Ms Smith FACS class at Orion Jr have been making seatbelt covers for cancer patients…The idea was inspired by one of Ms. Smith students who has a friend with cancer. The cancer patients favorite item that helped her through her treatments was a selt beltcover for the Chemo ports. The covers prevent the seatbelts from rubbing against the ports. The ports are very sensitive. All covers made will be donated to local hospitals for cancer patients.
Weber High School’s Koby Pack takes 1st place at FBLA National Leadership Conference
Competing in San Antonio, Texas among 12,000 students in over 70 categories, Koby Pack, a Weber High student brought home 1st Place and the title of National Champion in the Sales Presentation Category.
Congratulations to Koby Pack led by Mr. Alan Rawlins, business/marketing instructor and FBLA advisor.
Although 105 individuals competed at the national leadership conference in the Sales Presentation event, it is not easy to get there or to get into finals. Only two percent of FBLA students advance to the national level, so just getting there to compete is a great achievement. For students to make finals at Nationals they must be in the top 2 of their preliminary section out of 13-14 students.
Koby took first place at the State competition in March out of 28 individuals where he had to finish in the top two to advance to Nationals. Along with Koby, 12 other students from Weber High also attended Nationals in a variety of other events.
Congratulations to 38 students in 4th through 6th grade who earned the Viking Fitness Award this year at Valley View Elementary! The Viking Fitness Award recognizes students who display outstanding achievements in physical fitness; including excellence in the mile run, push-ups, sit-ups and the sit & reach. These 38 Vikings never give up and work hard to obtain and maintain physical fitness in their daily lives. Congratulations to each one of them!
Last week at Freedom Elementary we dedicated our 11th all-abilities playground! Each playground is specially designed so that all children can play together. A big thanks to the Weber School Foundation, the Swanson Family Foundation, Besst Realty Group, Freedom Elementary PTA and the incredible members of the community. Without their generous donations and support, these types of projects would not be possible.
For their annual Community Workers Faces event, Majestic 2nd-grade students chose Community Workers and learned about what they do. Some of the information the students researched was their community worker's education, challenges of the job, skills required, etc. Each student made a poster of what their Community Worker looks like and transformed themselves into that Worker. Parents, family members, and friends were invited to come meet our workers and ask them questions about their jobs.
Weber School District and neighboring school district officials have been made aware of a troubling social media challenge geared to engage and cyberbully children and young adults – the "Momo Challenge." The challenge has been reported on local and national news stations, as well. Reports of the "Momo Challenge" directly targeting and/or impacting students in Weber School District have not yet been substantiated, but as a precaution, we are informing all parents/guardians of this current and potentially dangerous social media trend.
The purpose of the "Momo Challenge" is to utilize video games and social media platforms such as Minecraft, WhatsApp and Facebook to encourage children and young adults to commit dangerous and potentially violent acts towards others or even themselves. "Momo" is a ghoulish-looking avatar that threatens and cyber-bullies young people in the United States and around the world. The "Momo Challenge" has been linked to acts of self-harm and suicide. The challenge draws children in with a chat feature wherein they are asked to perform small tasks, but then escalates to more violent acts, even self-inflicted harm. The communicator requests photographs of the young person engaging in these serious acts as proof of follow-through. Even more troubling, if young people refuse to perform the tasks or acts (challenges), "Momo" threatens to leak personal information on the internet, leaves disturbing and threatening messages, and sends violent images to the viewer.
We strongly encourage parents/guardians to talk with their children about this dangerous challenge and closely monitor their online screen time and activities. Also, please be reminded that you/your child may utilize the SafeUT Tip Line/Crisis Line App or website, which allows users to submit a tip and/or speak directly with a crisis counselor at the University of Utah Neurological Institute (UNI). All schools in Weber District have promoted this valuable resource, and we encourage each and every parent/guardian to download the SafeUT App to your Smartphone and other digital devices.
The greatest deterrents to these dangerous challenges which circulate online with the intent to prey on children is open communication between parent and child and vigilant monitoring of your child's use of social media, the websites they've visited, and video gaming.
If you'd like to speak with someone about how to communicate with your children about the "Momo Challenge" or other cyber-bullying concerns, please contact your school's guidance counselor or the Weber School District Student Services Department (801-476-7800).
Fremont High School teacher Kristen Morey, was awarded English Teacher of the year by the Utah Council of Teachers of English at their annual conference on November 9th. This is a great honor for Kristen, Fremont and the Weber District.