Westside senior Jamar Hawkins is a playwright in the making. His mother and grandmother pushed him to be a leader and not a follower and to excel both academically and in whatever else he strived to do. Today, he takes that lesson to heart. Jamar loves theatre, but he didn't start off as an actor - he just loved to write and tell stories. A kid with a big imagination, Jamar says he mostly wrote to express himself through poetry and fictional stories. Through his love of literature, he started to take a deeper interest in words and their definitions. While in middle school he began to study the dictionary - an odd habit for a young pre-teen, but it did him great justice in writing essays and he says it afforded him an escape route from immature conversations. This odd habit of expanding his vocabulary, coupled with his interest in history and writing, allowed Jamar to make what he deems one of his biggest accomplishments - writing his first play while in the playwriting class at Westside High school. His piece, entitled "Atramentous and Dejected," recently debuted here at Westside during the Student Directed One-Act Plays. It is the story of a 17 year old African-American woman who expresses her struggles with segregation and her multi-personality disorder during the 1950's. Jamar based his play on a quote by one of his idols, Malcolm X: "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it." Along with Malcolm X, Jamar also considers actor/director Spike Lee one of his role models. He loves how they both have impacted others though what he calls their great speech and purpose. Others who have impacted Jamar's acting/theatre/ writing endeavors are Shiriff Hason - his first theatre teacher who helped to "break" Jamar's shyness, actor/director/producer Tyler Perry, and Westside's own Fine Arts Director Anthony Wallin.  

Jamar is currently Historian for the Westside Theatre Department. He is a passionate actor, currently ending his second year in varsity theatre production. Jamar loves to write poetry, songs, plays, monologues, and speeches. After high school, Jamar wants to go to college and study English Literature and Theatre (Playwriting). He wants to take those studies into the classroom by becoming a teacher, something he says he's always wanted to do. Jamar says he would like to engage today's youth, end what he calls "teenage ignorance," stop the urban community from being followers of their peers and "bad" role models, and simply better every upcoming generation. Westside is proud to have a student like Jamar who understands the value and power of words. We look forward to watching the impact he will have on the world through his teaching, his writing, and his personality. Someday, you may just be able to find Jamar's picture in the dictionary next to the phrase "role model."

On Wednesday, May 2, HISD recognized more than five dozen school administrators for their outstanding contributions to the district and their school communities by saluting them as nominees for Principal of the Year, First Year Principal of the Year, or Assistant Principal of the Year.

The administrators were nominated by colleagues, teachers, and students for their instructional leadership and efforts to boost student achievement. Ms. Lori Lambropoulos was not only one of the nominees - she was chosen as HISD's High School Assistant Principal of the Year!

The Touchdown Club of Houston will be honoring four finalists in each Spring sport on May 23, 2012. The Houston Scholar-Athlete final winner will also be announced. 

We are proud to announce that senior Sean Lofgren is one of the four finalists in Wrestling. Sean works hard on and off the mats. In the realm of wrestling he amassed  55 wins and only five losses on his way to his fourth place victory at the state tournament. Sean is a four time district champion and three time state qualifier, and he has the second most seasons wins in the history of Westside High School. Off the mats, Sean excels in the classroom and maintains a GPA well over 4.0 while ranking 40th in his class.

Sean plans to attend Texas A&M to study Engineering.

(Row 3, 2nd student) Theo Dumothier shows off his award plaque with the other individual award winners from other schools

The Westside Quiz Bowl team just returned from state competition with a ninth place victory! The team was invited to compete at state based on their previous performances throughout the season. We are very proud of the entire team especially Theo Dumothier who received the All-State Sophomore Award for Texas Quiz Bowl.

Congratulations to all team members: 

Theo Dumothier (10)
Andrea Dimijian (10)
Angelo Consuelo (12)
Alex Suryapranata (11)
Konstantinos Varvarezos (11)
Franco Eroles (12)

B Team