C.W. Ruckel Middle School

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)

Congratulations to the 103 new members of the National Junior Honor Society who were inducted on Tuesday night, and a job well done for the continued success of the 79 additional members who received their 2nd and 3rd semester awards.

April 13-17 is the book fair.

April is Month of the Military Child and we have a lot going on to help celebrate these students.

Ruckel Middle School is proud to host our “Treats for Troops” event on Wednesday, April 1st from 7:00–7:30 AM in the Media Center. This special opportunity allows students with active-duty guardians to share a meaningful moment of appreciation and connection before the school day begins. We are honored to support our military families and recognize the sacrifices they make for our community and country. We look forward to seeing our students and their guardians there for this heartfelt event.

Our phone service has been restored. Thank you for your patience, and have a wonderful day!

On Saturday, March 28th, 14 dedicated and fearless speech and debaters traveled to the Florida Civics & Debate Initiative (FCDI) #4 tournament at Panama City Gulf Coast State College. Several amazing students earned top placements in multiple events. For Declamation Speaking: Aubrey Inman placed 2nd and a special congratulations to 1st place winner, Emmanuel F! In Extemporaneous debate: William D placed 2nd. And let’s give it up to 1st place winner, Faith C! For Ronald Reagan Presidential Debate, Benjamin N received 2nd place. Finally, a huge round of applause is in order to all 14 participants for their hard work, and we owe a special thanks to all the parents, judges, Mrs. B, and club officers who made everything go smoothly and showed a ton of support throughout the day. Go Rams!

Calling All Ram Superheroes 🦸🏾‍♂️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸 Ruckel Middle School’s Staff Appreciation Week is coming up (May 4th–8th), and we need YOUR help to make it extra special for our amazing teachers and staff! We’re looking for volunteers to help with: 🍽️ Organizing or sponsoring a meal 🍬 Creating a fun candy bar or snack station 📬 Putting together mailbox treats or small surprises 🎁 Donating items or coordinating themed days 👊🏽 Decorating the staff lounge Do you have a connection to a local restaurant or business? We would LOVE your help partnering with them! Whether you can donate, organize or make decorations- every bit makes a difference in showing our appreciation 💛 👉 Comment below or send us a message at ruckelMSPTO@gmail.com if you’re interested in helping! Let’s come together to celebrate the incredible staff who do so much for our kids every day!