Rusk High School

March Happenings at RHS!

Our JV tennis team participated in the biggest tournament to date last week. There were 13 schools present and Rusk won first place in boys doubles, first place in boys singles, and third place in girls singles.

Congratulations to the following athletes:
Tristan Driver and Burton Crain - 1st place in boys doubles
Jack Ford - 1st place boys singles
Carolyne McIntyre - 3rd place girls singles

Congrats to our Varsity Tennis Team for their outstanding competitiveness at the Dogwood Tennis Invitational!

In our biggest tournament of the year, featuring 11 teams, our Rusk players performed exceptionally well.

🏅 Robby Callihan earned 3rd place in Boys Singles.

🏆 Hagen Hassell and Vesper Blankinship captured the championship in Mixed Doubles, bringing home the 1st place trophies!

Great job representing Rusk with pride. Way to go, Eagles!

Great job to our Varsity tennis team in last Thursday’s tournament. With seven schools in attendance, our team earned medals in every division we entered — an outstanding performance from start to finish.

Congratulations to:

🥇 Hagen Hassell & Vesper Blankinship — 1st Place, Mixed Doubles

🥇 Robby Callihan — 1st Place, Boys Singles

🥈 Tomasa Cruz — 2nd Place, Girls Singles

🥉 Tristan Driver & Burton Crain — 3rd Place, Boys Doubles

Congratulations to our medal winners in the Henderson tournament on Friday!
Hagen Hassell and Vesoer Blankinship - 1st place Mixed Doubles
Tristan Driver and Burton Crain - 1st place Boys Doubles
Robby Callihan - 2nd place Boys Singles
Great job Eagles!

Our RHS UIL Film & Animation team has been working hard creating their animation project to submit for competition. The results were posted last week and we are proud to share that they were ranked 8th in the State! They were judged multiple rounds with their file titled "Poisoned Spirit". They were not quite high enough to advance to the next round, but we are so proud of their hard work and accomplishments this year.

Team members pictured are Braxton Jones, Taryn Gaines, Gavin Page, Aiden Estevanes, Jacob Philibert, and Daemin Carter. Not pictured members are Kira Ferrell and Shamya McGowan.

Congratulations to Madison Dunn, our CTE Animal Science teacher at Rusk High School. She was awarded the Region 7 CTE Master Teacher Award. Miss Dunn shared her expertise in Animal Science with other teachers in the region during the CTE summer showcase at Region 7. The service center recognized Miss Dunn for her work in providing great CTE opportunities to her students and for sharing at the showcase. Way to go Miss Dunn!

Huge day in Trinity for the Rusk Tennis Team. Our athletes earned the majority of medals, breaking our program record with an incredible 14 medals in this tri-tournament.

Way to go Eagles!

So proud of our varsity squad at the Madisonville Invitationals! With 11 teams in the field—some of them large 5A schools—our 4A program stepped up and competed with heart all day long.

Huge congratulations to Hagan Hassell & Vesper Blankenship, who battled through the back draw and came away with 1st place after beating Nacogdoches.

Shoutout to Robby Callihan, who fought his way to the semifinals and competed hard for third place against tough competition.

This team continues to prove they belong on the court with anyone. Proud of the effort, the attitude, and the way our players represented our school. Way to go, Eagles!

What an outstanding showing by our tennis team in the three-school tournament held earlier this month! Our athletes competed with heart, focus, and determination—and brought home an incredible 12 medals!

🏅 Congratulations to our medalists:
🥇 Hagen Hassell & Vesper Blankinship – 1st Place Mixed Doubles
🥈 Damian Marin & Madilynn Jones – 2nd Place Mixed Doubles
🥉 Michael Westerfield & Daisey Hancock – 3rd Place Mixed Doubles
🥇 Robbie Callihan – 1st Place Boys Singles
🥈 Luke Goss – 2nd Place Boys Singles
🥉 Tristan Driver – 3rd Place Boys Singles
🥉 Tomasa Cruz – 3rd Place Girls Singles
🥇 Landon Adams & Jack Ford – 1st Place Boys Doubles

We are proud of every athlete who represented our program with class and competitive spirit!

Rusk High School Student Council came away with six awards at the D4 Leadership Conference this week! Our RHS Stu Co has done an excellent job representing and being a voice our student body, fostering community relations through service, and developing leadership skills. And a BIG congratulations to Gage Derrington ! He was awarded a D4 Scholarship at the Leadership Conference!

Awards for 25-26:

~Sweepstakes School
~Outstanding Student Council
~Outstanding Achievement in Pride and Patriotism
~Outstanding Achievement in Energy and Environment
~Outstanding Achievement in Drugs, Alcohol, Safety, and Health
~Outstanding Achievement in Community Service
~D4 Scholarship-Gage Derrington $250

RISD, UT Tyler, and Swoop were honored and excited to SURPRISE RHS senior Courtnie Lankford with the UT Tyler Honors Scholars Scholarship which is worth $10,000 a year, renewable for up to four years, for a total of $40,000‼️💰Courtnie has worked extremely hard for this honor and we are so excited to watch her soar into this next phase of her education!! Way to go Courtnie!! Talons up!! 🦅📚💰💸

The Spring Semester is full of great events at RHS. Check out all that is happening in February.

Class of 2026...TJC will be on campus Tuesday, February 3rd , from 4:00 to 6:30 to help with FAFSA for any senior that has not completed the process. Remember this is a graduation requirement plus a TJC Promise requirement. Please make plans to come and get this completed if you have not already done so. For more information, email crawford.reyes@ruskisd.net.

2024-2025 Yearbooks are ready for pick up at RHS!

Order your 25-26 Yearbook!

We are kicking off the 2026 Spring Semester with some great events at RHS!

Big thank you to several members of our National Honor Society for helping Sheltering Arms Coalition with their annual community giveaway. We love seeing our students serving in our community. #flyyourplane

National Honor Society was able to serve Annie’s Closet before the Thanksgiving Break, helping this nonprofit group move into a second location. Annie’s Closet serves our community by providing needy families and children with basic necessities. We are so proud to see our students serve our community.

Christmas Cheer Week at RHS brought to you by our RHS Student Council! Join us in celebrating the holiday season with these dress up days.