HOME > NEWS & PRESS > NEWS ITEM Inside Our SchoolsShareDesert Valley Times (UT) Scott Sorenson presented his annual mountain man assembly for the seventh grade last week. He has been coming to Washington County Schools for at least 10 years. His presentations are authentic, funny and amazing. He tells tall tales, has a vast collection of animal furs, plays music and gives every student an appreciation of mountain man heritage. Mary Jensen, Utah history teacher, remembers him from Pine View Middle School 10 years ago. "I was impressed with Scott's knowledge, and the kids really liked the stories and the furs. After 10 years, he still puts on a good show." Parents should be aware that science testing is coming up. The sixth-grade science test is today and tomorrow. The seventh-grade science test is Thursday and Friday. The fine arts departments will be having their holiday concerts soon. Beginning orchestra is Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. in the little theater. Intermediate orchestra is Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. in the little theater. The choir's concert is Dec. 17 in the gym. Beginning band is Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. in the gym. Intermediate band is Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. in the gym. Our art students will showcase their work in the media center Dec. 16 through 18. We encourage the community to support our students and enjoy the holiday spirit. Sunrise Ridge Intermediate Sunrise Ridge Intermediate is a unique school because of the enrichment program we started this year. The last half hour of the day is called Thunderbolt Time. I asked some teachers and students what they like about their Thunderbolt time. One student in Web design said that they like it because we can get a blog and even work on their blog. Clair Savage, who is teaching Web design said that he loves to do anything with computers. Julie Rosenkrantz said it's a blast. The other teacher who is teaching it with her, Jackie Darrington, said it is fun because they are teaching the students to bake and make crafts. The student I asked in that class said that it was fun because you get to eat and make crafts. She said they are making hats for their craft this time. Mr. Swayden loves to teach and play badminton. A student in his class says the class is fun. She likes it because "you can hang out with your friends." She also likes it because it is challenging. So if you're excited about Sunrise Ridge Intermediate's Thunderbolt Time just by reading about it, then imagine how much fun we are having by participating in the activities. Fossil Ridge Intermediate We had 225 participants in our annual Turkey Trot. The fastest boy and girl in each grade, along with three other students, took home frozen turkeys donated by Lin's. The winners were Courtney Honeycutt, Brayden Johnston, Maddie Odett, Blayden Hosner, Braedon Winder, Jonathan Guzman and Myles Benally. The T-Rex holiday band concert is Thursday in the gym. The beginning band will perform at 6 p.m. and the intermediate band will perform at 7 p.m. The choir has its holiday concert Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym. The orchestra holiday concert is Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19 is mid-term for the second trimester. Mid-term report cards will be sent home with the students that day. That is also the last day of school until Jan. 5. Lava Ridge Intermediate School We are winding down the quarter at Lava Ridge with a variety of great activities. Mrs. Caroline Harris and the school's choirs presented a great concert last week and sang at the Dickens Festival. Thanks to all who worked so hard and shared their talents. On Monday this week all of our students enjoyed a great motivational assembly called "Vision 360." Through an awesome multimedia presentation, the students learned that to truly be successful in life, their vision needs to extend beyond themselves. Students learned they should develop true understanding and then they can take positive actions to make their future a success. Thanks go to Mr. Greg Bozarth for arranging this powerful presentation. Finally, our entire school is excited to participate in this year's holiday service project. We are raising money to donate to the Chlidren's Crisis Center. This is a new organization in St. George that provides emergency child care for families with special needs. We hope all of our students can donate something toward this worthy cause. Parents should also be aware that the quarter ends Dec. 19. We hope students are doing all they can to have their grades show how much they have learned this quarter. Our Quarter End Activity will be on Dec. 19 for all students who have A, B, and C grades and no U's in citizenship Iron County School District Canyon View Middle School Our CVMS bands participated alongside the Canyon View High School band in the Storybook Cavalcade on Saturday Our GYC presidency volunteered at the Festival of Trees on Saturday. The entire GYC performed a service activity on Monday and today. They are making quilts to donate to the Women's Crisis Center. We appreciate the time and service given by members of the GYC. The CVMS annual science fair is Dec. 12. The public is invited to and see the students' projects from 7:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. in the auxiliary cafeteria. Our sixth-grade students are participating in "Twelve Days of Holiday Reading." Parents and other visitors will share their favorite holiday story with the students. The performing arts class will perform original operas today in the CVMS auditorium in conjunction with the Utah Festival Opera Company. The students have written the scripts and music and assisted in the casting, sets, costumes and props. This year the operas are about astronaut Neil Armstrong and Queen Elizabeth. Admission is free. The annual Christmas band concert is Dec. 18. The beginning band will perform at 5 p.m. and the Concert-Varsity-Jazz Bands will perform at 6 p.m. in the CVMS Auditorium. The CVMS choir is participating in the Electric Light Parade down Main Street on Saturday at 6 p.m. Oher upcoming dates of interest: Thursday, Orchestra Concert at 6 p.m., "Dancin' in a Winter Wonderland"; Dec. 16 Choir Concert Pre-show at 6:30 p.m. for the Utah Shakespearean Festival's "Christmas Carol," SUU Auditorium; Dec. 17, Choir Concert at 7 p.m. Cedar Middle School The GYC presidency has been working with the Safety Coalition and the Cedar City Police Department on issues that concern our youth. Two of our students have been selected to attend a conference in Washington, D.C. in February. Sarah Kunzler and Madi Baldwin will represent CMS GYC at this National Power of Prevention Conference. We would like to thank all who came to the concerts and congratulate the bands on their great holiday performances. The drama class will present the play "Princess Knight" on Thursday at 5 p.m. Shana Benson and Michelle Decker's classes are writing a pioneer journal describing a trek across the U.S. to Salt Lake City. After reading "Kokopelli's Flute," students are writing an animal fantasy that will be due before the Christmas break. East Elementary It has been a wonderful week at East Elementary. We were excited to have a wonderful activity sponsored by the Iron Mission State Park this week in which our third grade had the opportunity of experiencing cultures and activities from pioneer times. We express appreciation to the Iron Mission and the many volunteers who helped to produce such a wonderful activity for our third grade. We look forward to our monthly Flag/Awards assembly this upcoming week. We invite parents and friends to attend this assembly held Friday at 2 p.m. for grades Kindergarten through second and 2:45 p.m. for grades third through fifth. We always look forward to seeing the many awards earned by our students and the academic progress that it represents. We will be holding our Community Council meeting in the school library Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. We express a special thanks to the many who help make East Elementary a wonderful place to be. Enoch Elementary On Thursday and Friday members of the Canyon View basketball team visited our school. These promising athletes came to visit our school not to shoot hoops with our students, but to promote literacy by reading to our fourth-grade classes. Our fourth-graders were impressed by the visit. Thank you Canyon View athletes. Our second-grade classes have been as busy as elves making Christmas ornaments for a special event. The students will visit Zion's Bank on Wednesday to decorate the lobby Christmas tree. If you are a patron of Zion's Bank, take the time to admire our students' craftsmanship and artistic abilities. Our fourth- and fifth-grade classes will be attending performances of the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol" at Southern Utah University Dec. 16. We're really getting into the Christmas spirit here at Enoch Elementary. North Elementary Our "can tree" continues to grow. We are collecting canned and boxed non-perishable food items for the local Care and Share, and would love your donations this holiday season. If you have donations, bring them by and place them in the box in our foyer. Three Peaks Elementary This week teachers participated in EDUSS training. EDUSS is a computer assisted math curriculum emphasizing interventions and extensions. The software is available in both computer labs for kindergarten through fifth grades. The grade level teams of teachers have created common assessments based on the Utah Core Curriculum. EDUSS is very interactive with student responses, designing a special program for each child based on their answers to assessment questions. Today fourth grade will be in charge of the December Reading Assembly at 1:30 p.m. Several members of the staff will participate in a conference call with state officials regarding our new wind turbine energy system at the school. Cement has been poured for the tower framework. Trenching and wire conduit have been completed for the electrical wiring. The 45-foot, 1,000-pound monopole tower has been delivered. As soon as the Skystream 3.7 turbine arrives, a crane will lift it into place on the top of the monopole. The students are very observant and have shown a great deal of interest in this new addition to our school. Jerry Millett, school lunch manager, has been in the hospital for several days. We all miss her, and our thoughts and prayers are with Jerry and her family. Fiddlers Elementary Our Fiddlersburg Chorus held their triumphant Christmas concerts last Wednesday. They gave a performance for the student body in the morning and one for the parents that night. The kids did a great job - lots of enthusiasm - because of their enthusiastic conductor, Mrs. Cheryl Apgar. Mrs. Apgar is one of our great second grade teachers and she leads the choir two mornings each week, in addition to her regular duties. We really appreciate the great job the kids did and all the hard work Cheryl puts in for our chorus. What a wonderful way to start the holiday season. Parowan Elementary Parowan Elementary students and teachers have been busy preparing for their annual Christmas program. They started practicing in late October, and this year's program is sure to be a holiday sensation. The theme this year is: Christmas! A Season of Joy. The citizens of Parowan look forward to attending this program each year, as it is a great way to bring in the Christmas season with festive music and happy children. Performances will be on Wednesday at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Congratulations students and teachers on all your hard work to make this program a success.
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