WELLS PRESS

by Zian Rogers and Hayden Love-Raleigh

The Catoosa community mourns the loss of seventh grade student-athlete Jaydyn Woodruff who passed away at his home Nov. 29 of natural causes. Messages of condolence, spoken and written, have been extended to Jaydyn’s family, especially from Wells Middle School, including hand-made signs, cards, and a banner with written messages from Wells students, faculty and staff.

“It is heartbreaking to lose a child, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Woodruff family,” said Catoosa Public Schools Superintendent Robert Schornick. “We are a small community, and this loss will be felt deeply by all who knew Jaydyn and his family.”

“He was a really good friend,” said seventh grader Quinton Cortez. “He helped people through their tough times, and he was very cool and nice.”

“Jaydyn was a good kid,” said football coach Blake Davis. “He lit up every room and had a great exuberance for life. And no matter what, he always knew how to put a smile on your face.”

“He was one of the sweetest guys I had last year,” said math teacher Auburn Jacobs.

“He was my friend since first grade,” said eighth grader Atreyu Ferrell. “Then I moved and came back last year, and then we became friends again. When we came back this school year, we were like brothers again. We would always walk to class together.

“When I lost him, I lost a part of me. And I just miss him, man.”

A memorial service open to the public is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. in the Catoosa Indians Activity Center.

Downstage, upstage: Actors Isaac Armstrong, left, and Wyatt Jester rehearse a scene from the sketch comedy play "And a Partridge in a Pear Tree." The performance will take place in the choir room Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. [photo by Sadie Pierce]

by Sadie Pierce

Would it be Christmas without xylophones? Middle school percussionists Kyle Wilson, left, and Trenton White rehearse a piece for Catoosa Bands' Christmas concert scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Catoosa Indians Activity Center. [photo by Atreyu Ferrell]

Go! Go! Go! (to the dance) ... Wells cheerleaders, from left, Araya Cross, Molly McConnell, Kynadi Carl and Carson Waymire emphatically direct attention to one of the posters they made to promote the Dec. 11 Winter Formal.

[photo by Sadie Goins]

by Sadie Goins

The Wells Middle School cheerleaders are hosting a Winter Formal at The Dome Thursday, Dec. 11th, 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $5 each. Concessions will be sold for $1. The recommended attire for this dance is formal.

“I am expecting that the children are going to have a great time,” said cheerleaders assistant coach Ariel Schulmeier. “It doesn't sound like we have a lot of dances, so (head coach Ally) Richardson and I really wanted to give y'all the chance to relax and have fun and truly be in middle school and hang out, but in a safe and controlled environment.”

“I wanted a fundraiser for cheer, since I'm the head cheer coach, but also I really wanted something that was just for middle school,” Coach Richardson said. “I think that being able to hang out with your friends is a part of growing up and your middle school journey, and so I thought that if we could bring that to these kids, it would give something as well as raising money for our organization.”

“I’m looking forward to hanging out with my friends, also the music, and also dancing, you know?” said seventh grader Molly McConnell.

“We (all of the cheerleaders) have been making posters to hang up around the school,” McConnell said. “We’ve also been telling people and like ‘this is what's happening’ and it's been working pretty well.”

Truckloads of honors: A line of military vehicles carrying American veterans paraded across Catoosa school campuses on Veterans Day 2025.

by Hailey Spears and Alondra Gallegos

All three Catoosa schools hosted a Veterans Day parade Nov. 11 in the morning, with cheering students and staff lining the parade route while military veterans rode past in military vehicles.

Wells art classes made posters to honor all the people in the military. All students and staff gathered in front of the school and held up posters and small American flags.

“The people in the Veterans Day parade were people from the community of Catoosa and a collaboration with our veterans associations," said Wells Principal Rex Langley. "I imagine there were quite a few family members in the parade who were involved in the school district.

"The parade started at Cherokee Elementary and then made its way down here to us," Mr. Langley said. "It just went through the Catoosa campus; it was a private parade for Catoosa Public Schools. Veterans and former wards participated in the parade."

The Veterans Day parade idea came from Jennifer Buchanan with the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce.

"She had the idea that all these veterans shouldn’t be working on Veterans Day to provide for people, and we should be honoring them and treating them to a day," Mr. Langley said. "She came up with this idea, with an organization to have the parade. She had a meeting with all the principals, including high school and elementary, to discuss the parade, and we all agreed to it."

Faces on cups -- for pies. And money ... One of these faces will be covered in pie this week, depending on which face takes the most $1 tickets into its cup to benefit Wells' Special Olympics team. Wells educator contestants are, from left to right, Hannah Wilkinson, Rachel Conklin, Shawnee Hodge, Rex Langley, Justin Gibson, Sandy Gilstrap and Kaylee O'Neil.

[photo by Mia Rodriguez]

by Mia Rodriguez and Emmaline Coffey

The Wells Special Olympics team has come together to create a fundraiser to pay for their expenses. The fundraiser is to climax with an educator being "pied in the face."

Using specific coffee cups in the office, students and staff paid $1 for a ticket that's dropped into the cup bearing the face of the educator the payor wants to see get pied in the face. Whoever has the most tickets at the end gets the pie.

Wells Special Olympics Coach Justin Gibson said he is hoping the fundraiser will raise $250-$300.

"It's an easy fundraiser," Mr. Gibson said. "Kids like it, and its 100 percent profit, so whatever we make, we get all that money.”

Funds will be used for the Special Olympic winter games that will take place in January.

Get to class -- or else: Secretary to the Principal Ariel Schulmeier, left, and Wells Press staffer Hailey Spears provide a mock demonstration of what happens to students caught in a hallways sweep after the class tardy bell rings. [photo by Yanely Olvera-Stephenson]

by Yanely Olvera-Stephenson and Mina Miller

Wells Middle School is strictly enforcing its tardy policy that’s intended to maintain the Catoosa school district’s requirements for attendance and in-class learning.

“Our school board here in Catoosa has a policy in place that says you have to be in class 90 percent of each semester,” said Wells Dean of Students Chase Stookey, “or you can fail even if you have straight A’s.”

The 90 percent rule counts as seven unexcused absences, Mr. Stookey explained, and tardies can be counted toward that total. “For every four unexcused tardies you receive, it counts as one unexcused absence,” he said.

“When the bell rings, you must be in class. If not, you are tardy,” Mr. Stookey said. The consequences are lunch detention for the first three tardies, and two more lunch detentions for a fourth tardy. A fifth tardy and after leads to in-school suspension. Tardy counts reset after the semester.

“Once the bell rings, if any students are left in the hallways, Mr. Langley, Ms. Gilstrap and myself will do hall sweeps,” Mr. Stookey said, “and bring those students to the office and have them call their parents and explain why they are late.”

Time-out, Catoosa: Seventh grade girls basketball coach Jaquavius Dupree talks with his players during a tournament game at Claremore Sequoia in November. [photo by Terri Uhl]

by Zyana Hosey and Ariana Cozart

Although not always shown on the scoreboard, Catoosa's jr. high girls basketball team's accomplishments are clear to their coach.

"We have a lot of improvement from what I heard on how (the team) did last year," said Coach Jaquavius Dupree. "I do feel like I have a lot of girls that are dedicated to win and to be better.

We need to work on shot selections and passing, but our defense is doing pretty good..

"My favorite part of coaching this team is the confidence that these girls have," Coach Dupree said. "I feel like our past few tournaments we’ve had amazing teamwork on defense. I have a good amount of girls that actually try to be involved and work hard."

Wall-to-wall: Catoosa jr. high wrestlers conduct a morning workout. [photo by Brooklyn Ledbetter]

by Samuel Esquivel and Mason Porterfield

As the wrestling season progresses, Coach Todd Henshaw says he’s seeing major improvements from athletes across the entire team. One of his biggest goals this year is to help wrestlers’ to return next season even stronger.

‘’Athletes who joined the program back in August have shown noticeable progress,’’ Coach Henshaw said, ‘’especially in their offense while on their feet.’’ Coach Henshaw also praised the wrestlers who recently transitioned from football.

“They’ve picked it up fast,” he said. “They already have a good feel for the sport.”

While Coach Henshaw said he can teach technique, strategy, and positioning, he also said he believes one key element can’t be taught: toughness.

“I can coach everything about wrestling,” he explained, “but toughness comes from the athlete. I can’t teach that.”

To build a strong team culture, Coach Henshaw makes it a priority to push his athletes—and encourages them to push one another as well. He says accountability is essential for success.

“Every teammate should hold the others accountable,” he said. “That’s part of my job: to build that environment. And I’m going to push as hard as I can.

“Having the right mentality is number one,” he said. “Toughness is the most important skill.”

by Brooklyn Ledbetter and Yuliana Baez

Despite the unexpected departure of its founding coach Gina Alderman, Wells' e-sports team could pick up quickly where it left off when new coach Kaylee O'Neal took over almost immediately.

“I became an e-sports coach because I loved the change that I made in kids when it came to competitive video gaming," Coach O'Neal said. "Seeing their successes combined with my personal love for video games, and seeing them grow, is why I do what I do.”

The team has no competitions scheduled for now; the team is just in “training mode.”

“What helps us stay focused is seeing the end results and them succeeding," Coach O'Neal said. "Having the mentality that we are going to win eventually has really helped us stay focused and setting up scrimmages against other schools like Bixby High School, for example. We have a friendly competition against them coming up."

Well Press staff: Yuliana Baez, Emmaline Coffey, Bryce Cook, Ariana Cozart, Samuel Esquivel, Atreyu Ferrell, Alondra Gallegos, Sadie Goins, Zyana Hosey, Brooklyn Ledbetter, Hayden Love-Raleigh, Mina Miller, Yanely Olvera-Stephenson, Sadie Pierce, Mason Porterfield, Charles Pruett,

Mia Rodriguez, Zian Rogers, Hailey Spears.

Send inquiries to kmcanany@catoosa.k12.ok.us.