PRESCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
Runnels has always been the school for all races, religions, and national origins.
|
|
It was an honor to welcome so many veterans and men and women currently serving in the military to campus for our Veterans Day observances this morning. Our students had the privilege of thanking them for their service to our nation with musical performances in our theater. I felt tremendously proud of these students as I sat listening to their inspiring and amazing performances.
Some of the veterans we recognized today served in World War II. One we spoke with was part of the Normandy invasion on D-Day. He is now 93 years old! I recently received a letter from the great aunt of one of our 6th-graders thanking us for continuing our tradition of observing Veterans Day at Runnels. It touched my heart and I'd like to share part of it with you.
Click here to read more ...
In focus this week: Holiday Arts Showcase at Barnes & Noble; RPO Mega-Events; Math-A-Thon; Barbie Bungee STEM Challenge; Saluting Those Who Served; Runnels Christmas Ornaments Available; Thank Yous and Kudos; Friendly Reminders; Weekly Photo Album and Athletic Corner.
|
|
Holiday Arts Showcase at Barnes & Noble Set for December 1-3
|
Our 8th annual "Visual and Performing Arts Holiday Showcase" at the Citiplace Barnes & Noble starts Friday, Dec. 1 at 5:45 pm, with holiday harp music and an Opening Reception for our Student Art Show (grades K-12).
"The Showcase," said Elementary Librarian Joni Orgeron, founder and coordinator of the program, "provides an opportunity for our visual and performing arts students to share their accomplishments with the Baton Rouge community. It's really an exciting event for our school."
A Barnes & Noble book fair to benefit our library programs is included in the Showcase, so please mention Runnels School or present a Runnels voucher
(below)
at checkout. Barnes & Noble will donate to our school 25 percent of pre-tax sales on nearly all of your purchases.
|
|
RPO “Mega-Sized” Event Raises Mega Money for Hurricane Relief
|
The Runnels Parent Organization’s (RPO) Fall Fling for Raider Relief/Picture in the Plaza event last Friday was a huge success. RPO President Blake Stevenson said she believes there was a record crowd for the outdoor event.
Those attending enjoyed gazing at the glowing, student carved pumpkins while waiting in line for their turn through the Thespian Club's Haunted Theater. Face Painting, sponsored by the Art Club, transformed students into magical beasts. Finally, students settled down with bags heavy with Trick-or-Treat candy to watch the main event: a showing of “
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Pictures in the Plaza Chair Julie Tinsley set the mood for the movie with a photo-booth full of Harry Potter props for fans to enjoy.
By the end of the evening the Art Club had raised $373, the Thespian Club, $1,237, the RPO, $403.81 and the school had received $780 in donations. All of the money will go to flood ravaged schools in Texas.
Also cashing in at the Fall Fling were Sammy Ismail, Lauren Tolsen and Sarah Stanfield, the winners of the pumpkin-carving contest sponsored by the Art Club. In addition, the kindergarten won a Pizza Party courtesy of the RPO for having the most pumpkins entered into the contest. Special thanks goes to the Beta Club, Jr. Beta Club, the Cheerleaders, the National Honor Society (NHS), and Student Ambassadors for their help.
(Photo: Business is brisk at the Trick or Treat station at the Fall Fling/Picture in the Plaza event.)
|
|
Student Calculations Equal Donations
|
Thanks to the hard work of our elementary math students and the generosity of the school community, Runnels was able to make a donation of $5,360 to the St. Jude Research Hospital's Math-A-Thon this year.
Christine Pousson, the Math-A-Thon sponsor at Runnels, reports that our top fundraisers were Jordan Bergeron, who rounded up $1,005; Ryan Funk, with pledges of $625; and Peyton Troxclair, with donations of $410. All three are in the second grade.
(Photo: From left are Peyton Troxclair, Jordan Bergeron and Ryan Funk.)
|
|
AP Biology Students Go into Overtime
|
When the bell rang at 3 o'clock Wednesday to signal the end of the school day, Ramona Eberly's AP Biology students were still in class. They were working on a complex lab that required more time than a 50-minute class period allows. Students with 7th hour free started the lab at 2:10 and worked on past 3:00 pm, and others stayed late to do the entire lab after school.)
The experiment was on cellular respiration. "Cellular respiration is the process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen," explained Mrs. Eberly.
For the
lab, students measured the relative volume of O2 consumed by germinating peas, non-germinating peas, and a cricket at two different temperatures. With this information, they were able to calculate the rate of cellular respiration, as well as relate the rate of cellular respiration to gas production.
(Photo: At work on their cellular respiration lab are senior AP Biology students, from left, Austin Stansbury, Alex Matthews, Sam Matthews, Sean Parker, Isabelle McCall and Elizabeth Daigle.)
|
|
Experimenting with STEM - The Barbie Bungee Cord Challenge
|
Math and Barbie dolls came together in a unique STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) challenge recently in Missy Day's Algebra I classes. Students climbed to the top of the balcony staircase in Novak Hall to test the accuracy of linear equations they had developed in class by tossing Barbie dolls attached to rubber-band bungee cords over the side of the railing, a 488 centimeter drop.
The point of the STEM exercise, besides having fun, was to accurately estimate how many rubber-bands were required to cover the drop without having Barbie wipe out.
Working in teams during class, students had experimented to discover the relationship between the number of rubber-bands and the drop distance. "Each team used rubber-bands with different amounts of stretchability," explained Mrs. Day. After a series of practice drops from an assortment of heights using varying numbers of rubber bands, students created linear equations to help them predict how many rubber-bands were enough and -- how many were too many -- for the grand Barbie bungee challenge.
(Photo: First hour Algebra I students display their Barbies and bungee cords used to test the accuracy of linear equations.)
|
|
Saluting Those Who Served Our Country
|
To honor the men and women who have served our nation as members of the armed forces, Runnels hosted two receptions and patriotic assemblies in the Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre today. The special guests of honor were members of our extended school family who have been or are currently serving in the military.
Before the musical performances, veterans and their families were invited to receptions in the foyer of the theatre hosted by Head of School Marcia Mackay and Assistant Head of School Conchetta Foshee.
Presenting the colors at both programs were Troop 203 Boy Scouts Robby Harrison (Caller), John Spillane (American Flag) and Brendan LeBlanc (Louisiana Flag). Senior Beta Club officers Anna Kadi, Ashley Stansbury, Austin Stansbury, Kalyee Freiberger and Anna Claire Pousson presented a memorial wreath on behalf of their club and dedicated it to deceased veterans everywhere. The wreath will be displayed at Louisiana Memorial Plaza, located next to the USS Kidd, for one week.
The elementary program featured patriotic music performed by the 6th- and 7th-Grade Bands directed by Jill Swetnam, the Upper Elementary Chorus and the Nothing But Treble Vocal Club directed by Johnice Thoms, the Elementary String Orchestra conducted by Jennifer Cassin, and the Harp Ensemble directed by Dr. Gabriela Werries. "Taps" was performed by Caleb Johnston, grade 6.
The junior and senior high program offered musical performances by the Advanced Band directed by Jill Swetnam, the Advanced String Orchestra conducted by Jennifer Cassin, the Harp Choir directed by Dr. Gabriela Werries and the Jr./Sr. High Chorus and Vocal Club directed by Johnice Thoms. Performing "Echo Taps" were Richard Harrison, grade 10, and Wesley Stevenson, grade 9.
We sincerely thank Jill Swetnam for coordinating both of these beautiful programs, Laura Roark for catering and hostessing duties, and all who assisted with the receptions and programs.
(Photo: Attending the elementary school's Veterans Day reception and program are, from left, Head of School Marcia Mackay; Margaret Roussel; Marine veteran Will Roussel, who served as a captain in the artillery during the Korean War; Army veteran Milton Sealand, who served as an artillery sergeant in the European Theater during World War II and was part of the invasion force that landed at Normandy on D-Day; and Assistant Head of School Conchetta Foshee. The Roussels are great-grandparents of Ian, Evan, and Megan Shaneyfelt, in grades 10, 7, and 6, respectively. Mr. Sealand is the great-grandfather of Jackson Phillips, grade 2. Jackson's grandfather, Mike Ansell, not pictured, also served in the Army.)
|
|
Tuning Up
... Members of the Advanced Band and Advanced Orchestra warm up before the Jr./Sr. High Veterans Day program in the Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre on Nov. 10.
|
|
World War II Vet
... Navy veteran Bill Stevenson, great-grandfather of elementary students Cameron and Paul Stevenson, served in the Pacific during World War II.
|
|
Memorial Wreath
... Sr. Beta officers, from left, Anna Kadi, Audrey Stansbury, Austin Stansbury and Kalyee Freiberger present a memorial wreath in honor of deceased veterans at the Jr./Sr. High Veterans Day assembly.
|
|
Runnels Christmas Ornament Now Available
|
Don't miss the opportunity to own and give this lovely glass keepsake ornament featuring the distinctive Runnels fleur de lis. All proceeds from the sale of the Runnels ornament will go to our library programs.
Only 50 ornaments are available for purchase this year!
Buy your ornament in the Elementary Library. (Make checks out to Runnels Elementary Library.) Information: elemlibrary@runnels.org
|
|
We Sincerely Thank... and Kudos...
|
|
Many thanks to
Bronwyn Duos
and
Dr. Jonathan Willis,
parents of Addie Willis, grade 1, for visiting Paula Garrett's 1st-grade science class this week to present an experiment on why termites are attracted to ink.
(Photo: Dr. Willis explains some facts about termites to a group of 1st graders.)
|
|
|
Have Artifacts, Will Travel
|
Special thanks to
Mary and Steve Crowson
, grandparents of Mason Pizzalato, grade 5, and Cohen Pizzalato, grade 2, for sharing their collection
of
fossils (including a fossilized snail, arrowheads, pieces of petrified wood and various rocks) with students in Cyndy Krul's 3rd-grade science classes
and Cheyenne Davis's 5th-grade social studies classes recently. The Crowsons discovered
the artifacts on the their property on the Bogue Chitto River in
Mississippi.
(Photo: Mary Crowson shows a treasure from her collection of artifacts to 3rd-grade students.)
|
|
|
Our Jr./Sr. High English and Social Studies Department Head, Norma Marsh, has been awarded a 2017 Advanced Placement (AP) Grant from the National Society of High School Scholars. Only 20 teachers were chosen to receive the $500 grant. Her plans are to use the award to help fund a cultural/historical field trip to Chicago for her AP US History class over spring break. The trip, which will concentrate on American History from the Guilded Age, will include an architectural tour sponsored by the Chicago Architectural Foundation and visits to the Field Museum, Art Institute and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
(Photo: Norma Marsh)
|
|
|
Nature Club Gets Out and Gives Back
|
Members of the Runnels Nature Club participated in Swamp Volunteer Day at BREC's Bluebonnet Swamp last Saturday. "With the help of BREC crew members and other volunteers," said club sponsor Sydney McGraw, "we cleared out massive amounts of underbrush called Privet, an invasive species that pushes out local plants." The underbrush was preserved so it could be used by local wildlife for nesting material and habitats.
(Photo: Swamp Day volunteers, from left, Sydney McGraw, Michal Gawronski, Niko Carey, Dr. Dariusz Gawronski, Emma Allerheiligen, Farzeen Wahid, Ila Bordelon-Walker and Zachary Sides.)
|
|
|
Friendly Reminders
Through Nov. 16 /
Annual Beta Club Thanksgiving Food and Dollar Drive.
Collection bins for non-perishable food items are located in Elementary and Jr./Sr. High offices. Jars for monetary donations will be in all Jr./Sr. High English classrooms and the Elementary office.
Nov. 13-17 /
Preschool Boxed Food Drive.
Collection bins will be in classrooms.
Nov. 20-24 /
Thanksgiving Holidays
(School Resumes Nov. 27)
Dec. 1 /
Harp Concert
, 9:20 am, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre
Dec.1 /
Advance
tickets go on sale for
Mary Poppins.
(Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre, Jan. 19-21)
Dec. 1 - 3 /
Runnels Visual and Performing Arts Showcase
, Citiplace Barnes & Noble
Dec. 4 /
4th- and 5th-Grade Band Concert
, 11:00 am, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre
Dec. 5 /
6th and 7th Grade Band Concert
, 11:00 am, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre
8th-12th-Grade Band Concert
, 7:00 pm, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre
Dec. 8 /
String Orchestra Concert
, 9:00 am, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre
|
|
Join the conversation en
français!
(Photo) In honor of National French Week, Nov. 1-7, students in Sunny Vallaire's and Samuel Ricciuti's French language classes hosted a drop-in French Conversation Table at lunchtime last Friday. Getting the conversation started are, from left, Mrs. Vallaire, Catherine Henning, Natalie Justus, Amelia Jennings and Mr. Ricciuti.
In this week's album: Algebra Barbie Bungee Jump, 5th-Grade Hieroglyphics, AP Biology Lab, 2nd-Grade Reading, Team-Building, Kindergarten Nature Walk, Book Fair, Kindergarten's Favorite Things, and Candids.
|
|
The Raider Nation student section was full of spirit at Tuesday night's basketball game.
Fan photo submitted by Sarah Haase.
|
|
VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL
On Tuesday night, the boys basketball team crushed Kenner Discovery 70-46. At halftime, the score was 26-24. The Raiders extended the lead throughout the second half for a comfortable win.
Three players scored in the double figures. Cade Tate led the way with 21 points, Griffin Kennedy had 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Humza Pirzadah contributed 13 points.
Tonight, the Raiders battle Episcopal School of Acadiana (ESA) at home.
|
|
VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Lady Raiders lost their first game of the season to Kenner Discovery, 27-16. London Deshotel led the team with 10 points and Maddy Sutton contributed 6.
"The team played hard defensively, " said Head Coach Brent Lax. "We just couldn’t find any rhythm on offense."
The Ladies play again next week against Catholic PC at 6:00 pm.
|
|
CROSS COUNTRY
Congrats to the boys and girls varsity teams for placing 1st in District 7B at the district meet held at Highland Road Park last Saturday. Sam Matthews and Annie Fink were also named the Most Outstanding Male and Female Cross Country Runners in District 7-B.
The Running Raiders all battled for strong finishes and fast times. Coach Julie Fink said, “Every start and finish is a WIN!”
On Monday, the boys and girls varsity cross country teams will travel to NSU in Natchitoches to compete for State titles.
(Back row: Alex Matthews, Daniel Mayeaux, Sam Matthews, Eric Ho, Dawson Latona; Front row: Sydney Worsham, Anna Claire Courville, Ryan Roper, Micah Roper and Annie Fink.)
|
|
VARSITY SOCCER
This week, the Lady Raiders won both of their preseason scrimmages. Monday, the team defeated McKinley, 8-0. Ally Garrity scored 4 goals, while Avery Hamachek, Anna Kadi, Lainee Alfonso and Angele Lansing each scored 1. On Wednesday, the team had a close game against Lee and won 4-3. Ally Garrity led the team, scoring all 4 goals.
Next Tuesday, the Ladies will have their first season game against Brusly on Burbank Field 13 at 6:00 pm
.
|
|
VARSITY SWIMMING
On October 28 and 29, the Varsity Swim team competed in the CCSL High School Championship Meet. The girls team placed 13th out of 20 teams, while the boys placed 14th out of 21. The members of the Runnels Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay Team placed 7th overall with their best time of the season. The relay racers were Michael Stevenson, Parker Rhinehart, Barrett Couvillion and Spencer Spivak.
Individual honors went to Jordyn Miller for placing 4th overall for the 200 Yard Individual Medley and 5th overall for the 100 Yard Butterfly. Erin Oehrle was a preliminary finalist for the 100 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Backstroke. Michael Stevenson placed 5th overall for the 100 Yard Backstroke and was a preliminary finalist for the 100 Yard Freestyle. Spencer Spivak was a preliminary finalist for the 200 Yard Individual Medley and the 100 Yard Breaststroke.
Special congratulations go to seniors Jordyn Miller, Michael Stevenson and Parker Rhinehart for making the All Academic Team for swimming. They each earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the varsity boys and girls teams will be competing at the LHSAA State Swim Championship Meet in Sulphur. Good luck to all these athletes representing our school!
(Photo, from left: Michael Stevenson, Jordyn Miller and Parker Rhinehart
.)
|
|
Please include the date and location of the event and the students pictured
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
