Spring sports pictures, and K-8 classroom pictures, will now be taken on Monday, March 25th. The original date was set for Tuesday, March 5th.

Here are this week's PE award winners! These students had an outstanding week showing good teamwork, sportsmanship, participation, and hustle!
Kindergarten-Camryn Todd
1st grade-Kinkey Dilly
2nd grade-Sloane Jackson
3rd grade-Richard Parson
4th grade-Levi Durst
5th grade-Max Hanner

Last week, five 5th graders and two 6th graders earned the opportunity to attend and compete in the regional KidWind competition held at Kansas State University. They received this honor by creating a wind turbine that created the most amount of energy in their class. This competition is sponsored by the Kansas Energy Program.
The regional contest consisted of four parts: the performance tunnel where the turbines were tested, a quiz, a presentation, and an instant challenge where they were put on the spot to test their knowledge of science-related concepts.
While at KSU, students also toured the innovation lab at Hale Library and, of course, ate ice cream at Call Hall. Neither team earned a spot at the state contest, but the fifth grade team, "Uncle Fred," was awarded "Judge’s Choice" for an exceptional presentation.
The teachers facilitating this year’s projects were Hannah Kolterman and Holly Thomas. Students attending regionals for the 5th grade team were Cyrus Jones, Daylan Griffin, Mason McClain, Grayson Kaberline, and Max Hanner. For the 6th grade team it was Kaiden Uland and Sally Miller.
Thanks to Ms. Kolterman and Mrs. Thomas for helping facilitate such a great experience for these kids!



Elementary yearbook sales have begun! To order yours, go to inter-state.com and enter code 85317N. Orders are due March 29th, so get your order placed today!


Another round of 7th graders in Mrs. Thomas's OREO class finished their field test this month, and this time it was with a new, and definitely favorite, challenge - archery! Students have been receiving instruction on State of Kansas Hunter Safety education, and began the day on Friday by completing that course with KWP officials. They then got to eat lunch at Steve and Anne Suther's, where they enjoyed a meal consisting of a variety of wild game. After that, they got to do some archery, then they went on to Mrs. Suther's pond where they snagged a few fish!
Mrs. Thomas would like to extend a huge thank you to Greg and Amy Cerny of St. Mary’s for opening their home to the class, game wardens Matt Cook and Ryan Schmidt for teaching firearms safety, and Steve and Anne Suther for opening their home to the class as well. This day has become a favorite for our students!









It's 3-on-3 basketball season, and several area schools are putting on tournaments over the next few weeks. Blue Valley is hosting one on March 16th for ages 1st grade up to adults, and Valley Heights is hosting one on April 13th for 3rd grade through adults. To sign up, see the information for each on the attached flyers.
Also, be on the lookout for details on one that will be held in Onaga, plans for which are in the works.


The Kansas Association of School Boards in coordination with USD 322 is conducting an online survey to seek input on desired characteristics of the new superintendent. The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and can be accessed at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/USD322SS until noon Friday, March 1, 2024.

Join the USD 322 district for the 2024-25 school year!

Last week, WIBW announced its latest Scholar Athlete of the Week, and it was Onaga's own Tatum Lara!
Tatum is a three-sport athlete for Onaga. He's been having a tremendous senior year in athletics, having been named 2nd Team All-League as a defensive lineman in football, he followed that up with a second straight state wrestling tournament just this past weekend. He will now begin golf this week.
Tatum is also involved in many other activities and has taken on several leadership roles in them as well. He’s a part of KAYS as vice president, FFA as vice president, O’Club as the Treasurer, STUCO as Senior Class representative, and is also a member of the Shiny Star 4H club as president.
He plans on attending K-State where he’ll study Wildlife and Outdoor Enterprise Management, and has maintained a 3.8 GPA while excelling in all of those other activities. His being named the WIBW Scholar Athlete of the Week also puts him in the running for a $2,500 scholarship.
If you'd like to see the video of his honor from the evening news, follow the link below.
Congratulations Tatum on this incredible honor!
https://www.wibw.com/2024/02/22/scholar-athlete-week-tatum-lara/

Spring sports practices begin today, which means games will be coming up in just a couple of weeks. To get ready for baseball season, follow the link below to get your gear. You'll find shirts, hoodies, pants, shorts, baseball essential gear, even blankets, phone covers, and more! Orders will be sent to the school and dispersed from there. Get them in this week, as the online store closes on Friday!
https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/DPGP7eSBD7

Here are last week's PE award winners! These students had an outstanding week showing good teamwork, sportsmanship, participation, and hustle!
Kindergarten-Vayda Valburg
1st grade-Jaycee VanDonge
2nd grade-Bryson Kolterman
3rd grade-Brinley Bean
4th grade-Kemper Wheeler
5th grade-Chastity Bailey

After several event-filled weeks of activities, we now shift to spring sports with practices beginning this week!

Landon Koelling is the final wrestler still going at the state tournament, and he's on his way to a medal in the final day of the three-day tournament. The senior is now 3-1 in the tournament after yesterday, where he came away with a 15-6 decision over McLouth's Justin Patz (21-10) in the consolation bracket's second round, then beat Erie's Seth Welch (29-5) in the quarterfinals.
Today, wrestling began about 10 minutes ago and Landon will be wrestling in the consolation semifinals in a few minutes. He is taking on Blake Buresh (35-6) of Phillipsburg and a win means he will be in the 3rd place match later today, while a loss would put him in the 5th place match.
As always, you can follow live results or watch the meet live by visiting the wrestling team's page on the district website, a link for which can be found below.
Good luck today Landon! GO BUFFALOES!!!
HS WRESTLING
https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-and-boys-wrestling

Postseason play continues today for winter sports, as wrestling is in the second day of the state tournament and the girls basketball team plays their opening round of sub-state.
Landon Koelling and Tatum Lara both won a match and lost a match yesterday, and now are in the second round of the backside of their respective brackets. Wrestling got underway within the last hour in Salina, and both have matches coming up shortly. If they win, they will continue wrestling throughout the afternoon. You can keep up on live results, as well as watch their matches live by visiting their team page on the school website. A link for the page is below.
The girls basketball team is heading back to Troy this evening after wrapping up their regular season there on Monday. Onaga enters as the #5 seed with the Trojans being the #4 seed. You can check out the entire sub-state bracket and much more by heading over to their team page, a link for which can be found below.
Good luck to Landon, Tatum, and the girls basketball team today! GO BUFFALOES!!!
HS GIRLS BASKETBALL
https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-basketball
HS WRESTLING
https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-and-boys-wrestling



Day one is in the books for Onaga's wrestlers, as both won a match and lost a match. In the 138 pound weight class, Landon Koelling beat Joel Abell from Minneapolis by a 5-3 decision. Then, in the quarterfinals, he fell to Lukas Zodrow (35-2) from Decatur Community High School in a 6-0 decision. That moves him to the backside of the bracket, where he will now battle for a 3rd place finish. His next match will be tomorrow against Justin Patz (21-9) from McLouth.
In the 285 pound weight class, Tatum Lara was pinned in his first match to Brody Chambers (35-3) of Southeast of Saline. That moved him to the backside of the bracket, where he faced Ethan Ranes (19-22) from Jayhawk-Linn. Tatum pinned him in less than a minute, sending him on to the next round where he will also be battling for 3rd place. His opponent has yet to be determined, but will be by the end of the night.
Good luck tomorrow boys! GO BUFFALOES!!!


1-0 to start the day! Senior Landon Koelling just won his first match at the state wrestling meet in Salina. He now moves on to the quarterfinals, which he will wrestle in tonight.
Senior Tatum Lara is getting set to hit the mat for his match, which is coming up in about 10 minutes. You can watch it live by following the "State Live Stream" button on the team's page on the district website. A link to the page can be found below.
HS WRESTLING
https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-and-boys-wrestling

The state wrestling tournament begins today, and both of Onaga's qualifiers will be wrestling twice today in Salina. The meet began at 9:00am this morning, but our boys won't hit the mat until after the 3-2-1A boys first round starts at 5:15pm.
A schedule for the next three days is attached. You can also check out the brackets and results, as well as watch the meet live by clicking on the associated links on the team's page on the school website. A link to the page is below.
Good luck to Tatum and Landon today! GO BUFFALOES!!!
HS WRESTLING
https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-and-boys-wrestling


PATHS chocolate bar fundraiser has been extended to Leap Day, Thursday, February 29th!
Postseason play has arrived, as the high school basketball teams enter sub-state tournaments this week. The girls will play their first-round game tomorrow night in Troy, but the boys hist the hardwood tonight at Bishop-Seabury. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm in Lawrence.
You can check out the sub-state bracket, and much more by visiting the team's page on the district website, a link for which can be found below.
Good luck tonight boys! GO BUFFALOES!!!
HS BOYS BASKETBALL
https://www.usd322.org/page/basketball-boys

Please join us this morning at 10:30am, as we send off wrestlers Landon Koelling and Tatum Lara to the state wrestling tournament in Salina. The two seniors will start in the elementary school and make their way up to through the school, eventually ending at the north gym entrance. After the walk through the school, the entire student body will meet the wrestlers in the auditorium where the cheerleaders will lead us in a pep rally.
Please come join us as we celebrate Tatum and Landon and wish them well on their way to state!

