“We had our own ideas about what our school needs, but we really want to get the whole student body involved in making changes so that everyone is happy,” said Student Senate president Emiley Rios.

On Monday, December 19, the senators held “town hall” meetings, which were devised so that the senate could figure out what exactly they should focus on improving.

“It was our understanding that students were unhappy about some aspects of our school, but we weren’t totally certain what made them unhappy,” said communications director Andy Epps. “We developed the idea to host meetings with our district so that we could pinpoint the issues and hear the opinions of the people that we represent.”

As well as sharing ideas, the senate wanted to gain the support of the student body for their organization.

“A lot of people don’t really know what Student Senate does for our school. Some think we just get elected and we’re done, but that’s not the case,” said Rios. “We wanted the meetings to show students that we do work hard for them all year and that we do care about what they think. We want people to trust and know that we’re there for them.”

“The town hall meetings were a good idea because more people could speak up about what they want,” said junior senator Erica Olson. “Most students don’t even know who their senator is, so how are they supposed to talk to us about what our school needs if they don’t know who represents them? The meetings really helped students express their opinions and get to know who their senator is.”

When sharing ideas, some were consistent with every district. Students expressed that they would like improvements in the Sam Young Gym, the locker rooms and the restrooms. Some wanted more colorful hallways with murals and painted lockers while others simply wanted a commons area to go to during focus. In almost every district, the lack of school spirit was expressed by students.

“It’s hard to have Tiger Pride in a school that shows hardly any pride,” said Olson. “I think students brought up the issues we have with school spirit because it’s an obvious one. When you travel to away games, it’s easy to notice the spirit the other schools have and how much fun they have. Students want the same thing for BRFHS.”

Though the Student Senate wants to improve our school, they understand they have limits.

“There were some students who suggested a brand new school. Yes, it would be nice, but a referendum is not a realistic goal for us—it is much too big of a project. However, we did earn much positive feedback and excellent ideas that we are sure to discuss in our meetings,” said Epps.

The ideas expressed during the meetings can be found on the Student Senate blog at http://www.brf.org/blog/rykkepau/brfhs-student-senate/town-hall-follow-december-2010. Students are encouraged to talk to their senators about concerns or ideas they have for our school.

The Black River Falls Figure Skating Club (BRFFSC) will be celebrating its 27 birthday in 2011. Members of the BRFFSC have recently begun their winter season of figure skating.

“I just started [to skate] again in September,” said sophomore Mariah Jessie.

Figure skaters as well as hockey players spend a lot of the time practicing. They have to work together in order to share time on the ice.

“Right now I skate about four hours a week, but it gets to be more later on in the season,” said Jessie.

The BRF Hockey team has started unofficial practice already.

“We started playing, but it has been optional practice. Real practice starts next Monday [November 8]”, said senior Jakub Polerecky.

Skaters from BRF have different levels of experience.

“[I have been playing hockey] since I was a squirt, so for about eight years,” said senior Ashley Gulbronson.

Gulbronson is part of the new girl’s high school hockey team combined with some players from Sparta and Tomah.

“There are 19 or 20 girls on the team,” said sophomore Mara Ransom.

The girls will also have to travel far to compete with other teams because there are not many in this area.

“We will play teams like Onalaska and Medford,” said Gulbronson.

This means travelling over an hour south-west and over two hours north-east for just these two games.

Hockey fans are encouraged to bring coats and blankets to keep warm at this season’s home games in the Milt Lunda Arena.

“The team looks very good, so I’m very excited,” said Polerecky.

It really is that simple, too. All that is needed is $48, which pays for the application and test fees as well as the $8, two-step Tuberculosis (TB) test. The TB test is a very small needle that is inserted just below the top layer of skin that bubbles up and then deflates if you don’t have TB.

“It doesn’t hurt, and it just looks like a mosquito bite, or a small blister,” said Connie. “It was also very fast and confidential. The nurse or nurses-aide takes you into a room–it was the meeting room in the Guidance Office last year–and she cleans off the area where you are getting the shot and she sticks it in your arm.

Some students feel that this opportunity advances them most because it is more hands-on. There are a few students, in our school that have actually volunteered to help as well.

“The experience looks good on an application. If you have the CNA course and volunteer work and college experience, you are almost guaranteed a job [in a nursing setting],” said the junior.

Any experience in the a chosen field of study looks good on any other job application as well. It may also be able to get some high school students ahead of some college students.

“All I know is I am glad I took that course and paid the $48 because I am currently working at the nursing home and I know that this course helped.”

 ”Every student in the school will have one of these in their hands,” said adviser Paul Rykken.

 Rykken was referring to the Student Voting Guides, a blue packet of information pertaining to the candidates in the senate, assembly and governor elections as well as the differences between the two political parties. These are to be used to help students make a decision about which candidates to vote for in the mock elections during next week.

 ”Voting will be done during the morning and also during lunch. Students will need to have ID to vote,” said Rykken.

 The goal of mock elections is to get students eager about government. The senate is shooting for a 60% turnout, a universal percent they hope for during each election. Due to the fact that the election of the senators only brought a 44% turnout, the senate is working to bring students to the voting booth.

 ”Students will not vote unless you appeal for them do to it,” said Rykken.

 As well as informing students about political candidates, the senate is informing administration what students want to see change in our school. Junior and vice-president Josh Hanson had a meeting with assistant principal Mark Weddig and talked about student concerns. The main issue was scheduling.

 ”They’re looking at a few options for scheduling. One would be A/B blocks, like what’s done for AP classes or skinnies. They may also have three days of eight classes and two days for blocks,” said Hanson. “The computer scheduling will stay.”

 The issue of our math system was also brought up. Core math is being investigated, but for the meantime, students can take online courses for math if they prefer something other than integrated math. One of the biggest concerns of students was discussed during the meeting as well.

 ”Parking passes were also brought up,” said Hanson. “They’re just for money, so they’ll stay.”

 After the discussion about the meeting with Weddig was over, the senate talked about both an issue and a goal for the year: Tiger Pride. Senior Eric Helstad had an idea of how BRFHS can improve its Tiger Pride.

 ”It’s hard to have pride when you go to other schools and they’re really nice,” said Eric Helstad. “We need some upgrades if we want school pride.”

 Helstad also pointed out that in order to receive these upgrades, we need to let the community know that we do care about the appearance and quality of our school.

 ”A lot of people think that we’re just teenagers and we don’t care about our school and how nice it is, but that’s not the case,” said Eric Helstad. “It’s not about making the changes, it’s about letting our community know we care about changes.”

 On the lighter side of issues, some students believe we need to add a new organization at our school.

 ”We need a ping-pong club!” said junior Aaron Miles.

 The idea of the club was brought up during the meeting withWeddig as well, but was turned down. Activities during focus are meant to be academic, whereas a ping-pong club was said to be more on the recreational side. Students would be permitted to get together after school and have the club, but were not encouraged to meet during focus. Sophomore Nathan Helstad made a closing argument in attempt to get the organization started within school hours.

 ”If we can’t have any recreational activities during focus, then why can we go to the gym?” said Nathan Helstad.

The Black River Falls High School guidance counselors, Eric Erickson and Sue Leadholm, will be meeting with all junior students and their parents. They will be discussing college admissions, visits, and college applications.

“Colleges require specific courses and good grades plus admission test scores to be accepted to their school,” said Leadholm.

Each student’s family is given a date and time to show up for these meetings. It would be very beneficial for you and your family to attend.

“Junior year is an important time for students to actively begin planning their educational future,” said Leadholm. “Parents and students need to plan ahead and be ready to apply by the beginning of their senior year.”

“We’re getting ready for our Fall Review Concert [in band] and we are starting to prepare music for the Madrigal Dinner,” said junior choir and band member Savannah Markee.

In band this will be band director Paula Hardie’s first year preparing for a concert with the Tiger band.

“Adjusting to change is always hard, especially because a lot of us were very close with Ms. O, but we’ve been learning how Ms. Hardie likes to do things and she’s been learning how we like to do things. It’s a group effort, but so far, we’ve been enjoying the change. We’re happy to have Ms. Hardie here,” said Markee.

The band and choir will have to get ready to play very soon as the concerts lurks on the horizon.

“FCCLA is well known out in the community by the projects being done by the students,” said FCCLA adviser Tina Gilbertson. This meeting covered the whole year and what FCCLA will be doing.

One of the first opportunies to travel comes in the second term.

“The cluster meeting is in St Louis on November 5-7,” said FCCLA adviser Sarah Halverson. “This is for getting the kids used to everything and to motivate them for the future.”

“National Leadership Conference is on July 10-14 and State Conference is on April 3-5 at the Kalihari in Wisconsin Dells,” said Halverson.

“STAR events are presented in La Crosse,” said Cook. “STAR events stand for Students Taking Action with Recognition,” added Halverson.

The trips can be expensive, but members have the opportunity to cover the cost. “Fundraisers will pay for your trips if you raise enough money,” said Gilbertson. This year there will be two fundraisers, one selling Frontier Soups and then another for Christmas wreaths.

Advisers and students look back at several trips with great memories.

“Orlando was definitley one of the best trips we have ever taken.Tthe kids really had a lot of fun there,” said Halverson.

“I have been in FCCLA for four years and every year I meet new people and just have a good time,” said senior Betsy Torkelson.

Thinking about joining?  Talk to Gilbertson or Halverson, both stationed in the green hallway.

 Senate adviser Paul Rykken describes the students to be in their “organizational stage,” but still managed to get work done. The executive council was chosen with senior Emiley Rios serving as the president, junior Josh Hanson as vice-president, senior Elizabeth Cook as secretary and senior Andy Epps in charge of communications. The decision was unanimous.

As a senator, the students have a lot to keep up with, but Rykken has developed a plan to keep them organized. The senate has a Twitter account, similar to the one that students can use to follow BRFHS and receive important updates. Following the senate tells the students about meeting, deadlines and any other important information that the senators need to know. Not only is the senate working on keeping themselves informed, but they are working to better spread information to their districts.

 “You have to be more than a voice over the P.A.,” said Rykken.

 He encouraged the teens to talk one-on-one with people in their district and to inform students that they are their senator.

 “How does the student body view you as the student senate?” asked Rykken. A goal for the teens this year is to make sure that BRFHS views them in a positive way.

 To work on helping the global community, they are donating money towards Habitat for Humanity in Haiti. They raised $4,000 for the organization last year. This donation intersects with the Viva Haiti project created last year. The senate took notice that there is still very much to do in Haiti and want to do all they can to be a socially responsible group.

 Also on their agenda during the meeting was breaking off into committees. The senate is made up of four different committees. The communications committee is in charge of publicizing the senate and communicating with students and the community. The constitution committee’s job is to inform students about the Student Senate Constitution. To cover issues of diversity within our school, the senate formed the school environment committee. The political action committee promotes political action. This committee will have its work cut out for them this year.

 The voting turnout for the 2010 elections was at 44%, much lower than the goal of a 60% turnout. The senate’s goal is to promote voting both inside and outside of school.

 “By November 2, there will be 40 seniors eligible to vote,” said Rykken.

 To encourage these seniors to rock the vote, they will be sending them letters to remind them they now have the right to choose who will represent them.

 Any student with suggestions, questions or concerns is encouraged to talk to their senators.

“I think it went well; I presented the information that we have so far on different types of schedules, and they want to get some more information on that,” said Chambers. “We will be interviewing and talking with a number of schools that have different schedules to get more information.”

 The school has now set a timeline for making this decision; the school board will decide in February. The administration has many points to consider in the meantime.

“It’s hard to come up with real solid data to say that this particular schedule makes smart kids…there are so many factors in what makes a good learning environment,” said Chambers.

 The main thing is to decide if a 45 or an 85 minute class is better for students.

 ”One of the things we’re looking at is to see if it’s better for a student to be in a class for 45 minutes, or is it better for them to be in class for 85 minutes. Where do they learn better?” said Chambers.

 Another issue the administration has to consider is which classes will benefit from a a shorter class period, and which will benefit from a longer class period.

 ”Changing the schedule, whether its from a block to a seven or eight period day, that might help music classes because music wants to be 45 minutes,” said Chambers, “but it might create problems for Biology or Chemistry where they want to do bigger labs. It certainly would create problems for tech ed. when they want to go out to the house to build and they only have 45 minutes, and they have to drive for 5 or 10 minutes one way. ”

Other departments, like math and foreign language, would like to run all year long. Those departments would benefit from a 45-minute class length.

“By solving one problem we’re creating another problem, so we have to be really careful on how we make change, and why we make change,” said Chambers.

No matter how much thought the administration puts into this decision, not every scheduling conflict will be solved.

“You’re never going to solve all scheduling conflicts because you’re always going to have a certain number of teachers, a certain number of students and a certain number of courses you can offer. A student is never going to be able to take every single class that is offered. It’s physically impossible to be in two places at one time,” said Chambers.

But it’s not necessarily about solving every problem; it’s about creating a better learning environment for students.

“We want to do what’s best for the learning of the kids; it’s not what’s convenient for the teachers [...] or even what’s most convenient for a kid’s schedule. It’s what’s most effective for their education,” said Chambers.

Sophomore Mara Ransom gets taped to the bleachers during the Homecoming Pep Rally.

Finally, Homecoming comes to a close, and the Pep club did a good job making 2010 a year to remember. The dress up days were a success, many students and teachers participated in some if not all of the five dress up days.

 Participation in Monday’s dress up was hard for some people because of forgetting over the weekend. Opposite day brang about a variety of inside-out shirts, opposite colors and people dressing like the opposite sex.

 Nerd day gave many people the prime opportunity to show their inner geek. Taped glasses and plaid dominated the hallways on Tuesday.

 ”[The dress up days] went well; a lot of people participated ” sophomore Hannah Fendt said.

 Wednesday was Class Color day, the bright luminous pigment littered the classes, freshmen being yellow, sophomores being green, juniors being red, seniors being blue and staff being pink. Some took it a step further and combined the day into a class year day.

 Thursday was Salad Dressing day; Each class had their type of dressing. Freshmen wore berets as part of their french dressing. Sophomores hung 10 with tropical Thousand Island. Juniors round ‘em up with Ranch. Seniors dressed in togas as Caesar; and Faculty wore Blue Cheese.

 Friday was Black and Orange day, the student really showed their Tiger Pride at the assembly, parade, and the big game.

 ” The games were a lot of fun; a lot of people were good sports about it,” Fendt said.