Bengal Happenings

Bell Schedules

Don't forget to "Spring Forward" on Sunday, March 9! Set your clocks forward 1 hour!

Attendance - hhsattendance@helenaschools.org; (406) 324-2211

Main Office - (406) 324-2200

Website - hhs.helenaschools.org

As we hit the road running into March, schedules start to get busier, the weather starts to turn to Spring, and planning for the end of the 2024-2025 school year and the start of the 2025-2026 school year are in full swing. There are plenty of exciting things on the horizon and we are excited to see how the remainder of the year goes at HHS! Congratulations to our girls' basketball team on punching their ticket to the state tournament next weekend and thank you to Helena Orthodontics for donating tickets for an amazing student crowd on Thursday night! I also would like to thank Ahman Doubek Real Estate and Clearwater Granite for their support all season in donating pizzas. We have an amazing community supporting our students - thank you for always supporting our Bengals!

As we move into this week, we check in on the March units and assignments in Social Studies, Science, Physical Education/Health, English, and Math.

Social Studies (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Science (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Physical Education/Health (English, Spanish, Swahili)

English (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Math (English, Spanish, Swahili)

We are excited to offer our first Parent Learning Night on Thursday, March 20. The night will start at 5:00 p.m. with pizza and refreshments available in the Cafeteria. From there, we will have two hours of sessions that we hope will offer great insight to how we operate as a school, resources available in our community, and continue to build strong connections between the school and families. We hope you are able to make this event and learn alongside us!

The schedule for the night is linked here.

Descriptions of the sessions can be found here.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the first Community Night on Tuesday. If you missed the meeting, the video has been uploaded to the Helena Public Schools Facebook page and can be viewed there. We will have more of these meetings and tours over the next few months - we look forward to having you join us for those!

In a recent District 3 Student Council meeting, two of our students were elected by their peers to serve on the District Board! Congratulations to Taylor Larsen for being elected as the District 3 Historian, and Ella Carlson for being elected as the District 3 Secretary! Way to represent HHS, ladies!

This week, Mr. Hollow, Mr. Driggers, and Mr. Pepper took a team of 14 students to compete in the State Science Olympiad Competition held at MSU in Bozeman. Our team had a great showing, with students earning the following placings:

2nd Place Bungee Drop - James Tran and Saturn Delaney

3rd Place Codebusters - Paul Harmon and James Tran

3rd Place Experimental Design - Lily Oplinger, Gavin Payne, and Edward Woolf

6th Place Chem Lab - Mickey Nelson and Grey Gildroy

6th Place Optics - Paul Harmon and Lily Oplinger

Great work everyone!

Congratulations to Ethan Taylor - Impromptu Speaking, and Maverick Franklin - Expository Speaking, for being selected as coach selections to compete at the National Speech and Debate Tournament this coming June. This brings the total to seven local students competing in the National Tournament! Great job Bengals!

College Vaccinations

For students being away from home and living in the dorms for the first time, college life can be fun and exciting. However, high stress and lack of sleep can also decrease your student's ability to fight off infection. There are several vaccines that are recommended for young adults entering college, vo-tech, and the workforce.

Meningitis

The Meningitis infection causes the membrane around the brain and spinal cord to become inflamed. While rare, this infection is very dangerous. There are two Meningitis vaccinations your health care provider may offer, meningococcal conjugate vaccine and serogroup B meningococcal vaccine. Please visit with your doctor about which one is appropriate.

Human Papillomavirus

The HPV vaccine is important because it protects students from cancers caused by the HPV virus. Most people with this infection will have no symptoms or health problems. In some people, it can cause cancer. It is recommended for both males and females.

Vaccination Records

Some colleges will accept the immunizations listed on the student's transcript, others will not. Now is the time to start that "adult" file for your kids to take with them. This should contain copies of all their important documents like birth certificates and immunizations. If you would like a copy of the certified immunization record your student has on file with the school, please ask your student to stop in the health room.

The last day to register for an AP Exam is on March 14 by 3:00 p.m.Students may check their exam status on College Board. If the exam status is “No” or “Undecided,” an exam has NOT been ordered.

Register and pay at: https://helenaschools.revtrak.net/helena-high-school/helena-hs-ap-exam/

Further details about the AP Exam testing location and requirements will be communicated via email as the test date nears.

Reach out to the AP Coordinator with any questions: Ellaina Staldine, estaldine@helenaschools.org, 324-2224.

Starting March 10, counselors will be visiting classrooms to start our registration process for the 2025-2026 school year. Students will be reminded of their current credit status, graduation requirements, and review course options that they can request for next year. For the next three weeks, counselors will visit classrooms on Mondays to present the information, students will then bring home the registration sheet to review with parents, and then enter requests on Friday of that week. The registration guide is online this year on the Counseling Page under registration.

The timeline for each class is as follows:

March 10 - Junior Presentation, March 14 - registrations due

March 17 - Sophomore Presentation, March 21 - registrations due

March 24 - Freshmen Presentation, March 28 - registrations due

Please reach out if you have any questions.

3/10 - Spring Sports Start

3/11 - Choir Concert - 7 pm - HMS

3/13 - Orchestra Concert - 7 pm - HMS

3/13-15: State BB @ MSU Bozeman - BBB Game 1 - 10:30 a.m. vs Senior, GBB Game 1 - 1:30 pm vs West

3/18 - Band Concert - 7 pm - HHS

3/19 - Career Fair 9am-12pm - HHS Gym

Yearly Updated Document

March

10-14 – Junior Registration Period

10 – First Day Softball, Tennis, Track

17-21 – Sophomore Registration Period

19 – Career Fair

20 - Parent Learning Night - 5:30 p.m. start at HHS

24-28 – Freshmen Registration Period

28 – End of 3rd Quarter

31-April 4 – No School, Spring Break

Checking in on..

Bengal families, now that we are thawing from big snow and cold snap this week, be thinking about getting those rafts out with the upcoming melt! The snow is needed and I know we are all hopeful that we continue to get enough moisture throughout the coming months to help with fire season this fall. With that, though, I would like to extend another invite for parents and community members to join us on Thursday, February 27 starting at 8:00 a.m. to hand out donuts and scones to our students as they make their way into school that day. 3rd Quarter Mid-Terms are right around the corner (February 28). We will be starting an after school tutoring opportunity soon - more information will be shared out shortly on which days this will be available.

This week, let's also check in on our Fine Arts, Career and Technical Education (CTE), Student Services, and World Language Courses:

World Language (English, Spanish, Swahili)

CTE (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Fine Arts (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Student Services/Special Education (English, Spanish, Swahili)

Counseling Center News

The HHS Counseling Department will be hosting a pair of Parent Night events as an opportunity to share information about upcoming registration, graduation requirements, dual credit opportunities, and more! Save the date:

Junior Parent Night - March 10 - 5:30 p.m. - HHS Little Theater

Sophomore Parent Night - March 17 - 5:30 p.m. - HHS Little Theater

Doors open at 5:00 p.m. If you are unable to attend, please know that materials will be available to view online at https://hhs.helenaschools.org./counseling-and-career-guidance/parent-nights/

DECA Qualifiers

A few weeks ago, our DECA students competed in the State DECA Competition with nearly all of our competitors qualifying for the state competition in some aspect. Congratulations to our DECA National Competition qualifiers:

• Michael Leyva and Mackenzie Groom - School Based Enterprise (Catty Shack Gold Recertification)
• Elevate Academy - Jalyn Gardipee and Danny Lester
• Aspire Academy - Lane Swift and Rylee O'Connell
• Thrive Academy - Ella Carlson and Claire Eaton
• Layla Riggs - Human Resources
• Meadow Brown-Wilson - Principles of Marketing
• Grace Liska - Marketing Communication
• Cate Hardan - Hotel Management
• Hudson Stroman - Retail Management
• Olivia Cook - Principles of Marketing

We also would like to again congratulate Mackenzie Groom for being selected as a State DECA Officer and Mr. Kacey Askin for being named the Montana DECA Advisor of the Year!

National Speech and Debate Association District Student of the Year

Each year, the Speech and Debate coaches in our region are given the opportunity to nominate graduating seniors to be named the District Student of the Year. This honor is given to those who best demonstrate the Code of Honor: humility, equity, integrity, respect, leadership, and service. This year, the award winner is one of our amazing seniors, Layal Riggs! Layla will now be eligible to earn the William Woods Tate, Jr. National Student of the Year Award. Congratulations Layla on this well deserved honor!

National Merit Finalists!

Continuing a great tradition at HHS - we were excited to alert two of our students that they have earned the honor of being National Merit Scholarship Finalists! Congratulations to Evelyn Callery and Eva Skibicki for their hard work in the classroom and for challenging themselves with extracurricular activities during their time at HHS. Congratulations you two!

Night to Shine

If you have never been able to attend Night to Shine, I highly suggest you put the Tuesday after President's Day on your calendar for next year. At a time when we can all use reminders on the amazing talent our young adults have, and why public education can be such an amazing place for students to try something new or find their calling, Night to Shine serves as one of the great opportunities for them to showcase their talents. In a night where the vast majority of the acts consisted of Helena High students showing off their talents - it left all in the audience awestruck at what our students can do. From covers of classic songs, to the formation of new bands, and some incredible choreography about being a muppet or a man, our students truly shone on Tuesday. Great job to all of our students who were involved in the many aspects of this event!