Magnolia School District

TALLEY CHOSEN AS EAST SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S TEACHER OF THE YEAR East Side Elementary School teacher, Jessica Talley, was recently selected as the campus 2021 Teacher of the Year. Talley is a 2003 graduate of Magnolia High School and a 2007 graduate of Southern Arkansas University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Jessica has taught in the Magnolia School District for 14 years. She began her career teaching first grade, taught 10 years in second, and has been the technology lab teacher for the past three years. Talley represents East Side as an ambassador for many educational technology platforms and early coding robots. She has also transformed her old second grade classroom into a Makerspace using East Side’s technology. Her students have learned how to make green screen videos, do stop motion animation, and create posters and cards using educational photo collage apps. She loves helping her K-2 students find new ways to use technology besides just gaming and hopes that some of the projects she has done with them will spark further curiosity as they grow up in this digital age. Talley is married to Zachary Talley and has three children: Brin, age 10; Sebastian, 5; and Barrett, 1. She enjoys decorating, watching movies and doing crafts with her children, and cheering on the Muleriders with her family.

ZACKERY RECEIVES SAU TRACK SCHOLARSHIP Magnolia High School senior, Jakamron Zackery, recently signed a letter of intent from the Southern Arkansas University track program and will be throwing the shot and discus for the Muleriders next school year. Jakamron has earned many accolades while competing for the MHS Panther track team. In 2019, he placed second in the discus at the 4A State Track Meet and placed seventh in the Meet of Champs. During the 2020 season, he placed first in the discus at the SAU Relays, Hog Relays, and Wolf Relays and placed third in the shot put at the Hog Relays. Jakamron was also a member of the 2020 4A state champion team. This year, Jakamron has placed first in the discus at the Hog Relays, Wolf Relays, Oil Belt Relays, and Panther Relays. At the Oil Belt Relays, Jakamron set a personal record in the discus with a throw of 160’ 6”. He also placed second in the shot put at the Oil Belt Relays and Panther Relays and placed third at the Hog Relays.

Kory Waller, a 1994 Magnolia High School graduate and owner of Waller Wealth Management, talks about his path to becoming a business owner and entrepreneur. Click the link below to view Kory's video. https://youtu.be/OO6oa7nHUAg

HEATHER CREECH SELECTED AS MMS TEACHER OF THE YEAR Magnolia Middle School English teacher, Heather Creech, was recently selected as the campus 2021 Teacher of the Year. Heather still resides in her hometown, where she graduated in 1993 from Stamps High School. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in English and certification in secondary education from Southern Arkansas University. After earning her degree from SAU, Heather began her teaching career at Lafayette County High School; during her time there she taught 10th, 11th, and 12th grade English; AP Language and Composition; Creative Writing; and Mythology. Since joining the faculty of Magnolia School District in 2018, she has taught 8th grade English – both regular and Pre-AP. This year, she is serving as the MMS English department chair. Heather has been married to her husband, Ronnie, for eighteen years. They have four children: Amber and Cory, both in the work force; Nate, a junior Meteorological Science student at the University of Missouri; and Peyton, a junior at Magnolia High School. They are also blessed to be “Heddie and Poppie” to two grandchildren, Rayney and Dakota. She is an active member of Stamps Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, where she serves as music director and church clerk. In addition to teaching English to her students here in the U.S., she enjoys getting up each day before coming to campus and teaching English as a second language to students in China, who range in age from five to fifteen. Outside of teaching, she enjoys cheering Peyton on at Panther football games, reading, singing, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Shermar Easter, a 2019 Magnolia High School graduate and owner of Hot Shots Magnolia Delivery Service, talks about his journey as a business owner and entrepreneur. Click the link below to view Shermar's interview! https://youtu.be/bzG8wMAyNQM

MHS PLANS COVID-19 VACCINE CLINIC Magnolia High School is planning a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for eligible students at Magnolia High School on April 8, 2021 beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Panther Arena. Students must be 16 or older by April 8, 2021 to receive the vaccine. Eligible students will receive DOSE 1 of the Pfizer vaccine. The second dose will be given at the appropriate time in a future clinic. Consent forms will be sent home with students and must be completed (front and back) and signed by a parent or guardian. The completed forms must be returned to the campus nurse by Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Forms are also available at the high school front office and on the district website. For questions, please call 870 901-2547.

Magnolia READS Kick-off On Monday, April 5, students at East Side and Central Elementary Schools will once again embark on a special project, an all-school book club and financial literacy project. For the past three years, this enterprise has been called One District, One Book. The theme for this year’s event is Magnolia READS. The acronym READS stands for Reading Empowers All District Students. While students at the elementary schools will read the book, middle and high school students will also be involved in this project. Each kindergarten through fifth grade family will receive a copy of the same book—Billy Sure, Kid Entrepreneur by Luke Sharpe. Families are encouraged to make time to participate in this fun and worthwhile family activity. Reading aloud at home with your children is a valuable experience that better prepares your child to be an effective reader. For the second year, Farmers Bank & Trust Co. is collaborating with the District on the Magnolia READS project. Farmers purchased the book Billy Sure Kid Entrepreneur for all the students and staff in grades K-5. Economics Arkansas also partnered in the project. They helped supply the students and staff with resources to use while reading Billy Sure. Angie Saldana, a senior at Magnolia High School, designed the Magnolia READS logo. Angie is a student in Advanced Placement 2D Art. She is the daughter of Irma and Damian Saldana. The District extends our deepest appreciation to Farmers Bank & Trust for the donation to purchase the Magnolia READS books and materials, Economics Arkansas for supplying the supplemental resources, and Angie Saldana for designing the Magnolia READS logo.

MALONE SELECTED AS SHAPE ARKANSAS ELEMENTARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR The Arkansas Society of Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) recently selected East Side Elementary School’s Shelly Malone as the 2020-2021 SHAPE Arkansas Elementary Teacher of the Year. This award recognizes PE teachers who promote and support quality physical education in Arkansas and a physical education curriculum that supports the highest quality for excellence in teaching. Award winners demonstrate high moral character and personal integrity who by their leadership and industry have made outstanding and noteworthy contributions to the advancement of teaching health, dance, or physical education in the state. This award qualifies Coach Malone to enter the SHAPE America Southern District Teacher of the Year competition. SHAPE Arkansas is an affiliation of the national organization, Society of Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) America. Coach Malone serves as the K-2 PE/Health teacher at East Side Elementary School and the head tennis coach at Magnolia High School. Shelly was nominated by the South Central Service Cooperative in Camden.

Mr. Ward introduces the 2021 Magnolia READS financial literacy project. https://youtu.be/CbRQ7f-bOrs

All power back on. All campuses will be open. We apologize for inconvenience.

All power back on. All campuses will be open. We apologize for inconvenience.

Due to large power outage, Central Elementary school and Magnolia Middle school will be closed today. Magnolia High school, East side, kindergarten and Walker will remain open.

BAND DEPARTMENT TO HOLD PARENT MEETING

BRANTLEY RECEIVES SOUTHARK BASKETBALL SCHOLARSHIP Magnolia High School senior, Keshunti Brantley, recently received and signed a letter-of-intent to play basketball for South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado. The power forward will begin playing for the Southark Stars during the 2021-22 academic year. During Keshunti’s career with the Lady Panthers, she earned All-Conference honors three years and was selected as an All-State player one year. She was the leading scorer and rebounder for two years while at MHS and was voted the MVP Offensive Player during the 2019-20 basketball season.

It’s GAME DAY Panther fans Magnolia goes up against Morrilton today at 1:00pm in the semi-finals of the State Basketball Championship! #BRINGEMOUT Watch LIVE on PanthersTV! https://youtu.be/VxSrgByTRmE

Our Panthers are headed to the State Tournament Semi-Finals! The game will be Saturday, March 13th @1:00pm in Morrilton, AR To purchase tickets for Thursday’s game click the link below: https://gofan.co/app/events/248341# Due to COVID tickets are limited, so order today. There are 575 tickets allotted for Magnolia at the above link. Unsold tickets will be available to the public around 3PM the day before the game. If you're planning on going, I'd go ahead and get tickets NOW as they are likely to sell fast! #PANTHERNATION

Magnolia Public Schools 2021-2022 School Calendar

MHS FRESHMAN ACADEMY HOLDS 9TH GRADE SCIENCE FAIR The first annual Magnolia High School Freshman Academy Science Fair was held on March 3, 2021. Prior to grade reconfiguration, this 9th grade science fair was held for decades on the campus of Magnolia Junior High School. The 2021 Overall Winner was Chloe Kelley with her project, “Clean Environment“. Chloe is the daughter of Tracey and Andrew Woolfley. The Overall Runner-up Winner was Landon Chandler with his project, “Covid Vaccine Side Effects“. Landon is the son of Anna and Brandon Chandler. All category-winning students will be eligible for the Regional Science Fair held at Southern Arkansas University on March 12. Category Winners Include Biology 1st – Jacqueline Padron 2nd – Brianna Cottrell 3rd – Jaleigh Wylie Medicine and Health 1st – Landon Chandler 2nd – Tiffany Lopez 3rd – Kenysiah Lambert Physical Science 1st – Zoe Taylor 2nd – Kelsey McKamie 3rd – Cameron Click 3rd – Stacie Pate Math and Engineering 1st – Landry Carter 2nd – Shakyria Thompson 3rd – Elaina Reeves Earth and Environmental 1st – Chloe Kelley 2nd – Connor McWilliams 3rd – Ja’Quavious Ross Team 1st – Ashley Sanner and Angela Baxley 2nd – Carlie Dixon and Ava McWilliams 3rd – Jer’Miracle Joiner and Samya Williams

Our Panthers are headed to the State Tournament! Our first game is March 11th @1:00 pm in Morrilton, AR To purchase tickets for Thursday’s game click the link below: https://gofan.co/app/events/248333 Due to COVID tickets are limited, so order today. There are 575 tickets allotted for Magnolia at the above link. Unsold tickets will be available to the public around 3PM the day before the game. If you're planning on going, I'd go ahead and get tickets NOW as they are likely to sell fast! #PANTHERNATION

Our Panthers have advanced and will battle for the Regional Championship in Star City, AR tomorrow! To purchase tickets for tomorrow night’s game click the link below: https://gofan.co/app/events/247891 Due to COVID tickets are limited, so order today. General admission is $5.