Cultural Awareness At West

February was Cultural Awareness Month at West School. During this WE CARE monthly theme, students were taught about many different cultures around the world. In PE, the students participated in "World Olympics" as they represented various countries and competed in a mini Olympics. During library time, students studied the history of the Olympics and created an "Olympic Values Mural" This mural is located outside the LLC. Music and Spanish class introduced students to a variety of greetings in many languages and songs from around the world.     
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Phil Bildner Visits West School

Author Phil Bildner visited West School on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Phil is the co-creator (with illustrator Loren Long ) of The New York Times bestselling chapter book series, Sluggers! This winter, the fifth book in the series has hit the shelves. In addition Phil writes picture books Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy , The Shot Heard ‘Round the World, Twenty One Elephants, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Turkey Bowl, The Hallelujah Flight and teen novels too including Playing the Field and Busted. Some of you may know Bildner’s books by another name! In 2009, Barnstormers, the chapter book series was given an extreme makeover and was renamed Sluggers! All West School students attended one of four presentations in the LLC.     
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Suessical Visits West

The cast and crew from Suessical visited West School on Monday, January 25. This preview was well received by the students and staff at West.     
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NSSRA

Physical Challenges Mrs. Lee's gym classes was instructed on the challenges that physical disabilities present to students who are working to compete and participate in sports and other activities. This program, sponsored by NSSRA, presented students with an opportunity to throw a basketball while seated in a wheelchair and to aim at a target while visually impaired with dark or restricted view eye wear. All West School students will have an opportunity to be exposed and instructed to this unique approach to physical awareness through future visits by the trainers at NSSRA.     
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Jane Addams Visits West

Jane AddamsTo augment the third grade curriculum and the study of Chicago, "Jane Addams" the founder of Hull House visited our West School third graders on Friday, January 15. Jane's life is a true testament to what one person can do to make a difference -- large or small -- in their own community. An actor depicted the life and times of Jane Adams for the third grade classes on Thursday. Jane Addams is an extraordinary Chicago heroine who started the modern social movement in the United States and dedicated her life to improving the lot of those less fortunate around the world. She was born and raised in the beautiful farming community of Cedarville, Illinois, which is about two hours west of Chicago. Her father, a prosperous farmer and businessman, and her mother, who was gifted in the arts, helped foster her concern for others as well as her appreciation for art, music and physical education. In her late teens, she was one of the fortunate few who were able to go to college, and following her graduation, she was committed to making a marked difference in the world. The character of Jane Addams was performed by an actor from Historical Perspectives.

    
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Rory Fanning Talks to Fourth Graders

Mr. Rory Fanning has walked across America and on Friday, January 15, he shared his experience with the West School fourth graders. Mr. Fanning delivered first hand accounts of his walks and talks as he made his way from coast to coast traveling through several of the regions that the fourth graders learn about in their study of the United States. This presentation supported the fourth grade curriculum and the WECARE January theme: Courage. Mr. Fanning is a veteran of the U.S. Army and he used his walk to raise financial support for the children of fallen U.S. military personnel.

Watch a video clip of Mr. Fanning with our classes!
    
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For the Birds

Go Green Recycling involves more than practicing good earthly stewardship by reducing waste and composting left over lunch scraps. The West School Go Green Organization, through the Go Green web page, which is linked to the front page of the West School page, is encouraging students to reuse common household recyclable items such as milk cartons into useful and decorative bird feeders.     
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Winter Skate Day at Watts
West Goes to Watts Each year on the day before winter break, all of the students of West School are bused to Watts Ice Rink for our annual West Skate Day. This year was a weather challenge, but the students enjoyed the day and fun was had by all. Thank you to all of the parents and staff who helped with the tying and untying of all those skates. Mrs. Young and Mrs. Lobo served up hot chocolate and cookies as a post skate treat.

    
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Fourth Grade Chihuly in Art and Third Grade Sculptures
Fourth graders were inspired by the work of Dale Chihuly as they made their own organic shape paper mache glass-blowing project! Mr. Fischer used the SMARTBoard to familiarize the students with the work of Chihuly and glass-blowing. They reviewed the difference between organic and geometric shapes. Enjoy our video clip as the students are finishing their construction with paper mache and painting a basecoat on their sculptures. The project was finished using modge podge (for a shine) and tissue paper (for more color and more organic shapes).
Chihuly in Action     
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Chorus Club's Winter Concert
The following is an iMovie of the West School Chorus Club's Winter Concert. We hope you enjoy the performance. Winter Concert 2009     
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Let It Snow! ... continued

Snow means a lot of things to a lot of people. When you're nine years old it usually means having a lot of fun at recess.

    
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Help Glencoe Outsmart Waste
Did you know you know that the Glencoe Schools are collecting CAPRI SUN drink pouches to recycle in a new way? Across our schools, we have joined in the Terracycle efforts to help upcycle these drink pouches into new items such as pencil cases and backpacks. Children may share their empty drink pouches in the collection containers within each school. Our schools earn 2¢ per pouch and we minimize the garbage produced! Thank you for your support as we participate in this collection through the remainder of the school year. Learn more by visiting the Terracycle website at http://www.terracycle.net.     
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Video Announcements
September 2009
October 2009
November/December 2009
    
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Solar Panels
Solar Panels Installed at West The panels are the result of a grant awarded to West School from the Illiinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. These panels are a 1 kW Photovoltaic System that will generate electricity and will become part of the fourth grade science curriculum covering electricity. While the panels may only generate enough electricity to operate our office lights, the goal of the grant is to educate and inform our students and community on the value and importance of alternative forms of energy. Soon we will have information on our web page indicating the amount of electricity that is being generated and put back into the grid.

    
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Stand Up to Bullying

In honor of International STAND UP to Bullying Day, all students and staff at West were asked to wear pink to support our efforts for safe and caring schools.

Why wear pink?
The color of the STAND UP shirts is based on a campaign started by Travis Price and David Shepherd, two senior students who took a stand to support a freshmen who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. This act of leadership provides a great example for those who are "on the fence" about displaying their own personal stance against bullying.

What does this stand for within our schools?
In keeping with our focus on Social and Emotional Learning, wearing PINK symbolizes our work to promote care and respect for others. While we are choosing to join in this international day, our hope is that we can foster this same environment every day within our schools.     
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