It’s time for the WMU Cafe Concert!! This year it was a November concert and we are excited to announce this year’s theme was TV Shows! Below is the preview for the cafe concert!

This year we will be trying something different by having a popcorn bar with all your favorite add ins for you while you listen to some great performances! They include our junior high / high school band who will be preforming a few familiar songs from some of your favorite TV shows, as well as the 6th grade band, jazz band, and WMU Choir! You will also get to see a few group and solo performances and the WMU Dance Team will be performing a dance with some more fun TV show songs. Everyone has been working hard to give you guys a great night!

And we can’t forget our WMU Art Club! They have been hard at work with making some homemade clay ornaments for your Christmas trees this year! There will be unpainted ones for $2 (diy) and painted ones for $3 or 2 for $5! There will also be some displayed artwork not just from art club but all junior high and high school art work from this year!

Lady Wolves started their season November 22. They took on New London at New London. They won 65-28. They hold their first home game Tuesday, November 26 versus Pekin. JV played 2 quarters and they won. Varsity played and they came out with a win starting their season off strong going 2-0.

Girls basketball started practice the 11 of November and have had a very good start to their season. They had a jamboree at Mt.Pleasant. Lady Wolves played Mt.Pleasant and lost by 5. It was a great experience for the new ones coming in to the season seeing what the varsity experience looks like. Here goes to the 2024-25 basketball season.

Player Feature

Lady Wolves have 10 basketball player this year for their season. They have 1 senior, (Josie Nelson), 5 juniors (Madisen Kellogg, Kaelyn Townsley, Jayda Nichols, Kellee Milks, Olivia Huyan), 3 Sophomores (Suttyn Schlee, Kaylynn Kellogg, Lilly Heckethorn), and 1 freshman (Kynlee Buffington). Head coach (Mendy McCreight) and assistant coach/JV coach (Emily Drey).

The dance team at Winfield Mt.Union has been on their toes for the month of November. They have been practicing 3 of their dances that they will perform. They have started their Christmas dance and started their Hip-Hop dance.

They are very excited to perform them during basketball games and in the future at their spring showcase. They perform their state and Christmas dance in the month of December. They will perform Hip-Hop in January.

State Dance

The dance team is ready to leave December 4 and head to Des Moines to perform their state routine. They perform Thursday, December 5 around 10:04 in the morning. They are excited and have been prepping for quite some time. They are ready to show off there talent and hopefully come home with a D1 rating or better.

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FFA Feature

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In this WMU Alumni Feature we have two past alumni who shared about their past experiences, skills, and advice for current students. The two people are Mandy Martin and Ryan Nelson. Both began by telling me about their experiences at WMU, and if there was someone who helped them succeed during their time at this school. Mandy graduated in 1998, and said, “Looking back now, I realize that my experience at WMU was one of the best days! The teachers and staff at WMU were, and continue to be, above and beyond all others.” She also stated, “All the teachers at WMU were exceptional and still are. My most influential teacher was probably Mr. Oldfield, the band teacher because he made us realize our worth and push out limits.” Ryan also shared similar sentiments about his time at WMU. He graduated in 2013, and stated, “I had a great experience at WMU. I made great close friendships that last to this day, even though we are scattered around the country today.” When asked about a teacher or person that helped him succeed, he said, “I am going to throw it back a couple of decades ago to the 4th and 5th grade, when then now retired Ms. Naber and late Mrs. Woline taught the intermediate (combined grade classrooms) in tandem. They both prioritized balancing hard work with fun, which is a critical life skill.”

As far as difficulty and the skills that go into their career, Mandy said she had a difficult time choosing her current career. She said, “If it were easy everyone would be doing it.” Ryan said, “There have certainly been challenges. It also took a bit of a leap of faith. At the beginning of most careers, there is a lot of learning that occurs. Some skills are mastered easier than others, and it’s easy to get frustrated about the ways one doesn’t succeed and lose sight of the ways one does succeed.” I think its great to hear the different challenges that they faced while learning about their careers, because it makes it less stressful to be uncertain about the future.

I also asked them about any specific skills that they needed in their career, and they both gave me great feedback. Mandy said some of the skills she learned were time management, computer skills, and work-study skills that helped her in her career. Ryan said self belief and relentlessness helped him a lot in the advancement of his career. I also asked them the question, if you could give your high school self a piece of advice, what would it be? Mandy’s answer, though short, is great, she said, “Enjoy the moment.” Ryan’s advice would’ve been to give himself some grace.

The final question I asked was, if you could give advice to a current high school student/senior, what would it be? Mandy said, “Take the Dual Credit classes while you are in high school; you won’t regret it when you get to college! If you don’t know what you want to do right away, that’s ok too!” Ryan gave two great piece of advice too, saying, “The first is to be patient – you are only just scratching the surface of figuring out who you are, where you’ll go, and what you’ll be. You’ll figure these things out by going different places, learning new things, and finding new ways to challenge yourself.” The second stated, “Second, be prepared. Benjamin Franklin said that “Failure  to prepare is preparing to fail.” Thank you for the great advice to the WMU students, and the opportunity to share your experiences at this school.

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Fun Fact

Fact by Lilly Heckethorn in conjunction with the Winfield Museum & Historical Society.

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