Falls High Ink
January 9 - 13
ELKS Senior Students of the Month for January
Emma Saxton and Nora Sullivan
Boys Hockey Recap
By: Landan Snyder
The Bronco Boys Hockey Team played the Red Lake Falls Eagles last Friday. They started off the new year strong with a 7-4 win. The Broncos started off the game with an early goal by Cody Joslyn. Eight minutes later, the Broncos scored another, making the score 2-0 heading into the second period. In the second period, the teams went at it for seven minutes before Nate Dremmel scored a goal to further build on their lead. The Eagles snapped back by scoring two goals to make the game 3-2. Two minutes before the second period ended Braden Skiffstad scored another goal making it 4-2. The Broncos came out strong in the third period with Royce Allan scoring two goals within quick succession two minutes into the period. Shortly after, the Eagles scored one to bring the score to 6-3. The Broncos snapped back with a goal from Matt Wherley. The teams kept fighting until the Eagles scored one before the period ended. The Broncos will be celebrating their 75th anniversary today, Friday, January 13th where the Bronco state tournament alums will be honored.
8th Grade Woods Classes Construct Gun Racks & Tables
Bronco Girls Hockey
By: Tierney Rousseau
The Bronco Girls' Hockey Team played the Fort Frances Muskies on Tuesday, January 10. The Broncos fell 2-0 to the Muskies. The Broncos held the Muskies scoreless in the first period, but gave up two goals in the second. The lady Broncos held the Muskies scoreless again in the third period, but were unable to put any in the net. Mara Pelland played solid in the net and had 48 saves in the game!
The girls faced the North Shore Storm at home on Thursday, January 12. The Broncos lost 6-0. Mara Pelland had an awesome 67 saves during the game. The Bronco Girls Hockey Team is back in action on Saturday, January 14th against Duluth Marshal in Duluth.
One Act Play is in Action!
By: Mitchell Erickson
Action! The FHS One Act Team is up and running for the second year in a row for the 2022-2023 season. The play that they will be performing is a comedy called Bad Auditions By Bad Actors by Ian McWethy. The play follows a casting director and his unhelpful assistant as they try to cast the leads of Romeo and Juliet, but all the actors they see are terrible. There will be a home performance on January 25th at 7pm in the Backus Auditorium and admission is free.
The advisor for One Act this year is Elsa Swanson and she is the choir teacher at both the elementary and high school. This is Ms. Swanson’s first year as the advisor and she applied for the position because “I think that theater is really important to have in schools and I think that it's important that we have it here”. This is Ms. Swanson’s first experience with one act but she has been in many musicals as a performer, instamentalist, and she has been in Operas as well. “The season is going great so far”, said Ms. Swanson. Her goals this year is to “put on a show that the students are proud of and to show up at subsection and put on a great show”. When asked how she decided which piece the team should perform, Miss Swanson said “I considered who we had and what kind of parts the students would be good for”. She also said, “I knew that with the talent that we had, I knew these students would make this play very funny”.
Evie Conat is a junior at FHS and plays Maria McConville and Meg McCrossen in the One Act Play. When asked what she liked the most about One Act, Evie said,“I really like doing comedies, so I’m glad that we got to do a really funny show this year”. Her favorite thing about one act is returning back to high school, (Evie does PSEO at Rainy River), and being able to stick to her acting roots. One act differs from other activities because “it's more mental, I like to work my brain and memorize the lines and being able to dig deep into the characters, it's pretty fun”. Her goals for the season are to “watch everyone grow as experienced actors”. Evie is looking forward to having a spectacular show at Backus and at the competition down in Eveleth.
Delayne Hollis is a junior at FHS and plays Roger who is the assistant for the casting director in the play. When asked what she likes the most about one act, Delayne responded saying, “I enjoy the group of friends we get, we become close knit at the end of it from all the rehearsals together and it's just a fun group to have together”. Delayne is looking forward to “going out and performing with everybody”. Her goals for this year is to do a good job and hopefully get to second place this year to advance on to sections.
The cast for this year includes; Leah Boe, Evie Conat, Mitchell Erickson, Emerald Estrabrooks, Izzie Forpahl, Delayne Hollis, Chole Hufnagle, Luke Hufnagle, Sadie Johnson, Hannah McGonigle, and Linnaea Yount.
The FHS One Act Team is in action January 21st for a festival down in Eveleth. The following weekend, they one act team will head down to Eveleth again for their sub-section meet January 28th. Where the top three will advance on to sections. They will also have a home performance January 25th at 7pm in the Backus Auditorium and admission is free! “We hope to see you there on the 25th at 7pm!” -FHS One Act Team.
Back Row from Left to Right: Adley Deedrick, Mitch Erickson, Luke Hufnagle, Sadie Johnson, Evie Conat, Izzie Forpahl, Advisor: Ms. Swanson.
Botton Row from Left to Right: Emerald Estabrooks, Hannah McGonigle, Linnaea Yount, Leah Boe, Delayne Hollis.
Missing from Picture: Chloe Hufnagle
Border Boost At Falls High
By: Emma Saxton and Ellen Windels
Border Boost, a healthy shake shop located downtown, has appeared in the Falls High School Lobby! Two to three mornings a week, for the thirty minutes before classes start, Border Boost staff have been set up in the Ticket Booth selling teas to students. “It helps promote healthy education and give people a healthy option, and all the proceeds go back to the school” said owner Caleb Miller.
Miller recently acquired the business in September of 2022. The previous owners were looking to either sell the business or close it, and Miller didn’t want to see it go. “That’s why I came up here, just to run it and have someone else take it over, and I actually like it up here, so I’m going to stay”.
Border Boost reached out to FHS and said that how the donated funds are spent are entirely up to the district. Previously, “we did this in Grand Rapids and [the school] used them to buy Chromebooks.” All of the profits made goes directly to the school. Border Boost isn’t necessarily trying to reach a new consumer base, as many students already frequent the downtown International Falls location, so they are only benefiting from the publicity and through giving back to this community’s education.
Students can choose between multiple premade tea blends, which the Border Boost employees quickly mix with water. There are some limitations when it comes to selling food in the school due to its health policies. The calories, sugar content, and serving size, depending on the age of the student, all factor into what can be offered to students.
Students seem to be enjoying the easy access to the popular Border Boost teas. When the Falls High Ink talked to Miller in the lobby, we were periodically paused as students came up to the booth to order. Already a common sight in classrooms, even more students are showing up to class with a brightly colored drink in hand.
“We are out in the community trying to reach as many people as we can”
FHS Art Classes Complete End of Semester Projects
Mrs. Simon's Art Class
Knowledge Bowl Article
By: Ellen Windels and Emma Saxton
I’m excited to begin the 2023 Senior High Knowledge Bowl season this winter. After two years of online competition, we are finally back to in-person meets and have gained some new team members. Our returning members are Ellen Windels, Nora Sullivan, Jakob Clifford and Emma Saxton. This close-knit group of seniors hopes to return to the state competition again this year. Our new members are Grace Flesland, Alaina Gates, William Ginter, Doug Salo and Andy Davenport.
Our teams have been practicing since early December and are building their skills, team cohesiveness and of course, the competitive spirit that makes Knowledge Bowl so fun. I look forward to seeing them in action at our first meet on January 19th.
- Coach Ariana Zahradka
FHS Senior High Knowledge Bowl will once again have more than one team competing. The members of the state-participating team will be joined by the 2022 Junior High participants, all of whom will be participating at the Senior High level for the first time. Their first of three regular season meets will be on January 19th. The younger members displayed some nerves when it came to competing against older students. Gates, speaking for her team, said their goal is to simply “do our best”. When asked what challenges they expect for this winter season, Davenport was worried about the “harder questions” the new members will inevitably face.
Although the team is close and lighthearted, there are still some difficulties. Tenth grader Flesland jokingly commented that one of the biggest challenges will be “getting along”. Still, it shows the need for team members to be able to work together, which can become difficult under the stress of competition. “I think our team always has issues with getting along,” said Emma Saxton, “I feel like we are going to struggle, as we do every year, with listening to each other and being kind to each other”.
The team will also need to readjust to in-person meets. The past two seasons have been facilitated through online platforms and the team was able to be more laid back and could talk as loud as they liked when they were muted. Now, they will be back to competing in a small room directly next to the other teams and they will need to be able to communicate quietly. “It is going to be a lot more serious,” said Clifford.
The senior members, excited for a shot at improving their 12th place finish at state, do not all share the same goals. Jakob Clifford is modestly hoping the team will make it to Regions, of which the top half of teams from the regular season will compete, as he feels it is a “more reasonable goal”. Emma Saxton confidently said the team’s goal this year is to “make it to state”. Regardless of their outlook, the excitement among the returning members is clear. “I think we could do really well at State this year” said Saxton, echoed by Clifford’s declaration that “we’ll beat those schools” that dominated the competition in 2022. The 2023 Minnesota Knowledge Bowl State Meet will take place on April 13th and 14th.
Bronco Girls & Boys Basketball Update:
By: Lola Valenzuela
Girls Basketball
Bronco girls basketball had back to back games last week (1-7) taking a tough loss to Hibbing on Thursday. On Friday the girls made a comeback win in Northwoods from being down 25-32 at half time and ended the night with a close score of 69-61. The lead scorer was Abbi Hutchison with 26 points.
For the week of (8-14) on Thursday the girls played Lake of the Woods and took a solid win with a score of 51-34 and the leading scorer was Lola Valenzuela with 17 points. The girls head down to Two Harbors on Saturday to take on the Agates.
Boys Basketball
Bronco boys basketball played a neck and neck game against Lake of the Woods on January 3rd and unfortunately ended the night with a loss to the bears. Lead scorers were Landin Budris with 16 points and Hendrix Torgeson with 10 points.
Coming up for boys basketball on January 24th they face Rock Ridge at home, on the 26th they play away in Greenway, and on the 28th they have another home game against Two Harbors.
January Activities:
Monday, January 9:
Girls Basketball @ Mt. Iron Buhl 7:15pm
Tuesday, January 10:
Boys Hockey @ Rock Ridge 7pm
Girls Hockey @ HOME vs. Fort Frances
Thursday, January 12:
Girls Hockey 2 HOME vs. North Shore Storm 6pm
Girls Basketball HOME vs. Lake of the Woods 7:30pm
Friday, January 13:
Boys Hockey @ HOME vs. St. Paul Johnson 7:30pm
Saturday, January 14:
Boys Swimming True Team Meet @ Hibbing
Girls Basketball @ Two Harbors 2pm
Girls Hockey @ Duluth Marshall 1:30pm
Tuesday, January 17:
Girls Hockey @ Fort Frances 7pm
Boys Basketball @ Warroad 7:15pm
Thursday, January 19:
Senior High Knowledge Bowl @ Mountain Iron
Girls Hockey HOME vs. Detroit Lakes 7pm
Boys Hockey @ Greenway 7pm
Girls Basketball @ Ely 7:15pm
Boys Basketball HOME vs. Mesabi East @ 7:15pm
Friday, January 20:
Boys Swimming & Diving HOME vs. Rock Ridge 5pm
Boys Hockey HOME vs. Moose Lake 1pm
Boys Basketball HOME vs. Carlton 4pm
Girls Hockey @ Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Wadena-Deer Creek 3pm
Saturday, January 21:
FHS One Act Festival @ Eveleth
Tuesday, January 24:
Girls Basketball HOME vs. Cherry 7:15pm
Boys Basketball @ Rock Ridge 7:15pm
Wednesday, January 25:
One Act @ Backus 7pm
Thursday, January 26:
Boys Hockey @ North Shore 6pm
Girls Basketball HOME vs. Mesabi East 7:15pm
Boys Basketball @ Greenway 7:15pm
Girls Hockey HOME vs. Rock Ridge 7pm
Friday, January 27:
Boys Swimming & Diving Triangular HOME Meet 5pm
Saturday, January 28:
One Act Sub-Section Meet @ Eveleth
Girls Basketball @ Duluth Marshall 2pm
Boys Hockey @ Red Lake Falls 2pm
Boys Basketball HOME vs. Two Harbors 2:30pm
Monday, January 30:
Girls Basketball HOME vs. Littlefork Big Falls 7pm
Tuesday, January 31:
Girls Hockey @ Thief River Falls 5:30pm
Boys Basketball HOME vs. Mountain Iron Buhl 7:15pm
Boys Hockey HOME vs. Hibbing 7:30pm
School Event Calendar:
No School: Teacher in Service January 16th
End of 2nd Quarter/Semester 1: January 23rd.
Winter Sports Week: January 23-27 **Pepfest Wednesday during 6th and 7th hour
FHS Faculty Birthdays
Lenisha Bublitz- January 9
Mr. Dowty- January 10
Lori Potter- January 26
Mrs. Rudolph- January 29
Mrs. West- January 29
Falls High Ink
Email: fallshighink@isd361.org
Website: isd361.k12.mn.us
Location: 1515 11th Street, International Falls, MN, USA
Phone: 218-283-2571