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Congratulations to our top 10 readers for December! A special congratulations to our top 3 readers of the semester!

First place: Levi Waide with 102.5 points

Second place: Hannah Waide with 85.5 points

Third place: Carter Nelson with 77.5 points

They got to enjoy Sweden Creme with Ms. Keller for lunch!

We are extremely proud of all our students this semester. We earned a total of 1,159 AR points, nearly doubling our goal!

On December 10th Rock Hills Students competed in the 4th Annual Youth Entrepreneur Challenge (YEC) event. Seven students represented four teams for the 2025-2026 event.

The winning concepts were:

1st Prize $750: Meili Ost; Meili’s Knitted Goods

2nd Prize $500: Dalton Strnad, Myles Coil, & Morgan McMains; Caboose Cafe

3rd Prize $250: Karley Garst & Harlee Harris; Grizzlies Apparel

4th Place: Isabelle Wilburn; Need a sitter?

Winning students received just over $1875 in prize money courtesy of the following sponsors:

Network Kansas Winners Prizes

Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth $150 – Marketing Award to Caboose Café

Guaranty State Bank & Trust Co. $50 – Most Original Idea to Caboose Café

State Exchange Bank $50 – Most World Ready to Meili’s Knitted Goods

Central National Bank $50 – The People’s Choice to Meili’s Knitted Goods

Farmway Credit Union $50 – Best Tradeshow Pitch to Meili’s Knitted Goods

Jewell County Community Development $25 – Community Development Award to Need a sitter?

Thank you to our sponsors! Thank you to Mr. Gower - Rock Hills Business Teacher for being a great leader this year!

On Friday, December 12, the High School Ag students visited the elementary students. They taught the kids the lifecycle of a reindeer and the lifecycle of a Christmas tree.

Five students from Rock Hills High School were chosen to perform in the Kansas Music Educators Association honor band and honor choir. They auditioned using chosen selections and were selected to represent the best of the Northwest District musicians in a concert on December 6th at Beach Schmidt on Fort Hays Campus. The students came together with other students in the Northwest district to rehearse from 8 am until 3 pm and then had a concert following the rehearsal. Rock Hills band students were Meili Ost and Alex Fogo in the percussion section, Justin Luong in the clarinet section and Jordanne Jacobs in the trumpet section. Aidan Brown represented Rock Hills in the district choir as a Bass 1 vocalist. 

Students from Rock Hills  attended the Jr. High KMEA Northwest District Honor band and honor choir  concert  concert and clinic on Saturday, November 8 at Norton, Kansas. Students auditioned for a spot in the groups and then, when they were chosen, rehearsed Saturday from 8:30-3 with a concert at 3:30.  The Jr. High students each performed 4 songs with their groups.

Nolan Grout was chosen to be in the High school  Northwest District Jazz band concert and clinic on Saturday, November 8 at Norton, Kansas. Students from across northwest Kansas auditioned for a spot in the groups and then, when they were chosen, rehearsed Saturday from 8:30-3 with a concert at 3:30. Nolan Grout was chosen as 2^nd chair trombone in the High school Jazz band and had a trombone solo on one piece at the concert.

Rock Hills Elementary completed 20 miles to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rock Hills! They got to celebrate with an icicle and 20 activities!

Jewell County Community Development assisted with organizing a career fair for Rock Hills Junior/Senior High School on November 5th.  Thank you to all the presenters, we couldn't do this without you! The students were able to choose 5 of the following categories to visit with: Colleges/Armed Forces, Ag, Construction, Welding, Marketing/Digital Media, Cosmetology & Massage Therapy, Education, Entrepreneurship, Finance & Banking, Health Care, Law Enforcement, Real Estate, Aviation, HVAC/Plumbing, and Remote Working. Students were awarded "Grizzly Bucks" for participating and asking questions to the panelists and then they could use them at the end to buy prizes.

The Rock Hills Elementary School is beginning a November Food Drive to benefit the local food pantry.

“We have traditionally held a food drive in November each year,” said RHES principal, Lacey Keller. “This year we have set a goal of filling 20 boxes with donated food during this drive.”  

The staff chose the goal of 20 boxes because this year, Rock Hills commemorates the 20th year anniversary of a merger to one county wide school district.  Different events are planned in the district to help mark this occasion.  

During the first nine weeks, Mrs. Duffy organized a walking campaign of 20 miles.  Students and staff could walk, take their picture in a Grizzly shirt and be included in the count toward 20 miles.  

“We don’t want to forget our history, and to include several events around the theme of ‘20 years’ is one tool to help students know our past,” added Keller.

RHES also plans to show students 20 items that were common 20 years ago, but are not as common today.  The grand finale will be the creation of a time capsule that can be opened in the future.  

“For now, we want to do a strong community service activity of generating 20 boxes of food.  Our delivery date to Helping Hands Food Pantry will be on Friday, November 21,” concluded Keller.  

The school will collect donations until the time of delivery.  May all have a Happy Thanksgiving!