Teacher Leader: Ryan Broshar
email:  rbroshar@westside66.org

Last week, Westgate's 2nd and 3rd graders had an amazing music performance.  Mr. Djernes had the students singing, playing instrument, and dancing to music from around the globe. Way to go Mr.D, 2nd and 3rd grade students!

On Tuesday, April 24,  all students from grades 3-6 who met their reading goals from December to March attended the Omaha Storm Chasers vs. Nashville Sounds baseball game at Werner Park.  128 kids enjoyed the sun, snacks, and game for the day.  Way to "Hit the Books" Westgators!

"The Godfather" from Godfather's Pizza read to kindergarden, first, and second grade students at Westgate. The students loved hearing his funny voices and his great fluency.

Students at Westgate had an awesome Earth Day celebration. The students brought in recycled materials and used them to make sculptures. Each classroom created a piece of art to be showcased during the Earth Day performance in the gym. The 6th graders did a great job singing and using recycled materials to make music. In addition to all of this the Gators cleaned up the school grounds. Congratulations to Mrs. Morris's 3rd grade for winning the sculpture contest.

 Dr. Seuss's birthday was celebrated by all at Westgate. Parents and students enjoyed a delicious breakfast of green eggs and ham in the gym. Then is was off to the classrooms where more Seuss activities were going on throughout the building. Students and parents enjoyed reading Seuss books, playing Seuss games, and doing Seuss art activities. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Student in Ms. Wortmann's first grade class had a ball learning about different states of matter. They got to experiment with solids and liquids.

On Friday, December 16, the 3rd-6th graders got together to kick off their reading program "Hit the Books"!  Andrea and Ben from the Omaha Storm Chasers came to let the kids know what they needed to do to earn a day at a Storm Chasers game.  They brought Casey, their team mascot, to help get the kids fired up to read! 

Westgate's Student Council collected mitten, scarves, hats and other winter clothing items to be given to the Lydia House. 6th grade students Anissa and Isabelle were able to go to the Lydia house and make the delivery. Student Council was excited with the amount Westgate students donated to the collection.

The Omaha Fire Department visited first grade this past week.  Ms. Wortmann's student, Ellie Bartsch-Bang's mom works as a firefighter for the OFD.  She coordinated a fun and informative fire safety presentation.  The highlights were having a fireman dress in turnout gear to crawl on the floor among students and we also had a special visit from a very large fireman named Freddy!

 Kindergarten has some special visitors. A group of firefighters came to teach them about fire safety. The students even got to tour the fire truck.

On Friday, October 28, Hunter Grey invited her grandpa to visit Mrs. Lafond's classroom as part of her "Start Student" project.  Her grandpa, Buddy Hunter, used to play for the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals during the 1970's.  He showed the class one of his championship rings and talked about playing in the big leagues!  The kids were pretty excited to meet him.

Students in Mrs. Van Blerk's class love the dramatic play center.  The students have a ball getting all dressed up!

Kindergarten through third grade students at Westgate got to watch a play about bullying.  The play addressed different types of bullying and how to deal with different bullying situations. The students enjoyed this fun way to learn about bullying

2nd graders in Mrs. Wendt's class are having fun playing Addition Top-it.  This is a fun way for them to practice their math facts.

Mrs. VanBlerk's class worked hard to create Mat Man for Handwriting.

The 5th graders in Mrs. Lafond's room are building stamina to read for longer periods of time. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Student Council for purchasing new jump ropes for the recess cart. The students are having a great time with them.

2nd Graders in Mrs. Lewis's class are already working hard on their first week back to school.