Our Willard Schools
The Pride
April 5, 2013

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In This Issue
Kindergarten Screening

Willard East               April 17th

Willard Central          April 9th

Willard Orchard Hills May 6th

Willard North             April 18th

Willard South            April 16th

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Willard Parks

Youth Baseball

The signup deadline is May 3rd.  Make sure to come by the Rec. Center to sign up! 

   

New Aquatics Website  
The Willard Park Board would like to announce the new aquatics website  www.willardaquatics.com.  Please visit for all your aquatic needs.
District Office

How important is tradition?????

It would not take people long around Willard Public Schools to answer this question. Tradition helps define who we are as a district, the values which exist, and the standards of expectation which are entrenched. Last night I attended "Mulan Jr." at the Middle School. It was outstanding! Kendra Chappel and the high school thespians have delighted crowds for many years. However, one of the reasons that they are able to present such quality is because of the Middle School program. Amanda Graves, Director of Middle School Theater, demonstrated a perfect example of how the MS is a critical part of the Willard theater tradition. The set, costumes, and 70+ students included in the performance made for a great evening. Three student standouts were Jordyn Staley as "Mulan", Evan Dock as "Mushu" and Andrew McDonnell as "Chien-Po". Many other also did outstanding in roles. Bottom line is that the standards of excellence associated with Willard Theater are in good hands at the Middle School. Congratulations to Mrs. Graves and all her cast and crew.

Have a great weekend!
Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin
Superintendent
  
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Athletics & Activities

Sometimes our students and coaches do things that remind me that athletics isn't always about winning and losing. Last Friday, after a Spring that has been very difficult for our teams to get outside, I witnessed our baseball team and coaching staff work 10 hours on their field to get it ready for a game that night (which we won by the way!).

 

At the same time, I saw our soccer coach operating a shop-vac on the soccer field trying to get it ready for a game. And then a few players showed up.....then a few more. Before long, we had over 20 soccer players, 5 shop-vacs, 4 basketball players, and a partridge in a pear tree working on the field. We had our game that night....and we won! Our athletes have Pride in their school, they have Pride in each other, it's pretty special.

 

Congratulations to the Lady Tiger soccer team on their 4-0 start! They had a very intense triple overtime victory over Bolivar on Monday. The girls will host Popular Bluff tonight and will host Hillcrest next Monday (make-up of a rainout). They will then host Webb City on Tuesday before playing in the Kickapoo Tournament next weekend.

 

Our baseball Tigers have won four in a row after defeating Rogersville and Parkview in our Lead-Off Tournament and then defeating Ash Grove and Conway this week. A special congratulations to Luke Latham on being named Chevy Dealers Athlete of the Week! The Tigers will play in the Red and Blue Tournament starting today at 3:00 at Kickapoo. They play again at 5:30 tonight before playing two games tomorrow at noon and 2:30 at Hillcrest. They will then travel to Webb City next Tuesday and will host Nixa on Thursday in two big COC games.

 

The boys golf team got to play in their first tournament of the year at the MSU Relays held at Stewart Golf Course. Here are our results: Team Score: 338, Team Place: 10th out of 21

 

Individual Results: Robert Mitchals - 81, Marshall Faulkner - 82, Jared Holmes - 85, Lance Parrish - 90, Eric Rodocker - 95

 

The girls' track team had a strong showing Thursday night at the Carthage Invitational, placing third in the eleven team meet. Scoring seventy-two team points, the girls were only twelve points from the first place host team. The girls were paced by four first place winners in junior Danielle Sanger (100m, 13.20), freshman Chloe Andrews (800m, 2:27), senior Ali Frazier (shot put, 37'11.5) and junior Samantha Kappler (pole vault, 8'6). Sanger added a second place in the 200m with a time of 27.9. Frazier was second in the discus with a throw of 116' 3" and Andrews placed second in the 1600m with a 5:26.20. Two of the girls' relays finished fourth with the 3200m relay of seniors Darby Ferguson, Layne Jackson and Bailey Hession, as well as junior Hannah Hendrix, posting a time of 11:18.60. Also bringing in a fourth place finish was the 400m relay team (54.10) consisting of freshmen Abby Woods and Mackenzie Bouse, sophomore Aja Starks and junior Danielle Sanger. The varsity girls will compete on Thursday at the Girls' Night Out meet hosted by Glendale High School at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Springfield.

 

Willard Boys' Track and Field Fifth at Carthage Invitational

The boys' track and field team had several athletes place well at the Carthage Invitational on Thursday night. Junior Daniel Horne was the only first place finisher, capturing the title in the high jump with a jump of 6' 2". The 800m relay team had an impressive performance, finishing second in 1:34.20. The team members were juniors Kolbe Kinghorn, Horne, Z. Barr and sophomore Quinton Puckett. Senior Brady Fitch also captured a silver medal with his discus throw of 133' 2". Third place finishers for the Tigers included Kinghorn (400m, 53.20), Barr (200m, 23.00) and senior Harrison Puckett (discus, 131'6). Barr also added a fourth place finish in the 100m with a time of 11.5 seconds. Fitch was fourth in the shot put, throwing 43'. Sophomore Garron Schweighardt earned a fifth place spot in the 1600m with a 4:53.70. Also placing for the Tigers were sophomore Tristin Jackson (5th in pole vault), Quinton Puckett (6th in triple jump), Horne (6th in the 300m hurdles) and senior Curt Hamilton (6th in the 400m). The varsity boys will again be in action this Friday at the Hillcrest Invitational at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Springfield.

 

A very special congratulations to Chris Kendrix on being selected to the Missouri Sportswriters 1st Team All-State! This is a very big honor!

 

It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley

Activities Director  

High School
It is the time of year where a high school, it's students, and it's staff are busy, busy, busy! Next week, WHS is hosting the special services Transition Fair on Tuesday, April 9. We will also be having a senior meeting reviewing graduation expectations and requirements on Thursday, April 11. On Friday, April 12, SGA is hosting our "Safe and Sober Assembly". Saturday, April 13, is a national test date for the ACT and WHS will host as well.

Along with these things happening in the building, students continue to compete athletically as well as in activities with several state and national qualifying events taking place over the next several weeks.

It is GREAT to be a Tiger!

Curt Graves
Principal
Middle School
WMS Information
  • Softball and track are underway! The weather caused a few issues with games this week but we are looking forward to the spring weather so games/meets can continue.
  • The drama club play, Mulan, is a must see!! There are two more shows left so don't miss out! Friday, April 5th and Saturday, April 6th at 7 pm
  • Winter Guard will be competing on Saturday at Ozark.
  • Softball will be competing in Nixa on Saturday.
  • Classrooms are starting MAP reviews this coming week.
Thanks for check in on us!
  
Amy Sims and Stephanie Walters
Principal and Assistant Principal
Intermediate School
A big "Thanks" to the Springfield-Greene County Library for making the Avi visit a reality for our students! Students from our building, Central, North, and Middle School were given the opportunity to hear and learn from one of the worlds best children's authors. One of the questions he was asked was "Since you do such a great job of writing for children, why don't you write for adults as well?" His response: "Because children are better readers, they do not look at a book to critique it or find some hidden meaning. They simply take it at face value." This is so true! Our kids love to read because people like Avi, our librarian Mrs. Staley, teachers, and parents have opened their minds to the power of reading and writing. I am sure there were at least a few students that left school on Tuesday with the goal of being an author!

Don't forget that state MAP testing is right around the corner. WIS will be testing all 5th and 6th grade students April 22-25 and 5th grade only April 30-May 1. We do ask that efforts be made at home to make sure students are well rested and to school on time for these testing dates. Our confidence is high that our students will rock the MAP!

Enjoy the warm spring weekend!

Tom Davis
Principal  
North Elementary School
Principal vs. Principal
North vs. East

Willard North and Willard East students are banning together to collect boxtops for their schools! Students are bringing in boxtops for the Month of April. The school that turns in the MOST boxtops will have their principal showcased in a dunk tank AND there will be a Principal's Challenge as well May 10th at the high school track! Start sending in your boxtops. Principal Miller and myself are so excited for the Principal's Challenge!!!!
  
Angela Stevens
Principal  
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South Elementary School
  
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East Elementary School
It has been a fast 4-day week at Willard East. There is something about being out of school on April Fool's Day that is comforting to a principal!

Wednesday was Para Professional Appreciation Day and we celebrated the hard work of our 4 paras. Janeen Plummer, Angie Welsh, Jackie Uckele, and Toni Sleme are very important members of our staff and we are blessed by the difference they make on a daily basis.

You're Invited!
Willard East Spring Concert
Friday April 12th 7:00PM @ Willard High School main gym
This is our first all school concert hosted by the district elementary music teachers.

Reminder: Our district is rolling out a new communication service on Monday April 8th. If your student is absent from school you will receive a voice recording letting you know. We are excited to provide you with this service and there are more features to be announced at a later date.

Melinda Miller
Principal
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Central Elementary School
Newberry Award winning author, Avi, visited Willard Intermediate School today. He shared about his journey becoming an author while encouraging students to be veracious readers. He offered words of wisdom and humor to students to think about their writing and how to write for other readers. Avi came to Willard thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Staley at the Intermediate School and Mrs. Roth for submitting a winning proposal for the author visit through the Greene County Friends of the Library. In order for our students to attend a visit with Avi, they had to read and review one of his books then submit a book cover for that story giving a summary and author biography. It was a great day and our students really enjoyed meeting and learning from this award-winning author.

Here are the exciting events coming up at Willard Central:
April
8- PTO Meeting 6pm
9- Kindergarten Screening for 2013-2014
9- Kindergarten Concert 7pm
23-25 MAP Test
26 Early Dismissal 12:30pm
27- PTO Carnival 4-6 p.m.
30-May 2- MAP Test

Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
 
Shane Medlin
Principal 

Orchard Hills Elementary School
 
Special Services

The Special Services Department would like to invite you to participate in three very special events that are happening in April! 

*****April has been designated as Autism Awareness Month.
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Please check out our blog at

 

Thank you to Shannon Roberts and Lindsey Lovekamp at Orchard Hills for working on this effort!


*****On Tuesday, April 9th, the High School will be hosting the Annual Resource (Transition) Fair for all students and their families. It will be located in the High School from 1:30-6:00 PM. There will be over 20 area agencies present and ready to answer questions about anything from summer camp to post-secondary options such as OTC. This is for ALL students of ALL ages, please stop by and show your support. 

*****On Monday, April 29th, the SPED department will host the Annual Partners In Strength event. It will be located in the High School main gym and commons area from 6:00-8:00 PM. Last year, over 60 students with disabilities participated in the evening. It is always exciting and gives those students an opportunity to be part of a team. 
Volunteers from across the district make it possible and include teachers, paras, administrators and student athletes. Each student will participate in various modified athletic challenges and team events and will receive a medal at the end of the night. If you would like to help out with this unbelievable night, please contact Jon Gold at 
 

 

 Sincerely,

Caryn McDonnell

Director of Special Services

[email protected]. Feel free to come and cheer everyone on! 

Thank you for supporting our students with special needs. We serve over 720 students in 8 buildings across our district with either an IEP or a 504. It takes a team! 



Willard School District | 4177422584 | [email protected] |
460 E Kime
Willard, MO 65781

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