North Branch Area High School

SKOL! and congratulations to Annabelle Lattimore and Andrew Witkowski, the 2024-25 ExCEL (Excellence in Community, Education, and Leadership) Award nominees for North Branch Area High School! The MSHSL ExCEL Award recognizes high school juniors active in school activities, leaders in their schools, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to community service. Annabelle is a 3-sport athlete, choir participant, NHS member, and a peer tutor. She volunteers with Operation Christmas Child. Andrew is a 2-sport athlete, symphonic and jazz band member, knowledge bowl and FTC Robotics participant. He has volunteered at Chisago County Community Center.

Here's photos from FFA week at NBAHS (Feb. 17-21). Students celebrated with a daily trivia question with prizes for correct answers. Students also read books to Education Center students, participated in a medallion hunt with clues each day, and finished the week with Bingo at all the lunches on Friday! It was a huge success for the school's first ever FFA week!

Coming up in Community Ed! Growing Sweet Potatoes in your Home Garden Feb 27 / 6-7:30 pm Chiropractic Care & Wellness For School Age Feb 27 / 7-8 pm Avoid the Pitfalls of Perimenopause/Menopause Virtual Workshop Mar 3 / 6-7:30 pm Fast Family Meals Virtual Mar 4 / 6:30-8 pm Registration here: https://northbranch.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/getprogram/ or call 651-674-1025.

Statebound gymnasts Dakota Esget and Ella Dick were treated to a walking pep rally at the high school yesterday. The two will compete this Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium at 11 am. Best of luck!!!

Thanks to the Snow Court for visiting with students across the district today! At the Ed Center, students greeted the court with a "snowball" fight (wadded up paper), and they were only too happy to join in! After the mayhem, the court answered questions from students.

The NBAHS Knowledge Bowl Varsity 1 team (pictured l to r): Gavin Lien, coach; Aaron Goeltl, junior; Jackson Thelander, senior; Camden Rafftery, senior; Karen Yang, junior; Samantha Nuthak, coach) placed second at the Mississippi 8 Conference Meet on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Zimmerman High School. They scored 85 points, just one point behind the first-place finisher! This same group will be competing next week at the Subregional meet in St. Cloud for a chance to advance on to Regionals on March 4. Good luck Knowledge Bowlers!

REMINDER: The high school spring sports meeting is next Monday at 6 pm. See flier for details about where each sport is meeting.

Tonight's the night! Come one, come all to a FREE fun and entertaining evening with Joe Beckman! Dinner, also FREE, is catered sandwiches from Merchants Cafe. So...win-win! See flier for details and check out Joe's video message to North Branch here: https://youtu.be/5KdEY8o7uM0?si=Cq3FLZYe-6X_x3Xd

SKOL! and congratulations to Chazz Johnson and Layla Verdick! They are your Snow King and Queen for 2025!

Congratulations on qualifying for the MSHSL Class A State Gymnastics Meet, Dakota Esget and Ella Dick! This is Ella's first time qualifying for the state meet. She will compete on beam and vault. Dakota earned her fifth consecutive trip and will look to defend her back to back 2023 and 2024 Uneven Bars Titles and her 2024 All-Around Title. The meet is this Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium at 11 am.

Due to extreme cold morning temperatures, North Branch Area Public Schools will be closed tomorrow, February 18. This includes early childhood programs, school age care, and Community Education programs. Staff should not report, all buildings will be closed. The closure does NOT include after school MSHSL activities. More information will be shared directly with high school activities teams.

The County News Review has a story on NBAHS junior Vince Crudo, who became only the fourth high school student ever to complete the Ford ACE program. He did so in grand fashion too, the fastest to complete the program - Vince did it in half the time as the previous record holder! Read all about Vince here (may be paywalled for some): https://www.hometownsource.com/county_news_review/news/local/crudo-driven-to-complete-ford-program/article_9f298a48-e59c-11ef-b3be-038a34ce3278.html

Coming up in Community Ed! Adult/Child/Infant CPR with AED Feb 20 / 5:30-8 PM Growing Vining Crops Feb 20 / 6-7:30 PM Rubber Stamping of Cards Feb 24 / 7-9 PM Mosaic Butterfly, Dragonfly or Lizard Feb 25 / 6-9 PM 3D Centerpieces Feb 25 / 6:30-8 PM Should I Stay or Should I Go: Steps to Review Your Housing Needs for Today and Tomorrow Feb 25 / 10-11:30 AM Acupressure to Relieve Stress, Anxiety and Insomnia Virtual Workshop Feb 25 / 6-7:30 PM Dino Discovery with Kidcreate Studio (18 months-6 years) Feb 26 / 5-6 PM Registration here: https://northbranch.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/getprogram/ or call 651-674-1025.

Joe Beckman is ready for next Thursday! See his video message here: https://youtu.be/5KdEY8o7uM0?si=rlI32Gxzc4sN0qNT FREE EVENT: Thursday, Feb. 20, 6 - 7:15 pm at NBAHS FREE DINNER INCLUDED: 5:15 - 6 pm See flier for more details!

Treat your Valentine with flowers! Viking Advanced Floral Class is offering single stem flowers for sale to students during lunches Thursday, Feb. 13. Students can purchase roses for $4/stem or carnations for $2/stem. All flowers include a water tube, bow and valentine card. Valentines will delivered Friday, Feb 14 during Block 4. Proceeds fund opportunities for the NBAHS Agriculture students.

Yesterday, representatives of the NBAEF visited NBAPS to announce 2025 grant recipients. Read all about it and see all the photos here: https://www.facebook.com/nbapschools/posts/pfbid025UZBcnYFvBqSYco3z6B1UyvDwnsrHNdEax3TjPbddPoyvjm5eHxgfgsLXJZoAUx5l

NBAPS FTC Robotics is sending two teams to the state FTC Robotics Championships at Burnsville High School, February 14-15! Friday night is inspection and judging with competition on Saturday beginning at 8 am. The two teams are as follows: 7288 (green shirts): RoboGlaciers Rylee Zarbok Ava Gardner Rosina Gilkerson Eliana Smit Tori White 8638 (red shirts): FIRE Moxy Schaal Reid Glover (Gracie) Lucas Meyer-MS Jamison Zarbok-MS Joey St. George-MS Karen Yang Lea Rehm-MS For more details, see the schedule in the photos. SKOL! and good luck to all!

Coming up in Community Ed! Valentine Cookie Decorating Class Feb 13 / 5-7 PM Trees Feb 13 / 6:30-8:30 PM Blueberries in Your Own Garden Feb 13 / 6-7 PM Registration here: https://northbranch.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/getprogram/ or call 651-674-1025.

Due to a power outage, North Branch Area Public Schools is closed today, Feb. 6. This includes early childhood programs, school age care, Community Education programs, and all activities. Staff should not report, all buildings will be closed. Thank you!

Congratulations to these awesome students, they are headed to the DECA state competition! Below are the names of the students, the category they will be competing in, and how they finished at districts. Best of luck at state!: ASM: Automotive Service Marketing - Jacob Laqua (3rd place) MCS: Marketing Communications Series - Brianna Bjerketvedt (4th place) PBM: Principles of Business management - Ella Kuhlman (2nd place) PSE: Professional Selling Event - Brianna Bjerketvedt (2nd place) SDH: Sales Demo Hard - Jacob Laqua (4th place) ESB: Start-up Business Plan - Elizabeth Nelson (6th place) Principles of Entrepreneurship - Elizabeth Nelson (6th place) SEM: Sports and Entertainment Marketing - Ashley Bistodeau (3rd place) Both Valerie Zarbok, and Addyson Lelm are also going to state for "Principles of Finance".