Parents and Community members often ask why schools schedule these professional “days off” during the school year.  I will guarantee our patrons that these are not days wasted.  Teachers began the morning with a presentation at 7:30 a.m.   Teaching is a profession that is much more difficult than it was years ago.  No child wants to sit in a classroom of a teacher that has not improved in their delivery during the past 20 years.  It is much more difficult to maintain the attention of students due to their constant exposure to entertainment.  In this day and age, teachers must be able to present interesting, relevant, engaging lessons in order to capture the attention of students for seven hours every day.  This means that we must continue to learn and improve the way we perform.  There is no other way to do this than to schedule time for teachers to learn new methods and techniques of instruction.  Today is a day that students get to play, but teachers are at school working hard learning!

Have a good weekend.

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin

Superintendent of Schools

As a child, I loved it when my teachers had work days and the kids got a three-day weekend. As my twin brother and I were chasing each other through the house before being banished outside to the farm, I am sure my mother wondered if our teachers were missing us and pondering what they were doing. As a principal all of these years later, I can finally tell my mom that the teachers were too busy learning and growing in their profession to miss me.

Friday was a day filled with professional development for our teachers as we worked together to find new ways to meet our students’ needs. Teachers participated in trainings on writing instruction with the district’s teaching specialist, analyzed MAP data and developed brain-compatible lessons to address areas of concern, received training on the district’s online Acuity testing program, participated in a district-wide bully training in-service, and met with cadres around math, science, and communication arts needs. It was a busy and productive day for teachers that will have a positive impact on students and learning.

I am sure the teachers are glad to have their students back today. I bet they are even feeling like my mom and glad to have the break from me. Have a wonderful week and we will continue to “Reach for the Stars” at Willard Central. –Shane Medlin, Principal

This week, while taking a “walkabout” through the hallways I noticed serveral classes in “lab” areas. As I entered the rooms you could feel the energy as students were actively discussing, examining, and analyzing problems in front of them. Watching the students tackle the lessons, I was reminded how often things appear simple on the surface, but upon further investigation become quite different. In activities involving lab settings, many life skills can be touched upon as students work to complete a simple assignment. The process of “learning by doing” is one tool used to help students “connect” the classroom to life.

Thanks to the generosity of MSU, we were able to have nationally recognized motivational speaker Mr. Jimmy Cabrera speak to our students and teachers about the relationship between attitude and being successful in anything in life. His presentation “What’s in your backpack?” was exciting and well received by all!
Speaking of success, if anyone happened to see a Hummer limo full of Intermediate school students cruising around town you were not imagining things. Over 110 of our students earned a “Limo Lunch” by selling 10 or more of our Tiger Savings cards. Approximately 60 more students attended as guests of those that sold 15 or more cards. Thanks for all the hard work. You guys look great!
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This week, Willard North kicked off their new year with the first Super Tiger Celebration!  This year we have revamped our student awards.  Our awards spell out I ACT.  The letters stand for Improvement, Academics, Character and Teamwork.  Students will get “pawprints” and they will be placed on our student Wall of Fame.   We also received our new school shirts!  5th grade student Chase did a great job of designing it!  First grade took a walking field trip to the library and Pizza Hut!  Our PTO Read-A-Thon kicked off on Thursday!  Our goal is $12,000!  Get those kids reading!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Rhonda Bishop

You think our Tigers can play football? Well, we can sing a little as well!

Last week I reported that Willard ranked #1 in Southwest Missouri on the number of students it placed on the 9/10 All-District Choir. Well, we’ve done it again! This time Willard ranks #1 in the 11/12 All-District Choir! Mr. Lawley has placed 19 students in the selected group and they are: M. Lenz, L. Padgett, E. Scott, S. Yonke, H. Masters, K. Thomson, L. Nothum, L. Warren, A. Askren, L. Loveland, M. Carleton, S. Scott, C. Scott, B. Compton, D. Lawley, J. Scott, Z. Nilsen, E. Rippee, B. Lyons.

Speaking of football…I’m not sure how many times our football team has been ranked in the state but we are now! The Tigers have climbed to #10 in the state in this weeks poll and #4 in the Newsleader poll of classes 4-6! The undefeated Tigers will host Branson in a key COC showdown tonight at 7:00pm. They will not be home again until district play on October 19th so come out and support the Tigers! By the way, we defeated Reeds Spring at Homecoming last week 42-7. A special congratulations to L. Roberts on being chosen as the 2007 Homecoming Queen!

Congratulations to the soccer Tigers on their victory over Hillcrest last night 2-0. They will be at Greenwood tonight and we will be hosting the Willard JV Soccer Tournament all day tomorrow. Next week the Tigers will host Bolivar on Tuesday and New Convenant on Friday.

The volleytigers had an up and down week as they went to Lebanon and defeated the Yellowjackets on Monday but then suffered their first COC defeat of the season at Reeds Spring on Tuesday (we will be looking for revenge at districts!). The girls will host Rogersville next Tuesday and will be at Bolivar on Thursday.

The softball Tigers had a nice COC win over Rogersville this week and then found out that they are the #4 seed in their district tournament. The girls will host Ash Grove on Monday and Hillcrest on Tuesday before starting district play next Thursday. Willard will be hosting the tournament and the lady Tigers will play Rogersville at 4:00 on Thursday. That game will be followed by the Bolivar vs. Buffalo contest. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday starting at 4:00. The championship game will be on Saturday at 3:00.

Congratulations to K. Hession (9th), A. Bird (12th), and J. Bird (23rd) on their finishes in the Willard Cross Country meet held this week. There were a total of 71 runners in the girl’s division. Also, congratulations to R. Cook on his 16th place finish out of 63 runners in the boy’s division.

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

I looked on my dictionary website and found that the word “Home” has 31 definitions. Some people believe in the old saying that “Home is where you hang your hat.” I believe home can be much more then a hat rack!! Our school district has many families that have called Willard “home” for several generations. Three of our administrators are part of multi-generation Willard families. Amy Sims and Kara Crighton-Smith are sisters in a family that have six generations of history living in Willard. Jeff Staley has family including seven generations living in Willard. I think these three individuals may have a very special definition of home. Homecoming is a special time for our community. Tonight we will fill the football stadium with Willard fans. Many times we have alumni groups that meet for homecoming with classmates that no longer live in Willard. The atmosphere tonight will be exciting. Well over 350 kids will participate during the evening. Tonight many students will be making memories that they will tell future generations. Currently my family only has a history of two generations in Willard including my wife, Angie and our children Lacey (WHS Class of 2005), Jarred (WHS Class of 2005), and Allie (WHS Class of 2012). The most important thing is that even if you are a first generation Willard student, tonight can be a great evening! Here’s to “Home”!!

Have a great weekend!

Go Tigers!

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin

Superintendent of Schools

 INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY

The first Pinwheels for Peace were installed on Sept. 21, 2005 and over 500,000 pinwheels were planted in over 1,350 locations throughout the world! On September 21, 2006, approximately 1 million pinwheels were planted in 2,500+ locations! This is the second year that Willard South Elementary has participated in this international event.  A special thanks to our counselor, David Suits and our art teacher, Ann Kynion for their hard work and dedication in this memorable event. 

Don’t miss the annual Willard South Garage Sale this Saturday from 7:00-12:00 in the cafeteria!  You never know what bargains and treasures you will find.  All of the proceeds will help families and students in the entire Willard School District.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend & enjoy the weather!

GREAT THINGS HAPPENING AT WILLARD MIDDLE SCHOOL!!

    BRIDGE BREAKING IN INDUSTRIAL TECH CLASS

    MS TEACHERS WORKING ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN READING

Note to the staff from our new Assistant Principal, Tom Merriott:   I wanted to let you know that many of you have exceptional things going on in your classes, and I would love to see them if possible. Just this week I have seen a snake eat a live mouse, a model bridge hold a bucket full of weights before collapsing, some fantastic acting in the black box, and cookies being iced to simulate the phases of the moon.

THANK YOU TEACHERS FOR ALL YOU DO FOR OUR STUDENTS!!!!

Coach Wickwar and his Tigers will take the field tonight as the #11 ranked team in the state! The 3-0 Tigers (and by the way, our football teams grades 7-12 are a combined 8-1-1 on the year!) will take on Reeds Spring at 7:00. Homecoming festivities will begin at 6:30. Come early to get a good seat and cheer on the Tigers.

The volleytigers, led by Coach Hancock, are coming off a very successful week having avenged and earlier loss to Kickapoo by defeating them in two games. The girls then got going in Republic handing them their first COC defeat. This runs their record to an impressive 15-4-1 and 1-0 in the COC. The girls will be at Lebanon next Monday and at Reeds Spring on Tuesday.

The soccer Tigers will look to get on the winning side next week as they host Marshfield on Tuesday, will be at Hillcrest on Thursday and will be at Greenwood on Friday.

Congratulations to the girls golf team on their 3rd place finish in the COC tournament this week held at Marshfield. The team had two individuals place in the top ten!

The softball Tigers will be in the Ozark Classic this weekend. This is a make-up of a rainout earlier in the month. The girls will then host COC opponent Rogersville on Monday and will be at Miller on Tuesday.

It’s Good to be a Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

Lots of activities have occurred this past week for both special services students and teachers.  Trainings on administering the WIAT (individualized assessment), SpedTrack (computer program for special services paperwork), and DRA (directed reading assessment) were attended by many of our staff.  A special thank you goes to Dr. Susan Marcum and Janetta Garton for also providing two trainings on ACUITY.  These comprehensive sessions showed the various ways to analyze data obtained from ACUITY assessments to diagnose and remediate specific areas of academic weaknesses and to design lesson plans based on this information.  Positive feedback indicates our teachers are eager to add this tool to their strategies/methods of instruction.  Thank you also to Janet Simmons, Angela Stevens, Carolyn Nixon and Amy Stroder for helping our teachers, through their workshops, to better educate our students. 

Special recognition goes to high school paraprofessional Abby Fugitt who supports our students working at the Sheltered Workshop in Springfield. I received the following e-mail Wednesday:  “Just wanted to let you know I got the chance to go to the workshop today with the kids and Abby.  It was an awesome experience!!!  I could not believe how all the kids worked so hard at their jobs.  It was amazing to just watch them. Kudos goes out to Abby, she is wonderful with all the kids and they all love her!!”  This was written by fellow paraprofessional Delana Freedle who wanted to share seeing Abby in action with our students.  Thank you to both Abby, Delana and all our students at the Sheltered Workshop!