Saint Peter High School Principal Annette Engeldinger announced recently that SPHS senior Kelson Lund has been named a Commended Student in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation *(NMSC), which

conducts the program, was presented to this scholastically talented senior on September 24.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2021 competition for National Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2021 competition by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” a NMSC spokesperson said. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

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. 

The Saint Peter High School FFA Fish and Wildlife Career Development Event (CDE) teams competed at the Region VII contest on December 17 in Belle Plaine with the varsity team members earning a trip to state for their efforts. 

The varsity team consists of Alexis Flowers (7th high individual placewinner), Bennett DeBlieck, James Gran, Max Hartfiel, and Ethan Volk, and the team placed fourth out of 20 teams which competed to earn their spot at the Minnesota State FFA CDE Contest in April 19-21, 2020, in St. Paul.

The Saint Peter High School FFA’s junior varsity team of Kevin Roberts, Ryan Wilmes and Lexi  Hutchens also competed in the JV portion of the contest and placed fourth overall out of nine teams, with Lexi Hutchens placing third high in the individual portion of the contest.

Those teams competing were tested on their knowledge of game and nongame species identification included mammals, birds, fish, insects, and reptiles. They also completed a written test on the breeding, nesting, habitat, management, and migration of those species used in the identification section as well as a team activity on deer population management.