One of the greatest joys of serving as an educator is the moment you are reminded of the impact you have had on a child. Whether it comes face to face, from an email, or even a phone call, it is truly a magical event every time you hear positive praise for a job well done. As we head towards Donation Day for the Eanes Education Foundation, we want to share a few of the comments I have received since May about the quality of staff that we have at WHS. One of the most often asked questions is, “Does Mr. (Mrs) still teach at Westlake? They did this _____________________ for me.”
A parent who is a principal at a local private school asked about Mr. Misage, “My son always tells everyone that Mr. Misage made his life easy at MIT.” A young lady of 25 asked me at a funeral earlier this fall, “Who is teaching at TLC still? If it hadn’t of been for Field, Pascal, Jones and McFarland, I would never had made it through WHS.” This former student now works at GSD & M after graduating the University of Texas at Austin with two degrees. “Does Mrs. Uselton still teach WHS?” asked a former student who moved to WHS as a sophomore from a very low performing school. “Mrs. Uselton changed my life. I am now a nurse after being a paramedic from the training I got in her class and program.” “I am now majoring in Journalism at UT. Has Mrs. Brown retired yet? She was the best.” This is from a former student who was cut from her favorite sport at WHS but who found a place to thrive at WHS and gained a new lifelong passion after some adversity. “Is Coach Grigg still teaching World Geo? He was one of the best teachers I ever had in Eanes. He was a little loud, but he could teach us about places we had never heard of.” This from a former student athlete who is now a dentist looking to work for various groups so he can volunteer his time for folks who cannot afford dental care throughout the world. We could continue with this process for a long time with our exceptional staff. The amazing reality about teaching, coaching, directing, and sponsoring is that one never knows the impact you will have on a life. We have a wonderful amount of offerings at WHS due to our gaining 13 EEF funded teachers this year. I cannot predict which teacher will ultimately influence and impact a student’s life because each student and teacher’s relationship is so unique. I can confidently state that the chances of this increases with our campus’s ability to hire a staff that offers so many wonderful opportunities for our students. The Eanes Education Foundation would like to remind you one more time before Friday: “WHS families, we have 13 short years from K-Graduation and we aren’t done yet. Keep WHS excellent and donate to EEF by going to https://eaneseducationfoundation.org/donate/ or bring/send a check this Friday morning and drop it off with EEF volunteers at carpool lines/entrance at Chaps Court, PAC or Freshman building. Every dollar counts. Every donor matters. “ While we had a unique bell schedule for our students on Wednesday, due to PSAT Testing, we can report that it all went rather well. Our sophomores and junior testers were on time and ready to go. Our freshmen were entertained and educated by Carl Hooker, our Director of Innovative and Digital Learning, as they focused on Social Media. Our freshmen then watched the movie Whale Rider with questions and discussion. Our seniors began their day at noon with the rest of the student body going to 4th Period. Our faculty hoped to see all of their students so we ran a modified schedule where all eight periods of the day did meet. The afternoon was a little lively with lots of class bells and teachers happy to see all their students. We are looking forward to our Homecoming Pep Rally with actual fall weather on Friday morning! We hope everyone has a safe and cool weekend. It's always a great day to be a Chaparral!
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Steve Ramsey: WHS Principal BlogPrincipal's Weekly Reflections Archives
May 2019
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