January 30th Weekly Blog

The End of "Beard-om!" - Though it has been a positive new experience for me having a full beard these past few months I am looking forward to cleaning up a little bit. This has been a fun journey! Tomorrow during 2nd lunch....will be the culminating event to the "Beard for Change" fundraiser. I hope our students enjoy the event because they are the reason we are able to give back to our local community and for those that cannot attend we will be taping it....below is information provided by Mr. Jim Brennan who has lead this charge for such a positive cause along with a picture of the marketing items that have driven this push....you will notice a check in the middle of the picture that indicates the final amount raised!

Tomorrow marks our final day as a Beard Club. During 2nd lunch, barbers from Sho' N' Out in Sherman Park in Milwaukee, will be buzzing some heads, beards and straight blading some us to celebrate our awesome students. Attached is a picture of all the work and marketing that went into reaching our goal and making this a success. 

The board of directors from Hope Street (building Shechem Community Center) is also joining us. We have asked the media to show up to tell this great story about Waukesha West coming together to support a positive cause that the majority of us will never use... But will know we helped our Milwaukee area become a better place!

 

TREK - We have just finished the first semester of TREK which is a Waukesha West personalized learning option for elective credit. Our kids do amazing things everyday and when they have a voice and some choice to take on something they have passion about, they initiate authentic learning. As we look to provide opportunities for students to explore areas and careers, please check out if TREK would be of interest to you by accessing the video link...... TREK Promotional Video

Academic Decathlon - The team currently ranked 3rd in the state heading into their next competition.  They need your support!  Get your checkbooks ready, West! Superfan shirts are nearly complete and ready for ordering.  Check announcements for more info on how to support the team and cheer them on at their next big event! Find your favorite Acadec member to place a T-shirt order!


ACT Testing Days - On Tuesday February 28th, 2017 all West junior students will be taking the ACT. We want them to have an optimal testing environment thus all other students are dismissed from school for this date. Please plan accordingly and see the links below for additional information about the daily schedule for that week. 

ACT Testing Day Information Grades 9,10 &12

ACT Testing Day Information 2017


Peter Pan - The West End Players are at it again with a new musical coming up....Peter Pan! The hard work and preparation are underway and this show will involve some fantastic flying! Please see the informational flyer below and get your tickets!

Graduation 2017 Dates & Times: Graduation day for the all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be June 10th, 2017. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 2:00 P.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, this year graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 10:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 12:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending.

Principal Advisory Council - Here is the link for the minutes of the Principal Advisory Council meetings. We most recently met on Wednesday, January 18th. Your representatives information is below. Please connect with them for bringing questions to the group for our next meeting that you may have. We will report information through our monthly minutes linked above:

Carrie Schuett	carriejschuett@gmail.com
Dean Chyla	dean@chyla.com
Gretchen Scott	gecscott@yahoo.com
Jana Manning	jmanning@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Kari Cerny	kcerny@mcw.edu
Karie Ruekert-Kobiske	karierknp@yahoo.com
Kelly Glesner	kaglesner@wi.rr.com
Kim Dutelle	gemini6667@aol.com
Laura Witek	gottwins@hotmail.com
Leslie Erickson	thatlesliechick@gmail.com
Maria Zagorski	me_zagorski@sbcglobal.net
Maureen DuPont	maudupont@att.net

Athletics/Activities - Tons to Celebrate!

Congratulations to our West Dance team for taking 2nd Place in Pom and 6th Place in Jazz at the WACPC Regional this weekend! Placing in both routines earned them a trip to STATE! Way to Go, Ladies!!

The Varsity Cheerleaders took 1st Place in Cheer-Dance and 2nd in Stunt this weekend at the Greenfield Cheer Extreme Competition! Ashley Behrendt also took 2nd Place in the Individual portion of the competition. Great Job, West Cheer!

Congratulations to the Waukesha Alpine Ski team for a great slalom race last Thursday night.  Top racers were Jacob McFadden, Christian Neu, and Grant Osum for Varsity. Brendan Crawford, Kameron Anderson and Tayler Kozlowski were the top finishers for JV.  Wish good luck to the team tonight as they race in the Giant Slalom @ Sunburst!

Congrats to your West Men's and Women's Snowboard team for an excellent weekend of racing!!

Team results Saturday: 1st in Giant Slalom both Sat and Sun, 2nd on Sun and 3rd on Sat for Slalom.

Individual Top Ten finishes: Jon Lund: Sat- 2nd in both GS and Slalom. Sun- 1st in GS

Nathan Catalanotte: Sat- 3rd in both GS and Slalom.  Sun- 2nd in GS, 3rd in Slalom.

Ryan Adyniec: Sat-  4th in GS. Sun- 6th in GS, 8th in Slalom

Morgan Baker: Sat- 3rd in both GS and Slalom. Sun - 2nd in Slalom. 4th in GS.

Next weekend starts the fast paced boardercross races.... come on out to Alpine Valley to watch West race!

Congratulations to the Waukesha West/Mukwonago boys swim/dive team!  The team competed well in the tough Classic 8 conference meet Saturday.  Senior Jason Archimede started things off by diving to a 3rd place finish.  Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in their individual events included freshman Andrew Busse--7th in the 200 yard freestyle and 8th in the 500 yard freestyle, sophomore Max Peters--8th in the 100 yard butterfly, and freshman Ethan James--8th in the 100 yard breaststroke.  Many personal records were also set by Wolverines and Indians this weekend.  The team heads back to the pool for two more weeks of practice and prep for the sectional meet on Saturday, February 11.

And this...A huge shout out to freshman Evan Hein, the new JV Classic 8 Conference champion in diving! Quite a finish to the season.  Way to go, Evan!

For the SECOND consecutive year let's congratulate the Waukesha Wings Hockey Team on winning the Groundhog Tournament held in Sun Prairie over the weekend. Bringing their record to 17-3 for the season so far.


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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

January 23rd Weekly Blog (On a Tuesday)

The ONE Conference - This is why my blog is a day late....my apologies.....For the past three years our school district has put on the ONE Conference for the purpose of professional educators to share the amazing practices they do on a daily basis utilizing technology as a tool. West High School had multiple presenters who shared their knowledge and ideas to help provide other teachers, and then ultimately students in our district with methods for enhancing the learning experience. Many district personnel put in countless hours and energy to pull this off and I want to say thank you to them for their hard work in making this a positive experience! The ONE Conference is not a secret....please check out the website for it yourself to have a better understanding of the professional development that teachers learn and grow from!

ONE Conference

Girl Power!!! GE Girls Club - The following message and corresponding link was sent out to staff, students and parents...please check the information out!

Attention All Waukesha West Female Students......

         This message is for you specifically!! Recently we have met with GE who is a local company in Waukesha that operates on a global platform. They have created what is known as the GE Girls club which is geared towards females who have interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. GE looks to mentor girls who are interested in possibly pursuing careers in these areas. I am excited to provide you information about this opportunity as we will look to form a club at Waukesha West. The first step in this process is to visit with GE directly and hear from the leaders of this program. For those who are serious about this we will be having a field trip to GE on Wednesday morning February 8th from approximately 8:00 - 11:00 A.M. For those interested in going you will need to register with Mrs. Portz in Student Services to secure your spot. In order to attend you will have to register by the end of the day on Friday, February 3rd. Let me know any questions you may have. Thank you.

GE Girls Club Informational Flyer

Peter Pan - The West End Players are at it again with a new musical coming up....Peter Pan! The hard work and preparation are underway and this show will involve some fantastic flying! Please see the informational flyer below and get your tickets!

Inauguration Article - This article was recently featured in the Waukesha Freeman about utilizing the inauguration of our new president as a learning opportunity. Thanks to Mr. Carl Millard for showcasing his activity!

My Beard is Back! - This is the last donating period and we have met our $4,000 goal but are in search of adding $900 more to eclipse $5,000. Once again.....I WILL match any donation amount up to $100 total starting now!!!!!! The January 23rd 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 January 27th! Also if not for me, please donate to your other favorite beards! On January 31st we will be having some guests at West to thank us for our community donation by offering barber services to shave some beards, and apparently heads in honor of student donations. Should be interesting, look for more details of the events that day. "Beard For Change Flyer" See below:

Graduation 2017 Dates & Times: Graduation day for the all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be June 10th, 2017. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 2:00 P.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, this year graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 10:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 12:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending.

Principal Advisory Council - Here is the link for the minutes of the Principal Advisory Council meetings. We most recently met on Wednesday, January 18th. Your representatives information is below. Please connect with them for bringing questions to the group for our next meeting that you may have. We will report information through our monthly minutes linked above:

Carrie Schuett	carriejschuett@gmail.com
Dean Chyla	dean@chyla.com
Gretchen Scott	gecscott@yahoo.com
Jana Manning	jmanning@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Kari Cerny	kcerny@mcw.edu
Karie Ruekert-Kobiske	karierknp@yahoo.com
Kelly Glesner	kaglesner@wi.rr.com
Kim Dutelle	gemini6667@aol.com
Laura Witek	gottwins@hotmail.com
Leslie Erickson	thatlesliechick@gmail.com
Maria Zagorski	me_zagorski@sbcglobal.net
Maureen DuPont	maudupont@att.net

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

January 16th Weekly Blog

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2017 - Today is the day we celebrate the life's work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King's message of equality and togetherness continues to inspire generations. The Waukesha West "We Are Diverse" club or WAD performed today at an MLK Jr. Day event at WCTC. The event had limited seating and the reviews from those in attendance was that our students were outstanding in their performance! A huge shout out to our WAD club members and their advisors Mrs. Ness and Mr. Watkins for a job well done! Though I could not attend, I was fortunate to hear some of their performance as they practiced this past Friday and I was given permission to capture it and share it with you.  WAD Practice Video

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2017 Continued - This video to honor Dr. King was created by West students and features some of them, while also incorporating film work that was created by Butler Middle School students. This video was shared with staff to show to all West students today.

West MLK Tribute Video

Academic Decathlon - This note is what I received from the Wisconsin Academic Decathlon.....

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your school has advanced to the 34th Annual State Competition on Thursday and Friday, March 2-3, 2017 at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wilderness Resort, in Wisconsin Dells!

I know the expectations for our AcaDec team are very high on an annual basis and once again they have made it to the state competition. This is not an easy feat and their diligent work does not go unnoticed. Please set it on your calendar to come and support the West AcaDec team in March in Wisconsin Dells. Our team continues to work hard in their preparation for the state event. Best of luck to them!

TREK West Personalized Learning Program - New this year to West High School is a student personalized learning program known as TREK. Student design their own learning related to one of the sixteen career clusters and engage in a continuous goal setting process to achieve individual outcomes. The program is an elective and has started with fantastic results. One of the components of the program is a group project or projects that look to better the West community, or the greater Waukesha community. Please enjoy the article about TREK students engaging in their collaborative group project.... TREK Article

Consequences of Distracted Driving (Warning!) - This story is from the Delevan-Darien School District area and contains some images that may make some uncomfortable - Sometimes we need to be shaken a bit from our apathy and remember there are consequences to our actions, and that the actions that can bring life altering consequences, MANY of us engage in daily.....after the video give some food for thought to add a New Year resolution about your habits when you drive. - Distracted Driving Link

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

Graduation 2017 Dates & Times: Graduation day for the all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be June 10th, 2017. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 2:00 P.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, this year graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 10:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 12:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending.

Principal Advisory Council - Here is the link for the minutes of the Principal Advisory Council meetings. We will be meeting this week on Wednesday, January 18th. Your representatives information is below. Please connect with them for bringing questions to the group you may have. We will report information through our monthly minutes linked above:

Carrie Schuett	carriejschuett@gmail.com
Dean Chyla	dean@chyla.com
Gretchen Scott	gecscott@yahoo.com
Jana Manning	jmanning@waukesha.k12.wi.us
Kari Cerny	kcerny@mcw.edu
Karie Ruekert-Kobiske	karierknp@yahoo.com
Kelly Glesner	kaglesner@wi.rr.com
Kim Dutelle	gemini6667@aol.com
Laura Witek	gottwins@hotmail.com
Leslie Erickson	thatlesliechick@gmail.com
Maria Zagorski	me_zagorski@sbcglobal.net
Maureen DuPont	maudupont@att.net

Alumni Panel - Today at West during our advisory time we had an alumni panel for our current West students. We had former West graduates come back to discuss knowing what they know now, what they would have done the same, or differently while in high school. I want to personally thank these alumni for coming in on their own time to give back to our school in such a positive way! Thank you!

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

January 9th Weekly Blog

Happy New Year!! - Welcome back to all West students as we start off 2017 and look to finish up semester one and roll into semester two!! I know the holidays have past but I want to bring you back for just a second to showcase the wonderful tradition of our choir students filling our halls with the sounds of the holidays.....please enjoy!  - West Choir Link 


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

A Cappella Groups - UW Madison - If you are reading this and it is before 7:00 on Monday, January 9th...please consider going to see the a cappella groups featuring West Alumni as they would be in town! What a treat to be able to have them perform for and work with our West choir students today. I am grateful for the West Alumni that came back and were part of making this happen...Thank you, and please see the information below about these groups:

Two of UW-Madison's premier competitive a cappella groups, Fundamentally Sound and Pitches and Notes, featuring Waukesha West alumni Luke Dutelle, Claire Hietpas and Sadie McQuade, will perform in Waukesha at First United Methodist Church (121 Wisconsin Avenue) on Monday, January 9th. Doors open at 6:30 and the concert begins at 7:00 and will feature music from a variety of genres and styles suitable for audiences of all ages. There is no admission fee, but donations are gratefully appreciated.  Waukesha's Hebron House of Hospitality will receive half of the donations and the rest will be split between the two groups, who will use the proceeds to cover their tour travel expenses.

Consequences of Distracted Driving (Warning!) - This story is from the Delevan-Darien School District area and contains some images that may make some uncomfortable - Sometimes we need to be shaken a bit from our apathy and remember there are consequences to our actions, and that the actions that can bring life altering consequences, MANY of us engage in daily.....after the video give some food for thought to add a New Year resolution about your habits when you drive. - Distracted Driving Link

Food Drive Results!! - The staff and students at West High School never stop going bigger and better, and this year the results are once again astounding.... Please enjoy the staff email that was sent this past Friday that says it all: 

Happy Friday All, Can you all join me in Congratulating Mark Anderson and the Student Council, as well as all of the Staff and Students that participated in the Food Drive. West's most recent food drive was the LARGEST ONE EVENT DONATION EVER for the Food Pantry of Waukesha.  We collected 5,900 pounds of food. This is an enormous undertaking, and I am so proud to be part of it.  We were able to make a noticeable contribution to our community, and help make a difference.  Please share this news with your students, family, and friends.  Our school and our kids are amazing! Thank you all so much!  GREAT JOB MARK!!

Graduation 2017 Dates & Times: Graduation day for the all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be June 10th, 2017. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 2:00 P.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, this year graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 10:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 12:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending.

Sports Specialization: Again a reminder to student/athletes to get involved in multiple sports and activities while you are at West. Being that I am a Green Bay Packers fan and that they have been playing well, I came across this quick clip from Julius Peppers who is a veteran defensive player and most likely future NFL hall of fame player. As is the case with a majority of elite athletes like him, he briefly discusses exploring multiple sports when you are young. Remember to consider doing it now and do not miss out on the multiple great athletic experiences you can have while at West. Packers Julius Peppers on Sport Specialization


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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar