On Monday, your Advisory will be competing on Kahoot. On Tuesday, you can sign up for a meditation BASE, which will be held by Mrs. Ortmann. On Wednesday, there will be a drawing/games BASE in room F101. Thursday has Feelings Bingo, with $10 Starbucks gift cards for those who win, also in room F101. Lastly, during Advisory on Friday, your teacher will collect donations for the non-profit Make a Wish. 

Along with that, we also have dress-up days throughout the same week. Monday is monochromatic, Tuesday is cozy sweater day, Wednesday is Camo day, Thursday is Denim day, and Friday is PJ day. 

After the school week itself, the Bison Ball takes place. It’s on February 10th, from 7pm to 10pm, and the same rules carry over from Homecoming. You must have your student ID or Infinite Campus open and ready for identification. Bags are not allowed, but if you choose to bring a purse, that is fine. Should you leave the dance, there is no re-admission, and no admission will be taken after 8:00pm. Entry costs $10, which you can pay at the door or online.

“Sports were my life,” she said. “They were my whole identity. I am now relearning my self-value, separate from the sports I play. I’m me because of who I am, not because of the times I run.”

As briefly introduced above, sports and other recreational activities come with the risk of injury. The specific types of injury are hard to predict. It could be anything from a minor concussion to something way more severe, like the tearing of the Anterior cruciate ligament (or ACL). Whichever injury you find yourself with, the difficulties you’ll face will not change, and neither will the stress of their disappointments.

“Sitting on the sidelines and watching the game from the bench was always difficult,” said Varsity Soccer player Abigail Bolin ’25, who suffered from a lower body extremity last year. “I felt kinda helpless. I couldn’t do anything to support my team physically the way I knew I had been able to previously.”

Beating the back-to-basics blues is not as simple as merely changing your attitude, although one would think so.

One of the more significant factors is learning how to support others while giving yourself grace. It doesn’t matter if you cheered your team to victory or completed a more personal goal toward recovery because both have positive impacts. It’s hard to be a glass half-full in a half-empty world, but if you take the time to look, influencing others will have something to do with ease.

“I’ve always been a very relationally driven person,” said Claire Erickson ’24, an injured captain also in the Varsity soccer program. “Being able to connect with every person on the team, whether JV or Varsity or anyone else in the Soccer program, is super important to me. I’m so glad I could build relationships with everyone, even if I couldn’t do it on the field.”

Bolin agreed, “Even though I couldn’t bond in the same way most of the others were able to, I enjoyed my role on the team. I tried really hard to be a supportive teammate, someone the younger girls could come to for support. Even though they can’t comprehend what I’m going through, we can still relate. I used to be them, and I understand how it feels to be one of them.”

Even though the consequences and memories attached to an injury never go away, they don’t have to be unpleasant.

“I absolutely loved hearing the commentary on the sidelines,” said Erickson. “Everyone was always so electric, especially when someone was on a breakaway or about to score a goal. Even the coaches were jumping up and down with the sideline players. It was just a really fun atmosphere.”

Claire Erickson, Abigail Bolin, and our anonymous player all found strategies amid their pain to cause a difference in the world around them, and all three succeeded because every achievement is a win, large or small.

For students who aren’t involved in a winter sport like volleyball, basketball, or hockey it may seem hard to find a daily workout plan that’ll last. At-home workouts are becoming increasingly popular post-pandemic. Now, more than ever is a great time to blow the dust off those musty yoga mats and dumbbells you’ve been avoiding.

“I have a lot of activity options to choose from,” says Evie Dockendorf ’26. “There’s a stable bike at home, the track after school, and my little brothers to play with if I really want a serious workout.” 

And if those mats and dumbbells aren’t intense enough, stop by the Weight Room. It’s totally free, after school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:35 to 4:45, although you can stay until 5:15 to finish your lifts. It’s an amazing workout for both in season and out of season athletes.

“When I’m out of season I use the weight room after school to stay active and prepared for when my season does start,” says Seth Cotton ’25.

If you’re looking for something more moderate, put on some running shoes and a jacket and you’re ready for a jog in the cold – just watch out for ice.

“I walk two miles a day,” says Elsa Emons ’26. “One mile to school, and one back, I’ve learned to look forward to it when I start my day.”

These are just a few ways you can keep your physical fitness up. Just don’t forget to bring water, a notebook, pencil, rest days, and a boat load of patience. Once you have all of that, you’re set to start your winter fitness plan.