Open Forum

The following Open Forums are submitted by Brainerd High School students:Dance team support:

Dance team support

The Brainerd Warrior Dance Team deserves some things. For example, they need a place to practice, support from the school, and some support maybe in the sports page. They practice in the lounge or in the cafeteria; they need mirrors and an actual floor to dance upon, not a dirty carpeted floor with leftovers from lunch. The school supports almost every activity, but the Kixters pay for their uniforms themselves and pay for the trips to dance competitions, this can add up greatly. Dance is considered a sport by the High School League. They work really hard; practice is about three hours long every day and they usually only get to dance at a game or competition for under 10 minutes of game time. I think that these athletes invest their time and effort; they need a place to practice and more support from all.

Bruce Coonfield

Nothing to do

For kids around the Brainerd lakes area there is not enough stuff to do. When it comes to a Friday night and teenagers want to do something fun, it's either go bowling or go to a movie. With the new World on Wheels coming out some teenagers have fun there once in a while, but most don't find roller-skating a fun thing to do. I just think that the community should add something more fun and cheaper for teens to do. Not only would it give them something fun to do, but it would keep them out of trouble as well. Because if they're out having fun they can't be doing dumb stuff that can get them into trouble.

Blake Eller

Don't punish the innocent

It's been in the paper recently that there is a problem with the kids going over to the Holiday Station. Because of these problems such as fighting, rough housing, and smoking, it may end up hurting the kids who do not go there in the long run. The school has threatened to take away the Brainerd High School's open lunch hour for everyone if this continues. Couldn't they just strap down on patrolling the area at Holiday better? I really don't think that it is fair to all those who like to leave school for lunch every now and then to be cut off because of one specific group of kids. I really think that they should punish those who commit the crime, not those who do not.

Chris Mathison

Americans came together

Sept. 11 was a traumatic day for America. It was terrifying! Over 5,000 people died that day and many were injured. After the Twin Towers fell many weeks passed until more deaths occurred from Anthrax. Anthrax was spread around through people's mail. Now many cancers are spreading by the asbestos that fell from the Twin Towers. In result of all that happened I saw many American flags. Also during Christmas I saw many red, white and blue lights filling people's yards and the lit up flags that are hung on all the roofs. It was really cool to see all the Americans come together as one. Even though it was a traumatic day in America I think it really helped our community and all other communities become closer, which is a wonderful thing.

Laura Roberts

The grad standards

As a student at BHS I have gone through many of the required grad standards. I think that they are useless and don't help students in any way. We spend almost half of the school year preparing for grad standards. The knowledge we gain from them will not ever be used in later life. They are graded on a scale of 0 to 4, and it doesn't matter what you get as long as it's above zero. I think that grad standards should be eliminated from the school. They are a waste of time that should be used learning useful things.

Kimm Terrio

Smaller tests favored

I feel that Brainerd High School students should not have semester tests. It is too hard to cram 18 weeks' worth of information into our brains for one test. Right after the test the majority of people can't even remember the information. It would be a lot smarter if they would just keep to the smaller tests. They are a lot more beneficial.

Lauren Kirkpatrick

Kixter coverage

I'm a Brainerd Kixter and I would like to thank The Brainerd Daily Dispatch for the articles they have written about us. However some of us would appreciate more coverage on our shows and competitions. Some of us would also appreciate to be on the sports page once in a while. We do a lot of hard work, and should be considered more of a sport. Thank you very much.

Lacy Feierabend

Practice area needed

I feel the Brainerd Kixters should receive their own practice area. I am a Kixter and every day we go to practice in the lounge. It is a hard place to practice because about three times per practice we get interrupted by people walking through us and making noise. Also, we are dancing on a cement floor. This is very bad for our legs. Almost all of us have problems with shin splints as a result of it. Next, the lounge floor is covered with food crumbs and other things from lunch. It is extremely dirty and makes dancing on it difficult. Finally, I really feel we need mirrors. We need to be able to see ourselves dance so we know what we look like and what we need to work on. These are a few of the reasons I think the Kixters should receive their own place to practice.

Nikki Bender

Teens and music

I don't think that certain types of music influences teens to act differently. I think that the way teens think and their actions come from influence from their friends, their home life or it's just the way they are. Some teens can listen to hard rock and still get good grades. Please don't judge teens by their choice of music.

Serena Jackson

Elective classes

The amount of classes needed to graduate and get into college doesn't allow many students to take any other electives they want. If you take a music class such as band, choir or orchestra, that is about the only elective you can take that you want. Gym and health are required and you only get one year of it because taking a foreign language for two years is necessary to be accepted into most universities. Science and math you don't need to take the last two years of high school, but need to continue on to college. Early birds can be taken in the morning, but that can be a problem for transportation and people who live farther away. I think it would be best if the school could find a way to let students choose more electives that they aren't being required to take.

Ryan Heilman

Abolish homework

As a student in Brainerd I've had a lot of teachers and a lot of homework. I've never had straight A's or even B's. What I've noticed is that when I start doing worse in classes is when I have the most homework. I find myself unable to balance it all. I think that homework should be abolished. I know it's a long shot, but I personally learn more in class than I ever do with the homework. I also think students would participate more in class discussions if the stress of homework, papers, and reports were off them.

Jamie Giles

Music is out of hand

The music today is getting a little out of hand. Most songs have no point to them and all they talk about is drugs, sex, and violence. There are a lot of people out there that sit and teach about being abstinent and waiting to have sex; how are they supposed to get anything through the heads of children when they go home and listen to a favorite rock star that says it's okay? I know a lot of kids that are almost twice as young as I and listen to music I can't even stand to hear for more than three seconds. The music has gotten a lot out of hand and I think that there should be a cut down on the slang and bad influences.

Andrea Miller

War against trails

Why is all of our land getting taken away from us? There used to be miles and miles of dirtbike and four wheeler trails but not where is next to nothing for good riding anymore, and it kills me to see land being taken away from the dirtbikers. When you go riding you don't kill any animals; you are not hurting the habitat. For instance do you want to believe that a trail five feet wide and going through 3,000 acres of land is going to hurt the wildlife living there? I am dirtbike nuts so I'm not sure that I'm on the same leg as the animal activists are. Why take away something that thousands of people love to do? There are some things in life that I understand and some that I don't and this war against our trails is something that I will never understand.

Chad Kubelbeck

More food needed

I do not think that the school lunches at BHS are enough for growing teenagers. I am at school from 7:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. and then after school I go to hockey practice with an empty stomach because my lunch did not fill me up. With the little lunch that they are giving me now it is not enough for me to go to school the whole day and after school work hard at hockey practice or a game. On a normal day when you go through the lunch line you get your basic hamburger or hot dog, and then you get a side order of beans or something little, and then an apple and a small carton of milk. The students at BHS need a bigger lunch to get them through their schedule throughout the school year.

Morgan Shepherd