Ouachita River School District

ORSD - Acorn and Oden Schools will be closed for Fall Break

Acorn Students Present Cards & Thanks To Veterans Acorn 5th & 6th grade students created handmade cards and messages of appreciation for our Veterans and presented the cards on Veterans Day. Students learned about respect and honor and wanted to express their gratitude for those who served and continue to serve. On site for the card presentation representing American Legion & American Legion Auxiliary; Ed Cross, Ernie Skeens & Tawana Gilbert and ORSD staff Andy & Amber Arnold and their family.

ATTENTION: The Acorn Junior Boys will play Caddo Hills tonight starting at 5:00 at the Acorn New Gym, it will be followed by Sr Girls, then Sr. Boys.

Ouachita River School District would like to express our gratitude in recognizing and honoring Veterans who have served and those who continue to serve in protecting and defending our nation. Thank you for your sacrifice and service for our freedoms in the United States of America! In the Ouachita River School District, current staff members who have served are Andy Arnold, Patty Carmack & Jerrall Strasner.

Oden Campus Announcement 📣 Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving lunch at school. Your child was given a time for your family to come eat with them. Please enter through the elementary double doors and pick up your ticket for lunch. We are excited to see everyone tomorrow! 🍁🦃

Kenzie Daniels and her Adviser, Mindy Lyle attended National FCCLA Capitol Leadership and Fall Conference in Washington DC on November 2-7. As a member of the Arkansas State Executive Council, Kenzie took part in a ceremony in which she laid a wreath from the Arkansas delegation at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Executive Council also met with Senator Tom Cotton, Senator John Boozeman, and State Representatives Bruce Westerman, French Hill, and Rick Crawford. The students took part in a Capitol Hill Advocacy event and then spoke to these men about the importance of Career & Technical Education, Career & Technical Student Organization such as FCCLA, and how vital continued funding for these programs is. The group also toured Mount Vernon, many National Monuments, the National Zoo, and several Smithsonian Museums, as well as attending multiple leadership meetings and trainings with FCCLA. Kenzie is a 10th grader at Acorn High School. She is the Acorn FCCLA President, Arkansas FCCLA State President, and is running for FCCLA National office this Spring.

Arkansas Division of Secondary and Elementary Education has developed a Social Media Awareness Campaign, SMACtalk. SMACtalk's mission is getting students, educators, and parents talking about how to be safe and healthy online. Great resources for parents and stakeholders to access and create a dialog with students about cyber safety. Click on the link for more information and resources: Parents: https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/research-and-technology/smactalk/resources-for-parents Students: https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/research-and-technology/smactalk/resources-for-students

Attention parents of Acorn Elementary 5th and 6th grade students: The 5th/6th Grade students will have their Christmas Musical on Monday, Dec. 13th at 7:00 pm in the Mary Davis Gym. They will perform with the Acorn High School Choir. A note went home with students on Thursday (another one going home today) asking about T-shirt size and more. Please fill out and return the form to your child's teacher. Thank you! - Mrs. Couch

What a great experience AES students had yesterday! The Air Evac Lifeteam flew their helicopter to our campus and spoke to our students. Very educational and fun! Thank you Air Evac Team.

Oden PTO announcement 📣

~Friendly Reminder~ AES will be having Thanksgiving Lunch this week from 11:00-12:00 PM. Tickets for your paid meals can be picked up in front of the elementary office starting at 10:45 AM each day. See below of scheduled days. 5th & 6th Grade- Tuesday, Nov. 9th. Kindergarten & 1st grade- Wednesday, Nov. 10th 2nd, 3rd & 4th- Thursday, Nov. 11th *If you missed the deadline you can still send your form and money in tomorrow morning. Lunch price is $3.85 per person.

Acorn Tigers Class AA State XC Race Results ACORN SR. BOYS CROSS COUNTRY BACK-TO-BACK CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONS The Acorn Tigers defended their 2020 State Championship, taking the 2021 Class AA State Cross Country Championships held at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs on Thursday, November 5, 2021. The Tigers entered the race trying to defend last year’s championship. They were ranked 2nd all year to the #1 seat, Quitman Bulldogs and fell to third behind Melbourne. Entering the race, Acorn senior Justice Neufeld had been dominating the cross country races this fall and was ranked the top runner in Class AA and one of the top runners in the State. The race was held on a perfect fall day. The race started with Acorn’s senior Justice Neufeld taking the lead at the gun and was never challenged on the hilly 5k course. He ran a course best in 16:48.95...the race was for the team title. Quitman and Melbourne took an early lead in the team race. At the halfway mark Acorn junior Isaac Tedder, seniors: Damian Bohlman, Jake Lyle and freshman Caden Tarkinton were moving up fast. With one mile to go they were poised to move past the competition, and took the race all the way through to the finish with all five racers in the top 15. After Neufeld, Tedder came up with a personal best in 18:04.7 for 8th place, followed by Caden Tarkington in 10th place with a time of 18: 29.4, Bohlman 13th with a time of 18:56. .10 and Jake Lyle 14th with a time of 19:01.14. All five with their personal best run on race day. The next group of Acorn runners were led by junior Sky Carmack in 31st place, sophomores: Noah Holland in 44th place and Reed McGee in 49th place, all running their personal best. Senior Riley Weddle in 78th place. Justice Neufeld, Isaac Tedder and Caden Tarkinton were also named to the All-State Team. This race was Acorn's 6th State Cross Country title. Justice Neufeld will be representing Acorn and Arkansas in the Arkansas-Oklahoma All-Star Meet to be held at Rogers High School on Saturday, November 13, 2021. Isaac Tedder, Caden Tarkinton and Sky Carmack were invited to the River Valley All-Star race to be held in Mansfield on Saturday, November 13, 2021. The best individual race of the day was in Class AA Senior Girls competitions. Miriam Garcia, Oden High School exchange student from Spain running for Acorn, ran in her first cross country season this year. She battled with the defending champion and came up just a little short in a fantastic run for 2nd place with a personal best time of 20:29.22. Miriam was named to the All-Star team. Running second for Acorn was Bella Tedder with a time of 22:37.44 for 13th place. Both Miriam and Bella will represent Acorn in the River Valley All-Star meet to be held at Mansfield on November 13, 2021. Finishing 3rd for Acorn was sophomore Sophie Strasner and 4th for Acorn was junior Blanca Sanchez, exchange student from Spain.

Attention AES Parents: The MedFlight Helicopter will be landing on our campus around 10 this morning. It's for an educational program, so don't be alarmed if you see it on our campus.

The 3rd-6th grade G/T Quiz Bowl team competed at the Polk County Quiz Bowl Tournament today. Acorn A were 1st place champions. They will be advancing to the DeQueen/Mena Coop tournament.

The 3rd-4th grade Quiz Bowl team won 2nd place at the Ashdown Quiz Bowl invitational tournament on Wednesday, November 3rd.

The Junior High Quiz Bowl team competed in the Ashdown Quiz Bowl invitational tournament on Tuesday, November 2nd.

Attention Oden Parents: The Yearbook committee is needing spring photos from last year to do a spring section in this year's yearbook. If you have any pictures please email them to Mrs. Rachel Harley. Thank you! rwallace@orsd.k12.ar.us

ATTENTION: Acorn High School SENIORS will not have to report to school tomorrow, November 4th, 2021.

In using his wood craftsmanship skills, AHS student Zach Neugent, created a sign for his Construction Fundamentals Class taught by Mr. Ricky Dollar. #orsdlifeprep

Mrs. Miles would like to share her 1st graders' Pumpkin Book Reports. Check out our Facebook Page for full size photos, we had some pretty awesome book character pumpkins!