Jefferson West High School

Don't forget to join us at the Back-to-School Bash on Tuesday, 8/15, 5:30-8pm. There will be free food and lots of fun. This is an event for staff, students, and community members. Come one come all!

Practices begin today for fall sports. Forms must be turned into the office before you may practice.

The parent meeting for Jefferson West Middle School and High School fall sports (football, cross country, volleyball, and girls golf) is Monday, August 7th at 7pm at the High School.

Just a quick reminder our first Pizza With a Purpose & Patrons is at 5 PM Tonight at the community room next to Gambino's in Meriden

August 1, 2023 Dear Tiger Family! As the summer is quickly winding down, our staff is working hard to plan for another great school year. Much like celebrating the New Year, we experience the same feelings as educators as we start a new school year. That excitement never fades for our educator families. As you may have heard, we spent a lot of time listening to students, staff, parents, and surrounding areas about how we can continue to make the Jeff West community even better. You may be asking yourself why this is important. Our community schools are the economic engines of our Kansas communities and the most significant investment in our future generations. As you may have heard, the legislature changed the laws governing how parents can choose which public school their children will attend starting next year. Here in Jefferson County, we proudly have six community school districts serving our communities. For those outside of Jefferson County, they don't understand the impact our beloved community districts provide to our families and patrons and they want to see this changed. Now, for the first time in K-12 public school history in Kansas, we will have to start competing for students much like our public universities have done for many generations. Our family of staff has been working hard to adapt to the ever-changing landscape facing our public school systems. With that, we have taken all the information and began to work on improving the areas where we most need to improve. You will see many more things completed next year based on that feedback, leading to our theme, Reason to Believe. With that in mind, we must ensure we are ready to tell the world how wonderful our community and schools are here at Jeff West so we can save the communities our past generations have built. Our board of education has worked hard to position our district to be ready for the new changes we will face with the 2024-2025 school year. We want to make it easier for students and parents to receive communication from us and to better align our district functions to best support student success. As a parent and patron, we want to ensure that the Jeff West experience is great across all aspects of the district, by better aligning policies and expectations. I look forward to joining you as we share our Reason to Believe. Wishing you and your family a great rest of the summer and a very successful new school year. I look forward to seeing you at one of our many great activities. It's always a great day to be a Tiger! Jason

Kansas FCCLA Students Shine Bright at the FCCLA 2023 National Leadership Conference in Denver Denver, Colorado, July 1-6, 2023 – Two members from the Jefferson West High School FCCLA showcased their remarkable talents and skills at the highly anticipated Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) 2023 National Leadership Conference in the vibrant Mile High City of Denver, Colorado. This prestigious event brought together approximately 8,000 members, advisers, and supporters from all corners of the nation, offering a platform for personal growth, career exploration, and community service. Among these passionate attendees, a group of nearly 400 courageous individuals from Kansas embarked on a memorable journey to the neighboring state of Colorado. Brimming with excitement, these Kansas representatives enthusiastically shouted "LIGHTS, CAMERA, LEADERSHIP!" to ignite the conference with their energy. Throughout the duration of the NLC, attendees were captivated by captivating keynote speakers, actively participated in empowering leadership, workshops and engaging RED Talks, and fearlessly stepped into the spotlight to ensure their voices resonated far and wide. Kansas students actively participated in various competitive events, starting at the district and state levels, with the most accomplished among them earning the opportunity to present their projects on the grand stage of the National Leadership Conference in Denver. An outstanding example of achievement is Caroline Small, who competed in Fashion Design Level 3 and proudly received a silver medal. Chase Holman was one of three Kansas FCCLA members who were selected to represent all Kansas District Presidents, Kansas FCCLA PEER Educators and Kansas FCCLA State Officers from Kansas to be on the National Executive Council voting delegate team. During this three-day process of voting, Chase met and interviewed 20 candidates for the coveted positions of the FCCLA National Officer team for 2023-2024. Chase is the District E-West President and Caroline is the District E-West V.P. of National Programs. The Kansas delegation extends their heartfelt appreciation to the community for their unwavering support of FCCLA. (Please see the photo attached to include in this article in your publication taken by the advisor Leslie Abbott). Photo: From left to right. Chase Holman, advisor Leslie Abbott, and Caroline Small.

Public Notice: The July Board of Education Meeting will be held now on Monday, July 17th at 6:30 PM at the district office.

Newly Formed Big East League Administration from the Big 7 and Mid-East Leagues have voted to approve a league merger. Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year the Big East League will consist of the following high schools: Hiawatha, Holton, Jefferson West, Nemaha Central, Perry-Lecompton, Riley County, Rossville, Royal Valley, Sabetha, Silver Lake, and St. Marys. Middle school membership will include the aforementioned schools as well as Atchison Middle School. The Mid-East League, formed in 1948, currently consists of Riley County, Rock Creek, Rossville, Silver Lake, St. Marys, and Wabaunsee. Rock Creek will depart to join the North Central Kansas League and Wabaunsee will depart to join the Flint Hills League at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The Big 7, formed in 1926, currently consists of Hiawatha, Holton, Jefferson West, Nemaha Central, Perry-Lecompton, Riverside, Royal Valley, and Sabetha with Riverside leaving to join the Northeast Kansas League at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The formation of the Big East League will improve scheduling logistics, increase academic and extracurricular opportunities, and further elevate these historically successful member schools.

Calling Golfers! The Annual JWHS Cheer Golf Tournament is June 16 at Village Greens Golf Course. To sign up or more information contact Carrie Bahr: Carrie.bahr@usd340.org

Girls 4x1 finish third at regionals with a time of 52.62! STATEBOUND! Congratulations Ladies!

Regional Track Delays start time to 4:00pm today, 5/19/23. Field events will begin at 4:00. Running Prelims will begin at 6:00. Running Finals will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 4x800.

Congratulations to Natalie Meyer, Leena Turner, Caroline Small, and Arwyn Faulkner, who all earned 1 ratings at the state Speech festival on Saturday. Meyer earned a 1 rating for her poetry interpretation, and the team of Meyer and Turner earned a 1 rating for their team performance in Improvised Duet Acting. Small earned a 1 rating for her prose interpretation and a 2 rating for her POI (Program of Oral Interpretation) performance. Faulkner earned a 1 rating for her prose interpretation.

Congratulations to the 10 journalism students who helped Jeff West earn the distinction of taking 2nd in 3A state sweeps! Bryce Midgley placed 2nd in News Writing Brock Dobbie placed 4th in News Writing Leena Turner placed 2nd in Digital Illustration Natalie Meyer placed 3rd in Infographic Hannah Haslett placed 2nd in Sports Feature Photography The team of Sydney Sage, Aspen Wheeler, and Katelin Lohmann took first for their softball Sports Promo VIdeo Kamryn Fleischer placed 5th in Copy Editing Sydney Sage placed 5th in Yearbook Copy Writing Bryce Midgley placed 6th in Feature Writing Abigail Smith placed 3rd in Academics Photo Kamryn Fleischer placed 5th in Editorial Cartoon Brock Dobbie placed 3rd in Headline Writing and Design

Parents and Guardians, This week you will find a consent form with a copy of an end of year student survey. Please sign this permission form if you want your child to participate & view the survey. It will be used so we can plan for next school year to be better for students!

HS Baseball and Softball both postponed today, 5/15/23, due to weather conditions

May 1 is National Principal Day. We are thankful for our building leaders & their dedication to our students, staff and community. Thank you for all you do as a member of the Tiger Family. Please help us by thanking your principal and all our educators as we celebrate this week.

It was chilly but our track athletes competed well yesterday at the St Mary's track meet.

JV Baseball tonight is canceled, 4/28/23. JV Softball is still playing in Sabetha with a 4:30 start time

JV Baseball game tonight cancelled with Riverside, 4/25/23

Congrats to the remaining students who plan to attend Washburn Tech next year! They couldn't attend on the actual signing day, so we had a signing here at school. Good luck next year!