I feel like we just walked into the doors of RCHS for the first time and today we walk out for the last time for the 2023/2024 school year. We have dealt with a few things that proved to be difficult for all of us but we stuck together and got everyone through. We have also had a lot to celebrate this year. We have carried on many of the traditions that make this school what it is, we have started things that I hope become traditions for a long while, and we have done some things that have never been done in our school. This has been a great year and I am really looking forward to future years and what we will be able to do together. June 2nd is Graduation at 8:00 PM on the Football Field. We will be celebrating a group of amazing humans and sending them on to the next chapter of their lives. Thank you to RCHS and the community of Rushville for welcoming me in and allowing me to try and make a difference in some lives. We are just getting started and in 81 days from today we will be entering the FIRST MONDAY of the 2024/2025 school year!!!!!!!

What an incredible night! We celebrated 6 students (Eli Bridges, Heaven Denney, Kylee Herbert, Angel Morris, Kiley Parsley, Claire Waits) completing the three course pathway of Project Lead the Way in the first ever White Coat Ceremony. The students completed research projects and held a gallery walk to parents and community members. Big shout out to Brooke Edwards, our PLTW teacher, for leading these students through these classes and providing an experience that these kids will take anywhere they decide to go after high school! Thank you to Jeff Hartz the Executive Director of East Indiana Area Health Education Center for providing the white coats, Jan Thoman for her expertise in attaching the logo and the Purdue IN Mac Grant for providing funds for supplies. Thank you also to Debbie Meek, Abigail Waits and Michelle Herbert for providing your expertise to assist students.

Whitewater Career Center held their awards ceremony for both the AM anf the PM sessions. It was great to see RCHS students winning so many awards. Here is a list of our winners.

AM SESSION AWARD WINNERS

1. Jacob Williams - Most Improved Student for Auto Collision Technology

2. Karson Gipson - Most Improved Student for Automotive Technology

3. Elliott Chambers - Most Improved Student for Culinary Arts

4. Dustin King - Most Improved Student for Graphic Design

5. Lanea Adams - Most Outstanding Student for Criminal Justice

6. Carter Hamilton - Most Outstanding Student for Culinary Arts

7. Bryton Grizzell - Most Outstanding Student for Electricity

8. Rhianna Hedrick - Most Outstanding Student for Health Science I

PM SESSION AWARD WINNERS

1. Hali Keller - Most Improved Student for Cosmetology

2. Chelsie Patterson - Most Improved Student for Criminal Justice

3. Madison Meek - Most Outstanding Student for Education Careers

4. Emi Flannery - Most Outstanding Student for Health Science I

5. Bell Westphal - Most Outstanding Student for Health Science II

MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT FROM RCHS

MADISON MEEK!!!!

This past week we inducted several students into the Rushville National Honor Society. Thank you to Mrs. Tillison for your organization of this ceremony and thank you to Ms. Teague and Mr. Riddell for speaking and helping out. It was a great ceremony! Congratulations to all of the new me3mbers of the RCHS National Honor Society.

I want to give a Special Shout Out to three amazing educators who will be retiring this year. Their dedication to education and kids is immeasurable! All three have have served for decades as a teacher and coach at RCHS! You will all be missed!!

Keith Perin is an enigma. He is incredibly logical, joyously intellectual, and uproariously funny. He is also the most caring, loyal, giving, patient, kind, stable, and humble man I know. He also has a childlike enthusiasm for his work ( I’ll never forget the look on his face when he met Tim O’Brien). Those traits just don’t exist together in one person too often.

I’m only 6 years his junior, but I feel I have grown up under his tutelage. He has made me a better teacher through modeling and quietly advising. I think he’s had that influence on everyone. He is the type of teacher that creates other teachers. A teacher can receive no greater compliment than “I became a teacher because of you.” If I weren’t a teacher, I’d want to be one because of him.

Thankfully, despite being our etymological king, Keith doesn’t understand the meaning of retirement. So, he’s coming back like a 6th year senior- unshaven, part time, and on his own terms. One day he will just quit coming back, and it will be one of the saddest days in my professional life. Until then, I am grateful for the time we’ve worked together and the years (hopefully) we have left.

Bryan Hummel

Mr. Orme has impacted thousands of students and adults in the Rushville community. He always puts students first and truly cares that every single student finds success in FFA, school and life.

Holly Wagner

Heidi White started at BRMS in 1994 to sub in for the health teacher, Mrs. Peters, who had passed away unexpectedly. She finished the year as a sub there and was hired the following year. She taught at BRMS for 24 years. She was very involved in after school activities, lip syncing contests, and school trips along with coaching the BRMS Lady Cubs for 5 years. She was also famously known for climbing up on the secretary’s desk at the end of each school year to lead the BRMS Faculty in an end of the year chant. She started the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club over at the middle school when Curt Naylor was in junior high around 1996. She sponsored FCA for the middle school for many, many years until the Flex Period was ended when they were able to have club meetings.

While still teaching at BRMS, she joined her partner in crime, Melissa Winkler, and began coaching at

the high school. She was instrumental in building the Lady Lion Basketball Program back to respect. She spent many hours in that hot Memorial Gym working to build a feeder program and run camps. She was involved in many tournament games won including a trip to the State Finals in 2010. She has built many special relationships with many of her former players for those 10 years and continues to keep those bonds strong. She taught health and PE at BRMS until 2018 when she came over to the high school to teach PE and be the assistant athletic director. She has continued to be an excellent teacher of physical education and will still give you a side eye for calling it “gym” and maybe even a lecture. She has been involved in Young Life for many years but started Young Life here at RCHS in 2018. She again works tirelessly to make sure our young people know Jesus. This is her calling for now and she has decided to teach full time and commit to Young Life full time.

Melissa Winkler

All year I have had teachers who have been so proud of the work of their students they email me to share the experience. Ms. Teague has had her Junior English class working on a project for the past few week. She was so overcome by the work that these kids put into this she had to share.

For the past few weeks, English 11 students have been hard at work, researching and writing about topics of their choice. They all created unique multigenre projects and have done a phenomenal job!

Ms. Teague

Please watch this video and help spread the word to keep our kids safe!

New Amazing Opportunities for students at RCHS. We offer the Indiana College Core by offering 26 different Dual Credit courses in several different areas. Students can graduate with 30 college credit hours that will apply at ALL INDIANA PUBLIC COLLEGES and even some private colleges!! Best thing is this one year of college credit for FREE !! Click the link below to get more information!!

STOPit - Open the PDF and read about our new Anonymous Reporting System. This online anonymous reporting system is designed to deter bullying, discrimination, and other inappropriate or unsafe behaviors.

Click below to see what is going on at RCHS

Click on the button below and start listening to our new school radio station The Roar!!!! The station is completely produced by students in Lion's Live.

To the class of 2024,

I have done many things and worn many hats over my 31 years in education. I have had moments of great joy and some moments of difficulty. In 1992 I had my first class of students I taught in my career. I still remember many of the names of those students. in 2001 I had my first team as a head football coach and still talk to many of them to this day. Firsts are never forgotten. You are all my first class of students as the principal of RCHS. You have been amazing humans and I can honestly say I could not have asked for a better group of kids to start my time at RCHS. To all of you I say Thank You and go on and continue to be Great Humans and always do Great Things. I ran across this song so I thought I would leave everyone with this final video of the 2023/2024 school year. Enjoy!