This past weekend, the JROTC cadets conducted their Service Learning Project with the Rebuild Houston Organization. The Organization provides house renovations for homes in the Houston area. The cadets performed basic exterior work with the majority of the work consisting of repainting the entire house.  

The cadets learned valuable lesson in serving the community and team work in completing this project within a 5 hour window. 

The boys water polo team earned a spot at the State Tournament as the boys played their hearts and souls out this past weekend in the Greater Houston East Regional Water Polo tournament. 

They played 2 games Friday night and 5 games Saturday, coming out victoriously with wins over Cy Woods, Langham Creek, Stratford and finally, a very good, past state champion Cy Creek team to advance to the TISCA Texas State Water Polo Tournament at University of Texas at Austin, May 1-2. They were exhausted, but elated after the Cy Creek game, winning 4-2. 

Westside High School's run in the One Act Play Tournament came to an end on a stormy night in Deer Park, last Friday. Finishing as one of the top 48 6A high schools in the state of Texas, the cast and crew had a lot to be proud of. The night was not without a few more awards...

Honorable Mention All Star Cast

Hannah Henderson

Margaret Obot

All Star Crew

Juliette Mudd

Best Crew of Tournament

Walker Metyko, Avery Valdes, Chauncey Williams, Valeria Bringas and Juliette Mudd

T-Pro nd theatre class aaudition packets for the 2015-16 school year are available here.

Students who were absent on test day can test on June 6, as part of the weekend SAT administration. You will need to sign in to your College Board account to transfer your registration free of charge. You will need to make this transfer no later than the late registration deadline of May 27, to ensure that you have a seat on test day.

Students who are approved for testing accommodations should be reminded to apply their Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) code to their June registration.

If you have any questions, please contact Test Administration Services (TAS) at:

Phone: 800-257-5123

Email:   tas@ets.org

Applications will be open from April 17 through May 1 for Posse Scholars. Juniors can access the application through the HUB, applicants should have at least a 3.0 GPA. The Posse Foundation is in search of current juniors that have demonstrated extraordinary academic and leadership potential and they might be overlooked by the traditional college selection process. Westside currently has about 21 nominations, 16 regular and 5 STEM.

The Posse Foundation looks for students who are leaders in a tradition or nontraditional way, value academics, value a support system and are open to new ideas and experiences.

For more information about Posse, please visit their website: www.possefoundation.org or watch this short video.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.  Furthermore, its use is widespread among young people.  According to a yearly survey of middle and high school students, rates of marijuana use have steadied in the past few years after several years of increase.  However, the number of young people who believe marijuana use is harmful is decreasing.

There are many myths out there about marijuana, so it is important to know the facts and be able to share the correct information with your teens, family and friends.  One of the most prevalent myths is that marijuana isn't addictive.  Research shows that approximately 9% of those who use marijuana at least once will become addicted.  This rate increases to 16% if you start in your teens, and goes up to 25-30% among daily users.

Another important myth about marijuana that needs to be debunked is that because it comes from a plant, it is not harmful.  Some short terms effects of marijuana use are increased heart rate, paranoia, shutdown of memory creation, disconnection from reality and a dangerously lowered reaction time.  Long term effects of marijuana use include increase risk of mental disorder, chronic bronchitis, damage to reproductive system, and acute effects of memory and learning especially in the adolescent years.  Therefore, it is very important that you encourage your teen to delay any sort of substance use as long as they can so that their brains can develop properly and they have full use of their executive functioning skills.

For more myths and facts about marijuana, please visit the Choices Corner page here. 

Please talk to your teens about this important information and if you have any questions, please contact me: mparsley@council-houston.org.