The Pride newsletter is now located at:

http://willard.k12.mo.us/blogs/pride/ 

Next week looks to be quite a week! We will be hosting parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4-7:30 pm. We hope all our parents can be in attendance.

Our library is currently hosting the book fair that will continue through Thursdy evening. Mrs. Staley has had a big smile on her face all week as our students are so excited about visiting the book fair. Next week is also red-ribbon week and on Tuesday we look forward to our red-ribbon assembly with a presentation from the high school drama group. During this assembly we will also recognize the winner or our classroom school vision competition. The winning class will be treated to a lunch from McDonalds.

We will also be celebrating spirit week in conjunction with red ribbon week. Each day our students will be able to participate in the “theme” for that day.

Monday: Decade Day
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Team Day
Thursday: Tiger Pride Day
Friday: No school!

We look forward to everyone showing thier school spirit and desire to be drug free by participating in our spirit week. I don’t think we could fit anything else into the week if we tried!

Special recognition goes to all the participants from the WIS running club that participated in the Sunshine Run. What a group! Over 70 of our students and parents were in attendance.
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Congratulations to Chris Church, Vicki Meraz, and John Paul Chapman and the Cutting Edge Marching Band on taking home a trailer load of trophies from the Ozarko Competition held last Saturday at MSU. In the prelim they took first place in Class and took home “Outstanding Hornline”. They then proceeded to march into the finals and take 1st place out of 18 bands along with “Outstanding Hornline” and “Outstanding Percussion”. They will be in the Carthage Maple Leaf Festival tomorrow. On a sidenote, a special “thank you” to all the band boosters and supporters for all the work you do to make this possible!

Athletically speaking, districts are in full swing! The football Tigers will start it off tonight as the 5-2 Tigers will host the 6-1 Carthage Tigers. In conjunction with the game there will be chili fundraiser for Karla Shaffer in the Middle School cafeteria starting at 5:00. Kickoff is at 7:00 and it should be a beautiful night for football so come out and support your Tigers!

The Volleytigers will start there district title chase next week. They received the 2nd seed in the tournament and will play Tuesday in Aurora. The semifinal contest will begin at 7:30 with the finals taking place the same night at 9:00. Good luck girls!

Congratulations to K. Hession on her 1st place finish at a cross country meet held here at Willard. Also a congratulations to the following medalists: A. Bird – 3rd, J. Bird – 5th, R. Cook – 5th, B. Childers – 10th, and B. Park – 11th. The district meet for cross country will be held next Saturday in Nixa.

A very special congratulations to S. Sechler and M. Ulesich and being named to the All-District softball team. Both girls were unanimous selections!

It’s good to be a Tiger!

Jeff Staley – Director of Operations

We are winding down the month of October with lots of excitement!

2nd Grade Hoedown – Willard East 2nd graders put on an excellent performance this week and will finish up the week with a Hoedown extravaganza! Hats off to Mrs. Kuchta and Miss Mathers and the 2nd grade teachers for all their hard work preparing for all the festivities.

Bus Driver Appreciation Breakfast – We would like to thank our PTO volunteers and our ladies in the kitchen for preparing such a wonderful breakfast for our bus drivers. Many of these drivers are on the bus with students from 6:00AM – 8:30AM and then again from 2:00PM – 5:00PM. They are a dedicated and caring group that get our students to and from school safely. A BIG thanks for all they do!

Parent/Teacher conferences coming up next week – Oct. 23 & 25 are our schedule conference nights. This is an opportunity for teachers and parents to meet and talk about strengths and academic goals for the upcoming quarter. Parent conferences should be a regular ongoing event throughout the year initiated by parents and teachers. Open lines of communication can greatly effect a student’s achievement over the year.

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY OCT. 26

Fall Parties Wed. Oct. 31st – If your child’s teacher or Homeroom Mom has not contacted you regarding the Fall Party. Please feel free to drop either on or our office a note and we will find out about your child’s party details. All parents are welcome to attend Fall Parties and school-wide events.

Mr. Gann’s 4th Grade Podcast - For your listening pleasure please check out Mr. Gann’s 4th grade podcast CHAMP-Cast. You can also subscribe in iTunes. This is very professionally produced podcast and fun to listen to.

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

It’s official…TigerMania has struck Willard! Before an esitmated crowd of over 3,000 people in Tiger Stadium the football tigers defeated Branson 35-28 in overtime last Friday to move their record to 5-0 and 1-0 in the COC. They are currently ranked 10th in the state and the Newsleader has them ranked 3rd in southwest Missouri in classes 4-6. The Tigers will take their show on the road tonight in Nixa. Kickoff is at 7:00pm. Come out and support the Tigers!

Congratulations to the softball Tigers on their quarterfinal victory over Rogersville last night as the district tournament has begun. The girls will take on top seed Marshfield today at 4:00 in the semifinals. The other semifinal pits 2nd seed Ava vs. 3rd seed Bolivar at 6:00pm. Finals will be Saturday at 3:00pm. All games are being held at the newly renovated Willard softball field.

The volleytigers are continueing their excellent play with victories over Rogersville and Bolivar this week. This runs their record to an impressive 18-5-1 for the season! The girls will play in the Licking Classic this Saturday before returning to COC play next week. The will host Buffalo on Tuesday and Nixa on Thursday. The game vs. Buffalo will not start until 6:00 since they do not have a freshmen squad.

Congratulations to the following runners that won medals by placiing in the top 15 at the Reeds Spring Cross Cournty meet last Monday: K. Hession – 3rd, A. Bird – 6th, J. Bird – 12th, R. Cook – 3rd.

The soccer Tigers will look to get on track as they host New Convenant tonight at 4:30. They will then host Ozark next Tuesday and will be at Carthage on Thursday.

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

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

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

Before I get into this week, let’s review what happened last week with the Tigers!

After getting off to a slow start, the football Tigers scored 40 unanswered points to defeat the Buffalo Bison Friday night. This runs there record to 3-0! and will host Reeds Spring this Friday. This will be our Homecoming with festivities starting at 6:30. Also, congratulations to the freshmen on their victory over Bolivar on Monday. The freshmen and jv will host Buffalo on Monday night. Games start at 5:30.

Congratulations to the volleytigers on their 4th place finish in the Springfield Classic this weekend. The girls are now an impressive 15-4 on the season! They will host Kickapoo on Tuesday and will be at Republic on Thursday. Also, congratulations to the JV volleytigers on their 2nd place finish in the Marshfield Tournament and to the freshmen on their 2nd place finish in the Hillcrest Tournament!

Softball continues thier busy schedule by hosting Buffalo Monday night starting at 5:00pm. They will then travel to Nixa on Tuesday and will host Bolivar on Thursday. They will also be playing in the Ozark Classic this Saturday as part of a make-up due to rain last weekend.

Congratulations to K. Hession for finishing 11th and A. Bird for finishing 20th out of 73 runners at the Monett Cross Country Invitational. R. Cook took 26th out of 90 on the boy’s side.

Congratulations to Mark Lawley and his choir students for making All District Choir. Willard had 19 students make it which made us the #1 school in southwest Missouri! The following students made the choir: L. Akers, B. Bumpers, C. Unruh, B. Wade, S. Hale, M. Williams, T. Maurs, T. Inglett, Am Allen, A. Lechner, D. Bagley, G. Bacon, L. Thedell, L. Sloan, T. Huskisson, B. Baker, B. Lawley, M. Bolton, T. Chatman.

I mentioned last week that our school launched a fund raiser, selling business discount cards.  WOW!  The response has been wonderful!  It certainly looks like our 2nd computer lab will be equiped with a new smart board system in the near future, and we’ll have money to set aside toward an upgraded sound system for our gym, for music programs and assemblies.  Our goal was to sell 600 cards, and as of today, we believe we have sold well beyond that.  We’re having to re-order cards a second time!  Thanks to all the parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of students in our community who helped out with this project.  Happy Shopping!