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.

I Am Building Woodward Academy // Staff Profile // Lorenzo White

After growing up in small town Texas in a suburb outside of Houston, it was football that brough Lorenzo White to Iowa. He graduated high school in 1998 and went to Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas on a football scholarship where he excelled on the field and graduated with an
Associate degree. He transferred to Iowa State University and played for the Cyclones, majoring in Sociology.

In 2002, he entered the NFL as a free agent and went to mini camp at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ facility, and later spent the remainder of the year with the Minnesota Vikings. At the end of the 2002 season, he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to heart failure. This prevented Lorenzo from continuing to pursue his football career and led him back to Woodward.
   
Lorenzo first started working at Woodward Academy his senior year in college. When he returned, he worked as a youth counselor and quickly was promoted to supervisor. He is currently the Program Director of Pathfinder Hall. Lorenzo has been with the football program since the beginning, serving an assistant coach for 3 years. This was his third season as Head Coach.

Wrestling Week

Wrestling Week has become an annual tradition at Woodward Academy that is full of costumes, makeup, and the ridiculous personas that occupy organizations like the WWE. For the past three years, both students and staff have paid homage to the "sport" of professional wrestling in preparation for a show put on by Impact Professional Wrestling on Saturday Night.

On its surface, the week plays right into our student body's demographic: teenaged boys. They love the spectacle and it is a good reason to get crazy. But Wrestling Week is much more than that and a reflection of the philosophy at Woodward Academy. Organized activities are a staple on campus. During the week, students attend school, participate in high school athletics, have therapy groups, extracurricular activities, clean the dorm, and get homework done. The weekends are just as structured with schedules penned out at least week in advance.

Beyond keeping students engaged in positive activities, this week is a good opportunity for staff to get involved as well. When Program Directors, Group Leaders, teachers, and counselors get involved in any activity, it subtlety shows students that we can all have fun, and work hard together. The fact is that these fun weeks make the more difficult moments for students much easier to take on. They see staff invested in their life and they will be much more likely to open up and accept feedback from them. The organizer of the week, Program Director, Bill Badgely, took participation to a new level when he (and his brother) got in the ring for a final tag team event.

The above image of Group Leaders on campus says it all about the week. If you want to see all of the wrestlers from the week, and pictures from the event, visit our Knight Pics website.

State Cross Country // Video

At Woodward Academy, cross country is a team sport. Since 2006, the Knights have qualified for the Iowa High School State Meet three times ('06, '07, '12) and the runners from this year's team were looking to add to that legacy. Head Coach Jason Anderson has led each of those teams to State and knew this team had the potential to be very special early in the season. "This team never quit. They came to practice every day and wanted to work. They never gave up and they kept their eyes on the goal." That goal was to make it to State.

Like all sports at Woodward Academy, most of this year's runners were new to cross country, and they would need to be coached. Anderson and his assistant coach, Aric Rush, have worked together since 2012 and they have a similar philosophy when it comes to cross country. They are both positively idealistic, and this leadership is reflected in the team. It has to be. Cross country is hard work. Coach Rush was joking when he said "our sport is other sport's punishment," but he is kind of right.

Both coaches stressed that the most difficult aspect of cross country is building the mental determination in the runners. Rush commented that "cross country is always a good idea to most students… until it gets hard. Top runners overcome that and motivated runners excel." That was the kind of team the Knights had this year. Desmond Edwards was the top runner for the team much of the season, but he was surrounded by a lot of inspired runners. Even on easy days, practice often turned competitive because the runners wanted to log quicker times or beat their teammates. That level of grit was an instinct in this team and perhaps the most determining factor to their success.

All season, the Knights competed against top schools, many of which were larger than Woodward Academy and who had an established cross country program. Although they did not win meets, the Knights used the competition to increase their 3.1 mile times and they peaked at the right time. When it came to districts, the hard work paid off. Desmond Edwards and Ricky Gabbard finished 6th and 14th, qualifying themselves for State individually. But it was the second wave of runners who made the difference and pushed the team to State. Each position, and each runner counts. Many cross country teams undervalue the 6th and 7th runners on the team, but for the Knights, they are who made the difference. After edging out a couple runners at the end, the Knights placed 3rd at Districts after beating Des Moines Christian by 2 points.

On October 31, the Knights represented Woodward Academy at the Iowa High School State Cross Country meet, annually held in Fort Dodge. You can see highlights from the meet in the video above. 

Meet the Admissions Team

If you have ever been involved with the admissions process at Woodward Academy, odds are that you interacted with one of these admissions representatives. Under the direction of Admissions Director, Guthrey Fritz, these guys are responsible for balancing the steady flow of students who are both arriving for the first time, and leaving as successful graduates of the program. Last year, this team helped admit 356 students to Woodward Academy.

Because this team works so closely with outside systems, they are often tasked with helping educate and market the school as well as admissions. They arrange tours for individuals who have never been to campus, and talk about the type of care that can be provided to students. The guys in admissions serve a vital role in the daily operations on campus and keep building Knights all day long.

After the break, meet the team:

"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!