South

This Week at South - 7.30: Stillness

Greetings South Students, Parents, Staff, and Community Members,

All 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. It is also shared on South’s FB page.

Part I: The News

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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. 

For New Students and Freshmen - Wolverine Den Night (tomorrow night): If you are a new student or will be a freshman next year, Join us from 6-7:30 pm tomorrow night to learn more about South High School’s programs.

2026-27 Online Class Policy Update: As students are making course selections for the upcoming school year, it is important to note a new policy regarding online courses.  Beginning the 26/27 school year, students may not take a virtual version of a class that is already being offered in person at South High School.  If a student needs online options in lieu of in-person education, they may register as a full-time student with AK Choice or a charter school in ASD.

A Note on Attendance: Regular attendance is essential for success at school. This semester we are sending out attendance letters to all students who have accrued ten absences of any type. At 15 absences, credit may be removed and a student removed from a class for not maintaining adequate attendance. 

The following document provides a brief overview of ASD attendance policy language.

Need a Summer Job?: The King Tech Hiring Event is for students who will be 16 or older this summer and who are looking for employment opportunities now and in the future. Over 100 businesses will be there to share jobs and internships available.  We will have a bus and can take the first 50 permission slips turned in. Slips are located outside of G204 and due March 31st.  

More information on the following Flier.

AK Start and Alaska Science Assessment (Alternate Bell Schedules April 7-9): Each spring, Alaskan students are provided an opportunity to show what they know.  When students show what they know, teachers and parents can partner to promote student success.  The State of Alaska Department of Education has partnered with NWEA to align and connect the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics tests with the MAP Growth benchmark assessments students take in fall and winter.

PLEASE NOTE: South will run on an adjusted bell schedule April 7, 8 & 9.  This will be shared in the coming weeks.

Part II: Activities

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Congrats to the Boys Basketball Team: Shout out to our boys basketball team for making a strong run with a young team in the State Tournament, beating Service and West Valley before succumbing to Grace on Saturday night. 

State Scholastic Chess Tournament: The State Scholastic Chess Championship will be held here at South on Saturday, March 28.  For more information and to register, please visit https://www.alaskachessfederation.org/2026-Scholastic-State-Championship. 

Cheerleaders Earn Honors at State Competition: Jillian Singleton and Victoria Tostemar earned  Division I All Tournament Team honors at the recent state competition Congratulations! 

South Nordic Skiers Stand Out at Junior Nationals: The South High School  boys and girls nordic teams earned the prestigious Roger Weston award at Junior Nationals, which is given to the top performing high school nordic program in the United States. 

The skiers who represented South High School include Grayson Stanek-Alward, Aksel Flagstad, Braxton Thornley, Ethan Styvar, Beck Harth, Owen Harth, Lance Smith, Kevin Downs, Ethan Elliott, Alise Elliott, Maya Tirpack, Mia Stiassney, Cali Zuber, Solvej Lunoe and Elin Lunoe.

Several South High school skiers received All-American honors.

Boys:  Grayson Stanek-Alward, Aksel Flagstad, Ethan Elliott, Beck Harth, Kevin Downs and Braxton Thornley.

Girls: Alise Elliott, Solvej Lunoe, Elin Lunoe and Cali Zuber.

Congratulations to all on this big achievement. 

Part III: What I’ve Learned

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Yesterday I walked onto our south-facing deck, midmorning, after the sun had crested the mountains. Despite freezing temperatures, there was a small icicle hanging off the end of the banister dripping onto the snow beneath it. The metronomic drops of water reminded me how much change takes place in such a short amount of time in March and April. 

The typical reaction to this rapid change tends to be to exert more energy to catch up to what we imagine to be lost time. Or if that is too much, to retreat. I imagine this is why in The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot wrote that “April is the cruelest month.” It is not easy to emerge from a long winter. It takes far more energy to accelerate than hibernate. 

There is a third option: stillness.

Stillness seems like the best option when we are in transition. Rushing or retreating removes the possibility of being present, observant, patient, and open to small opportunities that arise. A radical pause to collect more information and get more attuned to the change means that when it is time to act, that action is more informed and makes a bigger difference. At least I hope this is the case. 

I looked for a wide range of sources that came to this same conclusion in different situations. Below is the best of what I found. This evidence also gives me more confidence that if we remain still and patient for a little longer, the solutions will present themselves.

The Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke is supposed to have told an aspiring young poet to:

• Have patience.... Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Perhaps then, someday in the future, you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer. 

Sun Tzu, in the Art of War, makes repeated references to not acting as the most powerful tool to win battles. Here are two quick excerpts blended together that both counsel restraint:

• The greatest victory is that which requires no battle. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

Sun Tzu’s argument is that observant defense and allowing the situation to develop long enough to know where to exert force is better than uninformed offense. 

In Anatomy of a Breakthrough, three professional athletes are profiled who are known for stillness and observation before exertion. They are all champions:

• Lionel Messi spends the first two minutes of any soccer match studying the other team’s movement. He has never scored in the first two minutes, despite being one of the most prolific offensive players in the history of the game. Observe and then conquer.
• Carl Lewis was well-known for giving 80% effort in the beginning of a race to retain just enough energy to outkick his opponents in the closing meters. Calmer and looser is faster. 
• Andre Agassi noticed his opponent’s facial expression changed when he was winding up to serve based on where he wanted the serve to land. Agassi won over 90% of the matches after he took the time to notice. He didn’t tell his opponent until he retired. 

My favorite example comes from Jane Goodall’s method for studying chimpanzees. Initially, Goodall pursued chimpanzees in an attempt to study their behavior. However, they were excellent at escaping. Having no other option, she sat still just outside of their habitat. Eventually, they got curious and approached her. Once they were comfortable with her presence she was able to move closer to them and eventually this led to her breakthrough research. 

Although counterintuitive, stillness appears to be one of the most effective strategies when we are facing challenges. This is true whether it is poetry, war, athletics, or science. It transcends the type of challenge we face. It also keeps us in the present. This leads me to one of my favorite observations from Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations:

Give yourself a gift: The present moment (11.44)

As the ice is melting and the temptation is to get angry and resist or apathetic and run, I am going to try my best to be still. To be in the midst of it. So that when the opportunity arises, at least I will have a chance to notice.

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As Always, Onward!

Luke Almon, Principal

Part III is also on Substack: @OnPrincipal