Raymore-Peculiar School District

Get ready for the 2021-2022 school year

The Board tonight recognized RPHS choir students who received gold medals at MSHSAA's State Solo and Small Ensemble Festival earlier this spring. Some students received a gold medal for a solo, some received a gold medal as part of a small ensemble, and some received gold medals in both events. Pictured in front, from left: Madison Busby, Bailey Roe, and Hannah Moroney. In back: Board President Ruth Johnson, Nathan Eckert, Kennedy Kinnick, Denton Meehan, Mark Moorhead, and Mi...les Sellami. NOTE: Denton and Mark are holding each other’s certificates. These students were unable to attend the meeting: Dalton Ballinger, Payton Ballinger, Adam Bartow, Xander Blackmon, Jacob Delgado-Carpio, Danielle Fisher, Addison Hansen, Jackson Hart, Meghan Larsen, Olivia Pace, Austin Planker, Gracie Romine, Kaijah Simmons, Jaci Stratton, Sydney Strauss, Carinne Williams, Zac Woodard, Riley Woodson, and Colby Zimmerman.

The School Board tonight recognized Luke Voelker for earning All-State honors by finishing in the top 8 at the Missouri State Track and Field Meet in May. Luke, an incoming senior, finished 6th in the 3,200-meter run and set a new school record with a time of 9:22.47. Luke is pictured with Board President Ruth Johnson. The Board also recognized Senior Cameron Rodriquez, who finished fifth in the state in the long jump at 6.66 meters. Cameron was unable to attend tonight’s meeting.

Look at this! Congrats to Ray-Pec High School Senior Katy Baumgardner!

The Sounds of South Kansas City Community Band will present a concert at 7 p.m. TONIGHT at T.B. Hanna Station Park, 214 S Washington St., Raymore. The concert is directed by retired Ray-Pec Director of Bands John Wilson and Belton Director of Bands Daniel Ogle. The 65-member band includes Ray-Pec and Belton high school graduates, community members from Raymore, Belton, and Harrisonville, and music educators from Cass County and the Kansas City region.

Congratulations to Iryn Allen! Iryn is a 6'1" junior, and here his stats so far this season: 19 points/game 4.5 assists/game... 2.5 steals/game 4 rebounds/game See more

We are saddened to inform you of a death in the Ray-Pec family. RoseAnn Shull, wife of former longtime Superintendent of Schools Donald Shull, passed away on Wednesday. A private service is scheduled for Friday. During her career, RoseAnn was a teacher and librarian at several school districts, including Raymore-Peculiar. RoseAnn's son-in-law, Mark Godsey, works for the District in the Child Nutrition Department. Donald Shull was Superintendent of Schools for 18 years, from 1966 until his retirement. He is the only person to have one of the district schools named in his honor. He passed away in 2017, just months after attending a rededication ceremony for Shull Early Learning Center.

Seeking nominations for Teacher/Support Staff of the Year awards

The School Board tonight recognized the Ray-Pec High School varsity football team for winning the State Championship - our district's first while competing in Class 6! Head Coach Sean Martin and the four varsity captains represented the team at the meeting for the recognition. They are each pictured with Board President Ruth Johnson. The team captains are:... Offensive Lineman Tyson King, an offensive lineman. Although injured earlier in the season, King has been an important part of the team throughout his high school career. Linebacker Parker Bowen, who was selected First Team All State. Defensive Back Gunnar Griffin, who was selected First Team All State. Quarterback Conrad Hawley. who was selected First Team All State and was named the Class 6 Offensive Player of the Year. In addition, Conrad received the Thomas A. Simone award, which is presented annually to the top football player in the Kansas City metro area. He is only the second player in Ray-Pec history to receive this award. The Board also honored Varsity Football Head Coach Sean Martin on being selected the Class 6 Coach of the Year by the Missouri Football Coaches Association. This is Coach Martin's first year as head coach. Martin has been a physical education teacher and coach at Ray-Pec High School since 1997, and has chaired the Physical Education Department since 2004. Martin is a Ray-Pec High School graduate. While attending Ray-Pec, he was a two-year starter as offensive guard and defensive end. He went on to play defensive tackle at Baker University.

In December, Ray-Pec South Middle School honored these students for portraying the character trait "Honorable."

Congratulations to fifth grader Mac Northcraft on winning today's Ray-Pec School District Spelling Bee! Brooklyn Meloy, a seventh grader at Ray-Pec East Middle School, was the runner-up. After eight rounds of spelling, Mac, a 5th grader at Creekmoor Elementary School, spelled the word "dramatization" to win the event. As the winner, Mac advances to the Cass County Spelling Bee, where he will represent Ray-Pec and compete for the opportunity to participate in the Scripps Natio...nal Spelling Bee. Twenty-seven students in grades 4-8 participated in the Bee, which was conducted virtually for the first time at Ray-Pec. Library media specialists at all seven elementary schools and both middle schools facilitated the competition through a Google Meet organized by Karmin Ricker, Instructional Design and Technology Coordinator. Retired Library Media Specialist Joyce Webb was the pronouncer. Taking turns, each speller advanced to the camera at his or her school, unmasked, and proceeded to spell the given word. Ricker and Webb, along with Technology Director Ryan Gooding, and Administrative Assistant Debbie Johnson, were located at the Ray-Pec Academy building for the event. Also present at the Academy and visible to the spellers were the three judges: Dr. Al Voelker, Assistant Superintendent for Academic Services; Dr. Lisa Hatfield, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources; and Michele Stidham, Communication Director. The spelling bee was conducted this morning. This afternoon, the trophies were presented in person to Mac and Brooklyn. All District spelling bee participants received a medallion as recognition for being a top speller at their schools.

Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School Students of the Month for December! Riely Hunsaker and Julia Dorweiler were honored by the Raymore-Peculiar Sunrise Optimist Club, and Joshua Patterson and Ashley Sclesky were honored by the Belton-Raymore Rotary Club.

Congrats to Jaidyn Doss!

For your enjoyment!

Due to a COVID-related issue at Lee's Summit North High School, tonight's girls basketball games will be postponed. The games may be rescheduled at a later date.

We hope you are having a great winter break! Ray-Pec schools will resume next week. Teachers report back Tuesday, Jan. 5. Students will resume their in-person, ViPR (virtual), or A/B schedules on Monday, Jan. 11. (Note: Some students with classes through Launch or at off-site programs will resume classes on different dates.)... If your child was exposed to COVID-19 during the winter break, has symptoms, or is waiting on test results, please contact your child’s school and do not report to school. Keeping students at home when any COVID-19 symptom is present has proven to be a very effective mitigation strategy in an effort to keep schools open.

We are sad to inform you of a death in the Ray-Pec family. JoEllen (Flanagan) Engelbart, Class of 2007, passed away on Jan. 2, 2021.

The Foundation Prize Patrol looked different this year, but the thrill of awarding classroom grants to teachers remained the same! The Ray-Pec Public School Foundation on Friday, Dec. 11, awarded 19 grants, totaling $10,359, to teachers across the district. Many of the grant awards will be used for items to provide hands-on experiences for students. ... Superintendent Dr. Mike Slagle, Foundation Executive Director Jodie Huston, Board Member Rich Bartow, and Foundation Secretary/Treasurer Pam Steele made the surprise presentations. To minimize the group size, presentations were made in the school foyers. Earlier this year, teachers and staff were provided the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $750 to enhance teaching and learning and impact student achievement.

Dec. 4 deadline and winter sports guidelines

FREE meals for students are extended through the end of the school year! The USDA recently announced the program to be extended through the end of the school year. This will allow the Ray-Pec Child Nutrition Department to continue to provide completely FREE breakfast and lunch meals to all children up to age 18 residing within the district. The Child Nutrition Department continues to take sign-ups for 5-day and 3-day meal packs. If a student has transitioned to VIPR learning ...and needs school meals (breakfast and lunch) for the days they are home, please sign up. Students in grades 6-12 can sign up for a 3-day meal pack to cover breakfast and lunch meals on the days they are learning from home. Any child over age 1 up to school age residing in the district can also sign up for a 5-day meal pack. Meal Packs include familiar school meal foods that are student favorites which can be prepared easily at home, saving families time and money. Meal Pack pick-up is from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Friday at Ray-Pec High School, East Middle School, and South Middle School. Sign up here: www.rpchildnutrition.org.

The Ray-Pec boys basketball team will face Lincoln Prep in the 1st round of 41st annual Jewell Holiday Classic. The tournament is Dec. 27-30 at William Jewell College. Due to COVID, no spectators will be permitted. Fans can watch for $10/game or $50 for tourney pass through Great Lakes GLVCSN platform. Here is the bracket for the Holley Division.

Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School Students of the Month for November! Mark Moorhead and Emma Gomez were honored by the Raymore-Peculiar Sunrise Optimist Club, and Jackson Vest and Delaney Taylor were honored by the Belton-Raymore Rotary Club.

Wow! Three Ray-Pec players are nominees! Congrats to Jaidyn Doss on being nominated for the Taylor Award, Ethan George for being nominated for the Buchanan Award, and Conrad Hawley for being nominated for the Simone Award! Finalists will be announced on Dec. 6. https://prepskc.com/articles/features.php

Want some state championship merchandise? (Direct links to order are in the comments.) You can order 2020 State Championship hoodies, T-shirts, and hats from the Missouri State High School Activities Association. You can also order Ray-Pec State Championship hoodies, T-shirts, and hats from T's Screen Printing. You can also stop by the Price Chopper stores in Raymore and Peculiar.

Congratulations to the varsity boys basketball team on placing second in the Carthage tournament over the weekend! Players: Jaden Reddell, Myles Sutton, D’Marion Riley, Iryn Allen, Tucker Miller, Monterious Abrams, Rylan Teale, Victor Klote, Holden Kephart, Ryker Nelson, Robert McClemore and Ashton Jermain.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the Saving Christmas event a success! High School Junior Paige Showen planned the event, which included a drive-through Santa visit experience on Saturday, Dec. 12, for children in the community. Families who attended donated food, clothing, and toys to be donated to organizations in the community. Thanks to attendees for your generosity! At the end of the day, there were three grocery carts full of food for the Caring About Nutrition progr...am, and more than three carloads of brand new toys to donate to Toys for Tots, and many donations of coats and clothes! Many people helped make the event possible. Thanks to elementary school principals for sharing the information with student families. Thanks to NHS Sponsors Laura Streicher and Joe O'Neal. A big thank you to Santa Claus (a.k.a. Teacher Dan Garrison). Thanks to members of the Ray-Pec High School National Honor Society and Student Leadership Team who helped set up and staff the event: Kennedy Kinnick, Nigel Norvell, Kerstin Randolph, Madison Busby, Sydney Heriford, Garrett Whitten, Delaney Taylor, Emma Gomez, Jessica Phillips, Ashley Sclesky, Olivia Pace, Sammy Como, Mackenzie Hughes, Natalie Bates, Alex Feeback, Jessie Philips, David Starkey, Dani Fisher, Aidan Martel, Angelina Bazar, Evan Holman, Emily Clark, Leneia Schroeder, Lillith Monroe, and Audrey Huffman.

Thanks to everyone who came out to visit Santa and donate toys and food to help others!

Congrats to the 2020 Simone Award winner for best high school football player of the year in Kansas City - Ray-Pec’s own Conrad Hawley!

It's fun to present giant checks to teachers!

Bring children to visit Santa from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Ray-Pec High School parking lot, 20801 S. School Rd., Peculiar. This Santa visit will be a drive-through experience! Children can see Santa on his sleigh and tell Santa what they want for Christmas while staying safely in their vehicles. Santa and his elves will have a treat for each visitor. Face masks are required. Participants are asked to donate items such as non-perishable food items, new toys, new or gently used coats, or warm clothes. Food will be donated to the Ray-Pec CAN program, and toys will be donated to Toys for Tots. Students are working with another organization for donation of any coats and warm clothing.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Slagle visits with Ray-Pec South Middle School Teacher Dan Garrison about his path to becoming a teacher and how he connects with students. https://youtu.be/LNOhF6TUknk