WINSTON ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT EARNS HONOR

The Missouri Association of Rural Education (M.A.R.E.) has named Winston's Angie McFee as the 2015 Outstanding Rural Support Staff Member.

Angie is an alumnus of Winston High School and currently fills the dual rolls of Central Office Secretary and High School Secretary.  She is an integral part of our school and well deserving of this honor.  Angie will be honored later this month at a banquet held during the M.A.R.E. conference.  Angie is surely one of the reasons, It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

STUCO TO SPONSOR BONFIRE

The actual bonfire will be MUCH smaller...but still a good time

In an effort to increase school spirit and community involvement, the Winston Student Council is sponsoring a bonfire to celebrate the regular seasons of our boys and girls softball teams and to rally support as we head into the postseason.  The event will be held this Friday, October 2nd from 7-8:30pm.  The event is open to the public and will feature hotdogs, s'mores and games.  STUCO will be accepting free will donations to help offset the cost of the event.  All are welcome to attend.  Join with the Student Council as they celebrate the fact that...It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

WINSTON CELEBRATES SENIOR NIGHT

On Thursday evening, September 24th, the Winston boys and girls softball teams celebrated senior night by recognizing the 2015 senior class of athletes, their parents, and by winning a pair of games versus East Harrison.

The night started with The Lady Redbirds taking on the East Harrison Lady Bobcats.  This was the third meeting on the year between the squads with the teams splitting the previous two.  The game was a hard fought contest.  The Lady Bobcats would gain a lead, only to see the Lady Redbirds chip away.  When the dust settled, the Lady Redbirds were victorious 4-3.  This gave the Lady Redbirds the upper-hand in the season series and brought their record to 5-8 on the year.

Between games, the senior softball players of 2015 were recognized.  Renae Brice, Kaytlyn Barnes, Georgia Caldwell, Thea Nelson, and Carly Gordon were all recognized for the Lady Redbirds; and Kristchon Hisel, Zach O'Dell, JR O'Dell, Jordan Leonard, Ty Uthe, Ethan, Hiley, and Morgan Farrell were all honored for the Redbirds.

In the nightcap, the Redbirds looked dominant against the East Harrison Bobcats.  The Bobcats could never get anything going against the Redbirds pitching.  Conversely, the Redbird bats squared the ball up often against the Bobcats.  The Winston Redbirds downed the East Harrison Bobcats by a score of 14-1.  This brings the record for the Redbirds to 14-0.

The Lady Redbirds will be back in action this weekend as they compete in the North Harrison Tournament.  The Redbird boys team will not resume play until October 3 when they begin the NWMO Boy's State Tournament in Chillicothe.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

FACS CLASS WORKS WITH ELEMENTARY

Ms. Yuille's 9th grade FACS class is a great example of a way to incorporate writing into all areas of the curriculum.  FACS (which used to be called Home Economics WAY back when I went to high school) is a class that covers many subjects from cooking to sewing to child development.  As a part of their child development unit, Ms. Yuille had the students create children's books (which was also a sneaky way to slip in some writing).  On Wednesday, the 9th graders presented their books to the elementary students.  The teachers of Winston Elementary graciously welcomed the high school students into their rooms so they could read their stories to the elementary kids.  The project was a hit.  The high schoolers were able to feel proud about their projects and serve as role models for the younger students who enjoyed the books.  It was great to see the older students interacting with the younger ones.  It just goes to show, regardless of your age, It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

LADY REDBIRDS SLAY DRAGONS

This season has been one of "what ifs" for the Lady Redbirds.  There have been many games this season that our girls have been leading, or at least competitive in, then one big inning happens.  At the end of the game our girls are asking "what if we would have not allowed that one inning?"  On Tuesday evening our ladies answered what would happen if they put it all together and played well in all phases of the game.  The answer to "what if" is a resounding win!

Our ladies played a great game versus the Tina-Avalon Dragons on Tuesday.  The Lady Redbirds controlled the game on the rubber, at the plate, on the bases, and in the field.  The Lady Redbirds played well in all facets of the game and came away with a convincing 12-3 win.  It was a great team victory as every Redbird did something to contribute to the teams success.

The Lady Redbirds now stand at 4-8 on the season.  The ladies will again be in action on Thursday night as they host East Harrison on senior night.  I hope to see everyone out on Thursday to cheer our ladies on and celebrate the careers of our senior athletes.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

FFA GETS HANDS ON IN ALBANY

Last Thursday, September 17th, the Winston FFA chapter took a trip to The Hundley-Whaley Research Center in Albany, Missouri for the annual FFA/Ag Science Day.  FFA advisor Katie Martin and 18 of her members participated in several hands-on activities at the center.  This year topics included: Fire Safety, Drones, Precision Agriculture, Training Dogs for farm use, and many others.  The highlight of the day for many of the members was the opportunity to reach their arm down into the rumen of a cow to examine the contents of their stomachs.  Students also enjoyed a demonstration on seat belt safety.  Overall, it was a great learning experience for our students and just another reason why: It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

REDBIRDS REIGN AT ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENT

The Redbirds flexed their collective muscles this past weekend in what was the premiere tournament in boys softball.  The annual Jefferson Round Robin Tournament was held on Saturday and this year featured games between the three best teams in the State.  Newtown-Harris had to back out of the tournament due to unforeseen circumstances and that meant the tournament would now feature games solely between Winston, Jefferson, and Mercer.

Our boys started the tournament with a third meeting with the Jefferson Eagles.  The last time these two met, it was a hard-fought contest with our boys rallying in the late innings to squeak out a 4-3 win.  This meeting, however, would leave no doubt who had the superior squad this year.  Our boys came out strong quickly erasing a small Jefferson lead.  As the game wore on, the Redbird's pitching seemed to get stronger, while the Winston hitters seemed to get more comfortable at the plate.  When the final out was recorded, our boys had a convincing 10-2 win over the Eagles.

The Redbirds wrapped up the tournament with a game versus the Mercer Cardinals.  This game would mark the 4th meeting of the two squads this year.  The Redbirds have had the Cardinal's number this year winning the previous 3 meetings in convincing fashion.  This game would prove to be more of the same as our boys came away victorious 11-3.

The Redbirds won the Round Robin Tournament and improved their season record to an impressive 12-0.  The Redbirds are back in action Tuesday with a game at North Harrison.  The boys will also play at home this week on Thursday against East Harrison.  The senior night ceremony will also be held at that time.  Come on out and support our boys as they strive for a championship in 2015.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

STUDENT WORK DISPLAYS

Spanish Class has labeled
 the parts of the body

Art using ASL

Junior High inspirational quotes

While it may be true that a school is never cleaner than the day before the first day of school, it really doesn't take on its personality until a month or so in.  It is that time that teachers begin displaying student work.  I love the idea of putting the work our students have produced on display for others to see.  It is proof positive of the good things happening daily in our classrooms.  The samples of student work in this post are from the Junior High art class, the High School Art Appreciation class, and our Spanish Class.  If you have a minute take a walk through the school and see some of the great things our kids are producing.

A BUSY WEEK FOR REDBIRD ATHLETICS

This week has been a busy one for the Redbirds.  All of the Redbird teams have multiple events this week.  Sometimes as an administrator it can be difficult to keep up with all of the different trips and activities during weeks like this, but I have been very proud of the way all of our teams have competed and represented our school and community.

The Varsity Cross Country teams have a busy week with competitions on Tuesday at Cameron and Thursday at Platte County.  Of course, the competition at these meets is tough.  Our runners did very well in Cameron with many runners setting personal records in their races.  Additionally, Shelby Mason, Brooke Heldenbrand, and Skye Uthe were all medalists in their respective divisions.

Our girl's softball team was busy this week with games against Mercer and North Harrison.  Both teams presented tough challenges for our ladies.  Our Lady Redbirds pushed Mercer hard but came up short for a third time against the Cardinals falling 6-2.  The match-up with HDC tournament champions North Harrison was a difficult one for the Lady Redbirds.  They were able to keep the score close with solid pitching and defense in the early innings but could never mount a scoring threat and finished up losing 12-0 to the Shamrocks.  The girls record now stands at 3-8 for the year.  The ladies are not back in action until September 22nd at Tina-Avalon.

The boy's softball team continued to roll through their season this week.  Fresh off of their HDC Tournament Championship our boys faced a tough stretch of games including contests at Mercer, North Harrison, hosting Jefferson, and at the Jefferson Tournament.  The Redbirds had some difficulty getting to Mercer's pitching early in their contest but were able to pick up their hitting as the game progressed.  They were able to finish with a convincing 15-0 shutout of the Cardinals.  On Tuesday, the Redbirds made the trip up I-35 to North Harrison.  Once again the Redbirds started a bit slow but in the middle innings their bats came to life.  The Redbirds exploded for 4 homeruns in the contest and defeated the Shamrocks 12-1.  The boys finish the week with contests at home with Jefferson on Thursday and then Saturday at the Jefferson Round Robin Tournament.  The season record for the Redbirds stands at 10-0.

Congratulations to all of our student-athletes.  Your hard work and dedication to your sports has not gone unnoticed.  We are proud of you all.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS LEARNING HANDS ON

Everyone has heard of Pavlov's dog, the famous experiment where a psychologist conditioned his dog to begin salivating at simply hearing a dinner bell, well Redbird students in Coach Lewis' psychology class are getting first hand experience with the process of conditioning.  Students are paired up and then they measure the pulse rate of the test subject.  They introduce a noise and then put the subject through a period of physical exertion.  After the exercise, the pulse is again taken.  This process is repeated multiple times, each time a sound cue is given then exercise follows.  After a several repetitions, the noise cue is given, but no exercise follows.  Students then measure the heart rate of the test subject to see if the simple sound cue can now cause an increase in heart rate.  This is an excellent way to bring the curriculum of a class to life.  It is letting the students learn in a hands on fashion and giving them a real world application for the information they are learning.  By letting students apply the knowledge they have learned, their depth of knowledge and understanding is increased.This is "outside the box" education at its finest and just another example of why: It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!
 

BOYS 1ST, GIRLS 4TH AT HDC TOURNAMENT

Saturday was another great day for the Redbirds.  Both the boys and girls teams competed in the second day of the HDC tournament.  Our Lady Redbirds started off the day with a tough match-up with the #1 seed North Harrison.  Our girls gave a great effort, but at the end of the game, the North Harrison squad was just too much and our ladies took a lopsided loss.  The loss dropped the Lady Redbirds into the 3rd place game versus a tough Mercer Squad.  Our ladies jumped out early and held the lead through the first few innings.  Our ladies had strong pitching and timely hitting that tested the Lady Cardinals.  Unfortunately, in the late innings Mercer pulled away and our ladies fell to the Lady Cardinals 8-3.

Our boys came into the tournament as the #1 seed and drew a first round bye.  Their first action Saturday was a second round match up against North Harrison.  The Redbirds came out a little slow but they quickly picked it up and showed why they were the top seed.  The Redbirds looked good in all facets of the game: pitching, defense, hitting, and base running were all in top form.  The Redbirds downed North Harrison setting up a championship match-up with the #2 seeded Mercer Cardinals.  The Redbirds had control of this game from the outset.  Strong pitching and solid line-drives propelled the Redbirds to a convincing 14-0 victory over Mercer.  The win gave the Redbirds a third consecutive HDC Tournament Championship.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

CONGRATULATIONS SEPTEMBER STUDENTS OF THE MONTH!

The faculty of Winston High School has selected its Students of the Month for September.  This is an award that is chosen by the teachers and administrators of Winston High School to recognize students who show excellence in academics, character, and attitude.  The winners for September are Riley Christensen and Maggie Farrell.  Congratulations on this achievement, you are part of the reason that It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

ONE FOR THE AGES!

What a difference two weeks make.  On August 29th, our Lady Redbirds played East Harrison in the first round of the East Harrison tournament.  In that game, the Lady Bobcats had their way.  They dominated the contest, downing our girls 11-0.  The same two teams met again last night in the first round of the HDC tournament, only this time, our Lady Redbirds came to play.  Stout pitching and solid defense from both squads dominated the game for the first 7 innings.  At the end of 7, the score was knotted up at 1-1.  So as the game moved to extra-innings the international tie-breaker was used.  Each team began an inning with a runner on 2nd.  The Lady Redbird's bats exploded in the extra frame.  Behind a flury of hits the ladies scored 6 runs in the extra frame.  In the bottom of the eighth, the Lady Redbird's pitching and defense again ruled the day as the Lady Bobcats could only score the one runner from second.  The #5 seed Winston Lady Redbirds upset the #4 seed East Harrison Lady Bobcats

7-2.  The Lady Redbird's record now stands at 3-4 on the season.  The girls are back in action at 12:30 on Saturday as they face the #1 seed North Harrison.  It's a Great Day to be a Redbird!

WINSTON BOYS SWEEP NEWTOWN VARSITY/JV

Tuesday night, the Winston Redbirds didn't let soggy playing conditions keep them from continuing their roll through their softball schedule.  The boys came into the game undefeated on the season and played host to a scrappy Newtown-Harris Tiger team that made the long trek to Winston with an upset on their minds.  The Redbirds quickly established the tone of the game by jumping out to a 5-1 lead after the first inning.  Dominant pitching, strong hitting, and solid defense (all staples for this year's squad) helped the Redbirds cruise to a commanding 15-1 victory over the Tigers.  In the JV game, the Redbirds again looked dominant on the mound and at the plate as they controlled the game from the first pitch.  The Redbird's JV squad looked good in defeating the Tigers 7-0 in a shortened game.  With the victory Tuesday night, the Redbirds now stand at 6-0 on the season.  The boys will be in action this Saturday in the HDC tournament.  The Redbirds are the number one seed and will take the field at 2:00 against the winner of the North Harrison and Grundy County contest.  It's a Great Day to be a Redbird!

SNOW RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Zane Snow, a 2015 graduate of Winston R-VI, was recently recognized for receiving a Bronze Rating on his Forage Production Proficiency Application. This extensive process evaluated Snow, and other winners from their respective states in the Forage Production category, in areas such as hours worked, wages earned, skills advanced, and goals obtained, just to name a few. The Winston FFA Chapter is very proud to have a member receive such an honor.

Additionally, there were many current students who recieved honors and awards at the State Fair this year.   Two of our FFA members had the honor of displaying projects on the Trailer of Champions. Georgia Caldwell was recognized for exhibiting the Reserve Grand Champion Winter Squash which she raises along with pumpkins on her farm outside of Winston. Gillian Heldenbrand received the Reserve Grand Champion Wall Hanging, which she made out of old rolled up book pages.  There were Several other FFA members who received awards:  

Drew Neth received a silver rating on his home-made BBQ Grill.
Logan Caldwell received a silver rating on his Bootjack.
Elizabeth O'Dell received a bronze for her FFA Wreath.

Congratulations to all of these exhibitors!  It's A Great Day to be a Redbird!

CROSS COUNTRY OPENS SEASON AT LIBERTY

    The boy's and girl's Varsity Cross-Country teams opened the 2015 season with a tough meet at Liberty this past Saturday.  Due to injury, we had to run a team composed of mostly Freshmen and Sophomores.  The competition was stiff as we had to face squads from much bigger schools including:  Liberty, Liberty North, Oak Park, Fort Osage, and Smithville to name but a few.  But our Redbirds wouldn't use the size of the competition or our youth as an excuse, they competed hard and gave a good account of themselves, their school, and their community.  It was a good way to start the season, we are all proud of our runners, and we are looking forward to their growth this season and seeing all the great things they can accomplish.  Keep up the hard work, It's a Great Day to be a Redbird!

BE THE CHANGE

  I know that typically this blog is filled with feel good stories and celebrations about all of the great things that are going on at Winston High School, and that is a very good thing.  Our kids need a platform to spread the word about all of the incredible things they are doing.  But while the primary focus is on achievements of our school, there is another perk of having this blog.  It presents me with the opportunity to speak my mind and share some information that I think will make a difference.  This post is intended to do just that.
    A few days ago, I came across a story on social media about a student in Colorado who saw a snapchat post of a student in Arizona whom she had never met and didn't know that commented about planning a school shooting.  The girl told her mother who reported it to authorities in Phoenix.  Authorities arrested the girl when they uncovered evidence that she may have indeed been planning something.  Now, we will never know if the girl really ever intended to do harm (thankfully), but one thing is for certain the reason we will never know is that someone saw something that was wrong, and did something about it.
    We like to complain in this country about the way things are.  It is easy to complain.  We are shown the "lowest common denominator" every day on television and social media.  We see war, pollution, crime, ignorance, and indifference everywhere.  Who wouldn't complain about that?  But while it is easy to complain about a problem, it is harder to do something about it.  Too few people are willing to say "enough complaining, let's do something about it."
   One of my favorite quotes is from the Irish orator and politician Edmund Burke.  Mr. Burke famously said:  "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."  If we see things that are not right in our world, we need to correct them.  We need to stand up for what is right.  If we see someone breaking a law, bullying someone, or hurting another it is our duty as responsible citizens to do something.  So my challenge to all of you reading this blog right now is simply to do something.  Once you have identified what is wrong, do something to fix it.  To paraphrase Ghandi:  Be the change you wish to see in the world.
   Change is not easy, it is often messy, difficult, and time consuming.  However, nothing worth having is ever easy.  It is only by working together and everyone doing our part that we can hope to build a better school, community, and world.  Let's work together and insure that today and everyday will be A Great Day to be A Redbird!

WINSTON SELECTS STUDENT LEADERS

  The student body at Winston High School has some new leadership for the 2015-2016 school year.  The Student Council has recently chosen its officers for this year and those students are anxious to get to work making their mark on Winston High School.  The officers for the 2015-2016 school year are:  President-Gillian Heldebrand, Vice President-Lane Fortner, Secretary-Delilah Gadd, and Treasurer-Katlyn Barnes.

    This year, The Student Council will be focused on taking a larger role in building school spirit, making an impact in their community, and being the voice of the student body to improve the school.  All of the students have great ideas and are working toward developing a vision for the organization.  Both Student Council Sponsors Mrs. O'Dell and Ms. Wilmes are excited about working with this great group of student leaders and trying to improve our school in all areas.  With leadership like this it is no wonder that It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

REDBIRDS SWEEP GRUNDY COUNTY

    On a warm Thursday evening, both boy's and girl's teams came to play.  The Lady Redbird's swept aside the team from Grundy County with a dominant 15-0 performance.  It was a nice bounce back game for the Lady Redbirds as they had been on a small losing skid.  Their record now stands at 2-4 on the season.
    In the nightcap, the Redbirds continued their winning ways as they shutout Grundy County 11-0.  It was another dominating performance on the mound and at the plate for our boys.  The Redbirds now stand at 5-0 on the year.
    The boy's team will be back in action on Tuesday night in a home match against Newtown-Harris.  The Lady Redbirds will resume playing on Wednesday night with a rematch against East Harrison in the HDC Tournament.  Both teams will be competing on Saturday, September 12th, in the HDC Tournament in Bethany, Mo.  The boy's are the #1 seed while the girl's are seeded 5th.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!

BOYS SHUTOUT JEFFERSON, GIRLS RUN INTO TOUGH BRAYMER SQUAD

The Winston Redbirds made the long trip to take on perennial power Jefferson on Tuesday evening.  Our boys came out strong behind solid hitting, stellar defense, and dominant pitching.  When the last out was recorded The Redbirds found themselves the victors with an impressive 9-0 win over the Eagles.  Unfortunately, our Lady Redbirds ran into a pretty good team themselves.  Our girls traveled to Braymer to take on an always athletic Lady Bobcats squad.  Our girls battled hard but found themselves on the losing end of a 4-14 score.  The boys now stand at 4-0 on the season, while the girls record falls to 1-4.  Both squads are back in action Thursday with a doubleheader against Grundy County.    The first pitch of the girl's game is 5:30, come on out and support our teams.  It is a Great Day to be a Redbird!