Day 130 - Middle Schoolers, DECA & Shark Tank! Oh My!

Today's post is from Grandview Language Arts teacher Julie Thomas

Over the last two weeks, I experienced what are now my favorite moments of the seven years that I have been a teacher in the Westonka School District. Students in my 7th grade language arts class created a business based on a service or product. The groups developed the target audience, marketing strategies, profit margin, and funding needs of their businesses. Students worked tirelessly on designing a presentation to showcase their business in the "Shark Tank" on April 8th. The "sharks" or investors were 5 senior DECA officers: Matt Hejna, Willie Maahs, Mark Randklev, Alex Riffle, and Courtney Simonson.

It was a pleasure to watch my students proudly, yet nervously present their businesses to the Sharks. Each presentation was unique and conveyed the personality of the individuals in the business. Students skillfully managed to memorize information in order to actively engage their audience. Groups maintained their composure as the Sharks asked questions at random and offered deals that were lower than desired. Prior to making deals, groups comically huddled together to decide on which deal was the best for their business. After a handshake with the chosen Shark, most groups were relieved to have made a deal.

Four out of the five sharks were former students from my 2nd year of teaching. Each of the DECA students flawlessly played the role of their "Shark." With very little coaching, they asked the groups tough questions, but were sensitive when needed as well. I greatly appreciated the time and energy that each of the DECA members provided to my students.

I am proud to be a White Hawk because of the students that I teach! Both former and current, I see these students shine brightly and it makes my day!

Presenting to the Sharks

Mrs. Thomas

One of the 7th Grade Language Arts Classes

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Day 129 - Hard Work Pays Off!

Today's post is from 8th grader Philipp Weltin

When my Spanish teacher Mr Bormann said that we were going to have a semester Spanish final, I was worried and scared. I knew that I had to do a lot of studying. Every night I studied hard for about 30 minutes and crammed as much information as I could onto a note card. I also went and got help from Mr Bormann and that's when I realized that this is the most I have ever studied for a test! 

A week before I stopped studying because I was so busy with hockey. I started to forget some important information and was starting to become nervous. Then with all the out of school distractions, I woke up one Friday and realized that I had a test on that day! During breakfast I was nervous so I reviewed my flashcards. All during the first part of my day my mind was on the big test. I even studied 2 minutes before the final! 

I was super scared to find out what my grade was on the next day of school. It was all that I could think about. When I finally got my test back I couldn't look at it. When I finally did, I was relieved. I only got 1 out of 75 wrong! My hard work finally paid off! It made my proud of how hard I studied!

Philipp and His Hockey Team

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Day 128 - Proud to be a Hawkette

Today's post is from 8th grader Julia Peterson

I always love having the great pleasure of saying that I am from the Westonka district. Why? Well of course, this school has provided nothing but pride. Ever since starting my high school experience this year, I love talking about our schools education program, our DECA group and most importantly (in my opinion) our sports team.

One sport, in particular that has made me really proud to be a White Hawk this year, is our high school's Hawkettes Dance Team.  Having always been a pretty good team in the past, this year we really outshined the previous years with our first place sections sweep and making it to finals at state for the first time this year in jazz.

Our Hawkettes are definitely one hard-working group of girls. Five days a week, for four months for 2-3 hours a day, we train to dance and put our heart out on the dance floor, for a measly three minute dance. If you were to ask the Hawkettes, what’s your main focus for last winter?  They would not say, "lots of snow days" but they would rather want to work and practice as a team.

We may have a very close bond with each other, but we would not be the team we are without our amazing captains (Ashley Woytcke, Allie Strehle and Katie Otto). Ever since we first started the season in April of 2013, these girls have done nothing but make us the amazing dancers we are as individuals, and as a team. No one should ever say that being a White Hawk is a bad thing, because it truly isn’t. We may be a small school, but we hold a huge amount of pride!

Julia and the Mound Westonka Hawkettes Dance Team 

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Day 127 - Student Senate Pride

Today's post is from freshmen Lila Finney

I am proud of Mound Westonka Student Senate because we support Westonka students and reach out to the community in many ways. We bring the students to promote the football team and student spirit by organizing homecoming week activities including dress up days, the powder puff game, homecoming coronation and dance. The homecoming parade is brought together through the people of our community. Participants in the parade include all of the schools activities, businesses and sport teams and each shows their spirit and pride. 

In the winter MWHS Senate ignites Snow Dayz with fun dress up days and a dance. At the end of the school year, prom is a major focus for our juniors promoting their class spirit and school participation with themed dress up days and activities. 

I'm proud our MWHS Student Senate organizes Pennies for Patients and the helps with the Westonka Area Food Drive. We collect Pennies for Pennies for Patients supporting people in our community. This year we did Stuff the Bus food collection program to support our local food shelf. I am proud of Mound Westonka Student Senate because it actively supports our students and our community.

Lila

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Day 126 - Feeling Pride in the Halls of MWHS

Today's post is from sophomore Janneke Spanjers

Pride contributes its way into many different scenarios. There is pride in the work one does, there is pride in self acquisition, and pride in the environment. When pride takes place you can feel the physical feeling surrounding you. This is the feeling that one would feel walking into the doors of Mound Westonka High School. Pride is highly felt through the halls of MWHS; whether it is helping someone pick up their books, or holding the door open for someone, everyone contributes to an environment that makes you feel safe and wanted. Pride in MWHS is never destroyed. We stand together through the ups and downs that may come at us. We manage to build upon each other’s pride and in result evolve into a unified pride.

Pride is a simple word that is said. However, the meaning behind it contributes to such a deeper level of acceptance. It is refreshing to walk into a building knowing that everyone will accept you. Looking at all the students that are in the grade levels eight through twelve; you could never tell who’s in what grade. We unify into one group. We are the students of MWHS and stand here to make a difference. The future of us is the future of pride. Pride is never destroyed in the halls of MWHS.

Sam, Vincent, Oskar and Janneke

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Day 125 - A Small School with Big Opportunities

Today's post is from 2011 grad Sarah Silverstein

I graduated from MWHS back in 2011 and, at the time, I was eager for graduation. The next big adventure (college!) was waiting for me – I was so ready to move to my new city and start a new life.

Now that I’m three years removed from high school, it’s interesting to look back at the years I spent at MWHS. I didn’t always realize it at the time, but growing up in District #277 was an experience unlike any other; the activities I participated in, the people I met, and the environment of a small town school provided me with more opportunities than I could have ever imagined. When I hear my peers’ stories now about their high school experiences, I’m eternally grateful for the time I spent learning and growing in Mound, Minnesota.

At MWHS, I never felt the need to conform or change. As a smaller school, there wasn’t as much pressure to fit in or seek attention. We all knew each other to some extent, whether it was as teammates, classmates, best friends, or neighbors. While this could sometimes be a bit claustrophobic as a teenager, I realize now that our tight-knit community offered so many more advantages than I ever realized. When I got to college, I found myself immediately joining clubs in an effort to replicate that extraordinary community feeling.

Partially because of our size, MWHS also presented so many opportunities for involvement and growth. Because we were a smaller school, we didn’t have too many students for our sports teams or a waiting list for activities. We were lucky; if we wanted to try something new, we could do it. When I was listing activities on my college application and I realized just how many different activities I’d gotten involved in, it dawned on me: MWHS is a place where students can easily figure out what matters most to them. Everything that I did at MWHS (and believe me, I did a lot) taught me a little bit more about my interests and, even more, myself. I’m still constantly drawing upon those experiences today.

On graduation day, I stood in front of my 160 classmates and their families to deliver one of three commencement speeches. I had watched two of my close friends deliver the first two, and I remembering being so proud of the life that we had all built at this small town school. Looking down on faces that I recognized, whether it was from a play in eighth grade, trying out for wind ensemble together as freshmen, dissecting a frog as sophomores, tackling AP classes as juniors, or celebrating our last homecoming as seniors, I realized something: the students at Mound Westonka High School are more lucky than we’ll ever know.

MWHS was an amazing place to spend my formative high school years, and I wouldn’t change that time for the world.

Sarah

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Day 124 - Hilltop Teacher: We Are So Lucky to Work in this District!

 Today's post is from Hilltop Elementary Art Teacher Klair Hans

As an art teacher, my students are used to seeing the classroom full of paint, paper, brushes, clay, and even weird stuff like soup cans and cardboard cities. But today I had a special surprise for them… an owl!

Brett Seiber is a naturalist from Three Rivers Park District who visits Hilltop regularly to teach students about the great outdoors. He does everything from showing animals to making real maple syrup with the kids. When he offered to bring his owl to art class, how could I say no?

The third graders have been learning about gesture and contour drawing. Gesture drawing is a quick sketching method, meant to capture the movement of the subject. Contour drawing is a much slower drawing process that focuses on the lines and details of the subject. After doing some quick gesture drawings, the students made a detailed contour drawing of the owl. Here are some pictures from today:

We are so lucky in this district to have a naturalist like Bret. Hilltop principal Nancy Benz is currently working on obtaining a grant so we can keep him here next year, too. Who knows what animals you might see visiting the art room next fall!

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Day 123 - Lifelong White Hawk

Today's post is from 2010 grad Charlie Maahs
There are a lot of contrasts between the University of Minnesota and Mound Westonka. Since moving on to college I’ve realized so many great things that Westonka offers that I took for granted during high school. One of the most incredible things that I’m very grateful for are the friendships that I developed in a small school.

I started in the Westonka school district as a kindergartner and continued all the way to graduation. During that time a lot of things can change, but fortunately for me a lot of things stayed the same. Over the years you get to know all of your classmates so well at Mound Westonka and the friendships can last for years. I met people on my first day of kindergarten that I sat next to during graduation, that’s so crazy! It’s really an incredible thing to meet people at such a young age and be able to grow up with the same friendly faces around you.

Now that I go to such a large school, I believe that the experience I had at MWHS is something that you won’t find at most schools. I’m grateful for the awesome people that I got to know so well at Westonka. Looking back, it’s a very cool feeling to look around at the end of high school and have great memories with so many different people. Today we may be Gophers and Badgers, or Tommies and Johnnies, but we will always be White Hawks, and that’s what I’m proud of.

Willie and Charlie Maahs

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