Friends and neighbors gathered along the streets and in the front yards of The Lakes of Parkway for a very special holiday treat! The Westside Wolf Band paraded through the neighborhood playing musical favorites. 

They even have the band stopped at houses for a private concert. The show was set up to spread some holiday cheer and raise some money to fill its travel fund.

Over the Thanksgiving break, the Inertia Dance Company participated in the Houston Thanksgiving Day Parade as part of the All Star Dance Team, sponsored by Round Rock Entertainment & Dancestaff.com.

In the course of their preparations for this event, they were invited to take part in a scholarship audition for the Dance & Theatre Department of Northwestern State University of Louisiana. The audition required a full ballet class, a modern dance class, singing, and a demonstration of improvisation.

The following students exceeded our wildest expectations.

Juniors Sarah McBride, Kendra Fernandez, Aaron Miller, Danna Tao & Freddy Ezeala all received a $100 certificate for future use to explore their option of attending Northwestern.

All the Seniors received financial scholarships & out of state tuition waivers, with 4 year commitments if they choose to major in a BFA program.

Individually:
Carly Cramer $650
Hannah Clark $800
Shamond Powell $800
Jesse Quezada $850
Edrienne Agustin $900
Nadia Bejdaoui $900
Jeffery Godinez $950
Christian Leal $1000

Each award is per semester. It was a thrilling evening to hear our students names called one after the other. 

 
As you already know, the Inertia boys went to University of Texas last month, and Christian Leal, Jesse Quezada, and Jeffery Godinez are going back to Austin to audition.

It's been a wonderful semester for Inertia, please congratulate your students when you see them. 

The Westside Community is so lucky to have wonderful parents who volunteer their resources to make Westside a better place for our students. Our spotlight begins with the Molloys. (Pictured above are Mun and John Molloy with their daughters Elizabeth and Juliette.)

John and Mun Molloy have been very involved in our Skills for Learning and Living (SLL, formerly Lifeskills) classrooms, the Community Based Vocational Instruction Program (CBVI), and for the staff. The impact they have on our students is felt throughout the school.

"I have noticed how they treat everyone with respect and kindness, no matter what the situation is," said Westside teacher, Ms. Romo. "They are always helping those in need."

The Westside Community would like to recognize and thank Mun and John Molloy for all they do for the students and staff here at Westside High School. Thank you for all the compassion and respect you show us all. Whether it's donating shoes, providing foods for special events, setting up a tour to the Chevron Tower, or riding along on Metro, you are always willing to give your time and assistance. 

The lunches provided by Mr. Molloy and his colleague, Elizabeth, to every student who attended the CBVI trip is only one of many examples of his generosity. 

There are not enough words to express how much you both means to all of us here at Westside High School. 

One of the most powerful coping strategies for stress is self-compassion.

Self-compassion entails being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain and criticize ourselves.  Self-compassionate people recognize that being imperfect, failing, and experiencing difficulties in life is inevitable, so they tend to be gentle with themselves when confronted with painful experiences rather than getting angry when life falls short of their set ideals (source).  Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Two other important components to self-compassion are common humanity and mindfulness.  Common humanity is realizing that you are not alone in your struggles.  When we struggle, most of us tend to feel isolated.  We think that we are the only one to experience loss, make mistakes, feel rejected or fail.  However, it is these struggles that are a part of our shared experience as humans.  Mindfulness is observing life as it is, without being judgmental or suppressing your thoughts and feelings.  Meditation is a great way to practice mindfulness.  See last week's article to read more about meditation.

Click here to test how self-compassionate you are.