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Show V tah P r e « Association Annda Guttierez PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID SPANISH FORK. UTAH PERMIT NO. 2 5 AN E D I T I O N O F PRIDE & Lake The Spanish Fork News M VOL. 2 / NO. 41 I O C A L L Y O W N E D A N D O WEDNESDAY, P E R AOCTOBER T E 10, D 2007 50* SPANISH FORK, UTAH SF lawyer to perform at Harvest Moon Hurrah Christy Hardman STAFF WRITER Drew Briney has been an attorney in Spanish Fork for six years, but he isn't your typical buttoned-shirt-andtie sort of guy. In fact, with his talent of juggling, Briney could moonlight with the circus. He will be performing for Spanish Fork this Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Harvest Moon Hurrah. Briney has spent a lot of years perfecting his act, which he performs at parties and other special occasions. He's been juggling on and off for many years. Likely Briney would have dropped it as a silly childhood interest, but his neighbor, who happened to be a professional juggler, saw him practicing. "He told me, 'Wait right here, I'll be right back.1 He taught me a lot that afternoon. I picked up juggling clubs within a few hours," Briney said. From there it became somewhat of an obsession. Briney practiced all the time, and found a book that taught him more about it, learned what kind of balls were best suited for juggling, and in his words, "became addicted." Steve Hardman / Spanish Fork News RECOGNITION: Karen Anderson was recently highlighted on KSL's Teacher Feature. Local teacher honored Marilyn Nielson STAFF WRITER See BRINEY-A8 Courtesy photos CONSUMMATE ENTERTAINER: Attorney Drew Briney can juggle pretty much anything, but he usually draws the line at small children. Voucher debate held Ashley Walton STAFF WRITER A voucher debate was held Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds. Sponsored by local resident, Diana Butler, the event drew over 100 people before the night was through. Four people represented the two sides of the debate. On the pro-voucher side were Senator Mark Madsen of Eagle Mountain and Representative Aaron Tilton of Springville. In opposition were Kay Mclff of Richfield and Nebo School District Board Member Debbie Swensen of Spanish Fork. The debate commenced with a discussion of the fiscal repercussions of implementing the voucher system. In the end, each side showed different numbers from different fiscal analyses. Swensen said it would cost Utah residents $429 million, but Tilton said that See DEBATE • A8 Steve Hardman / Spanish Fork News REFERENDUM 1: Representative Kay Mclff and Nebo Board Member Debbie Swensen argued against the implementation of education vouchers. In September, Spanish Fork native and long-time resident Karen Anderson was honored on KSL Newsradio's "Teacher Feature." This award goes to outstanding teachers throughout the state who are nominated by students, former students, or colleagues, and selected by a panel of judges from Zions Bank, the State Office of Education, and KSL Newsradio. Mrs. Anderson was born and raised here in Spanish Fork, and graduated from Spanish Fork High School. She went on to study early childhood education at BYU, and then spent two years teaching school in Goshen. After her marriage to Edward Anderson, another Spanish Fork resident, she took about ten years off from teaching to raise her own family. Teaching and loving children was a huge part of her life even then, however, as in addition to caring for her own children, she ran a private preschool for several years. When Anderson returned to teaching, it was mostly in the first grade, although she has taught kindergarten through fourth grades during her 25 years in Nebo School District. She also spent time training and supervising BYU interns after she got her master's degree at BYU, and taught courses and BYU and Weber State University. After years in the classroom, Anderson became a District Literacy Specialist for Nebo School District. When she first started in the position, she and another specialist shared responsibility for the entire district — 11 schools each! Later, she was primarily responsible for training two schools at a time. The position of literacy specialist involves working in the schools two to three days per week —demonstrating, observing, giving feedback, etc. Anderson worked with teachers and students on "Balanced Literacy," which is a way of helping students master literacy in all four areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The focus is on helping the individual child in recognizing areas of strength, and improving in other areas to achieve this balanced literacy. Because of her years as literacy specialist, Anderson has had a chance to be a great influence on many of the district's teachers. Her "Teacher Feature" nomination letter asserted that "wherever Karen goes, there are always students and teachers coming up to her, thanking her for being a positive influence in their lives." She has also been a wonderful role model and friend to her hundreds of students, and has stayed involved in their lives even after they leave her classroom. She even sends graduation cards to her students when they graduate from high school. See ANDERSON • AS |