May 5, 2011Volume 17, Issue 16

HLA Today

Hillcrest Lutheran Academy’s Bi-weekly News

Visit the HLA Website ffhillcrest.org

Short video highlights of

school activities are available.

HLA Today is produced

bi-weekly by the Journalism class.

HLA Today Staff

Annalise BoyumWil Twedt

Chris ChristensonFrankie Sandnes

If you are interested in having the

HLA Today mailed to your house,

contact the front office,

218-739-3371.The cost is $30

per year.

A rec o rd breaking tour!Choir comes back from tour with lots of stories to tell.By Wil Twedt

The Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Concert Choir spent a total of

17 days and a little over 4800 miles with each other traveling around the West coast and up into Canada. The choir sang in 17 concerts, 14 songs in each concert, and with a grand total of over 238 songs sung on the tour. The boys had a total of 14 host homes and the girls had 15. The total number of host home is estimated at around 150 families. Bus time was real quick; each and every day had time spent in the word, but there were four movies

played. Three of the four movies were chick flicks, one wasn’t- Batman Begins. Wil Twedt brought his guitar so music was sung and played which was nice to help pass the time, or the nice option of sleeping.The tour took the Choir this year into seven different states and into two provinces of Canada. There were three hotel nights. The group saw three snow storms, one waterfall, an ocean, two capitals, and lots and lots of mountains. The choir also broke the roll call record with a new time of 14.7 seconds, and was claimed as the cleanest tour bus ever.

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So you know where the choir traveled and what churches

they sang at on spring break, but do you really know what happened on choir tour?

The Hillcrest music tours are about more than just the perfor-mance, part of the purpose is to have fun and grow closer as a group. HLA Today caught up with seven choir members to ask them about some of their most memo-rable moments on tour.

Danny Tungseth: The first night started off pretty well, there were ten of us who were at a mil-lionaire’s house. They had a huge home theater, a basketball court, a hot tub and a pool. We just chilled there and watched a movie and then four of us went back to [her mother’s] house and went tan-ning… that pretty much topped off our amazing first night.

Choir Tour HighlightsA few students share their experiences on tour.By Chris Christenson

Rachel Olson: Well Rhoda, Ju-lia, Emily and I stayed at this one house and this man was showing us all this stuff his daughter had brought him from the city where

she went to college. He had this box of dried crickets—they were like BBQ and sour cream flavored—and Rhoda and I asked if we could eat them and he let us. They were just crunchy and kinda melted in your mouth… they weren’t that bad.

Heidi Christofferson: One of my favorite things we did, it was kinda random, but a bunch of us stayed at Rachel’s and we all went swimming at six in the morning. I don’t really remember why, but it ended up being really fun!

Tae Gyu Park: Right after Canada we went down to North Dakota and at the church I was late [for the encore], that was re-ally funny. I don’t know I was just confused.

Marisa Monacelli: I really liked going to Seattle and getting to see the Washington area. Get-ting to stay at Anna’s house and Kylee’s house was a lot of fun. I also liked seeing all the scenery as we passed by [and] the bus rides were really fun, just talking and jamming and hanging out with everyone.

Anna Saufferer: My family came to so many concerts…. It was kinda embarrassing but it was good, I loved it!

Gene Twedt: The last night we stayed at a bachelor’s house and we ended up staying up all night basically and drinking like eight Mountain Dew’s each. We were off the walls and it was just a re-ally good time.

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It all started with a two-credit pottery class from Jim Bjork

at M-State. Mr. Peterson, who had been dipping his toes into the pond of pottery ever since his senior year of high school, was invited by his professor to join a tour of professional pottery studios. They traveled around the state, visiting and interviewing over a dozen different potters. “Well, that fire was lit and is still burning!” says Peterson.

In the spring of 2002, Mr. Peterson started his own pottery business, Pine Hill Pottery. For the past nine years, he’s been working from his home studio, firing all his pieces in a homemade kiln. His business is a sole-proprietorship and he does all the work himself, from throwing to firing.

Mr. Peterson sells his pieces both at his studio and online at the Pine Hill website. At both stores buyers can choose from a wide selection of bowls, mugs, plates and vases, all lovingly glazed and crafted. Peterson says that most of his sales come through the showroom

The Clay ThrowerHillcrest teacher runs his own pottery business.By Chris Christenson

connected to the studio. “It’s a humble affair, set up much like a road-side vegetable stand. The work is always available to view

and purchase and customers are welcome to serve themselves.”

Pine Hill Pottery is advertised on, in addition to the website, a set of highway signs and the outside of Mr. Peterson’s van. “The signage and the website have proven to be good

investments of time and money,” says Peterson.

Mr. Peterson’s biggest advertisement opportunity to date came a few years ago when he got to appear on HGTV’s “That’s Clever.” The section on him, which can be viewed on the website, shows him going through the steps of making a rope textured vase. “I guess that represents my prime-time exposure or ’15 minutes of fame,’” Peterson says.

Though most of his work springs from his own palate of creativity, Peterson accepts commissions also. “[My] first was a large bowl,

designed to be a baptismal font for the Catholic Church in Lake Park,” says Peterson. He says that commission really challenged him technically and consequently sparked his interest in crafting large bowls.

For Mr. Peterson, Pine Hill is more than just an outlet for him to make and sell pottery; it’s a ministry. “For me, every aspect of life is related to being an ambassador of Christ,” says Peterson. “I have had several home-school groups, 4-H clubs, scout troops, etc. out to do workshops in my studio. In each of those encounters there has always been opportunity to represent and give testimony of my faith and love for God.”

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Spring FloodingA group of Hillcrest guys help sandbag at Inspiration Point.By Chris Christenson

It was a long winter, a very long winter; the Midwest

hadn’t seen so much snow in years. But now that the snow has melted there’s nothing to worry about right? Wrong. Flooding has now become a major problem in many parts of Minnesota and North Da-kota. The excess water from the melted snow is causing many of lakes without outlets to swell, eating up lawns and lake homes.

One place that has been struggling with spring f lood-ing is Inspiration Point Bible Camp in Clitherall MN. Last week four guys from Hill-crest went to give them a hand. Knut Saebo, Joakim Tafjord, Andreas Engeseth and Yejun Cho volunteered to help with sandbagging at the camp.

The water from Spitzer Lake had almost reached the build-ings so the guys spent the day building a makeshift dike to control the flooding.

“The first half of the day we were filling up the sandbags,” said Knut. “Then after lunch we drove all the sandbags to Inspiration Point and [built the dike].”

While there’s still more to

be done at IP, the time the boys put in really paid off. “It was a little bit more work

than I thought it would be,” said Knut. “But I think it was pretty fun.”

The Beauty of Christ and His WordBy Annie Boyum

This Sunday I was struck in a bit of a weird way during Greg An-derson’s sermon at Bethel Church. I couldn’t even tell you what, from the words he spoke, touched me. Perhaps it wasn’t so much his words, but the verses he gave from Isaiah and the Holy Spirit just pulling on my heart. Several things stood out and hit me.

Greg read verses from Isaiah 55, and the verse that I really soaked in was the very first line. “Come, all you who are thirsty…” and as soon as I read that I knew that I was thirsty! My time with God hadn’t been what it should be, and I needed to “come to the waters.”

I need to be filled but I also needed to be reminded to come empty, with no money. (55:1b) I needed to come broken. And by this time I was beginning to feel just that: brokenness.

Then I began thinking about my future plans for the coming fall. I began to ask myself if God really wants me to go home to Iowa, or if He would rather have me stay in the Fergus area. It hit me pretty hard and I began to silently cry out to God for guidance and direction. At that moment, He led me further on in Isaiah 55 to verses 8 and 9.

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are you ways my ways,’” declares the LORD.”(Isaiah 55:8)

This gave me a peace of knowing that even though I have no idea where He wants me to go or what I am to do, He knows and He’ll lead and direct me.

Then to end my series of thoughts, my eyes drifted to a dif-ferent chapter on the page. My thoughts went immediately to the night before, where I had written in my journal, “Have You given me some of Your beauty?” talking to Jesus. I was reminded of this quote when I read Isaiah 53: 2b-3 which reads, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.”

With this verse I feel the Lord was and is telling me that yes, I had been given some of His beauty. But that beauty was going to cost me my life! For I am to be rejected and despised and be familiar with sorrows and suffering. It wasn’t the kind of physical beauty that I was thinking of, but it was definitely a beauty that is much more beautiful: Christ’s kind of beauty!

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class. After school he moved to San Francisco and worked at the Boulevard Restaurant.

“The West was fun, but it wasn’t the environment to raise my kids,” said Stocks. He wanted to go somewhere to escape the drugs and the violence of the city, so he came to Fergus. “Once I got to Fergus, it was a time for me to grow too,” said Stocks. “My son wanted to go to confirmation and that really brought me in [to church] and what made Bethel my home.” After this he saw a change in himself and really started taking his faith seriously.

Once in Fergus his ties to Hillcrest began. “I heard about Hillcrest from my house cleaner,” said Stocks. “She said it was a great place for Ryan to go to school.”

Later he came in and talked with someone from Aviands (food service providers to Hillcrest) to see if there was a job opening. Sure enough, there was job in the kitchen.

“One of the main reasons I took this job, though, was the environment,” said Stocks. Mr. Stocks enjoys the atmosphere of Hillcrest and sees a change in himself and in his kitchen staff.

Some of the employees aren’t Christians, but Heath has seen a real change in many of them. “Everyone has their battles, but it’s what you do with those battles that make the difference,” he said.

A Life of Adventure is Mon u men talHeath Stocks journey from Alaska to home.By Frankie Sandnes

Heath Stocks started off in a little homestead in

Glennallen, Alaska. Born in a tent as the second oldest and nothing more than the family he was born into.

“After Alaska I lived in a lot of places,” said Stocks. “Seattle, Lake Tahoe, California Bay area, Vegas, St. George, Utah, Grand Forks, and then Fergus Falls.”

After Heath left home, he found himself in Tahoe looking for a job. “I showed up at the Cross Roads restaurant in Lake Tahoe with a job application,” said Stocks. “The owner, Charles Lincoln, noticed I didn’t have a place of residence on my application. He gave me a job and set me up in an apartment above his garage.”

Lincoln was a big influence in Stock’s life. Not growing up in a Christian home, Lincoln laid out a good set of moral values for Stocks. “He wasn’t strict like a father, but he was there to check up on me,” said Stocks. “Charles was natural. He wasn’t Christian either, but he had a good sense of what was right and what was wrong.”

To Stocks, Lincoln was a mentor. When Heath was struggling with something, Lincoln would step in, not punish, but let him know he should settle down.

“I’ll never forget one time,” said Stocks. “I was partying pretty hard, wasn’t going to school, and [had]

really let myself go. Charles came up and all he did was snap a picture of me passed out on the couch. He saw me coming down the stairs heading for my car and told me he wanted to show me who I was.” Heath pulled the picture out later, and it had a profound effect on him. He started going to school and work.

Heath started out in Alaska and ended up in Fergus Falls. His first

job was with Mr. Lincoln in a deli, but that’s not all Heath wanted with his life. “I always wanted to be an architect,” said Stocks. “I love to look at structure, whether it’s a bridge, a tower, or a poem.”

Instead he pursued cooking and went to the UNLV in Nevada. He majored in culinary arts management, and minored in foreign and domestic wine. Stocks graduated first in his

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First baseball game of the year started off well

last Thursday, April 28, against Hancock.

The game began with 4 runs in the first inning, but Hancock

To The Bottom Of The Ni nthFirst baseball game of the season ends in extra innings.By Frankie Sandnes

TidbitsCompiled by Wil TwedtEmily Pellegrino and Jenna Barkey are now into doing extreme couponing. East Coast girls had 5 delayed flights. Alyssa Wolderich’s suitcase got stuck between the elevator shaft and the wall. It broke the shaft. Katherine Thorkildsen, Kristen Thorkildsen, Alyssa Wolderich, Heidi Christofferson, and Tayler Leach got water guns and chased Josh Wolderich, Jake Jones, Nick Castro, and Cooper Patch off the front lawn for tanning. David Kim ordered “scrambolized” eggs. Clay Bothun saw Tore Falch, Tory Brue, and Grant Stroud on the T.V. while they were at Twins game.

Tour BitsAngela Holmen lost her phone in Freeport and didn’t get it back for six days. The Red River Tribe was formed. Tae-Gyu Park missed an encore and tried to go up and sing anyway. Soo-Bin Kim broke Will Twedt’s G-string on his guitar. Aeron Jahr tripped on the way up the steps when he was late for Vocalise. Danny Tungseth won bus surfing. Aeron Jahr has a hard time saying brethren. Some of the girls ate sour cream crickets and BBQ larva. The Choir broke the roll call record: the new record is now 14.7 seconds.

slowly came back and ended ty-ing it up 6-6 in the 7th inning.

The game went two more in-nings and in the bottom of the ninth Hancock scored the final run, winning the game.

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ScheduleMayFriday,6 Registration deadline for June 11 ACT AP U.S. exam ...................................................... 7:45 a.m. Baseball: Varsity Vs Hancock, DeLagoon ................. 5:00 p.m. Softball: Varsity @ CGB ........................................ 5:00 p.m.Saturday,7 J-High baseball Tourney @ Wheaton ....................... 4:00 p.m.Monday,9 Young Eagles Flights for Junior High ..............8:30-10:00 a.m. Baseball: Varsity Vs Brandon, DeLagoon ................. 5:00 a.m.Tuesday,10 Student Council Meeting ..................................... 10:00 a.m. Track Team Pictures .............................................. 3:30 p.m. Baseball Team Pictures ......................................... 3:45 p.m. Softball: Varsity Vs Ortonville, Home ...................... 5:00 p.m. Orchestra Recital.................................................. 7:00 p.m.Wednesday,11 No block schedule AP English exam .................................................. 7:45 a.m.Thursday,12 Student Council Electoral Speeches ...................... 10:00 a.m. Baseball: Varsity Vs CGB, TBD ............................... 5:00 p.m. 5-8th grade Band & Choir Concert at Bethel............. 7:00 p.m. Junior High Awards............................................... 8:00 p.m.Friday,13 Softball Team Pictures .......................................... 3:30 p.m. Softball: Varsity Vs Brandon, Home ........................ 5:00 p.m.Saturday,14 HLA Junior-Senior Banquet .................................... 5:30 p.m. JS post trip to PACC ............................................. 8:15 p.m.Monday,16 Softball: Varsity Vs CGB, Home .............................. 4:00 p.m. Softball: Varsity Vs Wheaton, Home ....................... 6:00 p.m. Baseball: Varsity Vs Ashby, Home ........................... 5:00 p.m.Tuesday, 17 HLA School Picinic at Elks Point Student Council Meeting ..................................... 10:00 a.m. Softball: Varsity Vs Ashby, TBD .............................. 5:00 p.m.Wednesday,18 No block scheduleThursday,19 Softball: Varsity Vs Ortonville, TBD ......................... 5:00 p.m.

The Twins are a Royal Pain.Senior dorm boys go to Kansas and watch the Minnesota Twins play in Kansas City.By Wil Twedt

Even though the Twins got swept in the series

with the Kansas City Royals, the senior boys had fun in Kansas City this past weekend when they went to the games. The trip was for the seniors in the boys dorm to go out and have some fun before the year ended.

They drove down early Saturday morning, starting the trip with jokes and stories on the way down to Kansas, and they got there in time for supper at Arthur Bryant's BBQ.“I got a huge sandwich! It was like a triple decker,” said senior Tore Falch “It was a lot of fun to eat at Arthur Bryant’s!”

After the group had eaten, they went to the hotel and stayed the night there. The next day they walked around the city. Later after a little of the tour of the part of the city they were in, they walked to Kauffman Stadium, the stadium where the Kansas City Royals played the Minnesota Twins. They stayed for two games. When the games were done, the group made their way home. But on the way back someone was playing with the heat and it got really hot in the back of the van.

“It was super-hot,” said Tore.

“It was me, Tory, and Grant in back, and we were very unhappy. Well, until we got to

Minnesota where it was cold. It was fun to hear everybody’s stories and going to the games!”

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Get R e a dy, Get Set…Go ! The track season has begun. By Annie Boyum

This spring 36 students, ranging from 7th-12th

graders, have joined the track team. The team has gotten to-gether every day after school to get in shape for their track meets. Students are involved in several different track activities this year including: long jump, discus, shot-put and various races.

Coach Allen Aase, “Big Al,” has been coaching track for five years and is out to help the team train again this year, especially with many students experiencing track for the first time.

Christina Hardie, acting as an assistant coach for Coach Aase, is coaching the discus throwers and shot putters. She has four partici-pants in these events, including: Taylor Leach (shot put), Hanne Solheim and Trine Morken (shot

put and discus) and Annie Boyum (discus). These girls are all first time throwers and working hard to increase their throwing skills.

There are also a few boys plan-ning to participate in the throwing events, but Hardie is only training with the girls.

The team attended their first meet of the year on Thursday, April 28. For 26 of the students it was their very first track meet.

Several students received ribbons for excellent placing on Thursday. Malin Blomberg received the first place metal for Long Jump, the 4th place ribbon for Girls 100 Meter Dash and the 5th place ribbon for Girls 200 Meter Dash. Rhoda Christenson received the 4th place ribbon for Girls 400 Meter Dash.

The Hillcrest girls and boys both received 5th place in the

Sports ScoresBaseball

Thursday, 4/28Hillcrest ................................... 6Hancock .................................. 7

Monday, 5/2Hillcrest ................................... 3Ortonville ................................ 6

SoftballTuesday, 4/26

Hillcrest ................................... 4Ashby .................................... 33

Tuesday, 5/3Hillcrest ................................... 9Wheaton ............................... 19

TrackThursday, 4/28

HLA Boys ....................10th PlaceHLA Girls ......................9th Place

4x100 Meter Relays. All in all, Hillcrest girls received

9th place of the day and the boys received 10th place.