The girls’ basketball team kicked off their season in early December with a new coach. See full story Page 7.
the sun journal
PHOTO BY HAYDEN KEINTZ
Speech & Debate kick off new season, hire new coach by Kylie Fisher & Hollin Keintz
of the Sun Journal
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he Speech and Debate team has experienced quite a bit of coaching turnover in the last several years, and this year has proved no different. The team started the season with new head coach Melissa Dowdy, who only lasted just long enough to kick off the season. Fortunately for the team, Big Sky graduate Jayden Beed (’21) was currently serving as the assistant coach and gladly stepped into the role of head coach, making the transition almost seamless. “It is very surreal. Speech and Debate did
so much for me as a competitor, but has also done a lot for me as a coach. Being able to have come full circle and provide the same opportunities to others that I was provided is an amazing feeling,” Beed said. Although she had a successful tenure as a competitor, Beed finds coaching more fulfilling, if not more challenging. “As a competitor, your main focus is your events, especially given that we are an activity that is largely individualized,” Beed said. “However, as a coach, you must spread your time between all events and coach all competitors in them. I have found that all of the skills I utilized as a competitor whether competitive, leadership, or otherwise have been
great assets in doing this.” The team, too, is adjusting to the change, but is ready to start moving forward. “We are super grateful for her commitment to our team and flexibility in becoming the head coach,” Senior Ashlynn Everett said. “She is honestly the most consistent coach we have had yet.” While it may be a bit “unconventional” that Beed, just a college freshman at the University of Montana, is the head coach, most students are happy she’s been able to take the helm--though they recognize the stress she is under as the sole head coach in her first year. “She is an experienced and capable debate mentor, but she lacks expertise when it comes
to speech events,” Senior Octavio Jimenez said. “We are glad she’s around but are also disadvantaged by the fact she is the only one.” While others have expressed some concern about experience, the overwhelming sense is relief and hope for the future of the program. Senior Pilar Seielstad said, “I think she is fantastic. Initially I was concerned with her competing last year, but she is genuinely the best coach I have had. She cares for each individual, pushes them to perform, fundraises to make sure we can eat at tournaments, supports all of us speech and debate kids, and
Victorious Opener
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BPA adopts Hawthorne families by Hollin Keintz
Editor-in-Chief
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s the holidays are quickly approaching, the Business Professionals of America students are giving back to the local community, adopting 14 elementary students from Hawthorne Elementary, one of Big Sky’s feeder schools. Co-Adviser Jenn Keintz said, “We know there is always a need for extra supplies, but during the holidays, especially this year, we felt that helping out elementary students was the best use of our energies.” The primary source of the projects comes from the school store, but also from some local donations as well. The BPA students bought the items from the students’ need
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PHOTO BY HAYDEN KEINTZ
Senior Caden Bateman grabs a board over Billings Skyview during their opening night’s victory, 52-44. Senior Louis Sanders led with 10 points, followed by Shane Shepherd and Josiah Cuaresma with eight points each. See page 6 for full story.
Veterans’ cemetery asks Big Sky students to show respect by Hollin Keintz
of the Sun Journal
Model United Nations Success Carter wins Top 5 delegate scholarship by Hollin Keintz
of the Sun Journal
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he Montana Model United Nations team had a successful outing at their two-day tournament right before Thanksgiving break. Several students walked away with honors, and seniors Ben Carter and Annie Migliaccio both won senior awards, with Carter taking home a Top 5 delegate award. “I am honored to have received a scholarship to the UM and I am so thankful that I have had such good mentors in our previous seniors, Ms. (Nicole Sarrazin-) Strong and Ms. (Meleina) Helmer,” Carter said. Carter took home Top 5 honors, meaning he was one of the top five seniors at the conference, for his work as a delegate for the Japan team in the United Nations Development Programme round. The honor comes with a scholarship to the University of Montana. “I represented Japan’s stance on creating a sustainable and resilient blue economy and build back better from COVID-19,” Carter said. He attributes his success to his confidence. “To do well in MUN you really need to be willing to speak in front of other people and take charge of situations,” he said.
INSIDE
PHOTO COURTESY OF MELEINA HELMER
Montana Model United Nations delegates competed Nov. 22-23 at the University of Montana for the 56th annual MMUN High School Competition. Front row: Reagan Remmers, Marin Seielstad, Hayden Bosshardt. Middle row: Aaron Tribble, Analise Migliaccio, Noel Migliaccio, Pilar Seielstad, Lydia Reid. Back row: Brianna Machado, Elyse Huey, Ben Carter, TJ Higuera, Gavin Lemmon, Derek Johnson, Madelyn McInnis, Hannah King, Tennyson Smith. Not pictured: Gabriel Hendrix, Marcus Raines, Max Carter, Aaron Helms.
The Japan team of Migliaccio, Marcus Raines, 11, Hannah King, 10, and Carter won Outstanding Delegation. Greece, represented by Noel Migliaccio, 11, Marin Seielstad, 9, Max Carter, 10, and TJ Higuera, 12, received an Honorable award.
Opinions
Other individual awards went to Hayden Bosshardt, Max Carter and Raines (Honorable); Regan Remmers, Higuera and King (Distinguished) and Ben Carter (Outstanding). Annie Migliaccio received and Honorable for Position Paper and Noel Migliaccio and Bosshardt
Features
Opinions......................4 Features.......................5 Backpage............................8
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Backpage “A pickle is not a pickle unless it bounces.” Connecticut
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both received Distinguished Position Paper awards. Each year, the University of Montana sponsors the MMUN conference, typically hosting approximately 20 schools and upwards of
illustration by Jacky Bloom
Stress season is here
School is stressing us out, and it’s only going to get worse as we head into finals. 4
photo by Kylie Fisher
Cabaret returns
Now that the auditorium is complete, and audiences can return, Cabaret is back! 5
JANUARY 6, 2022
photo by Hollin Keintz
That’s illegal?
Check out some crazy laws around the states. 8
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ig Sky High School borders very silent neighbors and our neighbors are asking for silence and respect in return--at least during funeral services for our local veterans. Last month, during a funeral at the Western Montana Veterans’ Cemetery, the cemetery that borders the student parking lot, Principal Jennifer Courtney fielded complaints from the adminstration at the cemetery about the behavior of Big Sky students during a funeral service. Bureau Chief Matt Manning has asked that in the future, Big Sky students refrain from shouting vulgarities, revving car engines loudly, and honking horns. “It’s not necessarily that we are upset about the whole issue,” Manning said. “It’s just that we feel bad for the families because you only get one funeral, you know? And if [students] are over there honking their horns it’s kind of ruined.” Manning understands the behavior is just high schoolers being high schoolers, and he doesn’t mind that. What is he requesting is for us to be aware of what is happening around us, and behave appropriately especially during a service. “You know, if they are out in the parking lot being silly, it’s fine--we don’t mind that. We just ask that they have a little situational awareness,” Manning said. “Look across the street and see if there are any cars in the cemetery. If there are cars in the cemetery and the flags are at half staff, look around and make sure everyone is being quiet.” Plus, even if there isn’t a service going on, Manning asks to just be aware of your surroundings. “Somebody might be out there having a really tough day--they lost a loved one--and they are out there at their father’s, their mother’s, their huband’s grave,” Manning said. “It’s a tough time. Our cemetery is place we want people to come to and for it to be peaceful for them.”
the sun journal
January 6, 2022
2 News Carter tops at MMUN BPA CONTINUED FROM P1 300 students. At the event, students represent countries from across the world. Then, like real-world diplomats, they participate in UN committees such as the General Assembly and Security Council. “I love advising MUN because it brings real global issues to life for students,” Co-Adviser Nicole Sarrazin-Strong said. “Students gain speaking, researching, writing and mediation skills. It is one of the most academic clubs that we have to offer and students enjoy working with all the different students from various schools.” By writing, negotiation, and voting on resolutions, students learn to examine international affairs from different perspectives and experience what it is like to cooperate to solve real-world problems. Carter said, “This is my fourth year in MUN and I have really enjoyed watching our team evolve. Every year there is a senior on the team who is a leader and teacher for the new people and I tried to be that person this year.” Co-Adviser Meleina Helmer said, “I like that MUN focuses so much on cooperation skills across
several groups. It is a great way to learn about how international cooperation actually works, and forces students to consider that what maybe is important to their own country may not be important to another and that makes for good perspective.” Senior Annie Migliaccio joined MUN just this year and is happy she had the opportunity to do so. “I’m so glad I had the chance to do it,” she said. “Not only did I learn so much, but it was an amazing experience to share with so many incredible people.” Senior Pilar Seielstad competed the last two years at MUN, though last year was only virtual rather than in person. “I like the foreign policy and problem-solving discussions MUN facilitates,” Seielstad said. “It has helped my public speaking and ability to read and write legislation.” Although it sounds daunting, both Carter and Seielstad said being a part of MUN isn’t as stressful as one may think. “It is a fun activity that isn’t a big time commitment with a ton of cool people to meet and become friends with,” Seielstad said. “The advisers of MUN are also phenomenal.”
list, wish list, and added stockings stuffed with additional items they felt the kids would like for the holiday season. “Our school is third from the bottom in the poverty scale in Missoula County, so we have a lot of needs,” Megan Meyers, Family Resource Coordinator for Hawthorne Elementary School said. “We have food insecurity, housing insecurity. We have homeless unaccompanied youth. We have a lot of needs in this school and anything from food to clothing to fixing a car we try to help with through the FRC.” PHOTO BY JENN KEINTZ Co-BPA President Ash- BPA students spent the last week before winter break shopping, sorting lynn Everett said, “When we and wrapping presents for Hawthorne Elementary students. “We know that asked if they had one of the sometimes kids can feel really left out at this time of year, and we thought, giving trees, they were all too even if we could make one kid’s holiday season better, we would,” Adviser happy to share with us. I just Jenn Keintz said. From left, Hollin Keintz, 12, Ashlyn Everett, Hayden Keintz, 9, think this is a really important and Kendall Toye, 12. to help those kids that may not have an opportunity to “I think Christmas can be a real- around $700 which Meyers was get cool gifts or anything fun for ly fun time for kids, but also a really doing her best to stretch. She was Christmas.” hard time for families,when they concerned with being able to get Everett stressed the importance don’t have the financial means to not only the humble gifts students of family during this time of year, give their kids gifts,” Everett said. were asking for, but also the items but how it is often most stressful “This has been so impactful. We the students needed for winter, such on those who cannot afford to buy have 78 students that qualify for as socks, shoes and boots. their children presents, knowing our Christmas Giving program this Meyers said, “This year we just that most of this kids around them year,” Meyers said. had so much need that this is really will be sharing “what they got” on The school has a fairly small so impactful. This just means the the return to school after break. budget for the program, sitting world to me.”
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Speech and Debate transitions to new staff, looks to state CONTINUED FROM P1 She cares for each individual, pushes them to perform, fundraises to make sure we can eat at tournaments, supports all of us speech and debate kids, and is incredibly organized--which is rare for speech and debate.” When Beed stepped up, Haley Bennett, also a ‘21 graduate, stepped into the role of assistant. “The assistant coach is also phenomenal, especially stepping in so quickly,” Seielstad said. “Honestly, we love both of our coaches. They are wonderful.” Now that the season is in full swing, and the coaching staff is settling in, the students are excited to be back in full swing. Junior Will Ruzanski said, “The season’s going great. I’m really proud of our team as a whole.” Compared to last year, this season has seemed close to normal. They’ve been able to travel around the state and compete in person, which is a new experience for some of the team’s younger members.
PHOTO BY KYLIE FISHER
The Speech and Debate team after their tournament in Bozeman, Montana. Back Row: Assistant Coach Haley Bennett, Abigail Durnell, Annabelle Henkins, Riley Laslovich, Madelyn McInnis, Zachary Kirst, Octavio Jimenez, Kylie Fisher, Noah Everett, William Ruzanski, Levi Rank, Head Coach Jayden Beed. Front Row: Ashlynn Everett, Emma Willhite, Marin Seielstad, Derek Johnson, Hayden Bosshardt, Erik Armstrong, Pilar Seielstad. Not Pictured: Becca Sylte-Riggers.
“Next on our to-do is list is to push for state,” Ruzanski said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
The state competition will be at the end of the month in Helena. In the meantime, the team competes
this weekend at Glacier and next weekend in Butte. Ruzanski said, “I have high ex-
pectations for myself and for our team at state. We’re going to do great!”
Scholarship Information:
Seniors: friendly reminder that you can find scholarships on the BSHS Class of 2022 Google Classroom. If you go the website of the schools you are applying for you can also apply for scholarships dedicated to that school. Data Bases To find New and Updated Scholarships College Horizons: College Horizons is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to increasing the number of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students succeeding in college and graduate programs. Since 1998, they have served over 3,300 Native students on their path to higher ed through their admissions and financial aid workshops. College Board: From the same people that produce the SAT Test, this is a scholarship search engine that doesn’t try to sell you anything and doesn’t make you create an account to search. Fast Web Scholarship guide: FastWeb. com has over 600,000 different scholarships worth over $1 billion dollars. The website does create a list of your name and contact information. It is recommended that students create a different email just for scholarships if using this search engine. Scholly: There is free money for college out there, and Scholly has helped students win over $50 million in scholarship awards. It is super simple, easy and accurate. Sign up for an account today. See your school counselor for the join code which will allow you to access the database for free.
Missoula Community Foundation General Scholarship Five scholarships of $1000 are available. Requirements are attend a highereducation institution in Montana or attend a WUE school and must be in senior standing. Due by March 25, 2022.
Missoula Community Foundation Diversity Scholarship One scholarship of $1000 is availbe.
Requirements include attend a highereducation institution in Montana or attend a WUE school, identify with an underrepresented ethnic group and must be at senior standing. Due, March 25, 2022.
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Native American Scholarship
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Native American Scholarship shall provide at least two scholarships each year for deserving female Native American students, at the undergraduate level, and who are from any of the seven Indian reservations within the State of Montana. The scholarships shall be available to students who wish to attend one of the four University of Montana campuses. Due April 4th.
Horatio Alger Montana Undergraduate Scholarship
Seniors at Montana high schools who want to go to college now have more help in reaching that goal. The program, administered by the Horatio Alger Association, is specifically for students who have confronted and overcome adversity in their young lives. Students from across Montana will be selected to each receive a $15,000 scholarship and have the honor of being named as a Horatio Alger Montana Scholar. Scholarships can be utilized to pursue higher education at the University of Montana, Montana State University, or one of their affiliates: University of Montana Western Missoula College – University of Montana Helena College – University of Montana Montana Technological University in Butte Montana State University Billings Montana State University Northern Requirements include be a U.S. Citizen pursuing first bachelor’s degree, exhibit critical financial need for tuition (family income under $55000), Display integrity and perseverance in the face of adversity, and
have a GPA of 2.0 and above. Due April 15, 2022.
Montana’s STEM/Healthcare Scholarship Program
Montana’s STEM/Healthcare Scholarship Program is designed to provide an incentive for Montana high school students to prepare for, enter into, and complete degrees in postsecondary fields related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and healthcare. The goal of this program is to increase the number of STEM/Healthcare degree recipients participating in Montana’s workforce. Due March 15, 2022.
Montana Life Members Scholarship
One scholarship for $1000. Requirements include be a Montana resident and US Citizen majoring in Conservation, Horticulture, Parks or Forestry, Floriculture, Greenhouse Management, Land Management, or related subjects and a GPA 2.7. Due May 1.
UMW William S. Bender Scholarship
The UMW William S. Bender Scholarship is awarded to a Montana student with leadership skills and high scholastic ability who excelled in extracurricular activities in high school. Incoming freshmen are eligible.
MUS Honor Scholarship
The MUS Honor Scholarship is a 4-year renewable scholarship, which waives the recipient’s tuition when used at an eligible campus. Its average value at a 4-year Montana campus is $5,000 a year or $20,000 for four years. The Board of Regents intends to offer up to 200 scholarships (contingent upon continued funding of the program) annually. The scholarship does not cover mandatory or class fees. Due March 15.
Editor-in-Chief
Hollin Keintz Reporters
Kenadi Bailey James Bivens Jacky Bloom Darcy Cohen Kaydn Easter Emily Finlay Madison Glessner Hayden Keintz Micky Lapham Christian Morin Caden Mueller Riley Pellett Damon Quist Sara Nordtome Mariah Zentner Adviser
Jenn Keintz Principal
Jennifer Courtney The opinions expressed in the Big Sky Sun Journal are those of the individual staff members and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or administration. Letters to the editor are encouraged, but may be edited for libelous or obscene material or omitted at the discretion of the administration. We will not accept any unsigned or anonymous letters.