Each year, Westwood Elementary School chooses a behavioral theme on which students focus.
Kindness Rules at Westwood
Each year, Westwood Elementary School chooses a behavioral theme on which students focus. During the 2018-19 school year, kindness is the theme.
Students are already enjoying activities and awards that incorporate kindness into everyday life at Westwood. Teachers and staff hand out “Caught You Being Kind” awards, students are painting “kindness rocks” in art and teachers are focusing on kindness in read alouds.
The goal of focusing on kindness is to encourage unity among the student body to promote more effective learning environments.
Future Facilities Planning
The West Geauga Local School District is preparing to welcome community feedback on the needs and future of the district’s school buildings.
The West Geauga Facility Master Planning Committee has been meeting with the intent of making a recommendation to the West Geauga Board of Education on the future of the district’s school buildings. The recommendation could involve renovations and/or new construction.
As part of its study, the district is holding community meetings to gain feedback from residents. The meetings are being facilitated by BSHM Architects, the firm hired to assist the district in the master planning process.
The first community meeting will take place on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. at the West Geauga Middle School. The evening will include a review of the district profile and an overview of the facility information that has already been gathered. There will be a time for questions and a time for community members to offer input.
All residents in the West Geauga School District are welcome to attend. For more information, visit www.westg.org.
Art Focuses on Integrated Learning
Combining art with other areas of study is an effective way to help high school students to apply what they are learning.
Andi Janke, an art teacher with the West Geauga School District, has a process that uses multiple disciplines to promote learning.
Janke said, “I created a lesson that uses problem based learning with the integration of math, art history, art and English. Each student was randomly assigned a group and that group traveled every 10 minutes to a different studio.”
The first studio combined art history and the definition of line, ultimately discussing how artists use line in their work. The second studio combined math and drawing skills to duplicate a specific set of boxes on paper. The third studio experience used English and art and the final studio had the students creating their own art.
