Starting Tuesday, May 16, overruns of this year's Ray-Pec High School yearbook will be on sale. There are a limited number available. Books can be purchased in room 811 for $75. Books will be sold from 7 to 10 a.m. daily until they are sold out. Pay with cash or checks made to RPHS. These will be sold on a first come, first sold basis. Seniors will receive their yearbooks at graduation practice on Wednesday. The underclassmen will receive their books on Thursday.
Elementary students in the LEAP program for gifted students had fun dissecting laptops during a hands-on unit about computer hardware.
The Technology Department supplied surplus Chromebooks and the Ray-Pec Public School Foundation awarded a grant to purchase tools.
The laptop dissection was designed to educate LEAP students on the hardware component of computer science. It was also an effort to nurture STEM interest and decompartmentalize computer science. This gave the LEAP students the opportunity to explore, build and discover.
Rebecca Huber is the teacher for Elementary LEAP students.
Congratulations to the Ray-Pec Bowling Team on their trip to the State Bowling Championships. The team competed against the best in the state and came home with an award for the highest score for a single game outside of finals with a 258. Senior Tallie Scott was previously selected to sing the National Anthem during the opening ceremonies, and then impressed the audience with her bowling skills and was given the All-Star Award, which includes a $100 deposit in her bowling account. Overall, the team took 11th place, which was only a difference of 198 pins across 23 games shy to advance to finals.
Coach Plankers will be seen around the district in a new role this year as the Head Girls and Boys Golf Coach. Coach Plankers has been leading the Boys Soccer program for the past 6 years and has also been the assistant girls 9th grade basketball coach and the assistant boys golf coach. In addition to working with athletes, Coach Plankers is the Assistant Sponsor of the Student Leadership Team simply known as SLT. Coach Plankers is proud to say he's enjoyed every minute of his time as a Panther and can't wait to take over for Coach Carvan who has put over 20 years into the Golf Program at Ray-Pec High School. Coach Plankers is going to continue to work hard, improve on the golfers skills and grow the awesome game of golf. In the classroom, Coach Plankers can be found teaching Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. School leadership has always been a passion of Coach Plankers and he has recently completed his masters in School Leadership from Baker University. Coach Plankers has been refining his leadership skills around the high school serving on the Building Leadership Team. We are lucky to have a teacher, coach, and sponsor like Coach Plankers to lead in our community. As a Kansas State grad Coach Plankers likes to wear purple but when he's not wearing K-State colors he shows his dedication and his Panther Pride to our students who also share in the love of the Panthers black and gold!
After Saturday's production of "Our Town," cast, crew, family members, and alumni took time to celebrate the accomplishments and career of Teacher Todd Schnake, who is retiring in June after 32 years with the Ray-Pec School District.
(Photos by Kay Connelly©2023)
Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School boys golf team for a fine performance at the district tournament on Thursday in Springfield! The team tied for 5th place out of 15 schools and shot the best team score in RP boys golf in over 15 years. Senior Brayden Findley led the team with a 75, earning All-District honors and qualifying for the state golf tournament to be held May 15-16.
Here's a photo of a few of the Caring About Nutrition volunteers! The Ray-Pec Public School Foundation and Ray-Pec Cares had invited CAN volunteers to an appreciation breakfast on Wednesday.
From left: Foundation Executive Director Jodie Huston, Tom & Connie Circo, Denise and Steve Miller, and Foundation Board President Allison Bruflat.
Here's a photo of a few of the Caring About Nutrition volunteers! The Ray-Pec Public School Foundation and Ray-Pec Cares had invited CAN volunteers to an appreciation breakfast on Wednesday.
From left: Foundation Executive Director Jodie Huston, Tom & Connie Circo, Denise and Steve Miller, and Foundation Board President Allison Bruflat.
Here's a photo of a few of the Caring About Nutrition volunteers! The Ray-Pec Public School Foundation and Ray-Pec Cares had invited CAN volunteers to an appreciation breakfast on Wednesday.
From left: Foundation Executive Director Jodie Huston, Tom & Connie Circo, Denise and Steve Miller, and Foundation Board President Allison Bruflat.
The Ray-Pec High School Robotics team has an Open Shop night from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight, Thursday, May 4. Come visit our shop, see where we work and what we do, and drive our 2023 competition robot "Callaway"!
We're looking for students interested in not only technical skills like CAD, software programming, and CNC machining, but also students interested in business, logistics, social media, marketing, photography, videography, project management, and sports strategy!
Our shop is located on the northeast corner of the Ray-Pec Academy building at door #14 next to the large overhead door. Email kevin.killingsworth@raypec.org for more information.
On Sunday, May 7, the Ray-Pec Disc Golf Club is sponsoring a free disc golf tournament for any high school student or faculty member interested in learning how to play the game.
Sign ups start at 8:15 a.m. near the baseball concession stands on the Ray-Pec High School campus. While practicing the new course last night, Andrew Brokaw got his 1st hole-in-one on hole #8, which is a 240 foot hole that is heavily guarded by trees. Congrats, Andrew!
Teacher Jamin Swift is the club sponsor.
The Senior Awards Ceremony honoring the Graduating Class of 2023 will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the Raymore-Peculiar High School Gymnasium. Seniors being recognized will be sent an electronic invitation in their school email. Those Seniors will be recognized for achieving accomplishments such as earning a scholarship, a departmental award and/or other awards. In order to ensure that students are properly introduced, they must report to the main commons and check in no later than 6:45 p.m. Seniors: Please bring/wear your cap, gown, and stole.
Looks like Superintendent Dr. Mike Slagle caught a whopper!
While visiting Peculiar Elementary School today, Dr. Slagle took part in Chris Roller's physical education class, where students are learning fishing skills. These students are in Brittney Coleman's fourth grade class.
The Raymore-Peculiar School Board on April 27 recognized students who were selected for the Missouri All-State Choir. Participation in the All-State Choir is the highest honor a singer can receive in the state of Missouri.
From left: Soprano Jilliam Collom, Bass Miles Sellami (All-State Honorable Mention), Alto Tallie Scott, Soprano Bailey Roe, Soprano Leticia Turner (All-State Honorable Mention), Soprano Brooklyn Burk, Tenor Xander Blackmon (2-year member), Tenor Dalton Ballinger, and Bass David Marin (All-State Honorable Mention).
They are pictured with Board Member Carol Barnes. Not pictured is Alto Hannah Moroney.
The Raymore-Peculiar School Board on April 27 honored Yajaira Reed Tellez, the 2023 Ray-Pec Support Staff Employee of the Year. She is the Teacher Associate in the English Language Learners program at Creekmoor Elementary School. She also serves as a Spanish translator for the District. She is pictured with Board Member Carol Barnes
The School Board on April 27 honored members of Citizens 4 RP, a community group formed to support Prop RP-1 on the April 4 ballot. From left: Cathy Wansing, Erin Burks, & Board Member Carol Barnes.
In an elementary school classroom today, School Board President Ruth Johnson watches while a student works on an assignment about directions and patterns of the moon.
Johnson accompanied Superintendent Dr. Mike Slagle on some classroom visits today. Dr. Slagle regularly visits classrooms in schools across the District.
On Wednesday, April 19, the RPHS English 4 seniors participated in their annual Community DRIVE Night presentations. The evening began with their tri-fold displays in the dome, and then moved to their individual presentations. Teachers, admin, business owners, and community members are just some of the people who were evaluators for the presentations. The seniors were tasked with presenting on their Client-Connected Projects, along with explaining their team's Design Thinking Process and how they achieved the attributes based on our school's 'Portrait of a Ray-Pec Grad'.
On April 21, School Board Vice President Deanna Olson and Board Member Bill Lowe talked with the Teacher Academy Scholar Teachers about the school board's role in education and what board members do for the district.
What a weekend for Ray-Pec Theatre! State Champions in Readers Theatre, State Champions in Duet Acting (Sav Jordan and Devin Fisher), and State Runner-Up for the One Act Play!
In addition, five other events placed in the top 6 in the state, and Ray-Pec earned second place in the overall speech sweepstakes at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), State Speech, Debate, & Theatre Championships on April 22 at Missouri State University.
Congratulations to:
Dramatic Interpretation--Andrew Burton--3rd Place
Nigel Norvell--Poetry Interpretation--4th Place
Humorous Interpretation--Corbin Williams--5th Place
Duo Interpretation--Irelynn Sloan and Elijah O'Brien--5th Place
Original Oratory--Sav Jordan--6th Place
