This week, the high school band was tasked with composing their own music, then we came together and played all of the parts at the same time! It was pretty cool.

Our own Parker Winslow has been an art student here at VH for the past couple of years. But this day he switched gears and pulled off a different role in art class. Parker helps with the Junior High and this day he was the "model" for the class. We don't know how they got him to stand still that long, but apparently he did a fine job.

From the entire Mustang Family - we say thank you for supporting our benefit for Mr. and Mrs. Gallimore! We are certainly blessed by our communities, our patrons, our parents and our students! We raised a little over $4000 to help the Gallimore's with expenses after their fire!!

Another King and Queen of Courts and Winter Formal are in the books for the 2023-2024 school year which made for an exciting week here at Valley Heights! Congratulations are in order for the KAYS organization and their sponsor, Mrs. Caley Brenner for all the work they did in planning for the entire week which includes the weekly activities, the crowning ceremonies and the dance. Congratulations should also be extended to our 2024 Queen of Courts – Ms. Audra Steinfort and our King of Courts – Mr. Spencer Lees. The highlight of the week was the Pep Rally held on Friday afternoon and the gym was rocking! KAYS put together a basketball hype video, our dance and cheer groups performed, the candidates played a game and our staff squared off with the seniors in a dodge ball game! To make the event even better the elementary students were able to attend and they too had the chance to participate in some of the activities. The energy carried over to the basketball games that night! The Lady Mustangs defeated the Lady Eagles of Axtell and the boys’ squad pushed the state ranked Eagles to final minutes of play before falling in a close battle. It was, in my opinion one of the loudest nights I have experienced here at Valley Heights! Let’s go Mustangs!

I would like to take a moment to personally thank each and every one of you for the support shown to one of our staff members – Mrs. Caley Gallimore and her husband. The donations and support given to them has just been phenomenal. The benefit Sloppy Joe meal during the Axtell game raised over $4000 for the family which was just a sampling of the support that has been provided. A word of thanks is also in order for our staff, students and community members who planned, donated items, prepared the meal, helped serve and clean-up after the event! This event clearly demonstrates a phrase we use quite often in our building – Mustang Family!!

Student Success Meetings are right around the corner and we would like to invite all of our parents to visit with our teachers on either February 12th or February 15th during the hours from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The meetings provide an excellent chance for parents to visit with teachers about how their child is doing academically. If you are unable to visit us during those times we would encourage you to contact staff members via an email or phone call to set up a face to face meeting.

The basketball season continues to wind down with just five games remaining on the schedule. We have Centralia tonight and Clifton-Clyde at home on Tuesday, February 13th. The Clifton-Clyde game is scheduled as Parent’s Night. Our last home game of the season, other than post-season play, will be the makeup game against Rock Creek on the 19th! We will be having a Bitty Dance routine that night. Come on out and cheer on the Mustangs!

In case you missed our Thrillshare items we have had two Mustangs who have signed letters of intent to extend their athletic and academic careers at the next level. Tyrel Wagner has signed with Bethel to play football in the fall and Maggie Toerber signed with Benedictine to play basketball. Congratulations are in order for these Mustang students!

Parents – Just a reminder that we do not have school on February 16th or February 19th!

Have a great week!

Mr. Savage

Valley Heights Forensics took 4th place behind Clay Center and missed 3rd place by 6 points at Nemaha Central Saturday, February 3rd. Lawson Stryker first in prose and 1st in IDA with Liam Shill - State Qualifiers. Carter Germann 2nd in Solo Serious- State Qualifiers, Harmony Conti 4th in Solo Serious and 3rd in IDA with her brother Dino Conti - a State qualifying rank - also got 4th in Solo Humorous. Tyrel Wagner got 5th in Solo Serious. Saige Wilcox got 4th in Poetry and qualified for State Festival. Also competing and improving scores from last week are Janelle Medina, Morgan Vinduska, Kayla Brigham, Abigail Thorn, and Dawson Vermetten. Saturday, February 10th,

LEARN AS YOU GO. The Valley Heights Forensics team had the amazing opportunity to work with Ross Taylor of Second City Touring Company, and has also performed at The Kennedy Center and Lyric Opera. Originally from St. James, Missouri, Ross studied theater at the University of Missouri. Ross teaches improv classes at the Second City and Annoyance Theater in Chicago, and performs weekly shows at the Annoyance Theater with Missed Call and Tuesday Musical Improv. The workshop was sponsored by Marshall County Arts Cooperative and the workshop took place at the Waterville Opera House. His knowledge and experience was very beneficial especially to the IDA teams.

Improvised Duet Acting (IDA) is a forensics event which challenges the performer's mind. In IDA, two partners get randomly chosen characters, a setting, and a situation. They are given 30 minutes to create a four to seven minute skit. Tyrel Wager, a senior on the team said, “I learned how to get into an improv mindset, and learn how to make a story out of a randomly chosen character, setting, and situation.” Tyrel and Kayla Bigam, also a senior, enjoyed working on IDA exercises so much that they have decided to give it a try during competition.

Forensics is a great way to get out of your comfort zone. Janelle Medina, a junior, really enjoyed the fact that she could get out of her shell and get more creative with her acting skills. Janelle has participated in the IDA category before but she was still able to benefit from Ross’ advice. Valley Heights Forensics is very grateful to MCAC and Ross Taylor for this opportunity to learn and apply new skills to their acting no matter what event they are competing in!

Any high school student that is interested in trying out for the Golf Team, there will be a team meeting, Tuesday morning, at 7:45am, in Mr. Ehrlich's room. Come on out and see what's it all about.

Blue Rapids, KS 66411

785-363-2508

Principal-Mike Savage

Athletic Director-Jordan Broxterman

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