Bengal Happenings

No School - May 26, Memorial Day

Bell Schedules

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

Main Office - (406) 324-2200

Website - hhs.helenaschools.org

As we publish the last edition of Bengal Happenings for this year, I want to thank every parent, student, and staff member for making 2024-25 an unforgettable year at Helena High. Below are just a few highlights that showcase our students’ talent, hard work, and Bengal pride.

Academic Highlights

• National Merit Scholars: Eva and Evelyn were named National Merit Finalists and secured National Merit Scholarships for their respective colleges.

• Perfect ACT: One of our seniors earned a perfect composite score on the ACT—an achievement reached by fewer than 0.2 % of test-takers nationwide. This is the second year in a row that HHS has had a student achieve this goal.

• CTE & Fine Arts Excellence:

• Dozens of musicians qualified for the All-State Festival, and their performances in the Capitol Rotunda were breathtaking.

• Culinary students partnered with The Union and area colleges for hands-on experiences.

• Welding students mounted an impressive art show and forged connections with the Ironworkers Union and local companies for internships.

• Construction classes built storage sheds for community members—real-world skills in action.

• Indian Ed for All Opportunities
• The first Bison hunt took place with many of our Native American students, culinary classes, and environmental studies students were able to take part in the incredible ceremony and learn about the importance of the Bison in Montana.
• Rock Your Mocs Week was again successful with all grade levels having a chance to immerse themselves in another culture and learn about values, games, and acceptance.
• Other field trips were held and Pow Wow assemblies attended to help show the amazing cultural aspects borne in the lands in which we now live.

Activities & Athletics

• State-Level Representation: Helena High was, I believe, the only Western AA school to qualify at least one team for every state tournament or playoff system this year—remarkable for the second-smallest AA school in Montana.

• Top Finishes:

  • Boys’ Cross Country – 2nd at State

  • Boys’ Basketball – 3rd at State

  • Conference Championships – Volleyball, Boys’ Basketball, and Softball (our first softball title since 1990)

  • We also had the Western AA Conference Player of the Year in Volleyball in Birdie Heuiser and we are hoping to add more names to this list after this weekend!

• Performing Arts & Academics:

  • Thespian Troupe captured a state championship and multiple individual honors.

  • DECA and BPA members advanced to national competitions.

  • Mock Trial claimed both gold and silver—our sixth state title in the short history of Montana competition.

  • One of our students reached the top six nationally for the National Speech & Debate Outstanding Student Award—the first Montanan ever to do so.

Building Community

• Monthly “Start Your Day the Bengal Way” breakfasts, new family-engagement events, and generous volunteers handing out donuts all contributed to a stronger sense of Bengal community.

• We’ll soon share more about our plans—and the need—for a bond to construct a new Helena High building that matches the excellence happening inside its walls.

Thank you to the community for your support! It is always great to be a Bengal!

A few reminders for seniors and senior families as we get closer to graduation:

• Seniors who have fines can find their name posted on the main office window. You can also see this through the PowerSchool app. All fines need to be paid by 12:00 noon on Friday, June 6 in order to receive your diploma at graduation.
• Seniors are able to start turning in their Chromebooks to the library.
• Seniors should be monitoring PowerSchool closely to make sure grades are accurate and that there isn't anything missing for them.
• Grad Walk will take place on Wednesday, May 28 starting at Bryant Elementary. All students will then go to HMS and then split to their respective elementary schools.
• Grad Practice is at the Carroll College PE Center on Thursday, June 5th starting at 11:15 a.m. Students will be dismissed from school at around 10:45 a.m. We should be finished with practice by 1:00 p.m. Sandwiches and chips will be provided for all graduates.
• GRADUATION! will be on Saturday, June 7 at 11:00 a.m. at Carroll College. A determination of whether the ceremony will be inside or outside will be at 12:00 noon on Friday, June 6. If Graduation is inside, you will need a ticket for entry. Seniors will be given their 9 tickets soon.

Please consider joining us for a celebration of our graduating Native American students! See the flier below with the information.

For the second year in a row, a HHS student earned a perfect score on the ACT! Congratulations to Brady Lay (and Evelyn Callery last year!) for achieving this incredible feat! We know there is a bright future ahead for both of these students!

A few months ago, we highlighted one of our graduating seniors, Layla Riggs as earning the Montana Speech and Debate Student of the Year Award, earning the opportunity to vie for the National recognition. Well, for the first time ever in the State of Montana, Layla has been selected as one of the 6 finalists for the National Award! While we may be a little biased and think she should just win it already, Layla will now interview at the National Speech and Debate Competition in June alongside the other 5 finalists for the chance to be named the National Speech and Debate Student of the Year Award! Good Luck Layla!

As we wrap up the school year, please help remind your students to start bringing back library books, textbooks, or anything else that may have been checked out to them over the course of this school year. Teachers will also start reminding, but the quicker we can get all of this in, the better. Fines will be assigned to those that fail to turn in the materials we have checked-out to them. Chromebooks will stay with students until they graduate, so you can keep those with you.

If you are curious if your child has a fee assigned to them - these could be from Kindergarten all the way through their current school year - there is a wallet icon on thier PowerSchool profile. If you have a question on a fee assigned to your student, please reach out.

5/16-17: TR @ Divisionals - Butte, TN @ Divisionals - Bozeman

5/19 - Mock Trial Competition Night - 6 pm, Lewis and Clark County Courthouse

5/20 - Band Concert - 7 pm, HMS

5/21 - Welding Sculpture and Art Show - 6 pm, HHS

5/22-24 - SB @ State - Great Falls (Game 1 @ 4 pm on 5/22), TR @ State - Kalispell, TN @ State -Bozeman

Yearly Updated Document

May 2025

26 – No School, Memorial Day

28 - Grad Walk

June 2025

7 – Graduation!

9-10 – Semester Testing – S2 Semester Test Schedule

10 – LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

11 – Records Day

Graduation, Wrapping Up the Year, and more!!

As we work our way through the middle of May, we start to get to that feeling of everything wrapping up! Graduation is right around the corner, final projects are starting to be assigned or presented, seniors are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, AP tests are completed, and minus a little rain this week, the weather has not been too shabby! As we do wrap up the school year, we appreciate the support from families in continuing to make sure your child comes to school, helping to push those seniors along to the finish line, and continuing to support our schools.

A reminder as we get to Finals week - please make sure your child is here for each scheduled test. The time schedules are included at the end of this Happenings for your review. If your child is late to a test, there is a chance the teacher may not admit them and they will need to take the test during the make-up testing time. If your child is going to be gone for semester tests, you need to start working with their administrator to gain approval to miss the tests. A plan for taking the test will need to be initiated by the student if this is approved. A student who does not gain this approval is at risk of having the test/final project being put in as a zero, ultimately affecting their grade. Please let us know if you have any questions on this.

Summer School is accepting student requests at this point. If you are needing to use Summer School to recoup some of your credits, please work with your counselor on how to sign up and submit payment on Revtrak for this.

This will be the final time this school year that we check in on some of our content areas. Please check out how our Fine Arts, World Languages, CTE, and Special Education/Student Services courses will wrap up their year. Go Bengals!

Fine Arts (English, Spanish, Swahili)

World Languages (English, Spanish, Swahili)

CTE (English, Spanish, Swahili)

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

Looking for Things to do this Summer?

Speaking of summer...there is plenty that will be going on at Helena High School for students to be involved in! Below are links to the various camps provided by our sports teams.

• Basketball - Girls
• Football - High School Camp Info, Middle School Workout Flyer, Little Guy Camp Info
• Volleyball - Summer Camp Info
• Wrestling - Tiger Wrestling Camp
• Cross Country - Summer Workout Info
• Speech and Debate will be holding a summer workshop in August at Capital High. Dates are tentatively scheduled for August 20-21. Email Coach Jen Hermanson (jhermanson@helenaschools.org) for more information.

If you are looking for a job or internship, consider stopping by and speaking with Ms. Navarrete. There are plenty of opportunities available out there and businesses looking for high school students take on summer tasks!

Library Books Due!

All library books need to be checked-in by May 30.

From our Nurse - Emily Rodway

A friendly reminder that students are spending more time outdoors whether it be for PE class, field trips, or outdoor learning activities near campus. If your student has Spring or Summer allergies, please prepare them with their antihistamine of choice. They can keep some in their backpack if you determine that's safe. Please also have a conversation with your student if they self-carry their emergency medications, like epinephrine auto-injectors or rescue inhalers, to ensure they remember them while preparing for off campus excursions. This time of year, the combo of pollen and getting their hearts pumping outside can really increase the chances of asthma symptoms. Please talk to your teen so they are prepared for these out-of-routine school functions.