• Westlake High School embarked on the learning initiative No Worksheet Wasted (NWW) for two days in March. The instructional endeavor asked teachers to step out of their professional comfort zones and try a new strategy, revisit an engaging activity, plan or reflect with a renewed cognizance, and collaborate with colleagues to create lessons that were student-led and devised with a hands-on, minds-on spirit. NWW was the first step in an effort to expand the way teachers teach and students demonstrate learning. Through meaningful, adaptive and authentic instruction, Westlake’s faculty is aiming to reinvigorate and extend love for teaching and learning.
• Westlake High School’s Café for a Cure started several years ago in memory of Kimberly Dent, a Westlake local, state and national civics teacher who died from cancer. As part of a Relay for Life fundraiser, student service learners develop a café menu and make all of the dishes served at the event. For a small donation, faculty and staff can sample the food and celebrate the spirit of community. All students work a shift at the café, either they set up and serve or serve and clean up. Students must write a reflection on the experience. The annual event is one of the school’s largest fundraisers for the Relay for Life campaign and a highlight on the school calendar.