It’s official: Austin High School will have a trapshooting team.

The Austin Public Schools Board approved adding the AHS Clay Target Team to the high school’s list of activities during its monthly board meeting Tuesday.

District officials held an informational meeting earlier this fall in response to a burgeoning interest among students and faculty. Trapshooting is a sanctioned high school activity, though it isn’t technically part of the Minnesota State High School League, with more than 100 teams in Minnesota alone.

An activity proposal form lists more than 50 students interested in participating in the AHS Clay Target Team, which would meet at the Cedar Valley Conservation Club every Monday at 5 p.m. The club would participate in eight official shoots, with students practicing more often, according to the form.

Students won’t have to travel to events, according to Lisa Quednow-Bickler, as team members will shoot at their home gun range and submit scores to determine who wins the events. The top five shooters in the expert, intermediate, and novice categories — which replace the varsity, junior varsity and “C-squad” rankings — have the chance to compete at a state tournament. The team’s season runs from April to June, according to Quednow-Bickler.

For the moment, students will have to pay a $210 activity fee to cover the cost of team supplies, but Quednow-Bickler told the board several residents were organizing fundraisers to off-set team costs and the school would work to help students in need be part of the team.

In other news, the board:

—Heard an update on I.J. Holton Intermediate School from Holton Principal Jean McDermott. McDermott said construction was on schedule, with most of the roof scheduled to be finished by the end of the month. In addition, workers are busy putting steel frames and pouring floors in the building.

Fifth- and sixth-grade teachers are busy meeting with University of Minnesota experts to tailor current curriculum to a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) approach. McDermott said staff will participate in these sessions throughout the school year.

District officials haven’t determined whether Holton will be an intermediate or middle school, and board chairman Jeff Kritzer said the board should probably decide an official name.

—Certified school board election results. Mary Jane Kestner, Dick Lees and Don Leathers were recognized as the official winners of this month’s election and will begin their four-year terms in January.

—Determined a schedule regarding Superintendent David Krenz’s annual evaluation. Board members already submitted evaluation materials and will go through the evaluation results before their next public meeting on Nov. 26. They will share those results with Krenz in a closed session after the public meeting that day.