By Heath Grimes / For the FCT

It’s hard to believe another school year is coming to a close. It’s always a bittersweet time as we reflect on the past year’s worth of memories and experiences, but I am so encouraged for our future because of the achievements we’ve seen academically, artistically and athletically in 2017-2018.

I want to start off by commending our outstanding faculty and staff for a year that has seen exponential growth, both in their professional development and in the educating of their students. This culture we are creating that cultivates a love of learning and a desire to grow and be better is something to truly be proud of – and all of this starts at the top with motivated and dedicated administrators who strive for excellence.

Academically, this past year we were honored to host the statewide AP celebration because of the tremendous gains our system saw on our AP testing from the previous year. RHS was also named the first School of Excellence from A+ College Ready, as well as receiving the School of Distinction honor from CLAS and later being named a CLAS Banner School – a title only seven other schools in the state received. RHS was also recognized by Niche.com as the Number One Standout School in the state.

Our extracurricular organizations, fine arts department and athletics department all had another great year, with awards and recognitions at state conventions and events; outstanding productions and performances; and terrific seasons that included two state runner-up finishes earned by our baseball team and our boys golf team.

As always, this year we continued to receive amazing support from our school board, parents and our community. We have the best school board in the state, with members who truly care about our students and our teachers. We have seen an increase in parental involvement and participation this year, which is one of the goals we developed in our strategic plan. Our RCS Career and Technical Education Program is expanding and growing thanks to community input and support. Our stands remain packed with excited fans, and our events are well-attended by those who embody the meaning of Golden Tiger Pride.

As we approach graduation this week for the Class of 2018, I hope each of our seniors will take that same Golden Tiger Pride with them wherever they go. I hope they will take the lessons they learned, the memories they made and the wisdom they gained and use it as they start new chapters of their lives.

This is a great group of students, and I know they will do great things in the future. It has been a privilege to be part of their educational careers here at RCS, and I wish them nothing but the best as they move forward.

It is an honor to serve another year in a system that values excellence and takes pride in preparing our students for bright futures, and I look forward to all we will accomplish next year.

As always, it’s great to be a Golden Tiger!