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Athena Award -The Most Outstanding Female Athlete 2020-2021: Nadyia Deloye-Romo

Hello Humboldt and OWL staff and students! 

The athletics department and Girls coaches have gone through an extensive process to select this year's Athena Award winner. The Athena Award is given to the most outstanding female athlete from each graduating class. This year we had many worthy candidates, however, we are excited to announce that Nadyia Deloye-Romo is our Athena Award recipient for 2020-2021! 

Nadiya has accrued a long list of accomplishments throughout her years at Humboldt, including: 

4x Letter winner In Volleyball, 3x Letter winner in Softball, All-Conference as a freshman and sophomore in Softball (N/A for a junior year due to COVID-19), All-Conference HM as a Sophomore for Volleyball, and All-Conference as a Junior and Senior for Volleyball.

Please join us in congratulating Nadiya and celebrating her accomplishments! Nadiya will be recognized on April 21st at the Athena Award Banquet, which will either be held in person or virtually depending on MDH guidelines around in-person banquets. 

Congratulations Nadiya!

Read more about the Athena Awards from this article in the Pioneer Press. 

How COVID-19 has affected my Family and Broken my Education

 "I want to go to college; I've asked some of my teachers for letters of recommendation, but COVID-19 has limited my participation and my duties fall to my family first, I don't know when I'll be able to focus back on school." 

 (Photo: Paw's Grandfather and Grandmother posted with permission.)

by Paw W. (Grade 12) Editorial Opinion 

Coronavirus (COVID-19), is an illness caused by a virus that can spread from person to person. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a new coronavirus that spread throughout the world. Too many in my culture are getting COVID-19 and the schools and state are not doing enough to give us the information we need about Coronavirus; it is a worldwide disease so everyone is having a little hard time. 

Everything changes and it changes every bit of someone’s life. As for me my life changed a lot, not just the ways things change around me, it's my whole life that's changing right now. For example my sleeping schedule because usually I go to bed around 9 or 10,  but nowadays it’s not unusual for me to go to bed in the early morning hours of 1 or 2AM. COVID-19 stops me from playing soccer and having games, and playing futsal in the winter. I was supposed to have a game but with the death rate increased they stopped our first game of the winter season. With everything close it's hard to hang out with friends and family, it’s hard to go to other places. I also lost concentration in everything. The pandemic affects me from doing a good job in school and focusing in school because I used to do my work but now I just look at my work, wondering if I will ever have time to look at it. I missed the opportunity to learn in person, which I like better and I know for fact that it benefits me more than the silly schedule at my school and all of the different online classes.

The Reality of COVID-19 in my Home

 It affects my family and me because everyone in my family has COVID-19 or the symptoms. 

Because my grandparents got COVID-19, our other relatives don’t come visit us because they are scared they will catch the virus. Early this year we found out that my grandpa had cancer and it was mouth cancer, the doctors asked him if he wanted to stay in the hospital but he didn't want to stay in the hospital so he stayed home. That wasn’t very easy though, he can't sleep at night. I have to take him to the hospital every week. I have to stay up with him till 3 or 4 and sometimes he doesn’t even get to sleep. That’s why I don’t go to Schoology a lot. He’s getting weak everyday so he always needs someone to be by his side. He keeps losing weight and his mouth is getting worse. Going to the bathroom is hard, eating is hard because he has cancer in his mouth and can't eat normal food anymore so we have to find food that's not hard for him to eat. 

Forced to live as an Adult during this Pandemic

I’m the only one who can drive, so whenever he runs out of food, I’m always the one that has to take my mom or sometimes my grandma around the store. It's also hard for my parents because they are the only people who pay for everything for the family and everything for the house and because of COVID-19 they don’t get to work full time and lost so many hours at their jobs. They don’t have the money to pay the house bill but luckily we live in Public Housing so we have to pay less for the house bill. Buying what we want at this time is hard because we have no money. As for my aunt she is having a new child so I have to help babysit the older children and her husband has to go to work everyday, sometimes even has to go out of state. As for my grandma she always has problems with her legs. 

SOS, please...

I'm the only one who's not sick or hurt so I have to do basically everything. 

Driving is like my everyday job. I wake up at 7am and drive around until noon, then I have to babysit until the sun goes down then watch my grandparents at night. My grandma helps me watch my grandpa but sometimes she’s sick herself. I have to look after her as wellI don't really get enough sleep. With everything that is happening right now I feel like I have two houses because I have to sleep at my grandparents house but go home in the morning around 7am. Even though school is very important to me, I have to focus on my family first.

Humboldt Athletics SPOTLIGHT: VOLLEYBALL

by John Pucci, Humboldt Athletics 

Many Volleyball athletes around the state received crushing news on August 1st, when the Minnesota State High School League declared that Volleyball would not be offered as a fall sport in 2020. You can imagine their excitement when the MSHSL reversed course and decided to hold a fall season! Coach Damon Liberatore wasted no time organizing his squad, using grassroots techniques to spread the word amongst his athletes that the season would begin mid-October. This put several Hawks’ Volleyball stars in an unusual predicament; being two-sport athletes in the same season. Juniors Lili Hobday and Hai Gay Soe are normally standout athletes year round at Humboldt, with both girls participating in not only Volleyball, but Basketball and spring sports as well. This year, Soe and Hobday find themselves with a unique opportunity that no one has had the opportunity to do before; become four sport athletes. Both Hobday and Soe decided to join Girls Soccer this fall, and will be among the select few athletes in the state to boast participating in four sports in the same year.

The Hawks kicked off their season last week with a home match against a tough conference rival, St. Paul Johnson. While the Hawks played a tight match, they were ultimately faced with defeat. They had a similar result against another tough conference foe in Harding on Monday, 10/12, but the resiliency of the Hawks’ Volleyball girls is outstanding. They have been training hard all week in preparation for their next opponent, Highland Park, who they will face off with on Wednesday, 10/14. Best of luck in that match, and congratulations on getting your season back Volleyball!

The Top performer winner is from Humboldt High School in St. Paul, MN.

See who fans voted as the to performer from Sept. 14-19.

By Kassondra Burtis, SportsEngine

Joe Deuitch, St. Paul Humboldt. The senior midfielder played the part of playmaker in the Governor's’ 10-0 rout of St. Paul Johnson on Sept. 17. Deuitch tallied five assists along with his first goal of the season, leading the Governors. Deuitch leads the state with 13 assists this season, based on stats submitted to the MN Soccer Hub.

Read the full article here from the MN Soccer Club. 

Prep athletes of the week: St. Paul Humboldt soccer gets winning lift from new-look force

 

By Jim Paulsen Star Tribune

It was difficult for Humboldt coach John Pucci to believe that Oo, whom he coached last year as a sophomore, was the same player who showed up for this season. Oo, a Thai refugee of Karen descent, was 6 inches taller and significantly heavier. Pucci moved him from forward to the center back position, and a potential star was born.

“He’s been lights-out back there, a real force for us,” Pucci said. “He’s probably the best center back in the conference. 

Coaches from other teams are asking about him.”

Read the full article here on the Star Tribune. 

(Photo: Yah Naing Oo, St. Paul Humboldt soccer - Star Tribune)

New School Year: New Expectations

by Melley M. - HHS Editorial Staff

St. Paul, Minn...This is not like any other school year.  This school year, kids are all at home instead of in school.  There are no first day school bus rides, no walking together with friends to classes, or seeing who has lunch together.  This year, students are in distance learning. 

Usually on the first day back to school I am nervous and a little panicked because I feel as if everything is new again.  Typically, the first thing my friends and I do when we see each other is see if we have any classes together.  This year, my friends and I are Snapchatting each other to discuss our classes. 

Some positives out of going to school at home are for one, I don’t have to worry about finding my classes. Secondly, I get to work at my own pace with the school work. Htway also said “Something positive is that I can do things at my own time and not stress about it. I also am able to keep myself and my family safe.” 6th grader Lucas also said that “I’ve enjoyed meeting new people through google meets with his teachers and classmates. 

However, there are many more things that I miss about not being at Humboldt. I miss seeing my friends. I also miss just being out of the house.  It is hard to do school work at home, especially since I’ve had to be at home/locked down since March.  I sometimes get bored at being home all the time, so it would be nice to get out for a few hours.  8th grader, Htway stated that the “hardest thing  is getting used to online school and not going to the bus every morning.”

6th grader, Lucus stated  that the “Hardest thing is that I am new to everything.”

There are some things that I am looking forward to. For one, I am looking forward to not seeing some people that I dislike.  I also like that I am getting more familiar with using my ipad and exploring different apps and technology. 

The U.S. has a “racial tech gap” problem, Deutsche Bank study shows

By David Brancaccio, Candace Manriquez Wrenn, and Daniel Shin (Sep 18, 2020)

The economic disparity between minorities and white Americans has manifested itself in a variety of ways, such as gaps in employee diversity, wages and minority-owned businesses.

A new study from Deutsche Bank shows Black and Hispanic Americans are also experiencing a “racial tech gap,” which could threaten their future ability to gain meaningful employment and grow wealth in a digitized economy, according to Deutsche Bank Global Technology Strategist Apjit Walia.

“The staggering divide in the numbers we found was when it came to race, especially in urban areas, with Black and Hispanic communities 10 years behind the white community for the last 20 years,” Walia told “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio.

Read more here. 

A First Week Unlike Any Other

The first week of school feels a little different this year. For me, there's nothing like the exhilaration of a new school year. So many possibilities, so many new opportunities - and so many new faces! This week, we begin a new year in a new way. For most of you, your connections will be through distance learning. Others will resume their commitment to serving children in childcare settings or delivering meals to families throughout our community.

No matter your role at SPPS, I want you to know your work is important and you are valued.

I will never forget putting the key in the door of my first classroom. There was extra excitement because it was my former classroom as a student in the same school. I had wonderful mentors and colleagues, shared stories of success and failures, but what I enjoyed most was how my students truly brought room H6 to life. Each class was a community, made up of students with different talents and interests, personalities and life stories. 

You have likely heard or read me espousing the importance of working together in all that we do. In an organization of our size, it can feel daunting. As for our work assignments, we represent different schools, departments, grade levels, content areas, languages spoken, specialized services. Each of us also possess rich and unique backgrounds and histories. My plea is that you recommit to working together, not because it sounds like the right thing to say. More importantly, our success as a district depends on it.

I am calling on you to create the time and structure for relationships, our family pulse surveys overwhelmingly indicated this was the greatest concern. I know you will all do a great job welcoming students back.

Finally, I would like to take this time to restate and reframe a previous message I sent. Earlier this week, I referenced joint language in our ongoing collaborative work. A portion of the statement read, “...agree to maintain learning equity for our students during this time.” I received and read my statement just as you did. I failed in articulating my beliefs about my commitment to equity. The word maintain may very well assume that our past and current system supports an equitable experience for students, staff and families. I do not believe this for a minute. I apologize for this poor attempt at framing my beliefs about equity. The call for equity means that we hold ourselves accountable for ensuring the same high level of expectations for all students, and that we create whatever support is necessary to ensure access and success.     

I am grateful to be your colleague and join you in being a proud member of Team SPPS.

 

In partnership,

Joe Gothard, Superintendent