High school students across the country and in Hutchinson have just finished taking the tests that determine if they receive college credit for Advanced Placement courses.

The program has expanded during the years to include 37 courses across 22 subject areas. At Hutchinson High School, the newest addition to the AP roster is Advanced Placement statistics, which was added at the beginning of this year.

Hutchinson youth will have new sports fields to play on come as early as next summer.

School District 423 Board members voted to award the low bid for campus greenspace improvements to Burski Excavating of Rice at its last regular meeting.

Plans call for building a new senior high baseball field, a new youth softball/baseball field, a new youth football field and a new youth soccer field. District Director of Buildings and Grounds Brian Mohr said the contractor could be ready to begin work as early as June 9, but estimated ground will be broken sometime shortly after that.

A townhall meeting on the issues of underage drinking is being offered at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 27 in the Hutchinson High School auditorium.

Hutchinson Police Chief Dan Hatten, Principal Ron Johnson, McLeod County Health Director Jean Johnson and chemical health counselor Carmen Morrow will be among the speakers to address teen alcohol use.
Box of Rockets, winners of the 2007 McLeod County Fair Battle of the Bands, will perform to kick off the event.

The Hutchinson High School vocal music department is presenting a spring concert at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16, in the school auditorium.

The concert and varsity choirs and the Tiger Chorus, along with many smaller vocal ensembles, will perform.
Familiar songs from the musicals “Wicked,” “Pajama Game,” “Hairspray” and “Hair” will be featured. Highlighted pop songs include “The Middle,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Breaking up is Hard to Do,” “One Fine Day” and “Buffalo Gals.”

By LESLEY CHRISTIANSON
Staff Writer

District 423 Assistant Superintendent Allen Stoeckman has accepted the superintendent’s position at Yellow Medicine-East schools.

Among the 24 applicants, Stoeckman was one of the four chosen to interview and the first choice of the YME school board and administration. Stoeckman has signed a three-year contract with the Granite Falls district and is in the process of negotiating pay.

Before giving the offer, a group of YME staff and administration visited Stoeckman in Hutchinson to observe his job at the local district.

By LESLEY CHRISTIANSON
Staff Writer

For most 17-year-olds, prom is the acme of the high school year. For Hutchinson High School junior Michael Massmann, it was his last chance to share the experience with his classmates.

By this time next year, while area juniors and seniors will be preparing for the special occasion, Massmann will be training at Fort Benning, Ga., as a soldier in the U.S. Army.

By LIZ MARCUS
Special to the Leader

Before I begin my recommendation of the film “Across the Universe,” I should point out that it is for a mature high school audience. That said, I adore this movie. It is an incredibly accurate depiction of America in the 1970s.

Starring Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess, it follows the lives of a group of teens/young adults growing up in the midst of the confusion and hatred of war, civil rights violence and drugs. The story is told with the help of songs by the Beatles, which are redone very well.