District Newsletter

Willard R-II Central Office

I am sure that most of you were like me and over 100,000,000 others watching the Super Bowl yesterday with a house full of friends. Food was abundant, the commercials were new and original, and the pre-game was just a bit too long. Due to the length of the pre-game we (the guys) would occasionally talk about something other than football. I had several ask me my views on the political campaign. This Pride is not to encourage you who to support. I will simply attempt to explain opinions of the candidates toward education. Education is a great sales pitch for candidates. Every politician cares about having good schools. Most patrons would never vote for a person that said they did not support schools. The truth is that in the big picture the federal government does not have a great deal to do with the local school. The constitution outlines in the 10th amendment that any specific issue not addressed in the document is then left to the control of the state. Therefore, public education is under the direct control of the state. The Federal Government imposes a degree of control due to influence in specific areas. Willard currently receives approximately 6% of revenue from the Federal Government. The bulk of this revenue is specifically earmarked to Special Education services and services for students considered At-Risk. The majority of the campaign rhetoric surrounds NCLB. (No Child Left Behind) All candidates agree that change in the program must occur. From my observation Democrats want to scrap the program and start over and Republicans want to keep the program and make changes. None of us have been told what the neweducation platform will be. It is very easy to say a program is bad but much more difficult to establish something better. In my opinion I think either has the ability to improve the current status. I believe NCLB has forced schools to improve during the last 8 years, however, there are many problems with the law. I guess what my plea would be to either party is too help us make education better for children and not simply give us more work to do!!!!

Have a great week!

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin Superintendent of Schools

Director of Operations

Well, it's February, which means that district tournaments for winter sports is not far away.

The wrestling Tigers will start there march to the state tournament this Friday as we host the district tournament. The top 4 wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament in Columbia next weekend. Wrestling will begin Friday at 6:00pm and will continue all day on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers hit a minor bump on Monday losing to the 2nd ranked team in the state, Bolivar, at home. However, the girls rebounded with a resounding victory over McDonald County on Saturday running their record to 12 - 8. Their game vs. Branson on Thursday was rescheduled to this Friday with a varsity only contest at Branson starting at 4:30. They will be at Nixa tonight with the JV starting at 6:00 and will host Buffalo on Thursday with the varsity starting at 6:00 in the main gym and the JV playing in the auxiliary gym at 7:30.

The Tigers lost a heartbreaker to Hillcrest on Friday night by one point! The boys will host Rogersville this Tuesday with the JV starting at 6:00. They will then host Ozark on Thursday with the JV starting at 6:00 in the auxiliary gym and the varsity starting at 7:30 in the main gym.

A special congratulations to former Willard coach, George Wilson. Coach Wilson will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame this Sunday!

It's good to be a Tiger! Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

Director of Special Services

Special things are taking place at Willard East in Geoff Meiss's Cross-categorical room. Geoff, who is experiencing his first year at Willard and in special services, is working to creating a positive environment for his students , many who struggle with self esteem. Some of Geoff's ideas include the Hug Rug where students needing extra attention can go for a hug, "Pride" Tree where acts of positive behavior are written on a leaf and attached to a tree branch, Victory List where a three-step process for completing independent work assignments end with a reward, and Banana Split Friday where students have opportunities through hard work and appropriate behavior from Monday through Friday to earn various parts of the banana split. On Friday, the students eat only the parts they have collected, reinforcing the importance of completing daily work. These ideas and others to come are allowing Geoff's students to understand appropriate response and methods of communication. We appreciate Geoff's effort and look forward to hearing of the positive student achievements! Great job, Geoff! Sandy Gold, Director of Special Services

Willard High School

During the 2002-2003 school year, a group of Willard High School teachers had a concern about the reading ability of high school students. Faculty members partnered with Missouri Reading Initiative ( MRI ) to develop a pilot program to be implemented at WHS. The pilot program formulated strategies in core classes ( Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Communication Arts ) with the sole purpose to improve student literary skills. MRI is now developed into a faculty / classroom wide initiative with Willard High School is an area leader in literacy instruction in the classroom. The month of February we are having a faculty wide focus to incorporate literacy measures in each classroom. Stewart Pratt, Principal

Willard Middle School

Friday, February 8, 2008 we will be having the Valentine's Dance at the Middle School from 7-9 p.m. As many of you know, this is one of events the students look forward to all year.

Eighth grade students have been working away trying to plan for their high school schedules. Seventh graders will be scheduling within the next month. Although it may only be February, the transition to the next grade level takes a lot of preparation. Thanks for all the wonderful counselors for all their hard work. Amy Sims, Principal

Willard Intermediate School

This past Tuesday another of our 5th grade teams officially "graduated" from the DARE program. Mrs. Skinner, Mrs Rasco and Mrs. Fielding's team finished their 10 week course with Willard Police Chief Tom McClain, and were properly honored for their efforts. Thanks to Mrs. Morris for working with the students on their musical selections for the event, and thanks, again, to Conco Quarries and Mid-Missouri Bank for their generous donation of the DARE t-shirts. Julie Germann, Principal

Willard Central Elementary

I have found the culprit. My wife is to blame for the winter wonderland we experienced last week. She has been praying diligently for romantic, yet non-threatening snow. It looks like her prayers were answered. The snow was a beautiful and wonderful reminder of the ever-changing weather in the Ozarks. Due to the snow, we have rescheduled our Family Math Night for Thursday, February 7th from 5:30-7:00. The students are a little disappointed that they will not get to throw snowballs at me for the All-Star Math Challenge, but we are still expecting a great evening of fun, food, and learning. We hope you can join us, and until then WC will continue to Reach for the Stars. Shane Medlin, Principal

Willard East Elementary

Cookie Dough sales are on! We have had such tremendous success with our cookie dough sales we are at it again. As a service to you, you are welcome to purchase any of these items from your student. We have probably received more positive comments about this fund-raiser than many in the past. 3rd and 4th Grade MAP Preparation - For the next couple of weeks our 3rd and 4th grade students are going to be taking a "practice" MAP test that we call Acuity. This is a common assessment that will give us valuable information to help prepare our students for the MAP test. The students have taken 2 other Acuity tests. This particular test is more MAP-like than the previous two tests. Teachers can take this information and build on student strengths and improve on our weak areas. February Fling - Please join us February 23 from 9AM-12PM for a morning of performances and promotion of local businesses!!! If you have a local business or home-based business you would like to showcase at this event please call our offices for more information. Melinda Miller, Principal

Willard North Elementary

We had a wonderful Super Tiger Celebration this week! We sang songs about Martin Luther King, gave a lot of Tiger Paws, celebrated the 4th grade students who made Honor Roll , and had a great time! We are always appreciative of the parents, friends and family members who take the time to attend our monthly celebrations. I will be eating with Mrs. Sevon's, Mrs. Carel's, and Mrs. Deckard's classes this month! We are looking forward to welcoming in February. Have a wonderful week! Rhonda Bishop, Principal

Willard South Elementary

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008. Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year. Willard South will be participating by having a parade at school on February 22nd at 3:10. Mrs. Arnall and Mrs. Teel's class will be parading with paper dragons (at least 8 of them) and will be passing out fortune cookies for all the students and spectators.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Feb 4-PTO mtg at 6:00 in the WS library Feb 6-Mid Quarter

Kara Crighton-Smith, Principal

For information on the Willard Children's Charitable Foundation, please contact Judy Craig at 742-2506 or Dr. Kent Medlin at 742-2584.