Van Buren R-1 Community,
I hope everyone is enjoying fall and the changing of the leaves. We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful area.
Congratulations to the Lady Dawgs Cross Country on their Class 1 State Championship win! Our varsity girls dominated the course with a low score of 43 points. Our varsity boys team also had a great showing and missed a state trophy by 3 points, placing 5th at state. Between the two teams, we had five individual All-State athletes. It was an exciting day for our school and community. I can’t praise the hard work of our student athletes and coach Padovano enough. Congratulations to them!
If you have been to a recent athletic event or follow the Van Buren Pep Club Facebook page, you have seen the excitement our Pep Club is bringing to our events. Pep Club Sponsors Susan Jarrell and Jamie Lewis have done an outstanding job organizing and setting the example for Bulldog pride. It makes me proud to see our students supporting each other during school events. Even if that means boarding a school bus at 4:00 AM on a Saturday to cheer on our runners at state cross country!
We are continuing to improve facilities on campus including the new signage on campus. The Board of Education met during the October board meeting to continue discussion of prioritizing other capital projects on campus. The board has been very active in addressing some of the campus needs. During the budget proposal this past summer, we budgeted funds to begin improvements to the playing surfaces at our baseball and softball fields. The baseball field has new sod laid on the infield providing a grass infield for the 2022 spring season. The excess dirt removed from the baseball’s infield will go to the softball fields to fill in low spots, along with french drains inserted. This should help with water drainage making the fields less likely for rain outs. Coach Hoagland has done a great job overseeing these two projects.
First Midwest Bank’s Current River Challenge will be November 26 and 27. The schedules have been posted to our social media. There will be a lot of exciting match ups during the shootout. We invite the community to come out and enjoy the local high school basketball talent.
Other important upcoming dates:
November 22-26: Thanksgiving break
November 26-27: First Midwest Bank’s Current River Challenge
December 20- January 3 : Christmas Break
Dr. Clay LaRue
Superintendent of Schools