What’s New in the Big Blue?

What’s New in the Big Blue?

Isa Larus and Gigi Anderson, Feature Editor

This article is from the October issue of Breezes. Pick up a copy and start reading today!

This summer, quite a few changes were made to Minnetonka High School. The media center transformed into “The Port,” a new weather team prepared for the morning show, the immersion program came to the high school, the Vantage program expanded, and MHS welcomed a new assistant principal. All of these changes affect student and staff experiences at the school, so it is important to understand them.

Over the summer, the Media Center was redesigned and renamed “The Port.” This new name comes from Mr. Gausmann, who thought that the newly designed study center should have a name consistent with Minnetonka’s maritime theme. According to Ms. Leitner, a Port staff member, the goal of the redesign was to create a quiet study area where kids could collaborate and get their work done without distractions. The changes made in the redesign include the following:

  • New carpeting
  • New seating
  • New lighting fixtures
  • More collaborative work spaces
  • New student study nooks
  • Fewer books

port

The significant decrease in the number of books is due to their lack of use over the past few years as well as the need for more space for furniture. If you are a bookworm, fear not! Over the past few years, the Port has been beefing up its stores of ebooks, so MHS students will never be without good books to check out from the school. Historically, the Port has been a very social place- often used for catching up with friends and talking. Now the administration hopes to make The Port a better study environment.

The new school year has brought with it two new weathermen. Gone are the days of Avalanche Andy’s rather eccentric Friday videos. This year, the morning show weather segment has two new stars: senior Benjamin Ogilvie and freshman Sam Dahl. Both are very serious about giving the student body up to date and accurate weather information. The two hosts complement each other perfectly as Benjamin is an experienced Morning Show crew member and Sam, while new to the crew, is very familiar with meteorology. The duo will be doing the weather live this year on Tuesdays and Fridays. One thing that has not changed is the weather team’s presence on Twitter. They tweet daily weather updates as well as retweet fire #weatherselfies.

weathermen

Make sure to follow this year’s weather team on Twitter @TONKAWEATHER .

Please help us in giving a warm welcome to our new Assistant Principal…Mr. Robb Virgin! Enticed by Minnetonka’s culture and academic excellence, he transitioned from his job teaching “Instructional Methods” to adults at the University of Minnesota to being Assistant Principal working among students at MHS. He successfully faces the whirlwind of activities and opportunities MHS, and joyfully so, as he gets to work with students (which he loves to do). It is also important to note Mr. Virgin has tried the Lee Ann Chin from school and considers it satisfactory. That’s right folks! We have an administrative mark of approval.

mr virgin

If you see Mr. Virgin in the hallway, give him a smile and say hello. He is here for us!

As immersion teaching methods have progressed into the high school, Minnetonka now offers the following courses taught in Chinese and Spanish:

  • AP Language and Culture
  • Honors Immersion Language Arts 9
  • Civics and Human Geography
  • IB German/Spanish/French Ab initio/German for the 3rd Language Learner

With this extension of immersion courses into the high school and the welcoming of the largest freshman class (that’s you, class of 2019), we have a significant influx of new teachers in the building. This notable increase in student and teacher population has also made Vantage programs even more alluring.

In addition to the already popular “Business in a Global Economy,” “Business Analytics,” and “Healthcare and Sports Science” courses, Vantage now also offers programs in “Broadcast and Digital Journalism,” and “Graphic and Product Design.” Take advantage of these growing programs, unique to MHS, and acquire valuable skills such as entrepreneurship, creativity, communication, and collaboration in the process. Good luck to the new teachers and teachers of new courses this year! We are so excited and grateful to have you!