Heart Week at Minnetonka is famous for many things: the ridiculous but entertaining cupids, the Sweethearts dance in the commons, and of course, the unforgettable man pageant. Sometimes we almost forget the cost of the activities because they’re so worth it. But, the best part is that they’re worth it in multiple ways. We all enjoy a week full of fun, but what goes on during Heart Week also comes back to benefit the community.
Want to have a Love Note for a special someone featured in the next issue of the Breezes? Use this submission form to do just that! Our next issue will come out Friday, February 17th, the day before Sweethearts.
The results of a recent Breezes survey concluded that there is a broad range of interest in different December holidays — the three most common being Boxing Day (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Nations), Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (celebrated in Mexico by Catholics), and Kwanzaa (celebrated amongst African Americans). Because knowledge about cultures other than one’s own is valuable, below are descriptions of the three least-known December holidays among MHS students.
In recent years, high schools, including Minnetonka, have begun to approach Christmas in a new, more secular way. In the First Amendment to the United States Constitution lies a religious clause, and within that clause, the Establishment Clause. The opening lines of it are as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This is coupled with an implication: The separation of Church and State. Seeing as our school is public, Minnetonka HS is an institution of the state and therefore the school must not show religious favoritism. And so, our dilemma is born.
As the cold weather finally starts to come in through Minnesota, all of us rush inside, increasingly eager to get a break from the biting temperatures. However, some students aren’t getting as much of a break as they’d hoped for. You may have noticed the abundance of students bearing winter coats as they walk through the halls. Or, maybe you’ve overheard the same phrase over and over again between classes: “I’m freezing.” Whatever the case is, it’s undisputable - the school is cold.
Last year, the inaugural immersion students reached MHS. The program started out in 2007 fairly small, but has now expanded to the point where in just a few years, half of the student body at the high school will be bilingual. The program is the largest in the state of Minnesota, and also quite successful. On the AP Language and Culture tests taken last Spring, the Chinese immersion students averaged a score of 3.7 and the Spanish immersion a score of 4.5. In America, knowing a second language comes with endless benefits, and is something that everyone should have under their belt.
