This Week at RHS, Nov. 11-17
By Panther Paw Staff

RHS Seniors Attend Deep Dive Day #1

On Friday, Nov. 9, RHS seniors filed into the newly created RISD Russellville 21st Learning Center (R21C) for Deep Dive Day #1. Deep Dive Days are part of the Russellville Ready initiative that began with last year’s senior class.

Russellville Ready focuses on preparing students for the next steps in their careers as well as practical communication and interaction skills that go beyond the normal classroom instruction. As part of the Russellville Ready program, students are asked to make oral presentations, created often in an impromptu manner that forces students to work outside of the normal conventions of oral communications.

A great deal of the focus of the 2018-19 Russellville Ready is looking inward at the city of Russellville as well as Logan County and asking, how can we as citizens contribute to the growth and betterment of our own hometown?

Seniors found Deep Dive Day 1 to focus on just this as they were asked to develop passion projects aimed at the issues and needs of Russellville/Logan County.

Karen Logan from the Logan Chamber of Commerce joined the group and presented on the many non-profit opportunities for students in the RVK/LC area.  Russellville community member and leader Marie Gamble spoke with students about the importance of being bound to one another by the commonalities of the community.

In addition to the guest speakers, representatives from the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative as well as others worked with students throughout the day. Logan County Schools even kicked in, with Supervisor of Instruction Contessa Orr helping out.

RMS Jr. BETA Inductions

On Thursday night of this past week, the RMS Jr. BETA Club sponsor Tera Ragland and RHS BETA Club sponsor Tanya Mullen inducted its new members to the Jr. BETA Club. The following students were honored for their academic accomplishments as new members of the Jr. BETA Club:

Family Meal Success

Over 100 parents attended the first of two Holiday Family Table Meals at RJSHS this past Friday. The wonderful ladies of the RJSHS Cafeteria as well as Mrs. Ashley McGinnins’s FCS Class provided a dining experience fit for royalty. For any family member that may not have been able to attend, fear not! A second Family Table Meal will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 12! Come join for food and fellowship!  

Campus Life

FBLA Takes on the Windy City

By Makayla Jefferson

November 1-4, Logan  County CTC students in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) from Russellville, Logan  County, and Todd County. high schools traveled to Chicago. The students, who were under the supervision of Paulette Smith, Kathy Edmonds, and Finley Baird, loaded the bus at Russellville High School early Nov. 1 to go to Nashville International Airport to fly to the 2018 National Fall Leadership Conference at the Hilton Chicago.

Shown in the photo are FBLA members, top left to bottom right: Makayla Jefferson, Jerrett Sweeney, Tonisha Hampton, Aracely Soto Gomez, Aliyah Townsend, Chloe Shumate, Naveah Dearmond, Hannah Alford

FBLA is an organization for students to embrace their passion for business and combine it with education and leadership. National Fall Leadership Conferences (NFLC) is a good way for students to connect with others who share their ambitions and learn how to develop leadership qualities.

During the NFLC, FBLA members participate in workshops where they learn about how to become a better leader, engage with others and grow within their roles in FBLA. At night members would attend the opening and closing sessions where they would listen to guest speakers.

The opening session guest speaker was Brandon Lee Wright. During the session, Wright explained how it is important to “own it” in everyday life and while leading. The closing guest speaker was Carlos V. Spencer. His message for the crowd was that you’re only going to get out what you put in whether that be in life or in leading.

While in Chicago the students got to experience more than just FBLA. They got to feel the full authenticity of a weekend in the rowdy streets of Chicago. Walking the streets and catching a taxi was the norm in the Windy City. The hustle and bustle of city life was a fascinating experience, but the students were most excited about the food. On the first day, they ate at Giordano’s and enjoyed the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. They also swung by a fan favorite, Garrett´s Popcorn, where they sampled and bought delicious out-of the-ordinary types of popcorn. The next day, they ate at the Grand Lux Cafe which was created by the founders of a well-known restaurant close to home, the Cheesecake Factory. On their last full day in Chicago, they visited the home of the famous “bean,” Millennium Park.

It was a bittersweet moment when boarding the plane to return to the Bluegrass state. The students left the Windy City with great experiences, memories, new friendships, and useful leadership skills. Still, they were restless to return to the southern hospitality and tranquility of Kentucky.

A New Year, A New Spanish Club

By Chaun Cheaney

With the graduation of the 2017 seniors, the Russellville High School Spanish Club conducted its very first meeting on Thursday, Oct. 25 for the 2018-19 school year. In this meeting, the club director, Mrs. Jennifer Rogers, held an election for club officers. These positions consisted of President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Each of these positions has its own responsibilities in order to keep the club organized and proficient. First, nominations were accepted and recorded and then the voting was held. The results were:

President: Chaun Cheaney

Vice President: Fraley Watkins

Secretary: Dustin Brown

Treasurer: Brooklynn Ray

The Spanish Club, overall, is an organization that helps students experience and learn more about Spanish culture. Last year, the Spanish Club attended The Day of the Dead in Nashville; and they had multiple movie nights after school. Unfortunately, due to the late schedule and other mishaps, this year’s Spanish Club wasn’t able to attend The Day of the Dead; however, Mrs. Rogers plans to have many other activities for club members to participate in such as movie nights with the addition of many others.

At the moment, the club president and vice president are making t-shirts for all the member of the club to wear. These shirts will be part of the discussion at the next club meeting later this month. QR codes that can be scanned for club passes will give members admission into these next meetings.

The Dreams They Dared to Dream

By Rian Saul

On Oct, 27, the Russellville Marching Panther Band played their show, Dreams You Dare to Dream, for the last time in the state Semi-Final competition. After placing 6th in the region, the band continued forward to the Semi-Final competition with the goal of making their way to the state finals being held later on the same day. While many students were left disappointed by the scores they were given, they were proud of their final show, nonetheless, many claiming to have cried after leaving the field.

Brian E. Brown, the band director for the Marching Panthers, voiced his opinions to the band on the Monday after the competition, stating that he was proud to end the season on that note. While the judges scored extremely harshly, Brown stated that he was proud of the band for taking an extremely challenging show and still being able to run with it.

His favorite thing about the band is how he is “able to look back and see the growth and accomplishments of the students,” and that “It's not so much about the destination, but the journey itself.” According to him, this season had been his favorite to work on in over 20 years of teaching. With this, however, he also admits that the show was one of exceedingly high technical difficulty, so he is proud of his students for still taking it on even with the extreme challenge they faced with it.

These musicians have been challenged immensely with this year’s show, requiring them to work tirelessly at their marching, their musical abilities, and their perseverance. With hours of practice every day, the students participating in the band this year devoted their lives to the intense sport, shedding blood, sweat, and tears on the daily. This year’s show, Dreams You Dare to Dream, contested their ability to fail and get back up again, being faced with failure but be able to stand back up and work even harder than before. It contested their ability to play music, spin, and march like no show has before.

With complicated music and high stakes, the show required the members to practice their music or set routines inside and outside of practice for hours, many spending nearly five hours a day on them. This intense show challenged the band in ways that made them grow not only as musicians or performers but as people. They were forced to learn to be persistent, to time manage and to put hard work and effort into the things you love.

Though the marching season has ended, the dedicated members of the band continue their intense rehearsal, setting their sights upon the upcoming All-District auditions, All-State auditions and Christmas concert. These rehearsals, spent fine-tuning their abilities, correcting tone, and growing as musicians are the root of it all: giving each individual a moment to hear all of it come together to create the incredible music that brings them all together.

These rehearsals create the moment where people of different groups, different interests, or different lives come together and collaborate to create something beautiful. These moments show that--although the marching season has come to a close--the dreams they dare to dream continue on.

Arts and Entertainment

Opinion:

Point/Counterpoint: Are Grades a Reflection of Your Intelligence?

Point: Chaun Cheaney

Grades are an average value or score given to represent one’s performance using information and knowledge. In order to determine if grades indicate the intelligence of a person, you first have to understand what the term “intelligence” really means. The definition, according to dictionary.com, is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Based on this definition, you can firmly state that yes, grades are a reflection of one’s intelligence.

Grades are often strongly influenced by assessments. Assessments are ways teachers determine if you have acquired the knowledge they have given you over one or multiple topics of information. If you score high on a test, it exhibits that you have been able to obtain and use the knowledge they have given you. On the other hand, if you score low on a test, it shows that you are less intelligent because you have not obtained the same amount of knowledge as someone who scored a high grade. The smarter you are, the higher your grades will be.

Grades are also very vital in determining your future. Colleges and jobs look at these percentages and letters in order to see if you are eligible for the spot or position. They choose this criterion because it can indicate whether a student applies effort and care towards their education, and has a fair amount of knowledge to perform well in a certain field. If you have an A average in high school, you are more likely to perform better than someone who kept a C average in high school. The extra effort you give to get a better grade allows you to obtain more knowledge, therefore, making you more intelligent.

Counterpoint: Kaden Boyd

Conversely, I believe that grades can be a representation of your intelligence, but I also believe that grades can be an adumbration of your work ethic. If a smart person doesn’t try, their lack of knowledge can be seen as unintelligence; however, it only means that they didn’t give a good amount of effort. For example, an intelligent person can get a low grade on a test because of the simple fact that they didn’t apply themselves in class, but on the other hand, a person who has a less amount of intelligence could ace the test because they studied and asked the teacher questions. Just because a person gets a low grade doesn’t mean they are unintelligent, it just means that they have a low work ethic.

Also, intelligence can be obtained in other areas rather than just in school. Just because you have an A average in school doesn’t necessarily mean you are smarter than someone who has a C average. Intelligence is not strictly found in just school. It could just mean that they’re not particularly book smart. For example, someone with a C average may be intelligent in an area like mechanics. Success can not only be reached with book smarts, but it can also be reached with basic skills and a good work ethic no matter the subject.

What’s for Breakfast and Lunch this week?

Breakfast:

BREAKFAST ITEMS SERVED DAILY: Pop Tart choices, Cereal choices, Strawberry Bagel w/Cream Cheese, Muffins, and Fruit.

Lunch: