The temperature has started to cool off but the Tigers are just heating up!

Football begins their season tonight with high expectations. They will host Central and the game will start at 7:00. The new temporary entrance into the stadium will be located on the south end of the grandstands. Tonight’s contest is being televised on MediaCom channel 14. Come on out and support the Tigers and see the newly renovated Tiger Stadium!

The volleytigers are up to their usual success. They defeated Central, Fair Grove, and Hillcrest to start their season at 3-0. What is equally impressive is that the freshmen team and the JV team are both undefeated as well! The girls will open COC play next Tuesday at Branson and will host Webb City on Thursday. The Webb City match will start at 6:00 since they do not have a freshmen team.

Congratulations to the softball Tigers on their victory over Joplin in the Joplin Tournament. They lost two heartbreakers to Marshfield and Reeds Spring last week but look to rebound as they go to Morrisville on Tuesday and then to Republic on Thursday.

The soccer Tigers stumbled out of the gate last night losing a close one to New Covenant 0-1. They will look to get back to their winning ways tonight as the Willard Kick-off Classic resumes. The tournament will continue tomorrow with games starting at 9:00am.

Cross Country will start their season tomorrow at Monett. Good luck to all the runners!

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Activities Director

Cookie Dough Reminder – You can purchase the most delicious cookie dough ever from a Willard East student. If you do not know a Willard East student please call our office and we will make sure you can enjoy these treats!

Our 4th Grade teacher began the week with our MRI trainer Becky Freeman. Thank you to Mr. Gann’s class for allowing us to observe in his classroom.

Under construction – “To The Point” will be an informational Blog hosted by Principal Miller to keep you up to date on the happenings at Willard East. Currently this project is under construction but feel free to take a look and submit comments.

http://principalmiller.edublogs.org/Have a GREAT 3-day weekend and GO TIGERS!!! 1st home football game in our beautiful new bleachers. Enjoy an evening of Tiger Football!

Principal Miller

WIS is kicked off our fall fund raiser yesterday, and the kids are excited at the possibility of turning Mrs. Germann into a human hot dog, or an ice cream sundae!  Tiger Savings Cards, which have opportunities for savings at over 20 area restaurants, fast food stops and other businesses in the Willard and Springfield area.  If you are interested in finding out more, check out our website, or contact our office.  Once again, our building’s running club is off and well . . .running!  Wednesday over 100 students took to the streets for their first official run!  Thanks, again, to all the staff who make that possible, but especially to Coach Ellis and Mr. Hayes who coordinate the event.

If you need a lift in your spirit, drop by the Early Childhood Special Education classrooms at either Willard North or Willard South.  Wonderful learning opportunities are happening and lots of love and care are evident by the interactions of the teachers and paraprofessionals who daily work with our 3-5 year old children with developmental delays.  ECSE teachers Stacey Wade and Colleen Appleby, and Process Coordinator Susie Thieman, are the foundation for this outstanding program and collaborate constantly with paraprofessionals Sarah Pringle, Melissa Freeze, Beverly Dela Torre (North), Connie Bohr, Kari Sealine, and Stephanie Koenemann (South) to ensure students are given abundant opportunities to explore, learn, interact with others and play. The genuine love and care for each child is evident as teachers and paras assist with eating, activities and even tears. 

Currently, both North and South ECSE programs have morning and afternoon sessions where children are provided speech/language therapy with Susan Shikany, occupational and/or physical therapy (Angie Havens and Maria Harless), library time, center time and other scheduled activities.  Each student receives individualized instruction and opportunities to best support their needs.  These environments are rich with learning, excitement, wonder, and friendships that are amazing to observe. Stop by and see what our ECSE programs are about! 

The Fall season has begun and Mother Nature can’t make up her mind!

The softball Tigers started their season with a resounding 11-3 victory over Kickapoo on Tuesday.  The girls will be playing in the Joplin Tournament all weekend.  They will host Marshfield next Tuesday in the first home game at their newly remodeled field.  A HUGE “thank you” to the Booster Club and all softball parents on the tireless work.  The field got a new fence, new scoreboard, new dugouts, new tractor, and a new storage shed!

Football begins their season tonight in the Jamboree held at JFK Stadium in Springfield.  They will taking on Parkview, Cassville, and Neosho.  The scrimmage will begin at 7:00.   They will begin their real schedule next Friday by hosting Central at 7:00.  It will be nice to be back home this year!  The complex is taking shape with new lights, new grandstands, new goal posts, new scoreboard, and a new flag pole (compliments of Morelock/Ross) all completed and the new restrooms and concession stand will be finished soon.

The soccer Tigers will be opening their season next Thursday in the Willard Fall Classic.  Play will continue through the weekend.

The volleytigers will open their season at Central on Monday.  Game time is 5:00.  They will then travel to Fair Grove on Tuesday and will have their home opener on Thursday vs. Hillcrest.

A special congratulations to Cassie Robinson on her first place finish in the girls golf match vs. Nixa!

Jeff Staley, Activities Director

“It’s goin’ be a hot time in the old town tonight!” has been the theme for students and staff across the district!  Despite the incredible heat-wave, excitement has been abundant as special services teachers prepared for the arrival of students on Thursday. And despite the heat-wave and because of much planning, it was one of the calmest “first day” I have seen. 

There are several new faces in the special services department this year and, to make them welcomed, a cook-out for staff and their families was hosted on August 6^th, another especially hot evening.  Assistant Director of Special Services, Amy Stroder, graciously took on the grilling in the heat and still managed to meet and greet old and new friends.  Process coordinator Janet Turner grilled along beside her and kept the burgers going for the approximately 80 people in attendance. Process coordinators Janet Simmons and Susie Thieman, along with our wonderful secretary Melissa Baker and daughter, Shelby, helped make this special evening a success. As we worked side-by-side preparing the meal, it was an indictor of the teamwork that is being demonstrated daily from this office on behalf of staff, parents, and, especially, our students with special needs.  It is going to be a great year! 

Teamwork and trust are the priorities for our department and both have been abundant as I visited classrooms.  Experienced special services teachers mentoring our “newbies” was observed throughout the district as IEPs were reviewed, schedules made, and nerves calmed.  Relationships are being formed which will support student learning.  It is going to be a great year!!

Another great year goes down in the record books for Willard East! Thank you to everyone who participated in Field Day and the Conco Open House last weekend. A big ‘Thank you’ to Conco Quarries for their generosity this year! Once again Coach Wise, our special class teachers, and volunteers pulled of a very successful and ‘wet’ Field Day!

Congratulations to the Class of 2007! Many of our staff will be attending graduation this evening to witness the 1st Graduation ceremony at our beautiful new High School. We hope many of you can attend.

Next week a busy last week of school!

• 4th Graders will be attending ‘Transition Day’ at the Intermediate school on Tuesday.
• Tiger Pride Thurday at 2:30. We will recognize 2nd Semester Honor Roll.
• LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!  Friday May 25th Dismissal at 12:40.

Principal Miller

Willard Central teachers love to make learning fun, active and engaging for students.  This week they went above the call of duty to make instruction meaningful and exciting for students.  4th grade students completed their economics study with a Market Day in which each student collaborated to provide a good or service to sell to their fellow classmates.  Students earned money for good attendance, getting their work in and for good behavior.  Then they were ready to spend their earnings in the student created market place purchasing things such as snow-cones, renting video games, chocolate covered strawberries, manicures and pedicures, face painting and much, much more.  This hands-on day provided students with an applicable understanding of supply and demand, money management, and marketing an item.  Meanwhile the 3rd grade students have been busy researching and working on their living museums of famous inventors and scientists.  This interactive project literally brings science and history to life as students transform themselves into these famous individuals. 

As we look ahead to our last week of school, we will have our Field Day on Thursday, May 24th.  On Friday, we will be concluding our year with our 4th Quarter Terrific Tiger Celebration at 9:00.  We will then be dismissing after lunch at 12:40. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for helping keep Willard Central “On Track for Success.” 

Shane Medlin, Principal

This could be long…..but it’s only because we’re GOOD!!!

Congratulations to the baseball Tigers on their extremely successful reagular season. They finished up with a 18-4 record and finished 2nd in the COC. The boys will start district play as the #1 seed on Monday in Bolivar. They will face Aurora in the first round with game time at 12:00. Semifinals are on Tuesday and Finals are on Thursday. Two other items of note in baseball. First, the Tigers have jumped to 5th in the state rankings this week and second, we all wish Coach Hartley good luck at his new job. Coach Hartley is trading in his tiger stripes for bobcat stripes as the new head coach at College of the Ozarks. We thank Coach Hartley for running a first class operation for 22 years!

A big congratulations to the soccer Tigers on their huge COC win over Nixa this week. The girls have a lot of momentum heading into district play. We will be hosting the district tournament and it will kick off this Saturday with the Lady Tigers entering as the #2 seed in the tournament. They will play Marshfield at 9:00am. Semifinals are on Monday and Finals will be next Wednesday.

The track Tigers had a successfull COC meet as the boys team finished 4th overall! The district meet is this Saturday in Carl Junction with the top 4 finishers in each event moving on to Sectionals. Individual results at the COC meet were as follows:

1st place – Z. Thompson, shot put; J. Carpenter, long jump

2nd place – J. Carpenter, high jump and 110 hurdles

3rd place – B. Childers, 400m

4th place – K. Hession, 1600m; J. Carpenter, triple jump; D. Harr, pole vault

5th place – A. Scarlett, 100m

8th place – D. Childers, 3200m

Mark Lawley and his choir students are at it again! 37 Willard Choir students earned top Honor I ratings at eh State Music Festival! Those earning “I” rating on their solos were:

B. Lyons, B. Lawley, H. Masters, G. Bolton, L. Slown, C. Bolin, L. Warren, S. Scott, and B. Badger.

Students earning “I” ratings on their ensembles were:

R. Askren, R. Bodine, J. Carleton, G. French, G. Bolton, B. Lawley, S. Yonke, H. Masters, B. Lean, S. Thedell, L. Thedell, N. Harr, T. Craft, J. Kennard, N. Adams, G. Adams, C. Moore, M. Tuck, A. Malarkey, A. Malarkey, E. Malicoat, L. Nadeau, M. Bock, A. Adams, C. Robinson, M. Bolton, L. Wagner, K. Burch, H. Sherertz, A. Lechner, B. Ballance, and L. Sloan.

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

This could get kind of lengthy but our kids are worth it!

Congratulations to the Willard FFA chapter as it received three awards at this years State FFA Convention: Chapter Activity Award, 100% Membership Award, and the 10+ Award.  A special congratulations to A. Burdick who earned her State FFA Degree and to A. Hearod of our Horse Judging Team who earned 4th high individual and received a state gold medal!

Congratulations to the Thespians for their outstanding performances at MSHAA State Theatre.  Willard took 2nd place in state!  A special congratulations to Tiffany Eoff who received an award for Best Supporting Actress!!

The baseball Tigers continue to roll over the competition as they defeated Bolivar and Buffalo this past week.  The Tigers are now 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the COC and are currently ranked #9 in the STATE!  They have a huge COC showdown at Ozark on Tuesday.  First pitch is at 4:30.

Our track athletes are continuing to excell as they competed in two meets this week.  The first ever OC-COC Super meet was held in Branson and the results were as follows:

1st place – Z. Thompson, shot put and discus; J. Carpenter, 110m hurdles

4th place – B. Carpenter, triple jump; J. Carpenter, long jump; D. Harr, pole vault

The results in the Republic Relays were as follows:

1st place – Z. Thompson, shot put and discus

2nd place – J. Carpenter, 110m hurdles and high jump

3rd place – J. Carpenter, triple jump and long jump

The COC track meet will be held next Thursday in Ozark.  Good luck t0 the running Tigers!

The soccer Tigers have been battling the elements to get some games in.  Two games were rained out this week!  However, we will be hosting the Willard Soccer Invitational tonight and tomorrow.  Games will begin at 4:00 tonight and will resume at 9:00am tomorrow.  The girls will be at Neosho on Tuesday before hosting Central on Thursday.  Both games will begin at 4:30.

It’s Good To Be A Tiger!!!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

We are at the halfway point of our MAP testing.  The kids are really pumped up and excited!  The real fun came before the MAP test even started!  We had a MAP celebration assembly on Tuesday.  We had a very entertaining 35 minutes!  Our whole school came out to encourage our students!  Coach Bills sang our MAP rap which the kids love!  We also had some very important people compete in our game show “Are You Smarter Than A MAP Student?”   Dr. Medlin, our Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Marcum, our curriculum director, Officer Cozzens, our School Resource Officer and myself all competed.  Thanks to 3rd and 4th grade students Matthew, Tessa, Austin, and Abi who played the roles of “cheats”.    

Who won?  I will let the scoreboard tell you!    ←  Needless to say, I didn’t have homework! 

We also had the MAP Momma’s and Papa show up to do a great cheerleading routine!  If these pictures don’t raise your spirits, nothing will!  Thanks to Co-Captains Angela Stevens and Shelley Williamson for putting together such a great squad!  Thanks to Lee Ann Peterson,  Julie Gottbehuet, Beverly de la Torre and of course, Matt Rosebrough for their extremely talented performance! 

Second grade took a field trip to Frontier Theater this week in Marshfield and had a great time!  We are looking forward to next week and checking another milestone off our list!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Rhonda Bishop, Willard North Principal