Well, there’s no easy way to say this, so here it is: I’m leaving Westgate at the end of this school year. I’ll be teaching English and coaching basketball at my neighborhood school, Pomona High School. It’s bittersweet.  

I have the utmost confidence in our high school, our teachers, community, and our students. You are strong beyond measure and the institution is stable and vibrant because of you. It’s the perfect time for me to move on.  

I love Westgate today. I loved it yesterday. I will continue to love Westgate and am proud of my years of joyful service to it. It has been a professionally redeeming experience for me and one I don’t take for granted. I’m leaving entirely to pursue opportunities that Westgate, by virtue of model, geography, and philosophy cannot provide. These are institutional constraints, not failings. Westgate can’t, and shouldn’t, provide a basketball program, and that’s not a failing. Westgate can’t situate itself within my neighborhood a relaxing walk from my back door, which, naturally, isn’t a failing. Finally, since I’m not interested in administration, Westgate can’t offer opportunities for me to grow as a union teacher, which, again, isn’t a failing. I’m content and grateful. You will find me beaming from the front row at the next three graduations. 

As we transition out of this year, we’ll take the time to meet with students and as a community. We’ll circle up, like we always do. Mr. Brinkley and Mr. Cuevas will be here in support, as will Ms. Washington and Mrs. Novak. So will I. Anyone is welcome to email, call, schedule a conference or just drop by if they need anything. I’m still in service. And I’ll probably need a hug.  

 

Best, 

 

Micah Sturr 

You had your WWI projects and sources approved last week. This week you'll work on them in class. I'll assess your poetry analysis during the week as well. The WWI fair is scheduled for next Wednesday. Be ready then. 

We will finish our WWI poetry this week. Then, you'll take your questions and gee whiz ideas and create a self directed war project starting next week. 

WWI poetry -- it's uploaded. 

Weekly Update 4-8-19 

This week is testing week in the high school. If you don’t have testing on Tuesday and Wednesday, stay home and work on your college classes.   

• Monday – regular classes 
• Tuesday – SAT for 11th grade  
• Wednesday – PSAT for 9th and 10th 
• Friday – CMAS Science for 11th  

Here's a starting point for your great recession research. You should research with an eye towards your Great Depression themes and in an attempt to generate your questions for your interviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will begin by consolidating our primary source Great Depression materials, and then extrapolate some larger themes from the era based on the patterns we see, and then we'll do a writing assignment to wrap it up.  

It's the home stretch for our Great Depression oral history work. We'll listen to our last handful of primary sources and continue with our formal note taking format. 

We'll continue with our primary source work on the Great Depression, including Cesar Chavez. 

You voted and we're into our Great Depression unit with a first part notes and reading and second part oral histories of the depression. We'll continue this pattern all week and next. 

We'll do our WWII propaganda essay on Monday (the snow buried our plans for last week), and then we'll start our great depression unit on Tuesday with some primary source listening to Studs Terkel interviews. http://studsterkel.matrix.msu.edu/htimes.php

You'll finish your propaganda posters on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday you'll use it to do our final analysis writing for WWII.