Westwood Way
Happenings In Panther Nation - February 2020
Several months back, our office staff was able to watch Kyle Penn demonstrate his juggling skills. I would like for you to take a few seconds to click on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/108RLz6eJ05MUl9yX4AFzrjv7AX4HpAHG/view?usp=sharing and see his amazing skills!!
As I watched this video, I noticed that Kyle was very smooth in his juggling and did a great job of focusing on the three balls. He continued with his smooth juggling skills until the five-second mark. At this point, Kyle made a small bobble with his right hand and had to grab the ball a second time. This misstep caused a chain reaction that led to Kyle dropping two balls.
As you can see in the video, the juggling act is successful as long as Kyle can maintain his focus, and it is not hard for him to keep three balls in the air. And honestly, he does it very well until he attempts a slightly different movement. At this point, his rhythm and flow begin to deteriorate until, eventually, he loses control and drops two of the balls.
I began thinking about how our lives parallel this video. So many times, we are dead set on having control of every aspect of our life and juggling multiple tasks. We feel that we are the only ones that can accomplish each task at the level we desire, and this works well most of the time. The task of juggling life goes well until just like the video, we try to attempt a slightly different approach to a task, or we agree to take on an additional, responsibility and we begin to lose rhythm. Our workflow deteriorates until we feel like we are totally overwhelmed, and we feel like we are going to collapse from exhaustion.
If Kyle had allowed two other people to join him in his juggling act and had evenly distributed the balls, each person would have had to keep only one ball in the air. The other people may not have done it as well as Kyle wanted, but in the end, chances are they wouldn’t have lost their rhythm, and all three balls would have stayed in the air longer.
We can follow this same approach in our life by analyzing different areas and determining where we can release control and allow others an opportunity to shine. By empowering others around you to take on some of your tasks, it will enable us to maintain our rhythm and our workflow will not deteriorate. The result is that we don’t feel overwhelmed, and we won’t feel as if we are going to collapse from exhaustion.
Over the next several weeks, I encourage you to step back and analyze your personal and professional life and find areas that you can release to others. And after you have released these areas to trusted people, encourage them, coach them, support them, and celebrate with them as they help both of you have a much more enjoyable life!!
Wade
School Board Update
During the February Board Meeting, the following items came before the School Board:
Dr. Kyle Penn discussed the 2020-2021 Budget Calendar.
Christine Bedre presented the proposed 2020-2021 Instructional Calendar. This was presented as a First Read and will be recommended for approval during the March Board Meeting.
Christine Bedre presented an overview of the guided reading program.
Mrs. Rosa Perez and Mrs. Shinnitta Forman presented an overview of academic progress on their respective campuses.
Christine Bedre presented an overview of the Campus Turnaround Plan developed by the staff at Westwood Elementary.
Mr. Stanford presented an update on the status of the Palestine Youth Athletic Association since the closure of the baseball and softball complex.
Mr. Stanford updated the Board on misinformation in a Palestine Herald Press article. The article stated that “The 2016 strategic plan was based on a Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) report and an engineering firm at no cost to the school district.” Mr. Stanford reported that this statement was inaccurate since the report cost the District $21,400. The article also stated, “the district should invite another independent report by an engineering firm to inventory the district’s needs, instead of an architecture firm that is under contract.” Mr. Stanford reported that this statement was also inaccurate since Sledge Engineering was not associated with an architecture firm and the District had not visited with nor entered into a contract with any architecture firm at that time. Mr. Stanfiord discussed that he had reached out to the reporter on multiple occasions in an attempt to correct the article.
The Board unanimously voted to approve the TAP report for Westwood Elementary.
The Board unanimously voted to approve Choice Partners to be Westwood ISD commodity partners for the 2020-2021 school year.
Teacher contracts were acknowledged as presented.
Administrative contracts were approved as presented.
Curriculum
As we enter into the 5th six weeks of the school year, it is critical to look back at our purpose. As Jon Gordon, author of Energy Bus, states in rule number nine, “Drive with Purpose.” Do we truly know our purpose? Are we communicating and putting this purpose into action daily? When analyzing our student success, are we ensuring each individual student shows growth? Jon Fessenden has spoken at a few conferences this past winter, and this key message has been “No One Goes Backward.” All students can show success. My question to you as we enter the remainder of the school year is, are we aware of where our students were last year and how we use our focus to ensure success for the 2020 school year?
“It is not enough to simply listen to student voice. Educators have an ethical imperative to do something with students, and that is why meaningful student involvement is vital to school improvement.” - Adam Fletcher We are looking for a pilot grade level/content area to begin student-led conferences. The teacher team will help the development of the process to be used across the district. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Mrs. Bedre for more details.
I am so excited about our upcoming district vertical alignment day on February 24, 2020. We will start our day at the High School gym at 8:00 AM before breaking out to our focus sessions. This day will focus on student success, utilizing district resources, and sharing ideas across grade levels and content areas. The district collaborative day is ½ day in the morning and then team planning in the afternoon. A detailed email will be sent to staff regarding specific break out locations in the High School Fine Arts/Science Building.
Ready, set, here comes the 2020 Reading Academies! We are in the early stages of planning for the new House Bill3 Kindergarten through 3rd-grade reading academies in the district. Please stay tuned for upcoming information on your specific campus.
We are excited to announce the district met the requirement to qualify for an interview for the Principal Preparation Grant, Cycle 2 (2020-2021 school year). TEA is in the final stages completing interviews and selecting districts. We should find out toward the start of March if our district was chosen to participate in this wonderful opportunity. If WISD is to be selected, and you would be interested in this instructional leadership growth opportunity, please fill out the following form. The form does not count as an initial nomination but as a preliminary interest that we may have across the district. Survey for PPG; Cycle 3 - CLICK HERE
Renaissance Learning will be getting a new look! The upgrade is scheduled for March 16th during spring break. Please do not log into the system during this time as the platform will be down for maintenance. To view the new look and enhanced features, please click the following video link. Video Link on new enhancements Link Login Information - Reminder.
Instructional Coaches SMORE Links:
Special Programs
February is the month state testing officially begins for 2020. Teachers start collecting writing samples for the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) this month. All TELPAS raters have been trained and are going through the calibration process now. The TELPAS testing window extends through the first week in April, but we plan to have all activities completed at least a week before that time. Our students who are identified as English Learners will be completing all parts of TELPAS over the next two months. Please encourage our students to put forth their best effort on this assessment. We are thankful for the hard work of our campus administrators and teachers in carrying out TELPAS procedures on their respective campuses.
If you haven’t viewed it before, the Educator Guide to TELPAS and TELPAS Alternate is a great resource to familiarize you with TELPAS, and it has been recently updated. TEA has also recently updated https://www.elltx.org/, an excellent website for all stakeholders involved in the education of English Learners. Please take some time to view these great resources.
Preparation continues for our other state tests, STAAR and STAAR Alternate 2. Be on the lookout for training dates and campus specific information coming your way. We are pleased that some of our grade levels are planning to utilize Interim Assessments this year. These are optional online assessments created by TEA that align with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
Through a collaborative effort with multiple departments, Westwood ISD applied for and received TEA’s 2019 - 2021 Safety and Security Grant. This grant awarded the district $25,000 in funding to spend across the district for safety and security purposes. Along with this grant, we continue to monitor the spending and requirements of our federal grant funds.
Business & Finance
Preparation for the 2020-2021 budget has begun! This is an ongoing process for the next six months as we continually refine what our revenues will be, collect department and campus needs, look at staffing, and complete a number of legal requirements such as a newspaper posting, public hearing, and board actions. One celebration for me is that it is not a legislative year. With the funding formula not having significant changes being created through a summer legislative session, this allows for better and earlier planning and projections.
Throughout the remainder of this school year, we will continue to look at making sure we are staying within the budget, revenues aligning with our projections, and that we are spending enough in our special program areas and grants. We also make sure we can operate through the summer and start next school year before our new budget starts in September.
Please make sure to read our operations department reports and keep up with the work they are doing.
-Kyle
PEIMS
Here’s a fun PEIMS fact: student attendance drives funding for the district. The more students are present in school, the more funding the district receives from the state. In the fall, I visited campuses and spoke to each campus staff on the topic of accurate and on-time attendance procedures. As a district, we have improved greatly at getting attendance taken care of (cheers teachers!). With the cold and rainy weather, flu, and other viruses, district attendance rates have taken a dip. Let’s encourage our students to come to school (unless they are sick, of course), and get those attendance rates back up!
In January, ECDS (Kindergarten testing data) and Mid-Year (previous year budget data) PEIMS submissions were both successfully submitted to TEA. February brings opportunities for resubmission for both ECDS and Mid-Year, as well as Class Roster Snapshot submission. Other items that are in progress are an overhaul to the online registration system and fourth term enrollment reconciliation. Also, Pre-K and new Kindergarten student Round-Up is coming up soon - planning is in progress!
It’s already February, and love is in the air, Westwood ISD! Are you loving your energy bus passengers? Jon Gordon, the author of The Energy Bus, tells us that there are five ways to love your passengers:
Make Time for Them
Listen to Them
Recognize Them
Serve Them
Bring out the Best in Them
I challenge you to find an appropriate avenue to love each of your passengers today… share your energy!
Food Service
Hello, Westwood family. I hope all of y’all are staying dry and warm this month. This month in Foodservice, we got an increase in breakfast participation in the secondary levels. We started a new promotion where we will randomly give out two Whataburger coupons each day until February 18th to students that eat breakfast at their campus. Last week I met up with other child nutrition directors in San Antonio at one of Labatts distribution centers to plan out what commodity items we will use for the next school year.
This month I would like to recognize Christina Ramerez that works at the Junior High. Whenever the manager is not present, Christina does an outstanding job of filling in that leadership role. Her coworkers love her, and her energy is contagious. Each day she walks in with a smile and a great positive attitude. One of the things that I like the most about Christina is that she is very caring. Each time I walk into the kitchen, she makes sure I'm well-fed, and I have a tray of food for lunch. I'm incredibly blessed to have her as one of my employees.
Facilities Services
Westwood’s Facility Services Team has been busy over the past month, completing a few projects and
many work orders. Maintenance has done an excellent job of tying up loose ends on the Field House
remodel. I believe they are also nearing completion of a remodel at the High School Library. Sometimes
these larger projects are lengthy because they have to keep up with the smaller incoming work
requests.
Though this is a slower time of the year for our staff that work mostly outdoors, they have done a great
job of staying busy and keeping our facilities looking sharp. Our athletic fields have been groomed and
are ready for baseball and softball games. They have also been working on our Track and Field facilities
to get them ready. Thanks to the grounds and maintenance departments, our athletics facilities look
good and are ready for visiting teams.
Along with our crazy East Texas weather, cold and flu season seems to be in full swing. We will be
utilizing our disinfection machines to target outbreaks and keep them at bay. We will be using these
tools at the request of our school nurses and principals.
I would like to take a moment and recognize our custodial staff. They do a repetitive job that is usually
unrecognized. I believe this is because, when we see the same thing every day, it usually goes unnoticed.
I equate it to turning on a faucet. When we do this, we expect running water to be there. Every morning
when we come to work, our buildings are clean. Most of this work happens before or after the school
day, and we don’t see it. Please stop and thank them when you find a moment to do so.
This month I have selected Mr. Gonzalez at the Primary campus as our employee of the month. His
hard work and vast custodial care experience have not gone unnoticed. It is hard to put into words how
valuable he has been to our team. I hardly ever hear from, or about him, because he does a good job
and solves most of the problems that arise. He is always there early in the morning, taking care of
business. Please congratulate him when you see him. Give him a pat on the back and thank him for
being “Mr. Reliable.”
Thank you for taking the time to keep up with the happenings here at Westwood ISD. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to call or email me at (903) 373-5108 jkshultz@westwoodisd.net
Transportation
The Transportation Department is very excited about the second semester of school and the 2020 year. Our first semester of school saw dedicated employees working together in our department to meet the needs of all Westwood students. Every day we strive to put students first and do what is best for them daily. The transportation of students is a vital part of the educational process. Nothing is as important as the safety of students daily.
We had our monthly Safety Meeting covering Loading and Unloading procedures and also being consistent with pickup and drop off times for students. We also had Bus Monitor Training for two mornings on discussing the expectations of a bus monitor. All were present, and the meeting was very productive. As we approach spring sports, our department will be busy with trips and end of year trips. Make sure to put in your request as soon as possible so we can plan accordingly. If I can assist you with a transportation concern or problem, feel free to contact me at 903-723-0425.
Technology
We had a small turn out for our Technology Committee meeting last month. Though the group was small, the meeting was very informative as we started reviewing the Long-Range Technology Plan 2020-2025 goals and objectives. We still have some work to do, but I am excited about the plan and the direction it is going. Standardizing ID badges across all campuses was a discussion topic during the meeting. Any changes to branding, color, design, and logo need to happen before April so that changes can be submitted to Lifetouch for the next school year. Next Technology Committee meeting will be held on February 26th.
Special thanks to Mrs. Carwell for securing grant money to purchase new Chromebooks and iPads for the district. Once we receive the devices, we will get them ready and out to the campuses as soon as possible.
We are almost finished with our Windows 7 to Windows 10 upgrades. We have been working hard to get this done with the least amount of user disruption. If you recently had your computer upgraded, thank you for making time for us.
Helpdesk at a Glance: The technology department has resolved 1220 tickets since the start of school. Within the last 30 days, we have resolved 196 tickets.
The department continues 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 have reached a pivotal phase in our athletes’ training regiment (the mental training).The athletic department focus during this phase (BOOT CAMP) is two-fold:
1.YOU WILL SINK TO THE LEVEL OF YOUR TRAINING.
2. F.A.M.I.L.Y. - Forget About Me I Love You.
We are excited about the opportunity to watch them GROW through this phase when faced with adversity.
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 Powerlifting, Boys & Girls Soccer, Girls and Boys Basketball:
Soccer:
Both the Boys and Girls Soccer teams open district play this week against Mexia and travel to Madisonville on Friday, February 14th. Last week the boys and girls both hosted Tenaha in the last tune-up game before district play. The boys played with tremendous effort and showed some grit down the stretch which ended in a tie. The girls also played extremely well and came out on top 2-1.
Lady Panther Basketball:
The Lady Panthers finished the season with a great showing at Elkhart last night. The extremely young and inexperienced team made great strides throughout the season. They will return almost all of their roster next season. We are proud of the attitude, effort and the way they fought through a ton of adversity this season.
Boys Basketball:
The Panther Varsity Basketball team currently sits in a tie for the 4th place playoff spot with two district games remaining. They can potentially finish in the 3rd place spot with two wins to finish the regular season. We host Buffalo this Friday and travel to Teague on Tuesday to close it out.
Powerlifting:
The boys and the girl’s powerlifting teams traveled to Bullard (4A) last weekend to take on a bunch of perennial powerlifting programs. The boys dominated the competition, Malakoff, Bullard, Rusk, Palestine, and others, and brought home the team championship along with multiple individual golds, PR’s and the most outstanding lifter trophy. The girl’s team posted great numbers as well and ended the day with a couple of individual golds and PR’s.