Christmas Vacation is only two days away! One more day of school and Christmas Concerts (woot woot), then we're off.  I'm not quite sure if the teachers are feeling well because so far I haven't been given loads of assignments or any big projects to do over break. Although they still have tomorrow to release their wrath.  So now, all we can do is hope and wait.........

Christmas Banquet 2011

Here's a few pictures of yesterdays banquet.  We had it in the conference room at the Montana Conference Office which was decked out with black lights. On the tables were glowing potato chips and glowing punch.  Each table had its own live game of clue.  During our meal. Someone at each table was murdered and the rest of the time was spent trying to solve the mystery of who murdered them.  I had a blast and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did.

Only 3 more practices untill our first basketball game! The game is Tuesday, December 6.  We will be playing the Gallitan Valley Homeschoolers. Our arch rivals.  Be sure to come in your blue and gold ready to be loud and proud, cheering on the Eagles.
Another thing Im excited for is the Christmass Banquet this Sunday is which will start at 3:45.  There will be black lights, strobe lights, and a fog machiene!  The activity for the evening however is a mystery!

During Thanksgiving break my cousin gave me a book about hydroponics.  After reading it I am even more excited for the greenhouse I will be starting next year. With a hydroponic system I will be able to grow much more in our short growing season.  It will also, hopefully produce larger and tastier produce. What can be, of the vegetables and fruits grown will be sold.  The rest will be used by the school cafeteria once school starts.  This will also provide a few more jobs for students.  Unfortunately we are just beginning winter and have to wait....wait....and wait some more until we can start planting.

Dinner and a Show

This year's senior class play, chosen and directed by English teacher, Anita Strawn de Ojeda, was "Little Women".  A story centered around the life of a family of four daughters whose father is away fighting in the civil war.
 After months of practice, costume sewing, and set construction, the play was performed Saturday night, during Senior Recognition weekend. Before hand, the senior class served a spaghetti dinner in costume, by candle light. It was one of the few times we got the seniors to wait on us. After the dinner we headed over to the addbuilding for the play.

With the seats filled, the curtain opended, and the spotlights came on.  The play was a great success, even through a few gliches, the student playing Mr. March, has to have surgery to remove his gall bladder.  Luckily the science teacher, James Stuart stepped in and learned the lines just in time.  When the play was over, the cast came out to take a bow, the crowed errupted in applause to bring a close to a great night of entertainment.

*sigh* were almost to Thanksgiving Break.  Its, been a reeeeaaaally busy week. Last Sabbath, Dynamics and advanced handbells went to Billings to perform a minni concert after church.  And wouldnt ya know it......the bus broke down. We made it to Columbus and then it just stopped. So we sat that there in the freezing cold. Luckily a few church members from Billings came and rescued us.  We performed our songs and then Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Ojeda came in vans to take us back.  Then on Sunday, I went to work at a motel in town, just like every Sunday. Luckily there were no clogged toilets, so it was a pretty good day.  I also got $1.65 in tips!  The Mt.Ellis boy's varsity also played in a tournament at Bozemen High school Saturday night and Sunday. Know its tuesday and I find myself studying for tests and scrambling to get projects done on time.  I did however learn a very interesting fact today that I shall leave you with.  SARDOODLEDOM is a word used in a derogatory way to describe a dramatization that is contrived and unconvincing.
So there ya have it.

Week of Prayer

This week has been Student Week of Prayer. Each day we get a chance to worship together through songs, skits and the students mesage.  All of us on campus have been blessed by their thoughts and testimonies and are looking forward to hearing more throuhgout the week. 

Today is the first day of another week.....a stressful one at that.  Tomorrow I have an A&P quiz over the skull, which has millions of bones, sutures, foramen, fissures, processes, and protuberances.  Much studying will I do tonight, after 3 on 3 basket ball of course :)
There will be some fun stuff this week too.  Saturday night ASB is taking the school to a haybail maze which shall be quite exciting.
Last Saturday was the annual dorm club talent show.  There was a lot of great acts.  Sarah Ojeda took first place after playing her guitar and singing.  There are some videos of the talent show on face book that you should check out.  Well, that wraps up this blog for I must go study some skulls with Mr. Stuart.

Random Riddle:

It is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of the end, and the end of every space. What is it? (answer below)


















the letter E

Well its been 3 days since we got back from homeleave, and Im all ready studying for a huge test!  It's been hard getting back in the groove of school after such an awesome break, in which my family went to Washington D.C.   We got to go on a tour of the National Archives, it was a pretty cool place, storing more then 2 million documents.  They even keep every letter that has ever been written to the president!  The coolest thing there, however, was the Decleration of Independence.  Then we went on a tour of the Library of Congress. It was a really pretty building and it had Thomas Jefferson's personal library as well as the first map to have the name America on in.  That day we also saw a few monmuments. Unfortunatley we didn't get to see anyone repeling down the Washington Monument. We also went to the WWII, Vietnam, and Lincoln memorials. (there are 58 steps leading up to Abe) My dad had a pedometer on that day and he had 30,000 steps which is about 15 miles. (my steps are smallers so i probablly had around 45,000 steps :) ) The second day we had a tour of the White House at 7 am  It was super super cool to see it. It was smaller then i had imagined though.  While we were in there the presidents dog, Bo went running by.
Later we went to the Capitol building which was also really cool. There was a statue of Jenette Rankin and Charles M Russel there. During the rest of our stay we got to go to several Smithsonians and even the Baltimore aquarium. Unfortunatley, we oly got to be there for four days, but on the upside, the Bengals won last Saturday, and, it's almost Friday!

Iwo Jima

Jellyfish at Baltimore aquarium

Library of Congress

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial

Mount Vernon

Protesters in Freedom Park

White House

Theres a whole lot more pictures so check them out on Alix's facebook

Compost

As ASB president I have decided it is time to, as a school, make some changes and take some steps(baby steps) towards a greener school.  The first step I have taken is starting to compost at the cafe.  This way we won't be throwing away as much food and we will use the compost next spring.  My plan is to have a small green house to grow lettuce as well as a few other cool weather plants.  We will use the compost for our greenhouse and have some fresh veggies for the cafe.

This is our compost bin, we might be getting a compost tumbler in a few weeks.

Kohl's Grand Opening

Its been a whole year and the hype still isn't over.  Today was Kohl's Department store grand opening here in Bozeman. Kohl's invited our school to be present and to have a few kids hold the ribbon at the ribbon cutting which just happened to be at 7:00 a.m.  This meant getting up and loading the bus at the unrighteous hour of 6:15.
Once we were all pulled out of bed and looking as presentable as possible for 6:15 we got on the bus and headed for town. While it was STILL DARK outside (darkness indicates night time, but for some reason we were awake), we gathered in the front of the store with a banner and signs we made thanking Kohl's and the community for their support. The mayor and some other important community members were there as well.  The manager said a few words and then the ribbon was cut!  After the ceremony, a few of the kids were interviewed for the news. So be sure to watch KBZK at 5:30 tonight. Once we got back we had a great breakfast in the cafe for everyone and got to skip our first class!

Notice how it's still dark....

Random

So I have decided that when I grow up I am going to live in a remodeled grain bin / silo thingy. Here are a couple pictures so you can grasp the idea.

I want a taller one so that I can have a winding staircase and three stories. Perhaps the stairs will wind around my column jelly tank that is mentioned in the next sentence.

I will also have a potbelly pig  and a large salt water fish tank, as well as a column jelly tank. Again, I have provided pictures so you can fully grasp the concept.

Mine will be black too but I will have a green harness and leash.

I will have only one, and it will be much taller!

The Mud Bowl

Seniors and Freshmen v.s. Juniors and Sophomores It was a muddy battle fought to the end. The girls finished in a tie, while the Senior sophomore team, won for the boys. We began at noon and the weather was great, we tired quickly, however, after attempting to run in the mud. Check out the pictures for a good laugh @ Facebook.

The Mount Ellis Climb

For the 84th time, the school faced the fierce and daunting mountain. We stood at the starting line, awaiting the signal to begin. At 9:00 The timers began and we took off, some of us running, others walking. At last we came to the meadow, for a few seconds it was a relief and I felt like I had got some where.....then I looked up and saw the mountain towering above me. It seemed like forever hiking straight up the trail less mountain side. Finally I came up on to the ridge. From there it was only a few hundred yards to the top. When I got close I could hear people clapping and encouraging me to finish. I was relieved to finally be done hiking and be able to sit and look around and the spectacular view. Then I got to cheer for the people coming in behind be, some of them running, others walking, and still others crawling. For the first time ever a girl won the whole thing. Sarah Ojeda did it in an hour and two minutes. Then came 1. Justin 2. Gilbert 3. Tayler 4. Joseph 5. Randy after them the rest of the girls came trickling in. 2. Joni (and the chicken) 3. Laura 4. Emily 5. Deanna and Hannah. Then came the loooong hike down, finally we all arrived back safely and are back to the normal routine of school.

Class Scramble

The winning Class of 2012. Three years running!

Once again the Seniors proved their seniority. But by only by 5 points this time. No matter the outcome, we all had fun. After decking out in our class colors (Freshmen - Green, Sophomores - Blue, Juniors - Red, Seniors - White) we reported to our corners of the gym and laid out all our stuff....lots and lots of stuff. Item after item was called as we screamed and raced. We also played a few higher point games in between items. The seniors won 'Push the Penny' game where you push the penny with your nose back in forth in a rely fashion. But the juniors took the jelly bean toss. The sophomores also had there share of glory after taking first place in the staff impersonations. Juniors won the pizza box game and then the seniors took the next round. Juniors also won the class cheer and Eagle acrostic poem. Once the games came to an end the seniors graciously treated the rest of the school to ice cream in the cafeteria! It was an awesome ending to a great Sabbath. After that late night we get Sunday to rest up before the Mount Ellis climb Monday morning.

Sport Season is FINALLY Here!

With another school year comes another sports season! Volleyball and soccer practices have started and I am super excited to go watch the games! I really encourage everyone to come sporting blue and yellow to cheer for the Eagles. The first game is September 6 at 5:00 at Mount Ellis Academy.

One day down, 174 to go……

School has gotten off to a great start with the first day of classes out of the way. Outdoor school was lots of fun and full of blessings. The food was terrific, we learned lots, and the only bears we saw were far away. We arrived at the Many Glacier Campground Monday afternoon where some of us more quickly than others set up our tents. After each tent was up, we had supper and then headed to a talk on glaciers given by one of the forest rangers.

The first night was a little rough with the wind howling, and getting accustomed to the ground. We began each day with a tasty breakfast and a short worship. We then split into two groups and went about our activities. Tuesday, the group I was in listened to Mr. Wilkins impart upon us his ever flowing wisdom on the history of Glacier National Park. When Mr. Wilkins finally quit talking (even though it was quite interesting) and the other group got back from learning about the formation of the park from Mr. Stuart, we all went together on a short walk to the Many Glacier Hotel. While there, we received a tour and learned even more on the history of the place. Then the groups switched and group two was honored with hearing stories from Mr. Wilkins, while my group went with Mr. Stuart.

The second day, group one went on what Mr. Wilkins called “the short hike” which was 12 miles, to Grinnell Glacier, and group two went to the “Going to the Sun Road”. After I survived the death march up to the glacier and finally got to sit down, rest, and eat my lunch in the warm sun, I foolishly caved under peer (and adult) pressure to jump into a small lake that was still frozen over except for a few places. The hike back was quite chilly for me and the other foolish, perhaps brave ones who also took the plunge.
I slept well that night after a long hike only to wake the next day for an even longer hike. While some of our group enjoyed, others endured the treacherous 18 mile journey.  Group two was privileged to go on the *cough* “short hike.”

Once we returned from the 18 miler, I roasted marshmallows, and then slept very, very well. The next morning we loaded up the bus and headed for home. We all got to rest up Sabbath and Sunday, and now here we are beginning another school year.

The Beginning

This Sunday we will all be registered and in it for the long haul. Hand shake will be a blast, how can it not be fun when watermelon is involved? Monday, we will depart to the wilderness as strangers and in good health. Friday, we will return to the halls and classrooms as family with many blisters. Perhaps the lucky ones will only have scars from the bear maulings. All in all I have high hopes for this school year. It may be grueling and perhaps lethal, but we will prevail and come out smarter and better people because of it. There are also fun activities planned for the school year. Many, many fun activities that will be enjoyed by all. How can it not be fun when there is mud, paint, balloons, and straws involved?

Blog 1: Joni Harris

This here blog is the first of many to come, throughout the rest of the summer and coming school year I will try to keep you all updated on fun events and all that’s going on here at Mt. Ellis.

I come from a long line of Mount Ellis attendees. (The word long referring to 3 generations) Mt Ellis runs deep through my family history and I bleed blue and yellow. It is for these reasons and feelings I have for the school, that I have taken it upon myself; or rather it has been thrust upon me to be your blogger.

We have high expectations for this coming school year. One of our goals is to get our name out into the community more: (interruption for short story)

I was in Smith’s grocery store and wearing a Mount Ellis T-shirt. The check out lady said,” isn’t Mt. Ellis a school for pregnant teens?
Thus I feel we must let people know what we are truly about.

A few of the ways we plan to accomplish this difficult but necessary task is to participate in community events. We will have a booth at both the Gallatin County Fair and the Bite of Bozeman this summer.

The Gallatin Country Fair is being held July 20-24 be sure to come by, show your support, and say hi!

Be sure to save the afternoon of August 3rd to come out and eat some tasty Greek food during the Bite of Bozeman. (more info to come as date neareth)