Congratulations to the Ray-Pec High School Junior Varsity Girls Golf Team on winning the Lee’s Summit North JV tournament on Monday at Fred Arbanas Golf Course. As a team, Ray-Pec placed first out of 16 teams. McKenna Raymond placed third and medaled. Addison Showalter placed 6th and Isa Odom placed 14th out of 80 golfers.
(From left: Hannah Rayburn, McKenna Raymond, Jordan Johnston, Isa Odom and Addison Showalter)
Are you ready for some football? Come watch the Ray-Pec High School Varsity Cheerleaders and Varsity Prowlers dance team play an exciting game of powder puff football at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at Panther Stadium. You will also see fall sport athletes performing cheers and a dance for your half-time entertainment! Tickets are $7 at the gate only. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
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Preseason training starts today for these 5 Ray-Pec grads who are all on scholarship to play soccer at Avila University! From left: Trent Day (2021), Robbie Davies (2022), Jesse Simpson (2022), Landon Burdick (2022), & Malcom Goswell (2022).
The Ray-Pec Marching Band Color Guard will have a new face on staff this year with the addition of Kelsey Walker.
Although Ms. Walker came to Ray-Pec from Chicago, she is actually a Kansas City native. The city and her grandmother’s philanthropic prowess formed her passion for nonprofit missions during her formative years. She has since worked for nonprofits for the last 12 years, making her start doing search and rescue in New Mexico and working her way to becoming founder and CEO of From The Green Desk and owner of Fiddlestix Creative, LLC. She is a published author and comes with a rich writing and development history.
Ms. Walker fostered her love for color guard at age 11, becoming captain of her 13-time state champion team in high school and proudly marching with the “Pride of Wildcat Land” Kansas State University Marching Band for three years in college. She is married to Christopher Walker and has two kids, Cayden and Ember. Please welcome Kelsey Walker to the Ray-Pec community!
Last week, a group of Ray-Pec High School students participated in the Missouri Choral Directors Association Graded Youth Honor Choirs and the All-State Festival Choir. Front row, from left: Choral Director, Stephen Rew, Destinee Shaffer, Jillian Collom, Sav Jordan, Meghan Larsen, and Ellie Barker. Back row: Caitlin Gregory, Chloe Adams, Mason Rew, Serena Bursley, Nathan Eckert, and Xander Blackmon.
Ankita Kapoor, who will be in the 10th grade at Raymore Peculiar High School this fall, is one of 50 students who participated in the ATSU-Truman State University Healthcare Academy, June 12th to 17th.
The healthcare academy was developed in partnership with A.T Still University of Health Sciences. Its mission is to serve as a summer institute for gifted and talented high school students interested in science and healthcare programs.
While living on the Truman campus, healthcare students participate in hands-on activities and discussions. They learn about numerous healthcare professions and common situations health professionals may encounter during their careers. In addition to their course work, they participate in a variety of local community activities each day.
Students who participate in the Healthcare Academy are nominated by school officials or area health education center officials.
Ankita is the daughter of Vishal and Charmel Kapoor.
The Ray-Pec High School yearbooks are here! Drive-thru the bus lanes on the north side of the high school on one of these dates: 4 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, or 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7. Questions to stefani.russ@raypec.org You can pay with cash or a check to RPHS. The yearbook staff will also be set up to take orders for next year's yearbook as well. They can accept cash or checks to be made out to RPHS. Books purchased before school will be sold with a back-to-school discount for $70. If you are unable to attend one of these events, books will be available for pick up when students return to school.
Ray-Pec High School welcomes Greg Jones to the Baseball Coaching staff.
Coach Jones has lived in Raymore since 1987. Coach Jones and his wife, Vicki, have raised two children who are Ray-Pec High School graduates: (Jeremy 1995) and (Tara 2003. Coach Jones is a graduate of University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) with a bachelor's degree in Accounting. Coach Jones has worked in public accounting at Deloitte and Touché specializing in tax accounting and is retired from Sprint Corporation after 25 years of service in their Corporate Tax Department.
Like Coach Lersch, the new head baseball coach, Coach Jones spent time in the military. Prior to earning his degree from UMKC, Coach Jones spent four years in the Air Force. Coach Jones has many years of coaching experience, starting with his son’s youth baseball and basketball teams up to high school. Coach Jones has coached in his son’s baseball academy since 2004 helping develop baseball players throughout the Kansas City area. Coach Jones served as a volunteer baseball assistant on the Ray-Pec Varsity Baseball team last year and as the Girl's Varsity Basketball Assistant coach last year.
Having fun in the pool this summer? Join the boys swim team this fall! Practice starts Aug. 8th at High Blue Wellness Center.
Contact Coach Parisi at michaela.parisi@raypec.org for more information.
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Ray-Pec High School will have two Coach Parisis leading the swim teams this year. We are welcoming coach Joe Parisi to lead the boy's program This will be Coach J. Parisi's first year coaching high school swim. With 10 years of competitive swimming experience, Coach J. Parisi looks forward to returning to the sport he loves. For the past four years he has coached Special Olympics bocce ball for the Belton School District and has occasionally helped Coach Michaela Parisi with the RPHS girls swim team. Coach J. Parisi is excited to develop a positive and supportive team culture, and he can’t wait to see all the team can accomplish this year.
Zach Shupe is the new Jazz Band Director for RPHS. Mr. Shupe is currently serving as Director of Bands for Raymore-Peculiar East Middle School, as well as assisting with Ray-Pec High School concert bands and Panther Pride Marching Band. He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he received his Bachelors in Music with an emphasis in Music Education. He is currently pursuing a master's program through Mizzou.
Since his time in the Ray-Pec School District, he has been performing/recording around the Kansas City area with various jazz groups, as well as participating as a judge and clinician in Jazz competitions. Playing and teaching Jazz has always been one of Mr. Shupe's passions.
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R ay-Pec High School has two new ACT Test Coordinators.
Math Teacher Lisa Roberts and English Teacher Whitney Mikkelsen will share the position in order to bring a vast array of expertise to help students prepare for the ACT college placement test.
Ms. Roberts is starting her 20th year at Ray Pec and her 24th year in teaching. She has been a math teacher at the high school since 2011. She teaches Dual Credit Precalculus/Trigonometry and International Baccalaureate Mathematics and will add Calculus to her schedule this year. She loves helping students master more challenging mathematical concepts. Ms. Roberts has been a member of the Building Leadership Team and coordinated the After School Tutoring Program for the past three years. Prior to coming to the high school, Ms. Roberts taught in the district's gifted program, LEAP, for 5th and 6th graders at the two intermediate schools. She started her teaching career in the Raytown School District.
Ms. Roberts earned her bachelor's degree in Mathematics and master's degree in Education at Truman State University (formerly known as Northeast Missouri State University-NEMO) and also has her endorsement for gifted education. When not teaching, Ms. Roberts enjoys spending time with her husband, Mike, who is also a teacher in the district, and their two lab puppies.
Whitney Mikkelsen has been teaching English at Ray-Pec High School for the past 13 years, but starting in the fall of 2022 you will find her in the Senior Office as a post-secondary advisor. Ms. Mikkelsen will focus primarily on the needs of juniors and seniors to help them select a career path and help students understand the process for the training necessary in that career field. Students will explore options in the trades, school to work certifications, and college options among a variety of other choices. Once a career path is designated, Ms. Mikkelsen can help students focus on the next steps to prepare them for a successful future after high school.
Ms. Mikkelsen will also co-lead the ACT prep program at RPHS with Lisa Roberts. The ACT Prep program is designed to understand each student's baseline skills for each of the four test sections and then build off of that to offer an authentic testing experience that is customized to the individual needs of the student.
Ray-Pec High School welcomes Tatum Branson back to the Prowlers Dance Team as an Assistant Coach.
Coach Branson is a 2015 graduate of Ray-Pec, where she was a member of the Prowlers Dance Team from 2012-2015.
After graduation, she attended Northwest Missouri State University and was a member of the Bearcat Steppers Dance Team. While she was a member of the NWMSU Steppers, the team competed in the Universal Dance Association’s National College Dance Team Championship where they were awarded several placements, including 2nd place in Open Division Pom and a National Championship in Open Game Day Performance in 2018. Outside of competitions, Coach Branson was able to dance at four Division II National Championships including Football and Men’s Basketball.
Coach Branson began her coaching career in 2020 at Lee’s Summit West High School with the Titan's Varsity Cheerleading squad. Last season, they were awarded 2nd place in Large Varsity at the National Cheerleading Associations Regional Competition.
Outside of her role with the Prowlers, Coach Branson can be found in the counseling office at Ray-Pec High School. Coach Branson joined the counseling staff mid-year during the 2021-2022 school year and joins the High School as a full-time counselor in training this year. Welcome back to Ray-Pec, Coach Branson!
Your school yearbook staff would like to announce that the 2021-2022 Yearbook will be available for pickup in July!!!! We will communicate times and dates by email, phone, and social media🖤💛🐾
