Sara Stites is one of those young women who has made horses a part of her life.  Sara is a senior at Custer High School and lives near Crazy Horse Memorial. Her parents are Mark and Shannon Stites, Custer.

 As a requirement for graduation, Custer students are required to take a class called Senior Projects for either first or second semester, says mom Shannon. “Sara is in the first group. They are required to pick a subject of interest, do research, find a mentor, write a five-page paper, produce a final product and then do a presentation on the whole process to a large panel.”

Three local teachers were awarded grants from the Custer Youth and Alumni Foundation to help fund activities, programs and class needs. According to Sarah Schryvers, president of the organization, the purpose of the Custer Youth and Alumni Foundation is to award the grants to local teachers to provide educational opportunities for students no longer available through the school budget. 

Eve Trandem received $200 for her special education classroom. With the grant money, she plans to purchase special filters for fluorescent lights for behavior modification in her classroom.

Christmas came early for the residents of Hermosa after the Kids’ Inc. 4-H Club received a grant for the addition of educational materials to the Hermosa library. The “Building our Rural South Dakota Communities” Grant will give the community $644 for children’s educational material such as books, magazines and DVDs. The grant will also help process, access and shelve the books purchased in order to keep the library in order. 

While teenagers may often feel they have no one to talk to, that surely is not the case. Chelle Sorensen-Schefeik, a chemical dependency counselor with Lifeways at Central High School, wants that idea among high school students to change. 

In her job, Sorensen-Schefeik provides prevention, intervention and counseling services to students at Central High School.  She also gives motivational speeches across the Black Hills — something she has done for over 10 years.

Like most kids his age, Reese Kelley was five years old when he received his first bike. The difference is that Kelley’s first bike was for motocross. Another difference between Kelley and kids his age is the fact that he has sponsorships and hundreds of trophies.

Kelley, 11, started racing motocross bikes at the age of 5, when he received his first bike as a gift.  Since then, Kelley has competed in races across the country, including Texas, Washington, Minnesota, North Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, California and Nevada—just to name a few.

Connor Bushman, a 15-year-old sophomore at Douglas High School, recently completed, with the help of his father, Dave Bushman, his Eagle Scout Project, a playground at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hermosa.

In his confirmation letter last October, Connor asked permission and support from the church, saying, “I have found that setting goals is important to me as it provides purpose to my life. I always wanted to play the trumpet. Little did I realize that playing the trumpet and acolyting, plus participating in DOG (Disciples of God) Night would bond me to this church.

A cursory examination of the Dakota STEP scores doesn’t reflect the good news. The Custer school district made annual yearly progress (AYP) as required under No Child Left Behind at all grade levels for 2011.

“We can relate that back to the kids working hard and the teachers working hard and the support we get,” school superintendent Scott Lepke said.

Statewide, 94 percent of public school districts and 80 percent of schools made AYP, according to a press release from the state Department of Education. 

The 4-Hers practice many hours, training their horses for the different events. This year’s event was host to 26 participants, with approximately 125 entries in 30 different classes.  All participants complete a horse safety training program that offers an opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and expertise regarding the importance of safety around horses and while riding horses. 

A child was involved.

The suspect was to be considered armed and dangerous.

That’s what 2006 Custer graduate and Jackson County deupty Tim Nutley knew when he left his home in Kadoka on Sunday, June 5, in response to a call for assistance from his supervisor, Jackson County Sheriff Ray Clements, Jr.

“I knew I needed to be aware of my surroundings and my actions,” Nutley said in a phone interview shortly after the incident.

Retiring school superintendent Tim Creal may be passionately committed to education now, but he wasn’t when he started college.

“I had aspirations of being a professional baseball player,” he said with a grin.

Scouts had recommended he play college ball, so he went to Black Hills State University where he started pre-pharmacy, but “majored in baseball.” Somewhere along the line, his focus shifted and he graduated with a degree in education and math.

Family led retiring math teacher Dale Schaffer to Custer and family is once again exerting its influence, motivating him to take early retirement.

“I look forward to utilizing the time I’ve been in the classroom to visit my kids and grandkids,” he said.

He is one of six teachers taking early retirement this year. The school board also approved retirement for Neal Sieger, Lorie Steinhauer, Jana Martinson, Mike Pahl and Eileen Wahlstrom.

No, he doesn’t have any children, retiring teacher Neal Sieger once told an individual who inquired about his family. Rather, he said, he has hundreds.

“Each one of these kids is important to me,” he said, explaining that he wants to see all students who have passed through his classroom at Custer High School or who have been engaged in one of the sports he’s coached succeed.

Even a full day in the classroom isn’t enough to wear out kindergarten teacher Lorie Steinhauer. At 4 p.m., she’s still on the move, picking up things which have fallen to the floor and neatly placing chairs around tables.

However, the rhythm and pattern of her life is about to change. As the school year draws to a close, she ends a 36-year teaching career, 33 of which have been spent at Custer Elementary

The kids – it’s that simple, as far as retiring middle school English teacher Eileen Wahlstrom is concerned.

She entered the teaching profession because she enjoyed young people, and she persevered through personal tragedy because their needs  provided a diversion from her pain.

“Kids are always worth the extra effort some need to make it,” she said.

The Crazy Horse Civil Air Patrol Squadron Cadets did a fine job of representing the state of South Dakota at the North Central Region Color Guard competition in Sioux Falls on April 16.  There are seven  states in the region, and the Crazy Horse Squadron placed second overall.   

There were 70 in the graduating class, but two of Custer High Schools’ class of 1995 are serving together at Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Maj. Trent Bruce, who has been in country for more than nine months, and Maj. Erica Meyer, who has been serving here for about two months have reunited, but this time in uniform.

Mary Smith, a sixth through eighth grade teacher at Hermosa Middle School, has been named Custer School District’s Teacher of the Year for 2011.

Smith, who teaches middle school science, sixth grade reading and sixth grade social studies and world history, said she was shocked, surprised, wowed and a little embarrassed when she was informed of the award.

“Iâ��believe it takes all of us to do this job and I am so fortunate to be surrounded by exceptional people who help me do my job every single day,”â��she said.â��“I always felt I worked in a special place.”

Practice, practice and more practice, as well as the support from her family, friends and music instructors, has led Anna Pickford to be chosen for the 61st annual South Dakota All-State Band  in Yankton March 24-26. 

Anna, a sophomore at Custer High School, is one of 18 flute players chosen out of 96 who auditioned in January at one of the six audition centers throughout the state.

Last Wednesday, Feb. 16, was Wellness Day at Custer High School, with a variety of presenters coming to the school and volunteering their time to show a variety of things to help with staying fit and promoting team-building and anti- bullying. There was also a keynote speaker. Among those who presented were: 

• Kristi Scott from Curves did Zumba

• Robin Pryor from Lo-Ru West Dance did Dance and Conditioning

•  Rex Jorgenson of the YMCA taught Stretching

Two Dakota State University students have won Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation scholarships.  The students, Samantha Roubideaux and Eric Chase, each received $500 for the 2011 spring semester at Dakota State University.

Chase is a junior computer network security major, considering an additional major in network administration. He is a 2008 graduate of Custer High School. His goal after graduation is to find a network security position either with a private company or with a government agency, preferably in South Dakota.

The Custer County 4-H program held its annual Recognition Event on Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Custer County Courthouse Annex Pine Room in Custer. Hosting the event was the Bear Mtn, Rowdy Ranchers and Country Coyotes 4-H clubs.

Pledges to the American Flag and the 4-H flag were led by members of the hosting clubs. A candle lighting ceremony was held for the first year m

Each year a select number of academically talented undergraduates from all three colleges of Black Hills State University are chosen to take their education to the next level through the Honors Program. The requirement for incoming freshmen is a 25 or higher ACT score and a high school grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5. After the first semester, the main emphasis for completing the program is maintaining a certain GPA at the college level and evidence of a commitment to lifelong learning and community service.

Honors scholars receive individualized advising and mentoring and attend special courses and colloquia, which are team-taught, inter-disciplinary courses that emphasize discussion and research.

The Elder’s Wisdom Children’s Song program returns to Custer this week. Several area residents will be honored at the high school theater Monday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m.

“The program is there to help people in the community really understand who their neighbors are,” said former principal Hank Fridell, who organizes the event. “It’s a tool to try to bring understanding between different generations in the community.”

With inquiring minds and great enthusiasm, more than 100 high school student leaders and their advisors from 11 high schools were in attendance at the Rushmore Region Student Council Workshop.  The workshop, which was co-sponsored by the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) and the South Dakota Student Council Association (SDSCA), was held in Sturgis Oct. 6.

Dustin Kirk used some of the ingenuity he developed as a Custer High School student to create Stacks 3.0, a learning program for the Apple iPhone.

Stacks 3.0 allows users to create flashcards and study them anywhere at any time. A student studying geography, for example, can make a series of cards asking and answering questions about European capital cities.