Photo courtesy Edgar Zuniga Jr. @ Flickr

Peggy Armson enjoys building relationships with the students she feeds on a daily basis.

Peggy has seen many students walk the floors of the high school. “This is my 15th year,” said Armson.

If someone is in the lunch room, chances are that Peggy is there. Peggy is in charge of the more unique food options at the high school. “I do the breakfast program and run the a la carte,” said Armson. Breakfast is offered each morning, and Armson sells products from the a la carte throughout the day.

Armson is not a stranger to teenagers–her own son graduated from Black River Falls in 1999. Outside of school, Armson splits her free time doing things outside, like gardening or going for walks, or inside, like baking or cooking. Her favorite television show is Survivor.

Her husband is a truck driver. Sometimes she feels a bit down with a frequently empty house, but she finds comfort in her pet dog Suki and her job.

“I love the kids. [The best part of my job is] the relationships I have with the kids. There are a lot of special ones,” said Armson. She sees a lot of these students during lunch, where she gets the chance to talk to them. “I’m a socialite,” she joked. “[The best part of my day] is the lunch lines. I get to visit with a lot of people.”

Armson tries to make each kid’s day a good one. “I smile, talk to them, and tell them to have a good day. ”

“She’s e

asy to talk to,” said senior LaCrystal Newell. “Being able to see the students is important to her.”

Armson often puts her words to practice. “If I see someone is in trouble I try to comfort them, make them feel better. If they need anything or want to talk, I’m here.” said Armson.

Students enjoy her positive personality, and she has regulars who visit her every day.

“I buy fruit snacks from her during lunch,” said Newell, who speaks to Armson daily. Armson will takes the time to talk with each student who comes through her line.

Armson also enjoys teasing, joking with or playing tricks on the kids she sees. If students are filming something in the senior hallway, she might sneak into the camera’s view. If a student does something particularly nice, Peggy tries to find a way to reward them. She likes to make students laugh.

She builds strong relationships with grades as a whole. “I’m going to miss the senior class when they finish. They are a great group of kids,” said Armson.

The feelings go both ways. “If I was down, talking to her would improve my mood.” said Newell. “She is a kind-hearted, very loving and caring person.”

Signed into law by Governor Doyle on May 5, the bill allows Wisconsin residents to object to racist mascots.  If the state superintendent believes that the mascot is, in fact, racially offensive, a hearing will be set up.  If the mascot is found to be in poor taste, the school will have one year to change the mascot and anything pertaining to it throughout their school.  If the school proves this change would bring “financial burden” to their district an extension of one or more years may be provided.

“I think this bill will help make the school a better place,” said junior Boye Ladd. “While I never personally felt attacked or disrespected, I think it will improve the attitudes of a lot of students.”

Former homecoming and pep club adviser Tina Gilbertson agrees.

“The changes this bill will make will really improve the atmosphere of the school,” said Gilbertson. “In the past we have always tried to take precautions to avoid stereotyping, even removing dress-up days to avoid upsetting community members.  With the removal of offensive mascots there will be a much more positive atmosphere at sporting events.”

“This is a great step forward for our community and state,” said Student Senate President Bronson Stein, “The Student Senate endorsed this bill two years ago, and is in full support of it.  This should make our school a better place.”

Photo by kandyjaxx, Flickr

For many high school students, summer means air conditioning, pool-side fun and family summer vacations. For a lot of summer activities, a teenager is going to need some spending money. Although a lot of students will ask their parents for money, many have to work to get the funds for the things they want to do, especially if they have a car. To get the money needed, they must have a summer job.

During the summer, certain jobs are available that aren’t open any other time of the year, such as the Hoffman Aquatic Park. The most popular job at the Hoffman Aquatic Park is the lifeguard position. Many students apply to be a lifeguard at the Hoffman Aquatic Center because they get to be out in the sun and be where a lot of their friends might be.

Another summer season job is working at the Dairyway in Brockway. The hot summer weather always brings in plenty of customers for their frozen deserts and other foods.

Junior Cassie Olson has been working at Dairyway for three summers now and loves her summer job.

“Dairyway is a lot of fun and I have good co-workers,” said Olson. “I get flexible hours and a quarter raise every year I come back. Plus, it works around my busy summer schedule.”

But not everyone wants to work for a company. Many students prefer to work less advertised jobs, like babysitting for the neighborhood kids.

Sophomore Ali Meek has been baby-sitting for years now and usually baby-sits for a new family every summer.

“It’s a good job,” said Meek. “The hours are usually flexible and it leaves weekends open. Also, it lets you go outside and play with the kids. It’s a lot of fun.”

Meek’s summer babysitting job only asks for three or four days in the week, giving her plenty of free time for her other summer activities.

Not only does she get to have fun in the sun with energy-filled kids, she also gets a decent amount of pay.

“My job pays pretty well. And, it’s un taxed. You get to keep every cent you earn. For me, that’s fifty dollars a day,” admits Meek.

So no matter what the money is needed for, whether it’s gasoline or a movie ticket, there are always opportunities for teenagers to make a little cash to fund their summer agendas.

Courtsey of Jason Cosper, Flickr

Change is coming to the BRFHS advising program 2010-2011 school year. Students will meet with their advisers during focus period every Monday.

“It’s been a work in progress since we started it [the advising program], and I think we’ve come a long ways,” said Spanish teacher Jennifer Rukavina. “And we’re still trying to tweak it to make it effective for everyone.”

The advising program is still in its beginning stages; there are still changes to be made every year, and one of the main goals behind this next year’s change is to make it more useful for students.

“There are some students who will want to touch base every week to make sure they are on track,” said Rukavina. “But we also want to work in more information and work a little more with the character piece beyond ‘have you done your homework this week?’ If so, ‘good job’ or if not, ‘work on that.’

The plan is to create different activities for the advising groups to participate in every week.

“Next year we are planning to create activities for the teachers to do with their advisees. There are so many awareness weeks in the year, and some of them are pretty fun–like, there’s National Joke Week,” said guidance counselor Sue Leadholm. “Students like advising when there are activities and things for them to do.”

Another issue throughout the years has been time; how much time is too much time, and how little is too little?

“The first year we had advising, we had it on late start Fridays, and that got to be too much time,” said Leadholm.

Advisers hope that meeting with their advising every week will help them do more with their students.

“[With a more consistent schedule, we will be] having more time and given more freedom to do different, fun things. We think it will change students perceptions of the program,” said Rukavina.

This year, the vibe on advising Mondays has been a negative one; students would rather it was a collaboration Monday.

“This past year we had it scheduled against collaboration, which made advising seem not as fun. Every other week students thinking ‘Oh, what a drag. I have to go to advising.”

So, teacher collaboration will be held after normal school hours next year.

“I think they [students] will get used to it [not having collaboration]. I think that after a few weeks students will forget that they ever got to leave every other week. Maybe some will still hold on to that,” said Rukavina. “You can’t change it, so don’t waste your time being mad. Just look at the positive side of it.”

The real wish is that this change in advising will bring students and their advising groups closer together. That with more consistency and more fun, it will become more like an advising family.

“Hopefully, all the things we’re putting together will make more of…a community or family atmosphere because what we’re doing is trying to make it easier for teachers to do a great job and find that kind of bond,” said Rukavina. “I know some teachers have done a stellar job, but I think they’ve almost made it another prep. They’ve prepared for it like another class, and that’s a lot of work. ”

Rukavina is part of the committee that is putting together the different weeks, such as “Teacher Appreciation Week,” and others. So every week, along with guiding students through their high school career, advisers will also be doing other activities to make advising more of a fun, learning environment. And they will be given help in that area.

“So over the summer we are working hard to put things together for people and include different choices so that teachers can say, ‘Okay, I have three choices today, I’m going to pick this one’ and no matter what they choose, it will be something fun and help make connections,” said Rukavina.

The advising program at BRFHS is very out of the ordinary.

“When I was in high school, we didn’t have anything like this,” said Rukavina. “I saw a guidance counselor once a year, and hardly anybody talked to me about what I wanted to do. I had ideas, and I had a family that supported me, but if I hadn’t had parents that said ‘Oh yeah, you should do that,’ or knew the steps to take when going to college and filling out all that paperwork, I would have been pretty lost.”

That ponytail belongs to welding teacher Kristie Heckendorf.

Heckendorf has been an influential member of the BRFHS staff for the past two years. She has really liked the atmosphere.

“My favorite thing about BRFHS is the students and staff,” said Heckendorf. “The staff is truly here for the students.”

She made a lasting impact on co-workers and students alike. “[Ms. Heckendorf] is someone who works really hard and is dedicated to her students,” said tech ed teacher Steve Nyman. “She is very passionate about her work.”

Nyman encouraged Heckendorf to be a part of the SkillsUSA program through the tech ed department. Through this, she became one of the advisers of Super Millage Vehicle (SMV) club. She has been able to closely mentor the kids in the club.

Students have enjoyed having Heckendorf as a teacher for many reasons. “She is always in a good mood,” said Junior Roger Stahl. “She is a very imformative teacher, and she is a really pleasant person to be around.”

Heckendorf is a good-hearted person that is looking to help the students in any way possible. “I have gone about setting up to have transcribed credit for the metals classes starting in the fall of 2011 through WTC,” said Heckendorf.

 Although she will be spending her summer welding, it will be a little bit different that the school setting that she is found in during the fall, winter and spring months. “[This summer] I will be training an artist how to weld,” said Heckendorf.

She is excited to be able to spend some more quality time with her family with her extra time.  Although she has not found another teaching job, yet, she keeps a positive attitude throughout the whole process. “Things happen when they are meant to be,” said Heckendorf.

This year’s newspaper has seen many changes this 2009-2010 year; from paper to gloss to going online.

In the past years the newspaper has been–a newspaper. But this year the editors and staffers decided to take a different approach, and ended up with the news magazine.

“The news magazine is more stylistic,” senior Ryan Whaley said. 

In the past years the newspaper has been black and white, very few pictures, and some very inky paper.

 ”[The new paper] doesn’t have the inkyness,” co-editor Chelsea Matalas said.

The new magazine style edition has made some improvments upon the old newspaper style. The magazine was in color, a new folding style, and new paper. The paper also came out monthly instead of bi-monthly.

At the semester another change was made to the Paw Print. The Paw Print went from print to the online world.

“I think it was a good way to go,” Co-Editor Cory Roseth said.

The stories can be posted daily, so therefore they have a more timely effect. Posting is the job of the editors and they can often be seen over the laptops listening to music and putting the stories online.

“Music with Tiedens is fun because Tiedens doesn’t like our music–but it’s fun,” senior Levi Miles.

Along with the online newspaper came the video broadcasting.

“We all thought it would be fun to do broadcasting,” Matalas said.

The videos started with the Veterans Day Program. The video took quite awhile to get done, two weeks to be precise. But after awhile putting the videos together got quicker.

“It’s fun having clips of videos and just putting them all together,” Matalas said.

Matalas is the editor in chief-video; this job entails a lot of work. She records the videos, puts the clips together and posts the videos online.

“Making videos is really fun. After putting it all together, the outcome is awesome,” Matalas said.

Besides the fun videos get posted there is also the weekly Tiger News with Cory Roseth and Morgan Stittleburg.

“[Being an anchor] was a really fun experience,” sports editor Morgan Stittleburg said.

The seniors in the class have high hopes for the Paw Print in the future and can only think it can better from here.

“It was a great starting point, [at it got] bigger and better,” Matalas said.

“I think it can only get better, we got a really good start this year. It can only got up from here,” senior Emily Lahmayer said.

The school year is coming to a close, and we all know what that means– SUMMER!  If you’re looking to have a great day relaxing in the sand and going for a swim you should be thankful you live in Black River Falls.

 Our area boasts some of the most well-maintatined and busiest beaches in the state.  There are over six beaches within 15 minutes of the city limits.  Highlighted in this article are the three nicest public beaches. 

Lake Wazee 

Lake Wazee is one of Jackson County’s claims to fame.  It is the deepest lake in the state of Wisconsin, dropping to a depth of 355 feet.  It is a popular destination for scuba divers in the area and has even given the area of a reason to have a scuba supply store and training center. 

“Lake Wazee is the best!” says junior Lucas Mathews. 

Mathews is a die-hard beach fan, going out at least two or three times a week.  Mathews rates Wazee a “10 out of 10.” 

“The water is super clean!  The beach’s sand is also really good, unlike Arbutus,” says Mathews, “Plus, it’s really cheap.  You can get a summer pass for, like, $25.00.”

Lake Arbutus

Lake Arbutus has been the lifeblood of Hatfield since the village was established.  Arbutus provides the area with a large, clean lake that gives boaters and swimmers plenty of room to play.  Over the past few years, the dam has been under construction, so water levels have been fluctuating.  Class of 2008 graduate Keaton Green loves Arbutus.

“Arbutus is just so much fun!” says Green, “It’s free to the public, has really nice water and has both ice cream shops and flushable toilets nearby.”

Arbutus also has some downfalls when compared to other beaches in the area, though.

“The beaches are kind of rocky, compared to Wazee,” said Green, “but it doesn’t have a ton of cigarettes laying around like Wazee does, so it’s a fair trade-off!”

 As Green stated, Arbutus is free to the public and is a great public beach.

 Robinson Creek

 Located in Millston, Robinson Creek used to be one of the busiest beaches in the area. Now officially closed, the beach is still in excellent condition.  The water is great – as long as your feet don’t touch the ground!  Due to all the pine trees in the area, the fallen pine needles give the bottom of the creek a “squishy” feeling and turn the water brown.  This has no effect on your skin or hair, so don’t worry!  Dive in and enjoy the beach!  Also remember, when you’re done swimming you can throw a line in and catch some great trout!

“It’s perfect!  It’s got white sand, sunshine, and good memories!” says senior Marit Bakken.

Bakken also loves that Robinson is secluded.

“No one is ever there,” says Bakken, “When our group of friends goes, its just us … and maybe a couple of locals.  We can do whatever we want!  It’s really fun.  If you can find it, get out there and have fun.”

Bertolini’s story is about living with AIDS.

As a part of  Social Psychology, social studies teacher Tony Boerger arranged for Bertolini to speak to students who have taken the class during the school year about about how the speaker contracted disease and how he is dealing with it.

As a child, Bertolini grew up in a town similar to Black River Falls. He had a good childhood–and then he became a teenager.

“When I was 13 I stole a car. I stole a car just so I’d be popular,” said Bertolini.

After a while things started getting worse. He started to develop a carefree attitude and during his freshman year started drinking. Sometimes he would come home very late and couldn’t sleep due to how much alcohol he consumed.

“I got home at two in the morning and I felt like hell,” said Bertolini. “My parents were standing in there watching me. I went to bed and I got the dizzies so I went to the bathroom and ran into the wall four times and was puking my guts up.”

Things didn’t stop there. For a while he stole things, started using drugs and women and slowly his life started to turn for the worse. After high school he joined the Coast Guard. As his duty to the Coast Guard he was supposed to keep illegal drugs out of the country. He was also not allowed to do drugs and was expected control his alcohol consumption. Bertolini felt like those rules didn’t really apply to him and continued to use drugs.

Things got even worse. While in the Coast Guard, Bertolini decided to go to a party. There he met a 17-year-old girl and committed statutory rape. Slowly and steadily Bertolini’s moral compass started to disappear.

Bertolini left the Coast Guard in 1983 and went to college. Still using drugs and women, he was slowly reaching rock bottom. He played rugby in college, but that’s all he was  known for. He didn’t have any academic achievements and flunked out of college.

“I took six-and-a-half years of semesters. I got no college degree. Had a 2.19 grade average, but I was popular because I knew every bartender in each bar and what hours they worked and where all the good parties were at,” said Bertolini.

Drugs and alcohol had become his life. He did continue to play rugby after college. Since he enjoyed playing the sport so much and didn’t want to deal with an injury he decided to get some health insurance. He called an insurance company, which sent a nurse to take a blood and urine sample. Afterward the nurse told him he’d receive a letter in a few weeks to see if he was able to get health insurance.

A few weeks went by and a letter came telling him he was denied health insurance. A little ticked off, Bertolini called up the 1-800 number on the letter and asked why he was denied insurance. Since he was still doing drugs, he assumed that was the reason. However nothing could have prepared him for what was coming. Bertolini was about to hit rock bottom.

“I was on the phone and a total stranger 100 miles away told me I was denied insurance because I had full-blown AIDS,”said Bertolini.

At that time, having AIDS was a death sentence. There was no way you could live past 75 with the disease. However, Bertolini decided that he wasn’t going to quit. That included his drugs and alcohol consumption.

February 7, 2000, nine years after being diagnosed with AIDS Bertolini found himself across the street from Walgreen’s, in the middle of the road.

“I was standing at the laundrymat with no money and no drugs. Since drugs were my life, right then and there I wanted to die. So I leaned my head in the middle [of the street] waiting for one of those big vans to come and hit me, but everyone seemed to be driving those darn small cars that it wouldn’t kill me and only injure me. I didn’t want to be crippled and have AIDS!” said Bertolini.

Fortunately, Bertolini saw the light.

“Right there, I saw the hospital right across the street, and I swear I heard the angels sing and the clouds had separated and a light shined on that hospital and I know this sounds corny, but it was like a message,” said Bertolini.

Throughout his entire lecture Bertolini mentioned his moral compass. A moral compass is what guides you through life based the truth, honesty and respect. Up until Bertolini’s recovery, his moral compass had disappeared. Bertolini doesn’t speak to social psychology students  for teacher Tony Boerger. Instead, Bertolini hopes that students will listen to his story and hopefully not make the same mistakes he made as a child. He hopes they figure out their moral compass.

“Find that moral compass. Find what makes you tick. Please remember who you are,” said Bertolini.



I think blue because it would be the closest to a normal color. If you get in the sunlight, it would look black, if it is dark enough. It is the least neonish color.

2.) Would you rather live with Hannibal or Michael Meyers?

Hannibal because even though he’s evil, there’s a side of him that is good. Mike Meyers would just kill you to kill you. Hannibal spared the FBI agent’s life, so if you get on his good side, he might spare your life.

3.) Would you rather go Jell-O wrestling or swimming with sharks?

Swimming with sharks. I find sharks fascinating. It would be fun, especially in a cage. Even out of a cage it would be fun because they have those special, metal suits that sharks can’t bite through. Also, there are a bunch of other sharks that you can swim with.

4.) What was your favorite song when you were in high school?

“White Horses” by U2

5.) Would you rather eat a live scorpion or a live camel spider?

Spider, because it’s smaller…I assume. (There was a long conversation about what a camel spider was. She had never seen a camel spider before, so she assumed it would be smaller than a scorpion. I told her to go to google.com and look it up. Once she did she was horrified and was quick to change her answer.) Scorpion.

Beck arrives at the Amazon in a broken and duct-taped plane driven by a scottish man named Declan (Ewen Bremner). He discovers that the town where Travis (Sean William Scott) is to be living, is controlled by Hatcher (Christopher Walken).

Beck arrives at a bar to see Travis trying to use his friend Mariana’s (Rosario Dawson) boat to find the legendary Gato. Beck does not realize how important the Gato is but quickly learns when Hatcher goes on the warpath, making sure Travis does not leave the city. Travis, Beck and Mariana embark on a journey to try to find the Gato, run for their lives and save the city that is being destroyed by Hatcher and his men.

The Rundown is a hilarious movie that keeps you gaping at the TV the whole time. It made me laugh. Sean William Scott and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are both hilarious in the movie. Their constant bickering is funny until the very end. Even when the credits started to roll, I was still laughing.

The plot line was really interesting. I liked how it was funny, but intense at the same time.

All in all, I give The Rundown five out of five stars. This action and comedy film was awesome and I could watch it over and over again and never get bored.