Westmont High School Newsletter
Spring, 2014
Abra Motta, Principal
Ann Mekis, Vice Principal
Principal’s News
Important Dates
PTSA - Library - 4/22 @ 7:00 PM
First of all, I continue to be amazed at
the amount of parent and community
support our students and staff receive
on our campus. Our PTSA, headed by
our president, Michele Mandarino,
provided a lovely brunch for us this
spring and we were all so appreciative
of the generosity and care shown. They
are a hardworking, wonderful group who
could always use folks to assist them in
their variety of projects! Parent
involvement makes our school
community better and enhances our
students’ experience.
As our seniors continue to receive their
college acceptance letters, I’d like to
note the time and effort put into our
Grad Night Committee Meeting
College and Career Center. Rene Klaus
Library - 4/28 @ 6:00 PM
and Gail Arenberg work diligently to
provide needed services to enhance our
Spring Concert - Quad
5/2 @ 7:30 PM
students’ college and career going
culture at Westmont. As we all know,
Junior/Senior Prom @ Club Auto
talking about future plans and preparing
Sport, San Jose – 5/3
for said plans needs to happen at every
7:30 to 11:30
grade level, in all ways possible.
AP Testing – 5/5 – 5/16
Exposing our students to various
representatives from companies all over
PTSA - Library – 5/13 @ 7:00 PM
the valley and colleges all over the
Senior Recognition Night
nation is key; and Rene and Gail work
Cafeteria -5/27 @ 6:30
with Kim Witthaus and Aaron Duron in
Graduation in the Football Stadium our guidance office to create these
experiences for our students. A
6/5 @ 5:00 PM
(Tickets not required)
conversation regarding GPA’s went
around my dinner table last night. “But
E-Waste Fundraiser - Grad Night
4/26 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Mom Freshman year doesn’t
count!!!!” As I like to say, it ALL
counts, The exposure our children
receive to all that is available to
them during their school years and
beyond is key, and we are so lucky to
have this service on our campus.
This year continues to bring the
change we were promised; we are
continuing the Common Core
transition and working with the state
regarding the changes to our testing
program. Wendy Lawson, Ashleigh
Tighe (WHS’ Math and English
Department, respectively) and David
Foster, Executive Director of the
Silicon Valley Math Initiative,
presented to our community an
informative and engaging
presentation this month, and if you
were not able to brave the pouring
rain and come listen to them speak, I
will make sure the Power Point
presentations are available on our
website soon. We are all in this
together, and we will continue to
inform, educate and support with all
that we are able.
I hope you all enjoyed your Spring
break…June isn’t too far away!
Warmest regards,
Abra Motta, Principal
Message from your Vice Principal, Ann Mekis
In January, we asked students to submit their course requests for the fall. As you may have seen, we used
new forms for this process in order to actively promote students choosing a UC/CSU approved path. Because of
this push, students enrolled in the college-required second year of language and third year of math have
increased. We are thrilled to see our World Language department grow with an additional teacher joining our
Spanish team, and Mandarin being expanded to include levels 2 and 3.
After using the information we received from the course request process to determine how many sections of
each class we will be offering, we are now in the process of assigning students to their classes. We hope to
have a mailing home within the next 2 weeks that lists your student’s courses for next year. We believe that
providing this information early gives students the opportunity to work with their counselors to address any
questions they have before they leave for summer break.
Page 2 of 4
Westmont High School Newsletter
Westmont Thrills the State Thespian Festival
After a year of dedicated preparation
and brilliant coordination by Thespian
Officer, Audrey Twilleager, Westmont
High School Drama Department’s
Thespian Troupe 2904 took 37 students
& 5 chaperones March 28th to join over
1,600 other high school drama students
last weekend at the annual State
Thespian Festival in Southern
California. Westmont’s Thespians once
again showed that they mean business
when it comes to sharing their passion
for their art and placed really well
throughout the weekend’s events.
Caption describing
picture or graphic.
Photos above courtesy of Brandon
Thomas, Cobalt Imaging
There were three main stage shows
produced over the course of 24 hours;
each of them had an Assistant Director
and three of them were from
Westmont! Annette Brennan was
selected to be the Assistant Director for
the California Playworks project to
produce a California student’s original
play. Chris Thomas was selected to be
the Assistant Director and Ali Molaei was
selected as Choreographer for Act I of
the All State Show.
Sarah Aquilina slayed the room with her
awesome rendition of “I Know Where
I’ve Been” in the Karaoke competition.
16 of our Westmont students received
Accomplished ratings (the highest rating
achievable) for their Individual Events
and the following students received
Individual Event Call Backs: Eden Rousso
& Bella Wilcox for Duet Musical, Nick
Kuster-Tabares, Chris Thomas, Elizabeth
Mercado and Vinnie Milanes for
Monologue. Out of 267 students who
performed Monologues, Vinnie Milanes
was ranked number two in the State of
California for his stunning interpretation
of John Merrick as the title character in
The Elephant Man and his hilariously
funny portrayal of David from
Tomorrow’s Wish.
Of the 54 students selected for the All
State Show, 14 of them were
outstanding Westmont Thespians. Actors
were Nima Rakhshanifar, Andy Cormier,
Eden Rousso, Bella Wilcox, Maddie
Morris, Ryan Mohs, who were cast in Act
One; Audrey Twilleager and Elizabeth
Mercado were cast in Act Two and
behind the scenes; Technicians Sabrina
Thomas, Jennifer Nakajima, Scott
Cohen, Stephanie Thomas were chosen
Technical Crews of the All State Show.
In the production categories, Alvin
Corhodzic and Ella Tarczy received first
place in California Showcase for the
scene from Class Action by Brad Slate.
Chris Thomas’s production of Small
World won second place in the
SceneFest competition and our thrilling
production of Sweeney Todd, directed
by Senior, Annette Brennan and
Choreographed by Junior, Ali Molaei
starring 15 of our Westmont Thespians
received an instant standing ovation
from the entire delegation, won first
place in Play Marathon, and was the talk
of the festival for the entire weekend as
many of our actors were followed by
other fan-students from other troupes
all over the Upland campus. Lastly,
Eden Rousso received a $1,000
scholarship for her college career.
Notes from the Music Department
The 2014 Campbell Union High School District Music Festival was a HUGE success with over 600 students participating and over
200 Westmont students involved. Our “Spring into Summer” Music Concert will take place on May 2nd featuring Concert Choir,
Chamber Chorale, Legion Acapella Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Wind Ensemble, and the award-winning Jazz Ensemble.
We expect to add an additional 100+ students to the music department in the fall. Spring Guard & Percussion Workshops start
soon. More info is on the WHS music website. Marching band will participate in the 2014 WBA State Championships in
November while marching in a very competitive 4A class. We will also participate in a SoCal tour spring 2015 visiting the music
departments of UCLA, USC, St. Mary’s and then a trip to Disneyland.
The sound of Westmont is alive and well! If you haven’t friended us on Facebook….do so now! You will be glad you did.
Page 3 of 4
Westmont High School Newsletter
Report from Athletic Boosters
Athletic Boosters is a dedicated
volunteer group of parents of Westmont
athletes who provide funding for ALL
athletics at Westmont High School.
Together with volunteer parents and
students we raise funds through our
snack shack and other special
fundraisers to provide much needed
equipment and uniforms. For our 20132014 school year Boosters has donated
over $16,000 in funding for Westmont
athletic programs ranging from
swimming flags to volleyball jerseys and
softball and baseball bats.
nominations for all positions at the April
and May boosters meetings and vote on
new officers at the May meeting. We
need to fill the following positions:
President, Vice President, Treasurer,
Secretary, Membership and Volunteer
Chairperson. Please email Doug Moe,
dougmoe63@yahoo.com or Victoria
Bebee, vbebee@comcast.net if you are
interested in any of these positions.
Athletic Booster Meetings:
May 19th, 6:00 p.m. in the library
June 2nd, 6:00 p.m. in the library
Nominations for all Board Positions are
open for next year. The Westmont
athletics boosters will accept
PTSA Link for Amazon.com
Westmont’s PTSA has earned over $500 this year from friends
like you using our links to start their Amazon.com shopping.
Amazon Associate Program is a silent fundraiser, just like Escrip.
It doesn’t cost you anything. You simply do the things you
already do….shop at Amazon and Westmont wins! You can find
the shopping link on the front page of our website:
www.westmontptsa.org. Let’s continue to raise money, so we
can support our Warriors!
Westmont PTSA Needs You!
We are looking for PTSA Board Members for the 2014-2014 School
Year. It is a great way to get involved. The current President and
Secretary will be running again. We need a VP of Fundraising, VP of
Membership and a Treasurer. The biggest job in any of these positions
is having a computer and being email accessible.
Nomination forms and board descriptions can be found on our
website, www.westmontptsa.org. Fill out the form and drop it off at
the main office or email it to Nicole Shaddox at
nrshaddox@yahoo.com. Questions? Email Nicole or any current board
member. Being on the board is not a lot of work, but without a
board, we cannot continue to provide teacher grants and services to
our students.
President: Michele Mandarino – mandarino4@sbcglobal.net
Secretary: Nicole Shaddox – nrshaddox@yahoo.com
Treasurer – Darcey Larder – darceylarder@comcast.net
VP Fundraising: Stacy Shilperoort – sschilperoort@gmail.com
and Sue Odom – suecoron@gmail.com
VP Membership: Marcie Bellicitti – mbellicitti@yahoo.com
Grad Night 2014
The Grad Night Committee has done a
tremendous job of ensuring that this
year’s Grad Night is something that the
Senior Class of 2014 is sure to
remember. Thanks to all the volunteers
that helped coordinate the various
fundraisers to help offset the costs, as
well as enable us to provide for the
extra activities for our Grads.
Get your tickets now! Tickets for Grad
Night can still be purchased at the $100
rate, but on May 5th, prices go up to
$120. Grad Night is at Rock N’ Jump in
San Jose and will take place from 10:30
p.m. to 4 a.m. Transportation, food and
entertainment are included in the one
price! Grad night packets can be picked
up in the main office, from senior
English teachers, on the PTSA website
under “Forms”, or on School Loop.
Don’t let your child miss this memorable
evening! Questions! Contact Michele at
mandarino4sbcglobal.net
Guidance Advisor Advice
SENIORS: Complete your Naviance to say which college you
will be attending so we know where to send your final
transcript. Also complete your Senior Graduation Plan Survey,
linked from the school website. There is still time to apply
for scholarships.
JUNIORS: If you have not already taken your SAT and/or
ACT, please sign up today. The links are sat.collegeboard.org
and actstudents.org. Consider taking SAT subject tests if you
are talking any AP classes currently. Summer internships or
enrichment programs are an excellent way to make your
college application more competitive. Check the “colleges
tab” on Naviance under the Summer Enrichment category.
Also, complete your brag sheet under the “About Me” tab,
this will enable your guidance advisor to write you a
letter of recommendation if you are applying for private
schools or if you need scholarships.
SOPHOMORES/FRESHMEN: Start formulating a list of
colleges to begin researching. While traveling this
summer, check out all the local colleges to see where
you might be interested in going.
Aaron Duron, Guidance Advisor (A-L)
aduron@cuhsd.org
Kim Witthaus, Guidance Advisor (M-Z)
kwitthaus@cuhsd.org
Seniors
A mailing will be going out soon to all seniors regarding
graduation and end of year senior events. Please be on the
lookout for that mailing! All information will also be posted
on the WHS website and Schoolloop!
Campbell Union High School District
Westmont High School
4805 Westmont Avenue
Campbell, CA 95008
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