Guys & Dolls

Larry A. Ryle High School presents the musical, Guys and Dolls.

April 29 at 7PM -- April 30 and May 1st at 7:30PM

Ticket prices: $8 Adults, $5 students/seniors, $3 Kids (under 12),  $2 Boone County Teachers

Tickets: available on www.showtix4u.com. Cash or check at the door.

Email: Lindsey.Huffaker@boone.kyschools.us

Ryle Drama website

Ryle gets double dose of victory

Check out this Enquirer article on the Raider track & field teams.

Ryle gets double dose of victory

Raider brothers aim for twin berths at state

Nice article in last week's Enquirer about the boys' tennis team and the Okita brothers.

Raider brothers aim for twin berths at state

Marine Corp Band at Ryle TONIGHT

The Marine Corp Band from the 2nd Aircraft Wing in Cherry Point, North Carolina will perform at 7:30 PM—TONIGHT!

The performance will be at the Ryle High School Auditorium and is free to the public!

Governor's School for the Arts

Congratulations to the following students for earning a place in this summer's Governor's School for the Arts:

Desirae Carron - Instrumental Music
Kaitlin Geohegan - Dance
Andrea Squires - Instrumental Music

Hosted this summer at Transylvania University in Lexington, the GSA program is a summer program for the best young artists in the state.  Entrance to the program is gained only by audition or presentation of works.

KY Governor's School for the Arts

Prom Activities

The Ryle Jr-Sr Prom this past weekend was a fantastic event.  Held at the Bank of Ky Center at NKU, the prom was themed "Grecian Nights" and had approximately 700 students attend.

Approximately 400 students attended the After-Prom, held at the Five Seasons.  Students played inflatable games, sports, swam, and ate until late in the night.  At 4 a.m. raffle prizes, including cash, a dorm refrigerator, and other were awarded to students.

A special thanks to Mrs. Dorgan, Mrs. Hockney, and Mrs. Klaas for their work in organizing the prom.  Special thanks also to the Ryle PTSA for organizing and hosting the After-Prom, especially Mrs. Scroggins and Mrs. Eichenger!

Ryle FBLA Performs Well at State

The Ryle chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) performed extremely well at the state competition over spring break.  Congratulations to these students for this great accomplishment!

Here's a quick rundown of the results:

First Place

Largest Chapter Membership - Ryle High School (362 members)

* American Enterprise Project - Doug Lusco, Ryan Hall, and Allison England

* Business Ethics - Mollie Ford, Emilee Hancock, and Meaghan Sorrell
* Global Business - Sean Ferguson, Thomas Middendorf, and Lee Pinkston
* Business Plan Project - Sam McKeough
* Business Financial Plan - Olivia Franxman and McKenzie Cook
Job Interview - Ariel-Blythe Reske

Second Place
* Emerging Business Issues - Savannah Edwards and Doug Lusco

Third Place
* Annual Business Report - Logan Craven
* Partnership with Business - Maggie Belhorn, Kyle Donovan, and Ryan Donovan
Client Services - Jake Hart

Fourth Place
Database Design and Application - Michael Carlton
Name Tag - Jeremy Logsdon
Public Speaking I - Meghan Brown
Public Speaking II - Jonathan Brigham
Mr. Future Business Leader - Brandon Loschiavo
Local Chapter Scrapbook - Brittany McClintock and Mariah Weber
Management Decision Making - Matt See and Brett Uminger

Fifth Place
Accounting I - Kate Cremer
Business Math - Junpei Koneko
Introduction to Technology Concepts - Ryan Trostle
Website Development - Tyler Gray, Katie Langsdale, and Carolyn Meiller

* Students will be representing Ryle High School and Kentucky FBLA at the national competition this summer in Nashville, TN on July 13-17.

NDA Students in Tragic Accident

Last week several Notre Dame Academy students were involved in a car accident while returning from spring break.  One student, Maria Schaffstein, was killed and several others were seriously injured.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the Schaffstein family and the entire Notre Dame Academy community.

Kentucky Skills USA Competition

Congratulations to Ryle senior Alex Morrison!  Over the break Alex competed in the Kentucky Skills USA competition in Diesel Equipment Technology and placed FIRST in the state.  Alex will now compete in the national vocational competition this summer.

Great Job Alex and good luck at nationals!

Governor's Scholars named

Eight junior students at Ryle have been selected to attend the Kentucky Governor's Scholars program this summer.  This 4 week summer program is highly selective and includes students from all over the Commonwealth.

Congratulations to the following students for their selection:

• Meredith Eckstein
• Gabby Gonzales
• Elizabeth Johnson
• Samantha McKeough
• Matt See
• AC Stinson
• Andrea Wilhoite
• Renee Wilson

For more information of the Governor's Scholars program go to http://gsp.ky.gov/

KY Core Content Tests

This week our students will be taking the Kentucky Core Content Tests, the benchmarking tests for Kentucky schools to determine if they are meeting the academic needs of students.

The juniors will be taking tests in mathematics, science, and social studies; while the sophomores will be taking tests in reading.

These school-wide assessments are very important for two reasons:

1. They can serve as a predictor of a student’s college readiness and provide some very valuable information on a student’s strengths and weaknesses before they enter their next year of high school.
2. These tests are a measure of our school’s academic performance and it provides valuable information about each student that we use for instructional purposes.

Good luck to our juniors and sophomores as they continue the tradition of academic excellence at Ryle High School.

Teens and Alcohol

Two recent tragic events have provided some very stark reminders of the dangers of alcohol for teenage students.  A few months ago the alcohol-related death of Ryle freshman Karen Kappelman stunned everyone.  The second, and more recent, event is the spring break death of Cincinnati St. Xavier HS senior Matt James.

The frightening similarity is that both of these young people were well-thought-of by peers and adults and neither was viewed as a "party-er".  Both were great kids that made a few very bad decisions which ultimately cost them their lives.

Mitch Albom, of the Detroit Free Press, has a poignant article on Matt James' death.  The Real Tragedy Of A Spring Break Death

By Mitch Albom

Published: Sunday, April 11, 2010

Matt James fell off a balcony. He died. He was 17, four years under the legal drinking age. Police say he was drunk. This would be a tragic story if it were an isolated story.

It's more tragic because it is not.

James was not the first underage kid to die during spring break this year. He wasn't the first in Florida, nor was he the first in party-happy Panama City Beach. He wasn't even the first in Panama City Beach to fall five stories. Just two weeks earlier, a 19-year-old man from Georgia did the same thing. Fell off. Died. Alcohol, according to the guy's friends, was involved in that one, too.

James' story got more attention over the past week because he had been a top football recruit for Notre Dame, an offensive lineman hailed for his agility and towering presence. After his death, the Internet lit up with tributes and sad farewells. Matt James was mourned as a pied piper to small kids, a gentle giant.

No one spoke about how much alcohol it takes to intoxicate a 6-foot-8, 290-pound body. No one said how preposterous it is to argue with people next door by leaning over the balcony and shaking your finger - which James was reportedly doing when he fell.

No one asked how a 17-year-old, on a trip with 40 other kids and six adults, manages to drink enough to be in such a state - at 6:30 in the evening, not exactly the wee hours - with nobody stopping him.

In fact, when James' high school football coach was questioned by the media about the intoxication, he said, "I think you trivialize the situation if you start focusing on that. A young man, a 17-year-old young man, lost his life."

Yes. And alcohol may be the reason.

There is nothing trivial about that. No place for teenagers

If anything, alcohol is the real story here. Between March 11-28, police said they arrested 985 people in Panama City Beach for underage possession of alcohol. Read that again. Nine hundred eighty-five kids. And I call them kids, because when it comes to drinking, they are.

Which begs the question, especially with James, a 12th-grader: What was he doing down there? Since when did spring break become a high school thing? Since when is 40 kids with six adults - who, according to the football coach, weren't even there as official chaperones - a good ratio?

How much more evidence do you need that Florida, spring break and hotel rooms can be a dangerous combination? There is an awful history of people falling to their deaths from balconies in the Sunshine State. Sometimes they are jumping to another room to avoid crowded elevators. Sometimes they are diving into swimming pools. Sometimes they are taking foolish dares.

And sometimes they have no idea how precarious their posture is.

In any and all cases, it is no place to send your high school kid. I don't care how much they beg. I don't care how hard they work in school. And I really don't care how much they promise not to drink. Come on. We were all that age. Between the pressure from your friends, the ease of acquisition and the teenage ability to stay up longer and later than any adult chaperone, booze is always going to be a threat.

How do you avoid a threat?

How about staying away. Yes, kids will be kids

Now, of course, our prayers go out to James' family and friends. Losing a young, healthy man is always heartbreaking.

But dying in war is one thing. Dying on spring break is another. There is no kind way to say this. But you cannot, in good conscience, paint Matt James as a tragic hero. At best he is a victim of naïveté, thinking alcohol is just fine for a 17-year-old, and balconies are not dangerous places.

At worst, he is an example of the brazen fearlessness that young men exude, sometimes with deadly results. What, one imagines, could possibly have been so important to have an argument over across a balcony five stories high?

Probably something that would make you say, "Ahh, you know kids." And that's the point. If you know kids, you don't allow them in those situations. Then, hopefully, you don't have to mourn them later.

The Real Tragedy of a Spring Break Death

Have a Great Spring Break!

Enjoy the time off during spring break.  Classes will resume on Monday, April 19th.

All sophomore students will be taking the KCCT Reading test on Tuesday, April 20th and Wednesday, April 21st.

All junior students will be taking the KCCT Mathematics Test on Tuesday, April 20th, the KCCT Science test on Wednesday, April 21st, and the KCCT Social Studies test on Thursday, April 22nd.

Commencement - Class of 2010

The setting of the final day of school last night at the Boone County BOE meeting allows us to notify everyone of the date of commencement for the Class of 2010. 

The commencement exercises for the Class of 2010 will be at 10:00 am on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 in the Ryle gymnasium.

The final day of school will be Wednesday, June 2nd.  A rotating schedule for each of the high schools in Boone County then sets the graduation dates following the final day of school.

More information regarding end of school events will be forwarded to the seniors and also mailed home to the parents.