Pony Express - Issue 1 by Stillwater Pony Express

Sandy Cortez and Nelly Ross join as Community Engagement Specialists

ADDY HOWE Business Editor

This year has welcomed two new staff members in a new role. Grey Pony Center Assistant Principal Heidi Klukas, AVID and Multilingual Language Arts teacher Andrea Schueler and Community Engagement Specialist Nelly Ross discussed the new Community Engagement Specialist position. These staff members aimed to assist families where English is a second language with barriers they may face between home and school, which helps their students feel more connected at school. Increasing communication, engagement and trust is an important role that each of them play which has helped out families tremendously.

Community Engagement Specialists helped connect families and bridge the gap between home and school. Some of the families that are connecting with the Community Engagement Specialists just need help with simple tasks due to a language barrier or other families may need stronger assistance depending on the issue they are trying to solve.

Some Hispanic families struggle to understand how to navigate the system and may not know who to ask for help, whether it is regarding attendance, a child’s illness, or communication with teachers Community Engagement Specialist Nelly Ross explained.

There are a minimum of 225 Hispanic families that identify as Hispanic and some may only speak Spanish at home. Although the Community Engagement Specialists do not only help Hispanic students, there was a need for these staff members to connect with our families.

“I’m responding to emails from different people in the school to resolve different situations. Basically, our position is like solving problems, little cases that you have to resolve in order to because of the language barrier,” Ross said.

For this reason, having Community Engagement Specialists support other bilingual teachers so they do not have to do as much since some families reach out to teachers if they speak their native language. Community Engagement Specialists can help alleviate the workload of these bilingual teachers by connecting with the families.

“I am also bilingual, so having Community Engagement Specialists means that I get less phone calls from parents who prefer to speak Spanish that I need to figure out how to handle,” Schueler said.

Students felt more accepted and included that they have someone that they are comfortable talking with who understands their culture and speaks their Native language. This increased self esteem and confidence and limited some communication problems. It also connected students and families with school and created

and families to help incresase

engages with students who need help

a more positive relationship. When asked how the Community Engagement Specialists have been helping so far, “The Community Engagement Specialists have made a huge difference to many of the students that I work with,” they help families navigate a large school Schueler said.

Designated prayer spaces for the Muslim students who needed to pray during the school day have not existed until now. Administration met with students to come up with a plan for prayer spaces.

“We just met with a group of students to work on prayer spaces for our Muslim community looking forward to Ramadan,” Klukas said.

Looking ahead, the impact of these Community Engagement Specialists will affect bilingual families and continue to connect all students between home and school.

The new specialists’ contributions will go further than just a home and school connection. They will do this by developing significant relationships with both students and parents.

Athletic office launches Pony sports network

MACK MORROW Photo Editor

This year, sports fans from all across the state or even the country can now tune into Ponies sports games. Using a new alternative way to watch sports games that has been set up by the athletic department. With the help from Hudl, the Pony Sport Network has been put together.

The Pony Sports Network (PSN) is a new website set up by the athletic staff. It is a website that streams all the sports games that are available in one place for a small fee. The games are streamed on the hudl cameras and are all streamed to the PSN.

“Over the past few years we’ve tried to make different opportunities available for our community

to see games online. We are trying to stream it more to one platform, kind of a One-stop shop, a place that all fans can go to watch the stream of games,” Athletic Director Nate Cox said.

One big plus of having the PSN is that fans can watch 11 different sports throughout the three sports seasons during the school year. Fans can watch sports like football and girls and boys soccer in the fall and boys and girls lacrosse in the spring.

“They all have a camera system,”

Amanda Gahlon, the athletic director’s secretary, said. “The cameras on the indoor and outdoor courts that help us stream the games.”

As mentioned before, there is a small fee to watch a stream of a game. The PSN has three subscription levels: fans can pay $5

to have access to a single game, $30 to have access to all sports streamed for a month, or $100 for access to every game streamed all year.

“We decided to make the single game price the exact same as the price of a ticket,” Cox said. “ It is as if someone was coming to the actual game.”

The Hudl cameras that are used to stream all of the games were installed a few years earlier for the use of coaches and athletes. This is the first time the cameras have been used to stream sports games though.

“The Hudl cameras are a great tool,” Cox said about streaming games and for filming them for coaches to use afterward.

Community engagement specialists Nelly Ross and Sandy Cortez meet with students

commincation, engagement and trust. Ross

with language barriers.

PHOTO BY AMELIA BRUNO

GRAPHIC BY BENNET LACSKA

Heidi Klukas assumes role of new Grey Pony Center assitant principal

RABIRA SOKA Business Editor

New Assistant Principal Heidi Klukas has spent nearly two decades as a high school administrator and nearly three working as an educator.

After starting as an English teacher, with some quick stints in Chicago, New York City and St. Paul. She transitioned to administration. She brought with her a passion for helping students achieve their college and career goals.

“It’s all about putting students at the center,” she said, emphasizing the importance of student voice.

“My entire career has centered around high schools,” she added.

Transitioning to Stillwater after nearly two decades at another school was a big move for Klukas, in her desire for new challenges and fresh experiences. Reflecting on her long career, she shared a story from her early days when she taught English in a rural high school in Hungary.

“It was the mid-90s, and Hungary had just transitioned out of communism. It was a wild time to be there,” Klukas said.

With few phones and horse drawn carts in her village, this chapter of her career helped shape her love for teaching.

Her hiring was because of her expertise in two areas: equity work and concurrent enrollment programs.

Principal Rob Bach highlighted these strengths, noting that Klukas was instrumental in fostering

student success by ensuring they could earn college credits while in high school. Her leadership has already had an impact.

“She’s developed good relationships with students and families, which is a big part of who we are,” Principal Rob Bach said. She feels she’s made the right choice

“The students here are outstanding. Meeting kids like you reminds me that I’m meant to be here,” she said.

Then, when asked about her experience working with Heidi Klukas, Secretary Shelly Enhelder emphasized Klukas’ hands on approach and commitment to connecting with both students and staff.

“She doesn’t sit in her office; she’s always out talking to people,” Enhelder said.

This approach sets her a part from many in similar roles. According to Enhelder, Klukas is always willing to learn, research, and improve qualities that make her invaluable in her role.

When Klukas transitioned to With 17 years of experience as an Assistant Principal at Simley High School, Klukas has led initiatives in equity, college readiness, and concurrent enrollment programs. Her commitment to student voices and leadership continues to shape her approach to education. She connects students’ high school experiences to post-graduation.

“My most important thing that I try to build out my work around is student voice and having students at the center,” Klukas explained.

Klukas’s experience and dedication to student voice. Her focus on college and career readiness, and community engagement has already

made a positive impact.

As she continues her time, her leadership and opportunities for students and families will continue to grow.

Cassandra Lafleur joins French department

GEORGE NELSON

Digital Grahics Editor

French teacher Cassandra Lafleur’s bubbly energetic enthusiasm brings life and passion to the classroom. The classroom feels alive, filled with culture and color. This makes it an ideal place to learn a language. Lafleur’s energy and passion are infectious and they make everyone excited to learn.

Coming from Humboldt High School, there have been some differences including a longer drive and a much bigger school. There are also some welcome differences including students following phone policies.

“I was blown away by cellphones in the classroom because it was a fight for me last year. I’m able to get through my stuff, because you guys respect the world,” Lafleur said.

She is not only a language teacher, but a language learner. She is trilingual and speaks Haitian Creole, French and English.

“I learned English when I was 15 so I always try to put myself in my students’ shoes. Like ok they’re learning French and just remember what it was like learning English,” Lafleur said.

In only a few weeks Lafleur has already built trust with her students.

“It’s a really safe environment, and it just makes me feel like I can mess up and make mistakes and still learn from them,” junior Jaclyn Jurek said.

She is already supporting her students in and out of the classroom.

Fellow French teacher Amy Budion ran into Lafleur at the soccer teacher appreciation game, “I love that it’s been two weeks and she is already out there.”

Lafleur’s energy and excitement keep students engaged

“She is excited to teach and it makes me excited to learn, ” Jurek said.

“She is making it a fun environ-

ment to learn in which means that I want to keep taking the class,” junior Evan Splinter added.

Lafleur’s involvement and interest in students’ lives and activities show her passion for her job. Her energy and enthusiasm to teach keeps students excited about learning French. Having Learned English as a teenager helps her empathize and cater her teaching to different learning styles. She meets students where they are to better support their learning through a variety of methods.

French teacher Cassandra Lafleur helps students with their schoolwork in her French class, which is one of three languages she knows.

Photo by Camryn Handberg

Photos by Elsie Welch

Assistant Principal Heidi Klukas joined in the Grey Pony Center after leaving her past job at Simley High School after two decades.

Office hours changed to the morning

In previous years, office hours has been in the afternoon with the only change being how long it is, but now it is getting changed to the morning.

COLBY HENJUM

Business Editor

Office hours are a chunk of time that students typically get on Wednesdays for about one class period long (52 minutes) to do class work. There will be a change this year, and the school is moving office hours to the morning. This new time change could impact students’ schedules and be a bad change.

This year at the beginning of the school year, Principal Bach announced that they were considering moving office hours to the morning. This is new to the school and seems to be a change that most students dislike and have many questions about. But many teachers seem to really like this change.

A lot of kids will say they are not awake in the morning, English teacher Sarah Lauer described. Last year, students had around an hour to do school work. Many students and teachers use this time to get a lot of their work done so they do not have to do it outside of school.

“I feel like it takes away the chance of getting to do the homework I get because office hour days are shorter but it wouldn’t make that much of a difference,” junior Logan Ryan said. Additionally, office hours in the morning will impact a lot of students’ schedules, especially PSEO and 916 students. Multiple students have only a couple of classes in the morning and they have to leave for Century and/or other colleges.

Students do homework during the first office hours of the year. They take place every Wednesday morning from 7:40 to 8:20 a.m.

“PSEO students are off campus and they’re not in our system. So whether the office hours are at the beginning of the day or the end of the day, if they`re not here, it not you know something that we would particularly program around,” Assistant Principal Aaron Drevlow said.

The move to the morning was made because of students who opted out. With the move to the

morning, teachers believe it will be harder for students to be able to opt out as easily with most parents having to go to work and not being able to give their kids a ride at a later start time.

“I think that it`s important that students are at school as often as possible, and not just in class but in the building,” Lauer added.

This year, the schedule will stay 1 to 6 so no flip-flopping of periods.

Office hours are 7:40 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with 40 minute class times and not that much of a change for the 5th hour, at most a 10 minute different Lauer said.

The school administration should keep office hours in the afternoon as it ends up giving more work for students outside of school and creates too many problems for students doing PSEO and 916.

Parents should be held charged if their child commits a school shooting

CALEB GUSTAFSON Photography Editor

Back in 2021, the parents of Ethan Crumbely were charged for their child’s actions in the Oxford school shooting. This made it the first time parents have been charged for their child’s school shootings. However, over the past few years, school shootings have continued to happen more and more at an alarming rate. As a result, this has brought light to the reality of the situation and has triggered discussion across the country on how to deter these school shootings.

The answer is to hold parents responsible for their children’s actions, just like how the parents of Ethan Crumbely were held responsible.

No matter what, parents will always have a significant influence on their children’s views and behavior, thus ultimately impacting the decisions and actions they make. Holding parents responsible for their child’s school shootings would prevent future tragedies from occurring and students will start to feel more safe at school.

Furthermore, becoming a parent comes with responsibility. Major responsibilities of parents include noticing strange changes in their child, such as behavior changes, mood changes and more. With that, parents have the responsibility to notice signs and signals from their child that could be alarming and show a threat.

“Often times when a student has experienced a high level of trauma in their lifetime, that can be a marker for potentially like a mental health challenge. And oftentimes you can see that if a student is isolating themselves, they’re reserved, maybe they’re acting out in other ways, potentially facing bullying behavior,”

Assistant Principal Matt Kraft said.

Overall, children spend a lot of time with their parents. From doing

Students carry on with work during a hold drill. It’s important to train for dangerous events.

various activities together to just that simply children live with their parents. Because children spend most of their time with their parents, they influence them. From their behavior, actions and more. So in the end children reflect their parents.

“If you live with your parents and they have a certain view or do certain things, it will definitely rub off on you,” junior Mathew Harvey said.

School resource officer Dave Wynia agreed that in most cases children definitely reflect their parents. But also said that this is not always the case. He also said that how parents raise their children will affect how they behave in public and with their peers.

In addition, parents who leave guns, ammo and other dangerous weapons out should be held accountable and be charged. Even parents who do not give their children proper

gun safety training or do not teach their children about the safety of their dangerous weapons should be charged as it is obvious neglect from the parent.

Wynia said that if parents have guns and ammo not legally stored such as without locks on them then they bear responsibility and accountability.

Parents can be held responsible and go to court for their children’s school absences and tardies. In that sense, parents should be held accountable for their children’s school shootings.

Harvey said that holding parents responsible for their children’s academic attendance but not school shootings “is foolish and doesn’t make any sense” when it could prevent more school shootings from happening.

Additionally, charging parents helps keep them accountable. Furthermore, it can also put pressure on

parents to be more responsible and aware. It will also send a strong message to parents across the country.

“Parents should be held accountable and they should be prosecuted under whatever law is available to prove the point that as a parent or guardian, you need to have the supports and constraints in place to make sure your child and other people are safe,” Kraft said.

In 2023, there were 604 mass shootings in the United States

Over 400 have died in these incidents in 2024 (CNN)

24% of these shootings took place at schools (Rockefeller)

You are 25x more likely to be shot in the U.S. than other high income countries (Brady United)

Mass shootings make up only 1% of gun violence in America (Brady United)

PHOTO BY AILA FISK

PHOTO BY MAC MARROW

EIC COLUMN

Gossip has always been a part of people’s lives, whether they are hosting midday tea time in grand manors or on their phones texting their friends about the latest drama at school. Gossiping has been a social norm for hundreds of years. Although, that does not necessarily mean that people like the nature of gossiping. Many people go out of their way to avoid gossiping about people’s lives. That brings us to the question: why do we gossip? When, along the way of human evolution, did this curiosity become so popular? And, is gossiping good or bad?

To get the full picture, we need to go back to the beginning. Gossip started as a morally neutral activity. It was a way of forming bonds and making connections with the others around them. Hundreds of years ago, people had limited ways of communicating with each other, thus gossip became a popular option.

“Gossiping was viewed as a natural part of interactions among close friends, siblings, or people in general. It served as a means of

Staff Editorial:

Administration improving parent teacher conferences

CHARLOTTE HANSON Political Cartoonist

A new model of parent teacher conferences will be introduced for K-12 students this year. With declining amounts of parents sign ing up for these conferences, this change will be exceedingly benefi cial. Generally, students found this change to be beneficial, as opposed to the older outdated model.

With the traditional conference style, parents would sign up for a 15 -minute in person meeting (or five minutes on the secondary level) on a fixed day in the fall and again in the spring.

This change will be more flex ible for student needs. Teachers will contact families at least once during each semester. At the elementary level, teachers will connect per sonally with families specifically about their social and academic development. At the secondary level, teachers will provide an email update, and families may request an in person meeting if necessary.

Although this style of par ent teacher conferences has been happening for years at the second ary level, this new parent teacher conference model will be a new change for the elementary level students. Administration will be collecting feedback and thoughts on this new conference model to see if any adjustments and improvements can be made. Parents are encouraged to reach out if there are any questions or concerns.

Elementary level student families will continue to receive weekly newsletters and feedback from teachers.

Middle and high school families are able to continue using Schoology to keep up with grades and work.

Some students also found this

change to be helpful with independence, due to parents not always being there for their children in the future. Students also said it can help prepare more for the future, and stressing the importance of independence. This change will not only be helpful for families, but teachers too. Giving teachers this easier

Pony Express Staff

means to communicate allows them to adjust their curriculum for students appropriately and accommodate various needs. This change is a much needed improvement. It’s due time for this outdated parent teacher conference model to be replaced, with this new model being vastly more favorable.

Stillwater Area High School, 5701 Stillwater Blvd N, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082

Print Editors-in-Chief

Cole Nuss

Maggie O’Brien

Madi Ruchie

Layout Editors

Joy Bailey

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Andrew Linnell

Hazel McHugh

Areannah Miller

Rylee Van Houten

Elena Majeski

Online Editors

Macy Bougie

Jack Howell

Mila Nielsen

Kynadee Wittwer

Brooke Hanselman

Copy Editors

Howard Bryant

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Business Editors

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Addy Howe

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Cece Lee

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Shaeffer Watson

Photography Editors-in-Chief

Addy Rock

Photography Editors

Amelia Bruno

Cathleen Costello

Alia Fisk

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Camryn Handberg

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Mack Morrow

Elsie Welch

Jaxson Reyes

Digital Graphic Editors-in-

Chief

Ava Bentdahl

Digital Graphic Editors

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George Nelson

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Political Cartoon Editor

Charlotte Hanson

Alannah Rice

Wesley Voigt

Social Media Managers

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Advisor

Rachel Steil

Assistant Advisor

Alex Steil

Printers

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Print and Online Content Policy

The Pony Express is a publication of Stillwater Area High School. This paper is an open forum for the community and students’ views. Letters to the Editor are encouraged. The Editorial Board reserves the right to publish and edit letters: correction will be made in order to correct content, spelling, grammar and length. Letters and comments may be submitted to rooms D220.

The staff editorial is written by the Pony Express staff and headed by Editors-inChief. The Pony Express is a member of the High School Press Syndicate, the Columbia High School Press Association, International Quill and Scroll, National Scholastic Press Association and the Minnesota High School Press Association.

The Pony Express print and online newspapers strive to provide a form of media that embodies the strongest professional standards while working to present current and relevant stories about the community, inside and outside our building’s wall. The goal is to adhere to all legal and ethical standards of best journalistic practices, while informing, enlightening, and entertaining our publication’s readers.

Layout Editor-in-Chief Maggie O’Brien’s senior photo

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM PURPERA STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY

GRAPHIC BY ELENA MAJESKI

T H E G R E A T D I V I D E

People prepare their votes as they await

Celebrity endorsements cause major impacts in political decisions the upcoming 2024 election

BROOKE HANSELMAN

Online Editor

As this upcoming election keeps heating up, celebrities’ roles in their political voice have never been more heard. Beyond the fake news and campaigns, celebrities want to be heard and seen. It is time to finally analyze how celebrities make their positive difference in politics. People lean toward other people that they agree with in politics. Actress Jennifer Lawrence is supporting Harris because she says Harris will do whatever she can to protect reproductive rights.

“People kind of associate part of their identity with the brands (presidential candidates) that they like (agree with),” social studies teacher Wayne Perkins said. Citizens like to fall to a

side that agrees with them on a topic. Because of this people can act together on a subject to make a change. Furthermore, people tend to stray away from others and preach their own voice. Singer Kid Rock is supporting Trump because he said he wants what is best for this country.

Also, when reacting to an issue it is important to be honest and connect with yourself before enacting to others. You have to do this before positively acting on a change to make a difference.

Celebrities/brands always try to speak/reach a certain group. But this does not mean they are accurate. 60% of 3,000 customers surveyed said they trust brands less when they use celebrity endorsements. However, social studies teacher Matthew Bergquist said he thinks celebrity endorsements “have to connect with a

certain group” for it to influence their beliefs.

Celebrities always try to enact a change. The only way they can do this is to find a group of people who will help them do this so they must target a specific group of people.

Celebrities have a large voice among society. Following Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris, 400,000+ people signed up to vote.

“The research is clear that there was an upkick of particularly young women voters in registration,” Bergquist said. Celebrities always try to get citizens to vote. They do this with their influence on society. For example speeches to spread their beliefs and call for action.

Accordingly, older voters are the most reliable age group to vote statistically. Campaigns/endorsements mainly target the older 45-65+ age

group because they have a lot more experience in voting.

“Those people have a lot of time on their hands. They have all the knowledge. They have a lot of money, and they will just vote statistically,” Bergquist said. Because the campaigns and endorsements target this age group because they know they are more reliable than young adults or any other age group. This means they are trying to get their brand/company as far as possible so in order to do this they need to go to people they can depend on.

Finally, celebrities should endorse political candidates because their influence can inspire so many more people to vote and get involved with their own beliefs of this country Additionally, everyone should be educated on what changes they can help make or stop depending on what those particular citizens believe.

Voters share their opinions for the upcoming 2024 election

SHAEFFER WATSON

Business Editor buy houses before they make like what 130,000 a year,” said Junior Keegan Mathre.

As the election season approaches, many voters are excited to share there thoughts on the new presidential candidates. Both candidates are escalating their attempts at sharing their own political beliefs.

The most important issue younger voters are looking for this year is the economy. After covid, the economy never fully recovered leaving inflation on everything including housing. This gives new voters doubts about how they will ever afford owning their own land, houses and more.

“The inflation and housing crisis is important to me because a lot of Americans can’t even

Voting is the most important thing U.S. citizens can do. No matter the voters’ beliefs your vote matters. The voice of everyone in our country is always important. One vote can change everything. Having the right to vote is something that can be taken for granted when deciding if people should vote or not.

“Knowing that I have the privilege to

Everything said is not always done. The United States government uses a system of checks and balances to keep each branch of government balanced and in check. This system conflicts with many ideas promised by presidential candidates.

“I think they need to reflect on their past performances because I think they both kind of have a delay on their promises,” senior Hannah Drexel said. “Promises in what they actually did so they need to like reconnect that and make promises for how they’re going to do things better in the future”. As the election approaches, new and returning voters alike are asked to make a decision. With the privilege that comes with voting, it is important to stay informed making sure every voice is heard. In this quickly changing political climate, every vote really does matter.

GRAPHIC BY MAGGIE O’BRIEN

Green Club helps improve school by teaching envioronmentalism

KEELEY BAKER-RICHERT Layout Editor

Last spring, senior Matthew Evinston and senior Claire Rolf decided they wanted to help the community be cleaner and have fun while doing it. With this idea, they created the Play for Green Club. Around once a month, the club will pick a park or community space to clean up. Once all the cleaning is done they get to play games like kickball or tag and enjoy the space they just cleaned.

Play for Green Clubs centers around building a more environmentally friendly community. They focus on building strong community connections while maintaining a clean environment.

“We realized within Stillwater, there was no environmental club working towards bettering the overall Stillwater community, and we took it upon ourselves to go and clean up trash at local parks. We decided to make it interactive, and that’s where the play part of the club comes from,” Eviston said.

Also the Play for Green Club helps educate the community and of our environment. They also help show and teach environmentally sustainable practices. By showing these practices they help bring the community together to do good in our environment.

When talking about the reason why the Play for Green Cub was an idea it is

The Green Club meets to converse about creating a more enviormentally friendly community. They often help educate the community, and teach envioronmentally friendly practices.

because “it was created to kind of bring the community together in ways that the school normally doesn’t provide.” Rolf explained. Also “We thought that a good way to clean up the environment while also building new connections within the school would bring

growth to both the environment and the community within,” Rolf added.

Some roles that are present in a Play for Green club are preserving and protecting the environment. It is also helping maintain the community’s environment by cleaning them. After the club is done cleaning them the opportunity is given to get to play games with fellow clubmates in the freshly cleaned space.

Rolf said, “It was created to kind of bring the community together in ways that the school normally doesn’t provide.”

As they go to a park for fun and to play, if they are dirty we can not enjoy them to their full extent. It also strengthens bonds with the people in our community while picking up trash. The club helps build community because they get to play in their now clean facility Enviston explained.

An organization like the Play for Green Club can help bring awareness to the environment. It also can help people’s mental health while creating a strong, friendly community of people one may or may not know that well. It allows people to get to know others.

“I think a club that promotes mental health awareness as well as cleaning up the community is two things that are impacting our soci-

ety, especially our young people. And I think to have two elements in which we can focus on this is a big part of what we want to strive to build here at Stillwater Area High School. So I think having this club brings two different ideas together that are hot-button issues that I think are just as important,” history teacher Jason Caballero said.

With this, the future of the Play for Green club looks like they hope to expand and be more well-known. With not many people knowing about it, it is not as big of a community as current club members would like it to be. With the hope to expand they want to be able to clean bigger community spaces.

“We would like to broaden our horizons a little bit, maybe move to a bigger facility to clean up, and kind of get to the point where they have enough people and enough people willing to clean up that we can kind of expand further,” Rolf said.

“You would regret it in your life if you don’t try to do something because you’re feeling like you don’t want to. But take a chance and come check this club out,” Caballero said.

The club gives students the opportunities to build relationships with fellow students and help create a clean community environment.

PHOTO BY JAXSON REYES

GRAPHIC BY MAGGIE O’BRIEN

The Kaleidoscope concert kicks off

CODY VANG Copy Editor

The Kaleidoscope concert was held on Oct. 7. All bands played together and were directed by Directors Dennis Lindsay and Tark Katzenmeyer. The concert was phenomenal, musical and beautiful.

The true real meaning of the concert was that it was an opportunity for all students who were in band to played together as one.

The true meaning of the entire concert was based on what Lindsay said was to make all bands play together as one.

It was the time where they made audiences show off their hard work, musical talents, and show pride so that the audiences were able to feel the music spread to them beautifully as the bands honored the composers’ souls and legacies.

Lindsay said it would be great, and “will make the audience feel like walking in the park and see something awesome.”

“The concert is a good time where all the ensembles go out and perform. It’ll make audience feel like they’re going into a park until they see an entire united band playing. It’s a time where we do it awesome,” Lindsay added.

Another part of the show to that will impress audiences are the songs. The songs are different every year to spice up the concert with newer songs.

These songs were written by many different music composers who put their sweat, efforts, hearts and souls into these pieces.

Katzenmeyer and Lindsay honored them by playing their music to spread their legacies and spirits.

One of the songs is called “Peace Dancer” by composer Jodi Blackshaw. Katzenmeyer loves to direct that song in Wind Symphony.

They will perform it as Katzemeyer said, it will be lovely and “to bring honor to the composer.”

“I’m very excited to perform a song called Peace Dancer. We’re performing that song to honor the legacy of Jodi Blackshaw,” Katzenmeyer said.

The concert allows students to show off their efforts in their performances, and to make everyone welcome. It is an opportunity for band students, including freshme, to become united with friends.

As Katzmeyer said it is a vital part of the year where “everyone Is part of the band program and team.”

As one point in the event everyone gathers up to stick as a team. Katzenmeyer said it is part of the program, and it is still an entertaining way of making band students, including new ones, feel great as a team.

“I think It’s important for students that everyone is a part of the team. We do this to make students perform together at the start of the year,” Katzenmeyer said.

All band students wore specific

outfits, mainly all black with red accessories like ties, to look traditional and formal. That way, the audience viewed students as a whole as they perform.

Lindsay said that they wore those outfits to look very traditional, formal and fancy while also reducing distractions.

Lindsay also said that to make sure that “the students gain the spotlight rather than their clothing.”

“It’s a traditional thing for students to look whole and musical So that there are no distractions of what they wear, so that they can be in the spotlight,” Lindsay added.

Students and directors executed the concert for honor, care, entertainment and pride. The concert will always be different as they tried newer songs and new folks every year

‘Beetlejuice’ movie remains after 36 years

AVA BENTDAHL

Graphics Editor-in-Chief

Do not say his name three times or he’ll appear. Beetlejuice has been a fanfavorite horror and comedy film since its release in 1988. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does an amazing job at relating back to the original movie while still keeping a plot of its own. The movie is not as comical as the original counterpart.

The original hit the box office grossing $84 million and received an Academy Award for Best Makeup. The franchise eventually got animations and a Broadway musical that ran from April 2019 to Jan. 2023, and won multiple Tonys. Overall, the franchise has been a massive success since its original release in 1988.

The 1988 film only grossed $74,600.000 domestically while the new film grossed $251,400,000 domestically with $111,000,000 of that being from the opening.

Rumors of a potential sequel had circled for decades until it was officially announced at Cinema Con in April 2023. Shortly after the sequel was announced back in April, some of the original cast had chosen to reprise their roles in the series with Micheal Keaton as Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, and Cathrine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. Along with the introduction of new characters

such as Monica Bellucci as Delores, Arthur Conti as Jeremy Frazier, and Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, Danny Devito even makes an appearance as a ghost janitor.

Along with all of these amazing actors and actresses, one of the most notable teen icons right now is the highly profiled actress Jenna Ortega playing Astrid Deetz. This is not the only film Jenna Ortega has worked with renowned director Tim Burton. The two originally worked together on the set of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ back in 2022 where Ortega played the well-known character Wednesday.

Many people wondered where Jeffrey Jones, who played Charles Deetz in the original film, was in the sequel although no definitive answer has been given. Many assume that it is due to charges the actor received back in 2003 and a later arrest concerning 2003 again in 2010.

The story does an amazing job of tying in elements from the 1988 movie with things like the sandworm, winter river town model, and the attic, and even mentioning Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbra (Geena Davis) Maitland from the first movie.

The movie is really unique in the Tim Burton way. It overall does a amazing job of continuing the story even after all this time. Just picking up right

where it left off. People should watch this film if your into weird, crazy, and comical horror. If you liked the original your are sure to like this the second even more.

Since September, the movie is only in theaters. Although it was announced that it would release onto streaming platforms such as Apple TV and Prime Video Oct. 8 and eventually, on Nov. 19, the movie will be available for DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4k Ultra HD.

GRAPHIC BY NEVAEH KINNEY

Students prepare for their concert in the band room. The music director Tark Katzenmeyer directs the band.

GRAPHIC BY NEVAEH KINNEY

PHOTO BY CODY VANG

Boys cross country starts season strong

The

team’s hard work shows with the great successes they are having this season.

MILA NIELSEN Online Editor

The boys varsity cross country team is having yet again, another great season. They have been ranking in the top schools at all of their meets so far this season. In a couple of weeks they will be attending the sections meet that will determine whether or not they go to the state meet this year. They have been to state every year for the past 10 years, and they expect this year to be no different.

The boy’s hard work has been showing lately with the team’s times at their meets.

At a recent meet, senior captain Dylan Riniker ranked first place in the 5,000 meter with a time of 15:47.4.

“We’re rated fifth in the state right now,” coach Ryan Miller explained while discussing the success of the team this year.

“anything from doing four hundreds on the track, to mile repeats over in

He also mentioned if they qualify for state, he has a few specific runners that “could be in the top 25 in the state” individually at the state meet this year.Miller has been coaching the team since 2013. He has some key tips for the consistency of his teams year after year. He said it is about the coaching technique, saying, “I make sure that I’m coaching each athlete individually and trying to meet them where they’re at, and not just making a universal approach for everybody from a personality standpoint.”

When speaking with the runners

BY CALEB GUSTAFSON

first overall for the first time in 35 years.

on the team, they said their key to success is teamwork, and effort. They help each other stay motivated and succeed.

“We’re all friends, and we all push each other to be the best runner and best person we can be,” senior captain Andrew Walsh said.

Cross country is a very timeconsuming commitment. They practice Monday through Saturday as a team, and on Sundays they practice by running on their own.

They have to practice to stay consistent and in shape. Their practices typically consist of, “anything from doing four hundreds on the track, to mile repeats over in Stillwater, and sometimes we’ll do longer runs out on Brown’s Creek,” junior George Nelson said.

It can be hard to find time to balance cross country and school with all of that practice, “It’s definitely a challenge to balance

because we do miss a lot of school for meets, because they’re usually far away,” Nelson said. They usually try to find time after practice, or on weekends to catch up on their homework.

The team looks forward to keeping up the good work, and finishing the season off strong. They have high hopes of going to state again this year, and hope everyone comes and shows their support in the next few weeks.

Boys soccer has high hopes for this season

Over

the past couple of seasons, the boys soccer team has not much success in

the

playoffs, however, they seem to have high expectations for themselves this year.

BY GAVIN JAGUNICH

they believed they had a good chance of going far in the playoffs , and maybe made it to state.

The last time the Ponies won a state championship was in 2016 ; They were state runner-ups in 2017. Sadly, they had not been to the state tournament in a long time.

“It’s been a real shame that we haven’t really been able to play in a state tournament yet… We just sadly haven’t been able to get it together towards the end of the season,” Podlucky said.

“I think we have a really tight-knit… community going, and I really enjoy playing with all those guys… I think we have [excellent] chemistry as a… whole.”

-Hadden Podlucky

BENNET LACSKA Graphics Editor

“We were considered to be the best team in the state, but we lost,” sophomore Gavin Jagunich said

about the soccer team last season. The boys soccer tweam had came close to winning a section championship the past two years, but has lost to Woodbury both times. They had not been able to take that next step to the state tournament. However, this year

However, these past losses were not getting them down. Many players had high hopes for this season, and believed they could play in U.S. Bank Stadium. Gavin said he “thinks the team will do decent this year.”

“We’re improving as the season progresses,” JV player Logan Treder added.

“I think we have a really tightknit… community going, and I really

enjoy playing with all those guys… I think we have [excellent] chemistry as a… whole,” Hadden said.

On Sept. 21, the team played Minnetonka at home. Unfortunately, they lost 5-1, but many believed Minnetonka would be the hardest team they played this season.

“We played them the other day, and, I mean, they were extremely strong, and we knew they would be… A real challenge going into that,” Podlucky explained.

There had also been some coaching issues on the JV team. They did not have a coach for the first part of the JV season.

“We had a rough start [to the season] because of coaching… But we have our coach now and we’re doing better,” Logan explained.

Many of the players said that they believed the leadership on the team was solid this season, and would help lead the team to success. Hadden told us he liked the captains this year.

He said leadership was “really motivational.” He also said he enjoyed how they were all trying to reach a common goal.

This season is going well for the team. Their current record was 7 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws. They were currently ranked fifth in their conference, and still had many games to play before the postseason.

PHOTO

Boys cross country at the Lion Victoria invatational on october first standing in line after placing

PHOTO

The boys soccer team defeated Park 1-0 at Pony Stadium on Sept. 26. This brought them closer to their goal of making it to the state tournament.

Seniors make final mark on home turf

The football season is coming to an end as they head to their final game: senior night. Their final home game is scheduled Oct. 17.

KAYLEE LOWE Social Media EIC

The football team makes “Friday Night Lights” a night to remember as they hope to keep a winning streak against other teams while they prepare for their final home game: senior night. The last game is not all about winning, but about celebrating what these seniors have done and the positive impact they have left on their team and their school.

While senior night might just be the title of the game, for the seniors, it is a moment that means more than just a title. This game is meant to honor what the seniors have accomplished throughout their journey on this team and their hard work and dedication. For this game to make it stick out more than just a regular home game. They wear a black jersey to salute the guys who have been playing football in the program since third grade.

“As captains we have done a good job of bringing the family aspect together, making sure everyone is accountable, and all being together in the fight. You know, there is not just a one guy solo team, so we really try to bring the team together and involve everyone”

-Conor

McGlynn

“Senior Night is just the title of the game. We have a ceremony, but we do not get too wrapped up in it. They get their names called out before the game. We wear a black uniform, just to make it stand out a little bit, it is just a salute to some young men who probably have been playing football for us since they were in third grade. But also anybody that has been a part of the program or has come out just for their senior year. It is a nice opportunity to recognize them and their last scheduled home game,” football head coach Beau LaBore said.

The team has one home game at home in between now and senior night. As a team, their biggest goal is to work together and make it all the way to the U.S. Bank Stadium for the state game. The team strategizes in hopes to keep winning streak as they play up until the senior night game.

Senior Joe Fredkove describes senior night as a bigger game

Captains of the football team senior Conor Mcglynn, senior Cal Nitti, senior Joe Fredkove, senior Siwon Youn, senior John Karkula stand in line as they prepare for their game.

because “it is the last game of the year, but we should dominate.”

While senior night might not hold a huge significance to the whole team right now, it is a night for the seniors who have dedicated their time to this team throughout high school. Especially the players who have devoted countless hours on this team and as well as nominated themselves for a leadership role as a captain position.

The team has to work together to strategize for their final scheduled game against Park High school.

With their standings currently, the team might be able to give more players a chance to step onto the field throughout the game. The team has their starting players who begin the game and play throughout carrying their team and there are several guys who do not get to play at all.

“Playing against Park could get us on the right foot, but also, it could get different guys on the field that do not always go out on the field, so maybe even give us some breaks for starters. So it could be a positive rather than a negative,” McGlynn said.

Senior night is the final game at home and the final chance for them to leave a mark on home turf. The team has their goals set and hopes to make it to the playoffs and head to the US Bank Stadium to play in state in hopes to receive the state title.

PHOTOS BY MACK MARROW

Social studies hosts mock elections

WESLEY VOIGHT Political Cartoonist

Social studies classes are preparing for the upcoming student mock elections. Teachers have been preparing the steps for a mock election, such as Matthew Bergquist, AP Government & Economics teacher. This is a practice election where students are able to cast a vote for a public office position without the vote going towards the final count of the actual election. The department is aiming to give an example to all students of what voting is like in real life.

Classes will be spending some time going over how the U.S. election process works. Each class will also spend time going through different information regarding how to register to vote, and other important information.

“Every grade level is spending at least a day introducing the ballot, and talking about the different kind of the offices,” Bergquist said.

Some students will have the chance to participate in the actual election this year, as the legal voting age is 18 in the United States. This gives the students who will be voting a chance to practice the election process before the big day. ensuring that those who have never seen a ballot before understand what to do, such as how to fill out different spaces on the ballot.

“I’m over a month away from being able to vote, but otherwise, I mean, I know some of my friends will be able to vote,” senior Gibson

Strub explained.

This election does not just matter for the seniors though, the rest of the current student body will be eligible to vote in 2028 for U.S. president. This has caught the eyes of students from different grades, as they get the chance to learn about elections, some for the first time since a very brief unit in middle school U.S. History.

“You get to actually vote, even

though it’s not legitimate, you’re still learning about the candidates and elections,” junior Paul Grant said.

This is not the first time a mock election has occurred. There are records that the social studies department keeps that show which different grades has voted for which candidates, which the AP Government & Economics classes study as part of their curriculum.

“The most recent one was in

Graphic by Cole Nuss

2022 with a midterm, we’ve done them every 2 years, even prior to the pandemic, we did one in 2016, and even years previous to that,” Bergquist added.

Students will have the chance to participate in a mock election, which will be occuring within the next few weeks and the social studies department will be preparing students before then for this opportunity that not all get.

New morning office hours schedule

MADI RUCHIE Layout Editor-in-Chief

For the past few years office hours have been held as an early release schedule. Recently, faculty had seen a few aspects challenging office hours’ composition. Administration knows, however, office hours are a great way for students to get work done; they don’t want to get rid of it. This has led to the new proposal the school is running today.

Although buses were provided at the end of the day, many students did not have appropriate transportation with early release office hours. When students are not able to attend office hours after a teacher requests them, they fall even further behind in their class. They also lose time to get one-on-one help.

“I would have requested students and maybe their friends are not staying, or their friends are their ride home. Students are not able to stay because their friends are going to Starbucks, or their friends are leaving early, or their friends do not have to stay that day,” science teacher Laura Krajewski explained.

Unlike most of the changes school makes, the new office hours proposal was not inspired by a different school. There is no solid evidence of higher student attendance, but no evidence this proposal will lower attendance either. The administrative team helped brainstorm a new proposal thinking of many alternatives along the way.

“I think a lot of us are hoping that there will actually be more students showing up at the beginning of the day,” Krajewski said.

A new app within the Powerschool program will be introduced to the community where teachers can request students for office hours. Parents are able to download the app to make sure their student attends a class they need help in. Teachers will

be able to follow up with families or parents if students are not able to come in. Keeping families, not just students accountable for reaching learning help.

The new office hours proposal creates a little extra work for teachers. It

is not excessive, and definitely worth it, but yes, there is extra to do on our part, Krajewski said.

Students riding the buses in the mornings will gather in public spaces. The cafeteria or auditorium will be used for students to socialize, collabo-

rate on work, and help keep classrooms focused and quiet.

Having a public space for students to gather is an appealing idea, if all students had to stay in their home bases, people might be “disruptive and gonna cause more problems at school” without work to complete junior Katie Sanchez said.

Many faculty members and students believe this new policy will hold through the year, and would maybe like to see it for years to come. Next year however, with the implementation of the block schedule, it is likely there will be no office hours at all.

“One of the reasons behind the block schedule is that it might provide more flexibility during the day. The hope is that we wouldn’t have as great a need for something like office hours, because there would be already be some more flexibility during the course of the day,” -Robert Bach

If, somehow, student attendance lower than the previous year, there is a chance for the proposal to change. The administrative team wants students to have time for help, and are willing to brainstorm other ways to get students the time they need.

“I would think we’re not probably going to make a change of this magnitude without the idea that it’s going to stick for a little while. You got to stick behind something for even a little bit of time to work. But we’re always reflecting on whether it’s meeting the goals of what we had,” Bach said.

Graphic by Olive McLemmore