Willamette Welcomes Principal Mindy LeRoux
Willamette High School welcomes its new principal, Mindy LeRoux. Mindy has been an integral part of Bethel School District for many years, and most recently spent this past year as an assistant principal here at WHS. She brings with her a dedication to excellence, an in-depth knowledge of curriculum and instruction, and a passion to do what’s right for students!
Mindy will be an exceptional leader at WHS. She will begin her tenure as Willamette’s next principal this summer.
Academic Awards Night
Our Academic Awards Night is this Wednesday. We’ll be honoring the significant accomplishments of our students in two separate events. Our 9-11 grade ceremony will begin at 7:00, followed by our celebration of seniors. Please come out and support our students as we acknowledge the scholarships and awards they’ve won through their committed scholarship during the 2012-2013 academic year.
Sports Highlights
Our girls softball team played beautifully against Cleveland, and move on to another playoff game this week. Baseball fought bravely, and our track athletes also did well at Districts on Friday. Finally, both of our tennis teams had successful seasons.
Thanks to all of you for supporting Wolverine Athletics!
New South Garden!
Willamette Pride and parent Terry Thorne, along with a host of volunteers, completely redesigned and replanted the south garden next to the parking lot. It looks amazing. Take a walk down there to check it out. It has been transformed, and is very beautiful.
Culinary Press
Check out the great coverage that Martha and the culinary program received from KLCC. It highlights all the reasons why this program continues to be a source of inspiration for many of our students!
The Winning Team
WHS Spring Choir Concert
Come out on Thursday at 7:00 for our annual WHS Spring Choir Concert in the auditorium. This will be a special night with Mike’s impending retirement, so please come out for his final show! We will miss you, Mike!
NHS Tapping Ceremony
Our annual NHS Tapping Ceremony will be held on Tuesday at 7:00 in the auditorium. Please come out and support our wonderful scholars as the sophomores are inducted into the program and we say goodbye to our seniors. We’ll also have a guest speaker you all may know: Scott Spearman!
High Gear at WHS
We are entering the final six-week grading period, and a multitude of events are occurring at Willamette. Please keep abreast of current events by staying connected to this newsletter, checking in on calendar located on our school website, and looking for mailings and voicemails that will alert you to all the important events in May and June.
This is also an important time to check in with your student, as our final interim progress report of the semester will be published on Monday. Your student still has time to make up essential learning material, and it’s imperative that this work begins now so that your student is set up for success in June. Please talk with your student, check in on Home Access Center, and communicate with your student’s counselor, teacher, or administrator should your student require additional support.
Continuing Excellence
Proficiency Work Forges Ahead
WHS and district staff continue to work on a proficiency-based framework to help support all students in being college and career ready. Staff are currently reviewing essential components of this framework in preparation for 2013-2014. Look for more information on this framework and other important instructional information in the months ahead.
Willamette ACE Award Winners
Our ACE Winners
Willamette’s Dan Hedberg and Terri Boekhorst were recognized as the 2013-2014 ACE Award winners at this year’s ACE Awards at the Hult Center. Each of them will receive $1,000 for the school program of their choice.
The ACE Awards are presented by the Eugene and Springfield business community in recognition of the outstanding efforts taking place in Bethel, Eugene 4j, and Springfield schools. Congratulations to them both, and to our other winners, Bethel Facilities Director Pat Bradshaw and Volunteer Chris Ferguson.
Jazz Band/Topnotchers Head to Reno
Jazz/Topnotchers in Reno
Both the Jazz Band and Topnotchers are in Reno for the Reno Jazz Festival. This will be the 5th time that WHS has attended this festival. The event is two full days of contest and clinics, with a Friday night concert that features Grammy winner Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts quartet.
During the contest, groups have 25 minutes to warm up, 25 minutes to perform in front of 3 judges and audience, followed up by a 25 minute clinic with one of the judges and clinics related to their instruments, jazz ,jazz theory or listen to other groups in their classification or hear groups in other classifications. This is a very cool experience, and I’m sure Bart, Mike, and the whole group will have many inspiring stories to tell on their return.
Opportunities for African-American Families
Dinner and child care will be provided. For more information, please contact Iton Udosenata at 689-0731.
College Knowledge Night
Essential College and Career Information
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Power’s Auditorium/Willamette High School, Eugene, OR
- Meet with representatives from more than 50 private and public colleges, universities, and college access programs from all over Oregon and beyond!
- Learn How to Choose a Best Match College, Where to Find the Money, AmeriCorps and Gap Year Options, How to Visit a College Campus and more!
- Open a College Savings Account!
This is a great event! Please put this on your calendar. For more information, please contact Karen Wiant at 689-0731.
Great Work!
Culinary Takes the Prize
The culinary team, led by Martha Humphreys, performed exceptionally at the OCCI (Oregon Coast Culinary Institute) High School Invitational. The team of Ben Guerra, Ella Jones, Taylor McGraw and Kelsey Van Sant took 1st place, battling against 11 other teams. They beat favorite South Salem, and each earned a $4,000 scholarship to OCCI!
Job well done to all of our chefs!
Grease!
An Extravaganza….
This spring’s musical, Grease, presented by the Willamette Theatre, is a must-see! Grease will include a live band in the orchestra pit. It’s the first time in 20 years they’re removed part of the stage to reveal the orchestra pit. In fact, most people had no idea the school’s auditorium even had a pit.
A mix of students and district staff make up the band and they’ll be performing live for songs like Summer Nights and Greased Lightnin’. The stage production will be a fun show for the whole family.
Grease will be on Willamette’s stage Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, May 2 – 4, at 7:00. Tickets are $5 for Students and Staff, $7 General Admission.
The Winning Team
Topnotchers Take the Prize
Mike McCornack and the Topnotchers have much to celebrate! They brought home 1st place at the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival this past weekend. Way to go!
Thank You
WHS Community,
If you haven’t seen on the Bethel School District website, I will be leaving at the end of the academic year. I will be moving to Vermont, where I’ll be Superintendent of Schools in Middlebury. The nine years I’ve spent here at Willamette have been incredibly rewarding, and I want to thank all of you for your support as we continue to provide an exceptional educational experience for our students. This is a special place, and I feel honored to have led Willamette High School and been a part of the Bethel community.
The search is currently underway for Willamette’s next principal, with a committee representing staff, students, and community. We have two months left to the end of the year, and I look forward to seeing all of you at the various year-end functions in which we celebrate student success and say goodbye to the class of 2013. Thank you, everyone, for an unforgettable experience.
Bond News
There is incredible energy going on right now with the bond work that will soon descend upon WHS. Plans are underway, and meetings are occurring with the science department and administration to determine what our cutting-edge new addition will look like. There are some exciting initial plans that will make a substantial impact on our entry and street presence.
Look for more news over the coming months! If you’d like to take a peek at our progress, go to this site.
ASPIRE
Our ASPIRE Mentoring Program is back in full-force. Willamette hosts 19 mentors from the community, the University of Oregon, and Northwest Christian University, and have matched them to work individually with 120 students on college and career goals.
In addition, we will be hosting the Regional ASPIRE Coordinators Conference on April 23. ASPIRE Coordinators from all over the mid and southern parts of Oregon will be on campus that day, checking out our programs and sharing their own best practices.
Proficiency-Based Education
Willamette continues to develop our proficiency-based teaching and learning framework, designed to assure that each student has the skills he/she needs to be successful in a 21st century workplace. A design team has been meeting throughout the year to work on a cohesive approach to proficiency that includes key components necessary for student success.
Proficiency-based education is occurring throughout the country and the state. For further information, here’s a link to a report on proficiency-based education by the Oregon Department of Education.
Oportunidades
On Tuesday, April 30, from 5:30 to 8:00 in the cafeteria, Willamete will be hosting the second meeting of Oportunidades. This is a great opportunity for Latino families, and all WHS families, to learn more about what it takes to prepare for college and how to go about taking the necessary steps to get there. Dinner and childcare will be provided.
University of Oregon staff will cover the admissions process, application deadlines, scholarship opportunities, and family support to prepare for college. This event is geared towards parents and children of all ages, K-12.
In addition, mark your calendar for the Capstone event of the Opportunities Program on Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 10 am to 3 pm at the University of Oregon EMU Ballroom. For more information, please contact Peter Burrows or Iton Udosenata at 541-461-6401.
Girls Basketball Are 5A State Champs!
The Willamette Girls Basketball team came up with a profound performance on Saturday in the 5A finals against Springfield. Avenging our loss last year at Matt Knight Arena in the final, our girls played with heart and strength throughout and never looked back. Here’s an article with the play-by-play details. Also, here’s a video of the celebration after we clinched the title.
Wolverine Nation came out in force. Looking over behind our bench was a sea of maroon and white, which was a huge source of energy for our team. It felt so proud to be a Wolverine.
Thanks to all of you for being there, throughout the season and throughout the year, as we show the community what it means to believe in and support our students. This is what makes Willamette a special place, and a high school like no other in Oregon.
Go Wolverines!
Freshmen Success Night
This week, we’ll be welcoming our freshmen parents back for Freshmen Success Night, on Thursday, March 7 at 7:00 in the WHS cafeteria. We’ll be providing families with more essential information to help them support their student and be part of the “student success team” that is so crucial for freshmen. This is an important event for freshmen parents, so please attend.
If you have questions about the event, please call Iton Udosenata or your student’s counselor at 689-0731.