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Ashlynn Morgan
Social Media Manager Seniors graduate every year, each embarking on a unique path. In a recent interview, Hansen discussed his experiences after high school. Hansen was involved in numerous productions at Bonneville High School and continued after graduation in Utah to follow his love for the arts. Currently, Hansen performs with the cast of 'Harmony: A New Musical' as well as the BYU A Cappella and Jazz ensembles. Following graduation, he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although originally assigned to Uruguay, pandemic-related travel restrictions resulted in a reassignment to Arizona. While he initially enrolled at BYU as a psychology major, he eventually returned to his roots in the arts, shifting his focus to audio engineering and music production. Hansen misses Bonneville High School because he misses his friends, saying it is different having friends as an adult because “you have to be more intentional about making friends and… making time for them.”After leaving high school, something he has learned is that life is not set in stone after high school and it can change, and to value time. Hansen has learned to remain authentic and resist the "pressure to change" for the sake of others. He has been in ‘Annie Get Your Gun’, ‘Oklahoma’, ‘The Ballad of Car Blue’, Flat Stanly in ‘The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley’, and several others. His overall favorite musical he has performed was “Crazy For You”. The musical he is currently in, ‘Harmony a New Musical’, is based on real life events. It is about a group of men that live in 1930s Germany that get together to make music during the struggles of the time. The musical “has a sadder ending but the message is really powerful and it's a really beautiful show.” Hansen credits his development as a performer to Mr. Dresen and Mr. Nichols, who fostered his passion for acting and vocal performance during his time at Bonneville.
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Linken Newman
Staff Writer With the 2025-2026 school year coming to an end, there are still several teachers that were added to faculty this year. One addition is Jessica Payton, who serves as a Special Education teacher at Bonneville High School (BHS). Payton first started her teaching career later in her life. She started going to college to become a teacher in 2018 where she went to Western Governors University. After completing her degree, Payton sought an environment that mirrored her own values. She chose BHS specifically because she thought the admin was incredible. She elaborated on the topic by stating “I love how they seem to genuinely care about the children and their education.” She then joined the Special Education section of the school. Payton now teaches Study Skills and English for BHS. Payton likes to keep a healthy classroom environment by having an especially laid back teaching style. Her teaching style, she stated, is also her biggest flaw as she often finds it difficult to be the bad person when students become distracted. She keeps relationships with students by offering different types of candies during class as a reward for active engagement. Her class often has a warmer atmosphere. Instead of having the lights all on at once like most teachers do at BHA, Payton chooses to dim the lights and play different music to keep a friendly environment. On top of that, Payton has her students converse in a lower pitch so students do not get too distracted. To maintain a healthy relationship with her students, she speaks to students with playful banter and more of a friendly voice than an authoritarian tone. Payton commented on her environment style, stating “It helps the students feel more comfortable in the classroom and makes them more relaxed.” This makes the teaching aspect easier for her. In her teaching career so far, she has had some challenges every now and then. Her biggest challenge is grading. Payton finds the grading aspect of teaching time consuming and repetitive. That is a big aspect as to why she keeps her grading more relaxed. Payton does not assign homework because of this reason as well. Payton plans to continue her teaching journey through BHS and students can hope to see her in the 2026-2027 school season. Travis States
Staff Writer Recently, Bonneville High School launched a new club dedicated to the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, also known as MTG. The club is welcoming experienced, casual, and new players with all formats, game modes, and deck types being allowed. For those unfamiliar with MTG, it is a trading card game where people collect different cards from different sets and combine them to create personalized decks. Although MTG is somewhat similar to Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! there are a few major differences including the gameplay. The main difference is within the gameplay of MTG itself. The core gameplay of MTG consists of the players creating resources called “mana” by deploying lands and using those resources to summon creatures and effects onto the battlefield. These creatures can then attack the enemy player’s creatures or even the opposing player themselves with the goal of getting their health to zero. Along with that core gameplay loop, there are many different game modes and card effects that add complexity. The club itself is still a recent addition and as such is figuring out how everything will be formatted. The club members are free to play MTG during lunch in room 230 and the club meets after school on Thursdays to play some rounds of MTG. The club accepts players of all experience including those who have never played MTG and are wanting to give it a try. To help inexperienced players learn the complexities of the game, more experienced club members, including Mr. Howell himself, will help guide the upcoming players through the rules and gameplay. Afterwards, players will be paired up with someone of similar experience to play against. Along with helping new players understand the rules, experienced players with more than one deck plan to lend extras out to inexperienced players to borrow and use. The lending of decks will help new players determine which playstyles they prefer before investing in their own deck. For anyone interested in joining the club, speak to Mr. Howell in room 230 or scan the QR code on one of the posters around the school. The club is open to anyone regardless of experience, a sentiment echoed by Mr. Howell, who remarked, “Whether you’ve been playing for 20 years or have never seen a Magic card before in your life, we want all new players to come play.” Ashlyn Paredes
Staff Writer Senior graduates are entering adulthood and money can be a difficult thing to balance. Seniors can spend up to $954 on graduation; however, spending that much is not absolutely necessary. Most of that money goes to extra events such as the senior trip, prom tickets, and senior memorabilia. The necessary amount of required fees is just $66.45 for a cap and gown. Everything else that seniors can spend their money on is completely optional. Big events like prom and the senior trip to Lagoon are what made the overall cost so large. The senior trip is one hundred dollars and prom tickets are sixty five dollars in April then being bumped up to seventy five dollars on May first. Although these events are not mandatory to attend, they are memorable for seniors. Engaging events like this are what makes senior year so significant for students. These milestones represent what secretary Kalli Belnap describes as “one last hurrah” before graduation. Not only tickets for events can be bought though; other items that students can purchase are a few different clothing packs for senior memorabilia. Items range from fourteen dollars to sixty two dollars. Gear that seniors can purchase are accessories like jewelry, key chains along with clothing such as hoodies, shirts, and sweat pants. The website directgrad.com offers an array of items to outfit seniors. Even though these items are not required for seniors to graduate, they help students to remember their senior year. There is a large variety of senior items to purchase and events to attend. Although most of these are not necessities, they make 2026 a year for all seniors at Bonneville High School to treasure. For many seniors, the high price tag is a secondary concern compared to the value of these final milestones. Students who take the extra step to participate in these activities will be able to look back and commemorate their senior year as they transition into adulthood. Cora Garrette-Dardzinski
Podcast Manager Recycling does not appear to be a priority at Bonneville High School. There is nothing stating recycling is necessary but, it can be extremely helpful to the environment along with slow fashion, which involves making clothes from scratch and thrifting, and roadside cleanup. Several students are not worried about recycling or finding alternatives to fast fashion. One student however, Brooklyn Keller, has been recycling for around six years and has even picked up making her own clothes. She often recycles simply because her family has for a long time. However, she also understands how helpful it is to do so. Keller explains that, “recycling keeps waste out of the water,” along with keeping waste from being sent to landfills, saving energy, and conserving natural resources. Her family is willing to pay for the recycling can to be picked up every week, and they take the time to make sure they recycle everything they can in their household. Along with this, Keller is very fond of taking scraps from her own clothes or clothes from thrift stores to tailor her own outfits with the fabric and her sewing machine. She enjoys making new clothes as a way to pass time and also because “all of the wasted material from websites like Shein, gets sent to landfills and it is all wasted.” With how harmful it is to the environment, she further shares that she “would convince students to stop using fast fashion but for some people it is not an option.” Keller expresses her strong opposition for fast fashion without making anyone adopt her beliefs. However, she encourages anyone to try thrifting since it is typically cheaper, and it would help to keep waste from ending up in landfills. It is brought up within the interview that sometimes finding the motivation to do these things is hard, but it is worth it to her, and she hopes it can be for other students as well. If a student is unable or does not have the time for any of these options, there are other ways of helping the environment without needing special materials. Students can always just pick up trash when they see it to reduce littering or even just refrain from littering themselves. While systemic change at the high school level may take time, individual efforts, from using a recycling bin to choosing secondhand clothing, collectively contribute to a more sustainable campus environment. Ultimately, protecting the environment starts with the small, daily choices made by the student body. Maggie Arave
Staff Writer The countdown to prom is ticking while the Student council(STUCO) is going through the complex process of planning. Many students may be unaware of how STUCO plans, organizes and prepares a light hearted event for students. Planning requires team work, time, effort, and collaboration through committees. BHS STUCO offers insight into how they organize such events. In the past, STUCO juniors have led the prom planning committees. Although this year a group of 9th-12th graders will be led in planning and organizing by Grace Bohrer, a junior. Prom involves extensive communication and collaboration. While collaboration is often required, STUCO typically does the bigger dances, fine arts do the Sadie’s dance, and Cheer does Sweethearts.This level of communication and cooperation is essential: the teamwork of Bonneville is essential for all events. The different clubs work together to plan events for the students' benefit. Planning goes beyond just student bodies, different schools must coordinate when planning events. With help from administration, STUCO can prepare a space for the students attending prom. Preparing the day of the dance is done through raising money and preparing tickets for the event. STUCO collaborates with administration and other clubs to inspire a breathtaking event to the students' taste. Prom is a school wide event that is run by a team trying to make the time memorable for each attendee. Prom is full of fun, lights, and expert design; however, how does STUCO design all this? STUCO social media managers figure out the design. Jeffery Elder, more commonly known as Trey, shares how STUCO keeps tickets and decorations correlative “to the theme.” STUCO puts effort into keeping the theme creative and collective. The committees who design for prom are organized by Bohrer, who will pick out all the decor, food, DJ, etc. Designs are made through discussion and sharing ideas. Bohrer shares how STUCO uses the internet and social media to create “vibes and themes” that are then suggested to the group. She informs that the social media designer manages photos or videos collected. Ashlyn Ward shares that the ideas are finalized through the process of “discussing themes and ideas.” STUCO uses other activities to discover inspiration. Elder explains how STUCO reflects on all the ideas and applies it to the next big dance. STUCO puts all their effort forward in order to prepare, organize, decorate, and collaborate with each other to give students “an even better experience than the last!” Ashlynn Morgan
Social Media Manager The Melodrama ‘Buckshots and Blossoms’ was performed on March 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. From painting sets to sewing fruit for the audience to throw, Bonneville students dedicated hundreds of hours to bring the comedy ‘Buckshots and Blossoms’ to life.The melodrama is a comedy show with exaggerated emotions and over the top comedy with character archetypes such as; The Hero, The Villian, and The Damsel in Distress. Putting together the show takes numerous hours of work from teachers, parents, and students, with all actors and tech students needing a certain number of hours helping with building the set. With the show being an 1800’s western the cast has to have time accurate costumes to help the show come to life. Mrs. Lee joined the BHS production team in the 2022-2023 school year. She enjoys finding costumes from the 1950s, modern is normally the easiest. Choosing a costume for a character can be difficult, the goal of a costume is to showcase their personality in most shows whether they are messy, clean, proper, comedic, and to show what class the character could be in. Lee has to read through the script a couple times to gain an understanding of all the characters and their personalities. An example of this was a character named ‘Cactus Kate’ from the previous melodrama ‘Buckshots and Blossoms,’ where the character was “rough and tumble” and Lee did not want to put her in a dress or skirt, thinking it would not fit the character. The most difficult part of costuming is sizing, not every item of clothing will fit everyone and sometimes the outfits that work for the characters do not fit the actor. In the end her favorite part of costuming is when “Actors do a great job of portraying their characters but there is something magical that happens when set, props, and costumes combine with the actors' portrayal”. When asked the worst thing that happened to a costume she could not remember exactly, she remembered costumes/props that were difficult. One example she used was the egg for Suessical. She had to find a way to make an egg in three parts so an elephant bird could break out every night. Stage magic often requires technical trial-and-error, like the time a pearl necklace held together by magnets refused to cooperate during a performance of "A Murder is Announced. Costumes help bring shows to life in theater, and the theater department is extremely thankful to have Mrs. Lee assisting with costumes. Logan skoy-When measurements are off because it might all have to be redone if it's off and with painting if it's not the right colors the third thing has to be redone, and it'll continue to be redone until it's correct. |
CampusCampus News is where stories relating directly to Bonneville reside. Most are reports on school activities and events. Archives
April 2026
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