Friday, May 15th students who sold 25 or more items for our Fundraiser were treated to a wonderful banquet by Mrs. Fort and Mrs. Horne.  The children had lunch from Woody's and then they received ice cream sundaes along with a candy bar.  They enjoyed the great food and the special treatment that they received.  The items that students sold during the fundraiser, help make purchases for different things at Westside.   

Dear Third Grade Parents,
     The Resource Teachers are sponsoring Westside's 16th Annual 3rd Grade Talent Show on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 9:20 am in Westside's cafeteria.

     Every participant must be responsible for practicing on their own time.  All groups will have to be able to get together at home to practice.  There will only be one rehearsal, Friday, May 24, 2013, during school, before the performance on May 30, 2013.

     We look forward to seeing the next "Rising Stars of Westside"!

 We would like to give a very special thank you to the members of Westside's 2012-2013 School Advisory Council.  Sac members attend monthly meetings and make decisions that set the direction in which Westside needs to go in order to provide the best education possible for our students.  These parents and Westside staff members take an active role in all aspects of our school.  We sincerely appreciate all they do!!

Kristy Bailey (Secretary)                     Keri Barber
Tamela Binn                                      Jeana Duval
Lynne Fort                                         Allison Elledge
Janet Gray                                        Lynn Green
Kelly Horne                                       Suzie Miller
Gwen Moment                                   Jeanie Prosch
Katie Rhoden                                    Theresa Small (Co-chairperson)
Kathy Sheridan                                  Samantha Spivey 

 During the week of May 13-17 we will be having our Spring Book Fair in the Media Center.  We invite parents and grandparents to come and purchase books and gifts for those they love.  On Thursday, May 16, will be our last Family Reading Night for the year.  Come and read with your child and take some AR tests.

We would also like to give a Special "Thank You" to our volunteers who helped during the Fall Book Fair.  It was a huge success because of YOU!  We would also like to thank the following Business Partners for their donations during this time:  Sam's Crystal River Seafood, Sugar & Spice, Wendy's, Elegant Nails, Hardees, Firehouse Subs, Pit Stop, Dr. Meg Romeo, and Dr. George Weeks.

We have had a very successful year in the Media Center.  We have enjoyed meeting the families of our students on Family Reading Nights.  Our Fall Book Fair was a huge success and it helped us to earn money to put toward new books for our students.  We are really looking forward to our Spring Book Fair.  Make sure that you try to stop by our Spring Book Fair during the Week of May 13-17.   

We hope that you have a great summer and don't forget to......READ, READ, READ!!!!

Parents,
In the tab to the left titled, Links for Parents/Students, you will find a link to the FCAT 2.0 website.  The name of this site is Florida Path to Success.  This site was developed to provide easy access to parents for frequently asked questions about Florida's 2.0 FCAT.  It also provides features for parents to ask questions directly to Florida's Department of Education. Please feel free to visit the link: www.floridapathtosuccess.org

 Friday, May 10, 2013 was 1st Grade's Field Day.  After being canceled and rescheduled twice, the kids were extremely excited and they had so much fun!!

 On Friday, April 26, 2013 Westside's P.E. Department held it's annual Track & Field Day for 2nd & 3rd grade students.  The students participated in relay events like the 50 yard dash, Shuttle Relay, the 880 Relay, Tug of War and much more.  Teachers and students had a great time at this event.  Here is peak at the actions of some of our future athletes,

During the month of March students were given the opportunity to use their PawBucks that they earned for good behavior to purchase a free homework pass.  Students were able to purchase up to two homework passes.  During the month of April, third grade students will get to choose the reward and during May students will get to take their PawBucks  to the PawMart store.  Keep up that good behavior.

Each bus driver will choose two students each week that have good bus behavior and each child will be given a Good Bus Behavior Ticket.  The ticket with the students name on it will go into a drawing.  Students names will be drawn each week.  Each Friday the student's whose ticket was drawn will earn different prizes, as well as have their name announced over the intercom.  Don't forget the rules of riding the bus.

Did you know that when your child misses school, their classmates lose out too?  Research shows that missing show regularly can hurt both the student who miss class - and their classmates.  The students who do come to class also miss out.  When teachers have to repeat material or pay extra attention to students who have been absent, everyone suffers.  Lead by example.  If children see parents taking off for no real reason, they may expect to be able to do the same thing.

Research shows that attendance is the single most important factor in school.

On Friday, March 8, 2013, Westside's P.E. Department held it's annual Kite Day.  The student's always have such a blast flying their kites, and we really enjoy watching them have so much fun.  Here is a little peak at some of the action.

Project R.E.A.C.H. (Reading Embraces all Children) was held on Wednesday, January 16th for the seventeenth year. The program was started by one of Westside's very own former first grade teachers, Cheryl Hart.  We were very blessed to have Mrs. Hart in a different role this year as one of our REACH readers.  This program is designed to expand the world of reading for our students by enhancing their appreciation of reading, as well as helping them become better readers.  This year Project R.E.A.C.H. is being held during Celebrate Literacy Week, which is a state wide reading initiative.

We would like to say thank you to all of the members of the community that came out to read to our students.  Thank you.......Nancy Thornton, Sheriff Joey Dobson, James Croft, Benny Fish, Troy Vonk, Pastor Donald Cooley, Robin Mobley, Gail Brown, Johnnie Jacobs, Paula T. Barton, Dr. George Weeks, Bob Gerard, Tom Hill, Glenn Gnann, Anne Watts, Christy Beasley, Chuck Brannan, Gail Griffis, Connie Willis, Thomas Shope, Sally Register, Reverend Jim Cox, Bonnie Jones, Patricia Weeks, Naomi Anderson, David Richardson, Rebecca Willingham, Chris Daunhauer, Chief John Finely, Dr. Meg Romeo, Naomi Roberson, Debbie Fraser, Reverend Edsel Bone, David Davis, and Glenn McKendree.  The children loved meeting their special guests and they really enjoyed hearing the stories.  We would also like to say a big thank you to Lynn Green for organizing this wonderful Reading event!!

The faculty and staff of Westside are presently involved in an AdvanED Accreditation Process.At this time we are reviewing the AdvanED Standards for Quality School Systems.  Through this process we examine all aspects of our school and its programs.  Our goal is to assure that we are performing effective practices in support of student learning and make continuous school improvement a distinctive reality.

It's bragging time at Westside.  During the 2011-2012 school year the classes of Tiffany Hilliard, Leslie Kress, Kimberly Griffis, and Susan White became our pioneers of "farming at Westside."  These classes were given the opportunity to create a raised bed garden as well as individual class hydroponic lettuce gardens.  The students kept science journals tracking plant growth and other data throughout the project. 

The Third Grade Gardening Project is "show cased" on the Florida Department of Agriculture's website.  Also recognized in the article is Doug Register, Greg Harmon, and Alica Lanborn.  This project utilized community resources through the Baker County Extension Office and the Baker County Farm Bureau.  Also, monies from the Exxon/Mobile grant helped finance the project as well.  You can view the article at: www.freshfromfloridablog.com/2012/09/gardening-at-westside-elementary/ 

The Gardening project covered the NGSS Standards noted below.  Our hopes are that these hands on projects will create a lifelong interest in the world of science.

Science
SC.3.L.14.1 Describe structures in plants and their role in food production, support, water and nutrient transport, and reproduction.

SC.3.N.1.3  Keep records as appropriate, such as pictorial, written or simple charts and graphs, of investigations conducted.

SC.3.N.1.6  Infer based on observation.

Technology
Observe streaming video of bean plant growth through the Discovery Education Website

Observe "How to Videos" online through the University of FL, Baker County Extension Office

Blog about their experiences through our classroom websites

Engineering
Design and construction of the raised bed garden

Math
MA.3.A.2.!  Represent fractions, including fractions greater than one, using area, set and linear models

MA.3.S.7.1  Construct and analyze frequency tables, bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots from data collected through observations, surveys, and experiments.

The school store will soon be opening each morning from 8:35-9:00 a.m. outside Ms. Hilliards' classroom.  We have school supplies and more ranging from .25 - $2.50.  All proceeds benefit our Westside classrooms. 
Last year funds from the school store helped to purchase a new ball for every classroom to use during their Health and Wellness time.  Thank you for supporting our students and the store.

The Jessica Lunsford Act legally requires that every adult visitor to Westide be screened each time they visit and go through the front office.  Therefore, please be reminded to bring your driver's license with you each time you visit Westside or you will not be able to go to your child's classroom.  This is for the safety of all our students.

Welcome Back!  We have a large number of walker/car riders this 2012-2013 school year, and we want to be sure that everyone knows the process for picking up car riders so that everything will go smoothly.  Car riders are dismissed at 3:10p.m.

The following is a list of procedures that will be used to load your child in your car:

          1. The card with the student's name must be visible on your car's dashboard.  If you do not have one, please
              come into the Front Office with your identification and we can make one for you.
           2. Please remain in your car in a single line of traffic as you pull through the school parking lot to drop off
               or pick up students, all parents are asked to drive cars up to the covered shelter and wait for school
               personnel to assist students into and out of the cars.
           3. There will be no checkouts after 2:30p.m.  If an exception needs to be made, it must be cleared by a
               Westside Administrator.

CHOOSE SAFETY FIRST

Please drive your vehicle VERY SLOWLY as you enter and exit from the morning drop off and afternoon pick up area.  

Safety for ALL students and staff is Westside's #1 concern.