Saturday, January 30, 2016

Students participate in UH Math Contest


For the 3rd day in a row, WAIS students ventured to the University of Houston Central Campus. 20 students, consisting of both upper and underclassmen, participated in the annual UH Mathematics Contest. This years competition consists of 8 individual exams, a single elimination competition during lunch, and a team project.

Not every student takes every exam; a student is eligible to take an exam for Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus if they are currently enrolled in this course. Every student is eligible to take the Statistics, Calculus, Physics, and Calculator Exams. The Team Project is completed ahead of time, and must be submitted at 8:30am during on-site registration. The single elimination questions during lunch are related to Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II content.



For more information about the UH Mathematics Contest
visit Math Contest. UH. Edu


Photography by WAIS student Santiago Moreno. 
Moreno is an IB Diploma Candidate and a volunteer photographer for the Miacis annual student publication.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Ranked 7th Best Charter in Texas


Earlier this month, Niche.com released its rankings of schools based on a variety of measures and variables. From these rankings, WAIS was ranked the 7th best charter school in Texas, and the 46th best charter in the US. There are more than 350 charter schools in Texas, and more than 5,200 charter schools in the US. By these rankings, that puts WAIS in the top 3% for Texas and the top 1% for the US.

Click here to see the Texas Rankings on Niche. com

WAIS was also ranked to be in the Top 40 schools with the Best Teachers. See our post from earlier this month for more information on that specific ranking.


Students participate in Houston Area MUN




A mix of more than 30 upper and underclassmen spent the past two days at the University of Houston campus, participating in the 41st Houston Area Model UN conference.


 Model UN is an educational simulation of the United Nations. Conferences bring together hundreds of students from the surrounding areas and let them participate in a variety of sessions where students discuss issues. Each student takes the role of a delegate to the United Nations, and engage in debates during the simulation.

The students research their assigned county, and the related topics for the conference, in advance. During the conference, the students objective is to write and pass a resolution for the related topics that are congruent with their country's need and perspective. Students will present their ideas at the conference, and work with other countries'  delegates (students) during their attempt to write and pass resolutions.


This year focuses on the topics of the Creation of Israel and the Chilean Presidential Elections of 1969/70. Westchester students are participating as delegates seeking resolutions from the perspective of Cambodia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Malta, Namibia, and the USA. WAIS Students also participated in the Model UN San Antonio conference during IIW in early January.


Model UN officially begun after the formation of the UN in 1945; however, this is predated by the Model League of Nations, believed to go back to the 1920's. The first Houston Area Model UN conference was held in 1976, with 18 students- originally stated by SBISD world history teacher Andrea Flynn from Memorial High School. HAMUN has long ties with the University of Houston, including professors Joseph Nogee and Jordan Paust, since its origins in the mid '70s.


WAIS Alumnus, Patrick Aana, provides the closing remarks Friday afternoon for the 41st HAMUN Conference. Aana served at the Secretary-General for HAMUN, and is currently employed by the World Affairs Council of Houston. He holds degrees from both the University of St. Thomas and the University of Houston. Ruth Oviedo, another WAIS Alumni, serves as Chief of Staff for HAMUN. Ruth holds a degree from Sam Houston State University. Oviedo is employed by a small firm in Houston, but intends to pursue additional degrees.

Learn more about HAMUN at Houston Area MUN . org


Photography by WAIS student Santiago Moreno. 
Moreno is an IB Diploma Candidate and a volunteer photographer for the Miacis annual student publication.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Daddy Daughter Dance


The WAIS Wildcats Dance Team hosts their annual Daddy Daughter Dance. Families from around the district are invited to attend. This year sported a Princess theme, and both the children and the dance team members dressed the part. The event includes music, a dance competition, balloons, snacks, decorations, and photography by Belden Mayer Photography.

This is the second annual Daddy Daughter Dance- created and designed by WAIS Alumni and Dance Instructor Olivia Henry and her Wildcats Dance team. In addition to being a fun event for many girls and their fathers, it also serves as an important fundraiser to meet the financial needs required for the teams events and competitions throughout the school year.


Thursday, January 21, 2016

WAIS listed in Top 40 with Best Teachers in Houston


Monday, January 25th, the Houston Chronicle published an article and list of the Top 40 high schools with the best teachers, based on findings provided by community site Niche.

With 24 school districts in Harris County, and more than 200 high schools in Houston and the surrounding areas; to be listed in the Top 40 is definitely an accomplishment. Not only did WAIS rank in the top 40, but we ranked at 11th. Data for these results include reviews from the community, teacher to student ratio, years of experience, and teacher attendance.

SBISD high schools Memorial and Stratford also made the top 40 list.
They ranked at numbers 18 and 29 respectively.


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

IB HOTA Juniors at Rice's Fondren Library



IB Diploma Programme junior students taking History of the Americas visited the Rice University campus today to conduct research in the Fondren Library. While research can include books, it also includes academic journals, periodicals, and other materials that may be stored digitally or in formats including microfiche.

The students are researching for their Internal Assessments for HOTA, a research paper on a historical topic of their choosing, occurring within the last hundred years or so and restricted to the geographical area of North or Central America. History of the Americas is a two year course, and at this point during junior year, studies have not yet included South America. As of senior year, HOTA students will have covered content on South America and may conduct research on South America as well.


Photography by WAIS student Santiago Moreno. 
Moreno is an IB Diploma Candidate and a volunteer photographer for the Miacis annual student publication.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

International Investigations Workshops

Tuesday, January 5th



Our first week back from winter break each year begins with four full days of what we call "International Investigations Workshops". During the fall, the students choose from a variety of options a topic they would like to spend an extended period of time interacting with and learning about. Groups meet a couple times in the fall prior to winter break, but the largest chunk of time occurs our first week back.

IIW allows students to learn about cultures around the world in new and interesting ways by playing games and visiting new sites to engage in new fun experiences. Students choose from a variety of activities including The Great Outdoors, Guitar Around the World, Jump Rope, Tai Chi, Card Games, and many others.



Throughout this week, keep an eye on our twitter feed and daily blog updates to follow along with the adventures and experiences our students are engaged in. Posts, tweets, and photos are contributed both by staff and students. Culmination of this material, plus addition of new material, for our blog is a joint effort of faculty member Shaun Wegscheid and Middle Years student Ashley Henderson.





Wednesday, January 6th



Each day brings different student groups a variety of experiences.

Today, student groups visit NASA, Schlumberger, Farmer's Markets, and a variety of other locations. Students on campus get to meet and receive feedback from an Audio Technician, design and create Chinese Dragon costumes for a Chinese Dragon New Year's Dance, learn to cook Okonomiyaki (a Japanese dish sometimes called Japanese Pizza and often compared to a pancake or an omelette), utilize GPS to participate in small scale geocaching, and a variety of other activities.


Most students will continue the rest of the week coming and leaving school each morning, participating in a variety of activities and trips. Our 7th graders won't return home until Friday; they're off to spend several days at camp. Their activities include using dichotomous keys to identify organisms, forest succession, nature hikes, and other outdoor activities. Our Model UN students also bid farewell to home today. They head out to San Antonio to participate in the MUNSA Conference (Model United Nations San Antonio). MUNSA is the largest student run Model UN Conference in the world. Students will return at the week's end.




Thursday, January 7th


Today is the third day of our IIW week. The Culture of Japan students visit the Asia Society Texas Center. The Tai Chi group continues working with a visiting instructor who focusing on Bagua style of Wushu Taichi. After understanding the basics, the Tinikling group is now choreographing their own routines to modern music. They will perform at our upcoming Open House for prospective students. Here's a couple of students demonstrating some of the basic steps:


The Traditional Dance Around the World continues working on their Dragon Dance for the Open House. Piñatas for Charity have a variety of piñatas nearing completion for an auction on Jan 15. True to its name, the the revenue will then be donated to charity. Cultural Investigation: Board Games participated in a skype call with writer and board games designer Ted Alspach.

These are just a few of the experiences our students engaged in today. Want to see more of what our students are doing this week? Check out our Twitter feed and our daily IIW blog entries.






  

Friday, January 8th

 
It’s the last day of IIW, this week's adventures and experiences conclude today. After a visit to an archery range yesterday, the students create educational videos on archery. The piñatas for charity group is making posters to put around the school- informing the student body about the silent auction on Jan 15 during the middle school and upper school lunch. 

Tinikling recorded their dance routine, they are now editing and analyzing their recordings to look for ways to improve. They'll be posting their videos on youtube after editing. The Folklore and art group finishes works of art that correspond with various cultures. Taichi performs a demonstration of forms. Of course, there are many other groups on campus doing a variety of things as they also finish up the week and their studies in their specific area of interest.




It's been a great week full of a variety of experiences. We hope you've enjoyed following our blog entries, photos, and tweets provided by a variety of staff and students. We'll be back to our regular curriculums on Monday.





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