Annual Winter Concert

The Westchester Academy Choir performed their annual Winter Concert this evening. With over 10 years now, this event has become a long standing tradition and the number of participating choir students has never been greater. Despite our theater featuring a wider stage than most, participants still overflow what it can accommodate.

The performance included a variety of festive holiday songs. Friends and families of WAIS were invited to the performance free of charge and toward the end were invited to sing along.

Dr. Shamoo of Rice U speaks on Superbugs

Dr. Yousif Shamoo, Professor of BioSciences at Rice University, visits the Westchester Campus today and speaks with students about his research in the medical field. Dr. Shamoo obtained his bachelor's from Carnegie Mellon, his doctorate from Yale, and has coauthored numerous academic articles in his areas of study. Dr. Shamoo speaks specifically on his research in molecular evolution, increase in drug resistant pathogens, and how this is affecting the medical field. Upper School students were invited to attend during our extended lunch period today.

Antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics have greatly prevent the spread of infectious diseases over the last 70 years. They've saved countless lives, and are one of the most important advances in the medical field. However, they've also spurred evolution within pathogens- resulting in more antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens. This results in diseases being harder to treat and medicines that once worked becoming ineffective. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), at least 2 million Americans are infected with resistant bacteria each year. At least 23,000 of them die as a direct result from these infections.

Dr. Shamoo also provides a Q&A session with students, engages in a recorded interview with a WAIS IB Diploma student, and shares with students more general information about the sort of classes he teaches and the experiences students in this field at Rice can engage in.



See also:

• Dr. Yousif Shamoo @ Rice: https://biosciences.rice.edu/facultydetail.aspx?riceid=662
• AMR @ the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/
• AMR @ the WHO: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs194/en/
• Origin & Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance on the NIH: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2937522/

Personal Project Work sessions Dec 1st & 8th

December 1 and/or December 8 from 4:10 to 6pm- link to register 

Both sessions start after tutorials end so there will not be conflict as the semester winds down. 

Register below to attend the Personal Project Work Session on Tuesday, December 1st or 8th, from 4:10 to 6 pm. You can work on your bibliography, process journal, begin the report, or finish part of the product. WAIS staff will be there to facilitate the work session. Session size is limited.

Tuesday, December 1st (Session) http://goo.gl/forms/lUEwKj5PLU

Tuesday, December 8th (Session) http://goo.gl/forms/M4pGmQrkse

The location will be either A346 or the library depending on the number of students that register. 

PLEASE contact Mrs. Agrawal or Mrs. Wegscheid if you must cancel your attendance so another student may take your place.

Houston Texans visit WAIS

The Houston Texans visited us earlier this week. An article and photos from the event are posted on HoustonTexans.com. The visit was prompted by our success in the NFL's Play60 Challenge. Check out the article and related photos here.

Mayoral Candidate Bill King speaks with Students

Candidate Bill King, for the 2015 Houston Mayoral Election, spoke with WAIS government students today. Bill King shared with students about how local politics work, and the current issues Houston is facing. He explained the positions he supports, and spoke on his perspectives regarding Houston's issues and potential solutions.

The general election for Houston's next mayor was already held, but no candidate took majority of the votes. As such, a run-off election will be held on December 12th between the two leading candidates, Bill King and Sylvester Turner.

Bill King also urged students to get more involved with their city and local politics. Regardless of who they vote for, King urged students to educate themselves on local politics, candidates, and participate in voting. King spoke on the lack of participation in the city's youth in politics. In the General Election less than 5% of the populace voted, and King stated that the average voter is older than he is.

King holds degrees in both political science and law from the University of Houston. King was the first person in his family to earn a college degree. If King wins, this will not be his first time serving as Mayor- King served as the mayor for two terms in nearby city, Kemah, from 1992-2004. If elected, Bill King will be the first republican mayor of Houston since Jim McConn who served from 1978 - 1982.

This is the first run-off election since 2009. Current mayor Annise Parker was re-elected by over 50% in both 2011 and 2013. Parker grew up in Spring Branch and attended Spring Branch public schools until the age of 15 when her family moved to a US Army Post in Germany. Parker attended Rice University on a National Merit Scholarship.

Candidate Sylvester Turner is scheduled to speak with WAIS students later this year.

WAIS Theatre presents Cinderella

Westchester Theatre invites you to join us for this fall's production, Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella. This production is a combined effort between the theatre, choir, and dance students. Support for this production includes multiple faculty and friends of WAIS, including artistic direction by Andrew Maddocks, musical direction by Lindsey Faleiro, production choreography by Olivia Henry, with lights and tech consulting by alumnus Ronis Alvarenga, and photography and playbill consulting by Shaun Wegscheid.

Come experience the magic of a story thats been passed on for centuries, through multiple languages and different cultures. The story where a young girl goes from servant to royalty with a little magical help from her fairy godmother. Cinderella will be performed for two weekends only.

Cinderella in Houston Chronicle

An article about our production of Cinderella, written by Don Maines was published in the Chronicle this week. See the snippet below, and check the link that follows to read the full article.

"Kendall Brunner plays the title character in "Cinderella," Nov. 13-14 at Westchester Academy for International Studies.

She is managing the show's technical feat of transforming her character's cinder girl rags into a sparkling ball gown before the audience's very eyes.

Westchester choir director Lindsey Faleiro said they made all the costumes from scratch or borrowed them, "but we didn't have any idea what to do about the transformation dress" (which was a centerpiece of the show's recent Broadway revival, which won best costume design at the 2013 Tony Awards).

"A former student helping us with lights said his sister is a seamstress and she can make a transformation dress," said Faleiro." 

>> Read the rest of the article on Chron.com

Photograph by WAIS student Lorena del Toro. 
Del Toro is on Miacis staff.