COBRA CONNECTIONS

Thank you for taking the time to review this week's newsletter. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Mr. Luke Lutterman, THS Principal llutterman@triton.k12.mn.us (507) 418-7520

We hope you will join us for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, March 26, from 3:30-7:30 PM. A few notes about conferences are listed below...

• These will be open style conferences, meaning that parents/guardians should feel free to attend as there schedule permits between 3:30-7:30 PM.

• Midterm progress reports will be available for pick up at conferences.

• We encourage students to attend conferences with their parents/guardians. Our teachers and staff must be on the same team as our families when it comes to providing the best education possible. Attending conferences together is a great way to demonstrate this team effort.

• Conferences at THS will be in teacher's classrooms. We can help you find each teacher's location if needed.

34 students from Triton’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter participated in the annual State Leadership Conference held March14-16, 2024 in Minneapolis, where over 1,400 students competed.  Triton crowned two State Champions, 7 National Trip Winners, 22 Top 10 Finishers, and was recognized as a Gold Chapter for Membership Excellence.

“I can’t reiterate enough how proud I am of all of our kids,” said Advisor Rebecca Goossens.  “This is the most students Triton has ever had qualify for State, which is a huge achievement in and of itself, and they are all such amazing and talented individuals.”

Bringing home the championship trophies and earning trips to Nationals were juniors Corey Lilledahl for Presentation Individual and Bryar Quimby for the MN Trading Pin Design Contest, while the sophomore Website Design Team of RoséLyn Liudahl and Jade Scovill snapped up a second-place finish, and the Video Production Team of seniors Noah Kleinwort, Alex Oritz, and Quinn Short took the podium in third place.  Also gracing the stage at the Grand Awards Ceremony was junior Camila Medina for placing fourth in Graphic Design, senior Danielle Hallaway for placing fifth in Health Research, and sixth-place finishers junior Katya Wheeler in Computer Modeling and the Broadcast News Team of sophomore Diego Ibarra-Castillo and juniors Litany Peterson and Jessica Willette.  The Podcast Team of seniors Joaquin Lundi, Max Olson-Ramer and Jairo Solano and the Small Business Management Team of Tyler Gnagey, Hallaway, Lilledahl, and Logan Tufte nabbed a spot in the Top 10 by finishing seventh, while junior Axel Reiser placed eighth in Desktop Publishing, as did the Visual Design Team of Quimby and Ashley Romero.  Rounding out the Top 10 Finalists were Kleinwort for Web Design and sophomore Frankie Gann for Digital Media Production.

“We compete against schools at State whose chapters have around 150-175 members.  That’s almost two-thirds the size of our entire high school, so the fact that we continue to succeed and at such a high level is no small feat.  It’s a huge testament to how awesome our students truly are,” said Goossens.

During the school year, over 1,800 Minnesota BPA student members took part in the organization’s competitive events program, allowing them to compete in nearly 70 events focused in the areas of business administration, finance & accounting, information technology, video production, human resources, computer programming, graphic design, small business & entrepreneurship, and health services.  The competitions are designed to prepare students to succeed and assess real-world business skills and problem solving abilities. After qualifying earlier this year, regional winners put their talents to the test during the State Leadership Conference.

This May, Lilledahl, Quimby, Kleinwort, Ortiz, Short, Liudahl and Scovill will travel to Chicago, IL to compete with thousands of top students from across the United States at the 59th Annual National Leadership Conference – the pinnacle of BPA competition.

We have had great success with the previous Flex Days. The purpose of this alternative schedule is to provide teachers additional opportunities to help students learn material they may be struggling with, complete missing learning experiences, and re-teaching/re-testing. This flex time will also provide enrichment opportunities for students who do not need to complete re-assessments or makeup work. 

Teachers have had the opportunity to select students for Flex Day experiences and the registration will be open to students on Tuesday. It is a good idea to check in with your child and ask them what they are doing for Flex Day. If they are struggling in a certain subject this is an awesome opportunity to receive additional support. 

We also wanted to note that juniors and seniors will have the option to be released from school at 12:15 PM. These students can qualify to leave early if they are passing all of their classes with no grades lower than a C.

On Flex Day we will have class periods 1-8 before lunch, and then Flex 1, and Flex 2 after lunch.

Triton Band & Choir Students Excel at Small Group Contest

On Monday, March 11, a number of our band and choir students participated in the Small Group Music Contest at Alden Conger High School. A special thank you to Ms. Deetz and Mr. Wotherspoon for making this experience possible for our students. They noted that "it takes a lot of practice time and hard work to prepare this music and perform for a judge." Congratulations to the award recipients!

Tuesday, April 9, is a very busy day at Triton High School. Each year all high schools in the state of Minnesota are responsible for offering a college entrance examination. At Triton High School we will be offering the ACT or ASVAB. Because this testing experience requires extensive personnel we need to adjust how this school day will look. 

We wanted to communicate in advance so families have time to plan and coordinate schedules. Please take a minute and read through the information below for your child’s respective grade. 

Ninth Graders - College Visits  We are excited to provide an opportunity for our students to see two different colleges. On this day all ninth graders will tour and receive an admissions presentation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Western Technical College. 

Students will also experience eating in a college cafeteria (no cost to students). The bus will leave at 8:05 AM and will return by 3 PM. Students should not bring Chromebooks or any other valuables. Students should wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather as they will be outside for part of their tours. Seven Triton staff will be attending the trip as chaperones. 

Tenth Graders - Pre-ACT  Tenth graders will report to school as scheduled to take the Pre-ACT. This test is part of their state requirement for college and career readiness. Triton High School is paying for this test. Students are scheduled to finish the test around 11 AM. 

Students are excused from school when they finish their tests unless they have missing coursework. Students who are currently failing one or more classes should plan to stay and get caught up. Students going home after the testing will need to line up their transportation. If students do not have a ride home, we have plans and space for them to stay in school. If students are going to stay in school, they should plan to eat lunch in the cafeteria and be in a teacher’s classroom for the afternoon. Students will not be permitted to leave school and come back. 

Eleventh Graders - ACT  Eleventh graders will report to school to take the ACT or ASVAB. Testing should be finished by 12:30 PM (students testing with accommodations will likely finish closer to 1:30 pm). Students failing classes or missing assignments should plan to stay in school. Students who are caught up are excused from school after testing. Eleventh graders will also need to arrange transportation.  If students are going to stay in school, they should plan to eat lunch in the cafeteria and be in a teacher’s classroom for the afternoon. Students will not be permitted to leave school and come back. 

Twelfth Graders - CPR Certification  The twelfth graders will be getting their CPR certification as part of their senior seminar course. This will take place in the multipurpose room. Seniors should enter and leave through the activities entrance. Seniors have received information on which session they should be attending. Students who are currently failing one or more classes should plan to stay and get caught up. Students who are caught up are excused after their CPR certification. 

All students are expected to attend their designated activity to count for their day’s attendance. Students will have limited and supervised access to their lockers on this day and should, therefore, minimize what they bring to school with them. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Mr. Lutterman - THS Principal, llutterman@triton.k12.mn.us, (507)418-7520 Ms. Runnells - THS Counselor, crunnells@triton.k12.mn.us, (507)418-7520

Student safety and well being will continue to be our number one priority. Information can be reported safely and privately.