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Show 9 Thursday, December 14, 2006 OREM TIMES Page 5 NEWS AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS MICHAEL RIGERTNorth County Greg Beveridge, a faculty member and chairman of the math department at Mountain View High School, is an avid fly fisherman and a member of the Utah County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team. Math teacher personifies dedication Michael Rigert NORTH COUNTY STAFF Among Greg Beveridge's many passions are a couple he's quite adept at: teaching high school mathematics and fly fishing. From time to time, he even combines the two. During calculus classes, Beveridge will interweave "quirky" fly fishing analogies into his story problems. "It tends to capture their interest in-terest and makes it more fun," he said. A member of Mountain View High School's math department de-partment for the past 15 years, Beveridge serves as the department's depart-ment's chairman, a job made much easier by the school's excellent teachers, he said At various times, Beveridge has guided students in the art of fry tying as advisor for the Bruins' fly fishing club. Yet he prefers having students come to him to tap his extensive knowledge about fly fishing as opposed to regular meetings. "I wait for them to come to me," Beveridge said. "It tends Bruin Crazies trade Michael Rigert NORTH COUNTY STAFF Five hundred screaming Bruins decked out in black and screaming synchronized cheers on the home basketball court of rivals isn't new. What has changed in the last few years is that the Bruin Crazies Cra-zies as Mountain View High School's student cheering section sec-tion is known has cleaned up its act and is now disarming opponents and their fans with class and civility. Jeanie Wilson, assistant principal at Mountain View High School, said the Bruin Crazies were always a boisterous, boister-ous, enthusiastic bunch. Yet in past years they had developed as much a reputation for be- ' ing the most obnoxious and unsportsmanlike fans as being the loudest and most spirited They would rush the floor, chant 'You suck,' " she said "It was intense, but inappropriate." When Bruin Crazies rushed the basketball court at the buzzer of a rivalry game several sev-eral years ago, Wilson said she feared for her own safety and Rebecca Johnson, DryCreek J n.:l.. Family Practice Certified Family Nurse Practitioner 766-4214 3300 N. Running Creek Way Most insurance Plans Accepted '7 Wli0Si0ii&iiSSm I V wMmimml to have a little more long-lasting effect." Though he earned a bachelor's bach-elor's degree in mathematics from Utah State University, and later a master's degree in mathematics from Brigham Young University, Beveridge said becoming an educator wasn't always in his plans. His father had taught for many years in the Alpine School District, yet Beveridge, a native and current resident of Pleasant Grove, initially pursued a career in electrical engineering. But staring at an engineering computer screen didn't appeal to him and Beveridge Bev-eridge instead turned his sights on the influence his father's career had had on him and his wealth of experience from a heavy dose of math courses. He became a teacher. "It's been a really good choice for me," he said. "I've really enjoyed it." Despite a busy schedule that also includes teaching twice a week at the Provo Discovery Academy and spending time with his wife, Norma, and their six children, Beveridge re decided the behavior needed to stop. Fast forward to 2006 and you've got the same rowdy Bruin Crazies and their diehard senior captains, but something is noticeably different. Case in point: The Dec. 6 boys basketball bas-ketball game versus long-time nemesis Orem High School on the Tigers home turf. Gage Eckles, a senior Bruins Crazies captain, said 600 Mountain View students turned out en masse for the big game. But instead of taunts and slurs, the Crazies shouted , chants like "Here we go Bruins, Bru-ins, Here we Go" and "Who d'at talkin' 'bout beatin' dem Bruins?" "We have the loudest crowd, but we're very respectful," Eckles said adding that the Orem High administrators approached ap-proached them after the game and complimented their court e-ousness. e-ousness. Gone are cheers that single out opponents' players, fans throwing items and mosh pits on the court following games, Wilson said. Skyler Carr, also a senior RN, MSN Now Accepting New Patients id cently joined the Utah County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team. Fulfilling a desire to become more involved with the community, he's called out almost weekly on search and rescue missions to help locate persons lost in the valley's mountains, lakes and streams. "I have the opportunity to help out people who are definitely defi-nitely in need of help," he said, in addition to learning outdoor, climbing and rescue skills and establishing a unique camaraderie camara-derie with other volunteers. Unfortunatery, as is sometimes some-times the case, the search and rescue missions turn into recovery operations when a person has been missing for some time. Beveridge said that can be challenging from an emotional standpoint. "There's a sense of urgency to help out the family. ... That's what motivates you to get the job done," he said. Rick Clark, Mountain View High School's principal, said though Beveridge teaches many Advanced Placement math courses he has also self-lessly self-lessly taken it upon himself to in taunts for tributes "I know for myself, it's been much funner to see the look on their faces and our administrators," he said. "They're expecting us to come back with a degrading cheer." Jeanie Wilson Mountain View High School assistant principal Crazies captain and Mountain View's student body president, said in past years some of the group's cheers were even bordering on alienating the group's members. "They weren't up to their standards and we wanted everyone ev-eryone to participate," he said At last week's game at Orem High School, even though the Bruins were defeated by the Tigers, the Bruin Crazies Keep RS2 Warm! We can help at Restore 1 119 5 1680 W, Orem 801 344-8527 hfhuc.org wfti "This is a guy that never ceases to improve himself, to serve and to give." Rick Clark Mountain View High School principal take students struggling with math under his wing. "As far as building character among our students, that's what he's all about and that culture really helps the kids," Clark said. "This is a guy that never ceases to improve himself, him-self, to serve and to give." Though his purpose is to help his students gain knowledge and abilities that will benefit them throughout their lives, he said the greatest compliments he gotten from pupils aren't about him as a teacher. It's "students thanking me for being a good person. For ' being honest and friendly," Beveridge Be-veridge said ended the game in style. "Five hundred kids started yelling 'You can't take our Bruin pride,' " Wilson said, and then, much to the surprise of many, "Good game Orem." "I was like 'Wow, they've come a long way,' " she said. Not that the Bruin Crazies Cra-zies have been completely declawed Eckles, Carr and Wilson agree they still have one of the loudest and wildest group of student backers in the valley. They still get nuts, but you won't hear any rude or crude things," Wilson said "They have a huge history of getting in people's heads, and they still do." Though it wasn't easy to make the change, Carr said it's definitely been worth it. "I know for myself, it's been much funner to see the look on their faces and our administrators," administra-tors," he said They're expecting expect-ing us to come back with a degrading cheer." Instead, after the Orem game he said at least 10 Orem fans came up and apologized to him for their sketchy cheers. 'storm and exterior doors wood stoves 'furnaces 'appliances 'windows 'water heaters 'insulation 'and much more tk ALL SCHOOLS I Christinas break begins School ends for Christmas vacation Dec. 20. MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL t Christmas concerts and assembly Today at 7 p.m. . is the Instrumental Concert. Choir Concert on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Christmas Assembly As-sembly will be Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. I Christmas Music Assemblies Assem-blies Christmas Music Assemblies As-semblies are tomorrow. I Sub for Santa deadline Sub for Santa ends tomorrow. BRAYDEN SANTO Imagine yourself sitting on a nice, comfy couch snuggled up in a blanket eating popcorn pop-corn while watching a movie. It feels nice huh? Good thing we've only got one more week until Christmas Christ-mas break. I know what I'll be doing. But enough with that, let's talk about school Last week was Sub for Santa, and it looks like we raised a lot of money to help those families in our area in need The dance concert also happened It also went really well As for this week, tonight is the band concert. Come to it prepared to listen to some fun, and also serious, "well-played" "well-played" Christmas music. It's an activity that's fun for the whole family. Tomorrow night is the long awaited "Black Light Stomp." Basically, everyone wears white and gets painted with neon colors, and then we dance under tons of black Utah County News ww.heraldextra.com I FEEL LIKE A FDSD-Q WITH NO WATER." You know how to react to their asthma attacks. Here's how to prevent them. l-866-NO-ATTACKS EVEN ONE ATTACK IS ONE TOO MANY. For more information log onto www.noattacks.org or call your doctor. r I I MEXICAN GRILL i' I I rTrnTif7riir-r.rtt,;T'ir; n i v ir 1!J.jjj i r i j. j i Qiffisiiasa wpfe 1 ' " iWLin Mm i i.ini.i, ,i mi it I I a jQM Njitate jBtrseOreml SUNCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I After-school showcase All are invited to attend the After-school Showcase today from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Come see the projects and performances the students have put together in the after-school after-school program. I Christmas Choir Concert The Christmas Choir Concert is tomorrow at 9:30 a.ra Teacher-PTA Christmas Party The Teacher PTA Christmas Party is Monday at 2:45 p.m. I Common Day Wednesday Wednes-day is a Common Day, 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. lights. What could be more fun? You know, as an active teenager, it's really hard to support myself financially in the things that I do. But what's even harder than that is trying to get a job. I know that I have this writing writ-ing job, but it doesn't really bring in enough to support me, although it does bring some nice "pocket change." There are a few things that bug me about employers. The first is they don't have courtesy, cour-tesy, in any way. When I turn in an application, I'm expected expect-ed to call the employer every day and literally force them to look at my application. They could look at it out of courtesy, but do they? Nope. They could also have the courtesy to call someone back when they've filled the spot you are applying for. Another thing that bugs me is that it's really hard to find someone to hire a 16-year-old. It's almost as if that "label" prohibits you from most jobs. The truth is, not all 16-year-olds are created equal. But anyway, sooner or later I'll need to get another job, so I might as well start forcing people to read my application. -JACOB, AGE 5 DESCRIBING ASTHMA I ENCHILADAS FAJrTAS " . iTvrYrrrm I IB ' 1 :opy |