Where would Spanish Fork Junior High be without an amazing Spanish language program to help us fulfill our namesake?  When Senor Whitney left us last year we worried but all was not lost—this year we have an outstanding new teacher—Mr. Moss to carry on our proud Spanish tradition!

Coach “Whites” (a.k.a. Jeffrey Nelson) got his nickname from having almost pure white hair until he was ten years old.  His brother also started calling him Whites after Yankee great Whitey Ford.  But maybe now we should start calling him “Salt and Pepper” because of his more established appearance.

Two Spanish Fork Junior High wrestlers place at the State Tournament held at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, Utah, recently.  Jaxon VanTassell is in 7th grade and is a first-year wrestler, he picked up the sport very quickly.   He placed 4th in his division.  Jaxon’s overall record of 21 wins and 19 losses plus placing in 5 tournaments this year is a great achievement! 

The 2011-2012 Spanish Fork Junior High School girls basketball team placed 5th in the Nebo Tournament two weeks ago by losing a close game against Diamond Fork Junior High School.  Summer Lytle said that everyone got to play in the tournament, and they all played well: "It was a team effort."  Reflecting on the season, Rachel Critchfield said, "When we came together, we won games, but when we didn't act like a team, we lost."  Devri Adams helped win games with her rebounding and hard play.  Sydnie Petersen earned the nickname "Fredette" for her scoring.

The Spanish Fork Junior High School’s boys basketball team won the ninth-grade Nebo School District Championship game against Payson Junior High School in triple over-time Thursday night in the Spanish Fork High School gym, 69 to 61.  Coach Cory Morgan was so proud of his team saying it was a complete team effort.  With Parker Bowman and Chad Peterson fouling out, Tanner Nielson came off the bench in the 3rd overtime to hit two 3-pointers and 2 free-throws to give the Lobos their howling victory! 

Here are the results from the science fair:

8th Grade

Overall best: Sally Hansen, Elise Wilson, Sara White (team)

1st Place: Hannah Hughes

2nd Place: Janelle Slater

3rd Place: Madison Meuter, McKinley Roundy, Sophie McAllister (team)

9th Grade

Overall best: Dalan Nelson

1st Place: Seth Erickson, Ethan Adams (team)

2nd Place: Andrea Findlay

3rd Place: Katelyn Higginson, Alison Lemon (team)

If you have any of these students, congratulate them for their hard work.

All students at Spanish Fork Jr. High have been learning about plagarism the past week. Mrs. Thompson challenged her 2nd period English class to compose some poems and paragraphs about plagarism. Here is a sample of some of their work:

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is snarky

It smells like a humid computer lab, full of procrastinators.

It tastes like bile burning in your throat.

It sounds like click!click!click! Copy and Paste.

It feels like receiving a gold medal for a race you didn't run.

The Choir Program at Spanish Fork Junior High had an exciting and busy time in December.  On December 14th they performed a fantastic Concert with singing, dancing, and soloists including a guest performer Brent LeBaron from Lehi .  With Mrs. Hopkins as the director and Marnae Trotter as the accompanist this performance was a sure winner!  The opening song included all the choirs singing Bach’s “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” in it’s original language: German.  Also included were students from the Orchestra class and Mr.

7th grade Utah Studies students have been anxiously awaiting the big announcement.  Why?  Because Mr. Roberts and Mr. Hubbard have finally tallied the results for the very first The Amazing Race—Utah!  Between September and December, Utah Studies students were competing to see who would visit 25 amazing places in Utah with their families and friends. And the winners are:

 #1 Jantzen Jolly visited an amazing 22 of the 25 Amazing Race places in Utah!

#2  McKenna Hall visited 16 Amazing Race places.

Riley Daniels WINS SPANISH FORK JR. HIGH’S GEOGRAPHIC BEE

Moves One Step Closer to $25,000 College Scholarship