The Future Health Professionals (HOSA) high school club has partnered with OneBlood to host a blood drive on Wednesday, April 12, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. All eligible students and parents are encouraged to donate. There will be two Big Red Buses in the high school circle collecting whole blood and platelet donations.

 

Students can sign-up on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 4-5, during their social studies class. Students will receive a parent consent form when they register. Additional consent forms are available HERE. Students must be at least 16 to participate. Additionally:

 

Parent consent forms must be returned to the high school office no later than April 11 in order to donate. 

 

While Westminster will remain a closed campus during the blood drive, parents are encouraged to participate. 

 

 

When I was 18, a freshman in college, and heading back to school after Christmas break, I wasn’t a Christian yet. I was riding in my girlfriend’s grandparents’ minivan.

I was crammed between yard sale knick-knacks, canned vegetables and fruit, a dehumidifier, and my own travel bags, I was uncomfortable and a little claustrophobic. I needed something to pass the time. For the first hour I listened to papa describe all the fantastic qualities of the dehumidifier humming beside me; he did so thoroughly, and with proud enthusiasm.

Eventually, we all settled into the 12-hour trip and turned to our own strategies for passing the time. Nana and papa discussed boring adult details, Heather fell asleep, and I was left with absolutely nothing else to do, so I pulled out the Bible Heather had given me. I had been casually reading it to impress her, but I really didn’t know what it was about. I’d heard someone say I should read the Gospels, so I turned to the table of contents and then flipped to the page. 

Check out this Bible story! 

This passage is about a woman who was caught in a compromising situation. Hopefully, none of us would ever find ourselves in this kind of scenario. The reality, however, is all of us are guilty of behaviors that, if brought out in public like this, would create tremendous shame for us and others. So, even though this passage is about a specific woman, isn’t it also about all of us? Each of us is guilty, only some of us are caught facing the consequences. The main point of this story seems to be Jesus’ insistence that we are all on equal footing in the face of our sin. 

I’m not sure we like this very much. 

A special evening awaits fathers and daughters at the annual ES Father/Daughter Dance on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in the SAC. Students from PK3-Grade 5 will enjoy dancing, delicious food, and more. If the child's father is unable to attend, she is encouraged to attend with another adult. 

Buy Tickets

Students enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) course have been registered in College Board’s online platform, AP Classroom, with their respective AP teacher(s) and have been registered for all of their AP exams that take place in May 2023. We encourage all students enrolled in an AP course to take the respective AP Exam at the end of the school year. However, if the parent and student elect to forgo the exam, the cancellation process must be completed before the deadline to avoid associated costs and fees.

For second-semester courses, if there are any exams students wish to cancel, they must complete the cancellation form no later than Friday, March 10, no later than 11:59 p.m. Since all students are automatically registered for the AP Exam, only complete the cancellation form if you would like to cancel a second-semester exam(s). CLICK HERE FOR THE CANCELLATION  FORM. 

 

The cost is $125 per AP exam and $150 for each AP Capstone exam. The cost of the AP exam includes costs from College Board as well as costs incurred by Westminster to administer the exams. The fee for registered second-semester AP exams will be reflected in your Smart Tuition April billing statement. Please note, that any second-semester exams canceled after March 10 will not be refunded. 

If you are interested in canceling a first-semester or annual course exam, please complete the cancellation form by Friday, March 10, no later than 11:59 p.m.  CLICK HERE FOR THE CANCELLATION FORM. This will be your final opportunity to cancel your exam. Please note that there are no refunds for first-semester or annual canceled exams. 

In addition, if a student is not present for a registered exam there is an additional $40 fee per missed exam. 

“So, let us get this right…” the chief priest might have said to Judas. “You're prepared to betray Jesus to us in exchange for 30 pieces of silver?” “Yes, that’s right.” Judas agreed. 

  

“Aren’t you one of His followers?” The Jewish leaders must have wondered. “What has driven you to this point of turning Him over to us?” 

 

Amid the angry, halting, complex, and likely confused reasons provided by Judas there would likely have been a reference to the scene that had unfolded a few hours earlier. 

  

Jesus and his disciples were gathered in the home of Simon the Leper, as is described in Matthew 26:6-13. During this situation, Mary poured an expensive bottle of perfume (let’s say it was Louis XIII at $4,100 a bottle) on Jesus’ head. All the disciples, the Bible explains, were indignant. Everyone was asking, “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

As of this week, Westminster students have raised $17,575 in our third quarter noisy offering to send 703 children to camp with KIX Haiti.  We have exceeded our goal and donations are still coming in!! Students will celebrate with a Gratitude Chapel on Tuesday, Mar. 7.  

Thank you for your continued support of this important project. Here is the breakdown by homeroom:

Lunatic in the Oxford dictionary is defined as “a mentally ill person (not in technical use).” Common social slang, the word is used in a plethora of ways to describe people who are “out there” by modern standards of society. Conveniently, the Oxford dictionary keeps track of the origins of all words and claims the word lunatic is derived from the Latin word, luna, meaning ‘moon.’ This is rooted in the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity.   

 

When broken down, this unveils an entire side of society’s “lunatic” that is very often overlooked. This idea that gazing at the moon for too long induces lunacy, and warrants ostracization from society. Pink Floyd, a British prog-rock band, explores society’s perception of a Lunatic in their record-breaking album, Dark Side of The Moon. Derived from Roger Waters’ (the sole songwriter of the album) experience with friends and family being labeled as lunatics, the band dives headfirst into the black hole that is “mental illness.” The closing song of the 1973 album, Eclipse, perfectly summarizes the life of the lunatic - the life of someone who has seen the dark side of the moon. A bone chilling moment, the listener is given no option but to sit in fear-induced chills as the words “the sun is eclipsed by the moon” clear the room.  

 

Growing up in New York, snowball fights were an all-day event. We would scope out the best place in the yard, the deepest snow drifts, the best cover, and then we would set our perimeters.

“You’re not allowed to go past the big rock,” I would shout to my brother who was busy piling snow into a bunker-like wall.

“You have to stay on that side of the driveway,” he would shout back as I packed extra snowballs and placed them in the crook of a tree. “If you don’t,” he would add, “I get a free throw,” upping the ante.  

These were not mere snowball fights; they were complex military campaigns wherein you were at risk from all sides. In that volatile and tenuous situation, it was imperative that you set the perimeter. Physical boundaries. Rules of engagement. Clear alliances (though these were often abandoned without preamble). 

Fine Arts-branded garments bags are now available for purchase in the Fine Arts office for $20.

 

Garments bags are required for costumes and concert attire when we travel, so this is especially important for high school students who are going to Hawaii over Spring Break, middle school students going to Orlando in May, and dancers attending competition.

 

You are free to use a garment bag of your choice, but why not represent Westminster Fine Arts with one of these? Cash, credit and Apple Pay available, so come on by the Fine Arts Office, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

 

I am fascinated by the concept that boundaries and restraint provide opportunity for freedom and even increase freedom. This idea is different from the common perception in our individualistic American culture that freedom is the pursuit of doing whatever we wish without any boundaries or restraints. 

   

There are plenty of examples in life that illustrate how boundaries protect us and enable us to experience freedom. For example, consider the rules of the road. Though we sometimes wonder whether drivers follow any rules at all on the Palmetto Expressway, we can understand that the rules are in place to promote safety. Can you imagine highways and roadways where there were no rules about the side of the road on which we must drive, no lines on the roads, no signs, no speed limits, and no stop lights? The rules of the road do not take away our freedom as drivers; rather, they provide freedom – freedom to drive with little stress or fear, freedom to get to our destination safely, freedom to drive a small car without worrying that an oversized truck will use its size to dominate the roadway. Guardrails along a bridge do not limit our freedom; guardrails keep us on the road so that we can safely experience freedom without careening off the bridge into disaster.   

Registration for the spring season of the after-school elementary sports program runs from Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. until Thursday, Jan. 26, at 10 p.m.  Mark your calendar to secure your child's spot. Space is limited. 

To learn about the sports available, register and pay, visit After School Programs under the Resources tab in myWCS. 

If you have any questions, please contact Coach Gonzalez at 305-889-7941, ext. 1277, or email igonzalez@wcsmiami.org. 

Why is it that we prefer to celebrate with a community of family and friends as opposed to celebrating by ourselves? As I am writing this article, the high school students and faculty are wrapping up Homecoming Week. In the midst of the hall decorating, team competitions, W-hunting and triplets wearing Ghostbusters costumes, I have not once heard someone say, “I really wish I could just be the only one decorating my hall.” In fact, in my eleven years of working at Westminster, I have never heard a student say during HOCO, “I wish I could hunt the ‘W’ by myself” or ask, “Why can’t I be the only person dressing up today?” Why is that? Because God has created in us a desire to celebrate together. In the same way, God has decided that we are to invite others to share in the joy of knowing Jesus personally as our Savior.

 

As educators, we often feel we need to know the “right” answer to every question a student asks. Otherwise, we can be seen as incompetent. However, there is wisdom in being self-aware that not all answers have to come from our own knowledge and abilities.