Hope PK-5 and White City K-5 students toured the Body Venture exhibit at Hope Schools on December 9, 2025. Students entered the exhibit at the lunchroom and continued to the following stations: the brain, mouth, stomach, small intestine, heart, lungs, bones, muscles, skin, and ended at the pathway to life station to review what they had learned. The students spent five minutes at each station while high school volunteers explained what each body part does for them and how to protect and keep that body part healthy.
High school volunteers included: (front row) Mason Marsh, Clara Noeth, Litze Bolanos, Addyson Wingert, Harmony Otte, Ellison Riedy, Emma Coffman, Mindy Linder, (back row) Andrew Calvert, Trent Hoff, Hadley Friedli, Tanis Clevenger, Brayden Hollomon, Celian Van Bemten, Kole Riedy, Jayda Shipman, Tyler Brockmeier, Journey Peterson, Grant Eskeldson, Molly Hunnicutt, Koden Sanford, and Clara Stewart.
Thank you to Adam Sobba, Erika Cook, Lorri Kasten, Trish Rhodes, and the Board of Education members for helping set up, run, and tear down the event.
Our elementary students really enjoyed the experience!
Hope High School Junior - Ellison Riedy - Attends Future Teacher Academy
December 2, 2025
Ellison shares her experience:
The Future Teacher Academy was an overall great experience for me. I was able to learn a lot of things as well as meet a lot of amazing people. I learned two valuable lessons: the importance of building a trusting relationship with students while setting clear rules and expectations, and the need to strike a balance between work and personal life, including time for yourself and your family. Being able to have a routine for yourself so that you don’t overwork yourself is vital. Teachers are humans too. And so we need to make sure we’re taking breaks when we need to.
At the Future Teacher Academy, they talked about and showed us that there are many opportunities for those of us who want to become teachers. A couple of examples of that would be the Kansas Future Teacher Academy (KFTA) itself or the Apprenticeship to Education (A2E). The KFTA is offered at Emporia State University. The A2E offers tuition reimbursement of $2,750 for each registered teacher apprentice, with no limit on eligible apprentices, and apprentices can receive this grant for up to four years, starting from day one of their registered apprenticeship.
Another important thing that I took away from the Future Teacher Academy was that we aren’t alone. There are many people our age who share our passion for teaching, and plenty of opportunities to connect with them. It was an opportunity to make friends who have common goals and interests. I know I, myself, was able to make a few new friends while there.
Overall, I had a really great time. I was able to learn about opportunities that I didn’t know were available to me. And I was able to meet lots of great people, as well as make new friends who I can easily talk to about my passions for teaching.
The Body Venture Experience will be at Hope Schools on Dec 9th!
Kindergarten through fifth grade students tour the human body with this exciting immersive experience. Throughout the exhibit, they will learn how to apply the Body Venture Motto:
EAT SMART. PLAY HARD.
At each of the 11 Body Venture stations, a volunteer presenter engages the students in a five-minute activity focused on healthy choices. The tour begins when students, in groups of eight to ten, enter the school lunchroom and become a food such as a carrot, a strawberry or a piece of cheese. In the second station, they walk through a giant brain. Inside the huge brain, students experience “brain waves” and learn about brain function. The “foods” step into the exhibit’s larger-than-life mouth, are “swallowed” through the esophagus tunnel and move into the stomach. From the stomach, the students travel through the small intestine where they become
nutrients that are “absorbed” into the blood stream. Then, they follow the path of the nutrients to the heart, lungs, bones, muscles and skin stations. Students leave the body through Body Venture’s Pathway to Life. This final station recaps key health concepts from each of the 10 previous stations.
Only KSHSAA Passes will be accepted. Admission prices - Adults $8, K-12 $6. Go Heat!
Teachers will be attending LETRS training as well as doing some in-house training on Friday. We use these professional development days to hone our teaching skills in order to better meet your child's learning needs.
Meet the candidates running for USD 481 School Board.
October 27, 2025
7:00 pm
Bank Annex at Hope
October 28, 2025
7:00 pm
City Office in White City
Candidates include: Nicholas Morgan, Chad Johnson, Chase Brown, and Janet Young. Dillon Cook is running unopposed.
Did you know that you can see how USD 481 is working to educate students in this district? You can find reports about our state assessment results, our graduation rates, our attendance rates, and even about how our students do after they graduate (postsecondary success). You might be asking "Where do I go to find this plethora of information?" Simply visit https://datacentral.ksde.gov/ and type in USD 481. Then you can choose which topic you would like to explore.
If you have questions about what you see, please reach out to one of USD 481's administrators.
Adam Sobba - Hope Schools Principal asobba@usd481.com
Kane Hensley - White City Schools Principal khensley@usd481.com
Darlene Griffiths - USD 481 Superintendent dgriffiths@usd481.com
We are proud of our students, teachers, and team here at Rural Vista, and it shows in our stats!!!
October 13th, 2025
Hope, KS- School Library
7:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Consent Agenda Approval
a. Approval of September Minutes
b. Treasurer’s Report (Cash Summary)
c. Approval of Warrants
d. Bank Resolution
4. Adoption of the October Meeting Agenda
5. Public Presentation
a. Citizen’s Open Forum
b. Correspondence
c. Governmental Relations
6. Old Business
a. Fire Escapes
b. Little Huskies Childcare
c. Supplementals
7. New Business
a. New Hires
b. Resignations
c. Substitute
d. Gift
e. Executive Session-Personnel
f. Executive Session- Acquisition of Real Property
8. Administrative Updates
a. Hope Principal
b. White City Principal
c. Superintendent
9. Adjournment
We will be holding a FFA Meeting this Sunday, September 21st at 4:00 pm in the ag building.
Wear your FFA jacket, if you have one.
Officers will do opening and closing ceremonies
Agenda will include: Budget, Future Goals, Fundraising, Events
Parents of FFA members are invited to attend. However, parents will only be observers. The meeting will only be open to FFA members and potential FFA members to participate. The meeting will last one hour.
If you have questions, please email Mrs. Griffiths.
We will be holding a FFA Meeting this Sunday, September 21st at 7:00 pm in the library.
Wear your FFA jacket, if you have one
Officers will do opening and closing ceremonies
Agenda will include: Budget, Future Goals, Fundraising, Events
Parents of FFA members are invited to attend. However, parents will only be observers. The meeting will only be open to FFA members and potential FFA members to participate. The meeting will last one hour.
If you have questions, please email Mrs. Griffiths.
Monday, September 22, 2025
Please make sure your student(s) is in attendance on Monday as this is the official count day for USD 481. Our attendance that day determines our funding for the school year. Help us by sending your child to school.
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
What parents need to know . . .
There will be no preschool that day.
Grab and go breakfast offered.
Bus will run 2 hours later for pick up in the morning.
Do not drop off your child prior to 9:45 am as there will not be supervision.
School will start promptly at 10:00.
The RNR and Budget Meetings that were scheduled for 6:45 pm on September 8th have been postponed to September 18th at 6:45 pm due to a misprint in the Abilene Reflector newspaper.
Regular BOE Meeting
September 8th, 2025
White City, KS- School Library
7:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Consent Agenda Approval
a. Approval of August Minutes
b. Treasurer’s Report (Cash Summary)
c. Approval of Warrants
4. Adoption of the September Meeting Agenda
5. Public Presentation
a. Citizen’s Open Forum
b. Correspondence
c. Governmental Relations
6. Old Business
a. Fire Escapes
7. New Business
a. LOB Resolution - postponed to Sept 18th
b. Budget - postponed to Sept 18th
c. New Hire
d. Substitutes
e. Supplementals
f. Policies
g. Resignation
h. White City Center Court Design
i. Little Huskies Daycare
j. Calendar
j. Executive Session-Personnel
k. Executive Session – Acquisition of Real Property
8. Administrative Updates
a. Hope Principal
b. White City Principal
c. Superintendent
9. Adjournment
