October 2024

In the October 9th, 2023, Edutopia article, “How to Get Over the October Slump,” the author states that the month of October “is when we start to see students become more comfortable in our classrooms (as we would want them to), and behaviors start to become more evident. . .”

This reality certainly presents a dilemma for teachers, parents, and students. On the one hand, we want our students to feel at ease and at home in our classrooms because it creates an environment conducive to learning and personal growth. Students who feel comfortable in our classrooms will be more engaged, experience more academic success, and feel valued and respected. An environment that is comfortable will promote creative and critical thinking and it will build resilience and independence in our students.

On the other hand, while we work to build welcoming and comfortable environments for our students, challenges can arise from students becoming too comfortable. For example, students can lose focus and become less disciplined, leading to a more casual attitude towards learning and completing assignments. Students might develop a reduced respect for boundaries, test the limits of classroom rules, and become less mindful of appropriate behavior in school. Too much comfort could also cause students to become resistant to challenging learning experiences. They might avoid situations that push them out of their comfort zone, which really can limit their potential for growth.

Parents can play a crucial role in helping teachers strike the right balance between comfort and discipline in the classroom. Consistently reinforcing respectful behavior at home makes students more likely to carry this mindset into the classroom, even if they feel comfortable. Encouraging accountability helps students understand that comfort in the classroom doesn’t mean a lack of effort or discipline. Finally, parents can maintain open communication with teachers to understand classroom expectations and any behavioral issues. This collaboration allows parents and teachers to work together in addressing challenges related to over-comfort in the classroom.

Just as October weather strikes a harmonious balance between warmth and crispness, educators and parents must work together to foster an atmosphere where students feel at ease yet understand the importance of effort, accountability, and pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones. By maintaining this important balance, we can help students thrive academically and grow as individuals.

The Ramona Fire Department visited the Pk-5 students in Ramona for Fire Safety Week. The fire department showed students how to use a fire extinguisher and talked to them about the importance of smoke alarms. Students also enjoyed seeing the trucks. One of the RFD members teaching the safety class was ORR senior Brayden Hanson.

Article by: Payton Shiffer

On September 24th, the ORR Land Judging team attended the Southeast Region Land Judging Contest! Some highlights include Zayd Anderson receiving a gold medal, and Melody Gilkerson receiving a bronze medal! On top of that, we had many members in which this was their first year participating in the contest. We are very proud of how well they did, and how quickly they learned how to complete the contest! ORR FFA also inducted our 2024-2025 officer team! ORR FFA also received a generous donation through the Zoetis Industry Support Program. Zoetis is a global animal health company, who provide health products to veterinary clinics. Their industry support program helps provide funds to local FFA chapter. The Flandrea Veterinary Clinic and Twin Lakes Animal Clinic both generously provided donations to our chapter! Our chapter will use these funds to pay for contest registration fees, as well as attending State and National Conventions this year!

The 6 Graders of Oldham-Ramona Rutland School participated in a STEM activity. They built bridges using the design process that real engineers might use in real life. They hypothesized, solved design flaws, and tested their final product. The students applied real world knowledge and newly learned information for this project. You can see in some of these photos, the students are testing their products after building them. They use rocks to replicate cars or heavy objects. They test the bridge to make sure it can support the weight of all the rocks. Of course with these prototypes comes mistakes and possibly having to rebuild what they've already made, But when they remake it they do it to make it even better than before.

Article by: Zayd Anderson

September was a highly successful month for the ORR cross country team.

We received two JV medals:

• Ancora Gilkerson (9th) placed 30th in De Smet

• Leah DeWulf (8th) placed 20th in Arlington

Our three sixth graders ran their last race of the season at Dell Rapids, where Bryce Cassutt finished his season with a new PR (personal record).

Additionally, this month the ORR cross country team collected a total of five varsity medals:

• Melody Gilkerson (12th) placed 27th in De Smet and 16th in Castlewood

• Garet Wicks (12th) placed 20th in Castlewood

• Zayd Anderson (12th) placed 18th in De Smet

• Leah DeWulf placed 20th in Castlewood

For Garet, Zayd, and Leah, this is the first time they have ever received Varsity medals.

We’ve also had a number of personal and season records this month. While each runner individually set their own records throughout the month, all five Varsity runners (Garet, Zayd, Melody, Ancora, and Leah) set either a personal or season record at the last race of the month, in Castlewood. Ancora and Melody set their season records, while Garet, Leah, and Zayd broke their personal records. This was also the first race where we had three Varsity runners of one category. Our girls’ team placed 4th of 10, while our boys’ team didn’t have enough entries to participate.

Senior Melody Gilkerson enjoys cross country and says it “is very valuable and a great way to keep in shape,” adding the very important detail that you could “survive slightly longer in a zombie apocalypse.” Things looked great in September. Let’s hope we can keep that momentum going into October, where we have our last three races before State.

Article by: Brookelyn Riedel

One of this month's senior spotlight is Camlin Schneider. She has one sibling, her brother Riley, and her parents are Cassie and Darrel Schneider. Camlin has been involved in Volleyball, Golf, Basketball, and Student Council. One of Camlin's favorite school memories is when Landen hid under Mrs. DeRungs desk. The teacher who had the biggest impact on Camlin is Mrs. Hildabrant. She said she taught her "a lot of stuff" in the last few years. She pushed me to be a better person and try her hardest. She is a very kind person and she misses seeing her in school. When Camlin was younger wanted to grow up and be an elementary school teacher. When she graduates she wants to attend SDSU as an early childhood education major. Camlin's favorite school meal is pizza. Her favorite class she has ever taken is Algebra 1. She said it was easy for her and fun, and she also liked her teacher. Her fad she is embarrassed of is being a part of, is being a VSCO girl. Camlin's advice to younger students is get involved in everything and get out of your comfort zone. A life quote she lives by is "everything happens for a reason."

Article by: Brooks Leighton

The Raider Football team is really showing out this year compared to recent years. We have a current record of 4-3. After the win against Sioux Falls Lutheran the boys bounced back the week after and beat the Irene-Wakonda Eagles 24-14. The team had a total of 232 yards on 39 carries. This really pumped the boys up as this was the first win at an away game in 5 games extending back to last season. The following week the boys traveled up to Arlington and won once again in a very close and thrilling game. The final score was 30-24. Cooper Merager led the game in total yards with 290 total yards. The boys then played the Castlewood Warriors and took a loss 52-0. No one really showed out during this game as there wasn’t much good to come from this game.

Then just this last week we played the Colman-Egan Hawks in the Co-op Bowl and took yet another loss 54-8. Cooper Merager the starting Quarterback dislocated his shoulder while on a breakaway run. He had to sit out the rest of the game but he will be back for this week. Boyd Pooler our second string quarterback showed that he could step up to the plate when needed, he ended up having a total of 90 yards with 3 pass completions, one for a 2pt conversion. The team ended up with a total of 242 yards. On Monday the JH boys played the Colman-Egan Hawks Junior High Team and they ended up taking a loss as well with a final score of 34-28. This coming friday October 11th we will play the Iroquois-Lake Preston Sharks in our last regular season game of the year. Friday night is Senior Night as well when we honor the leaders of the team.

When asked about his thoughts on the season so far, Brennon Bickett said “It’s going good so far, but there is room for improvement.” He’s happy with how the season is going but we definitely need to improve at practice and show up in games sooner than we do. Overall the Raiders are doing good but only time will tell.

Article by: Wyatt Trygstad

Kimberly is a Paraprofessional at the ORR School and she loves her job. She is excited to watch children learn and grow from the beginning of the school year, to the end. “The expressions on their face when they understand.” Here at ORR that excitement will be ongoing. Kimberly is originally from Phoenix Arizona. She went to Carrington College in Phoenix and received 2 diplomas, Medical Assisting and Medical Office management, and is also a certified Pharmacy Technician.

Kimberly loves her hobbies which include Home improvement, Sewing, enjoying her kids, and dancing. Great is what she said when asked what is one word you would use to describe ORR so far.

She gradually entered into teaching, having always been involved with teaching in some way her whole life. One piece of advice she gave her younger self was “listen to advice and you realize you still have a lot to learn in life.” She wants her students to learn one thing for sure this year, that is to develop community and acceptance of each other. She says there is a big world out there and they are an important part of it.

Article by: Rylen Olson

The school year has been going good so far for the elementary and are looking forward to what’s to come going into the rest of the year. The kindergarteners celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day by painting with apples, they also did some apple taste testing, and peeling apples. They also did a coloring sheet on apples and rated on how they tasted. The weather outside is looking good so far and we are nearing Halloween while also going into fall but it continues to be in the 70-80+ range.

The Kindergarten and First Grade classes in Ramona learned about coding robots using Ozobots today. Jen Hayford from the Lake County extension office came to work with the students on coding using colored segments. Last week, 2nd graders wrote their own 16-beat rhythms with quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. This week, they got to play each other's rhythms with all kinds of different instruments.

Article by: Jordyn Reagle

On September 12, the ORR Volleyball team went to Sioux Falls Lutheran. This was a tough game, but all the teams played together. Varsity lost 13-25, 21-25, 14-25. Thursday, September 19th the girls took on Estelline Hendricks in Rutland. Varsity lost their game in 4 sets, 19-25, 12-25, 25-23 16-25. That Saturday everyone traveled to Sanborn Central-Woonsocket where the JV and Varsity team lost. The scores of the varsity sets were 12-25, 20-25, 16-25. All levels played very well. On September 24, we played Freeman Academy-Marion JV and Varsity also lost 16-25, 24-26, 15-25. Later that week we went to Flandreau Indian where all teams played very well and worked together to get the win. Varsity went 3-0. The scores of that game were 25-13, 25-5, 25-6. September 28, varsity went to the pentagon where they played well against some tougher teams. The first team we played was Gayville-Volin, this game we all played very well but came up short with the score of the first set being 16-25 and the second set 17-25. After that game we played Canton. This was a tough game, but we played well as a team. The scores of that game were 15-25, 8-25. The next game we played that day was against Platte-Geddes where we won, 25-18 and 25-23. This brought them to play for 5th and 6th place. We played Colman-Egan for the final game of the day. This was a very good game for us. The scores of this game were 25-20, 23-25, 7-25. On October 3, the Raiders played Deubrook in Rutland. Varsity ended up losing in 4 sets, 25-21, 17-25, 21-25, 12-25. October 8 was pink night in Rutland where we played James Valley Christian. JH lost, JV won, and Varsity won 25-14, 25-10, 25-12. The Junior High Record is 4-8, C team 4-5, JV 5-9, and Varsity’s record is 5-13. Every team has improved and is continuing to improve every game. With 6 games and our DVC tournament left we are going to continue to play as a team, improve our skills and improve our record. We love to see the stands full and hope to see everyone at the remaining games.

Article by: Brodie Albertson

One of October’s senior spotlight is Garet Wicks. Garet’s parents are Robin (Mom) and Terry (Dad). Garet has 3 siblings: Karee, Noah, and Colton. Garet is the youngest of his siblings. Garet’s favorite school memory is watching his brother Noah play football his senior year on homecoming. Garet had both a teacher and a coach that made a huge impact on him. The teacher being Mr. Eslinger. Mr. E had a big impact on him because he could talk to Mr. E on just about anything, and he helped him grow into the person he is now. He also had a coach that made a big impact on himself. That coach being the basketball coach 3 years ago, Coach Jaeger. Coach Jaeger really helped Garet believe in himself when playing basketball. Garet was involved in NHS, NHD, 4-H, FFA, Drama, Luther League, Youth Group, Football, Basketball, Track, and Cross Country. When Garet was older he wanted to either be a NFL or NBA player, and at one point wanted to go to the military. Garet is unsure on what his plans are after high school, but he plans to go into something science related. Garet’s best excuse for not getting homework done was “I have my homework at home, but I have it done.” Garet’s favorite class he has taken is any class with Mr. E in it because his classes were very fun, and the fact that he was able to participate in FFA. Garet’s favorite school meal is tomato and chicken noodle soup. His advice to younger students is to work hard throughout highschool. It will help you in the long term. Also do homework to learn, not to just get through it; you’ll use it in some manner someday.