Ressu Upper Secondary School ( fi, Ressun lukio), also known internationally as Ressun lukio IB World School, is a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
(or ''
gymnasium'') located in central
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Founded in 1891, Ressu is one of the oldest
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
speaking schools and considered to be one of the most prestigious schools in Finland.
Ressu is one of the most difficult upper secondary schools to gain entry to in Finland, with admission typically requiring grade point averages above 9.3 on the Finnish scale of 4.0 (the lowest) to 10.0 (the highest). Students in Ressu have a reputation of moving onto illustrious careers in further education, in a range of top universities both in Finland and abroad. The current
principal is Ari Huovinen.
History
The school was founded in 1891, at which time it was called Helsingin Suomalainen Realilyseo (the Helsinki Finnish Real Lyceum) and at which point it
only taught male students. The teaching concentrated on broadening the previously strict and narrow subject areas, that were held mostly in Latin, to also include other languages as well as a selection of sciences. Gradually, the school's name changed. In 1914, it became "Helsingin Suomalainen Lyseo", and, in 1950, due to pressure from the school's
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
-speaking minority, it was changed to simply "Helsingin Lyseo". When governorship of the school transferred from the Republic of Finland to the city of Helsinki in 1977, the school was told to choose a name based on its geographic location. However, due to large-scale student campaigning, the school was officially named after its long-standing nickname: Ressun lukio.
Campus
The campus of Ressu Upper Secondary School consists of a single building in central Helsinki. It is situated on Lönnrotinkatu, across the road from the
Old Church of Helsinki. The building is divided into four floors, with the lowest floor lacking dedicated classrooms and instead hosting other facilities for students, such as the school's cafeteria "Papa Huovinen's" (facetiously named after the school's principal), the school's library, two computer rooms, and the offices of the school's doctors.
Curriculum
Ressun lukio offers the Finnish upper comprehensive programme held in Finnish, as well as the English
IB Diploma Programme
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...
since 2002. Their first IB graduates graduated in 2005. About 120 of the 700 students are in the IB section, and the rest are taught in Finnish. The International Baccalaureate students tend to continue their education in Higher Education abroad, typically the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Students of the International Baccalaureate in Ressu have the option to study the following subjects:
*Group 1 (Language A): English A Language and Literature, Finnish A Literature (or a self-taught language A literature)
*Group 2 (Language B): Finnish, French (or another language A from group 1)
*Group 3 (Human Sciences): Economics, Environmental systems and societies, History, Psychology
*Group 4 (Experimental Sciences): Environmental systems and societies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics
*Group 5 (Mathematics): Mathematics analysis and approaches, Mathematics applications and interpretations
*Group 6 (Electives): Another subject from groups 2, 3, or 4
Extracurricular activities
The Ressu Chess Club is one of the top-performing chess clubs in the Helsinki regional area. In their second year the students also have the possibility of partaking in Vanhojen tanssit (resembles the U.S equivalent of prom), and perform traditional ballroom dances in the White Hall ''(Valkoinen Sali)'' in the center of Helsinki, next to the
Presidential Palace. Other extracurricular activities include the school choir, debate club, and the school newspapers.
Traditions and student life
Among students, Ressu has a constant, good-natured rivalry with two other schools in Helsinki: the
Normal Lyceum of Helsinki (''Norssi'') and, to a lesser extent,
Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu
Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, commonly abbreviated SYK (English: "Helsinki Finnish co-educational school"), is a free elementary, middle and high school in the Etelä-Haaga district of Helsinki, Finland.
History
SYK was founded in 1886. It ...
(SYK). An annual sporting day pits students of Ressu and Norssi against each other in physical competition.
Students of Ressu often use the ''
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'' character
Snoopy
Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
as an unofficial symbol for the school and its students, as the Finnish name for Snoopy is "Ressu". Despite this usage, the school is not affiliated with ''Peanuts'' or its creator.
Ressu legend holds that upon graduation, the graduating class of students compose a Bingo game, made up of the catch-phrases that the Principal is expected to say upon his congratulatory speech and printed onto sheets of paper which are distributed to the audience. Any student who attains a Bingo must stand up and shout out 'Bingo' in front of the graduating class. Two students are said to have attained Bingos, one of them was rebuked, but went onto an eminent career in education and ultimately became Principal of the rivaling school SYK, bringing its scores higher than those attained at Ressu in 1994.
Notable alumni
*
Väinö Tanner
Väinö Alfred Tanner (; 12 March 1881 – 19 April 1966; surname until 1895 ''Thomasson'') was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and a pioneer and leader of the cooperative movement in Finland. He was Prime Minister ...
(1881 – 1966),
Prime Minister of Finland
The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...
1926 – 1927
* Ele Alenius (born 1925), chairman of the
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Pa ...
1967 – 1979
*
Jan Klenberg
Jan Gottfrid Klenberg (22 October 1931 – 28 August 2020) was a Finnish admiral. He was born in Mikkeli. He served as Chief of Defence of the Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are ...
(1931 – 2020), former
Chief of Defence
The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...
*
Hannu Karpo
Hannu Karpo (born 5 March 1942, in Helsinki) is a Finnish reporter who hosted his own show, ''Karpolla on asiaa'', from 1981 to 2007. He was a reporter for Yleisradio from 1961 to 1981 before moving over to the competing network (MTV3). His own s ...
(born 1942), reporter
*
Jukka Kuoppamäki
Jukka Kuoppamäki (b. 1 September 1942, Helsinki) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and priest for The Christian Community in Germany. He visits his summer house in Finland every year.
He is one of the most prolific Finnish popular singer-songwrit ...
(born 1942), singer
*
Jaakko Kalela
Jaakko Kalela (born 24 January 1944, in Helsinki) is a Finnish civil servant and ambassador. He worked for 33 years as Assistant to the President of the Republic (first Foreign Policy Adviser, later Permanent Secretary) and moved as Ambassador t ...
(born 1944), former member of the Presidential Cabinet, current
Finnish ambassador to Ethiopia
*
Risto Alapuro (born 1944), sociologist
*
Pentti Arajärvi
Dr. Pentti Ilkka Olavi Arajärvi (born 2 June 1948, Helsinki) is a Finland, Finnish Doctor of Law, Professor Emeritus and Docent of the University of Helsinki, a former civil service official and a Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democr ...
(born 1948), politician and husband of
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisati ...
* Hannu Raittila (born 1956), writer and winner of 2001
Finlandia Prize
The Finlandia Prize ( fi, Finlandia-palkinto; sv, Finlandiaprisen) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious ...
*
Michael Monroe
Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star sid ...
(born 1962), musician and vocalist of
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving acciden ...
*
Sami Garam
Sami Garam (born 31 October 1967 in Helsinki) is a Finnish cook and writer of Hungarian descent.
The son of Károly and Sirkka Garam (née Saarikoski). Sami Garam's mother, Sirkka Garam, is a sister of the Finnish poet Pentti Saarikoski. Sam ...
(born 1967), chef and writer
*
Tommi Korpela
Tommi Korpela (born 23 August 1968) is a Finnish actor. He has won the Jussi Award for Best Actor all together three times - a feat that has been accomplished by only two Finnish actors before him: Lasse Pöysti and Tauno Palo
Tauno Valdemar P ...
born (1968), actor
*
Katariina Souri
Katariina Souri (born Minna Katariina "Kata" Kärkkäinen; 27 October 1968) is a Finnish author, artist, columnist and '' Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for December, 1988. She has been a writer after her brief Playboy career. On January 25, ...
(born 1968), author
*
Riku Rantala (born 1974) and Tuomas Milonoff (born 1974),
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
s and creators of ''
Madventures''
*
Laura Räty (born 1977), politician
*
Stig (Pasi Siitonen) (born 1978), singer
References
External links
Ressun Lukio
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1891
International Baccalaureate schools in Finland
Schools in Helsinki
Secondary schools in Finland
1891 establishments in Finland
Kamppi