March 2025 Board Report

February was a remarkable month for Wakefield K-12 School, marked by significant improvements in student attendance rates. The data from the first semester of the current school year shows:

High School Achievements

• 9 high school students demonstrated major improvement in attendance
• 9 students showed improvement in their days of attending school
• All students exhibited significant improvement in their grades, with only 2 students failing one class (down from multiple classes)

Elementary School Achievements

• 7 elementary students demonstrated major improvement in attendance
• 5 students showed significant improvement
• These statistics are extremely encouraging, reflecting the school's ongoing efforts to improve student attendance and academic performance.

Community News

• The community came together to honor Coach Steppes in his last regular season game on February 17th. Coach Steppes will retire at the end of the school year, leaving a lasting legacy in the Wakefield community.

Mark Moneypenny

Wakefield K-12

Principal

I developed the following form to ensure the school has proper documentation for students traveling home with their parents after extracurricular activities held off-site. To inform parents of this new process, a corresponding letter was sent home (below). For convenience, the form is also accessible online through the Wakefield website, allowing parents to easily complete and submit it from any location.

Parents/Guardians,

To ensure student safety and facilitate smooth transportation after athletic events and activities, we have implemented a new procedure:

Post Athletic/Activity Travel Form

Access the form: Visit our school website and find the "Post Athletic/Activity Travel Form" on the left side of the page.

Fill out the form: Complete the form prior to the event, indicating your intention to transport your child home.

Submit to coach/sponsor: Give the completed form to the coach or sponsor before leaving for the event.

Important Reminders

If you forget the form, coaches/sponsors will have paper copies available at the event.

Parent/Guardian transportation only: Your child must be transported home by their parent/guardian.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in ensuring our students' safety and well-being.

Monday, March 3, 2025

• High School Track Practice Begins
• Practice Time 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Friday, March 7, 2025

• Maintenance Worker Appreciation Day

Sunday, March 9, 2025

• Daylight Savings Begins

Monday, March 10, 2025

• Junior High Track Practice Begins
• Practice Time 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm (Same as High School)
• 6:00 PM Board of Education Meeting

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

• WSL JH Music Festival @ Elyria
• 7:00 pm Pep Band Concert

Friday, March 14, 2025

• 11:45 am Student Dismissal
• End of 3rd Quarter
• PM Teacher Workday

Saturday, March 15, 2025

• Forensics @ Clay Center

Monday, March 17, 2025 - Friday, March 21, 2025

• Spring Break - No School

Monday, March 24, 2025

• 4th Quarter Begins

Thursday, March 27, 2025

• 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm 6th Grade Enrollment Parent Meeting

Friday, March 21, 2025

• Quarter 3 Grade Cards Go Home

Saturday, March 29, 2025

• Forensics @ Hoisington

Monday, March 31, 2025

Mrs. Ehlers uses small groups to help her 3rd grade students learn math each day. They were using manipulatives, white boards, an online math game, and practice worksheets to learn about equivalent fractions.

4th Grade's postcard exchange month update! We have received 18 postcards! Thank you to those who sent us mail! We are still accepting postcards until May 2!

Here is the address to send them:

PO Box 40

Wakefield, Kansas 67487

Mrs. Looney had her elementary art students working on a variety of projects, including making Valentine collages and completing guided step-by-step art projects.

Mr. Couch has been a great mid-year addition to Wakefield High School. Today, he was working with the Intro to Industrial Arts class to determine their next project. Students have a big role in deciding what they could create.

Our first hour shop class has been constructing a dog house!

This handcrafted dog house has been built using "Kreg" joints, making it extremely durable. It was insulated for comfort and was custom-painted to specifications.

Extending great thanks, are our first-hour students:

Natalie Stevenson, Callie Hessling, Isaac Hessling, Jacob Jepsen, Bryant Phemister

Mrs. Bergmeier's computer apps class is currently working on rebranding logos and brands. These can include everything from Nike to Wakefield's Bomber logo. They were coming up with some pretty cool and unique ideas!

Mrs. Butler's high school choir is hard at work getting ready for their spring concert. Mrs. Butler is one of the few teachers in the district (and the state) who teaches grades K-12 every day. That is a lot of planning and knowledge of what makes each grade level needs to be successful!

Mrs. Simon's second graders separate into ELA (reading/writing) centers at various times throughout the week. The goal is to learn core curriculum in different ways. They were focusing on their spelling words for the week, which included an -or/-ore theme.

The Wakefield School Spelling Bee was held on February 7th. These students went to the Clay County Spelling Bee on Feb. 13th,

From Left to Right:

Katie Crecend - 7th Grade Winner

Laken Smith - 8th Grade Winner

Jace Dumler - 6th Grade Winner and Spelling Bee Runner-Up

Kaylee Forrester - 5th Grade Winner and Spelling Bee Champion

Brixton Lorson - 4th Grade Winner

Geometry students in Mrs. Bybee's class were calculating the heights of different items around the school using trigonometric equations and a clinometer, which is a tool that measures the angle of elevation or depression of an object in relation to gravity.

Mrs. Crabtree's 6th-grade English classes are in the middle of reading "A Long Walk to Water". A theme of the book is resiliency, so Mrs. Crabtree had students read an article giving 10 ways to build resilience. They then compared those strategies to what happened in the book and wrote a reflection on them.

The Wakefield Boys' Basketball team competed at Flint Hills Christian School. The school recognized its seniors at the game and also honored our seniors with a token of appreciation. Thanks, Flint Hills, for the good sportsmanship and hospitality.

Bomber Forensics competed at the “David Mr. Bill Williams Forensics Invitational” in Newton, Kansas. The team competed against schools 31 schools from every division in the state. The Bombers broke two events to the semi-finals! Here are the placings:

Reece Isaac: (Semi-Finalist) Informative Speaking 8th

Aubrey Vlasak: (Semi-Finalist) Program of Oral Interpretation 8th, Oral Interpretation of Poetry 40th

Susan Tyrell: Oral Interpretation of Prose 18th

Makenzye Schumm: Oral Interpretation of Prose 19th, Oral Interpretation of Poetry 33rd

Isa Butler: Oral Interpretation of Poetry 29th

(The team is holding the Clay Center Sweepstakes trophy because the competitors bonded during the tournament and they were excited for their co-competitors.).

WSL Honor Band at KWU.

WHS coach and A.D., Rich Steppe, was honored at last night’s basketball games for his years of service to the students of Wakefield. Coach Steppe will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Angie Steppe Adams, Coach Steppe’s sister, acted as emcee for the recognition ceremony. She gave some meaningful and appropriate remarks, and then Rich was presented with a Bomber quilt by his wife, Angela, and mother, Bonnie. Then, a game ball was presented by Coach’s son and daughter, along with all the seniors on this year’s basketball team. His team did their part for a happy night by taking a decisive victory over the Rural Vista Heat. Finally, WHS Booster Club President, Neal Summerson, presented Coach Steppe with a plaque from the boosters.