Advisors: Judge Francis Connolly, Brittany Rawson-Haeg and Olivia (Luther) Kratzke.

Working with an appellate court judge and a prosecutor, our students prepare to argue either a civil or criminal case. While experiencing a unique view of the legal system, including getting to argue in real courtrooms in front of working judges, participants also develop critical thinking skills, public speaking skills, writing skills and an ability to think on their feet. Students combine the skills of debate, speech and drama to become legal advocates.

Mock Trial begins in late September and may last until March, depending on students' performance. Practices are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisor: Steve Dornbach

The Visitation Voice newspaper is a student-run online publication. Student editors and staff writers manage all aspects of the newspaper’s production from generating story ideas to interviewing, writing and editing news stories to taking photographs and designing the layout.

Editors, who must have one-year of experience, meet weekly after school (sometimes more at deadline) and about four Saturdays a year. Staff writers, who need no previous experience, generally meet 1-2 times per month but will have frequent check-ins with editors during production.

The Visitation Voice is a yearlong activity and open to all students in grades 9-12.

Advisor: Anne Gimpl

Peer Mentors at Visitation are guided by the Salesian Virtues of hospitality and respect and work to create and ensure a smooth transition for all students into the Upper School.

The group meets twice a month. Meetings are led by senior leadership who work in consultation with the group's advisor.

Open to students in Grades 11-12. Members are selected through a blind application process. Applications and selection occur in late April to mid May.

Advisor: Nicole Sutton

"I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately; I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... to put to rout all that was not life and not when I came to die discover I had not lived." -- Henry David Thoreau

Every Thursday, students gather in Mrs. Sutton's classroom to recite these words and open another session of Poets Society. Our president assigns us a weekly theme and we find published poems written by favorite poets and masters, stand on a desktop and recite poetry. We share our own poems, we practice spoken word, we rap, we rant, we laugh and cry; we snap our fingers to encourage one another and show our appreciation. Oftentimes, Vis poets will craft poems together, poems which usually find their way into Visitation's annual Literary and Arts Magazine.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisors: Jaime Jurkovich and Doug Hoverson

A sport for the mind providing a format for student growth centered on academics. Quiz Bowl and Knowledge Bowl are interdisciplinary academic contests designed for high school students.

Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch and flex periods at Saint Thomas Academy. Come when you can. Practices are held next to Mr. Hoverson's room in O'Shaughnessy 105. This STA club invites Visitation students in grade 9-12 to participate.

Advisors: Sydney Benz

Started in 2006, Team 2177: The Robettes, was the first all-girls team in the state of Minnesota and has a long history of success. The team competes in the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) program. Every year, a new game is revealed to teams across the world on the first Saturday in January. Each team builds a robot in only six weeks which will compete in that game at regional, state, and world competitions. Teams form alliances of three robots and compete against other alliances, bringing different strategies to the overall game. It's "more than robots" - the team has an integral business component which provides public relations, marketing, and social media presence.

The team is comprised of four sub-teams: Business, Electrical, Mechanical, and Programming. All sub-teams work together to build a robot to compete in the FIRST sponsored game for the year. In addition to the goal of competing at the highest level, the team strives to build STEM skills that focus on problem-solving, project management, communication and specific technical and business skills. All teams embrace the FIRST goals of cooperation and gracious professionalism. To learn more about these goals and the FIRST program, visit www.firstinspires.com. To learn more about the team, visit the Robettes' social media: website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

TEAM MISSION:

Team 2177, The Robettes, Minnesota's first all-female FRC team, exists to inspire girls of all ages to incorporate STEM in to their lives and revolutionize the perception of women in STEM.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisor: Dr. John Lewin

The Science Club embraces all areas of science including chemistry, biology, medicine, engineering, and physics. The Science Club challenges and encourages students to learn more about science through hands-on lab experiments and dissections, discussions on current events and global concerns with a focus on important issues involving ethics and responsibility. The Science Club supports a speaker series to promote science, especially women in science. Meetings are during lunch flex from September to May.

Open to students in grade 9-12.

Promotes the camaraderie of Visitation students interested in the study of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture through celebrations, movies, music, dancing, food and games. Meets one to two times per month.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisors: Elliott Hays and Amanda Rosas

Students Together and Naturally Diverse (STAND) helps make Visitation a welcoming environment for all, provides occasional activities focusing on diversity, and helps educate ourselves and the community at large about diversity issues. Meets Fridays during lunch flex. Occasional projects require more participation.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisor: Brian Traxler

Composed of elected officers and representatives, the student council communicates with the administration regarding student and school issues; it helps create self-initiative and personal responsibility. Main responsibilities include promoting school spirit and a sense of school unity. Main tasks include planning, organizing and implementing Homecoming and Winter Week activities, along with helping to coordinate one or two service projects a year. The council meets once a week during lunch period throughout the school year and during homeroom meeting times. Elections are held in the spring for officers and representatives (ninth grade reps are elected in the fall). Requirements to run and hold office will be announced near election time.

Students in grades 11 and 12 may run for office positions. Students in grades 9-12 may run for class representative positions.

Advisors: Elliott Hays and Wendy Short-Hays

The combined theater department of Visitation and Saint Thomas Academy offers numerous areas of involvement to create theatrical productions throughout the school year. There are three main stage productions year. Opportunities include performing, acting, singing, dancing, scenic and technical crews, costuming, script writing, stage management, box office and choreography.

Production dates are in the school calendar. More information on the Arts page.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisors: Claire Kranz

VISTORY (Visitation in Service to Others through Responsive Youth) was established in 1998 to encourage our students to join other Visitation Schools for a week of service each summer.

VISTORY has been designed to be a life-altering experience for students as they grow in their knowledge of the disadvantages which burden many people in today's society. Students are encouraged to grow in an understanding of their lifelong responsibility to help alleviate the suffering of those who lack the human necessities of life.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisor: Amanda Rosas

Women ActiVISts was formed during the 2016-17 school year by students who have a deep social concern for women’s rights advocacy. They work towards educating themselves and others on human rights issues that affect women, such as gender violence, sex-trafficking and the treatment of women worldwide. Women ActiVISts meets every other week through out the school year.

Open to students in grades 9-12.

Advisors: Dr. John Lewin and Dr. Philip Thornberry

Yearbook allows students to tell the story of the school year through photos, stories and graphic design. Editors begin developing theme ideas over the summer and are required to attend a workshop at Visitation in early August. Meetings are twice a week during flex time from September through March, with additional meetings as needed.

A high level of commitment is expected and required to complete the yearbook in time for distribution in the spring. Editors are motivated seniors and juniors who successfully complete an application process for their positions. Staff members may contribute on an "as needed" basis.