The Raider Report

One of the most appropriate sentiments I have heard about the month of December, is that it is “the month of joy, happiness, and a month to finish what you started.” This perspective captures the essence of December as a time of celebration and fulfillment. The mention of joy and happiness reminds us of the upcoming Christmas season and the ultimate message that when we love and we give to others, we are spreading the message of that very first Christmas. The idea of finishing what we have started adds a layer of reflection and resolution that is particularly relevant for us this year. It urges us to complete the endeavors we have already set in motion and to enter the new year with a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Finally, surrounded by the season's joy, we should carve out a moment to embrace and share the warmth and kindness that graces us during this most magical time of year. Let’s commit ourselves to spreading goodwill and cheer to those around us, whether through a small act of kindness or a heartfelt grand gesture. Let the true meaning of Christmas be reflected in our actions, creating a ripple of joy that extends beyond ourselves. May this Christmas be Merry and filled with abundant blessings, and may the New Year be filled with purpose and Peace for us all!

Article by: Hyde Hanson

On Monday, December 4th the Rutland student council started an event called “12 Days of Christmas” where for the next 12 days, everyone should wear different Christmas-themed outfits. Every day had a new theme. The themes were, candy cane, spread the Joy Day, where we wrote nice notes to each other instead of an outfit, red and green flannel day, Christmas socks day, “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas”, Christmas hat day, Christmas character day, ugly Christmas sweater day, twin day, where you match outfits with your friend, Christmas to the max, where you wear as much Christmas merchandise as you can, Santa’s workshop (Teachers dress as Santa, and students dress as elves or reindeer.), and finally, Christmas PJ day. One of the most popular days so far has been Christmas hat day as many people wore their best Santa hat to school. There were also many good ones on Ugly Sweater Day as always. The Student Council will also sponsor a Food Drive during the final days of school for the semester. These 12 days helped prepare students and staff for the Christmas holiday and it was fun seeing what everybody decided to wear.

Article by: Lacie Weber

The ORR FFA has been busy with many activities this November and December. On November 23rd, ORR FFA members gathered in the shop to unload, count, and sort fruit they sold to their customers. There were four pallets of fruit the chapter had sold that needed to be unloaded and sorted so a few students could come by and ensure they had all the purchased items. Throughout the day, there was a lot of movement from loading fruit into vehicles so they could deliver that night or gather other members’ orders that they could not, as they were not in class that day. This year, the chapter sold $15,000 and met our chapter goal.

On December 3rd, eight members of the ORR FFA Chapter made their way out to Rapid City to compete at the State Leadership Development Event. These students showcased their dedication and commitment to fostering effective leadership skills at the state event. Over 500 FFA members from across the state were at this event, competing in various events. Once they arrived in Rapid City, the students settled into the hotel, and the Ag Issue’s team started getting ready and ran through the script three times before heading over to present in front of the judges.

There was lots of success at this event as 7th grader Clayton Weber finished 12th out of 24 in Ag Broadcasting at his first ever FFA LDE State contest, Sophomore Lacie Weber finished 5th out of 24 in Employment skills. Others who competed and did their best were Garet Wicks, who finished 20th out of 24 in Employment skills. The Ag Issues team consisted of Junior Brayden Hanson, Dillon Renaas, Sophomores Lacie Weber and Cooper Merager, and 7th grader Clayton Weber. The team placed 11th out of 15 teams. Sadly, alternates Rori Hartman for Extemporaneous Public Speaking and Brooklyn Wilson for Ag Broadcasting did not get to compete. Overall, the State Leadership Development event proved to be a valuable experience for these FFA members, promoting the growth and development of our members as influential leaders. By equipping our members with essential leadership skills, the ORR FFA Chapter is confident that these students will continue to impact the FFA organization and our community positively

Hello Everyone,

My name is Rachel Waagmeester. I teach 4th grade at the Ramona site.

First, I wanted to share a little about myself. I grew up in a small town, Vivian, SD, that has a population of 87. I now live in Madison with my husband, Dallas, and our two boys, Jackson and Nash. Even though I live in a larger town now, I still hold tight to my small town roots. In small towns, everyone looks out for one another, and is always willing to lend a helping hand. That’s what I love most about where I am from and that’s what I see in this ORR community.

I attended a small “B” school named Lyman. The Lyman Raiders were composed of 6 different towns: Vivian, Presho, Kennebec, Lyman, Reliance, and Lower Brule and also included many families that lived in the country. All of these towns are small in size. We had two school buildings, one in Presho and one in Kennebec. The Presho location had a K-5 and high school 9-12. The Kennebec location also had a K-5 and a middle school 6-8.

My mom and dad had four children. As we attended school, we all started elementary school in Presho, where we rode the bus for 20 minutes one way. When we reached middle school, we rode the bus to Kennebec which was about 45 minutes. Then, when we reached high school, we went back to Presho. At one point during our education, my parents had one child in each location. My sister was in high school in Presho, I was in middle school in Kennebec, my brother was in Presho’s elementary, and my sister was in daycare in Murdo.

I never really thought anything about my schooling experience being in two different towns. That is until this last bond vote and the proposal that followed after. I have reflected on my formative years and to be frank, I cannot find one negative thing about having to attend two different towns for school. Attending school in both Presho and Kennebec never generated a negative experience for me in school. It was a normal thing, and as a Presho kid, I was actually excited to attend school in Kennebec.

Lyman recently passed a bond vote to build a new addition to the school in Presho. The bond vote passed, and they built on the pre-existing school. Lyman’s current enrollment is 94 students. They have now shifted to all K-5 in Kennebec, and Junior High and High school in Presho. To emphasize, I have no knowledge about Lyman’s structural analysis or the requirements needed to do an addition.

As we know, Lyman and ORR are two different schools. No two schools are able to fully mimic each other and their procedures. However, I wanted to share my personal experience and reassure you that this proposal, although it is new to ORR, is not a new concept to schools in South Dakota.

I believe I can speak for all educators when I say that we want what’s best for your children. We want to give them the best education that we can provide.

This next excerpt was created with the help of ChatGPT AI.

“A teacher's mission extends far beyond the confines of a classroom. At the heart of their dedication lies the profound commitment to nurturing and shaping the minds of the next generation. Beyond the transmission of knowledge, a teacher aspires to inspire, instill curiosity, and foster a love for learning. They serve as guides, mentors, and catalysts for personal and intellectual growth. A teacher's mission involves not only equipping students with academic skills but also imparting invaluable life lessons, cultivating critical thinking, and fostering a sense of empathy. Through their tireless efforts, teachers aim to empower individuals to navigate the complexities of the world, encouraging a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and a deep understanding of one's potential.”

I will leave you with this. As we navigate the future of ORR, I can assure you that the school board, Superintendent Dawn Hoeke, and all staff members at ORR are keeping your children at the forefront of our mission.

Thank you for your time.

~ Mrs. W

Article by: Hattie Hanson

This years Christmas Concert took place Monday, December 11. It was a great night with many star performances. The night started off with 5th grade band. It was there first time performing in front of people, and they did a fantastic job. The elementary did a great job singing and dancing all night. They sang their songs nicely and they put a smile on everyones face. The Junior High and High School choirs sang beautifully as well. They sounded wonderful. The 8-12th band had a fun time switching students around to different instruments. In one of their songs they got some teachers playing along with them. They all did a great job playing. In the final song of the night the whole gym got too sing along with the band. It was wonderful to hear everyone sing Christmas songs that they all knew by heart. Ms. Shay put together a great concert this year. Be sure to give her a thanks for putting in so much effort to make sure everyone sounded great.

Article by: Zayd Anderson

Have you ever seen a detective movie where the cop jumps from his car, pulls out his gun and shoots the bad guy’s weapon out of his hand? Well, this may come as a surprise, but it doesn’t work that way. Officer Rowe offered a unique way of understanding the struggles of being a S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) officer. Each of the students in Mr. Myrvik’s government class were asked to hold a textbook at eye level with their arms fully extended. Within three minutes, students were beginning to buckle and their arms started to lower. This was to represent the difficulty of holding a rifle at a door for a long period of time. He also clarified a few misconceptions about cops and criminals. He wanted to point out that being a criminal does not make someone a “bad person,” it just means they made decisions the law prohibits. We also learned that S.W.A.T. officers have an absurd amount of gear on them at all times. On the side of having a little bit of fun, Officer Rowe allowed some students to try on his vest to see how heavy it was with the extensive amounts of equipment. Although the students did an alright job of staying standing, they were more than opposed to wearing it for long durations or walking up and down stairs with it on. It was a fun and enlightening experience for students, and was also a nice break from the burden of class. Some seniors had some interesting opinions on the visit. “Fantastic,” said Caelan Anderson when asked to describe the visit. “I liked it,” Julia Trygstad added.

The anatomy class had a field trip during December. They visited the Cadaver Lab at SDSU. Students analyzed and felt corpses and organs of people whose bodies were donated to science. Students got a real-life look at how systems work, not on paper, but within the body. They learned how the muscles in the leg move as the leg moves, they looked at the path food follows as you eat, and got opportunities to see abnormalities in organs. One of these abnormalities was the brain of a dementia patient. After the Cadaver Lab, students enjoyed a meal at Pizza Ranch.

The eighth grade students this year have been taking a “career explorations” class. They’ve had multiple guest speakers from all branches of the work force come in and explain their career paths. After a semester of learning, the class ended with a “Dress for Success” day in order to have a more interactive experience. The eighth graders have enjoyed both the activities, and the class itself. When asked how it has been to be a career explorations students, Riley Trygstad stated “[It has been] wonderful.”
The last few days have been a semester wrap-up. Students have been scrambling to hand in their final projects and essays, with tests looming just around the corner. Semester test days are Wednesday, December 20 and Thursday, December 21.

The Ramona seniors had a guest speaker, John Nelson, join the class to teach Poetry and engage the students with a poetry workshop on Wednesday, December 6th. There were giggles and outright laughter as the poetry discussion continued with a few students sharing their poems aloud with the class.

Dr. Nelson invited the students to enter an annual poetry contest for students, The Louine Schaufler Youth Poetry Contest, offered in South Dakota. The students wrote a poem after the guest gave tips about writing poetry and he shared his published poetry book, West River. Please keep a look-out for his full book coming soon, Bootjack.

Thank you for your teaching time and inspiration, Dr. Nelson, we appreciate you!

Article by: Seth Weston

Everybody is looking forward to the Christmas break. A lot of people are looking forward to Christmas and sleeping not having to get up for school. Some students such as Rhett Pust, Kaelie Lindholm, and physics teacher Mr. Elsinger are going to be doing physics over the break to stay caught up for class. Many students claimed they would be spending their time playing “Fortnite” and playing other popular video games. Family time has also been a popular response to what they going to do over Christmas break. A few students are using the time to express their creativity such as Zayd Anderson who plans to write a book, and Nick Bothwell will be doing “truck stuff”. Students from preschool to 12th grade are looking forward to receiving their goodie bags that were provided by local businesses and the Rutland Student Council. These bags include activities for each day of Christmas break. The Student Council packed up and prepared activity bags for 195 students! After a semester full of textbooks and school activities, students are ready for a long holiday break.

Article by: Nicholas Bothwell

The Rutland Elementary Students are enjoying the festive dress-up days and extra activities as Christmas Break draws near. In first grade, the students made Christmas cards for Myles Hupp who is a six-year-old with brain cancer that is from Pierre. He is from the family whose house exploded over the summer where he lost his grandparents and baby sister. They also enjoyed writing letters to Santa and telling him what they would like for Christmas. They even wrote their addresses on the envelopes to mail to him! The lower elementary classrooms have enjoyed searching for their classrooms Elves and Grinch. They have been seen in different parts of the room each day. The elementary students were the stars of the Christmas Concert where they sang and played their instruments beautifully. The Kindergarteners and their Senior buddies spent a bit of time together reading Christmas stories and then created their own gingerbread people. On the last day of the semester, the elementary students will enjoy their parties to celebrate the holiday season as well as their annual Christmas Carnival.

Article by: Nancy Kim

Christmas is coming soon! I can’t wait for America Christmas and Christmas break. First, We have Christmas in Korea. And of course, we celebrate Christmas. In America, people decorate the outside of their house to sparkle.

However, the house I live in is an apartment building on the 20th floor, so we usually put a tree or decorate inside the house.

Instead, the apartment complex is beautifully decorated. And we have a Christmas bus, it’s so pretty. The bus driver is dressed as Santa and the inside of the bus is nicely decorated.

I thought the way to receive gifts would be a little different, but it’s the same.

Whenever Christmas comes, I go to the amusement park with friends in Korea.

Because it’s so awesome, there is a castle in such a Kingdom.

And In America, They have dressed day in school. It is so cool.

But Korea doesn’t have like this event. I wish we had it too. We decorate the class.

And we watched a movie about Christmas with snacks in school.

We have differences but Christmas is a glad day wherever.

Merry Christmas!

Article by: Jordyn Reagle and Cooper Merager

This season the girls' basketball team is off to a great start. For the first game of the season JV and Varsity took on Great Plains Lutheran for the first home game in Rutland but came out will a loss 24-60. The Junior High, JV, and Varsity girls then traveled to Iroquois and took on the Iroquois/Lake Preston Sharks. The Varsity girls started off the first half very well. The second half on the other hand did not go as they had hoped. The girls unfortunately lost 34-63. For the second game the Raiders had their first home game in Ramona. The Junior High girls played a very tough game as they sadly lost to Deubrook in overtime by just 2 points. A couple of the same girls then had to play a hard JV game. The Varsity girls began the game very well but came out with a loss 43-68. On Saturday, December 16, the Varsity Lady Raiders traveled to Colman for the Entringer Classic. They took on Waverly-South Shore and got the win 48-31. At the Entringer, Julia Trygastad was awarded Most Valuable Player. She also got a double-double of 28 points, 4 steals, 11 rebounds. On Monday, December 18, the Raiders are going to travel to Arlington for a doubleheader as all levels will take on the Cardinals. The Lady Raiders of all levels need to clean up the court but they continue to improve. On December 18th the girls basketball team headed up to Arlington to play in a double header. The Junior High won their game, and did a fantastic job. It was their first win of the season. Unfortunately the JV and Varsity lost. They both fought very hard. The varsity game was a little rough for the Raiders. They put in their all, and tried there best, but they came up short. There are four girls that are injured on varsity, so they played with only eight girls. Even though they didn’t have a lot of players they still tried there best.

The boys basketball team is under the direction of a new coaching staff. Cole Siegfried is our new head coach this year although he was with us the previous year as the junior high coach. Chad Strenge is our JV coach this season. Blake Van Regenmorter is our new JH coach this season. This year we have 12 players on our varsity team. The starters are Freshman Brodie Albertson, Freshman Boyd Pooler, Sophomore Cooper Merager, Junior Brayden Hansen and Senior Caden Hojer. We have a young team this year with only one senior but the boys are focusing on utilizing all skills. We have lots of potential for the future and will continue to improve over the season. We have played 2 games so far this season. The first game of the 2023 season we played Iroquois Lake Preston. We lost but it was our first game and we had a lot to improve on and know now what we need to work on. In the second game ORR faced Deubrook in Rutland. The team saw improvement and Sophomore Cooper Merager states that he thinks they “played a lot better than the first game and our defense made it a 13-point game at half.” On Monday, December 18 the Raiders headed up to Arlington to face the Cardinals. The Junior High boys started off the night with a solid win. Then the JV game kicked off shortly after. This game was a battle coming down to the final seconds of the game. They unfortunately lost but it was a very good game. The Varsity boys played well last night and even came out with a victory. They played good defense but need to improve on rebounding. Brayden Hanson was our lead scorer with 23 points! Caden Hojer also scored over 20. The final score was 62-51 ORR.

Both the basketball teams appreciate the continued support!

Article by: Izzy Pickard

This year for the end of the semester at the Rutland site the web design class and the South Dakota History class were brought together to design a website. The South Dakota students searched for some information for the web design student to put on the page. The end product of the websites turned out to look really nice and put together. This was a cool experience for me to see all of the work put behind a website that not a lot of people notice.

The students at the Ramona site had their AR party on Thursday, December 7th. Our theme this year is popcorn. So, we had different stations for the students to enjoy a different activity. We had popcorn tasting with different seasoning, popcorn races, popcorn toss, popcorn bingo, and we made bird feeders by using milk cartons.

Popcorn tasting had eight different flavors. The students then completed a graph if they liked it or not.

Popcorn Races required the use of straws as students blew their popcorn across the finish line.

Popcorn toss had students toss popcorn into baskets for points.

Popcorn bingo was bingo, but with popcorn!

The bird feeders were made for a delicious treat for the birds.

The Ramona 3rd graders are dreaming of a "White Christmas", and they also wrote about their other wishes. They won the "Best Use of Song" award with their writings, homemade snowflakes, and twinkling lights! Merry Christmas Everyone!

• December 22- January 2: Christmas Break
• December 28: GBB vs Bridgwater/Emery @ Ramona
• December 30: BBB vs Arlington @ Brookings (Entringer Classic)
• January 2: Teacher Inservice
• January 3: School Resumes
• January 4: GBB vs Colman-Egan @ Rutland
• January 5: BBB vs Colman-Egan @ Rutland
• January 6: JH BBB DVC @ Arlington
• January 6: JH GBB DVC @ DeSmet
• January 6: GBB @ Canistota
• January 8: School Board Meeting in Rutland
• January 9: Double Header GBB & BBB vs JVC @ Ramona
• January 11: BBB vs Dell Rapids St. Mary @ Rutland
• January 12: GBB vs Dell Rapids St. Mary @ Rutland