Culinary Arts Major

Victor Fuller recently participated in his orientation day at Iowa Central Community College as he prepares for college life later this fall. He spent time signing up for classes, worked on his financial aid, and was exposed to what campus life has to offer such as computer and support services. As a Culinary Arts and Restaurant and Hospitality Management major, Victor also took an extended tour of the culinary arts program.

The head of the program is Chef Michael Hirst, who led the tour of this area and laid out what he expects from his students. One of the most interesting things was the "daily evaluation" rubric he presented the students. After looking at the document, it was amazing at how accurately it married the values that are taught at Woodward Academy every day. Students in his program are evaluated on their acceptance of instruction, dependability / punctuality, initiative / enthusiasm, overall attitude in the work place, personal appearance, and quality of work. These are the characteristics that he views as valuable in the classroom and workplace. For Victor, it also cemented the values that he has been exposed to while attending WA.

Baseball Poster 2014

Nothing says summer more than the Fourth of July and baseball. So this week we thought it would be a good time to unveil the official 2014 Knights baseball poster. The Iowa high school baseball season  starts fast and progresses at a hectic pace with upwards of 5 games a  week. The Knights have been playing well this season and have had a great time on the diamond. The season is already coming to an end with only a handful of games left.

The poster is a composite picture with each player being taken separately and the background images are of Knights Field. When you're on campus, pick one up and add it to your collection. If you want to see all of the other sports posters from the past 6 years, visit our Knight Pics website by clicking here.

Annual Golf Tournament for the Knights Scholarship Fund

Last Friday, the 5th annual golf tournament benefiting the Knights Scholarship Fund teed off at the Beaver Creek Golf Course in Grimes, Iowa. This year, 78 golfers participated in the four-person best ball event. With the help of 35 sponsors and donors, the tournament raised over $6,000 that will directly help WA alumni as they move into the next stage of their life. Some of the money has already been allocated for students later this summer who have been accepted to college for the fall semester.

Over the past 5 years, this tournament alone has generated over $30,000 and changed students' lives for the better. The spirit of the tournament is an extension of Woodward Academy's Lifetime Commitment Program. You can see some pictures from the tournament by visiting our Knight Pics website by clicking here.

Rock Band // Weekend Activities

During the week, students attend school all day and after that participate in either extracurricular activities or high school athletics before heading back to the dorm for group. Their daily schedule is packed and needless to say, they are busy. But what do they do on the weekend?

Most weekends are just as scheduled as during the week. In fact, schedules for the weekend are organized throughout and approved by each dorm's Program Director before Friday afternoon hits. Dorm repair projects, community service activities, family visits, and organized competitions are common on the weekend. In addition to those things, a lot of weekends are themed, as was the case in May when Saturday night brought out the 80's hair band in everyone. Students did their best rock band impressions as Guns 'N Roses, Warrant, and Def Leppard blared throughout the gymnasium. Weekend activities have proven to be a great way to get students involved in campus life and can often times serve as great distractions from any stressors they may be experiencing. You can see more pictures from the Rock Band weekend on our Knight Pics website by clicking here.

WA Year in Review 2013 - 2014 // Video

Open House 5K // Tug O' War // Video

Woodward Academy's annual Open House took place on Wednesday, June 5, and was accompanied with a lot of other events as well. The purpose behind the day is to invite guests onto campus to visit with students and get a better grasp of WA life. Several years ago, we added a 5K run in the morning that isn't designed for the casual runner. This year's course asked participants to run 3 miles through a wooded area, in a creek with waist-high water, and up the Iron Man, a 70 degree, muddy incline, twice. This year's winner was a student from the Phase 5 house: Richard Collins.

An addition for this year's event was a dorm vs. dorm, Tug O' War. As you can imagine, the contest was epic and muddy; everything that a rope battle should be. Check out a video of it below.

After lunch, guests were given tours of the campus by Knights on campus. After that, tables were set up outlining many of WA's different programs including vocations, clinical services, and transitional opportunities. Additionally, they were given a demo of how to utilize all of WA's electronic media including this blog, web app, and YouTube channel. You can see images from the 5K on our Knight Pics website by clicking here. Warning: some are pretty colorful.

Knightly Knews Vol. 30 is now online!

The latest edition of the Knightly Knews is now online and you can access it by clicking here. As a .pdf document, you can view or download the quarterly publication to your computer, iPad, or smartphone for easy reading. Some highlights in this edition include:

- Celebrating the Class of 2014
- A Look at a State Champion
- Track and Field Season
- Trauma Treatment and Training
- Staff Profile
- How to Use the WA Mobile Web Application

We hope you have a chance to check it out and enjoy the read.