Waynesville High School

Cheerleaders take 3rd in competition Waynesville High School varsity cheerleaders took 3rd place overall in Class 5A at the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association (MCCA) State Game Day Competition on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. In addition to their 3rd place overall finish, WHS placed 3rd in timeout cheer, 3rd place in band chant and 4th place in fight song. The students competed against the following teams: Capital City (1st), Francis Howell (2nd), North Kansas City, Oak Park, Ritenour, Truman and Lebanon.

The Waynesville JROTC Drill Team finished 3rd overall in the Leavenworth Drill Meet out of a field of 26 schools from Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin on Feb. 24, 2024. This event also served as the 3rd ROTC Brigade Championship and 2024 Drill Nationals Qualifier. The results are as follows: Championship 3rd Place Overall (26 teams in 2 Divisions) Armed Division 3rd Place Overall Armed Regulation 2nd Place Armed Exhibition 5th Place Armed Color Guard 5th Place Unarmed Division 4th Place Overall Unarmed Regulation 4th Place Unarmed Exhibition 2nd Place Unarmed Color Guard 4th Place Unarmed Inspection 2nd Place Cadet Nathaniel Copeland finished in 7th place for Individual Drill Down Cadet Martinez (New Cadet Team 1) finished 5th out of 16 teams Cadet Fau (New Cadet Team 2) finished 7th out of 16 teams The drill team will next compete on March 2, 2024, at Blue Springs South in Kansas City, followed by the Rocky Mountain Drill Nationals in Denver from April 17-21, 2024. #wayschools

Mekenzie Moffet, a senior at Waynesville High School, placed third in the 170 lbs Class 2 State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. #wayschools

Free egg hunt and activities for kids from 10 a.m. to noon March 2, 2024, at Waynesville High School's Tiger Stadium. #wayschools

Kaleyah Buttner, a freshman at Waynesville High School has been named the Fort Leonard Wood Student of the Month. She was selected to represent the trait words of honor and honesty. Maj. Marcin Kulis, the Executive Officer for the 787th Military Police Battalion, presented the award to Buttner on Feb. 21, 2024, at Waynesville High School. #wayschools

Students in the WCC’s video production class created a video to showcase programming at the Waynesville Career Center. The video was recently shown at the state-wide CTE Administrators Conference and has been selected to be used as a "model video" for CTE promotion for the state's 57 career centers. The students were recognized for their outstanding work during the Waynesville R-VI Board of Education meeting on Feb. 20, 2024. Tim Wallace serves as the instruction of the video production class. The video may be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyV87hyAHQA or on Facebook at https://fb.watch/qoUZqh6U4x/. Video production students who participated in creating the video include: Brandon Blakey Collin Braslin Aaren Charbonier Waylon Cox Bo Crossland Zayda Dent Ava Feagin Em Gospich Jayla Marie Hong Immanuel Jones Dominic Leone Oscar Lopez Emjay Luna Abby Moore Calleigh Muir Rileigh O’Donnell Samantha Partridge Damen Plotner Kayley Runner Hayden Waddell Z Walters They are pictured with Dr. Trish Adkins, assistant superintendent of instructional services. #wayschools

Waynesville’s JROTC Mixed Raiders Team took 6th place in the nation out of a field of more than 250 teams at the U.S. Army Cadet Command Raider Nationals that were held Nov. 2-5, 2023, at Fort Knox, Ky. The award-winning cadets were recognized during the Waynesville R-VI Board of Education meeting on Feb. 20, 2024. Raider Team Members included: Dominick Chamberlain Nathaniel Copeland Hailee Garcia Avery Higdon Joseph Mendiola Damen Plotner Luke Pollman Keira Reigle Talan Ritchie Noah Scherrer Kayla Stuart Peyton Stuart William Tabor They are pictured with Dr. Trish Adkins, assistant superintendent of instructional services. #wayschools

Shelby Cannon, a sophomore at Waynesville High School, has been named the Rotary Student of the Month for February. She is the daughter of Travis and Andrea Cannon and was recognized at the Feb. 13, 2024, Rotary Club meeting for best representing the trait words of honest and honesty. Cannon's nominator stated, “Earlier in the year, I had made a mistake in the grade book that benefited Shelby. She immediately contacted me about the mistake. By contacting me, Shelby displayed integrity and honesty. Shelby is not only an outstanding student, but also a great young lady.” Cannon is an exceptional student and carries a 3.67 GPA and a 98.26% attendance rate. She is involved in JROTC and is the sophomore class vice president. After graduating, Cannon plans to become a dentist or nurse. #wayschools

Nathaniel Copeland, a junior at Waynesville High School, was named the Rotary Student of the Month for January for representing the trait of selfless service/resiliency. He is the son of John and Claire Copeland and was honored during the Feb. 13 Rotary Club meeting. Copeland’s nominator stated, “…Attached you'll find a letter from the President of Pulaski County Voice that I received last week, informing me of Nathaniel Copeland's superb assistance at their Special Education Winter Ball. To quote the letter directly: ‘They were dressed beautifully and made all of our guests feel comfortable for their photos. They were at the ball for nearly six hours that evening. They could not have been more polite and respectful. They were amazing representatives of Waynesville High School and our community.’ Nathaniel has consistently dedicated his time to assisting students with special needs students, NHS, and community efforts over the past semester with his selfless service to volunteer work.” Copeland is an outstanding student and carries a 4.36 GPA, is ranked first in his class, and has a 95.70% attendance rate. He is involved in JROTC as the Operations Sergeant Major, Captain on the Drill Team and a Raider. He is also in NHS, SGA, FMP, and is an Eagle Scout. Copeland is already planning for his future and is enlisted as an Infantryman in the National Guard. Upon graduation, Copeland would like to attend the University of Texas to study medicine with the plans of becoming a doctor. #wayschools

Victoria Lebioda, a senior at Waynesville High School, spoke at the Rotary Club of Pulaski County on Feb. 13 about her experiences during RYLA summer camp. Lebioda was selected to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) based on her application. RYLA is a leadership experience, which helps students: build communication and problem-solving skills become leaders in their school or community learn from community leaders, inspirational speakers and peer mentors unlock their potential have fun and form lasting friendships WHS students who are interested in applying to attend RYLA should see their counselor. #wayschools

On behalf of their students, teachers and staff, Waynesville R-VI elementary, middle and high school principals accepted plaques that will be on display in their buildings. The plaques, which recognize each school for being ranked among the top schools in Missouri, were presented during the Waynesville R-VI Board of Education meeting on Feb. 20, 2024. #wayschools

Waynesville's JLAB team qualifies for Nationals For the first time ever, the Waynesville JLAB (JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl) Academic Team has qualified for the JLAB National Championship. "We were one of three teams that qualified from our Brigade (Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota)," said Col. (Ret.) Charles Williams, senior Army instructor with Waynesville's JROTC program. "To put this perspective there are over 1700 Army JROTC programs, and over 300 programs in our Brigade (3rd ROTC BDE)." Waynesville JLAB team members are Nathaniel Copeland, Marissa Esquivel, Joseph Mendiola and Julian Vassallo. The JLAB Academic National Championship will take place from June 21-25, 2024, at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. #wayschools

TEACHER RECRUITMENT EVENT Are you interested in teaching in the Waynesville R-VI School District? If so, please come to our Teacher Recruitment Event from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Feb 29, 2024, at the Parker Educational Center, 909 U.S. Route 66 in Waynesville. #wayschools

The Waynesville JROTC Tiger Drill Team finished 2nd place overall in a field of more than 23 teams on Feb. 17 at the annual Smith Cotton invitational Drill Competition. This was the drill team’s second competition of the 2024 drill season. These are detailed results: 2nd Place Overall 3rd Place overall Armed Division 3rd Place Armed Exhibition (Commander, David Bennett) 2nd Place Armed Color Guard (Commander, Nathaniel Copeland) 3rd Place Unarmed Regulation (Commander, Nathaniel Copeland) 3rd Place overall Unarmed Division 2nd Place Unarmed Regulation & Best Unarmed Commander (Jennifer Boyd) 2nd Place Unarmed Exhibition (Commander, Jennifer Boyd) 3rd Place Unarmed Color Guard (Commander, Avery Higdon) 2nd Place Unarmed New Cadet (Commander Ta'Levake Fau) 1st Place Armed Dual Exhibition (Joseph Mendiola & Lord Torres) 3rd Place Unarmed Dual Exhibition (Jennifer Boyd & Annalyse Rivera) 2nd Place Unarmed Solo Exhibition (Addison Smith) 3rd Place Unarmed Solo Exhibition (Peyton Stuart) 9th place Individual Drill Down: Kaden Crone The team’s next competitions will be on Feb. 24 at Leavenworth Kan., and on March 2 at Blue Springs South. #wayschools

Lincoln Stearns, a sophomore at Waynesville High School, who wrestles in the 120-pound weight class, placed 4th at Districts (Class 4, District 3 Championships) to qualify for State. The State wrestling meet will be held Feb. 23-24 in Columbia.

WHS girls wrestling finished 3rd at the Class 2 District 3 tournament behind Nixa and Lebanon who are both nationally ranked. Josie Moody, Dakota Nix, Maya Duncan, Haylee Fort, Mekenzie Moffet, and Yisel Perez will compete at the State Tournament on Feb. 23-24 in Columbia, Mo.

The first tryout/practice date for spring sports will be Feb. 26 for both Waynesville Middle School and Waynesville High School. The spring sports are: Baseball Track Boys/Girls Girls' Soccer Boys' Tennis Boys 'Golf MS Track Boys/Girls MS Baseball MS Softball More information is in the flyer and at https://www.waynesville.k12.mo.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=14037. #wayschools

Courtwarming was held Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, between the boys JV and varsity basketball games. Fatima Ajmed was named queen and Nathan Wilking was named king. Pictured are the court members: Richard Peace Danely Aguilar Ahmaun Fowler Ryen Spiker Erial Courtright Fatima Ajmed Nathan Wilking Mackenzie Pearson Sonte Keys JayZen Blake and in front are Amaya Santos and Mael Kom Kelsey who carried in the crowns. Photo 2 The senior members of the court were JayZen Blake Erial Courtright Fatima Ajmed Nathan Wilking Sonte Keys Photo 3 Pictured are Courtwarming court members and their families. #wayschools

Waynesville High School hosted AP night to promote the Advanced Placement courses offered at WHS. AP students wore matching t-shirts and talked with visitors about their courses before the Jan. 29, 2024, girls varsity basketball game. They were also recognized between the JV and varsity games. Additionally, two AP students—Grace Parker and Bella Simmons—were presented with STEM Star Awards. The STEM Star Award is a $500 National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) funded award for students in AP math, science, English Language and/or computer science courses. The students were nominated by their AP teachers to recognize their hard work, dedication and willingness to take on the challenge of advanced coursework. NMSI has partnered with WHS to increase access and achievement in AP math, science, computer science and English Language courses. WHS has been allotted five $500 awards from NMSI, so there are still three more yet to be awarded. Nomination Criteria for the STEM Star Award • Demonstrate growth in NMSI supported AP coursework throughout the year • Demonstrate leadership, self-advocacy and/or commitment in the classroom • Actively engage in course both in and outside of the classroom In the group photo, the following are pictured: Row 1 kneeling (L to R) Thomas Walters, Alexis Bennett, Deanna McLane, Adrienne Yarbro, Julian Matras, Teyla Byrom, Peyton Cummings, Nathaniel Copeland, Julian Vassallo Middle Row: Citlali Arzabala, Sofia Mejia, Kylie Gravette, Kamden Raines, Kelise Johnson, Samantha Gadsden, Isabella Moredock, Chloe Moredock Back Row: Shannon Moynihan, Eric Glover, Brayden Weigelt, Ethan Cole, Peter Johnson, Bella Simmons, Rikku Carlson, Grace Parker, Evan Beck, Emma Hanson, Connor Long, Keegan Henson, Katelyn Hubbard, Nicholas McMurray, Aiden Smith #wayschools

TEACHER RECRUITMENT EVENT Are you interested in teaching in the Waynesville R-VI School District? If so, please come to our Teacher Recruitment Event from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Feb 29, 2024, at the Parker Educational Center, 909 U.S. Route 66 in Waynesville.