- A Bucket Filler
|
| Sadie, a trained
reading dog, visited small group counseling classes on Friday
to help us learn about filling buckets. Figuratively, of course.
Using the book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, by Carol
McCloud, Mrs. Gruener helped classes look at how to fill the invisible
buckets that everyone has. |
|
|
- Books That Teach
|
| Are you looking
for a children's book which focuses on a particular character
trait? Check out this list of our counselor's favorite books which
she uses in guidance (and at home) to reinforce important character
values. |
|
- Bully Busters
|
| As a follow-up activity
toCount On Me multimedia presentation, Kristin Moffitt's
second-grade class had a riveting lesson about bullying. Mrs.
Moffitt read aloud the book, My Secret Bully, by Trudy
Ludwig, in which Monica's friend Katie begins to call her names
and humiliate her in front of other kids at school. |
|
- Character CAM
in D.C.
|
| Tour Washington
D.C. with Counselor Barbara Gruener and Teacher Jennifer Quigley
as they accept the National Schools of Character Finalist Award.
Visit the sites and imagine the sounds as you spend an autumn
weekend in the character capital of the nation. |
|
|
- Character Counts
& Red Ribbon Week
|
|
Character Counts! week is observed annually
the third week of October by some 2,700,000 people around the
world. This year, we set aside October 22-26, 2007 to celebrate
the role that the pillars of character play in our lives. Dressed
in our pillar colors each day, it promises to be an exciting week.
- October 22-26, 2007
- Westwood wraps Westwood and the town in red
to show everyone that we will not tolerate drugs in our community.
|
|
| Citizenship
by George! |
| Westwood's second
and third graders turned back the pages in their character book
when George Washington made a stop at their school and shared
a few of George's life stories and reinforced November's spotlight
pillar, citizenship. |
|
| Crowning
Event |
| In this new incentive
program, every child who comes to school all week on time, without
a tardy on their record, is eligible to be crowned the Prompt
Prince or Prompt Princess. |
|
| DARE to be
Safe |
| The character cam catches Officer
James Dement talking with Mrs. Limmer's class. He solicited volunteers
to help him show students how much distance to keep between them
and strangers. |
|
| Donating
Makes Cents |
| Members of the Math Committee
at Westwood creatively integrated character into the estimation
activity at this year's Math Night. Students related a connection
like, "I want to donate to Save the Children because I am
a child," or "I want to donate to Houston Collie Rescue
because I like dogs," and "I'd donate to the Friendswood
Volunteer Fire Department because Uncle Jim is a fireman." |
|
| Hey Little
Ant Essay Challenge |
| Hey, Little Ant, announced a national essay contest in which students
in grades K-3 are encouraged to answer the question at the end
of the book, "What do you think that Kid should do?" |
|
| Hometown
Heroes Wow Westwood |
| Celebrities arrived
way before Warbles to chat with students and sign autographs.
After our routine morning announcements, Westwood students shared
their song for the week - Do You Wanna Know Freedom? - in honor
of the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrated
on Monday. |
|
| Honoring
Our Veterans |
| Westwood's White
Table, complete with the word "hero" inscribed in salt
on the dinner plate, was set to honor the Veterans in our family
who have served in the military to keep us safe and free. This
page includes our slideshow tribute. |
|
| Kind Acts |
| Since October 2004,
the Kind Acts Foundation has honored close to 9000 students from
all 50 states. |
|
| Knitting
Club |
- KPRC Video
- KTRK Video
- Warm Up America!, Westwood's third-grade knitting
club, makes afghans for people in need.
- Bookmark It!
|
|
| Launch
Into Another 40 Years |
| Westwood teachers find out that
teamwork isn't exactly rocket science. With their Response to
Intervention (RtI) training behind them they help Westwood to
continue to skyrocket in its character building efforts. |
|
| L.I.N.K. |
- Let's Include New Kids (L.I.N.K.) program
at Westwood makes Westwood a warm and welcoming place to our newcomers.
|
|
| Music
Mentors |
| Nine
fourth-grade students have been chosen by music teacher Laura
Rachita to bear the prestigious title of Recorder Mentor. They
volunteer to come by before school twice a week, on Tuesdays and
Fridays, to help teach third-graders to master the playing of
their little plastic flute-like instruments. |
|
| NSOC
Site Visit Success |
| Friday,
April 4th, was a special day for our character building because
we welcomed two site visitors from the National School of Character
committee.Richard Puppione and Kathy Perini, both character educators
from California, spent the day at Westwood to see if we merit
a spot in the top 10 schools nationally for our character-education
efforts. |
|
| Our
Bountiful Harvest |
| Westwood's
annual Holiday Harvest netted 985 food and personal hygiene items
to distribute locally to our friends in need. Each dayy students
brought in cans, boxes, and bags to set on the Donation Station
table. |
|
| PALS |
- PALs are a unique group of Friendswood High
School students who are carefully selected and trained teens who
provide assistance in a variety of ways and foster a productive
school experience for their PALees.
|
|
| Pillar
Patrol |
| Beginning Monday, September 10,
a few new leaders dressed in blue vests began helping in the car
rider line, at the front and back doors, and in the gymnasium
before school. |
|
| Pillar
Patrol Throughout the Year |
| The one place where our role
models are still on duty is with the Pillar Patrol. Those students
interested in this leadership opportunity applied early in the
year to be on Patrol. And what a job they've done. Their early-morning
tasks include greeting at the door, helping in the gym, opening
car doors in the front, and working in the cafeteria to assist
with breakfast. |
|
| Principal's
Partners |
| Westwood's Principal's Partners
program is going strong as we head into the final stretch of this
school year. Our character cam can catch two, three, four, even
more Partners on any given day working with our little learners |
|
| Promoting
Character Education |
| Looking for ways to promote character
education in your classroom, your school, or even your home? Click
here for ideas to help get your character education initiative
off the ground or to strengthen your existing efforts. |
|
| 'Rapping'
It Up |
| Want to know more about the Six
Pillars of Character? Here's a little rap to help people understand
the Character Counts! framework. |
|
- Red
Ribbon Recognition
|
| We would like to
congratulate you on a job well done and proudly announce that
Westwood Elementary School is the THIRD PLACE WINNER of our 2007
National Red Ribbon Week Contest! |
|
- Soldier Sends Thanks
|
| A letter of thanks
that was sent to Westwood recently with a flag and a beautiful
woven wrap from Afghanistan. The flag and letter are on display
in the receptionist's area of our school; the wrap will be auctioned
off at this year's Round Up Carnival. |
|
- Thank You to
Our Soldiers
|
| To practice our
patriotism in guidance this week, we wrote letters to hospitalized
soldiers, giving thanks to those who have gotten injured in the
line of duty as they served to keep us safe and free. |
|
- The
Character Counts! Chronicle
|
| Westwood is featured
in the November 2007 CC! Chronicle for its successful Character
Counts! Week tie-in with Red Ribbon Week. Scroll down to read
all about it and see what other schools nationwide did to celebrate
character. |
|
|
| Wednesday
Warbles |
- The Westwood family gathers every Wednesday
morning in the gym for a special community meeting to encourage
camaraderie within the school body.
|
|
| Who's Your
Buddy |
| The program is designed to give
a leadership opportunity to the older students and positive role-model
time for the younger students. It will also give the younger students
a chance to showcase their developing reader skills. |
|
| Volunteering
Matters |
| A part of what makes Westwood
so special is our willingness to reach out and serve others through
our generous donation of items every year like batteries, toys,
books, food, undies, toiletries, and the like. But what if we
want donate some time to people in need? Check out this list of
service learning project ideas for the whole family. |
|
| What's
a Picnic Without Ants? |
| Westwood hosted its first Family
Character Night Picnic on Tuesday, January 29, with who else but
Phillip Hoose, the author of the popular children's book, Hey,
Little Ant. |
|
| WW
A 2008 NSOC Applicant |
| Members of the Character Crew
at Westwood received good news recently from the State Schools
of Character (SSOC) committee an excerpt from the letter explains
it best: We are pleased to announce that our 2007 Texas
State Schools of Character winner - Westwood Elementary in
the Friendswood Independent School District - is automatically
being referred for consideration for the 2008 National Schools
of Character Award. . . . . .we are anticipating nothing but a
great response from their application this year! |
|
| WW
A 2008 NSOC Finalist |
| Stellar character education programs
including Book Buddies, Principal's Partners, Knitting Club, Recorder
Tutors, and Family Night gatherings have earned Westwood Elementary
a spot as a National Finalist in the Character Education Partnership
(CEP)'s National Schools of Character (NSOC) awards program. |
|
