Friday 30 November 2012

Congratulations to Gr. 12 Concert band for raising $458.00 towards "We Create Change" an initiative of; Free the Children.  

That's 18.32 bags of pennies!!!!!

The basic idea is that one bag of pennies or 2500 pennies will provide clean drinking water to 1 person for a year.  Learn more here - Free the Children

Check out their video - Really Cute!


Tuesday 27 November 2012


GRADE 12'S.......  The end of the penny wars is in sight.  We have a serious challenge in the form of Ms. Reimer's period three class.   We have to submit all of our $$$ by 3:30 on Thursday.  Let's make sure we clear out the change dishes and bring in some bills and see if we can ensure that there is no real contest.   That means you have to bring what you have in for tomorrow's class.
It is my great pleasure to welcome back Ms. Muncer to our program.  She brings some serious credentials and a warm and caring heart to all of our sectionals that will be happening during class time.




As we make the final push into the holiday season, it is important to remind you to keep on top of your sectionals.  You are required to complete 4 sectionals by mark cut-off in January.  You are allowed to count one of the sectionals with Ms. Muncer in the Sectional Book.  To everyone, I offer this advice.... do not procrastinate and do your best to finish your sectionals by the end of December; that way when you come back after break, you will not have to try to squish sectionals in while you prepare for exams.  Let's focus on quality.  By doing them properly and gaining knowledge, we all benifit.

Monday 26 November 2012

Westwood student in the news

Looks like we are celebrating another Westwood band student in the news.  Long standing member of the 220 Red River Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron, Mikayla, got  achance to hang out with General Walter Natynczyk. Natynczyk, a former chief of defence staff, got his start in 1970 with the Winnipeg squadron.

Check out the interview from CTV:

Friday 23 November 2012

Happy Friday everyone....  looks like it is going to be cold one this weekend, so stay warm and don't lick anything outside that's metal.

I saw this earlier in the week and I could not get it out of my head..... here's a public service announcement that's gone viral from the Metro Train System out of Melbourne Australia.


Thursday 22 November 2012

The sectional book is back out for round two.  Please make sure you start thinking about your four sectionals for the next reporting period.  As well, a reminder that self-assessments are returned to your portfolios.  Have a look at my comments and please contact me if you need a translation.

Monday 19 November 2012

Self-assessments have been returned to folders.  Please make sure you look at your comments immediately and do not hesitate to ask me for clarification or a translation.

Friday 16 November 2012

Incredibox

Well here we are again on a Friday and I, yet again, set out to make Westwood just a little bit hipper.  So today I bring you the joys of incredibox.  This drag an drop application will turn you all into the latest and hippest Dj's on the planet.  Have fun making a mix that will keep the party grooving' all night long.
So let's see.......

Gr. 9, 10, 11 and 12 Concert Band are well into their music now and are beginning their second round of sectionals.  Recordings of al their pieces are on line and they can download them by clicking on the link at the bottom of this very blog.

Jazz bands are now doing deep into technique mastery on their music and we are at the point of per suing each of our selections in characteristic style through the exploration of original recordings.... some dating as far back as Jan 16th, 1938.

Reminder to everyone that Report Cards co me home on Monday.  Please see the post from Thursday November 8th for further information.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

I have read and commented on 3/4 of the self-assessments and my goal is to have them in your portfolios by Friday.  Many of the comments I have made cannot wait until you do your January self-assessment, so please check your self-assessment for my comments on Monday as I firmly believe that these comments will immediately steer us towards being a better band.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

New feature to help you locate "stuff" on the blog as it grows....  Try the search bar on the right hand side.

Friday 9 November 2012

In honour of Remembrance Day, I will side step the usual Friday funny, to bring you a timeless sentiment about war and its effect on all of us.  I had the pleasure of seeing Roger Waters in concert in Toronto in 2010 and this moment of the show has stuck with me since.  I sincerely hope you can relate.

In behind Roger Waters a quote from Eisenhower plays out on the screen -

"Every gun thats made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed and from those who are cold and are not clothed."

BRING THE BOYS BACK HOME

Thursday 8 November 2012


It is hard to believe that it is already report card time..... but alas it is true.  I have just finished imputing all of the final marks for the first report card and you can see them on line.

Before you contact me about any questions you might have, have a conversation with your son or daughter about their grade and ask them about it.  They should be able to specifically tell you why it is the way it is and what they need to do to fix it.  Before you have this conversation, you may want to take a look on Power School [our on-line grade book - https://ps.sjsd.net/public/] and see what assignment(s) are missing at this point.  If you do not know your Power School log in, please contact the school and they will let you know your login.  In addition, you may want to visit our web site - www.bandatwestwood.com and sign up via email on the right hand side of the page to get the up-dates.  As you can see when you visit the page, every assignment we have done is listed on the blog and on our dates page.

Missing self-assessments can be submitted; however, late marks will be applied.  Sectionals cannot be submitted.  As always, performance based marks can be re-tested at any time until January mark cut off. 

I am available for help most days after school until 4:00.

If you have any questions, after completing the steps above, please feel free to contact me in at your earliest convenience.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

"Can you hear me now?"


Have you ever wanted to know what was going on at Westwood, but your son or daughter can't seem to remember to brush their teeth; let alone when hat day is or why we are having a can food drive?.... well look no further; introducing the easy way to get the daily announcements directly from the office - "Announcing Westwood."

Just open the link below and put your email in the "Follow by Email" box and follow the directions and you will get the announcements sent to that email address every day... get them on your: ipad, ipod, tablet, computer or phone anywhere in the world you can check email, just enter your email address and forget.... it's that easy.   

Just follow this link:  http://announcingwestwood.blogspot.ca/

Friday 2 November 2012

So it is Friday... and although I am away today, I  would not want to let you down without posting some great insight from the web. With the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney this week for 4.05 Billion,  it is no great surprise that Darth Vader wanted to check out his new digs.



Thursday 1 November 2012

CONGRATULATIONS to the Gr. 9 Concert Band who played brilliantly for their 90's test today.  Owen picked page 7#7  out of the hat.  When the dust settled, the class average was 94.5%  Well done 9's!

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