WillardPublicSchools
 Student Focused | Strongly Connected | Success Driven
The Pride

  
March 20, 2015
In This Issue
Your Voice

District Communication Survey

 

Please click on the link above to participate in a quick 2 minute survey asking for your input on an important school issue.   

Willard Parks

 

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

Date: March 28

Doors Open: 8:00am

Hunts Start @ 9:00am

http://www.willardparks.com/the-great-easter-egg-hunt.html

   

Summer @ THE WAC

Register today for Willard Aquatic Center Activities

http://www.willardaquatics.com/

 

Summer Adventure Camp

Register today for Summer Adventure Camp

http://www.willardparks.com/summer-adventure-camp.html

    

District Office
KINDERGARTEN SCREENINGS

Orchard Hills Elementary - April 10

South Elementary - April 14

East Elementary - April 15

Central Elementary - April 28

North Elementary - May 8

 

 

Twelve years ago I came to Willard and during the first two weeks two young ladies walked into my office and introduced themselves as Willard Teachers.  They then proceeded to share that they were taking college classes and were interested in working with me as interns for that school year.  Fast forward to today one of the ladies left the district and spent several years as an administrator and is now teaching at the college level.  The other is Mrs. Melinda Miller.  I was immediately impressed with Mrs. Miller.  She exhibited confidence, demonstrated a very unique since of humor, and impressed me as a person of integrity.  She was one of the first individuals that I hired as an administrator in the Willard School District. 

 

More than a decade later I have watched her grow as a leader not only in the Willard district but also in the Missouri Association of Elementary Principals.  This past week Mrs. Miller was recognized as one of twelve distinguished elementary principals from around the state.  Several district staff and Julie Germann, Willard Board of Education President, attended a banquet in her honor.  We celebrated her dedication to Willard students and staff.  We laughed about past stories and dreamed a little about the future.  Missouri has over 1,200 elementary schools and Mrs. Miller was among the 1% recognized for exemplary service and dedication to Willard students, staff, and Missouri Public Education.  Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Miller as one of Missouri's Distinguished Principals!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Dr. Medlin 

Athletics & Activities

"Don't let your values, effort or attitude be determined by the situation." - Proactive Coaching.  Isn't it funny how this applies to so much more than sport.  Too many times we allow the things we cannot control to affect the three things we can.  Sport teaches us that, no matter what is going on around us, you can control your attitude, effort, and stay true to your values.

 

Opening Day!!!!  Good luck to the baseball Tigers as they get spring sports started today by hosting Waynesville at 4:30pm.  The game was originally scheduled to be in Waynesville, but due to poor field conditions there, we have moved the game to Willard.  The Tigers will travel to Columbia tomorrow to take on Hickman at noon and Truman at 2:30.  Next week, they will travel to Lebanon on Tuesday before hosting the Willard Lead-Off Tournament starting Thursday.

 

Girls soccer gets their season started next week as they will travel to Rogersville on Tuesday and then to Clinton on Thursday.  The girls looked great in their Jamboree and I'm excited to see them play this season!

 

Track will also get started next week as they host a dual with Republic on Thursday.  Participation numbers are awesome this year and we are expecting great things from track!

 

Boys golf will start their season next week as they will compete in the Neosho Invitational on Thursday.  Good luck Tigers!

 

I received the following from Mrs. Wyatt who is in charge of the DECA program....pretty impressive!

 

"We had such an exciting time at state, and I have awesome results to report. Everyone who attended the conference worked hard to be professional, and they did a wonderful job in their events.  I'm excited to say we qualified 9 students to move on to the International Career Development Conference in Orlando, FL! 

 

In addition to the competitions, Missouri DECA awarded 3 outstanding members from only 17 schools with the opportunity to attend the Thrive Academy at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). In the Academy, these qualified students will participate in 2 intense days of leadership training, personal branding, and academic goal setting. Please congratulate the following students for a job well done!

 

ICDC Qualifiers: 

  • Hayley Cole, 1st Place, Personal Selling Event
  • Conor Wadle, 1st Place, Marketing Management Series
  • Cameron McMurtrey, 1st Place, Sports & Entertainment Marketing Series
  • Emily Raney, 4th Place, Human Resources Management Series
  • Madi Geiman, 5th Place, Marketing Communications Team Decision Making (Team w/Ogden)
  • Cheyenne Ogden, 5th Place, Marketing Communications Team Decision Making (Team w/Geiman)
  • Jeremy Dean, THRIVE Academy Qualifier
  • Tristin Jackson, THRIVE Academy Qualifier
  • Bailey Hays, THRIVE Academy Qualifer

ICDC Runners Up: 

  • Stephanie Graves, Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research Team 
  • Tanya Boboescu, Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research Team
  • Nina Todea, Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research Team

Robert Mitchals, DECA's Central Region Vice President & former WHS student, flew in town to speak at the conference. A "meet-and-greet" was held for students to meet & have pictures taken with him, and he presented a speech to all the attendees at the conference. He has turned DECA famous! :)"

 

It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley

Director of Activities / Athletics 

High School

We are in the 4th quarter and racing towards the finish line.  Graduation will be here soon.  Seniors were given important information at the March Senior meeting.  The next senior meeting is on April 9 during TNT.  Presentation information can be accessed through the high school website.

 

We are excited at WHS.  A team of high school teachers have piloted a digital program called Canvas for the past 10 months.  During this time, the pilot team for Canvas began providing professional development opportunities for all teachers.  This week, the staff reached consensus to adopt Canvas as a digital learning tool for the entire building.  Canvas provides a platform for digital learning, student collaboration, presentation, and assessment.  As we move forward, we will eventually be able provide parents with access to support their students.  This learning platform will continue to assist WHS in preparing students for the future.
  
Parent-teacher conferences continue on Tuesday, March 24, 5:00-8:30 PM.  Parents may contact the office to schedule or may simply stop by.  We welcome our parents to come visit with us.
  
It's great to be a Tiger!
  

Curt Graves

Principal

Middle School

The WMS Archery team traveled to Crain the Saturday before Spring Break taking third at that tournament and qualifying for the state competition to be held on March 28th.  Go Tigers!! 

 

The 7th grade band traveled to the Marshfield Middle School Music Festival on Saturday, March 7. The band performed very well and received straight Honor I Ratings from the judges. Not only did they play well, they were extremely professional in their approach to the day and we could not be more proud of them. After they finished their performance at Marshfield, the MS Jazz Band attended the Drury Jazz Festival. The group had an outstanding debut performance and placed 2nd in the Middle School/Jr. High Division. Reed Schweighardt and Bowen Pennell were also recognized for Outstanding Musicianship Awards. Congratulations to all our band participants! 
 
 

Track season is off and running (pun intended) having started their first full week with 93 participants!  They are working really hard to get ready for their first meet scheduled to be held in Branson on March 31st. 

 

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, March 31 and Thursday, April 2. As in the Fall, the Tuesday night conferences are by appointment only and teachers will be contacting parents to set up appointments with the team. If you are not contacted for a required conference appointment, we invite you to stop by and conference with your student's team on Thursday night between the hours of 3:00 until 6:30 pm in the upper gym. 

  

Thanks for checking in on us.

 

Amy Sims
Principal

Intermediate School
Spring is finally here!  WIS kicked off our spring thinking last night with our annual Spring Showcase.  Thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate our students academic and artistic abilities.  It was great to see the many interesting displays and talk to the students about things they are so interested in and passionate about.  We have a very diverse and talented group of students at WIS! 
Tom Davis
Principal
North Elementary School

Happy first day of spring!  Willard North has had a great week back after spring break!  We had some great weather at the beginning of the week and the students enjoyed having outdoor recess.  

   

Our Kindergarten classes have been learning about community helpers!  Parents have been visiting with the classes about their jobs and how they help the community.  Thank you to all the parents who took time out of their busy schedules to visit Willard North!

 

Looking Ahead...

Monday, March 23-3rd Quarter Report Cards will go home

Tuesday, March 31-Spring Conferences

Friday, April 3-No School

Monday, April 6-Snow Make-up Day

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Amanda Hambey

Principal 

South Elementary School
What do you do when your kindergarten enrollment numbers climb to 118 student in August?  First and foremost you make sure you have six amazing teachers in place!  That is exactly what we did here at Willard South Elementary this year.  Due to increasing student enrollment numbers at kindergarten, we had to think outside of the box to ensure our six kindergarten classrooms had six special classes to attend.  So, with teamwork and brainstorming, we came up with a kindergarten science lab as an additional special class this year.
  
On Thursday evening, Willard South spotlighted the kindergarten science lab at the Board of Education meeting.  Miss Stephenie the Science Lady, demonstrated a science experiment with the help from some special scientist.  We had kindergarten scientists Cael Wallace, Addison Lane and Peyton Lane put their science skills to the test during a sink or float activity.  Willard South kindergarten teacher, Lindsday Wallace, also shared how lessons were developed, planned and funded this year.  Special thanks to our amazing Instructional Coach, Linda Azeez, for putting together a wonderful site to showcase our lessons.  Check it out here!
  
Kara Crighton-Smith
Principal 
East Elementary School

Last weekend I was recognized as a Missouri Distinguished Principal for the Southwest Missouri district. The benefit of this recognition is that I was able to showcase all the amazing things going on at Willard East. One thing that stood out above all the rest of the schools was the fact that Willard East is truly a 21st century school. Technology integration is not something we do separate from learning. It is how our students learn. Many schools have technology. However Willard East far exceeds the norm in provide quality technology experiences for students.

 

It is because of the fantastic teachers, students, parents and community that I was chosen to receive this recognition. Willard East is known nationwide for our innovation and collaboration. Thank you all for allowing me to receive this recognition on behalf of all of you. Even though the recognition says "Distinguished Principal" it is because we are a distinguished school I was even considered for this honor.

 

Melinda Miller

Principal 

Central Elementary School
The students and teachers came back recharged and ready to tackle the 4th quarter after Spring Break.  Before the break, our teachers spent some time to dive deeper into The Leader in Me with a team of teachers providing professional development training to staff members on Friday evening.  Teachers were challenged to dive deeper into the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as we work to authentically embed these habits to build student leaders. We are looking forward taking these habits schoolwide next year.  Feel free to stop by to see our student leaders in action or ask your students about what the 7 habits mean to them:
  1. Be Proactive
  2. Begin with the End in Mind
  3. Put First Things First
  4. Think Win-Win
  5. Seek First to Understand and Then to Be Understood
  6. Synergize
  7. Sharpen the Saw
As we look ahead to next week, please make plans to join us on Thursday, March 26th from 5:30-7:00 for our Family Reading Night.  We will be celebrating our 8th Annual All-School Family Book Club and the adventures of Humphrey the hamster.  Join us for great literacy activities, a great time and some "Zoo-rific" prizes.
  
Shane Medlin
Principal
Orchard Hills Elementary School

The fourth quarter has hit hard and fast at WOHE!  The clock is ticking!  This week many of our 3rd and 4th grade students began Camp MAP. Teachers are working with students on targeted skills to support them in their learning. Camp MAP has evolved since we first began doing it several years ago and is now a much smaller, more focused program. 

  
Another congratulations goes out to Miss Bowen as she was recognized the first week of March by her college institution, College of the Ozarks and the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education as an Outstanding Beginning Teacher. We are proud of you Miss Bowen!
  
Last night, after rescheduling for snow, the 1st grade students pulled off a fantastic performance of "The Little Engine That Could Sing".  The kids sang to a packed house of family and friends!  Well done 1st grade and Mrs. Kuchta for her hard work. Mrs. Palmer, our fantastic art teacher, hosted the first grade Art Show where all students displayed their artwork and they were able to take them home. Mrs. Jones, our computer teacher, also had pieces of work that were completed in the computer lab on display for parent to take home.  All in all, it was a GREAT night!
  
Today spring arrives and we are ready!  Hope your weekend is fabulous!
  
Dr. Rhonda Bishop

Principal

Special Services

 

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment




Willard Public Schools | 417-742-2584
500 E Kime
Willard, MO 65781