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The R-PHS Choirs’ Boar’s Head Festival – Fit for a King!

Mr. Beckeman — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:44:23 +0000

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The R-PHS Choirs will present the 12th Boar’s Head Festival, a choir fundraiser, on Friday, February 24th and Saturday, February 25th on the Rocket Auditorium Stage, aka castle. The marketplace and castle opens at 6 p.m.

This medieval/renaissance choir concert features the singing talents of the Reeths-Puffer Madrigals, Vocal Fusion, R-P Chorale, and Chorus in full medieval garb. The singing, dancing, and skits will be presented while the King’s favorite appetizers and desserts are served. The concert will also feature R-PHS band members.

Tickets are $15, and orders are due by Thursday, February 16th. For more information, call Regina Schlaff at 744-1647 ext. 3500, or email: schlaffr@reeths-puffer.org Seating is limited, so get your tickets early for a royally good time!

Valedictorian & Salutatorian Announced

Mr. Beckeman — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:07:53 +0000

Reeths-Puffer High School is proud to announce Stephany Zahl as Valedictorian of the senior class of 2012.

Stephany has a weighted G.P.A. of 4.214. Her interests and involvement include: 4 years of marching band and wind ensemble, 3 years of STATS (Straight Talk About Tough Stuff), 10 years of Competitive Dance, 2 years of Children’s Theatre, 2 years membership in NHS, 4 years of academic tutoring, 1 year of IMPACT, member of the senior homecoming court and currently serves the senior class as Vice-President. You will be able to see Stephany act in our spring musical: The Sound of Music coming in March too!

Reeths-Puffer High School is proud to announce Nick Baker as Salutatorian of the senior class of 2012.

Nick Baker is our Salutatorian with a G.P.A. of 4.205. Nick has been a 4 year member of our marching band, 2 years serving as drum major. Nick also competed on our tennis team for 2 years. Nick is a member of IMPACT, 2 year member of NHS, a member of all three concert bands, member of the senior homecoming court and will perform as a pit-musician in our spring musical: The Sound of Music.

We’re very proud of our Valedictorian and Salutatorian as they have represented their families and school in many fine ways. You will be able to hear from them as they will speak at our graduation ceremony at the L.C. Walker Sports Arena on Tuesday, June 5th at 7:00 p.m.

R-PHS Talent Show: Rich Diversity

Mr. Beckeman — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:36:37 +0000

The annual R-P Talent Show presented two acts of talent worthy beyond the price of admission last night in the Rocket Centre. The audience enjoyed acts that included singing, dancing, magic, rap, opera, comics, and instrumental presentations. A panel of judges comprised of students and teachers awarded cash prizes in solo, group and show-stopper categories. The results were as follows:

Solo:

First Place: Brendan Martin (Guitar Solo)

Second Place: Claire Krohn (Piano and Song)

Third Place: Elaina Burress (Guitar and Song)

Group:

First Place: All State Everything (Duo Rap)

Second Place: Gates Green & Tommy Grant (Guitar and Song)

Show-Stopper Award: Jesse Dick (Dance performance)

The following photos were taken by R-P student, Morgan Fodrocy:

Healthy Kids Dental

Mr. Beckeman — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:10:56 +0000

A new dental program for Medicaid covered children will begin on February 1, 2012. The program is called Healthy Kids Dental and is administered by Delta Dental for Medicaid covered children up to age 21. Children who are enrolled in Medicaid will receive a Healthy Kids Dental card in the mail

which will need to be brought into the dental office at each visit. Most of the dental offices in Muskegon county will accept this dental card for Treatment (contact your dental office to be sure). Along with sending the card in the mail, Delta Dental will send a handbook and a list of participating dental offices.

Children who are uninsured can be seen at Northwest Michigan Health Services in Shelby (231) 861-2139. The office is open for dental services on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please call ahead for an appointment.

Rocket Wrestlers Improve at GMAA City Tournament

Mr. Beckeman — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:03:21 +0000

The Rocket wrestling team had eleven wrestlers competing for medals today (Saturday) in the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association’s City Tournament. Cody and Tyler Stenberg defended their City titles, living up to the billing the Muskegon Chronicle wrote about in Friday’s paper.

R-P earned a 3rd place finish with Whitehall winning their 7th straight city title and Holton landing in 2nd place.

Click on the link below to view action photos of our Rocket wrestlers.

City Wrestling Photos

R-P Students Prepare for Mid-Term Exams

Mr. Beckeman — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:37:59 +0000

It’s amazing how fast school years slip by! We’re fast approaching the end of the first semester which means it’s EXAM TIME!

The high school first semester exam schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, January 18th

7:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.: 1st Hour Exam

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: 2nd Hour Exam

Buses will pick up students at 11:05 a.m. No lunch will be served today.

Thursday, January 19th:

7:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.: 3rd Hour Exam

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: 4th Hour Exam

12:30 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.: Zero Hour Exam and Make-Up Exam time

Buses will pick up students at 11:05 a.m. No lunch will be served today.

Friday, January 20th

7:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.: 5th Hour Exam

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: 6th Hour Exam

Buses will pick up students at 11:05 a.m. No lunch will be served today. This day ends the first semester!

Fun For All Ages at Holiday Skate

Mr. Beckeman — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:39:11 +0000

I really enjoyed my time skating with the hockey team, Santa, students and community members at Lakeshore Ice Arena yesterday afternoon. The video below captures some of the fun I refer to! Merry Christmas!

Lexile Measures Improving at R-PHS

Mr. Beckeman — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:15:35 +0000

As you read the title of this post, you might wonder what exactly is a Lexile measure. I can help with this!

The Purpose of Lexile Measurements are:

To assess the reading difficulty of texts
To assess student’s ranges of reading comprehension
To predict how well a student is likely to comprehend a particular text

If a student’s Lexile score and a textbook’s Lexile are the same (or very close to the same), you can expect the student to read and comprehend 75% of the material presented.

What is a Lexile and how is it determined?

A Lexile measure is an indicator of how difficult a text is to comprehend based upon:

Word Frequency (not frequency in passage but in English language)
Sentence length (best predictor of the difficulty of a sentence is its length)

What doesn’t a Lexile measure?

Content
Quality
Complexity (syntax, irony, symbolism, etc.)
Jargon
Interest
Design

What comprehension skills are tested?

Paraphrase information in passage
Drawing conclusions from a passage
Making inferences
Identifying supporting details
Making generalizations from passage

The data for the class of 2015, 2014, 2013 are presented in the links below:

9th Grade Proficiency Summary Report

10th Grade Proficiencey Summary Report

11th Grade Proficiencey Summary Report

A quick synopsis of the data informs us that 71% of our students assessed in these cohorts are reading at the proficient of advanced levels based on the Lexile measure. The chart below will provide you with information on the percentile rank of readers by Lexile measure:

Lexile Percentile Table

As we move to the Common Core State Standards, the current Lexile ranges (also called bands) will be “stretched” to align with the associated rigor increases. Grades 9 & 10 have been linked as seen below:

Current Proficiency Lexile Band “Stretch” Lexile Band

9th & 10th: 960-1115 9th & 10th: 1080 – 1305

11th: 1070 – 1220 11th: 1215 – 1355

The Common Core Standards advocate a “staircase” of increasing text complexity, beginning in grade 2, so that students can develop their reading skills and apply them to more difficult texts. At the lowest grade in each band, students focus on reading texts within that text complexity band. In the subsequent grade or grades within a band, students must “stretch” to read a certain proportion of texts from the next higher text complexity band. This pattern repeats itself throughout the grades so that students can both build on earlier literacy gains and challenge themselves with texts at a higher complexity level.

CAD Students Perform Well at Baker College Competition

Mr. Beckeman — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:49:36 +0000

R-PHS sent four students to the annual Baker College competition for Computer Aided Design (CAD) earlier this week and our students represented our high school very well.

Representing R-PHS were: Tyler Brown, Kenny Kibbey, Clark Nelson and Justin West.

There are three divisions that students could compete in: Drafting & Design (board drafting), AutoCad & 3D Modeling.

Tyler Brown took first place in the AutoCad division and second in the 3D Modeling division. Clark Nelson took third place in the 3D Modeling division.

Click on the link to veiw photos of the Baker College Competition.

Baker Competition

Rocket Scholars Foundation Raffle

Mr. Beckeman — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:01:26 +0000

Most of the high schools in our county have endowments set up through the Muskegon Community Foundation. These endowments are set up with the hope of growing and continuing to provide more and more kids financial assistance for post secondary education. Four years ago, a very passionate group of community members set up the “Rocket Scholars Foundation” through the Community Foundation to support Reeths-Puffer students and graduates.

On January 19^th at the Hilt Building, the Rocket Scholars will host a very fun “fund-raiser”. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served and entertainment will be provided. They will also be engaging in a “reverse” raffle with the top prize being $10,000. Only 350 tickets are being sold to keep the odds strong.

Tickets are $100. Tickets include the evening and the drawing.

Possible Reasons or Ideas to Purchase:

To support RP Graduates with scholarship money
Odds of winning are good (1/350)
Stocking stuffers or Christmas gift
Anniversaries
Birthdays
You get a night out, contribute to R-P kids, and you get much better odds than in a lottery.

Families or co-workers could split the cost of a ticket (1-ticket allows two people into the event)

*In the event that we sell less than 200 tickets the raffle will become a 50/50 drawing.

**There is also an option as the drawing comes to an end, that remaining present ticket holders could split the money, e.g. if the last five (5) ticket holders are present and agree to split the money, each would receive 1/5 or $2000.00 (all must agree).

***The Rocket Scholars Foundation is conducting various fundraisers throughout the year to begin supporting 2011-12 graduates. They are currently looking at reimbursement to seniors who take and “pass” AP exams and providing several additional scholarships.

If you would like to purchase a ticket, I can assist you! Please contact my office at: 719-3107 and I will be glad to sell you a ticket to this grand event!