Our Willard Schools
The Pride
March 8, 2013

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Willard Parks

The Great Egg Hunt

 

 March 23

9 a.m.

Jackson Park

 

Willard Parks and Recreation will be hosting our annual Great Egg Hunt on March 23rd. Come join us for this FREE community event that is fun-filled with games, contests, jump houses and of course our Great Egg Hunt with the Easter Bunny.  
  

For more information contact Amanda Allen at 417-742-2262 or email us at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

 

J.C. Loveland

Community Service Director

 

District Office
Man I am proud of our Boys Basketball Team!

I am sure you were thinking that I was going to talk about the intensity of Coach Frazier's signature defense or discipline and attitude that the players demonstrate on the court. Sorry, that's not what I was going to say. You probably thought I was going to talk about the pure athletic "dunkability" from Chris, or the Senior leadership and passion to compete demonstrated by Kolby. No, sorry wrong again! How about Montana being willing to go up against a player that is 8 inches taller, or brothers Levi and Cainen, Skyler and Landon terrorizing the other team as they come down the court. No, that is also incorrect. It is also not about Senior Brent that provides incredible determined effort each minute he plays on the court, or even "Z" who plays so hard the officials believe he must be fouling someone!
  
I will use this article to say how proud I am because they were willing to give back to future tigers! Coach Frazier and the team spent time to visit elementary schools. They signed autographs and read to students who look (way) up to them. These elementary Tigers are already starting to dream of playing in high school and beyond. The boys communicated several important ideas by their actions: #1 Give Back, #2 Reading is important, #3 All of us can be Tigers!!!!! Coach Frazier and many other Willard coaches infuse "Character" into the game plan. Most view sports by wins and losses. At Willard that is not the only measuring stick!

Great job to Coach Frazier, his staff, and the men on the team!
  
Have a great Spring Break!
  
Kent

Kent Medlin
Superintendent
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Athletics & Activities

Losing hurts, there is no way around it. However, I have never been more proud of a group of young men as I was last night. They played their hearts out for each other, for their school, and for their community. It was contagious. A lot of tears were shed last night as our Tigers fell just short and their season ended but they are back at school this morning, going to class, getting a great education from this first class school district! Congratulations to Coach Frazier, his staff, and the entire Tiger basketball team on a great season!

 

The jazz bands had a great weekend! On Friday Jazz 1 and 2 traveled to the Pittsburg State University Jazz Festival in Pittsburg, Kansas. Jazz 1 received Straight Honor 1 ratings and Jazz 2 received an Honor 1 rating. Special recognition was given to Jacob Cook, Allie Dense and William Dickens for outstanding musicianship. On Saturday, Willard took four jazz bands to the Drury University Jazz Festival with Jazz 1 receiving straight Honor 1 ratings and Jazz 2, 3 and the Middle School jazz bands receiving Honor 2 ratings. Special recognition was given to Kevin Bledsoe, Kaden Bledsoe, Jacob Cook, Allie Dense, William Dickens, Alex Harrison, Carter Havens, Emily Heaton, Riley Flynn, Justin Randall, Kienen Wilson for outstanding musicianship. When you see these fine musicians, please congratulate them on a job well done!

 

This weekend the Speech and Debate competed at MSHSAA Districts to qualify to State in April. Making it to finals was Conor Wadle 7th in U.S. Extemp., Emily Raney 6th in Original Oratory, and Kimberly Jones 7th in Dramatic Interp. Placing in finals and Qualifying to State: Dusty Bacon 3rd in Prose, Mercer Martin 3rd in International Extemp., Greg Hamilton in Radio Speaking and District Champ placing 1st in Story Telling is Kayleigh Amstutz. In Debate Dusty Bacon and Mercer Martin went to quarter finals in Public Forum. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate Greg Hamilton qualified to state by placing 1st and becoming the District Champ! Great Job for a wonderful season and good luck this weekend at the NFL Districts to qualify for Nationals in June!

FBLA competed last week at our District Leadership Conference. It was a very successful day for our school. In all, 34 of our teams finished in the top 5 of their event. We had 15 kids qualify for state competition in 11 different events. The following students will represent Willard High School in April at the State Leadership Conference:

Greg Hamilton & Robert Mitchals - 1st place in Business Ethics
Dusty Bacon, Daniel Horne, & Jordan Leverone - 1st Place in Digital Design & Promotion
Megan Ball - 1st place in Future Business Leader
Slade Gunter & Timothy Olson - 1st place in Global Business
Bradley Wyman - 1st place in Help Desk
Caleb Dalton, Greg Hamilton, Remington Hampton, Mercer Martin, & Emily Reichert - 1st place in Parliamentary Procedure
Timothy Olson - 1st place in Public Speaking 2
Dusty Bacon & Bradley Wyman - 1st place in Website Design
Alex Wallace - 2nd place in Economics
Cameron McMurtrey - 2nd place in Introduction to Business
Mercer Martin - 2nd place in Personal Finance

Please congratulate them if you see them. We are very proud of all of our finalists & state qualifers!

 

It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley

Activities Director 

High School
Congratulations to the winter sports athletes! Our student-athletes have earned the respect of many, including myself, by competing with guts, heart, and character. While it is always sad to end early in many instances, we can reflect on the positives of the season as a whole.

Spring competitions start over spring break with baseball on Friday, March 15. Coming back from spring break, student activities will be in full swing. EOC testing preparations will also be in full implementation. Testing occurs in April but preparation has already begun.

The WHS staff and administration will be asking for your opinions. In late-March and early-April, parent and student surveys will be made available to garner information and opinions. This data will be reviewed to identify areas of growth as well as areas for preservation within our school. We truly hope to have a high percent of participation from parents and students to provide us with the best set of data.

It is GREAT to be a Tiger!

Curt Graves
Principal
Middle School

This past Saturday, the Willard Middle School Jazz Band participated in the 47th Annual Drury University Jazz Festival. This was the second jazz festival performance in the history of the band and we are pleased to report that our middle school jazzers received FIRST PLACE in the Middle School Band category! Special recognition was also given to Landon Summerville for Outstanding Musicianship. What a well deserved and earned honor!!

 

Congratulations! Jeremiah W. Dowden has qualified to represent your school and participate at the state level of the National Geographic Bee. The state Bee will be held on Friday, April 5, 2013.

 

WMS Dates

 

Spring Break Baseball Clinic will be March 11 & 12 for Grades 1-7. Cost is $30 for two sessions of instruction by the WHS baseball coaching staff. Registration will begin 30 minutes prior to the clinic time. Time breakdown is as follows: Grades 1-3 will be 9 am-10:30 am, Grades 4 & 5 will be 10:30 am until noon and Grades 6 & 7 will be from noon until 1:30 pm. Please contact Scott McGee at 840-3710 or[email protected] with questions.

 

Any 6th or 7th grade student interested in trying out for next year's WMS cheer squad needs to sign up in the office (here and at Intermediate). There will be a parent meeting on March 19th. Tryouts will be held April 2-5.

 

Thanks for checking in on us!

 

Amy Sims and Stephanie Walters

Principal and Assistant Principal  

Intermediate School
With third quarter coming to a close and the end of the year peeking over the horizon, we are entering a portion of the school year that has many school events going on. Here are a few things you will want to mark on your calendar:

  • Friday March 8th - End of 3rd quarter/student early dismiss at 12:30
  • Monday March 11 - Friday March 15 - No school for Spring Break!
  • Tuesday March 19 - 3rd quarter grades go home / Spring fundraiser kickoff
  • Tuesday March 26 - Spring Pictures / Title 1 reading night 6:00-7:30
  • Thursday March 28 - WIS Talent Night @ HS Theater 5:30-8:00
  • Friday March 29 and Monday April 1 - No School for Easter Break
  • Tuesday April 2 - Author Avi guest visit in library
  • Tuesday April 9 - Silver,Black,Maroon DARE graduation 6:30
Enjoy your Spring Break and lets all hope for some Spring-like weather!
  
Tom Davis
Principal
North Elementary School

Willard North had a great week celebrating Read Across America. We received a surprise visit from Doctor Suess! Students were especially in the spirit of reading this week. We enjoyed special activities like making green eggs and ham, green day, dressing up as your favorite storybook character, crazy sock day, and crazy hair day! Students look forward to this week every year because of the fun activities, and they really show off their love for reading.

 

First Graders enjoyed a visit from the Dickerson Park Zoo and learned about Birds of Prey. They got to meet a barred owl, dove, chicken, and peregrine falcon. The students learned about the habits and habitats of these amazing birds. They were also able to pet them. Students were excited to find out they will be going to the zoo on their field trip this year to learn about more amazing animals

 

We hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break and we look forward to seeing you again on March 18th!


Angela Stevens
Principal

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South Elementary School

 

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East Elementary School

 

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Central Elementary School
Willard Central celebrated Read Across America this week with spirit days inspired by Dr. Suess and our Title 1 Family Reading Night on Thursday evening. Thank you to Mrs. Collins and Mrs. Puckett for hosting the evening and to our students and staff for sharing their love of reading.
  
Congratulations to Gavin B. for being the WC Cup Stacking Champion. Coach Brown crowned him at the grade level stack-off on Wednesday morning at Community Time. Congratulations to Brayden and Caden for proudly representing their grade levels and for a great competition.
Enjoy a great Spring Break with family and friends. Keep reading over the break and we look forward to seeing everyone rested and ready to start the 4th quarter when we return.
  
Shane Medlin
Principal

Orchard Hills Elementary School
 
Special Services

On Saturday March 2, 2013 Missouri State University hosted the 5th Annual Regional Braille Challenge.  Over 20 Students from Southwest Missouri in 1st - 12th grade who are blind and visually impaired compete in this Braille literacy event for prizes and a chance to go to Los Angeles for the National Competition. The following school districts participated this year:  Springfield, Ozark, Branson, Fair Grove, Buffalo, Clever, Webb City, Nixa, Spokane, Lebanon, Willow Springs and Willard. 

 

Kaila Dejong, 9th grade student, represented Willard. She scored 1st place in her age bracket by participating in four sections which included: speed and accuracy, proofreading, charts and graphs and spelling. The scores from this event will be submitted for Nationals. If Kaila qualifies for Nationals, she will be going to California this summer to compete against other students across the country. CONGRATULATIONS KAILA!

 

Developed and organized by the Braille Institute in California, The Braille Challenge� is an academic competition unlike any other. This two-stage contest is designed to motivate blind students to emphasize their study of Braille, while rewarding their success with a fun-filled, but challenging, weekend of events.  The Braille Institute works with agencies and individual teachers from across the United States and Canada to encourage their students to participate in the preliminary round.   Students gain the fullest experience by attending one of the many Braille Challenge regional events in their own state or region.

 

The Regional Braille Challenge at Missouri State University is nationally sponsored by the Braille Institute, Seedlings Braille Books for Children, Humanware, Perkins Products for the Blind, and the National Braille Press and a huge thank you to them for the wonderful prizes they each donated to the event.  Local Sponsors this year include Missouri State University Blindness Skills Specialist Project and the Southwest Missouri Vision Professionals group.

 

In addition, the Southwest Missouri Vision Professionals group is an important part of the success of the day.  Area Teachers of the Visually Impaired, Orientation and Mobility specialists, and paraprofessionals who work with individuals who are blind all donate additional prizes and volunteer their time to help proctor exams, escort students between testing sessions, scoring and data entry.  

 

Graduate students from the Missouri State University Vision and Orientation and Mobility Certification program also volunteer time to assist for this event.

 

Additional volunteer groups this year include: The Council for Exceptional student group from Missouri State University and paraprofessionals from Springfield public schools. Dr. Chris Craig and his band will entertain families and students at our closing ceremonies, and everyone is very excited for this annual event.  The Braille Challenge has been a huge success at Missouri State University and has doubled in size of participants in just 5 years.  

   

Caryn McDonnell

Director of Special Services




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460 E Kime
Willard, MO 65781

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