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Show -NEWS- Spanish Fork Covering what matters most WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008 • B7 Mock disaster held at ALA Lindsay B. Wolsey STAFF WRITER It was like a real-life test of the Emergency Broadcasting System at the American Leadership Academy (ALA) on Wednesday, Oct. 22. ALA was host to a Mock Disaster Drill held by Mountain View Hospital, and the scenario was as realistic as it could be without students actually being injured. Students spent at least two hours before the drill creating injuries, complete with fake blood. Twenty-eight students and one teacher participated in the drill, which was a scenario involving an explosion in the Chemistry Lab. Around 10:03 a.m., the explosion occurred. Smoke poured out of the chemistry lab, and local emergency response teams sprung into action. Firefighters from Spanish Fork and Salem evacuated students out of the chemistry lab. The Spanish Fork Police Department restricted movement in and out of the campus to emergency vehicles only. All students in the high school were evacuated, with the junior high, elementary school and administrative offices placed on lock-down. Once students were escorted out of the chemistry lab, they were triaged and run through a decontamination truck where they were sprayed with water. Over eighteen students were transported to Mountain View Hospital, where they were triaged in an Emergency Room that was set up just for the drill. "We didn't want to interrupt regular hospital flow for our drill," said Rich Brunson, Director of Engineering and Safety at Mountain View. "But we did want to make the experience as realistic as possible so we can learn and prepare from the experience." Brunson is already thinking up possible scenarios for the next drill. Mountain View is required to participate in a drill every six months. Brunson hopes that no area residents were frightened by the mock disaster. "We tried to get the word out to the surrounding area, and notes were sent home to all parents. I hope no one thought that a real disaster was going on at the school," Brunson said. Judy Brunson, an Assistant Administrator at ALA, said the school would definitely consider hosting another drill. "The more we learn, the better prepared we are," she said. "Everything flowed as well as you could hope. We only had one casualty. Cole Fulton had a severed arm, and while he was pulled out of the lab and triaged, he wasn't attended to, so he was told that he had died," Judy said. Emergency respondents and school officials are still in the process of debriefing after the drill. Hopefully, the skills sharpened during the drill will never be called into use. Adrie Slaymaker SFHS intern Josie Osborn SFHS Courtesy photos / Erica Savage, ALA THE HORROR: Tyler Zeeman screams in agony as he's carried away from the school. Students were asked to realistically portray the injuries to which they were assigned. MORNING MAKEUP: Teachers and volunteers spent the morning putting make-up and fake wounds on the students. Eddie Morales, right, one of the victims, had several face injuries, along with glass stuck in his forehead. Others had severed arms or broken bones. Below, Firemen carried the students out on stretchers to be decontaminated, bandaged and taken to the hospital. Debate team Distance learning saves money at SFHS Mackenzie Acosta SFHS deal financially. Students receive college credit that will transfer over to any Students are saving hun- college, and some students dreds of dollars for college even graduate from high and getting college classes school with their associate's done in high school through degree. distance learning. Distance Senior distance-learning learning is a college class student Brooke Comstock where a teacher from UVU said, "It's cool. It's way fun! teaches you through a TV. The teachers give you a lot The cameras and micro- of individual attention." phones are two-way, so the Rosa Hale is the faciliteacher and students can see tator at Spanish Fork High and hear each other. School who monitors the Costs to the student in- students and takes care of clude a one-time fee of $35 all of the technical aspects and books, so it's a great of the class. : Dan Hales U-. SFHS This year's debate team has been practicing hard for their annual trip to California. They will be leaving Nov. 5 on the long bus ride to Anaheim, where they will debate kids from all around the United States. This year's event will be held at the University of Southern California, and will go on for three straight days. The debate team this .year is led by Grady Harding, who is in his third year of high school debate. Last year Harding.made it to the final round in California. The debate team had a fundraising event for this trip by holding a dance after the Lone Peak football game last Thursday. PSAT at SFHS Bethany Carson SFHS Courtesy photo LONG DISTANCE: Andrea Rawle and Britni Smith participate in a distance learning class. Foreign language classes compete at soccer Christy Hardy SFHS kids. You really had to get in the game and participate," said Hillary Herbert, The foreign language a French 1 student. classes at Spanish Fork Many of the teachHigh School teamed up ers also participated in the for a soccer tournament games as referees or playon Oct. 9, 2008. Students ers. Class pride was burstenrolled in Spanish, Japa- ing, as cheers ' in foreign nese, Chinese, American languages boomed across Sign Language, French the field. For students and and German gathered to- teachers alike, the soccer gether to play the world- tournament provided an opwide sport. portunity to gain a greater "It was way fun to be'* appreciation for foreign able to interact with other cultures. Adrie Slaymaker, a senior at Spanish Fork High School, is an intern at Utah Valley Pediatrics. There, Adrie gets a chance to see what being a nurse in the pediatric department is all about. Adrie helps with taking strept tests, charting and she also observes pediatricians in action. Adrie's future goal is to become a registered nurse (RN) in pediatrics. She is applying to Ameritech Nursing College in Draper after she graduates from SFHS in January of 2009. Courtesy photo FUTBOL: SFHS foreign language students participate in a soccer tournament On Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, 25 juniors from Spanish Fork High took the PSAT The test was administered to prepare the students to take the actual SAT There were also further motivations to do well on this test. Those who took it were entering themselves into the competition for National Merit scholarships. Those who score well go on to compete nationally for these highly acclaimed scholarships. Determined to do well, Kristie Stoneman was one of the few juniors to take the test. "It was hard, but I have a better idea of what to expect out of the SAT. I hope I scored well enough to get a scholarship, though," she said. With the test now over, none of the juniors regretted their participation. |