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The Pride
August 16, 2013

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Willard Parks
  
District Office
The Mission of Willard Public Schools is:
 
 
Student Focused / Strongly Connected / Success Driven
 
Whoa!!!!! Wait just a minute. That's not what I remember. Who changed the Mission? What was wrong with the old mission? What happened to Willard R-2? Why Change??? All of these questions were addressed over the past year by a large committee consisting of school and community leaders. The change is motivated from our continual pursuit to discover, "What is a 21st Century School?" What does it look like? How is it structured? Is it the same for every child?? Does it meet every day, all day, for all children? Do students always have a teacher directing their learning or can it be virtual online learning? etc...... Before we started on these major questions we were forced to look at the District Mission Statement which is the foundation of our instructional purpose. All agreed that it had served us well for over a decade but should be updated. Throughout the next several months we discussed beliefs, community values, instructional purpose, and worked to combine these into a new Mission Statement. By the end of the process we had created a new Mission Statement, Set of Goals, Logo, and Motto. My hope is that the new Mission serves the district as well as the last. We have laid a new foundation cornerstone, its time to get to work on the design!

Have a great weekend!
Kent

p.s. Some things change but some things never do! I visited every building yesterday and today. In one kindergarten class the teacher had the complete attention of the entire class and all the sudden a boy jumps to his feet with his arms raised over his head loudly stating "I did it! I did it! It worked! I tied my own shoe!!! I just about burst out laughing. No doubt that young man had a good day! 
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Athletics & Activities
I hope everyone has enjoyed their break. I know I just caught a limit of crappie off my back deck.....and I don't even have a lake or pond! ( Insert "rained too much" joke here.)
I'm excited to be back and our Tigers started practicing on Monday preparing for the many successes that we have come to expect. Here is a list of upcoming events that might interest you:
  
Saturday, Aug. 17th - 10:00am - Powerade Football Scrimmage - Please bring some sort of sport drinks for the boys.
Tuesday, Aug. 20th - 6:00pm - High School Theatre - Mandatory Fall Sports Parents Meeting
Friday, Aug. 23rd - Football Jamboree @ JFK - 7:00pm
Softball Jamboree @ Monett - 5:00pm
Soccer Jamboree @ Kickapoo - 6:00pm
Tuesday, Aug. 27th - Volleyball Jamboree @ Willard - 5:30pm

And while we were on break....our cheerleaders won first place in Regionals and qualified for State!!! Great job ladies!

It's Good To Be A Tiger!
Jeff Staley
Activities Director
High School

Two students from the Willard Speech and Debate team have earned Academic All-American Awards from the National Forensics League. Seniors Dusty Bacon and Mercer Martin earned the award which recognizes students who have earned the degree of Superior Distinction, maintain at least a 3.7 GPA, score an ACT of 27 or higher, and demonstrate outstanding leadership and character.Congratulations to Dusty and Mercer.

 

The preparation for a new school year was met by 1258 students on Thursday morning.What a great 1st day!  The positive student and teacher energy has been tremendous. Mrs. Hession and her students completed the "human taco" activity to get acquainted in FACS. In Mrs. Foster's math room, students had to complete an algebraic formula to figure out which seat they were assigned. Several teachers were asking students for responses about interests, learning likes and dislikes, and summer activities in order to get to know them better. It is going to be a great school year. The quest has begun!

 

 It is GREAT to be a Tiger!

Curt Graves
WHS Principal 
Middle School

The first day got off without a hitch. There are so many to thank for their incredible work!

 

First, let me start by saying what an amazing custodial staff we have. Becky, Chris, Darlene, and Jim worked very hard all summer to get the building looking great. We are blessed to have such a great custodial team.

 

Next, I would like to thank the secretarial staff for all they do to help make things run smooth all year long. Lisa, Roxanna, and Terri are a wonderful group of ladies that make it look easy. They put in a lot of hours behind the scene and the school would not be able to run without them.

 

Many would think that the cooks would just show up the day the students do but that is not the case when it comes to our cooks. I know this summer Kim Meads spent many hours getting ready for the day that students arrive. Our kitchen staff is always friendly and helpful no matter the request. Thank you ladies!

 

Our paraprofessionals, teachers, counselors, librarian, and technology department at the middle school in my opinion are the best you would find in the world. They work an incredible amount of hours to provide the very best to our students. They collaborate, share, and seek new learning every day. Growth is a part of our team at WMS and that is what makes us GREAT!! We have been blessed by some outstanding additions this year and they are already becoming part of our family here at WMS!

 

Thanks for checking in with us,

Amy Sims, Principal

Stephanie Walters, Assistant Principal  

Intermediate School
 

From the time students started arriving early this morning right up to the end of the day when we got our last student in his car to go home, this was an awesome day! Every student, parent, and teacher I came in contact with today had a smile on their face and an attitude that made me proud to be a part of the WIS family. Today in our kick-off assembly each student was challenged to take the opportunities a new school year offers and use them to make this a memorable and rewarding year. I know our students are in a time and place with teachers that will help them make this a reality. Bring on the new school year!

 

Tom Davis

Principal

North Elementary School
  
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South Elementary School

WOW....dare I say it was the perfect start to an amazing school year! The weather was amazing for a mid-August Missouri day, students were eager to learn, lunches were served to hundreds of students, teachers were ready to kick-start the new year, and the list goes on. This year we are starting our year off living by our new District Mission Statement of STUDENT FOCUSED | STRONGLY CONNECTED | SUCCESS DRIVEN! I know it will be a great year. Please help me welcome our newest staff members to Willard South.

 

*Karen Flores, WS Tiger Cubs Preschool Teacher  

*Keri Berry, 4th Grade Teacher

*Michelle Christensen, Music Teacher

*Patrice Tuttle, 4th Grade Instructional Aide

*Kelli Burch, 3rd Grade Instructional Aide

*Shellie Chenoweth, Paraprofessional

*Melinda Carol, Kitchen Staff

*Cheryl Deckard, Kitchen Staff

 

Kara Crighton-Smith

Principal 

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East Elementary School
  
Welcome back to school from Willard East Elementary! We are happy to welcome new teachers Mr. Heller - 4th Grade, Mrs. Whisler - 2nd Grade, Miss Sechler - Special Services, Ms. Jessica Stone - Para Professional, and Ms. Emily Teal - ESL Para Professional. We also have a new bus driver on bus 46 Rainey Merritt. We also welcome 28 new students to Willard East. We are looking forward to a great year
  
Melinda Miller 
Principal
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Central Elementary School

Willard Central is Wild About Learning this year! Smiling, eager learners flooded into school ready for an amazing school year! We have been working hard all summer and we have several people to thank for the great start to the 2013-2014 school year:

  • Brandon Burks, son of Steve and Stacy, for all of his hard work on his Eagle Scout Project organizing scout members for planting trees and other bushes, sprucing up our Outdoor Classroom and installing playground equipment. Our students are in store for a treat and we are blessed by all of their hard work.
  • Mrs. Mello, our talented art teacher, for the amazing artwork welcoming students to WC each day, Nathan and Jennifer Shaw for making the amazing barn-wood sign giving us a truly rustic feel, and Pam and Jesse Medlin for all of their hard work decorating the entrance. Students and families were blown away be the wonderful entrance displays. You can stop by to see them in person or you can check out pictures on our Facebook page.
  • Custodial, maintenance and technology department personnel for making the building ready for learning!
  • Our PHENOMENAL PTO for a great Back-to-School BBQ for Meet the Teacher Night.

WC would also like to welcome some new faces to our team. They have been great additions and will serve our students well:

  • Mr. Eli Helms - 4th Grade
  • Mr. Scott Madden - Computer Lab
  • Mrs. Shawna Walker - Nurse
  • Mrs. Janet Fortney - Special Services
  • Mrs. Michelle Harris - Paraprofessional
  • Mrs. Kathy Duncan - Process Coordinator

2013-2014 will be a memorable year! We hope you will be able to join us on our adventure this year!

Shane Medlin, Principal

 


Orchard Hills Elementary School

 

 
Special Services

Two days down and 172 more days to go! We better get to work because we have a lot to learn and accomplish this year. EVERY student can learn and make progress! What does progress mean? Below is the definition as given in the Collins English Dictionary, 1991.

prog�ress (prgrs, -rs, prgrs) n.

 

1. Movement, as toward a goal; advance.

2. Development or growth: students who show progress.

3. Steady improvement

 

Our priority this year is to assist our staff and our students to make progress towards their educational goals no matter what challenges they face physically, mentally or socially. We are excited to see what the results will be at the end of another school year when we take a look back and wonder how those 174 days passed so quickly and see how much our students have grown. I would like to say welcome to all of you that are new to Willard and welcome back to those of you who are already part of the Willard community. We are off to a great start!

 

Looking forward,

Caryn McDonnell

Director of Special Services   

Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

Willard 101: Tiger Training

This year, 35 teachers joined the ranks of our exemplary Willard teaching staff. A few are first-year teachers, but most are veteran educators. The group spent three days last week with the CIA Department learning about the Willard Way. The days were filled with district information and instructional strategies, including a focus on teaching the 21st Century Student. The teachers are prepared and excited to begin their first year in Willard! Across the district today, all staff shared in the excitement of new beginnings by greeting students eager to learn. Plans are in motion and teams are collaborating - the Willard Way! On behalf of the department, I would like to thank everyone involved in making our annual Tiger Training event a success:

 

� Willard Board of Education and Dr. Kent Medlin

� Willard Administration

� Willard Special Services Department

� Willard Community Teacher's Association and District Professional    Development Committee

� Willard Chamber of Commerce

� Willard Technology Department

� Willard Library Staff

� Debbie Burks and Chrysta Forrest, Social Workers

� Judy Brunner, Guest Speaker

� Renee Bass, Hostess

 

It is going to be a GREAT year!

Danielle Sellenriek,

Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

 




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