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American Studies class formed to combine American history and literature

American Literature teacher Ms. Anne Marie Dominguez teaches The Great Gatsby to her students in the newly developed class, American Studies, alongside U.S. History teacher Ms. Megan Kern. (Chris Bell)

American Studies class formed to combine American history and literature

February 3, 2012

Nicole Sarquis, Staff Writer

History teachers tend to ramble off unrelatable facts about flappers, bootlegging, and the ease of life in the “Roaring 20s” during a typical U.S. History class, leaving their students with no real understanding of the subject. At the same time, English teachers’ enthusiasm over F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” can only be understood... Continue Reading

Besse stays hot with two more goals against Wayzata

February 6, 2012

Matt Muenzberg, Sports Editor

“We need our Kyle Rau,” said boys’ hockey head coach Mr. Ken Pauly, referencing the former Eden Prairie Eagle who not only led the team in scoring on their way to last year’s state championship, but also consistently showed up when his team needed a goal. BSM’s Kyle Rau is junior forward Grant Besse, who has been on a roll lately, averaging over 2.8 goals a game in his last seven games. He twice found the back of the net and added an assist in a 4-3 win over section rival Wayzata on Monday, Feb. 6. With section seeding on the line, there was a playoff-like atmosphere at the packed Plymouth Ice Center. “I loved it,” said Besse. “I thrive on that stuff.” Head-to-head match-ups... Continue Reading

Rising actors partake in Les Miserables performance

Junior Shannon Galvin rehearses for the upcoming Les Miserables performance wither her fellow cast members. (Giulia Imholte)

Rising actors partake in Les Miserables performance

January 27, 2012

Emily Kline, Staff Writer

Blue Water Theatre Company, one of the Twin Cities’ top performing arts groups for youth, is taking on “Les Misérables,” one of musical theatre’s most famous works, for their winter production. Juniors Rachel Hogen and Shannon Galvin, along with sophomore Rachel Wallace, joined the cast in late November and are currently in rehearsals for the... Continue Reading

SOPA bill is ineffective, inefficient, and infringing

February 1, 2012

Nick Hillson, Staff Writer

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill running through Congress in an attempt to curb the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted information and programs. Unfortunately, due to extremely vague wording and unclear definitions, the censorship proposed could extend to websites such as Facebook, various e-mails, and any other free forum. Not only is SOPA ineffective for all but the technologically impaired, but it violates our rights and benefits only a small handful of elites. SOPA works by requiring websites and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to search through sent information and to censor any infringing material. Not only does this ignore the privacy guaranteed in the Constitution... Continue Reading

Mock Trial season testifies the team’s talent

The Mock Trial team had a succesful season at several competitions due to immense practice and help from professional lawyers. (Photo courtesy of Jim Vogl)

Mock Trial season testifies the team’s talent

February 3, 2012

Mallory Hoch, Staff Writer

Beginning in October, the Mock Trial team has practiced every night from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in room 121 in preparation for upcoming competitions. Coming to a close on January 31st, the season ended on a strong note, making it to subsections before loosing their last competition. The season commenced with general practices to help initiate new members.... Continue Reading

SportDateOpponentResultW/L
Girls HockeySat, Feb 04 Totino-Grace9-0 Read StoryW
Boys HockeySat, Feb 04 Spring Lake Park15-0W
WrestlingSat, Feb 04 TBA9th Place
Girls BasketballFri, Feb 03 Spring Lake Park57-39W
Boys BasketballFri, Feb 03 Spring Lake Park67-65 Read StoryW
Girls HockeyThu, Feb 02 Spring Lake Park6-0 Read StoryW
WrestlingThu, Feb 02 Dassel-Cokato21-58L
Girls BasketballTue, Jan 31 Minneapolis Southwest70-38W
Boys HockeyTue, Jan 31 Jefferson7-1 Read StoryW
Girls HockeySat, Jan 28 Hill-Murray1-3 Read StoryL
Boys BasketballSat, Jan 28 North Branch82-21 Read StoryW
Girls BasketballSat, Jan 28 North Branch66-40 Read StoryW
Click on any sport above to see a full schedule for that sport.
SportDateTimeOpponentLocation
Boys HockeyWed, Feb 08 7:30Shattuck-St. Mary'sShattuck-St. Mary's
Girls BasketballFri, Feb 10 7:15St. Louis ParkSt. Louis Park
WrestlingFri, Feb 10 6:00Chisago LakesHome
Boys HockeySat, Feb 11 2:30Totino-GraceSt. Louis Park
Dance TeamSat, Feb 11 1:00SectionsAustin
Boys HockeyTue, Feb 14 7:00Chisago LakesChisago Lakes
Girls BasketballTue, Feb 14 7:15Columbia HeightsHome
Girls BasketballThu, Feb 16 7:15WaconiaHome
Girls BasketballFri, Feb 17 7:15IrondaleHome
Boys HockeySat, Feb 18 2:30StillwaterSt. Louis Park
WrestlingSat, Feb 18 8:00Section OpponentsTotino-Grace
Girls BasketballTue, Feb 21 7:15St. FrancisHome
Click on any sport above to see a full schedule for that sport.

Freshman Gymnast AJ Sandberg

Sam Thomas
October 29, 2009
Filed under slideshows, Student Life

Few high-school students can say that they have the responsibility of succeeding in school and staying involved in activities all while working to make the dream to appear in front of millions come true. The situation for freshman A.J. Sandberg is, who hopes to reach his goal of making it to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, is different.

Sandberg began gymnastics at a young age and has been competing in gymnastics for seven years.  His training for competition takes place at Mini-Hops Gymnastics in Hopkins.  Sandberg has reached the status of level nine out of the ten levels that there are in gymnastics.

There are 14 other gymnasts who train along with Sandberg who have also spent countless hours practicing in the gymnasium. “I practice five times a week and four hours each time to hopefully keep improving,” said Sandberg, “every practice is really hard and long, and I always get really tired.”

In order to improve his skills, he works on every event at each practice (these events inculde floor excercises, pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, vault, and high bar.)  “My favorite event out of all of them is the rings; I also think it’s the event that I’m best at. I really think I could work on the parallel bars.”

Sandberg has accomplished many things through gymnastics, including winning numerous competitions and even making it to the regional tournament last year. “My biggest accomplishment through gymnastics was placing second all-around at Regionals,” said Sandberg.

Even after seven years of competing, Sandberg occasionally gets nervous for his competitions.  “My biggest memory of being nervous is one time I got really sick before the competition.  I left for a while, but I came back out and ended up doing really well,” said Sandberg.  “Now I usually get nervous for the bigger competitions, like Regionals.”

Continuing to work hard in gymnastics, he also strives to maintain a social life at the same time. “It’s sometimes really hard to find a balance between gymnastics, school, and the other activities I like to do.  I have to rush home from school, get my homework done, and just go.  I also like to play tennis and go golfing, but gymnastics and school are my main priorities,” said Sandberg.

The 20 hours a week that Sandberg puts toward gymnastics brings him closer to reaching his goal of making it to the Olympics.  Seven years from now, as the 2016 Summer Olympics begin, A.J. Sandberg hopes to be marching into the opening ceremony with the U.S.A. team.

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2 Responses to “Freshman Gymnast AJ Sandberg”

  1. Heather Says:

    Great Job A.J

    Thats a very nice article

    Heather<3

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  2. Brittany Says:

    Good job and Good !!!!

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