Hawk News from the Principal
Week of February 19, 2024
Spring Sports Starting!
Dear River Hill Families,
I hope you are enjoying the extended weekend in honor of President's Day.
First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to our wonderful parents for organizing the delightful staff luncheon celebrating the Lunar New Year. Your generosity and support enrich our school's culture and spirit.
One of the joys of being a principal is witnessing the remarkable talents of our students. This past Monday afternoon was a testament to their hard work and dedication. Our boys' basketball team faced off against Long Reach High School in a nail-biting match for the Howard County title. It was a game of intense competition and sheer willpower, but our Hawks emerged victorious, bringing home the county title. Congratulations to Coach Graves and our varsity boys on this fantastic achievement! The accolades continue for Coach Graves, who also serves as our golf coach. He was selected as the 2022-2023 National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches of the Year. Read more about this honor here.
On another exhilarating note, I am thrilled to announce that our JV Boys Basketball team has completed an impressive and dominating UNDEFEATED season! This year, I've found myself more invested in our JV games than ever before, and it's safe to say that they have been nothing short of spectacular. Kudos to Coach Knisley and the entire team for your outstanding performance.
Our wrestling team is doing exceptionally well at the county championships. Congratulations to Josef Finn and Garin Jeng for second-place finishes, Michael Ama for a fourth-place finish, and special recognition for Nathan Faulkner, who finished FIRST! Great job, wrestlers and Coach Rermgosakul.
This Tuesday, I was privileged to visit Wilde Lake High School to witness Ms. Kitchelt and the River Hill Chamber Choir participate in a MasterClass. Under the guidance of renowned professor and choral director Edward Maclary, our students received invaluable feedback. This experience was a wonderful opportunity for our students to refine their talents and gain insights from a seasoned professional.
Congratulations to Hallie Goldstein, who was selected as a recipient of a National Honor Society Scholarship. In the 100+ years since NHS was founded in 1921, students have been making a difference in their schools and communities, and the NHS Scholarship is NASSP’s way of recognizing the most exceptional of these student leaders. Recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated work to support the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Congrats Hallie!
I also want to recognize our awesome Science Olympiad team! They recently traveled to Princeton University to compete in an Invitational. I am looking forward to seeing them in action next month at the Regional Science Olympiad competition at Oakland Mills High School. A special thank you to parent Sherry Li for all of her support and for working with our team!
Looking ahead, this week during HawkTime, we will be holding our first set of meetings for the Spring sports season. Boys and girls’ lacrosse, tennis, outdoor track, baseball, softball, and allied softball teams will all convene. Meeting locations have been shared with students on Canvas.
Lastly, I am excited to announce next week's Spring musical, "The Lightning Thief." This production promises to be an enthralling experience, and I cannot wait to see our students shine on stage. The musical will run from February 29 to March 3. Read more about the production and how to get tickets here.
Have a fantastic week!
Warmest regards,
Robert A. Motley
Principal
2024 Maryland All State Ensemble
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to the MD All State Ensemble. All State ensembles represent the best of the best 7th through 12th grade student musicians from across the state of Maryland.
Collin Blackman
Joseph Chudnovsky
Catherine Jiang
Divya S. Kumar
Alice Lee
Zachary Liu
Ameya Moghekar
Keira Sanner
Jonathan MacKrell
Mizuki Ohtani
Hailey Park
Erin Christian Alistar
Adam Azrieli
Justin Blackman
Rishab Jain
Logan Ji
Jaeyoung Kwon
Alvin Lee
Jerry Li
Carlton W. Luu
Ayush Mishra
Charlie Norwood
Gregory J. Park
Kayden Tafrishi
Allan Ying
Lydia You
Mischa Nowrangi
Matthew George
Kenny (Kayla)
Charlie Norwood
Joseph Alphonso
Juliet Handelman
William Ki
Haolin Christopher Li
Mark Li
Issac Liu
Brian Lu
Ethan Marlow
Andie Rahman
Akshaya Srinivasan
Timothy Wang
Annabelle Wu
Gaurav Rey Sadanala
Vivian Cai
Evan Chang
Julia Hu
Aiden Jordan
Evelyn Park
Seeyen Zeng
Surie Zhang
FAFSA Info
Class of 2024: Complete the FAFSA NOW! The FAFSA is the free application for student aid and we encourage all students to complete the application. HCPSS has compiled a resource document for families to utilize that provides links, webinars, websites and upcoming presentations. Additionally, the Maryland Higher Education Commission has announced that they have launched an app to streamline the process. MHEC provides all grants, scholarships, and loans for the state of Maryland.
Junior Interview Volunteers Needed
Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM
The River Hill Student Services Office is recruiting community members to come in and interview our 11th grade students on Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM. This is a graduation requirement for all of our students in which they get to practice interviewing before a real-life job or college interview. We are looking for people across a wide variety of careers and backgrounds to come in and conduct these interviews. During the seven hours you are here you can expect to do between 10 and 15 interviews. The interviews usually last about 15 minutes and you will be given a list of questions to ask. The students will share their resumes, tell you about their background, interests, and goals, and then they will have an opportunity to ask you questions about your educational experience and career path. This is a great learning experience for students and will be very rewarding for you as well.
Coffee and light refreshments will be served in the morning starting at 7:00 AM, lunch will be served at 11:15 AM, and the interviews should be complete by the end of the school day at 2:30 PM. Please complete the RHHS Junior Interview Form if you are able assist the entire day on March 21st with the interviews. Thank you for your time and support of the Junior Interviews at River Hill High School.
SPRING SPORTS REGISTRATION
DUE BY: February 27 (DO NOT SEND DOCUMENTS VIA EMAIL; FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS)
1. Go to https://www.hcpss.org/connect/ *Do NOT use your Mobile Phone
2. Login to your HCPSS Connect Portal (Parents & Guardian MUST use the parental login. Using your students log in info. will not allow you to register); Once logged in, go to the menu on the left and click the bottom option More Options (Family File, Reports Cards, etc.). If you have more than one student make sure you have selected the student from the drop down menu at the top of the page.)
3. Click on Athletic Registration on the right hand side Menu, select the correct season: Spring;
4. Complete all of the forms: Parent Authorization Form, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Form, Concussion, please complete all additional documents. Do not skip or leave any boxes blank.
5. Physical Examination Form: Verification of an examination within 12 months of the tryout date (3/1/24) for the particular sport must be submitted in each academic year of participation. Upload ALL pages of the Physical Examination Form. Older physicals will not be accepted. https://www.hcpss.org/athletics/forms-and-guidelines/ (Physical Forms can be found here to bring to doctor’s office) If you are having trouble getting a doctor’s appointment try this: https://riverhill.membershiptoolkit.com/physicals
6. Upload a RECENT Utility bill (Dated January 1, 2024 OR later), it must be the actual bill. Older Utility bills will NOT be accepted. Utility examples: BGE, Water OR Cable Bill ONLY (Must match address the school has on file for enrollment).
**NO Cell Phone Bills, Mortgage Statements or Credit Card Bills will be accepted**
Common Errors: *For physical you enter the physical date for the upload to be successful*
· File size may be too big on downloads. Make sure document is under 4MB
· Just because forms have been submitted, that does not necessarily mean they have been accepted
· AAM will go through to ensure proper dates, signatures, boxes checked off, address matches Synergy address.
**Reminder Physicals for Athletics are different from those used to register to attend school. The Athletic Physical includes a Clearance without restrictions by Medical Staff.
Please, make sure physicals have all signatures (Parent/Guardian, Athlete, and Physician) before scanning and uploading.
**Returning Athletes-If a Student Athlete is returning from Fall to play Winter and/or Spring season and wants to use the fall physical, parent/guardian will need to click the checkbox (option to use physical on file dated) and save. Otherwise, it’ll wait for a new one to be uploaded. Reminder, returning athletes will still need to complete permission information and upload a new utility bill.
High School Athletic Registration – User Guide
Academic Eligibility for Athletics
For high school, a full-time student earns academic eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities by maintaining a 2.0 grade-point average (GPA), calculated using credit or non-credit courses, with no more than one failing grade for the marking period which governs eligibility for that activity.
*All Students: 2nd Quarter Grades are used for spring athletic eligibility
For sport-specific information, please see below. If you have general questions about the paperwork required for the winter sports season, please see below. Paperwork questions can be directed toward the head coach for each sport.
Allied Golf - Coach contact: Stephanie Stoutenborough at stephanie_stoutenborough@hcpss.org (Email for start date)
Allied Softball - Coach contact: Brian Van Deusen at brian_vandeusen@hcpss.org(Email for start date)
Baseball - Coach contact: Craig Estrin at bjbspecialties@erols.com
Boys' Lacrosse - Coach contact: Keith Gonsouland at keith_gonsouland@hcpss.org
Girls' Lacrosse - Coach contact: Amy Weinberg at amy_weinberg@hcpss.org
Outdoor Track & Field (Boys' & Girls') - Coach contact: Donnie Richmond at sprinterace1984@gmail.com & Ammera Schmidt at ammschmidt@gmail.com
Softball - Coach contact: Marni Rosenbaum at marni_rosenbaum@hcpss.org
Tennis (Boys' & Girls') - Coach contact: Kelley Pfefferkorn at kelley_pfefferkorn@hcpss.org
*What to Bring: Water bottle (large size), cleats/turf shoes (lacrosse/baseball/softball), sneakers/track shoes (tennis/track), athletic clothing for all; be prepared for outdoors and cold weather. Please contact your sport specific coaches for questions about equipment and scheduling.
*Anyone who is planning to try out for a team should be sure to check with sport specific coaches on schedules/details; once tryouts are completed, all teams will begin official team practices, scrimmages and then games. Spring sports participants should be prepared to potentially play during spring break as well. Refer to your coaches for scheduling details.
Mark Your Calendar
March 13 -- School Closes 3 hours Early -- Wellness Day
March 25 - April 1 -- School Closed -- Spring Break
River Hill High School
Email: Robert_Motley@hcpss.org
Website: www.rhhs.hcpss.org
Location: 12101 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD, USA
Phone: (410) 313-7120