District Newsletter

Willard R-II Central Office

Attendance is one of the most important elements in becoming successful as a student, a starting job, or a life time career. What does it take for a person to be on time?? That seems like an easy question. A person must simply plan ahead. In my experience even the best laid plans seem to get messed up when you are planning a busy day. Something always happens causing my plan to go awry. Every time I have a meeting in Springfield I have to stop for what seems like an hour at Elwood to wait on the train. However, when I get to my meeting the host or presenter is not interested in why I was late, simply the fact that I was late. Employers as well as colleges also support attendance and being on time, as two of the most important measures of success. This year Willard Schools implemented a new attendance policy at the elementary level. This policy was implemented to help address attendance problems before they could become severe. As a district this has been a small issue. However for some families it has been a major obstacle. I would like to make my position very clear; this is not a policy to "get people". Our goal is simply to help students develop one of the most important career elements at early ages. This policy also opens communication between the school and the family allowing for understanding and support. After one semester of implementation we have data that supports that our efforts are working. After a student is absent for 5 days in a semester a letter is mailed to parents. At the 7th absence a conference is scheduled with the family. District administrators understand that there are times when students have been absent for a very credible reason and this is taken into account. Data was clear after this step student absence decreased dramatically. This policy is not in place to require students to attend when they are sick it is simply to help students develop healthy habits of attendance which will pay dividends in the future. If you have questions regarding this new policy / procedure you can call the district office or one of the elementary principals.

The following candidates have signed up to run for the Willard R-2 School Board at the April 8, 2008, Election: 

Jeffrey A. Baker

Karla M. Shaffer

Ronald M. Crighton

Marie Bird

Bill Lingenfelser

John Lilly

Jack McConnell 

There are three seats available for three year terms. If you need to register to vote in the April Election, the final date to register is March 12, 2008, and you can do that at the District Office or at any school building.

Have a great week!

Kent 

Dr. Kent E. Medlin Superintendent of Schools

Director of Operations

Tigers take show on the road!

The Lady Tigers are riding a wave of momentum as they take their 4 game winning streak (they defeated Hillcrest and Rogersville last week) on the road. They will play at Monett tonight with the JV game starting at 6:00pm. They will then travel to Oklahoma as they participate in the NEO Classic on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The girls will open up with Tulsa Hale on Thursday with the game starting at 12:30pm. The boy's look to get back on track as they will participate in the Nixa Tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They will open with Willow Springs on Thursday at 6:00pm. 

A big congratulations to the wrestling Tigers on two successful tournaments last week. First, they finished in 1st place in the Warsaw Tournament on Jan. 12th. They followed that up with a 3rd place finish in the COC tournament just 0.5 points behind Nixa for 2nd place. The highlight of the evening came when Willard's own, C. McMullin, won the COC heavyweight title over Republic. Both wrestlers are ranked NATIONALLY! This is the highest finish in the COC in Willard history! The wrestlers will participate in the Seneca Tournament this weekend before getting ready for districts.

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

Willard High School

This past week the HS staff wanted to reward student academic achievement and student attendance. We began by recognizing 263 students for 1st Semester A / B Honor Roll. During all three lunches each students name was announced verbally, was on the video announcements which are viewed during lunch, and they received a certificate of accomplishment. On Friday, we finished the week by recognizing students with perfect attendance for the 1st semester. Again, during all three lunch shifts almost 200 names was announced, viewed on the video announcements, and provided a certificate of accomplishment with two ( 2 ) Subway cookies in a sleeve. Look for more recognitions in the 2nd Semester as the High School focuses on positive student achievements. Stewart Pratt, Principal 

Willard Middle School

Today we had the joy of having Carthage Jr. High visit our building to discuss our programs/activities. It was great to sit down with fellow colleagues to discuss important educational strategies for students. We have gone to several other area schools and collaborated for the betterment of the student body as well. Amy Sims, Principal 

Willard Intermediate School

If anyone doubts that teachers don't go above and beyond, they should have been in one of our Intermediate classrooms Wednesday. Imagine nearly 60 students, pizza dough, cheese, sauce, and assorted other toppings and the potential for a MESS! But, thanks to several willing and energetic teachers and one counselor who may need counseling of her own after this, they pulled it off without a hitch! In addition to the cooking club, we continue to have many other clubs, such as chess (WAY over my head), the library clubs, running club, clowning club and more. I appreciate all the staff who give their time after school to make these things happen. Julie Germann, Principal 

Willard Central Elementary

The theme at Willard Central Elementary this year is Reach for the Stars. My name is Stacey Pippin and I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work as an administrative intern this year with Shane Medlin in this building. The dedication and hard work I have witnessed by this staff has been remarkable. This has been evident to me beginning with the July staff meeting in full attendance to the countless activities and events throughout the year such as community time complete with entertaining skits and student celebrations, mystery guest readers by the make-believe campfire, student-led conferences, after-school holiday crafts and singing, and Communication Arts night in which every Willard Central family received a free book just to name a few. 

Just like any other day, the students were given a chance to shine this morning as our 3rd graders honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a special poem. Please check out the pictures on the Willard Central blog, http://willardcentralkids.edublogs.org/. They did a wonderful job. Special thanks to the teachers, Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Jones, Mr. Nichols, and Mrs. Sexton for their hard work in preparing the students. Remember, there will be no school Monday, January 21 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.s birthday. 

An upcoming event in which you can see this building in action is Math Family Night on Thursday, January 31 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. I know they have many exciting activities planned and I think I even heard something about sploosh balls and Mr. Medlin. You'll have to come to find out! 

A special thank you to Shane Medlin and the Willard Central family for making me feel so welcome. I am truly grateful for the experience I have gained and the opportunity to get to know such wonderful people. They truly are, Reaching for the Stars, and making awesome things happen! Stacey Pippin, Administrative Intern 

Willard East Elementary

In past posts I have mentioned that Willard Elementary teachers are going through a training process with the Missouri Reading Initiative. This involves on the job training in best practices of reading instruction. This month we received many of our teacher resources to help implement all the wonderful practices we have been learning. We pride ourselves in how hard our teachers work. Any time we can give them more resources is money well spent. 

Parents As Teachers Invitation - If you are a parent of 0-5 year old, or know someone who is, please refer them to our Parents as Teachers program. This is a program sponsored by the school district and there is no income requirement. I actually participate in the program and have found the information that is provided to be very valuable. Our teachers are very qualified and experienced with young children and their parents and are eager to work with our community and their families. Please leave a message for Jill, Angie, or Tonia at 742-5409 or you can email them at pat@willard.k12.mo.us. We look forward to hearing from you. Melinda Miller, Principal 

Willard North Elementary

I think we have enjoyed our mid-winter break! It is now time to get back to work! This time of year is one of the hardest on the children. Because of weather, it is difficult to get outside everyday for fresh air and exercise. It is always great when the temperature and wind chill stay at levels where we can go outside. The time flies so quickly! It is hard to believe that we are at the end of January. We had made plans to celebrate the 100th day of school Friday. That event will now take place on Monday. We will make up our snow day on President's Day in February. Have a wonderful short week! Rhonda Bishop, Principal

Willard South Elementary

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for being patient during our construction phase. Our parking lot and bus lane have seen some major changes over the last couple of months. We will be extending our parking lot to the area located in front of the library. However, for now you will need to park in the designated parking spaces on the asphalt, the grass area next to the parking lot or down the driveway of WS. The future gymnasium will be located on the northern part of the campus where the fencing is currently located. We are excited about our future addition & appreciate your flexibility and support! We are in need of canned and boxed food for our Food Pantry. If you are able to donate, please contact Chrysta Forrest at 862-6308 ext. 57 Snow make up date for January 22nd will be on Monday, February 18th. 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.