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

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

November 28th 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!

             

Congratulations! - To the 27 students who traveled to UW Stevens Point the weekend of November 19th to perform at the State one act play contest, and they swept all of the awards.  This is the sixth consecutive year, West brought home the weekend's top award...The Critics' Choice!  West also received the contest's awards for Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Crew.  Mr. Berish was fortunate enough to win the contest's award for Outstanding Direction, and six of our students were recognized with individual acting awards that included Kaden Rhodes, Regan Carter, Jacob Calgaro, Ben Roubik, Sarah Tenwinkel and Sarah Werth. Word has it that West students were viewed as the celebrities of the weekend......as it should be with such a memorable and dominating weekend!

Blood Drive - Thanks to all staff and students who participated in and worked hard to setup our school wide blood drive. A special shout out to our Student Council Advisor, Mr. Mark Anderson for his work to pull this off. He summed up the purpose of this event through the email below to encourage more donation.....Three heart transplants will be taking place in the area next week.  Two of them at children's hospital. For some reason, blood donation is down in the area. If you know anyone in the community that would like to donate, they are welcome to check in at the front doors and come on down.  Just add their name to the list... 

The Holiday Season....It is upon us and West High School continues to amaze me with its humanity. We have multiple clubs, activity groups and student organizations raising funds and gathering donations for supporting our local communities and the people who find themselves in need during this time of year. We are always at our best when we are giving to others, and I look forward to recognizing the many things our students and staff do over the next month as they give there time and energy. I am starting with the advertisement below....please come join us!!!

Don't Forget 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"

WALL OF FAME - Earlier this school year I was able to showcase our two new inductees for the class of 2016 Wall of Fame at Waukesha West. The committee is looking for YOUR nominations. Parents and students please get the word out to all alumni and West supporters that we have a nomination process and the selection committee needs your nominations by January 15th, 2017! Anyone can nominate understanding that specific criteria needs to be met for consideration. Please access this LINK to access the nomination form through the Wall of Fame website. Contact West Athletic Director Mr. Kyle LeMieux with any further questions at klemieux@waukesha.k12.wi.us 

Winter Sports/Activities \ Season - Is in full swing and I want to give a shout out to those who got involved! Winter can be long, cold and dark....so kudos for staying active! Even if you are involved and especially if you are not involved in a winter club/sport/activity be a SUPER Fan! I have heard they have some plans for supporting all things West this winter.....join in the fun and support other programs in our building through being a SUPER Fan! Connect with Mr. LeMieux for more info.

Principal Advisory Council - Here is the link for the minutes of the Principal Advisory Council meetings. We met most recently on Wednesday, November 16th. You 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 however please note we are not meeting in December:

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

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:

West Main Page Calendar

West Athletic Calendar

November 14th Weekly Blog

SPORTSMANSHIP - Often you hear the phrase, "it's not whether you won or lost that matters, but how you played the game." To the individuals and coaches/advisors who are involved in any competition through West, I think you would agree this statement reads best when you can win while competing the right way through exhibiting high amounts of individual and team integrity. Though our football team did not win two Friday's ago now, I received a phone call from a parent football booster from Monona Grove High School this past Friday complimenting the Waukesha West football players for their character, conduct, sportsmanship and leadership on the field throughout the game. It is not often you receive a phone call like this and I want to recognize coach Steve Rux and his staff  as well as our parent community for instilling and cultivating these traits among the young men on our team. I want to finish by talking about leadership.....leaders do not stop leading whether they are victorious or have been defeated, they just continue to bring the right leadership trait to bare at the right moment. Peter MacCudden was specifically recognized by the MG players as showing gracious leadership after a tough loss in a heated contest....all of us can learn to lead better and thank you Peter for modeling how to do it well. I would love to continue to get these types of phone calls from anyone who takes on Waukesha West as their opponent in any competition!

Celebration! - This just came out... congrats to our AP teachers who worked hard to have our school be recognized at this level 2 of distinction!

2015 Advanced Placement (AP) Pacesetter Awards

The Wisconsin Advanced Placement Advisory Council (WAPAC) announced the 2015 Advanced Placement Pacesetter Awards. WAPAC is comprised of Wisconsin secondary and collegiate educators that are dedicated to expanding access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and rigorous learning for all students.The Pacesetter Awards are unique to Wisconsin. They recognize schools for promoting both access to and excellence in AP courses. Schools are acknowledged for their efforts at three levels based on the following criteria:

Level 1- 30% or more of graduating seniors taking at least one AP exam AND 70% or more earning scores of 3 or above on the exams.

Level 2 - 20% or more of graduating seniors taking at least one AP exam AND 65% or more earning scores of 3 or above on the exams. - WEST!

Level 3 - 10% or more of graduating seniors taking at least one AP exam AND 60% or more earning scores of 3 or above on the exams.

"The West App" - Is almost here! We have to make some changes and updates to the app but are excited to roll out the finished product which work with Apple or Android devices! The more app traffic we get, the better advertisement opportunities we will have for generating funding to put back into West....check out a couple of snapshots below:

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 of your choosing to acquire information prior to scheduling for next year. There will be more to come about this evening, but be sure to put it on your calendar.

Congrats - On a great season and a strong finish to the 2016 Girls Swimming season! Please see the results below of the 2016 WIAA Girls Swimming State Qualifiers Waukesha West/ CMH

Alivia Farber:  200 Freestyle (13th Place), 100 Freestyle (13th Place)

Abby Hauser: 100 Breaststroke (24th Place)

Becca Beam:   100 Backstroke (17th Place)

Becca Beam, Abby Hauser, Megan Beam, Alivia Farber: 200 Medley Relay (21st Place) AND 400 Medley Relay (24th Place)

"Beard for Change" - Thank you for the $2 that were donated for me this week....as promised from my last blog post I have matched that amount....however 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"

Get Involved!! - Winter sports, clubs and activities are ready and waiting for you to join....we have so much to offer! Check out our websites, ask a staff member, or ask a fellow student what you can be a part of something and enjoy these offerings as you only have one chance while being a student at West...no regrets, take a risk and be involved at West!

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

NO BLOG for next week! I will post again on 11/28

November 7th 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 of your choosing to acquire information prior to scheduling for next year. West staff will also be standing by to answer question for families as needed about course selection. There will be more to come about this evening.

Congrats to our 2016 WIAA Girls Swimming State Qualifiers Waukesha West/ CMH! Please see the information below to go and support our West girls at the state competition!

Alivia Farber:  200 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle

Abby Hauser: 100 Breaststroke

Becca Beam:   100 Backstroke

Becca Beam, Abby Hauser, Megan Beam, Alivia Farber: 200 Medley Relay AND 400 Medley Relay

Date: Saturday November 12th  3:00 PM

Place: University of Wisconsin - Madison Natatorium  

2016 WIAA Girls High school Meet Information: Girls State Swim Meet Information Link


"Beard for Change" - I have been getting whooped in this competition and have been hearing about it, so I am looking to take some immediate action!! For those interested in donating to my buckets, which are located in the main office on Mrs. Ellsworth's desk, I am willing match any donation amount put in either of these buckets up to $100 total!!!!....for the remainder of this week!! If you have a hole in your pocket to donate, come my way and double that donation!
"Beard For Change Flyer"

Congratulations - To the JV and Varsity Cheer Teams and our Dance team for the outstanding routines they performed at the Classic 8 Cheer and Dance Championship on Saturday. The JV Cheer Team took 1st place in their division and Varsity 2nd. Congratulations as well to Cami Foote for taking 2nd place in the individual dance division and to Ashley Behrendt who was the CONFERENCE CHAMPION in the individual cheer division. 

It was a great run for our Boys Soccer team who lost a tough match this past Friday night 2-1 to the now state champion Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes. What a great season for one of the best soccer teams in the state, you guys played your hearts out! 

Also, it was a great run for our Football team who lost in overtime this past Friday night to Monona Grove. It was a great game that went back and forth all night. Again West showed they were one of the best teams in the state in being one of the final eight teams in Division 2! 

Former Westies - Wanted to share this picture and give a shout out to David Konowalski (pictured left) who plays for Bowling Green and Marcus Kelly (pictured right) who plays for Northern Illinois...it is great to see them together! They were excellent student/athletes at West and I cannot say enough about what great people they are as they continue to excel at the next level! 

Get Involved!! - Winter sports, clubs and activities are ready and waiting for you to join....we have so much to offer! Check out our websites, ask a staff member, or ask a fellow student what you can be a part of something and enjoy these offerings as you only have one chance while being a student at West...no regrets, take a risk and be involved at West!

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