2022 has arrived and we are excited to begin the 2nd half of our school year! While it has not been without challenges, it has been a great year so far for our students.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read our newsletter and see what we’ve been up to this school year.
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Congratulations and a Warm WCS Welcome! |
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Congratulations to our re-elected Board Member Marty Beaugard Sr., our newly elected Board Members, Brian Shidaker and Carrie Zeigler. They join current members Michael Flanigan and Kevin Snarr. Our Board held their Organizational Meeting on January 4th and elected Michael Flanigan as President and Carrie Zeigler as Vice President for 2022. WCS is fortunate to have 5 Board members that work hard to provide a quality education for the students in this District. You can learn about our Board members on our website at About / Board / Members.
The meeting schedule for 2022 is available on the website at About / Board / Meetings. Please note the change in times. Regular meetings during the school year will now start at 6:00 PM instead of 7:00. Special meetings are announced in the Wilmington News Journal.
I also want to take this time to thank Larry Roberts II. Mr. Roberts has been a dedicated member of our Board or Education for 8 years, caring deeply for this community and our students.
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2022-2023 District Calendar |
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At the December meeting, the Board approved the 2022-2023 District Calendar. The calendar is linked below and is also available on the district website Calendars page.
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Meet our School Nursing Staff |
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This school year we have expanded our FTEs (full time equivalents) with CCHD from 1 to 2. What does this mean? Double the nursing services!
Instead of providing one full time nurse as we have in the past, we will be receiving a team of 4 nurses - each working 1/2 time on a building rotation. Jennifer Simpson (left) will be taking over the lead role as the WCS District lead RN. She will be joined by Delilah Pritchett. Monica Wood, and Erin Mustard (left to right in photo after Jennifer).
Our nursing team has already been busy with hearing and vision screenings, contact tracing, boo-boo tending, and more. We are excited to have them join the WCS Team!
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School Resource Office Appreciation Day Jan 9th |
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January 9th is School Resource Officer / National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day! You may not know it but at WCS we have both a School Resource Officer and a Campus Supervisor that help keep our campuses a safe and inviting place for students to learn. This January 9th we hope you’ll join us in thanking these gentlemen for their work in keeping our students and staff safe.
Get to know our Safety Team and what they do for our schools
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School Resource Officer, Pat Black, has been an officer for almost 25 years and has worked in the schools for almost 6 years total. Officer Black has also coached high school soccer and golf for 14 years. Officer Black is married and has 6 kids. When asked what he likes about being an SRO at WCS, Officer Black shared that it is the daily interaction with students that he enjoys the most. Thank you to Officer Pat Black for being a positive presence in our schools, building relationships with staff and students, and helping our campus continue to be safe and inviting for our students.
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Campus Supervisor, Dave Gehringer, joined our staff in January of 2020. He jumped right in to help with safety training, connecting with students, and of course supervising our MS/HS campus to ensure student and staff safety. Mr. Gehringer has done an outstanding job of connecting with our students and building relationships. He enjoys challenging them to try and figure out his background. Their favorite guesses include a former police officer, S.E.A.L, undercover operative, or ex-CIA agent! We won’t spoil the mystery, just be assured that Mr. Gehringer has the skill set and experience to make our campuses safe and inviting places for our students to learn.
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WMS Extra Time, Extra Help Program |
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Wilmington Middle School is excited to continue their "Extra Time-Extra Help" after-school opportunity for all students for the 3rd Quarter. The structure of this "Extra-Time-Extra Help" session will include time for assistance with academic coursework along with programming around such topics as organization, team building, social/emotional health, and other relevant topics.
The program will be during the last four weeks of each quarter every Tuesday and Thursday after school from 2:45-5:00. Students will also receive a snack during this time. Transportation will be provided as requested as long as students register by the deadline set for each quarter.
The Extra Time, Extra Help program is designed to bridge learning gaps caused by the impact the pandemic has had on schools, communities, and families. This program is paid for with ESSER/ARP grant funds.
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December was a busy month at WCS! Here a few highlights from around the District:
- A number of Holmes Elementary students were presented with bikes from Harvest of Gold!
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WCS Choirs Showcase Talents & Connections (WNJ 12/14/21) Our Vocal Music students presented fantastic Holiday Concerts at the Murphy Theatre. Students were excited to share their talents with the community and their hard work was evident.
- Middle and High School had outstanding instrumental music performances!
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WMS food drive collects 1540 items (WNJ 12/17/21): Student Council organized a food drive and collected 1540 items in December for those less fortunate in our community. CCP students at the High School participated in mock interviews for real-world experience.
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Leaders learn from Wilmington students at schools welcome VIPs (WNJ 12/7/21) Students and staff shared their classrooms and programs with our VIP guests on December 6th. Senator Bob Peterson and local officials visited Denver Place, Wilmington Middle School, and Wilmington High School to learn more about our schools through the voices of our students and staff.
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WMS will continue to offer their Extra Time, Extra Help opportunity to all WMS students for the 3rd Quarter. WMS students can sign up for 3rd Quarter help using the Extra Time, Extra Help online form. Sign up before 2/14 if transportation is needed.
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The Wilmington High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee has chosen Quinten Rollins, Donna Seeger, and Monica Howard to be inducted on Feb. 5, 2022. See the Wilmington News Journal article to learn more about our new Hall of Fame inductees.
Be sure to also check our District News Feed frequently and keep up with district news published on our website news feed.
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Talking With Kids About Social Media |
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Most of you have probably seen national news stories of viral TikTok challenges. Some seem harmless and fun, others encourage kids to perform acts of vandalism and violence in their schools.
Now is a great time to have conversations with them about the pressure to “fit in” (online and offline) and responsible use of social media. We urge students, parents, and community members to report concerns immediately and directly to authorities instead of sharing concerning viral posts. With any threat, reporting the information to proper authorities will ensure the information gets to someone who can investigate it. Sharing the post on social media does not guarantee it will be received by authorities and will likely increase unnecessary anxiety.
Additionally, we have a tip line available on our website (School Safety Hotline) for people to report serious school safety concerns.
While we know these challenges circulate on social media, we also recognize that the vast majority of our students are responsible and try to do the right thing every day. We are proud of them for being mature, compassionate, and responsible citizens in their community - online and offline.
Thank you for helping us keep our students, staff, school, and community safe by having this important conversation with your student and helping us to reinforce the messages of responsibility and safety.
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1/7 Report Cards
1/9 School Resource Officer / National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
1/17 Martin Luther King, Jr Day (School Closed)
1/27 WHS Teacher Conferences
2/1 WHS Choirs Solo & Ensemble Recital
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