Welcome to our first eNews edition for the 2015-2016 school year!

Although we no longer have a class that is dedicated to writing the brief articles and announcement compilations for the newsletter, we will still endeavor to send it out weekly with as much information as we can. The class that wrote for the newsletter last year was the high school applied communications, but this year that class is starting up a Plato School Network (PSN) radio show. A link to the show's webpage is available on the school's website, or click HERE. The students have been working hard on writing interesting radio scripts, practicing their radio voices, and learning basic sound editing. So far, only one segment has made the cut to be aired on Big Country 99.3 FM, and that will begin airing on September 8th, 2015, at 2:02 p.m. daily during the week. It is a really short segment, so if you can't listen to it on air, follow the link above to hear the segment at your convenience.

Elementary News

The Plato Elementary started off the 2015-2016 school year with great news! Plato was the top school in the conference on the MAP math test for grades three through five last year. The elementary also celebrated their completion of the first full week of school with ice cream on Friday, The first round of iReady testing has been completed, and teachers are working on identifying strengths and weaknesses. Fall pictures for grades preK-5th will be on September 8th, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the old gym. The first Character Assembly for the year will kick off on Friday, September 11th, at 2:30 p.m. in the old gym.

Fall Sports Update

The Plato Baseball Eagles are off to a flying start this year with a 6-1 record so far. Kicking off the season with a road win at Newburg, defeating the Wolves 11-2, the team has begun piling up the wins. The win over the Conway Bears, 3-2 on Thursday, August 27th, is the biggest victory of the season so far. Prior to that win, the Eagles had not defeated the Bears in baseball since Coach Pimentel became the assistant baseball coach. Following that win, the team traveled to Newburg on Friday, August 28th and on Saturday, August 29th for the Newburg Tournament. A sixth-inning lead change vaulted the Crocker Lions past the Plato Eagles Varsity, 5-4, in their first game of the tournament, giving the Eagles their first loss of the season. In the first game on Saturday, August 29th, an early lead gave the Eagles the victory over the Richland Bears, 14-1. In the final game of the tournament, the Eagles faced off against the Newburg Wolves for the second time early in the season. The Eagles escape the Wolves behind Conner Hathaway's six strikeouts and pick up a 4-0 win. After jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first inning at home against the Bulldogs on Monday night, August 31st, a fifth-inning rally sparks a 10-0 win for the Plato Eagles.

The Lady Volleyball Eagles kick-started their season by grabbing the game one victory over the Conway Bears. The Volley Eagles then turned their attention to their next opponent, the Osage Indians. The girls fought hard but lost to the Indians. On September 1st, the Lady Eagles traveled to Cabool to take on the Bulldogs. Though the Eagles battled through three sets, they were unable to pull out the win.

The Plato Cross Country team opened their season at the Strafford Invitational on Saturday,September 5th. The meet was held at Fellows Lake, outside of Springfield, and results will be posted on the Plato Cross Country website as soon as they're available. Several Plato athletes were captured by the Ozone photographer at the meet, so to view the slideshow or order pictures, click HERE.

Finally, our junior high basketball teams played in their first games of the season on Friday, September 4th, at home against the Newburg Wolves. The 7th grade boys lost to the Wolves, 13-0. The 8th grade boys defeated the Wolves by the score of 49-17.

Results of the junior high girls games will be reported in the next eNews edition.