New Track

Just wanted to provide some information about the new track.  The six lane track is 400 meters and has all running events marked on it and will make a great place for our teams to practice.  The track was used by our track teams this spring and is available for the public to use.  We do have some rules, we would ask that no bikes, skates, or motorized vehicles be on the track.  We are attempting to keep the track open for public use but we have already had some vandalism on the sidewalks.

We have had one issue with the track.  The outside lane is narrower than the other five lanes.  This does not affect regular running events as runners run to the inside of the lane.  What it does affect is when we place hurdles on that lane.  There is not support for the outside leg of the hurdle.  The other issue is the taxpayers are paying for and expect a full width track.  How is this issue solved?  The present solution is to place a six inch wide concrete curb around the outside of the track, level with the rubber surface.  This creates a surface for the hurdles to stand on.  This is a positive in that the curb will protect the integrity of the outside edge of the track for many years.  For example, it would be like an asphalt roadway that does not have curbing.  The outside edge of the road begins to crumble  over time depending on traffic.

LINK Leaders announced

The LINK program, which will begin next school year at BHS, has announced its LINK Leaders after many students applied to the program.

The 2010-11 female LINK Leaders will be: Karlee Beach, Alison Berg, Ramie Burkhart, Tayler Christian, Sarah Cigard, Lakyn Clark, Kendra Hedges, Erin Jansen, Heather Karlin, Madelynn Knisley, Claire Peterson, Maddison Phillips, Elizabeth Sigvaldson, and Ann Wallsmith.

The 2010-11 male LINK Leaders will be Jesse Austin, Brandon Baltzell, Shawn Berndt, Trevor Bruce, Clint Chapman, Ethan Horne, Louis Joslyn, Jake Mindez, John Robbs, Ryan Rogers, Will Simmons, Colby Soden, Aaron Vajnar, and Brian Wright.

Sponsors of the group are BHS counselor Melody Hoffsommer, and Science teachers Nikki Burnett and Melissa Strother.

16 BHS students inducted into NHS

The Baldwin High School chapter of National Honor Society inducted 16 new members recently, as well as electing new officers for next school year.

New inductees are Ali Berg, Lakyn Clark, Audrey Dighans, Bree Edmonds, Ally Foye, Abi Hartzell, Louis Joslyn, Zach McElmurry, Andrew Morgan, Paris Nottingham, Ellie Parr, Claire Peterson, Elizabeth Sigvaldson, Chelsea Turk, Nick Waltz, and Kole Young.

The officers for next year will be President Allison Howard, Vice President Colby Soden, Secretary Ann Wallsmith, Treasurer Alex Daffern, Student Council Rep Carson Barnes.

Students who apply for NHS must have a minimum of a 3.65 GPA and are judged for acceptance based on leadership, activities, community service, and academic achievements.

The sponsor for NHS is Katherine Cook.

(in photo, new NHS President Allison Howard)

BHS to start new LINK program

A brand new mentoring program is scheduled to begin next year at Baldwin High School. It is called Link and it is for juniors and seniors to mentor incoming freshman, transfer students and foreign students. Currently the teachers are looking for 26 students. They need two link crew leaders for 8-10 new incoming students. They will help with Freshmen First day and help if any problems with their small group arise during the school year.

Counselor Melody Hoffsommer, science teachers Melissa Strother and Nikki Burnett are in charge of Link Crew.

“Mr. Moseman wrote a grant to send us to go to Connecticut for a Link Conference,” Hoffsommer said. “It was from Sunday to Wednesday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.”

This is the first year for the program so they are still learning how everything should be set up.

“This first year is the trial year, we are going to keep it simple and hopefully the program will grow in years to come,” Hoffsommer said.

The mentors are required to go to a training day on Aug. 17 where they will learn and prepare for the year. They will also be required to be at freshmen first day on Aug. 18 as well as the first dance of the school year. Being required to be at school two full days before the school year starts does not stop students from wanting to be involved.

“Yes, I want to be involved, it will be fun to help the freshmen get adjusted and for freshmen who don’t have older siblings in high school it is harder for them to adjust because they don’t have connections in high school,” sophomore Hayley Schwartz said.

“Yes, I want to because it will be a good experience for us and the new incoming students,” sophomore Adrienne Strobel said.
Some of the students in high school were in junior high when they started the program, W.E.B. which stands for “Where Everyone Belongs.” Link is the same program as WEB, it is just for high school students instead.

The leaders will get to know their 8-10 students in the group and be available to answer questions all year. There might be an issue with attendance and that is where the leader will be told of the problem and they can talk one-on-one with the student rather than have a teacher scold them for not showing up.

Students commented on if they wish the program was up and running when they were freshmen.

“I personally wouldn’t have needed it because I knew what to expect but people who didn’t have siblings would have like it,” Schwartz said.

“I wish I had someone there telling me some of what to expect but I was able to learn a lot by learning on my own,” sophomore Clint Chapman said.

The main purpose of the program is making freshmen, foreign students and transfer students feel part of the school and knowing some upperclassmen before the school year begins.

Story by Claire Peterson, BHS Journalism