The Night Out for Music concert has historically been the biggest music department fundraiser. Last year, they raised over $15,000. They do not reach this by at-the-door ticket sales, but by free-will donations and the silent auction. Bidding opens the day before the concert, so you can still bid on things you might want even if you can’t attend the concert. 

The silent auction generally includes themed gift baskets made by music department students and others, student artwork, some signed pieces, etc… It is all done digitally through BIDPARTNER.NET/NOFM, so you can keep checking your bids even during the concert. Keep your eye out for the goodies you want because bidding closes at intermission. At the end of the concert, you can pick up the things you bought or it can get to you another way if you are not there. 

Concert Starts at 7:30 pm and is completely free of charge. All are welcome and encouraged to show up.

Singers Harrison Klaphake ’24, James Nelson ’24, Ellie Cassady ’25, Hope Schmitz ’24, and Xander Sabinash ’24; Flautists Malika Gallus ’24, Maggie Bertsch ’25, and Kiera Mcgorry ’25, along with clarinetists Lexi Zheng ’24, Oliver Holt ’24, and Anna Wuollet ’25, all submitted an All-State or MMEA (Minnesota Music Educators Association) audition last year. They were all accepted into the Minnesota All-State 2023. Each year hundreds of students around Minnesota submit their auditions hoping to be accepted. Having 11 students from the same school participate is an honor. 

Student musicians spend months preparing and practicing for their auditions. 

“I practiced almost every day or every other day, whenever I was free. Usually, I wanted to practice because I really wanted to get into the band and I knew I had to be really good at the music. It was never really a chore for me,” said Anna Wuollet.

Her hard work was rewarded when she and her musical peers were handed official-looking envelopes from band director Scott Rabehl and former choir director Zachariah Carlson.

“During band, Rabehl handed us each an envelope that had our names on it. Inside it said ‘Congratulations on getting into the MMEA Honor band!’ At first, I was shocked because I didn’t expect to be accepted, but then I was happy and really proud of myself and everyone else who got in, said Wuollet.

After being accepted, students pay a fee and mark off a week in August for the All-State camp. Students attend this camp for five days, where they learn their music, make connections with fellow players, and learn more about what it means to participate in All-State. 

“The camp was a lot of fun, it was my first sleep-away camp, you had to live in a dorm room for a week without air conditioning and it was a little hellish but fun. It was different to do band for eight hours a day with a huge band — our band here is pretty big, but the all-state band is about 100 kids,” said Lexi Zheng.

They’ve waited, practiced, and prepared for months for their concert at Orchestra Hall in February, but the idea of playing at Orchestra Hall still doesn’t feel real for some.

“I think it’s really crazy that we’re going to play in the same building that the pros play in. I’ve been there for field trips with Tri-M and it’s so cool to think that I’ll be on the same stage,” said Zheng. “I feel pretty ok about the concert. My technique has increased since the camp from playing, but I haven’t sat down and played the music in a while. I might be a little rusty but I think it’ll be fine.”

Orchestra Hall is one of the most prestigious performing art centers in the United States, and definitely in Minnesota. To play at Orchestra Hall is a huge honor and something most Minnesota musicians only dream of. This dream is coming true for these 11 students.

The classrooms down this hallway are home to shop teachers Troy Hanson, Benjamin (Wad) Wadamacher, Kurt Konsela. They teach classes that range from introduction classes like Intro to CAD (Computer Aided Drafting), to college-level classes like CIS Auto Service and Maintenance. Students from every grade are able to take shop classes, although some are limited to sophomores and up. 

“I have taken sheet metal fabrication and automotive engineering so far, I’m looking forward to other shop classes,” said Nolan Russell ’27. “I take shop classes because you can learn more to help you out with a later career that you may want to go into.” 

Many students don’t know about all of the shop classes BHS has to offer. Because students are required to take so many core (English, Science, Math, Social Studies) classes, they don’t want to take shop classes. Students tend to get their required classes done first instead of trying out electives.

“It’s something different everyday,” remarked metal shop teacher Wadamacher. “It’s not a textbook curriculum so chapter one isn’t day one and chapter 49 isn’t day 49. There is a high demand right now for any type of technical field via auto mechanics, plumbers, welders, blue collar type jobs and shop classes give you some of those necessary skills.” 

BHS doesn’t require any sort of shop class to graduate, so a lot of people don’t take any or only take a couple. 

“I do think [shop classes] will benefit me because it teaches you a lot of neat things that you can do without having to hire someone. Like if you had your own welding machine and you needed a little piece of metal welded you could do it yourself,” comments Scott Husom ’24. “I think people should take more shop classes. There’s really no reason that it’s going to be a bad thing for you. Unless you know that’s not the path you’re gonna go down in life, I would say shop classes are a great option.”

With the change to trimesters and a five hour schedule,  the number of classes per year changed from 16 to 15, leaving one less spot for electives, including shop classes. Teachers are urging students to take the time to try new things, like a tech ed class. 

“I find that it’s enjoyable because you get to see students produce something and learn new skills,” said woods, robotics, and technology exploration teacher Hanson. “For the most part, it’s enjoyable. It’s challenging at times because you get students with so many different skill levels coming in. You’ll always learn something new in class, from measurement, to how to use tools and technology. Just getting that comfort level with things that you might use later in life is important.” 

On Friday, March 17, 2023, Governor Walz signed the Free School Meals bill into law. This legislation provides a free breakfast and lunch to students who receive meals through their school’s participation in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. This meant that students in the BHM school district would have access to free breakfast and lunch throughout the entire school year.

“In October 2022 we sold 2,630 breakfasts and 18,516 lunches. October 2023 we sold 7,674 breakfasts and 22,850 lunches,” said Susan Karels-Brown, the Nutrition Services Manager at BHS.

With more meals having to be made in 90 minutes instead of the previous 120 minutes due to the shift to trimesters, it causes a big rush for the cafeteria staff at BHS. 

“It’s busy. There’s not a lot of time to restock and wash tables but we are doing our best with the time we have,” said Christina Bruce, a Nutrition Services Assistant at BHS.

It also affects the teachers quite a bit, especially those who have A and D lunches.

“With the change in the lunch schedule it makes me have to teach 5 more minutes each day for third hour the whole year,” said Physical Education teacher Austin Youngmark who, along with the rest of the Phy Ed department, has D lunch. “[At the end of the school year] it’s an extra 14 hours for third hour vs fourth hour [for teachers].”

Teachers changing their lunches to accommodate tests has proven to be an issue for lunch staff as they don’t know how many students will be in each lunch. But, when classes that have B and C lunch don’t change their lunch they have a break during the test, leaving more opportunities for cheating. Students with C lunch return to their classes with an awkward amount of time (18 minutes) before the bell rings, leaving little to no time to do anything new. This would also mean they would have about 40 minutes to take a test before lunch if their teacher didn’t change what lunch they had, but wanted to prevent cheating during the break.

“We look at the numbers of students in each lunch, what they ate last time we had that menu item, and plan accordingly so we are close in numbers but don’t run out or have to throw things away,” said Nutrition Services Assistant Courtney Wychgram. “When teachers change the lunches of their classes and don’t let the kitchen know it throws off the numbers and makes it harder for us.”

Everyone is doing the best they can with the new schedule and its challenges. These challenges are everywhere, including the lunch room. The nutrition staff are working hard everyday to give students the nutritious food they need, even with the new changes and obstacles.

New to BHS, there was a change with Advisory from doing Character Strong to video lessons. Different from everyone else, freshmen have not experienced the old curriculum.

Jillian Pack ’26 has successfully finished over half of her first year with the new Advisory lessons where she gets to focus on fun, but sometimes she can’t meet her needs. “It’s a lot of fun,” Pack says, “but when I want to get work done it’s hard.”

Every Advisory is different. Some can be the opposite of what Pack experiences. Faith Schmidt ’25 doesn’t feel so positive about hers. “It’s just kind of boring, and I don’t really like my Advisory,” Schmidt says.

Although upper-classmen have had more time to be in Advisory than Freshmen or Sophomores, they still-with the most recent years of inconsistency-have finally gotten into the swing of it. “I have just gotten a good community,” says Bode Russell ’24. “I like that I have time, but still less because of the lessons,” Russell says.

Now the ones whose first year of high school was over a screen. The students who have a span of fewer than three months left of their high school careers. Which means they are on the last stretch of Advisory. Gavin Juenke ’23 shares his thoughts on what he has had for almost four years. “My teacher is cool, but most people don’t pay attention,” Juenke says. “The lessons have been good, but people don’t care,” Juenke says.

Last, but most certainly not least, teachers. The ones who while we have been experiencing it all, they have been here every step of the way. Ashley Lostetter, a FACS teacher, currently has juniors, and she’s sharing her experience as a teacher in Advisory. “The legitimate reason could be helpful, but with my 11th graders, I am just getting to really know them.” Lostetter says. “Independent relationships are there whether it’s related to the lesson or not,” Lostetter says.

All the opinions and different perspectives about something people all have in common here at BHS can never be shared through 5 people, but it’s a start to hearing voices from a wide range of the school.

On average, Prestidge spends about $500 a month on her expenses. She said that paying her own way with major expenses motivates her to have a good work ethic.

“I was 15 years old when I bought my first car with my own money,” said Prestidge. “I saved money and nannied for a whole summer. My parents basically financed it for me. When I turned 16 I got a job to start paying my parents back.”

“I just recently bought a new jeep. I had to take out a loan to help pay for it. I put a grand down for it, but other than that I am paying $300 a month for it. I have to pay for my gas, which kinda sucks because the jeep gets 14 miles per gallon. If something happens, I have to pay for the repairs. The one thing my parents do pay for is the insurance, and I am grateful for that.”

When Libbee Mattson ‘24 turned 15, she knew that the baton of expenses was getting handed down to her. She decided she was going to start working at Parkview Care Center 25 hours a week to make sure her expenses are covered.

“I bought my first car when I was 15 and it was in full cash,” said Mattson. “I had no help paying for it. I had money saved up from babysitting for three years.”

“For my current car, I just bought new tires, a headlight, a battery, and windshield wipers. I also pay for my gas and when I need oil changes I just do it myself. My parents pay for half of the monthly insurance and I pay the rest.”

According to Statista, the number of teens that have a job and are enrolled in school is 17.6%. At its peak in 1998, 31% of teens had a job during the school year. Jack Henry 24’ is a part of the 17.6% that has a job during the school year.

“I have a hand-me-down car but I am still grateful,” said Henry. “Besides that, my parents don’t give me any money. I have to pay for my own stuff and everything else that I want. To be able to pay for all the things I have had a job since I was 15 and I use my money sparingly. I still go out and do things but I try to save a good amount.”

“Of course, I wish I could have more of my parent’s money but I know that I learn way more this way having to keep track of money and overall money management,” said Henry.

Some parents may think it is cruel to make their kids pay for everything, other parents think they are teaching a lifelong lesson.

“I think it is a good thing my parents are making me pay for this stuff,” said Mattson. “It teaches me the value of money, independence, responsibility, and appreciation. I have a reason for the things I buy because it is the money that I worked for. Most parents aren’t going to hand their kids everything their whole lives. I learned a good work ethic at a young age.”

“I think my parents are trying to raise me so I know how to manage money…” said Prestidge. “It teaches me the value of money, to be grateful, and to have a work ethic.”

“I get to meet so many new people,” said Bull. “[Unified activities are] a new opportunity for me and I want to be a part of it. I get so many new memories and I get to play with other people because of Unified stuff.”

Bull is a leader and advocates for all people. She can always be spotted in BHS hallways connecting with other students and making people smile and feel welcome. Bull often makes announcements to get the school excited about all things Unified.

“When there is something going on around school that Lisa is passionate about, she is going to tell you about it and get you to join with her,” said Phy-Ed teacher Jennifer Heebink. “I remember at the inaugural Bison Connection meetings, she was one of the only students that jumped right in and said ‘I think this will make our school a better place.’ She reminds me that as people, we have bias and boundaries in our heads, and she blows them out of the water.”

If Bull isn’t busy enough in her numerous activities, she enjoys playing video games, watching SpongeBob, and cheering for the Vikings.

60 years is a long time and Urdahl could already be retired, so what made him stay? “Teaching AP Calculus has been my savior,” Urdahl said. “I just love teaching it. It’s an exciting class, AP students take the AP exam, and every year my goal is to be better than the year before. It’s been fun to try to do that and come up with ideas that would improve things. I also love doing problems. One of my things is at breakfast every morning I work on a couple of problems from this 800 calculus problems book. If I hadn’t taught AP I probably would have retired 20 years ago.”

Students also played a big role in Urdahl’s love for teaching, some even kept coming around after they graduated. “A very good friend of mine I met when he was a freshman, I still keep in touch with him and we’ve grown very close,” Urdahl said.

One student in particular permanently altered Urdahl’s life.

“I became sort of like a surrogate parent for a kid who was a foreign exchange student and needed a host home,” Urdahl said. “I attended his graduation, and a few years ago I was actually at his wedding.”

Another student that Urdahl vividly remembers ran into him at a restaurant.

“I had this little kid in eighth grade who was always antsy and did some pretty silly things…He was so short that when he sat at his desk his feet wouldn’t reach the floor and he would always cross his legs and swing them,” Urdahl said. “Many years later I was at a restaurant and he walked in; I didn’t recognize this guy at all, but he sat at a table not too far from me. As I looked over at him, he was talking to a friend and his legs were crossed. I thought ‘my gosh, that can’t be the same guy.’ So when I left I purposely walked by him, he said ‘Hi, Mr. Urdahl.’ He was in his 30s or 40s by then.”

Even his recent students notice how passionate he is about his work.

“You could tell that Mr. Urdahl was passionate about teaching, he would always give us challenges and was always so excited when he was solving problems and it seemed like he loved what he was doing,” said previous Algebra 2 student Mackenzie Koren ‘25.

He loves to teach all kinds of math, but especially Calculus.

“He would always have calculus problems on the board,” Koren said. “He would teach us how to solve them even though we weren’t supposed to learn it yet, so we learned more than other kids who were also in Algebra two.”

A few of the teachers at BHS had him as their teacher when they were in high school. English teacher Ryan McCallum recalls how Urdahl helped him become the teacher he is today.

“I ended with a D in the first quarter of calculus, but I eventually got it up to a B,” McCallum said. “One day when I was struggling he pulled me aside and said, ‘I think you should be a math teacher.’ He asked me if I was sure I wanted to be an English teacher. I thought he was joking. He said, ‘you know what it means to struggle with math, and you figured it out on your own. … I’ve never struggled with math so I don’t understand it the way you do.’ He wanted me to teach something I struggled with so I could connect with future struggling students. That left a huge impact on me, and even though I’m an English teacher, I know I have to work at understanding students who are struggling because I haven’t struggled myself.”

Mr. Urdahl influenced many students’ lives throughout the course of his career. BHS is forever grateful for all he has done and continues to do. In and out of school, teaching or not, he will definitely be remembered as an admirable teacher who cares about each and every student that crosses his path.

For more Urdahl stories check out this story from The Drummer.

One of the largest student groups BHS has had was Students Stepping Up. At its height (2000-2015) it had 300-400 members each year. Members pledged to remain chemical-free and strive to be good leaders. At the end of the week, members tutored students at the elementary and middle schools. SSU ended in 2019 when the high school’s start time changed, members no longer had time to leave the school. 59.3% of survey respondents would join SSU if it were still available, 37.3% liked the idea but wouldn’t join, 1.7% were indifferent, and 1.7% didn’t like the idea.

From 2004-2019, there was another group called the SCC or Student Care Committee. Their motto was “Bringing happiness through random acts of kindness.” It was made up of 5-20 students, depending on the time of year, who would perform random acts of kindness. The SCC, like SSU, was dissolved due to the schedule change in 2019. “I think it had something to do with losing AAA time and not having space in the new school schedule to have student groups meet during the school day,” says Mrs. Kern, an advisor of SCC for over 5 years. 45.8% of respondents said they would be interested in joining SCC if it was still available, 45.8% liked the idea but wouldn’t be interested in joining, and 8.5% were indifferent.

Another option for students who wanted to make a difference was the GMSA or Globally Minded Student Activists. 25-40 members (depending on the year) met after school and proposed, planned, and organized fundraisers and causes to support communities worldwide. 40.7% of respondents would be interested in joining, 50.8% liked the idea, 5.1% were indifferent, and 3.4% didn’t like the idea.

Clubs/groups available now aren’t receiving the interest or numbers past clubs have. A significant number of survey respondents said they would join these clubs if they were still available. With these responses, it’s intriguing that so few of those students are members of similar groups that are available now.

One of these groups is the Unity Project. “The idea of the Unity Project is to create a welcoming environment in our community and a place to use our power as students to create change in the world,” says member Ella Kragerud ‘25. 22% of respondents don’t know what the group is, 71.2% have heard of it, and 6.8% are in it.

Another available club is the GSA or, Gender & Sexuality Alliance. “Genders & Sexualities Alliances, or GSAs for short, are student-run organizations that unite LGBTQ+ and allied youth to build community and organize around issues impacting them in their schools and communities,” says gsanetwork.org. 49.2% of respondents don’t know of the club, 45.8% know of it, and 5.1% are members.

Several students use other activities, like sports, to meet BHS’s kindness expectations. “I always congratulate my competitors and try to be a cheerleader for the team by supporting everyone,” says varsity swimmer Mackenzie Christensen ‘23. Some students model good behavior and are compassionate on their own. “I try to treat people with kindness and the way I want to be treated. I always try to assume the best of people,” says Hayley Crossland ‘23. It’s clear that students have the opportunity and desire to be compassionate people, but it seems there may be disinterest or a lack of knowledge on “compassion clubs.”

Now in her 5th year of playing, Anderson’s love of music is more prominent than ever. “I love how it enables us to express ourselves. I love how there’s always something you can get better at, especially the violin. There’s so much technique to it, and so much to do. Looking at harder music, and listening to professionals play motivates me to keep going and see how far I can get.” 

In the fall of her freshman year, Anderson was selected along with cellist Mitchell Friesz ‘25 to participate in the Middle Level Honors Orchestra (MLHO). MLHO is a program involving stand-out 7th through 9th grade orchestra students across Minnesota. “I had just started at the high school, it was all brand new, but I didn’t want to say no to the opportunity. So, I prepared for an audition.” The audition included a choice piece, two scales, and a section from a piece they [MLHO] chose, all submitted through an online recording.

“I didn’t find out if I had made it in until January. They sent out like “Oh, you made it in, congratulations,” and there were ten pieces. We had about six weeks to prepare it on our own, and then in February we met as a group with all the other orchestra students who had been nominated,” Anderson remembered. The students met at North Western University in February 2022, having a 10 hour rehearsal to combine their music and perform the next day. “It was a really fun event. It went really fast but it was super fun to play with people that were so experienced and to get a totally new perspective. Playing with other people is always super helpful to build relationships, learn how other parts sound, how it all comes together. You can be a soloist and be part of an ensemble, both totally different experiences but they’re both amazing.”

“I love the variety that music brings, I love how the bow and strings work together to make the music flow and make a really good sound. I love how, as string instrumentalists, we can play loud, short, fast, but also long and lyrical.” These technical qualities of playing the violin aren’t without their downsides. “The violin is a perfectionist’s instrument. You have to be right whether it’s your fingering, your bowing, any of that. I’m definitely a perfectionist so I’m working on learning how to be okay without being all the way perfect. I feel like the violin almost kind of helps with that, even though it’s still a perfectionist instrument. If I can’t quite get the note right or the bowing right it’s helping me to learn it’s okay, I can practice and I can get there.”

Anderson highlights that while academic orchestral accomplishments may be nice, music is about more than that. “I can say from my own experience over COVID, stuff was really hard for everybody. It was tough with school, and not really knowing what each day would hold, but I knew I would always have my music to go back to. I played more than ever before in that time, in lockdown. I just kept going back to my violin, and my piano, and just being like, “this is the thing that’s constant, this is kinda what’s holding me together right now.” 

“Playing music is so good for the mind and the soul, and it’s so restoring.”

The Hoofprint reached out to orchestra teacher Kristine Wiese for a word about Anderson.

Kristine Wiese

Q: How would you describe Lucy?

A: “I would describe her as a go-getter, I would describe her as passionate, I would describe her as friendly, and just an overall hardworking young lady.”

Q: What qualities does Lucy have that make her a better student/player?

A: “She has a natural ability to lead with confidence, and to help anyone who needs it or asks for it.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about being her teacher?

A: “As with any of my students, watching her grow in her abilities as we work through music, watching her take the initiative to help others, and again as with any of my other kids, being proud of their abilities when they get to that “Aha” moment of knowing a piece.”

Q: What do you think people could learn from Lucy?

A: “That when you set your mind to it and take time outside of class, you can really do anything that you want to do. You have the ability to play as you hoped or to improve as you wished to.”

Q: Was there anything that surprised you about Lucy?

A: “I’d say probably the only thing is she’s generally a very quiet, reserved person, but her playing is not indicative of that. Her playing is very confident and very strong; typically I see peoples playing representative of their personality qualities, and in her she’s got more confidence in her playing than one would be led to believe when you’re first talking to her.”

“You can tell it’s a passion, you can tell it’s a safe place for her, and you can tell that it’s simply something that she loves to do.”