After years of tumultuous principal turnover, South has found its newest leader, Ahmed Amin, stepping up to the role. Having attended a Minneapolis Public School himself, Amin has been a part of the MPS community for years. Amin is ready to help improve South, the summit, with contagious hope for what South can become.
Amin moved to South Minneapolis when he was 12 along with his 5 siblings, one of which is a South graduate. While originally from Somalia, Amin spent part of his childhood in Ethiopia. Amin never had any formal education before coming to the United States. He speaks to the impact his father had on him and his siblings, emphasizing how he was a positive role model who lived his beliefs and principles. “My dad was never concerned about having more…It always seems like the people who have the least, give the most.” Growing up Amin’s family didn’t have a lot, as he lived in a shelter with his siblings for a period of time. He does, however, express how academic excellence was still extremely important to him and his siblings through his father’s example. He ties this to his father’s demonstration of service and selflessness as well, something which he is continually inspired by today.
When he moved to Minneapolis, Amin attended Sanford and later Roosevelt for high school. Amin attended the University of Minnesota for his undergraduate degree, and then graduate school soon after, studying sociology and history before becoming a teacher. Amin went on to teach at his former stomping grounds- Roosevelt. He even became a principal later at Sanford. He also had the unique opportunity of teaching in a jail, working with inmates and students to provide the education they deserve. Amin, a true lover of learning, even plans on going back to school at some point in the future, but is still deciding on how he wants to go about that.
Amin is a firm believer that everyone can succeed when they have the right tools to do so. He explains that his academic approach manifests from his belief in the success and prosperity of all students, from all backgrounds. “I think people need different levels of support but everybody can be academically oriented and achieve academic success,” he explains. “It’s really about the examples that they have and how we can support them to learn and grow.”
As for life outside of South, Amin stays busy with a number of hobbies including powerlifting, coaching debate, and photography, to name a few. “If I’m not working, I’m probably out walking up and down Lake Street taking photos and using film.” Amin mentions Gordon Parks as an inspiration for his own artistry. “There’s a book about him called Choice of Weapons, so photography was my choice of weapons.” The powerlifting side of Amin can squat over 530 lbs, which is more than most can imagine. On top of that, Amin frequently coached debate for a while, devoting many weekends of his time to young debaters.
“Single story” can be defined as a narrative that presents only one perspective, repeated again and again. Amin knows how much “single stories” can negatively impact a community. “In order to challenge a single story, you’ve gotta create a new one.” In Amin’s position as principal, there’s limits to what he alone can do. He emphasizes that change takes everyone’s effort. In order to have a collaborative community that reaches its goals, we need to work together. “As a community of South High folks, we really have to start thinking about what our story is, and what we want to be a summit for,” he states. “We, as a community, need to determine what our narrative is.” To reach the top, we have to climb to the top. Amin is determined to help lead South on that trek, one step at a time. That is how we will write our story and become South, the Summit.
