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Show • •*."••*:>* Covering what matters most B4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 Homecoming Sky Hawks dedication ceremony Celebrations Namon Bills i two sons that attend Salem Hills High School. Wednesday's lunch acSalem Hills High tivity gave everyone the School celebrated its first- chance to play a round of ever homecoming week the game Rock Band. Wednesday evening Sept.,8-13. Since the high school didn't exist last year was filled with an intense it is called Genesis home- night of powder puff footcoming,-which means the ball. Six teams entered origin or the coming into the competition: Cheerleaders, Student Council, being of something. "This homecoming Black Attack, Cub Scouts, will set the main example Panthers and Assassins. for the homecomings in The champion match was the future, not only how between Black Attack our players act, but how and the Cub Scouts. The we are as a school, com-, game went into several munity and people," said overtimes, until Brianna Justine Christensen, se- Wilding made a 30-yard nior class student council field goal to give Black Attack the win. The team member. It was kicked off Mon- was coached by Matt day with an ice cream eat- Lundell, Spencer Turning contest. At lunch on bow and Mac Marrelli. Tuesday they held a musi- The captains were Sam Bigler, Brianna Wilding cal chairs competition. The dedication of Sa- and Danielle Jones. Team lem Hills High School members included Rachel was held Tuesday night. Simons, Erika Adams, Speakers included Su- Jacqui Moyar, Kylie Koliperintendent Chris So- bar, Heather Rowley, Storenson, board member rie Brockbank, Kylee Hill, Debbie Swenson, school Alyssa Stones, Linsey board president Dean Johnson, Candace BasRowley, and student com and Jessica Bascom. body president StephaThursday, the adminnie Griffiths. Represen- istration provided free tatives from Marshall lunch, and after school University were in at- there was mud volleyball tendance to see the pre- at the Salem Fairgrounds. sentation of our school Friday was a blue out. song to the music of "We A big pep rally was held to Are Sons of Marshall." get the students pumped Awards were given out to up. Also, there was a big many people, who spent tailgate party with hamcountless hours putting burgers and pizza. The the high school together. theme of the homecomMayor Lane Henderson ing dance was "A Night in dedicated the school. Paris." "I felt a lot of pride in 'This Homecoming the school and the com- will be the one I never munity I live in. I think forget. It was full of exit is really neat that Mrs. citement with all of the Burr went the extra mile activities. However, the to get the music of Mar- best part of homecoming shall University's school week was still the football song for our school," said game and the dance," said Cindy Lundell who has senior Matt Lundell. Danielle Jones STAFF WRITER SHHS PTC ./.. Salem Hills High School wijl hold ParenfTeacf er Conference on Wednesday Sept. 24" starting at •3:30 p.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m. The counselors will be holding make-up SEOPs for 12th grade students and parents at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. ^ It's a lot like fine art... only cheaper • N E W S Spanish Fork do you get it? EDITOR On Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 Nebo School District Held dedication ceremonios for Salem Hills High School, Nebo's first new high school in 100 years. Students, faculty, administrators and members of the community attended the event, which included remarks by school leaders and district officials, as well as performances by Sheii Preece, and the SHHS concert choir, marching band and cheerleaders. Salem Hills Principal Ann Anderson welcomed those in attendance and introduced a video presentation, which chronicled history of the building, from groundbreaking to completion. It also introduced the new school's motto — Spirit, Heart, Honor, Success — another interpretation for the SHHS acronym. Speakers focused on the role of the new building as a center for learning. Stephanie Griffiths, SHHS student body president, compared the school to a new pair of shoes, which are exciting but can cause discomfort until properly broken in. "We all have on new shoes. The questions is, are we willing to break them in?" Griffiths said. She suggested some ways the students could "break in" the new school by getting involved in clubs and activities. Debbie Swenson, school board member, paraphrased something she heard from Dallin H. Oaks, former president of BYU. "Education is not free, but it is offered to you freely. ... You are here on full scholarship — paid for by the taxpayers of the district and state," Swenson said. She encouraged the students to take advantage of the educational opportunities provided to them by others. "Learn to enjoy learn- Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News STANDING OVATION: Salem Hills High School Principal Ann Anderson receives a round of applause from School Board President Dean Rowley and other award recipients during the SHHS dedication ceremonies. ing and treat this place as the place of learning that it should be," she said. Principal Ann Anderson spoke of the journey from being asked to lead Salem Hills High School a year and a half ago, to the dedication ceremonies that evening. She recognized many of those who had come on board over the past year and a half to help get the school up and running. Dean Rowley, school board president, also presented awards to some of those who had been instrumental in the building of Salem Hills High School, including designers, builders and district administrators. In addition to receiving an award, architect Dennis Cecchini of MHTN, presented the school with a $500 check for their fund. Special awards went to three families whose financial donations have helped the school: Lou and Evelyn Christensen donated to paint the mascot and lettering on the gym floor, the Ottesen family and AHC donated to fine arts and FFA, and Terry and LeAnn Ficklin donated to the marquee. Nebo Superintendent Chris Sorensen gave the keynote address. Referring to those who had just received awards for donating to the school, he said, "These patrons are really symbolic of the patrons of Nebo School District." Sorensen cited the "tremendous growth" taking place in the district and expressed appreciation to the patrons who continually support bonds for buildings to match the growth. Sorensen said the current population of Nebo District is close to 27,800 students. It's the sixth largest district in the state and among the top 100 largest school districts nationwide. "We're growing by over 1,000 students a year," Sorensen said. Salem Hills High School has 1,000 students now. It was built to accommodate i ,500, and can be expanded to hold up to 1,800 students. Sorensen listed the cost for the school at $34 million. It may seem like a lot, he said, "but there are some schools in the state at twice that cost — I promise you they're not twice as good!" Sorensen emphasized that the reason for the building is education. He defined the "number one goal of education" as teaching people to be contributing members of society. Sorensen encouraged students dream big and realize their dreams. "Never let anyone hold you back," he said. Salem Mayor Lane Henderson made a few remarks and offered the dedicatory prayer. He mentioned that his house and property stood on this land, and he and his wife had to consider whether or not to sell to the school district. "We shed some tears as we contemplated this decision, but ... this was the future of our city and we wanted,to be a part of it," he said. Henderson defined sacrifice as being willing "to give up something you treasure for something better." In the dedicatory prayer, he expressed gratitude for blessings and asked a blessing on the building and those who would participate in activities therein, that they would be true to the school mission statement, "anchored in integrity, empowered to succeed, focused on the future." A new song made for a new school Namon Bills EDITOR A video slide show at the dedication ceremonies of Salem Hills High School, Sept. 9,2008, asked, "What does SHHS have to do with the Thundering Herd of Marshall University?" Among other things, they share a school song. Brenda Burr, SHHS assistant principal, shared the story of the Salem Hills school song. She had recently traveled to West Virginia and had been impressed by the loyalty she found among Marshall alumni. She felt a desire to infuse that loyalty among the students at Salem Hills High School. During a planning meeting, she had the SHHS cheer advisor lead administrators in a "We are Skyhawks" cheer, based on the "We are Marshall" cheer popularized in the 2006 movie by the same name. The cheer stuck, said Burr As she later considered the need for a school song, Burr found out most school songs are copied from tunes of universities. "As I listened to university songs, I became frustrated that nothing fit and there was no story," said Burr. Andrea Sorensen, SHHS Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News SCHOOL SPIRIT: The SHHS marching band, led by Drum Major Stephanie Nelson, performs "The Salem Hills Skyhawks." secretary, suggested using Marshall's song. Burr said she and student leaders felt an immediate connection with Marshall's school song. The one problem was that the music was not in the public domain. Marshall's song is specific to them, written for them in 1936, said Burr. The students resigned themselves to look elsewhere, but Burr decided to give Marshall a call. "I soon found myself speaking with the president of Marshall University," she said. He said he'd never been asked to use their song before, but he thought they would be honored. He promised to get back to Burr. Soon Salem Hills was given an official decree making them the first high school to use the tune to "We Are the Sons of Marshall." They were sent a copy of entire score, in its original handwritten edition. Parents, teachers and students worked in committee to write the words. In addition to Burr, the committee included: teachers, Sandra Strange, Tina Wadley and Karla Palfreyman; parents, Marnae Trotter and Leslie Preece; and students. Heather Bolz, Sam anthaMagoffin, Jelly Moyar, Steven Russell and Sheii Preece. ' At the conclusion of the SHHS dedication ceremonies the SHHS marching band, cheerleaders and concert choir led the audience in singing the new school song, "The Salem Hills Skyhawks." |