Woodward Academy

02/24/2026

How do you catch your eggs? Last week, Mr. Hanna's Physical Science students were tasked with creating a device that would safely catch an egg. 🍳🤔

Their materials? 10 pieces of paper and 1 meter of tape. The rules? Must be dropped from 1 meter and end a thumb's width off the ground. If your egg survives 1m, you can increase the drop distance. It was all business -- no yolkin' around! Students will be given an opportunity to improve and retest their device this week based on their initial results and observations. We can't wait to see how their egg drops go this week! Shout-out to Mr. Hanna for creating new and unique ways to get our students engaged in their academics!

02/23/2026

02/21/2026

Triumph Hall hosted our February monthly assembly yesterday! We were blessed to have two guest speakers who are very near and dear to our hearts here at WA.

Our first guest was Tobey Jacobsen who used to work at the Academy about a year ago as a part-time Pathfinder Youth Counselor and before that was a Group Leader on Legacy Hall. Tobey came to tell us his story and how his wife saved his life by giving him CPR when his heart stopped. His story motivated us as well as our students to not take a single moment for granted and to make the most of the life you were given. Thank you for sharing your story with us! Once a Woodward Academy Knight, Always a Woodward Academy Knight! 👏🏼

Our second guest speaker was our 14th Lifetime Executive Knight, Donovan Slick-Driscoll! Donovan heads off to basic training for the Army next month! He wanted to stop by campus to see some staff before he went to training as well as give some words of wisdom to our current Knights. Thank you for taking the time to come see us, you will always have a home at WA! Again, Once a Woodward Academy Knight, Always a Woodward Academy Knight!🫶🏼

Monthly Awards:

Delta Hall took home the Community Service award! 🦺

Mountaineer Hall took the Golden Dust Pan and the Golden UA!🧹🚽

Expedition Hall dominated this assembly, taking home the Silver Apple and the Knights Achievement!🍎🏆

Expeditions AM GL was this months staff of the month, congratulations Minh Nguyen!👏🏼

The student of the month was also from Expedition Hall, congratulations to Tristin!📖

Thank you again to our two guest speakers and great work to all the dorms! !

02/18/2026

02/18/2026

The game didn’t go the way we hoped last night, our boys fought hard and played fair. Some calls didn’t go our way but we continued to battle until the final buzzer. We are beyond proud of the fight, determination and growth that we’ve seen out of the team this season. Proud to call these boys Woodward Academy Knights!🏀

02/18/2026

This morning we were fortunate enough to be apart of the Coalition's Legislative Breakfast, a key event where we connected with Iowa legislators to discuss important issues affecting children and families in our communities. This gathering provided an opportunity to advocate for policies that support family-centered services, juvenile justice, residential care, and more.

Thank you to Lieutenant Governor Lieutenant Governor Chris Cournoyer , Larry Johnson, Iowa Department of Health and Human ServicesDirector and Kristie Oliver, Executive Director The Coalition for Family and Children's Services in Iowa. Our students were very appreciative of you taking the time this morning to talk with them and grateful to be apart of this event. Together we will build a better future for our youth!

02/16/2026

It's Gameday! We start our postseason tonight at 7:00 PM against Martensdale-St. Marys! Our boys have battled hard all season and overcome so much. Come out and support as we make our run for the state tournament!🏀

02/12/2026

KNIGHTS WIN! Our boys defeated the Spartans 74-31 last night! We start our postseason on Monday, February 16th, at 7:00 PM against Martensdale-St. Marys! Come out and support! 🏀

02/11/2026

Our Knights Club got to go on an outing last night to celebrate Rush Month and all the new Knights! They spent their evening enjoying some McDonald's and swimming! There were lots of front flips, belly flops, splashing, and most importantly, kids smiling ear to ear all evening long. Keep up the great work, Knights!🏊🍔

02/10/2026

It's GAMEDAY! Come on out to Collins-Maxwell High School as we take on the Spartans for our last regular-season game! JV starts at 6:00 with varsity to follow!🏀

02/07/2026

Today, we wrapped up Rush Month and inducted some new Knights into our Knights Club. Rush Month is an event we put on every year. It is a campus-wide initiative to improve and expand our Knights Club. Throughout the last four weeks, every student had the opportunity to rush into the club. Each week, there was a different focus that each pledge participated in.

They started off the month by interviewing with the current Knights and advocating for why they deserved to be a part of the Knights Club.

Week two consisted of privilege week, where they received the benefits of what it means to be a Knight on this campus, which was late nights, extra snacks, video games, etc.

Week three was all about the responsibilities that come with being a Knight and upholding our standard. Work Hard, Play Hard was the mindset this week, and they dug deep and put actions behind their words from week one.

This brings us to week four, the week where all their hard work paid off and they were rewarded with new Knights gear and inducted into our Knights Club in front of all of campus.

Congratulations to all our new Knights. We can't wait to see all of you continue to do things the Woodward Academy way!🏆😎

02/06/2026

It's Gameday! Come support the Knights at West Central Valley High School! The JV game starts at 6:00 PM with varsity to follow! Let's go, Knights! 🏀