The Pride

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 have had a fun and busy week of learning and celebration this week at Willard Central.  The 4th grade celebrated Missouri Day on Wednesday by creating edible maps of our state and other activities that brought MO’s rich history to life.  The WC Science Cadre also hosted an Outdoor Classroom Workday on Thursday afternoon to beautify our facilities while creating an inviting outdoor learning area.  Our 3rd grade students and Mrs. Chatman held their concert on Thursday evening.  Their musical performance was a sight to behold.   They shared the importance of nutrition through music under the premise of a television news studio called “5 a Day Live.”  Friday, our newly elected student council members facilitated the 1st Quarter Terrific Tiger Celebration recognizing student achievement for the first quarter of this year.  Everyone at WC has worked hard this week while celebrating the learning taking place at Central.

As we look ahead to next week, don’t forget these important events:

• Student-Led Conferences on Tuesday and Thursday.
• Red Ribbon Week
• Book Fair
• NO SCHOOL on Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend and rest up for another amazing week at WC.  As always, remember to “Reach for the Stars.”  –Shane Medlin, Principal

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.

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.

Thanks to the district’s generosity and to the efforts of our maintenance staff, WIS has some new playground equipment that was unvailed today to the students.  Last year, we were only able to afford some swings and soccer goals,  but with additional funds made available to us this year, we have purchased some climbing apparatus and more swings.   The kids enjoyed the chance to try it all out, and decided the wait was worth it.  Special thanks to our maintence staff and Director of Operations, Mr. Staley, for getting the equipment installed and operational for us!

Fall is full of fun activities for the entire family.  Here at Willard South the fun is just beginning!  We had several very special events that took place this week.  Tuesday was our annual Kindergarten Fire Safety night for parents and students.  Families were busy eating fire engine snacks, making books, meeting firefighters and even climbing aboard a fire truck.  Wednesday was our Title One Parent Information night.  Our Title One teachers presented information to parents while students constructed “All About Me” posters.  Afterwards everyone enjoyed pizza, drinks and cookies!

Don’t miss Willard South McTeacher Night on Tuesday, October 9th from 4:00-8:00 at the McDonald’s on Chestnut Expressway!

Kindergarten Fire Safety Night

A night out on the town and “mom” doesn’t have to cook?! Join us Tuesday night at the Willard McDonald’s for a night of fun and fun-draising! All proceeds will help enhance the technology at Willard East.

Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!!! Willard East hosts monthly Tiger Pride assemblies to recognize and celebrate the successes of our school community. Last week was our 1st Tiger Pride assembly for the 2007-2008 school year! Character Ed made a celebrity appearance, we had class pictures taken in our new Tiger Pride shirts, we had a school-wide picture taken at the football field and we recognized over 100 students for various achievements.(Attendance, Students of the Month, prize winners, student council, etc.) If you have been to one of Willard elementary schools’ Tiger Pride assemblies you are missing out! Join us each month or make connections at one of the other elementary buildings and see what all the hype is about!!!

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