What an AMAZING week at RCHS. Our kids made history last Saturday by being the first ever students from RCHS to walk at the Ivy tech Graduation with the Indiana College Core. That was an great ceremony and it was so good to watch 22 of our very own students graduate from Ivy Tech! We had our awards day and I will have more on that next week. I also attended both sessions of the WCC awards. Our students pretty much cleaned up. I will also have more on that next week. We had a great visit from The Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner this past week. Our students got to ask questions and answer some of hers. Lions Live interviewed Dr. Jenner then we toured some of the building. Our students did an amazing job asking some very serious questions!! We have Top 10 Celebration this Sunday and then we will return for the final MONDAY of the 2023/2024 school year!

It was an Historic day last Saturday. RCHS had 14 students walk at the Ivy Tech Graduation with the Indiana College Core. All together we had 22 RCHS students walk at the Graduation for ICC, Ag Diplomas, and Certifications from WCC. It was unbelievably exciting to see all of these kids walk across the stage at a College Graduation before they walk at their High School Graduation. Congratulations to all of you who participated!

23-24 Students Earning the Indiana College Core (FIRST GROUP EVER FROM RCHS!)

Katie Ripberger, Kiley Parsley, Kylee Herbert, Olivia Smith, Alexus McGuire, Madison Hankins, Mia Norvell, Mallory Angle, Claire Waits, Evan Moore, Charity Lauderdale, Rhiannon Pea, Jocelyn Cain, Angelique Meza

Not Pictured: Olivia Cain, Matthew Clark, Nicholas Durand, Kylie Gray, Erika Kuhn, Lance Reed

23-24 RCHS Students Earning Ivy Tech Credentials through Whitewater Career Center :

Isabell Westphal, Alexis Mahan, Aaron Martin, Garrett Knoll, Justin Foreman, Cynthia Willoughby, Dominick Evans, Shauna Hufford. Not pictured: Chloe Beard, Joseph Hubbard

23-24 Students Graduating with a Certificate in Animal Agribusiness

Pictured is Nevailah Graham walking across the stage. Other students who earned this certificate who did not attend are Audrey Angle, Elijah Biggs, Owen Buckley, Brittney Mahan, Trisha Morgan, Emma Tressler, and Eli Winzenread.

I wanted to spotlight another student with great talents that she has turned into a business for herself! Dana Durbin is a Junior at RCHS and is an extremely driven young lady. Dana goes at things all out and she does not hold back. Dana can be seen at all events at RCHS with her camera in hand snapping shots of our students in action. She has also taken Senior pictures and family shots. Here is what Dana had to say when I asked her about her passion for photography.

"Hello! My name is Dana Durbin; I am a 17-year-old photographer based in Rushville, Indiana. I have had a passion for photography since I was a little girl. I got my first camera for Christmas when I was seven years old. In the summer of 2022, I purchased my first professional camera. I began to take sports pictures at my High School. I instantly fell more in love. I had so much fun taking pictures and interacting with people over them. I have a true love and passion for capturing moments in people's lives and with the people they love. I cherish looking through my lens and seeing memories being forged on the other side. My goal in pursuing photography is to use my passion to benefit others."

Dana has just launched her own website that can be accessed by clicking on the link below!!

https://ddurbproductions.mypixieset.com/

Over 400 guests came to eat a delicious supper and watch the FFA Ceremony entitled "Our Town". I was amazed at not only the amount of people who showed up but the production that our FFA students put on. They did a great job letting everyone know just how special Rushville is and how they feel about it. Congratulations to all of our FFA students for another GREAT year!!!

Amazing crowd for the meal. Over 400 dinners served!!

FFA Rushville Chapter President Jenna Lawler!!

We had a great visit from State Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner. We had a great representation from the community with the Mayor, Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, as well as many others. School Board Members were present along with Mr. Jameson and Mr. Peters. We had conversation about the partnership with RCHS and the City, The development of our new Vocational Programs, PLTW, and Indiana College Core. Some of our students were able to ask Dr. Jenner some questions and it was so impressive to see the research they did to come up with some great meaningful questions. Thank you Amy Fox for having Lions Live film the event and having our students interview Dr. Jenner.

I want to give a special shout out to RCHS Grad. and State FFA President Kelby Roberts. Kelby took the time from her very busy schedule to come home and help honor our FFA members at this years FFA Banquet and Ceremony. Kelby gave a great speech and spoke about how proud she is to be from Rushville and what this town, this school, and this FFA Chapter has meant to her. She called Mr. Orme and Mrs. Wagner to the stage and dedicated her State FFA Jacket to the Rushville FFA Chapter. What an honor it has been to have Kelby representing our community, school, and FFA chapter all over the state of Indiana! Thank you Kelby for being a role model to so many and blazing a trail for future Rushville FFA members to hold a State Office!!

This week Mrs. Kemple has been holding a series of events just outside my office window that she calls the Spanish Olympics. Kids had to jump rope, hula hoop, solve puzzles, and many more crazy things all while answering questions in Spanish. Each team was named after a Spanish Speaking Country and the games were VERY COMPETETIVE!!!!

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.

Activities Calendar Click below to see what is going on at RCHS next week.

The button below will take you to the Breakfast and Lunch menus for the month of May at RCHS!

Want to know what is going on at RCHS? Watch our daily LIVE episodes of Lion's Live where students produce and stream to YouTube a daily show that features what is going on at RCHS! You can access our channel by hitting the button below and then click on SUBSCRIBE to be notified when we GO LIVE!

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.