When Jerry Anderson made the difficult decision to retire as WYC President, the search was on for his replacement. Starting July 6th, Aaron Peterson became the person that has the responsibility to fill those big shoes. As a native of Madrid, Iowa, Aaron attended Coe College where he ran track and played football, earning his degree in Business Administration and Sports Management in 1994.
This first exposure to Woodward Academy was in 2005 when he agreed to be one of four initial members of the mentor program. He worked with students, offering advice on the importance of having a good work ethic, and helped them develop life skills such as budgeting. Aaron is currently the President of Lonewolf Financial, a company that he founded 11 years ago. He’s been married to his wife Jodi for 16 years, and together they have two children.
This story was originally published in Volume 38 of the Knightly Knews that you can download here.
More than any other person, Jerry Anderson has built Woodward Academy into what it is today. He has been here from the beginning. Literally. On July 10, 1995, when Woodward Academy opened its door to its first four students, Jerry was one of the original 13 staff members. Twenty one years later, on July 5, 2016, he stepped down as President of the Woodward Youth Corporation (WYC), leaving a legacy in tact that is comparable to none.
When our students walk through one of the four school buildings, they can thank Jerry. Our football team competes at their renovated stadium on Friday nights thanks to Jerry. Our baseball team runs the bases at Knights Field, and our students have jobs with Knights on the Move because of Jerry. Today, Woodward Academy has 262 students on campus and is a known industry leader… thanks to Jerry.
The latest edition of our award-winning publication, 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. This Presidential Blueprint edition includes:
- Become a Woodward Academy Knight
- How Jerry Anderson built Woodward Academy
- Class of 2016 Commencement Ceremony
- Open House
- 7th Annual Knight's Scholarship Golf Outing
- Track and Field Season Recap
- Knight's Mind Training
- New WYC President
- Communication Awards
We hope you have a chance to check it out and enjoy the read.
The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) recently announced their 2016 award winners and Woodward Academy earned honors in all three categories in which we submitted. The Golden Achievement Award was given to our comprehensive communications program. Our submission was judged based on the four steps of a public relations program: 1) analysis of the need; 2) planning to meet the need; 3) execution and communication of the program; and 4) formal evaluation. Woodward Academy was one of only 90 schools / districts across the United States to receive this recognition, and one of only two in the State of Iowa. Click here to see the entire list of winners.
We feel proud and honored to have been given the opportunity to tell amazing Woodward Academy stories over the past year, and that those efforts have been recognized at the state and national level. These awards mark the end of this year's campaign, and the beginning of next year's push for great content. Below is a recap of our 2016 awards season: Iowa School Public
Relations Association (ISPRA) Print
Newsletter - Knightly Knews – Blue & Gold Award Photography
- State Basketball – Blue
& Gold Award Video
- I Am Building video series - Blue & Gold Award Social
Media – Facebook Page - Award of Achievement
National School
Public Relations Association (NSPRA)
Comprehensive Plan - Golden
Achievement Award
Video – We Own the Knight Documentary – Award of Merit
Special Purpose Publication – 2015 Guide – Award of Honorable Mention
In it’s seventh consecutive year, the Knight’s Scholarship Golf Out benefiting the Woodward Academy Lifetime Commitment Fund took place at Beaver Creek Golf Course in Grimes, Iowa on June 24. This year, 79 golfers attended the four-person best-ball tournament that raised $2,500 money for Woodward Academy alumni as they move onto the next stage of their life. In the seven years that this tournament has taken place, over $39,000 has been raised, all of which has gone toward helping WA students. Whether it is college tuition, books, apartment
furnishings, or helping a past student with travel expenses to compete at the USA Track & Field Indoor National Championships, the tournament has made a significant impact on students lives and will continue to do so for years to come. A special thank you to the 27 generous sponsors who helped make this year's event a success.
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 AcademyKnight, and that is how you change tomorrow.
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.
