Co-Curriculars

Advisor: Johanna Huang

The Visitation NEGU (Never Ever Give Up) Club supports children with cancer through card making, toy drives, hat knitting, and much more! NEGU Club meets during flex one Friday a month.

Open to students grades 9-12

Advisor: Cecilia Petschel

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: Kim Cross

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: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.

This STA club invites Visitation students in grade 9-12 to participate.

Advisor: Claire Kranz

REACH focuses on gaining a relationship with Christ and will learn how He shows his love to us by doing Bible studies, playing games and focusing on community building! Everyone is welcome! REACH meets at 7:15 a.m. in Ms. Kranz's room.

Open to all students.

Advisor: Caroline Reich

Providing a space for students to relax and reset away from the daily stresses of high school! There will be meditations, power naps, and sometimes Yoga! Meetings will be 10 to 15 minutes long. Meetings are held every other Friday during second lunch.

Open to students grades 9-12.

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.

Advisors: Michael Volpe, Matt Sklar

Blast off!! Build, learn, and launch model rockets! Rocketry Club will meet either flex or after school in Mr. Volpe's room.

Open to students grades 9-12.

Advisor: Brynna Turnau

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.

Advisor: Amanda Rosas

Each meeting the Social Justice Activism Club talks about social justice issues that affect our world and have a short discussion amongst other members of the club. Social Justice Activism Club meets a couple times a month during first lunch on Thursdays.

Open to students grades 9-12.

Advisor: Amanda Rosas

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: 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: Louis McLaughlin

Go to a galaxy far far away and join Star Wars Club! Meet up with other fanatics and talk everything and anything Star Wars! Star Wars Club will meet once a month on Friday in Mr. McLaughlin's room.

Open to students grades 9-12 

Advisor: Katie Fenlon

The student council at Visitation consists of five executive board members and two class representatives from each of the upper school grades. The role of the student council is to promote school spirit and a culture of unity, to address individual class needs, and to be a liaison between administration and the student body. Some of the ways they fulfill these roles is by planning and executing homecoming and winter week activities, by discussing the needs of each grade with the representatives and planning initiatives to address those needs, and by meeting with administration periodically to provide the students’ perspective and ideas. Additionally, student council partners with other groups within the school to support their goals and to plan and complete service projects.

Student council members meet one to two times per week during lunch flex and homeroom. Elections are held in the spring for the executive board and representatives (except for 9th grade representatives who are elected in the fall). Students in grades 11 and 12 may run for the executive board and students in grades 9-12 can run for the representative positions.

Advisor: Amanda Rosas

The Students of Color Society is a student group that creates a courageous space at Visitation where students of color are encouraged to pursue leadership opportunities. The group also discusses issues that pertain especially to underrepresented racial and ethnic groups at Visitation. The Students of Color Society’s main objective is for students to feel empowered and gain more confidence in their identities with the support of others who share their lived experience within the Visitation community. 

Advisor: Chris Nelson

The Union of Student Advocates will discuss mid-terms and what it means to vote plus encouraging all seniors to vote. There will be discussions on current events, education on local representatives, and have joint meetings and debates with STA. Meetings will be held during second flex every other Wednesday.

Open to students grades 9-12.

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: Ed Overell

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.