Local teacher, Rachel Dover of Mena School District, recently attended Southwest ESOL Institute, a partnership of Henderson State University and Dawson Education Service Cooperative. Attendance at the Southwest ESOL Institute signifies a teacher’s commitment to best classroom practices for helping students acquire knowledge while developing their academic English. The Institute is a 10-day, intense training in the field of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Six days were completed this summer, while the other four will be completed on Saturdays throughout the 2023 - 2024 school year. The Institute is funded by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education.
Teachers heard from nationally recognized speakers such as Lynda Franco, Mark Vasquez, and Keith Folse. Local teachers who are experts in their field provided real-world scenarios through demonstrations and panel discussions. Through the Institute, teachers will earn 12 hours of graduate credit and take the ESL Praxis test. Upon receiving passing scores, English as a Second Language will be added to a teacher’s license.
Congratulation to MADI LYLE on her performance in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All Star Volleyball Game. The game was played in the Farris Center at the University of Central Arkansas.
Thank you to the Spotlight Singers and Mrs.Tilley for packing our food bags this week!
If Mena Public Schools Radio is not number one on your radio's preset then you're missing out!
Mena teachers are attending the 2023 summer conference "All In For All Learners" at the DeQueen Mena education Service Cooperative. Today they heard a presentation from Dr. Paula Kluth and another on trauma informed teaching. The conference continues on Thursday with sessions on trauma informed schools, literacy inclusion, math inclusion, science inclusion, CTE and tech inclusion as well as behavior.
The JR Ladycats have competed at the Morrilton Basketball Teamcamp Monday and Tuesday. They have improved tremendously over the past two weeks at their team camps.
Alicia Farringer, Dyslexia Interventionist, finished year two of CALT training the last two weeks at the Southwest Education Cooperative in Hope. The curriculum learned is called Take Flight. Take Flight, A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, was implemented in our school last year and will be continued in the years to come. The design of this curriculum was to enable students with dyslexia to achieve and maintain better word recognition, reading fluency, reading comprehension and aid in the transition from a therapy setting to ‘real world’ learning. Our school district is extremely excited to offer this high quality instructional program to our students that was designed by the staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorder at Scottish Rite for Children.
Mena football hosted DeQueen and Horatio for a team camp at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium on Tuesday.
The Bearcats will play a scrimmage at Mansfield on August 15th and the season opener is August 25th against DeQueen.
The Mena High School performing arts center hosted Dr. Luis Cruz on Friday. He discussed transforming school culture with Mena teachers & others from around the area.
Junior and Senior boys finished this week playing over 24 games between the two teams at the Northwest Arkansas Shootout in Fayetteville! Thank you Jimmy Jester for your hospitality and Smitty’s Garage of Fayetteville and Rogers for sponsoring a meal for both teams!
We’ve all made it back home but would like to share the last leg of our journey with you!
After arriving in London and dropping our things off with our new bus driver, we took a short walking tour around the city before dinner. We got to see Big Ben, the London eye, do a little bit of shopping and see Picadilly Circus! 

Our second day in London we had a mixed bus and walking tour with our local tour guide. We got to see Buckingham Palace, one of the former Royal Gardens, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abby. In the afternoon, we spent time exploring the tower of London, which is home to the Crown Jewels of the U.K. and several exhibits that tell the story of the fortresses history and the history of England.
Our third and final day, we toured the globe and learned a little bit about the history of theater and Shakespeare, visited a vibrant London market for lunch and caught a saw the production, Wicked, on the west end! 
Before we left, we snagged some pictures with our wonderful Tour Director Elena, our bus driver Jay, and our travel partners from Atlanta, Georgia!
If you are interested in learning how your student could participate in a similar experience in the future, follow the MHS Global page! For the 23/24 school year we are hoping to go on an adventurous trip to the Dominican Republic and for the 24/25 school year. We are hoping to do a tour of Scotland and Ireland!
Students in Mrs. Alexander's class mixing it up in the summer of fun!
DeQueen, Horatio & Mineral Springs were at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium on Thursday for the Mena Jr. High Football Team Camp. The Bearcats will scrimmage Mansfield on August 15th & the season opener is August 31st against Centerpoint.
Mena administrators are attending summer training provided by the DeQueen Mena Education Service Cooperative at Lake DeGray Lodge.
Bearcat Junior High Football Community Service Day. The team folded boxes and sent them to PCDC for recycling
2023 Mena High School graduate receives Shelter Insurance scholarship.
Read the complete article at the link below.
https://mypulsenews.com/polk-county-pulse-june-14-2023/?fbclid=IwAR1wQeP21Nsep13p7eScI9HmnpbTttYr8VhDsL7WK242akBn5gN0kaE13Rs
Today members of the Mena Bearcat Basketball team came to Homelife Academy for sports week!
These guys had a busy morning playing games, having fun, and throwing water balloons with our summer camp!
It’s a great Day to be a Bearcat, a future Bearcat, and a HomeLife camper
The project to convert floors from tile to stained and polished concrete continues across the district this summer. Crews are working at Mena High School this week.
The Mena Public Schools would like to welcome new staff for 2023/2024. Including CODY KOCH at Mena High School. The first day of the new school year is Wednesday, August 16th.
Mena Jr High and Sr High Ladycats competed at the first day of the Harding Team Camp on Sunday.
