Paw Print Online » Features

Matched by Ally Condie

Kristin Getter — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:46:30 +0000

What if you didn’t have a choice? What if you didn’t have a choice in what you wore? What you eat, what you say, what you can own? Who you love? When you die? What if you weren’t allowed to write and your favorite poems, paintings, music was taken away from you? What would you do?

If you were Cassia, you would live. Then you would fight.

In Ally Condie’s novel Matched, Cassia’s province doesn’t have any rights. In her world, the Society makes all the decisions in her life and others around her, with the help of Officials. The novel starts off with her matching ceremony, where she meets who she will marry. In a way, it is an arranged marriage. The Society picks out who gets married to who, to help match the genes up to lead to healthy children. Cassia doesn’t doubt the Society’s power until the night after her banquet.

When she tries to watch her match’s profile, another face appears on the screen, someone else she knows. It’s already abnormal for her to be matched with someone she knows, but another face appearing on the screen is twice as abnormal. Cassia becomes confused and scared, unsure what the incident means. She is told later on to ignore the glitch in the system, but she finds it more difficult than she anticipates. Her desires conflict between the safe, secure and known boy she was paired with, and the unknown, mysterious and new boy that flashed onto the screen. Day after day she comes into contact with the new boy and finds herself falling in love with him. She finds herself facing the choice between the two boys, which ultimately is the decision between following the Society, or going against it.

I really enjoyed the novel. It kept me in the pages; though I have a busy schedule and don’t have much time to read, I found myself reading during class and during any free time I found during school. It was really intense and kept my mind on the novel when I wasn’t reading it. I really liked the mysterious twist she threw into it by not telling the truth of the Society. Cassia finds out about the Society in the novel and the limited point of view really makes the novel interesting. I also really like the theme of the novel; she shows the importance of simple freedoms. Cassia’s troubling tale emphasizes the importance of fighting for what you want.

I would easily recommend this book to anyone, for it has a great meaning. The story involves romance, suspense, mystery, a little politics and has great detail, which peaks the interest of several different types of people.

Channel 97 News: May 7

Paw Print Staff — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:49:37 +0000

The 2012-13 schedule gets finalized, the girls basketball team earns statewide recognition for academics, and we find out about local frolfing options.

Advising program assists students through high school career

Kristin Getter — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:03:10 +0000

Social Studies teacher Kris Wrobel sits in on a department meeting.

Throughout their high school careers, students meet new people, encounter new challenges and face more responsibilities. The advising program has been around for several years, aiming to help students through these challenges.

“I think the advising program can be looked at as a way for us to find connections for kids to the school, and so it initially started as a way for us to take students and create little families,” said Business Education teacher Megan Finch. “Every teacher is assigned a certain number of kids to kind of nurture, look after and be an advocate for, make sure they’re on task with grades and classes and in feeling involved in part of the school life. So the advising program is really a way to create success for students at the high school level.”

One advantage of the advising program is it allows mingling between the upperclassmen and underclassmen, even if it’s for only a focus period.

“I think it’s a good program,” said senior Savannah Markee. “It helps kids bond with and…have a chance to meet with kids in different grades and get advice on scheduling and classes from upperclassmen. You have a chance to talk to a faculty member about grades and other things.”

Markee believes allowing the students to pick their advisors would greatly improve the program. This method would ultimately make the bonding process more natural.

“You could pick a teacher in your own career field, and or just a teacher you have really bonded well with, and that you trust,” said Markee. “It’s easier to talk to them if you trust them.”

One negative to the program is inconsistency. Finch thinks a more structured program would be more worthwhile.

“I just think there needs to be…a common understanding between the students and the staff,” said Finch. “I think we need to have consistency from the staff on how to run the advising program.”

Though some dislike the program in general and dread going to the meetings, Markee thinks it is a worthwhile program.

“Yeah, I think it’s a really helpful program and…a lot of students benefit from it,” said Markee. “They might not like it but it essentially helps us.”

Channel 97 News: February 13

Paw Print Staff — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:25:43 +0000

In this week’s show, four students talk about their tattoos and Sydney highlights the holocaust survivor presentation from last week. You’ll also hear about registration, Hoops for Hope and Alex Johnson’s college sports plan.

Channel 97 News: February 6

Paw Print Staff — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:23:28 +0000

Channel 97 News is back for the new semester with a new look! This week, we’re featuring the BLAST program, Digital Learning Day, social media tips and the Danz team.

Students plan for the new year

Kyle Oakes — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:14:37 +0000

While some haven’t given a thought to New Year’s resolutions, others have everything planned out.

“This year, my resolution was to not watch as much TV because it affected my time with spending time with family and my homework,” said sophomore Cheyenne Iverson.Watching too many MTV shows like Parental Control and Tough Love, Iverson has lost her time for family, homework and piano lessons.“For next year, my New Year’s resolution is to practice the piano more, and get better at it,” said Iverson.Sophomore Kenzi MacIntyre has really improved in her academics, but wants to further improve them and she wants to join tennis and exercise more.

“This year, my resolution was to work harder at school, in general, ” said MacIntyre.

Guidance counselor Sue Leadholm says that the main focus for school work is having time to do it. Leadholm suggests completely filling out your assignment notebook to keep track with classes. Make a schedule set up for a week for yourself and edit it on the way.

“My resolutions for next year is to play better in tennis and to do better in school,” said junior Erin Peterson.

Leadholm says that planning is a key way to living better. When it comes to food, plan out what you’re going to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, in a food journal.

When you have something you want to achieve you need the right tools to achieve those goals, like a food log for eating concerns and a workout sheet for exercise logging, says Leadholm.

According to Leadholm, exercise, like school, is a priority. You need to schedule your workouts on a workout log, and same goes with eating. If you miss a day or misbehave one day, make a commitment on doing it the next day.

From the most common to the most bizarre, resolutions common among many students and help students and faculty achieve their year-long goals.

Tracks of note: Taylor Swift

Eduardo Miranda — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:32:21 +0000

Taylor Swift is an American country singer and song-writer. Her songs and albums are famous all around the world, winning fans of all ages. Her newest work, and the third in her career, named Speak Now (2010), is one of the best sellers in 2011.Songs like “Mine,” “Back to December,” “Mean,” “The Story of Us” and 11 more songs won over her public . Many music critics approved this album and said that Swift has a great future as a singer.Speak Now is a Big Machine Records product, handled by Swift and Nathan Chapman. On the first week, it was in first place on US Billboard 200, and the 14 songs of the album were on the Billboard 100 ranking. It has sold more than 9 million copies all around the world.

Swift has been on a tour this year, named the Speak Now world tour, to promote the album. Europe, Asia, North America and the newest announced, Oceania, are the countries which were chosen to present the concerts.

Currently, the song “Speak Now” is in 41st at Billboard 200, and “Sparks Fly” 50th at Billboard’s Top 100 (10/23/11).

Taylor Swift was voted Woman of the Year by Billboard, becoming the youngest artist to receive such an honor. Billboard´s editorial director, Bill Werde said that the songs and compositions of Swift transcends all genres of music. She´ll receive the award on December 2 2011, in New York City.

Teacher Spotlight: Mary Byrns

Kaitlyn Johnson — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:56:59 +0000

Mary Burns moved to Black River Falls with her family for a new environment and has lived here for twenty-eight years. She started teaching here last year, working at both the middle and high schools.

“I teach Introduction to Business. It was a course that didn’t have a teacher, so I was assigned to be the teacher, and I love it. It’s my favorite class!” said Byrns. “I like the school a lot. I like that there is a lot of variety.”

It’s always a scary feeling going from the middle school to high school for students and teachers, especially if you’re new.

“I taught middle school in Sparta, and I was nervous to come into a high school. I just wanted to do a good job and have good lesson plans that my students would like,” said Byrns. “Since I was in middle school I didn’t know the expectations of high school kids.”

Before teaching, Byrns was coaching some sports, which is how she became more comfortable being in the school.

“I’ve coached sports at the school, and met some students,” she said. “…many of them are unbelievably crazy, in a good way.”

Three months into the school year and Byrns is still going strong.

“So far this year has been going great! I’m glad I’m making it through!”

Teacher Spotlight: Paul Rykken

Audra Schjeldahl — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:38:57 +0000

Paul Rykken has been a social studies teacher at BRFHS for 22 years and has received many awards for his teaching abilities. Rykken teaches AP American History, American Politics, 21st Century World and Law and Society.

Beside teaching, he is also the head of the Falls History Project and directs the student senate.

“He’s a good teacher because he knows what he’s talking about, he cares about his students and he doesn’t give us busy work. Instead, he makes sure we understand what he’s teaching,” said junior Mara Ransom.

The Law and Society class focuses on the different types of law and how they function. A lot of the class time is spent in the computer lab doing research on cases.

“We didn’t really have a lot of homework assignments, we just spent time learning. We learned about our legal system and we spent the whole term doing case research,” said Ransom.

Rykken started the Falls History Project in 2000 in the effort to document the history of the area. Last year’s concentration was on the Native American-European American relationships in the area.

“I’m really excited to get started with the history project. I think it’s going to be a really good opportunity for me and I’m really interested in the project itself. Mr. Rykken really finds a way to keep everyone interested and involved and I think his styles and strategies keep everything open for discussion,” said senior Joshua Hanson.

This will be Rykken’s eleventh year being involved with the project.

“He’s really into what he teaches. He’s always very thorough,” said senior Tim Nortman.

With Class: Intro to Business

Joshua Hanson — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:51:09 +0000

“I would really recommend taking Intro to Business, or any classes that Mrs. Finch or Mrs. Byrns offer because they’re both really great teachers,” said former Intro to Business student, senior Kaitlyn Dvorak.Intro to Business is a class that provides students a wide array of projects and activities while also giving them a base into the business world. The class is taught by Mary Byrns, a second year teacher here who enjoys providing students a variety of subject matter.

“[The kids really enjoy] the variety they get–they seem to really like the current event quizzes,” said Byrns.

To be successful, people have to be aware of what is happening in the world. Being offered the current event quizzes, as well as the variety of projects is, to many, enjoyable and beneficial.

“I really enjoyed the types of ownership of businesses, creating projects and running your own business,” said Dvorak.

Not only do students enjoy those portions of the class, but Byrns believes those portions of the class are important and worthwhile. These subjects help prepare students for the business world, and can help to explain the complexity of business.

“[The reason I teach Intro to Business is] to give some introductory concepts about business and explain the many facets of business,” Byrns said.

If you’re interested in Intro to Business, the class is a one term elective offered to grades 9-12. It generally includes students from many grades– so seniors are just as welcome as freshmen. Intro to business can help build a solid foundation for future BRFHS business classes.

“I mean, let’s be honest,” said Dvorak, “business is a part of everything.”