Blue Jay News
December 19th, 2023
A Message from the Administrative Team
Greenwood Students and Families:
The first semester has concluded, and we are so proud of our students and teachers for their dedication and hard work. Grades will be forthcoming, and although not everyone may achieve the grade they desire, it is effort, diligence, and expanding your knowledge that will pay dividends in the future. Keep up the good work as we look forward to the second semester and continue on the path of academic success.
To highlight the dedication and diligence of our students, 52 Greenwood students completed a total of 384 dual credit hours during the fall semester at Missouri State University! This included credit hours from twelve (12) different courses. This serves as another example of the higher level of learning that is achieved by Greenwood students.
To further highlight the excellence of our school, Greenwood was one of 15 top experiential-based Laboratory Schools in the U.S.A in the article: “Transformative Teacher Training: Universities Embracing Learning Via Lab Schools”.
Find the article here: https://www.accredited-online-college.org/universities-embracing-experiential-learning-via-lab-schools/
As a reminder, the full tuition for the 2023-24 school year is due. Please make your payment to Missouri State University at the Bursar’s office or we can process your payment here at Greenwood. The 78th annual Greenwood Blue & Gold tournament and the 12th annual Greenwood/SPS Pink & White Lady Classic will be held during the holiday break. Please support our teams and enjoy these longstanding holiday/basketball traditions. Brackets may be found on our website under Athletics.
Congratulations to senior Cammie Parker for scoring her 1000th point in the recent game against Weaubleau – keep it going, Cammie! Also, congratulations to junior Collin Clark for getting his 1000th point in a BIG victory over Plattsburg during the Bill Rowe Queen City Showcase. Way to go, Collin!
Greenwood School Safety Specialist, Ronnie Long, attended the School Safety Academy hosted by Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety. The event was held October 31-November 2, 2023, in Kansas City and is designed to train and certify school safety coordinators in comprehensive school safety planning and development. School safety personnel from 64 school systems throughout the state attended the academy at no cost to local school districts. “It’s essential that students, teachers and staff are in a safe learning environment,” Center for Education Safety Director Amy Roderick said. “Schools must have processes and protocols in place and have trained staff to respond accordingly to ensure our students can focus on learning,” she added. Congratulations Officer Long for receiving School Safety Specialist certification!
We hope all Greenwood families enjoy the holiday break! Be ready to “hit the ground running” as second semester classes will begin January 16, 2024.
Go Blue Jays!
Ron & Jeni
The Blue and Gold & Pink and White Tournament Brackets are Here!
Blue and Gold Tournament Brackets
Pink and White Tournament Bracket
Basketball Game Song Requests
If you have a song you would like to hear at a basketball game this season, please submit it here!
Greenwood Debate at the Bolivar Holiday Classic
Greenwood Debate competed at the Bolivar Holiday Classic tournament last weekend with 30 other schools from across Missouri. The team ended first semester competition on a high note advancing to semi-final competition in both the varsity and novice divisions of policy debate!
Mary Gabriel and Tristan Khoshyomn defeated teams from Kickapoo, Monett, and Springfield Central on their way to 3rd place in overall in the competition. Mary also placed 5th out of almost 50 students from Missouri in US extemporaneous speaking. Marcus Ryan was also semifinalist (top 12) in US extemp. Gyan Grewal was a semi-finalist in both international extemporaneous speaking and informative speaking.
In the novice division, Abby Ryan and Mohan Grewal finished 3rd in policy debate. Abby also finished 3rd overall in novice extemporaneous speaking and as a semi-finalist in informative speaking. Abby’s combined preliminary record in policy debate in the first semester is an impressive 14 wins and only 2 losses!
The team will take a break until January 5th, when they plan to compete at the Marshfield Invitational.
Updates From The Pool
The girls swim team is off to a great start. The received a plaque at the Winnetonka Holiday Invite. Sophia Sechler medaled and qualified for District competition. Katelyn Schaller medaled in the 200 Im and 100 Back.
At the Joplin Invite they finished 6th despite only having half the team. Katelyn Schaller finished with two 2nd place silver medals in in the 100 free and the 100 back. Quana Alaimo finished with a 4th place medal in the 200 free and a 3rd place medal in the 400 free. Norah Frevert finished with a 4th place medals in the 200 IM and 100 breast.
The Greenwood Boys Swim Team finished out their season with some really great swims and one member attending state swim championships for the 100 YD Butterfly with a held state ranking. The boys are looking forward to next year! We wish the Greenwood Girls Swim Team much success going on now!
Please Consider Supporting K9s For Camo
Link to Donate: K9s For Camo (stripe.com)
Sign-up Your Child for Wonders of Wildlife Winter Break Camps
Watch Greenwood Events via our Live Stream
GLS families can stream Greenwood events. These can be found by visiting this link: Live Streaming Channel for Events
Concession Stand Volunteers Needed for Basketball Games
BOYS! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4EAEA62DA0F94-45564938-high
GIRLS! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4EAEA62DA0F94-45675904-high
GPA Cookbook Fundraiser
Greenwood Parent Association is bringing back a classic!
For years, Greenwood put together a cookbook of favorite recipes and now it's your turn to add to the tradition. Please submit your favorite family recipes here. We will compile them into a cookbook that will be available for sale this school year. We look forward to starting up a much-loved tradition again. You are more than welcome to submit a recipe from a previous cookbook, if you have one!
Cookbooks will be spiral bound, with a color cover and black and white interior with student art. Cost will be between $25-35, depending on how many pages it has and how many are ordered.
Updates from Archery
Our archers completed another tournament this past Saturday in Conway. Great job Lily, Grayson, William, Turner, Ruby, Katie and Grace. Congratulations to Lily for the biggest improvement, scoring a 226 after scoring a 205 the previous week at Willard! Congratulations also goes to William, scoring a 244 in his first tournament ever and to Grayson for completing our first 3D tournament with a score of 230!
This week was a great week of fun, games and prizes. Monday was the 'Battle of the Balloons;' Tuesday - 'King or Queen of the Hill;' Wednesday - Team Green Arrow vs. Team Hawkeye and Team Robin Hood vs. Team Oydsseus; and Thursday, 'Katniss E. and William T.' Great job to all of our winners, all 21 who came at least one day, and to Damien, Grayson, Lily, Grace, Jack and William, for coming all four mornings!
Remember, DO NOT try to recreate the legend of William Tell or the shot Katniss Everdeen took on Hunger Games!!
I hope everyone has a great holiday break! Here is information on. . .
- practice over break
- our next tournaments
- a tentative schedule for the rest of the season
- practice schedule when we come back after the break
- information about 3D
We will not practice the last two weeks of December. The practice schedule during break will be as follows:
Thursday, January 4 - 9:00-9:40 AM
Friday, January 5 - 9:00-9:40 AM
Tuesday, January 9 - 9:00-9:40 AM
Thursday, January 11 - 9:00-9:40 AM
Conway is hosting another tournament January 12-13, and Republic is hosting a tournament January 26-27. For both Conway and Republic, we will need to register by January 1. So please send Coach Ewing an e-mail by next week if your son or daughter would like to enter either or both tournaments and bring $8 for each tournament to the office when you come back from break if you haven't already turned it in.
The following is a tentative tournament schedule for February and March. Be thinking about which tournaments your son or daughter would like to enter and we can wait until after break to enter these:
February 3 - Crane or Sparta
February 9-10 - Willard or Clever
February 17 - Billings
February 23-24 Conway or Clever or Spokane
March 1-2 - Republic or Sparta
Spring Break is March 9-17
March 20-23 - STATE in Branson (Archers qualify as an individual or as a team for State)
I would like archers to practice a couple of times a week, if possible. Please respond to this e-mail with which two mornings (Monday-Thursday) would work best. I will try to update our groups so they can get the most repetitions possible.
Practice for the rest of January, when we come back from break will be 7:20-8:00 AM, as follows:
January 16-19; Tuesday through Friday (no school Monday January 15)
January 22-25, Monday through Thursday
January 29-February 1, Monday through Thursday
Most tournaments are the 10 meter/15 meter Bullseye targets like we practice. But some tournaments also have 3D targets. There are 6 different animal targets at distances of 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 meters. If your daughter or son is interested in that as well, please let Coach Ewing know. Grayson Steiro participated in one at Conway this past weekend so he would welcome any questions by your son or daughter.
Let me know if you have any questions, j.e.ewing@att.net or 417-569-8698. Thank you!
From the Counselors
Watch for weekly newsletter articles from Mrs. Ewing covering various topics such as student success and opportunities, college preparation, scholarships, and other related opportunities.
Seniors: Colleges/Universities will soon be requesting your Mid-year (7th semester) transcripts. You can forward those requests to me through email if you have a direct email address for me to electronically send your transcript; you can request through Parchment (instructions were given in Senior Capstone), or I will upload your transcript if you make application through Common App. First semester grades will be finalized after all Greenwood, MSU, and SPS Launch grades are posted. You can expect this process to be completed by the second week of January.
Scholarships: Consider using some of your time over the holidays to apply for scholarships. Set a goal of applying to 10 scholarships over winter break! Use this link to access a comprehensive list of scholarships with individual links to each scholarship and their approaching deadlines. Scholarship Deadline Calendar.docx - Google Docs
December and January typically have lower competition among applicants providing you with a valuable edge in securing scholarships. When you create a profile at Scholarships.com, you will be given the opportunity to receive a weekly email containing a personalized list of eight scholarships with upcoming deadlines. APPLY! APPLY! APPLY!
Additional links below will give you access to learn more about many more scholarship opportunities:
- https://bold.org/scholarships/
- https://bold.org/scholarships/by-year/high-school/seniors/
- Exclusive Mental Health Scholarships in 2023 were recently updated.
- Also check out www.fastweb.com.
Community Foundation of the Ozarks scholarship application season will open January 1, 2024. They are moving from a standalone process for each of their scholarships to a Universal Application (UA) process. Students will be able to apply for all the CFO scholarships for which they qualify through one comprehensive application.
View the “Scholarship Criteria Preview” page on CFO’s website: https://www.cfozarks.org/resources/scholarship-criteria
See step by step instructions here: How to Apply for Scholarships.pdf
NOTE the application deadline for all CFO scholarships is March 24, 2024.
Spring 24 PRE-COLLEGE REGISTRATION: PLEASE COMPLETE BEFORE OFFICES CLOSE FOR WINTER BREAK! Registration for MSU’s spring semester opened for Pre-college students on November 17. Students wishing to concurrently enroll in Pre-college courses at MSU must first make an appointment with Teresa Cunningham (Zoom or in person). Following that appointment, she will lift the hold on student accounts allowing students to then register. Follow one of the links to schedule your appointment with Teresa: To book an in person appointment; To book a Zoom appointment.
Teresa is our Pre-College Academic Advisor. You will love working with her! You will find her very responsive, positive, and sincere in her approach to assisting you in successfully navigating college classes.
Open the spring catalog in your MyMissouriState account by finding the Registration card and clicking on “Add, Drop, or Search for Classes”, or use this link: Class Schedule - Missouri State.
PSAT: Remember to pay the testing fee of $18 on Storefront. Scores have been released to students.
ACT and SAT Reminders:
Register for the ACT at ACT | College and Career Readiness Solutions.
Register for the SAT at The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board.
Be sure to enter our School Code (CEEB) to identify with Greenwood: 263285. See the Greenwood Counseling Website for ACT/SAT tips Greenwood Laboratory School Counseling Department (greenwoodlabcounseling.com)
Many colleges/universities are test optional for admissions; even some scholarship programs are test optional. Check with the institutions you are interested in pursuing for their specific requirements.
CLASS 101 Program Opportunities:
Super Junior Program - 7 Goals in 3 Months Register for your free individual Super Junior session to proactively prepare to tackle your college application goals by Super Bowl Sunday. There are several dates available for you to book your personalized 1-hour consultation.
LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY - TEEN ADVISORY BOARD for the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library. See Mrs. Ewing before Dec 15 to pick up an application if you are interested in applying to serve on the Midtown Library’s NEW Teen Advisory Board. Students (grades 6-12) can create a positive impact for teens in our community by creating a welcoming teen area with displays and interactive activities; plan and lead library events for teens and kids; attend a monthly advisory board meeting to collaborate and choose upcoming projects. You can also complete service-learning hours during the school day or on the weekends. Deadline for applications is December 22, 2023. Contact sadief@thelibrary.org or 417-616-0470 for more information.
MAKER SPACE: You can make it, fix it, preserve it at The Maker Space located in the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library. Visit thelibrary.org/makerspace for a video tour. Registration is required for individual maker sessions and programs. Upcoming special programs:
· Dungeons & Dragons DIY (gr 6 – adults) Jan 8-13, 10am – 5pm. Supplies provided. Registration begins Dec 26.
· Vacuum Formed Soaps (for adults) Feb 5-10, 10am – 5pm. Materials provided. Registration begins Jan 23.
For more information or to register, call 417-837-5011 to make an appointment.
Boys State and Girls State are hosting their next Virtual Open House via zoom Wednesday, December 20 at 6:00 p.m. for high school juniors and their parents interested in more information about their programs.
🏠 Send students to the December Virtual Open House [Register here]
Parents/Students can register at: http://mbs.fyi/InfoNight
Missouri Fine Arts Academy - Sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a talent in the fine arts are encouraged to apply for Missouri Fine Arts Academy to be held on MSU’s campus June 2 – 15, 2024. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors can apply in the following areas of study: creative writing, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. The deadline for entries, including application materials and examples of work, are due the end of January. Information and details can be found here: Missouri Fine Arts Academy - Missouri State
Greenwood Laboratory School
Email: Greenwood@Missouristate.edu
Website: https://education.missouristate.edu/greenwood/
Location: 1024 East Harrison Street, Springfield, MO, USA
Phone: (417) 836-5124
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodlab
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenwoodlabschool/
Counseling Website: https://www.greenwood.missouristate.edu/page/counseling-department
Greenwood Blue Jays YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@greenwoodbluejays4814/featured