WHS Family Newsletter
February 7, 2022
Back in Person This Week!
It is a big week for our Performing Arts groups this week. Come out and see our choir Tuesday night, our bands on Wednesday night and our Steel Pan and Culinary Arts classes for Thursday's Taste of Trinidad. It's going to be a great week! You can find more details about these events in our Reminders section of the newsletter.
New Information This Week
Dance Marathon
Second Trimester Absences and Make Up Work
We know that illness has been prevalent this season, and we want to partner with you and your student to help them get caught up as we approach the end of the trimester. We are increasing our Testing Center hours and space capacity from now until the end of the trimester (SEE GRAPHIC BELOW), and we are working with teachers to allow them to maximize their CORE time opportunities to meet the needs of the students. We are also being intentional about clear communication with our students and families surrounding second trimester deadlines and asking for families to be sure to be in contact with their student’s counselor and Assistant Principal, Denver Wade (waded@wws.k12.in.us), if there are extenuating circumstances keeping students from meeting set deadlines.
All Second Trimester coursework and assessments are due no later than Monday, February 14 of finals week. Some teachers will have a Friday, February 11 deadline as well. If your student has some outstanding work due to absences, please encourage them to make a plan with their teachers and to sign up to complete assessments in the Testing Center. Our school goal is that students and families will know where their second trimester grade stands going into finals. Have a conversation with your student, encourage them to make a plan and avoid procrastination. Stay up to date on your student’s progress by utilizing our PowerSchool and Canvas platforms. Also please do not hesitate to reach out with specific questions or needs that your student may have.
WHS Counselors Are The BEST!
They not only are true counselors who help our students navigate emotions, relationships, and decision making - they spend a great deal of time helping students prepare for college, careers, the SAT, ACT, PSAT, ASVAB, schedule courses, learn about JEL, the military, and the Indiana Graduation pathways.
They have worked tirelessly to create new video course books and they have prepared detailed websites and videos for each of our four grade levels. They set up college visits and help students find scholarships. They invite parents and seniors in for college planning nights and offer a college boot camp for seniors preparing college applications and essays. They teach about transcripts and the FAFSA. They coordinate AP testing and summer school. They pitch in and help whenever needed. They go to prom, sporting events, concerts, musicals, club events, and graduation.
They simply are THE BEST and we are so blessed to have them! We invite you to reach out to your student's counselor today and thank them!
Open Learning Center Days/Hours for eLearning
WHS will host some open lab hours in our Learning Center the two days following our eLearning days, in case students had technical difficulties during the eLearning days. Students will have 48 hours (2 school days) following the school cancellation to submit their work. All attendance links and assignments will be due by 8:30AM on that third day. If you have questions, please reach out to your teachers via Canvas!
WHS Learning Center Open Days/Hours:
Devices will be available.
Monday, February 7 4-6 PM
Tuesday, February 8 4-6 PM
ALL eLEARNING ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH AT 8:30 AM.
March 3rd - eLearning Day for Grades 9, 10, and 12
Rocks Spotlight
Weekend Tournament Recap for the Rocks
Our WHS Girls Basketball Team lost a heartbreaker in the Sectional Semi-Final game to Fishers. One Indianapolis Star sports commentator stated that one offensive rebound swung the game. Our girls had a great season, in fact, our seniors had great high school basketball careers as Shamrocks. We wish them and Coach Ginny Smith, who is retiring as girls basketball coach, all the best! If you'd like to read Coach Smith's comments about this year's seniors, you can see it here.
Our Boys Wrestling Team had another impressive showing at the North Montgomery Regionals advancing eight wrestlers to Semi-State next weekend. Westfield had three champs, five in the finals, and went 6-2 in the final round.
The Rocks were lead by Senior (#13) Braxton Vest at 120 pounds. He picked up three consecutive falls in the first two periods of each match. Braxton picked up his 2nd consecutive Regional championship along with his 100th career win.
Junior Ike O'Neill had another impressive day, winning his first two matches by fall and a major decision. O'Neill knocked off another top 20 opponent in a rematch of the sectional finals to claim his first regional title and 2nd consecutive regional championship appearance.
Senior (#6) Mike Platonov rounded out the day claiming his second consecutive Regional title. Mike was dominant in his first two matches of the day picking up a fall in round one and a decisive victory in the semi-finals. The Regional finals was another rematch of the sectional finals, but this time Big Mike came out on top with a huge win over #3 Dom Burgett of HSE.
You can see all individual results here. The Rocks bring eight wrestlers to the New Castle Semi-State next weekend with hopes of punching their ticket to the State Finals.
The tradition continued for our swimming and diving program - the boys team dressed according to a theme and came out to cheer on the girls on Saturday. The Girls Swimming and Diving Team advanced all twenty seven individual athletes and all three relays to the finals that will be held tonight (Monday) night at Noblesville. The meet starts 5:30 pm, where no doubt you will find our boys team dressed up and cheering on the girls. You can see all qualifiers for the sectional finals here.
Diving concluded their finals on Saturday with freshman Ellie Lee placing first, Ally Doyle third and Alyssa Schwartz tenth. Ellie and Ally advance to Tuesday’s diving regional at Homestead for an opportunity to advance to state.
And finally, we had the ISSMA Vocal District Solo and Ensemble competition moved due to the weather but we wish those performing arts students who will compete in the rescheduled event next weekend good luck! #GoRocks
Reminders
Join Principal Denniston for Coffee
Second Trimester Finals Information
Trimester 2 Final Exams will be Tuesday, February 15th through Thursday, February 17th and will follow this schedule.
Bus transportation will be provided for students at the end of testing each day and students will have the opportunity to pick up a grab and go lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. Please note that parent pick-up will be at door #9 in the athletic wing and door #32 in the new wing.
Please remember there are NO EARLY DISMISSALS during final exams.
Also be aware that final exams are 15% of the trimester grade instead of 20% as indicated in the handbook.
If your student will be gone for any reason, please contact Assistant Principal Denver Wade at waded@wws.k12.in.us to make arrangements. Please understand we do not allow students to take finals early with the exception of extreme medical circumstances.
Finally, don’t forget Friday, February 18th will be a staff workday with no school for students. However, the Testing Center will be open that day for make up finals from 9 am - 3:30 pm. Let’s ROCK these finals, Shamrocks!
Performing Arts and Taste of Trinidad Concerts This Week
WHS Choirs will present their Winter Concert tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8, at 7:00 p.m. Concert Choir, Limited Edition, and Signature Sound will sing music from the 1500s- 2000s. We will also feature a few of our ISSMA Soloists. Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased ahead of time here or at the door.
The WHS Band will present their Winter Concert on Wednesday, February 9, at 7:00 p.m. They will not only be presenting music that they have been preparing for the ISSMA Concert Festival later this year, but will also showcase a variety of chamber ensembles from the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble. These ensembles represent a variety of different styles of music and ensemble makeup and will be a great opportunity to see a wide variety of talent in the Westfield Band. Tickets are also $5.00 and can be purchased ahead of time here or at the door. Hope to see you at one or both of these concerts!
And we are excited to announce our fifth year of hosting the Taste of Trinidad at WHS! This is a joint collaboration presented by our culinary arts and steel pan students. This amazing event will have you stepping out of the cold Indiana weather and into the Caribbean! You will get to enjoy an evening beginning with a lively steel pan concert, followed by an hors d'oeuvres reception featuring a Caribbean-inspired menu prepared by our WHS Culinary Arts students. Don't miss this iconic event!
Taste of Trinidad- a night of tastes and sounds of the Caribbean
Thursday, February 10
6-8 p.m.
$7 per person
Free Tutoring Available to ALL WHS Students
Our WHS National Honor Society tutoring will now be organized through a site called Blastoff Tutoring. If your student is struggling and would like some tutoring, please encourage them to go onto the Blastoff Tutoring Website and create an account. Our school code is WHS123. Once the account is created, students can look for a peer tutor who can help with their particular needs. Remember this is FREE and available to ALL WHS students! Please encourage your student to use this resource to their advantage!!
About Us
Email: webmaster@wws.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.wws.k12.in.us/whs
Location: 18250 North Union Street, Westfield, IN, USA
Phone: (317)867-6800
Facebook: facebook.com/westfieldhighschool
Twitter: @WWSWHS