Librarians give a new age introduction to the library

Our librarians, Amy Woolsey and Sara Day, are part of the Next Generation pilot program. As part of the program, they are required to find ways to move their education forward or, in other words, teach in a way they could not have done prior to the implementation of the technology.

In the past, the librarians have introduced the freshmen classes to the resources available in the library. This year, they used their Next Generation devices (Dell Venues) to help students navigate through the resources and become pro-librarians.

Check out their video here!

Westwood Girls Who Code Club launches!

Last year, the Computer Science, Technology, and Library departments teamed forces to host the first-ever Warrior Code event, a week-long codeathon. Though the event only showed small numbers of participants, those who did come have made waves in the school.

For instance, one female student, an Academy Ambassador, decided to start a Westwood chapter of the organization, Girls Who Code. At the recruitment event on Friday at the Fish Bowl, the girls were able to recruit more than 50 freshmen girls.

The club will have weekly meetings starting in September. Sponsors will include teachers from computer science, technology, and the library. And, instructors will include support from area businesses and national organizations.

Check out their site for more information: http://westwoodgwc.wix.com/westwoodgirlswhocode

Aerospace Club Shoots for the Stars

Last week, Time Warner Austin (Channel 8)  visited the Westwood Aerospace Club (division of the Westwood Engineering Club) meeting and many members were interviewed! Members were interviewed about their upcoming near-space balloon missions and STEM in general and were videotaped working on the team capsule and airplane for their next flight (April 26th, WHS, 9AM).

If you would like to see more of the team, check out the blurb from the producer:

"The aerospace club segment will run locally on TWC News - broadcast multiple times throughout this weekend, and I also plan to submit it to our NY station (NY1) for inclusion in the national monthly show called “It Ain’t RocketScience” . The show runs in Austin at the end of April and showcases STEM stories from around the country and runs in all Time Warner Cable markets (NY, LA, Carolinas…et al)."

And, stay tuned for more updates from the near-space balloon missions!

Poetry Slam!

Take a look at Susan Stollar's students participating in the Westwood Poetry Slam. Students had to record and edit their videos for the contest:

#Warriorcode event at Westwood takes off

As part of Teen Tech Week, the librarians, instructional technology staff, and computer-intensive teachers joined forces to help students learn essential problem-solving skills. Out of that collaboration formed #warriorcode, a week long event where students learned fundamentals of coding from beginning level to advanced levels.

Students in graphic design classes created the logo, title, and flyers. While teachers sourced problems for students to solve. MakerSquare, a company dedicated to teaching others to code, joined in as well to teach free workshops during lunch each day. The culminating activity is a Saturday workshop - free of charge to students - to show off projects!

Check out more follow-ups on Westwood's first coding event!

Teen Tech Week Launches at Westwood

This year, Westwood is participating in Teen Tech Week. At the forefront will be #warriorcode, a Code-a-thon of sorts to teach students the fundamentals of coding while solving teacher-sourced problems.

Students in graphic design classes designed and created titles for the event.

After the designs were created, students signed up to participate. And, this year, Makerspace volunteered to assist in teaching students to code. 

Follow us throughout the week at #warriorcode on Twitter as we document our first ever student-led Code-a-thon!

Westwood Resource Class Goes Google!

Mrs. Serino's students learned to make a Google presentation as part of their US History lesson on the Industrial Revolution. Each student picked an invention to research and then presented their report to the class. After the class finished, Mrs. Serino was informed later they want to do another presentation! She plans to work that into her lesson plans for next report period!