PRINCIPAL'S
MESSAGE
 Happy
New Year! I’m happy to report that good things keep
happening at WestvieW!
Last month at the Admiral Kidd Club in San Diego, Amy Degenfelder of Westview was named the California League of
High Schools Educator of the Year for Region 9, which encompasses San Diego
County. This is the first time since the award was created in 1994
that a Poway USD teacher has won this award. Amy will now represent Region 9 at the California CLHS Awards, which will be held
in January in Monterey. Congratulations to Amy!
More good news! For the second year in a row, Westview has
been recognized by the California Business
in Education / Just For Kids Organizations as a 2007 Honor Roll
school. This prestigious honor is given to schools that are making
progress in reducing the achievement gap among students in the various
subgroup categories that are measured on state and federal assessments.
I am looking forward to the coming months as our seniors prepare for
graduation and their futures. Please let us work with you to
ensure that the “senioritis” doesn’t become a problem. It’s always tough when a student relaxes a little bit too soon and
is unable to participate in graduation in June,
Let’s
work together to encourage our students to stay diligent with their
studies.
Again, my best wishes to all for a great 2008!
Dawn
Kastner
Principal
What’s coming up...
Check the
school
calendar for more events
|
Jan 17 |
Minimum Day - Finals |
|
Jan 18 |
Quarter 2 Ends - Minimum
Day |
|
Jan 21 |
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No
School |
|
Jan 22 |
Semester Break - No School |
|
Jan 23 |
Quarter 3 Begins |
|
Feb 9 |
Mock ACT/SAT |
|
Feb
11 |
Back
to School Night |
|
Feb 11 |
PTSA Association Meeting |
|
Feb 18-22 |
February Break - No
School |
|
Mar
18 |
8th
Grade Parent Night |
|
Mar
29 |
Mock
SAT, ACT, PSAT |
|
Mar
31 |
Quarter
3 Ends |
|
Apr
7-11 |
Spring
Break - No School |
WINTER
SPORTS
Winter sports are underway. Please check
the website regularly for information regarding practices, game times and
locations.
•
Basketball
(Boys)
•
Basketball
(Girls)
•
Roller
Hockey
•
Soccer
(Boys)
•
Soccer
(Girls)
•
Water
Polo (Girls)
•
Wrestling
Quick web links
Daily
Bulletin – visit the daily bulletin to see what’s happening today!
School
Calendar – see what events are coming up throughout the year.
General
Information – can’t find what you’re looking for? Try this link.
Athletics
– support your Westview Wolverines – visit the athletic pages to see
when your favorite team is playing.
Counseling
– graduation requirements, colleges visiting Westview, scholarships,
course catalog, etc.
COLLEGE
READINESS
College fairs and expo events are listed on our
counseling
website.
ALL
YOU NEED IS LOVE!
 The
Westview Choral Department presents their annual Romance
Concert on January 24th and 25th at
7:00pm
in the Westview Theatre. The concert
will include pieces by all choirs and will feature several
solos and small group numbers. The box office opens
at
6:15pm.
Tickets are $9.00 Premium Seats and $6.00 General Seats and are
available for purchase at the door.
FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL
 Westview’s
Theater Company is proud to present the musical Footloose which
opens on February 7th and runs on the 8th, 9th, 15th, and 16th at
7:00pm, with tickets available for $8 and $12 for regular and premier
seating respectively.
More information will be available on
our Footloose
web site as we get closer to the opening date.
|
PTSA PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
When my girls
were very young, every Christmas I put out a box and next to it
placed a basket filled with pieces of yellow yarn. Every time
they did something nice for someone else, they put a strip of yarn
in the box. The goal was to have a nice soft bed ready for
Baby Jesus by Christmas morning. I stopped that tradition a
few years back. In fact, I had pretty much forgotten about it
until I read a paper my oldest daughter wrote for her English
class. The topic was motivation for good deeds, and in it she
cited this yarn exercise as an example to support her
arguments. Huh … I guess it made an impression on her.
I don’t know about you, but for the past couple of holiday seasons
I have questioned whether all my efforts over the years to create
long lasting holiday traditions were for naught. Holidays
aren’t what they used to be around my house. My two older daughters
haven’t been too interested in staying home to help put up decorations
and bake Christmas cookies.
Christmas Card Lane
has become a trip with friends rather than a family outing.
But then this year we changed it up a little. Extenuating
circumstances interrupted our long-standing Christmas Eve
rituals. I changed our Christmas dinner menu. I arranged
the presents differently on Christmas morning. And guess what?
They noticed. And they complained about it! It turns
out, they had come to rely on those annual traditions.
As I sat there on Christmas morning enjoying our increasingly rare
family time, I realized that maybe things weren’t so different
after all. Instead of my girls eagerly watching me open their
hand-made treasures, they were just as intent watching me unwrap the
gifts they had carefully chosen with their hard-earned money from
their very own paychecks. Christmas dinner might bring friends to
the table, but we were all together. And an unexpected hug is
still worth a yellow yarn in the box. It all brought to mind
the expression “the more things change, the more they stay the
same.” It might not be exactly the way I envisioned, but
knowing the seeds have taken root is enough for me.
As we welcome in the new year, may you embrace the changes it brings
your way, and cherish those things that stay the same. Happy
2008!
Sue Hasselmann
PTSA President
westviewptsa@mindspring.com
DECEMBER PTSA RECAP
The
PTSA was hard at work during the month of December on activities in
support of our goals and objectives approved at the beginning of the
school year. Here’s a summary of some of the things
accomplished:
Grad Nite Holiday Homes Tour – Participants were treated to tours
of beautifully decorated homes to help get us in the holiday
spirit. Over $3000 was raised in support of Grad Nite
2008. A huge thank you goes out to Cindy Koenig, the event
organizer, and to all those families who offered their homes up to
make this event successful.
Student/Staff Recognition Night – Wow! Almost 90 students
and 50 staff members were honored on December 18th in recognition
for making a difference in the lives of those around them. Yvonne Weinstein did a fantastic job organizing this program. Thanks, too, to our volunteers who helped on the awards night.
Adopt-A-Family Community Collections drive – Becky Palenske and
her troop of angels once again supported hundreds of families in our
community in need this holiday season. Thank you to the entire
Westview community for your tremendous outpouring of support to make
this program successful.
SAT &
ACT MOCK TESTING AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 9TH
To score your best on the SAT or ACT,
you need to prepare. To get started, Westview PTSA and Revolution
Prep Services offer full-length mock exams on campus - in a
proctored setting - just like the real thing! Individualized
feedback will be provided online, including personalized comments on
the essay and a detailed score report.
This is a great chance to see
how you will do on these tests without having your scores submitted
to colleges.
Go to the
Westview PTSA website
to register.
INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT
"I say to
you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
|
Choral
Concert
College Readiness
Counselor's
Corner
December PTSA Recap
FAFSA
and Financial
Aid
Footloose: The Musical
Inspirational
Thought
Mock
Testing
Principal's
Message
PTSA
President's Message
Quick Web Links
Scholarships
Westview
Gold
What's Coming Up
Winter
Concerts Recap
Winter
Sports
WESTVIEW
GOLD INVITED TO PERFORM AT
DISNEYLAND!
Westview's own Gold Marching Band was invited to march down
Disneyland's Main Street
on Friday, December 14th. They helped to lead off the
evening's character parade as part of the holiday festivities at the
happiest place on earth. After they completed their stellar
performance they were allowed to change clothes and enjoy the park
until closing time at
midnight! A good time was enjoyed by all.
The following day the Orchestra performed a program of
holiday music at
Carnation
Plaza
in
Disneyland
on Saturday. The concert was fantastic and the students
celebrated the rest of the day together in the park as well.
WESTVIEW
GOLD WINTER CONCERT SEASON RECAP
On Tuesday night,
December 11, both the Orchestra and Wind Ensemble combined forces to
provide a festive Winter Concert in the Theatre. It
was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all who came to see and
listen to the festive holiday music.
Two nights later, on Thursday, the Band held their annual Winter
Concert and Food Drive as well in the theatre. A humorous performance with Justin Scheid
as MC and a guest conductor (all of about 5 years old!) selected from
the audience kept the festivities light and entertaining.
Most
important, however, was the competition between the sections on who
would bring the most non-perishable food items to help those
families in the PUSD in need this holiday season.
The total number of food items increased markedly over last year's
total of 2355, increasing to 2742.
The Trombones won 1st place by bringing 57 food items per student
for a total of 791 items!
The Tubas came in 2nd with 36 items per student, and in a close 3rd
place finish with 34 food items per student were the Alto
Saxophones.
The real winners of course were all the families that the food is
donated to for the holidays.
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FAFSA
and FINANCIAL AID
Whether
you are applying to a 4-year college/university, plan to attend a
community college or a specialized training program, you can receive
financial assistance through scholarships, grants and/OR
low-interest loans. TO BE ELIGIBLE, you must file the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the deadline, which
is typically the beginning of March.
However, many merit-based scholarships and grants are awarded by
late January and early February. Many require that the FAFSA
be filed to be eligible. Go to FAFSA online to obtain your
student personal identification number (PIN), and file your FAFSA
beginning
January
1, 2008
. (www.fafsa.ed.gov/)
We also hope you will be able to join us for Westview’s Financial
Aid Night for Parents on January 10th. Beginning at
5:00pm
in the library, you can receive help in accessing FAFSA online. The Financial Aid presentation will begin at
5:30pm in the Library.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Many
scholarship opportunities are available. Some may come in the form
of grants from private businesses, philanthropic organizations,
individuals, or from the colleges themselves. Many scholarships, as
well as financial aid, have deadlines. All scholarship opportunities
are available through Family Connection. If you do not already have an account, please send an e-mail
request to Kathy Bloomfield at kbloomfield@powayusd.com. In the e-mail, please include your child’s name and e-mail
address as well as your name and e-mail address.
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