ThE MuStAnG MeSsEnGeR
September 15-21🍎 Week 5
Mustang Update
October 8th is the date scheduled for Student Success Meetings. We will have a much different look to the meetings this year and we are aiming for 100% attendance. One of the biggest changes is that we will host these meetings from 12:30 pm to 8:30 pm on the 8th. We posted a Sign-Up Genius so that you can reserve a time to visit with your child’s Seminar teacher. Your child, under the direction of the teacher, will guide you through their current grades, missing assignments, state assessment scores from last year, any Fastbridge Data and their possible career options based on Xello! These sessions are scheduled for 20 minutes and whatever time is remaining can be used to visit with their classroom teachers or, at the very least, set up a time to meet with that teacher one-on-one. We will continue to send out messages about this very important date via Thrillshare and our weekly Mustang Messenger!
We are getting the Mustang Hall of Fame up and running again! The Hall of Fame Committee has met twice now and continue to make plans to honor the next recipients of this award. Our readers should be able to find the nomination sheet in this edition of the Mustang Messenger! Nominations are due by October 17th which will give the committee an opportunity to go over the nominations. Induction of our newest members will be on December 19, 2025! We would also like to announce that we are taking a close look at the way we display our awards and honors in the gym so please do not be alarmed if you see things taking shape. With the new bleachers being installed this spring we want to provide upgrades to our walls in order to showcase our accomplishment and exhibit the pride we have in our programs!
We have emphasized over the past several weeks that our focus this year is lowering the number of absences, tardies and call-outs this year and our numbers have improved! However, there is still room for improvement! Please reinforce with your child the importance of attending school as required by the State of Kansas! Academic success happens when students are in class, working with their peers, and getting their assignments completed on time!
Our programs have been very active over the past week. Our junior high football and volleyball teams picked up wins this past Thursday night with wins over the D. West Mustangs! The junior high volleyball team will be in action this Saturday here at Valley Heights. We will be hosting a 4-team tournament that starts at 9:00 am. Our cross-country team ran at Washington County on September 11th and at Wamego on Saturday, the 13th. On Thursday, September 19th, the high school runners competed at Onaga. At Wamego, Kebeb Zimmerman medaled in 10th place. At Onaga our girls’ team of Emma Warders, Klara McIntyre, Lyndsay Gray and Riley Skalla finished in 2nd place. Emma Warders set a school record with a time of 22:33 which was good for 2nd place. Lindsay Gray was 5th, Riley Skalla was 16th and Klara McIntyre ran a 26:17. On the boys’ side of the event Kebeb Zimmerman placed 4th and Langston Gray medaled at 9th place. Henry Bachura placed 28th overall. Great job Mustangs! Our high school football team earned their first win of the season with a 28-8 home win against the Onaga Buffalos. They will be squaring off against the D. West Mustangs in a road game tonight! Our volleyball team has been very busy this past week. Big wins over Linn and Blue Valley sent us off into a very tough tournament hosted by Riley County. The Lady Mustangs often found themselves facing off against larger schools but still came away with some wins during the day. In pool play they won against Wichita Independent and Chapman and lost in 3 sets to Riley County. In bracket play they lost to a very impressive Clay Center squad but came back to beat Riley County to claim third place in the tournament. What a great week for the Mustangs!
Mr. Savage
Valley Heights XC put down some blazing times at Onaga yesterday despite the rainy conditions and wet course. The girls placed 2nd overall as a team scoring only 34 points!! Emma Warders ran a SCHOOL RECORD SETTING time of 22:33, this got her 2nd place overall. The previous record was set by Abby Lister at Centralia in 2017. Lindsay Gray ran an impressive 22:55 (awarding her 5th place) once again adding herself to the top 10 times ran at VH over the 5k distance. Riley Skalla for the second consecutive race took a minute off her personal best bringing her in 16th overall. Klara McIntyre had the most impressive personal best of the day finishing a whole 6 minutes faster than she had done before earning her 20th overall. On the boys side Kebeb Zimmerman ran 17:59 breaking 18 minutes for the second race in a row and taking home the 4th place medal. Langston Gray ran a personal best of 18:27 bringing him in 9th overall as well as being the top finishing freshman. Henry Bachura running more than 2 minutes faster than just a week ago came in with a time of 22:24 earning him 28th place overall.
Our staff spotlight this week is on Mrs. Jennifer Pacha. Mrs. Pacha is in charge of our FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences) classes and our FACS Club. Mrs. Pacha’s classes keep us all happy at Valley Heights because her students share their culinary treats with staff! Mrs. Pacha is currently in her 7th year as a staff member here at Valley Heights.
Mrs. Pacha is married to Kode and they have three children - all boys! Oliver is a sophomore, Charlie is in 6th grade and Gabe is attending preschool. Obviously, they keep mom and dad very busy.
Mrs. Pacha is a native of Lansing, Kansas. She earned her BS in Hotel Restaurant Management and her Master in Education from Ft. Hays State University.
Mrs Pacha’s favorite thing about being a Mustang is the wonderful staff and co-workers. She states, “I love teaching students life-long skills such as cooking and taking care of themselves”. Jen’s hobbies include cooking, gardening, and trying new healthy recipes.
Something unique about Mrs. Pacha is that she used to work for the Kansas City Chiefs and she has had the opportunity to work in the food service industry with some very famous people! There has to be some pretty interesting stories that she can share about those work experiences!!
Thank you Mrs. Pacha for being a valuable member of the Valley Heights family!
If you need Anything from us~Our Doors and Minds are open!!
Blue Rapids, KS 66411
785-363-2508
Principal-Mike Savage
Athletic Director-Jordan Broxterman
Best ways to reach our HS Office or Mr. Savage
1. Come to the HS office between 8am and 4pm
2. Email msavage@valleyheights.org
3. Call the office (785)363-2508
Email: vhhs@valleyheights.org
Website: valleyheights.org
Phone: (785)363-2508
Facebook: facebook.com/vhusd498
Twitter: @usd498