High School

The Senior Project Showcase is underway in the Bears Den until 5:00pm. Senior Project presentations begin at 5:00pm and will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel.

Catch the live stream of Bear's Baseball vs. Hartville tonight on the Willow Bears Youtube channel. 4:30 pm start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKhePdbZf_w

Congratulations to all our student winners at the district wide Alpha Rho Tau art competition! Winning work will be featured soon in the Howell County News! Last Friday, we had a great time viewing all the beautiful work submitted from our surrounding schools. Afterward, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the park. Kaylee McCary “Faceless Beauty,” 3rd in Watercolor Mckinsey Smith “Kinsey and Koda” Houston Education Foundation Best of Show 2-D, 1st Pencil-Figure, and Students' Choice in Pencil-Figure. Mckinsey Smith “Smithburrow Village” Houston Education Foundation Best of Show in 3-D, 1st in 3-D Wild Cards, and Student Choice 3-D Wild Cards McKinsey Smith “Aragorn” 1st place in Oil Pastel Mckinsey Smith “Cozi Cardboard Home” Honorable Mention in Mixed Media Heidi Wehmer “Moth” Honorable Mention and Students' Choice in Wood Burning Dakoda Smith “Jewelry Box” 2nd in Wood Sculpture Kaylee McCary “Living Statue” 3rd place in Pen and Ink Karis Cochran "Tears" 3rd in Pencil-Figure Tay-Zha Perry “The Aubrey’s” Honorable Mention in 2-D Collage Natalie Bruning “Volleyball Portrait” 2nd in Black and White Portrait Santiago Moreno “Miniature GT 350” 4th in Black and White Still Life Santiago Moreno “Natalie in Blue” Honorable Mention in Computer Manipulated Michael Buster “Snoopy”2nd, Students’ Choice in Black and White Animal Sydney Kinsall “Cotton the Goat” 4th in Black and White Animal Sydney Kinsall “Peaceful Life; Peaceful Mind” Students’ Choice in Color Landscape Hannah Vanderbilt “Madison” 1st in Color Portrait Emma Collins “Volleyball Dispersal” 1st in Computer Manipulated Madison Bay “Paisley in Vogue” 2nd in Computer Manipulated Madison Bay “North Face Pop Art” 4th in Computer Manipulated Alivia Maggard “Bug in Macro” 2nd, Students’ Choice in Color Animal Ryan Friga “Hailey” Students’ Choice in Color Portrait Zabrina White “Light Shining on Flowers” 1st in Color Still Life Zabrina White “Outside” 4th in Color Still LIfe Bryan Schafer “Sad and Slow” Student’s Choice in Color Abstract

We would like to congratulate Ms. Susan James for being named Bear Proud Teacher of the Month at Willow Springs High School. Ms. James is kind and caring and always tries to find ways to help students.

Happy Friday BEARCAST Episode 6 Transition to High School (Part 2) has been uploaded!!! Thanks again to our Middle Schoolers Allie Adams, Cooper Poor, Grady Friga, Madison Loftus, and Neely Gilbert for stepping in and helping us with this episode. Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Q794GVLmoOzuWHsGwEOe9 Youtube https://youtu.be/hd6xls_Z-bU

The greenhouses are full of color! Plant sales will begin the first week of April. Contact Mr. Talburt or Mr. Walden for more information.

Ms. Berry's junior English classes discussed bias and stereotypes as a lead in to the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by viewing different shoe styles and talking about the people who may wear them.

Mrs. Wilson's senior English class presented their Hollywood vs. History research projects. They chose films based on historical events and researched and compared to see if the movies were more hollywood or more history.

Congratulations Emma King and Macy Pearson who have earned their first degrees in the National Speech and Debate Association! Keep up the good work, ladies!

Save the Date for senior showcase! Come and see the awesome projects the 2023 seniors have created! If you attend the showcase you will have the opportunity to talk with a smart mirror and view a high powered rocket. Not only have students created items, but many students showed their desire to give back to the community by choosing a service project. From weekly grocery shopping for the elderly, to improvements of community facilities, to providing free prom dresses and alterations this group of seniors has been creative and fun. I cannot wait for you to see everything they have accomplished. Stop by on Senior Project night to check it out.

New BEARCAST Episode just posted!!! Bears Discuss Current News and Events with Mr. Jerry Wickens, High School History Teacher. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cBu1QJYskwzh0TJoutrl8 Youtube: https://youtu.be/ENdGXO2WyVI

Tuesday March 7th will be the second ever SPIKE WARS. This is a fun volleyball event where the 4 classes will compete for a chance to play against the faculty team. During the games, there will be a silent auction in the lobby of the gym. All proceeds from this event will benefit Bears for a Better Christmas. Check out the flyers below for more information and if you have any questions or silent auction donations contact Megan Wilson wilsonme@wspgs.com or Erin Brower browere@wspgs.com.

Congratulations to our chess team members for a great showing at the Dent Phelps chess tournament in Salem today! Our elementary team won 2nd place, with Heidi Bennet in 4th and Kane Bennet in 14th. Middle school won 1st, with Matt Sabulao the undefeated winner, Kyell Robertson second, Wyatt Barker 3rd, Sabastian Puher 5th, Otto Schuette 8th, Ayden Bennet 10th, and Aubrey Miller 19th. High school was third overall, with Rogan Traver tied for 1st, Isaac Miller in 5th. Great job! Next tournament is the State Championship on March 18th in Columbia.

John Jones hit 425 lbs four times while working towards a big goal. John is the Willow Springs weight room leader in squat with a training max of 475 lbs and bench press with a 260 pound training max. John has big weight room goals this year with his sights set on hitting 500 lbs on squats before May. When asked about his set hitting 425 for 4 reps John's reply was, "its heavy coach." Congratulations, John!

BEARCAST is a new opportunity developed by our Bear Media Productions team. If offers an avenue for our students to talk about things going on at the Willow Springs School District and in our community. The team hopes to put two podcasts out per week but would love input from the listeners on what topics they should discuss. If anyone has a topic ideas please email Mrs. Lee at lees@wspgs.com. We would love to hear from you.

Congratulations Emma King and Macy Pearson for placing 7th in Duo Interpretation at the NCA Open Speech and Debate Tournament last Saturday!

Macy Pearson and Emma King have made it to the final round of Duo Interpretation against 14 other schools. Bring home a medal, ladies!

Cheer on freshman Macy Pearson and Emma King this Saturday as they compete at the New Covenant Academy Speech and Debate Tournament!

Next week is spirit week! Check out the poster below and get your outfits ready.

Are you in need of a Prom Dress? Courtney will be hosting an event that is providing FREE prom dresses and alterations on February 4th in the Willow Springs HS library. There are over 60 dresses to choose from. Many of the dresses are brand new with tags. Students from other school districts are welcome. Please email Courtney, Mrs. Wilson, or Mrs. Siler to register.