7th grade Globalization Debates

by Luke and Daisy

Two weeks ago the seventh grade class started working on globalization debates. The topics included

-globalization promotes terrorism

-globalization helps developing countries

-globalization benefits the environment

-globalization is harmful to human rights

-globalization creates a more interconnected society and therefore promotes stronger social relationships.

We debated the pro and con side of each topic. Each group got two minutes to first present their opening statements each then to write three statements then do their rebuttals each then to do their closing statements. The debates were amazing, students were prepared and very persuasive!  

The Truth Behind Skydiving

BY Kenji

      Skydiving is one of the most common thrills a regular  person can have, plunging 15,000 feet from a plane to the ground. People always speculate that skydiving has such a high fatality rate, that it is stupid to attempt. There is approximately 3 million jumps per year and only 21 deaths, that is a 0.0007% chance of dying from a skydive. Now compare this to a car ride;  there are 10 million car accidents per year and 40,000 of these result into fatalities. With all this being said skydiving accidents aren't common at all. If you are scared of skydiving then think about how you should really be scared of driving to a friends house and back.

Research Site: http://news.discovery.com/adventure/extreme-sports/how-common-are-skydiving-accidents.htm

Student Led Conferences

By Kate and Aisha

Lately, Westside Middle School students have been preparing for Student Led Conferences this coming Thursday. Student were required to choose 2  artifacts from each of our core classes to match 9 different skills: Creativity & Innovation, Technology, Collaboration, Reflection, Research, Thinking Skills, Communication, Self Management and Community Engagement. On Thursday, May 29th, we will be taking time out of our day to share current work with our parents. This spring was timing was tighter than expected, but students have been working hard to be prepared in time. Even though timing was hard to work around, we are all excited to share the work and projects we have finished in our classes these past few months.

Alice in Wonderland Jr.

By Daisy and Aisha

For this last semester, Musical Theater performed Alice in Wonderland Jr. with set help from Technical Theater. Students worked since Mid-Winter Break to put on this performance.

Sue Boyum and Jillian Honorof were the masterminds of this great project; the play was phenomenal. The best scenes were when Tweedle Dee and Tweedle  Dumb first meet Alice. Lily and Annika performed the song 'How Do You Do'. It was very comical and well done.

However, all the cast members did an amazing job.  Here is the list of who brought this show to life.

* Cheshire Cat 1- Danielle *Cheshire Cat 2- Sarah *Cheshire Cat 3- Emily *Matilda- Anna N

*Alice- Lily G

*Small Alice- Eden

*Tall Alice- Nicole

*White rabbit- Lily T

*Doorknob- Jac

*Dodo bird- Nate

* Tweedle dee- Lily S

* Tweedle Dumb- Annika

* Lily- Olivia

* Violet- Jordan M

*Daisy- Helen

*Rose- Lauren

*Petunia- Great

*Caterpillars- Larisa, Jordan, Anna C

*Mad hatter- Calum

*March Hare- Flora

*Queen Of Hearts- Ella

*King of hearts- Rex

*Royal Cards men- Sophie, Elias, Nina, Anna N, Niccole, Jac, Nate

* Lobsters- Sophie, Elias, Nina, Anna, Nicole, Jac, Ella, Rex, Callum, Sarah

All in all it was a great performance, we can’t wait to see what they put on next!

Mt. Saint Helens Trip

By: Isabele, Jackson,  and Owen

The 8th Grade class traveled to Mt. Saint Helens as our last trip together. It was an amazing trip and a really great bonding experience. We wrote cards to each other, some about memories we had of each other and about skills that we can bring to high school. On the last night we shared the cards with one another and had a Circle of Tears; it is  actually called a Value Circle where we have a prompt that we have to answer, we talk about the future and how we won't be together anymore after Westside.  It usually ends up with some people crying. Thats why we call it the Circle of Tears. The cards plus the Value Circle really showed us how close the eighth grade class is and how much we care about each other.

On the first day there we hiked a trail near Mt. St. Helens which was by the river that had all the mud and trees in it when it erupted. It was called Hummocks Trail. It was about 4 miles and it was a great nature trail. It was also a great geological learning place. When we were closest to the volcano we went to a visitor center where we learned about Mt. St. Helens and when it erupted.

On Tuesday afternoon of the trip we were told by Sarah, Don, and our guide David that we were about to take part in an activity for the next 24 hours called, the Survival Challenge. We would not get any help by a teacher or guide except to be able to ask questions about what we could use. Our questions could be about anything we needed help on but we only had three. We had to cook our own meals, set up our own tarps, and build our own fires. We did the Survival Challenge to show what we had learned through our middle school experience on our camping trips. We worked together really well and remembered all of our skills that we learned with Westside.

Overall it was a really fun trip and we will always remember the memories we had. We learned how well we could cooperate with each other and how close everyone actually is. It was a huge success and Westside should continue to make the cards, Value Circle, and Survival Challenge a tradition with future 8th grade classes.

Boko Haram and the Kidnapped School Girls

By: Scarlett and Emma

  In Nigeria, a fundamentalist Muslim group known as Boko Haram has committed many hate crimes against Christians. Boko Haram’s mission is to  fight to overthrow the government and create an all Islamic state.

Recently on April 14, 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 school girls, to force the Nigerian Government to release Boko Haram prisoners. They also hope to deprive women of their rights. By kidnapping the school girls Boko Haram is trying to send a message to the world that they are a force to be reckoned with. They will do whatever it takes to create an Islamic state. After the recent kidnapping Nigeria gained a lot of media publicity. People around the world were enraged at this event. However, this is not their first act of violence. For years Boko Haram has terrorized Nigerian citizens.

          Shortly after the kidnapping, a video of the girls reciting Islamic prayers and dressed in burkas was released. Many of the young girls had been Christian but had been forced to convert to the desired belief system. The girls had mentioned they had not been abused, but that has yet to be concluded.

          Among the kidnapped, several girls managed to escape. Some of the girls jumped out of the moving trucks and ran into the bush and latter returned to their village. Others waited until they reached the camp, and then ran from captivity. The young girls that escaped were interviewed. One woman we read about in an article spoke out to us. When she had found an escape plan while trapped in the moving trucks, the others refused to join her, saying her escape was suicide. "I prefer to die." she said in response. Besides the escaped girls and their stories, and video released by Boko Haram, no other information has been released.

          Here at Westside we are hopeful for the best, and that the young girls will be found and returned to their homes. The pain that the girls and their families are going through is unimaginable. 

Google 'Right to be Forgotten' Case

by Luke and Andres

Google 'Right to be Forgotten' Case

by Luke and Andres

In 2012, the European Commission published plans for a "Right to be Forgotten" law.  This allows people to request data about themselves to be deleted. An example of this is if a person writes something about themselves on a website or a web page and they don't want it there anymore, and they can't delete it, they can ask Google to take it down. Recently a top EU court ruled that Google must change certain search results if an individual requests it.  This is a test of the so called 'Right to Be Forgotten' law.  

The Google case was brought on by a man who objected to Google searches on his name that threw up links to a 1998 newspaper article about the repossession of his home.

EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said, "The ruling today confirms the need to bring today's data protection rules from the digital Stone Age, into today's modern commuting world."

However, "Google said it was disappointed with the ruling, which contradicted a non-binding opinion from the ECJ's court adviser last year that said deleting sensitive information from search results would interfere with freedom of expression"

In addition, another group said,  "If search engines are forced to remove links to legitimate content that is already in the public domain but not the content itself, it could lead to online censorship"- Javier Ruiz, Policy Director at Open Rights Group (BBC: EU court backs 'right to be forgotten' in Google case)

This case opens up a lot of arguments on the right to privacy vs. the right to free speech. It will be interesting to see how Google handles this situation.

7th Grade Spring Trip

By Kate, Aisha and Ella

Over the week of May 5-9 we took a trip Eastern Oregon to experience the Grand Ronde rapids. Our chaperoning teachers Susannah and Glyn drove us across the border into Oregon on the morning of May 5th, with help of two guides, Porter and Kevin. The first night we met up with our river guides, Dove, Larry, Nick, Ted and Alus (Aloosh),  which we spent the next three days rafting with.

Throughout the trip our guides prepared outstanding meals and made the rafting experience fun and entertaining with their easy going attitudes and free spirits. Our rafts were separated between paddle and gear boats. While riding in the gear boats, we were able to relax and enjoy the scenery.   Riding in the paddle boats gave us the chance to learn how to paddle while getting wet. Along the river we sang songs, splashed each other and even participated in Tai Chi rafting through the rapids.

If you ask any of us what school trip was our favorite, an overwhelming majority would say this last one. We were treated like royalty, were even given cake twice and had a fantastic time rafting.

Teacher Appreciation Week

By Amber and Kayla

This week, May 12th-16th, we are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week with a variety of activities. The WPO, parents and students are excited to show their love and appreciation for the teachers and staff of Westside School. 

One way we can show our love of learning to our teachers is by leaving them a note on their teacher appreciation sign outside of their classroom. We can remind them of joyful times and assure them of our admiration for the knowledge that they have gifted upon us.

Some activities of the week include...

Monday:  Juice Bar Pulp Catering will be in the MPR from 7:30-9:30 to offer delicious pure fruit smoothies to start off their day! 

Wednesday:   There will be a delicious lunch catered by gourmet food shop andw delicatessen Pasta & Co. and take away homemade cookies to enjoy later.  A copy of the menu is attached.  Lunch will be served in the staff room from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Friday:  In the afternoon, we will be serving delicious cupcakes from Cooking Channel-featured bakery Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. in the staff room. 

There are still a few days left, so make sure to leave the teachers a nice note outside their door so they know how much they are appreciated. 

Response to Racism in the NBA

By Kayla and Chris

About a week ago, TMZ released an audio recording of a man arguing with Venessa Stiviano,  about Stiviano posting pictures of herself with black people on Instagram. The man on this audio recording was identified by Stiviano as Donald Sterling, owner of the LA Clippers (Stiviano was Sterlings girlfriend).

In the recording, Sterling made racist comments that offended many people. This isn't the first time Sterling has been accused of racism. In 2009, he agreed to pay 2.73 million dollars to settle allegations because he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics and African Americans. Again in 2011, Sterling was accused of harassment and discrimination but won the a lawsuit.

In response to the release of this recording, many people have expressed their disapproval. was Magic Johnson responded, "Obviously, if the reports are true, it's unacceptable in our league. It doesn't matter white, black, or Hispanic - all across the races it's unacceptable. As the commissioner of our league, they have to make a stand. They have to be very aggressive with it."

President Obama also released a statement, "I don't think I have to interpret those statements for you, they kind of speak for themselves. When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything. You just let them talk... I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this."

In addition to this, the Clippers themselves wore their warm-up jerseys instead without their logo and black socks.

In response the NBA banned Sterling for life and fined him 2.5 million dollars. This was the first true issue that new NBA commissioner, Adam Silver faced and his decision to ban Sterling was met with great approval. In addition, Sterling is also being forced to sell the Clippers. This has been a great step for the NBA, but has also raised a question, would the same thing be done if someone made the same comments about someone being gay?

If you would like to listen to this recording, the link is below.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dZh6WGbZUvA