Monday, December 19, 2016

December 19th Weekly Blog

Happy Holiday's! - My wishes are for everyone to have a wonderful Holiday break and I hope all of you spend time with family and friends while you rejuvenate your minds after the start to a great school year! Next Blog will be on Monday January 9th, 2017

Blogging Better? - Today I was invited into Mrs. Menzel's Writing for Publication class to collaborate with groups of student for the purpose of discussing and getting feedback on this blog. The students created a blog rubric as specific criteria for providing me feedback and we had great conversation about the positive elements in my blog writing, and important conversations about how I can be better. This was a wonderful way to spend some of my afternoon and thanks to the students who provided me with authentic feedback for improving this blog. I expect them to continue to hold me to high standards!

Food Drive - We are in the last four days of the food drive and need a large push to keep filling the boxes in our main lobby. If you have not done so, it is time to start bringing in non-perishable food items and canned foods to West teachers for tomorrow and continuing through the 22nd for the annual Student Council food drive. Please remember to donate as the donations will impact our local community...thank you! Below is a list of items that can be most helpful if you need that push to know what to bring:




We Love You Alumni! - This time of year is one of my favorites as many of our alumni come back to visit their Waukesha West family. We mostly see college students or service members who come home for the holidays..., and enjoy every moment of it. I want West to be a place of connection and one where everyone continues to want to come back knowing that no matter where they are or what is happening in their lives..... that West is a place they are always welcome! For any alumni who read this, please keep coming back as we want to see you! One alumni who came to visit us today was a young man by the name of Jake Kupsky. Jake is busy playing hockey all over the country as he is a goal tender for Union College locate in up-state New York and is one of the best college teams in the country. He is a great young man and as he has made the effort to come back for a chat, please do the same West alumni!!!

Jake Kupsky

Have you met your Beard Goal? WE HAVE! - I want to recognize Mr. Jim Brennan for all of his effort and leadership in pushing us to exceed our "Beard for Change" school fund raising goal of $4,000.00. After two out of three completed fund raising sessions we have a total of $4.010.58 in the fund for supporting our local communities. With one session remaining we look to smash that goal and provide as much as we can. The thanks belongs to our students, who work hard and with a generous spirit give back either their time or in this case some hard earned money to support a good cause. Thank you!

Student Council Connections - Last week Friday our administrative team met with your student council representatives to discuss topics and answers questions about the happenings at West High School. I encourage all students to connect with your representatives to learn more about our discussion and to also provide them with questions you may want answered for the next time we meet again. Thank you to the representatives who came well prepared with excellent questions and took great notes!


Archived Announcements : Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks.

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars on these two links to preview what is happening at West High School this week:


Tuesday, December 13, 2016

December 12th Weekly Blog

"Welcome To West" Success!! - A big thank you to all families who joined us last night for our 'Welcome To West Night! By estimates we had approximately 400 plus students and family members in attendance. Another thank you to all of the West teachers and support staff for making the evening a success....below are some feedback anecdotes from those who attended, and we hope all in attendance come to be part of the West family! If you have any further questions please contact me at (262) 970-3910.

Great opportunity for upcoming freshman! - Very nice, thank you. - Great event! - The freshmen experience sounds great! - Loved the TREK class! - We enjoyed it! - Nothing for feedback, it was great. - People were very helpful with our questions.

Food Drive - Tis' the season - "Jingle bells!  Jingle bells! Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to donate food to your food drive here today!”It’s time to start bringing in non-perishable food items and canned foods to West teachers starting Monday, December 12th through the 22nd for the annual Student Council food drive. Please remember to donate as the donations will impact our local community...thank you!

Christmas Clearing Council - West High School recently had 8 students raise $2,000 with the support of our staff for the Christmas Clearing Council. The results were that 24 individuals from 9 different families which included parents and children were blessed with receiving some needed items this holiday season. Additionally all children received a gift as well. A well deserved thank you for the time and efforts to raise funds and purchase items to sponsor these families and making a positive impact in their lives and on our community!

Semester 1 Exam Schedule - 
Please see the graphic below or access think link for our first semester exam schedule:




Girls Hockey - Congratulations to Hadley Malcolmson for earning Player of the Week honors recently....way to go Hadley! Please see the linked article.   Malcolmson Article


Joe Schobert - Joe is a West alumni who is currently playing in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns and was a former walk-on at the University of Wisconsin. Joe comes to visit us from time to time and is an awesome person. He was an excellent student/athlete at West and continued that trend as a collegiate student/athlete. He has always had success because of his hard work and humble character. If you are interested in his story see the information recently forwarded to me below:

We wanted to inform you that Waukesha West graduate Joe Schobert is featured in the newly released book Walk-On This Way: The On-Going Legacy of the Wisconsin Football Walk-On Program. The book covers the stories of nearly 50 walk-ons from the past 25 years of Badger football. There are many compelling stories, but selecting Joe was an obvious choice for us.

Regardless of how long it has been since Joe graduated, we’re sure his name is still held in high regard in your athletic program as someone who took on an enormous challenge and made the most of his opportunity. Please share this exciting news with the West community.


Beard Challenge "Round 2"I WILL match any donation amount up to $100 total starting now!!!!!! The December 12th beard challenge date is here so get up to the main office and help fill my buckets! If you have a hole in your pocket to donate, come my way and double that donation starting today and going through December 16th! "Beard For Change Flyer"

Archived Announcements : Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks.

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars on these two links to preview what is happening at West High School this week:


Monday, December 5, 2016

December 5th Weekly Blog

We will be having our "Welcome to West Night" for all current Waukesha West families and prospective families on Monday, December 12th 2016 from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. The night will allow all in attendance to choose from a variety of break out sessions for acquiring information prior to scheduling for next year. Please check out our flyer below for an overview and click on this link for more in depth information about the sessions that are available. Look forward to seeing you there!

           

Semester 1 Exam Schedule - Please see the graphic below or access think link for our first semester exam schedule:


Amazing Inventors!! - Julia Herod (freshman at Waukesha South) and Jasmin Erickson (freshman at Waukesha West) are game partners who competed in the Chicago Toy and Game Fair - Young Inventors Challenge on Saturday, November 19th. They took 1st Place in the Senior Division. They were in the top three out of 200 entries. Their game is a sensory game called Feel to Find, geared for ages 5+. Their win earned them a trip to the New York Toy and Game Fair in February. They will not be competing in this event due to age restrictions but earned the honor to present at the event. A special thanks to the Waukesha STEM Academy for the giving the opportunity to these student to maximize their inventor abilities. There is no telling where this path will take these two students!

Are you remembering my Beard!! I am still willing to match any donation amount up to $100 total!!!!!! This will go into effect for the next donation session starting December 12th... be ready. If you have a hole in your pocket to donate, come my way and double that donation starting on December 12th! "Beard For Change Flyer"

Coffee With The Principal - Next Wednesday morning December 7th is our next “Coffee With The Principal” meeting. It will be held from 7:15 - 8:05 A.M in room E122 which is located in our media center. All parents and students are invited for some coffee and cookies to talk about any topic with me and members of our administrative team.  I look forward to seeing some of you there.

 Archived Announcements : Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks.

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars on these two links to preview what is happening at West High School this week: