Michael Dehmer – The Hoofprint

New Season, New Field—Softball Season Kicks Off

Michael Dehmer — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 17:59:35 +0000

As the days get warmer, the bats start cracking as another softball season kicks off. The softball team has been looking forward to the construction of a new softball complex. “I would say that there are some better things about this field; we have a complex now and a concession/news building now, some nice cages and a pit behind the dugout.” said Junior Katie Carlson. The passage of the 2014 bond has allowed the school to update various amenities for the different sports teams. This includes the new fields that are being built for both the baseball and softball team.

The softball team has had a lot of success in recent years making a back-to-back appearance in the state softball tournament and they hope that this upcoming season is successful as well. “I think it’s possible,” said Junior Codi Zwack. “We just need to take it one game at a time and just stay focused.” The Bison softball team has their first game on April 6th, although it will be an away game in Big Lake. We wish them luck for a successful season!

New Additions to BHS Approach Completion

Michael Dehmer — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 22:00:40 +0000

Over the winter two new major additions to the school took shape. These additions, a new gymnastics gym and a dance room/staging area, were made possible by the bond that was passed in 2014. Both projects should be completed by graduation, but with the nice weather that we have had they are estimated to be done by mid May. The addition that is being added to the main gym is for a permanent space for the gymnastics equipment to be set up year round. Currently, when the gymnastics equipment is stored, it takes up an entire room adjacent to the gymnastics room. With this new space for the gymnastics gear to be set up year round, the old storage space will be available for gym teachers in class.

Construction Manager Tom Bauman said “The gymnastics and the basketball games, you can’t have them on the same night. Let’s say there is a floor exercise and a girl has got her music going and a referee on the other side blowing his whistle… it just doesn’t work”. The new additions will allow gymnastics and basketball to happen on the same night. The other building going up near the orchestra room is new space set aside for a dance class room as well as a storage space. These projects will also help alleviate some scheduling issues between Orchestra and Dance as well and let Orchestra and Band practice for concerts without One Act Play having to take down their set.

“Can Bananas wear Skirts?” One minute with Un Minutos

Michael Dehmer — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:00:39 +0000

Each day, BHS Spanish teacher Jess Nickelsen sets time aside for her class to participate in Un Minutos. An Un Minuto is “a word or phrase and it can be anything as long as it’s school appropriate and that we don’t talk about people unless they are famous and we can make fun of them.” Topics can range from ‘what your plans are for the weekend?’ to questioning whether bananas can wear skirts.
Sra. Nickelsen believes that they are a good brain break for students and also help them make connections with their peers. All of the Un Minutos are student made. Students “write a variety of things on a piece of paper, everybody hands it in” Nickelsen explained. “Then one person selects a piece of paper, reads it to him or herself and then picks a person in the class whom they think would have something to say about the topic.” Although “Un Minuto” technically means “one minute”, Nickelsen said “we all know they end up lasting about five because everybody want to contribute and it’s a good way to get kids talking to each other.”
Sra. Nickelsen first started using Un Minutos more than a decade ago: “At a world language teachers conference probably 12 years ago, they said it was a good brain break for people in the upper level language classes.” A lot of high level Spanish students can get frustrated with new material, so Sra. Nickelsen thought it would be “nice to have a space where you don’t have to think so hard.” Also, “it was a good way to get to know some of the people in the class”. Un Minutos offer a space for students to make meaningful connections and relieve stress in a productive environment.

Marching Band Season Begins

Michael Dehmer — Fri, 27 May 2016 17:23:50 +0000

Last summer the marching band went on a trip to Boston, Massachusetts to perform in a parade. Many of last years herd members are excited to come back for yet another summer of practicing to perfect their march and songs, so they can show off all of their hard work at the parades they will be traveling to this marching band season.
“It’s hard work but it’s fun” said Emma Forcier about marching band.
Hannah Zimmerman another marcher for the Herd said she does marching band, ”Because I like band and it’s a good environment to be in, I love the people and I love the directors.”
Serena Tupper said her favorite part of marching band was the parades “because you get to show off all of your hard work.”
One of the first parts of the marching band season is sweat week, which is five days during which the first half of the day is spent practicing their music and the second half is spent in the “Grinder” where they practice their step size and formation.
Marching Band is a huge part of many of its members summers.They hope to have a great summer like last year.
”It’s lots of fun and it’s a good thing to do in the summer. It’s a good way to be with friends.” Said Jonah Schmitz about the band.

AP United States History Test

Michael Dehmer — Fri, 27 May 2016 17:06:32 +0000

The AP United States History (APUSH for short) test is administered to students nationwide. Many of the students taking the test thought it would be more challenging than it was. After taking the test though they felt that it was easier than what they were expecting. Jacob Scherber said
“I feel like the test went better than I thought it would, I was not feeling to good about it going in, but afterwards I felt like it went alright.”
Leading up to the test, students prepared using a variety of resources at their disposal from their textbooks, notecards, Youtube videos and even practice questions. AP United States History Student Megan Lowell said she, “used crash course . . . [the] APUSH textbook, American Pageant . . . and practice questions etc. I also have a friend on the basketball team who took APUSH, [and] I used her study tests . . .“
Students agree that the over the summer readings and homework plus the three quarters of the AP U.S. History class prepared them well for the test.
“The class helped me prepare for the test,” said Sophomore Bailee Larson, “because there was a lot of hard information and activities that helped me learn more about the subject.”
The 3 hour and 15 minutes long test consisted of a first section of 55 multiple choice questions in 55 minutes, 4 short answer questions in 50 minutes and a second section that included a document based question plus a choice of one of two long essay questions in 90 minutes. After taking the test, some of the students had advice for future of APUSH test takers.
“It’s hard, so don’t blow it off or put off studying till the last minute,” Larson said.
Taylor Valek agrees that you should not leave studying to the last minute and Megan Lowell advises that students should,“Be confident . . . [and] pay a lot of attention in class”
According to administrators, students should be aware that this course will be changed to a CIS course instead of AP and will be two quarters instead of three starting the 2016-17 school year. Students will still have the opportunity to take the AP test in the spring, though.