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Show Thursday, April 19, 2007 OREM TIMES Page 5 Cherry Hill's "Oklahoma!" wows community, parents NEWS AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS New English dept. broadening horizons at Mountain View Michael Rigert NORTH COUNTY STAFF Rebekah Hall and Camille Sorensen, new additions to the English department at Mountain View High School this year, have varying backgrounds back-grounds and experiences, but both have a strong desire to make students better readers, writers and thinkers. Rebekah Hall Hall, a native of Seattle, Wash., has always enjoyed teaching but it wasn't until she was attending Brigham Young University that she decided to teach English as a career. "English has always been a passion for me. It's about communication and critical thinking," she said. "I realized I wanted to do something to make a difference in people." Hall, 25, has knack for teaching. teach-ing. For a year and half, she lived in Hungary while serving serv-ing a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During her mission, she had opportunities to hold free English classes. At Mountain View, Hall teaches 10th grade English and also has an endorsement to teach English as a Second Language. She particularly likes teaching teach-ing students to improve their writing skills because it doesn't come easy for them and Hall enjoys en-joys witnessing their progress. Yet her favorite part of working with sophomores is discussing themes and ex notes MVHS I Core testing Core testing test-ing window opens Monday. I Region Large Choir Re bruin BRAYDEN SANTO So Bruins. I'm sitting here on a tour bus full of "band people" and we are on band tour. We are actually coming home as you read, but as I'm writing, we are just at the beginning of our journey. I can tell you that we are going to California, but I can't tell you about how it's been because it hasn't happened yet. After driving for about four hours, sophomore Kyle Miller said, "I'm excited for Band Tour, we should have loads of fun, with parties on the bus." YOUR STEEL SAVINGS CENTER "Drive A Little, METALfnar M l T A l AND M O f 181 S. 1200 E. LeW. UT Call eel Tube Pipe Purlins FAMILY FRIENDLY RADIO FOR UTAH VALLEY am RADIO Me Key 1450 rpiuw- Web Site: www.keyy.com E-Mail: mailkeyy.com Complete program schedule and listener comment opportunity on our web site or phone us for a copy of our schedule! - KEYY will not add your name to any mailing lists. Steven A. Barshun, General Manager 307 South 1600 West, Provo, UT 84601-3932 374-5210 lEn Espanol! PROGRAMAS Y MUSICA PARA LA FAMILIA Los Sabados De Las 12:00 A Las 5:00 p.m. amples in literature that the kids can appreciate in their own lives. "It has to relate to their lives. You have to figure out how to relate it to their life and real life," Hall said. "Obviously, their lives need to be expanded and showing those connections between the classroom and the real world is a draw." Because she has a zeal for English and tries maintain an open and comfortable atmosphere atmo-sphere in her classroom, Hall believes her students are more willing to buy into what she's trying to teach "To walk out of the classroom class-room and use their knowledge is why I enjoy teaching," Hall said. "For them to be ethical people and take great lessons from literature and have them make a difference." One of her favorite books is John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," because it addresses issues is-sues of loneliness and prejudice topics easily related to high schoolers. Hall's husband is Greg and she likes to mountain bike and try new cooking recipes in her spare time. Camille Sorensen Sorensen takes pride in the fact that she earned her bachelor's bach-elor's degree in English and teaching certificate from BYU a five-year program in four years. Raised in Mesa, Ariz., she also participated in study abroad to Mexico, and taught a year of junior high school be- gion Large Choir is Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at MVHS. I Orchestra concert The orchestra concert is Wednesday Wednes-day at 7 p.m. Lakeridge Jr. High ft Talent show tryouts Tryouts for the student talent show are Tuesday at 3 p.m. And parties we had. Our bus driver Joe was a party animal, blasting music and giving us light shows with the overhead lights. But back to things in Utah: This week is spring break. It's actually quite nice because it gives everyone about a week to just chill and do stuff. Unless you're in band. Then you had nine days. Ha ha. Basically, because its spring break, not much is happening at school, but last Saturday was MORP. To tell you the truth, I actually had a blast. If you read my previous columns, you'd know that Kim King asked me, and we had a great time at the "Wild West"-themed dance. I don't normally do the "cowboy look" but I did it just for this dance. I don't know if Save A LotT Metal Roofing B-Deck & W-Oeck Deliveries Available For Free Stock Price List 24 HOURS A DAY to life is Jesus Christ Rebekah Hall and Camille Sorensen fore coming to Mountain View. Initially, Sorensen was on a pre-medical track in college but switched gears to education when a friend questioned her decision and mentioned that she would make a great teacher. "I kind of feel like (the change of heart) was spiritual in nature," she said. "Something "Some-thing I was supposed to do." Sorensen, 24, teaches sophomore sopho-more English, a journalism class and is the school's yearbook year-book advisor. To accommodate students' varying learning styles, she takes an interactive approach to instruction in an effort to engage and challenge every student. In a recent literature project proj-ect on John Howard Griffin's "Black Like Me," Sorensen had the students leave their comfort zones and experience culture shock like the author. Some students tried sushi for the first time while others at Cherry Hill Elementary State Core Testing The state core testing window is from April 23 to May 10. I PTA Golden Apple Awards Connie Kawala will be honored hon-ored at the PTA Golden Apple Awards luncheon Tuesday at UVSC at noon. I'd do it again (dress up as a cowboy that is.) That's about it, really. Like I said, it's Spring Break, and I don't really even feel like writing. writ-ing. It's really noisy on the bus with sounds of laughter, the hum of the bus, and I hear a Dr. David Gordon, D.M.D Quality Family and Cosmetic Dentistry 325 East 100 North Lehi 768-9471 Now Accepting New Patients Emergencies Welcome Interest Free Financing Available Most Insurance Accepted Evening Appointments Available Free In Home Teeth Whitening System! $190 Value With New Patient Exam, X-rays, and Cleaning Aspen Mortgage Your Home Loan Specialists WWW.ASPENMTG.COM UTAH'S LENDING LEADER FOR: New home purchase loans. (Free pre-qualifications) Refinancing your Adjustable rate mortgage to a Fixed rate mortgage. Fixed rates are low. Debt consolidation - Consolidate your Home Equity Line and high interest credit cards. Refinance to remove mortgage insurance. Call us today for free answers with no obligation. We want to help you! x Bert Wilson Over 50 years combined lending experience. 250 West Main American Fork 756-7434 PurduueRcfinance MICHAEL RIGERTNorth County tended a worship service at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork or visited a religious re-ligious service other than their own affiliation. "With each novel I teach, I try to make it personal to them and to understand the purpose" behind the book, Sorensen said. "I try to make them better people, better citizens through learning and English abilities." She appreciates that her students stu-dents are mature and stand up for what they believe in yet at the same time are open to new ideas and perspectives. One of Sorensen's favorite books is a title she recently read called "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd which deals with racism and family relationships in the South during the 1950s. Sorensen's husband is Greg. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, working out at the gym and penning her own work of fiction. Suncrest Elementary I Fourth-grade Pioneer Day The fourth grade Pioneer Day is Wednesday. I Secretary Day Join Suncrest in appreciating its secretaries Wednesday for Secretary Day. faint strumming of a guitar. I think I'll put my iPod back in my ears and try to get some rest because travel is tiring. Plus, if I do that, I won't hear anything else. Happy travels everyone. Brayden Santo, over and out. Bruce Henriksen, PLM M Michael Rigert NORIM COUNTY S1AH Disciplined vocals, sharply choreographed dance routines, rou-tines, high-quality costumes and stage props were showcased show-cased in a major student musical musi-cal production last week only it wasn't Mountain View High School or Lakeridge Junior High School putting on the show. The cast and crew for Cherry Hill Elementary School's presentation of a student version of the Broadway Broad-way classic "Oklahoma!" was entirely made up of upper grade students at the school. The community and parents were treated to two evening performances April 11-12 while students at the school took in afternoon matinees on the same days. With a background in musical musi-cal theater, Stephanie Crego Billings, Cherry Hill Elementary Elemen-tary 's sixth-grade Accelerated Learning Lab teacher and the production's artistic director, revived the school's student drama tradition in 2003, along with the help of production director David Leigh. Largely due to her determination determi-nation and talents. Billings is able to mold the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders into actors, singers, dancers, and stage crew after hundreds of hours of preparations and rehearsals. rehears-als. Auditions were held in the fall and 55 students were cast for this year's "Oklahoma!" perhaps Billings' most vocally ambitious projects yet at the school. "The hardest thing about it is you can't cast everyone," she said. A self -described stickler for organization, Billings held a rigorous rehearsal schedule sched-ule during which she often worked one-on-one with cast and crew. She said getting the students to think like the characters was key in getting them to take ownership of their roles. "In 'Oklahoma!' it's about falling in love and (elementary) (elementa-ry) students think 'that's like Won't Peel, Crack or Warp Outperforms all Drop-in Liners Great for Boots, Trailers, RVs Jeep, etc. Helps Keep your Gear from Sliding msRhino Linings Months I i on 07 PACIFIC, DURANGO, CARAVAN, and TOWN & COUNTRY For 48 Months on 07 SEBRING For 72 Months 1 1 .VC L- I I urenittrown , sale hours OnytltrJeep Dodgt I 0N - fdi I Uim - fern sT I I 1995 N UNtVFRSfTY PKWY SERVICEPARTS HOURS finn.9QQ.ORR') ! "OH HII7 30. 'MT5 M N. eww'," Billings said. "(But) you can't think like a kid, you have to think in a more mature ma-ture sense. 'OK, you're not a kid, you're an adult.'" The confidence levels of students involved in the production pro-duction soar, she said, and cast and crew embark on a life-long appreciation of the arts. Michelle Fife, a parent volunteer vol-unteer and mother of Arielle Fife, who portrays the lead female role of tomlxiyfarm-girl tomlxiyfarm-girl Laurey Williams, said her daughter has been in other area theater productions and "she never had as good an experience as with Mrs. Billings." Bill-ings." Fife calls Billings "a perfectionist" perfec-tionist" who is so good with the kids because she cares about them and is herself a performer. "These kids truly, truly have no idea how good they have it," Fife said. Parents of each cast and crew member, she said, have contributed to the musical in some way whether it was helping sew costumes, build sets, or assist back stage with makeup and hair. Prior to the April 12 matinee performance, fifth grader Kohl Weisman, who portrayed male lead cowman Curly McClain, said he felt quite comfortable on stage during the two previous shows. "She (Billings) tells me to be more easy going and to 'get in the zone,'" Weisman said. Among cast and crew members, "The Farmer and Cowman" number in scene four seemed lo be the consensus consen-sus favorite. "We do lots of dancing and you can really do the expressions," expres-sions," said Claire F.yestone, who portrays Oklahoma girl Kate. Vera Foli landed the role of the obnoxious Gertie Cum-mings, Cum-mings, largely due to her cacophonous ca-cophonous laugh. "She's awful full of herself and doesn't notice that people would rather not be with her," Foli said of her character. V? - V JT" LIFETIME WARRANTY PROTECTS AGAINST RUST AND CORROSION Resists Abrasion, even under Heavy Use Not a Paint-Like coating . Sprays On up to 1 It" Thick All Colors Available J I www.hrrnthrnwnmiln.rnm Copy ! |