Class of 2013

The graduating class of 2013 was honored at their commencement ceremony last week Thursday, May 23. The seniors paraded into the gymnasium to receive their diplomas, making them official high school graduates.

The keynote speaker was Jared Klimowski, a recent graduate from the University of Northern Iowa who majored with a degree in Finance and an emphasis in investments. Years ago, he was also a member of the student body at Woodward Academy and spoke to the graduating class about making choices when they leave WA and surrounding themselves with positive influences.

After Klimowski, three members of the graduating class addressed the crowd. Luis Sandavol-Avalos, Princeton Little, and Irving Vivar talked about what it means to be graduating high school. For some of them, they are the first in their families to earn a diploma. Luis feels as though he has "broken the cycle" and looks forward to moving onto college later this fall. Congratulations to the Class of 2013.

State Track & Field Meet // Video

Hot off their District victory, the Knights participated in the Iowa State Track and Field Championships this past weekend, May 16-18, and set a new bar of excellence for the springtime sport. Held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, the co-ed meet is one of the largest in the country and an awesome experience for both spectators and athletes. The Knights qualified for the State Meet in 7 events (shuttle hurdle, long jump, 400 m, 4x200, 100 m dash, 110 high hurdles, shot put) and competed against other 1A schools all three days.

Early on Thursday, the long jump competition got underway and the Knights had two athletes competing. Team leader Darius Scott-Crayton and recently crowned two-time powerlifting National Champion Dedrrick Johnson both qualified for the event and after the first round, moved onto the finals. Jumping 20'10.5", Dedrrick finished in 4th place with Darius finishing 6th, both scoring points for the team. This marked the first time that two WA athletes have scored points at the State Meet in the same event.

After the jump, check out more about meet along with a video from the meet.

New Admissions Director - Guthrey Fritz

Over the past year, Woodward Academy has seen a lot of promotions and career advancements in many of its supervisor positions. As WA has expanded its reach to more students through the Phase 5 house and now providing services through Woodward Academy Community Based Services (WACBS), additional positions have been needed.

Back in February, we introduced Ryan Santi as the new Executive Director of Woodward Academy after Bill Dean moved into a Vice President of Operations position at Sequel Youth Services. At that point, Shawn Hollenkamp took over as Admissions Director on an interim basis and is now Executive Director of WACBS. Today, we're please to introduce WA's new Admissions Director: Guthrey Fritz.

Guthrey Fritz started his career as a Youth Counselor at Woodward Academy in 1997, after graduating from Buena Vista University with a degree in Criminal Justice. Since then, he has held several roles in his sixteen years at Woodward, including Youth Counselor, Training Officer / Admissions Assistant and Program Director as has experience in all three of the Academy's programs. Mr. Fritz has been Head Coach for the Woodward Academy Powerlifting team since 2003 and holds 8 National Championship titles. In June 2013, Mr. Fritz became the Woodward Academy Director of Admissions.

Myles "The Fury" Jury Speaks on Campus // Video

In what has become a recent trend, top Knights on campus today had a great opportunity to listen to another top athlete in his profession when Myles "The Fury" Jury came on campus. Jury is currently an ultimate fighter in the UFC and to date has a professional record of 12-0 with his most recent win coming in April of this year. Early in his career he entertained fights in California when was selected to be a part of The Ultimate Fighter television series that eventually launched his career into the UFC.

Jury spoke about how he made choices early in his life to stay focused on his career and not to be distracted by negative things. Considering he is active in a very challenging, and potential dangerous profession, he commented that he needs to continue to be focused on his training and career every day. That focus is a choice, and not something that always comes easy.  After speaking, Jury took some pictures with all the Knights and signed some cards for them to take. Thanks to the Polk County Juvenile Court Services for helping arrange for Jury to speak at WA. After the break, you can see a video of Jury talking with WA student.

Track Districts Champions

For the second time in three seasons, the Woodward Academy Knights have been crowned track and field district champions. With a total of 128 points (which was a new meet record!), the Knights beat out rivals Madrid and Woodward-Granger to take the title. The entire team performed ridiculously well and earned a ton of medals, with three events earning first place finishes (shuttle hurdles, long jump, and 400 m).

The district meets across the state are also State Meet qualifying events. In Class 1A, the first place finishes in each event automatically qualifies for State, along with the top 12 times from across the state. With several second and third place finishes, the Knights waited until Friday to find out that they qualified in 7 events. Here is the list of events who qualified: shuttle hurdles, long jump, 400m, 4x200, 110 high hurdles, 100m, and shot put. The State meet is held later this week, Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Student Photographer

Photography is a powerful tool that is used to capture emotions and specific events. When used effectively, it creates memories forever and can be amazing pieces of art. At Woodward Academy, select students have access to professional grade equipment and photo expertise. This past semester, one student has excelled above the rest and now has merits to back up his photography. Caleb Johnson scored two honorable mention awards at the West Central Activities Conference annual art show. One was the track poster that he created from scratch (you can view it by clicking here), with his other being a portrait of a WA student with a literature feel to it. This semester, Caleb was put on payroll to work as a photographer at Woodward Academy and has attended a number of WA events.

Family Fun Day 2013

Woodward Academy's Family Fun Day was held on Saturday with an amazing turnout despite the marginal weather. A total of 236 guests came to campus to spend time with WA students and to take part in the planned activities. For many family members, it was their first time on campus and it gave them an opportunity to see what happens at Woodward Academy.

Guests could split their time between various presentations, games in the gymnasium, or just talking with their son. Tours of dorms were organized in the morning and stations set up in the school buildings to educate visitors about WA vocations, athletics, education, treatment, or community based services. The grill was fired up for lunch and the drum line performed in the afternoon for some entertainment. Overall, it was a great day for many of the students and their families to spend some time together and for those families to have a better grasp of all of the opportunities that are offered to students. You can check out more images of the day by clicking here to visit our Knight Pics site.

WCAC Track & Field Results

On Tuesday, the Knights participated in the West Central Activities Conference Track & Field meet in Guthrie Center. They finished 2nd as a team and were conference champions in two events. Messiah Couthen won the 200 M dash and was a part of the 4x100 team along with Stephon Haskins, Cordarro Pearson, and Tevin Nickens that won at the conference meet. The team will run at districts next week with the State Meet at Drake Stadium the week after. Pictured is the official track poster for the season that shows many of the athletes in action throughout the season.