HMS Orchestra
Orchestra at the Huron Middle School has had an outstanding year! March is “Music In Our Schools Month,” where we recognize and acknowledge students for their participation and dedication to our music ensembles. Each musician at HMS created a “Music Makes a Difference” poster for their locker. A few examples are shown at right.

Many students from the orchestras auditioned and two were selected for the South Dakota Music Education Association Middle School All State Orchestra. Congratulations to Ava Colon Rathjen on violin and Lydia Beck on cello. The concert was held in Rapid City this past February. We were proud to represent the Huron School District.

Huron Middle School Honors Orchestra has had many great accomplishments. Honors orchestra is a smaller chamber group that is a combination of seventh- and eighth-grade students who auditioned for a seat in the fall. We performed at Christmas at the Capitol in December.

We will perform for elementary school students and other community locations on May 6. Join us for our MS and HS Orchestra Concert on Tuesday, April 30, at the Huron High School Auditorium.

If anybody has questions about orchestra, please reach out to Beth.Neitzert@k12.sd.us

Submitted by Dr. Beth Neitzert, HMS Orchestra, HMS Honors Orchestra and HHS Orchestra, HHS Chamber Orchestra

HHS Science
• Physical Science – This has been a batch of new experiences for both the students and myself, as this is a class brought back to HHS that hasn’t been offered to students for many years.

Recently, we have moved beyond the physics content and started looking into the foundations of chemistry (states of matter, physical/chemical properties of materials, and most recently looking into the structure of the atom and basics of the Periodic Table). As we get close to beginning the fourth quarter, we will soon dive deeper into the Periodic Table and later look into identifying chemical bond types as well as reactions.

• Biology — Recently, we finished up our unit in cellular biology by studying concepts like mitosis and meiosis for different types of cellular division. This week marks the beginning of the Genetics unit in this course with areas such as knowing the differences between dominant and recessive alleles, pairing up alleles to be homozygous or heterozygous, and the applications of such information as visual, real-world examples. Later on, we will take these concepts and combine them with Punnett Squares to better understand the pairing of alleles to create unique physical traits among organisms (as well as looking at the passing of traits within families by looking at pedigree data) before finishing up with genetic combinations that aren’t as distinct as the typical dominant/recessive relationship.

• Integrated Science – Each quarter of Integrated Science has seen a different science subject, starting with biology, moving into chemistry, and now looking at physics topics. We began with calculating speed using distance and time variables, as well as how to interpret speed graphs based on the shapes and directions of the lines. We’ve since moved into the world of acceleration, which has new variables to calculate for changes in speed, as well as new graph interpretations. The useful aspect is that acceleration and speed are related, so concepts learned with speed have been a good foundation for the newest material. We will continue learning about more Physics-related material down the road (forces and motion for example).

Submitted by Benjamin Halbkat, HHS science teacher