Greeting Advocacy Families, 

Advocacy for May is Empathy: Caring for the World. Our learning goal for this month will be: 

Students will use their own identified strengths, their skills to work with others, and their empathy to have a positive impact on the community-the greater good.  

Upcoming Events in May for 7/8 Students

May 1: 7^th grade JA Finance Park field trip. 7^th grade parents/guardians, make sure you have signed the permission slip that came in an email from Mr. Rowan.

May 1: 8^th grade History Colorado field trip. 8^th grade parents/guardians, make sure you have signed the permission slip that came in an email from Mr. Rowan.

May 1: Missoula auditions for Aladdin after school. 

May 3: MAPS testing 

May 5: 8^th grade Training and Outfitting for Civil War Reenactment at Westgate

May 12: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment Fundraising Event from 6-8:30 pm in High School

May 16: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment at Chatfield Reservoir 9-2:30 pm

Greeting Advocacy Families, 

For the last week of April, we will be focusing on the following things.

• April Advocacy is Empathy: Caring for Our Planet. We will finish off the month by exploring ways we can take care of the planet that gives us life.
• Service-Learning: Students will be working on their final parts of their service-learning projects. 7^th grade focusing on Bees and 8^th grade focusing on Veterans.

Reminders

• April 24-26: 8^th grade Outdoor Ed

Upcoming Events in May for 7/8 Students

May 1: 7^th grade JA Finance Park field trip. 7^th grade parents/guardians, make sure you have signed the permission slip that came in an email from Mr. Rowan.

May 1: 8^th grade History Colorado field trip. 8^th grade parents/guardians, make sure you have signed the permission slip that came in an email from Mr. Rowan.

May 5: 8^th grade Training and Outfitting for Civil War Reenactment at Westgate

May 12: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment Fundraising Event from 6-8:30 pm in High School

May 16: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment at Chatfield Reservoir 9-2:30 pm

Greeting Advocacy Families, 

We have some big events coming up in these last couple of weeks of April. Here are this week’s updates:  

• April Advocacy is Empathy: Caring for Our Planet. 
• This coming week is Earth Week April 17^th – 21^st and this year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet”. We are focused on engaging governments, institutions, businesses, and the more than 1 billion citizens who participate annually in Earth Day to do their part – everyone accounted for, everyone accountable. Here’s what’s happening during Earth Week, and how you can do your part too! 
• Earth Week Global Clean Up permission slips and reminders went out last week; please be sure to have students return them.  
• April 18th - 19th is 8th grade CMAS Science testing
• April 21^st is the last day to order yearbooks. 
• April 24-26: 8^th grade Outdoor Ed

Monday, April 17^th: Climate Literacy 

• Last opportunity to donate to clothing swap is during afternoon carline (3:30-4:00) 
• No appointment needed. You will be routed to the drop off point as you exit carline. 
• Looking for a few volunteers! 
• Climate Literacy Lesson during advocacy 

Tuesday, April 18^th: Sustainable Fashion 

• Westgate Clothing Swap! 4:00-6:00pm in the gym (see flyer attached for shopping details) Volunteers needed.  
• Sustainable Fashion Lesson during advocacy 

Wednesday, April 19^th: End Plastics 

• Plastic Free Day at Westgate! 
• Zero Waste crew members will be in classrooms at lunch time and will recognize students who come to school with no plastic (baggies, water bottles, containers) by stamping their hand! 
• Recycle relay races during specials time. 
• Recycling Lesson during advocacy 
• Thursday, April 20^th: Plant Trees (and Plants) 
• Each grade will go outside with Ms. Charlie and plant specific plants related to their service-learning project. 

Friday, April 21^st: Global Cleanup 

• Westgate Community School and Washington Street Cleanup from 1:30-2:30pm.  
• Check your email for permission forms grade from your advocacy teacher a week prior to the cleanup. Your student also brought home a paper permission slip from the City of Thornton that needs to be signed.

Saturday, April 22^nd: Global Cleanup Challenge and Earth Day 

• Happy Earth Day! We challenge you to cleanup in your local neighborhood.  
• Send us pictures of you and your family picking up trash around your local area on Earth Day to [email protected] 
• Tag us on social media with #wildaboutearthday 

Upcoming Events in May for 7/8 Students

May 1: 7^th grade JA Finance Park field trip. Look for permission slips and information coming soon.

May 1: 8^th grade History Colorado field trip

May 5: 8^th grade Training and Outfitting for Civil War Reenactment at Westgate

May 12: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment Fundraising Event from 6-8:30 pm in High School

May 16: 8^th grade Civil War Reenactment at Chatfield Reservoir 9-2:30 pm

If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

Best,

Shandi Woodward
Long-term sub for Ms. Haworth

Greeting Advocacy Families, 

Welcome back from break! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful time. As we enter the first week of the 4th quarter, students will have reminders of our POD policies and classroom expectations. Here are some of this week’s updates:  

• We will be wrapping up March Advocacy, Empathy in the Form of Caring for Community.  

•  CMAS in the 7/8 POD will be next week; Tuesday, 4/4, Wednesday, 4/5, and Thursday, 4/6. Please be sure students are well rested, eat breakfast, and arrive on time.  
  
  

 7/8 POD reminders:  

^{Food, Drinks (other than water) and Candy: All food, drinks (other than water and candy) should only be consumed during snack time or during lunch unless you have permission from a teacher.}  

^{Caffeinated Drinks: Any drink with caffeine should be consumed before or on the way to school.}  

^{Cell Phone and Ear Bud Policy: Unless students have permission from the teacher, you should not have your cell phones or ear buds out during school.}  

^{Bathroom or Drink Breaks: Students who need to use the bathroom or get a drink should ask the teacher first. When given permission, turn on the light. When you get back, please remember to turn the light back off. Remember to be as quick as possible as others may be waiting.} 

If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

Best, 
Shandi Woodward
Long-term substitute for Ms. Haworth

Greetings Advocacy Families, 

Tuesday, February 14th is the big day!  If you haven’t turned in a permission slip for your student, please do so now.  The weather is forecasted to be in the mid to high 40’s when students are out so we ask that you help students dress appropriately for a walk outside.  We can’t wait to visit our neighbors and share our kindness!  Parents and guardians can take part in Kindness Week too.  See details for each day below.

We are grateful for your support in modeling kindness and compassion all the time but for Kindness Week we’re asking that you take it a step further by sharing your acts of kindness with us and the world via social media and use of hashtags.   

Each day has a theme with suggested actions. You can use the suggestions or do you own thing.  It’s the doing it part that counts.   

2/13 Monday - Words of Affirmation, Encouragement and Love 

• Write a letter, send a text, or make a phone call to someone you appreciate 

Example:  Take a moment to send a heart-felt message. 

2/14 Tuesday - Acts of Service  

• Do something kind (like a conscious act of kindness) for someone today 

Example: Share a compliment, smile at somebody, help clean up, etc.! 

• Students will go into the community to share kindness cards on this day

2/15 Wednesday – A Day of Giving 

• Share a gift with someone (you don’t need money to give a gift!) 

Example: Cook a meal, bake a treat, make a craft or just give something from your heart to someone else! 

2/16 Thursday – Be Kind to Yourself 

• Prioritize yourself today  

Example:  encourage yourself with words of affirmation, do something kind for yourself, engage in an activity that you love, give yourself a gift (like permission to not be perfect!) 

2/17 Friday (NO SCHOOL) – Feel Good Friday - Quality Time 

• Enjoy intentional quality time with someone you love and appreciate 
• Example: Play a board game, make dinner together, eat around a table, walk and talk, etc.!

Ways to Share Your Kindness 

• Use hashtags on your posts:   #kindnessmatters, #kindnessweek, #kindness, #kindwords 
• Send a picture or video directly to [email protected]
• Tag us on Social Media:  Facebook @westgatecsand Instagram and Twitter @westgatewild 

If you have any questions, please reach out to me! 

Have a great week!

Ms. Woodward
Long-term Substitute for Ms. Haworth

If you have any questions, please reach out to me. Have a wonderful week! 

Best,

Shandi Woodward

Greeting, Advocacy families!

Valentine's Day is about two weeks away, but you do not need to buy cards for your student to bring to school. The tradition at Westgate is for our students to go into the community on Valentine's Day and distribute cards to our neighbors on something we call Kindness Day, which is part of Kindness Week. Students make the cards at school. We're lining up delivery locations now and as we get closer to the date, we'll send details and a permission slip. Our high school students are chaperoning with the younger grades, so we do not need parent volunteers at this time. 

Also, in February, we continue our work with EMPATHY. This month is about looking at EMPATHY in the form of caring for others. Kindness week fits in perfectly with this theme as we plan to be kind to others in different ways: Words of affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time and Giving. 

FEBRUARY – EMPATHY IN THE FORM OF CARING FOR OTHERS   

Skills to work with Others: 

Identify Emotions from Words 

Recognize nonverbal cues 

Identify Varied Perspectives 

Communicate Understanding  

Develop Mutual Solutions  

Ask other how they feel  

Express your feelings directly  

Learning Goal:  

Students will learn skills to communicate their feelings and needs to others, while also learning skills that allow them to listen and respond to the feelings and needs of others.  

Students will practice receiving and providing feedback.

 If you have any questions, please reach out to me. Have a wonderful week! 

Best, 
Ms. Shandi Woodward
Long-term substitute for Ms. Haworth