Commencement Speech: Superintendent Peterson

It is my privilege to welcome you to the 2011 Graduation program of Minnetonka High School.  This is our 58^th graduating class, and it is my great honor to be part of this special occasion.

I extend a special welcome and thanks to the parents and relatives of each of the graduates. I acknowledge the special pride parents and grandparents feel tonight.  This evening is also important to other family members in so many ways.

This is the most important event of our school year! We have many significant recognition events during the year, and all is a progression to this night. 

It is the District’s payoff for millions of hours of work by students and adults in Minnetonka over many years to help each student acquire the knowledge and skills to advance to the next grade, and to graduate well prepared for the future.

And, Graduates, it is certainly your pay-off. This is the unofficial opening of the doors to all that America promises to each of us.

Graduates, this program tonight is your moment!  Your victory! Your great achievement!  It is the climax to your years of formal schooling; your pay-off for all of that work and for overcoming all of the challenges you faced. 

And, I share your personal joy and deep sense of accomplishment. 

Your individual and collective achievements give meaning to my work, and that of all the adults in the District.

And, I hope each graduate will take time to express to parents, grandparents and other family members the gratitude you feel for their support. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank the teachers who have had a significant impact on you.  

Also, thanks to the administrators, counselors, secretaries, para-professionals, custodians and other caring and committed employees who have helped give you the best schools possible and have supported your learning opportunities.

We deeply appreciate the dedication and commitment of the members of our School Board, who are committed to your ultimate success in this school district.  The School Board believes that your Minnetonka diploma is a symbol that signifies academic excellence and personal achievement of the highest order.

We have invested significant time, money and emotion in each of you.  Your parents have done even more. 

The taxpayers have spent more than $100,000 on each of you to get you to this point tonight, because we believe in you and because we need you to sustain our society and its institutions.

The Minnetonka School District and Minnetonka High School have had another absolutely outstanding year.  These graduates have collectively had a great year.

The great support of our community, our careful planning, the achievements of our students in all grades and the work we have completed have made this an incredible year despite the gigantic financial problems of the State of Minnesota.

This is a District that seeks excellence in all we do, and your many outstanding achievements exemplify that wide range of doing things well.

Our top priority, of course, is the academic program.  The ACT and SAT college entrance exams speak volumes about our students and our academic program.

The ACT test has a perfect score of 36.0. This class’s average of 25.7 on the ACT places our students at a nationally competitive level with other great high schools.  

• To give this 25.7 perspective--when I became Superintendent in 2001, the average was 23.1, which was a strong score then compared to the state average.
• The state average now is 22.9 and the national average is 21.0.
• The Top 400 students average 28.0
•  The Top 200 average 30.5
• The Top 100 average 32.1!!!

The SAT scores are also outstanding. We compare Minnetonka High School with other outstanding high schools across the country, and our school has gradually climbed to prominence during this past decade.  When considering the major measures of outstanding performance—ACT, SAT and % with 3 or higher on the AP—there are only 3 high schools that rank above Minnetonka on all three.  Those are New Trier and Adlai Stevenson in Chicago and Palo Alto, California.  Schools in Chicago and on the East Coast spend more than 2 and ½ times what we spend, and Palo Alto draws from the Stanford community.

We are here tonight to celebrate one special group that deserves our commendations and congratulations, the members of the Minnetonka High School graduating class of 2011!

I now want to share some of the Class of 2011’s “Points of Pride:”

This past year, 12 MHS students were named National Merit Semifinalists and 21 students were recognized as National Merit Commended Students.

Considering international and national tests, 1,059 students took 1,919 exams, of which 497 were and 1,422 were AP. 

The College Board named 72 of these graduates as AP Scholars after only their Junior year.  Bradford Olson earned the honor of National AP Scholar with Distinction after only his Junior year.

We had our first National AP Scholar in 2003, and last year alone we had 25. So, we expect many of these graduates to receive national honors once those results are available.

Using our collegiate system for honors, the Minnetonka High School class of 2011 includes 67 Summa Cum Laude, 32 Magna Cum Laude and 49 Cum Laude graduates.   

This senior class includes 78 National Honor Society members and 92 Minnetonka Honor Society members.  

91% of this class going to college. 

Thirty-six seniors are candidates for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.  They are noted in your program. 

•   was named a US Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of only two awarded nationally for theatre.

• In addition to Ryan’s Presidential award, was also named U.S. Presidential Scholar.  Ryan and Lili are two of only three Minnesota students so honored.

• Samuel Schwebach won First Place in individual competition at the four-state Region 10 Physics Bowl Competition. Minnetonka also took first place in the team competition, which included seniors Bradford Olson, Mitch Nuss and Jack Hodapp.

• For the 23^rd consecutive year, our Architecture & Engineering students  earned Superior ratings at the State Technology challenge:  Taylor Dawson, Will Pigeon, Shawn Gaebel, Nick Wyers and Joe Miller were on the team.

• Thomas Pears and Richard Burkhardt were regional winners in the DemandTec Retail Challenge sponsored by General Mills. They participated in the national competition in New York.

• Sofi Kragness ranked in the top 5 percent nationally on the National Spanish Exam.

• , and Taylor Penzel received honorable mention awards at the 2011 DECA International Conference.

• Chloe Lappen and Madison Larkin were Editors of the outstanding 2011 edition of the Voyageur, which is the High School’s yearbook.

• This year’s production of received eight Outstanding awards from the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Spotlight Awards.
• Eight individuals also received awards, including seniors:  Katelin DeLorenzo, Maddie Fernald, Shawn Gaebel, Lucas Johnson, Ryan McCartan and .

• The technical aspects of the production received Outstanding awards for Outstanding Pit Orchestra, Costumes Design, Dance, Lighting (seniors Ben Mollett and Mitch Nuss), Stage Management (Maren Kind), Scenic Design, Props, and Sound (Katie Guzzi and Meghan Leisman).

• Kelsey Peterjohn and Ryan McCartan were finalists for the State’s Triple Threat Award in theatre which Ryan won.  He will represent the state of Minnesota at the national competition in New York this summer. 

• This year’s production of set a school record of 15 consecutive sold out performances, while being recognized as one of the finest high school shows in Minnesota.

• Minnetonka earned its seventh consecutive "starred" rating in the State One-Act Play Festival for the —seven consecutive state championships!!
• The Lake Conference is clearly the strongest athletic conference in the state and one of the strongest in the Midwest.  Nearly all state championships this year have been won by Lake Conference teams, and often the champion played another Lake Conference team for the championship.  In fact, in , three Lake Conference teams finished on top with Minnetonka as State Champion.

• Minnetonka athletes celebrated state championships in three sports this year: Girls’ Hockey, , Boys’ Swimming and Diving. 

• The was ranked #1 virtually all year and won the Lake Conference, the schools’ first section championship and the Minnesota State Championship by beating Edina in the finals.

• Goalie Julie Friend was named Minnesota Senior Goalie of the Year, Minnesota Player of the Year, and received All-Metro and All-State Honors from the Associated Press and was named to the All-Tournament Team. 

• earned the highly coveted Herb Brooks Award and was also named to the All-Tournament Team. 

•  Rachel Ramsey received All-Metro and All-State Honors, was named to the All-Tournament Team and was a finalist for the Ms. Hockey Award. 

• Other seniors who are members of the State Champion team are:  Paige Baldwin, Kelsey Holstrom, Natalie Jordal, Courtney McDougal, Alexandra Rosati and Ella Schwarz.

• The Girls Alpine Skiing Team won the State Championship.

• The Boys’ Swimming and Diving Team won both the State Championship and True Team State Championship. The team had placed second at state in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

• Three Seniors on the Team were All-Conference and All-State: Kurt Youngdahl, Zach Stettner, Dane Oberman; and their three events earned All-American. 

• Other Senior members are: Scott Plewka and Levi Dantzinger.  

• The placed second at the State meet.

• Samantha Carr, Marissa Kuhnly and Audrey Thayer were named to the . 

• Sam Schwebach and Rachel Fettig received “Best in Site” awards for their solo performances at the MSHSL Solo and Ensemble contest.      

• For the fourteenth year in a row, the MHS Wind Ensemble received unanimous Superior ratings at the MSHSL Music Contest.

• This senior class captured 38 All-Conference Honors in athletics, not including softball, track and baseball which have not been announced.

• was a state qualifier for Cross Country and received All-State Honors.

• Boys Lacrosse was one of the state’s top-ranked teams this year, but lost in the sectional finals. and Parker Weinstock earned All-State honors.  And, Chase was a finalist for “Mr. Lacrosse.”

• went to state in Girls’ Cross Country, Nordic Skiing and Track.   She was also the recipient of this year’s Athena Award.

• Our Football team had another great year.  was named All State.

• Katie Friedlander, Katie Crist and Maddie Crawford represented Minnetonka at the State Girls’ Swimming competition.

• The Girl’s Tennis team won the Section meet and finished fourth at the state meet. Heather Abzug, Paige Baldwin, Emily Carver, Adrianna DePaolis, and Maddie Rossebo were state qualifiers.

• was named Lacrosse Player of the Year by the state’s coaches. She scored 46 goals and had 28 assists for the Skippers this year.  She was also named All-State.

• Catie Braun was All-State in . 

• The Girls Track team was sectional runner-up and will also compete at State. Senior Elise Byron will be in the 4 x 400 relay.

• The Boys Track team placed Third in the True Team event and is still competing for the State Championship 

• The team had a record season with 21 wins.

• was named “All-State” in Basketball, and she passed the 1,000-point mark for her career.

• Aria Lambert was a two-time state Tennis Champion in 2008 and 2009.

• Seventeen members of the senior class received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Overall, Minnetonka student Award recipients volunteered more than 12,000 hours. 

• Receiving Gold Awards were Brendan Johnson, Kristina Krebs and Austin Norby, each of whom volunteered more than 250 hours in one year.  

• There are thirteen Eagle Scouts in this class.
• Over the last four years, MHS students raised over $100,000 for local families in need during the annual .   This year alone, they raised $28,000!

• Five seniors were named to this year’s All-State Band:  Rachel Fettig, Brad Allen, John Cushing, Sam Schweback, and Shafer Stromwall.

• John Cushing and were awarded Outstanding Musicianship Awards at the Minnesota State Jazz Festival.

• The won their 14^th consecutive state championship and placed third at the Nationals. The team included senior Danni Riley.

• Gold Key Award recipients at the Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards program were Glenna McMullin, Hilary Duda, and Marley Waller.

There are many more achievements that could be included here tonight for this outstanding class, but I know you are eager to get your diplomas.

There is, indeed, a very personal story behind each graduate.  Each has had many successes and setbacks, achieved significant milestones, made sacrifices, and met special challenges on the path to this evening’s event.  

We also know that all of you will have more of these challenges and victories in the future.  Life is like that!  But, you will overcome them.

To say that you are our future is not an empty cliché; you are our future, and what you make of it will impact all of us.   We want you to be successful personally and also to contribute to the greater good of our world.

On behalf of everyone here tonight, congratulations to each of you and best wishes in the future!  Thank you.