Tonight we will graduate nearly 650 students from Westlake High School. After attending my daughters graduation from Cedar Creek this morning, I can only imagine how our parents feel about tonight with our Seniors! Let's all hang on tight, for this is truly a magical evening. See y'all tonight at the Erwin Center. Mock LegislatureThe Lesson Scenario: Earlier this semester, Pat O’Harra’s Government classes participated in an E Congress Mock Legislature. Students had researched the various steps in the law making process, created their own bills, and studied the bills in committees. Then members of each class decided if they wanted to be Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. (Independents caucused with one of the major parties.) :
Westlake is really excited to share these classroom snapshots. Pat O'Harra is finishing his 17th year at WHS. He has taught World Geography, World History, Us History, Economics, and Government and provides a wealth of information and insight to the Humanities.
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Around 7-8 years ago, Katie Bryant and I developed and implemented the first Senior Service Day at Westlake High School. Since the successful first year, this has become a WHS tradition for our seniors. As you look through the pictures you will see our students doing a multitude of tasks for our community. Two things always happen as we reach one our sites:
WHS students volunteered at: Belmont Senior Center Starbright Preschool Central Texas Food Bank Southwest YMCA Colin's Hope Pioneer Farms CCE Child Development Center Austin's ReStore Habitat for Humanity Community First, Mobile Loaves and Fishes Child Inc. And many other places.
It's always a great day to be a Chaparral! The month of May can be the most intense month on our calendar. This, of course, depends upon your situation as a student and/or teacher. With STAAR testing and Advanced Placement testing, we are on several different bell schedules as well as no bells due to AP testing. These last two weeks feel much different with students taking AP tests as early as 8 am with a much earlier arrival time. The absence of bells adds in a very interesting vibe in the hallways - the lack of a warning bell seems to get some students moving quicker and others a little slower. Our amazing faculty and students have made the adjustment and we keep on rolling along as a campus. Our seniors seem to slow down a little as they embrace each day. In the last few weeks, we have had more seniors eating on campus for many reasons. Some for the convenience of eating between testing, but also many are enjoying the slower pace of eating on campus. Our seniors seem to embrace each passing period as they can sense their high school experience will be over rather soon. Due to some of seniors’ schedules with Pedernales, Senior Service Day, state golf and tennis, and exam exemptions, they are truly nearly complete with their time at Eanes. This realization occurs at different times, so if you have a senior I would suggest checking in with them. This is a very important time to keep on parenting. Transitions can be very difficult at any age, and our kids need your support and love as they conclude 13 years of being in our school system. Our school holiday on Monday may be a fabulous time for a visit with your graduating senior. Our juniors seem to be thriving as they have taken the STAAR in US History while also completing AP testing. Our juniors are seeing their efforts beginning to pay huge dividends as they complete each academic assessment. Their enthusiasm and pure joy lets you see the difference between youth and age immediately! Our sophomores are settling in as they look forward to a nice summer. Our sophomores are the one class that actually remains the most settled during this time of year. Our freshmen still are 14 and 15 year olds. They are ecstatic about a summer and not being freshmen any longer. They still only see the next day ahead and some do not even realize a three day weekend is looming - in fact, most of the freshmen I visited with about this Monday thought I was being cruel and joking with them. Got to love this age group! We hope you have a wonderful three day weekend and a happy Mother’s Day! Thanks to our moms for all you do for our children and community. It's always a great day to be a Chaparral! Please continue reading to see what our AP Human Geography students are doing. On April 27th or 28th, students in the AP Human Geography classes visited the Austin Recycle and Reuse Drop Off Center and the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Waste Management Plant. RECYCLE AND REUSE CENTER: At the Recycle and Reuse Center, the students learned about how Austin handles the recycling and reuse of tires, batteries, styrofoam, plastics, household hazardous waste, electronics, appliances, and paint. They also learned that the Center takes the paint that is dropped off and creates new paint that they give away. HORNSBY BEND: Hornsby Bend was established in the 1950s as a series of stabilization ponds used to treat wastewater sludge. It has now become a nationally recognized recycling facility and won first place from the US Environmental Protection Agency for biosolids recycling. While visiting the plant, students learned about how dillo dirt is made, how the plant is 100% green, using the methane gas to power the generator that runs the plant, and how the plant has been ecological research and wildlife conservation. Check out additional Field Trips... McDonald Observatory.
With the event that happened at the University of Texas on Monday and with the loss of a home due to a fire with one of our students, it was a harsh reminder that life can change rapidly. Here is information on how we can help support this family:
Please consider contributing gift cards or even hotel stays or points towards hotel stays. You can drop off any donations to Karen in the Chap Court or to Holly in the Front office. If you can think of another way to help, please reach out to Katie Bryant at WHS. As always, thank you for being the amazing community you are. In this week’s reflection, I have given Kristi Waidhofer, one of our student support counselors, the opportunity to provide valuable information on the dangers of alcohol. With prom, lake excursions, venturing into downtown, and the summer ahead, we felt this was good timing. In high schools around the world May is synonymous for many things: AP Tests, STAAR, final exams, the official count down to summer. But perhaps at the top of the list, our students are thinking about prom. Prom means dresses, dinner reservations, party buses/limos and a slew of parties (both pre-gaming and the after party). For many students prom also means alcohol. We want to make sure that our parents are educated in providing a fun but safe prom experience for their students! Did you know that when a teen admits to drinking, they aren’t admitting to drinking the same way an adult drinks? Chronically teens are binge drinking (having 4-5 drinks in 2 hours). Approximately 50 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds who admit to drinking say they have had five or more drinks at one sitting, as do 65 percent of admitted drinkers aged 15 to 17 and 72 percent of admitted drinkers aged 18 to 20 years. Furthermore, about one in seven teens binge drinks, yet only 1 in 100 parents believe that their teen binge drinks. Binge drinking is much more dangerous than casual/social drinking. Binge drinkers are 14 times more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than non-binge drinkers. Drinking is associated with the three leading causes of death and serious injury in teenagers (motor vehicle accidents, homicides and suicides). Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and about a quarter of those crashes involve an underage drinking driver. Additionally, statistics show roughly a third of all alcohol-related teen traffic fatalities occur between April and June, which is considered the peak of prom season. Most teens learn about the perils of driving under the influence during Driver's Ed, but have reported that their fear of getting into trouble with their parents appears to outweigh the risk. According to AAA, 84 percent of teens surveyed said their friends would be more likely to get behind the wheel after drinking than to call home for a ride (if they believed they'd get in trouble for using alcohol). Another 22 percent said they'd ride in a car with someone who was impaired instead of calling their parents. What's a parent to do? SAMHSA recommends to "Talk. They Hear You.", with the following goals in mind:
Three Things To Remind Your Students About Alcohol:
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Steve Ramsey: WHS Principal BlogPrincipal's Weekly Reflections Archives
May 2019
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