Announcements for Friday, October 4th
Reminders:
No food or drinks outside this week for students in Lunch “B.”
Check the Lost & Found box for any missing items.
Today is the last day to turn in permission slips for attending the State Fair.
Homecoming Week Events:
This Morning: We will be dismissing in a few minutes to attend the MHS Homecoming Pep Rally.
Tonight @ Bearcat Stadium:
6:15 pm – Homecoming ceremony
6:45 pm – Helicopter will land at Bearcat Stadium to deliver the game ball
7:00 pm – Kickoff between the Mena Bearcats and the Pottsville Apaches
Lunchtime Weather:
Lunch Menu:
Main Line – Crispitos with Cheese, MTO Baked Potato
Pizza Line – Sausage & Jalapeno Pizza, Deli Sandwich, Pizza Salad
Concession Line – Pizza Burger, Chicken Sandwich, Corn Dog
Club / Group Meetings:
** We are about to dismiss for the pep rally.
Do not take bags or backpacks to the pep rally unless you have Keyboarding class 4th period.
6th & 7th grade will sit on the “home side”, or left-hand side as you enter the gym
8th grade will sit with the high school students on the “visitors’” or right-hand side.
The Jr. High Football games at Pottsville were cancelled tonight due to thunderstorms & lightning in the area. The teams are headed home & they will try to reschedule the games at a later date... GO BEARCATS!
The band boosters will be selling homecoming buttons and band buttons at the band concession during Friday’s football game! Go Bearcats!!!
2019 Mena High School Homecoming Parade!
https://www.facebook.com/MenaPublicSchools/videos/644325359429001/
The start time for the Homecoming Dinner has been changed to 4:30pm. Spread the word!
National School Custodian Day!
Aramark Client Appreciation Day! Mr Weston, Mena Superintendent, and Susan Bodey, Aramark Director pictured. Aramark prepared and provided lunch in appreciation to the Mena School District. We are proud of our partnership with Aramark. Thank you for your excellence, commitment, and positive food service climate.
AIr Evac will be practicing a landing at Bearcat Stadium on Tuesday at 10:00am... Please share this post & spread the word in order to eliminate any confusion... There is no emergency this is just a drill...
Thirteen Mena High School and four Mena Middle School FBLA members are attending the Fall Leadership Conference today in Fort Smith.
The 2019-2020 FBLA officers have been selected:
Sophia Vacca - President
Shantal Tecson - Vice President
Caroline Cannon - Secretary
Elaina Aleshire - Treasurer
Makayla Vega - Reporter
Sophie Brewer - Historian
Cheesecakes arrived at the Paul Gray Band Hall this afternoon... If you purchased one from a band member look for them to be delivered later today!
The quarterly meeting of the Mena Public Schools Health and Wellness Committee will take place on Tuesday, September 24th, 3:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the Mena Middle School Library
Announcements for Monday, September 23rd
Reminders:
Flu shot forms are due tomorrow.
FBLA members will meet in Mrs. Sikes’ room right after these announcements.
Club G1 volleyball registration forms are in the office.
There are fliers in the office for anyone interested in information about Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
From Mrs. Moore: There will be no 7th grade GT meeting this week.
From Mrs. Sikes: The 2019-2020 FBLA officers have been selected:
Sophia Vacca - President
Shantal Tecson - Vice President
Caroline Cannon - Secretary
Elaina Aleshire - Treasurer
Makayla Vega - Reporter
Sophie Brewer - Historian
Lunchtime Weather: We will be inside today. You are not allowed to use your personal device while eating lunch. Once you’ve eaten and moved into the hallway, however, you may use your device. Keep the volume off or use earbuds.
Lunch Menu:
Main Line – Meatloaf, MTO Waffle Bar
Pizza Line – Sausage Pizza, Deli Sandwich, Ham Chef Salad
Concession Line – Cheeseburger, Chicken Sandwich, Rib Patty Sandwich
Club / Group Meetings: At this time, 6th grade GT students need to go to the Conference Room.
At this time, FBLA members and newly-selected officers need to go to Mrs. Sikes’ room.
The Mena 7th Grade Football Team got off to a fast start & never looked back enroute to a 40-0 win on Thursday night at Bearcat Stadium.. The Jr. Teams are back in action on 9/26 at Ozark!! GO BEARCATS!
The first Jr. High pep rally of the year was Thursday at Jim Rackley Gymnasium. Dubbed "Throwback Thursday"! Go Bearcats Beat Dardanelle! Go Ladycats Beat Arkadelphia!
Mena Middle School teachers were treated to breakfast in Mrs. Smith's Family & Consumer Science room before classes began this morning...
The Mena School Board conducted their annual Report to the Public meeting on Tuesday night. The evening began with a Facilities Meeting which included a one hour update on facilities, improvements & the five year plan. In total the district buildings include 430,000 square feet with a replacement cost of 71 million dollars. Improvements over the past year were reviewed as well as those on the horizon & additions to the five year plan.
That was followed by the annual Report the the Public Meeting. Mr. Benny Weston began on the district financial status. The end of year balance was $4,185,544.06 which is set aside for emergencies & potential shortfalls. Weston went on to state that the district currently employs 229 people & that 67% of the districts students qualify for free or reduced meals.
Paulette Sherrer spoke briefly on curriculum & testing. She shared a graph with those in attendance which show the students in the district are meeting or exceeding the national average.
Louise Durham Principal Jimma Holder says that enrollment in kindergarten has increased to 170 students & that the number of students testing proficient & exceeding have increased.
Principal Tamara Smart from Holly Harshman Elementary noted a gain in ACT Aspire scores in each grade.
Mena Middle School Principal Cliff Sherrer reported a total of 400 students over the three grades. He is excited about the upcoming student council elections as MMS has not had a student council for a number of years. Sherrer also added that many improvements have been added to the science curriculum.
526 students are currently enrolled at Mena High School & Principal David Maxwell told the board that is an increase of 32 students. In addition he reported that students performed well above the state average on the Aspire testing & that he is planning to improve those scores even more. Maxwell also ran down a long list of concurrent courses which have been added at Mena High School.
It was at this point in the meeting that a number of VIP's interrupted the meeting to award Superintendent Benny Weston with an award as the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. (see photos & details on our social media & website)
Mrs. Bridget Buckley, MHS Assistant Principal & PCVA Director, reported an enrollment of twenty nine in the Polk County Virtual Academy & a positive response to a change in curriculum.
Finally Mrs. Paulette Sherrer announced an increase in federal funding & an increase of fifteen students to the schools gifted & talented program.
After a short break the September School Board meeting was conducted. It was a very brief meeting that included an executive session. Afterwards the board approved a one time bonus of $1,000.00 for Mr. Weston in recognition of his well-deserved accomplishment of Arkansas 2020 Superintendent of the Year. The School Board meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Administration Building.
The Mena cross country team competed in the Tom Stuthard Stampede on Tuesday. The top finishers for Mena were:
Chaniti Hall - 5th Jr. Girls
Brody Brown - 6th Jr. Boys
Danielle Hill - Sr. Girls
Logan Myers - 3rd Sr. Boys
See the complete results by clicking on the link
https://ar.milesplit.com/meets/366573/results/666076/raw…
Mr. Benny Weston has been named the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators Superintendent of the Year. Richard Abernathy presented the award at the annual report to the public on Tuesday night at the administration building. A number present & former superintendents from around the state also attended. Congratulations to the Boss Bearcat!
EAST Students, Seth Fruen, 9th Grade, and Riley Bentley, 7th, created this website.
https://sethfruen22.wixsite.com/dailydog
They have partnered with the Mena Pound for their project. They did all the work. -- photographed, made notes about the animals and created this website.
Please forward the link to your relatives and friends, through Social Media and text messages, etc., to get the word out. You can't search the Internet to find it because it cost to publish it. It can only be found by the direct link.
