2024 Recipients

Anyone looking for the definition of student-athlete need only look as far as 2003 grad and current South math teacher Jessica Trautwein Myxter. Her career as a varsity athlete started in 7th grade, on her way to becoming a regional standout in track and field and basketball. Her numerous state track titles led her to become North Dakota Track and Field Athlete of the Year as a senior. She was a two-time all-state selection as leader of the Bruins basketball team.

She was a perfectionist off the field and court as well. She was a two-time state band participant as an oboist. The straight-A student was a National Honor Society member and 2003 North Dakota High School Activities Association Distinguished High School Student.

Jessica continued her athletic brilliance at Minnesota State University, Moorhead, where she was a rare two-sport star. She was an All-American high jumper. She won numerous conference titles in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles. She guided the basketball team to the top of the conference. The 4.0 student was the conference scholar-athlete award winner and the school’s female athlete of the year, among other awards.

This is not Jessica’s first foray into an institution honoring her achievements. She is a member of the North Dakota Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Minnesota State Athletics Hall of Fame. Yet, she is not just defined by athletics.

“Her academic career closely mirrors her athletic one at both the high school and college level,” said Jason Smedshammer, South math teacher who spent 17 years teaching next to Jessica and witnessed her positive impact. “This lifelong Bruin has continued to serve as a role model in both her teaching and coaching career; both for her students, but also for us, her colleagues,” Mr. Smedshammer says.

Master Sgt. Michael Eberly is a walking, talking and music-playing symbol of American pride.

Let’s start at the top. Sgt. Eberly is a 25-year, highly respected member of the U.S. Army Band, nicknamed “Pershing’s Own” for founding member Gen. John J. Pershing.

Even Sgt. Eberly’s instrument has a powerful, patriotic quality. He plays the tuba, the large instrument that produces the intense bass tones that add harmony and rhythm to the music.

Master Sgt. Karl F. Mailand, retired director of the Capital Band, says Sgt. Eberly is the only tuba player he’s known who can center the band with a warm, well-focused and inviting sound. As such, Michael is given the freedom to express himself and craft musical lines, not just the “oom-pahs.”

“This is a very hard thing to do on the tuba, but Michael has a gorgeous tone, a wide range and can make a melodic passage sing!” Sgt. Mailand says.

Cohorts laud his leadership. Sgt. Eberly serves as Tuba Section Leader, Associate Drum Major and Assistant Group Leader of the Ceremonial Band.

He has performed in 3,000-plus ceremonies, including at the White House and Arlington National Cemetery. He played for state funerals for Presidents Reagan and Ford and at three presidential inaugurations. He has been invited to play with highly regarded symphonies.

“He has been an inspiration to those who serve beside him,” says band member Master Sgt. Micheal Jury.

The 1992 South graduate has won numerous awards and scholarships. He has a Master of Music degree from Yale, and separate Doctor of Musical Arts Studies from Boston University and University of Maryland.

Like any other soldier, band members must stay in physical shape. That is judged by the Army Physical Fitness Test, which carries a high score of 300. Sgt. Eberly has never scored less than perfect.

A North Dakota State football player setting a record for points (tallied for plays like tackles, interceptions, fumbles caused and recovered) by a defensive back in a game against rival North Dakota should probably receive the key to Fargo. But there’s much more to the story of 1972 Fargo South graduate Dr. Mark Askew.

After a stellar athletic and academic career at South, he went on to become an all-conference and all-academic safety and team captain for the Bison. He was the Most Valuable Freshman Player in 1972.

After completing medical school, Mark set his sights on making life better for other athletes. At the end of the day, it resulted in numerous top surgeon and best doctor awards and myriad requests to keynote lectures, seminars and research in orthopedic surgery. Mark prolonged many athletic careers and the lives, frankly, of everyday people.

“Mark was an excellent surgeon, was respected by his colleagues and provided excellent care to his patients,” said Craig Sandstrom, 1972 South grad. “Mark is a humble and kind man.”

Mark’s practice as an orthopedic surgeon blossomed quickly. In 1985, he and Dr. Mark Lundeen became partners as founding members of Orthopedic Associates and started the Red River Sports Medicine Institute. They focused on rural schools whose budgets didn’t allow for certified trainers staffing their games.

“At one time we were the single largest employer of certified trainers in the United States,” Lundeen said.

Dr. Askew covered mostly South games, where he spent countless hours away from family at every football game, whatever the weather, as well as basketball and hockey games, providing his services for free.

“It was done as a way to use his talents to give back to the community,” Lundeen says.

Dr. Askew retired and now hones his skills as a watercolor painter.

Former students, like Cami Burgad, say Angela Stoa-Lipp provided her with “such excitement and joy for school.” Parents, like Abeer Megahead, credit Mrs. Lipp’s efforts for her daughter’s “wonderful scores” on exams. Tributes abound when it comes to Mrs. Lipp, but Mrs. Lipp’s excellence is best equated through her ‘second’ job. Her expertise called her to teach the teachers.

“She is shaping the future of math education at Fargo Public Schools,” FPS Elementary Math Curriculum Facilitator Alyssa Gilbertson says of Mrs. Lipp, who serves as math specialist, instructional coach, and district trainer. Jennifer Schuldheisz, principal at Ed Clapp Elementary, worked alongside Mrs. Lipp as a teacher for eight years, and cites Mrs. Lipp’s “unique ability to make complex concepts understandable and engaging for students of all levels,” as well as the 1982 FSH graduate’s “natural talent for connecting with students who may be struggling in math or are resistant learners.”

In addition to her four decades of service to students and teachers, Mrs. Lipp was a 2014 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the highest national award for teachers. She was called upon to join accreditation teams, task force committees, recovery councils, and other teacher groups. “She is everyone’s biggest cheerleader, challenging them to learn from mistakes and use those experiences to grow and push themselves,” Gilbertson says.

Mrs. Schuldheisz says students routinely connect with Mrs. Lipp outside of their math time for nurturing and words of encouragement. “There are few teachers that impact your life so much that you keep in touch with them years later,” says former student Carissa (Jahner) Schwartz. “Mrs. Lipp came to my high school sports games, graduation, and even my wedding. She became more than a teacher; she became family.

Teachers, coaches, and former students voted into the Fargo South Hall of Fame have demonstrated high qualities of leadership and character during or following their time at the school. Dave Weiler has spread those qualities in numerous directions.

While at South, the 1985 graduate excelled in athletics such as track and field, where he served as captain, plus a key participant in basketball. In the musical realm, Dave sang in choir and played in the band, earning multiple stars at regional and state music competitions.

Carrying his athletics beyond high school, Dave garnered a track and field scholarship at the University of Mary, where the man known for his compassion and community service earned a degree in social work. “Dave Weiler is open-minded and has a fresh outlook on the possibilities before us,” says North Dakota state Sen. Tim Mathern, who worked with Dave on community and legislative initiatives. “He lives to build a better world.”

Dave is currently the head girls’ soccer coach and assistant boys’ soccer coach for South High School. The longtime coach helped one former freshman student, Mac Schneider, become more interested in putting his athletic and academic skills to work. Schneider eventually earned the NCAA Division II version of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and is now a U.S. attorney. “At a time in my life when I was not particularly motivated,” Schneider says, “Dave was one of many coaches at South who taught me the importance of commitment, perseverance and being a good teammate.” South math teacher, Courtney Johnson, says Dave creates a culture not obsessed with winning, but finding acceptance and appreciation for unique abilities. Many of the boys’ players are new Americans, for whom Dave has provided a feeling of safety and stability.

In his current work, Dave helps people get a good night’s sleep. Dave is the Vice President of Information Technology for MedBridge Healthcare, the largest independent integrated sleep diagnostic company in the country.