Recent Awards and Achievements
Girls South Team wins the 2011 USA Ultimate Frisbee: Minnesota HS Championship! Way to Go Ladies!
Congratulations to Jade Balcos for finishing 2nd in Minneapolis singles in Badminton. Allie Myren finished 3rd…GO TIGERS!
Please congratulate our returning chess players from Columbus, Ohio, where they finished 2nd at Nationals! Going into the last round we were tied with 4 other teams for second place. Our Tigers scored 3/4 points to grasp 2nd. These gents played 28 hours of timed chess over the weekend!
Congratulations to art teacher, Seexeng Lee.His life is highlighted in the book A People’s History of the Hmong, by Paul Hillmer. Check out his childhood picture (p. 214) and the many references to his story and quotes in the index (p. 322) under Lee, Seexeng. Mr. Lee is a former South student as well being one of our respected staff members.
ACADEMICS Local Awards • History Day (2008) • 17 students entered projects in the Minnesota State Finals • 5 students entered projects in the National Finals including 1st place by Folasade Ogundiran • History Day (2009) • Minnesota State Final had 5 finishes in Paper, Group Performance, Individual Exhibit, Group Exhibit categories. • National American Indian Science & Engineering Fair (2008): 2nd place in Environmental Science and awards from the EPA and a Stockholm Water prize award and 2nd place award in Microbiology American Indian Science and Engineering Society (2008): Awards to 5 students for: Photography, Creativity, Best Board & Student Choice, Indigenous Science, and Just for Fun
National Awards • National Merit Finalists—2 in 2010 • National Merit Commended students –19 in 2010 • Wallin Scholars—12 in 2009 • National Merit Finalists—7 in 2009 • National Hispanic Recognition Finalists—2 in 2009 • National Merit Scholarships—2 in 2009 • National Merit Commended students –12 in 2009 • Davidson Fellowship ($10,000 award) for creative writing in 2009. • Gates Millenium Scholars—2 in 2009 • Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction for 2007 and MN AP Rising Scholar of Distinction. • 34 graduates from class of 2009 received post-secondary scholarships • South High School was ranked #5 of high schools in Minnesota and #529 in the nation by the Newsweek "1500 Top U.S. High Schools" poll. http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160/?s=Minnesota&q=2009/rank/1
FINE ARTS Heritage Festival Awards in Atlanta (2009): • Gold Award to Chamber Orchestra • Silver Award and division 2nd place finish for Pop Singers • Silver Award and division 2nd place finish for Wind Ensemble • Gold Award and division 2nd place finish for Jazz Ensemble I
Jazz Ensemble I (2009): • Auditioned and won an invitation to perform with Lincoln Center Jazz Ensemble at the Orchestra Hall Jazz Festival, directed by Wynton Marsalis • Hosted 5th annual Jazz Festival with special guest JAZZMN Big Band
Heritage Festival Awards in Philadelphia (2008): • Adjudicators Award to the Orchestra • Outstanding Orchestra group, • Silver Award to Jazz Ensemble • Silver Award to Pop Singers, • Gold Award to Wind Ensemble • Gold Award to Chamber Orchestra
American Composers Forum and First Nations Composer Initiative (2008): • Composition of All-Nations student selected for performance in Washington, D.C. • Choral performance by three All-Nations students.
Viva City Fourteenth Annual Citywide Arts Festival (2008): • First place award for individual painting on homelessness • Place awards to: 5 students for paintings; 5 students for ceramics
Minnesota Scholastic Art Award (2008): • Silver Key award for Ceramics & Glass • two Honorable Mention awards for Painting
ATHLETICS Conference Champions: • Badminton, Girls Basketball, Boys Golf, Boys Soccer, Girls Swimming, Volleyball, Wrestling (2006-07) • Badminton, Girls Basketball, Boys Cross Country, Boys Golf, Girls Swimming, Boys Track, Wrestling (2007-08) • Girls Basketball, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Soccer, Boys Tennis (2008-09)
State Level Participants: • Badminton, Girls Basketball (2009 Champions), Adapted Hockey and Soccer, Ping Pong, Girls Swimming, Boys Swimming, Cross Country, Track, Wrestling
Other Awards: • Nordic Ski team 2009 National Sportsmanship award-winner http://www.stlsports.org/awards/winners.php • Students named to 2008 All State and Honorable Mention All State Basketball Team and South Central Regional All Star Game • Tayler Hill named 2007-08 Gatorade MN Girls Basketball Player of the Year (for athletics, academics, character), and 2009 Athena Award recipient • Jim Christy, POHI teacher and Adapted Sports Coach, inducted into MSHSL Hall of Fame • Cathy Peterson (coach, teacher, AD) inducted into MSHSL Hall of Fame
CO-CURRICULAR • Math team: Achieved 2nd place in the City, with 3 students ranked in the top ten. Competed in 25th annual State Tournament. • Debate team: Attending the national tournament in June 2009 • SHS Chess Club: 9th place in the National Chess Competition in Kentucky in April 2009 among hundreds of competing teams. • Blood Drive: Greatest number of pints of blood donated by any Minneapolis school • Stand Up, Speak Out: More than 100 students committed more than 10 hours of their time to train to be peer mediators on the issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. In April 2009 every single SHS student participated in peer-led workshops on these issues. Plans are in place to repeat this program next year and make it a year-round discussion.
Southerner Newspaper: • 2008 Gold Award from the Minnesota High School Press Association; • writers won individual first and second places for articles and photos • students currently preparing submissions for the national competition.
SOUTH STAFF • Awarded collection of Spanish-language books by the Mexican Consulate of St. Paul in 2008 to promote literacy and Mexican culture in schools and cultural institutions across the Upper Midwest. • Counseling department awarded RAMP (Recognized ASCA [American School Counseling Association] Model Program) in 2009-2010 school year
ALUMNI Notable Alumni Josh Hartnett—film Anna Nudell Lee—U of M soccer Nathan Keepers—Theatre de la Jeune Lune Emily Gunyou—Red Eye Theater, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Guthrie Theater Tayler Hill—basketball Tierney Palmer–Klein—UofM soccer, 2 year MVP, 3 year captain, NCAA & Big Ten Academic All Star Kathy Wurzer—Minnesota Public Radio and Almanac host Hassan Mead won 2006 state cross country meet; runs for Gopher CC team, went to NCAA nationals as a freshman; won the Griak college invitational
Information collected by parent volunteer Chris Buenneke Spring 2009.