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Show Page 6 OREM TIMES Thursday, August 28, 2008 NEWS AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS Accidental educator loving life at Vineyard Elem. Michael Ri gert NORTH COUNTY STAFF An educator quite by accident, ac-cident, Sylvia Allan, the new principal this fall at Vineyard Elementary School in Or em couldn't be more happy to have found her dream job. A one-time hair stylist, Allan was called upon by a family member 1 1 years ago to substitute substi-tute teach a preschool class at Challenger School. Her brother-in-law, then the school's vice president, was in a pinch and badly needed some last -minute help. "I said or thought, 'How awful. aw-ful. But it's only one day and I love my brother-in-law.'" Allan said. "I wasn't in that class 10 minutes before I found the love of my life to teach." She earned a teaching certificate cer-tificate and began teaching fifth graders at Scera Park Elementary El-ementary School in Orem. Encourage En-courage by her principal, Tom Carter, and the school s secretary, secre-tary, she applied to the master's degree Leadership Preparation Program at Brigham Young Mrs. Allan's Favorites Favorite Books: "Holes" by Louis Sacharand "A Girl of the Limberlost" by Gene Stratton Porter Favorite movie: "The Man From Snowy River" Favorite food: Chocolate (anything that's not white) Favorite musician: James Taylor University, though she didn't know how interested she was, if she could really afford it, or if she would even have a shot a getting accepted. "They said, 'You have the right personality,'" she said. "I said, 'That's not a good idea.' " Allan not only was accepted into the program and got a three-quarters salary sabbatical to support her family, she got a job offer as principal, something some-thing else she thought would never happen. I was overwhelmed with happiness ... because Vineyard Elementary Elemen-tary has a reputation of being such a good school with involved parents. Sylvia Allan TEACHER Last year she served as the assistant principal at Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Lindon. This spring, she learned she'd been selected by the school district to take the reins at Vineyard Elementary School, which this year has an enrollment enroll-ment of 635 students. "I was overwhelmed with happiness ... because Vineyard Elementary has a reputation of being such a good school with involved parents," Allan said. She appreciates the smalltown, small-town, close-knit community kind-of-feel that permeates the hallways and classrooms at Vineyard Elementary, the interest inter-est parents take in their children's chil-dren's education, and the hard work of teachers who strive to do what's best for their pupils. "They're very proud of their schooL" she said. "It's nice to rub shoulders with people so dedicated and who love their jobs." As Vineyard's principal, Allan Al-lan said she'll put a premium on student achievement and teacher teach-er collaboration to improve class learning.. She hopes to continue a tradition tradi-tion of excellence at the schooL "It's been what I'm supposed to do," Allan said. "I love it. " The mother of four children ages 19-26 (including a 23-year-old son currently serving with the U.S. military in Iraq), Allan Al-lan remarried Lynn Allan, the athletic director and a math teacher at Lehi High School. The Allans live in Orem and Mrs. Allan enjoys camping, boating and anything with family fam-ily or outdoors. bruin Tiana Cole Although we've only been back to school for about two weeks, it feels more like it's been a couple of months. The pace at which school seems to be moving contrasts sharply with the pace at which summer sped by. That doesn't mean that nothing's noth-ing's happening, though. Earlier this week, the drama department held auditions for this year's school musical, "The Sound of Music." The music department has started rehearsing pieces for their fall concerts, and the AP classes have been flung headfirst into their preparations for the big exams in the spring. All this preparation beginning begin-ning so early in the school year has made me realize once again that it takes a lot of work and advance planning to make things turn out great. I've enjoyed watching the school productions in November No-vember for the past couple of years, and they've been absolutely abso-lutely spectacular. But what a lot of people don't realize is just how long it takes to create something so gratifying and enjoyable to watch. The same goes for any other performance; perfor-mance; it takes a lot of work and practice in order to get things just right. As far as AP tests, the preparation is on more of an individual level than a group, but you still have to "train" and learn the material one step at a time to be ready to perform at your best when test time comes around. This subject would probably prob-ably fit better further into the year, but it can still apply to right now. It's a reminder to do your best in everything you do this year, and to give yourself enough time to do it right. The days may be dragging by now, but I have a feeling that pretty soon, things will be picking up speed. And I, for one, want to keep up. XI ;!'' r If a picture is worth a thousand words then our photographers add tens of thousands to our local stories. To get the whole picture that others miss, visit www.heraldextra.com. MORE PHOTOGRAPHERS. MORE PHOTOS. To Get More, subscribe today! I -80 1 -375-5 1 03 All Schools Labor Day Holiday There will be no classes held on Monday in observance of Labor Day. Mountain View High School Musical auditions Will be held through Thursday. UHSAA soccer rules clinic Will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. Utah County Academy of Sciences Back to School Night Will be held on Thursday. Lakeridge Junior High School Picture Day Student school pictures will be taken today and Friday. School play auditions Will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4. Best of State recognition student assemblies Will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 9:35 and 10:50 a.m. Orem Elementary Hearing screenings Will be held on Tuesday for kindergarten students and grades 1,3, and 5. School Community Council meeting Will be held on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. Steve James student assembly as-sembly and evening concert Steve James will host an assembly for students on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 1 p.m. A concert for the Orem Elementary El-ementary community later that evening at 7 p.m. Suncrest Elementary Afterschool Club registration regis-tration Are open to all students on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Students may sign up for two clubs. More information will be sent home with students on Friday. Back to School Night Will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4. Lower grade sessions ses-sions for studentsparents kindergarten through second sec-ond grade will start at 6 and 6:20 p.m.; a general PTA meeting will be held at 6:45 p.m.; and upper grade sessions ses-sions (3-6) will be at 7:15 and 7:35 p.m. Final Afterschool Club registration reg-istration For all students will be on Friday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. EXPERTS IN REHABILITATION & SENIOR CARE 4 rzi r Orchard Park recently held a community blood drive-Stand- U is administrator Jared Swain. . Orchard Park is dedicate) to siHgjf community efforts, especially poviumy exieiiem rendi)mrj nursing services, feel free to caB with any questions ques-tions regarding out services! - Voted I in Utah County 5 Years in a Row! Orchard Park Rehabilitation and Healthcare 740 North 300 East Orem 801-224-0921 Private Rooms! "Our Goal is to set you Home!" !fcveryfhinq I Reel Gsflaffe Presented by Mfo and Julie Pierce Would you remove your own appendix, much less overhaul your vehicle's engine? 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