The Class of 2017 // Video

On May 17, the graduating Class of 2017 was honored with a commencement ceremony in the WA gymnasium. During the 2016-2017 academic school year, 51 students either received their high school diploma or Hi-SET equivalent, which is the largest graduating class in school history. The event was the culmination of a life-changing path that the students decided to take while at Woodward Academy. Many would admit that graduating was an unattainable dream and something that was not meant for them. But now that dream is complete where no one can take it from them.

Many parents and family members were able to attend the ceremony and the gymnasium was loud. When handing out diplomas, Lead Teacher William Terry noted how it is often protocol to hold applause until the end, but said "At Woodward Academy, we don't do it that way." As he read off the list of graduates, the student section exploded as they cheered for their dorm mates, and there was more than a couple tears of joy shed from the audience.

Principal Cory Wenthe began the ceremony with an introduction, and Group Living Director, Trent Fleshner, announced that seniors Ammari Johnson and Destry Johnson were recipients of the Neiko Morris Scholarship, a generous gift from the parents of a student alum. Senior speakers included Darnell Green, who talked about when he first started contemplating his future was mid-sprint at a track meet last year, as well as seniors Casey Bynum and Destry Johnson. Keynote speaker, Mark Wills, had a great uplifting speech where he challenged students to be their best and reminded them that this day was not the last time they will graduate from something, and that committing themselves and graduating from anything is a good day.

Track & Field Season Recap 2017 // Video

The 2017 track & field season will forever be seen as one of the best in school history. No other group of athletes have embraced the team aspect of a very individual sport quite like this year's squad. Since the first year of the track & field program in 2007, Woodward Academy has a long tradition of excellence in the sport with a couple state champions ('07 and '14) and team district championships ('11 and '14). Neither of those things happened this season, but this year's team rewrote the school record book in more ways than one. 

"Overall, this was a really fun group to coach. What makes this team different than past years to me is their attention to detail in perfecting what they did. Whether it was a handoff, a hurdle, warming up for a race, or how they come out of the blocks, this team was very specific with how they trained and prepared for events," said Head Coach Shaun Mohon. This team adopted the theme of "meet the standard," and the team really pushed themselves and their coaching staff to embrace it every day. "This group ran with the theme and you could see it throughout their workouts, meets, and in day to day life as track athletes."

By mid-April, the hard work in practice was starting to show dividends in meets. The team got their first win of four, which tied a school record, at Central Decatur on April 11. They followed that meet up a week later with their second win at Van Meter. The winning pushed this team even harder in practice and they rallied around each other. They knew their end goal was to compete with the best in the state. 

ISPRA Communications Awards 2017

Last year, Woodward Academy competed in the Iowa School Public Relations Association (ISPRA) Communications Awards competition for the first time and scored really well, winning 3 out of 4 categories where we submitted entries. After last year's experience, we wanted to continue that expectation of excellence for our communications, but also knew that the competition would be equally as fierce from all school districts.

Of the 20 events, we identified 6 categories where we felt we could perform well, which included Brochure, Photography, Print Newsletter, Social Media, Video, and Website. As a local chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA), it is policy that another state score the submissions based on rubrics, and this year the Arizona chapter judged the Iowa submissions.

The rubric for each submission looks at design, clarity and focus, writing quality, evaluation, and overall effect. When averaged together, if a submission scores between 7-8, they earn an Award of Merit. Scores between 8-10 earned an Award of Excellence. Out of that pool, submissions that scored 9 and above are eligible to earn the top honor: the Blue & Gold Award as the best in the state.

This year, there were 98 entries from 20 different school districts, the most ever for ISPRA. On Thursday, April 20, the results were announced and Woodward Academy once again scored well. Of the six categories, 1 submission received an Award of Merit (Social Media), and the other 5 all received high scores in the Award of Excellence range. Of those, 2 received the top prize of the Blue & Gold Award (print newsletter and website), and were recognized as the best in the state. This was the second year in a row that our Knightly Knews was recognized with the top award, and the website category recognized our newly launched site. You can see all of the results on the ISPRA website, and below is a recap of how Woodward Academy performed.

Iowa School Public Relations Association
Print Newsletter - Knightly Knews Vol. 38 and 39 - Blue & Gold Award
Website - www.wwacademy.com - Blue & Gold Award
Photography - Cross Country 2016 - Award of Excellence
Video - Become a Knight video series - Award of Excellence
Brochure - Become a Knight - Award of Excellence
Social Media - Facebook Page - Award of Merit

New Website Features

On February 21, Woodward Academy launched its new website under the same URL home: www.wwacademy.com. This redesigned site boasts a modern, colorful design, full of images and videos from campus, and offers quick and easy access to essential information about the school and programming.

Discussions of a new website began in April 2016 and formally got underway a few months later in August. The previous site had been live for nearly 10 years and had gone mostly unchanged during the time. Although much of the available content was still accurate, the site was dated and very much not in line with the rest of the school’s communications pieces.

Woodward Academy's communications plan consists of a quarterly newsletter (the Knightly Knews), Knight Pics website, a blog, YouTube channel, Facebook page, and various other print publications. They all hold a consistent style, which the current website lacked. Rather than update the current site, a complete redesign was decided upon to bring it in line with the other pieces of the communications plan.

In order to maintain the aesthetic of Woodward Academy's other communication pieces, the design of the website was developed in-house rather than outsourced to a web development company. Communications Director, Eric Smidt, compiled the content of each page, mapped the new site, and designed within Adobe Photoshop. Once mocked up, the Photoshop files were passed on to Willetts Technology, who was responsible for converting those files into web compatible versions for the new site. Willetts Technology maintains all web hosting and maintenance for the schools under the umbrella of Sequel Youth and Family Services. After seven months of design and development, the new site was complete.

Become a Knight // Staff Videos

We talk a lot about how becoming a Knight changes the lives of the students at Woodward Academy. But they are not the only ones who are impacted by the amazing culture on campus. The adults who work tirelessly with these students are also changed as a result of their time on campus and it is an experience that is unique and one they never forget.
   
Many staff members have made a career at Woodward Academy because they have fallen in love with the school’s mission. The work is not easy, but they know they are fundamentally making a difference in the lives of youth on a daily basis. This is the primary reason why staff continue to love Woodward Academy, but it is not the only factor. The staff highlighted here volunteered to be interviewed on camera as a part of a video series that you can see on our YouTube Channel. Through their discussions, a number of similarities arose as to why they love being a Knight and how Woodward Academy is more than just a job.
   
At Woodward Academy, no day is exactly the same and this flexibility appeals to a lot of people. Group Leader Darryl Stewart put it best when he said that he couldn’t work at a desk job. He said it’s just not him and prefers to be active with the students and fellow staff members to plan the day and come up with solutions to problems. This “family feel” approach was a common theme among these staff and they attribute much of their success to the support they received early on.
   
A lot of veteran staff members entered Woodward Academy straight out of college, knowing very little about the school. They anticipated it being a stepping stone to something larger, but fell in love with the philosophy, the culture, and how it challenged them professionally. At the time, they entered a world they knew little about, but over time were molded in the Woodward Academy way.
   
Program Director Ted Rives said it is the “best job I’ve ever had.” Case Manager Sierra Schnoebelen continues that sentiment when she says “It’s a job I wake up and want to come to work every day.” These staff make Woodward Academy successful and pave the way for the next group who decides to Become a Knight.

EMDR Trauma Therapy // Video

Experiencing trauma can fundamentally change a person’s life. Tragedy is unpredictable and can creep up in the form of natural disasters, a family member passing away, or living in an environment that fosters prolonged emotional stress. Unfortunately, for many students at Woodward Academy, traumatic experiences have plagued their life at far too early of an age. Many live with post-traumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms from living in neighborhoods with rampant community violence (i.e. gang neighborhoods), and are asked to function as if nothing has ever happened.

It takes a long time to heal from severe emotional pain. If not addressed, youth who experience trauma early in life are at a much higher risk of having problems in adulthood, such as anxiety disorders, drug abuse, and prolonged criminal behaviors. Over the past several years, the clinical team at Woodward Academy has placed a greater emphasis on trauma therapy, including the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

Welcome to Elmcrest // Video Tour

For approximately a year, the clinical services team has been occupying their new wing on campus: Elmcrest Hall. The expansive space is certainly making a difference to what they had before. For years, the team was separated across campus, and at one point, 6 therapists were sharing a small classroom in the education building. Today, thirteen therapists have their own office space in Elmcrest, with plenty of room to grow.

Amidst the offices, there are several large areas for group sessions to take place. Knight’s Mind Training, art therapy, and trauma therapy groups now have ample space to operate. In addition, the substance abuse counselors and behavioral health intervention services (BHIS) counselors have moved to Elmcrest to join the rest of the team. There is also a play therapy space, and a room dedicated solely to neurofeedback.

To get a visual of what Elmcrest looks like, take a tour with clinical therapist, Monica Johnson.

Knight's Mind Training // Video

A significant number of students at Woodward Academy have been identified as having high levels of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. This refers to the emotional and behavioral responses that fall outside of the accepted social norms. This results in entrenched patterns of maladaptive and anti-social behavior. Severe and explosive anger, physical, verbal, and sexual aggression, opposition and defiance, anxiety, and depression / suicidality are all indicators of this dysregulation. The disruptive behaviors of these types of students present an ongoing challenge and frustration.
   
The current gold-standard of care and treatment for this is an approach known as dialectical behavior therapy. By incorporating this approach while also drawing upon other frameworks such as acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, somatic experiencing, and interpersonal neurobiology, the Knight’s Mind Training (KMT) program represents an array of evidence-based interventions which have been shown to be very effective in groups with teens.
   
That is a very clinical explanation for KMT that also requires a practical application. So what is Knight’s Mind Training? Chris Johnson, the Clinical Therapist behind the KMT program explains that “just as we do PT (physical training), we must also train our minds,” and every day is training day. As a huge advocate for mindfulness training, he believes that every person, not just students, would benefit from this program.
   
Our bodies carry stress and we start to feel overwhelmed in certain situations. Then our minds start to say ‘I don’t like this feeling’ and we begin assigning reasons for why we feel that way. “I’m overwhelmed, I can’t handle it. I’m overwhelmed, it’s that person’s fault. I’m overwhelmed, I’m so awful. And all of these stories are heaping more suffering and pain on top of the pain that is already there.” KMT helps individuals “pay attention to the present moment... without judgement” so that they can have a clear mind with what is right in front of them.

Chris Johnson, MS - Clinical Therapist
With 15 years of experience in the counseling field, Chris has developed a unique way to reach adolescents in Knight’s Mind Training. With a degree in Psychology from Central College, a Masters of Mental Health Counseling degree from Drake University, and having been a Knight for 6 years, he developed this curriculum in 2013. His own mindfulness studies include practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and working toward a certificate in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for Teens. 

Become a Woodward Academy Knight // Video

What does it mean to be a Woodward Academy Knight? For many students, they would tell you that they have changed. That they are more mature and polite. They listen to feedback and are open to ideas. They are respectful, kind, caring, have empathy, and they have reflected on their past. They know what they did, and they now understand the ramifications of those actions.

As staff members, we initiate this difficult change and delight in watching it take hold in students. But that change happens on our campus, in isolation to the rest of the world. Few people see it happen, and even less think that it can. Eventually, many of our students must confront the fact that some people still think that they are criminals… that they are lazy and lack self-discipline, that they cannot amount to anything. So perhaps the greatest characteristic of a Knight is having grit and the desire to overcome those obstacles, because "those people are wrong."

Over the course of their stay at Woodward Academy, these students have come to that conclusion honestly. Their change is authentic, and now they see their future as bright as ever. Months ago, these students were on a collision course toward incarceration, or an even worse fate. Now they can say "I am a Woodward Academy Knight. I will never accept negative behavior. I will never quit."

What is the ripple effect of this change? The goal is to help every student who attends Woodward Academy with their immediate micro-behavioral needs. We want them to be kind and respectful, and be able to listen. They must suppress some of their immediate behavioral urges, and get rid of others all together. For many students, this can happen very quickly (within weeks), and it starts them on the path toward the real benefit of being a Knight. On a macro level, this change takes hold to course correct their life. It serves a long term purpose so that they will be able to share their wisdom with their brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. Being a Knight means that our students have an opportunity to be a quality student, a great son, and eventually a good employee, spouse, mentor, and father. That is what happens when you Become a Woodward Academy Knight, and that is how you change tomorrow.

Baseball Poster 2016 // Video

Now that the baseball season is in full swing, here is the official poster of the 2016 Woodward Academy Knights team. This year's squad has been performing well this season and there is still time to catch a game at Knights Field. The poster is a composite image of each individual player and a sweet aerial shot of the home field. Be sure to pick up yours today on campus to add to your collection.

If you would like to see additional pictures of the baseball team in action, you can visit our Knight Pics website and after the break, we have embedded a highlight video from one of the team's home games.

Open House 2016 // Video

Woodward Academy’s annual Open House was an event filled day that took place on June 2nd. In many ways, the day serves two purposes: it is a fun day full of activities for students and staff, and a great way to showcase the school and campus to anyone interested in the school and new to the Woodward Academy way.

Guests who attended the day were treated with expanded events for this year’s event. For years, the day kicked off with a 5K “fun run” that is more grueling than enjoyable. Part of the course has participants running through a chilly creek, and then finishing by going up what campus calls the “Iron Man,” a 70 degree muddy hill that is only more difficult with wet shoes. This year’s staff and student winners were teach Tyler McCubbin and newly crowned school record holder in the 400m, Ashton Putzier.

In an attempt to get more people involved, all of the events were given point values to determine which dorm performed the best. As a traditionally colorful day, full of themed customes, points were also awarded in this category. Once the 5K concluded, dorms assembled their teams for the tug-o-war contest, as well as the outdoor basketball and bags tournament. After lunch, the monthly assembly concluded the day by announcing the Student and Staff of the month, and the monthly awards of Silver Apple, Golden Dustpan, and Knight’s Achievement Award. Once tallied, Delta company became the dorm winner of the day.

Why should you attend next year? The Woodward Academy culture is on full display. Many guests who took campus tours with students were blown away by their ability to explain the school, programming, and how it has changed their life. It is also pretty fun to watch and get a sense for how all the students and staff interact on a daily basis. If you’re interested in seeing more pictures from Open House, visit our Knight Pics website.

State Track & Field Meet 2016 // Video

The 2016 track & field season came to a close May 19-21 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines at the Iowa High School State Track & Field Meet. It was an end cap to a remarkable season where the Knights won 4 team titles, numerous individual events, and broke 2 school records.

Head Coach Shaun Mohon pushed the phrase "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" all season. He reflected that this year's team, from a pure talent standpoint, was not where previous WA teams had been. "We did not have the top end speed that we have had in the past. The reason this team was so successful was due to hard work, practicing well, and the work of all the coaches."

Read more about how the season progressed and the state meet after the break.

The Graduating Class of 2016

On May 18, we honored the graduating class of 2016 with a commencement ceremony in the Woodward Academy gymnasium. This year, 33 students completed coursework to earn their high school diploma, and 13 students fulfilled the testing requirements to obtain their Hi-SET high school equivalent. This was the largest graduating class to date at Woodward Academy, and is a celebration of the commitment that these students made.

Group Living Director, Trent Fleshner, summarized their journey best when he said this day was not "always guaranteed for some of you guys… and I think it means all that much more, and it's that much sweeter that this day is here." Quincee Altman and Matt Sosa provided the student speeches from the senior class and choose to spend most of their time reflected on how Woodward Academy changed their mindset about education. Quincee self-disclosed that he was the student who would sleep in class and not do his homework. Today, he spoke as this year's Governor's Scholar recipient. While introducing Matt, Fleshner recalled a story that in his referral packet, a judge said that he was "the worst juvenile delinquent" that his county has ever seen. Fleshner countered that statement by describing how Matt has succeeded at Woodward Academy by being a leader on campus and "has been nothing but a great kid for Woodward Academy." The keynote was Dr. Anthony Jones of the Ames Community School District. He was inspired by the stories that originated from Woodward Academy and offered tips for the leaders of tomorrow.

The entire ceremony was a celebration. If you have time, check out the video recap of the event above. There are some really great moments, both large and small, that portray the camaraderie and commitment that both Woodward Academy students and staff put into this day. Whether it's Principal Jeremy Hilbert adjusting a graduating senior's tie, the inspiring senior speeches, or Lead Teacher William Terry encouraging the crowd to cheer loudly as they walked across the stage, it is safe so say that this commencement ceremony was unlike any before it.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Video

Watch the Knights of Iron powerlifting team as they traveled to Orlando, Florida and won an 11th consecutive USAPL High School National Championship.

I Am Building Woodward Academy // Part 4 // Videos

Every day, the staff at Woodward Academy work tirelessly to provide the best possible care to students. The three staff featured in this edition of the I Am Building Woodward Academy video series have 24 years of experience at Woodward Academy and are truly building the school for the future.

Collectively, they lead the charge in the classroom, ensure the safety of students, coach on the athletic field, and train staff to provide them the tools to be the best version of themselves. In the videos, they discuss how they have grown professionally over the years and why they have choosen Woodward Academy as their career. Program Director Shaun Mohon's video is embedded above with principal Jeremy Hilbert and Director of Nursing, Jamie Golly below.

"A New Man" // A Songwriting Video Project

Trayvon Carter, a 17 year old student from Houston, had an interest and a simple idea: to write lyrics. The initial inspiration started at home, but really gained momentum from being a part of the Knights Club on campus and attending monthly assemblies (that all students attend) and the Knights Club meetings every week. For the past several years, these meetings have been given an extra boost from Jeremy Hilbert, principal at Woodward Academy. As a DJ on the side, each assembly is filled with bumping music and is run like a monthly pep rally. The students get loud and crazy and Tray, along with fellow student Chris Delasbour, found that the music moved them. So one afternoon they approached William Terry, Lead Teacher, with their idea.

William has always had an interest in hip hop music and over the past two years, has performed live at assemblies on campus. He writes when time allows, so when Tray and Chris approached him with the idea, he found it not only as a good way to work with these students, but as a creative outlet for himself. Tray and Chris chose an instrumental version of Drake's Tuscan Leather as their soundtrack, and the three went to work. Their goal was to write, and their lyrics came from campus and the behavioral change that they felt from being a Woodward Academy Knight.

The three worked for several months, writing and rehearsing the song. When complete, they approached Eric Smidt, Communications Director, to record the track. Once he heard the song, he quickly realized that more needed to be done. A New Man is Woodward Academy's first music video, written and recorded by students and staff on campus. You can check out the video above.

Besides highlighting the three stars of the song, it also showcases the campus pride that is evident in all students. This student idea became a collaboration effort that turned into an awesome music video… Go Knights!

Popsicle Bridges // Video

Students in Mr. Larson's Physical Science courses studied the effect that force has on bridges. For the experiment, students were put into teams and were instructed to build model bridges with popsicle sticks and glue, simulating an actual bridge that everyone uses today. The most common types constructed in class were beam and arch bridges.

The specifications for the experimen is that each bridge could use a maximum of 200 sticks, it had to be 18-24 inches across, and 1 inch off of the ground. Once done, each bridge was put to the test by adding increasing weight to see how much each bridge could support. In the video above, the destruction of each bridge was pretty fun and some of the student reactions are hilarious. The top bridge held 78.7 pounds hanging from it. Pretty impressive for popsicle sticks.

I Am Building Woodward Academy // Part 3 // Past Executive Directors

Mandy Moses and Bill Dean served as Executive Director for a decade from 2001-2012 and helped build Woodward Academy into what it is today. They now help build other facilities across the country as Chief Program Officer and Vice President of Operations for Sequel Youth & Family Services. They recently sat down and talked about their time on campus in the ongoing video series, I Am Building Woodward Academy.

Mandy Moses - Chief Program Officer, Sequel Youth and Family Services
Woodward Academy Executive Director 2001-2008


Bill Dean - Vice President of Operations, Sequel Youth and Family Services
Woodward Academy Executive Director 2008-2012

I Am Building Woodward Academy // Part 2 // Videos

Having dedicated and invested staff members is our greatest asset as a school and it is a primary reason why our students have amazing opportunities for success. Trent Fleshner, William Terry, and Jason Anderson are three of those members and they sat down and talked about how they are building WA in this ongoing video series. You can see the first video embedded above with the other two after the break.

Powerlifting Nationals // Video

You can now watch the Woodward Academy Knights win their 10th consecutive powerlifting team national championship in the video embedded above. It follows the Knights as they traveled to Milwaukee, WI to compete in the USAPL High School National Championships that were held March 27-29. In addition to the entire team lifting, you'll also be able to see Julious Walker break 3 American records when he squatted 622.8 pounds, and deadlifted 573.2 pounds for a total of 1,521.2 pounds. He was also named Best Outstanding Lifter of the competition. Congrats to Coach Guthrey Fritz and his team of assistant coaches on 10 straight championships. This year marked the end of an era as Coach Fritz is retiring from the program that he started and passing on the keys to the weight room for next season.