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Q&A with Minneapolis Henry's Shelby Gibson

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 04/20/11, 12:45PM CDT

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Senior looked past stereotypes when choosing a school


Shelby Gibson

Shelby Gibson has heard the negative things some say about her school, Minneapolis Henry.

The stereotypes that cling to an inner city school can be hard to shake. But that hasn’t deterred the senior from achieving success at Henry. In fact, she chose to attend the school despite that fact that she lives in Northeast Minneapolis, outside of the Henry school boundaries.

Gibson, a three-year letter winner in soccer and softball, was named the Minneapolis Henry Athena Award winner for 2011, an honor that recognizes a standout female scholar-athlete at each Metropolitan area high school.

Gibson talked about Henry and how she feels it was the perfect choice for her.

Q So, you live in Northeast Minneapolis but go to Henry, which is on the North side. Why?
A Henry was an IB [International Baccalaureate] school, which was something I was interested in at the time. I switched now, though, to a College in the Schools program.

Q What is College in the Schools?
A It’s where you go to school and take actual college classes for college credit.

Q Are all of your classes college level?
A I have two college classes, and I still take two IB classes.

Q There are other schools closer to where you live, like Edison or Columbia Heights or St. Anthony. Did you check into any of those?
A I thought about St. Anthony for awhile. They have an AP [Advanced Placement] program that is similar to IB, but I thought the IB program at Henry was a lot better.

Q A lot of people believe that city schools are filled with trouble. What do you think?
A I heard all of the bad things but I heard a lot of good things, too. Henry just seemed like a good fit for me.

Q What did you hear?
A I heard that the teachers weren’t very good and the classes weren’t hard and the students aren’t focused on school. And while there are some kids who aren’t focused, there are a lot more who are. And there are a lot of teachers who really care.

Q Anything else?
A I heard there was a lot of fighting. But all high schools have an occasional fight or drama. It doesn’t happen nearly as often as people think it does.

Q How about athletics? Like many city schools, Henry doesn’t have the resources of the bigger suburban schools. Success has been hard to come by. Is it hard to stay motivated?
A It was for a period of time. But this year I’m a captain on the softball team, and I like to stay positive.

Q The softball team started the season with three big losses. Do you expect things to get better?
A It was just our first few games. We’re working out all the kinks. I have a feeling the season will go better. It usually does.

Q What makes you think that?
A Our coach, Jacki Wincek, is a great coach. Most of our players don’t play year-round. We just play our season. That might serve as a disadvantage early, but we can still be a good team.

Q What is one misconception about Henry that you would like to dispel?
A Henry is a pretty amazing place. My experiences here have all been really great. I wouldn’t change anything about it.

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