1/17/17 PTSA E-Blast

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KEY DATES (complete calendar at ptsa.westfieldhs.org):

1/19: PTSA Meeting, 7 pm

1/20: Inauguration Day, No School

1/24: Junior Night, 7 pm

1/28: BITS Tutoring, 9:30 am

 Here are several updates from around the school:

1. PTSA Meeting, January 19^th: Please join us for a PTSA meeting on Thursday, January 19^th in the library. Among topics to be discussed will be the All Night Grad Celebration and the upcoming mulch sale.
2. Junior Night, January 24^th at 7 pm: Learn from a panel of college professionals about the college process, what students should be doing now, how colleges make decisions, how to manage the process, financial aid/scholarships, and the community college option. There will be time for questions at the end of the program. This program is for Juniors and their families and will be held in the auditorium.
3. Practice SAT or ACT, February 25^th:  The PTSA and Kaplan are sponsoring a practice test on Saturday, February 25^th. Students register to take a full-length test of either the SAT or the ACT. Scores are for student use only, and are not reported to the test companies. The cost is $20, with payment made to the PTSA. To register, click here or use the link at the bottom of this e-blast.
4. College Partnership Program:  Applications for the College Partnership Program are being accepted now. The College Partnerships Program assists students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education such as first generation, African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic, limited English proficient, students with disabilities or economically disadvantaged students. See Mrs. Campbell, Maggie Craig, or Bobby Snyder, CPP advocates, for more information or to request an application. Or, visit here.   Applications accepted January 18 – March 31, 2017. 
5. Young Women’s Self-Defense Class – Only a few spots remain! The PTSA is sponsoring a self-defense class for WHS female students on Saturday, February 25^th from 3-6 pm.  The class is limited to the first 30 students who email minconway@verizon.net and receive a confirmation of enrollment. The cost is $10 per student. For more information, please see the flier attached to the bottom of this eblast.  
6. BITS Tutoring - Free!  BITS runs up to 3 Saturday mornings per month. Student tutors are needed and earn service hours for their time! To be eligible for tutoring, students must attend Westfield or any of the schools that feed to Westfield (elementary and middle). For information and to see the required forms, click here   Everyone must arrive on time. No late arrivals will be admitted. January 28^th is the next BITS tutoring date.
7. Service Learning Hours: Are you a student (or parent of a student) who needs volunteer hours? Would your student like to earn the ability to wear a black service cord at graduation? If yes to both, students in grades 9-12 need to earn 40 documented volunteer hours during their high school years. Through volunteering, students learn about themselves, develop new skills, define their interests and build self-esteem, help the community, and building on their experience for college or future jobs. For more information about FCPS Service Learning visit here.  There are many local opportunities in our community and search engines you can create a profile with to start out, such as Volunteer Match or Volunteer Fairfax.   For more information, students may see Mrs. Campbell in Student Services (next to the clinic) to pick up a verification form and view the volunteer binder or log on to Family Connections (via Blackboard) and click on the X2VOL tab. Mrs. Villars, in the Career Center, also has a volunteer opportunities bulletin board. One big option coming up soon: Mulch Weekend! Students can earn many hours while participating in this fantastic community event!
8. Neil McNerney Presentation, February 15^th at 7 pm:  More information to follow, but please mark your calendars and plan to hear Neil McNerney
9. Scholarships 101:  College Access Fairfax is offering a free presentation called Scholarships 101 on Monday, January 30^th from 7-9 pm at Herndon High School. Presented will be information about applying for scholarships, application tips, websites to search, and other scholarship source information. This presentation is open to all grade levels and no registration is required.
10. FAFSA Workshop:  The free FAFSA workshop that was cancelled because of last week’s ice has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 28^th and will be held at Centreville High School. Other dates are available (see the following link). For information and to register (you must re-register), visit http://collegeaccessfairfax.org/
11. Gap Year Fair: Learn about what a gap year between high school and college is about and learn about specific gap year programs. The fair is on February 7^th, with a speaker from 7-7:45 pm and the fair being from 7:45-9 pm and is at George C. Marshall High School. Preregistration is required and this is a free event. To register, visit usagapyearfairs.org/fairs
12. Turbo-Tutoring: To see the calendar and to register for a one-day seminar for SAT or ACT prep, click here or see the flier attached at the bottom of the e-blast.
13. Senior Parent Meeting:  Senior Parents – please mark your calendars for the “70 Days Until Graduation” Senior Parent meeting on April 6^th at 7 pm. Come learn about everything related to graduation (June 15^th at 7:30 pm), including ticket information (yes, tickets are required), rehearsal information (required for all students who will be graduating), prom information (May 13^th), Mulch Day (April 21-22), All Night Grad Celebration, and much more! 
14. 2017 Mulch Sale and Delivery: Please mark your calendars! Mulch delivery weekend is April 21^st-22^nd and many volunteers (students and adults) will be needed! The sale of mulch will begin in a few weeks – please be sure to get your order in early! We have sold out the past 4 years! Orders can be placed online or by sending an order form to the school. Watch the e-blast for an announcement about the beginning of the sale!
15. Superintendent Search Survey: Interested in providing your input to the search for the new FCPS Superintendent? Please complete the survey found at this link.
16. FCPS Parent Resource Center:  There are many resources available at the FCPS Parent Resource center, including an upcoming workshop on supporting secondary aged students who have dyslexia. For information and to register for classes, visit here.  
17. WeStep Community Sponsors Needed Please: Westfield High School is looking for business partnerships to participate in our WeStep Internship Program from Thursday, May 25^th through Friday, June 9^th. All interns meet high qualifications including a review of grades, attendance, and discipline records. You would have an intern for a minimum of 60 hours in your organization. We seek both paid and unpaid internships in a wide range of fields. The program was such a success last year that over 36 of our seniors were offered summer employment! Please contact information on the program and how we can help you find an intern(s). Your collaboration is an important phase of the education of our seniors and we look forward to working with you.
18. News You Can Use: If you haven’t already done so, please consider registering to receive PTSA updates through the FCPS News You Can Use program. It’s a bit cumbersome to register but this is the main way the PTSA will be able to send messages (other than the eblasts and Facebook).  To register: Go to FCPS.edu; Scroll to the bottom then click on the mustard yellow banner “Stay Updated with What’s Happening at FCPS with News You Can Choose; Click the “Sign Up Now box; Enter your email address and click “submit”; Find the button for “High Schools” and select “Westfield”; Choose first line “News and Announcements” then choose second line “PTSA” and click submit. You will see a green banner with a check mark and “Subscriptions Updated”.  While in the system, you can opt for other areas of interest as well.
19. Athletic Teams Calendar:  To see the games/matches/meets for all WHS athletic teams, click here!  
20. Amazon.com Ordering:  If you order from Amazon.com, please access the website through the link on the right side of the PTSA webpage   Every order placed earns the PTSA much needed funds, at NO cost to you! Thank you!
21. Silent Fundraisers:  We participate in several store school support programs, such as Giant’s A+ School Rewards and Harris Teeter’s Together in Education program. You DO have to relink your Harris Teeter card each year but you do not have to relink your Giant card (but please check to ensure that you’ve designated Westfield!)  Please check out this link for more information!
22. Have something about a club, team, or class at Westfield that you’d like in the e-blast? Send a request to newsletter@westfieldhs.org