Our Young People

Quinn Lewison is a Star of The West finalist

Published by admin on Wed, 03/19/2025 - 12:22pm

Custer High School senior Quinn Lewison is the third finalist in KOTA Territory’s FOX’s Rising Star of the West Scholarship contest. Lewison competed with four other Black Hills high school students the week of Feb. 24 on KOTA Territory News on FOX. Lewison’s commentary on the importance of reading was rated the best of the week by a combination of viewers on kotatv.com and a KOTA Territory panel of judges. She will now be back on the air in late April and May competing with the other three finalists for a total of $7,500 in scholarship money from Black Hills FOX and Monument Health.

Student screen background design contest

Published by admin on Wed, 03/12/2025 - 1:40pm
The Hill City School District will perform background checks…but not how you might think. 
The school will run a design contest, challenging students to incorporate both the use of technology as well as their art skills while designing a computer screen background. 
Students will submit original artwork that will be considered by a panel of judges. The selected artwork will become the lock-screen and background for every computer in the school district for the 2025-26 school year. 

Hill City school to host student job fair

Published by admin on Wed, 03/12/2025 - 1:39pm
The Hill City School District will once again hold its annual job fair over the lunch hour in the Bob Burden Gymnasium March 19. 
The event is geared toward eighth grade through senior students and involves local businesses from Hill City, Custer, Keystone and Rapid City. 
Each business has a table with information about their business and available employment opportunities. Students have one hour to walk around the room and visit with representatives from the different businesses. 

Hermosa has three-peat in READBowl

Published by admin on Wed, 03/12/2025 - 12:45pm

Sandy Crown’s first grade class in Hermosa is the South Dakota State Champion in the READBowl Primary Conference (K-2) for the third consecutive year. This championship resulted from reading the most minutes per team in the state over four weeks, spanning from the college football national championship game Jan. 13 through Super Bowl Sunday.
On top of that, the Hermosa Hornets first grade class was third in the primary conference nationwide and 11th in the nation when all teams in all conferences were combined. Way to make the national rankings and put the Hornets on the map!

Race to read, Dr. Seuss ignite literacy

Published by admin on Wed, 03/05/2025 - 10:33am
The Cat in the Hat made an appearance at school because the children made reading so cool. They read with their parents, their teachers and pets. They even were read to by invited guests. They read so many books, over 5,000 in fact. That Cat himself was even impressed by that. 
The Hill City Elementary School students have been reading up a storm. The school participated in the Race to Read challenge Jan. 13 – March 2 sponsored by Black Hills Reads. 

Students gear up for science fair

Published by admin on Wed, 03/05/2025 - 10:11am
“A scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions.”
– Claude Lévi-Strauss
Students from the Hill City School District are gearing up for the all school science fair March 10. The event gives students the opportunity to practice science and engineering for themselves while competing against their peers. 

School awarded grant for adaptive playground equipment

Published by admin on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 3:44pm

Custer School District (CSD) playgrounds will soon be transformed to be all-inclusive with a variety of adaptive equipment thanks to a generous grant from the We B Giving Foundation (WBGF), totaling $263,559.52.
Originally, a family connection of a teacher led to the grant opportunity with the WBGF.
According to the Facebook post announcing the news, the goal of the application was “to foster an inclusive environment by providing the adaptive equipment needed for students of all abilities across various schools and programs.”

Pederson, Arp selected for academy

Published by admin on Wed, 02/19/2025 - 10:16am

Two Elk Mountain School District educators, Jenny Pederson and Gina Arp, have been selected to participate in the prestigious Dakota Dreams Teacher Leadership Academy. They are among only 60 educators across the state of South Dakota chosen for this highly selective program, which provides experienced teachers the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and explore roles in educational administration.

Custer first graders name snowplow

Published by admin on Wed, 02/12/2025 - 5:02pm

The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) announces winners of the annual Snowplow Naming Contest. The contest was created as a way to engage people across the state in winter driving safety awareness and preparedness.
The contest continues to provide an opportunity to encourage winter driving safety awareness for South Dakotans. This year, three of the winning entries were named by elementary classrooms in the communities of Custer, Pierre and Winner.
Students in Becky Treloar’s first grade class won the Custer Area competition with their name, Plowy.  

Hadley Walker takes third at state for Patriot’s Pen

Published by admin on Wed, 01/29/2025 - 6:17pm

“Kids Can Be Heard”—that was the title of Hadley Walker’s award-winning essay and that is what she proved by winning third place in the State of South Dakota for the nationwide Patriot’s Pen essay contest.
Walker is an eighth grader at Hill City Middle School (HCMS) and the daughter of Sarah and Ethan Walker. She has lived in Hill City since 2018 and was homeschooled up until seventh grade. This fall, Walker had the opportunity to enter the Patriot’s Pen essay contest.