Mena School District

📚 Battle of the Books 2026 📚 Congratulations to our First and Second Grade students who were selected to represent our school on this year’s Louise Durham Battle of the Books teams! 🎉 Battle of the Books is a reading competition where teams of students answer questions based on a pre-selected list of books they’ve read. Sponsored by the DeQueen–Mena Educational Co-Op, this program promotes reading comprehension, teamwork, and a love for literature. During the competition, teams face off by answering trivia-style questions about the books’ characters, themes, and events. It’s a fun and engaging way to build literacy skills and foster a strong sense of community around reading. Our first and second grade teams will compete against other area schools this March, and we couldn’t be more proud of their dedication and hard work! 📖✨ 📚 Way to go, readers! We are so excited about all the books you’ve read and can’t wait to cheer you on! ❤️

The 2026 Mena High School King of Hearts was crowned at a pep rally on Thursday.
This year's court included.Adam Hughes, Max Rocha, Grayson Farringer, Tripp Hensley, Guice Anderson, Ryder House, Levi Neufeld, Tucker Stricklin, Jackson Thompson, and Beck Vacca
The 2026 Prince Charming is RYDER HOUSE !
The 2026 King of Hearts is BECK VACCA !

Mena Middle School FBLA attended the District I Spring Leadership Conference on Wednesday in Fort Smith and represented Mena well! All of the students attending were 1st year competitors competing against junior high students. They all worked hard to prepare for their competitions. The following students were recognized on stage and advanced to state.

Avori Gortemiller - 1st place in Exploring Business Communication
Brent Epperson - 1st place in Exploring FBLA
Lauryn Tolleson and Maggie Morris - 1st place in Exploring Management and Entrepreneurship
Addison Emmitte - 3rd place in Career Research
Joshua Gibson - 3rd place in Exploring Customer Service

These students qualified to compete at the State conference that will be held in April. Congratulations to all!

Mena Jr. High and 7th Grade Basketball played Clarksville on Wednesday at the Union Bank Center. 7th A Ladycats-7 Clarksville-13 7th B Ladycats-2 Clarksville-20 Jr. Ladycats-28 Clarksville-27 7th A Bearcats-15 Clarksville-10 7th B Bearcats-7 Clarksville-26 Jr. Bearcats-22 Clarksville-38 The Jr. High teams are back in action on Friday @ Dardanelle.

The Mena Ladycats competed at the 5A South Regional Wrestling Tournament on Wednesday and punched many tickets to State.





This year we sent the most girls to state that Mena ever has!





Finished 3rd as a team just missing some hardware.





Individual results are as follows:





Gracie Deramus 100 lbs. 3rd



Lanie Taylor 105 lbs. 3rd



Paisley Burger 115 lbs. 2nd



Averi Ortiz 155 lbs. 4th



Evergrace Anderson 170 lbs. 1st



Ailiyah McEntire 235 lbs. 2nd





Great job Ladies!!

Congratulations to the Mena students who placed in the Polk County Spelling Bee at UARM's Ouachita Center on Wednesday.
1st Grade - 2nd Place Kendal Hurst
2nd Grade - 2nd Place Annie Cannon
3rd Grade - 1st Place Sam Myers
5th Grade - 2nd Place Julia Henry
6th Grade - 3rd place Aaron Erickson
7th Grade - 3rd Place Lucas McQuerrie
8th Grade - 1st Place Braylon Brandenburg
3rd Place Brady Jones
OVERALL WINNER - BRAYLON BRANDENBURG

Wrestling athletes were recognized at the Sr. Night ceremony on Tuesday at Jim Rackley Gymnasium.

Mena High School Senior Pascha Wistrand signed her letter of intent to play college volleyball for Lyon College in Batesville on Friday in the Union Bank Center.
Congratulations Pascha!

4A Dual State @ Jim Rackley Gymnasium 1/22/26!

The Mena Bearcats went against Gravette in the first round &
lost a nail biter 36-37.

One of the best ways to discover new favorite books is through recommendations—and that’s why we LOVE We Recommend Wednesday! 📚
This week’s We Recommend Wednesday features First Grade student Violet Ward! 📚📚
Violet from Mrs. Sawyer’s First Grade class loves visiting the library throughout the week, where she enjoys discovering new characters and stories.
She LOVES books and was so excited to recommend all the books in the Pig The Pug Series by Aaron Blabey.
“I love all of the books in the Pig The Pug Series! He is so much fun and always makes me laugh.”~Violet
Stop by the LD Library to grab any of the books in this fun series and discover so many other amazing books!

The HHE Teammate Award winners are Parker Marshall, Travis Epperson, Lila Garrett, Kyleigh Gonzales, and Rafaella Woods. They demonstrated a positive attitude, reliability, helpfulness, and a willingness to learn.

Mena FCCLA attended Region 5 STAR Events and Leadership Conference in Hope, AR.
Students Advancing to FCCLA State STAR Events Are:
MMS CHAPTER: Level 1
Raul Toribio - Career Investigations
Cord Gibbs - Entrepreneurship
Prachi Desai, Zallie Evans, & Shaelynn Manning - Event Management
Averie Martin & Jenna Williams - Focus on Children
Harper Bentley & Macy Herod - Food Innovations
Macy Flores & Avori Gortemiller - Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation
Brent Epperson - Leadership
Alida Newbolt & Remi Olsen - National Programs in Action
Addison Emmitte - Public Policy Advocate
Camilla Ashcraft, Hollie Hamilton & Briggs Robertson - Repurpose and Redesign
Emma Butterfield - Say Yes to FCS
Paul Holliday, Easton Johnson & Brady Jones - Sports Nutrition
Melanie Cude, Serenity Hogan & Dane Palmer - Sustainability Challenge
MHS CHAPTER: Level 2
Raelynn Ashcraft, Kenley Cochran & Brandi Miller - Chapter Service Portfolio
Lainey Smart - Food Innovation
Lily Kate Doughty, Sophia Cummings & Zahra Sofi - Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation
Barrett Frost - Repurpose & Redesign
Kinsey Mullen - Public Policy Advocate
Mckenna Nottke & Camryn Stepp - Professional Presentation
Please congratulate these students on their achievements if you see them this week around campus! We are so proud of them and their accomplishments!

Congratulations to Mena High School Senior Naveli Pinon for receiving a scholarship for $5,000.00 per year to play the flute in the band at Henderson State University.

Mena Bearcats competed at the Hatcher Bruins Invitational today and did great!
Our wrestlers competed against 4A, 5A, & 6A from much bigger schools and earned 5th place as a team out of 16 other school!
Very proud of ALL our wrestlers today
Results are as follows
106 Braxton Barker 🥈
120 Tycen Baber 🥉
132 Auden Woods 🥉
144 Andrew Threlkeld 🥈
144 Tripp Hensley 🥉
150 Chance Hughes 🥉
175 Jace Hankammer 🥈
215 Guice Anderson 🥉
Great job to them all!

The Mena Ladycats and Bearcats played Waldron on Friday night in Jim Rackley Gymnasium.
Ladycats-32 (16-4/1-2)
Waldron-42
Bearcats-60 (12-11/2-1)
Waldron-57 ot
The teams are bac in action on Tuesday when they play Dardanelle at the Union Bank Center.

Mrs. Ford’s and Mrs. Parsons’ 2nd Nine Weeks AR Goal Getters!!

Congratulations to the 2026 King of Hearts candidates! The King of Hearts pep rally is Friday, January 30th at 1:15pm.
From left to right:
Adam Hughes, Max Rocha, Grayson Farringer, Tripp Hensley, Guice Anderson, Ryder House, Levi Neufeld, Tucker Stricklin, Jackson Thompson, and Beck Vacca

The Senior High Ladycat Basketball team not only succeeded on the court during the fall semester, but also in the classroom. They held a team GPA of 3.96 .

The Senior High Bearcat Basketball team not only succeeded on the court during the fall semester, but also in the classroom. They held a team GPA of 3.815.

The Mena High School Spotlight Singers not only performed on stage during the fall semester, but also in the classroom. They held a combined GPA of 3.78.