SMOKE SIGNALS WESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
Issue #
10101
Smoke
Signals
Westwood
High
School
NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH: HOPI DANCERS
1st Edition of Smoke Signals
IN THIS ISSUE
Issue Date
December 16, 2014
by Wayne Hill
This newsletter is to keep you informed of
the activities and events involving our Native
youth at Westwood High School. With nearly
300 Native American students on the
Westwood campus it is essential that the
student, staff/teacher work together to
insure student success. We have an active
Native American Club that meets weekly to
build community among the students. Our
athletic teams are well represented by Native
American students. Our International
Baccalaureate Program is represented by
Strong native youths.
As we bring the first semester to a close let’s
begin to build on our future. We have some
terrific young people who are destined for
greatness
12th Annual Powwow
December 17, 2014 we will host our first
meeting to discuss fund raising opportunities
and plan for the powwow. Loretta Sanders
with the Phoenix School District has been
very helpful with identifying Host Drums,
MC, and coordinating vendors. Saturday,
March 21, 2014 is the date of the Powwow. It
is one week earlier to better fit within the
powwow calendar. Please join us at 6:00 PM
in room P66 on the Westwood campus.
Native American Club
Introducing the 2014-15 club officers.
Selected as the co-Presidents are Senior
Nicole Lucero and Junior Shantee Slender.
Their leadership skills have grown
immensely. Junior Shandiin Gorman was
selected as the secretary, Senior Quiana
Yazzie serves as the treasurer, and Freshman
Galen Gerwitz serves as the Program &
Events coordinator.
PERFECT AND EXCELLENT ATTENDANCE
BREAKFAST
This fine group of young people work hard at
their assigned positions in addition to being
outstanding students.
The club members attended all home
football games working together to sell Fry
Bread. It was fun and it was very tasty.
The members assembled a float to enter into
the 2014 NARD parade. A huge thank you to
co-club sponsor Mrs. Beasley and Mr.
Gerwitz for their time and effort to make this
successfully. The students worked well
together to design a float that earned a third
place finish. Congratulations.
The club members are in the planning stages
of hosting the First Annual Gathering of the
Native Clubs. They plan to invite all MPS
high school Native American Clubs for a
fun day of competition.
The club volunteered their time to visit
Emerson Elementary Big brothers and sisters
program. They played games and were a hit
among the little ones. The shear enjoyment
for both the little ones and the big ones will
develop into a strong community.
Every club meeting begins with a team
building activity and then onto business.
For Halloween, immediately after school the
club held a movie night. They had so much
fun they decided to hold another movie night
to watch the good old classic, “Smoke
Signals”. Mr. Hill spent a brief moment
SMOKE SIGNALS WESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL | Issue #
sharing with the students the book of which
the movie was based upon.
individual to discuss their academic progress
and college readiness.
A part of the fund raising efforts by the Club
members will be used to honor the senior
club members who are in good standing.
Many options have been discussed including
end of year party and designing a Pendleton
stole to be worn during graduation.
Native American Heritage Month
The club meets every Thursday from 3:15PM
to 4:00 PM. Students come join us and bring
your ideas for fun.
Attendance
Students with Perfect (15) and Excellent (12)
attendance were invited to a breakfast to
honor their attendance achievement. A great
improvement was seen from last year. As this
semester comes to an end, we will again
honor students who achieved perfect and
excellent attendance for the second quarter.
One student stands out above all... senior
Mateo Treetop has maintained perfect
attendance since 7th grade. Congratulations
Mateo on a job well done.
Student of the Month
Students are nominated by their teachers
Mrs. Clinton compiles the list and forwards it
to Vice Principal Mrs. Goolsby for the final
selection.
Senior Mysty Hayes was selected as the
student of the month for August. Midnight
Joe was chosen as the student of the month
for September, Samuel Johnson for the
month of October, and for the month of
November, Zander Ashley.
In addition, three Native American Students
were selected among the entire Westwood
population. Congratulations to Nicole
Lucero (and Rotary Student of the month),
Amenda Nez, and Elizabeth Joe.
Congratulation to all of our students on your
attendance achievement.
Shield Connection
The Shield Connection team was first
introduced to the students during an
assembly. The students were given the
opportunity to meet each staff member and
become acquainted with the program and all
other on campus programs to help them be
successful. The students were highly
encouraged to attend tutoring sessions in the
morning before school, during lunch, Warrior
Time, and after school.
To insure students were fully aware of the
help available for them, the Shield
Connection staff meet with the student
Students and staff worked together
celebrating the month of November with
activities with the entire student population.
On Native Bling day students proudly wore
their native jewelry. On National Rock your
Moccs day students wore their favorite
moccasins. We celebrated during lunch
periods with friendship dances and many of
our students performed cultural dances.
We had the pleasure of having Mary Kim
Titla who spoke on career in the media. As
always, her presentation was right on the
mark. Wendy Weston from the Heard
Museum shared the true story of
Thanksgiving.
Thank you staff, students, and parents for a
job well done.
Parents
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extracurricular activities or character
education.
You can help Mesa students and
possibly lower your tax bill by making a
donation.
The state tax credit is available
to ALL qualifying individual Arizona state
taxpayers. You do not need to have a child
enrolled in a school to take advantage of this
state tax credit. It is always best to consult a
tax adviser to see if you qualify for the dollarfor-dollar credit.
A tax credit is different from a deduction,
because you may subtract the whole
contribution from your Arizona state tax bill.
An individual may contribute as much as
$200, and a couple filing jointly may
contribute as much as $400 to a public school
and receive the money back in the form of a
tax credit.
To be eligible for a state tax credit, your
You are the most important part of your
students’ success in high school. Encouraging
them to attend school daily is vital to their
success.
contribution must be received or
During the day, each teacher may spend
about 50 minutes with your child with
anywhere from 25 to 35 students. If your
child seeks tutoring with the Shield Team,
he/she will receive about 30 minutes of one
on one instruction time.
refundable.
With that being said, you as her/his parent
will spend much more time with their
education. It is not important to have
firsthand knowledge of the subject but it is
most important for you to manage your
child’s homework time.
2. Click on the Donate Online tab - This
will take you to a page where you will create
an account.
Parents’ sense of efficacy for helping their
children succeed in school focuses on the
extent to which parents believe that through
their involvement they can exert positive
influence on their children’s educational
outcomes. Even well-designed school
programs inviting involvement will meet with
only limited success if they do not address
issues of parental role construction and
parental sense of efficacy for helping children
succeed in school.
We are on the same team with the same
goals. We both want to see your son or
daughter find success and prepare for the
future.
ECA Donation
Arizona law provides a tax credit for
contributions to public schools to support
postmarked by Dec. 31.
Please note: ECA donations are not
http://www.mpsaz.org/community/eca/
1. Click on the "Extracurricular Activity
(ECA) State Tax Credit" link.
3. Under the Shop/Donate section click on
"Items at All Schools". - Once you created
an account you will be on a page that has
your name and 3 categories.
4.
Click on "High Schools"
5.
Click on "Westwood"
6. Click on "Donation-ECA Tax Credit
Eligible"
7.
Click on "A-F -ECA Account Names"
8. Scroll down to Native American
Club add your amount and checkout.
9. Most important - After you have
donated, send this email to you family and
friends.
Go Warriors.
SMOKE SIGNALS WESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL | Issue #
Warrior Time
Native American Heritage Month. Quiana
Yazzzie, Nicole Lucero, & Mrs. Clinton
Volunteer at the Mesa Powwow
Josh Henry preparing for the Fry bread sell
Shenaeah Bahe and Amenda Nez making the
dough
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