OUR NEW 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR IS OFF TO A GREAT START!!! – THANK YOU TO THE GREAT STAFF HERE AT WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL, TO OUR STUDENTS, AND TO THE SUPPORT OF THEIR PARENTS/GUARDIANS.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES ARE OCTOBER 16^TH FROM 4:00-7:30AM IN THE STUDENTS INDIVIDUAL CLASSROOMS.

Daily Announcements are posted on the West Middle School website under “News”.

ACTIVITIES WEBSITE…The activities website is available and may be helpful in keeping you immediately informed of upcoming activities.  If an event gets cancelled or postponed, it will also be on the activities calendar.  The site is www.rcas.org   Our WMS website is available by going to www.rcas.org West Middle School MS Activity on the left-hand side of the screen.                                                                                                                                                      

LIBRARY NEWS – BOOK FAIR 2025

The Book Fair is arriving at the end of the month! The West Book Fair runs from October 27-November 7th.  There will be an opportunity for three $10 Book Fair certificates to win by identifying the 10 secretly disguised staff members in the library.  The winners will be announced on November 3rd. You may begin shopping with the online Scholastic Book Fair on October 27th.  The online book fair has a larger variety of books to select from.  The link to the online book fair will be on the library homepage and Facebook page when it becomes active.

Page 2 WMS News Clips 

Rapid City Area School and Rapid City Police Department officials are reminding drivers to stop for school buses when approaching a school bus stopped with red lights flashing. Under state law, all vehicles must fully stop. Those lights mean a child is either boarding or departing a school bus. Drivers must stop regardless of their direction of travel. Additionally, school and police officials are asking parents to teach their children the importance of crosswalk safety.

        TIPS FOR PEDESTRIANS:

• Always use crosswalks. It might seem like a hassle to walk halfway down the block to use a crosswalk, but it could prevent a serious accident.

• If a crosswalk is not available, look both ways and make sure the roadway is clear before attempting to cross the street.

• Parents should consider walking their child safely across the street when dropping them off for school.

TIPS FOR DRIVERS:

• Speed limits are slower in school zones for a reason. Slow down and watch for the high volume of pedestrian traffic in school zones associated with the start of school in the mornings and school release in the afternoons.

• Be aware that there are pedestrians and bicyclist out and about, whether you are on a busy street or in a residential neighborhood. Slow down and stay alert.

• Stop for pedestrians at intersections and crosswalks. If a crosswalk is not controlled by walk signal, state law dictates that drivers must stop for pedestrians entering the crosswalk.

• Never pass another car stopped at a crosswalk. Accidents often happen when one lane of traffic stops for a pedestrian to cross, but the other lanes of traffic do not.

FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR STUDENTS…Our students are only allowed to leave the school premises with a Parent/Guardian listed on their RCAS Student Registration form.  We do have a closed campus ruling, and we do require a Parent/Guardian to come into the building to sign our sign out sheet when picking their student up for any reason.  On rare occasions, we have students plan to go out for lunch—please know that a parent/guardian of each student included in the outing will be required to sign their student out into the hands of the driver.  We request that parents be mindful of the brief lunch period and that students be absent only for their lunch period.  A celebration planned for after-school hours would allow the students more time together. Thank you for your consideration.

 Page 3 WMS News Clips

LUNCH ACCOUNTS/FAMILY ACCESS…We are asking students to be aware of the balance left in their lunch accounts.   Parents/guardians may continually keep track of their student’s daily lunch consumption and balance by using Family Access on the RCAS.org website and may also deposit money with a credit card using the e~Funds link. To get started, parents can go to www.rcas.org – Parents and Students – Lunch Menus/Applications/eFunds and under the Meal Prices heading there is an e~Funds link. This will take parents to the site where they can register and find a Registration Guide with step-by-step instructions about how to create an account to make payments as needed, or to schedule reoccurring payments. Before you begin, please be aware of the family phone number associated with the student. (You will then add student’s “Other ID” number.) If parents do not know that number, they can go into Family Access and look under Student Information. Thank you for helping our students remain in “the black” with their accounts.

Parents…Just a reminder that you can always email teachers by using their first name.last name@k12.sd.us Teachers can also be reached by calling the school at 394-4033, through Canvas, or on the WMS Website-Menu-Staff. As a rule, we would prefer that you not contact teachers through their personal Facebook accounts.

Students are asked frequently to check the “Custodial Area” or the main office for “Lost and Found” items. Be aware that 99% of the time, things are truly misplaced. All lost and found items will be tagged with the date that it was found. Items will stay in the same area by the custodial office for 2 weeks. Things not picked up at the end of 2 weeks will be boxed up and saved 1 more week in the custodial office. At the end of the 3^rd week (Friday), that box will be taken to Goodwill. Every Friday after that, there will be one box going to Goodwill. We no longer have the area to store the large amounts of items that our “Lost and Found” accumulates.

JUST A REMINDER:

October  3, 2025                  EARLY RELEASE FRIDAY – 1:00

October  3, 2025                Middle School Marching Band Night 5:15 @ O’Hara

October  7, 2025                PTA Meeting 5:30 @ WMS

October  9, 2025                6^th grade Musical 2:15 Cafeteria

October 10, 2025              School Wide Incentive Day                          

October 13, 2025               NO SCHOOL - Native American Day

October 16, 2025            PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES 4-7:30PM CLASSROOMS

October  17, 2025              PTA Volleyball Tournament 3:15

October 23, 2025               Blood Drive @ West Cafeteria

October 29, 2025                Picture Re-Takes 7:30am Cafeteria

October 31, 2025                NO SCHOOL – Staff PD Day “Happy Halloween”

   INTRODUCING OUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS                   

FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2025-2026

Mykel Salazar ~ Mr. Salazar is our new 8^th grade Careers and Science teacher. Mr. Salazar was born in Great Falls, Montana and lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, Williston, Bowman, Dickinson, North Dakota, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Rapid City. Mr. Salazar received his Bachelor of Science degree from Dickinson State University and is pursuing his master’s degree in Leadership in Education Tech. He has worked in Lincoln Public Schools and Rapid City Area Schools. He worked 2 years at Knollwood Elementary and 7 years at Meadowbrook Elementary. Mr. Salazar is married to wife, Bethani and they have 3 children, Gwen (11), Micah (7) and Ben (6). In his free time, Mr. Salazar enjoys cooking, tech, basketball, football, hiking and fishing.

Tiana Kassis ~ Miss Kassis is West’s new 6^th grade ELA teacher. Miss Kassis was born and raised in the Rapid City area. Aside from travel Miss Kassis has not lived any where else and plans on staying in Rapid City. She graduated from Stevens High School and started her college career at the South Dakota School of Mines before graduating from Black Hills State University in 2019. Miss Kassis’s first teaching job was at Stagebarn Middle School before coming to West. Miss Kassis’s family live in the Black Hills area. She feels very lucky that they all live close by. In her free time, Miss Kassis enjoys hanging out with her cat, Mina, playing video games, reading, and creating art. Miss Kassis says, “I’m so excited to be teaching at West!”

Christina Hayen ~ Mrs. Hayen is our new Computer, Digital Video, and Making Memory/Yearbook teacher. Mrs. Hayen was born in California and lived in California, Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota. Mrs. Hayen has a master’s degree in Literacy from USF, Bachelor of Science degree from Black Hills State University, Associate degree in I.T. from NAU, and certificate of ministry through Global University. She has taught at Grandview, Valley View, General Beadle, and Calvary Christian schools. Mrs. Hayen has three children, Anamarie (24) lives in Utah for school, Glenn (22), and Adley (11), a student at East Middle School. Mrs. Hayen’s hobbies include Legos, reading, piano, and games.

Debra Opland ~ Ms. Opland is our new 6, 7, 8 grade Reading teacher. She was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota growing up in the house her dad built. During childhood camping trips she fell in love with the Black Hills where she has lived most of her adult life. Ms. Opland also lived in California, and Nebraska during graduate school at UNL. Loving to travel, Ms. Opland has visited most of the U. S. with trips to Central America and a two-month project in North Wales. After career fields in theatre, archeology for the USFS. Ms. Opland has a B. S. in photojournalism, master’s degree in Anthropology and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Change, concentrating on Peace Education, Social Emotional Learning, and Indigenous Studies. Currently she is working on post-doctorate research to bring those subjects into after school programming based upon the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. For almost 30 years Ms. Opland worked within Indigenous communities on and off the reservations of Western South Dakota. Ms. Opland co-owned an art gallery in Rapid City, Rimrock Art and Frame. Ms. Opland has a Chiweenie dog, a daughter, and her husband who live in Rapid City. Hobbies include, photography, making pine needle baskets, and hiking in the hills. Ms. Opland says, “I’m deeply honored to be a part of the West Middle School team of teachers!”

Jenna Goff ~ Mrs. Goff is West’s new 7^th grade Science teacher. Mrs. Goff was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin lived in Gillette Wyoming until she was 5, then moved to the Black Hills area where she has lived ever since. Mrs. Goff graduated from Black Hills State University with an Elementary Education degree and taught at South Middle School the past 7 years. Mrs. Goff has 2 wonderful kids, Riley (10), Avery (6), and an awesome husband, Trystin. Her hobbies are, paddleboarding, hiking, biking, camping and when it is too cold for all that she likes to get cozy with a good book. Mrs. Goff also has an awesome Rubber Duck collection. She says, “I am happy to join the team at West!”

Madelyn Westra ~ Miss Westra is our new 8^th grade Math and Algebra teacher. She was born and raised in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. She is new to the Rapid City area and loving it! Miss Westra graduated from Black Hill State University with a degree in Mathematics Education. Before moving out on her own, Miss Westra lived with her mom, dad, and sister and has 17 aunts/uncles before counting spouses. Miss Westra enjoys baking, “Cupcakes are her thing”, and hiking. She also adopted a kitten named Sully.

Heather Harmon ~ Mrs. Harmon is West’s new 7^th/8^th grade Social Studies teacher. Mrs. Harmon was born in California and lived in Reno, Nevada, Mather AFB, Maine, Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, Sturgis, and Piedmont (current). Mrs. Harmon graduated from Stevens High School, has a Christian Studies certification, Bachelors of Secondary in History from Grand Canyon University of Phoenix, Arizona. Mrs. Harmon has been married for almost 30 years and has 2 grown daughters and 1 son in law. Three grandchildren, one is a student in Meade County schools, one at RCAS district and one still pre-school age. Mrs. Harmon enjoys reading murder mysteries, historical fiction and non-fiction books, puzzles, camping, and spending time with her grandchildren. Mrs. Harmon says, “I am looking forward to being a Wolf”.

Sara Skillman ~ Mrs. Skillman is our new 7^th grade ELA teacher. Mrs. Skillman was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She has lived in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, and South Dakota. Mrs. Skillman graduated from South Dakota State University and taught at Southwest Middle School, Stagebarn Middle School, and Rapid City Christian. Mrs. Skillman is married and has 3 kids, and 3 dogs. In her free time, Mrs. Skillman enjoys kick boxing, martial arts, paddle boarding, writing novels, singing/guitar, studying the bible and singing worship music. Mrs. Skillman says, “I love teaching ELA and Drama”.

Ryan Harris ~ Mr. Harris has graciously accepted the long-term substitute position for 8^th grade Science. Mr. Harris was born in Rapid City, South Dakota and lived in Connecticut, South Carolina, Texas, Massachusetts, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Mr. Harris has a BSBA with a minor in Marketing degree, and Army Certifications. Mr. Harris served in the Army, Army Guard, worked at Hilton, RCED, and Black Hills Federal Credit Union. Mr. Harris is married to wife, Bri (23 years) and they have a daughter, Jasmyne (25), son, Spencer (17) who is a Jr. at Stevens High School, and 4 dogs. Mr. Harris enjoys reading, cooking, exercising, baseball, football and is the head coach of the Stevens High School Speech and Debate Team.

Jenny Fritch ~ Mrs. Fritch is West’s new nurse. She was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota and briefly lived in Wyoming, Missouri, and Alabama. Mrs. Fritch attended South Canyon Elementary, West Middle School, Stevens High School, and graduated from South Dakota State University with a BSN. Mrs. Fritch has worked in health care since she was 18 years old, starting as a CNA/Med Aide. As an RN, she worked in the hospital in Ortho/Neuro/Surgical and Mother-Baby units. She also worked in clinic setting in family practice and pediatrics. Since March 2022, Mrs. Fritch has been a substitute nurse with RCAS, and says she is excited to be full-time at Pinedale and West this year. Mrs. Fritch and her husband, Steven have been married since 2012. Her husband is a civil engineer and recently retired after 21 years in the National Guard as a Black Hawk pilot. They have 3 children, Brynnlee, a 6^th grader at West, Kaisley, a 4^th grader, and Garrhett, a 2^nd grader both at Pinedale Elementary. Mrs. Fritch’s hobbies include hiking, fishing, camping, and playing sports. But her favorite hobby is watching her kids play the sports they love.

Larry Jarding ~ Mr. Jarding is our new day custodian. Mr. Jarding was born in Mitchell, South Dakota, and grew up on a dairy farm in Alexandria. He lived in Rapid City for ten years, Hill City for eight years. Moved back to Alexandria and got married in 1998 and moved to Colman, South Dakota. He moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado and then back to Rapid City and has been here since 2010. Mr. Jarding worked in Construction until the age of 52, Larimer County Fairgrounds & Event Center, as a day custodian at General Beadle, retiring 2 years ago. He then decided to join us at West. Mr. Jarding has 3 brothers and 3 sisters scattered throughout the U. S. and Canada. His hobbies are gardening, motorcycle riding, hiking, and camping. Mr. Jarding has 2 stepchildren and 1 granddaughter that all live in Minneapolis.