Westwood Schools

Consignment Sale

2009-11-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

Do You Have……

The Children’s Clothing Market Event

is the place to be…...The Westwood School Auditorium

Save the Date for Saturday, November 7, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

We will have a Pre-Sale on Friday, November 6, 2009

from 1:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

In order to shop the Pre-Sale on Friday we are asking that you donate 10 can goods. We will in turn donate them to the Local Food Bank.

The Entire Community is Invited

to Participate……Tell Your Family and Friends.

We will have lots to choose from, items you may find include:

Gently Used Children’s Clothing * Special Occasion Wear * Sports Equipment * Furniture * Toys Strollers * Cribs * High Chairs * Car Seats * Playpens Shoes * Bikes * Bedding

& Much more…..

We also would love to have you consign with us. you will earn 70% of the sale price that you price your items at and 30% will be donated to westwood schools (which is tax deductible). You may also choose to donate your items.

If you are interested please contact us.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.

For More Information Contact:

Deigie Rock at dgrock@camillaga.net 336-0424

Dottie Kimball at dkimball@mchsi.com 395-2686

Mandy Holton Deloach at msdeloach7376@aol.com 344-6069 or 522-9145

View this Flyer in Printable Format

Don't Miss OZ!

2009-10-30T09:43:00.003-04:00

The community performance of this wonderful musical will be Sunday, November 8th at 3pm in the Westwood auditorium. We are very proud of our cast of OZ! Wednesday, October 28th they wond the Region Championship and are head to state competition on Monday, November 9th. The Westwood cast was honored with three of the five Best Actor Awards. Gillian Ford as Dorothy,Sarah Holton as the Wicked Witch, and Sara Ann Willingham as Cowardly Lion each received Best Actor Awards for their outstanding performances. Honorable mention awards were given to Betsy Bostick as Glinda the Good Witch, Joseph Dixon as Bach, the Mayor of Munchkinland, Kunjan Patel as Toto, Miller Singleton as Tinman and our ensemble of Trees & Monkeys-Joseph Dixon, Daniel Hays, Tyler Sharp, Mason Worsham, Will Bullard, Pate Council and Jake Kotter. Judges comments from the region competition noted that OZ! was a wonderful show with great choreography, nice energy and fabulous smiles! This is certainly a performance that will entertain the entire family, There is no charge for the Sunday community show, but donations will be gladly accepted at the door.

SCRIP Order Dates for the Holiday Season

2009-10-29T11:12:00.002-04:00

Mrs. Rose will be placing SCRIP orders on the following dates through our holiday season. Please make sure you have your orders and money turned in to her by 11am on the order dates. If you are not familiar with our SCRIP fundraiser program and would like to find out more about it, please contact the Westwood offices. Order dates: November 16, 2009, December 1, 2009, December 10, 2009, and January 15, 2010.

Photographs from Academic Banquet, 2009 Tea Party Online Now

2009-08-26T09:01:00.000-04:00

For those of you who may have noticed, the Westwood website is in the process of having a facelift. the 2008-2009 photos will be online a little bit longer and we've added the 2009 Academic Banquet photos. So, if you wish to grab a photo, open up the album and save the photograph for your personal use. (You may not, however, use these photos for any commercial venture, of course, these are our children!)

Westwood 2008-2009

The annual First grade tea party from 2009 is also online now as well! (Go to the online photo album.)

1st Grade Tea Party 2009

Flint River Documentaries by Westwood Students Running This week on CNS

2009-07-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

This week on CNS Television, documentaries on the Flint River project by Westwood Students will be running at 2 pm each day. This will run until July 23rd. Westwood Graduation will be running at 12:30 pm and 8 pm each day.

We appreciate the support of CNS Television and also MCTV and the activities and projects from Westwood students.

Edutopia Website Profiles Virginia Vereen & Westwood Computer Program

2009-05-28T16:51:00.001-04:00

Edutopia has launched their new Digital Youth Project and has posted the video about Virginia, one of our upcoming 10th graders, and our computer program. (Video below.) This is a huge honor to be included and Virginia and Mrs. Davis will be on a live webinar next Thursday talking about how Westwood's technology program reaches the world and strives for excellence.

In these videos you'll see featured Virginia, Mrs. Azalee Vereen, Mrs. Betty Shiver, our fourth grade students and ninth grade students and some of the students who attended the Flat Classroom conference in Qatar.

Flint River Immersion Project Kicks Off Today

2009-05-11T16:50:00.001-04:00

Students in our high school are immersed in learning about the math, science, history, and creativity inspired by our local Flint River. Parents and supporters of the school are encouraged to join in the Flint River Project by joining our Ning and commenting and sharing their knowledge.

Find more photos like this on Flint River Project

Students will be participating in multi-age groups with a specific focus for this week as they deeply learn about a topic of their choice. Please see the Flint River Ning for more details about what they are doing.

Each morning around 8:15 am, some students will be filming the opinions of local citizens about the Flint River, conservation, water rights, history, and special memories, as well as hosting interviews throughout the county. If you wish to share your story, feel free to drop by Camilla Java between approximately 8:15 am - 8:45 am each morning to share your thoughts.

Today, students interviewed Mr. Dan Bollinger, Director of the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center and Mr. Keith Jones, County Commissioner from Pelham at Camilla Java. Many other interviews were conducted throughout the county that are mentioned and will be shared on our Ning. Join us!

Find more videos like this on Flint River Project

Find more videos like this on Flint River Project

Ninth Grade Student, Miller, writes for British Educational Expert

2009-04-17T07:07:00.001-04:00

The ninth grade students have been blogging and authoring this year about their work with digital citizenship and virtual worlds. (See their blog at http://digiteendreamteam.blogspot.com).

One student, Miller S., (withholding full name to protect identity for this writing) has been selected and is writing for British educational technology consultant Terry Freedman for his Computer in the Classrooms newsletter. For this newsletter, she wrote an article about her views of social networking in education. Additionally, Terry, who began his career as a teacher, and his wife Elaine, interviewed Miller via skype to create an audio recording called a podcast. This podcast will be released on Terry's site next week.

Miller did such a great job, that she is also writing a weekly column for the next seven weeks called "Ask Miller" for Mr. Freedman in which she answers questions that come in from around the world about a teenagers view of technology in education.

We are very proud of Miller's work and of all of the amazing students at Westwood Schools who work to excel in technology and in everything else that they do. We will be watching Miller's work, and you may subscribe to the newsletter, to see what she is writing and saying.

Terry Freedman has written over 3,000 articles and served as a teacher and administrator in the British Educational System from 1975 - 2004. You can see his full bio here. Mr. Freedman has been an advisor for Vicki Davis' Flat Classroom Projects and delivered the keynoted the 2008 project. He has also featured the writing of Westwood Senior, Casey Cox.

Terry Freedman's 2008 Keynote for the Flat Classroom Project

The Unsinkable Night: Prom 2009

2009-04-09T16:23:00.001-04:00

Enjoy our photo album from Prom 2009 or watch the slideshow below. The Juniors did an amazing job transforming the auditorium into the inside of a cruise ship.

Flat Classroom Conference Meeting

2009-03-11T14:03:00.000-04:00

All students currently in grades 9-11 who are interested in attending the Flat Classroom conference need to come on Monday to PTO at 7pm with at least one parent. Immediately after PTO we will have a meeting to share the current information on the Flat Classroom Conference opportunities for next year to see how many students are interested and to share the potential dates and locations for the conference. This will begin the applications process. If interested, the student and ONE parent must attend this meeting. We will hold student selections for the spots we have available this Spring.

4 students and 2 faculty head to Qatar for the Flat Classroom Conference

2009-01-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

Today, January 21st, Betty Shiver, Vicki Davis, and four students head to Qatar for the first Flat Classroom Conference. Students at Westwood will be participating virtually and also communicating with the faculty and students to learn about time zones, culture, and other educational things.

This conference is co-founded by Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy) and Vicki Davis as a conference focusing on how to connect students globally to solve global social issues.

The students and faculty will be blogging at the World Wide Wildcats Blog - so if you want to see what they are doing, join them there.

Virginia Vereen wins Digital Youth Contest: Edutopia to be Filming at the School This Week

2009-01-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

We are very excite to announce that one of our ninth graders, Virginia Vereen, daughter of Cary and Azalee Vereen has been selected as one of the ten students in the Edutopia Digital Youth Contest. This is the information on their press release:

"A CALL FOR DIGITAL YOUTH
The George Lucas Educational Foundation, publisher of Edutopia media including Edutopia video, Edutopia magazine, and Edutopia.org, has received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to produce ten
multimedia portraits of youth ages 8–18 who are deeply immersed in digital media of all kinds: blogs, social networks, virtual environments, games, media making projects, and so on.
These portraits are intended to provide an in-depth look at how young people are using new media for learning, socializing, and entertainment, giving adults insight into the new generation’s digital lives. The portraits will feature a range of media,
produced by Edutopia staff as well as the youth themselves, including
• short (less than ten-minute) documentary segments that explore how young
people are using new media in their homes, schools, out-of-school activities,
and informal learning environments, and with their peers.
• interviews with youth to gain their reflections on these experiences.
• interviews with their parents, educators, and others.
• expert interviews commenting on and interpreting specific behaviors in the
portraits.
• articles and text commentary placing the portraits in the larger context of
digital-learning initiatives.
• examples of work these young people have produced, including photos, slide presentations, videos, podcasts, music, games, essays, blogs, media diaries, and Web sites.
The portraits will be published on Edutopia.org, and articles about them will appear in several issues of Edutopia magazine and on the Web site beginning in February 2009.
Edutopia seeks candidates for these profiles. We intend to illustrate a diversity of age, ethnicity, geography, personal passions, type of media used, and success in traditional academic settings. (For example, some individuals may struggle
academically but excel in using digital technologies.) We would also like to identify teachers who are working with these students and have harnessed the power of new media in traditional learning environments.
We would like to receive nominations for profile subjects, including video submissions in the form of a one-minute first person reflection on how engagement with new media has changed the way the individual learns. The individual should
also mention extracurricular activities and interests that do not necessarily involve digital media. We will use YouTube and TeacherTube to gather these submissions.

The 10 finalists chosen for full profiles produced by Edutopia will receive a Flip Video Camcorder for their participation."

Virginia had to make a youtube video, this is a copy of the video.

We are excited about this honor for one of our students. The Edutopia film crew will be filming Virginia and her classmates this Thursday and Friday at the school.

The national and international recognition of our technology program and school demonstrates that our school is positioned as an internationally recognized leader in technology AND overall education of children.

Recently, the Flat Classroom Wiki 2008 won the Edublog award for best wiki in education 2008 and Vicki Davis' Cool Cat Teacher blog won the edublog award for best teacher blog in education 2008.

We are proud of our students and the support from the Grandparents Club, Board of Directors, PTO, parents and foundations who support the technology program by cutting boxtops, soup labels, and raising money so that we can continue to be world class!

Congratulations Virginia! Students in fourth grade and 8-12 are signing release forms to be returned by Wednesday so that they may be filmed at the school!

Go Cats! We're world class!

Westwood Sites Nominated for Two Edublog Awards

2008-12-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

Each year, people around the world vote for the best in online education. This year, Westwood has two finalists in these awards.

Flat Classroom Wiki 2008

The Flat Classroom wiki 2008 has been nominated for the Edublog Award for Best Wiki in Education (the 2006 Flat Classroom wiki won this award and the 2007 Horizon Project wiki was a finalist.) We are a finalist for this award again!

This is an enormous honor and voting is going on now! You can see the other nominees and cast your vote here.

Also, teacher Vicki Davis' Cool Cat Teacher blog is a finalist for the third year in a row. This blog has helped our computer lab get free software and grant opportunities as well over the past two years. You can see the other nominees and cast your vote here.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Awards such as this and the other awards won by our computer program, help us secure software and grants to fund our computer technology program.

The students and teacher wish to thank the Grandparents Club, PTO, and all of the private donors who have helped this program succeed and achieve. We'll let you know the results!

Westwood Alumni Facebook Group

2008-11-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

For those Westwood Alumni on Facebook, there is an alumni facebook group to help you find each other. Please feel free to join in and find your friends.

District Attorney's Office Offering Savings Bonds

2008-10-07T13:04:00.002-04:00

The District Attorney's office is offering an incentive for students to stay in school. Any student in grades K5 - 12th who has perfect attendance at the end of this year will be eligible to win a $1000 US Savings Bond payable upon their receiving a high school diploma. There will be at least five bonds given throughout the South GA Judicial Circuit which includes Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Grady and Mitchell Counties. A letter will be sent home this week to all K5 - 12 families. If you do not receive a letter, please contact Paige in the office or email her at pjohnson@westwoodschools.org.

At home study helps for you and your child

2008-10-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

The teachers have been in a two day workshop on helping children with ADHD while the students have had a holiday. One important tool to help children of all kinds with learning is proven to be computer-related games. There are several websites that can help your child learn and review for the material at Westwood.

Wordly Wise 3000 - This is the "official" website with crossword puzzles and online games for every type. Just make sure you know the lesson and book level for your child.
Spelling City.com -- Set up word lists and let them play review games. Some teachers and parents are already using this site.
Classtools.net - This website lets you make educational games - the 7th grade students are doing this for almost every test and putting it on a private website.
Look in the front of your child's textbooks -- most of the textbook companies now have teaching games for the material.

Please pass this along and encourage those who don't get our email list to sign up for this list!

Here at Westwood, we keep working to improve what we do and make sure that every child is a winner.

Westwood Students Serve at Bocce Ball - View our Photo Album

2008-09-12T18:23:00.001-04:00

View our photo album to see the amazing work that Westwood Students did at the Special Olympics Bocce Ball Tournament last week.

Local Businesses will sell Winn Dixie Grocery Vouchers for Westwood

2008-06-17T10:24:00.003-04:00

Earlier this year Winn Dixie stopped selling the Westwood Winn Dixie Vouchers in their store. Some of our local businesses have been kind enough to help our families by making the vouchers available at their businesses. The following businesses will sell the Winn Dixie vouchers during their normal business hours: Camilla Lawn & Garden, Eighty Five Broad, Kate & Jane's, and Simply the Best. The vouchers are also available at the Westwood offices. School office hours are Monday - Thursday 9am - noon.

CLASS OF 1998 DONATES GIFT

2008-05-21T16:19:00.000-04:00

The Westwood School Class of 1998 recently made a $500 donation to the literary department in memory of Lyle Gandy. Lyle was a gifted young man who was very active in both drama and literary events. He was chosen Most Talented by his class. Many of the Westwood family remember the entertaining performances of the school quartet composed of Lyle, Richard Sharp, Cliff Atkinson, and Dean Atkinson. The four were filled with enthusiasm and a love of the performing arts. Lyle was not only active in the school quartet, he was behind the scenes in several performances of the one act play. It is those students such a Lyle, filled with a desire to perform, who continue the Westwood tradition of hard work and success. Many thanks to the class of 1998 for such a generous donation. Members of the class of 1998 are: Sarah Adams, Cliff Atkinson, Dean Atkinson, April Bentley, Mandy Butler, Josh Campbell, Emerson Chew, Lee Etheridge, Leslie Faircloth, Christy Forrester, Jennifer Fudge, Lyle Gandy, Joni Godwin, Chad Grogan, Stacy Hayes, Alicia Kirbo, Bobby Sue Lawrence, Lisa McGahee, Josh McGalliard, Alana McNair, Natalie Malcom, Lucas Morrell, Jackie Mulliford, Hattie Palmer, Tripp Phelps, Lori Powell, Steven Rankin, Richard Sharp, Amanda Snipes, Bill Tyson, Judson Vann, Deanna Warren, Amy Welch, Michelle West, Christy Westbrook, Justin Williams, Nikki Williams, Taffy Winfield, and Marci Worsham.In the last four years, the Westwood Literary department has been extremely successful. Our students have earned four consecutive Region 3A championship trophies, two GISA State championship trophies, and two state runner-up trophies in spring literary. The one act play has earned three consecutive Region 3A championships. Westwood finished second in the state in 2005 and 2007, and third in 2006. Beginning this year, state one act play judging is on a good, fair, excellent, rating system. Westwood was one of only two schools that received an excellent overall rating at the state competition.Currently, the literary department is preparing for the fall production of The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree. This swashbuckling musical adventure will feature a 35-member cast. In the story, Captain Jennings' crew jumps ship upon sighting the pirates in the distance and he is left with a makeshift crew of motley prisoners and Fergus, a sailor who can't swim, to protect his wealthy passengers. As the lady pirates take over the defenseless Kayla May, you're in for a musical comedy with a host of hysterical characters on deck and a spectacular score. The production is set for early November.

Letter from Alumnus Oliver Gunter

2008-01-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

I received this e-mail last week from alumnus Oliver Gunter and he gave me permission to share it with the Westwood Family. (Vicki Davis)

Dear Vicki,
You probably don't know me as I'm a not so recent graduate of 1991. The reason I'm contacting you is that you can imagine my surprise as I'm reading through Friedman's book The World is Flat and find a section in there about Westwood Schools in Camilla, GA.
It was quite an inspirational story, but I think it only confirms what we’ve known now for a while: the access to and dissemination of information is no longer limited by infrastructure and physical location. Small towns and small schools now have access to just about everything that their larger counterparts do.
What you do with that information is up to your imagination and the limitations of the 24 hour day. It’s a great leveling force for students at any level, and I’ve seen this develop from the days of CompuServe with a dial-up connection on my Commodore 64 in the early to mid 80’s to coming up with ways to apply that technology to my current life and career.
Keep up the good work, the world is watching! If anyone else is left there from my times, please tell them I said hello.

Oliver L. Gunter, Jr., M.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine
Department of General Surgery
Section of Acute and Critical Care Surgery
St. Louis, MO

Listen to the National Public Radio Show including Westwood's Blogging Program

2007-12-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Eve Morning at 7:20 am, National Public Radio aired a story about the anniversary of the blog. If you wish to hear an explanation of this technology, it is a great introduction.

However, Westwood families have another reason to listen. Admist an interview with the person who invented the term "blog" and another who was one of the first bloggers, Mrs. Vicki Davis, Westwood technology teacher talks about Westwood's Blogging program and the importance of teaching online safety.

Listen to the show by going to this page and clicking "Listen Now."

Spread the word, we have many great things happening at Westwood.

Several Westwood Students Win Awards in the International Flat Classroom Project

2007-12-19T14:43:00.000-05:00

The project that has won Westwood recognition in Thomas Friedman's best selling book The World is Flat and in many national newspapers has just concluded with many Westwood students included as award winners.

This project included seven classrooms from five countries: USA, Qatar, China, Australia, and Austria. The 2007 Awards show was held today and you may listen to the show with our live recording.

See the Awards show slides here:

| View | Upload your own

See the awards page for hyperlinks and below to view the videos.

First Place Winners in the Video Competition

Winner 4.a.20
Title: Semantic Assistant
Student Name: Sarah H. - Westwood, USA

Winner 5.b.31
Title: What is Web 2.0?
Student Name: Betsy B. - Westwood, USA

6.a.35 Title: Teens and Outsourcing
Student Name: BrayAnna - Westwood, USA

Video Runner Up Winners

2.a.9 Title: How the WWW Has Changed the World
Student Name: Jamie C. - Westwood, USA

Runner Up 5.a.27
Title: iCoach
Student Name: Tayler B. - Westwood, USA

10.a.65 Title: The Shutterbug Sidekick
Student Name: Hilliary J. - Westwood, USA

Video Honorable Mention Winners

Honorable Mention 4.c.26
Title: Uploading the Beginning of Blogs
Student Name: Mitch B - Westwood, USA

11.c.79
Title: Can You See Me Now?
Student Name: Sumner - Westwood, USA

Student Awards
The students nominated and voted on the awards which were as follows:

Winner 10.a.65
Title: Shutterbug Sidekick
Student Name: Hilary J - Westwood, USA
Second Place 1.a.1
Title: A Ring For Jimmy
Student Name: Amalia B. - LACHSA, USA

Third Place 1.a.2
Title: Treckster and the Lamp
Student Name: Gillian F. - Westwood, USA

Teacher Awards from Mrs. Davis are as follows:

Westwood Schools

Vicki Davis, Teacher
Online Learning Award - Sarah H
Design & Innovation - tie Hilliary J and Gillian F
Story & Empathy - Betsy B.
The Fun Factor - Sumner W. and Coley W.

"I am very proud of the education of our Westwood students. Their strong verbal and logical reasoning skills and our rigorous academic program really shine through in these international projects," says Mrs. Davis!

tag: flatclassroomproject2007

Internet Presentation Available for Viewing

2007-12-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

Today, Westwood tenth graders, Coley W., Sumner, W., Hilliary J, Joseph D, Tayler B, and Mrs. Vicki Davis presented online about Internet Safety and the current activities and websites being created for Westwood. If you wish to watch this presentation, you may View the Elluminate Live! recording.

You'll also see the virtual online classroom environment that the students and teachers use to meet with others around the world.

They talk about several projects and tips for staying safe online.

Free Online Internet Safety Class Led by Students on December 18th - RSVP now!

2007-12-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

The tenth grade computer science class is planning events to promote Internet Safety for Westwood parents and staff during the month of December.

On Tuesday December 18th at 1:30, several student facilitators will be conducting a thirty minute online mini-training class using their virtual classroom called elluminate. During this session you will learn about online safety in our school's Wildcat network (that we will unveil during the session) and will be shown how to use our school's new private social network which will be unveiled during the class.

This is completely online and you can log in from your computer as long as you have speakers or a headphone. (If you want to ask questions, you'll need a mike or keyboard!)

This will also be beneficial to your business as you will be shown what a blog is, and how to network safely and effectively and about virtual meeting room technology, which has applications for any business that meets virtually or person who takes classes online.

This is the online classroom that the students used to hold meetings with students around the world and is worth seeing. Mrs. Vicki Davis will also be on hand to answer questions.

We will also demonstrate how to upload and share photos on our school flickr group. If you want to attend this session, please e-mail Mrs. Davis and check the hardware requirements for using elluminate. (You will need to have a sound card so that you can listen and an updated web browser. You may go to the hardware requirements page and run a test on your computer to see if it will work.)

You will be e-mailed a link to join the live session and it will be posted on the school website. Just click on the link 5-10 minutes before "class" starts and you will be joined. The session will be recorded.

All parents, grandparents, and faculty are welcome to join the class!

Students Involved: ColeyW and SumnerW are facilitators
Co-presenters: HilliaryJ, MitchB, TaylerB, JosephD
Teacher/Facilitator: Mrs. Vicki Davis

Westwood Computer Program is a Finalist in awards

2007-11-28T09:38:00.000-05:00

Last year, Westwood's Flat Classroom project with a class in Bangladesh won the Edublog 2006 Award for Best wiki in education. (It also went on to win several other major awards and inclusion in the best selling book The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.)

Vote for Westwood's Horizon Project
This year, the Horizon Project 2007 conducted in the Spring of this year with the class in Bangladesh, one in Austria, Australia, and China is a finalist in the Edublog 2007 award for best wiki.

We need your votes. Go cast your vote.

Cool Cat Teacher is a Finalist for Best Teacher Blog in Education

Also, teacher, Vicki Davis is a finalist in the award for best teacher blog in education again for a second year for her Cool Cat Teacher Blog. You may cast your vote for her as well.

For information on all of the award winners, you may read the bio information on this page.