Three Rifle Middle School students qualified for the State Vocabulary Bee, which was held Tuesday, Jan. 21, at The Learning Source in Lakewood. Eighth grader Jenna Withee, seventh grader Chris Gallegos and sixth grader Leah Perry traveled to Denver with their parents to compete in the state event.Officially named the Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge, the competition differs from spelling bee competitions in that participants are asked to define the words they are given. There weren’t any lists of words to study, but they were told to read an assortment of books to build up their vocabulary.Jenna, who made it to the preliminary round, said, “They had some sample questions on the Internet, and I did that one night. The competition was kinda scary, but I got over that. I was nervous, though. The best part was getting to know the other kids and hear them talk about their schools.”Fast-talking, seventh grade compulsive reader Leah Perry commented, “I was bored. I had to wait for everybody else to get their words before I got my words. The best part for me was watching the final round. And the T-shirt is great; it says `Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge’ on the front and `Experience the Power of Words’ on the back.”The girls watched as their friend and schoolmate, seventh grader Chris Gallegos, made it to the final round and was one of the top seven winners in the state. The final round included distinguishing between similar-sounding words, such as parameter and perimeter. All the RMS participants were glad they competed in this event, and their parents are proud of their state-level of completion. Rifle Middle School language arts teacher Gigi Hertzke, who coordinated the school’s efforts, and RMS principal Kimberly Heutzenroeder, along with the school staff, applaud Chris, Jenna and Leah.The Rifle High School International Club has been invited to participate in the World Affairs Challenge sponsored by the Center for Foreign Affairs at the University of Denver on March 8. The theme this year is World Hunger. The competition is similar to a Destination Imagination event, in which schools from all over Colorado compete in different events including a presentation, a display, a quiz on world affairs, and a group challenge. RHS Spanish teacher Maria Carrion-Kozak is coaching 12-14 students from the International Club who are meeting three times per week to represent RHS at the event.Garfield Re-2 school board member Kim Goossens took an interest in this process and has been helping the students in this competition. The club has also contacted other community members to ask for their help with fund-raising, sewing flags, and preparing students for competition. If you would like to help with this competition, please call Ms. C-K at 625-7751.Congratulations to the RHS Speech Team members who earned awards at the Roaring Fork meet on Saturday: Brittany Zelaya – second place, humor; Hailey McDonald -fifth place, creative storytelling; Hailey McDonald – fourth place, humor: Brittany Hundley – fifth place, impromptu speaking; Sabrina May – second place, drama; Josh Schwartz – fifth place, poetry; Leah Silvieus – third place, drama; Amanda Glammeyer – fifth place, drama; and Jason Dowd – fourth place, poetry.Fourteen RHS team members will be representing the high school at the State Speech Festival in Denver from Jan. 31 – Feb. 1. Go Bears!-The Rifle High School Choral Department is presenting a Choir Variety Show tonight, Jan. 28, in the auditorium at 7 p.m. The popular event showcases the talents of the RHS students, and you never know who is going to give you a delightful entertainment surprise. The price of admission is $5/adults, $3/students.Rifle Middle School’s first semester honor roll statistics for the 2002-03 school year have been reported.In the RMS eighth grade class, totaling 167 students, 21 earned a place on the 4.0 honor roll and 20 students received A/B honors. There were no students in the “all B” honor roll.In the Rifle Middle school seventh grade class of 173, 38 students earned a place on the 4.0 honor roll, 26 received A/B honors, and two students made the “all B” honor roll.Out of the 173 students enrolled in Rifle Middle School’s sixth grade, 20 earned a 4.0, 39 made the A/B, and five made the “all B” honor roll. Congratulations to these hard-working students!