On Thursday, January 29, Westside was privileged to host a delegation of 25 educators from China, here to learn about American education.

Many of the visitors were teachers and administrators from schools in the Haidian District of China. Mrs. Stewart began the morning with a presentation with an overview of the school, our AP/Dual Credit Programs, and our school leadership. Next, the delegation toured the school and visited several classrooms.  Lots of questions were asked by our visitors of which our faculty and students were more than willing to answer and to show them the latest technology being used in the classrooms. 

Mr. French, Ms. Barrow, Ms. Stewart, Ms. DeGroodt, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Klein were all willing to open their doors and welcomed our visitors. During Westside's Guidance Period, the delegation listened to Mrs. Turner describing the many services students can take advantage of in Westside's College Center.  They were also impressed by Mr. Spence's Campus Beautification team, as they worked in the Commons patio area.  

A delicious lunch was then provided by the culinary students in our Outback Restaurant.  "A Taste of Texas" was served, complete with brisket, fajitas, Texas side dishes, and finally, pecan pie.   The meal was fantastic and truly appreciated by our guests.  Following the meal, our visitors stopped in to several of our Fine Arts classrooms to see our wonderful directors at work with their talented students.  

Many thanks to Mr. Brunson, Westside's Band Director, Ms. Douris, Westside's Choir Director, Mr. Wallin, Westside's Theater Director and Ms. Roberts, Westside's Inertia Director with the assistance of Mr. Rivera. The delegation then stopped in to see our WEGA students working on 3D modeling with Autodesk Inventor and to check out Westside's very own 3D printer.  The tours and gifts could not have happened without the help of our very talented staff and wonderful Westside Wolves.  

Further thanks goes to our staff members, Mrs. M. Williams, Ms. Anthony, Mr. Davis, Mrs. Gumm, Mrs. Matlock. Thanks also go to students, Hannah Lykins, Samantha Miller, Lydia Nassab, Koji Pedersen and especially our Westside teacher and students who helped with translating into Chinese all of the wonderful information about Westside, Ms. Sun, Westside teacher, Chen, Zimin Chen, George Tang, Junling Lin, Junyan Luo, and Kuo Hao Lee.  

The visitors left with a greater understanding of American education, Westside Wolves' style, and with gifts in hand with special thanks to the talents of Mr. Bowman.  He produced beautiful notecards for each guest as well as a Westside calendar complete with a photo of the delegation at the front door of Westside. Incredible work in a short period of time!  What a personal treat for each visitor.  Many thanks to all of the hard work from our staff and students.

The Pride Dance team won sweepstakes as they danced their hearts out at the HISD competition at Waltrip High School, last Saturday. Here are the results:

Team won super sweepstakes and a high point (which means we won in each category) Kick, Pom, Lyrical and Jazz

Officers Super Sweepstakes

Small Modern ensemble 1st place

Lauren Clemons and Nia Hall duet 1st place

Baylee Nelson and Erin Manale duet 2nd place 

Juliette Mudd, Vicky Graf, Maddie Yokovich Trio 1st place

Hipsters 2nd place

Baylee Nelson 4th place soloist 

Congratulations to the 70-plus students that were inducted by their officers on January 29, into the National Art Honor Society. This is Westside's third year as a chapter.

Officers are: Historian - Sina Jamalirad, VP - Maddie Daniell,  Secretary - Lesly Martinez, President - Christina Willis, Treasurer - Anneliese Sebesta 

If you have any questions, please contact me: mparsley@council-houston.org.

And don't forget about our upcoming "Friends of Choices" luncheon on February 18, at the River Oaks Country Club!  Click here to register and for more information.