West Times
CENTRAL BUCKS HIGH SCHOOL WEST
MARCH ISSUE
Message from Mr. Munnelly
West Times 3/4/13
The Winter sports season had its share of exciting moments this year. Though the season is not completely over at this writing, there were some impressive if not record setting performances by West athletes. In Boys’ and Girls’ Track there were many State medalists with the Girls’ 4X400 team setting a new school record. In Swimming there are swimmers and divers who have qualified for the State championship. Most impressive was Rachel S. setting a new pool record for point total in diving. Finally Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball teams had exciting games this year. After doing very well in the District playoffs, the Girls’ team qualified for the State competition for the first time in 13 years. Congratulations to the Girls’ team as it appear that they get better every time they step onto the court.
Recently Superintendent Dr. Green asked the three high school principals to compile an all-inclusive list of all the fundraising/community service that our students do through the course of one year. Prior to doing this report I was rather sure that our students do give back much to the community, but I was rather surprised as to how many local organizations benefit from the gift of time and/or financial support that our students provide. Congratulations to all coaches/advisors who work to have students understand the importance of giving back. Most importantly congratulations to those students who are practicing philanthropy in their community. I hope very soon I will be able to post all the activities that our teams and clubs participate in.
CLASS OF 2013
FROM THE SENIOR HOUSE TEAM
All students and parents should be finishing up with the FAFSA online. If you have not already applied for federal student aid, you can do so by logging onto www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you are interested in applying for scholarships, please log into your Naviance account and search our database, this system is being updated weekly to add new scholarship opportunities. For more nationally-based scholarships, log onto www.fastweb.com and don’t forget to check your college’s website for opportunities.
Seniors are moving forward into spring. Mr. West contestants are rehearsing for this year's show, Olympians. Tickets will be on sale two weeks prior to the show in all lunches for $10. All proceeds support student activities at West. Come out and support the 22 young men vying for this year's title!
Class of 2014
By Katie J., Junior Class Secretary
JUNIOR PROM TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE AT ALL LUNCHES AND AT RECEPTION MARCH 18-29. The cost is $45.
Class of 2015
Sophomores
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE
The State of Pennsylvania requires each student to hand in a copy of a physical before October 15th of his/her junior year.
A copy of the physical form is available on the school website, under the nurse tab. http://cbwestnurse.wikispaces.com
Please take this form to the doctor to be completed and then return it to the health office.
FROM THE GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT
Verification Sheets: The Sophomore and Junior Houses are wrapping up Program Planning for next year. Verification sheets, which list students’ requests for the 2013-14 school year, will be distributed in Advisory on Wednesday, March 13th. All students are to have their Verification Sheets signed by their parent/guardian, and must return them to Advisory by Friday, March 15th. If students wish to make any changes to the course requests, they should write the changes on the form before returning it. The return of the signed verification form is an Obligation, and failure to do so may result in a loss of privileges or possible disciplinary action. No changes will be made to students’ course requests after Friday, March 20, 2013. After that date, only Critical Course Changes will be allowed due to lack of course enrollment, failure to meet appropriate prerequisites, or level changes with teacher recommendation.
College Fair: The Central Bucks School District College Fair will be held on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at CB South (1100 Folly Road, Warrington). Representatives from over 150 colleges and universities will be available to share information and answer questions about programs, financial aid, and more. All Juniors should plan to attend this worthwhile event!
- Interim Progress Reports (IPR’s) will be available to view on the Portal on Wednesday, March 13th.
- Seniors - Please be sure to check Naviance for updated information about scholarship opportunities.
- Mark Your Calendars - Junior Parent/Student Info Session,Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 7:00PM. Topic: a review of the College Application Process.
NEWS FROM THE WEST BAND
Congratulations to our West Band students who have progressed to the PMEA Honors Ensembles in 2013. Students who place in the BCMEA ensemble are selected from high schools in all of Bucks County. District Ensemble members are chosen from schools in Bucks and Montgomery County. Region Ensemble members are chosen from school in Bucks, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester Counties. PMEA includes students from the entire state of Pennsylvania. All Eastern contains students from the entire East coast of the United States.
BCMEA County Band: Samantha A., Vincent D., John H., Ashley R., Kyle S., and Annika V.
District 11 Band: Rusty B., Andrew C., Vincent D., Gabe F., Nick H., and Annika V.
District 11 Orchestra: Andrew C., Gabe F., and Nick H.
Region 6 Band: Vincent D., Gabe F., Nick H.
Region 6 Orchestra: Nick H.
PMEA All State: results soon!
NafME All Eastern Band: Nick H. (first student in over 10 years to receive this honor!)
This is a stunning number of students to be featured so highly and they have all proudly represented CB West throughout this entire festival season. Congratulations to all of you!
JAZZ BAND
Jazz Band season is underway and our musicians are already in the swing of things. On February 19th, CB West Jazz Ensembles 1 and 2 welcomed world-renowned musicians and guest artists Denis DiBlasio and George Rabbai. Both artists currently teach at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and are alumni of the Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman big bands, respectively. CB West Jazz Ensembles were treated to an afternoon clinic with both artists and the students of the Rowan University Jazz Ensemble, followed by a joint concert with all ensembles. It was a great night of live music and we hope to welcome these jazz greats back to West soon!
The Central Bucks Jazz Ensemble 1 also has some exciting news. At the end of February, the band received their completed commission from West-Coast composer/arranger James Miley. A commission is a piece that a composer writes specifically for a group of musicians and in this case, James wrote music specifically for us! He listened to our musicians perform, learned about their musical interests, assessed their strengths, and created a perfectly tailored arrangement for our band. The CB West Jazz Ensemble 1 will premier James Miley’s arrangement of Chris Cornell’s Black Hole Sun on Saturday, March 23 at the Council Rock North Jazz Festival. We hope to see you there!
Jazz Ensemble 1 also gave a stunning performance at the February 26 School Board meeting. The band nearly blew the roof off 16 Welden, but the crowd, the board, and administration were extremely enthusiastic. Our students are so proud to be able to share their talent with our community. Thank you to CBW Alumni, Shane Arnold, for sitting in!
MARCHING BAND
The Central Bucks West Marching Band is gearing up for their trip to Orlando Florida on April 18. The band will be featured performers in the Electric Light Parade in the Magic Kingdom, participate in the creation of a movie score for a Disney movie, and spend time with the acrobats and musicians in Circque du Soleil’s La Nouba. This is promising to be an amazing trip and we cannot wait to report back upon our return.
BAND CAMP
For those of you who are thinking of giving Marching Band a try for next year, we hold an annual Mini Band Camp in June for all students who will be in grades 9-12 for the 2013-2014 school year. We offer Mini Band Camp as an opportunity for prospective Marching Band members to meet the current students, learn some new skills, and give Marching Band a trial run. At the conclusion of rehearsal on Thursday, June 6, students who decide to participate in Marching Band will turn in their registration for the season. Mini Band camp dates and times are as follows:
- Tuesday, June 4th 6:00pm - 9:00pm
- Wednesday, June 5th 6:00pm - 9:00pm
- Thursdays, June 6th 6:00pm - 9:00pm
ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION'S SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION
Colleen S. and Aaron M. were named West’s winner and runner-up, respectively, in the English- Speaking Union’s Shakespearean Oratorical Contest. Colleen turned in an amazing performance at the Arden Theater on President’s Day at the city-wide competition.
BUCKS COUNTY WORLD LANGUAGE TOURNAMENT
CB Wests World Language Department sent four teams, Chinese Novice, French Advanced, German Advanced and Spanish Advanced, To the Bucks County World Language Tournament. Each team included three to six students representing all of our Chinese, French and German classes, and our Spanish 3, 3H, 4, 4H and AP classes. They competed against teams from other districts in Bucks County. In three different rounds, the teams answered questions about culture, vocabulary, grammar and spelling in a quiz-style format similar to that of Reading Olympics. The teams earned the following ribbons:
Chinese Novice: Blue
German Advanced: Red
French Advanced: White
Spanish Advanced: White
Blue ribbons were awarded to teams scoring more than 30 points, red ribbons were awarded to teams with a score between 25 to 29 points, and white ribbons were awarded to teams that scored below 24 points.
DR. SEUSS' BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED IN FRENCH CLASS
On Monday, March 4, the AP French and French 4 honors classes came together to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a cake and reading. The classes compared French translations of The Cat in the Hat (Le chat chapauté) and Green Eggs and Ham (Les œufs verts au) to see what changes were made to preserve Dr. Seuss’ style, rhyme and rhythm. Students then examined French and English versions of Astérix and Tin-Tin comic books to see changes in dialog, names of characters and cultural references. After examining translations, students then discussed the lessons of good and evil for children and how characters in fairy tales such as Cendrillon (Cinderella) were depicted as extremes to set examples for young readers.
FROM THE SHOP
The Technology and Engineering Department would like to thank Mr. Cody from Plastic Dip Moldings, Inc., for donating woodworking equipment to our school. This donation gives us opportunity to learn how our machines work and frees up machine lines that can occur during our classes.
Parents/Guardians: Does your child like to tinker? This is a good read- http://blog.makezine.com/2013/03/05/hackschooling-makes-me-happy/ Each student who takes our courses gets an opportunity to explore- Right now we are researching and prototyping how to make Roman Wax tablets for the Latin Class, working with AP Science classes to design, testing and building alternative energy products like model windmills built out of computer fans, and generating power from a bike generator so students can play amplified music in the courtyard. If anybody has an old computer or any other piece of electronic equipment to donate or even a bike and some old DC motors to donate, please send them our way or drop a line to jtaylor@cbsd.org. We will put it towards our alternative energy exploration.
Spring is around the corner- Our department will be building raised beds to grow food and flowers in our courtyards at West. If anybody would like to donate dirt, seeds or plants, we will make use of them. Teachers will be maintaining them throughout the summer.
THE HARLEQUIN CLUB PRESENTS
PERFORMANCES -
- Thursday, March 14th 7:30 - 10:30pm
- Friday, March 15th 7:30 - 10:30pm
- Saturday, March 16th 2:00 - 5:00pm
Adults $13.00
Students $10.00
Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door. All seats reserved.COLLEGE FAIR
1100 Folly Road, Warrington, PA
Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013, 06:30 PM
Central Bucks H. S. South
MARCH 22ND - EARLY DISMISSAL
PARENT ADVISORY
Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013, 09:00 AM
CENTRAL BUCKS H.S. WEST
MARCH 28TH - NO SCHOOL
MARCH 29TH - NO SCHOOL
JUNIOR PROM
1 Highpoint Drive
Chalfont, PA
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013, 07:00 PM
Chef's on the Run
Mr. WEST CONTEST
375 West Court Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Saturday, Apr 27, 2013, 07:00 PM
Central Bucks H. S. West
SENIOR PROM
Friday, Jun 7, 2013, 07:00 PM
Spring Mill Country Club
CENTRAL BUCKS SCHOOL DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BRIEFS
At the February 26, 2013 School Board Meeting, the Central Bucks School District School Board:
- Heard the Jazz West performance before the school board meeting.
- Heard the Academic Spotlight about the Naviance Report from Michael Curtis, Counselor at CB West, and Taryn Barrett, Counselor at CB South.
- Heard the Superintendent’s Report and Curriculum, Finance, Human Resources, and MBIT Committee Reports.
- Approved School Board Minutes.
- Approved Treasurer’s Report.
- Approved contract with Public Financial Management (PFM) for Financial Advisor Services as the District looks to restructure its debt.
- Tabled School Board Policy 806 – Child Student Abuse so that proposed policy can be posted on-line and discussed at appropriate committee meetings.
- Approved various personnel items, student trips, and staff workshops.
- Received the Semi-Annual Rating of Elementary and Secondary Temporary Professional Employees
Central Bucks High School West
Website: cbsd.org/schools/cbwest
Location: 375 West Court Street, Doylestown, PA
Phone: (267) 893-2500
Twitter: @CBWestHS