Williams Unified School District #2

Greetings WHS Viking Families: It's hard to believe that there could be more exciting news, yet here we are. WHS is pleased to announce the formation of a student newspaper publication, called The Viking Post. Mrs. Schober's ELA 10 Honors class will be producing student publications of all of the student related happenings at WHS. This will be a great way for students to stay connected with the wonderful and exciting events happening on their campus.

Greetings Vikings! The exciting news just keeps coming. Our Viking Band, led by our new Band Director, Mr. Gael Zambrano, will be performing at sporting events this year for our athletes and our fans! We are also looking at short performances for the Lady Vikings Volleyball team as well. Their first performance will be at the Williams Vikings vs. Desert Heights Prep Academy scrimmage Friday, Sept. 25th at 4:00 pm. We are thrilled that our Band will still be able to perform locally, despite competitions being cancelled. More good WHS Vikings news still to come! -Mr. Evans***

Greetings Williams Vikings! We are proud and excited that very soon, our athletes will be returning to the field/court. To add to the excitement, WHS will be allowing spectators to attend! Please click on the link below to view our guidance on attending sporting events this Fall. These are subject to change. We do thank you all in advance for your enthusiasm, attendance, and support of our student athletes. Thank you! https://5il.co/l1yq

Greetings Vikings! This is Mr. Evans with an important message about Homecoming 2020. As we know, so much has been lost and/or compromised during this pandemic. Our promise to our Viking Community is that we will make every effort to have as many Homecoming celebrations and traditions as possible. If possible, Homecoming would be Oct 23, with celebrations happening that week (Oct 19-23). Students will begin planning and preparations for Homecoming soon. Stay tuned.......and Go Vikings!

Say Cheese! Tuesday, September 15th is WEMS Picture Day! While on campus, Lifetouch photographers will adhere to all district safety and health measures (temperatures taken, masks worn, etc.). Remote learners can participate by coming to the school anytime between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Order forms will go home with students this week. You can submit orders and payments on Picture Day OR you can order ahead online: Go to mylifetouch.com and use Picture Day ID: EVTCJT4MK

Greetings WHS Families of ONLINE LEARNERS: we have a few updates to the online Zoom schedule (changes are highlighted in yellow). We clarified Mr. Kmetz's Career Prep and added live Alg II Zooms with Mrs. Monty (daily)! Please click the link here: https://5il.co/kqgi

What an awesome community we have! Sun Mountain Properties and the Williams Kiwanis Club joined forces to donate brand new, industrial- strength pencil sharpeners to our teachers. Our community partners truly make our school days so much nicer! #JoiningTogetherForSuccess

Important Message for Our Remote Learning Families in Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. The state of Arizona requires all remote learners to complete reading and math beginning of the year assessments within the first 6 weeks of school. For kinder through 3rd graders, this assessment will be in person at WEMS next week and will take 45 minutes. We've called and arranged appointments with many families already for next Wednesday, Sept. 9th and Thursday, Sept. 10th. If we couldn't reach you or you don't know your appointment time, you need to call the school on Tuesday. Tuesday will be 1st grade (12-2 p.m.) and 2nd grade (2-3:30 p.m.). Wednesday will be 3rd grade (1:30-2:30) and kindergarten (2:30-3:30 p.m.). Siblings in different grades will be grouped together for your convenience. Thank you in advance for bringing your child in and keeping them in good standing with the AZ Department of Education. --Dr. Morrison

A huge Falcon Shout-Out to Ms. Patti Jackson, half of our fabulous third grade teaching team and drumroll please….Coconino County Semi-Finalist for the Arizona Rural Schools Association Teacher of the Year! Ms. Jackson is a creative and dedicated educator who's been giving her heart and mind to our Williams students for two full decades now. She is the type of teacher who stays positive, creates engaging lessons, and has a smile or hug for whomever needs one. Thank you for your service, Ms. Jackson!

No School Monday for Labor Day Holiday! Enjoy your long weekend!!

Greetings WHS Vikings: Just a reminder that there is NO SCHOOL Monday Sept 7 in observance of Labor Day. Enjoy your long weekend Vikings!

Falcon Flyers Afterschool Program starts on Tuesday, September 8th!!! Registrations forms have been sent home with elementary students today and middle school students should pick up theirs from Ms. Siegfried or the front office. The program runs Mondays thru Thursdays, 3:30-6:00 p.m., with homework help/activities for remote learners on Friday mornings. Also new this year...all-day Friday programming (7:30-5:30) run by our very own Boys and Girls Club of Williams. This year at Falcon Flyers is gonna be a blast!

Greetings WHS Viking Families: Tomorrow (9/2), WHS mailings are heading out. For students who currently have a D or an F in one or more subjects, D and F letters are going home. For students who have not yet submitted a COVID Waiver for in person learning, letters are heading home for that as well. Even if you are a remote learner, we are attempting to collect a signed waiver from ALL WHS students, in the event we all return to campus at some point this school year. We just don't know, so we will prepare. Please sign and return the waiver to the front office by Sept 10th. Thank you! Mr. Evans***

Girls on the Run (3rd-5th) & Heart and Sole (6th-8th) registration is open! Practice starts next week. Teams are limited to 12 girls. Practices are Tue/Thu. Register at https://www.gotrna.org Fall 2020 is a 100% virtual season! All girls and coaches will participate via computer or by calling into practices on a phone. Virtual lessons are 45 minutes long, conducted on Zoom, are lead by trained and background-checked volunteer coaches, and include all of the same great lesson topics and activities as in-person lessons. There will be adapted physical activity during the virtual lesson. We end the Virtual session with movement that we do together to get the girls physically warmed-up and ready to transition straight into a workout assignment on their own - at sign-off, girls will be given a "take-home" goal to run or walk with a family member. Registration for Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole includes: 16 virtual team practices with certified coaches who deliver life-changing lessons, journal, program shirt, entry into the Virtual 5K, and a K Your Way commemorative bracelet. If you wish to request financial assistance, please answer all registration questions. Requests for financial assistance are honored on the final page of registration. Contact Gabi Uebel at guebel@wusd2.org if you need assistance with registration or have questions. Girls on the Run is so much fun! Heart & Sole is how we roll!

Greetings Viking Families: as promised, we continue to seek solutions that streamline the WHS online learning environment. Today, I am pleased to roll out 2 very important items to increase the simplicity & efficiency of the online environment. 1. A universal way to take daily attendance: In Google Classroom, students will go to "Classwork" and then Daily Attendance Topic/Heading. Click on the Google Forms Sign In for that Daily Attendance assignment & click on the one question that states something like "I am here and present for class today". It will send the teacher a date and timestamp of your log in/check in. Do this for every class, every day/time you go into Google Classroom. 2. A master Zoom schedule for online learners . Please see the link here: https://5il.co/kgnp

Despite the challenging times, The Grand Canyon Railway continues to generously support our Williams students. Thanks to the Railway for donating 200 sturdy backpacks filled to the brim with school supplies! #JoiningTogetherForSuccess

Greetings WHS Online Learners: WHS has been listening to your feedback and needs related to online learning. WHS will continue to collaborate together to seek solutions that work for: online daily attendance taking, Zoom schedules for online learners, and the posting of assignments in Google Classroom. Our goal is to be better each day. I want to publicly thank our tireless teachers and other staff who continue to pull "double duty" in these unique times to meet the needs of all in person and online learners. Your patience and your feedback are greatly appreciated. Mr. Evans***

Virtual College Fair! ASU, NAU, and U of A will be having a virtual college fair September 8th-12th. This is not just to tour the university but will have many virtual classes about applying to, paying for, and going to college. The workshops include: -Tri-Universtiy Welcome: Understanding Your In-State Options -Admissions 101 -Paying for College: Understanding Financial Aid & Scholarships -The Honors College Experience -Getting Ahead | Tips for 9-11 Graders -Parent Session: Supporting Your Student -College Students Live -Major Exploration and Degrees -Seamless Transfer Pathways -Student Supports at the College Level -Understanding Your In-State Options -Admissions 101 -Paying for College: Understanding Financial Aid & Scholarships -College Students Live Any student and parent should attend these if the student is thinking about attending college. It will mainly help out seniors and juniors but any grade level can attend if you want to start to learn about the process of applying to and attending a university. The registration link is: http://bit.ly.tri-university and has all the information you may want. It is never to late to learn about the college process! Thank You, Mr. Powers

Good morning from the counselor's office! I am excited about getting the school year started again and seeing students in our classrooms and halls. It was too quiet here the first week without you. Please remember that if we want to continue this then keep on doing the things that have been implemented to keep us all safe. Social distance and wear your mask!. There are 2 things coming up that I want to inform you about. We currently are having sign ups for the PSAT/NMSQT test. This test is for 10th and 11th grades and is a pre college readiness test for the SAT/ACT. If you are considering going to college after high school this is a good test to take to get ready for the SAT/ACT which colleges use for some scholarships, placement in classes your freshman year, and admissions. The cost of the test is $17 and juniors with financial need may qualify for a fee waiver. You can sign up in your English class or the front office. Registration for this will end Tuesday September 1st. Email Mr. Powers (jpowers@wusd2.org) with any questions. We usually have an in person college fair in October that has been changed to a virtual college fair that will be 3 days (Saturday September 19th, Thursday October 27th, and Tuesday November 17th). This would be a great time for anyone (especially juniors and seniors) to look at some smaller schools in the area. They will have representatives from the schools, virtual tours, Financial Aid 101, College application help and more. If you visit 3 virtual booths you could also win a $500 scholarship. If you are still searching for a college to attend, just starting to think about this, or even know where you are going to go I recommend this to all who want to get some more information about colleges and the process it will take to get there. You have to register to attend this and the link for information about it and to register is: https://virtual.gotocollegefairs.com/azccvirtualfair/639822 As always you can call (928-635-4474 ext. 407) or email me (jpowers@wusd2.org) with any questions, concerns or ideas that you have. Thank You, Mr. Powers

Greetings WHS Families: Today, Zoom experienced outages across the USA and the UK, locking many out of their meetings. If you were affected by today's outage, please be sure to email your teacher(s) notifying them and please be sure to complete a task/assignment in the affected courses to be counted as "present" for today's classes, today. Thank you! -Mr. Evans- https://www.cnet.com/news/zoom-down-for-some-people-locking-them-out-of-meetings-and-webinars/