A favorite event of the year is the Halloween Parade. The students in preschool-7th grade first tiptoed through the "Spooky Walk," which has become one of the favorite parts of the day. Mr. Shipman and Mr. Dasek outdid themselves this year! Thank you to the specials teachers for providing live entertainment for that part of the event. The students then waited with anticipation for Mr. Glover, Ms. Glazier and the 8th graders to make their big entrance and perform a skit for the audience. This year, the 8th graders dressed as jungle animals and danced to the song, "Move It, Move It" from Madagascar. Great job by them and by their choreographer, Ms. Glazier! After the delightful performance, the students paraded around the field to "Monster Mash" and "Thriller" before scurrying back inside to enjoy the rest of the day. Thank you to Mr. Popp for once again serving as our sound man. Please enjoy the montage video created by Mr. Crook.

After a fun morning of Halloween costumes and parade on October 26, another Westminster tradition kicked in for the 7th and 8th graders. That afternoon, the costumed students entered a theater transformed into an eerie castle for their first of three dance parties of the year, the Fall Ball. Vying for prizes for costumes, dance skills, and enthusiastic participation, the students rocked the house under the guidance of DJ and host, Mr. Glover, and dance instructor, Ms. Glazier.  

At Westminster, students enjoy a dance unit every year as part of the PE program. In 7th and 8th grades, they learn traditional dances, such as the waltz, jitterbug, and fox trot, as well as several fun line dances. At the end-of-the-year Sock Hop, the students celebrate rock'n'roll from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and dancers compete for coveted titles of Jitterbug King and Queen and Waltz King and Queen. Trust us, the competition is fierce, and winners' names are inscribed on a permanent plaque for all to see.

Thank you to Mr. Glover for serving as host and DJ and to Ms. Glazier for teaching the students how to dance. Westminster School dances are not your typical middle-school dances. Being given the skills to dance and the freedom to cut loose and have fun allows the students to take joy. The memories of these dances stay with the students long after the graduate.

7th graders are beginning to master the Jitterbug!

These little 8th grade minions are pretty cute!

7th grade girls at their first Upper-School dance

8th grade bulgy-eyed boys

Two Students Earn First Place in Art Contest:

We are pleased to congratulate 3rd grader, Mayron Zelalam and 1st grader, Gabriella Le Moigne, who have won first place in their grade categories in the 2018 NACD/VASWCD Conservation Poster Contest! Both Mayron and Gabriella did an excellent job of capturing this year’s theme, “Watersheds: Our Water, Our Home.” Their artwork will move forward to compete at the state level with other applicants from all over Virginia, and we wish them the best of luck!

Locally, Mayron and Gabriella have been awarded one $25 gift certificate each.

 

You can read more about the contest on page 3 of the October Conservation Currents Newsletter .

Thank you to Mrs. Ahn for inspiring the students about protecting the earth and entering the students' artwork. Congratulations and best of luck to these young artists.

8th Grader is Semi-Finalist in WTOP Junior Reporter Contest

Congratulations to 8th grader, Mealy Cronin, for being named a semi-finalist in the WTOP Junior Reporter Contest. Mealy is passionate about STEM and has her own YouTube Channel called "STEM 4 Girls 2022." Mealy's grandfather actually entered Mealy in the contest, so she was very surprised to find out that she was a semi-finalist. Her video is informative and funny! Help her win by voting every day through November 9; best of luck to Mealy!

Westminster Named Top Private School by Viva Tysons Magazine

Westminster School was named a top private school and was featured in the October issue of Viva Tysons Magazine. Check out our listing and share with your friends and colleagues!

The Westminster Builders Club completed another of their traditional community service projects on Tuesday, Oct. 30. For more than twenty years, the club has made sandwiches for the homeless and others needing food in the Washington area. When this project started, the children made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Martha's Table in the District of Columbia. However, Mr Miller quickly changed this to meat and cheese sandwiches when he noticed that the children had more peanut butter on their shirts than on the sandwiches!

Recently, we have donated our food to Food for Others, located in the Annandale area. The Builders Club wants to do as many projects as possible in our immediate area as many people in this area need our help.  

This year the Builders Club made 299 pounds of meat-and-cheese sandwiches and donated 30 extra loaves of bread to Food For Others. The sandwiches filled 12 boxes and took a large SUV to transport. The children were very happy to learn that so many people would be fed because of their efforts (well over 1,000 sandwiches were made! )

The Builders Club is accepting donations for the Mr. Turkey Drive until Nov. 8. It takes about $1.97 for NVFS to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal for an individual. Just a $10.00 donation will feed a family of five. To make a donation, please send a check payable to NVFS to the school address and note "Turkey Drive" on the memo line.

The Builders Club is also collecting clothes until Nov.8. Our clothes go directly to the Head Start Center in Alexandria. The families qualifying for this program have incomes of under $20,000 for the year, so these clothes are greatly appreciated and needed. Clothes may be dropped off at the main office during office hours.

Mr. Miller and the Builders Club want to thank the Westminster community for their tremendous support given throughout the year.

Our One-Day Griffin University Event for parents of 5th-8th graders took place on Thursday, November 1. Parents attended workshops presented by Mrs. Foster or Mrs. Jacobson on how to best understand and support their children during the preteen and early teen years. They visited classes and enjoyed lunch with their children.

Many parents attended the presentation by Mrs. Schuler on Managing Screen Time and Ms. Glazier's presentation on a Classical Education in Grades 5-8 at Westminster School. The day ended with a showing of the documentary film, "On the Way to School." Students, teachers, and parents were quite moved by the stories of children from around the world making long and sometimes dangerous journeys just to have the opportunity to attend school and learn.

After viewing the film, t he 5th and 6th graders wrote a reflection piece in writing class . Here are just a few excerpts from their essays:

"I feel that the film helps the world see that if you try, and you love what you’re doing, you can achieve great things."

"The movie was very inspiring and made me appreciate my life more." 

"I think we all learned something important. Some people would risk their lives to get an education to get a better life."

"This movie shows us that we should think about people who have less than we do before we complain about something."

"These children are absolutely impressive! I am so inspired and will now think before I complain about anything." 

If you were unable to attend, please visit your child's mywestminsterschool.com page to see the presentations and handouts from the morning. We also highly encourage that you watch the film, which is available on Amazon , so that you and your child can discuss it. Have tissues handy!

It's not too late! Join these teachers and participate in tomorrow's certified 5K race! Race registrations will be accepted until 8:40 tomorrow morning. If you are registered, you may pick up your race packet in the lobby until 5:00 today or you may pick it up prior to the race. Please plan to arrive 30-40 minutes early. Parking is at Masoncrest Elementary or Corner Stone Evangelical Church. Please do not park along Gallows Road as that will interfere with the race. 5K begins at 9:00; 1K at 9:05 and the Fun Run at 9:45.

Volunteers are still needed. Please click the button below to sign up to help!

Cash Prizes

1st Place--$250

2nd Place --$150

3rd Place--$100

su·per·cil·i·ous

/ˌso͞opərˈsilēəs/

adjective

Synonyms

arrogant ,   bumptious ,   cavalier ,   chesty ,   haughty ,   high-and-mighty ,   high-handed ,   high-hat ,   highfalutin  ( also  hifalutin ) ,   huffish ,   huffy ,   imperious ,   important ,   lofty ,   lordly , masterful ,  

overweening ,   peremptory ,   pompous ,   presuming ,   presumptuous , pretentious ,   self-asserting ,   self-assertive ,   sniffy ,   superior ,   uppish ,   uppity

Antonyms

humble ,   lowly ,   modest ,   unpretentious

Origin :

Arrogant and disdainful types tend to raise an eyebrow at anything they consider beneath them. The original supercilious crowd must have shown that raised-eyebrow look often, because the adjective supercilious derives from "supercilium," Latin for eyebrow. (We plucked our adjective and its meaning from the Latin adjective superciliosus.) "Supercilious" has been used to describe the censoriously overbearing since the late 1600s, but there was a time in the 1700s when it was also used as a synonym of another "supercilium" descendent, "superciliary" ("of, relating to, or adjoining the eyebrow").

(Photo courtesy of LELB Society)