Although he began his student teaching in Waurika back in 2004, his history with Waurika schools goes back further than that.
His family have deep roots in Jefferson County.
After beginning his student teaching, he was hired soon thereafter in January of 2005 as the second grade teacher at the Elementary.
For the past eight years he has served as the Elementary Principal.
By now, everyone is probably aware that Cody Simmons is the new Waurika Public Schools Superintendent beginning July of this year.
Over the past couple of weeks the reality of the role has sunk in.
He says he has been getting more familiar with the high school.
Cody said he recently met with the high school principal and the athletic director.
He is becoming more familiar with the high school.
The adjustment for him will be managing the overall school system rather than just the Elementary.
He says he is looking forward to the new experience.
Simmons says that one of his expectations for the upcoming year is to close the gap between the Elementary and the High School.
He would like to see the school system be more of a whole than separate parts (Elementary, Middle School, and High School).
During his time as principal, the Elementary has achieved “Blue Ribbon” status.
That status is determined by the test scores over three consecutive years.
Simmons is a busy man.
Besides being a full time school administrator, he also enjoys mowing yards, working out, and most of all spending time with his family.
He says right now they are enjoying ball games several nights per week.
Simmons is also deeply involved in the community.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Veterans Park downtown.
He is quick to give credit to others who have assisted in the success of the park.
Craig Williams, he says was gracious to add his professional touch to the landscaping.
Simmons also attributes the success of the Elementary, including its “Blue Ribbon” status, to the hard work and dedication of the teachers.
“I feel like the teachers here are all high quality enthusiastic professional teachers. Whenever you surround yourself with [people like ] that good things will happen,” Simmons says .
The Waurika High School Band Carnival is Saturday night, November 2nd at the High School. The Queen coronation begins at 5:30 p.m. There is a $1.00 admission to the coronation, but the ticket can be used for a free drink in the concession with purchase of a food item. The kitchen will also open at 5:30. Games for kids and bingo will start at 6. Wristbands are available for bingo at $25.00 that cover 30 games. Wristbands can be bought in advance for $20.00 from both school offices. There will be 5 bonus games. Wristbands will also be sold for all of the bonus games for $15.00. Bonus games will include a 32” Toshiba TV, $100 Quik Mart gas certificate, and a huge VISA gift card for the last game.
The kitchen will feature Mama Josie’s Enchilada Dinner, Windthorst German Sausage, hamburgers, chili, and other tasty items.
Carnival games include sand art, face painting, a bounce house, hair painting, cake walk, ring toss, football throw, basketball throw and many other fun games for kids. In addition, there will be a dance after the carnival from 8 p.m. until bingo is over. Admission for the dance is $3.00.
The Waurika Band program consists of over 90 students from grades 6 through 12. The band has been a consistent winner at OSSAA contests, having been to state in 8 of the 12 years of Mr. Hodges’ years at Waurika. These are the only times in school history the band has been to state. The High School band is planning on making their 3rd trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida in the May of 2020. Funds will be used to help with that as well as supporting other activities of all the bands. We ask for your support of our band program at this carnival.
1. How do you feel about your last year? I am super excited to get to move on to bigger things in my life. Although, I am sad that I won’t get to stay a kid with little responsibilities anymore, I am excited.
2. Sum up your school experiences? I enjoyed school, it taught me more than what I thought it could have, and prepared me for a great future.
3. Activities/organizations you have participated in? I have cheered all four years, ran track my fresh. and soph. year, cross country my fresh. and soph. year, powerlifting my freshman year, FFA my fresh., soph and junior year, showed a goat my freshman year, yearbook and FCCLA and basketball my senior year.
4. Plans for the future? I plan on attending a college, cheerleading while I’m there and majoring in English.
5. Favorite memory at WHS? After the Empire football game, Colton and Gatlin dumped the water cooler on me while it was freezing cold outside.
6. What teacher class prepared you? Over the years I have enjoyed all of my English classes and all of the teachers that have helped me love English even more than I already did. I can’t wait to become an English teacher myself.
7. Give advice to an underclassman? Remember to have fun while you can, because high school ends in the blink of an eye.
8. Anyone you want to thank? I want to think my mom and dad for pushing me to be the best I could be. I would also like to think the rest of my family and friends.
9. Do you have a fear about leaving? I do not want to grow up and be an adult. I love high school and I’m afraid to move on past it, although I feel it is not as bad as I make it out to be.
10. Are you going to miss being at WHS? Yes, even though I moved here my senior year everyone has been so great to me and I gained so many friends and I am sad that I did not get to know them longer.
Four Red River Technology Center Practical Nursing students were recently awarded the John Lillard Scholarship. The scholarships, worth $300.00, were presented to (l-r) Dana Luker, Chickasha; Madison McGlothin, Marlow; Chelsi Lawson, Duncan; and Brianna Porterfield, Waurika.
A special thank you goes out to the Ringling Eagle for their much appreciated help with compiling these results, also thanks to the OSU Extension Office of Jefferson County for getting these statistics to the newspapers in a very timely manner. Everyone’s help is appreciated.
More pictures will be added this week!
Hollis Dickey Award Winners
Cattle:
Heifers:
Red Angus: Class 1: Laken Deboard, Ryan 4-H, Res Breed Champion; Class 2: Laken Deboard, Ryan 4-H, Breed Champion, Res. Grand Champion
Hereford: Randi Linton, Ryan FFA, Breed Champion
Mini Hereford: Class 1: Lakin Howard, Ringling 4-H, Res Breed Champion; Class 2: Caitlyn Ramsey, Waurika 4-H, Breed Champion
Shorthorn: Braden Jackson, Ringling FFA, Breed Champion, Grand Champion
Maine: Dalee Barrick, Waurika FFA, Breed Champion
Commercial: Rance Howard, Ringling 4-H, Res Breed Champion; Michael Gore, Ryan FFA, Breed Champion
Steers:
Angus: Lakin Howard, Ringling 4-H, Res Breed Champion; Cody Ramsey, Waurika 4-H, Breed Champion
Science teachers from across the state and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) are honored for the April 2018 Oklahoma Science & Technology Month. Students nominated by their teachers will receive certificates of recognition signed by Governor Mary Fallin and OCAST Executive Director Michael Carolina.
The annual event is designed to showcase Oklahoma’s outstanding students who excel in STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Students from each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties have been recognized during the special observance since its inception 24 years ago.
The students beinghonored, however, are not aware of the awards and will not receive their certificates until the awards assembly later this month.
The following teachers and students are local participants being honored:
TEACHER
Deborah McGhee
STUDENTS
Landry Forsyth, 9th Grade Physical Science
Hannah Owens, 9th Grade Physical Science
Sara Ballard, 10th Grade Biology
Nicole Burton, 10th Grade Biology
Aaron Nitka, 11th Grade Chemistry
Dalee Barrick, 12th Grade Chemistry
Science & Technology Month is an opportunity to promote education in science and technology related courses and to emphasize the importance of these fields to Oklahoma’s economy.
“We all know the students who excel in the math and sciences now will be the innovators who will lead the way for our future. It is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to encourage, teach, remove barriers and find a way for our students to achieve levels of greatness that will drive the industry of tomorrow,” said Carolina.
OCAST is the state’s technology-based economic development agency created in 1987 to expand and diversify Oklahoma’s economy and foster new and higher quality jobs. For more information about OCAST or Science & Technology Month in Oklahoma, contact OCAST at 866-265-2215 or visit the web site at www.ocast.ok.gov.
Twenty-five members of Waurika FCCLA traveled to Oklahoma City on September 28 to volunteer at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.The group was assigned to pack food items for the Back for Kids program.While there, they packaged over 600 bags, or over 2,000 pounds of food.Waurika Public Schools benefits from the Back Pack for Kids program.The students said they enjoyed volunteering and knowing that their efforts will benefit Waurika school children.
A special school board meeting was held Monday evening in the Waurika Library at 6:30 pm.
The subject of the meeting was to discuss any possible board action with regard to proposed teacher walkout.
Roxie Terry, Waurika Superintendent started the session saying that the teachers have not had a raise in nine years.
He also stated that their had been a decrease in school funding.
He said the teachers across the state feel that their back is against the wall. He said something has to be done. “We are losing teachers across the state.”
Terry went on to say that it was the Oklahoma Education Association who called for the Walkout scheduled for April 2, 2018.
He said the decision to participate in the walkout was not up to the administration.
A week ago the teachers voted 19-14 to stay in school and not participate in the walkout.
Someone had suggested that the vote was not fair. Mr. Simmons said later in the meeting that the vote was fair and teachers had not been influenced in anyway. He said he believed the teachers deserve a raise.
There was another vote taken. The second time 17 teachers voted to participate in the walkout and 14 teachers voted not to walkout. Two teachers didn’t participate in the second vote.
Terry went on to state that with 17 teachers being absent it wouldn’t be possible to have school.
He further stated that they needed to decide whether or not to support the teachers by passing a resolution stating such and allow them to leave without loss of pay and what to do about the extra-curricular activities left on the school calender.
Terry said that the OSSAA would probably not change the sports calender just because the teachers had participated in the walkout.
Nobody could say how long the walkout may last.
This became a concern the board wanted to discuss because of the need to fulfill the number of days required to complete the school year.
Terry informed the board the length of the teacher’s absence was up to the teachers.
The last time there was a walkout, Terry said that the teachers were only absent from school for about four days.
Currently, Waurika has five days that they can use between now and the end of school that can be missed without having to have any makeup days.
Anything over those five days would require another day be tacked on to the end of the year for each day missed.
Waurika has 24 working days that have to be fulfilled starting April 2, 2018.
The walkout would affect support people Terry said. It could even possibly hurt their pay. (The board voted to continue to pay support staff if there is a walkout).
According to Mr. Terry, Red River VoTech will still be conducting classes and the school will continue to run a bus to Red River.
The special education bus that takes students to Walters will continue to run each school day.
An immediate question that was asked was “Who will take the students to the extra-curricular activities?” The answer was that some teachers had volunteered to take students to the scheduled sport activities that are on the schedule. This would become a point of contention later in the meeting.
The concern the board expressed was in essence that not teaching in the classroom and yet still participating in athletics was setting a bad example for the students— as if to say that sports is more important than education.
The board wanted to know what was meant by “work stoppage” and Mr. Terry said that it meant that all classroom instruction would be suspended. The teachers would not be in the classrooms.
The next question that was asked was “when will the walkout end?”
There was no definite answer to that question.
The board did vote to support the teachers and not penalize them financially for participating in the walkout. Board members expressed their support for the teachers having a raise and that they appreciate all that they do for our students.
Board members expressed that if the teachers were walking out that it should encompass all activities and not just classroom activities. Otherwise it defeats the purpose. Therefore, if the teachers walk out on April 2, there will be no further school activities until the teachers return to their contracted duties in the classrooms.
According to Mr. Terry, on Tuesday afternoon, the day after the emergency board meeting, 65% of the teachers decided to not participate in the walkout.
Mr. Terry felt confident that there should be enough teachers present to have school this coming Monday.
If the situation changes we will post it on our website at www.waurikanewsjournal.com.