Provo Canyon School Students: Articles

The laws of the Harvest

Four important laws govern nature. They are laws that cannot be disregarded without consequence. These same four laws also govern human life, and the symbolism applies fully to human life. Successful people learn to live by these laws. Generally speaking, people who disregard important laws or continually break laws find themselves in conflict with laws, and suffer consequences imposed by the law.

These laws are a part of the Standards of Excellence program implemented at Provo Canyon School. These four laws are lived by care givers at Provo Canyon School because they understand that example is greater than precept. These laws are taught to the students and the families of those who come there to receive care.

The First Law of the Harvest:
I Reap What I Sow
Life is like a field into which seeds are planted. The field must be prepared by plowing, harrowing, and enriching before seeds are planted. Every seed put into the soil yields its own kind of fruit. If a planter desires corn, he will plant corn seeds, instead of weeds. Similarly, we get out of our lives what we put into them. Success or happiness requires that we sow seeds that bring success and happiness. Good seeds produce good fruit, bad produce bad. Every action and every thought sows seeds that will eventually have to be harvested in life.

We become what we think and do. Thought leads to action, action to habit, and habit to character. Thoughts and actions either help or hurt ourselves and those around us. The simple test of life is: “by their fruits you shall know them.” When considering what to plant in our lives, we should first consider what kind of fruit we want to harvest, then, plant accordingly.

The harvest is the consequence of planting. Similarly, consequence is the result of choice. Every choice has a consequence, good or bad. We may be able to temporarily avoid the consequence of inappropriate actions by lying, cheating, or deceiving others, but the truth is that we become what we do and say and think, and that is the acid test of our lives: what we become. What we sow in our lives we will become.

The Second Law of the Harvest:
I Reap in a Different Season than I Sow
Normally, crops are planted in the Spring, they grow during the summer, and are harvested in the fall. It takes time for seeds planted in the earth to germinate, grow, and ripen. It is the same for people. The fruit of our thoughts and actions, be they helpful or hurtful, may not always come immediately. This does not mean we will not ever pay a price or get a benefit; it will come in time.
If a student drops out of school, they may not feel the result until they grow older and try to find a good-paying job that requires education. Drug abuse may not immediately harm health or happiness, but will later on if continued. Most students at PCS didn’t think that their past behavior would result in being placed in a mental health institution.

Growth is a process of time and effort that begins by planting seeds. The harvest depends upon the type of seeds we plant and the effort and time we put into cultivating those seeds. The harvest comes only after time and effort has been given. For good or bad, we will eat the fruits of our decisions throughout our lives. The habits that we form will either bless us or harm us.

The Third Law of the Harvest
I Reap More than I Sow
The third law teaches us the principle that from little thoughts or actions, be they positive or negative, come larger consequences that can fill our life with either happiness and success, or sorrow and regret. One tiny apple seed planted in the ground can produce an apple tree, and from one tree, thousands of bushels of apples can be harvested.

The little decisions that we make in our lives can have big consequences. Sometimes we don’t realize that the choices we make each day will affect us, but they do, and they affect the people around us who love and care for us. From one thoughtless act can come a lifetime of regret and unhappiness. From one kind act or positive thought can emerge a stream of blessings and opportunities.

The Fourth Law of the Harvest
I Can Always Plant New Seeds
We cannot change the past. We can only learn from it so that we do not repeat mistakes. Some choices in our lives we did not make, and some of our current circumstances were not our own making. We did not choose our family, our physical body, or some of the things that happened to us. We cannot change these things over which we had no control, or for which we had no responsibility.

We are responsible for the choices we did make. The bad choices we made we can learn from and do better in the future. The fourth law teaches us to learn from the past, take care of the present, and plant for the future.

Sometimes we falsely believe that our bad decisions or our current circumstances have made our present and future situation hopeless. Joyfully, that is not true. If we do not like our present situation, we have the power to change it. We can change the future by making better choices today. We can make better choices today by learning from the past and not repeating mistakes.

Our lives are not just one planting and one harvesting, but a continuing cycle of opportunities to plant and reap. Each new year, new month, week, day, minutes, and choice is an opportunity to plant new seeds for a better harvest tomorrow.

Youth are like seeds which are planted by sewers in ground and spring up and bring forth fruit. Some fruit is sweet and other bitter. Youth that receive care at Provo Canyon School are good seeds, and have the potential to bring forth good fruit. In reality, there are no truly bad human seeds; only barren soil, harsh environments, and neglectful sewers. The Laws of the Harvest, when correctly applied, empower youth to make choices that bring sweet fruit.
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Provo Canyon School Art Department

The Provo Canyon School library has a gallery of some beautiful works of art done by the students. The sculptures seen at the library were dome the guidance of Angie Smith, who conducts the art classes at the school.

Mrs. Smith has completed her courses in Special Education and is a very enthusiastic member of the staff. She also takes great interest in the boy's sports activities and is always cheering them during competitions.

National Library Week at Provo Canyon

The National Library Week is held annually at Provo Canyon School from April 15 to April 21. The school has two campuses with a library located at each campus for staff and students. Nadean Armstrong is the head librarian at the Orem Campus and has been in the school for two years now. She is a great help to the girls.

Apart from handling six classes everyday, Armstrong also aids students in their Internet searches, and related school activities. Armstrong, a very casual and easy to approach person, has a Special Education degree along with a teaching certificate. She is always at hand whether it is to help with research requests or responding to school matters in the teaching department.

The librarian at the Provo Canyon School boy's campus is Eleanor LaFlamme. Eleanor has more than 25 years of experience in various school, public and private libraries. She also has degrees in Library Science and English. Eleanor carries out her daily workload with ease. She handles many book accounts, check in and check outs, while at the same time helping with Internet searches. Eleanor is also working of re-cataloging all of Provo Canyon School's books to make all of the books in PCS's catalog more readily available to the staff and students.

National Library Week is celebrated very enthusiastically at Provo Canyon School. Specially prepared bookmarks are distributed to the boys who participate in the Author Bingo game. Prizewinning events are held and everyone ends up having fun.

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Provo and Provo Canyon School

• Provo is one of the cities of the state of Utah. Provo lies between the cities of Springville and Orem.
• Utah has one of the most educated people in the US. Almost 30% of the state population consists of people who have pursued a degree after high school.
• Mountains surround Provo from all sides and create beautiful sceneries, apart from having beautiful lakes and canyons. Provo is one of the cities of the state of Utah. Provo lies between the cities of Springville and Orem.
• It is here that the Provo Canyon School first started in 1971. The Provo campus is now for boys, while the school ha opened a campus for girls at Orem.

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The boys quickly divided themselves into smaller groups and emptied the truck of its contents in no time. These items were then arranged in a room where they were sorted and arranged in organized heaps in the parking lot. Now the students started packing the gifts in cardboard boxes and cartons. Another group was wrapping the items neatly in gift wrappers. What normally took ten or more hours to complete was done in less than half the time. By 11 in the morning, the boys were done with their task and stood waiting for the trucks that were to take the items to the states where the Indians resided.

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The purpose of this paper is to identify two web sites researching the autoimmune Grave's disease (hyperthyroidism) from a patient's perspective. The paper will discuss the methods used to find the web sites, and at least two therapies from the web sites. Information from the two sites are compared and contrasted for validity, including rationale for the validity of the site information.

Methods of Finding Web Sites
A Google search provided a large number of sites. The parameters included the words Grave's disease, hyperthyroidism, complementary, and alternative remedies. Two of the sites included an interesting variety of information including alternative treatments.

Information Validity and Rationale
The first site included excellent descriptions of Grave's disease and a list of the most common symptoms and possible complications. The site discussed heredity, diagnosing and testing, blood tests, and treatments. The three main treatments included are medication, radioactive iodine treatment, and surgery (National women's health information center, 2006). Three sites for more information were included at the end of the article.
The reason the first site and its accompanying websites are valid is that they are nationally recognized Grave's disease organizations. The site itself was applicable because the US Department of Health and Human services sponsored it (National, 2006). Two published doctors reviewed the site, lending it more credibility.
The second site also listed descriptions, blood tests, and common treatments. The second site included a large section on alternative treatments not discussed in the first article. Although the site mentioned Grave's disease cannot be cured, it was promoting a book called Cure Your Hyperthyroidism Naturally. The site then listed samples of foods that can help prevent and treat hyperthyroidism such as peaches, broccoli, and turnips. It listed foods to avoid such as margarine and bacon. The most beneficial exercises to help with prevention and treatment listed yoga as the best choice. Three essential oils “proven to treat Grave's disease and hyperthyroidism” (Barton, 2006 pp. 39) mentioned lemon balm as an example. Other treatments mentioned were special body cleansing, acupuncture, and reflexology with a specific reflex point on the foot that would help restore optimum immune system function. The article discussed an additional homeopathic remedy especially for people with brown hair and brown eyes. The site listed herbs, vitamins, and a recipe for “Grave's disease tea” (Barton, 2006 pp. 48) with purchase of the book.
The end of the article explained reasons doctors do not tell their patients about natural remedies. The reasons are that doctors do not learn about alternative treatments in medical school, and that doctors do not make money except when prescribing medication or when “you heal yourself at home” (Barton, 2006, pp. 63). Several testimonials were included from people who had used the remedies and had a decrease in symptoms from following the suggestions in the book. The author of the book was a “medical researcher and alternative remedy author.” (Barton, 2006, pp. 84) He guaranteed a full money-back guarantee for purchase of his book.
The reason the second article is not convincing is that there are no doctors to review the information. Most valid sites do not include testimonials or such a huge variety of cures or remedies. Although the article mentioned many treatments, there was no justification or reason the treatments worked. The article did not mention any documentation of testing.
Conclusion
There were several inconsistencies between the two articles. The first article indicated a review by doctors and included well-known, nationally recognized web sites for further information. The second did not include doctor reviews and did not mention well-known web sites. Since the second site had more discussion on cures and happy customers, it could be more attractive from a patient's perspective. Patients may feel they can bypass medications, treatments, or surgery if they follow the advice in the second site. Patients need to be educated to find information from respected, nationally accredited sites.