Westmount Secondary School

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Westmount Secondary School
Address
39 Montcalm Drive
Hamilton, Ontario, L9C 4B1, Canada
Website
http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/westmount/
Information
School number 952478
Principal Mrs. Margaret Bowman
Vice principal Mr. Jamie Nunn
School type High school
Grades 9-12
Motto Laboris Dulcedo (Excellence)
Mascot The Westmount Wildcats

Westmount Secondary School is a school in Ward 8 of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada under the jurisdiction of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The school is known for its unique self-paced learning programme.

Contents

[edit] Students

At the present time (2006-2007 school year), there are approximately 1200 full- and part-time students enrolled at Westmount Secondary School. More than 80 percent of graduates end up going to university or community college - one of the highest among schools in Hamilton. Also, student violence and bullying are low to non-existent at Westmount, making it a friendly and safe place for learning.

[edit] Curriculum

Westmount is the only school in Hamilton, and one of the very few in Southern Ontario to offer courses in a self-paced learning environment. Each credit course is organized into twenty units with each unit or group of units packaged as a Learning Guide. Students can then work at their own pace through the guides, accelerating when able and taking additional time when needed. Students must still attend school daily but participate at their own pace through the lessons, presentations, and group activities outlined in the Learning Guides. In addition to being allowed to work at their own pace, Westmount students are allowed to sign out of their classrooms with the teacher's permission. This allows students to work in another area of the school, such as a different classroom, a computer lab, or the library.

[edit] Teams and Clubs

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Hockey

Coached by Jamie Timofejew, the 2005-06 Wildcat hockey team played competitively throughout the regular season, ensuring the team got a playoff berth. After making it to the city finals, Westmount came out on top, beating out Westdale Secondary School for the city championship.

[edit] Swimming

The Westmount Wildcats swim team started in 2004-05 and qualified previously unprecedented seven swimmers for the provincial competition. Swimmers on the team are coached by Kelly Wahlman.

[edit] Curling

The 2004-05 and 2005-06 Wildcat men's curling team, comprised of Nik Moriopolous, Stephen Lewchuk, Joel Eastwood, and Brad Chapel (with Brandon Halchuk as alternate), won the SOSSA championship, advancing them to OFSAA. The team was coached by Richard Brooks and Martin Cox.

[edit] Track and Field

The Annual Wildcat Invitational Cross-Country Meet is held by Westmount at Churchill Park, hosting over 1000 students from 70 schools in the Southern Ontario region.

[edit] Visual and Performing Arts

[edit] Film Festival

Westmount holds an annual Film Festival, where student-created films are shown to the school. Most are of a high standard, with students putting a siginificant amount of their time and effort into them. Past festival winners include,

2004/2005: No Awards Given
2005/2006: Harrison Cruikshank for "The Magnificent Montage"

[edit] Clubs

[edit] Reach for the Top

In the 2003-2004 school year, Westmount's senior Reach for the Top performed well in the regional competition, advancing them to the provincial level. The team was captianed was Jay Misuk, with five other members on the team.

[edit] Environmental Club

Westmount received a small grant for 2004-2005 from the Hamilton Community Foundation's Protecting Our Environment Together: Youth Focus grants for their Greening of Westmount project. Currently, the club goes around the school on a weekly basis to the empty recycling bins in the school. Other projects include reducing the amount of time cars spend idling outside the school during drop-off and pick-up times, planting more trees around the school, and fundraising towards a new bike rack for the school.

[edit] Programming Team

Westmount sends two programming teams annually to compete in the ECOO programming contest against teams from various schools across the board. In the 2004-05 year, the first team consisted of Andrew Song, Steven Wu, and Gwynneth Leece, with the second team being Andrew Dunham and Daniel Aquila. The first team finished in 4th place, just out of the podium, with the second team finishing 9th. In the 2005-06 contest, the first team remained the same, while Dan Aquila left the second team and was replaced by Ryan Gandt. This year, the first team scored first in the boardwide competition, with the second team placing in 5th place. Because of their success, the first team was invited to participate in the regional competition, finishing 4th overall. Subsequent success led them to the provincial competition held at York University, in which they managed to finish 11th in the province.

[edit] Positive Space

Positive Space is a group focused on helping GBLT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) youth and stopping sexuality, gender and racial harassment (similar to a GSA). Everyone is welcome to become a member of this club, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, social class or gender.

[edit] Events

[edit] Stay-Awake-A-Thon

One of the charitable events Westmount staff and students hold is the yearly Stay-awake-a-thon. Prior to the event, participating students are asked to collect pledges for the McMaster Children's Hospital, with a minimum pledge total of 40CAD in order to participate. The event officially takes place after classes for the day have finished, where students remain in the school throughout the night until the following day at 07:00 - traditionally this begins after classes on a Friday afternoon and ends on a Saturday morning. During this time, teacher-supervisors come in and rotate shifts, monitoring the various areas open to the students during the night. Also, students are asked to bring one food item for the pot-luck dinner served during the evening. After everyone has eaten dinner, a variety of activities are available for the students to participate in, including games, karaoke, dances, organized and pick-up sports, movies, internet browsing, and anything else the students can think of, within reason. Through this event, Westmount has been able to donate thousands of dollars towards the local children's hospital.

[edit] Westfest

Every year, Westmount holds a festival for its own students and students attending the two feeder schools, Westview Middle School and Westwood Elementary School. Food and activities are provided, including mock sumo wrestling and a moonwalk.

[edit] Issues

[edit] Westmount Christan Club

Westmount courted controversy when, in 2004, it banned a Christian club formed by students at the school. The school, along with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, cited the Ontario Education Act, which they interpreted as prohibiting religious activities during school hours. This included lunch time, when the group met. Other schools within the same board allowed for inclusion of various religious minorities, yet Westmount's administration was persistent with its stance. Parents of the students threatened to sue the school for violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Meanwhile Muslim students, who were also forced to disband, reverted to board level talks to resolve the issue. The school attempted to compromise and, after various meetings held between board officials and community representatives, the conflict was resolved. Both Muslim and Christian groups continue to have their religious programs at Westmount.

[edit] References

    [edit] External links

    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/e/s/Westmount_Secondary_School_1ffa.html"