WESTWOOD
WINDOW
Volume 41, Issue 6, February 2014
Westwood Charter Presents:
Celebration of Life Annual Auction 2014 The theme for this year is Celebration of Life, an evening filled with food, drinks, fun and laughter.
Dinner will be followed by our Live Auction which will include many great items including tickets to a taping of a top rated CBS comedy, the wonderful fire house dinner, our adorable auction dog and many more fun and exciting items.
Tickets are $90/person, please watch for the invitation with the link to purchase coming soon. Please join us at Westwood Charter’s
Annual Gala Auction Party March 22, 2014, 7pm at the Beverly Hills Country Club.
Make
contact
The Annual Online Auction needs your help now! Bidding begins March 14,2014 and ends March 23,2014 at 10pm.
It is important for the success of our online and live auctions to contact every business you know for contributions. Additionally, consider hosting a party—it is a great way to get people together and have fun while raising money for the school. The online auction will be hosted at www.biddingforgood.com. It is available to all friends and family of Westwood Charter so help us get the word out and invite your friends to find fabulous deals and help our school in the process. We ask every family to contribute one item to the auction by asking businesses you patronize to support our school. Keep extra copies of the auction letter and donor form in your car and every time you go to a restaurant, nail salon, or fitness facility, ask them to donate a gift certificate. Whenever you take your child to a music lesson, tutoring session, dance class or karate instruction, ask them to support our school the way you support their business. Plus, it is an (continued)
inexpensive way to give the business exposure to over 700 families and the community at large. Keep your eyes open for the Arm Chair Auction forms in your child's homework folder: Each student’s family is given the opportunity to place a silent bid to win an outing with their teacher. Past outings have included rock climbing, movies, beach days etc…
Please note: The auction party team is looking for a lighting and AV person as well as 6-8 strong individuals to volunteer the day of the event to help set up. Please contact Laura at lalitab27@aol.com if you are able to help out.
Mark your calendars! March 22, 2014, 7pm You’ll have a blast and our school will benefit!
Experiencing Science
Our Butterfly
Garden
By Casey Weisman, Westwood Press Corps The butterfly garden is not just a metaphor for being as pretty as a butterfly. It is really a temporary home for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarchs migrate here and laid their eggs in the garden and fly on. The eggs will hatch as caterpillars. The caterpillars will eat the milkweed in the butterfly garden, and then cross the map to the garden on the other side. There they will make their chrysalis and then become a butterfly. One day in gardening my class found, in the butterfly garden, a monarch butterfly caterpillar eating some milkweed. We were excited about because we knew that sooner or later it would turn into a monarch butterfly. After some more time in class, we went out to recess. Most of us went to check on the caterpillar, which I named Monty the Monarch. He was still with the milkweed, so he was fine. Then, when we went out to lunch, we saw Monty halfway across the map, making his way to the other garden. We were afraid he would get stepped on by someone, so our classmate Cody Kovits carried him across to the other side. Thank you Cody! Finally, when school was over, Monty was climbing up a plant to make his chrysalis. I still can’t believe we saved a bug’s life! Aside from Monty, we saw to other chrysalises which we knew had monarchs in them. Three monarchs in one day? Our school is awesome for providing homes for these monarchs. Doesn’t it feel good to help the environment?
The lights’ll come up…
Annie By Mira Hawley, Kasey Chung, and Avery Bielski, Westwood Press Corps When the 1st and 2nd graders come to Mini Players, you can tell they have a really fun time. First, they eat a snack and stretch. Then they are separated into groups to, practice songs and lines, and learn choreography.
We interviewed 7 kids, with the roles of Annie, Tessie, Ms. Hannigan, Lily, Rooster, Daddy Warbucks, and the apple seller. We asked them 3 questions and they all responded very differently. Kylie, who plays Lily, said that she likes her role because she likes playing a bad guy. Simon, who plays Daddy Warbucks, likes his role because he has a lot of lines. When we asked them what their favorite part of Mini Players is, Catie, who plays the apple seller, said she likes to dance because she gets to do what she wants. Kassidy, who plays Tessie, and Joshua, who plays Rooster, both like singing.
The last question we asked was “What are you most looking forward to?” Most of them responded that they can’t wait until the show. We continuously support the 1st and 2nd graders and we can’t wait to see you at the show!
PROUDLY PRESENTS
WESTWOOD CHARTERS TK THROUGH
2ND GRADE
ARE PERFORMING A HALF HOUR PRODUCTION OF
ANNIE Come and see our drama students:
8 / 2pm and 5pm Sunday March 9 / 2:30pm and 5pm Saturday March
Tickets go on sale soon! www.westwoodcharterplayers.com/upstagejuniors.php
By Skye Frazer and Audrey Bell, Westwood Press Corps Hello! We have interviewed Caroline Timm Schwiebert, one of the directors of the Westwood Players, on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 in the school auditorium. The other director is Adrian Cohen. These are our questions and her responses.
Q: “How long have you been doing Players?” A: “Ten years, but I started out as a parent volunteer.” Q: “What is your favorite part of teaching Players?” A: “Playing with kids and seeing how they grow in their stage talent from the beginning of the year to the end.” Q: “Whose idea was it to start Players?” A: “That was the idea of some volunteer parents twelve years ago. They wanted their kids to have exposure to theater at school.”
Q: “Have you always loved acting?” A: “Yes. My dad took me to see Annie, the musical, when I was ten, and I scolded him for not telling me that kids could act.”
Adrian Cohen
Q: “Have you always loved acting?” A: “Yes. My dad took me to see Annie, the musical, when I was ten, and I scolded him for not telling me that kids could act.” Q: “What is your favorite part of acting?” A: “Becoming different people. It’s much harder to be yourself, but pretending to be other people helps you learn about yourself.”
Q: “What’s your favorite musical and why?” A: “I have too many. As a kid, I loved Mary Poppins, Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. I can’t decide what I like most now.” Q: “What’s your favorite play you’ve ever had kids do and why?” A: “My favorite one we’ve ever had the kids do… I think would be Guys and Dolls because it has great music and it’s funny when kids act like adults.” Q: “What’s the biggest role you’ve ever had?” A: “I played a part in professional theater here in Los Angeles. Many people in the musical had performed in Broadway and it was an honor to be on stage with them. I played Pam in the Full Monty.”
Photos by Skye Frazer Thank you for your time, Caroline!
A Memorable Mentor
“…always try your best” By Nicole Aslemand, Westwood Press Corps
Ms. Amy
Beer
I had an interview with my first grade teacher Ms. Amy Beer on Thursday Jan 16, 2014. She was very nice and answered all my questions during her lunch break.
What inspired you to be a teacher? My mom is a teacher and I always love to work with kids. How long have you been a teacher? I have been a teacher for 22 years. What is your favorite subject to teach? My favorite subject to teach is reading. How many kids do you have in your class now? I have 23 kids in my classroom. How long have you been a teacher at Westwood Charter? 22 years . How many children do you have? 2 kids What college did you go to ? UC Santa Barbara Do you have any advice for the kids? To always try your best.
Surfs up! (Literally, up on bulletin boards!) By Isabella Kim- LaTona, Westwood Press Corps The 4/5 family has been producing stellar S.U.R.F.! What is SURF? SURF stands for Silent, Uninterrupted, Reading, for Fun. We have been reading different types of genres of books and creating projects that represent our thinking from the books. Some of our classmates have been writing diary entries, newspapers, or even finding ourselves molding little clay people to stand in our dioramas. You don't have to have a specific assignment! Make up your own projects after reading an intriguing book. So, Surf your way through the pages of your book!
By Yman Kamgaing, Sophie Siadatpour, and Avery Bielski, Westwood Press Corps
Crazy Hair Day is a day where you get to show school spirit by doing whatever you want with your hair CRAZILY! We interviewed some people about Crazy Hair Day to talk about their opinions on this special day. First, we asked people about what they did for Crazy Hair Day. Paloma Avila said that she did a pipe cleaner mohawk and two huge clips on either side of her head. Audrey Bell made a pigtail that was pinned back and painted pink, purple, and silver. Abbie Harooni did a ponytail, braid, and a bun. Sierra Shostac did a bun with fake hair extensions. Next, we asked students what their favorite part of Crazy Hair Day was. Jack Essner enjoyed seeing people’s hair. Denis Papazyen enjoyed the fun of doing his hair however he wanted. Ezekiel Ito also enjoyed seeing other p people’s hair-do’s. In conclusion, Crazy Hair Day is AWESOME! W We hope you participate I in future events, too. Stay tuned for more fun articles on campus events!
Photos by Emily Gross, Yman Kamgaing, Sophie Siadatpour, Avery Bielski, and parents!
You'll have
sew
much fun...
At the Lunchtime Stitching Club! Meet your friends and make some projects! Already working on something? Bring it! Don't have a project? Start it! We've got needles, fabric and lots of great colors of thread. Never picked up a needle? Come anyway! We'll show you what to do. It's Sew Easy!
Where to go: Library Patio When: Every Thursday, 12 to 1 p.m. Who: 2nd-5th graders welcome! Led by WWC parent Diane Cyr
Kindergarten
Conversation Westwood Charter's Kindergarten Conversation is Wednesday, February 26 at 7:00 - 8:30pm in the auditorium. Tell your family, friends and neighbors to come and hear from our wonderful Kindergarten teachers and staff to learn about all that Westwood Charter has to offer.
Although we love your children, this event is for adults only, please. If you have any questions please contact Allison Gelfond at gelfonda@aol.com or Brigid Huskey at huskey88@aol.com
HOW CAN FACEBOOK HELP WWC WIN $5,000??? We know many parents enjoy catching up with friends on Facebook. What parents may not know is that a few clicks on Facebook can help our school win $5,000 in May! Simply visit the Westside Pavilion and Santa Monica Place pages on Facebook and click on the "School Cents" image (green inchworm) on each page.
They will ask you to like the mall pages and then choose which school you support. We will be given 500 School Cents points for each like -- 1,000 points for liking both malls. The school with the most points wins $5,000. We are currently in 2nd place! Please note that this may not work from your phone or on Safari so if you have trouble, log on through another device/browser. Also, if you did this last year, you can like the pages again for additional points. Thanks so much for supporting our school!
WHAT’S UP AT EMERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL Emerson Premieres First Shakespeare Production By Maureen Feldman This month, Emerson students in the Arts & Media Academy’s popular drama program premiered the school’s first production of a Shakespeare play. 6th, 7th and 8th graders spent first semester studying the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Acting in the play at the same time that I was discussing it in English class really enhanced my understanding of the language and humor of it,” says 8th grader and WWC alumna Emma Bollinger. The production was part of a school-wide Shakespeare Initiative that the English Department has integrated into its English Language Arts curriculum and is a key academic component of the school’s pending charter. Every student at Emerson will study a new Shakespeare play each year that will be performed by students. “The most interesting thing about studying and learning to perform Shakespeare was learning about life in Elizabethan times,” says 8th grader and WWC alumna Rose Upton. The English Department is already planning the next play in the cycle, Twelfth Night, which the students will study and perform in the fall. 6th grader and WWC alumnus Luke Malinda is performing on stage for the first time. “I never thought I could do it,” says Luke, “but all the kids in the drama group at Emerson have been very supportive. We are like family here.”
Thursday, February 20: – Emerson Middle School Tour - arrive by 8:15a.m. to park. Presentation at 8:30 a.m. in Library
Classroom Clean Up Day We would like to thank the following businesses for their kind donations to the Culmination Bake Sale on Clean Up Day: Stan's Donuts, Westwood Village Noah's Bagels, Westwood Village Starbucks on Westwood & Olympic Starbucks on Sawtelle & Olympic Krispy Kreme Peet's Coffee, Westwood & SM Blvd. - Mary Lund
Classroom Clean Up Day was a great success!
Ms Flores showed up to keep an eye on things!
Even some parents helped out!
Thanks everyone for all your scrubbing and sweeping and helping keep our school clean!
4th and 5th graders at Riley’s Farm
WESTWOOD PRESS CORPS PAGE STUDENT PRESS CORPS MEETINGS February 18 (changed!) March 11 April 8
STUDENT PRESS CORPS SUBMISSION DEADLINE February 21 March 21 April 25
12:30, Tuesdays Ms. Garringer’s Room Attendance is not required to be part of the Press Corps.
WESTWOOD WINDOW PUBLISHING DATES March 7 April 4 May 9
2013-2014 Westwood Charter Student Press Corps!