Bearcat Wrap-up Podcast - Week 35: Appreciating Our Teachers and Elevating Student Futures

Episode Date: May 7, 2026

Happy Thursday!Thank you for the steady, professional work you bring to Mena Public Schools each day. As we move further into the closing stretch of the school year, our goals for student learning, attendance, and school climate remain in clear focus, and it is the consistent habits you carry into classrooms, hallways, buses, cafeterias, offices, and activity spaces that keep us moving in the right direction.This week brings a mix of reflection and forward momentum. We are honoring the daily work of educators during Teacher Appreciation Week, recognizing the relationships and instructional skill that make our recent gains possible. At the same time, we are continuously using college and career planning tools and approaches to help students connect their present efforts to future opportunities in concrete ways.This week’s Wrap-up reflects both of those realities. There is a clear focus on the people whose work shapes students’ lives every day, new data for our college and career planning efforts, and several closing celebrations that highlight how Bearcats are showing up in ways that will stay with them long after this school year ends.Teacher Appreciation and Redefining ReadyThis Teacher Appreciation Week, I am thinking about our work through the lens of “college-ready, career-ready, life-ready.” Readiness is measured by what students actually do: taking advanced and CTE courses, maintaining strong attendance, engaging in work-based learning, participating in activities, and building the social-emotional skills that help them persist.When we look at those kinds of indicators in our college and career reports highlighted later in this Wrap-up, what we are really seeing is the daily work of Mena educators showing up in the data. Every AP or dual-credit assignment you design, every CTE lab you run, and every time you use a club, practice, or rehearsal to reinforce attendance and belonging, you are pushing students closer to those readiness benchmarks.When our students meet college-ready or career-ready indicators, it is not an accident; it is the result of thousands of decisions made by teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, bus drivers, office staff, custodians, and administrators across the year. If you are a classroom teacher, I hope you take a moment this week to see yourself in those readiness stories.If you are in a support role, I hope you see how your consistency, relationships, and high expectations make it possible for students to show up and succeed. Teacher Appreciation Week is a reminder that our systems, our initiatives, and our goals only matter if they reflect and support the work you do with students every day.College & Career Planning 2026Earlier this year, we committed to giving every student in grades 8–12 access to the Encourage college and career planning platform, along with a set of College & Career Planning 2026 resources. Encourage gives students a free web and mobile app to explore careers, compare programs, and discover scholarships, while giving educators tools to see student interests, track engagement, and use ready‑to‑go planning lessons.That combination is exactly the kind of system we have in mind when we say we want to be purposeful, not random, in how we prepare students for what comes after Mena. As of April 2, 293 students across three Mena schools have participated in the Encourage program, with roughly half identifying as female and half as male, and a significant share identifying as first‑generation college‑bound. The majority of participants are in the classes of 2026, 2027, and 2030, which gives us a strong view of both near‑term graduates and students who still have several years to plan.The postsecondary pathways report shows that large majorities of students in every group are considering public state colleges and universities, and that many are also interested in private colleges, community or junior colleges, and career and technical schools. Students who would be first‑generation college‑goers are just as likely to express interest in public and private college options as students whose parents completed college, which underscores the importance of the information and support they receive at school. At the same time, meaningful percentages of students are looking at apprenticeships, direct‑to‑work options, and the military, reminding us that “college and career ready” must include a range of high‑quality pathways.On the career interest side, health and medicine, finance and business, and art, design, entertainment, and media rise to the top, each drawing interest from around one‑quarter of students. Law, criminal justice, and protection services; architecture and engineering; and education and teaching also show up strongly, with clear patterns by gender and graduation year. For example, many students in the classes of 2028 and 2029 report interest in health and medicine alongside business, while students in earlier grades show growing interest in engineering and other technical fields.These reports are not just charts to look at once and file away; they are an invitation to ask, “If this is what our students say they want, how do we design the experiences, partnerships, and supports that match?” As we learn more, we will keep aligning our college and career work with local industry, high‑demand programs, and the two‑ and four‑year options our students are naming. At the same time, we will keep asking whether every student, especially those whose families did not complete college, has access to the information and encouragement to pursue the pathway that fits them best.Closing CelebrationsThe school year is coming to a close, but we still have had a lot to celebrate this week.Our track and field athletes turned in outstanding performances, including a state championship in the pole vault and another podium finish in the same event, representing Mena with grit and excellence.Our FFA chapter capped off the year with its 79th Annual End of the Year Banquet, recognizing the accomplishments of members from the 2025–2026 year and thanking the parents, staff, and community partners who helped make the evening and the program a success. We also honored our school nurses on National School Nurse Day, recognizing the essential role they play in student health, safety, attendance, and learning across all of our campuses.Good luck to our Bearcat baseball team this evening in the regional tournament as they take on Pea Ridge, and thank you for the hard work, preparation, and teamwork that brought you to this moment. We also wish our boys’ soccer team the very best as they are working hard for their own postseason play. We appreciate the effort, sportsmanship, and pride with which you represent Mena.It was a good week of appreciation at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Tomorrow is our final planned school closure day of the year. So have a nice long weekend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com

Good afternoon and welcome to the week 35 wrap up entitled Appreciating our Teachers and Elevating Student Futures. The daily work of MENA educators and staff continues to show up in student growth, opportunity, and career readiness across our schools. Happy Thursday, thank you for the steady professional work you bring to MENA public schools each day. As we move further into the closing stretch of the school year, our goals for student learning, attendance, and school climate remain in clear focus, and it is the consistent habits you carry into classrooms, hallways, buses, cafeterias, offices, and activity spaces that keep us moving in the right direction.

This week brings a mix of reflection and forward momentum. We are honoring the daily work of educators during Teacher Appreciation Week, recognizing the relationships and instructional skill that makes our recent gains possible. At the same time, we are continuously using college and career planning tools and approaches. to help students connect their present efforts to future opportunities in concrete ways. This week's wrap-up reflects both of those realities. There's a clear focus on the people whose work shapes student lives every day, new data for our college and career planning efforts, and several closing celebrations that highlight how Bearcats are showing up in ways that will stay with them long after this school year ends. Teacher appreciation. Teacher appreciates

appreciation and redefining ready. This teacher this teacher appreciation week I'm thinking about our work through the lens of college ready career ready and life ready readiness is measured by what students actually do taking advanced and CTE courses maintaining strong attendance engaging in work-based learning participating in activities and building the social emotional skills that help them persist. When we look at those kinds of indicators in our college and career reports highlighted later in this wrap-up, what we are really seeing is the daily work of MENA educators showing up in the data. Every AP or dual credit assignment

you design, every CTE lab you run, and every time you use a club practice or rehearsal to reinforce attendance and belonging, you are pushing students closer to those readiness benchmarks. When our students meet college ready, or career ready indicators, it is not an accident. It is the result of thousands of decisions made by teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, bus drivers, office staff, custodians, and administrators across the year. If you are a classroom teacher, I hope you take a moment this week to see yourself in those readiness stories.

If you are in a support role, I hope you see how your consistency, relationships, and high expectations make it possible for students to show up and succeed. Teacher Appreciation Week is a reminder that our systems, our initiatives, and our goals are only matter if they reflect and support the work you do with students every day. College and Career Planning, 2026. Earlier this year, we committed to giving every student in grades 8 through 12 access to the Encourage College and Career Planning platform, along with a set of College of Career Planning 2026 resources. Encourage give students a free web and mobile app to explore careers, compare

programs, and discover scholarships while giving educators tools to see student interest, track engagement, and use ready-to-go planning lessons. That combination is exactly the kind of system we have in mind when we say we want to be purposeful, not random, and how we prepare students for what comes after MENA. As of April 2nd, 293 students across three MENA schools have participated in the Encourage program with roughly half identifying as female and half as male and a significant share identifying as first generation college male. The majority of participants are in the classes of 26, 27, and 30 which gives us a strong view of both near-term graduates and students

who still have several years to plan. The post-secondary pathway report shows that large majorities of students in every group are considering public state colleges and universities. And that many are also interested in private colleges, community or junior colleges, and career and technical schools. Students who would be first generation college goers are just as likely to express interest in private

and college options as students who, whose parents completed college, which underscores the importance of the information and support that they receive at school. At the same time, meaningful percentages of students are looking at apprenticeships, direct-to-work options, and the military reminding us that college and career-ready must include a range of high-quality pathways. On the career interest side, health and medicine, finance and business and art and design entertainment and media rise to the top. Each drawing interest from around one quarter of the students. Law, criminal justice and protective services, architecture and engineering, and education

and teaching also show up strongly with clear patterns by gender and graduation year. For example, many students in the classes of 2028 and 29 report interest in the students. in health and medicine alongside business, while students in earlier grades show growing interest in engineering and other technical fields. These reports are not just charts to look at once and follow away. They are an invitation to ask,

if this is what our students say they want, how do we design the experiences, partnerships, and supports to match? As we learn more, we will keep aligning our college and career work with local industry, high demand programs and the two and four year options our students are naming. At the same time, we will keep asking whether every student, especially those whose families did not complete college, has access to the information and encouragement to pursue the

pathway that fits them best. Closing celebrations. The school year is coming to a close, but we still have a lot to celebrate this week. Our track and field athletes turn into outstanding performances, including a state championship in the pole vault and another. podium finish in the same event representing Mina with grit and excellence or FFA chapter kept off the year with its 79th annual end-of-year banquet recognizing the accomplishments of members from the 25-26 year and thanking parents, staff, and

community partners who helped make the evening and the program a success. We also honored our school nurses on National School Nurse Day, recognizing the essential role they play in student health, safety, attendance, and learning across all of our campuses. Good luck to our Bearcat baseball team this evening in the regional tournament as they take on Pea Ridge, and thank you for the hard work, preparation, and teamwork that brought you to this moment. We also wish our boys soccer team the very best as they are working hard for their own postseason play.

We appreciate the effort, sportsmanship, and pride with which you represent Mina. It was a good week of appreciation at me in public schools. At many of public schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident. Tomorrow is our final planned school closure day of the year, so have a nice long weekend.