Winter activities online registration is now open for students in grades 7-12 at either Saint Peter High School or Middle School. To register your student for a winter activity, please visit: http://bit.ly/STPActivitiesRegistration.

Saint Peter High School and Middle School offers the following winter sports to its 7-12 students for the 2021-22 school year -- boys and girls basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, boys and girls hockey. Registration is also now open for co-curricular activities such as one-act play, speech, math team, Academic Decathlon, Academic Pentathlon, Knowledge Bowl, mock trial, and middle school play.

For any questions about how to set up a registration account? Please click here: http://ss-resource.wordwareinc.com/resources/2027/files/Create%20New%20Lobby%20Account.pdf

Physical Information

If your student did not participate in a fall sport, keep in mind that all students in grades 7-12 who wish to participate in a winter sport will need to have a current physical on file with the SPHS Activities Office. Those are usually done prior to the start of the student’s 7th grade and 10th grade years and are good for three years. The completed physical forms can be emailed to kdavis@stpeterschools.org or sroehrkasse@stpeterschools.org or submitted to the Activities Office in person. The MSHSL physical form for 2021-22 can be found at https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/2020-21-sqpe-3-25-20.pdf.

Winter Schedules Information

To view the 2021 SPHS/MS Activities Calendar please click here: https://www.thebigsouthconference.org/public/genie/742/school/11/. You can import specific schedules into your own calendar. A helpful guide on how to do that can be found here: http://bit.ly/ImportingActivitySchedules

Winter sports practice starting dates:

• Monday, Nov. 1 - girls hockey
• Monday, Nov. 8 - gymnastics
• Monday, Nov. 15 - girls basketball, boys hockey
• Monday, Nov. 22 - boys basketball, wrestling

Parent Meeting 

A winter sports parent meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1, at the SPHS gym with each Saints’ winter sports team having their own meeting following that session. Minnesota River Bulldogs boys and girls hockey players/parents do not need to attend these meetings as they host their own through the Bulldog Youth Hockey Association. Contact your respective hockey coach for that meeting info or click HERE for the association’s website. 

Other questions or information needed:

If you have any questions about winter sports registration, including how to register in person, registration costs, scholarship availability, etc., please email either Activities Director Shea Roehrkasse (sroehrkasse@stpeterschools.org) or Activities Secretary Kristi Davis (kdavis@stpeterschools.org).

While the focus for high school students is often geared towards college prep courses, at SPHS, students can get plenty of hands-on experiences in industrial technology and building trades. These course offerings are part of the school’s overall CTE (Career & Technical Education) program, which includes agricultural science and FACS (Family and Consumer Science). (More information on those two programs will be shared in next month’s Highlights.
 

SPHS CTE teachers Michael Reeser and Scott Robinson provide students with instruction in several areas of study, including Woodworking, Introduction to Engineering, Building Trades, Metalworking I, Metalworking II, Automotive Mechanics, and Introduction to Power Mechanics. Reeser has worked with the district since the high school opened in 2017, while Robinson is new this year, replacing long-time teacher Warren Peterson, who retired after the 2020-21 school year.

These courses are specifically designed to provide students with the skills and training necessary should they consider choosing one of these tracks as a field of study either through vocational/technical school or college or move right into a career path upon graduation.

Courses offered in the Manufacturing Lab include Intro to Power Mechanics, Principles of Metalworking I and II, and Automotive Mechanics. 
 

“Students enrolled in the Introduction to power mechanics course learn about outdoor power equipment and small gas engines with a basic overview of things to know when you own a car but may not necessarily plan to perform all of the maintenance yourself,” Reeser said. 

Students engage in various hands-on activities such as engine disassembly, engine components and systems identification, engine inspection, engine assembly, engine troubleshooting, and basic automotive components.

Automotive mechanics student’s hands-on opportunities include general vehicle maintenance items such as oil change, tire change, tire rotation, undercarriage repair, brakes, steering suspension, driveline, exhaust, and fuel systems.

“Principles of Metalworking I students learn to use the 4-basic arc welding process and 2-basic cutting systems -- shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, flux core arc welding,  gas tungsten arc welding, plasma arc cutting, and oxy acetylene cutting,” Reeser said. “Students in Metalworking II will be able to complete and pass the American Welding Society Welder qualification and certification test for industry recognized training as well as learn to fabricate from blueprints to create precise, inspected components.”

Robinson, who works with students mainly in the engineering/design lab as well as the woodworking shop, has enjoyed getting to know the students and staff here at SPHS since the start of the new school year.

“Being new this year I am excited to see all the opportunities our students have to develop skills in different areas,” Robinson said. “The community support for the school and CTE programs is really paying off for our students. St. Peter offers CTE classes that start with the basics and progress to the advanced skills that give our students an advantage going forward. Some will use these classes as a starting point for a whole career, some will find a new hobby and others will just go forward knowing that they can design, build, fix, cook or grow things when they want to. It is always exciting to see what students do with the skills learned in these courses and I am excited to have joined such an impressive team.”

Saint Peter School Resource Officer (SRO) Jon Hughes reminds students who ride their bikes to school to be sure to lock them to the available bike racks at each of the buildings.
 

“Bike theft is a crime of opportunity, and if a bike is stolen at school, it is almost always the case of someone looking for an easy way to get from point A to point B,” Hughes said. “We enjoy having our students bike to school, and to ensure their bikes are secured once they park it and leave it for the school day, a simple bike lock can make all the difference in the world.”

Another method of prevention for those driving bikes to and from school is to register their bikes with the St. Peter Police Department. The cost is just $1, and bike owners will be given a sticker to attach to the bike. This provides police with the easiest way to identify someone’s bike should it be stolen and later recovered.

“Registering it with the Police Department is quick and easy, but if you’re not interested in that, at least be sure to keep a record of the serial number along with the make and model of your student’s bike(s),” Hughes said. 

The majority of serial numbers are located under the bottom bracket where the two pedal cranks meet. “Turn your bike upside down to view it and record the number,” Hughes added.

The St. Peter High School Fishing Team (SPFT) had 16 anglers compete this past season and four of them qualified to advance to the Minnesota Junior BASS Nation 2021 High School Championship Tournament, which was held on September 11-12 on Gull Lake in Nisswa, MN. 

There were 97 boats/teams (194 anglers) that participated. St. Peter’s team is part of the Greater South Conference, and eight two-person teams qualified from the conference to advance to the state tournament including two St. Peter teams. The state tournament was the final event of the season.

After the first day of fishing at state, the tandem of SPHS seniors Brogan Hanson and Jaeger Kennedy were in 30th place while the duo of seniors Jaxson Witty and Camden Marquardt were in 61st place. After the second and final day of competition, Hanson and Kennedy vaulted up to a 10th-place finish, while Witty and Marquardt moved up to finish in 57th place out of 97 teams. The SPFT coaches are Mike Kennedy and Jeff Orth. For complete state results please click HERE!

For more information about the St. Peter Fishing Team, which is a club sport at SPHS, please send an email to st.peterfishingteam@gmail.com.

Saint Peter High School will celebrate Homecoming 2021 the week of September 20-24 with a full slate of events/activities.

This year’s coronation/crowning of the Queen and King will take place on Friday, Sept. 24, at halftime of the Saints football game vs. Jordan at Floyd B. Johnson Field, with the annual dance set for Saturday evening at SPHS. Plans are also being finalized for the annual Homecoming Carnival, where students will be able to participate in games and activities. More details will be shared on the dance starting time and Carnival festivities as they become available.

The Homecoming Parade returns this year, after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, and is set for Friday, Sept. 24th, at 3:30 p.m. The route will start on Broadway Avenue on the northside of Saint Peter Middle School/Early Childhood Center campus and head south to Third Street where the parade units will take a right and travel until the Grace Street intersection. There the parade route turns right again and heads west on Grace Street, eventually ending by the Middle School.

2021 SPHS Homecoming Dress Up Days
Monday, Sept. 20 - Adam Sandler Day
Tuesday, Sept. 21 - Skater vs. Cowgirl(boy) Day
Wednesday, Sept. 22 - Jersey/Sport Day
Thursday, Sept. 23 - Generation Day
Friday, Sept. 24 - Saints Day.