Melstone Monthly Staff

Connie Hjelvik – Advisor

Rebecca Turley-Editor

Charlie Garcia

Jenny Hofer

DiDi Kaya

Emily Jones

Marie Jones

Inside This Issue

Page 2: Kindergarten, New

Students, School Pictures

Page 3: New Students cont.,

Attendance Matters

Page 4: Bus Barn, Foreign

Exchange Students

Page 5: Homecoming

Page 6: Recipe, B-day

Calendar

Page 7: Yearbook Sponsors,

Flu Shot Clinic

Page 8: Cross Country, 4-H

Page 9: BPA, Community

Clean-up

Page 10: FFA, Football, Dress

up Days/Spirit Week

Page 11: Volleyball,

Scholarship News

Page 12: Calendar

We are online at

melstone.schoolwires

Volume 1 September 2014

What’s Up with the Pool?

Submitted by Kathy Eike

“Why didn’t the pool open this summer?” This is the question

everyone is asking.

Unfortunately, there is not a

simple answer.

After being awarded a $48,000

grant from the Montana Coal Board, 2014 started out on a

high note. Bids were received

from a few pool companies, and

in March the bid from Kevin

Witt, owner of McCall, Inc., was accepted.

In June, like all years, volunteers

worked at the pool, attempting to

vacuum and filter it with the old

equipment. The pumps were old

and worn out and simply would not work. The decision was made

not to replace the old pumps,

but to wait on the new equip-

ment.

About this time, it was discov-

ered that the policy of the Coal Board is not to give the grant

money up front. Rather, they

would reimburse the pool after

the work was done. Here is

where the whole deal got compli-cated. Kevin Witt would not or-

der the equipment unless he had

half the money as a down pay-

ment.

The Town of Melstone agreed to

front the pool $21,000 with the understanding they would get

the money back in six to eight

weeks. The check was sent the

first week in July, and the resi-

dents of Melstone waited expect-antly for the new filter equip-

ment to be installed.

By the middle of July, it was dis-

covered that McCall, Inc., had

closed its store on Broadwater Avenue, and Kevin Witt was not

answering his phone and would

not return messages. The fear was

that he had absconded with the

money.

On August 16, I found his home address and knocked on his front

door. I told his wife our concerns

and asked her to have him con-

tact either Tim, Wanda, or me by

the following Monday, or we would be contacting the authori-

ties. He did call Tim, saying he

would try to come to Melstone Au-

gust 22 & 23. As I write this on

September 1, Kevin Witt still has

not produced any pool equipment or any paper work proving he did

in fact even order the equipment.

So, for the first time in 21 years,

the Melstone Community Swim-

ming Pool did not open. I, like all of you, hope this story has a

happy ending.

NO POOL!!!

NOT COOL!!!!

2

Kindergarten: A Very Special Year By Emily Jones

This year there are six special kindergarten kids. Their

teacher is Miss Leah Brence. Their names are Gus Allen,

Ridge Checketts, Maggie Eike, Novalee Metzger, Abygale Myers, and Keegan Rindal. Gus lives here in Melstone,

and he likes to play games. Ridge also lives in Melstone,

and he loves to play sharks in the gym. Maggie lives here

in Melstone, and she likes to make brownies. Novalee

lives in Melstone too, and whenever she is outside, she likes to swing. Abygale lives at Sid Newman’s ranch; she

likes to dance and sing. Keegan lives in Musselshell; he

likes to look at dinosaur bones. Gus’ favorite thing dur-

ing school is to play at recess. Ridge’s favorite thing is

singing “Come Meet Us at the Zoo” during school. Mag-

gie’s favorite thing at school is show and tell. During school days, Novalee likes sliding. Abygale likes swinging

at school. Keegan likes recess and playing outside at

school. We hope their first year is memorable.

Monday September 22nd Be sure to dress up!

New Students By Jenny Hofer

It’s a new year! Melstone School has returned

with a bang. Our school is growing every year,

and this time we have seven new students:

1st grader Austin Myers

is the brother of Rose

Brooks. He’s lived in

Florida and Tennessee

and has come all the

way here to join us in

Montana. His parents

are Brittany and Tom.

As of now, he is living

with Sid Newman.

Sister of

Austin My-

ers, Rose

Brooks has

come to

Montana

for her 3rd

grade year.

After moving

from Lewistown

with his family,

Owen Coslow

has come to

start his 6th

grade year in

Melstone School.

His sister is

Audrey Cowart,

and his parents

are Anna and

Russ Coslow.

Audrey Cowart is

the sister of of

Owen Coslow. She is in 1st grade.

BACK: Ridge, Abygale, Gus FRONT: Maggie, Keegan, Novalee ,

Miss Brence

3

New Students, cont.

Senior, Kayla Jones, is the oldest of

the Jones family. She, her four sisters,

and her parents, Laura and Ken Jones, have come all the way from Arkansas

to live in the town of Melstone.

In the 9th

grade, Marie is

the second

oldest Jones

girl from

Arkansas.

Emily Jones has

come from

Arkansas to live

in Melstone. She

is in 9th grade.

Megan

Jones is the

youngest of

the Jones

girls. She is

in 7th grade.

Attendance Matters! By Connie Hjelvik

Last year the focus of the MBI (School Wide Positive Behavior) Team was “Attendance Matters!” A recent

article in the Billings Gazette, addressed the issue of

absenteeism in

Montana Schools.

The headline,

“Montana last in student attend-

ance,” certainly

sheds light on a

problem that can

have serious consequences. According to the article,

“While the correlation between missed school and low-er achievement is well established, researchers…were

struck by how the trend held in every state, grade level

and student category.” That’s right—students who

miss more school do not do as well on standardized

tests. When Melstone School adopted the four-day week, we

also changed the absence policy. After 8 absences in a

semester, students must appear before the board be-

fore receiving credit. Some absences do not count to-

ward the 8, such as doctor excused illnesses and ap-

pointments as well as unforeseen events involving weather. However, 8 absences may still be considered

excessive considering that is two full weeks of school.

MAPS Testing began on September 9th this year and

will continue until October 15th. Results of these

tests, which are administered both in the fall and again in the spring, will be available for Parent/

Teacher Conferences on October 22nd.

As the Gazette article pointed out, “students who are

chronically absent are more likely to struggle academi-

cally…”

We truly believe “Attendance Matters!”

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23RD

Fall Sports/ Activity pictures with

Crown Photography!!

BPA, FFA,JH Football,

Cross Country and Volleyball

pictures will be taken .

4

This is How We Roll! By Rebecca Turley

If you have taken a drive to the back of the school

lately, you will notice the new bus barn! The 4,999

square foot building started being built after Memori-

al Day and was finished September 2nd. Balocks

started the project by moving all the dirt. The build-ing itself was constructed by Wilsonbuilt Construc-

tion out of Billings. As of now, the building has no

heat but has a concrete floor. All of the route busses

are stored inside, which will help against the wear

and tear. The new bus barn makes it easier for the

bus drivers to clean their busses. With the busses being out of the parking lot, it creates much more

space! If you would like to tour the bus barn, contact

Mr. Haaland at the school.

Foreign Exchange Students By Charlie Garcia and DiDi Kaya

Maybe you wonder who these four people are; maybe

you can hardly read these names, or maybe you are

already friends with them. However, let me help some of you and introduce our new exchange students.

This year we have new four exchange students; they

all are from Europe, and they are exciting to spend one year in our little village, Melstone.

In the following they are going to answer some ques-

tions.

What grade are you in? Z: I am a junior.

Chris: I am a senior.

D: I am a junior.

C: I am a junior.

Tell me something about your

parents.

Z: My mother, Beata Budai, is a phar-

macist. My father, Andras Kollar, is a

truck driver.

Chris: My mother, Susan, handles premature infants. My father, Carsten, is a Civil engi-

neer.

D: My dad, Irfan, owns a restaurant that sells Turk-

ish food, so he is a really good cook. My mom is a

housewife. C: My mom, Dolores, works in a newspaper in my

town (Badajoz). And my dad, Manolo, who unfortu-

nately passed away two weeks ago, worked in a bank

in my village (Barcarrota).

Do you have siblings?

Z: Yes I have a brother (24)

Chris: Yes, a brother (15), and a sister (13)

D: Yep, a brother (15), and a sister (21)

C: Yes, two sisters (17, 14)

What are you favorite subjects?

Z: My favorite subject is American History.

Chris: I like Science.

D: I love history. American History is also very inter-esting. Besides, I like math and actually Agriculture,

because we’re talking about food.

C: I can’t choose one subject because I like all of

them, but I think I like Ameri-

can History.

What sports do you like?

Z: My favorite sport is basket-

ball.

Chris: Right now? Basketball. D: I love basketball, but I have

to wait till the basketball sea-

son begins. As a result, I started playing volleyball

and running in Cross Country. However, I really en-

joy these new sports!

C: I really like tennis, but I can’t play it here. I play volleyball too, and I am going to try basketball, but I

am bad at it, but who cares?

Zsombor Kollar, from Hungray Christopher Roenning, from Norway

DiDi Kaya, from Germany

Charlie Garcia, from Spain

5

HOMECOMING-SPIRIT WEEK 2014 Submitted by Kathy Eike

Dates: October 6th-9th

Events:

Classes decorate a section of the hallway & make a small float

Vote for King & Queen Dress-up days Pep Rally

Decorating:

Grade 7 & 8: Mr.Teni & Mrs. Rindal (decorate the wall by the band room)

Grade 9 & 10: Miss Newman, Mrs. Wacker, Mr. Pierce (decorate the wall by the business room)

Grade 11 & 12: Mr. Eike & Mrs. Hjelvik (decorate

the wall by the English room)

Floats:

The combination grades will also make a float, hopefully something that can be rolled in to the gym. Suggestions are to use a kid’s wagon, a shopping cart, or a table on wheels.

Rules:

Classes can get started on the wall and float the last week of September. Decorating should be done be-fore or after school. The amount of class time devoted to these projects will be limited. Classes will only decorate the door and the wall next to the door for a total of 14 feet. Deadline for completion is Thursday, October 9th at 8:00 a.m. The THEME FOR 2014:

“It’s Out of This World”

Prizes will be awarded for Grand Champion wall & float.

King and Queen:

Each class, grades 9-12 will nominate one girl & one boy.

All students 7-12 will vote, and the King & Queen will be announced during the Pep Rally on Thursday @ 3:00.

Dress up Days are listed on pg. 10.

Foreign Exchange Students, cont.

What is your favorite food?

Z: Everything which is a meal.

Chris: My favorite food is sushi.

D: First you have to know that I love

food, except Mc Donald’s or such fast

food stores. Moreover, I really like Turkish food and I am going to try some recipes

here in Melstone, but it is difficult finding all the

ingredients. But I give my best! Foods I like here

in Montana, are tacos, pizza (from Pizza Ranch),

and salmon (made by Kathy). C: I love Spanish food, like omelett or paella. But

I also like Kathy’s food.

Are there any big differences between your

country and here?

Z: The biggest difference is the population. Chris: They are similar but here, in Melstone,

you are more separate from the stuff.

D: Oh yes! I am from Berlin (the capital of Ger-

many) that has more than three

million inhabitants. I really couldn’t believe that the Melstone School has only 80 pupils. Compar-

ing this to my school (1400 pupils), it was a little

shock for me. A big difference also was that

sports have such an importance for the school.

Back in my home country the sports activities

aren’t offered by the school. We have to search for a team that is near. So staying 11 hours here

in school is very new for me.

C: I think the culture and people, and then in

Spain you are always out and you can be on the

street with your friends. The food is different too, but I like it. I mean, I came here to learn about

another culture.

Last but not least, what do you like most

about Melstone?

Z: I like the people of Melstone, and I also like this small town; it is really friendly.

Chris: I like the hospitality.

D: Honestly, I love the school here while I hated

the school in Germany. Besides I am so happy

being here in Melstone, because the people are so lovely and helpful. Thank you!

C: I like how they know each other, and I like the

Café/Bar too!

We are very happy to have all of our foreign ex-

change students and thank their families (Bill &

Jennifer Bergin, Ricki & Jason Grebe, and Kathy & John Eike) for hosting them. We hope you en-

joy your year in our “little” village.

6

Josh Jorgenson

Owner/Operator

P.O. Box 887

Roundup, MT 59072

Office (406) 323-4724

Email: bullmtntrash@live.com

Www.bullmountainsanitation.com

Bull’s

Eye Plus

Windshield Repair Vickie Stensvad

Melstone, MT 59054 (406) 358-2238

Or inquire at the Lazy JC (406) 358-2413

First Aid for your Windshield

Do you want to try a delicious German dessert?

This recipe is a family tradition and I want to

share it with you. Since you have the dough, you

can be creative and roll your pastries as YOU

want: hearts, croissants, plain circles.

Ingredients: Dough: 4 cups flour 1 1/3 cups butter 2 eggs (only the white of them) 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla flavor Inside: 2 apples (golden delicious) Cinnamon Walnuts Powdered sugar

Directions: For the inside: 1. Peel and grate the apples 2. Cook them for 5 minutes+ then put some cin-namon and chopped walnuts in it For the dough: 1. Put flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla fla-vor in a bowl, and mix it with your hands until the dough is as soft as the bottom of your earlobe 2. Roll the dough up in a circle that has the size of a cup 3. Make it into a triangle 4. Put some of the topping on the triangle dough 5. Roll it beginning by the larger end up to the

shorter end so it looks like a croissant

Put the pastries into the oven (350 degrees) and

bake about 10 minutes or more.

If you want, put some powdered sugar on the top,

and enjoy your German dessert!

Submitted by DiDi Kaya

Apple-Cinnamon-

Walnut Pastries

December Calendar

Current Sophomore Calendars

have an incorrect December

page. Anyone who would like to

have a corrected version may

stop by the school to pick up the

correct page from Mrs. Wacker.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

7

Carter’s Plumbing and Heating P.O. Box 201 Roundup, MT 59072 406-323-2877

Thank you to the 2013-14

Yearbook Sponsors

Jakes Garage

Walkers Pump Service, Inc.

Julie Spencer

Wes & Kim Reynolds

Mike & Karen Stroh

Ty & Becky Checketts

Bull Mountain Sanitation

Roger & Sherrie Mack

Leah Medina-Cabrera

Tami Singh & Rowdy Burns

The Shear Shack

Wanner's Weddings

Alan & Mikel Hougen

Kelly & Jody Haaland

Kicker Sawmill

Brent & Connie Hjelvik

Jody & Tamaira Wacker

Charlie & Becky Jennaway

Melstone Bar & Café

Pep Club Advisor Kathy Eike

Monte & Linda Meredith

Lazy JC

Bill & Jennifer Bergin

Jason & Ricki Grebe

J.R. Pierce

Paul & Rachel Hofer

CENTRAL MONTANA

HEALTH DISTRICT

SEASONAL FLU SHOT CLINIC

MELSTONE PUBLIC SCHOOL

COMING IN OCTOBER

WATCH THE NEWSLETTER

FOR DETAILS

8

4-H Fair

Keggie Koulee had a great fair with many Grand Champions, Reserve Champions, and Pen of Three awards! Below is Paul Bergin who received a Champion of Champions award. He took his project to the Eastern Montana Fair and received a Champion of Champions ribbon there as well.

The Keggie Koulee 4-H club will be sell-ing RADA knives again. So be watching

for a 4-H member to contact you!

The Club would like to thank the community for all the support.

Congratulations to BreElle for winning the Malta

Athletic Club Invitational Cross Country Meet and the Winnett Girls Team placing 2nd overall!!

Girls: BreElle–19:59

DiDi–22:36

Rebecca–31:59

Kaylee–33:29

Boys: Zsombor-19:44

Chris-21:06

Riley-23:05

Ty-28:20

Kickin’ It for Cross Country By Rebecca Turley

The time has come again: a new school year, new

faces, and a new Cross Country team! The Winnett/

Grassrange/Melstone Cross Country team is at it again! They are determined and running like chee-

tahs. There are many new changes this year. Win-

nett has a new coach, Mr. Walt Stevens. Mrs. Wack-

er is coaching again this year for Melstone and is

excited as ever. She has many new runners both High School and Jr. High. There are ten high school

students running: Zsombor Kollar, Christopher

Roenning, Tyler Vohs, Rebecca Turley, DiDi Kaya,

Kaylee Adams, BreElle Wacker, Riley Pinkerton,

Charlie Garcia, and Joe Griswold. From the junior

high there are five chomping at the bit! The young-

sters are Paul Bergin, Shayden Cooke, Bryce Grebe,

Koye Rindal, Teigan Schiffer, Draya Wacker, and

Harry Griswold. They are all excited and ready to

compete!

On September 5th the time had come: Ty, Christo-

pher, Riley, and Joe embarked on the journey to Riv-

er Front Park in Billings to compete in the first meet

of the season. Unfortunately, the girls were unable to make it because of a conflict with volleyball. The

boys were determined and were not disappointed!

The day started with a walk through of the three

mile course; then the gun shot, and they were off!

The many people cheered the runners on! They boys did great! Christopher’s time was a 20:26; Riley’s

time was a 25:04; and Ty ran a 25:31! All times were

substantial improvements from their practice times!

Cross Country Schedule September 20 Colstrip

September 26 Lewistown

October 4 Billings

October 11 Joliet

October 18 Roundup

October 25 State Meet

Helena

ACT TEST REGISTRATION

DUE FRI. NOV. 8th

TEST SITE

197400

TEST DATE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th

9

JAKE’S GARAGE

Larry & Pam Zaharko

Tim DeJaegher— Mechanic

Conoco Products– General Repair Serving the Melstone area since 1951

Melstone, MT 59054 406.358.3289

Come on down! Hours of Operation

Mon— Sat 7 A.M - Noon 1 P.M. - 6 P.M

BPA: Back in Business Submitted by Rebecca Turley

Melstone BPA is back in busi-ness! We are so excited for the

school year! The year started out

with BPA officer interviews. Our

new officer team consists of

Laura Hansen, President; Ellie

Hansen, Vice President; Valencia Medina-Cabrera, Sec-retary; BreElle Wacker, Treasurer; and Rebecca Turley,

Reporter/Historian. The girls are excited for a spectac-

ular year!

We have several returning members and numerous

new members. There will be two seniors: Ellie and Laura Hansen; six juniors: Aspen Checketts, Kaylee

Adams, Rebecca Turley, DiDi Kaya, Charlie Garcia,

and Zsombor Kollar; one lone sophomore, BreElle

Wacker; and four freshman: Gracey Adams, Joe Gris-

wold, Corbin Cook, and Valencia Medina-Cabrera.

The first event on the agenda will be the BPA/FFA Community Clean Up that is scheduled for the 27th of

September! We like to thank the community for all

they do to support our members and the school.

Thank you and we are looking forward to an amazing

year of BPA!

2013-2014

Yearbooks are here

Sale Price $35 If Purchased on or before September 19 th

Regular Price $40

Community Clean-Up

Sept 27th 11:00-2:00 Weather Permitting

If You Have Any Questions

Contact Mrs. Wacker or Mr. Pierce

NO APPLIANCES, PLEASE!

10

SPIRIT WEEK DRESS UP DAYS October 6-9

Monday: Pajama Day

Tuesday: Cat/Griz Day

Wednesday: Gender Switch Day

Thursday: Blue & Gold Day

Boy & Girl winner each day—One in

K-6 & one in 7-12

2014 Touchdowns By Jenny Hofer

Sports--Melstone’s number one entertainment! They’ve

started up again. The junior high football team is in a

co-op with Roundup, and Jim Browning is their coach. The little team consists of the Roundup boys and four

of our own students (Brody Grebe, Davon Meredith, Ty

Meredith, and Gus Adams). Practice started on August

25th at the Roundup field.

On Monday, September 8th, the boys hit the road and traveled to the Roundup field for a game against Shep-

herd. The score ended 23-0 with Shepherd making

three touchdowns.

Saturday, September 13th was Adams’s first game.

Once again, it was at Roundup’s home field, but this

time their challenger was Columbus. Un-fortunately, they lost. The boys then

headed home, looking forward to Tues-

day, September 16th.

When Tuesday finally came around,

Huntley was waiting for them at the Huntley field. The boys were victorious

with a final score of 20-0. Brody, Devon, and Ryder all

scored. Their next game is Saturday morning in

Roundup against Red Lodge. Good luck, boys!

Where When Against

Roundup Sept 20 Red Lodge

Columbus Sept 27 Columbus

Red Lodge Oct 4 Red Lodge

Joliet Oct 6 Joliet

Hardin Oct 14 Hardin

Learning Links

Mondays, Tuesdays

and Thursdays

3:30-5:15

Watch for info. on the

Corn Maze

FFA News Submitted By Kaylee Adams

The FFA chapter went to DLS on September 10th in

Shepherd. We are happy to see new faces and returning

FFA members this year. Our new officers are Ellie Han-

sen (President), Laura Hansen (1st Vice President), Re-

becca Turley (2nd Vice President), BreElle Wacker

(Secretary), Kaylee Adams (Historian/Reporter), and Ri-

ley Pinkerten (Sentinel). We are happy to be serving as

our 2014-2015 chapter officers. The community clean-

up has been rescheduled to Saturday September 27th.

We look forward to an exciting year of FFA events and

activities.

11

SCHOLARSHIP

NEWS Carolyn Tecca Memorial

Scholarships were awarded to

the following students: ALYSSA HJELVIK DYLAN HJELVIK

Students must maintain a 3.25 GPA and be enrolled full-time in order to be eligible for one of these scholarships. Five more scholarships will be available

next spring!

Field Day

When: September 25th, Thursday

Who: All students from Kindergarten to

6th grade. Preschool age children (age 3

to 5) will have a chance to participate.

Lunch beginning at 11:00.

Events for Field Day begin at 12:15

The events for preschool children will

begin at 2:30.

Melstone 2014 High School

Volleyball Schedule

Date Where Opponent

Friday, Sept. 19 Home Denton

Saturday, Sep. 20 Away Hysham Tri.

Tues., Sept. 23 Home Grass Range/ Winnett

Friday, Sept. 26 Away Winifred

Sat., Sept. 27 Home Hobson

Thursday, Oct. 2 Away Denton

Tuesday, Oct.7 Away Broadview/ Lavina

Friday, Oct. 10 Away Grass Range/ Winnett

Saturday, Oct. 11 Home Harlowton

Friday, Oct. 17 Home Winifred

Tuesday, Oct. 21 Away Rosebud

Thursday, Oct.23 Away Hardin

Thurs., Oct. 30-Sat. Nov. 1 District

Away Harlowton

Thurs.,Nov.6-Sat.,Nov.8 Divisional

Away Fergus HS

Scores for games so far this season are as follows:

Broadview-Lavina 25-12, 25-6, 25-17

Hobson-Moore- Judith Gap 25-7, 25-11, 25-12 Harlowton 25-16, 25-21, 25-16

Rosebud 25-14, 25-10, 26-24 (Melstone Wins)

Spike It! We Like It! By Marie Jones

Practice stated August 15. The volleyball team has 11

players: Ellie Hansen, Laura Hansen, Rebecca Turley,

Didi Kaya, Charlie Garcia-Benegas, BreElle Wacker, Va-

lencia Medina-Cabrera, Gracey Adams, Megan Brewer,

Abby Hansen, and Renee Parsons. Miss Brence is the

volleyball coach and said, “Even though we are a young

team, we continue to show huge improvements.” Miss

Brence and her volleyball team are really excited to have

the two exchange students and three 8th graders join

their high school volleyball team.

12

Sun

M

on

Tu

e

We

d

Thu

Fri

Sat

1

2 VB

@ D

ento

n

3 No

Scho

ol

4 5/6 & 7/8

Foo

tball @

Jo

liet C

C @

Billin

gs

5 6

7 VB

@

Bro

ad/Lavin

a 8

9 1

0 No

Scho

ol

VB

@ W

inn

ett

Ran

ge Grass

11 C

C @

Joliet

Ho

me V

B vs.

Harlo

12

13

14 7/8

Foo

tball @

H

ardin

15 En

d o

f 1st Q

TR.

16 M

EA

No

Scho

ol!!

J.H.B

.B. H

om

e vs. Terry

17 M

EA

No

Scho

ol!!!

18 C

C @

R

ou

nd

up

JH

BB

@

Ro

sebu

d

19

2

0 Start o

f 2nd

Q

tr.

21

VB

@

Ro

sebu

d

22 Paren

t/Teach

er C

on

ferences

23

VB

@ H

ardin

2

4 No

Sch

oo

l!! JH

BB

@

Ekalaka

25 State C

C

Meet H

elena

JHB

B H

om

e vs. P

levna

26

27

28

29

30

31 Sch

oo

l Day

JHB

B vs.

Jord

an

District V

B. @

H

arlo

Octob

er