Senior Spotlight! Tay Lee will be studying Biology at St. Louis University. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Senior Spotlight! Sebastian Parada will be studying Architecture and Business at Drury University. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Last Friday, Mimi Shaw, Archer Anbari, and Emily Williams were presented with awards for the annual brochure contest put on by the Sons of the American Revolution. Their representative, Daniel Piedlow, presented the students with the awards, which comes with a cash prize. Congratulations to all! We are so proud!
Happy 120th Birthday to Missouri State University from Girls on the Run! The girls loved being part of this historic celebration during their Wednesday practice.
Senior Spotlight! Joaquin Parada will be studying Game Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Congratulations Coach Black!
Senior Spotlight! Jackson Osten will be studying Nuclear Engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Kai Schaefer, junior, advanced to the finals of the Financial Consulting event at the state DECA competition in Kansas City, MO on March 23-25. This marked the first time ever a Greenwood student has competed at a DECA state event. We are so proud, go Bluejays!
Hannah Richards presented her experience with RYLA to the Rotary Club of Springfield this week and did a phenomenal job!
Check out what's been happening in the library! Nearly 100 books were checked out during the Blind Date with a Book event, and Danna Yang was the lucky winner of the drawing for our cozy blanket and gift card. March Madness...library style...kicked off this week thanks to the help of our awesome MSU Bear POWER student, Echo!
Right before break, our 1st-3rd graders cast their votes for the Show-Me titles we read throughout the year during their library time. The older students were on their own. The 36 4th and 5th grade students who took on the Mark Twain challenge read a total of 220 chapter books! Louise Zimmerman (4th), Anaiya Gugnani (5th), and Aendri Srivastava (5th) read them all! Truman and Gateway finishers include: Ella Englert, Annabelle Thomas, Adelaide Cimino, Dylan Zheng, Matelyn Matz, Kaylee Van Rhein, Anna Poe and Anisa Pathak. Well done to these secondary students, and thanks to GPA for helping to provide prizes for this endeavor!
Students were introduced to lots of new series on the "menu" during our book tastings this week!
Greenwood students did an amazing job at National History Day! Congratulations to the following students for placing in the regional competition and will now proceed to the state competition in Columbia at the end of April:
Elia R. & Kate L. 1st place performance "Rights Denied, Rights Demanded: The Trail of Tears"
Mimi S. 3rd place exhibit "The Broken Promise of the Golden Mountain"
Gelsey N. & Salma 3rd place group exhibit "Justice in Salem"
Polina P 3rd place website "Emily Dickinson’s Impact on Women’s Rights"
Amilie & Ruby 1st place group website "Harriet Beecher Stowe, "The Little Woman Who Wrote the Book That Started This Great War""
Sarina Z. 1st place paper (a very difficult category) "Her Voice, Her Power: How Susan B. Anthony Linked Women's Suffrage to National Responsibility"
Illyan & Taaha K. 2nd place performance, senior division
Jack L., Adam A., Cullen B., Nikhil N. 1st Place documentary "A Fight for Recognition: The Bolo War and the Pursuit of Rights"
This is one of the best years yet for Greenwood at National History Day. Thanks to their hard work, we have more than doubled what we normally send to state. Congratulations, and go Bluejays!
Senior Spotlight! Will Bauer will be studying Business at Drury University. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Senior Spotlight! Anna McQueary will be studying Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Greenwood Qualifies for Nationals!
We are so excited to announce that Greenwood will be represented at the NSDA National Speech and Debate tournament to be held this June in Des Moines, Iowa!
The students persisted through three days of intense competition right before Spring Break to earn the right to attend the national tournament.
The teams of Mary Gabriel/Tristan Khoshyomn and Ethan Duff/Gyan Grewal qualified in Policy Debate. This is the second time Tristan and Mary have qualified for nationals in Policy Debate as a team and the third time each has qualified for the National tournament. Laila Ozturk qualified in Informative Speaking for the second year in a row as the District Champion. Mohan Grewal will be representing Greenwood in Extemporaneous Debate.
Twenty-one area schools and almost 400 individual entries participated in the competition.
Good luck at nationals! Go Jays!
First Grade Helpful Hedgehogs had a surprise Mystery Reader today to conclude our Literacy Weeks Celebration March 3rd through March 14th. Mr. Robert Hammerschmidt, former President of Commerce Bank and Dr. Hammerschmidt’s husband read Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Mr. Hammerschmidt read the book and shared how the choices students make will shape the journey and adventures that they take. Work hard at being kind and helpful to others which will lead to positive outcomes and a happy life. He shared that his favorite quote from the book is "Kid, you'll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!" Students speculated what they thought this quote might mean. Mr. Hammerschmidt explained that working hard toward a goal can help you achieve BIG things, if you fail try and try again, that is how we learn. Students also learned a fun noise maker clapping trick to practice. Thank you, Mr. Hammerschmidt.
Dr. Barri Tinker was the Mystery Reader, March 13, 2025, to continue the Helpful Hedgehogs March 3rd through March 14th First Grade Literacy Weeks Celebration. Dr. Tinkler is the Dean of Education at Missouri State University. Greenwood First Grade Students were so excited when Dr. Tinkler read Where is Boomer? Written by Cathy Smith. The book is an interactive read aloud that takes students on a fun adventure around the Missouri State University campus. Students loved searching for Boomer on each page and hearing about all the important places on campus there are to visit. There was even a page in the book that had a Bluejay, the Greenwood Mascot. A first grade campus walking tour with Boomer as our guide might be in the works. Thank you Dr. Tinkler!
Auggie Gabriel is the Helpful Hedgehog of the Week for March 10-14, 2025. Auggie asked his uncle, Master Sargent Justin Wilkerson to visit the first grade classroom.
Master Sargent Justin Wilkerson joined the Air Force in August 2001 at the age of 18, and graduated from basic training the week of September 11, 2001. He then went to Ft Leonard Wood for specialty training as a Vehicle Operator. Over a 20 year career, he has been to 4 duty stations, completed 6 deployments and been to 9 countries. He says “I have met a lot of famous people and had the opportunity to do a bunch of amazing things!” Justin was a Ground Transportation Specialist, stationed at Minot Air Force Base, Andrews Air Force Base, Lackland Air Force Base and Kunsan Air Force Base (South Korea), with six deployments to the Middle East. Thank you Auggie, Mom and Dad, and Master Sargent Wilkerson.
Senior Spotlight! Quana Alaimo will be studying Biology at the University of Arkansas. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Senior Spotlight! Collin Clark will be studying Sports Medicine and playing Basketball at Missouri State University. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
Senior Spotlight! Mai Doan will be studying Premed at Missouri State University. Thank you for being part of our Bluejay family, we can't wait to see all the amazing things you accomplish!
