Westwood Way
Happenings In Panther Nation - January 2019
Panther Pride
This time of the year brings about a longstanding tradition of developing resolutions. This practice typically consists of people identifying an area of improvement, committing to this improvement, and then shortly after, accepting that their dream was bigger than their commitment.
The most common resolutions are losing weight, exercising more, managing debt, saving money, and reducing stress. When setting resolutions, we normally spend time reflecting on negative times in our life to identify areas of improvement. We set high goals, and then we beat ourselves up for eating too much and not exercising because we spent way too much time watching football or binge-watching Netflix! Sadly, I have participated in this yearly ritual in the past!!
Over the last five years, I have moved away from making resolutions and now participate in a selecting One Word to focus on during the year. The One Word discovery is designed for you to identify what is suppose to be done in you and through you during the upcoming year. This process has led me to truly stay focused on improving my life throughout the entire year. During the last five years, I have selected Servant, Relationships, Committed, Brave, and Impact as my One Word.
Similar to past years, my One Word for 2019 found me instead of me finding it. During the last part of December, my One Word kept jumping out at me during my quiet time as I spent time in devotionals, and then it materialized in nearly every aspect of my life. At this point, I knew that this was the word I needed to focus on and there was no avoiding it.
For 2019, my One Word is LOVE! My word was revealed to me in these two scriptures:
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:7
As we continue through this year, my goal is to view situations such as these through the lens of LOVE:
· Having a conversation with a student that didn’t meet the expectations of the district
· Determining the implementation, timeline, and impact of future district-wide programs
· Working out at 5:30 in the morning when it is cold and dark (still working on finding the LOVE)
· Having a necessary but difficult discussion with a staff member.
· Not eating all of the Snickers or Mr. Goodbar that is on my kitchen table
· Celebrating our many student and staff successes
After just a couple weeks of this new year, I know that I have come up short in some areas, but the reality is this is about discovering what is supposed to happen in us and through us. It is a journey and not a destination. It is not about success or failure but revelation and growth! I will continue to challenge myself to discover what LOVE is suppose to do in me and through me during 2019!!
I would love to have you join me in discovering your One Word to focus on this year. By clicking on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9a0UBToUflYYVBRZUg4cjdnSW8/view?usp=sharing you will be able to view the One Word Action Plan.
Later this month I will send out an email that will describe how to submit your One Word and then we will create a district word cloud! I think it would be awesome to see the focus of the Westwood ISD staff during 2019!!
Wade
School Board Update
During the January Board Meeting, the following items came before the School Board:
Christine Bedre presented an overview of Leadership Walks. She discussed the purpose, procedure, and desired outcome of this collaborative process.
Dr. Kyle Penn presented an overview of fraud schemes that are becoming prevalent in schools. He also outlined procedures that Westwood ISD has in place to prevent the district from becoming a victim of one of these schemes.
Mrs. Rosa Perez presented a Primary Campus update. She discussed the Primary program, campus learning goals, campus pilot programs, and upcoming events.
Mrs. Shinnitta Foreman presented an Elementary Campus update. She discussed recent celebrations and campus events, instructional initiatives, and campus pilot programs.
Mr. Stanford and School Board Members discussed the proposed Proud Panther guidelines. Each Board Member will submit suggested criteria for students, administrators, donors, and supporters. Board Members will also submit suggestions for the configuration of the nominating committee. The Board will discuss and approve this document in the February meeting.
Mr. Stanford and Michael Page provided an update from the Facilities Advisory Committee. Mr. Stanford discussed campus visits in Godley ISD and Midlothian ISD and multiple meetings with local organizations discussing the possibility of a May bond election. Michael Page discussed the progress of the Facility Advisory Committee and communicated that he felt confident the committee would bring a recommendation to the School Board on February 11.
Dr. Kyle Penn discussed the upcoming purchase of commercial ovens for the Elementary Campus and High School Campus.
The School Board and administrative staff began discussing the book Instructional Rounds in Education. Chapter 1 was discussed this month, and the board and administrative staff will continue this discussion over the next several months.
The School Board unanimously approved the School Board Election for Place 3 and 7 on May 4, 2019.
The School Board unanimously approved the proposed termination of Michelle Carroll as an employee of Westwood ISD.
Curriculum
Happy New Year and Welcome Back! I hope you all had a relaxing and joyful holiday season! As we spring into the new semester, the instructional core continues to be a focus. When looking at the Instructional core, remember Principal Four: Task predicts performance and Principal Five: The real accountability system is in the task that students as asked to do. By focusing on the alignment of the task students are asked to complete with the TEKS taught will ensure student success.
Instructional Technology: Click Here to view Mrs. Luna’s January newsletter with tips and reminders with the implementation of instructional technology programs within your everyday instruction.
ELAR Adoption Update: The WISD adoption committee team met upon returning in January and decided upon a balanced literacy approach to ELAR instruction provided by Fountas & Pinnell’s Classroom. This resource will serve as the primary source for Tier 1 instructional materials that will be used in Kindergarten - 5th grade. Grade levels PK-8 will begin to focus on the Literacy Continnum to infuse into daily ELAR teaching. Next steps are to review materials for grades 6-8 ELAR and high school personal financial literacy, as well as develop a comprehensive professional learning schedule.
Finally, the vertical alignment day will be February 25, 2019. Be on the lookout for informational documents soon.
Special Programs
Parent and family engagement is a vital part of the education of our students. We want our families to always know that their involvement is welcome and that they have a voice. Each campus has activities and events to keep our families informed and involved. Throughout the school year, we keep families informed through our website and social media. Skyward is a great way for parents to get the most up-to-date information about their child’s grades and attendance. Skyward Family Access allows parents to change the language setting to their preference. Additionally, families have access to our District and Campus Improvement Plans and the current Parent and Family Engagement Policy, which is in English and Spanish, through our district website. The Federal Programs Department continues to take steps to enhance communication with our parents.
Our department continues to work with the curriculum department and campuses to gather data for upcoming meetings. As a part of federal funds planning, we invite parents to meet with us annually to update both our Parent and Family Engagement Policy and District and Campus Improvement Plans. Parents are also included as we review our Title I program and plan federal fund spending for the coming year. Information will be available soon about these events. We look forward to working with our parents again this year and every year.
Business & Finance
The finance department had our audit performed middle of December which is a big event requiring extensive preparation by many team members across the district. We hope to have the report back within the next month.
December also brought transition in a staff position in our department. Mrs. Hollie Castaneda has taken over the position for an accounting clerk/instructional materials/assistant and will wear many hats. She is a Westwood alumnus and is an excellent addition to our team.
The deadlines just keep coming! We have a number of deadlines coming up for debt transparency, sales taxes, and a process to get us an indirect cost rate - all very important for us to stay in compliance as a district or perform other functions.
Beyond those items, the department is working to complete all normal processes on a compressed timeline from the break such as payroll and paying the bills - none of that stops with two weeks off!
I hope you all had a wonderful break. I have the opportunity to visit with people across the district and I know you all work tirelessly in your respective roles. I hope you found some rest over the break and we are here alongside you. Let us know if we can help!
PEIMS
I am very proud to say the PEIMS department has successfully refined the fall resubmission! Much appreciation to the high school counselor Jeff Tauber and PEIMS registrar Edna Stanhope, for reviewing numerous codes to ensure we have our best foot forward in quality data. This data review makes a big impact on accountability. Reviewing data for accuracy with knowledge of state codes is a standard that we must hold.
Moving forward to submission II, the finance department is working to verify finance data. This submission reports our financials to the state legislature, monitors special program expenditures and audits our district.
Looking ahead, we know there is much to do. It's the season to be equipped! Webster dictionary defines equipped as, to furnish for service or action by appropriate provisioning. This means being prepared beforehand! Having this as our standard will be vital for success in the months to come. New changes that we are excited about will be coming soon!
Food Service
December was a busy month for the Food Services Department. New production equipment has been
ordered, new service equipment has arrived, and new meal service will be launched. And for Christmas
the cafeterias produced a great Christmas meal before the close of school which was enjoyed by both
students and staff, thank you for participating!
We have secured bids and approvals for a new combination oven for the high school and a convection oven for the elementary campus. We anticipate the equipment will be installed sometime in February. Once the combination oven is installed, the high school will open the new second line for full service. This second line will offer reimbursable meals (free to students) consisting of hot or cold sandwiches, sides, soup and salad bar offering.
The Junior High campus will also be opening a second serving line. We anticipate this line to open in February and to offer similar selections as the high school’s second line.
By incorporating these second lines, we hope to relieve the congestion on the main serving lines and to
upgrade the daily meal options to students and staff. The line equipment for both campuses came as a grant for $26,000 from the Texas Agriculture Department.
We are looking forward to the second half of the school year with all the upcoming changes. Come and support your cafeterias! As always if you have questions or suggestions, we would enjoy hearing from students and staff.
Facilities Services
Our Facility Services Departments have been busy over the holidays completing many projects
and necessary maintenance. Thanks to them our schools are clean and prepared for the return of
students and staff. Please take a moment to pat them on the back for their job well done as they do not
get the lengthy breaks in the fall, winter, spring, and summer as it is necessary for them to be here to
catch up on cleaning and maintenance.
To highlight a few of these projects, please note that the gyms at our Primary and Elementary
have been dusted. Maintenance installed a new dishwasher in the fieldhouse exclusively for washing
drinking bottles. Old batting cage nets have been removed from the softball field, and new nets have
been installed. The softball facilities have been repainted, and we are in the process of repainting the
baseball field facilities. Winter maintenance of our mower fleet is complete.
Our safety and security will benefit from the upgrade in our handheld radios that have an emergency channel to alert all campuses in the event of an emergency. We also have in place a new policy, procedures, and tools for evacuation and reunification of students to parents at undisclosed facilities. Thanks to our Facility Services Departments for all of their hard work, and swift response to incoming work requests. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break.
Thanks to all and welcome back.
Transportation
The Transportation Department is looking forward to a great 2019. The first semester of school was a success with minimal problems. The main goal for the New Year is the safety of our students and employees. All other problems can be corrected, but the Transportation Department will continue to put students first. My employees have done a very good job. We have had numerous employees out and look forward to their return.
Heading into the second semester we will have numerous sporting events, installation of a new unleaded fueling facility, and our daily bus routes to maintain. If at any time I can assist you with a Transportation problem or concern feel free to come by and visit with me or contact me at 903-723-0425.
Technology
Happy New Year from the Technology Department. 2019 will be an exciting and transforming year for technology. With last month being a short month, our department still managed to close over a hundred technology service requests to close-out the 2018 year with some spectacular Panther Pride numbers.
For the year of 2018, Technology closed 2,016 technology service requests tickets, compared to 889 service requests closed in 2017. That is a 126% increase in ticket closure with an average of closing nine requests per day, compared to four requests per day in 2017. John, Josh, and Terri have been doing a fantastic job maintaining the day-to-day operations and service requests.
Boxlight picked up their 65” interactive flat panel demo display unit this month. Thank you Boxlight for allowing us to demo this unit. Later this month we will be receiving a demo unit from Newline Interactive. We will start the rotation at the Elementary campus in the pilot classroom first. Be sure to swing by the pilot classroom to check it out when it is on your campus.
We have made some major improvements to our website. As we continue to make improvements, we have changed some of the site’s architecture, menus, and navigation. Our goal is to help the user navigate around the site with ease and page consistency so they can efficiently find the information they require.
We have formed a Technology Committee, and I am super excited about the responses in the call for volunteers. Our first meeting will be held on January 24th with snacks provided.
Athletics
We are focusing on building Champions instead of Winning Championships.
Habits reflect the mission. The habits of our athletes
On and off the field
are being held to a higher standard
And our student-athletes are meeting the challenge.
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.
Boys Basketball:
Boys Basketball currently sits at 10-14 on the season. They currently sit in fourth place in the district standings and look to finish strong the last eight games of district play.
Girls Basketball:
Lady Panther Basketball is currently sitting at 3-3 after the first round of district play and is right in the middle of the playoff race as well.
Boys and Girls Soccer:
Both the boys and girls soccer teams kicked off their season with a competitive showing during tournament play and the first three games of the season. The girl's team travels to Athens on Thursday while the boy's team has a bye
.
Powerlifting: The boys and girls powerlifting teams start their season on Thursday in Elkhart.