JAN-FEB EDITION
BROOKINGS HIGH SCHOOL
VOLUME 8 ISSUE 3
Election 2024
by Austin Anderson One of the biggest headlines of 2024 is the US Presidential Election. Many people say this is the most important election ever. For Democratic and Republican voters there are a lot of decisions to be made. Some voters already have already made up their minds on who they will vote for. Others may not vote for either party. There are several options for voters this election cycle. For starters the Republicans have former President Donald Trump. He’s the main candidate who most think will win the Republican nomination simply because he leads by a landslide in polls compared to the other GOP candidates. He holds this lead, even though Trump hasn’t been going to the Republican debates. Most recently there was a Republican debate between Nikki Haley and Ron Desantis. However, shortly after the Iowa Caucus, Desantis pulled out of the race, leaving just Haley and Trump vying for the Republican nomination. Important notes for Trump as he deals with many lawsuits. In total, Trump is dealing with 91 lawsuits between two state courts and federal districts. Lawsuits aren’t the only thing bothering Trump. Certain states have removed him from ballots for the 2024 election. If Trump were to win the nomination, both Trump and Biden would have many voters on the fence who could possibly sway the election. Many reports and polls suggest Biden is struggling to win over younger voters, while some other polls have shown that voters are tired of Trump’s claims about the 2020 election. With undecided voters there are also certain topics that may decide who they vote for. One of the biggest topics is abortion. Both parties have their differences on Roe vs. Wade. Lastly, the economy is one of, if not the biggest deciding factor to sway certain voters. Trump and Biden both have their plans on how they will deal with the economy. see Election, p. 4
An Epidemic of Loneliness
Greg Talcott from The Humanity Launch addresses the junior class during an assembly. Talcott and Kim Bartling, along with their support staff spread their message of positive self-concept, acceptace, and kindness with all students 9-12 along with staff throughout the month of January. Photo by Ezra Sorenson
Humanity Launch comes to Brooking High School by Ryann Davis To start off 2024, Brookings High School welcomed Greg Talcott and Kim Bartling for a series of assemblies for all grades. Through Humanity Launch, Greg and Kim create specialized presentations based on the topics expressed by school administrators. These topics can consist of motivational talks, small group workshops, and much more. For the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, this retreat was a half day. The seniors participated in a full day of activities. As this was a very new presentation for everyone at BHS, a staff member and student were asked about their experience. Logan Smidt remarked, “I thought it was really good. It was effective and got people to think about a lot of different things. Also, it was nice to be able to talk to people other than my friends about those sorts of things.”
The topics Kim and Greg spoke about held a lot of importance, and aimed at creating healthier environments and mindsets at BHS. One of the more unique aspects of what Kim and Greg do is hold a presentation for staff members, too. Freshman English teacher Mr. Moudry shares his perspective, “I thought it went really well. It was an excellent way to get students and teachers to think about how they interact with others and how they include others. You’re selling it short if you call it an ‘anti-bullying’ presentation because it was about how you treat other people AND yourself.” From the feedback heard around the school, the Humanity Launch had a positive impact on the Bobcats. It is hopeful that the messages spread by Kim and Greg continue to circulate within the building.
by David Powers There is a new epidemic in our country called loneliness. In fact, 1 in every 3rd American suffers from it. The loneliness epidemic has been described by many as the newest in a massive line of problems hitting the youth of today. This epidemic has been caused by an ever-changing social space, stress, depression, and an increased reliance of social media to interact with strangers. This issue has gained traction following a public health statement published in late 2023 by U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy Students are divided on how impactful they feel that loneliness is, On BHS students said, “I don’t think it’s really as big of a deal as they say it is.” Another student observed that “Technology has been both improved and declined socializing with others.” Its clear that most people understand what the epidemic is and the reasons why its happening, but do they really have an alternative to social media in the world of today? Because of this its made clear we need to listen to the researchers within this topic of discussion and listen to their advice. If we do not come up with a better way to combat loneliness, it will be our greatest issue beyond anything else in only a few years time. A good way to address these issues is to have social interactions heavily encouraged by the government through a national campaign of sorts.
see Lonliness, p. 3
Girls Wrestling continues season by Dylan Kopecky Over the past two years BHS has seen a rise in women’s wrestling. Starting in 2022, the wrestling program was able to recruit an impressive six members. In the years past there had only been a couple girls involved in what was considered a boys program, so the start of a girls team with six members was huge. Just last year that number rose to nine members on the girl’s wrestling team. Maizy Mathis and Cierra
Strand are the two remaining members from the original 2022 season. They plan to make the most of their senior season and see how they can keep this girl’s wrestling tradition going. While our girl’s wrestling team is larger than it has been in previous years, BHS still has a smaller team than many other schools. Despite this fact, they are still scoring in the top 10 during duals and tournaments. see Girls Wrestling, p. 3
Bailey TeKrony works for the pin in a match against Pierre in January. Photo by Kathy Gross, Yearbook Staff
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Phones: tools or distractions? by Brielle Smetana Nowadays, nearly everyone has a phone, and it is almost always on them. Whether they are at the dinner table, their job, or in class, it is practically guaranteed that people will have their phone on hand. In fact, phone usage in the classroom is a growing problem. Throughout the school, teachers have found that students are on their phones more and more during class time. Social Studies teacher Mrs. Kim McCullough is among the many teachers who have been grappling with this issue. Dealing with phone usage in the classroom is not as easy for teachers as one might think. Mrs. McCullough admits, “I struggle with phones, and I honestly change my mind all the time, but right now, where I sit, we have to give students the opportunity to use phones appropriately because they are a part of life.”
Despite her current stance, Mrs. McCullough urges her students to acknowledge that phones are addictive and that they should not have a huge presence in school. Teachers are not alone with their concern. Some students have also noticed this issue growing out of control, including Freshman Finn Bartlett. Bartlett has often seen his peers overusing their phones during class time, stating that, “If I am in a class and I look around I can assure you that I can spot one or two kids, at least, on their phone.” Whether you are one of the many students who use their phones at school or one of the students who don’t, almost everyone can agree that phones are distracting to some degree. It takes acknowledging how far phones have reached into our daily lives to find a solution that fits our modern world.
Capturing the year:
Yearbook staff chronicle BHS life
(Top) Cara Dennis, Mikenna Harding, and Sam Caugherty look through old yearbooks for “Flashback Friday” pictures and facts. (Above) Kenna Clifford and Carly Cameron sort yearbooks, readying them for distribution. Photos by Kathy Gross, Yearbook Staff
by Finn Erp With the end of the school year in sprinting distance, Kathy Gross’s Yearbook class is in full throttle putting together the Brookings High School 2023 to 2024 Yearbook. While speaking with Gross, she vocalizes some of the struggles and accomplishments of the yearbook class she has noticed throughout the years of teaching. The yearbook class has grown this year as Gross notes more students in the classroom. “It’s a lot larger than in past years, but there is the same amount of dedication and hard workers in this year’s class,” Gross says. When it comes to the contents of the class, Gross prefers to let students choose areas of the yearbook that they would like to focus on, rather than randomly assigning the sections. Each student has a voice when it comes to retrieving the information that will be included in the yearbook. As independent as the class is, they will come together to brainstorm the theme of the yearbook. Students can throw out some themes, and vote on what they find most pleasing for the yearbook. Gross struggles with this sometimes saying, “It becomes dif-
ficult to pick, I do not want to shoot down any of the student’s ideas but we just have to pick whichever theme is the most cohesive though the entire yearbook.” The theme isn’t the only struggle of the class. The most common issue Gross finds is the photography aspect. “Some students start strong, wanting to go out and take photos but they begin losing steam around the middle of the year and It feels like I have to force students to go and take photos,” states Gross. Meeting those deadlines seems to be a main struggle, but Gross does a lot of hard work within the class to meet their deadlines. The class keeps up the hard work to put our yearbook together and is ecstatic for it to be finished before being handed out to our students here at Brookings High School. Yearbooks are delivered at the beginning of the following school year. Students, staff, and parents can order yearbooks now through the first week in May. The price for a yearbook is $75. You can order by going to jostens.com and selecting “Brookings.” See Mrs. Gross if you have any questions.
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SDSU Jacks Go BACK 2 BACK
Winter Driving Tips
As snow comes down in South Dakota, the streets become covered with ice. This creates problems during school and work hours when people need to use their cars to get around. To avoid potential vehicle accidents, here are some safety tips to know when behind the wheel: ● Stay off your devices. Your focus should be on the road and the road only. ● Drive slowly. Plan ahead and leave early so you have more time to drive at a safer pace. ● Rotate your tires or replace them entirely if needed. ● Steer as gently as possible. Tight turns can be fun, but not if you lose control and hit someone else. ● Respect others on the road. Don’t tailgate, overtake, or cut people off. ● Have supplies in your car. If you get stuck on the road, you’ll need to have blankets and emergency kits on hand until you can get to a safe place. The best thing you can do to keep yourself safe is to not drive at all. If you must, remember to stay safe and warm.
by Kate Struck On Sunday January 7th, 2024, the SDSU Jackrabbit Football team secured their schools second national title against the University of Montana, just one year after their first. The Jacks went undefeated for the first time in Division 1 this season, with a record of 15-0. Including their previous season, the team is on a 29 game winning streak, with their next opportunity to continue such success will be this August at Oklahoma State. Last January, the Rabbits dominated in the FCS National Championship, beating their all-too-familiar rivals, the NDSU Bison in a 45-21 football game. Exactly a year later, South Dakota State commanded a second national title, this time against the Montana Grizzlies with a final score of 23-3. “We stayed consistent week in and week out and this is the result,” Jackrabbits rookie Coach Rogers remarked. Taking a closer look at the game, it was a slower start than most fans expected. Isaiah Davis put the Rabbits on the board with a six yard run in the
first quarter, and a successful kick from Hunter Dustman to made it a seven to zero game. Montana came up short on fourth down when SDSU senior Adom Bock completed an astonishing tackle on Montana running back Eli Gillman, keeping him out of the end zone. Mark Gronowski then threw an interception which led to a Grizzlies field goal in the second quarter, allowing Montana to stay alive. It was not until the second half that Jackrabbits declared their game by outscoring the Grizzlies 16-0 in the third quarter. Mark Gronowski fueled the fire with a 10 yard rush touchdown, with a successful extra point from Hunter Dustman. Gronowski’s 23 yard pass into the endzone was captured by a victorious Jadon Janke to lift SDSU up 20-3. Although Dustman had a missed kick, he reinstated his position with a 32 yard field goal, making it a 23-3 game. As the clock ran down to the last seconds, SDSU rushed the field to celebrate their second consecutive national title.
Lonliness, cont. from p. 1 Or normalizing needing a set amount
of social interactions per day. But this doesn’t apply to many people who just don’t see the point or don’t have the time. We as a community need to come together and admit to ourselves that there is a real problem and we need to solve it before things go from bad to worse. A general consensus has been
reached among the country about this issue, with many saying you need to set aside time every day for interaction with other people. If this is achieved we can move towards tomorrow with this issue being left in the past. While we can’t prevent change on how we interact, we can interact and connect with others to solve and end the problem that is loneliness.
Girls Wrestling, cont. from p. 1 This top 10 status comes with a lot of
Cierra Strand and Maizy Mathis pose during national college sports signing day. Both girls joined the Girls Wrestling team during its inaugural season in 2022. Now as seniors, they are excited to see how far the team has come. Submitted Photo
work on and off the mat. Strand said, “I am striving to perform my best every chance I get knowing that this is my last season. You have to work hard on the mat, off the mat, on your own time, and mentally getting yourself prepared.” Getting in the zone is one of the huge aspects of girl’s wrestling. You have to be all in everyday if you want to make it to state and be on that podium. Both girls agreed that the environment of girl’s wrestling has been what has kept them coming back for the past couple of seasons. Mathis plans on continuing her wrestling career at the University of Sioux Falls. She says, “I have really enjoyed this season because of
the girls. It is always a fun environment.” This environment has kept the program running. The team currently has eight girls competing and has been able to keep girls involved in the wrestling program. The team has already made big moves this season. Even though they have a smaller team they were able to get second at the Madison tournament. They were also able to have big wins against Huron, Yankton, and Sioux Falls Roosevelt. The team will continue this journey with hopes of making it to state. Strand said, “Making it state is the most rewarding thing that can come out of any season.” So make sure to come support the girls as they work towards the state tournament February 22-24th.
JAN/FEB EDITION
BHS One Act tackles the power of language
Kariann Kessler explains the war of the walls while Seija Saunders, Mayla Chakravarty, and Brayden Higgins hold up words describing people’s feelings. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting
by Juliana M. Del Valle Rivera On Friday, Feb.2 , BHS theater members took the stage in Brandon Valley at the One-Act Play Festival presenting their play Where Words Once Where by Finegan Kruckemeyer. The play was also staged in Bell Auditorium on Monday, January 29. This play is about a place where words are limited; if you say a prohibited word, you will be silent forever and be forgotten. “It shows the importance of all the words that we get in our languages and how we are able to express ourselves with each of these words because in the show they are limited and have a hard time expressing” clarified Poppy McElory whose character is Eila friend of the main character Orhan, played by Abram Bucholz. Eila is a person who keeps her friends in check and follows the law no matter how bad it can be. “I was skeptical at first, but I think we are going to do very good in a home performance setting, but I’m still a little nervous about the State performance” admitted Kilea Moore the Assistant Stage Manager prior to the festival. Other people agree feeling stressed and nervous. Especially being the second cast to perform that day not knowing if there were going to be people or how
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many people were going to be there. They performed and people were stressed and worried that they would get disqualified because they would pass the time to 46 minutes or 47 minutes, but when they were done and discovered they had 40 minutes and 18 seconds they were excited and celebrating. A lot of the people loved the play, “Really love the play was very beautiful they were great” commented one member of the audience. A lot of people love the meaning behind it to appreciate the words. “To me is just a reminder that you have to choose your words wisely they do mean something” Kilauea Moore explains her interpretation, and a lot of people can imagine that the words can have a deeper meaning behind them. Awards for the State Festival were held on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 3. Earning Class AA Superior Individual awards are Karianne Kessler who portrayed Angela, Asher Bucholz who portrayed Issac the Official, and Abram Bucholz who portrayed Orhan got The tech got superiors as well and those people are Samantha Clark, Finley Schulte, Kacce Rhody, Tessa Horn, Josie Entwistle, Madeline McCullough, Essy Klingbile, Kilea Moore, and Hailey Hagedorn.
Smarter Balanced vs. ACT: Legislation hopes to accurately reflect student learning.
by Owen Hoppe Recently a bill was brought before the South Dakota House of Representatives by Sioux Falls Republican Tony Venhuizen. The bill requires that all 11th graders take the American College Testing otherwise known as the (ACT). Although the bill was tabled the secretary of the state Department of Education Joe Graves expressed his support of the bill saying “The South Dakota Department of Education is pursuing this hopefully after next school year. So, this 23-24, 24-25 we’re going to stick with SBA (Smarter Balanced Assessment ), hopefully for 25-26 I’m fairly confident that’s going to happen.” The major flaw with the SBA is the lack of incentive for students to perform their best on it. Unlike the ACT the sole purpose of the SBA is to provide information to the South Dakota Department of Education. As there is no direct impact on the students if they perform poorly or well, many view it as a nuisance and not something that they should try their hardest on. This in turn can provide the state with faulty or illegitimate results that don’t show the full capabilities of the students.“Using SBA has been questioned (by some educators),” Graves said. “Students don’t find any value. They don’t take the test seriously.” About 58% of South Dakota students already take the test before they graduate. State provision of the test would take the financial burden of the test off of families and provide access to the test for lower income students. This would offer lower income students with better access to scholarships and give them an opportunity to attend college. For this year’s juniors, the SBA is scheduled for early April. For now, students are responsible for registering themselves for the ACT.
Election, cont. from p. 1
Each of them have their advantages, Trump has emphasized about his proven track record with how he ran things. Yet he also has his disadvantages and many hated the way he dealt with covid. While Biden really campaigned off of covid and said he’d handle it better for Americans and the future. While both candidates have their advantages and disadvantages, many voters have little faith in either with doubts including their age and mental state for the future.
Feats of strength: Brown leads Bobcat strength and conditioning program
Coach Brown spots and instructs a student athlete as he squats on the rack. Photo by BROBOCA Staff
by Owen Hoppe Kerry Brown is the strength and conditioning coach at BHS. He was born in Aurora, Nebraska,
and later, he moved to Sutton, Nebraska, where he graduated from high school. Brown double majored in health promotions and psychology at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, he was then awarded a master’s degree in exercise science from South Dakota State University. Brown wanted to become a strength coach because “I had a really tough time with body image, weight, and depression growing up, and I had a wrestling coach that got me into weight training. I am forever grateful that he opened that page to me. I really enjoyed weight training, it was something that came naturally to me. So once I got into college and I realized that it was a field that you could do and you could work with people. I really wanted to give athletes the opportunities that I didn’t have growing up.” Brown has had numerous coaching positions, including internships at The University of Nebraska, the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, and Florida State University. He then went on to get his graduate assistantship at SDSU under Nate Moe. Brown then went to work at a “multifaceted strength and conditioning job” at the University of
Wyoming. He then spent a year coaching at Sutton High School in his hometown of Sutton, Nebraska. Eventually, he ended up back in Brookings, where he worked in campus recreation at SDSU until becoming the strength and conditioning coach at BHS in 2018. There are many things that Brown takes into consideration while designing and implementing his strength and conditioning programs. “ First and foremost, there is the difference between in-season and off-season. In season the number one thing to remember is to do no harm; you want to create a program that helps with injury prevention. You also want a program to help athletes maintain their strength and explosiveness. You also need to make it shorter to the point that they can have time for practice. Offseason is what we call a GPP (general physical preparedness). Every program I write has a generality for the off-season, keeping every athlete in a growth mindset.” Brown has impacted many BHS athletes and has created an environment to allow them to flourish and grow as an athlete.