Opportunity Day for Saint Peter High School students (grades 9-12) has been set for Tuesday, Feb. 25, with specific and unique educational opportunities being planned for each grade level.

Coordinating the Opportunity Day activities are Mandy Quist and Jana Sykora, School Counselors.

“Opportunity Day provides students with college and career readiness knowledge, skills, and experiences that enhance their academic planning while developing and practicing hands on employment skills for their future careers.” College and Career Readiness Counselor Mandy Quist shares.  Each grade level’s activities are designed in the continuum of the overall PreK-12 college and career readiness scope and sequence. The extensive preparation and coordination of this event is substainstated as students share their Opportunity Day experiences.” It is exciting to hear the students share their stories and renewed energy to pursue their academics and future careers, connect real world workforce knowledge with their classroom lessons and see the self discovery growth of their own skill levels and career interests.” 

Coordinating with local partners, St. Peter Area Chamber and businesses, Mankato Workforce Council and CareerForce Center, along with post secondary educational institutions, organizers developed the resources to ensure that  students at the high school will be able to maximize their educational and exploration opportunities to enrich the students’ career and college readiness knowledge. 

“I am grateful that our teachers, administrators and families are so engaged and supportive of career and college planning,” SPHS School Counselor Jana Sykora said. “This day is a gift for students as it allows for significant progress toward their postsecondary goals. There is a lot of planning involved in this day, and all of our teachers” 

Some of the other benefits of Opportunity Day according to Quist and Sykora include exposing ninth graders to a variety of post-secondary opportunities, optimizing the college and career readiness testing environments and building employment skills confidence. The developmental grade level activities provide post secondary options for students who might not have previously considered for themselves as they continue their career readiness planning. 

The following is an overview of what will take place for students in all four grades that will be participating in Opportunity Day:

12th Grade
Informational Interview and Observation (off-site)

• Seniors utilize homeroom time for career assessments and activities, employment speakers, identifying career interests and developing and enhancing their employment skills to assist them in scheduling and preparing for their observation day in the career field of their choice

• Seniors are expected to conduct their observation and informational interview during the school day on February 25. Seniors will not report to school February 25

11th Grade
College and Career Assessments

• 11th grade students will take a college and career readiness assessment of their choice; ACT with writing, the Accuplacer or the ASVAB.

• After their assessment, students will have a break for lunch and then rotate through presentations on scholarships,  financial planning, Career Day preparation and senior year timeline planning.

10th Grade
PreACT Testing Day

• 10th grade students will take the PreACT.

• After the PreACT, students will have a break for lunch and then report to their homeroom for the afternoon to work on their Personalized Learning Plan, prepare for the Career Expo (scheduled for March 25) and begin exploring scholarships and financial planning.

9th Grade
Opportunity Tour

• 9th grade students will begin their day in the theater with a motivational and interactive presentation intended to inspire each student toward reaching their own personal and academic growth.

• Students will depart the high school at 9:00 am and visit a four year public  and private college, learning about admissions,financial aid, programs/majors, athletics, scholarships and overall campus life. 

• Students will return to school by 2:45 pm.

Mr. Chantharak and Mrs. Leibfried are taking some of our special education students in the community to practice their life skills and social skills. This group will leave school at 8:30 a.m. and visit various places in the community such as the government offices, laundry mat, bank, doctor office, post office, and grocery store. This group will end their day at a sit down restaurant where they will use the skills they learned to order off of a menu, use appropriate social skills, and make a purchase. The students will return back to school at 2:30 p.m. where they will end their school day. 

 

Saint Peter High School will host its first-ever Course and Curriculum Night on Thursday, Feb. 13, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., which is being held the same evening as Parent-Teacher Conferences.

The SPHS counseling staff encourages all 8th through 11th grade families (grades 9-12 in 2020-21) to attend Course and Curriculm Night's two main events:

* Course & Curriculum Fair - Open House -- Stop by the SPHS gym to meet department staff and learn about course selection and offerings. 

* Registration Information Sessions -- Learn about the registration process for all students, the role of parents, and the timeline for submitting 2020-21 registration requests. Two sessions will be offered in the SPHS Performing Arts Center (theater) -- 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. 

Saint Peter High School and its Building Leadership Team (BLT) are hosting a parent information and advisory gathering on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the SPHS commons area. Parents/guardians of students in grades 9 - 12 are welcome to attend.

At this first meeting, according to SPHS Principal Annette Engeldinger, the BLT would like to gather information and feedback on programming, policies, and practices, as well as share information on some of the things the team is working on this year.

We hope to see you there!

A somewhat regular occurrence during the school day at Saint Peter High School has become a popular among school staff as Liz Leibfried’s Life & Work Skills students make their way around the building in the afternoon with their Saints Brew snack and beverage cart. 

The crew began offering tasty treats and beverages to SPHS staff this past fall and they were immediately well received. What treats they offer varies from week to week, but often includes baked goods such as cookies, bars, and muffins, and, since the holiday season is over, they have include veggies and dip or fruit for those wanting to get their diet back on track. The beverages of choice usually includes water, coffee, or hot chocolate. 

“Saints Brew has been such a wonderful project-based learning experience to add to our classroom,” Leibfried said. “Our week revolves around the coffee cart. Monday we go out in the community and grocery shop for the food items. On Tuesday and Thursday we bake the food for the cart. 

“The kids have seemed to really enjoy building relationships with staff in the building.  The cart has increased their social and employment skills. Alyssa said she has learned to be more patient and Emma loves working with her friends. Sabrina and Kiersten have increased their use of their communication device in a variety of settings.”

The students don’t charge anything for their treats and beverages, but they do accept donations and use those funds to buy more snacks and beverages for the cart.

Fans of some Saint Peter High School sporting events will have the option of watching games online with the installation of the new video system in the school’s gym through the NFHS Network System.

Partnered with the National Federation of State High School Associations, 44-plus high school state athletic/activities associations, and PlayOn! Sports, the NFHS Network is a joint venture created to provide fans with the ability to stream high school sports on any device, from wherever they are.

Those interested in viewing Saints boys and girls basketball games and wrestling matches this winter season can go to www.nfhsnetwork.com and sign up for a subscription to access the video feeds of these games/matches. Saints volleyball matches, starting in the fall of 2020, will also be shown through this system. The cost of the subscription is $69.99 for the calendar year or $10.99 per month, for those who are only interested in access during a particular sports season. 

In addition to those home events here at the SPHS, subscribers will also be able to access video feeds of away games for those schools using the NFHS Network System. Several Big South schools and area schools already use the system including Waseca, Le Sueur-Henderson, Blue Earth Area, Windom Area, Jackson County Central, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Maple River, and Luverne. 

SPHS Activities Director Jordan Paula said other events held in the gym, such as graduation, youth sports, and other programs may be broadcast. The video feed for an event like graduation, according to Paula, would be available for free to the general public. 

“We are excited to be able to provide video feeds to Saints’ fans who might not normally be able to get to a game or event,” Paula said. “We are extremely thankful for the Triple A Capital Campaign funds which paid for the purchase of the Pixellot video system used by the NFHS Network. The $2,500 purchase price was a fixed cost and any future funds needed to update and maintain the system will come from subscriptions that are purchased by our fans. The school also gets a certain percentage for subscriptions that are purchased by Saints fans.”

The video will only have the audio feed from the gym, but at this point there is no play by play commentary. 

“The capability is there should we decide to have students become a part of the broadcast or we can at some point add a connection to a radio broadcast that is going on, but that is something for later on as we get more familiar with the system,” Paula said. 

There are plans to install a similar video system at Floyd B. Johnson Field to do online video feeds from football, boys soccer, and girls soccer games. However, internet access will need to be made available at that location before that happens, according to Paula.