Duenweg Education Center

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!!! Our Beacon students traveled to the Springfield Zoo today for a day filled with feeding and petting the animals, riding the train, and having a picnic in the park! What a fun time! 🐼🐻🐯🦁

Thank you so much to 180 Church and Convoy of Hope for your donation for our DEC families in need. Not only did we get some great food items, but check out these cool backpacks! We really appreciate you and your generosity!

A FAVORITE treat at DEC during summer is YUMMY watermelon! 🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

Painting is always a favorite activity for our Beacon kiddos. Here are some of our budding Picassos and Van Goghs! 🎨🧑‍🎨🫟👨‍🎨🖌️🖼️

DEC is in full summer school mode! Mornings are spent working on academics and programming to meet our students’ IEP goals, but afternoons have been full of fun activities. They have had a blast with activities including park time, cooking, painting and water activities. Here’s a snapshot of our CBSS kiddos in action!

On Friday we also hosted our annual end-of-year cookout. Every year the Duenweg Volunteer Fire Department come out with their truck and grill hotdogs for us. The kids all love being able to get up in the truck and a couple of our staff got decked up in their PPE gear! Thank you to all the guys who are so patient and kind to our students! We appreciate you!

This past Friday we celebrated our Beacon program students, staff and our building’s partners at our annual awards ceremony. Student awards were given and it was so much fun to see their excitement! 

Last week we had a nice mid-week surprise! Kim from 180 Church brought a cookie tray for our staff to help us fuel up for the home stretch. A huge thank you for thinking about us! ❤️❤️

🎉 WiLL’S PLACE BLOCK PARTY 🎉�Where Every Mind Matters

May is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and we’re celebrating in a big way—our Block Party is back! Join us for an evening of fun, connection, and community support for kids and families.

📅 May 14th�⏰ 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM�📍 Mercy Park, Joplin, MO

✨ What to expect:�• Activities, games & outdoor play�• FREE hot dogs, chips & drinks�• Photo booth & face painting�• Great giveaways�• Health & community information booths�• Meet Joplin Police & Fire Departments�• Special appearance by a children’s author�• Opportunities to connect with local resources

💙 FREE and open to the public!

WiLL’s Place, a program of Ozark Center and Freeman Health System, provides comprehensive behavioral health services for children and families (birth–age 25) across Joplin, Carl Junction, Carthage, and Neosho.
Come out, have fun, and support children’s mental health in our community—we can’t wait to see you there!