[WHMS-Parents] WHMS Update 6-19
WHMS Parents Information Email List
Dear Parents:
Wednesday was a wonderful day filled with mixed emotion. While all students started the day excited, many ended the day with tears as they said their goodbyes to teachers and students for the summer. And for some, they said their goodbyes to West Hills. We wish our entire 8th grade class the absolute best in their future endeavors at Andover High School. We will watch them from afar as they learn new skills and accomplish so much more! We also extend very warm wishes and safe travels to all the families who are returning “home” (i.e. Germany, Ukraine, etc.). We will miss you!
Report cards will be sent home via U.S. Mail on Tuesday, June 23rd. The 8th grade EXPLORE results have arrived. They will be included in the 8th grade report card mailing.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
This year we will be holding grade level registrations in August. You will receive more information as the dates approach; however, the registration dates and times are as follows:
6th grade August 26th 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
7th & 8th grade August 27th 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
Make-Up August 28th All Day
Note: If you have more than one child in specific grade level, then you may come on any date.
Yesterday the 7th grade team was fortunate to have three guest speakers come into school to discuss the three main religions of the Middle East and answer a plethora of student questions about each religion. The speakers were Associate Reverend Katy Doyle of Kirk in the Hills, Rabbi Josh Bennett from Temple Israel, and Mimo Debryn of the Unity Center. Their time, expertise, caring, and patience were greatly appreciated by students and teachers alike. The speakers enjoyed the interaction the student questions provided, while the students benefited from being able to hear from a diverse panel of experts on a subject that can be difficult to discuss in Middle School.
We would like to thank the students for their wonderful questions and for demonstrating attentive listening skills during the presentations. Also, we would like to thank our guest speakers who did a wonderful job with our group of students to both enlighten and entertain them about wonderful and important subjects.
Lost and Found will be on display one more week in the main lobby area. If your child is missing something, please take a moment to try and retrieve it. Next Friday all remaining items will be donated to charity.
From incoming Andover High School PTO Presidents Mary Belden and Judy Weiner:
We look forward to meeting our freshman families in the fall. The AHS PTO provides wonderful enrichment for our students and families and along with this, of course, there are many volunteer opportunities for parents. We will be on hand to meet and greet you on Thursday, August 27, Freshmen Registration Day. You will receive a summer mailing from Andover at the end of July which will include several pages of PTO information. Please read them! You'll be glad you did! We wish you a safe, relaxing and happy summer! See you in the Fall!
I wish everyone a wonderful, restful and relaxing summer vacation J
Heidi S. Kattula
Principal
West Hills Middle School
Bloomfield Hills Schools
"Comprehensive Education at its Finest"
Dear All,
This is the last weekly until next school year. It is long because there are many people I want to thank and acknowledge for all that they have done here at West Hills, their contributions make West Hills the great school that it is. I hope everyone has a wonderful relaxing and safe summer. We need everyone coming back next September energized and ready to help!
It has been a privilege to serve as West Hill’s PTO President this past year. As with anything, the PTO’s success was a direct result of the number of volunteers who gave their time, made donations whether in the form of purchasing magazines, providing baked good, or generously giving money-all with the purpose of making West Hills a better community for our kids.
With that I would like to thank my board again, Marci Bloom-Vettese, Maria Drake, Beth Hoyt, and Stephanie Stephans (next year’s incoming WH PTO Co-President). You make being President a breeze because of your collective wisdom!
To the chairs of each and every committee-thank you for your management, organization, and efforts that you provided to make sure that your committee(s) ran smoothly.
BAKE SALE and POPCORN: Karrie McGuffie-each and every Thursday West Hills runs a bake sale, Karrie did an amazing job with scheduling and organizing her volunteers. This is a fundraiser for the school. And, of course, it’s one the kids really ENJOY. To all the bakers and the “salespeople” thank you for all the treats and time you provided, without you this weekly event just couldn’t run as smoothly.
BEAUTIFICATION: Betsy Keidan-although Betsy is no longer a WH parent and hasn’t been for a few years, she does an amazing job with beautifying the WH grounds. You may have noticed the pile of mulch by the front entrance because she has been working in the front all week. There is now a Michigan Native Plant bed in the front along the office windows. And, she just made a new little stepping stone path. Betsy has worked tirelessly here using the school colors as the theme. You will notice everything is in “blue” and yellow.
BOXTOPS: Lisa Brown, Ann Podolsky and Sarah Saltzman-I thanked these ladies in the June 5th weekly, but want to thank them again, they did a great job collecting and trimming, and running the end of the year contest which generated over $200 for us. And, thanks to all of you for taking the time to look for and purchase the products that have the tops, cutting them and saving them until you have enough to send in (and actually remembering which junk drawer you put them in baggied or not!) and then sending them in-GREAT EFFORT! KEEP COLLECTING OVER THE SUMMER PLEASE!!!
BBFA: Karen Ockner-thank you for attending the meetings and providing us with your insightful reports.
CLINIC: Debbie Hack and Laura Silberman-I thanked them in the June 5th weekly, but just wanted to make sure they and their many volunteers know again how much they are appreciated! It is always so much nicer having a friendly face in the Clinic just in case…there is a need!
DIRECTORY: Kris Parrottino-Kris is a pro! This is a huge endeavor and this can’t be done without someone who is really dedicated to putting out a great product, and Kris is that person. Many thanks, and even more so because she will be staying on to help get next year’s directory out!
COMMUNITY SERVICE: Marci Bloom-Vettese-Marci is an amazing volunteer, she gives of herself in so many ways, and she really does a great job in the community service area because that is her passion. Thank you Marci, and all your volunteers, you make a difference!
CULTURAL ENRICHMENT: Enos Massie and Necole West-thank you for supporting our bringing in Christopher Paul Curtis! Your support helped make this big event possible!
HOSPITALITY: Sally Scapa-I know all the teachers and staff love to eat! And they never ate as well as they did during Staff Appreciation Week! It got some of us talking about how we need to do a WH cookbook because so many people are great cooks and have great recipes! Anyway, Sally pulled off an amazingly ambitious menu because she was so well-organized and had great volunteers-again, without people stepping up this couldn’t get done so thank you Sally, and your amazing group of volunteers.
I do want to especially thank Marci Bloom-Vettese, Beth Hoy and Kris Parrottino for helping me with the Welcome Back luncheon for the teachers that always takes place the week before school starts. It was so nice to be able to call on these ladies knowing that they were available and willing to put together our “Picnic Lunch” for the staff.
MAGAZINE SALES: Lisa Healy and Beth Hoyt-the energy these two ladies provide to everything they do should be bottled! They have done a great job organizing and showcasing Magazine Sales over the past several years, and West Hills has certainly benefitted! And, again, this couldn’t be as successful as it is without the help of their volunteers especially on “Double Points” day! I do have to thank all our sellers too because without their efforts, their charm, their marketing skills, we wouldn’t have purchasers, and if we didn’t have purchasers, well…you know the rest, we couldn’t do what we do.
OPEN HOUSE: Marci Bloom-Vettese-again, she is amazing, always willing to help, be right there, and be our “right hand person.” She got the school year off and running with her organization of Open House, and many thanks to all those who volunteered that evening, some gave up their time in the classroom to help us out and that is greatly appreciated.
SCHOOL STORE AND SPIRIT WEAR: Stephanie Stephans-I thanked her too in the June 5th weekly, but not enough can be said about Steph’s desire to bring school spirit in all different forms to West Hills, she does an amazing job.
8TH GRADE PARTY: Marci Bloom-Vettese-again…many thanks. The party was a huge success, I got calls from parents saying what a good time their child had. She worked hard, as did all of her committee chairs and all the volunteers. I know the kids really appreciated all that the 8th grade committee did for them, we, as parents do too.
Additional thanks to Gwyne Coles, Kelli Dade-Haines, Margaret Ropp, Marlene Myers and Shari Wu for helping put with the 8th Grade Recognition Ceremony.
We all know it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a child to raise a village, as you can see from the above, we have lots of people who help out every day during the school year to make this village of West Hills a wonderful safe happy place where your child can thrive-the PTO plays a very important role in all of this, we do it because we want to provide the best we can for our children. They drive us to volunteer. Thank you. Thank you for your time, thank you for your support.
Finally, this building works so well because of the relationships between the staff, administration and parents. Our office is the best. It amazes me how well they know every student, and by the end of the year, the student’s parents, the student’s siblings, they are so attuned! To the staff and administration, thank you for all that you do-personally, my view is you all have a hand or have had a hand in raising my kids, and for that I am truly grateful. I know many others feel the same way.
And on that note, I want to wish all the best to the five special staff members who are retiring: Delores Owens, our Para-professional in the Learning Resource Center who has worked tirelessly with our kids over her many years in the building; Paul Rabideau, who has made our building shine inside and out, rain or shine, frigid cold or insanely hot (it is not a good time having to deal with the marquee in the middle of winter, but Paul does so with a smile, and ideally, on a sunny day so the lock will thaw!); Sandy Gumtow, who joined our West Hills family this year as the 6th grade reading teacher after spending many years at Lone Pine, in her short time with us she certainly made her mark; Nancy Jackson, our assistant principal whose gentle nature will be really missed, Mrs. Jackson works quietly behind the scenes in so many different capacities from doing the calendar to giving tours to being a part of many community boards, to having administer some needed discipline on occasion; and Jean Ramseyer, who made sure the PYP and MYP programs were successfully in place at LP, WH and Andover by working more hours than one can count, and for those of us who are older Pine Lake parents and remember her as part of the dynamic duo of Smith and McClary, like me, it just won’t be the same not seeing you and Mrs. Smith together! All of you, your presence, your smiles, and your energy will be missed.
Happy Summer!
Liz
PS If I missed thanking anyone, I deeply apologize, but please know you are appreciated. You all should feel really good that nearly every family had a parent volunteer for one thing or another over the course of the school year-that is HUGE, and SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!