Falls High Ink
Weekly Newsletter
Senior Scholarship Opportunities
Seniors, there are many scholarships available to you in the guidance office! There are opportunities for you to earn scholarships for the many different paths you may be going down. There are scholarships available if you are attending a university, a trade school, going into nursing, if you have good marks in school, going into law enforcement, and so many more. There are also many need based scholarships available. A majority of the scholarships are due on March 31st, and a list of the scholarships can be found on the school website.
It would be in your best interest to begin asking teachers for letters of recommendation, because it may take a while for you to get them back. You should also start preparing for the deadline by beginning to write your essays. Many of the essay topics for the scholarships are similar, but you will likely end up writing various essays for different scholarships. This may seem like a daunting task, but this work will pay off, with many scholarships being quite large this year.
There are a good amount of online scholarships available, but a majority of the scholarships will require you to stop into the guidance office to pick up the applications. If you have any questions on what scholarships you should apply for or how to apply for them the guidance office staff will be very helpful and answer any of your questions.
Northland Counseling Center Raises Awareness for Mental Health
The International Falls Northland Counseling Center has been working diligently to raise awareness and end the stigmas surrounding mental health and suicide prevention. The group has been visiting with ISD 361 teachers, speaking to classrooms of students at FHS and is hosting an awareness night at the Bronco home hockey game on February 16th, at 7pm. The slogan for the counseling center is "Stick it to Stigma" and their goal is to shine a light on suicide prevention.
The counseling center sent Mr. Joe Krause out to speak with and give presentations at FHS to spread the word about 9-8-8, which is the new suicide prevention hotline. Mr. Krause presented a Powerpoint to the 9th and 10th graders at Falls High School in Mrs. Hamers English classes. He went over prevention measures for suicide as well as had a class make a mock phone call to 9-8-8 so that teachers and students would know what to expect if they ever had a need to call the hotline for themselves or for someone else in need. Mrs. Hamers said the presentation given to students by Mr. Krause was impactful and well-received. "The students know that mental health is a struggle that many students and adults in their lives deal with each day. The goal of bringing Joe in was for them to know that it's okay to talk about it, ask for help, and to know that they are not alone."
After the presentation, the 9th/10th grade students were asked to start a school wide initiative to help spread the word. They designed a "shoe" that would allow them to anonymously tell people about something they struggled with at some point in their life, or are currently struggling with; in hopes to help other students know they are not alone. The students created their own slogan, If you walked in my shoes, you would know... The kids cut out shoes and anonymously wrote down something that they struggled with. The 9th and 10th graders then challenged the seniors to fill out their own shoe and to have Mr. Krause in to talk to them during a senior class hour.
The paper "shoes" can be seen in the lobby of FHS. The collection of shoes will continue to grow through second semester. Math teacher Mr. Awe had a great idea that community members could "fill out a shoe" to add to the FHS lobby at during the Bronco "Stick it to Stigma" game. Shoes will be available in the Bronco Arena Lobby for all that would like to participate.
Join the I Falls Broncos and the Lake of the Woods Bears in raising awareness for mental health on February 16th, at 7pm in Bronco Arena. Northland Counseling will be present and have great "swag" to hand out to all in attendance!
By: Mitchell Erickson
KAPE Hosts Town Hall Meeting to Raise Awareness
Community Awareness is Key to Prevention By: Ellen Windels
Be there or be square! On February 8th, 6:30 pm sharp at the Backus Auditorium, a town hall meeting will be held to educate our community on local opioid, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug challenges. The panel will feature local law enforcement officers, who plan to educate the community on present issues and ways to prevent them. Specifically, Koochiching probation officers will show local cases of underage individuals who have suffered with substance abuse. “We’re not just talking about this in general, it’s more of a local thing,” said Jenesa Balaski. The major topics of the discussion will be fentanyl, methamphetamines, and vaping, the latter specifically in regards to local high schoolers.
Balaski is the director of KAPE at Falls High School, which stands for Koochiching Area Prevention in Education. “K.A.P.E. kind of stepped up to plan the event to bring in the prevention side of it and what we’re doing currently in our school and community,” explained Balaski. Members of the youth group will be present at the meeting, not necessarily to speak with the audience but to show the growing size and strength of the group, along with awareness of the prevention efforts already being made by them.
Also present at the panel will be State Representative Dave Baker, a former resident of International Falls who has spent his political career advocating for preventative methods against opioid addictions. He’ll bring in a state perspective to this issue but will also speak of his personal relationship to this issue, as he lost his son to opioid addiction.
Balaski attended the monthly Koochiching Juvenile Task Force where, “with the judge and all these other sectors that are coming together, we decided that many parents and adults and community members aren’t aware of drug, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug challenges in our town.” This led to the planning of the Town Hall Meeting, which is partially geared towards families and any parents or guardians who have children in our community that are at risk of being exposed to harmful substances. Everyone is encouraged to attend, including educators, coaches, business owners, and local leaders so they can become more aware of the problems facing our community and support prevention methods.
The crux of the hour-and-a-half long meeting will be the important information that the panel will be sharing but the audience will also get a chance to ask their own questions about our community’s current struggles with opiods, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use.
Balaski said that, so far, there has been positive feedback on attendance, with numerous individuals RSVPing on Facebook and physical invitations sent out to school board members and county officials. She’s hopeful there will be a good turnout. “We want to bring together our challenges right now in our town so people are aware of what is happening and they can talk to their kids about it and to other sectors and community members and just spread awareness.”
Boys Swimming & Diving Update
Boys swimming and diving competed at home with Proctor against Rock Ridge
Results: Michael Sobkowitz took 1st place in diving
The 200 freestyle relay of Max Youso, Trygg Hemstad, Connor Tomczak, and Brendyn Scholler took 2nd.
Trygg Hemstad took 3rd place in the 100 Breaststroke
- The Broncos are back in action Friday as they head to Mesabi East for an Invitational Meet.
Upcoming Events/Activities
Thursday February 2:
Girls Basketball @ Greenway
Friday February 3:
Boys Swimming @ Mesabi
Girls Basketball @ HOME vs. Rock Ridge
Girls Hockey @ HOME vs Pequot Lakes
Saturday February 4:
Boys Hockey @ Kittson
FHS Speech Team @ Duluth Denfeld
Monday February 6
Girls Basketball @ Roseau
Boys Basketball @ Cherry
Tuesday February 7:
Boys Swimming @ Mesabi East
Girls Basketball @ HOME Nashwauk-Keewatin
Boys Hockey @ HOME vs. Fort Frances.
Thursday February 9:
Boys Swimming and Diving @ Proctor
Boys Hockey @ HOME vs Greenway
Saturday February 11:
Boys Hockey @ Crookston
Girls Hockey Section Quarter Finals
Girls Basketball @ Proctor
FHS Speech Team @ Hibbing
Tuesday February 14:
Boys Swimming & Diving @ HOME vs Chisholm
Girls Basketball @ Warroad
Boys Basketball @ HOME vs North Woods
Boys Hockey @ HOME vs North Shore
FHS Varsity Knowledge Bowl Meet
Thursday February 16:
Boys Hockey @ HOME vs Lake of the Woods
Friday February 17:
Girls Basketball @ Little Fork
Boys Basketball @ Duluth Marshal
Saturday February 18:
Boys Swimming & Diving @ HOME
FHS Speech Team @ Northeast Range
Thursday February 23:
Boys Swimming Sectionals @ Hibbing
Girls Basketball @ Deer River
FHS Varsity Knowledge Bowl Meet
Friday February 24:
Boys Basketball @ Deer River
Saturday February 25:
Boys Swimming Section Finals @ Hibbing
FHS Speech Team @ Bemidji OR Mesabi East
Tuesday February 28:
Girls Basketball Varsity Play Off Game
School Event Calendar:
February 20th - NO SCHOOL (Presidents Day)
February 21st - Regular Schoo Board Meeting @ 5:15pm
February 22nd - Quarter 3 Mid Term
February 23rd - 2024 FES Kindergarten Registration (All Day)
February 23rd - FES Parent/Teacher Conferences
Faculty Birthdays:
February 11th- Mrs. Michelle Hopkins
February 12th- Mrs. Michele McDonald
February 23rd- Mrs. Heidi Thompson
Falls High Ink
Email: fallshighink@isd361.org
Website: isd361.k12.mn.us
Location: 1515 11th Street, International Falls, MN, USA
Phone: 2182832571