Six Flags Adventure
| Thursday, June 4, 2009
Members of Student Council and Safety Patrol celebrated the end of another school year with a field trip to Six Flags in St. Louis. A group of 50 including parents, siblings, and students enjoyed a beautiful day in the park riding rides and hanging out with friends. A spring field trip is offered to Student Council and Safety . . . read more
An "Egg"cellent Time at Olympia West
The third graders at Olympia West celebrated their egg hatch by holding their Fourth Annual Egg Drop. Each child constructed a container that would protect an egg when it was tossed from the roof of the school. The containers that the . . . read more
D.A.R.E. Culmination Ceremony
Drug Awareness Resistance Education programs are offered to students across the country. D.A.R.E. was founded in the Los Angeles area in 1983 and has expanded to over 75% of school districts in the United States and reached students in 43 . . . read more
Olympia West Student Council Sponsors Blood Drive
Olympia West Elementary School Student Council is sponsoring a blood drive on Thursday April 30th from 2:00pm to 7:00pm at the school. If you would like to donate you can call 309 392-2671 x. 6263 or visit . . . read more
The Flowers are Blooming at Olympia West!
“April Showers Bring AR Flowers” is our theme this nine weeks. Once again Oly West has an AR challenge to beat! Each class in the school, has to “grow” a flower in the AR Garden by reading books and taking AR tests. When a . . . read more
Homer Visits Olympia West First Grade
Friday, April 3rd Homer, a darling Dalmatian dog, came to Olympia West to have the students “batter up.” First grade students are participating in a reading program sponsored by the Peoria Chiefs! The “warm up” game began . . . read more
Second Graders Go Gooney!
Gooney Bird Greene is a second grade character in a series of book written by Lois Lowry. She is a flamboyant little girl who dresses in exotic clothing and spends a great deal of her day at school telling stories. . . . read more
Mrs. Steiger Receives Target Grant
Congratulations, Mrs. Steiger! This winter Mrs. Staci Steiger was awarded a Target Field Trip Grant for $800. The grant will off-set the cost of a school-wide field trip to Springfield. As part of Abraham Lincoln's 200th . . . read more
Young Authors 2009 Primary District Winner
This year West had over 150 students participate in the Young Authors contest where students write and illustrate an original story on the topic of their choice. This year both fiction and non-fiction entries were received from students in . . . read more
The First and Fourth Graders At Olympia West Honor Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was honored in a very special way as Olympia West’s First Grades and Fourth Grades joined together to celebrate the 200th birthday of our 16th President of the United States of America. The celebration began with a grant . . . read more
Olympia West Presented A Live Museum Of Abraham Lincoln
Happy 200th Birthday Lincoln!
The third graders at Olympia West presented a Lincoln Live Museum to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The children, under the direction of Mrs. Hieser, Mrs. Nelson, and Miss Halfar, were responsible . . . read more
Normal Storyteller Caught Telling Stories
Dr. Michael Lockett, The Normal Storyteller, visited West on Thursday, February 12th to share tales with the students. Dr. Lockett encouraged the students to begin thinking of themselves as readers and writers in preparation for the . . . read more
This Year's Kindergarten Challenge!
Will the Kindergarten classes be able to read 2,009 books by the year 2009?
At the beginning of the school year, the kindergarten classes were challenged to read 2,009 books by January 1, 2009. Miss Boznos and Mrs. Graber were excited to see how many books their classes could read. Would they be able to read that . . . read more
Did the Groundhogs See Their Shadows?
Olympia West Kindergarten Classes Celebrated Groundhog's Day!
"Will the groundhogs see their shadows?" That was the question of the day in the kindergarten classes February 2nd. Mrs. Graber and Miss Boznos' classes studied about Groundhog Day. As part of the their lesson, each student . . . read more
Sing One Sing All at Olympia West
Olympia West Winter Program
It was a Winter Spectacular at Olympia West on Wednesday! We had a chorus of singers entertain parents and visitors in the gym. What an entertaining event and a great way to get everyone in the Christmas Spirit. This . . . read more
It's Was A Big Celebration Today!
Smiles and giggles were coming from the doorways of each room. From cookies to candies and gifts galore we saw it all on the West floors. Today in the buzz of the Christmas cheer the teachers and students were amongst the Christmas . . . read more
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling See Those Tumblers Rolling!
Off And Tumbling In P.E.
Mrs. Braffet, the physical education teacher, has just started a new tumbling unit in PE. Today the mats were out and students were practicing rolling and tumbling. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays students spend time . . . read more
Dolphins Have Invaded The Learning Center At West!
Mrs. Walsh’s fifth grade class is enjoying a novel unit based off the book Island of the Blue Dolphins , by Scott O’Dell. Although we have participated in many activities that go along with this novel, the island . . . read more
Safety Patrol Field Trip to OHS
Swimming and Pizza
The school safety patrol enjoyed an afternoon of swimming on Friday at the OHS pool. Students have battled a hard fall with freezing temperatures and lots of rain. Each morning and afternoon safety patrol members spend . . . read more
Minier Christmas Parade
Olympia staff passed out candy and waved to students and community members as the West float made its way up main street during the Minier Christmas Parade Saturday, December 6th. Staff members began planning their float a few weeks . . . read more
Tom Turkey Will be Warm This Winter!
He Has Plenty of Feathers
Poor Tom Turkey! He was in need of some feathers and the students worked hard to get him some before winter hit . Mrs. . . . read more
Family Reading Night at West
Family Reading Night, sponsored by Peine Memorial Library and West PTO, was held on November 20, 2008. This year’s guest readers were Coach Smith and the 2008 State Champion OHS Baseball Team. Each team member shared his . . . read more
Third Grade Campaigned for Books
Vote for Books
In the spirit of the presidential election, students in Mrs. Swartzendruber’s third grade class hit the campaign trail to spread their excitement for reading. They put their reading, writing, and speaking . . . read more
Picking a Running Mate
Red Ribbon Activity
If you visited Olympia West on Wednesday, you saw several students and staff members dressed alike for Twin Day. They were getting into the spirit of the drug free campaign week by dressing like their . . . read more
We Elect To Be Drug Free At Oly West!
Monday started our Red Ribbon Week celebration. The Olympia West students voted to be drug free with special drug free ballots. Students then proceed to the actual Minier polling booths set up in the . . . read more
Olympia West Held a Mock Election
Student Voted for President Today Olympia West students voted for president in the Learning Center. Mrs. Lang and Mrs.Hawkins created voting booths using fabric and book shelves. Students entered the booths where . . . read more
SOLO Technology
SOLO Training at West
SOLO is a writing intervention new to Olympia West. It is currently being piloted in various classrooms in grades 3-5. Initial training was provided last spring and again this fall to staff and students by Cheryl Surratt, a . . . read more
Safety Patrol Captain Named
Fourth and fifth grade students participating in School Safety Patrol are responsible for setting up the arrival and dismissal cones, assisting with the flow of traffic at the crosswalk, helping younger students to and from vehicles, and . . . read more
School Improvement Planning Day
October 10, 2008 Early Dismissal
Friday, October 10th students will begin dismissing at 11:45 for walkers and 12:00 for bus riders. The early dismissal of students will allow teachers at West and across the district the opportunity to participate in the first of . . . read more
School Safety Drill
School safety remains a priority of the staff at Olympia West. West students and staff participated in a lock down drill on Monday with the assistance of the Minier Police Chief and Tazewell County Police. This is the second safety drill . . . read more
Olympia West Open House
Open house this year was a smashing success! West had over 200 parents and guardians in attendance, along with community members. One community member commented that the school was the best way for her tax money to be used. She . . . read more
Olympia West Has Kids Writing on the Walls!!
Kids at Oly West celebrate reaching their AR goal this year by signing their name on the wall in the Learning Center! We already have spotted three hard working readers writing on the wall. Hannah, Michelle, and Spencer have . . . read more
Olympia West Fifth Grader Attends NYSP
National Young Scholars Program
Emily, a fifth grader at Oly West, recently attended the National Young Scholars Program (NYSP) in DeKalb, Illinois. The NYSP is designed and created specifically for the nation’s most highly acclaimed 2 nd - 5 th grade students, . . . read more
Olympia West Fire Drill
On Wednesday, September 10, Olympia West conducted a fire drill with the assistance of the Minier Volunteer Fire Department, Rescue Squad, and Police Department. Firefighters gearing up for mock rescue . . . read more
Olympia West Welcomes Three Teachers
Olympia West is happy to introduce three new members of the teaching staff for the 2008-2009 school year. Peggy Braffet lives in rural Carlock with her husband Curt, and their 3 daughters, Meghan (23, studying at the . . . read more
Third Graders Receive Dictionaries
Walter G. Wright Telecom Pioneers Visit West
Third grade students at Olympia West received free dictionaries on Thursday. Walter G. Wright Telecom Pioneers received funding from the Verizon Foundation allowing them to provide dictionaries to third grade students in McLean . . . read more
Welcome Sarah Bertram, Speech and Language Teacher
Mrs. Bertram joined the Olympia West staff this summer as our new Speech Pathologist. She graduated from Illinois State University with a Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in 2007. After graduation, she worked . . . read more
First Day Back
Students, teachers, and parents gathered in the gymnasium for the first day of school. Mrs. Steiger and Mrs. Render lead the student body in the pledge, followed by a welcome from Dr. Rummel. Individual students were . . . read more
Thank You Olympia West!
This summer I was able to participate in the Breast Cancer 3 Day in Chicago. Along with 2,400 others, I walked a total of 60 miles on August 8, 9, and 10. There were cheering stations along the way on our walk and there were . . . read more
Summer News
Olympia West Summer News
If you’ve driven by the school this summer you’ve noticed lots of changes of work trucks at West this summer. So, what is happening this summer? • The cafeteria has been expanded. The wall between the music room and the . . . read more
New Learning Center
As part of this summer’s construction projects, several walls were taken down creating a new, open Learning Center. The new facility provides multiple learning opportunities for classes on a daily basis. While in the . . . read more
