The Raider Report

This month I want to take a moment to reflect on former President Jimmy Carter’s profound words: “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” The spirit of his words echoed throughout the community and was illustrated during our October Homecoming festivities when we came together as one to celebrate our shared bonds. The energy of unity and the spirit of togetherness were evident during the events of the inaugural ORR Homecoming week, reminding us of the significance of setting aside differences for the greater good.

Much like our “We Stand United” theme, President Carter’s words highlight the incredible power of unity, and our Homecoming activities mirrored that philosophy by bringing together people from all walks of life, regardless of background, experiences, or beliefs to celebrate TOGETHER. In today’s world, where divisiveness and polarization can be all too common, we need to consider President Carter’s wisdom and apply it – not only during special festivities - but in our daily lives. We should remember that it’s our shared dreams and values that connect us.

I want to challenge us all to build bridges not walls; reach out to those who may have different viewpoints than ours and work together for the common good. Through unity, we can confront our fears and prejudices and usher in a brighter future for all. “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” Our homecoming festivities affirmed the truth in these words, inspiring us to come together as a community to celebrate our shared humanity. Let’s embrace this lesson and carry it forward, every day, in all aspects of our lives. Together we can overcome challenges, address problems, and fortify the very fabric of our ORR community.

We Stand United

Go Raiders!

Superintendent Hoeke

OR site King- Caden Hojer
OR site Queen- Alivia Bickett

Rutland site King- Logan Trygstad

Rutland site Queen- Julia Trygstad

Article by: Nick Bothwell

A new teacher you see roaming around this year is Reece Simpson or Mr. Simpson. He teaches Personal finance and 6-8th computers at OR and Intro to Business and Web Design at Rutland. So far at the ORR School he enjoys being able to interact with others throughout the building and helping whenever possible. One word he used to describe the school is “stairs.” Mr. Simpson went to high school at OR where he played basketball and golf. His family consists of his mom, dad, his 3 sisters and 1 brother he is the youngest of his siblings. He is married to his wife Abbi and together they have two dogs, Ronnie and Payton. In his free time on top of relearning guitar he enjoys being out at the lake and working out. His favorite place to travel is Mexico. He has been there several times to escape the cold. I asked him what food he would choose to eat for the rest of his life and he chose steak as it is his favorite food to cook. A color that describes Mr. Simpson's personality is navy blue. He chose this color because all of his favorite sports teams have navy blue in them. His favorite type of music to listen to is country, specifically Zach Bryan. The best book he has read is “Everyday I Fight” by Stuart Scott. He read this book when he was going through his cancer treatment. It helped him see the positives of his situations when things were difficult. Mr. Simpson prefers the sunrise over the sunset as he is a big morning person. He prefers to stay in rather than going out. When asked if pineapple belongs on pizza he replied saying "absolutely not." Welcome to the Raider family, Mr. Simpson!

The ORR Oral Interpretation Team traveled to Arlington for their first competition on October 3, 2023, and they won either Superior, Superior Plus , Excellent Plus, or Excellent awards in an array of categories!

The meet was held at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Arlington and the team competed against 8 other teams, and some of the competitors were familiar faces to the students. The church provided lunch and snacks, and the day was a terrific way to perform together for the first time and bond as a team.

Results: Kaelie Lindholm earned a Superior Plus for her presentation in the "Storytelling" category with her rendition of, "The Napping House." Lucas Wall and Emma Powell earned a Superior for their duet titled, "The Duet Show." Emma and Hanna Coomes both earned Superior awards for their "Serious" category interpretations, and Lucas also earned a Superior award for his entry in the "Humor" category. Melody Gilkerson earned Excellent + awards for her performance in the "Poetry" and "Serious" Categories, as well. Kaelie and Melody earned an Excellent + for their "Duet" category, and the "Reader's Theater" group of Emma, Melody, Lucas, and Kaelie earned an Excellent Plus for their rendition of, "The D&D BnB." Congratulations to everyone!

Advisor Amy Woolston

Article by: Hyde Hanson
JH Article by: Dayton Olson, Cody Strenge, Riley Trygstad

The Oldham-Ramona-Rutland football team has had a tough year. When you look at our schedule, we played teams that were ranked at the state level. On Sep. 22nd we played Dell Rapids St. Marys and lost 6-36. The next week on the 29th we lost a tough game against Castlewood in Ramona which was a disappointing loss. The whole team was pretty down on themselves, however, this last Homecoming Week changed a lot of that. We were 0-7 and things weren’t looking good after we lost to Sunshine Bible Academy 31-40 the week before, which we all thought would be an achievable win. But there was still hope because the next opponent, Iroquois-Lake Preston was also 0-7. Everyone was excited with it being the Homecoming game. The game was pretty close at the start but we finally got a big lead in the 3rd and 4th quarter and won 44-12. Everyone was happy and sad at the same time because it was the senior's last game and they got to walk off the field for the last time as a team. There were plays set up for each senior to score and Caden Hojer, Logan Trygstad, and Collin Riedel all got to score and Kayden Jensen was close to scoring too. Coaches Logan DeRungs, Josh Olson, Kyle Broghammer, Taylor Bult, and Brent Bickett were all very proud of the team and are excited to see how we improve in the years to come. The JV Raiders will suit up one last time this year for the JV game against Sioux Falls Lutheran on Monday, Oct. 23rd. We hope to see our fans there to support us.

The Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Junior High Football team has had an up-and-down season. Their first game of the season they traveled to Lake Preston to take on the Sharks, resulting in a 12-0 victory. Then the Raiders stayed at home on a Monday to play the Coleman-Egan Hawks. This game resulted in a loss for ORR. Their first game on a Friday was against the DeSmet Bulldogs. The Raiders picked up a dub with a 40-yard last-second touchdown by 8th grader Lyrick MacDonald. After that, the Raiders traveled up to Castlewood to the annual DVC Tournament. Quarterback Cody Strenge was out for all three games where the Raiders went 0-3. Then the Raiders played Castlewood and Garretson at home and the team picked up two tough losses. The JH Raider's latest game was in Ramona against Iroquois/Lake Preston for Homecoming. The offense was on fire, scoring 28 points and two catching touchdowns for Tight End Baynon Lingbeck. Defensive tackles Riley Trygstad and Dayton Olson combined for 12 tackles, and a Riley Trygstad Pick. Cody Strenge had around 92 passing yards and Hudson Pooler could not be stopped with about 63 rushing yards. This was by far the most successful game of the season for the young JH team. The JH Football team is not done just yet as they take on Sioux Falls Lutheran on Monday, October 23 in Ramona.

Article by: Nancy Kim

| Homecoming Oct.9-13. |

1 Day- On Monday, Our dress was to swap the clothes of teachers and students. And, in the first hour, a pep band rounded the school and drew students to the auditorium. Then, In the auditorium, teachers talked about homecoming schedules and sang school songs. Coronation was this day. Logan Trygstad was unanimously elected homecoming king and Julia Trygstad won queen.

2 Day- On Tuesday, Our dress was beach day, so we dressed like summer. There was a volleyball game in Ramona

3 Day- On Wednesday, Our dress was athlete vs. mathlete day. There was a cross-country meet.

4 Day- On Thursday, Our dress was western day. There was a volleyball game in Colman/Egan.

5 Day- On Friday, Our dress was spirit day. We didn’t have class. It was a happy day. We met with our houses to create spirit posters. After that all 6-12 students went to the auditorium to play games. There was 9 square and Beanbags. In the Media Center there were board games. Ms. Shay had a movie playing in the music room. The student council made popcorn for students to enjoy. Mr. S organized a dodgeball tournament where ultimately 7th grade came out on top. The ORR School Board made burgers for lunch which were enjoyed by all. Then we traveled to Ramona. We went to each class and practiced lip-syncing. Elementary held a cute and fun march instead of a parade because of the weather. Next 6-12 performed their Lip Sync songs/dances. The Cheerleaders led the Pep Rally. he students and staff enjoyed spending the afternoon together! Homecoming concluded with a 44-12 Football victory.

Mr. Michel and the OR site 8th graders enjoyed showing their MN Viking spirit for Athletes vs. Mathletes Day. SKOL!

Article by: Hattie Hanson

This month the ORR volleyball team has had some close games and great wins. On October 3rd they went to Huron to play James Valley Christian. Although it was a close game, they lost 3-2. They also played DeSmet on October 5th. The game was in Ramona, and they won 3-1. Another home game they had was against Freeman. They won that game 3-1. On the 12th they went to Colman and even though they lost they played a really good game. They worked hard and persevered, winning a set. The final score was 3-1. Last Saturday they went to White to play in the DVC tournament. They played for games and went 2-2. They played Dell Rapids Saint Mary (2-1) W, Iroquois-Lake Preston (2-1) L, DeSmet (2-1) W, Deubrook (2-0) L. They did well at the tournament playing their best. They played some tough teams and fought through it. The team played Arlington on Tuesday and lost 3-0. On Friday they play Castlewood in Castlewood. This month they also had a fundraiser. It was to raise money for cancer patients. They sold Block Out Cancer T-shirts. It was very successful. The ORR volleyball team has persevered and worked hard through the month of October. They hope to continue in the playoffs.

https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/orrpreschool2023...

The ORR Preschools are doing a fundraiser together! If you would like to support the Preschool, shop this link!

Thank you,

Ms. DeRungs and Mrs. Seitz

Article by: Seth Weston

The cross-country team has had numerous personal bests this year. Of the four individuals on the cross country team three of them are new these three are Melody Glikerson (a junior), Sarah DeWulf (8th Grade), and Ancora Gilkerson(8th Grade). It was a good season and everyone plans on doing it again and improving their skills. During regionals, Sarah DeWulf ended her season with a PR in the 5k. The regionals this year went well for the cross-country team. During the donut fundraiser held by the track and cross country teams, the 4 cross country members sold 40% of the total profits between both teams when competing with over 30 track members!

Everyone including the 8th graders ran the varsity race at some point in the season. 3 of the 4 team members got medals for high placements in races this season. Zayd placed 9th in the opening race of the season. In another meet Melody placed in the low teens and Ancora placed 25th. Even though the team members wouldn’t typically be seen leading the pack at a race, they persevered through the season and even if they had a bad day, they picked themselves and each other up and enjoyed the sport.

Story by: Zayd Anderson

This month, the high school has been abuzz. While for the most part, class has been business as usual, there have been exceptions to this rule. For example, Social Studies Teacher, Mr. Myrvik, led his South Dakota History class as well as the web designing class outside to the football practice field. There, they took turns throwing spears to understand how Native American hunting of bison was conducted. From about 10 yards away, only three of the eight students managed to hit the target, and none hit the bullseye. When throwing from around 15 yards away, one student did hit the bullseye, but only that student managed to hit the target at all. Mr. Myrvik then explained that getting within 15 yards of a bison was already nearly impossible, and that with barely anybody being able to hit it, hunting was a challenge. Mr. Myrvik then introduced the students to a piece of technology that revolutionized hunting. This technology was the atlatl, a simple piece of wood with a notch on one end. When attaching a spear to this notch, and giving a little bit of leverage to your throw, Mr. Myrvik demonstrated the power of an atlatl. Students were stupefied by Mr. Myrvik’s distance going from roughly 20 yards to easily over 50. Moving forward, students will continue to learn how to use an atlatl and experience first-hand how the Native Americans survived for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America. The atlatls and spears were on loan from Lake Herman State Park which has many educational programs.

In other news, Mr. E presented medals to the FFA members who placed in the Land and Homesite CDE (career development experience) competition. These students were: Melody Gilkerson (Mel Mel Galore) - 53rd place bronze, Logan Trygstad - 46th place bronze, Garet Wicks - 37th place silver, Kimberly Trygstad - 29th place silver, Zayd Andersom - 10th place gold. Going into November, students will be participating in LDEs (Leadership Development Events).

The Kindergarten and Preschool classes at Rutland got the chance to learn all about growing and picking apples from Cody Carper during Johnny Appleseed week!

Article by: Hattie Hanson

The elementary has had a month of excitement. In kindergarten, they had bat day. Bat day is when Mrs. Merager blacks out her entire room. Her kids get to do fun activities in the dark throughout the whole day. They create letters with glow sticks and even learn more about bats! Mrs. Hoeke even came in and read a few bat stories! The first graders got to paint pumpkins with senior Cealen Anderson. The pumpkins, provided by Eli Schnaidt, looked very spooky after they were done. The 1st graders had lots of fun decorating their own pumpkins. In 3rd grade, they’re learning about onomatopoeias. They got to make marvelous comic book strips that had onomatopoeias in them. They also got to look in books to see if they had any onomatopoeias in the text. Some of their favorites were words like crack, boom, pop, zoom, etc. The 3rd graders had a blast making the comics. The 4th graders had a fun science experiment. They had to test how the angle of a ramp can change the speed of a marble. They concluded that the higher the ramp is the faster the marble will go. This was a fun science experiment that allowed them to see how velocity works. All around the elementary had a good and exciting month.

• October 23- JV Football @ Ramona vs Sioux Falls Lutheran
• October 24- OR Picture Retake Day
• October 24- JV/V Volleyball vs Iroquois-Lake Preston in Iroquois
• October 26- 2:00 Release for Students
• October 26- Parent/Teacher Conferences 2:30-7:00
• October 27- No School
• October 27- Absentee Voting Starts
• October 31- FFA National Convention in Indianapolis
• October 31- Volleyball Regions
• October 31- Trunk or Treat in Rutland