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The Pride
January 17, 2014

Administration
Board of Education
"Education is the most important profession worldwide, in that it makes all other professions possible through inspiration of children."

I read this quote this morning in a leadership article. This type of belief is shared by many career educators.  However, if it was only shared by educators the Willard School District would not be the high quality district which exists.  It is essential that community members, business owners, etc... believe this message.  

In Willard the community members that carry this message loud and clear is the members of the Willard Board of Education.  Willard BOE members spend many hours each month in meetings, review of data and reports, and communicating with district patrons. They make decision which effect over 600 employees, millions of dollars, and most importantly 4400 student lives.  Some would call it a very "Thankless" job.  I know most certainly that Willard BOE members don't consider their job as "Thankless" because they understand their essential role in the process. 

Districts that have members that refuse to listen, have personal agendas, or continually micromanage become ineffective and stagnate any district improvement. Willard BOE members understand their valued role. That is not to say that they are "easy". Our BOE members are as tough as they come!!!!  They have high expectations for performance, demand that employees exhibit character and integrity, hold administration accountable for improvement, and defend our district with passion!!!  During January the district recognizes "BOE Member Appreciation".  Join with me and drop a note to one of the following BOE members to let them know you appreciate their efforts.

Mrs. Julie Germann  - juliegermann@willardschools.net
Mr. Kip Baker - [email protected]
Mr. Jeff Baker - [email protected]
Dr. John Lilly - [email protected]
Mr. John Hartley - [email protected]
Dr. Devon Jarvis - [email protected]

Have a great weekend!
Dr. Kent Medlin
Superintendent

 


 
If you walk down the greeting card aisle, it always seems there is a "day" for just about every situation. At our January meeting, you might have thought that our board room was an extension of the Hallmark store. Each January, there is a designated week for School Board Appreciation. It's one of my favorite times, of course, because of all the nice thank you cards, and tokens of appreciation, but more because I love to read the comments of the kids. There are many thanks for playground equipment, books, computers, even thanks for their teachers. The comments that get to the heart of why we board members do what we do, though, are the ones that say, 'thank you for putting us first!'. So, on behalf of the board, I'd like to thank our district's MSTA group for the wonderful meal they served us, and thank the students, teachers and principals for the posters, cards and gifts. I hope you know that we all appreciate the time and energy put into them. 

I'd also like to express my thanks to the parents/patrons who have taken time to respond to our bond issue survey. In just the first few days the survey was open, we'd had over 400 responses. Your feedback is important, and as we continue to move closer to a final decision of placing the bond issue before voters, we will continue to monitor and discuss the feedback we receive. While we realize that there is virtually no way we will please everyone, we are committed to giving consideration to every need, because there isn't one idea that isn't important to kids.

Finally, I'd like to announce that the board approved extending Dr. Medlin's contract through the 2016-17 school year, as well as extending contracts to his administrative team. I believe that this group has brought the district through many exciting and challenging times in years past, and we are confident that he will continue to lead his team to many more successes for students in the years to come! 

#itsgoodtobeatiger!

Julie Germann
Board President

  
Athletic & Activities
High School
Let's look at what's new with our Tigers.....the list is quite impressive!

The wrestling Tigers defeated Rogersville and Lebanon this week to run their dual record to a perfect 9-0!  They took second in last week's Monett Tournament and will look to defend their Republic Tournament championship this weekend.  Next Thursdaythey will travel to Buffalo to wrestle the Bison and Bolivar.

The basketball Tigers had two great wins over Rogersville and Branson last week before falling short to nationally ranked Paul VI last night in the first round of the Tournament of Champions.  If you didn't get to see the game, our Tigers would have made you proud with their effort!  They will take on Weslyan Christian tonight at 5:00.  Saturday's games start at 4:00.  Next week the boys will travel to Carl Junction on Tuesday and to Bolivar on Friday.

The Lady Tigers lost a close one to Branson on Monday and will look to get back on the winning side tonight as they travel to Lebanon.  Next week, they will host Glendale on Monday and Ozark on Thursday.  Good luck ladies!

This weekend the weather finally allowed for the Willard Speech and Debate team to attend a tournament.  The Varsity traveled to Carthage and the following made it to semi-finals; Jacob Burnett in Original Oratory, Cameron McMurtrey and Hayden Onstott in Humorous Interpretation, Dusty Bacon in Prose/Poetry, Lindsay Smith in Story Telling and Wyatt Gregory and Jeremiah Puckett in Duo Interpretation.  Placing in finals; Mercer Martin first in International Extemp, Katelynn Wilson third in Humorous Interpretation and fourth in Prose/Poetry, Emily Raney fifth in Story Telling , Kimberly Jones and Irish Amundson  fifth in Duo Interpretation, and Emily Raney third in Lincoln-Douglas Debate!  The Varsity won sixth place in Sweepstake Points out of 17 schools!

 

The Novice speech and debate team traveled to Webb City and Luke Murray went to semi-finals in Humorous Interpretation. Placing in Finals; Evan Kirksey fourth in Original Oratory, Cole Baker second in Humorous Interpretation, Izzy Ulesich third and Madi Powell first in Dramatic Interpretation, Madi Powell second in Prose, Katie Schroeder and Landon Summerville fifth, Maci Bowman and Ashlyn Shipley third, and Cole Baker and Luke Murray first in Duo Interpretation, and Courtenay Turner fourth in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.  The Novice team won second place in Sweepstakes Points!  Great Job Team!    

 

It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley 

Director of Activities


Willard High School truly has great students and staff.  The Willard Speech and Debate team is a shining example.  Mrs. Tobin has grown the program to a current enrollment of 68 competitive members.  Students regularly come early and stay after school to research, develop selections, and prepare for tournaments.  The hard work is evident in the results they are achieving.  The program is a great example of the life lesson that hard work still pays off!

 

Teachers are working on curriculum alignment this week, Thursday and Friday, to continue meeting the academic learning needs of students.  As well, Jostens class ring orders are being taken for sophomores.  Finally this week, the first of several senior meetings was held to assist upcoming graduates with pertinent information during their final semester of high school.

 

Next week, counselors will meet with 8th graders to begin preparations for 2014-15 enrollment.  Freshmen Preview Night at the high school is on Thursday, January 23rd, at 5:30 PM.  Counselors, 9th/10th Assistant Principal Jeff Wead, and club sponsors will be available for questions and providing information to incoming students and parents.

 

It is GREAT to be a Tiger!

 

Curt Graves

Principle
  
  
  
Middle School
North Elementary
We have two more weeks of basketball with tournaments in Ozark, Willard, Neosho, Branson and Nixa. Check out the website at 
http://ms.willardschools.net for dates and locations. This is your chance to support our WMS Tigers!
  

Congratulations to our Geography Bee winners First Place - Aiden Davis; Second Place - Cole Oedewaldt and Third place - Nathan Swadley

 

We are trying out a new after school activity and will be having a FUN NIGHT starting immediately after school until 5:00 pm today. There will be dodgeball, refreshments and lots of other games for the students to play. This particular event is sponsored by our Peer Ambassadors, a very important group to our student body.

 

Today is our Award Assembly for this quarter's eTime activities  Around the World! This week's judging, sampling, and presentations were interesting, flavorful and "music to our ears". The students have embraced eTime as a fun time of learning and we look forward to next quarter's activities which will be all about The Olympics. We look forward to seeing what our students showcase on this subject.  Below is one of the winners of the language presentations - enjoy!

 

 

Thanks, 
Amy Sims
Principal
 

Welcome to the end of the the first long week back to school.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Break.  Our first snow make-up day will be 
January 20th.  
  
With all the cold weather and snow, Kindergarten classes are working on learning and reading all about penguins!  First graders are working on opinion pieces and telling time.  Second grade students just finished a snow globe writing piece and are working on measurement.  Third graders are also working on opinion writing trying to persuade the principal to have one-to-one chrome books at that grade level because they love technology so much. :)  Fourth graders are concentrating their efforts on non-fiction and biographies.  

We have hit the ground running this first full week of school!  Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!

Angela Stevens
Principal


 
  
Central Elementary
East Elementary
It is great to be back in the full swing of school and learning!  As we started back this week, 3rd grade students were busy diving in to their persuasive writing units.  It was wonderful being invited to classrooms to listen to students' writing!  Their task was to persuade their cheap, difficult principal (words of a 3rd grade student living in my home) to purchase more mystery books for the instructional library for their next unit of instruction in reading.

 

They had many logical and heart-felt reasons for their request.  After some feedback and further writing, they were finally able to convince me to purchase more books for them (not really a hard sell for me, but I may be asking Dr. Medlin and Mr. Pratt for some money!).  They gave articulate reasons for improving their critical reading skills, deepening their thinking and schema, motivating and maintaining student interest and promoting a love of reading.  One student described students as motorcycles and books as the batteries and fuel needed to make them run!  Like their teachers, I am proud of all of their hard work!  The students should get their motors running, because new mystery books are in the mail!

 

Please continue reading for our All-School Book Club and mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 11th from 5:30-7:30 for our Family Reading and Fine Arts Night celebration!
  
Have a wonderful weekend.
Shane Medlin
Principal

 


 

  We are finally back in our routine and glad to be in sch ool! Snow days are fun when they come in small doses. After a significant amount of time away from school, it appears EVERYONE was glad to be back! 
  
Speaking of routine.......our staff and students are reviewing and practicing all our daily routines again. Our Behavior Support Team met Monday after school to go over school routines and behavior expectations. We are excited to revive the Prize Patrol every Monday morning. Students who stay on their green card and/or do not have any behavior infractions for the week, will be entered into a drawing to visit our prize closet. Students of the Week don't know this yet but..........we will host an extra recess for all Students of the Week starting in the month of January! The kids will be very excited about this!
  
Tuesday Coach J reviewed lunchroom rules and procedures. Each classroom received a "Fine Dining Certificate" to display as a reminder of good lunchroom manners. You might ask our Kindergarteners how their teachers did modeling both correct and incorrect lunchroom behaviors.
  
School-wide Book Club Information: Before Christmas Break each family was given the children's book Charlotte's Web. This kicked off our annual school-wide book club. Over the next couple of months our school families will be reading Charlotte's Web at home. At the beginning of March we will host a Family Reading Night to celebrate the end of our book and come together as a school family for learning and fun!
And finally, today our Librarian Mrs. Miller hosted her Royal Readers celebration for students who complete her library challenge. Thanks for your hard work Librarian Miller.


Melinda Miller
Principal
  
 
  
South Elementary
Orchard Hills Elementary
 It was a full week of work and everyone survived!  It has been great for everyone to get back in a routine.  We hope to keep this warmer weather around for awhile!  Parents received second quarter reports this week also. Just a reminder to continue checking your child's tracker in Mastery Connect to see more details on the standards we have accessed and your child's progress.

Next week our third grade teachers will be hosting our second movie night of the year.  Don't miss Despicable Me 2 in the cafeteria at 6:00 on Friday, January 24th. Admission is free and snacks (popcorn, drinks, candy and pizza) can be purchased. 
  
Have a great weekend!

Kara Crighton-Smith
Principal
  
  

   
This week at Willard Orchard Hills we have been glad to get back in our 5 day routine. I think the students are tired of doing the "snow dance" and are excited to be back in their classrooms.
  
 I have enjoyed getting into the classrooms and see the learning going on. In PE, the students have been bowling.  Coach Sweet is teaching the fundamentals and scoring. The students are very excited to participate!  Have a great weekend!

 

Dr. Rhonda Bishop

Principal 

 

 

 

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