All are welcome to participate in Diversity Club. This club encourages students to celebrate diversity by crossing over lines of racial stereotypes. The mission of the Diversity Club is to provide student activities that promote racial and cultural understanding through Biblical reconciliation.

Our goal is to help our community to celebrate and appreciate the wonderful diversity in God’s kingdom. We are a group of students from different cultures and backgrounds who desire to see authentic racial and economic reconciliation at our school.

Diversity Club meets in room B303 every Tuesday during the activity period (9:55 a.m. – 10:23 a.m.).

Group members plan campus events designed to help our student body appreciate a diverse array of cultural expression. Annual events are Culture Fair, Student Diversity Leadership Conference, Gospel Choir Concert, Mix It Up Day, Minnesota Prayer Breakfast and the planning of various speakers and performers during all-school assemblies. During weekly meetings, we plan events and discuss current event topics.

If you would like to make a positive impact and help tear down walls that separate us, you would be perfect for Diversity Club!

French Club is a student-led organization that provides opportunities for students to discover the world of francophone culture and civilization outside of the classroom. Events happen approximately once a month. Examples of past French Club events are: Getting together in someone’s home to learn to bake French desserts, voyageur canoeing on the Mississippi River, a French game night where students learn to play French card games, going to the University of Minnesota to see a French movie and then out to eat at a French bistro.

French Club is open to all students studying French at Minnehaha.

Friends-of-the-Library is a dynamic and diverse group that is interested in the library. This group appeals to people who love to read but that is not a requirement. Members often are knowledgeable about computers and enjoy writing. Providing a community for like-minded students is an important goal for the group.

The group meets weekly during Flex period on Mondays in the library. Mrs. Bonnie Morris, librarian, is the advisor. Friends-of-the-Library started in 1997 with a group of four girls. Today it has over 20 members, boys and girls, grades 9 to 12.

Thanks-a-Latte is a special day each year when an author is invited to speak to the student body and sign books in the library following the presentation. Coffee and cookies are served in the library as patrons have an opportunity to meet the author. Some of the featured authors include: Lorna Landvik, Faith Sullivan, Garrison Keillor, and William Kent Krueger. The featured author for 2015 is Leila O’Shea, who wrote A Mother Lode of Addiction, which is a memoir of her son’s 30 years of drug and alcohol addiction.

Activities change each year, depending on membership. Game night, a weekly after school event, featuring board games, has been a regular part of the club. There are no requirements to be in the group, just an interest in being part of a literate community.

Intramural Sports at Minnehaha Academy gives our students an opportunity to use their athletic talents during a break in the school day. Students enjoy participating in these sports: touch football, volleyball, basketball and softball. We play during activity periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and students are allowed to organize their own teams. Intramurals are a great chance for students to meet and make friends. It’s all about fun!

Minnehaha Academy Jazz Bands provide the opportunity to play a variety of musical styles ranging from swing to Latin to rock. In addition to learning the fundamentals of playing in different styles, students learn the basics of improvisation. Any student enrolled in Concert Band or Symphonic Wind Ensemble is encouraged to participate. Minnehaha Academy currently has two jazz bands and placement is determined by audition.

Both Jazz Ensembles rehearse Tuesdays and Thursdays 7:40 – 8:25 a.m., in the band room and chapel. We perform for Homecoming Coronation, Fall Band Concert, Jazz Festival, Pop Concert and other special events throughout the school year.

Group members lead and produce the school newspaper, yearbook and student-media website. They must be self-starters who can meet deadlines and work well independently and in teams. With advanced practice in writing, editing, photography and desktop publishing – as well as leadership, planning and project management – students gain real-world experience with many practical applications beyond high school. Although involvement with student publications is considered by colleges as an extracurricular activity, at Minnehaha it is also offered through elective classes.

Students start with Beginning Journalism and then choose to continue in Yearbook or Newspaper/Website classes.

Visit the student-media website at www.redhawksonline.com

Hear ye! Hear ye!

The Minnehaha Madrigal Singers provides a fun challenge for eighteen of the school’s finest vocalists. We explore many of the beautiful songs from the Renaissance period and work to develop a superior vocal blend and performance ethic. The main focus of the group is the annual Madrigal Dinner held each February. The gym is transformed into Minnehaha Manor and 700 guests enjoy an authentic feast, play and concert over the two performances. Members of the three MA choirs also participate fully in this showcase event. The Madrigal Singers serve at various community and school events which afford us the opportunity to explore different a cappella styles of music.

Rehearsals are held each Tuesday and Thursday 7:40 – 8:30 a.m. in the choir room. Although our main focus is the Madrigal Dinner we also participate in homecoming activities, choral concerts, contest, and several community events throughout the year.

Any student enrolled in Singers is eligible to audition each May. Vocal skill, sight-reading, dramatic readings and improvs make up this audition.

The Minnehaha Math Team competes in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League each winter, with five Tri-Metro Conference Meets from October to February, plus the State Math Meet in March.

Everyone who joins the Math Team participates at all of the conference meets and is eligible to compete to be a member of the eight-student scoring team. The events are designed so that students at all levels can participate.

The Math Team is a great activity for those who enjoy academic competition and enjoy learning things that may go beyond the normal classroom topics.

Prayer Warriors is a student-initiated and student-run group that gathers on a regular basis to pray. The only criteria to participate is to come and be willing to share your heart with God in the context of this group. Group size is dependent on how many students attend on a given week. Students gather in the prayer chapel and spend time with God while praying about a myriad of topics. They enthusiastically extend an invitation to all.

El Club de Español: a group of fun-loving Spanish speaking, culturally curious students from the 9th to 12th grades.

Our meetings take place during flex on the first Tuesday of every month. (Room B307) We get together to discuss and plan our monthly events.

Events may include dining excursions to different Latino style restaurants, plays or other drama forms in Spanish, cultural events and festivals located around town, selling gourmet tacos to the fine M.A students, and of course PIÑATAS!

We hope to start a Latin dance class/club sometime soon. Musicians and instruments are encouraged to come!

BIENVENIDOS to everyone and anyone who loves the Spanish language and its many different cultures.

Interns are Grade 11 and 12 leaders who possess a high degree of commitment to the school’s values and ideals. They model the values of sacrifice and servant leadership. They are capable of overseeing the work in their particular areas and managing the underclassmen involved therein. The emphasis of their job is service, not privilege.

The purpose of the program is as follows:

1. To foster more student leadership opportunities
2. To foster healthy and productive student followership. Student interns may and should elicit the help of other students to accomplish their duties.
3. To foster a healthier community
4. To provide help to students and faculty in the life of the school

The Production Team at Minnehaha is comprised of students in all Upper School grades. This team manages the theatre facility and provides production services for events including weekly chapels and assemblies, major theatre productions, band and choir concerts, outside rentals, and a variety of other events.

The team is multi-disciplinary with students learning about audio, lighting, media, control systems, film production, set design and construction. In addition, students gain experience in a number of general areas such as project and production management, budgeting, and computers.

Minnehaha’s production schedule allows students to gain experience in a number of different environments from rock-and-roll with the Praise Band to traditional orchestra performances to a variety of dramatic productions.