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Show 111 uMir Thursday, February 19, 2009 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 5 Liy Vr v. S r....-ziV fi. . .' ..' J 0 More on Page 6 NEWS AND IDEAS FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS Am. Heritage School accommodates growth 25,000 square foot addition planned Ashley King NORTH COUNTY STAFF On Feb. 11, Principal Grant Beckwith announced in a news conference that the American Heritage School is undergoing several developments which will facilitate meeting goals in the mission statement, including reaching out worldwide. The American Heritage School opened its doors in 1970, teaching teach-ing a small number of students in an old Pleasant Grove church. Since that time the school has seen varying degrees of growth and progress, which have brought it to its present size and location of nearly 500 students in a building east of the Mount Timpanogos IDS Temple. Planned improvements: Completion of a $4 million construction project, currently under way; I Acquisition of land north of the school, scheduled to close in March; I Addition of a high school program, pro-gram, offering grades 9-11 beginning begin-ning fall of 2009 and 12th grade in fall of 2010; I Addition of extra classes in our elementary school to accommodate accom-modate demand that exceeds our current capacity; I Acquisition of the former Music School orchestras; Launch of a Web-enabled distance learning program, currently cur-rently in a pilot phase. Because of high demand for the education that the American Heritage School provides, the school has been working on additions. ad-ditions. The project, which is ap- . ' ' f - - I n - - -a ' ASHLEY KINQNorth County Principal Grant Beckwith announces several developments for American Heritage School. proximately 25,000 square feet, will soon be complete, will add much-needed classrooms, as well and an orchestra room, reading recovery room and other facilities facili-ties for the students and faculty. To ensure room for further growth, the school is in the process of acquiring "one acre immediately to the north of the school," said Beckwith. It will be used as additional parking and green space for the school. Beckwith also stated that school administrators "are considering the possibility of acquiring more land in other locations to facilitate facili-tate present and future growth." With the growing size of the school, additional classes will be added, enabling students to attend high school at American Heritage School. The first high school class will graduate in 2011. The High school grades will be significantly smaller than the middle and elementary grades. "One of the reasons," said Vice Principal Leland Anderson, "is because many families choose to come just for elementary school. We don't have some things that public high school offers." The administration at American Ameri-can Heritage School will offer many languages through the Rosetta Stone program, and they plan to have a small sports program. pro-gram. "Our sports program will be more participative than competitive," com-petitive," Beckwith said. "We will do them on a small scale with other private and charter schools." The elementary program will add one additional class in the lower levels, with additional classes being added yearly. "We'll roll up, an extra class per grade each year," Anderson said. Students now also have the opportunity op-portunity to participate in further music curriculum with the acqui sition of the orchestras from The Music School, which closed its doors in 2008. "American Heritage School became be-came the new sponsor and parent par-ent organization for one of the finest youth orchestra programs in the state of Utah ... led by accomplished orchestra conductors conduc-tors Kayson Brown and Denise Willey, both of whom joined the faculty at American Heritage School," Beckwith said. "The American Heritage Philharmonic Phil-harmonic will partner this year with the Utah Symphony, the Deer Valley Music Festival, the widely -acclaimed Five Browns, and the BYU-Idaho Orchestras," Beckwith said. Members of the orchestras need not attend American Heritage Heri-tage Academy, but by bringing the conductors on as faculty, students stu-dents will be given musical training train-ing and opportunities that were not previously available. The addit ion of The Music School orchestras helps the students stu-dents and faculty of the American Ameri-can Heritage School reach out to the community, but they hope to do that to a further extent through their Distance Learning Initiative which is currently in its pilot stage. The program "provides "pro-vides access to our teachers and programs via Web-enabled, interactive, in-teractive, classroom technology," Beckwith said. "Seven students in Idaho and Utah are currently participating in the pilot program, pro-gram, and we hope to make the distance learning product available avail-able to the general public in the fall of 20 10." "What is most newsworthy newswor-thy about American Heritage School is the kind of education that happens here: faith-based, character-focused, principle-approach education in a mentoring atmosphere that fosters research and reasoning from moral principles," prin-ciples," Beckwith said. cavemarl . . ., . . i is .. 2 Cassi Ruchti After-school jobs are a big part of most students' agendas here at AFHS, but those who spend their time teaching are in the minority. minor-ity. These students not only take pride in what they know, but also use their knowledge to help others succeed in dancing, piano, and in other music and art areas. Teaching private lessons can be pretty stressful. These students spend from five to seven-and-a-half hours a week teaching those who need their help. Those hours are spent teaching a variety of ages. "My youngest is 6, and my oldest is 15," said senior Bethany Richards, a piano teacher. Teaching is not all just fun and games, though. Senior Se-nior Jill McGeary, a dance teacher, said the hardest part is "when the students don't listen or pay attention." atten-tion." Being able to teach can be very rewarding as well as stressful. Junior Janessa Swensen, a violin and piano teacher, said she likes teaching, teach-ing, especially "when the students can accomplish something that's hard for them." Jill agreed, saying her favorite part is "when they understand and master something and how excited they get." Along with knowing what they are going to teach, there are other characteristics char-acteristics that teachers must have. Jill and Janessa agree on this as well. Patience Pa-tience is one of the main characteristics each teacher should have. Bethany thinks that you also need to "know how to teach because just being good at what you teach doesn't work. I've been teaching since I was 12 and would only coasider myself a good teacher about a year ago." Being a good teacher is a big part of how students will learn from you, but they also have to practice and want to become better. bet-ter. Some of these student teachers have reward systems to persuade their students to practice or want to learn. When asked what her reward system was, Bethany answered, "When they pass off their flashcards within a certain amount of time they are rewarded." Bethany, along with telling tell-ing about her reward system, sys-tem, added this for advice, "Listen to those that are teaching around you. Remember Re-member what you liked and didn't like." "Make sure you can find something positive to say before you say something negative," Jenessa added. Jill's advice to those who want to become teachers was, "Patience is the biggest thing. Depending on the age of the students is how you can tell how hard to push them and what criticism you can give them. You also have to want to do it. You have to love each student even if they're the most obnoxious student in the world. Make sure you give 100 percent all the time." Through teaching those around them these Cavemen Cave-men have strengthened their talents and learned how to teach. They have come together with others oth-ers in our community and, possibly future or present Cavemen, to better our society so-ciety and help those in need of understanding of dance, music and art. What matters to you, DoU!i&HcmU heraldextra .com al it . it... 1-1. MENTION THIS AD AND . WE'LL OIVE YOU A 20 BONUS PER POUND ON ALUMINUM CANS Looking for a close convenient place to turn your scrap into tash. We buy all types of Metals, Steel, Autos, Appliances, Aluminum, Alumlnun Cans, Copper, Brass, Radiators, Stainless Steel, and Batteries. We offer Competitive Prices, Fast Friendly Service, and a True Commitment to our Customers, Stop by and Give Us A Try! 500 No. Geneva Rd. 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