Hello Ridgeline Families- Opening a new high school is kind of like having your first baby. You never feel for sure like you’re ready and confident in your skills to take care of something so fragile. But what happens? When it is something so important to you, you stop thinking about what you don’t know and just start doing! I think why this was on my mind is because I’ve been thinking about how we’ve grown and thrived over our first year and a half. Sure, looking back there were some bumps in the road and things happened, just like in life. So as programs and opportunities expand with our growing enrollment, we will need to continue to evolve as a school and community. The most important ingredient in creating and maintaining a healthy culture in an organization is the mindset of the people. In a school that starts with the staff. In general, through my observations and time with Ridgeline staff there are some themes that are common. They have a heart for kids and their success in school and life beyond. There is a high degree of creativity, positivity, flexibility, and teamwork. If we model these characteristics daily in our interactions with colleagues and students, it will have a continued positive impact on the climate and culture of Ridgeline High.

It's a good time of year to be grateful for all the good things happening around us and ways that we can have a positive impact. Sometimes I have to write this in the newsletter as a way to clear my own mind as it’s easy to get distracted by negativity. And that’s also why I enjoy highlighting the amazing things our students are capable of accomplishing and the ways that they contribute in such a positive way to our school and community. I’m really proud of them, and they can always snap me out of any funk I might slip into! Enjoy today’s Flyer and the opportunity to see what’s happening in our student’s lives and appreciate their talents and successes!

Make it a great weekend! --Mr. Hardt

BTW… regarding this picture-- I used to be a 3rd grade teacher so it was fun to have the chance to do story time on the carpet again!

Next Wednesday, December 14, Mr. Spraggins will offer an informational meeting for sophomores and juniors interested in Running Start at either the Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) or Eastern Washington University (EWU) next year. Mr. Spraggins will provide a general overview of the program and things students should consider before applying. Parents/Guardians and students interested in learning more program specifics will be invited to an evening meeting early in second semester when representatives from the CCS and EWU will outline their respective programs. Watch this space for the date and time, and contact your student’s grade level counselor if you have questions.

NewTech Prep’s (aka Skill Center) Principal Assistant, Kathleen Proud, will be at RHS on Monday, December 12, during 3rd period (9:50) to share information about NewTech’s many, hands-on learning opportunities. To attend the information session, juniors and sophomores are invited to complete the registration Mr. Spraggins sent out via Google Classroom earlier this week. Registration and signed passes will be required to attend. Please direct any questions you and/or your student may have to Mr. Spraggins (bspraggins@cvsd.org) or Mrs. McMurtrey (mmcmurtrey@cvsd.org).

Our leadership students collected over 700 new or gently used books for Gifts of Hope. Thank you to our amazing community for your donations!

Thank you to everyone who donated and helped make over 100 blankets benefitting Blessings Under the Bridge & Sally's House! Way to go Falcons!

The 2nd and 3rd period Introduction to Marketing and Graphic Arts students collaborated on Wednesday to simulate a real life Client meeting. The marketing students are "hiring" the Graphic Arts students to design a custom cereal box based on their brand research and vision/mood boards for their new cereal brand. The graphic designers are responsible for taking the vision, designing it with Adobe Photoshop, printing, and assembling the finished product. Keep watching the Falcon Flyer to see their finished cereal box projects. The students are excited to work together.

Thank you to Liberty RV Roofing's, Merilyn Peneluppi, for being a guest speaker for our Ridgeline Business Club members on Wednesday. It was so great to hear the story of your entrepreneurial journey to business ownership. We appreciate you sharing your time and experience with us!

Falcon Robotics Hosted an FTC Robotics Competition Dec 3rd. This year teams compete in a game called Powerplay. There are 6 teams in our league, RHS has two of the 6 teams. Our “White” team currently leads the rankings with 10-0 win loss record. Regional tournament is Dec 17th in Richland, at Hanford High School. The top two teams move on to state.

Come see our Liberty Lake Spider-Man and Ridgeline students as they collect food for 2nd Harvest. Please donate on December 10th at Orchard Park!

Congratulation to our November PACE award recipients! These amazing students have been recognized for this month's character trait: Citizenship!

Way to go Falcons 💚🤍

Not pictured: Alivia B, Dominick D, James D, Katelynn F, Nico P, KJ H, Gabree H, and William R.

The President's Volunteer Service Award is a civil award bestowed by the President of the United States. The PVSA award is an opportunity to honor our most outstanding volunteers and recognize the impact they make. Srikar Surapaneni is awarded the Bronze Presidential Award in recognition of his 117 volunteering hours.

Speech & Debate Team continues to grow, half make it to finals in one event!

Our largest number of students competed in a speech and debate tournament, The Feline Frenzy, held at Mead High School on Dec. 3.

Joining team captain Cambrea Lombardo (12) were Karis Bokma (11), Isabella Kelp (12), Brock Lyons (10), Alaina Mitrovich (10), Aundrea Prefontaine (11) and Nicholas Rahm (11). Kelp, Mitrovich and Prefontaine pushed through to the six-student final round in Impromptu, the largest event at the tournament. Kelp took 2nd place, Prefontaine 4th and Mitrovich 5th. It was the first tournament for each of them. Nine teams and approximately 130 students from the Greater Spokane League competed. The two-day tournament was packed into one Saturday due to weather.

Lombardo and Kelp will travel to the Chiawana Riverhawk Tournament in Pasco on Dec. 9-10. The rest of the team will look forward to tournaments in January!

Kaitlyn Rose, Allison Pegram, Elisha Balcerova, Hannah Lind, Abigail Ellwein, and Kahrin Skinner did an incredible job painting windows for Guardian Angel Homes' memory care and assisted living facilities. They braved freezing temperatures with smiles on their faces to bring some beauty to our community! All the staff and residents were impressed with their gorgeous work.

Our Ridgeline band, orchestra and choir programs are hosting a festive combined-holiday concert on Wednesday and Thursday, December 14th and 15th for free at 7:00pm in the Ridgeline HS Theatre. Please reserve your seats at either the band or orchestra websites: www.ridgelinestrings.org or www.ridgelinebands.org.

You will see some amazing talent; groups will be sharing music from all corners of the world this holiday season. This event includes the stage debut of both our Ridgeline Choir and our Ridgeline Full Symphony Orchestra! Bring your family and bring in the season with some awesome musical tradition. Use the main entrance to enter the building, starting at 6:30pm. We will have live jazz music in the Commons as you enter in to the theatre to grab your seats. Remember to reserve your space now!

Reserve Eyrié, Volume 2, before our December 19th deadline to receive a $10 discount and be guaranteed a copy: $50 per book, $60 with name stamping.

Purchase through our business office or online (click link below).

Limited quantities will be available to purchase starting in January. Each will then cost $60 and name stamping will not be available. First come, first served while supplies last.

Senior Tribute Yearbook Ad sales are NOW OPEN!

Senior Tribute Ads for Yearbook: Now available until Jan. 9

Have extra-curricular photos, family, special pictures or additional portraits of your senior you'd like to share? Use the attached link to purchase a senior tribute ad for our yearbook, Eyrié, Volume 2.

Tributes vary in size and price. Parents and guardians get to choose the layout, photos and write a special message.

Please be advised that yearbook staff members will not edit spelling or crop pictures, and the administration does reserve the right to refuse tributes due to inappropriateness.

Led by Lexy Aitken, Ridgeline’s DECA President, RHS DECA teamed up with a local church to provide Thanksgiving meals to local families in need. DECA members brought in approximately 200 canned/dry food items for the cause!!! Lexy Aitken, Romy Robinson, Hailey Hale, Katelynn Hale and Wyatt Dyer then helped to assemble the bags for the church. So proud of our students and their passion to give back!!

Registration for our Mini Holiday Dance Camp will be coming soon! Stay tuned for details!!!

Make a special trip to Bruttles Candy Shop on December 17th. 20% of sales are being given back to Class of 2023 (and you're supporting a small business).

Spokane Valley Shoppe

12609 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, WA 99216

Save the Date: GRAD NIGHT DETAILS:

June 10th, 2023

Triple Play Family Fun Park

175 W Orchard Ave

Hayden, Idaho 83835

10:30pm-4:30am

Make sure to follow the grad night page: @rhs_grad_night_2023

Get your grad night forms turned into the office before winter break and Seniors will be entered into a drawing for 3 separate nest coffee cards ($20) for all seniors who get forms turned into office by next Friday, December 16th.

School will be closed due to holidays on December 23rd, December 26th, December 27th and January 2nd.

Free and Reduced meal application regular free and reduced-price meal program.

Want to add money to your student's meal plan? It's easy! Click the link below!

Just a reminder to keep checking the Digital Jobs Board on our Ridgeline Web Site under Counseling and Careers for job openings and internships. New postings have been added this week! Job boards are linked in our Instagram Bio, too!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I8aJ7YAR0qw956RC22XqTnPpCYCwbBG5ad_8ygqE2Z0/edit

Do you own a business that is hiring? We would love to add your job posting to our CVSD Digital Jobs Board, all of our CVSD students have access to this! Please email the information to Kelli Demarest at kdemarest@cvsd.org and due to district email issues, please also email kdemarest@cvsd356.org!

Thank you!

Just a reminder to please call ahead for appointments and other excused absences to help make sure teachers and students are aware. Our attendance line is 24/7 so feel free to leave a message! Parent notes to request an early dismissal for an appointment can also be given to the office ahead of time

Business Office Open Hours:

7:15- 2:30pm

(Closed 12:30-1:30pm daily)