Giving of Ourselves

While sitting in an English class earlier in the week the following quote was posted on the Promethean Board as part of the warm-up activity to activate student thinking: 

 "Someday you will find out that there is far more happiness in another's happiness than in your own"

This was a terrific way to start the lesson and connect to the theme of the story, 'The Gift of the Magi', which students read and analyzed during class. But beyond the nuts and bolts of the lesson were the incredible connections that students made between the story and the real world. People giving of themselves and taking joy in the happiness of others is a principle that we should all strive to live by. I want to take an opportunity to share some of the ways that our West Genesee Middle School community has given their time and energy in an effort to support and bring happiness to others.

 

Make A Wish: On Friday December 21, 18 students from the cast of "Yes Virginia" presented Macy's and Make-A-Wish with over 400 letters to Santa on National Believe Day. Because it was National Believe Day, the value of the letters double and the West Genesee community donated over $800 to Make-A-Wish! The students were able to perform a few numbers from the show for the shoppers at Macy's, helping to spread the message of "Yes Virginia" and Macy's - BELIEVE - and to show the power of a Wish!

Student Council Candy Cane Sales
Our student council sold candy canes during our lunch periods over the last few weeks and raised $600. (that's a lot of candy canes!) With the money we were able to purchase gift cards to help out eight WGMS families in need and hopefully help make their holiday season a little bit brighter. The entire student population was involved in this effort and all had bright red tongues to prove it!

Yahtzee!! Having fun at Game Club.

Teacher Time

Our teachers continue to give their time and energy to our students in a variety of ways outside of the school day. The many sports, clubs, and activities that occur at West Genesee Middle School are too many to even begin to mention. It is our students who benefit from these opportunities and we greatly appreciate the efforts of our staff to make them possible.

As we head into the new year I want to wish all of you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy 2013. Thank you for your continued involvement and support. Together we continue to improve and make West Genesee Middle School a very special place. It's going to be a great year to be a Wildcat!

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham

All of the little things that seemed so important last week in preparation for the holiday season suddenly seem a lot less significant given the tragic events of this past Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, the survivors, their families, the first responders and the entire Newtown, Connecticut community. It doesn't matter where you are from, what your background is, or what your faith is, seeing those images and hearing the stories from Sandy Hook is heartbreaking. As parents, the thought never crosses your mind when you send your kids off to school that they may not come home. As a father of four, two of whom are in school and attend Stonehedge, the events from this past Friday were very difficult to digest.

It is very natural for all of us to now question the safety of our own children. I can assure you that we do everything possible at West Genesee Middle School to keep your children safe. WGMS has a buzzer system to gain access to the building during the school day, along with a sign-in system, and cameras. As a building, we practice a variety of drills throughout the year, including fire drills, lock down drills, stay-in-place drills, and various evacuation drills. In addition, our Building Safety Team, District Safety Team and administrators coordinate routinely with law enforcement, create scenarios and conduct tabletop exercises all in an effort to be as prepared as possible. Our number one priority has been and continues to be maintaining the safety of our students and staff. 

We will have school counselors, school psychologists, and other trained staff members available for any students who need to talk with someone. If anyone has any specific questions or concerns please contact me directly at sdunham@westgenesee.org or at 487-4615.

Steve Dunham

Much to Be Thankful For

Turkey and stuffing and pies, oh my! It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a few days away. With the excitement of the holidays in the air, a lot of terrific and exciting things are happening at WGMS.

Parents getting the CCLS overview.

Curriculum Night

On November 15^th we had a terrific turnout for our first ever Curriculum Night at West Genesee Middle School. Parents were given an overview of the changes that the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have brought into all content areas. The focus was an overview of the Six ELA/Literacy Shifts, the Six Shifts in Mathematics, and what impact those shifts have in terms of what students will be doing in classes and what they will be asked to do on the State assessments. In addition, parents were given some excellent resources to help better support students at home. We will get those resources posted on the WGMS homepage for anyone who was unable to attend. The following link provides a nice overview of the Shifts for parents:  http://engageny.org/resource/shifts-for-students-and-parents/. In addition to the CCLS, parents were able to get an overview of the many resources our library has to offer to support our students both at school and at home. Many of those resources can be accessed through the library Blackboard site which you can get to from the WGMS homepage.

Curtain call for the cast of Yes Virginia

Yes, Virginia

West Genesee Middle School was proud to have Macy’s Presents: Yes Virginia, The Musical on November 16^th and 17^th. The scenes were incredible, the costumes were amazing, and our middle school students were spectacular. In every facet of production this was truly professional execution and a dynamic show. We should all be very proud of each and every student who was involved in this musical. For those of you like me who believe, we had a special guest from the North Pole help to make this a very special event. (hint: he was in a red suit...had a sleigh...see picture below for answer)

Students lending a helpful hand

Hurricane Relief

We were able to do our part as a building and help the district create 229 complete relief kits and 197 partial kits to be shipped to our neighbors in the New York City and Tri-State area that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Many students were able to bring in supplies and some of them were able to work at assembling the relief kits. I think the experience helped to give them a sense of ownership and a community service experience that should really become a part of everyone’s educational experience.  Thank you to everyone who was able to help contribute to this worthy cause.

Staying Connected

Our special guest at Yes Virginia: Santa Claus

Many of you are now following us through SNN. If you are not yet doing so I would encourage you to take the time and sign-up by clicking on the SNN logo in the upper right hand corner of our homepage. In addition, I have been making an effort to give you an inside look at the many wonderful things happening in our classrooms and at WGMS in general on a daily basis through Twitter. If you are not following me at @Sdunhamwgms I would encourage you to go to twitter.com, create an account, and get a behind the scenes look into our school.

As always, thank you for your continued involvement and support. Take some extra time this holiday to enjoy your family and friends. Relax, eat some turkey, watch some football, and I hope that you and your family have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham