Big news!
Retired teachers can return to the classroom without interrupting their monthly pension income! Educators can continue to draw full retirement while earning a full teaching salary and benefits - without retirement contributions! We are looking for retired teachers to join the Ray-Pec School District for 2023-24, as well as special education teachers and more!
Visit our website to view current openings: www.raypec.org/o/rpsd/page/work-for-ray-pec
Ever considered driving a bus for the Raymore-Peculiar School District? Come give one a test drive on Aug. 3! If you like it, training is provided, pay starts at $19/hour (paid a minimum of 5 hours per day), and you get a $3,500 signing bonus! You can also sign up to just drive activity trips.
Online registration is now open for the 2023-2024 school year!
Check your email for a message from the school district with instructions to complete the registration forms and submit proof of residency online.
Most families can complete the required registration forms online. This means that you will not need to attend an in-person registration event.
Read more about online registration here: https://www.raypec.org/o/rpsd/page/online-registration
Congratulations to Matthew Como, incoming senior at Ray-Pec High School, on being named to the All-Tournament Team for the 17 USA Bracket at the USA Volleyball National Tournament!
The tournament was held July 3-6 in Salt Lake City. Matthew’s team, MAVS 17 Red, finished in the top 8 of the USA bracket.
Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School students who attended the Missouri Boys and Girls State program for 2023 at Lindenwood University!
Boys State participants were: Jaxon Inmon, Patrick Martin, and Hayden Scammacca.
Girls State participants were: Emma Browning, Audrey Mitchell, and Katrina Tilawen.
Thanks to local organizations for sponsoring our students to be able to attend!
Hey, Panthers! Some Ray-Pec athletic camps are taking place in July and August!
Check here for information about baseball, cross country, football, soccer, softball, volleyball, and orchestra camps: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gUsUEA-lZpsREfMtPdhhujQFRcljDmTAAh2KbBun4ls/edit?usp=sharing
The School Board on June 22 recognized Hayden Kurtz, an incoming senior at Ray-Pec High School. She is pictured with Board Member Bill Lowe. Hayden participated in the javelin throw at the state track and field meet on May 27. Her throw of 38.83 meters earned her 6th place for Class 5.
Pictures from last week's Summer School classes for middle & high school students! Including: Latin Cuisine class making fried plantains; Health students showing impacts of tobacco; staff enjoying a refreshing treat; students making paper mache fruit in art class; and a human inchworm competition in P.E.
Congrats to Ray-Pec 2023 graduate Zander Dombrowski on being named Most Valuable Player of the Missouri vs Kansas All-Star Football Game!
Missouri defeated Kansas 16-8 at the June 16 game, hosted by Ray-Pec High School at Panther Stadium.
A few pictures from the Ray-Pec High School tennis camp on June 13! The camp was offered for middle school students to learn some fundamental skills and have exposure to the sport. Thanks to 2023 Senior Shannon Finn, Senior Grant Hornbeck, Senior Alden Brokaw, and Ray-Pec grads Kobe Bennett and Shane McDonald for helping with instruction and skill demonstration.
All of the Ray-Pec High School Summer School students in English 1, 2, 3, Personal Finance, Art Foundations, Biology, and American History are simultaneously enrolled in a project course in which they work with a subject matter expert (SME) to help them answer a question using the design thinking process.
In these pictures, students are working with experts from the Kansas City Zoo, Johnson County Crime Lab, and Truman Library. Not pictured: Students are also working with Jeffrey Jacobs from Bank Midwest to help them determine how financial decisions can impact future goals.
All-state! Congratulations to Hayden Kurtz on placing 6th in the javelin throw for Class 5 at the state track and field meet on May 27. Her top throw was 38.38.
Congratulations to the families of the Treble Chamber and Chamber Singers from Ray-Pec High School and to the families of the singers from Voci from South Middle School! These three groups recently participated in the Worlds of Fun Music Festival, and every judge gave every group the highest possible rating. In addition, Voci received an overall rating of 2nd Place for the Middle School Division for the entire weekend of performances!
On Monday, there was a reception to celebrate retirees at Ray-Pec High School. From left: Todd Schnake, Paul Carvan, Steven Miller, Dana Bowlen, Jerry Edson, Cristie McCullough, and Angela Snyder. Best wishes in retirement!
Raymore-Peculiar High School Senior Ava Kirkpatrick was selected for a $3,000 scholarship from the National Football League Players Association.
The award was a surprise for Ava, who was at school on May 17 for graduation rehearsal. Ray-Pec High School Head Golf Coach Paul Carvan nominated Ava for the scholarship. Pictured, from left: Ray-Pec School Board Member and former NFL Player Paul Coffman, Ava Kirkpatrick, Teacher and Coach Paul Carvan, and Ray-Pec graduate and former NFL Player Chase Coffman. Chase is currently president of the Kansas City area chapter of the NFL Players Association.
Ava plans to attend State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Mo., where she will study business and play golf. This will be the first year for State Fair CC to have a women's golf team.
The Kansas City chapter selected one female student-athlete and one male student-athlete to receive a scholarship.
Ray-Pec High School Sources of Strength hosted another campaign week May 8 to 12 with an 'Inside Out' theme! Focusing on the five emotions from the movie, each day represented one of the characters, and the Peer Leaders planned for activities each day using the funds from their most recent Ray-Pec Public School Foundation grant.
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.
