Youthful voices, ruddy faces, winter coats, clanging lockers, books lining the hallway.  After a nearly three-week break, Red Cloud students are back in school, and there's excitement in the air.  But it's not at the resumption of classes.  If memory serves--and it hasn't been that long since I was in high school--the end of winter break is the most difficult back-to-school there is, the end of summer aside.

But this year is different from other years.  This year, there's something to talk about apart from the family gatherings and candy canes of the holiday season.  I'm referring, of course, to Red Cloud's basketball victories at the Lakota Nation Invitational, LNI, in December.  The boy's varsity took first place for the first time in several years; the girl's, second place.  With a slew of games upcoming, excitement blots out the drear of a January classroom, ebullient fandom eclipses the nail-biting anxiety of impending finals.

The week began smoothly, on January 7--a cold, crisp Monday morning--with students slowly disembarking busses and idling cars and filing into the freshly-cleaned hallways.  The day started uneventfully, and it passed uneventfully.  On Tuesday, January 8, after-school activities began again, with students taking part in everything from guitar club to science club, from study hall to service club.  Meanwhile, the girl's basketball teams headed to Chadron, where they bagged another victory.  On Thursday, January 10, the boy's teams will play Little Wound, at Red Cloud.  Between games, students will be busy studying--finals are nigh, with half scheduled for next Thursday January 17, and the other half scheduled for Friday, January 18, followed by a much-deserved Monday and Tuesday off.