SPRING 2015

Dear Parents and Community,

It has been an outstanding year for teaching and learning in Arkadelphia Public Schools! The superior accomplishments of our students and staff are great examples of our commitment to our vision of quality, excellence and equity. From academics, to athletics and the arts, our students are the pride of Arkadelphia. We appreciate our parents and community for your partnership in supporting these fine young people.

APS would like to congratulate the ‘Class of 2015’ on their transition from Arkadelphia High School to college and career. Commencement is always a special time for our graduates and their families. We are proud of our seniors, and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

In addition, we also wish to bid farewell to our teachers and staff members who are retiring from APS this year. Congratulations to Romanetha Terry (48 years), Gwen Fullen (30 years), Trudy Conzel (30 years), Nelda Bullock (32 years), Karen Alexander (13 years), Billy Bennett (17 years), Jo McCain (14 years) and Terry Hagood (8 years)! We are grateful for their service to our students and schools.

Finally, as we plan for the future of Arkadelphia Public Schools, we are eager to share our next steps and vision with our parents and community. Our Board of Education is currently developing a plan that addresses the needs of our aging facilities and provides our students and staff with the best environment and conditions for teaching and learning. We look forward to your partnership, feedback and support in the coming months. Stay tuned for the exciting developments as we start back to school in August!

Have a safe summer.

Sincerely,

Dr. Donnie WhittenSuperintendent

APS Superintendent Dr. Donnie Whitten

APS Communications Dept.Sean Ruggles, DirectorMcKenzie Cranford, Intern

Arkadelphia Public Schools Voice is a publication of the Arkadelphia Public Schools Communications Department. Questions regarding this publication may be directed to:

E-mail - sean.ruggles@arkadelphiaschools.org

Phone - (870) 246-5564 x1214

Mail - Arkadelphia Public Schools attn: Dept. of Comm. 235 N. 11th St. Arkadelphia, AR 71923

Arkadelphia Public Schools Board of Education

Dr. Jeff Root, President

Dr. Kenneth G. Harris, Jr., Vice President

Karrie Goodman, Secretary

Gina White

Billy Groom

Randy Turner

Dr. Casey Motl

Important dates!

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Arkadelphia High School

Gov. Asa Hutchinson tours AHS while on a state tour promoting computer science and coding at the high school level. The governor chose AHS as a stop on his tour because of the district’s commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs.

The Arkadelphia Promise Class of 2015 gathers at the conclusion of the signing day ceremony prior to the senior walk on their last day as AHS students. The students wear shirts designating the college or institution where they’re committing to continuing their education.

Student-volunteers from Amy Hornsby’s art class paint a mural at a local non-profit which helps abused children.

The choral department presented “Cinderella” for their spring musical.

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Goza Middle School

Above, Goza eighth grade literature students, along with their teacher Phyllis Watts, display the books the students wrote, edited, designed and published as part of a yearly project Watts leads. At left, a student shares a story during a writer’s workshop led by author Clare Vanderpool, who is seen in the background. Below, Goza students and staff gather for a group photo Dr. Wesley Kluck made with a drone.

Peake Elementary

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Peake students perform during the grand finale of “Pure Gold,” Gwen Fullen’s last performance to direct in her 30-year career with APS. Below, students in Peake’s science lab close the switch on a circuit they built during a project on electricity.

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Central Primary

Central Primary: Where Kindness Matters! Central, known for its bucket filling students, rewards kind acts and discourages bullying by exemplifying positive behavior. Above, students participate in a pep rally at the beginning of the school’s “Kindness Week.” Below, the entire campus gathers to form the shape of a heart for a group photo.

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Perritt Primary

First graders at Perritt Primary enjoy an activity during field day this spring. Parent involvement is essential to the continued building of a strong school community at Perritt. We appreciate our parent volunteers very much!

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Pre Kindergarten

The 4-year-olds in our PreK program gather for a group photo. From 6-weeks-old to 4-years-old, our comprehensive PreK program serves a total of about 200 children divided between three excellent facilities: the Early Childhood Center, Peake Rosenwald, and Perritt Primary.

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Badger spirit!

It was a solid 2014-15 season for the AHS swimming and diving teams as representatives from AHS medaled at both the State Swim and Dive Championships in February at UALR. Highlighting the weekend were a repeat State Champion in girls’ diving, a swimming medalist and three medalists in boys’ diving.

Junior Alexandria Hunter repeated as the State Champion in the Girls 1A-5A Diving Championships hitting all 11 of her dives with the top score in the classification. In the boys’ diving competition, AHS placed three on the medal stand as freshman Taylor

Savage (3rd place), senior Matt Savage (4th place), and senior Nathan Gerber (5th place) all ended on the medal stand representing the Badgers.

In the swimming finals on Saturday, junior David Lloyd earned medals in both of the events in which he was entered. Lloyd finished 2nd in the state in 1A-5A in the 100 Back and 3rd in the 100 Fly to earn more points for the Badgers. The combined diving and swimming points placed the Badgers 8th in the state in the 1A-5A classification.

Both Lloyd and Hunter were named All-State for their performances at the State Meet.

Nathan Gerber, Matt Savage, Taylor Savage Alexandria Hunter

David Lloyd

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The Badger boys’ basketball team under the direction of head coach Donnie Williams followed up a second-place finish in the 4A-7 regular season with a District Tournament Championship, earning the Badgers the first seed in the 4A South Regional. The Badgers defeated Warren to qualify for the 4A State Tournament. In the first round, Arkadelphia ran up against eventual 4A State quarterfinalist Dardanelle ending the post-season run with a narrow 62-57 loss to the Sand Lizards.

Senior Bryant Robinson was named All-State and was selected to the 4A All-State Tournament team. Earning All-Conference awards were Robinson, senior forward Nathan Carter and junior guard Jeff Blake. Robinson was also named to the All-Tournament team at the Coca-Cola Classic in Fort Smith and senior guard Adrian Barrett was named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

The Lady Badger basketball team saw its season come to an end in the 4A-7 District tournament with a loss to the eventual tournament champion Malvern Lady Leopards. The Lady Badgers, battling injuries a big portion of the season, relied on youth with only three seniors on the team. The Lady Badgers said goodbye to three seniors who had been a core part of the program for their time as Lady Badgers in Kristin Bell, Janeeshia Harvell and Jenesis Mitchell.

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Badger spirit!

The Lady Badger softball team battled the weather for the biggest part of the spring as did most other springs sports around the state. Arkadelphia began the season with a 5-0 record and improved on previous seasons’ performances particularly against perennial 4A softball powers and 4A-7 conference foes Nashville and Ashdown. The Lady Badgers took the eventual state semi-finalist Scrapperettes deep in the game in the 5th inning trailing by two before Nashville pulled away for

the win. The Lady Badgers finished 7th in the conference that

ended up having 3 of the 4 4A State semifinalists in the 2015 4A State Tourney. As was the case in basketball, youth was the story as only two seniors graduated in the aforementioned Mitchell and Harvell.

The Lady Badgers ended the season with a late-inning loss in the 4A-7 District tournament to the host school Waldron Lady Bulldogs.

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By no means is a state runner-up finish ever a disappointment when looking back on a season, but the initial sting of a 4-3 9-inning loss to Star City in the 4A State Championship put a very brief damper on another great season for Badger baseball. The Badgers ended the season with a 25-10 record and reach the 4A State Championship game at Baum Stadium for the third straight year, falling just short to Star City in the title game.

The Badgers did put together a first, though, finishing the 4A-7 regular season schedule with a perfect

7-0 record. The Badgers finished second in the 4A-7 District Tournament and entered the state tournament as the 3rd seed from the 4A South Region.

Arkadelphia opened the state tournament in Blytheville with an 11-4 win over Prairie Grove and then advanced to the state semifinals with a 20-5 win over the Lonoke Jackrabbits, the 1st seed from the 4A-East Region. After having the tournament scheduled postponed due to weather and the site eventually moved to UCA, the Badgers put together a come-from-behind 5-3 win over Shiloh Christian in the state semifinals to reach Baum Stadium.

The Badgers said goodbye to five seniors that have been a part of almost 100 wins during their time in the Badger baseball program. Senior 1B Austin Bethell, P/3B Cody Bethell, LF J Brooks Burnham, P Dylan Weems and 2B Clay Wilson ended their careers with two state championships and one state runner-up finish.

Wilson, junior 3B/P Ty Kosters and junior C Danny Spradlin were named All-State by the coaches of the 4A-7. Named to the 4A-7 All-Conference team were Cody Bethel, J Brooks Burnham, Cutter Jester, Brandon Matros and Dylan Weems.

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Badger spirit!

It was a year to build on for the Arkadelphia track programs at the junior high and senior high levels. The Jr. Girls won the 4A-7 Junior District meet and are the 2015 conference champions and the Jr. Boys finished as the conference runner-up at the District meet.

At the high school level, the year was one to remember and build upon for the Lady Badger track and field program. Two individual state champions emerged from the AHS team at the 4A State meet at Heber Springs. Senior Tessa Yelverton won the 4A girls pole vault and senior Angel Eley won the 4A girls 1600 meter event. The state champions were the first individual state champions

in several years for AHS track and field. Yelverton and Eley represented AHS at the Meet of Champs, squaring off against state champions from the rest of the classifications.

Also qualifying for the Lady Badgers at the state meet were sophomore pole vaulter Emilee Roberson and freshman sprinter Jasmyn Gordon.

The Lady Badgers finished tied for 3rd at the 4A-7 district track meet. Gordon was the conference champion in the 100 and 200, Eley won the 1600 and the 3200 and Yelverton won the pole vault. Keyasha Jones also earned points for the Lady Badgers in the sprinting events.

Tessa Yelverton

Angel Eleyphoto/Stephen B. ThorntonArkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Another trip to the State Tournament was in the cards for both the Badger and Lady Badger soccer teams, with both teams earning the 3rd seed from the 4A-2 conference. The Badgers faced eventual state runner-up Danville in the first round where the season came to an end for AHS. The Badgers did play Danville to the closest margin of any of the teams in the state tournament, losing 2-0. Senior Tyler Sanders was named to the 4A All-State Tournament team for Arkadelphia.

It was a 10-win season for the Badgers including a win in the annual Clark County Cup match over Gurdon. The team said goodbye to a large senior class and also recognized head coach Steve Patterson at the final home match of the season for his 20th year of coaching

Arkadelphia soccer. Patterson helped begin the program 20 years ago when the team was a co-ed team.

Seniors Matt Savage and Chris Cervantes were named 4A All-State and senior Anthony Jenkins was named Honorable mention All-State. Earning All-Conference honors were Savage, Cervantes, Jenkins, Xavier Jones, Brady Purifoy and Eliseo Ramirez.

The Lady Badgers were also matched up against a tough opponent, as Arkadelphia squared off against eventual state champion Gentry in round one. Gentry ended the season for the Lady Badgers, a season that ended with a state tournament berth despite a young lineup on the field for the Lady Badgers. The Lady Badgers ended the season with 8 wins and numerous post-season honors.

Being named All-State by the coaches of the 4A-2 were Hevelyn Avila, Kimberly Avila and Erica Dixon. Earning All-Conference selections were Erica Dixon, Maddy Durrett and Madeline Wallace.

5 YearsYadhidra Aquirre – Pre KRebecca Alexander – AHS Tina Beals – Perritt Laurel Cannon – Central Candace Davis – Goza James Davis – Central Misti Dixon – Peake April Ferries – Pre KJay Freibolt – Trans.Jacqueline Hale – Perritt Toma Lambert – Perritt Diann Lawhon – Central Aundra Leeper – AdminPenny Medley – AHS Cheryl Merk – AHS April Morgan – Perritt Elizabeth Morris – Perritt Patrick Nelson – Trans.

Aiga Porter – Pre KKathryn Wood – Pre K

10 Years Joey Andrews – AdminLinda Archer – Peake Regina Garner – Perritt Amanda Harris – Central Brant Matros – Goza Paula McNeal – Central Lori Phillips – Goza Velvet Pilot – AdminLorain Vail – Pre KLibby Wheaton - Admin

15 YearsLaura Cornelius – Goza Jennifer Fielding – Central Deborah McMillan – Central

Bud McMillion – AHS Angela ton – AdminShawn Russell – Peake Betsy Smith – AHS Paula Whittle – Peake

20 YearsConnie Hendrix – Perritt JoAnna Spradlin – AdminJeanette Turner – AdminLeslie Wood - Admin

25 YearsShannon Prince – Peake Mary Thomas – Goza

Retirees + 30 Years or moreNelda Bullock – 32 YearsTrudy Conzel – 30 Years

Gwen Fullen – 30 YearsRomanetha Terry – 48 Years

RetireesKaren Alexander - 11 YearsBilly Bennett – 17 Years Terry Hagood – 8 Years Jo McCain – 14 Years

Staff recognitionAt the annual end of the year banquet, employees of the Arkadelphia Public Schools who have dedicated 5, 10, 15, 25, or 30 or more years of service to our district are recognized. Those who attended the banquet and were recognized are pictured and the complete list is below:

15 years

10 years

5 years 20 years

25 years

Retirees

Retireeswith 30+ years