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This Week at South
This Week at South - 6.38: Sail Beyond the Sunset
Greetings South Students, Parents, Staff, and Community Members,
Past issues of this newsletter are available at the following link: TWaS Archive.
TWaS is also sent via Canvas Messenger and linked to my Canvas Module for all students and families to access, and shared on South’s FB page.
Part I: The News
Content Disclaimer: I am not omniscient. Don’t see your event or results in the newsletter below? I rely on parents, coaches, and others to send me information to include in the newsletter. Feel free to share positive news and results anytime via my email.
Finals Schedule (no blue passes): Please note we will be running a different schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday for Final Exams. We will not be issuing blue passes during final exams to ensure students can focus on their exams, projects, and presentations and not be disrupted. The bell schedule follows:
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Tuesday, May 20 |
Wednesday, May 21 |
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Period 1 8:45-10:35 Period 2 10:45- 12:35 Lunch 12:35-1:25 Period 3 1:25-3:15 |
Period 4 8:45-10:35 Period 5 10:45- 12:35 Lunch 12:35-1:25 Period 6 1:25-3:15 |
Summer School Information and Form: South High School will be offering on-site summer school. Please see the following form for information. PLEASE NOTE: There will be no credit recovery classes at South next year. So, summer school is every student’s best option to stay on track to graduate. Summer school will run 9 days at South and allow students to recover necessary graduation credit.
Graduation Photos Ordering Information: Graduation photos are now ready to view and purchase! Go to my.photoday.com and enter in access code: PGCN36584. Questions? Email: Alicia@FitzgeraldPhotos.com.
Become the Next Anchorage Assembly Youth Rep: Apply by May 31st to potentially become the next Anchorage Assembly Youth Representative. More information on the following Flyer.
Shout out To Anna Green: Anna Green recently broke an eleven-year-old school record for the 400 meters at the Anchorage Invitational.
South Baseball Update: South Baseball did something no team has done since 2023: beating Service 3-2 in the most exciting game of the year. David Feigner showed why he is undefeated on the mound this year pitching a complete game. South strung together an offensive attack in the bottom of the 7th with Jim Massey, Logan Hultquist, Chase Mascelli, and Chase Dixon setting up Landon Drumm for a walk-off single.
Grayson Stanek picked up a W against Bartlett.
South Boys Soccer Weekly Recap: JV Boys soccer lost a hard-fought game to Dimond, 2-1. On Saturday, JV Boys played Chugiak and pulled out a 3-2 win with a hat trick from Ole Reese.
Varsity Boys soccer defeated Eagle River 8-0 on Wednesday. Varsity played Dimond on Friday and lost 3-1. Dawit Hoffman scored South's only goal. Varsity Boys played Chugiak on Saturday. Ole Reese (after scoring the hat trick in the JV game earlier) added two more goals to help South defeat Chugiak, 2-1.
Part II: What I’ve Learned
Last Monday, South High School celebrated the graduation of its 21st class. The staff and student speakers shared messages about gratitude, taking advantage of opportunities, facing change, and setting and attaining goals.
For this final newsletter of the 2024-25 school year, I’m including a version of my remarks below. My argument to the Class of 2025 was to not retreat, to get out into the world, and to try to see each new day as an opportunity to learn and grow.
This subject seemed fitting for a class that was sent home for almost an entire school year, and then air-dropped into high school. They are still recovering from lost time in classrooms, less overall interaction with their peers, and less learning about how to negotiate social conflict. In essence, this was a call to get up from behind the screen and experience the world in a more tactile way. Unlike Zoom or Tiktok, the real world cannot be muted or swiped.
My remarks are an adaptation of a concept in Warren Bennis’s book, Geeks and Geezers, which as the title suggests, is about what traits make the young and the old successful. Neoteny, or retaining a youthful perspective throughout life, summarizes the findings of that book, and were a small part of last week’s newsletter
From Graduation, May 12, 2025:
At this point, you are no longer children nor can you really be considered genuine adults. And, you are far from elderly. So, you are somewhere in between.
For the next 30 to 40 years you will be somewhere in the middle, neither a child nor an elder. Yet, it is from both of these groups that we can all learn a valuable lesson while we make our way through the middle part of life.
In short, the lesson is this: do not lose your spark for life. Don’t retreat from wonder. And don’t give up on adventure. This is a lesson the young and the “young at heart” live by, and it can make a big difference for you too.
The young still have their sense of wonder and awe. They have not lost their playfulness, and they have hopefully not experienced enough disappointment to dampen their spirits.
As countless sources have pointed out:
We are all translators for messages the universe is broadcasting... We all start with it. As children, we accept new information with delight instead of making comparisons; we are more spontaneous than analytical; we are curious. Even the ordinary is met with a sense of awe (Rubin, 9).
From age 4 to 5 we are all romantics, we are all royalty, budding ballerinas, or intrepid astronauts; we are all fearless, open, affectionate and beautiful. (Bennis, 154).
When young, we have good trouble to get into: trees to climb, frogs to find, bikes to ride, and puddles to splash in. In short, we have things to do and are busy doing them. We wake up every morning to fall in love with the world all over again. (Bennis, 155).
So, even though this ceremony is supposed to mean you are now grown up, please do not lose your sense of wonder and don’t try to get too far ahead. There will be plenty of time to be serious. For now, try to look at the world each day from a beginner’s perspective, with undiminished hope and curiosity. Choosing this perspective gives you a chance to stay attuned to your surroundings, which will lead to a richer life and existence. It will make you more present.
This is what the young do automatically. It is also what youthful elders do to keep themselves energized.
Like the young, they maintain a sense of awe and wonder. One of the best expressions of an elder’s youthful perspective comes from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, Ulysses, which is told from the point of view of Ulysses after returning from years of war, shipwreck, famine and misadventure.
Unlike the young, he has undergone great hardship, and despite not having the strength he once did, and having ceded his kingdom to his son Telemachus, he still possesses a sense of adventure and wonder and refuses to rest. He remembers that much has been lost, but there is still so much to gain with the time he has left.
It is from Ulysses that we can learn to maintain a sense of wonder. I’d like to end by reading a small part of it.
In the poem, Ulysses remarks that:
I cannot rest from the lees: all times I have enjoyed greatly, suffered greatly.
For always roaming with a hungry heart, I am part of all I have met.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to shine with use!
Some work of noble note may yet be done. Come, my friends, ‘tis not too late to seek a newer world.
For my purpose holds. To sail beyond the sunset, and of all the western stars.
Tho’ much is taken, much remains.
We must possess the will to strive, to seek, to find, and most importantly, not to yield...
So, if there is one lesson I want to impart before you march, it is not to lose your spark. Make a choice to see each day as an opportunity rather than an obligation.
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A final note: If you’ve made it this far, and you find value in the second part of the newsletter, and would like to read periodic posts over the summer or have a graduate and would like to still get access to this section next school year, feel free to subscribe to my Substack. Link is below.
Have a great summer.
