A Look Back at 2015

This past year, we celebrated our 20th anniversary and admitted our 5,000th student, making 2015 a truly memorable year at Woodward Academy. We encourage you to take a look back at some of the best stories from the year.

On the athletic front, our basketball team made an unprecedented run to state and competed at Wells Fargo Arena, a powerlifter dominated high school Nationals and became a runner up World Champion in Prague, Czech Republic, and the cross country team qualified for State for the 4th time since 2006.

We graduated 30 students in May, produced our first music video, and launched Facebook to share all of these moments. The dedicated staff members are to thank for all of these moments, and we've highlighted some of them in our I Am Building Woodward Academy video series. After the break, we have provided links to all of our blog stories from the past year.

5 Challenges of Christmas

The holiday season can be a difficult time for students at Woodward Academy with memories of home and thoughts of their families that naturally creep in during the winter break. As a school, we do our best to help as many students as possible get home passes during the holidays, but not all students will be able to spend time at home. With school out of session for a week and a half, activities are organized to help students keep their minds occupied over the holiday season.

The 5 Challenges of Christmas is an all week competition between dorms that is a hybrid between RUSH Month activities and holiday festivities. The challenges include cleanest dorm, most friendly, student appearances, a PT challenge, and Knight's pride. Each will be judged throughout the week and the 5 Challenges will be interwoven during the day's activities that will also include a holiday theme. During Christmas, holiday movies, baking cookies, and calling home will be the norm on each dorm. The winning dorm will be announced on the Monday after Christmas and those students will be the first to get the new Knights gear.

Knight's Den Remodel

The students of Navigator Hall wanted the best Knight’s Den on campus, and they were willing to get to work in order to get it. All eight dorms on campus are set up in a similar fashion, and each has a place where only Knights can go. The Knight’s Den is where students can relax to read a book, watch a movie, or compete in video game action. When the Navigator Hall students approached their staff team with their idea to revamp it, Program Director Bill Badgley knew the perfect person to head up the project.

Don Teague is Woodward Academy’s Testing Coordinator, and works with students to complete their high school equivalency. He is also assigned to Navigator Hall and is a known handyman on campus when it comes to woodworking. His work is excellent and when he was tasked with the remodel, he knew that his vision for the Knight’s Den would not be cheap.

Over the course of 6 months, the students of Navigator Hall raised approximately $2,500 to fulfill their dream. They accomplished this by organizing a 50/50 raffle, selling concessions at weekend visits, and making hoodies and t-shirts supporting the football team. They were also able to make some money by working off campus. All summer, they were responsible for prepping and managing a little league baseball complex in Polk County. They also sold concessions during Iowa State Cyclone football games inside Jack Trice Stadium, and helped clean a local church every week.

Once the money was raised, the team went to work and they spared no expense. New flat screen televisions (each with their own control) are surrounded by a 14 foot, custom built oak entertainment center. The gaming center includes a Playstation and Xbox 360 that can handle 8 players at once. To make the Knight’s Den truly a special place for viewing, new black out thermal curtains were installed that surround new couches that occupy the raised theater seating.

The entire process was a huge motivator and success for the dorm. The students responded with hard work, dedication, and a sense of purpose to fulfill their desire for a new Knight’s Den.

RUSH Month 2015

Rush Month is an annual tradition on campus that gives students an accelerated opportunity to be a member of the Knights Club. The campus wide initiative traditional happens over the holiday season as a motivator for students. Since its inception a couple years ago, students have responded positively, allowing for it to occur every year.

Group Living Director Trent Fleshner sees this month as an opportunity for students to unite toward a common cause. "This month gets the entire campus focused on getting students who are not a part of the Knights Club involved. It is great for students who recently lost their Knight status to prove that they want to be a part of the Club, and it's perfect for new students to get a kick start for their program."

The first week of Rush Month enlists top Knights from across campus to conduct interviews to all prospective Knights Club members. During this time, the students begin the "pledge" process and are active participants in the club. The second week they earn the privileges of being a Knight, and the third they take on many of the responsibilities that Knights have on the dorm and in the classroom. Rush Month concludes on January 3rd with a celebration of having new Knights on campus. Although this month is an accelerated opportunity for students to earn their Knight status, it certainly does not have diminished expectations. Not all students will make it to the end with their Knight. For those students, they will have a more traditional opportunity when they are ready. But for students who are ready now to prove that they are committed to positive change in their life, Rush Month benefits them as we move toward the end of the year.