Students ExCEL to earn honors

Add two more names to the already impressive list of St. Peter High School’s recipients of the ExCEL Award — Faith Dontje Lindell and Sean O’Connell.
The St. Peter High School juniors were selected from a very talented pool of applicants as the winner for the 2011-12 school year. The ExCEL program is sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League is designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, who show Leadership qualities, and who are model citizens.
Every member school of the League is invited to nominate one girl and one boy for the ExCEL Award. Nominees must:
• be a junior in high school
• make satisfactory progress toward graduation requirements
• participate in a MSHSL fine arts and/or athletic activity
• hold a leadership position(s) in their school
• work voluntarily in their community.
An independent panel of judges from schools throughout Minnesota will select ExCEL Award recipients in January. ExCEL winners will be recognized on KSTC-TV (Channel 45) during the upcoming winter state tournaments.

Faith Dontje Lindell
Faith, the daughter of Laura Lindell and James Dontje, has kept busy during her high school years with a variety of academic and co-curricular activities and has experienced a lot of success in many areas.
“I’m very excited to received this award and I really didn’t expect to win because there were so many others in my class worthy of getting this award,” she said. “Grades are very important to many in my class and I’m happy to have been chosen.”
Dontje Lindell has excelled in the classroom as well as in fine arts and athletics. An “A” honor roll student as a sophomore she has also been chose for the National Honor Society and has participated in academic activities such as Academic Decathlon, math team and Knowledge Bowl over the years.
A trumpet player, she has been very active in the Saints’ concert, marching, pep and jazz bands and during her freshman year also participated in speech and the fall play/
She has been a member of both of the St. Peter girls’ soccer teams that have qualified for state the past two seasons and earned a team academic award as a 11th and 10th grader.
Outside of school, Dontje Lindell has been very active in her church through a variety of activities such as Sunday School assistant, youth representative on the church council and bell choir, to name a few.
“Faith excels at everything she does,” SPHS French teacher Mary Behrends said in her letter of recommendation. “Her academic work is consistently excellent. She is equally devoted to the playing field and was a valuable player on our girls’ soccer team.
“In her free moments, you will find her with her nose in a book. She is an accomplished writer. It is hard to envision a more worthy candidate for the ExCEL award.”

Sean O’Connell
Sean, the son of Chrissy and Kenny O’Connell, is a member of the National Honor Society who maintains a busy schedule in and out of school.
“It’s a great honor being selected for this award and I wasn’t exactly expecting to win because we have a very strong class academically,” O’Connell said. “It was definitely a pleasant surprise and I’m thrilled to have been chosen.”
Sean has maintained a well-balanced life as a student, athlete and artist. Besides being a member of the National Honor Society since his 10th grade year, he also has been on the A honor roll as well.
He also has developed his skills in fine arts participating in both band (alto saxophone) and choir throughout his high school years, along with being part of the speech team and this past November took part in the SPHS fall play.
A three-year letter winner on the soccer field, O’Connell earned All South Central Conference honors this past season and also was a key contributor on the SCC championship team in 2010.
Last spring O’Connell made his mark in track and field when he earned trips to the Class A state meet in both the long jump and triple jump where he placed 10th and 12th, respectively.
Outside of school he has an active role in his church youth group as well as helping teach religious education classes, among other things.
“Sean is an excellent example of what is right with our students today,” SPHS choir instructor Scott Hermanson said in his letter of recommendation for O’Connell. “Sean gives 100 percent to whatever activity he chooses to do. He demonstrates depth of character and maturity along with a drive to succeed.
“Sean displays a passion for what he does, which not only helps him succeed, but makes him a fantastic leader. His positive attitude is infectious and his drive for excellence is unending. He has been an inspiration for younger students.”