Ray Aponte – The Southerner

On Tuesday, April 30, there was a meeting to decide on a committee of South students, staff, parents, and community members that will decide on the next Principal of South High School. The meeting was open to the public, and requisites for the selection committee was discussed. After the meeting, the site council had a closed meeting to decide who would actually be on the committee.

Principal Selection Committee forms to choose the next Mr. Aponte

May 6, 2019

South High students Nasra Hassan and Frances Levy are just a few of the visual art students working together to paint the new mural for South. The mural that they are working on will be replacing the mural that is alongside the practice field by the end of June.

South High brushes up an old mural

May 3, 2019

Pictured above is student Theodore Wilson having his school ID card scanned by Food Coordinator Terri Ventry. The lunch time policy change of going from typing in your PIN number to having your card scanned to purchase lunch aims to quicken lunch lines, and eliminate issues related to students using the wrong PIN numbers. “There are a lot of times when people forgot and mix up the numbers or whatever, so if I can just scan [an ID card] it takes two seconds,” explained Ventry.

New lunch policy aims to benefit both staff and students

May 3, 2019

On April 9th, 2019 Site Council held a meeting to discuss South’s search for a new principal. Parent LaCresha Dotson described the meeting: “I think it went fairly well. I think what I heard though is that we’re a little bit behind the eight ball. We’ve got this monumental decision to make and not a whole lot of time to make it if we want to get the best candidates.”

Parents, staff, and students begin search to find new principal

April 9, 2019

Above is Mr. Aponte with his favorite mural that has gone up in his time as Principal at South. “I’m hoping that we can continue working on a lot of the things that he was responsible for in his time at South… I’m hoping that some of the visibility for particular groups of students and some of the work that we’ve been doing to try to improve things for them will continue to happen,” said history teacher Joshua Fisher. Aponte considers South the “pinnacle of his career” and is proud of improvements made, including South’s various murals.

Beloved Principal Ray Aponte will leave South on a high note

March 28, 2019

So far the skull has been decorated, the hide removed, some of the meat prepared and turned into chili, tacos, and jerky, and the teeth and bones removed for later decorative use. When spring comes, students will continue learning traditional practices and techniques such as tanning the buffalo hide.

All Nations students connect with culture in buffalo hunt

February 12, 2019

Green Tigers provided new recycling bins to increase the recycling of plastic. “We saw this as an opportunity, something we could improve at South to make a difference”, said junior Isaiah Bischoff, a club coordinator for Green Tigers.

Green Tigers comes up with a way to make recycling plastic bags more efficient

January 17, 2019

Improving South’s aesthetic one locker at a time: new renovations to be completed by next fall

January 16, 2019

In mid-September allegations of inappropriate messages from South English teacher, Darin Doty, to a South ‘18 graduate surfaced at South after the graduate posted the alleged apology message from Doty on her spam Instagram account. These allegations have had a deep impact on the South community. Many students expressed their feelings of sadness and betrayal, as well as the trust they had placed in Doty. As junior Cor Barnhill said, “He was one of the only adults that I trusted. I don’t really trust adults that easily and he was there for me through a lot of things.

Allegations of sexual harassment dig deep into South community

October 10, 2018

South makes moves towards more diverse faculty

Siobhan Sullivan, Staff Writer

April 10, 2018

South typically thinks very highly of its progressive views and diverse student population. However, as diverse as the student body is, the majority of South teachers and staff identify as white. Junior Chandra Morris said, “A ma...

Pictured above is Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Principle Ray Aponte listening to a student's question. Said Frey, “I already met a few [South students] during the march just like a week ago,” referencing the student led gun control protest at city hall last thursday. He said at the senior class meeting that the students at the protest, ““you are the NRA’s worst nightmare.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey sits down with students at breakfast meet and greet

February 27, 2018

Pictured above is an illustration of a locked gender neutral bathroom door and open male and female bathroom doors. The locking of the gender neutral bathroom is especially impactful to some trans and nonbinary students because for some of them it's the only bathroom they feel comfortable using. Sophomore M. Malo said access to the bathroom is so necessary, “because there are a lot of people who are questioning their gender, and it’s nice for them to have this space where they’re not going to be judged for going into there because anyone can go in there.”

If any bathroom is going to be locked, it shouldn’t be the one for all genders

February 6, 2018