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Ms. Rosenblatt, Advocacy, 3/4

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September Advocacy Update

This month, our focus is on Self-Awareness, a key part of our advocacy efforts. Through various activities and lessons, your child will develop essential skills like recognizing their emotions, understanding their strengths and challenges, and learning how their actions impact themselves and others. These skills are crucial for their personal growth and success, both in and out of the classroom. We encourage you to engage in conversations at home about what they’re learning to reinforce these important concepts. 
 
The following topics will be covered throughout the month of September during advocacy classes--
  • Emotional Awareness: Recognizing and understanding their own emotions, which helps in managing reactions and building empathy for others.
  • Self-Reflection: Developing the habit of thinking about their actions, decisions, and behaviors, and how these affect themselves and others.
  • Strengths and Weaknesses Identification: Recognizing their strengths to build confidence and understanding areas for growth to set realistic goals.
  • Goal Setting: Learning to set personal and academic goals based on their self-assessment, and developing a plan to achieve them.
  • Self-Regulation: Developing the ability to manage impulses, stay focused, and persevere through challenges.
  • Personal Values Identification: Understanding what they value and how it influences their behavior and choices.

Westgate Spirit Week: 8/26-8/30

Monday, August 26th - Team Day - Wear your favorite sports team gear. Whether it’s a jersey, hat, or even socks, let’s see that team pride!
 
Tuesday, August 27th - Class Colors Day Each grade has its own color. Wear your specific class color T-shirt if you have one, or simply dress in the colors of their grade group. Let’s paint the school in a rainbow of class pride! The 3/4 Pod is green!
 
Wednesday, August 28th - Wacky Wednesday It’s time to get Westgate Wild! How crazy can you get? Wear something backward, inside out, or come up with your own wild and wacky look. The wackier, the better!
 
Thursday, August 29th - Crazy Hair or Hat Day Let your creativity shine with the wildest hats or craziest hairdos you can imagine. It’s a day to let your hair down—or up, or sideways!
 
Friday, August 30th - Pajama Day We’ll wrap up Spirit Week with a cozy half-day. Roll out of bed and come to class in pajamas.

Zero Waste Wednesday

Every Wednesday is “Zero Waste Wednesday” here at Westgate. What this means is that if students have a lunch that doesn’t use any waste AT ALL (i.e. nothing to throw away, like baggies, cans, plastic cups, lunch bags, etc.) then they will receive a stamp on their hand from the Zero Hero Team.

**students who have school lunch will qualify if they accurately sort their lunch into the appropriate bins – trash and recycling.

Why Focus on Lunches?

The goal is for families to start the conversation about alternatives to lunch waste, like glass or plastic lunch containers, reusable lunch bags and water bottles, and cloth napkins. Hopefully, this will instill changes that will go far beyond Wednesdays during lunch time at Westgate!

First Day Reminders!

The first day of school can be really exciting, but also nerve wrecking. Here are a list of reminders that will hopefully ease any nerves:
  • School doors open at 7:45am
  • School pick-up is from 3:30-4:00pm
  • It will be hot, so pack a water bottle if you can
  • We have snack every morning, so don’t forget to pack one! 
  • Even though it’s the first day, don’t forget your backpack or lunch (if you need help signing up for our free school lunches, send me an email)
Finally, the most important reminder of them all: it is going to be a truly awesome school year! 

August Advocacy

This month, our August Advocacy theme is RISE!

At Westgate, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a part of our Whole Child Education program. PBIS is a system in which students, staff, and community create a set of school-wide behavioral expectations/ core values, we teach those expectations in all of our various environments, and then we CELEBRATE when we see students doing those things! At Westgate, we RISE (Respect, Integrity, Safety, Empathy).

Week 1: R

What does RESPECT mean? Being kind to people, property, and yourself. Being considerate of our community.

Week 2: I

What does INTEGRITY mean? Telling the truth and doing the right thing even when nobody is looking.

Week 3: S

What does it mean to be SAFE at school? Act in ways that won’t harm yourself or others.

Week 4: E

What is EMPATHY? Understanding and caring about the feelings of others.

 

We will be teaching students what these 4 words mean—focusing on a different part of RISE each week—and what it looks like to live these values out during school and at home. We will use RISE all year to celebrate positive behaviors.

I am excited for the school year!