In my opinion, there is never a bad time to be a Panther. However, as I reflect on this week, I must say this one has been pretty special. To start the week off, we were able to welcome all of our Panthers back into the building after taking a necessary week away to let our quarantine numbers level out. To see everyone smiling, laughing, and simply looking eager to come back and be with one another again was so rewarding.
Fast forward to Thursday. Our staff was able to come together all day and have wonderful conversations about the teachers we remember most, what makes good teachers in general, and what we need to focus on in order to improve our own craft to better serve our Panthers. These discussions occurred during our PLC (Professional Learning Communities) meetings where our focus this year will be on Dr. John Hattie’s work and his book, The 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success.
Thursday afternoon was a big night in sports for the Panthers. The golf team was able to host Warren East alongside Logan County in a home match. All three Panther golfers competed hard and had fun while doing it. Our Lady Panther Volleyball team was able to pick up their first win of the season when they defeated Foundation Christian Academy in two sets. The Lady Panther JV soccer team hosted Allen-County Scottsville and was victorious with a 4-0 final score.
Finally on Thursday, the Panther soccer team also hosted Allen County-Scottsville and pulled off an 11-1 victory. In that game, senior Avery Flener broke the all-time scoring record at Russellville High School and also eclipsed the 100 goal mark, making him one of only 25 players in the history of Kentucky High School Soccer to do so.
Friday night saw our Panther football team in action. After a slow start, the Panthers came out of halftime on a mission and were able to bring home a 41-7 victory, which was the first football win against Warren East since 1985.
The week was capped off in a big way on Saturday. The Panther Marching Band was in action for their first competition of the season on Saturday evening at Franklin-Simpson. In the Class 2A competition, the Panther Band was able to bring home a 2nd place finish and will now set their sights on next Saturday when they host the coveted “Russellville High School Show of Bands” at Rhea Stadium.
The girls and boys soccer teams were able to defeat Todd County in the semifinals of the Class A Region Tournament Saturday morning, which allowed them to advance to the finals later that evening against the Glasgow Scotties. Both games were tightly contested matchups, with each contest having to be decided in penalty kicks, which I feel may be the most exciting way to find a winner in all of sports.
The boys were able to come out victorious, which advanced them to the Class A State Tournament where they will face off against the 3rd Region Champion Owensboro Catholic Aces next Saturday, Sept. 18.
The girls weren’t as fortunate, but still left the matchup as Class A’ Region Runner-up, which is the best finish in Lady Panther Soccer history. Both teams should be very proud of their accomplishments, because I know I am!
As special as this week was, one thing I have always said about our Panthers is they are never satisfied. This past week was special. There is no doubt about that! However, what I know about our Panthers is they will come back to work and better themselves even more this coming week.
In wrapping up this week, the thing I will encourage each person reading this to do is get out and support our kids. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for them to see people in the stands watching them perform. They put in long hours, work so incredibly hard, and give their blood, sweat, and tears to make their school and community proud. It truly is a rewarding sight to see our Panthers perform at high levels.