Garry E. Hart won the Teacher of the Year Award!  He has received Teacher of the Year in 1985 while at Goshen Elementary, Teacher of the Year in 1991 while at Parkview Elementary and The Crystal Apple in 2005 while at Hobble Creek Elementary.   He has been teaching for 31 years, 30 years in Nebo School District and 1 year prior in another district.  He has taught 2nd grade (1 year), 5th grade (2 years), 3rd and 4th spilt grade (2 years), 4th grade (2 years) and 3rd grade (21 years).  He has been involved with NEA, UEA, Nebo Education Association, PTA, city youth recreation and the Boy Scouts.  His hobbies and interests are fishing, reading, U of U sports, children and grandchildren.  He says that the best part of teaching the last 31 years has been that when he went to work he entered a classroom of students who loved and appreciated him!  He will be moving to Davis County at the end of this school year where his wife is teaching Special Education.  He will start another teaching career in a year or so.  He has touched many students’.   Congratulations Garry for receiving this award and your many years of service!

The picutred students were Hobble Creek Elementary's STUDENTS OF THE WEEK on April 20, 2012:  Ayson Beardall, Wesley Brunt, Cooper Murphy, Bryson Hansen, Brianna Lewis, Alexis Christensen, Samuel Delacruz, Henry Killpack, Emily Porter, Tyler Holloway, Spencer Winward, Maya Harrell, Elli Chiniquy, Inez Scott, Leah Ribble, Bailey Morgan, Kaycie Bleggi, and Asha Peterson

The pictured students were Hobble Creek Elementary's STUDENTS OF THE WEEK on April 6, 2012:  Michaela Pendleton, Robert Hagen, Cole Hixson, Katelyn Ross, Lydia Rowe, Savanah Butler, Aaron Campbell, Steven Lopez, Michael Wirthlin, Dillon Hales, Paige Snyder, Abby Garrett, Brenden Dusenberry, Jacob Pritchard, and Samantha Snyder.

Miss Johnson's 6th grade class has been receiving emails and writing letters to a 6-7th grade class in Cairo, Egypt since the beginning of this school year. It has been a great experience for both the Hobble Creek students and the students from Egypt to learn about each others cultures. They recently received a package from their penpals full of letters and pictures. Mrs. Pakinam Elalfy of the Neferteri school in Cairo says, "My students are so excited to receive letters and emails from their new friends in Utah, USA.  This has been an amazing experience for them to communicate with kids their own age on the other side of the world!"

The students at Hobble Creek Elementary were chanting “It Pays to Read!” at an assembly on Friday, March 30th, 2012. The school had set a goal, for the school as a whole to read a total of 400,000 hours by March 30th, 2012. The students needed to bring in a slip of paper that the parents signed for every 100 minutes that would go into a pot for their names to be drawn to win prizes that consisted of posters, books, book lights, headlamps, footballs, basketballs, Barnes and Nobles gift cards, iTunes gift cards, iPods and Kindles.

Since the school as a whole read 467,700, which was more than their goal, they were rewarded with an assembly. At the assembly names were drawn for the different prizes. There were also 4 athletes from BYU who showed up. The athletes were Andrea Grant (swimmer, freshman from Walnut Creek, CA), Silvia Correa (golfer, freshman from Columbia), Leo Durkin (Volleyball, freshman from Las Vegas) and Mapleton’s very own Lexi Eaton (basketball). She played at Springville High. She averages 10.5 points and 2 assists per game. The athletes talked to the students telling them how important reading has been in their life.

Two names were drawn out of the pot per each grade level to shoot basketballs. These students picked four other people from the athletes or teachers to also shoot basketballs. Within 30 seconds all 5 shooters had to try and make a basket from different lengths from the basket. The student would start first. Then when they made the basket, the others could start shooting. After the 30 seconds was up, the student was rewarded with dollar bills for the amount of baskets made, for a total of $15. Once the student received their money the whole school would chant, “It Pays to Read!” Having people stand behind the student shooting and supporting them was a way of showing how important
reading is and that we are behind them and support them in reading. They will learn so much and their creativity will grow from reading books.

The staff at Hobble Creek wanted the students to know that it really does “Pay to Read.” As exciting as it is to win a prize or being able to shoot a basket with Lexi Eaton or the teachers, the real prize comes within every child. As the students were more engaged in reading, they gained knowledge and a greater love of reading. That’s the real “payoff”.

We would like to give a special thanks to Wal-Mart, Sams Club, and ProcessModel, Inc. for giving donations for prizes. We would like to thank the PTA, especially Alisa Corfield (chairperson), for all their time and hard work in helping put the assembly together as well as getting the prizes. We appreciate Mr. Rowe, Hobble Creek Teachers, parents and most of all the students for supporting this event. It really does “Pay to Read!”

The pictured students were Hobble Creek Elementary's STUDENTS OF THE WEEK for March 30, 2012:  Porter Harrison, Olivia Larsen, Jordan Freeman, Zaya Johnson, Ashlyn Christensen, Hunter Robison, Dodge Fielding, Shyla Kelsey, Sam Hartman, Alexis Call, Yoshi Miyagi, Eric Holt, Eldon Van Orman, Jonathan Holman, Declan Anderson, Corbin Nelson, Tatia Weight, Carter Paxton, Madison Sorenson, McKenzie Huston, Taylor Peterson, and Jonas Killpack.

Workers from U.S. Synthetic, a family oriented business in Orem, UT that makes long-lasting diamond inserts for applications in down-hole drilling tools, took time out of their busy schedule to volunteer at Hobble Creek Elementary on March 20, 2012. There was a total of 11 volunteers that worked with students in first through sixth grades reading, listening to debate arguments, tracing shadow profiles, revising stories for the Student Treasures publishing project, grading papers, assisting in the computer lab, and playing games in P.E.  They were very helpful.  As you walked the halls at Hobble Creek Elementary you could hear the laughing and talking between the students and volunteers.  At the end of the day the volunteers were having fun telling the stories of their experiences to each other as they met in the office before going home.  Hobble Creek Elementary would like to thank the volunteers from U.S. Synthetic for taking time out of their busy schedule to help the students at Hobble Creek Elementary have an enjoyable learning experience!

The pictured students were Hobble Creek Elementary's Students of the Week for March 23, 2012:  Brody Colton, Sarah Warren, Jocelyn Brown, Robby Lape, Laryn Howell, Teuila Nawahine, Rose Dungan, David Woolf, Shari Franke, Kekai Palmer, Trey Frixione, Abbey McQuivey, Aeryka Lape, Kaitlin Elmont, Joshua Collette, Cameron Peterson, Madison Jensen, Allyson Fullmer, Maren Pilcher, Quinn Morrill, and Clay Wilson.

Thirty two students from Hobble Creek  Elementary participated in the Nebo Elementary Debate on March 21 2012.  Hobble Creek was the host school.  Students from Mapleton Elementary , Brockbank Elementary and Ranches Academy also participated.
    Hobble Creek students who placed: First Place affirmative team was Leah Ribble and Elizabeth Rex, second place affirmative team was Tiffany Asay and Sophie McCausland, fourth place affirmative team was Ethan Blackett and Silas Miller, 7th place affirmative team was Samantha Smith and Makenzi Jensen, 8th place affirmative was Cate Wayment and Rylie Hinds, fifth place negative team was Samara Lessley and Eliza Krizer.
   Hobble Creek students who earned speaker awards for their individual performance were: Cameron Dorny, Jacob Myers, TJ Hart, Luke Durden, Elizabeth Rex, Leah Ribble, Sophie McCausland, Tiffany Asay, Silas Miller, Kelsey Corfield, Ethan Blackett, Rylie Hinds, Samantha Smith.
   The resolution debated this year was Resolved that the state of Utah provide incentives for the increased production and consumption of local foods to improve air quality and reduce energy use.
   
    Debate is a way to develop the ability to speak fluently in front of an audience,  consider both sides in making a decision and become an informed active citizen.    

Hobble Creek Elementary Chess Club won 12th place in the State Tournament and 2nd place in the District Tournament!  The students were from grades Kindergarten to 6th grade.  All of the students that participated from Hobble Creek Elementary earned the 2nd place trophy.  Hobble Creek Chess Club has earned trophies every year starting in 2005.  In 2005 as well as in 2006 we won 1st place, in 2007 we won 2nd place, in 2008 as well as 2009 we won 4th.  Also in 2009 we won 7th place in the Art City Invitational.  In 2010 we won 8th place and 2nd place in the Art City Invitational.  We won 8th place in the Art City Invitational in 2011 and 2nd place in 2012.  Mrs. Winward has been Hobble Creek Elementry’s parent chess organizer for the past 3 years and Carol Day has been a beginning chess teacher.  Students from Mapleton Jr. High have also volunteered to teach chess for the Chess Club.  The Chess Club has ranged from 45 students to 120 students.  The Chess Club in Nebo School District was started by Mary Kay Spencer, Chad Argyle and Carol Day as a project of Nebo Gifted Children’s Association, an affiliate of Utah Association for Gifted Children and National Association for Gifted Children.  If you are interested in or have questions about the Chess Club you can reach Carol Day at Hobble Creek Elementary.