| Ripley High School 254 Jefferson Street
Ripley, TN 38063
Phone – 731-635-2642
Fax – 731-635-7151
Principal: Joe Bridges
(jbridges@mail.lced.net
)
Joe Bridges has been the principal of Ripley High School since
2007. Prior to serving nine years as the school's assistant
principal, athletic director and head baseball coach, he taught
for 20 years at Adamsville High School. Mr. Bridges holds a
bachelor of science degree in physical education with an
emphasis in history from the University of Tennessee, and a
master’s of education degree in administration and supervision
from Tennessee State University. His career as a coach has been
very successful. His teams have won numerous district and
regional championships, and his RHS team won the 2003 state
championship. Mr. Bridges was named the TBCA and Tennessee
Sports Writers State Coach of the Year in 1993. Also in 2003, he
received the FOP Man of the Year award. Among numerous other
awards, he was also named the TSSAA’s A. F. Bridges Award for
Male Sports Coach of the Year. His career record is 648-307.
Assistant Principal: Susan Farris (Sfarris@lced.net)
Susan Farris began teaching at Ripley High
School in 1993 and has served as assistant principal since 2006.
She was a medical technologist before she chose to work in
education. She has worked in the Lauderdale County School System
for her entire teaching career beginning at Lauderdale Middle
School. She holds an endorsement in Educational Leadership from
Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, a master’s degree from the
University of Memphis and a bachelor of science degree from
Siena College of Memphis. A widow, she has one daughter, Leigh,
who is a graduate of Ripley High School, Mississippi State
University (BS), The University of Tennessee for the Health
Sciences (master's), and Purdue University (PhD). Lauderdale
County has been Susan Farris’ home since 1975.
Assistant Principal: Shirley
Robinson (srobinson@mail.lced.net)
Shirley Robinson was appointed Assistant
Principal at Ripley High School in the 2008-2009 school year,
after beginning her teaching at Ripley High School in 1988. Her
entire teaching career has been serving various schools in the
Lauderdale County School System, including the Alternative
School and Lauderdale Middle School. She has 21 years of
experience. She has a special education endorsement from
University of Tennessee at Martin, a bachelor of science from
Lane College in business administration and masters of education
degree in administration & supervision from Trevecca Nazarene
College. She is glad to be back at “home” at Ripley High School.
She is a member of Henning Grove Baptist Church in Ripley, where
she serves as church clerk.
Assistant Principal: Don Myers (dmyers@mail.lced.net)
Mr. Don Myers has been in education for 22
years. He began his career in1986 at Vance Middle School in the
Memphis City School System. For the past nine years, he has
taught math at Ripley High School. In addition to teaching
responsibilities, he has coached football, basketball, and
presently leads the RHS track programs along with his wife,
Jessica. Mr. Myers earned his bachelor of science degree in
physical education from Union University and a masters degree in
educational leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University. Along
with his coaching, Mr. Myers enjoys family time and
participating in running events of all distances. He also works
as a track official at the TSSAA Spring Fling. He and his wife,
Jessica, are proud parents of a son, Brody, and daughter, Heidi.
RHS Drill Team competes
Members of the Ripley High School Army JROTC
Drill Team recently traveled to Jackson Central-Merry to compete
in an 11-school drill meet. Ripley placed second in Armed
Exhibition, commanded by Dakota Jones, and third in Armed
Regulation, commanded by Peyton Meyers.
RHS students prepare for college
Ripley High School instructor Mike Huwe assists
this RHS student with the completion of his FAFSA application.
RHS educators and counselors are dedicated to helping seniors
prepare both academically and financially for college.
RHS JROTC Rifle Team qualifies for Nationals,
earns high honors
The Ripley High School Army JROTC Rifle Team
recently traveled to the Civilian Marksmanship Center at Camp
Perry in Northern Ohio for a competition that provides JROTC
units and individuals who earned the right to represent their
Brigades an opportunity to meet the challenges of a major
shoulder-to-shoulder competition.
The Army JROTC Championship is also the
qualifying competition for the 2010 National JROTC Championship.
Out of 1,635 Army JROTC units, the top 20 teams are selected to
compete. This is the fifth year in a row for Ripley to qualify
for this high level competition.
Members of the RHS team had a tough first day and
finished in 13th place. However, on the second day of shooting,
the team shot 51 points better and jumped three positions. As a
result, the team ended up in the middle of the pack, 10th place.
Shooting for Ripley were Chelsea Rhoads with a
score of 1,075, Austin Crutchfield with 1,045, Cory Sparks with
1,005, and Caitlyn Townshend with 982. Shooting alternate was
Ashley Prescott.
In addition to qualifying for the 2010 National
JROTC Championship, team captain Chelsea Rhoads earned her
Junior Distinguished Badge at this competition. This Badge is
awarded to school-age junior three-position air rifle shooters
who distinguish themselves by attaining a series of high
rankings in designated major junior air rifle championships that
include State Junior Olympic Qualifiers, CMP Cup Matches, the
National Junior Olympic Championships and other National Council
Three-Position Air Rifle Championships. The Junior Distinguished
Badge is authorized for wear on JROTC cadet uniforms.
To receive the badge, junior shooters must earn
30 EIC credit points in designated competitions. At least 10 of
the 30 points must be won in National Championship competition.
Only 317 shooters have won this national honor in
the last decade. Cadet Rhoads is the fifth shooter from Ripley
to receive this badge.
Poetic Prowess
RHS English Instructor Nathan Michels provides
input on a poem being composed by this RHS student on the topic
“Life as a Teen.” Students in Michels’ class work in groups to
critique their work, then individually refine their poetry.
RHS students-making a PLAN
RHS Guidance Counselor Stacey White helps an RHS sophomore and
his mother interpret his PLAN information. Ripley High School
recently hosted a parent meeting to provide information on the
PLAN tests administered to all sophomores. At the meeting,
parents were given information on how the tests relate to each
student’s plans for the future. RHS educators and counselors
also offered insight on the interpretation of scores and how
they may be used to help students and their families in making
decisions on post-secondary education and career planning.
JROTC Cadets Take Presidential Physical
Fitness Test
One of the goals of Army JROTC is to promote
physical fitness. Each Tuesday, during the academic semester,
JROTC students participate in a conditioning program. At the end
of the semester, the cadets are administered the Presidential
Physical Fitness test. This test consists of 5 events: curl-ups
or partial curl-ups, shuttle run, one-mile endurance run/walk,
pull-ups or right angle push-ups, and V-sit or sit and reach.
Based of the results of the test, cadets are
presented one of three awards
-
The Presidential Physical
Fitness Award - recognizes students who achieve an
outstanding level of physical fitness. Boys and girls who
score at or above the 85th percentile (based on the 1985
School Population Fitness Survey) on all five events are
eligible for this award.
-
The National Physical Fitness
Award - Students who score above the 50th percentile on all
five events - demonstrating a basic, yet challenging, level
of physical fitness - are eligible for this award.
-
The Participant Physical
Fitness Award - Students whose scores fall below the 50th
percentile on one or more events receive this award for
taking part in all five events of the Physical Fitness Test.
Receiving the Presidential Physical Fitness Award
was Chris Modlin. The award consists of a blue patch, which he
will be authorized to wear on his class A uniform next year.
Chris scored 470 points out of a possible 500.
Receiving the National Physical Fitness Award
were Ashley Prescott, Cody Lewis, Tiffany Livingston, Brittany
Simmons, and Cory Sparks. This award consists of a red patch,
which can be worn on the cadet’s PT uniform.
Tiger Battalion Best Drill Platoon Competition
With 25 mile per hour wind gusts and temperatures
in the mid 20s, the hard charging Tiger Battalion cadets held
their last school drill competition.
The Best Drill Platoon Competition is the final
exam for all the drill that cadets learned in leadership lab.
Platoon Leaders and Platoon Sergeants have to memorize and
correctly perform 59 drill commands in the proper order. They
and their platoon members are graded on how well the platoon as
a whole performs these commands.
This semester, the winning platoon was 1st
platoon, Charlie Company. The platoon leader was out sick on the
day of the competition. The 1st Squad Leader, SSG Alyssa Dennis
had, on her own initiative, learned the drill commands. She took
charge of the platoon and gave a perfect command performance.
For this action, she was awarded not only the Best Drill Platoon
ribbon but also the JROTC Commendation medal.
Members of the winning platoon were Jeremiah
Boyd, Jesse Hardee, Jeremy Hurdle, James Johnson, Austin Koonce,
Chris Modlin, Kevin Spoon and Shemetra Washington.
JROTC conducts Community Flag Retirement
Ceremony
The U.S. Flag Code states, “The flag, when
it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem
for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably
by burning.”
Recognizing that there was a need in the
community to properly dispose of tattered flags, the Ripley High
School JROTC Tiger Battalion selected offering this service to
the community as its first semester Service Learning Project.
The Battalion Commander, LTC Andria Johnson and
Battalion XO, MAJ Tiffany Livingston, spearheaded the project.
Using the battalion staff, local merchants were contacted for
permission to put collection boxes in their establishments. The
S-5, Public Affairs Officer, 1LT Hannah Shands sent
announcements to the radio station, local newspapers and put up
flyers around the school.
After decorating, collection boxes were delivered
to merchants who chose to participate. In all, 27 flags were
collected for a dignified retirement.
Shortly before Christmas break, the Ripley HS
Army JROTC Battalion finalized its Service Learning Project by
conducting a Flag Retirement Ceremony. The cadets were assembled
in a formation and rendered honors to the flags being retired.
LTC Johnson read passages from The Flag Keepers’ Flag Retirement
Ceremony while an honor guard burned the flags.
RHS Teamwork
Students at Ripley High School recently learned
the importance of teamwork. In a collaborative endeavor between
Gary Fain’s Criminal Justice I, Mike Huwe’s Jobs for America’s
Graduates, and Nathan Michels’ sophomore English classes,
students learned communications skills in a variety of unique
lessons.
In this task, students made their way through a
“mindfield” without the aid of sight. Teamwork was used to
accomplish this job—requiring students completing the course to
listen and team members to provide clearly spoken instructions.
RHS Human Pretzel
Another task for students in the RHS Teamwork
program, was the Human Pretzel. Students were required to
untangle themselves using verbal communication and allow one
person to take the leadership role to achieve problem-solving.
Ripley JROTC Rifle Team qualifies for Army
Service Championship
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The RHS JROTC three-position air rifle
competition program starts each year in October with Army, Navy,
Marine Corps and Air Force postal competitions. All JROTC units
that offer rifle marksmanship training for their cadets are
encouraged to shoot in these popular matches. All firers in the
open postal competitions fire a 3x10 air rifle course of fire.
To qualify, the Ripley team had to be one of the
top three teams for the 7th Brigade, covers the states of
Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
Officials with the RHS JROTC were notified in
mid-December that the team had come in first, shooting a 1035.
Shooting for Ripley was Chelsea Rhoads with a
265, Cory Sparks with a 253, Austin Crutchfield with a 252,
Ashley Prescott with a 249, Daisy Snyder with a 239, Caitlyn
Townshend with a 230, David Mockbee with a 220, Alyssa Dennis
with a 214, and Dustin Max with a 209.
The postal competitions will be followed by a
JROTC Service Air Rifle Championship.
All Service Championships will be held at Camp
Perry, Ohio. The Army JROTC Service Championship will take place
Feb. 18-20. These championships will not only select the top
teams in each JROTC command, but they will also identify the
teams that will represent each service in the National JROTC Air
Rifle Championship, to take place March 25-27.
This is the fifth straight year Ripley has
qualified for this high honor.
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