AN OPEN FORUM FOR STUDENT EXPRESSION
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LINDA SULLIVAN by Lucie Michel
The owner of the CMR store is there for you since 1989
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hirty-one years have giving her a hard time. Indeed, passed since Linda Sul- the new class schedules impede livan first passed through students from coming as often to the window between classes to ask for their Monster drinks, Rice Krispies treats or whatever other favorite snack can be found in this Ali Baba’s cave. Her Tuesdays and Thursdays tradition of making popcorn has also been carried away by the virus for an uncertain time.
On Oct. 9, Linda Sullivan sells treats to a student of CMR. Photos by Lucie Michel.
“I love seeing all the students, and my favorite part is I watch the freshmen go to senior. I really enjoy that, and they do change a lot.”
“I can’t during Covid. They haven’t given me the OK, and I don’t think that’s going to happen. [...] I have kernels, Charles M. Russell High School’s but can’t make it,” she says. doors, and she still enjoys her routine in her well-known little shop. Even if this year is different from the others, Sullivan always has When asked if things have the same fun doing her everychanged a lot, the lady also day tasks, organizing her shop, known as ‘DECA store Lin- and being useful to the students. da’ answers positively. In fact, she can still appreciate her favorite part of her job, be“The nutrition guidelines have ing the witness of teenagers kicked in, so we are limited in what growing to young adulthood. we can sell, and of course small business way down,” Sullivan said.
“I love seeing all the students, and my favorite part is I watch the But the most important changes freshmen go to senior. I really enSullivan had to face as a Rustler joy that, and they do change a lot.” are happening right now. Like for every other business in this time, the Covid-19 pandemic is
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Rm.
SPANISH
WES PETERSON In comparison to his previous position at a school in Wyoming, Peterson feels a connection with his students here at C. M. Russell High School
New teacher shares his journey of helping students learn a foreign language by Kerrigan Edwards, editor in chief
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y immersing himself in the culture both in South America and by taking Spanish inclusive classes at Montana State University and Middlebury College in Vermont, new teacher, Wes Peterson is ready to take on CMR High School and teach his students everything they need to know about Spanish. Prior to working at CMR, Peterson was in recruitment at MSU Billings. His job was to look for students that would potentially be interested in attending the school. After interviewing for the Spanish position in May, and then accepting the job in late July, Peterson knew that his next move was to prepare for the task in front of him: teaching American students a foreign language. While teaching a foreign language presents some difficulties, Peterson is finding ways to help his students in the best ways possible. “Being patient with their comprehension and their ability to demonstrate their comprehension,” Peterson said, is a challenge for him.
Over the summer, Peterson took courses on how to utilize a new method of teaching a foreign language. “It’s called TPRS. It stands for teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling,” Peterson said. This means that his class revolves around learning through real-life situations and observing spanish through context in writing form. “I taught in Wyoming for 8 years and we had a district defined curriculum. So, we had to make sure that we covered a certain amount of material by certain dates,” Peterson said. His previous school focused more on memorization and grammar. “It’s a challenge. I can see that my students are more ready to speak than how it was taught before,” Peterson said.
Wes Peterson asks questions to his students in his seventh period Spanish class. Photos by Kerrigan Edwards
Carly Beck
Teacher aims to change the world by Madison McMurphey
Carly Beck has very important topics she loves and cares about, and she also wants to carry information about things she wants to stick out for her students. One topic she focuses on is childbirth. “How it occurs and how they take care of themselves and our babies is something I really try to kind of burn in their brains,” Beck said. At the moment she is teaching Child Development 1, and she knows that there are so many kids that don’t know the common question “How are babies made?” ’Just the whole process of how pregnancy occurs -- that’s super important that teens understand how that actually happens,” she said. ”I try to kind of get rid of the myths that go along with that because it’s just an important topic.’’ It’s clear that she cares about the class that she teaches, especially when it comes to sex education and healthy relationships. She said she knows her teaching helps students survive the high school experience without having to deal with the stress of teen pregnancy or abusive relationships. But she doesn’t think the class should be required because students get sex education from their health classes. ‘’I would love it if they would make it required,’’ she added. She said she also likes to teach kids how to cook, but COVID-19 presented some pretty hard challenges, especially when it came to social distancing in the
small kitchens, where up to four students work at any given time. Beck is not entirely new to Rustler Nation, however. “I actually did my student teaching here with Dani Stark, and I loved being here,” Beck said, adding that it has been enjoyable to return and work with some of her former teachers from Great Falls High. She was born and raised in Great Falls, but she now lives in Fairfield with her husband and two boys. She graduated from Great Falls High in 2011. As a child she said she didn’t know what she wanted to do; all she knew was she had a passion to teach. “So I kind of already knew I wanted to teach. I had really good teachers growing up. I just really didn’t know, like when I got to college I didn’t know what I wanted to teach, so at first I kind of thought science or math and then I decided to transfer to MSU Bozeman and I was looking for my options at MSU and I saw they had an FCS program.” ’’I like spending time with my family. I have two little boys, so they always keep me on my toes. I just love spending time with them,” she said. “We also have a ranch that is outside Augusta. We like going there on the weekends and like to get away from our house. We love being out with nature.”
Jennifer Didun Psychologist
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ew school psychologist Jennifer Didun hails from New Jersey. Didun is working on her degree to become a Special Education paraprofessional, whether it be from working with SPED adults, providing home care, or job coaching. “As a paraprofessional, I help carry out things that students need help with.” she said. Despite Didun being in a new environment, she can do a lot more here compared to New Jersey. Didun admits that this year will be a challenge when working with her team and rolling with the punches to help students get what’s best for them. Didun said anyone is welcome to come down to visit and talk to her.
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by Anthony Matury, staff writer
Erin Awtrey English teacher takes on teaching at CMR By Ava Donahue
Erin Awtrey is CMR’s new English teacher all the way from Las Vegas. She graduated from BYU Idaho and proceeded to teach two years in Las Vegas at Las Vegas High School. Now, she has moved back to Montana to teach at CMR. “I grew up in Conrad, about an hour north of here, so I wanted to come back to the area to be closer to my family,” she said. “I also just missed Montana, so after I spent some time in Las Vegas I just wanted to come back.” Awtrey said that being a teacher was always her focus throughout high school, and teaching English was the perfect fit for her. “I was always the kind of kid that liked to read a lot and I liked to write a lot, but mostly I just knew I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. Awtrey followed her aspirations and joined the CMR faculty a few months ago. Her favorite part of teaching English is the students. “I love seeing them every day. I love hearing the responses that they have to things. I love reading their writing. They surprise me every day,” Awtrey said. “They make me laugh, they make me proud, and that’s what I enjoy most.” Awtrey said that her experience with the students has been excellent, and her favorite part of CMR in general is the school song.
Room 215
Jordan Hollern
Former student of CMR joins CMR staff Physics / Room
By Ava Donahue
When Jordan Hollern was a sophomore at CMR, he had Mr. Parsons as his biology teacher. Now, years later, Principal Kerry Parsons is his co-worker. “My sophomore biology teacher was Mr. Parsons, and that was the most influential class I took as a highschooler,” Hollern said. “I’ve always wanted to be a science teacher because I really looked up to him, and he taught me a lot.” Now, Hollern has “completed the circle of life” when he decided to come back to CMR as an adult and teach science. “I always wanted to be a high school science teacher, and this is where I first enjoyed taking science classes so it’s just fitting to come back to where it all began,” he said. Since Hollern graduated in 2001, CMR has definitely changed a lot. “Kids wear pajamas to school now, and you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing sweatpants or socks with sandals,” he said. “We used to dress up nice, and there’s more phones. Everyone lives on their phones instead of in real life.” Hollern says the best part of CMR is the Rustler pride. It was something he grew up with, and now as a teacher at CMR he hopes to spread that Rustler pride to his students. “It’s nice because I remember walking the halls of CMR and how I really enjoyed being here. And now as an adult I’d like to extend that pride and enjoyenjoyment to the students.”
“I think people who like science are kind of naturally curious, like to discover new things and figure out how things work.” by Kerrigan Edwards, editor in chief and Lucie Michel, staff writer When Julie Goodman stepped into a science classroom, she knew it was the right fit for her personality. “I think people who like science are kind of naturally curious, like to discover new things and figure out how things work,” Goodman said. “I guess I just have that type of mindset.” She grew up in Montana, and both of her parents were educators, which, in turn, inspired her to become one. After moving and teaching from Omaha and Nebraska to Arizona for ten years, she came back to Montana and is now doing her first year in CMR teaching earth and space science. To prepare for her incoming students, Goodman went through old materials from past teachers and made sure she had included all of the standard information in her lesson plans. Goodman makes sure to accommodate all of her quarantined students by putting all assignments on google classroom. When necessary, Goodman will adapt her in-class assignments to something that her online students can do from home. While teaching, Goodman maintains an open environment for questions and conversing. “I like to try to ask the kids questions, prompt them to think, try to get them involved, So I’m not just standing in front and telling them information.”
Julie Goodman
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
Justus HilbigCUSTODIAN
On Oct. 21, new engineer Justus Hilbig walks throuigh the Commons. Photos by Justin Bollich.
New building engineer begins journey in the land of the Rustlers
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ustus Hilbig, a new custodian at CMR, is ready to take on the challenges of Covid. “It has ramped up the amount of things we need to do, our awareness, and our overall detail of work. We have to make sure we’re on our A-game every day,” Hilbig said. Despite the increased workload and the challenge of starting work at a new location, Hilbig said he has enjoyed his time so far. “I have nothing but good things to say about everybody at the school. It’s been a treat coming here,” Hilbig said. “I spent a little over a
year at Sunny Side Elementary before I came to CMR, and they were great there as well, but this school is just as great if not better.” Before coming to work as a school custodian, Hilbig worked at Walmart for 19 years. “I realised I wasn’t gonna have much for retirement, so I decided to start looking around for places that had good retirements, and custodian for Great Falls Public Schools has an outstanding retirement,” he said. “I mean at the end of the day somebody has to do the job,
By Justin Bollich Staff writer but if you do it, and you do it well, it just pays off itself basically. It’s rewarding in the fact that doing the job is a good job.” Outside of his time at school he enjoys hunting, spending time with his family, and taxidermy.
Karl Berg Everyone feels they belong in different places, but for teacher Karl Berg, the shop is his home away from home. Berg said he taught for the last seven years southeast of Great Falls at Centerville High School. “I have taught all the shop classes, [including] automotive, hand drafting, welding, and woods,” Berg said he loves being in the shop. Following directions so you don’t get hurt is a big part of being in the classes. He said he had someone stab one of the tires with a screwdriver. “Information you will use later on no matter what you do,” Berg said. “Come try it out.”
Berg assists his woods class while putting a wall together on Oct. 21
LOGAN
Kropp
By Madison McMurphey
CMR grad returns to teach choir CMR graduate Logan Kropp joined his alma mater’s faculty this fall, and he has brought along his passion for music. “I was really involved in choir at CMR. It was something I wanted to pursue,” he said. As he grew up he decided to move from Montana to Washington, where he attended Pacific Lutheran University, which is a 12-hour drive from Great Falls. He decided to go there because the school offers an excellent, four-year choir program. Soon enough he was student teaching. “Right after I was done there weren’t many jobs. There was one elementary school in south Seattle. I was lucky enough to get the job, but I wasn’t trained to teach elementary,” Kropp said. Then Covid struck, and he found himself back in Montana where he was born and raised.
There have been big changes during the pandemic. “The biggest thing is singing in masks. It really cuts down the volume and also how you breathe and you just suck in the masks when you sing,’’ he said. He said ork is fun, but he also enjoys running and spending time with family. “In college I decided to get my life together my senior year. I started losing weight. I lost 60 pounds,” he said. In addition to teaching choir, Kropp is involved in speech and debate. He also plays the piano and teaches guitar.
Lyndy Lyndy Loomis bursts on to the scene to lend a hand...or a book! by David Miller
Lyndy Loomis is a new Rustler in the Media Center this year, and she is bringing another kind, fun-loving personality to the staff. Growing up on a ranch in Simms, Loomis had an outdoorsy and exciting childhood. She attended elementary and high school in Simms, along with her siblings who were grades above her. With pressure from her upperclassman siblings, Loomis said she took charge to do her best in classes. Prior to teaching, Loomis had a career as a mortgage banker, dealing in home loans. After retiring from that, she said she knew she wanted to be working in a school. Along with encouragement from her sisters, all of whom are teachers in Utah, she began her education- related career. “I always thought I should’ve been a teacher,” Loomis said. After a brief stint as an ESL paraprofessional in Fruitland, Idaho was cut short by COVID, Loomis and her dog, Simon, made their way back to Montana, and to Great Falls. Loomis said she came into the Media Center wanting to know everything about it. She has a lot of fun learning everything and came to realize that so much more goes on. Luckily, she has the fantastic media center staff working with her. “We all kinda help each other out,” she said. As the Media Center secretary, she works in whatever area she’s needed. Whether it’s checking books, updating fines, or helping freshmen get their start at CMR, Loomis is a proud Montanan and Rustler who is ready to lend a helping hand.
Loomis
Math
Rhonda McGaugh
Math teacher joins CMR staff
by Anthony Matury, staff writer
Rhonda McGaugh, one of CMR’s math teachers, might seem new, but she’s been around the school a lot longer than today’s students. McGaugh graduated from CMR in 1988. “My advisor suggested that I teach special education” she said. Since then, she’s been a Special Education teacher for 28 years, including teaching Resource Math at North and East Middle Schools, Resource at Valleyview Elementary, and Resource Math and English at Paris Gibson when it was a middle school. Math did not always come easily to McGaugh. “I liked math until 8th grade.” she said. After that, it was confusing for McGaugh until she took a methods class in high school. For McGaugh, along with everyone else, this year will be a challenge. “[I] have to spend a lot more time with making kids wear masks, making sure they have mask breaks, and sanitizing.”
Melissa VanSickle Room 218 by Taylor Willmarth VanSickle brings relationship-based teaching to CMR Melissa VanSickle was one of millions of educators nationwide who scrambled to online teaching last spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With school back in session, VanSickle is excited to continue her relationship-based teaching style as a new English and literacy teacher at CMR. “I’m very much aware of how different everybody’s life is in general, and as far as what they bring back to school,” she said. “I realized after the shutdown how much I enjoy working with kids.” VanSickle understands that there were many students who didn’t learn much during the shutdown, so she believes the transition back to classwork and meaningful educational experiences has been crucial. “I’m really focusing on building relationships with [students] and making sure they feel safe and comfortable in the classroom while still maintaining an expectation for learning,” she said. This year marks VanSickle’s 18th year as an educator. From teaching kindergarten at Riverview Elementary to instructing students in a math lab at North Middle School, VanSickle said that she has always enjoyed helping students reach landmarks and watching them progress as individuals. “I like the little inside jokes that develop within a class, and how each class’s personality is different,” she said. “Even in the short time that I get to see them, I like to see little improvements in writing and literacy.” VanSickle said that it has been challenging to build relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic because of masks and social distancing measures. “I definitely feel badly for students who are new to Great Falls and are trying to form relationships with their teachers and especially with their peers,” she said. “It’s hard to even see what their peers look like.” VanSickle is also excited to be in the building because she is able to share in more experiences with her daughter Taylee VanSickle, a sophomore at CMR. VanSickle said that her transition to CMR has been smooth because of the welcoming atmosphere. “My experience with the staff has been incredible,” she said. “They are all so friendly to me and have such high expectations for themselves. They have been so helpful.”
Tim Patterson
by Marissa McMickle
Everyone excels in different fields, for teacher and coach Tim Patterson, physical activity is his place. Patterson is one of the football coaches, teaches weight training along with health, pe, and taught biology and life science. “I think in a game, a kid coming off the sideline saying ‘wow coach, that works’ after teaching them a technique and they were finally able to use it,” Patterson said. He has taught at the junior college level, but it was high competition. “There’s a bigger impact on the younger people in the high schools.” He said that he feels as if he is where he belongs as far as a career path. A lot of new football players don’t have any idea of what goes into preparing to be competitive, Patterson said “be coachable and ready to work.”
Paraprofessional
Cody Tucker
Tucker facilitates learning for remote teachers Not only is paraprofessional Cody Tucker helping students, he is also making life a little easier for remote teachers. “I’m working with two teachers connecting remotely from Roosevelt, and I’m facilitating all of the in classroom stuff,” he said. Tucker said that he works with science, English, math and biology teachers who are currently remote working from Roosevelt. “I connect with the teachers over Roosevelt. They’re the ones who talk to the students,” Tucker said. His job includes handing out papers, printing out what’s needed and making sure technology is working. Tucker learned about the job from a friend and decided to give it a try. “I have a friend who also works as a para. And
she suggested that I try out for working here as a para,” he said. Tucker’s previous experience includes working at Boy Scout camps. For him CMR has been a good experience. “Thus far, everyone’s been great. All of the faculty has been welcoming. Students have been rowdy, but that’s to be expected of high school aged kids. So thus far, it really has been a pretty good impression,” Tucker said. He said that he most enjoys helping all the students who need it. “I understand that people, especially after the shenanigans from last school year, very well may be further behind, or they’re very well maybe kids that don’t quite grasp the concept. Helping them has always been the highlight of my day,”
Zoe Holscher
First-Year Math Teacher finds her way through Covid-19
hOLSCHER WORKS FROM HOME AFTER BEING QUARANTNED.
As a student growing up in small-town USA, Zoe Holscher never imagined that she would be teaching math to students in a school as big as CMR. After she graduated high school, she left Scottsbluff, a small town in the Nebraska Panhandle, to attend Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Unable to pinpoint a specific career to pursue as a math major, Holscher went to evaluate a classroom. “It was probably about my sophomore year of college when I was trying to figure out what to do with my math degree,” she said. “I went into a high school classroom and just fell in love with it and knew that it was what I wanted to do.” After student teaching in Marcus, Iowa, Holscher set out to find her first teaching job. She noted the difference between her roots in Nebraska and her current position in Great Falls. “It’s different,” she said. “That’s what I like about it.” Holscher said that she has enjoyed working at CMR so far, and she hopes to stay in Montana for at least a few more years. “I like the student involvement and the pride everyone has in the school,” she said. “That’s one of the benefits of being in a bigger high school.” However, with larger schools come more dense classrooms. Holscher said that she wishes she was able to form more personal relationships with students.
“I think I will end up looking for a smaller school,” she said. “As a teacher, I enjoy having smaller class sizes because I get to know my students even better.” Holscher said that there are many struggles that come along with teaching during a pandemic, and she feels bad for the extra burdens that are placed on students who are not able to come to school. “It’s hard for students to keep up with math work just using the videos that I make for them,” she said. “I want them to [keep up] with the class, but I also want to give them grace because I understand that it’s not easy to be at home.” Holscher said that finding a balance between productivity and realism is key. She said she can relate to the difficulties of staying home because she was recently quarantined. “I got the call on Sunday,” she said. “I started recording videos for the sub to show during class.” Holscher said that the planning process for teaching class remotely can be difficult, but she wants to make it fair to the substitute teacher and her classes. As students await the results of their math tests this week, Holscher is hoping for negative COVID-19 test results and a safe return to CMR.