Celebrating Success

The last few weeks have been a blur of activities including Thanksgiving Break and our first snow day of the school year. As we work our way through the first week of December I wanted to share some of the successes that we recently celebrated. 

Wizard of Oz: Curtain Call

Wizard of Oz

The week prior to Thanksgiving we were fortunate to have three wonderful performances of the musical, The Wizard of Oz. Over 110 students were involved in either the cast or the stage crew. It was so gratifying to see teachers, parents, and students all working together to make such an incredibly well done production a reality. Opportunities like these that provide students a chance to develop their skills and a platform to share with others are incredible. A special thank you to our Director, Mrs. Christy Knowlton, who takes anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of the production. To manage and direct 110 middle school students and create such an amazing production is incredible. I had to remind myself several times that these are middle school students! Bravo!!

Wizard of Oz cast performing for their classmates during the day

Optimist Award Winners

Earlier this week we the honor and pleasure of recognizing two of our 8^th grade students and one of our staff members with the Optimist Students and Teacher of the Year Awards. The biggest challenge we face is that we have so many outstanding students and staff members to consider it is a very difficult process.

Some of the selection criteria that we consider when nominating students is challenging to quantify - optimism, integrity, perseverance, caring, creativity, initiative - all noble qualities, and characteristics that we should all aspire to, yet they are difficult to really assess.  When talking about someone’s character the best measure in my opinion is the eye test - you see it, you feel, you sense it. It’s not very scientific, but when you are in the presence of young adults who embody what is most important...you just know it. This year our two student winners were Nicole Vasilev and Joey Paoli. Congratulations to both of them and we appreciate them adding so much to our school community!

The simple dictionary definition of a teacher describes a teacher as a person who teaches, especially in a school. But there is so much more which the dictionary can’t describe. In real life, a teacher is a guardian, caretaker, instructor, mentor, coach, role model, and the list goes on. It has been our philosophy for many years that all of us, and any of us in our schools that work with students are teachers. Regardless of your job title, you are a teacher. With that as some background, it is easy to understand why so many people nominated John Lizzi, our Head Custodian, for the Optimist Teacher of the Year Award.

He goes above and beyond his duties all the time. You can see Mr. Lizzi out front each morning saying hello to students, waving at parents as they drop kids off and being a friendly face for anyone arriving at West Genesee Middle School from about 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM - rain or shine, sun or clouds, Mr. Lizzi is out there. Not because he has to be, but because he wants to be. 

Mr. Lizzi takes the time to listen to students and interact with them in our cafeteria, the hallway, and school events. He knows them by name and they know him. Mr. Lizzi has been a staple at our 8th Grade Career Fair where he shares his experiences as an actor. His stories sparking curiosity and wonder in the hearts and minds of 13 year-old wanna-be actors and actresses. He elicits realistic, useful advice, but inspires those young eyes to Dream and to Think Big.

Mr. Lizzi’s thoughtfulness, work ethic, compassion, initiative and sincere caring for our students, staff and entire school community is remarkable. Through his actions and leadership he has helped to create a culture of caring and learning. Congratulations to Mr. Lizzi for being the Optimist Teacher of the Year!

Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or send me an email. 

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham 
sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

From Shorts to A Shovel

October absolutely flew by. We literally went from wearing shorts to using our snow shovels in just a few weeks! The month was a whirlwind of different events and activities at the middle level. Each and every day our students have amazing opportunities both during the school day and after hours to get involved, to pursue their interests and to challenge themselves. We continue to be committed to creating, promoting and supporting academically rigorous and developmentally responsive programs for our adolescent learners. Here are a few of the things that took place in October:

Career Fair

We had over 40 different community members representing a variety of careers at our annual Career Fair, filling our gym with energy and enthusiasm. Our 8th grade students had the opportunity to ask questions and learn about a variety of industries and possible career paths. Through those conversations we hope that a spark is ignited in our students to follow a path that is right for them whether it be college, trade school, military, or any other type of training that matches their interests and passion. This is a great event to get our students to start thinking about their future. Surprisingly, very few seem interested in becoming a School Principal! 

WGMS Top Spellers

Spelling Bee

The District Spelling Bee is one of the most nerve racking experiences I have every school year. And I’m not a participant! Top spellers from our four elementary schools and two middle schools come together to compete for the title of District Spelling Bee Champion. More impressive than anyone’s ability to spell, is the courage it takes to get up on stage, hold the microphone and try to spell a word all by yourself with 150+ people staring at you. There was certainly an air of nervousness in the room felt by both the participants and all of the adults in the audience. But as our students often do, when faced with adversity or an uncomfortable situation, they rise to the occasion. All of our participants were absolutely amazing and should be commended for their bravery!

A special shout-out to WGMS 8^th grader Josephine Simpson who was the District Spelling Bee Champion. Congratulations Josephine!

Students of the Month

As a building we celebrate those that carry themselves in a way that we can all be proud of. Last week we recognized our ‘Students of the Month’ for October. We continue have students, who through their actions and character, help to create a positive school environment. Choosing ‘Students of the Month’ isn’t about grades and athletic or musical prowess, it’s about demonstrating all of the qualities that we value and celebrate - exemplary work ethic, citizenship, character, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, optimism and/or leadership in creating a positive school environment. As a school community we are extremely grateful for students who day in and day out show up, work hard, do their best, and make our school a better place.

This month we recognized 6th graders Clyde Allen, Logan DeWaters, Christina Guglielmi, and Julian Kurtz; 7th graders Norah Emery, Calina Olson, Connor Parker, and Jonathan Shoults; and 8th graders Noah Austin, Lamees Hussein, Nick Lauro, and Fefe Zawahreh. Well deserved and congratulations to all!

6th Grade Students of the Month

7th Grade Students of the Month

8th Grade Students of the Month

Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or send me an email. 


Continued Success,
Steve Dunham 
sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Open House Re-Cap 2019

Last night was our WGMS Open House & Title I Information night. As a teacher and administrator I have always loved Open House. It’s one of those rituals that makes up the ‘circle of life’ of a school year. As a school it is our opportunity to open our doors, show off and promote our brand - who we are, what we do and how we do it. Last night was my fifth year in a row as being both a parent of a student in the building while also wearing my administrator hat.

I was really impressed with what I saw sitting in classrooms and what I heard from teachers throughout the evening. Teachers set a tone that was welcoming, supportive and caring while making it clear that we have high expectations. As a parent I couldn't be more proud to say that my kids go to school here. Throughout the evening I had a lot of conversations with people that wanted to share what a great start to the school year their kid(s) was having. It’s especially satisfying to hear from those 6^th grade parents about how well the transition to middle school has been for their children.

We know that not all of our families are able to make it to Open House so a few years ago I started posting the comments that I made to families at the start of evening over the PA while getting situated in homerooms. Hopefully it helps you to get a feel for the tone of the night and for school year ahead. Below is part of the welcome message that I gave everyone at the start of our Open House minus some bad jokes (I’m told it’s time to update my material a bit!) and some of the logistics we covered: 

“Thank you for being here tonight. For those of you that are new to our building welcome to the WGMS family. We are excited to have you here! For those of you that are returning, welcome back. We have an incredible community here at West Genesee Middle School made up of a dedicated and talented staff, as well as involved and supportive families. Your presence this evening and your ongoing involvement with your child’s education is a testament to the commitment you have made to make education a priority. We thank you for that. The journey from a young child in elementary school to a young adult in high school is not an easy one and we certainly need to work together as a team in order to maximize the potential in all of our students as they make that challenging journey through the middle years.

I encourage you to stop by our library. It has been a very busy place already this year. To date, just over 1,300 books and magazine have been checked out which is awesome so please help us continue to encourage our students to get into the library, to read, and to take advantage of its’ many resources. Reading is a significant component of all classes: our students need to read like historians, scientists, mathematicians & engineers each and every day. Literacy is a part of everything that we do, not a stand-alone skill - so please help support us by encouraging and hounding if needed our kids to read! We also have over 450 items in our digital library, and over 2,400 titles of audiobooks available for our students to download. Please stop in and talk with our librarian about how you can utilize audio resources to foster even more success in your child’s reading. While in the library this evening you can pick up a list of the different databases with logins and passwords that we use so you can assist your children with research and you can also pick up a list of books with reading levels that are new to our collection. 

We also have our PTA located in the main lobby on the first floor. We have a tremendous PTA at West Genesee Middle School that is incredibly supportive of our students and staff. Please consider joining and/or volunteering your time. Your membership and involvement in the PTA helps to make us a stronger community.

Again thank you for being here tonight. We are passionate about what we do here at WGMS, we care about your children, and we all want this to be the best year that they have ever had in school. A focus of ours is continuous improvement; trying to get better at everything that we do, constantly reflecting on our practices, listening to feedback and having a willingness to evolve and grow.  We ask the same of our students. We continually talk with students about the role that they play in doing the things necessary to be as successful as possible and we try to build a capacity in them to have a willingness to try new things, strive to get better and continue to work hard especially when things get difficult. Together we need to continue to encourage them to get involved with sports, music, clubs, and other activities.

You can expect us to support our students, but also to push them to be their best; to not accept “not doing” as an option or doing just the minimum, to challenge them and encourage them to be extraordinary. Your role as parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles and older brothers and sisters is vitally important. Your involvement and commitment to making your child’s education a priority is crucial. We can’t do this alone, we have to do it together. The job is just too important and the stakes are too high. The time is now to help our middle school students build positive relationships, establish effective study skills and lock in healthy habits for the rest of their lives. We look forward to working with you and getting to know all of you throughout this school year.

I’ll end this as we do each morning on the announcements:

“BE NICE, WORK HARD, THINK BIG”

That’s what we expect. That’s who we are. That’s the message we all need to be communicating to our middle schoolers. It’s going to be a great year, a wonderful evening, and it’s always A Great Day To Be A Wildcat!!”

Thank you again for the great turnout last night and continued support of our students and staff at WGMS. The “Wonder Years” of middle school are not always easy and the road can be challenging at times, but when we work together and we keep our focus on what is best for kids and what matters most, the results are worth it. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms