RALSTON VALLEY NEWS

December 1, 2023 EDition

Mental, social and emotional wellness of students is a priority that we share with our community and one that we are addressing with layers of support including school counselors, social emotional learning specialists, school psychologists, social workers along with partnerships with outside agencies like Hazel Health.

This year, we continue our partnership with Hazel Health’s Telehealth services to provide a free telehealth extension of mental and physical health support for Jeffco students enrolled at district-managed schools accessed at home with a parent/guardian.

Parents/guardians may access these services on behalf of your student by visiting this webpage and following the instructions for – Steps to Access Care.

activities

Jazz Band Concert

DECA Club

This week students in the Business and Marketing Program competed in the annual District 13 DECA Conference. Students prepared solutions to a variety of business case studies and presented their findings to a panel of judges. All students represented RVHS very well, and nine competitors qualified for the State Conference to take place at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO.

State Qualifiers include Emma Kuehn, Grace Cooke, Kathryn Shedd, Rachel Powell, Kiana Nelson, Colette Duplantier, Maira Hanna, Mason Schroder, and Jackson Glavach. Way to go Ralston Valley DECA!

athletics

Athletic Updates

Congratulations to our football team on their playoff run to the semifinals. The Friday before break, they headed to Colorado Springs for a quarter final matchup with Pine Creek. The 28-3 win by the Mustangs but them to work on Thanksgiving for the second straight year. Ralston Valley gave four-time defending champion Cherry Creek all they could handle last weekend before falling 21-14 to the Bruins in the semis. The Mustangs make the semifinals and finish the season 10-3.

Mark your calendars: This coming Thursday through Saturday is CHSAA's State Spirit Competition, December 7-9. The Mustangs are looking to make some noise at this year's championships at the Denver Coliseum. The Cheerleading Team will compete on Thursday at 1:08 p.m. in the 5A Game Day Division. The Ralston Valley Dance Team will compete on Saturday at 12:52 p.m. in the 5A Poms Division. The dance team is also one of four teams in Colorado that are invited to perform their Game Day performance as part of an exhibition at 3:11p.m. on Saturday. Good luck to both teams.

The Winter Sport season kicked off this week:

Girls Basketball has been competing this week at Horizon's "Best in the Nest" basketball tournament. Following an opening loss to a tough Pine Creek team 48-42, the Mustangs bounced back and beat Vista Peak 81-52 last night. They'll play Rangeview on Saturday at 2:30. The girls will play three games next week at the Fairview Tournament.

Boys Basketball started their season with 67-47 victory over Douglas County at the Mountain Vista/Rock Canyon Tournament on Wednesday. They'll take on one of the host schools in Mountain Vista tonight at 7:30 p.m. before Saturday's finale. Next week they host three games at home as part of the Ralston Roundup. 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday will be your first chances to check out the 2023-24 Mustangs.

Girls Swim and Dive kick off their season on Saturday at Myers Pool in Arvada. Runners up in 5A Jeffco last year, the Mustangs are looking to have another strong season. For new coach Amanda Waters, this will be her first meet as head of Mustang Swim and Dive. Good luck this year Mustangs!

Wrestling kicked off their season on Wednesday night at Littleton where they dueled the Lions. The team looked strong in their first outing of the year. They are currently down at Pine Creek in Colorado Springs at the Battle of the Best Dual Tournament. One of the biggest dual tournaments in the state will prove to be a great early season test for the Mustangs. Bring your school spirit, wear school colors and come support the wrestling team’s first home dual of the season! RV vs Denver South on Wednesday, 12/06. JV starts at 6:00 p.m. and varsity starts around 7:00 p.m. Come early and support your hometown wrestling program by stopping by our table for goodies and swag!

Hockey will try to follow up last season's runner up finish with another run to the State title game. They will jump right into action against perennial powers Denver East (Wednesday) and Regis (Friday) next week. With six straight away games to start the season, you'll need to hit the road if you want to check out the Mustangs before the new year.

Hometown Ticketing - All Jeffco events have gone cashless this year. When attending games at our schools or stadiums save yourself time by purchasing your tickets ahead of time by using the link below. You can also purchase punch passes to use for your entire family. Punch passes will save you money on processing fees.

HOMETOWN TICKETING BOX OFFICE

off campus policy

Due to the nature of our campus, we do not allow students to walk off campus during the school day.

9th grade students are not allowed off campus at any point during the school day unless they leave with their parents/guardians.

If your 10th grade student is driving, they may leave campus with parental permission. They are expected to follow local and state driving laws. Please click on this FORM to give your sophomore child the ability to leave campus with your permission.

Our campus is not closed to our 11th and 12th grade students and they may leave campus.

Schedule for The week

December 4 - 8, 2023

Monday, Dec. 4th - Silver Day

Tuesday, Dec. 5th - White Day

Wednesday, Dec. 6th - Blue Day

Thursday, Dec. 7th - White Day

Friday, Dec. 8th - Blue Day

Counseling Department

IT Internship Opportunities

Jeffco's IT department has paid internship opportunities for students. Interested students should complete this form to be notified when applications become available for an IT Project Coordinator Intern, Software Developer Intern, or Technician ECTS. For more information, click here.

Girls Lead the Way Conference

Colorado School of Mines is hosting Girls Lead the Way - STEM & Leadership Conference for High School Girls for students interested in being a leader in STEM. Participants will engage in a day-long interactive lab and classroom-based conference hosted by the Society of Women Engineers. For more information and to register, click here.

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2024

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Place: Colorado School of Mines, Green Center, Golden

UNC Future Teacher Conference

On February 2, 2024, the University of Northern Colorado is hosting a FREE conference to help aspiring teachers learn more about the field, connect with peers and gather insights through presentations and workshops. For more information and to register, click here.

Summer Transportation & Construction Career Week for GIRLs

The HOYA Foundation is offering a FREE one-week summer camp for females aged 13-23 interested in a career in transporation and construction. There are four seperate sessions, each a different week in June. The deadline to apply is March 29, 2024. Click here for more information and to apply.

Warren Tech Updates

(1) Warren Tech's Round 1 application for next year is NOW OPEN in Enroll Jeffco. The application will be open until February 9, 2024. Students are encouraged to apply during Round 1 to have the best chance for their program choice. Current 10th and 11th graders can apply.

(2) All three Warren Tech campuses will host an Open House on the same evening. This is the best way for students to experience Warren Tech as a potential student. Visit one, two, or all three campuses in one night!

Date: Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Time: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Places: Warren Tech North (Arvada), Warren Tech Central (Lakewood), and Warren Tech South (Littleton)

Expressing Gratitude

As we approach the holiday season and life starts to feel extra chaotic, we encourage you to take some time to think about what you and your family are grateful for. Making gratitude a habit helps children and teens be more physically, psychologically, and socially healthy. For ideas on how to practice gratitude as a family, click here.

Advisement Corner

This Week in Advisement

Bullying and Harassment (9th grade) and Developing an Identity Part 4: Share out thinking of another person (10th grade).

Advisement Attendance Reminders and Make-up Opportunities

Students cannot miss more than four class periods, out of 15, excused or unexcused, this semester. If a student misses five or more classes, they will receive a failing grade and will not receive the 0.125 credit.

Make-up opportunities :

#1. Thursday, December 7th 3:35-4:05 in L1101

#2. Thursday, December 7th 4:05-4:35 in L1101

If you need to make up more than two absences, please see Mrs. Nigut in the main office for more options.

Cameron Holland Toy Drive in Advisement

The Cameron Holland Family adopted this toy drive tradition in 2019 when Cameron Holland, an RV student and athlete, passed away before the holiday season. The Holland family is tightly involved in the RV community, granting a scholarship to a senior student athlete each year, raising awareness for vehicle safety, and sponsoring a toy drive in memory of Cam, making it really more than just about toys!

Our 9th and 10th grade Advisement classes will be collecting toys for the Cameron Holland Toy Drive, benefiting Children’s Hospital and Jeffco Head Start starting Monday, December 4th - Thursday, December 14th.

Students can bring their unwrapped donations to their Advisement teacher or to the main office. Even though this is being presented in 9th and 10th grade Advisement classes, we encourage our entire community to get involved.

Here is a list of acceptable items.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jenny Braketa: jenny.braketa@jeffco.k12.co.us

ralston valley HAPPENINGS

Advanced Placement Language Mixes English and Art

AP Language class selected their favorite outdoor space, and then analyzed the tone and used rhetorical modes to describe that outdoor space. Then they painted that space, mixing artistic fun with language arts.

Competition in French Classes

As part of National French Week, two-person teams competed to see who could eat the most chocolate mousse, and staff judged the winning recipes. Bien fait!

German II Students Visit Christkindl Market

German II - AP classes attended the Denver Christkindl Market on Tuesday using a grant from the German Cultural Foundation. Transportation was covered by the grant and students and chaperones were each provided with a $10 voucher to go to towards the wide variety of German food. They joined 450 other German students from around the Denver area. The RV students sang German holiday songs which they had memorized. The Denver Brass Five played in the festival tent during lunch. Strolling around were Krampuses, a type of monster seen in the Alpine regions of southern Germany and Austria. They punish naughty boys and girls whereas St.Nikolaus praises the good ones!

Vielen Dank to the German Cultural Foundation for providing our students with such a rich experience.