The Weekly Update #4

If you didn’t get a chance to attend the volleyball tournament this past weekend, you missed out! The atmosphere and energy in the gym were outstanding. The competition was great, and the crowd was rocking throughout the weekend. Make sure to come out and support the Bucs again this weekend! We have home volleyball games on Friday and Saturday, along with a home football game on Saturday. Check out the Buccaneer Sports section below for schedules and more details.

We also have a couple of other exciting activities happening Thursday and Friday. Our architect team will be here both days gathering input from staff and community members as we continue planning for the future of VHS. This is an exciting time for our school, and your input will help guide the process. Consider coming out Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to learn more and share your ideas.

We also have a T3 activity taking place Thursday and Friday. Come out Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m. to see what it’s all about and learn more about this opportunity.

More information about both of these activities can be found in the What’s Happening section below.

As always, there is a lot happening at VHS. Come out, get involved, and support our Bucs!

Check out the Flex Friday opportunities we have going on this week! Come in and get caught up on work, get some extra help, try something new, or get active in the gym or weight room. There’s something for everyone, so take advantage of the opportunities available and make the most of your Friday!

What a time to be a Buccaneer! Go Bucs!

-Mr. Cronk

Sept 22nd - VHS Picture Day

Sept 30 @ 6:30pm VHS Cafeteria - Senior Parent Information Night/FAFSA night

October 3rd- VHS Homecoming

Buc Fans,

If you didn't get a chance to watch our Buc JV and Varsity Volleyball teams this weekend please see the coaches weekend summaries. Both teams won their respective tournaments. You will also see attached the coaches summaries for both Football and XC Running.

This week we will be hosting the Monroe Rams Volleyball and Football Teams. Our XC Team will be traveling to Fairbanks to participate in the Birch Hill Invite on Saturday, September 12th.

Friday: Volleyball Game times: JV @ 4:30 p.m. and Varsity @ 6:00 p.m.

Saturday: Volleyball & Football Game times: JV Volleyball @ 8:30 a.m. , Varsity Volleyball @ 10:00 a.m. and Football @ 12:00 p.m.

As always, Go Bucs

September 11th- 12th - Volleyball Monroe @ Valdez

September 12th - Football Monroe @ Valdez

This week was another opportunity for our football team to show continued growth. While the final score against Kodiak may grab your attention, it doesn’t tell the full story of the effort, intensity, and pace our athletes brought to the field. The first quarter was some of the best football I have seen from a Valdez football team during my time here. Our players came out confident, physical, and ready to compete, and we saw glimpses of exactly what this program is capable of becoming. As the game progressed, we had players get banged up and unable to finish, while also entering the weekend without some key players on both sides of the ball. That required younger athletes to step into significant roles, and they answered the call. Our freshmen and sophomores made plays on offense, defense, and special teams against a physical Kodiak team. With our roster size, many of our athletes are asked to play all three phases of the game. We had players who rarely left the field getting a break only during a timeout, at the end of a quarter, or at halftime. They continued to step up, accept greater responsibility, and give everything they had when their number was called. Because of that effort, there will not be an individual MVP, Offensive, Defensive, or Special Teams Player of the Game this week. Those honors belong to the team. They belong to every player who stepped onto that field, battled through a physical football game, supported his teammates, and gave everything he had against Kodiak. These boys answered the call, and as a coaching staff, we are proud of them. There is still plenty of work ahead, but the growth is happening, and there is a lot to be excited about with this group. To our players: keep showing up, keep answering the call, and keep getting better.

To our families, fans, and the Valdez community: Keep showing up. We’ll keep answering the call. We’ll keep getting better.

Go Buccaneers!

Palmer never disappoints! The feared rains held off long enough for another great day of racing. Runners take 3 laps through the forested trails and then get to show off their sprinting skills with a 100 meter track finish. After a week of illnesses and recovery, runners were ready to stretch their legs again. In the Boys Open race Freshman Jeremiah Pruitt and Sophomore Dylan Agcaoili-Smith started us off with 158 runners. Smith had a super fast first lap and then began to lose steam as the race went on. He finished with his infamous sprint and a season best in 64th place at 21:37. Pruitt got his first taste of racing and worked hard to maintain a constant pace, he finished in 122nd place at 25:55. Seniors Ava Mitchell and Jewely Weber faced 87 girls in the Girls Varsity race. Mitchell stayed consistent all three laps and earned herself a one second Personal Best as she cruised across the finish line in 55th place at 24:51. Weber fought through ankle pain to better her time from last week and finish 72nd at 27:32. Lastly, Junior Cirque Carter led the way for the Varsity Boys as they faced 117 runners. The Valdez Varsity team stayed together as a team, pushing each other to stay strong. Runners started off strong, working to get to the middle of the pack before the trail narrowed. Carter edged his way in front of the Valdez boys, closely followed by Seniors Jaymyn James and Robert Taylor. Keeping the senior runners in sight was Freshman Boston Tippetts in his Varsity preview. Carter finished 79th at 20:52. James and Taylor battled it out with James taking the lead on the 3rd lap and earning yet another Personal Best with a finish in 81st place at 21:03. James is on fire this season. Not far behind was Taylor sailing down the track in 91st place at 21:38, improving upon last week’s finish. Tippetts wasn’t about to be left behind and gave his all to finish in 96th place at 21:53, shaving off almost 30 seconds for a well earned Personal Best. We are hoping for a full and healthy team next week as we head to the infamously hilly and challenging Birch Hill in Fairbanks! Athlete Place Time

Dylan Open 64 21:37 SB

Jeremiah Open 122 25:55

Robert V 91 21:38

Jaymyn V 81 21:03 PR

Cirque V 79 20:52

Boston V 96 21:53 PR

Ava V 55 24:51 PR

Jewely V 72 27:32

The VHS swimmers traveled to Fairbanks this weekend to swim in the Lathrop Invite for the first meet of the season. The two meets resulted in Valdez coming in third in the combined team scores, women's team rankings and men's team rankings for each day. Senior Joslyn Unger swam the 100 yd breaststroke in a 1:30 and 1:29 earning 3rd and 4th place respectively. Junior Garret Sutton swam the 50 yd freestyle in 29.3 secs earning 2nd place. He also swam the 500 freestyle in 7:11 landing him 1st place on Saturday.

Junior Makena Winser swam the 500 yd freestyle in 6:48 earning her 2nd place and swam the 200 yd IM in 2:48 earning her 4th place. First time swimmer, Junior Jackson Vincent swam the 50 yd freestyle in 33.62 on Friday and 33.57 on Saturday setting PRs back to back. He also saw a 100 yd freestyle in 1:17, earning 6th place. Freshman Welsey Sheridan got 1st place in the 100 yd breaststroke with a time of 1:17 on Friday and Saturday got 1st place in the 50 yd freestyle with

a time of 28.06.

Former VHS swimmers and alumni were in the stands both days cheering on the swimmers. All swimmers are looking forward to shaving time of the first meet results and are especially looking forward to hosting the Valdez Invite in 2 weeks.

- MAPs testing make-ups will continue through-out the week and during Flex Friday as needed. Everyone has been working hard to ensure they are giving it their best and we really appreciate all the parent support on this front!

- Flex Fridays are a GREAT WAY to come in and make-up work, ask teachers questions, or participate in various activities. I'm really excited to hear about all the new opportunities for students being discussed for this semester and hopefully something everyone can look forward to! Keep your eye out on the exploratory topics (Embroidery and T3 stuff this week!) and come try some things you've never even considered before. Who knows, you may find a new hobby to get you through the winter!

Some items of order to start getting ready:

- SAT dates are posted and live to register for! You all had the opportunity for the junior year school day test, but this is an opportunity to improve your scores for college applications, scholarships, personal achievement.. whatever! Dates are: November 7th (reg deadline is Oct 23rd, late registration Oct 27th) and December 5th (reg deadline is Nov 20, late registration November 24)

- Scholarships for college are available and ready for you! Start investigating sites like Fastweb.com or College board Scholarship search to see free money you could qualify for. The VHS Scholarship Motherboard is another useful tool, especially when local scholarships start getting released in the spring. We will start offering Scholarship workshops during Flex Fridays to keep your eyes peeled for those opportunities.

- SAVE THE DATE: Graduation Regalia and other information will be shared during Senior and FAFSA night on September 30th at 6:30 PM in the VHS library. Please plan on attending! More information will be released as we get closer to the date.