The Wildcat Roar » Top Stories

Westminster Publications Receive Top Ratings

parkerbriden — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:32:07 +0000

The National Scholastic Press Association has rated Westminster’s newspaper and yearbook “First Class with One Mark of Distinction.”

“We are typically at the top of schools locally. For the last two years we have been consistently getting first class, which is close to All-American (first class with four marks of distinction),” said Scott Vonder Bruegge, newspaper and yearbook advisor.

The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) is a nonprofit membership organization that offers a publication critique service to high school publications such as newspapers and yearbooks.

“I’m impressed with both staffs. They see the value in not wasting their time, and they want to do something worthwhile,” said Vonder Bruegge.

In addition to participating in NPSA, the yearbook is part of the Southern Illinios Scholastic Press Association competition each winter and has placed in the Golden Dozen, an award for the top 12 yearbooks in this region of the country. The newspaper participates in Sponsors of School Publications in the spring.

“A lot of schools never send anything to be critiqued, it’s purely voluntary,” said Vonder Bruegge.

Vonder Bruegge attributes the success to students’ motivation to excel and to have a good program. Last year’s newspaper editor-in-chief, Danielle Cicka, was pleased with the award the Wildcat Roar recieved.

“I was ecstatic about the award the newspaper staff received, especially considering it was the highest distinction the staff had ever received. I knew the staff really stepped up their game, and it was wonderful to have that solidified and recognized with the distinction,” said Cicka.

Vonder Bruegge has always encouraged students to “Find your voice and say something significant.”

He would love to see both the paper and the yearbook become consistently rated All-American publications in the future. As for improvements, Vonder Bruegge believes that both the yearbook and the newspaper must work to develop the multimedia part of their programs.

“If everything happens right, we’ll have a broadcast journalism class next year,” said Vonder Bruegge.

Wee Wildcats

parkerbriden — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:21:36 +0000

On Saturday morning, December 3rd, Kim Doyle, Director of Community Relations, and student volunteers led the fourth annual Wee Wildcats event. This event gives Westminster faculty with children under the age of 10 the opportunity to drop their kids off for free childcare and spend the morning doing whatever they please. It was held at Covenant Christian School.
There were around 40 Wee Wildcats that attended the event. The older kids capable of walking played four square, pulled each other on rolley seats, played tag on the playground and tossed footballs with volunteers while the littler ones mostly stayed in the nursery downstairs. The gym was open for free play where most of the kids played the whole time, but some also made crafts and went outside on the playground.
One of the reasons why many students signed up for Wee Wildcats was to get service hours for National Honors Society. Members of NHS are required to spend 15 hours per semester participating in service work, and this proved to be a great opportunity to take advantage of.
“I wanted to do Wee Wildcats because I love kids and it seemed like a fun and easy four hours of service hours. I loved getting to know the kids and I’m practically a kid at heart so I fit right in. We used our imaginations and talked in different accents,” said Emma Bailey, sophomore.
According to Valerie Chavez, junior, the event was also a fun experience for student volunteers because getting to know the teachers’ kids can be funny.
“The main reason I wanted to go is because I thought Mr. Burke’s son was going to be there and I love him! But he wasn’t and it was still fun. I played with Señor Legters’s kids and we played football and soccer mostly. They were really good. All the kids were so cute and I love running around, and since kids love to do that too, it worked out pretty well,” said Chavez.

WCA Dress Code Updated

parkerbriden — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:39:08 +0000

Westminster’s standardized dress program has recently been updated with the addition of long-sleeved polo shirts. Keeping in mind the recent sentiment of both students and parents, this addition does not come as a surprise.

“This decision was made as a result of the recent parent survey we conducted regarding Westminster’s standardized dress program. Many parents commented that their students need more warm clothing choices now that winter is here. We hope this addition will give students more options for layering in the colder weather,” said Becky VanValkenburg, Executive Assistant to the Head of School.

This decision is clearly a positive one for students.

“I would definitely wear a long-sleeved polo since the other shirts are a little thin for winter weather,” said Violet Kouzes, junior.

As well as taking requests for additions to the standardized dress program, the recent parent survey also assessed families’ overall satisfaction with the dress code. Results show that, overall, about sixty-three percent of the Westminster community is very satisfied with the Lands End standardized dress.

“The results from the recent survey are very encouraging and even surprising. After just a few months with the standardized dress program in effect, I’m grateful to hear that such a majority of our families are satisfied with the changes,” said Jim Marsh, Head of School.

In addition to the positive response that was communicated through the survey, there were also a few issues raised, which are currently being considered.

“Affordability seems to be an issue, and we are aware of this. We are hoping to provide the opportunity for families to sell or trade in used uniform items at the end of the year after they’ve been outgrown or are no longer needed,” said Marsh.

Though this involves the dress code items themselves, there are also concerns regarding the dress code policy and enforcement.

“The length of girls’ skirts was the most mentioned critique throughout the survey. Though the issue hasn’t been resolved, we are aware of the concerns and are currently working on a resolution to this problem,” said Marsh.

Overall, the Westminster Administration’s main goal is to accommodate the needs of the school community through providing a practical and affordable dress program.

Recently, there has been one more thing on students’ minds in regard to the dress code: spirit week.

“From my discussion, students will have the opportunity to dress creatively during spirit week,” said Sara Keeton, upper school English teacher and spirit week coordinator.

As long as students continue to be modest and appropriate with their clothing choices, dress-up days will continue to be a part of spirit week.

In the end, the new standardized dress program has been a success thus far, and any further concerns will not go unaddressed.

Westminster Students and Staff Reach Out to the Community Through Engage St. Louis

parkerbriden — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:19:38 +0000

As the church door swings to a close, a room full of quiet suddenly erupts with echoes of laughter and delighted squeals. Not yet three steps through the door, students are met with eager requests from children to play tag and pick them up.

These are the kinds of experiences that Westminster students will discover at Engage St. Louis.

Engage St. Louis – also called ESTL, but known to the WCA community as ESL – became a reality for the St. Louis community in early 2010, when the well-known organization Refuge of Nations joined forces with other like-minded programs. Together, they provide immigrant families with opportunities for education, discipleship, and counseling.

“The purpose of our ministry is to walk alongside immigrant and refugee families, providing them with personal support through long-term relationships as they navigate life in a new culture and country. This takes a multitude of different forms, including home visits, special events, and the provision of counseling and food,” said Tim Baldwin, ESTL staff member.

Yet, ESTL does not only provide for families’ physical needs.

“In addition to helping individuals settle in and providing for basic needs, ESTL is able to minister to families through the gospel,” said Joan Dudley, upper school Spanish teacher.

Dudley helps to organize WCA’s time at ESTL on Wednesday nights once per month. During this time, Westminster students watch the children of Hispanic families while parents have the opportunity to participate in a Bible study.

Holly Sumner, junior, never misses the chance to attend the program.

“I’ve missed only one ESTL night in the last three years. I don’t quite remember why, but it must have been a pretty compelling reason because I really love to do it,” said Sumner.

These Wednesday nights are not just a blessing to parents, who are able to take some time to study the Word of God, but they are also a blessing for the children.

“From the happy squeals I hear while we act like monsters and chase the kids around, it’s clear that they enjoy playing with high school students and getting individual attention,” said Sumner.

In addition to the program’s participants, there is one more group who is touched by the program: the students.

“After a few times, I realized that the wee ones were blessing me in so many ways. I love having the fellowship and spending the time with the kids even if some don’t speak English. It’s possible to be their friend even if their lives and ethnicities are completely different from your own,” said Nina Thampy, junior.

Though students may assume that they must speak Spanish in order to attend ESTL, this is not the case.

“I would encourage anyone who enjoys hanging out with kids to get involved with ESTL. This year, we’ve been privileged to have members of the French club come along with us, and we even sang some songs in French last month. Most of the kids speak some English anyway, so communication is no problem,” said Sumner.

But for those who do speak Spanish, ESTL offers a very unique opportunity.

“If you’re tired of all those tedious workbook pages and irregular verbs, here’s your official invitation to come see Spanish in a new, more meaningful light,” said Sumner.

Overall, what Westminster sees of ESTL once per month is just a small fraction of the entire program. Yet, it is still a huge blessing to families in the St. Louis community. If students are looking to bless others and be blessed, to both reach out to the community and be touched by the community, ESTL offers the perfect opportunity.

New WCA Website Launched

parkerbriden — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:18:41 +0000

On November 7th, Westminster launched a new website called thewestminstervision.com. This site will contain constant updates on students, graduates, and alumni.

“TheWesminsterVision.com is designed to be a platform to explore and share the impact of investments made in Westminster through the generous giving of many people through many years,” said Zach Clark, Director of Advancement.

The website is constantly being updated with news of what is happening inside and outside of school.

It is a vision for Westminster’s graduates “to see more young men and women prepared to engage the world and change it for Jesus Christ,” said Clark.

This site is intended to reach the whole Westminster community in order to advance the community and the world.

“We hope the site will provide people with an up close look at some of the things we are working on as a school through authentic dialogue via video or writing,” said Clark.

There are currently video updates from Mr. Marsh and Zach Clark on making a difference and the launch of this site.

“We want to provide a place where people can really hear the heart of a teacher as they describe what they are working on or a special experience they shared with students,” said Clark.

However, TheWestminsterVision.com is not solely focused on students and the school, it is intended to also provide focus on alumni.

“We want to put a spotlight on alumni, not just those who have achieved some sort of extraordinary success but those alumni who you’ve never heard of that are living an ‘ordinary’ life in an extraordinary way as they live out their faith,” said Clark.

TheWestminsterVision.com is still making advancements, but there will be a broad range of content.

“We encourage people to share this site. We’ve made it easy to share the content via Facebook, Twitter, email, and other great social tools so we are hoping that people will share the content they are most interested in with others,” said Clark.

Visit www.thewestminstervision.com to learn more.