District Newsletter

Willard R-II Central Office

At the March School Board Meeting, Kailey Tyler, Willard High School Senior, received the very first Board of Education Excellence in Education Award! This award was created to recognize students, faculty or staff members, or community members that go "above and beyond". Board Member, Michael Graves presented the award to Kailey and spoke of her many accomplishments. Some of those include:

March 2007 - Kailey entered and was one of two winners of Ozark Electric Cooperative's annual "Rural Electric Youth Tour to Washington D.C." essay contest for high school juniors.

June 2007 - Kailey traveled with 80 juniors to Washington D.C. and met up with 1,500 other high school juniors for a week long tour of the nation's capital. During this week, Kailey was chosen to represent Missouri on the National Youth Leadership Council for 2007-08. One student per state is elected to the YLC.

July 2007 - Kailey returned to Washington D.C. for the National Youth Leadership Council Conference. At this conference, she delivers her speech, "We the People". Her speech is chosen as second runner up in the nation - an honor that has been achieved only one other time and is the highest attained by a Missouri representative in the history of the program. Her speech earns Kailey a trip to Anaheim, California in February 2008.

August 2007 - January 2008 Kailey delivers her speech to several organizations throughout the state of Missouri.

February 2008 - As second runner up in the nation, Kailey gives the invocation before a general assembly of more that 10, 000 at NRECA's national conference in Anaheim, California.

On behalf of Willard Schools, I would like to congratulate Kailey on her achievements at Willard Schools and in the community and wish her continued success!

Have a great week!

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin Superintendent of Schools

Director of Operations

Believe it or not we have officially begun Spring sports despite the rain!

Congratulations to the baseball Tigers on their 1st place finish in the Willard Leadoff Classic last week. The boys defeated Rogersville in the semifinals 12-2 before avenging an earlier loss to Waynesville by defeating them in the championship game 12-5. This runs their record to 5-2 on the young season. They will start COC play in Bolivar on Tuesday with the varsity starting at 4:30. They will host Rogersville on Thursday and will be at Blair Oaks on Friday.

Congratulations to B. Wagner on her 3rd place finish in the Entrepreneurship Event at the state DECA contest. This qualifies her for the international contest on April 25th! Good luck!

Choir keeps raising the bar for excellence! A special congratulations to Mark Lawley and the 52 (yes, that's right...52!) Willard students who earned a "I" rating at the MSHSAA District Solo and Ensemble Festival. These students have qualified for state on April 26 at Mizzou: Mixed Double Ensemble: B. Lawley, H. Masters, S. Yonke, A. Askren, M. Carleton, M. Bolton, D. Lawley, T. Bracamonte Men's Ensemble: M. Carleton, T. Chatman, S. Scott, B. Compton, Z. Nilsen, T. Bracamonte, E. Rippee, D. Lawley Women's Ensemble: B. Lawley, A. Allen, E. Scott, L. Thedell , A. Lechner, L. Sloan, K. Thomson, M. Moore Women's Ensemble: M. Lenz, H. Masters, S. Yonke, L. Roberts , L. Schultz, W. Morelock, S. Marlay, M. Williams Mixed Double Ensemble: M. Lenz, A. Allen, K. Thomson, L. Sloan, M. Bolton, D. Bagley, G. French, J. Carleton Mixed Double Ensemble: J. Gugel, S. Sechler, L. Loveland, K. McCormack, J. Stoll, J. Lindsey, G. Backon, B. Lyons Mixed Double Ensemble: B. Farr, S. Hale, B. Bumpers, E. Wagner, T. Huskisson, T. INglett, B. Wade, T. Chatman Mixed Double Ensemble: M. Skaggs, A. Montgomery, B. Redburn , K. Rhea, A. Masters, J. Robinson, D. Nilsen, S. Vincent Vocal Solos Earning a "I" rating: L. Sloan, D. Lawley, B. Lyons, E. Scott, M. Bolton, B. Lawley, T. Bracamonte, S. Yonke, B. Farr, H. Masters, M. Carleton, B. Compton, T. Huskisson, Z. Nilsen. Piano Solo: N. Harr

It's Good To Be A Tiger! Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

Director of Special Services

The first annual "Partners in Strength Rally" will be held the morning of May 10th at Willard High School and is a partnership between Willard Special Services and Willard HS athletes. During this event, athletes from our high school off-season strength and conditioning program (which includes athletes from football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball and wrestling teams) will team up with students with special needs from within our district. The HS athletes will be competing to break their personal records in various strength and agility events while their partners cheer them on. There will be various events throughout the morning which will allow the teams to "compete" and foster new friendships. This is an exciting opportunity for both the athletes and students with special needs. The event will conclude with lunch and celebration over teammates accomplishments. We want to thank the various special services staff and Coach Wickwar, Coach Gold and Coach Reynolds for the planning and effort put forth to ensure this first event is a success. Sandy Gold, Director of Special Services

Willard Middle School

The Middle school returned from spring break refreshed and ready to go this week, as we are all gearing up for a strong finish to a great year. While most of us enjoyed a relaxing break, many of our students took advantage of an opportunity to visit our nations capitol last week, and stories of what they experienced on that trip could be heard in the halls all morning. The knowledge gained from such a trip will only add to the experience in the classroom, as students can share what they saw and learned with others, and make the words in the textbooks seem much more real to everyone. If the rain takes a break, the WMS track teams will be in action this week, and of course we continue to prepare for the MAP test as well. Eight weeks left, and we hope to make the most out of every one of them! Tom Merriott, Assistant Principal

Willard Intermediate School

It seems that the older students get, the more challenging it is to keep parents involved. WIS continues to strive toward improving in this area, and this past week was evidence of that. Our Title I staff held a family involvement night on Tuesday, March 18th and in spite of the rain and rising water, had a nice turnout of students and families. Thursday night, March 20th, Coach Highfill held his second family "fun" night, with the 6th grade. One component of these events was to honor Conco Quarries for their generosity in helping purchase the "rock" walls that the students have enjoyed throughout the year. We appreciate the staff for their work in involving parents and thank our community for supporting our school. Julie Germann, Principal

Willard Central Elementary

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone was able to enjoy time with family and friends and some well deserved rest and relaxation. I completely enjoyed the time with my family and my quickly growing little ones. The time away from the daily grind also gave me a chance to reflect on the amazing things happening for students at Willard Central. As I was counting my school blessings, there were several innovative or unique opportunities that Central teachers provide for students that came to mind. These include our daily Community Time assembly where student and teacher accomplishments are celebrated and we can come together to connect as a school family. I am also thankful for our daily TNT (Tigers Need Time) block in which 3rd and 4th grade students can receive remediation, homework help, or enrichment activities thanks to the service of classroom and special area teachers. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, teachers from all grade levels have volunteered their time to stay after school and work with students in small groups to prepare for the upcoming MAP test in our PUSH (Providing Unique Student Help) program. Last year we averaged 4 teachers per night for PUSH and this year we are averaging 12 teachers! From our Student Intervention Team to Student Led-Conferences to Family Nights, I could go on and on about the wonderful, student-centered opportunities taking place at WC. I am thankful for the Spring Break to recharge everyone's batteries and I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing staff and group of students.

As we look ahead to April, here are some dates to mark on your calendars:

April 3rd Kindergarten Program at 7:00

April 10th PTO Wendys Night from 5:00-8:00. A portion of the sales will go directly to our PTO!!

April 11th MAP Assembly at 2:45

April 14th PTO meeting at 6:00

April 15th-18th MAP testing. Please make sure your students are here each of these days on time and ready to show what they know!

April 24th Grandparents Day. Grade level times to be announced.

April 25th Snow Make-Up Day. Early dismissal at 12:40.

April 28th-May 2nd Teacher Appreciation Week

Shane Medlin, Principal

Willard North Elementary

On Tuesday, March 18th, our 3rd grade hosted their Famous Inventors Night. The students worked very hard on a written report, completed a portrait in art, and gave a verbal presentation at the event. The students did a great job! They really got into character for the event! I appreciate the third grade teachers and the special teachers for all their help with this activity.

Willard North would also like to welcome Garrin Boyd Rosebrough to the Willard North Family! He was born on March 24, 2008 and weight 7lbs 14 oz and was 20 inches long. Garrin is home now with his parents Matt and Trishna Rosebrough. The family is doing great!

Upcoming Events at Willard North:

April 4th- Willard North/Willard Intermediate School Honor Choirs sing at the Springfield Cardinals Game April 14th-18th- MAP Testing April 22nd- McTeachers Night at Willard McDonald's

Rhonda Bishop, Principal

Willard South Elementary

I hope everyone enjoyed their break last week! It was great to have a few days off with family and friends. One of my most memorable events was on Saturday evening. I enjoyed watching "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" at the Springfield Little Theater. It was great to see several Willard students, especially one second grader from Willard South. Dalton M. did an amazing job!! Kara Crighton-Smith, Principal

UPCOMING EVENTS: Tuesday, April 1st-MAP Parent Night for 3rd Grade at 6:00 Thursday, April 3rd-Flip Flop Girls Fashion Show at 6:00 Friday, April 4th-PTO Parent Night Out 6-9

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.