Obama in WA to Visit Oso

By Kate and Scarlett

Today, April 22 2014, Barack Obama, President of the United States will visit the victims, and families of the horrific mudslide in Oso, Washington. Over 41 civilians were killed and there are still two people missing as result of this tragic incident that occurred nearly one month ago.

Obama is here to show his sympathy to the people affected by this mudslide. Obama plans to take a helicopter tour of the debris field, converse with emergency responders, victims and government members. He is also expected to host a private meeting at the Oso Community Chapel for families who have lost relatives.

Though civilians, organizations and emergency departments are struggling to regain hope and control of the situation, Obama's visit may bring a sense comfort and support. The small town of Oso will remember this catastrophe forever, but will continue to search for a brighter future.

Earth Day 2014

By: Ella and Emma

Earth day was first celebrated on April 22  in 1970. It is now celebrated in more than 192 countries. People around the world do many small tasks to help the environment on Earth Day; many pick up trash, reuse items, help make others more aware, use Eco friendly transportation, and participate in other activies. Google is celebrating Earth Day by creating many cute logos that are on display on the homepage. There are logos with monkeys, pufferfish, hummingbirds, and many other wild animals and plants. Help make our earth a better planet by participating in Earth Day. Treat every day like it's Earth Day!

Snohomish Mud Slide Catastrophe

Isabele and Scarlett

On March 22, in the Snohomish County there was a tragic landslide taking 30 lives and leaving 13 people missing. The landslide left the Snohomish County devastated, creating mass destruction for the small town. Here at Westside we sympathize with the families impacted by this terrible event. We personally have driven through this area many times and can not believe the damage that has been done.

There have been many brave volunteers searching for victims and also cleaning up the mess. The rescue crews have used bulldozers, shovels and their hands to comb through the mud, searching for any signs of life or death. This land has been known to have  landslides before but nothing this massive. The civilians and authority of the Snohomish County worry for the future of this town. We at Westside hope for a brighter future for them.

Mariners Home Opener

By: Owen and Chris

The Mariners Home opener is tonight. They started their season with a 10-3 win in Los Angeles on March 3. They went on to sweep the 3 game series vs the Angles and then lost 2/3 games vs the Athletics. They have looked good even with a starting rotation that is missing a couple key parts, and a bullpen that is missing hard throwing righty, Steven Pryor, and also a really good prospect, Taijuan Walker.

This offseason the Mariners have made some big moves. They hired Lloyd McClendon as a new manager and signed second baseman Robinson Cano, who is considered one of the best hitters in baseball. They also signed closer Fernando Rodney, outfielder Corey Hart, and traded for outfielder Logan Morrison. So far Robinson Cano has been the only key addition, but Corey Hart and Fernando Rodney have show glimpses of brilliance.

Even though we're only 6 games into the season it seems like the Mariners are going to be pretty good. Players like Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley who were supposed to be cornerstones of the organization are finally performing, and Abraham Almonte, a minor leaguer last year is having a breakout first few games.

So far the Mariners are looking good, and even though it's too early to say that they're going to be good, the first six games have given us hope.

Best Hang Out Areas in West Seattle

Jackson

5. Alki

Alki is a great place to go hang out with your friends. There are many fun and cool places to go in Alki,like for instance you can go rent a 4 wheeled pedal powered cart and you can ride down to Jack Block Park and watch the iconic view over Elliott Bay. Also, the beach is another popular place to go to sunbathe and make memories.

4. Southgate Roller Rink

Our local roller rink, South Gate, is located in White Center. This place is a major hangout area for many West Satellites. The rink itself is in good condition for being around for existing over 70 years. They have fresh food and refreshing drinks. They play many great new hits and they have games and races.

3. Menchies (Admiral)

Menchies is a make it yourself froyo joint and a great place to chat with friend and have a nice refreshing bowl of frozen yogurt. You can choose almost any flavor of frozen yogurt you would like, chocolate, mocha, cookies and cream etc. You can also add any toppings you want, crushed Oreos, gummy worms, chocolate rocks, and many more, included with the toppings they have fresh fruit Chocolate sauce and Nutella! You pay by the ounce.   

2. Westwood Village

Starbucks, Target, Big 5, Pier 1 imports, Game Stop and much other outlet like stores. Of course any place that has Starbucks will be popular, but with all of the other wonderful stores in Westwood Village this makes this a super shopping center! This is a major teen hotspot in West Seattle, many middle and high school students (most from Deny and Sealth) roam the store in the afternoon.

1. West Seattle Junction

The Junction, full of good and cool stores this makes the Junction the number one hotspot for adults and kids. You can go get a fresh scoop of Husky Deli ice cream then go browse the CDs and records at Easy Street Records. Then you can go to a cool feet fashion store called The Sneakery and get your socks on! The West Seattle Junction is also where a lot of fairs are held including the car show, street fair and the annual Hi-Yu parade in the summer!      

EOL Reflections

Exhibition of Learning Night was fun. It was enjoyable to share are projects that we worked very hard on with the greater school community. I also enjoyed getting asked intelligent questions by the guests. It was great to see all my fellow classmate's projects.- Kayla

I thought EOL went better than expected.  I liked meeting people’s parents. (They were all really nice). I got a lot of compliments for my personal narrative. -Emilio

Overall, I thought that EOL night was a great experience. I enjoyed being able to share what we have been currently working on and getting able to see what some of the other grade were doing as well. It was really nice to be in groups too, that way we could all contribute and take breaks from the two hours of talking we had to do. - Kate

I thought it was a good experience for the parents and it was a good way to show our learning. I think it was a good thing but it could be changed a little. I think my humanities part went better than the science.

-Chris

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I thought that EOL went very well. I got to meet all of the  peoples parents they were all very nice. I think it was a fun experience - Ella

I thought that EoL night was fine. It was loud at times which made it harder to talk to the parents, but I think they enjoyed. I got a lot of compliments on my historical fiction. Many people liked the idea of writing from 2 different sides. -Aisha

I thought that EOL was a big success. It was cool that other parents got to see my work, even if the parents were from another grade. I thought that everyone knew what they were talking about during their presentation and the parents had a lot of fun.- Owen

Money Smart Week At The Seattle Public Library

by Kate

Starting on April 5th, selective branches of the Seattle Public Library are hosting a program called Money Smart Week. This is held to teach people of all age ranges how to be conscious of their spendings. Anyone is welcome and encouraged to participate and attend the activity. See the email below from one of the Seattle librarians:

Money Smart Week  is April 5 – 12 at the Seattle Public Library.  This year we are providing programming to teach financial literacy for all ages and we are hosting programs for teens at the West Seattle and Southwest Branches.  We also have some great programs for adults (as well as free shred days to get rid of all those old financial documents without fear of identity theft)!  You can see all of the money smart week programs at our online calendar.

So go and check out the programs at your neighborhood library!

Westside Salmon Update

Ella, Daisy, and Kate

It has been about three months since Westside School’s salmon eggs arrived. At the moment, the Coho salmon are in the fry stage of their development. The Coho salmon are appropriately one centimeter wide and one inch long. The second grade will release the Coho salmon within one month. They will have to protect themselves from predators like bears, herons, eagles, whales and fisherman. The salmon have about one month to prepare for their wild release to the great outdoors.

We sent a few questions to Laura about the Coho and these are her answers.

1.  What do you hope your class learns from this?

to gain respect for the environment, learn about the importance of salmon in our community and our role in keeping them healthy, the life cycle of the salmon and make scientific observations of salmon in the tank.

2. Do you think your class enjoyed this experience?

The kids have loved the fish. Their experience covers science (fish dissection and anatomy), writing (each child is writing his/her version of Diary of a Salmon inspired by the book series Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Worm) and art projects.

3. Overall how did you think the whole thing went?

So far, the salmon in the tank are thriving, despite a few deaths.  The students become very attached to the fish and they learn a lot about them in a variety of ways.

Discovering Mermaids

-Kayla and Amber

Is there a chance they could they truly exist?

Since the beginning of time we have understood the importance of water, especially it's supplier, the ocean. In the last decade or so we have discovered so much of our ocean and what is inside, but even with this knowledge, we have only identified less than 5% of the ocean.  

Stories about mythical creatures have been passed down from generation to generation. Even Disney has portrayed this creature as what we see as a mermaid. A being with the chest and head identical to a human and hips and legs morphed into a fish tail. Growing up, many of the new generations have been fascinated by the idea of mermaids. Many of these children have grown up with so much curiosity it leads them to go on expeditions in the hopes these beautiful are real. Their research gives us a better understanding of what these "mermaids" would need to survive and the probability of them existing. Based on their research we have found that there are many conflicting opinions. We are prepared to support both sides of the argument.

 The probability of a Disney portrayed mermaid is highly unlikely to exist and there are many facts to support that theory.  Some examples would be your immune system is in no way prepared to survive in the unknown depths of the ocean. Also we have come across the problem that we can not yet breath underwater without supplied oxygen. Since Disney portrays these mermaids as half human, we know that they would never be able to survive in such freezing temperatures underwater. In addition, the ocean's floor does not supply the necessary nutrients us humans need to survive.  The media perceives a mermaid in a way that would make it nearly impossible to exist. However, if we were to change the image and characteristics, there are many possibilities of mermaid existence in the 95% percent of the ocean we have not yet discovered.  Witnessing the progress we have made already in the last several decades, never give up on the possibility of the existence of mermaids.

Experience Of Learning

By: Scarlett and Isabele

This year on April 2, 2014, Westside School will be hosting their first EOL night (Experience Of Learning). Each middle school student will be sharing multiple projects for the Westside parents, helping them have a better understanding of what the students are learning. The students will be presenting a project from each core class, Humanities, Math and Science.

The teachers and staff of Westside School decided the EOL night would be a good opportunity for students to practice their presenting skills. Marc Sax, Westside School's Middle School Principal, said, " EOL night will represent real situations students will encounter later on in life". Westside believes in project based learning, so presentation skills are very important here at Westside. The Westside community believes that once students have graduated from college and are finished with schooling, presentation skills will be key for job interviews, people skills, friendships, and overall success.

In conclusion we have decided the Experience Of Learning is very beneficial for students, parents and teachers. Westside School sets students up for success and the EOL night is just another way of showing that. Thank you Westside!

Preston's Return

By: Owen and Chris

The famous David Preston returned to Westside School last Thursday.  It was only temporary but everyone was excited about it. Preston moved to Portland, Oregon last year after teaching for three years at Westside. He moved because his wife, Jen, got a job as a doctor in Portland. He was very well liked around here for many good reasons. He was a great teacher and made it very fun to learn about whatever he was teaching. Everyone was sad when he left last year, and he is missed very much.

Now he is teaching at Abiquia School in Salem, about an hour outside Portland. It is actually the school that ex Westside head of school Jo Ann Yockey works at. He is teaching 5th and 6th math and social studies and  5-8th grade life skills.

In Portland he likes to go exploring and hiking, and he really likes the restaurant. Last year he went to the Timber's/Sounders playoff game and was very disappointed with the Sounders’ loss. We wish Preston the best in wherever he goes in the future and hopes he keeps giving Westide more visits.