Activities

The Chess Club is open to all students who have an interest in playing chess. The club competes with other schools in the South Suburban High School Conference during the fall season. During the spring season the emphasis is on preparing students to compete in the Chess State tournament. All students are welcome who want to play chess competitively --- or just for fun while they learn the game.

The Apple Valley Speech and Debate Program offers students the opportunity to maximize acting, public speaking, communication, and debating skills. Students can join either aspect of the program (Speech or Debate) or both! We have two different seasons. Within the program, we offer 16 different competitive events--this means that there is something for everyone. AVHS currently holds the MSHSL State Records for the most State Speech Champions, the most Debate Champions, and the most medalists at the State Speech tournament. Nationally we have had 98 students place in the top six in the nation, including 21 National Champions and 33 National Runner Ups. When you enter the program, we don't expect you to know how to do these skills unlike many sports, there are no little leagues for you to train in since you were in preschool. Instead, you can get in on the ground floor and let us help you learn how to be successful and have fun while doing it!

Visit the Speech & Debate Website.

All are welcome. Eagle Buddies, similar to the national club called Best Buddies, is a program much like a Big Brother/Sister program and is an extra curricular club at AVHS.

The purpose of the club is to help foster friendships between all students at AVHS. It provides an opportunity for students at all ability levels, including those with cognitive and physical disabilities to participate in an after school club. Students can be paired up with another student or just participate in the group activities.

We will hold group activities such as movie night, basketball in the gym, attending an AVHS sporting event and much more. These events will be once a month after school. Buddies will meet before or after school to plan activities. As our Buddies get to know each other, we would encourage contact outside the monthly activities, such as sitting together at lunch, making phone calls, sending e-mails, or visiting their buddies during study hall. There is also a Prom held at the end of the school year.

Check out EaglEye, our Emmy Award Winning bi-weekly news magazine completely produced by the students in Mr. McCluskey' s and Mr. Dodge's Intro to Broadcast and Advanced Broadcasting Class.

Our show is made up of students in grades 10-12. This class creates broadcast productions to be televised across AVHS. Students will write their own news stories, edit copy, and deliver for the camera. Students will gain technical skills needed to create a quality program.

Each experience is different for our students. They rotate through all positions during the production of stories and the live show. Check us out!

Visit EaglEye and Eagle Media.

Playing a wide assortment of games across genres, consoles and services, our esports team plays competitively through the Minnesota Varsity League. Students are welcome to attend after school practices with teammates and others playing the same game, or they can join the team and compete solo at home as well. There are at least two full seasons every school year with competitors across the state, and opportunities to compete throughout the year. Check with MNVL to see what games are being run through the competition this season - it changes as games evolve! Check in with Mr. Johnson at AVHS to sign up and find out what we are up to this upcoming year, you can sign up anytime to practice but must be enrolled by the beginning of every season to compete.

Willkommen! The German Club at Apple Valley meets monthly to celebrate German culture, try new food, watch German movies, and meet new people. Most, but not all, of our members are studying German at Apple Valley. Come to play some Oktoberfest games, decorate Lebkuchen, see Toy Story in German or challenge the French and Japanese clubs to a soccer tournament!

“We help both our local and global communities one INTERACTion at a time.”

Interact is a community service-based club that plans and implements projects to help people in our local, national and international communities. Interact members are driven by a genuine desire to make the world a better place. Past projects have included holding a school-wide food drive, collecting supplies for the homeless, helping put on the mock car crash, Armful of Love, Youth Teaching Youth, Project Explore and fundraising and purchasing hippo-rollers for transporting water in rural Africa.

Interact meets Wednesdays after school in room D136 from 2:30-3:15pm and is made possible by the Apple Valley Rotary, helping students to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self.

The purpose of the AVHS Math Team is to identify students who have good mathematical ability, to give them recognition and encouragement and to expose them to mathematical topics not commonly taught in the high school curriculum.

The Math Team belongs to a division of eight schools. Each school has a varsity team with a maximum of eight students, although ALL students participate in the meets. The teams in the division come together for five meets during the season, with the first meet in November and the last meet in February.

The Minnesota High School Mock Trial Program is an exciting law-related education program that introduces students to the American legal system and provides a challenging opportunity for personal growth and achievement. As part of the mock trial program, your students will exercise their critical thinking and teamwork skills, as well as the basic skills learned in the classroom.

In 1978 the National Art Education Association began the National Art Honor Society program specifically for high school students grades 10-12 to inspire and recognize those students who have shown an outstanding ability in art. The NAHS also strives to aid members in working toward the attainment of their highest potential in art areas and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community.

Our chapter, founded in 1977, strives to help students reach the highest level of professionalism as they begin their pursuit of careers in the arts. Member students do so by volunteering in community service projects, painting murals, hosting and organizing art events and operating the AVHS Annual Visual Arts Exhibit. Members also raise funds to support the local arts as well as the NAHS Scholarship fund and create and provide venues in which students may showcase their work.

In addition, members organize and participate in trips to colleges, museums, galleries, and points of interest. They are our leaders in their community, showcasing their work at numerous group and solo exhibits each year.

National Honor Society was founded in 1921. It is a national organization that recognizes and encourages academic achievement while also developing other characteristics essential to citizens. National Honor society is an organization that promotes appropriate recognition for students who reflect outstanding accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, character, leadership, and service.

The purpose of the organization shall be to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, and to develop character in the students at AVHS. Students who have a 3.7 GPA after the first trimester of their sophomore year will receive a letter inviting them to attend an informational meeting. At the informational meeting students will be given a selection form to fill out. Completed selection forms will be reviewed by the faculty council (a group of pre-selected teachers). The faculty council will review the selection form and determine new members based on the 4 pillars of NHS. Students who have been selected by the faculty council and still maintain a GPA of 3.7 or higher after second trimester will be inducted into National Honor Society in April. New members are then required to attend the May meeting and will become full participants the following school year. Officers:

(President) (Vice President) (School leader) (Community leader) (Community leader) (Secretary) (Treasurer)

An expectation of NHS Members is to be effective leaders both inside and outside of AVHS. In order to uphold this expectation, NHS members will be required to participate in at least one school sponsored NHS organized activity per trimester. Failure to fully participate will result in probation and recommendation for dismissal of membership status.

download Trimester Service Hours Form

The Apple Valley High School Quiz Bowl team participates in academic tournaments throughout the metro area. We compete as active members of both the South Suburban Conference and the Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl League.

Students must have strong knowledge in several different areas and be quick on the buzzer to be successful. Questions range from ancient history to quantum physics, Greek Mythology to Modern American Literature, and from classical music to sports. The team practices once a week after school and is always working on new ways to recall detailed information quickly.

Welcome to the FIRST Robotics Program "The varsity Sport for the Mind," FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules and time limits, teams of students are challenged to build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It is as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get.

The AVHS Rocket Team is part of a national rocket competition called the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The team has to design, build and fly a rocket designed to carry one or two eggs to a certain height (around 800 ft) and return the egg(s) safely in a prescribed time (usually 40-45 seconds). They compete against roughly 700 teams from around the country. Each team only gets 2 attempts to reach the goal. The top 100 teams in the nation are invited to compete in the national fly-off in Virginia in May.

The Science Olympiad team competes in 23 different science events ranging from earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Students compete in 2-4 events much like a track athlete competes in multiple events at a track meet. The events can be building competitions, lab practicals, or paper and pencil tests. We compete at the region and state levels. The state winner advances to the national Science Olympiad competition in May.

One of the most successful Science Olympiad programs in the history of Minnesota competition, our Science Olympiad teams have won six State Championships, finished in the top ten twenty six out of twenty seven years, and been crowned Lake Conference Champions twelve times.

Student Council continues to sponsor a variety of activities relating to student life at Apple Valley High School. The annual Homecoming dance is the highlight in the fall. Additionally, we sponsor the Coronation Ceremony, Powder Puff Football, and a Spirit Week filled with additional Homecoming events. However, Student Council is also involved in numerous community service projects throughout the year. In the spring, we organize a large school-wide blood drive, which is hosted by the American Red Cross. Further, Student Council also sponsors school activities throughout the year, such as holiday decorating and the annual Dodgeball tournament. We also continue to financially assist students each spring who cannot afford to attend the AVHS Prom. Student Council takes pride in helping to establish a positive and fun learning culture at AVHS filled with school spirit. If you would like more information, please contact Activity Advisors Ms. Michelle Blodgett, Ms. Nichole Christensen or Mr. Reid Larsen. 

Meetings:

The Talon is Apple Valley High School’s official student newspaper. Its inaugural edition came out on December 14, 2015, featuring the writing of some of the school’s most talented writers!

Visit The Talon Online.

The student yearbook staff works hard to give an accurate portrayal of all that our school has to offer. We create a book that not only records, but also celebrates all of our highlights through the past school year.

Aerie staff (students in grades 9-12) must conduct interviews, attend school events, and photograph everything that AVHS does (and it is a lot!). This is a three-trimester class, as well as a co-curricular activity.

If you have highlights, notable events, or awesome action shots, please upload them to https://images.jostens.com/413263674