District Newsletter

Willard R-II Central Office It is my honor to announce the appointment of Mrs. Angela Stevens to the principalship of Willard North Elementary. Angela has served as the Elementary Teaching Specialist for the past 3 years earning the respect of teachers and administrators throughout the district. Prior to her present position she was a teacher at North Elementary. I look forward to the talents and strengths that Angela will bring to the Willard Administrative Team. She will be truly missed as the teaching specialist and has set a high bar of excellence for the next person in that position. Please take time to join me in congratulating Angela!

Have a great week!

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin Superintendent of Schools

Special Services Monday evening the Special Services Department held a Country Kickoff to Christmas dinner to honor all the Special Services staff. It was a fun and relaxed atmosphere adorned with hay, saddles, bandanas, horseshoes and buckets of peanuts. We filled our bellies with fried chicken and all the fixins and sat back and enjoyed the entertainment. We were blessed with a beautiful performance of O Holy Night by Shannon Roberts husband Erick and his sister Tammy Stubblefield. The crowd came alive with the clogging team High Voltage consisting of Debbie Olson's sons, Timothy (7th grade), and Nathaniel (9th grade), Kelly Dole (6th grade) and Sarah O'Toole Republic High School 10th grade). Denny Gold brought smiles to us through his stories, poems and music. A highlight of the evening was some toe tapping, knee slapping, make ya wanna move blue grass by the Springfield Livestock Tabernacle Choir and our very own: Jim (transportation aide) and Kathy Berry (bus driver), Ronda Epperson (former para professional), Roy (bus driver) and Betty Jo Craft, Mary Green, Denny and Sandy Gold (on the banjo)! It was a wonderful evening to get our group together and honor those that have dedicated their lives to make a difference with kids that need that support. Shannon Roberts, Process Coordinator

Willard High School This week's HS Pride focuses on "Battle of the Bands" competition held last Saturday in the HS Gymnasium. Battle of the Bands began as a way of exhibititing student talent while fundraising for a worthy cause. This year's proceeds were targeted to high school student Tyler Wilson who has been hospitalized after an accident. Each band performed two songs and evaluated by a panel of three judges consisting of Mrs. Gardner ( Foreign Language teacher ), Mrs. Spangler ( Speech, Debate, and Comm. Arts teacher ) and Mr. Nax ( Social Studies teacher ). The audience witnessed a diverse spectrum of musical genre within the band performances which made it a great evening for everyone. The Grand Champion Band for 2008 was "Marovingia", and we applaud all bands and participants for their efforts. Stewart Pratt, Principal

Willard Middle School Greetings from the Willard Middle School. This week was busy as always, as kids got their 2nd quarter progress reports, and hopefully got them home for parents to see as well. If you did not get to see your son or daughter's report card, let us know, and we can always make another copy if "something accidentally happened" to the first one. The boys and girls basketball teams for 7th and 8th grades have all gotten underway with games this week, and will see several more games in the next few weeks. The wrestlers will compete at the Branson Tourney this weekend, and also will be busy in the coming weeks as well. This week at school, one of our activities has been to work on the food drive, and once again we have been very successful, and the kids have brought in several baskets full of food to donate to needy families for Thanksgiving. Thanks for you support if you have helped in this effort. Finally, the Middle School Talent show is coming up soon, with final tryouts to take place Dec. 3rd. If you would like to be in the show, or know someone who should be, make sure to sign up soon. We look forward to seeing some of the talent in the middle school, for both the kids, and the old people as well. Thanks for checking in on us, and have a great Thanksgiving holiday. Tom Merriott Assist. Principal

Willard Intermediate School WIS students and teachers again met the challenge of helping families in need in our community for the Thanksgiving holiday. Classes were challenged to bring in non-perishable food items for this cause. Mrs. Rasco's class in 6th grade and Miss Nelson's class in 5th grade brought in the most from their respective grade level. Over 2200 individual items were donated by students and teachers with another 21 turkeys donated by teachers and friends of the building. From this effort 21 families in our community will now have food on their Thanksgiving table that would not have been there otherwise. The food items that are left over will be donated to our local food bank. A special "thank you" to our counselor Mrs. Skaggs for taking on this wonderful project again and to all those who helped to make it possible!

Mr. Lawley and the high school Fast Forward group visited our building on Thursday to put on a performance for our entire building. Wow! They put on a great show! Our 6th grade students were treated to a showing of the high school production of The Beauty and the Beast on Friday. Thanks to Mrs. Chappell and her talented group for making this available to our students. Tom Davis, Principal

Willard Central Elementary It has been a great week at WC! We capped off a great week of learning by celebrating Grandparents Day on Friday. We had almost 400 guests visit us and share in the learning that is taking place at WC. A special thank you to the PTO workers for helping serve refreshments to all of our guests and to our wonderful food services staff for making all of those cookies! We greatly appreciate everyone's efforts in making it a great memory for our students.

As we look ahead to next week, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving Break with family and loved-ones. Keep reading A Dog Called Kitty and remember that WC is Wild About Learning! Shane Medlin, Principal

Willard East Elementary HAPPY THANKSGIVING from Willard East! Thanksgiving is extra special to me at Willard East because I make it a point to tell my teachers how thankful I am they chose to be a teacher. Everyone is thankful for teachers and have the good intention of telling teachers they are appreciated. We get busy with our lives and "Thank yous" get put on the back-burner sometimes. Well, take the next few days to thank your child's teacher or a teacher that you had when you were young. It may seem like a small gesture but a thank you goes a long way! THANK YOU TEACHERS!!!! Melinda Miller, Principal

Willard North Elementary Willard North is very proud of our students who represented our school in the Southwest District Art Teacher's Association Art Show.

2nd Grade: Emily J. -Mixed Media Taylor G- Collage/Mixed Media

3rd Grade: Laken P-Mixed Media

4th Grade: Tyler C- Watercolor Weston W- Colored Drawing

We have their work on display in our hallways! Congratulations to each of these students! Next week is Thanksgiving and I am thankful for all the caring individuals who make Willard North a great place for students. Have a blessed holiday with each of your families! Rhonda Bishop, Principal

Willard South Elementary On Tuesday evening our fourth grade girls walked the runway with our annual Flip Flop Fashion show! This is a seven week program developed and implemented by our school social worker Chrysta Forrest. This extra activity focuses on friendship, self-esteem, grooming, health and fitness, peer pressure and careers. A big thank you goes out to The Plaid Door, The Studio Hair Salon, Social Worker Intern Melannie McCullum, fourth grade girls for participating and numerous staff members for making this such a special event. 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.

Willard Park Board News

Park Naming: Thank you to everyone who participated in the online poll at <http://www.cityofwillard.org>www.cityofwillard.org to help name our City Parks:

Here are the results of the poll:

Park at 220 West Jackson St: Gateway Park: 59 Votes Jackson St. Park: 48 Votes Central Park: 10 Votes

Park at 8326 West Farm Road Frisco Highline Soccer Park: 53 Votes Willard Soccer Park: 39 Votes Highline Soccer Park: 17 Votes

The Willard Board of Mayor and Alderman will be officially voting on the names for the Parks at the November 24th meeting.

New Poll at <http://www.cityofwillard.org>www.cityofwillard.org: Help Willard Parks and Recreation pick an official slogan for our Department. Log on to <http://www.cityofwillard.org>www.cityofwillard.org and vote.

New Parks and Recreation Program Guide: Willard Parks and Recreation is in the process of putting together our spring program guide. This guide will be filled with news and events of 2009. Stop by the Recreation Center in late December to pick up a copy. Use this guide to keep up with everything that Willard Parks and Recreation is offering from January June 2009.

New Parks and Recreation Website: Willard's new Parks and Recreation website is nearly complete. The new site will launch December 1st, 2008. Visit <http://www.willardparks.com>www.willardparks.com on December 1st to check out the new site!!

Upcoming Sports Registrations: Dont miss these exciting sports seasons!! Youth Basketball Session 2 Registration: December 1st 31st Ages: Pre K 8th Fee: $35

Youth Cheerleading Session 2 Registration: December 1st 31st Ages; Pre K 8th

Adult Basketball Registration: December 1st 31st Ages: 18 and Older Fee: $200

Competitive Basketball Registration: December 1st 31st Ages: 3rd 8th Fee: $200 in town teams and $225 for out of town teams

Willard Senior Citizens: Willard Parks and Recreation will be offering games on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00pm 3:00pm at the Recreation Center beginning January 6th for seniors. All seniors are invited to attend. Games include bingo, cards, dominos and much more. The game days are free to attend.

Willard Basketball Camp: January 10th Don't miss the first ever Willard Parks and Recreation / Willard High School Basketball Camp. The Willard High School Basketball Team will be hosting the camp. Fees are $25 per participate. Camp times are 9:00am 12:00pm for ages K -2nd and 1:00pm 4:00pm for ages 3rd- 6th. The camp will be held at the Willard Recreation Center. Enjoy a great camp hosted by local athletes. Proceeds will benefit Willard High School Sports Department & Willard Parks and Recreation. The deadline to register is Monday January 5th, 2009. For more information please contact (417)742-2262.

Mark Your Calendar: City of Willard Outing to the Springfield Cardinals Game is June 4th, 2009. Tickets go on sale May 1st, 2009.

Golf Scramble: At the Willard Green Hills Country Club on Friday May 8th at 1:00pm (shotgun start). Fees are $50 per person or $200 per team

A Healthy You in 2009: Willard will be holding health fair on January 17th at 10:00am at the Willard Recreation Center.

Willard Parks and Recreation Looking for Sponsors: For Business Owners Did you know that you can advertise your business in front of thousands of people for only $400? Willard Parks and Recreation is selling 4 x 8 aluminum signs to be hung in the gym at the Willard Recreation Center during basketball season and to be hung in the gymnasium at the Willard Baseball field during baseball/softball season. Now is the perfect time to purchase your sign. We are doing some renovation work on the baseball complex in the spring. This renovation will definitely increase baseball/softball numbers. Also we are offering year round basketball now which means more people will be in the gymnasium. If you are interested in purchasing a sign then I encourage you to look over the attached contract. If you would like to sponsor by purchasing a $400 4 x 8 aluminum sign then please contact the Recreation Center no later then December 1st, 2008. After December 1st, we will set up a meeting with all interested sponsors.

Food Drive: Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Willard Parks Food Drive to benefit the Willard Food Pantry!!

Willard Parks and Recreation Holiday Activities: Winter Camp Registration: November 17th December 12th Are you looking for a place for your child to go during the Winter Break? Sign them up for the Willard Parks and Recreation Winter Camp. Registration will be held November 17th December 12th. The camp days are December 22, 23,26,29,30 2008 & January 2, 2009. Ages accepted will be K 6th grade and the fee is $95.00 for the entire week or $17.50 per day. Campers will need a snack lunch each day. Registration for the camp ends December 12th. For more information please contact (417) 742-2262. Registration packets are available now at the Willard Recreation Center.

Christmas at the Willard Recreation Center: Come to the Willard Recreation Center on Saturday December 13th for Christmas in Willard 2008. The days activities include the movie Polar Express at 4:00pm and Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas at 6:15pm. The movies will be showing in the big gym. In the small gym, kids can get their picture taken with Santa (free to meet Santa and pictures are $2). Also come and participate in the Willard Silent Auction (auction items includes sports memorabilia, tickets to area attractions, free meals, etc) and participate in the Willard Bake Sale. All proceeds from the Auction and Bake sale will go toward renovating the Willard Baseball Complex. The Recreation Center is opening at 3:45pm and the activities begin. Dont miss the first Christmas in Willard Celebration on Saturday December 13th.

New Years Bash: Whats New in the New Year: Come to the Willard Recreation Center on Saturday December 27th at 6:30pm for Willards New Year Bash. We will be serving a full plate of spaghetti for only $4 for adults and $2 for children 12 & under. Bring your entire family and eat for cheap. The food will be cooked by the staff of the Willard Parks and Recreation Department. At 7:15pm, sit back and enjoy a short presentation of City / Parks and Recreation News and Events of 2009 entitled Whats New in the New Year for Willard? The dinner and presentation will take place at the Willard Recreation Center. Get your advance tickets at the Recreation Center or just show up the night of the event.

If you have questions about any of these activities please contact us at (417)742-2262.

Kevin McDonald Director of Willard Parks and Recreation 133 N State Hwy Z P.O. Box 187 Willard, MO 65781 (417) 742-2262 fax - (417) 742-6868

++++++++++++++++ Bob Andrus, Technology Director Willard R-II School District