Williamsburg Independent’s Chick-fil-A Academy provides wish to local student
By Timothy Wyatt Contributor
A group of students from Williamsburg Independent School have been working to help make a local student’s wish come true through a variety of fundraising efforts as part of a partnership with the Chickfil-A Leader Academy.
The leader academy is a national high school leadership program focused on impact through action, according to a release. Each month, students gather to learn leadership principles through lessons called Leader Labs. The Leader Labs give students practical tools needed to make a positive influence, such as creating studentled community projects. According to the academy’s website, over 1,100 schools across 40 states and more than 200,000 students are involved in the academy.
At Williamsburg Independent, the Chickfil-A Leader Academy is comprised primarily of students from the school’s gifted and talented program. As part of their end-of-year project, students in the academy decided to help fund a wish trip for someone through the Make-AWish Foundation.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is an amazing foundation that grants wishes to children with
critical illnesses. The granted wish is far more than just a trip or gift, as it represents a beacon of hope for the children and families who have or are facing unimaginable circumstances.
In Kentucky alone, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has over 400 children that have been promised a wish. Of that number, 131 of those children are from eastern Kentucky.
Williamsburg’s academy students were able to play a role in helping bring one of those wishes to fruition. According to Kristy Stewart, gifted and talented coordinator at Williamsburg Independent, students have been doing a number of fundraisers over the past few weeks and have more planned. As of last week, approximately $3,000 had been raised of their $5,000 goal.
The money will be used to pay back the MakeA-Wish Foundation for a South Laurel student’s wish. That student, 14-year-old Gunnar Queen, recently overcame his battle with leukemia.
Queen is an avid fan of a variety of sports and wanted to be able to attend a sporting event with his family. The Make-AWish Foundation recently approved Queen’s wish and his family is anticipated to attend their event sometime soon.
Heading our spotlights for this issue, I would like to shine on one of our senior classmen: Chloe Barman.
Chloe is active in multiple clubs and organizations, a great friend, and a fantastic leader. She has been the president of the beta club for the 23-24 year and secretary of the student council, with membership in the student council lasting two years. Chloe is also a peer tutor, focusing in particular on special education, but she is also assisting Mrs. Megan Sizemore with her classes.
She shows exemplary academic performance and strives to improve the world, one step at a time. She plans to pursue a degree in engineering and applied physics to become a nuclear engineer one day. Great work, Chloe!
To celebrate Queen’s wish being granted, Williamsburg’s Chickfil-A Leader Academy students held a send-off party last Thursday at Cinema Social in Corbin. The students got to meet Queen for the first time, as well as several of his friends and family members. During the party, everyone was invited to bowl, eat pizza and fellowship with one another. Stewart said she was proud of the work that her students have put into this project.
Over the past several weeks, classes throughout the school building
have been holding “penny wars” to see who can collect the most pennies. That money has been also been used to repay the foundation for funding Queen’s wish. Fundraising efforts will continue throughout the remainder of the school year, with a staff versus student basketball charity game being planned cur
By Elijah Muse Student Editor
Continuing with our spotlights, I want to draw Addie (Addison) Jarboe as our next can didate.
Everyone I had communicated with to gather information, primarily her sister and Chloe, had nothing but good things to say. She excels academically, leading her to a much-deserved position in the school’s gifted and talented program; she shows leadership and cares for everyone around her.
While she may only be in eighth grade, she is already making a difference in our school, bringing a little bit of joy to the world each day.
Congratulations Addison!
Photos by TIMOTHY WYATT
ABOVE: Williamsburg’s Chick-fil-A Leader Academy students held a send-off party for Gunnar Queen, who they are helping fund a wish for. His family and friends were also in attendance. RIGHT: Queen waits for his turn to bowl during last Thursday’s party.
By Caleb Nichols Writer/Photographer
Our Elementary school is like a little town in itself. It has an essence of joy to it which is greatly beneficial to the growth of these children’s education. Elementary school sets a foundation for the future education of our students. With the amount of joy that flows through its hallways, we can surely find some examples of the success of our elementary school; and we have. To find this joy in action, we must ask ourselves one question. What’s the buzz downstairs?
Looking Back
Much like a town, our Elementary school has had some recent, bustling activities to it. The parent-teacher conference was held on March 7. The parent-teacher conference is always important for the growth of our students because it reveals our students’ strong points, and areas they may need to improve. (I am sure they all did great!)
Our entire school recently held the penny wars! This was a fundraiser led by the Chick-fil-A leadership team and all the donations have gone to supporting the wish of a local Make-A-Wish child. The leadership team is always determined to help and make this community better!
Our elementary section also held a book fair from March 7 to March 12. Book fairs are great, but our book fair was extraordinary! Our book fair sold around 450 books. All these books have helped our elementary students grow as readers and learners. The book fair had a revenue of around $5,000. Every penny of that is going to go to helping our students learn even more! Kassie Lowrie was an essential component for the success of the book fair. This is what she had to say about it: “Our Literati
Book Fair was an enormous success, bringing a wonderful selection of books that sparked imaginations, strengthened literacy skills, and brought excitement to our readers! This experience connected our students to special books and experiences while supporting their love of reading. Using the rewards revenue generated from our fair, we will expand our library collection with high-interest, diverse literature. We could not have made this possible without the support of our teachers and families!”
Looking to the Future, and Beyond!
Our school’s future is going to be even better than the past events that have formed it so far. Let us look at some future events our school will have.
On March 29, our elementary school is going to host an Easter Egg Hunt. This Easter Egg Hunt will be held on the football field, and we encourage parents to bring small, plastic eggs filled with goodies for the students to enjoy. Preschool will hit the field at 12:30 p.m., with kindergarten, first grade, and second grade following them at 1:00, 1:30, and 2:00 o’clock. The Easter egg hunt will be another wonderful experience that the students will have. It will leave them with an amazing experience and memory that will last for years!
P.S.: I think that the Easter hunt might have a special guest!
We also have an exciting holiday coming up. Remember to get into the festive mood and play some harmless pranks on April Fool’s Day. (Just remember not to get fooled yourself!)
Mrs. Spires has recently brought together a tennis club. This tennis club has improved the afternoons of seven “Stingers”. Mrs. Spires has worked hard to make this club a reality and her impact will continue to positively influence our community!
Canada spends time with
That’s a Wrap!
Well, that is it; that is the buzz downstairs! Our school’s elementary section has a huge positive impact for the students and has brought joy to many. It is a bundle of joy, happiness, and learning combined to create the amazing learning system we have for our elementary students.
How’s Middle School?
Middle school can be described as a few years of growth, learning, and development that each person experiences in their lifetime. Middle school is a huge amount of development for students because it teaches them to be leaders, social butterflies, and overall positive influences for the people around them. Our middle school is filled with talented individuals that work hard and ultimately give our school the great reputation that it has. Our students exercise R.E.A.C.H., and they need to be recognized for their achievements. We need to ask ourselves a question; how’s Middle school?
Current Sports and Activities
Spring has finally come, and its fantastic beauty has brought a wave of new sports into the school’s athletic system. Spring has brought sports like baseball, softball, tennis, and track. These sports have recently started, and they are going excellently. Our school’s baseball team is doing better than ever. There are a lot more kids playing than last year, and the sport has connected athletes together with the bond of friendship, teamwork, and effort. Our softball team is also doing great. With a packed schedule, the girls on the softball team are a remarkably busy group (to say the least)! Our school has also recently brought together a tennis team. This team is creating a bond among students through an incredible sport! Tennis has most certainly
kept these kids busy, and their hard work is showing itself on the courts! Being busy is a good thing to be! Our track team is also remarkably busy. It is hugely impressive how successful our track and field group has been this year. They have had many school records and top finishes with the meets that the track and field group has run so far. Our entire school also recently held the penny wars! This was a fundraiser led by the Chick-fil-A leadership team and all the donations have gone to supporting the wish of a local MakeA-Wish child. The leadership team is always determined to help and make this community better!
Up and Coming Events Our middle school has some extraordinary events coming up soon. Our middle school recently finished spring MAP testing and the March Madness competition is in full throttle. The middle school will also be having eighth grade formal on April 20. Eighth grade formal will be a wonderful experience for the eighth graders, and it will reflect the amazing experiences they have had in middle school! April Fool’s Day is also just around the corner. Keep an eye out for any pranksters!
That’s a Wrap!
Middle school is a crucial part of any person’s life. Middle school leaves teenagers with great experiences that form great memories! Our middle school is always a busy place, but it is good to be busy. Frankly, it is hard to walk down the middle school hallways without seeing the lively, bustling education system that we are all lucky to call our middle school. Our middle school is a great place, but the only reason it is so great is because of the people that occupy it!
Photo provided Williamsburg Independent High School junior Herman Canada, III, recently spent time in the state capital after being selected as a FRYSC Legislative Page for Kentucky House Representative Nick Wilson. Canada was able to spend time with Wilson while at the capital, as well as take a self-guided tour of the buildings with other students and learn about the legislative process.
Then & Now
ABOVE: Williamsburg Independent School when it was located just down the street on what is now the University of the Cumberlands’ campus. That building still exists and is used for the university’s education classes. BELOW: WIS as it looks today.
Louisville
this
a state officer position, while Parker and Fields competed in technology problem solving and served as voting delegates.
LittLe Jacket Square
All About Rabbits
DIRECTIONS:
Photos provided
Candace Sutton (top), Adrien Parker and Ryan Fields (above) represented Williamsburg Independent High School is the state Technology Student Association competition in
earlier
month. Sutton ran for
A L k to the
FUTURE
thoughts for seniors as they prepare for graduation and beyond
By Elijah Muse Student Editor & Jacob Durham Writer
What is being a senior to you as a student?
Is it an opportunity to leave and go into the workforce or pursue whatever passion you may have, or is it having the ability to make change occur?
A famous poet once argued that we burn bright, but only for a while. I encourage our seniors and anyone interested in causing change in our school to consider this concept.
Our school doesn’t have to follow outdated traditions in a gloomy learning environment; we just need to express our opinions.
Senior Projects
Our seniors (myself included) have been working hard to determine what we can do to make this school a better learning environment.
This leads us to our appropriately named senior projects, essentially our passion projects, which we wanted to see at school. This leads me to our newest addition at Williamsburg Independent: a science fair!
The science fair will be hosted in mid-April, and the organizers should be hanging flyers up soon.
The organizers are some of our seniors, who have coordinated with staff inside the building to gather some judges, get feedback, and ensure the fair runs smoothly.
This is just one of the many new additions at Williamsburg, and hopefully, there will be more. Even this newspaper is an example of a senior project, so I encourage seniors and upcoming seniors to look back at their high school experience: what did you miss, and what do you want to take away from your educational journey here at Williamsburg?
Job Shadowing/Closing
Other ideas include job shadowing.
While some of our younger readers may not think this is a significant change with our school, our juniors and seniors will need these technical skills and experiences in whatever field they pursue.
As seniors, we are given a particular image; children see us, and you, as these fearless leaders, can inflict change and improve the world.
Who are we to show them that we can’t? We can change our learning environment, and we have been, so we as seniors should stand togeth er, regardless of any differ ences, and work to make Williamsburg a better school.
Photos provided
RIGHT: A group of Williamsburg High School juniors participated in the 2024 Leadership Tri-County Program earlier this month. The leadership class of 2024 hosted their seventh annual Junior Leadership Tri-County, which including juniors from Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties. The purpose of the event is to build personal leadership skills, promote networking and increase awareness of the needs and opportunities in the tri-county. L-R: Jayden Matlock, Angel Stephens, Megan Partin, Ethan Reed, Herman Canada.
BELOW: The Williamsburg Elementary Academic Team completed its season over the weekend. The team placed sixth overall in the region against 14 other schools. Individually, Colton Farris placed first in composition and seventh in math, John Creekmore placed fifth in composition and John Curtis White placed 11th in math.
BOTTOM RIGHT: The Williamsburg FFA team had a great showing earlier this month during their regional competition. In total, 19 students competed. The students placing in the top three in an event, their event and their place are as follows: Trevor Wyatt – Ag Mechanics: Superior Third Place, Zaden Housekeeper – Goat & Sheep: Superior First Place, Makenzie Rice – AIC Exam: Superior Third Place, Trent Cox – Extemporaneous: Superior Third Place. Zaden Housekeeper will also move on to compete at the state level in June.
C C oa C h ’ s orner
By Elijah Muse Student Editor
You’ve seen them on the field or court, now get to know them a little better off of it. Coach’s Corner offers short, question-and-answer style interviews with the school’s variety of sports coaches.
Mr. Brennan Patrick, Head Baseball Coach
Q: “Where are you from?”
A: “Grew up in Lebanon, Tennessee, and I lived in Missouri until recently.”
Q: “Where did you go to college?”
A: Cumberland University in Tennessee
Q: “What made you want to come to Williamsburg?”
A: “I’ve always wanted to be a head coach. I college coached at UHSP, but I had heard an opportunity opened up here, and I felt it was where I needed to be.”
Ms. Elizabeth Spires, Head Tennis Coach
Q: “How long have you been at Williamsburg?”
A: “I have been here since preschool up.”
Q: “Why did you become a teacher?”
A: “I was not going to be a teacher, but I shifted my focus after substituting for a while.”
Q: “How’s tennis this year?”
A: “We are feeling great this year; while we haven’t had many of our matches this year due to weather. The game we were able to play was very close and
GOOD
LUCK TO ALL OF OUR TEAMS AS THEIR SEASONS CONTINUE
