WillardPublicSchools
 Student Focused | Strongly Connected | Success Driven
The Pride

  
April 17, 2015
In This Issue
Willard Parks

   

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

If you are bored and have free time after mowing the spring grass, I invite you to visit the activities occurring at all grade levels within the district. Concerts, musicals, contests, and athletics fill nearly every day of the calendar.  My favorites are the events that showcase student work and I am always in awe of the amazing products Willard students generate.  The focus on the final product obscures the Failure side of success.  The many hours spent by a vocalist or instrumentalist to make the musical score sound "just right", or the re-writes of a literary piece to accurately convey the feeling or intent of the writer, and the "whiffs" at the plate in baseball practice to train the eye & brain to be able to pick up on a curve ball for a base hit.  I frequently see Willard students USE failure experiences as a learning opportunity for improvement, but as parents, it can be difficult to observe a child failing.  The hours of repeated practice away from school can stretch any family dynamic at times (humor), but when your child is "spot on" with their performance, the practices seem to fade from memory.  These mini sessions of tough times are valuable for students, and if used positively, they are an excellent habit of mind for adult success.  As we cherish and celebrate the academic, artistic, and athletic products Willard students exhibit, be reminded of the countless hours of learning failures often necessary to create an incredible final success.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Stewart Pratt

Assistant Superintendent 

Athletics & Activities
You ready for a FULL PRIDE!!!!!!!  Here we go!
  
Excited to share that the Willard HS Concert Choir received all 1 ratings today in performance and sightreading!  The Chamber Choir also received all 1 ratings yesterday. In the past week Willard Choirs has had 16 judge critiques completed and have received a 1 rating on every single one!  Very proud of their hard work and commitment to pursuing excellence. 

So, to continue the parade of national qualifiers, FBLA competed in our State Leadership Conference the last 3 days.  We had a pretty successful time with 3 national qualifiers and several state finalists.  We will travel to Chicago in late June to try and bring home some National hardware.  If you see these students, please congratulate them on their hard work!
 
National Qualifiers:
Conor Wadle & Cole Baker - State Champions in Marketing
Emily Raney - Second place (by less than one point) in Health Care Administration
  
State Finalists:
Cameron McMurtrey & Conor Wadle - 5th Place in Emerging Business Issues
Ryan Henslee - 6th Place in Sales Presentation
Hayley Cole & Jeremy Dean - 6th Place in Managment Decision Making
Madi Hinds - 8th Place in Securities & Investments
  
Great job FBLA!!!!
  
And this from Speech and Debate..... Emily Raney qualified for speech and debate Nationals this summer in Student Congress!   We now have 6 events qualified!  
  
Also, at districts Willard earned 2nd in Speech sweeps, 3rd in Debate sweeps, and 3rd in Congress sweeps! 
 
Finally, we also won the 2013-2014 Leading  Chapter Award!  Out of over 3,000 member schools we are one out of only 110 that receive this honor this year!
Needless to say Chelsea and I  cannot express how proud we are of this team and to be apart of this school!  It really is good to be a tiger!!

Congratulations to the soccer team on their victory over Webb City last week.  The girls are now 7-1 on the season and 1-0 in the COC!  They will compete in the prestigious Kickapoo Invitational this weekend and open play versus perennial state power Rosati-Kain tonight at 6:00pm.  Play will continue tomorrow.  Next week the girls will travel to Carthage on Tuesday for their only match of the week.
 
Congratulations to the baseball Tigers on their 4 wins in the Hollister Tournament last weekend!  They got off to a rough start in COC play but will look to get back on track this weekend as they host Hillcrest and Monett tomorrow starting at 11:00am.  Next week, they will travel to Neosho on Tuesday and Republic on Thursday in two big COC games!
 
Below are the results from our annual dual with Republic last night at Greene Hills:
Willard Team Score: 167
Republic Team Score: 180
Varsity Individuals
Austin Driskell - 40 (Medalist)
Sage Whiting - 42
Taylor Hession - 49
Ridgley Harless - 44
Jacob Shackelford - 42
JV Individuals
Brayden Swearengin - 42
Tim Eoff - 64
Austin Ware - 60
  
Track will be hosting the Jason Pyrah Invitational next Thursday as 25 schools will invade Willard in one of the largest track meets in southwest Missouri!  Good luck Tigers!
  
A special congratulations to Blake Hobbs (SBU - baseball) and Mariah Stewart (Rockhurst - volleyball) on signing letters of intent this past Wednesday.  Both have been outstanding Tigers during their careers here at Willard!
It's Good To Be A Tiger!

 

Jeff Staley

Director of Activities/Athletics

High School

The Willard High School 'Big Show' was a tremendous showcase of student work this week.  The work displayed filled the auxiliary gym.  The talent of our students and staff were shining.  Not only was it fun to view all of the work but also to watch the conversations between students and between staff and students as they discussed the works. 

 

Band and music performed at their respective state events.  State band was held on campus.  Student workers and our band staff did a great job of facilitating the event.  Tremendous performances and high ratings for both band and choir were received. 

 

This week has been "Safe and Sober" week sponsored by SGA.  Videos and activities will be capped with a docudrama on Friday afternoon.  Mrs. Dock, director of nursing, has coordinated the culminating event in conjunction with Mercy Hospital, local EMS, and local law enforcement.  Student actors will participate.  As well, an emergency helicopter will land in our front lawn.  We hope as spring turns to summer, Prom comes, and graduation approaches that our students will be reminded to be safe.

 

Friday, April 17, is the mid-4th quarter.  Seniors are counting down to graduation at JQH.  Prom is only a few weeks away.  On Saturday, April 18, the ACT will be given on campus.  Additionally, April 28, will be the DESE mandated testing day.  Freshmen and sophomores will participate in a practice test while juniors complete an official ACT exam.  Seniors will be rehearsing for graduation. 

 

Whether in the classroom, on the playing field, at the 'Big Show' or at State Large Ensemble events, our students represent Willard very well.  It is GREAT to be a Tiger!  #ProudWHSPrincipal

 

Curt Graves

Principal

Middle School
We are very proud of the middle school academic team.  They competed on Saturday, April 11th at a tournament at Clever.   The team placed 3rd out of 16 teams.  Way to Go!!!!  Terri Barnicle is the coach and the team members include John Baker, Ian Lacey, Tyler Edwards, Greg Holle, and Ben Sanders. They also competed Jan. 17 at a tournament at Shell Knob where they placed 2nd.  Congratulations!!
 
Mrs. Maerke's Language class and eTime produced items for the LAD Fair.   They did an amazing job!!  See the result below.  
 
Amy Sims\
Principal

 

LAD FAIR CATEGORY

AWARD

STUDENT

TITLE

Description of Mood

H.M.

Jenna Kaufman

Nightmare in Reality

Description of Place

2nd

Macey Quigg

The Now

Description of Place

3rd

Grace Creed

Reflecting Window

Description of Object or Thing

1st

Amber Prike

Insanity

Media Review

3rd

John Baker

Breviloquent Dissection

A Narration

2nd

Danaysia Schmehl

Faith in the Meadow

Original Poetry Anthology -- Small Group

3rd

Nathan Bushnell, Macey Quigg, Grace Creed, Chase Hultgren

Bible Days

Original Poetry Anthology--Class

H.M.

Class Anthology

I Say

Original Prose Anthology by individual

1st

Miranda Reed

Love & Holding Someone Dear

Ballad

1st

Emalee Flatness

Ballad of Margaret Anne

Haiku

2nd

Jacob Woolridge

First Flight

Haiku

2nd

Katie Baird

Sky Offering

Limerick

1st

Elijah Bingam

The Crow

Limerick

3rd

Jenna Kaufman

Turkey the Pet

Long Narrative Poetry -- 11 lines or more

H.M.

Amber Prilee

Seeing through...

A School Newspaper

1st

Spring WMS Press - eTime group

WMS Press Valentine

Media Review

1st

Ethan Gambriel

Unbreakable...

Media Review

3rd

Ian Lacy

Beseige Review

Media Review

H.M.

Evelyn Vandenberg

Emperor was Divine

Play Script

2nd

Milana Hainline

Defeated: A Story

Individual Collage

1st

Milana Hainline

Torture they Teach

Central Elementary School

Willard Central enjoyed a "3 Piggy Opera" performed by our Kindergarten students on Tuesday evening.  The students did a great job in their performance!  Thank you to Mrs. Chatman and Mr. Fornshell for their efforts in setting up a great program.

 

As we look ahead to next week, our 3rd and 4th grade students will be taking the MAP test.  Our students have worked hard all year long and we are confident they will do a great job.  Students seem excited for the new online testing format and are ready to shine.
  
Our PTO Family Fun Night is just around the corner on Saturday, May 2nd.  The evening will run from 5:00-7:00 pm with lots of lawn games for the family, baked desserts to enjoy, pizza and nachos for dinner, and a silent auction. Mrs. Roth will also be hosting the Spring Book Fair.  We hope you will mark your calendars for this fun event before the end of the school year as we support our PTO!
  
Shane Medlin
Principal
Special Services

PARTNER'S IN STRENGTH

 

On Monday, April 20th, 300+ people will come together to celebrate the unique abilities of our Willard students ages 3-21.  I invite you to come out and be a part of the 8th Annual Partner's In Strength night. There will be relays, games, food, friends and a tremendous amount of TIGER PRIDE!!!  Come and support all of the athletes from 5:30-7:30 PM in the Willard High School gymnasium. 

 

A special thank you to Jon Gold at WHS for his leadership in this extraordinary tradition and the many, many volunteers and donations that make this evening a success!  

 

Caryn McDonnell

Director of Special Services  





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