Apple Valley High School Speech, Track Champions Recognized at School Board Meeting

The Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district board recognized several Apple Valley High School students at its Monday meeting.

Nader Helmy, who will be a junior in the fall, at the National Forensic League Speech and Debate tournament in Dallas in June.

Having two district students earn national championships—Eagan High School senior Garrett Lukin won the title in the prose category—"is a real feather in the cap" for the district, coach Pam Wycoff said.

Helmy won both an overall title in original oratory, which requires students to write their own persuasive speech, and a president's cup title for being the top performer in the final round, Wycoff said. He also earned $7,500 for college, and is the only sophomore from Apple Valley High School to win a national speech title, she said.

"He's got something very special about him," she said.

Members of the girls and boys track 4 x 100 meter relay teams also were acknowledged, though the girls team members could not attend. Team members included Taylor Browning, Megan Maki, Jaryn Pipkins, Jordan Sammons and Chanel Miller. Miller was hurt during the section meet, coach Geri Dirth said, so she was not able to run at state; Jordan Sammons took her place.

The girls "had a vision" and put in a lot of hard work to reach their goals, Dirth said. During the season, the relay team broke the school and state records for the 4 x 100 meter relay, with a time of 47.53 seconds.

The boys team honorees included Jordan Crockett, Quinn Hooks, Steven Wilson, Jalen Stewart and Herschel Brazell. Brazell was unable to run in the final race at state because of injury, coach Rod Dirth said.

The boys team members believed they could be state champions, he said, and on the way broke school records in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 meter relays.

To seniors Crockett and Brazell, Dirth wished them good luck after high school. To the returning athletes: "We'll see you back on the track."

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The board also voted to impose hourly fees to allow students not in District 196 schools to attend summer school classes; Director of Secondary Education Mark Parr said the district has gotten a handful of requests from private school attendees, or students outside district boundaries all together, to attend summer school.

The fees are $4.60 per hour for elementary school, $4.21 per hour for middle school and $5.96 per hour for high school. A high schooler would attend roughly 60 hours of summer school, a middle school student 80 and an elementary school student between 40 and 60, Parr said.

In August, the board will vote whether to change the attendance area for 40 homes in Eagan, from Black Hawk Middle School in Eagan to Falcon Ridge Middle School in Apple Valley. This would align the elementary, middle school and high school paths for the students in the neighborhood, Parr said.

Three students already will attend Falcon Ridge due to requesting an in-district transfer, Parr said.

Board member Rob Duchscher was not at Monday's meeting.