Currently there are 524 public school districts in the State of Missouri. Approximately 200 of these districts have an enrollment less than 200 students K-12. This year the Willard School District gained 195 students. This increase in enrollment represents more students than 1/3 of the school districts in the state. The State of Missouri requires an official accounting of students in September. September of 2006-2007 reported Willard with an enrollment of 3,852 students. One year later our current enrollment is 4,047 students. This is a 5% increase in enrollment. This rate of growth is considered high for a community. If you have an average classroom of 22-24 students this results in the need of 8-9 additional classrooms. Needless to say we are filling our new elementary school before it is even built. This month at the regular meeting of the Board of Education we have an agenda item to discuss long term planning. Clearly our continued growth will be a large part of that discussion.

Have a great weekend!
Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin
Superintendent of Schools

It’s 7:15 a.m. on Friday morning, and the hall by the music room is quickly filling up with students awaiting the arrival of our music teacher, Mrs. Morris, to begin Honor Choir practice.  By 7:30, there will be nearly 90 students filling the room to practice.  The amazing thing is this is a VOLUNTARY choir!  Mr. Lawley, beware, they are headed your way in a few years!  We appreciate the extra time Mrs. Morris puts in to prepare these kids for their future as Willard singers.  They will be performing at the Lighting of the Frisco Trail, and next spring at a Springfield Cardinals game, in addition to other venues throughout the year.

Coach Hancock and the volleytigers are getting hot at the right time! Not only did they take 1st place in the Licking Classic last Saturday but after their victory over Nixa last night they have now rolled off 4 straight COC wins to move into 2nd place just one game behind Reeds Spring. The girls will host Ozark next Tuesday and will end their regular season at Marshfield on Thursday.

The football Tigers lost a heartbreaker last Friday at Nixa before a standing room only crowd. The team played hard and led most of the game before falling 24-27. It doesn’t get any easier tonight as they travel to Ozark. We’re looking for a great crowd to represent Willard in Christian County!

The softball Tigers ended their season with a tough fought 0-3 loss to Marshfield in the semifinals of the district tournament. The girls had an impressive victory over Rogersville in the quarterfinals the day before.

Congratulations to the girls cross country team on their 5th place finish in the COC meet held in Nixa. K. Hession led the way with an 11th place finish and A. Bird finished 14th. On the boy’s side, R. Cook finished 14th. A special congratulations to B. Hession on her All-Conference performance in the junior high COC cross country meet!

Congratulations to the Cutting Edge on their 6th place finish in Tulsa last weekend. The band qualified for finals by finishing 2nd in their division. They will be performing this Saturday in the Ozarko Festival at MSU.

The Chamber Choir Girls have been invited to appear with the Springfield Symphony! They will be giving two performances with teh Symphony – both on January 12. The first concert will begin at 2pm and the second one at 7:30pm. The concerts will be at Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

Practice for “A Sporting Chance” bowling tournament begins tomorrow with over 30 special needs students signed up for participation.  The lanes will be full of activity as our students prepare for the November 17 tournament in Springfield. Two additional practices will be held on Oct. 27th and Nov. 3^rd and will provide bowlers opportunities for honing their bowling skills, socialization and earning bragging rights! 

There is no charge to students for the practices or bowling tournament; however, opportunities for fundraising to help with t-shirts and other event expenses include raffling donated quilts and taking pictures with Santa at the Willard Parade. Please come support our students through these events and at tomorrow’s practice which will be held from 12-2:00 p.m. at Sunshine Lanes.