FFA Speaking Contest

Mrs. Knudson and the Belleville Future Farmers of America hosted the District Speaking Contest on Wednesday, January 31. Over 80 students from nine schools competed in seven different events.  Public speaking is a skill that can be put to use in a wide-range of jobs and career fields after high school. The more experience students have with it, the more comfortable they will become through events such as this one!

Video Announcements

For the last few months, Mr. Farrar's Independent Study students, including Isaac Brummel, have been setting up a studio to create a video version of our morning announcements. They have improved the production so much that we started livestreaming the videos this week to the students to begin each day. Below are the announcements from Wednesday, January 31. You can check out all of the video announcements on the Belleville High School YouTube Channel.

Middle School Forensics

Belleville hosted a middle school Forensics meet tonight, welcoming both New Glarus and Willowbrook (IL).  Twenty-three Belleville students students participated in the meet. Between the three schools, 75 students performed here tonight. Most students were able to receive feedback from three rounds of competition with different judges in each room. We had a great bunch of kids here!

DNA Key Chains in Biology

Mr. Bussey's 3A Biology class created DNA (key) chains today. This hands-on activity helped students learn the components and pattern of the chain. As many of the sophomores in the class are also earning their driving licenses this year, they can put the chain that they create to use with a set of keys! 

Carl "The Energizer" Olson

Carl "The Energizer" Olson spoke to middle school students on Tuesday morning with a "Good, Better, Best" message, as the second half of the school year begins. Carl is a motivational speaker who combines his message with magic. Students laughed, learned a math game, and sang "Sweet Caroline" together. It was a great way to cap Term 2!

For more on "The Energizer," check out his website at: http://www.energizerolson.com/

Middle School Spelling Bee

Belleville Middle School held its annual Spelling Bee on Tuesday, January 23, at 8:15am.  Twenty-six 7th and 8th grade students participated on stage.  All students took a preliminary online test on the Spelling City site, and these students qualified by earning the highest scores.

Madeleine Saeger is the 2018 Spelling Bee Champion after 9 rounds of competition.  Holly Flick is the runner-up this year, after a long run-off with Matthew Loshaw. Madeleine will go onto the next round in Stoughton on February 6 as the Belleville representative.

Thank you to Mrs. Killerlain, the middle school's Advanced Learning Coordinator, for organizing the event! Thanks too to Mrs. Schultz, Mr. Gentilli, and Mrs. Vogel for serving in the roles as moderator, judge, and reader, respectively.

Science Olympiad at UW-River Falls

The Belleville High School Science Olympiad Team faced strong competition at a meet a UW-River Falls this weekend. Coach Smith's team took 4th out of 31 teams in the Small School category (missing 3rd place by just 11 points!) and 13th out of 66 teams overall.

Medalists included:

1st Place in Anatomy and Physiology: Riley Medenwald and Trevor Thole

1st Place in Thermodynamics: Otto Anson and Jack Nolden 

3rd Place in Rocks and Minerals: Gianna Diaz and Gary Salmela

4th Place in Herpetology: Gianna Diaz and Trevor Thole

4th Place in Picture This: Gianna Diaz, Julia McNamar, and Noah Niesen 

4th Place in Protein Modeling: Roxana Grunenwald and Gary Salmela 

Way to go Wildcats!

Results should be updated at the link below.

https://www.uwrf.edu/PHYS/olympiad/TeamResults2017.cfm

Martin Luther King, Jr. Soup Supper

On Monday, January 15, the Belleville High School Student Council hosted its Soup Supper in the high school cafeteria. Students, led by advisor Mr. Ziehr, served on the ticket and soup lines. Community members and parents came out in strong support of this fundraising event, despite the snowy weather. Everyone left with a student- or staff-crafted ceramic bowl as part of the cost for their meal. Thank you to the Student Council, Miller and Sons, Taher, and Mr. Benash & the BHS Ceramics classes for continuing these efforts on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Sign Creation on CNC Router

Mr. Neumann's Technology Education classes have access to several new pieces equipment this year. Take a look this video showing the creation of a sign from start to finish. This is the type of project that led to the adoption of a new STEAM (Science Technology Engineering ART and Mathematics) course for next year!

Spirit Club Junior/Senior Lock-in

Beginning on Friday, January 12th after the home girls' basketball victory against Waterloo and ending at 5am the next morning, the Belleville High School Spirit Club hosted its 3rd annual lock-in for upperclassmen this weekend.

The night began with pizza and snacks in the cafeteria followed by a Barb Funseth-designed scavenger hunt through the hallways. Sixty juniors and seniors then spent the rest of the the night and early morning hours shooting hoops, riding scooters, and playing kickball in the gym, playing flashlight tag and hide-and-go seek in the middle school, library, and hallways, playing ping pong and human foosball, and watching a movie. 

It's a good thing that students do not have school on Monday so that they can rest up! 

High School Students-of-the-Month for December

On Friday, January 12, Belleville High School staff recognized their Students-of-the-Month for December. Students were treated to a Tano's pizza lunch and received a personal certificate from the nominating teacher, along with movie passes donated by Marcus Theaters. With all of these students, teachers noted that they showed a strong work ethic and a positive attitude. That's the Wildcat Way!

From left to right: Brianna Halverson, Jaxon Pier, Royce Clark, Tyler Fahey, Tim Jelle, Daniel Covarrubias, Jenna Blask, and Delia Fullbright

DECA Regional Competition

On Saturday, January 6, twenty students from the Belleville High School DECA chapter competed at the district DECA competition at Sun Prairie High School. The students competed in a variety of business events and met many local area business leaders. Six students medaled in their events, doubling the number of medals from last year. This included Jenna Banfield, Ella Campbell, Caden O'Rourke, Drew Shrader, Jacob Shrader, and Ogden York. Mr. Farrar would like to give special mention to Evan Reifert and Alex Grignano for their outstanding performance in their respective events. He is very proud of the all of the students' accomplishments at the competition.

Froggy!

Mr. and Mrs. Swenson's 7th grade Science classes were excited to begin dissecting frogs today (on Friday, January 5th). Their other experience came earlier in the year with worms. Along with being a talented teacher, Mrs. Swenson is also a fantastic photographer, as she captured the students' reactions below.

Middle School Students-of-the-Month

Belleville Middle School teachers recognized Students-of-the-Month for December at an assembly on Friday, January 5. Nominating teachers acknowledged students personally in front of the assembled 7th and 8th graders. Students received a certificate, Catty Shack bucks to the school store, and a blue or gold 3D-printed Wildcat by Mrs. Swenson, along with the chance to add their handprints to the walls of the commons. Teachers pointed out that this month's students showed academic improvement or consistent performance and a willingness to assist others in the classroom. Congratulations to these fantastic Wildcats!

From left to right: Alison Thompson, Kaydence Baxter, Haven Hatleberg, Madysen Herritz, Lauren Bartels, Morgan Bagley, Demarcus Conner, Joe Graves, Jake Fahey, Jordan Wilder, Carter Doyle, Jakob Shemanski, and Seth Dettwiler
Not Pictured: Herioli Fraire

Robotic Arms in Computer Integrated Manufacturing

Mr. Neumann's 3rd block Computer Integrated Manufacturing students began working with Lynx robotic arms today (Wednesday, January 3rd). The students utilize a software program called FlowArm from Project Lead the Way that acts like a video interface in which students "record" a movement of the arm and then the arm acts this out once the command is sent. Students were asked to move or stack a certain number of blocks to a specific location, with an obstacle added for the arm to work around. Similar types of basic robotic arm activities will be integrated into the 8th grade Project Lead the Way class next year.