Our Willard Schools
The Pride
April  12, 2013

Join Our Mailing List
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

Welcome to THE PRIDE
We've updated our look & added friends! 
 
As a parent, staff member or fan of Willard Schools we hope you'll enjoy reading about school happenings each week. In addition to the new look we've included a few new features as well. 
 
* Easy Sharing
Just use the buttons at the bottom to send this issue to friends & family or post on social media. 

* Manage Subscription
Use the link at the bottom to change your  subscription. If you'd rather not receive The Pride or would like it sent to a different email address simply make  the changes to your subscription.

* Connect with Your School
Each school's news section has a link to their website and Facebook page so you can get connected and stay informed.

* Quick Sign Up
The Join Our Mailing List box above let's anyone sign up instantly to receive their own copy of The Pride. 
Building Trades House
  
For Sale!
This beautiful house built by Willard students working with area contrators is now up for bids. More info
Willard Parks

Don't miss out on the summer fun!

 

WAC season passes

now available:

Fee information @

www.willardaquatics.com

 

Sumer Day Camp

Registration now open:Information @

www.willardparks.com

District Office

As I have walked the halls of the school buildings in recent weeks, it has been easy to feel and see the signs of anticipation that springtime brings. Buildings are buzzing with continued teaching and learning, but are also in the midst of preparation for musicals, programs, art shows, competitions in fine arts and athletics, and of course, the "countdown" to the final days of school. Our senior class is eagerly anticipating commencement as they complete final papers and projects. Underclassmen of all ages are preparing for their own culminating event - the opportunity to showcase their academic skills on the state tests beginning the week of April 22.

 

The Missouri Assessment Program assesses students' progress toward mastery of the Show-Me Standards, which are the educational standards in Missouri. The Grade-Level Assessment is a yearly standards-based test that measures specific skills defined for each grade by the state of Missouri. Grade-Level assessments are given in communication arts (3rd-8th grades), mathematics (3rd-8th grades), and science (5th and 8th grade). The assessment also includes sections from the TerraNova survey, a national norm-referenced test, which is used to compare how well students are performing compared to their peers across the country. The End-of-Course assessments are taken by students enrolled in high school courses, in eight content courses covering English (English I and II), mathematics (Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry), science (Biology), and social studies (American History and Government). Preparations for the assessments provide a variety of events to continue learning new concepts, and review and refine skills. From Camp MAP and MAP Boot Camps in elementary buildings to tutoring and online tutorials in secondary buildings, teachers and students are working together to create an atmosphere of confidence prior to testing.

 

I am proud of the excellence in instruction that has occurred in the district this year - proud of the students and their desire to learn, the teachers in the countless hours of preparation and support they provide, and the leadership of the administrative team. We are ready to take the state assessments and continue our status as a district Accredited with Distinction in Academic Performance. Time to shine Willard!

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

 

Danielle Sellenriek

Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment K-12  

Like us on Facebook    Follow us on Twitter     willardschools.net

Athletics & Activities

It is amazing to me how important the past is in athletics. It is what everyone focuses on. How many games have we won/lost? How did we play? What championships have we won? However, if you think about it, what has happened in the past really isn't important; although I do believe it can be recognized and celebrated as you will read below. It's what lies ahead that we should be focused on. The next game....the next tournament....the next performance. That is the goal. Granted, we should always learn from the past but not dwell on it. I believe that Willard does a great job of doing that. Our coaches and athletes are continuously working to succeed in the future and are continuing to build on what they have accomplished.

 

1...2...3...4....11! Speaking of focusing on the past, congratulations to the Lady Tigers soccer team on their championship in the prestigious Kickapoo Invitational last weekend. They followed that up with wins over Carthage and Greenwood this week running their record to an impressive 11-0 on the season! The girls will travel to Parkview tonight before hosting Republic next Tuesday and Monett next Thursday. We will also be hosting the Willard Invitational next Friday and Saturday.

 

The baseball Tigers have started a roll of their own as they had great victories over Nixa, Harrison, AR, and Neosho this past week. The Tigers are now 11-5 on the season. The Republic game that was scheduled for Thursday has been moved to tonight at Republic. Tomorrow they will host Monett and Hillcrest with games starting at 11:00am. Next week, they will host Branson on Tuesday and will travel to Ozark on Thursday.

 

A special congratulations to the entire track staff and volunteers on hosting the Jason Pyrah Invitational last night. Despite poor weather conditions (understatement), and a sound system that went down, the meet was a resounding success thanks to everyone's efforts. Last week, the track squad traveled to West Plains. Here is the article from that meet:


Junior Z. Barr played a major role as the boys' track team finished second in the fifteen-team Zizzer Relays. While temperatures remained cool throughout much of the day, Barr's sprinting and jumping success had the Tigers trailing only the host team, West Plains. Barr finished the day with three gold medals and a silver, his best day of the season. He finished first in the 100m (11.11 seconds), 200m (23.25) and the 4 x 200m relay (1:33.95). Barr's second place came in the long jump with a jump of 20' 05". Joining Barr on the 4 x 200m relay were juniors Kolbe Kinghorn and Daniel Horne, as well as senior Ramone Crews. Also bringing home a silver medal was sophomore Tristin Jackson. Jackson placed second in the pole vault with a jump of 10' 6". Kinghorn captured two other medals with a third in the 200m dash (23.42) and a fourth in the 400m (52.85). Rounding out the medals for the boys were Horne in the 300m hurdles (5th, 44.74) and high jump (5'10", 3rd) and the 4 x 100m relay (4th, 47.27) consisting of freshman Tristin Chapman, sophomore Joe McGuire, junior Jacob Klessens and senior Ajay Kyle.

 

The girls' team, fourth overall, featured a gold medal performance by junior Samantha Kappler who won the pole vault with a jump of 9' 6". Kappler also placed 5th in the 400m for her second medal of the day. Senior Bailey Hession placed second in her first 1600m race of the year, posting a time of 5:47. Also bringing in the silver was the 4 x 200m relay team (1:58.30) consisting of junior Danielle Sanger, sophomore Autumn Williams and freshmen Abby Woods and Makenzie Bouse. The 4 x 800m relay placed third. Hession, junior Hannah Hendrix and seniors Darby Ferguson and Layne Jackson completed the eight laps in 11:12.25. Sanger was fourth in the 100m (13.42), sixth in the 200m (28.56) and fifth in the 300m hurdles. Freshman Lauren Inman placed sixth in the 300m hurdles (54.99), as did the 4 x 400 meter relay comprised of Hession, Kappler, Ferguson and junior Shayna Cowan-McDonald.

 

Next week the track team will compete in the Republic Relays on Thursday.

Here are the golf results from the Rogersville Invitational last week:

Varsity

Team Score: 342

Team Place: T-3rd out of 9 teams

 

Marshall Faulkner - 86

Robert Mitchals - 85

Jared Holmes - 79 (5th place overall)

Lance Parrish - 109

Eric Rodocker - 92

 

Junior Varsity

Team Score: 422

Team Place: 7th out of 10

 

Austin Driskell - 109

Sage Whiting - 105

Rigley Harless - 106

Taylor Hession - 105

Derek Van Wyhe - 106

 

Congratulations to our fabulous WHS Choir kids on an outstanding day at the MSHSAA State Large Ensemble Festival at Nixa High School. The students sang before a panel of three performance judges and one sight reading judge and earned the following ratings:

 

Freshmen Choir: "1 Rating Overall with a "1", "1", and 2+ in performance and a "2" in sight reading. This is the first time a Willard Freshmen Choir had stepped on the big stage to compete at MSHSAA Large Ensemble along side the upperclassman and they did a great job.

 

Concert Choir: "1" Rating Overall with straight "1" ratings from all judges in performance and sight reading. This choir is a combined choir of Fast Forward, Concert Choir, and Chamber Choir and they sang exceptionally well especially since we do not meet all together each day.

 

Chamber Choir: "1" Rating Overall with straight "1" ratings from all judges. This group stepped up once again and delivered an amazing performance that drew rave reviews from the panel of judges.

 

It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley

Activities Director  

High School
Our students have been very fortunate to experience some awesome things this past week. Choir just returned from Chicago and NJROTC toured Ft. Riley, home of "The Big Red One". State FFA Convention is in Columbia as well as State Theater and State Debate & Forensics. Our students continue to represent Willard High School, Willard School District, and the Willard Community very well.

In addition, WHS has hosted several events recently. We enjoyed hosting part of MSU's FFA competitions on campus. Last Saturday, several staff assisted with the National ACT Testing in the building. State Band ran very smoothly this week at the high school too.

All of these various activities, on and off campus, allow us to showcase our students and facilities. It just couldn't be done without a great staff, great volunteers, and great community supporters that truly care about our kids. Thank you to all who have invested in our future generation of leaders.

Next week we will be running an alternate schedule to facilitate EOC testing in the building. Students and staff have worked hard and I am confident that our results will be impressive.

It is GREAT to be a Tiger!

Curt Graves
Principal  
Middle School
  • Students have been working hard on getting ready for MAP testing. Teachers have given students the tools necessary to do well on the MAP and look forward to having the students perform at their best level. BEST OF LUCK!!!
  • This weekend the choir will be performing at contest. We wish them the best and know they will make us proud to be Willard Tigers!!!
WMS Dates:
  • April 22-25 & 30 and May 1st: MAP testing days at the middle school
  • April 22-30: WMS Recycle Forward Electronics Drive - Collection sites located inside WMS in lobby, library, office and cafeteria Recyclable Items: Cell Phones, Inkjet/Laser Cartridges, MP3s, Laptops, Tablets, PDA's and Notebooks. Money raised will be used to buy technological tools for student use.
     

Thanks for checking in on us!
Amy Sims and Stephanie Walters

Amy Sims
Willard Middle School Principal
School Mission: "Support the dream; move forward to create a community which fosters excellence and builds character."  
Intermediate School
  
North Elementary School
  
Like us on Facebook      WillardNorth  

South Elementary School
This week we had the opportunity to meet 50 incoming kindergarten students and their families during our spring kindergarten screening. This is always an exciting time for these eager future tigers to tour the school, meet teachers and show everyone how much they know. This is quite a process to organize the entire day.
  
Our elementary school counselors, BASE aides and PAT educators administer the DIAL-4 (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning) assessment tool to each child. This tool provides feedback in the areas of motor, language, concepts, social and self-help development. Students also go through a speech, language and health screening by our SLP staff members and school nurse. The end of the appointment is an exit conference for each parent and child conducted by the Willard South kindergarten teachers. Needless to say, it takes a lot of organizing and teamwork to pull this off. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this another successful event that hopefully made a lasting first impressions on these future tigers!

Don't forget that next week our 3rd and 4th grade students begin MAP testing. Students will take the Communication Arts MAP test on April 23, 24 & 25 and the Mathematics MAP test on April 30, May 1-2. Below are a few reminders to ensure your child is prepared for testing.
  • Eat a good breakfast
  • Arrive to school on time...we begin promptly at 9:00!!!
  • Dress in comfortable clothing
  • Get plenty of rest
  • TRY your best
  • Read each question carefully
Kara Crighton-Smith
Principal 
Like us on Facebook     WillardSouth 

East Elementary School
The Flap about MAP: The MAP test is coming! The MAP test is coming! Tuesday this week the Special class teachers hosted MAP Prep Fun Stations for our 3rd and 4th graders. Students were divided into groups and moved around the gym for some fun MAP test themed stations. They had Study Skills Bingo, QR Code MAP Vocabulary, Bubble Sheet Minute to Win It, Brain Gym and MAP Pictionary. You can find out more about these activities on the Willard East website.

Next week our 3rd and 4th grade students will be taking the MAP test in the mornings from 9:00AM - 11:00AM. We will keep interruptions at the minimum to insure the students have the best environment possible for success!
Melinda Miller
Principal
Like us on Facebook      WillardEast  

Central Elementary School
Willard Central Students have been busy "Reaching for the Stars" the past 2 weeks. Last week, Kindergarten students impressed their family and friends with their music program, The Wide Mouthed Frog. The show was a success and enjoyed by all!
  
As our current Kindergarten students were shining last week, we welcomed incoming Kindergarten students to WC with our Kindergarten screening. We had many excited faces and ready for their school adventure to start!
  
This week, students have been busy preparing for MAP testing next week. We wrapped up our after-school PUSH program on Thursday with some well-deserved rest, relaxation, ice cream and dodge ball. Thank you to our students and parents for your extra support and commitment helping our students stay and build that momentum for testing next week!

Our PTO Carnival will be taking place next Saturday afternoon, April 27th, from 4:00-6:00. Please join us for all of the festivities! Students have started selling raffle tickets (6 for $5) and we will have games and inflatable wrist bands for $5 ($8 at the door). Concessions stands will be open for meals and snack items as well. We hope to see you there and we still have openings for volunteers who would like to help with the fun.

Here are other upcoming events to mark on your calendar:
April
23-25 MAP Test
24th - Kindergarten Field Trip
26 Early Dismissal 12:30pm
27- PTO Carnival 4-6 p.m.
30-May 2- MAP Test

May
3 - MAP Reward Activity 9:00 Bowling Trip
6 - 4th Grade Field Trip to Jefferson City
6-10 - Book Fair
6-10 - Teacher Appreciation
7 - Fine Arts Night 5:30-7:00
7 - Grandparents' Day (see schedule for specific grade level times)
10 - 2nd Grade Restaurant 11:00

Have a great weekend!
  
Shane Medlin
Principal 

Orchard Hills Elementary School

 

 

 
Special Services

It sure does feel like we are getting close to summer, things are very busy around here! April is always a fast paced month with many end of the year activities quickly approaching. This is no exception for the Special Services Department. There is still plenty to do and lots of memories to make! Please join us by participating in the following:  

  • Wednesday, April 24th: Guest speaker and author of Finding Kansas, Aaron Likens, will be at the WHS Theatre to share with us his personal experience of living with autism. This is an open and free event for anyone interested. He is an amazing individual with an amazing story! 3:45-5:00 PM

  • Monday, April 29th: Partner's In Strength night at WHS main gym from 5:30-8:00 PM. Student athletes will showcase their skills alongside our athletes with disabilities in an incredible evening of food and fun. All are welcome!

  • April continues to be Autism Awareness Month. The latest edition of the blog can be found at http://willardspecialservices.weebly.com/blog.html  

See you there!

 

Caryn McDonnell

Director of Special Services 




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

 The Pride is a publication of Willard R2 School District.


Copyright © 20XX. All Rights Reserved.