Today at Westwood:

Westwood Schools
255 Fuller Street
Camilla, Georgia 31730
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SAT Prep Set to Begin

As part of this year's SAT Prep Program, the Seniors are all taking their SAT on Saturday, October 11th. Their prep program will begin on September 29th. The Juniors and Sophomores are scheduled to take the SAT on November 1st and will begin their program on October 14th. All Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors will be taking the PSAT on October 21st.

The SAT Prep program at Westwood is very unique in that each student has a customized training program in computer as well as a group review in English and Math. Similar Prep programs cost over $1,000.

The Prep program begins in the eighth grade and runs through the senior year. Eighth graders are learning SAT prep words and have been creating skits in class to put the words to use. They perform the skits on "Fun Fridays" as a reward for completing keyboarding production goals.

Technology Archive

Robot Rally Won by Spiderbot!

Westwood's Robot Raly was held on Tuesday, May 20th at the Oak Shed at Adams Farms. This was the culmination of our robot building and teamwork building done throughout the year. Blaine Brinkley was the judge and used criteria that is used in Atlanta Robotics competitions held at Sci-Trek.

Megan Reiber, Kristi Moree, Chance Dennis, and Kim Yager built a robot that would move around objects that it would sense either by touch or an infrared light beam. It would also change directions when spoken to loudly or at the sound of a hand clapping. The spiderbot had six legs and ran off of two AA batteries and one 9 volt battery.

Second place went to Rocketbot, theinvention of Adam Harrell, Teagan Enfinger, and Whitney Boatright. Rocketbot would reverse and move directions when hearing a loud noise or when it made contact with an immovable object.

Also entering the competition was SumoBot, the creation of Harold Jackson, Brad Ingram, Raina Clay, and Joseph Lewis. Using its claw hammers in front, it would push objects across the floor in one mode. In the other mode, it would avoid and retreat from objects.

Orangutangbot was the entry of Kyle Murphy, Britni Jones, Ashley Kirbo, and Melisa Williams. This robot would use its arms to climb across a rope when it was spoken to loudly or heard a hand clap.

The solar powered car entry, although not a robot, was quite impressive in its capabilities and use of alternative fuels. Bo Faircloth, Clair Bostick, and Sam Thomlinson created this colorfully painted machine.

Finally, %!*Bot was the entry of Lizzie Kirbo, Jay T Jones, Ciera Richter, and Taylor Sullivan. Their robot received an A for aesthetics but had a little difficulty in execution.

Juniors Learn About Hardware and Build Robots

During the month of May, Juniors have been learning about the internal components of a computer. The types of memory, storage devices, processors, and the mother board. As part of this process, students disassembled older computers and learned about them. At the conclusion of this process the Juniors instructed fourth and fifth graders about how computers work. The fourth and fifth graders then participated in a quiz game with Mrs. Davis to see how well they learned.

After learning about hardware, the Juniors have build robots and will be having a "Robot Rally" and competition on May 20th. Blaine Brinkley will judge.

Technology Program Excels Through Donations

Westwood Schools have pushed computing to the cutting edge during the past year through Internet Activities, Online Classrooms, and In-class computers. Vicki Davis, chairman ofo the Computing and technolgoy department at Westwood says, "We couldn't have made such incredible strides without the support of our Westwood friends and businesses."

"The school would like to extend its appreciation to our donors and friends who have made such strides possible," says Mrs. Davis. Donors include: the Planters and Citizens Bank, Mitchell County Farm Service, Riverview Plantation, Lambert Chiropractic Clinic, and M&M Mars. The donations have consisted of slightly used computer equipment and new inkjet printers. "we only have two more classrooms needing computers to have a computer in every classroom," says Davis.

New InkJet Cartridge Recycling Program

Our school is recylcing InkJet Cartridges in support of our technology program. Just bring your inkjet cartridges to the school sealed in a plastic bag to prevent any possible leakage on hands, clothing, etc. When we receive 50 or more empty cartridges, we will send them off for our payment.

This program is based on the premise that we can earn funds for our school and help recycle at the same time. This gives us the opportunity to take part in protecting our natural resources by cutting down on the amount of trash in landfills.

The following cartridges are worth these amounts to us.

$5.00 - Samsung SF-4700/INK-M50

$2.00 - Apple M3240G/A, M8041G/C; Brother IN-710; Canon BC-01, BC-02, BC-20, BX-2, BX-3; Calcomp IH-205; Hewlett Packard 51626A, 51629A, 51629G, C6628A; Lanier 491-0273; Lexmark 10N0016, 10N0026, 1380619, 1380620; Panasonic KX-FA150, UG-3502; Xerox 8R4055, 8R7638

$1.00 - Apple M4609G/A, M5579G/A PC; Brother IN-10, IN-700, LC-11 BK, LC11 CL; Calcomp IH_955; Canon BC-05, BC-06, BC-09, BC-23; Compaq 337709-001, 337710-001, 337711-001, 337714-001, 337715-001; Epson S020031; Hewlett Packard 51625A, 51625G, 51633A, 51633M, 51638 BK, 51641A, 51645A, 51645G, 51645N, 51649A, 51679G, 51645N, 51649A, 51649G, 51649N, 6104, 6105, 6106, 6107, B2341, B3701, B3702, C1816A, C4800A, C4801A, C4802A, C4803A, C4810A, C4811A, C4812A, C4813A, C48201, C4822A, C4837AN, C6578A, C6778D, C6614A, C6614N, C6615A, C6615D, C6615N, C6625AN, C6656A, C6657A, C6658A, C8727A, C8728A, C8842A; Kodak Color CAT1951730, Photo CAT1754852; Lexmark 10N0217, 10N0227, 12A1960, 12A1970, 12A1975, 12A1980, 12A1985, 12A1990, 1361400, 1361760, 1380400, 1382050, 1382060, 15M0100, 15M0101, 15MO120, 15MO125, 15MO375, 15M1046, 16G0055, 16G0056, 17G0050, 17G0060, 18L0032, 18Loo42; Okidata 52109301, 5210902; Samsung 15M0640, INK-M10; Sharp AJ-50B, AJ50C, FO-21BC, INK-C60, UX22BC, UX-27cc; Xerox BR12591, BR12728, 8R7879, 8R7880, 8R7881, BR7882, BR7883

$.50 - Canon BC-22; Hewlett Packard 51640A, 51640C, 51640M, 51640Y, 51644A, 51644C, 51644M, 516446, C1823A, C1823D, C182G

$.25 - Hewlett Packard C3844A, C3845A

If you're not sure about your cartridge, you can e-mail Mrs. Davis at vdavis@westwoodschools.org.

Student's Learn HTML programming and Web Site Design

"We have just completed a rigorous course in HTML programming and website design," says Vicki Davis, Computer Department head. "Students learn basic programming concepts, graphic design techniques, and the fundamentals of building a website in the professional web design standard, Dreamweaver."

"The new "buzzword" in education is 'electronic porfolios,'" says Davis. "Our students will have a jumpstart on how to create them."

Online Classroom Teaches Cutting Edge Skills

Using Gradebinder, computer students take tests, answer online questions, and check their grades online. The model is set to mimic that which is used on college campuses and for online classes. All students have an account assigned to them when enrolling in a Computer Department course.

"Online participation is up to 15% of a student's grade. It is essential that students learn to participate effectively online," says Mrs. Davis.