The Wildcat Chat
What's Happening at Willard? | December 4, 2020
Teamsgiving Rewind
We celebrated our first-ever Virtual Teamsgiving, and we are pleased to announce that it was a great success! We want to thank our teachers and student scholars for their enthusiasm during this teambuilding day. Students were able to review knowledge learned this year, share their pop culture skills, craft community dance videos to benefit local nursing homes, and design our upcoming cover for the yearbook Into the WILD. Also, we were able to recognize many of our student scholars for their exceptional Character, Leadership, Attitude, Work Ethic, and Service (CLAWS).
All sixth graders won the Quarter 1 CLAWS Cup sponsored by our Student Council Association, and Team Arctic took the coveted Top Team Award. Seventh graders on Team Sequoia and eighth graders on Team Olympus reached new heights by taking their grade-level's Top Team Award—FANTASTIC!
Moreover, more than 60 students will be taking home the first quarter CLAWS Awards. Please use the links below to access the grade-level presentations and associated award videos:
Grade 6 Award Presentation, Grade 6 Video Presentation, Grade 7 Award Presentation, Grade 7 Video Presentation, Grade 8 Award Presentation, & Grade 8 Video Presentation
Again, we want to thank our community for allowing us to work with and learn from your children.
Kahoot! Student Trivia Night
The WMS SCA Student Involvement Committee is hosting a Kahoot! Student Trivia Night on Tuesday, December 15, for each grade level. So, get ready for a blast of trivia and a friendly-battle of general knowledge! Any topic is fair game, so study up and prepare to have a fabulous time. Join us in your grade's Google Meet for the chance to compete for a $20 Amazon gift card—Nice! We can't wait to see you! The times and locations are as follows:
- 6th Grade: 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Google Meet Room: WMS-6kahoot
- 7th Grade: 4:35 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. | Google Meet Code: WMS-7kahoot
- 8th Grade: 5:10 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. | Google Meet Code: WMS-8kahoot
Drama Play Auditions
Join Amazon Smile to Benefit Willard
If you're looking for a simple, automatic way to continue supporting Willard, you should start your Amazon shopping experience at smile.amazon.com. Link your Amazon account to the charitable organization Willard Intermediate School. You simply shop as you normally would on the site, at no extra cost to you, and you do not need to make a separate account. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3! Willard will receive .5% of each of your purchases—AMAZING!
Parent Liaision Support
Teacher Shout Outs
This past week, our community recognized many of our amazing Willard teachers. We wanted to spotlight a few. Seventh grade scholar, Maya Tawney, thoughtfully shared how Ms.Tahir is incredibly helpful, kind, and encouraging. She makes history exciting and a thrill ride! Scholar Harris Ghafoori highlighted Sra. Smith, for her great effort in making learning Spanish easy and fun. It is easy to appreciate her great efforts. Lastly, Ms. Reeder was recognized by several students for her passion for not only the content, but for their learning. She is always extending a helping hand, and our scholars have noticed! To spotlight a teacher, please complete this shout out form.
Math Counts Team Tryout
LCPS Community Meeting
Adopt-A-School Drive @Lightridge
Looking Ahead, Chinese Language Course
Congratulations to Our Scholars
Dulles South Pop-Up Event
Yearbook Portraits Opportunity
Did you miss picture day? We’d still love to include you in our Into the Wild yearbook. Click here to submit your scholar’s portrait using eShare. Portraits are due no later than Friday, December 18. If the link does not work for you, you may go to HJeShare.com and enter code willard (all lower case). You will see portrait guidelines as you submit, or you can view them by clicking here. For an informational video on how to use the eShare portal, please click here. Thank you for your submission!
Yearbook Purchasing
Haven’t purchased a yearbook yet? More than 300 copies have been sold; however, limited quantities are still available! To get your gem today, go to www.yearbookordercenter.com and enter school code 17606 to purchase. The cost of the yearbook is $30, and you may add the personalization option for $35! We look forward to showcasing the great work of our Yearbook Staff, as they have been working on crafting a fantastic book for their friends and family!
Parent Involvement Survey
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is asking for families who have a child with a disability and is provided special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to participate in the 2019-2020 Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey. The online survey can be accessed via the LCPS website > Pupil Services > Special Education. The online survey is now open and available for completion in English and Spanish at the following websites:
- English Version: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/vdoeenglish
- Spanish Version: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/vdoeespanol
Families who have more than one child receiving special education services are requested to complete a survey for each of their children. It is important to note that your responses are recorded anonymously and cannot be linked to your child. The survey concludes Sunday, January 31, 2021.
Naviance Parent Registration
Naviance Student is a comprehensive mobile-friendly website that is used in career and college planning. You have the opportunity to link a Naviance Parent account to your child(ren)’s account. This morning, you should have received an email from our Naviance system with your registration code. To register, please follow the simple steps below:
Click here to navigate to the Naviance page in our School Counseling website > Click on Parent Login > Enter the zip code 20105 > Click Willard > Click Parent or Guardian > Click “I’m new and need to register!” > Enter your registration code sent by Naviance > Continue the steps to creating your account
At this time, students in the same household that attend different LCPS schools are unable to be linked under the same Naviance Parent account. A separate account must be made for each school.
NJROTC Application Opens Soon
The NJROTC Admissions Application for the 2021-2022 school year will open on Monday, November 30, 2020, at 8:00 a.m., and be available until Friday, January 22, 2021. It is open to all current LCPS Grade 8 students. Interested students may visit www.lcps.org/cte to complete the online application. In addition, more information may be found at: http://bit.ly/NJROTCAdmissions. Lastly, please feel free to reach out to our counselors with any additional questions—they are here to help!
Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
During our CLAWS Club Teaching Tuesday lesson this week, students were introduced to the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition. This effort challenges students to find ways in which to enhance and enrich their community. Interested students should visit: http://www.loudounyouth.org/programs/step-up/ to learn more. Registration will close on Friday, December 18. We look forward to seeing what our students create!
BLAST STEM Program
Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology (BLAST) is a FREE educational program of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, designed to ignite a passion in students who already show an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our hope is that the BLAST three-day residential, on-campus experience, which is packed with demonstrations and collaborative activities led by college faculty, will inspire students to envision a career in a STEM field and motivate them to expand the number of STEM-related classes they take in higher grade levels.
Many students who attend BLAST go on to participate in our advanced educational programs, two of which offer free college credits through dual enrollment with Thomas Nelson Community College. Participating students in these competitive programs develop advanced skills related to the 5 C's of the Profile of a Virginia Graduate: critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and citizenship, in addition to building STEM-specific knowledge and skills. Applications for the Summer 2021 BLAST sessions will open online Friday, November 13. Check out the flyer by here.
Wildcats Read
Crissy Casey, one of our phenomenal librarians, created two exciting ways to help students select their next reading gem. Our families can check out the Virtual Starbooks Café or the
Wheel of Book Fortunes to find a book in a variety of genres. These selections may be used to fulfill the reading for the Spark Movement, outlined by our English teachers. Happy reading, and we cannot wait to hear about what you are reading!