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! 

It is hard to believe that Sunday morning will mark the first day of fall.  The weeks we have been in school have literally “clipped” along.  This week, we handed out mid-term grades to students, did health screenings on kindergarten, first and third graders, and completed a significant amount of reading testing on our students.  I also want to congratulate the 3rd grade students and their families for a job well done on their community projects!  The projects were amazing!  It never ceases to amaze me how a project can be assigned with the same criteria and the results be so different and unique!  I know the students were very proud of these!  Don’t forget Homecoming tonight! If you have not been to a game and caught the Willard spirit, you should!!  The boys are playing some great football and the band is awesome!  Your Friday is only lacking this excitement!  GO TIGERS!

Rhonda Bishop

Willard North Prinicipal

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Willard East’s fall Book Fair kicked off today with Open House this coming Tuesday Sept. 25. Everyone is welcome to visit Willard East next week!

Chili Supper @ 5:30PM

Open House 6:00-7:00PM

Aug./Sept. Tiger Pride/School Picture/Spirit shirt day Thursday Sept.27 2:30Pm.

Calling all parents of birth to 5 year olds! Parents As Teachers is looking for more families to service. Check out their new website and enroll your student TODAY. For more information you can contact PAT at 742-5490.

No School – Friday September 28!!! Teacher Workday!!!

Homecoming.   What a wonderful time to celebrate and take pride in our school, traditions, friends and community.  When I started at Willard Central last year, I told many people that coming to Central felt like “coming home.”  This year, the sense of school pride, friends, and community has only deepened and I am so proud of the new staff members that call Willard and Central home.

This week I have been blessed to watch 4 new staff members to Central take kids under their wings and into their care during some difficult social and academic times.  These new teachers to our school have poured themselves into our students, their fellow staff members and our school community.  They have made Willard their home and will be a blessing to our district for years to come. 

As we continue to grow as a district, I am thankful that we continue to bring in quality educators that are quality people too.  I am also proud of how we keep the “big” personal.  Enjoy the big game under the Friday night lights and enjoy the wonderful place we call home.    –Shane Medlin, Principal