Principal Blog Week of January 17th

Purpose Corner -This week I provide answers to specific questions I have been receiving regarding our cell phone procedure change. The transcript of the video can be accessed through this link.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2022 - Monday, January 17th, 2022 was the day we celebrated the life's work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King's message of equality and togetherness continues to inspire generations. Who Was Martin Luther King Jr? Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist who had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among his many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Through his activism and inspirational speeches, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens in the United States, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. He continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational African American leaders in history.

Cell Phone Policy Update - Please see the letter below that was sent to all students and families regarding changes to cell phone procedures in classrooms beginning 2nd semester:

TREK Projects - What is TREK at West? It is a personalized learning class that is project-based and predicated on the passions of a student. Recently TREK students held their end-of-semester showcase for their projects which is open to any and all staff and students to attend. Below are some pictures of their projects. These projects include composing jazz music, building and writing coding functions for a robot, creating a website with college preparation information and resources, learning about personal trading and investments through using market simulations, and learning how to produce goods and sell them for a small business to name a few. Enjoy the pictures...

Waukesha MADE - What is Waukesha MADE? It is a partnership between the School District of Waukesha and local businesses that focus on Manufacturing, Automotive, Design, and Engineering.  As of today, a majority of those businesses are local manufacturers but the partnership is looking to grow in the areas of construction, automotive, and printing. One of the best portions of the MADE partnership is the collaboration of our students with these companies. These companies bring real-world projects to our students looking for real-world solutions and look to have their people work with our students to problem solve and accomplish these tasks. The mentorship is amazing and this partnership is continuing to grow in a positive direction. Our core partners graciously donate funds for equipment repair and purchasing as well as for student scholarships at each of our Waukesha High Schools. We also partner with the MADE businesses to offer co-op opportunities for district students. I just wanted to give a shout-out to this great partnership that offers quality career paths for our students!

Rigorous Course Schedule - Our data has been clear at West for the past several years in that approximately 90% of West students state they will go on to a two or four-year college for their post-high school education, yet, only 50% of students will make it past year one and that is why we push as a school to prepare our students better. A big part of preparing students to meet the challenges of the next level is course selection. With course scheduling coming up in a month or so it is time for students to think about stretching their academic resumes. A stretch class is rigorous, possibly AP or Honors, a class that a college admissions counselor would find impressive, and/or a class that will help you reach your fullest potential as a student. You could also choose to take an additional class instead of a study hall. This is a goal class for you. Think about what content area you excel in and stretch in that area or try something new and challenging like one of our many elective classes in the areas of Business, Family & Consumer Science, Technology Education, Art, Music, World Languages, or Drama!! Now is the time to think your STRETCH class as part of your rigorous course schedule!!

Little Shop of Horrors - The West End Players will be performing the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" in early March. See the information below:

Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2021-2022 met most recently on Wednesday, January 19th, 2022. The meeting minutes linked here. will be updated soon from this meeting. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) to bring up topics or questions you have to bring forward for next months meeting.

Angela Schaaf	angelamschaaf@gmail.com
Erica Kasseckert	ericak0409@gmail.com
Keva Estrada	Fourestrada@gmail.com
Kim Sadowski	kimbersadowski@gmail.com
Karen Anderson	kammom@att.net
Tera Nehring	Teranehring@gmail.com
Michelle Cameron	tiki424ma@gmail.com
Krista Bitzan	smileyfish76@hotmail.com
Dean Chyla	dean@chyla.com
Patti Bloom	pbloom27@wi.rr.com
Susan Fogelstrom	beezerpup@gmail.com

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

Principal Blog Week of 1/10/22

Purpose Corner -This week I reinforce expectations around exiting/entering the building and wearing winter coats to class. The transcript of the video can be accessed through this link.

Semester 1 Exam Schedule - Here is the weekly schedule for our final exams. It can also be accessed through the West website.

As they have always been......

• Students are expected to be in attendance for all eight class periods during finals week including study halls, they are not optional.

• Students do not have to be in attendance for make-up or review/conferencing time unless required by their teacher. Students who come in during this time need to be in a supervised location for the duration of the time. Students can be with a teacher in their classroom, or in the Media Center or Cafeteria.

• Students do not have the option to miss a scheduled exam hour and then take it during the make-up session unless they have communicated with their teacher a legitimate absence reason. Students risk losing this opportunity to show more evidence of their learning which could affect their semester grade.  

• All students should be in their designated classroom during their final exam hour for the entire period and are NOT to be released early, as there are other exams occurring.

Cell Phone Policy Update - Please see the letter below that was sent to all students and families regarding changes to cell phone procedures in classrooms beginning 2nd semester:

Academic Decathlon - Congratulations to the West Academic Decathlon team! They are 2022 Regional Champions and beat the all other schools in the state by 700 points. Their impressive victory yielded 41 medals. The team will now focus its attention on the State Competition held at the end of February, best of luck!!

Decathletes are:

Enya Wegner - 9 medals; Regional Top Scorer

Berkeley Krell - 4 medals; perfect score of 1000 in Speech Alana Crisostomo - 7 medals; Regional Top Scorer

Alex Martens - 4 medals

Danny Schmidtke - 4 medals

Cassie Kowalski - 4 medals

Kailey Williams - 2 medals

Kaden Drake - 2 medals

Morgan Roberts - 5 medals; Regional Top Score

DECA - Congratulations to our DECA Students who competed this past Saturday at the District Competition at Kettle Moraine HS. Harper Pugh received two 1st Place recognitions for her Role Plays. Olivia Radebaugh and Sydney Urban received a 4th Place overall for their entire event. Sophia Busse and Lilia Rather will join these three students who for the state competition in Lake Geneva later in February. Congratulations to all of our competitors!

Rigorous Course Schedule - Our data has been clear at West for the past several years in that approximately 90% of West students state they will go on to a two or four-year college for their post-high school education, yet, only 50% of students will make it past year one and that is why we push as a school to prepare our students better. A big part of preparing students to meet the challenges of the next level is course selection. With course scheduling coming up in a month or so it is time for students to think about stretching their academic resumes. A stretch class is rigorous, possibly AP or Honors, a class that a college admissions counselor would find impressive, and/or a class that will help you reach your fullest potential as a student. You could also choose to take an additional class instead of a study hall. This is a goal class for you. Think about what content area you excel in and stretch in that area or try something new and challenging like one of our many elective classes in the areas of Business, Family & Consumer Science, Technology Education, Art, Music, World Languages, or Drama!! Now is the time to think your STRETCH class as part of your rigorous course schedule!!

Little Shop of Horrors - The West End Players will be performing the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" in early March. See the information below:

Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2021-2022 met most recently on Wednesday, December 15th, 2021. Please access the updated meeting minutes linked here. We will be meeting again next week Wednesday, January 19th, 2022. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) to bring up topics or questions you have to bring forward for next weeks meeting.

Angela Schaaf	angelamschaaf@gmail.com
Erica Kasseckert	ericak0409@gmail.com
Keva Estrada	Fourestrada@gmail.com
Kim Sadowski	kimbersadowski@gmail.com
Karen Anderson	kammom@att.net
Tera Nehring	Teranehring@gmail.com
Michelle Cameron	tiki424ma@gmail.com
Krista Bitzan	smileyfish76@hotmail.com
Dean Chyla	dean@chyla.com
Patti Bloom	pbloom27@wi.rr.com
Susan Fogelstrom	beezerpup@gmail.com

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