6th Annual Knights Scholarship Golf Outing

The 6th Annual Woodward Academy golf outing benefiting the Knights Scholarship Fund took place on June 26 at Beaver Creek Golf Course in Grimes, IA. All proceeds from the tournament help WA alumni as they move into the next stage of their life.

This year with a full sponsorship and nearly 100 golfers, the tournament raised over $6,000 with half of the proceeds going to help support Julious Walker compete at the IPF World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. In the past 6 years, over $36,000 have been raised at this tournament and has helped students pay for tuition and books for college, furnishings for apartment living, and even to help one student long jump at the 2014 and 2015 USATF Indoor National Championships.

Baseball Poster 2015

Here is the official poster of the 2015 Woodward Academy baseball team. Despite the seemingly non-stop rain in Iowa, the season is progressing along and there is still time to catch a game at Knights Field. The team is entering the final stages of the season and are looking to end strong. This year's poster is a composite of each player with a pretty sweet aerial shot of Knight's Field in the background. If you're ever on campus and would like a poster for your office, let us know and you can show your Knights pride.

WYC President Jerry Anderson Receives Tom Lewis Award

Jerry Anderson is the only person who can say that he has been with Woodward Academy for the entire 20 years. As one of the original 13 staff members who started in 1995, Jerry has held a variety of positions on campus including youth counselor, teacher, business manager, admissions representative, and for the past decade, President of the Woodward Youth Corporation. 

     

His commitment to students, and his desire to build Woodward Academy into a nationally recognized facility, is a primary reason why the Academy has grown so significantly over the past two decades. His perseverance and initiative has built 4 school buildings, a gymnasium, football and baseball stadiums, allowed Knights on the Move (student moving company) to take off, and has seen the Academy grow from 4 students to 263. 

     

He was recently given the Tom Lewis Award, honoring his lifetime commitment to working with students. Kristie Oliver, Executive Director of the Coalition for Families and Children’s Services in Iowa, along with Jen Sievert, Executive Director at Forest Ridge Academy, and who currently serves as President of the Coalition Board of Directors, were present at the 2015 commencement ceremony to surprise Jerry with the honor. He was humbled with the award and accepted it knowing that it was a reflection of all of the hard work that staff have put into building Woodward Academy.

WA Powerlifter Makes the WORLD'S Team

Julious Walker is 16 years old and is having the best powerlifting season of any Woodward Academy lifter. This past season, he broke 5 American records and at the USAPL High School National Championships in March, became a National Champion when he squatted 622 pounds, bench pressed 325 pounds, and deadlifted 573 pounds, for a total of 1521 pounds. He thought that was the end of his season until we received a fateful phone call a couple weeks ago. 

As one of the best powerlifters in the nation, Julious has been asked to represent the United States at the IPF Sub-Junior and Junior World Championships that will take place August 31 - September 6 in Prague, Czech Republic. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for Julious and was made possible by the dedication he exhibited this season and the fact that he was a Woodward Academy Knight. 

This year's Knight's Scholarship golf outing will take place on June 26 at the Beaver Creek Golf Course in Grimes, Iowa. Some of this year's proceeds will help Julious travel to Prague. If you would like to sign up as an individual or a foursome, please contact Tami Santi: 

tami.santi@sequelyouthservices.com

(515) 438-3499

State Track & Field Meet 2015

The Woodward Academy Knights qualified for the Iowa High School State Track & Field Meet in 5 events this season and performed well throughout the 3 day event (May 21-23). Terrence Lewis became only the second Woodward Academy runner in the school's history to qualify in 4 separate events (the most allowed) when he qualified in the 100m, 200m, 4x100 and 4x200 events.

On the first day of competition, Terrence and Rashawn Porter just missed the finals in the 100 meter dash with Terrence finishing 9th in the state. He went onto win his heat in the 200m and qualified for the finals after running the race in 22.27 seconds and setting a new school record. On Day 2, the 4x200  relay team set a new personal record when they ran 1:32.9, finishing 14th in the state. In the discus, Ankoma Riddick threw 137 feet in the only field event that the Knights qualified for this year. The highlight of the second day came when the 4x100 relay team looked really impressive by easily winning their heat, running a season best time of 44.05 seconds.

The finals of many events took place on Saturday and it was where Woodward Academy scored some team points. Terrence finished 6th in the state in the 200 meter dash and the 4x100 team ran a crazy fast 43.8 second race and finished 3rd in the state. The state track and field meet is where coaches want their athletes to perform their best, and this season the Knights who ran at Drake Stadium did just that. Several races set new personal records and even a school record was broken. You can see images of the state meet on our Knight Pics website by clicking here.

Graduation Ceremony // Class of 2015

The graduating class of 2015 was honored at the Woodward Academy commencement ceremony today. This year's class consisted of 20 seniors who earned their high school diploma and 10 individuals who completed their Hi-SET tests (a high school equivalency). The ceremony took place in the WA gymnasium with parents and family members, teachers and dorm staff, and the entire student body in attendance. Jeremy Hilbert, Woodward Academy's principal, welcomed everyone, and then in an emotional speech, told each senior how proud he was of them and that it was a privilege to be their education leader this past year.

Governor scholar Julian Acker and Ankoma Riddick gave the senior speeches and offered some thoughts to their fellow graduates. Both have made the most out of their senior year at Woodward Academy. Julian plans to attend Job Corps in the fall while Ankoma will attend college and play football on a scholarship he earned after this season.

The keynote address was given by Jerry Anderson, Woodward Youth Corporation President. The first part of his speech gave the graduating class a history lesson about Woodward Academy. As the only staff member who has been with WA for the past 20 years, Jerry is more than equipped to reflect back and see how far the school was come. In many ways, the growth of the Academy mirrors the growth made by these students. Mr. Anderson  assured them that their growing has only begun and that they have great things ahead of them.

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2015! You can see pictures from the ceremony on our Knight Pics website by clicking here.

WCAC Art Show

This year, 11 students submitted pieces for competition at the West Central Activities Conference (WCAC) art show. The event was held on May 4 at West Central Valley high school and saw high school artists present their artwork in 30 different categories. This year's art show was huge and the competition impressive with many categories having over 30 entries in them.

The Knights saw two students place with two more earning honorable mention for their work. John Smothers earned 2nd place for his paper swan in the Small Sculpture category. John Escobar's desk top earned 5th place in the Graphics Hand-Done category. Beyond those two, Daniel Laurie's India Ink and water color drawing earned an honorable mention in the 2D Mix Media category, while Yerko Mena earned an honorable mention in the Black and White Drawing Objective category. Other submitted pieces from WA students included print making, self portraits, and acrylic painting.

Most of the students were able to make the trip to the art show to see their pieces on display. In addition to the competition, the day involved art workshops, and a feature presentation from local airbrush artists, Shawn Palak. Students were particularly impressed with his work and some were able to try out his equipment. You can see images of the students and their artwork on our Knight Pics website.