Spring Edition, 2015-2016 Volume 6, February 8, …...Mark Your Calendars:student may, as the s • PTO Meeting Tuesday, February 9 8:00 a.m., MPR • Early Dismissal Day Friday, February

Mark Your Calendars:

• PTO Meeting Tuesday, February 9 8:00 a.m., MPR

• Early Dismissal Day Friday, February 11, 12:15 p.m.

• WUES Golf Tournament Monday, February 15 Wildcat Golf Club

• Schoolwide Photo honoring Presidents’ Day Tuesday, February 16

• Go Texan Day Friday, February 26

• Kindergarten Registration For 2016-2017 Monday, February 29

Spring Edition, 2015-2016 Volume 6, February 8, 2016

Principal’s Place Upcoming Events Please help us teach students proper etiquette during the morning exercises and announcements. As you know, every morning we recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas Flag, and observe a moment of silence Following is an excerpt from the Texas Education Agency website: “Section 25.082 of the Texas Education Code stipulates: The board of trustees of each school district shall require students, once during each school day at each school in the district to recite: (1) The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag; and (2) The Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas state flag. A school district may excuse a student from reciting a pledge of allegiance upon written request from the student’s parent or guardian. Following the recitation of the pledges, the statute requires that all districts provide the observance of

one minute of silence at each school. During the one-minute period, each student may, as the student chooses, reflect, pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activity that is not likely to interfere with or distract another student. Each teacher or other school employee in charge of students during that specific period shall ensure that each of those students remain silent and does not act in a manner that is likely to interfere with or distract another student.” We need your help with teaching this to our children. Please participate in these activities with us if you are on campus. Set a good example for the children who are most certainly watching the adults during this respectful activity. For the next few days I will remind you of this prior to the recitation of the pledges. Thank you for your cooperation with this important activity. Our Souper Bowl of Caring service project was a roaring success!

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Hands On Art 2

Birthday Book Club 2-3

PTO Meeting & Speaker 3

Souper Bowl of Caring Wrap-Up 3

WUES Golf Tournament 3-4

Presidents’ Day Photo 4

Go Texan Day 4

West University Elementary School

The West U Pony Express

We had another great collection year at West U. Following are the grade level totals for pounds of food collected:

Kinder 4664.53 1st 6924.96 2nd 5363.00 3rd 4884.50 4th 6181.39 5th 8018.80 TOTAL 36037.18 pounds

See the article later in today’s Pony Express for the total collecting classes on each grade level. Kudos to the Souper Bowl of Caring Souper Moms who organized this event: Courtney Tsao, Danielle Mansour, Leslie Wade, and Amy Nanna. Well done! Have a stunning week! John T. Threet, Principal

The students had their Hands on Art lesson two weeks ago. Special thanks to Beth Lane and Annie Marshall, who developed the lesson on Piet Mondrian, and Alison Moorhead, Courtney Tsao, and Annie Giannone, who developed the lesson on Wassily Kandinsky.

Kindergarten thru 2nd Grade students learn ed about the life and art of Wassily Kandinsky. They explored how sound, music, and emotion impact art. Students

created Kandinsky inspired concentric circles with oil pastels. Students in 3rd thru 5th grade studied the Piet Mondrian. They were introduced to abstract art of the De Stijl group. They compared representational and nonrepresentational art. Students created their own Mondrian inspired abstract painting with straight lines and primary colors. Thank you to the HOA teaching team for teaching the classes, and the Class Coordinators and volunteers for assisting the classes. Valerie Browning & Judy Cheng , Hands On Art Co-Chairs

Happy Birthday, 生日快乐, Feliz Cumpleaños, С Днем Рождения!

The following students are celebrating their birthdays this week by donating a book to our school library:

Carson Clement February 1st Luke Forney February 1st Nick Leppard February 1st Lindsey Karkowsky February 2nd Jake Trefz February 2nd Shonn Huang February 3rd Devika Kurup February 4th Elizabeth Reed February 4th Kane Davis February 6th Kendall Fisher February 6th Ava Grace Liu February 10th Reid Gilder February 10th Emerson Rippstein February 10th Sammy Rubinstein February 10th Blake White February 10th Rocco Dalati February 11th Robert Day February 11th Noah Geurts February 11th Charlie Hughes February 11th Ainsley Swiger February 11th Lianna Chap February 12th Aiden Nick February 12th Reese Williams February 13th Dalton Primrose February 14th

If you signed up your child for the Birthday Book Club and their birthday already passed, but they have not chosen their book yet,

please be sure to let them know to stop by the library as soon as possible! Also, remember……..

- If you would like to order a Birthday Book Club membership for your child, all orders are due NO LATER THAN Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. to be included in the following week’s Pony Express.

- Submit your Birthday Book Club forms as soon as

possible, to make sure we include your child in the Pony Express during their birthday month.

The West U Pony Express February 8, 2016

- Order forms can be found online

www.westupto.org, or in the blue PTO box at the front office.

Happy Birthday and thank you for supporting the West U Elementary library! Any question? Please contact Tracy Benner ([email protected]) or Guadalupe Harper ([email protected]).

Please join us for 2016’s first PTO General Meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 8:00 – 9:15 a.m. in the MPR. Thank you to Martha Turner, one of our Corporate Sponsors, for providing refreshments! Following PTO business, we are delighted to have Crystal Collier, PhD, LPC-S, Director of the Behavioral Health Institute, share great information to help us support our children: The Science of High-Risk Behavior Did you know the biological effects of engaging in high-risk behavior, whether it is technology, sugar or other substances, can be detected as children develop? Dr. Collier will offer information on how high-risk behavior and substances affect the brain and its development, including how to protect our families by creating balance and limits that work. Questions: [email protected]

WUES Families, You are AMAZING! What a blessing to be surrounded by such motivation and generosity! THANK YOU families for purchasing food items to donate to the Houston Food Bank. The amount of food donated was unbelievable! By our count we collected over 36,000 pounds of food this week. The Houston Food Bank had to bring two tractor-trailers to carry it all away! We will wait to receive the official numbers from the food bank, but a little less or a little more and it is still incredible! THANK YOU volunteers who were there every day this week doing the back-breaking work of sorting food, moving food, weighing food, building and tearing down boxes, and

counting protein points. Without you, this amazing event and community service project would not have gotten off the ground. THANK YOU WUES staff! Coach Jones, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Aranda, and Mr. Cruz so efficiently organize the transfer of the food from the MPR to the food bank trucks. Your experience and expertise is invaluable! Thank you Mr. Threet and Ms. Wyatt for continuing to host the Souper Bowl of Caring at WUES year after year. What an amazing tradition of giving. THANK YOU Rice University! Six football players from Rice University donated their time (and muscle) to help move and load our food donation. Thank you so much for your community service! We appreciate you! This year’s WUES Souper Bowl Champion is Ms. Durham’s 5th Grade Class! This class donated 2,707 pounds of food which will provide meals for 2,256 people! Congratulations on your exceptional community service! This year’s Most Valuable Player was Ms. Hilburn’s 5th Grade Class who donated enough protein to earn 1,359 points! Congratulations on your exceptional community service! Leading Contributors by Grade Level: KG – Saleem; 1,509 pounds (1,258 meals served) 1st – Smith; 2,597 pounds (2,164 meals served) 2nd – O’Dell; 883 pounds (736 meals served) 3rd – McLamb; 1,370 pounds (1,142 meals served) 4th – Williams; 1,979 pounds (1,649 meals served) 5th – Durham; 2,707 pounds (2,256 meals served) Congratulations to these classes for their exceptional efforts! THANK YOU for contributing and making the WUES Souper Bowl of Caring such an amazing event! The Souper Bowl of Caring Team Courtney Tsao, Danielle Mansour, Leslie Wade, Amy Nanna

The West U PTO Golf Tournament is just ONE week away! We are hosting a great tournament that benefits the PTO. Join us on Monday, February 15, 12:00 p.m., at Wildcat Golf Club, 12000 Almeda Rd. There is a very strong roster of sponsors, but we absolutely need more golfers. Please sign up to come have fun, eat

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The West U Pony Express February 8, 2016

and drink free, get golf and athletic gear, and enjoy a no-stress scramble tournament with friends. Please visit this site to register your team or individual player: https://cwsclients.wufoo.com/forms/2015-west-u-pto-golf-tournament/ Thanks for your support! Hope to see you there! Adam Maurer

In honor of President’s Day, West University is organizing a day of celebration and learning about America and our presidents on Tuesday, February 16th. Each

classroom will wear a designated patriotic color as we form a West University American flag with our students, teachers, and staff outside. Please be sure your child wears their class’ designated color on Tuesday, February 16th: Kinder: All classes wear WHITE 1st Grade: Perkins & Smith WHITE Breen, Fore, Hines, Holland, McKenzie, McMillan, Reid, Webb RED 2nd Grade: Vohlers RED Anderson, Finnegan, Marshall, O’Dell, Romero, Stone, Unger, Vistein, Wick, Wood WHITE 3rd Grade: All classes RED 4th Grade: All classes RED 5th Grade: All classes BLUE Amber Pinchback, Assistant Principal

Every year in Houston we remember and salute our cowboy past with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The HLSR parade officially kicks off the

event in downtown Houston on Saturday, February 27. The Friday before the Parade is known as "Go Texan Day," where the entire population of Houston is decked out in

Western attire, such as jeans, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats. We at West U Elementary do our part and encourage all students, parents, faculty, staff, and administration to dust off their hats and boots and Go Texan on Friday, February 26 as we show our Texas pride (no toy guns, please). If you are new to Houston or haven’t seen the HLSR Parade, you should consider taking your children to this fun even. You can download a parade map and get more information about the parade at: http://www.rodeohouston.com/Events/DowntownRodeoParade.aspx For more information about the Livestock Show, visit http://www.rodeohouston.com/LivestockShow.aspx. You and your children will enjoy seeing all the great contests and exhibits at the largest livestock show in the world! Go Texan!

It is the policy of the Houston Independent School District not to discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, marital status, religion, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, or any other basis prohibited by law in its educational or employment programs and activities.

West Univers i ty Elementary Schoo l 3756 University Blvd., Houston, TX 77005

Phone: 713-295-5215 Fax: 713-667-8514

We’re on the Web!

visit us on the web at: www.westues.org

John T. Threet, Princ ipal Tracey L. Wyatt, Instructional Coordinator

Amber Pinchback, Assistant Principal Daphne Rawlinson, Teacher Specialist

Texas Education Agency Exemplary School

Texas Education Agency Met Standard with Academic Distinction in All Areas

Children At Risk, Ranked #2 Among All Texas Public Elementary Schools

TBEC Honor Roll School NCEA Higher Performing School

No Place For Hate School

The West U Pony Express February 8, 2016