Merry Christmas to our students, staff, families, partners, and community members!
A great day was had by 6th graders on their first field trip to the Children's Theatre Company last Thursday. Students couldn't stop talking about how cool it was to see the play "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
Kindergartners roamed the halls of the Ed Center and the Middle School on Thursday, treating all within ear shot to Christmas carols. Thanks kids for ringing in the season! See a video at the NBAPS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nbapschools
We still believe!
Happy Holidays!
The Viking Newsletter - December 2023 is now available. Click here to read: https://www.smore.com/esfw2
NBAMS was honored to host a Christmas reunion between Avy and Vayda Kester on Thursday. Avy, a 2023 NBAHS graduate, left to serve in the Navy shortly after graduation. She and her sister had not seen each other in six months, until Avy walked into gym class today to surprise Vayda. Also present were parents Crystal and Christopher, and little brother Cort.
The photos tell the rest of the story. Welcome home Avy!
Preschool welcomed parent volunteers for a winter celebration last week. They completed stations including a mosaic snowflake craft, cookie decorating (cookies and frosting prepared for us by NBAHS ProStart students) , dance party and a snowball fight using the parachute!
It took teamwork by kindergarten classes to make the cereal box domino chain during Launch last week with Mr. Grund, who used the opportunity to teach STEM concepts to students. Preschool classes also created domino chains. Cereal is being delivered to the food shelf this week!
Sixth graders just finished a Mixed Media Bee Collage project in art class. They were challenged to draw two bees from two different angles, use paint and bubble wrap to make at least one honeycomb, and add an “extra” idea to complete their scene. The free-choice extra component really allowed their creativity to shine! Some ideas included a smoker, a gnome, mushrooms, bears and elements from nature. Great work sixth graders! Middle school art teacher is Lee Ann Falen.
Kids are having a ball in esports!
NBAPS had two players that participated in the Chess League Tournament. In order to qualify they only took the top 16 players from chess out of 39 players across the state. Vincent C. finished 8th in the regular season and Aidan H. finished 10th in the regular season. In the chess state tournament they did a double elimination bracket, Aidan finished 5th in the state playoffs and Vincent finished 7th. Great job Aidan and Vincent!
Two players were invited to the All Star weekend coming up the weekend of December 15 - 17. Landon M. participated in MineCraft and Moxy S. participated in Rocket League. Congratulations to both of them!
Also congratulations to Landon and Moxy for qualifying for the state tournament as well. They teamed up to qualify for both MineCraft and Rocket League that will take place on January 11 and 13. Best of luck to both of them as they head to state!
All other players did a great job with the other games as well. Being their first year they were very competitive and continued to improve as the year went on.
Spring League is right around the corner, starting the week of February 19! Look for more information in the upcoming Community Ed winter brochure.
To read "Winter Wonders: Celebrating Cheer and Community at NBAPS," Supt. Sara Paul's latest column, click the following link and scroll down: https://www.isd138.org/page/contact-the-superintendent
Thanks to our guests for a great Patron Tour on Friday. At Sunrise, we were joined by enterprising LWC students there to prepare Viking Vittles packs for students. The next Patron Tour is Friday, Feb. 2. If you'd like to join us, contact Pat Tepoorten at ptepoorten@isd138.org.
NBAHS hosted the 5th annual Know-Bowl-Ation this week! This Knowledge Bowl meet is holiday-themed and hosted by NBAHS, with questions written by previous and current coaches. In all, 30 different teams competed from 11 different schools.
All of our North Branch teams did well, and our highest placing team was North Branch 7 who placed in third (pictured in the photo with their trophy!) The members of that team are from left to right: Elinor Tetzlaff (12), Camden Rafftery (11), Jackson Thelander (11), and Hendrick Schroeder (12).
Congratulations to all the NBAHS Knowledge Bowl teams!
All the choirs sounded amazing at the NBAMS choir concert last night! There were performances from the grade 7 choir, grade 8 choir, and the MS Show Choir. A special thank you to NBAHS flutist Ms. Emily Darst for joining the 8th grade choir on Turtle Dove!
Futbol is life! NBAHS senior Danna Garcia Velazquez has been given the incredible opportunity to play professional soccer in Mexico, starting in January. She will be playing for the Atletico de San Luis sub19 team. Danna was asked to explain a little more about this opportunity and this is what she had to say:
"It was a long process of tryouts and about 45 selected girls fighting for a spot on the team. I got chosen with a few other girls to practice for the team for a week so we could compete for an official spot with the girls already on the team. Later on I got told that I made the Atletico De San Luis u19 team. They are a semi-professional team in Mexico which is a huge opportunity to play in bigger teams I want to thank my parents who really had a lot to do with this. They always supported me through my decisions. I also want to thank my high school coach Josh Kopp, he really pushed me to fight for anything I wanted. Finally I want to thank another one of my coaches who passed away about 3 years ago, he was like a dad for me and has coached me since I was tiny. He really believed in me and was always there to pick me up when nobody had trust. He is my inspiration to keep playing. After all that was said I am off to Mexico next week and will be training for the official start of the season in January. "
Congratulations Danna!!!
Students in Mrs. Cook’s floral design classes have been working hard spreading holiday cheer this season. After a creating their own holiday themed centerpiece and Evergreen wreath, they were tasked with creating one additional arrangement to donate either to the Chisago county Senior Center or community member of their choosing. Students donated over 30 arrangements to the community center, and many others to staff members, family members, and neighbors.
North Branch FTC Robotics teams have qualified for state championships in February! The 7288 RoboGlaciers (green), 8636 FIRE (red) and 8637 Glitchy Bears (brown) began practicing and building their robots in September and attended tournaments in November and December. Congrats!
Last night, The NBAMS band department hosted its holiday concert! The show included performances by both the 7th and 8th grade bands, as well as a combined number for the big finale. The students did an incredible job performing, and showed amazing growth in their abilities!
To read "Experiencing Joy Through Partnership," Supt. Sara Paul's latest column, click the following link and scroll down: https://www.isd138.org/page/contact-the-superintendent
NBAMS art students are collaborating with the Muddy Cow! Seventh grade art students created a food-themed, layered paper collage project with an emphasis on shape, color and depth. They were given the option of creating a menu item inspired by local North Branch restaurant, the Muddy Cow, as their goal for the project and 12 of the students took advantage of this opportunity. These projects are on display at the restaurant and will be there until Christmas. Pictured (l to r): Muddy Cow general manager Tiffany Kafer, and NBAMS art teacher Lee Ann Falen.
