2008 WAA Social Events Planned

The WAA will provide more frequent opportunities in 2008 for former Westchester classmates to network and build our own social and business communities, and corporately, offer financial and volunteer support to Westchester Academy of International Studies. We hope to have a social every 4 months or so.

We would like to give Westchester classmates the opportunity to put their names into the hat FIRST ~ if you own or have access to a restaurant, venue, Houston-area property (for bonfires, BBQs, etc.) that would make a great "party place" for this awesome cause, we would love to hear from you! If you know of a classmate who might have interest in this opportunity to promote their business, please pass this on! We would love to shake it up and enjoy socials across the Houston area! Secondly, we will help to promote businesses near the campus.
We have enjoyed successful events at Clay's Restaurant, which is owned by Damian Seaback, WHS '77 and also by Grisby Grill, owned by Judy Foster Coker, WHS '74. At our homecoming in November at Clay's, we had OVER 100 in attendance! We'd love to help promote your business while, at the same time, build our WAA network. The homecoming will remain our primary function, while the mixers will be "additional" opportunities throughout the year. If you happen to miss one, you won't have to wait too long till another rolls around!

Please contact Lauri.L.Ramsey@conocophillips.com if you have interest in hosting a future social! We're looking forward to a very festive 2008! Be in touch!

Homecoming Pictures

(Click on image to enlarge)

1) Paul Adamo, Mark Adams, Nancy Adams Adamo, Jeff Swanson
2) Class of '77 Mike Kent, Brian Smith, Alan Musgrove, Lauri White Ramsey, Philip Klein, Lee Ann Maples Davis, Brent Glamann

3) Sue Hur Priest, modeling the latest in Wranglerette apparel

4) Class of '73, Rick Smith, Kirk Leatherhead, Trent Morgan, Jamie Onstot Tharpe, Steve Clark, Debbie Wilson Peters, Mark Horner, Pam Mudd Conlan, Mark Adams, Ralph Devine (kneeling)

5) Damian Seaback, Lisa Hoyt Bays, Fran Rolon

6) Bob Rees, Fran Rolon, Donna Detamore
7) Lauri White Ramsey, Dixie Hinton Shannon, Jay Collins

8) Brent G., Alan M., Scott S., Mr. Figari, Philip K.

Election Results and All Class Reunion

WAA New 2008 Officers and Board Members

(Click Image to enlarge)

Please feel free to contact any Officers and Board members with your input. Ralph Devine's email address is RRDEVIN@AOL.COM.

Reunion News

The All Class Reunion held November 10, 2007 was a great success and Wonderful FUN! We had about 60 attendees at the GAME and with all the people coming and going the best count we got was over 100 people at CLAY's. Everyone enjoyed renewing friendships. We even had two children of our Alumni who became Best Friends Forever at the reunion. I hope everyone can make it next year. As soon as pictures are available I will be posting them to this BLOG.

Westchester Alumni Association

Announces the

5th Annual Westchester All Alumni Homecoming

Saturday, November 10, 2007 Tully Stadium
Stratford vs. Memorial Game starts at 2:00 p.m.

Look for Westchester section on east side

Wear orange

After game gathering at Clay’s Restaurant

17717 Clay Road, Houston, TX 281-859-3773

Owned by a 1977 Westchester classmate,

Clay’s is kid friendly

www.WestchesterWildcats.com

For Westchester Alumni Association Members 2007 & Life Time Members Only

For our paid 2007 members only you will receive one FREE beverage of your choice at Clay’s for Homecoming on November 10th. Please see Ralph Devine at the membership table for your free drink ticket.

Also we are offering discounts for our members on our Westchester Alumni orange shirts with our logo. Westchester Alumni orange polo shirts available starting at 5 pm at Clays.
$40 for non-members
$35 for 2007 & 2008 annual members
$30 for Lifetime members.
Get yours before they are gone!
Remaining sizes are: 2 medium, 3 large, 8 XL, and 3 XXXL.

Westchester Alumni Association will sponsor appetizers in the pavilion from 5 till food runs out so get there early. Clay’s is graciously offering us $3 beer and $4 drinks all night long. For special drink prices – order from the server in the pavilion only.

2008 Membership forms will be available at Clay’s if you are not already a Life Time Member.
Donations to the Westchester Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund for Class of 2008 are greatly appreciated.

Contact your Westchester school friends - get the old gang together - for our 5th annual

Westchester All Alumni Homecoming. See you November 10th!

1970 Band and Wranglerettes

For a trip down memory Lane

1970 Westchester Band and Wranglerettes at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CKDbPV-Fd0E

Jamie Onstot Tharpe Honored

October 2007 Teacher of the Month: Jamie Tharpe

Congratulations to our October Teacher of the Month – Jamie Onstot Tharpe. Ms. Tharpe has been an educator for 26 years, the last 22 having been spent teaching social studies at Spring Oaks. Before that, she taught 4 years at Northbrook High. She earned her degree at LSU and has remained a big supporter of the Bayou Bengals (we can tell by the pictures of tigers on her classroom walls). Ms. Tharpe is an engaging teacher who is always seeking out ways to make history come alive for her students. She often surprises her students with interesting facts they can’t find in textbooks. She has taken trips to historical sites across the US in order to gather information about historical periods she teaches, and she brings this information back to her students. Ms. Tharpe is a conscientious and energetic teacher, and we are happy to have her at Spring Oaks!

Westchester Adademy for International Studies Excels

Texas business group honors four schools for high performance

Four district campuses have been named Honor Roll schools by a highly regarded nonprofit business and education group. Earning recognition this year are Memorial High, Memorial Middle, Frostwood Elementary and Westchester Academy for International Studies, the district’s only charter middle and high school.

The Austin-based Texas Business & Education Coalition (TBEC) awards are issued each year to only a select number of Texas public schools based on high, sustained student academic performance. To be honored, schools are compared with individual peer schools and student groups, and then tracked over a multiyear period.

“The TBEC Honor Roll is the most prestigious award for sustained, academic excellence in Texas. Among other factors, these schools have the highest percentage of students performing at the state’s most rigorous standard – Commended – in every subject during the past three school years,” says coalition Executive Director John H. Stevens.
Honor Roll schools will be recognized Oct. 22 with special seminar sessions and an evening dinner at the Austin Hilton Hotel.

Memorial High and Memorial Middle schools were both named 2006 TBEC Honor Roll Schools. Frostwood Elementary is a repeat TBEC honoree, too, and several other SBISD campuses have also earned the highly regarded award in recent years. TBEC has also rated Memorial High as one of the state’s best high schools.

Cornerstone Academy, the district’s other charter middle school, was a three-time Honor Roll award recipient. Spring Oaks Middle has been a repeat TBEC award winner, too.
Formed in 1989, TBEC is a nonprofit group composed of business executives and education leaders. They are dedicated to improving the performance of public schools by influencing state education policy and fostering community-based initiatives to improve our schools.
Principals for this year’s award-winning schools include Memorial High’s Steve Shorter and Westchester Academy’s Pamela Butler. Memorial Middle’s new principal is Lisa Weir.
Longtime Frostwood Elementary Principal Lynda Maxwell is now a district administrator. Replacing her at Frostwood is new Principal Jan Griffin.

A few principals had this to say:

“I am thrilled for the Frostwood staff and community! This is the second time that we have won this award, and that does not happen by accident. It comes from a commitment to collaboration that always focuses on the best interest of our students. The Frostwood parents and teachers listen to one another with openness, compassion and respect and make decisions that consistently lead to excellence for all our children.” – Lynda Maxwell, former Frostwood principal

“Memorial High School is again honored to be recognized for the large number of high-achieving students at our school. Being named a Texas Honor Roll School is a tribute to our faculty, students and community for their high standards of achievement.” – Steve Shorter, Memorial High principal

"When our students heard the news in a recent assembly, they all cheered! I am so very proud of our faculty, staff, students and parents. We have all worked so hard to increase our TAKS scores, close our achievement gaps, and increase Commended Levels on TAKS. We truly believe that all students can achieve at very high levels given the right set of circumstances. Recognition by the Texas Business & Education Coalition is greatly appreciated by everyone here at Westchester Academy." -- Campus Director Pam Butler

5th Annual Westchester All Alumni Homecoming

Westchester Alumni Association

Announces the
5th Annual Westchester All Alumni Homecoming
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Tully Stadium

Stratford vs. Memorial
Game starts at 2:00 p.m.
Look for Westchester section on east side
Wear orange

After game gathering at Clay’s Restaurant
17717 Clay Road, Houston, TX 281-859-3773
Owned by a 1977 Westchester classmate, Clay’s is kid friendly
www.WestchesterWildcats.com

September 10 Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the Westchester Alumni Association on Sept.10, 2007

In attendance were the following: President, Ralph Devine; Vice President, Ross Underhill; Secretary, Nancy Mullikin Adamo; Treasurer; Pamela Conlan, board members and guests; Jaime Tharpe, Mark Horner, Andy Cook, Chuck Cook, Deal Moore, David West, Reed Brown, Jeff Martin class of ‘71

Treasury report was given by Pamela Conlan. Please see the attachment for the updated information.

Board nominations were addressed by Ralph. The association is looking for four officers and seven board members. The new term starts on Jan. 1 for a year term. Nominations need to be e-mailed to Ralph as soon as possible.

Membership was addressed by Ross. WE NEED MORE MEMBERS. Those new members who sign up from now until Dec. will be in effect for the 2008 year. Membership is from Jan. - Dec. We are hoping to recruit new members at the Homecoming event on Nov. 10. The website data base will only be available for paying members.

Calendar activities were addressed by David. There are events happening at Westchester Academy that we are looking into to participate to solicit scholarship funds. One is on Oct. 25, to coincide with the parents Back to school night for the parents. One other is a ’85 Westchester graduate that has a business refurbishing cell phones and computers. We are talking with him about donating a percentage of his profits for the scholarship fund. We also discussed who would be able to attend the Board retreat on Oct. 6 at Lisa Bays Galveston home. Tentatively we have: Deal chuck, Pam, Jamie, Ralph, Nancy and Jeff maybe.

Website update is still being updated by Andy. We need to change out the pictures and maybe put in some highlights of Westchester graduates and current students who are in the news.

Homecoming was addressed by Jaime. The WAA wants to provide appetizers at Clay’s for the after game get together and have drink tickets for members. The board passed spending a maximum of $1000.00 for this event.

Scholarships- David is meeting with Pam Butler in regard to this and for other updates please see the attachment that is in this e-mail.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45.

September 10 2007 Board Meeting

Westchester Alumni Association
September 10, 2007


Treasury Report for September 10, 2007 Board meeting
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer

As of August 31, 2007, we have $11,998 in cash and Certificate of Deposits in Washington Mutual Bank. This includes $3,188 in Wranglerette restricted funds in a CD, $1,434 in Class of 1976 restricted funds in a CD, $3,111 in restricted Student Scholarship funds, and $4,265 in discretionary Alumni funds.

As of August 31, 2007, we need another 7 shirts with $40 donations collected for each shirt to cover our costs. There are 21 shirts remaining. These shirts should be marketed through the website. After reaching our break-even point, the remaining shirts can be marketed that a portion of the price is earmarked for the scholarship fund. Every effort should be made by all board members and officers to encourage donations at homecoming to reduce the polo shirt inventory.


Scholarship Committee Report

Diligent fundraising efforts for donations for the Class of 2008 scholarships have commenced. David West agreed to be our Scholarship Fundraising chairman. David is in the process of contacting various vendors for Westchester and SBISD. A meeting at WAIS with Beverly Martin was held on Friday August 31st at 2 p.m. with David West and Ralph Devine in attendance. Headway was made during this meeting. There are two Saturday events at the school, one in Oct and the other in spring, that are carnival type situations that WAA can participate. Beverly is going to contact the President of the Westchester PTA so we can hopefully get acquainted. The PTA’s fundraising is not for scholarships so there will not be a competitive situation. There is also a lady at the SBISD Admin Bldg that handles community affairs that Beverly recommended we contact. We will have to involve Pam Butler, Principal of WAIS, when we want to interact with the parents so perhaps we should contact her soon about this October event to get invited to participate.

Our goal is to double the number of scholarship recipients for Class of 2008. We have 8 months to raise $12,000. We strongly urge all Westchester alums to make their tax-deductible donation now. Please remember that 100% of each dollar donated to the scholarship fund goes directly to scholarships. Any administrative costs are paid through membership dues and other fundraising monies.

We’ve collected $560.00 in scholarship funds from individual alumni, plus $50 from the WAIS counselor and $1,600.00 from lifetime memberships in 2007. Collections at homecoming are essential in raising the remainder of the funds needed to reach our $12,000 goal for Class of 2008.

Membership Committee Report

The membership count through August 31, 2007 is as follows:

Lifetime @ $250 7
Lifetime–joint @ $450 1 couple
Members @ $15 19
Members @ $20 15
Joint @ $25 1 couple

Total members 45

Each class team leader is encouraged to contact their individual class with a copy of the new membership form and their personal words about membership and scholarship fundraising efforts.

We have 7 lifetime memberships individual and 1 joint lifetime memberships received through August 31, 2007, which is an additional $1,600 for scholarship fund. Lifetime members are the way to go if we want to build a nest egg for perpetuity.


Class Directory Committee Report

Ralph Devine is diligently working on combining each of our class databases into one on Microsoft Access. If you have contact information on any Westchester classmates, please send it to: Westchester@Wranglerettes.com.

Thank you Ralph for taking on this difficult and challenging project. The completion of this project will be instrumental in communicating with all classes.

Class by class scholarship Challenge from April 1 through August 31, 2007

by year amount by amount year
1968 $510 $510 1968
1969 $300 $480 1973
1970 $ 10 $430 1975
1971 $ 10 $300 1969
1973 $480 $250 1976
1975 $430 $ 50 1980
1976 $250 $ 35 1982
1980 $ 50 $ 20 2007

1982 $ 35 $ 10 1970
2007 $ 20 $ 10 1971


Westchester Alumni Association
Student Scholarship Fund
Class of 2008
Challenge

The Class of 1972 raised almost $4,000 in scholarship money for the Class of 2007. Individuals from Classes 1968 to 1985 brought our total scholarship fund to over $7000. The Class of 1972 was mentioned as sponsoring 3 of the six scholarships awarded. This mention was published in area papers and in the Class of 2007 commencement graduation program. We awarded $1,000 to six students on April 9, 2007 from the Westchester graduating Class of 2007.

Here’s the challenge:
For the Class of 2008 we challenge each class (1968-1985 and 2004-2007) to raise the most scholarship monies for upcoming graduating class of 2008. Beginning April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 all scholarship donations will be tallied by class and individual and sponsor. Check with your employer for matching donations and double your contribution for your class.
Our goal is for each class to sponsor at least one $1,000 scholarship for a total of 22 graduating Westchester students in the Class of 2008.
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer

Key words: electronics, AOL, YAHOO, Computer, Home Theater

A Letter From the WAA President

Westchester Alumni Association

Dear Westchester Classmates and Alumni,

We would like to invite you to renew your membership in the Westchester Alumni Association or join as a new member in 2007. We are now offering two types of Memberships at your request.

LIFETIME and ANNUAL membership are now offered. Both provide Full Member status, however, the Annual membership requires renewal on a yearly basis whereas the Lifetime membership requires no further renewals.

Westchester is still open and performing well. Our school is now officially called the Westchester Academy for International Studies and is one of only 70 schools in the state of Texas qualified to offer an International Baccalaureate degree to it’s graduates. In 2007 we provided $6,000 dollars in scholarships to Westchester Graduates thanks to your generous donations. We are hoping through our Lifetime membership campaign to establish a self perpetuating Scholarship Fund to allow us to continue this worthwhile effort.

Go to Our Website at http://www.westchesterwildcats.com/