September 2015

This week Westside has the privilege of hosting Claudia Jex, one of Nebo School District's two Visual Arts Specialists. She is spending the week teaching art lessons in classes, and also working with teachers to find ways to integrate visual art into the regular core curriculum. On Tuesday the fourth grade classes had a lesson that involved learning to draw trees by breaking them down into smaller pieces. "She's blowing my mind," one fourth grader whispered to himself with a huge grin, as he learned to draw branches by making V's and Y's with his pencil. We're having a great time with Ms.

Mrs. Wimmer, one of our incredible third grade teachers, is our Staff Spotlight this week! Mrs. Wimmer is from Nephi, Utah, but is now happy to call Springville her home. She is married and has three daughters and one grandson. She enjoys golfing, working in her yard, speding time with her family and friends, reading, camping, boating, and snowmobiling. Mrs. Wimmer is beloved by her students, and we are so grateful to have her here at Westside!

 Today the fifth grade enjoyed an exciting presentation from Discovery Gateway. They learned about physical changes and chemical reactions as they watched experiments being performed, including watching chemicals burn red and green, liquids changing into solids, and solutions changing color when acids and bases were added. After the presentation each class was able to meet with the presenter in a smaller lab session, where the students were given (completely safe!) chemicals to create reactions of their own with.  

This week's Staff Spotlight is Mrs. Beckham, one of our wonderful Resource teachers. Mrs. Beckham is from Downey, California. She comes from a family of five kids, and now she is married with three sons of her own, as well as two dogs and a guinea pig. Some of her favorite things to do are: spending time with her family, reading, crafting, and this tough lady also trains for the Highland games, where she flips 12 foot poles while wearing a skirt. Mrs. Beckham's hope is for all students to feel loved and successful in school. 

Welcome back to a new school year at Westside Elementary! With so many new teachers, staff, and students this year, we'd like to take some time to spotlight a staff member every few weeks so that you can all get to know us better. For our first spotlight we'd like to introduce you to our incredible principal, Mr. Sainsbury! Mr. Sainsbury is originally from Sandy, UT. He has 2 brothers and 4 sisters, a lovely wife, and 8 kids (most of who are still nearby). He likes to play in his garden, go on vacations, and cheer on his favorite sports teams. More than anything, Mr.

Westside Elementary is excited to invite you to sign up online for SEPs using SignUp Genius! You will need an access code to be admitted into our sign-ups. The access code for this SEP is wildcats. To sign up you will not be required to create a SignUp Genius account. However if you choose to do so, SignUp Genius will send you text/e-mail reminders about your upcoming appointments and will make signing up for next SEPs even easier.