Panther Paw - Alberton Public School

Panther Paw
V O LUME 16 I SSUE 4
N OVE MBE R 20 , 2012
Fun on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is upon us and some of our elementary classes made fun little crafts and trinkets
for Thanksgiving! We all have a lot to be thankful for. It is nice to have such spirited children in our
school to brighten the hallways and rooms
with their creations!
The kindergarten class decorated
feathers in a bright fashion to make the
body of a turkey. In the first grade, children
wrote down what they are thankful for on
paper shaped like a feather and put it on the
body of a turkey. That is a lot to be
thankful for! The fourth grade created owls by sticking leaves to a paper plate and they turned out
fantastic! The fifth grade disguised turkeys out of different materials so they will not get eaten. Even
the after school program is getting into the spirit. They glued fabrics onto paper to make scarecrows
for the holidays. I’d like to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and congratulate the elementary
classes on all of their wonderful creations! My personal favorite was the crafts the fifth graders made!
By: David Stafford
Little Panther Hoops
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships” - Michael JordanTeamwork is exactly what Coach John Giffin, and Coach Cody Larson, is teaching our Junior High and Elementary Boys’
Basketball players. They started their training for this season on the 22nd of October. They have been working on shooting skills as well as plays, and working hard to perfect their dribbling
The boys have played two games so far and the elementary lost by one with each. The Junior High played well
but also fell short of their first victory. The two teams share
some players, one of which is Michael Spence. According to
Michael, a sixth grader playing on both the Elementary and
Junior High teams, playing in the JH games is different because the kids are taller, their skills are more advanced, and
the game is faster paced.
“We’ve been in every game so far, we only lost by one point;
we should have won.” says Coach Larson. Cody Larson is not
only the Elementary Boys’ coach, but will be the JV Boys’
and Girls’ coach in their upcoming seasons as well.
“Coaching boys and coaching girls takes two different approaches and styles, but I think it makes me a better coach.”
By: Hailie Bahm
High School Hoops
It’s that time of year again! Time to wipe those cob webs off basketballs and start practicing your
dunking and dribbling! Practice for high school basketball starts on the 19th of November. All the athletes are
eager to start playing some basketball! Last year the Lady Panthers tried their best during districts, but they
came up short and lost out. Although the boys had a little more luck when it came to districts, they got fourth
place.
I feel that this is going to be a great year for the Alberton Panthers basketball season. This year the Lady Panthers have some new players including Becka Braae, a junior, who hasn’t played basketball since fifth grade.
She has only been involved with volleyball since then, and the whole team is excited to have her apart of the
team. Also joining the team is Taylor Erdman. She is a sophomore and she came to Alberton High School this
year. She Played volleyball and joined the basketball team. I am excited to see what she can bring to the table
for the Lady Panthers.
(Continued on page 3)
High School Hoops Continued...
For the Boys Team they are gaining Cain Jopek, a junior, has never played basketball before
but he wants to stay active this year and being in basketball is a great way to achieve that. Josh Webb, a senior,
wasn’t able to play last year because he tore his ACL, but this year he is ready to make up for the year he lost.
I, Samantha Bennett, am a junior and have been the manager for the Lady Panthers for two years, and this will
make my third year managing the girls. Also managing this year are Shawnda Rohrbach and Mikaila Piippo.
The high school basketball first conference game is December 15th, and it is against Philipsburg. I am hoping
all the fans come and cheer on the mighty Panthers because it’s a home game starting at 1 pm. If you’re willing to travel to Superior, the Panthers have a game there. The boys will be at Superior on the 11th of December
and girls play at home against Superior on the 13th. Although it is not a conference game, the teams would
love to see some Panther Pride sitting in the bleachers.
By: Samantha Bennett
Introducing Coach Moe
Chris Clevenger stepped down after a decade of coaching the boys’ basketball team, and he decided to
take on the job of principal at Alberton High School. Taking Mr. Clevenger’s spot as head coach is Dan Moe.
Coach Moe is no slouch when it comes to coaching basketball. He has coached for 27 years. He coached at
Plentywood High School for 18 years, head coach for 14 of those years, and for 13 years he coached at
Frenchtown High School. He has also been a substitute gym teacher at Frenchtown for many years. Plentywood is a Class B school and Frenchtown is a Class A school, although he grew up in Denton, a class C
school. Since Alberton is also a Class C school, I feel like he will feel right at home with us Albertonians because he knows the lifestyle of living in a small town.
By: Samantha Bennett
He played basketball all throughout junior high and
high school. He claims that he was not good enough for college basketball, but he did play a little bit of football in college. After Moe’s 27 years of coaching, he stopped coaching
basketball for about three years. This last summer he started
thinking about getting back in the basketball business! He had
heard about the head coaching job for the Alberton High
School boys’ basketball team and applied immediately. Many
people had applied for this job, but Mr. Clevenger spoke to
Coach Moe personally and thought he was right for the job.
This last summer, Coach Moe supervised open gyms
so he could get to know the team better. The basketball teams
begin practicing on the 19th of November. Coach Moe is extremely excited to get things going. I personally believe that
he will be a great addition to the Alberton staff. I, along with
everyone else, am happy to have him around. I have heard
nothing but positive things about Moe and cannot wait to get
to know him better throughout the season
Seniors and their Community
What are Senior Projects? For the first time ever, the senior class has to come up with individual projects to
help with their community. Senior Projects are a fun learning stretch for seniors. This year we have six seniors
working hard to do their part in helping the community.
Tasha Ball is hosting a 5K run for Breast
Cancer Awareness. She believes that Senior Projects are a good learning opportunity, and they
allow one to work hard. I asked her how her project relates to the community. She said, “It will
bring the community together for a good cause.”
2012-2013 Alberton
Senior Class
Megan Drury is painting a mural. She says, “It is a challenge, but I’m looking forward to the results. It should be rewarding.” She is thinking of painting a huge panther paw or just a panther. She will start after Christmas and work on it for a couple of months. When she is
finished, Megan will hang it up somewhere in the school.
Todd Myrstol is restoring a truck. It is a 1959 F-100 family heirloom.
Emma Wooldridge, along with making one, is learning how to quilt. “Quilting is in my family and is a
useful skill”, she says.
Josh Webb is fixing up the baseball field near the Community Center. Mr. Clevenger suggested the
idea to him, and he thought it sounded like fun.
Shawnda Rohrbach is working on a recycling program. Her plan is to bring a recycling program to Alberton and help start a recycling bin for the Alberton community.
I believe the Senior Projects are a wonderful and fun way for young adults to get involved and help
give back to their community.
By: Kayla Choate
Obama vs. Romney
As you may now know, Obama has not lost his title as President
of the United States. He was re-elected this year and will be able to serve
out his last term in the oval office. Barack Obama ended up with 332
electoral votes to Mitt Romney’s 206 votes. While Romney took control
of the House votes, Obama had more control over the Senate’s votes.
Our president has a long term economic plan that is made to invest in education, infrastructure, clean energy,
small businesses, and to cut taxes for any companies that bring jobs to the United States.
Hopefully President Obama’s plan will put America on the right track, but for those of you who didn’t
have election go your way, just look on the bright side; at least you won’t have to listen to those annoying
commercials because of a sense calling your house every 2 minutes.
By: Keir Sanzano
Kindergarten Take Over!!!
With so many new faces in Alberton’s Kindergarten class, everyone is wondering where all these little
kids are coming from! The Kindergarten currently has 18 youngsters. The youngest class in Alberton is now
the largest! Originally having only 9 students, who showed up at Kindergarten Round-Up last school year, the
Kindergarten has definitely grown!
I asked Mrs. Anne Styles how all these new faces came to
be Alberton students. “Luck!”, she started, “I mean only 9 students
showed up at the Kindergarten Round-Up last school year.” Mrs.
Styles went on, saying how 6 or 7 students must have moved in
over the summer. “I’m not sure if they’ll all stay, but it is an improvement!”
After interviewing all 18 of the Kindergarten students, not
one of them complained about having the largest class. They all
were more than thrilled to have such a big class with a variety of
friends. With smiling faces and kind compliments, it’s obvious that all these youngsters are enjoying their first
year of school with every single one of their classmates.
During the Kindergarten’s snack time, I got the chance to talk to Mrs. Kristie Ray, the Kindergarten
teacher. I asked her how she likes working as a Kindergarten teacher, since it is her first year. “They ‘re a great
class! They’re also a very active bunch,” she said as three youngsters ran pass us, laughing, she continued,
“You never get bored in here, but then again I don’t care to be bored.”
With such a happy bunch of youngsters, how can one not feel that fresh joy on school life and making
new friends? A bright future is in store for the students in our largest class and everyone in Alberton School’s
are more than eager to help assist in any way. We all wish the Kindergarten students and Mrs. Ray the best of
luck in the rest of this school year!
By Elizabeth Pluth
The Ups and Downs of the Playground
Out on the playground there is a new teeter-totter for the elementary kids to use. It was completely finished and ready for use during the first weekend of October. It seems the kids are already y enjoying the new
piece of equipment. Everyday before school starts and before
every recess, the kids line up for their time to teeter-totter. All
of them have big smiles on their faces too! Even some of the
high school students are enjoying it!
The funds to build came from a grant. This grant was
donated to the school by Jackie Callison and Ora Mae Rennie.
They applied for the grant from North Western Energy a number of years back. Upon receiving the grant, North Western Energy gave the condition that the grant must be used for the community. The grant was originally for the Albeton Railroad Days
fund, which Jackie was in charge of at the time. This grant also
gave us new tables and bench on the playground. The total cost
for the item was close to twenty-three hundred dollars. Hopefully the teeter-totter gets plenty of use for years to come!
By: David Stafford
Awesome Alberton Poetry
There are a lot of ways to express one’s self, and poetry is often a great way to do so. With Mrs.
Clevenger teaching it, the 8th graders couldn’t go wrong.
The 8th graders wrote poetry about Halloween, written in acrostic
form. Acrostic form includes writing the subject of your poetry
vertically on the page and writing sentences off each letter.
Mrs. Clevenger had the 8th graders write poetry because
she thinks, “When kids are able to take ownership and pride in the
school, they tend to like it and respect it more”.
She enjoys teaching poetry because she thinks kids can express
themselves, and there is more freedom with poetry than in other
writing forms.
Most of the 8th graders were happy how their work turned
out and they enjoyed writing the poetry, however, a few expressed having difficulty writing it. Morgan Piippo and
Mackenzie Spence loved writing poetry. Becca Pluth usually
likes writing poetry, but she was upset with her finished piece.
Becca’s twin brother, Griffin, does not like writing poetry, but
ironically he liked his final product. The poems were fantastic and
are hanging on a wall by the high school computer lab where everyone can read and enjoy them.
By: Becka Braae
Contribution to the School
With everything new going on this year at Alberton Schools, such as the
classroom changes and new teachers, our school needed a few people to help with
the special needs kids. Working with special needs kids takes a lot of patience and
hard work. Mr. Larson, Mr.Taylen, and Mrs. Clevenger gladly accepted the challenge.
Mr. Larson works with the younger students with special needs and thinks
that this is a very good opportunity for him, and he says, “It has been a good but
challenging job.” Mr. Larson started working February 2012 and is very happy.
Mr. Taylen teaches, assists, and establishes programs to further the education of students with special needs. He started working on September 24, 2012. “I
enjoy teaching and using my Bachelor’s Degree, which is in education,” Mr.
Taylen told Paw Prints.
Mrs. Clevenger started working with kids on the first day of school this
year. She says she is happy working with special needs kids. “It’s difficult. Everyone is on a different curriculum because there are multiple classes that I work
with,” she told us.“After the kids have taken a test and they get a good grade they
are very happy”.
Mr. Larson, Mr. Taylen, and Mrs. Clevenger work very hard and are doing
a great job for our students. The school needs people willing to help and these
three are greatly appreciated by the staff, parents, and our students.
By: Becka Braae
Mr. Taylen
Mr. Larson
Mr. Taylen
Mrs. Clevenger
Increased Enrollment???
Alberton School has welcomed several new additions to the student population for the 2012-2013
school year. As of February, 2012, there were a total of 147 students enrolled, kindergarten through twelfth
grade. Currently there are 156, a nine student increase.
The school district greatly benefits from these increases. With every new student who enrolls, more
funding is made available for school improvements. This gives Alberton the opportunity to expand existing
programs, and make the education experience more enjoyable for every student.
Current students also welcome new enrollments. Every new student means more chances to make new
friends. Montanna Baughman (Pictured) is a new seventh grader this year. When asked how she felt about Alberton School, she said, “I love it! I’ve been to eight schools before this, and Alberton is my favorite.”
The Elementary School has shown the largest increase in total student enrollment. Numbers have gone up from seventy-two last year, to
eighty-two students this year. Most of this increase is due to the incoming
kindergarten class. The former kindergarten class, currently the first grade,
had a total of eight students. Kindergarten teacher Kristi Ray was surprised
to learn that her class would total nineteen.
The kindergarten class more than replaces the number of students
who graduated last year, adding four students to total student enrollment.
Not as significant of a figure as elementary increases, but still a considerable amount, there are four more students in the Junior High.
Enrollment in Alberton High School has decreased from fifty one students to forty-six. The
graduating class of 2012 was quite a large class, with fifteen students. Ten eighth graders moved up to
fill their spots in the High School. Several students transferred to other schools, but others enrolled, resulting in five less high school students at Alberton this year. It is likely that even more students will enroll by the end of the year. Alberton School will welcome these students into our community as well.
By: Megan Drury
Library Consolidation
Starting last summer, a library consolidation committee began work
on a new Alberton library. The committee’s first meeting was on June 27th,
of last summer.
Main issues identified at the initial meeting included financial
setup, public access, staffing, facility design and development, shared programming, and the partner’s inter-loan program. Committee members will
discuss in depth each of these issues during the following meetings.
Each member of the committee is hard at work on a number of
tasks. One main task is the library layout. The combined Community Center and Alberton School Library will be setup in the current high school math room and former art room.
Room modifications are being made in order to accommodate the new room layout, including taking out walls
and replacing them according to the blueprints. Blueprints are drawn out and discussed. The floor plans are
being developed in consultation with school administration, teaching, and maintenance staffs.
(Continued on page 8)
Library Consolidation Continued...
Several libraries are being visited, assisting with designs for the floor plan. St. Regis, Drummond,
Frenchtown, St. Ignatius, and Lolo are all possible locations from which to gather ideas. These locations are all
consolidated school/public libraries that the Alberton library is modeled after. All of these libraries reported
that they are satisfied with their initial decisions to combine their school and public
libraries in their town.
Another main issue addressed is finances for the library. The remodeling cost of
the library will be considerable, so there is
discussion of how these costs will be covered.
The school is currently applying for grants.
There are a few difficulties that need
to be worked around before the library plans
can be put into action, but hard work and careful planning by the committee members will
eventually produce a consolidated library that
Alberton students, as well as the entire community, will enjoy.
When asked how she felt about plans for the new library, a senior at Alberton High School, Emma
Wooldridge, stated, “I think it’s a good idea; more collections of books will be available in one place, making
things easier.”
Even though the new Alberton Library will not be operational for quite some time, it will be worth all
of the hard work that all of the committee members have already put toward the project.
By: Megan Drury
BPA Community Calendar
If you would like to have your birthday, your child's birthday, or your anniversary in this year’s BPA community calendar please submit this form to the
school or Mr. Haab at ‘kenthaab@hotmail.com’
If you would like any birthdays or anniversaries removed from the calendar,
please notify Mr. Haab at Alberton School.
First name: _________________
Last name: _________________
Birthday/ Anniversary date: ________________
Alberton Craft Fair
Saturday November 24th, 2012
Alberton School Lunchroom
10a.m.-4p.m.
Homemade Soup, Sandwiches, Drinks
and Desserts served ALL day!
ADMISSION IS FREE!!

Local Crafts Include:
 Knitted and Crocheted Seasonal
Items
 Ornaments
 Stockings and Stocking Stuffers
 Homemade Soap
 Mary Kay Cosmetics
Children’s Clothing and Accessories
 Quilts
 Afghans
 Jewelry
Alberton Methodist Church Bazaar
Sat. December 8th
10a.m.-3p.m.
Homemade Soups and Rolls
Pies and Cookies
Homemade gift items
Alberton School News
By Superintendent Baldwin
Quarter I ended on the 25th of October and the following students qualified for the Honor
Roll: * Indicates 4.00 GPA
Seniors: Megan Drury*, Emma Wooldridge*, Natasha Ball, Shawnda Rohrbach, Todd
Myrstol and Joshua Webb.
Juniors: Delani Hanley*, Andrew Lommen*, Keir Sanzano*, David Stafford*, Ryan
Vicek*, Laurabeth Tomlinson, Rebecca Braae, Elizabeth Pluth, Haley Marvin, Kayla
Choate and Hailie Bahm.
Sophomores: Alec Managhan*, Mikaila Piippo*, Olivia Taylen*, Taylor Erdman, Zachary Kurien, Tyler Ishler, Tristan Rice, Jack Lehl and Priya Jopek.
Freshmen: Jaymen Sibert*, McKayla Tomlinson, Deveyn Dutt and Jonah Iverson.
8th Grade: Paige West*, Mackenzie Spence, Griffin Pluth, Tatyana Bucio, Morgan
Piippo, Nicholas Turnbull, Rebecca Pluth, Cord Benson, Cassandra Littlejohn and Miles
Vaillancourt.
7th Grade: Montana Baughman, Kolton Hensleigh, Sara Knapp, Creighton Callison and
Isaac Warren.
A breakdown by class shows the following:
Seniors
Juniors
Sophomores
Freshmen
Total High School
Total Number Straight A’s=
6/6=
11/15=
9/12=
4/9=
30/42=
11/44=
100%
73%
75%
44%
71%
25%