C.W. Ruckel Middle School

🎉🌈 Ruckel Color Run – Don’t Miss Out! 🌈🎉

Rams, the countdown is ON! ⏳

📅 Race Day: April 30
👕 LAST DAY to Guarantee Your Shirt is TOMORROW (April 16)!

You do not want to miss this! Get ready for:
🎧 Live DJ
🎈 Inflatables
🌮 Food trucks
📸 Photos with CW Ram
🎨 And LOTS of color!

Grab your spot now and be part of one of the most fun events of the year!

https://okaloosaschools.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/5935/452/False/True

Honors Awards will be on May 27. If you are curious how the GPAs are calculated, see below:

Only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarter grades for this school year are used.

How to Calculate a Grade Point Average (GPA)
Convert each final grade in a class quarter to a numeric value:
A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0
Add the values and divide by the number of classes.
Example:
Language Arts (B) = 3
Civics (A) = 4
Math 7 (C) = 2
Science (B) = 3
PE (A) = 4
Chorus (A) = 4
Total: 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 4 = 20
20 ÷ 6 = 3.333 GPA
Weighted GPA for High School Level Courses
For high school level courses, a weighted value is used:
A = 4.5, B = 3.5, C = 2.5, D = 1.5, F = 0
Example:
Language Arts (B) = 3
Civics (A) = 4
Algebra 1 Honors (C) = 2.5
Science (B) = 3
PE (A) = 4
Chorus (A) = 4
Total: 3 + 4 + 2.5 + 3 + 4 + 4 = 20.5
20.5 ÷ 6 = 3.4167 GPA
Recognition Levels
Highest Honors - 4.0 & Above
High Honors - 3.88 - 3.99
Honors - 3.66 - 3.87

🎉🌈 Ruckel Color Run is Almost Here! 🌈🎉

Get ready, Rams—it’s time to run, laugh, and get COVERED in color! 🏃‍♂️🎨

📅 Race Day: April 30
👕 Last Day to Guarantee a Shirt: April 16

This is more than just a run—it’s a full celebration!
🎧 DJ bringing the energy
🎈 Inflatables for fun
🌮 Food trucks with great eats
📸 Photo ops with CW Ram

Bring your friends, bring your energy, and get ready to make some colorful memories! Don’t wait—register by April 16 to lock in your shirt!

C.A.R.E. Crew wanted to spread some cheer before testing season. Candygrams are on sale now through April 21st. Students can buy from C.A.R.E. Crew members in the mornings in the cafeteria and hallways! $1 per candygram.

Do you want a guaranteed shirt at the Color Run? You must register by April 16.
https://okaloosaschools.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/5935/452/False/True

This is a school wide event to have fun, build a positive school atmosphere, and raise funds for continued campus beautification. There will be inflatables, a DJ, food trucks, and pictures with CW Ram!

Congratulations to Ms. Kerrigan on being named Ruckel Middle School’s Educational Support Staff Member of the Month! Ms. Kerrigan consistently goes above and beyond in her role as our staffing specialist, ensuring that every detail is in place to best support our students especially our ESE population. Her dedication, organization, and willingness to step in wherever needed make a tremendous impact on both students and staff. She works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure services are aligned and students receive the support they need to be successful. We are grateful for her commitment, compassion, and the positive difference she makes every day at Ruckel. Congratulations, Ms. Kerrigan!

Congratulations to Ms. Brenneise on being named Ruckel Middle School’s Teacher of the Month! Ms. Brenneise is an exceptional ELA teacher who consistently gives her all to her students and our school community. Her dedication to high-quality instruction, passion for literacy, and commitment to student success are evident in everything she does. She creates an engaging classroom environment where students feel supported, challenged, and inspired to grow as readers and writers. We are proud to recognize her hard work, positive impact, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Ruckel is fortunate to have you, Ms. Brenneise!

Would you like to help with the book fair this week? Sign up here

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4EADAE23A1FD0-59283347-ruckel#/

In honor of April as the Month of the Military Child, Ruckel Middle School is proud to celebrate our military-connected students with a special Purple Up Spirit Week, April 13–17. Each day will highlight a fun and meaningful way to show support, culminating in Purple Up Day on Wednesday, April 15, where we encourage everyone to wear purple in recognition of all military branches. We are grateful for the strength, resilience, and sacrifices of our military families and look forward to celebrating and honoring them throughout the week.

Congratulations to 8th Grader Emilie J for being awarded this year’s National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA)! She has received a $500 scholarship from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and NJHS to go towards future education pursuits.

Last week, we had the honor of celebrating our military families during our Treats for Troops event. As April is the Month of the Military Child, this celebration was especially meaningful as we recognize and honor the strength, resilience, and sacrifices of our military-connected students. We truly value the opportunity to connect with and support our military families—it was wonderful to see so many of you and celebrate together. Thank you for all that you do!

It's Assistant Principal Week, and we are proud to celebrate Ms. Waskow and Mr. Sotelo.

Registration is OPEN! It’s time to register, NOW! You have 10 days to pick your T-shirt size 👏🏾 Join us for the 3rd Annual Ruckel Middle School Color Run & 5K Fun Run 🎨 📅 Thursday, April 30 📍 Ruckel Parking Lot ⏰ Fun Run begins exactly at 6:00 p.m. Bring your friends and family for an evening full of excitement as we celebrate our RAMS community 🐏 🍔 Food Trucks 🍭 Sweet Treats 🎧 DJ & Music 🎈 Inflatables 📸 Mascot Pictures 💲 Registration: • $25 – OCSD Students • $35 – Adults & Community Members • $100 – Family Pack (includes 4 tickets & shirts) 📦 Packet Pick-Up: • April 29 from 2:30–4:00 p.m. • April 30 starting at 5:00 p.m., race begins at 6:00 pm 👕 Register by April 16 to guarantee your preferred t-shirt size! All proceeds support campus beautification projects, so come run, celebrate, and help make a difference for our school community. 📲 Scan the QR code on the flyer to register!

In honor of April as the Month of the Military Child, Ruckel Middle School is proud to celebrate our military-connected students with a special Purple Up Spirit Week, April 13–17. Each day will highlight a fun and meaningful way to show support, culminating in Purple Up Day on Wednesday, April 15, where we encourage everyone to wear purple in recognition of all military branches. We are grateful for the strength, resilience, and sacrifices of our military families and look forward to celebrating and honoring them throughout the week.

Help Ruckel support The Month of the Military Child while showing your school spirit! *Optional “Purple Up” t-shirts are now on sale through April 6. Shirts are $16 and available in both youth and adult sizes.

https://stores.inksoft.com/ruckel_purple_up_for_military_k/shop/home

After a long and exciting week in Lakeland, our Ruckel Rams wrapped up the State Science and Engineering Fair with outstanding results — and we couldn’t be prouder! 🎉 Aviana S (8th Grade) Earned the Manatee Regional STEM Award for her Physics project, “Twisted Tunes.” 🥇 Ben N (8th Grade) Won 1st Place in the Biomedical & Health Sciences – Junior Division AND received the Northeast Florida Regional Science & Engineering Fair Award for his project, “Spot the Spot: Creating a More Efficient Skin Cancer Logistic Regression Model by Using Geometric Representations.” These incredible students competed against 716 projects from across the entire state — and they rose to the top! We are so proud of their hard work, creativity, and dedication to scientific excellence. 💙💛 Way to represent Ruckel!

Today we celebrate Ms. Kirk, who leads our Media Center and plays an integral role in keeping our students engaged, inspired, and connected to learning every day. Her dedication to creating a welcoming space and fostering a love of reading and exploration makes a lasting impact on our entire school community. We are truly grateful for all that she does for our students and staff!

Get ready, Rams! 🐏

Our annual Change for Children Drive kicks off next week, running April 6–24! During lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to donate spare change to support Children in Crisis and make a meaningful impact in our community.

💥 Here’s the challenge: The lunch that raises the MOST money will earn a FULL WEEK of free seating in the cafeteria!

Every coin counts—let’s come together, show our RAM pride, and make a difference!

Hey Ruckel families!

C.A.R.E. Crew will be doing a candygram fundraiser towards the end of April. We need a lot of candy to make that happen, and we would really appreciate it if you were able to donate a bag!
You can order from our list below and ship straight to the school, or you can drop a bag off at the front office. Every little bit helps!
With the money raised from candy gram sales, C.A.R.E. Crew will be purchasing supplies and goodies to help us implement our monthly outreach! Our goal as a crew is to encourage positive mental health and improve the overall atmosphere at Ruckel.

https://a.co/0fH0ZZaG

Yearbook is lacking photos and needs your help. Please consider sharing any photos you have taken, especially seeking track, swimming, tennis, and flag football. Link to photo share (https://photos.jostens.com/R6WATJ)