Bearcat Wrap-up Podcast

Happy Friday!Thank you for the steady work, encouragement, and professionalism you continue to bring to Mena Public Schools each day. As we move through the final stretch of the school year, I want to say again how much I appreciate the focus you have kept on our performance targets, including student learning, attendance, and school climate. This time of year allows us to reflect on progress, celebrate important milestones, and help students finish strong with the support and expectations they need.This week’s theme, “Turning the Tassels,” captures more than a graduation tradition. It represents transition, accomplishment, and the kind of growth that happens when students are consistently supported by caring adults, clear systems, and meaningful opportunities. Graduation is one of the most visible reminders that the daily work happening in classrooms, offices, cafeterias, buses, and activity spaces truly matters.GraduationMena High School will celebrate the Class of 2026 at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, May 16, at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium. Graduation is always a meaningful milestone, but it is especially powerful because it reflects years of steady growth, support, and shared investment from families, teachers, staff, and the larger Mena community.For many of these seniors, this journey began here many years ago as young children entering Kindergarten in Mena Public Schools. Others joined the Bearcat family somewhere along the way, and we are equally grateful for every student and family who became part of our district at any point in that journey. Whether they were here from the beginning or arrived later in their school life, we are proud to have walked beside them as they learned, matured, and prepared for what comes next.This moment connects directly to our district mission. Mena Public Schools exists to serve our community by instilling an individualized purpose in our students and staff, and graduation is one of the clearest examples of that mission becoming visible. As students cross the stage, we are seeing young people who have developed skills, discovered strengths, earned credentials, and grown in confidence through opportunities provided by both curriculum and community.Graduation also reflects our district vision that students and staff uplift one another and the community they serve. The Class of 2026 has been shaped not only by instruction but also by relationships, encouragement, accountability, and perseverance. Their story is a reminder that success is rarely a single moment; it is built over time through support, responsibility, and the willingness to keep moving forward through adversity. Graduation is one of those moments when we see that vision come to life, as students lift up their families, honor their teachers, and step forward ready to serve and strengthen our community or the communities they will enter.Our values are visible in this class as well. Service, accountability, relationships, growth, empowerment, and determination all matter in a moment like this because they help explain what students carry with them beyond graduation. Their accomplishments reflect more than credits earned or requirements completed. They reflect years of effort, learning from failure, accepting support, and growing into people who are better prepared to contribute to the world around them.This is why commencement means so much in Mena. It is not only a celebration of completion, but also a celebration of formation. It reflects the long arc of growth that begins in the early years, continues through every classroom and campus experience, and culminates in a moment when students quite literally turn the tassel and prepare to step into the future.America250 Freedom TruckWe are also excited to share a special opportunity for Arkansas schools, educators, students, and families this summer. The America250 Freedom Truck, a traveling interactive exhibit that highlights the history, ideals, and future of the United States, will be in North Little Rock from June 26 through June 29 as part of the Arkansas Folklife Festival.This immersive experience is designed to bring American history to life through engaging visuals, technology, and primary-source storytelling. It offers a meaningful extension for educators looking to connect civic learning and historical understanding to real-world experiences, and it would be a great opportunity for families and student groups looking for something educational and accessible during the summer months.The event is free and open to the public, and it is the kind of opportunity that aligns well with the work of helping students understand their place in the larger story of our country while building background knowledge, curiosity, and civic awareness. Additional information about the Freedom Truck can be found at freedom250.org/freedom-truck, and information about the Arkansas Folklife Festival can be found at arkansasfolklifefestival.org.Year-End Staff CelebrationAs a reminder, Thursday, May 21, will be the final day of school for students, and Friday, May 22, will be our last in-service day of the year. As in years past, we will gather at approximately 10:30 a.m. in the PAC to celebrate staff achievements, recognize career milestones, and honor this year’s retirees. This ceremony is a special time to reflect on the incredible impact of your work and to close the year together as a district. Lunch will be served immediately following.If you are reaching a Mena School District years-of-service milestone (1, 5, 10, 15, etc.) or have achieved a significant accomplishment this year, please take a moment to complete this form so we can include you in our recognitions. Your response helps ensure that your contributions are acknowledged in front of your colleagues, and we have gifts for each milestone of service.Graduate OpportunitiesI want to share a professional growth opportunity for members of our teaching staff who may be considering graduate study or additional licensure. Henderson State University has several programs that may be a good fit for educators looking to expand their knowledge, strengthen their practice, or prepare for future leadership roles.The Arkansas Teacher Academy Scholarship may be applied toward the Master of Arts in Teaching, the MSE in Teacher Leadership, and the MSE in Special Education. The Teacher Opportunity Program may be used for the Educational Leadership program. These options offer different pathways depending on where you are in your career and professional goals.If one of these opportunities may fit your goals, details are available in this shared folder with the program flyers and scholarship information. Staff members who want to explore the programs more closely can review the documents there and follow up with Henderson State for further information.Closing CelebrationsAs our spring sports seasons begin to come to a close, I want to thank our student-athletes, coaches, and sponsors for the way they have represented Mena Public Schools. Across competitions, practices, and travel, they have carried themselves with effort, sportsmanship, and pride, and they have reflected well on our district and community. We are grateful for the commitment they have shown and for the many ways they have demonstrated what it means to compete with character.This time of year also brings many of the experiences students remember most, including field trips, field day games, class celebrations, parties, and other end-of-year activities that bring joy to our schools. These moments are fun and rewarding for students, but they also take thoughtful planning, extra coordination, and a great deal of energy from the adults who make them possible. Thank you to everyone who has organized, supervised, supported, and worked behind the scenes to create meaningful experiences for students as the year comes to a close.It was a good week of celebration at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Rest and prepare for a good, final week next week, and have a nice weekend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com

Happy Thursday!Thank you for the steady, professional work you bring to Mena Public Schools each day. As we move further into the closing stretch of the school year, our goals for student learning, attendance, and school climate remain in clear focus, and it is the consistent habits you carry into classrooms, hallways, buses, cafeterias, offices, and activity spaces that keep us moving in the right direction.This week brings a mix of reflection and forward momentum. We are honoring the daily work of educators during Teacher Appreciation Week, recognizing the relationships and instructional skill that make our recent gains possible. At the same time, we are continuously using college and career planning tools and approaches to help students connect their present efforts to future opportunities in concrete ways.This week’s Wrap-up reflects both of those realities. There is a clear focus on the people whose work shapes students’ lives every day, new data for our college and career planning efforts, and several closing celebrations that highlight how Bearcats are showing up in ways that will stay with them long after this school year ends.Teacher Appreciation and Redefining ReadyThis Teacher Appreciation Week, I am thinking about our work through the lens of “college-ready, career-ready, life-ready.” Readiness is measured by what students actually do: taking advanced and CTE courses, maintaining strong attendance, engaging in work-based learning, participating in activities, and building the social-emotional skills that help them persist.When we look at those kinds of indicators in our college and career reports highlighted later in this Wrap-up, what we are really seeing is the daily work of Mena educators showing up in the data. Every AP or dual-credit assignment you design, every CTE lab you run, and every time you use a club, practice, or rehearsal to reinforce attendance and belonging, you are pushing students closer to those readiness benchmarks.When our students meet college-ready or career-ready indicators, it is not an accident; it is the result of thousands of decisions made by teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, bus drivers, office staff, custodians, and administrators across the year. If you are a classroom teacher, I hope you take a moment this week to see yourself in those readiness stories.If you are in a support role, I hope you see how your consistency, relationships, and high expectations make it possible for students to show up and succeed. Teacher Appreciation Week is a reminder that our systems, our initiatives, and our goals only matter if they reflect and support the work you do with students every day.College & Career Planning 2026Earlier this year, we committed to giving every student in grades 8–12 access to the Encourage college and career planning platform, along with a set of College & Career Planning 2026 resources. Encourage gives students a free web and mobile app to explore careers, compare programs, and discover scholarships, while giving educators tools to see student interests, track engagement, and use ready‑to‑go planning lessons.That combination is exactly the kind of system we have in mind when we say we want to be purposeful, not random, in how we prepare students for what comes after Mena. As of April 2, 293 students across three Mena schools have participated in the Encourage program, with roughly half identifying as female and half as male, and a significant share identifying as first‑generation college‑bound. The majority of participants are in the classes of 2026, 2027, and 2030, which gives us a strong view of both near‑term graduates and students who still have several years to plan.The postsecondary pathways report shows that large majorities of students in every group are considering public state colleges and universities, and that many are also interested in private colleges, community or junior colleges, and career and technical schools. Students who would be first‑generation college‑goers are just as likely to express interest in public and private college options as students whose parents completed college, which underscores the importance of the information and support they receive at school. At the same time, meaningful percentages of students are looking at apprenticeships, direct‑to‑work options, and the military, reminding us that “college and career ready” must include a range of high‑quality pathways.On the career interest side, health and medicine, finance and business, and art, design, entertainment, and media rise to the top, each drawing interest from around one‑quarter of students. Law, criminal justice, and protection services; architecture and engineering; and education and teaching also show up strongly, with clear patterns by gender and graduation year. For example, many students in the classes of 2028 and 2029 report interest in health and medicine alongside business, while students in earlier grades show growing interest in engineering and other technical fields.These reports are not just charts to look at once and file away; they are an invitation to ask, “If this is what our students say they want, how do we design the experiences, partnerships, and supports that match?” As we learn more, we will keep aligning our college and career work with local industry, high‑demand programs, and the two‑ and four‑year options our students are naming. At the same time, we will keep asking whether every student, especially those whose families did not complete college, has access to the information and encouragement to pursue the pathway that fits them best.Closing CelebrationsThe school year is coming to a close, but we still have had a lot to celebrate this week.Our track and field athletes turned in outstanding performances, including a state championship in the pole vault and another podium finish in the same event, representing Mena with grit and excellence.Our FFA chapter capped off the year with its 79th Annual End of the Year Banquet, recognizing the accomplishments of members from the 2025–2026 year and thanking the parents, staff, and community partners who helped make the evening and the program a success. We also honored our school nurses on National School Nurse Day, recognizing the essential role they play in student health, safety, attendance, and learning across all of our campuses.Good luck to our Bearcat baseball team this evening in the regional tournament as they take on Pea Ridge, and thank you for the hard work, preparation, and teamwork that brought you to this moment. We also wish our boys’ soccer team the very best as they are working hard for their own postseason play. We appreciate the effort, sportsmanship, and pride with which you represent Mena.It was a good week of appreciation at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Tomorrow is our final planned school closure day of the year. So have a nice long weekend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com

Happy Friday!Thank you for the steady, professional work you continue to do across Mena Public Schools. As we move deeper into these final weeks of the year, our performance targets in student learning, attendance, and school climate remain in clear view, and the habits you bring each day to classrooms, hallways, offices, buses, cafeterias, and activity spaces are what keep us moving toward those goals.As we begin May, there is a great deal to be encouraged by across our district. This time of year asks a lot of schools. We are still carrying out work that matters greatly every day for students while also helping students and families look ahead to what is next. That combination matters because purpose grows when people can connect present effort to future opportunity.This week’s Wrap-up reflects both of those realities. There are strong signs of academic progress worth recognizing, several new opportunities connected to student learning and wellness, and another reminder that meaningful experiences often shape students in ways that last far beyond a single week or event.ATLAS Progress and What It Tells UsOne of the clearest reasons for encouragement right now is the direction of our ATLAS Summative performance.Across the last three years, our overall proficiency moved from 34 percent to 44 percent in ELA, from 34 percent to 54 percent in math, and from 41 percent to 55 percent in science. Those gains are significant, especially in math and science, and they reflect steady improvement over time, indicating the professional growth you all have had.Several cohort trends are especially worth noting. In ELA, grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 all showed gains from 2024 to 2026, with the current 8th-grade cohort moving from 28 percent to 51 percent. In math, some of the strongest jumps include current 2nd grade up 21 points, 8th grade up 15 points, and Algebra up 21 points over that same span. In science, 3rd grade rose from 34 percent to 57 percent, 4th grade rose from 44 percent to 64 percent, and overall science proficiency increased by 14 points.Those results deserve to be recognized for what they represent. They reflect the daily work of classroom teachers, interventionists, paraprofessionals, counselors, instructional leaders, and support staff across the district. They also reflect students who have stayed with the work, families who have remained engaged, and schools that have kept expectations clear and support strong.It is important to add one note of caution here. While it is useful to look at year-to-year trends, the state department does not want schools trying to calculate their own official growth scores because the methods they use are not straightforward. Plus, not all testing is finished. We should absolutely celebrate the improvement we can see, but we also need to wait for the state’s official growth information rather than trying to reverse-engineer that process ourselves.Arkansas Future and BeyondThe Arkansas Department of Education has released May’s Arkansas Celebrates America250 update, and the theme is Arkansas’s Future.This is a helpful reminder that history instruction should not only look backward. It should also help students see how past investments, innovation, and service shape what comes next. Through the Journey Across Arkansas resources, schools have access to ready-to-use lessons that highlight Arkansas innovators, industries, literacy connections, arts integration, and future pathways for students.The broader message of this month’s update is one that fits our district well. Students should be encouraged to connect with their heritage, celebrate what others have built, and think seriously about how they will contribute through advanced education, high-growth careers, military service, and community leadership. These are the kinds of connections that help learning feel purposeful. You can access all of the resources in this Commissioner’s Memo.Supporting Student WellnessThe state is also promoting Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ #RazorbackReady2026 Fitness Challenge as a way to celebrate student wellness and build enthusiasm around physical fitness.This initiative is tied to the return of the Presidential Fitness Test in Arkansas public schools beginning in the 2026–2027 school year. Districts have the opportunity to participate by sharing a short video of students engaging in selected fitness activities, and the challenge aligns well with National Physical Education and Sport Week, which runs from May 1 through May 7.For our schools, this is about more than a challenge or a social media post. It is another reminder that physical health, school engagement, and student readiness to learn are connected. We appreciate the work our physical education teachers and staff do to help students build habits that support both wellness and learning.School of Conservation LeadershipAnother opportunity worth watching is the School of Conservation Leadership, a statewide initiative designed to help schools build hands-on, outdoor, and conservation-focused learning experiences.Programs like this matter because they connect classroom learning to the natural resources and outdoor economy of Arkansas in practical ways. They also give students additional opportunities to learn through movement, observation, exploration, and problem-solving rather than only through traditional classroom routines.The initiative includes standards-aligned curriculum, professional development, equipment support, and opportunities for schools to grow outdoor learning experiences over time. For a district like ours, that kind of opportunity fits well with the idea that meaningful learning should be connected to place, purpose, and the real world students live in. Besides all of the natural resources around our district, we also have the Duckett Outdoor Classroom as a wonderful location to apply these concepts.If you want to know more, please contact Brian Schuller, Science Specialist, at the DeQueen-Mena Educational Services Cooperative.Closing CelebrationsThis week brought one of those rare opportunities that students are likely to remember for a long time.A group of Mena students had the chance to learn filmmaking through an experience connected to Inclusion Films, giving them more than just exposure to a creative field by helping them build communication, teamwork, confidence, and the ability to move an idea from concept to completion. A filmmaker named Joey Travolta made this meaningful opportunity possible. He is a veteran filmmaker, former special education teacher, and founder of Inclusion Films, an organization focused on teaching filmmaking and creating meaningful pathways for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities while centering belonging, skill-building, and helping young people see themselves as capable contributors in meaningful work.Experiences like this reflect something important about the kind of school system we want to be. Students grow when they are given access to authentic work, supportive adults, and opportunities that help them see a future for themselves beyond the walls of a classroom.Today is School Lunch Hero Day to recognize our Food Service staff. It is a good reminder that their work goes far beyond serving meals—they create a welcoming environment, support attendance and readiness to learn, and take care of students in ways that often go unseen but never go unfelt.Today is also School Principals’ Day, and it highlights how much our campuses depend on steady, student-centered leadership. Our principals provide direction, encouragement, and support for students, staff, and families every day, and this is a good moment to pause and thank them for the way they lead and serve our schools.Next week also brings an important moment of celebration for two longtime Bearcats. On Monday, May 4th, we will honor the retirements of Ray Hunter and Tommy Johnson with a reception in the middle school library at 4:30 p.m., and everyone is invited to join in thanking them for their years of service. I have known these two men for most of my career, and their steady presence, commitment to students, and loyalty to this community have had a lasting impact on our school system. Their legacy is seen not only in the work they have done, but in the relationships they have built and the example they have set of what it means to serve well over time.It was a good week of gratification at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Keep the #menareads posts and videos coming, and have a good weekend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com