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Show Thursday, October J f, 2007 OREM TIMES Page 5 ioi.es i NEWS AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS Iron gold medal athlete warns students about drugs Michael Rigert NORTH COUNTY STAFF In the wake of U.S women's sprinter Marion Jones's steroids scandal, it may be refreshing for many to know that an Orem athlete recently triumphed over her own adversity adver-sity and the world to be number num-ber one at her sport. Noelle Pikus-Pace of Orem, a world-class women's skeleton athlete, spoke to students Monday Mon-day at Orem Elementary and Lakeridge Junior High School during special Ribbon Week assemblies as-semblies about self-conf idence and staying away from drugs. Pikus-Pace's dreams were nearly crushed just weeks before the opening of the 2006 Turin, Italy, Winter Olympics when her leg was broken during dur-ing a freak accident during training and an out -of -control bobsled jumped the track and slammed into her at a training facility. "I had a couple of surgeries surger-ies and people said I couldn't make it back," she said. Despite a miraculous six-week six-week rehab, Pikus-Pace narrowly nar-rowly missed making the U.S. Olympic team, and served instead in-stead as an alternate. She said the experience of missing her first Olympics could have been devastating. "It was realty discouraging and frustrating," she said. "I didn't know if I wanted to take a year off. But I decided to keep going." Using the same ice track bobsledders use, skeleton athletes speed down the track face-first at 80 mph on a small, low-profile sled with only a helmet, a thin body suit and gloves for protection, she said. One hundredths of a second in finishing times can mean the difference between who wins and who doesn't. After lots of training and hard work, Pikus-Pace returned to the world skeleton stage in January at the World Championships Champi-onships in Switzerland and not only took home the gold medal, but beat her American teammate team-mate who had won the gold at Torino by an astounding one and a half seconds. "I beat the whole field by the largest margin in World Cham www.heraldextra.comyellowpages METAL BUILDING El mnnnDir 801 - 367 435 - 623 Licensed nnnmin 3303 Housing costs have skyrocketed. And with salaries and other personal income not keeping pace, more and more Americans are finding it difficult to get into a home. The "lucky" ones that do, often end up house-poor with little or no extra money at the end of the month due to high mortgage payments. ELIMINATE YOUR MORTGAGE with eProsperTools. Call now to learn how. (801) 407-8505 pionship history," she told the students. "Alright. Don't you guys think I have the coolest job in the world?" Pikus-Pace said if students follow Marion Jones's example and use drugs, they may face disgrace, lose their medals, and maybe even go to jail. Whatever students chose to do in life, they should believe in themselves and stay away from drugs, she said. "It's all about being clean, having a fun and having a level playing field," she said. Alpine School District schools are observing Red and Purple Ribbon Weeks during which teachers hold activities and discussions about the dangers dan-gers of drugs and alcohol, and how violence can ruin lives. This week at Orem Elemen-tary's Elemen-tary's Ribbon Week, students were encouraged to wear red (saying no to drugs) and purple (saying no to violence) to remind them of the important impor-tant messages. They also got to write essays, make banners and participate in classroom activities ac-tivities that include daily prizes. Lauren Peery, a sixth grader and member of Orem's student council, said it was amazing all the medals Pikus-Pace had won and that she was the first American woman skeleton racer to take home the World Championship. Another sixth grader and student council member, Madi Batemen, said it's important for people not to take drugs because be-cause they could wind up being really miserable. She said it would be "cool" to try skeleton racing, although she'd "be really scared." Sixth-grader Nichol Mur-dock, Mur-dock, also a member of Orem's student council, said she's learned during the start of Ribbon Rib-bon Week "you should stay active ac-tive and not take drugs." "You don't get to be in the Olympics if you take drugs," she said. Maddison Hartman, also a sixth-grade member of the school's student council, said she was inspired by Pikus-Pace's Pikus-Pace's perseverance and courage. cour-age. "She imagined it, and then she became it," she said. Pikus-Pace is taking a year SECIUBS - 4437 - 4606 H'mfliM'il'liiPFP " ... jF -mm j,A 1 CRAIG DILGERDaily Herald Women's Skeleton World Champion Noelle Pikus-Pace speaks to students at Orem Elementary about her sport, determination, and the importance of living drug free Oct. 8. off for to have a baby, but said she'll be back training full time in a couple of years to reach her next goal: the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Vancouver, Canada. Brad Davies, Orem Elemen-tary's Elemen-tary's principal, thought it was great for students to meet a world champion, medal-win Brush up on Medicare . Attend a free seminar from Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and discover health coverage that's a better value. You'll learn about Regence MedAdvantage Rx, as well as other options available to you during Medicare's Annual Election Period. Whether you're new to Medicare or looking to get more for your money, our seminar will provide the facts you need to make an informed decision about your health care. See why you may want to switch to Regence MedAdvantage Rx Assured access to an extensive network of doctors, clinics and hospitals and worldwide coverage Regence MedAdvantage Rx Enhanced provides coverage for some generic drugs in the coverage gap with no prescription drug deductible Dental benefits up to $500year for routine preventive care Call 1-888-REGENCE (TTY users should call 1-800-833-6384), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific time., to reserve your seat today or to talk to a Regence Medicare specialist. 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CMS BRUSHR0P2 Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah ning athlete, someone with Pikus-Pace's determination and one of Orem's own. "It's nice ... to know she's like the rest of us and she excelled ex-celled in her sport," he said. "We might not all make it to the World Championships, but we can all try and give it our best" in whatever it is we do." ALLSCHOOLS Fall Break and Teacher Development Devel-opment Day Fall break for students in the Alpine School District is today and Friday. Oct. 15, is a teacher professional profession-al development day. Students return to schx)l Oct. 1(5. Mountain View High School Utah Basic Skills Competency Test UBSCT evaluations for juniors and seniors begin on Tuesday and run through Thursday. Utah Academy of Sciences Building approved The state building inspector has approved plans for the new UCAS multipurpose building and is now ready to go out to bid. The project may be completed com-pleted by the beginning of the 2008-2009 sch(xl year. Fall break Students will bruin Brayden Santo Its "Fall Break," Bruins. Why they changed it from "UEA" to "Fall Break" is a mystery to most everyone. As you are reading this, I'm down south, probably walking upstream of a tiny river that is a tributary to the Escalante, which is a tributary to a favored vacation spot to many, Lake Powell. This is my trip for Fall Break. I'm hiking with my scout troop a hike named "Coyote Gulch." Yesterday we arrived ar-rived here, and hiked into the canyon, which involved hiking two miles through a sand dune, before lowering our backpacks into a huge crevice. We then hike through "The Crack," which is a narrow nar-row corridor to retrieve our packs. Then we hike into the canyon that this river has carved. What does one eat on a backpacking trip like this, where everything you bring Regence MedAdvantage Rx coverage area has been expanded to include the following counties: Box Elder, Cache, Iron, Morgan, Rich, Tooele, Wasatch, Washington. GOOD NEWS: During Medicare's Annual Election Period (Nov. 15 - Dec. 31, 2007), you have the opportunity to switch your coverage. Regnnce Ucanwe have today and Friday off for fall break. Classes will resume Oct. 15. Lakeridge Junior High School Eighth-grade Bridges Eighth graders will attend BridgesChoices on Thursday, Oct. 18. Associates Associates will be Oct. 18 from 3:30-5 p.m. Orem Elementary Community Council Meeting Orem Elementary will hold a School Community Council meeting on Tuesday. Picture make-up day Student Stu-dent photo makeups will be Tuesday. Westmore Elementary Wiggles 'N Giggles Will be on Wednesday for children ages birth to 5-years old. in, you also pack out? All I'm going to say is that dehydrated de-hydrated food can be pretty good when you've packed a 40-pound pack for three miles. My scrambled eggs with ham, red and green peppers doesn't look great right now, but I'm sure will taste really good for breakfast tomorrow ... I hope. The average human should drink about (i-8 glasses of water a day. The hike covers cov-ers four days so that about 32 glasses per person. That's 25( fluid ounces per person, which would be equal to carrying car-rying seven and a half liters of water for the whole trip. Imagine carrying four 2-liter bottles on a backpack for a four-day hike. It just not gonna happen. How will we get water then? We drink it from the river that we are hiking up, only after its been pumped through a filter. This is serious seri-ous stuff here. I don't know what tomorrow tomor-row will bring, but it could possibly bring more adventure, adven-ture, danger, and cool Indian drawings on cliffs. You never know. 1 know I had an awesome time for Fall Break, did you? ey "I sk fim f Regence BitjoCrow, Wu&ywW erf tJtaf an iftrymwvlont ol the Blue Own anrj ftue Siwi A.sa,iatiixi |