On Wednesday morning of this week, our sophomores and the majority of our juniors took the PSAT. This gave us the ability to create a special morning for our freshmen. We took this opportunity to begin a reflective process for our students to make their Westlake experience a personal one.
We had four rotations that would help our students understand the unique setting that we have with all of our programs and activities that are offered. These offerings make us a high school where the opportunities are numerous and are all high achieving. We had a panel of all types of students, led by our counselors, allowing students to hear personal stories of individual choice and expression during their high school experience. We had a Challenge Success rotation led by students and staff that looked at some of the myths of WHS and the opportunities our students have each and every day to find their individual passion. I led a session that framed that day as being one of reflection and exposure as to how they can create their own high school experience. We had our educational technologists lead a rotation on digital citizenship. Every student, teacher and parent has a unique Westlake High School experience which is and should be different than everyone else. We all know that this may not have been a life changing morning but it did allow students to ponder their course, direction and pursuit of individual learning and extracurricular interests. We did hear students discussing these topics at breaks and in my session where the students had some time to relax. Sometimes, students simply need to know that there are options, and we hope they may pursue options based upon their interests and passions. Personal choice is an amazing, powerful thing. While this may be a stretch, our options are as numerous as asking someone where their favorite vacation spot may be…… One important aspect of yesterday’s sessions was to make sure that each student understands that their journey and experience is valued and respected….
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From time to time in our blog, we like to highlight certain teachers and the work they are doing in our classrooms. One of the goals of this spotlight is for our parents to experience peripherally the great work done here every day by our teachers and students. Because some of our teenagers only answer questions with one to two word answers, this allow our parents to experience at least one possible educational perspective at Westlake High School. Our teachers are highlighted by our instructional partner, Valerie Taylor, and our educational technologists, Lisa Johnson and Chris Hanson. Here is our first feature of the year: The Lesson Scenario: In Melissa Rohrbough's Phlebotomy Technician Certification Class, students are learning the different types of vacutainer tubes to draw tests in (e.g. different tubes are designed for different tests). Students are doing research on tests for various tubes. They choose a laboratory test to research and a tool/app like Canva or Explain Everything to demonstrate their learning. Students will present their research and visualizations to their classmates later in the week. About the Teacher: This is Ms. Rohrbough’s 20th year of teaching. She taught 10 years in Chemistry/IPC and 10 years in Health Science. She currently teaches Phlebotomy Technician Certification, Pharmacy Technician Certification, Medical Terminology, and Principles of Health Science. She is also the HOSA sponsor. Her students “like her teaching because it’s hands on and she doesn’t overstress” them. They went on to say that Ms. Rohrbough is truly “understanding about stress at school” and that “she is really passionate about helping (them) succeed.” They also love that this class affords them the opportunity to get a certified to have a job which will be helpful in college.
Stay tuned for more Teacher Features in the 2017-2018 school year! As part of our campus and district initiatives, we hope to take care of all of our students’ and staff needs. These needs can be academic or emotional. Over the years, we have worked diligently for our parents and staff to help identify any students, staff or parents who may need assistance. One thing I know for sure: we do not know what we don’t know. As part of helping the identification process to assist those in need, our district has adopted a new reporting mechanism. Please read the following: We are always looking for ways to foster an even safer and more caring school community. We have added a new feature to our websites to ensure students, staff and parents have a voice to report issues that may affect their peers and/or schools. Quick Report allows school administrators to receive tips at any time and have the ability to respond in a timely manner to issues that impact the school or individual students. The reported issues may range from bullying to weapons/threats to any mental health crisis. At Westlake High School, we want to know any information that you may feel would make this a safer place. Students, staff, parents and other stakeholders can visit the district website or any campus website and click either "Connect" at the top navigation bar, “Quick Links” at the top navigation bar, or click under the “Student” section, then select "Quick Report". Once on the Quick Report page, you can identify which school(s) receives the tip, select an appropriate topic from the dropdown list, write the message and submit the tip. There is also an option to include a photograph as appropriate. Messages may be communicated anonymously or with contact information. Please note that in an emergency, you should call 911, or in the case of a mental health crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. One of our trademarks as a campus and district is that our students, teachers and community help report information to safeguard our wonderful campuses. Have a fabulous weekend as we conclude our first quarter at Westlake High School. As our seniors are in the midst of college essays and applications, college is on their minds. As our juniors begin testing for future plans and admittance, college is on their minds. As our counselors, teachers and administrators write recommendation letters, college is on our minds. College and university plans should be on our minds as a campus - it is a large part of our expectation as a campus and community.
As a campus, we are challenging our students to answer a major question on their choice of school: why? Why is this the favorite or most desired choice? Why is this the most appealing campus to spend 4 years (or more) as part of the learning journey? Why is this your ideal setting to begin life away from home? Why is this the school to put a significant financial commitment towards? Why is this place special for you? We hope our students can answer these questions about their school of choice as they leave Westlake High School. Every year we give an update to the Eanes ISD School Board about our graduating seniors’ choice for post high school. This presentation details the applications to universities, acceptance and then enrollment by our students. Please feel free to view this HERE. One of the most unique pieces of information is that we have students at 151 different universities/colleges. This number was up by 15 schools from the class of 2016. We had students personalize their choice of a college experience at a multitude of settings in and out of Texas and the United States. After discussing this whole process of admittance and selection over my career, I have learned a few things. The first one that I will share is that kids love to hear about an adult’s college choice and experience. They love to hear about your process of selecting a school and the personal criteria you used when you were a teenager. They love hearing about your choice of a major or majors depending on our choices as we traveled through school. They love hearing about the highs and lows of your academic career. Our teachers have learned that hanging a banner or pennant from their alma mater can lead to some great discussions about college. As a parent, discussing college may be a precarious event depending on everyone’s mood at a given time. The best advice I can give parents is: kids want to talk to you about college, and they want to know everything to help them make the best decision without the parent making the decision. Take the chance to talk about college because your kids do want to know about your experience. Don’t worry; your kids do know you well enough by this age to discern accuracy and honesty….. “What are you doing this weekend? ACL? UT Game on Saturday night? The lake on Sunday?” “What you got rolling this weekend?” “Tickets for the game Saturday night? Any extra ACL bands? What are we doing Monday without school?” The stress is real when it comes to weekends in this fast paced world. Our students are constantly asked what they are planning to do when there is any free time available. From what I have observed, the question of what your weekend plans are can create a stressful situation. Our students feel the pressure to always be doing something. As you might guess, I believe this translates into the adult world as well. I consistently hear our staff asking each other the same questions as above. I hear my neighbors talking about weekend plans. We all receive texts dealing with the next big, weekend thing. And like our teenagers, there is pressure to be doing something. Unlike adults, I am always amazed how some of our students will proudly state they are relaxing, taking a break, or not doing a thing but what they want to. With our schedules of being parents, professionals and the desire to make sure we make memories, how often do we proudly state: “I am doing absolutely nothing but relaxing”, “I am hanging with my friends” , or “I think I will spend time with my family”? While we obviously have greater duties and responsibilities, how often do we relax without fear of judgment from our peers? I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and finds some time to relax! Remember, your kids are watching……..
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Steve Ramsey: WHS Principal BlogPrincipal's Weekly Reflections Archives
May 2019
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