Friends of South High Foundation, Inc.

We are so humbled by your generosity...thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Reflections on the 2020-2021 School Year

During a pandemic and amidst social unrest in our community, South High teachers, students and staff rose to the challenge. We were teaching and learning through new lenses and with new methods of keeping students engaged. Your contributions to the Foundation provided South with the resources that accomplished this.  

In the coming year, as students head back into the physical classroom, the need for support that goes above what the school district provides is still great. The South High Foundation is already working with teachers and staff to identify where help is most needed in the 2021-2022 school year in terms of grants, scholarships and emergency resources. Here are examples of the many areas supported with your Foundation dollars:

•  South Emergency Resource Fund (SERF) — The social workers at South are providing critical aid to students and families facing food insecurities, loss of jobs and family income or dealing with a current health crisis and the lingering reconstruction of businesses destroyed on and near Lake Street. 

"Trauma is one thing we help students with, but we rely on donations to help students with basic, immediate needs." —Sheri Harris, South High Social Worker

• Athletics
• Dance, Music and Theater
• Math, Science and Writing 
• Fine Arts and Cultural Studies
• Postsecondary Education

Be the difference in enriching the experience of South students by supporting the South High Foundation.

Be Proud—Be South!

The Friends of South High Foundation is one of the first and oldest high school nonprofit-support organizations in the country.  Established in 1983 by then-Principal George Dahl, Assistant Principal Jerry Cady, and alumnus Dick Westby, the South High Foundation provides unique and enriching academic, cultural and social programs and projects serving South High students, faculty, administration, and community. 

With more than 11,000 active alumni, parents, friends and corporate sponsors, the Foundation focuses each year on providing more than $80,000 in grant funding for various South High School programs and projects. Past grants have ranged from support for the Writing Room, materials for the Robotics Club, support for the theater, dance, music and academic programs, computers for the foreign language department, supplemental funding for athletic programs and capital improvement projects, including improvements to the South High Athletic Field.

In addition, the Foundation annually provides more than $100,000 in scholarships for worthy seniors and graduates of South High. Through the past 38 years, the South High Foundation has awarded $1,000,000 in Scholarships to South graduates to help them continue their education! The Foundation also serves as a connection to the large South High alumni community through its alumni lunches, newsletters, and our annual Pancake Breakfast.

The South High School Foundation is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) Corporation chartered in the State of Minnesota, MN.  All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law.

Please accept our most heartfelt thanks for your consideration—and for your generous contributions!

 Dance Company II students after rehearsing for a concert, in class.

Many thanks to those who contributed to the our "Featured Fundraiser" during the 2019-2020 GiveMN Campaign. We raised more than $4,200 for the Ceramics and Dance programs at South High.

Thank you!!

Elizabeth Webster, 2019 Alumni, is dreaming of  being a ceramics teacher. Webster, who has been doing ceramics for four years, said “people see it as more of a hobby than a career path, so it’s hard, but once they see how much I love it and [see] what I can do with it, they get more on board.”  (excerpt from a story by Ellie Barnett-Cashman, Staff Writer from the Southerner, 12/10/ 2018)

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