Weekly Bulletin for March 14, 2016

Congratulations to Mrs. Kennedy, the cast and crew of The Drowsy Chaperone.

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."
- Dale Carnegie

Important Dates

March 15 - Staff Meeting

March 18 - 3rd quarter ends

March 21 - 28 - Spring Break

March 30 - 3rd quarter grades due

April 1 - Report Cards Distributed

April 4 - Department Head meeting

April 11 - 15 - AIR End-of-Course Exams

Important Information

Remediation Students - Thank you to all of our teachers that are spending time during advisory period mentoring, coaching and advising our students that need to retake their AIR/PARCC assessments from last year.  It looks like you have made connections with all of your students.  If a student does not report to you as expected and is not absent from school, send Mr. Murawski an email and he will have a conversation with each student.  Issue five (5) suspension points to students that cut your class or remediation period.

Autism Awareness Month - April is Autism Awareness month! Autism statistics from the CDC identify 1 in 68 children on the autism spectrum. A common thread among people with Autism is their difficulty communicating and forming relationships with other people. To help raise awareness and support our students that are on the spectrum, for the entire month of April WGHS will be connecting acts of kindness to form a kindness chain that spreads throughout the school. Our STARS students will be passing out strips of paper to teachers (each grade will have a different color.) When you see a student perform an act of kindness, regardless of how small it is, or if they come to you and tell you about an act they did for someone else, please have them write their name on a strip of paper. All strips can be returned to room 117 where they will be connected to the chain and tallied to determine which class was “kindest” during the month. Although teachers can collect the paper strips and put them in my mailbox, please encourage students to drop them off and say hello! My students would be thrilled to see so many friendly faces at our door. Look for more information to come after spring break! Thank you for your help! - Sara

WEWS Teacher of the Week - Congratulations to Danielle Emans who was surprised in her classroom last week with a TV camera, certificate and gift certificate from Omaha Steaks.  Alyssa Pecharka nominated Ms. Emans by submitting an essay to News Channel 5 describing the influence her teacher has had on her.  Be sure to catch the clip of Danielle receiving her award during the 5:00 hour on Monday's News Channel 5's broadcast.

Student Awards - Every year we recognize students for their outstanding accomplishments in the classroom and as leaders in their clubs and/or activities.  Underclassman receive awards at the academic awards assembly on April 21st and seniors on the evening of May 9th.  I have noticed a decline in the number of students represented at these ceremonies the last couple years.  Please recognize your students and promote your outstanding programs by submitting the award nomination forms to Joyce by March 25th.    Here is a link to the award forms.

The Drowsy Chaperone - Congratulations to Melanie Kennedy on her first WGHS musical production, The Drowsy Chaperone.  Thank you to Jason Branch for conducting the band in the orchestra pit and Vanessa Pintabona for coaching the actors and running the lights.  Also, thank you to Dan Reich for assisting with the sound.  The student performances were outstanding and it is evident they had great leadership.  Great job, everyone.  Click her for some additional photos.

Yahoo!  Yearbook made all their deadlines.

Good Professional Reading (or Watching)

What an Effective Teacher's Classroom Looks Like
Are design thinking and project-based learning the path to innovation? 
You Don’t Need A Makerspace to Be a Maker



Have a great spring break!