We caught up with Coach Mike Scholten to talk about the boys basketball season this year. He felt it was a great season, the athletes were competitive in every game, and they had a great record of 24 and 5. He's looking forward to another great season next year, even though the team is losing 4 seniors this year. One favorite game moment during this past season was the Hillcrest game were Jacob Radermacher hit the game winner.

The Battle Lake Choirs had a concert on March 20th under the direction of Kaele Peterson. Thank you to our accompanists Paul Malecha and Angela Fowler for playing! The Junior High Choir especially enjoyed working on the upbeat and lyric-filled "The Rhythm of Life" and melodic "Dance of the Willow". The Concert Choir sang pieces in preparation for their upcoming Large Group Contest, at which they received a Superior rating. They also performed "Omnia Sol" and "Emerald Stream", which was one of their favorites. The Spring pops choir concert is May 8th at 7:00 pm.

The Subsection 22 Large Group Choir contest took place on March 22nd in Battle Lake. Our school hosts this contest every three years. In alternate years we travel to nearby schools to participate. Although there was a two hour late start, all nine schools were still able to attend. Each school sang two pieces each and received judge's comments and a score based on tone quality, intonation, rhythm, balance, blend, technique, musicianship, diction and more. Battle Lake Concert Choir received a Superior rating for singing "I Have Loved the Stars Too Fondly" by Heather Sorenson and "Give Us Hope" by Jim Papoulis. Congratulations to the choir on your hard work!

There are 9 schools in our sub-section and they all attended. Battle Lake, Underwood, Henning, Ashby, Brandon-Evansville, Browerville, Osakis, Long Prairie-Gray Eagle, and Parkers Prairie.

I do not know how long our school has been participating. It could be as far back as 1916, when the MSHSL was formed.

Each band has time to get warmed up in the band room and then moves to the auditorium to perform. Three judges listen and then critique and score the group. One of the judges works with the band after the performance to help them to work on a couple of the things that they hear which need improvement. Most bands perform two songs, but only one of them has to be selected from an approved list of songs. The performance of both songs is judged.

Our scores this year were 36, 37, and 37 out of 40. You have to get at least two scores of 35 or higher to earn a Superior rating.

We performed Choose Joy by Randall Standridge and Tsunami by Vince Gassi.

We have hosted quite a few times. All of the schools in the sub-section used to rotate hosting both the Solo/Ensemble Contest and the Large Group Contests. Probably 12-15 years ago we decided to rotate the Large Group Contest between the three schools that have an auditorium: Battle Lake, Osakis, and Long Prairie-Gray Eagle. The other six schools take turns hosting the Solo/Ensemble Contest.

I like it when we are given comments that can help us to improve.

Minnesota Honor Society members spent the day volunteering at the Dorothy Day Food Pantry in Moorhead on Friday, March 24. They cleaned, stocked, rearranged, repackaged, and helped in every way they could. Dorothy Day is an incredible resource to those in need. Check out some of the highlights from the day by clicking on the link below!

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFeb4ieDKc/Ok-mXN_Yxb5ihbHN-K6M3g/watch?utm_content=DAFeb4ieDKc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Pavlo Simtikidis, an internationally renowned Greek-Canadian guitarist, came to Battle Lake School on March 16th. Pavlo had a concert at the Fergus Falls Center for the Arts on March 17th. Often when musicians or other artists perform at a non-profit venue, they include school performances, lectures and demonstrations as a part of their time at that venue, which is how Pavlo was able to get to Battle Lake to play for us and tell us about his career. Following the performance, students were invited to attend the Friday concert free of charge. Multiple Battle Lake students attended and one even received a free guitar from Pavlo!

Moments captured. Memories made. It's all in the yearbook and limited copies remain. Order your yearbook today!

Ready to order, click on the links below:

Full Battle Lake School Book

Elementary Book

The Knowledge Bowl program has a strong tradition at Battle Lake School and this year was no different. Varsity KB kicked off the season just before the winter holiday break at Concordia taking first place and will finish in April when the varsity Battlers compete at state. Sucessess along the way included 4th place at Sub-sections and 2nd place at sections. State competition takes place April 13-14!

Knowledge Bowl is a competition in which three teams of five students are in a room and have questions read to them. The questions come from all academic areas, including math, history, English, science, and current events. The students can “beep” in when they think that they know the answer, and then they have ten seconds to discuss with their teammates before the spokesperson has to give the answer to the judge. Knowledge Bowl promotes teamwork, quick thinking, and overall knowledge in a wide array of subjects, and the young Battlers had a good season and had a lot of fun.

Catch up on school updates - download the BL Schools' app today! With the app, you can access sports scores, cafeteria menus, news updates and even emergency notifications. Download the app on Android: http://bit.ly/2noE8Ec or iPhone: https://apple.co/30W2O4A.