Each month, the Battle Lake School celebrates staff and students that exhibit characteristics of the "Battler Proud" way. Students and staff have the opportunity to nominate anybody within the school they feel exhibit these characteristics.

The Character Focus for January was Responsible: Accountability. Please join us in congratulating the January recipients:

Elementary Teacher (5th Grade): Ms. Moxness

High School Teacher (Ag): Mr. Daniel Ukkelberg

Students: 2nd Grade - Aurora Stock; 3rd Grade - Bella Scholten; 4th Grade - Damien Gunnon; 5th Grade - Calista Fleischauer; 5th Grade - Korbin Wedeking; 7th Grade - Brayden Meyer; 7th Grade - Olivia Roberts; 11th Grade - Haylee Ferarri.

The Character Focus for February was Responsible: Follow School & Classroom Rules. Please join us in congratulating the February recipients:

Elementary Teachers (6th Grade): Sara Anderson (Student Centered & Committed to Excellence) & Stacy Lundquist Committed to Excellence)

High School Teacher (Business): Janell Kraemer (Committed to Excellence)

Paraprofessionals: Debbie Irmen & Theresa Lopez-Moen (Student Centered)

Library Aide: Kay Lukken (Student Centered)

Students: Kindergarten - Hazel Drusch; 1st Grade - Leyla Tailefer, Scarlet Anderson, Abbigail Kaye; 2nd Grade - Thaddaeus Armendarez; 3rd Grade - Benjamin Strand, Kaylee Kerzman, Leia Saurer; 5th Grade - Clayton Hartman, Drew Robinson; 6th Grade - Keegan Carter, Kelsey Christensen; 9th Grade - Emma Walker; 11th Grade - Madilyn Burkett; 12th Grade - Madison Ness, Dawson Bush, Blake Alonzo, Ryan George.

Twelve students competed March 10-12, 2022, at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency.

Students receiving state recognition include:

Blake Alonzo – Advanced Office Systems and Procedures – 1st

Blake Alonzo – Administrative Support Team – 2nd

Madison Cameron – Health Administration Procedures – 5th

Morgan Malone – Legal Office Procedures – 1st

Morgan Malone – Administrative Support Team – 2nd

Morgan Malone - Management/Marketing/HR Concepts - 3rd

Isaac Scherfenberg – Device Configuration/Troubleshooting – 4th

Isaac Scherfenberg - Parliamentary Procedure Concepts - 2nd

Kyleigh Shebeck - Extemporaneous Speech - 4th

Adysen Tysdal – Basic Office Systems and Procedures – 5th

Adysen Tysdal – Administrative Support Team – 2nd

Grace VanErp – Intermediate Word Processing – 4th

Grace VanErp – Administrative Support Team – 2nd

This May, these students will participate to compete with thousands of top students from across the United States at the Annual National Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas –

the pinnacle of BPA competition!

We sat down with Mrs. Orpen to talk about Band, take a look at what she shared!

Who should be in Band?

Anyone who likes music and is willing to work hard.

Are there any extra opportunities when you are in the Band?

5-8th graders all get solos to work on, and they can perform them at the spring concert if they are ready. The Jr. High Band combines with the Jr. High Bands from Henning and Underwood every year for the Jr. High Band Festival. A few of the hardest working students may be offered the chance to perform in an Honor Band. In grades 9-12 students can work on solos and ensembles and bring them to the Solo/Ensemble Contest. Students in 7-12 are also encouraged to participate in the Jazz Band.

Does the Band compete with other schools?

We don't compete, but bands do go to Large Group Contest where they play for 3 judges and receive critiques and scores. Then one of the judges spends time working with each band. The Band Contest was on March 9th and our band received Superior ratings from all three judges! Both Large Group and Solo/Ensemble Contest are a great chance to hear other Bands and some of their individual players at their best.

Choir

Now let's transition from band to choir. We caught up with Mr. Neisen, our vocal music teacher, to learn a little bit more about him and the Battle Lake School choirs.

Mr. Neisen graduated from Concordia College. He knew he wanted to be a choir director since he was a sophomore in high school. He didn’t realize that being a choir director also meant being a teacher until he had gotten into college. Mr. Neisen knows how to play the piano and clarinet. He also writes his own music. He writes for choirs and primarily sticks to arranging. He is the Battle Lake choir director. Mr. Neisen stated, “ Battle Lake has had a strong history of choirs.” Mr. Neisen has also had the pleasure of being able to meet the last three directors that were at Battle Lake before him.

Battle Lake offers three different choirs: Junior High choir, Concert Choir, and Chorale. JH and Concert Choirs are offered during the day. Chorale is a smaller group that usually consists of 14-16 singers, which they all have to audition. If you are in Chorale, you also have to be in
Concert Choir.

Mrs. Heggem switched up the learning environment for her students and moved them into the library for a day. Take a look!

Lily - Video

What is GSA?

GSA stands for Gay-Straight Alliance. We are a club that is a supportive and social environment for LGBTQ+ youth and allies, open to 9th-12th graders.

When was GSA originally founded?

1998 when the national GSA was founded.

When did it become a club at Battle Lake School?

Fall of 2019.

How can people join GSA?

We meet every other Friday during senior high lunch, in Mrs. Heggem’s room. There is no need to actively “join” our club, just show up when you can.

What do you do in GSA?

Since our club is still newer, this is an evolving aspect. Our purpose is to offer the chance for students to connect and socialize together, whether it be through games or discussions. We also discuss various issues we face or see in the school & community, such as discrimination and how we can make our school environment more welcoming. Lastly, we hope to connect with other area GSA clubs.

March was National Foreign Language month. Did you know that this diverse national holiday existed? We didn't, so we wanted to learn more about foreign language, and who better to learn from than our foreign language teacher, Mrs. Scherfenberg!

What kinds of Classes do you teach?

Mostly teaching Chinese. Those class include: Chinese 1, Chinese 2, Chinese 3, and Elementary Chinese. Last semester I taught World Culture which focused on world language/culture and appreciating the difference cultures in our world. I am also a speech coach.

How many languages do you know?

Mostly Chinese and some Spanish. I was an exchange student in China and taught English to people in China.

Would you say it is easier to learn a new language with your peers around or by yourself with just one instructor?

Peers help when they want to learn.

Do you think it is easier to learn a language in a big class or a small one?

It depends on if you make a relationship with your classmates and be positive and encouraging for people.

How long have you been teaching at Battle Lake?

11 years

KEY QUOTE

“ When you learn with a group you are making mistakes with your group.“

New to Battle Lake School second semester of this year is Mr. DeMars. He is one of the Science teachers and we wanted to get to know him a little better. Take a look!

Did you teach prior to coming to Battle Lake? If so, where did you teach?

Yes, I taught in Phoenix, Arizona and then in Fergus Falls.

Were you always a teacher? If not, what did you do instead of teaching?

Yes, by profession, I have always been a teacher. In college I did a bunch of research and decided teaching would be better than hanging out in a science lab all day.

What is your favorite class to teach and why?

Biology because it is awesome and it's the word. I think biology is cool because there are so many different levels to it. It has a zoom in and out effect that you can see things from a microscopic level and then you can see things from a zoomed out level and how it affects the body system as a whole.

When did you realize you wanted to be a teacher?

Way too late, I was almost done with college when I decided to teach a college lab and it was really fun to geek out about science.

Where are you from originally?

From Tempe, Arizona until I was about 20 years old. I did some college in Arizona and the rest of my college career was dome in Duluth, MN.

Click on a link below to get the athletic schedule for that week.

April 10 - 16

April 17 - 23

April 24 - 30

April 11

School Board Meeting

6:30 - 8:00 pm

April 12

2022-2023 Preschool Sneak Peek

5:00 - 7:00 pm

April 14

1/2 Day for Staff and Students

Buses leave at 12:20 pm

April 15

No School for Staff or Students

April 18

No School for Staff or Students

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Website: www.battlelakeschool.k12.mn.us
Location: 402 Summit Street West, Battle Lake, MN, USA
Phone: 218-864-5215
Facebook: facebook.com/BLSchools
Twitter: @BLSchools