The 2010-2011 Girls Basketball team is ready to start a fresh new season. The team is working hard toward improving and dominating every team in our region. Coaching the team this year is David Hiatt, Tona Graff, Paul Barber, and Lee Ryan. “We will surprise people,” said Junior Mary Allphin. “If we play as a team we will be successful,” said Coach Hiatt. This year’s team goals are “to be united as a team,” said Senior Katelyn Barney.  The team is also working hard toward their goal “to conquer and win the state championship,” said Sophomore Priscilla Hales.

Will Payson be able to take state again for the third year in a row? Yes, winning state will be a lot harder this year but that is the teams overall goal.  There are 40 boys on this year’s wrestling team including 7 returning state placers. We have three state champions: Brady Loveless, Zac Loveless, and Mitch Brown. We also have four state placers: Jed Mellon, Cole Ford, K.K. Loveless, and Austin Riding.

                On November 2-6 the members of the PHS marching band were on band tour and the state competition in California and St. George.  The band took a plane trip at 3:00 a.m.  down to Disneyland for three days of relaxation, rides, performances, recording sessions, and clinics with “Bob from Philadelphia.”

Our debate team competed in the Salem Hills Speech and Debate Tournament November 19 and 20. They debators took part in SPAR, Oratory Debate, and in the speech competitions: Improvmptu, National Extem, Dramatic Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation.

"It was my very first debate tournament. I liked preparing for it and got used to debating. I thik we did well for our first tournament," said Ivan Gallegos, a member of the debate team.

On October 31 ninePayson High students along with Mr. Alexander attended the Close Up program in Washington D.C. In DC students learned how to use the Metro system, to approach a governmental problem, and even met with a representative Chaffetz staff from the great state of Utah.

The participants visited many of memorials and museums, The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Holocaust Museum to name a few. We also got to visit the White House, the Capital Building, and Williamsburg.

If you are not familiar with the Utah Child Protection Registry, it is a free program that is offered to parents, and it allows them to register their family and children’s email addresses, mobile phone numbers, instant messenger IDs, and fax numbers to then restrict adult-oriented solicitations such as tobacco, pornography, and/or gambling from being sent to their inboxes.

Here is a direct link for the Registry, https://DoNotContact.Utah.gov.

The FFA motto is “Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve.” Payson High’s FFA is the perfect example of this motto. Being part of FFA is no easy task though, FFA members take a written test and are expected to identify the quality in cuts of meat, and identify the quality in yield grade of beef, pork and lamb. The meat evaluation team; consists of MaryAnn Rowley, Katie Swenson, and Fred Openshaw; won first place in state! “FFA is a way to grow personally and gain new leadership skills through agricultural,” said Rowley.

                In honor of red ribbon week, Payson High School and Officer John Shepherd put on alcohol awareness night. Parents and community members were invited. He also gave detention credit for going, to get more people involved. By informing people of the risks, and simply getting parents involved, can help prevent underage drinking. They gave out prizes for answering questions. This alcohol awareness night was very successful, I believe.