Rhea County High School is thrilled to congratulate Mrs. Julie York as teacher of the 2022-2023 school year! Mrs. York knew at an early age that she wanted to be a teacher, and during her high school years, she helped in special programs; this time reaffirmed that she was meant to be a teacher and help students be successful in their learning. Mrs.York joined the RCHS faculty in the fall of 2010 after being a stay-at-home mom to her children for many years. During her tenure at RCHS, she has taught 9th, 10th, and 12th grade English classes. Although she loves her subject area, it is her students who are definitely the favorite part of her job! She works hard on building relationships with every child that enters her classroom, and she wholeheartedly believes that those relationships help with the learning process. When students tell her she has made a difference in their lives, it brings her absolute joy. She loves to see them succeed in their chosen path, knowing she had a small part in their journey. Mrs. York loves spending time with her family, hiking, reading, baking, and gardening. She has been married for 35 years to her husband, Michael, and they have raised 5 wonderful children together.

The RCHS White Team Cheerleaders will be attending the National High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, FL on February 10-12 to compete for the national title in the Small Varsity Coed Division. In order to compete at the national level, the team had to secure a bid at a qualifying regional event. They performed at the Space Center regional in Huntsville, Alabama in October where they finished in 2nd place. In November, they brought home a 2nd place finish and a bid to nationals in the TSSAA state competition along with another 2nd place finish in the Tennessee Extreme regional competition in Franklin, TN. Their first win of the season came at the Smoky Mountain Championships in Sevierville, TN on December 3rd where they received a second nationals bid. They will be competing against approximately 35 other teams in Orlando. We wish them the best of luck as they represent Rhea County High School at the national level.

Students from Mr. Brody Sims's Automotive Mechanics classes were able to participate in a competition at Cleveland High School on December 7.

Seven different high schools from around the area competed at the event, but it was Sims and his crew that came home with the top team award as well as Eagles senior Rachel Blackwell who earned the first place nod in the brake competition.

Victoria Allen (2nd place in brake parts identification), Rufus Gornik (2nd place in electrical diagnostics), and Jace Patton (2nd place in tool identification) also participated in the event to contribute to their team achieving the top spot.

Mr. Sims took four students to the competition, and they made all of their Rhea County Eagle family proud!

Students were given the task of creating a handmade 3D object of their choosing and presenting to the class with a description of the geometry involved and what inspired them in Mrs. Wilson's class.

On January 7, the Rhea County High School wrestling team competed in the Chattanooga Central Invitational. The following individuals placed in the top five of their respective weight divisions.

Caleb Hickman - 1st at 120lbs.

Allen Graham - 3rd at 126 lbs.

Ace Robinson - 4th at 132 lbs.

Kaden Knox - 5th at 145 lbs.

Textured Portraits

The objective for this project was to understand value through different shading techniques and textures. We began by going over the various techniques used in creating value. Then, we discussed how texture can be implemented in their work. To finish off, a portrait was selected by the class and was sectioned off to each student with the goal to recreate the enlarged portrait.

Value Landscape

We began to explore various color schemes that are available within the color wheel. Our focus was to follow the Monochromatic color scheme which limited the student to use one hue (color) and its tints (lights) and shades (darks). Prior to painting their final design, they were instructed to create a value scale so they can see how far their selected hue can go.

Expressive Collage

For this project, the students had to use collage methods and techniques to visually tell me about their selected character/celebrity. By limiting the project to only visual elements, they had to create, cut, or print several components that described their character/celebrity.

Color Wheels

We began by discussing the layout of the color wheel and how artists reference it to create their artworks. Once they understood the importance of the layout, the students had to recreate the design by altering the traditional circular design. They then had to include all 12 colors (primary, secondary, and tertiary colors) in their design by mixing the colors.

Tessellations

The focus for this project was to apply the elements of shape and space to create a composition. We started out by discussing what tessellations were and how it is applied to the real world by referencing a brick wall and floor tiles. The students then received an index card and had to cut off the edges to create their unique shape. Once they had their shape, they repeated its outline on a larger sheet to create a pattern. They then had to ensure that the edges would interlock with one another like a puzzle piece; if it didn't, the student would have to rotate it until the angles fit in place. Once the composition was complete, they added designs within the shape and colored it.