Do you have a friend, relative, or former classmate that you think is worthy of being inducted into the Washburn High School Hall of Fame? If so, here’s your chance to nominate that individual(s).

Many qualified individuals have played an important role in the history of Washburn High School – athletes, coaches, musicians, authors, business professionals, and individuals from the across the community have all played a significant role in the promotion of academics, athletics, and the arts at Washburn. The Washburn Hall of Fame was formed to recognize and pay tribute to these outstanding individuals.

Nominations can be submitted at any time throughout the year.  Nominations remain on file indefinitely.  Please do not assume that someone has already been nominated, or that the Selection Committee has already received sufficient information about these individuals. The more history and facts that can be added to what may already be on file will serve to provide that additional insight that the Selection Committee may need when making their decisions.

Nomination criteria will be posted shortly and the nomination form will be available for download in early September.

For more information on the Hall of Fame, please contact the Foundation office at 612-668-3483 or by email at info@washburnconnections.org.

To see past inductees, please select one of the class years below and you’ll be taken to the list of inductees for that year!

Class of 2007

Class of 2008

Class of 2009

Class of 2010

Washburn High School Hall of Fame Inductee Nomination Form

By James Sanna, Southwest Minneapolis Patch

The machine clacked and hummed as it skittered back and forth across the floor, searching for inflatable circles, triangles to hang on a rack at one end of the small arena. Its wedge-like shape, bright orange and shiny metal frame, and plastic wheels suggested a prototype Mars rover, rather than something built by a gang of high school students.

Coming upon one of its targets, the angular beast reached out with a long, articulated appendage, snapping at the balloon with jaws mounted on it’s end like some space-faring aluminum plesiosaur. Grasping the shape and raising it high, the robot surged forward, trying to pin the re-purposed beach toy to a wall of horizontal pegs. Missing its first attempt, it backed up and readied for another charge, but it was too late: a buzzer sounded, announcing the round was up, and it was time to move on to a different challenge.

The robot may not have been able to put the last inflatable toy on the rack in time, but the fact that it was able to at all without any mechanical or software glitches is impressive. Its creators in Washbrun High School’s robotics club, the Millerbots, knocked the machine together in less than five months after receiving a kit containing its basic parts.

Built for a national robotics competition sponsored by FIRST, a non-profit founded by Segaway inventor Dean Kamen, the robot helped its creators place well in the first, regional round, according to Gabe Cole-Brant, one of the Millerbots manning the controls at Thursday’s State Fair demonstration.

“No-one expected us, the seventh-place alliance (each team is randomly paired with two others to operate with during the tournament) to beat the first place alliance at all,” said Cole-Brant.

Preparing for the competition, said Cole-Brant’s teammates Tyler Meister and Serena Sellars, involved long hours after school and on Saturdays researching, building, and testing.

Students even have to search out sponsorships from local corporations—just like a start-up firm would have to do, coach and physics teacher Peter Grul pointed out—to pay for specialty equipment that can give their creation a special edge.

“Build time is very stressful,” said Meister.

“You don’t have time to have the design in place before you have to start cutting aluminum,” added Grul.

Attended Smith College, Northampton, MA (big change from WHS) and now live in Sacramento, CA. I am a public school teacher who was inspired to teach by many wonderful teachers in MPS system, including Mr. Stroebel (sp?)[science], Mr. Ario [economics, philosophy, etc.], and Mrs. Anderson [English].

Whether inspiring high school students to think independently, or inspiring citizens, including a future mayor, to take on powerful interests, Frank Ario left a lasting impression and was hailed Wednesday, when he died of cancer at age 86.

“He is one of my heroes,” said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who has declared Friday “Frank Ario Day.”

Rybak was an activist involved in the airport noise issue before becoming mayor and came to know Ario, who lived in south Minneapolis not far from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Ario and his wife, Georgette, became lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit to combat airport noise. The anti-noise fight developed into a campaign that led to insulation of many homes and a reduction of airplane noise.

“It was assumed there was no way to fight the unchecked noise pollution that was destroying neighborhoods across the south side of the city,” said Rybak. “Frank taught us to stand up for the places [where] we live.”

Ario was president of South Metro Airport Action Council, a group fighting the noise.

He also made a mark as a teacher. In his social studies and philosophy classes at Washburn High in Minneapolis, he encouraged spirited debates on topics such as war and civil rights, abortion and capital punishment, where he encouraged students to think independently.

When he retired in 1987 after teaching social studies for 30 years, a Star Tribune article said, “Frank Ario is a legend among students at Washburn High School.”

Len Ritter, a retired math teacher, says a lot of students wanted to get into Ario’s classes. “He got them thinking and learning,” Ritter said.

“He made it fun and he made it challenging,” recalls former student Jeff Johnson, 54

Born in Mankato in 1924, Ario was drafted into the Army in World War II. A national magazine, “America In WWII,” described how Ario saved the life of two wounded German soldiers. The Rev. Howard Bell, the associate minister at Mayflower Church, United Church of Christ, in Minneapolis, where Ario was a church leader, said it was an indication of “how deeply he believed every human life was important.”

Ario told the Star Tribune he witnessed “massive destruction … death and carnage” and felt a need to give some meaning to his life.

Joel Ario, a son, said his father first found meaning in Christianity, and then in teaching after graduating from Augsburg College.

In 1964, Frank Ario was the adviser to Washburn’s Politix Club, which wanted to hear a socialist speaker. Ario invited Mulford Q. Sibley, a professor at the University of Minnesota. In response to complaints, the principal canceled Sibley’s visit, which became front-page news. Teachers signed petitions, opposing the cancellation. Ario defended the invitation on the basis of free speech, saying: “I feel these kids are not so gullible that they are going to accept everything they hear, no matter who the speaker is.” Sibley wound up addressing about 400 students at a church.

Ario also started men’s and women’s soccer teams at the school, winning the girls’ state high school soccer championship in 1981.

In addition to his wife, Georgette, and son Joel of Hershey, Pa., Ario is survived by sons Bruce and Kevin of Minneapolis, David of St. Paul; a sister, Arlien, and six grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Mayflower Church, 106 E. Diamond Lake Road, Minneapolis.

Randy Furst

Posted initially at www.startribune.com