Congratulations to the Washburn Rural High School Class of 2024! The 106th annual commencement ceremony will be held at Stormont Vail Events Center and livestreamed on YouTube at rb.gy/nbu2h0.

Construction of Washburn Rural North Middle School continues to progress as scheduled. Exterior brick work is now complete and installation of interior brick veneer has begun. Roofing, curb and gutter work, metal siding, and drywall is also underway. Situated at the northeast corner of 29th Street and Auburn Road, Washburn Rural North will open for the 2025-26 school year and will serve students in grades 6 through 8. For more photos and information about this and other bond construction projects, please visit http://www.usd437.net/bond.

Thanks to the passion and ingenuity of science teacher Mike Steinert, several Washburn Rural High School students are walking away from the school year with a national certificate in hand. Mr. Steinert developed a biomedical research class to equip students with a skill set necessary to directly enter the medical workforce. He created a syllabus of topics and established rigors, depth of knowledge questions, and practical tasks to help prepare students for the national Biotechnician Assistant Credentialing Exam. To ensure exam readiness, he hosted study sessions before and after school and administered practice tests to students. Seven of the eight students who sat for the exam passed on their first attempt. They are the first high school students in the state of Kansas to do so!

"Mr. Steinert has gone above and beyond to bring this unique learning opportunity to our students," said colleague Shelley Wichman. "He is truly passionate about helping students learn and love science. He is always thinking of his students – how to challenge them, how to help them, and how to keep them engaged."

Thank you to Mr. Steinert, and congratulations to our newly credentialed biotechnician assistants!

You never know what you might stumble upon while walking the halls of our school buildings! These fifth-graders at Farley Elementary School were hard at work this morning preparing Shark Tank presentations. They were tasked with designing a backpack, developing a prototype, creating a marketing campaign (with the help of actors), pricing their product, and developing investor incentive packages. Some of their innovative design features included built-in phone chargers, insulated beverage pouches, water cartridge pockets, and waterproof material to protect contents from the weather.

Field day season is upon us, and we are excited to share this snapshot from the district's second annual adaptive field day, which was held earlier this month and tailored specifically for students with mobility challenges. More than 250 students and their peers participated in this year's "Out of this World" event. The fun-filled day included inflatable bowling, soccer, darts, ladder golf, a bubble machine, water balloon station, foam station, stacking cups, and more! A special thanks goes out to the Auburn-Washburn Public Schools Foundation for providing a grant to help fund this event!

Come support your Lady Blues and all the students participating at tonight's Regional Championship Soccer game vs. Wichita East! Game starts around 6:00 PM at the WRHS McElroy Field and will be livestreamed at http://wrhs.net/live.

The winner of tonight's game will advance to State Quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 21.

Come support your Lady Blues and all the students participating at tonight's Round 1 Regional Soccer game vs. Campus/Clearwater! Game starts around 6:00 PM at the WRHS McElroy Field and will be livestreamed at http://wrhs.net/live.

The winner of tonight's game will advance to Regional Finals on Thursday, May 16.

Fifth-graders at Wanamaker Elementary School got a hands-on look at local government this week as they toured the Kansas Statehouse and Frank Carlson Federal Building. They met with state legislators Senator Brenda Dietrich and Representative Kirk Haskins, as well as U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Federico, Federal District Judge Toby Crouse, and Magistrate Judge Rachel Schwartz. Students came away from the field trip with a better understanding of the three branches of government and the day-to-day operations of legislators and judges.

Come support your Lady Blues and all the students participating at tonight's Soccer game vs. Blue Valley West! Varsity game starts around 6:30 PM at the WRHS McElroy Field and will be livestreamed at http://wrhs.net/live.

The 22nd annual Jester Awards took place this weekend at Century II Performing Arts Center in Wichita. Sponsored by Music Theatre Wichita, the Jester Awards honor excellence in high school musical theatre. Among those selected to perform was Washburn Rural High School Theatre's Fiddler on the Roof, which was evaluated along with 43 other Kansas high school musicals and selected as a state finalist in seven different categories:

Outstanding Production
Outstanding Ensemble/Chorus
Outstanding Stage Crew
Outstanding Supporting Performer: Cade Nelson
Outstanding Sound Design: Owen Tremblay
Outstanding Design Guest: Linnea Hoyos (Costume Design)
Outstanding Program Design: Maeghan Bishop

"We are very proud of all of our hardworking students and staff," said Director of Theater Maeghan Bishop, "and are especially glad to see this evidence that teamwork and collaboration are some of the strongest parts of our theatre program at Washburn Rural High School!"