West Side Newsletter

West Side Families, the Christmas season is upon us, and with students having an extended break, I hope it is a magical time for you and your students. As a principal, I am tasked with helping all of our kids become better students, harder workers, and greater achievers. I accept that responsibility and love going to work every day to help our students reach their goals. There is something about Christmas break, though, that takes me back to snowball fights with friends, Christmas dinner (and all the leftovers!), playing games, watching Christmas specials, and putting together jigsaw puzzles. In other words, I miss good family time.

Would you do me a favor this Christmas break? Would you commit to daily family time with our kids? Would you spend a few evenings together reading from a favorite book, watching a fun Christmas show or movie, or playing a fun game? The memories we make with our kids last a lifetime, and I hope this Christmas you find yourselves making some awesome, impactful memories with our kids. Merry Christmas!

Brian Gunderson

Principal

West Side Elementary

307-347-4298 (office)

Annual Family ERC Game Night happening Monday, December 4th, 6:15 pm at East Side.

All Families are invited!

The Washakie Prevention Coalition has been promoting a "Meaningful Meals" campaign and website, and we believe in the message here at West Side as well! The premise is simple: when we eat together as a family, it strengthens the family. For more information on how you can become an even stronger family unit, click on the following link: https://parentupkc.com/meaningful-meals/

December 4 - We-PTO at East Side 5:30 - 6:00

December 11 - School Board Meeting

December 15 - End of 1st Semester (2nd Quarter)

December 15 - Early Release at 12:45

December 18 - January 1 - Christmas Vacation - NO SCHOOL

January 2 - School Resumes

West Side will continue to partner with the PTO in the Festival of Trees again this year. Our theme will be "Candy Canes," and our students will be constructing the tree ornaments out of the candy canes. Look for our PTO tree at the Festival of Trees on December 2nd at the Worland Community Center!

On this episode of Thunderbird news, our students covered many important topics. These topics included a new segment called World Wide News where they inform our viewers on events happening around the world. The students also tell us the history of one of their favorite holidays and interview an amazing teacher. The task of researching and writing the scripts and recording each segment falls on the kids.

On top of all that, they tackled the subject of Bird Bucks and the Bird Buck Store. Everyday the West Side Thunderbirds practice our core values and are rewarded with Bird Bucks. Some of our core values include character, learning, leadership and achievement. These Bird Bucks can be saved up and used at our Bird Buck Store. At the store, they have many options including movie tickets, a Chromebook and a custom t-shirt order to choose from. During the Thunderbird News the kids let us know that it is important to follow our values for more meaningful reasons on top of the rewards from the store.

We are starting cold and flu season. Here are some reminders on when to keep your child home. As a rule of thumb, your child should stay home if they have:

• Fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and should remain at home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of a fever reducing medication; such as Motrin or Tylenol.
• Vomiting/Diarrhea
• Frequent cough
• Persistent pain (ear, stomach, head, etc.)
• Widespread rash

Please remember the number one way of preventing illness is washing your hands with soap and water for over 20 seconds.

Parents, please be sure your student has PE shoes at school. If you do not want to pack them everyday they can be left at school.

Thank you for your help.

December Guidance topics:

Perspectives

Honesty/Integrity

West Side Kindness Squad will be making no-sew blankets to donate to an organization in the community for those in need.

We will also be doing a canned food drive coming up in January, so please consider collecting items for that.

We are using these activities to teach the students to be kind, considerate, and helpful to others- which not only makes others feel good, but also helps them feel good about themselves.

Heather Rollema

K-12 School Counselor