April 2014

Congratulations to our students of the month for April and May. Below are the statements written by the teachers that nominated them:

7th Grade: Bailey Savage--Bailey is always smiling and happy. She loves to help other students and she is a great student hereself. What an example!

8th Grade: Haillie Wimmer--Haillie is an excellent example to other students. She works hard, is friendly, and doesn't allow herself to be distracted in class. She is a pleasure to teach.

9th Grade: Kindra Lundell--Kindra has been working really hard in all of her classes and she is such a good friend to other students. She is always willing to help and is just awesome.

Congratulations to our panther praise winners for the week of April 14th - 18th.

All of the 7th graders were nominated by Mrs. Isakson:  Terry Crow, Madison Hutchings, Jordan Mathews

8th Graders:  Jennifer Woodhall--Mr. Deming, Seydy Varela--Mrs. Solorzano, Tanner Pyne--Mrs. Bennett

All of the 9th graders were nominated by Mrs. Solorzano: Lizbeth Tinoco, Jose Leiva, Jonathan Rodriguez

The Mt. Nebo Junior High HOPE Squad is headed up by one of our counselors, Mr. Hiatt. Students that are selected for the HOPE Squad were nominated by their peers as someone they can talk to, and who is friendly and kind to others. The purpose of the HOPE Squad is to train squad members in leadership and suicide awareness in order to assist and help peers who are suffering from depression or who may be suicidal. We are committed to empowering students to seek help and save a life.  HOPE Squads are an important link to school-based suicide prevention programs; they are the eyes and ears of our student body.

This week is the National Librarian week and we want to thank Mrs. Durrant for all she does for our school! She has so much knowledge about the books available in our library and knows what our students like to read. She is also getting an e-book system set up for our students and has organized reading baskets for every classroom. She does all this and so many more things to help our school. Thank you Mrs. Durrant!

On Wednesday, March 26th our 7th grade students had the opportunity to participate in Reality Town.  Before entering the "Reality Town" in our gym, students received a Student Handbook and Personalized Pay stub which contained information about their Reality Town family; their spouse, or lack thereof, and the ages and gender of their children. As part of the preparation for the Reality Town Simulation, students learned about loans and other expenses during their CTE class.

In the Reality Town students made financial decisions regarding their Reality Town family and their monthly expenditures as they visited 22 different business that had been set up around the gym including groceries, housing, medical office, child care, etc. which were staffed by parent volunteers, student council members, and school faculty. 

Congratulations to the following students for being selected panther praise winners for the week of March 31st to April 4th.

7th Grade: Shae Davenport--Ms. Nielson, Hunter Butterfield--Ms. Nielson, Theron Johnson--Mrs. Olsen

8th Grade: Hunter Holden--Ms. Nielson, Ashtyn Dutson--Mrs. Kirby, Sydnee Garrett--Ms. Nielson

9th Grade: Sam Coleman--Ms. Nielson, Chaz Leon--Ms. Nielson, Brinley Day--Ms. Nielson

Congratulations to Mr. Wright, winner of this year's Crystal Apple Award.  Horace Mann representatives partner with local school administrators each year to sponsor the Crystal Apple Award program for recognizing teaching excellence.
Mr. Wright is passionate about science and how it specifically, and education in general can help his students succeed. He is excellent at engaging his students and making them see the big picture of why they are learning as well as the details of his subject.  Mr. Wright is a scholar who is excited about learning new things and delving deeply into many aspects of science and history. Outside of his classes, Kirk is heavily involved in the science fair, taking the lead in running it for our school for the last seven years. He pushes his students to accomplish things that they didn't know they were capable of as they complete their science fair or other science learning projects. Many of his students have received awards at a district and regional level and Kirk always makes a point of finding and congratulating former students who carry this tradition into their high school careers. In addition to the science fair, Kirk has been an advisor for the chess club and the stem club and takes students to district and regional level competitions for these too.
Kirk’s students appreciate him as a teacher and enjoy his classes. When asked about his class, almost all of the mentioned that he made learning science fun. Some of the following things they said about him illustrate why Kirk is such a great teacher:
“He always stops and makes sure that even the one person who doesn't understand does get it in the end.”
“He is hilarious and very great at explaining the subject in Biology.”“He is always super excited about what he is teaching which in turn makes us the students excited.”
“He’s pretty chill. Probably the Chillest science teacher on planet earth. And if there is life elsewhere like he has taught us then he is probably cooler than those teachers too.”

Today our students were able to attend a presentation by Judge Sam Alba.  The character of Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite was loosely based on his experience in high school. Judge Alba was able to share his story and talked about how he grew up in Mexico and came to the United States as a migrant worker when he was a young man. He is the oldest of 12 children, and all of the 9 that are living have attended college. His family eventually moved to Preston, ID when he was in the 9th grade.  A friend told him to run for Sophomore class president at Preston High School and he won! He continued his education at Utah State University and then received his law degree from Arizona State University. He worked for the US Attorney's office and then became a federal magistrate judge.  Judge Alba encouraged all of our students to attend college. He said, "You can make your life and your education anything you are willing to make it." 

Thanks to Judge Alba for presenting to our students, and to Mrs. McClain for inviting him to our school!