SGHS Sheepherder Vol 33 Issue 2 December 2015

The

Sheepherder

Serving Sweet Grass County High

Volume 33, Issue 2

December 17, 2015

Walkin’ in a Winter Memory Land

Winning Streak

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

Photos Courtresy of Caitlyn Corso

Photo Courtesy of Mesa King The 2015-16 SGHS Speech & Drama team has placed in the top two at each of their meets this season. Back Row: Lauryn Yuzeitis, Kirsten Gano, Coach Gabryelle Perkins, Avery Conner, Tyler Butler. Front Row: John Baxter, Kacin Bolinger, Megan Garrard, Emily Wagner, Coach Kari Blaylock, Erin Dringman, Honey Cranston, Wyatt MacKubbin, Ethan Peterson.

Speech & Drama With Strong Early Showing

Leichelle Wood “We usually go up into the Crazies to get our tree, and when we do we hook our sled up to the truck and our dad pulls us back down, and then we make cookies and watch Elf once we get back.”

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder

The SGHS Speech & Drama team has traveled to four meets thus far in the 2015-16 season. In those four meets, SGHS Speech & Drama team has brought home two first place and two second place team trophies.

On November 7, over 530 competitors from C, B, A, and AA schools gathered at Billings West High School for

the Speech & Drama Eastern Kickoff. SGHS showed up ready to play, with eleven upperclassmen competing and three freshman team members spectating.

At a typical Speech and Drama meet there are three preliminary rounds. Each round has several sections, with 6-8 competitors per section. In each section, every

competitor is ranked from first to last by a judge who watches all performances.

After three prelim rounds, scores are tallied and the eight competitors with the lowest scores in each event advance to a finals round. Finals is worth as much as the three prelim rounds, as there are three judges (and hence, three scores) in finals.

MBI Leadership Conference

Eight of the eleven competing SGHS team members advanced to Finals.

At the award ceremony that evening, Avery Conner & Ethan Peterson, the reigning State Champions in Class B Classical Duo, stepped forward to receive their 1st place medals. Kacin Bolinger-Perret and Honey Cranston placed 8th in Serious Duo.

See STORY, page 6

Drew Pike

“At the time I thought it was an early christmas present that CJ was born, boy was I wrong, that was the Scrooge bringing me a christmas present.”

See STORY, page 7

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

December 6th and 7th marked the annual Montana Behavioral Initiative Youth Leadership Conference, and twelve SAVY members were in attendance, along with the lovely Mr. Buerkle and Ms. Perkins as chaperones. What goes on at MBI, you might

ask? Your SAVY members traveled to Billings on Sunday afternoon to begin their two-day long adventure. This conference is a look at service in our communities that includes a keynote speaker, presentations by each school, and a service project in Billings.

The theme of this conference was community heroes.

Sunday afternoon began with a bus ride to Billings. After checking in at the Holiday Inn that holds the conference, SAVY members find the Big Timber table in the Conven-

See STORY, page 6

Photo Courtesy of Gabby Perkins SGHS students attend MBI Youth Leadership Conference in Billings.

“Your town. Your news.”

The Pioneer is proud to sponsor the The Sheepherder insert for the 2015-16 school year.

Page 2

Where Opportunity Grows

December 17, 2015

The Community Foundation provides unique oppportunity to FFA

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder

~ History ~

Sweet Grass Community Foundation has had a lot of exciting developments in the last few years. SGCF, as it is now known, was originally incorporated in 2002 as the Sweet Grass Pool Foundation, founded by a group of individuals who purchased the roughly 5 acre tract between West Fourth Avenue and the Sweet Grass High School parking lot with the intention of developing a facility on site to house an indoor pool.

As work began to fundraise for this facility and to garner public support, there were some people who supported the idea of an indoor pool, and others who questioned whether the funding was there to build and sustain an indoor pool.

Over time, the organization evolved and their purpos-

Corry started out as a volunteer for the Health and Wellness organization. After some time, she found out that Health and Wellness had a part-time position available. She was quickly hired and did the development work 10-15 hours a week. However, the Executive Director of the organization announced that she was pregnant and the organization was in need of a new leader. Corry applied for and secured the position. She has served as Executive Director of SGCF for more than two years now.

In explaining the purpose of the Community Foundation, Corry stressed that, “We’re always building on community outreach.”

The foundation’s largest outreach program is the Raw Deal Run, an annual event that occurs in October on the

aspirations for the future. As part of SGCF’s mission to serve the community, they also want to support other local organizations working for the betterment of Sweet Grass County.

In 2016, the foundation is going to develop an outreach program to the churches and other nonprofits, a roundtable of sorts, where these organizations can get together and see how they may help each other with projects or goals.

SGCF recently met with the local hospitality house and food bank to learn about their services.

SGCF will also continue their “Connect Network Learn” program which provides education and resources to individuals and organizations wanting to make a difference in their community. In the future, SGCF hopes to expand on

Photo by Casey Lunceford SGHS students stand in front of their garden with bags full of harvested corn. From left to right: Greeley Schuman, Toby Wipf, Tabitha Drange, Colton Bice, Cole McKenney, Cody Landighnam, Bradley DeMasters, Tyler Smith, and JoDee Fleming. es became deeper and more fully formed, setting aside the single focus and working on broader goals of community health and support. As the direction of the group expanded, the organization converted into the Sweet Grass Health and Wellness Foundation.

Just over a year ago, the Health and Wellness Foundation metamorphosed once more, becoming the Sweet Grass Community Foundation. A community foundation is a charitable organization that pools donations and invests them for the support of a local community both now and into the future. SGCF has no members but is run by a board of directors.

This local organization’s stated mission is “to cultivate generosity, simplify giving, build endowments, and distribute funds to benefit the community.” SGCF has continued many of the goals and purposes of years past, and many of the projects they are undertaking found their genesis in the health and wellness organization.

However, the change to a Community Foundation opened up specific opportunities for charitable giving and donations that will benefit our community long into the future, as well as providing SGCF opportunities to make grants to other local organizations and endeavors. No one is more pleased with the growth and direction of the Sweet Grass Community Foundation than their executive director, Corry Cremer-Seitz. ~ The Present ~

Raw Deal Ranch up the Boulder. The run is a massive undertaking for the foundation, who begins planning for this annual event in March. Corry and her office coordinate registration, organize volunteers, and administer the six week fundraising event, which includes reviewing applications and materials from local nonprofit organizations who wish to be beneficiaries of the event and ensuring that the applications correlate with what SGCF is trying to accomplish.

In October of 2015, over $130,000 dollars was raised through the Raw Deal Run,with SGCF collecting, administering and distributing these funds to the 23 local organizations that were participants in, and beneficiaries of, the event.

Another principal aspect of the Community Foundation is their fiscal sponsorship program. Currently, they house nine grassroots organizations under the umbrella of their I.R.C. 501(c)(3) status. Some of these groups are the Big Timber Soccer Club, the Big Timber After School Club, the Arts Alliance and the Sweet Grass Cancer Alliance. Corry, Sarah and staff are responsible for managing the bookkeeping and administration of all of these organizations, including working with donors, marketing for fundraising appeal, and handling tax receipts, donations and IRS compliance. This enables the local organizations to focus on their programs while SGCF handles financial recordkeeping and compliance issues. ~ The Future ~ Looking forward, the Community Foundation has many

that program, always striving to get more members of the community to be actively involved.

“It’s a good organization, the board of directors is fantastic. Seeing it grow and being involved in the community…. it’s fun to be a part of all the new stuff,” said Corey. ~ FFA Involvement ~ One of the new developments that Corry and SGCF are excited about is their partnership with the Big Timber FFA. Last year, Casey Lunceford, an Ag teacher at SGHS, learned that the Community Foundation owned the property adjacent to the high school. Although this property was once destined for an indoor pool and used briefly for some soccer practices, it was vacant and not being used. He contacted Corry to say that he and the kids were interested in using the land for FFA. Corry realized that the use of the land by the FFA was a “perfect fit -- it was right there (by the school), and fit in with our mission!” Corry proposed the idea to the Board of Directors, and Casey did a write-up. The board believes support for youth programs is integral to SGCF’s purposes and agreed in a heartbeat to a rent-free lease with FFA. “We’re excited to be a part of it. The FFA program is part of our efforts to benefit the community...we want to learn more about what FFA could do with the land and build upon what’s already there. We want to partner up and help out where we can. Everyone has all kinds of ideas. The Board of Directors and staff are very excited to

Key Insurance 100 McLeod Street (406)-932-4014 Proud Sponsor of The Sheepherder

December 17, 2015

Page 3

Community Foundation Continued

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder ~ Making use of the land ~ The primary crop that FFA grew last year in their garden was corn. A frost that came in late August killed the pumpkin patch, but a few carrots and peas also survived. All the food grown in the garden is eventually harvested and donated to the Food Bank.

Another of FFA’s uses for the plot is as a chicken farm. FFA’s plan to add chickens caused some consternation at first, as people around town were concerned that they would be noisy and smell badly. However, since the FFA has put chickens on the SGCF’s tract of land, they have received not a single complaint about the animals. “Chickens are unobtrusive,” Mr. Lunceford explained. The only complaints about chickens have been from a few of the students who have spent the most quality time with them. Cole McKenney, who worked to build a chicken coop, chicken run, and fence for the chickens, said, “One got out and I roped it.” By and large, though, the

chickens have been a great project. Kids in Ag classes and FFA have spent dozens of volunteer hours caring for the chickens. They currently have 25 chickens, but it is challenging to care for them during the winter months when the weather is harsh and most kids are involved in sports.

Therefore, the chickens are for sale for $20.00 a piece. In the spring, they plan to hatch a new flock of baby chicks.

One of Mr. Lunceford’s main hopes for future uses of the tract would be to work with SGCF’s board of directors to allow kids living in town to use the property for some 4H Fair animals, too. If approved by the board, the construction class will build several barns and animal shelters. They would also likely expand upon the fencing that they currently have surrounding the tract, as the initial project was such a good experience. “Deer kept getting into the garden, so we needed to put up a fence they couldn’t jump over,” explained Mr. Lunceford, “there were a couple of kids in mechanics class that had never done fencing or anything, so they got to learn how.”

The garden plots have been a time consuming, labor Photo by Caset Lunceford intensive project for FFA students. FFA is responsible for Billy Miller, Sam Curry, Sheldon Smith, and Hunter Glavin build a weed eating throughout the garden and mowing along the chicken coop on the acreage provided for FFA by the easements of the streets. One student Community Foundation. who has been particularly invested in the be a part of what they (FFA) want to do. Seeing the garden is junior, Hunter Glavin. “Hunttract be useful for such a good group and for the kids er has put in a ton of his own time, and makes everyone excited to have it available for them.” he would have put in more if I had more Last year, Mr. Lunceford applied for and received a time to spend out there with him,” said grant called “Food For a Thought”. The money from Mr. Lunceford with pride. “He’s really this grant covered the price of power for the well, which brought out the good in the opportunity.” made it possible for FFA to start and sustain a garden. ~ Opportunity ~ ~ Community Support ~ The effort that Hunter and othFFA has received a lot of community support in the deer students have put in has been entirevelopment of their garden. ly worth it. “We’re getting geared up Roe Construction brought a router to the plots and sifted to go a little bigger. There are a lot of all the rock, which contributed to the foundation of “Mt. ideas for it,” said Mr. Lunceford. A few Ragnar”, as the FFA kids have dubbed the mountain of rocks of these big ideas that have been brainthey have created in picking and piling rocks. There has been stormed include planting a small orsome talk recently about filling in the irrigation ditch bechard or tree farm or putting up hay. tween the high school and the football field to create a natuFor SGCF, this program exemplifies their ral drainage, and Mr. Lunceford says that he would be happy mission to invest in the kids and commuto donate the contents of Mt. Ragnar to aid in such efforts.

Photo by Erin Dringman nity. FFA and SGHS are fortunate to have The community garden program has also inquired SGHS students conquer the mighty Mt. Ragnar. the Community Foundation as a partner. about becoming advisors to FFA for their garden.

Raddest Grads

Fundraising & Donating Go Hand in Hand for the Class of 2016

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder Rad Grad’s largest fundraiser is the sale of trees during the holiday season.

This year, a dozen students, accompanied by their parents, a handful of soon-to-be-covered-inmud trucks, and a few well oiled chain saws, made the drive and hike through Lorents Grosfield’s property on a mission to fell 100 mighty trees.

It turned out that the seniors in attendance were a little overzealous with their sawing, and the class cut far over 200 trees. Not wanting any beautiful pines to go to waste, the

class came up with an idea.

Everyone deserves to experience the warmth and happiness of the holiday spirit, and what better way than with a beautifully lit Christmas tree? Unfortunately, some people are unable to afford Christmas trees.

For anyone who is homebound or unable to buy or cut a tree, the Class of 2016 would love to give you a little holiday present.

If you are interested in a free tree, please call Erin at (406) 930-0582.

Photo by Dava Stenberg Members of the Class of 2016 stand in front of their day’s haul of Christmas trees, which can be found for sale at the Thirsty Turtle. Backrow: Tucker Stenberg, Billy Miller, Sam Curry, and Luke Rech. Front Row: Leichelle Wood, Greta Sanders, Holly Emter, Kirsten Gano, Paul Swagner, John Fischer, Ashley Gunlikson, Erin Dringman, Caitlyn Corso.

Dringman Law Firm 104 McLeod Street (406) 932-0440

Proud Sponsor of The Sheepherder

Page 4

December 17, 2015

The One and Only: Rae Walker

The 2015 Basketball Season Begins

New Cheerleading Coach 2015

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

A new season of cheer brings many new things, but this season also happens to bring along a new coach. Rae Walker is the new assistant coach for the SGHS cheer squad, and is already doing an excellent job. Coach Walker was a cheerleader at

Photo Courtesy of Mesa King The SGHS Varsity Boys Basketball Team is practicing and preparing to torch the state.

The Boys are Back in Town

By Drew Pike, The Sheepherder

The Herder basketball team is back, with four returning starters and a total of six returning varsity players. The Herders finished last year 19-7, with two of their losses coming in the state tournament.

The boys are not only eyeing another state tournament berth, but looking to bring

home some hardware. Cody Hathaway’s season was ended before it even began, but he is still a huge part of this team’s success going forward. Cody underwent ACL surgery in the middle of football season.

This team has some skilled shooters and excellent athletes, but with last season’s success,

the Herders will definitely have a target on their back night in and night out. Your 2015-2016 Herders include: Sam Curry, Luke Rech, Drew Pike, Weston Lavoy, Cody Hathaway, Toby Wipf, Garrett Mulholland, Billy Stevens, Brent Finn, and Blake Finn.

Photo Courtesy of Caitlyn Corso The 2015 Winter Cheerleading Coaches, Jennifer Wood and Rae Walker.

SGHS in high school, and both of her daughters have been SGHS cheerleaders. So far, she has found that there is a lot for her to learn because things have changed quite a bit from her cheerleading days, however she is eager to learn them. She believes that cheerleading is a great way to be a part of a team, learn leadership skills along with people skills, and receive the benefit of physical activity. She also hopes that it will be a great way for her to participate in the community and carry on Connie Kunda´s legacy.” I’m excited to see the team out on the floor for the first time and work as a team¨ said Walker about the team. We are excited to see what she will bring to the cheer team this season, and can’t wait to watch the team progress under a new coach!

Photo Courtesy of Mesa King

The SGHS Girl’s Varsity Team work to maintain their winning record.

Girls Return for Greatness

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

The 2015 Winter Cheer Team.

Photo Courtesy of Mesa King

The Lady Herders are young and have two new coaches leading them to victory. Kim Finn and Jamie Duprey have joined the Herders this season, and clearly are already exceeding at their jobs.

The Herders are led by seniors TediJo Todd and Holly Emter.

Returning starts also include Mesa King and Emily Hughes.

The girls began the season with a strong start, beating local rival Columbus. They went on to have two consecutive victories in the Imery’s Tournament on December 11-12; beating out Shelby and Thompson

Falls for the W. the girls will battle the Three Forks Wolves at home on Thursday, December 17th. Come on out and cheer on your Herders.

205 McLeod Street (406) 932-6565 Proud Sponsor of The Sheepherder and SGHS

December 17, 2015

Page 5

SGHS Gets Jazzy

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

‘Tis the Season: Sweet 16

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

Photo courtesy Mesa King Jazz Band members Holly Emter, Kyle Rennie, Ethan Peterson, Kirsten Gano, Avery Conner, John Fischer and Paul Wagner pose for a photo.

SGHS Jazz Band is in full swing this year with a fantastic group of musicians. The band members include Paul Wagner, Kirsten Gano, Kyle Rennie, Holly Emter, John Fischer, Avery Conner, Ethan Peterson, Dylan Laverell, Cliff Weller, Cason McDonnell, Madilyn Emter, Kenny Conner, Sidney Prather, Quanah Henry, and John Baxter.

The band practices at least once a week under the direction of Em-

ily Prouty to prepare for many different gigs and performances.

The band does random gigs depending on who calls them requesting a performance, which helps them get their name out within and outside of the community.

They recently performed at open houses for American and Citizens Bank, and are currently preparing for the Christmas Concert and a performance for The Eagles. Jazz Band is a great way

for students to experience performing different styles of music such as Swing, Latin, and Rock, rather than the typical school band music. It is also a smaller group of players, and every person has their own part, and they even get to travel for various gigs. If you’re interested in a great time rocking out, contact Ms. Prouty for more information!

Photo courtesy of Mesa King

It’s the holidays again, and Sweet 16 has already had a busy schedule, with more to come.

Between caroling at the banks and singing for the Masons, the fifteen girls and guys who make up SGHS’s fabulous singing group are keeping the town filled with jolly holiday songs.

If you’re interested in watching Sweet 16 perform, they will be filling the Lutheran Church with sweet melodies for Big Timber’s annual benefit concert at 4 p.m on December 20th.

After the holiday season, Sweet 16 will be taking orders for Singing Valentines. Serenade your significant other (well technically Sweet 16 will be serenading them) with anything from a modern pop song to a classic hit.

Catch the group in action at 7 pm every Monday in the high school band room!

All Stars Among Us

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder On November 13-15, four SGHS students traveled to Missoula as members in the All-Star Ensemble to hone their crafts as budding musicians.

In order to be selected as a member of the All-Star Ensemble, students are nominated by their band conductor. Four students from SGHS were selected, including: Ethan Peterson, tubist; Mariah Wood, clarinetist; and Avery Conner and Kyle Rennie, trumpeteers.

Upon arriving in Missoula, the students were divided into two bands. From Friday until their concert on Sunday, they practiced in rehearsals and sectionals. On Saturday, November 14th, they marched and performed as honored guests along with the Griz Marching Band on the field prior to the day’s big football game. “It was an exciting experience for them!” said Emily Prouty, SGHS’s band teacher.

Exciting is an understatement, according to the wild stories the students brought back with them.

Avery Conner said, “Before the game, Dr. Smart, the organiz-

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er of the ensemble, warned us that there would be some fireworks (which was an improvement from two years ago when we played without any forewarning of the cannon and everybody had a heart attack). It was a bit more fireworks than we expected. It was gorgeous, but then, this big bomber flew right over the stadium because it was the Veteran’s appreciation day, and they didn’t warn us!”

The SGHS kids attending the All-Star band ensemble consider it a compliment to say that they have an appreciation for the nerdier elements of life. Avery laughed as she regaled her peers with a story, “We played a song called ‘Hypnotic Fireflies’ and in it one of the sound effects that the percussionists used was an amplified slinky. That is the same noise that they used to make laser sound effects for the first Star Wars. Unfortunately, the slinky fell off during the actual performance, so it wasn’t too successful.”

In addition to fearing fireworks and gawking at Star Wars sound effects, the students were able to shine as performers. Senior Ethan Peterson was honored as a soloist.

Photo courtesy of Emily Prouty

Page 6

December 17, 2015

SAVY Update

Speech & Drama Continued

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

By Erin Dringman, The Sheepherder

It’s that time of year again! Following our successful food drive in which 197.2 pounds of donations were colleted, SAVY placed boxes in advisories for our annual Stocking Stuffer drive. Everyone helped bring a smile to someone’s face by donating to this box! All donations went to filling stockings with joy for the PMC residents. On December 6th and 7th, several SAVY members attended the Montana Behavioral Initiative Youth Leadership Conference in Billings (see Lessons for Leaders for a full description of the event). If you are interested in serving your community with your peers, see Greta, Sam Curry, or Caitlyn Corso for more information!

The 2015 SAVY members.

Kirsten Gano brought home a 5th place medal in Serious Solo, while Lauryn Yuzeitis ended the day in 7th place in Humorous Solo. Megan Garrard placed 7th in Pantomime, and Erin Dringman, 1st in Impromptu Speaking.

The weekend of November 13-14 found the SGHS team travelling to Corvallis for a two-day tournament.

On Friday evening, the team arrived at their hotel room and hurried to get into costume and character. That night, they had three preliminary rounds. Saturday morning, they arose bright and early and had two more prelim rounds.

At a meet with five prelims, each competitor is able to drop their worst score before their cumulative is tallied. After prelims, all of the SGHS competitors advanced to semifinals, a round with three judges. Semi and prelim scores are added to determine who continues on to finals. Ten SGHS members advanced to finals.

At the end of the long two-day meet, students had the following placings in their respective events: Kirsten Gano placed first, Emily Wagner and Kierra Plaggeymeyer 4th in Classical Duo, Tyler Butler 7th, Wyatt MacKubbin 6th and Lauryn Yuzeitis 7th, Megan Garrad 6th, Kacin Bolinger-Perret and Honey Cranston 6th and Erin Dringman 4th.

November 21st was the day of Winter Formal, so only a few competitors who hadn’t been able to attend the Corvallis tournament or who wanted a little extra practice traveled to compete in Townsend. Avery Conner and

Photo Courtesy of Mesa King

MBI Continued

Ethan Peterson placed first, Tyler Butler also received first, and Wyatt MacKubbin placed 6th.

On December 5, the SGHS team hit the road to compete in Gardiner. At awards that night, Avery and Ethan received their third first place medal of the season. Kirsten and Erin both received their second first place medals of the season. Lauryn brought home a second place medal. Kacin and Honey placed second, Emily and Kierra were fourth, Tyler placed sixth, John Baxter seventh and Megan seventh.

The SGHS team will be competing in Three Forks on January 9. While many assume Speech and Drama is not a spectator sport, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Across the world, people pay to go to the theatre to see Jane Eyre, or watch pantomimes performing in circuses, or tune in to watch debates on their T.V.s. Little do they know that they can do the same thing close to home, and for free.

Head Coach, Kari Blaylock said “Speech and Drama is an activity that teaches skills beyond that of speaking and performing. It is an activity that builds character, instills humility and rewards hard work.

I am so very proud of my team and what each and every one of them accomplishes.”

Hundreds of fans show up in their blue and white for every football and basketball game. The S&D team invites you to do the same and enjoy the talents of this group of kids and the effort put forth by our coaches.

Winter Formal Wonderland

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder

conveniently connected to the hotel. The conference begins with an ice breaker, in which conference members play “people bingo”. After this game, it’s time for the keynote speakers, our very own Caitlyn Corso and Ryan Morgan. Caitlyn and Ryan gave speeches that go along with the theme of the conference, talking about their own personal heroes. Both gave excellent speeches, with Caitlyn talking about her dad, Logan, and Ryan talking about his sister Makenzi. The afternoon was filled with workshops in Photo Courtesy of Gabby Perkins which participants listened to Caitlyn Corso and Ryan Morgan, keynote speakers. various speakers talk on topics such as stress management, the Special Olympics, and who the speakers’ personal hero was.

Monday’s service projects were many and varied.

The food bank, Goodwill, Moss Mansion, Salvation Army, and St. John’s all benefitted from student service. Caitlyn Corso and I went to Moss Mansion, where we dusted and swept the beautiful house that holds so much history. Unfortunately, we were only able to be on our service project sites for about an hour and a half before it was time to return to the conference.

As a closing activity at the conference, students were asked to come up with an action plan to take back to school. SAVY came up with several service project ideas including writing letters to veterans and creating a school food pantry.

The conference as a whole was educational and interesting. Between a variety of speakers and service projects, all Sweet Grass students left with an appreciation for community service and heroes that help serve our community and big and small ways every single day.

Photo Courtesy Mary Hathaway Winter Formal Royalty candidates pose for a photo.

November 21st marked the annual Winter Formal put on by the SGHS Student Council. Dazzling Christmas trees circled the cafeteria, and cheery lights shone bright around the room. Dozens of students flooded the school to dance the night away, wearing a beautiful array of dresses, their dates complementing the dresses with matching ties. Music bumped through the room, a wide mix that included, but was not limited to, eighties hits and Christmas carols. People milled from the chairs that lined the walls out into the middle of the dance floor that was sparkling with the light of a silver disco ball. Students danced, laughed, and talked as the parent chaperones looked on. Towards the middle of the dance, the Formal Royalty lined up in the front of the room to hear would fill the role of King and Queen by the vote of Formal attendees. John Fischer and Greta Sanders were crowned by the Erin Dringman, Student Council President.

Between posing for pictures, the King and Queen shared an interpretive dance to Adele’s “Hello”. A fun-filled night of frolicking and snack munching (food was provided as fuel for hours of dancing) ensued, and the bleary-eyed participants were all worn out by the time twelve thirty rolled around. Student Council members stayed after the dance to clean up, and stumbled home after a full night of liveliness. Thanks to all who made the night a success, and here is to another successful Winter Formal!

December 17, 2015

Page 7

Adventurous Things! Winter Edition The sun is gone but the fun isn’t!

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder Ah, winter: ‘tis the season to stay inside and wait it out for Spring. Just kidding! Despite the often times icky weather, there are tons of adventurous things to do in Big Sky Country if you’re willing to brave the cold. Don’t forget to stock up on hats, gloves, and hot chocolate before you get out there and adventure!

• Build a massive snow fort: That’s right, a snow fort. Get out there like you’re twelve years old again and build a snow fort straight out of your dreams. It doesn’t cost a thing, and you can design it any way you like. Make it six feet high or six feet long, it’s all yours.

• Invent a new hot chocolate recipe: Start out with a basic hot chocolate recipe on this website: www.epicurious.com.

Once you’ve made your base, go wild! Add caramel, sea salt, whip cream, chocolate chips, cookie crumbles, flavoring, whatever floats your boat. Maybe you’ll get famous for your delicious recipe and make tons of money and get to move to Hawaii where you don’t need hot chocolate.

• Pick out and decorate your Christmas tree: Whether your family goes hunting in the woods for the perfect tree or picks one up from Rad Grad, help pick it out! Make sure you get a tree with the perfect smell and amount of branches before you set to work covering the tree with glass balls and ornaments you made in Kinder-

garten. All your hard work will pay off when you step back and look at your glorious creation.

• Take a fitness class: At times, (especially if you aren’t involved in a sport) it’s pretty easy to get lethargic in the winter months. Behold, a solution! Check out our local gyms/fitness studios and take a class that sounds fun. Yoga, Zumba, spin, the options are endless. In addition to getting some exercise, you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Get your sweat on and enjoy it!

• Go out and explore the winter wonderland we live in: Montana can be absolutely stunning (and not just stunningly cold) in the winter. Icicles, glistening snow, and a crisp blue sky add up to a picture-perfect wonderland.

Bundle up and get out! Explore the huge snow banks, the frozen creeks, and the Photo Courtesy Google Images crystal-clear icicles that like to form on The Montana landscape is perfectly complaimented by the winter season, your porch. Winter is a wonderful time to making for pituresque views. get out and explore much of what Montana has to offer!

Christmas Memories Continued

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

Photo Courtesy of Google Images.

By Greta Sanders, The Sheepherder There is an unnatural hush that surrounds suicide. It is a silence so loud it begs to be heard. Every day, every hour, every minute, everywhere, people are taking their own lives; yet it is still a problem that we don’t like to talk about. Suicide carries a stigma that is enough to make many people stay silent on the issue, when the last thing we need is silence. Our tendency as a society to keep things hidden and present a perfect face to the world often prevents people from seeking the help they need, lest they be judged for needing help.

We need people who are willing to break the silence, and Spencer Roth is doing just that.

Spencer’s journey to end the silence surrounding suicide started with an English project. Spencer was intrigued by the fact that Montana is “one of the top five states for suicide”, and this curiosity propelled him to make suicide the topic for his Twenty Time project in Mrs. Lannen’s Lang and Lit class.

The Twenty Time project is based off the idea advertised by Google and 3M that if people

spend 20% of their structured work time being creative, they will be more productive.

Spencer’s research into the topic led him to find Carl Rossum, a suicide help coordinator, and Spencer wants to bring Mr. Rossum to SGHS to share his message of hope.

Spencer is currently working with Student Council to hold a suicide prevention presentation around the holidays. “The holidays are the worst time for suicide” Spencer shared. After the holidays, Spencer hopes to bring Rossum to SGHS to talk about suicide. “He’s constantly on the road, and he can only talk every Monday and Tuesday because he’s so busy” Spencer told me. Because of this, it will be difficult to find a time to bring the speaker into the school, but Spencer is both passionate and confident in his plan to help break the silence of suicide.

When asked why he was so passionate about the topic of suicide, Spencer had a thoughtful response. “I constantly hear people on the news saying this kid killed himself or that kid killed himself. My sister knows people

who killed themselves in Colorado after we moved from there [to Big Timber]. It’s [suicide] a terrible thing, and the things leading up to it. It’s a prolonged mental breakdown. It comes to the point where they want to end it, so they kill themselves.” Spencer’s wide view of the world enables him to see those in need.

The silence is loud, but there are those who are speaking louder; suicide is something that has to be talked about. Without people like Spencer, the silence around suicide would remain intact, and people would continue to die every single minute of every single day because they couldn’t find a reason to stay. The Sheepherder salutes those who are fighting against the silence, and to those who are struggling with depression, please call the national suicide hotline at 1-800273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline. org for words of hope and encouragement.

Cole Lunceford “My best christmas memory was in 2007, my cousin John Michael was Santa Claus that year, and he is really good at making it realistic, and as we were going to the kitchen he stuffed legs up the chimney and then as we looked away we saw him walking out in the yard “

Petal Pushers 216 McLeod Street (406)-932-4857 Proud Sponsor of The Sheepherder

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December 17, 2015

Big Timber FFA FFA Nationals 2015

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

Photo Courtesy of Caitlyn Corso

The 2015 SGHS FFA.

The 2015 National FFA Convention was held in Louisville, KY on October 28th-30th and the Big Timber FFA took their Floriculture team, and an individual Creed Speaker, along with the chapter´s top Greenhand member this year.

The Floriculture team included Caitlyn Corso, Kelli Mack, Riley Horigan, and Makalee Klein, Madilyn Emter competed as the Creed Speaker, and Cole Lunceford was the top Greenhand member.

The Floriculture team competed on the first and second day of the convention. This contest consists of creating individual and team floral

arrangements, dealing with a customer complaint, a job interview, and other events that help prepare members to deal with business situations in the real world. The team received a bronze medal overall, Makalee Klein, Kelli Mack, and Riley Horigan received bronze medals individually, and Caitlyn Corso received a silver medal individually.

Madilyn Emter received bronze in Creed speaking, which is reciting the FFA Creed and answering various questions about the Creed for judges. Although Cole Lunceford did not compete in anything at the convention, it was still a great way for him to experience what he could be working towards for the fu-

ture, and learn more about agricultural education through workshops that were held throughout the convention.

At the convention, 64,000 members and guests were present and members competed in 24 career development events that prepare students for the real world, and give them an insight into their future career path. ¨It is the premier youth leadership organization in the country ¨ said advisor Casey Lunceford about why students should become involved in our FFA Chapter.

There is an event to suit all interests, so don´t think that FFA isn’t for you.

John Deere Ag Expo 2015

Photo Courtesy of Erin Dringman

By Caitlyn Corso, The Sheepherder

The fourth annual John Deere Ag Expo was held at Montana State University on November 12th-14th and a record number of over 1,500 members participated this year. The Big Timber FFA Chapter took 31 members who competed in a multitude of contests including Agronomy, Mechanics, Meat Judging, Horse Judging, Ag Communications, Livestock Judging, Ag Sales, and Ag Marketing. Big Timber did very well in all of the contests and came home with excellent results.

The Agronomy team of Carter Brownlee, Caitlyn Corso, Brigit Flanagan, Kelli Mack, and Martje Plaggemeyer received first place as a team, Kelli Mack received fifth place individually, Martje Plaggemeyer received third place, and Caitlyn Corso received first.

This Mechanics team this year consisted of thirteen members including Tucker Stenberg, Sam Curry, Billy Miller, Trever Klein, Brandon Schwers, John Rennie, Nickolas Pravecek, Jodee Fleming, Hunter Glavin, Clayton Gano, Cole Lunceford, Sheldon Smith, Bridger Perret, and Jared

Mccoy. This team also did well, earning ninth place overall as a team. Sam Curry received eleventh place individually, and Tucker Stenberg received first.

The Meat Evaluation team of Billy Miller, Jodee Fleming, Jared Mccoy, and Hunter glavin received ninth place as a team. The Horse Judging team consisted of only three members, Bailey Veteto, Mckenzie Freeman, and Jodee Flemming. Although they had a team of three, they impressively received twelfth place overall. The Ag Communications team of Kelli Mack, Caitlyn Corso, and Brigit Flanagan received sixth place as a team.

The Livestock Judging team of Cole Mckenney, Mesa King, Kate Indreland, Photo Courtesy of Erin Dringman Bailey Veteto, Jodee Fleming, Dylan Laverell, and Reilly Lannen received Tucker Stenberg, Caitlyn Corso, and Cole Mckenney earned individual plaques at Ag fourth place as a team, and Cole Mck- Expo. enney received second place individua team, and Carter Brownlee earned ninth received sixth place as a team. All of the ally. teams did an outstanding job at John Deere The Ag Sales team included Holly Em- place individually.

Lastly, the Marketing team of Charli Ag Expo this year, congratulations to evter, Madilyn Emter, Carter Brownlee, and Cole Lunceford. They received seventh as Moore, Cole Lunceford, and Bailey Veteto eryone who competed!

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