| Our PAL Partnerships |
 Westwood Elementary will once again be partnering with Friendswood High School to welcome 31 Peer Assistance and Leadership Students (PALs) to our campus. PALs are a unique group of specially-trained teenaged mentors who make a positive impact on the lives of tomorrow's leaders by building relationships and modeling healthy choices. We typically pair one or two elementary-aged students with one FHS role model so that they can visit once a week for social time, tutoring time, or just old-fashioned play time. These visits, which happen from 11:30 to 12:00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays this year, will begin October 14th.
Additionally, we will be trying something new with this group of PALs and their PALees. Once they get to know one another, they'll be working collaboratively to create a character lesson once a month to correspond with our pillar of focus. Once perfected, they'll be presenting as a team - which we'll call an Integrity Team - either to their PALee's class or another class that volunteers to host the Team for a lesson. We are thrilled about this partnership and we're eager to see what these Integrity Teams can do to help us infuse character into our daily routines at Westwood. We thank our PALs and their teacher, Melissa Victorick, for investing their time and talents with us; please give them a warm Westwood welcome! (pictures) |
| A Recess Click |
 Westwood's third-grade knitting clique, 65 members strong, are meeting in the most unusual places. Our character cam caught them at recess this week getting individual lessons from club sponsor, Mrs. Gruener, along with community volunteers Mary Warwick, Kathy Tucker, and Laura Danielson. Many of our knitters are well into their practice project, a bookmark for them to give away to a friend or keep as a sample of their very first knitting. Several have already finished their bookmarks. A few are patiently waiting for their very own private lesson so that the knit stitch will start to click for them. Wherever they are in the process, these novice needleworkers are awfully excited about their new craft. Our next project will be making baby hats to donate to Save the Children's Caps to the Capital Campaign. Visit www.savethechildren.org on or after Wednesday, October 15th to see their new home page, complete with a whole display of photos and video clips showing celebrity supporters who are joining us by knitting caps to Knit One, Save One. (more pictures)
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| Budding Buddies |
Book buddy partnerships are in full bloom at  Westwood, and by the looks of things, seeds of friendship, caring, and love are what's been planted by our gardeners. The Book Buddy Program pairsthird graders with first graders and second graders with kindergarteners to give students a weekly visit with their cross-aged peers to read books and build relationships. Not only will there be gains in literacy and a love of reading, but we also expect to see growth in social skills and confidence. The smiles on their faces are all the data we need that there will be huge yields from this year's crop come harvesting time next spring. (more pictures) |
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| A Benefit for Max |
Many of you have asked how you can help Max's family in light of his recent leukemia diagnosis. In addition to the dinner donations list that's been circulating by email, a benefit to help his family offset the costs that his treatments will incur has been scheduled for November 2 at Stevenson Park. Click here for more details. |
| National RR/CC! Week Is Coming |
We're counting down the days to a big character celebration in FISD. Here's a sneak preview of Westwood's special theme days and activities for Red Ribbon/Character Counts! Week 2008.
 Hooked On Character at Westwood Elementary
Red Ribbon/Character Counts! Week 2008
Saturday 10/18: Wrap the Town Red kicks off the week at Stevenson Park at 9:00 am.
Join us in the park to hear this year's WW Treble Makers' choir debut!
Monday 10/20: Wear RED for Caring and to kick off Red Ribbon Week
Monday's Theme: Hooked on "CARE"acter
Wrap Westwood Red at Recess
Students will receive a character wristband to wear all week.
Tuesday 10/21: Wear YELLOW for Respect or GREEN for Responsibility
Tuesday's Theme: Respect Yourself . . . Choose Responsibly.
Walk the Talk K-2 Walk Against Drugs during Specials Classes
K-2 students: wear walking shoes for a school-side walk
3rd graders will Walk the Talk Monday, October 27th during Specials.
Wednesday 10/22: Wear Mustang-BLUE for Trustworthiness
Wednesday's Theme: Stay In the Game - Drug Free!
Our friends from FHS will come for a Pep Rally at Warbles to give out character pencils!
Thursday 10/23: Wear PURPLE for Citizenship or ORANGE for Fairness
Thursday's Theme: Make Footprints Worth Following
Friday 10/24: Wear the PILLAR color of your choice on Pillar Friday!
Friday's Theme: Celebrate Character . . . not just for a week, but for LIFE!
A huge welcome to our third graders' grandparents today! |
| Our Little Pumpkins |
 Students in Mrs. Vail's class have an interesting suggestion for the Discovery Channel's Dirty Job show - how about cleaning out a pumpkin? What kind of a lesson can come from that? How about carving the pumpkin, estimating its weight, guessing how many seeds there are, sorting the seeds by size, counting the seeds, and ultimately eating them as a nutritious snack. Leave it to our Kindergarten Pumpkins to create some educational fun exploring the makings of a pumpkin; now that's what we call a Dirty Job! (more pictures) |
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