Raymore-Peculiar Ninth Grade Center

Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School students who attended the American Legion Missouri Boys State and the American Legion Auxiliary Missouri Girls State at Lindenwood University! The program is designed to educate and train Missouri's young leaders in functional citizenship, leadership, and government. Nearly 1,000 student leaders build an entire state government in a single week. Pictured left to right: Kendyll Gethers, Makayla Coleman, Sophie Dick, Carter Younger, Elijah Cook, Eyan Karr and Mason Rew.

Last week, summer school students participated in the presentation of their project showcase! Students worked the past 4 weeks on a collaborative project using the design thinking process to explore an essential question related to the content area they enrolled in. Students created trifold presentations to showcase their learning and shared their ideas with the community and some of our middle school students. Finally, our students presented individually to community evaluators to share how the project work they completed helped them to develop 6 traits that all Raymore-Peculiar High School students should master before graduation.

Once a Panther, Always a Panther! Calling all alumni! Scan to code or click the link below to stay informed about what's going on in the district and about future alumni events! https://forms.gle/aJa3znuxHT3Q6GQM9

Raymore-Peculiar High School is delighted to announce thier Summer School Student Showcase on June 27th, 2024. From 10 AM to 12 PM, student groups will present a showcase of their findings regarding an essential question they focused on throughout their time in summer school. We would like to cordially invite you to evaluate at our summer school showcase. This event is a wonderful time for teachers, community members, and local employers to see our students’ hard work over our June summer session and allow students to network with businesses in their community. Evaluators' Schedule: 9:20-9:35: Check In at Raymore Peculiar South Middle School 9:40: Brief Evaluator meeting in RPSMS Cafeteria 10:00-12:00: Evaluate individual presentations (break at 10:40, resume presentation evaluation at 11:00) After evaluating, please join us for lunch from El Dorado! If you are interested in being an evaluator, please fill out the Community Evaluator Form (https://forms.gle/4ARmWBcCfqqrtKVv8). You will receive an email from Haleigh Thompson confirming your attendance this week. An evaluating rubric and additional information will be supplied during the evaluator meeting prior to the start of presentations. Email Haleigh Thompson, project coordinator, with any questions at haleigh.thompson@raypec.org

Ray-Pec finished the National Speech and Debate tournament as a Top-20 school in speech IN THE COUNTRY! 🎉 Audrey Shepard - 5th Place, Storytelling Tre Hill & Noah Tuttle - 10th Place, Duo Interpretation Devin Fisher & Sav Jordan - 14th Place, Duo Interpretation Amari Russell - 30th Place, Program Oral Interpretation Ellie McRill & Jaxon Fines - Top 60, Due Interpretation Natalie Kies, Top 60, Original Oratory Ian Haneberg, Top 60, Humorous Interpretation Wyatt Rust - Top 120, Storytelling

Catie Howlett’s High School Functional Skills class has been learning about volcanoes and how the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii. This week they made their own volcanoes out of clay and got to the watch them erupt!

A group of 12 Ray-Pec students, two teachers, and one parent recently returned from a 15-day trip to Europe. They visited many locations, including London, Paris, Bordeaux, Biarritz, San Sebastian, Pamplona, Barcelona, and Madrid. Students participating included: Alex Gawron, Audrey Gibson, Isaac Kruse, Elly Dillon, Addison Showalter, Logan Balentine, Amanda Balentine, Kyle Newcomer, Maryn Clausing, Lily Winchel, Taryn Bower, Eliana Ramos, and Miles Lee. Two high school foreign language teachers were on the tour: Coralie Price and Heidi Lanksbury. Pilar Arizaga was the tour guide. Teacher Coralie Price said, “We visited museums, recreated paintings and sculptures, ate amazing food, strolled reverently through churches, saw the countryside and city life, toured palaces, swam in the Atlantic Ocean, got our feet wet in the Mediterranean Sea, successfully navigated the subway, explored gardens, climbed dunes and hills, rode bikes and carts, enjoyed a flamenco show, saw so many iconic places and things, shopped til we dropped, got ALL our steps in, saw dogs and cats and birds and sheep and horses, witnessed protests and parades, celebrated a birthday, travelled in busses and trains and planes, and had the best time!” They are already planning a trip for 2025. If you have a student who is interested or know someone who might be share this with them: https://www.eftours.com/2691035US

Nearly 60 Mini Panthers participated in the Ray-Pec Summer Wrestling Camp on June 7-8! This past Friday and Saturday, elementary-age students from all over the district spent nearly 8 hours getting a hands-on introduction to the sport with fun drills, movements, games, and live wrestling! 15 wrestlers and coaches from East Middle School, the Ninth Grade Center, and the High School volunteered to work with the Mini Panthers, ages 5-10, and helped make this camp a huge success. All camp participants received a t-shirt, prizes, and snacks from camp sponsors: Defense Soap, Smile Doctors, and Ray-Pec East Middle School Wrestling.

✂️ You may have seen the construction, but today the Peculiar Charitable Foundation, in collaboration with the City of Peculiar and the Ray-Pec School District, has opened new pickleball courts to the public! Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to turn this idea into a reality! 🎉

Join our team! 📢 Ray-Pec is looking to fill multiple special education openings. Who do you know that would be a great fit? Follow the links below for information about the positions: Early Childhood Special Education Teacher: https://a1-3.applitrack.com/raypec/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Special+Education+Teaching Special Education Instructional Coach: https://a1-3.applitrack.com/raypec/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Special+Education

Join our team! 📢 Ray-Pec is looking to fill a high school industrial arts teacher opening. Who do you know that would be a great fit? Follow the link below for information about the positions:

Unsure what bus your student will ride for summer school? 🚌 Routes are now posted on our website: raypec.org/page/transportation You can also use InfoFinder! Enter your home address into the form, and then select your student's school: infofinderi.com/ifi/?cid=AB-RP1EARBHV8X

Congratulations to the following players on being named to the All-Conference team! ⚾️ 1st Team - Chase Olson 2nd Team - Tanner Franklin 2nd Team - Diesel Purnell HM - Johnny Carver HM - Aiden Eggers HM - Micah Henson HM - Maddox Steele HM - Clint Olson

🇺🇸 All Ray-Pec schools and offices are closed as we pay tribute to those who served. Let's take a moment to honor their sacrifice. 🕊️

Today was a huge day for the Girls' Track and Field team at State! 🏃‍♀️💨 The 4x100 team of Sarai Clark, Amaya Hill, Moriah Tucker, Kynah Simmons finished second in the state with a time of 48.06! The same team placed 6th in the 4x200 with a time of 1:42.65! Sarai Clark added her third All-State performance of the day by finishing 8th in the shot put! Kynah Simmons earned 4 state medals on the day by setting a new 100m PR of 11.93 and finishing 3rd in the state! She also set a new school record of 24.95 in the 200m, placing 7th!

Congratulations to the Boys' and Girls' Track and Field teams competing at State! 🏃‍♀️🏃💨 Gabe Voelker broke his own school record in the 3200m (9:15.2), placing 5th in the finals! The girls' 4x100 team of Sarai Clark, Amaya Hill, Moriah Tucker, Kynah Simmons has qualified for the finals tomorrow with the second fastest time in the state! They also qualified for the 4x200 finals tomorrow with the 3rd fastest time! Kynah Simmons made the finals in the 100m with the 3rd fastest time of 11.99 AND the finals in the 200m with the 5th fastest time of 25.15!

🎶 As the final notes of the school year fade, we're celebrating an amazing journey filled with growth, friendships, and unforgettable memories! Watch our talented RPHS Chamber Choir perform in this end-of-year video. Here's to all the hard work, joy, and achievements of the past year. Have a fantastic summer! 🌟🎓 https://youtu.be/CTEDSZVyprs?si=6syDsYZl_YxMkinu

Join our team! 📢 Ray-Pec is looking to fill multiple secretarial openings. Who do you know that would be a great fit? Follow the link below for information about the positions: https://a1-3.applitrack.com/raypec/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=High+School%2fSecondary+Teaching

🎥 The final Staff Spotlight of the year is here! 🎥 In this episode of Staff Spotlight Dr. Slagle sits down with Joe O'Neal. Joe is retiring at the end of the 2023-24 school year after 28 years in education and 26 years at Ray-Pec. The end of the video also includes names and photos of our other 2024 retirees. 🎉

Over the weekend, the Track and Field teams had athletes qualify for State in 10(!) events! Congratulations! Sectional Champions Girls 4x100 Kynah Simmons, Moriah Tucker, Sarai Clark Amaya Hill Girls 4x200 Kynah Simmons, Moriah Tucker, Sarai Clark Amaya Hill 100 Meter Dash Kynah Simmons Sectional Runner-ups 200 Meter Dash Kynah Simmons Shot Put Sarai Clark 3200 Meter Run Gabe Voelker 3rd Place Finishers 300 Meter Hurdles Noah Smith 4th Place Finishers Long Jump Moriah Tucker 400 Meter Dash Amaya Hill 3200 Meter Run Ashlyn Smith