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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Thursday, October 19, 2006 Page 4 notes NEWS AND IDEAS r Sr " I S, - t , if K f , I ' 1 X ' 1 ' Kaelie Pellegrini and Chris Romrell AF High Nikki Bohne T merican Fork High Sch(H)l took first place in the Shake- (J speare competi-1 competi-1 1 tion in Cedar City U fcAonOct. 6and7. Although receiving the sweepstakes sweep-stakes award was an honor, one award was even more rewarding: re-warding: winning the candy. "It is established on the bus ride down there that we are going to get the candy." said liecc a Ingram, American lork Drama Council president, livery liv-ery year during the weekend al the Shakespeare competition, competi-tion, Susan from the Abley Inn gives a bag of candy to the nicest and most well behaved school. American lork has won the candy cornet it ion the last three years. To the students at American lork. "winning the candy" is more than just Ix'ing nice. It is alxuit unifying as a group and Incoming Ixlter people. " This year wasn't alxuit the trophy, it was alxuit unity and bonding," said the director of the American Fork drama department. de-partment. Neil Johnson. 1 lis students had the same attitude regarding their pur-Mse pur-Mse in traveling to Cedar City. "Winning at the competition was just icing on the cake," said Hecta "( hit Ixmding as a group was our primary pur-ose pur-ose tins year " Johnson has high expectations expecta-tions for Ins students, but AF High School auditorium renovations Barbara Christiansen Work is nearing completion for renovations to the auditorium audito-rium at American Fork High School. "They are almost finished." said the school's drama director direc-tor Neil Johnson, in an interview. inter-view. He said the upgrades had been needed for a long time. "The auditorium was in desperate des-perate need of renovations for years," he said. "The seats had had the bolts pulling out of the ground," he FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS SHAKESPEARE in "Romeo and Juliet," the ensemble scene. School takes first place these demands did not revolve around taking first place, but rather learning and growing. "I didr't go down to Shakespeare Shake-speare this year planning to win," said Johnson, the director direc-tor of the American Fork drama department. "We have a lot of sophomores and juniors in our program right now, so I just hoed that this competition competi-tion would be a good learning and building experience for the students." Johnson, known by his students as Mr. J, teaches his students about theater and alxuit life. "He is the best teacher that I have ever had." said Becca. "His goal as an educator is for us to leave his classroom as g(xxl people, people of integrity." integ-rity." Johnson is more than just a teacher to his students, he is their friend. "It is not so much that he is a drama teacher," said Travis lxndeen, American Fork's student hxxJy president, "he values you as a person and he wants to do what is best for his students. Teaching is almost second. try to him, what's most imxui,int is that he wants to make ou a better person." The unity that Johnson brings to his classroom was displayed in American Fork's performance at the Shake-sX'are Shake-sX'are competition, where they ix-rformed well as a group and supported each other in individual indi-vidual x?rformances. There are three areas of competition at the Shakespear said. "Some of the seats were even gone. There was graffiti on some of them." It was only through the persistence and work of Gary Rackman, the school's custodian, cus-todian, that the auditorium continued to function as long as it did. "Every time the bond would come through or there was money available, the auditorium audito-rium was doing well enough because Gary was maintaining it," Johnson said. "He used a lot of his expertise to make it workable." When the time came to COMPETITION ean festival: the ensemble scene, duostrios and monologues. mono-logues. Travis Landeen and Hannah Walker, who is the student body vice president, placed third in their duo scene, "Taming of the Shrew." Kaelie Pellegrini, a junior, reaped the rewards of her hard work, sweeping the solo competition winning both the Larry Lott and Barbara Barrett award. The Larry Lott award, which she won by her performance perfor-mance as the leading lady in Romeo and Juliet, is given to the best actress in an ensemble scene. Kaelie was also recognized recog-nized as one of the two highest scoring juniors in the mono-act or duotrio scenes and received a $500 scholarship to the Festival's Festi-val's Actor Training Program next summer. The ensemble scene, "Romeo "Ro-meo and Juliet," did not place, but Johnson believes that his students did a beautiful job at portraying this classic Shakespeare Shake-speare play. "Romeo and Juliet was a beautiful play." said Johnson. "I am normally not a romance director, but the students did a great job and really made me look good." Though the ensemble scene did not place, the students were proud of their performance perfor-mance on and off stage. "After we completed our ensemble en-semble scene we knew that it wasn't as good as a few of the other performances," said Travis, Tra-vis, "but the way that we had come together as a group, especially es-pecially from where we started begin the work, the officials chose immediate needs first, Johnson said. "There were items that needed to be brought up to safety codes." he said. "We went systematically through the system, working on the sound and electrical systems." That was last spring before school let out for the summer break. Seats in the auditorium were of the old-fashioned metal type, but experience from other schools which had updated theirs prompted American Fork High School 1 i Courtesy Photo Winning at the competition was just icing on the cake. Our bonding as a group was our primary purpose this year. Becca Ingram AMERICAN FORK DRAMA COUNCIL PRESIDENT at, was even more rewarding. That w-as what we had come down there to do." A combination of the points received from these three areas led to American Fork receiving the first place sweepstakes sweep-stakes award in the Cambridge, Cam-bridge, tying with Tuacahn High, a school for the performing perform-ing arts in St. George. Other competitions at the festival included the technical competition, specializing in props, set work, audio, cos-, tumes and lighting, as well as a dancechoreography competition competi-tion in which the performers compete with interpretive dances inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. to keep theirs, since the metal chairs were longer lasting. "We chose to refurbish the seats we have," Johnson said. They have had black paint on the backs and have new red upholstery. A black curtain for the stage has been ordered, but has not yet arrived. Johnson and others built a temporary apron which added about 12 feet to the front of the stage. This was done a couple of years ago, but a permanent per-manent version will be added with the upgrade. American Fork High School I Dance planned A stomp will be held after the AF vs. Lone Peak football game tomorrow night. Tickets can be purchased at the door and will be $3 with an activity card and $5 without. Only AFT1S students will be permitted per-mitted at the dance. Junior high and visiting school students stu-dents will not be admitted. I Mr. Caveman The Mr. Caveman pageant will be next Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium. Tickets Tick-ets prices are $5 in advance, $6 at the door or $15 for a family pass. I Band prepares for regional re-gional tour The marching march-ing band will depart for the Bands of America Western Regional Tour to Southern California next week. The tour will wrap up another great marching band season. Marching band members thank teachers, parents and patrons for their continued support. I Attendance appeals The next available attendance atten-dance appeals appointments will be Nov. 15. Only five appointments ap-pointments will be available and can be scheduled by calling call-ing the attendance secretary, Claudia Ostergaard at 756-8547 756-8547 ext. 310. Appointments will begin at 7 a.m. The Oct. 25 attendance appeals is full. American Fork Junior High School I Rehearsal The concert band will have an early morning morn-ing rehearsal next Tuesday. All concert band members should be in attendance. I Choir concert A choir benefit concert will be next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the auditorium. audi-torium. t Term will end Parents and students are reminded that the first term ends Oct. 27. Students should plan to meet this deadline by having all work turned in to their teachers. Barratt Elementary School I Reflections program Students are encouraged to participate in the PTA Reflections Re-flections program. The theme for this year is "My Favorite Place . . ." Students can select se-lect from several categories including literature, photography, photog-raphy, musical composition, visual arts, choreography dance, filmvideo, theater, caveman JAKE PACKER Good Morning Cavemen! Wow, what an amazing day, there are a lot of things going on at the high school. Mr. Caveman is coming up all of you should come and watch. It is going to be amazing. amaz-ing. Also, Halloween will be here soon, that is pretty exciting. There will be "haunted hallways" hall-ways" at the school. The SBOs are busy preparing the "scary" room we are in charge of. Tomorrow is the big football game against Lone Peak. This game is huge; Lone Peak is really re-ally good We need all of you cavemen out there to come and cheer us on. The football team loves to have you there cheering. Also for all you dancers, there will be a dance nearing completion I iL BARBARA CHRISTIANSENNorth County Dave Bagshaw of Commercial Flooring installs carpeting in the auditorium of American Fork High School and 3-dimensional artistic creations. Entry forms and rules can be picked up in the reflections binder in the office. Entries that do not adhere to the rules will not be judged. The deadline dead-line for all entries is Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. Those who wish to see what other kids did last year may visit the Reflections on-line gallery at www.pta. orgreflections06 , Forbes Elementary School t Early out day Parents are asked to remember that every Monday is early out day. They should make arrangements ar-rangements to meet their students stu-dents early out schedule. I Take Home Reading The "Take Home Reading" program has begun. Volunteers Volun-teers are still needed to help change out books. Help is need Monday through Friday from 8:30-10:30 a.m. or from 1- 2 p.m. Anyone interested and able to volunteer is asked to call either Arlynne at 756-7430 756-7430 or 372-0925 or Jennifer at 4924464. I School pictures School picture day is coming up on Oct. 27. Picture packet information in-formation will be sent home with students. Any student desiring to purchase a picture pic-ture packet must bring their money on picture day. No exceptions will be made. A make up picture day will be scheduled for a later date for any students who are absent Oct. 27. Legacy Elementary School Red Ribbon Week Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated cele-brated next week, Oct. 23-27. Many activities will be held to help students understand the purpose of Red Ribbon Week, which is to prevent drug abuse and violence. Families are encouraged to discuss the weeks events with their children. I Field trip The fourth-grade fourth-grade students will go on a field trip to "This is the Place" monument next Tuesday. Shelley Elementary School I Swim lessons Sixth-grade Sixth-grade swim lessons for both tracks continue this week and next. Remaining swim dates are Oct. 19, 24 and 26. after the game. It will be a blast, come and show us how you can dance. The end of the term is coming com-ing up so any of you that aren't satisfied with your grades better start working hard and getting things turned in fast. All you seniors, our counselors have worked hard to get all the colleges to come and talk to us, don't procrastinate procras-tinate start thinking about college and start applying and looking for scholarships. I would like to give a "shout out!" to my fellow SBOs, they are working really hard for you Cavemen; they do a lot and they sacrifice to try and help you. They are to almost every event at the high school and spend a lot of time supporting all events. So if you see any of them just go and give them a hug and say thanks. We always love it when someone tells us thank you. Well, I will see you at school Signing off. POOR |