Blankets

This past January, members of National Honor Society gathered together to tie ten fleece blankets as a donation for the Family Support and Treatment Center in Orem.

After spending several hours on the vinyl lettering in the school hallways, many hands made light work for this particular service project. With the majority of the members in attendance, the project was completed in just half an hour. The volunteers from Timpanogos High School make up the largest NHS chapter in the district, according to mythology teacher and club adviser Kori Crampton.

“It’s rewarding to think that just by contributing a few minutes of effort, we can produce something that the children at the family home and treatment center will appreciate for many years," says senior Jonny Harris.

Members of NHS at Timpanogos need to maintain a 3.5 GPA, tutor students in core subjects for ten hours, and attend four service projects. At the end of the year, students are recognized at an induction ceremony, where they receive a certificate, and seniors are given their medallions for graduation. Many students serve far more than the minimum requirements.

“Not only do the members of NHS serve others, but they do it with enthusiasm,” explains senior Natalie Bristow

Some of the other projects students have assisted with include babysitting the teachers' kids on a Friday night, sending gift packages to school alumni serving in the military, and writing letters to elementary school and special needs students.

“In National Honor Society, we value service and citizenship, and our project with the Family Support and Treatment Center exemplifies just that. We help to fulfill needs in the community while having lots of fun at the same time," adds Kaleo Li, the club's publicity officer.

According to the mission statement of the Family Support and Treatment Center, the purpose of the organization is to "serve the community by helping children and families build stronger and healthier relationships." The organization always needs many volunteers and also accepts financial donations. For more information about the agency, its programs or service opportunities, you can learn more at UtahValleyFamilySupport.org.

Improvements at THS

See photos here

Article by Irasema Del Castillo

Many people have noticed all the new changes going on at Timpanogos. The beginning of the year saw new stickers on the trash cans and custom flags around the building. The newest changes are in the trophy cases and lunch room.

One of the newest additions is on the trophy cases which all have “Excellence of...” etched on the glass doors. The Excellence of Academics bulletin board has students paying close attention. All the teachers were asked to bring in a picture of themselves when they were in high school.

Senior Sterling Randle says, “Oh man those things are hilarious. It is funny seeing how much teachers have changed or how little they have changed.”

Senior Garrett McClintock says, “I never knew Bramall could be so stylish, or that Barth has a misshaped head. He shouldn't ever cut his hair like that again."

These pictures have definitely grabbed students’ attention and have given them a glimpse of what their teachers were like in high school.

Junior James Keyes says, “I never knew Mr. Rasmussen could look like that. I'm definitely never going to look at him the same way in chemistry. You've got to credit Murphy with a freaking sweet idea. Who knew teachers were once young?”

If you are one of the few who hasn't noticed those hilarious pictures, make sure you get a good look; you're in for a treat.

With all these new changes, Mr. Murphy hopes to raise our pride in Timpanogos. One of those ways to show pride is in the lunchroom. Over the doors leading from the cafeteria out into the hall are inspiring words. The pictures on the wall are of great moments of Timpanogos sportsmanship and efforts. Students, programs and facilities are highlighted in the new art on the walls.

Of course, some of the new things are enormous, like the vinyl lettering that encourages students to have character and to work hard. Mr. Murphy, the student council, National Honor Society and the other organizations at the school work hard to make Timpanogos a great place to be, and make every day a great day to be a T-wolf.

Have you been tagged? Were you invited to write the hottest chain letter in Internet history?

Thousands of people the world over are creating lists of 25 random pieces of information about themselves and then tagging their friends inviting them to play along. It's the current rage on Facebook. It's become such a phenomenon that major newspapers are writing about it, including USA Today and the New York Times.

Facebook, with over 150 million members worldwide, doesn't track what specifically is posted in user's notes, but "25 Things About Me" is so popular, it's practically viral. USA Today quotes Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker who says that over the past week the number of daily "notes" has more than doubled and the number of daily tags of a Facebook member in a note has

 grown by five times.

"I would say that anecdotally I've never seen a note spread as quickly as this has on Facebook," Barker says. "What is really unique about this is it's a really meaningful piece of content. Some of the these notes are touching and frankly very insightful."

The New York Times said, "On Facebook, the apparent epicenter of the craze, nearly five million notes on people’s profiles have been created in the last week, and many of them are lists of '25 Random Things.' The note-creation figure is double the previous week and larger than any other single week in Facebook history, and Facebook executives say that the 'Random Things' craze is driving it."

Many of our students at THS have participated in the "25 Things" epidemic. Student confessions range from "I love to make people laugh" to  "I secretly wish I was British."  Even teachers from THS are joining in. One teacher "confessed" that she loved diet Coke. Another teacher confessed she "is so left-brained it hurts!" 

"I'm Conforming," or "Giving in to Peer Pressure," or "Random Me" are popping up as "25 Thing" titles. Most of the random lists are written because people have been tagged repeatedly by their friends and decide, finally, to "cave" or to "follow the crowd." Despite being tagged, there isn't the sense of urgency or a time frame given, but after reading lists of family and friends, people realize that they do have things to share that are both big and small, and that 25 isn't too many or too much.

Some writers admit that the list was difficult to fill, but they did find 25 things to say.  Others add an additional fact (or 2) because once they got started, they realized they had more to say. Either way, "25 Things" is sweeping the Facebook world. Who are you going to tag?