Welcome to Black River Falls High School!

Happy New Year Family and Friends of Black River Falls High School!

The New Year is, in some ways, a strange milestone for a school. Our calendar does not follow the regular calendar. For us, it is not the end of the year; it is not even quite the middle of the year. As we return to school after the holiday break, we have three weeks – three quick weeks to wrap up the first half of the school year.

Nevertheless, this is a new beginning and a time when we all take stock of the past twelve months; it forces us to look back not just to the beginning of this semester, rather it is a time for us to look back even further to last school year, to all of 2009.

As I think back to this time last year, I remember attending many meetings regarding our District’s facilities needs and engaging in discussions with community members, teachers, and parents about what we can do to improve our buildings so that we can insure quality education in Black River Falls for years into the future. These meetings led to a referendum in June of last year, which the voters defeated. This was unfortunate, as we continue to need more space for the younger grades.  The Third Street building has long since out lived its useful life as a school. We also have some serious limitations with our facilities here at the high school. For example, our science department lacks lab space and equipment. Our art department has to hold some of their classes in the cafeteria because we have only one true art room. Any of you who attended school here, I’m sure understand the problems with the underground locker rooms. Of course, we have heard the voters and we understand the economic situation – in fact, we are addressing that as we continue to upgrade electrical systems and look for ways to improve the efficiency and reduce costs for electricity, heating and cooling. As Mr. Saari settles in as our new superintendent, we continue to plan and search for the best, most economical ways to address all of our district’s needs into the future so that our future children are assured quality education and our future tax payers – many of those are in our schools today as students – will continue to pay one of the lowest rates in the area.
This past calendar year was difficult in other ways, in February and early March of 2009 we experienced the suicide of two students. It is always tragic when young people die, and when someone chooses this path it gives us reason to stop and think, discuss, and extend help to those who struggle with the many adversities that young people face today. From these discussions and many agencies in our community coming together, we have formed the Jackson County Crisis Intervention Team, which includes members from the schools, health care, Human Services and law enforcement. We have improved our coordination and information sharing and have begun a public awareness campaign on suicide prevention. Part of these efforts include providing information on the crisis hot line 211, improving the referral process for people of all ages who are at risk, and developing an information campaign. It is important for all of us to educate ourselves on the warning signs of suicide risk and to take action when we see these signs. Please contact our Guidance office or the Public Health department if you need more specifics or have questions regarding suicide prevention.

The summer and latter half of 2009 did not bring as much change at BRFHS as previous years have. Our only new hire was Damon Panek, teacher for the new BRAGS, green charter school. Mr. Panek, with the assistance of our AmeriCorps volunteer, Megan Giese, opened the doors of BRAGS at the Woodland Center at the end of 7th street in the tiny, but beautiful city park – a fitting setting for a project based school with a sustainable focus. Eleven students are discovering a different method to learning, through the creation and pursuit of projects that address local needs, while they embody a global environmental focus. Students are learning about the history and the state of the Black River, and researching its health. They are involved with developing renewable energy projects with the school district to address energy education and reduce the district’s dependence on fossil fuels. For more information on how to enroll in BRAGS, contact the High School Guidance office.

This school year seems to be flying by and has been marked, so far by proud accomplishments from our Football team, which posted a 9-2 season and made it into the level two play-offs, the implementation of a new academic assistance program and improvements in students’ academic achievement.
We also have welcomed a new Superintendent, Mr. Ron Saari, who has reached out to our community in many ways, getting to know the Black River Falls community and working hard to understand and address the needs and concerns of all.

We made a slight change to the advising program and after some adjustment, I am hearing positive feedback from teachers and students about having more frequent time to meet and discuss their educational needs and concerns. This will soon become even more important as right away in January we will begin our registration process for next school year. Be sure that you, as a parent, discuss the importance of what classes your son or daughter take each year in high school. These classes are building the foundation for their future. If they are interested in a four year college, a technical college or the military, there are different courses that will appropriately prepare them for these life paths. Advisors and the counselors will be working with students to assure they choose the most appropriate classes. Please get involved!

On behalf of the entire BRF High School staff, I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and safe 2010!
Happy New Year,

Mr. Chambers