Westside students were mesmerized during an assembly where Chinese acrobats performed. Throughout the assembly, students learned about Chinese culture, and were entertained by the amazing physical feats shown by the acrobats. A few students were able to attempt some of the tricks such as balancing a plate on a stick, and juggling. These same students quickly realized that is was not as easy as it looked.
Mrs. Holden, a first grade teacher at Westside, reads with a child one-on-one. At the beginning, middle, and end of the year, a benchmark reading assessment is administered to ensure that each student is progressing. This test also helps teachers determine what interventions, if necessary, should be applied. Benchmark assessments are given in all grades.
Westside students who participate in the spanish dual immersion program, recently celebrated the Dia de Reyes, or King's Day. Pictured are students from Mrs. Edman's second grade class.
Cheira Enriquez, a high school student with Latinos in Action, works one-on-one with a first grade student. Latinos In Action (LIA) is a class/program, both at the Jr. High and High school level, that inspires bilingual Latino students to utilize their language skills in supporting their school and district community and propels these students toward a career through education. Several members of this organization help students reinforce concepts they learn in school.
On Wednesday, December 21st, students at Westside joined to celebrate Christmas with a variety of performances. The 6th grade bell choir, lower grade choir, and 6th grade orchestra, performed numerous Christmas songs for the enjoyment of all.
The fourth graders in Mrs. Glazier's class have been "Decking the Halls" with Literature Trees. Each small group chose a Christmas book and then decorated a paper tree with homemade ornaments that were centerered areound the theme of the book. They included characters, quotes, settings, and main ideas in their decorations. Books used included: The Polar Express, The Christmas Queen, Olive the Other Reindeer, Winter's Gift, The Gift of Nothing, Who Will Help Santa This Year, and Mooseltoe.
Yeehaw and Howdy from the UEI Cluster Unit at Westside Elementary. Our Annual Christmas program consisted of cowboys, ranch hands, pigs, and horses. Our Special students had the opportunity to experience first hand the work it takes to be a cowboy and we caught it all on video DVD! From Santa's Reindeer ball, to a stampede of dancing reindeer, and a wave of the tree skits from our brave mantadors, you will be entertained from start to finish! For the Rootin' 'n' Tootin'est Christmas Jamboree, come on over to Westside and meet the Westside Cowhands!
During the week of December 5th-December 9th, students at Westside held their annual fundraiser for a local food bank (Community Action.) For the last six years, Westside has held a Penny War to raise money for the food bank, however, student council members chose to do a food drive instead. The student council members from sixth grade, met on several occasions to come up with a fun way to get students to bring in food. They named the fundraiser, "CAN you Food Fight?". The food drive was essentially a competition between grade-levels, and an overall incentive w
During the week of December 5th-9th, students at Westside participated in their first ever 'CAN you Food Fight?' to collect food items for Community in Action. In place of the Penny Wars which has been the fundraiser for the last several years, the student council decided to have students bring food instead of pennies. Each food item students brought in counted as a point for their classroom, however, certain foods could be brought in to 'bomb' other classes and take away their points. The bombing items included tuna fish, chili, Mac n' Cheese, and peanut butter which
On December 6th, upper-grade students partcipated in the Geography Bee at Westside. Representatives from 4th-6th grades answered a variety of questions with regard to U.S. geography in the preliminary rounds, to world geography in the semi-final and final rounds. The last two competitors were Alyssa Gardiner in Mrs. Bair's sixth-grade class, and Brendan Murphy from Mrs. Glazier's fourth-grade class. In the end, Brendan Murphy proved to be the geography champion!
