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!

Congratulations to the Panther Praise Winners for the week of March 24th-28th

Front Row: Malachi West (9th)--Mrs. Wilson, McCoy Tanner (7th)--Mrs. Hanks, Jordee Anderson (8th)--Mrs. Collings

Middle Row: Sariah Weekley (8th)--Mr. White, Joquelle Huff (9th)--Mrs. Bennett

Back Row: Alondra Rodriquez (9th)--Ms. Nielson, Cordell Clinger (7th)--Mrs. Isakson, Tristin Lee (8th)--Mrs. Hanks

Absent: Jessica Villatoro (7th)--Mr. Busath

We want to congratulate the following students who competed at the Central Utah Science and Engineering Fair held at BYU. Hannah Wheelwright won the American Meteorological Society award and Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics award. Alex Christensen placed third in the category of computer science for senior division and Jaquelle Huff, Brinley Day and Bailee Phillips placed second in the category of animal science for senior division.

We are proud to announce that Mt. Nebo JHS chess team took 4th place at this year’s Utah Junior High State chess tournament. The team was led by Captain Daniel Thomson who placed third overall in the 9th grade division. Mason Lindstrom placed 10th overall in the 8th grade division and Eliza Lindstrom and Skyler Walden both received medals for their games won. We congratulate these students on a job well done and for representing our school so well.

Congratulations to our Panther Praise Winners for the week of March 10th-14th

Jose Madrigal (9th), Tehya Amundsen (9th), Raysha Riley (7th), Samantha Garner (7th), Zoe Peterson (8th), Dane Dutson (8th), Nick Bingham (7th), Christian West (9th)

The following students placed at this year’s annual Utah Underwater Robotics Competition: Best poster went to Jonathan Rodriquez, Jose Leiva and Geraldo Zavala. Best design was awarded to Jessica Edmondson, Nathan Vance and Alyssa Sutton. Second place in the open competition was awarded to Sarai Monjarez, Sharon Woodhouse, Ana Bermudez and Baylee Ewell. First place in the open competition was awarded to Malachi West, Christian West, and Kamen Kent. We want to congratulate all of these students on a job well done along with all those who competed at the Lehi Legacy Center.