Four West Aurora High School bands will perform in a concert at 7 p.m., May 14 in the school auditorium, 1201. W. New York St., Aurora. Enter door 18.

The free concert will feature the Concert Band, Freshman Band, Symphonic Band and Symphonic Winds.

At 7 p.m. on May 16, the Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble will perform a themed concert, “Music from Around the World.” Tickets are $5 at the auditorium door. West Aurora and broadcast partner High School Cube also will provide an experimental live webcast of the concert. To watch and listen online, click here.

West High bands are directed by Rodney Schueller, Patty Sampson and John Sierakowski.

West Aurora High School’s final choral concert of the year, which will feature all nine of the school’s choirs, is at 7p.m., Thursday, May 9 in the auditorium, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora.

Tickets are $2 and are available from a choir student or at the door.

The concert seeks an answer to "Why We Sing" through a varied repertoire of music that includes everything from a cappella arrangements of pop songs to standard choral gems

Each month, staff members at West Aurora High School are asked to identify studetns who have best reflected one of the three points of our mission. The awards are for students: who show a desirre to develop "Skills for Life-Long Learning"; who display a "Sense of Global Consciousness"; or for developing in themselves or others "A Sense of Self Worth".

We are proud to announce April's Blackhawk Pride Award winners: Margaret Bailey (11), Taylor Gonzales (12), Edwin Hernandez (10), Graham Isaacson (12), Vairamuthu Jayakumar (10), Mariah Jones (10), Jason Jude (9), Jessica Morales (10), Brenda Norman-Campbell (11), Alyssa Quinn (9), Leah Rachow (9), Cynthia Saucedo (10), Charles Seltzer (9), Nereyda Tejeda (10), Emily Walsh (9), and Brianne Whipple (11).

These students, their parents, and the staff members who nominated them were honored at a breakfast on Tuesday, April 30.

• Register at: www.2nd2None5K.com. (Pre-registration closes April 26for a discounted rate).


• Register as a walk-in from 6 a.m.-7:30 a.m. race day. Race day registration will be $35 for adults and $15 for youths under 19. 


• There's still time to Volunteer on race day.  Contact Denise Elsbree at 630-256-4506.

With the exception of after-school daycare, all after-school activities are cancelled in School District 129 for April 18.

These cancellations include all West Aurora High School after-school athletics and activities, including the Jazz performance at Mullen's this evening, and all Communities in Schools “My Time” programs.

The School District's phone system is being taken down at 11:05 a.m. today for approximately a half hour to fix a critical problem.

NBC Chicago Channel 5 aired a story during its April 5 newscast on the School Dist. 129 gifted sixth-graders who won the Verizon Illinois middle school app contest.

Click here to view the news story.

The students, who call their group "The Terabytes,” are Jarod Gollwitzer, Arturo Saucedo, Darius Townes, David Hunger, Brian Montellano, Abel Varela, Ethan Mercado and Logan Wood. Their teacher is Andrew McCann.

The students, who are in a self-contained gifted classroom at Jewel Middle School, designed a game to help people learn the periodic table. The app is called the "Periodic Freestyler." A video of the student’s contest submission can be seen here.

The students were assisted by representatives from Aurora-based Cabot Microelectronics, who showed the students how to take an idea from a concept to a final product.

The School Board is recognizing the Terabytes, their teacher and Cabot representatives at 6p.m., April 8, in the West Aurora High School library.

West Aurora High School senior Sean Kent and freshman Jovan Suvira both have qualified for the State Mathematics contest sponsored by the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics to be held May 4 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Kent won first place in the individual contest at the regional competition for the third year in a row. West’s math coaches are Joe Maston and Natalie Gross.

West Aurora High School recently inducted 42 students into French Honor Society and 133 students into Spanish Honor Society.  To qualify, students had to earn a 3.67 grade point average in French or Spanish and at least a 3.0 GPA in all other classes for the past 3 semesters.

Inducted into the Sociedad  Honoraria  Hispánica were:

Bianca Aguirre III, Zuleika Alcaraz, Jacob Andalcio, Monica Argueta, Maria Argyrou, Valeria Barragan, Samantha Bennett, Vanessa Bentley, Cristian Blanco, Hailee Brauer, Kristen Butler, Jorge Calderon, Matthew Carder, June Michael Castro, Nicholas Catania, Katherine Cheng, Stephanie Cheng, Karsyn Clark, Sariah Compton, Scarlett Cortez, Isabella Crawl, Armando Davila, Carlos Diego and Gianna Drager.

Benjamin Dray, Brianna Duffy, Brandon Farias, Megan Fitzgerald, Zachary Flynn, Ludo Fodale, Veronika Fogel, Jacob Foote, Brianna Franco, Nicholasa Garcia, Johana Geist, Marie Galmiche, Miranda Gollwitzer, BreAnna Guerrero, Janera Hagans, Melissa Hill, Carli Hix, Michael Hizel, Victoria Hunger, Sarah Hussaini, James Iglesias, Anne Johansen, Noah Johnson, Mallory Jones, Emily Kay and Max Kim.

Josiah Kinney, Chris Koulos, Elizabeth Kulisek, Brandon La, Kayi Lawson, Riley LeMaire, Kaitlyn Leung, Bailey Lewis, Jared Liebelt, Erin Lisac, Claire Loran, Rodolfo Lozano, Ashlynn Maczko, Maya Marion, Alexandra Martinez, Michael Mascetti, Kortney Mavros, Erika Mayer, Megan McGary, Hannah Medernach, Jessica Mikyska, Joshua Morano, Jimena Luz Moreno, Khalea Neal and Annika Ness.

Jessica Nguyen, Kerri Olson, Dylan Oncken, Katelyn Ortlieb, Kajal Patel, Madeline Patrick, Becca Pearson, Samantha Perez, Kendall Podschweit, Taylor Podschweit, Arvinto Pratomo, Felicia Ptak, Jessica Puga, Zsa Zsa Quach, Mireya Rios, Alexandra Robertson, Christopher Rodriguez, Emely Rodriguez, Austin Rosenwinkel, Holly Ruby, Madison Runyan, Hayden Sak, Claudia Sanchez and Theresa Santos.

Emma Scatterday, Marissa Schmid, Rebecca Seidelman, Hiba Shahid, Tyler Shliff, Carmen Shragal, Ashley Shropshire, Tyler Simpson, Elizabeth Skaggs, Jessica Smith, Makena Smith, Emma Spagnola, William Spooner, Emily Stefancic, Colin Stewart, Emmalea Stirn, Shannon Sullivan, Meredith Teuscher, Soleil Torres, Jimmy Tunney, Arthur Tyrawa, Matthew Urness, Kimiya Vatani and Francheska Viejon.

Noelia Chloe Villanueva, Khaunsavan Vongphakdy, Rachel Waltermire, Bryan Watkins, Kimberly Wrona, Jason Zak, German Zamudio, Abriya Zeitz, Shelby Zima and Josephine Zuniga.

Inducted into the Société  Honoraire de Français were:

Christopher Abell, Gagriela Aguilar, Antwan Ahmed, Mariserg Anonales, Wyatt Augustyniak, David Ballines, Nicolas Barrios, Mariana Beltran, Daniela Bueno, Lezly Castellanos, Alyssa DeBolt, Corentin Degraeve, Liz Dominguez, Danielle Fogle, Cherrie Francisco, Omar Gomez, Abigail Hernandez, David Hoch II, Meenhaj Kabir, Sarah Knauf, Jessica Lindberg, Melissa Medellin and Rachel Metcalfe.

Alec Murray, Tresor Mutangana, Nancy Ortiz , Yosemite Pinedo, Morgan Poppen, Valeria Ramirez, Samara Renovato, Ariana Rodriguez, Dakota Rolfe, Vanessa Romero, Andrea Sanchez, Claudia Sanchez, Makena Smith, Erika Smithey, Jocelyn Soto, Lisa Stone, Dana Taki, Erik Torres and Jennifer Vargas. 

DECA is a national association of marketing students, a chapter of which is part of West High’s cooperative work programs. 

West Aurora High School Bands will perform two concerts on Thursday, Feb. 28, in the auditorium, 1201 W. New York St. Aurora.

A 6 p.m., the Freshman Band, Symphonic Winds and Wind Symphony will perform. This concert had been scheduled earlier in the week, but postponed because of weather.

At 8 p.m., the Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will perform. This concert originally was scheduled to start earlier in the evening.

Please enter through door 18 east side of building.

Each month, staff members at West Aurora High School are asked to identify studetns who have best reflected one of the three points of our mission. The awards are for students: who show a desirre to develop "Skills for Life-Long Learning"; who display a "Sense of Global Consciousness"; or for developing in themselves or others "A Sense of Self Worth".

We are proud to announce February's Blackhawk Pride Award winners: Jennifer Aguilar (9), Al Ameer Ajeena (12), Teighan Brummel (9), Bridget Chaidez (12), Raul Chaidez (12), Liliana Espinal (10), Gabriel Manzano (9), Annel Medrano (11), Khalea Neal (12), Justerica Pogue (12), Isiah Soto (10), Mary Sutarik (10), and Julia Van Kampen (12).

These students, their parents, and the staff members who nominated them were honored at a breakfast on Tuesday, February 26.

West Aurora High School Releases Fall Semester Honor Roll

High Honor Roll (3.75 and above)  http://www.sd129.org/database/accomplishments_honor_roll/west/High%20Honor%20Roll%20Semester%201%202012-2013.pdf

Honor Roll (3.0 - 3.749)        http://www.sd129.org/database/accomplishments_honor_roll/west/Honor%20Roll%20Semester%201%202012-2013.pdf

We are informing parents of students in grades 6 through 12 of a student survey that will be administered at your school called the Illinois 5Essentials Survey: Organizing Schools for Improvement. This survey asks students about their experiences in school. Having direct information from students is critical for developing plans to improve schools.

Students’ identities will be completely confidential. Teachers or administrators will never see individual responses to survey questions and will only see summary level responses, such as the percentage of students’ who agree or disagree to a survey item.

You may review a copy of the questions asked of your student(s). Survey questions can be found here:

• Illinois 5Essentials Parent Notification Letter in English


• Illinois 5Essentials Parent Notification Letter in Spanish


• Illinois 5Essentials Sample Survey Questions

If you DO NOT want your daughter or son to participate, please print the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Notification letter, fill out the information requested and return the letter to your child’s school office by Friday, February 15th.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Each month, staff members at West Aurora High School are asked to identify students who have best reflected one of the three points of our mission. The awards are for students: who show a desire to develop "Skills for Life-Long Learning"; who display a "Sense of Global Consciousness"; or for developing in themselves or others "A Sense of Self Worth".

We are proud to announce January's Blackhawk Pride Award winners: De'Shon Baldwin (11), Ana Garcia (9), Angyela Hernandez (10), Vidalia Mendoza (9), Maridalia Ortiz (10), Dominique Purchase (12), Nicole Schmidt (9), Jose Luis Silva (10), Maria Guadalupe Silva (12), Samantha Spooner (12), Markaya Talbert (9), Josh Thomas (9), Stephany Vuelvas (9), Rachel Waltermire (10), and Zachary Wuthrich (12).

These students, their parents, and the staff members who nominated them were honored at a breakfast on Tuesday, January 29.

A live video webcast of the West Aurora boys basketball game at East Aurora begins at 7:10 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19.

This jointly produced webcast will be available at both www.sd129.org and www.d131.org. In the Aurora area, WBIG 1280 AM radio also will carry the game.

The announcing duties will be shared by Neal Ormond, the voice of the Blackhawks; East Aurora’s announcer Bob Burnell and Chris Faber. Tip-off of this classic rivalry game is at 7:30 p.m.

Audio webcast Friday, Jan. 18

An audio-only webcast of West Aurora’s boys basketball game at Glenbard East on Friday, Jan. 18 will begin at 7:15 p.m. It will be available at www.sd129.org and also can be heard on WBIG.

This year’s live webcasts are being produced with partner High School Cube.

To listen or watch the webcasts on a computer, one must have:

*An active connection to the Internet. For best performance, connection speed should be 56bps minimum; DSL or higher is recommended for best performance, particularly for video;

*A Flash or Windows Media Player; and

*A functioning sound card and speakers.

A live video webcast of the West Aurora boys basketball home game against West Chicago begins at 7:10 p.m., Friday, Jan. 11.

A link to this Blackhawk DuPage Valley Conference game will be available at www.sd129.org.

Neal Ormond, the voice of the Blackhawks for more than 49 years, and broadcaster Chris Faber will provide pre-game information and interviews prior to announcing the game. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

At Lockport Saturday, Jan. 12

A live audio webcast of the West Aurora boys basketball game at Lockport begins at 7:15 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 12. A link to the game also will be available at www.sd129.org.

This year’s live webcasts are being produced with partner High School Cube.  In Aurora, the games also can be heard on WBIG 1280 AM radio.

 To listen or watch the webcasts on a computer, one must have:

* An active connection to the Internet. For best performance, connection speed should be 56bps minimum; DSL or higher is recommended for best performance, particularly for video;

*A Flash or Windows Media Player; and

*A functioning sound card and speakers.

Five more School Dist. 129 teachers recently have earned National Board certification, bringing the total number in the district to 37.

The newly certified teachers are:

• Kathy Brown, kindergarten teacher at Fearn Elementary;

• Sarah Kanive, 1st grade teacher at Fearn;

• Danielle Rios, Diversified teacher at West Aurora High School;

• Elizabeth Smith, Science teacher at West; and

• Alexandra Scott, Science teacher at West.

A certification pinning ceremony for these teachers will occur at 6 p.m., Feb. 4, in the high school library, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora, at the beginning of the School Board meeting.

Fearn LMC director Carol Wicks was the facilitator for this year’s cohort. She received assistance from West High science teacher Bob Lundquist. Both Wicks and Lundquist are National Board certified teachers.

To gain national certification, each of these teachers went through a rigorous, year-long process with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards during which they had to master the most effective teaching practices.

 

A recent report by Harvard’s Strategic Data Project on the nation’s second-largest school district found that, on average, National Board certified teachers in Los Angeles public schools significantly outperformed peers with the same level of experience. This confirms earlier studies, which also found that students taught by National Board certified teachers score better on achievement tests than students whose teachers are not Board certified.

West Aurora High School’s step team won the DuPage Valley Conference (DVC) championship on Dec. 12 by earning first place in the DVC Spirit Spectacular competition at Naperville North High School.

The winning step team members are Audasia Armstrong, Shardae Monoe Bailey, Shyanne Jaque Bailey, Kaylan Jordan Barreto, Alexus Monique Maxine Epps, Arielle Nicole Flint, Chantele Tyreese Hawkins, Cynthia Hidalgo, Jadae Mone Jamieson, Lania Richa Jones, Tesha Renee Knox, Skyler Annette McGregory, Evelyn Meraz, Derrica Danielle Moore, Jasmine Nicole Penson, Justerica A. Pogue, Brittany Rodgers, Adina Yaphah Salter, Diamond Sebastion, Natorie J. Taylor and Kiana Trenise Thompson.

The team is coached by Teresa Towles and Pam Wilkins. West Aurora’s cheer and poms teams also competed in the Spirit Spectacular.

The West Aurora High School Career Technical Education (CTE) Department recently presented 15 students with its “CTE Honor Award” to recognize students that have gone above and beyond the expectations in the classroom. 

These students have displayed characteristics and qualities that separate them from their classmates.  Each semester every CTE teacher selects one student from their classes to be their nominee for this honor.

 

Below are the names of the students, the class and the teacher.

 

Business:

 

• Osvaldo Aguirre – Financial Accounting – Adam Butcher

• Emily Poss – Business Law – Casey Miller

• Jacob Heinz – Business Internship – Phyllis Wilson

• Angela Lin – Intro to Business – Melissa Cikesh

• Courtney Stiefel – Accounting/Sports Marketing -- Emily Kowalski

 

Family Consumer Science:

 

• Madison Hoffman -- Early Childhood Occupations – Meghan Jones

• Joel Klein – Clothing Independent Study – Pam Rutigliano

• Thomas Lawson – Foods – Shawn Barnett

• Catalina Campos – Culinary 4 – Linda Brennan

• Dishe Ransfer – Foods – Marjorie Armstrong

• J.D. Litaker – Culinary 1 – Katey Armstrong

• Veronica Guajardo – Culinary 1 – Shannon Hernandez

• Sarah Chrenko – Fashion Merchandising – Stacey Enslen

 

Industrial Technology

 

• Anthony Gambino – Building Trades – Steve Freitag

• Ryan Newendyke – Tech Drafting – Dave Hammarberg

A live video webcast of the West Aurora boys basketball home game against Glenbard North begins at 7:10 p.m., Friday, Dec. 14.

A link to the 5-1 Blackhawks’ next DuPage Valley Conference game will be available at www.sd129.org.

Neal Ormond, the voice of the Blackhawks for more than 49 years, and broadcaster Chris Faber will provide pre-game information and interviews prior to announcing the game. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

This year’s live video webcasts are being produced with partner High School Cube. 

 To watch the webcast on a computer one must have:

* An active connection to the Internet. For best performance, connection speed should be 56bps minimum; DSL or higher is recommended for best performance, particularly for video;

*A Flash or Windows Media Player; and

*A functioning sound card and speakers.

West Aurora High School’s Lauren Carlini has been named the 2012-13 Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year.

The senior All-American, who will be attending the University of Wisconsin next fall, was surprised during her morning economics class on Dec. 11 when Olympic Silver Medalist April Ross walked in unexpectedly to present her with the National Player of the Year trophy.

Immediately after that, the school held an assembly in the gym so Carlini could share the moment with her classmates, coaches, teachers and family.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Carlini as the nation’s best high school volleyball player.  Carlini has maintained a 3.73 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of the Geneva Police Department, the Illinois Math and Science Academy and as a youth volleyball coach.

Under West Aurora Coach Kari Nicholson, the 6-foot-1 senior recorded 333 kills, 303 assists, 156 digs, 92 service aces and 50 blocks this past season while posting a kill percentage of .594 and leading the Blackhawks (32-6) to the Class 4A sectional semifinals. The 2012 Chicago Tribune Volleyball Player of the Year and a 2012-13 American Volleyball Coaches Association Under Armour First Team All-American, Carlini earned MVP honors in leading the U.S. Girls Youth National Team to a gold medal at the 2011 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. She also started for Team USA at that summer's FIVB Girls Youth World Championships in Turkey, and is the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2013 as rated by PrepVolleyball.com.

A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Carlini from more than 400,000 high school volleyball players nationwide. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports.

Congratulations to the winner of the National Volleyball Player of the Year Award from Gatorade with a special appearance from London Olympic Silver Medal winner!

Dist. 129 students Madeline Bozik and Ariel Smith were among 10 students recently to receive Ted Brattin Civic Youth Awards for their community service.

The awards are sponsored annually by the Aurora Navy League, Aurora-Naperville Rotary Club, Aurora University and Beacon News.

Bozik, a student at Herget Middle School, is a volunteer for raising funds and awareness for cancer patients. She grew out her hair to a point where she was able to donate four 17" braids to Locks of Love for pediatric cancer patients. In addition, Bozik has organized her own charity, "Maddie's Mitten March," now in its fourth year of collecting, cleaning and donating outdoor winter apparel for the poor. A nine-year Girl Scout, Bozik has helped organize annual food drives to benefit the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry and written letters of support to service men and women serving overseas.

Smith is a member of the West Aurora High School National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society. She served more than 100 hours volunteering last summer as a teacher's assistant on behalf of Main Baptist Church in Aurora. She also has been active in the Quad County Urban League’s Tomorrow's Scientists, Technicians and Managers College Prep program. Smith also volunteers at the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Sow a Seed Foundation and area nursing homes.

Come watch the West Aurora High School Poms squad perform its holiday routine on Dec. 14 – and bring food.

The Poms are holding a food drive for the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry and are asking patrons to bring non-perishable food donations to the home boys basketball games against Glenbard North.

The sophomore game is at 6 p.m. and the varsity at 7:30 p.m.  The poms will perform a holiday routine at half-time of the varsity game.

Forty-three current or recently graduated West Aurora High School students have earned an AP Scholar Award for 2012 by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams.

The AP Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school and receive college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the exams. Students’ scores can range from a low 1.0 to the highest 5.0.

 

Joseph Bailey, Michael Gapinske, Selena Greising and Katherine Stone qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award in part by earning an average exam grade of at least 3.5 on five or more exams.

Eleven West students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award in part by earning an average exam grade of at least a 3.25. They are Luke Currie, Michael Currie, Tyler Dewar, Hannah Enstrom, Daniel Kolb, Nicole McArdle, Megan McKinley, Devin Nelson, Rebecca Quade, Eric Roggeman and Lauren Wilson.

Twenty-eight West students qualified for the AP Scholar Award in part by earning an average exam grade of at least 3.0 on at least three AP Exams. They are Minha Aamer, Kristen Beneke, Jennifer Bentley, Daniel Berendt, Bethany Bijonowski, Kevin Brown, Benjamin Buckley, Molly Craig, Jenna Hashimoto, Elizabeth Held, Meenhaj Kabir, Matthew Koth, Sarah Lawrence, Megan Lindley, Sterling McCrory, Bayley Murphy, Ariel Perez, Shadae Pickett, Jake Reist, Minia Rios, Claudia Sanchez, Abigail Schaschwary, Matthew Shields, Ashlyn Stanton, Milomar Suvira, Bryin Venegas, Jennifer Waters and Nathan Zinzer.

West Aurora High School teacher Meghan Hill is looking for some heart-felt assistance from a few hundred caring individuals around Valentine’s Day. Her goal is to identify high school students who may be at risk for sudden cardiac death.

Hill is seeking 250 volunteers to help provide cardiac (EKG) screenings to 2,000 West High students over a two-day period, Feb. 14 and 15. Volunteers are needed to perform the EKGs, register students, put stickers on the students, type in student information and assist the nursing staff.

The West PE/Health teacher, whose own teen-aged cousin died suddenly from heart disease, led an effort two years ago with the Midwest Heart Foundation to test hundreds of West Aurora students. Eighteen students were found to have abnormalities and were recommended for further testing.

Volunteers next year will work in four-hour shifts at:

 • Feb. 14 from 6:50-11:30 a.m.;

 • Feb. 14 from 11 a.m.-3:10 p.m.;

 • Feb. 15 from 6:50-11:30 a.m.; and

 • Feb. 15 from 11 a.m.-3:10 p.m.

There is a mandatory training night on Feb. 13.  The sessions are from 5:30-7 p.m. or 7-8:30 p.m. Returning volunteers only need to come for a five-minute refresher at the beginning of one of the sessions.  Volunteers do not need to have any experience.

Learn more about Hill’s Young Hearts for Life program and how to volunteer at http://www.sd129.org/wellness/young_hearts.asp.

Hill also is attempting to raise $2,000 to cover costs. She is taking donations through the A+ Foundation for West Aurora Schools at http://donate.aplusfoundation.org/grants/view_grant.php?gid=471.

As an alternative, a $3 donation pays for one child to receive the screening. These donations can be made online at http://sd129.revtrak.net/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jofpmom0.

The Midwest Heart Foundation is a 501c3 non- profit organization, so donations are tax-deductible.

For more information, contact Meghan Hill at mhill@sd129.org or 630-301-6622.

A live audio webcast of the West Aurora boys basketball home game against Naperville Central begins at 7:15 p.m., Dec. 7.

A link to the game will be available at www.sd129.org.

Neal Ormond, the voice of the Blackhawks for more than 49 years, and broadcaster Chris Faber will announce the game. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

This year’s live webcasts are being produced with new partner High School Cube.  WBIG 1280 AM radio also will carry the game tape-delayed later in the evening.

To listen to the webcast on a computer one must have:

* An active connection to the Internet. For best performance, connection speed should be 56bps minimum; DSL or higher is recommended for best performance, particularly for video;

*A Flash or Windows Media Player; and

*A functioning sound card and speakers.

 

We are very excited to welcome your student as one of the newest members of the Blackhawk community and look forward to working closely with you and your student to make his/her experience at West High as fulfilling as possible.



Attached you will find the power point and handouts that we delivered at the eighth grade parent curriculum night on 11/28/12. Please preview the power point first and then read through the brochures that outline all of the possibilities and programs that your student can be involved in during his/her time at West High.



During the next several months your student’s eighth grade teachers and the West High department chairmen will examine your student’s EXPLORE and CoGAT scores that each student took in October of this year, to determine placement in your student’s freshman math, science, social science and English classes. Through the scores and conversations between the middle school teachers and the high school department chairmen, a final placement in each of these classes will be determined for your student.



We need your assistance in beginning the conversation about where your student expects to be in eight years and setting your student’s goals for high school and college. It is imperative that this conversation and mapping of courses begins today prior to your student finalizing his/her freshman registration in February. By following the guidelines in the power point, you will be able to plot a successful course of learning for your student. With the end in sight, we have attached our Dual Credit booklet and our academic honors booklet so that you can push your student to accomplish more than just a high school education during his/her four years at West High. With your support and guidance and our instruction, we can collaborate and assist your student in reaching his/her utmost potential.

Each month, staff members at West Aurora High School are asked to identify students who have best reflected one of the three points of our mission. The awards are for students: who show a desire to develop "Skills for Life Long Learning"; who display a "Sense of Global Consciousness"; or for developing in themselves or others "A Sense of Self-Worth".

We are proud to announce November's Blackhawk Pride Award winners: Danielle Adamowski (12), Christopher Aguilera (9), Deer Cheung (11), Sedric Crutcher (9), Bruklynn Grant (11), Kimberly Lawn (11), Samantha Lopez (9), Haley Maltese (11), Anthony Oros (12), Joseph Reid (10), and Fiona Russell (9).

These students, their parents, and the staff members who nominated them were honored at a breakfast on Tuesday, November 27.

The West High Winter Concert will be held at 7 p.m., Dec. 6 in the school auditorium, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora.

The annual Winter Concert has been a part of the West Aurora tradition for generations. This year, students once again present an evening filled with music presented by all of the choirs, the Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensemble, Brass Quartet, and other student-led ensembles.

"It is the one concert each year in which both our band and choirs perform. Music comes from all around the concert hall -- you never know from where the next performance will sound, said Jonathan McLear, Vocal Music director and Fine Arts Department chair at West High. “Beyond that, this concert is full of tradition -- from a candlelit processional to the A Cappella Christmas tree. We continue to be true to traditions that have been in place for more than a half century."

Tickets are $5 each and are available at www.sd129tickets.org. Seating is reserved and tickets are limited. Half of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to local Aurora charities.