CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations to the THS Latin students who attended the Indiana Junior Classical League state convention and brought home an impressive array of individual and chapter awards! In addition to the competitions, students attended workshops led by Latin teachers and Classics professors, attended a Roman banquet in Roman attire, elected state officers, and completed a service project packing aid baskets for cancer survivors. THS senior Jayne McCormack, serving as the 2023-2024 IJCL Historian, and Becki Bush, THS Latin teacher and IJCL Graphic Arts Chair, assisted in planning and running the convention. To see pictures of the students and their awards, click on the link. Latin Winners
Congratulations to the FFA students for their outstanding representation of Terre Haute South at the Indiana FFA District VII Leadership Development Event.
Honors:
Plant and Soil Science Demonstration – Caleb Wyrick
Prepared Public Speaking – Carson Shoemaker
Animal Science Demonstration – Maddy Dowers and Alee Kerr
Natural Resources Demonstration – Jamie Decker and Elijah Pearman
Ag Mechanics Demonstration – Jasmin Borders and Kaden Steiner
Ag Sales Demonstration – 5th – Claire Burbrink
Traditional Scrapbook – 5th – Kaden Steiner
Multimedia Scrapbook – 4th – Ali Evans
FFA Quiz Bowl – 4th place team of: Shelby O’Farrell, Darcy Kirby, Anna Steiner, Maddy Dowers with Shelby O’Farrell and Darcy Kirby also being recognized as high placing individuals
Employment Skills – 2nd – Cale Williams
Freshman FFA Creed Speaking – 2nd – Anna Steiner
Premier Leadership – 1st – Cale Williams
District Star Farmer – Cale Williams
Congratulations to the Terre Haute South TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science) team! The TEAMS competition consists of three components: an essay, a multiple choice test, and a design/build project. Three groups competed in the statewide event and placed as follows:
Group A: Mabrey Manning, Parth Deshpande, Justin Zheng, and Brady Exoo
12th place for Design and Build, 1st place for Essay, 1st place for Multiple Choice, 4th place overall
Group B: Shivam Chauhan, Arya Odhayamangalam, Samuel Rasley
2nd place for Design and Build, 4th place for Essay, 3rd place for Multiple Choice, 1st place overall
Group C: Clara Noxon, Selma Akgul, Raphael Lademora
5th place for Design and Build, 10th place for Essay, 7th place for Multiple Choice, 7th place overall
Congratulations to the Music Department for their successful participation in ISSMA Organizational Contest over the weekend:
Results:
Band:
Both Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble earned Gold Ratings in Repertoire and in Sight Reading. Additionally, the Wind Ensemble earned a With Distinction Award on their performance and Symphonic Band just barely missed With Distinction – only 1.5 points away!
Orchestra:
The Cadet Orchestra received a Gold Rating for their performance.
Choir:
Trebled Choir received a Silver Rating and Chamber Choir received a Gold Rating on their performances.
Great job music students for all of your hard work and dedication!
We have ELEVEN students who have been invited into the 2025 National Merit Scholars Program. These are high achieving current Juniors who scored very high on the SAT. They will be recognized in the Fall and start the process to be a National Merit Scholar Finalist. If you see any of them, please congratulate them. It is quite an honor. They scored in the top 50,000 of all high school students in the United States. Way to go!!!
Arjun Bhatia
Anthony Chapman
Shivam Chauhan
Braden Fears
Emma Lamberson
Alvina Mastakar
Clara Noxon
Arya Odhayamangalam
Courtney Powell
Benjamin Spencer
Gabriella Tanoos
The South Braves are excited to introduce our 2 newest Emergency Medical Technicians. Kalyn Alivio and Phoebe Henderson worked hard to complete the EMT course, clinical and successfully passed the National Registry for EMT’s this past month. Their care, knowledge and skills will be a great asset to our community! Congratulations Kalyn and Phoebe!! Picture on Main Page in Carousel.
South is introducing our new CNAs. Alexis Kinzer, Macy Childress, Faith Bumgarner, Alex Davis, Madison Egan, Virginia Watkins are from the afternoon CNA cohort and Maiya Lewis, Tatum Stephenson, Lyndsay Crumrin, Cadence Griffin, and Samantha Skelton are from the morning cohort. South Vigo is very proud of the hard work these students put into their class and clinicals to prepare for and pass the State Competency Test! Our community will be so blessed by their care and compassion! Picture on Main Page in Carousel.
We would like to congratulate the following students that got their artwork into the SWOPE Art Competition: Benton Miller, Zene Wright, Lee McKain, Angie Martin-Bonilla, Kensington Heath, Mabrey Manning, Lee McKain, Kate Telle, Jasmine Sowards, Kendra Conrad, Paxton Otto, Hunter Crabb, and Chester Ping.
And a special congratulations to Benton Miller & Chester Ping. Both artists won an award for their artworks.
The Exhibit opens this Saturday, April 20, from 12pm – 5pm with the award ceremony happening at 2pm. However, these artworks will be on display until May 12th, and we encourage you to stop by the gallery to see these amazing artworks created by these talented artists!
Congratulations to the Academic Super Bowl teams for their stellar performance at Tuesday’s regional competition at Greencastle High School. The math team earned 1st place, missing only four questions, and qualifying for the State Championship. The social studies team also had a fabulous performance, taking first place, and qualifying for the State Finals. South students continued to shine as the English team earned first place, missing only one question, and qualifying for the State Championship as well. The science team placed second, and the fine arts also had a commendable performance. Additionally, because South did well in all five subjects, South qualified to compete in the Interdisciplinary Round at the state finals. The State Championship will take place Saturday, May 4th, at Purdue University.
Please congratulate the following academic rock stars if you have them in class or see them in the hall:
Audra Allen – Fine Arts
Tara Blanc – English
Anthony Chapman – Science
Shivam Chauhan- Social Studies and Science
Christopher Chow – Math
Brady Exoo – Math
John Gassert – Social Studies
Anika Gera – English
Philip Hawkins – Social Studies
Phoebe Henderson – Fine Arts
Christine Liu – English and Math
John Mann- Social Studies
Vaishant Mannepalli – Science
Vatsal Mannepalli – Science
Jayne McCormack – English
Sophia Miranda – English and Science
Clara Noxon – English
Yash Parikh – Social Studies
Eve Reid – Fine Arts
Benjamin Spencer – Social Studies
Katherine Stofferahn – Fine Arts
Sam Webster – Fine Arts
Justin Zheng – Math and Science
Pictures are on the Main Page in the Carousel.
Congratulations to the Latin Novice level Certamen Team consisting of Latin 1 students Philip Hawkins and Samuel Rasley once again took first place!
Congratulations to junior Benjamin Spencer for writing an essay that got selected in the IASP’s MLK essay contest won 2nd place in the state!
Congratulations to Jayne McCormack, who earned a bronze medal on the National Latin 4 Vocabulary Exam and Leo Manson who earned a bronze medal on the National Latin 2 Vocabularyn Exam.
Terre Haute South teacher receives Battey National Educator Award
The Honor Scholar Program at DePauw University has named Mrs. Peggy Grabowski the 2024 Battey National Educator of the Year. This award annually recognizes an outstanding secondary teacher who inspired an honor scholar during their high school years and continues to have an impact on their intellectual curiosity.
Grabowski, an English teacher at Terre Haute South Vigo High School and 33-year veteran of the profession, has earned a distinguished reputation for both her teaching and her advocacy. In addition to the classes she instructs, including a Holocaust Literature course she created in 2013, Grabowski is actively involved in several student organizations. Since 2008, she has been the sponsor of the school’s STAND Club (Students Taking Action Now Darfur), a student-led movement to end mass atrocities. She is also the highly accomplished coach of the Academic Spell Bowl and the Academic English Super Bowl teams, winning a total of seven state championships along the way.
“Mrs. Grabowski’s education and guidance are why I am so passionate about the social justice work I am involved with today,” wrote Allision Weiner ’25, an honor scholar pursuing a major in Global Health and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies at DePauw. In her nomination letter, Weiner acknowledged the wide reach of Grabowski’s impact. “Mrs. Grabowski has influenced the lives of hundreds of students over the past few decades, both as an educator with her dedication and passion to ensure students develop a love of reading, and as an activist by teaching students the importance of advocacy.”
These outcomes are anything but accidental. Grabowski has a passion for shaping the lives of her students, a sentiment she articulated in an essay about her teaching philosophy. “My goal is for my students to take what they glean from my class and do something productive and positive in society: service work, community building, activism, and raising awareness as a young leader and global citizen.” She went on to write, “Every day I strive to be the best version of myself, and I hope to guide my students in becoming the best versions of themselves.”
Grabowski’s excellence in education has previously been recognized with the WTHI Golden Apple Award (2021), the Terry Fear Holocaust Educator in Action Award from the CANDLES Museum (2022), and the State of Indiana’s Never Again Ambassador Award (2024). She is the 17th individual to receive the Battey National Educator Award.
