveman ... according to the Weather Channel, and little orphan Annie, the sun will come out tomorrow, tomor-row, and accord ing to me, it1 be pleasant.' Keith, a junior at AF. "I love having the snow in the mountains, moun-tains, but I wish it wouldn't snow in the valley, as it interferes inter-feres with the spring sports." Well put. And he's right. Two soccer games have already been postponed, post-poned, as well as some baseball base-ball and softball games. But not to worry, according accord-ing to the Weather Channel, and little orphan Annie, the sun will come out tomorrow, and according to me, it will be pleasant. But until then, have a nice day. Sherilyn Frost Students honored at annual hero assembly Reliable Delivery Great Customer Service 375-5103 The annual hero assembly was held last week at American Ameri-can 1 ork High School. Several wtks ago students and staff at the scIkjoI were asked to nominate nomi-nate those among them whom they leh were heroes. From the nominations, rune students and three teachers were spotlighted. Travis Ashton was born a healthy active child. Because of a car accident four years ago, he suffered a severe traumaiic brain injury and contracted spinal spi-nal merungit is while in a coma. Since the injury, he has had to relearn everything. Allison and Whitney Barrett are sisters w ho started their own service club offering service ser-vice throughout their neighborhood. neighbor-hood. Their mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice and she said. "Without the help of these two anwing girls. 1 would never have made it out of the hospital alive." Siblings Abinadi Borja, Okin Borja and Gracia Baques, all students at AFHS. recently survived a house fire, which destroyed even-thing they owned. Through this major ordeal, they have been able to stay positive and help their family in anv wav thev can. Kent Savage was described as a minister of goodness who has always been an example and shepherd to his younger siblings and has always taken care of his brother with Down syndrome. Kellie Wentz has a twin brother and her nomination said her sease of humor and positive attitude bring out the best in everyone. ev-eryone. She recently overcame her personal chaDenge with hyperthyroidism. hy-perthyroidism. Lindsay Williams who is the youngest of nine and was described as very dedicated to every responsibility assigned her. English teacher Raquel Cook lived in New York during Sept. 1 1 and was just coming out of the subway system underneath one of the towers when the second plane hit. She said that through this experience, she realized how much we must appreciate the lives that touch ours on a daily basis. Leilani Sheen is the student body advisor and likes to attend at-tend as many activities as she can and enjoys congratulating students for a job well done. Rose Spurrier is the permanent substitute at the school and was noted for loving the students as if they w ere her own children. She is a supporter of Caveman athletics. it Your Town. Your ciliUrv Your Newspaper POOR |