Westwood Way
Happenings In Panther Nation - December 2018
Panther Pride
During the Thanksgiving break, Marla and I traveled to South Texas to visit family. While we were there, I was able to go on a quail hunt. Although I love to hunt, I was amazed watching the quail dogs work. In quail hunting, two dogs have different responsibilities. The pointer will move around the area working to smell the quail and will become still and appear to be pointing at the where the birds are hiding in the cover. The second dog is called a flusher and will move into the area the pointer is looking and cause the quail to fly up.
As we walked and watched the pointer work, our heart rate would increase, and we would increase our pace when the dog would slow down and begin to look like it was going to point. Our focus intensified and we would hope that the pointer would become still and be on birds. This hope kept us excited and pushed us to continue the hunt until sundown.
I started thinking about the hope we had during the hunt and realized that we have the charge to provide hope for those that are around us. As we go through our day, we have the opportunity to be a dealer of hope or an energy vampire.
A dealer of hope provides positive energy and causes those around them to believe that something exciting can happen at any moment. They bring a smile to your face and empower you to believe that you can tackle any challenge you face!
An energy vampire will suck the life out of you! They are the ones that you see, and you immediately turn and go into another room instead of talking to them because you know it will be negative. An energy vampire will focus on the one thing that is a struggle instead of the ten things that are fantastic.
It takes extra work to be a dealer of hope and to provide optimism to others consistently. It doesn’t take extra effort to be an energy vampire and gather the nearest five people and tell them every reason that something won’t work.
I encourage you to reflect during the holiday and determine if you have been a dealer of hope or an energy vampire during the 1st Semester. If you have been a dealer of hope, then determine how you can develop this attitude even more. If you have been an energy vampire, then commit to working on that and reducing the occurrences until you have removed it from your life.
Every interaction is powerful and can have a huge impact on those involved. Who knows, you may find that you need encouragement during the 2nd Semester. If so, do you want to interact with a dealer of hope or an energy vampire?
Wade
School Board Update
During the December Board Meeting, the following items came before the School Board:
Christine Bedre, Lex Anne Royle, Tiffany Young, Renae Allen, and Jenna Jenkins presented an update on the pilot classrooms with innovative furniture. They discussed the advantages and challenges that they have faced during the 1st Semester.
Christine Bedre presented the PBMAS report and reviewed the goals that have been developed by a committee of district staff members.
Dr. Kyle Penn presented a finance update in which he reviewed the budget year to date and projected revenue and expenses.
Dr. Kyle Penn presented an overview of Here Comes the Bus, a bus tracking app. Dr. Penn highlighted the purpose of the app, different plans that are available, and the cost associated with the app. The District will continue to explore the various bus tracking services that are available.
Wade Stanford and the Board discussed the Facility Advisory Committee meeting that was held on November 13. The discussion centered on the positive feedback that was received from numerous community members that attended the meeting. The District will explore additional venues to communicate the possibility of a bond election in May.
Curriculum
The month of November and early December the curriculum department has focused on two key imperative areas 1) Instructional Materials for the K-8 ELAR Adoption and 2) Principal Four of the Instructional Core: Task Predicts Performance.
The ELAR team has continued to meet three times since the November 5th vertical alignment deciding upon an instructional writing method called Writers Workshop. This writing method will be used in K-8 ELAR classrooms beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. TEA’s publisher portal, HMH’s Into Reading materials, as well as Fountas & Pinnell’s Classroom focusing on balanced literacy were viewed as potential adoption considerations. Our team will meet when returning in January to take our next steps in this critical process.
The Primary and Elementary campus’ have worked extremely hard to learn the instructional core as well as learning walks. Both campuses Pre-K - 6th grade participated in learning walks the first week of December. WISD Learning Walks focused on aligning the task to the TEKS; therefore, analyzing what students are doing in class. Our groups are examining what is expected of students and how they are expected to complete their task as well as what knowledge or skills should be used to complete the task. Additionally, viewing the transfer of knowledge from instruction to the task has led to rich conversation. Our teams worked hard together to use this as a grade level collaborative and reflective time in their learning from each other. I am very proud of all staff for their willingness to learn from each other.
Special Programs
Several of our students demonstrated their knowledge of the core content on state and local assessments this month. We wrapped up a successful week of December End of Course Exams, and we are very proud of the good attendance our high school testers demonstrated throughout the week. The elementary students will finish up with Interim Assessments right before the Christmas break. Online testing was implemented during both of these administrations. As a district, we will continue to phase-in this mode of testing. The online platform provides the student with the same tools they would have on a paper test. Kurzweil allows the student to practice engaging with these tools while completing classroom assignments and tests. There are many benefits to online testing and, as discussed last year, the state is moving towards this platform. We want to be ahead in preparing our students for this transition.
While we are on the topic of technology, the Chromebooks purchased with the Technology Lending Grant funds finally arrived last month. We appreciate Ms. Vickery working diligently to get those out to campuses. Mrs. Morrow and Mrs. Page jumped right in and sent notification out to teachers and students on the availability of the Chromebooks. In the last few weeks, we have had several students on our secondary campuses check-out the laptops for use at home in completing schoolwork. We are thankful for this opportunity to provide devices and internet access to our students beyond the school day.
Business & Finance
The finance department has done extensive work in preparation for the auditors’ arrival this Wednesday through Friday (12th-14th). Documentation is collected all year to provide evidence of quality accounting throughout the district and campus levels.
Multiple TEA deadlines have been met by the department including a detailed Operations Report which relies on information from the transportation department on mileage and the business office with values of buses depreciated annually, and cost breakdowns across general and special education funding within transportation. Also, attendance projections were submitted. This is the two-year estimate of attendance for the coming years which is performed before legislative sessions to assist them in state budget development.
Looking ahead, we have begun looking into revising some of our processes for onboarding new staff. We hope to make this more seamless and smooth for those who join the Westwood ISD family. Other developments for continued improvement are in the works and will be shared in the future!
PEIMS
Westwood ISD PEIMS department has worked very hard as usual! We were successful in submitting the district's Fall PEIMS data. I have to give a shout out to the Primary PEIMS clerk Stephanie Phillips who went above and beyond assisting with great focus refining data to reach the fatal free submission. I would also like to give a big thank you to Jamie Weaver in HR and Caitlin Cheatem in Payroll for helping to refine the staff data that is required. I am very thankful to have the staff I work with on a daily basis be available and resourceful to make sure we are all successful!
We can't believe the first semester is coming to an end! We have all accomplished so much and yet have so much ahead of us. With each new challenge, we have the opportunity to learn and create processes to build a better way to quality data and reporting. Changes are coming next semester that will improve processes affecting most staff and parents in our district. Meetings with Principals and Assistant Principals are coming soon! We are excited for change when change means progress!!
Hope you all have a fantastic break! Merry Christmas!!!
Food Service
The Child Nutrition Department was the beneficiary of an equipment grant of $26,000 from Texas
Department of Agriculture. The grant money was specifically designated for mobile serving equipment purchases for the Junior and High School campuses. With the funding, we purchased a chilled serving unit for the High school. This will allow for an expansion of the second line to offer chilled items, salads and deli sandwich bar. The Junior High campus received both a chilled unit, a hot service unit and an additional milk box. This will allow for a second service line to offer a broader menu selection to include chilled items, salads and deli sandwich bar and hot foods. There are additional renovations to be made before the service can be implemented but we anticipate both lines coming on after the first of the year. This will enhance the choices for the students and attract increased participation. It will also relieve the crowding and bottleneck on the original lines, allowing for more time to enjoy the new meals!
Happy news for many of the kiddos, strawberry milk has finally arrived! Check it out in your local milk case, look for the pink banner!
May everyone have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year and return safely in 2019!
Facilities Services
Our Facility Services Departments have been busy over the past month completing many projects and
necessary maintenance. Repairs were made to parking areas and roadways with 75 tons of flex base.
Maintenance installed a large stainless steel countertop with wash basin in the bus barn. Old equipment
has been removed from athletic fields and some new equipment has been assembled and put in place.
Repairs to a major sewer leak were made at the High School. Winter maintenance of our mower fleet should be nearing completion. Thanks to our Facility Services Departments for all of their hard work, and swift response to incoming work requests. Somehow they have managed to get our number of work requests to around ten orders for work. This is a great time of the year for reduced workload as It provides them peace of mind, and time to enjoy the Christmas holiday at home with family.
Thanks to all, and have a Merry Christmas.
Transportation
The month of December has been very busy in the Transportation Department. Basketball is in full swing on both Jr. High and High School campuses. The Department continues to meet the needs of Westwood Students district-wide. This time of year it is very easy to be distracted while on a bus so we conducted a Safety Meeting and discussed the importance of staying focused. We continue to put students first and make good decisions daily. We are in the process of installation on our new fueling station. It will be beneficial for our department and district. In closing, everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Technology
The Technology Department has been busy maintaining the day to day service requests while planning out future projects and assessing current needs. As we enter the holiday season, service requests have slowed down enough for us to start reflecting on how we, as a department, can service the district better. We have had positive conversations on what customer support means to us individually and ways to improve that support. The goal is to develop core values that will resonate within the department and reflect a positive department culture.
We continue to collect data on our current systems and processes to identify efficiencies that will help us develop and deploy solutions necessary to support the vision and mission of our district. Start of the New Year, we will be forming a technology committee to collectively review and advise on those findings. If you are interested in serving on the committee, please let us know.
Josh Green was selected for Employee of the Month for the Technology Department. Josh has been a valuable asset to the department. His positive attitude and drive to resolve technology problems made him the ideal candidate for this award.
We continue to maintain and support our current systems and infrastructure by monitoring, tweaking and resolving problems as they arise.
Athletics
We are focusing on building Champions instead of Winning Championships.
We had a 100% pass rate in all sports at the varsity level for the 2nd Six Weeks. Breakfast with Champions is a great mentor program that is gaining traction weekly.
Philosophy
The Panther Mission Statement: (program/coach’s part)
To GROW men and women of integrity who relentlessly pursue excellence.
The Panther Vision Statement: (athlete’s part)
GROW Everyday
Execute Westwood DNA
Be the toughest program in Texas
WESTWOOD DNA (core values):
Energy/Tempo Monday - relentless effort. We will attack with tenacity and make them quit.
Competition Tuesday - 1-0 Mentality. We are one play warriors who always compete.
Toughness Wednesday - comfortable being uncomfortable. We will impose our will and dominate with toughness.
Family Appreciation Thursday - value others above ourselves. We are a team of ‘foxhole’ brothers.
Discipline/Finish Friday - Discipline - always doing what needs to be done. We will continue to row the boat every day.
Finish - do more than is expected. We are a freight train that terrorizes with our finish.
Updated results from Boys and Girls Basketball:
Boys Basketball:
Boys Basketball currently sits at 8-8 on the season. They have played a tough schedule and are currently in the middle of a four-game win streak. They travel to undefeated and state-ranked Woden on Friday for their last tune-up before district starts.
Girls Basketball:
Lady Panther Basketball is already experiencing success in district play. They opened up district play against Teague (one of the district favorites) and walked away with a DOUBLE OT victory (69-61). They are gROWing daily and continue to compete at a higher level each week. They travel to Buffalo on Friday for another district game.