BY ALLYSON CHRISTIANSEN

As we continue on through our school year, many NS students are getting closer and closer to going to college and start-ing a career. It is because of this that our school counselors dedicated a whole week to college and career preparedness. This week wasn’t just dedicated to juniors and seniors. “We’re trying to get students thinking beyond graduation,” said O’Dee Hansen, counselor. “We want students to extend their education.” During advisory, students were given the opportunity to write down any ques-tions they had for our counselors. Stu-dents were also able to go around and pick up “scholarships” from teachers. These scholarships offered things from extra-credit points to cake. This benefitted students by helping them understand the process of scholarships. Throughout the week, teachers and students were able to support their fa-vorite colleges. During class, teachers answered questions and talked about the importance of graduation and going to college. “I feel that College and Career Week went great,” said VP, Nan Ault. “It was the first year that we did it, and there will be more years to come. We will find new ways to make that week better. There are always adjustments to be made.” “What we don’t realize is that our teachers are great tools,” said Hansen. “Our faculty is a great source to all the dif-ferent colleges.” Another thing we don’t realize is that our peers also help us through the journey of choosing your college and future ca-reer. “I plan on going to SUU or Dixie with Rhett Bird,” said Aaron Lee, senior. “We are also planning on going into the same profession.” Counselors also prepared posters for

students to share their future plans. “The purpose of having the ‘What Are You Doing After High School?’ posters is so that students who don’t know what profession they’re going to go into can get ideas from their peers,” said Hansen. “This will hopefully spark up their imagination and get them thinking about their career.” Another event to help with college and career selection was an assembly with a representative from monster.com. Shaun Cain gave a presentation to the ju-niors and seniors. He originally planned on using many videos during his presenta-tion, however, with the power outage, that wasn’t possible. Juniors and seniors were given dif-ferent presentations. “For the juniors the presentation was based more on college selection,” said Hansen. “But for seniors he focused more on career selection.” The presentation also included giv-ing students “winning” characteristics to help them throughout the rest of their life. Some of these characteristics were com-munication, leaderships, logic, and effort. Another first this year, NS hosted a ca-reer fair. By doing this students were able to talk to and get advice from representa-

tives of different professions. There were more than 35 careers represented, from cosmetologist to radiologist to lawyer. “The career fair was cool and interest-ing,” said Shelby Rasmussen, sophomore. “It gave me a different perspective on what I want to do for a career.” “The career fair did fairly well,” said Hansen. “I wish that we could have had more representatives for careers. Other than that, I thought it went better than planned.” The success of College and Career Readiness Week depended on participa-tion. Being that this was the first time an entire week was used to prepare students for college, there were a few bumps. After a while, however, the counselors are ex-pecting and hoping that students will take advantage of it. “College and Career Readiness Week really helped me understand the back-ground of careers,” said Rasmussen. “It also helped me get a better plan for col-lege.” “I really appreciate the participation of the teachers,” said Hansen. “It really made a difference that they made it a point to have discussions about college.”

Contents News.....................1 Fea-tures................5

Sports...................9 A & E.................12

Crossword..........15

By the Numbers:

Number of years that Mr.

Staker has been teaching.

Number of students running

for most preferred man.

Ratio of TOMs bought and

TOMs given away.

Average GPA of the senior

class

6

36

1-1

2.91

College-career week educates students

photo by Allyson ChristiansenMatthew Briggs, a DWR officer, teaches students about his job during the re-cent career fair at NS. More than 35 careers were represented in the fair.

2

BY DUSTIN ALLRED

If anyone were to walk around NS high school, he would be able to see many things that the school is in need of. Many of these needs are costly, and because of the expense the school cannot afford to get these things taken care of. But now be-cause of the North Sanpete Alumni Foun-dation (NSAF), changes that will better our school may be coming down the pipe-line a lot faster than they normally would.

The process of creating the NSAF was started by a group of concerned NS resi-dents and alumni who saw a need at the school and wanted to make a difference.“I guess this all got started a few years ago when a few of us were sitting at a football game,” said Jeff Walker, chair of the NSAF. “We could see a lot of different things that the school needed help in, and we thought that as alumni, the best thing that we could do is to start an alumni foundation and start soliciting funds from the alumni that have graduated from NS.”

This is the first year that the founda-tion has been able to actively start solicit-ing funds for the school. But even in that short amount of time, the foundations im-pact can already be seen at NS. The football team’s new locker room was funded by the alumni foundation. It’s a great example of how the alumni foun-dation saw a need and then stepped up to help. “The locker room started as my proj-ect,” said Sharon Christensen, athletic director at NS. “Then as we got it going, others hopped on and made it much bet-ter than we had originally planned for it.” The NSAF provided the funding for the new locker room and Kyle Anderson oversaw the construction as a part of his Eagle Scout project.“We just felt like the new coach could use some extra help,” said Dennis Slack, vice chair of the alumni foundation. “We felt that if we could get some contributions from some interested people and alumni, we could do something to help his team.” The administration at NS has certain-ly seen the impact of the alumni founda-tion, and they appreciate the community

support at the high school.“There was a big push to get things done, and they certainly saw a great need,” said Nan Ault, vice principal at NS. “You had all of these alumni and parents coming together to try to make sure things hap-pened.”Athletics are certainly not the only place that the foundation is looking to help. They have already made donations to the drama and music departments and they want to be able to help in all areas of the school. “We’re not just looking to help with the athletics,” said Slack. “We want help anywhere we can.” “We’re just here to help the students.”The foundation is made up of members from all over NS. Walker feels that their success so far is due largely to the group of people they have helping. “We’ve tried to get a few people from each community to be a part of the foun-dation so that we are well rounded and

also get people who are interested in all of the different areas of sports and academ-ics.” “Because of the group of people we have, everybody felt that this was some-thing worthwhile.” The foundation set a goal of soliciting fifty-thousand dollars this year to help the school. To reach this goal, the foundation is going to start a mailing campaign to more aggressively seek donations. “We came up with a letter which we will be sending out to alumni,” said Walker. “[In this letter] we listed what our goals and values were in trying to help North Sanpete become the best that they can be.” The foundation members know that this is not the first time that donations have been made to NS, but they feel that their contributions will build on what oth-ers have done.“We realize that there have been a lot of individuals who have contributed a lot of money over the years, and we wanted

to make sure that we weren’t stepping on toes,” said Walker. “We’re on board to help and assist in what they’ve been doing over the years and try to add to that.” The foundation hopes that if they can get their message out into the public, and receive some publicity, the alumni foun-dation can become a steadfast asset to the high school. “If we can just get people to see what we are doing, we feel that this will be very successful and that this will be something that will be ongoing and will be here for years to come,” Now as the foundation tries to im-prove NS, they are appreciative to every-one who has given them support. They hope that they can make the alumni foun-dation a permanent fixture that will be beneficial to students at NS. “We appreciate all the support that everyone has given to us up to this point,” said Walker.

Alumni donate money, school chooses to build lockers

photo by Dustin AllredThese new lockers were purchased using money recieved from the North Sanpete Alumni Foundation.

BY MAREN ANDERSEN

This week, six senior boys are vying for the title of “Most Preferred Man.” The week of Preference is always a busy and exciting time for many students.

In order to receive more votes, the six boys were each voted on some physical as-pects of themselves. So far, they have been voted on best eyes and best “guns.” They will also be voted on best smile and best abs.

All the members of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FC-CLA) have been in charge of Preference for a long time.

FCCLA used to be called FHA, which stands for Future Homemakers of Ameri-ca. Since women are generally known for being homemakers, the members of FHA decided it was time to switch it up a bit, and have the men do some homemaking for a change.

At the beginning of the week, the six boys were required to make cupcakes to sell at lunch during school. The boys will also have to take home a simulation baby from the child development room for the night.

On Friday, there will be an assem-bly during flex. A video will be shown,

and winners for best eyes, best guns, best smile, and best abs will be announced. The six boys will also find out who did the best with the simulation babies they had to take home. The winner for this year’s Most Pre-ferred Man will be revealed at the dance. Preference is usually a successful, and good money-making dance, since many students like to get involved. “We usually get a really good at-tendance for Preference,” said Auralee Brooks, FCCLA advisor. “It’s the first date dance, it’s girls’ choice, and the girls get re-ally excited to dress up.” FCCLA puts a lot of work and effort into making Preference possible, but many of the members say it’s fun and worth it in the end. “It’s the 2nd biggest dance of the year, and it takes a lot of work,” said Lynsie Clark, FCCLA president, “but once ev-erything’s ready to go, I can just dance and have fun.” The theme for Preference this year is “Alice in Wonderland.” The dance will be on Saturday from 8-11:00 p.m. The cost is $8 for couples, and $5 for singles.

3

BY TYLER GLAD

NS Times, the schools student run newspaper, is now online. There were many reasons that contributed to the cre-ation of this site.

“I think accessibility is the most rel-evant reason,” said Ben Cox, the journal-ism advisor. Cox talks about journalism students who, while living away from San-pete, have been looking for ways to read the newspaper that they used to work on. The website is a remedy to this problem, as well as problems that the journalism themselves faced. “[The website] has benefits for the class,” Cox said, “We can actually print

more stories online than we can with the print edition. Every page we put in the pa-per costs money. Online we can put every-thing.” Students have shown positive opin-ions about the online news. Tanner Spaulding, a senior at NS, said, “I think its fancy. Makes me feel so-phisticated being in this hoity-toity school who’s newspaper is on the internet.” Student who have heard the news usually express these kinds of responses, although their favorite positive is the abil-ity to access the site anywhere. “It’s sweet,” said Anderson Workman, a freshman at NS, “now I can look it up at home.”

Students who learn about he site are usually impressed, but most of the student body hasn’t received any news about the site. Jacob Chapman, a sophomore at NS, is in charge of the creation of the website. “We use Wordpress to run the site,” Chapman said, “Its an open source publi-cation platform.” This means that Word-press is a program specially designed to assist in the creation of a fully functional interactive site. Chapman was put in charge of this project by Cox, who chose him because of what he had heard about his skills. “He knows so much more than I do,” Cox siad, “He is self motivated. I just turn

him loose.” Chapman enjoys making the site and works on it during much of his free time. Chapman will be here for the next few years, so Cox is hoping to see the site evolve over time. “I hope that we can get some interac-tive features such as opinion polls,” said Cox. Although the progress is expected to be slow, it is coming. NS Times going online is a branch of the newspaper, but the journalism staff did consider going completely over to a web based paper. “There was an adverse reaction,” said Cox, “the biggest problem would be losing readers.” Despite the cost, the NS Times will be printing every month.

School newspaper adds webpage as avenue for distributing news

Preference dance brings competition

“I‛m charming and nice and actually

talk to other girls.”

I should be voted “Most Preferred Man”B e c a u s e . . . .

“I‛m an intergalactic god.”

“I can play the guitar and sing.”

“I‛m really nice.”“I‛m freaking awesome at everything.”

“I‛m tall, dark, and handsome.”

Caden Birch Kyle Seely Kole Christiansen

Tanner Spaulding Cameron Sego Rhett Bird

Read more stories online at --

www.nstimes.usphotos by Elizabeth Peel

4

BY DUSTIN ALLRED

The holiday season is right around the corner. It’s a wonderful time for most people, with cheer abounding. As we near Christmas, everywhere you go, the phrase “Merry Christmas” seems to float through the air as people all around you give and receive that greeting. Or will it? I was channel surfing on my TV the other night and I came across a news story associated with Christmas. I was taken aback when before the story even started, the anchorman prefaced the story by say-ing that the story contains material related to Christmas, and the station hopes not to offend anyone with the stories content. I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked that I almost didn’t hear what the actual

story was actually about. What in the world has society come to? Now we can’t even talk about Christmas without having to worry about offending people? It just doesn’t sit right with me. If the press has to worry about offend-ing people by mentioning Christmas, how long is it going to take before normal citi-zens can’t mention Christmas without the fear of offending. Now are we going to have to worry about being sued by someone for giving them a friendly merry Christmas? What ever happened to freedom of speech, free-dom of religion, and even freedom of the press? What if a teacher wisher their students a merry Christmas? Is that just going to be a Supreme Court case waiting to hap-

pen? How long is it going to take before Christmas décor is made illegal at schools because it becomes an issue with separa-tion of church and state? Don’t get me wrong, I am in full sup-port the idea that people shouldn’t have to have a religion or an idea thrust upon them, but in a much larger sense, people shouldn’t have what they say restricted because someone else doesn’t agree with what they are saying. Furthermore, even if we put religion aside, Christmas is a national holiday. To a certain extent, there isn’t much differ-ence talking about Christmas and talking about the Fourth of July. It’s crazy to me, worrying about the simple things that may offend. Maybe the answer is to start celebrating every single

holiday to the fullest, religious or not. We could have parties for Columbus Day, Kwanzaa, and even the summer sol-stice. Let’s start with Hanukah. You bring the minorah and I’ll bring the dreidel.

Religious holidays, people taking offense

Editor-in-ChiefDustin Allred

Managing EditorsTyler Glad

Alex Sorensen

NewsAllyson Christiansen,

editorMaren Andersen

Tiffany ChristensenDeborah Peel

Tyler Glad

FeaturesElizabeth Peel,

editorKaylee Holgreen

Alex SorensenHelen Hatfield

A&EKaytie Nielsen,

editorMatt Workman Andrew FryerAnnie Cook

Kayla Nielsen

SportsMandy Peckham,

editorAustin HadleyKenzie Nunley

Cassi DavisGeorgie Ivie

Layout SpecialistLevi Stum

Web-Page DesignJacob Chapman

NS times staff

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90 N State St. (435) 462-3002

SMILEBrianSorensen Dentistry

Call (435) 462-2491

By Elizabeth Peel

When Ed Staker graduated with is degree in biology, he had never considered being a teach-er.

He thought his teaching cer-tificate might be a good thing to have. Now, as a result of that de-cision, he is one of the most well-known teachers at NS.

The interest that he has in science was sparked by his inter-est in the world around him.

“I’m just interested in life,” Staker said. “Things that affect life, and that’s science.”

Staker’s love for life and sci-ence has given him a desire to share that love with others. His favorite thing about teaching at NS is being able to teach stu-dents from his own town. He is now able to teach children of his classmates and even children of former students.

“My favorite part of teach-ing is seeing students get their minds opened to things they’d never thought about and to pos-sibilities that they can do in their future,” Staker said.

Many examples of student success roam the halls of NS. O’Dee Hansen and Melanie Lee, along with more than a dozen other staff members, are former students of Staker.

Lee loved the way that he taught and his enthusiasm for the lessons. Now as a coworker she views him as a good friend. According to Lee, Staker is still very much the same as he was when she was a student at NS. “He hasn’t [changed],” Lee said. “He still wears his bow tie, and he still has his sense of hu-mor.” Current students agree with Lee.

“He’s very enthusiastic and tries to make it interesting,” said Taletta Robinett, junior. “He’s a good teacher.” Her favorite part of his class is when he makes ran-dom jokes. Madison Clawson, freshman, is in Staker’s biology class. Her favorite part of his class is that he is able to make it interesting even though it should be boring. “He’s funny and uses weird voices, so it’s fun,” Clawson said. Hansen said that much of what makes Staker a good teach-er are the expectations that he places on students. “He expects students to study for tests,” Hansen said. Many graduated students have come back to Hansen and told him that the chemistry class that they took in high school from Staker was harder than their college-level chemistry class. Hansen said Staker’s love for

the subject and for teaching made him interesting as a teacher. “Since he loved it, it made it easier for me to be interested,” Hansen said. Now Hansen believes that Staker is a great example to the other teachers of what a good educator looks like. He believes that Staker has a lot of wisdom about education and offers a good perspective to the rest of the teachers at NS. According to Staker, his suc-cess as a teacher has come from his many years of experience. He has been able to learn the tricks of what does and what doesn’t work to help students learn and succeed. Though Staker has seen his share of success, he also realizes that teaching is not all wonderful and easy. He believes that there are two major negatives that come with teaching.

He does not like “seeing kids with great potential sit there and do nothing.” “The other thing I hate is all the political and administrative nonsense that keeps creeping into teaching,” Staker said. Aside from being a teacher at NS, Staker is the junior class advisor, is in charge of the home-coming parade, is the science de-partment chair, and has been the MC for many as-semblies. Staker was the head base-ball coach for many years. In fact, the base-ball field here at NS was named after Staker be-cause he was instrumental in

its construction. He was the as-sistant basketball coach for five years, and helped with football for a short time. His heavy in-volvement is a carry over from his childhood. In high school Staker partici-pated in football, basketball, base-ball, and tennis. He had the lead role in the musical “Brigadoon” which set a precedent for future musicals. As a senior he was an SBO, a graduation speaker. and the recipient of an S-award At Snow College, Staker played with the tennis team and was the sophomore vice presi-dent. Staker’s love for biology has carried over into his personal life. He grows nine different types of berries and six varieties of grapes, some of which his students are able to enjoy during class when they are in season. He estimates that he grows about thirty dif-ferent varieties of apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, and cherries. “I like to grow things,” Staker said. “So if I think it has a chance of growing here, I try to grow it.” He enjoys experimenting with exotic fruits such as Japanese SEE “STAKER” PAGE 7

Photo by Elizabeth PeelEd Staker teaches his 1A chemistry class how to write and balance chemical equations with his right-handed marker.

6

V o i c e o f t h e M i g h t y H a w k s

Teacher changes lives of many students, past and present

Photo provided by Ed StakerPhoto taken by Staker in Yellowstone. One of Staker’s hobbies is photographing wildlife, specifically bears.

7

TOMS are changing the world one pair of shoes at a time

Picture by Helen HatfieldNS students and people all around the world sup-port the cause that TOMS has created.

plums and Asian pears. Staker not only reaches for the unknown with his

garden, but also with his photography. Each summer he travels to Yellowstone to get his “bear fix.” On the walls of his classroom he has dozens of pictures of wildlife that he has taken on these trips.

Staker has had multiple close encounters with bears over the years. Once, while walking at night he was charged by a bear. On another occasion, he saw a grizzly bear charge a group of people near him, because it wanted to cross the road where they were standing. As soon as they moved out of the way, the bear walked across the road where they had been.

This summer he was at the Power Plant above Mt. Pleasant and found himself about ten yards away from a bear. “We just stared at each other,” Staker said. “It didn’t move and I didn’t move. So finally I slowly backed away, my doggie and I, and as soon as I started to move it start-ed to move.” Staker ended up running into the same bear four other times over the course of the day. Staker lives in Mt. Pleasant with his wife, two daugh-ters, and their dog, which also happens to be a girl. He is surrounded by women. “We are very happy,” Staker said.

“We spend a lot of time together as a family, and we all like it that way.” Staker and his family enjoy living in Sanpete and hav-ing a country life. They enjoy spending time participat-ing in outdoor activities. “I love it here and I love the mountains,” Staker said, speaking of living in Mt. Pleasant. “I’m sure I could adapt to living in the city, but I’d much rather live in the country where there is room to wiggle.” Although the life he currently has is one that he never planned on, Staker says that he has no regrets. Given the opportunity, he would not change any of the decisions that he made in the past. He is pleased with the life that he has lead.

Picture taken from austinpost.com

Staker, continued from page 6

The Deer Hunt

“Hunting has given me an appreciation for the outdoors”

Senior Aaron Lee won The Big Buck Contest, sponsored by the NS times, by sending in a picture of a deer he shot. It was a 4-point with a 26-inch spread that he killed on October 23.

“There has always been a tradition of hunting in my family”

“I like to shoot stuff”

“I look forward to it every year”

By Alex Sorensen

In the fall, many significant things happen. The air turns cold and brisk, the leaves become a colorful mosaic along the mountainside, and one of the most important events for Sanpeters occurs-- the deer hunt. Those three words alone are enough to spark excitement across Sanpete County, and send camo-clad hunters rushing into the mountains in pursuit of a big buck. Obtaining a prize is not the solitary characteristic of what the essence of the deer hunt is all about though. Instead, it is a blend of many separate aspects of it that come together to form the hunt that we all know. The location is one of the many important elements of the hunt. Most hunters agree that being out in nature is one of their favorite things about hunting. “It’s fun to get out and be in the mountains,” said Brookelyn Allan, a senior at NS. Being in the mountains is not the only thing that makes hunting fun, but the company that the hunter spends time with as well. Many NS students often go hunting with their family, and occasionally their friends. “I love being with my family,” said Aaron Lee, another senior at NS. “I go hunting with them more than I do with my friends on the deer hunt.” Participating in the deer hunt as a family every fall is a

tradition for most. For some, it has long been a part of their lives. “There has always been a tradition of hunting in my family,” Allan said. “I’ve been going with my dad since I was little.” A tradition of hunting together as a family allows for valuable time to be spent together, which in turn builds strong family relationships. It also allows for life lessons to be taught that might not be gained elsewhere. “Hunting has given me an appreciation for the outdoors and I get to know my family better,” said Lee. Deer hunting also allows for many memories to be made. The memory of killing the first deer, for example, is one that will always be remembered by the hunter. Lee was hunting with his dad and brother in Idaho when he shot his first deer. He and his dad were on a ridge, with his brother sitting on the other side of the bowl they were watching, and waited for a deer. “Just as the sun was setting, my dad spotted a buck that looked pretty big,” Lee said. Both shot at the deer, with Lee missing the first time and his dad hitting it. This hardly phased the deer, however. “It was still going as if nothing had happened, so I shot it the second time and dropped the deer right there,” Lee said. “It turned out to be a 24 inch

four point.” Stories such as Lee’s are as special and unique as each of the hunters. Participating in the deer hunt gives them a sense of freedom and individuality as they create their own memories, develop their own hunting techniques, and begin to find out just what it is they like about hunting. For those like Lee, who has killed a total of six deer, seeing a big buck and getting it is one of the best parts of the hunt for them. “My favorite part is just getting out and tracking the deer, and then having that feeling of being superior when you get one,” said Kyle Hatch, a junior at NS. For others, it is simply a matter of just being able to use a firearm. “I like to shoot stuff,” said Jake Bailey, a junior at NS. No matter what aspect of the deer hunt is their favorite, every hunter has been influenced by it. For some it is just a seemingly small thing, like being in the mountains close to nature. For others, it has become a very defining characteristic of their lives. “It’s become a big part of my life,” said Brendon Anderson, a junior at NS. “I look forward to it every year.” The deer hunt eventually ends, just as all things do. The memories made, lessons learned, and impact it has on the hunters, however, live on forever.

Deer hunt brings excitement, memories to many students

Photos provided by Alex Sorensen

10

BY AUSTIN HADLEY

Winter is on the way again and that means its time for another season of Lady-hawks basketball. This season will be the first basketball season in the new region 12 and the second season under coach Tyler Schlappi.The Ladyhawks prepared for the

season by attending two team camps in two weeks through the summer. Despite missing some of their older players the la-dyhawks won two of their four games at Utah Valley University, and three of their five games a Weber State the next week-end. The Ladyhawks have three returning

starters with seniors Alex Sorensen, Paige Francks, and sophomore Taylor Gordon. The Lady Hawks will also have two re-turning seniors in addition to Sorensen and Francks, Shelby Jorgensen and Can-dace Odom after losing five seniors from last season. Coach Schlappi believes that this re-turning experience will pay off this year. “I expect us to be successful and to compete,” said Schlappi, who wants to set his expectations higher this season after finishing 5-15 last year and placing fifth in region 12. The Ladyhawks averaged 39 points per game, but gave up 52 points per game on average. The players are optimistic as well. “Were not the most experienced team in the state, but we work hard and have some talent.” Said Sorensen. “When we get it put together as a team I think we’ll do really well.” Said Jor-gensen During the offseason the region changed. The Ladyhawks are still in re-gion 12, but some of the schools in the region left but others joined. Those that left the region include Manti, Richfield, and last years 3A girls basketball champs, Emery.

Spanish Fork, Payson, and Carbon joined the region. Carbon was member of the old region 8 with North Sanpete, and the teams have played each other ever since. Carbon also took third in the state tournament last year. North Sanpete played Carbon at a camp this summer and lost by one in a very close game. Spanish Fork has also played North Sanpete in the past. “The new region will be tough but nothing we can’t handle.” Said Jorgensen Another change starting this basket-ball season is same site same night. This is when both the girls and boys basketball teams will play their region games against the same team, at the same school, and on the same night. The girls JV and the boys freshman sophomore games at 3:30, the boys JV and the girls Varsity is at 5:15, followed by the boys varsity and the girls freshman sophomore at 7:00. The region games will be played on Tuesdays and Fri-days. This will only by for region games. The Ladyhawks open the season with a home game against the Union Cougars who finished 14-7 last year, on November 22. Region play for the hawks starts Janu-ary 10 at home against Delta who finished 19-3 last year.

NS girls basketball will rely on experience with new region

BY KENZIE NUNLEY

Every year can be hectic with people joining drill team, but also with the seniors leaving. . Freshmen make up most of the team, and with thirteen freshmen in a 29-member squad it can be a little overwhelming for them to learn and pick up technique

“I think it can be a little over-whelming for the freshman, be-cause of the dedication it takes,” said Coach Alisa Cheney, “It’s a true test.”

To be a part of the NS drill

team, you have to maintain a 2.0 GPA and no F’s. You also have to have dance experience. The Spir-iteers practice every morning at 6 a.m. and put in fifteen hours of practice a week. They practice their technique and also critique the dances they have learned so far. “The team this year is very determined and are willing to learn anything I throw at them,” said Cheney, “if we keep working hard we’ll be ready for region.” Region this year will be held at Juab High School, on January

25. “Trying to get us to dance as one can be tough because there are so many of us,” said senior Mykelin Christensen, “but if we work hard we will be ready for re-gion.” Each year region is always a little different, depending on the competition, new coaches, and how many seniors left the year be-fore. The drill team this year will dance in the new region, against bigger schools, some of the same ones as last year are included.

NS spiriteers face many challenges with the new region and young members

SEE “DRILL TEAM” PAGE 11

Alex Sorensen dribbles around a screen at a girls’ basketball practice. She is one of four seniors that are returning to the team this season. Their first game is on Nov. 22 against the Union Cougars.

Drill team members preforming the dance they learned at Sta-dium of Fire, for a home football game. The spiriteers will be dancing at the first boys’ basketball game on Nov. 23.

photo by Dustin Allred

photo by Alisa Cheney

BY MANDY PECKHAM

The basketball team for 2011 has a lot to live up to. Last year for the 2010 season, the boys took region for the first time in 27 years. That would seem like a lot of pressure to put on the team this year and on the new head

coach, but they are confident they will do just as well.“I think we will do just as good or even better,” said

senior Kyle Seely.New head coach Chris Hoopes agrees with Seely.“We have an extreme amount of potential to do well,”

said Hoopes. “It will all depend on how players interact with each other and to coaching. We’re extremely excited and want to be region champs again.”

Not only does the team have the pressure of last years’ success on their shoulders, they also have a tough new region to deal with. According to Seely, Spanish Fork High and Payson High will be tough teams.

“I think it will be a challenge but there isn’t a team we can’t beat,” said Seely.

Senior Caden Birch agrees with Seely but adds expe-rience into the equation.

“We had a lot of good experience last year,” said Birch. “I think we can ride some of that momentum and have another successful year, even with the tougher teams in our region this year.”

Other than the new challenging region, more changes have been made to the team this year, a new head coach. Hoopes assumed the head coach position, and the boys

are confident in his guidance. “I think he’ll do great as the new coach,” said Birch. “He knows what he’s talking about and he has gotten a lot of experience playing. Hoopes has an idea that he wants to start with the team. “I want it to be a tradition to be in the state tourna-ment every year,” said Hoopes. “We should be one of those teams that everyone is scared to play.” The big changes this year have not dampened the teams’ spirit. To compete with lasts years’ success, they team feels like they have some strengths that will help lead them to do just as well. “We’ve got players for every position,” said Birch. “Senior wise, we are pretty deep and experienced. We’ve also got some good subs that can back up the starters. “We have size and strength,” said Hoopes. “We also have a lot of experienced players returning from last year. With the season opener approaching fast, we will soon find out if the NS boys’ basketball team will meet with everyone’s high expectations. The team’s first game will be against Gunnison on Nov. 23 at home.

11

Spiriteers haven’t been to any compe-titions to see what the other schools have to offer. So they are preparing for region by having practice every morning, and two double days a week. They sometimes have practice on Saturdays, when experi-enced dance instructors will come watch and help critique their dances.

“I haven’t seen any of the other school’s dance this year, so everything is still unexpected of who has a strong team and who will win,” said Cheney.

This year the team is doing a character routine for region instead of a kick rou-tine like they did last year, which is one of three of the required dances for region. The other two are military and dance.

“I feel like we can do really well on all of our dances this year because we are really buckling down and focusing on cri-tiquing them,” said senior Aubrey Black-ham

“I don’t want any of my girls going into competition expecting to lose and not to give it 110%. We all go with a good attitude determined to have fun, no matter the outcome,” said Cheney.

Allstate this year was held at Juab

High School on November 1st. It is a com-petition. Three girls from each school get to compete in for a chance to be on the allstate team. Cali Anderson, Nicole Fre-drickson, and Jadie Langford competed in it. “No one from North Sanpete has been chosen for a long time,” said junior Cali Anderson, “but it’s worth a shot.” “ I attended last year,” said Christens-en, “It wasn’t my thing, you have to be a fast learner and you have to be able to be put on the spot.” To take part in allstate you had to have good grades, and lots of dance experience. Usually coaches will pick three girls that are going to compete. When you attend the auditions for allstate you learn a 45-second dance, that’s about 10-15 counts of eight. After you learn the dance you then perform it with 3 other girls from different schools. “You work very hard at the auditions and it defiantly shows how good of a danc-er you are,” said sophomore Jadie Lang-ford, “ its talent, hard work, dedication, and most off all confidence.”

Boys basketball hopes to have another winning season

DRILL TEAM, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Jake Orton pulls up for a shot during a boy’s basket-ball practice. The NS boys’ basketball team prepares for the new season. They are under the direction of the new head coach Cris Hoopes.

photo by Dustin Allred

12

BY CASSI DAVIS

The NS wrestling team is facing some new challenges this year, for example, their weight division has gone up, now instead of it being 112 it is now 113 and 103 has moved up to 106. Another change this year is the new re-gion. NS will be facing new teams and different competi-tion.

“The region this year will be tough,” coach Tanner Cowan said. “They brought Payson and Spanish Fork into our region which will be difficult, but we will do our best and battle.”

Senior Clancy Johnson said, “This year with the new region we definitely will be challenged but we will rise to the challenge.”

Johnson is very excited for this year and says that this year should be a good year for him. As for the new weight division Johnson says it should be easier to make weight.

Unfortunately, it’s going to be more difficult for the smaller boys on the team to make the weight. Instead of focusing more on losing weight they’ll have to work harder to gain the weight necessary for their division.

Coach Cowan explained that they bumped up the

weight division for health reasons. It was unhealthy how much weight the players had to lose in order to make it into their right weight division. “Mostly it will benefit us because here at North San-pete we have a lot of bigger boys so it’ll be easier for them to make weight,” Cowan said. Coach Cowan thinks that this year, the team’s biggest rival will be Juab. “We are just as good as Juab, we beat them last year and I’m sure if we stay focused we can beat them this year also,” said Cowan, “They only thing we really need to work on this year is staying mentally tough and learning the new system. We also need to work on extending our matches.” Based on last year’s success Cowan is planning on working harder at getting his players to finish the matches. He explains that they do tough at the beginning of their matches but towards the end they start losing it. So his strategy this year is to focus more one finishing the whole match. This year NS wrestling is looking forward to facing the new region and weight division and will not let any-thing stand in their way of victory.

NS wrestling coach Tanner Cowan instruct two of his wrestlers in a recent practice. The wrestling team is looking forward to facing the new challenges that come with the new region. Their first match will be on Dec. 2

NS wrestling team prepares for challenges, changes in upcoming season

photo by Kenzie Nunley

13

By Kaytie Nielson

Music has an enormous in-fluence on those who listen to it. The sudden changes in rhythm, notes, and words can affect how we feel and ponder things.

We know the great effects that listening to music can have on us, but have we ever realized how actually being the musician or vocalist can affect what goes on in our minds?

Scientists from The Neuro-sciences Institute in San Diego, California, have done studies on music and the brain.

They have taken research on music that make up three broad areas; the relationship of music and language; musical rhythm and the construction of percep-tion; and temporal dynamics of brain activity during auditory perception. These tell about how each different part of music can affect the function of the brain.

Other scientists have uncov-ered the first real evidence that

playing music can considerably enhance the brain and sharpen hearing for all kinds of sounds, including speech. Tim Kidder, music director at NS, talks of the Mozart effect. “Music forces us to use parts of the brain that help us to perform better,” said Kidder. According to the neurosci-entists, experience with music appears to help with many other things in life, eventually coming to activities like hearing different tones in people’s voices. They believe music triggers activity in the cerebral cortex, where higher brain functions such as reasoning, thought and language are put. The brainstem is thought to be unchangeable and not involved in the complex processes linked with music. This shows us how malleable to experience the brainstem ac-tually is. They think music en-gages higher level functions in the cortex that actually tune the brainstem.

But there is a lot of informa-tion that still needs investigation. We still have many questions that need answering about this accu-sation. Looking at overall GPA/ACT scores for Band (consisting of Concert, Jazz, and Percussion) and Choir, versus the scores for the senior class, those involved in music have scored noticeably higher. Band has an average ACT of 21.3, and Choir 21.4, three points higher than the average senior score of 18.4. GPA also has a noticeable margin of difference. Students in band have an average 3.29, choir is at 3.24, while the senior class average is only 2.91. Edward Staker, a science teacher at NS, believes that mu-sic can and does make you smart-er. He believes it helps with memorization. In his Chemistry class he uses music to help his students memorize information they need to pass the class. He says it is very effective.

Staker believes that there is a definite connection between mu-sic and the brain. Kidder also says that it prac-tices focusing and that it gives us relaxation and personal benefits, which can change depending on the genre. When Kidder is sad, he will listen to sad or angry music and it makes him feel better. It all de-pends on what type you listen to. “More complicated music challenges us mentally and leads to greater cognitive growth and expansion,” said Kidder. This growth and expansion allows for the musician to prog-ress to more complicated music, starting the circle over, and over, etc. “Music also teaches persever-ance, if at first you don’t succeed, you’re probably a musician,” said Kidder. Kidder also states that very sequential rhythm, notes, tone, and higher levels of music devel-op well-rounded people. A qual-

ity like understanding math can be enhanced through music. Cheryl Hadley, a math teach-er at NS, believes that the most well-rounded kids in our school are some of the top students. She recognizes that when you gain study habits, like practicing, you are less stressed and can balance your time, which can have a big effect on grades. O’Dee Hansen, a counselor at NS, has similar feelings to Hadley’s. He believes that if you are involved in more than just school, such as extra-ciricular ac-tivities, that students have more expectancy that allows study habits and forces you to be orga-nized. Hansen feels that being in-volved stimulates the mind, and helps individuals focus. His two boys are in piano. He says that it has improved their grades, especially reading, and ef-fected their desire to learn.

By Kayla Nielson

Choir has undergone a lot of chang-es this year. Choir teacher Carissa Hil-ton has decided to limit the number of students who could sing in her competi-tion choir.

She’s decided to limit because it’s harder to work with big groups like in the past so it drained her energy. It was especially difficult since she’s going to school too.

“It was kind of hard, but I limited choir by keeping the students that were serious,” Hilton said. “They also had to be motivated and committed to choir.”

She hopes to gain more unity with

in her group by making the changes that she did. “My students get pulled in too many directions,” said Hilton. She expects them to be focused on main things that will help them grow as singers. It’s difficult for high school students to be so committed sometimes because of all the other extra- curricular activities. Hilton thinks her students are well prepared for the first concert of the year. “My competition choir is in a great spot and they have a lot of potential to be a great group,” said Hilton. “We practice every A day when we

have her class for the whole hour and a half, then on top of that we practice dur-ing flex on A days, and for two to three hours the night before the concert,” said Taylor Purcell. The audience can expect a good pre-view for what they’re doing as a music department, and what they should look forward to at their Christmas concert. Choir will be performing on No-vember 17th at the high school in the auditorium at 6:00 p.m. They will be singing five songs, which include: Jab-berwocky, We Remember, and The Star Spangled Banner. They also selected these songs to add to the Veteran’s Day program on the 11th.

Music students perform better than others in studies and at NS

Choir limits number of students, prepares for Christmas concert

NS students practicing for their All-State Choir performance.

Photo provided by Amanda Johansen

14

‘Fiddler’ provides laughs, reflection in NS musical

By Andrew Fryer

Come in for gifts, books, and LDS products

Come in for gifts, books, and

SKYLINE PHARMACYCome in for gifts books and

By Annie CookThis year, the

NS drama depart-ment performed the classic musical ‘The Fiddler on the Roof ’. The perfor-mance was directed by Tanya Roundy, and dances were choreographed by Emilee Clements, sophomore.

The story takes place in the small Russian town of An-atevka where Tevye, father of five daugh-ters, tries to keep Jewish tradition alive while the world is rapidly changing before his eyes. While the music, dancing, and hu-mor keep the play mostly lighthearted, it will “make the audience think, and hopeful-ly, reflect on their own lives,” Roundy said.

The roles were well cast, placing the most experienced actors as leads, and the less experienced as supporting roles.

Long before he even saw the play, Mat-thew Workman said he knew Colton Purcell would do a great job. “In the plays I’ve seen him in, he has always been extremely active and committed.” Purcell played the part of the Rabbi, and though it was a smaller part, did not fail to impress. I had three favorite characters. Golde, played by Alinnea Barker, senior, was per-fectly cast and performed. Her immersion in the character, obvious knowledge of the script, and amazing singing voice made her become Golde. Yente, played by Jessica Lee, senior, added so much humor to the play. She re-ally knew how to grab the audience’s atten-tion and make them laugh. Also, her accent made her stand out. And of course, Tevye, played by Tan-ner Spaulding, senior, was the best actor of the night. He sang in almost every number, mostly solo, and fully understood the char-acter he was playing. For several months, Spaulding has been

growing out a full beard, and has not cut his hair for the part. He said the only effect it has had on his life is that “girls don’t love me anymore.” In preparation for the part, Spaulding has done many things. “I learned to use my body language, and speak in a deep, fatherly voice,” said Spaulding. “Also, I traveled to the peak of Mt. Everest. There, I sung. And when the sound reverberated, I knew I was to be Tevye.” He is most excited for closing night be-cause he thinks the cast usually does their best the last time they perform, and he en-joys all the handshakes and compliments afterward. Aside from the excellent acting and singing, the sets very accurately portrayed Anatevka without having to be extravagant. The Star of David, a symbol of the Jewish religion, was displayed on the curtain before and after the show, as well as on the pocket of one of the dresses. This sent a message to the audience of the commitment of the faithful Jews of Anatevka to their religion and tradition. The costumes were realistic for the time and lifestyle of the people. The make-up added realism to the play. Spaulding said the freshmen and other new actors are catching on very well. “And us seniors, because of our great directors, are continuing to progress up and away into the wild blue yonder.”

Photo by Annie CookSenior Tanner Spaulding (right) performs as Tevye in the classic musical, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.

Overall, I liked this play very much, and many people say it’s the best that they have seen. Roundy says she hopes the audience recognizes all the hard work that has gone into putting on this production because the students have

progressed amazingly and beyond expec-tation. “They all work so well together and you can see their personalities and con-fidence coming out when they perform.” said Roundy.

Down2 Thick egg concoction (2 Words) 3 Takes place in NY involving mini floats

and big Balloons (3 Words) 4 Mixture of veggies and moist bread 5 White, nippy substance that sometimes

falls in November 8 Tall cups with large mouths 9 Invention that we use to cook certain

foods 10 Season after summer 11 People related to you 14 First town in the New World 15 11th month in Spanish 17 Word that means "Party" 18 Pads, Jerseys, Sweaty Individuals 20 Tan dessert (2 Words) 22 Feeling of Thankfulness 24 Decorative item placed on the middle of

the table 27 A warm, fuzzy item of clothing one

wears on the torso 29 Involved in the first Thanksgiving (tan) 30 Country in which we reside

Across1 The sound that turkeys, and some 4th

graders make 6 The cause of Moroni's reputation 7 Indian that taught white people how

to fish and grow corn 10 Squirrels favorite snack 12 Homemade, carved out of trees by

Indians, ridden in 13 Commonly used, ceramic or glass

receptacle 14 "Sewing" the ground 16 Adjective describing an awesome

taste 19 Indian word for corn 21 Giant boat on which the pilgrims

traveled 23 Irregularly shaped weaved basket 25 Crusty Dessert made from common

fruits grown on trees (2 Words) 26 Delicious holiday in November 28 Involved in the first Thanksgiving

(white) 31 Spruced up apple juice 32 Small folded piece of soft paper,

usually white 33 Canned maroon gelatin (2 Words) 34 List of ingredients

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5

Thanksgiving CrosswordBy Mandy Peckham and Helen Hatfield

-- If this was a fair fight and/or I was wearing a cup, you would have no chance at all!

-- Golf is the most fun you can have without taking your clothes off.

-- No, I donʼt like this! It hurts my armpits!

-- Does anybody know why there is a taffy on his butt seat?

-- Atta boy! Oh, youʼre a girl!?

-- Iʼm illiterate and I read Chinese.

-- It was the butt that was trying to get close to your head!

-- If I was wearing her pants…well it would be tight.

-- I like to call up American cowboys and love ʻem up a little. (said in a British Accent)

-- Could Halloween ever be on Friday the 13th?

-- Iʼm caucasianally awesome.

HeardHalls

IN THE

Wonderland The FCCLA is excited to announce the theme for this year’s Preference Dance as:

To be held on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. in the NSH Commons

Single $5.00 & Couple $8.00

Get your tickets from the office TODAY!

15

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