8th Grade Homeroom Teacher
Hello and I'm so happy you're here! This is my first year as a Westerly Wildcat, and I am excited to be the Middle School Humanities teacher. I am joining you from Wildwood School and have taught multiple grade levels throughout my teaching experience--though I am especially impassioned by literature and history.
You can typically find me at the beach, a Dodgers game, hanging out with friends, or at a thrift store on the weekends. Things I love: books, iced coffee, national parks, bright colors, traveling, the History Channel, documentaries, teaching, fuzzy blankets and pillows, the beach, dinosaurs, pie, and doughnuts! I can't wait to get you and all the things you love!
Email: krenteria@westerlyschool.org
The Middle School advisory program nurtures kindness, responsibility, respect, honesty, and adaptability across all our sixth through eighth grade students--our core values at Westerly. The goal of the middle school advisors is build strong personal connections with our students beyond the traditional classroom setting to help guide, provide perspective, balance, and build each student's independence, personal identity, and sense of belonging within an environment of empathy and trust.
Each Friday morning we meet in small groups to connect, share whats on our mind, play games, get organized, provide advice, organize projects, and more. 6th and 7th graders will be mixed in groups, while 8th grade groups remains with their class for their small groups. Each advisory group is different, as we aim to address the specific needs of each advisory group.
The advisors meet every 4-6 weeks to discuss our upcoming "themes" and share resources and activities to support our collective goals.
September & October we are focused on Community Building.
Advisory groups are posted on your Google Classroom.
Workshops are Westerlys version of "elective" classes. For the first trimester we are offering a few of our popular workshops from years past, along with piloting an on-campus internship opportunity.
Workshops for the trimester are as follows:
Horticulture: Pitch in at the Rodenhizer Community Garden where we’ll plant, maintain and harvest an array of plants, vegetables, spices, and flowers.
Crocheting: Students will learning the basics of crocheting, while others with a little more experience will have the opportunity to create their own coaster or move into a more difficult project like mug holders or key chains.
Wildcat News: These Wildcat reporters will serve as the voice of campus by way of video creation. Students will utilize the Wild Lab and its media tools to broadcast in a variety of ways - a wonderful introduction to podcasting and videography.
Internships: Westerly internships are available in the lower school classrooms and main office. Students with school internships will be assigned into different classrooms (or offices) on campus to support with classroom learning or administrative duties. It's a wonderful leadership opportunity for those interested in getting involved in supporting the culture of the campus.
We start each Tuesday-Thursday morning with a RULER time block. RULER, which stands for "Recognizing; Understanding; Labeling; Expressing; Regulating," is a systemic approach to SEL developed at the Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER aims to infuse the principles of emotional intelligence across all partners within a school community, informing how leaders lead, teachers teach, students learn, and families support students. Utilizing and building upon core tools including: the Charter, Mood Meter, Meta-Moment, and Blueprint, the RULER period is designed as an important space and time to check in on the emotional climate of the class and take small steps towards building the 5 skills of emotional intelligence.
Recognizing emotions in oneself and others
Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
Labeling emotions with nuance vocabulary
Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context
Regulating emotions with helpful strategies
Fun fact: We use the same tools as a faculty and staff to measure and manage our own emotional climate!
8th graders enter their final step in the Westerly Health Program. Beginning in grade 5, we follow the scope and sequence of the CA Health Standards. 8th grade will meet once per week for the first trimester (September to November) to complete the school curriculum ensuring students are walking into high school with the right foundation.
The 8th Grade curriculum focuses on the Essential Concepts of:
Explain the physical, social, and emotional changes associated with adolescence
Examine the characteristics of healthy relationships
Support and encourage safe, respectful, and responsible relationships
Analyze the responsibilities and privileges of becoming a young adult
Demonstrate the ability to anticipate and minimize exposure to situations that pose a risk to health and well-being
Review the human cycle of reproduction, birth, growth, aging, and death
Review the structure, function, and major parts of the human reproductive system
Discuss practices for Safe Sex
Learn about Sexually Transmitted Infections and STI Prevention
Learn about pregnancy prevention and abstinence
Mrs. Warnick will be leading this class.
Welcome the Westerly 8th Grade Class of 2023 "High School Corner." Our goal is to create one place to access high school information, important dates, easy access to school sites, submit requests for transcripts, recommendations, and more. This corner is a work in progress and I will continue to update as I receive new information. If you have become aware of any important high school information to add, please let me know!
Thank you,
Mary Jiménez (majimenez@westerlyschool.org)
LBUSD High School Fair
Saturday, November 5, 2022 from 9am-12pm
Cabrillo High School
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Parent University Workshop for 8th Grade Parents
Thursday, November 17, 2022 from 6pm-7pm